amna: good evening and welcome. i'm amna nawaz. geoff: and i'm geoff bennett in east palesteen, ohio, where i spoke with norfolk southern ceo alan shaw, who says the company would stay as long as it takes to clean up after the derailment as he defended its response. >> there's been hundreds of tests, and there have been thousands of data points and they've all come back with the same result that says the air and the water are clean. amna: on a trip to poland, president biden rallies support for ukrain while vladimir putin rants against the west as russi's brutal invasion nears the one-year mark. and a new strain of avian flu that shows strong transmissibility among mammals raises concerns of a potential pandemic.

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foundation found -- more at kf.org. ♪ >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting, and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. amna: we have two major stories this evening. as the one year anniversary of the war in ukraine approaches, presidents biden and putin delivered dueling speeches

reflecting a sharp divide in the conflict, with no en in sight. we'll get to that shortly. but we begin in ohio. the federal government today ordered the company norfolk southern to clean up contaminated soil and water at their train derailment site in east palesteen, ohio. the derailment more than two weeks ago led officials to carry out a so-called controlled release of toxic chemicals, forcing thousands to evacuate. since then, returning residents say they're feeling the effects of air and water contamination. geoff is in east palesteen ohio tonight. geoff? geoff: i'm in a, biden officials -- amna, officials from the biden administration, pennsylvania, and ohio were on the ground today assuring residents that everything is being done to clean up the area and hold norfolk southern, the train's operator, accountable. >> ok. geoff: in his second trip in less than a week, epa administrator michael regan was

visiting residents near e site of the derailment along the ohio-pennsylvania border. part of a push today by the biden administration to ramp up the response to the disaster. regan was joined by ohio governor mike dewine as they visited a health clinic that opened today to evaluate residents worried about symptoms from the chemicals released during and after the derailment. the epa today also took charge of the clean-up effort, ordering norfolk southern to pay for it, including houses and businesses near the crash site. the epa citing a federal law which gives it the authority to force polluters to pay. what exactly are you requiring them to do? mr. regan: we are requiring them to submit a very prescriptive work plan that lays out every single step they plan to take to clean up the soil, any kind of water contamination, how they plan to transport that waste. we are going to force them to show up for communitof

inveiginthe cause of the buigieg proposed a series of reforms to incase rail safety, including speeding up a 2029 deadline for stronger rail cars. adding more personnel on trains and paid sick leave for crews. asking congress for higher penalties for companies that break the rules. and revising rules to regulate train brakes and hazardous materials. as the biden administration is focused on reforms, for many in east paltine, they are still racked with anger and fear. >> i came outside and i could see right away the main fire at the end of the street. geoff: 52-year-old barb kugler lives right next to the crash site. after the derailment, she evacuated for nearly a week, but has now returned home. she said she's nervous for this village that she's lived for some 30 years. >> it breaks my heart to go down the road and to see people who

rent homes and are moving out right now. and i just hate to see that happen. but no, i don't think it'll ever be the same. i just don't. geoff: over the weekend, volunteers handed a bottled water to anyone who asked. while state officials have said the municipal water is safe, they urged those nearby the crash site who rely on private wells to drink bottled water . norfolk southern is also cleaning up local waterways where the releasof hazardous chemicals resulted in 3500 dead fish. as the clean up continues, for some residents here, the worry is that the damage from exposure to toxic chemicals is already done. 71-year-old daniel clements lives about two miles from the derailment site. >> these things are carcinogenic and that's the kind of damage where you are exposed, and you may not notice anything for 5, 10, 15, even 20 years. and then suddenly, you are

really ill and maybe even your last illness. and that's worrisome. that's terrifying. geoff: clements says he's staying put for the time being and says norfolk southern needs to make it right. >> they have to fix this. and some of the things that we need to do here, we can't fix ourselves. i'm not capable of cleaning toxins. i'm not capable of reestablishing an economy. i'm not capable of keeping businesses open. i don't have those skills. yeah, that's what the town needs. geoff: residents here still have questions about whether the air and water are safe, and the mpany's commitment to address the long term consequences of the derailment and chemical spill. alan shaw is the ceo of norfolk southern. i spoke with him earlier today to get some answers. thank you for speaking with us. how long will norfolk southern maintain a presence in east fort

-- in east palestine? >> as long as it takes. but as it takes. but is my commitment. we are going to invest in the environmental cleanup. we have made a lot of progress and we have got air monitoring, water monitoring, we are coordinated with the ohio epa. we're continuing to provide financial assistance for the citizensf this community. so far, we've either reimbursed or committed $6.5 million to the citizens of this county, and -- this community, and that's a down payment. and we're going to invest in this community for the long haul to help this community recover and help this community thrive. geoff: when you say the $6.5 million is a down payment, as you know, the erage income for an east palestinian family is less than $45,000 a year. we've talked to people who say they need norfolk southern to pay their medical expenses, to pay their moving expenses, and to pay for independent testing

of wells and soil and air. is that something that you would commit to? alan: we stood up a lot of testing within an hour of due realm and, we had air testing. within a couple hours of the derailment, we've had water testing. there is independent testing going on with the ohio epa and with local health officials. there's been hundreds of tests, and there have been thousands of data points and i have all come back with the same result that says the air and the water are clean. and we are setting up long-term monitoring, and we intend to be here for the long haul and continue to support this community. geoff: a question about rail safety. in november and december, norfolk summer -- norfolk southern pushed back on this rule that would haveraydaid n cd so much money, millions upon millions of dollars, lobbying against it? alan:ha w based

safety rules. and we're very focused onfollow. with respect to this accident, the national transportation safety board as you know, they are in charge of this investigation. and i'm very much looking forward to their results of their inveigation. once we have that, we are going to sit down and figure out what we could have done better. as you can imagine, every day since this occurred, i have been asking myself, what could we have done better? what could we have done to prevent this? we are fully cooperating with the ntsb, and the fra. aren't -- in finding out what happened here. we are going to make norfolk southern in the industry a safer railroad. geoff: following this derailment, with having more crewmembers on trains, and not more? if there had only been one crew member, and told as bad as this

was, it would have been even worse. alan: i think it is important we let the ntsb continue with its process. there is a lot of speculation out there. and a very unusual moment. the chair of the ntsb came out with a statemetast thursday, urging everyone not to specule going toait and see the results. we trust the ntsb, we trusted -- trust the fra, and i am looking forward to sitting down with our regulators and our elected officials after we get the results, and working out solutions to make norfolk southern the railroad industry safe. geoff: what is your assessment of the latest rail safety rules proposed by transportation secretary pete buttigieg? he is calling for a safer tank standards, higher fines potentially, for incidents like these. alan: i've talked to secretary buttigieg about this a couple of

times, as you can imagine. and he's been very clear with me his frustration over this. my commitment to secretary buttigieg is the same as my commitment to the citizens in this community. we're going to continue with the environmental remediation. we've got air monitoring, water monitoring set up, we have long-term plans for monitoring. geoff: the rates of the -- each of the last four years. there was 80 realm in detroit this past week. norfolk southern has seen record profits. there is this question that the company. is putting profits over safety secretary buttigieg has said much the same thing. how do you respond to that? alan: safety is part of our culture and it is clear our safety culture and our investments in safety and prevent this accident. so we're going to take a look at what occurred here and see what we can do to make norfolk

southern a safer railroad. we invest over a billion dollars a year and maintaining our network and equipment and in technology to make a safer. geoff: over the past five years, norfolk southern paid shareholders nearly $18 billion through stock buybacks and dividends. twice as much railroad invested in operations and its own railroad. how do you account for that in making the case that the railroad is focused on safety when you're spending twice as much money on shareholders? alan: we are extremely focus on safety. and over the long term, we've seen reductions and derailments and hazardous material releases and injuries. this is clearly a situation where our safetyulture and our investments in safety did not prevent this accident. and so i'm looking foard to seeing the results in the ntsb to see what we could do better. geoff: if you lived in east palestine, would you feel comfortable moving back? alan: absolutely. i have been here several times,

and i have drank the water and i have eaten the food as i have sat down with residents of the community and heard their concerns. i know that the testing is showing that the air is safe and the water is safe. i also know that this community is frustrated. when i talked to the families here, they are scared. there's a lot of misinformation out there. they want to know that norfolk southern is going to be here for the long term, which we are. geoff: norfolk southern ceo alan shock, thank you for your time. alan: thank you, geoff. ♪ amna: now to our other major story. one year on since russia's invasion of ukraine. the two men in charge of the world's largest nuclear arsenals faced off rhetorically today. president biden in warsaw,

before a rousing crowd, and russian president putin in moscow, in front of an orderly audience of his lieutenants and supporters. again with the support of the pulitzer center, nick schifrin reports from ukraine. >> hello, poland. nick: in an eastern european capital, neighboring the largest war in 80 years, president biden today spoke in the language of civilizational conflict. pres. biden: the principles and the stakes are eternal. the choice between chaos and stability. between building and destroying. between hope and fear. between democracy that lifts up the human spirit, and the brutal hand of the dictator who crushee chcleeeae rl py tarergeted one . pres. biden: the west was not plotting to attack russia, as putin said today. this war was never a necessity. it's a tragedy.

president putin chose this war. every day the war continues is his choice. he could end the war with a word. poland was among the first countries to join nato. today, biden reiterated the u.s.' commitment to nato's collective defense, and vowed democracy, would prevail over autocracy. lll.. biden: president putin'scw thran l've for their country will prevail. democracy in the wld will stand guard over freedom today, torrow and forever. nick: 1100 miles east and eight hours earlier, president putin had his own audience, and blamed the war in ukraine, mostly on the west. >> responsibility for fomenting the ukrainian conflict, for its escalation and for the increasing numr of victims, lies entirely with western and of course, the current regime i kyiv, for which the ukrainian pe :eoare esntyselliaa

was suspending participation in the new rategic arms reduction ew start. on, s.eatyoral lateral arms nnu new start limits russia and the u.s.'s deployed nuclear warheads, and includes extensive verification measures. u.s. officials had already accused russia blocking some of those measures, and tonight the russian foreign ministry said it would come in fact, respect new start's reirements. systins buon 1 ht inispresidents important is that russia-u.s. relations have deteriorated. the responsibility for that is fully with the united states. it was them who started revising they started to build the world in the american way, with just one master, one lord. nick: today nato secretary

general jens stoltend sbeai 'pu >> with today's decision on new start, the whole arms control architecture has been dismantl.i'm ing reconsider itsecision to icspenpaits he new start agreement. raine.but what is clear, putin today, russian rockets struck in the middle of one of the largest cities in ukraine's south. at least six died, in a war that biden today called putin's choice, and putin called, a necessity. as for president putin's response to president biden's speech, we'll have to wait for the morning for that. but earlier today, putin's spokesman said that putin wouldn't even watch the speech, but would instead rely on a summary of it prepared by his na:ff. na nick schifrin in ukraine nick, thank you. ♪

in the day's other headlines, seekers at the southern border, unless they first ask for asylum in a country they passed through. it's something the trump administration tried, but was blocked in court. the rule is met eranet onc d pandemic-era restrictions finally end. wall street had its worst day in two months, as concerns over interest rates and profits worried investors. the dow jones industrial average lost nearly 700 points, 2%, to close at 33,129. the nasdaq fell 2.5%. the s&p 500 also gave up 2%. secretary of state aony blinken says it's up to iran to end a deadlock over restoring the 2015 nuclear deal. an agreement could curb tehran's nuclear activities in exchange for lifting sanctions. but in greece today, blinken accused iran of stalling talks while advancing itweapons program.

>> with regard to the nuclear program, the most effective, sustainable way to deal with the challenge it poses is through diplomacy. but in this moment, those efforts are on the backburner cause iran is simply not engaged in a meaningful way. geoff: -- amna: blinken also cited iran's decision to supply attack drones to russia, and its violent suppression of pro-democracy protests at home. deaths from the earthquakes in turkey and syria climbed past 47,000 today. that included at least eight people killed in monday's latest tremor. the quakes over the last two weeks have left ruined landscapes along the border region. hundreds of thousands of people are now homeless. back in this country, former mexican public security chief genera garcia luna was found guilty today of taking huge bribes to shield drug cartels. a jury returned a verdict in new york. he is the highest ranking

mexican official ever tried in the united states. a federal judge in new york has barred victims of the 9/11 attacks from seizing billions of dollars of assets from afghanistan central bank. the judge ruled today he would first have to find the country's taliban rulers are a legitimate government, but he says he has no power to do that. na appeal is expected. in new orleans, thousands of partygoers packed the streets today for mardi gras. the celebrations followed a fatal shooting on a sunday night. . but today, the mood was brighter, as colorful costumes and dancing filled the parade route. some in the crowd dismissed fears of violent crime. >> things like that are going to happen, fortunately. i'm trying not to let a couple of bad things, you know, block out such a positive event. i see a lot of people out here with their families, little kids to grandparents. amna: mardi gras marks the end of carnival season, which began on january 6th.

and democratic congressman david cicilline of rhode island announced today he's resigning, as of june 1. he'll become head of the rhode island foundation, the state's largest funder of non-profit organizations. cicilline has served in congress for 12 years. he's on the house judiciary and foreign affairs committees, and is co-chair of the lgbtq+ equality caucus. still to come on the newshour, the supreme court considers rolling back legal immunity for social media companies. a new strain of avian flu sparks concerns over its trsmissibility to humans. how a midwest city's investment in public art mirrors its overall turnaround. plus much more. >> this is the pbs newshour from weta studios in washington and in the west from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. amna: as russia's invasion of

ukraine marks one year, and president putin announces russia will suspend its participation in the new start treaty, where does that leave u.s.-russia relations? rose gottemoeller was the chief u.s. negotiator for that treaty during the obama administration. she's now a distinguished lecturer at stanford university. and angela stent worked in the state department during the clinton administration and served as a top intelligence officer on russia during under -- during the administration of george w. bush. she is a professor at georgetown university. welcome to you both. rose, i want to begin with you. what is the practical implication of this, of putin saying this treaty is being suspended? what changes immediately? rose: what has happened during this war in ukraine is that the russians have continued to provide the notifications that are violent -- vital to the regime of the treaty. frequently during the week and

sometimes even multiple times a day, they would send the u.s. notification of the movement of their strategic nuclear forces. if an icbm has to go to a maintenance facility, they would notify the u.s., and when it returns to its deploymt based, they would have to notify the u.s. in that way, we had a goi on wih the russian strategic nuclear focus -- forces, and they as well. they had reciprocal rights under the treaty, but they have now suspended those rights on their own recon dixons. amna: does that mean the u.s. has less of an ability to know when russia is moving its nuclear weapons and if they could use one? rose: i think it is important to know that our knowledge of russian readiness is very much dependent on our so-called national cycle -- so-called national tecical means, all of the capabilities that we have of our intelligence establishments. it is not as if we are left blind by the action.

the mutual predictability that comes from the treaty helps us to have that 24/7 understanding backed up by what we know from our own intelligence. amna: what about the timing and the intent of all this? y would president putin be delivering this particular message at this particular point in time? angela: he skipped his address to the federal assembly last year, address the russian nation and also foreign listeners. they iwt neppen k. they did not know that president biden was going to visit kyiv until a couple hours before he did, but, putin wanted to first of all restate all of the myths about the origins of this war, that it is the west's fault, that we did not negotiate seriously with russia beforehand, and the west threatened russia. peopleed tte hwnll ois that this war will continue for a long time. he set the americans want a strategic defeat of russia but

we cannot be defeated in the battlefield. his message to his own people and to the international audiences that this war will go on until russia has achieved its objectives. but he has not spelled out wha i e thct iost is the annexation and full control of these four territories, and to get the ukrainians to recognize it, but there may be other goals. he just said, we will continue until we achieve our goals. that i think there was also acod outside world, which are the failed hints that russia could develop new nuclear weapons. there was not a direct threat of the use of nuclear weapons, but certainly that this war could escalate because of what the west were doing. unsettling the outside world and trying to calm his own people, but tell them, this war is going to go on and you have to accept it. amna: two angela's point, putin did say the strategic systems have been put on what he called

combat duty. what does that into you? rose: this is something that i think we are all puzzling about, and we have to wait and see if there are actual changes in the operational status of the strategic new air force posture. a year ago at the time of the invasion ofsaidhat the forces wg put on higherere re a more solde command posts, that they were upping their level of oversight of what was going on, and they were not actually changing the operational status of their nuclear forces and putting them on higher alert. that is a very, to go to a higher alert status, is destabilizing. it sends the warning of a possibatscle whyich i don't think is either n the russian interests. at the sameimforces, and is somn a day-to-day basis, the commanders do not want too,

because it means that they possibly will be less effective iefficnt, sh tbut there are dowe operational risks to that kind of appacelro wasl.tress that i't sure at this moment if there are any changes in the operational status of the russian strategic nuclear forces. amna: why would he make this announcement then if there are no changes? rose: i think it is -- it echoes what he said a year ago when he was trying to rattle the nuclear sabr, and make it clear that this was going to be part of his overall rhetoric throughout this war. and that for him, it underscores the seriousness of the threats that angela outlined in her comments. amna: on the rattling of the nuclr sabers, the new start treaty only relates to strategic nuclear weapons, but there has been concern about putin using a tactical nuclear weapon in ukraine. do you share that concern? angela: you can't dismiss it

enrelybut i think putin has used these threats to intimidate the ukrainians, the outside world, and to break western unity. we saw at the nich security conference how great the western is, given the fact that european countries have suffered from the economic aftereffects. he wants people to believe he could use a nuclear weapon, a tactical nuclear weapon, particularly where -- where the ukrainians going to try to take back crimea. we do see even in the biden administration for all of its support of ukraine a concern not to take actions or allow the ukrainians to take actions that could lead to a russian-nuclear -- a russian nuclear escalation. you should not be intimidated by it. amna: in terms of where we are now, president biden recommitted support to ukraine. he said more sanctions are going to come against russia. we heard vice president harris in munich say russia has committed crimes against humanity.

marking one year in the war, does all of this make it more likely for president putin to negotiate or to be more deeply dug in? angela: i did not hear anything in his speech today to indicate he is interested in negotiations. and i think again, that was the mood in munich too, the understanding that this was not the time for negotiations, because putin still thinks he can outlast the west. that western unity will crack. and that he will force the ukrainians to make significant territorial concessions. i'm afraid i don't see any time in the near future the possibility for real genuine negotiations. amna: rose, i will give u the last word. what is your take? rose: my take is that we really need to do -- as well as other countries around the world, the chinese for example have an interest in the russians sying in the new start treaty so there is a good deal of credibility and stability between the two

biggest nuclear powers, the u.s. and russia. we are all worried about chinese modernization, but i think it is in the general interest of the nuclear weapon states, as well as to nonnuclear weapon states around the world, to get the message out there that the strategic nuclear arms treaties we have had for 50 years have served a good, strong, strategic purpose. amna: that is rose gottemoeller and angela stent joining us tonight. thank you both for your time and insights. ♪ geoff: -- amna: today the supreme court heard arguments in a case that has the potential to radically transform the internet and social media. john yang explores the case and it's impact. john: amna, the case is about a law that protects websites from lawsuits over material posted by users. the family of a student killed in a 2015 isis attack in paris

apply to the recommendations youtube's algorithms make based on a user's viewing history. the family says that by recommending isis-related content, youtube acted as a recruiting platform for the group. the law, which is often referred to as section 230, was written in 1996, before google, before twitter and before the current concerns about the spread of misinformation and hate speech. marcia coyle is the newshour's sueme court analyst. she was in the courtroom for today's too and a half hours of arguments. and sheera frenkel is a tech reporter for the new york times. when the lawyer for the family was making his case, i think confusion seemed to be the word of the day from the justices. i looked at the transcript, it was used five times by liberal and conservative justices. they were -- there was a lot of skepticism about his arguments.

. this is justice elena kagan questioning the attorney. >> everybody is trying their best to figure out how this statute, which was a pre-algorithm statute applies in a post-algorithmic world. every time anybody looks at anything on the internet, there is an algorithm involved. does your position send us down the road such that 230 really can't mean anything at all? >> i don't think so, your honor. the question as you say, algorithms are ubiquitous, but the question is, what does the defendant do with the algorithm? john: what is going on there? marcia: the family's lawyewas responding to justice kagan, trying to explain how he viewed these algorithmic recommendations. he also called them thumbnails that youtube puts on its website. he say thunas heifseencourage an or videos, in this case, to isis information, and the user has not requested that information,

then it falls outside of the statute. because it is, in effect, he argues, in service to isis. john: on the other hand, there were -- there was skepticism about google's argument. this is just as canton g brown jackson. >> isn't it true that that statute had a more narrow scope of immunity than courts have, you know, ultimately interpreted it to have and that what youtube is arguing here today. the question today is, well, can we be sued for making recommendations, that's just not something the statute was directed to. >> that's death by a thousand cuts, and the internet would have never gotten off the ground if anybody could sue every time. john: she is looking at the text of the law. marcia: she is. and shes narrmmunit for al media platforms. the google attorney today is arguing for the greatest amount

of immunity, obviously for her client, and other social media platforms. she disagreed with justice jackson about the history. she said even though congress at the time that they enacted this may not have referred to algorithmic recommendions, there were analogs to it. they certainly knew what was coming on the horizon, and were able to address it. john: does it seem like the court is not ready to go all the way on either side? marcia: it did absolutely. the bottom line here is if the court wants to do something with this case, it is going to be drawn into line drawing. how far does it go to protect social media platforms? or how far does it have to go to take away some of that immunity? it is a line drawing difficult he. john: and where to draw that line, a couple of justices actually asked out loud whether the supreme court was the right place to do that. this is justice brett kavanaugh. >> isn't it better to keep it

the way it is, for us, and congress, to put the burden on congress to change that and they can consider the implications and make these predictive judgments? john: what has congress been trying to do about section 230? sheera: we have a rare situation where almost everyone in congress is united in thinking that section 230 is an old law that needs updating. the problems that republicans and democrats disagree are about the problems republicans are concerned internet companies have too much control, they are worried about something they call conservative bias, the idea that tech companies routinely channnsels,once more than other voices. democrats are worried the companies are not doing enough against harmful speech. things like misinformation around elections, democrats want to see more done on that. john: why does changing this law, the prospect of changing the law, make the internet companies and social media platforms so nervous?

sheera: section 230 has been what has protected them until now. it has said that they are not publishers, not responsible for what other people say. it has let them roll out content moderation policies that they see as appropriate. they decide what is allowed and not allowed. but if they missed something, such as the case was in this specific trial that is being heard, they are not punished for it. john:john: we have a new pbs newshour npr marist poll set to be released this week. found that only 29% of adults said that e government should be setting the rules for social media. 67% said it should be left to social media companies themselves. i would imagine that his music to silicon valley's ears. sheera: i imagine if you are sitting at google or facebook or twitter, you are happy to hear that. i think people are worried, rightfully so, about how the vernment will decide what something like hate speech is. depending who controls congress

or who sits in the white house, that could mean something very different to different political parties. there is a reason why people are worried, if the government makes these decisions that become overly politicized. john: this was the first big social media case to come before the court, the first time they had looked at section 230. a lot more to come. there is a case tomorrow, what is that about? marcia: it is a sequel to the one case, the case tomorrow that has two other families. the underlying claim is that youtube, facebook, twitter had a recommendations, content that violated or encouraged an act of terror under the anti-terrorism act. that is what the court is going to look at. the elements of that claim and whether ty can be held liable under that specific statute. i should also add that the content moderation that sheera

mentioned, there are two cases pending in the court now, the justices have yet to decide whether to take them, they are out of florida and texas. opposite lower court rulings, good chance to court might get into this again. john: it would probably be in the term beginning in the fall. marcia: that's right. john: marcia coyle sheera frenkel and --marcia coyl and sheera frenkel, thank you both very much. marcia: pleasure, john. sheera thank you. ♪ amna: a highly contagious avian flu is infecting birds all over the globe. here in the u.s., farmers have lost, or had to kill, over 58 million birds to try and prevent the virus' spread. so far, this flu hasn't caused any serious threat to humans, but as william brangham reports, there are several new outbreaks that are raising some alarm. william: thanks. over the last two years, the

spread of this strain, known as h5n1, has been largely limited to birds. but now, two particular ou a fd inind hewionr g sea liot h5n1 might now be able to spread between mammals. that's raised concerns about the virus's potential to spread further, and perhaps even make humans sick. scott hensley is a professor of microbiology and an influenza researcher at the university of pennsylvania. thank you so much for being here. before we get to the make and sea lions, can you remind us how bad h5n1 is among birds all over the world? scott: we have seen h5n1 circulate in birds before. what makes this current situation unique is how widespread this particular plague of h5n1 virus -- virus is spreading. it is not a good time to be a bird today because this virus

has infected while bird populations and infecd domestic birds across the world. again coming unique thing about this particular virus is it is getting into bird populations that we have not seen be infected historically with age five -- 851 viruses. william: i was at an avian center a few months ago and we were seeing eagles and our and raptors of all kinds getting this virus. with regards to this, these cases, the sea lions and the mink, those seem to suggest the virus is spreading within mammals. do you think that evidence is -- do you think that is what is happening? if so, why is that a problem? scott: that is exactly what makes us a little bit nervous. these viruses are obviously very good at attacking to avey -- attaching to avian cells and replicating. we know that because the virus is spreading very rapidly among birds. the good news is the virus does

not appear to be able to replicate in human cells very effectively. weave seen cases, as we just outlined, the virus getting into mink. there is likely mink to make transmission -- mink to mink transmission. we see it spreading to otherid e virus might start changing, it might undergo acquiring different substitutions that enable better replication in these mammals. we are afraid though substitutions might enable the virus to attach to human cells more effectively. right now, the good news is the virus appears to be very poor at infecting human cells, but we start to get nervous when we see these crossover eventsn w therei mentioned briefly, some cases where the virus has jumped in, i think of this one case in

colorado where a person was cleaning out a chicken farm that suffered a big outbreak. that was not a human to human transmission. it was just someone getting a big dose of this virus. what do we know about what this virus does to people, if it does get into people? scott: luckily, there has been limited number of infections. but this particular h5n1 virus, in the past, h5n1 viruses have been known to have high mortality rates. in this encut have seen a limited number of human infections, mostly with folks who have had very close contact with birds. and there has not been many serious infections to date. h5n1 certainly has the potential to cause a lot of disease and high mortality rates. this particular virus does not

seem well adapted at infecting humans. but this could change, and something that we have to keep our eye on. william: can you help put this into perspective for people? those people who might be seeing the reports and being alarmed about this idea of it jumping hd we be? scott: we don't have to be alarmed right now. don't run ou pharmacy and buy a tt housantod rolls ofu toilet paper. if s y bird, certainly stay away from it. it is likely that this virus needs to acquire several substitutions before it can efficiently spread from human to human, and start infecting humans. but we need to remain vigilant. the research community has to come together. we need to increase funding for surveillance to be able to track this virus in real time. and we have to understand better what changes these viruses need

to have it take place for it to jump into the human population. an everyday person right now, again, avoid sick birds. i think other than that, there is not a lot that you need to do. but this is the time for the research community to come together and increase our surveillance efforts and start developing new vaccines, in case this virus does jump into humans. william: that is scott hensley at the university of pennsylvania. thank you so much. scott: thank you for having me. ♪ amna: like cities across the rust belt, fort wayne, indiana endured some tough decades, as manufacturing plants closed, jobs dried up, and the city's population shrank. but in recent years, fort wayne has made a turnaround and a big investment in public art. special correspondent cat wise recently spent time with a local artist who is a driving force

behind that effort. her report is part of our arts and culture series, canvas. cat: above a busy street in downtown fort wayne, in a quiet studio apartment, artist alexandra hall brings colorful, playful creatures to life with paint and brush. hall, who is 37, grew up in fort wayne and has been a full-time artist since 2015. over the years, she's drawn and painted a variety of subjects including portraits, still-life, and delightful tipsy frogs. more recently, she's become known for her large-scale paintings of animals in bright, pattern-filled costumes. >> i am inspired by a lot of different things. travel, sim i a pn the dewa. i have for a very long time recreated the things i see into whimsical animals that often have human traits or an

anthropomohized animal. cat: tell me about the dripping of the paint. why is that important? >> i think there is a little bit of chaos in every piece. there needs to be that release of control, that idea that nothing in our life is unchanging and nothing in our life is fully in our control. i tuck that into because that's been part of my life story and i think it's part of most people's life story. cat: her life took an unexpected turn in high school when she was diagnosed with bone cancer. >> back when i wasll, i was spending a lot of time in bed. it was really up to me to create the world around me and make it interesting. art became that outlet for me, and it's still an outlet for me today. cat: after recovering and going to college, hall began traveling and discovered a love of public art. >> when i traveled, i noticed that there were communities that organically have a really strong

public art presence. and i found myself more drawn to those places and those spaces because they have some sort of story to tell. at the time, i would say, i thought, wow, i can't wait to live in a place like this. i want to leave indiana. cat: hall eventually decided not to leave. instead, she'ous'pughbrblt icar in the summer, this can be a coolbook, and it is a t: in 201a donation funded organization called "art this way." now a nonprofit that's part of fort wayne's downtown improvement district, the organization facilitates public art projects on private property and the development of pedestrian-friendly spaces. >> we work really hard to make spaces walkable in the sense that there is art every so often and often enough that you are intrigued and are inspired, want to keep going. cat: she took me on a tour to

see some of the 30 large-scale pieces her organization has helped install by local, national, and international artists. tell me about this mural. >> so this is walt whitman by tim parsley. this is meant to depict the creative brain and the hope that comes from the creative brain. what we wanted to do with the "art this way" program was create a place where public art could be about anything, and it didn't need to necessarily be about fort wayne. so give it room to breathe and allow art for art's sake to happen. cat: that art, she says, has helped breathe new life into the city. which during the downturn years had seen an increase in vacant parking lots and abandoned buildings. today, one stark alleyways are now a destination. tell me about this piece. >> this is called 77 steps. we have seen engagement photos, people get engaged in the space, it can be programmed to do a lot

of different things. we will program it for special events and holidays, you name it. cat: community loves it. >> community lesson. cat: art this way's projects, including two of hall's own works, are part of a growing collection of public art throughout the cityanearly 150 -- throughout the city. nearly 150 pieces including a new sculpture in honor of ukraine. >> you are supposed to engage with this, like a lot of the work we install. you are supposed to stand and be pictured with your crown and your set of wings. cat: events like the annual art crawl in september draw locals and visitors and perhaps convince some of those visitors to stay. >> there's more people moving in than are moving out. it's there, it's a big deal. and that something to be proud of. cat: bill brown is fort wayne business owner and former head of the downtownedir im rprovement district. >> we have some outstanding local artists. cat: i met him at the bradley, a

new boutique hotel in downtown. >> the bradley has been able to embrace them and hang their art. cat: he says public art has played a significant role in fort wayne's revitalization efforts which have also included riverfront development and a baseball stadium. nationally, a 2018 survey by the nonprofit americans for the arts found that 70% of americans believe that the arts improve the image and identity of their community. indiana, arts and culture is a $7.6 billion dollar industry which supports more than 78,000 jobs. brown says in fort wayne nearly everyone is on board now with public art, but it took some time to get there. >> i think the change was the reization that the arts can drive economic development. i think that show me thing, a conservative commuty, once they trust, they are all in. and that's where i think with people like alex, it is

performance, trust, and talent. cat: hall and other fo art waybe artists have been building on that trust and expanding their impact. like theoplis smith who goes by the artistic name phresh laundrie. i met him at his new mural in the entrance tunnel to aelectric works. the recently renovated former campus of general electric that was vacant for years. smith, an internationally recognized artist whose work can be seen throughout fort wayne including at the bradley hotel, has high hopes for his city. >> i want this to be like a mecca in the north region to see the arts flourished. being the second largest city in indiana, the economy is growing. you ve people in all walks of life coming into fort wayne to see what we have to offer. we want to make sure we are screaming and echoing arts. cat: but as his city grows, he wants to make sure everyone is included and able to access the arts. >> you hyoinne between gentrification versus revitalization. it's making sure that you have the right people at the table to make it cohesive. you want people to feel invited, feel welcome, feel i belong

here. cat: he also wants to make public art more accessible. >> what you have created is this huge melting pot of street art. we are seeing lots of diversity in the cultus and ethnicities and where someone is from brazil, germany, you name it. cat: she's now consulting with communities outside of fort wayne and over the past three years, she's led more than three dozen projects in rural towns in indiana, new york, and pennsylvania. and while she still loves to travel, sheet has no plans to -- she has no plans to leave her hometown. for the pbs newshour, i'm cat wise in fort wayne, indiana. ♪ amna: remember there's a lot more online at pbs.org/newshour, including a conversation about how harm reduction advocates are working to combat a nationwide spike in fentanyl overdoses.

and join us again here tomorrow night, for the first installment of judy woodruff's series "america at a crossroads" exploring what is dividing the nation. and that's the newshour for tonight. i am amna nawaz. on behalf of the entire newshour team, thank you for joining us. >> major funding for the "pbs newshour" has been provided by -- ♪ >> moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. >> pediatric surgeon. volunteer. topiary artist. a raymondjames financial advisor

tailors advice to help you live your life. life well planned. >> the walton family foundation. working for solutions to protect water during climate change so people and nature can thrive together. supported by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation, committed to building a more just, verdant, d peaceful world. more information at macfound.org. and with the ooing 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 performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy.]

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