captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening, i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight... >> we're going to fight this variant with science and speed, not chaos and confusion. >> woodruff: ...the pandemic persists-- the president lays out a plan to counteract the omicron variant, including testing and travel restrictions, as the number of global infections rise. then, high stakes-- a potential government shutdown looms as congress remains divided on funding and vaccine mandates. and, the toll of gun violence-- a deadly school shooting in michigan highlights the ongoing issue of access to firearms in the united states. >> it's extraordinarily difficult to know before the

fact that something is going to take place so horrifically and extraordinarily. >> woodruff: all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> fidelity is here to help you work through the unexpected, with financial planning and advice for today, and tomorrow. >> the kendeda fund. committed to advancing restorative justice and meaningful work through

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>> woodruff: the nation's covid- 19 watch has turned up more cases of the omicron variant tonight. they appeared as president biden unveiled new initiatives on vaccines, masking and treatment. white house correspondent yamiche alcindor begins our coverage. scientists in the world and we are going to fight this variant with science and speed, not chaos and confusion. >> alcindor: today, at the national institutes of health, just outside washington, the president laid out new plans to fight the spread of covid-19, including the omicron variant. >> experts say covid-19 cases will continue to rise in the weeks ahead and this winter so we need to be ready. >> alcindor: the plan requires private health insurance companies to cover costs of at- home covid tests. it also extends mask requirements on public transit and domestic flights through mid-march, and, beginning next week, it says all international flyers entering the u.s. must test negative for covid one day before departure. the administration is also

working to supply covid treatment pills to high-risk americans, once the pills get f.d.a. approval. in addition, the president is calling for new vaccination campaigns, new clinics and a new emphasis on booster shots for all adults. he is also vowing to get more vaccines to countries in need. >> vaccinating the world is not just a moral tool, a moral obligation that we have in my view, it's how we protect americans. as we see with this new variant, america is doing our part and we'll do more. but this is a global pandemic and everyone needs to fight it together. >> alcindor: the strategy to push boosters domestically includes expanding appointment availabilities in pharmacies and increasing outreach to seniors. president biden says it's all part of an effort to avert new shutdowns especially of schools and businesses. all of this comes as more omicron cases appeared across the u.s., including in colorado and minnesota.

and, day by day, the new variant keeps spreading globally, with more than two dozen untries reporting cases so far. today, india confirmed its first cases of omicron. in south africa, the government is pushing for more people to get vaccinated as omicron rapidly overtakes the once dominant delta variant there. gauteng province accounts for 70% of new cases in the country. that has prompted officials to reopen field hospitals. >> we are worried about the rapid rise in these numbers, and we want to deal with it as if we are in the fourth wave. whether technically declared or not, that's how we are responding. we are not panicking, but we are deeply concerned about those who are still not coming forward to take their jabs. >> alcindor: in south africa, daily covid infections have nearly doubled. and health officials there say omicron appears more likely to re-infect those who already had

covid. but, so far, they say, the cases have been mild. at the same time, african officials are raising more concerns over travel restrictions imposed by the u.s. and many other countries. while today, president biden defended u.s. travel restrictions on southern african countries, some experts say the approach is misguided. professor salim abdool karim is a clinical infectious diseases epidemiologist from south africa. >> what it basically is doing is punishing south africa and making south africa take the economic impact. and what makes it more ridiculous is that this variant is now spreading in many countries, including those that have instituted the ban. >> alcindor: abdool karim said travel restrictions could prevent more countries from coming forward with information on future variants. >> i was taken aback that they because what it's basically saying to the rest of the world that in future, if you have good

surveillance systems and you have in place the mechanisms to identify a new variant and to identify early, then whatever you do, don't tell the world, keep it secret. >> alcindor: he expects by the end of the week that the number of new covid infections in south africa will reach more than 10,000 a day, pushing hospitals to capacity. for now though, even as omicron spreads, it's the delta variant that's stretching health systems to the breaking point in europe and parts of the u.s. today, germany announced plans to ban anyone unvaccinated from most public spaces as it faces a record high number of covid deaths. acting german chancellor angela merkel: >> ( translated ): access to leisure, sports and cultural activities will be limited germany-wide to those who are vaccinated or have recovered from covid-19, irrelevant of the incidence rate. >> alcindor: meanwhile, public health officials and researchers are racing to determine whether the vaccines that work against

delta will work as well against omicron. for the pbs newshour, i'm yamiche alcindor. >> woodruff: in the day's other news, the biden administration announced plans to re-instate the "remain in mexico" policy for asylum seekers, as of monday. president biden had tried to end the trump-era practice, but a federal court forced its reinstatement. under an agreement with mexico, u.s. officials will aim to process cases within 180 days and to ensure migrants' safety. congress moved today to try to avert a shutdown of the federal government, one day before the deadline. the democratic-led house of representatives approved a bill to fund operations through mid- february. in the 50-50 senate, party leaders backed the bill, but a

group of republicans demanded votes on covid vaccine mandates. the arguments unfolded on the senate floor. >> there are a number of senators including me who are not inclined to give consent to expedite a funding measure that supports and funds president biden's unconstitutional and sweeping vaccine mandate without holding a vote on that mandate. >> unfortunately, it seems republican dysfunction could be a roadblock to averting an unnecessary and dangerous government shutdown. democrats and most republicans icluding the republican leader have said they don't want to see a republican shutdown. we hope cooler heads will prevail. >> woodruff: we'll return to this, with the senate's number two democrat, dick durbin, after the news summary. major league baseball shut down overnight after the league's collective bargaining agreement expired. team owners then locked out the

players, forcing baseball's first work stoppage since 1995. the two sides have just over two months to try to hash out a deal, before spring training begins in mid-february. u.s. secretary of state antony blinken sounded a new warning to russia today, to keep hands off ukraine. he met with russian foreign minister sergei lavrov in stockholm, amid a russian military build-up along the ukraine border. >> we have a strong, ironclad commitment to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of ukraine. the best way to avert a crisis is through diplomacy. but and again, in the spirit of being clear and candid, which is the best thing to do, if russia decides to pursue confrontation, there will be serious consequences. >> woodruff: in turn, moscow warned that ukraine's leaders are the ones making war-like moves. a kremlin spokesman said that -- as a result -- the possibility

of hostilities remains high back in this country: a white former sheriff's deputy who killed a black man a year ago, was charged with murder today in columbus, ohio. jason meade shot casey goodson junior five times in the back, touching off racial justice protests. meade has since retired on disability. in economic news, kellogg announced a tentative deal with 1,400 cereal plant workers, after a strike that's lasted nearly two months. the new five-year contract would include 3% raises and better benefits. employees will vote on the contract, this sunday. opec and allied producers agreed today to keep raising oil output by modest amounts each month. that sent oil prices higher. and, wall street staged a broad rally as well. the dow jones industrial average gained 617 points, nearly 2%, to close at 34,639.

the nasdaq rose 127 points. the s&p 500 added 64. and, the holiday season is officially under way in washington, with the 99th annual lighting of the national christmas tree. president and mrs. biden did the honors this evening in front of a line-up of musical performers. the tradition dates back to 1923 still to come on the newshour: a potential government shutdown looms as congress remains divided. a deadly shooting in michigan underscores the ongoing issue of violence in schools. an exhibit by artist sanford biggers highlights the intersections of history and art. plus much more.

>> woodruff: funding for the federal government runs out tomorrow at midnight. today house democrats passed a short term measure to keep the government funded through february, but a group of republican lawmakers in the senate are threatening to force a shutdown to fight president biden's vaccine mandate. to break this down, i'm joined by our congressional correspondent, lisa desjardins. so, lisa, we're right up on the deadline. >> we are. >> woodruff: where does everything stand? >> judy, you know we've had some stormy days this week and every other week, but i am here to report in the last few minutes, a rainbow may be forming above the united states senate. i have multie sources telling me it looks like there is a deal to get past the problems in that body. let me first back up with what we know, okay. let's talk about what this temporary funding deal would do. first of all, we're talking about a continuing resolution that is sort of paradoxically named funding bill, that the house voted on in the past

couple of hours. that woulextend funding for the u.s. government through february 18. in it, also i want to mention is $7 billion importantly for afghan refugees who have been brought to this country after the u.s. withdrawal from afghanistan. now, the issue, as you said, there's a group of senate republicans who have been blocking the fast tracking of this bill. now, those senate republicans are trying to push one particular issue, the issue of vaccine mandates, which they oppose. we're talking about a few members. senator mike leigh of utah is one of them. he would like the senate to pass a bill banning any funding of vaccine mandates. he thinking the government should not be in that business. with him, senator roger marshall, a freshman senator. those two have the power to delay any funding bill long enough to cause a funding-- a government shutdown, at least into next week. however, in the past fe minutes, i understand that there is an emerging deal. senator marshall has confirmed, and i have sources in both parties and in both chambers,

saying that there could be a vote now tonight because they're giving senator leigh what he wants-- a vote on his idea on opposition to vaccine mandates. why would senate democrats do that? because it's likely to fail. there's complicated reasons why, including an absence from one republican senator, but right now, it looks like senator leigh will get a vote tonight that he wants, and then this resolution to keep government funding could go through the senate and be passed as soon as tonight. >> woodruff: so the ice is breaking on that. meantime, lisa, is it your understanding that this question of vaccine mandates is a one-time thing, or is this something that we can see coming up again? >> no, this will come up again, and it will likely come up again next week in the u.s. senate, when senate republicans have used a privileged maneuver to again come back and openly question president biden's idea to impose vaccine mandates on large companies. there will likely be a vote on that next week in the u.s. senate. but this is beyond the u.s. senate. judy, i want to show a photo of

what happened today in the state of new jersey in trenton, in the u.s. capitol. this is a sight of reporters trying to get into the general assembly, being blocked by police officers, because there is a new rule in the state house there that you must have proof of vaccination or a negative covid test to get in. and the state-- the speaker of the state assembly there has been pushing that, but republicans pushed back, and republicans entered the chamber against that rule, tested whether the police would stop them or not. there were some potential confrontations there, some chaos in the new jersey state house, over this exact issue. and i think we're going to see this kroops the country in different forms, and it will be in the u.s. capitol again next week. >> woodruff: along partisan lines. >> yes. >> woodruff: lisa desjardins, thank you very much. >> you're welcome. >> woodruff: and for more on where all this stands, we turn to someone in senate leadership. he is senator dick durbin of illinois, the second highest ranking democrat, and he joins me now.

senator durbin, thank you very much for joining us again. we just heard lisa reporting. it looks like a deal has taken place. is that your understanding? >> it sure is. and lisa's-- i listened closely to her report, and it's very accurate, based on what we've just learned on the senate floor. we're close to wrapping it up this evening. we have two votes ahead of us, senator leigh on the vaccine mandates, and then final passage on the continuing resolution. >> woodruff: and does this agreement include an agreement on a debt ceiling which, as you know, is something else that has been hanging in the balance? >> it does not include it, as far as i know. but it is in the works,s and there is active negotiation between senator mcconnell and senator schumer, and i hope that they can reach an agreement by next week so we can get that done as well. >> woodruff: but you're saying you believe they will? >> i-- let me just tell you, you deal with vibrations in the senate, good vibrations tonight. and the fact that for the last two weeks, the two leaders have

put their heads together is a positive thing. >> woodruff: senator durbin, let me ask you about the sticking point here, that 14 republicans were prepared to hold this up, government funding up, because they don't like the idea of these vaccine mandates. we heard-- we've been hearing now, despite the agreement, what they were saying was senator roger marshall, senator leigh and others saying it's just not right that the federal government is forcing private employers, large employers, to have a vaccine mandate. how-- how are democrats going to deal with what appears to be an ongoing issue for republican-- a number of republicans? >> it's an ongoing issue for the republican base, but the vast majority of american citizens want people to be vaccinated to protect themselves, their families, and the people they come in contact with. and as far as the businesses are concerned, take a look at united airlines. i think the latest number i heard is over 95% of their employees are vaccinate pd upon they used this government mandate by the president as an incentive to get the job done.

it means it's a safer place to fly, and americans know that. the same is true at businesses across the country. i think the republicans are flat-out wrong on this and sadly, their position is going to endanger the health of lots of americans. >> woodruff: how confident are you in the days to come that you will be able to hold off that argument that they apparently are going to continue to make? >> i don't know. and i'll be honest with you, in the senate, when it's a 50-50 vote, it only takes one person to cross over, so we'll see. it's likely to come up this evening. it's likely to come up next week. the attendance is an important part of the vote issue. we'll see what comes of it. >> woodruff: senator, another issue of course before the senate is the "build back better" bill, priority for the president and the democrats right now. there's not only solid republican opposition to that. you still have some democrats who have issues with it, including jur colleagues joe manchin of west virginia,

kyrsten sniema. i'm looking at what you quoted, you said it's time for them to get on board with "built back better." have you heard from them? have you spoken with them? >> no, i haven't. we're being very careful in terms of negotiation. we're literally down to one or two votes as to whether this moves forward. it's a massive undertaking in terms of the impact on families across america who are dealing with the rising cost of living. we want to make sure that we help those families, and we need all 50 democrats to make that happen. i don't want to jinx the deal by getting involved at some stage here and talking too much or too little. i think we're on track, but, ultimately, any single senator can stop this effort. >> woodruff: and i want to ask you, senator, about another aspect that's been a hang-up in the "build back better" bill and that has to do with expanding the state and local tax deductions. is that going to be in the bill,

what some democrats have urged? >> i think it will be. the exact language, i'm not sure. but here's what it boils down to, judy-- if you and i are paying taxes on our homes, the question is should we be taxedly by the federal government on the taxes we paid, a tax on tax? historically, the answer was no. we had an exemption. if you paid a tax, you don't have to pay a federal tax on that tax. and now, the latest republican undertaking four years ago with tax reform imposed a new tax on a tax. we're trying to get back to the stage where people don't have to face that double taxation. i support it. there may be variations on the theme as we get close to it, but i think the principle is sound. >> woodruff: speaking of variations, we know the version that is coming-- that came out of the house overwhelmingly would favor wealthier americans. how much do you expect the senate might reduce that? >> i don't know the answer to that. i know it's an issue in play. i'm sure that it will be discussed as we get down to the

wire. next week is really the key week when it comes to reconciliation. because we've had the parliamentarian, the senate parliamentarian, she's played an important role in deciding what issues are eligible for this bill. and after she's made her decision, we've got to make a final decision on what to present on the floor as early as the middle of december. >> woodruff: finally, senator, i want to turn you to the question of covid. in your home state of illinois, as the country now bracing for this new variant, omicron, i was reading today that illinois health officials reporting more than 6100 new cases, the most in a single day since january in your home state. why do you think this is happening? >> it's happening because everyone in america is not vaccinated. that would not be the end of the threat, but it would certainly lessen the likelihood that these variants would emerge or that we would be vulnerable to them when they did. listen, when a group of republican senators and the republican party decide on a

political basis to exempt certain americans from a mutual responsibility to one another, we pay the consequences. we face those consequences. it's unfortunate that this is a situation. we have to make the best of it. those of us who are vaccinated have to encourage everyone who isn't to think about it again. >> woodruff: just quickly, to those who say not enough testing is part of the problem, what's being done to address that? >> well, a couple of weeks ago i went over to scotland to this meeting on the environment, in a matter of 24, 36 hours, i must have been tested six different times and reported to the british health service each time. this is true that other countries are clearly doing more testing, and we should, too. i think it would be good for america, and i hope more people will cooperate. first, get vaccinated, but if you don't get tested regularly and observe the most basic things about social distancing and washing your hands. >> woodruff: and have you said that to the biden administration? >> i will. i'm sure that they agree with me. i don't think there's any difference of opinion. >> woodruff: senator dick

durbin, the senate majority whip. we thank you very much for joining us. >> thanks, judy. >> woodruff: while we don't know whether omicron will lead to more severe cases, its ability to spread is becoming clearer. south africa's cases are spiking >> we are hearing new york state has identified five more cases of the omicron variant. south africa's ca cases are spig at the fastest rate since the pandemic began. e and european officials said their modeling found omicron would likely be responsible for more than half of all cases there this winter. william brangham looks at the global picture. >> brangham: the world health organization has argued omicron poses a high risk globally because of possibility that this strain can transmit more easily.

dr. margaret harris is a public health doctor and spokesperson for the w.h.o. and she joins me from geneva. dr. harris, good to have you back on the newshour. there are still so many unanswered questions about omicron, about its contagiousness, about its virulence, about its what it does vis-a-vis our vaccines. what was it that you all saw initially that made you want to ring the alarm bell? >> so the big thing, the thing that made our experts in the viral evolution group really sit up and take notice was the large number of mutations. so there are more mutations in this one than any of the others we've seen up to 50. and a lot of them up to 32 are in the spike region. and the spike, as i'm sure you're all aware now, is the thing that the virus uses to enter our cells and cause problems. it's also the thing that's been targeted by our vaccines and

some of those mutations. so again, there were just too many things that didn't look so good, and the decision was we need to tell the world about this now, even though there are many, many unanswered questions right now. >> brangham: there are these reports out of south africa of rising hospitalizations, quite rapid rise in areas where we know omicron is present. have you seen those reports and do those indicate to you, as they do to some, that that is an early indicator of trouble? >> yes, indeed, and this was part of the epidemiology that we looked at as well. south africa had a very flat curve until recently and then suddenly numbers went right up very, very quickly. we don't know that that's all omicron. but that's again, another signal that makes us concerned. and when you see a big rise in numbers, we know that at least 10% of people who are infected are likely to end up in hospital, particularly in a in a

population that isn't heavily highly vaccinated. so if you've got a population that's not very vaccinated, then that's the case. in south africa, you will see at least 10% of people d up in hospital. so again, we don't know if it is just simply the pattern we've always seen, and this is just a result of pressure of numbers or are is omicron having some effect there. >> brangham: even though that information is still yet to come in, the u.s., many european nations have enacted travel bans from certain southern african countries. i know the w.h.o. has come out strongly against those moves. help us understand why. why do you think that's a bad idea? >> well, we don't like blanket bans, first of all, because they don't really work if you're really trying to sort of hermetically sealed your borders. usually you've done it too late that that what have you trying to stop is already going in there. secondly, a ban that then stops all flights means not only do

you stop people, but you stop transport of goods. and a lot of those goods are critical for continuance of the various societies and also continue on with the response. so colleagues in south africa have said they're short of reagents to do the testing. now we the world want them to do all the testing. we are relying on their brilliant science and yet we're doing things that actually make it even harder to do that. >> brangham: one of the responses that we've seen in developed western countries, certainly here in the u.s., is the push for more boosters. and i saw an analysis that the w.h.o. had done that on a daily basis that six times more boosters are given in the developed world than are initial vaccination doses in the developing world. and i mean, this was referred to as a scandal by someone at the w.h.o. dr. tedros earlier this year said he wanted a global moratorium on boosters. is that still the w.h.o. position?

>> yes, indeed it is, and in fact, when we did that analysis, i have to say we were all aghast. we knew the disparity was bad, but we ourselves didn't realize that it was as extreme as that. the reason we wanted the moratorium on boosters is because the critical vaccination you need is the vaccination of the highest risk populations around the world, all at the same time. you need that first dose, that second dose in arms. but the science is very, very clear that if we vaccinate the most at risk populations, you will reduce the amount of virus circulating and therefore you will reduce the opportunities for this virus to create ever more successful variants. one of the other problems with vaccinating, giving extra vaccine, extra doses to people already vaccinated, is it's like you're preaching to the converted. the people you really need to reach in your own populations

are those who still aren't sure about geing vaccinated or those who missed their opportunity, or those who are uncomfortable about coming forward because they're undocumented. all sorts. so that's where you've got to be doing the really hard work. >> brangham: dr. margaret harris of the world health organization. thank you so much for being here. >> it's my pleasure, thank you. >> woodruff: dozens of schools across suburban detroit cancelled classes today two days after four students killed in a shooting at oxford high school north of detroit. john yang has more >> yang: judy, while many of the school districts said they were closing out of an abundance of caution, some cited safety concerns and threatening social media messages. oxford high school itself is shut for the rest of the week as studts and teachers mourn the dead:

madisyn baldwin and justin shilling, both 17; 16 year old tate myre; and hana st. juliana, who was 14. a faculty member and six students were wounded, including a 17-year-old girl who's in critical condition. students without physical injuries are victims, too, said oakland county prosecutor karen macdonald >> what about all the children who ran screaming, hiding under desks? what about all the children at home right now, who can't eat and can't sleep and can't imagine a world where they could ever step back, foot back in that school? >> yang: the alleged shooter, who is 15, remains held without bail, charged as an adult with murder and terrorism. in a radio interview today, the prosecutor said she's considering charging his parents, saying their actions went "far beyond negligence" and that the gun used seems to have been "freely available" to their son. michael rice is michigan superintendent of public instruction. mr. rice, thanks so much for

joining us. what more can you tell us about these threats that led to these school closures today? >> we often have copycat threats when you have an incident like this. we've had these sorts of things before, not simply in our state, but in other states across the country, copycat bomb threats, for example, and they end up for a brief period of time adversely affecting a number of districts in a county or a region of a state. >> yang: are schools-- are some of these districts going to reopen tomorrow? what have you heard? >> some of the districts-- i did meet with all the oakland county superintendents earlier today, and a few of them were planning-- had not closed, and were hop hopeful to be able to e open tomorrow. but many had closed for today, were planning on being closed tomorrow, and working with law enforcement, again, out of that

abundance of caution, to which you earlier referred. >> yang: and i know you have also been speaking to officials at oakland high school, the school where the shooting took place. what was their message to you, and what was your message to them? >> my message to them is is that our, you know, profound condolences to you, what an enormous tragedy this-- this was. we stand ready to help in whatever way or ways that we can. we have respect connected the district to some national resources, people that have helped out of out in parkland, helped out in newtown, in tragedies there. they want to avail themselves of those resources, that's great. and if not, we certainly understand. look, the good news is that when a tragedy happens, there's an outpouring of support for the affected school or district.

but it also puts a lot of pressure on the school or district, and we understand that the district has to sift through those potential resources and make determinations of what-- what works best for it and what, perhaps, they can set aside. >> yang: and the young man who has been charged with this shooting, we're learning that there was concern about some of his classroom behavior. his parents were actually at the school for a meeting the morning of the shooting. are there things that you're learning from that, that could be helpful as you move forward?r >> it is very, very difficult to determine for many, many, many of these incidents that a person is going to take action. and if he or she is going to take action when he or she is going to do so. >> yang: what can the state education system do, not just to

help this particular school get through this, but schools across the state, how can you help them be safer and more secure? >> john, i believe our schools are, as a rule, pretty safe in this state, and they are certainly safer now than they were 22 years ago when columbine hit, 10 years ago, five years ago, three and aalf years ago, or three and three-quarters years ago when parkland hit. i think each of these has made us more cognizant about school safety and security. schools are much less open than they used to be. schools are far more likely to be locked. just a few years ago, several years ago, schools were open, wide open, in many, many, many cases. they're far more likely to be locked. they are far more likely to be single point of entrance. they're far more likely to have

buzzers, cameras, intercomes, outside of the schools. >> yang: what do you think about metal detectors? i think detroit has had metal detectors since 1985. what do you think about metal detectors statewide? >> i don't think metal detectors, as a rule, arehe answer. they may help you at a basketball game air, football game, but for day-to-day work in and around schools, i don't think that they're the answer. the answer is very strong communication within a community, within a school community, within a broader community, with young peoplee3 informing adults when there are issues. very, very critical, if you see something, say something. >> yang: you have also talked about mental health being underfunded. what would you like to see done in that field? >> there is now a greater understanding in the last couple of years, and in part, a function of the pandemic, john, that children's mental health issues are real, they're

substantial. they need to be funded. they need to be addressed. >> yang: michael rice, michigan superintendent of public introduction, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> woodruff: sanford biggers is an artist who mixes media and pushes boundaries to create an art all his own. jeffrey brown looks at his interdisciplinary work, focusing on a signature work "fool's folly," for our arts and culture series, canvas. >> brown: on the walls: 20th century quilts that have become recognized as masterly works of art. on the floor, a new work, using similar patterns but a different art form: a buddhist sand mandala. it's literally made out of sand. >> it's colored sand, yeah. unaffixed, placed on the floor. if we sneeze right now, this thing is gone.

>> brown: there's no sneezing, but plenty of riffing in sanford bigger's work, now on exhibition at washington, d.c.'s “phillips collection.” for an ongoing project the museum calls "intersections," he's created a sculpture that plays off others already in the museum's collection, by artists such as picasso and giacometti. but his marble bust is a hybrid figure: from the back, a classical greek image of a woman. from the front, an ancestral african chokwe mask. >> what i'm doing is putting those two together to created some type of conceptual dialog. so i'm looking at this as the ancestors of modern aesthetics, and we say the ¡classical' form and the ¡non-classical' form, but i think we're past that. i would consider that a classical european form and a classical african form. >> brown: and what is now when you put them together? >> now, it's contemporary art. >> brown: biggers, now 51, finds and creates his art in

many places, including with his experimental band, “moon medicin”-- as much ar¡ happening' as musical performance. and he uses the language of contemporary music, like¡ sampling' in hip-hop, to describe his own approach to art-making from different traditions, what he calls“ material storytelling”. >> so, how do you sample it, change it, distort it-- put it back together, paste it with something else to create a new body of work. i think objects are evocative. i think the object elicits certain memories and certain narratives, and when they're juxtaposed with other objects, it creates more complicated narratives. >> brown: he did it in a large- scale, public way earlier this year with a series at new york's rockefeller center-- another¡ re-mix' using classical sculptures, which were themselves originally brightly painted. and he does it in a more intimate way through his interest in textiles, especially antique quilts. a traveling exhibition titled“ codeswitch”, is currently at the california african-american

museum in los angeles. >> i started to paint and intervene on these antique quilts and started to consider it a sort of trans-generational, cross-generational communication. >> brown: it began with a theory that quilts had been used as¡ signposts' along the underground railroad to give coded ¡instructions' to escaping enslaved people. the theory was never conclusively proven, but biggers loved the idea behind it. >> i thought, "okay, what if these held codes? what would it mean for me then to come in 100 year or however many years later and add another layer of code to them?" so in this sense, i am a late collaborator with the original makers of the quilt. >> brown: when it comes to the now-famous quilts of gee's bend, there is no painting on or reworking of, so the¡ collaboration' is of a different kind. >> you have to have a mind made up to piece a quilt. because if you don't have a mind made up to piece that quilt, it

ain't going to never go right. >> brown: in 2003 i had a chance to visit the small, isolated alabama community of gee's bend, where several generations of women created quilts of extraordinary designs, shapes and colors, piecing together irregular strips of fabric. the quilts drew comparison to modernist abstract paintings and were exhibited at new york's whitney museum and around the country. one person who saw the quilts on exhibition back then was sanford biggers. now, the phillips collection, which owns five gee's bend quilts, wanted biggers to explore and address them through his own work. >> first thing i see is rhythm. there's a visual movement through the color and a retinal type of pacing that happens when you look at them, which are, was one of the hallmarks of a well- composed painting, is how the eye can move and dance around it. and these do that immediately. >> brown: biggers constructed a three-dimensional quilt sculpture, and, having studied buddhist culture in japan,

decided to find his rhythm in a mandala sand ¡quilt' painting. he was helped by museum assistants trained in this unusual al. add it up and it's an endless kind of ¡play'... especially when you have all of art history to play with. >> i think that's once again what artists do. the trick is to find your voice within that. within the realm of possibilities, how do you find a voice and what are you saying with that voice? >> brown: and have you foundt? >> i have multiple voices. i have a chorus. >> brown: sanford biggers' “code switch” exhibition is in los angeles until january 23rd, before moving to the speed museum in louisville beginning mid-march. his washington, d.c. work is on display through january 9. for the pbs newshour, i'm jeffrey brown at the phillips collection.

>> woodruff: and we'll be back shortly with a brief but spectacular take on talking to your kids about sex. but first, take a moment to hear from your local pbs station. it's a chance to offer your support, which helps keep programs like ours on the air. >> woodruff: for those stations staying with us, we take look back at the dixie fire that burned in california over the summer. as the state faced a shortage of firefighters, william brangham discovered a critical resource: prison inmates. its part of our series, "searching for justice." >> brangham: in the hills of the san bernardino national forest, the firefighters begin their ascent. there are only three men on today's arduous journey. but, in this tinderbox of a state, with land scorched by

drought, every set of hands makes a difference. they're clearing out the brush and branches that could be fuel for the next wildfire. the team is led by royal ramey. he co-founded a group called the forestry and fire recruitment program, or f.f.r.p. it trains formerly-incarcerated men and women to become professional firefighters. we spoke with ramey-- who spent more than four years in prison for a non-violent offense-- at a property he was surveying for fire hazards. is there something about people who were formerly incarcerated that make good firefighters? >> people that been incarcerated before understand what it is to really embrace the suck, right? like, that's the biggest... >> brangham: you've lived hardship. >> right. it's constant pressure. and the biggest thing in the fire service is dealing with pressure, dealing with stress. >> brangham: for ramey, and many of those involved with his group, firefighting began when they were locked up, in what california calls "conservation

fire camps." there are dozens of them across the state, where low-risk inmates can volunteer and receive weeks of training. >> they're out there, just being firefighters. >> brangham: author jamie lowe recently wrote "breathing fire," a book about california's inmate firefighters, and in particular, the women doing this work. >> they're the crews that are right on the ground, creating containment lines. they are in the communities, clearing brush for fire roads. they're doing equine rescues. and when there are fires, they're doing the work of a regular fire crew. >> brangham: inmates are usually paid just a few dollars a day. before the pandemic, there were around 3,000 people in the camps, and they've made up about a third of the state's firefighting force. >> it is physically and mentally taxing in a way that i think no one will ever understand, unless you're actually inside of those fires. and these are the people that we're relying on to save the

state of california-- and most of the western states, actually. >> brangham: f.f.r.p.'s other co-founder, brandon smith, worked at a camp in southern california. he served 2.5 years for nonviolent charges. when you were incarcerated and someone first approached you and said, "hey, there's this thing called fire camp where you can learn these skills and maybe go out and fight fires," what was your first reaction to that? >> no. >> brangham: straight up? >> straight up, no. >> brangham: why? >> when my mom asked me what i wanted to do when i was a child, i said, i don't know, but i do not want to be a firefighter. >> brangham: come on. >> i've-- no, i'm serious. >> brangham: but, when smith found out he'd be stationed closer to home, that he wouldn't be in a cell, he'd be eating better, and paid more... he signed up. >> i was in fire camp for about three months before i caught my first fire. we got out there, and it was literally like the "avengers" movie. i swear! it was like you got people flying, you got all these different agencies, you got all these people doing all this kind

of work. and you hop out of the fire truck and your adrenaline pumps and it's like, let's go. and it was at that time i wasn't scared of nothing anymore. and i'm hooked. >> brangham: smith remembers coming back from fighting fires and seeing grateful crowds with "thank you" signs and kids waving flags. and so, when he was released in 2014, he assumed he'd be able to put his years of experience to use. >> i was coming home, going to every fire station, like, hey, can i-- can you pick me up? can you hire me? can you hire me? they're like, no, no, no. sorry, you missed this. you don't qualify. i had no understanding of what i qualified for and what i didn't. >> brangham: no matter your training, it can be hard to get professional firefighting jobs if you've got a criminal record. many departments require full emergency medical technician certification, which, by state law, a lot of felons can't access. but last year, california governor gavin newsom signed a

law to help the formerly- incarcerated jump those hurdles. it allows ex-fire-camp inmates to petition to have their records expunged after they're released, which opens the door to that e.m.t. certification. but not everyone likes the change. the head of the union that represents california fire firefighters opposes the law, saying that while the union believes in second chances, an inmates' participation in fire camps, "doesn't mean they're rehabilitated." >> if they're trying to expunge their record, they're trying to move forward as a firefighter. they're not trying to expunge their record to become a kingpin. >> brangham: one of f.f.r.p.'s graduates is brandin smith-- no relation to the other brandon. he did about three years at fire camp during a sentence for gun charges. now, this husband and father of four works for f.f.r.p. and the u.s. forest service. he says he eats, sleeps and breathes firefighting. >> it's a lifestyle.

every little thing that you do to your body, your mind-- everything counts. so, if any of these people are spending enough time and dedication to develop their brain and their bodies to do this type of job, to stop such disasters, let the support them. >> brangham: despite the roadblocks, f.f.r.p. has helped more than 125 people get jobs in different fire services. >> you say that we need firefighters. you're saying we need more firefighters, so if these-- these folks, men and women, have the opportunity to, you know, they already got the skills, the tools, they were trained by the state. and now there's no pathway. "ah, no, you're a failure, we don't want you." we want you when we want you. we want you when it's convenient for us, right? and that's-- that's not fair. >> brangham: now, the organization is launching its own 20-person crew to fight fires across the west. they call themselves "the buffaloes," an homage to the african american troops known as the "buffalo soldiers" who fought in the u.s. army and saved lives during raging

wildfires in the 1900s. ramey says it's inspiration to beat the odds, and to fight for a second chance. for the pbs newshour, i'm william brangham in southern california. >> woodruff: for more than 25 years, peggy orenstein has broken new ground with her intimate explorations of adolescence. in her bestselling books "girls and sex" and "boys and sex", she dives into the lives of young people to unravel the hidden truths, hard lessons, and important realities of their lives. tonight, she gives her brief but spectacular take on talking to kids about sex. >> when i was young, and i would not have thought of this as an advantage at the time, my mom used to always tell me how great her sex life was with my dad and my response was to plug my ears and hum and say, "stop it. stop it, stop it. i don't want to hear it."

because, really, who wants to hear about their parents' sex lives? however, it did give me a sense as a young woman that sex was for me, and that sex was also about female pleasure. years later, when, after i was married, about 10 years into my marriage, my mom came into the living room and looked at me and kind of nudged me a little bit and said, "doesn't stop after 70 you know." after i had a daughter, i wrot“" cinderella ate my daughter,” which was about the pink and pretty culture of little girlhood and the ways that girls learn to view themselves from the outside in rather than from the inside out and how they were being groomed by that culture to overinvest in appearance and to sort of commodify their sexuality. so it was kind of only natural after all of that to start thinking about, well, what comes next? what impact does all of that have on their sexuality?

then it was only natural after that to start thinking, “oops, only had one half of the conversation.” so now i'm writing about boys and sex. porn was one of the things that boys most wanted to talk to me about. i mean, they talked about it endlessly, and i think the reason for that is that nobody's talking to them about it. pornography has become the de facto sex ed, particularly in a cuture that still is dominated by abstinence only sex education. the issue with porn is not the sex, it's the sexism. sex is for men and done to women and female pleasure is pretty much there for male satisfaction. my main advice to parents, especially to parents of boys is you have to talk to your kids. one woman that i talked to said that in order to talk to her son about sex and relationships, they had to sit on either side of a closed door. we american parents frame our

conversations about sex with young people regardless of whethethey're boys or girls entirely in terms of risk and danger and the dutch talk about balancing responsibility and joy. you really start talking about sex with kids pretty much from birth by naming their body parts and doing so correctly. what fee nice when you touch somebody or by talking about families or consent is a really great thing that you can start teaching from the get go by saying you need to ask permission to hug somebody on the playground. there's a lot of ways that you talk about things that you're scaffolding in that really aren't even about sex. they're just about being a person who treats others with respect and dignity. we tend to think about sex like it's in this silo over here and it doesn't have anything to do with the rest of life. it's really important that when we go into sexual situations that we maintain that idea that how we behave in the rest of life and the expectations that we have of ourselves and the standards that we hold are

exactly the same. my name is peggy orenstein, and this is my brief, but spectacular take, on talking with young peoe about sex. >> woodruff: you can watch all of our brief but spectacular videos online at: pbs.org/newshour/brief. and join us online right now for "searching for justice," a special discussion about life after prison hosted by our digital anchor, nicole ellis at howard university. you can watch that on our web site, pbs.org/newshour, and for those already watching the livestream of this program, just stay put, that live special is coming right up after this. and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. join us online and again here tomorrow evening. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you please stay safe, and we'll see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs

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station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

to "amanpour & company." here's what's coming up. we don't know everything we need to know yet about the omnicron variant. >> fighting a virus that that we don't fully yet understand. i spoke with public health experts about mixed messages and possible missteps. then in oxford, michigan another mass shooting. i asked gun executive ryan busse why is america the only country this keeps happening. and. >> who taught you. >> michel martin takes a fresh look with are malcolm x with the