captioning sponsored by newshour prproductions, llc >> woodruff: good evening, i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight, deadly storms-- a devastating weather system takes several lives, leaving a path of destruction across the south. then, a fight over rights-- georgia enacts new legislation that critics say rolls back access to the ballot box, the first of many expected laws in the wake of the election. plus, a view from iran-- how trump-era sanctions failed to stall tehran's nuclear ambitions and hit average citizens the hardest. >> despite the celebration that comes with the persian new year, there's little question that us

sanctions and the maximum pressure campaign of former president donald trump has made millions of iranians suffer. >> woodruff: and it's friday. david brooks and jonathan capehart consider restrictions on voting, the push for gun violence prevention, and the president's first press conference. all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has bn provided by: ♪ ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us.

>> the john s. and james l. knight foundation. fostering informed and engaged communities. more at kf.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: and friends of the newshour. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you.

>> woodruff: in alabama and georgia, survivors of deadly tornadoes are now facing a future of rebuilding. they awoke today to heavy damage and the loss of six lives. amna nawaz has our report. >> nawaz: devastation across the south this morning: downed power lines, gutted forests, and homes eviscerated. the aftermath of a series of powerful tornadoes that wreaked havoc last night, including in georgia: >> we had a tragic day yesterday and early into this morning. we have severe damage in many counties across the state. roughly 2:00 a.m. last night i issued a state of emergency. >> nawaz: one tornado struck just after midnight in the city of newnan, some 40 miles southwest of atlanta. >> all of the sudden it got still, you could see the lightning in the sky but then it just got extremely dark. you could hear the sound, the sound like a freight train that was coming. and you could just hear the windows shaking, and things

blowing against the front door, and your ears are popping and we just stayed there until it got quiet again. >> nawaz: in alabama: more severe damage, and fatalities, cluding three people from the same family. multiple twisters, as many as eight, touched down across the state yesterday. >> holy cow! >> nawaz: authorities said a single tornado carved across more than 100 miles. >> it was roaring, it was no train whistle. it was roaring. house started shaking. >> nawaz: in birmingham, mary rose dearman and her husband took shelter in their basement, up until their roof caved in. >> i'm not worried about this, the only thing i was worried about was that we came out of it alive. >> nawaz: they escaped when neighbors arrived with ladders to pull them out. the storms knocked out power for more than 35,000 customers in alabama. and the chaos stretched further on, with thunderstorms and flooding reported in north and south carolina, kentucky, mississippi and tennessee. for the pbs newshour, i'm amna nawaz.

>> woodruff: in the day's other news, there were fresh appeals for the u.s. to share covid-19 vaccine with the world. non-governmental groups urged president biden to take that step, once the u.s. meets its demand. but even as vaccinations accelerate, the c.d.c. warned that new infections are up 7% over last week. >> this has been a long year and i know people are tired. they don't want to hear that it will take us a little while longer but it's going to take us a little while longer. our advice is ear. we're vaccinating really, really quickly and we're just asking people to hang on a little while longer in terms of the masks and mitigation strategies so that we can get the majority of people vaccinated. >> woodruff: there was also word that the european union will soon see an uptick in vaccine supplies. the european medicines agency approved new manufacturing sites today, in a bid to speed up a lagging vaccination effort.

china has released its own report on the origins of covid- 19. it concludes the virus most likely came from an animal, and not from a government lab in wuhan. the world health organization's report was due out today, but was delayed again. the fight over china's alleged abuses of uighur muslims escalated today. beijing announced sanctions against britain, and it intensified boycotts of major retailers. britain, the e.u., canada and the u.s. had sanctioned china earlier this week. >> ( translated ): they announced sanctions against china based on rumors, lies and false information. it is a violation of the basic norms of international law and we are certainly forced to carry out just, necessary and legitimate self defense. >> woodruff: britain said it would not be intimidated, and the u.s. accused china of

profiting from forced labor by uighurs. in afghanistan, the taliban threatened to resume attacking foreign troops, if they stay past a may 1st deadline. the u.s. agreed to the date last year, but president biden said thursday that it would be tough to meet. a train wreck in southern egypt left at least 32 people dead and 165 others injured today. one train rear-ended another, derailing and flipping passenger cars and trapping people in the wreckage. scores of medical teams and bystanders rushed in to help the victims. elsewhere in egypt, congestion outside the blocked suez canal grew to more than 200 ships. a giant container ship has been wedged in the waterway since tuesday. dredgers and tugboats failed again today to free the vessel. experts now say it couldake up to a week to pry it loose.

back in this country, it turns back in this country, it turns out the man who allegedly shot 10 people to death in boulder, colorado, had passed a background check before buying the murder weapon. investigators said today his previous misdemeanor assault conviction did not prevent the purchase. they also said the search for a motive continues. >> i just don't know, and like the d.a. said, that's the focus now of what we're trying to figure out. it's-- it'll be something haunting for all of us until we figure that out, and like someone said, sometimes you just don't figure these things out, but i am hoping that we will. >> woodruff: the suspect already faces 10 counts of murder. the district attorney said he will bring attempted murder charges as well. police in kenosha, wisconsin, said today they have charged 55 people to date in connection with violent protests last summer.

the charges range from arson to weapons violations. the protests erupted when a black man, jacob blake, was shot seven times by a white police officer. blake is now paralyzed, and is suing the officer for unspecified damages. dominion voting systems is accusing fox news of defamation and suing for $1.6 billion. the suit alleges the cable news giant wantonly spread false claims that dominion rigged the 2020 presidential election. fox news says the action is baseless. wall street finished the week on a high, lifted by bank stocks and rising oil prices. the dow jones industrial average gained 453 points to close at 33,072. the nasdaq rose 161 points, and, the s&p 500 added 65. and, two passings to note tonight: well-known author larry

mcmurtry has died of heart failure. he focused largely on the american west, and won a pulitzer prize for the novel "lonesome dove". he also won an oscar for the screenplay for "brokeback mountain". and, his books "the last picture show" and "terms of endearment" became oscar-winning movies as well. larry mcmurtry was 84 years old. and children's book author beverly clearly has died. her publisher, harper collins, said she died yesterday, but gave no details. cleary wrote more than 30 books in all, which went on to sell some 85 million copies. her stories captivated generations of readers with her humor and realism, featuring iconic characters such as ramona quimby and henry huggins. beverly cleary was 104 years old. still to come on the newshour: georgia enacts a new law some say restricts access to the ballot box. the immigration debate

intensifies over a proposed pathway to citizenship. iran continues to develop its nuclear program despite crippling sanctions. plus much more. >> woodruff: a new law signed by georgia governor brian kemp last night imposes a series of new restrictions on elections in the state, one of the first laws to pass after the 2020 election. supporters say it's necessary for election security, but as lisa desjardins reports, it is drawing ire from voting rights groups and even president biden. >> a fast-moving issue inside the georgia state capitol where a new election law got final

passage and was signed by georgia governor brian kemp within hours yesterday. >> georgia will take another step toward ensuring our elections are secure, accessible, and fair. >> defiant of critics, he said this will improve elections. elections. but outside his office... >> why is the governor trying to sign something in private? >> ...critics were at the door because they see voter suppression. one lawmaker, democratic state representative park cannon, began knocking on the door and was arrested after police told her to stop. >> no, are you not-- >> reporter: outcry over the legislation. supporters say the new law, sb-202, increases access by adding another saturday of early voting, but critics point to myriad other provisions. it shortens the window to get an absentee ballot, it ends signature verification. instead, absentee voters must have a driver's license number or send a copy of another state i.d.

and it makes it a crime to offer food or water to voters who are standing in line. other proposed restrictions were scrapped. the law keeps "no excuse" absentee voting in place. and it also keeps early voting on sunday. a proposal to ban that was seen as particularly harmful to turnout efforts by black churches. but the bill in its final form still drew a rebuke from president biden, who spoke out against the new law today. >> this is nothing but punitive, designed to keep people from voting. you can't provide water for people about to vote. give me a break. >> reporter: the voting overhaul was passed with only republican support and already faces at least one federal lawsuits filed by voting rights groups quickly after it was signed. to discuss the new law, gabriel sterling is the chief operating officer of the georgia secretary of state's office. he's a republican. let's start with those words from president biden. he called this new law "an

atrocity." he said, "it's designed to keep people from voting." i want your response to that. >> well, the president is just simply wrong. he's way off base. and this kind of i had beshly is dangerous. calling these laws voter suppression has the same level of merit as when former president trump said there was widespread voter fraud in the state. >> reporter: first, let's talk about the politics. some say this is an oply political move by republicans to kind of decrease democratic votes. now, you told us that a 2020 vote here on newshour, that the state did it right and that the vote was secure. a lot of folks who are pushing this law say it's about security. why push it if you think there was not a security problem? >> well, because we're talking about the elections of the past and not the elections of the future. one of the things we saw was the explosion of the use of absentee ballots in state. we know voting in person is absolutely secure because it has

photo i.d. in this law, we move to a thing that is a better item, using a voter i.d. number, a driver's license number, or their last four of their social and date of birth to identify the person's a subjective signatureñi match whh undermined many people's faith in how signature matching was done. by having a binary measure, it makes it easier and will likelyi lower the rejection rates of the verification worked, that you did not think there was an issue of fraud. and i ask this because that absentee question is so important-- who gets to file an absentee? this is where we get to the idea of suppression. there is groups out there saying adding this layer of requiring more i.d.çó for people,ñi potentially, for the absentee, taking away the signature verification, that means fewer voters will have access to absentee ballots, and they say that's suppression. why doñçó it if signature verification worked?

>> there's an ironyñiçw;[ñ■ this because thosersued us to get rie verification just last year, and they lost. they can't have it both ways. so this is a way that's easier for counties to administer. it's better for voters. it is more secure. and like i said, it will lower rejection rates. the hyperbole around this-- this is the issue we have. democrats... they need the voter suppression there. before this law was passed or signed, the press release was ready. it said, "georgia passes voter suppression," insert whatever they passed here. they have to keep that narrative because that helps them raise money and really gin up their supporters to get out and vote. the reality of this is this law expands early voting. it protects no. excuse guarantees and mandates drop boxes where they were going to go away because they were part of the of health issue before. this is really expanded voter access, and people saying that it is not, they're simply

engaging in the same kind of disinformation president trump was about mass voter fraud. they're saying this is voter suppression. and both are wrong, and both undermine democracy and people's faith in the overall election system. >> reporter: i hear you on the saturday voting, that that is adding one more saturday for voting. but on the idea of requirement, we know statistically, voters of color, two to one have less access to forms of identification required in this law. do you not see that as limiting access, especially-- or leading to less access for some groups? >> i think those people aren't looking at what happens in georgia where we have 97% of all voters have their driver's license or their state-given voter i.d.attached to their actual voter registration record. we have number one in the country, i believe. and the people who are claiming that-- the other thing we have is 99.9% have the last four of their social and date of birth, which you use on the actual absentee ballot.

so those people claiming there is some hurdle given here, are saying this for political reasons and they know it, and it's just not right. >> reporter: you know what is making headlines of course is the ban on handing out food and water at the polls. i understand you made the argument that in last election, there may have been some activists who used giving out water as an excuse to talk to voters. first, do we know that that happened? and, second, if so, why not just enforce the campaign ban? why eliminate giving out food and water? >> well, the main thing is it's been used as a workaround to get around that law. and the irony of this is we looked it up. this is actually the law in the president's home state of delaware right now. so this is not some new thing that's been brought out. this is pretty standard across the country to avoid those kind of loopholes where people can go and campaign and try to influence voters in the line. and that's been the law in the state for decades. this was a workaround. people sort of abused it. it's hard to enforce for elections officials and sheriffs.

like i said,t's the law in the president's home state in delaware, so i'm surprised the shock isn't held for his own legiature which passed the same thing. >> reporter: gabriel sterling with the virginia secretary of state's office, thank you for talking with us. >> thank you. >> woodruff: after years of failed attempts, congress is again struggling to make any headway on immigration reform. president biden's massive immigration bill has failed to gain the support it needs to pass as is. in the meantime, families are caught in limbo. yamiche alcindor has this report from prince george's county, maryland. >> alcindor: 15 years ago, josseline came to the united states a nervous little girl. she left her home in el salvador just after her 7th birthday.

with her aunt, she made it to the united states and across the border. joining her parents, cornelia and denis, who had crossed a few yes earlier. >> i never knew that i didn't have papers, you know, as they say. >> alcindor: years later though, josseline found out she and her parents had entered the country illegally. what's it been like to be in this country without having legal status? >> ( translated ): going to work to the store and back. you don't know if you are going to return to the children. it's a fear that us parents have every day >> alcindor: the family no lives just outside washington, d.c. in prince george's coty, maryland. it is home to some 75,000 immigrants without legal status; among the highest in the state. josseline's mother cleans houses for a living and her father works as a mechanic. without legal status they can't get social security numbers or health insurance. they're not able to travel back and forth to their home country without the fear of being deported. >> our grandparents are over there and like they pass away, you can't visit. >> alcindor: like many, the

family was hopeful when president joe biden introduced a sweeping immigration reform bill. >> ( translated ): he is someone who is very supportive of all undocumented people and it is clear that he has a good heart >> alcindor: after years of josseline and her family living in the shadows, the obama administration created the deferred action for childhood arrivals program, known as" daca." it was designed for people brought to the u.s. illegally as minors. josseline was granted protection under the program. >> it changed my life because i was able to get my driver's license, i was able to graduate last may with a bachelor in health services. >> alcindor: now, like many immigrants, josseline is a frontline worker. she is a covid-19 contact tracer working with the area's latino population, which has been disportionately hit by the pandemic. >> alcindor: but your parents remain without legal status. what worries you most about that, having this mixed status in your own family?

and it's crazy because my dad, he works at night and like every night i wait for him and i'm like, oh, like yeah. like he's here. i hear his car. and that's a relief because i can go to sleep thinking, you know, like we spend another day together. >> alcindor: all across america in neighborhoods like this one, millions and millions of immigrants have been waiting for washington to give tm a chance at legal status. but it remains unclear when and if real change may actually come. biden's plan included a pathway to citizenship for the estimated 11 million immigrants without full legal status in the u.s., like josseline, her parents and her aunt juana who was granted temporary protected status after a 2001 earthquake in el salvador but biden's proposal has run into opposition in congress. >> a massive proposal for blanket amnesty. >> alcindor: republicans overwhelmingly oppose biden's immigration bill, especially amid an uptick in migrant children coming to the u.s. southern border. democrats have already broken up the legislation in an attempt to ensure more popular pieces pass, like a path to citizenship for

josseline, who came to the u.s. as a child, but not for her parents. in the meantime, josseline's parents are still at risk of deportation. if that happens, she would be left to care for her three younger siblings, all of whom were born in the u.s. and are citizens. >> i don't know what i would do if she was over there and i was here or if i was here and she was over there. i just can't imagine that. oh, you know, it wouldn't be the same. but thank god that she's here th me. they're both here with me. >> alcindor: the fear of being sent back to their home countries consumes this family and many others living in limbo like nelson, an asylum seeker who fled a civil war in cameroon. nelson says he was shot after government soldiers opened fire on a protest, leaving these scars. he requested we not show his face for his safety. >> my mom is paralyzed due to what happened. the military came to our family compound, got her well beaten because they couldn't find me and then burned our entire compound. >> alcindor: like thousands of

other african immigrants, he made his way to ecuador then trekked north to the u.s. border. nelson now lives in prince george's county. he works as a caregiver at a group home and pays income taxes. are you worried that you could be sent back? >> somebody like me who are being hunted by the military just give me what we call mercy killing. let me die here than to go and pass through such torture before being killed. >> alcindor: as for josseline's family, they also pay income taxes. but not all immigrants without legal status do. biden's plan would require immigrants to pay taxes and pass background checks before they're able to apply for citizenship. advocates argue that would only boost u.s. tax revenues. maryland state lawmaker kathy szeglia, a republican, agrees that immigration reform is needed. but she says giving a pathway to citizenship for some 11 million people is not the answer. >> i think that offering rewards to people who have come here illegally and putting them ahead of others who are waiting

decades on a list to come to our great country is not justice. and our schools uh are suffering right now with virtual learning, with all kinds of challenges that we're having and adding additional challenges to that. i don't think that's fair for maryland citizens and people who are here legally and waiting their turn to immigrate to actually get legal status. >> alcindor: as the debate in congress continues, uncertainty hangs over these families. what will it mean to you if congress passes a law that allows you to become a citizen but leaves out your parents? >> i feel like this still leaves me in the same limbo because i'm in constant fear. i'm going to keep fighting for them. i have hope that things can change. >> alcindor: but even under a president who supports that change, it's unclear if and when they'll ever be able to lead more normal lives. for the pbs newshour, i'm yamiche alcindor in prince george's county, maryland.

>> woodruff: we turn to iran, the target of former president trump's so-called 'maximum pressure campaign,' aimed at crippling tehran's economy. now, president biden is signaling a return to a nuclear deal, but demands an end to extended nuclear work. special correspondent reza sayah tells us how this is playing out in iran. >> reporter: when spring arrives in iran, so does noruz, the iranian new year. tehran's tadry square bustles with shoppers, haggling for traditional symbols-- fish for life, eggs for fertility, flowers for rebirth and renewal. but what's hidden beneath the holiday festivities here is stress and hardship. u.s. sanctions are still choking an iranian economy already hampered by corruption and

mismanagement. this fruit stand owner says celebrating the new year is harder than ever. >> this was the worst year, in my opinion, not just for me but for most people. this was the worst year. >> reporter: s sam sammy and her husband say the cost of living and raising two girls has never been so high. >> during the past one or two years prices have tripled and quadrupled. we're doing our best to get by but we're not happy. >> reporter: despite the celebration that comes with the persian new year, there's little question that the u.s. sanctions and the maximum pressure campaign of former president donald trump has made millions of iranians suffer. there's soaring inflation. almost everything costs more. the value of the iranian currency has plummeted. and some statistics show more than 1.5 million iranians have fallen into poverty. but beyond causing pain for

ordinary iranians, many here say the maximum pressure campaign has done little else. >> it put a lot of pressure on people, but in my view, the u.s. didn't get any results. >> the united states will withdraw... >> reporter: the maximum pressure campaign against iran began in 2018, when mr. trump pulled out of the iran nuclear deal, also known as the j.c.p.o.a. in the agreement, signed under then-president barack obama, the u.s. and world powers agreed to lift economic sanctions against iran. in return, iran rolled back its nuclear program, deemed a threat by the west. mr. trump said the deal wasn't enough. sanctions and economic pressure, he said, would reign in what washington calls iran's destabilizing behavior in the region and curb its missile program. but today, iran still funds, trains, and sometimes commands militias and proxy forces in

iraq, syria, lebanon, and yemen, some accused of attacking u.s. interests and allies in the region. iran also continues to expand its ballistic missile program, showing off its latest missiles at this military exercise earlier this year. a state department official working on iran under president obama, now at the council on foreign relations. he was a fervent opponent of the deal. >> the administration has promised that it will revisit critical aspects of the iran nuclear deal, particularly expiration of the sunset clauses, the ballistic missiles that were excluded from the original deal, and iran's activity. >> trump's maximum pressure campaign failed utterly. >> reporter: tehran-based political analyst says iran's missiles are a necessary deterrent, not a pressure tactic against washington. washington. aren't they saying if you don't come back to the nuclear deal,

this is what you can expect? >> when the united states surrounds iran with military bases, then the iranians will send messages through its military maneuvers that one wrong move, and you're in deep trouble. that's deterrence. >> reporter: some analysts say the maximum pressure campaign was also designed to trigger popular unrest and regime collapse, something e trump administration had denied. in 2019, a sudden spike in fuel prices did spark nationwide protests. a deadly crackdown followed. a few weeks later, the protests ended. today, there's little indication that iranians have an appetite for an uprising. the maximum pressure campaign did succeed in intensifying the rift between iran's moderates, led by president hassan rouhani, who made the nuclear deal a centerpiece of his 2017

reelection campaign,nd anti-u.s. conservative factions who were long suspicious of a pact with washington. this is one of those conservatives. he was part of the diplomatic team led by iran foreign minister zarif that negotiated the nuclear deal. today, he is among scores of newly elected conservative lawmakers who now dominate iran's parliament. they call for a more confrontational approach to washington. last month, they threatened to bring legal action against president rouhani, accusing him of circumventing iranian law in his effort to restore the deal. but he claims the two sides have now buried the hatchet and are united in their demands against washington. >> nowadays there's good cooperation between the administration and the parliament. >> reporter: so now conflict between you and the president? >> no, there is no conflict. >> reporter: noways. >> yes. >> reporter: nonetheless latest report, the u.n.'s

nuclear watched dog said iran's stockpile of enriched uranium is roughly 15 times more than the limit set in the 2015 nuclear deal. in december, lawmakers voted to further expand iran's nuclear program and scale back some nuclear inspections. president joe biden says he's open to restoring the nuclear deal. was it the right timing to pass a law restricting i.a.e.a. inspections? >> if we want to explain the logic of this law, it was designed to make pressure against united states, and other western countries to implement through the j.c.p.o.a. >> reporter: do you think it helps or hurts matters? >> i think it helps us. >> reporter: president joe biden says he's open to restoring the nuclear deal. he says he wants to talk. why not talk with washington? >> if they talk to us for leaving around the j.c.p.o.a., if they want to come back, there's no need to talk to us. >> i do think some way this will be worked out where the two

parties wi return to the table, but there's little possibility of renegotiating it on the parameters that the united states has laid out. so down the road, i do think we are going to face another negotiating stalemate. >> reporter: how much do you trust or mistrust the biden administration? >> there is a big mistrust wall between iran and the united states. >> reporter: at a time when iranians celebrate a season of renewal, the decades-long mistrust between washington and tehran still lingers, the effects of the u.s. maximum pressure campaign persist, and a nuclear deal with global implications hangs in the balance. for the pbs newshour, i'm reza sayah, in tehran. >> woodruff: here to help us understand the politics of the pandemic and immigration: we turn to the analysis of

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. it's so good to see you. and there's a lot to talk abt. let's start with voting rights. and, david, what the state of georgia did yesterday, they've enacted a new law to tighten the rules around voting. president biden is saying that this is designed to keep people from voting, especially minorities. georgia officials-- and we heard one election official telling our lisa desjardins earlier in the program say that's wrong, that it's really meant to really make access more fair. how do you see it? >> well, one, there's no problem here. there is no widespread voter fraud, so there's really no problem to address. two, restricting voting is a bad look for anybody. three, if you're criminalizing handing out a bottle of water to people in line, you've probably

warnedded into the wrong turt. four, we have a history here. there's a history of jim crow. there's a history of voter suppression for 150 years-- or whatever it is. so i just think this is a political endeavor. the one final thing i say, which is i guess good news, is that people have done research on this, and efforts to impose voter i.d. laws have relatively little effect on actual voting. on the other hand, efforts to expand absentee ballots have little effect on actual voting. and so people, it seems, according to the research, vote when they want to vote, regardless of the law. and so it makes this look even more just like political theater. >> woodruff: jonathan, political theater? how do you see it? >> i agree with david 100%. and i will add to that, i found it interesting this morning-- i found that someone retweeted a tweet from governor kemp on election day of the governor going to a ballot dropox and

delivering his own ballot, voting via drop box. and, you know, i found it interesting because what that georgia law now does is, yes, ballot drop boxes are still allowed. but they're only allowed inside polling places and inside early voting centers. if you want people to vote, if your goal is to allow access for people to vote, then those ballot drop boxes would be outside in places that make it more convenient and plentiful in places all around georgia to allow people to vote mor easily. that andhe food, water thing alone makes this, as david says, how-- where are we headed with this? >> well, you know, i do think

they're going to try to do it. i'm not sure why. as i said, the research shows it doesn't have the effect. and republicans, actually, some of them-- republicans have some voters which are not sort of steady voters, and expanding these voting may have some minor effect on getting republicans out to the polls, as well as democrats. in general, it's a good thing for democracy. we may be headed to a federal versus state show down with hr-1, the democrat-sponsored bill to nationalize and fight back against these states. and the act in georgia shows hr-1 is necessary. the bill itself is something of a disaster. there was a very good piece in the daily beast from a reporter who went around calling state officials who support the intention of the bill but say the people who wrote the bill didn't actually talk to anybody who knows about elections and in charge of enacting them. the bill mandates that states adopt voting machines that don't yet exist. it mandates that state use automatic phone-in system for registration, which no state actually uses and no state

thinks is a good idea. again, the idea is this is, so far, just political theater and nobody is,lying at the nuts and bolts of how you fix-- how we have a decent voting system. but we'll probably end up with some sort of national versus state conflict here to decide how we can have open elections where everybody can vote. >> woodruff: jonathan, is that where we're headed, some kind of collision between washington and what's going on in-- especially in these republican-led states? >> well, sure. and i think it's happening right now. i think it's the brennan center put out a study that in 43 states, there are 253 bills related to-- as they say, suppressing people, keeping people from voting. and so at a minimum, what hr-1 is trying to do, or it hopes to do, is to put sort of a federal overlay to make it possible for people to not only register to vo but then to also be able to exercise their right to vote when it comes time-- when it

comes time to vote. >> woodruff: another issue we're watching out of the many, david, of course, is gun violence. since i've seen the two of you, another-- we were talking about one mass shooting last friday. since them, there's been another terrible shooting in boulder, colorado, 10 people killed. a lot of talk about guns and the need to do something about guns. i interview the congressman from boulder who said that guns are metastasizings kroo the metastasizings across the country. you said last week, we've got to do something about lonely young men. and there is a lot of conversation around mental illness, and what's wrong with the people who do this. where do you see this headed? >> well, we've got to do something about guns and lonely young men, but both of them are extremely hard problems. you know, i would be for all the various policies democrats have been talking about for 25 years to control guns-- the assault

weapons ban, closing the loopholes, background checks-- anything you can mention. but my understanding of the research is that you throw all these things in there, and you might have some modest effect on reducing gun violence, but you will not have a transformational effect. and so the more i look at it-- and i'm not alone in this-- the more you conclude that the simple problem is we have too many guns in america. there are upwards of some estimates 350 million guns in this country. and so when you get a lonely young man who is detached and sociopathic, getting a gun for that person is not hard. and so we spend a lot of time on these things like background checks and assault weapon bans, and that's fine. but a lot of effort has been put into things that aren't that effective. we just have to have a debate on how do we reduce the total number of the guns in our country? other countries have done this-- australia and others-- through buy-babacks and other things. it's obviously super difficult politically. but to me it's the only way to have a meaningful difference.

>> woodruff: jonathan-- go ahead. >> i would add to what david is they go, the conversation needs to be about access to guns. yes, mental illness plays a role in the shootings that we've been talking about. racism and bigotry play a role in mass shootings that we have seen in this country, at least over the last 10 years or so. but the other thing that we don't talk about when it comes to accs to guns, ia's that when people have access to guns, suicides go up. when we're talking about access to guns, it's more than just mass shootings. and i want to point out something that i read in a book that's actually here on my bookcase "dying of whiteness" by dr. jonathan metzle. and he looked at the gun laws in missouri and what happened when missouri loosened their gun laws. let me just read you this one thing that he wrote. he said, "in 2015, white men comprised roughly 40% of the

population of missouri but were victims of nearly 80% of gun suicides." that's in missouri. in documenting what happened when they loosened their gun laws. and so i think something needs to be done to limit the number of guns in people's hands, but also, limit the number of guns, to david's point, that are awash in the country. >> woodruff: do something-- everybody agrees, or a lot of people agree we need to do something, david. but as we heard president biden say yesterday, or suggest, you know, the likelihood that something is going to happen quickly, there's going to be some agreement, the chances of that are almost vanishingly small. >> before i get to, that i just want to emphasize, though mental health is a problem for some people who commit gun violence, most people who suffer from mental health issues are not violent. just to make that clear. one of the problems-- the vast

majority of people. one of the problems is that the gun issue has become a cultural issue. i feel like i'm talking about this week after week, where we're not talking about the actual substance of an issue but where it stands in the great culture war. and so, for a lot of people, their guns is not necessarily about what kind of weapon they're holding. their gun is about not being looked down upon for being rural. so the gun has become a symbol of rural identity and rural self-respect. and it's unfortunate we got here, somehow as the culture war rages, and as everything is about identity and not about the acal issue, then it becomes very hard to tackle this problem. so i guess i don't-- i'm not optimistic we're going to have any kind of solution on anything about this because it's either/or. it's either you respect my rural identity, or you don't. and so it's not about the guns anymore. it's culture war. >> and you know what, one more point on that, david. jonathan-- jonathan metzle in

his book also adds to that. it's not just rural identity but it also plays a role in masculinity, showing how masculine you are by having guns. >> woodruff: last question for both of you. the president's first news conference, david, 65 days in to his administration. how did he do, president biden? >> well, with president biden, we always talk about age, and i guess by standards, has he lost a step? we would all agree he passed with flying colors. he showed vigor, energy, and control. i think what's interesting about him is he's doing a lot of very bold things-- a new $3 trillion proposal is coming down the pike on infrastruure. but he really does talk a very pragmatic game, quoted bismarc, i think that politics is the art of the possible. he says "i want to get things done." and his rhetorical aspect is not to go high ideology, high abstraction but talk pragmatic.

but he can do both things and still be boring, which is clever. prawf ( laughter ) i took that away from his press conference. >> woodruff: jonathan? >> i. ( laughing ( i think the president did very well. i think conservatives knocking president biden for conducting the press conference with a big briefing book with notes in front of him i think are off base after four years of a president who used opportunities with presidentes to pick fights with the press, attack his political opponents and private citizens. to have a president of the united states who is actually willing to answer the questions posed and do so substantively to the point where the viewer is actually bored because they're so deep in the weeds, i'll take that over what we went through the last four years any day of the week. >> woodruff: and on that note, we will leave it. jonathan capehart, david brooks, thank you both, and have a good

weekend. >> thanks, judy, you too. >> thank you. >> woodruff: and now, we turn again to our weekly segment where we honor the lives of those we have lost as a result of covid-19. theresa korn was unfailingly kind to people, but in the face of injustice, her daughter said, she was quick to anger and action. she was a lover of science and learned to fly while still in high school. during world war ii, she flew civilian air patrols. after the war, she became the first woman to graduate from carnegie tech's college of electrical engineering. and spent years working in fields dominated by men. later, theresa and her husband published books on electrical engineering and computer

science. she was 93. 20-year-old helen etuk loved children and dreamed of being a pediatrician. she was the youngest in the family but always quick to help. once, when they had trouble paying some bills, she pitched in with money she had saved, her brother told us. she was loved by all but shared a special bond with her mom. her brother said they were inseparable, best friends. helen's goal was to be successful so she could take care of her. father jack wintz was a confidante to many and never had a judgmental word, according to his sister. he spent much of his life serving the people of cincinnati and as an award-winning journalist for a catholic magazine. his reporting took him around the world. but an adorer of animals, he was perhaps proudest of his book," will i see my dog in heaven?" to those wondering, father

wintz's answer was yes. he was 84. 70-year-old tony mcdonald was a big man with a big voice and a twinkle in his eye, remembered his wife. family and music were everything to him. he played trombone, earned his doctorate in classical conducting, and comped his own music. tony spent years teaching, at times as the only black professor at his school. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ and he loved to perform, be it with a symphony or his group," dr. tony's original ragtime band." nam ov's mission, his daughter said, was to give his children a life free of the hardships he overcame. born into poverty, he emigrated to the u.s., fleeing the cambodian genocide. here, nam rebuilt his life. he learned english and with the

help of his family, started a donut shop. his daughter said he instilled in them a sense they could accomplish anything. above all, he cherished his wife. married for 58 years, they rarely were apart. they were one person, his daughter told us. nam was 76. >> we want to thank these people who share these wonderful stories with us. our hearts go out to you as to everyone who lost a loved one in this pandemic. and remembering lo remembering loved ones is also the subject of the fourth and final episode in our podcast series, "america interrupted, the longest year". four families share with us their difficult and very personal journeys through grief over the past year. here is some of what they told us, in their own words. >> my name is honoria bush. chris was an amazing kid. he stood at six feet tall, 300

pounds solid. and but he was just a teddy bear to everybody. >> my name is aaron castelo. tiffany was just a lot of fun to be around. she was funny. she was smart. we really complemented each other well. >> it's been hard it's not the at times i feel angry because this virus took away my brother. some days i just want to lay in bed and ask god why. >> my wife lt her life way sooner than she should have. she had a lot more to contribute to the world and a lot more she wanted to do. in the end, we didn't make it through the year. >> woodruff: you can hear much more of these heartbreaking stories and others in our you can hear much more of these stories and others in our four- part series "america, interrupted: the longest year." listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

>> woodruff: now to a reflection on the importance of faith and science during the pandemic. we journey inside a catholic monastery in rural georgia. rickey bevington from georgia public broadcasting is our guide. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> reporter: it's a way of life that traces back to st. benedict in 5th century italy: a trappist monastery devoted to the strict observance of christian worship here in rural conyers, georgia. 28 men called to live together in poverty, prayer and silence. but not even a sacred cloister can keep out a deadly virus. >> our seniors, we love them. we just love them. and we wanted to protect them. >> reporter: abbot augustine has led this community for four years. many of the monks here are in their 70s and 80s. four are over 90, making them more at risk of dying from covid-19.

this religious community may live a mostly cloistered life behind these abbey walls. but it might surprise you to learn that the monastery of the holy spirit is actually a pretty public place. every year, about 80,000 visitors of all faiths come for multi-day retreats, to sing and pray right alongside the monks, picnic and stroll the more than 2,000 acres of beautiful rural landscape. brother callistus is the monastery cellarer, its chief operating officer. overnight, he shuttered the monastery food bank, gift shop, church, retreat house. >> i guess nobody expected that it be this long. >> reporter: even the monastery doctor was only recently allowed in. he had attended to the monks via phone and video chat. >> i think i talked to him or texted him every day about one issue or another. >> reporter: sister beatrice lives alone in a separate building on the monastery

grounds. she left her life as a dermatologist to live with very little human contact. >> and so when the pandemic happened, whoa. >> reporter: sister beatrice went from hermit to doctor to 28 monks. >> i love taking care of people and i love taking care of the monks. very different though, from the previous 10 years. >> reporter: while some coronavirus vaccines are developed using cell lines from aborted fetuses, that wasn't the case for either the pfizer or moderna vaccines. the vatican has assured the world's estimated 1.2 billion roman catholics that getting vaccinated against coronavirus is a "duty to pursue the common good." >> what faith says to science is, "serve humanity." this is faith's dialogue with science. "please serve humanity." and i think science does in so many beautiful ways. we're seeing it right now with the vaccine.

>> reporter: both pope francis and his conservative predecessor pope benedict have received the vaccine. abbot augustine says science and faith provide hope. >> it's a golden opportunity for humanity to come together and support each other and help each other through this. we're all in this together. and how can we help each other to get to the final end? >> reporter: a question seven billion people will be asking as they emerge from their own confinement. for the pbs newshour, i'm rickey bevington in conyers, georgia. >> woodruff: thank you, rickey bevington for taking us inside that very special place. and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. have a great weekend. thank you, please stay safe, and good night. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by:

>> we'd be closer to the twins. >> at fidelity, changing plans is always part of the plan. >> the william and flora hewlett foundation. for more than 50 years, advancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better world. at www.hewlett.org. >> supporting social entrepreneurs and their solutions to the world's most pressing problems-- skollfoundation.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. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

safer cities and equal justice for all. what needs to change make that reality? mrs. oakland police chief, leronne armstrong and chief will scott talk about policing the streets and challenges they face. we speak with social justice activists, lisa mcnair, about how san francisco can make policing more equitable. we have at these marine mammals in this look at something beautiful. welcome to kqed newsroom. we have a special focus tonight and justice, and police reform as we will be talking with leaders of two of the bay area's largest police forces. before we begin,