newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening, i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight, fighting covid-- the president announces plans to ship free covid tests to millions of americans and orders military medical personnel to help hospitals expecting a surge in patients. then, high stakes-- democrats face an uncertain future as their legislative priorities languish in a gridlocked congress. and, the next stage-- one of the country's leading black theater companies gives voice to racial equity issues through art. >> these are not characters that are distant from us. they are parents, they are cousins. this-- we're a professional theater inside of a community. >> woodruff: all that and more

on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> a raymond james financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. life, well-planned. >> for 25 years, consumer cellular has been offering no-contract wireless plans, degned to help people do more of what they like. our u.s.-based customer service team can help find a plan that fits you. to learn more, visit www.consumercellular.tv.

>> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: and individuals. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: president biden is out tonight with new plans and new appeals to control covid-19. he spelled them out as the new

omicron variant sweeps across the country. white house correspondent yamiche alcindor begins our coverage. >> alcindor: president biden's message was direct: omicron is a clear and present danger, and the nation must act. >> we should all be concerned about omicron, not panicked. >> alcindor: at the white house, he laid out new measures that his administration is taking to combat a winter surge of coronavirus cases. >> three weeks ago i laid out a covid-19 action plan for this winter that prepared us for this moment. today, we're making the plan even stronger. >> alcindor: notably, the government plans to buy a half- billion at-home rapid test kits and mail them directly to americans who request them. the president said the free kits will be available to order in january. and to cut down on long lines, president biden announced new federal testing sites across the country. the first one, in new york city, will open before christmas.

today, he defended his actions on testing. mr. president, what's your message to americans who are trying to get tested now, and who are not able to get tested, and who are wondering what took so long to ramp up testing? >> that it didn't take long at all. what happened was the omicron virus spread more rapidly than anybody thought. if i told you four weeks ago that this would spread on a day to day basis, it was spread by 50, 100 %, 200% , 500%, i think you would've looked at me and said, biden what are you drinking? but that's what it did. >> alcindor: other plans include deploying 1,000 military doctors, nurses and medics to hospitals under the most stress; adding pop-up vaccination clinics across the country; allowing surge pharmacy teams to easily move between states, and sending out ambulances and emergency medical teams to transport patients. one point the president reiterated, as his press secretary also said, is that the federal government will not reimpose lockdowns.

>> another question folks are asking is: 'are we going back to march of 2020?' the answer is absolutely no, no. >> alcindor: overnight, the white house confirmed president biden himself had come into close contact with an aide who later tested positive. the president has thus far tested negative and will take another test tomorrow. hundreds of thousands of americans are now having the same experience, as omicron has officially surpassed delta to become the dominant variant in the u.s. in just the last week, omicron's share of infections increased six-fold. the c.d.c. estimates it accounts for 90% of new infections in the new york area, plus the southeast, industrial midwest and pacific northwest. being fully vaccinated, and especially with omicron, having a booster, is the best way to remain protected. in new york today, officials announced a new enticement. >> get your booster shot. get $100 incentive.

it's going to make you feel a lot safer, a lot better that you got the booster and you'll have some more cash in your pocket. >> alcindor: and other holiday plans, for a second year, are changing. a new year's eve party that was supposed to take place in los angeles' grand park will no longer have an in-person audience. sports are also adapting. the national hockey league has halted all games through saturday, and announced its players will not take part in the winter olympics in china. for the pbs newshour, i'm yamiche alcindor. >> woodruff: for more on the president's plan to combat the omicron variant, i spoke moments ago with dr. rochelle walensky. she is the director of the centers for disease control and prevention. >> woodruff: dr. walensky, thank you very much for joining us again. the president announced a number of moves today but we also know omicron is said to be spreading like wildfire across the country. are these steps going to come soon enough to blunt its impact? >> you know, i know people ar

concerned that things are moving quickly so let me step back and sort of tell you where we are. we have announced today that we have about 73% of cases now are projected to be omicron, and we anticipated this because this is what we have been seeing this rapid rate of rise in other countries, and what the president announced today is really all of the preparation and work that we're doing right now to address what we're anticipating with the omicron variant here. so, you know, increasing support for hospitals, increasing access to testing, increasing capacity to do vaccinations. and what i really want to emphasize in this mment is we have the ols we need to address the omicron variant, and those tools include what we have been saying, you really do need to get vaccinated. if you're eligible, you really do feed to get boosted and practice the preventative measures including masking in indoor settings even if you're

vaccinated and boosted. >> woodruff: dr. walensky, with regard to testing, i know 500 million sounds like a lot of tests, but there are 330 million americans. who's going to be first in line? >> this is a really important question. the government is working together to do a lot in testing, and we know we have more work to to. so 500 million rapid at-home tests, but also 20,000pcr sites are available now to do p.c.r.s and we're ramping up and doing more testing sites and are targeting testing sites in place with increased demand. as noted, 500 million more rapid tests to be distributed to those who have had less access to testing. >> woodruff: there are questions being raised about whether testing was ravrpd up quickly enough. we see what you're doing today. the president said omicron has come on so fast that it wasn't

anticipated, but there are critics out there saying the administration has known for months that there was going to be a need for more testing and the administration should have done more sooner. >> yeah, and we have been ramping up that supply. we have now eight f.d.a.-approved -- well, eight f.d.a.-approved at-home tests available and five more authorized and are on the way. increasing accessibility to p.c.r. testing as well as the rapid testing as a key part of what we're doing now. >> woodruff: was the straights caught offguard? i heard you say a moment ago you knew this was coming but the president said omicron has come faster than anyone realized. >> right, a really important question. we heard about omicron in the last weeks of november and, since that time, we have been following carefully with our colleagues and other countries in those places we have seen doubling times of the virus in the one and a half to three-day

rate and, with those doubling times, we anticipated that we would be seeing this kind of increase from, you know, 3% of cases to 73% of cases in around this period of time. >> woodruff: so you're saying you knew this was coming? >> we have been following carefully the science and we have been working hard as we anticipated this because we knew omicron had this capacity to increase at this rate. >> woodruff: let me ask you about booster shots, dr. walensky. we know people are advised to get them at the appropriate time, but we're hearing from respected scientist dr. peter hotez, a vier rollingist, i believe you know him, he says people should look at getting a fourth booster shot. what is the c.d.c. saying about this and what's the recommendation? >> we currently don't have any data on that approach and that

is not our current recommendation. let me tell you about our current recommendation which is to make sure you have the two shots of your mrna, your moderna and pfizer vaccine, and if you're six months out to get your booster shot. if you're unvaccinated you have a 20 times risk of death compared to people who are actually boosted, a ten-times increased race of being a case if you're unvaccinated compared to boosted which is, right now, at this moment, with a variant with so many mutations that needs the extra layer of protection, now the really the time to get your booster shot, especially for those more vulnerable or our older populations. >> woodruff: is the c.d.c. looking at the question of a fourth shot? >> we're working with the pharmaceutical agencies and the f.d.a., and we haven't seen data yet, but what we do know is all

the preliminary data suggests that, withour booster shot, that you are protected very well from severe disease and death, even against the omicron variant, which is whyeth so important right now to get your booster shot. >> woodruff: and another -- and a question about masking, we know the administration is recommending wearing masks wherever there's a congregate setting and people you don't know whether they are vaccinated, but we also know the n95 mask is considered safer. should the administration -- are you looking at whether you should be recommending people wear n95s rather than just the typical surgical mask which is what so many americans are doing? >> yeah, we want to make sure people have accessed to well-fitting masks. our guidance articulates you need a mask that is well fitting, snuggly fit, that it is two layers of cotton at least

and you often have a wire bridge around your nose to keep the snug fit. if you want extra protection, the k95 or n95s offer that, but i emphasize you ed to keep them on in those settings. the k95s and n95s are often not as comfortable, so if you're going to take them off, make sure you're masking the entire time. >> woodruff: finally, dr. walensky, the president today emphasized again and again and you have just now to people who are not vaccinated to get vaccinated, but we also know that something like 30% of all americans still are not vaccinated after the administration basically putting out this message day after day, for the past year. do you see any evidence that this message is getting through? >> you know, we're working one person at a time, one vaccine at a time, one community at a time. we certainly know that now in our hospitals the vast majority

of people who are in them are unvaccinated people, and our job is now the hard work of rolling up our sleeves and speaking to communities, speaking to individuals. i have done so personally, and i will continue to do so to get the message out. >> woodruff: do you think that's working? >> i consider every person that we vaccinate a success. so, yes, one at a time and it's working slowly but it's working .all right, dr. rochelle walensky, centers for disee control, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> woodruff: in the day's other news, the pandemic has pushed u.s. population growth to its lowest rate since the country's founding. the census bureau reports fewer than 400,000 people were added in the 12 months ending in july, just a tenth of one percent. in addition to deaths, the

pandemic curtailed immigration and delayed pregnancies. president biden voiced hope today that he can salvage his sweeping "build back better" initiative. he said he holds no grudges against democratic senator joe manchin, for opposing the bill. that would doom its chances in the evenly divided senate. but the president said today, "senator (joe) manchin and i are going toet something done." republican representative scott perry is refusing to cooperate with a u.s. house committee investigating january's assault on the capitol. the pennsylvania congressman tweeted today that "this entity is illegitimate and not duly constituted." the committee must now consider whether to subpoena a sitting member of congress. in russia, president vladimir putin blamed the west today for growing tensions in eastern europe and renewed his demands for security guarantees. he spoke to his top military brass, defending a russian troop

buildup along ukraine's border and complaining of nato deployments in the region. >> ( translated ): what they do now on ukraine's territory, or they try to do, is happening at our gates. that leaves us nowhere to retreat. >> woodruff: putin insisted again that russia wants legally binding security guarantees, not just verbal promises. in afghanistan, hundreds of people marched to the closed u.s. embassy to demand that the country's assets be unfrozen. billions of dollars in funds held abroad were blocked after the taliban seized power last august. international aid is also suspended, and aid groups are warning of humanitarian disaster. back in this country, federal prison inmates who were sent home last year, due to the pandemic, will not be returned to prison when the emergency ends. the u.s. justice department announced the policy change today.

criminal justice advocates had pressed for continued home confinement for inmates serving time for low-level crimes. global insurance claims for weather damage this year will top $105 billion, after this month's u.s. tornadoes. reuters reports it's the fourth highest total on record. insurance experts say the increase will also mean higher premiums. nearly 1,400 kellogg employees have ratified a new contract, ending a strike of more than two months. the cereal maker said today the five-year agreement includes cost-of-living adjustments and improved wages and benefits. at one point, kellogg threatened to bring in permanent replacements. and, on wall street, stocks stormed back from monday's losses. major indexes gained 1.5 to nearly 2.5%. the dow jones industrial average gained 560 points to close at 35,492.

the nasdaq rose 360 points. the s&p 500 added 81. still to come on the newshour: europeans push back against restrictions amid yet another wave of covid infections. senator tammy duckworth discusses the air travel challenges faced by americans with disabilities. one of the country's leading black theater companies gives voice to racial equity issues. plus much more. >> woodruff: the search is on among congressional democrats for a way to revive the "build back better" legislative agenda, after senator joe manchin said he would not support the bill.

since republicans have opposed the legislation from the start, democrats will have to decide among themselves: what parts of the "build back better" plan can survive? joining us now is representative suzan delbene of washington state. she is chair of the moderate "new democrat coalition" in the house. congresswoman delbene, thank you very much for joining us. we know that build back better has been a priority of president biden from the beginning. we know it's not going to pass this year. some people think it's dead. what do you think? >> i think we need to find a way forward. our country faces too many challenges now and the cost of inaction is too high. i think there are ways we can find a path to work together, and we're pushing to do that, and that's part of what our cogs is working on right now. >> woodruff: how do you see it getting restarted after -- i mean, this has been months and months and months, and then to

come up short here at the end of december. how do you see it getting restarted? >> well, one thing we've always talked about is making sure we are focused. focused on doing things well for longer, and really picking what our top priorities are. that's important because we want to make sure we have long-term, durable policy, and that folks understand the importance of what we've done in the build back better act. so i think as we make sure we look at how we focus, that's a potential path forward. because americans want to see governance work, they want to see us get things done, and we don't help anyone if we don't get legislation across the finish line. so that's the work we need to do. focus, make sure we have strong, durable policy. >> woodruff: specifics, there's been a lot of discussion around the child tax credit and we know this is something you have supported. this is a bill as is now written would provide something like

$3,600 per child under the alien of -- age of six, 3,000 for older children, it would lift 4 million american children above the poverty line, but senator manchin, the republicans say the cost is too high. some are talking about reducing those numbers to something like 3,000 and 2500, w keeping it refundable for the poorest of americans, but cutting the household income eligibility level to below $400,000 a year. is that something you would support? >> well, first of all, i think the child tax credit, the expanded child tax credit that we put in place in the american rescue plan has already proven to have an incredible impact across the country. 3.8 million children lifted out of poverty since checks started going out in july. ov 3 million families talking

out being able to put food on the table, the families being able to afford to buy diapers, pay their bills, pay for housing, families talking about being able to go to work now that they have been able to afford childcare. this is critically important, and i high light that because this isn't a concept, it's actually working right now and has been working since checks started in july. so we need to keep it going. >> woodruff: but we know senator manchin said he cannot support child tax credit in that form. so my question is, are you looking at something that's either like what i described a moment ago or something similar to that? >> well, i think these are the ongoing talks that we're having because this is so important because the data is so strong. he's talked about helping families address inflation, the child tax credit helps families do just that. we do get a great return on our investment, if you look at just the fiscal impact of the

legislation, and you talked about refundability, making sure that the families who need it most are getting access to that credit, that would go away at the end of this year if we don't keep it going, but i also think one thing senator manchin mentioned was the lengths of making sure we have long-term policy. i think that i agree and i think there's more we can do there. >> woodruff: can you name one or two programs that you think you could afford to drop out of this package for now and come back to them later? >> well, i'm the chair of the new democratic coalition. woe came out with our priorities in the very beginning because we talked about numbers or process, but really what matters is what's the substance of the bill. our priorities were the child tax credit, making sure we are -- have a large investment in fighting climate, and making sure that we deep the affordable

care act premium subsidies in place and address the gap. i think it's important for folks to come to the table and say what the top priorities are so we can focus. >> woodruff: we know that hasn't always been the case. the white house in reacting to what senator manchin said sunday when he announced he couldn't vote for it, their response was pretty sharply word. they called it a breech of his commitment. do you think that was a mistake? do you think that harms their ability to work with senator manchin in the 50/50 senate, someone they're going to need for this and other issues? >> when we talk abo actually getting things done, with i is what's so critical here, we need 218 votes in the house and 50 votes in the senate. that's what it takes. so every one of those votes is critically important and to find that path forward means bringing folks together to gain that support.

that has to be our focus, and we understand that that's going to be critical because, again, we don't help anybody if we don't get policy done. >> woodruff: tuning this can be tone in january? >> i think we have the opportunity to work october, to talk to work specifically through issues, but it's too important and too critical for our country, for families, for our communities. i'm disappointed the child tax credit is expiring beginning of this year and i would rather not see any type of gap in terms of checks going out, but we've got to make this happen. so we're at the table, coming up with gleds to bring folks together and are going to keep pushing forward. >> woodruff: congresswoman suzan delbene of washington state, thank you very much, appreciate you joining us. >> thank you.

>> woodruff: governments across europe are scrambling to slow the spread of omicron, in countries that were already suffering major winter surges. in the netherlands, a full lockdown has been ordered, and in neiboring germany, citizens are being told to cancel big new years eve parties. but in many places, authorities are being met with growing pushback as fatigue and frustration over restrictions take an increasing toll. from berlin, special correspondent trent murray reports. >> reporter: winter has come early across much of northern europe. a pre-christmas cold snap giving the german capital its first dusting of snow. but while temperatures are falling, concerns over covid are once again rising. with a resurgence of the virus showing little sign of slowing down, the threat of even tighter restrictions looms large here, as lawmakers grapple with how to untangle germany from this

latest health crisis. restrictions are unpopular amongst increasingly vocal groups across europe, and anti- restriction protests are becoming more frequent, often in direct response to announcements around a renewal of pandemic- related restrictions. in the austrian capital vienna, often described as germany's answer to america's dr. anthony fauci, epidemiologist karl lauterbach hasow been apointed health minister by new chancellor olaf scholz. he's long been a vocal supporter of deploying tougher rules to fight the pandemic, and with his new ministerial powers, has wasted little time putting those calls into action, pushing mandatory vaccination orders for medical workers through parliament. >> ( translated ): at the end of the second year of this pandemic, it is in no way acceptable, it is in no way

acceptable, that people who have entrusted their care to staff are dying unnecessarily in institutions because unvaccinated people work there. we cannot accept this. we will end it with this law! (applause) >> reporter: the partial mandate comes as the government prepares to introduce a much larger mandate next year, one that would require most of the population to get their shots. it's a controversial decision that has left many germans uneasy. jacob kirkegaard, a senior analyst with the german marshall fund says lawmakers are aware of the historical sensitivities of mandates, given some of the population's previous experience of state surveillance in communist east germany. >> obviously in germany, it's not just about being vaccinated, having a needle stuck in your shoulder, but also telling the government that you're not vaccinated. there are obvious historical

reasons for that. >> reporter: while check-in apps, medical masks and vaccine passports have become part of daily life for millions of europeans, other, less visible regulations are also having far- reaching consequences. felipe andre lima is a berlin- based music artist who makes a living performing around busy train stations. but with transit authorities no longer issuing music permits because of the pandemic, he says he now has to be careful about where he chooses to perform. >> authorities come in a hard core way and are like “where are your papers!?” sometimes you play with one eye looking to the people and the other eye looking for the police to come! >> reporter: and he's not the on one adjusting to strict rules on public transport-- new

regulations require train and subway passengers to carry their covid passes with them, indicating they've either been vaccinated, recently tested or previously infected. berlin metro authority spokesperson jannes schwentu, says security staff are monitoring compliance. >> for a couple of weeks now we have had big daily controls where everyone leaving a train orntering on a train has been asked to provide their certificate. >> reporter: but rights advocates argue the enforcement action is going too far, especially new regulations which force homeless people to provide a covid pass if they are found sleeping inside subway stations. >> we call for help. we give them advice on where they can get tested or vaccinated. some of them are vaccinated and tested, and as i said, we will not kick anybody out especially in weather like this. >> reporter: these difficult conversations over compliance concerns are happening right

across europe, as lawmakers grapple with striking the right balance between convincing the public to do the right thing and compelling them through enforcement orders. but even in places where authorities have been more bullish in lifting restrictions sooner, the arrival of the omicron variant is now leading to a rethink. having abolished most covid restrictions over the summer in a move dubbed "freedom day," british prime minister boris johnson has now backtracked, implementing his plan b, which includes work from home directives and the limited use of vaccine passports. but having given people a taste of so-called freedom, he is now facing some public pushback. chairs parliament's powerful constitutional affairs committee.

he's broken ranks to voice concerns over the backflip. >> from my perspective, the government's main challenge, is to wait and see slightly, how this situation evolves before overreacting to it. >> reporter: across europe, health experts continue to plead for more patience, both from politicians and the public. they say if hospital systems can just withstand an expected winter surge, the new year should bring with it more medical countermeasures to support the fight against covid- 19, including antiviral medication and a variety of new vaccines. but in the meantime, the yoyo effect of on again, off again social restrictions looks likely to remain, as authorities try to remind people that the pandemic is far from over, a message they hope isn't lost on a lockdown weary public. for the pbs newshour, i'm trent murray in berlin.

>> woodruff: millions of americans are traveling this week for the holidays. but for passengers with disabilities, the challenges and problems of air travel can be significantly heightened. people continue to report embarrassing security pat downs, damaged and even lost mobility devices. in july alone, there were 834 reported incidents of damaged wheelchairs or scooters, an average of 28 a day. we're going to look at this tonight, beginning with individual voices about this. >> i am dr. oluwaferanmi okanlami, i am the director of student accessibility and accommodation services at the university of michigan. i experienced a spinal cord injury in my third year of orthopedic surgery residency, which then left me paralyzed from my chest down with minimal use of my upper extremities. >> my name is mary corey march and i have c.f.s. myalgic encephalomyelitis or chronic

fatigue syndrome. so i depend on a wheelchair that it's like this, at this kind of bent with my feet, which makes it harder to get a loan or replacement. >> my name is fletcher cleves. my formal title is the wheelchair nomad. i am a incomplete quadriplegic. cpr, c-6 vertebrae, spinal cord injury. i use a wheelchair 24-7. >> so my name is andrea dalzell, and i have transverse myelitis that caused me to be a wheelchair user from the age of 12 years old. >> i'm charles brown. i'm the national president for paralyzed veterans of america. i was injured in 1986 and a diving injury while serving at cherry point north carolina. you probably can't see it, but i'm in a power chair. i am a quadriplegic and i've been in a wheelchair for 35 years now. >> i'm afraid to say that i have not had probably any trips that i've gone on that have not resulted in some damage to my

manual from wheelchair starting chair has been damaged. i was missing the back of my wheelchair. you can see right here it was completely gone and i was like, excuse me. this is not, you know, the condition i gave it to you. >> i was on my way home from florida and i was on my seat. looking out of the window, i saw my chair sitting to the side of the steps of the gate. and i'm like, okay, they'll come get it. and all of a sudden, i feel the plane move back. and i'm like pressing the i'm like, but my legs are she's looking at me and i'm like my wheelchair, sitting on the tarmac outside and it's pouring rain. i'm like, but my legs are outside, my legs are outside and >> i've had several injuries and i've had quite a few damaged wheelchairs over my time with traveling. and it's not just me, it's many people across the nation that suffer through this process. >> so in the first year, my chair was damaged about four times. i have since learned better ways of protecting my chair, and part of what i do is i put like a plea on my chair to the baggage handlers that say, this chair gives me my life back. >> i hate to say it like this, when airlines start getting

fined and start losing money, that's when they typically tend to care, or that's when people typically tend to care, when getting negative exposure and negative press. >> in my case, it would be nice to have a dispensation like to pay for a regular ticket and be able to get the seat that that functions for me and to have some kind of penalty for the ground crews or some kind of penalty on the airline if they break a chair, because until >> when people don't think that this is a serious concern and it's just a matter of finding space to put your wheelchair like not having enough space for your luggage in the airplane, they missed the fact that this is individuals lives that are at stake. >> for me, air travel is a basic so i can tell you that for a lot of people, air travel becomes a situation where they choose not to do it, to prevent damage to their chairs or even their bodies. >> congress needs to understand that, you know, these devices are not as easy as just going to your local walgreens and picking up a wheelchair, right? these devices are literally tailored for every single individual and then making sure that each airline is held accountable and enforcing that they have the training and the education resources that they need to be able to handle these

devices. >> woodruff: there are hundreds of similar stories. for more about the challenges and what can be done, i spoke recently with senator tammy duckworth, a democrat from illinois. she's introduced legislation that would hold airlines accountable when a wheelchair is damaged as well as improve traveling conditions for passengers with disabilities. senator duckworth, thank you very much for joining us. these stories we're hearing from travelers are just terrible. how typical are they? >> they are very, very typical. i probably see damage to my own wheelchair about every third flight that i take, so it is fairly frequent. imagine if it was, you know, a human -- somebody's leg. if we were to say every third flight we took the airlines broke your leg, the response

would be people would be absolutely appalled. >> woodruff: and, senator, this is on top of all the other issues that travelers with disabilities have to deal with if the first place. >> yes. well, there are just general access issues, you know. a lot of the flight we're on, most people don't realize the bathrooms and accessible, sometimes the terminals are not accessible. when you get to the other end of the flight, to have your wheelchair come back partially or completely broken so thatteth unusable, it's devastating for a person to try to get on with their lives whether traveling for work or leisure. >> woodruff: explain what is the responsibilities of the airlines now to passengers with disabilities and what more do you think needs to be done to change that? >> well, their only responsibility is to provide you access to get on the aircraft and to handle your whlchair

and not charge you extra baggage fees for handling your wheelchair, but it should be so much more than that because right now medical devices like wheelchairs or walkers are treated as luggage when they're more complex devices. you break my wheelchair, you've broken my legs and i can't get around, i can't move. we need to get the airlines to treat our medical devices as part of our bodies and not just as a piece of luggage to be tossed on top of the other luggagand who cares if it gets slightly damaged, well, i cae. >> woodruff: what is it you would ask the airlines to do that they're not doing now. >> i would ask them to do specific training on how to handle medical devices. they don't have access on the aircraft itself. this air carrier access amendment act i recently filed with senator baldwin would actually strengthen enfortunate

and would allow, for example, removal of access barriers on existing airspace, would require new airspace as they're being designed and put into the fleet to accommodate people with disabilities. it would provide a provision so that there could be civil penalties for violations which currently do not exist. >> woodruff: and, senator, i mean, i've seen firsthand some of what you're thinking about. i happen to have a grown son with disabilities who uses a chair. when you raise this with the airlines, had conversations with then, what do they say in response? >> it's a range of things. one of the things i hear a lot is, oh, that's not us that's handling it, those baggage carriers are contractors, you need to talk to the contracting company. and i say, well, they're your contractors so it needs to be part of your contract that the people who handle the wheelchairs are trained and also the people who have the contract to help put you in an aisle

chair and move you down an aisle and seated in an airplane, those folks need to be properly trained for how to handle a person with a disability without hurting or harming them. some airlines are trying to do better. they are trying to train their handlers, and i will tell you that until we passed the law in 2018, they really weren't doing much, but now that they actually have to report how many wheelchairs they damage every month, you see them trying to do better but it's still nowhere near enough. >> woodruff: i see one of the argument they've made are airspace and gates are not designed to carry some of the heavy equipment, they're pointing out the motorized wheelchairs, some can weigh hundreds and hundreds of pounds, and they're saying they're just not equipped to handle this kind of machinery. >> well, that's why the air carrier access amendment addresses this issue which it will require new airspace are designed to accommodate the needs of people with disabilities to include these

wheelchairs and, yes, i can see in the past the airspace in existence now were not designed that way, but, moving forward, if you're going to use that airplane for commercial -- you know, to commercially carry people, then you need to be wheelchair accessible. >> woodruff: what do you think the prospects are, senator, for the legislation that you're proposing? >> i don't know that it's going to pass on the first go round. i'm going to try as hard as i can. the wheelchair act took a couple of years. we were able to paz that did. by me able to introduce this legislation is putting the airlines on notice and we'll work till we do pass it because we're facing abaging population with the demographics of baby boomers that increasingly will need mobile devices and it's in the airline industry to make sure they're accessible to all. >> woodruff: senator tammy duckworth of illinois, thank you very much for joining us. >> thank you.

>> woodruff: in the months since the police killing of george floyd, cultural institutions nationwide have grappled with their identities and missions. but for one theater just miles from the site of floyd's murder, that re-examination began long before may of 2020. jeffrey brown has this story, part of our ongoing arts and culture coverage, canvas. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> brown: at the penumbra theatre in st. paul, minnesota, langston hughes' ¡black nativity' has become a holiday season staple. performed here nearly every year for decades. it was the opening show of the 45th season at penumbra, one of the nation's largest and most renowned black theater companies. >> i wanted to provide a space

where we could still plumb the human condition, but do it through the african-american experience. >> brown: director lou bellamy founded penumbra in 1976. he's since handed the reins to his daughter sarah. early on, he says, there were few opportunities for african- americans on stage. you weren't seeing enough opportunities both for actors and directors and writers, but you also weren't seeing the stories. >> that's the most important thing, the stories. one of the things about the these are not characters that are distant from us. they are parents, they are cousins. this-- we're a professional theater inside of a community >> brown: over the past 45 years, penumbra has cemented its reputation, annually putting on well over 100 performances, discussions, film screenings and other events, for more than

25,000 people. >> we're responsible to these people. i live next door to them. when i do something onstage, they'll tell me about it when i'm shopping or getting on the bus or whatever it might be. there's an interaction that we intend to happen. the theater becomes a tool that you can use to awaken people. >> brown: but there have been challenges, including retaining top talent. >> when we developed these actors and they, you know, people began to see these stories being told, we became almost a farm team for the larger theaters in town. and then my challenge was then to raise the amount of support and the salaries and so forth for these actors, they

wouldn't have to subsidize our art. you know, you don't want to ask another actor to take less to be black. >> brown: still, penumbra has helped launch the careers of numerous black actors and playwrights, and had a renowned, long-running relationship with the late pulitzer-prize and tony winner august wilson. talvin wilks, now a successful playwright and director nationally, still works with penumbra, giving it and other black theaters all credit. we met him last fall at the university of minnesota, where he teaches. >> these institutions were my hope. they were my reach. they were, oh yes, if i get to penumbra, right, if i get to the black rep in st. louis, if i get to freedom, you know, i've crossroads, then that's a career. when you're an undergraduate, you're led to believe that the world is full of opportunity for you once you step out in that

you make a very quick discovery that no, no, no, no, all places are not available to you. but these places are. that's why they're there. >> black theater built a world for black folks where we could see ourselves lovingly, critically represented, and those worlds made it more and more possible for us to dream things that were yet to come. >> brown: sarah bellamy took over as penumbra's artistic director in 2017. growing up, she appeared in plays and held nearly every job at the theater. she studied her father's leadership and creative style closely. >> as i came into the artistic directorship, i think one of the first things i learned is, oh, this isn't just about picking great plays. and, you know, i have to be an advocate and activist. i have to try to change the field. >> brown: that part of the job took on new meaning in may of 2020, after the police murder of george floyd in neighboring minneapolis, and the uprising that followed. at the time, bellamy was already

years into planning a transformation for the theater: to become the “penumbra center for racial healing,” a place that combines the arts with programs to promote equity and wellness. >> we were in the process of doing an artist institute focused on racial healing. the artists, there was no plan, but they knew what to do. the trumpeter made music. the dancers started moving in their apartments. i mean, it was, i'm getting chills talking about it. it was so powerful. what that room became was a container to hold our grief, our rage, our deep frustration and fatigue of so many generations of this state sanctioned violence and it broke open. >> brown: the theater officially announced its change in the summer of 2020. the center will still include a full season of plays, but also activities like yoga and meditation. and there will be a boost to the kinds of equity training that penumbra has been putting on for

companies, organizations and schools for well over a decade, like these monologues performed by penumbra actors. >> do you have any idea, any how my build, my dark skin, my voice, my style all makes me vulnerable because you're afraid? can you just stop being afraid? >> brown: in the meantime, penumbra is getting national attention and support, including a $5 million dollar gift from philanthropist mackenzie scott. >> we have enough support now to actually realize, i think, the full the full imagination of what the artists always wanted. this is not so very different from the founding of this space in general. we just are-- we're going at it a little differently. but, you know, i think art has to meet the moment and this theater must meet its community and our community is in great need. >> brown: the 45th season at the penumbra theatre runs through

june. for the pbs newshour, i'm jeffrey brown in st. paul, minnesota. >> woodruff: now we turn tone group that responds to natural disasters here in the u.s. and around the world... using food. as founder of mercy chefs, gary leblanc and his team have served more than 18 million meals to people affected by disasters, including to those impacted by the tornadoes that tore through the south and midwest earlier this month. in this brief but spectacular take, he talks about how food does more than nourish the body- it can create hope. >> before hurricane katrina, i had never considered doing volunteer work or working in disaster relief. it wasn't something i ever even thought of. i was living comfortably in virginia and katrina slams into new orleans.

i have a grandmother that was evacuated and fell and broke a hip. i lost her a few months later. my daughter had a home with seven feet of water inside for five weeks. i watched people standing on bridges waiting to be evacuated and began to recognize faces of people that i had worked with. and i was compelled to go down and do something. so i went back to new orleans and i did the only thing that i knew how to do that could contribute or help in that time. and that was cooked for people. you know, i did my time in new orleans after katrina and i cooked the very best meals that i could, but i'm also a student of anything that i do. and when i got home, i began to think about the food that i saw served. and, and quite honestly, i got angry. now, the food that was served kept people alive, but i think there's more that needs to be done in a disaster.

and that's to create hope. i was taught that food is love and anything you serve should have that love in it. i also thought that sanitation and food safety and time and temperature controls could be part of everything that was done. professional acumen needed to be brought to mass feeding in the aftermath of disaster. and that anger about what i saw other people serve was the genesis of mercy chefs. mercy chefs has served over 18.5 million meals. if it's a major disaster, mercy chefs has been there. we've been in tornadoes. we've been in wildfires. we've been in earthquakes. we've been in floods. we've been in hurricanes. we've been in situations where there was civil unrest or an industrial explosion. we put our love, we put our heart and soul into every meal that we create, but there are those meals that we've done, that people are startled by. we had the opportunity while we

were just in new orleans, in the aftermath of hurricane ida, we were able to do steak dinners, two different nights, and the car line is coming through. and we're handing the bags of groceries through your window to folks, and they'd go to pull away. and they're always curious, what's for dinner tonight. and we had multiple cars that would see the steak in there. they'd stopped the car and they put it in park. they leap out the car and they would run back and hug somebody. they just couldn't believe that disaster food was a steak. i think the most important thing for people that want to become involved, people that are moved to help their neighbors is to just start. step in at the first opportunity, be bold, be fearless and be fully committed, but just start. my name is gary leblanc, and this is my brief, but spectacular take, on food is love.

>> woodruff: you can watch all our brief but spectacular videos online at: pbs.org/newshour/brief. and online right now, the chronic unpredictability of the pandemic has consequences for working parents, especially women, and their careers. on instagram, we illustrate one economist's take on the stresses moms are facing. find that at: instagram.com/newshour. later this evening on pbs, tune in for the holiday celebration music special "in performance at the white house." hosted by actress jennifer garner, the program features musical peformances by camila cabello, billy porter, norah jones, the jonas brothers and andrea and mateo bocelli among others. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ >> woodruff: "in performance at the white house: spirit of the season" premiers at 8:00 p.m. eastern, check your local pbs station listings. 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 newshour has been provided by:

>> 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 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. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

♪♪ -sonora -- one of the largest states in all of mexico. 70,000 square miles of farmland, coastline, and ranches. and its capital, the city of hermosillo, a sprawling and peaceful economic hub set right in the middle of this enormous state. i'm exploring the best of what this city has to offer. at doña guille's street food stand, these giant burros are the stuff of legend. she has, like, the most iconic sonoran fillings in a burrito. phenomenal. qué rico. then, the always charming owner of one of hermosillo's best restaurants shares some of his favorite recipes. whoa!