captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight: gaining ground. a strong jobs report shows signs of hope for an economic recovery. then, changing styles. new laws across the country try to combat racial discrimination based on how you wear your hair. >> it really clarifies that natural hair discrimination, in all forms, constitutes race discrimination. >> woodruff: and, it's friday. david brooks and jonathan capehart consider president biden's new infrastructure plan, and major league baseball's reaction to georgia's new voting law. 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. >> 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: there has been a new attack at the united states capitol, leaving one police officer dead and another wounded. authorities say that a man drove his car into them at a barricade today, then stabbed one with a knife, before police killed him. another officer had died when a

pro-trump mob stormed the capitol in january. >> i ask you to please keep the united states capitol police family in your thoughts and prayers at this time. it has been an extremely difficult and challenging year for us. >> woodruff: the slain officer was identified as william evans, an 18-year veteran of the force. police say the motive for the attack is unclear, but they do not suspect terrorism. the u.s. economy is giving strong new signals of a sustained recovery. the labor department reports a net gain of 916,000 jobs last month-- that's the most since august. the unemployment rate, in turn, fell two-tenths of a point, to 6%. we will take a closer look, after the news summary. at the white house, president biden touted his infrastructure plan as the path to permanent recovery. senate republican leader mitch mcconnell has vowed to fight the $2 trillion blueprint and its

proposed tax hikes. but, after his prepared remarks, the president said that would be a mistake. >> if the republicans decide that we need it, but they're not going to pay for it, it's just going to increase the deficit. i think the republican voters are going to have a lot to say about whether we get a lot of this done. >> woodruff: mr. biden also said the corporate tax hikes would not slow the economy. the c.d.c. said today that it is safer for americans who are fully vaccinated for covid-19 to travel without being tested or quarantined. but, with new infections up 20% in two weeks, the c.d.c director advised staying home anyway. >> i would advocate against general travel, overall. our guidance is silent on recommending or not recommending fully-vaccinated people travel. our guidance speaks to the safety of doing so. >> woodruff: also today,

california said it is allowing indoor concerts, theater performances, and private gatherings, starting april 15. seating restrictions will be county by county. the u.s. and iran agreed today to indirect talks on returning to the 2015 nuclear deal. former president trump abandoned the agreement nearly three years ago. the biden white house confirmed that talks will begin tuesday in vienna, austria. we will talk with a key u.s. figure on this issue, later in the program. president biden has reaffirmed support for ukraine, as russian forces mass on its eastern border. a white house statement says he spoke with ukraine's leader today, a cited "russia's ongoing aggression." pro-russian rebels have been fighting ukrainian forces since 2014. in taiwan, at least 51 people were killed and more than 100 injured today when a train smashed into a truck that rolled

onto the tracks. the train was coming out of a tunnel, and passengers had to climb through windows and walk on the roof to get out. more than 400 people were on board. back in this country, major league baseball announced that it is moving its all-star game out of georgia because of the state's new law adding restrictions on voting. the game had been scheduled for mid-july, just outside atlanta. the league says it is looking for a new host city. a senior minneapolis police official testified today that derek chauvin had no reason to kneel on george floyd's neck when he was already down and handcuffed. lieutenant richard zimmerman heads the homicide division. he said the former officer's actions were totally unnecessary. >> i saw no reason why the officers felt they were in danger, if that's what they felt. and that's what they would have to have felt to be able to use

that kind of force. >> woodruff: that testimony closed out the first week of chauvin's trial in minneapolis. he is charged with murder and manslaughter. a texas sheriff has fired seven officers, after a black man died in jail last month. marvin scott was arrested for marijuana possession. but, guards said he was acting strangely, so they tied him down and used pepper spray and a so-called spit hood on him. his family says scott had mental health problems. new numbers from the u.s. southern border show that authorities caught more than 170,000 migrants crossing from mexico in march. that is the most in 20 years. nearly 100,000 were single adults. some 19,000 were unaccompanied children. and, for a second year, christians marked good friday with subdued ceremonies amid the pandemic. religious sites re-opened across israel and the west bank, and

franciscan friars led worshippers in retracing the final steps of jesus. at the vatican, pope francis presided over the "way of the cross" procession, in a largely empty st. peter's square. still to come on the newshour: what the strong jobs reports says about the economy. the u.s. opens the door to a new deal with iran. brooks and capehart weigh in on the president's infrastructure plan. plus, much more. >> woodruff: today's upbeat jobs report is welcome news. as william brangham reports, it seems to confirm recent forecasts that the economy is on its way to a stable recovery. >> brangham: judy, an

increasingly optimistic consensus suggests that u.s. g.d.p. could increase by roughly 6% in 2021, which is much higher than pre-pandemic levels. and, if that happens, we could expect job gains anywhere from 700,000 to one million per month. louise sheiners one of the economists making those rosy forecasts. she is the policy director at the hutchins center on fiscal and monetary policy at the brookings institution. louise sheiner, great to have you on the newshour. what is your main take away from this report? >> right, today was a great report. so there were 916,000 jobs added. which is a huge number. and sort of before this pandemic year, would have been almost unheard of. but it's good to remember that despite this very large increase in jobs in march, it's still true that we are about eight and

a half million dollar jobs below where we were before the pandemic started. so we still do have a very large jobs deficit. the unemployment rate while it ticked down from 6.2% this month, it is still higher than the pandemic, when you think about the fact that the that a lot of people have left the labor force, that number is too far to gauge below the unemployment rate, that might be 9%. weefn today's job you number we are still way below where we would have been without the pandemic. but i do think today is sort of the mark of a turning point. we are seeing the economy reopening and those job gains are going to be very, very large as that happens. and you see that what happened is the places where we got the most job increases were the places that had been most affected by the pandemic. so the biggest source of job gains was in leisure and

hospitality and that was also the area that was most affected by the pandemic. >> brangham: you mentioned certain sectors that are seemingly to bounce back quicker. what are the serkts that are going to take longer in your estimation? >> well, i think there are a couple of things there. one is, which ones don't start for a while and that's going to be maybe some things tt are really requiring crowded place west lots of people inside, th those are going to be waiting until the pandemic is completely over. but i think a more interesting question or sometimes a more important question is, you might see a lot of jobs come back at first and then the question is will all the jobs come back? so is it possible that what the pandemic did is sort of change the occupational mix. so for example, one thing i worry about or think about at least, i mean it's got some upsides as well, is what's going to happen to things like business travel? we've learned how to do things over skype, zoom, better that

way -- imr hotels don't like us to talk like that. >> exactly. some things might never come back completely. of course they are going to come back from where they are now right? they may not come back to the same level. we might have a different post-pandemic be economy. transportation and things related to commuting, things related to working in an office versus home, those are the areas that you, you know, some possibility that some of the jobs willing come back not all of them. we're not going to know that for a while, right? what we'll see over the next few months is the reopening pmp but i think that's what the long run, certain who are not working right knew may not have a job to go back to ever, until they switch, and then the question is what do they do and can they switch easily. >> brangham: so much of what you're describing, can we go back to some sense of normalcy.

there is upticks of infection across the country. does yourptimism get blunted at all if we see a potential fourth surge of the virus? >> yes, definitely. if there's a new variant that the new vaccinations don't protect us against, or people stop going out to eat, stop doing things they did last spring, then you'll have a slower recovery, you won't get the 6% gdp, probably or jobs that go along with it. it meanings it will take longer. we'll eventually get back so the question is is the end of the year a reasonable number or is it going to take longer? to get to the jobs at the end of the year, you know it's possible that not every job lost during the pandemic will come back but other jobs will come back, right? we'll have a lot of fiscal

stimulus, plot of demand, it may be some of the jobs we lost during the pandemic and some jobs in general not related to the pandemic just because there is a lot of demand. >> brangham: all right, louise sheiner of the brookes >> woodruff: one major shift in this biden administration? a willingness to engage with iran to curb that country's nuclear ambitions. as talks start in vienna next week, there is a lot on the line. and for more, we speak with robert malley, the u.s. special envoy to iran. vob malley welcome back to the newshour. what is the u.s. goal in these talks, these indirect talks? >> the goal is to see whether we could agree on what steps the united states needs to take to come impact into compliance with the nuclear deal and what steps iran needs to take to come back

into compliance with the nuclear deal. it's been many years since the united states has had that kind of engagement with iran, it may be indirect. but several years the trump administration may have tried to pressure iran, tryinto get rauner to surrender and get to better terms. the result four years later is we are worse off. both on the nooucialghts front where iran has expanded its program, the goal is to see if we can agree on a road back to compliance for both sides. >> woodruff: to clarify. this is about coming up with an overall agreement, making sure both sides are on the same page, coming up with an overall agreement not with negotiating piecemeal steps? >> well, that's right. but again this is just the first step. it's going to be a difficult, arduous path because of how much time has gone by and how much

mutual distrust there is. but our goal is to discuss indirectly with our european and other partners, to see whether we can define those tips that both sides are going to have to stay if they're serious about having to come back into the deal. president biden has said it during the campaign and since, that if the united states is serious, let's see if we can reach an understanding with iran about what that means. >> woodruff: what is the minimum that the u.s. is prepared to accept? does iran have to come back into full compliance? and how do you confirm, how do you verify what that means? >> well, absolutely. and we did it once before. we did it in 2016. international atomic energy can do that, we want iran to be back in full compliance with the deal. they have ten times more can enriched you' uranium than theyd

then. the united states know that in order to get back into compliance it is going to have to lift those sanctions that was reached with iran and the other countries involved in the nuclear deal. >> woodruff: which raises of course the question is the u.s. prepared to raise those sanctions. we know what is it something like 1500 new sanctions were imposed, in the trump administration, is the biden administration prepared to lift all of those? >> well, what president biden said is we're prepared to come back into compliance if iran is prepared to come back into compliance. we'll have to go through the painstaking work of looking at sanctions to look at what we have to do so iran can enjoy the benefits it was supposed to groi with the deal, if iran is prepared to rediffract those steps and reverse the steps that it has taken in violation of its nuclear commitments.

>> woodruff: i want to quote to you something that iran's foreign minister javad zarif said, rapidly finalize sanction lifting and nuclear measures for choreographed removal of all sanctions qualified for iran ceasing remedial measures. does it seem like you're in the same page? >> i'm not going to engage in twitter diplomacy. if he we engage in the with a realistic and constructive frame of mind we could get there. but if either side takes the maximum position and says the other side has to do everything first before it's going to move one inch, it's hard to see this succeeds. but let's go in there with constructive attitude, see what happens, see if we can land on the same page. this is the first step. we haven't had this kind of even indirect conversation with iran for quite some time.

we'll take some time to get back to the semblance of the same page but we hope we can take the first step in a constructive way and lead to the outcome that we would like to see which is a mutual return into compliance with the deal. >> woodruff: rob malley how do you deal with the fact that iran's nuclear scientists have so much more information than they did in 2015 when this deal was originally agreed to, does this -- is this just something the united states has to live with? >> well, that's one of the questions that we're going to have to address. that's what's coming back into compliance with the deal means looking at what they've acquired and how do we address this? that is not why this is not as easy as turning on a switch, we're back in compliance they're back in compliance. it's going to require difficult discussions so we and others in the iran nuclear deal and the international atomic energy can association, is sure we are back

in compliance, that's what we're going to be working on next week in vienna. >> woodruff: is it fair to say the burden is equal on both sides or do you look at iran as having the greater burden of proof here? >> again i don't look at it in either way. i think it's an issue of whether both sides can take the steps necessary to coming back into compliance. president biden, that is the mandate he ran on, he believed we were worse off outs of the deal than in the deal. i think that's noncontroversial when you look at how much more iran has developed its nuclear programming. the reason and how much more aggressive it is in the region than it was back in 2016. so our goal that -- and so it's not a matter of who has the greater weight, it's whether both sides are prepared to carry the burden they have to come back into compliance. that's what we're going to test in the coming week and more. this is only in the first phase. >> woodruff: and as you know, there's a lot of discussion

about the timing here. is it essential that this agreement be reached before iran holds its elections essential ie get a good understanding, an understanding that is consistency with u.s. security interests, so we're not going to rush artificial or real deadline, when there's an understanding that both sides are comfortable with, that's when there will be a deal. it has to be satisfactory with the u.s., it has to meet the conditions that the u.s. has and that other parties to the jpoa nuclear deal has. we understand there is an election coming up and we know iran is very well aware of it. but our goal is to get to the correct return to the jcpoa, the nuclear deal, we'll follow that pace in a very determined way but we're not going to cut cornerif we can't get a proper

understanding before that time. >> woodruff: just quickly, you do believe it's possible to get this done before june? >> it's possible of course. i mean every day that goes by becomes less possible but it is possible. i do want to say before i leave just a thought. we have american detainees unjustly detained in iran. we can't forget them. anything that happens on the nuclear side, whether we get them back or not, 2,000 days unjustly detained in an iranian jail. we will never forget the americans unlawfully detained and need to be reunite wednesday their loved ones. we're going to doing everything we can, a priority for president, secretary of state, and for my entire team. >> woodruff: robert malley the u.s. special envoy for iran.

thank you very much. >> thanks so much for having me. >> woodruff: last month, connecticut became one of a growing number of states to make race-based hair discrimination illegal. yamiche alcindor reports on how black americans often face discrimination because of the way they wear their hair, especially in school and at work. >> alcindor: for much of american history, naturally curly, black hair has been wrongly seen as unprofessional, or even dirty-- especially in the workplace. at sheldeez salon in sterling, virginia, salon manager thobe mak has seen the impact of that discriminatory thinking first-hand. she says many clients openly worry about being judged if they wear their hair naturally curly.

>> a lot of times when we talk to our clients who are in the corporate setting, most of the conversations are along the lines of, "i'm in a predominantly non-black environment, so i can't go in looking like my hair is not being taken care of," because there seems to be that assumption of that bias that if you have natural hair, you're not taking care of it. >> alcindor: still, many black women are abandoning wigs, hair extensions, or chemical straighteners, used to change their appearance. instead, they are embracing natural black hairstyles, like afros and braids. and many black men, instead of keeping their hair cut short, are growing it longer and getting locs. for anwar taylor, he's hoping it will make a professional statement. >> i initially made the decision to grow my hair out of necessity, since all the barbers weren't able to cut our heads last year. but then it got to a certain point where i was switching careers and i wanted to sort of change stereotypes, of, like, what does a therapist, and what does a black therapist, look like? >> alcindor: but taylor says he also understands his new hair

could make him the potential target of police harassment. >> i definitely do have concerns about safety, when it comes to my locs. if you see somebody with dreadlocks or cornrows or-- in your mind, what's considered "wild hair"-- you're seen as somebody who is poor, somebody who is potentially-- again, whether it be dealing drugs or up to no good-- you're seen as somebody who is less than. >> alcindor: others worry about not being accepted or respected at work. like sonya miller, whose coworker only complimented her hair the day she decided to straighten it. >> it was hurtful, you know, that they felt that my hair being different was better than it would just growing out of my hair, my head, you know, its natural form. >> alcindor: but miller decided to stick with her natural hair, in part to be an example for her daughter. >> when she was younger, you know, she came home, and i had relaxed hair, and she'like, "i don't like my hair." so it felt very disingenuous to say, "oh, no, you should love your hair," you know, "love the

hair the way it grows out of your body," and then running my hand through straightened, chemically-straightened hair. >> alcindor: hair-based discrimination is happening in schools, too. in 2018, a referee in new jers forced andrew johnson, a black high school student, to cut off his locs before competing in a wrestling match. and last year, in texas, another black student, deandre arnold, was suspended and told he couldn't walk at his high school graduation because his locs were too long. >> we do see this-- this elevation, this privileging of straightened hairstyles as "good" hair. >> alcindor: to protect americans against this form of discrimination, drexel university law professor wendy greene has worked with legislators around the country to create the crown act. it's a law that bans discrimination in workplaces and schools against hair textures or styles linked to racial identity. >> it really clarifies that natural hair discrimination, in all forms, constitutes race discrimination. you know, our hair has nothing to do with our competencies

and our qualifications and our abilities, and therefore shouldn't have anything to do with whether or not we're afforded employment opportunities, or if we should be included in certain spaces. >> alcindor: in 2019, california became the first state to pass the crown act. ( cheers and applause ) since then, seven states have followed california's lead, in addition to a handful of cities and counties... >> i rise in strong support. >> alcindor: ...and a federal version of the crown act passed the house of representatives last fall-- but stalled in the senate. greene says part of the challenge is getting others to see the realities of hair discrimination. what do you say to people who say "this is just hair, just like grooming and dress codes, hair discrimination doesn't really exist because you have to have different standards for different parts of our society?" >> well, i think individuals who say those types of things really are either uneducated or under- educated, as it relates to the

long-standing form of racial discrimination flowing from our hair texture, similar to our skin color. it harkens back to eras of racial slavery and apartheid in this country, as well as around the world. you know, just because that may not be your experience doesn't mean that this experience of discrimination is not real. >> alcindor: and that experience is all too real for brittany noble. >> i was using flatirons on my hair every single day just to have that straight look. >> alcindor: a former television news anchor in mississippi, noble started wearing her hair naturally after she became pregnant with her son. >> i talked with my news director, of course, and i asked him if it was okay to stop straightening my hair. and he said, yeah, that's fine. i started wearing my two crown braids. and one day my boss said, hey, look, the real problem is your hair. you know, it's unprofessional. i'm getting a lot of emails. you know, "it's the equivalent of me wearing a baseball cap to go to the grocery store," and that viewers needed to see a beauty queen. >> alcindor: she filed a complaint with the equal employment opportunity

commission. >> it felt like, not only were you telling me that my hair was unprofessional, you're telling the people in our community, the people that look like me, that our hair is unprofessional, that our look is unprofessional. i couldn't vocalize it at the time. i didn't feel like i could vocalize my feelings at the time. but it certainly hurt. >> alcindor: noble was fired a month later, and eventually the e.e.o.c. said it couldn't determine whether she had been discriminated against. but it didn't absolve the company, either, and said noble could sue. last year, noble sued the station's parent company for race discrimination. representatives of the company declined to comment on the ongoing case. stories like brittany noble's are not unique. >> january 5, 2017, finally allowed. >> alcindor: retired staff sergeant chaunsey logan spent 20 years in the army. halfway through her service, she decided to put her hair in locs, because it was easier to maintain.

that style, however, violated the military's grooming policy, which was particularly difficult for many black personnel. >> i was ordered to cut my locs, and i refused that order. so i ended up being tried under u.c.m.j.-- uniform code of military justice-- was found guilty of refusing that order. and the punishment was to be reduced in rank and to be separated from the military for refusing to cut my hair. now, that didn't happen. >> alcindor: what changed? during the trial, she made a minor change to her hairstyle, allowing logan to keep her job and rank. >> my hair like this was wrong, but doing this, twisting two of them together, this was determined to be within regulation. so this is what i did all over my hair. >> alcindor: in 2017, the army removed its ban on locs, but logan still remembers how the scrutiny made her feel. >> that is the worst experience i've had in my 20-year career. i was in the iraq invasion, 2003 deployment, afghanistan. we're trained to prepare for

war. nothing could prepare me for this. >> alcindor: but despite these ongoing fights, people like chaunsey logan and brittany noble are confident that times are changing. whether in the workplace... >> my fight is one of thousands. i feel that we feel seen and heard now, it's taken way too long, but we're here. >> alcindor: ...or at home raising a son... >> if you want to wear braids, if you want to wear locs, if you want to cut your hair off, you want to wear a huge afro, that's on you. i'm just really proud of the fact that i can teach my son to love his natural hair the way that i love my natural hair. >> alcindor: ...this cultural acceptance and even celebration of natural hair is changing the conversation about discrimination across america. for the pbs newshour, i'm yamiche alcindor.

>> woodruff: with the release of president biden's infrastructure plan, states reopening, and boycotts brewing, we look to the analysis of brooks and capehart. that is "new york times" columnist david brooks, and jonathan capehart, columnist for the "washington post." >> hello to both of you. so good do see you as always this friday. and there is as always a lot to talk about. jonathan, i want to start with you on the president's big infrastructure plan, over $2 trillion, what do you make of it? does it meet the need or does it overshoot? >> capehart: well, if you listen to progressives, judy, it doesn't meet the need. it doesn't go far enough. if you listen to republicans, it spends way too much. i think the way you describe the plan is, perfect, actually, because you described it as an infrastructure plan. but the actual name of this package is the american jobs act.

and that, i think, when you think of what the president proposed, in terms of jobs, it all fits together. it all makes sense. one of the knocks against the president's plan is well only certain amount of it is spent on infrastructure. most people when they think of infrastructure they think of roads, bridges, sea ports, airports, those types of things. but what you see in the american jobs act is a broader definition of what infrastructure is. yes, it's roads and bridges. but it is also wind turbines and solar, you know, green energy things. wiring the country with broadband. having broadband be for 2021 what the interstate system was in the mid '50s, connecting the country but connecting the country electronically. and also the electric power grid. so i think the president's going

for a big, bold plan. the key question is: can that big, bold plan actually become law. >> woodruff: and david, jonathan makes a points. there is more in here than what's traditionally been thought of as infrastructure. hundreds of billions for care giving for seniors and others. what do you make of this? >> brooks: you know what? i do worry about the debt, that we're spending almost $10 trillion if all the biden things pass. that's a lot. it's just an historical fact that rising debt contributes to the decline of the roman entire, the decline of the spanish, imperial spain. history is replete with nations who hurts themselves by going into too much debt. nonetheless, i think in these circumstances the biden plan is worth it. and i say that for a couple of reasons. one, we have simply underinvested in infrastructure and research and all such things for decades, that's a fact. second, if you ask me to tell

the economic story of america over the last 50 years i would say that we have built a gigantic funnel that has funneled money and resources and wealth to highly educated people in large metro areas. this plan funnels money to all the people who are not in in those categories. and so i think it rebalances our society in an important way. and finally, jonathan and i were on a call with anita dunn the president's advisor, in the past week, she said, we have to show that the economy works. there is a chinese system that a lot of people ink that's what works. we're in a contest that says democracy can get big things done. given circumstances i overcome my incredibly high ascrergs to all -- aversion to all this debt. >> woodruff: so jonathan does this look like it has a chance of getting -- becoming law? >> (laughing) judy, right now,

no. i say no because the senate minority leader, mitch mcconnell, has already said that you know he's not going to support it. i have not heard one republican in the senate step forward and say that he or she will support it. that means the president is going to have to depend on a couple things. one, maintaining all 50 democrats toote for this plan. but the other thing is that in order for all 50 democrats to have any say over this, the senate parliamentarian has to rule whether the american jobs act, like the recovery act, can go through reconciliation which is just a simple majority vote. so there are a lot of hurdles here. that's why i say now the american jobs act is big and bold. and as necessary as it is, as it stands right now, i don't see hoit becomes law. >> woodruff: david, your

forecast? >> brooks: a tad more optimistic, i hear supportive mod prat democrats that are supportive of it, that's a good sign. this is going to take a long sometime. nancy pelosi said she hoped to get it out of the house by july 4th, ambitious. six month process. suppose we are generating 900,000 jobs every month, why are we spending all this money? the economy is really roaring, that could drain away support. >> woodruff: two other things i want to ask you both about, we'll try the squeeze them in. first to you jonathan, where we are with covid. we see more people are getting vaccinated, good signs, over 100 million americans now have been vaccinated but we are also seeing re in the number of cases. 're hearing talk about vaccine passports, requiring people to

show a passport that they have been vaccinated before they can travel or go into a place of work potentially. and you also see states where the governors are opening up before washington says they're ready for that. where do you see all this headed? >> i feel like groundhog day because i believe i said this a few weeks ago. we are so close! we're always so close to getting to the other side of this pandemic in terms of cases going down, hospitalizations, deaths. businesses being able to reopen. and then states end up doing something to kind of mess it all up. and, you know, for states to undue their mask mandates, open things wide open again, as cases are going up, as variants are running rampant across the land, when you have the cdc director going off script and saying that she's extremely worried about what's going to happen, i don't think we're out of the woods yet. and i ink people are being a

little too optimistic about how much they can do because of the vaccines. i -- like anyone, would like to get the vaccine and get back to normal but i would love for things to get back to normal when the country can actually do it in a uniform way. and i'm not seeing right now how we're going to be able tdo that, by the time of the president's goal of july 4th. >> woodruff: david? >> brooks: i think we need to make life a lot better for people who have had had the vaccine. i think we need vaccine passports so they can go to gyms or restaurants. i say that as someone too young to have the v vaccine, too young to have anything. wow it's really great on the other side of the vaccine, one of the ways to do that is to have these vaccine passports so people can go enjoy life.

the research has now as far as i understand it become very clear. you do not get the disease, at least your chances are fantastic and you do not spread the disease. if that's the case i say all of you with the shots, party on! >> woodruff: david, jonatha and i think of you as always young so it's all good. it's all good. just quickly final reply. we've talked about georgia's voting law and the push-back against it but now we have big corporations like delta, coca-cola, saying they don't like it and today major league baseball jonathan announced they are pulling their all-star game out of atlanta. it was going to take place this summer, they're going to find another home for it. is this kind of pressure likely to make a difference in georgia and other states where they're looking at tightening voting? >> capehart: well, in terms of the law, the georgia law is the law and it is highly unlikely this governor kemp is going to go back or the legislature is going to go back and say we'll

have a do-over. but i do think it's very important for corporate america to take stands on issues that are of importance, not only to their customers, but to their employees. and so for delta and coca-cola and major league baseball to take the stands that they've taken i think is very important. i think what is also important was the letter from the 72 black business executives from ken chinalt and ken frazier, american expreks and merck respectively, ursula burns a form ore ceo xerox, putting pen to paper and saying, what's happening in georgia is an assaults to democracy. what's happening in georgia should be a template for all the other states where what's happened in georgia is happening in those states right now. >> woodruff: what effect,

david, do you see this kinds of corporate involvement having? >> brooks: yes, i spoke very negatively about the law, and i still speak against it. with getting politicized, the church, press, i worry about corporations suddenly taking sides, i worry about boards of directors and ceos who have a lot of economic power, wielding in ways that is political. i'm just nerves to see another institution get super-political. they just don't do it well. delta, coke, major league baseball, they work in china, a country committing genocide. what standards do we hold people to? power wielded in this way, i'm more comfortable if we settle our differences even if we hate the results through politics and through persuasion and for activism and trying to get people coming out to the polls, i'm more comfortable with that

as a means of social change. >> woodruff: a serious note to end on. david brooks. jonathan capehart. thank you both and have a good weekend. jghts thanks judy. >> brooks: you too. >> woodruff: as now more than 550,000 americans have died from covid, we take this moment to remember five of the remarkable lives lost. earnestine jake lehi was known as a “grandma earnie” to family and even friends, her daughter told us. born in cedar city, utah, earnestine was the last fluent speaker of the paiute language for the indian peaks band of utah. a lifelong member of her tribe, earnestine devoted her career to teaching and writing about her

native culture. her family says she also loved dancing at pow wows, and was a natural storyteller who could make everyone laugh. earnestine was 76. 101-year-old marianne steiner was the epitome of elegance, her grandson told us. born in germany to a well-known jewish family, she escaped nazi rule and fled to new york city in 1938. she later fell in love and married another jewish immigrant, book publisher paul steiner. the couple loved hosting parties, and marianne was always the center of attention, her family said. she loved reading and traveling, and urged people to make time for fun. at her own 100th birthday party, she said just ing alive was“ still so exciting.”

no matter what life threw at marcella noa bailey, she always had a smile on her face, her friends and family said. born in mexico, noa moved to arizona in 2001. she worked mainly as a housing specialist in phoenix, helping low-income residents find places to live. a single, working mom, she also drove for uber on nights and weekends. in her free time, she loved hiking and taking pictures of the sunrise, but more than anything, she cherished spending time with her two sons. noa was 41. 77-year-old thomas boykoff was a self-described nerd who was always up for a good laugh, his son told us. born in new york, thomas moved to madison, wisconsin for college, and later worked as a lawyer for the wisconsin state government. he loved reading the stories of sherlock holmes and biographies of presidents he felt history had forgotten, especially

millard fillmore. he also frequently wrote to world leaders, and collected responses from several, including the pope, the dalai lama, and the queen of england. born in mississippi, don brooks grew up in a share-cropping family. he met his future wife gloria as a teenager, and the pair became inseparable for more than six decades.“ don was a pretty cool dude,” his wife told us, “and he always treated me right.” he loved playing golf, and worked for 52 years at the carnegie institution for science in washington d.c., mainly as a building maintenance specialist. his family said he was excited about retiring this year. don was 75. >> and we are so grateful to families for sharing these stories with us. our hearts go out to you, as they do to all who have lost

loved ones in this pandemic. >> woodruff: a new documentary series by ken burns and lynn novick premieres monday on pbs. the title?“ hemingway,” about one of america's most famous and influential writers. in new mexico, an unusual audience is watching, reading, and writing along. jeffrey brown has the story, for our arts and culture series, "canvas." >> hey, everybody, welcome. i am super happy to see you all. >> brown: yet another zoom class-- but this is for inmates at the penitentiary of new mexico. the subject: the life and work of ernest hemingway. >> what is it that hemingway did that was so different from the writers of his time? >> that's a big question. >> brown: the class itself has an unusual origin. new mexico's pbs station secured a grant to use the ken burns

film for community outreach. it provided dvds, a collection of short stories, and composition notebooks. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> ernest hemingway remade american literature. >> brown: the inmates got a sneak preview of the six-hour series about a man who grew up in chicago's suburbs, drove an ambulance, and was severely wounded in world war i, and for decades beginning in the 1920s was a renowned author and global celebrity. but always, with an undercurrent of struggle. hemingway took his own life at age 61 in 1961. when you heard the idea, did hemingway feel right to you? >> wasn't sure, to be honest. >> brown: leading the six-week course is jesus costantino, an english professor at the university of new mexico. this was his first time teaching in a prison. i jumped at the chance, really. i was-- i've been chomping at the bit to do this.

i'd heard so many great stories, and i was envious-- i was like, this sounds like the kind of teaching i want to do. >> brown: and hemingway suddenly felt right. >> here is somebody who talks a lot about communities of men. here's somebody who talks a lot about the constant threat of violence. here's somebody who talks a lot about that almost obsessive sense that death is nearby. and hemingway sort of played into that so perfectly. >> brown: this prison, near santa fe, was the scene of a horrific riot in 1980 that left 33 inmates dead. >> no, i never even heard of

him. >> brown: did you connect with him at all? >> yeah, he did connect with me, and it was just easy to read. he wasn't like, all that extra stuff, it was just straight to the point. >> let's start by reading a passage from the story, “the undefeated.” >> brown: professor costantino is focusing on hemingway's short stories, and the first assignment was one titled “the undefeated,” about an aging bullfighter. he emphasized the directness of the language, the life and death situation, but, also something else. >> one of hemingway's biggest interests is what we're doing right now-- groups of men. he is really interested in how men think and function together, and in particular, what kind of language they develop. >> brown: that resonated with the inmates. >> most men just get straight to the point. we're not going to get to all of

these details that are not necessarily more to the point. >> brown: i couldn't help but think that, there you are in an institution of all men. did you connect with that? >> oh, very much so. each and every single one of us is constantly trying to balance that, in a male-dominated society in here, and how you carry yourself and present yourself and mingle with a whole bunch of other men. >> what you put into words is just that tip of the iceberg. right? >> brown: professor costantino also emphasized a key to hemingway's writing: the words we read often hide the complexities below the surface. that, too, connected. >> in here, you have to be cautious with your words, so you have to find ways in expressing yourself in so that people can understand what's beneath the

surface, because what's beneath the surface is a lot of time our insecurities. >> brown: were you surprised by the amount of participation or what the inmates said? >> what i'm surprised by is the number of ways i feel as though i've been prepared to expect something different. it was that i wanted them to show me what they could do, and they did. so let's not say the thing beneath, and let's say the thing on top. >> brown: there was also a witing assignment: a simple sentence about a feeling you're having, without saying what the feeling is. anybody want to share? >> i feel like all eyes are on me, and time has stopped, or it's going by really slow. >> what is not being said there? >> that i'm learning. >> just to expand my mind, not be ignorant, you know.

if my kids ever asked me about it or they're in school or it comes up, i'm not going to be ignorant about the situation. i could actually put in my two cents to help them out, or stuff like that. >> brown: bob robinson is tasked with organizing programs like this statewide. a former university philosophy professor, he teaches ethics classes here. >> the hemingway sessions that we're pursuing here fit right into that mold of bringing an opportunity to these incarcerated people that would give them the chance to think through some of these deeper human issues, human questions. what's in it for the prison system, as opposed to the incarcerated themselves? >> we're releasing them with skills and knowledge that are going to better equip them to be successful. and that means less victims in our communities, but it also means stronger and safer communities for us. >> brown: back in the classroom, session one ended with a show of

appreciation. >> thank you, thank you, appreciate that. >> thank you for doing this because we know that you don't have to, so we just want to let you know we appreciate it. >> thank you. >> awesome questions. awesome feedback. awesome work. i hope to see you all again. >> brown: next, the group tackles the classic hemingway story, “the snows of kilimanjaro." for the pbs newshour, i'm jeffrey brown. >> woodruff: such a great story. and stay with pbs-- later this evening, "washington week" will be hosted by our own lisa desjardins. it is not to be missed. and that is the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. join us online and again here on monday evening. meantime, have a great weekend. thank you, and good night. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by:

>> fidelity wealth management. >> consumer cellular. >> johnson & johnson. >> bnsf railway. >> the william and flora hewlett foundation. for more than 50 years, advancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better world. at 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 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. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

[upbeat intro music] - hello everyone, and welcome to amanpour & company. here's what's coming up. - if iran resumes its full compliance with the deal, we will do the same. - [christiane] looming deadlines and a foreign policy test for president biden. iran demands action to re-enter the nuclear deal as western leaders meet to confer how will the us respond. then-- - [man] we are rising. - the black church was more than just a spiritual home, it was the epicenter of black life. - [christiane] communities anchored in faith, tracing the rich history and influence of the black church in america. director stacy holman on the story and the song, and- ♪ black bodies swinging ♪ ♪ in the southern breeze ♪