e.u. officials at secret to reassure people that the astra zeneca coated shot is safe saying the vaccine has a tendency is costing lives but there are signs that the damage to public trust is already done. commuters you know since it has been shown that there are people who have unfortunately died after getting vaccinated it seemed the risk is low in their best interest we don't know which trust i threw a bit to the dark. germany reveals plans for talks with moscow to buy russia's sputnik fini jab as long as it gets approval from the e.u. regulator and.

gotta love it ace or use a rocket carrying 2 russians and an american has docked with the international space station just days before the 60th anniversary of the 1st manned space flight . space is cool but are to dot com for more on those and other stories the big picture is up next with us this is our. april 12th marks the 40th anniversary of the 1st space shuttle launch and for the next 30 years 5 shuttles launch numerous satellites and interplanetary probes and the hubble telescope a conducted scientific experiments impossible here on earth collaborated with russia in the shuttle mir alliance and mabel construction. of and travel to and

from the international space station all of this progress came at up painful cost in $14.00 human lives lost when challenger exploded after liftoff and columbia disintegrated re entering earth's atmosphere after the final flight of atlantis 10 years ago the space shuttle program ended and nasa relied on russia's so used to transport our astronauts to and from the space station until 2020 when ial on musk's space x. became the 1st space flight with the crew operated by private companies but how must it have felt to witness history at that 1st shuttle launch let's ask an eye witness who reported the launch live career space journalist and co-author with jail pickering of the handsome picture in apollo 11 rare views and undiscovered

moments and the space age presidency of john f. kennedy are rare photographic history john business take us back there 40 years ago how did it feel to be there for the very 1st shuttle launch well it was really exciting all in obviously we have not had a u.s. manned launch and in 6 years there was a delay and we all trooped out there the public in the press and everybody on april to but there was a computer problem so we had 2 days away and we tried again this time it was successful it was a morning very big tackler as you might expect those shock waves rolling across the banana river toward you took off a little faster than a saturn 5 i had seen several launches in the late seventy's or the early seventy's but it was really really your history making you're quite right so the program in a whole new direction space program. well what was the significance of that moment

and what did it portend for the future of the space program well i want to before we lose track of this this launch was also on the 20th anniversary of your regard garland's the 1st person in space sort of mentioning coincidence given that the way but what the shuttle represented the reusability of it it could take off like a rocket of course wind like an airplane and nasa promised it would have all sorts of uses some of which indeed it did carry out over the lifetime of the shuttle program 30 years if you mentioned earlier they repaired satellites deployed satellites ploy the hubble space telescope fix the hubble space telescope you know didn't have labs of their medical and industrial research on the other hand it didn't fly quite as frequently as people expected so you know from that standpoint i think it's a mixed bag as we look back on it gave us

a lot of capability but all that capability in earth orbit so as a result of that that's why our plans to go back to the moon and on to mars were sort of put on the back burner for a while. as teenagers john you and i witnessed a sad moment in the sixty's space race when the astronauts grissom white and chafee died during a pre-launch test for the apollo one mission so there was one aspect of this 1st shuttle launch that had us holding our breath correct. yeah no question i mean. the expression goes spaceflight is risky business and you always hold your breath whenever there's a launch get a little long on the edge but here's the different thing about the shuttle the 1st shuttle launch than any previous u.s. manned watch there was no unmanned test flight with mercury gemini and apollo. every one of those rockets and spacecraft had been tested several times before we put humans on board this time know they've got

a lot of ground to have to in fact they fired up the main engines with the thing help down on the pad so they were very confident and asked about this later the pilot bob crippen said well we felt as though that they have a better chance of succeeding if we were there but they were got to know they had ejection seats don't get me wrong but i think it was still a very gutsy move luckily it all worked out great these guys had to have the right stuff who was aboard that 1st mission and how did it go well as i say the pilot i just mention was bob crippen he was the space rope you never put up there before he commanded 3 more shuttle flights though and he eventually became the director kennedy space center you see him there on the right over on the left is john young he was the commander young was an icon of the astronaut program you bit gemini astronaut twice you flown to the moon twice landed up politics dean walked on the

moon by this time he was the head of the astronaut office and young said you know what i'm going to assign myself to this flight and he did and there was really no objection because he was our most experienced astronaut he would go on to command 2 more shuttle flights he died in 2800 but john young is a real hero in a real life. we are speaking with author and space journalist john business john and i met in the early eighty's we were both in radio in washington d.c. fast forward i was managing the newsroom at w t o p the news station in washington the day that the challenger went up and it's a day i'll never forget but apparently the novelty had worn off because we were the only remaining radio station that broadcast each shuttle liftoff and after challenger all the other stations joined back in john where were you for challenger

. and i was right there right there at the present you know 3 and a half miles away at the close if anybody could get that was a part of an emergency crew were right across from orange control center and obviously was a horrible day it's a day i'll never forget i was literally suffered depression for a period of weeks difficult to eat. just a shocking event that nobody ever thought would happen i mean i remember sitting there and looking up in the sky and seeing that and it took a while for my brain to process it because it just seemed so out of bounds of reality that this could happen after 25 watches but he did the program back there was obviously a huge review the rogers commission investigated what happened i mean a lot of improvements to the show holes but you took the solid rocket boosters which was the real cause of this and we got back on track but boy it was a horrible tragedy it's but you. can only imagine hey i would the line musk

now sparing us the hitchhike with the russians to get to the space station compare what can space x. do that the shuttles couldn't and vice versa. sure well space x. because they're smaller rockets so they come back and they can be reduced quit the show could be too but it's a lot cheaper to launch those rockets than a 2 to a shuttle so that's the edge there for space x. also they can watch more frequently than the shuttle and purdue but the shuttle there's no question have more low earth orbit capability that could take more people up at a time when it's more versatile so now the starship the space x. is also building that's going to have a big over the shuttle because the plans are for it to carry people eventually back to the moon and on to mars so there's no damage it has hey i mean while

on mars you were with us john when perseverance rover touchdown a just several weeks ago give us an update on what's going on up there yeah things are going very well in fact since we talked last time holland the little drone or helicopter if you will inspiration has been dropped off it was flying under he was underneath the belly of the lander lander dropped off and then backed off and we've sent sent back pictures so now we can see the thing sitting there waiting for commands or if it's 1st light those blain spin really fast because the martian atmosphere so then with the plan is to try it sunday evening and if it will go maybe 30 to 50 feet fly around for a minute and a half and then come back down it's just a very going to be a very brief test flight but here's the interesting thing hala because mars is so far away they'll do this on sunday evening but they won't get the signal back you know if it was successful until monday morning wow. animation from

nasa is adorable it looks like robots giving birth the robots space journalist john business thanks as always for your time come again pal. come about up your member how the highways looked one year ago a band that looks different today right and last summer we all had a staycation this year look how busy you are it's vacation mother nature is not. we'll talk about it when we come back this is the big picture on our t. america. because

the banks are getting so much free money from the government they don't want to take even any risk on any small to medium sized enterprise or anyone looking to buy a house because why take any risk at all if the government's just going to stuff chileans of dollars on your balance sheet.

during the pandemic shut down mother nature took a breather self quarantined a year ago we suddenly drove less and flew lots less and more normal times air pollution claims about $8000000.00 lives a year worldwide but in 2020 it was down 50 per cent in china and you could look up and see blue skies over los angeles even new delhi dolphins were spotted in the canals of venice well we're getting vaccinated now we're getting out and about is the environment going to take a hit as a result let's ask the author of green is good save money make money and help your community profit from clean energy brian keenness founder and president of smart

power a washington d.c. based nonprofit renewable energy and energy efficiency outreach and marketing company brian you were here when the shutdown 1st hit and ever since we've been navigating plexiglas compartments so i'm going to pick up on a technique larry king taught me and i'm going to ask you the obvious question nobody else ever asks when all this is over what's going to happen to the plexiglas can that be recycled and what about all the p.p. and all the single use plastic have we created a pile of poo. good question let's get rid of the plexiglas birthrate it's unbelievable but i think actually what you're really asking is what are the silver linings here from this pandemic and as crazy as terrible as this year has been i think we're going to see some environmental silver linings so it's the glass aside and i think what that is is you know right now there's

a whole bunch of pent up need to trial and then travel that we're kind of seeing that we're hearing from the airports that's like big asian travel that is people saying i got to get out here let me let me go but what they're not saying is let me do more business travel let me go to that meeting halfway around the world and that's what i want to do so i think what we're going to see holland is actually less and less business troll less and less people traveling out where on the world around the country just to take one meeting and in fact yes there's a real zoom fatigue but there's bigger travel fatigue to go halfway around the country country for one meeting so we're going to actually do a lot more zoom to have that one meeting to have the introductory meeting and that actually is going to be really good for the environment and that's it's a real that's a real several silver lining in this that we're learning actually how to interact on a business level by zoom and then you take it a step further we're going to start really seeing some commuting not happening to the office we're sort of having hybrid office places where hey you know what just

for my own sanity let alone for the environment i can actually now start i can actually work at home several days if not 5 days a week in then go into the office when needed and that's not that's just not just good for productive productivity in for my sanity but that's really good for the environment. you're absolutely right about the silver linings the new normal is obviously neither but this is zune phenomenon and telecommuting these are trends that were already in motion and were accelerated is very bad news for the airlines because it's that high ticket business travel fare that really pays their way. you could fill the 1st class compartment on a 757 and pay for the flight and everybody in the back is gravy so we'll see how that plays out for them meanwhile brian that by then ministration is getting serious about environment but i'll call sam can only do so much even with this

president pressing to rebuild america on a scale akin to what f.d.r. did during and after the war what can we as individuals do to make this comeback easier on mother earth. you know they are asking that because i think it's really important to keep this in mind and remember that you know the government can only do so much the government can actually only lead by example and that's really kind of it's exciting it that we're seeing here in the u.s. that we actually are seeing real leadership by example and we're seeing it on a federal level a state level we're seeing county level and town level it's really all coming together but that doesn't in cannot let each of us off the hook that each one of us actually can in should be part of this solution that climate change is real and we have not only nomination but an opportunity to be a part of that solution and that opportunity means actually being in our daily lives just smart about how we use our energy in being smart about how we actually

live in our our homes and actually our businesses you know as we just talked about with commuting it's actually just being smart we're talking about electric vehicles like what an opportunity to actually use electric vehicles as opposed to combustion engines how about putting solar on our homes today solar is actually it's real it actually really works it's actually really affordable and it really works for people all over the country whether you learned that touched home or you actually live in an apartment building you can actually sign up for what we call community solar and actually reduce your utility bill so there are real opportunities then by the way just using less energy in your home being smarter about kind of the type of windows that are in your home the type of light bulbs that are in your home kind of the simple easy steps that people can take you know very quickly very simple very simple and very easily and those are real simple his readings that each of us can do while the federal government then is kind of tackling the big issues as well and i think it's really important is climate change is a huge challenge but we can't get overwhelmed by it we can each do our start quick

simple easy steps to be part and not get overwhelmed yet to turn the lights off you know there it's a game of inches all this retail personal stuff will add up we're speaking with brian keene from a smart power dot org and brian. i have been following the work you're involved with as solar is building out nearby in connecticut and here in rhode island and the company running the usa is 1st offshore wind farm off block island rhode island is developing a number of other sites along coastal know angle in long island and the medical lab tech how many names stream is renewable energy now. it's unbelievable you know the column we've been talking about this for a long time you and me and and quickly i got into the business 20 years ago it was a years ago we were saying you know clean energy is real it's here and it's working and it was then but now it really is you know today in arizona arizona public

service the largest utility in arizona they and by the way they have they used to own the largest in the oldest coal fired power plants they don't any longer but today they say they have committed to being carbon free not carbon neutral but carbon free by the year 2050 that is unbelievable for a major utility as a result of them saying that by the way the other utilities in the state and then said oh well we're going to be carbon free tube so now you have arizona the arizona utilities saying they're going to be carbon free and that creates this domino effect where not only the utilities nearby the other states nearby are saying they'll do it but then major businesses within those states are saying hey we're going to be carbon free too and so what you have is this real kind of rolling system of people saying well we're going to be carbon free where we're going to get that they're going to get it from wind they're going to get it from solar they're going to get it from nuclear they're gonna get it from non-carbon producing energy and it's a real game changing everything is changing and how we get our energy but what

won't change is actually that we'll be getting energy will be able to turn our lights on heat or how and get it air conditioning in the summer and it will just be cleaner brighter energy that's really a game changer meanwhile we're changing our entire. a fleet of cars you know in massachusetts the republican governor of massachusetts has signed a bill saying there won't be any producing any combustion cars by the year 20302035 that is unbelievable so no more can bus an engines in massachusetts that you know by the way so goes massachusetts so goes all of new england and then so goes new york and quite frankly then so goes the whole country so now we're talking about really having an entire fleet of legit vehicles volkswagen you know supposedly people fools joke but change their name to volts and wagon you know like i said that it was an april fool's joke. they kind of went back and it kind of went back and forth i don't think they knew either i think it was

a trial balloon but it's unbelievable what we're really seeing and it's not just the united states it's around the world and so really what's happening and now there is a rush to create lots of charging stations there's a rush to actually create to convert gas stations into electric charge and stations because there isn't really enough now how we're actually going to get energy into these cars ason and there's a real kind of exciting stuff to do that i mean it's that's going to you know what we should talk about in the future is actually where we're going to how we can charge all these currents because we can the technology is there that's going to be part of you know quite frankly is gold rush of energy that's coming coming forward and i know a lot of people in this country are scared of this they're scared of you know what's going to happen where are these jobs going to come from and it is a gold rush out there in energy jobs and so the opportunities are huge for everybody. fastest growing employment sector of all down to about a minute but i must ask you about the tough winter that texans had it is i mean you say texas you think oil but it is the number one wind state and they're grid was

not winterized and the estimates to do so are in the trillions are they do much for a repeat of what they've recently suffered. well you know it's not certain that don't single out texas look at puerto rico look at new york and new jersey i mean we're seeing this time and time again this is really kind of climate change this is the problem with having an aged grid this is what joe biden is talking about about building back better this is what has to happen we have to fix the grid and so you know we can look at texas we're talking about texas because it's only the most recent one but it has happened time and time and time again and it will happen again and again and again until the op fix this and that's you know you're very having a big debate now about how much money to spend we have to because we have to get our grid right we have to do this right and we have the opportunity now to do this it's really kind of an exciting time there's no finger pointing in texas this is the time to fix it everywhere brierly martin howard roark thank you as always for

stepping into the big picture possibly americans most dreaded deadline is looming when i say april 15 year jump right and even though the pandemic gave us an extra month to get our income taxes in procrastination never takes a holiday a year ago when the shutdown hit i figured this is my opportunity i'm finally going to organize my office i'm finally going to clean up my cellar i'm just now chipping away at it so we asked author psychology today columnist and cycle therapist nancy collyer what are the magic words you can say in the mirror to get off the dime about something you've been postponing. well i right off for my south and listen you're no different than all the people i talk to every day you know all the plans and then here we are 11th hour haven't done it but i want to offer myself a couple it's of advice in the mirror why me is 1st and i had knowledge of it's he

adds to our taxes it's just if he is taxed for every human being and less i don't know maybe maybe there's somebody out there it is but so far you have to just get on our own side it's terrible and waiting for questioning in knowing it's there is also maybe even worse as you say as bad many it's even worse because we know it's there and we're not doing it so we we join our side by saying this is really hard stuff and hey how about if i do it and when i do it i'm going to give myself the old fashioned dog dog training trick i'm going to give myself a little treat a knowledge of pain and you're going to get something a little extra whatever that is for you that's one piece don't skip the stare of being on your own side about how hard it is to sending it again always the same advice by piece it so we need means judge 48 hour

monstrosity that we make it into a b.m.i. that more will chip away and do one better scenes for a day and remain right there one more bit received. the expenses but little bit because we can even ellen and if we just heard of the sense of it's. year and then. now thanks to the desk you tend to do it that way. human nature that is the big picture and thank you for watching it will do that next week with another show if you want to set your d.v.r. and you do it's direct t.v. channel 321 dish 280 live stream youtube dot com slash r t america the big picture is archived at youtube dot com slash the big picture our team and you have got a download if you haven't yet are portable t.v.

app with all of the above and so much more portable dot tv or in google play or the app store and you really do want to be here in one week on next week's show we're going to talk about preppers and when i say the word caricature comes to mind maybe you're picturing me john malcolm which character in the movie you've read well there's a little more to it than that and you will be sobered next week to hear the list of things that could suddenly turn life up side down and how easily you can be prepared and after next week's show direct you were online to 10000 words that can literally save your life and we'll talk about one threat that isn't just confined to kim jong un or iran or another nuclear power but a lone wolf with a suitcase could halt life as we know it and i'm not exaggerating one week from

now meantime stay safe and question more. talks are underway in vienna to save the j c p a way the agreement the trump administration unilaterally walked away from making the deal whole again is relatively easy for iran but that cannot be said for the united states does the buy didn't ministration have the political will to say yes without. problem drugs don't do is come from unscrupulous dealers but from pharmacies to in every state in the united states we seem very sharp increase in the number of people seeking treatment for addiction to

prescription opioids invited to america under the banner of medicine persisted with the pain but instead of trying to wean him off though she just goes after dose after dose if your dose and really became his drug dealer so who's to blame patients don't use manufacturers all the governments. kaiser this is they guys are reports so much to get check in with stacy maxwell we have been warning the audience we said that all this money printing would pop up somewhere and we have of course seen the wealth gap explode over the past year and here are some data showing how those who already own assets and

a time of relentless money printing are the ones who are earning the most well since beginning of pandemic median sales price of u.s. homes has jumped by $50000.00 to a record 370000 servicing debt each month this $100.00 more now than a year ago as for real it's or dot com calculation assumes 20 percent down payment 30 year loan a mortgage rate 50 basis points lower than in march 2020 course this is the median sales price though it's you know perhaps higher priced homes are coming on the market as people flee the cities like wealthy people flee san francisco and new york but again this is just demonstrating that those who hold the assets are benefiting the most right right so you make the point about the actual money drops that they did something like $2500.00 or something versus the $50000.00 in house appreciation right that's very starkly demonstrated the.