♪ judy: good evening. i am judy woodruff. on the "newshour" tonight-- covid relief. congress moves closer to passing a long-awaited response to the pandemic's financial toll. then, balance of power. with control of the u.s. senate at stake, two veferent debates are held in georgia. and, searching for justice. we kick off a new seith one man's story of life after prison and guiding others on re-entering society. >> just because a person has traveled down a th and made a mistake, that this mistake won'v label them f and that you can change, there's room for redemption. tonight's "pbs newshour."n >> major funding for the "pbs

newshour" has been provided by -- >> before we talk about your investments, what is new? >> audrey is expecting. >> grandparents. >> we want to put money aside for them. so, change in plans. >> let's sewhat we can adjust. >> could be closer to the twins. >> change in plans. >> mom, are you painting again? if you could sell these. >> let me guess, change in ans? >> at fidelity a change in plans is always part of the plan. >> consumer cellular, johnson & johnson, financial services firm raymond james. bn.sf railw

the hewlin, foundatio supporting ideas and institutions to support a better world. the jan zuckerberg initiative working to build a more healthy, just and inclusive future for everybody at czi.org. and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions -- ♪ >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting ntd by butions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. judy: -- sthanie: i am

stephanie sy with newshour west. we will join judy for the full show after the latest headlines. theewshour confirmed president-elect biden selected his nominee for secretary of defense and it is general lloyd austin. austin oversaw u.s. forces in sidentddle east under p obama.he would be the first african-american secretaryde of nse. austin will need a waiver from congress to serve in this civilian role because it has been less than seven years since he was in the militar president-elect biden announced his pandemic and health care team. he is nominating california attorney general xavier becerra to be seetary of health and human services. becerra would be the first lati in that role. harvard's dr. rochelle walensky ntwill be director of the s for disease control and prevention. d an anthony fauci of the national institutes of health will also be chief medical adviser covid-19.

covid-19 numbers continue to surge with no end in sight. the u.s. is averaging nearly 2200 deaths per day and health officials warn of new spikes from holiday gatherings. in california almost 85% of state residents went u stay-at-home orders today. >> the point is to stay at home during this critical time. to bring transmission rates down, to help us get this under control so our hospitals can do what they have done for so long, which is to provide high-quality health care tall the californians who need it. stephanie: the top elections official in georgia has recertified the state's rults anreconfirmed president-elect biden's victory. cretary of state brad raffensperger made the announcement today, after a recount requested by the trump campaign. >> we have now counted legally cast ballots three times, and

the results remaindinchanged. nformation regarding election administration should be condemned and rejected. integrity matters. truth matters. stephanie: meanwhile, federalss judges dis separate lawsuits by a trump ally to overturn the results in michigan and georgia. in alaska, the search has been surrendered for two people missing after a landslide hit the smallek community last torrential rains caused landslides and more rain was expected today, forcing more than four dozen families to evacuate the hotels and putting 1/3 of the town's resideno on noticeoor. maduro has extended his power over the only government body under opposition control. sunday's elecduons handed 's socialist allies a landslide victory in the national congress. the oppositionostly boycotted e vote. the u.s., european union and much of latin america rejected

the results. and, legendary singer-songwriter irb dylan has sold his e catalog of songs to universal music publishing group. the price was not announced, but the deal covered more than 600 songs, including "blowin' in the wind", "the times, they are a-changin" and "like a rolling stone". still the, on the "newshour"--ss congoves closer toassing a long-awaited covid relief package. with control of the u.s. senate at stakeo very differents debae held in georgia. judy discusses the response to a worsening pandemic with virgia vernor ralph northam, and much more. >> this is pbs newshour west from weta studios in washington and in them west fr walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. ♪ judy: with the covid-19 pandemic

surging and some economic relief for ordinary americans seto expire soon, congress is finally nearing a al on hundreds of billions of new aid. lisa desjardins is here to walk us through what's on the table. hello, lisa. what is the story? how close is congress, where do things stand right now? lisa: they are closer, but not there yet. we are facing what could be two could be the most consequential weeks. congress is wo bill, but let's talk about the other two big ones. there is a funding bill and a covid relief bill. this is crunch time so i will what it looks like, government funding bill and of covid relief bill will be put together into one bill combined. the deadline is for government

funding whicruns out at the d of thursday. but,ongress is moving to punt that decision another week. they need more time e work out theals. now the deadline is december 18, a week later. atheylose on both of these things,tut t final mile is the toughest. they are not there yet. judy: what do we know about what lisa: one w reasonare seeing action now, we are seeing problems in this country. i want toth go ove crises we are dealing with and what they are trying to solve. we know 58% of restaurants say more layoffs and closures are imminent. ovalso, statenments are saying furloughs are just around the corner more budget cuts,ic d on and food relief help is said to run out december 31,s part of the previous c.a.r.e.s. act.

we have bipartisan and bicameral oups trying to come up with a deal. here is what is in that group, some call it the dinner group. they would add 300 dollars of unemployment benefits for everyone on the jobless roll and 160 dollars bianion for state local governments to deal with government crises. tfi food and rental assistance, $51 billion. they have not worked out the deal on liability. that is sometelng mitch mcco wants. liabilsy meaning busines could not be sued if workers became sick with the coronavirus. they are having a tough time and meeting right now to figure out that impasse over liability and lawsuits. judy: what of the idea of direct deposits to the neediest individual we know that was a feature of

the original covid relief bill that passed earlier this year. lisa: i geto many questions about this. there is no talk of direct paymts by congress. the deal would add a large amount to the bottom line, something republicans are uncomfortable with. in addition, it seems that is sotething president trump w more than anyone, with him having lost the election, it does not lk like a lot of momentum in sign congress f that. judy: stay with us. so much of what congress will prioritize and the new year does come down to control of the u.s. senate. lisa has also been re orting on o senate runoff races of georgia. month in the state today is the voter registration deadline for the elections that will determine the senate majority. ♪ lisa: the nation's immediate future comes down to this, one month in one state. a mad sprint in georgia. democrats need to win both u.s.

senate runoffs in january in order to control the chamber. republicans need to keep their base fed up. pres. trump: at stake in this election is control of the u.s. senate and that rely means control of this country. lisa: president trump, who spoke in valdosta saturday, may not bo on the bbut he is a force in the race. pres. trump: it's rigged. it's a fixed deal.li : this weekend, as he campaigned for the republican senate incumbents, kelly loeffler and david perdue, mr. trump falsely charged again that the state's election, which joe biden won, was illegitimate. pres. trump: you know we won georgia, just so you understand. >> i am worriet it. it's a mixed ssage. lisa: buzz brockway is a republican and former georgia state representative. he believes his party has the edge in both senate races, but the president's message is confusing. >> it's you know, it's hey, i tent you to vote for the republican candi perdue and leffler. but the election was rigged and the machine still

flipped votes and absentee ballots were stolen. i have heard from dozens of people who say, i'm not going to vote. and i hope that that's just the emotion of the moment. orpaul:than emotion, it's a movement. from some trump supporters like lin wood, who, at a rally last ayek, told republicans to home. >> why would you go back and vote in another rigged election, for god's sake? fix it! you gotta fix it! -- you got to fix it before we do it again. lisa: meantime, democrats alsopi aring their underdog hope to the same strategy that they believe won the state for biden -- >> we won this election decisively. lisa: the effort led by stacey abrams to register new voters, especially voters of color who , are growing in georgia. andra gillespie is a political science professor at emory university in atlanta. >> now, blacks make up about 30% of all registered voters in the

state. we have seen the number of proportion of asian-american and hispanic voters double in the state. lisa: gillespie says thisnt t is entirely about base turnout. former presidential hopeful andrew yang has literally moved to the state to help and barack obama has campaigned virtually.> he special election in georgia is going to determine, tely, the course of the biden presidency and whether joe biden ad kamala harris can deliver legislatively all the med -ments they have made. lisa: it is the enthusiasm fight. the circumstances are unlike anything we have seen. we are close to having a absentee ballots applied forn million georgia. that is only about 300,0 fewer

than at this time prior to the november 3rd election. lisa to the trump tornado, add multiple firestorms and attacks surrounding the candidates themselves. incumbent republican senators david perdue and kly loeffler , both former corporate ceo's, have faced headlines about stock trades. loeffler for trades de after a senators' only briefing on the pandemic. an ethics committee found no violations, but the issue has hovered over her. perdue has been scrutinized for thousands of trades he made thpa involved ces his committee directly oversaw. republicans are just as shary on attack. example loeffler's words in a gh, debate last >> my opponent radical liberal , raphael warnock, is a socialist. lisa: to this democrat raphael , warnock, the pastor at historic ebenezer baptist innt atla responded with an ad. and a simple gesture.

ads are part of a massive wave of cash washing over the state. >> it wouldn't ma surprising to people if this ended up being somewhere in the neighborhood of a half a billion dollar race. the fact that so much money is pouring into georgia is evidence of how competitive tse races are. i think if one party had a clear advantage over the other and itm was veryrtable and substantial, we wouldn't see this level of spending. lisa: the intensity will keep rising along with the money , spent and the high profile visits. prebident-elect joe n says he plans to visit georgia soon. among the complex issues here is timing. the georgia runoffs are january 5. the new senate begins january 3. :judy? ju explain how that works and al, remind us what is on the line in terms of america's

future in how these races tu lisa: i cannot stress enough hot every conven i have with any source, be it the coronavirus, and a conversaon, people on or off the hill, comes back to the georgia election. it affects the direction of this uny, and the next round of coronavirus relf, which is one reason nancy pelosi is ok with a smaller deal now. they expect a bigger package and more stimulus next year. it will also affect any chance of climate change legiation, health care, in georgia. judy: all eyes on georgia and they will continue to be until that runoff election takes place. thank you for filling us in on both of these important stories. lisa:ou are welcome. ♪

judy: like most oer states in the country, virginia is seeing hospitalizations.es and and with the vaccine's approval expected soon, the state is set doses by the end o month.million virginia's governor ralph northam is also a physand he joins me now.an thk you for being with us again. tell us, how is virginia doing? go northam: thanks so much for having me. we are seeing upward trend in our positivity rat which we follow closely. it is now over 10%. where it is higher, especially in our southwest. we took aggressive actions prior to thanksgiving to mitigate these numbers. obviously, we had the

thanksgiving surge. we are probably seeing some of thateginning now and are having further discussions on whether we should take further heseures to mitigate we are concerned, ally ourn dis. hospital capacity. for the most part, they are doing well, but in the southwest, we are seeing decreased number of beds and also our staff and that is across virginia. our staff has been doing a wonderful job for 10 months, but they are very tired, fatigued. we need to take that into consideration and make sure we protecthem. we continue to encourage virginians. further most part, they have been doing a good job follo the guidelines, wearing facial protection, washing ourth hands, not ing in large groups. they are anxious awaiting, like all governors, like all

states in virginia, the vaccination. two companies as you know are very close to receiving approval from the fda. we have been told we will have our front line health carecover responders and providers and long-term care facilities, both residents and staff. we know the wille a couple months at least where we need to keep these numbers dow and keep that curve flat. judy: so you are saying the people who will be first in linh fo vaccine once you get it will be frontline health career wo and then individuals facilities, nursing homes. but what about beyond that? when you look at essentia workers, people over 65 years old, that is a lot o how will you make decisions

about who gets the v cine gov. northam: it ist no do going to be supply-dependent. we are looking at we want our children to be back in school safely andsi respy. our food preparers. those people who cannot work virtually from home. we have to make them a top priority. we have three phases and are following the guidelines of the cdc. we want to geto this first phase and supply will allow us to get to other individuals as well. we are confident the supply is there,ha w been prepared for this for months now. i have experience doing this in the past, vaccinations. we are confident that by early mid summer, all virginians will have access to the vaccination, which is encouraging. there is finally a light at the end of this long, dark tunnel. judy: want to ask you about

legislation you've signed several weeks ago, modeled around breonna's law, banning no knock search warrants after the case of breonna taylor, the woman killed by police in her state to pass this law. third how do you see it changing law enforcement in your state? gov. northam: this was a somber day r virginia, but what a tragic day. what a tragic loss for breonna d r family. we had an opportunity to sit with her family and hear their story. we are the third state to have a no knock warrant law. we are the first to sign into law in response to her death. this is important. it is time we do more than just talk about these tragedies.

it is time to take action. that is what we chose to do. i called the general assembly back into session in september. they took up a lot of measures with police reform suc decertification, co-respondings when therental illness, better training for police officers. i made the pointoday, this is not about being anti-, it is pro people. we need to treat people civilly. to be able to sign breonna's law asinto law a good step forward for the commonwealth of virginia. i would hope other states file suit -- follow suit. judy: law enforcement organizations in virginia, are they accepting this, and your other moves to reform policing? gov. northam: we had a listening tourn virginia. the more i learn, the more i can

do. police forces were at the table, as well as community activists, protesters we heard from. ipecially after the trage minneapolis. we all worked on this together and th could not have been more cooperative. i think they would agree, we needed to make changes and thes was one of virginia,nk you so much form of joining us, we appreciate it. gov. northam: thank you so much for hav, judy. ♪ judy: on w year's day, the united kingdom divorced from the whether it is an orderly departure or a so-called hd brexit, remains to be decided. hard brexit would mean no trade deal beten the two, and

economic uncertainty wl beyon the effects of the pandemic. deadlines are known to focus the mind. as our special correspdent tells us from london, in this case, they need to focus on the future. reporter: rex goldsmith always knew severing trade tiesith the european union wasn't going to be clear cut. >> messy old business. reporter: while the waters of the british coast make for some the best fishing in the world -- >> lovely cornish turbot, this. report: contineal europe buys the vast majority of the fish. >> i just can't quite work out why we would want to upset our biggest ever trading ally. before it was just an open door, i don't understand. before it was just an open door, all free-flowing. reporter: even inopis london sh, the majority of the fishmongers' customers are europe. how much access its waters the u.k. allows european fishermen to keep is one of th last snags preventing a free trade deal. but it's not the only one, the e.u. once the u.k.

to agree to what it calls a level playing field. >> there is a real fear amongst some member states that having a large competitor economy immediately offss a potential risk to the e.u. market. reporter: anand menon is the director of the u.k. in a changing europ >> for e.u. leaders, it is very important that non membership looks worse than membership. ure brexitto make doesn't get britain any benefits, because one of the fears is if being out looks, quite attractio knows who might be next. reporter: meanwhile, potions on both sides have been hardening. >> while an agreement is preferable, we are prepareto leave, if we c't compromises. reporter:he british government meanwhile says it has the right to te control of its economy, which includes control of its waterss ld borders. wednesday, the u.k. parliament is scheduled to debate a bill, reintroducing a hard border between the republic of ireland, part and northern ireland, which of the european union, .k part

of the. that could threaten the 1998 brought an end to des ofhich violence between catholics and protestants in northern irelandr ident-elect biden has made clear that deal cannot quoteca "become alty of brexit." in a last-minute concession before talks with ursula von der leyen, the president of the european commision, the br prime minister boris johnson said he'll remove any parts ofth the legislatioat break the law if the two sides agree a deal. economically speaking, brexit was always going to come with some pain. sacrifice brexiteers said, for a shorterm gain -- long-term gain. then came covid-19. stores in the u.k. only opened last week after a nth-long nationwide lockdown, the second this yeag still reelinom its steepest contraction in three centuries the british economy is coming , back to life. a hard brexit will not help. >> it's a double whammy of bad

news for the u.k. in terms of brexit, that will be a multi-year events. we're not going to know how much damage that'll do or what theop rtunities on the other side might look like for many years to come. reporter: the greatest danger of the e.u. and u.k. failing to agrea deal may be diplomatic. >> in the context of a new american administration committed on rebuilding multilateralism, having two of your closest allies at loggerheads, unable to sit down at the table because we'c're blaming ther for real economic damage, could damage not just the u.k. and the e.u.,r but thder west as well. reporter: some holiday shoppers said they expect relatr ns with theieuropean counterparts will soon look a little like the weather. >> it will be frosty. you can only change things if you are incited. we have destroyed everything and forur children. their worlds have become small. reporter: we still don't know

what is coming next. timefos running out. the pbs newshour, i'm ryan chilcote in london. ♪ judy: when supreme court justices decide cases, they often rely on a document from the 18th century, the u.s. constitution. as john yang reports, todaarthey a case about a collection of art dating back to the th century. the report is part of our canvas. arts and culture sies, ♪ john: for musician jed leib, it's a family story that cters around a game of strategy. >> for me, the metaphor for my grandfather's story and mine is chess. john: as a young boy, he learned

the game from his german-borner jewi grandfaart dealer saemy rosenberg. >> the lesson was to always play to win, but to play fair and to think three moves ahead. john: rosenberg, who died in 1971, was a decorated world war i german army officer. the journey, i was told, began with my grandfather playing chess against an officer who eventually became a member t nazi party. the officer one day told my grandfather to take a vacaon and my grandfather knew exactly what that meant. he lefhis home and his gallery and his art and he took my mother and grandmother and fled to holland. john: rosenberg and two other jewish art dealers owned the guelph treasure, 82 piecesf medieval religious art that date back to the 11th century.

1935, 42 of the pieces were sold to agents of hermann ering, hitler's second i command. after inflation, today the ceabout the dealers' dants $20 million. say the sale was coerced. >>as goeringuilding, you know, a palace museum for hitler, to impress him and all of the art dealers and all of thshbusinessmen that were je at the time were traumatized and were persecuted. it isle inconceivab that any fair transaction could have transpired during this period of time. john: today, those pieces are on exhibit in a berlin mu their estimatedurrent value, at least a quarter of a more billion dollars, than 12 times the value of the sale. >> each artwork which was produced before 1945 and came into a museum collection after

1933, is suspicious. john: dr. hermann parzinger is president of the prussian culturaleritage foundation. >> we have so many facts to prove it was not a forced sale because the artworks were not even in germany. amsterdam when theiations started. then t purchase price was fair and appropriate. this was a rumor that it was given as a birthday gift from goehring to hitler. john: over the lastwo decades, the foundation has investigated more than 50 claims of forced sales from the nazi-era. >> the facts tell, most of the cases, a clear story that the cases have been looted in the nazi period. in this case, of the guelph different story ths casea has no merits. john: today, the case was before the u.s. supreme court. the question whose courts should , settle the dispute, america's

or gerny's? the dealers' descendants argue u.s. law gives their attorney, u.s. courts jurisdiction. their attorney, nicholas >> -- nicholas o'donnell. >> the nazi gornment set out explicitly to destroy the german jewish people by taking their property and congress has specifically identified thena s looting of art from the jewish people as genocidal. john: but the u.s. government says american courts should defer to german authorities. chief justice john roberts pressed deputy solicitor general edwin kneedler on that point. >> that is the main policy as i ragather, of the united states is simply to enc other countries to provide mechanisms for compensations,nd if that fahen that's just too bad? >> that is right. the relationship between a state d its own nationals was a that other nations had right to complain about. john: lieber finds that hard to. swal >> i don't believe howe could possibly receive a fair trial any more than my grandfather could ha made a fair deal in

1935 with hermann goering. john: analysts say the court has trd to make it harder for cases like this to be heard in the united states. >> if we open our doors to their aims, they may open thei doors to our claims ar well. john:a coyle is chief washington correspondent for the national law journal. >> and justice breyer then was saying, well, you knowwe'ves had some bad a our future, in our past and what if claims were brought involving the internment of the japanese? claims forsleparations for ery? would they allow those claims to be heard by foreign judges in foreign courts? john: leiber's fought to right what he sees as an 85-year-old wrong for more than a decade. ase this whrocess has been going on have you been thinking , of your grandfather moving chess pieces around the board? >> you nailed it.

john: playing fair, thinking to win.oves ahead, and playin for the pbs newshour, im jn yang. ♪ judy: tonight we take a look at some of the challenges many formerly incarcerated men and women face as they reenter society. the coronavirus pandemic has upended the lives of all americans, but it's been especially hard on individuals known as returning citizens. shlliam brangham tells the story of one man in waington, d.c. who is trying to beat the odds. it is the first in a serie wof reports thk called, "searching for justice." reporter: after 23 years behinde bars, this wasoment when michael plummer became a free

ma >> it is a great feeling. i got released on february 10th of this year, and it is lnte stepping ia different world. reporter: plumm is now 40, he was locked up in 1997 for a murder he committed when he was 16. growing up in a violent neighborhood in washingt, d.c. plummer says his story was , sadly, pretty common. >> a lot of my friends and family members was killed.nd in those who did went to jail, you know, they did 10 yes, they did 15, 20 years. and some of them are still serving life sentences. my mother, she fell victim to, using drugs and so forth. my dad went to prison for a long time. i moved around from family members to family members. sometimes i was homeless or weke live in helters and stuff like that. when i started getting oer, like sixth or seventh grade, that is when i had my first brush with the law. that's when i got into the streets and initlly it's for

like, i need shoes, i need food. but then you actually do become a product of your envnts. john: plummer recently took me ba to his old d.c. neighborhood, just a mile from the u.s. capitol, and now transformed by gentrification. where i operated.he street we would sell cocaine or weed or whatever else we had. reporter: as a kid, he joined a small neighborhood gang known as a crew and it became like one night when his crew clashed with a different crew plummer , shot and killed a different teenager. >> i wish i could have gone a million times back and had a different ouome. john: --reporter: he received a 30 year to life sentence for >>that shooting. it was my life.

i definitely made a bad decision. reporter: during more than twenty years in prison, plummer says he began to slowly rn his life around. he got his ged, did job training programs, earned a college diploma and converted to islam. >> i grew up in prison and growing up in prison -- reporter: that is how you think of it? >> sure. some people grow up in orphanages. some people grow up in society. i was actually raised in prison. i spent my time wisely, despite my being in that predicament. reporter: plummer said he wanted to prove to his daughter, who was born when he was just 15, that he had changed as a man. >> the things i had did, i reflected upon and in retrospect, it was hideous. it hurt my heart. i wanted to show my daughter that just because a person have -- has traveled down a path and made a mistake, this mistake

can't label them forever. there is room for redemption. no wrong can't be corrected. i want to coect that. reporter: plummer was eventually released thanks to a washington, d.c. law allowing judges to free certain longtime priners whose imes were committed when they were juveniles. more than 50 men have now been released sin 2018. however, his new freedom brought new challenges. the pandemic hit just weeks after his release, and all the places that could help him get back to some semblance of normal life were closed. >> you have to get a birth certificate, a social security guard. i was gone for 23 years and both parents passed away, so those documents were lost. i. had to go get them aga reporter: he had no credit history, no credit cards, never applied for a loan of any kind. >> that is the first thing they ask for, your credit. how long he you been employed? these things are nightmares for me when i wanse to purc a vehicle or get an apartment.

it is horrifying. they want to check your credit score and so forth. not knowing that coming out is a disadvantage. reporter: plummer did find housing with his brother. and with the help of his lawyer, he was able to re-establish his identification. >> to own these documents myself, a driver's license, to get a socialecurity card to get a bank account, i was overjoyed. i was integrating myself into society, slowly but surely. i felt le a citizen again. reporter: michael plummer is, in many ways, a best-case scenario. advantage of progre prisontook offered, but not all prisons offer those. when he got out, he had family to helpe. him find a ho but formerly incarcerated inviduals are 10 times more likely to be homeless and five times more likely to be unemployed. if you don't have a job or a house, it is hard to lead a normal life. that is why more than four in t

en cycle back to a life of crime. >>it i am a returneden. reporter: but now, plummer is trying to change that for the >> i don't want you all to have to do 23 years in prison or life in prison. that can stop right no reporter: he got a full time job at a non-profit that worksith young people in custody, within d.c.'s department of youth rehabilitation services. manager who pushedlummerram to get this job. >> when people come before us to be interviewed for these type of roles my heart is into believing , and knowing that people can outgrow certain behaviors. we're willing to give you a chance, just like soone gave me one. reporter: brown spent 24 years in prison himself for selling crack cocaine. he says people like plummer, who

they call credible messengers, ngve a legitimacy with y people, because of their own backgrounds. >> he panned out to be exactlyo what we neededd to our initiative. reporter: on many days, plummer is back inside the city's juvenile detention facilities. >>ghou have to do what is rit. reporter: he offers advice, shoots hoops. sometimes he even leads prayers for those interested. >> when i was youngnt, i down the path i went down. reporter: but he is also here to his own story. when you are meeting a young person for the might be facing a long time behind bars, what is that conversation lik initially? how do you approach somebody? >> you tell them what you have been throu. when you say you spent 23 years in prison,hey cannot believe it. how old do you think i am? when i tell them i a went in17 and did not come out until ias

,t is starting tock cli that this could maybe be them. reporter: officls asked us not to use these young people toss names or discuss their crimes, but they allow us to say why they trust a person like michael plummer. a lot of people like mr. plummer giving you tools you need >> he has been through what we have, knows what is going on. at the end of the day, someone who does not know what you have going ahead of you, they might not know what advice you really need. porter: plummer also meets with formerly incarcerated i adults, liac carey. the 24 year-old was released from prison late last year, but has struggled to find steady work. >> from selling drugs getting a real job, the money is different. that is a hard tnsition.

chael helped me. he sent me job applications. he even helped me with documents, getting my id. reporter: now nine months after his release, he is rebuildingsh relati with his daughter. he recently got married to a woman he's known since he was a teenager. >> c upon ing home, we got back inta c with each other. i asked her out for a date again. she wanted to put the chain on my leg and locking me down. we got married. we areng newlyweds, enjo each other. reporter: he's leading a life plummer says he never could've never imagined 23 years ago. for the s newshour i'm william brangham in washington, d.c. ♪

judy: with every week, we get a tter picture of president-elect biden's team. first on national security, then on the enomy and this week, on health care. amna nawaz is here to consider his picks. amna: judy, the biden health team will enter the white house he virus surges nationwi and the vaccine is still months away. as we reported earlier, the team includes doctors anthony facui d rochelle walensky, wit b xavierra leading hhs. also on the team, dr. vivek murthy as surgeon general,ov jeff zients as czar, natalie quillian as his deputydi cotor, and dr. marcella nunez-smith to lead a task force on health disparities. he to analyzere the politics behind the nominations are amy , walter of the cook political report and host of public radio's "politics with amy walter." and errin ines of the 19th news.

tamara keith is away. good to see you and thenks for bein. we know the biden team will face the pandemic response and now we know their team. when you look at these pix at this time, what did they say to you? amy: y have important experience. keeping dr. thony fauci, who has become the face of the response to the pandemic, very trusted, certainly on themo atic side. for republicans, not as much, but still a trusted ice. dr. murthy, who was in the obama administration, also has deep experience handling this, so lot of experience on the table. the hhs designee, the attorney general, javier becerra, does not come from a traditional public health backgrounds. he was the attorney general and came from the house of representatives whe served

for many years. pic, but is someone who spent a lot of time as attorney general defending the affordable care act, and courts. and, he is somebodyo ho will havet the ground running, someone who understands how system work, how the system of government in washington and california, putting int place not just policie of the health and human services or what the white house would like to put forward in terms opolicy, but being able to put the systems in place to deliver vaccines, that will take up the majority of the time for hhs. being able to do that smartly, safely and in a very transparent way. amna: that is a perfect segue to the question i want to put to errin, which is that, errin, there's anothethrough line on this team, and that relates to obamacare, or the affordable care act. jeff zients, who will be the covid czar, led the charge to fix healthcare.gov after the aca

rollout. becerr as california attorney general, has been leading the legal fight to protect the aca, as republicans work to dismantle it. does all of this say to you that the aca appears to be sort of a central tenet when it to the biden pandemic response? errin: i think that you can't talk about the pandemic and its relationship to our health care system without talking about its relationship to our health care system. from joe biden's perspective, even in the primary before we got to the coronavirus pandemic, building on the rk that the obama/biden administration had done around health care was a campaign priority for him. i think that it'gogoing to be a rning priority, particularly because of the systemic inequali around the health care system that exposed, at least in the biden campaign andn transieam's mind, the need for the affordable care act to be strengthened and expanded.

and so i do think that is also going to depend largely on t future of the senate, which we know is in the balance right now in my home stateruf georgia. thoffs there could decide what happens there and also could factor into what happens to the future of the affordable care act, even as the challenges persist with regard to that landmark legislation. amna: errin, when you look at some of the keroles that have yet to be filled, we have yet to see names for some top administration posts. attorney general among them, seetary of defense, althou president-elect biden said today we should hear those names bye d of the week there's a , number of other cabinet-level positions as yet to be filled. have been names, it is easy to see it is a much more diverse makeup than the cuent administration, for sure, many more women, many more people of color, some firsts potentially there with neera tanden omb

and linda thomas-greenfield at the u.n. yet still there is a very public ttle unfolding for people who are calling for more diversity at the very top ranks. what do -- whato you make of that and what is riding on those selections? errin: for the groups raising these concerns, there's a lot riding on it. we know that a month out from the election, joe biden has begun to name soni of these heration nominations and other posts, but are groups i am hearing from black , and brown lawmakers and as those positions are filled, and there become less open seats left that diversity remains a , priority. they are pushing this transition team to hear their concerns that soone with their lived experience be put in these roles, so that, really, they have a seat at the table, not

just for symbolism, but also f substance, in terms of weighing in on the governing and the policy. you take that health care announcement today, for example, so my women and people of color in that group alone, and also some pioneers. the transition team understands women, people of color are beina disproportly affected by this pandemic. joe bin said one of the four crises he faces coming into office is racial inequality. reflected in his governinghat priorities with the people that he chooses, i think is something encies want to hold him accountable for. you havegr civil rightps meeting with him tomorrow. you have the congressional hispanic caucus meeting it with him last week. and so these are folks that are getting an audience with this transition team, and hoping that their concerns are heard. amna: amy, i wot t turn to

news from today. as we speak president trump's , legal campaign to continue to challenge the election results does continue. in the months since the election, the associated press have launched chalg50 cases they results, about 30 have been rejected or dropped. there are a dozen waiting action. as errin mentioned earlier, in georgia in january.g does all o , election results, calling into question election integrity, does that have aimpact on georgia? y: you would think. when you are trying to get your voters out to show up just a couple days after the new year, by continuing to rail againstem the sysaying that it was rigged, questioning whether the actual votg systems themselves are flipping votes, that doesn't seem like a good stregy. at the same time, i think where trump has been successful as a candidate and as a political figure is by keeping people outraged at all times, keeping his base fired up.

and one way to do that is, as he did this weend at his rally, is to say, ty may have stolen it frome, which of course, we all know is not true. thereth is no evidenc this election was rigged or that these voting machines were working improperly. what he is sayin is, don't let them take the senate away from you, too. don't let this be the last gasp here, me. losing georg make sure you get out and get your vote heard. in that sense, it keeps his base much more motivated than, say, for demoats, where the question is not so much keeping the senate, is obviously part of their rallying cry, but it's not as, say, intense or as powerful as, let's get rid of donald trump. thatge has been the existential question for democrats for the last four years. now that he is gone, is that enough let's keep t senate, , les make sure his agenda gets enacted, enough to keep the momentum going?

amna: as we know, those two key races will determine control of the senate. they are weeks away. that is politics monday. myerrin haines andalter, thanks to you both. amy: thank you, amna. errin:be good tith you. ♪ judy: before we go tonight, we want to take h a moment or one of our own. glenda bates has worked wi washington's public television station, weta and "newshour," and from t beginning she has played a critical role getting this on thema air. a stagger, she has made sure i anduruests a in the right place at the right time. she has done it all with her signature grace and kindness. she begins her retirement today,

and we all wish you the veryis best on ew adventure and want to congratulate you on a remarkable career and thank you for everything you have done. miss you. that is the "newshour" for tonight. i am judy woodruff. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you, please stay safe, and we will see you soon. >> major funding for the "pbs newshour" has been provided by -- >> architect,, bee keeper, mentor. a raymondjames a financial advisor helps you tailor your financial plan. >> consumer cellular. johnson & johnson. bnsf railway. the candide du -- fund.

restoring leaders and ideas. ♪ >> the alfred p. sloanew foundation, driven by the g promise d ideas. >> supported by the john d. and tetherine t. macarthur foundation, comm to the old ding a more peaceful and just world. and with the ongoing support of these institutions -- this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcastingnd by contributions to your pbs station from viewers likyou. thank you.

♪ >> ts is pbs newshour west from weta studios in washington and from our bureau at the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. ♪ ♪ >> you are watching s. [captioning performed by the

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♪ ♪ ♪ -today on "cook's country," christie and julia make a show-stopping slow-roasted fresh ham. reveals his top pick for inexpensive stand mixers. anbryan makes bridget regional specialty -- gooey butter cake bars. that's all rere on "cook's country."