Transcripts For KQED PBS NewsHour 20141129

Theaters sherlock holmes, on his latest big screen role mathematician alan turing, who broke the nazi enigma code during world war two. Woodruff plus, mark shields and david brooks analyze a full week of news. Those are some of the stories were covering on tonights pbs newshour. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by moving our economy for 160 years. Bnsf, the engine that connects us. Lincoln financial committed to helping you take charge of your life and become youre own chief life officer. And with the ongoing support of these institutions and. This program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Woodruff a flurried frenzy of shoppers lined up at Stores Across the country, as retailers competed for holiday business in a year thats seen lackluster sales so far. Woodruff the annual black friday shopping blitz got underway early. Many Big Box Stores opened on thanksgiving day so bargain hunters could capture doorbuster deals in advance. I like to be out with people. Some people are crazy out there, crazier than we are you know, 1080p television, i did a lot of searches online, over and over and over and over and over again for the last two weeks, and this is the best deal that i could find. Woodruff many waited hours in line for a chance to snag deeplydiscounted merchandise. For store managers, black friday means big business. Its a day when many retailers average as much as 20 of their annual sales. This is what we prep the first three quarters for. This is the Fourth Quarter for us, big time, fun time, and a lot going on, i mean this is where you want to be. Woodruff the National Retail federation estimates about 140 Million People in the u. S. Will shop at some point thanksgiving thursday through sunday. More than 25 million of them were expected to take advantage of the sales yesterday alone. Across the atlantic, british shoppers were copying the black friday frenzy. Scuffles broke out among customers battling to get the best deals. But for some back in the u. S. , this black friday took on a different purpose. Workers picketed walmart in numerous locations across the country demanding more full time jobs and 15anhour wages. A handful were arrested in chicago for blocking traffic. While in missouri, protesters voiced their anger over the recent grand jury decision not to indict the Police Officer who fatally shot a teenager. They demonstrated at walmart and target stores. The ferguson area has already taken a major financial hit from rioting in the wake of the decision. These arent just buildings. These arent just businesses. These are peoples lives. This is their employment. For a business owner, this is what they commit to every day so woodruff the st. Louis Regional Chamber estimates some 60 businesses around ferguson were looted, burned or vandalized this week. Woodruff missouri governor jay nixon announced new plans today to offer nointerest and lowinterest loans for businesses affected by the violence. Police in austin, texas searched for a motive behind a gunmans attack on the citys Downtown Entertainment district early this morning. Around 2 30 a. M. , a lone gunman sprayed the courthouse and Police Headquarters with a barrage of bullets and tried to set the Mexican Consulate on fire. The suspect died on the scene, and his car was checked by a bomb squad robot for explosive material. Authorities later determined it was safe, and austins police chief said the impact of the attack could have been much worse. Its important to note that hundreds. Over 100 rounds we dont have an exact count obviously, thats part of the investigation but many, many rounds were fired in downtown austin. Were very fortunate. This thanksgiving friday and this weekend i give thanks that no one but the suspect is injured or deceased. Woodruff Police Identified the suspected gunman late today. Hes 49 years old and lives in austin. Woodruff in Northern Nigeria today, at least 80 people were killed and many more wounded in a bomb and gun attack on a mosque. As many as three bombs ripped through the Central Mosque in kano, nigerias second largest city. Shortly afterwards, hundreds of rioters filled the streets throwing stones and sticks. The attack bore the hallmark of boko haram, the sunni jihadist movement, but no group has yet claimed responsibility. Woodruff in syria, rebel fighters made big strides south of damascus today by capturing a string of towns from government forces. Rebels hope by reaching the capital city from the south they can bring down president Bashar Assads regime. Their success stands in contrast to northern syria, where u. S. Backed rebels are struggling against Islamic State militants pope francis had strong words for Islamic State militants today, during a visit to turkey. In remarks to the countrys muslim leaders, he condemned islamic militants perpetrating violence against christians and other minorities in syria and iraq. The pope is in the muslim nation for a threeday visit. Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan greeted the pontiff at the president ial palace in ankara. During his trip, francis is expected to push turkey to take a stronger stance against islamic extremists. Mexico announced a government plan to crack down on crime today. President Enrique Pena Nieto said hes giving the Mexican Congress the power to dissolve local governments that have been infiltrated by drug gangs. The plan also gives state authorities control over municipal police. The crackdown comes two months after 43 College Students disappeared, and were allegedly murdered by a drug gang working with local police. On wall street today, stocks closed out november with the second straight month of gains. In a shortened day of trading, the Dow Jones Industrial average gained half a point to close at 17,828. The nasdaq rose four points to close at 4,791. The s p 500 dropped 5 points to close at 2,067, mainly because of the sharp drop in crude oil prices. For the week, the dow lost a quarter of a percent. The nasdaq rose one percent. The s p was nearly flat. Ray rice, the former running back for the baltimore ravens, had his appeal of an indefinite suspension by the National Football league overturned today by an arbitrator. Rice was initially suspended for two games. But when a video surfaced of him punching his thenfiancee, n. F. L. Commissioner Roger Goodell made the suspension indefinite. Rice was let go by the ravens. The decision today means he is eligible to play again but analysts say that is unlikely before the season ends. The first family welcomed the official White House Christmas tree to washington today. The 20foot white fir from a pennsylvania tree farm arrived by horsedrawn wagon this morning. First Lady Michelle obama, daughters sasha and malia and the family dogs were on hand to receive it. The tree will stand in the white houses blue room throughout the holiday season. Woodruff still to come on the newshour whats causing oil prices to sink to a fouryear low . Shopping malls going out of business. Mark shields and david brooks analyze the weeks news. Actor Benedict Cumberbatch on playing complicated characters. And chinese buddhists in an Unlikely Alliance with the communist government. Woodruff oil prices dropped again yesterday, this time approaching 70 a barrel after the opec cartel decided not to cut production levels. The decision comes after pressure had built among some opec members for a cut. Output keeps growing in the u. S. And elsewhere. New shale production here has added one Million Barrels of oil to the market this year. The average price at the pump is now 2. 80 a gallon, and below that in some areas. Thats nearly 50 cents a gallon less than it was a year ago. Prices for crude have dropped by more than 30 since the summer. There are a wide variety of consequences to this big drop, here and abroad. We explore all of this with kevin book of Clear View Energy partners, an independent firm that looks at Energy Research and investment. Welcome to the program. Thanks for having me, judy. Woodruff why did opec members decide they didnt want to cut production levels now . There are two different parts of the opec membership now the gulf producer states kuwait, saweddia, qatar and the united arab emirates, and and then the gulf producers didnt want to make the cut. They wanted the see if america would balance the worlds supply and discipline the other members who were pushing for a cut so they bear some share of the burden when it happens. Woodruff the first part, what is it theyre looking for in the u. S. And the west the western Oil Producers . The u. S. Producer is a highcost producer for the most part. A lot offour new oil, the shell oil and other type formations you hear so much about is expensive relatively to the world market. So if you look at where prices have gone, at least some of it is likely to stop. You dont shut in wells here in the united states. What it is is you dont drill the next one. Because the wells declined so fast, it means there is some possibility you will start to see a response, much like the response the saudis used to do on their own which supply will just start to taper off. But we havent seen that yet. It hasnt happened yet. The other thats right you mentioned was a difference of view among opec members. Venezuela wanted to see a cut but didnt want to be their oil. Saudi arabia hopes to remedy that in the next several months. Woodruff so they keep production at a level about where it is right now, oil prices are dropping. How long will they stay that way . Other things are happening, too. Demand is more globally. You would expect to see with prices falling this much a rebound, uptick in transportation event, more people driving, flying. But the truth is weve gotten more efficient. So you dont feel it as much. Gdp drives most of the incremental demand in the developing world and their gdp isnt growing as fast so youre getting slow time on the demand side. That could pick up and curtail some of the glut right now but i expect to see it go another three to six months. Woodruff who is hurt by the most in the mean team . A number of countries are being hurt now. The biggest feeling it is venezuela. A lot of their oil is already spoken for, goes in kind to china. Even if the price were higher, they couldnt take a hiring price for it. Iran might have another Million Barrels a day if theres an iran deal on Nuclear Sanctions with the p5 plus 1, and they very much dont want to rock the boat because they need to ask for something later. Woodruff russia. Russias in a situation where theyre not only face a low price but cant develop some of the fields they want to. Russiaen progress is three to five years out, theyre facing stark declines in the conventional fields. Woodruff consumers in the u. S. And elsewhere who use a lot of gasoline in the u. S. And elsewhere are happy to see price goes down. This is a shot in the arm to the u. S. Economy. 55 billion a year based on the decrease. Thats a lot. It doesnt go everywhere all at once. Some consumers might not spend right away. The longestdistance drivers who are the most affected are the ones in the lowestincome households and they may not be rushing for stores for reasons that have anything to do with the gasoline price. Woodruff can you say what the near and mediumterm effect will be on the u. S. Economy . Its likely to be similar lative and likely will take time to stimulate. Year to date the price drop hasnt been here that long, so on average household, we estimate about 80 per individual that actually has been received by lower prices to date. Thats not a lot of stimulus. Full year at 35 a barrel, youre talking about 30,330. Woodruff no ones drivingless. They might start driving more. Woodruff kevin book, Clear View Energy partners. Thank you. Thanks so much for having me. Woodruff much of the attention on black friday focuses on just how much people will spend. But one story thats also important for retailers and local economies is a big shift in where people are shopping. Economics correspondent, paul solman, looks at how those changing habits are affecting the traditional mall. Its part of his ongoing reporting making sense of financial news. Reporter the remains of Rolling Acres in akron, ohio, poster child for a recent phenomenon in america the dead mall. This one went dark in 2008, fixtures auctioned off, others swiped or vandalized, nature now reclaiming more than 50 acres that once hosted macys, victorias secret, the parisian 140 stores at its peak. University of akron economist amanda weinsteen even just a few years ago you would see lebron james as a teenager he would be hanging out here and now we see teenagers are breaking in and Homeless People occasionally have been living in there and so its really changed a lot. Reporter talk about understatement Rolling Acres opened in 1975, swelled to 1. 3 million square feet of retail. It was once the place to shop for miles around. But neighborhood income began to stall, as in so much of blue collar america; teen gangs crept in Rolling Acres was on a roll in the wrong direction. We started seeing more discount stores; the j. C. Penney turned to a discount outlet store; so trying to get stores with the lowest prices possible. Reporter but why spend money on gas to schlep to the mall when you can now get the lowest prices possible online . Is this then the future for the american indoor mall, decades after it was hailed as a Retail Revolution . And now lets see how shopping can be fun; real fun. Reporter in the 1950s, car culture spawned the suburbs and launched a half century mall boom 1,500 built from 1956 to 2005. These young adults shopping with the same determination that led them to the suburbs in the first place, are the goingest part of a nation on wheels. Reporter but barely 1,000 indoor malls are left today, not a single new one built since 2006. Malls have been declining for years and will continue to decline. Reporter the Harvard Business schools Len Schlesinger. You mean malls like Rolling Acres in akron, which is just. No, no, no. Im talking about the high quality malls that have been. What we call the a malls. The b malls and c malls, the ones that have never drawn high end customer bases or high end traffic, those are already in the process of being repurposed in all sorts of ways. Theyre becoming bowling alleys, storage facilities. And well continue to see the repurposing of that real estate. Reporter 15 of malls will fail or be converted into non retail space in the next 10 years. Why the acrossthealphabet decline . Well, Online Shopping has doubled in the last seven years; tastes and habits have changed. Whats the matter . You look depressed. I hate working the theatre. All the actions on the other side of the mall. Reporter for example, no longer are malls teeming with teens. What can i do for you . Can i have your phone number so i can ask you out sometime . Reporter today teenagers play out their angst elsewhere or at home, on their computers, while the parents are shopping on theirs. So many malls; so little time. Thus even the atrium mall in upscale Chestnut Hill, massachusetts is now a construction site. It had marble and brass and lots of lights and mirrors, and so we had to find a way to repurpose it, but really mask the image that was sort of 1980s. Reporter lets never forget the three rules of real estate location, location and location. So developers are demalling atrium. Architect larry grossman. This is in fact the third time ive done this, because malls have tended to fail. In this case, its a total redo, where were looking for office uses, medical uses and retail mixed within a single structure. Reporter just down the road, a oncefoundering middlemarket mall has gone upscale. The old Chestnut Hill Shopping Center is now the street, an al fresco faux town center with toney restaurants and shops, including the polkadog bakery, featuring Natural Foods for fido. And a former macys is now superlux, a highend cinema with table service. Reporter brian sciera of w. S. Development says these so called Lifestyle Centers had better be unique. If we want to survive today we want to carve out a point of difference in the marketplace where we become something special. We have to be out of the commodity business and into the experience business. Reporter starting at 20 dollars a seat, for instance, cinema style and comfort, including chocolate martinis. Thats because, says, Len Schlesinger the fundamental question becomes one of whats going to draw traffic to a Shopping Experience . And its no longer the stores, now its movies, gyms, restaurants and entertainment. And i think what the developers have done here is actually the new normal. Reporter no guarantee. Never a guarantee in retail. Never a guarantee. Reporter but Chestnut Hill, with its evermore wellheeled residents, is a much better mall bet than working class akron, ohio, where the only use of Rolling Acres these days is a storage facility, tucked away in one small wing of the complex. In the parking lot, the mall tells the history of the area, says urban economist weinsteen. Akron really started booming with the tire industry and the tire industry was really what propelled it forward and it had tremendous growth from that industry. The tires here have been a little bit repurposed here and teenagers now using them for a little racetrack or obstacle course. Reporter but nobody is using the indoor mall itself, a post apocalyptic vision of Shopping Mall america. This is paul solman, reporting from Rolling Acres in akron, ohio. Woodruff this week a grand jury in ferguson, missouri, chose not to indict Police Officer Darren Wilson in the death of a black teenager, michael brown, and defense secretary chuck hagel announced his resignation. For that and more we turn to the analysis of shields and brooks. Thats syndicated columnist mark shields and New York Times columnist david brooks. So, mark, the aftermath, the reaction to the ferguson grand jury decision not to indict, were watching reaction all over the country, what does it say about the state of Race Relations in this country today . I dont think it says as much about the state of race relanes as race perceptions. There were two different americas when it comes to the performance of the police. A majority of americans white americans, strong majority, believe the police treat everybody the same. Black americans do not see that being the case. They see blacks are treated disproportionately, with greater force than our whites. There is less confidence in the police on the part of blacks than whites and borne out by the numbers in ferguson, 80 of the city is twothirds black. Out of 54 officers on the Police Officer, 3 of them are nonwhite and 80 of all traffic stops are black motorists. So there is that sense of widening gap. Were all euphoric in 2008. The election of the first africanamerican president , reelected by a majority, we thought somehow Race Relations in the country have been resolved. But Something Like Police Treatment of black americans, it obviously is two different countries. Woodruff is it mostly, david, about perception of how people are treated by Law Enforcement . I think a little, yes, obviously, but not so much from the grand jury. I thought the grand jury report angered a lot of people but introduce add note of ambiguity to more people because it really put facts in front of the case and made us cautious. I think for a lot of people, it made them separate the episode from the condition. The episode was what happened between wills withen and brown. I think we learned brown definitely went into the car, tried to seize the officers gun and that makes it hard to indict the Police Officer in those circumstances. We dont know whether brown was attacking wilson when the final shots were fired but we know there was a pretty ambiguous confrontation there which probably made conviction impossible. So we have some facts about the episode. The larger conditions, i think we still have a lot to say about, which is that theres the legacy of distrust, the legacy of racism, the impact of poverty, the impact of inequality. I think whats happened with the larger condition is the distinct issue of civil rights has become embedded in a whole series of social problems, having to do with poverty, concentrated poverty, family structures, schools, disappearing jobs, and its become a lot thornier, so what was a very simple good versus bad civil rights story has become a much more complicated domestic policy story, really. I just wanted to say, david makes a good point, but i think the difference is seen in the way he presented it. Whites look at this individual episode and the grand jury report, and i think the points he makes are absolutely valid ones. But but blacks have a tendency to see it as a pattern that they wont be treated as well or fairly when dealing with the police. I think thats a major gulf. Make no mistake about it, jude , when america gets a cold, economically, black america gets pneumonia. The traditional road to manufacturing jobs that so many africanamericans have used to get to the middle class and educate their children in college, theyre no longer available and no longer available to white middle class americans either. Its a changing economy. I think its compounded the problem economically and widened inequality. I think for whites and blacks and hispanics have been led to a widening sense of disrespect that not only is there an opportunity but theyre being disrespected of theme with authority and thats especially true of africanamericans with historic legacy of racism in this country. Across the range of issues, especially Law Enforcement, we have two models, the dominant model police are using and the other model of giving respect to people in the community which is less aggressive and may seem more risky but may be the stronger and more healthy model for the communities. Woodruff viewers are saying they dont think the news media is reflecting the whole spectrum of the position Law Enforcement is in. But, mark, the next question for me is can this country have a constructive conversation about this . You know, i hope we can, judy, and i think were capable of it. Were acknowledging right up front that Police Officers have a tough job and when they get a 911 call or just any kind of a call, theyre going into a situation thats ladened and fraught with violence, and i in no way intend any dishonor or disrespect to them and to the incredibly tough and good job they overwhelmingly do. I hope we can. Only two democrats in our history have been reelected by popular vote, Franklin Roosevelt and barack obama. I would hope the president could help initiate and inspire such conversation. Woodruff do you think its possible, david . Yeah, lets start with the police. I think its valid to say their view is one thing said about them is they spend a lot of their time in extremely unpleasant circumstances with extremely unpleasant people and they wade into that to keep us safe and god bless them for it. It means they sometimes have an emotional armor they put on about the communities they go into and i suppose they need that for survival but it sometimes leads to a small authoritarianism, a little bullying sometimes in police behavior. So like everything else, the way the police bailiff, theyre human beings, so someone so some of it is incredibly noble and some is brutalizing and they sometimes have a brutalizing effect on the people theyre lording it over. Its a human story of good and bad. Woodruff let me turn to the pentagon. Defense secretary chuck hagel steps down, third secretary of defense in the Obama Administration to be leaving the position and are looking for a fourth. What does this say, does chuck hagels experience and the administration say about him . You know, i should acknowledge right up front, im a sympathizer, a supporter of chuck hagel, and have been for a long time. Ive ad admired his service boto the country politically and publicly and volunteered in the military to serve as heroically as he did in vietnam. But, judy, when youre looking for the fourth secretary of defense in less than six years which is what this administration is doing, and the previous two, hagels two predecessors, both went public with charges of micromanagement from the white house. Bob gates, a reasonable man, said it drove him crazy. When leon panetta said concluding to the exclusion of other voices, just a limitation that the president is sort of surrounded by this clique of very hyper loyalists, but with very few other people, that the cabinet is excluded. I think its a comment on a situation tha with the president that he is in a bubble and theyre trying to run everything out of the white house and i think its a problem that they had that gates complained of it, that panera complained of it and it didnt change under chuck hagel. The white house staffs starts sniping he wasnt up to the job, didnt have the substance and wasnt protkive proactive, whatever the hell that means. I suspect the president was being disingenuous. Woodruff david . Each administration in the last 30 years concentrated more and more power on the white house. For a long time, most of the other cabinet secretary jobs have been neutered. But used to you had the big three, had authority. In this administration, they have been weakened, none more seriously than chuck hagel. There are people who follow this who say he underperformed in certain roles, but its true he was not consulted in all sorts of policies concerning the defense department. Decisions are made in the white house here and abroad and he was told about them later and tried to be a good soldier, and if you hire somebody to be a good soldier you cant fault them for being proactive because youre not giving them anything to do. Woodruff do we look for the next secretary of defense who is already in close with the white house, mark . Ironically, the next secretary osecretary of defensey chuck hagel. Two jack reeds from rhode island, rejected 30 seconds after floated. My shale flournoy said she wasnt interested. I dont know who will be confirmed. Confirmed. Woodruff david . Ho wants the office with only two years left. Woodruff tell me what youre thankful for and not thankful for, mark. Judy, i am thankful that american Graduation Rates in high schools are up dramatically, that our crime rate is down, people are covered in healthcare. Im grateful for the newshour. Woodruff and not grateful for. Im not grateful for davids constant interruption and carping. laughter no, theres nothing im not grateful for. Woodruff david, its your turn. I was going to be thankful for mark shields, my great partner and friend for many years but i think i might retract that. And im unthankful that we dont have 230 minutes on the show which the viewers command. Woodruff i think well take that to the executive producer. David brooks, mark shields, thank you. Woodruff if you havent heard much about Benedict Cumberbatch, youre likely to, soon hes starring in a popular tv series, and landing top feature film roles, including his latest as british mathematician alan turing. His work is stirring buzz about a possible oscar nomination. The movie opens in new york and los angeles today, then nationally in december. Jeffrey brown caught up with cumberbatch in new york. Whats it called . The imitation game. Brown in real life and in the film the imitation game. Alan turing was a man of secrets. I like solving problems, commander. An enigma is the most difficult problem in the world. It isnt disilt. Its impossible. Everyone thinks the enigma is unbreakable. Good, let me try and well know for sure, wont we . Brown he was a brawl yent matmathematician who worked in secret to break a secret code called an enigma in world war 2. He is now considered father of modern science. He lived a secret life as a gay man when a time that could and eventually did lead to prosecution. When the judge gave me a choice, either two years in prison or hormonal therapy. Oh, my god yes, yes, thats right. Chemical castration, to cure my homosexual predeelections. Actor Benedict Cumberbatch told me he was blown away to take on the role. First of all the uncompromising way the character is introduced. He just is the way he is. Sort of gauche at times but incredibly direct, quite rude, disrespectful of authority, very smart and funny. It was just there. Just when youre embroiled in reasonably getting to know of him and the reality of what happened to him in the 50s hits you and the wind of emotion of this injustice, i was really upset and then angry. Angry i didnt know enough about this story and why. Brown you saw him in parts or as a whole . As a whole. Very much as a whole. All these compressions of circumstance in a sense that the person created him more than one flavor. You think well, this is quite a difficult, isolated, incorporative man. You realize why. Hes been hurt in his time and life in his very formative times. Brown the 38yearold cumberbatch has a pension for playing complicated geniuses. Pbs viewers know him as sherlock, the author story in its third season. Hes played Julian Assange and as trough physicist Stephen Hawking. For Stephen Hawking i needed to understand the equations. I may have gotten lost in the next three minutes and looked at the guy, going, oh, you have eyebrows i desperately held on to his coattails to have justifiable ownership over extraordinary abilities these men have. You studied the science . I tried to but i would be the first person to fall for specific questions. I could give you general explanations but if you face me with the actual alg algorithms d ask me to explain the equations of his work, very hard. In thinking about alan turing and some of the other characters youve played, scientific genius, artistic genius, it always has struck me as a viewer. Theyre hard to do because all of the action is sort of in your head. Isnt that the gift is through science we can perceive or project an understanding of someones eternal life. Brown but how do you project that internal life . You rely on the intelligent audience and try to have those thoughts. You try to link your inner workings to the moment of the drama and of that characters existence, and not overthink it. Brown cumberbatch spoke of a scene late in the film when turing, weakened by drugs give ton supposedly cure his homosexuality is unable to work on an early computer he named christopher. Christophers become so smart. If i dont continue my treatment, then theyll take him away from me. You cant let them do that. You cant brown alan turing would take his own life at age 41. It was a hard scene. The first three takes were sort of effortlessly emotional and i couldnt stop crying and i realized seeing that it wasnt that, looking from the inside out, i was actually looking outside in. I was an ann actor who had grown incredibly fond of my character and thinking what he suffered and how that would effect him. Brown you were aof that being outside looking in . It didnt stop at the end of the take. It carried on. I had to adjust and then i couldnt feel where his place was in the scene. Brown so you had to get back inside. Yeah. Brown sounds like a different sort of experience than the normal. I try to have that level of engagement with all the characters i play. Brown really . Yeah. Listen, even in a comic foil a moment of silliness, you try to do your job well. Im proud of what i get to do as a living. I always pinch myself. But i also know its a craft and i can get better every time i do it. So i try to work hard no matter what the task is, but this one theres an added responsibility of legacy, i want to get right to his story, his history so that, you know, we can bring this with pride to a wider audience because its so important to make this man a better man and that bears on you, of course, because that responsibility, but none of this was with hard. It felt absolutely necessary to do what we were doing in telling his story. Benedict cumberbatch, thanks so much. My pleasure. Thank you. Woodruff online, we put together 8 things you probably didnt know about alan turing, plus Benedict Cumberbatch answered questions from our facebook fans. Find those, on our homepage. Woodruff in a surprise announcement during the president s visit to beijing a few weeks ago, the u. S. And china reached a major climate deal. Remarkbaly, the atheist country, which is also the worlds number one polluter, has recently embraced buddhism to help persuade its citizens to care about the environment. Special correspondent fred de sam lazaro has that story. A version of his report appeared previously on religion and ethics newsweekly and was produced in partnership with the Pulitzer Center on crisis reporting and face to face media. Chung, lifelong atheist and investigative environmental journalist is becoming buddhist. His first exposeee on illegal dm on the river. Its led to national attention, a job firing and burnout. As an environmentalist, every day what we with see is polluted air, polluted rivers, and the slaughter of wild animals. This kind of negative Energy Attacks us every day. Where to we draw our strength from . Reporter hes one of millions of chinese returning to buddhist and confucius temples that in times past have been condemned by the government. More than four decades ago, in the chinas revolution, in temples were destroyed or defaced. Today these temples are alive. By some accounts, one out of every five chinese call themselves buddhists. Some scholars say the search for fate is linked to chinas massive environmental problems. In a world in which capitalism and socialism and consumerism have created a kind of industrial boeheim moth that is draining the cities and polluting the soil and the water, you have a heart res world. I translated reporter Martin Palmer shown in the chinese tv broadcast is based in the u. K. But working in china nearly 20 years, urging religious groups to respond to the crisis and encourage conservation. In 2006, he realized this message was also being heard by the communist party. I was called in for a meeting in 2006. Thethey want religions to help s bring compassion back. Brown bu reporter but wht that persuades an individual to cross the gap from atheism to booed im, the smaller tibetan branch that has 5 million. This woman was surprised by his decision. When i learned that he was converted, i was really shocked. You know, our generation had been raised as atheists through childhood. Ewe were taught that all religious beliefs are superstitious. So its very hard for me to believe in any religion. I feel theres a huge gap. So i was very curious. Reporter to satisfy her curiosity, she took a film crew to the highlands of western china, an area adjoining the autonomous region known outside china asty bet. Its rich in biodiversity, that conservation groups say is greatly imperilled. This is also home to the head waters of the yellow and youngse rivers, a lifeline to hundreds of millions of people downstream. A prominent person in her documentary is a monk. He explains how conservation and respect for all living things has long been an intrinsic part of life here. Momma and papa told me in secret that this is a sacred lake. They said, dont talk about it openly because we couldnt talk about god. They do not exist in the communist partys eyes, they are superstitions. If anyone talked about a god, they would be beaten, so we wouldnt dare to say it. Reporter but through thick and thin in a country thats seen so much political upheaval and social change, those fundamental values have endured, he says. No matter if you are a newborn or an 80yearold, you are all protectors, you are all responsible and you have the responsibility. All life should be protected. Reporter in chinas capital, chung, guided by the tibetan monk, says his spiritual journey changed the way he sees the world. When i write in my mind, what i thought is that they are fish, they are millions of lives. I can clearly see my change. Chinas omnipresent and officially Atheist Communist Party appears to be ackively supporting traditional culture as a way to lead people back to a more environmentally friendly lifestyle. Party official addressed this recent gathering. Traditional Chinese Culture promotes harmony between man and nature in a simple way of life. We support this. We dont oppose taking from nature. We oppose overexploitation. We want Gold Mountain but we also want clear water and green mountain. My sense is this partnership between religion and the government around environment is only going to get stronger and stronger. Reporter a partnership he hopes wil will lower the heavy environmental price theyve paid for the recent decades. Fred de sam lazaro, beijing. Woodruff fred is a partnership with the undertold stories of the project in minnesota. Woodruff finally tonight, an encore look at classical dancer Misty Copeland, the second African American woman ever to reach the level of soloist at american ballet theater, and the first in 20 years. Recently, she sat down with us to share the story of her rise from poverty to the spotlight, life in motion an unlikely ballerina, and recounted the evening she danced the title role in stravinskys dance of the firebird. Prominent members of the African Community who seldom see their due are here tonight. I will also dance for those who arent here who passed the Metropolitan Opera House but cant imagine what goes on inside. They may be poor like i have been, insecure like i have been, misunderstood like i have been. I will be dancing for them, too. I run on to the stage and feel myself transform. I stand alone. Theres a brief second of silence for the audience to erupt in applause once more. Clapping so loudly. And so it begins. Im Misty Copeland, a soloist with american ballet theater. I didnt come from a background that would have introduced me to this world in any way. I didnt come from a family with money. I had no knowledge of the ballet world. Id never heard Classical Music before, but i think, above all of that, just starting at 13 and only training for four years before i was accepted into american ballet theater, Americans National ballet company, i think, is the most unlikely of it all. I took a free ballet class at a boys and girls club surrounded by other kids with similar backgrounds to me that were all older and i was selected to come to my Teachers School on full scholarship. It was the first time it was presented to me i had no limit and i could dream. It wasnt something i grew up having. I remember the first time on stage at the Metropolitan Opera House. I was 19 years old. Struggling to find my place in the ballet. I traced the floor with my point shoes and imagined myself on the stage, not as a member of the corps but a principle dancer. It felt right. It felt like a promise. Some day, somehow, it was going to happen for me. The ballet is not an art form quick to change or adjust and evolve. Abt and most classical companies are about following the slow and steady process of proving yourself and moving up through the ranks and, because i was so able and capable of mimicking and doing movements that id never done before, i could just see it and imitate it, choreographers wanted to work with me. You just have to be given the opportunity and just give everything to it, dive into it and really commit to these roles which with the opportunities i have beenven in all of these parts that i really just took care of all of them because i have so much respect for this art form. The ballet world, i think, is so similar to theater and drama and youre becoming a character. Its not you out there on the stage. There is no role called misty that im playing. Were portraying a character. And even if youre in the ballet, why cant there be a beige swan, a brown and black swan out there . So i understand the importance of me having a voice and exposing people beyond the typical ballet world to this art form. I think it saved my life and i want to introduce it to more people and, you know, coming full circle, thats something im trying to do now is to give back to the communities through the boys and girls club, to invite people in my world as its happening. I think its really amazing to have grown men that, you know, never have seen a ballet in their life look at me and see a woman that they can relate to. Someone who looks like their sister, daughter, mother and to say, well, im going to put my child in that because they can see themselves through you. I think its creating a completely different path of these people that never saw themselves in this world and to watch me, still growing and on my path, i think is so powerful. Woodruff Misty Copeland will star in the washington, d. C. Ballets production of swan lake in the spring. Woodruff again, the major developments of the Day Oil Prices crashed to their lowest levels in four years, after opec announced no cuts to production. A gunman in austin, texas, fired more than 100 rounds at the citys courthouse and Police Headquarters, before he died. Police are searching for a motive. And a correction before we go. In our news summary story about mexicos crackdown on crime we mistakenly used the wrong image of president Enrique Pena Nieto. This is the corrected image. We apologize for the error. On the newshour online tonight it may be one of the biggest Online Shopping days of the year in the u. S. Today, but black fridays got nothing on chinas singles day. Earlier this month, chinese ecommerce site alibaba brought in 9 billion alone on the pseudo holiday, chinas anti valentines day. Thats compared with the 2. 5 billion consumers are expected to spend online in the u. S. Today. Read the story, on our homepage. All that and more is on our web site, pbs. Org newshour. And a reminder about some upcoming programs from our pbs colleagues. Gwen ifill anchors washington week, which airs later this evening. Heres a preview ifill we so love talking to each other around the table but we decided this week we wanted to hear from you so well tackle everything youre concerned about from ferguson to politics to brewing fights between the president and congress, tonight on a special edition of washington week. See you then. Judy. Woodruff and on woodruff and on pbs newshour weekend saturday, Megan Thompson reports from california on the legal battle over teacher tenure and how that fight has led to action in other states. And well be back, right here, on monday, with a look at a Supreme Court case testing the boundaries of free speech on the internet. Thats the newshour for tonight, im judy woodruff, have a nice weekend. Thank you and good night. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by and with the ongoing support of these institutions this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Captioning sponsored by Macneil Lehrer productions captioned by Media Access Group at wgbh access. Wgbh. Org this is nightly Business Report with Tyler Mathisen and susie gharib. Funded in part by thestreet. Com and action alerts plus with jim cramer and fellow Portfolio Manager Stephanie Lynch share their investment strategy, stock picks and market insight. You can learn more at thestreet. Com nbr. Crude crushed. Energy stocks slammed. The industry rattled by opecs decision not to change output. And that sent the sector in bear market territory. And black friday frenzy. Bargain hunters hit the malls. But are they putting their money where their feet are . All that and more tonight on nightly Business Report for friday. November 27th. And good evening everyone and welcome. Susie gharib is off today