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n foundation. by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing sol for america's neglected needs. and by cutions to this pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> this is bbc news with the latest headlines. the u.s. president-elect joes biden criticiccine rollout there, less than 100 million jobs in his --ledging 100 million jabs in his first 90 days. >> it will take times for our covert response plan to have visible results. >> cases up by more shan 53,000 ingle day. >> if the virus is allowed to

continue to transmute an increase, particularly with the new strain of virus, there cod be catastrophic consequences. >> croatia is hit by strongest earthquake in decades. the ltest rep suggest 70 people have died. antiabortion protesters march in argentina as ascendant senatear pr to hold a historic vote . townerre cardin takes t by storm. >> and tributes to e of the biggest names in fashion desig pierre cardin hasied at the age of 98. ♪ >> hello and welcome.

elthe u.s. president joe biden has been outlining u.s. efforts to combat the coronaviru pandemic under his forthcoming presidency. mr. biden criticized e president for what he described as a slow rollout of the vaccination program. the president elect once again pledged to 1 deliv million shots in his first 100 days in office. >> i will move heaven and earth to get us going in the right direction. i will use my power under the defense production act when i'm industry to accelerate making the materials needed for the vaccines as well as protective. ge vice president harris and have been speaking to county officials, mayors and governors of both parties to speed up the distribution of the vaccine across the nation. elect kamala harris. president

she received her injection on live television. she and her husband received the vaccine after oth high-profile profile figures like joe biden himself and dr. anthony fauci also received the jab. it's an effort to boost public confidence in the drug. on capitol hill, the leader of the republicans in the senate, mitch mcconnell, appears to have blocked ase measure to incr payments to ericans reeling from the pandemic. congress has already passed 900 billion dollars relief package just signed into law by president trump, but he was reluctant to do that because the bill only gave lower paid americans $600 each, and mr. trump said he wanted the handout to be $2000. this caused aia rare ae with democrats in washington. the house voted to raise the payout figuren monday, but mitch mcconnell, the republican senate leader, has prevented debate on the measure.

a republican strategist and chairman of the travis county republican party in texas joins me now. thanks for being with us on bbc ws. what do you make of this? >> as you said in your leading, cspoliometimes makes strange if you look back at the first term or only term of president trump, he has not been aligned with democrats ver often against republicans, but on this issue he is generally aligned with republicans. which connell understands tha to give democrats something they were demanding, he wanted to get something in return. it's not that he will prevented from ever happening, what he wants a liability shield for businesses perhaps repeal of to the tech platforms from being one of those two things is the likely trade-off that he is

going to require to pass this through the senate. you are seeing some senate republicanslu ing marco rubio from florida and others joininghe president trump and the democrats to say that these payments need to happen. 's known question whether mitch mcconnell can get another addition to it. >> can the higher payout be passed anyway in the senate with democrats and republicans coming together, despit leader?ublican >> the senate general takes 60 votes to do anything. i think it is 52t the moment. we will see how the georgia runoffs go. you have a handful of days that main. they want to override the president's veto and the national defense authorization act, and ty've got the government funding and stimulus bill passed which the president

reluctantly signed into law. can the minority leader in the senate, chuck schumer, force a vote? and procedure.irely on timing he probably could do it, but even they have very limited time, i think it's going toe difficult. one senator can block a lot of things. it could just be an average center. bernie sanders said he will filibuster a veto overriding an payment.wn vote on the $2000 they will have to get agreement from 100 senators. >> we been t tking about georgia senate races and the fact that on that depends mitch mcconnell's continuing power in stthe senate. brief answer on whether you think he will retain that leadership in the senate after next week or not. can take control is by winning

both georgia seats. vice president kamala harris >> of got toeave it there. -- i havgot to leave it there. thanks, and we will watch that next tuesday very carefully. the u.s. has recorded his first case of the new variantf o coronavirus first identified here in the u.k. the governor of colorado tweeted it was discovered and saying we will monitor it very closely. it has also been recorded in nada, australia, japan, as well as other european countries. re in the u.k. the number of infections reported in 24 of risen steeply to another record.

one senior medical officer has expressed extreme concern on the situation. the official data puts the figure at 53,135 new cases in the latest 24 hours and 414 deaths were reported. this report includes flash photography. a few days off for christmas,v but instead have been asked to come back to work. >> this time we've seen a massive increase >> we are close to becomingd. overwhel so it is affecting anyone and everyone. >> people are just beginning to be exhausted. it has been such a long year. rerter: doctors and nurses from the -- nurses from t nhs frontle tell us that afters months and monf hard work, it is getting worse. queens hospital, 20 ambulances waiting outside. some on double yellow lines

because the parking bays were all full. you can see staff bringing hot odrinks out patients waiting in the ambulances. the hospital says they were s being cared foely, but that it is uer considerable pressure and is accepting -- asking staff to take extra shifts. the pressure is intense across london and the southeast. >> i would sayt it is the m challenging extended period that i ve ever the -- ever seen. i like to take an opportunity to reporter: more than a 21,000 peop being treated in hospital for covert across the u.k.., in walhey are dealing with the highest level of patients now. >> a lot of them are desperately unwell. we see a real reflection of tha in the amo patients reporter: that have died. reporter:in northern ireland, t hospital shey are under

pressure, but coping. in scotland, people are being year's, as cases hit a recordw high. the new surge in cases could not come at a worse time for the winter always brings more slips, trips, and falls i in weather. this year, on top of that, add to the pandemisocial distancing and the nhs of england is operating wh around 10% fewer beds than usual. inngnd, 24 million people are already living under tier four restrictions, the highest level. the government is about to decide if that is enough. this warning from a scientific advisor, act now to avoid catastrophe in the new year. >> in my view, if we don't introduce tougher restrictions areas in the north and areas currently in here for, they wily rise to ve high levels of the

disease. >> the nhs sent the annual thank you message acknowledging that this year h been the toughest that most can remember, but there is hope, too. >> we think that with vaccine supply continuing to come on stream, we will have been able to offer all people across the country the vaccination. reporter: three weeks margaret keenan became the first person to have a covid vaccine outside clinical trials. y toe has had her second booster dose. '>>'look at some more development on the coronavirus story around the world. in germany, the health authorities approved a new rapid coronavirus test that can give results with 40 minutes. the companyehind it says it is based on highly reliable technology. spai said it will set up a registry of people who have refused to be vcinated against

the virus. the list will be shared with other e.u. nations, though it will not be made public. russia's prime minister has revealed that or than 80% of deaths this yeaare linked to. covid- official figures say 55,827 people he died of covi19 in russia. local media in croatia a reporting that the earthquake asere killed seven people. seismologists say the tremor of magnitude 6.4 had its epicenter about 5 kilometers from the capital,he grab. -- zagreb. reporter: a man is rescued from a crushed car and reunited with his child, who had already been pulled free. it was a littlenafter midday he 6.4-magnitude

earthquake hit. the strongest in croatia in decades. one town took the full force. half of its bldings have been destroyedrd, accoing to the mayor wh was talking to reporters when the quake struck. a 12-year-old girl died. apese women were able to walk away from the cosed town hall. others removed to safety however they could be. rorescuers all across croatia searched angst the rubble for survivors. this man said i don't have anything left. everything crumbled. in a nearby city, the mayor was holding a news conference when the tremors started. the main hostal here was badly damaged. it was also felt hundreds of miles away near the slovenia

parlia bntlding. the town of petrinja was almost destroyed during a brutal civil war in the 1990's. the earthquake has broughtio devastonce again. >> here in the u.k., lawmakers appear ready to back the compromise >> it deal. skeptical of ties with europe, icme have ied they will support the agreement on wednesday. the opposition leader who oppose brexit is trying to persuade all his labor mps to vote in favor on the grounds that a slim dealn is better o deal. here's ourco political espondent, jessica parker. icje boris johnson is likely to get his trade deal through parliament tomorrow. things are looking a bit more mpcated for the labour party.

describing the agreement as thin, but saying it is better tha' no deal out, he doesn' think labor should be sitting on the sidenes by abstaining. hat leastdful of mps look set to defy him. some argue the deal is going to pass anyway not put their names tune agreement they think is bad for the country. the deal does look set to race through parliament as parliament is recalled here tomorrow. the u.k. did leave the back in january, but in today's time, it actually it strikes itself from the european union. on issues of trade and immigration, that's where the relationship fundamentally changes. that's when we begin to findxiut what breally means. >> to argentina the senate is debating a bill legalizing abortion despite objections frol the roman ca church. the bill would allow women to in pregnancies after 4 theh week. to do so by only a slim

majority. been holding ralli today.ave two years ago a w similar bill it was narrowly rejected by the more conservative senate. our guest is in oneness eras and i ked how she was feeling -- she is in burnoduenos aires >i'a day of joy here. >> what has the effect of the band been for women with unwanted pregnancies? >>hat happens is that when the senate in 2018 rejected the bill th year 35 women died from abortion related causes.at appens is that as we don't

have official statistics becaus' we 't have a law, what we have is 4000 women have been committed into hospitals related to dangerous and unsafe abortion complications. hatthis is an issue everybody is watching in argentina. tell me about what it was like when the bill went through the >> it was a great day. we were all on the streets, and there were many people with all the se care and because we are in the pandemic, but it was great. we are hopeful tha time the senate will vote in favor, because we don't want to be sappointed. >> yet there are many

conservative voices in the sena who say they oppose this, and they speak for the moral majority iargentina. >> what we have in our country and in the senate, yes, i want to say the majority or high percentage of legislators with conservativehoughts and perspectives, and the arguments against women's rights and pregnant people's rights are more or less moral or religious. so we hope this year wille the time to rejected again. >> i think t isthe ninth time that a bill to legalize abortion has been presented to congress. so you are used to this fight. if you win this time, do you think it wl have an impact elsewhere in south america? >> yes, of course, and we are

hopeful that will happen. in latin america, there a a very few countries that have legal abortion. most of them ared restric have restrictions or they are prohibited. so we hope this will be a nice example for america and the other countries. >> do you think this particular issue has energized women politically in a broader sense as well? >> yes, of course. the feminist movement here in argentina is historical. the fight to choose and the abortion fight is a particular one cause it means that women and pregnant peopleou can choose lives and our own health. so it is really important. >> we will be following that

vote in argentina ove next few hours. the legendary frenc fashion designer pierre cardin has died at the age of 98. he was hailed for his visionary creations, but also for bei a pioneer of stylish, ready to wear clothes for middle classes. during his seven decades in fashion, he brought geometric shapes to haute couture and licensing his name to a wide range of products. let's give you a flavor of the film. re[speaking fon language] a little bit of a sellout.

>> a legend. >> that was a glimpse of the house of cardin. the couple behind the film tell me how they came to make it. >> we always say it was divine providence. ow he was a real person, we just collected his furnitur. he had a record label. we were just avid collectors. we discovered he was a real persd and he was alive, met him. not with thentention of making a documentary, just really to get a picture. >> we are documentary filmmakers, so when we met him, the assumption was we were approaching about a documentary. after we left are very few -- our very first meeting with him, get started? said when can we

what do you want to do? i guess a documentary on pierre cardin. >> i love the idea that you knew him fromis creations, and then you go to paris and bump into him. what did you say to him? how do you say, i would like to get to know you? >> we didn't even have to say that. just sort of entered theun conversationng and just started talking about what it could mean and that we wanted to make it in 3d, which he loved. and then we got to know him, and the more time th we spent with him, we re able to become frnds. multitasking at the other end. we can just see a glimpse of your palm springs home behind you. clean lines, beautiful geometry.

i can see what would appe to you, even in the clothes you are wearing. kind of a space-age obsession, he led the way.e ths a lot we take for granted, but he kind of had the vision first he was extremely positive. we think about the future today, we think about dystopia, the walking dead. the visions of t future where everything is falling apart. pierre cardin saw theute with an incredible amount of positivity. >> and internationalism in bringing all cultures and people together. >> what you say really strikes me, because here i am reporting and we are all thinking about pandemic and difficulties in medical devastation, and you are talkingri about someone who

to make horizons wider and brighter. >> so true. and through color, through design, to try to improve the wod and improve life. we get asked about mr. cardin,d he thing is, there is always an idea underneath what we -- what he did. his idea was that self-expression should be for everybody, that beauty was articipatewe can all in r at kind of positivity brings good things to yfe. when you watch the film and fill especially proud that yd get to see know mr. cardin and be inspired by him. he is really quite a man. >> we really thought we would be at his 100th birthday party.

>> there is a lovely page onwehe bbite, pierre cardin's life in fashion in pictures. you soll through that, and it really is extraordinary. you can always talk to me on twitter. thanks f being with us on bbc news. ♪ narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... language specialists teaching spanish, french and more. raymond james. by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. and by contributions to this pbs station from viewers like you. thank you.

nat the height of the conflict. into vietnam of became a single parent wo young children. we moved a lot. we slept in rest areas. we slept in our car. i didn't realize that we were actually homeless. it makes your world really small. happened to have a tv, it was really special. we loved nova. especially when it would be about space. we would talk for hours about the universe. watching nova, i felt big, like, my mind was big, g. my ideas were the trajectory of my life changed. i could see a world outside of our poverty and i felt like things were going to get better. ♪ pbs opened up a world i didn't know existed.

captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> nawaz: good evening, i'm amna nawaz. judy woodruff is off. on the newshour tonight, the pandemic marches on: covid-19 deaths top 337,000 as a new strain is confirmed in the u.s. o talk with president-elect biden's pickad the c.d.c. then, critical votes-- the house of representatives overrides president trump's veto of a defense spending bill as the fight over covid relief payments moves to the senate. and, a hidden crisis-- with hospitals overrun with pandemic patients, many americans are i delayiortant medical care, often with devastating consequences. >> while it's very important to take necessary precautions for avoiding exposure a covid-19, ito important to get your timely medical care. >> nawaz: all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour.