lisa: tragedy and trials test america. >> mr. derek chauven betrayed his badge. lisa: all united nations minneapolis as former officer derek chaen stands trial in the death of george oyd. >> please don't shoot me. >> derek chauven did exactly what he had been trained to do. lisa: emotional testimony. >> i believe i witnessed a murder. lisa: questions about who polices the police. >> the law is for everybody. policemen are not above the law. lisa: and president biden proposes a $2 trillion jobs plan that is going big and goes beyond traditional infrastructure. pres. biden: not a plan that tinkersround the edges. it's a once in a generation

investment in america. lisa: but can he bridge partisan divides? >> i'm going to fight him every step of the way. lisa: next. >> this is "washington week." corporate funding is provided by -- >> for 25 years, consumer cellular's goal has been to provide wireless service that helps people communicate and connect. we offer a variety of no-contract plans and our u.s.-based customer service team can help find one that fits you. to learn more go to consumercellular.tv. >> kaiser perm neneee. additional funding is provided by the estate of arnold adams. and ku and patricia yuen through the yuen foundation. the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs

station from viers like you. thank you. lisa: welcome to "washington week," i'm lisa desjardins. we start tonight with tragic news. another attack on the u.s. capitol, this one by a single suspect in a car. yet again, an officer protecting the capitol is dead. billy evans served on the u.s. capitol police force for 18 years. national guard troops at the capitol went into immediate response, this as the barriers put up after january 6 had been coming down. joining us tonight are four reporters tracking everything unfolding this week. wesley lowery, correspondent for "60 minutes" plus. jonathan martin national p political correspondent for "the new york times." anna palmer, founder of punch bol bowel news and co-host of "the daily punch," and ayesha rascoe, correspondent for npr.

this is fresh news. we don't know much yet about what happened but what do we know? anna: we know, officer billy evans, 18 dwhreerns force is dead. a man coming into contact with the barricade at the capitol. and really, just i think what you and i are feeling as reporters, we're often on capitol hill, is just another attack on the u.s. capitol police which is devastating, having very, very low morale. they've already lost multiple members of the u.s. capitol police forcehis year alone. it was just felt like the building itself was getting back to norm also a little bit after the january 6 insurrection. there had been massive fences an different layers that had really built this fortress around the capitol that had just started in the last week or so to be taken down. you know, reporters and everybody back in the building,

feeling like it was maybe a little more business and usual but clearly the u.s. capitol is a target. that's something we're going to have to face and certainly members of congress and the defenses of this capitol are going to be -- going to have to be fort fid at this point. lisa: we were able to start parking up there again, i want to ask you, what does your reporting tell you and what does your gut tell you about whether this incident will change anything, either security or mindset for the politicians at the -- politicians a at the capitol? jonathan: i think you touched on bothelments, lisa. there's a sense that our government is under siege. our democracy is der siege. both physically in terms of the security of the capitol building itself, the seat of american democracy, but also something deeper and more profound that there's almost a fraying of american democracy. polarization ever since last year's election.

and then obviously in the aftermath, has really frayed. almost put american democracy on the brink. you see sort of widening gap between the two parties. lisa, there's almost a mistrust that borders on suspicion and almost contempt now between members of congress of diffent parties. so this is a difficult moment. not only in washington, this is a difficult moment in american life on a lot of level lisa:s we, to you. -- lisa: wes, to you. what do you think tonight means for america, for capitol police, and what about the fraying of amica? wesley: my fellow panelists make great points. as anna said this is devastating for capitol police who have been through a ton as a police force so far this year. not just the officers who lost their life in the insurrection but the many injured, some still recovering. then the mental and emotional

health, the psychological health, trauma that comes from the capitol building coming under siege this way. and here now we have another incident of the capitol coming under attack. i will note that the police response today was much more standard and was what it often would look like. the capitol at times has had other people break barriers and oter potential attacks that typically on a much smaller scale like this and the response typically looks more like this than id did -- than it did on january 6 where you saw the building overrun and police ouumbered and less obvious protocol of what to do the capitol police today are frustrated, are concerned, are mourning the loss of one of their officers, the injury of others, but this, you know, again, speaks to, as jonathan was note, the me carity of our nation, of our politics and this isn't a big game.

when people see each other as enemy, when the infighting and intensity becomes so serious, when the stakes are pushed so high, where you have political act yoffers all type, of different ideological stripes are doing democracy itself, the legitimacy of the country is at stake, you end up with people whtake those things seriously and begin taking thing into their own hands. lisa: ayesha, this idea of america attacking itself has landed in president biden's lap. also he's a capitol hill guy, right? that's really sort of like his heart for washington. how is the president responding to this? ayesha: well, you know he obviously sent out his condolences to the families that lost -- of the police officer wh died. and -- but this is once again, it almost had already become a cultural war, this idea of whetheto keep up the fence at

-- around congress. it had already become very political. you had people on the right say, oh, now everything is a fortress. why do we have all these gates up? why do we have a fence up? we should have a fence at the border, that's where it should be, not around -- you're already hearing that sort of talk. i would think that maybe this will bring a seriousness back t these discussions about security because, you know, january 6, yes, that's over. but the threat still remains. and there does need to be a real serious conversation about how do you fortify the people's house? how do you make sure that people are able to get in and see -- see congress at work, but also remain safe. and i think that's the real question going forward. lisa: you know, i don't know if you can believe this number i'm about to give you, but this is week 11 for president joe biden, despite everything we have already been through. he turned this week to what he says will be a generation-changing plan, part one of an infrastructure and

jobs proposal. on wednesday the president unveilled a massive, $2 trillion plan that would jump start a transition away from fossil fuels and reshape the economy. here's what he said about it. pres. biden: is it big? yes. it's bold, yes. and we can get it done. in 50 year, people are going to look back and say, this was the moment that america won the future. lisa: to pay for the nor mouse undertake, the administration wants to raise the corporate tax rate. republicans say this is not about infrastructure but about big government. jonathan martin, this is not a traditional infrastructure bill. in p -- in this bill are things like care give, individual housing. is this really infrastructure at all? what is this? jonathan: this is joe biden seeing his potentially going to have two bites at the apple legislatively this year. this is number two it could be

the second and last bite, lee sasm he wants to get a lot in there. beyond just fixing some roads and bridges. but i think biden realized pretty quickly that if was going to negotiate extensively with republicans and try to craft bipartisan bills, it was going to slow down and sort of lessen the scope of what he wanted to do. he made a choice that he was going to largely go it alone on the stimulus and now this infrastructure-plus bill. by doing that, he obviously could spend a lot more money, he can sort of creeat potentially a bigger legacy. the politics, i think, of it are to be determined obviously. but in doing so you know, he's not ing to get much support across the aisle. he's going to have to u that spial procedural motion called reconciliation so he can pass these measures with a bare senate majority. but look, i think biden wans to

go big. he's playing for history. he sees an opportunity in his first year when he has the most capital to do some sort of legacy-defining things an change the country at a structural level. i think he's choosing that over bipartisanship and a slower, more modest agenda. lisa: ayesha, what about the idea jonathan raises that the president is say, take it or leave it to republicans. this is a guy who campaigned on unifying, i can negotiate, republicans say we're just going barely token briefings. this is partisanship. has the president just decided essentially, i'm going to go for what i want and i'm not going to worry about bipartisanship? ayesha: what they're doing is they're trying to redefine bipartisanship. they're saying that the white house is arguing that this is bipartisan. this is popular in the country. that even this, you know, that these sorts of bills will be popular with the -- with republicans in the country. so their argument is that they

are being bipartisan by going and unifying with popular policies out in the country even if people in congress don't agree with that. you know. and i think that part of this, a lot of this seems to be taken from the idea of, you know, they're not going to be the obama administration 2.0, that they have -- they are learning the lessons of the obama administration which they seem to have taken that there was too much outreach to republicans that went nowhere. and they got nothing for it. so if you're going to go big, go big. they're going to criticize you either way. that seems to be what they've taken from that. nowhey're going to have to deal with the more moderates in the senate to see if they can get this sort of thing done. lisa: anna, and then to you wesley, i want to ask you both the same question. how much are the poll toisks 2022 involved here, the idea that democrats may not keep the majority they have in two years. anna and then wes.

anna: i think that's supremely at play. especially at the house. if past is precedent, democrats will lose the house. joe biden has a very short window with an all-democratic washington. you have a speaker, nancy pelosi, probably in the swan song of her congressional career. one of the most successl legislators of our entir generation. i thk joe biden is putting this on nancy pelosi to say,f anybody can get it done, she can get it done. when there's more things, more different things for each of the different democratic factions to like, there's more ways for them to get votes wch is what they need. lisa: wes? wesley: i would co-sign that completely. we talk about biden and legacy, that legacy is not just long-term but short-term. you do have mid terms coming up. what's going to be one of the strongest arguments to elect democrats again? the money we put back in your pocket for stimthrirks fact that the bridge near your house is rebuilt. when you look at what he has

prioritized they're things that poll very well with moderates and conservatives even if their representatives in the house an senate don't support them and the types of things they may be able to reach back to voters again in the mid-terms and then, don't want to get ahead of ourselves but in a presidential election again in 2024 to say, look, despite the opposion we had, we still did things for you. i think that that's going to be important because politics, electoral politics very often is about not just what you do but if you can sell it and if voters give you credit for it. if you look time and time again, biden is hoping to finish out his first six months being able to say we passed aassive stimulus, covid relief bill and we passed what most people agree is a long overdue transportation package. this is something that the last administration talked about for all four years. this was something that the obama administration attempte to do to some extent. i think joe biden is really doubling and tripling down on things that are popular with

americans with the hope that his administration gets credit for it and that might help him stem the side tied of history which tells us republicans should be picking up seats in the coming election. lisa: it seems like we used to have infrastructure week, now it seems like we'll have infrastructure year or infrastructure two years. also this week, there was a courtroom full of covid safe flexi glass which is the latest lens for america. former officer derek chauven charged with second degree murder in the dead of george floyd. the jury heard testimony and america heard the pain of those who watched george floyd go unconscious under a police knee. >> did you make a 911 call? >> i did. >> mr. floyd died as a result of hypertension, the ingeston of methamphetamine and the adrenaline flowing through his body. >> why did you feel the need to

talk to mr. chauven? >> what i watched was wrong. lisa: floyd's death raises questions about police, systemic racism and about what leaders in washington should or will do to address it. wes, i want to start with you you spent years covering police, as i said, but also race and the floyd family itself. i know you're part of a podcast, run tell this. we talked about what watching this is like. what has watching this been like as a black man, as a journalist, and what do you think this has told us about where the country is right now? wesley: sure. i think we have to start by remembering how relatively rare the events that we are seeing currently are. that it is extremely rare for an on-duty police officer to fe criminal charges after a death committed at their han. it's even more rare for that case to then go to trial and not be pled out. and so this is a kind of a remarkable moment. we also know that this video was

a real galvanizing moment for the country last summer. and this has been a remarkably emotional and difficult trial. we've seen person after person take the stand and currently hearing the prosecutor's case, the defense will have their opportunity as well. but it's been this remarkable emotional series of testimony from people who believe they watched someone be murdered and who had no power to stop it. we hear from almost every person who testified so far, from the paramedics, to the people who are on the street showing up, who everyone around who is watching what was happening was saying, this is wrong, this needs to stop. what actually happens in this case is goingo be fascinating, it's going to be a test of our legal system. what we know is that historically juries are hesitant to convict police officers even in cases when you -- when there's video evidence such as this. i don't know how many folks have recently rewatched the rodney king beating but that video is

pretty rough and each of those officers walked. it's going to be interesting to see what a jury is willing to do in this case. and it also raises, when we get to whington, interesting questions as well. there's been a lot of discussion,he house passed the george fyd act, for example. nothing in that legislation would have actually stopped what happened to george flo. police regular mains a very difficult and complicated issue. it's something that's a local government issue. there's 18,000 police departments. so i think there still is a big push and pull between how much pow they are federal government was to take to weigh in on this and also still a big wedge issue as it relates to our politics. that not everyone thinks that there should be such scrutiny of police offics and this remains a very sensitive issue for a lot of elected officials back home in their districts. lisa: anna, what do we know about the state of affairs at the capitol? i know most members of congress actually do want to do something on this, however, big difference over, for example, should police be held liable in civil court

over this? where do negotiations between, say, tim scott on the republican side and the congressional black caucus stand? what are the chances for action in congress? anna: it's tough like most things in congress right now when you look at the democratic majority being 50-50 with plus one with the vice president's vote. so the house passed a bill on policing that would do a lot of the things that we've been talking about here tonight. a lot of people feel are necessary, that it's long past time to tail get done. but in the senate that's stalled. they need to find 10 republicans who are going to support that bill. i think that's a steep hurdle. you do have senator tim scott who has his own legislation, has been behind the scenes talking with members of the c.b.c. we have to see exactly if there can be any negotiation where there's maybe some kind of compromise at this point, it is postponed, there hasn't been any true movement or sign that this is going to move forward.

lisa: ayesha, president biden pledged of the backs of black americans and he credited them with his election. what exactly has he done so far especially on policing reform an justice? ayesha: well, he hasn't done much o policing. he had promised during the campaign to set up a commission on policing. there was a similar commission during the obama administration so already some on the left, some activists, are concerned that a commission will be kicking it down the road. he has come out in favor of the george floyd bill that passed the house and says, you know, he wants congress to pass that. but a lot of the things, you know,s far as military -- militarization of police, there was supposed to be an executive order on that that hasn't come through yet. he has done some things on the back end when it comes to private prisons. but that's also something that's not immediate because contracts are ongoing and it doesn't affect that, it affects future

contracts. so that's what he's done so far. which is not a lot. a lot of his focus right now has been on infrastructure and other issues, bread and butter issue, not necessarily criminal justice reform. what he has done is he has appointed a lot of people at te justice department who are known to be very active in these areas and there's a thought that they would be able to maybe make some movement on the swrussties department's row but as -- role, but as wes said this is a local issue so it's hard for the federal government when it comes to policing. lisa: jonathan martin, we also at the same time have an uproar in this country, divide over election law. we saw major league baseball pull the all-star game out of georgia out of protest for the voting rights law that, activists say it's voter suppression against people of color. republicans say it's an overreaction, they're reeling against corporate america. my question to you, is this a

temporary moment? or is this the new culture war? jonathan: i think this is here to say. i think president trump may have left office but i think trumpism remains alive and well in american politics. these deep cultural divides, questions of which side are you on have not evaded. -- have not abated. i think that is goingo be the way of the future. i would just say, lisa, you allude to this on biden, as did ayesha, he's determined to stay on task. he wanted to focus on covid relief and the big stimulus package out of the gates, and now he wants to turn to this big push on infrastructure, whether it's voting right, immigration, gunontrol, or policing, you know, other issues that obviously sort of, activiswing of the democratic party is really eager to make progress on. you know. he does not have the same level of urgency because of his own

approach. i would just say finally on the policing issue, keep an eye on the crime rates. a murder in this country, violent crime, surging at this point, could reshape this conversation going forward. lisa: ann narc briefly what do you mick of biden's relationship with people who are not white or black? we've seen his numbers going down with hispanics, asian american have protest what had they see as a lack of representation on his cabinet. does biden have a political problem there with other people of color? ayesha: when you look at hispanics and latinos, there's concern going into the mid terms and the next presidential cycle because he did so poorly with them as voters. when you look at their key issue, clearly immigration reform is going to be one of the biggest issues that they are looking for some resolution. and not only just in terms of dreamers, but what's happening at the border right now, and republicans are really using that as a culture war and i

don't think they're going to stop that. right now, the biden administration doesn't have a good answer for how to stem this flow of mass immigration into this country and the children separated from their families. this is going to be something that the administration is going to have to deal with. lisa: we have just a minute left but i want to end where we began with the trial in minneapolis. what's at stake with this verdict here in about a minute. wesley: well, again, the verdict can go either way. we've seen a strong prosecution case, very come petting, emotional prosecution case. the defense will still have its say. there are big hurdles. this is going to be another moment, another question, i think a lot of people out there were upset by the video they saw. and i think there is a risk of investing a lot in which way the verdict goes one way or the other and it could go either way. i think we'll be back at this moment again. lisa: i think that's true. i think we'll probably have all of you back on to talk about it. that's it for tonight.

solemn good friday where flags in washington are at half-staff. many of us are heart broken and counting our blessings. many thanks to all of you, wesley, jonathan, anna and ayesha, for ur insights, and thanks to our viewers for joining us. join us for the washington week extra on our website, on facebook and youtube. i'm lisa desjardins from washington, take care of yourselves. good night. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] ♪

>> corporate funding for "washington week" is provided by -- >> consumer cellular. kaiser permanente. additional funding provided by the estate of arnold adams. and ku and patricia yuen through the yuen foundation, committed to bridging cultural differences in our communities. the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you.

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