captioning sponsored by wnet >> sreenivan: on this edition for saturday, november 20: reactions to the "not guilty" verdicts in the rittenhouse trial. new pressure to put more distance between people and oil and gas drilling in california. and, "if at first you don't succeed"-- lessons learned, at the museum of failure. >> the real obstacle to innovation is that people are afraid of failing. >> sreenivasan: 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 2years, consumer cellular's goal has been to provide wireless service that helps people communicate and connect. we offer a variety of no-contract plans, and our u.s.-based customer service team can help find one 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. small groups of protesters took to the streets around the country last night, after the acquittal of teenager kyle rittenhouse. a wisconsin jury found him not guilty on all charges related to shootings last august at a social justice protest, where he killed two men and seriously injured a third. >> no justice! >> no peace! >> sreenivasan: in new york, protesters marched on to the brooklyn bridge, briefly shutting down traffic as police looked on. in chicago, a small group took to the streets to protest the verdict. and in portland, police declared a riot after groups of protesters set small fires in the street. but in kenosha, wisconsin, where rittenhouse was tried, fears of civil disturbances were unfounded. amid a heavy law enforcement presence that included the wisconsin national guard, there were no reports of violence, and by nightfall, only a handful of protesters. earlier in the day, the girlfriend of one of the men killed in august o2020, anthony huber, said she was heartbroken, and pledged to continue fighting for justice.

>> i don't think that any of us who were directly involved in what happened last year on the 25th are really that surprised. we know that this system is a failure. >> sreenivasan: we'll have more on reaction to the rittenhouse verdict, after the news summary. in cities worldwide today, there were protests-- some violent-- over covid-19 lockdowns and vaccination mandates. in the netherlands, rioting erupted in the city of rotterdam last night, stemming from a protest against covid-19 restrictions. rotterdam's mayor called the rioting, “an orgy of violee.” 51 people were arrested, and at least two protesters were hospitalized with bullet wounds, which may have come when police opened fire during the demonstrations. in vienna, austria today, tens of thousands of people took to the streets to protest a ten-day nationwide lockdown that will begin on monday. austria's government announced the lockdown yesterday, as covid-19 infections in the country hit a record high. the government also announced yesterday that vaccinations will become mandatory starting in

february, the first such move by a european nation. and in australia's victoria state, pro- and anti-vaccine rallies were held in the state's capital over legislation that would grant broader powers to the local government to address public health. at least 17 people died in the southern indian state of andhra pradesh today, as heavy rain and flooding continue to hit the area. three people were killed following a building collapse late last night. as of this afternoon, ten people were freed from the rubble, t two remained missing. intense rain has been hitting the region since thursday, triggering massive floods that have stranded people in homes and vehicles. india deployed its national disaster relief force to assist with rescue and evacuation efforts. secretary of defense lloyd austin is in the middle east today, meeting with allies, as indirect talks to revive the 2015 iran nuclear pact are set to get underway later this month. the biden administration is hoping to revive the deal, which limited iran's nuclear program and mandated inspections

in return for lifting economic sanctions. the trump administration pulled out of that pact in 2018. the meeting in bahrain comes as iranian state media reported today that revolutionary guards seized a foreign ship in the persian gulf for reportedly smuggling diesel. there was no information provided on the nationality of the ship, or of the 11 crew members who are detained. >> sreenivasan: for more national and international news, visit www.pbs.org/newshour. >> sreenivasan: for more on the potential implications of the verdict in the rittenhouse trial, i spoke with insha rahman, a former public defender and now the vice president of advocacy and partnerships at the vera institute of justice-- a non-profit advocacy organization that focuses on criminal justice reform. insha, is there data out there that says if kyle rittenhouse was black, that the sentence would have been different? >> there's data that shows us that, at each and every turn, if kyle rittenhouse was an 18-year- old black man, the system would

have treated him differently. so, remember that there are 15 million criminal cases filed in this country each year. so, already, the fact that in kyle rittenhouse's case, he was free to come back to court, he was released on bail-- that is unusual. the vast majority of people who can't afford their bail are black and brown in this country. so already, that's something that's set kyle rittenhouse apart from the vast majority of other people facing the criminal legal system in this country. second, he went to trial. less than 5% of cases go to trial. most cases in this country end in a plea bargain or a dismissal. so, the fact that kyle rittenhouse had a trial-- and an incredibly public one at that-- is a rarity as well. and the vast majority, again, of people who are facing the criminal legal process are black and brown, and do not have the benefit of telling their story, of appearing as a full human, as a kid who sobs in the courtroom. >> sreenivasan: how specific is this to the law in wiscons

versus other states? >> so, as a matter of specifics and the law, kyle rittenhouse's case was a difficult one for the jury, because the law of self- defense in wisconsin basically says it's an open-carry state. so you are legally allowed to have a gun in the way that kyle rittenhouse did, even though he was underage at the time. and, the way that the self- defense law is written, which is basically, "if you feel reasonably threatened for your safety or fear of your life, that you can act," you know, in the ways that kyle rittenhouse did. so it's a hard case, legally. and if i were looking at it sort of from a very narrow public defender lawyer lens, i would say, i understand why the jury grappled for three days, and maybe-- maybe, i understand why they came back with the verdict that they did. but if i'm thinking about this case from a structural perspective, about the specter

of race and white nationalism and racism that is permeating this case from start to finish, that's where i'm really troubled by the outcome. because, as we talked about, if kyle rittenhouse was a young black man, you can be sure that the verdict yesterday would have been different. it would have been guilty. and, in fact, you can be sure that kyle rittenhouse, if he was a young black man, probably wouldn't have made it out of kenosha alive on august 25, 2020 if he was brandishing a guand had shot and killed two people and seriously maimed another. >> sreenivasan: do you think there's the possibility here that it empowers other folks to say, you know what? this kind of gives me permission, a license, to go looking for whoever i feel threatened by. >> it most certainly does. you can be sure that some of the country yesterday celebrated, and said, "well, this actually shows us that we, as white people, are justified in our

fear," frankly, "of black power, of protest in support of black lives." there's absolutely a larger message that yesterday's acquittal sends, and you have to believe that, despite the specific legal, you know, questions in this case, that the jury knew that this would send a message to this country, and yet they still came back with an acquittal. >> sreenivasan: insha rahman, from the vera institute. thanks so much for joining us. >> thank you. great to be on here. >> sreenivasan: millions of californians live close to oil and gas drilling and production. it's a situation that studies show can create a silent health hazard. now, there are efforts to put more distance between people and drilling operations. newshour weekend special correspondent tom casciato has the story, beginning in the small city of arvin, about

100 miles north of los angeles. this story is part of our ongoing series, "peril and promise: the challenge of climate change." >> reporter: arvin is the kind ofown where you can drive past an oil pumping operation, keep going for a bit, and round the corner to see that it'next door to a residential street, like nelson court. but it was what lurked beneath nelson court that led to a local disaster in 2014. >> and we have breaking news out of arvin tonight, where several homes have been evacuated due to a potentially dangerous gas leak. >> reporter: it began as a small town story. >> and here's a look at the affected areas tonight. eight arvin homes near nelson court and varsity road are under mandatory evacuations... >> ( translated ): the person across from me called the gas company because her husband smelled a lot of gas. >> reporter: resident francisco gonzalez. >> ( translated ): and the person on the other corner's daughter said that she had fainted. >> reporter: the smell was from a leaking underground pipe that filled eight homes with highly explosive levels of gas.

>> ...remain under evacuation orders due to a dangerous gas leak. >> reporter: evacuated residents didn't return for months. >> this is a pipe that was built underground before the homes were here. >> reporter: cesar aguirre is a community organizer with the non-profit group, central california environmental justice network. it works to improve the environment for low income and communities of color. >> here we're born in that caused the climate crisis that we find ourselves in. >> reporter: he said the oil and gas industry is a common next-door neighbor here, and took me on a tour of examples right near where people work, play, and even worship. >> right here we're standing in front of the biggest church in arvin. as a matter of fact, every december 12, thousands of people meet in the parking lot and they have congregation here to celebrate the virgin mary. and just on the other side of it there's oil drilling happening. >> reporter: there's a pumping operation right behind the church, featuring what appears to be a rupted tube. beneath it, a black stain. >> there should be zero oil touching the ground, because then it becomes a threat to the groundter and to the soil. >> reporter: we reached out for

comment to the owner of the well, sequoia explorations inc., which acquired it earlier this year. its c.e.o., mark jacobs, replied, "we have notified our field personnel of this matter and will make sure this is dealt with immediately." what we saw may not have been catastrophic, but it illustrates one feature of living cheek-to- jowl with a polluting industry. and that's not just an arvin thing. according to the non-profit fractracker alliance, more than seven million californians live within a mile of an oil or gas well. some four million of them are people of color. that means the climate challenge is about a lot more than lowering emissions, says professor manuel pastor. >> what i like to say is that climate change is real, but so is the climate gap. we know from the social science research who is suffering the brunt, a likely to suffer the future brunt, of that climate change. so much as we need to be lifting up the need to address greenhouse gas emissions and reduce them below the 1990

levels, we need to understand that the terrain of environmental disparities exists, and we need to be moving the needle on that as well. ...and build the ecosystem that can actually support change. >> reporter: pastor is a professor of sociology, american studies and ethnicity at the university of southern california's equity research institute. he recently co-authored a report addressing "the central challenges of our time: a heating planet, an unequal economy and persistent racial injustice." one of its conclusions? >> if you really want to protect communities against environmental hazards? yes, you need rules. yes, you need laws. but you need community organizing. >> reporter: the report cites arvin as a case study in organizing. after the 2014 gas incident, citizens sought to pass an ordinance to keep industry operations at a distance. the president of the committee for a better arvin is estela escoto. >> ( translated ): we began to work in concert with other

community groups, going to see our representatives, asking them to pass an ordinance. and going house-to-house, knocking on doors to convince people that we needed an ordinance. at the council meetings, they made fun of us, and said we were not going to be able to do anything, or pass an ordinance. >> reporter: it took four years, with community groups working to elect some new city council members, plus a 23-year-old mayor, but the town finally passed an ordinance to keep new drilling operations at least 300 feet from homes and schools, businesses, and hospitals. u.c. berkeley epidemiologist david gonzalez believes in the power of community. >> my family has roots in the chicano community in east l.a., so that's something that i carry with me in my work. these communities have knowledge, and my grandpa didn't have the chance to go to college, he's one of the most brilliant men i ever knew. reporter: but he has concerns about the scope of the arvin setback.

does 300 feet strike you as significant, as-- or as enough? >> wre seeing that oil and gas drilling is affecting the health of people that live within 3,000 feet of oil and gas wells, and some studies show further away. >> reporter: gonzalez and colleagues published a 2020 study showing "evidence that exposure to oil and gas well sites is associated with increased risk of spontaneous pre-term birth." >> and having a pre-term birth increases risk of infant mortality and being sick, and can have long-term effects for the infant's health. and so we want to prevent pre-term births. >> reporter: gonzalez' study followed on the heels of a study tying pregnant women's proximity to oil and gas operations to low birth weights, and a new one detailing "adverse birth outcomes" for californians living near fracking sites. other studies have tied proximity to such operations to asthma and other health problems. the los angeles region is rife with drilling, though you can't always tell from road level. drivers on la cienega boulevard can't see the adjacent inglewood

oil field-- though a drone can. in more well-off areas, the operations are disguised as-- well, it's not exactly clear what. but they're pumping oil here, in the city's mid-wilshire neighborhood, and here, less than two miles down the road. in other parts of town, the less affluent areas, like here in wilmington in the southeast, the industry is a more obvious neighbor, sometimes impossible to miss. activists have long been organizing around here, too. >> folks in this community are exposed to chemicals like benzene; volatile organic compounds. >> reporter: ashley hernandez was raised in wilmington. now she's a youth organizer with the non-profit, communities for a better environment. >> that creates a lot of asthma, causing issues. and so it's really a huge part of the communities', like, d.n.a., to deal with folks that have respiratory issues, to have children that have inhalers. and so it's definitely a part of growing up here. >> reporter: hernandez and others like her may eventually

get what they desire. in september, county supervisors voted to ban new oil wells, and reevaluate the ones already there. and last month, governor gavin newsom's administration proposed a 3,200-foot buffer zone between new drilling and homes, hospitals and schools. in a statement, the nonprofit industry group western states petroleum association, said it doesn't oppose setbacks based on "science, data and rigorous health assessments." but it claimed the state's approach would "eliminate tax revenue and community benefits, raise costs for everyone, and put thousands of people out of work." meanwhile, in kern county, where arvin is, more new drilling is planned, thoh a judge has halted new permits, pending an environmental assessment. epidemiologist david gonzalez. >> there's more studies that we can do and that we are doing. i think we have enough evidence to start making policies to protect communities. >> reporter: and manuel pastor says that with one success to their name, organizers aren't finished fighting to keep the industry at bay. >> y know, the setback

ordinance in arvin is an important first step to protecting communities, but i think it needs to be seen in a broader context. this is a community that stood up to one of the most important industries in its county. and, the fact that they were able to get that setback ordinance, it's a small thing, but it's a big thing symbolically and politically, by saying who gets a chance to decide about people's health versus economic growth. >> sreenivasan: before the greatest inventions and breakthroughs take place, there are uncounted unsuccessful ideas. thomas edison made thousands of attempts before he invented the light bulb. but, what if those first failures had stopped him? an exhibit now touring the country is reinforcing that old adage, "if at first you

don't succeed, try, try again." newshour weekend special correspondent megan thompson visited the museum of failure's first stop in minneapolis. >> reporter: what am i looking at? >> so, probably the most, sort of recognizable part, feature here, is... >> reporter: psychologist samuel west recently showed off this exhibit he's spent years curating. >> a new car line with a lot of innovative features. >> reporter: a brightly-colored collection featuring all kinds of commercial products by big-name companies. at first glance, it might look like a celebration of corporate success. not quite. >> it was ford's biggest failure. edsel. designed for elegance. >> it was available in so many different price ranges, people didn't understand, "is this a luxury car, or is it a, you know, affordable car? what is it?" this is a massive failure for ford. in today's value, it's in the billions. >> reporter: this is the museum of failure, a collection of more than 150 products that bombed. but, this isn't about laughing at corporate flops. >> i want people to realize and

understand, truly understand, that if they don't take meaningful risks, there will be no progress. >> reporter: it started when west was earning his ph.d. in psychology, studying corporate behavior. he started noticing companies' reluctance to invest in the kind of experimentation that leads to innovation. >> you explore new methods, new products, technology, et cetera. you're more likely than not to fail-- in fact, 90% of those projects fail. and it became more and more apparent that the real obstacle to innovation is that people are afraid of failing. i was thinking, what can i do to communicate that we need to start accepting failure, rather than stigmatizing failure? >> reporter: west started collecting examples of products that had failed, and ended up opening a museum in sweden in 2017. the museum of failure is now on a tour of the united states, kicking off just outside minneapolis. the exhibit starts with failures in transportation. >> we call it failure in motion. >> reporter: besides the edsel,

there's a swedish warship from 1628 that was so unstable, it sank just minutes after it first set sail. and a plastic bicycle, designed by volvo engineers, that wobbled and even cracked when people rode it. >> you're in the "digital disaster" area. we have... >> reporter: the digital disasters include apple's hockey puck mouse that was hard to use, and a video-chatting device made by facebook. it wasn't a hit. >> we have the google glass, 2013. put it on. looking good! >> reporter: okay, okay. this feels a little awkward, i'm not going to lie. >> reporter: it seemed revolutionary-- a wearable computer that projects images and takes pictures and video. >> the main reason it failed was because of privacy issues. >> reporter: glass users could record others without them knowing. >> we still deal with privacy issues today. but then? i mean, this was, like, a shock. google is fantastic at testing new things, and they're not afraid of failing. it's pretty cool. >> reporter: and we see how successful they are. >> absolutely.

>> reporter: speaking as a psychologist, where does this fear of failure come from, within us? >> a lot of it comes from our early experiences of failure. i mean, you-- you spill your glass of juice on the breakfast table, you don't get praised for that. there's also this fundamental part of failure, which is the social shame. there's some-- there's some functionality to that. we don't want a society where everybody is failing all the time. the problem is, when it comes to progress, when it comes to learning, innovation, those rules don't really apply. >> reporter: how can humans learn to be less afraid of failure? >> the best way to overcome it is to get used to it. >> reporter: for west, the collection is about sending a serious message. but he admits, some of it is pretty funny. like some of the food flops. bottled water for pets. a curious colgate-branded beef lasagna frozen dinner. baby food maker gerber's food for adults, meant to be eaten out of the jar.

and, the famous zero-calorie fat substitute, olestra. >> you can eat as much junk food as you wanted to without getting fat, right? problem was, it caused diarrhea. >> reporter: and then, in the category of "what were they thinking?"... >> this is the uroclub. >> reporter: ...there's a golf club that doubles as a-- well, just watch the commercial. >> it looks like an ordinary golf club, but contains a reservoir built into the grip to relieve yourself. the uroclub comes with a towel and appears that you're just checking out your club. leak-proof, easy to clean... >> doesn't draw any attention to you, at all. isn't awkward, at all. >> reporter: no! and you're carrying this around with you, then, for the rest of the game. >> yes. the commercials, and sort of-- they don't really specify what you do with it later. ( laughs ) and so, it was a serious product developed by a urologist who played golf. and then it became, sort of, sold more as a gag gift. >> reporter: the exhibit ends with a wall where people can confess to their own failures. 11-year-old zachary thao wrote "my grades," because he just got an "f" in art class. >> i got the lowest grade of my

whole entire, everything. >> reporter: and did you learn from that? >> yeah. probably just to turn in assignments more faster and more quicker. >> reporter: his twin brother logan couldn't think of anything, but says he appreciates failure, nonetheless. >> well, i think failure is good because then you can always work on that and improve it. >> reporter: and that, says creator samuel west, is the whole point. >> when individuals come here and they see these brands fail, they feel liberated. like, if they-- if the big bs can fail, so can i. and i think-- i love that. >> sreenivasan: finally tonight, there were scenes of panic at atlanta's hartsfield-jackson airport this afternoon, after what airport officials are calling an accidental discharge of a gun. some passengers in the terminal believed there was an active shooter and fled, even out onto the tarmac. airport officials said that the incident happened around 1:30 p.m. at a security

screening area, and that "there is not an active shooter at the airport." that's all for this edition of pbs newshour weekend. for the latest news updates, visit www.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.

♪♪ [ holiday music plays ] -welcome to a very special holiday episode of "america's test kitchen." -[ laughs ] -the whole cast is home for the holidays, and they're sharing their secrets to hiday planning. -i have a list, and people make fun of me. -i have, hour by hour... -i know i do. -...what goes in and out of the oven. -never tell people the menu. -[ laughs ] -you can rename any dish. so, if you burn something, just call it cajun turkey. -they're sharing their holiday memories. -oh, am i going to share this? -what have i really screwed up? the list is too long. -the most memorable for me was when i was allowed to make the turkey. -i actually once had the turkey on the grill catch on fire. -and they're sharing their all-time favorite holiday recipes. -i like to call this "my first tenderloin." that's how easy this recipe is. -i usually get a good reaction from the porchetta recipe. -the millionaire's shortbread