captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening, i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight, selling his vision-- president biden addresses congress and the nation at a critical moment, laying out his plans for covid, climate change and re-imagining the american economy from roads and bridges to childcare. then, out of bounds-- the supreme court hears arguments in a case centered on a hopeful high school cheerleader venting online. plus, use of force-- another police killing of a black man sparks protests, demands for the release of body-camera video, and calls for structural change. all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour.

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biden, there is a lot on the line. he gives his first joint address to congress, a moment to sell his vision to the american people. it comes on the eve of his 100th day in office and at a critical time for the pandemic. he will outline his plan to re- imagine the u.s. economy with a focus on creating jobs while combating climate change. yamiche alcindor and lisa desjardins are both at the capitol tonight and they join me now. hello to both-of-i, yakish, i am going to-- yamiche, i will start with you, what are you learning about what the president is going to be saying? >> well, this is a huge moment for president biden and our nation. this is his first address to congress. and he's making this address 112 days after an armed mob stormed into the capitol, the very place he will stand tonight to try to stop him from becoming president. of course he was legitimately elected so the president will be

speaking a lot about restoring faith and democracy i'm told by white house sources and unveiling the american family's plan. a plan focused on education and child care, but the president will be talking a lot about that. i should tell that you white house officials are stressing that he will not be taking a victory lap. they have been talking about his splishments including get 2-g00 million shots in the arms of americans in the covid-19 vacs even and 160 million checks in people's mail boxes in terms of getting stimulus checks to people. he is also going to be talking to immigration, pushing for a path to citizenship for immigrants without don't have legal status. he will be talking about policing, talking about the george floyd policing act saying it needs to be passed by congress. i also want to read to you an excerpt of the president's address that the white house put out. talking about how he inherited a nation in crisis. and is he going to say now, just after 100 days can i report to the nation america is on the move again.

turning-- into pobtd, crisis into opportunity, setback into strength. will go on to say we have to prove democracy still works. that our government still works, and can deliver for the people. so this is going to be a big speech and a speech that really gets to the heart of what he says and about his accomplishments but also the way forward. >> woodruff: and lisa, the president is going to be speaking in the house chambers tonight. you have had a look at it. it is going to be different from the usual situation when the president speaks there. tell us about that. >> that's right, judy. we have never sign an address lake this in u.s. history and st possible we may not ever seine see one like this again. because of covid restrictions, let me run through a little bit about what will happen in the house chamber tonight, first of all, just 200 people total, about that many will be in the chamber for that speech. that is different than the 1400 that are usually crammed in side-by-side, even up in the gallery. now tonight everyone in the chamber will have to either be tested negative for covid or

proved that they are fully vaccinated meaning two weeks after that final vaccination shot, and to space out the lawmakers that will be in there, they will be using the balcony, so it is hard for me to say what people will be seeing but likely you will be seeing lawmakers dotted throughout the chamber. i was able to get in there and look and you will see that some only have one person in them. republicans are seen one side of the chamber, democrats on the other, they had been mixing that up in years past but this year it looked like they will be part i san aisled. as much as i think that will be the dom nanlt image, this strange image of lawmakers dotting the house chamber, we will also have something else unprecedented tonight, that will be the two people standing behind president biden will be two women for the first time, house speaker nancy pell os aye and vice president kamala harris because she is the president of the senate. that is something to look forward to. in addition we will have the first address from african-american republican

senator be in the response for the republican, tim scott. he told me he has been practicing for days and we know a little bit about what he is going to say. to counter president biden message of about his agenda, we expect-- the he will say that the economy was at its best before the pandemic, when republicans were in charge. and he will make an argument that republicans should be back in charge again. >> woodruff: and then yamiche, back to you, you mentioned what else the president is going to be talking about. unveiling something they're calling the american families plan, st the second half of this am gi shus -- ambitious set of programs they are rolling out, tell us por about that. >> that's right, president biden has been working for weeks on this address and part of that is unveiling the details, all together is he really proposing 6 trillion dollars in spending, when you take the american rescue act, american jobs plan and americans family plan together. tonight i want to walk people

through what this 1.trillion american family plan has in it. it has 200 billion for universal pre-k for all three and four area old children in this country. it has 109 billion for two years of free community college for all americans, that includes dreamers, judy. also 225 billion dollars for paid family and medical leave, for workers who need time to take care of their child or seriously ill family member or themselves if they have a serious injury. the president will be proposing paying for all of this with tax hikes over ten years. 1.5 trillion worth of tax hikes. the president is also going to be traveling, talking about the american family plan, going to georgia and pennsylvania as well as virginia. so there is really going to be a push to try to get congress to say we need to pass this. but it will be tuff to get republicans on board because of those tax hikes that are going to the wealthiest of americans. >> woodruff: steeking of that, lisa, what are you hearing already in the way of reaction from membe to all of this. >> that's right, republicans

have a real problem with this. they see this as tearing down what they believe is one of their seminal achievements, the 2017 tax cuts. democrats as you heard disagree. i talked to one senator who will be in the chamber tonight and says i know that the president is talking about bipartisanship but i want more than words. i want action. she says this plan to her looks part i san. on the other hand democrats are saying they like the plan, some of them want more like bernie sand ares who i talked to today, he will have a prominent, a seat pretty close to the front tonight. he says he does want to add more to this plan especially when it comes to prescription drugs and expanding medicare. >> all right, lisa desjardins, and yamiche alcindor, thank you both and we will see you in a few hours. >> and speaking of what you have just been hearing, >> woodruff: heather bouey is a member of the white house council of economic advisers. i spoke with her a short time ago about president biden's american families plan. plan heather bowsher, thank you very much for joining us. let me start by saying the white

house is describing both of these plans as a once in a generation investment in america's future. practically speaking, what does that mean? >> well, these are significant investment in building, deepening, growing america's middle class, in making sure in the first package that we're investing in all of that physical infrastructure and innovation and the things that will drive industry forward, to the plan that the president will talk about tonight. that is about making sure that families have the economic security that they need, that we're investing in the kinds of educational toonts that families need and we're making sure we have a tax system that is fair, that it rewards work and not wealth, and supports families at the bottom and make sure that those at the top pay their fair share. so there will be real changes for families as a result of these plans. >> let me ask you about one particularly interesting aspect of this, and that is adding four more years of free schooling.

for american children, young people, two more years, preschool, two years of community college. what, explain what the rational there is. >> we know in this economy that education and skills are so important. you know, over a century ago the united states is the leader in investing, in primary and secondary school for everyone. and now we need to kach up and regain that leadership role in making sur that we are investing in education along all of the years that children need. so starting with preschool, you know, there is so much empirical research that shows that the years from 0 to 5 are so important. pre-k is a really important piece of our educational system. every child needs it. and then of course we know that high school isn't enough. people need access to college and providing that three two years of community college is going to put a lot of kids on

the right path. >> you mentioned taxes. and the president is proposing tax increases on the wealthy. and i want to ask you about that. because the price tag when you put these two plans together, the jobs and infrastructure plans with the family plan, something like 3.8, almost 4 trillion dollars, lay out what the president's thinking is on who should pay for it and why. >> well, the president has been very clear throughout the campaign and into governing that the taxes should be raised on those making more than $400,000. people making less should not be more. and in both this plan and the ones he announced last month, one of the focuses is on making sure that the tax system delivers. so one of the things he will talk about tonight is tax compliance. you know, we have systemically reduced the am of resources available to the irs, but simply enforce the laws on the book. so he will make sure that we are giving irs the resources they need to enforce the tax code.

and focus on those at the very, very top, who too often don't report their income and that means that the federal government loses billions an billions, hundreds of billions of dollars. we estimate we can get about 700 billion simply by enforcing the laws on the books. >> you won't be surprise to know that criticism is already coming in from both the right and the left. but from republicans, let may just read you one comment, this is from kevin brady, a ranking republican on the house. very critically important house ways and means committee. he said earlier this week when he was starting to get the outlines, he said you don't rebuild a healthy economy by punishing those who invest in that economy. so what do you say to that particular criticism? >> well, what i say is that we need to make sure we're taking the steps to shore up america's middle class. and we need to do so by making sure those at the top are paying their fair share. we've seen over the past decade

that wealth has risen especially in particular for those at the very top, we are seeing a lot of companies being incredibly profitable and too many firms at the very top of the american economy don't pay any taxes. so we need to make sure that those that have benefited the most, pay their fair share, shows we can make investments that benefit us all n about a third of rural families don't have access to broadband. over the past year could you imagine not having access to the internet during this time of covid. or think about the fact that so many families live with water that comes in their homes that has lead in it we know that there is no safe amount of lead for children. these are the kinds of investment in infrastructure we need to make and we need to make these investments in our children and education. and you know in child care. so we need to make sure that folks at the top pay their fair share and that we focus on dwhoog is right for the american people and american economy. >> as i mentioned you also have comments coming n from

democrats, a number of them saying there is just not enough in here for example, for preschool, for other programs, they wanted, senator bernie sanders is saying there should have been money in here to expand med care, the age of eligibility should have been lowered to 60. and he says if he has anything to do with it, that will be in the bill. >> well, here is the thing. the president is laid out this vision and these plans and now there are over on capitol hill. and he said time and time again that his door is open. he wants to hear from folks on both sides of the aisle of good ideas. it is up to congress to actually sort of you know package and pass these plans. so if bernie sanders wants to add something, that is something he can do. but here is the thing. as the president made clear and as economists see each and every day, inaction is not an option. we need to address these pressinged intos across our

economy, so we can see innovation, growth, good jobs across all parts of our economy, so we can deal with raise inequities-- inequity -- inequities, we need to do those things so the uenceee is on congress to figure out how to do it and come together and find something that will pass. we can get to the president's desk. >> heather bowsher, a member of president biden economic advisor, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> woodruff: in the day's other news, the covid crisis in india piled up huge new numbers again, passing 200,000 deaths overall. ali rogin has our report. >> reporter: on tuesday alone, india's official death toll spiked at almost 3300, its deadliest day. >> ( translated ): the situation is horrific, absolutely terrible, according to what i

see. everyone is afraid, every single person. >> reporter: outside crematoriums, ambulances now wait hours to offload bodies. workers hastily build new platforms, to keep up with the volume. amit kaushik waited to cremate a relative. >> for cremation area, we searched two or three but there are no spaces, and finally we came here and we've been waiting for the last two or three hours. >> reporter: those who can't find hospital beds suffer in the streets. even inside i.c.u.s, oxygen and other supplies remain scarce. >> i'm buying oxygen at the rate of gold, the situation has come to that level. >> reporter: and while india hosts the world's largest vaccine manufacturer, it's running out of shots. at this vaccine center in mumbai, hopeful recipients were turned away. >> ( translated ): they are telling us that injections are not available, as vaccines have not arrived. i registered to come here three days ago. >> reporter: as the situation worsened, the international community responded.

on tuesday, the first shipment of british aid arrived in new delhi, including ventilators and oxygen tanks. the u.s. is also sending medical equipment and raw materials to make vaccines now. president biden said tuesday that doses of the astrazeneca vaccine will also be shipped. >> reporter: but modi has come under fire for permitting super spreader events, like religious festivals and his own political rallies. even as the current crisis grew, he urged against lockdowns. >> ( translated ): friends, in the current situation we have to save the country from another lockdown. i would also like to request states to only use lockdown as a last resort. >> reporter: but in the capital city new delhi, the last resort has already arrived. officials there just extended an existing lockdown until may. for the pbs newshour, i'm ali rogin. >> woodruff: as the crisis deepens in india, covid-19 infections in the u.s. have fallen nearly 25% in the last two weeks.

a judge in north carolina has blocked the release of body camera video, in the fatal shooting of andrew brown, junior by sheriff's deputies in elizabeth city. the judge ruled it could harm the investigation. but in chicago, an independent board released video of the anthony alvarez killing. he had his back turned and appeared to drop a gun, just before police shot him. we'll have details, later in the progm. the u.s. justice department says three white georgia men will face federal hate crimes charges in the ahmaud arbery killing. arbery was jogging in brunswick, georgia last year when the men allegedly chased and fatally shot him. they already face state murder charges. the u.s. senate today voted to restore regulations aimed at limiting methane emissions from oil and gas fields. trump-era rules had rolled back the rules governing the greenhouse gas. the debate divided largely down party lines.

>> as we transition toward a 100% clean energy future, a future without pollution, we must do all th we can to mitigate the harm done by our current use of fossil fuels, and that's exactly what these rules are designed to do. >> we shouldn't demonize an industry that is part of the lifeblood of our economy. we should celebrate the emissions reduction accomplishments and look for ways to further incentivize those. let's focus on solutions that address our climate challenges without destroying the economic engines of growth. >> woodruff: president biden has called for cutting greenhouse federal investigators today searched the manhattan apartment and office of rudy giuliani, former president trump's personal lawyer. it's widely reported they seized computers and cell phones in a probe of giuliani's business dealings in ukraine. in a statement, he denied any

improper lobbying. iran isn't talking about a face- off with an american warship in the persian gulf. the u.s. navy says the u.s.s. "firebolt" fired warning shots monday night when three revolutionary guard vessels came within 70 yards. it's the second incident this month involving u.s. and iranian vessels. hong kong's legislature has approved a law that could bar people from entering or leaving, and thereby, give mainland china even more control. it's the latest such move since the mass protests in 2019. hong kong's government denied today that it means to limit anyone's rights. back in this country, the federal reserve is once again keeping its benchmark interest rate close to zero. the central bank today noted significant progress in the economic recovery. but, chairman jerome powell said the fed needs more evidence before changing its current policies.

>> we're hopeful that we'll see along this path a way to that goal and we believe we will-- just is a question on when. we've had one great jobs report, its not enough. we're going to act on actual data, not our forecast. and, we're just going to need far more data. it's not more complicated than that. >> woodruff: powell acknowledged that inflation has risen, but he said policymakers believe that's only temporary. the fed's news did little to encourage wall street. the dow jones industrial average lost 164 points to close at 33,820. the nasdaq fell 39 points, and, the s&p 500 slipped three points. still to come on the newshour: the supreme court hears a critical case concerning free speech for students. another police killing of a black man sparks protests and calls for structural change. plus much more.

>> woodruff: as we heard, one of the major themes we we'll hear from the president tonight are about his plans to substantially expand programs affecting children, families and reducing poverty. amna nawaz dives into that part of mr. biden's proposals, and the questions around it. >> nawaz: judy, if these programs are eventually approved by congres the scope could be dramatic. they include: new subsidies to cover child ca for lower and middle-income parents for children five and younger; universal pre-k education, regardless of income, and a permanent expansion of larger child tax credits. melissa kearney focuses on these issues closely. she's an economist at the university of maryland and the director of the aspen economic strategy group.

welcome to the newshour, let me start by asking you about those child fax credits, talking about a monthly check, up to $300 per child for all but the richest families in america. the argument made against these is it say short term fix t disincentivized paid employment so it has a long-term negative impact. what is the evidence show on this? >> the evidence on this is quite unequivocal that increasing the income for low income families has wonderful benefits, long-term benefits for children. i think the argument against this on the ground that it would be counterproductive in the long run really don't find support in the research. we know that expanding income support for low income families means those kids do better in school. they have better health outcomes and they have higher earnings as adults. further more we really have seen in these kinds of programs very limited reduction in work effort from parents. i will also say the design of

this particular credit is such that it doesn't penalize earning, where some programs in the past did that and explicitly disincentivized work of parent, the design of this won't do that. this one seems like a real no-brainer in terms of good policy that would advance economic security for families, both in the short term and long-term. >> let me ask you about the early childhood development proposals here, specifically universal pre-k for all three and four years, with a national partnership with states. critics again point to long-term concerns. they point to some studies that say yes universal pre-k gives individuals an advantage early on going into kinder gafort enbut long-term they de finish over time ssm there con sen tus-- consensus on the benefits here? >> i do think there is consensus on this literature that some of the great early improvements that we have seen kids yut come from early childhood education

stayed over time. but i think that is more an indictment of school systems that don't capitalize on these early gains and help students progress at good rates. will early childhood-- these have really beneficial impacts, again in particular, in particular for low income children, who don't otherwise have access to high quality early childhood programs and environments. >> so this is another place where the evidence to my mind is quote clear that making this type of investment in early childhood education would have long-term benefits if our schools capitollize on these early gains and it would also go some distance in closing class gaps. right now kids from high income homes get to school at age five with much greater levels of school readiness and making this a universal program free for all kids what help address those class gaps. >> when you look at the slate of

propositionals here, especially those specific to children and the impact there, what are your concerns? i mean especially when we are talking about this amount of money here. >> yeah, so i will say, i am giddy about this proposal, honestly, because so many policy experts, you've been arguing for years that our country does far too little to invest in children. ang so this is a real recognition that we need to do more to invest in children, to make sure all children get to school with the ability to succeed. the price tag on these proposals to my mind are just not that great when held up against the benefits that evidence suggests we'll see from them. if i have a concern t is that this is alot of money, as you pointed out. and so a lot of measures are going to need to be put in place to make sure that the money is well spent. so universal preschool is not going to deliver universal

benefits if it is low quality, right. access to child care is not going to be good for kids and families if it is not high quality. when we look from lessons from other well targeted programs that have yielded benefits or for other countries, they spend a lot of money on these programs. and so they are going to be a tradeoff in terms of targeting it on the kids who would really benefit, targeting the programs on families who wouldn't otherwise afford them and make sure that the programs are well-funded and well designed and really high quality. >> otherwise we're just going to be wasting a lot of money. >> have i less than a minute left. i do want to ask you about any historical example. can you look to some point in history when there has been a similar effort to scope to change the ves of american children to compare this to. >> sure, so the last major effort of this size that i can think of is the 1996 wohl fair reform which was really broad in scope and aimed at increasing

family self-sufficient see. in the short run it would be-- who who improved work among sing will mothers, in the long run we have not steen an increase in the teerlt stability of families and we have seen a gutting of the safety net, 25 years after welfare reform, this seems like an ideal time to do something equally bold, take a new approach, and make a large investment in our families and children in this country. >> melissa keerny, thanks so much for joining us. >> thank you. >> woodruff: snapchat, curse words, and cheerleading made it's way to the supreme court today, in a battle over student free speech. john yang has the report.

>> yang: brandi levy was having a bad week. then a 14-year-old high school freshman, she failed to both make the varsity cheerleading squad and to get the softball team position she wanted. >> i was really mad. >> yang: brandi, now 18 and a college freshman, spoke to us with her father, larry. >> it all happened in the same week, so i was just-- at the end of the week, i was just really upset and frustrated. >> yang: on saturday, that frustration found an outlet in a snapchat post that made liberal use of the “f-word.” visible for just 24 hours, it showed brandi and a friend making and age-old obscene gesture. as a result, mahanoy area high school officials kicked her off the junior varsity cheerleading team, on which she had won a spot. did you think it was fair? >> i didn't think it was fair. because i didn't say it during, like, a school activity or during school hours. >> yang: her father didn't like it either. >> i was a little upset that the

school stepped outside of their gates and took action against something that happened when it would have been my, as a parent, an issue to deal with. >> yang: when school officials wouldn't back down, larry levy literally made a federal case out of it, suing the school district. a judge ordered brandi back on the j.v. squad. today it reached the highest court in the land. while the supreme court ruled in 1969 that public schools could punish disruptive student speech in school, brandi's case asks whether that extends to off- campus speech. school administrators and the biden administration say it should in order to deal with bullying. >> the physical schoolhouse gate that existed in 1969 is now become, to say the least, blurred. >> yang: francisco negrón is chief legal officer for the national school boards association. >> the way that students communicate today through social

media and off campus online messages can have a tremendous impact on onsite learning, it can threaten student safety and cause emotional harm to students. >> yang: larry levy says that doesn't apply to his daughter. >> this is a complete opposite. this is just a teenage girl expression and emotion on a saturday. there was no specific target involved for her to be harassing or bullying. >> yang: in today's oral argument, justice clarence thomas pressed both sides. >> aren't we at a point where if it's on social media-- where you posted on social media doesn't really matter? >> yang: lawyer lisa blatt argued for the school district. >> when it comes to the internet, things like time and geography are meaningless and it makes absolutely no sense whatsoever to say that the same speech is somehow within the school's regulation if it's one foot on campus or one foot off campus or at the starbucks or at

the cvs or in your car or on the schoolbus. >> yang: a.c.l.u. national legal director david cole, representing brandi, said where and when does matter. >> and if the speaker's under the supervision of a school you can stop him from swearing. but if the speaker is at home on the weekend, you can't stop her from swearing. her parents could. and it's a parent's job to regulate not the school's job at that, at that location. >> the attorney for mahanoy had tried to reassure the justices that the school district would not be targeting religious and political speech. >> yang: marcia coyle is chief washington correspondent for the national law journal. >> justice clarence thomas said, well, why does it have to be what about controversial comments about, say, black lives matter, that black lives matter, proud boys or antifa? and she said that the school district is not teaching students what to think, that that those kinds of comments would have to be used as a

weapon to terrorize another student or someone at the school. >> yang: justice brett kavanaugh said school officials overreacted to brandi's post. >> she blew off steam like millions of other kids have wh they're disappointed about being cut from the high school team or not being in the starting lineup or not making all league. it didn't seem like the punishment was tailored to the offense. >> yang: brandi, who eventually became a varsity high school cheerleader, says she has no second thoughts. >> i stand by what i said, because i was i was 14 years old. i was just becoming a teenager. i was frustrated, angry, upset. >> my sense at the end of the arguments was that the justices are looking for a narrow way to rule here. they may be inclined to rule for the student, but are not inclined to issue a decision making a broad statement about student free speech rights or the school district's authority to regulate student speech.

>> yang: the nine justices will have their say by this summe for the pbs newshour, i'm john yang. >> woodruff: critical questions about police response and the use of force are front and center around the country every day. many voices in the communities that are most affected are challenging the rationale and explanations of law enforcement. moreover, new and disturbing videos showing deadly confrontations have changed the landscape permanently. as stephanie sy reports, this past week has dramatically underscored all of this again, and is leading to questions about why more changes haven't taken effect. >> sy: just over a week after derek chauvin's multiple-count

conviction for the murder of george floyd, a rash of other deadly police encounters have come to light. last week, 42 year old andrew brown, jr, was shot and killed in his car by sheriff's deputies in elizabeth city, north carolina. they were carrying out a search warrant. >> say his name! >> andrew brown! >> sy: the shooting has led to growing protests even as new details emerged today. district attorney andrew womble said brown hit officers with his car before police fired. >> the next movement of the car is forward, it is in the direction of law enforcement, and makes contact with law enforcement. it is then and only then that you hear shots. >> sy: also today, a judge denied a request for releasing police body camera videos from the incident to the public. earlier this week, the brown family and attorneys were allowed to view a 20 second clip and were granted access to more footage today. >> they went up to his vehicle

shooting. he still stood there, sat in his vehicle with his hands on the steering wheel while being shot at. he finally decides to try to get away and he backs out, not going toward the officers at all. there was at no time in the 20 seconds that we saw where he was threatening the officers in any kind of way. >> sy: the brown family also commissioned an autopsy that confirmed their view that the killing was unjustified. brown's son spoke on tuesday. >> yesterday i said he was executed. this autopsy report show me that was correct. >> just coming to check on you, make sure you're okay. >> sy: across the country, in alameda, california, police released body camera video on tuesday of an arrest from april 19th. officers had received a 911 call for a man who appeared drunk or disoriented. >> come over here, we don't want you to fall down. >> i got it.

>> sy: when 26-year-old mario gonzalez didn't show i.d., officers attempted to arrest him. as gonzalez struggled, they pinned him to the ground with their knees and elbows on gonzalez's back for more than five minutes. >> please don't do that. >> please don't do what? >> sy: gonzalez stopped breathing and soon died in an incident that conjures up images of george floyd's death. in chicago today, the civilian office of police accountability released footage of a fatal police shooting of a 22-year-old man from last month. the video shows police in a foot chase with anthony alvarez and an officer yelling at him to“ drop the gun” seconds before firing. >> drop the gun, drop the gun! (gunfire) >> sy: a handgun was found at the scene. and in loveland, colorado, surveillance footage was made public monday that showed police officer austin hopp joking about dislocating a 73ear-old woman's shoulder as he arrested her.

>> did you hear the pop? i was like, "okay, you're gonna play," and i was pushing, pushing, pushing and i hear "pop," and i was like, oh no. >> i hate this. >> i love it! (laughter) >> sy: last june, karen garner, a woman with dementia, left a walmart with about $14 worth of items without paying. she was stopped by police while walking and forcefully arrested. her attorney says she sustained multiple injuries during the incident, including a broken arm. we take a deeper look at america's policing practices and the obstacles to meaningful reform with christy lopez. she oversaw so-called pattern- or-practice investigations of police departments at the department of justice from 2010 to 2017. and she led the team that

she now teaches at georgetown law where she co-directs their innovative policing program. professor lopez, thank you so much for joining the newshour. it was bodycam videos worn by police that brought many of these incidentsk we just reported on to light. what is your take on the yewsfulness of these cameras and whether they are doing what they are supposed to do as far as police accountability. >> yeah, thank you for having me, as difficult it as it is to watch that bodycam footage, i do think it is a very important tool for transparency and accountability it is not a panacea. it absolutely has to be supported by the right policy, the right training, the right leadership so we do more than just see those videos. we have to see those videos, and change the way things can happen. >> they don't seem to be acting as a deterrent in some cases. a lot of these incidents

actually happened around former officer chauvin's trial and his conviction. but why has it been so difficult after all of these years and discussions about police training, implicit bias, changes police culture, why has it been so difficult to change police response especially when it comes to the use of lethal force? >> well, there is some education that body cameras-- cameras do change behavior but we need to do so much more than just change some behavior. one of the reasons it's so hard to change policings that there are 18,000 police agencies and no centralized, really, regulation of them them, you can do things completely right in one place and completely wrong in thousands of other places. the other reason it is difficult, is that months of what is wrong with policing comes from outside policing. some extent police do what we ask them to do. and we have made a lot of incredibly harmful policing

purnseses legal. we ask them to respond to situations all the time that really they are not the best tool for the task. when you have that, you which we have seen millions of times every year, will you have really neck tiff outcomes that could have been avoided. >> i want to talk eye little more about what you are referring to there. were you recently in an wrote an opinion piece for "the washington post" that we have turned policing too an impossible endeavor. one that underprotects communities even as it needilessly provokes conflict. you talk about how police are responding to everything from traffic stops to active shooters. how can that lead to more police violence and what can be done about that? >> yeah, the problem is that we've come to overrely on policing for our public safety needs. and sometimes we rely on them for things we shouldn't be relying on them for. for example raising revenue. and so to take the example of traffic enforcement, a lot of police stops hand every year, 20 million of them. an many of them, millions of

those stops have nothing to do with traffic safety. they might have to do with an eak being viewed to raise revenue for a city, it might be z happening because officers are urged to use stops as a pretext to search for drugs, for guns. when that happens, individuals being stopped know they are not being stopped for any genuine public safety reason. they are annoyed. sometimes like az ario as we saw in the video, they are terrified and police, they are used to these stops, they aren't sensitive to the harm feel feel and they are used to having their way. and so that is just a recipe for con flict. >> and we saw in one of those videos that in some cases they're referring to people, they're being called on cases where people clearly have dementia or some other sort of mental illness that they are also having to cope with. i want to talk about fed yal oversight because you actually

lead a federal investigation after the killing of michael brown in 2014 into the ferguson police department. we now do have federal agencies lacking into several of the incidents and a few of the police departments involved in recent incidents of police violence. what can these probes and consent de crees do, and what can they not do to reform police? >> yeah t say really good question. you know, are you absolutely right. we don't have police responding to individuals who have dementia who took 14 dollars worth of-- from wal-mart. that is what it is meant to address. i thought it was really encouraging that both of the investigationsnnounced by the department of justice in toledo and minneapolis, specifically talk about the fact that they are going to look at the police response to individuals who are in behavioral, who have behavioral health disabilities, people in a health crises, that includes people with dementia, with autism.

those are the kinds of interactions that probably, we know most of the people do not need a police response. and when you get a police response, they don't have the training. they can often traumatize people just because they have guns and handcuffs. and that is not the kind of-- we want, it vl encouraging that the department of justice seems to be hearing what police have been saying, that we need a different response besides police for individuals who are in behavioral health crisis. and hopefully they will be working with minneapolis and with-- to come up with better responses to situations like that rather than with police. >> as you said, there is no one pan steea what-- panacea that has been identified yet, kristy lopez, tha for joining us with your incytes. >> thank you for having me. is >> woodruff: for the first time in our nation's history, two

women will sit behind the president of the united states tonight as he addresses the joint session of congress. it is a first for vice president kamala harris, but for nancy pelosi, this is now the fourth president she has worked with as speaker of the house. her personal life and long career is the focus of a new book, "madam speaker" by susan page. susan page, welcome back to the newshour. fascinating, here, i think we all thought we knew a lot about nancy pelosi, but you managed to find out a lot more. it's interesting to me. this is someone who not only has great respect from democrats, but from republicans. i interviewed former house speaker john boehner last week about his book and he says that she's not only the greatest speaker in his lifetime, she may be the greatest house speaker ever. >> you know, she's in the history books because, of course, she's the first woman to ever achieve such a powerful

position in american politics. but the fact is, she'd be in the history books if she were a male speaker because of the things that she has gotten through the house from the financial melt, dealing with the financial meltdown in 2008 to the affordable care act to standing up to president trump. >> woodruff: and susan, i mean, you start at the very beginning with her family. a lot of people associate her, of course, with san francisco, but she comes from this kind of remarkable italian american family in baltimore. her father very powerful in maryland politics, her mother a formidable figure at a time when women really stayed in the background. >> you know, the d'alesandro family in baltimore were prominent as the kennedy family was in boston. her father was a five term congressman, a three term mayor, and her mother, who was known as big nancy because her daughter was, of course, little nancy was a remarkable woman, ambitious, restless, smart, like to play

the ponies. she was a regular at pimlico and someone who trained her daughter in the ways and means of power. >> woodruff: and that is threaded through this entire book. susan page, i was struck that even when nancy pelosi was a stay at home mother, which she was for a number of years before she got actively involved in politics, those skills were already starting to come out. i mean, there was there's a great scene where you write about hoorganized she is. she does the laundry and she lets her five children come and get their own clothes from the dryer. >> you know, you'd think that she learned about how to be speaker of the house from her from her dad, who is an elected official. she says the best training she got to be speaker of the house was when she was the mother in the house. she was governing amid chaos. she was dealing with grievances, some of them real and some of them not. she was dealing with shifting alliances among those five kids. she says that was where she really learn the skills that have served her so well during

this remarkable career as speaker of the house. >> woodruff: and then, of course, susan, she moves on an she does get involved in politics. she moves up very quickly. john boehner used the term killer instinct to describe nancy pelosi, but what were some of the methods she used, some of the tactics she used in order to keep moving up and frankly, prevailing over pretty much every man who stood in the way. >> you know, there's a lesson she learned from her father, and it's this. no one is going to give you power. you have to seize it. that's advice that she took herself. it's advice she's given other up and coming polls over the years. you know, she has a what one congressional correspondent for politico once called an iron fist in a gucci glove. and that does show two ways in which she wielded power. she has a gucci life. she can be very persuasive. she can understand what motivates other members of congress, how to get them where they want to go. but when she needs to have that

iron fist, she gets it out. for instance, pushing through the affordable care act, which she considers her greatest legislative achievement, was a masterful job that most people, including some in the obama white house, thought could never happen. >> woodruff: and not afraid to stand up against some other powerful people, even in her own party. >> you know, she is fearless. and as much as she stood up to donald trump, of course, through his four years, there were also times when she stood up to george w. bush on the iraq war. she stood up to barack obama when the question was how big to go on health care. she stood up to bill clinton on the issue of human rights in china. she was really comfortable enough with power that she was not afraid to stand up to other powerful people. >> woodruff: talk for just a moment, susan, about her relationship with president trump. you have some pretty graphic examples in the book of how she dealt with him, how she spoke about him.

>> you know, i think that president trump felt that he was that she was someone he could make a deal with, especially until the time of impeachment. but i think she always viewed him as someone who was dangerous to democracy. she told me that on election night 2016, when she appeared on this show, it's the opening of the book. once she learned that realized that donald trump was going to be elected president, it was like she was being kicked by a mule and that find that famous picture for standing up in a room and around a table that is almost entirely male, pointing her finger at donald trump before leading a democratic walk out of that meeting. that was, by the way, the last time the two of them had a conversation. the white house put out that picture thinking it made nancy pelosi look unhinged. she seized on the picture, distributed it, thinking it made her look like she was in charge. >> woodruff: and what about president biden? i mean, she clearly was very happy that he won and that president trump lost.

but how do you see her fitting into what he's trying to do? >> i think she is closer to president biden than to any other president with whom she has served. she says that he's he be so sophisticated, so experienced in matters on capitol hill. they can speak in shorthand. she called him a transformative president. i think that this is she sees this as a great capstone to her remarkable political career,. >> woodruff: and they certainly share a long tenure in the congress. last thing, susan, how would you describe what drives nancy pelosi? what does she want her legacy to be, do you think? >> if you ask her what drives her, she'll say it's concern about children. she has a very consistent message about that. she she's a new deal democrat, just like her dad. her dad was close to f.d.r. so that he named his second son, franklin delano roosevelt d'alesandro. and the values of the new deal are values that nancy pelosi continues to carry forward in terms of trying to trying to help people who are in need,

seeing a role for a big government, not a small one. >> woodruff: well, it's it is a fascating read, "madam speaker: nancy pelosi and the lessons of power." susan page, thank you. >> thank you very much. >> woodruff: "apollo 11" astronaut michael collins died today after battling cancer. in 1969, he stayed in lunar orbit alone, for 28 hours while neil armstrong and buzz aldrin made the first landing on the moon. collins said he had no regrets. he said he was focused instead on making sure his crewmates could return home during the 50th anniversary, collins told miles o'brien that he was mesmerized by his home planet. >> on their ride back home, they marveled at our perch in the

universe. the moon was their destination, but, for collins, the real discovery was earth itself. >> all right, i have got the world in my window for a change. the moon was nothing compared to my view of home planet. it was it. it was the main chance. i would look out the window, and there would be a tiny little thing. you know, you could obscure it with your thumb. but every time you put it away somewhere, it would pop out. it wanted you to look at it. it wanted to be seen. it was gorgeous. it was tiny, shiny, the blue of the oceans, the white of the clouds, little streak of rust color that we call continents. it just glowed. having gone out 240,000 miles and seeing it gives me a much greater sense of fragility, a much greater urge to do something to protect that fragility as we go along. >> woodruff: michael collins was

90 years old. and that's the newshour for now. i'm judy woodruff. please join us for special live coverage of president biden's address to a joint session of congress. tune in at 9:00 p.m. eastern to your local pbs station or watch on our social channels. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you, please stay safe and see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: our u.s.-based customer service reps can help you choose a plan based on how much you use your phone, nothing more, nothing less. to learn more, go to consumercellular.tv

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♪ hello, everyone. and welcome to "amanpour." here's what's coming up. the leaked tape shaking up politics inside iran. the foreign minister and chief negotiator criticizes the untouchable revolutionary guard. then -- >> accountability is an essential part of building trust with the community and public safety requires public trust. >> the federal government's long overdue look into racism in policing amid a torrent of innocent lives lost. also ahead, we're joined by one of the best selling authors of all time, john grisham, and the slam dunk in his new book "s

"sooley." >>