♪ judy: good evening, i'm judy woodruff. on "the newshour" tonight, a tense moment. extraordinary security measures are put in place amid nationwide threats of violence as the presidential transfer of power approaches. then, the biden agenda. we discuss the president elect's plan to control covid and provide economic relief with one of his top advisors. plus, the longest war. we report from afghanistan on the potential impact of the drawdown of u.s. troops. and it's friday. david brooks and jonathan consider the second impeachment of president trump and the tense atmosphere in washington ahead of the inauguration.

all that and more on tonight's "pbs newshour." ♪ announcer: major funding for the "pbs newshour" has been provided by -- ♪ >> moving our economy for 1 0ers -- 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects all the. >> come sunal -- consumer cellular.

financial services firm raymond james. johnson and johnson. >> the john s. and james l. knight foundation, fostering informed and engaged communities, more at kf.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institution too the the -- institutions. and friends of "the newshour." ♪ this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contribution to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. judy: the nation enters this weekend on edge about the coming presidential inauguration. investigators are still delving into the trauma that shook washington on january 6.

as authorities brace for what is yet to come. nick begins our coverage. reporter: it is a city in a state of emergency, a capitol heavily guarded and on edge. natural guard troops are arriving in an unprecedented show of force as crews install fences ahead of next week's inauguration. washington, d.c. mayor murriel bowser. >> i think that our entire country has to deal with how our intelligence apparatus, security apparatus at every level deal with a very real and present threat to our nation. reporter: minorities say they've approved 25,000 national guard troops to patrol the district. military, congressional, federal and local officials agreed on the request in response to the

insurrection last week that killed five and injured others. speaker nancy pelosi says she's sure it will not be brushed aside. >> we have to have more secity than the intelligence might warrant -- warrant. i think in this case redundancy might be necessary. >> meanwhile, states are also bolstering security. police, national guard and fencing are going up in state capitols from new mexico to michigan. >> the number of people that will be presents over the course of the next seven to eight days particularly and then from a state police perspective all the way through the -- at least through mid february will be significantly more than we've seen in the past. >> more significant than before trump supporters stormed the u.s. capitol. freshman watchdogs are now investigating the failureo protect congress. and authorities today revealed

more details of the siege's organization and objective. an f.b.i. official said on a call today more than 300 suspects may be eached by the end of the day and 100 are already in custody. >> if this was a football game, we'd still be in the first quarter so let this be a reminder. the full force of the f.b.i. is investigating the heinous acts we saw last week and we'll leave no stone unturned. reporter: the justice department said there was no evidence of plots to kidnap or kim lawmakers by a man seen storming the capitol in horns and face paint said the objective was to athat is -- assassinate officials. in danger was president mike pence. despite rioters threatening him by name. also under scrutiny, former and

current military police. the associated press found out at least 31 took part. and a current member of the virginia national guard, jacob fracker and a fellow police officer were arrested and charged in participating with the riots. michael sherwin -- >> we don't care what your profession is, who you are or are affiliated with, if you are found to have taken part in cross-examine activity, we will find you and i will be arrested. judy: when president elect joe biden tarks target -- takes charge next week he'll also be facing the enormous problem of the coronavirus. yesterday he put forth a plan. his $1. trillion plan includes $1,400 in additional direct payments to taxpayers.

$400 per week in unemployment benefits through september. $400 billion to help fight covid-19 and reopen schools and $440 billion in aid for states, cities and small businesses. last night he spoke about the urgent need for the federal government to help stemfurment economic fallout from the crisis. >> i know what i just described does not come cheaply but failure to do so will cost us dearly. the consensus among leading economists is we simply cannot afford not to do what i'm proposing. if we invest now boldly, smartly and with unwavering focus on american workers and families, we will strengthen our economy, reduce inquick -- inequity and put our nation's long-term fgses on the most sustainable court cower course. judy: we want to begin looking at president-elect biden's plan.

we turn to heather because ofa, appointed by him to be a member of the white house counsel of economic advisors. welcome bang to the news hours -- newshour. this is a lot of money on top of the trillions dished out by the federal government last year. why is so much money necessary? >> judy, thank you so much for the question. let's instead of back and look at the situation that we're in. we continue to have an economy that is in crisis because of this pandemic and while we've taken serious steps, the pandemic still rages and millions of people are out of work as a result. so the packa that the president elect talked about last night focuses first and foremost on containing the virus, doing the things that we need to do to get schools to reopen safely, to make sure that the vaccine is distributed equitably and all those things, while making sure that families

and businesses and comminalts all across the country have the support they need to weaer in crisis and come out on the other side just as strong if not stronger. so we need to continue to help folks through this crisis and that is why we have this package in front of us today. judy: i'm sure you know, heather, that a number of republicans and even some democrats, like joe manchin of west virginia in the senate are saying it's all well and good but it's money that is not targeted enough, the additional $1,400 in direct parents -- payments and it is asking the government to go even deeper in debt. what happens if congress cuts back on this proposal, doesn't give you as much as you're saying is necessarily. frankly, congress cuts back on what president obama wanted in 2009 and you were part of that

administration. >> right now the risks of doing too little are far greater than the risk of doing too much and that's one of the lessons that we take from the last decade, that in this moment of crisis, we need to make sure that we keep the economy running. the cost of inaction will be greater than the debt that we will incur as a result of taking actions today. you think of the millions of people who are out of work, the extent to which they don't have income through this period of unemployment, in is no fault of their own, because of the pandemic. that is then leading to businesses all across our economy who aren't seeing customers and so by helping them by helping the small businesses stay afloat, we're making sure that our economy is on a stronger footing going forward so i think that looking back over the past decade is a smart and important thing to do and so many economists have and the consensus i think at that point is doing too little

suspect greater risk. judy: we were seeing more and more economists as they look ahead to this year say, yes, the first part of the year is going to be really tough but they're forecasting that if by the middle of the year more people get vaccination named we could end up with more than 4% growth overall in this year, 2021. do you share that outlook? >> well, i've been spending a lot of time listening to the health experts and i know that, just like 2020 where we are starting 2021 is a place of great uncertainty about what's to come. we know that we had this new strain of the virus that's more contagious and while we have the vaccines, the distribution rollout has been too slow so far so we need to make sure we're taking steps now to ensure that aid is available, that we're supporting communities, local government, small businesses so that hopefully we do get to that

stronger economy in the latter half of the year, that we do put in the timand the investment to make sure everybody gets that vaccine, that we're making schools reopen, so that weet there but the big uncertainty now is will we be able to get to that higher growth place and that really requires that we take action now. judy: you've written and spoken a great deal about the need to not only address economic growth but also to address the pronounced and ongoing economic inequality in this country. how will the biden administration do that at a time when there are so many stresses around us? >> i'm so glad you asked that question, judy. one of the things we saw in 2020 is that it showed us what inequality looks like. it showed us how a pandemic was hardest hit among the lowest income families.

workers of color, families of color. it showed us where our vulnerabilities were and by not attending to that it made our entire society and economy weaker. as we look forward, this package, this american rescue plan really is a downpayment on addressing economic inequality and addressing systemic racial injustices in our economy. as you look at each piece of the package, they are targeted at making sure that those who need the most help get the most assistance. scholars at columbia university have just come out with some estimates that this package in year will cut child poverty in half and it will reduce poverty among black families by 1/3. so the package that the president-elect talked about last night really a downpayment on addressing some o these

economically important inqualities. judy: and finally, what is it going to take in the way of higher tax, higher rev news nrled to pay for some of these things that you've been describing? what income level is going to be hit and what kind of tax? >> well, that is certainly a very important question. so for right now, we can afford to spend in package through deficit financing but you're right, moving forward we're going to have to think about the fiscal situation. during the campaign the president-elect outline a whole series of tax increases focused primarily on those at the very top. he committed to not raising taxes to those not making less than $400,000 during the campaign and making sure that we fix the tax system and make it more fair while at the same time encouraging domestic production, encouraging businesses to produce here at home and to making sure those workers are

fairly paid. that's not tonight's problem but certainly something we'll be talking about in the weeks and months to come. judy: and we look forward to having those conversations with you and asking those questions. incoming member -- on what will be president biden's economic counsel of advisors. thank you very much. >> thank you. ♪ stephanie: i'm stephanie sy with newshour west. we'll return to judy woodruff and the full show after these headlines. cole covid -- covid-19 has now left more than two million people did dead worldwide. the u.s. has the highest death toll at 390,000. meanwhile, the c.d.c. foirkt that the coifed variant first seen in britain may become predominant in the u.s. by march. word from the white house is

that president trump will demaurt washington on the morning of the inauguration and he may take part at a farewell ceremony at joint base andrews before flyin to florida. mr. trump will break wh long-standing tradition in skipping the inauguration of his successor. another green light for the mining project in the waning days of the trump presidency. the bureau of land middleweights today gave final aapproval to a lithium plant in northern nevada which had been opposed by farmer and conservationists. lithium, producinged by the packer pass mine could be used from erything will from laptops to electric batteries. the timing of president trump's impeachment trial remains undecided. the speaker of the house, nancy pelosi klined to say when she will send the articles of

impeachment to the senate. for now they're accusing the president of inciting insurrection. senate majority leader mitch mcconnell has said the trial will begin no earlier than january 19 and could commence on inauguration day itself. in north korea, a major military parade in prong i don't think showcased new in bens overnight. submarine launched ballistic mitchells and others rolled by as kim looked on. nowlingses of migrants in honduras have begun to head north in the year's first caravan destinned if. united states. some blamed grinding poverty that was made even worse by two powerful hurricanes that's -- last year. >> we're emigrated from the country because we've lost everything in the country and we're going to ask for help from anyone who will take us in.

stephanie: in gaut mala and mexico nowlingses of soldiers and police are set to block the mike grant' -- migrants' way. the national rifle association has filed for bankruptcy. they will move from new york to texas. new york has pseudothe n.r.a., accusing leaders of diverting millions for their own use. still to come, extraordinary security measures are multiin place amid nation withe threats of violence. the covid-19 vaccine continues to struggle. we report on the drawdown of u.s. troops in afghanistan and much more. announcer: this is the pbs newshour. from weta studios in washington, and in the west from the walter

cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. judy: returning now to one of our top stories, the unprecedented show of military force to defend the peaceful transfer of power and it's not just hear in washington. nick schiff religion has more. >> the f.b.i. says there are threats to all 50 state capitols this weekend when federal authorities warn there could be armed protests. in pennsylvania there will be 450 national guard protecting the capitol in harrisburg. the lieutenant governor is john feferan a he joins me -- me now. welcome to the program. what's the threat that pennsylvania failingses and what are you doing to protect your capitol? >> the threat isn't necessarily a specific one and the governor happened taken the preemptive steps to close the capitol complex all next week so if they

do have a protest -- as long as it's peaceful, that's, of course, their constitutionally protected rights to do so and in the event that it does get out of hand, which i don't expect that it would, there is a robust presence there that would de deter anything along those linings. when i was just at the capitol this past tuesday, we had armed guards with automatic weapons and there's a much different vibe and energy than there was just one week ago when i was there when it was a very casual, laidback atmosphere, even though there are were a couple of hundred angry protesters there on the front steps. >> are you getting enough freshman help? >> i can't speak to tha specifically but this is an issue that has been the number one priority for the governor and the capitol police department in harrisburg and they've taken every preventive

step to make sure there are no exposed vulnerabilities, that the complex has shut down and i don't anticipates there's going to be anythin that happened on the order of washington last week especially since no one's there and the entire complex is closed this coming week. >> you said there's no specific threat. the f.b.i. a few months ago labeled pittsburgh a hub for white sprimecy, for extremist groups. is that a particular concern for you going forward? >> you have to consider every angle. i mean, last wednesday in washington changed everything. this idea that you would have a mob take over the entire capitol complex was unheard of, unprecedentialed. no one thought that and that's why there wasn't the kind of security there because no one believed that was possible. after, that everything is possible and there is an entire

new level of scrutiny and possibility that is being considered to make sure that there is a peaceful transfer of power and no kinds of insurgency and certainly in harrisburg and i suspects all of pennsylvania as well. the national guard and the governor's office is in close contacts with all other law enforcement agents sis and as i said, there isn't a specific plots in mind that i'm aware of but nevertheless, everyone is on high alert just to make sure that everything goes smoothly and whatever protests there are will a peaceably, constitutionally guaranteed rights to protest. >> you say anything is possible. i'm wondering if you could help us understand this moment we're in this u.s. history. pennsylvania, of course, one of the original colonies. it ratified the constitution in 1787 and here we are 23 years later talking about

insurrection. where are we today as a country? >> your guess is as good as mine. i watched nose events on the television where they took over the capitol much like everybody else did. it felts very 9/11, very surreal but what we have to remember on the upside is that the guard rails held in america and pennsylvania was the targets of more smears and lies regarding our electoral security than any other state and at the end of the day we had three snadgeses of voter fraud out over -- of over seven million ballots cast and the president's own justice department just signed off on the fact and said there wasn't any fraud or any activity that would closely resemble that in pennsylvania. we're in aner rey that-year -- an era that we're not able to take the peaceful transfer of power to granted.

and that needs to change. we can never look at that again and we also have to confronts in ideas that, when you are maliciously lying and creating and mo meanting chaos that that -- fomenting chaos, that can't be performed. and this idea of slapping a warning on these kind of things, that opportunity include the fact that, but for this idea that this election was stolen and rigged and they're trying to steal this country from you -- i mean, there's a straight line from those kind of incendiary statements, banging repeatedly, being tweeted, retweeled and repeated for two months straight and it all culminated in what happened in washington, d.c. there's a lot that has to be considered so this is never, ever part of the american story again and we can get back to one of the pillars of our democracy and that is the peaceful transfer o power.

>> john fetterman is the lue tents governor of pennsylvania. thank you very much. >> thank you for having me. >> judy? judy: and now, nick, let's turn to another story that you've been reportsing on today. last nights, you described a series of policy changes that were announced at the very end of the trump administration. tell us what the biden transition team is saying to you in response. >> yeah, judy, many administrations rush through policies at the last minutes, especially when there's a change of party and the administration has rushed through policies on yemen, cuba, taiwan and iran. so far the biden administration had been shying away from criticizing individual policies but that changed today. a biden transition official in an interview told me, "we will manage this but if it does start at some point to feel like

sabotage -- the official singled out the designation of the group in yemen over the objection of humanitarian groups, who say that designation will make the world's worst humanitarian incidences even worse. an official told me most of yemen is at risk of staffer vacation so that mike pompeo can field his own domestic ambitions in response, a senior official told me "deer -- we're designateding them as terrorists because they're terrorists. they are no one else are responsible for the prooks we are facing. even humanitarian groups today are calling for that designation to be rescinded. judy: in brief, what respect

main foreign policy challenges that the biden administration will face from the very begin sflg >> the challenges are wild spread and the plans on day one for the biden team in terms of foreign policy, rejoining the world health organization, rejoining the paris acords and rescindsing consecutive -- consecutive orders that plan travelers from muslim countries. he'll have to figure out how to treat the treaty that has to do with american and foreign weapons. and the dealing with iran. judy: nick, a lot on your placement. thank you. ♪ judy: as we reported, one key

piece of president-elect biden's plan to fight covid is to make major changes to how vaccines are distributed around the country. it comes as the "washington post" reported that the vaccine reserve the trump administration had just promised to still ship to states does not actually exist right now. several governors were furious, calling the administration's prior statements "lies and deception on a national scale." we look at what mr. biden homes to do. >> judy, the president-elect outlined these steps and more. allow more people to get the vaccine, including those 65 and older. deploy fema to set up thousands of communities-based vaccine centers in stadiums, school gyms and communities centers. get national farm sip campaigns involved as quickly as possible and use the defense production act to make more vaccine-related supplies. it's worth noting that so far

only about 1/3 of the 30 million vaccine doses entsiastic distributed have actually ended up in people's arms. joining me now is the co-director for the center of vaccine development as texas children's hospital and he's also the dean of the national school of tropical medicine at baylor college of medicine. greats to have you back on "the newshour." before w get to the biden plan and vaccinings, i wonder if you could just give us a snapshot of the pandemic right now. i know people are frustrated and tired about this but thousands of midwesterners are still dying every single day. >> yeah, that's absolutely right. we're in a dire public health crisis right now, bordering on a homeland security crisis because of the depths and breadth of this epidemic now. right now covid-19 is the leading cause of depths in the united states on a daily basis. it's been in way for about at

least the last month, maybe six weeks. we're looking at 4,000 deaths per day so the number is going to get toround 400,000 deaths per day by around the time of the inauguration, which is an important benchmark. that's the number of american g.i.'s who sacrificed their lives in world war ii so we're looking at something long that scale and we're continuing ahead too 500,000 deaths so there is a humanitarian tragedy to say the least and 2,000 to 300,000 confirmed cases a day. we're looking at a million new cases a day and without any covid-19 national program in place for 2020. we've squandered every opportunity to do that. we've miss it would virus coming in from europe. back last spring we never got diagnostic testing up to spring. we failed to stop that southern surge in the summer, the fall,

surge in the melfts so now our backs are against the wall. all we have left is to vaccination name the american people and now we've learned that's not in place now so this is absolutely critical what the biden administration is doing. our last home is to vaccinate our way out of this. >> so many challenges ahead. as i mentioned, incoming president announced more of his plans today. it sounds very similar to a plan that you laid out in the "washington post." can you briefly explain what you believe the biden administration needs to do need immediately to make sure as many vaccines are as available as possible? >> absolutely. i laid out a four-part plan in the "washington post" it and looks quithes similar to what the biden administration is proposing. first of all, we don't have an adequate infrastructure or vaccinating lots of adults. we have to vaccinate 240 million adults, i estimate to interrupt

virus transmission by august. that means two million americans every day. we're not going to do that with the hospital and pharmacy chains alone. they're doing a good job. the pharmacies are doing all they can and most adults gets their vaccine through pharmacies often times but it won't be enough. we're still going to have to add additional vaccinations00. large put threw centers. huge undertaking. two million americans every day that's 10,000 to 50,000 americans per day in the large metro areas. we're not even close to that. that's a major components of the biden plan. we're also going to have to streamline guidelines because they're a bit too fussy. we've learned in 2020 that our health system cannot do complicated things. we have to kee it extremely simple and the guidelines i think were well-intended and if you had a functioning system in

place we could probably operational those but not in this circles and we're going to have to streamline that. the third ise don't have enough vaccine. the technology looks really greats but it's still a young technology and not robust enough to scale it to the level that we need. we're not going to be able to do this with mrna vaccinings alone. we need the two voikings from j and j. as tra zen . the novid vaccine. we have one we're scaling up to a billion doses. we have to ramp those up and lastly, we have no communication plan. we've not conveyed any of this information to the american people ofer when they're going to have to get boosted with a third dose or what the durability of protection is. how we're going to manage all of these issues and, of course, we

have a pretty aggressive anti-vaccine movements we have to counter so a lot of work ahead. >> a lot of work indeed. always good to hear your counsel. thank you for being here. >> thank you so much for having me. ♪ judy: the defense department announced today that the united states, which once had over 100,000 troops in afghanistan, now has 2,500 service personnel remaining. completing a goal president trump had set. it is the lowest number of american troops in afghanistan since 2001. when the u.s. first invaded. here's our correspondent. >> that's right, judy. these reduced force levels come as the peace talks are stalled. we go to jane ferguson in cab you will. welcome back and it's -- cab

bell. tell us what these reduced force levels mean on the situation on the ground? >> it really sends a strong message on the ground to the afghan forces and government and people here that the american government intends to stick to that february, 2020 deal that the trump administration signed with the taliban and that's zilets, as you've mentioned, increased violence, the attacks on the afghan fors by the taliban and stalled talks so while that contexts and bloody fighting continues here, there is, of course, a complete recommitment to that deal and timeline to draw down the troops so it actually ups the pressure here and a lot of the fear of what's going to happen if the americans fully, fully complilt to that deal and really do pull out completely by the end of april. >> so there is the seeing influence of the trump plan but what does this mean for the incoming biden administration that's going to inherit the

situation in afghanistan? >> biden not only inherits america's longest war and one that, of course, he himself -- one that was going on while he was vice president under obama, he also inherits now this deal that trump has signed so he is in a position where everybody in afghanistan, whether it's the taliban or the government or the people stuck in the middle are all watching biden wondering will he follow through on this deal? will he try to negotiate for an extension beyond that may 1 deadline to pull every last american froop out or will he honor the deal, in which case he could be throwing the country into potential chaos. and in the meantime, can the two sides and a half set down for talks but not had much frog reach a deal by threaten? that's even less likely. >> you mentioned the peace talks. what do we know about the future of those today? >> we know this is the greatest opportunities for peace in

afghanistan since the bann conference after the u.s. invasion that toppled the taliban government but the challenges are enormous. there's still bloody fighting going on between the two sides who are talk but there's also an increased pressure on the government here. their position is that essentially the deal between the taliban and americans has vastly weak pped their leverage. they have released 5,000 taliban prisoners just to get these talks going and nowith the americans continuing to commit to their complete withdrawal by may, that leaves the afghan government and the afghan negotiators from kabul in quite a weakened position. we have to remember that from the taliban perspective, and they've been saying this vocally, they feel as if they've won in war. from their position, that is a

win-win. >> jane, good to see you. >> thank you. ♪ judy: and now, for the final friday analysis of the trump presidency, we turn to brooks and kapart. hello to both of you on this friday evening. so david, it was just two wednesdays ago that there was the attack on the capitol. five people dialed as a direct result of that, then a week later president trump impeopled with only a few days left in offers. ism peached a sometime second time. was it the right thing do do? >> absolutely. our system depends on an dual branch of government that we have an executive branch and a

slit active branch and the executive branch can't go inciting riots to take over the legislative branch and that's essentially what happened. i think they were right to impeach. i feel somehow weirdly that impeaching the president of the united states is still overshadowed by the events that happened january 6 and the turmoil that's been happening ever since. we're embroiled in something even larger than that. judy: what about that, john that, -- jonathan, about the move to ieach and where we're left as a country after january 6? >> i think the move to impeach was necessary. it had to happen. we're reeling about it now but i

think when people read about it in the history books that people will realizing it was a necessary thing. to send a signal to anyone who might come after donald trump, that if you try to do the same thing, there will be consequences and then what this says about where we are as a country, i think we're at the beginning of the middle. this is not the beginning of the end or the end of the beginning. what we're now about to talk about in this country is about deep fish showers and deep pain within in country that's centered around race.

seems to be open to a trail too. >> some people were really doubling down on trump saying it was all an fifa, etc., etc. you had a lot of people, the majority of people in the white evangelical surge -- church

sayi how did this happen? john haguey, a very trumpy pastor in texas said that was not patriotism, that was anarchy. and a lot of the marningers against trump have received vicious back lashes. so in a way, this is a weird democracy in action, the republican party trying to figure itself out. i happen to think the republican party is poised to do decently over the next few years. major, the rest of the party is deattach -- detached from reality. so in the meantime, how you address people to the facts. how you address the economicings, the race resentments. somehow race, extreme nationalism, christian nationalism. economic anxiety, it's all become fused into one poisonous finer and that's hard for a party to expunge but somehow we

need two responsible parties and that's part of the job. judy: and jonathan, clearly a lot to sort out here and it's not just about the republican party, the people who were supporting trump but surely they are part of it because they're going to figure out where they are now, where they stand now. >> right, there are serious conversations that need to be had within the republican party and also within, among people, as david was talking about, who are conservative and who support the republican parties and who supports their candidates and their leaders. i think one of the ways to remarry reality to a lot of the folks within the republican party is to have leaders within the republican party who start talking truth again, who start talking about what's really happening, doing away with the theater of outrage and all of that. but dealing with -- ok, this is what the problems are, here's where we are as a country and

here is our solution as a republican party, as conservatives and have that that argument based in facts and have that come from the number one leader -- elected leader within the republican party, which right now -- correct me if i'm wrong, david, is still senate majority leader mitch mcconnell on down. whether we have leaders who speak truth to their constituents, that is wlilt takes hold and so far within the republican party, that has just gone -- like that. judy: david, you want to pick up on that? i'm thinking -- i'm wondering what is it that joe biden is inheriting here? as he steps into the presidency next wednesday? >> our newshour friend mike wrote george w. bush's inauguration speech in 2001 and that was a bitterly battled

election in 2000. mike said i look back on that speech and it seems so naive now so it's a bitterly divided country but the first thing joe biden needs to do is need to show physically, materially, he cares about people who think he depieses. so he has this $1.9 trillion covid relief. it's got unemployment insurance, a $2,000 check. a child care tax credit. all these physical manifestations of government saying this is a hard time, i care about you, i'm helping you. i think if those programs went out to red america, they would see that joe biden is not the doom of america but there's actually someone who can help you and i do think that's the beginning of turning around -- they're not going to listen, attach to reality until they care that somebody cares and see and hears them.

and has to be done physically, not just with words. judy jonathan? >> yes, i agree with that completely and talk about a person who is the person for the time. i mean, if anything, if there's a word to describe president-elect joe biden, it iser ing -- empathetic. i think it was the one big attribute that he had that was his calling card in this election, that he was someone who, when he spoke and people looked at him, they felt in their bones that he felt in their bones whatever issue that was hurting them. he felt their pain and it's in every speech, it's in every comments, it will be in every policy and i think if the biden-harris administration pushes forward and keeps empathy at the top of their agenda, at the top of what they have to say to the country, i think they will succeed in showing all of

americana they care about them. judy: so david, finally, is it a good thing for joe biden to begin his presidency -- back to impeachment, with an impeachment trial in the senate competing for attention and for time and everything, for that matter? >> yeah, i -- i completely support impeachment, think it's the right thing to do. i think it would be a bad thing to have the trial in the senate. jo biden has to pass that legislation. we just had a horrifying report 10 minutes ago on covid. that was horrifying so we need to solve that problem, pass this piece of slailings. $1.9 trillion, a very complicated piece of legislation. i think it has a lot of things republicans and joe mnuchin of west virginia can support. -- manchin of west virginia can

support. it's not going to be easy. it will stoke all the flames. the republican party will find it very easy just to go in on i guess soing is mold. i'd love to think we could at least have a cup of months of action before we go in opposition mode and i'm afraid a trial will do that. judy: jonathan, is a trial necessary? >> yes, it is necessary and this is my first time disagreeing with my friend david. it is necessary because of the reasons i said before. because of the message it would send to someone who might try what president trump did in the future. people elect senators to come to washington to do hard things and over the last few cycles, we've seen a senate that gets nothing done unless it's confirming judges or voting on inconsequential legislation. they come here to do hard things and there's nothing harder right now than holding a sitting

president -- soon to be not sitting president but to hold a chief executive responsible for very bad acts but also to he'll a nation that is reeling from a global pandemic and then the sub quenlt economic implosion. judy: david, i'm going to give you the last word. unless you leave time for jonathan. what about the argument he's making, that this is something the country needs to do. >> yeah, i just think our legislative capacities are not very high right now and doing a pretty confrontational and violence -- not a violence but a confrontational impeachment at the same time we're trying to pass a very complicated and a lot of resistance slice -- legislation, i think that's too heavy a lift for us so we have to choose in my view and i choose the covid relief bill. judy: all right, jonathan, you get 15 seconds. >> i hear you, david. i just hope the senate doze

both. they can do -- does both. they can do both. judy: jonathan and david, we thank yoboth. >> thank you, judy. ♪ judy: as the u.s. death toll to covid-19 reached another milestone, we want to take a moment now to remember some of the individuals we've lost to the pandemic. ♪ george whitmore loved nature and spending time outdoors. he first learned how to rock climb from roommates while at pharmacy school in san francisco. george soon became an expert climber and in 1958 was part of the first-ever team to scale el capitan in yosemite national

park. his wife said he was a humble and frank leader. he believed his conservation work for the california wilderness was his life's greatest achievement. george was 89 years old. deborah k. ivory was always smiling and full of life. famous for her homemade mac & cheese and desserts, she served people from across oklahoma city at her barbecue restaurant. one of her mottoes was people over profit and if someone couldn't afford a plate of food, she'd give it to them for free, her family said. she was 62 years old. tiffany shackelford was gregarious and made people instantly feel comfortable, he husband said. raised in a navy family, she lived all over the country, eventually settling in alexandria virginia. she was a master networker and made connections and

opportunities for people she encountered throughout her career in policy and digital media. she was civic minded and advocated for robust, state house and local reporting. a dedicated mother, tiffany was 46 years old. 96-year-old william good was a dedicate physician and worked as a family doctor in california for more than 650ees. -- years. williams survived the holocaust in poland, thanks in part to people who risked their lives to field and house him. his son said becoming a doctor was one way he tried to give back and he metropolitan his wife pearl while studying in italy. later in life william organized annual trims around world to spend time with his three children and six grandchildren. alicia ugartichia was a sweet

and genuine person, he family said. born in hex america,, she moved to -- mexico, she moved to arkansas in her 20's. she was a hard worker and gaine a loyal clientele for the clothesing alteration business she ran out of her home. she also worked as a custodyian at a local elementary school for many years and had many friends. her daughter said she helped raise per five grandchildren. she loved shopping,ooking for her family. she was 67 years old. thank you so much to the family members who shared these stories with us. our hearts go out to you as they do to everyone who's lost a loved one in this pandemic and on the newshour online right now, can at-home testing for covid help bring better access to underserved communities? we look at the options out there

and how they work. that's on our website, pks.org/newshour. please stay with pks. tonight we have a special program for you airing at 9:00 p.m. eastern. here's a look at that. >> the siege of the capitol. fueled by the president's own words. >> you'll never take back our country with weakness. >> the roots of rage one deep. >> we could see it coming. >> but how did we.net here and how do we repair what's been lost? american reckoning, a pbs newshour special report. friday at 9:00 p.m., 8:00 central. judy: and we hope you'll join us. and stick around now for washington week coming up soon on pbs with our own yamamoto hosting tonight. and that is the news -- yamich

hosting tonight. and that is "ufc fight night." have a good and safe weekend. and good night. >> major funding for the "ufc fight night" has been provided by -- consumer cellular. johnson and johnson. financial services firm raymond james. bnsf railway. the william and flora julio diaz it foundation. for more than 350 years advancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better world. at hughlett.org. supporting social entrepreneurs and their solutions to the world's most pressing problems. scola foundation.org. and with the ongoing support of these institutions.

and friend of the newshour. this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and my critics to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. this is pbs newshour west from weta studios in washington and from our bureau at the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

tonight on kqed newsroom, california congress members barbara lee and eric swalwell talk to us about the historic second impeachment of president trump. some regions are plus presidents and plagues have come and gone, but is california redwoods have endured for centuries. welcome to kqed newsroom. president donald trump has certainly made his mark on the office