Transcripts For KQED PBS NewsHour 20151203

In nigeria, the cancer of corruption has been spreading for years. Ifill and, we explain why two degrees is so important to those in paris looking to combat Climate Change. All that and more 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. Supported by the john d. And catherine t. Macarthur foundation. Committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. More information at macfound. Org and with the ongoing support of these institutions this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Ifill 14 people are dead and another 17 wounded including ten critically after the nations latest mass shooting. It happened today in San Bernardino, california, a city of more than 200,000 people about 60 miles east of los angeles. Gunmen attacked a banquet facility at a social services complex, then fled, but authorities now say suspects died in a shootout with officers hours after the attack. It was late morning when heavily armed police and others raced toward Inland Regional Center moments after the alarm sounded. The subject is still inside the business, possibly active shooter. Male in black clothing is still firing rounds. Ifill the social Services Center is one of 21 run by the state, serving people with developmental disabilities. People came prepared, either dressed in a way to indicate they were prepared and they have long guns, not handguns. They came prepared to do what they did as if they were on a mission. Ifill Marcos Aguilera said his wife was inside the building when the shooting started. She said the guy shot two men next to her office, and when they started shooting, they locked themselves in her office. They saw bodies on the floor and said now ambulances are taking people out in stretchers. Ifill s. W. A. T. Teams desended on the facility and employees and others walked out with their hands in the air. The wounded were wheeled away on gurnies and Triage Centers were set up on roadways nearby. As the afternoon wore on, dozens of police flocked nearby streets and joined the manhunt. Hours later and dozens of miles away they got into a gun battle with two people in black suv. One person lay motionless in the street and officers pulled another from the bulletriddled vehicle. We have multiple officers involved in the shooting. We have two suspects dead at the scene, one of them male, one of them female. We had one Police Officer that was wounded. He has injuries that are not considered to be lifethreatening and he is at a local hospital and is expected to be okay. Ifill meanwhile, president obama says the San Bernardino assault reinforces yet again the need to prevent mass shootings. We should come together in a bipartisan basis at every level of got to make these events rare as opposed to normal. We should never think that this is something that just happens in the ordinary course of events, because it doesnt happen with the same frequency in other countries. Ifill the San Bernardino attack joins more than 350 shootings in the United States this year that killed four or more people. Our producers caught up with a witness to the standoff with police a short time ago. Once he got to, like, right there, they started shooting. We started hearing cracks. Those officers were literally coming out of the car. Ifill todays assault is the worst sense december 2012. Well have more on that right after the news summary. Ifill in the days other news, the first of six baltimore Police Officers, charged in the death of freddie gray, after an arrest that sparked unrest last spring, got his initial day in court today. Gray died of a severe spinal injury in police custody. Among other things, officer William Porter is charged with involuntary manslaughter. Prosecutors said today that porter did nothing to help gray or prevent his injuries. Defense attorneys disputed that. The United Nations Nuclear Agency has concluded that iran did work on Nuclear Weapons prior to 2009, despite its denials. The International Atomic Energy Agency reported today that the iranians did their most coordinated work on developing nuclear arms before 2003. It also said the activities were limited to planning and testing basic components. Nato formally invited montenegro today to join the alliance, and russia immediately threatened retaliation. The small balkans country has only 2,000 soldiers, but its strategically located on the adriatic sea, with deepwater naval bases. In brussels, the nato secretary general said the decision was not aimed at russia, in spite of ongoing tensions with moscow. It is a decision for our security. For the security of the 28 allies, and for the security of montenegro. Every nation has its sovereign right to decide its own path including what kind of security arrangements it wants to be part of. Ifill montenegros admission into nato will not become official until all 28 members of the alliance ratify the decision. Catastrophic flooding across Southern India grew even worse today, after the heaviest rainfall in more than a hundred years. The countrys fourth largest city, and industrial hub, chennai was all but paralyzed, with auto factories closed, and airport operations disrupted. Monsoon downpours dumped 15 inches of rain over a 24hour period, flooding thousands of homes. Stranded people had to waded through chestdeep waters in many places. Back in this country, the white house welcomed congressional agreement on a fiveyear funding bill for highways and mass transit. The 280 billion measure would end a long cycle of shortterm patches. It relies partly on oil sales from the Strategic Petroleum reserve, but does not increase the federal gas tax. Final passage is expected by friday. The house of representatives moved ahead late today on a longawaited rewrite of the no child left behind education law, from 2002. The compromise bill still mandates annual testing for reading and math in grades three through eight, and in high school. But it also lets the states, rather than washington, decide over how to use test scores to assess teachers and schools. The onesizefitsall formula of adequate yearly progress is rightfully gone. The accountability provisions in the every Student Succeeds act create a framework for states as they create their own meaningful accountability plans. This means that states can be flexible and innovative to create specific policies that work for them. Its a challenge ifill the senate is expected to vote on the bill next week. The government reports u. S. Health care spending surged last year by the most since president obama took office. The centers for medicare and medicaid says spending was up more than 5 from 2013 to 3 trillion. Expanded coverage under medicaid, as a result of the Affordable Care act, reached nearly 500 billion. On wall street, stocks sagged as oil fell below 40 a barrel and Federal Reserve chair janet yellen said an Interest Rate hike is still on track for later this month. The Dow Jones Industrial average lost nearly 160 points to close below 17,730. The nasdaq fell 33 points. And the s p 500 dropped 23. Former National Security adviser sandy berger died today, after a struggle with cancer. He helped craft president clintons Foreign Policy from 1997 to 2001, including bombing campaigns in kosovo and iraq, and the response to alqaidas bombing of u. S. Embassies in east africa. Sandy berger was 70 years old. And the white house unveiled its annual holiday makeover today. The featured attraction is the blue room tree, more than 18 feet tall. Its covered with messages from families of members in the armed forces. Theres also a 500pound gingerbread white house, covered in chocolate. And outside, 56 snowmen and women, one for each state and territory. Still to come on the newshour britain considers more military action against the Islamic State. Corruption in nigeria. From the streets to the government. A trend of big giving in Silicon Valley. And much more. Ifill first the latest from the mass shooting in San Bernardino. Hari sreenivasan is on the scene. Hari, there are so many loose ends and one seems to be at the local f. B. I. Folks on the ground will not rule out terrorism. Thats right, and the most recent press conference, the f. B. I. Said they cant rule it out, they cant rule it in, but at this point they say they will go where the investigation leads them and that could be domestic terrorism, that could be something more, but right now they just dont know enough about exactly who these people were and what their motives were behind the attack today. Ifill seems tube they are still examining and searching the building where this all took place. What are they looking for . Sreenivasan well, right now they are looking for any clues as to what these people left behind, was there anything else, was there any sort of explosive device. That was one of the concerns earlier this afternoon. In fact, there was even an object next to the suv where the shootout occurred and they spent quite some time making sure that wasnt an explosive or pipe bomb. That was one of the concerns they had. Considering these individuals were dressed in full Tactical Gear and what they were able to carry out today theyre very concerned perhaps the place is booby traps and perhaps there are other things that could be big problems for authorities. Ifill you talk about the two, the ones we heard about, the man and woman found in Tactical Gear killed by police, but there is apparently still at least a third suspect on the loose . Sreenivasan well, the third individual was seen running from the suv. That particular area. The most recent press conference, they said, look, we have detained this person. We still dont actually know whether or not theyre connected or if they are connected, how so. So this could have been somebody fleeing for a completely different reason. Right now the authorities have that person in custody and theyre trying to figure out if theres a connection between a third individual and perhaps if theres a fourth or a fifth, if there is Something Else that theres a larger plot at play. Ifill as far as we know, the one thing we know for sure is this investigation which started at the center for disabilities has now extended to nearby towns and cities. Yeah, one of the things that you notice here, San Bernardino is a city of 200,000 people, and just getting to this location this afternoon,t eerily quiet. Strip malls are shut down, road closures. Certain parts of town are running as normal. This is a place where even in these areas that are well cordoned off, people are trying to get home or people are stuck inside, trying to reach loved ones on the outside. So this is a significant disruption for this small of place. And virtual shut countdown in some parts of the town. Sreenivasan yeah, thats right. Ifill okay, hari, stay safe and keep us up to date. Thank you very much. Ifill the campaign against Islamic State forces advanced on several fronts today. Britains house of commons approved an expanded air Strike Campaign in syria, and the fight for a key provincial capital heated up in iraq. gunfire street battles raged today in ramadi as Government Troops backed by u. S. Airstrikes move closer to end a drawnout siege. But many iraqis led by the Prime Minister abadi did not appear to welcome the news in that u. S. Is sending Additional Special ops forces to root out i. S. I. S. Strongholds. translated we do not need foreign forces, whether american, danish, italian or french ones. The iraqi people are capable. translated u. S. Forces have no credibility and no good intentions. I consider this a new invasion. Ifill at nato headquarters in brussels, secretary of state john kerry denied iraqi leaders were not briefed about the new force in advance. We will continue to work very, very closely with our iraqi partners on exactly who will be deployed, where they will be deployed, what kind of missions people would undertake, how theyd support iraqi efforts to destroy isil. Ifill monday, british Prime Minister David Cameron made a plan to expand the british air campaign in iraq to syria. The question is do we work with our allies to degrade and destroy this threat and do we go after these terrorists in their heartlands from where they are plotting to kill british people or do we sit back and wait for them to attack us . Ifill but cameron faced riledup opponents to his plan after reports said he called them a bunch of terrorist sympathizers. An amendment was signed by 110 members of this house from six different political parties. Ive examined that list very carefully. I cannot identify a single terrorist sympathizer among them. Will he now apologize for his deeply insulting remarks. Ill be very clear, this is about how we fight terrorism and there is honor in any vote the honorable members make. Ifill in the end the house of commons backed the conservative government plan to begin airstrikes inside syria. Seperately, russia released satellite imagery purportedly showing trucks delivering Islamic State oil in turkey and turkish leaders profiting from the illicit trade. President erdogan dismissed the claims as slander. Ifill later in the day, an Islamic State video appeared to show the beheading of another hostage. The militants said he had spied for russia in syria and iraq. Ifill we return again to our continuing series this week, nigeria pain and promise. Tonight, special correspondent Nick Schifrin looks at the corruption in the oilrich nation, from the highest levels of nigerias government, down to the police on the streets. Reporter on the streets of lagos theres a saying every day is for the thief. Godwin ekpos thief was supposed to be his protector. Do the police often ask for money . Reporter godwin drove a taxi called a tricycle. Last month, a Police Officer stopped him to demand a bribe. Reporter thats about 10 what godwin would have made working as a taxi driver that morning. Reporter he was with his wife and their three children. He refused to pay. Reporter the officer had shot him, for refusing to pay 10. The perception has been that the police is corrupt. You can abuse the rights of the average citizen. Reporter Kemi Okenyodo studies police corruption. She says low salaries and a culture of impunity has led to this videos on local media show Police Officers inside peoples cars demanding money. The officer exhibits no shame. His victims reveal no surprise. Reporter in nigeria, this is daily life. For some, when the person asking for money has a club or a gun, bribes are more like ransoms. The low level corruption makes it worse. When you come into contact with Police Officers, when you go to police stations, when you go and report a case and the case can easily be turned against the person that has come to report. Reporter in nigeria the corruption is, sadly, everywhere. Shopkeepers here say police preside over a market for fake medicine. Ive been asked for bribes by Police Officers, by soldiers, by Airport Security officers behind the xray machine. In nigeria, the cancer of corruption has been spreading for years. Often it starts in childhood. The kuletu school in bauchi state looks like many rural nigerian schools. This is the 2nd grade classroom. No desks. No chairs. No pencils. No books. Reporter principal Musa Muhammad points out, this is mostly not about poverty. The 2014 federal education budget was 2. 4 billion. Muhammad accuses the government of pocketing money thats supposed to educate children. Reporter hes been asking the local government to fix this classroom. The wind blew the roof off six years ago. The contractor used this wood instead of the wood they were supposed to use . Reporter and the thinness of this wood, this is why the roof came down . Reporter so theyre keeping a part of the money and putting it in their pockets. Reporter is that because the government is in on it . Reporter why is there not money coming to these schools . Reporter yibis sylvester is a local human rights campaigner. He accuses government officials of theft. Reporter you might think a man who travels with people who call him king, who travels with police escort, and who rides in the back of a rolls royce limo is a member of nigerias corrupt class. But Muhammadu Sanusi is one of nigerias most progressive voices. In nigeria, theres no accountability at all. And thats why i think Nigerian Corruption is worse than in many parts of the world, because its the worst type of corruption. Its stealing. Reporter sanusi is the emir of kano, nigerias second highest islamic authority. But hes most famous for what he did wearing a suit. Reporter thats a tedx conference in 2013, when sanusi was Nigerias Central Bank governor. He accused former president goodluck jonathan, former Petroleum Minister Deizani Allison madeuke, and the federal government of looting 20 billion of the countrys oil wealth. In response to his whistle blowing, he was fired. Frankly, i think a billion dollars a month under jonathan was about what we were losing. Reporter nigeria is africas richest country because of oil. But the oil deals are as opaque as the oil being exported. U. S. And british officials told us allisonmadueke might have personally overseen the stealing of 6 billion. The most common method awarding Oil Contracts to companies owned by friends. Basically, all it does is allows a group of people who themselves dont have any kind of operating background, to pay 50 million, okay, for access to the crude oil in blocks valued at over 2 billion. And they just take the crude, ship it out, and dont return the money. And there is no trace of where the money has gone. Reporter the second way to steal was by literally making oil on ships disappear. We obtained this document that shows, in february 2014, of 32 ships carrying nigerian oil 19, up to 60 , didnt deliver the same amount of oil they picked up. Someone gets a contract to lift crude from the terminals to the refineries, and in between that crude is stolen. Stolen on the high seas. Reporter allisonmaduekes lawyer declined to speak to pbs newshour. But in london, where she is recovering from cancer treatment, she told a nigerian journalist if she goes to court and if shes jailed, for example, it sends a signal, i think, that there is a day of reckoning. Reporter president Muhammadu Buhari has promised that day of reckoning. He was elected on a platform of fighting corruption. President Buharis Campaign against highlevel corruption began on this street and this house. Or more like, this mansion. This is where the former National Security advisor lives, and armed soldiers arrived here and took away five bulletproof cars, seven assault rifles, and arrested the former National Security advisor for having them. But sambo dasuki has been accused of allegedly stealing billions of dollars from the military, when he was supposed to be supplying them with weapons. Reporter this man is an active duty nigerian soldier. He was on the front lines against boko haram when he was shot through the knee. Reporter he says he and his men were so short of resources, their weapons didnt have bullets. And their trucks didnt have gas. Reporter you had to donate money even just to fill the truck with fuel. Reporter it appears dasuki had the money. This document obtained by pbs newshour is a request by dasukis office for 47 million. A nigerian official says the money left the central bank in cash, at night, in armored vans. A second document shows Deizani Allisonmaduekes name on the bottom. This transfer was for 289 million to the National Intelligence agency. The problem with that the official National Intelligence Agency Budget was only 160 million. Reporter professor Bolaji Owasanoye advises buhari on how to combat highlevel corruption. Reporter dasukis lawyer, raji ahmed, declined to be interviewed on camera. But he told me, all the procurements were made at the request of the military. They identified the contracts or the suppliers, and dasuki merely sought the approval of the president. That explanation doesnt satisfy the new government. Reporter but fixing this wont be easy. There is a saying here when you fight corruption, corruption fights back. Reporter gowdins wife had been nursing their newborn when she was killed because her husband refused to pay a 10 bribe. cries cries reporter corruption stole this mans wife, and these childrens mother. It will keep stealing nigerias future, unless nigeria finds a way to change. Nick schifrin, pbs newshour, kano, nigeria. Ifill in tomorrows final story, nick will detail the abuse and mistreatment of gays in nigeria. Ifill stay with us, coming up on the newshour why two degrees is so important when discussing Climate Change. And a wind project that spans two countries. Its a very different kind of baby gift. Facebook cofounder and c. E. O. Mark zuckerberg announced yesterday the birth of his daughter with a most unusual letter. He and his wife, priscilla chan, will donate 99 of their shares in the social media giant, an estimated 45 billion as of today, to charity. The couple created the Chan Zuckerberg initiative, a limited liability corporation, on personalized learning, curing diseases building strong communities. They released a short video on facebook explaining their decision. Having this child has made us think about all the things that should be improved in the world for her whole generation. The only way we reach our full Human Potential is to unlock the gift of potential of every person around the world. We want to make sure we invest in programs that ensure that the future isnt going to be like today, the future will be better than today. Ifill we get more insight into this decision and the larger context from stacy palmer, editor of the chronicle of philanthropy. Welcome. Happy to join you. Ifill she mentioned it was a limited liability corporation, whats the difference between that and a normal nonprofit. Weve heard of people creating foundations before but this seems different. This is quite different. This isnt like the Gates Foundation. Mark zuckerberg is saying plan philanthropy isnt working well and we need to change it. This doesnt have the limits on lobbying foundations have now. It can do more investing. It does havent to disclose as much information as a foundation does. It doesnt have the requirement you get at least 5 of grants each year. So good things in terms of flexibility it gives to the donor. There are concerns about the Public Interest and i think well hear more about that in the coming days. Ifill how big a player has Silicon Valley become in philanthropy . Everybody in the tech world seems to have their own foundation. Its huge. Its amazing. Its among the biggest philanthropist in the Tech Industry is more dominant than in the financial industry which we never saw in philanthropy, so lots of people are giving and this is something to think about for people who want to give bigger. Ifill this is different than the days of the fords and the rockefellers . Very different. Theyre frustrated there are all these problems that havent been solved and say why hasnt philanthropy done more and want to make a difference. Ifill if you were running a Charitable Institution and looking for deep pockets, does this change the way you approach people like facebook founders . Its very challenging for nonprofit people in general to be able to get access to folks in Silicon Valley and one of the things they really complain about is that its very hard to get their views, their ideas to really sort of get them to think about things in new ways and this possibility of setting off isnt going to help that process any more. But i think what is hopeful is a gift that got so much criticism by mark zuckerberg, he gave money to new schools to improve them and got roundly criticized as a failure, and i think hes learned lessons from that. Ifill does it make a difference when people start giving young . These are not endoflife bequests. Thats the huge part. They have time to learn to think and to do things differently. People in their 70s and 80s gave it, didnt think about it and we had perpetual foundations like rockefeller and ford exist perpetually and not learn lessons. At least these young people can learn from mistakes. Ifill part of the criticism theyre open to is theyre not accountable to any public either elected officials or the public at all. They can decide whats important and, by definition, whats not important. Thats the biggest concern that people have. It just feels to a lot of people like a lot of injection of more money into politics and rich people deciding things without being elected. Ifill to be clear, theyre talking about politics. Absolutely. The fact they wanted this set up so they could do more lobbying and being involved in advocacy is a sign they intend to influence public policy. We saw that with the Gates Foundation to influence education and health. So well see a lot of controversy because of that. Ifill stacy palmer at the chronicle of philanthropy, thank you very much. Thank you. Ifill the International Climate talks continue in paris, where over 150 countries are trying to reach an agreement to limit the Carbon Emissions that the vast majority of Scientists Say drive Global Climate change. William brangham helps us understand why, almost more than anything, one little number matters. Brangham for several years now, the stated goal of International Climate talks has been to stop the planet from warming an additional two degrees celsius. You hear this target mentioned all the time two degrees celsius. Twodegree cap. We must stop at 2 degrees celsius. Brangham but how realistic is that goal . And why is a two degree celsius target considered important . And lets say we fail what does two or three or four degrees of additional warming actually mean . A bit of background for the last 10,000 years, the earths temperature has been fairly steady fluctuating by only about one degree celsius. Yes, its risen and fallen, but all of human existence everything weve ever done as a species has happened in this narrow temperature range. Richard alley is a climate scientist at penn state university. Weve had 10,000 fairly warm, fairly boring years, with little wiggles caused by the sun getting brighter or dimmer, and wiggles caused by volcanoes exploding and blocking the sun with dust for a couple years. At the end of this 10,000 years of sortof boredom, we are pushing very hard, and we are pushing very hard in a number of ways, but the biggest of those is putting co2 in the air to cause more warming. Brangham this chart shows the historical amount of Carbon Dioxide in the earths atmosphere it too has gone up and down through time. Heres where humans came in; heres where we started burning oil and gas and coal; and heres where we are today. All that carbon, sitting up in the atmosphere, traps the suns radiation and slowly drives up earths temperature. Now, for the first time in our history, weve pushed above our historical temperature range. The u. N. s Meteorological Agency says that by the end of this year, the planet will have warmed an additional one degree celsius since the late 1800s. Thats halfway to the two degree celsius limit that Global Leaders in paris are trying to avoid. Michael oppenheimer is a climate scientist at Princeton University we are entering a climate space now which is entirely different than anything thats existed in the history of humanity, and way out of the range that has existed for the history of civilization. Brangham over many decades, scientists have been asked how much warming can humanity tolerate, before experiencing the most destructive and dangerous effects of Climate Change . This is where the threshold of two degrees celsius, or about 3. 6 degrees fahrenheit, came about. Scott barrett of Columbia University served on the u. N. s Climate Panel and now studies Global Climate treaties. I think that the 2 target was chosen more for political reasons than for true scientific reasons. The idea was the countries could agree on a collective target that would mobilize the action needed to get the whole world to act together. Brangham while theres some uncertainty about how much of a problem two degrees of additional warming will be and how well be able to adapt to it Scientists Say well likely see longer droughts and more intense heat waves, which could cause big disruptions to the worlds food supply. At two degrees, sea levels could rise several feet, which would flood many coastal communities in the u. S. And potentially cause large migrations of people from countries like bangladesh and india and vietnam. And according to the most recent data, 2015 is now going to be the hottest year on record. If we dont start with rapid Emissions Reductions and substantial Emissions Reductions, that well pass a danger point beyond which the consequences for many people on earth will simply become unacceptable and eventually disastrous. This issue has attracted more diplomatic attention than any issue in human history, and what weve seen for 25 years is all these little tweaks, these modifications that have been tried, and they dont change the fundamental result global emissions continue to rise and theyre going in the wrong direction. Brangham last year, nasa released this animation showing a years worth of global Carbon Emissions compressed into a few minutes. And you can see the three main culprits right there the u. S. , europe, and the new top emitter china. In advance of these paris talks, many of the worlds biggest emitters including the top three have made voluntary pledges to cut back their emissions. Theyre considered the most ambitious targets ever pledged, but, will they be enough to stay below two degrees . To answer that, a group of researchers created whats called a carbon budget its an estimate of how much Carbon Energy we can continue to burn while still staying under the two degree threshold and as you can see, fairly soon a matter of decades global Carbon Emissions will have to drastically go down to keep the warming in check. But theres another problem just taking those pledges made by the u. S. , the e. U. , and china alone by 2030 those three will account for nearly all the budgeted emissions, leaving barely anything for the remaining five billion people on earth. That includes entire continents like africa and south america. It includes the subcontinent of india, which will inevitably emit more and more carbon as its 1. 3 billion people buy more cars and ship more goods as its economy grows. This is the challenge facing policy makers in paris how does the world accommodate billions of people all with growing energy needs that Scientists Say the planet simply cant tolerate . Most scientists see Climate Change as the biggest, most complicated, long term challenge the world has faced. But for some, theres optimism. Were not going to stabilize the composition of the atmosphere today. There are a lot of people who drove to work this morning whore going to drive home this evening. Changing the Energy System is a 30year task, or longer. You could look at this and say, wow, were in trouble, you also could look at this and say a journey of 1,000 miles starts with a single step, and, by starting on the path, that well get there, we will generate the knowledge, we will generate the technologies, and the will, to do more. Brangham president obama before he left paris yesterday echoed this optimism. I think were going to solve it. I think the issue is just going to be the pace and how much damage is done before we are able to fully apply the brakes. Brangham others are dubious. They argue that the paris talks which are based on voluntary pledges simply wont demand enough to keep the planet below the two degree threshold. Its somewhat, i think, deceptive to think that this is a success. Theres no enforcement mechanism at all in this agreement. Its easy to agree to something when you announce the pledge yourself and when you know youre not really going to be held accountable as to whether you meet the pledge or not. Brangham most scientists believe that even if every country followed through 100 on their voluntary pledges, theres already enough co2 in the atmosphere to warm the planet by two degrees. Scientists and World Leaders in paris hope that even if this threshold is breached, nations will not just follow through on their pledges, but will agree to dial back emissions even more in the future. For the pbs newshour, im william brangham, in washington d. C. Ifill well be back with a look at a wind project that crosses borders. But first, take this moment to hear from your local pbs station. Its a chance to offer your support, which helps keep programs like ours on the air. For those stations still with us, we take a look at yoyo ma and his acclaimed career. Hes been on the stage since a very early age. Now, as Jeffrey Brown found when he visited him in new york recently, the renowned cellist is taking time in his latest work to incorporate personal milestones and reflections. Brown in their new album, yoyo ma and longtime collaborator and friend Katherine Scott have used the music of cherished composers, bach, braum, gershwin and others, to create songs of life. What do people remember from . Their childhood. What do people go through when they are teenagers . What do they go through when theyre in, you know, adolescence or middle age or, you know, late age . We have two ave marias, the miracle of birth, the infinitude of death. Brown yoyo ma was born in paris to musician parents, moved to new york when he was 5. He had begun cello lessons a year earlier and by 8, he and his sister performed on National Television in a concert featuring Leonard Bernstein and other major figures. Hes turned out some 90 albums over the years, a Classical Music star whos also created a wide variety of music from this country and around the world, with a whos who of musicians from other genres. Hes appeared before president s applause received the president ial medal of freedom and the National Medal of arts, and a true sign of cultural importance, made a cameo on sesame street. Man, that is one mellow cello brown all of this before he turned 60 this month. And between his birthday and several musical anniversaries, we met in a Recording Studio in new york recently, i found him ready to ponder his own life. My path was a little circuitous because i was born in a musical family and, so, music was there and, so, i felt like i never chose to go into music because thats just what i did, and the accidental parts, you know, my moving the from france to the United States because my father got a job in new york, that was an accident. I think if i were growing up somewhere else, my life would have turned out very differently. Brown but surely so much work goes into making you the musician you are and the life that you had and the kind of commitment and drive that goes beyond the accidental. Absolutely. I can be incredibly focused and, you know, incredibly willful and stubborn, but i think i also want to figure out what its about. Yes, it takes a lot of focus, it takes those 10,000 hours to do something, but its like how does it fit in within the context of living. Brown one of the Major Projects of mas life connects music from different ages and cultures. He created the silk road ensemble 15 years ago, its name chosen for the ancient china to europe trade route. Mas much of his own world view embodied in this effort to blend sounds and cultures is shaped by his immigrant past. And with everything thats happening now, you know, the refugee situation, the immigration situation, im an immigrant. Brown its striking to me and im wondering if it hits you, it must, even in this year of globalization where much more communication and at the same time more tribalism, more xeno phobia, more tension around the world. Those are the reactions fear produces rather than get depressed when change occurs. What would be the opposite of fear . I would say its hope. I have also spent quite a lot of time thinking, well, you know, what can i do between 60 and 70 that may be useful . Brown so what does that mean in your case . I think, from my perspective, i get more and more pleasure seeing other people doing things and succeeding. I dont feel like i have to do this and that in order to prove something. Brown what has been the purpose of the goal for you that music gives you . Its a friend. A friend in need. It is it gives joy. It gives solace. Brown ive seen the play so many times, and now i get to ask you, when you close your eyes and you kind of you know, your head kind of goes back off and sometimes there is this smile on your face, are you thinking at that moment . Whats going on inside you . Its a process of figuring out whether the priorities that need to be communicated. So, basically, the most important thing is that something someone cared about, whether its a piece of music someone wrote or something im playing the content of which actually passes on to somebody and lives in somebody else. Ifill as World Leaders focus on Climate Change this week, we look to the sky, and a first of its Kind Partnership to deliver Renewable Energy across borders. Jean guerrero of local station k. P. B. S. Has the story from san diego. Reporter sixtytwoyearold jose mercado runs a small market near the center of the jacumeee, a small rural town just south of the u. S. Mexican border. Hes part of a commune leasing land to the first crossborder wind energy project, energiiiia sierra juaaaarez. Operated by Sempra Energy affiliates, the wind farm started sending electricity across the border this summer. translated we lease the land to the company. Right . And the company put the turbines, giving us a percentage of their profits. Reporter mercado says each person in the commune gets about 2,000 a month from the wind farm. Thats huge for jacumeeee, where the main source of income had been livestock. translated the land wasnt apt for plantings, or even construction, because its all just rock. The wind farm gives us money to survive without having to work. Thats what we want. Not to have to work. Reporter 100 of the electricity is sold to San Diego Gas electric through a cross border transmission line. The project is part of a statewide scramble for Renewable Energy. California must get half of its electricity from renewables by 2030. To help achieve that goal, Energia Sierra Juarez plans to expand its Production Capacity by close to 700 , building hundreds of additional turbines on the mountain range. But the entire project is being challenged in court. Mark ostrander lives in jacumba hot springs, footsteps from the border fence. He lives completely off the grid, with solar panels and a vertical axis wind turbine he installed. I dont pay a utility bill at this point because i have solar and wind. Im trying to do my part to reduce my carbon footprint. Reporter so it may seem unusual that ostrander is part of the federal lawsuit against the historic wind farm just across the border. Ostrander can see the turbines from his property, and hes concerned about fire. Hes a retired battalion chief for the California Department of forestry and fire protection. My main forteee was in wildland firefighting. Reporter he says the industrial scale of Energia Sierra Juarez makes it a fire threat, especially during drought. It includes 47 turbines, a nearly fivemile crossborder transmission line and 25 miles of new roads. All these agencies and companies are kind of in lockstep on this green energy rush, whether its actually beneficial to us or not. Reporter thats Donna Tisdale, who lives northwest of ostrander, in boulevard. Shes leading the lawsuit against energiiiia sierra juaaaarez and the u. S. Governmet agencies that approved the project. The lawsuit claims the project violates u. S. And California Environmental laws that protect the endangered peninsular bighorn sheep, Golden Eagles and other wildlife on the mountain range. The range straddles the border, and environmentalists say that even though the turbines are located on the mexican side of Environmental Impacts have spread to the us side as well, because the two habitats are interconnected and interdependent. Defendants counter that the project is completely legal because it was approved by mexicos National Environmental agency, whose representative in baja is alfonso blancafort. translated it not only meets the Environmental Impact requirements, it also deals with Climate Change and Global Warming problems. Reporter blancafort says mexico is benefiting from the project even though its not getting any of the electricity. translated here we have the perception of being a region. If we have a wind farm that generates electricity with a low impact on the environment and lower emissions to the atmosphere, this whole region benefits. Reporter the u. S. Department of energy did not respond to requests for comment. Sempra energy also declined an interview. Back in jacumeeee, mexico, jose mercado says he was concerned about possible harm to local wildlife, but he decided it wasnt his priority. translated thats the way of the mexican. We see the cash and the present, not the people in front or behind us. Like the government, which thinks only of its purse. Reporter but on the u. S. Side of the border, Donna Tisdale continues her legal battle, saying she doesnt blame the mexicans for accepting the project on their land. You have to be of a certain persuasion to enjoy country life and not everyone appreciates it, but its really missed when its gone. Reporter as the project grows, the divide between mexicans who benefit economically and americans who are opposed for environmental reasons is likely to intensify in the coming years. For the pbs newshour, im Jean Guerrero in jacumeeee, mexico. Ifill finally, an update on todays mass shooting in southern california. Police say they have killed two suspects, a man and a woman. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by bnsf railway. Supporting social entrepreneurs and their solutions to the worlds most pressing problems skollfoundation. Org. And with the ongoing support of these institutions this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by Media Access Group at wgbh access. Wgbh. Org announcer this is nightly Business Report with Tyler Mathisen and sue herera. Skittish markets, stocks fall and took another leg lower midday after a mass shooting in southern california. Breaking 40. Oil prices settle below that key level for the First Time Since august. On track. Federal reserve chair janet yellen making her clearest signal yet that a rise in rates may be just two weeks away. All that and more tonight on nightly Business Report for wednesday, december 2nd. Good evening, everyone. Im Tyler Mathisen. Sue herera is on assignment tonight. Well, the day began routinely enough, some economic news, a speech by Federal Reserve chair janet yellen and the release of the socalled beige book. Thats the feds periodic report on Regional Economic conditions. Markets