coronavirus ef john barrasso about the ongoing talks. and, reopening schools. captioning sponsored by debates over the risks and benefits of returning to newshour productions, llc in-person classes reach a >> woodruff: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. fever pitch. on the newshour tonight: immigration reset. >> all we're asking for is for the federal government to the president signs provide the resources we need so executive orders reversing we can reopen our schools, not trump administration policies only safely, but equitably. on family separation, border >> woodruff: all that and more, security and legal migration. on tonight's pbs newshour. then, covid relief. negotiations continue on a major >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> for 25 years, consumer cellular's goal has been to provide wireless service that helps people communicate and connect. we offer a variety of no-contract plans, and our u.s.-based customer service team can help find one that fits you. to learn more, visit

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>> woodruff: president biden is out with a raft of initiatives tonight, directed at the u.s. southern border. they come as the man who will manage migrant policy is joining his cabinet. white house correspondent yamiche alcindor begins our coverage, with a late-afternoon event. >> going to sign a few executive orders. >> reporter: president biden f >> alcindor: president biden focused on immigration, and on rolling back former president trump's controversial policies. today, he signed three executive orders on the topic. topping the list: the creation of a task force to reunite families separated at the u.s.-mexico border under the trump “zero tolerance” policy. >> with the first action today, we're going to work to undo the moral and national shame of the previous administration that literally, not figuratively, ripped chirp from the arms of their mothers, fathers and

families at the border with no plan to reunify the children who are still in custody and their parents. >> reporter: task torse will be led by >> alcindor: the task force will be led by department of homeland security sretary alejandro mayorkas. after several days of delay, this afternoon, the senate confirmed him. biden's orders were praised by several groups, including the lutheran immigration and refugee service, an organization advocating for separated families. it called the president's actions a “monumental first step.” the group said, "it is incumbent upon all of our elected officials to end the rampant separation and detention of migrants." e american civil liberties union tweeted, "biden must reunite all separated families in the u.s., and we can't stop there. these families deserve tizenship and care." white house officials say no one knows just how many children remain separated from families. federal court documents put the number at more than 600. biden aides say it could be up to a thousand.

biden will be looking into whether some families-- including parents deported without their children-- will be given some sort of legal status in the united states. today's executive actions also order a review of the trump policies that restricted legal immigration. those include the “remain in mexico” program that sent more than 60,000 asylum seekers back to mexico to wait for their claims to be processed in u.s. courts. many have been forced to wait in dangerous conditions. some have even been kidnapped and killed. the biden administration already announced it would no longer enroll new asylum seekers in the program, but it remains unclear what will become of those already enrolled. also today, president biden ordered a review of the so-called “public charge rule.” it denies green cards to immigrants who might require xpayer-funded financial assistance. meanwhile, president biden continues his push for a $1.9 trillion covid-19 stimulus package.

last night, he held a meeting with a group of senate republicans who want a far smaller bill. so far, no bipartisan deal has been reached. the senators said the meeting was “frank and very useful.” they pledged to continue their talks. today, white house press secretary jen psaki reiterated the president's call for bold action. >> there certainly is a gap between where we are and where the proposal, the republican proposal that was discussed last night, was. >> alcindor: senate republicans argued again for a smaller, more targeted approach that can win bipartisan support. >> we're off to a totally partisan start. i think that's unfortunate. but they are in the majority in the house and senate, and life is a series of choices, and they've chosen. >> alcindor: democrats are forging ahead on a process to pass a bill with a simple majority in the 50/50 senate, if they cannot win republican support. today, majority leader chuck schumer insisted again, there's

no time to lose. >> we are not going to dilute, dither, or delay. the needs of the acan people are so demanding, we need to think big, and we need to act quickly. >> alcindor: for the pbs newshour, i'm yamiche alcindor. >> woodruff: and we turn now to the issues dividing lawmakers on capitol hill, with our lisa desjardins. so, lisa, today we learn more about the impeachment trial that's going to start one week from today in the senate. we learn more about the arguments each side is going to make. tell us about that. >> that's right. this unprecedented second impeachment trial for a u.s. president, let's start with the house democrats. their brief on exactly the case they're going to lay out, an 80-page pre-trial brief. i want to pull out a quote that lays out what democrats are arguing here. they say president trump's effort to extend his grip on

power by fomenting violence against congress was a profound violation of the oath he swore. if provoking an insurrectiony riot is not an impeachable offense,ings hard to imagine what would be. essentially, democrats in the house are laying out a case where president trump's own words were responsible for and intentional to try and cause a riot at the u.s. capitol to stop the election of president joe biden. they also lay out a case where they say there is peres sent for peaching -- precedent for impeaching a former officer. his relatively new attorneys filed a 14-page answer. their fuller brief is expected next wednesday, but this is a first glimpse what his attorneys will argue in court. they are going to argue the president was under his first amendment protections to express his belief the election was suspect, in their words.

those attorneys write, insufficient evidence exists upon which a reasonable jurist could conclude that the 4 45th president's statements were accurate or not and he, therefore, denies that they were false. essentially saying that the president could have been right about the election, and in addition, of course, his attorneys argue that this is a moot point because they say that there is not enough constitutional justification for trying a now former president. >> woodruff: so, lisa, in connection with the assault on the capitol, a lot of discussion if recent weeks about security around lawmakers on the hill. what are you learning about concerns about that during and around the impeachment trial and then in general? >> reporter: we've confirmed house democratic leaders are considering a september 11-style commission that would be an independent look at the events of september 6, who was behind them, what happened hour by hour

and the leadup to them as well as the aftermath of them. in addition, house democratic leaders are working on a potential emergency spending bill to increase security for lawmakers themselves. the ser sergeant at arms has mod forward with the idea of increasing security at airports, for example, in washington where lawmakers land when they arrive here or for some lawmakers under threat in their home districts. now, this has really been a behind-the-scenes, very serious, emotional, traumatic time for members of congress, and that came to bear last night when representative alexandria ocasio-cortez spent over an hour relaying her experience on january 6 and ended talking about the trauma she and other members are facing. >> they're trying to tell us that it wasn't a big deal. they're trying to tell us to move on. without any accountability, without any truth-telling or actually confronting the extreme

damage, physical harm, loss of life and trauma that was inflicted on not just me as a person, not just others as individuals, but on all of us as a collective. >> reporter: judy, it's not just mistrust of the capitol but a betrayal by some members. >> woodruff: and meantime, quickly, lisa, ideological divisions among republicans over two high-profile members of the house, marjorie taylor greene, the freshman congresswoman from georgia, and liz cheney from wyoming. >> reporter: right, marjorie taylor greene, someone whose remarks are increasingly under attack or criticism from those inthe middle and liz cheney who may face a vote on her leadership tomorrow. yesterday, last night, mitch mcconnell, the senate republican leader sent out this noteworthy statement about marjorie taylor greene. he said that loony lies and conspiracy theories are cancer for the republican party and our

country. didn't mention her by name, but, judy, this is a very sharp intraparty fight. >> woodruff: so interesting that he weighed in. lisa desjardins covering it all for us at the capitol. thank you, lisa. >> woodruff: as we discussed earlier, the biden administration and senate republicans continue to debate the merits and details of the president's $1.9 trillion covid relief plan. senator john barrasso is the third highest ranking republican in the senate. and he joins us now. senator, welcome back to the "newshour". what do you make of the efforts by ten of your republican colleagues to meet with the president, to try to hammer out something that all sides can agree on? do you think it will bear fruit? >> well, i hope that it does and i think it was a good idea to

meet together in a bipartisan way, judy, because we still need to do more to help people get back to work, to help kids get back to school and to put the virus behind us, to getting more shots into arms. you know, what the president has proposed, $1.9 trillion is an awful lot of money, and the concern that republicans have is it includes many things that are unrelated to coronavirus relief. you know, we just passed a $900 billion bill that was signed at the end of december, and so much of that money hasn't gone out the door yet. so we want to make sure that that is out there effectively doing its job, and then i think we can better prepare to see what additional needs there are. >> woodruff: as i'm sure you know, senator, president bush is arguing that it's the greater mistake would be to do not enough, when so many people are suffering. you have, what, 18 million americans, at least, who, as of this month, are still receiving unemployment benefits. how concerned are you about people who were earning in the

middle class range but are now well below that or out of work altogether? >> well, i get home to wyoming and talk to people every weekend about that very thing, and what i'm hearing at home is they say, listen, there are people that really need help and we need to target that help. but when i see president biden in his proposals sending relief checks out to families when you can make over a quarter million dollars a ar, people don't want to see that sort of thing in. wyoming where we have help wanted signs out, small business owners struggling say if we have mandatory doubling of the minimum-wage, they're going to have a harder time making payroll and could have to close their doors. when they see that one of the things in the president's proposal is to pay unemployment bonuses, which would make it -- basically the math says you do better by not working than working, it's harder to get people back to work. and the other thing that republicans are very concerned about is these bailouts for big

cities and blue states and places that really have a history of bad behavior whent it comes to managing their finances, unrelated to coronavirus. >> woodruff: well, i'm sure you know that many of these cities and states say that that money goes toward people who are working on the front lines, police, first responders and others. but we are going to continue to be looking at that. i do want to also ask you, senator, about something that the senate minority leader mitch mcconnell has said in the last day about congresswoman marjorie taylor greene of georgia. he said, and i'm quoting, loony lies and conspiracy theories are dancing for the republican party and our country. he went on to refer to her view that perhaps no airplane hit the world trade center on 9/11, saying that horrifying school shootings where children died were pre-staged. do you agree with him?

>> i find her statements disturbing. that's not the future that i see for the republican party. i know the house is going to have to make its own decisions on what path they take. but all the time that is spent on her is distracting from the work that we need to do for the american people of getting people back to work and kids back to school and the coronavirus behind us. >> woodruf and senator, i also want to ask you about another member of congress and that is your fellow republican liz cheney, whorepresents the state wyoming, your home state. she has come under attack from other republicans for voting to impeach president trump. you had a republican congressman go to wyoming to say that she shouldn't be reelected. do you think she should be removed from a leadership role in the house based on what she's done? >> no, i support liz cheney, we work closely together on issues impacting wyoming. i will tell you, i have a

different position on impeachment than she does. this is now coming to the senate and i believe it's unconstitutional for us in the senate to go through a trial of impeachment of somebody who is no longer in office and the fact that the chief justices of the supreme court isn't going to preside tells me that it is not a legitimate process. >> woodruff: do you believe the president bears any responsibility for what happened, though, senator, given that he urged that crowd to go fight, not to show weakness? what do you think his role was in all this? >> well, i wish he had chosen his words differently, but the house has now moved ahead with impeachment, and that is coming to the senate. we have a trial starting next tuesday in the united states senate. 45 pecks of the republicans in the -- 45 republicans have voted it's unconstitutional to impeach somebody who is no longer in office and at home. the people in wyoming believe in fairness. what happened in the house was a sh to judgment, a snap

impeachment without a hearing, without an opportunity for defense, and, so, i think that was rushed, and i think that the president is going to be acquitted when it comes to the united states senate. >> woodruff: and do you think future presidents should be making similar statements? >> well, i think that, first, in terms of past presidents, we shouldn't be impeaching people who are no longer in office or trying them in the senate for impeachment. in terms of future presidents, so me, impeachment is about removing someone from the office to which they hold, removing a president from office, that to me is the way i read the constitution, an that's what i think impeachment is all about. >> woodruff: all right, we will leave it there. senator b barrasso, thank you vy much. we appreciate it. >> thank you, judy. >> woodruff: now for the biden administration's take on the state of covid relief talks, we're joined by jared bernstein. he is a member of the white house council of economic advisers.

>> woodruff: jared bernstein, good to see you. thank you for being with us. i want to ask you first about a report that came out yesterday by the congressional budget office forecasting that the u.s. economy is going to recover rapidly by the middle of this year, which raises the question does the government need to spend as much money as the administration is proposing to boost the economy? >> yeah, that's a really fair and important question. what that c.b.o. report showed is that, in the second half of this year, g.d.p. would grow at about 4%. that's a good g.d.p. growth rate. however, for far too many families, both throughout this crisis and even before this crisis, g.d.p. growth has been a spectator sport. they have fallen behind even as the economy has expanded. this is often discussed under the rubric of economic inequality or racial injustice, and it's one of the huge motiving factors for president biden and vice president harris when they

campaigned. now, these inequities have been laid bare by this crisis, by this pandemic. it has been disproportionately felt by workers on the bottom leg of that k -- we talk about a k-shape recovery, with folks at the top who never missed a paycheck doing fine, and tens of millions of folks at the bottom who have been beset by both the health and economic crisis. the american rescue plan targets that bottom leg of the k along with virus control and vaccine distribution to engender an inclusive recovery, not just, you know, a g.d.p. number that doesn't reach many who need it. >> woodruff: well, several points to ask you about, and i'm going to move quickly. but it is reported today, jared bernstein, that the president told this group of democratic senators -- i'm sorry, republican senators he met with last night that he gave them the clear indication he's willing to look at lowering the price tag overall. is that true, number one, and,

number two, how far? >> so, when i hear joe biden talk about this plan, i don't think he's referring to a top line price tag. what he's talking about is as quickly and as efficiently as possible meeting the urgency of this crisis. he's talked about the cost of enaction in terms of jobs and kids out of school, in terms of parents who can't go back into the job market, in terms of numbers you yourself have mentioned, the 1 million people who claimed unemployment just last week, a bigger number than throughout the heart of the great recession. now, in terms of price tag, the president is not going to settle for any package that fails to meet the urgency of the moment to get shots into arms, to get school reopened, to get people back to work, to preserve businesses, to distribute the vaccine, and the american rescue plan is scaled to meet that challenge. what the president has said to republicans is come in all day

and we'll talk about better, more efficient ways to meet that challenge, but we're not going to dial back the goals of this plan. >> woodruff: i hear you. so you're not -- i hear you saying it's important, but you're not wedded to that 1.9. i want to ask you about something senator barrasso said which congress passed aid last month in hundreds of billions of dollars and said that money hasn't gotten out of the pipeline into people's pocketbooks yet. why rush? why not wait for that money to go out and see what's needed? >> because the american people cannot afford another episode of wait and see. i agreed with a lot of what mr. barrasso said. a lot oft it resonated with me. i thought he had a sense of urgency, until he started talking about wait and see. yes, we have passed the bill in december, and that is helping people, but that bill ends.

many of the components of that bill end in march, and what we did last year is congress did this wait and see exercise -- this was before the december bill -- they did this wait and see exercise, and what happened? families lost work, jobs began to decline, consumer spending, ich is 70% of this economy, actually contracted in november and december before that plan went into effect. we have to get ahead of this. the virus will only be put behind us, we'll only produce and distribute the vaccines if we help states and localities do what these to be done, and we can't afford to wait another few months to see how this is going to work out. that way we fall behind the curve, passing the american rescue plan as soon as possible gets us ahead of the curve finally, so that we can finally launch a robust, inclusive and racially equitable recovery. >> woodruff: so much more to ask you, jared bernstein.

quick question, yes or no -- is it possible that families earning a quarter of a million dollars a year could end up benefiting from this aid? yes or no. >> i think that the ongoing discussions right now are very much about dealing with that targeting issue. >> woodruff: all right. a subject to continue to ask you about. jared bernstein, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> woodruff: as we reported earlier, president biden did issue a number of executive orders on immigration today. these are the latest steps in what the new administration has pledged will be bold reforms, including a comprehensive plan to overhaul the entire u.s. immigration system. amna nawaz is here with a look at where these moves fit into

that larger landscape. >> nawaz: judy, today's actions follow a number of executive orders president biden signed in his very first days in office, orders that immediately had an impact on thousands of people. we spoke to a few of them to get their reactions. here's what they had to say. >> my name is jose aguiluz. i am 31 years old. i am a registered nurse that is currently working in covid vaccinations, and i am a daca recipient. >> mark j. dannels. i'm the sheriff of cochise county, arizona, located in the southeast corner of the state of arizona. >> my name is karla. i'm currently undocumented, but i recently applied for daca for the first time in december. >> my name is rodolpho karisch, i go by rudy. i retired from the u.s. border patrol in december of 2019 after spending more than three decades in the organization. >> my name is haya. i am 20 years old, and i'm a first-generation american.

so, my family and my sister is syrian. i am currently living in canada. we sought refuge here because of the muslim ban. >> when president biden announced that he was going to strengthen daca, it was really a sense of relief, to be honest. it pretty much gave me a little bit of relief that i was going to be able to stay in the country and keep doing what i'm doing, keep taking care of my patients and everything. when i started with the dream act movement, it was like ten years ago. i'm still a dreamer and i still have a daca. so ten years have passed and there's still no solution. >> when i saw that president biden halted border issues, to include the physical barrier, re-looking at how we're doing business, to include the release program, releasing those that normally would be put back into mexico or deported or held in a

prosecution level, it was a little disappointing. and i'll say this-- i think it was hasty. what i've seen in the past is, those that should be held accountable in the criminal justice system are not, and those that should be detained or deported are not. and then what happens is they move into communities and bad things happen. >> there's always been that that fear for myself that maybe i won't be allowed to stay here for a while, but there is at least a chance for me to-- to get protection with daca, whereas with my family, they will be living under fear for an indefinite amount of time. undocumented immigrants still pay taxes, they still go shopping and contribute to the economy, and are active members in their communities. and despite all that, we still live in fear every day that we're not-- we don't feel welcome here. >> you can't rush these things. you have to look at what previous administrations did to

see what's working rather than coming in with a wrecking ball to start off with and completely wipe out all of the initiatives that a prior administration has done. i can tell you that where we put up a wall or fences, it's deterred the flow of narcotics. so i think that you also have to look at other things that it does prevent. >> when i was a senior in high school living in the united states with my extended family, my parents couldn't attend my graduation because of the muslim ban. when the biden administration repealed the muslim ban, it was an immense relief for us. we were very excited. and the first thing we did, of course, was talk to our family in the united states, making plans about the summer, about the winter, about breaks. i think every immigrant, every person has the right to seek the opportunity to come to that, to the united states, to seek citizenship and to live a life of dignity. >> woodruff: so, amna, so important to hear these different voices.

president bush only in office less than two weeks. already, as we said, he's issued a flurry of executive orders, signaling this is a real priority for him. >> reporter: judy, that's absolutely right, a message he has sent from day one in office when he sat down and started to reverse and end some trump era immigration policies. as he said today he doesn't feel he's making new law, he's ending bad policies. take a look at some of the steps he took on the very first day in office, he did, and the travel ban. he reinstitud daca, shielding from deportation people brought here as kids and halting border wall construction. he ended stepped-up enforcement going on by i.c.e., put into place unilaterally by president trump and ended unilaterally by president biden. he continued unraveling trump era policies. if you look at the list, he created the task force to reunify separated families, order a review of asylum

policies from the previous administration including that m.p.p. program that keeps people in mexico while u.s. cases unfold and order a review of the republic charge role which makes it more difficult for people to get citizenship if they access help in the u.s. we've gone from the restrictions of the trump administration to a welcoming message under the biden administration. important to note the changes won't have an immediate impact because many of the reviews will lead to more questions. how do you handle the case of 65,000 people stuck in mexico waiting for their asylum cases to unfold? where and how do you reunify some of these separated families? do parents get some kind of protected status and how do you handle third country deals negotiated by homeland security with those countries of or gin? all of those questions and those details will have to be worked out. >> woodruff: and amna, all of these things are things he can do on his own, executive orders,

but he also putting out a sweeping immigration reform law proposal. tell us what we know about that. >> reporter: it's the most ambitious plan since 2013. the centerpiece is this pathway to citizenship, an eight year plan for estimated 11 million undocumented people here after they get background checks and make tax payments. wants to expand the refugee resettlement program and increase border security technology. we should mention, back in 2013, there were 13 republican senators who signed on to the bill, five remain in the senate, two, key members, marco rubio and lindsey graham, ha already thrown cold water on the biden plan, and when minority leader mitch mcconnell was asked about the plan, he called it a massive proposal for blanket amnesty that wou gut enforcement of american laws and create huge incentives for people to rush here illegally. we've already seen a number of republicans expressing some kind

of hesitation even today. if all 50 democrats unite around the plan, they need 10 republicans to join them. it is an uphill battle for sure. >> woodruff: burtonning this up, amna, the temperature has been so high around president trump and immigration. what are the prospects you're going to see common ground going forward? >> reporter: the temperature was raised in the last four years. the biden administration hopes the unilateral move will act as at catalyst for the legislative ones but if they're able to bush through comprehensive reform, it would be the first comprehensive immigration reform in over 30 years in this country. judy. >> woodruff: it could be such a huge development. amna nawaz who's been following this issue so very closely. amna, thank you.

>> woodruff: in the day's other news, pete buttigieg easily won senate confirmation to be transportation secretary. the former south bend, indiana mayor and presidential candidate is the first openly gay person to be confirmed for a cabinet post. meanwhile, the senate veteran affairs committee approved denis mcdonough's nomination for v.a. secretary and sent it to the full senate. the white house announced plans today to ship one million doses of coronavirus vaccines to some 6,500 pharmacies nationwide. covid coordinator jeff zients said shipments begin next week. >> this will provide more sites for people tget vaccinated in their communities, and it's an important component to delivering vaccines equitably. sites are selected based on their ability to reach some of the population's most at-risk for severe illness from covid- 19, including socially

vulnerable communities. >> woodruff: meanwhile, russian scientists reported that russia's sputnik vaccine is 91% effective. covid vaccination sites across the northeastern u.s. are reopening, after a major winter storm passed. the system pushed deeper into new england today. it had dumped 17 inches of snow in new york, and up to 30 in new jersey. plow drivers in pennsylvania and elsewhere kept busy clearing parking lots and streets today, and people struggled to dig out cars. in russia today, a court ordered opposition leader alexei navalny back to prison for more than 2.5 years. he gestured a heart to his wife as the ruling came in. the court found that he violated probation on an embezzlement charge, that he says was fabricated. the decision was widely condemned, including by the new biden administration. >> what has happened with mr. navalny specifically, what has happened to the

mass detentions of those who have bravely taken to the streets in the aftermath of mr. navalny's arrest, and of course, all of that we will account for in determining an appropriate policy course. >> woodruff: we will take a closer look at this story, after the news summary. the u.s. state department now says what happened in myanmar on sunday was indeed a military coup. that finding today triggers a review of u.s. aid to the former burma. meanwhile, aung san suu kyi, myanmar's ousted civilian leader, remains under detention. back in this country, two f.b.i. agents were killed and three wounded in south florida, today, in one of the deadliest days in f.b.i. history. they were trying to serve a warrant involving violence against children. the suspected gunman died after a standoff in a fort lauderdale suburb. a swat team stormed the apartment building where he was barricaded. in business news, amazon

announced that jeff bezos will step down as c.e.o. later this year. he will become executive chairman instead. bezos has been c.e.o. since founding the company nearly 30 years ago. he is now one of the world's richest people. big tech and banks pushed wall street higher today. the dow jones industrial average gained 475 points to close at 30,687. the nasdaq rose 209 points, and the s&p 500 added 52 points. and, two pasngs of note. britain's captain tom moore has died after contracting covid-19. the world war ii veteran became an online sensation early in the pandemic, doing laps in his backyard to raise $40 million for health care workers. captain tom moore was 100 years old. there is also word that award- winning actor hal holbrook died last month, in beverly hills, california.

he won five emmys and a tony, and his most famous movie role came as "deep throat" in the 1976 watergate thriller "all the president's men." but, he may be best known as mark twain, in a one-man show that spanned six decades. >> when the urge to exercise comes over me, i lie down until it passes away. ( laughter ) now, as for drinking, i have ve strict rules about that: when others drink... i like to help. ( laughter ) >> woodruff: hal holbrook was 95 years old.

>> woodruff: now, a closer look at the prison term given to russian opposition activist alexei navalny. since his return from germany last month after an assassination attempt in russia, tens of thousands have taken to the streets each weekend in protest. special correspondent stuart smith in moscow reports. >> reporter: he may have escaped death, but he hasn't escaped the reach of his government, which allegedly ordered his assassination. in a speech in court before the verdict, he denounced vladimir putin in stark terms, and repeated this claim against the president. >> ( translated ): murder is the only way he knows how to fight. he'll go down in history as nothing but a poisoner. >> reporter: after a trial, which he and his campaign team call politically motivated, the kremlin's most vehement critic is heading back behind bars. it's the outcome his supporters

have been trying hard to prevent. last weekend, residents of over 100 towns across russia gathered for a second round of protests. 20-year-old kristina is among those who wants change. vladimir putin has been in power, as president or prime minister, for her whole life. >> ( translated ): i came out because i'm not afraid. i'm not afraid of any of this. i want to speak my mind. for freedom of thought, for freedom of action in our country. ( protests ) >> reporter: a lack of freedom, lack of wealth, a lack of justice-- all complaints at the largest unsanctioned nation-wide protests in modern russian history. >> ( translated ): in order for the authorities to hear us, we have to come out every day. >> reporter: the authorities want to stop them. within minutes of arriving, kristina was detained. she joined the ranks of more than 5,000 across russia who found themselves in police vans on sunday, joining 4,000 detained a week bere.

and, police were willing to use baton strikes and tasers to get them inside, a level of violence not yet seen. spearheading the protests are members of alexei navalny's anti-corruption foundation. its executive director lives in the u.k., after a warrant was issued for his arrest. vladimir ashurkov says navalny could yet be released, if enough pressure builds on president putin. >> it's very important to keep the pressure, and we're lobbying in the international arena for western governments to take a more proactive stance. >> reporter: the eyes of the world are now on russia. the u.s. and the european union denounced the crackdown, and the united nations security council is discussing russia's treatment of protesters and navalny's detention. opposition activists are pressing for sanctions. without them, they fear further repression. the kremlin says its response is

proportionate and legal. people are fe to express their opinions, but must do so within the boundaries of the law. but officials say the protesters' complaints are not valid. >> ( translated ): navalny is a person who specifically helps the enemies of russia to defame the image of russia in the eyes of the world. he operates with lies. his so-called anti-corruption foundation, unfortunately, has nothing in common with reality. >> ( translated ): its most recent investigation accused president putin of corruption directly. the video on youtube has received over 100 million views. >> reporter: supporters vow to continue navalny's investigative work, but, his political movement could flounder without its leader. with alexei navalny sentenced to prison, and calls for mass protest, this will be a pivotal moment for the campaign. the way the state responds could galvanize more support-- or quell the protests entirely. despite opposition momentum, leading political scientists don't expect regime change any time soon.

>> it's only in fairy tales that a revolutionary crowd takes over the palace of the dictator. this does not happen. >> reporter: but these protests have stretched across the breadth of russia. they could mark the beginning of a deepening political consciousness. >> what we are going to experience, i think, is a change both in the public mood and in the public mass political behavior, not just centered in moscow, st. petersburg, and bigger cities, but spread across russia and reaching maybe through those social strata that were not politicized before. >> reporter: today's ruling may have taken away alexey navalny's freedom, but for now it seems only to have increased his impact. the kremlin will hope that with imprisonment, his notoriety fades. his supporters hope it marks the start of a political revolution. for the pbs newshour, i'm stuart smith, in moscow.

>> woodruff: concerns are growing about variants of the coronavirus, and how effective vaccines will be in the months to come. british authorities today said they believe a variant first identified in the united kingdom may indeed stunt the effect of some vaccines. paul turner is a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the yale school of medicine and a specialist on how genes mutate. and he joins me now. dr. turner, thank you so much for being th us. how concerned should people be right now about these variants? >> well, i guess this is what e have expected to occur. the viruses are often quite good at mutating, evolving, so there is some reason for concern. we would want to know that the vaccines that we're producing are going to be effective against the major variants of the virus, and if we haveew

variants with greater trance missability, that certainly stresses our healthcare systems, but we want to know are the variants able to escape our medicines more effectively, can they escape the vaccines that we're producing. this is a worrisome thing that we should be monitoring. >> woodruff: what do we know right now about whether the vaccines that are out there, the pfizer, the moderna that have been approved in the u.s. for emergency use, whether they protect enough against the new variants. >> the data are still rolling in and people are anxious to answer those questions more conclusively. some of the data show this measurable efficacy for the vaccines in dealing with these new strains but not as much efficacy as the standard strains that we have been dealing with so far. so this has to be figured out explicitly. there are more data coming in. i'm as anxious as anybody, but this is something we don't quite

know yet, but we need to do the rigorous studies to figure it out. >> woodruff: well, the report that i just cited from british authorities today about the u.k. variant, of course, has people concerned. i know one aspect of this is it's been reported that at least the vaccines protect against severe cases and protect against ultimately death. so there's still some good protection they're providing. i mean, can we at least be confident of that? >> yes, we'll have to be, but i think we can be confident that, if these vaccines are quite good at dealing with the most horrible outcomes, the deaths, then this is something that could transcend and work also against these new variants. this seems likely that we're mostly dealing with greater gret

transmissibility, which is a greater deal, you will have more people getting sick and potentially dying, but the vaccine rollouts that are happening in earnest in this country and elsewhere, this is what we have to do is really push back on the pandemic quickly. with the current vaccine minimizing as much as we can those who are infected. this is definitely a way we can do what we can do at this point as we gather more data about the new variants. >> woodruff: dr. turner, what about the possibility of likelihood of reinfection on the part of people who've already had covid or tested positive? could they -- are they still susceptible to one of the new variants? >> unfortunately, th is a very real possibility is that individuals who have been sick with covid, they may be reinfected by these new variants that are different enough that human immune systemseven when dealing with the so-called classic version of the virus,

now these provide a different possibility entering the human body and a likelihood, perhaps, they'd escape immune detection and the ability to fight it off. so, yeah, this is another reason that the new variants are worrisome is that if you consider all the people who have been infected already might be susceptible to reinfection by these new variants, then this is something we have to really monitor, we have to get on top to have the data and figure out whether that is generally the case. >> woodruff: sounds like this is an argument for people to not in any way let down their guard for the foreseeable future. >> absolutely. i mean, this is really one of the major messages. we knew we would eventually see mutational changes, evolutionary changes in the viruses, and what people have to do is, as you said, we have to keep wearing masks, social distancing, people are getting quite fatigued o this. but if we are really going to do our jobs as individuals to help as much as we can, then we really have to heed the

guidelines of the professionals who are suggesting the way that we can alter our behavior in simple ways and help get through this pandemic. >> woodruff: paul turner at yale university, we thank you very much. >> thank you very much for having me. >> woodruff: as the pandemic drags on, the toll taken on students and teachers while trying to protect them from infection has become one of the outbreak's most vexing and intractable challenges. as stephanie sy reports, serving the interests of everyone involved-- students, teachers, parents and others-- has proven to be a complex assignment. >> sy: delays and deadlock in chicago, as the city and its teachers union battle over plans to reopen public schools, who were supposed to return to

in-person learning on monday for the first time since last march. yesterday, the union threatened to go on strike over safety and staffing concerns. but today, negotiations continue. chicago mayor lori lightfoot says roughly $100 million have been spent on improving safety protocols and infrastructure at schools. >> these investments have gone into health screenings, temporary temperature checks at schools, provisions of hand sanitizer, disinfectant wipes, face coverings, p.p.e., regular cleaning, disinfecting protocols and social distancing. with this in mind, i want to reiterate, our schools are safe. >> sy: but the union says teachers are having a hard time getting the vaccine. >> teachers are being left to run around to try to make their own appointments at pharmacies to get vaccinated, like some sort of bizarre "hunger games" situation. >> sy: the c.d.c. has said the

risk of school transmission appears low when proper safety measures-- like mask wearing-- are enforced, but both teachers and parents still worry. even when chicago public schools reopened some preschool and special ed classrooms earlier this month, only a fraction of the students eligible to return chose to do so. it's a dilemma playing out in districts around the country. an analysis of about 1,200 school districts has found roughly 35% of k-12 students are enrolled in schools offering in-person learning, while 23% are at schools with a mix of virtual and in-person instruction. the biggest share of students, 42%, remain at schools with only online classes. besides chicago, large school districts in places like los angeles, clark county, nevada, and philadelphia, are clashing with powerful unions. and in new york city, the nation's largest school system,

classrooms have opened and closed depending on covid surges, adding to uncertainty. meanwhile, in washington, president biden has said he wants to reopen most k-8 schools within his first 100 days in office. joing me now is becky pringle. she is the president of the national education association, the nation's largest teachers union. becky, thanks for joining us. becky, thank you so much for joining us. these showdowns between districts and teachers unions, what are they really about, in your view? >> one of the things that i continue to hear from educators all over this country is an expression of what i know as a teacher for over 30 years. i taught science, stephanie, the wonder years, and i know how much educators want to be in person, in classrooms with their students. they understand how important that is and how hard it is to

teach and work with them virtually. all we're asking for is for the federal government to provide the resources we need so we can reopen our schools, not only safely, but equitably. >> reporter: what specific resources are you referring to, becky, because there are a lot of essential workers who have, throughout the pandemic, had to continue working, facin■g some degree of risk, even with mitigation measures. how are teachers different? >> stephanie, when i talk about the reopening of in-person learning of schools, i'm not only talking about teachers in all of the other people who work in our public schools. i'm talking about students. i'm talking about students' families. i'm talking about educators' families. i'm talking about all of those people, and what we are looking toward is the science. i told you i was a science teacher. we're looking at the science, listening to the experts, and

even the c.d.c., which a lot of people talk about and quote when they talk about reopening the schools, they say, yes, we can reopen our schools safely if the mitigation strategies are strictly enforced. they mean that we have to have p.p.e., we have to have face masks, we have to have the opportunity, the ability to socially distance, to clean our schools and have proper ventilation. we also, stephanie, have to have a plan in place for not if but when one of our students or one of our educators falls victim to covid 19. >> reporter: becky, when you talk about the the funding, president biden has said that he wants to give schools $130 billion to help them reopen, and he wants them to reopen, at least most of them, by april. how realistic is that time line, especially because you have some teachers unions that are saying they don't even believe their teachers are going to feel safe

to go back to school in the fall. >> you know, stephanie, educators all over this country worked really really hard to elect joe biden and kamala harris as our president and our vice psident, and we did that because they made a commitment. they made a commitment to prioritize, getting the coronavirus under control. they made commitment to investing in our state and local governments, they made a commitment, because he understandups that as he list tons his experts -- the director of the c.d.c., dr. fauci and others -- they know that, even with vaccines, we have to continue to provide our schools with the resources they need for all of those other mitigation strategies. >> reporter: becky, i know you have also focused on inequities in schools and one thing that we have learned is virtual learning is exacerbating those inequities along racial and socioeconomic lines. so can you talk to the urgency about getting kids back in

person from that lens? >> stephanie, there's no question that our black and brown and indigenous communities have been disproportionately impact bid the pandemic and all of the crises that it spawned. it is absolutely session that, as we think about the resources that we need to put into our schools and our communities, that we address ese inequities, not only as it relates to the pandemic but as it relates to the economic crisis that we're facing, the healthcare crisis. all of those things determine whether our students can learn. we absolutely must invest in our studen, all of them, but especially those that have been impacted the most. >> the pandemic has highliged so much, becky, including the importance of our nation's educators. becky pringle with the national education association. thank you so much for joining the "newshour". >> thank you, stephanie. it's so good to be with you. >> woodruff: and tomorrow night, we'll hear a

>> woodruff: tomorrow night, we will hear a different perspective making the case for in-person classes, and the consequences of keeping schools closed longer. and that is the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you, please stay safe, and we'll see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> fidelity wealth management. >> consumer cellular. >> johnson & johnson. >> bnsf railway. >> carnegie corporation of new york. supporting innovations in education, democratic engagement, and the advancement of international peace and security. at carnegie.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions >> this program was made possible by the corporation for

public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc

hello, everyone, and welcome to “amanpour & company.” here is what's coming up. >> if iran comes back to full compliance for the obligations under the jcpoa, the united states would do the same thing. >> who goes first back into the iran nuclear deal as washington warns tehran could be just weeks away from having enough material for a nuclear weapon.

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