>> woodruff: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the "newshour" tonight, a busy first week: the biden administration continues its flurry of executive actions. i talk with susan rice, a key advisor driving the goal of equity. then, getting the vaccine: covid infections and deaths in the united states dip slightly, but the sluggish pace of inoculations remains a cause for concern. plus, cyber threats: we discuss the recent massive government security breach and the vulnerabilities the u.s. still faces with the former head of the cybersecurity agency.

and rethinking college: the pandemic prompts a surge in demand for credential programs as a less expensive alternative to four-year university. >> we have literally millions of jobs, jobs that require a are going unfulfilled, and that will get worse, rather than better, as we recover from the pandemic. >> woodruff: all that and more on tonight's "pbs newshour." >> for 25 years, consumer cellular's goal has been to provide wireless service that helps people communicate and connect. we offer a variety of no-contract plans, and our u.s.-based customer serve team can help find one that fits you. to learn more, visit www.consumercellular.tv.

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from viewers like you >> woodruff: president biden is moving on new fronts tonight in his latest spate of policy actions. they include boosting covid vaccine supplies and addressing racial equity, among others. this, as the united states senate geared up to put his predecessor on trial. congressional correspondent lisa desjardins begins our coverage. >> reporter: rounding out his first full week in office, president biden took on a longstanding american failing-- racial discrimination-- signing a series of executive actions. white house domestic policy adviser susan rice echoed the president's commitment to expand opportunities for americans. >> these aren't "feel good" policies. the evidence is clear, investing in equity is good for economic growth and it creates jobs for all americans. > reporter: mr. biden targeted four areas: housing, federal prisons, tribal sovereignty

and harassment and discrimination against asian american and pacific islanders. the racial problem overlaps with the health one, with communities of color hit hardest by the coronavirus and government response. a cnn analysis of 14 states concluded that white americans are getting covid vaccines at more than twice the rate of blacks and latinos. in the afternoon the president announced that governors will receive 16% more vaccine doses next week-- a total of ten million. >> this is going to allow millions of more aricans to get vaccinated sooner than previously anticipated. we've got a long way to go, though. > >> reporter: the new administration is also watching the capitol, where the u.s. senate was busy, today confirming antony blinken as secretary of state, inside. >> the yeas are 78, the nays are 22. the nomination is confirmed. >> reporter: as, outside, vice

president harris conducted a ceremonial swearing in of new treasury secretary janet yellen. and committees continued moving through a stack of other cabinet nominees-- rhode island governor gina raimondo as commerce secretary, and alejandro mayorkas', nominated for homeland security secretary. he won committee approval, moving him closer to confirmation. the senate also worked on its own mission-critical business. minority leader senator mitch mcconnell dropped his demand that democrats guarantee they would keep the filibuster rule, which gives both parties power on most votes. this after two democratic senators, joe manchin of west virginia and kyrsten sinema of arizona, stressed they would not vote to dismantle it. >> we ve a higher calling than endless partisan escalation. we placed our trust in the institution itself and a common desire to do the right thing.

i'm grateful that's been reciprocated by at least a pair of our colleagues across the aisle. >> reporter: now all sides expect an agreement allowing the new 50-50 senate to fully function. majority leader senator chuck schumer. >> i'm glad we're finally able to get the senate up and running. my only regret is that it took so long because we have a great deal we need to accomplish over the next several weeks and months. >> reporter: and there was more news. house managers last night delivered the article of impeachment to the senate. as a result, senators were sworn in as jurors today for the second impeachment trial of former president donald trump. republican senator rand paul of kentucky challenged the trial “" unconstitutional” for targeting a president now out of office, and his speech. >> who hasn't used the words "fight" figuratively and are we going to put every politician in jail? are we going to impeach every politician who has used the words "fight" figuratively in a speech? >> reporter: paul raised a point

of order, but the senate rejected his challenge on a mostly party line vote. as impeachment moves forward, a growing recognition that it is an uphill effort. president biden told cnn last night he did not think there would be enough republican votes to convict mister trump. for the pbs newshour i'm lisa desjardins. >> woodruff: and yamiche alcindor is at the white house with more on the biden agenda. so, hello, yamiche. we know the president's now been in office almost a full week. today, he was speaking both about the vaccine distribution challenges around the country, and about equity. so tell us more about what he's doing on those fronts. >> well, president biden is ramping up vaccine distribution around the country and he's also pledging to put equity and fighting systemic racism at the center of everything he does, on the covid vaccine and the response he's doing. he he said he's increasing weekly vaccines to states and tribe and territories by 16%.

he is increase the total u.s. vaccine order from 400 million dopses to dix sell money doses. that means he says there will be enough vaccines for 300 million americans by the summer. the population is 329 million americans. that's a big deal there. the other thing, equity, he said, is important, not just for americans of color and black americans but for all americans. he said we will have a safer and more secure and more prosperous country if we all get together and fight systemic racism. >> woodruff: and, yamiche, we know, also, separately, the president had his first phone call today with russia's president, vladimir putin. what is the white house saying about that? >> that's right. the white house said that president biden telephoned the russian president, vladimir putin, and that the two men talked about a number of issues, including an arms treaty that's being negotiated. he also said that the u.s. really affirmed its support for ukraine sovereignty. and they talked about alleged

russian interference in the 2020 election, as well as the poisoning of a russian opposition leader, and the russian alleged hack on u.s. governments, as well au.s. businesses. that's seen as really important because president trump was seen as too lenient on russia and not being willing to really confront vladimir putin on a number of issues, including meddling in u.s. elections. it's seen as president biden taking a tough stance on russia, which is what he pledged to do during the campaign. >> woodruff: of course we'd love to know more about the phone call and i'm sure you'll be reporting on. yamiche alcindor, thank you very much. >> thank you, judy. >> woodruff: as lisa reported earlier, senate majority leader mitch mcconnell backed away from the standoff over the filibuster last night. while democrats do not have the votes for it now, this means filibuster reform is still technically on the table. so what does all this mean? lisa joins me now to answer your questions. so, lisa, we heard you speaking about the filibuster. we want you to remind us what is

it and why is it important? >> judy, technically, a filibuster is anything that obstructs or blocks legislation, especially in the senate. but, of course, most people know it as senators using their right to talk as long as they want. they can only be cut off if 60 other senators vote for something called cloture, to end that. i think for people, the dominant reference to a filibuster is this from 1939's "mr. smith goes to washington," where senator jimmy stewart managed to win the day by talking until he dropped. >> you all think i'm licked. well, i'm not licked! and i'm going to stay right here and fighfor this lost cause. >> love that movie. i just can't overstate the importance of this filibuster because what the filibuster does in practice in u.s. government is it means that there is not a majority rule in the senate, but instead, a super-majority rule. now, supporters of the

filibuster say that's good because it adds stability, that the congress will not veer right and left due to sudden changes. but opponents say that's the problem, that the senate cannot really react to the need for sudden change, and that it is not governed by majority le. >> woodruff: i'm so glad you gave us a look at jimmy stewart again. we love that movie. i understand you got more than 200 questions about the filibuster today on twitter. tell us what people are asking you. >> i'm happy we hit some fellow nerves. let me go through some of the great questions. first, when did the filibuster evolve from the marathon 'mr. smith goes to washington' to the threat of the filibuster that exists now?" this has happened over time, but we can see, really, the difference is how often the filibuster is used now. if you look at this chart, look at the remarkable rise in the use of the filibuster. this is the number of times each senate in those years has voted to try and end a filibuster.

some years hardly at all. now we're into the hundreds. as the senate has held more and more votes to end the filibuster, this has meant that the filibuster has become a part of everyday life in the senate. so senators aren't doing these talk-a-thons anymore as much as they're just sort of issuing the demand for a filibuster, to close it, and going about their business holding those votes as if it was a regular, silent, everyday part of life. another question that we got, another excellent one, "who has benefitted more from the filibuster over the years, democrats or republicans?" we contacted the senate historical office to talk about this. now, in the early days of the republic, everyone used the filibuster, but in the 20th century, in particular, southern democrats used the filibuster most, and they useit to block civil rights legislation and also legislation trying to change racist power structures. it became part of their operation. and now we know, as it has

changed, as it has shifted in the pastcouple of decades, both parties have used it when they've been in the minority, particularly when we're talking about judicial nominees, as we saw with supreme court nominees in the past couple of years. republicans removed the filibuster, specifically, so they could get their supreme court nominees through. one more question, "has the filibuster encouraged or discouraged compromise?" the truth is, what the filibuster has done more than anything, i think, judy, it has meant fewer large bills have been able to pass through congress. >> woodruff:nd, finally, lisa, tell us where do things stand on the filibuster, and particularly for democrats who are trying to move aggressively right now? >> democratso not have the votes to reform the filibuster right now. but they are still holding out hope, some of them, that even they can't remove the filibuster, perhaps they change is, so it's not 60 votes required, but fewer-- 55 or less. that debate will have to remain for another day. chuck schumer is under a lot of pressure from progressives to

pass progressive legislation. right now, he doesn't have■ç the votes to do it because of the filibuster, but that debate, as i said, will keep hanging over the senate and especially over democrats. >> woodruff: all right, the queen of the filibuster, lisa desjardins. thank you. >> woodruff: let's dig deeper into president biden's executive actions today. and for that, we're joined by susan rice, his domestic policy adviser. susan rice, so good to see you again. welcome back to the newshour. we heard■ç from yamiche alcindos reporting earlier in the program about the memoranda, executive actions, the president is taking around equity. a number of these similar to what president obama rolled out early in his administration. that was 12 years ago. and even echos of president

clinton. tell us how what is going on now is different. >> well, judy, it's good to be with you. i served in the clinton administration, the obama administration, and now the biden administration. and i can tell you that while each of thprevious administrations that were democratic worked to advance racial equity and justice, what we have seen in the last week and the first week of the biden presidency is something quite different and unprecedented. president biden on his first day in office implemented an executive order that will embed racial justice and equity in everything the federal government does, from how it collected data, to how it alkates resources, to how it assesses where we currently stand on matters of civil rights and racial equity. and it will hold each agency accountable for its results. we've never done that before. and, today, beyond his whole of

government, interagency commitment to ensuring that we put justice and equity front and center for everything, he rolled out a number of additional executive actions that will be beneficial for a wide range of americans, combating xenophobia, for example, against asian americans and pacific islanders who faced so much vitriol and animosity, and even hate crimes, resulting from previous leaders' attempts to target them in the context of covid. he instituted a very important housing regulation that will-- excuse me, order that would lead to new housing regulations, quite likely, that would roll back what donald trump did to try to prevent full implementation of the fair housing act. there are many actions today, combined what he did last week. but, judy, this is not the end of what we intend to do. this is six days in. we have a great deal more to do

on all aspects of equity and justice. te other thing i would mention-- >> woodruff: and so-- >> sorry, go ahead. >> woodruff: yeah, i was just going to say, so, for americans watching this, what tangible changes are they going to see from this? >> well, the first and most important thing, and what president biden spent a great deal of time today talking about, is we don't just invest in equity and racial justice out of moral purposes, as significant as that may be. we do it because it benefits every single american, not just one group or another. you know, there have been important studies that have been recently conducted by econ economists, including its city, which have indicated if we can close the racial gap in income and opportunity, all americans stand to benefit. we will add $5 trillion to the economy over five years and create six million new jobs for

everybody. so this work is the business of making all americans do better because when some of us are suffering and the gaps are so huge, it actually drags us al down. so what we will do that is different is to make sure that when we have new policies and programs, that we're thinking about how they can be beneficial broadly. so, for example, in the president's american rescue plan, his covid relief package, there are things this there that benefit all americans-- raising unemployment benefits and extending them, making sure that we have up to $2,000 to all those who need it. but there are many steps in there that will benefit those at the lower income scale and lift half of amrican children out of poverty and reduce overall poverty by 30%. so this is beneficial to everybody. >> woodruff: what do you say to some conservatives, like the

columnist andrew sullivan-- and i'm quoting from him-- he's accusing the president, in one of the things he wrote "culture war aggression." he went on to say, "the president's focus on equity," he said, "would give named identity groups a specific advantage and treatment by the federal government over other groups." >> what i would say to that is that is a false characterization of what is going on. we are not giving anybody an advantage. we are giving everybody an equal, level playing field. that's what we aim to do. because the history in this country is tere has not been a level playing field for many americans, not jut of black and brown americans and people of color, bupeople in rural areas who have been left behind, people in urban and suburban areas, disabled americans, religious minorities, l.g.b.t.q. americans. and the reality is it is holding us all back. so rather than look at this through a divisive prism of zero

sum-- if it's going for them it has to be bad for me-- that's not the american way, and that's not how we all grow and prosp. we have to recognize that we're in this boat together. we sink or swim together. and when we hava leak in the boat and people are at risk, it puts all of us at risk. so it's not about advantaging one group over another. it's making sure that we all begin at the same place and have the chance to fulfill our god-given potential. >> woodruff: i asked because andrew sullivan went on to say, "you don't unite the country by dividing it along--" what he calls ""these deep and inflammatory issues of identity." as you know, there are republicans saying the focus on equi is is pointing a finger at republicans saying they are racist. >> well, that is absolutely not the case and as president biden said today, he believes-- and most religions teach us-- that, you know, we have to look out for one another, and that we believe that most democrats,

republicans, and independents believe that, you know, we are all human beings of equal dignity and equal worth, and we have to respect that. but it's a bit rich, frankly, for repub republicans to suggest by trying to lift up everybody, we are dividing america when we just had four years of the most divisive, vitriolic presidency that one can imagine. and division was a political strategy. and, thankfully, it hasn't worked because it is not what the american people want. they want us to come together. they want us to value each other. they want us to find■ç common ground. and contrary to the notion that somehow this divides us, by recognizing that we all have inherent dignity and worth, that we're all worthy of respect and opportunity, we're reaching out hand to one another and lifting each other up. that's the america that makes the american dream accessible to not just a few but the many.

and that's what we want to be. >> woodruff: one very brief final question, will there be government funds that go into supporting these new policies? for example, in the covid relief package, which we call "the american rescue plan," there are funds there for all americans, but fund that will benefit people who have been left behind as well and people of different backgrounds and races, of all backgbackgrounds and races. but the reality is, yes, there will be money for child tax credits, for the earned income tax credit, for vaccines so we can get vaccines in everybody's arms, not just those with access to information and resources. and the covid crisis is a perfect illustration of the fact that we are all in this boat together. we are not going to recover from this crisis if our essential workers, our frontline workers-- from meat packers to restaurant

workers to hospital workers-- are suffering, because we all rely on them to keep our economy afloat and to keep our lives working. we need to get our kids all back in school. that's not a democratic or republican imperative. that's a national imperative. so this package and these resoces serve us all,. and we will make those investments because they are in our shared benefit and interest. >> woodruff: susan rice, who is president biden's domestic policy adviser. i know we'll want to be checking in with you as the weeks and months go by to see how these policies are progressing. thank you so much. >> thank you, judy. >> woodruff: in the day's other news, the u.s. justice

department rescinded the trump administration's "zero tolerance" border policy. it had resulted in family separations. separately, a federal judge in texas temporarily blocked president biden's 100-day ban on most deportations. the republican state attorney general in texas sought the ban. the world reached 100 million confirmed cases of covid-19 today. more than 2.1-million patients have died, including 900 survivors of the nazi holocaust who'd been living in israel. meanwhile, more vaccination sites in the u.s. are canceling appointments because of vaccine shortages. we'll focus on the vaccine problem, after the news summary. a major storm blanketed parts of the midwest with a foot or more of snow today. communities in nebraska and iowa were buried under 15 inches, turning roads treacherous. the snow was expected to keep

falling into the night. last night, the system spawned a tornado north of birmingham, alabama. it killed a teenage boy, injured 30 people and crushed buildings in its path. in india, thousands of farmers flooded new delhi, protesting new laws they fear will benefit corporate farms. leaders said more than 10,000 tractors drove into the city, with farmers breaking barricades and battling police. they stormed the "red fort" that dates from the 17th century, and insisted the new laws be withdrawn. >> ( translated ): the message for the prime minister is that it is not the indian government, it is the farmers' government and farmers will rule it. we will do as we want to. you cannot force your laws on the poor according to your whims. >> woodruff: the protests began nearly two months ago, and had been largely peaceful. back in this country: wideread internet outages hit

eye on she said officials did not deploy officers with adequate communications despite warnings that extremists supporting president trump planned violence. widespread internet outages hit the northeast. verizon reported problems with its service, possibly stemming from a cut fiber in new york. the disruption affected google, facebook and other sites, and the many americans now working from home. wall street had a lackluster day. the dow jones industrial average lost 23 points to close at 30,937. the nasdaq fell about 10 points. and the s&p 500 slipped five points. and, hall of famer and baseball legend hank aaron was memorialized in atlanta today. teammates, friends, and family gathered virtually and in person at the home stadium of his old

team, the atlanta braves. they honored the home-run king's legacy, on and off the field. aaron died friday, at 86. still to come on the "newshour," covid infections and deaths dip slightly, but the sluggish pace of inoculations remains a cause for concern; massive protests erupt across russia in response to the imprisonment of the opposition leader; we discuss the vulnerabilities the u.s. faces with the former head of the government's cybersecurity agency; and much more. >> woodruff: as we reported, president biden is trying to ramp up how quickly vaccines can be given to americans and to

increase the supply for this summer. that includes a plan to get 200 million more doses combined of the moderna and pfizer vaccines. from the outset, federal health officials have made vaccinating residents of long-term care facilities a priority. but, as john yang reports, more than a month into the campaign, there are concerns about how long that effort alone is taking. >> reporter: judy, to understand that priority, consider this: by one count, long-term care facilities like nursing homes and assisted living centers recently accounted for 6% of covid cases-- but up to 40% of virus-related deaths. some state officials say they're worried that vaccination programs are expanding to other parts of the population before long-term care residents are inoculated. as of today, the centers for disease control and prevention says that 2.7-million doses have

been administered at long-term care centers-- about 11% of all doses nationwide. david grabowski is a professor of health care policy at the harvard medical school. david thanks so much for joining us.■ç given that everyone acknowledges this is a high-risk population, high-risk locations, the c.d.c. says inoculating these people will save lives, is this going fast enough? >> i don't think, john, it's actually going fast enough. you cited the number this the introduction right there: roughly 40% of the deaths occur in long-term care facilities. this is the population we need to protect. we need to get this population and their caregivers vaccinated as quickly as possible. the 2.7 million vaccine doses, that sounds like a big number, but consider there are roughly three million individuals living in nursing homes and assisted living facilities. when you add their caregivers, you're up to about five million individuals that need to be

vaccinated. each of those individuals will need two doses. and so, yes, 2.7 is a big number, but it's probably just about one-fourth of the way there. and so we have a long ways to go in terms of vaccinating this population. >> yang: what are the hurdles to moving faster? >> the hurdles are large. unlike the general population where you set up a vaccine clinic and the population goes to the clinic, here, you have to bring the clinic to the long-term care facilities. and there are 30,000 nursing homes and assisted living facilities around the country. and so, in order to get the population vaccinated, the federal government contracted with cvs and walgreens. the good news is those are big companies, and in some states, that process is working relatively well. but in other states, it's going far too slow. and in a number of parts of the country, those companies only

have so much bandwidth. ththey can only be in so many long-term care facilities per day. so the process, john, is just moving too slow. >> yang: you say the bandwidth is not wide enough. how do you solve that problem?" >> sure. so, by contracting with these two companies, cvs and walgreens, they only have so many pharmacists and they only have the ability to be in so many nursing homes. it's actually interesting. the states that did the best in terms of vaccinating nursing home residents and caregivers was west virginia. the interesting thing about west virginia-- they opted out of the federal program, so they didn't work with cvs and walgreens directly. they went ahead and contracted with a series of pharmacies in order to vaccinate residents and their caregivers. they did end up working with walgreens, but a bunch of other local pharmacies as well. they got the natial guard involved. it was an all-hand-on-deck approach, john.

it worked quite well and they were first in the nation in terms of vaccinating nursing home residents. >> yang: another issue we hear a lot about is the hesitancy of the staffers, the caregivers at these long-term care facilities to get the vaccine. how do you solve that? >> this is a huge issue. so the numbers we're hearing, about half of all staff aren't getting vaccinated. so that's much lower than the number of residents. we're hearing about 80%, 85% of residents are choosing to get vaccinated, but far too few staff are getting vaccinated. some facilities it's quite good, but some facilities, it's0%, 25% of staff. so we have a long way to go there. how do we get better? i think we ned to change the narrative here. the approach to date by the federal government has been "let's provide more staff with information." that's very necessary. we do need to convince them that this vaccine is safe and effective.

they're quite worried about side effects. they're quite worried about safety. but they're also quite distrustful of nursing home management and leadership. they're distruful of the government. it's not just the message they're hearing. it's who they're hearing it from. >> yang: we're at a point where we're turning a page. we have a new administration coming in, rethinking the whole thing. if you were advising the new biden administration, what would you tell them? >> i would tell them three things. first, we need to go faster, and cvs and walgreens are doing a great job in some parts of the country, but it's going far too slow in others. let's gets other pharmacies involved in those areas of the country where things are move too slowly. second, we need tocracy the hesitancy. the rates among staff are far too low. we need to not just provide them with information. we also need to change who is providing that information. we need to rely on relationships, and we need to

build trust with staff in terms of messaging. and finally, we've been flying blind. we had these national numbers on vaccine doses. we have very little information on the ground in terms of what's happening in facilities. >> yang: david grabowski, professor of health care policy at harvard medical school, thank you very much. >> thanks, john. >> woodruff: part of today's call between president biden and russian president vladimir putin centered on russia's top opposition figure, alexei navalny, and his poisoning last as nick schifrin tells us now, his arrest last week upon his return to russia sparked large protests this past weekend. >> reporter: the protests rolled across 5,000 miles and 100 cities-- from yakusk in the east, where the temperature was 60 below, to moscow in the west. a national wave of dissent and

fiance. >> ( translated ): we are here because we are fed up with the regime in this country. putin is a thief and the whole system is corrupt. >> reporter: police responded with blunt force, and arrested more than 3,000 protestors. but if their brutalness was par for the course, protestors' resistance, with their hands... and snowballs, was a sign russians have had it, and they're willing to defy their government, than they have in many years. they answered the call from opposition leader, alexei navalny. last week, in moscow, after a hug from his wife, he live streamed his arrest upon arrival from berlin, where he'd recuperated from an attempted assassination that independent researchers say was launched by the russian government. >> ( translated ): there are 20 million beggars in the country, and he buys a yacht for his mistress. >> reporter: navalny's call coincided with a new investigative video that crosses

what used to be red lines: putin's love life, and what navalny called extravagant personal corruption in a billion dollar palace, filled with opulent rooms... and disparaging putin as a wannabe monarch. the video's been viewed more than 90 million times, allowing navalny to circumvent state-run media, and maintain massive influence. putin almost never mentions navalny, but in an online forum this week, denied navalny's charges. >> ( translated ): nothing of what is listed there as my property belongs or has ever belonged to me or my close relatives. never. >> ( translated ): he's a kind of tsar, he's an autocrat. >> reporter: in 2012, our margaret warner interviewed navalany with an interpreter. that's when navalny started his campaign calling putin's party the party of crooks and thieves. navalny predicted putin would end up like muammar gaddafi. we followed m again during his campaign for president in 2017. >> ( translated ): they tell us, ( bleep ) you and we have to say, "oh, okay, we're very sorry." but no, we have gathered here to say we're going to ask these

questions and we'll obtain the answers. >> reporter: his leadership has galvanized young russians, who posted videos this weekend, removing putin portraits. this we turn to masha gessen, staff writer for the "new yorker," and author of masha gessen, welcome back t the newshour. are these protests different from previous protests in russia? >> yes and no. they are bigger. they are-- it is particularly significant that they are bigger-- i mean, they don't involve, you know, more cities than efor example, the protests in 2011-2012. but there is significant difference in the sense that the protests in 2011-2012 took place under much safer conditions for the protesters. they were-- quote, unquote-- legal in the eyes of the state, and the sanctions for any kind of violations that might have committed during the protests

were much lighter. in the past decade, russia has passed a slew of laws aimed specifically at intimidating any kind of protest. and these protests were explicitly declared illegal by the state. so every single person, every one of the tens of thousands of people who came out, knew that they were risking arrest. it's part of a long wave of dissatisfaction, distrust, and, you know, kind of a slow-building refusal to take it anymore. >> brangham: how much of a threat are these protests to putin. we have not seen what we've seen in previous examples in russia, and even in 2011-2012, which are the elet's breaking from putin. so does that mean that these are not a threat to the kremlin? >> the putin regime is a mafia state. every single person in the elet's is personally dependent on putin for money and power. that's one of the reasons, for example, that they all contributed to the building of

his palace, right. he has them in his grip at all times. so we're not going to see the them coalescing against putin. that kind of analysis is not applicable to this kind of rescream. unfortunately, for the protesters, there are no levers in any existing institutions for the protesters to activate. there's no independent judiciary. there's no parliament. there are even no elet's that could rise up against putin. the protests, i think, are probably best, both sort of hopefully and pessimistically viewed as an investment in russia's post-putin future, which will eventually happen. >> brangham: navalny is claiming what a colleague of yours calls digital guerrilla war. he is popular with young russians but thmajority of russia is older, politically inactive. can navalny reach out to the

actual majority of the country? >> russia doesn't have elections. russia doesn't have any kind of traditional media sphere that would allow a politician to reach out to a majority of the population. that said, navalny has kind of hacked that predicament inspect this scorch-earthed political environment of russia he has, nonetheless, been able to establish himself as a viable alternative to putin, as a different kind of politician and a different kind of politics glug finally u.s.-russia relations. biden and putin spoke today, hoping to work together on some issues. but navalny meanwhile continued to question biden presidency. will he seek to cause more disruption in the u.s., do you think, while biden waits for his national security team to be

confirmed? >> joe biden is the first president since the end of the cold war who has not promised, he has not postulated as a goal, any kind of normalization and improvement of relations with russia, right. we know that the reality of the situation is that nothing good is going to happen in a relationship between these two countries. and biden is not signaling this is an ambition of his, which i think, is a good, because it's good to see the president telling the truth. nothing good is going to come up this relationship. is russia going to continue to meddle in u.s. politics? if the u.s. lets them. i've never been of the school that donald trump was elected by russia. i think that he was elected by americans and russians were able to fortuitously sort of whip up some sentiment. are there things for russians to get involved in?

are there things f russians to whip up? if we continue to be a divided, conflicted country in which nearly half the population is entirely removed from reality, that's fertile ground. but that's"o us.that's not on russia. >> brangham: masha gessen, thank you very much. >> thank you for having me. >> woodruff: an early test for the biden administration will be william brangham has the story. >> reporter: the russian government is believed to be behind the so-called "solar winds hack." it was first revealed back in december, and since then, the number of federal agencies and corporations victimized by the hack continue to grow, raising concerns about what sensitive data might've been compromised. one person whose been hired to assess that damage is

christopher krebs. he's the former director of th“" cybersecurity and infra- structure security agency.” he was fired by president trump shortly after he called the 2020 election-- which he helped protect-- "the most secure in u.s. history." he's now a partner at the krebs- stamos group. great to have you back on the newshour. this hack has described as one of the most sophisticated cyber espionage acts in recent history. you're company has been hired by solar winds, is it your assessment this was russians? >> even before i was brought in by the new c.e.o. to help them both understand the nature of the hack, but how to build leading edge program inside solar winds, it was obvious to most cyber vendors and companies

out there as well as what i heard from national security community this was very likely, if not certainly, russian espionage campgn tied to what's known as the s.v.r., their foreign intel service. and, again, it's got the hallmark of quiet patient deliberate very well planned and executed they showed in fact a good deal of restraint in how they executed which is not always tradecraft of other russian cyber actors. >> reporter: with so many of our fed agencies being victims, companies, a sense of what the russians were after? what they took? >> if it is espionage campaign that's seems to be the general consensus they are looking for

info on diplomatic economic negotiations national security convos in policy making russians would be interested in including things like chemical weapons. i do believe they were pecking around looking for information to the kremlin and russian government leadership, but did so quietly and deliberately. they had a priority list by what i understand. and so, when we get to bottom of this one, certainly a concerning compromise of federal government, but may be targeted in terms of how they executed >> reporter: biden promising full review, what's being done that hasn't already been done? >> i think we're going to have

something along lines of a national commission on broader campaign the russians launched. i suspect a number of companies impacted or compromised similar to solar winds. we have to advance cybersecurity posture of our federal agencies. that's not just about buying more cybersecurity tools. we have to have meaningful government structure, someone in a position of authority like a national cyber director or cisa is able to engage in direct action within the civilian agencies that till this day are left too much on their own. >> reporter: election: you worked hard to secure this and

it was success, but the former president and many members of the g.o.p. don't buy that. they argue widespread fraud, election stolen. as someone whose job it was to secure election infrastructure, how do we as a nation wrestle with ocean of misinformation? >> those that propagated t big lie, they need to own up to lies or be held accountable. impeachment and conviction. i've said before you don't get mulligans for insurrection. there must be meaningful consequences, more dedicated,

more competent, clear message to allies, we have governance mechanisms in the u.s. to ensure democracy is stable to dictators across the world who try to meddle here or elsewhere we won't tolerate it. but beyond that we have to continue from a transparency perspective on how elections work. that's what happened in last year or so. some of the promoters of the big lie took advantage of big lie machinery not apparent to american people, so let's do something about that. i love idea of bringing back "schoolhouse rock." actually investing in elections,

eradicating outdated systems and truly meaningful post-election audits. >> reporter: here's to more "schoolhouse rock." thank you. >> thanks william. >> woodruff: it's been a brutal according to our partners at u.s.a. facts, 36% of households canceled plans for higher education due to the pandemic as of last month. but there has been at least one area of growth at many schools-- short term programs that help students develop skills for the workforce quickly. hari sreenivasan has our story. it's the last chapter of our special series this winter on“ rethinking college.” >> when i was in africa, i was going to college, and the terrorists attacked my country. and they destroyed everything. >> reporter: when amina abdoulaye came to study in the

u.s. from the west african nation of niger, she had a big goal: become a computer scientist-- a p.h.d., no less. only problem? >> i didn't know anything about computers. i couldn't even use microsoft, the basics that even middle school people use to submit homework. >> reporter: a big obstacle, especially since she also didn't speak english. but amina has always had a strategy for getting what she wants: she takes things one step at a time. >> this year i will learn english. next year i will do my g.e.d., next year i will start college. >> reporter: in just four years, abdoulaye is already working here: wall street. she's enrolled in a program called "year up," and interning at the financial information firm s&p global. all that without a single day of college. short-term credentials have been around for decades. but in this economic environment, with skyrocketing traditional college costs now beyond the reach of many, they're having a moment. in just a few months, abdoulaye began working towards a

certificate in u.x., or user experience, design. that certificate can be applied toward a degree in the future. but in the meantime, it will help her escape minimum wage jobs. >> and actually allow me to even have a good job and then i can pay for more education to get more skill done. which i wouldn't have if only i started with college. i would have to wait four years to even have entry level job in corporate america. >> she needs to have economic stability, right? >> reporter: that's why gerald chertavian, the founder and c.e.o. of year up, made short- term credentials a key part of his program to give low-income young people a leg up in the job market. as the u.s. economy looks beyond the pandemic, he says, students like abdoulaye will be desperately needed to fix a fundamental supply and demand problem in the u.s. >> on the supply side, we have five million young adults who are out of school, out of work, and don't have more than a high school degree, and on the demand side we have literally millions

of jobs for, i'd say technical jobs, jobs that require a certain level of skills, that are going unfulfilled, and that will get worse, rather than better as we recover from the pandemic. >> reporter: the pandemic destroyed millions of american jobs for all ages. a third of adults say that if they lost their job, they would need more education to get a new one. and given that lower-income workers have been hit the hardest, they'll need to get them quickly, cheaply, and in skills tied directly to available jobs. schools like columbus state community college had been working to ramp up shorter-term credential programs for years. then came covid-19. cheryl hay is columbus state's executive director of the ofce of talent strategy. >> it's going to become a cornerstone for us, because it's about equity and opportunity. i mean, not everyone can stop what they're doing to go to class full time during the day, or can even do it in a semester and so, shorter programming that kind of helps them stair step a

little at a time is where we really meet the need. >> reporter: about 36 million people have completed some college coursework but didn't finish, often leaving their efforts completely unrecognized once they drop out. >> we actually co-created the >> reporter: even big tech now wants in. >> we actually co-created the certificate with amazon. >> reporter: after just four classes at santa monica college, a student like sofia baca can earn an industry-recognized certificate in cloud computing skills. >> even if i'm not completed with the four classes, i know that there are employers who are willing to hire me as i'm finishing the program. >> reporter: those jobs often come with paychecks between $50-80,000 per year. patricia ramos is the school's dean of workforce and economic development. she says too few un- or under- employed workers realize how quickly they can retrain in today's high-tech job landscape. >> not everybody is going to need bachelor's degrees and

master degree and graduate degrees. i think that because industries like tech are changing so quickly, right, they say every six months, and now it's even faster. >> reporter: google recently developed its own short-term career certificates they say will be viewed internally as the equivalent of a four-year degree. so, could short-term credentials really replace college? for some perspective, i called jane oates, the president of working nation and a former obama administration official in the department of labor. >> if they get the right ones, if they get valuable industry recognized credentials, they can get a job pretty quickly. >> reporter: and how does that change the landscape when it comes to people starting to see their neighbor say, "wait a minute, i went to school for four years, and this person over here just went for six months, and we're at the same job." >> well, you know, i think the pandemic could set post- secondary education on its ear, because people are really going to look at, is it worth it for me to go for a two year, or a

four-year degree, or do these quick credentials that are industry recognized get me a quicker bang for my buck? >> reporter: but, she warns, there are thousands of certificates out there. not all were created equal. >> people have been scammed in the past. so, people should be very careful when they're selecting a program. make sure that that credential is recognized by other employers. and when i say recognized, does >> reporter: amina abdounaye will soon graduate the year up program and is already working towards two certificates. >> every day, i said, "i deserve to work in corporate america, i deserve to have skills, i deserve to add value, i deserve to do something better for my life." >> reporter: she'll keep repeating that, she says-- one credential at a time-- until she makes it. for the pbs newshour, i'm hari sreenivasan, in new york. >> woodruff: such an important series. thank you. i'm judy woodruff. join us on-line and again here tomorrow evening. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you, please stay

safe and see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> consumer cellular. >> johnson & johnson. >> bnsf railway. >> carnegie corporation of new york. supporting innovations in education, democratic engagement, and the advancement of international peace and security. at carnegie.org. >>nd with the ongoing support of these institutions >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by

> hello, everyone and welcome to “amanpour & co." here is what is coming up. tens of thousands protest russia's detention of alexei navalny, but do they really threaten putin's power? i ask russia scholar and former pentagon official evelyn farkas on what new u.s. policy should be. and then -- >> we have a president thank god who leads and telling the truth and who is seen by this issue. >> is this the year that the world turns the corner on climate change? michael mann offers his plan for how to save our planet. and