>> ifill: and, we explain why two degrees is so important to those in paris looking to combat climate change. all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ >> 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: at least 14 killed, another 14 wounded and up to three gunmen on the loose, in military-style outfits. that was the deadly tally today after the shootings at a social services complex in southern california. it happened in san bernardino, a city of more than 200,000 people, about 60 miles east of los angeles. >> ifill: it was late morning when heavily armed police and others raced toward inland regional center, moments after the alarm sounded. >> apparently the subject is still inside the business: 1365 south waterman. its in building number 3-- possible active shooter. male in black clothing. he's still firing rounds. >> ifill: the social services center is one of 21 that's run by the state, serving people with developmental disabilities. they were either dressed or equipped to indicate they were prepared and have automatic guns. they were on a mission. >> ifill: marco said his wife was inside the building when the shooting >> she said the shot next-- came in next to her office, and i guess started shooting. they locked themselves in, in her office. they seen bodies on the floor and she said, right now ambulance are taking people out in stretchers. others walked out with hands in the air while the wounded were wheeled away on gurneys and triage centers were set up on roadways nearby. as the afternoon wore on, dozens of police flocked to nearby streets and joined the manhunt. later, president obama told cbs news that the san bernardino assault reinforces-- yet again-- the need for steps to stop mass shootings. >> we should never think that we should come together in a bipartisan basis at every level of government to make these rare as opposed to normal. we should never think that this is something that just happens in the ordinary course of events, because it doesn't happen with the same frequency in other countries. >> ifill: we get the latest now from ryan carter, city editor with "the san bernardino sun." ryan carter, we just heard the law enforcement officials say that these people came prepared, yet he did not rule out the possibility of terrorism. what do we know about that tonight? >> well, we know that the mayor just concluded a news conference a little while ago and was very consciously saying we don't know that this is a terrorist attack in the sense that people may be thinking. obviously, at least, some form of domestic terrorism, but that's about all we know at this point. >point. >> ifill: when you say domestic terrorism, to be clear, we're not talking about a domestic dispute between a husband and wife, we're talking about homegrown terrorism? >> correct. >> ifill: tell me about san bernardino and particularly this center. tell me about this area of town and what it's usually like. >> the center itself employs about cleese to 700 people actually and that's according to the agency's facebook. but we don't know exactly how many are based at the center. they are the biggest regional center in the state. and san bernardino is the hub of san bernardino county which is one of the largest counties in the state and the city service a large population and many utilize the center in their day-to-day life. >> ifill: about an hour east of los angeles is the way we understand it for people unfamiliar with the region. this uncertainty we heard from the law enforcement officials including the f.b.i., the uncertainty you're saying you heard from the mayor, is the area on lockdown tonight? what's happening in that area as far as we know, the gunmen still at large? >> yeah, there is a palpable sense of lockdown just in general in the downtown area. that's where our news room the "sun" is based. people are very aware of this. we are right next to city hall and we had several law enforcement suv's pull up just kind of patrolling the area. we saw some bullet-proof, jacketed officers walking down the street near the bank across the way, and they have the school district on lockdown, even the local amazon warehouse i've heard reported has gone on lockdown. so that is definitely a strain here for sure. >> ifill: is there any working theory or explanation being given by way of local media, social media in any way about what the motive may have been for this? >> no, i think that's still something that is to be determined. i would be a bit reluctant to speculate on that. you know, there has been some speculation about the fact that it was, you know, possibly up to three people, and it kind of belies the idea that perhaps it could be just one lone crazy person out there but, in fact, if it was more than one, if there was some organization to it, so that's where we've left it at the moment. >> reporter: and as far as we know, these three people, if there are three, has it been ruled they are still inside the facility? has it been ruled out, that is? >> as far as i know, the last i've heard is they were seeing -- suspects were last possibly seen leaving in a black suv, black gmc yukon and, so, that search is on. >> ifill: ryan carter as the search continues don't, city editor of the san bernardino sun, thanks for joining us. >> you're welcome. >> ifill: in the day's 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 it's strategically located on the adriatic sea, with deep-water 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: montenegro's 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 country's 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 24-hour period, flooding thousands of homes. stranded people had to waded through chest-deep waters in many places. back in this country, the white house welcomed congressional agreement on a five-year funding bill for highways and mass transit. the $280 billion measure would end a long cycle of short-term 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 long-awaited 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 one-size-fits-all 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. >> 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 clinton's foreign policy from 1997 to 2001, including bombing campaigns in kosovo and iraq, and the response to al-qaida's 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. it's covered with messages from families of members of the armed forces. there's also a 500-pound 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. the campaign against islamic state forces advanced on several fronts today. britain's 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 in ramadi as government troops backed by u.s. airstrikes move closer to end a drawn-out siege. but many iraqis led by the prime minister abadi did not appear to welcome thes in that u.s. is sending additional special ops forces to root out i.s.i.s. strongholds. >> we do not need foreign forces, whether american, dinish, italian or french ones. the iraqi people are capable. u.s. forces have no credibility and no good intentions. i consider this a new invasion. >> ifill: at n.a.t.o. headquarters in brussels, secretary 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 they'd support iraqi efforts to destroy i.s.i.l. >> 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 tore them to attack us? >> ifill: but cameron faced riled-up opponents to his plan after reports said he called them a bunch of tempt sympathizers. >> an amendment was signed by 110 members of this house from six different political parties. i've examined that list very carefully. i cannot identify a single terrorist sympathizer among them. there wilapologize for his deepy insulting remarks. >> i'll be very clear, this is about how we fight terrorism and there is honor in any vote the honorable members make. >> ifill: in tend the house of commons backed the conservative government plan to begin airstrikes inside sir. i can't 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. later i. >> 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. we return again to our continuing series this week, "nigeria: pain and promise." tonight, special correspondent nick schifrin looks at the corruption in the oil-rich nation, from the highest levels of nigeria's government, down to the police on the streets. >> reporter: on the streets of lagos there's a saying: every day is for the thief. godwin ekpo's 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: that's 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 people's 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 of fake medicine. i've been asked for bribes by police officers, by soldiers, by airport security officers behind the x-ray 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 that's supposed to educate children. >> reporter: he's 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: they're 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 is followed by 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 nigeria's corrupt class. but muhammadu sanusi is one of nigeria's most progressive voices. >> in nigeria, there's no accountability at all. and that's why i think nigerian corruption is worse than in many parts of the world, because it's the worst type of corruption. it's stealing. >> reporter: sanusi is the emir of kano, nigeria's second highest islamic authority. but he's most famous for what he did wearing a suit. >> reporter: that's a ted-x conference in 2013, when sanusi was nigeria's 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 country's 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 africa's richest country because of oil. but the oil deals are as opaque as the oil being exported. u.s. and british officials told us allison-madueke 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 don't 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 don't return the money. 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, up to 60% didn't 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: allison-madueke's lawyer declined to speak to pbs newshour. but in london, where she is recovering from cancer treatment, she told a nigerian journalist, "how can $20 billion disappear? i challenge anyone to come forward with facts showing that i stole government or public money. i've never stolen nigeria's money." >> if she goes to court and if she's jailed, for example, or if other people are picked up and jailed, 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 buhari's campaign against high-level 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. 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 didn't have bullets. their trucks didn't have gas. >> reporter: you had to donate money even just to fill the truck with fuel. >> reporter: it appears the national security advisor had the money. this document obtained by pbs newshour is a request by dasuki's 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 allison-madueke's 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 high-level corruption. >> because money that was being appropriated was not being used for purpose. that's why i said, corruption weakened and escalated our insecurity. because money that was appropriated for weapons, for welfare, it wasn't getting to base. >> reporter: dasuki's 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 doesn't satisfy the new government. >> reporter: but fixing this won't be easy. there is a saying here: when you fight corruption, corruption fights back. >> and now i went down, holding my jaw like this, and the blood was just gushing out. that's when i heard my children shouting, mommy's dying, mommy's dying, mommy's dying. i quickly stood up and went back to see my wife. and the blood was just pumping out. when i held her, i discovered the bullet entered here-- and came out here. >> reporter: gowdin's 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 man's wife, and these children's mother. it will keep stealing nigeria's future, unless nigeria finds a way to change. nick schifrin, pbs newshour, kano, nigeria. >> ifill: in tomorrow's 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. >> it's a very different kind of baby gift. facebook co-founder 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." the couple 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 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 isn't going to be like today, the future will be better than today. >> ifill: we get for insight into this decision and the larger context from stacy palmer, editor of the chronicle of philanthropy. welcome. >> thank you. >> ifill: she mentioned it was a limited liability corporation, what's the difference between that and a normal nonprofit. we've heard of people creating foundation before but this seems different. >> this is quite different. this isn't like the gates foundation. mark zuckerberg is saying plan philanthropy isn't working well and we need to change it. this doesn't have the limits on lobbying foundations have now. it can do more investing. it does haven't to disclose as much information as a foundation does. it doesn't 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 we'll 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. >> among the biggest philanthropist in the tech industry is more dominant than in the financial industry which we never saw in nan philanthropo 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 fords and the rockefellers? >> very different. they're frustrated there are all these problems that haven't been solved and say why hasn't philanthropy done more and want to make a -- 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? >> it's 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 it's 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 a limited liability company isn't 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 he's learned lessons from that. >> ifill: does it make a difference when people start giving young? these are not end-of-life bequests. >> that's the huge part. they have time to learn to think and do differently. people in their '70s and '80s gave it, didn't think much about it, and we found per peach rail 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 they're open to is they're not accountable to any public either elected officials or the public at all. they can decide what's important and, by definition, what's not important. >> that's the biggest concern people have. it just feels to a lot of people like a lot of injection of mon moy into politics and rich people deciding things without being elected. >elected. >> ifill: to be clear, they're 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 we'll 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 all the time: >> two degrees celsius. >> two-degree 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-- let's 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 earth's temperature has been fairly steady-- fluctuating by only about one degree celsius. yes, it's risen and fallen, but all of human existence-- everything we've ever done as a species-- has happened in this narrow temperature range. richard alley is a climate scientist at penn state university. >> we've 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 sort of boredom, we are pushing very hard, and we are pushing very hard in a number of ways, but the biggest one of those is putting co2 in the air to cause more warming. >> brangham: this chart shows the historical amount of carbon dioxide in the earth's atmosphere-- it too has gone up and down through time. here's where humans came in; here's where we started burning oil and gas and coal; and here's where we are today. all that carbon, sitting up in the atmosphere, traps the sun's radiation and slowly drives up earth's temperature. now, for the first time in our history, we've 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. that's 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 that's 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 there's some uncertainty about how much of a problem two degrees of additional warming will be-- and how we'll be able to adapt to it-- scientists say we'll likely see longer droughts and more intense heat waves, which could cause big disruptions to the world's 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 don't start with rapid emissions reductions and substantial emissions reductions, that we'll 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 we've seen for 25 years is all these little tweaks, these modifications that have been tried, and they don't change the fundamental result: global emissions continue to rise and they're going in the wrong direction. >> brangham: so now, with over last year, nasa released this animation showing a year's 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 world's biggest emitters-- including the top three-- have made voluntary pledges to cut back their emissions. they're 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 what's called a "carbon budget"-- it's 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 there's 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 can't tolerate? most scientists see climate change as the biggest, most complicated, long term challenge the world has faced. but for some, there's optimism. >> we're not going to stabilize the composition of the atmosphere today. there are a lot of people who drove to work this morning who're going to drive home this evening. changing the energy system is a 30-year task, or longer. you could look at this and say, "wow, we're 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 we'll 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 we're 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 won't demand enough to keep the planet below the two degree threshold. >> it's somewhat, i think, deceptive to think that this is a success. there's no enforcement mechanism at all in this agreement. so it's easy to agree to something when you announce the pledge yourself and when you know you're 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, there's 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, i'm william brangham, in washington d.c. >> ifill: we'll be back with a look at a wind project that crosses borders. but first, take this moment to hear from your local pbs station. it's 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 yo-yo ma and his acclaimed career. he's 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, yo-yo ma 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 they're 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: yo-yo ma was born in paris to musician paris, 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 feature of leonard bernstein and other major figures. he's turned out some 90 albums over the years, a classical music star who's also created a live variety of music from this country and around the world, with a who's who of musicians from other genres. he's appeared before presidents -- (applause) -- received the presidential medal of freedom and the national medal of arts, and a true sign of cultural importance, 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 that's 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 it's about. yes, it takes a lot of focus, it takes those 10,000 hours to do something, but it's like how does it fit in within the context of living. ♪ >> brown: one of the major projects of ma's life connects music from different ages and cultures. he created the silk road ensemble 15 years ago, name chosen for the ancient chinese trade route. ♪ ma's much of his own world view embodied in this effort to blend sounds and cultures is shaped by his immigrant past. >> with everything that's happening now, you know, the refugee situation, the immigration situation, i'm an immigrant. >> brown: it's striking to me and i'm 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 sano phobia, more tensionings 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 it's 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 don't 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? >> it's a friend. a friend in need. it is -- it gives joy. it gives solace. >> brown: i've 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? what's going on inside you? >> it's 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 it's a piece of music someone wrote or something i'm 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: sixty-two-year-old jose mercado runs a small market near the center of the jacumeé,a small rural town just south of the u.s.-mexican border. he's part of a commune leasing land to the first cross-border wind energy project, energiía sierra juaárez. 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. that's huge for jacumeé, where the main source of income had been livestock. >> ( translated ): the land wasn't apt for plantings, or even construction, because it's all just rock. the wind farm gives us money to survive without having to work. that's 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 don't pay a utility bill at this point because i have solar and wind. i'm 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 he's concerned about fire. he's a retired battalion chief for the california department of forestry and fire protection. >> my main forteé was in wildlad fire-fighting. >> reporter: he says the industrial scale of energia sierra juarez makes it a fire threat, especially during drought. it includes 47 turbines, a nearly five-mile cross-border transmission line and 25 miles of new roads. >> all these agencies and companies are in lockstep on this green energy rush, whether it's actually beneficial to us or not. >> reporter: that's donna tisdale, who lives northwest of ostrander, in boulevard. she's leading the lawsuit against energiía sierra juaárez and the u.s. government 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 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 mexico's 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 it's 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 jacumeé, mexico, jose mercado says he was concerned about possible harm to local wildlife, but he decided it wasn't his priority. >> ( translated ): that's 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 doesn't blame the mexicans for accepting the project on their land. >> 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, i'm jean guerrero in jacumeé, mexico. >> ifill: now, updating the mass shooting in southern california: 14 people were killed and 17 wounded today at a social services center in san bernardino, california. up to three gunmen in military- style outfits carried out the attack, then got away, possibly in a dark s.u.v. later, police shot it out with at least one suspect in a vehicle matching that description. local tv showed the windows shot out, and a body in the street, with what appeared to be a rifle nearby. a second suspect appeared to be inside the vehicle. there was no immediate confirmation that the incident is related to the earlier attacks. and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm gwen ifill. we'll have updates online and again here tomorrow evening. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you and good night. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> and by bnsf railway. >> supporting social entrepreneurs and their solutions to the world's 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 >> this is "bbc world news america." >> funding of this presentation is made possible by -- the freeman foundation, newman's own foundation -- giving all profits from newman's own to charity and pursuing the common good, kovler foundation -- pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs, and hong kong tourism board. >> want to know hong kong's most romantic spot? i'll show you. i love heading to repulse bay for an evening stroll. it is the perfect, stunning backdrop for making romantic moments utterly unforgettable.

Related Keywords

Vietnam , Republic Of , Turkey , China , California , United States , Kosovo , San Diego , San Bernardino County , Syria , San Bernardino , Russia , Washington , District Of Columbia , Mexico , Montenegro , Nigeria , India , Kano , Adriatic Sea , Oceans General , Oceans , Lagos , New York , Moscow , Moskva , Iran , Columbia University , Ramadi , Al Anbar , Iraq , Brussels , Bruxelles Capitale , Belgium , London , City Of , United Kingdom , Bangladesh , Hong Kong , Sierra Juarez , Baja California , Paris , Rhôalpes , France , Chennai , Tamil Nadu , Italy , Bauchi , Nigerian , Italian , Americans , Mexicans , America , Chinese , Mexican , Turkish , Iraqis , Iranians , Britain , Iraqi , British , American , Jean Guerrero , Jeffrey Brown , Goodluck Jonathan , Chan Zuckerberg , David Cameron , Priscilla Chan , Los Angeles , Catherine T Macarthur , Donna Tisdale , Katherine Scott , Stacy Palmer , Leonard Bernstein , Janet Yellen , Judy Woodruff , Ryan Carter , Scott Barrett , Godwin Ekpo , Michael Oppenheimer , Muhammadu Buhari , Sandy Berger , Musa Muhammad , Gwen Ifill , Bernardino Sun , William Porter , Muhammadu Sanusi , Bernardino Sun Ryan Carter , Yo Ma ,