♪ judy: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the "newshour" tonight -- healthcare in america. the biden administration makes changes to the availability of care, including re-opening the insurance marketplace in response to the pandemic. then, staying safe from covid. we examine evolving recommendations on masks, social distancing, and ventilation for avoiding exposure to the coronavirus. and, help wanted -- despite rising salaries, a shortage of skilled tradespeople gets worse by the day, as an older generation of workers retires. >> you're doing manual labor. some people look down on that. and that makes people not want to go into it, clearly.

judy: all that and more on tonight's "pbs newshour.” >> major funding for the "pbs newshour" has been provided by -- >> before we talk about your investments, what is new? >> audrey is expecting. >> twins. >> we could be closer to the twins. >> change in plans. >> at fidelity, a change in plans is always part of the plan. >> consumer cellular, johnson & johnson, bnsf railway, the kendeda fund, committed to advancing restorative justice and meaningful work through investments in transformative leaders and ideas. more at kendedafund.org.

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 individuals and institutions. ♪ ♪ >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and from contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. judy: help for health care. that issue topped today's agenda at the biden white house. correspondent yamiche alcindor has our report.

yamiche: today, president biden focused on his campaign pledge to strengthen obamacare. pres. biden: there's nothing new that we're doing here other than restoring the affordable care act and restoring medicaid to the way it was before trump became president. yamiche: in the oval office, he said the that effort more is urgent than ever. pres. biden: of all times that we need to reinstate access to, affordability of, and extend access to medicaid is now in the middle of this covid crisis. yamiche: his first action, expanding enrollment. beginning february 15th, healthcare.gov, the federal online insurance marketplace, will open an additional sign up period. the kaiser family foundation has found that 15 million uninsured americans are still elible for that coverage. but in december, the regular enrollment window closed and

former president trump declined to reopen it. mr. trump: what we want to do is terminate it and give yamiche: great health care. yamie: during his term, trump repeatedly took steps to dismantle the affordable care act. there is a case pending in the u.s. supreme court that could lead to its demise. meanwhile, president biden also ordered action to roll back other trump policies including work requirements, in some states, as a condition for low-income people to enroll in medicaid. and, the president moved to reverse 2 policies on abortion. he rescinded the so-called global gag rule that bars u.s. funding for health groups abroad that offer abortion counseling. he directed steps toward restoring federal funding for planned parenthood and other groups making abortion referrals in the u.s. at the other end of pennsylvania avenue, two of the new president's cabinet nominees made pitches for new economic stimulus. there was ohio congresswoman marcia fudge nominated for , secretary of housing and urban

developments. she told her senate confirmation hearing that full recovery requires greatly expanded housing aid. >> whatever it takes, we cannot afford to allow people, in the midst of a pandemic, to be put in the streets. i just believe that extrrdinary times, take extraordinary action. yamiche: cecilia rouse, tapped to head the council defended the of economic advisers defended the, biden $1.9 trillion. >> if we don't we run the risk , of actually finding ourselves in a downward spiral because the capacity to deal with our debt is not only the amount that we spend but the size of our economy. yamiche: today democratic leaders said that if republicans refuse to support the stimulus plan they will try to push it , through anyway. for the "pbs newshour," i yamiche alcindor. am♪ stephanie: good evening, i am stephanie sy with newshour west. we will return to the rest of

the program after the latest headlines. a more contagious version of covid-19 from south africa has arrived in the u.s. with two cases confirmed in south carolina. the nation's covid death toll has passed 432,000. the new york attorney state general reported nursing home deaths were undercounted by 50%. the economy strength 3.5% as the pandemic raged, the most since the nation demobilized after world war ii. growth resumed in the third quarter. last week another 470 thousand americans filed for unemployment benefits. at least six people were killed today when nitrogen leaked at a georgia food plant in gainesville. a number of other people were injured, three of them, critically. used in refrigeration, liquid nitrogen can vaporize and force readable air out of enclosed

pieces. in pakistan, a man convicted and acquitted in the beheading of american journalist daniel pearl in 2002 is set to go free. the country's supreme court today ordered ahmed omar saeed sheikh and 3 other men released. in washington, the white house condemned the move. >> this decision to exonerate and release shiekh and the other suspects is an affront to terrorism victims everywhere including in pakistan. but we call on the pakistani government to exeditiously review its legal options including allowing the united shiekh for the brutal murder of states to prosecute shiekh for the brutal murder of an american citizen and a journalist. stephanie: secretary of state antony blinken said the u.s. will try to extradite sheikh if his acquittal stands. two americans facing extradition to japan, accused of trying to smuggle a car executive out of the country to avoid trial. michael taylor and his son peter are alleged to have help former

nissan chairman carlos ghosn flee in a box on a private jet in 2019. the taylor's lawyers say they plan to appeal. general motors plans to make most of its vehicles electric by 2035. the automaker also announced today that its entire operation aims to go carbon-neutral by 2040. gm sold more than 2.5 million vehicles in the u.s. last year, only 20,000 were electric. the nation's first second gentleman, doug emhoff, stepped out today. the husband of kamala harris had his first event touring a farm in washington to advocate for food security and racial justice. merriam-webster added second gentleman to its dictionary today. sicily tyson, a pioneer --cicely tyson, a pioneering black actor, died today. she won two emmys for her

portrayal of a slave in "the autobiography of miss jane pittman." at age 88 shw won a tony. cicely tyson was 96 years old. still to come, reaction to the biden administration's major changes to health care. we look at the recommendatio for reducing exposure to the coronavirus. former president trump continues to exert control over the republican party and much more. >> this is the "pbs newshour" from weta studios in washington and from the west at the walter cronkite bureau at arizona state university. judy: let's look more closely now at the changes and orders president biden announced today in health care.

as amna nawaz explains, the moves are designed to expand coverage and reverse some of president trump's actions on abortion and family planning. amna: a key part of one executive order signed today will re-open enrollment for the affordable care act, what many call obamacare. mr. biden's other executive action will revoke the mexico city policy, often known as the "global gag rule." that rule barred u.s. funding for groups overseas that performed abortions or offered information on them. covering all this for the washington post, is paige winfield cunningham. and she joins me now. welcome and thanks for being here. we reported details around the executive actions. let's talk about the impact. reopening and moment for the aca at health care -- healthcare.g ov.

who exactly is the biden administration trying to reach with this? paige: they opened healthcare.gov, a dozen states use their own websites and they are oning enrollment dung that limited time period. california, minnesota. this decision will apply to the vast majority of people in the u.s. the pandemic is the reason the president is cited for doing this, but i think the bigger impact will be around the timing. for years, tax expert said you could maximize enrollment and health coverage if you allow it -- align tax filing season with aca enrollment because a lot of people eligible for subsidies but may have problems affording premiums, if you outline it --

align it when they are getting refunds back, that could incentivize them to enroll in coverage. this could result in tens or hundreds thousands more people enrolling in health coverage over this three month period. amna: another executive action getting attention, rescinding the mexico city policy that dates back to the reagan administration. it has ping-pong's, depending who was in power. what is the practical impact of rescinding the policy? paige: you are right, this has ping-ponged back and forth. there is an even bigger impact at this point. when the trump administration but that policy in place four years ago, it made a broader than what previous presidents had done. it put a ban on referring for abortions or counseling

abortions not just on family planning, but international funding. by reversing this, it is removing restrictions from many nonprofits who had been forced to comply with these rules over the last four years. amna: there was a related memo asking them to review a rule that cut off funding to groups that provided abortion services. what could that review lead to? paige: we're talking about title x family planning funding. the step the trump administration trump administration took was unprecedented in banning artistic ands in the program from counseling or referring for abortion services. it had a practical effect in that planned parenthood, which is the nation's largest abortion provider and huge provider of contraceptive family planning services, withdrew, in 2019.

now you will see hhs will come out with a new funding announcement which welcomes these providers back and reverses the previous guidance. amna: in the previous administration, with moves on health care, they ended up in court. we have seen that already with this new democratic president. when you have an immigration move, you sob republican attorney general's challenge it. when you look at the moves made today, are we likely to see a lot of them end up in court? paige: it depends whether he is forging new ground. there were unprecedented things that trump administration had done. we did not talk about what the past administration did on medicaid. they allowed states to put in

place new requirements for enrollment such as worker volunteering or block grants. that is something we had not seen done previously. you are going to see the new administration pullback. i would not rule out a possibility of litigation. we will see the new administration do a wide variety of things, not just around health insurance, but having to do with discrimination, reproductive rights, which are very controversial. amna: you mentioned they are, but other areas the president says he wants to move forward with bipartisan support and could there be that supporting congress? paige: president likes to bring about consensus. over the last couple years i have tracked, especially with efforts in congress, to pass reforms to lower drug prices. this is something you have seen leading senators work on.

we have seen some bipartisan legislation. i would not rule out that this might happen. it depends on how democrats will the dice and whether they decide it will be to their advantage to rope in republicans to do something bipartisan or pass something more ambitious, which they can't get republicans on board with, but hammer them politically. amna: thanks for joining us. ♪ ♪ judy: it is a common refrain, anger, frustration, anxiety. more than 25 million shots of the covid vaccine have been given out in the u.s. or about , eight doses for every 100

people. but the process of getting that shot can be difficult and overwhelming. we wanted to capture a sampling of what americans say they're facing. nora gallina: my name is nora gallina. i live in zephyr hills, florida. andrea shiloh: my name is andrea shiloh. and i'm in houston, texas. my name is helen marshall. >> i live in montgomery county, pennsylvania. >> my name is kareem deanes, and i live in saint louis, missouri. i teach middle school here in saint louis right now. susan daniel: my name is susan daniel, and i'in dallas, texas. jason munn: my name is jason munn, and i'm a letter carrier from brentwood, new york. nora gallina: i try every day, multiple times a day, to see if an appointment has opened, every hour, basically, until i go to bed, even sometimes at midnight. helen marshall: at this point, i have tried six different branches of one supermarket, and i have tried four pharmacies, and i have tried three hospital systems, and gotten nowhere.

andrea shiloh: i have been trying, unfortunately, unsuccessfully to get the vaccine for myself and my mother, as her primary caregiver, her only caregiver. kareem deanes: information is scarce about this. i'm worried that i might not get the vaccine because of the fact that i may have missed some bits of information somewhere. nora gallina: even if my appointment were for next month, i don't care. even if my appointment 6:00 in the morning, i don't care. i will get up, i will wait, and i will go to it. but i just want to know that there's something, that i can get something. that's my biggest frustration. susan daniel: having to drive 100 miles to get a simple vaccine was just one more thing piled up on what has been a very, very difficult year for everyone. andrea shiloh: my mom is 97-and-a-half years old, and she was diagnosed with dementia two decades ago.

every day, i think about the vaccine. every day, i think about covid-19. every day, i have a conversation with someone or some exchange about it. it's like the albatross sitting on my shoulder. jason munn: we went out and we kept the economy running in new york state. and now it feels like we're completely forgotten. and i am in no way expecting us to go to the front of the line, and i don't think we're heroes. but we did do a brave thing, and it was noble and we worked very hard. susan daniel: our family in oklahoma city has a son with special needs. and he is especially susceptible or at risk with the virus. and that has been a very, very big concern for them. they have told us that it's been the hardest year of their life.

helen marshall: it's hard, because i know there are people that we're not going to see again, i'm already missing one friend who was in a nursing home and contracted covid. nora gallina: i want to hug my family. and i think having the vaccine brings me closer to that goal. it's a race to the luckiest or the swiftest on the computer. i think a lot of luck is involved in the process. helen marshall: after what i read this morning, i'm hoping that i will get it before june, frankly. i just keep telling myself it'll happen eventually. so, hopefully, we will make it. judy: so tough. and there is at least some good news from helen marshall, who we just heard from. she was able to get the vaccine today. as frustrating as it may be, public health officials say it's important to continue trying to

get an appointment. you should not have to pay out of pocket, although you may be asked for your insurance information. the biden administration has laid out its plan to speed up vaccinations. that includes purchasing and distributing an additional 200 million doses of vaccine, deploying fema to operate up to 100 community vaccination centers, and expanding the number of people who can administer vaccines. but the administration said it may take through the summe before most americans can get a shot. given that and the emergence of new, alarming strains of the virus, including one found in south carolina, public health officials warn it's crucial we redouble our protection efforts. william brangham looks at the latest on both phones. william: judy, there are now severatroubling mutants of the coronavirus cculating today. a few make the virus more

contagious. the u.k. strain is not only more contagious, but is more likely to make people sick or kill them. the cdc believes that strain will become dominant in the u.s. by march. given those concerns, we wanted to look again at the latest science about how to best protect ourselves. the first thg to remember is these new variants, just like the initial coronavirus they come from, travel through the air. that is the main way people get sick. someone who's infected breathes out the virus, and someone who's healthy breathes it in. dr. linsey marr at virginia tech studies airborne transmission, and she says the coronavirus can travel on small airborne droplets, or even smaller aerosols. >> droplets are large, visible droplets that fly out of our mouths when we're coughing or talking. aerosols are really just smaller droplets. they are microsoft -- are microscopic and we release hundreds of those for every one

large droplet that might come out. william: but, according to erin bromage, who researches immunology and infectious disease at u-mass dartmouth, not everyone who is infected spreads the virus the same way, or in the same amounts. >> we know that some people have a lot more virus, and it's not just twice the amount, it can be 100 fold or a 1000 fold more virus inside their mouth. so those people with talking, with singing, with shouting, breathing, for that matter, can release a thousand times more of those viral particles into the air. william: with these new mutant strains, it's not totally clear why they're more contagious, only that they are. this only reinforces the need for mask wearing. numerous studies have now confirmed that wearing a mask can reduce the risk of transmission, but not all masks are created equally. >> virtually any covering over your face will deal with those large droplets.

a handkerchief, a bandanna, they all deal with those large droplets in roughly the same way, but there is a big difference between the quality of the mask being worn and the ability to both filter the small little aerosols out, on the way out, and filter them on the way back in. william: there's still a great deal of confusion about what kinds of masks offer the best protection. n95s are considered tops, but since they're still in short supply, many say they should be left only for frontline health care workers. kf94 masks, like knees made in south korea, are considered a good substitute, and while they can be found online, there are reports of fakes and counterfeits swirling around. so what's a consumer to do? >> unfortunately, there aren't any standards for masks right now. those are coming, but it's going to be several months. in the meantime, what we know is that tightly woven cloth works better than loosely knitted cloth. two layers is better than one. three layers is even better, as

long as it doesn't inhibit you from breathing easily through the fabric. if you really want to upgrade your masks, the thing to do is to look for a mask with a pocket or a middle layer where you can insert a filter. things like a hepa filter, a high efficiency particulate air filter work very well, block 99% of particles. the other thing you can do is to use a surgical type mask which filters really well, but probably doesn't fit so well, especially around the sides. and to layer a second mask on top of that, like a tight fitting cloth mask to help improve the fit and reduce gaps. that way you get both good filtration and a good fit. william: one of the things that seems, i think, so difficult for people is that they go to shop for a mask and it's very hard to assess quality or whether or not something that is a surgical mask or claims to be one, is in fact, one. >> so we want to look for certification seals if we are actually buying, say, surgical masks.

the astm rating, one, two and three. a three is the best that you can get in regards to surgical masks. the fda actually has a website that shows true from false, you have fake from from real ones. william: if masks are the first layer of protection, the second one is distancing. we have heard this mantra for months. avoid crowds as much as possible, d if you're around others, stay six feet apart. but six feet is not some magical number. >> it really isn't a magic number. i mean, it's the closer you are, the more risk that you have. the analogy which is not perfect, that it is a way you can think about it, if you are standing right next to a person smoking a cigarette, you will be inhaling a lot of that. it is the same with the virus. six feet is a good standard. it is easy for people to visualize six feet, but 10 feet is better, three feet is worse. it's not this instant cut off of distance. william: this is why outdoor

gatherings are recommended. infinite amounts of fresh air swirling around will disperse the virus quickly. restaurant tents you see but those sealedrestaurant tents you see everywhere, not great. they are technically outside, but airflow is often minimal. crowded, indoor gatherings with people outside your familyre by far the riskiest environments. there, if someone is infected, the virus can build up and linger in the air. keeping your distance is no guarantee of safety. >> you also want to pay attention to ventilation. open the door or windows a few inches. a halfway open door can make a huge difference. that is one way to improve the ventilation. william: with these new, more contagious variants spreading -- spreading, public health experts argue this is the time to redouble safety measures. that also applies to people who have been vaccinated. because it's not clear if the vaccine also prevents people

from transmitting the virus. these precautions, they argue, will save lives, avoid more lockdowns, and could get us through the next few months until more people get vaccinated. oh, and don't forget to keep washing your hands. for the pbs newshour, i'm william brangham. ♪ judy: it has been a week since president trump left office, but house minority leader kevin mccarthy was in florida today to meet with the former president where they agreed to work together to win back the majority. out of power on capitol hill, the republican party is deeply divided on issues like the attack on the capitol, the impeachment of mr. trump and even his role in the party. for a cck on the gop divide we turn to denver riggleman, a republican who represented virginia in congress until

earlier this month. he is now the chief strategist at the network contagion research institute, an organization fighting misinformation. and whit ayres, the president of north star opinion research, a political polling group that has worked with republican politicians including senators marco rubio and lindsey graham and florida governor ron desantis. hello to both of you. good to have you with us. denver, let me start with you. what shape is the republican party right now? how much power does president trump still hold? denver: he holds a lot of power. i am in virginia, south central portion of this great commonwealth. when you go downrange, about half an hour south, i saw a trump-tents -- pence sign. pence had been spray painted with crude language.

i went into a store and they were all pro-trump. i am seeing committees in georgia, kentucky, michigan. what i am saying, in certain districts, trump or play well. there is an advantage to these individuals that grasped the mythology and messaging. i am seeing that in north carolina and even here in virginia. some people are already running on stop the steal. i am not trying to sound pessimistic, but it is not as bad as people think. but people like me who are angry about the capitol riots, might be in the minority. judy: whit, are you seeing the same thing in the republican party? whit: hello, judy. good to be with you. the gop is sharply split today between the governing faction and a populist faction.

the governing faction has gained majority support in the past among elected officials and retains the dominant force among elected officials today including the congressman. a populist faction predated donald trump. donald trump expanded and grew it to the point it republican primaries today. though it has never gained majority support in the country. judy: what does that mean right now? as we try to understand the place for truth, for fighting misinformation, what happens to party members trying to do that? denver: i thought the use of compassionate blunt force facts could be a way to pull people in. ifou remember my convention

last year, i was hit with conspiracy theories. even with my history in intelligence dating back to al qaeda and the taliban, it is interesting i could not break through with the truth. i got messages today that said i was still on the wrong side of things. on march 4, that trump would come back and be inaugurated -- and these are people i know. i wonder how hard it would be to bait -- bring people back to the fold. there seems to be an uptick in polling. also the open source data and chatter, it seemseople are buying back into the stop the steel and -- steal and conspiracy theories that have spread across the country. judy: the question is, is there a place in the republican for

traditional republicans, people who don't buy into the idea of the election was fraudulent, that donald trump actually won? whit: we will find that out. it is not clear that is the case. whether the gop retains its uneasy alliance between the governing faction in the populist faction depends upon things wdo not know about yet. how is the biden administration going to govern? will they govern from the center or get pushed to the left? how active is donald trump going to remain in politics in america? will there emerge a republican leader who can somehow split or appeal to both factions of the party? marco rubio gave a speech at catholic university called common good capitalism where he said corporate leaders have as much of an obligation to their

workers as to their shareholders. that is an attempt to bridge the divide. we will see if that is successful. judy: i am asking you this because just as an example, today, florida congressman matt gaetz went to wyoming and held a rally against liz cheney, who was and is in the republican house of representatives, one of the 10 republicans who voted to impeach president trump. let's listen to one part of what the congressman said today. >> if you want to prove you have the power to [indiscernible] liz cheney in this upcoming election, wyoming will bring washington to its knees. leadership does not mean backing

a nancy pelosi field impeachment by reflex. there is basically two things liz cheney has done in the congress. frustrate the agenda of president trump, and sellout to the forever war machine. judy: in liz cheney you have a solidly conservative member of the can -- republican party. is it she in real jeopardy here? whit: absolutely. liz is a friend of mine, but liz is tough. i don't know if she will take kindly to matt gaetz going to her home state. she used the makeup analogy, but one piece of mascara at a time is not the way you want to go at it. you saw how many people were there. i think he had donald trump, jr. there over the telephone speaking about this. you can see the trump family

still involved in politics. they have a grudge against liz cheney. they want to do this. i do believe there'll be a challenge d a lot of money pumped into that race. you sleep money pumped into fred upton. tom rice will get hit, too. i talked to these individuals. they are not afraid. there angry, that they understand the challenges coming. i think it remains to be seen what happens. from what i'm saying on data and what people believe in the committees and how they are voting, there is trepidation with people like liz who voted for impeachment. judy: whit, you said a lot depends on how president biden governs. in the meantime, are you concerned we could see more violence like what we saw at the capitol on january 6? there is a warning about

domestic terrorism. i'm man was found with explosives in his car threatening governor newsom of california today, a democrat. are we headed for a period where we may see more violence? whit: you can't guarantee we won't, not with the kinds of emotions out there. it is incredibly divisive when someone like congressman gates goes to the home district of a leader of the republican house caucus and attacks them. that makes people angrier. i think we are in a tenuous time and it is really dangerous to be continuing to feed peopleies and misinformation just to get them riled up. judy: it is disturbing to think about. we thank you so much for joining

us. thank you. judy: there is a shortage of skilled trades people throughout the u.s. economy, a persistent problem that started well before the pandemic. but given high unemployment, it's an important time to explore what's behind that gap and what can be done. paul solman has the story for our series, "work shift", which focuses on navigating the job market in a post-covid economy. reporter: superstar seattle, where the high tech young make six figures and up. but you can make that much in low tech too, says plumber vinnie sposari. vinnie sposari: drain cleaning, light plumbing repairs and that kind of thing, we've got guys

making over $100,000 a year. paul: sposari owns seattle's mr rooter franchise. vinnie sposari: i've got plumbers that work for me today that make $200,000 plus a year. paul: what age? >> any age. paul: making $200,000 a year or more? vinnie sposari: absolutely. paul: that's because there simply are not enough plumbers, not in boomtowns like seattle, not anywhere. manpower is one of the most >> frustrating parts of my job, filling all the spots. i can hire six, eight experienced plumbers right now. paul: but they're just not out there? vinnie sposari: they're just not out there. guys that are my age, they're aging out. paul: but why aren't they being replaced with the young, given their historically low labor participation rate, made worse by the pandemic? there are all these kids who either aren't working at all or are working in dead end, low wage jobs. why can't you say to them by age , of 25 or 30, you could be

making six figures, just come with me. vinnie sposari: i would love to. i've gone to some career days. and you know, the kids, you're waiting for them to come talk to you and they just don't. paul: so why no takers? trevor caldwell: first and foremost is the perception of plumbing. paul: trevor caldwell is vinnie sposari's right hand man. there's this stigma that goes along with getting your hands dirty. just a plumber, not a person, just a plumber. i don't want to be that guy. paul: or that gal. >> you are doing manual labor, some people tend to look down on that and that makes people not want to go into it, clearly. paul: sarah schnabel isn't a plumber, but an ithaca, new york electrical apprentice. another well-paying trade which can't find good help these days. a frustration for schnabel's boss, brian lamorte and his colleagues. >> i know lots of guys in the trade who are contractors, and they're looking for help. paul: and willing to pay for

it. >> we recently raised our rates as a business to $90 an hour and we are not pushing t envelope. we were $75 an hour before that and $65 before that. it is to the point where you would pay us more to fix your light switch than you do to go to the doctor. paul: so again, why no takers? >> for people my age it is more glamorous to think of the tech job where you're in a really nice cushy office building. we're the kind of people who are going to hire someone to go change a light bulb, let alone go into the trades. that is where my generation is right now. >> i can't give them a power tool, they might kill themselves with it. they have never held a power tool in their life. paul: yes, says detroit master plumber adrienne bennett, whose firm is currently helping to revitalize “michigan central station" it takes a non-cushy mindset. >> you need to be there on the this is physical work. jobsite every day and on time. a lot of the young people today don't have work ethics. paul: but of course, plenty do.

determined to breed new plumbers, vinnie sposari runs his own year-long training program. >> there are many options to provide. paul: paying young people from the get-go to learn the trade. vinnie sposari: we're paying our trainees $15 to $18 an hour. when you're done with the program you're not a full , licensed plumber, you're a service technician who's able to snake drains and to do the kind of small plumbing repairs and whatnot and get close to that six-figure income. you are getting paid to learn that. paul: after a certain number of hours and possibly an exam, requirements vary by locality you can become a licensed , plumber, a quality credential in an economy where only 11% of employers think colleges and universities are doing a good job of preparing people for the workforce. >> tighten everything before you hang that up. paul: says sposari of his

apprenticeship program -- >> it is open for everybody. i would welcome anybody. you'd be amazed how many people we want to hire, but our insurance company won't insure them because of driving violations, drugs, you know, can't keep a job. you see some applicants come in here in a ripped t-shirt, hasn't shaved. you go out, look at his car and it is full of garbage. it has not been washed in a month. those are the things we look at. paul: but plenty of young folks have intact t-shirts, clean faces, clean cars. maybe they realize or learn you need an apprenticeship to get licensed, says plumber adrienne bennett. >> the apprenticeships are five years. and you start out at maybe $15 an hour. to get to $40 an hour will take you five or six years. paul: plus, to get a job, isn't it who you know? few potential candidates know tradespeople, it seems. >> i did not know anybody. paul: manuel rios, a mr. rooter

trainee, used to work on electric motors for $18 an hour with little prospect of making much more. but by chance, he met some plumbers there. >> they said they make a lot of money. i realized plumbing is never going to end because you always going to need a plumber. so the business is always going to be there. paul: the final barrier to entry in the trades is a familiar one, says electrician lamorte. >> there is a certain feeling that it's kind of like a white man's game, i hate to say it. people who are lgbtq, minorities, are a little bit intimidated by the boys club that exists. paul: and of course, women. added together, that's about two-thirds of the country. in the late 1970s, adrienne bennett was recruited as a union plumbing apprentice under a federal program targeting women. similar programs exist today. >> this is something that will keep food on the table, keep clothing on your back, keep a

roof over your head. i am living proof. paul: living proof, as ceo of her own industrial contracting plumbing business since 2008. for the pbs newshour, paul solman. ♪ judy: the january pick for our "now read is" bookclub was a collection of essays eloring many aspects of american culture through the prism of the internet and social media. at age 32, author jia tolentino has gained acclaim as one of its most astute observers. she's a staff writer for the new yorker and "trick mirror" is her first book. she recently spoke with jeffrey brown for our ongoing series on arts and culture, canvas. >> thanks for joining us. >> thanks for having me.

>> i want to start with the subtitle reflections on , self-delusion. what does that mean? >> i was thinking of the internet as this mechanism that everything else in our world is run through, essentially, and the internet is structured in this very specific way that has -- i have grown up with, spent my whole life with. the internet and social media in particular are structured in a way to make people look at the world and see it as a personal or flexion on them. the internet encourages you to look at everything and say, what does this say about me? over the years i was writing the back end in the years preceding it i was thinking about the effect this had on people politically and civically in terms of the narratives we tell ourselves about ourselves. >> the change in american politics and culture after the 2016 election shaped these essays. >> there was something about the 2016 election where it seemed

the moment the internet was determining the worst things about offline life rather than reflecting them. that is something we have only seen blossom from the 2016 election through the capital riots and so on. >> here we are in a pandemic where we live evermore in that space in some ways. >> yes, the internet is mac. i can get on youtube and look up any concert, looup live footage of any concert at any time, at any venue. i can listen to any song, look at any painting. i try to not forget it is magic. it's the thing that has allowed me to i can see a picture of something i want to text any of my friends and do that. i don't want to neglect how much that is kept our lives together during the pandemic. at the same time, the sort of uncertainty, the incompletion, the hollowness, the strangeness we feel and the weird currents of aggression and loneliness, it is evidence of the way the internet is at best kind of a

poor simulacrum of real life. >> we have just gone through a period where some of the largest social media companies have taken voices off their platforms, notably donald trump's. >> what was obvious the second twitter banned trump on after the riots was that the ceo of twitter and the ceo of facebook, these men are 100% more powerful than the president of the united states and it is not even close. i think that has been true for a long time. i think that almost everything wrong politically with covid misinformation, with all of this conspiratorial thinking about the election, i mean, the whole qanon fiasco, none of these things are possible if social media did not have the specific economic incentive that it does to addict people, to make them angry, to make them seek community in ways that are refracted through anger and loneliness and self-righteousness, i think that

the entire political landscape ofhe united states for the last, i don't know, six years has been shaped by these particular financial incentives that twitter and facebook have. we are going to be dealing with this for the foreseeable future until that economic model changes. >> do you sense a yearning from young people, your own generation, to escape that? is it possible? >> there is this enormous hunger defined realms of interaction that are not surveiled, that are -- where we are freely giving and taking of each other. and community where you feel a porousness to your identity, where you don't feel solid and locked down, you feel completely open. i think we are pretty hungry for those experiences right now, maybe my generation in particular, because maybe our brain damage is slightly heightened from how we grew up with it. >> i hope not, and i wish you

well. the book is "trick mirror." thank you. judy: really interesting. our february bookclub pick is "interior chinatown", a wildly inventive, national book award winning novel by charles yu, that takes on hollywood culture and asian-american stereotypes. we hope you'll read along and join the conversation on our website and facebook page for "now read this", our book club partnership with the new york times. ♪ judy: shortly before the pandemic, our brief but spectacular team traveled to georgia where they spoke with two high school seniors, audrey mcneal and shaylon walker about race and being underestimated. >> i recently got a full ride to

a prestigious university. i went to go back to visit my elementary school teachers. this one teacher runs into me in the hallnd the other teacher walking with starts bragging on me. shaylon here has got a full ride to boston university and the other teacher stops and goes what is it? and i was like, what , is what? she was like, what is your sport? excuse me, i got an academic and leadership scholarship. i d't play a sport. >> two years ago i was sitting in my graphics and design class and there was an anonymous death threat using the n word. there was no investigation whatsoever. black people we internalize , these things, you know, does my life really matter to my school or my community or my county who doesn't even want to

look into these threats? >> when you even look at how teachers interact with students of color versus white stunts, when a teacher comes up to you and you respond in a manner that might not be cheerful or might not be what they want to hear, it's automatically, oh, you have an attitudand they get snarkey -- and i have experienced this. i don't have that attitude. when i get that it is like, whoa . but each time it becomes less and less like a whoa, because it is a pattern. if i am not smiling i will be taken as an angry black woman. and we have parents come forward. we have actual students come forward, we have picture evidence, recordings, saying, we have a problem. the county comes back and says, no. we had training on that. that is not happening. you won't make me feel crazy

because i know what i feel and i know what i see every day. >> there is a quote by benjamin franklin that says justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are just as outraged as those who are. sometimes when i am the only black person in a classroom speaking on things that are challenging or uncomfortable, it keeps me going because i know these conversations are important and it pushes me to challenge not only myself, but my peers, to talk about these things. >> the first thing you have to do is acknowledge the problem. even if it may not be you or your people group, you have to take a step back and look in and see that something is wrong. once you've learned about the issue, you're going to take that knowledge and enlighten others. you're going to open their eyes to something that may not even be apparent to them. once you have done those three things, you have created a vessel for change. you are a catalyst that will

lead to a greater future for those coming after us. >> my family has lived in georgia for generations, but we have directly been affected by the institution of slavery. i see a people in my family, people that are strong and fight for change and move forward. i keep creating change because it can be done. my name is audrey mcneil. my name is shaylon walker, >> and this is my brief, but spectacular take on acknowledging that there's a problem. judy: two strong young women. on the newshour online right now, every state has different rules about who can currently get the covid-19 vaccine, and how to sign up, creating lots of confusion. we asked experts for some general tips, which you can find on our website pbs.org/newshour. ,all th and more on the website. that is the "newshour" for

tonight. join us tomorrow evening and online. see you soon. >> major funding for the "pbs newshour" has been provided by -- ♪ >> for 25 years, consumer cellular has been offering plans to help people do more of what they like. our team can find the plan that helps you. visit consumercellular.tv. >> johnson & johnson. bnsf railway. the ford foundation, working with visionaries on the front lines of social change worldwide. ♪ >> the alfred p. sloan foundation, driven by the promise of great ideas. >> and with the ongoing support

of these institutions -- ♪ and, friends of the "newshour." >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. ♪ >> this is the "pbs newshour" west from weta studios in washington and from the west at the walter cronkite bureau at arizona state university. ♪

-i love to wander and explore local markets. today, i'm here in hermoupolis on the island of syros, and we're going to find the freshest ingredients and cook lunch together under the most beautiful blue skies. we'll make seafood orzo risotto and traditional rolled grape leaves. and back in san francisco, we'll make spicy red feta and a greek-inspired mussel saganaki. and, of course, what greek meze table wouldn't be complete without tzatziki? i love to travel the globe in search of new food and wine discoveries. for me, it's about more than returning home with a handful of new recipes. it's about taking the spirit of austria, of italy, of gece, and of the danube river and injecting some of their magic into our everyday lives. food has a unique ability to transport us. join me as we discover new plates and places