♪ judy: i'm judy woodruff, on the newshour. immigration reset. the president signs executive orders reversing trump administration policies on family separation, border security, and legal migration. covid relief -- negotiations continue on a major coronavirus relief bill. we speak to republican senator john barrasso about the ongoing talks. and, reopening schools -- debates over the risks and benefits of returning to in-person classes reach a fever pitch. >> 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. judy: all that and more on tonight's "pbs newshour." ♪ >> major funding for the pbs newshour provided by -- >> for 25 years, consumer cellular's goal has been to provide wireless service to connect. to learn more, visit consumercellular.tv.. >> johnson & johnson. bmsf railway. >> to john s. and james l.

knight foundation. more at kf.org. >> and by the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. judy: president biden is 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.

pres. biden: going to sign a few executive orders. yamiche: president biden focused on immigration and rolling back president trump's controversial policies. today, he signed three executive orders. topping the list, a task force to reunite families under the trump immigration policy. pres. biden: as the first action of the day, we are work to undo the moral and national shame of the previous administration that literally ripped children from the arms of their mothers and fathers at the border and with no plan to reunify the children still in custody, and their parents. yamiche: the task force will be led by the department of homeland security secretary,

alejandro mayorkas. a group called the president's actions a monumental first step the group said, "it is incumbent upon all our election officials to and the rampant detention of migrants. a group said, "biden must reunite all separated families in the u.s. and we must not stop there. all of these families deserve citizenship and care." federal court documents but the number of those children separated from their families at more than 600. 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. 60,000 asylum seekers back to

mexico to wait for their claims to get processed in court. some have been kdnapped and killed. the aydin administration announced it will no longer enrolled asylum-seekers in the program but it remains unclear what will happen to those already enrolled. also today, president biden ordered a review of the so-called public charge rule. it declines green cards to immigrants who may require taxpayer-funded assistance. meanwhile, president biden continues his push for a one point trillion -- $1.9 trillion covid relief package. last night, he had a meeting with a group of senate republicans who want a far smaller deal. so far, no bipartisan agreements have been reached. president biden called the meeting frank and useful. today, white house press secretary jen psaki -- >> there certainly is a gap

between where we are and the republican proposal discussed last night. yamiche: senate republicans argued again for a smaller, more targeted approach that can win bipartisan support. >> we are off to a totally partisan start. i think that is unfortunate. but, they are in the majority in the house and senate. life is a series of cices and they chose them. yamiche: democrats are forging ahead on a process to pass a bill with a simple majority in the 50-50 senate. today, senate majority leader chuck schumer insisted again that there is no time to lose. >> we are not going to deliver -- we are not going to delay. the needs of the american people are so demanding that we need to act big and quickly. judy: we turn now to the issues dividing lawmakers on capitol hill. that is other issues, and that

is with lisa de chardin. today, we learn morebout the impeachment trial that will start one week from today in the senate. we learn more about the arguments each side will make. tell us about that. lisa: that is right. this unprecedented second impeachment trial for a president. let's start with the house democrats. their brief on the case they will lay out, an 80 page pretrial brief. i want to pull out one quote. they say president trump's effort to extend his grip on power by fomenting violence against congress was a profound violation of the ot swore. if provoking an insurrectionary riot is not an impeachable offense, it is 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 stop the election of joe biden. they also lay out a case where they say there is precedent for impeaching a former officer. the president, is relatively new attorneys filed a brief. this is the first glimpse. they are planning to argue that the president was under his first amendment protections to express his belief that the election was suspect, in their words. let's go to a quote from this document. "insufficient evidence exists upon which a reasonable jurist could conclude that the 45th presidential state were accurate or not. he therefore denies that ty were false. essentially saying that the president could have been right about the election. in addition, his attorneys argue that this is a moot point, because they say there is not

enough constitutional justification for trying a now former president. judy: in connection with the assault on the capital. what are you hearing about concerns about that during and around the impeachment trial or in general. >> we have learned that they are considering a september 11 style condition that would be an independent look of the events of the sixth, the events hour-by-hour, the lead up and aftermath, and house democratic leaders are working on a potential emergency spending bill to increase security for lawmakers themselves. the sergeant at arms has already moved forward with the idea of increasing security at airports in washington where lawmakers arrive when they land here, or

lawmakers at threat in their home districts. this has been behind the scene a serious, emotional time. that came to bear last night on instagram one representative alexandria of cassio cortez talked about -- alexandria ocasio-cortez talking about what she was facing. rep. ocasio-cortez: 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 notust me as a person, others as individuals, but on all of us as a collective. lisa: it is not just mistrust but a sense of betrayal by some members. judy: quickly, 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. lisa: remarks are increasingly under attack by criticism of the middle, and liz cheney who possibly faces a vote on leadership tomorrow. he said that looney lies and conspiracy theories are cancer for the republican party. this is a very sharp intra-party fight. judy: so interesting that he weighed in.

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 your efforts -- make of the efforts by 10 of your colleagues to meet with the president and try to hammer out something all sides can agree ? sen. barrasso: etiquette is a good idea because we still need to do more to help people get back to work, to help kids get back to school. what the president has proposed, one point -- $1.9 trillion, is a lot of money. it includes many things unrelated to covert relief.

-- to coronavirus relief. we just passed a bill in the end of december into so much of that money has not gone out the door yet. we want to make sure that money is effectively doing its job and that we can prepare to see what needs there are. judy: president biden is arguing that the greater mistake would be to do not enough when so many people are suffering. you have 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 now are well below that order out of work altogether? sen. barrasso: i get home to wyoming and talk to people every weekend about that very thing. what i am hearing is there are people who need help and we need to target that help. when i am hearing president biden including in his proposal sending relief checks out to

families where you can make over a quarter of a million dollar a year, people don't want to see that sort of thing. in wyoming where we have help wanted signs out, small business owners saying if we have this mandatory doubling of the minimum-wage, they will have a harder time making payroll and have to close their doors. when we see that one of the things in the president's proposal it's to pay unemployment bonuses. basically, the math says you do better by not working then by working. another thing that republicans are very concerned about its these bailouts for big cities, blue states, places that really have a history of bad behavior when it comes to managing finances unrelated to coronavirus. judy: i am sure you know that any of these cities and states go toward people working on the front lines, police, first responders, and others. but we are going to be continue

-- continuing be looking at that. i want to ask you about something that the senate minority leader mitch mcconnell has said in the last day. congresswoman marjorie taylor greene of georgia, he said, "looney lies and conspiracy theories are cancer for the republican party and the 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? sen. barrasso: i find her statements disturbing. that is not the future i see for the republican party. the house will have to make its own decisions. but all the time we spent on her is distracting from the work we need to do for the american people. getting people back to work, kids back to school.

judy: i want to ask you about another member of congress, your fellow republican, liz cheney, represents the state of wyoming, your home state. she has come under attack for other republicans for voting to impeach president trump. you had a republican congressman go to wyoming to say that she should not be reelected. do you think she should be removed from a leadership role in the house based on what she has done? sen. barrasso: no, i support representative cheney. i have a different issue on impeachment than she does. i believe it is unconstitutional for us in the senate to go through a trial of impeachment for somebody who is no longer in office. the fact that the chief justice of the supreme court is not going to preside tells me that it is not a legitimate process. judy: do you believe the

president bears any responsibility for what happened to a given that he urged that crowd to go fight, not to show weakness. what do you think his role was in all of this? sen. barrasso: i wish he had chosen his words differently. thehouse has now moved ahead with impeachment and that is coming to the senate. we have a trial starting next tuesday. 45 republicans in the senate have already voted that it is unconstitutional. at home, the people of wyoming believe in fairness. what happened in the house was a rush to judgment. it was a snap impeachment without hearings, without the opportunity for defense. i think that was rushed and i think the president will be acquitted. judy: do you think future presidents should be making similar state? -- similar statements? sen. barrasso: in terms of past

presidents, we should not be impeaching people no longer in office. in terms of future presidents, to me, impeachment is about removing someone from the office which they hold. removing a president from office. that is the way i read the constitution and i think that is what impeachment is all about. judy: we will leave it there. senator, thank you. 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. good to see you. thank you for being with us. i want to ask you about a report that came out from the congressional, forecasting that the american economy will recover rapidly by the end 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?

>> that is an interesting question. what that report showed was that in the second half of this year, gdp would grow by about 4.5%. that is a good gdp growth rate. however, for far too many families, gdp growth has been a spectator sport. they have fallen behind even as the economy has expanded. this is discussed under the rubric of economic inequality or racial injustice. this was a big issue for president biden and vice president harris when they campaigned. it has been disproportionately felled by workers on the bottom leg of that k -- we talk about a k-shaped recovery. 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 autumn leg along with virus control and vaccine distribution to engender an inclusive recovery, not just a gdp number which is not reach many who need it. judy: several points to ask you about and i will move quickly. it was reported today that the president told this group of republican senators he met with last night that he gave them the clear indication that he is willing to look at lowering the price tag overall. is that true? and, how far? jared: when i hear joe biden talk about this plan, i don't think he is referring to a topline price tag. what he is referring to is as quickly and efficiently as possible meeting the urgency of this crisis. he has talked about the cost of inaction in terms of jobs, in

terms of kids out of school, parents who cannot go back into the job market. numbers you yourself have mentioned, the one million people who claimed unemployment just last week. 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 schools reopen, to get people back to work, to distribute the vaccine. the american rescue plan is scaled to meet that challenge. with the president has said to republicans is, come in all day and we will talk about better minority fission waste beat that challenge but we are not going to dial back the goals of this plan. judy: i hear you saying it is important but you are not wedded to that 1.9. i want to ask you about something senator barrasso

raised, that congress passed a package last month in the hundreds of billions of dollars. so he is saying, why rush, why not wait for that money to go out to see what is needed? jared: the american people cannot afford another episode of wait and see. i agreed with a lot of what mr. barrasso said, i thought he had a sense of urgency, until he started talking about wait and see. yes, we passed a bill in december and that is helping people, but that bill ends. many of the components of that bill end in march. what we did last year was congress did this wait and see exercise before the december bill and what happened? families lost work, jobs began to decline. consumer spending, which is 70% of this economy, actually

contracted. we have to get ahead of this. the virus, we will only put it behind us,nly distribute and produce the vaccines, if we help states and localities do what has to be done. we cannot afford to wait another few months to see how this will work out. that way, we fall behind the curve. passing the rescue plan as soon as possible gets us ahead of the curve finally so we can finally launch robust recovery. judy: so much more to ask you. 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? jared: i think the ongoing discussions right now are very much about dealing with that targeting issue. judy: all right, a subject to

continue to ask you about. thank you very much. as we reported earlier, president biden issued 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 overhaul the entire u.s. immigration system. amna nawaz is here with a look at where these moves fit into that larger landscape. amna: that is right. today's actions follow earlier 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. daniel's, 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 me 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. jose when i started with the dream act movement, it was like 10 years ago. i'm still a dreamer and i still have a daca. so 10 years ve passed and there's still no solution. >> when i saw that president biden halted border issues to include the physical barrier, relooking 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. despite all that, we still live in fear every day that we're not -- that 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 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. judy: so important to hear these different voices. president biden only in office less than two weeks already. he has issued a flurry of executive orders, signaling that this is a real priority for him. amna: that is right. it is a message he has sent from day one in office when he sat down and tried to reverse some of these trump era immigration policies. take a look at some of the steps

he took on the first day in office. the dhaka program, he halted border wall construction. he also ended some of the stepped up enforcement going on from ice. those were all things put into practice by president trump if you look at the list today from those new policies, he created the task force to separate -- task force to reunite separated families. he ordered a review of programs from the previous program, and he ordered a review of the public charge rule, which made it harder for anyone to get citizenship if they ever accessed public support in the u.s. strong signals, a change in messaging, it is important to

note the changes in policy will not have immediate impact. it will lead to more questions, how do you handle the case of ,000 people stuck in mexico waiting for their asylum cases to unfold? how do you handle some of the third country deals negotiated by homeland security with those countries of origin? all of those details will have to be worked out. judy: all of these things are things he can do on his own but he is also putting out a sweeping immigration reform law proposal. what do we know about that? amna: it is the most ambitious plan since 2013. the centerpiece is this pathway to citizenship. a plan for an estimated 11 million undocumented people

hereafter they get background checks and make tax payments. he wants to expand the refugee resettlement program and increase border technology. in 2013, there were 14 -- there were 13 republican senators who signed on the deal. five of them remain in the senate but two of them, marco rubio and lindsey graham, have already thrown some cold water. mitch mcconnell called a massive proposal for blanket amnesty that would cut enforcement of american laws and create incentives for people to rush here immediately. if all 50 democrats unite around the plant they need 10 republicans to join them. it is an uphill battle for sure. judy: the temperature has been so high under president trump around immigration. what are the issues you will see with common ground going forward?

amna: the temperature was raised over the last four years. if they are able to push through any kind of comprehensive reform, it is worth noting, it will be the first comprehenve immigration reform of over 30 minutes here in this country. -- of over 30 years here in this country. judy: that would be such a huge development. none of us -- amna nawaz, who has been following this issue so closely. thank you. stephanie: i'm stephanie sy with good evening. i'm stephanie sy with-- good evening. i'm stephanie sy with newshour west, we'll return to judy woodruff and the rest of the program, after the latest headlines. pete buttigieg easily won senate confirmation to be the secretary of transportation. indiana, mayor and presidential -- the former south bend, indiana, mayor and presidential candidate is the first openly gay person to be confirmed by

the senate for a cabinet post. meanwhile, the senate veteran affairs committee approved denis mcdonough's nomination for va secretary and sent it to the full senate. the white house announced plans today to ship 1 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 to get 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 illness from covid-19, including socially vunlerable communities. stephanie: meanwhile, world health organization investigators have visited the research center in china that has been the subject about speculation over the origin of covid-19. allegations that the virus escaped from the lab are unclear -- arenproven and strongly

denied by china. 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 and a half years. after an argumentative hearing, he gestured a heart to his wife. the court found 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 happenedith 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. stephanie: 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 country. meanwhile, aung san suu kyi -- myanmar's ousted civilian leader -- remains under detention. two fbi agents were killed and 3 wounded in south florida in one of the deadliest days in fbi 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. amazon announced that jeff bezos will step down as ceo later this year. he'll become executive chairman instead. bezos has been ceo since founding the company nearly 30 years ago. two passings 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 dollars for health care workers. captain tom moore was 100 years old. there's also word that award-winning actor hal holbrook died last month in beverly hills, california. he won 5 emmys and a tony and gained movie fame as "deep throat" in the 1976 watergate thriller "all the president's men." but, he may be best known as mark twain ia one-man show that spanned 6 decades. >> when the urge to exercise comes over me, i lie down until it passes away. [laughter] >> now, as for drinking, i have very strict rules about that -- when others drink, i like to help. stephanie: hal holbrook was 95 years old.

>> this is the pbs newshour from w eta studios in washington and from the west at the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. judy: 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. stuart: he may have escaped 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. >> no matter how much putin

pretends to be a politician, he will go down in history as a poison or. stuart: the kremlin's most vehement critic is going back behind bars. last weekend, residents of 100 towns around russia gathered for a second round of protests. 20-year-old christina is among those who wants change. vladimir putin has been in power, as president or prime minister, for her whole life. >> 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. stuart: a lack of freedom, lack of wealth, a lack of justice, all complaints at the largest unsanctioned nation-wide protests in modern russian history. >> in order for the authorities to hear us we have to come out every day. stuart: 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 4000 detained a week before. 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 uk, after a warrant was issued for his arrest. vladimir ashurkov says navalny could yet be released, if enough pressure builds on president putin. >> it is very important for us to keep the pressure. we are lobbying in the international arena for western governments to take a more