judy: on the newshour tonight, a busy first week. the biden administration continues its blurry of ecutive 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 dipped slightly, but the sluggish pace of inoculations remain a cause for concern. plus, we discussed the recent massive government security breach and the vulnerabilities the u.s. still faces with the former of the cybersecurity agent the. and rethinking college.

the pandemic prompts a surge in demand for short-term credentialed programs as a less expensive alternative to traditional degrees. >> we have millions of jobs going unfulfilled, and that will get worse as we recover from the pandemic. judy: all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding the pbs newshour has been provided by -- for 25 years, consumer cellular 's goal has been to provide wireless service that helps people communicate and connect. to learn more, visit consumercellular.tv. >> johnson & johnson.

bnsf railway. >> the john s and james l knight foundation fostering engage communities. >> and with the ongoing support of these individuals and 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. judy: president biden is moving

on several new fronts tonight in his latest policy actions. they include boosting covid vaccine supplies and addressing racial equity, this as the senate gears up to put his predecessor on trial. lisa de chardin reports. lisa: rounding out his first full week in office, president biden took on a long-standing american ailing, racial discrimination, signing a series of executive actions white house domestic policy advisor susan rice echoed the president's commitment to expand opportunities for americans. >> these are not feel-good policies. investing in equity is good for economic growth and creates jobs for all americans. lisa: mr. biden targeted housing, federal prisons, tribal sovereignty, and harassment and

scrimmage nation against asian americans and pacific islanders. the racial problem overlaps with the health one with communities of color hit hardest by the coronavirus and government response. an analysis of 14 states concluded white americans are getting vaccines at more than twice the rate of blacks and latinos. the president announced governors will receive 16% more vaccine doses next week, a total of 10 million. pres. biden: this will allow millions more american to get vaccinated sooner than previously anticipated. lisa: at the capitol, the u.s. senate can permed antony blinken as secretary of state. >> the nomination is confirmed. lisa: outside, vice president harris conducted a ceremonial

swearing-in of janet yellen. committees continued moving through a stack of other nominees. gina raimondo as commerce secretary and alejandra mayorkas for homeland security secretary. he won committee approval, moving closer to confirmation. the senate worked on its own business. minority leader mitch mcconnell dropped his demand that democrats guarantee they would keep the filibuster, which gives both parties power on most votes. this after two democratic senators stressed they would not vote to dismantle it. sen. mcconnell: we have a higher calling than endless partisan escalation. we placed our trust in the institution itself in a common desire to do the right thing. i am grateful that has been

reciprocated by at least a pair of our colleagues across the aisle. lisa: all sides expect an agreement allowing the senate to fully function. sen. schumer: i am glad we are able to get the senate up and running. my only regret is that it took so long because we have a great deal to accomplish over the next weeks and months. lisa: last night house members delivered the article of impeachment to the senate. senators were sworn in as jurors today for the second impeachment trial of donald trump. rand paul of kentucky challenged the tire -- the trial as unconstitutional for targeting a president now out of office. >> who has not used the word fight figuratively? are we going to impeach every politician who has used the word fight figuratively? lisa: the senate rejected his

challenge on a mostly partyline vote. as impeachment moves forward, a growing recognition it is an uphill effort. president biden told cnn he did not think there would be enough republican votes convict president trump. judy: michelle send our is at the white house with more onhe biden agenda. we know the president has been in office almost a full week. today he was speaking about the vaccine distribution challenges and about equity. reporter: president biden is ramping up vaccine distribution around the country and is pledging to put equity and fighting systemic racism at the center of everything he does. he says he is increasing weekly vaccine supply states, tribes, and territories by 16%.

he is increasing the total u.s. vaccine order from 400 million doses to $600 million. -- 600 million doses. he says there is enough for 300 million americans by summer. the u.s. population is about 329 million americans, so that is a big deal. he said equity is important not just to americans of color, but for all americans. he said we will have a safer country if we all get together to fight systemic racism. judy: we know also the president d his first phone call with russia's president, vladimir putin. what is the white house sang about that -- saying about that? reporter: they talked about a number of issues, an arms treaty. he also said the u.s. affirmed its support for russian sovereignty.

they talked about interference in the election as well as the russian poisoning of a leader and the alleged russian attack on u.s. government and businesses. that is seen as important as president trump was seen as too lenient on russia, so it is seen as president biden taking a tougher stance on russia. judy: thank you very much. as lisa reported earlier, senate majority leader mitch mcconnell backed away from the standoff over the filibuster last night. this means filibuster reform is still -- still technically on the table. lisa, we heard you speaking about the filibuster. what is it and why is it

important? lisa: a filibuster is anything that obstructs legislation, especially in the senate. most people know it as senators using their right to talk as long as they want. they can only be cut off if 60% of senators vote for cloture. the dominant reference to filibuster is from mr. smith goes to washington, where senator jimmy stewart managed to win the day by talking until he dropped. >> you all think i am licked. i am not licked and i am going to stay here and fight for this lost cause. lisa: love that movie. i cannot overstate the importance of the filibuster because what it does in practice is it means there is not a majority rule in the senate, but a super majority rule. supporters of the filibuster say

that is good, thait adds stability, that congress will not veer right and left due to sudden changes. opponents say that is the problem, that the senate cannot react the need for sudden change and is not governed by majority rule. judy: i am glad you gave us a look at jimmy stewart. i understand you got more than 200 questions about the filibuster today on twitter. lisa: i am happy we hit some fellow nerds' nerves. i want to raise this excellent one area when did the filibuster of all from the marathon mr. smith goes to washington to the threat of the filibuster that exists now? this has happened over time, but the difference is how often the filibuster is used now. look at the remarkable rise in the use of the filibuster. this is the number of times the senate in those years has voted

to end a filibuster. some years hardly at all, now into the hundreds. this has meant the filibuster has become a part of everyday life in the senate. senators are not doing talk of bonds -- talkathons as much as they are issuing the demand for a filibuster and holding the votes as if it was a regular, silent part of life. another question, who has benefited more over the years, democrats or republicans? we contacted the senate historical office. in the early days of the republic, everyone used the filibuster. in the 20th century, southern democrats used the filibuster the most to block civil rights legislation and legislation trying to change racist power struggles. as it has shifted in the past

couple of decades, both parties have used it when they have been in the minority, particularly judicial nominees, as we saw with supreme court nominees in the past couple of years, republicans removed the filibuster so they could get nominees through. one more question. has the filibuster encouraged or discouraged compromise? what the filibuster has done more than anything is fewer large bills have been able to pass through congress. judy: finally, tell us, where do things stand on the filibuster? particularly for democrats trying to move aggressively right now. lisa: democrats do not have the votes to reform the filibuster, but they are still holding out hope perhaps they can change it sot is not 60 votes required, 55 or less. that will have to wait for another day. chuck schumer is under a lot of pressure to pass progressive

legislation. he does not have the votes to do it because of the filibuster, but that debate will keep hanging over the senate and over democrats. judy: thank you. ♪ let's dig deeper into president biden's executive actions today. for that, we are joined by susan rice, his domestic policy advisor. welcome back to the newshour. we heard earlier in the program about the memoranda, executive actions the president is taking around at woody. a number of these similar to what president obama rolled out early in his administration 12 years ago, and even echoes of president clinton. tell us how what is going on now

is different. >> i served in the clinton administration, the obama administration, and now the biden administration. while the previous administrations worked to advance racial equity and justice, what we have seen in the last week and the first week of the biden presidency is 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 lacks data to allocates resources to how it assesses where we stand on matters of civil rights and racial equity, and it will hold each agency accountable for its results. we have never done that before. today beyond his whole of

government, interagency commitment to ensuring we put justice and equity front and center for everything, he rolled out additional executive actions that will be beneficial for a wide range of americans, combating xenophobia against asian americans and pacific islanders who faced vitriol, animosity, even hate crimes resulting from previous leader'' attempts to target them in the context of covid. he instituted an important housing regulation -- order that would need to new housing regulations, that would roll back what donald trump did to try to prevent full implementation of the fair housing act. there were many actions today, combined with what he did last week. this is not the end of what we intend to do.

we have a great deal more to do on all aspects of equity and justice. judy: for americans watching this, what tangible changes are they going to see from this? >> the first and most important 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 purpose, as significant as that may be. we do it because it benefits every american, not just one group or another. there have been important studies recently by economists which have indicated that 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 6 million new jobs for everybody. this work is the business of making all americans do better, because when some of us are suffering and the gaps are huge, it drags us all down. what we will do that is different is make sure when we have new policies and programs, we think about how they can be beneficial broadly. in the president's covid relief package, there are things that benefit all americans. raising unemployment benefits and extending them. making sure we have up to $2000 to all those who need it. but there are many steps that will benefit those at the lower income scale and lift half of american children out of poverty and reduce overall property by 30%. so this is beneficial to everybody. judy: what do you say to some conservatives, like the

columnist andrew sullivan. he is accusing the president of culture war aggression. he went on to say, the president's focus on equity would give named identity groups a specific advantage in treatment by the federal government over othe groups. >> i would say that is a false characterization. we are not giving anybody an advantage. we are giving everybody an e will play yield -- an equal playing field. the history in this country is there has not been a level field for many americans, not just people of color, but people and merle areas, urban and suburban areas, disabled americans, religious minorities, lgbtq americans, and the reality is it is holding us all back. rather than look at it through the divisive prism of zero-sum

-- if it is good for them, it has to be bad for me -- that's not the american way. we have to recognize we are in this boat together. we have to realize we sink and swim together. when we have a leak, it puts all of us at risk. it is not about advantaging one group over another, it is making sure we all begin at the same place and have a chance to fulfill our god-given potential. judy: andrew sullivan went on to say, you don't unite the country by dividing it along what he calls deep and inflammatory issues of identity. there are republicans saying the focus on equity is pointing a finger at republicans, saying they are racist. >> that is absolutely not the case. president biden said todayhat he believes and most religions teach us we have to look out for one another. we believe most democrats,

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

that's what we want to be. judy: one brief final question -- will there be government funds that go into supporting these new policies? >> absolutely. for example, in the covid relief package, which we call the american rescue plan, there are funds for all americans that will benefit who have been left behind as well and people of different backgrounds and races. the reality is, yes, there will be money for child tax credits, 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. the covid crisis is the perfect illustration of the fact we are all in this boat together. we are not going to recover if our front-line workers, from meatpacks to restaurant workers to hospital workers, are

suffering, because we all rely on them to keep our economy afloat and keep our lives working. we need to get our kids back in school. that's not a democratic or republican imperative, that is a national imperative. this package and these resources serve us all. we will make those investments because they are in our shared benefit and interest. judy: susan rice, president biden domestic policy advisor. i know we will check in with you to see how these policies are progressing. thank you so much. stephanie: good evening, i'm stephanie sy with newshour west. we'll return to judy woodruff and the rest of the program after the latest headlines. the justice department has rescinded thtrump

administration's "zero tolerance" border policy. it led to thousands of family separations. but in a setback for the new administration, a federal judge in texas temporarily blocked president biden's 100-day ban on most deportations. the republican attorney general in texas had challenged the ban. the world reached another grim marker today, 100 million confirmed cases of covid-19. more than 2.1 million patients have died, including 900 survivors of the nazi holocaust who had been living in israel. meanwhile, more vaccination sites in the u.s. are canceling appointments because they don't have enough doses. we'll focus on the vaccine shortage 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 ty, 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 enforce your laws on the poor according to your whims. stephanie: the interim head of the u.s. capitol police apologized for the failure to prevent the january 6 siege on the capitol building. she said officials did not

deploy enough officers, despite warnings that extremists supporting president trump planned violence. earlier today, senator patrick leahy was taken to the hospital for observation after feeling ill. his spokesman says tonight that he had a thorough examination and is back home and looks forward to getting back to work. the senior senator from vermont is 80. as the president pro tem of the senate, earlier today he oversaw the start of the impeachment trial of president trump, swearing in fellow lawmakers. and baseball hall of famer henry erin was memorialized in atlanta today. teammates, friends, and family gathered virtually and in person at the stadium of his old team, the atlanta braves. they honored his legacy on and off the field. he died friday at the age of 86. still to come, the sluggish pace of covid-19 inoculations remains a cause for concern.

what fresh protests in russia mean for president putin. a discussion with the former head of the government's cybersecurity agency about ongoing threats. and much more. >> this is the pbs newshour, from w eta studios in washington and in the west from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. judy: as we have 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.

john: to understand that priority, consider this -- by one count, long-term care facilities, nursing homes and assisted living centers, account for about that's percent of covid cases but 40% of virus-related deaths. some state officials say they're worried that vaccination programs are moving on to other parts of the population before long-term care residents are inoculated. as of today, the cenrs for disease control and prevention says that 2.7 million doses have been administered at long-term care centers. that's about 11% of all doses nationwide. david grabowski is a professor of health care policy at the harvard medical school. thanks for joining us. given this, that everyone acknowledges that is -- this is a high risk population in high risk locations, is this going fast enough? david: i don't think it's going

fast enough. you cited the number in the introduction, roughly 40% of deaths occur in long-term care facilities. this is the population we need to protect. we need to get this population and caregivers vaccinated as quickly as possible. the 2.7 million doses sounds like a big number, but there are roughly 3 million individuals living in nursing homes and assisted living facilities. when you add their caregivers, you are up to 5 million individuals that need to be vaccinated. each need two doses. 2.7 is a big number, but it is probably one fourth of the way there. we have a long way to go in terms of vaccinating this population. john: what are the hurdles to moving faster? david: 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 clinics to the long-term care facilities. there are 30,000 nursing homes and assisted living facilities around the country. to get this population vaccinated, the federal government contracted with cvs and walgreens. the good news is those are big companies. in some states, that process is working well. in other states, it is going far too slow. in a number of parts of the country, those companies only have so much bandwidth. they can only be in so many facilities per day. the process is moving too slow. john: the bandwidth is just not wide enough. how do you solve that problem? david: by contracting with cvs and walgreens, they only have so many pharmacists and only have the ability to be in so many nursing homes.

the state that did the best vaccinating nursing home residents and caregivers was west virginia. the interesting thing about west virginia, they opted out of the federal program so they did not work with cvs and walgreens directly. they contracted with a series of pharmacies to vaccinate residents and caregivers. they did end up working with raw greens -- with walgreens, but other local pharmacies as well. they got the national guard on board. it ended up working well and they were first in the nation in vaccinating nursing home residents. john: another issue we hear a lot about is the hesitancy of caregivers at these long-term care facilities to get the vaccine. how do you solve that? david: this is a huge issue. the numbers we are hearing, about half of all staff are getting vaccinated. that is much lower than the

number of residents. 85% of residents are choosing to get vaccinated, but far too few staff are getting vaccinated. some facilities, it's quite good , but some it is 25 percent of staff. how do we get better? i think we need to change the narrative. the approach to date by the federal government has been, let's provide more staff with information. that is necessary, we need to convince them this vaccine is safe and effective. they are worried about side effects of a safety. they are also quite distrustful of nursing home management and leadership. they are distrustful of the government. it is not just the message, it is who they are hearing it from. judy: at a point -- john: at a point when we have a new administration coming in, if you were advising the biden administration, what would you tell them?

david: first, we need to go faster. cvs and walgreens are doing a great job in some parts of the country, but it is too slow in others. let's get other pharmacies involved in areas where it is having to slow. second, we need to address staff hesitancy. the rates among staff are too low. we need to not just provide them with information, we need to change who is providing the information. we need to rely on relationships and build trust with staff. finally, we have been flying blind. we have national numbers on vaccine doses. we have very little information on the ground in terms of what's happening in facilities. john: david grabowski at the harvard medical school, thank you very much. david: thanks, john.

judy: part of today's call between president biden and russia's president vladimir putin centered on russia's top opposition figure, alexei navalny. nick schiffrin reports on how navalny is sparking protests. nick: the protests rolled across 5000 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 defiance. >> [translated] we are here because we are fed up with the regime. putin is a thief and the whole system is corrupt. nick: police responded with blunt force and arrested more than 3000 protesters. but if that brittleness was par for the course, protesters' resistance with hands and snowballs was a sign russians

have had it and are willing to defy their government more 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. nick: navaln'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 has 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 is my property, belongs or has ever belonged to me in a relatives. >> he is an autocrat. nick: 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 protected putin would end up like muammar gaddafi. we followed him again during his campaign for president in 2017. >> [translated] they tell us, [beep] you and we have to say, we are very sorry. but no, we have gathered here to say we're going to ask these questions and we'll obtain the answers. nick: his leadership has galvanized young russians, who posted videos this weekend, removing putin portraits. to discuss this moment in russia, we turn to masha gessen, staff writer for the new yorker, and author of 11 books. are these protests different from previous protests in russia?

>> yes and no. they are bigger. it is significant that they are bigger -- i mean, they don't involve more cities than the protests in 2011, 2012, but there is a difference in that those protests took place under much safer conditions for the protesters. they were quote-unquote legal in the eyes of the state. the sanctions for any violations that might have been committed during the protest were much lighter. in the last decade, russia has passed a slew of laws aimed at intimidating any protest. these protests were explicitly declared illegal by the state. every one of the tens of thousands of people who came out new that they were risking arrest. it is part of a longwave of dissatisfaction, distrust, and a

slow building refusal to take it anymore. nick: how much of a threat are these protests to putin? we have not seen what we have seen in previous examples of russian history, even 2011-2012, which are the elites breaking from putin. masha: the putin regime is a mafia state. every person in the elites is dependent on putin for money and power. that is one of the reasons they all contributed to the building of his palace. he has them in his grip at all times. we are not going to see the elites coalescing against two -- against putin. that is not applicable to this regime. for the protesters, there are no levers in any existing institutions for the protesters to activate.

no independent judiciary, no parliament, no elites that could rise up against putin. the protests are best viewed as an investment in russia's post-putin future. nick: a colleague of yours called it digital guerrilla war. he is popular with younger russians and able to get a viral video out there. the majority of russia is older, politically inactive. can navalny reach out to the actual majority of the country? masha: russia doesn't have elections, doesn't hava 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. in the scorched earth environment of russia, he has been able to establish himself

as a viable alternative to putin as a different politician. nick: finally, u.s.-russia relations. biden and putin spoke today. biden made it clear they are going to work together on issues like new start, while challenging him on issues, including navalny. russians continue to question biden's legitimacy as president. will russia continue to cause more unrest in the u.s. while biden waits for his national security team to be confirmed? masha: joe biden is the first president is the end of the cold war who has not promised as a goal any normalization or improvement of relations with russia. we know that the reality of the situation is that nothing good is going to happen between the relationship between these countries and biden is not singling -- signaling this is an

ambition of his. that is a good sign because it is good to see the president telling the truth. nothing good is going to, this relationship. is russia going to continue to metal in u.s. politics if the u.s. lets it? i have never been of the school that donald trump was elected by russia. i think he was elected by americans and russians were able to afford to it is whip up some sentiment. if there are things for russians to get involved in, if we continue to be a conflicted country in which nearly half the population is entirely onboard from reality, that is fertile ground, but that is not on russia. nick: thank you very much. ♪ judy: of the many threats facing

the biden administration, cybersecurity remains a constant concern. william brangham explores how a recent massive attack is still with us. william: the russian government is believed to be behind the so -called solar winds attack. it was revealed in december, but since then the number of companies victimized has continued to grow, and that has raised concerns about what kinds of sensitive data might've been compromised. one person who has been hired to assess that damage is christopher krebs. he is the former director of the cybersecurity and infrastructure 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 been described as one of the most sophisticated cyber espionage attacks against

the u.s. in recent history. your group has been hired by solar winds, the company that was a victim of this intrusion and lead to subsequent intrusions. do you share the belief this was the russians behind this attack? >> even before i was brought in by the new ceo to help them understand the nature of the attack and also how to help them build a leading edge security program inside solar winds, it was obvious to most of the cybersecurity vendors and companies, as well as what i was hearing from the national security community, that this was very likely, if not certainly, a russian espionage campaign tied to what is known as the svr, their foreign intelligence service. it has all the hallmarks of

quiet, patient, deliberate, well-planned and executed. they showed a good deal of restraint in how they executed, which is not always the tradecraft of the other russian cyber actors. so many federal agencies were victims -- william: so many federal agencies were the rooms of this -- were victims of this. do you have a sense of what the russians were after? >> if it was an espionage campaign, they are likely looking for information on diplomatic negotiations, national security conversations and policymaking the russians would be interested in, including chemical weapons and things of that nature. i do believe they were pecking around looking for relevant information to the kremlin and

the russian government relationship, but they did so in a quiet and deliberate way and had a priority list. i think when we get to the bottom of this one, it is a concerning copper mice -- concerning compromise of the federal government, but it might be fairly targeted in terms of what they accessed. william: the biden administration has launched a full review of this hack. do you have a sense of the things they ought to be doing that might not have been done so far? >> i think we are going to have to have something along the lines of a national commission on the broader campaign that the russians launched. i expect there will be a number of companies that were impacted similar to solarwinds. we have to continue advancing the cybersecurity posture of our federal agencies. that's not just about buying

more cybersecurity tools. we have to have modern systems. we have to have a meaningful governance structure in place where someone in a position of authority like a national cyber director or my old agency, cisa, is able to meaningfully engage with direct action with civilian agencies that still are left a little too much on their own. william: i want to turn lastly to the election. you worked very hard to secure this election and by all measures that was a success. the former president and many members of the gop don't buy that. they argue there was widespread fraud. the former president said the election was stolen. i am curious as someone whose job was not just to secure election infrastructure, but to back down false facts, how do we

wrestle with this ocean of misinformation? >> first, we need those that propagated the big lie that the election was stolen, they need to own up or be held accounble. one way for the president is through impeachmenand conviction. i think that needs to move forward for a few reasons. i have said it before, but you don't get mulligans in insurrection, trying to overthrow an election. there have to be meaningful consequences for someone more dedicated -- consequences or someone more dedicated and competent may try again and be successful. we also have to send a message to our allies that we have mechanisms to ensure our democracy is stable. lastly, two did daters across the world that may try to metal here, we are not going to tolerate it. beyond that, we have to continue

educating the american people on how elections actively work. i ink that is in part what happened in the last year or so, some promoters of the big lie took advantage of the fact that the machinery of elections is not immediately apparent to the american people. i love the idea of bringing back schoolhouse rock and how we educate on civics. beyond that, meaningfully investing in elections, eradicating outdated systems and truly meaningful postelection audits. william: here is tomorrow schoolhouse rock. christopher krebs, great to have you back on the newshour. ♪ judy: one area hit by covid is

higher education. according to our partners at usa facts, 36% of households canceled plans for higher education due to the pandemic as of last month. but there is one area of growth -- short term programs to develop skills for the workforce quickly. hari sreenivasan reports in this last chapter of our series, "rethinking college." >> in africa i was going to college and terrorists attacked my country. and they destroyed everything. hari: 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, phd, no less. the 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. hari: a big obstacle, especially since she also didn't speak english. but amina has alwa 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 ged, next year i will start college. hari: in just four years, abdoulaye is already worng here, ll 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 toward a certificate in ux, 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 skilled on. if only i started with college, i would have to wait four years to even have entry level job in corporate america. >> s needs to have economic

stability, right? hari: that's why gerald chertavian, the founder and ceo of europe, made -- 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 skill, that are going unfulfilled, and that will get worse rather than better a we recover from the pandemic. hari: 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. >> we are looking at the different -- hari: 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 office of talent strategy. >> it's going to become a cornerstone for us, because it's about equity and opportunity. i -- opportunity. not everyone can stop what they're doing to go to class full time during the day, or can judge during the day. and so shorter programming that helps them stair step a little at a time is where we really meet the need. hari: about 36 million people have completed some college coursework but didn't finish, often leaving their efforts completely unrecognized once they drop out. but now even big tech wants to drive part of the solution. >> we cocreated the certificate with amazon. hari: after just four classes at

saa 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. hari: those jobs often come with paychex between $50,000 and $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-th job landscape. >> not everybody is going to need bachelor's degrees and masters degrees and graduate degrees. i think industries like tech are changing so quickly, they say every six months, and now it's even faster. hari: 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 people get the right ones, if they get valuable industry recognized credentials, they can get a job pretty quickly. hari: how does it change the landscape when people start to see their neighbors say, wait a minute, i went to school for four years, and this person over here just went for six months, and we are at the same job. jane: 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? hari: but, she warns, there are thousands of certificates out there. not all were created equal. jane: 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. hari: 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. hari: she will 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. judy: such an important series. that is the newshour for tonight. thank you and we will 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. and with the ongoing support of these institutions. this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. [captioning performeby the national captioning institute, whh is responsible for its caption ntent and accuracy.] >> this is pbs newshour west from wweta duty is in washington and from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university.

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