Life well planned. The freeman foundation. By judy and Peter Blum Kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for americas neglected needs. And by contributions to this pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. New york city and this is bbc america. Top u. S. Health officials advise americans to wear masks indoors except at home as coronavirus cases and deaths rise dramatically. Crucial talks on a post brexit trade deal stalled. The conditions for an agreement have not been met. The clock is ticking. Really getting under 30 days and we are not sure on whats happened. Laura plus, one year on from the first cases of coronavirus and people in china are going about their daily lives with few restrictions. Laura welcome to world news america on pbs and around the globe. Top Health Officials in the u. S. Are recommending universal mask wearing outside the home, indoors and outdoors. This comes after president elect joe biden said he wants americans to wear masks for his first 100 days in office. Face coverings reduce the transmission of coronavirus. Right now, america is reeling from record cases, hospitalizations and deaths. Dr. Robert quigley joins us now from philadelphia. Thank you for being with us. You have studied covid19 and its impact on Mental Health. How much easier would it be for people to get behind mask wearing if the president wore one, awell as joe biden calling for us to where one . Guest im not sure i can connect the dots between mask wearing and Mental Health. Clearly, Mental Health is a huge problem, not just in america but around the world. I think the mandate to wear masks is yet another dimension of the pain and suffering that society has had to endure for over a year, it seems. So, whether or not the leaders are Wearing Masks or not, i think the existence of the contagion that i call Mental Illness, not just a viral contagion, but the contagion of Mental Illness will prevail and it will prevail until such time we have herd immunity. Laura a top canadian official said today he was stealg christmas to keep people safe. What effect does that talk of effectively canceling the holidays have on peoples Mental Health . Guest it is huge, no question about that. These are very difficult decisions for public Health Officials, which are the ones giving advice to the government authorities. Im a big proponent of Mental Wellness. I believe that Mental Wellness has to be taken into consideration when we start mandating all of these new rules and regulations about where we can be, where we can go, with whom can we celebrate. This is going to have a Significant Impact on society. We have seen it already. We he seen levels of anxiety and depression at levels we have never seen before. We are seeing Suicidal Ideation and suicide themselves that levels weve never seen before. A lot of that can be traced to these mandates that are restricting people. Whether it is through quarantines or not being able to return to work. This is really impacting all of us and i have great concerns about the longterm effects we will see in the likes of ptsd, posttraumatic stress disorder, that often goes handinhand with these kinds of pandemics. Laura so, what advice do you have two people who are finding this period so difficult, where most of us probably will not get the vaccine until the spring or summer . Guest my first advice is we have to be compliant with the regulations set forth by the authorities. That being said, we have to take some ownership on the spread of this disease ourselves. You already mentioned in your opening comments how the number of cases are going up logarithmically, which may or may not be a consequence of the National Holiday we experienced in america last week. Nonetheless, we do have to be compliant with the recommendations from the cdc which have not changed for multiple months. Those include, but not limited to the wearing of masks, social distancing, and universal precautions. I think if we all adhere to those three fundamental principles, we will have a Significant Impact on this continued transmission of cases. Unfortunately, the mortalities that go with those people that get severely sick. Laura thank you so much for joining us. Guest thanks for having me. Laura now, president elect joe biden has called the latest jobs report grim. Employees in america added a disappointing 245,000 new jobs in november. 10. 7 million workers remain unemployed. He is urging congress to act immediately to provide more Financial Aid to help americans suffering from the Economic Impact of the virus. Americans need help and they needed now. They need more to come early next year. But i must tell you, im encouraged by the bipartisan efforts in the senate around 900 billion package for relief. It is a bipartisan effort. Congress, as they work out the details of this package, they will have to focus on resources for direct Public Health responses the covid19. We need meaningful funding for vaccines now. Laura the inauguration of joe biden as president may be 47 days away but the u. S. Election season is not quite over. Georgia is on everyones mind. Both u. S. Senate seats up for grabs in januarys runoff election. Tomorrow, President Trump will campaign in the peach state. He claimed biden won because the election was rigged. Lets turn to ron christie who is a bbc analyst. How does the president thread the needle tomorrow and actually get republicans to vote . Ron good evening to give. I think its a very interesting dynamic we are about to see tomorrow in georgia. You have the president of the United States, who for all intents and purposes, realizes his heart and soul that he lost this election. What will his legacy be . He could never one go down to georgia and campaign for two senators, senatorial candidates i should say, which we have now that depth and the breath of the senate at stake. If republicans win one or both of those seats, they will retain the majority. When you talk about threading the needle, the other interesting aspect is what is the president s longterm political legacy . Is he going down to georgia tomorrow to run for president once again in 2024 . We remain to see as to whether or not the president is going to help these senatorial candidates, whether hes going to go down to fuel his future political ambitions. Laura ron, what is your bet . What is the president going to do in georgia . Ron my bet is he is going to do both. Look, he has always said if you lost to Vice President , now president elect biden, he would be the biggest loser. If it is one thing we know about donald trump, he does not want to be perceived as a loser so i think hes trying to find a path forward, a viable path forward for him to run again. Number two, perhaps more importantly in the short term for him, he does not want the democrats to retain control of the senate. The house of representatives and the white house. What it could undo almost his entire legacy for four years in office. Laura we just heard joe biden address the devastating Economic Impact of the pandemic and call for another round of stimulus. Weve only heard the president complained about the election recently. What do you make of the contrast . Ron i think it is striking. When you are looking at record numbers of americans who continue to unfortunately become afflicted with this disease, we look at the number of americans who are dying with this disease, and his silence relatively speaking on addressing this and having this smooth transition with the president elect has been quite striking and it is staggering. This is what you do. When we left in the administration, you run to the finish time. The notion that he somehow lost the election, that is no longer interested in the greatest pandemic we have faced in america since 1918 and 1919, i find to be profoundly irresponsible. Laura we heard joe biden saying interview yesterday that he hopes donald trump will be at his inauguration. Do you think its likely it happens . Ron he should. If you look at our oldest living president , jimmy carter, who is well up there in his 90s, he finds a way to make it to my old boss, george w. Bush, barack obama, bill clinton. It is not about you, it is about the office of the presidency. So, the notion that he does not have anything to do at 12 00 no on on january 20 when our 22nd amended to the constitution says the peaceful transfer of power takes place would be a profound mistake. Because it would be all about him and his ego rather than our country, our constitution and the smooth transfer of power. Laura thank you so much for that analysis. Now, crucial post brexit trade talks between the u. K. And the eu have been put on hold after both sides said conditions for an agreement have not been met. Time is running out. Britain formally left the eu on january. Rules of travel and trade have not changed yet. The transition period runs out of the end of this month. Joining us now is Heather Conley from the center for strategic and international studies. It is great to see you again after a few months oabsence due to lockdown. Tell us how much trouble to you think these talks are in if theyve had to pause them . Heather i think thi is always going to come down to a political decision and thats exactly where we are on the issues that have bedeviled these negotiators. Is this truly the endgame . Negotiators have gone as far as they can. At the end of the day, Boris Johnson has to decide whether hes going to go forward with an agreement, and eventually 27 members of the European Union will have to make that same decision. We are at endgame. It is a political decision. Lets see what this conversation tomorrow afternoon is like between European Commission president and prime ministers johnson. Laura the talks seem to be stalled on the minutia of who gets the fish where, but this is a very messy divorce agreement between the u. K. And e. U. . Heather it is really difficult. Lets separate the two issues. Fisheries have a very small Economic Impact, but an incredibly intense emotional impact. This is in part why fisheries has been stuck. Its highly a mode of. The real crux of this agreement is really regarding the level playing field, the state aid, because that is about the future. Whether the United Kingdom will be a direct competitor to the European Union economically and whether the European Union will allow that. What the negotiators are grappling with is in some ways, how to punish the United Kingdom if they deviate from those standards and regulations that the European Union wants them to follow, but took early on state aid policy. So, the future is at stake. Thats why this is so tough. What i am most concerned about, if negotiators by sunday evening cannot resolve this and the political signang was not enough, monday morning, everything gets that much worse because we know the two bills will be introduced in the house of commons. Once again, the internal market bill and finance bill and that is going to be a big problem. Laura does the Incoming Biden Administration complicate the position of the British Government in these negotiations with the eu . Heather it does not complicate this immediate negotiation, but it has absolutely been a seachange in thinking about a very quick u. S. U. K. Free trade agreement. President elect biden has been very clear, even this week, that hes really not interested in conducting major freetrade agreements. He wants the focus at home, help the struggling middle class. Work on strengthening Americas Industrial perspective. Hes not interested in this and hes also made very clear this is whats so important about the internal market bill and finance bill if it is put forward if the United Kingdom messes with the good friday agreement, they are messing with joe biden and he has been very clear on this point repeatedly. It definitely sends a strong message to london that the United States is not going to be as supportive if that agreement is touched. Laura Heather Conley, thank you for joining us. Heather thank you. Laura in other news now, the Trump Administration continues to pile pressure on china in its final weeks in office. More of chinas Biggest Companies have been placed on the blacklist of organizations allegedly controlled by the chinese military. Those on the list face a ban on investment by u. S. Firms, due next year. The United Nations human rights chief has appealed to belarus to release people who have been unlawfully detained during weeks of protest against the president. Opposition piticians, journalists and activists are being treated as criminals. She called for an investigation into claims that people should be tortured while in custody. The organizers of the tokyo summer olympics say the games will need at least 2. 4 billion in additional funding. The event was due to be held earlier this year but postponed until july 2021 due to the pandemic. 900 million of the extra money will be spent on virus protection measures. Austria has launched a free mass covid19 testing as it prepares to relax restrictions in the weeks before christmas. The aim is to avoid an overload of its health care system. The chancellor has pealed to people to take the test to protect others. Youre watching bbc world news america. Still to come on tonights program, the impact of a massive explosion in lebanons hunting survivors. We speak with those aboard a cruise ship which capsized. Laura residence in scotland had a loud wakeup call. Hundreds of people called the police thinking there was an exposure, but officials told folks not to be alarmed, it was just the weather. The noise was caused by if an a phenomenon known as thunder snow. We have a report. Reporter a flash of light and then a long, low boom. Shaking windows and waking people up. So, what exactly is the Science Behind it . Thunder snow is a thunderstorm with snow. Like the storms we see in the summer, it is caused by instability in the atmosphere and lots of energy. The difference is we had cold air, and that is why we saw snow and not rain laura china is well on the way to a full recovery, a year on from its first coronavirus case. A few new infections are being reported and restrictions on daily life are much less stringent. Robin branch reports from shanghai on how it is being done. Robin two young women who have come through the virus in china. Two people who had a very different journey. Two people now with very Different Things on their mind going forward. Shes back in her tiny apartment after a 2500 roundtrip when she was forced to stay with her parents. Given this all started in china, she is worried about what the world outside will think of her. [speaking chinese[ ] i hope next year, i can get a new bar. Robin after that, harassment and maybe even intimidation. That is what shes worried about. At the start of february, shanghai was a ghost town. A city of 24 Million People empty. Not now though. This is what a return to normal looks like. [laughter] robin despite the rain, pan is happy these days. Some of her friends never came back to shanghai. They opted for safer government jobs at home. She has a job at a restaurant. China rejects any accusation that it was slow to react to the outbreak of this virus. It points to its official death toll, 4750, as evidence that it won what it calls a war against the virus. All of which means you get this. Normal life is pretty much resumed. The economic recovery was quick. China kept people working by borrowing to build, yet again. Simply put, some people ended up making a lot of stuff but not taking a lot of stuff buying a lot of stuff. We know unemployment among Migrant Workers has been higher. When you look at the breakdown of consumption, certain items, expensive items, luxury cars, for example, consumption has grown very quickly. That gives a sense that it is very lopsided socially, as well as in terms of supp versus demand. Robin lopsided or not, business is good. Once again, people want the custommade bags she crafts. She told me ie shes a patriot, but she has been doing some soulsearching. [speaking chinese] robin feeling sorry, mistakes made. It is very unusual connections. Joe was on the front line in february. She even has the certificate to prove it. Saying sorry is not something she thinks chinas leader can do. [speaking chinese] robin as to what those reasons might be, well, she didn say. Bbc news, shanghai. Laura chinas recovery is ahead of ours in the u. S. , that is for sure. Its four months since a devastating explosion tore through the center of the lebanese capital, they were. Beirut. They cruise ship was dangerously close to the blast. It capsized and two crewmembers lost their lives. We have the story of those who survived. Some viewers may find images in this story distressing. Reporter lebanon is living in a state of aftermath. A country turned on its head. This was its only cruise ship, the taurean queen. Four months ago, it took the full force of the explosion at the port. Only the crew was on board. They watched as a warehouse fire took hold, not knowing what was to come. [sounds of explosi] the ships home port, the safe harbor lay in ruins. The orient queen was upright but the engine room was flooding and crewmembers were missing. On the quayside, the chief was badly injured. Our ships interior was wrecked. We had a hard time getting up. I didnt feel the second blast because i was slammed into a wall on the first one. When i came to, i tried to stand but my leg was shattered. Reporter now back in the philippines, four operations later, they have managed to save his leg. The port and much of beirut was in chaos. At the orient queen, they were still searching for missing croup. They took more than two hours to find the body of the ethiopian crewmen who was blown off the ship. He was found at a nearby pier. Another would not be found for days. His father traveled from syria. His dna was used to identify his sons remains. The explosion tore away an remaining shred of credibility from a government that stored for years dangerous chemicals here in the heart of the city. Too much for the brain to accept and for the heart to even handle. Reporter she is the ships owner. If this happened to metal and to concrete, can you even imagine . Reporter she is seeing the wreckage for the first time. Like many here, she is overwhelmed with anger and disbelief that a disaster so easily avoidable was allowed to happen. I blame every person that knew what was there at the port and not taking action. So many lives, so many innocent people have lost loved ones, have lost their homes, their work, their dreams. It is not just us, not just the orient queen. It is everyone. Reporter dozens of arrests have been made, but an investigation that was promised to take only days, four months later, is still dragging on. This is a crime scene. The government knew the dangerous chemicals were being stored here, so did the port authorities. It was only the lebanese people who were being kept in the dark. A few of them believe the truth will emerge never emerge from this corruption. The orientueen is lost. She will never sail again. The reputations of the authorities that allowed this to happen is beyond salvaged. Quentin sommerville, bbc news, beirut. Laura so much anger and sadness there in lebanon. Before we go tonight, a bit of Hollywood History has a new owner. The handgun used by the late sean connery in the first James Bond Film has sold at auction. The pistol went for 256,000 in beverly hills. Bought by an anonymous bidder. Bonds semiautomatic made its debut in the 1962 movie, dr. No. Im laura trevelyan. Thank you for watching bbc world narrator funding for this presentation of this program is provided by. Language specialists teaching spanish, french and more. Raymond james. The freeman foundation. By judy and Peter Blum Kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for americas neglected needs. And by contributions to this pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Girl we are the curious. Woman 1 wow man 1 the adventurous. Man 2 oh daniel tiger grrr woman 2 those venturing out for the first time. All blast off [rocket explosion] man 3 and those who have never lost our sense of wonder. Man 4 whoa man 5 are you seeing this . [quacking] vo we are the hungry. Cookie monster cookie man 6 the strong. Muhammad ali i must be the greatest vo the joyful. Bob ross a happy little cloud. Man 3 we believe there is always more we can uncover. Girl more we can explore. Woman 3 we believe. Man 6 . In the capacity for goodness. Vo and the potential for greatness. Man 7 the torch has been passed to a new generation of americans. Man 1 pbs. Man 3 pbs. Girl pbs. Captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc woodruff good evening. Im judy woodruff. On the newshour tonight feeling the pain. As covid cases spike, the economic costs worsen for millions of u. S. Families. Then, making the vaccine. We travel to belgium, to the town where pfizer is making a vaccine shot they hope will change the world. We say now that the hope of the world is here in puurs, and we are going to save the world from here, you can export products worldwide in a fairly quick way. Woodruff plus, its friday. Mark shields and david brooks analyze the biden team, President Trumps persistent
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