Transcripts For KQED PBS NewsHour 20240711

Announcer major funding for the pbs newshour, has been architect, beekeeper, mentor. A Raymond James financial you live your life. Vice to help life well planned. For 25 years, consumer contract wireless plans designed to help people do more of what they like. Our u. S. Based Customer Service team can help find a plan that fits you. To learn more, visit consumer cellular. Tv. Announcer johnson johnson. Bnsf railway. The john s. And james l. Knight foundation, fostering informed communities. Announcer and withng theng support of these individuals and institutions. As made possible the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions ton our pbs statom viewers like you. Thank you. Judy president elect joe biden has formally introduced his onal Security Team to th nation. He came today it came today, as the president ial transition officially got underway, after a threeweek delay. White house correspondent Yamiche Alcindor begins our coverage. Good afternoon, everyone. Yamiche america is back. Thats the message president elect joe biden and his first six cabinet picks tohammered homy in wilmington, delaware. As they took the stage, mr. Biden declared a break with the last four years. Its a team that reflects the fady that america is back, r to lead the world, not retreat from it. Yamiche the members of that team include antony blinken, a former top state depar official, as secretary of state, Alejandro Mayorkas as secretary of the department of homeland security, the first latino and first immigrant to hold this position. And avril haines as dif National Intelligence the first woman to head the intelligence community. Vice president elect kamal harris praised the sons and the man who chosthem. W i look forward king alongside them on behalf of the american people, and on behalf of a president who will ask tough questions, demand that we be guided by facts, and expect our team to speak the truth. Yamiche if hes confirmed by the senate, blinken will inherob a legacy of relationships in disarray from the Trump Administration. Today, he spoke of his late holocaust as a chipoland. He a at the end of the war, he made a break froath march into the woods in bavaria. From his hiding place, he heard a deep ruming sound. It was a tank, but instead of the iron cross, heaw painted on its side, a 5 pointed white star. He ran to the tank. American gi looked down at him. He got down on his knees and said the only three words that he kw in english that his mother taught him before the war god bless america. Yamiche mayorkas also tked about his family history. My father and mother brought me to th country to escape communism. They cherished our democracy and were intensely proud to become united state citizens, as was i. Yamiche d haines, who wuty director of the cia from 2013 to will take on the job of leading and revitalizing the intelligence community, which outgoing President Trump has frequently criticized. To our intelligence professionals, the work you do , often time under the most austere conditions imaginable is just indispensable yamiche mr. Biden also introduced Linda Thomasgreenfield as the United Nations ambassador Jake Sullivan , as National Security adviser. Er, and foecretary of state john kerry as special president ial envoy on Climate Change. Id president joe will trust in god and he will also trust in science to guide our work on earth to protect gods creation yamiche thomasgreenfield, a 35year veteran in foreign service, emphasized the importance of restablishinsh global partns. America is backer. Multil is him is back. Diplomacy is back. Yamiche ll of this, on the day after emily murphy the head of the General Services administration officially ascertained that mid biden is prtelect. That move authorized the transition to officially begin. President trump said yesterday that the move was in the countrys best interts. Ott today, he fired off anher tweet saying, the gsa does not determine who the next president of the United States will be. He also made a historically quick appearance in the White House Briefing room. In a oneminute statement, hese prhis administrations work on the pandemic and the economy. The stock market dow jones industrialverage just hit ,000 which is the highest in history. I just want to congratulate all the people within the administration trdt worked so i hereby grant you a ll yamiche the president did find time today to carry on the annual tradion of pardoning e National Thanksgiving turkey. He again made no comment on the transfer of power or his legal teams efforts to overturn the election results. Meanwhile, today, three more states pennsylvania , nevada, and minnesota certified biden victorie judy yamiche joins me now. You were at the News Conference in wilmington, delawarere w president elect biden introduced his national Security Team. What they had to say, about their mission, their outlook as they begin this next administration. Yamiche president elect joe biden and his picks for cabinet level positions were all hammering home the point that they are going to see a seachange away from President Trump and his view of america as isolationist and pulling back from the world, and going toward thisvi bidenharri of the world where america is engaging with allies, doing things like leading on Climate Change and the policiesti imp globally how the environment is handled. They also in some ways talked about their experience in government. A lot of these pix are steeped in government, alums of the Obama Administration. There are critics already saying some of them are two elite. We saw senator marco rubio atcking the fact that some of them are ivy league graduates that will oversee a decline in erica. Even though joe biden is feeling very good about this gro of people, you can already see partisan politics at play and many of them have to be confirmed by the senate ch we should whe spirit judy and you also reportedn o President Trumps two brief appearances at the white house. What more do we know about how hes handling this moment . Siyamiche pnt trump and white house aides are sending contradictory messages. President trump still lashingan out, being very, saying he recommended emily murphy do this and move forward, while emily murphy says it was an independent decision. Than we saw joe biden in the last few minutes here talk to reporters saying he lt the right white house was being very cooperative and they were getting a lot of help. The other thing we see is emily murphy,here was some reporting today that she was ready to be fired when she made the assertion yesterday that joe biden was the official winner. That tells you the mood within the federal government. There are still things definitely moving along with federal agencies in touchith the biden transition team, but things are still very tenseid wh the prt continuing to lash out. He had that White House Briefing tenure. E shortest of his judy Yamiche Alcindor reporting again on both the incoming and outgoing administration, thank you. Yamiche thanks so much, judy. Judy joining us now are two men familiar with president ial transitions. Andy card was the chief of staff for president george w. Bush and the former secretary of transportation in george h. W. Bushs administration. And leon panetta served as t t chief of stapresident bill clinton, as well as serving as secretary of defense and cia director in the Obama Administration. Welcome back to the newshour for both of you. Perry good to see you. Very good to see you. What did you make of joe bidens introduction of his national Security Team today . What does it say to you about his worldview . I think the most important thinis that he really is reaching out to experience people experienced people w know the job and are not going to have to go through any training, they know what it means to be in that particular area, and will bring their experience and advice to the president of the United States. Dits a veferent approach. He will rely a great deal on llgetting people who rknow the subject matter and will not be afraid to give him advice. I think thats a good approach for the country. Judy andy card, what was your take as you idw what the prt and his picks, wsat they had t today . Tea was impressed with the the president is putting together. They all have an understanding of what the responsibilities are within the job, so their learning curve will not be as steep as others. They do have to catch up with whats happening in the world coday and theres a lot going on, but iident they can do that. They also all have a history of understanding the bureaucracies that they will be leading and the need for the president to have candid, forthright counsel. I think they allave the courage to speak truth to power and they all have the capacity to make sure that the thoughts are one thing, but the ability to implement policy ishing else. They will help demonstrate the ility to understand good policy, but also talk about how it will be implemented so you can count on results showing up. I think its a good team. They have both tunnel vision and peripheral vision, and that is important to advise the president. Judy and leon panetta, we see joe biden picking people hes close to both inside the white house and in cabinet jobs. Weave seen tension between the white house and different cabinet secretaries in the pas do you see that being an issue . Plays out. Know until it all thats the nature of bringing a whole team tether. The fact that they have gotten along in developing policy in the past, i think is extremely important. These are people that have broad exhrience and have worked w each other. Most important, joe biden knows them personally, having worked with most of these people. And for that reason, i think you are going to see less of that kind of competition that we have seen in past administrations. I think this will be a real team effort that joe biden is putting together. Judy andy card, we know it has taken two weeks since president elect biden was declared the winner, three weeks since the election, before the Trump Administration nslowed this tion to go forward, cooperation with the biden team. How much does that affect what joe biden is going to be able to get done, and in particular, the president s denigrating of joe bidens victory, basically saying it was fraudulent, the we know most people who voted for President Trump help posters they dont think joe biden is a legitimate president. How does joe biden work around that . I would say just be confident in doing the job. He is the president elera. I wish theition had started earlier because of the pandemic in particular, but theres a lot of also things i want to make sure the incoming president understands and his team underands. But im glad they were ascertained to have their transition a takoll and get started, but the president elect deserves to have a team monday one to desee to do the job because the president will have toe job day one. As soon as he takes that oath of office, joe biden will be the president and we dont have cash know what could happen but its t unusual for the transition. We also have this pandemic and i think it is critically important that president bidens team have transparency could have to leavdythe country. Leon panetta, how much difference do you think it make that there w this delay and the seating of attitudes o the part of President Trump that this was an illegitimate election . As thisot been good for the country or for our democracy d sends a terrible message to allies and adversaries about the ability of our democracy to follow the constitution, follow the pcesses we have established. I dont think it has been a particularly good thing for the country to go rough this. Having said that, i do think because joe biden is probably one of the most experienced president s that we have had in a while. He knows the job and what is involved. Experienced and i think they will hit the job running as well. The big problem is what andy pointed out, theie security ngs. Im glad they are starting now. But the ability to really know what is going on with regards to threats in the world, whatad are oursaries up to . That is sething we hav not been provided and they are starting a little late here, trying to catch up and realize what are theirti pot threats, what is involved in the whole process of distributing the vaccinesnder covid19, all of this will be a tremendous learning curve in a very few weeks. I think the danger is that a N Administration is not going to be able to hit theru ground ing and will take them sometime to understand the implications of all issues to deal with. Judy quick wor of advice for joe biden as he steps into this precarious and fraught moment in american history. He knows what the baton will feel like when he has to grab it. Im really glad he appointed his chief of staff ron klain in his first appointment. El he should beng build the white house staff. We forget how difficult it is to build the white house staff endiffy. That starts without senate confirmation. They start at noon january 2 and that staff should be in place. You need a white house counsel, staff, secretary, advanced team, lscommunications individuaa press secretary, and you have to get all let done quickly. I think joe biden will be ready on day one and i pray the world will watch ihave a successful transition. I am the chairman of the National Endowment of de ocracy. We ht to polish our democracy. It is very tarnished right now and the signals that are sent on the day of the transition are very important tohe rest of the world, and the United States is most vulnerable at that moment. Judy andy card and leon panetta, two men who have been there at the center in the white house as transitions have taken place in the past. Thank you both. Stephanie im stephanie sy with newshour wes we will return to Judy Woodruff and the full program after the latest headlines. More cities and states are reimposing covid cus two including thery cos most populous county. Los angeles officials voted tonight to shut ani restaurant for threeru weeks. Ling Restaurant Owners fought against a ban on outdoor seating, but a state judge ruled againsthe things will get worst were spirit things will get worse. Highest ever number of cases, and beginning to see our Hospital Systems pressed with covid beyond wherehey have ever been pressed before, the idea that the numbuls of deaths exceed where weve been before is also indeed real. Stephanie wall street made history, powered by the start of the president ial transition, ofb reports that jen will name and by hopes for a coronavirus vaccine. Vethe dow jones industrialge gained nearly 455 points and finished above 30,000 for the first time. The nasdaq rose 156 points, and the s p 500 added 57. Human Rights Groups sounded ams today over ethiopias imminent attack on a rebel region. Government tanks are surrounding tigrays capital city and an ultimatum for its surrender, expires tomorrow. In three weeks of fighting, more than 40,000 people have fled from tigray into neighboring sudan. An unknown number have been killed. In central afghanistan, twin explosions today killed at least 14 and wounded 45 more. Te roadside bombs flew up a is our a bazaar, an area that was relatively free violence. There was no claim of responsibility. In this country, davidki dinns, new york citysr,irst black maas died. He served one term in the early 1990s and lost his reelection to rudgiuliani as the city battled crime, unemployment, racial violencand homelessness. He was 93 years old. Still to come on the newshour with Judy Woodruff, the pandemic pushes more americans into hunger. Wisconsin struggles to handle the major increase in covid infections and deaths. The hosts of the bombshell podcast discuss the difficulties women face in the field of National Security. And much more. Announcer this is the pbs newshour, from weta studios in itshington and in the west from the walter cronkschool of journalism at Arizona State university. Judy now, the first of a twopart look at the impact of covid19 in this country, this thanksgiving week. As americans prepare to celebrate the holiday, millions of americans are out of work and struggling to put food on the table. The reality of hun americaok at and how the pandemic has made it worse. Lisa a chilly morning and a patient line of peopleutside this food bank in arlington, virginia, not far from washington. All waiting their tuh fruits and vegetables, milk, eggs, and this week, a turkey. Before corona came, this line was never this long. So its denitely bringing more people here, more people out here. We try to address longterm fosa insecurity. Charles meng is the executive director of theod arlington fo assistance centerwhich has spent more than three decades helping feed a diverse population. But they have never seen this amount of need. Weng says that since the start of the covid19 pandemic, demand has ar 45 over last year. Were seeing new families, families that have never come to us before, families that are have been struggling to just survive and have been very successful at doing that. Eet with covid, with the loss of jobs, wereg those families returned to us and returned to a situation where they need us on a much more regular basis. Lisa we saw that in those we met, like mounir oujri, who moved here in 2015 from morocco. Hes a food delivery driver. Out of work for some of the pandemic, hes now back to 50 hours a week. But with a new baby, a toddler, rent, and sending moneck home, he says it just not enough. I wake up everyday, early, i have to go to work and i come late. so i didt have enough time to talk to my family. I dont have any day off. So im just like working an you know, its a little bit hard. Lisa Katherine Horn told me shes come to rely on teis food quitting her job at a Grocery Store for fear of contracting covid19. I just needed to come here and get food to make the rent basically. D ive known about this place. I used to volunt r here lihe used to voluntee . Now im like, i need it. You look, everyone strong, fit, hardworking people that are may be getting a little gray now, likm going to take the assistance now. Theres a lot of us that lost our jobs. Lisa alice dade is a cook who says during covid19, her job has been touch and go. Inot working right now because of my job. We did open up, but we closed baas down because my manager positive for corona, we had to close our store back down. Li we also saw some of the group that is the most affected by hunger in america kids. Right now,y one estimate, one out of every four kids in america doesnt know where their next meal will come from. That figure comes from feeding america, the nations largest they estimate thateization. Pandemic, 35 million americans of all ages were already living with Food Insecurity, meaning they couldnt reliably provide enough quality food to everyone in the household. Now, because of covid19, feeding america forecasts that will skyrocket to more than 50ll n people with the hardest hit being children and communities of color. Were still right in the middle of a food crisis. Lisa claire babineauxfontenot is the ceo of feeding america. Were seeing an average increase acrs our network of about 60 . Now, embedded inside of that, 60 would be some of our food banks that have seen as much asn a 400 increaseed. Lisa wow. Yeah. So one example of that would be a recent example out of north texas, where maybe your audience would have seen images of lines and lines of cars, of people who were lined up for food distribution. Were continuing to see that happen. Lisa freelance photojournalist that too. Kenneally has seen she spent months documenting American Families ruggling and coping with Food Insecurity during the pandemic for the new york times. For some, it was an awening. One family that iot raphed in san diego, you know, almost the last bastion of the middle class. The woman had been working in Event Planning and things that require social congregating. And so she lost her job and she has three children. And so she started going to food pantries, first for herself, and then quickly realized that many of her neighbors did not have access to these resources. Lisa herhotos also show the way these families come together, how teachers and communities pitched in to get everyone through. Every day, thgs emerge out of nothing. And i think that, at thanksgiving, how thankful i am that i now and it hasnt been the case, have extra to give, or even if i dont havextra, i certainly have enough to share, even if its not food on that day, its in life. Lisa kenneallys photos show the Mass Mobilization to fight hunger during the pandemic , struggling families with food on the table. But federal aid for so programs will run out next month. She hopes this new awareness of those in need will lead to grter efforts to stamp out Food Insecurity once the pandemic ends. Back in arlington, there is shared thanks and concern. Person after person was positive , thankful that places like this are trying to keep up with the tide of need. Thank god this country is so grat its welcomed us and helps torovide this support thats so important, food for the family. Lisa but we also heard concern that things again are turning for the worse, and for many here a concern that this holiday season, long lines like this, for food are again about to grow. For the pbs newshour, im lisa desjardins. Judy it may be thanksgiving week, but covid cases are on the rise with the country averaging about 180,000 new cases a day for the last several days. John yang reports on one hot spot. Reporter judy, wisconsin is in the midsts of a monthlong surge inases. Over the past week, new cases have been averaging about 5800 d day,n average of 52 peoplech have died ay. Cather storch is a nurse at marshfield medicter in marshfield, wisconsin. As a manager, ive been in nursing for 14 years and i never imagined that this is something that we would have to go the decisions i nemake on a daily basis of allowing a Family Member to come and seee their Family Members who is dying for the last time is extremely hard. Reporter the hospital where she works as part of the Marshfield Clinic health system. Dr. William melms is chief medical officer for that network that serves mostly rntal northern, l, and western wisconsin. Thank you for joining us. Heather recorded that video late last week. What can you tell us what it is like now in your hospitals . Really, it has not gotten a erole lot better. The nu of positives in the state, as you mentioned, continues to be high and it drives inpatiental hospation. Our staff is pushed to the limit and it is difficult to care for thespo patients. Er you talk about the staff and what it is like on the staff. What is more critical for you now, capacity in terms of number of beds, or capacity in terms of the number of staff you have ann the hours theye working, and quite frankly their emotional reserves . We have eugh space take care of these patients. We cannot create more people. It is the staff. It is physically demanding to take care of these patients and more portly, it isn emotional importantly, it is an emotional demand. Errepohow concerned are you about what happens after thanksgiving . If people are gathering, perhaps not doing all the things they should be doing, and also a large number of College Students going home and then coming back how concerned are you about that period after thanksgiving . concerned about that. We feel like were in a little bit of an eye of the storm right now, but we will be on the leading edge of that storm wiin one to two weeks afte thanksgiving. I have no doubt about that. Reporter do you worry about the long range or long term effect thats going to have on on doctors and nurses . Dr. Melms i do. You saw heathers report tt t she gave ts from the heart, very sincere. This is trauma that these individuals are dealing with on a day, a day in and day out basis. Reporter do you worry about burnout, do you worry about that youre going to see some turnover in staff . Dr. Mel absolutely. we worry about bh. We worry about burnout. We worry about turnover. We re trying to mobilize staff to become inpatient staff or at least to be able to help the inpatient staff to provide them some relief for the duties that they have to do. We have a program called helping hands where we are bringin in receptionists, mas, anyone willong to lend a hanhe o patient side to do any of the nursing taskslp relieve some of their burden. We are looking t get contracted staff wherever we possibly can. Thats a difficult thing because surging is around the country now so staff is rare. Reporter i saw an interview reyoud done somewlse last week, and you talked about at the beginning of this pandemic, you were watching the numbers surge and you were getting ready, preparing yourself to see that come to you in rural wisconsin. It didnt come then, but now, six months later, here it is. Why do you think that is . Why not th but and why now . Dr. Melms we were definitely oe the sidet the beginning of this pandemic. In fact, many of our staff went to new york to help and we were proud of them for doing so. But probably because of the rural nature of our delivery area, we jusdid not have the ose contacts that that occur within cities and now it is caught up with us. Reporter there has been a slight, and i stress, slight dip in new cases across wisconsin in the past couple of days. Are you optimistic about that trajectory . And if not, whats it going to take for you to feel confident that cases and numbers are out there . He right direction doc fromlms dr. Melms well, we pleased with any day that has a drop in number of new cases, theres no doubt about that. But again, with the holidays coming up, theres nothing magical about this. Every timecoeople come in act with one another, its a potential exposure. And those potential exposures turn into positive cases, which then turn into hospitalizations. We will deal with masp more alizations that will push our ility to care for these patients to the to therink. Reporter r. Illiam melms, chief Health Officer at Marshfield Clinic health system. I wish you and your staff a meaningful and safe and healthy thanksgiving. Dr. Melms thankou very much. judy with president elect bidens nomination of highly experiencewomen to top tional security positions, heis ollowing through on a Campaign Pledge to pursue gender parity in an area of government in which womenre historically derrepresented. As producer ali rogin reports, women in the National Security field are already hard at work correcting those imbalances for generations to come. We also want to note that some parts of this storwere filmed befo the covid19 pandemic. What do we want to do . Reporter oromen in National Security, its hard enough to get a seat at the table. So the creators of the podcast bombshell built their own. Me welo bombshell. Normalizing the use of these sanctions. Reporter the threen hosts e , simpson, Radha Iyengar and Loren Dejonge shulman are all National Security professionals. We have made a deal on how much to trade. Reporter they h ae worked insi outside the government, advising decisionmakers on matters of Foreign Policy and defense. Its a field like so many in government dominated by men. Following the 2016 president ial election, the cohosts wanted to make sure womens voices could still be heard. Re we ll out for drinks and we were talking. And, you know, as we moved into administration, part of the discussion was just like, how do we keep this kind of conversation where its women , but talking visav their expertise, not just on women and security or diversity initiatives. Reporter the show features onrictly female guests wite notable exception. Ch january, they celebra their new season by hosting an they call it theirn. Maniversary. Clip 0060. This is our annual episode where we bring tre men of the n policy world on to explore such questions on, what is it like to be a man in National Security . How do you decide what to wear to be taken seriously . What do you think abo doing with your hair . Do you have lipstick tips . [laughter] reporter those sorts of reereotypes, questions women still often get,idely podcast exists. Why the podcast exists. St erin simpson previous served as an adviser to military officials in afghanistan. She is now an executive at a Defense Technology company. F heres still a kind talking dog aspect to women in National Security, especially on the defense side, which is they cant quite beli by they i mean men they cant quite that we can put onr, eyeli pick out highheeled shoes blow , out our hair and talk about a force deployment plan or the next set of con ops or new technologies that might ar emerging tharelevant to american National Security. Reporter cohost Radha Iyengar, an economist, says the podcast shows what else gets left out when women are. People are wilveng and do onversations about how women should be included. But at the end of the day, ifey ant find a women to be included or its too inconvenient, thats still ok. And so i think thats really the sort of bridge that needs to bes d next, which is to say, hey, if we end up in a situation where we dont have any women, itmieans youre probabling some critical expertise so we need to go back to the drawing board. Reporter recent studies show that womens expertise is missing at the top levels of government. According to a 201w study by the erica foundation, women make up less than 40 of the state departments leadership and 26 at the pentagon. The numbers during the same ri of the Obama Administration were similar. It was challenging. i dt see a lot of other women in the space. Reporter that was lauren buittas experience when she became an analyst focusing on National Security law at a i was deprived of certaintute opportunities that i had cultivated by male colleagues who again dnt necessarilyva acknowledge the of women in National Security. Reporter thats what inspiredrl her to create ecurity, a program that gets young women and girls interested in National Security and foreign affairs. This is an emerarng crisis sc. Reporter before the pandemic, buitta hosted inperson events like thi girls worked to solve a simulated diplomatic crisis. Roastery say . It would ben act of aggression. Llost people s harbor the same perceptions about the role of women andecurity. In other words, women dont necessarily belongio in nl security. So pt of our work has been changing the narrative around that space to empower those girls interested in the field. Reporter girl security has suspended all in person work for now, but it does require realtime training. We are dealing with a pandemic, which is a National Security crisis, and its having implications forouvery facet of society. And this is precisely the situation that were training girls to cope with and to excel at as Decision Makers in s nationurity. Reporter 20yearold Sruthi Katakam hopes to be one of those she was supposed td her summer doing research at a u. S. Naval laboratory, at the nexus of biology and National Security. But justhen it would have been most relevant, her internship was cancelled. I felt like this incredibleit opportthat would have really helped me gain some clarity on what i wanted in terms of my career and moving forwar that i had just lost that. Porter she applied for and was accepted into a new girl Security Program for collegeage women. Ha i think its more ta consolation. Its an Incredible Opportunity that im really excited to get. Reporter now, shes writing a report recommending ways to strengthen the governments biodefense strategy. A lot of the directives and sort of goals laid out in thaty strategy, if tre followed and properly implemented, wewo dnt be here right now. Reporter where do you ultimately want to see your you know, best cenario, hopefully being incorporated into the next biodefense rategy. Reporter she also hears from guest speakers at the highest levels of government, like sue gordon. Arhis is such an extraord time. Reporter last year, gordon stepped down as Principal Deputy director of National Intelligence after learning President Donald Trump was passing her over for the top job. If you ask me what my best three years, i would say the last three years. Soardship will come. But hardship doesnt have to define you. Im going to give you my business card. One of my favorite things about having opportunities like this to be with you is our the rest oftime, youre going to have me on your team. Reporter like sue gordonta m says shes eager to pay it forward before her professional career has even begun. Now, me as a young woman entering the space, you know, 10, 15, 20 years from now, i know that i want to be involved in programs like girl security, giving back to younger women. Er repo with katakam already looking so far ahead, she and her peers are sure to have a Lasting Impact on the future of policy and the people who make it. For the pbs newshour,al im e rogan. Judy Megan Rapinoe best own for her successful soccer career leading the u. S. Womens National Team to two world cup championships anan olympic gold medal. She is also known for her fierce i spoke with her recently about her career, causes, and her new book, one lifeand she started by explaining why she credits her family for her success. There are six of us in our family. Im the youngest. Although im a twin, i definitely claimed the youngest. It is just always something that has been important to us. We are a very lov og family, venionated. Anyone who knows my family knows at least a little bit of where i came from. Ruthey are the people i and love the most in the world, and even as my life has kind of edexcl and things have gotten crazy in all the good ways, they are the backbone i always o judy the closeness comes through. There are so many tngs to ask you about in this book, but of course, athletics, soccer a big part of it. You write about that from acks r as you can remember, you were kicking a soccer ball around. Where does your love for soccer come from . I think it goes back to those days, playing in the front yard with m sister, my older brother brian who i talk about a lot in the bk, not only his life now and his struggles, but also the amazing parts of him. He was the one jusabove us, he introduced us to soccernd he was on the sidelines growing up. I have to credit a lot of my ssion and love of soccer to myhe br you haveeady come so far inand your field, how far do you want to go . Where do you see Megan Rapinoe going . Gosh,as im getting d this more and more and it must be a product of me getting older in sports. I love the game still. There is an olympics coming up next year. Hopefully, if we can pull that off with covid and everything. Then theres a world cup everything after that. I would love to keep doing that. Afte w that,l be running on borrowed time, but certainly i want to keep playing. I love soccer. Everything else i feel will always be there. Peasle alway what i will do after soccer, probably something similar that im doing now, just without the soccer. Judy your political activism clearly comes through in the book. You do write about the advantage you feel you have, the privilege of being white, but also of course the disadvantage that women have, living in a world created by men. How you balance that out . I try and look at it really honestly and just sort of keeping it we real. Clearly, being a woman, being a gay woman, comes with its sadvantages. Ive only been able to legally marry five years in this country, federally. There are some things obviously we need to work o when it comes to them putting that inso compa to the really brutal and cruel racial history we have in our country, i can see where i am also incredibly privileged andta advd. I look at it. Not as something thats negative, but i have thiso privilegeget to use this privilege in order to help smtle these unfair systems and cruel systems, and frankly downright wrong systems in the country. I look at it almost as an advantage in breaking everything down rather than something i dgnt want to acknowlee. Judy one of the big battles you have been engad in has to do with Racial Justice. Given joe bidens victory in this president ialleion, even though its close, the fact that he, w does that get any easier . I think it puts us in a better position of course then if we have what we have right now, which is a president who is just insistent upon inflaming alraensions in this country. I thinkhat the bideN Administration has already pointed to a willingnesso work on Racial Justice and take it very seriously. I think we have a long ways to go. The black lives Matter Movement lyfounder penned a remazing letter, i thought, to the incong bideN Administration. Saying, we delivered theot black women have delivered the vote. They have organized. They have time again been the ckground backbone of the Democratic Party and winning elections. They not only deserve to have a seat at the table, but it is their right. They should be reflected in these policies. The needs of those communities, which are not better known by anyone than the activists and organizers and the women on the ground in those communities, they deserve to be at the table and have the policies of the nation reflect that. I think president elect joe e biden, vesidentelect kamala harris,biave a responty to those communities. Not just for this election but friendly for the history of our nation. There a recogniti that they can get less done perhaps because donald trump got at least 71 million votes . I think its goiff to be very ult. It is disheartening in a lot of wa to know 71 Million People sort of put the thumbs up on the last four years, particularly as we have seen over the summer with the protests around George Floyds murder, ahmaud arbery, breonna taylor, and so many more, that that manpeople wouldk a second term of that for president , who has been so clearly racist and white else, very sympatho them. Ng it is going to be difficult, but progress is difficult as we well know. That cant stop us from trying. Im always hopeful. Im definitely hopeful having this Administration Come in knowg, and i think they are lot of theseues in ourressing a country that we have not addressed for a long time. Judy Megan Rapinoe, the book is one life. Thank you so much for talking with us. Thank you for hing me. Judy we return now to our series on the arts in mexico a , country that in ce s become one of the centers of the art world. Jeffrey brown was in mexico city before the pandec to see how the country grabbed the art worlds attention and what that meanfor its artists. Its part of our ongoing coveragef art and culture, canvas. Reporter its called zona i maco as become latin americas biggest annual art fair throngs of art lovers packing a sprawling Conference Center on the northwest edge of mexico city. Major galleries from the u. S. , europe, and south america, as well as mexi showing art of l kinds. Ought it would work, but i never thought it would be as big as it is now. Reporter Zelika Garcia foundna aco 18 years ago and has seen it grow to 200us exhibitors showing some 800 artists. International in scope, but now the center of a thriving local scene. I think an art fair has to rely on their local collectors fit. So we rely first on the local collectors, then international, and we grow with the local market. If the local market had not started buying more, the fair still be 70 galleries. Fair attracted som00days, the visitors. I think we are a good part of mexico. If you come for the art fair, you dont have to see the ugly part. Reporter mexico has been a cosmopolitanrt center for at least a century. Just think of the famous murals of diego rivera anothers. But today, signs of its place as a contemporary art hub are all around, with new museums whose spectacular architecture has changed thskyline of this ancient capital. An annual art week in february thats grown up around zona maco and features smaller fairs like sevenyearold material, which altakes place in an old ja arena and attracts a decidedly younger crowd. Indeed, younger artists from the u. S. And elsewhere are flocking to mexico city these days, attracted by the lowernd hip vibe. And galleries like house of gaga in the leafcondesa neighborhood exhibit both local and International Art stars, like american artist laura owens, who painted the space with a mural of local colors and imagery. Gallery cofounder fernando mesta. s she thought of everinch of the architecture plan. She did her research and she i mean, young mexican artists love to see this stuff. Reporter so its an american artist, but making aan. Well making something specific for here, yeah. Reporter like others we talked to, mesta is well aware this is a mexico different from the one the rest of the world typica y i feel like a responsibility over it, because i think always like some of the best news aboul mexico areed to culture, you know, like our filmmakers, our artists, our institutions, our traveling shows. And when people c here, they fascinated to see how relevant culture is in mexico, how rich culture is in mexico. Reporter but the other side of life in mexico the poverty, the , violence and the hof drug Cartel Murders and disappearances all that is never far away. And many artists are addressing directly. A luz marinchez joined other women in the Northern State of sinaloa in search of remains of , loved ones whod disappeared amid drug violence. Her art piece, an 8channel recording presented the sounds. Footsteps. Chatter. Picks and shovels working the dirt. T ake us right there. This is art that aims for social impact. How do you build empathy . That was one of my main questions. First of all, how they survive within this context of extremee violence, becaeir loved ones are taken away and we dont know if theyre deartor alive. Re its very real for them. Its very real. But second, how thu make all r groups of citizens in mexico to understand and maybe have some empathy with them. Reporter andheres nothing abstract about this for sanchez . When she was 11, her father was murdered in their guadalajara ho. I know how i did survive. I dont know how these other people have, are copin having to survive as well. Maybe thats one of the reasons i started doing art, maybe i h couldnt do it throher outlets. R porter today, sanchez is also a college profesd she sees her students tackling serious issues in their rk. Violence, pollution, freedom of speech. These kinds of exhibitions and theyre always very critical about their surroundings. Reporter trying to address t social issues through the art. Because thats their reality, yes. Reporter art does stir passions here, including recent protests at the famed palacio de bellas artes, which hosted exhibition on revolutionary hero emiliano zapata. Some of the works were documentary, some reverential. But many were angered by a painting that showed a naked zapata in a nk sombrero and high heels. Art and gay rights advocates defended the work. And ultimately, the museum installed a wall text saying zapatas family disagreed with the depiction. People we spoke with also worry budget cuts by the administration of president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador will have negative consequences for cultural life here, where governtrnt support has itionally been strong. Bu at the 11 year old muac, the influential University Museum of contemporary art, chief curator Cuauhtemoc Medina says Global Trends in art are firmly embeed here. You just need to go 30 years ago, and this was really a clique sector that only a few people were interested in, all around the world. Now, no. Now, i would say that this is a space that peopl iin general hatheir minds, that media and it is part of the tools by which people are asking the questions they need to ask about s. Eir lives and their time reporter not only that, says medina, but the world has changed. And today places like mexico city are at the forefront of contemporary art and culture. I would sayhe french and new yorkers are parochial and they dont know it. [laughter] reporter they just think that they are the center. Were the center. They havent noticed that they are not any longer and that this center has vanished. Reporter for now, the zona maco art fair have tentatively set a date in late april for next years exhibition, hoping to keep the momentum going for this new global art center. For the pbs newshour, im Jeffrey Brown imexico city. Judy thank you for taking us rndown the j to this series. And thats the newshour for tonight. Im Judy Woodruff. Join us online and aowin here tomovening. For all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you, stay safe and see you soon. Announcer major funding for t pbs newshour hby been provided consumer cellular. Johnson johnson. Bnsf railway. Services firm Raymond James. Carnegie corporation of new york. Supporting innovations in education, democratic engagement, and the advancement of International Peace and security at carnegie. Org. And with the ooing support of these initutions. This program was made possible by the corporation f public broadcasting, and by contributions to your pbs station from viethrs like you. K you. Announcer this is pbs newshour west, from weta studios in washington and from our bureau at the Walter Cronkite schooof journalism at izona state university. Youre watching pbs. [captioning performed how do t u know something you is really good . When you cant wait to get back to your kitchen to recreate it, like these saucy, cheesy, shrimppacked, overloaded, layered, and folded, justwaituntilyoutryit taco bravo. Mm que delicia. This rece comes courtesy of local legend of the state of sonora, tono contreras, Restaurant Owner and host of his own webseries cooking show. [ speaking spanish] today, hes a guest on my show, hoand im a guest on his s suena crunchy. Si. 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