captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening, i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight, the biden agenda-- the new administration lays out its plan to tackle the urgent global climate crisis. we speak to white house climate advisor gina mccarthy about the ever-present emergency. then, making sense of the stock market frenzy. we break down what is driving the volatility. and, searching for justice-- mothers leaving prison face an uphill battle re-entering society and reconnecting with their families. >> i can attest from my personal experience, when one person goes to prison, thentire family

goes to prison. but it's something different when it's your mama. it's a primal wound. >> woodruff: all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ ♪ movi our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us.

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>> woodruff: a sea change on climate change. president biden is doing a 180 from his predecessor's policy, and vowing to confront the issue head on. white house correspondent yamiche alcindor begins our coverage. >> alcindor: a climate crisis, and a call for dramatic action. today, president biden underscored his sweeping break from former president trump, signing a new batch of executive orders. >> our plans are ambitious, but we are america. we're bold. we're unwavering in the pursuit of jobs in innovation, science and discovery. we can do this. >> alcindor: president biden had already moved to rejoin the paris climate agreement, the same accord that president trump withdrew from. the new executive actions include pausing and reviewing new oil and gas leases on federal public lands and water;

addressing environmental injustices faced by disadvantaged communities; and building jobs focused on clean energy. during the presidential campaign, candidate biden advocated a $2 trillion effort to reduce global warming. today, his presidential envoy for climate, former secretary of state john kerry, doubled down on that goal. >> it's a lot of money but you know what it costs a lot more if you don't do the things we need to do. workers are going to see that with the efforts of the biden administration they're going to have a much better set of choices and frankly it will create more jobs. >> alcindor: most republicans have pushed back on climate change efforts by saying they cost too much. and they argue that clean energy plans will mean slashing jobs. the biden administration insists these policies will create millions of new, well-paid jobs; jobs designed to focus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and developing new technology. today as part of that push, the

president's nominee for energy secretary, former michigan governor jennir granholm, advocated his energy plans at her senate confirmation hearing. >> the president's plan of building back better is about creating new jobs in clean energy. but we don't want to see any jobs sacrificed. >> alcindor: meanwhile, the senate foreign relations committee heard from linda thomas-greenfield, the nominee for ambassador to the united nations. she warned that the u.s. must re-engage with the world, to challenge china's growing power. >> we know china is working across the u.n. system to drive an authoritarian agenda that stands in opposition to the founding values of the institution-- american values. their success depends on our continued withdrawal. that will not happen on my watch. >> alcindor: the veterans' affairs committee heard from denis mcdonough, nominee for veterans affairs secretary. >> if confirmed, i will work tirelessly to build and restore v.a.'s trust as a premiere

agency for ensuring the wellbeing of american veterans. >> alcindor: and, the senate commerce committee advanced former south bend, indiana mayor pete buttigieg's nomination for transportation secretary. and, on the pandemic, today the president's covid response team held its first public briefing. it came id growing calls to distribute vaccines faster. andy slavitt is the white house senior adviser for covid response. >> we are taking action to increase supply and increase capacity. but even so, it will be months before everyone who wants a vaccine will be able to get one. >> alcindor: yesterday, the president announced that the u.s. will order an additional 200 million vaccine doses. he said that will mean there will be enough doses for 300 million americans by summer. today, slavitt said that ultimately, the nation will need 500 million shots to vaccinate everyone 16 and older. for the pbs newshour, i'm yamiche alcindor. >> woodruff: let's take a closer

look now at some of the executive orders issued today by president biden with gina mccarthy, the white house national climate adviser. gina mccarthy, welcome back to the newshour. the president has so many urgent, massive issues facing him-- the pandemic, the economy, a politically deeply divided country. how does climate change fit into all of that? >> well, judy, thanks for having me. and i want you to know that climate change is interrelated with all of the issues that you just identified. if we expect to regrow the economy after we tackle covid-19, we need to grow jobs. we need people to have food on their table, food that's healthy. we need our country to be more secure and grow. the path forward to get that done clean energy. in fact, clean energy jobs were the fastest growing sector before the pandemic hit. and we saw a prior administration that did

everything it could to dismantle the clean energy infrastructure, and it failed. you know why? because clean energy jobs actually are good for us. we can grow thousands of good-paying union jobs. this is our opportunity to invest in environmental justice communities that have been left behind. so this president is is not looking at one thing at a time. it's looking at addressing all of those together so that we do build back in a way that's building a better future. and we can do this if we work together. >> woodruff: well, it's interesting because you are getting praise from a number of sectors, including the u.s. chamber of commerce, which says it endorses the overall goal. but then it points to the pausing of oil and gas-- excuse me-- oil and gas leasing, and it says that this is something that is going to hurt the economy. it points to-- they said the world is going to need l and

gas for decades, that this is going to starve local communities of revenue. and they're arguing it's going to cost jobs. we're hearing this argument from a number of republicans. how do you respond? >> well, the whole goal of this is not to leave any community behind in moving forward on clean energy. but it's also to recognize that we're not going to leave any workers behind. and so, if you look at this closely, judy, all this is about is whether or not we should pause and look at new leasing when we know there are acres and acres of leases that are not being used now, and we have to take a balance. this is public land only. it's o lands that need to be protected for their full value, including the natural resources that we need and the biodiversity that keeps our global world moving forward. so this is not stopping permitting. it's not stopping fracking. this is a very select challenge for us to step back and just say how are we going to grow?

and in te the meantime, there's plenty of oil, and there's plenty of natural gas, so that we're assuring the governors and the senators and the representatives from these areas that we're not going to run out of anything. this is about just taking a pause to review the whole thing and make sure it makes sense from everybody's perspective. and if you look at this, judy, this executive order actually looks at creating a task force to revitalize those energy communities that are worried about being left behind and those that are dependent on fossil fuel utility for their jobs. we have to take care of them. it's not about making the choices they're suggesting. we can have thousands of new good-paying union jobs, and we can find opportunities, like in capping those old abandoned oil and gas wells, or those coal mines that are spewing methane that is creating climate changes and instead put those workers in

thosareas that may otherwise not have a job and give them a good-paying job. this is not a zero-sum game. >> woodruff: they are making arguments from different parts of the country, for example, senator dan sullivan, republican of alaska, is saying cur tailing these jobs, he says disproportionately harms alaska natives, who he says have relied on energy development to lift them out of poverty. also pointing out it contrasts with the racial equity goal that the white house rolled out yesterday. lynne cheney of wyoming is speaking about a major lifeline that americans who-- began, americans being lifted out of an economy by these oil and gas jobs that are going away for the time being. >> we, this is a transition where we need to build up the infrastructure to make clean energy on a broad scale available to everyone. this is not over the next two

weeks or two months. everybody knows that this job shift has already been happing, and we need to make sure that we're focused in the areas where job shifts e happening for sure. but that doesn't mean we can change the future, judy. we have to protect the future for our kids, and we have to recognize that it is heading to a clean energy for jobs th we can manufacture, pro products tt we should be developing and innovating and selling to the rest of the world. this is about getting us into this time in this moment and not being shy about reemerging this country into a position of leadership, domestically and internationally. and that's what this effort is all about. it's about a whole of government approach to start looking with different eyes at the jobs that we're doing, look at our programs, our policies, look at our procurement strategy. let's invest and send signals to the private sector that we all know where the future is heading

heading, and the united states wants to lead it, and we want the jobs and the profits here. >> woodruff: sharing, again, arguments we're hearing from the other side, republican steve scalesse saying this is a death knell for louisiana coastal communities bhap do you say to criticisms like these about when these new jobs would come along? because they're saying in the short run it's going to hurt them. >> well, judy, we're going to have to take actions on all of the executive order to take a look at how we can move ll these issues forward. we're going to have the kind of engagement that we need to have in a democracy and listen to everyone. but right now, the point is that we have a covid-19 pandemic that'sit us, that we need to straighten out and take care of. that's already been jump

started. now's the time to see how we build back. are we really going to be that shy and look at what used to be instead of looking at the opportunities today? nobody in this country wants to be told to sacrifice, and nobody in this administration is going to ask them to, whether it's leaving them without a job or leaving them without opportunity. it's just the opposite. we're bringing these issues together at a time of hope and opportunity because we either grab this as a country or we continue to cede our leadership to others and our profits and our job growth. and this administration has no intention to cede that success to anybody. >> woodruff: gina mccarthy, the new white house climate adviser, formerly headed the environmental protection agency under president obama. thank you very much. >> thanks, judy.

>> woodruff: in many cases, the task of combating the global climate crisis starts at home with local leaders taking charge. i'm joined now by two mayors to discuss biden's changes to climate and energy policies. patrick payton is the mayor of midland, texas and william peduto is the mayor of pittsburgh, pennsylvania. it's very good to have both of you joining us. thank you so much. mayor payton, i'm going to start with you, but i'll ask you both the me question: overall, what is your reaction to what the biden administration is rolling out on climate change? >> well, thank you very much, it's good to be here with you, and hello to the mayor from pittsburgh. and sorry about your steelers. but, really, we're kind of used to this. over the last 12-16 yes we've watched executive orders be

traded back and forth. but here in the permian basin, well over 200,000 people are going to get up tomorrow and they're going to work in the oil and gas industry as well as the wind and solar industry because out here we realize it's really going to be all of the above as we move forward into the 21st century. while china will burn more coal today than the rest of the civilized world,we out here know what it takes to build a robust energy economy, what it's going to take to create those jobs. we're already doing that in the wind and solar environment. we also know that for us to have the power grid we're going to have for you to plug in your electric vehicle and get it charged, it's going to take the oil and gas dustry. in listening to miss mccarthy we're hoping they really do mean we'll have a long, inclusive conversation in this and stop demonizing the oil and gas industry who is going to have to be the backbone of building toward an energy future. we'll see. i'm skeptical on all sides just because we've seen this executive order thing happen through the biden administration, through the trump administration, and now the biden administration, but we still see no legislative work

forward. and i think part of that is because legislators know it's going to require an all-in effort and not a demonization effort of all sides. we'll see if we can move forward and no longer demonizing the industry. >> woodruff: and mayor peduto, pittsburgh-- and as i pose this question to you, i'm thinking of what president trump and senator ted cruz said at times. you know, it should be all about not paris but pittsburgh, and a reference to the paris climate accord, which,sh, this administration has rejoined. but what is your overall take on what the administration is saying it will do? >> um, you know we've been working together in the northeastern appalachia region and within the ohio valley, mayors from eight cities who have joined together from west virginia, ohio, pennsylvania, and kentucky to present an

american marshal plan, a plan that would invest in the areas that will be the hardest hit from the inevitable transformation into renewable energy and green technology. the world is going in one direction, and i think the biden administration today recognizes that. and the question is do we want to be in a position in the future when we electrify our public transit fleets around th country, that the only option available to us is to buy buss from china when we could be building them in lordstown and helping the people of youngstown. should we be being our wind turbines from germany, when they could be manufactured with united states steel right here in pennsylvania and assembled in west virginia? or should we-- >> woodruff: well, let me interrupt you and say are you saying you fear the biden

administration is not paying sufficient attention to buying american, building american? >> no, quite the opposite. i think in the initiatives they announced yesterday are american initiatives and they're presenting 40% of this plan into areas that have been left behind in the changing economy, that they're cognizant that we can't just change by throwing a light switch, which would leave areas behind. but we vahave to invest in those areas so they have an opportunity to catch up with the rest of the united states. i think the biden plan is a pragmatic and progressive approach to be able to address the inevitable change in onomics and in the delivery of energy and allowing the united states to compete in the 21st century and not follow. >> woodruff: and, back to you, mayor payton, in midland, texas, i heard you saying you hope the biden administration means what

it says. how will you judge that? and how will you reach out to them? do you feel they'll listen to you as you make the case for your community, for your economy, for the livelihood of your people? >> well, as you've noticed throughout this country, over the last several years, we talk in extremes, and we■ç don't moderate the middle path where we can have a discussion of all of the above. the fact of the matter swe're being left behind by china. as i said, china will burn more coal today than the rest of the civilized world. so until we get to a place where we are going to recognize that the oil and gas industry is the backbone of powering this country, that we can also together move forward with the oil and gas industry that provide the by-products that provide for the electric vehicles that provide for the buses that were just mentioned that drive the factories that are going to produce the steel, when we're ready to just sit down and have that conversation and the political environment doesn't demonize the oil and gas

industry or demonize an entire region made up of over 200,000 people who will wake up tomorrow morning and they will go to their jobs in the oil and gas sector and wind and solar sector, producing cheap and reliable energy. as miss mccarthy said it's not going to nap two ymass, or two weeks. it's not going to happen in four years. it will be a 20- to 30-year transition, but it will not happen without the oil and gas industry. >> woodruff: i hear you, but just quickly, are you saying you think the biden administration is demonizing the oil and gas industry? our do you believe they're open to hearing your arguments and the arguments of your people? >> i think the democrat left has demonized the oil and gas industry from the far extreme left side. we'll see if mr. biden in his conversation of unity and having conversations, also that miss mccarthy mentioned just a minute ago, really that mean that. ask that's going to take both sides to get their radical sides out of the debate and get into the middle and have this discussion.

because for the longest time, the oil and gas industry has been demonized. and so we'll see if they mean to bring everybody into the fold and have that conversation. >> woodruff: and mayor peduto, in just a few seconds, what do you say in response to that? where do you think the administration will come down on that? >> i do believe that they'll be pragmatic. they have an understanding of the workers and a compassion to making sure that there's a just transition. look, pittsburgh is where oil was discovered at the drake will just north of our city. coal was discovered along the shores of our river. we sit at one of the largest reserves of natural gas in the world. and, yet, there's more jobs in green and renewable energy than oil, gas, and coal combined, combined. >> that's not true. >> the future is here. no, i'm talking about pittsburgh and allegheny county, pittsburgh and allegheny county. our numbers are now even higher

than philadelphia. >> woodruff: mayor peduto, mayor payton, we thank you both so much. sorrto leave it there. we appreciate you both. thank you. >> woodruff: in the day's other news, present biden's covid-19 team warned that another 90,0 americans could die from covid- 19 over the next four weeks. the national death toll is already near 430,000 out of 25.5 million confirmed cases. we'll turn to the struggle to speed up vaccinations, after the news summary. the u.s. homeland security department is warning of potential new violence, over

president biden's election. the department issued a terrorism advisory today focusing on domestic threats-- a rarity. it suggested the storming of the u.s. capitol could embolden extremists. the advisory did not cite any specific threat. a leading democrat in the u-s senate floated an alternative today to putting former president trump on trial. virginia senator tim kaine suggested censuring mr. trump for inciting the assault on the u.s. capitol. kaine cited tuesday's test vote, when only five republicans supported a trial. he said it's clear there are not 67 votes for a conviction. >> to do a trial knowing you'll get 55 votes at the max seems to me to be not the right prioritization of our time right now. obviously if we do a trial we could do it fast, but my top priority is covid relief and getting - you know, i'm going in for this u.n. hearing-- getting the biden cabinet approved.

>> woodruff: kaine would not say if he has any support for a censure resolution. but senate majority leader chuck schumer insisted today there will be a trial, starting the week of february 8th. thers word that a second police officer has died by suicide since responding to the assault on the u.s. capitol three weeks ago today. the head of the d.c. metro police reportedly gave that news to lawmakers in a closed-door session yesterday. one of six men accused of plotting to kidnap michigan governor gretchen whitmer pleaded guilty today. ty garbin admitted his role during a federal court hearing in grand rapids. the f.b.i. says the conspirators talked of targeting whitmer over coronavirus curbs. in russia, lawmakers approved extending the last remaining nuclear treaty with the u.s., days before a deadline. "new start" limits both sides' nuclear arsenals.

the trump administration argued the treaty disadvantaged the u.s. president biden reversed that stance, and moscow welcomed the shift. >> ( translated ): we had to act under heavy time pressure. the previous administration connected the extension to the conditions which were unacceptable for us. with biden the situation was adjusted. and we need to give proper respect to the new white house team and its pragmatic approach. >> woodruff: the extension runs five years. the biden administration has halted a major arms sale to the united arab emirates, for now, pending a review. the deal was announced by the trump administration in november. it let the u.a.e. buy 50 f-35 stealth fighter jets, worth $23 billion. until now, only israel was allowed to buy the high-tech planes. the u.s. federal reserve confirms that the latest covid surge has done more economic damage.

as a result, the central bank pledged again today to keep interest rates near zero. fed chair jerome powell said it's unclear how long the pandemic's effects will linger, partly because of vaccination problems. >> one of the reasons why is the slowness of the rollout. another reason why is just the arrival of these new virus strains. we don't know how to model that. we can have a base case but we realize no one knows how this new vaccine will roll out-- how successful it will be. >> woodruff: the u.s. labor market is still some 10 million jobs below where it was, before the virus hit. on wall street, new worries about the economy pushed major indexes down two percent or re; their worst day since october. the dow jones industrial average lost 633 points to close at 30,303. the nasdaq fell 355 points, and, the s&p 500 slid 98 points.

we'll take a closer look, after the news summary. and, the oscar and emmy-winning actress cloris leachman died today at her home in southern california. she won eight emmys on "the mary tyler moore show" and other tv programs. she received an academy award for her role in "the last picture show," and also appeared cloris leachman was 94 years old. still to come on the newshour: vaccinations continue at a glacial pace as covid-19 deaths and infections continue to rise. antony blinken faces challenges on multiple fronts as he takes over at the state department. and much more.

>> woodruff: part of this today's market frenzy was not just a plunge due to concerns over the pandemic and the economy. there's been major tumult today and in recent days as individual investors and young day traders are upending the market and sending prices of a few companies soaring, companies that were seen as struggling just days or weeks ago. william brangham gets the lay of the land. >> brangham: judy, these traders, who are fueling this via social media, have been driving up the price of several stocks after other investors had written them off. it has sent the price of the video game retailer, game stop, to stratospheric levels. and today, the frenzy continued and drove up the price of the movie chain amc, as well as the once-popular device maker, blackberry. to help us understand what's going on, i'm joined by andrew

ross sorkin. he's the co-anchor of cnbc's "squawk box" and a columnist for the "new york times," as well as an editor of its "daybook" newsletter. andrew ross sorkin, great to have you back on the newshour. such wild developments in the market today. can you just help us understand what on earth is going on? >> it's hard to understand. it is a wild, wild story. i don't think i've ever seen anything like this in my career, frankly. there is a small group, almost a small army, if you will, of mostly younger folks who are assembling online in chat groups and are bidding up the shares of companies like gamestop. gamestoches a company that was worth $20 a share at the beginning of this year. today, it's worth almost $350 a share. the company is now worth the same as delta. this company makes no money. there's an almost ponzi scheme-like element to this.

it was originally driven by a nostalgia for gamestop by some of the investors and a "stick it to the man" kind of view that the system was rigged against companies like gamestop, and that the system was rigged against retail investors. a number of the big wa wall strt hedge funds had bet against the gamestop shares. they bet the shares would go down, and the other investors were trying to effectively win the game and make them lose. and at the moment, they are winning, but i would just caution those who are out there today, the greatest likelihood is that these protesters will be the ones who will ultimately lose, because there are no fundamentals behind the kinds of trades that are going on at this point. >> brangham: just so i understand this, these smaller traders seem to know that the bigger hedge funds had these basically short-selling options on these companies. and the bigger investors were

hoping the stock prices would go down. they're reversing that trend and driving the stock up. how does that reversal of fortune hurt the bigger investors? >> well, in truth, it hurts the bigger investors in so much as the hedge funds lose money. in one case, a big hedge fund has now lost several billion dollars and needed to be rescued as a result of this. but what i'm not sure the-- quote, unquote-- protesters that are doing this fully appreciate is the hedge funds are managing the money of pensioners. so when you really think about who's lost, at least thus far in this-- and it shouldn't be considered a game in this winning and losing way-- but so far, the hedge funds have lost, the wall street hedge funds have lost, but they have effectively lost pensioners' money. >> brangham: there has been this talk, as you well know, for years, about whether or not day traders are actually consequential in the market. and it's hard not to look at

what's been going on over these last days and weeks and think they are cons qesh. they are able to move the market in a substantial way. do you think this does change something fundamentally? >> i think there are two things going on. i think they were substantial in moving the market, to a degree. but like any great protest, they often get co-opted by others. and there is-- there are professional investors now today that are also bidding up the shares of gamestop as part of almost a pop psychology play. and so it's exacerbating what's happening. so, yes, a small group of investor has clearly moved market to some degree, but coming on top of that are professional investors who effectively are trying to take advantage of those folks. and so it's going to be very interesting to see how this all unravels itself. >> brangham: elizabeth warren and others have said, look, a lot of these big-time investors have treated the stock market like a casino for yea, she

argues, and now they're complaining and basically she's saying boo-hoo for hem. her other point for her is now is the time for financial regulators to step up and address this. it's not clear to me, though, what is the role for a financial regulator in this circumstance? what would a financial regulator do? >> it's complicated. first of all, elizabeth warren is 100% correct, and so many of the people with her, so many of the people buying up shares of gamestop agree with her. they're saying the system is rigged, and they are saying, "we are manipulating it, but we've been manipulated for so very many years." the question you asked, how do you regulate this what, are the regulators suppod to do is a reg question without a great answer? because it's not clear what's being done here is illegal. it's all actually being done, for the most part, out in the open. you can go online and see these people talking to each other. you can argue maybe it's a

pump-and-dump scheme, but it's being done quite publicly. so i think the regulators are going to have to grapple with this. the s.e.c. is going to have a pretty hard job on their hands to figure out what to do. i will make one mention-- some of the big brokerage firms are starting to limit the amount of leverage, the amount of aloned money they're providing to some of these investors for specific stocks, like gamestop, so that could reduce some of the interest in pursuing these type of events. >> brangham: all right, andrew ross sorkin, thanks for helping us get through this very, very strange case. >> it's a complicated one. thanks. >> woodruff: even as president biden's team is ramping up plans for production of covid vaccines, there were also sober warnings that it will take well through the summer to vaccinate

enough americans. c.d.c. director dr. rochelle walensky laid out what the country could face immediately.. >> now is the time to remain vigilant. if we continue on the current trajectory, the c.d.c. most recent national ensemble forecasts predicts that 479,000 to 514,000 covid 19 deaths will be recorded by feb 20, 2021. but if we are united in action can turn things around. continuing to expand safe, effective vaccination is key to ending the covid 19 pandemic and bringing our country back to health. >> woodruff: the u.s. is by no means the only country struggling with vaccine supply and demand. today, a battle escalated between the european union and vaccine maker astrazeneca. the company says production

back here, there are major concerns over vaine supply and equity. stephanie sy looks at how those concerns are playing out at the ground level >> sy: judy, a recent analysis by kaiser health news finds black and latino citizens are getting vaccines at significantly lower rates in a number of states. especially worrying given the major disparities in death rates, which public health officials reminded us of today. as you can see on this chart, black, indigenous and latino people are dying a much higher rate than white people. here to talk about these equity concerns, i'm joined by dr. mysheika roberts, the public health cmissioner of columbus, ohio. dr. roberts, thank you so much for joining us. know you have been focused on these issues. and in fact, i've heard you say in the past that there in columbus, public health officials have an equity agenda. what does that mean in practical terms? >> yeah, well, thanks for having me. and, yeah, here in columbus, ohio, our mayor, mayor andy genther, has an equity agenda for our city, and it does involve help, and he has declared racism as a public health issue which has really

caused my department, as well as many health agencies in town, to focus their work on looking at the health inequities that exist and how we can work to overcome them. >> what does that mean in terms of the current vaccination program? for example, are you going directly to those neighborhoods, those black and brown communities where the vaccine is needed the most? are you deploying mobile clinics at this point, to bring the vaccine to those that might not be able to access it? >> really, we're doing all of the above that you mentioned. so here in our community is no different than across the nation. black and brown individuals have been disproportionately impacted by covid-19, whether that's in cases, hospitalizations, or even deaths. so it's more important than ever that we also get that same population vaccinated with the new covid-19 vaccine. so we are really putting boots on the ground. we're working with grassroots organizations, trying to get the message out that these vaccines are safe and effective, who should get the vcine, and when

the vaccine is available for those groups. we're also doing some mobile clinics where we'reoing to those neighborhoods, we're going to those organizations where we know have a large population of black and brown individuals, and we're providing those vaccines for them at a location that's convenient for them. >> you know, you talk about misinformation, and i saw a video of you, dr. roberts, in which you felt the need to say that the vaccine does not include a tracking device, which i think really speaks to the misinformation and conspiracy theories that are plaguing the vaccination efforts. how big of a challenge is that there? >> well i think the misinformation say huge challenge across the nation. but, yeah, there are some people who think when we say the vaccine includes nanoparts, nanoproteins-- which in the here, feel just means very small-- have people have interpreted that as nanotechnology, and that the vaccine actually has the ability

to track people. so they don't want to get vaccinated because they think by getting vaccinated the government can now track them. and i remind people all the time that the smartphones that we use every day can track you much more effectively than any vaccine that we could provide. >> and,sh, dr. roberts, when it comes to the mistrust in the black community, there isa history of mistreatment, whether it came to the tuskegee experiment or henrietta lacks, how do you counter that history and rebuild that trust? >> well, first i think we have to acknowledge the history and acknowledge thatblack and brown individuals have a reason to distrust or mistrust our health care community. and then we have to let them know that because of tho incidents, because of tuskegee, because of henrietta lacks, so much has changed in our health care arena to protect individuals that look like me and to protect everyone. and so that's why we have

informed consent now. that's some of the reason why we have hippa, is to protect our health information and make sure people understand if they're taking a risk what that risk might be. and so, one, we have to acknowledge it. then we have to let them know that this vaccine has gone through all the safety measures. the vaccines we have on the market now are available for anyone over the age of 16 or 18, depending on the product you're looking at. and these vaccines are being given to everyone, whether you're white, black, brown, or purple. and so, first, just identifying why they have that mistrust and acknowledging that, and then telling them how our community has changed as a result of those incidents that plagued our communitys. >> i just want to ask one quick question broadly of how the vaccination efforts are going there. i understand that you're now in the phase where you're offering the vaccine to those 75 and older, as well as some people with disabilities, congenital and medical disorders. how is it all going?

what can be improved? >> well i think from my perspective, what we're doing at columbus public health, it's going well. we would all love to have more vaccines and, obviously, we'd love to be able to vaccinate everyone. we do have this phased-in approach that our state put in place, and we're following that. next week we will start vaccinating staff that work in k-12 schools, so we're getting a lot more doses of the vaccine next week to accommodate that population. but like everyone is saying across the country, if we had more vaccines, we could vaccinate more people. >> so many priorities you're juggling. dr. mysheika roberts, thank you so much for joining us with the perspective from columbus, ohio. >> thanks for having me. take care. >> woodruff: today the nation's top diplomat spent his first full day on the job. and secretary of state tony blinken also spoke to the press, and our nick schifrin was watching.

hello, nick. there was a lot of conversation today about the middle east. tell us how this administration is changing its approach from the trump administration. >> yeah, earlier today, the state department announced a pause on arms sales. that includes the f-35s that the trump administration negotiated to the united arab emrates to facilitate normalization with israel, and the american weapons saudi arabia used in yemen to fight the iranian-backed houthi rebels. blinken said the pause was are routine. but he said of all of the moves by mike pompeo, he was most concerned about the designation of of the houthis as an international terror organization over the objections of humanitarians. >> we have seen a campaign lead by saudi arabia that has also contributed to what is, by many estimates, the worst hunitarian crisis in the world today. and that's saying something. and so it's vitally important,

even in the midst of this crise, that we do everything we can to get humanitarian assistance to the people of yemen, who are in desperate need. and what we want to make sure is that any steps we are taking do not get in the way of providing that assistance. >> that criticism of saudi arabia is a break from the trump administration, especially as the biden team wants to negotiate with iran over the objections of saudi arabia, israel, and congressional republicans. but the biden team argues the priority must be to extend the time that iran would need to build a nuclear weapon if it made that decision. that time dropped since the trump administration left the iran nuclear deal. and the biden team argues that after that nuclear deal is reestablished, then the u.s. and iran can discuss other issues. but, judy, domestic opposition in both countries is going to make that extremely difficult, as blinken admitted today. >> iran is out of compliance on

a number of fronts, and it would take some time, should it make the decision to do so, for it to come back into compliance in time for us then to assess whether it was meeting its obligations. so we're not-- we're not there yet. >> another reason, judy, why this may take a long time, the biden administration plans on negotiating with congress, european allies, and partners in the middle east before negotiating with iran. >> woodruff: and then on afghanistan, nick, secretary blinken announced that the biden team will keep the trump administration's envoy on afghanistan. tell us the significance of that. >> yeah, that is halil-azad, who has been leading the u.s. negotiations with the taliban. he,sh, made the deal with the taliban last year that if the taliban negotiated seriously with the afghan government and did not attack u.s. troops, then the u.s. would craw wraw from afghanistan completely by march. but the biden white house has said it is reviewing that

agreement. the pentagon said it is reviewing recent drawdowns from afghanistan, judy, both hints that the biden administration may not follow through with that promised withdrawal. >> woodruff: and, nick, when it comes to china, we know confronting china was one of the most prominent policies to come out of the trump administration. tell us what secretary blinken had to say about that. >> yeah, today, secretary blinken said the u.s.-china relationship had "adversarial and competitive aspects." but he also said the u.s. wanted to work with china, especially on climate change. and that opening for cooperation, that's a little different than what mike pompeo used to say. reporters also asked about another late trump administration decisions are, and that is to name the uighurs, that is a muslim minority in western china who has been systematically and brutally persecuted by the chinese communist government as victims of genocide. today, during questioning by republican senator marco rubio

the anominee said that declaration is under review. >> what they did is horrific, and i look forward to seeing the results of the review being done, but, certainly-- >> the state department issued a designation, i believe, on the president's last day. so is it your understanding that it's now being reviewed by the state department to see if that's appropriate? >> i think the state department is reviewing that now because all of the procedures were not followed, and i think that they're looking to make sure that they are followed to ensure that that designation is held. >> but today, blinken said he did support the genocide declaration, that he hadn't seen what thomas-greenfelled said, so he couldn't comment on it. >> woodruff: and, nickly, finally, overall, how would you say the meage from the biden administration is different from that of the trump administration? >> yeah, for blinken, it was tone and relationship with the press. america first replaced with a

conversation about how important allies are, and enemies of the people replaced with, well, praise for the media, a promise for blinken to speak to us often and return to daily briefings. that, judy, perhaps more than any one policy is the reason that blinken appeared at the podium at the state department on his first full day. >> woodruff: already a significant change. nick schifrin reporting on it all. thank you, nick. >> thank you. >> woodruff: it's a given that strong family ties are critical, especially for mothers serving time in prison. amna nawaz has this story, part of our ”searching for justice" series. >> i know you want a second chance, but i've given you a thousand. >> nawaz: this is a letter from melissa trinidad's 17-year-old daughter. >> i will always love you. but i just can't. not now. you can't waltz back into my life and expect toe my mom

again. >> nawaz: she received it soon after she was released from jail in september. trinidad, a mother of three, is in recovery from heroin addiction. she says her problems began with prescription pain pills, back in 2012. >> since then, you know, i have been in recovery and then relapse and then recovery and relapse. so it's kind of been an up and downhill battle >> nawaz: over those eight years, trinidad's also been in and out jail. most recently, serving 17 months for prescription fraud in williamsburg, virginia. her three children, including her now-estranged daughter, were placed with three separate relatives. >> me going to jail the very first time changed obviously my entire, you know, little family. i mean, it got broke. it was broken up. everybody was somewhere different. and it was traumatizing, especially for them. >> nawaz: that trauma is becoming more common across america. women make up the fastest growing segment of the u.s. prison population-- an estimated

80% are mothers. >> on any given day in this country, over two million children have an incarcerated parent and it devastates >> nawaz: brittany barnett is a dallas lawyer, whose own mother spent two and a half years in prison. >> i remember visiting my mom the first time and talking to her through the glass and you're holding the phone to your ear. and i just remember pressing that phone so hard against my face because i didn't want to miss the sound of my mom's voice. >> nawaz: barnett founded a non profit called girls embracing mothers, to keep kids connected with incarcerated parents. >> i can attest from my personal experiencewhen one person goes to prison, the entire family goes to prison. t it's something different when it's your mama. it's a primal wound. >> nawaz: for 52-year-old chalana mcfarland, the wounds from missing her daughter, nia cosby, are still fresh. >> it hurts even to this day that i wasn't able to be with her. >> nawaz: in 2005 mcfarland, then an attorney, was convicted

of mortgage fraud and sentenced to 30 years in prison. cosby went to live with her grandparents. she was four years old. >> when she'd cry on the phone and say, mommy, i want to see you, i mean, my heart would just break. and there are a lot of ladies that decide that they just rather not have the visit because it's just too hard. >> nawaz: what did you decide? >> i wanted every visit that i could ha because i have a 30 year sentenc so it doesn't look as if i'm going to even when she got a little bit older, she may have been about six. and she went up to the officer and she says, can we take my mommy to mcdonald's for just a little while? i promise we'll bring her right back, and the officer just told her, no, sweetheart, you know, we can't let her go right now. >> nawaz: cosby, too, has vivid memories of those visits. >> whenever you go to visit, you're not allowed to, like, lay on them, like snuggle them, cuddle them, you know, you're allowed to, like, hug and, like, hold hands across the table.

that's about it. >> nawaz: she's 20 now. a college sophomore, studying finance. and still struggles with the moments her mother missed. >> i did dance. i played basketball. i did choir for many, many years. and i always wanted my mom to be able to see me do those things. i did want her to be a part of those things. >> nawaz: but last summer, an unexpected turn: as covid-19 spread across the country, mcfarland got word she was getting out. >> i have a number of respiratory issues that all make me extremely vulnerable to the virus. >> nawaz: in june 2020, 15 years into her sentence, she was released to home confinement, and walked out of prison. her daughter was outside waiting. >> i saw the door open and she walked out and i just walked up to her and i just gave her the biggest hug. it just was probably the

happiest moment of my of my life to just be back with her. just to see her and hug her and be able to touch her. it was wonderful. >> nawaz: cosby studies and works in tallahassee, florida. mcfarland was under home confinement outside atlanta, monitored with an ankle bracelet. >> so what else do you have to do today? >> oh i feel like i have way more work. >> nawaz: so calls like this were often there only connection... >> but we facetime nearly every day and im always sending her pictures like, you know, how does this makeup look or do you like this outfit or look at these shoes i bought. so she's like my stylist now >> nawaz: and on president trump's final day in office, mcfarland was among those granted clemency, so more in- person visits are now in the works. all these years later, the two have a lot to talk about. >> i feel the guilt and the pain and the shame of not having been

there to raise my own daughter. >> nawaz: you feel guilty about that? >> absolutely. she didn't deserve to have to serve the sentence with me. >> we're not going to be able to go back in time and make up for those lost memories, but what we can do is build for the future. >> nawaz: keeping that future stable, experts say, depends on rebuilding their bond. research shows staying close with children helps reduce recidivism among incarcerated mothers. >> many times women, mothers are the primary caregivers of children prior to their incarceration. and when that force is gone, it leaves a huge void. >> nawaz: barnett says especially for newly-released mothers, the stakes are high... >> there are a lot of reentry hurdles that need to be overcome to ensure that mothers don't go back to prison and ensure that children are in stable

environments so that we can empower them and prevent a future generation of girls from entering the criminal legal system. >> nawaz: melissa trinidad is now living in a halfway house in richmond, virginia. she has a full-time job, and says she's been drug-free for more than a year and a half. she regularly visits with her 19-year-old son and lexi, her 12-year-old daughter. the rift with her older daughter remain five or ten years from now what do you think your family looks like? >> i would like to have a relationship with all of my kids. i want them to be able to call me and tell me things and have a place for my kids to come you know, even if they're not living with me, just a place for them to come and they know they're safe because they haven't had that in a while. >> nawaz: which is why she says she'll keep working towards the life she couldn't give them before. for the pbs newshour, i'm amna nawaz. >> woodruff: heartbreaking.

and that's the newshour for tonight. and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. newshour, thank you, please stay safe, and see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> 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

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