+ good evening, i'm on the newshour tonight. a major change. the cdc issues new guidelines, recommending that fully vaccinated americans be allowed to resume some pre-pandemic activities. then, closer to reality. president biden's covert relief bill is on track to clear one last hurdle before he can sign it into law. then, the royals and race. meghan markle paints some in the british royal family as racist. she details her struggles brought by the pressures of palace life. >> when a black woman is trying to enter one of the most important institutions, she says

she was unable to stay in the institution. that's why it's important. >> all that and more on tonight's "pbs newshour." ♪ announcer: major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by. >> before we talk about your investments, what's new? >> twins. >> grandparents. >> we want to put money aside, so we are changing plans. >> let's see what we can adjust. >> changing plans. >> ok. >> mom, are you painting again? you could sell these. >> let me guess, changing plans? >> at fidelity, a change in plans is always part of the plan. announcer: consumer cellular. johnson and johnson.

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possible for the corporation of public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs viewing station for viewers like you. thank you. >> the u.s. center for disease control released new guidelines today, outlining what fully vaccinated people could do safely. the recommendations provide a small window into what life in the u.s. may look like in the month ahead. cdc director said that fully vaccinated people may gather indoors, without masks, with each other, or with those at low risk, such as children. 31 million people, or about 9% of the population, have now been fully vaccinated. news comes as pandemic deaths in the u.s. passed 500 wednesday 5000. john yang has the details. john: the cdc says people who are fully vaccinated should continue to follow certain

precautions, like wearing a mask, and distancing when visiting with an unvaccinated person who is at high risk for severe infection. wearing a mask and distancing in public, and continuing to avoid long distance travel. use new guidelines are couched in caveats. officials say they could change as new data becomes available. the former acting head of the cdc is now ceo of the robert wood johnson foundation, which is a newshour funder. thank you for being with us. a lot of people want to know what this means. as more people get the vaccine they want to know what the new guidelines mean. my sisters first grandchild was born in october, she and her husband are both fully vaccinated. her son and daughter in law -- daughter-in-law are teachers and they will be fully vaccinated. and they are fully vaccinated, will my sister be able to see her grandson and other than a computer screen? >> what i am reading in these

guidelines is a start of a path toward normalcy. while they are small steps, i hope it encourages more people to get vaccinated. individuals who are fully vaccinated can meet indoors with other people who are fully vaccinated, or they can be indoors with one family who has not been vaccinated, as long as that family does not have anyone at high risk of having severe disease. that is a step towards normalcy, it's a step towards people coming together, and it gives me a lot of hope. john: step towards normalcy but still precautions that cdc wants people to follow. 90% of americans are still not vaccinated. is there a target percentage you would like to see fully vaccinated before more restrictions can be taken off? >> i think it's about more than the percentage of people who are vaccinated. some of it will come down to a better understanding of what happens as these variants spread

around the country. these strains that have been identified in brazil, south africa, the u.k., and in places in this country. the question is outstanding, in terms of how much protection, what level of protection you will get from vaccines. i expecthat as more science comes in, the cdc will start to roll out the lifting of restrictions. i'm hoping they will come forward soon with new guidance around travel. i expect that will occur as more and more people get vaccinated. john: what do we know about whether people who have been vaccinated can still spread the virus? can give the virus to somebody else? >> we are starting to see evidence that the chances of that happening are going down. not all the science is in. but the data that i have seen, like with many other vaccines, if a person is fully vaccinated they will not spread the

infection to other people. i don't know that you can say that about some of these variants, and that may be what's holding the cdc back about giving recommendations of going to restaurants, or other plac where you may be able to come into contact with places at higher risk. john: are you concerned about the number of people skeptical about getting the vaccine? we have seen polls talking about how this has become piticized. that republicans seem to be more skeptical of getting the vaccine then others. does that concern you? dr. besser: there are a couple of things about vaccine distribution that concerns me. one thing is we are not doing a good enough job at getting vaccines to groups that are at the highest risk. black and latino populations in particular have had very low vaccination rates compared to white populations. if you look at maps of cities that show what neighborhoods have been hit the hardest, those

tend to be the areas having the lowest vaccination rates. to increase those rates, you need to ensure people are hearing from voices they trust. that goes for the point you are making about the big split by political affiliation, in terms of vaccine hesitancy and the desire to get vaccinated. we need republican leaders to stand up and encourage those who follow them to get vaccinate we know that former president trump got vaccinated in january. there are a lot of people who look to him for advice on vaccination. his voice would be valuable in terms of getting people who support him to roll up their sleeves and get vaccinated. john: thank you very much. dr. besser: thank you, john. ♪ >> on the economic front, president biden sweeping covid stimulus package is on the cusp

of becoming law this week. our congressional correspondent has the latest. >> the house is back in washington, with democrat standing by to give final approval to the 1.9 trillion dollar covid relief package. jen psaki on the bill, which is largely what president biden proposed. jen: the plan that the president passed this weekend puts us one step closer to passing one of the most consequential and most progressive pieces of legislation in american history. >> senate passage came this week and after high drama and high-stakes bargaining. joe mansion raised concerns about the size of unemployment benefits. he got on board after a compromised idea in a phone call with mr. biden. to pass the bill, democrats used a budget process, requiring just 50 votes. but as they have exactly 50 votes, they needed the support of every senator in their caucus. after 20 hours of debate, the

senate finally passed the so-called american rescue plan on saturday. it included a new round of direct payments of up to $1400 for individual americans taking under $75,000. and an increase to the child tax credit for one year. it will extend added $300 weekly unemployment benefits for september 6. that is shorter and lower than the $400 house democrats wanted to go through to the end of september. in addition, the legislation boost funding for covid vaccine distribution and testing, and gives an hundred 25 billion to help k-12 schools open. anotr $350 billion will go to state and local governments, targeted to their pandemic losses. senate majority leader senator schur hailed the outcome on saturday. sen. schumer: we made a promise that we would fulfill

the relief and we have filled that promise. >> but mcconnell is mad about them saying it is purely on partisan lines. >> we want to bipartisanship. democrats response is to ram through wh they call "the most repressive domestic legislation in a generation on a razor thin majority in both houses." >> republicans question the need for such a large bill, and argue it could backfire with a spike in inflation. treasure secretary said she is optimistic. ms. yellen: there are tools to address inflation if it becomes a problem, that i don't believe it will, and i don't see markets and forecasters worrying about that. >> the bill was not perfect for every democrat. they remain frustrated that the senate dropped provisions to increase the minimum wage to $15

an hour. ultimately, democrats want the bill sent to president biden and signed by march 14. when unemployment benefits are set to expire. >> for more on this bill i am joined by both lisa, and our white house correspondent. hello to both of you. i will start with you. what more can you tell us about what the white house is saying about this bill as the house takes it up, and what more have we learned about the impact of this legislation if it becomes law, as it now is written? yamiche: the white house and president biden are touting this package, making its way through congress as a huge victory. they say this is president biden keeping his campaign promise to get urgent need to american people as the pandemic contins. on that note, on thursday, president biden would deliver his first primetime national address. he will mark the one-year

anniversary of lockdowns related to covid starting in the united states. he will talk about what he plans to do for americans. on that note, as he waits for this bill to hit his desk and sign it into law, he is wasting no time explaining it in detail. part of explaining it to the american people will be him talking specifically about the racial justice aspects of the bill that connected his overall goal that having more equity. i want to say more about racial justice. there is more than $8 billion to federal, local, public health agencies for vaccinations. including targeting underserved communities. $7 billion for community health centers, which provides health care to disproportionately served black, latino and other communities. it has the single largest infusion of dedicated resources to native communities in history. 26 million dollars of that history will go towards combating covid-19. the indian provides direct

service to members of tribes and tribal communities. that is important. native americans, black, latino americans and americans of color have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. >> lisa, there is still more in this legislation that targets racial inequity. tell us about that. lisa: that's right. beyond those covid in health care related items, there are other items that democrats put into address systemic racism. let's look at those. there is a provision for what is called socially disadvantaged farmers. those are farmers of color. the bill would pay off 120% of any federal loans were federally backed loans that farmers have. democrats say that is because of years of inequity. they point out 80% loss of farmland by black farmers in the last 100 years. in this bill, so much for the

native american community. dirty $1 billion of federal funding in different -- $31 billion of federal funding in different funding. the largest distribution of cash for native americans in this country. i want to point out one item, $20 million, and important sliced and native american communities. that is to help rollback the loss and sustain native languages in this country, which many communities fear they are losing at a rapid rate. republicans say that these items, however good they may be, should not go in the bill because they are not covid related. democrats say it's good for the health of the country overall. >> lisa, you are telling us a number of health related items in the legislative -- legislation that is separate from covid. tell us about that. lisa: let's go through these

quickly. first, medicaid. more incentive for the states that have not expanded their medicaid program under obamacare. the federal government would pay more of the medicaid bill. mental hlth. this would double state block grants for mental health of up to $1 billion. it would pay 100% of premiums to people unemployed. that's temporary through the end of september. this would just expand subsidies overall under obamacare. again, temporary, but it's something democrats say is critical. let me sneak in one more big item that i hope we will talk about in future days. pensions. this bill has an $8billion provision and it that would basically bailout some intentionally insolvent pension funds. that affects millions of workers who are standing to lose those. >> finally, yamiche, one other major beneficiary and all of this are schools.

that is outside of the money that will reopen schools. tell us about what is here for colleges. yamiche: president biden is focused on trying to get schools reopen, as well as giving resources to students in higher education, as well as k-12 to help them go through the pandemic. there are nearly $40 billion for higher education. this includes public and private colleges and historically black colleges and universities. it will be $3 billion in supplemental rewards. $7 billion for internet connectivity and devices for students to participate in learning online. that has been a big issue with the digital gap in underserved communities. $1 billion for summer and student enrichment programs. during the coming months when we will have to continue to weather the pandemic while people are still getting vaccinated. this is money focused on students, focused on their parents, focused on educators. this is really aimed at trying

to get education rolling in this country, making sure people don't fall through the gaps as we continue to whether the pandemic. >> so much in this piece of legislation and so important for the public to understand as much as possible about what's here. thank you both. as we have been reporting, all 50 senate democrats voted to pass the covid relief bill. one of them is alex padilla of california, and he joins me now from capitol hill. senator, thank you for joining us, we have been hearing from my colleagues about some of what is in this legislation. my question for you is, what is the main difference this will make for your home state of california. ? sen. padilla: it will make a world of difference for people who have been suffering throughout the pandemic. laying out the various elements of the rescue package, it

reflects the reality of the pandemic. it has been dual pandemics, to be honest. devastation from a health standpoint on sony people throughout the country. that needs to be responded to. the rescue plan does that with more vaccination, supply, distribution, equity and administration. and then for schools to reopen, but reopen safely, etc. but also from the economic standpoint. some of our republican colleagues try to paint this as non-covid related when it could not be further from the truth. the pandemic has had a devastating impact on the economy. may health standpoint and economic standpoint, disproportionately on communities of color and working-class communities. the equity that wrapshis altogether was the right thing to do. i was proud to vote for it for on saturday. i cannot wait for the president to sign it. judy: senator, we know that

despite all of this, there are still voices saying that this legislation is too big. $1.9 trillion, that it is not targeted enough, it's bloated and throwing money all around. specific criticism we have seen about your state of california, that it will get tens of llions of dollars, even though california is facing surplus this year. how do you answer? sen. padilla: that came up during the course of the debate. this oppose it surplus in california, that some of my republican colleagues appointed to, is false. you don't want to penalize states like california for doing the right thing early in the pandemic. taking deep cuts, not just in the social service safety net, but even into safe and contracts, etc., that make it appear like there is a surplus on paper, but the funding that this package is going to restore to states across the country

will replenish those social service programs when they are needed the most. so, i take difference with that spin, if you will, on this package. it is a holistic package because we are suffering through a once in a century pandemic. as i said a minute ago, its head devastation, devastating health impacts, economic impacts, but as we turn the corner, this is the exactly what we need to restore the economy and to keep the trendlines going down on the number of cases, number of fatalities. most states -- no state has more at stake than this then the caliph -- then the state of california. judy: one provision that was taken out of the legislation had to do with raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour. there is still going to be a push to do that, but at this point it does not look like there are enough votes to get to $15 an hour.

would you be willing to support, separate from this legislation, but other legislation to raise federal minimum wage to $11 an hour, then gradually higher after that? sen. padilla: the minimum wage needs to go up. even the $15 an hour minimum wage proposal is a compromise in it of itself. we are going to get that done. i'm disappointed that it was not included in this final rescue package, but we will have other opportunities to get there. maybe through reconciliation, maybe through standalone legislation. we will consider all options for doing it. states like california and new york are on their way to getting to a $15 an hour minimum wage. people throughout the country and in every corner of the country deserve a living wage. if you work full-time, you should not live in poverty. that's what the minimum wage is about. we will keep fighting for it. it reminds me to point out other

elements of the rescue package. a significant expansion of the earned income tax credit. expansion of the child tax credit. that alone could lift up half of the children living in poverty today in the united states out of poverty. that is the magnitude and power of this rescue package that is soon to be on its way to the president. judy: bottom line, would you be willing to accept $11 an hour in the near term. sen. padilla: $11 an hour is not enough of a minimum wage increase. the american people deserve better. this is not a partisan issue. republicans and democrats across the board, just as they were supportive of the rescue package, support and increase in minimum wage to $15 an hour. judy: so much to ask you about, senator. i want to ask you about immigration. the hour of the chair of the immigration subcommittee, the judiciary committee. we know that you have pleaded

with president biden's approach of what we know to immigration. right now we are seeing a surge at the southern border. in the last week the new york times reported that the number of children at the u.s. border has tripled in the last two weeks. my question to you is, how concerned are you that this may complicate efforts to try to find a bipartisan solution to immigration, and what can be done about it? sen. padilla: i am hopeful. it was as recent as 2013 that a bipaisan immigration reform was approved by the united states senate. i know it seems like the political world has changed dramatically since then, but we have to have hope that there is something to work for. immigration reform in this country is long overdue. it was long overdue to the beginning of the trump administration. but the last four years were devastating for, not just immigran coming to the united

states, living in the united states, but immigration policy overall. we will do this right. unlike the last four years. we will restore humanity in common sense to the immigration policy. judy: we will continue to talk to you about that, senator, as we know about the number of people trying to cross the border is increasing, and people are looking for solution. we thank you, senator alex padilla of california. sen. padilla: thank you. judy: tomorrow night, i will talk with republican congresswoman of new york, as the house of representatives votes on the revived covid relief bill. ♪ vanessa: good evening, we will return to judy and the full program after the latest headlines.

a task force recommended extensive changes in u.s. capitol security, including a quick reaction in a permanent retractable fence. the report follows the january 6 storm and of the u.s. capitol. it calls for a larger police force, better equipment and streamlined communications. president biden is ordering how college and universities handle sexual assaults. trumpcare rules call for clear and convincing evidence of wrongdoing. they also led the accused cross-examined accusers. the rules in the review come under federal title ix, aimed at preventing sex discrimination in education. the u.s. state department is not commenting on a new pleat -- peace plan for afghanistan. secretary of state, antony blinken has proposed a 90 day reduction in violence in an interim government, that includes the taliban. his main spokesman would not confirm or deny the reports today.

ned: it is often important for our diplomatic efforts that we are able to conduct them in private. this is a moment in time where progress is possible. we want to do everything we can to facilitate that progress. vanessa: secretary blinken wrote to the afghan president, warning the u.s. could still withdraw all its troops by may 1. in lebanon, protesters fed up economic and political turmoil closed main roads for a sabbathday lake. near beirut, they blocked highway entrances with burning tires and tents. the country's president ordered security forces to clear the road blocks. at least three more people were shot dead in myanmar today, protesting the military coup. security forces dropped hundreds of forces. that brought thousands more into the streets after dark. they chanted and banged on water bottles to distract police for

making arrests. pope francis is back at the vatican after his tour of iraq. e first of any pope. he was seen off today by iraqi president and his wife in baghdad. later, on his plane, pope francis defended meeting the grand ayatollah, a top shiite muslim. >> you know that there are some critiques that say the pope is not courageous, he is reckless. he is doing things against catholic doctrine that is one step away from heresy. there are risk but these decisions are always taken in prayer. vanessa: the pope said he prayed before taking the trip. he drew large crowds who mostly ignored social distancing and mass requirements. back in this country, the u.s. supreme court rejected the last of former trumps -- former president trump's appeal to overturn the 2020 election results. they dismissed a challenge to

thousands of absentee votes in wisconsin. missouri senator roy blunt announced today that he will retire instead of running for a third term in 2022. he is number four in the senate republican leadership. he now becomes the fifth gop senator to pass up a bid for reelection. the judge and the ghost ship warehouse fire accepted a plea, sentencing them to 12 years in prison. with time served, he will serve the rest of his sentence at home with an ankle monitor. the ghost ship warehouse was a makeshift living space for artists, and caught fire in 2016, leaving 36 people dead. he pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter. the city of jackson, mississippi in the state capital is finishing a third week of having to boil drinking water. it's all due to damage of last month's winter storm. running water has been restored to most of the city of 160

thousand people, but crews were still working to restore full pressure to the system. still to come on the newshour, meghan markle breaks her silence , painting some in the british royal family as racist. we break down the politics of covid relief. plus, much more. [speaking foreign language] announcer: this is the pbs newshour, from weta news. and from the want -- walter cronkite school of journalism. judy: audiences around the world watch harry and meghan, the duke and duchess of sussex described their life and the british royal family in a revealing interview last night. meghan spoke about the racism she faced from inside and outside the institution. here is a look at what her experience says about the long

reigning monarchy. >> here to discuss wet last nights interview says about british attitudes on race within royalty in society more broadly is marcus. he is the executive producer and visiting professor of visiting birmingham -- birmingham state university. he is also an author of a diversity manifesto for tv and beyond. welcome to the newshour and thank you for making the time. huge ratings. asked if interest in this interview last night. what about in the u.k.? how is it reddest -- resonating over there? >> the fact that it has been so different in contrasting and people of different camps. they say they are talking about race and racism and some people thought this as nothing to do with race and we should not be talking about racism. i think it has split and exposed

attitudes toward certain elements and british society. >> some of the racism that meghan markle has faced early in her relationship to prince harry was evident in the tabloids in the coverage. i want to play from you one bit from the interview. among the more shocking revelation was that it was over resolute -- overt racism. she alleged they did not want to give her baby a royal title and at one point oprah followed up by asking her about it. oprah why do you think that is? do you think it's because of his race? and i know that is a loaded question, but. meghan: but i can give it an honest answer. in those months when i was pregnant, all around the same time, so we have in tandem the conversation of he won't be given security, he won't be given a title, and also,

concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he's born. >> marcus, that story, that allegation that someone in the royal family was asking and expressing concern about her babies skin tone, did that surprise you? marcus: what is important is that that son would have been a future employee of one of the most important institutions in the u.k. of the state. once you actually take away the salacious elements, what she is alleging is that, a future employee would be too dark, or their race would play against them from being an employee of the most important institution of the state. this story is not an international story because they are a famous or interesting family, it's interesting precisely because, when a black woman has tried to enter one of the most important institutions,

she say that due to race, she was unable to stay in the institution. that's why it's important. >> just a follow up on that,nd this institution you think back to the time when she entered the family. there was a huge opportunity talked about for this royal family, for the institution to move forward, to be more reflective not just of reddish society, but the commonwealth nations, which are largely black and brown. they did not do that. why do you think that is? marcus: you have to think of the low number of journalists in the newsroom, the fact that there is not one major news television bulletin which is headed by a person of color. so, if british media is having trouble doing that, then i would say, and it would be fair to presume that other parts of britain and the u.k. will also be struggling. i would hope that the response

to the interview, not just for the royal family, but from institutions and throughout society, is how do we make sure that all british institutions are welcoming to black women, and exploring how we can make sure that we do not have a case that when a black women is breaking a glass ceiling, entering a space that has not been entered by black people before, that it is not followed up a few years later with revelations or accusations that are meant to help, that she coemplated suicide, and that members would be walking with their skin tones to dark. we need to make sure that not just the royal family, but all institutions look at themselves in the u.k. and make sure that this does not repeat itself. >> marcus ryder, thank you

for joining us. marcus: thank you so much. ♪ judy: back to our top political story of the daythe political rescue plan is in its final stretch towards becoming law. marking president biden's first significant legislative achievement since taking office nearly 50 days ago. our politics monday team is here to analyze what it means. hello, to both of you. so good to see you. let's start by talking about this. it's about to cross the finish line, what does it mean for president biden? does it diminish the win in any way that he did not get any republican votes?

or does not appear to be getting any. >> it is a big win to get a bill passed in this day and age with everything you wanted in it. the administration came out and said this is a $1.9 trillion package, and it looks like he will get a $1.9 trillion package. there are some changes in there, but he pretty much got what he wanted. it was drama free. there was a little bit of consternation on friday night about joe manchin and the unemployment insurance extension. but overall, you think of how different it is, judy, than what we have been watching for the last four years. where a deal that looked like it was going one day could be derailed just by a tweet coming from president trump. this had all the markings of the traditional way of moving through a piece of legislation. in the democratic party is really united on this. that does -- now, does that mean

they will be united for everything to come? it's unclear. the big risk for democrats going forward is that they put a lot of their political capital into this, and it does not work. the risk for republicans is that they all voted against it and it does work. judy: pick up on that. what does it mean going forward, the fact that no republicans voted for it, and the fact that you have other important legislation coming down the pipe? >> the groundwork for this win, and for president biden, and this will be a big win, he will do a primetime address and continue talking about it for several weeks to cement the idea in people's minds that this is a big deal. this was hatched on january 5, and those senate seats in georgia that were won by

democrats instead of republicans. then they got a narrow majority in the senate, which they were then able to use to make this deal happen, to get this deal over the finish line without any republicans. and you are right, this was a unique situation. they were using budget reconciliation, a process that they cannot use for every bill, it has to be budget related. in the future, for things like raising the minimum wage, for instance, for gun control legislation, or infrastructure, which is where president biden wants to turn his attention next, his build back better plan as they call it. all of that is likely going to require bipartisan support. particularly in the senate. these are not going to be things that can get done only through the budget reconciliation with a narrow 50 vote. judy: so much coming down the

pipe, voting rights and the rest of it. i want to turn you both to something else that is in the headlines rit now, and that is new york's governor, andrew cuomo. amy, not only accused of not being truthful about nursing home deaths in his state from covid, but as we know now, a number of accusations from young women that are accusing him of sexual misconduct, sexual harassment. what do you make of his handling of it? every time we think the me too stories may be going away, they pop up again. there are two republican members of congress, paul thorne and randy jackson who have their own accusations made about them, what do you see happening first with governor cuomo? amy: i think what we are starting to see in new york, because everything is bigger in new york, it gets a whole lot of

attention that may be the governor of a smaller state wouldn't. andrew cuomo is not just the governor of new york, he is a national figure and became a national figure because of how much new york was at the epicenter early on in the covid crisis. it is also the first real test for democrats in this #metoo movement, it's one of their own. al franken was at the very beginning of this, the senator from minnesota who resigned under pressure from many democrats. but since the trump era has ended and the biden america began, here is an opportunity for democrats to put down their marker of how they will handle accusations of sexual harassment in their own ranks. i think what you are seeing is pressure on the governor. first of all, to agree to the attorney general investigating, which he has agreed to. you are starting to see democratic legislators calling for him to resign. i think, i as this move

forward, you may see more people announcing that. the biggest political hurdle for cuomo, the biggest question mark is, does he run for a fourth term, and can he run for a fourth term? or, are we going to be talking about a resignation? judy: to tam, a lot of people are asking, is this the kind of thing he can survive? he says he is not going anywhere, but these accusations have now reached a level, as amy says, a number of proment state democrats are calling on him to step down. tamara: i think democrats are still, as amy said, trying to figure out their footing and it comes to me too and other scandals. democrats, certainly during al franken's period in the early

part of the movement, had a zero tolerance policy. or as republicans did not have a zero tolerance policy. they have been fairly tolerant of some unfortunate behavior. you have this most recent example, where republicans have felt, maybe democrats took it too far, and queioned whether democrats would regret the tolerance policy. well, now you have a situation where someone is saying, i'm not going to go. typically, in these sorts of cases, if someone isn't going to go, then there isn't a mechanism, other than an election, to get them to go. and that is what you saw in virginia with governor northam, and others who were wrapped up in various scandals, a blackface scandal, other scandals, top democrats were asking for them to resign. governor northam and everybody

in the top leadership in virginia state, and -- stayed, and nothing happened, they just stayed. perhaps we are just seeing another press of, if you are willing to stick it out and take the pressure, can you just take the pressure indefinitely? judy: well, we are watching it and we will see what happens. i will have opportunities to ask you about it down the line. thank you both. politics monday, amy and tamra, thank you. don't go anywhere, we will be back with a special look at our new podcast series "america, interrupted: the longest year." it exposes how covid has transformed our lives. but first, take a moment to hear from your local pbs sta judy: weo

the covid-19 pandemic. in the virus has altered our lives in several ways. the newshour launched a new podcast series called "america, interrupted: the longest year." in it, the host speaks with americans from all walks of life about what they faced over the last 12 months. heres a clip from one of those conversations with an icu nurse in new york city. >> i'm ready. >> you've probably heard sandra lindsay's name before. back in december, her face was splashed across tv screens nationwide she became the first person in the u.s. to get a covid-19 vaccine. but for this critical care nurse, that journey to the vaccination began in march when the first major coronavirus surge overwhelmed hospitals in new york city. i wonder if you could describe for us, because it's hard to remember what it was like when

the cases really started to surge, what did that feel like for you day today? >> what i saw were people securing around -- scary -- scurrying around in personal protective equipment, it looked like we were from other planets. through the face shields you could see the fear in people's eyes. you could see the sadness, but you could see sadness. i knew that they were just mentally and physically exhausted. >> during those early days of the pandemic, lindsey says it was relentless. when someone would die, their icu bed would immediately need to be flipped for another covid patient. >> at that point, you are starting to have some distress. in addition to the physical and the mental distress. you are morally distressed because you figured that, i should have been able to save

someone's life, and i couldn't. and they passed away, and i can't even spend time to honor their spirit they way i would have loved to because somebody else is waiting for the bed, and we are trying to see if we can save that person's life. so, it was just so fast. sometimes he did not have time to think. >> were you ever worried yourself that you might get sick? >> absolutely. every day i left home, i looked in the mirror and i would say "i don't know if i'm making it back home today, but i'm going out." >> that is from our new podcast series "america, interrupted: the longest year." it's so hard to believe. that is the newshour for tonight. join us online in here tomorrow evening. for all of us at the pbs newshour, for all of you, please

stay safe and we will see you soon. announcer: major funding for the pbs news hour has been provided by, consumer cellular. johnson & johnson. bnsf railway. the kendeda fund, committed to meaningful work through investments in transformative leaders and ideas. kendedafund.org. ♪ >> the alfred p. sloan foundation, driven by the promise of great ideas. announcer: supported by the john dee and catherine t. macarthur foundation. committed to building a more just and peaceful world. more information at macfoun d.org.

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emergency planning for kids. we can't predict when an emergency will happen. so that's why it's important to make a plan with your parents. here are a few tips to stay safe. know how to get in touch with your family. write down phone numbers for your parents, siblings and neighbors.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ -welcome to "america's test kitchen" at home. today, i'm making an easy but elegant moroccan fish tagine. jack's going to tell us all about buying and storing spices. and becky's making an ultra-creamy hummus. we've got a lot in store today, so stick around.