captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight: on the ground on the border. lawmakers and the biden administration confront what is at stake with immigration reform. then, guns in america. two mass shootings expose the prevalence of firearm violence in the u.s., and the struggle to stop the trauma. plus, abuse in the ranks. why military leaders followed "shark tank" to spur ideas from soldiers to stop sexual assaults. >> if we can't keep our soldiers safe, how can you expect our soldiers to keep our country safe?

>> woodruff: all that and more, on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. >> fidelity wealth management. >> consumer cellular. >> johnson & johnson.

>> supporting social entrepreneurs and their solutions to the world's most pressing problems-- skollfoundation.org. >> the lemelson foundation. committed to improving lives rough invention, in the u.s. and developing countries. on the web at lemelson.org. >> supported by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. more information at macfound.org >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: the biden white house is moving tonight to get the migrant challenge in hand

before the humanitarian, and political, damage gets out of hand. to that end, the vice president is taking charge of the effort. white house correspondent yamiche alcindor begins our coverage. >> reporter: today, an intensified focus on the southern border. at the white house, president biden addressed the growing challenges there as the rising numbers of migrants turned up the political pressure to act. >> this new surge we're dealing with now started with the last administration but it's our responsibility to deal with it humanely and to stop what's happening. >> reporter: he also announced that vice president kamala harris will now be leading the administration's efforts to deal with mexico, el salvadoro, guatemala and honduras on immigration. it's a new role harris embraced. >> while we are clear border now, we also understand that we will enforce the law and that we also, because we can

shchew gum and walk at the same time, must address the root causes. >> reporter: the vice president says she will focus on stemming te no eof regular migrants to the u.s. and establishing partnerships with the central amrican nations they are fleeing. but the role is a hard one with complex issues dating back decades and one mr. biden tried to tackle when he was vice president. in the meantime, the president and vice president also met with the secretaries of health and human services and homeland security. and president biden dispatched a delegation of white house officials and member of congresso inspect a facility in texas. >> we are opening up new beds, providing space with children. >> reporter: the visit marked the first time the biden administration allowed media access to a border sie, but this was one run which the department of health and human

services which readies facilities for kids. just yesterday, footage released by customs and border protection officials showed migrate children eating and sleeping in a crowded texas detention center. sources told the "newshour" that, as of tuesday, there were at 4,800 children at cpb facilities, that includes 1600 kids who have been held for more than the legally allowed 72 hours ago. meanwhile, republicans stepped up the pressure. senator lindsey graham said it's clear migrants believe president biden is making it easier to enter the u.s. he accused the white house and democrats of trying to unfairly shift blame on to former president trump. >> it's time to regain control, and you have to deal with the dynamic that led to the border being overrun. this is not a seasonal event. trump's got nothing to do with this. >> reporter: graham proposed his own legislation to tackle the situation at the border. some of the provisions include

immediately sending back migrate to their home countries and then having them fill out asylum applications in northern triangle nations that ther than the united states, allowing authorities to hold families together longer than the current standard of 20 days, and appointing 500 new immigration judges. on the senate floor, democrats blocked republican measures targeting president biden's reversal of trump era border policies. the growing debate made clear immigration is shaping up to be a central challenge to the biden white house and a driving force in the 2022 midterm elections. for the "pbs newshour," i'm yamiche alcindor. >> woodruff: our senior national correspondent amna nawaz is on the border in el paso tax and she joins me now. hello, amna. we know very well one to have the specific challenges facing the biden administration is this influx of unaccompanied minors, and in an effort to be more

transparent, they decided today to release images of one to havd human services department-run shelters for children. tell us how that is being received. >> reporter: hi, judy. i think it's clear, obviously, the efforts made by the biden administration are very much welcome, certainly for us as journalists. we have been among the many journalists at the "newshour" asking for access, not just to those shelters run by h.h.s. you mentioned where unaccompanied minors are held but also to the producer facilities run by homeland security, and that is where we know the backup of unaccompanied minors coming across in larger numbers, we now know that's where the backup is. when you look and talk to the families on the ground on both sides to have the boa border, we seeing we shouldn't expect the numbers of unaccompanied children to decrease anytime soon. here's why. the rule we keep hearing about title 42, related to the

pandemic, put into place by the previous administration so officials can immediately expel people. everyone is denied entry the vast majority of people crossing the southern border. the biden administration kept that in place. that means the backup on the other side to have the border continues to grow. people are being expelled time and time again. we're hearing about high rates of recidivism. parents on the other side telling us they are so desperate and frustrated they are considering sending their children's at homes. we met a mother from guatemala today in a shelter on the el paso side who made it across today. she had been stuck in mexico over a year when one day her teenage son decided to cross alone. he made it into the united states, held in shelter system for 22 days and eventually reunited with family. we are increasingly hearing stories about this.

judy. >> woodruff: am na, the rule 42 you mentioned that deny entry to most people who try to come across, is there discussion inside the biden administration about undoing that, rolling it back? >> reporter: judy, i don't think any indication from the administration has some get that they're trying to make any chings to title 42. we know roberta jackson says it could be up for discussion but certainly not while the pandemic is very much with us. i will say one of the things we talked about with ruben garcia today, a long-standing institution in terms of migrate services here in the el paso area, was about title 42, whether or not he expects changes anytime soon. when i asked him about what the future of that rule could be, here's what he had to say. >> i'm very concerned about what is going to happen wen title 42 gets impacted.

that's what's keeping me up at night. >> reporter: why are you concerned. >> because the minute you begin to tamper with title 42, you're going to have a surge. we're not going to be talking about hundreds, we're going to be -- not even thousands -- we're going to be talking about tens of thousands of refugees that are going to cross into the u.s. > >> woodruff: and, amna, with the announcement today about vice president harris, what is it believed she's going to be able to do around the complicated issues around immigration as she takes over to the portfolio. >> reporter: there's a lot of work to be done. the previous administration tried to strike unilateral deals with some of these countries of or gin to try to prevent people from leaving in the first place. but we know until the root causes are addressed on the ground, those flows will likely not slow down. now we know the biden administration has $4 billion

ear marked to try to go exactly toward that effort. they want to change asylum rules to make it easier for people to access u.s. asylum or asylum in other countries, in their country of or gin but none of the plans are quick fixes. we're not talking about changes this week, month or probably this year. eth important to remember the numbers we're seeing now are because of a backup over the last year. as this backup continues to grow, experts say we're likely to see the numbe grow etch in the weeks and month ahead. judy. >> woodruff: such a complex set of issue around this. amna nawaz reporting from the border in texas. thank you, amna. >> reporter: thanks, judy. >> woodruff: in the day's other news, u.s. public health leaders pointed to progress in the pandemic, rising vaccinations, declining deaths and falling hospitalizations. but, they also warned that new

infections remain high. dr. anthony fauci said the country has not yet turned the corner. also today, louisiana and idaho became the latest states to open vaccinations to all adults. top democrats in the u.s. house of representatives say that some 30 million social security recipients are still waiting for covid relief payments. they say that the i.r.s. has not received needed information from the social security administration. congressman richard neal, chair of the house ways and means committee, and others, are demanding immediate action. leaders in the u.s. senate clashed today over a sweeping elections bill. democrats want to expand ballot access, overhaul campaign finance laws, and head off attempts to limit voting access at the state level. republicans y it is partisan over-reach. their dispute dominated a senate hearing. >> instead of doing what you

should be doing when you lose an election in a democracy-- attempting to win over those voters in the next election-- republicans instead are trying to disenfranchise those voters. shame on them! >> this legislation is just not ready for prime time. it's an invitation for chaos. chaos. state-level election officials, including democrats, are sounding alarms left and right. this messaging bill would create a nightmare, if it actually became law. >> woodruff: the democratic- controlled house already passed its version of the bill. in myanmar, state tv reports that 628 people have been released after being jailed for protesting a military coup. bus-loads of mostly young protesters could be seen waving and smiling as they left a prison in yangon. but, more than 2,000 people remain in custody or face

charges. a huge cargo ship got wedged across egypt's suez canal today, blocking the flow of global trade. the ship, the size of a skyscraper, ran aground during a sandstorm, and tug boats strained to pull it free. tracking maps showed other cargo ships backed up on either end of the channel. back in this country, democrat kim janey was sworn in as mayor of boston, acting; the first woman and first black citizen to hold the office. she took the oath at city hall, and reflected on the city's explosive days of school desegregation, in the 1970s. >> i had rocks and racial slurs thrown at my bus simply for attending school while black. and just yesterday, on my first full day as mayor, i visited my childhood alma mater. i saw students happy to be back at school with their teachers and friends instead of the pain and trauma i had experienced in

middle school. >> woodruff: janey replaces marty walsh, who resigned to become the u.s. labor secretary. meanwhile, rachel levine became the first openly transgender person to win senate confirmation. she will be the assistant secretary of health. two democratic u.s. senators have dropped threats to block president biden's nominees over diversity concerns. hawaii's mazie hirono and illinois' tammy duckworth had demanded that more asian- americans be chosen. the white house has now promised to add a senior-level adviser on the issue. on wall street, major indexes gave ground, led by tech stocks. the dow jones industrial average lost three points to close at 32,420. the nasdaq fell 265 points, and the s&p 500 slipped 21. and, bald eagle numbers are

soaring higher than ever. the u.s. fish and wildlife service says the population has quadrupled since 2009, to more than 300,000 birds across the lower 48 states. federal protections have helped the eagles recover from near- extinction in the 1960s. good news. still to come on the newshour: we examine the state of the american economy, with labor secretary marty walsh. how the military is trying to stop sexual abuse in the ranks. two mass shootings highlight the epidemic of gun violence in the u.s. plus, much more. >> woodruff: president biden is regularly touting the promise of his covid relief legislation, but there are significant

problems in the job market that may not be easily solved. more than nine million americans remain out of work, and the unemployment numbers has a long way to go before reaching pre- pandemic levels. marty walsh was sworn in as labor secretary yesterday, and and he joins us now in his first television interview in the new position. secretary walsh, welcome. congratulations on your coffin meetings, and -- on your confirmation. let me begin by asking you who and what are your priorities as you take on the job of labor secretary. >> thank you for having me. there are a lot of different problems. looking at broad based policies is important, making sure we look at different industries in areas of workers to be able to get them back to work. i also think the american rescue

plan is something that is going to be vitally important to our economy, to getting our kids back in school, getting people back into the workplaces, and moving our economy forward, helping our small businesses. there'smony in there for our small businesses that have been decimated throughout this entire pandemic, and just working on behalf of the american people. i'm looking forward to getting to work. this is my first full day. i'm excited. i spent the day getting briefed on different policies and wha we're doing and what to do and what we want to roll out and reel follow president biden's lead in building back better. >> woodruff: well, as we've suggested this pandemic has wreaked havoc on the economy. most americans are continuing to work, although in very different circumstances, but we also know at the first of the year, mr. secretary, 16 of americans either lost their jobs entirely or they're working fewer hours. what can you do about that? how can that be fixed? >> well, i think we have to work

across agency lines. i think it's important to work with commerce. it's important to work with labor. it's important to work with governors and mayors all across america to make sure workers feel safe, to get people back to work. it's important to set the right policies in place to make people feel comfortable in helping businesses moving along. my previous role, we were planning on how to recover from covid 19, you know, with the vaccinations happening and the president's very aggressive plan to get vaccinations in people's arms, that's also part of this whole plan. so there's lots that we have to do, and if beauty is that, you know, president biden and vice president harris have a plan to move forward, and it's our job now, it's my job as secretary of labor and other people's jobs to make sure that we continue to carry out that plan and put confidence back into people. >> woodruff: and just picking up on that, i's something like an estimated 4 million americans have now left the workforce

because of this pandemic, because of what it's meant in their lives. what can be done about it? we are being told it may be weeks, months before opportunities for them come back, if ever. >> well, i think it really comes back to putting confidence back into the workforce. also, we have a major problem that we have to deal with, with women in the workforce, and making sure that -- women have dropped out in the workforce in higher numbers than anything anyone ever anticipated, so we need to maketure, when we talk about childcare, making sure childcare is available. in the american rescue plan, i think, one thing, we can't continue to extend unemployment benefits and not to get our economy back up and going, and i know that the president is working with the senate, there's other pieces of legislation that are coming down right now that they're working on to get america back to work. i think that those specific industries we have to be a little more thoughtful in. i know the restaurants, you know, thousands of restaurants across the country have gone out

of business. we need to come back stronger. we need to get those restaurante restaurants, hopefully, back. we need to keep making investments. it's not just coming out to have the white house. this is something from the white house all the way down to main street that we have to work collectively together on. and i know that, in my office and in the briefings i was in today, i was in many of them today, every single briefing was focused on the american worker, how do we strengthen their ability to earn money, their ability to get a job, job training's another piece that we have in the department of labor and working on job training and getting those dollars out the door. some of these industries that we've lost during the pandemic, we're not going to get them back, so we need to make sure that we can retrain america's workers so they can access to jobs that are available now for them. >> woodruff: and mr. secretary, you mentioned women. let me follow on that. as you know, today is a so-called equal payday in the united states. today is march 24th. this is a day by which it is

calculated women -- the average female worker has to work until today to earn as much money as the average man earned in the previous year. it takes that much longer for women to make it up. we know that the gender pay gap is even worse for black women, equal payday is august 3. for native american women it's september 8. for latinas, it's october 21. what can you and the biden administration due to, frankly, increase the fairnness in -- fairness in how women are paid. >> first of all, we need to stop talking about this and actually take action. one of my conversations today was with the women's bureau at the department of labor, we talked about this very issue. you beat me to the punch. i was going to talk about today observe what we can do to make real definite concrete changes. i think it's about pulling people to the table. what i was able to do in my previous role is bring large and

small employers in and talking about the importance of understanding that we need to do better on pay equity across the board for women in all different areas. it's something that we need to -- every so often this comes up, we talk about -- i'm talking about passinlegislation, doing this, doing that. it's time for action in the department of labor at the -- i guess the authority of president biden, this is a top issue that he wants us to address, and we're going to take this issue -- i wouldn't say take it on, we're going to address this issue at the department of labor. >> woodruff: and i want to ask you about reporting that some programs inside the department of labor have been literally hollowed out. specifically i'm asking about the occupaonal safety and health administration or osha. their mandate is to make sure the workplace is safe and

healthy for workers, but the reports are that, under te previous administration, under the trump administration, it's now down to the lowest number of inspectors it's had since the 19 1970s. what are you doing to address that? >> this has been addressed financially. the president has allocated funds for us to hire more osha inspectors. not just osha inspectors, all the career people at the department of labor, i want to say thank you for the work you've done. many people have worked through many different administrations, have worked extremely hard. so we want to bring the confidence and respect back to those workers who work on behalf of the american people every single day. osha is a big part of it. i'm not trying to deflect the question. but we'll be miring hundreds of new osha inspectors, goat them trained and into the job sites. people need to be safe in their work site. i'm a former construction worker, and safety needs to be the number one priority not just in construction but also all across the different industries, all throughout our country. >> woodruff: and i ask

specifically about osha, and safety and health because we're in a pandemic, when those issues matter more than ever in the workplace. >> yeah, the health and safety and well being of our workers is a top priority for the biden administration. it's a top priority for the department of labor, and it should be a top priority for employees all across america. >> woodruff: the new secretary of labor marty walsh. thanyou again very much. we appreciate it. >> thank you. >> woodruff: today, the pentagon announced the members of a commission that will investigate sexual assault and harassment in the military. in a moment, i will speak with senator kirsten gillibrand, who has been at the forefront of this issue.

but first, nick schifrin reports how sexual assault and harassment infects the divisions, and what one corps, is trying to do about it. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> schifrin: the 18th airborne corps is one of the army's premiere forces. and from afghanistan to iraq, portrays itself as flying through the air, attacking through the night, always ready to fight. but according to a document obtained by the pbs newshour, the corps and its base fort bragg, have also been fighting some of the army's highest levels of sexual assault and harassment. >> if we can't keep our soldiers safe, how can you expect our soldiers to keep our country safe? >> schifrin: staff sergeant shameka dudley is a russian linguist with a fort bragg-based military intelligence brigade. >> we can get the soldiers more engaged. >> schifrin: she recently presented her suggestions to combat sexual assault to her commanders at an event they called "dragon's lair"-- an unusual effort to hear soldiers' solutions. dudley says the problems begin with inadequate training.

>> it's always the same powerpoint slides. it's-- i've been in for ten years, i can say i've probably been to 15 to 20 trainings. i've probably seen a total of four different slide decks. like, it's, it's ridiculous. >> 37% of our cases were n.c.o.s and officers. >> schifrin: and the training sessions, like this one, are held in a room with hundreds of soldiers. >> how are you going to get 500 people to pay attention? you can't. half of them are on their phone. the other half is, like, like talking with the person beside them. and it's just like not getting through. and they're like, oh, we just got to do this training. >> schifrin: dudley's solution? training soldiers like they're sometimes trained for combat: with virtual reality, where soldiers are immersed, focused, and able to go through scenarios. assault and harassment scenario training could train soldiers how to act and respond. >> most kids already have, like, a virtual reality headset or some kind of v.r. game. so it's just like, why not just tap onto something that people are already using? to put soldiers in the shoes of

another individual. i want to do whatever i can to make a change for the my because i'm gog to be here for at least another 10 years. so, why not make a change while i'm here? >> i've never dealt with sexual assault in the army before this. >> schifrin: sergeant taylor knueven also presented her solutions, born of personal experience. >> i had not been sexually assaulted in the military up until last year. and then when that happened, it totally changed my perspective on just how toxic the environment can be. >> schifrin: knueven is a member of the 101st airborne division. she says was assaulted while at the u.s. border, as part of president trump's military deployment, by a soldier two ranks above her. he then assaulted a female officer. but, despite a recommendation to kick him out, a panel known as a separation board decided to retain him. >> i was sitting outside a separation board before i testified, looking at a poster says in big, bold letters, "not in our army." so for them to, to retain him says "yes in our army." and i think for any of his

soldiers or peers that were loyal to him during the process, i think that they hear the same message that, yuou know, look, he got away with it. so it does happen in our army, and it's probably going to continue to happen in our army. >> schifrin: advocates have called for the military to reform the uniform code of military justice, and change the separation boards. >> the separation board was comprised of three people, and they were all three males, all senior-- senior military leaders. so, one, i thought, okay, maybe we shouldn't have senior military leaders that-- you know, whether they intend to be biased or not, undoubtedly have some bias to protect their own. >> schifrin: in a statement, a spokesman for the 18th airborne corps, which includes the storied 101st, 82nd airborne, and 10th mountain division, says it's already made changes and suggested them to the wider army: separation boards will have members of the alleged victim's gender. sexual harassment/assault response and prevention officials will not report to soldiers' direct commanders.

and some training will now be virtual reality. >> this is about accountability for perpetrators. it is about justice and healing for survivors. >> schifrin: today, the head of a new, independent pentagon commission examining solutions unveiled its members. and on capitol hill, senator kirsten gillibrand led a hearing with survivors and their advocates, and said military justice currently reserved for commanders was in the wrong hands. >> every general, or commander, that has come in front of this body for t past ten years has told us, we've got this, ma'am. we've got this. well, the truth is, they don't have it. >> schifrin: knueven hopes the publicity, and the 18th airborne corps' soliciting ideas, leads to real change, and isn't just a p.r. effort. >> i want to know that it was more than just, you know, turning in their homework assignment to their boss, that it was, no, we really do care. >> woodruff: and now to senator kirsten gillibrand, democrat of new york. senator, welcome back to the newshour.

let me just say, you have been talking about this issue for years. today, you said it's an epidemic of sexual assault in the military. you said nothing has been done in 15 years. whose fault is that? >> it's the department of defense and it's the command. they have said, since dick cheney was the secretary of defense 25 years ago, that there was zero tolerance for sexual assault. i have been having hearings ability this since 2013 and, every time a complarnd comes in front of our committee, they say that they've got this and they don't. they keep saying commanders are the only people who cannics if this problem but unfortunately the problem is getting much worse. not only are there 20,000 estimated sexual assaults each year, but the percentage of cases that are going to trial is going down, and the percentage of cases and convictions is also going down. >> woodruff: senator let me just ask you quickly about solutions. today the pentagon announced the members of this independent

review commission they're creating. we also have just heard in our report women themselves who are part of the 18tairborne corps in the army are saying we need to change training methods. are these things likely to make a difference? >> well, of course, we should do everything we can to train our members of the alzheimer's services as best as we can, and we should do i've this i think we can for prevention, but the way to send a message, and the way to change the culture, is convict predators. if you actually convict rapists and recidivists, there will be less rape and less recidivism. in fact, it sends a message that these are crimes that are not tolerated in the military. when you don't actually prosecute assailants and you don't prosecute the crime of rape, of course predators feel they have more and more deway to continue to commit these crimes. so that's why i believe w need to professionalize how the armed services handled these cases, and the decision about whether or not to go torial in a given case should be given to a trained military prosecutor

who's outside of the chain of command of the victim and of the accused. if you did that, then survivors will know that there was someone who would look at their case who has no skin in the game, who has no bias, who doesn't know them or the accused who will give them a fair shake. it will mean more survivors will come forward and it will also mean that, because of that professionalism, perhaps different cases are chosen and there's a better end result. >> woodruff: in connection with that, loam ask you about two things. one is the way the so-called military separation boards operate. changing that, could that make a difference? and also at your hearing today, we heard amy frank recommend that victim advocates should be independent of the chain of command. that's something you support. >> i fully support that. first of all, we've heard from victim advocates that they have been bullied, that they have been pressured, that they have not been given the authority they need to actually support their client by taking a case, for example, to the inspector

general for retaliation. they're not allowed to represent their client in the same way that a regular lawyer is, and they don't have the same authority, they don't have the same ability to represent these clients in these types of litigation, and, so, yes, i would love them to be independent of the chain of command and, yes, i would like them to have more training and actually be more senior. >> woodruff: and, senator, in connection with the commanders' ability to punish alleged perpetrators, you did introduce eight years ago legislation creating a new channel for adjudicating sexual assault. at the time, there wasn't support in the pentagon, there wasn't support among your senate colleagues. is there support now? >> yes, i think there's much more support now. a number of my colleagues that i have spoken to have said i wanted to give other reforce a chance. now that it's been eight years, i think i might change my mind. so i think there are a number of

senators who were previously no votes will be yes votes. we also have a commander-in-chief in the white house who said he wants to take these cases out to have the chain of command. he has been very clear about his views on sexual violence, not only written the violence against women's act but being at the forefront of these issues. so we have a commander-in-chief in joe biden that supports this kind of reform and hopefully he'seformed his secretary of defense to do a three-month investigation and have a report. hopefully that commission will look at these ideas and hopefully support them. but in the meantime, i'm going to get the bipartisan support i knead for this bill. there's few bills in washington that has the support of both bernie sanders and ted cruz, both chuck schumer and mitch mcconnell. but this bill does. it's the kind of common sense reform that could transform this issue. they've asked over and over again that if we could change one thing, they'd change who makes the decision and ask it to be someone outside the cha oinf

command who's trained and has the kind of skills and unbiased ability to do the work. >> woodruff: and, senator, something else i do want to ask you about and that is your home state governor andrew cuomo. as yu know he's been accused by eight different women of sexual harassment, incidents of sexual misconduct. you and your fellow new york senator chuck schumer have called on him to step down as has a majority of the new yor congressional delegation. there are investigations underway, but he says he hasn't done anything wrong, he's not going to step down, and he says people calling for him to do that are part of the so-called liberal cancel culture group. is that what's going on? >> no, that's an absurd statement. given that he will not step down, we have two investigations that will move forward. the attorney general will do her investigation, as will the state assembly. they will begin impeachment

investigations. those are two significant investigations that will take months, but, again, given where we are with covid and the economy, i think it's very difficult, given that our governor has lost the support of most of his governing partners. >> woodruff: so are you saying you think he'll hold on for months while these investigations take place? >> woodruff: he might. i think that's what he said. so i disagree. i think we should be focused on the important task of governing and getting these reurces into the economy, and i think it will be very hard to do that, given where he is. >> woodruff: senator kirsten gillibrand, we appreciate it. thank you very much. >> woodruff: thank you. >> woodruff: the suspect in the boulder shootings is expected to make his first court appearance tomorrow. law enforcement officials have not blicly discussed his possible motives yet.

president biden called the mayor of boulder today to offer his condolences. and, as the investigation continues, many observers and advocates say the shootings should be a springboard for new action. william brangham focuses on that part of the story tonight. >> brangham: judy, the murders in boulder came just one week after the mass shootings in georgia. but what many americans may not realize is between those two tragedies, there were several other mass shootings, in dallas, houston, philadelphia, in stockton, california and in gresham, oregon. two people died in those other incidents, which included a drive-by shooting and a shooting at a club, among others. 26 more people were wounded. back in boulder,here were candlelight vigils last night. more will coinue during he remainder of the week. we look at what might happen now with colorado state assemblyman tom sullivan, he's a democrat. and his son alex was killed in

the mass shooting in aurora, colorado in 2012. representative sullivan, thank you very much for being leer. i know this is not something you ever wanted to be an expert in, but there are ten families in powrld going through what you went through several years ago, and i wonder if you could just help us understand a little bit about what they're going through and what counsel you would offer them. >> now a couple of days after, they're trying to get out of town family to come in, they're trying to get preparations for a funeral, for, you know, where their children are going to be buried. it's all that kind of stuff. and on top to have that, they're dealing with, you know, people -- you know, all of a sudden, their sons or daughters' pictures are on the front page of the paper, and they have to come up with, you know, like two-minute synopsis of what the

previous 25 years with that son or daughter was like, and to get somebody to understand, you know, who their son or daughter was. >> reporter: i know that you ran for office after your son's tragedy, and we have seen in other cases, in parkland, in newtown and perhaps even now after atlanta, that these events become galvanizing for the families involved. do you think that that's the same here? and i'm curious, is it just because of the horror of these events? is it because of the state of our federal gun laws? like, what is it? >> well, i mean, certainly, i mean, you never know what is going to cause somebody, you know, to take action, to really take any kind of action with this, it's going to require the federal government to get involved in this. i mean, you know, some of these common-sense things that, you know, can help. but we're not going to eliminate

this. nothing that we can do is going to eliminate this, but collectively, piece by piece, we can save lives, and, quite frankly, that's why i got myself elected was to come to the state capitol here in denver and start to save lives. >> reporter: you've said that it has to come from the national government level. why is that? you ran for office in colorado and had some success in passing some laws there. why is it you say it has to come from the federal level? >> well, i mean, we passed a background check here in the state of colorado in 2013. they don't have it, you know, in the surrounding states about us. we have a high capacity magazine limit here in the state of colorado. they don't have it in the surrounding states around us. i mean, even, you know, the sooter in boulder, you know, with his ability to get, you know, an assault rifle. at the time if they had had that

assault weapon ban in boulder, all he had to do was, you know, go to the next county or the next town and purchase at stuff. so we need a collective help from the national government. if they did browned checks across the country, that would be better for us. if they did extreme risk protection orders across the country, that would help us. >> reporter: president biden called for an assault weapons ban. the mayor of boulder, we know, had asked that ban to be renewed in the city of boulder, which was in place, but it was being blocked by a judge. even the "new york post" tranan editorial today saying we have to get what they call these weapons of war off the streets. do you agree with that, and do you think that that will actually have any chance of passing? >> well, i mean, you know, assault weapons, they put the mass in the shooting. that's as clear as i can say it. the ability to get off more

rounds quicker is what causes these high-casualty rates. if they had pump action, they couldn't do it. if they had a smaller capacity magazine, they wouldn't have been able -- you know, they would have to change them out. i get it that's what they have been selling, and i've heard all of that, about how many, you know, tens of millions of these types of weapons are out there, and i know how difficult it is to differentiate beten all of the different platforms that they use, but we need -- i mean, something has to happen. >> reporter: i mean, we have seen, to this discussion about action having to come from the federal government, we've seen two senior republican senators, john thune and ted cruz of texas, say recently that they echo tis very common point which is none of these laws that are being proposed would stop x event. why law does not stop x event?

how do you respond to that? >> last -- in 2019, we passed an extreme risk protection order here in the state of colorado. last year, we had 113 petitions that were filed. historically, from the other states that had ran extreme risk protection orders, that tells us that for eleven petition filed you save one life. what happened in the state of colorado last year by the 113 positions that were filed, we saved ten lives. okay. you can't antify that. i can't tell you the names of the ten people, but i know that happened, and it probably was more than that. that's what we're doing. we're not going to stop this. it's the same with anything, there is no one thing that can stop this from happening. but collectively, we can bring

the numbers down, we can start saving some lives, and that's what i'm going to continue to do. >> reporter: all right, state representative tom sullivan from colorado, thank you very much for being here. >> thank you. >> woodruff: the nation's first government-backed reparations initiative for black americans was approved this week in evanston, illinois. it is a program that could serve as a model for reparations efforts across the country. john yang has the story, part of our "race matters" series. >> yang: judy, evanston is a suburb on chicago's northside lakefront, home of northwestern university. about 16% of its 75,000 residents are black. this week, the city council

voted 8 to 1 to begin making good on its prmoise to pay $10 million in reparations over 10 years. first up: $400,000 to compensate for past discriminatory housing practices; individual grants of up to $25,000 per person to black residents who can show they or their families lived in the city between 1919 and 1969. the money can be used for down payments, mortgage payments or repairs, and home improvements. almost all the money will come from taxes on the sale of recreational marijuana. dr. ron daniels is the convenor of the national african american reparations commission. reparations commission, and he joins us now. dr. daniels, thank you so much for being with us. what's the significance of what evanston city council did this week? it's been a topic of discussion foa very long time, but this appears to be the first government to actually do something about it. >> the significance is that

evanston now becomes a model, it becomes a blueprint for reparations initiatives across the country, and there are other cities who are quite interested in this as well, to providence, rhode island, asheville, north carolina, los angeles, seattle, washington, there are a number of cities that are interested in this so this becomes the blueprint and it's very significant because, beyond the idea of it, we now have a tangible example of moving from idea to public policy and evanston has set the tone. >> reporter: and it's also been atomic of discussion in congress. there have been discussions about bills that would provide federal national reparations. do you think it's going to give that effort and impetus as well? >> there's no question about it, and it's really a kind of synergistic relationship between evanston and a number of cities around the country does a a number have endorsed h.r.40. at the federal level, the

courageous cleared of congresswoman sheila jackson lee has moved us to the point where i would predict within the next maybe three months or so we'll actually have a commission set up that will study and develop reparations proposals for african-americans. that's a huge development and it also enjoys the support of nancy pelosi, speaker of the house, chuck schumer senate majority leader, senator hoyer, the american civil liberties, cobra. national council of churches, human rights, center for american progress, this is an incredible moment in the history of the united states of america. >> reporter: i want to ask you about the specifics of what evanston tid this week. the one no vote on the city council came from sicily fleming, she's a black member of the council. she argued that the specifics of how this money should be spent was almost paternalistic.

she said that the injured party should be the one to dictate and decide what reparations are. what tuning of that? >> well, she's correct. what she's incorrect about is not understanding that the reason why the national african american reparations commission certified evanston as a model is because we were deeply involved in helping put the program together. and when alderman simmons and her colleagues did town meetings and hearings across the city, what came back from the persons who are affected was over and over again housing, housing, housing, housing. and, so, therefore, that's why the initial repairatory housing initiative was conceived pi the state holders and went to the committee and approved by city council. so i think the alderwoman has her right to her opinion and we think that's good. we need a lot of debate and discussion. others thought it should be cash payments. all of that is positive because

this is not the end of the initiative in evanston, illinois, this is really the beginning. tere will be many many other opportunities in order to have reparations initiatives. i should say this, however, the relationship between the national and the federal is it will really take federal legislation to really create the large amount of resources to teal with the injury over the centuries. no amount of money is enough or cash or whatever is enough, but at least the federal government under the leadership of congresswoman sheila jackson lee and the coalition i referenced will be the way in which this ultimately does the kind of repair that's needed. >> reporter: dr. ron daniels of the national african-american reparations commission, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> woodruff: one thing the pandemic has made clear: our need for essential workers. we have heard many of their

voices during this last year. tonight, ai-jen poo, director of the national domestic workers alliance, gives her "brief but spectacular" take on the importance of caregivers, and the need to value work, on this "equal pay day." >> in the first month of the stay-at-home orders, about 90% of domestic workers lost all of their jobs and income. so, it has been a crisis of impossible choices, where you're either struggling to figure out how you're going to take care of yourself and your own family without an income, or you're going to work as an essential worker without protections. your kids are home from school, trying to navigate online learning, and you're still earning poverty wages, without access to healthcare.

>> my grandparents played a huge role in raising me, like many immigrant families. and my grandmother taught me a lot about caregiving. being as close to my grandparents as i was, when they became older and needed care of themselves, it just made me want to ensure that every one of our loved ones, especially the people who raised us and cared for us, actually have the care and the dignity that they deserve. everyone deserves that. the average income of a home care worker in america is about $16,000 per year. $16,000 per year. , we end up losing some of our very best caregivers to other low-wage service jobs like fast food or retail, because they cannot support themselves and their families doing this work. to me, we should be thinking about our caregiving systems as essential infrastructure: childcare, elder care, support for our loved ones with

disabilities. these are fundamental needs that every working family has across the lifespan, and we have nothing in place to really support families around those needs. and so i think, in the 21st century, when we think about infrastructure, it has to include good caregiving. i believe that we have an opportunity here to make these jobs good jobs, that you can take pride in and support your family on. and one generation can do better than the next. just like we took manufacturing jobs in the 1930s from dangerous poverty-wage jobs into a real pathway to economic security and mobility for generations. as an organizer, i spend a lot of time listening. the only way to understand how to solve a problem is to really hear about how these policies and how these challenges live in the lives of pple every single day.

as the pandemic rages on the burden of safety is falling disproportionately on the shoulders of the people who have the least amount of resources and power to navigate the situation. we have an opportunity, as we emerge from this pandemic, as the vaccine is more widely available, to really chart a new course for how we protect and value work in america. let's put them at the center of how we think about the future of work in this country. my name is ai-jen poo, and this is my "brief, but spectacular" take on caregiving. >> woodruff: so thankful for all of our caregivers. and you can find all of our "brief but spectacular segments" online at pbs.org/newshour/brief. and on the pbs newshour online, we talk to the many of you across the country who are

helping secure vaccine appointments for the people who need them most. you can read about their stories, and the work left to be done, on our website right now. that's pbs.org/newshour. and that is the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. join us online and again here tomorrow eveni. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you, please stay safe, and we'll see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> for 25 years, consumer cellular has been offering no-contract wireless plans, designed to help people do more of what they like. our u.s.-based customer service team can help find a plan that fits you. to learn more, visit www.consumercellular.tv. >> fidelity wealth management. >> johnson & johnson. >> bnsf railway. >> the ford foundation.

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♪ hello, everyone. welcome to "amanpour & comny." here's what's coming up. >> those poor folk whs who died left behind families. it leaves a big hole in their he hearts. >> we ask an expert on the student massacre at columbine will america ever find its way out of this state? then, amid a deadly covid anniversary in the u.k., mp jeff phillips joins us on the everyday killing of women. >> not with a bang, with a wimper. not in fire, but in ice.