captioning sponsored by wnet >> sreenivasan: on this edition for sunday, november 7: covid vaccination deadlines loom as legal challenges continue. a "massive timber" building rises in milwaukee. and an international mural festival comes to cleveland-- and stays. next on “pbs newshour weekend.” >> pbs newshour weekend is made possible by: sue and edgar wachenheim iii. bernard and denise schwartz. the cheryl and philip milstein family. the anderson family fund. the estate of worthington mayo-smith. leonard and norma klorfine.

the rosalind p. walter foundation. koo and patricia yuen, committed to bridging cultural differences in our communities. barbara hope zuckerberg. we try to live in the moment, to not miss what's right in front of us. at mutual of america, we believe taking care of tomorrow can help you make the most of today. mutual of america financial group, retirement services and investments. >> for 25 years, consumer cellular has been offering no contract wireless plans designed to help people do more of what they like. our u.s.-based customer service team can help find the plan that fits you. to learn more, visit www.consumercellular.tv. additional support has been provided by: and by the corporation for public broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the american people. and by contributions to your

pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> sreenivasan: good evening and thank you for joining us. the battle over president biden's covid vaccine mandates is heating up, as his administration defends the new rules in the face of legal challenges. yesterday, a federal appeals court in louisiana temporarily halted the vaccine mandate for employees of large companies. it requires nearly 100 million private sector employees to get vaccinated by january 4, or be tested weekly. the rule applies to companies with 100 workers or more. more than two dozen states, including missouri, arizona and nebraska, have already filed lawsuits against the rule, arguing that the mandate is unconstitutional. u.s. surgeon general dr. vivek murthy defended the biden administration's mandate today. >> the president and the administration wouldn't have put these requirements in place if they didn't think that they were appropriate and necessary, and the administration is certainly prepared to defend them. >> sreenivasan: when asked whether the administration plans to extend the mandate to smaller companies with fewer than 100

employees, murthy said, “nothing is off the table.” later this month the biden administration will face the first test in its push to get workers vaccinated within its own government. about four million federal workers, from f.b.i. agents to u.s. food and drug administration workers, are required to be vaccinated by november 22. an investigation continued today into friday's tragedy at a houston concert that killed eight people ranging in age from 14-27. police say they are reviewing eyewitness vids that continue to surface. the deaths and injuries are being attributed to “crowd surge” as rapper travis scott began his performance friday night. the area where the astroworld concert took place reportedly had room for 200,000 people, but officials limited admission to 50,000. late yesteay, houston chief of police troy finner said the investigation will include reports of narcotic overdoses. >> this is now a criminal investigation that's going to involve our homicide division as

well anarcotics, and we're going to get down to the bottom of it. >> sreenivasan: in instagram post scott issued a tearful statement saying he was absolutely devastated. >> sreenivasan: for more on what happened and the ongoing investigation, i spoke with "houston chronicle" music critic and reporter joey guerra who was at the astroworld concert on friday. joey, you've been writing and reporting about this all weekend. i think we are a little now aware of what happened, but i think the question everyone has is how did this happen? you were there. >> i think that's the big question. i mean, there are so many questions i think surrounding this. there have been, you know, there have been rumors that there were drugs involved. you know, obviously, i think the initial speculation was that people were just trampled because there was so much of a crowd. but it's just i think there are so many questions still. obviously, i think there were some issues with crowding and people pushing and crowd surges and things like that, but i

think there might be more to this than just that. >> sreenivasan: give us a sense of what this space is like where all these people were. >> well, the space where this is at is kind of adjacent to the big stadium here in town, so it's a huge kind of area with parking lots and grass. they had to stage a set up that were very well spaced. there was lots of space in between. carnival, midway games, things like that. the area in front of this stage has a lot of grass, a lot of concrete. i know people hear these numbers and think, how did they not know this was going to happen? but i think anybody who's been to a festival knows, you know, they kind of know the area. they prepare for something like this. i mean, yes, there were a lot of people in the front where travis was performing, but if you were out of that immediate area, there was lots of people walking around. people were in line getting food. i mean, there was lots of action still happening right behind. i mean, it wasn't like every single person there was packed in, so. >> sreenivasan: tell us a little

bit about what is the average travis scott concert like for someone who hasn't attended? i mean, in your reporting, you describe a kind of energy there. tell me about that. >> yeah, i mean, i think that's really important to understand is that if you've never been to a travis scott show, i mean, the energy kind of exchange between him and e crowd is it's like nothing i've ever seen. i mean, i think the closest comparison is maybe like a boy band concert when you have people crying and kind of uncontrollable, that's kind of the energy here. i mean, he calls his fans ragers and, you know, there are mosh pits. and it's interesting becau i think the average travis scott fan is probably a male from 16- 21 years old, which we saw at this concert. i mean, it's lots of males, so there's lots of kind of pent-up energy and, you know, it can kind of spill into aggression at some point. >> sreenivasan: you've been watching closely a lot of the videos that have come out of the event itself. what were you able to learn from some of the videos that fans

were sharing around the moments that it was happening? >> i think for me, honestly and probably a lot of people that weren't in that mix, it was just really shocking to see what was happening. i mean, i was, you know, outside on the ground, but i was further back. so, me and everyone around me had no clue what was going on. we saw, of course, we saw emergency vehicles coming in and things like that. we knew he stopped the show, but it felt like, kind of, normal festival happenings, you know. things happen and people get, you know, people get sick or need help. so, it wasn't until after when you're leaving and you're checking social media, you see these videos of people performing c.p.r., being carted away unconscious, you know, people, like, just clamoring to get out. it was just honestly, really shocking if you weren't in there to really understand that all this was going on. >> sreenivasan: joey guerra of the "houston chronicle." thanks so much. >> thank you.

>> sreenivasan: in iraq today, prime minister mustafa al- kadhimi survived a pre-dawn assassination attempt at his residence. footage showed the extent of the damage from the reported drone attack, which injured seven members of the prime minister's personal protection force. the iraqi state news agency said three drones were used in the attack, two of which were intercepted, but one struck the residency. no group has claimed responsibility, but the attack comes two days after violent clashes in baghdad between government forces and supporters of iran-backed political parties. the iran-backed groups refused to accept the results of iraq's october 10 elections where they lost many seats in parliament. president biden released a statement this afternoon calling the assassination attempt a "terrorist attack” and instructing his national security team to assist in the investigation. in ethiopia, tens of thousands took the streets of addis ababa today in a massive show of support for prime minister abiy ahmed's government. the crowds were backing the

government's military campaign against rebel forces from the country's northern tigray region. the international community is calling for the ethiopian government to implement a cease fire, but the abiy government has pledged to keep fighting. on friday, the tigrayans announced eight additional opposition groups had joined their cause to oust the prime minister. nicaraguans went to the polls today to cast their ballots in an election that the u.s. and other critics are dismissing as a sham. current longtime president daniel ortega is all but certain to win a fourth term. since may, ortega's police have detained nearly 40 opposition leaders, including seven presidential candites. the government also banned large campaign events and closed many voting stations. ortega first came to power in 1979, was voted out in the 1990s and returned to power in 2007. for more national and international news, visit pbs.org/newshour. >> sreenivasan: the latest trend in the world of construction is

something you might not expect. architects are designing tall buildings using massive timber beams that proponents say are much more environmentally friendly than steel and concrete. newshour weekend special correspondent megan thompson recently traveled to milwaukee, wisconsin, to see a 25-story building that will be the tallest mass timber project in the u.s. when it's completed. this story is part of our ongoing series "peril & promise: the challenge of climate change." >> reporter: in downtown milwaukee, wisconsin, a new luxury apartment building is rising in the upscale east town neighborhood. the project is called "asce," and to most passing by, it probably looks like a typical high-rise construction site. turns out, it's anything but. >> to say it's very unusual is a massive understatement. >> reporter: tall buildings like this are usually built out of steel and concrete. but this one? it's being built mostly out of wood. how unique is this project here in the united states? >> oh, it's-- it's

unprecedented. from an approvals standpoint, from a fire testing standpoint, from a design and engineering standpoint, there was so much innovation in this project. >> reporter: tim gokhman is the managing director of new land enterprises, the development company behind ascent. building it out of timber was his idea. constructing with wood isn't new-- we've been doing it for eons-- but this uses a new technology called "massive timber" or mass timber for short. mass timber, which is surprisingly fire resistant, has made it possible to construct wood buildings that are larger and taller than ever before. in fact, when the 25-floor ascent building is completed next summer, it will be the tallest structure of its kind in the world. what made you say, "i want to build a high rise out of timber?" >> once you go into a building that has exposed wood, you understand rig away. it's beautiful and you feel great in it. it ifast, it is precise, it is light, it is can. >> reporter: the first six floors, which will house a

parking garage and pool, are built from steel and concrete. so are the elevator shaft, stairwell and foundation. but the 19 upper floors are constructed from gigantic mass timber beams, columns and boards. >> this is relatively new, especially in the united states. it's more common in some parts of europe, especially scandinavia. >> reporter: david corr is a civil engineer and director of architectural engineering and design studies at northwestern university. he's currently studying the structural properties of mass timber. so, when we're talking about mass timber or tall timber, what's new here? >> this would be a two by four, this is a sort of familiar piece of timber. if you tear down the walls of your house, you would find small pieces of wood like that behind the walls, and that's what carries all the load in your house. so, this is an example of mass timber. it's important for people to understand that this is a very small part of something that would be very large. so, there'd be a single layer on the bottom and then a layer of glue and then another layer, layer of glue. it's kind of like making a cake out of wood, where the glue is the frosting. >> reporter: this material is called "cross laminated timber,"

because each layer is glued crosswise, which makes the material stronger. so, it's kind of like plywood on steroids. >> that's exactly right. it's structural scale plywood, plywood on steroids. >> reporter: these huge slabs can carry massive loads, but, inch for inch, timbes not quite as strong as steel and concrete, corr says. so, it's not great for wide, open floor plans with no supporting columns. and there won't be a wood skyscraper as tall as the empire state building any time soon. mass timber was first pioneered in austria in the '90s, and is gaining popularity in the united states. in 2013, the u.s. had 26 mass timber buildings. today there are 576 built or under construction, and several hundred more are in the works. >> there's a lot of appealing attributes to mass timber. one of them is the sustainability aspect. so, one of the downsides of concrete and steel is they have a lot of what's known as embodied carbon. >> reporter: meaning, production of steel and cement is very polluting, contributing somewhe around 15% of global

carbon dioxide emissions. on the other hand, trees are what's known as a "carbon sink." they suck in carbon and lock it in. and studies have shown, replacing steel and concrete with timber can lower a building's global warming potential. but cutting down too many trees can contribute to global warming, and some environmental groups are wary of an increased demand for wood. >> there's still a lot of questions, and the jury is still out on whether or not it can be achieved sustainably. >> reporter: kirin kennedy directs people and nature policy for the sierra club. she worries that a logging boom could lead to the loss of a critical tool for fighti climate change, because once they're cut down, trees stop actively sucking in carbon, and lose a portion of the carbon they stored. >> the question that we and other folks are wondering is, is there enough forested area to both be able to sustain mass building and protect our forests, or are our forests better left intact as a natural

carbon sink? >> reporter: she also notes, our forests are important wildlife habitats and natural buffers against flooding and erosion. so, kennedy and some other environmentalists are hesitant to embrace mass timber just yet. >> this is european white spruce. so, this is sustainably farmed. >> reporter: jason korb is the architect of the ascent building. he says the team was careful to source their wood from sustainably managed forests. had you ever designed a timber building before? >> never once. we went big. >> reporter: what was that process like? >> i think we knew about 5% of what we needed to know when we started in march of 2018. and i liken it to going to graduate school for two years. >> reporter: part of what korb had to figure out was how to get the city of milwaukee to approve his plans. the tallest mass timber buildings right now are in europe, including the very tallest, an 18-story tower in norway. but the tallest buildings in the u.s. are between 7-10 stories, in part because american building codes he been slow to catch up.

architect jason korb spent more than two years proving his 25-story building would be safe, including answering the question often on people's minds: how will the structure hold up in a fire? the ascent team worked with the u.s. forest service to do extensive fire testing, the first of tir kind ever conducted. nine wood columns were burned in a furnace for three hours straight, at temperatures reaching more than 2,000 degrees. >> mass timber doesn't burn. it's very different from your standard two by four. it chars. >> reporter: that charring layer actually acts as insulation, protecting the rest of the wood. the ascent columns charred, and held up. the columns were designed a few inches wider to allow for this fire-proofing layer. it was just one of the many new things architect jason korb had to do. >> the amount of pre-construction work that needs to be done in a tall timber building is pretty much like nothing we've ever seen, especially in a residential building. >> reporter: that's because, in traditional construction, all

the holes for things like plumbing, wiring and ductwork are drilled in the steel or formed in the concrete as the building is going up. but in timber, all of that is cut beforehand, so korb and his team had to create a precise digital model. >> the building was modeled down to the last screw. those files are then fed to the manufacturer, and they are laser drilled to a tolerance of about three millimeters. >> reporter: korb says at the time it cost less to import the wood from austria than if he bought from a north american supplier, so the 3,700 precisely cut pieces were shipped to milwaukee, where the construction team is now putting them all together. >> and we're currently installing the columns from level 19-20. >> reporter: chris johansen is the project manager for c.d. smith, the construction company building ascent. >> heads up, heads up! >> reporter: each enormous column is hoisted by a crane. special glue is pumped into the hole. then the column is carefully put into place. >> there's not one column, there's not one beam, one floor panel that is intehangeable.

so, we have detailed plans, a lot of color coding and a lot of communication to ensure that we're installing things in the right place. >> reporter: all the wood is treated with a waterproof coating, and the building's glass facade will protect the timber structure inside, where about 50% of the wood will remain exposed. any wood outside is protected by sheeting, a water-resistant sealant and insulation. assembling the structure is comparatively quick, at least four months faster than if this was all steel and concrete. and chris johansen needs less labor for this part-- about a quarter of the workers. he says the work is also much less strenuous and dirty. >> one of the guys told me that, his wife is questioning if he's going to work because he's not coming home covered in concrete. >> reporter: fewer workers and a faster job mean big savings on construction costs, but the wood itself isn't cheap. architect jason korb estimates it's about 10% more than what you'd pay for concrete in milwkee. but that price might start coming down as the supply in the

u.s. grows. the canada-based company structurlam opened its first u.s. plant this summer in arkansas, a few hours from walmart's headquarters. that's because walmart is building its new corporate campus out of-- you guessed it-- mass timber. 2.4 million square feet of office space. >> it's not just my hope, but my prediction is that it's a matter of time until the united states overtakes the rest of the world in production and assembly and in the use of buildings like this. >> reporter: from the avalanche of interest tim gokhman says he's gotten in ascent, he could be right. he's already rented nearly 10% of the units. normally he wouldn't have even started leasing yet. ascent is slated to open next july. >> sreenivasan: in 2009, artist jasper wong founded an

international mural arts festival and arts outreach program in hong kong. since then, the festival has taken place in cities worldwide, with the goal of building community by beautifying physical spaces. newshour weekend special correspondent karla murthy traveled to cleveland, ohio, this summer to see how the city celebrated this larger than life art form. >> reporter: on the corner of superior and east 39th street in cleveland, ohio, a once-blank wall is being transformed into art. >> this is probably the biggest piece i've ever done. it's a little bit intimidating at first, but, yeah, i just look at it as another big canvas. >> reporter: local artist antwoine washington is painting his first large scale mural, with the help of another artist, chad fedorovich. >> i usually draw and paint realistically, but with this style i wanted this to be a little bit more colorful, to have some fun, >> reporter: washington's previous work has been shown in galleries and museums inuding the cleveland museum of art.

>> a lot of people in my culture don't get a chance to go to the museums, or even feel comfortable to go to museums or sometimea building doesn't feel welcoming to them. and so, to be able to put work inside of the community where they're able to walk past it every day, able to interact with it every day, i love it. >> reporter: washington is one of over 20 artists who participated in an international mural festival brought to the city this past summer called“ cleveland walls!” during the festival, 20 murals were painted on buildings across the midtown neighborhood. >> as someone who is from here and grew up in the neighborhood, being able to see color in areas in which you don't typically see it, being able to experience art in a way that's tangible, something that you can walk up and interact with, is definitely invigorating. >> reporter: samira malone works for a nonprofit called midtown cleveland that's hosting the festival. the neighborhood near downtown is home to 2,000 residents and also attracts over 18,000 people day who work in the area. >> our neighborhood has a very

interesting fabric. we have a strong industrial footprint, we also have several major commercial corridors, but we do have a residential population. we have a large black population as well as a large, large asian population, so the artists that we selected are working with through this process are also reflective of both of those communities. >> reporter: can you tell me a little bit about what it is you're painting? >> it's a mandarin character. it means strong. the rest can be open to interpretation. >> reporter: julia kuo is a taiwanese-american illustrator for children's books as well as newspapers and magazines. she says most of her work is a solitary process. painting a mural in public has allowed her to interact with people. >> you know, some people are doing, like, the mural tour, but other people just live here and they pass through and the like, well, they're going to have to look at this every day. i'm going to leave, right? so, to hear people's comments is, like, really nice, too. it's just different for me. >> reporter: and what do you hope people will get out of walking by? >> i think i hope they'll just

enjoy the images. i enjoy drawing people who look like me, and, kind of, the way i see myself in the world. so, it's nice to put out a little bit of the representation that i always wish that i would ve myself. >> reporter: that's also the goal of antwoine washington's work. >> the content around black family is often overlooked. and so, i wanted to actually put that black father back into that family unit and push back against that narrative about how we're not present. and pretty much it's a depiction of my everyday life, my friends, everyday life and even how i grew up. >> reporter: i take it you're a dad also? >> absolutely. yeah, i got two kids. i have a son that's one. i have a daughter that's four. and yeah, me being a new dad is something at has been near and dear to me. and so, i wanted to actually share that and put that out there as also a message to combat the negativity against our families and our communities.

>> you know, some of the murals bring themselves into it, like mine. other people's are more abstract and like, you know, are more harmonious with the environment. and others, like, are so educational. >> reporter: one of kuo's favorite murals is a portrait of garrett morgan by the artist detour. >> so, he's a black inventor from cleveland who invented the stop sign and gas masks. and no one knows him and no one knows his likeness, but now we will. >> reporter: although the festival has moved on to california, the netherlands and washington, d.c., people will be able to enjoy these murals for years to come. >> sreenivasan: finally tonight, the new york city marathon returned, celebrating its 50th running after the coronavirus pandemic cancelled it last year. albert korir of kenya won the men's race, in an unofficial time of two hours, eight minutes and 22 seconds.

peres jepchirchir of kenya, who won gold in the tokyo olympics this year, won the women's race. that's all for this edition of“ pbs newshour weekend.” for the latest news updates visit pbs.org/newshour. i'm hari sreenivasan. thanks for watching. stay healthy and have a good night. captioning sponsored by wnet captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> pbs newshour weekend is made possible by: sue and edgar wachenheim iii. bernard and denise schwartz. the cheryl and philip milstein family. the anderson family fund. the estate of worthington mayo-smith. leonard and norma klorfine. the rosalind p. walter foundation. koo and patricia yuen, committed to bridging cultural

differences in our communities. barbara hope zuckerberg. we try to live in the moment, to not miss what's right in front of us. at mutual of america, we believe taking care of tomorrow can help you make the most of today. mutual of america financial group, retirement services and investments. additional support has been provided by: consumer cellular. and by: and by the corporation for public broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the american people. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. you're watching pbs.

- [narrator] so i get asked this question a lot. hey, jeff, where do you go, and what do you do when you're on vacation? - okay, aiello's, let's roll. - [narrator] my answer this time was to take a camera on vacation and shoot a travel show in aspen, colorado. but as you're about to see, this family adventure did not start out smooth. - we're at the gate and we saw it starting to snow outside here in denver. and i thought this probably isn't good for us. - [narrator] but the lessons learned in this travel nightmare were worth the pain. there is a beautiful trout stream running through the middle of this valley. because when travel throws a curve ball. and at some point it always will. butt slide, nice. learning to pivot quick and make a new plan will deliver you to places and moments like this. - we got a double, we got a double. both conly and mark are hooked up on fish right now. - that you'll remember long past things like a white knuckle blizzard death drive. i quite possibly had the best pancake of my life.

i'm going to go ahead