♪ judy: 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. judy: 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. judy: all that and more on tonight's "pbs newshour." ♪ >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- >> fidelity dedicated advisors are here to help you create a wealth plan. a plan with tax sensitive investing strategies, planning focused on tomorrow. while you focus on today. that is the planning effect of fidelity. >> johnson & johnson. bnsf railway. consumer cellular. financial services firm raymond james. the kendeda fund, committed to restorative justice and

transformative leaders and ideas. carnegie corporation of new york. supporting innovations in education, democratic engagement and the advancement of international peace and security at carnegie.org. and with the ongoing support of these individual institutions. this program was made possible by the corporation broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. judy: the nation's covid-19

watch has rned 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. >> we are going to fight this variant with science and speed, not chaos and confusion. yamiche: 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. yamiche: 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 fda 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. yamiche: 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 2 dozen countries 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 icron 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. yamiche: 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 epidemiogist 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. yamiche: abdool karim said travel restrictions could prevent more countries from coming forward with information on future variants. >> 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 it early, then whatever you do, don't tell the world. keep it secret. yamiche: 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. >> access to leisure, sports, and cultural activities will be limited germany-wide to those who are vaccinated or have recovered, irrelevant of the incidence rate. yamiche: meanwhile, public health officials and researchers are racing to determine whether the vaccines that work against

the delta variant will work as well against omicron. for the pbs newshour, i'm yamiche alcindor. ♪ stephanie: i'm stephanie sy with newshour west. we'll return to the full program after the latest headlines. updating our top story, more states are reporting confirmed cases of the omicron variant, the latest being hawaii, where an unvaccinated resident with no recent travel history was found to have it. the adult has mild to moderate symptoms. the biden administration announced plans to reinstate the so-called "remain in mexico" policy for those seeking legal asylum in the u.s., 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 sweepingaccine 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, including the republican leader, have said they don't want to see a republican shutdown. we hope cooler heads will prevail. stephanie: we'll return to this,

with the senate's number 2 democrat, dick durbin, after the news summary. the california public utilities commision will penalize pacific gas and electric company $125 million for sparking the kincade wildfire in 2019. part of the money will go to removing unused transmission lines. it's just the latest financial penalty pg&e has faced for its role in starting fires. 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 2 sides have just over 2 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 buildup 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. stephanie: 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, jr. 5 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 2 months. the new 5-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 but by modest amounts each month. that sent oil prices higher. 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 gun violence in schools. an exhibit by artist sanford biggers highlights the intersections of history and art. 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: funding for the federal government is due to run 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 help break all this down, i'm joined by our congressional correspondent, lisa desjardins. lisa, we are right up on the deadline. where does everything stand? lisa: we have had some stormy days, but i'm here to report in the last few minutes, a rainbow may be forming above the senate. in the past few minutes, multiple sources tell me it looks like there is a deal to get past the problems in that body. let me back up with what we know. let's talk about the temporary

funding deal. we are talking about a continuing resolution that paradoxically is named funding bill, that the house voted on in the last couple hours that would extend funding for the government through february 18. in it, 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. the issue, there is a group of republicans who have been blocking the fast tracking of the bill. those senate republicans object to it, and are trying to push one particular issue, the issue of vaccine mandates which they oppose. we are talking a few members, as senator from utah would like the senate to pass a bill banning funding of vaccine mandates. he things the governor -- the government shouldn't be in that business. with him, a freshman senator. they have the power to delay any funding bill long enough to cause a funding, aovernment

shutdown, at least into next week. in the past few minutes, i understand there is an emerging deal. senator marshall confirmed and i have sources in both artese and both chambers saying there could be a vote tonight because they are giving senator lee what he wants, a vote on his idea, on opposition to vaccine mandates. i would senate democrats do that? because it is likely to fail. there are complicated reasons including an absence of a republican senator but it looks like senator lee will get a vote tonight that he wants and the resolution to keep government funding could go through the senate and be passed as soon as tonight. judy: the ics breaking on that. is it your understanding that this question of vaccine mandates is a one-time thing or is this something we could see coming up again? lisa: this will come up again and it will likely come again next week in the u.s. senate when senate republicans used a privileged maneuver to come back

and openly question president biden's idea to oppose -- to propose vaccine mandates for large company's. there will be a vote in the senate. this is beyond the senate. i want to show a photo of what happened in the state of new jersey omma in -- new jersey, this is reporters trying to get into the general assembly blocked by police officers because there is a new rule in the statehouse there that you must have proof of vaccinati or ape -- a negative covid test to get in. the speaker of the state assembly has been pushing that, but republicans pushed back. republicans entered the chamber against that rule, tested whether the police would stop them. there were potential confrontations, some chaos in the new jersey state house over this issue and i think we will see this across the country and different forms. it will be in the u.s. capitol week. judy: lisa, thank you very much. for more on where all this stands, we turn to someone in

senate leadership. senator dick durbin of illinois is the second highest ranking democrat, and he jns me now. senator, thank you very much for joining us. we heard lisa reporting it looks like a deal has taken place? is that your understanding? >> it sure is. lisa, i listened closely to her report and it is accurate based on what we learned on the senate floor. we are close to wrapping it up this evening. we have two votes ahead of us, senator lee on the vaccine mandates and final passage of the continuing resolution. judy: does the agreement include an agreement on a debt ceiling, which is something else that has been hanging in the balance? >> it doesn't include that as far as i know, but it is in the works and there is active negotiation between senator my -- mcconnell and schumer and i hope they can reach an agreement next week so we can get that done. judy: but you believe they will?

>> let me tell you, you deal with vibrations in the senate, good vibrations tonight. the fact that for the last two weeks the two leaders have put their heads together is a positive thing. judy: senator, let me ask you about the sticking point, that 14 republicans were prepared to hold this up. the government funding, because they don't like the idea of the vaccine mandates. we have been hearing now despite the agreement, what they were saying was senator lee and marshall, saying it is not right the federal government is forcing private employers, large employers to have a vaccine mandate. how are democrats going to deal with what appears to be an ongoing issue for republicans, a number of republicans? >> it is an ongoing issue for the republican base but the majority of american citizens want people to be vaccinated to protect themselves and families and people they come in contact with. as far as businesses, take a

look at united airlines. the latest number was over 95% of their employees are vaccinated. they used the mandate by the president as an incentive to get the job done. that means it is a safer place to fly and americans know that. same is true for businesses across the country. i think the republicans are flat-out wrong with this and sadly, their position will endanger the health and lives of a lot of americans. judy: how confident are you that in the days to come you will be able to hold off that argument that they will apparently continue to make? >> i don't know. to be honest, when the senate is 50-50 it only takes one person to cro over. so we will see. it is likely to come up this evening. it is likely to come up next week. the attendance is an apartment partner -- an important part of the vote issue. judy: another issue before the senate, the build back better bill, a priority for the president and the democrats right now. there is not only solid republican opposition to that,

you still have some democrats who have issues with it, including your colleagues joe manchin of west virginia, pierced and cinema of arizona -- kyrsten synema of arizona. you said today, i'm looking, you said it is time for them to get on board with build back better. have you spoken with them? >> i haven't. we are being careful in terms of negotiation. we are literally down to one or two votes as to whether this moves forward. it is 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 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 and talking too much or too little. i think we are on track but ultimately, any single senator can stop this. judy: i want to ask you about

another aspect that has been a hang up in the build back better bill, that has to do with expanding the state and local tax deductions. is that going to be in the bill? some democrats have urged that. >> i think it will be. the exact language i'm not sure, but it boils down to, if you and i are paying property taxes on our homes, the question is should be -- should we be taxed by the government on the tax we pay? historically, the answer was no. we had an exemption. if you pay the tax you don't have to pay a federal tax on that tax. the latest republican undertakinfour years ago in tax reform imposed a new tax on attacks, and we are 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, but i think the principle is the same. judy: we know the version that is coming 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 is an issue in play. i'm sure 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 have the senate parliamentarian that has played an important role in deciding what issues are eligible for the bill. after she makes her decision we have to make a final decision on what to present on the floor as early as the middle of december. judy: i want to turn to the question of covid. in your home state of illinois, as the country is bracing for this new variant omicron, i was reading that illinois health officials are 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 is happening because everyone in america is not vaccinated. that would not be the end of the

threat but it would lessen the likelihood that these variants would emerge. or that we would be vulnerable 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, you pay the consequences. we face those consequences. it is unfortunate that this is the 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. judy: to those who say not enough testing is part of the problem, what is being done to address that? >> a couple weeks ago i went to scotland to meet on the environment. in a matter of 24 hours i must've been tested six different times and reported to the british health service each time. it is true other countries are doing more testing, and we should, as well. i think it would be good for america. i would hope people would cooperate. get vaccinated and if you don't get tested regularly, and

observe social distancing. judy: have you said that to the biden administration? >> i will and i'm sure they would agree. i don't think there is a difference of opinion. judy: senator dick durbin, the senate majority whip, thank you very much for joining us. >> thanks, judy. ♪ judy: while we don't know whether omicron will lead to more severe cases, its ability to spread is becoming clearer. tonight, we are hearing that new york state has now identified 5 more cases of the omnicron variant. south africa's cases are spiking at the fastest rate since the pandemic began. 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. william: 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 have seen come up to 50. and a lot of them come 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 these mutations, again, there were 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. william: 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 at least 10% of people who are infected are likely to end up in hospital, particularly in a population that isn't 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 end 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 is omicron having some effect ther william: even though that information is still yet to come in, the u.s. and many european nations have enacted travel bans from certain southern african countries. i know the w.h.o. has come out strongly against the 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 seal your borders, usually, you've done it too late, 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 sins hyatt these -- societies and continuance 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 blliant science and yet we're doing things that actually make it even harder to do that. william: 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 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 getting 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. william: dr. margaret harris of the world health organization, thank you so much for being here. >> it's my pleasure. thank you. ♪ judy: dozens of schools across suburban detroit cancelled classes today, two days afte shooting at a nearby high school left four teenagers dead. john yang has more. john: 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 students 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 ever set foot back in that school? john: 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 negilence, 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. what more can you tell us about these threats that led to the school closures today?? >> we often have copycat threats when you have an incident like this. we've had these sort 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. john: are these districts going to reopen tomorrow? what have you heard? >> some of the districts, i did meet with the oakland county superintendes earlier today, and a few of them had not closed and were hopeful to be able to be open tomorrow.

but many had closed for today, were planning on being closed tomorrow and working with law enforcement, again come out of that abundance of caution which you referred. john: i know you have been speaking to officials in oakland county high school where the shooting took place. what was their message to you? what was your message to them? >> my message to them is that our provider owned -- profound condolences to you. what an enormous tragedy this was. we stand ready to help in whatever ways that we can. we have connected the district to some national resources, and people that have helped out in parkland, newton tragedies. they want to avail themselves of those resources.

that is great and if not, we certainly understand. the good news is that when a tragedy happens, there is 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 the district has to sift through those potential resources and determine what works best for it, and what perhaps they can set aside. john: the young man who has been charged with the shooting, we are learning there was concern about some of his classroom behavior. his parents were at the school for a meeting the morning of the shooting. are there things you are learning from that that could be helpful as you move forward? >> it is very, very difficult to determine for many, many of these instances, 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. john: 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? >> i believe that our schools are as a rule, pretty safe in this state. they are certainly safer now than they were 22 years ago when columbine hit, 10 years ago, five years ago, three and a half years ago, when parkland hit. i think each of these has made us more cognizant about the 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 cases. they are far more likely to be

locked. they are far more likely to be single point of entrance. they are more likely to have cameras, intercoms outside of the schools. john: what do you think about metal detectors? detroit has had metal that hectors since 1985. what do you think about metal detectors statewide? >> i don't think metal detectors as a rule of the answer. they may help you what a ballgame -- at a ballgame, but for day-to-day work in and around schools i don't think they are the answer. the answer is very strong communication within a community , within a school community, within a broader community, with young people, informing adults when there are issues. very critical that if you see something, say something. john: you talked about mental health being underfunded. what would you like to see done in that field?

>> there is a greater understanding in the last couple years, and in part a function of the pandemic, that children's mental health issues are real, they are substantial, they need to be funded, they need to be addressed. john: michael rice, michigan superintendent of public education, thank you very much. judy: 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. jeffrey: 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

artform, a buddhist sand mandala. >> it is colored sand, placed on the floor. if we sneeze, this thing is gone. jeffrey: there is no sneezing but plenty of riffing in sanford biggers'work. now an exhibition in the phillips collection for an ongoing project called intersections. he created a work that plays off artists like picasso. his marble bust is a hybrid figure. on the back, a classical greek issue -- image of a woman. on the front, and ancestral african mask. >> i'm putting them together to create a conceptual dialogue. i'm looking this as the ancestors of modern aesthetics. we say the classical form, then the nonclassical form, but i think we are past that. i would consider that a classical european form and a classical african form. jeffrey: what is it now when you

put them together? >> know it is contemporary art. >> ♪ he polishes his suit and tie ♪ jeffrey: he creates his art in many places, including with his experimental band moon medicine. he sees art as musical performance. he uses the language of contemporary music like sampling and hip-hop to describe his approach to art making from different traditions. what he calls material storytelling. how do you sample it, change it, put it back together to create a new body of work? >> i think objects are evocative. the object elicits memories and scenarios. when they are juxtaposed with other objects it creates complicated narratives. jeffrey: he did it in a public way this year with his series at the rockefeller center, another remix using classical sculptures which were themselves originally brightly painted.

he does it in a more intimate way due to his interest in textiles, especially antique quilts. the exhibit is at the california african-american museum in los angeles. >> i started to paint and draw and intervene on these antique quilts and i started to consider it sort of a transgenerational communication. jeffrey: he began with a theory that quilts had been used as signposts along the underground railroad to inscape in -- escaping enslaved people. the theory was never proven but he loved the idea behind it. >> i thought, what if these held codes? what would it mean for me to come in 100 years later and add another layer of code? in this sense i am a late collaborator with the original makers of the quilt. jeffrey: when it comes to these quilts, there is no painting on

or reworking allowed, so the collaboration is of a different kind. >> you have to have a mind made up to make a quilt. if you don't have a mind made up to piece that quilt, it won't be right. jeffrey: i had a chance to visit the small, isolated alabama community where several generations of women created quilts of extraordinary design, shapes and colors, piecing together were regular strips of fabric. they 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 was sanford biggers, the phillips collection, which owns five of the quilts, wanted him to explore and address them in his own work. >> the first thing i see is rhythm. a retinal type of pacing that happens when you look at them, which is one of the hallmarks of a welcome post painting. this is how the eye can move and

dance around and these do that immediately. jeffrey: biggers constructed a quilts culture. having studied buddhist culture in japan, he decided to find his rhythm in the mandala sand quilt painting. he was helped with museum assistants trained in this unusual installation. added up and it is an endless kind of play. especially when you have all of our history to play with. >> that is 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 you say with that? jeffrey: have you found it? >> i have multiple voices. i have a chorus. jeffrey: sanford biggers' codes which exhibit is in los angeles until january 23 before moving to louisville. his washington, d.c. work is on display through january 9.

i'm jeffrey brown at the phillips collection. ♪ judy: we will be back shortly but a brief but spectacular take on talking to your children about sex. first, take a moment to hear from your local pbs station. it is a chance to of judy: for m,

peggy orenstein has broken new ground with her intimate explorations of adolescence. in her best "girls and sex" and "boys and sex," she does -- she dives into the lives of young people to unravel some of the hidden truths, hard lessons, and other 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. and p.s. 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 wrote "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, only had one half of the conversation. now i am 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 culture 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 whether they'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. you know, what feels 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 our -- are exactly the same. my name is peggy orenstein and this is my brief but spectacular take on talking with young people about sex. judy: you can watch all of our brief but spectacular videos online at pbs.org/newshour/brief. 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 sight, 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. that is the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. join us on-line 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 newshour has been provided by -- >> for 25 years, consumer cellular has been offering wireless plans. our u.s.-based customer service team can help find a plan that fits you. to learn more, visit consumer cellular.tv. >> johnson & johnson. bnsf railway. the ford foundation, working with visionaries on the front line of social change worldwide. ♪ >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions. and friends of the newshour.

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. ♪ >> you'

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