PBS NewsHour; December 1, 2021, 6:00pm-7:00pm PST

Bay Area residents through support of higher education and the arts. (music) Judy Woodruff: Good evening. I'm Judy Woodruff. On the NewsHour tonight, COVID concerns. The first case of the Omicron variant is detected in the US, as world governments impose more travel restrictions. (?): This is the most visible way in which politicians can be seen as responsive to a public health crisis because it's a lot easier to shut your borders than to get your vaccines out. Judy Woodruff: Then abortion battle, the Supreme Court hears arguments on a restrictive Mississippi law setting up what could be the most important decision on the issue since Roe v. Wade. And the nuclear issue in direct talks resume between the United States and Iran, but hopes for a return to the 2015 agreement remain low. All that and more on tonight's PBS NewsHour. (music) Major funding for the PBS NewsHour has been provided by (music)

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Skollfoundation.org (music) The Lemelson Foundation, committed to improving lives through invention in the U.S. and developing countries, on the web at Lemelson.org. Supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. More information at macfound.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. Judy Woodruff: We have two major stories tonight. The first case of the Omicron variant of COVID was detected in the U.S. today. Something most health official had said was inevitable.

We'll delve into the implications of this a little later. But first, the future of abortion rights took center stage at the U.S. Supreme Court. The Justices has heard arguments this morning over a Mississippi law that bans abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. And outside the court building, recognizing one of the most consequential cases about the issue in decades, dozens of protesters on both sides gathered en mass. To break down the arguments and the potential fallout, we turned to Marsha Coil, Chief Washington correspondent for the National Law Journal. She was in the courtroom today for the oral arguments. And Mary Ziegler, a Florida State University law professor and author of the book Abortion and the Law in America. And welcome back to the program. Hello to both of you. Marsha, before we get into the specifics of today, remind us what the Justices are being asked to decide here. Marsha Coil: All right. The State of Mississippi in 2018 enacted a ban on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy.

Lower courts struck it down. Mississippi came to the U.S. Supreme Court asking, are all prohibitions on pre-viability abortions unconstitutional, as Roe and Casey have said they are? And then it also asked the court to overturn Roe and Casey, the court's landmark abortion rights rulings. Judy Woodruff: So it grew from an original question. Marsha Coil: It did. Judy Woodruff: To a much bigger one. And Mary Ziegler, we can't always tell from what the Justices are saying, what might happen in a case. What did you hear today from these Justices? Mary Ziegler: Well, going into this case, I expected the focus of the argument to be on viability. And while I was convinced that the court would eventually overrule Roe, I wasn't convinced that they would do so in this case. Basically, I thought they might eliminate viability as the line at which case states could criminalize abortion. And then maybe work their way up to overruling Roe in a later case. What I heard today was that many of the Justices seemed potentially ready to overturn Roe now.

Amy Coney Barrett asked questions suggesting that women didn't need access to abortion. They could simply put children up for adoption. I don't think these are questions you ask if you're not seriously considering reversing Roe, which is what I fully expect the court to do, and more likely sooner than that. Judy Woodruff: Well, let's talk about some of the specifics of what we heard today, Marcia. I think it was clear in the first few minutes of these oral arguments that this case was one of great consequence. And we heard Justice Breyer raise the critical question of overturning precedent, stare decisis. He spoke in reference to the 1992 abortion decision, Casey, which you just mentioned. We have an audio recording of that. He makes a comment, and then you hear from the Mississippi State Solicitor General Scott Stewart. Justice Breyer: What the court said follows from that is that it should be more unwilling to overrule a prior case. Far more unwilling, we should be.

Whether that case is right or wrong, than the ordinary case. It is particularly important to show what we do in overturning a case is grounded in principle, and not social pressure, not political pressure. Mississippi State Solicitor General Scott Stewart: I would not say it was the people that called this court to end the controversy. The people, you know, many, many people vocally really just wanted to have the matter returned to them so that they could decide it locally. Judy Woodruff: And, Marcia, I want to now have everyone here. Another comment on precedent. This from the conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Brett Kavanaugh: I want to ask a question about stare decisis and to think about how to approach that here. If we think that the prior precedents are seriously wrong, if that, why then doesn't the history of this court's practice with respect to those cases tell us that the right answer is actually a return to the position of neutrality.

Judy Woodruff: So, Marsha, precedent is everything. Marsha Coil: It absolutely is. And Justice Breyer, for Justice Breyer, was quite passionate in reading the section of Casey on starre decisis, which, as you know, is the Latin phrase meaning, to stand by the thing in the context of law, stand by the prior decision. And he said, you know, that Casey went through step by step by step, all of the factors that the court applies when trying to decide whether to overrule a case. And in Casey, they were looking at overruling Roe. And the court came to the conclusion, no that these factors did not justify overruling Roe. So, Justice Breyer was saying, you know, what has changed here? Nothing. And if we do this without being principled and with reason, the court's legitimacy is going to be at stake. On the other hand, Justice Kavanaugh is saying, well, if it's egregiously wrong, why don't we go back to what our prior practice was, which is to be neutral. But the other lawyers for the clinic, the abortion clinic, made it clear that the court has never really said that a precedent being egregiously wrong was enough to overrule it.

In fact, Chief Justice Roberts has even said that. Judy Woodruff: And we know, in addition to precedent, there was one consideration that came up a number of times this morning. And that was the viability of the fetus, in a pregnant woman, the conservative justice is Mary. And I'm going to come to you after we listen to this, question the so-called viability standard. Here's an excerpt from the Chief Justice, John Roberts, followed by a later comment by U.S. Solicitor General, Elizabeth Prelogger, who is arguing against the Mississippi law. Let's listen to this. Chief Justice John Roberts: If you think that the issue is one of choice, women should have a choice to terminate their pregnancy, that supposes that there is a point at which they've had the fair choice, an opportunity to choice. And why would 15 weeks be an inappropriate line?

The viability, it seems to me, doesn't have anything to do with choice. But if it really is an issue about choice, why is 15 weeks not enough time? U.S. Solicitor General, Elizabeth Prelogger: The question is, why would women need access to abortion after 15 weeks and what is the effect on them? And there are any number of women who cannot get an abortion earlier. They don't realize that they're pregnant, that's especially true of women who are young or don't have, have experienced a pregnancy before, or their life circumstances change, they lose their job, or their relationship breaks apart, or they have medical complications. Or for many women, they don't have the resources to pay for it earlier. Judy Woodruff: And Mary, we were saying earlier that the Chief Justice seems to be searching for a middle ground here. Mary Ziegler: I think that going into this, and I mean, it's a stretch to call it a middle ground because to get rid of viability as the dividing line would be to reverse a core dimension of Roe v Wade that's been there since 1973. But that seemed to be the solution that Chief Justice John Roberts was interested in.

And he returned to this question of viability several times, suggesting essentially that if there's a right to choose abortion, does it really have to go until 24 weeks? Why couldn't it be, for example, 12 weeks or 15 weeks when most abortions take place relatively early in pregnancy? That wasn't surprising in and of itself. I think what was more surprising was that more of the justices didn't seem interested in that question. Judy Woodruff: The one other thing I definitely want to get the both of you to comment on is to the extent politics is the undercurrent here. That was brought up very early in the oral arguments today by Justice Sotomayor. And here is just a part of what she said. Justice Sotomayor: Will this institution survive the stench that this creates in the public perception that the Constitution and its reading are just political acts? Judy Woodruff: She had flat out said that these cases were brought because the court now has three new conservative justices.

Marsha Coil: She did point to the fact that the Mississippi legislators who enacted this law said they were doing this because there were new justices on the court. She also picked up on what Justice Breyer had said earlier when he was reading from the Casey decision. And the Casey decision was very clear that the court had to be concerned about its legitimacy when it comes to overturning precedence without justification. That it cannot bow to public pressure. It cannot be because there are new justices on the court. So she picked up on that and basically ran with it. Judy Woodruff: And Mary, reminding us that if the court does make the kinds of changes that both you and Marsha say could come from this decision, it will have a profound effect on women across the country. Mary Ziegler:: It will. I mean, it will have the most obvious effect on women in the South and Midwest where we would expect to see not just entire states criminalizing abortion, but functionally entire regions, which will make it much harder for people who don't have a lot of money to travel to get an abortion. Because that would require either getting an illegal abortion medication and hoping nothing happens to you, or getting on a plane, which of course is not possible for people with limited resources in some instances.

It's going to have effects, I think, on people in other states as well. For example, blue states like California are already expecting to see a surge in abortion patients because people in places where abortion will be illegal will be seeking those services elsewhere. Judy Woodruff: It goes with out saying. Marsha Coil: Can I say one other thing. Although I came out of the arguments feeling that the, awoman's right to abortion was in serious trouble here. I covered Casey in 1992, and I remember at that time, many of us also thought that Roe was doomed after those arguments and that Justice Anthony Kennedy was going to be the deciding vote. But you never know what's going to happen from the time of the arguments until the justices to sit down, vote, and actually start drafting opinions. Judy Woodruff: And we needed to hear that reminder, that we don't know. We don't know the until decision comes out. Marcia Coyle, Mary Ziegler, thank you both. We appreciate it. Marcia: Pleasure, Judy.

Mary: Thanks for having us. (music) Judy Woodruff: In our other major story, the U.S. joined at least two dozen countries reporting the arrival of COVID-19's Omicron variant. A case was confirmed in San Francisco on the eve of new requirements for travelers arriving in the U.S. William Brangham begins our coverage. Anthony Fauci: We knew that it was just a matter of time before the first case of Omicron would be detected in the United States. William Brangham: Confirmation of that first case came this afternoon at the White House from infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci. Anthony Fauci: The individual was a traveler who returned from South Africa on November 22 and tested positive. The individual is self quarantining and all close contacts have been contacted and all close contacts thus far have tested negative. William Brangham: The news of Omicron's arrival here broke as the Biden administration plans to announce new travel restrictions tomorrow.

The CDC says it will soon require a negative COVID test 24 hours before departure for all international flyers coming to America. The agency also reportedly has asked airlines to share the names and contact information for passengers recently arriving from one of the eight Southern African countries where Omicron is present. But even as concerns grow over the new strain, the Delta variant remains dominant in the U.S. and in Europe. South Korea is experiencing a similar Delta surge, reporting its highest number of daily infections since the pandemic began. It also confirmed its first known case of Omicron linked to passengers traveling from Nigeria. In Japan, a second person tested positive for the variant today and officials blocked new reservations for all incoming flights through the end of December. The World Health Organization today said data on how contagious Omicron is could come within days and it warned again that travel bands could do more harm than good.

WHO speaker: Our concern here is that we apply public health principles, not political principles, to selecting measures that are used to control the spread of disease. William Brangham: Instead, public health officials again stressed the need for more vaccines to be sent to vulnerable countries. For the PBS NewsHour, I'm William Brangham. Vanessa Ruiz: I'm Vanessa Ruiz in for Stephanie Sy will return to Judy and the full program after the latest headlines. In the days, other news, a fourth student has died of wounds from Tuesday school shooting in Michigan. Hours later, the suspect, 15-year-old Ethan Crumbly, was charged with murder and terrorism. He was arraigned via video link this afternoon. Authorities said he talked about killing students in a recording Monday night after he had trouble at school. (?) The schools did have contact with the student the day before and the day of the shooting for behavior in the classroom that they felt was concerning. In fact, the parents were brought in the morning of the shooting and had a face-to-face meeting with the school.

Vanessa Ruiz: The teen was ordered held without bond. The prosecutor said his parents may also face charges. And the House Select Committee investigating the January siege on the Capitol voted tonight to hold Jeffrey Clark in contempt of Congress. The former Senior Department of Justice official under President Trump appeared before the committee in November but refused to answer any questions. The full House will now consider formally charging Clark. He is expected to plead the Fifth Amendment at a hearing on Saturday. Published reports today said former President Trump tested positive for COVID three days before his first debate with Democratic rival Joe Biden in 2020 that was six days before the White House announced he was sick. The report stemmed from an account by Mark Meadows who was then the White House chief of staff. Mr. Trump today called it fake news. And Atlanta City Councilman Andre Dickens will be the new mayor. He won a Tuesday runoff after a campaign dominated by the issues of crime and affordable housing.

And Oregon Congressman Peter DeFazio became the 19th Democrat to announce that he will retire from the U.S. House of Representatives after next year. He is 74 and was first elected in 1986. Russia has ordered a number of U.S. diplomats to leave the country by January 31st. The move affects U.S. Embassy staff who have been in Russia for more than three years. It follows a U.S. order for 54 Russian diplomats to go home in the next six months. The Women's Pro Tennis Tour, the WTA, is suspending all tournaments in China over concerns about the player Peng Shuai. She largely dropped out of view after accusing a former government official of sexual assault. The WTA said today there is still serious doubt that Peng is safe and free of government coercion. And back in this country, President Biden predicted store shelves will be well stocked for the holidays. And he said inflation will cool as pandemic disruptions ease.

But at a congressional hearing, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said it is not certain that prices will ease in the second half of next year. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell: We can't act as though we're sure of that. We're not at all sure of that. Inflation has been more persistent and higher than we've expected. And we have to use our policy to address the range of plausible outcomes. Vanessa Ruiz: At the same hearing, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen rejected Republican claims that pandemic relief spending has fueled inflation. Still to come on the NewsHour, India takes the COVID vaccine door to door to prevent a surge from the Omicron variant. Vaccinated Americans voice their frustration with those resisting the shot. A new song lifts the collective voice of the disability community, plus much more. (music) This is the PBS NewsHour from the WETA studios in Washington. And in the west from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University. Judy Woodruff: Now, let's return to the other major story of the day, the first case of the Omicron variant detected in the U.S. and the concerns over what may lie ahead.

William Brangham is back with that. William Brangham: Judy, that first case in California was a person who had been vaccinated but had not received a booster shot. Dr. Fauci said it was a mild infection. Still, there are many questions over how Omicron will affect the U.S. Michael Osterholm is the director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, and he joins me now. Michael Osterholm, great to have you back on the NewsHour. So, Omicron is here. We always seem to assume that it was going to be here sooner or later. But there are still a lot of things that we don't know about its contagiousness, its virulence, whether or not it can escape the protections provided by our vaccines. Among those questions, do those three stand out in equal importance to you? Michael Osterholm: I think they do, and I would add, under the seriousness, is the issue of do they challenge our current monoclonal therapy. As you know, using the monoclonal antibodies has been a very important tool in reducing serious illness. So, it is about the vaccines, it's about the therapy, it's about is it more infectious and will, in fact, this virus evade the protection that we already have from vaccines or from having had natural infection.

William Brangham: Do you have a sense as to when we're going to get answers to those questions? Michael Osterholm: You know, I think it will start to become clearer even in the next few days what's happening in terms of the transmissibility. We've already seen what appears to be widespread transmission in South Africa. And I think as we look further, we're going to see even in these countries where we now have individual cases, did we have substantial transmission. So that I'm convinced that we'll know, and I'm concerned that the early evidence points out that this is highly infectious, and likely we'll not delta off the kind of you might call it viral hill of hill in terms of the top of everything. I think the other thing though that we'll also see very soon, is there in fact increasing serious illness. And if you may have been following in the last 12 to 24 hours, we're seeing an increasing number of hospitalizations occurring in the Johannesburg Pretoria area, which is tied to Omicron. William Brangham: So if we have one case, we should assume there's obviously many cases here in the U.S.

Given that, does it change anything about how we ought to be behaving as far as trying to curtail this virus? Michael Osterholm: Well, I wouldn't say it changes, but it should reinforce the fact, please get vaccinated. We know from studies that were conducted earlier this year in the last part of last year in South Africa, in South America, where the beta and gamma variants were very common. These were the ones that had those mutations that enhanced the immunivasion, but they weren't very infectious relative to the alpha and delta virus, so they, in a sense, got beat out. When we did those vaccine studies, we found that, in fact, the level of protection to prevent infection was very low. There did not prevent infection very well at all, but what it did do is it actually prevented serious illness, hospitalizations and deaths. And so getting ready for this particular variant now in the United States, the most important thing we can do is get people vaccinated for the first time. And we have over 100 million people today who have now been vaccinated at least six months ago, who are now in that period of waning immunity that we need to get boosters into.

That alone would be a major reinforcement against the arrival of this particular variant. William Brangham: On that booster question, we know that all three of the major vaccine manufacturers here say that they are researching potential Omicron-specific boosters. If someone has been vaccinated, but is considering whether they should get a booster, should they wait for an Omicron booster? Should they get the one that exists today? Michael Osterholm: Absolutely. Do not wait. Get it as soon as possible. And the reason for that is that even if we do have Omicron-specific vaccines arrive, they won't be here for at least three and a half to four months. On top of that, remember availability will not be automatic. It will take weeks and even months of production to produce enough vaccines for everyone to get. So in the meantime, in the next three and a half to six months, this new variant could cause hell in this country.

And so now is the time to get that reinforcing protection. Get the booster. Get the first dose now with the vaccines we have. At least, know, you have a much, much higher likelihood of not having a serious illness, a hospitalization, or a death. And to me, that is all everything we're trying to do right now. William Brangham: While we wait for some of these questions about Omicron to be answered, we, of course, have to recognize that we are still struggling with this other variant, with Delta. Certainly in states like yours and the upper Midwest, it is still a real, serious problem. Why do you think we're still struggling against that variant? Michael Osterholm: Well, in fact, if I could actually add to the very important point you just made. Today was a really very sad day in this country in terms of what's happening with the Delta variant in that the state of Vermont reported the single highest number of hospitalizations they've ever had throughout the entire pandemic. They also happen to be the leading state in this country in terms of level of vaccination at over 78 percent, fully vaccinated.

And they're experiencing a largely unvaccinated population driven situation. So we've got to get people vaccinated now. Why we're seeing these surges from the four corners area up through the central plains into Minnesota across Northern, the Northern United States is just unclear to us. Why does surges start? Why do they stop? Why did the one start in the south in the middle of this past summer and then suddenly end? We don't know. What we do know is that the height of the surge, the impact it has, can be tremendously minimized if we get people vaccinated. William Brangham: Michael Osterhorn, the director of CIDRAP, always good to see you. Thank you very much. Michael Osterholm: Thank you. Good to see you. Bye. (music) Judy Woodruff: The trajectory of Omicron infections is being watched closely in India where the official death toll from COVID-19 is approaching half a million. Memories are still fresh of the devastation caused by the Delta variant last spring.

Special correspondent Fred de Sam Lazaro has a report on efforts to combat this new variant. Fred de Sam Lazaro: In the nooks and crannies of this vast nation, the Omicron variant has brought new urgency to India's ambitious goal of vaccinating all adults, some 940 million people by the end of this year. Door-to-door vaccination campaigns like this one have been extended. Arvind Kedriwal: (voice over in English) I hope that Omicron doesn't come, that the third wave doesn't come. Fred de Sam Lazaro: Arvind Kedriwal, the chief minister of Delhi, was among several elected officials calling on the federal government to ban international flights or imposing their own local testing in quarantine for travelers from so-called high-risk countries. For its part, the government stepped up screening for international arrivals, but stopped short of a full ban for now. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he'd asked officials to review the current plan to fully reopen the country to vaccinated tourists, now scheduled for mid-December, and he urged people to get their shots.

Ramannan Lakshmi Narayan: I think the government is keen on not being taken by surprise again, so they are overreacting to some extent. Fred de Sam Lazaro: Ramannan Lakshmi Narayan is a Princeton economist and epidemiologist. I reached him in Delhi. Ramannan Lakshmi Narayan: This is the most visible way in which politicians can be seen as being responsive to a public health crisis, because it's a lot easier to shut your borders than to get your vaccines out. Fred de Sam Lazaro: The nonprofit Doctors for You is among those taking on the task. Dr. Praket d'Kashyap and a team spent Monday in Gurugrang, a lower middle class Delhi suburb. Dr. Kashyap: This campaign is specially launched so that we can get people vaccinated who have been left out, left out maybe because they were afraid, or maybe they didn't think that vaccination was important. Fred de Sam Lazaro: Dr. Kashyap convinced a nervous Suman Kumari, who is 31, to get her first shot.

Dr. Kashyap: (voice over inEnglish) You might get a fever, but not necessarily. We'll give you some pills for it. Fred de Sam Lazaro: A key challenge for the campaign is making sure she gets the second one to complete the dose. Elsewhere in this neighborhood, vaccinators met several people who had not. (?): A lot of people got vaccinated on the heels of the second wave, simply because they saw death all around them and therefore they went and got vaccinated. Fred de Sam Lazaro: That second surge from April to June was driven by Delta, a variant first identified in India before becoming the dominant strain globally. It overwhelmed the country's healthcare system, as morgues and crematoria ran out of space, and hundreds of deaths were reportedly caused by a lack of basic supplies, like medical oxygen. But after the devastating wave, there was a collective sense that COVID could do no further damage, says Lakshmi Narayan. Lakshmi Narayan: During the second wave, at least in urban India, upwards of 90% of people had already been exposed to the virus, and close to 40% of India is already fully vaccinated.

That's probably giving sense to some sense of complacency amongst the public. Fred de Sam Lazaro: If a new surge were to occur, experts say India would likely be better prepared than it was during the devastation caused by Delta. There's been a large increase in oxygen capacity and growing surpluses of vaccines. The British AstraZeneca shot produced under license in India, and a World Health Organization approved shot developed in India called COVAXIN. Scientists say that's critical for the global effort to contain the coronavirus. India is the world's largest producer of vaccines, but amid its Delta surge, stopped exports for six months. Export the UN-backed vaccine sharing initiative COVAXX was counting on for developing countries. Just 6% of Africa's 1.2 billion people have been fully vaccinated. Lakshmi Narayan: India has simply done what all the developed countries have done, which is first vaccinated its own population.

One could argue that this is short sighted and possibly contributed to the emergence of this variant if it did indeed originated in Africa. So I think India did just what the global playbook seems to be on this. Fred de Sam Lazaro: He hopes the Omicron scare prompts renewed efforts to vaccinate the world's underserved regions, but amid uncertainty about just how deadly the new variant will actually be, he says reaction in India as in rich countries has been to just restrict travel. For the vaccine campaign meantime, the big task, finding an estimated 100 million Indians who have not had that critical second dose. For the PBS NewsHour, with Rakesh Nagar in Delhi, I'm Fred de Sam Lazaro in St. Paul, Minnesota. Judy Woodruff: And a reminder that Fred's reporting is in partnership with the Under Told Stories project at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota. (music) Back here in the U.S., even as people are trying to prepare for Omicron, many parts of the country are still reeling from the Delta variant.

More Americans died of COVID this year than in 2020, despite the wide availability of free vaccines. And as viewers have told us, the continuing resistance to vaccinations has led to distress among those who are vaccinated. Jen Moore: My name is Jen Moore, and I live in Montclair, Pennsylvania, right outside of Philadelphia. Jeff Yang: My name is Jeff Yang. I'm an author, journalist and strategist living in La Dera Heights, Los Angeles. Loretta Cochran: I'm Loretta Cochran, I'm an associate professor of management at Arkansas State University in rest of the Arkansas. Leslie Douglas: My name is Leslie Douglas. I'm a teacher, and I work in Washington, D.C. Jen Moore: I lost my grandmother to COVID, on October 1st. She caught COVID. She was shipped to a nursing home on the other side of the state, where we couldn't talk to her. And when she was returned to us a month later, she had dementia and passed away within a few weeks.

She was in assisted living, and she caught it there. I believe they really cared about her, but there was no way to guarantee the people that were vaccinated. Jeff Yang: My sister is a physician. She's an urgent care frontline physician. So she sees 30 or more patients a day, and she let us know a couple months ago that she'd gotten break through COVID. And my mom and dad actually found out that they also had gotten break through COVID. While my mom was quarantining at home, my dad had a fall, and even though that was too problematic. I mean, just in case my mom had him taken by ambulance to the hospital, because my dad was COVID positive and tested as such when he went in, they put him into quarantine into isolation. As a result, it just felt like he was receding from us farther and farther away. I thank the fact that he was vaccinated for the fact that he's alive.

But I am enraged at the fact that this pandemic has continued so long. Leslie Douglas: I contracted illnesses very easily, though I am not considered immuno compromised. Personally, the most dangerous illnesses for me are respiratory illnesses. This makes COVID extraordinary dangerous for me. Loretta Cochran: My father who is eighty nine, and has been in assisted living for a couple of years now. And we had been very careful. My sister and my brother and all of our children had all been vaccinated before seeing my dad. In fact, no one could go see my dad. If they hadn't been vaccinated. I had gone by to pick him up and take him for a checkup. And we ended up going straight to the ER and he was diagnosed with COVID among you. So the only way he could have contracted COVID is someone coming into that assisted living facility. Either unvaccinated or vaccinating asymptomatic and not wearing a mask. I think that only because he had the vaccines,

is he still alive. Jen Moore: My grandma, she lived a good long life. And, you know, we were just sad that it did her last few weeks were away from us like they were. You know, it just, pandemic is almost like a natural disaster that you know is here and it's happening. But I'm just frustrated with the people who won't help mitigate it. Jeff Yang: Seeing him in the state that he was in just, it shattered me. Every single day we talked to him. I was afraid that it was the last one. I mean, again, I thank God that so far we've, we've had a good outcome. And again, I don't think it would have been the case, if my parents had not been vaccinated, but it's just so infuriating. Leslie Douglas: I have developed a very strong case of pandemic anxiety. It makes it difficult for me to do activities that seem simple, such as going to the grocery store or even just interacting with my neighbors. It makes me feel anxious about going to doctors appointments because I'm not sure that people that are also in the waiting rooms are waiting outside are vaccinated or unvaccinated.

I don't know how to create a sense of normalcy or a sense of hope for the future. I am too afraid to go out of my home. Loretta Cochran: I get angry at the attitude that has taken over. Uh, it's all about me and my freedoms and government shouldn't impose. Well, I got news for you. We've got speed limits out here for a reason. We don't let you drive drunk, for a reason. OK You don't get to endanger other people's health. I'm not here to intrude on your rights. but you don't get to stomp all over my dad. You don't get to kill my dad. That's not what you get to do. Judy Woodruff: And we are so grateful to each one of you for sharing your thoughts with us. Thank you. (music)

Judy Woodruff: Today, for the first time, the recently elected Iranian government is negotiating its nuclear program with the world powers who signed the nuclear deal back in 2015. Iran wants relief from economic sanctions. The U.S. and Europe want Iran to roll back nuclear advancements. Nick Schifrin is covering those talks, and he joins me now. So Nick, you've been following all this. Tell us how are the talks going. Nick Schifrin: They are meeting low expectations. It took months for the Iranians to return the negotiating table, and they are sticking to hard-line demands that the U.S. says are impossible to meet. The Biden administration has prepared to lift many Trump-era sanctions on Iran and unfreeze billions of dollars of Iranian oil revenues that are currently locked in overseas accounts. But Iran says it wants more. It wants the lifting of all sanctions since 2015, including on all human rights issues,

and the guarantee that the next president can't re-impose those sanctions. The Biden administration says that demand is particularly unrealistic. But it is real. Says John Hopkins, the (?) professor (?) ?: What does Iran want? Iran wants the next American president not to be able to leave the deal as easily as Trump did. Any deal that could be reversed in two years literally has no value for them. If for Iranians, this is not just a ploy to block us off. I mean, for them, it goes to the core of what's the point of a deal. What are we going to get out of it? Nick Schifrin: U.S. officials hint there are creative ways around Iran's demand. And U.S. officials say they're willing to negotiate an entirely new deal. But only if Iran shows flexibility and so far, Judy, it hasn't. Judy Woodruff: So, Nick, meanwhile, what is known about how far along Iran now is in its nuclear program? Nick Schifrin: Today, the international atomic energy agency, the IEA, said for the first time Iran was enriching

uranium with advanced centrifuges in Fordo, a plant that is buried in a mountain. It's just the latest string of moves that Iran has made that break through the cap set by the Iran nuclear deal. That includes enriching up to about 60 percent of uranium. That's just a small step away from weapons grade. It's spinning more advanced centrifuges in a more effective configuration. It's stockpiled more than 10 times the amount of uranium than allowed by the nuclear deal. And it started producing uranium metal, which is used in the core of a nuclear weapon. Now, all of that dramatically shortens the time Iran would need if it decides to pursue a nuclear weapon. But it also gives them nuclear knowledge that is irreversible, points out David Albright of the Institute for Science and International Security. David Albright: It can produce enough weapon-grade uranium in its existing centrifuges with its existing supplies of enriched uranium in as little as three weeks. It would have the equipment, the piping, all the little things you have to do when you

adjust the centrifuges to make weapon-grade uranium. They're practicing that. They're creating that equipment. And so that can't be taken away. Nick Schifrin: And what the problem is that that makes the limitations imposed by the original Iran nuclear deal much less valuable, especially since those limitations were set to expire starting in 2026. Judy Woodruff: But, Nick, if they are not able to reach any kind of agreement this week, what happens? Nick Schifrin: Yes. So, U.S. officials have begun to talk about less for less, a little bit less sanctions for relief, for a little bit less nuclear rollback. They've also talked about increasing pressure on Iran if Iran sticks to hard line. What would that look like? Diplomatic isolation with Europe, censoring Iran at the IAEA, for restricting IAE access in Iran. And also trying to cut Iranian oil exports to China by punishing China. There's also a wildcard, Judy, Israel, has made it very clear it is willing to take covert action, military or cyber, in order to try and restrict Iran's nuclear program and to

get Iran to actually make a deal at the negotiating table. In the end, the predictions for what comes next comes down to a fundamental question. Is Iran serious about making a deal? And there's a fundamental disagreement about that. And Vali Nasr, for example, says, yes, because he says the country's economic woes threaten a handover of power. Vali Nasr: The conservatives are not going to be able to hold on to power if they come into the office and rule over a popularizing Iran. The Supreme leader needs the stability. So I do think they're motivated to arrive at an agreement. Nick Schifrin: But others disagree, say there's no evidence that sanctions or protests inside Iran actually threaten the regime. And David Albright, for example, urges the administration to increase pressure. David Albright: I think we should probably step up and imply substantial sanctions. And you literally imagine Iran did this today. We do this tomorrow.

Because in the end, we don't have any sense from Iranians that they intend to negotiate a substantive deal that moves U.S. interests forward. Nick Schifrin: This round of talks is expected to end in the coming days, Judy, but experts I talked to are very pessimistic about the chances of progress. And they fear that there is a real serious chance of escalation in the coming months. Judy Woodruff: Tough decisions. Shifrin, thank you. Shifrin: Thank you. (Music) Judy Woodruff: We'll be back shortly with a look at a song created by the disability community. But first, take a moment to hear from your local PBS station. It's a chance to offer your support, which helps to keep programs like ours on the air. (pledge) Good evening. I'm Greg Sherwood, here with Meredith Spate. And I've got a feeling you agree that the truly wonderful thing about the PBS NewsHour is that it has this long form format.

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firmly set New York City on course to become the diverse and vibrant center for the arts it is today. These and other shows from your PBS station are available with Passport on the PBS Video app. Download it today. (music) Judy Woodruff: And now to the story of a song called Spaces. It is one made by and for the disability community. While the song highlights a disease known as spinal muscular atrophy or SMA, it also celebrates the talent of the much broader disability community. It's part of our arts and culture series Canvas. James Ian: I have a spinal muscular atrophy type 3. Pretty much affects all the physical aspects of my life. Spinal muscular atrophy is a neurodegenerative muscular condition that weakens your muscles over time.

My name is James Ian. I'm the singer of the song Spaces. I also wrote Spaces along with Barry Weeks, Tom Roland, and other members of the SMA community. Spaces is a song created by the SMA community for people with disabilities, for the SMA community. (music) I started out playing piano, always had been a singer and then I just started picking up other instruments as I got older. SMA does make playing instruments more difficult due to fatigue. So I have to be smart about how to conserve energy and work with SMA. (?): I was interested in the concept of Spaces.

Can you James, that came up with that one? Yeah, the thought for that. James Ian: Having that brainstorm with the SMA community. When having our voices really be heard and be the ones that created this thing, I don't think that's been done before. We often don't think that we're seen or considered or heard and people kind of just look over us or look past us. So we really really wanted to be seen and so Spaces is about that. It's like we have disabilities, we have SMA, but we're out here in the world doing really, really cool, amazing things. I teared up when I saw those photos come to life because we were just so spectacular. Dominic Evans was the director. He came up with the concept for the music video. Dominic was directing from home via iPad and then Zach Mark was the director on the ground. That was really cool that even though Dominic couldn't be there in the room with us, that everyone made sure Dominic was like the guiding voice and very, very included. I hope this also shows that you can do projects with people with disabilities from inception to finalized product.

They can create it, they can write it, they can sing it, they can act in it, they can model in the project. They can be amazing projects that the whole world will love and consume and want to emulate. (song) If there's one thing to see, it's not humanity. Judy Woodruff: I really love that. What a wonderful piece of music. And the song sponsored by the pharmaceutical company Genentech was just released and can be found online at smamyhyphenwayhyphen.com and on YouTube. 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. (funder credits) Major funding for the PBS NewsHour has been provided by... For 25 years, Consumer Cellular's goal has been to provide wireless service that helps people communicate and connect.

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Thank you. You're watching PBS. (music) Auto-Aaron Gologist(?) is an amazing field because we take care of the part of the body that helps us sense the world. Hearing, smell, taste and our sense of space. It's a huge part of how we develop as a child. A lot of healing is about comfort and confidence in your provider. It's very important for patients to have physicians who look like them and can understand their background or where they're coming from. And so I think I offer a familiar face to many families here in the community, someone who they potentially could relate to and be honest with. I'm also a mother, so I understand exactly what they're going through.

A lot of what I do is letting them know that whatever their concerns are, it's going to be addressed the best way we can. UCSF Benioff Children's Hospitals, redefining possible. Here's tonight's lineup on KQED, made possible by your support. I support KQED because it gives fair and balanced programming, something that I grew up with all my life, and I've grown to respect that, and I want to support that. I want to support the education, I want to support the arts, I want to support people getting a more clear and concise picture of the world. Hi, my name is Hawk. I'm a member of KQED. Join me. In the spring of 2020, as the country goes into lockdown, outside the garden is coming alive. As a wildlife filmmaker, I knew there were revelations here that could be just as amazing as anything I'd ever filmed.

These bees just go, you know, discovering the secret life of bees took me on a journey I was not expecting. My garden of a thousand bees coming up next. KQED thanks our members and community partners for their support. Emergency planning for kids. We can't predict when an emergency will happen, so that's why it's important to make a plan with your parents. Here are a few tips to stay safe. Know how to get in touch with your family. Write down phone numbers for your parents, siblings, and neighbors. Pick a place to meet your family if you are not together and can't go home. Remind your parents to pack an emergency supply kit. Making a plan might feel like home work, but it will help you and your family stay safe during an emergency. Xfinity home helps customers keep their home and everything in it more protected from 24-7 live and recorded video. To controlling their smart home devices, learn more at xfinity.com slash xfinity home.

This is Bristol, England. And this is my garden. It's not really that special. We've just let some of the wild back in. But as a wildlife filmmaker, I knew there were revelations here that could be just as amazing as anything I'd ever filmed across the globe. In the spring of 2020, as the country goes into lockdown, outside, the garden is coming alive. Suddenly, there are bees emerging all over. These bees just go, you know. But, they're nesting. I can't get near them. I can see this little antenna come up. But they look over.