♪ judy: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the "newshour" tonight -- feeling the pain. the economy faces an uneven recovery as daily coronavirus deaths top 5000 for the first time and congress begins to mo closer to passing a relief package. then -- six months later, a worsening pandemic complicates beirut's long recovery from the massive explosion that devastated the city. >> the explosion was yet another blow in a year that had already seen the currency lose 80% of its value. and now, just as the city was getting back on its feet, it's been floored by a devastating wave of covid-19. judy: and it's friday. david brooks and jonathan capehart consider the republican

party's identity crisis and the ongoing pandemic relief negotiations. all that and more on tonight's "pbs newshour.” ♪ >> major funding for the "pbs newshour" has been provided by -- ♪ ♪ >> moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us.

>> consumer cellular, financial -- johnson & johnson. >> the john s. and james l knight foundation, fostering communities. >> 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. judy: president biden's plans to pass a nearly $2 trillion economic stimulus package picked up some momentum today, as democrats in congress approved a basic blueprint.

while the measures do not have the force of law, lawmakers are expected to begin writing details of a major package next week. as white house correspondent yamiche alcindor reports, the president made his case on the same day as the release of another weak jobs report tied to the pandemic. yamiche: today at the white house, president biden doubling down on the need to pass his covid relief plan. pres. joe biden: i see enormous pain in this country, a lot of folks out of work, a lot of folks going hungry, staring at the ceiling tonight wondering, what am i going to do tomorrow? so i am going to act and i'm going to act fast. yamiche: the president dismissed republican concerns that the $1.9 trillion package is too much. pres. joe biden: what republicans have proposed is to either do nothing or not enough. all of sudden, many of them have rediscovered fiscal restraint and the concern for the deficits.

but don't kid yourself. this approach will come with a cost, more pain for more people for longer than it has to be. yamiche: biden is calling on lawmakers to pass the plan fast. among other things, it calls for $1,400 direct payments to individuals, which biden says are non-negotiable, increased weekly federal unemployment benefits to $400, and exnding federal jobless programs through september. earlier in the day, president biden met with congressional democrats. after the meeting, house speaker nancy pelosi said a bill would absolutely be passed by march 15. that's when enhanced federal unemployment benefits are set to expire. overnight, the senate approved a budget resolution that would allow it to fast-track the aid without republican support. today, the house followed suit. the hours-long session included votes on amendments that could define what goes into the actual bill. >> all in favor say, aye. >> aye. yamiche: among the votes, a rejection of hiking the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour.

republicans and some economists argue that, since the worst of the pandemic, the economy has rebounded. some sectors, including professional and business services, have recovered well. and this week, the congressional budget office projected that gdp would rise to pre-pandemic levels before the end of this year. but this morning, the nation woke to a bleak picture of the economy, still hurt by the pandemic's winter surge. the labor department's january jobs report revealed, u.s. employers added only 4000 jobs. the unemployment rate fell, but remained high at 6.3%. of the 22 million jobs lost since last spring, about 10 million jobs remain lost. that's worse than at the height of the financial crisis. angela retamoza is one of 4 million americans who have been out of work for more than six months. angela retamoza: i kind of feel like i am in limbo. yes, it can be somewhat

discouraging at times, but i just keep trudging along. yamiche: since march, she has relied on state unemployment aid. she said the extra federal unemployment benefits have helped her make ends meet. angela retamoza: it alleviates so much stress. it's not like my stress completely went away, but to know that i can pay my rent and my bills and put food on the table because just unemployment on its own really only pays my rent and utilities. everything else i have to figure out how to do that. the extra is really helpful. yamiche: at the heart of a bifurcated recovery, job losses for women. women account for most of the nearly 10 million jobs still lost, with women of color hit especially hard. overall, the jobless rates for black americans and hispanic americans are both still higher than the national average. and since the start of the pandemic, the federal reserve reports that wealth for the top 1% of earners went up 400% compared to the bottom 50%.

in march, leida parker sylvester was furloughed from her job in the hospitality industry. she said looking for work has been grueling. leida parker sylvester: the job search has been really difficult. i just put in job after job. it has to be over 100 jobs that i have applied for. the most work i have been able to find is part time work here and there. yamiche: in january, the service sector shed 127,000 jobs. the industry continues to represent e overwhelming majority of jobs lost long-term or permanently. amy scheide: we have experienced a 72% loss in revenue compared to last year. yamiche: amy scheide runs a restaurant and catering business in wisconsin rapids, wisconsin. she has not been able to bring back most of her staff, and she says help from washington isn't coming fast enough. amy scheide: when payroll rolls around, it's coming from my personal savings. there is no moy in the business for anything other than the food necessary to keep moving forward, the mortgage

that cannot be ignored, and th utilities that cannot be ignored. we have watched business after business after business close already. yamiche: for the "pbs newshour," i'm yamiche alcindor. judy: let's take a closer look now at who is bearing the brunt of the pandemic's economic pain, and whether federal relief efforts are reaching those who are most in need. for that, we turn to raphael bostic. he's the president and ceo of the federal reserve bank of atlanta. mr. bostic, thank you so much for joining us. let me start by asking you about the economy overall. it was just a few days ago the congressional budget office was forecasting we're going to see a robust recovery in the middle of this year, but then today and yesterday we're seeing discouraging reports about unemployment, how many people are out of work and have been for a ng time. what does this economy look like to you? raphael: well, i think there are two things to keep in mind here. one is that, in e current period, we have a virus that is

still going through the economy and going through our population quite significantly. while that's happening, we're going to see choppy times, and i think we're going to have rough times for the next couple of months. t, as the vaccine gets further into the population, i think we are going to turn to a much more robust growth period. but that's going to not come until the summer at the earliest. we have to weather this time as much as we can. judy: well, to bring it down to the individual level, who in this economy is doing well, or maybe about to do better, and who is going to be struggling for the foreseeable future? raphael: well, this pandemic has really hit the population in two different ways. we have a number of people who have jobs where they're able to work from home, they don't necessarily need to be next to people or close to people to do their work. they're doing fine, and they're going to continue to do fine. it's people who have jobs where proximity is important, the service industries, like in restaurants d in grocery

stores. those are the types of jobs we're going to see struggles. that will likely continue for months to come. judy: so, given that, mr. bostic, what do you make of the biden administration's proposal for covid economic relief, $1.9 trillion? and we know that could change some. that is what they are proposing. what do you make of the focus of it, the price tag, and what it's aiming to fix? raphael: well, i think it's very important that we get relief to people across the economy, because there's still a lot of uncertainty that's out there. and people are nervous, and people need to have that support, know that that's there. i think the support to unemployment insurance is extremely important, because those are people we now have problems. we also have to think about how we get support to small businesses that may not have participated in the paycheck protection program and to a number of families that have really stepped away from employment altogether. we can't forget them, because they are definitely at risk.

judy: well, as you know, different groups of economists have looked at what americans have done with last year's federal government payouts. and the reports that i have seen, they found that $1.6 trillion of it has still not been spent. it's being saved or it's being used to pay off debt. in fact, i was reading this morning that households earning over $78,000 they here have spent less than 10% of what they received in federal payouts. does that tell you that we need to see more targeting in what the government does next? raphael: well, i definitely think targeting is important. but i also think it's important to remember that we still have a lot of uncertainty. it's not exactly clear where pain is going to hit in the population for the next several months. you saw from the federal reserve we acted big and we acted bold in the beginning, because we didn't want the ages to be lost. i think the approach that we

have taken thus far has really been to say, we'd rather err on the side of being too supportive than not supportive enough, because, if we're not, if we fall short in that support, the damageo the economy and the people who are hurt more permanently is going to be more significant. judy: and are you saying that still applies to this upcoming covid relief package? the danger is in not doing enough, rather than ing too much? raphael: well, i think we have learned in the last several episodes of crisis that doing more is better. but we are also learning things through the experience as we move forward. that should guide targeting. i'm having conversations with policy-makers to try to assist in that. i am hopeful that the targeting will be more effective as we move through the next several months. judy: you mean toward the lower end of the ince scale? raphael: toward those who have lost their jobs, who are still out of work, and to small businesses in many communities across the country that are the

lifeblood for many small towns and many neighborhoods. we have got to make sure that they stay afloat, so that, when we get to the other side, the communities have a foundation from which they can grow and prosper. judy: mr. bostic, you said last october that this pandemic economy has -- and i i'm quoting am you. you said "it's laying bare and , exacerbating disparities that have long plagued our economy along ethnic, racial, gender, geographic, and occupational lines." you said "the fed must , participate in a deeper and more creative reckoning with a history of racial injustice that continues to weaken the economy for all of us.” my question to you is, is the fed doing that have you been , doing that, and, if so, how? raphael: we are absolutely doing that. we have spent a lot of effort raising the issues that are important in terms of understanding those racial barriers and the structural things that are keeping people

from being fully engaged. we are bringing people together with solutions and talking about how we can apply them in communities and in our policy. and we are having conversations with businesses across the country to really get them to examine their practices and policies and to rethink how they engage with people across the country, and, in particular, in neighborhoods where they have not necessarily been so attentive. and so we are really trying to drive a different kind of conversation, and have that conversation translate into action, because action is really what we need to see. judy: and do you think you're making progress? raphael: i know we're making progress. i see that every day in my district here in atlanta and across the country. judy: raphael bostic, who is the president and ceo of the federal reserve bank of atlanta, thank you very much for joining us. raphael: thank you, it is a pleasure to talk with you. ♪

stephanie: i am stephanie sy with the newshour west. we will return to judy woodruff and the rest of the program after the headlines. the pentagon will deploy more than 1100 active-duty troops to assist with vaccine sites across the country, starting in california. each team includes personnel who can administer vaccines. the advisor said, military support will help expedite inoculations. >> part of this group will arrive in california within the next 10 days. to begin operations around february 15. with additional vaccination missions to follow. the military's critical role in supporting sites will help vaccinating thousands of people per day and ensure every american who wants a vaccine will receive one. stephanie: the biden

administration is investing in six companies to boost production of at-home testing kits. they hope to make more than 60 million test available by the end of the summer. that comes as the u.s. set another grim record overnight. daily cover depths topped 5000 for the first time ever. the u.s. state department has notified congress that it intends to remove yemen's houthi rebels from a list of terrorist organizations three weeks after the trump administration made the last-minute move. aid groups had criticized the terrorist designation, saying it would lock humanitarian assistance. delegates from libya's warring factions approved an interim government. they had two separate governments in the east and west. the united nations forming geneva selected four leaders to lead libya through the national elections in december.

they have been in turmoil since qaddafi's rule ended in 2011. in myanmar protests against the military coup, and the largest rallies today since the takeover. they rallied at two universities. protesters held up a three finger salute as a sign of resistance and carried signs with images of rhythms -- ribbons. one teacher voiced hope of the military coup would fail. >> we don't want this military coup, which unlawfully seized power. we do not wantone who steals power informs their own government. we are no longer going to work with them. stephanie: at least 30 people have been arrested for protesting against the coup. the military says they will hold onto power until an election is held in the year. the u.s. trade deficit surged to a 12 year high in 2020, due to

pandemic disruptions. the gap between experts and imports rose 18% to $679 billion. that was due in part to covid restrictions on tourism and education. wall street dodged the fifth day of gains. the dow jones climbed 92 points to close out 31, 148. the nasdaq rose 78 points and the s&p 500 added 15. passing to note. award-winning actor christopher plummer died today. during his nearly 70 year career he became known for a wide variety of roles that won him an oscar, two emmys, and other awards. >> he was a leading shakespearean actor, but it was this role as captain von trapp opposite julie andrews in "sound

of music" that catapulted canadian born christopher plummer to starting. he disparaged the part at first, but later came to terms with it ended success. he starred in a wide range of films from tolstoy to the voice of the villain in a cartoon film "up." he had a film renaissance later in life. his role in beginners as amanda comes out as gay after 44 years of marriage, won him an oscar. >> my mother once predicted i would have to wait to be a very old man before receiving recognition in our profession. she was absolutely right. reporter: he continued acting in recent years, serving in the thriller "all the money in the world."

and in the 2019 film "knives out." he died after a blow to his head from a fall. for the pbs newshour, i am jeffrey brown. stephanie: still to come on the newshour, covid-19 complicates beirut's recovery from a devastating explosion. david brooks and jonathan capehart unpack politics. we remember remarkable lives lost to covid-19, and much more. ♪ >> this is pbs newshour from weta studios in washington and in the west at the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. judy:t has been six months since a massive fertilizer explosion at the port of beirut toward through the city, leaving

hundreds dead and catastrophic destruction. lebanon was already mired in deep economic crisis, but now, after the blast, as special correspondent leila molana allen tells us, add another crisis, covid-19. reporter: it is and the lebanese 9:35 p.m. red cross night team isacing to respond to yet another critical covid-19 call. lebanon has no ficial ambulance service, so these young volunteers are the front line of pandemic defence. this 85-year-olwoman is fighting for every breath. there's nothing more they can do in the ambulance. she needs a hospital bed. they have not been taking cases. those are hard to find. >> the hospital's inebanon are suffering from a shortage of resources and we've experienced multiple times when we transport a patient to the hospital there is no room in the emergency room, icu, or the whole

hospital. >> the intensive care unit was full. she only makes it inside because her doctor reserved a space for her in advance, knowing she might deteriorate. six months ago an enormous explosion swept through beirut, tearing apart homes and lives. he killed more than 200 people, injured thousands more and left large swathes of the city in tatters. my own neighbourhood of mar mikhael was left in pieces. many of its residents have come back and rebuilds. some have nowhe else to go. but the area is a shell of its former self. this was once one of the busiest streets in beirut, lined with crowded cafes, bars, restaurants and shops. while some of them have been rebuilt, others are still piles of rubble. and thanks to the pandemic, it is still a ghost town. the explosion was yet other blow in a year that had already seen the currency lose 80% of its value and food prices triple, while many lost their life savings. the government had little to

tackle since the country's economic freefall, swore it would rapidly punish those responsible for the blast. instead, it has spent months gridlocked in political infighting. now, just as the city was getting back on its feet, it's been floored by a destating wave of covid-19 and a nationwide lockdown imposed on a population that has nothing left to give. one of the countries -- country's largest hospitals had only just recovered from the damage sustainedn the blast. they're building again, racing against time to add more capacity before they're hit by another spike. they havelready repurposed two extra floors above the packed icu covid words. those were full almost as soon as they were complete. the er is full too. >> we treated a lot of patients on the chairs, under the tents, outside the er, we put some extension oxygen cords to oxgenate the patients on stretchers outside of the er. it was a very chaotic and severe

two weeks. reporter: the rise in cases came after the government chose to prioritize the economy over health over the holiday season, lifting restrictions to allow tens of thousands to gather at bars, restaurants and parties. the resulting virus spread carried a heavy toll. my people have now died of coronavirus in the last 4 weeks here than in all of 2020. the test positivity rate has been 20% or higher for weeks. the w.h.o. says movement restrictions should remain until it falls below 5% for at least two weeks. if there lifted anytime soon, doctors fear another spike. are you worried the government, for political reasons, will lift the lockton? >> it is a struggle between economy, politics, and science. in my opinion, this is how we should be living for the next at least year. reporter: but even as doctors beg for an extension, there's already talk of easing the restrictions. lebanese say they can't take much more of this lockdown, one of the harshest in

the world. in place for nearly a month, it's imposed a 24/7 curfew, with all shops, including food stores, closed. many here work daily cash-in-hand jobs, so if they're not working, they're not earning. six months ago we met the mitri family after their home was decimated by the explosion. ever since they've been , rebuilding. it was nearly liveable again, but then the curfew stopped construction workers finiing the job. their father joseph refused to leave the house even when it was at its worst, but the rest of the family are split across the city and beyond, staying with friends and relatives. desperate to bring them home after months apart, he's completing what he can himself. his son maher has moved back in to help, sleeping on the floor amidst the plaster dust. the paint is still wet on the floor, it is that freshly done. the grocery store where camil, the youngest works, is closed. it is during delivery and letting trusted customers pick up items, but he's not needed

behind the counter. only his sister and mother work in exempted jobs. so you are not able to work, your father is not able, your brother is trying. the other three are surviving on your sister and mother's salary basically? camil: yes. because of them were living, like, a little bit. reporter: maher still needs surgery to remove glass from the explosion that's embedded in his hand and arm, but he's been without wages for so long, he can't risk having his hands out of action if the lockdown lifts and he's able to work again. >> 20 days at home, no money, nothing. it is hard. reporter: how long can you continue like that, do you think? >> i can't -- we need to live. we need to get our jobs back. we need income in our hands. it is really hard. reporter: the mitris are lucky by lebanese standards. they have used up most of their savings getting through the lockdown, but they still have a

little money coming in, and a charity paid for most of their rebuilding work. others here haven't been so fortunate. the mood on the streets now is hopeless. a recent call for protests in the capital, which just a year ago saw hundreds of thousands taking to these streets calling for better governance, fell flat. gone is the idealism that change will calm. life here has simply become a fight to survive. for the pbs newshour, i'm leila molana-allen in beirut. ♪ judy: now to the analysis of brooks and capehart. that's new york times columnist david brooks and jonathan capehart, columnist for the washington post. very good to see both of you this friday night. let's start by talking about the republican party. jonathan, the republicans in the

house of representatives this week voted, in the last day, voted not to take away committee assignments from marjorie taylor greene, conspiracy theorist, someone who has made deeply disturbing statements. elected to the full house, meaning democrats took the vote. she said, greene said today that it didn't really bother her, that committees didn't matter, and, besides, it's donald trump's party anyway. issue right? jonathan: well, she's right in that it's donald trump's party, but she's wrong about the fact that it doesn't matter. it does matter. if she doesn't think committee assignments or being assigned to a committee matters, then she shouldn't be in government. she showed resign her seat if she doesn't believe that sitting on a committee, doing the work of being an elected representative and representing your constituents in congress, if that doesn't matter, then perhaps she should go back to georgia.

but this is indeed donald trump's party, and we saw it with the votes that were taken within the republican caucus. marjorie taylor greene was able to hold onto her committee seat because the vote was a public vote within the caucus. liz cheney was able to hold on to her leadership post within the republican caucus because that vote was a secret ballot. and we talked all last week or all this week about how her hold on her leadership post was tenuous because the base was so angry, the caucus was so angry. and yet, by secret ballot, she won reelection to that leadership post within the caucus overwhelmingly. so, this might be donald trump's republican party, but, behind closed doors, within the republican caucus, at least as it's playing out in the house, there are some tensions there. judy: and, davi i mean, what congresswoman greene actually

said was that it's a waste of time. she views committees as a waste of time. my question to you is, i mean, what does this say about the republican party in congress? david: yes, i have decided to look on the bright side. i think this was the week we saw more anti-trump activity in the republican party than any week in the last five years. we have had mitch mcconnell calling marjorie taylor greene's ideas cancerous. liz cheney won by 2-1. that was not automatic. it shows there are a lot of people in the house republican caucus who are not with the trumpsters. they're a little intimidated by them, but, in private, that's not where their views are. we had nebraska senator ben sasse with a very forthright assault on the gop of one of the counties in nebraska who wants to censure him. and so people are beginning to stand up in ways that haven't happened. and i think, partly january 6, partly looking at the things that greene believes, they see, as mcconnell said, that these are just disastrous cancers for

the party. it's not all the way there, but we're beginning to see much more of an assault than we saw before. finally, we had 10 republican senators break from a bit of their party and put out a covid relief proposal. so, i'm seeing progress. judy: well, let's pursue that. jonathan, i interviewed former missouri senator john danforth this week, who said that his party, he says he is still a republican, has become he said, , a grotesque caricature of what it once was, that it's no longer conservative, it's populist at the extremes. where do you see this going, is the question. jonathan: well, i do agree with david that therere green shoots to use a phrase from a previous presidency, green shoots of progress, and maybe even green shoots of a new beginning. but the republican party right now is going through i think, is going to be a multicycle

refreshing, that the these green shoots that we are seeing, will that mean that republicans become more emboldened and stand up for themselves and, going into the midterm elections, the non-trump republicans get elected, maybe even republicans take over the house, but not with trump republicans? i don't know. what i do know is this. the republican party is not going to care itself of what former senator danforth talked about until it has concerted leadership within the caucus to push the marjorie taylor greenes and the other folks within that caucus, because she is not the only one, push them aside and get about the business of governing. i focus on house minority leader kevin mccarthy, who should have

used the marjorie taylor greene moment as a leadership moment to do what a leader is supposed to do and stand up for the values of the party and the caucus, and to push aside those who run afoul of that. ion't know what leader mccarthy stands for. i don't know what the republican party stands for. if his calculations this week are about retaking the house in 2022, my question is, what is your program? what are you for? because unless you can tell the american people, and particularly folks in the districts around the country, unless you can tell people what the republican party will do and what leader mccarthy would do as speaker proactively, positively, then why should the american people look at the republican party as a viable alternative to the democratic party? judy: well, speaking of what the republicans can do, david,

you mentioned the republican role, i think, in covid relief. what world do you see them playing? the president saying we need to go big. republicans and even some mocrats raising questions. david joe biden ran on : bipartisanship and unity. he had a chance when the 10 republicans put forth their $618 billion proposal to say, ok, let's try for a week. i'm not going to give you more than a week. we will see if we can get you over $1 trillion. the republicans have already voted for roughly $4 trillion in aid. i think they could ha gotten a fifth. aside from joe biden, i don't think there's any taste for bipartisansh in the democratic party, sometimes with justified reason. they just lived through the horror of the trump presidency. they just lived through january 6. they don't have much respect or trust for the republican party. and so they don't want to do bipartisanship. i think those 10 republicans do.

there are another 10 or 15 in the senate who would prefer it. they're not going to go as big as biden wants to go, but i think they would like it. but you can't tell people to trust people they don't trust. trust takes time and it is not there for bipartisanship in this congress. the evidence of this week is, we are not going to see that. judy: jonathan, what do you see as the outlook for bipartisanship? jonathan: well, it depends on your definition of bipartisanship. if you mean sitting with people from the other side of the aisle, talking through the issues, talking through policies and programs, and then, as president of the united states, you deci that what you have heard does not meet the policy proposals that you have in mind and the mandate you feel you have from the american people, well, then, if you go a different route, that doesn't mean that you haven't been bipartisan. it just means that you have a different governing philosophy. i do think psident biden has lived up to his promise to be bipartisanship.

he didn't have to meet with those 10 senators, and yet he did. i do think that david was absolutely right with what he said indian -- and in his terrific column today in the new york times. i don't think democrats don't want to do bipartisanship. i do think that democrats do suffer from a lack of trust, because they have been charlie brown to the republicans' lucy with the football. when president obama was in the white house, president obama tried desperately to negotiate in good faith with republicans, only to have them say no, be recalcitrance. having learned that lesson, president biden, having be part of the obama-biden white house, does not want to be in that position, nor should he, especially when you have millions of americans who are not only suffering through a pandemic, but alsohrough the resultant economic crisis.

judy: and, david, lingering effects? if the democrats do this with democratic votes, what is the fallout? what does that mean for the future? david: well, people do really like bipartisanship. our own amy walter had a good column this week saying that, when you try to pass something on a partisan basis, what happens is that piece of legislation tends to be unpopular, because independents would rather you do it on a bipartisan basis. so, i think, in the long term, democrats probably made it slightly more likely the republicans will do very well in the midterm, if they ram this through on a partisan basis. having said that, i think the size of our social problems are so large that $1.9 trillion basically given to the least fortunate among us is about the right size. and so i wish they had done it wi bipartisanship. i wish the republicans had come up to like $1.2 trillion. but i'm thinking about the country, i'm thinking about a country that is suffering from inequality, from decay, from

declining prospects, from a rural-urban income gap. and $1.9 trillion can go a long way to setting us on a different social path, a more equal social path. despite my reservations about the way they're doing it, i still think it needs to be done. judy: just a little over a minute left. i want to get from both of you your expectations for next week's impeachment trial, the second one, jonathan, for trump. what do you think will happen? jonathan: i think we will hear wrenching testimony, in that the house managers, the house impeachment managers, will present a case that will bring the american people and the witnesses-jurors back to that day on january 6. i expect the moment to be probably one of the most impactful, emotional moments in recent american history. but i also expect this trial to

be sure. i would not be surprised if we're talking about the end of this trial a week from today. judy: and, david, what do you expect? david: yes, that sounds about right. i'm mostly struck by how donald trump has sort of vanished. obviously, he's off twitter, but he's not taking any measures to be anywhere. it is going to be a one-sided affair, which will end in an acquittal. and then we will get back to business. i will be very curious to see if the nation tunes in or whether they're really ready to move on judy: well, we are going to be covering it, and we are going to be asking the two of you about it one week from tonight at exactly this time. david brooks, jonathan capehart, thank you both. jonathan: thanks, judy. david: thanks. ♪ judy: after a week reaching yet another tragic milestone in the

covid-19 death toll, we remember five remarkable individuals here in the u.s. who have lost their lives to the pandemic. ♪ >> ♪ no i never saw them at all until there was you ♪ judy: freddie perez de tagle loved to sing, whether in his church choir or just answering the phone, his son told us. he moved from the philippines to toledo, ohio in his twenties to be with his wife, priscilla. a dedicated grandfather, freddie lovedhe outdoors and camping. he also had a lifelong interest in fashion. his family said he took pride in choosing what to wear every day. freddie was 67 years old. service was at the center of carolyn barnes' life. she was an enthusiastic volunteer at her church in pensacola, florida and worked as a caregiver in assisted living and daycare centers.

she was matter-of-fact and outspoken, her son said, and always told her large family about the importance of helping others. she was 77 years old. steve prince came from a family of journalists, following in the footsteps of his father and grandmother. steve loved copy editing at the south bend tribune, where he worked for 33 years and met his wife, mary. introspective and humble, his wife told us he was passionate about the positive impact newspapers could have in their communities. steve was an avid runner and quietly donated his money and time to several causes, including as a dedicated volunteer at his local hospil, his wife said. steve was 75 years old. juan ordonez was always smiling and making jokes, his family told us adding that he was warm

, and adventurous, and quick to make friends. a native of peru, he moved to new jersey when he was just 13 years old, and took pride in mastering english. juan was hardworking, fascinated by computers and gained a degree in i.t. while working full-time. his wife said he was a romantic and a "hands-on" dad to their five-year-old mia. juan loved traveling, watching comedy shows and the peruvian national soccer team. he was 40 years old. 91-year-old verend dosia carlson was seen as the matriarch of the phoenix retirement community where she worked and lived for decades. dosia always fought for the underdog, her brother told us. she was an advocate for the elderly and, 40 years ago, started a nonprofit for older adults. the organization still serves hundreds of people in phoenix every day.

she overcame the effects of a childhood bout with polio and, later, a cancer diagnosis. a friend said dosia was a compassionate minister and a talented musician. we thank all of your family members who share the stories with us. our hearts go out to you as they do to everyone who has lost loved one in this pandemic. ♪ judy: prior to the pandemic, broadway was booming breaking , box office records in 11 of the last2 years. but curtains haven't risen since march, with deep personal and financial impacts. by one count, broadway is directly responsible for nearly 100,000 jobs in new york city alone. and, as a leading attraction for people who travel to the city,

it has an economic impact of nearly $15 billion. jeffrey brown is back with that report for our arts and culture series, canvas. ♪ reporter: rousing music and pulling energy. high drama. broadway is all that. but now it is closed and the pandemic has exposed how much more there is to it. >> i don't think most people think of actors, for example, as the middle class workers that the majority of us are. they also don't really think about the arts and entertainment industry's impact on the economy. reporter: kate shindle is an actor whose credits include the national tour of “fun home”. now she is an out of work actor who also happens to be president of the actor's equity union -- a nonpaying job, by the way dealing closely with an industry , in crisis.

>> making a living in our industry being a professional , actor or stage manager, is one of the hardest things you can do, even on a good day. it's an incredibly unstable and unpredictable way to make a living for so many of us. but when it stretches on past a year, which it's about to, i think there's a very real poibility that a lot of people will leave the business, because they're not exactly sure what they're waiting for. ♪ >> i'm a song and dce man. i've worked all over the country, i he gotten a few national tours. i've gotten to work here in new york at lincoln center. the career was great until it wasn't anymore. reporter: for years, 37 year old rashaan james ii did what actors and dancers have always done work when they get gigs, , supplement their income as waiters, bartenders and doing other odd jobs. >> i was in alcohol slinger. i would stand inside of liquor stores and give tastings and i got a percentage of the bottles i would sell.

reporter: with that work also gone, james turned to even odder temporary jobs working for , the census, then as a poll-worker, and now, to his immense surprise, as deputy campaign manager for a friend running for city council in manhattan. >> who i am is being redefined every day. somebody asked me what i do and it is, i work in politics. in that way i am redefining myself and trying to find avenues to make sure any time i feel i am getting into a slump i , find a way out of it. reporter: while most of us focus on what happens onstage, commercial theater is an enormous ecosystem, playing out largely behind the scenes in places like this. >> where the department that is good at putting our heads down and getting the work done. we don't make a fuss, we don't want to be noticed. we want to make sure we facilitate the relationship between the designer and the performer.

his 20-year-old company makes the costumes for broadway shows and performances of all kinds. made-to-order work, performed by it is highly specialized skilled artisans. kristiansen laid off all of his 52 workers and with little work has less than a third on hand now. >> when it started to become terrifying, when things were happening like disney closing frozen on broadway because it was too hard to open it up again, and we started to see a shift, trying to get people to talk to us and figure out what to do for our people who are my , mily. reporter: now kristiansen has joined more than 50 other shops to form the fighting for their costume industry coalition fighting for their, very survival. >> this costume shops are all small businesses. >> demonstrations of all that goes into the making of the costume. >> the people that are doing the beadg and who are sewing the garments and putting the thread in. it is a lot of people doing

this, each one is very important. we need to make sure they make it through this. reporter: is one of many relief efforts. since march, and actors fund has given $18 million in emergency financial assistance to more than 15,000 people. >> my insurance runs out at the end of march. reporter: and holds zoom seminars like this for those whose insurance has run out. in december, tina fey hosted an nbc special, one night only, best of broadway. it raised more than $3 million and the coronavirus relief package passed by congress in december included $15 billion for “save our stages” -- aid for venues from small clubs to broadway theaters. others help in their own ways. when the long-running tv show, “law and order svu”, resumed production in september, executive producer warren leight announced he would hire as many unemployed theater actors as possible. more than 30 so far.

>> we were aware people were losing health insurance on broadway. it has been a tough time. we thought let's not fly people , in from other cities. let's not look so much to the tv acting poor. let's try to keep the local broadway pool we have always relied on and help as much as we can. reporter: plus, leight says, his show benefits from the talents of suddenly available top broadway stars. >> the objection is suained. reporter: several, including tony-award winner adriane lenox, have played judges. >> changes need a certain type hit the back wall of the winter of authority. if you can hit the back wall of the winter garden, you can handle arraignment court here. reporter: of course there are only so many judges, even on the law & order franchise. the real question, when will broadway return and what will it look like? >> we have had no revenue for

nine months and likely not another eight months. will the industry that went out first and will be most likely the last one in. reporter: charlotte st. martin, president of the broadway league the trade group for commercial , theater in the u.s., says broadway faces unusually daunting challenges. >> broadway is a very, very expensive business. we looked at socially distancing because the state was asking us to try. the most seats we could fill in the biggest theater was 27%. we need 75% for most shows to even break even. reporter: for now, st. martin and others say, the focus must be on sustaining theeople and the work they do that make up this great american industry. so there will be an industry to retu to. for the pbs newshour, i am jeffrey brown. ♪

judy: in recognition of black history month tonight's brief , but spectacular comes from historian daina ramey berry, who chairs the history department at the university of texas at austin. she is dedicated to rethinking the way we teach american history to students of all ag. her latest book is called a black women's history of the united states. >> i have a son who is now in his teen years. his first racial experience was at age three. we had just moved to austin, texas. we were at a neighborhood meeting about the community we were in. we were the only black family the. my son was pouting and said i had to be a bad guy because i'm black. and he said, and i want to be the good guy, the hero, the one who saves people. the mothers were frozen. they did not know what to say. it was totally uncomfortable.

i did not want to leave because i wanted my son to know we are going to stand there and being who will want to be. that night when i tucked him in my husband and i talked to him just like my parents talk to me about african-american history and culture as a child. because outside of our house, setting our home setting, we are criminalized. when i was growing up, african-american history was literally one paragraph. africans came and they were enslaved. there is harriet tubman, frederick douglass, and the new jump to rosa parks and martin luther king. we learned about four people in african-american history. now, where i sit and i know that 4 million people received their freedom or took their freedom, or were granted their freedom stole their freedom in 1865. and even before that moment, there's so many stories that we can understand about survival, about resilience, about pride, and about the african-american experience in the united states.

that goes beyond those four great figures. teaching texas slavery is a digital humanities project that i've been working on with a team of scholars for a number of years. it is a way to teach young children about the contributions of african-americans to look at them in their eyes to understand the humanity of the enslaved and their contribuons to the state of texas. in my work, i try to honor the voices and experience that people who were enslaved, because for so long in the hiorical literature, nobody asked them about how they experienced slavery. they talked about enslaved people by making them objects. these were human beings. for me, think it's important to try to read and think about moments, historical moments from their perspectives. kids can absolutely handle hard truths. some of the best conversations that i've had about history and about the history of slavery have been with five-year olds, seven year olds, nine year olds. it is so important that we know our history, that we teach all aspects of history, even the

tough parts, the subjects that make us uncomfortable, the subjects that make us feel ashamed about our nation. that is when we are in a place where we can move forward and grow and live in a realistic space and students don't feel betrayed by high school education, by junior high school education and by elementary school education. my name is diana ramy berry, and this is my brief, but spectacular take on understanding the past to live a better future. judy: and you can find all of our brief but spectacular segments online at pbs.org/newshour/brief. a reminder to turn in later tonight on pbs when our arm listed their children -- lisa desjardins is guest hosting on washington week. join us monday evening. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thinking, and have a

good, safe weekend. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- ♪ >> consumer cellular. johnson & johnson bnsf railway. , the william and flora hewlett foundation, for more than 50 years advancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better world at hewlett.org. >> supporting social entrepreneurs and their solutions to the world's most pressing problems. skoll foundation. >> 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 pbs newshour west from weta studios in washington and from our bureau at the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. ♪ ♪ >> you are watching pbs. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy.]

sumac tonight on kqed newsroom. one on one with alex padilla, california's new junior senator. we will talk about vaccinations, and impeachment. severed cisco suing its own school board to officially battle gavin newsom for the governor seat. >> we wander through the oakland and san francisco zoo sneaking a peek of our favorite creatures. in this edition of something beautiful. welcome. our team is been looking forward to bring you this next interview for several weeks. we're talking now with california's newest u.s. senator who was sworn into office last month. joining us