The freeman foundation. By judy and Peter Blum Kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for americas neglected needs. And by contributions to this pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Laura am Laura Trevelyan in washington, d. C. , in this is bbc world news america. Pfizer says its new vaccine is almost 95 effective. We are not at theh f line yet. Yroughl 250,000 americans have died from the virus. Thony fauci he would like says the timing could not be worse for a slowdown. Dr. Fauci we are going in, obviously, a wrong direction at a very precarious time. Laura the boeing 737 max has been cleared for takeoffsearly 18 mon after it was grounded following two deadly crashes. Plus, the lost whaling station is a beacon of hope as the whales return ande thriv the antarctic. Welcome to world news america pbs and around the globe. There is yet more reason to be optimistic about the coronavirus vaccineop being dev by pfizer and biontech. It has passed safety checks, making it ready for approval by authorities aroundhe world. Our medical editor, fergus, has more. Reporter more good news on vaccines. Last week, pfizer and biontech t announced abouir vaccine, now we have more detail. Over 95 effective over the 65 age, and there are cases across 40,000 volunteers, 162 among volunteers who took dummy or placebos and only eight in the vaccinated group. There were no serious concerns, but a sma minority of volunteers suffered significant headaches or fatigue. I think this is good news, that it shows good protection andse elderly people, bechat was a question we could not answer after the first announcement last week. Usually declines we age, so it is highly significant the vaccine protects the elderly, who a most at risk for covid. Two doses. Booster doses may be needed, as protection lasts. W long the Pfizer Vaccine has to be createsome logistical, which for a few days inmalains usable refrigerator. Regulators could approve the vaccine by ely december. The u. K. Has bought 40 million doses, but mostth of e will arrive next year. Nonetheless, it seems covid immunization will begin before christmas. Bbc news. Laura doctors have told us the vaccine coigd be the at the end of the tunnel, but that will not change things for the majority of us this winter. Right now,heajority of americans in the hospital with covid19 is higher than any other time during the pandemic. Nearly one quarter of a Million People have died. Asns fall to winter, this latest surge is expected to kill ny thousands more. Earlier, i spoke with dr. Anthony fauci, the top u. S. Infectious disease expert, on when he thinkshe vaccine will be available. Dr. Fauci well, the plan is, hopefully, by the end of december, the first tierf people, and that will be the recommendation of our centers forisease control and prevention, our cdc, whoce give adraditionally from an Advisory Committee plus also weighing in with the National Academy of medicine. I do not know what their decision is yet. I do not want to get ahead of them, but almost certainly, ing is g to include healthcare workers in the first tier, but i twill leavet decision to them. Will start adding vaccinated, and then as we goar through ja february, march, april, we hope we get the people of ouhigher priority t, so by the time we get to the end of april and go into this spring, april, may, june, you can get the bulk of the people who are not i any of those priorities, underlying condition who would like to get vaccinated. Hofully, as we ge into the Second Quarter of 2021, we will have those people vaccinated. Laura dr. Anthony found she things getting worse in the meantime. Dr. Anthony fauci. Meantime. G worse in the bill de blasio said a decision to shut the city down was made after an abundance of caution after Positivity Rates. Joining us now is an emergency medicine physician from Columbia University a and medical contributor and also a new york ty parent, like i am, too. What impact is disclosure goingh toe on the 300,000 families who have kids in new York Public Schools . Dr. i i thiis going to be very meaningful. It is difficult to go from inperson learning to remote learning. Even the two or three days the kids were getting was incredibly valuable for their education, t and very frustrating for parents who know there is a very low rate of spread, almost negligible, in the schools. This is a reflection of the transmission in the city at large, and it is the first of many steps the governor andll mayor ave to take to stop the spread of the virus in our city. Laura meanwhile, Indoor Dining is still open in urity. What does that say about the priorities, that ourids are going to be learningemotely . Obviously, it is an attempt to keep the economy going, but what does it say about priorities . Dr. ithink w will happen is we will see a lot more restrictions and closures in the next few days, reflecting the need to decrease mobility ande decrease sprareas, like Indoor Dining. I do not think indoor dinin ll stay open for much longer. New york city, iis true, we cannot prioritize Indoor Dining compared to our children, but we had almost 4000 cases in new york city yesterday, new york state alone yesterday, anis thee an increasing number of cases, and we need to address this across the board. I do think, unfortunately, because the mayor announced to the 3 rate was when he was going to close, he got caught before they ha looked at the other metrics to decrease the spread in new york. Laura but does that make sense to you, closing the schools at a test Positivity Rate at 3 , when for new york state, it is 9 . Dr. right, it is a very difficult situation. It does not make sense to close the schools with the numbers we have. Hiunfortunately, was a number that was put out before the schools oned. It shows transmission is low in schools, and, in fact, students safer in schools than in a lot of other areas, and toeay reevaluate those metrics before it got to the point when we got to the pointaind we have this number, are we going to move . Unfortunately, i think the mayor was in a position where it looked ias changing it, it the goal posts the infectioning spread in new york, and i think he really has to reevaluate the standards and come up with a new number tha i think is probably more reflective, whether it is inschool numbers or Positivity Rates with teachers with an increase in testing. Laura just very briefly, what does this mean for the very poorest kidsho have terrible wifi at home . Dr. it is going to further the disparities in our society for those who aret l risk fors of things, including education. A lot of the families chose remote learning, but for those who chose inperson learning, especially those who do not have learning on any ipad or technology, there are over 70,000 kids that are goingo need to get technology into their house to augment their lehining, so this is som the city is focused on very aggressively in the coming days. Hiis is something that they knew going in and som they will be addressing. Laura those kids are going to need that wifi and those computers from tomorrow. Dr. ,ng thank you for jois. Dr. thank you for having me. Laura President Trump is still tweeting the election was rigged, 11 days after the election was called foroe biden. He has filed lawsuits in battleground states, contesting the results, so far without result but they have some that are convinced the election been stolen. Our correspondent reports. Trump in americer it is not ov. Right now, they are watching us to see if we have a democracy. Reporter in the heartlandorting they are keeping the faith, almost daily taking their passion for the president to the streets in sheer disbelief of a possibility they lost. You can see that throughmp donald s rallies that he had. The number of people that showed up for those verses the biden rallies, thousands of difference. Reporter is hard it is hard to imagine, but here in the cit , real americast like them. There are parts of this country that felt forgotten before donald trump, who feelpr he ented them, and who fear they will be forgotten again once he is gone, which is part of the reason they are clinging onto the hopeehhat s, he will stay in office. So everywhere you go, they will onpeat theiracy theories about how the election was stolen. Allots were brought in, unnoticed, in the back rooms, through the back drs. People that have died years ago are still voti. In america, in the divided states of america reporter through his music, jim white has chronicled the culture of the south o and his country. He now says it is riddled with the kind of division no president can cure. He says discussion about civil war is common these days. It is not a possibility. It has happened. It is a virtual civil war. People are turning against each other, brother against brother. I talk to people who go to family reunions, and they cannot talk to half their family. They cannot talk to them. They have stopped going to mily reunions, because they could not bear to be around them , such hateful rhetoric, is what trump puts out. Reporter beyond the smiles, many told us they would never accept the selection as anythi the history of the south tells us what people feel, rightly or wrongly, they are being silence and held back. Ibbc newsthe florida panhandle. Laura the u. S. Aviation regulator is lifting the ban on the boeing 737 max, saying it is 100 safe. The plane was grounded in march 2019, following two crashes tha killed 346. Teho reports theo reports. Reporter n indonesia and , ethiopo accidents months apart, both involving the boeing 737 max. Th plane has been grounded worldwide r the past 20 months. Now, regulators in the United States saying it can fly agn. I lost my wife, carol, my three children, brian, kelly, and to be. I also lost my mom in law. Reporter t flight crashed minutes after takeoff. He has been lobbyingar to prevent the 737 max getting back in the air. We still have our lawyers in court, and the faa is supporting boeing. What are they hiding . They can come and stand before congress and tell the world, these planes are safe. Who isoing to believe them . Not me. Reporter his family died because the plane they were traveling on,al ident to these, had catastrophic design flaws. The planes computers ultimately put it into a dive the pilots could not prent. Later, the American Congress demanded answers from boeing. Boein came to my office shortly after the accident and said they were th result of an error. Those pilots never h a chance. These loved ones never had a chance. Ey were in flying coffins. Reporter in a scathing report, u. S. Lawmakers said boeingad pu production over safety and regulators had failed to do their job. The company insists it has hlearnedd lessons from the disasters and that safety is its top priority. The design flaws on the macs have nowan been rectified pilots will be given the design flaws on the max have now be given additional training. Ld it is the most perfected Flight Software in the world right now. Reporter thebelay wil allowed back in the air now the question is, will passengers be ppy to get back on board . Bbc news. Laura and that i the b question. A federal judge in new york has granted the request to drop drug charges against a mexican official. They say the general will return home a free man while investigations io the u. S. Allegations are carried out there. The general was arrested last month at los angeles airport after a long investigation by u. S. Drug enforcement agents. Th Chinese Military has grounded their fleet of f16s after a flight was lost in a training mission. Flown by a 40 fouryearold pilot, it disappeared from radar after taking off on tuesday. There are rising tensions with china and taiwan. You are watching bbc world news america. So to come ononights program, a bbc investievtion reveals idence of alleged actions and a controversial loyalty oath, targeting members of the rwandan diaspora. As the Trump Administration finishes out its last few months in office, u. S. Secretary of state mike pompeo is on a trip to israel. Our correspondent reports. Reporter certainly, is expected to be his last visit. The foreign minister here, the first offial visit by a bahrainieg dion since the abraham accords, the normalization deals between bahrain, israel, and the united arab emirates. What is less clear is what will happen on the the last visit of mr. Pompey. Pompeo. A big departure with u. S. Foreignpoli. Laura members of the rwandan diaspora say they have been threatened. A bbc investigation has revealed abductions, andri authoes there say the alleg aions lies. Our correspondent, andrew harding, reports from johannesburg. Andrew a gathering athe embassy, the High Commission i london, members of the diaspora taking an oath, pledging to the ruling party, vowing to support it to the death. If i bety the party, they swear, i must be punished by hanging. E embassy told us no one had been forced to attend. But some in videos say theyr ere there unress. Either you take it, or you are an enemy. It is black or white. A government that wants a control, aects. Of the citizens, of the rwandan people, even in the diaspora. Andrew a african nation with a troubled policy. Since the genocide of 1994, it has been led by one man, the president. He is credited with transforming rwan into a continental success story, but his government tolerates no dissent at home, and, increasingly, abroad. There is the case of an Opposition Leader strangled toh deat in south africa. A popular singer, whose popular lyrics angered the goverent, found den a police cell. Refugee says he fears for his life. He says he refused to spy on other rwandan exiles here in sydney his punishment, his two brothers backer in rwanda allegedly abducted last year. He fears they have been killed. Given the case happening too many rwandans, there is no hope. That is why i decided to come t of the state. Not any particular party, not y politics,hy should they be paying such a heavy price . Andrew rwandas government says these allegations are all tired falsehoods, fabricated some critics who want to diminish the image of rwanda. Buas we ha seen, many of these allegations are not cing from people linked to the opposition. Instead, the evidence in africa, in australia, in north america, and europe is of a much broader clampdown, what looks like an attempt to sre remaining members of the rwandan diaspora into silence and obedience. The rwandan authorities have a whole toolbox of tactics they used to suppress dissent in rwanda and abroad, ranging from harassment to threats to illegal detention, disappearance and torture. If you are a rwandan, it is simply easiero t stay silent. Andrew the hard truth is that r as long nda remains stable, a beacon of success, it faces little outside pressure to curb its ruthless ways. Andrarding, bbc news, south africa. Laura on disturbing allega there. For years, the remote british territory of south georgia was at the heart of the global whichg industr devastated the stocks of these massive a animals. Now, it is a much different story. The whales have returned and the island is a beacon of conservation, and they are helping to tell thisvitory. C doria reports. Ictoria reports. Reporter forbidding and beautiful. The coastline of south georgia, now teeming with wildlife. Pait has a dar. For decades, this isld wast the center of the whaling industry. Telling that story, tn whaling statcame a haven, the motivatif one scottish artists design. I was fortunate, because i struck upon this idea quite early on. It was lucky. E thidea just seemed to cascade. Reporter inspired by theivets that held together whalg ships and the barnacles that cling to the whalesheelves, this is called the spirit tables of south georgia. Li so many projects, this has been delayed by the pandemic, but g the islandernment and the south Georgia Heritage trust will begin working on the development in 2021. It will be situated in the largest whaling station on the island. The many tourists who visit the island every year on cruise ships will all come in their, there, and it is quite difficult for them to understand it, so what we will do,opefully with michaels commission, is help them interpret the past and also reflect theresent of the island, which is of a researching ecosystem. Reporter once caught here in death, thousands of humpbacks rsand otre turning to the south georgia waters. This isll anoo rare beacon of conservation, an ecosystem showing real bbc news. Recovery. Laura speaking of recovery, before we go tonight, an indian street dog who lost her front legs after being run over by a train has found a new home in britain after a year of therapy and learning to walk again with replacement limbs, found in dase conditionoctober. She was taken for to a shter for strays and then to the hospital. The story gained worldwide attention after it was sharedcin media. She is now walking and living in london. Good luck, and narrator funding for this presentation of this program is provided by. Raymond jame the freeman foundation. By judy and Peter Blum Kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for americaneglected needs. And by contributions to this pbstation from viewers like you. Thank you. Yuyi i came to the uniteds. States when i was 24 years old. I did not speak any english. I felt very, very lost, really not knowing what to do with my life. One day on tv there was sesame street. Ernie and grover and cookie monster. And its not only that i learned to speak in english, now i know how to live in the United States. So this is how you do it w m powerful. Now i know i can do anything i want. I will make myself learn how to do it. And i got that from pbs. I bought my first set of paints and brushes and i pracced. My path is childrens books. And i have found. Ho i wanted to be which is that person who has something to say. Pbs and sesame street, they opened all the world to me. Captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc woodrf good evening, im judy woodruff. On the newshour tonight, still no concession. Despite repeatedly losing Court Challenges to election results, President Trump contues to deny his defeat. Then, fired the president terminates the leader of the t