♪ judy woodruff: good evening, i'm judy woodruff. on the "newshour" tonight, getting a vaccine. a single dose binoculars is approved. as officials warn about rolling back safeguards. and abuse and the ranks. the pentagon announces a new commission to address sexual assault in the military. we speak to survivor advocates about solutions. >> the sexual assault advocacy program has to be removed from the chain of command immediately so we can have some teeth to hold people accountable. judy woodruff: and the party line -- former president trump

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station from viewers like you. thank you. judy woodruff: the first batch of a new covid vaccine from johnson & johnson began shipping around the country today. all told, nearly four million doses are expected to be delivered this week, 20 million by the end of the month. unlike the other vaccines, this vaccine isiven as just one dose. a number of states are loosening covid-related restrictions. massachusetts lifted its capacity limits on restaurants entirely and partially on theaters today. governors in iowa and montana lifted mask mandates recently. today, cdc director rochelle walensky warned that states should be careful about opening too widely. dr. rochelle walensky: at this level of cases, with variants spreading, we stand to completely lose the hard-earned ground we have gained. these variants are a very real

threat to our people and our progress. now is not the time to relax the critical safeguards that we know can stop the spread of covid-19 in our communities, not when we are so close. we have the ability to stop a potential fourth surge of cases in this country. please stay strong in your conviction. judy woodruff: elementary schools in at least seven states began reopening. california has struck a deal to do so by the end of the month. we look at the latest with dr. ezekiel emanuel. he is a former adviser to the biden transition team on covid, and he is a vice provost of global initiative at the university of pennsylvania. dr. ezekiel emanuel, welcome back to the "newshour." we just heard dr. rochelle walensky of e cdc warning of perhaps restrictions being lifted too early. is that a serious concern?

dr. ezekiel emanuel: i totally agree with her. it is a very serious concern. we have a lot of that british u.k. b117 variant. it is much more transmissible. it seems to be more lethal. and we are seeing good news, big declines in deaths, big declines in cases. but we should not celebrate too prematurely. and the idea of lifting restrictions on the number of people who can dine indoors, getting rid of masks, that's too premature. we need to have many more people vaccinated. we need to go through the next two to three months of getting more people vaccinated before we really lift those restrictions. we can do it. the peak was just six weeks ago. we have been in this heightened state of public health alert for the last six, seven weeks. we should not just rush out and reverse all of the advances we have had, especially with these new variants. she is

100% right. judy woodruff: so, how widespread are these variants in the united states? and why exactly are they such a worry? dr. ezekiel emanuel: we don't know exactly how widespread they are, because we're not doing enough genetic testing of the viruses and variants. we're getting to about 14,000, i think, is the latest count, and a lot of us experts think we need to be at 50,000 genetic sequences per week. but if you look at places like california, florida, georgia, a lot almost all of their new cases are these variants, and that is very worrisome, because they are 40 percent to 50 percent more transmissible. they double every 10 days or something. this is the kind of sequence we saw in britain, portugal, and other countries that had many more people in their hospitals, many more

people requiring the intensive care unit. we have just come off this very, very bad surge. the peak was, like, january 8 in cases and january 21 in deaths just six weeks ago. we don't want to repeat that with these new variants by easing up. and the new variants are worrisome, and we need to take a lot more precaution, and not just celebrate the good news of the graphs coming down. judy woodruff: well, that is concerning. i do want to ask you about the new vaccine that has been approved, johnson johnson, one dose. and, by the way, we want to note johnson & johnson is a funder of the "newshour." but this vaccine being out there, how much difference is it going to make in ensuring that americans all who want it get vaccinated? dr. ezekiel emanuel: well, we have so far vaccinated 50 million people, 25 million who

have had two doses of the mrna. we're going to get maximum 20 million doses in march. so, that's 20 million more people who are vaccinated by johnson & johnson, in addition to the moderna and the pfizer vaccine. so, it is helpful. it is additive. and it is also very good for communities where getting the people back for a second dose may be difficult, people who are released from jail, people who are homeless. but we shouldn't restrict it to just the vulnerable populations and giving it a very bad reputation. it should be available to lots of people, but make sure that the people where recall for the second dose is harder to do. so i think it is helpful. and we will still take many more months to get to 70% of the population vaccinated. judy woodruff: i do want to ask you about the johnson & johnson, dr. emanuel, because, as you

know, it is shown to be more than 60% efficacious, very effective against preventing severe cases and deaths. but people, if there is some question about whether people take pfizer or moderna, with higher than 90% effective, vs. johnson & johnson, in the sense that vulnerable populations, people of color, are getting the johnson & johnson, how can we be sure those decisions are made fairly? dr. ezekiel emanuel: well, first of all, if someone came and offered me the johnson & johnson vaccine, i would take it in a nanosecond, as soon as possible, just right here, please. it's 100% effective at preventing hospitalization and death. it is 86% effective against preventing severe disease that might not require hospitalization, but is very severe for you. that is very effective. and that's a vaccine

i would want. the way to prevent the sort of bad taint of this vaccine is not to focus on the 66%, but to focus on what we really care about: how much does it prevent hospitalization and death? how much does it prevent severe disease? second of all, we have to make sure that the people getting this vaccine are not only minorities, and that it becomes somehow a second-class vaccine. it is not a second-class vaccine. as i said, i would take it in a heartbeat. i would recommend my children, my brothers take it in a heartbeat. i have recommended it to people who have been offered that. so, i think it is actually quite a good vaccine, and we should make sure that it is broadly used and not targeted only to people who are vulnerable. judy woodruff: dr. zeke emanuel, we thank you, as always. dr. ezekiel emanuel: thank you, judy. nice to be here. ♪

judy woodruff: in the day's other news -- senate democrats largely abandoned attempts to include a minimum wage hike in their covid relief bill. it's in the version that passed the house on saturday. but the senate parliamentarian has ruled that keeping it in the bill would violate senate rules. as an alternative, senator bernie sanders called for higher taxes on companies that don't raise wages. but it is widely reported that that effort has now also collapsed. wall street surged today around hopes for that federal stimulus money, around a third covid vaccine and easing interest rates. the dow jones industrial average gained 603 points, 2

percent, to close at 31535. the nasdaq rose 396 points, 3 percent. and the s&p 500 added 90 points, also 2 percent. the biden administration stepped up warnings today to migrants not to rush to the u.s. southern border. lately, border patrol agents have been catching more than 200 children a day, crossing without parents. homeland security secretary alejandro mayorkas said again that migrants need to wait. alejandro mayorkas: we are flooding the space with that critical message. i cannot overstate its criticality for the well-being of those very individuals who are thinking of coming, not to mention the well-being and stability of the border, as we seek to rebuild it from its dismantled state. judy woodruff: mayorkas said that a new policy will let separated families be reunited inside the u.s., pending a resolution of their status. meanwhile, president biden met

virtually with mexico's president andres manuel lopez obrador. they discussed the border and the pandemic, among other things. in myanmar, crowds returned to the streets a day ter security forces killed 18 people. police in yangon shot rubber bullets and fired tear gas, leaving medics to treat the injured. the leader of the military junta said that protest leaders will be punished. meanwhile, ousted leader aung san suu kyi made a virtual court appearance, as officials filed more charges against her. the united nations appealed to donor countries today to help yemen, where six years of war has killed some 130,000 people. rebels aligned with iran have been fighting a coalition led by saudi arabia and backed by the united states. the u.n. secretary-general asked for more than $3.8 billion today to head off famine. antónio guterres: it is

impossible to overstate the severity of the suffering in yemen. more than 20 million yemenis need humanitarian assistance and protection, with women and children among the hardest hit. that means two out of every three people in yemen need food aid, health care or other lifesaving support from humanitarian organizations. judy woodruff: in the end, donors pledged only $1.7 billion. that was than less than half what the u.n. wanted. a paris court today convicted former french president nicolas sarkozy of corruption and influence peddling. he was given one year in prison, but might be allowed to serve it under house arrest. sarkozy was president from 2007 to 2012. he was convicted of illegally trying to obtain information in a court case after he left office. back in this country, the u.s. senate vote this evening to confirm miguel cardona for

secretary of education. earlier, the judiciary committee endorsed merrick garland foattor ey general. his nomination now goes to the full senate for a confirmation vote. and the senate also made a bit of history today. ann berry was sworn in secretary of the senate. she becomes the first black american to hold that position. the secretary oversees day-to-day legislative and administrative operations. still to come, on the "newshour, " survivor advocates discuss sexual assault in the military. andrew cuomo faces another allegation of sexual harassment. former president trump's return highlights the party line. and much more. >> this is the "pbs newshour" from w eta studios in washington and from the walter cronkite

school of journalism. judy woodruff: the pentagon has named a new commission that has 90 days to recommend solutions to the longstanding and widespread issue of sexual assault in the military. nick schifrin speaks to advocates for survivors about some proposed changes. nick schifrin: when service members report a sexual assault, by law, they're assigned a victim advocate. and as you will hear from four victim advocates, the new commission must tackle fundamental problems. over the past decade, the number of reported sexual assaults has doubled from 3,327 in 2010 to 7,825 in 2019, but the actual number of sexual assaults, including those not reported, is estimated to be 20,000. in a briefing last month obtained by "pbs newshour," the army admitted soldiers are more likely to get raped by someone in the same uniform as you than you are to be shot by the enemy.

and if you commit sexual assault within the army, you're more likely than not able to get away with your crime. quintin mcnair: the military is built on tru. if we're at home, and i can't trust you to take care of me then, how can i trust you to take care of me on the battlefield? nick schifrin: retired sergeant 1st class quintomcnair had a 24-year army career as a drill sergeant, helicopter crew chief and sexual assault response coordinator and victim advocate. he calls the commission announcement a little progress. quintin mcnair: it is a good sign that we're continuing to take measures that emphasize the importance of trying to resolve this issue. it's a bad sign that we have to take those measures. nick schifrin: if you had to grade how the military has done stamping out sexual assault, what grade would be it? marianne bustin: it would be an absolute f. nick schifrin: marianne bustin had a 24-year navy career. she s a sexual assault and response coordinator in uniform and after retirement as a contractor. she says commanders often care more about their careers than victims. marianne bustin: if i say, ok, we have had three sexual assaults, five sexual assaults,

instead of saying oh, my gosh, let's take care of these victims, what do we need to do, they start looking at it like, oh, is this going to look poorly on me? they just don't want to do what needs to be done. lindsey knapp: let's say the commander just didn't believe it was sexual assault. they were like, no, it was consensual. that was consensual sex. that report can stop in its tracks right there. nick schifrin: lindsey knapp was a soldier in the 2000s, then became a victim advocate in 2014. she's now the executive director of the organization combat sexual assault. she says commanders who are colonels, one step below brigadier general, are especially prone to cover-ups. lindsey knapp: those commanders are more apt to not act in the best interest of their service members. and so that's really that level of command is where my problem lies. when that victim reports, the commander will just say, oh, you know what, that was consensual, because they don't want to have to deal with the fact that somebody who had power and authority over this victim was a rapist. amy frank: the chain of command made their own determination. they don't get to do that. the

an allegation, regardless of how valid you think it is, has to be, by law, forwarded to law enforcement. they are mandated reporters. nick schifrin: amy frank has been a civilian army victim advocate and program manager since 2013 and founded never alone advocacy. she says the solutions begin with taking away the power that military commanders currently hold over victims advocates and whether to prosecute or punish alleged perpetrators amy frank: the sexual assault advocacy program has to beoved away from the chain of command immediately. the special victims counsels and the special sexual assault response coordinators and all of the advocates need to be moved in their own command away from the chain of command, so we can actually have some teeth to hold people accountable, so that, when people don't do the right thing, that we have our own separate entity to deal with them.

nick schifrin: the changes must begin at the beginning, at boot camp, with better training and a discussion about culture, says mcnair. quintin mcnair: you have to make the water so toxic for sharks to swim, that they can't attack people. instead of just saying, hey, this is the definition of sexual assault, this is how many days you have to report sexual assault, let's pair that information with an actual real discussion that is generated to attack and to change the culture. nick schifrin: advocates say that culture change must include respecting victims and their advocates. the recent army briefing concluded, 66 percent of victims report retaliation or ostracism, most often from their chain of command. in 2019, amy frank was suspended after saying her commanders were mishandling sexual assault cases. last year, the air force national guard fired marianne bustin. she's currently fighting to get her job back. marianne bustin: my command brought me up on false allegations, wrongfully terminated me. i brought up sexual harassment at the unit.

and they just didn't want to they didn't want to hear about it. nick schifrin: and lindsey knapp says she was fired last year after questioning whether her commander was creating barriers to report sexual assault. lindsey knapp: if it was working, retaliation would be plummeting. but that is not what we are seeing. so what we're seeing is a failure in military leadership, because when folks like me report that our service members are being retaliated against for reporting, they fire us. and then what then? that sends a clear message to the unit, do not report your sexual assault because we are coming for you. amy frank: it's not working. if it was working, we wouldn't be having this conversation. you know, if it was working, i wouldn't have young soldiers having violent sexual assaults with their bones broken and people saying that that was consensual sex. lynn rosenthal: the most pressing task facing this commission is accountability for those who have committed sexual assault. nick schifrin: on friday the pentagon introduced lynn

rosenthal as the new commission's head. she's a former obama administration white house adviser on violence against women. lynn rosenthal: for many, their dreams were shattered by the trauma of sexual violence and sometimes retaliation for coming forward. this must end. nick schifrin: mcnair says, after the abuse he's experienced and witnessed in victims, he doesn't want his daughter to follow in his footsteps. quinton mcnair: my daughter is the age now where i joined the military. i have seen the ugliest part of the military. and that's not something i would want to expose my child to. nick schifrin: it's a generations-old problem that now extends across generations. for the "pbs newshour,"'m nick schifrin. ♪ judy woodruff: governor andrew cuomo of new york is now facing controversy on two fronts, his handling of the pandemic and new

allegations of sexual harassment. john yang begins there. john yang: judy, new york state attorney general letitia james formally announced today she's hiring a special deputy to conduct an independent investigation into the allegations against governor cuomo. this comes after a second female staffer told the new york times of what she calls cuomo's predatory behavior. earlier, a different former staffer accused the governor of sexually harassing her. jesse mckinley is the albany bureau chief for the new york times. he joins us now. jesse, thanks so much for being with us. you interviewed both these women. what did they tell you that the governor did? jesse mckinley: well, in each case, it is different. but in lindsey boylan's case, who was the first woman to come forward last week, she alleged that the governor had harassed her on several occasions between 2016 and 2018, leading up to a kiss in his manhattan office,

which was kind of the culmination of a couple of years of behavior by the governor. in the case of charlotte bennt, this was a more detailed description that we got from her of the governor basically calling her into his office and doing some work, and then the conversation really turning to kind of an uncomfortable terrain, where the governor was asking her, her opinions on monogamy, whether or not she slept with older men, whether or not she thought that age differences were a problem in relationships, all of which led ms. bennett to believe that the governor basically was propositioning her. john yang: and the governor's response to this has evolved from the first allegation. how has it changed over time? jesse mckinley: well, in the case of lindsey boylan, he simply said it wasn't true. in the case of charlotte bennett, he basically said that this was a mentor relationship, that perhaps she misunderstood. that was his first reaction. then, last night, sunday night, he came up with a more kind of

an elaborate statement, in which he said: look, i have been known to tease people. i have been known to kid around the office. perhaps these remarks were misconstrued. i do apologize, if they were misunderstood. and then charlotte bennett herself came out today, monday afternoon, and rejected that wholeheartedly, said, basically, the governor was engaging in predatory behavior, calling on other women w've experienced this to step forward, and basically saying that his behavior fits a perfect stereotype of someone who sexually harasses women. john yang: and he's also changed about what he was sort of willing to have the investigation look like. jesse mckinley: at first, i think governor cuomo had hoped to kind of control this investigation by appointing someone with close ties to a former top aide of his. that was rejected wholeheartedly. so, then he pivoted and tried to get letitia james to kind of co-sponsor an investigation with another ally of his. that was also rejected.

and, finally, he relented and is allowing letitia james, the state attorney general, to lead this investigation, to appoint an investigator, presumably with subpoena power, which is a pretty big stick in an investigation. that means that letitia james' choice will be able to compel witness testimony, get things under oath, and get documents and perhaps recordings. john yang: a little less than a year ago, the governor's response to the pandemic was being praised. there were even some people talking about him as the democratic presidential nominee. and now there's an investigation into what appears to be underreporting of nursing home deaths and now these allegations. he's about to come to the point where he's got to make a decision of whether he's going to run for a fourth term. what's all this done to his political standing? jesse mckinley: well, it has not been a good couple of months. let's put it that way. i think that most people assumed that he would kind of roll to a

fourth term next year in 2022. now that is a much more rocky path. some people here in albany and elsewhere have been talking resignation. that is sometng that obviously the governor would resist. he has said, essentially, that he wants to continue serving and serving the people of new york. but if more allegations arise, or if these allegations are not answered satisfactorily, i think that his position, his career could be in jeopardy. john yang: jesse mckinley, albany bureau chief for the new york times, thank you very much. jesse mckinley: of course, john. ♪ judy woodruff: former president trump might be out of office, but he still takes center stage in the republican party. in a moment, amna nawaz talks with our politics monday. yamiche alcindor begins with this report. yamiche alcindor: former

president donald trump back in the spotlight and eager to take charge of the gop. donald trump: do you miss me yet? do you miss me yet? >> [cheering and applause] yamiche alcindor: despite his election loss, he made clear that he wants to play a major role in the future of the party. donald trump: we have the republican party. it's going to unite and be stronger than ever before. i am not starting a new party. that was fake news. yamiche alcindor: he also wasted no time going after president biden. donald trump: we have gone from america first to america last. yamiche alcindor: trump's path forward for the republican party is familiar. it's culture wars and railing against president biden's immigration plans and other policies. trump made no mention of the violent mob of his supporters that just weeks ago attacked the u.s. capitol. rioters tried to block the certification of joe biden as president and threatened to hang former vice president mike pence. five people died in the attack, including a police officer. despite all that, trump repeated

the lie that stirred the attack. he falsely claimed that he won the 2020 election and teased another run in 2024. donald trump: but who knows. who knows. i may even decide to beat them for a third time. ok? beat them for a third time. >> [cheering and applause] yamiche alcindor: for more than half of conference attendees, trump remains their top choice for a 2024 gop candidate. but while he said he wanted to unify the party, trump also targeted the republican lawmakers who voted to impeach him for inciting the capitol insurrection. donald trump: mitt romney, little ben sasse, richard burr, bill cassidy, susan collins, lisa murkowski, pat toomey, and of course, the warmonger, a person that loves seeing our troops fighting, liz cheney. how about that? >> [booing] donald trump: the good news is, in her state, she's been censured. get rid of them all.

yamiche alcindor: at the conference, in another sign of his support with the party's base, attendees flocked around a golden statue of trump to take pictures. >> so, we believe that trump, yes, is the heart and soul of the gop. and they can't ignore him. yamiche alcindor: meanwhile, several republicans have pushed back, including louisiana senator bill cassidy. sen. bill cassidy: but, if we idolize one person, we will lose, and that's kind of clear from the last election. rep. adam kinzinger: this president has done nothing but reflect people's darkness back to them, reflect their fears back to them. yamiche alcindor: and illinois congressman adam kinzinger. rep. adam kinzinger: what you could see at that speech yesterday was recycling old talking points, just stream of consciousness. and i think it's obvious there's no vision from donald trump. yamiche alcindor: both men voted to impeach trump the second time, and both have been censured by local republican parties in their states. for the "pbs newshour," i'm yamiche alcindor.

amna nawaz: and that brings us to politics monday with amy walter of the cook political report and tamara keith of npr. welcome back to you both, ladies. good to see you, and happy monday. let's pick up where yamiche left off. tam, i want to start with you. cpac, of course, trump's first public appearance since leaving e white house. when he left the white house, he was still saying he won the election, falsely claiming that, slamming his critics, slamming his successor. how much has changed in his messaging since then? what was your takeaway? tamara keith: almost nothing has changed, accept maybe the tense of some of the words he was saying. some of it was in past tense. his criticisms of president biden were very similar to his warnings about what he thought a president biden would do back wh he was a candidate. and, as you say, he is continuing these false claims. one bit of news that he made is that he said he is not planning to start his own political party, not going to create a third party. that would be a lot

of work. the question though, is, what is he going to do now? he obviously likes attention. he likes consuming media oxygen. but is he going to go after this enemies list that he read off and try to hurt them? and how many of them could he even really hurt? he did make a pitch in his speech for his political action committee raising money. and he could potentially use the money that political action committee raises to go after incumbent republicans. but it is not clear that that is a great strategy for republicans winning back the majority in 2022. amna nawaz: amy, we heard from senator bill cassidy in that piece from money. you heard from him two weeks ago. he was asked about trump's future in the party. and he said: i think his force wanes. he said they're a the party is about more than just one person. based on what you saw at cpac

and the support and the reception he got, do you think that trump's force is waning? amy walter: well, a couple of things. first, if you're senator cassidy, you have time to wait to see if that force wanes, because he is not up until 2024, as are most of the senators. only onef them who voted to impeach the president is on the ballot in 2022. it is the house members, of course, who are up next year who are going to see just how much power he still wields over the party. the other thing about cpac, it's often been called it is the heart of the conservative movement. but many times, it's actually been sort of out of step with where the party's going. often, the winner of the straw poll, in fact, more often than not, the winner of that so-called straw poll, where people vote on who they want to see as their nominee in the next presidential election, is not the person who ultimately wins . but more important, i think, is what tamara brought up, which is, where is he going to use the muscle that he has now? is he going to use it to retaliate, use the money and the power of

his still important post-presidency bullpulpit to go after its enemies? or is he going to use all this money that he's raised to go and actually try to win in competitive races, win in win back control the senate, win back control of the house? and who's making those decisions for him? as i have said on here before, he's a candidate who, as a candidate, very rarely spent money on anyone who wasn't himself. so, the thought of him going in and spending money on candidates when he's not on the ballot, that will be a big change. amna nawaz: tam, what about, meanwhile, back at the white house today? we saw a lot of news on the immigration front when it came to president biden and his team. biden is walking a very fine line here, right? he's trying to turn the page on the previous administration, but he's also facing some of the exact same border challenges that his predecessors have. how is he doing at walking that line so far? tamara keith:

it is challenging, as president after president has discovered. and the thing is, president biden on his first day said, here's immigration legislation that i'd like to see go through congress. the odds of that actually happening are pretty low. it's been a generation since congress has really revamped america's immigration laws. and the reality is that there is only so much that you can do through executive action. and the biden white house is seeing some of those challenges. president trump and the trump administration, former president trump, made changes to the way the immigration system functions. now the biden administration is coming in and trying to change it back or make other changes. and they are dealing with some of the very same challenges that both former president trump and former president obama dealt with, including unaccompanied migrant minors, teenagers and children showing up at the border, having to figure out how to house them

and what to do with them. and the biden administration is facing criticism that it is detaining children, just like the trump administration did, though there are differences, certainly. amna nawaz: and, amy, of course, we know there's a massive legislative proposal on immigration that they are moving forward to trying to move forward right now. but there's also this other major piece of legislation, which is this nearly $2 trillion covid relief plan. there's deadline attached to that. those unemployment benefits expire march 14. where does that stand and how are democrats going to move this forward? amy walter: well, it seems as if democrats are very united on this. it passed the house with all but two democrats voting for it. it looks as if this debate over the $15 minimum wage is now over, with democratic senators basically acknowledging that they don't have the time to be able to work out some sort of new agreement to get something like an increase in the minimum

wage in this bill. so, democrats are incredibly united on this. and that suggests that this is going to be able to pass, that this will be the first major piece of legislation under the president's belt. and it's notable, by the way, that, at cpac, for all the attacks that former president trump made on biden, there wasn't a whole lot of talk about this bil there wasn't a whole lot of pushback on this piece of legislation. instead, it was focused on the things that trump really likes talking about, namely, immigration, the border, and some of these culture war issues. so, the issue going forward, of course, is that for something that's, right now at least, pretty popular, will republicans be able to make this issue the fundamental issue as they go into looking at the next election? or will they be going back to some of these old standards, like immigration, like the culture wars, and, quite frankly, if this legislation actually follows through?

amna nawaz: well, when it comes to that covid relief bill, we heard from senate majority leader chuck schumer, saying that he expects a hearty debate and some late nights ahead. so, get your sleep while you can, ladies. that is tamara keith and amy walter kicking off the week for us with politics monday. good to see you guys. ♪ judy woodruff: fierce divisions seem to drive a wedge into so much of american life at this moment and how we view government. now a prominent team of educators says one part of the solution likely starts with what's being taught in our schools. they're out with a new plan that calls for revamping history and civics classes in schools. this approach, they say, can be both patriotic and reckon with difficult legacies. harvard professor danielle allen

is a principal investigator for the group educating for american democracy. danielle allen, welcome back to the "newshour." so, tell us how this group came together, and what is the problem you're trying to fix? danielle allen: sure. thanks so much, judy. it is good to be here. many of us across higher education, across k-12 have been working on rebuilding civic education for a long time. we look at young people who report that they actually don't have faith in democracy or don't consider it essential to live in a democracy. we look at the polarization around us. we have been working to rebuild civics for more than a decade. and in the summer of 2019, the national endowment for humanities put out a call for proposals, inviting a group to come together and president a -- and present a road map for excellence in history and civic learning for all learners. our first goal was to really bridge, to bring together geographic diversity, demographic diversity and

viewpoint diversity. judy woodruff: but what my understanding is, though, what you're not doing is, you're not recommending that every teacher in every school teach history, civics the same way. danielle allen: exactly, that is right. what we are doing is, we are issuing an invitation to the nation's community of educators to join a process of experimentation. we are not saying, here are the answers, sort of on high, of how you should teach. instead, we're saying, here is a set of questions that every learner should have the chance to encounter over their k-12 education. and we are proposing some design challenges. for example, how can we narrate our history in ways that are both clear-eyed and honest about our failings, but without falling into cynicism, and appreciative of our achievements, including the founding, but without tipping into adulation? so, those are some parameters, guardrails. now here's an invitation. community of educators, let's experiment. what kinds of histories can we tell within those parameters? how can we explain the value and purpose and functioning of constitutional democracy within those parameters? judy woodruff: so, what would some of these new ways of teaching history and civics,

what would they look like? i mean, if it's not all going to be exactly the same, there are going to be some things in common? danielle allen: absolutely. our hope is that everybody starts to use the same set of questions. and these questions are history questions and civics questions. to give you an example, if you look at state standards now, very often, what you will see is a list of names and dates, so the boston tea party and shays' rebellion, three branches of power, for example, or three branches of government. and we're suggesting, instead, we want to ask questions. so, when you're thinking about the american revolution, what were the perspectives that the colonists, that indigenous americans, that free african americans and enslaved african americans had on the british government? you still have to learn a lot of stuff to answer that question. but the goal is to engage students in a process of inquiry, working with primary sources to really help them dig into a broad understanding that integrates perspectives. we also ask civics questions. how do we define fairness? what are the different possible ways of defining fairness? how does

fairness come into our lives and our communities and with one another? and so it's really about engaging students in those hard questions and debates, and then working hard on how we debate productively with each other. judy woodruff: and with danielle allen, with the thousands of school districts around the country we know education is run at the local level are you is this being received well everywhere? i mean, how are you what kind of feedback are you starting to get? danielle allen: we have had extraordinary feedback. we had a team of over 300 people working on this, educators, scholars, practitioners. we talk to parents. we talk to students. we have a remarkable array of civil society organizations that are contributing to this, and, again, from across the political spectrum. so, for example, the bill of rights foundation is a supporter of the work. the american federation of teachers is a supporter of the work. for implementation, our argument is on behalf of what we call collaborative federalism. there is a role for every part of our system. but, at the end of the day, yes, you're right. it's at the local level that civic

learning is really going to take root. so, we argue that schools should create civic learning plans. we do recommend that states should require this of schools. the federal government, we think, has a role in supporting professional development and investing in diversifying the pipeline of educators, investing in innovation. judy woodruff: some of civics education, we know, was pushed out in the desire to improve stem, so-called stem education, science, technology, math, and so on. is it is it an either/or thing that schools are still facing on this? danielle allen: it shouldn't be an either/or. we need our investments in stem education. and we also need our investments in civic education. we invested in stem as a part of becoming a competitive society globally. we were thinking about national security competitiveness. we were thinking about economic competitiveness. the truth is that we want to compete on the global stage as the kind of society we are, namely, a constitutional democracy.

so, we also need civic strength. and to achieve that, we have to invest in civic education, so that young people understand our institutions, have a reason to appreciate and engage in them, and have the skills and dispositions to be effective as civic participants. judy woodruff: well, we will be really interested to see how this develops. danielle allen with the group educating for american democracy, thank you very much. danielle allen thank you, judy. : it's a pleasure. take good care. judy woodruff: we will be back shortly with a call to create a covid memorial day to honor the lives lost. but first, take a moment to hear

judy woodruff: as we heard earlier, the rollout of a third covid-19 vaccine raises hopes about moving toward a more typical kind of life in the months to come. but, even as the country looks forward, there are calls for a

new national covid memorial day to reflect on the more than 500,000 american lives lost. jeffrey brown has that conversation. jeffrey brown: one of the most prominent voices advocating for a national day of remembrance is kristin urquiza. she co-founded the advocacy group marked by covid after she lost her father to the pandemic last year. she joins me now from san francisco. thank you for talking to us. i know that this started for you in a very personal way, but why do you think now that we need a national day of mourning and of remembrance? kristin urquiza: there are over half a million people that we have already lost to this incredible pandemic. a national day of remembrance, a covid memorial day, is essential to be able to give people the time and space to mourn and grieve. our overall response to the pandemic needs to be commensurate to the scale of the problem.

so, having a day of remembrance is just a tip of the iceberg to help make sure that folks like me and others who have been marked by covid have the space and support to wrap our heads around what happened and why. jeffrey brown: we did a story on the "newshour" a few weeks ago looking at some of the various kinds of commemoration efforts that are going on, public art, memorials. what are you seeing around the country? how strong is the need? kristin urquiza: the momentum is growing for the need. today, we know of at least 100 grassroots vigils that are happening. we're hosting an online vigil, which we will have probably several hundred people attending. and cities across the country are also issuing proclamations calling for a national day of memorial and remembrance.

this is widely supported and widely supported by people on every side of the aisle. it is a place for us to unify and heal. and we're really excited to see the momentum grow for it. jeffrey brown: you know, an obvious question is, why not wait until later, after we're in the while we're still in the midst of it here? and i can't help think also about historians i have talked about the 1919 pandemic, the influenza, who talked about, when it ended, there was such a strong sense of just moving on. there are not a lot of memorials to that. do you worry about that happening here? and how do you maintain the momentum? kristin urquiza: i'm absolutely worried about that, which is why part of the reason why we launched marked by covid, which is led by and run by people who have lost loved ones to the pandemic. we want to make sure that we commit to never forget, to also document in the history books

the unvarnished truth of what happened and why, so that we can prevent this from ever happening again. jeffrey brown: all right, kristin urquiza of the group marked by covid, thank you very much. judy woodruff: something to consider seriously. that is the "newshour" for tonight. announcer: major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by consumer cellular. johnson & johnson. bnsf railway. the candida fund. more at candidafund.org. ♪

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♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ -welcome to "america's test kitchen" at home. today, i'm cooking a hearty batch of acquacotta, jack's going to tell us all about shopping for olive oil, and keith's making a quick and easy piadine.