judy: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the "newshour" tonight, covid concerns. health officials cast doubt on whether travel bans can slow the spread of the new variant, instead emphasizing the need for global cooperation. then, high stakes. congress faces a potential government shutdown, and democrats struggle to push through the president's domestic agenda. and, on trial. elizabeth holmes returns to the stand in the silicon valley criminal fraud case against her former company, theranos. all that and more on tonight's "pbs newshour." ♪

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communities. >> and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. ♪ >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station by viewers like you. thank you. judy: more and more countries are reporting cases of covid-19's omicron variant tonight, and more are mandating travel bans. at the same time, advisors to the u.s. food and drug administration have now endorsed the merck company's pill to treat the virus in high-risk adults. all of this comes as public

health officials are emphasizing the need for global cooperation. nick schifrin begins our coverage. nick: today, from european capitals where omicron spread earlier than previously thought, to eastern africa, where health workers rushed to administer mrna vaccines, the world wrestled with worry. >> i overheard fears about the omicron variant, which is ravaging the world, so i decided to come for the jab. nick: many countries aren't relying only on jabs. at least 56 have imposed omicron-related travel restrictions. but more than 20 countries have detected omicron cases, from canada to australia. yesterday, japan closed its borders to foreigners and increased quarantines, but today reported its first omicron case. the world health organization has denounced travel bans, but today it also warned omicron numbers could double or triple this week, and suggested people over 60, at high risk, postpone -- you are not vaccinated, postpone travel.

and moderna warned its vaccine would likely be less effective against omicron. chief executive stephane bancel told the financial times, "all the scientists i've talked to say this is not going to be good." but u.s. officials today predicted vaccines could prove effective. white house covid response coordinator jeff zeints. >> existing vaccines are likely to continue to provide a degree of protection against severe illness. nick: in london, prime minister boris johnson visited a vaccination site, and urged britons get their third shots. but many countries are still racing to give their first shots. only about 10% of sub-saharan africans have received one covid shot, less than 1/6th the rate of north america and europe. today, secretary of state tony blinken reiterated, the u.s. wanted to help vaccinate the world. >> we know that none of us will be fully safe until everyone is. nick: the white house says it has donated more vaccines around the world than all countries combined, including 13 million to southern africa. today, the problem is not only supply. >> the logistical capability of

getting vaccines into people's arms in southern african countries, and in other low- and middle-income countries, is really very difficult. and in fact, many of the doses that have been shipped have not been used. nick: for more on all of this, we turn to dr. richard hatchett, chief executive officer of the coalition for epidemic preparedness innovations, or cepi, one of the leading organizations that is part of the u.n. covax vaccine distribution program. thank you, welcome back to the newshour. the netherlands announced it has discovered omicron variant last week well before south africa detected it for the first time. what does that say about efforts to prevent the variant spread? >> this variant has spread already around the world. as of today it is already on all six continents. the news from the netherlands in some respects isn't terrifically surprising. i think we will begin to

understand its spread over time. i think what we need to focus on obviously is botswana and south africa, identifying the variant and recognizing it has an increased mutational profile. they have been giving the world notice, given the world time. nick: the biden administration and other countries have imposed travel bans to increase surveillance. are those effective? >> travel restrictions can provide some degree of slowing of spread. in this case, the virus already seems to be disseminated, i think careful monitoring of travelers and the use of testing protocols both before they depart and after they arrive in a new country is probably owing to be a more effective way to monitor for the virus and allow travel to continue, because it is very costly to imposed travel

bans. nick: but are not -- moderna's ceo said the vaccines would not be as effective against omicron. >> looking at the mutational pattern, we have never seen such a concentration of mutations in the spike protein, which is the part of the virus that binds to the cells, and it has mutations that we know have been associated with reductions in vaccine effectiveness. i'm concerned. i think it is really important to do the testing, do the analysis, and understand just how much vaccine effectiveness may be reduced. it is prudent to begin developing new vaccine constructs just in case we need to switch over from the current vaccine to a new omicron specific vaccine. nick: are vaccine companies come are rich countries doing enough

to accelerate production of the vaccines? >> unfortunately, we have seen all the major venue -- vaccine manufacturing companies, they are all moving quickly to develop new omicron vaccines. pfizer and moderna think they can deliver a new omicron specific vaccine early in the new year. that is terrific. it is something we have articulated, the goal for the world to be able to develop new vaccines within 100 days. i think omicron presents a real-world opportunity to see what we can do and improve our processes. nick: you said something the -- that caught headlines, omicron is the chickens coming home to roost. what did you mean? >> we think we are seeing based on what we understand now, this virus him of this variant has emerged in countries that have had limited access to vaccines. that means covid has continued to circulate at high rates in

these countries, which gives it opportunities to mutate. scientists for months have been predicting that the inequity of vaccine distribution was creating the exact kind of circumstances that would promote the emergence of new variants, potentially with the ability to evade vaccines. the inequity that has characterized the global response to date has come home to roost. nick: dr. fauci said the problem wasn't only supply, how much rich countries are giving, but problems on distribution, especially in southern africa. is that part of the problem? >> now that supplies, covax has distributed millions of doses and supplies are continuing to increase but we are beginning to see challenges in countries to receive this flood of vaccines and distribute it. we need to shift our focus to

sporting -- supporting countries' ability to dispense vaccines as rapidly as possible. that will be the big challenge for 2022. nick: there are problems especially in southern africa of vaccine skepticism. >> that is a global problem. vaccine skepticism, hesitancy has different roots in different environments. it has emerged as a major challenge to vaccinating populations sufficiently to achieve anything like herd immunity. i think we would have to tackle that problem, but it has many different roots that contribute to it. nick: thank you very much. ♪ stephanie: i'm stephanie sy with newshour west. we'll return to the full program

after the latest headlines. updating our top story, the washington post reports the biden administration is planning stricter testing requirements for all travelers entering the united states. separately, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction of president biden's national vaccine mandate for health workers. in other news, at least 3 students were killed after a shooting at their high school in southeastern michigan. police say the gunman was a 15-year-old sophomore, arrested at the scene, about 40 miles north of detroit. at least 8 people were wounded, including a teacher. >> we will get to the bottom of this. we are executing a search warrant at the suspect's house. we have talked to the parents, and all i can tell you is, they didn't want their son to talk to us and they've hired an attorney. stephanie: there is no indication that the alleged ooter had any prior run-ins with police. a federal appeals court today upheld california's ban on high-capacity firearms magazines. the state wants to limit magazines to 10 bullets.

a smaller panel of the same appeals court had found the ban on magazines with higher capacity was unconstitutional. gun owner groups vowed to take the case to the u.s. supreme court. the federal reserve may accelerate a shift in its focus away from holding down interest rates, to holding down prices. fed chair jerome powell appeared before senators today with treasury secretary janet yellen. he said inflation worries could bring a quicker end to the policy of buying bonds to keep rates low. >> we now look at an economy that's very strong, and inflationary pressures that are high. that means it's appropriate, i think, for us to discuss at our next meeting, which is in a couple weeks, whether it would be appropriate to wrap up our purchases a few months earlier. stephanie: powell's comments, and worries about the omicron variant, hit wall street hard. the major indexes fell 1.5%-2%. the dow jones industrial average lost 652 points to close at 34,483. the nasdaq shed 245 points.

the s&p 500 was down 88. former president trump's white house chief of staff, mark meadows, has begun cooperating with a congressional probe of the capitol assault in january. the committee's chair said today that meadows has turned over records, and will give a deposition. for now, the committee has put off plans to hold him in contempt. in afghanistan, there's word the taliban has killed or abducted more than 100 former police and intelligence officers since seizing power in august. human rights watch reports, taliban commanders have carried out night raids. they initially promised amnesty to those they're now targeting. russia's president vladimir putin issued a new warning to nato today over ukraine. he said russia will have to act if the alliance places advanced missiles in ukraine. he spoke during an online forum in moscow. >> creating such threats in ukraine poses red lines for us. but i hope it doesn't come to

that. i hope that common sense, and a responsibility for both our countries and the world community, will prevail. stephanie: the u.s. and moscow will play -- pay a high price if it in great -- invades ukraine again. demonstrationsgainst a military coup and so van -- in sudan. protesters marched in other cities around the country. barbados became a republic today, after nearly 400 years of allegiance to britain. a ceremony in the capital, bridgetown, marked the event, with britain's prince charles and island native rihanna taking part. the singer was named a national hero. back in this country, new york has become the first major city to open legal safe havens for people to inject heroin or other narcotics. supporters say the supervised sites will save lives. opponents say it amounts to sanctioning drug abuse. rhode island is the only state to allow supervised injection

sites. cnn has suspended indefinitely one of its top anchors, chris cuomo. the cable network says it will evaluate his role in helping his brother, andrew cuomo, deflect sexual harrassement allegations when he was governor of new york. and the late josephine baker, famed entertainer, french resistance member, and civil rights advocate, was inducted into the pantheon in paris today. she is the first black woman and first american-born recipient of france's highest honor. military officers carried a symbolic empty coffin to the mausoleum. baker's remains are interred in monaco, where she was living at the time of her death in 1975 still to come on the "newshour," the supreme court prepares to hear a major abortion case. theranos founder elizabeth holmes on the stand. how a los angeles artist draws attention to undertold stories using murals. plus much more.

♪ >> this is the pbs newshour from w eta studios in washington and in the west, from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. judy: congress is back, and facing a high stakes december on capitol hill. funding for the federal government runs out on friday, and lawmakers are scrambling to avoid a shutdown. on top of that, senate democrats have a long to-do list of items to pass before the holidays, including president biden's build back better agenda. for more on all this, i'm joined by our congressional correspondent, lisa desjardins. lisa, a lot to keep track of let's start with the deadlines. government funding and the debt ceiling. is the government going to run out of money? lisa: the short version, we are back again at crisis point, but this time it feels like offramp's are being built.

let me tell you about the longer version. let's look at a graphic. the first deadline is government funding running out on friday. what is going on now, talks are underway and i can report there is a likely deal to extend the temporary funding bill into mid-january, early february. they are working out the date. we expect action as soonest tomorrow. the other deadline, the debt ceiling, could hit the middle or late december or -- but it depends on what they do with highway trust fund money. this is something we haven't seen in a while, so mentors -- senators schumer and mcconnell are talking quietly. they say they are making progress. it is a change from macconnell's defiant stance when he said republicans wouldn't help raise the debt ceiling. he is not saying that now so there is hope there could be a deal and we could get through the crisis with a lot less stress than last time. judy: lisa, meantime, we know

the -- before the thanksgiving break, house democrats passed this big build back better bill, and sent it to the senate. where does it stand? lisa: what is happening with the content, a flurry of names especially if you are a senator named joe manchin, you are in the media today. he is talking about energy, the carbon offsets in the bill, climate change. he hasn't yet committed to support the build back better bill. he seems to be getting on board but he isn't there yet. that is important. the second thing is the timing. we learned today, from sources and at least one senator on the record, they believe they will need a few more weeks to work things out. to get through the reconciliation process, they only need 50 votes, they need the parliamentarians ok. the senate parliamentarian is

undergoing cancer treatment so it is taking more time. they think they can get through it but the bottom line is, the build back at her bill, i don't think it will make it to the senate floor for at least two weeks and we will have time to look at what is in it. so we'll democrats in terms of carving out the final version. judy: lisa, while the senate is busy with all of this, there has been an episode, another episode in the house, this time, the congresswoman from colorado lauren boebert has made anti-muslim remarks about congresswoman yl han omar. lisa: this is part of what i see and many others see as a rise in dangerous personal attacks from our lawmakers themselves, attacks we have known have led to real-world violence. representative boebert set on the floor of the house during

debate, she referred to representative omar as part of the jihad squad. she has said that before. representative omar is one of three muslims in congress, the only one who wears a hijab. she ran to rail against the idea of the country towards muslims and the idea they have to prove they are not terrorists. this is part of a pattern for representative boebert. we have video from over the thanksgiving break when she spoke to a group and she talked about, she was making a joke and the joke was set up like this. she said she saw a police officer running towards her in an elevator. i would black -- i will let her pick it up. >> i look to my left and there she is, ilhan omar. and i said, well, she doesn't have a backpack, so she should be fine. lisa: that is a clear, saying she is a terrorist, i'm scared of her.

what is interesting is republicans pushed back. i want to play the sound of nancy mase of south carolina asked about lauren boebert's comments. >> i have, time after time, condemned my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for racist tropes and remarks that i find disgusting. and this is no different than any others. lisa: for that comment, that might seem innocuous but pushing back at all against this bigotry, she has faced some very serious pushback on twitter from marjorie taylor greene and others that are on the far right. i raise this because this is part of serious personal attacks, rhetoric happening from lawmakers that we know is affecting people in the real world and it is a split among republicans. nancy mase is putting herself out there standing up for what she said. she is not backing down. judy: more and more instances like this. lisa: unfortunately, yes.

judy: lisa, thank you. ♪ judy: it is the eve of oral arguments in what could be the most important legal case over abortion rights at the u.s. supreme court in a generation. amna nawaz previews tomorrow's session. amna: the case is seen as one of the most aggressive challenges to date to roe v. wade, the landmark supreme court decision that legalized abortion in america. here, the justices will decide the constitutionality of mississippi's 2018 law banning most abortions beyond 15 weeks of pregnancy. if the court were to overturn roe, abortion bans pasd in a dozen states since the 1973 ruling would immediately go into effect. for more on these historic stakes, we get perspective from alexis mcgill johnson, president of the planned parenthood action fund, and marjorie dannenfelser,

president of the susan b. anthony list. welcome to you both. thanks for being here. marjorie, is this the moment antiabortion activists have been waiting half a century for? what is the best outcome for you? >> after 50 years of not being able to allow the will of t people to make its way into law in the states, this seems like the best opportunity to overturn roe v. wade. the effect of that will be to return to the states their ability to do just that, and claws that reflect the will of the people in each state. so we are hopeful, hoping there is a complete overturn, at a minimum a partial overturn. when that happens it will put us in line with the rest of the world. 47 out of 50 european countries limit abortion before 15 weeks. we don't limit it at any point. amna: alexis, given the fractured landscape of abortion rights across the country, if

the court moves to limit row or overturn it, what is at stake? >> 36 million people will be living in states without an abortion provider. it is not just the dozen states that have trigger laws, it is a band towable -- to abortion and what we are seeing in texas. i would disagree this is about the will of the people. in state after state, particularly the south and midwest, the tyranny of the minority, the vocal minority who control power, there is no state where banning abortion is popular. what you will have is thousands of people having to travel out of state just to seek access to basic health care. amna: i want to take a look at where current attitudes are when you look at the polling. current attitudes towards abortion in america, these are 2021 numbers, 32 percent of those polled believe abortion should be legal always, 48% say

it should be legal sometimes and 19% say it should be illegal in all cases. marjorie, 80 percent of americans polled say at least sometimes abortion should be legal. you still want it to be ended in all cases? >> what would be a real win is if each state, given the best ability we have in this country to allow consensus to make its way into law, when elected officials are held accountable to the people, that we will find each state has different consensus. that is the way we do things in this country. how we have handled egregious human rights violations over time. allow the people to express their will through their elected representatives. another permutation of that poll is that 80% of americans think abortion should be limited after 12 weeks. that is a far cry from what the supreme court mandated, that it couldn't be limited at any

point. we have some work to do and consensus is not necessarily what the abortion lobby wants, because that means they lose ground. they got only through judicial fiat. the will of the people expressed, and those legislative -- legislators accountable to the people is the best way to resolve this. amna: alexis, i will give you a chance to respond. >> judicial fiat, here we have the complete remaking of the judiciary among judges, some of whom don't even believe in ivf. i think that is laughable. we are talking about the fact that every pregnancy is unique, every circumstance for every person, to make a decision, is unique. the intent of the antiabortion movement is to totally ban abortion because they don't trust pregnt people to make decisions about their own bodies. the real impact is what we are seeing now in these people who

are traveling thousands of miles out of fear, because of this horrific ban in texas. seeing a 12-year-old patient that came into a planned parenthood who said it was an accident, why are they making this hard for me? that is the real life impact, people on the others these bands that could be impacted across the country with the overturning of roe. amna: if it is overturned or dramatically limited to, you could potentially have tens of thousands of women facing unplanned or unwanted pregnancies. tell me what that landscape looks like for you in the way of support for these children and women who are being disproportionately, women of color, low income women. >> like now when we face unplanned pregnancies, the one response planned parenthood has, it is disproportionate, almost complete answer they have is to abort the child. if we don't acknowledge what we

are really talking about, the fundamental difference of opinion, we do a discredit to the debate that should be happening in this nation. the fundamental difference of opinion is about whether there are two human beings that need help in every unplanned pregnancy. the responsibility of the pro-life movement down the responsibility of planned parenthood is to serve those women and their unborn children and airborne children and every unplanned and difficult pregnancy. that is where we should be working together, as a compassionate, loving move that is the way forward. amna: what does that landscape look like? are you advocating state governments allocating more money to support these women? >> in texas 100 million dollars was dedicated towards alternatives to abortion and support for services. seven reasons that women have abortions, and ways to support

their children otherwise. what we are doing through many of our entities is doing complete reviews of each state that would be most ambitious in passing laws and looking at every single service to a woman and child, finding the gaps, making sure it is accessible to women. and surrounding them with love and protection in the long-term manatt just abortion today and we will never see you again. amna: we have seen democratic country -- controlled legislatures moving to codify abortion access in preparation for what could be ahead. regardless of what happens in the supreme court it looks like this will play out at the state level. look forward. what does this landscape look like in the future? is enough being done to meet the need of those women as it could be growing? >> there are not nearly enough providers in states that are moving to codify roe, to meet

the need. we have seen it in texas, we saw the ripple effect of people traveling to new mexico, people in new mexico traveling to arizona and california. the impact on people, the very people marjorie claims to care about, who have to take off from work because they need access to care, they need to get childcare because the majority of people who are seeking access are already parents. we are talking about not forcing people into parenthood. we are trying to help people to give them a range of options and support the decision because we trust them to make the decision for themselves. the work continues to be, to push in those states where access is wider, to really push the boundaries and ensure that there is more access and more support and more care. and to ensure we can actually support that imagination into the states that are becoming more and more restrictive. we have seen 600 restrictions

introduced just this last year, and the fact that the supreme court has taken up this case again just goes to demonstrate the complete disdain for our ability to make decisions about our own bodies and to trust lawmakers to do that instead is really quite unconscionable. amna: we will be watching this as this unfolds across the country. it is an historic moment with a lot at stake. thank you both for joining in the conversation. ♪ judy: elizabeth holmes, the founder of the former health technology company theranos, faced cross-examination today for the first time in the fraud case against her. federal prosecutors have called 29 witnesses over 11 weeks in an attempt to reveal the alleged deception that led investo and patients to believe the company

could conduct a range of tests using just a few drops of blood. the start-up collapsed in 2018. rebecca jarvis is the chief business, technology, and economics correspondent for abc news, and the host of "the dropout," a podcast about holmes and the ongoing trial, which is being held in san jose. rebecca jarvis, thanks for being with us. the defense has only begun its side. the prosecution has spent almost two months making this case or even longer. if you can, sum up what the prosecution was trying to do. >> the prosecution has shown in meticulous detail, their allegations that elizabeth holmes was the one in charge of her company, that she is the reason investors, patients and doctors were defrauded and they have shown us individuals,

including investors, patients, we have heard from doctors, we have heard from scientists inside the company, we heard from scientists outside the company, in meticulous detail laying out this fraud and putting elizabeth holmes at the center of it. judy: as we said, she has taken the stand just before thanksgiving. we've only heard from her for a few days, but it has been dramatic, including her discussing being raped in college. give us a sense of what she is saying and the reaction. >> this has been explosive testimony. we have barely heard from elizabeth holmes since the charges were first brought and frankly have never heard some of the things that she has now been saying on the stand. and seeing her in the way she has behaved on the stand, getting emotional, talking about as you mentioned, being raped as a college student at stanford, that being according to her one of the reasons she decided to

drop out of stanford and begin her blood testing company theranos. she raised allegations which we thought might come up at the trial against her former boyfriend and coo sunny balwani alleging abuse in the relationship, alleging it was emotional and physical, he dictated everything from her schedule to the way that she ate. these are claims that he has denied, but these are claims she raised and certainly, something the jurors will have to think about as they think about the bigger picture west and, which is, did this man intend to commit fraud? judy: what i have read is that she is walking a fine line because on one hand, she is saying she was heavily influenced by him over a period of time but then, she is now saying he was not the reason she made these decisions as the head of the company. >> that is a really important

point that you raise, because she was asked point blank by her own attorney, did sunny balwani dictate what you said to investors? did he dictate what you shared with walgreens, your biggest customer? walgreens being the place, the one place where theranos tests got in front of patients in this country. she said point-blank, no, he was not part of those decisions. that is the fraud here. the fraud is not about the rest of these conversations and allegations, though they might make the jury feel more connected to her. of course, they have sat in front of her now for many weeks. she has been there, sitting with her family, they have been told she has a newborn baby. so they have really seen this woman for an extended span of time. judy: of course, whatever the jury decides will have a huge impact on her. she could face up to 20 years in prison. but it is also seen as a case

important for the future of silicon valley. how so? >> it raises questions about faking it until you make it. there are definitely people who believe that this is an dem make to silicon valley, this is the way people behave in silicon valley. there are those who think this is absolutely not the case. the bottom line is, this was a woman who was able to raise more money than most any other female founder. she became one of the wealthiest self-made women in the world at one point her company worth $9 billion. it does bring questions about, what standard we hold founders to. what is important when a device like a blood testing device gets in front of anybody at a walgreens store. judy: any sense of what we can expect next from the defense? >> we have certainly now heard the cross-examination today from the prosecution and they raised a number of text exchanges between elizabeth holmes and her former boyfriend and sunny

balwani. the defense will have to come back strong. the prosecution presented a lot of important evidence that really links, especially today, that links elizabeth holmes directly to the allegations of fraud. judy: rebecca jarvis, watching this riveting trial. thank you very much. we appreciated. >> thank you, judy. ♪ judy: a new exhibit at the museum of latin american art in long beach, california, looks at the scale and achievement of an artist capturing the untold stories of los angeles. jeffrey brown took a look at the work of judy baca for our arts and culture series, "canvas." jeffrey: it runs a half mile along the concrete banks of a river in the san fernando valley, 13-foot-high panels that

tell a history of a city. it's called "the great wall of los angeles," one of the largest murals in the world, designed and painted, with a little help from her friends, by judy baca. >> the story i wanted to tell was the story of the history that wasn't recorded in the history books. the history of people of color, the history of women, the indigenous people. to look at what was missing from the story of america, and to reconstruct that and teach it to the young people who'd begin to learn about each other. jeffrey: many of the ideas and stories came from local community members. and so did the actual painting, the work of some 400 people working hand in hand with baca. it was the 1970s and early 1980s, the beginnings of a commitment to a public art that would reach and benefit those around her. fast forward to today, a celebration of that commitment, in her first major retrospective exhibition of more than 120

works at the museum of latin american art in long beach. >> all of them are based in the notion that the land has memory, and that if i put my ear to the ground, i can hear it. and that, i can then articulate it visually. jeffrey: now 75, baca grew up in the l.a. neighborhoods of watts and pacoima, raised by a single mother who worked at the goodyear tire factory and a grandmother deeply attuned to the land. >> i came out of tradition that was both indigenous, and also the tradition of a contemporary woman in the united states. a chicana born here in the united states. jeffrey: the works speak to the mythical power of women and the undervalued domestic worker, to the stereotypes of the "lazy mexican," in sculptures that play off tourist shop sombreros. and, more recently, drawings that address the isolation she and many felt during the pandemic. it's an unusual setting, a

museum exhibition, for a woman who from the start saw herself an outsider in the art world. >> i never aspired to being one of the 2% of artists that make it in america. i never thought that was possible. first of all, there were no women. and second of all, there were certainly no latinas. so i was free in the sense, i could put the work where i wanted it to go. jeffrey: she wanted it outdoors, in public spaces, and she wanted large-scale, in the tradition of renowned mexican mural painters like diego rivera and others, mostly men. >> i chose making monumental work, which is basically a male area. i mean -- jeffrey: men make things. >> right. that's the purview of men. women don't make monuments. they could make a model of a monument, right? they could do a dollhouse, but they couldn't build a house, right? or design a house. so in other words, the scale for women was

prescribed. jeffrey: to overcome barriers, baca co-founded the social and public art resource center, or sparc, a community arts and education hub housed in an old jail in la's venice neighborhood. here, she works with other artists to plan and design murals and conduct research. why is the collaborative aspect of it so important to you? >> it's ownership. i've seen kids come down to the wall many years later, you know, saying "hey, i painted those mountains, right?" they feel pride in their support of a larger piece that was greater than anyone could do individually. jeffrey: at the core of her project, seen dramatically at the great wall, is a sense of recovering histories, especially of those written out of the history books. she calls her murals sites of public memory. >> one of the things i was seeing with the young people in the neighborhoods i was working in was that they didn't have those connections.

they did not understand the, the ancestry and the lineage that would give them dignity, that would give them pride. and that what we needed to do was recover that content. jeffrey: just one example among many, the story of david gonzales, medal of honor winner who died in battle saving others in the philippines during world war ii. as the wall was being painted, his mother told baca a county juvenile detention center was being named for her son. >> she said, "i don't want him remembered like that. he was not a juvenile delinquent. he was a congressional medal of honor winner. will you paint him here?" and him depicted with his mother was a joyful thing to paint and a story from my neighborhood that i didn't know. jeffrey: now, a new infusion of foundation funding will allow baca and her team to double the size of the mural, painting on the other side of the river, to bring the history up to date. meanwhile, back in long beach, a

chance to for the artist herself to see 40 years of work and take stock. >> essentially the thread was always looking at the conditions of my community and of the people that i loved and worked with and cared about. and telling their stories. i really believe that art has amazing capacities to be transformative. jeffrey: for the pbs newshour, i'm jeffrey brown at the museum of latin american art in long beach, california. judy: some power -- powerful images. and we'll be back shortly. but first, take a moment to hear from your local pbs station. it's a chance to offer your support, and keep programs like f

but spectacular" episode. a few years ago, the series creator and producer steve goldblum talked with his grandfather, richard, a renowned pediatrician and academic, about his progressive memory loss.

richard goldbloom died earlier this month at age 96. he inspired the name of this series, and will be missed by many. steve: this is our hundredth episode of brief, but spectacular. i'm steve goldbloom. richard: and i'm steve's favorite grandfather. richard goldbloom steve: it's very fitting that you were the hundredth guest on brief, but spectacular. you know why. richard: because i'm a hundred, or nearly. steve: well, you are close to a hundred years old, which is amazing. you know how old you are? richard: no. steve: you're going to be 93 this year. richard: my god, if i knew that i was going to live this long, i would've taken better care of myself. steve: and it's fitting, because you titled this series. you came up with the name. do you know that? richard: i remember that this -- steve: this story that i tell is that i went to synagogue and left. richard: that's correct. steve: snuck out, came back in. and what did you say? richard: i said you had made a brief, but spectacular

appearance. steve: i wanted to ask you a couple of questions, not just because you're my grandfather and i love you. and i, richard: you know, look, i get that in writing. steve: no part of what i wanted to ask you about is that you right now are going through memory loss, change of life, change of life and things that you used to do for yourself. like manage finances, drive a car, managed medicine, other people do for you. right? and i wanted to ask you if that bothers you at all. richard: no, i consider the alternative. steve: what is the alternative? richard: being dead. so i'm quite happy where i am. yeah. if i can remember where i am. steve: do you know what we're doing? richard: i have no idea. but keep talking. steve: we're going to look into this camera here. you gotta to do on three, a big clap right in front of your face. ready? just one clap. ♪ steve: what does it feel like to forget? or does it feel like anything? richard: well, there are some things i'd rather forget. in that case, it's a blessing. and otherwise, i learned to live

with it. you know, people remind me when to get up, when to go to bed, things like that. steve: do you remember when you stopped driving? richard: did i stop? steve: you stopped driving? yeah. richard: i didn't know that. i don't particularly miss it. people drive me everywhere. steve: tell me the role that music has played in your life. richard: i grew up with a lot of music in my environment and i took to the piano very readily. i played by ear before i ever had a music lesson. i still play mostly for my own amazement. ♪ steve: tell me how lucky you feel to have had the kind of marriage that you have, which is extraordinary when lasted more than 60 years. richard: yes, that is true. uh, that was a test of my wife's endurance. it was a great,

lifelong love affair. she lives -- was a very acute assessor of other people and she was very good to me. she recognize all my shortcomings and discuss them with just about everybody. steve: when she passed away, how did that change your life? richard: oh, dramatically and forever. i mean, i still miss her a lot, and in that sense, you know, something vital has gone out of my life. steve: and you still think about her every day. richard: pretty near every day, every once in a while i take a day off. steve: what do you still take pleasure in? richard: life. my name is richard goldbloom and this has been my brief, but spectacular take. ♪ judy: can't watch that often

enough. you can watch all of our brief but spectacular videos on our website. that's the newshour tonight. i'm judy. for all of us, thank you and please stay safe. we will see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- ♪ >> consumer cellular. johnson & johnson. financial services firm raymond james. bnsf railway. carnegie corporation of new york, supporting innovations in education, democratic engagement, and the advancement of international peace and security, at carnegie.org. the target foundation, committed to advancing racial equity and creating the change will wired to shift systems and accelerate

equitable economic opportunity. and with the ongoing support of these institutions. ♪ >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting, and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. ♪ >> this is pbs newshour west from w eta studios in washington and from our bureau at the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. ♪

- [presenter] : this program was made possible in part by contributions to your pbs station, from viewers like you. thank you. - [keith david] : ken burns, together with his daughter, sarah burns, david mcmahon, and the incredible team at florentine films, take on one of the most influential people of the 20th century, muhammad ali. - [ken burns] : you are talking with muhammad ali, about a figure in world history. he was, for a time, not just the most recognizable person on the planet but the most loved person on the planet. - [larry holmes] : i loved being around him. i loved being around muhammad ali. - [bundini brown] : you gon' float like a butterfly and sting like a bee. (yelling together) ahh! - [bundini brown] : rumble, young man, rumble.

(yelling together) - [deggans]: he was charismatic. he was good-looking.