judy: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the "newshour" tonight -- combating the coronavirus. the debate in the senate intensifies ahead of critical votes on president biden's covid economic relief bill. then -- one on one -- treasury secretary janet yellen reveals what she says is the real unemployment rate, and why she supports going big on economic aid to americans. sec. yellen: the most important thing is to get our economy back on track and help people get their lives back in order to make sure that this pandemic doesn't permanently scar our workforce. judy: and it's friday.

david brooks and jonathan capehart consider the covid relief bill debate, the political divide on voting rights, and efforts to reform policing. all that and more on tonight's "pbs newshour.” ♪ >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- >> moving our economy for 100 60 years. bnsf, the engine that collects

us. -- connect us. >> consumer cellular. johnson & johnson. >> fostering informed and engaged 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 contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. judy: the latest jobs report shows a surprising rebound in the american labor market.

employers added a net of 379,000 new jobs in february. and, the unemployment rate fell a tenth of a percentage point, to 6.2%. the rise in employment comes as the senate debates a massive coronavirus relief bill, poised to bring economic aid to millions struggling during this pandemic. our congressional correspondent lisa desjardins brings us the latest on the negotiations. lisa, tell us where things stand. we know at one point ty had stopped baiting. where does it stand -- stopped debating. where does it stand? lisa: senate democrats instantly hit and major obstacle, and it is over the timing of unemployment benefits and it surrounds one of their own members, democratic senator from west virginia, joe mansion. he has indicated according to

sources that he would like the extended unemployment benefits to end perhaps in july. democrats had earlier announced a deal extending them through september and into october. that has led to an impasse when thought th were be -- they would be flying to the finish line. judy: with all that is going on, tell us what is changing, if anything, in the bill, and who would be affected. lisa: there are major provisions still in play tonight and they obviously have major impact across the country. let's look at that. the $1400 checks, the slightly more limited version would affect about 150 million americans. $300 added per week seems to be what we are talking about, it just as a matter of how long that would last. that could affect 10-18,000,000

americans depending on when we are talking about. and housing help, there are billions for people facing eviction, somewhere between 30 and 40 million americans if they don't get help, they are nervous about paying rent and mortgages. something else is the sheer scope of this bill. here is a way of thinking about how massive this bill is. it is 1.9 trillion dollars, as we have been talking about. how much is that? it is equal to all individual income taxes paid in 2019. the last normal year before the pandemic. it is more than twice the amount of the total stimulus passed in 2009 under president obama to deal with the recession. at that time, it was seen as a massive bill and this is more than twice as large. judy: our perspectives have changed in so many ways. lisa reporting on what is happening.

thank you. ♪ stephanie: we will return to judy woodruff and the full program after the latest headlines. lisa de chardin updates reporting on the covid relief bill in the senate. senator joe manson -- joe mansion announced a compromise on extending unemployment benefits. democrats say checks will go out through the end of august. other democrats wanted them to continue through october and republicans wanted them to end in july. february's better than expected jobs report fueled a rally on wall street. the dow jones industrial average soared 572 points to close at 31,496. the nasdaq rose 196 points and the s&p 500 added 73. a new study from the centers for disease control and prevention

is shedding light on how mask mandates and other rules have slowed the number of covid infections and deaths. that comes as some states are lifting restrictions and reopening. cdc director dr. rochelle walensky sounded this warning. >> you have decreases in cases and deaths when you wear masks and have increases in cases and deaths when you have in-person restaurant dining and so we would advocate policies certainly while we are at this plateau of a high number of cases that would listen to that public health science. stephanie: meanwhile, california announced it will allow people attend major league baseball games, live concerts, and theme parks like disneyland at reduced capacity beginning april 1. there is word top aides to new york governor andrew cuomo altered a state report to help him hide the high number of covid nursing home deaths. "the new york times" and "the wall street journal" said the july document was edited to remove those who became sick in nursing homes and later died in hospitals.

the special counsel to the governor later issued a statement playing down any cover-up, and insisted the data was publicly disclosed during cuomo's daily briefings. it's the latest in a series of scandals plaguing the governor. one of the house impeachment managers -- california democratic congressman eric swalwell -- filed a lawsuit today against former president trump and several of his allies for inciting the capitol insurrection. meanwhile, federico klein -- a former state department aide in the trump administration -- has been charged with obstructing congress and assaulting officers during the january siege. he's believed to be the first trump appointee to face such charges. in myanmar, demonstrations against the military coup pressed on across several cities, despite a violent crackdown by security forces. protesters in mandalay shouted slogans and carried signs while marching in the streets. about peaceful protesters have 50 been killed there this week alone.

meanwhile, at a united nations security council meeting, the u.n. special envoy for myanmar urged member nations to do more to stop the violence. pope francis arrived in baghdad today for the first-ever papal visit to iraq. he traveled under tight security for meetings with dignitaries and members of the country's christian minority. we'll take a look at his historic trip later in the program. for the first time in nfl history, a black woman will be officiating games come september. maia chaka -- a college referee and physical education teacher from virginia -- is just the second female official in the major league. the other, sarah thomas, became the first woman to officiate a super bowl last month. still to come on the "newshour" -- we discuss employment and the economic outlook with treasury secretary janet yellen. pope francis makes a historic pilgrimage to iraq to reach the region's christians. minneapolis is on edge as the

trial in the police killing of george floyd is set to begin. and much more. ♪ >> this is the pbs newshour, from w eta studios in washington and in the west from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. judy: the surge in hiring last month suggests the prospects of a better spring may be ahead for the u.s. economy. i spoke earlier today with treasury secretary janet yellen about the latest, how it might affect the debate over the size and scope of the covid relief package, and more. secretary yellen, thank you very much for joining us. you are going to be briefing the president this afternoon on the state of the economy. there was an unusually strong report today for unemployment

in the month of february. does that tell you the recovery is coming sooner than expected? when do you think we could have a full recovery? sec. yellen: well, i was pleased to see 379,000 new jobs this month. the unemployment rate ticked down just a tenth of a percent. it was a bit stronger than expected. but really, judy, what we have to put this in perspective. we still have an unemployment rate that if we really measure it properly, taking account of all the 4 million people who've dropped out of the labor force, it is really running at 10%. and the jobs were mainly in leisure and hospitality, the hardest hit sectors of our economy. leisure and hospitality over the last year, down more than 3.5

million jobs. and when you think about the pace, 379,000 jobs in one month, it sounds like a lot. but at that pace, it would take us more than two years to get back to full employment. and we want to make sure that our workers get back to full employment. the state we had in the economy before the pandemic struck a lot sooner than that. judy: as i'm sure you know, one of your predecessors as treasury secretary, larry summers, has said he sees these jobs coming back even as soon as by the end of next year, and that's an argument for not having as large a covid relief package as the administration has. is it possible that it makes sense to do something smaller because the recovery is is on the way? sec. yellen: well, i think we should want a rapid recovery. we have a large number of workers who are long term unemployed and we have to make

sure that they're not scarred to the point where this pandemic has a permanent impact on their lives. the congressional budget office estimated without this package, it would take until 2024 to get back to full employment. ani think it's very important to have that occur sooner. you know, the package that the president and his advisers put together that's workg its way through the senate now, which is really geared to relieve the suffering of the american people. judy: so there are some projections out there that i know you've heard that the economy could even grow at a rate as high as 7% or 8% this year. you're saying even with that, this large a relief package is necessary. it's more than the entire

discretionary part of the federal budget. sec. yellen: well, it's a big package, but i think that we need to go big now and that we can afford to go big and the most important thing is to get our economy back on track and help people get their lives back in order to make sure that this pandemic doesn't permanently scar our workforce. and i think this is what we need. i'm hopeful that next year with the package of this size, we can be back at full employment. and, you know, remember, judy, before -- i mean, people talk about inflation risk. we had a 3.5% unemployment rate before the pandemic struck. a lower rate than many people think is consistent with full employment. but inflation was extremely low, if anything, too low rather than too high. so i think this is what the economy needs to get rapidly back on track.

judy: i did want to ask you about that, because yesterday, as you know, the chair of the federal reserve, jerome powell, said that, yes, there may well be inflation once this recovery gets underway, but that the fed has tools to get it under control. even with that, the markets reacted negatively. they don't seem to believe they -- they don't seem to have the concern that inflation can be kept under control. sec. yellen: well, i don't see that the markets are expecting inflation to rise above the 2% objective that the fed has is an average inflation rate over the longer run. long term interest rates have gone up some, but mainly, i think because market participants are seeing a stronger recovery as we have success with getting people vaccinated and a strong fiscal

package that's going to get people back to work. and of course, the fed does have tools to address inflation if it becomes a problem. but i don't believe i don't believe it will. and don't see markets or most forecasters worrying about that. judy: so the rising interest rates don't concern you? sec. yellen: i think they are a sign that the economy is getting back on track and that market participants see that and they expect a stronger economy, and instead of inflation lingering below levels that are desirable for years on end, they're beginning to see inflation get back to a normal range, around 2%. judy: i do want to come back to something that that you've touched on, secretary yellen, and i know it's something you've spent a lot of time thinking about and focusing on, and that is inequity, inequality in this

country, the enormous gap between the 1% and the other 99%, the wealth gap in this country. what are the one or two things that you, that the biden administration can do to address this? and is one of them, frankly, the federal minimum wage, which is just had to be pulled out of the covid relief package. sec. yellen: well, i think the minimum wage is part of addressing those inequities, and president biden is strongly committed to a $15 minimum wage. it looks like, because of senate rules, it can't be included in this package. but it's something he's going to be pressing for in other legislation going forward. but when we've recovered from the pandemic, that's an important first step. but we nd to do a lot to rebuild the american economy and

to address the inequities that you mentioned and also to address the grave threat of climate change. and so we're working on another package. we could call it a recovery package or sometimes a build back better package, which will be oriented toward long term improvements, addressing racial inequality, creating good jobs, repairing our infrastructure, putting in place the investments we need to address climate change, education. we know early childhood education is so important for good outcomes for individuals. and labor force development , training, community colleges, investment in r&d to make our economy more competitive and

make sure that the supports are available in the form of paid leave and child care that will enable people to get into the labor force. judy: secretary yellen, a question about the debt -- president biden inherited a huge debt for this country. the decisions that that he and other presidents are making mean that it's going to be even more huge in years and decades to come. we're seeing dire forecasts from the congressional budget office, from other organizations. how concerned are you about this and about what it means for the next generation in this country? sec. yellen: well, we must have sustainable federal finances on a long term basis, but i think

we have more fiscal room than you might imagine from looking at a number measuring the size of the debt or its size relative to the output of our economy. but the spending that we're doing now is arguably helping our debt path by getting our economy back on track. i think it would be a false economy, even in terms of the debt path. you know, when you allow the economy to be weak, there's less tax revenue and there's more spending that's needed for safety net expenditures. and so it just isn't the case that our failure to spend a dollar to help people would lower the debt that much. so i think that would be a false economy, even from a fiscal prudence standpoint.

judy: secretary yellen, thank you very much for joining us. we appreciate it. sec. yellen: my pleasure. thank you, judy. ♪ judy: it was a pilgrimage never seen before, in the face of violent threats and a deadly virus. nick schiffrin has the story of pope francis in iraq. nick: in the birthplace of abraham, pope francis was welcomed as a hero, and prayed with the most vulnerable christians. iraqi catholics arthe epitome of what francis calls the “martyred church.” today he honored their sacrifices. >> in the last few decades, you and your fellow citizens have had to face the effects of war and persecution, an ongoing struggle for economic and personal security, which has

often led to internal displacement and the migration of many, including christians. nick: he spoke in our lady of salvation, in the same sanctuary that, 11 years ago, hosted horror. in october 2010, militants from al qaeda in iraq -- precursor to isis -- stormed into sunday evening service. they shot the men, then the women and children, and before they could be captured, blew themselves up. at the hospital after, chaos. bloody survivors in desperate need. hallways full of wounded. and a lone priest, helping to heal. it was the deadliest attack on iraqi christians, ever. and in a nearby bed, then 19-year-old melad shabo. >> they started shooting everywhere and anyhow. i was shot, and i fell. i wanted to run, but the bullet had torn my leg's bone off. it felt like we were in the middle of a war gunshots were coming off from everywhere. nick: shabo had spent every day at that church, and lost 10 close friends.

he also lost his mentor, father thaer abdal. >> he was more than a priest, more than a father or a brother. he was my role model in life. he taught me everything, how to live with jesus. nick: father thaer and father wasim sabih tried to shield parioshners, and offered themselves instead. they were both executed. >> he and father, all they wanted was to help people, and to me, they were simply angels. nick: the angels' coffins were wrapped in iraqi flags. 58 people killed. but the attack wasn't only designed to kill christians. it was designed to kill a version of iraq that, in the 80s and 90s despite saddam hussein's tyranny, was diverse, integrated, and welcoming of multiple religions, including iraq's christians, which trace their lineage back 2000 years. >> the attack was a message to all christians and all minorities that iraq is not their country, that they are not welcome, and that they should leave.

nick: and they did leave. iraq's christians used to number in the millions. today, no more than a few hundred thousand. pushed out after the u.s. invasion by militias and then pushed out by isis. when islamic state militants captured mosul in 2014, they gave christians 24 hours to leave or convert, or be beheaded. today, isis might be gone, but security is tight. 10,000 police and soldiers secured francis' visit. he was driven in an armored car, in a motorcade, on empty streets. today he urged the country, and iraqi leaders, to build bridges between religions. >> only if we learn to look beyond our differences and see each other as members of the same human family, will we be able to begin an effective process of rebuilding, and leave to future generations a better, more just and more humane world. nick: shabo needed 8 surgeries to recover. today he lives in france and is

a mechanic for public buses. he's also in his church choir, and says francis' visit gives iraqi christians hope. >> it will give christians courage and confidence to stay in the country. the moral support will help them a lot. at lea they know there is someone standing with them, thinking about them. it's very important. nick: shabo watched the pope speak in the church that still haunts his nightmares. but he still dreams of returning to iraq with his french family, to prove christians once again belong in baghdad. for the pbs newshour, i'm nick schifrin. ♪ judy: the trial of former minneapolis police officer derek chauvin is set to begin soon. chauvin is accused of murder in last may's killing of george floyd -- a death that set off nationwide unrest.

as special correspondent fred de sam lazaro reports, the city is bracing for what's to come. fred: downtown minneapolis has become a fortress of barbed wire, concrete barriers and boarded windows. as derek chauvin's trial approaches, the city will soon see a dramatic increase in law enforcement, including about 2,000 national guard troops. it's all aimed at preventing a repeat of last spring, when the unrest following george floyd's killing led to hundreds of millions of dollars in property damage. many people in minneapolis will tell you this city is exhausted. after riots and destruction, a spike in violent crime, the pandemic and winter. and community groups point to fortification around the court complex like this as evidence there's been very little progress in improving relations between law enforcement and the community. especially communities of color. miski noor is an activist with a

group called the black visions collective. >> folks right here, right now don't have housing. i would have spent that money in a way that actually meets people's needs and cares for them so that they can make different choices about their lives and have more agency to do that. and so i think that would go a long way to creating safety, van -- than putting a guy with a gun in front of a building. fred: mayor jacob frey says the city is trying to strike a delicate balance. >> we right now need to operate through an abundance of precaution. we need to make sure that our residents are safe, our small and local businesses are safe or commercial corridors are safe. and to those that seek to cause destruction and chaos in our city, we want to be ve clear. you'll be arrested. to those that look to peacefully protest, however, they will be protected. fred: back in june, frey faced a large group of protesters -- including miski noor -- who pressed him to commit to

defunding and abolishing the city's police department, a movement that gained traction here after floyd's death. when frey said he wouldn't, demonstrators jeered. >> my position has not changed a lick. i believe that we need safety beyond policing. i believe that we need to decriminalize addiction, that we need mental health responders. and i recognize that we also need law enforcement and police. fred: the city council did cut about 4% from the police department's budget, allocating that money to prevention initiatives. minneapolis police chief medaria arradondo declined our request for an interview. for now, all eyes are on the courthouse, where a jury will decide whether former minneapolis police officer derek chauvin is guilty of second degree murder and manslaughter. state prosecutors will likely focus on the video showing chauvin kneeling on george floyd's neck for about nine minutes. but despite the now-infamous

footage, law professor ted sampsell jones says a conviction isn't guaranteed. >> if you get one kind of outlier juror, someone who's a bit of a contrarian or someone who just views the case much differently than the rest of us do, that can be enough to prevent a conviction. there are a lot of people in this country who are just deeply syathetic with police officers. fred: sampsell jones says chauvin's attorneys will likely argue other things might have actually caused floyd's death, like a medical incident before police arrived. they'll also point to autopsy results showing multiple substances in his body. but prosecutors will likely note the autopsy also ruled floyd's death a homicide. even with a conviction, some in the twin cities aren't sure it would have a meaningful long-term impact. >> the very nature of a trial narrows down the issue to a focus that may not deal with any kind of systemic change at all. fred: local history professor

bill green says he is hopeful but says he's seen this play out before in a city that's long had tense police-community relations. >> periodically there have been efforts on the part of city leaders to try to launch reform efforts, but that that would oftentimes be short lived because of the political and -- because othe inability to sustain pressure from a community that is beset by all kinds of other issues beyond just policing. so that the momentum that began during a period of protest began to subside. and i fear that that may be what's going on now. fred: the case has seen a lot of legal maneuvering. today, a ruling that there degree murder can be added to the charges.

chauvin's three co-defendants -- former officers charged with aiding and abetting murder and manslaughter -- are scheduled to go to trial in august. for the pbs newshour, i'm fred de sam lazaro in minneapolis. judy: fred's reporting is a partnership with the under-told stories project at the university of st. thomas in minnesota. ♪ from a battle over voting rights to wrangling over covid relief. there's a lot to break down this week. joining us is brooks and capehart. that's new york times columnist david brooks and jonathan capehart, columnist for the washington post. hello to both of you on this friday night. let's start by talking about what is on the senate floor, whether there is any action underway or not, according to

lisa. jonathan, what do you make of the arguments on each side for this bill and what do you think will happen? jonathan: [laughter] if i knew what was going to happen, i would be a billionaire. look, i think president biden, as much as he wanted to be bipartisan in that he wanted to work with republicans, and he did meet with 10 senate republicans early on, the first meeting in the oval office to talk about this till, he has been forging ahead as if you will not get any republican votes and tt is indeed the case. there is a solid wall of opposition to the one point $9 trillion relief bill. however, that is the least of his problems. i think lisa pointed out earlier, there is a rift in the democratic caucus, namely west virginia senator joe mansion -- manchin.

apparently there was a deal struck through september for the unemployed and then a senator manchin came in and said i like the $300 per month in th republican proposal, and that has thrown everything in disarray. the short answer to your question, i don't know where things are going to go, but we know that senate majity leader chuck schumer wants this done and sent to the white house by march 14, when the unemployment benefits expire. judy: surely, david, you know what is going to happen. either way, what do you make of these arguments? david: i know exactly what's going to happen. you talked to janet yellen about inequality and to me, the best thing the country could do to reduce inequality is to have a wipeout later market -- labor market. -- white-hot labor market.

i am pretty conservative on fiscal matters but not at this moment. in his time to go big and fast and i think the democrats are on the right course. i think some of the reforms that moderates have brought in seem sensible. you do not want to have benefits run out in the middle of the summer when congress is not likely to be in session. i thought changing it to august and september was sensible. judy: while we are talking about covid, not the relief bill but something else -- this week, several governors announce they are lifting mask mandates, and president biden when asked about it, he said it sounded like neanderthal thinking. he's gotten a lot of low back since then. a smart thing to say? jonathan: i am going to leave aside the president's comments. a lot of people are upset he use

the word neanderthal. one person emailed me and said it was a pejorative and i get where they are coming from, we have issues to worry about and don't want to hear any noise from the far-right complaining about the president's language when after four years, they completely ignored and pretended not to see any of the tweets from the previous president. we are dealing with a pandemic in the u.s. where we were within reach of getting it under control. hospitalizations, infections, deaths on the downslope, and we have seen over the last few days that the levels of infections have stopped going down. you take on top of that, texas and mississippi deciding th will give up, no more masks and open up completely. i think what a lot of scientists are looking at is the possibility of an upswing in re-infections right when we were

on the path, and it looksike a very good path, to having a late summer, certainly fall where we could be back to what we used to think of as normal. i wish the governor of texas and mississippi would spend more time thinking and looking at the science and what the science says should be done, and make it possible for the states to open up safely and more quickly than they are going to now, and by doing all of that, you get people back to work, you get economies moving again and back to normal. judy: david, thoughts? david: i took one of those genetic tests a few years ago and they told me i have above average neanderthal blood, so i was insulted the comment. [laughter] no, i understand opening up. i do not understand getting rid of masks. there is no cost to wearing a mask.

what bothers me is the mask issue has not become a scientific or public policy issue but a symbolic issue. we seem to take every practical issue and turn it into a culture war issue. people make a out of masks -- make hay out of masks. and the politicians are just trying to send a signal to people in the middle of the culture war that they are on their side. that to me is irresponsible. judy: just a couple of minutes left, but david, i will start with you on this -- voting rights, a number of states that have republican-controlled legislatures moving to cut back voting access while you have democrats in the congress moving to do the opposite and make voting easier. what do you make of all this and what using is at stake? david: i saw chart today of black-and-white voter registration the past 150 years, and in 1870, african-american

voter registration was very high, then you had the poll tax and jim crow laws and it collapses and it goes down and stays very low until 1940's after the war, and then the civil rights act. now we have reached a point where black registration is higher than white registration. we have closed one gap. i would ask at republican state legislatures, are we going to go backwards to a time when there is a gap between political power between african-americans and white people? it seems atrocio that we are even thinking about that. judy: jonathan, the stakes? jonathan: the stakes are enormous and it is incredible we are having this conversation because on sunday, it will be exactly to the date and date, 56 years, since bloody sunday when john lewis and 600 other black men, women and children marched en route to montgomery to perdition government for voting rights -- to petition the

government for voting rights and were stopped outside of selma by alabama state troopers. as a result of what happened, the nation watch that night, and a week later president johnson went to congress and said voting rights are a fundamental right and african-americans cannot fully enjoy the freedoms that come with america until that happens. five month later, the voting racks -- rights act was passed. what we are watching now from georgia to north carolina, to the arguments in the supreme court this week about laws in arizona, a concerted effort by republicans to roll back access to the franchise. americans -- it should be easy for americans to vote. i think a lot of these voting restrictions are in search of a problem that does not exist. to that swing david was talking about in terms of

african-american voter registration and participation, to my mind, it is all in effort by republicans to keep african-americans from voting because by and large, they vote democratic. what they are doing is harming the country by preventing people from being able to participate fully. judy: crucially important, and we will continue to talkbout it and watch it. i'm going to break with our usual format a little bit right now. jonathan, thank you, because david -- there is one other thing i want to raise tonight. there is reporting recently about the project you have conceived and undertaken with the aspen institute called weed, about community building relationships. you've spoken about it here a few times and it has been made public that aspen paid you for this work and received funding from facebook.

at the same time, media critics are saying you've written favorably about facebook and the project in your new york times column. given that this is making news, we wanted to give you the opportunity to explain it, to ask if you're rethinking the decion not to disclose the funding relationship? david: first, we did disclose it,it has been public. in 2018, after the election of donald trump, it seemed social fragmentation was a major problem. local community builders, like someone in north carolina working with lgbtq teenagers, one in texas working with people paralyzed in construction accidents. weave was very rewarding to bring this in front of heisel students, hopefully to inspire a generation to be active in community life. some people have said you cannot

be a journalist and a nonprofit leader at the same time. the roles are conflicting. this is a legitimate concern that i have thought about from day one. i say three things in my defense and one final thing. first, it was informed how i was gonna be compensated. second, aspen has been completely transparent about the donors. third, since i started weave in 2018, i have not meaningfully written about any organization or individual who supported us, including facebook. i think i have mentioned facebook or mark zuckerberg in passing. we checked the transcript of the newshour and it hasn't affected my journalism. fourth, i understand the concerns. i understand the concerns and i want to be beyond question. we are going to make some changes and we are working them out. we are going to make some question -- some changes so the

people who have been critics are satisfied. that is my goal in the next week or next few days. i hope we can resolve these issues. but we have been full disclosure and it has not affected my journalism, but we will make some changes. judy: we are as always very glad to have you as one of our most important contributors on the newshour. thank you for putting that on the record. i want to say on behalf of the newshour, that facebook has been a funder of our projects in the past, and as always we will , continue our policy of disclosing when we receive funding from any organizations that we cover. david, thanks again. dad: thank you for the opportunity, judy. judy: we ask you to please stay with us as we take a moment to remember five remarkable lives lost during this pandemic. but first, take a moment to hear from your local pbs station. ♪ judy: more than 520,000 people

in this country have died from covid-19. we take a moment now, as we do every friday, to remember five remarkable individuals lost to this disease. ♪ >> matthew hines was a loving husband, father and grandfather who left the world better than he found it, as his son put it. born in hartford, connecticut, he served in the air force during the cold war, and while stationed in england, met his wife, margaret. they were inseparable and built a life together in bloomfield, connecticut, raising their children. matthew had a calming presence, his son said, and wanted to serve, whether in local politi, town planning or at the veterans hall. matthew heinz was 8years old. with a trademark toothpick and signature beanie, tony hall had a knack for remembering names.

he grew up in oak harbor, washington but lost touch with his family and spent many years in state hospitals. nearly two decades ago, he found a new family at people first, an organization that helps people with disabilities. he worked part-time at mcdonald's while advocating for others like him to achieve their best in life. a close friend said he was always first to offer help and a smile to anyone who needed it. tony hall was 58. veronica gutierrez was a patient, kindhearted and selfless person who loved to draw, her sister told us. the youngest of four children, she had worked at kia -- at kfc the past four years in lovington, new mexico, but looking for a new job. her sister said she was her best friend and she loved working as a teacher's aide for children with special needs.

veronica gutierrez was 29 years old. james wong was a kind man who cared deeply for others, his sister shared. he came to california from china at age six and loved to read. in college, he began suffering from mental health issues and spent a year on the streets before reconnecting with his family. he channeled his experience into a career as a social worker in los angeles. his sister said he wanted to help people suffering in part because he remembered the people who were kind to him when he needed it. james wong was 45 years old. serena rose was a mother and nurse who put others before herself, her husband said. originally from the philippines, she moved to the u.s. at age 20, working in las vegas casinos while earning her degree as a registered nurse and raising three children.

despite chronic migraines, her husband told us she would put her own pain aside to care for her patients in retirement homes. he called her my superhero. she contracted covid-19 while pregnant and died from it shortly after giving birth. her son is now doing well. she was 42 years old. ♪ we thank all of the family members and loved ones who shared these stories. her hearts go out to you and everyone who has lost a loved one in the pandemic. that is the newshour for tonight. i am judy woodruff. >> major funding 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. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions -- and friends of the newshour. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy.] this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thanyou.

this is pbs newshour west.

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>> tonight on kqed newsroom, governor newsom has a deal to reopen public schools across the state and makes a bold move to double the vaccine supply in some communities. and mina kim joins us -- we enjoyed the antics of pups that play in this look at something beautiful. for malcolm welcome to kqed. coronavirus infections have dropped dramatically in the past month here in california. this week governor newsom said the current rate of positive test results is 2%. down from 6% 30 days ag