captioning sponsored by wnet >> sreenivasan: on this edition for saturday, may 1: dwindling resources and mass cremations, as the rise of covid-19 cases in india continues at a staggering pace. optimistic signs for the u.s., with vaccinations continuing and daily cases falling. and, in our signature segment: "roads to recovery." how connecticut is working to maintain its manufacturing workforce. next, on pbs newshour weekend. >> pbs newshour weekend is made possible by: sue and edgar wachenheim iii. the anderson family fund. bernard and denise schwartz. the cheryl and philip milstein family. the jpb foundation.

barbara hope zuckerberg. the leonard and norma klfine foundation. the peter g. peterson and joan ganz cooney fund. the estate of worthington mayo-smith. we try to live in the moment, to not miss what's right in front of us. at mutual of america, we believe taking care of tomorrow can help you make the most of today. mutual of america financial group, retirement services and investments. >> 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, visit www.consumercellular.tv. additional support has been provided by: and by the corporation for public broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the american people. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like

you. thank you. >> sreenivasan: good evening, and thank you for joining us. nearly 40% of all adults in the united states are now fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, according to data from the centers for disease control and prevention. daily infections in the u.s. are falling-- down 28%, on average, compared to two weeks ago according to the "new york times"-- even as the number of vaccine doses given daily has decreased from a peak in mid-april. today, del airlines began filling its middle seats, the final u.s. airline to end social distancing on planes. and, thousands were on-hand today in louisville to see the kentucky derby. last year, the race was run after a four-month postponement and with no spectators due to the pandemic. but as vaccinations contribute to fewer confirmed infections and eased restrictions in many parts of the u.s., the pandemic is growing globally. in india, a huge surge in coronavirus cases continues, with more than 400,000 confirmed infections reportetoday,

another daily record. officials in india also announced another 3,200 deaths, bringing the official total to more than 211,000-- a number experts say is far below the real number of lives lost. the spike in cases comes as hospitals in many of india's states deal with overcrowding and shortages of oxygen. >> i haven't got any oxygen at all now. that's why i have put her in a prone position, so that she can feel some relief. her oxygen level is at 70 right now. >> sreenivasan: medical supplies from around the world are arriving in india, including from the united states. yesterday, the u.s. became the latest country to restrict travel from india because of the spike in cases. overnight, at least 18 patients were killed when a covid ward caught fire at a hospital in the western state of gujarat. officials are blaming the blaze on an oxygen leak, and said more than 30 patients were rescued. the fire comes a week after a blaze in a hospital near mumbai killed 13 covid-19 patients. as cases spike, india expanded

vaccine eligibility today to all adults, even as officials in some parts of the country warned that they did not have enough supplies. we'll have more on the situation in india after the news summary. today marks the formal start of president biden's withdrawal of u.s. troops from afghanistan. an agreement with the taliban and the trump administration had set may 1 as the date for complete withdrawal. president biden announced that deadline is now september 11. on thursday, the white house confirmed that the drawdown has already started for the roughly 2,500 american troops still serving in what is now the longest war in u.s. history. across the country, u.s., afghan, and nato forces are on high alert. the taliban threatened unspecified “consequences” for the delayed troop withdrawal, and they are continuing to boycott a conference in rkey that was supposed to restart peace talks last month. voters in the 6th congressional district in texas are choosing a new representative from a crowded field today. the special election will fill

the seat of the late republican congress-member ron wright, who died in february after being diagnosed with the coronavirus. there are 23 candidates in the race, including wright's widow, susan wright, who former president donald trump endorsed on monday. the district, southeast of fort worth, has become more competitive in recent years. in 2016, mr. trump carried it by 12 points, but won by only three in 2020. if no candidate today gets more than 50% of the vote, the race will go to a two-candidate runoff. the four astronauts ready to return to earth in the spacex "dragon" capsule spent some extra time ithe international space station today. high winds on earth delayed their planned splashdown to just before 3:00 a.m. tomorrow. the capsule, called“ resilience,” will carry crew-one, the first crew to travel to the international space station via private spacecraft. the crew is scheduled to leave the space station tonight, and land in the gulf of mexico off florida 6.5 hours later. it will be the first nasa

space flight to splashdown in darkness since "apollo 8" in 1968, 53 years ago. for more national and international news, visit www.pbs.org/newshour. >> sreenivasan: the alarming rise of covid-19 cases and deaths in india is overwhelming the country's resources, forcing extensions on shutdowns and restrictions on travel from the country. for more on the worsening crisis there, i spoke with pbs newshour weekend digital producer pavni mittal, who is in new delhi. pavni, what's the situation on the ground? we see and hear about these staggering numbers, we see images of crematoriums working overtime, but, what's it like on the street? >> the numbers, as you can see, as you know, have been climbing, but there's enough evidence to show that these numbers, both in terms of the cases as well as the death toll, are

under-reported. you know, these numbers do not take into account people who've died at home or worse-- people who've, you know, died waiting outside hospitals, because that's also what's happening. pyres are burning through the night. you know, they ran out of wood. they've actually asked the forest department to help out with wood supplies. people are waiting for hours. there's no time for people to say goodbye, to mourn the people who they've lost. there'really no dignity for the dead, but also no dignity for the people who really go through the trauma of the living. you know, many of these people, sick themselves, have had to take care of multiple family members who are critical, you know, paid exorbitant amounts for ambulance, for medical supplies, for oxygen, for medicines, only to be turned away, going from hospital to hospital and then seeing their loved one just die in front of them, and then take them to a

crematorium and waited for hours to, you know, cremate the body and then come back and, in many cases, do the same thing for someone elsehey know. >> sreenivasan: speaking of medicines and access, what's the status of vaccines? >> india has started its phase three of vaccinations, which is people, you know, above the age of 18, which is literally all adults. t states have now come up and said that th don't have enough vaccine. so, the drive that was supposed to start on saturday, may 1, is now expected to be delayed. delhi government has actually come out and said, you know, please don't show up at vaccination centers hoping to get lucky because you are just going to create a crowd. the state of andhra pradesh has come out and said that they cannot vaccinate people between the ages of 18 to 45, which is the third phase, before september. mumbai has shut vaccination centers fothree days. they're actually even struggling to, you know, honor the appointments that were already made. so, you know, the suppliers are stretched. we do know that vaccine supplies

and raw materials are being flown in, but, you know, it's still a drop in the ocean. this is a country of 1.3 billion people that has only managed to inoculate-- to fully inoculate less than 2% of its population. >> sreenivasan: tell me a little bit about how this frustration is translating politically, because most people in the u.s., there's an election going on. it's different from how it's handled in the united stat, but there have been rallies by the prime minister and other politicians during this time. >> there's just a lot of anger. you know, we've been seeing videos, we'vbeen talking to people who just see a state that has failed to-- forgeen help them, acknowledge what's going on. rallies were being held just two or three days before the final poll. so, it's not as if, you know, the rallies were stopped way in advance when the numbers started climbing up. and we don't know what this is going to do to the ruling party at all because, you know, the next big eleion for them is

only a few years apart. but there is a lot of-- a lot of anger. >> sreenivasan: you know, what's surprising is, as early as a month ago, there was a sense of confidence that india had beat this. india was handing out vaccines to other countries. and here we are. >> you know, in hindsight, people are like, okay, where were theuthorities? because, you know, just because you claim that you beat a pandemic doesn't really mean that the virus has gone away. the virus has done what it has done world over through history; it has mutated, it has suddenly circulad, and now it has exploded. and, you know, the sense is that the authorities were caught off-guard, but, you know, they had-- to be really honest-- no business doing that because the cases had been climbing for a while. wh you're seeing is a complete collapse of the medical system and complete lack of responsibilities from authorities across the levels. >> sreenivasan: pavni, tell me a little bit about what kinds

of precautions are you, your family members, taking on a day-to-day basis? >> well, we're locked in. so, delhi's had a lockdown. to be really honest, i mean, i've been fully vaccinated before i came in. my father's been fully vaccinated, and my mother's had one shot. now, we don't knowhen she'll get her second shot because she has the covaxin, and supplies are low, as we know. but we're not-- like, i haven't-- i think i've stepped out of my house three times, twice just within the complex and once to the airport in the car. >> sreenivasan: pavni mittal, joining us from new delhi. thanks so much. >> sreenivasan: for decades, manufacturers in the united states have warned of a massive skills gap-- that there are not enough new workers with the skills needed to make up for older ones who are retiring. president biden has proposed

$100 billion for workforce training over the next ten years as part of the american jobs plan, a plan he touted during his address to congress earlier this week. >> nearly 90% of the infrastructure jobs created in the american jobs plan do not require a college degree. 75% don't require an associate's degree. the american jobs plan is a blue-collar blueprint to build america. that's what it is. >> sreenivasan: in this installment of our series "roads to recovery," christopher booker reports from southwestern connecticut on how the pandemic has accelerated a push to improve and expand training for the state's manufacturing workforce. this story is part of our ongoing series, "chasing the dream: poverty and opportunity in america." >> reporter: there is much to be read in bigelow's tea leaves. watching the tea bags being manufactured in this fairfield, connecticut factory is to see a

collision between the past and present. the final product would not be unfamiliar to ruth c. bigelow, who started this company nearly 80 years ago, but the speed and mechanization of producing 460 million tea bags a year with just 100 workers is entirely new. >> when we first started, the business was built on women whose kids were in school, and the hours that they were able to work. and those hours were the hours they came in. >> reporter: cindi bigelow is th's granddaughter, and the c.e.o. of bigelow tea, whichin addition to this plant, also has production facilities in louisville, kentucky and boise, idaho. how hard is it to find and retain talent, particularly on the manufacturing side? >> it is a challenge, and the pandemic made it more allenging. >> reporter: the factories never shut down, even as the market for tea changed. demand increased at home, but cratered at the office. that, combined with the pandemic

itself, put extra pressure on bigelow's workforce. >> when you think about manufacturing, you recognize that it's a disciplined profession. you have to be here on time. you have a certain number of hours. you're working on lines with other individuals. there's a real collaboration. and so, when you have a pandemic hit and all of a sudden transportation has gotten more challenging, child care was devastated-- that impacts the employees, and impacted our ability to be able to retain and keep and hire individuals. >> reporter: even before the pandemic, bigelow sayshe company was always looking for new workers, and like other manufacturers, its workforce is aging. >> a lot of our mechanics have been here 20, 25 years, and they're working toward retirement. so we need to make sure we're getting people in here, and they have to have, what we call, sort of soft skills, and they have to have, sort of the mechanical and electrical aptitude.

>> reporter: but in connecticut, like every state in america, there are not enough people with these skills. >> i'm goi to write the same program, but i'm going to adjust for the tools. >> reporter: about 15 miles from bigelow's fairfield plant, a small group of aspiring machinists is getting their first exposure to computerized machining tools after five weeks of virtual classes. funded by grants from the federal government and connecticut's department of labor, and in partnership with companies like bigelow, the eight-week pre-apprenticeship class provides training in soft skills and industrial safety. that's in addition to hands-on training with tools, blueprint reading, and machine programming. is this the first time you had thought about pursuing something like this? >> yes, this has been the first. i never knew anything about manufacturing. >> reporter: if all goes well, 24-year-old khaila mcclintock will be a full-time apprentice in a matter of weeks. she attended some college after graduating high school, but didn't graduate, and has student debt. and, she lost her job in a deli last march due to the covid shutdown.

>> i just want to be situated, like, and i know with this trade i can further in it and i know i can make some type of living off of it. >> reporter: a crucial part of the training equation is additional funding for supplies and fees, as well as childcare and transportation. mcclintock lives about0 miles away, and the program provides a ride to and from each in-person class. if you had not had that transportation, do you think you'd be able to get here? >> it would be a struggle without them. a struggle. >> reporter: at the end of eight weeks, mcclintock will have a certificate from the national institute of metalworking skills, and be connected with a local employer, like bigelow, where she will complete an apprenticeship lasting at least a year a paid job that also commits to providing structured on-the-job training and mentorship. while the idea for this program began before the pandemic, joe carbone, c.e.o. of the workplace, a fairfield county- based nonprofit administering the program, says training like this has taken on new importance after the disruption of the last 13 months.

>> when you look in connecticut at the people that are right now collecting umployment benefits, two-thirds are people that earned $35,000 a year or less in 2019. to the extent we can help to move people up, feeding the kind of skills that are needed for these jobs that you can do an apprenticeship program, they are that buffer between people that are unskilled and where you could begin to move up the ladder to feed into the industries that are growing and are paying reasonably good wages. >> reporter: and officials in connecticut are hoping that manufacturing, which makes up about 10% of the state's workforce, with an average wage of nearly $20 an hour, may provide that bridge. >> the pandemic has been really a catalyst to get people focused on workforce development. >> reporter: colin cooper is connecticut's chief manufacturing officer. he was appointed by governor ned lamont in 2019 to serve as the state's advocate for manufacturing, after a career running an aerospace

manufacturing company. it's the first position like this in the country. >> we graduate approximately 9,000 high school students a year that don't go on to college or the military. so, those students are at risk of being underemployed if they don't get additional training. and we look at that as a river of talent coming out of our high school systems, that we need to access that talent and get them the opportunity to get some of this training. >> reporter: and they need to do it fast. >> 35% of our manufacturing workforce is 55 years or older. so we have a lot of attrition from retirement. and those happen to be the most highly-skilled, experienced workers that are retiring. and so, we're focused on incumbent worker training as well as training new entrants. >>eporter: sounds like a remarkably complicated task, because on oneand, you have such a large portion of the working population cing towards retirement, coupled with a pretty dramatic change in technology and what the skills

that are needed for these jobs. >> yes, yeah, exactly right. i mean, we have sort of a generational shift in terms of all these digital technologies that are coming to bear in the manufacturing environment. >> reporter: cooper says even if you have the skills for today, there is a good chance, they won't be enough for what's coming. >> as that powder comes in, it meets the laser at just the right point, at just the right temperature, it forms a melt pool and builds your part, or repairs your part. >> reporter: ron angelo is the c.e.o. of the connecticut center for advanced technology, or c.c.a.t. the nonprofit was founded in 2004 with a federal grant to combat the loss in manufacturing jobs overseas and to prepare connecticut companies and the workforce for the manufacturing jobs of tomorrow. >> this is the thing with the pandemic, as horrible as it is, what type of opportunities could come out of it? >> reporter: including unprecedented amounts of funding from the federal government. last september, c.c.a.t. launched a program called rev-up, subsidizing wages for connecticut manufacturing

companies that brought back furloughed or laid-off employees, and provided them with additional training. the program was funded using nearly $750,000 from the 2020 covid aid, relief, and economic security, or cares act. the money helped bring back six employees to bristol's dacruz manufacturing, who were laid off when business took a hit during the pandemic. husband and wife victor and betty dacruz run the company. >> we had, you know, our supervisor coming in and saying, i don't have enough work. we had to, you know, make some changes in order to deal with our new reality. >> we had some people test positive here and we immediately shut down for six days. and-- and, you know, it was just all very scary throughout. >> reporter: orders for precision-machined parts started to pick up in the fall, and the dacruz's said financial support from rev-up gave them the confidence to bring people back

to work sooner. today they have about 40 employees, still down from a peak of 48 in 2018. >> there's just a lot of unknowns. this is a pandemic. and so, having some support from the state was great. and, you know, we had laid off these people, and we want to bring them back as soon as possible, because-- before they would be, you know, before they would be taken by someone else. the biggest hindrance for us to grow is lack of-- of-- of technical skills, and finding people we can get work, but you can't get, you know, we can get machines, but you can't get people. >> reporter: rev-up ended at the end of 2020, the date when all cares act money had to be spent. >> right now we're standing in r advanced design automation and metrology lab. >> reporter: but ron angelo is hopeful that funds from the american rescue plan, enacted in march, will provide additional support. >> now we're talking about a rev-up program that will go maybe a couple of years, whereas the last one, we really only had about six months to implement.

so, once we get that again, it's like putting gasoline on the fire. there's so much demand we have. we know the workforce that's out there, that wants to get back to work; the company that needs them back. all we need to do is get that capital deployed for the companies, and we'll start bringing a lot of people back to work. >> reporter: and victor decruz knows that employers can be a crucial part of that training process. he got his start after completing an apprenticeship in 1976. >> i came up through that. i actually made a business out of it. i've been a job creator for 40 years now, and i'm very proud of that. >> reporter: this is the kind of future that aspiring machinist khalia mcclintock is hoping for. >> i just can't wait to have that certificate in my hand, to see, like, i finished, you know. it gets my life on track where it should be. you know, it's been a very struggle for me. so it's like i need this.

>> this is pbs newshour weekend, saturday. >> sreenivasan: finally tonight, we've reported on the benefits of mangrove trees in the southeastern united states, in the battle to turn back climate change and protect coastlines. in indonesia, there is a new campaign to restore mangroves, and one man is turning to puppets and humor to get the trees the ation they deserve. newshour weekend's ivette feliciano reports. >> reporter: the sign reads "traveling fairy tales," and the rhino-head h he wears is meant to call attention to one of indonesia's endangered species. >> ( translated ): when i decided to make this travelling fairy tale, it was my hope that the children i meet could become heroes for their environment, heroes for saving indonesian rare animals, indonesian forests and preserving mangroves in our country. >> reporter: samsudin, an environmental activist who goes by one name, travels through villages like this one in the coastal region southeast of jakarta. in addition to rising sea levels

due to climate change, illegal logging and construction of fish farms are also contributing to coastal erosion, threatening lives and livelihoods. >> ( translated ): one of the functions of mangroves is that they can act as a barrier to the strong waves from the ocean when they grow up, so waves will not destroy the land, as there can be a lot of erosion on land caused by those big waves. >> reporter: the island nation still has more than eight million acres of mangroves, but hundreds of thousands of acres are damaged or in critical condition. a government-backed restoration project is underway, but not everyone is a supporter. >> ( translated ): people think we a crazy, and what we do is "unuseful," and they see mangrove planting as a disturbance. so, after we planted, a lot of it was pulled out. but that's a challenge, and we have to keep doing it. >> reporter: samsudin and his team plan to keep spreading the word and planting saplings to reinforce the message that mangroves can be climate change heroes.

>> sreenivasan: that's all for this edition of pbs newshour weekend. for the latest news updates, visit www.pbs.org/newshour. i'm hari sreenivasan. thanks for watching. stay healthy, and have a good night. captioning sponsored by wnet captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> pbs newshour weekend is made possible by: sue and edgar wachenheim iii. the anderson family fund. bernard and denise schwartz. the cheryl and philip milstein family. the jpb foundation. barbara hope zuckerberg. the leonard and noa klorfine foundation. the peter g. peterson and joan ganz cooney fund.

the estate of worthington mayo-smith. we try to live in the moment, to not miss what's right in front of us. at mutual of america, we believe taking care of tomorrow can help you make the most of today. mutual of america financial group, retirement services and investments. additional support has been provided by: consumer cellular. and by: and by the corporation for public broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the american people. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. you're watching pbs.

♪ announcer: support for the pbs presentation of this program was provided by general motors. the world is ever-changing. what hasn't really changed is the way we move around it, but that way is giving way to a whole generation of people who will charge their cars just like their phones and who will judge vehicles not by the rev of an engine but by theum of change. the start button to an all-electric future has been pushed. rubenstein: so why do you think some people do not believe that there is such a thing as climate change? you know, they must not have taken enough science courses or something. i don't know. you worry that there's too much power and too much data in the hands of these technology companies? the government needs to get involved.