captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening, i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight, flashpoint, hamas fires rockets into israel, prompting an air strike after hundreds of palestinians are wounded in clashes with israeli police. then, a major breach, the latest ransomware attack on a major fuel pipeline highlights the vulnerability of u.s. energy infrastructure to cyber intrusion. and, inside yemen-- the chaos of the ongoing war renews, among many yemenis, a push to re-draw the country's borders, but most simply long for peace. >> while people here tell us that independence is important

to them, they also say that ending the war and the economic hardships it has wrought is even more important for now. >> woodruff: all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> grandparents. >> we want to put money aside for them, so, change in plans. >> all right, let's see what we can adjust. >> we'd be closer to the twins. >> change in plans. >> okay. >> mom, are you painting again? you could sell these. >> let me guess, change in plans? >> at fidelity, changing plans is always part of the plan.

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>> woodruff: pfizer's covid-19 has won approval for use in children 12 to 15 years old. the u.s. food and drug administration announced the emergency measure late today. the minimum age for the vaccine had been 16. meanwhile, new york state became the latest to mandate that students at publicly funded colleges be vaccinated for the fall term. governor andrew cuomo announced it. >> if you must have a vaccine, get it now if you have to t it anyway. i also encourage private schools to do the same thing. let's make a global statement. you cannot go back to school in person in september unless you have a vaccine.

>> woodruff: overall, new infections in the u.s. have fallen to their lowest since last september, even as vaccinations have stalled. and, the world health organization reported today that global infections have plateaued, despite huge numbers in india and brazil. here with more on the move to open up the pfizer vaccine to adolescents in the u.s., our william brangham. so, william, you have been following this story very closely. remind us why this is an important announcement? >> brangham: that's right, judy. this has been something that a lot of parents and pediatricians have been eagerly awaiting. the reason is that vaccinating kids is an important part, an important step for us to really tamping down this pandemic. cases in the u.s. have really fallen, but getting kids vaccinated is going to be important if we want to open schools fully in the fall.

and given the new variants that are more contagious, and some make us sicker, and there is this reluctant group of adults in the u.s. still resistant to getting it, we need as many to be vaccinated as possible, and this opens up millions more who could be eligible for the vaccine very soon. >> woodruff: 12 to 15-year-olds, what do we know about exactly who is going to get it then? >> brangham: this will be the determination of the parents of these kids. there are a few polls about this. most recent one was last month by the kaiser family foundation, and it found that 30% of adults said yes, they would vaccinate their children as soon as possible. a quarter of those parents said, well, we're going to have more of a wait and see approach to see how well the vaccines are doing. 18% said they could do it only if their school required their kids to have the vaccine. but 23% of those adults

polled said they would definitely not do it. there is still a slice of the pulation that doesn't want this for their children, and not surprisingly they sort of track with the adults' opinions about vaccines. >> woodruff: finally, william, we know that the argument had been made by some that we should hold off on vaccinating this younger age group, bec because, frankly, there are a lot of adults around the world who are more susceptible, and they need the vaccine, too? >> brangm: that's right. there is a jarring contrast that we have to wrestle with here, which is we are now talking about vaccinating the people who are at the lowest possible risk, healthy kids in the united states, to covid-19. while at the same time, as you're saying, india and brazil and nations around the world are on fire and cannot vaccinate their elderly, their health care workers. and so it's something we have to wrestle with. there are certainly

ethical questions involved here that we are giving vaccines to this low-risk group while others elsewhere desperately need it. but barring any current change in policy, that is what is going to be happening in the u.s. pretty soon. >> woodruff: william brangham following this breaking story. thank you, william. >> woodruff: in the day's other news, violence exploded today between israelis and palestinians. palestinians say more than 300 people were injured in battles with israeli police in jerusalem. in turn, hamas militants in gaza fired a barrage of rockets at jerusalem. israel's prime minister netanyahu warned the militants had crossed a red line. we'll get the details, after the news summary. in afghanistan, the latest roadside bombings have killed at least 13 people. they targeted buses in two provinces.

the attacks followed saturday's bombing at a girls' school in kabul. up to 60 were killed and scores wounded, leaving parents to wonder why. >> ( translated ): she had bought new clothes and had plans to visit relatives, but this is what happened. is this what muslims do? we just pray to god so we have a long lasting peace in our country so our children can study and go out. >> woodruff: the taliban denied responsibility for the kabul attack. it also declared a three-day cease-fire marking the end of islam's holy month of ramadan. a tiny italian island is being overwhelmed by migrants. lampedusa lies between north africa and italy and is only about eight square miles in size. more than 2,100 migrants have reached its shores in about 24 hours, including 635 who landed today. many waited on the dock for want of shelter. nearly 13,000 people have reached italy already this year, more than tripling the number a

year ago. back in this country, police in colorado are investigating why a gunman opened fire at a weekend birthday party, killing seven people, including himself. they say the shooter walked into a house trailer hosting the party in colorado springs just after midnight on sunday, then, opened fire. police say one of the victims was the shooter's girlfriend. president biden is urging employers to get workers vaccinated and raise wages to help jump start the economy. he spoke today aft friday's phil mr. biden addressed criticism that generous unemployment benefits are in effect paying people to stay home. >> anyone collecting unemployment who is offered a suitable job must take the job or lose their unemployment benefits. there are a few covid-19-related

exceptions so that people aren't forced to choose between their basic safety and a paycheck, but otherwise that's the law. >> woodruff: also today, the treasury department launched $350 billion dollars in federal aid for state and local governments. it's part of the covid relief package approved in march. california today expanded a drought emergency to nearly a third of the state's 40 million people. the declaration cites acute water shortages in counties across northern and central california. drought is also affecting much of the american west. the biden administration has re- instated federal protections against sex discrimination in health care. today's announcement marked a victory for gay and transgender people. it reverses a trump policy that let hospitals and insurers deny services for gender-transition procedures. 44 state attorneys general urged facebook today to abandon plans

for an instagram app for pre- teens. they cited concerns over cyberbullying and exposure to online predators. facebook said it wld make every effort to protect children. currently, children under 13 are supposed to be barred from instagram. and, on wall street, tech stocks led the market lower amid worries about a labor shortage and inflation. the dow jones industrial average lost 35 points to close at 34,742. the nasdaq fell 350 points, 2.5%. the s&p 500 slipped 44. still to come on the newshour: violent attacks between israel and palestine following clashes in jerusalem. the chaos of the war in yemen renews a push to re-draw the country's borders. an innovative treatment for tuberculosis could help fight the disease in the wake of covid-19. and much more.

>> woodruff: now back to our top story, tensions exploded in jerusalem, and in gaza, as hamas militants today fired rockets into israel, and toward jerusalem. in response, israel conducted airstrikes in gaza, killing more than 20 people, including at least nine children. for more than a week, palestinians have protested throughout jerusalem over attempts to evict palestinian families from their homes. amna nawaz has the story. >> nawaz: in jerusalem today, thousands gathered to celebrate the israeli capture of the eastern part of the city from jordan 54 years ago. but by early evening, they were

forced to disband, as air raid sirens warning of hamas rockets echoed through the city. for days, the streets in nearby majority-palestinian east jerusalem have been far from peaceful. the holy sites reek of tear gas, the stench of skunk water deployed by israeli soldiers, pollutes the air, and stun grenades light up the streets. over the weekend israeli soldiers injured more than three hundred people observing the end of ramadan at the al-aqsa mosque compound. tensions are high in the holy land, fueled partly by the potential eviction of palestinian families from their jerusalem homes. >> ( translated ): everything that is happening is meant to drive palestinians out, to kick them out and try to empty jerusalem completely of th. >> nawaz: six palestinian families face eviction in east jerusalem's sheikh jarrah neighborhoood. the decision rests with the israeli supreme court, which delayed the case today. muna kurd is a member of one of those families. >> ( translated ): this is an

arbitrary collective displacement of a large group of people. israel wants to raze our neighborhood and put israeli settlers in our place, but we emphasize our right to this land. since 1956 these are our homes; we were born here, we grew up here, and we will remain in our homes. >> you are stealing my house, >> and if i don't steal if someone else is going to steal it. >> nawaz: but israeli settlers say the area is holy to them, because it was built beside the tomb of a jewish high priest and they owned the land prior to israel's 1948 founding. today israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu voiced support for israeli soldiers and police in jerusalem. >> ( translated ): this is not a mission that we can carry out without conflict from time to time with those same forces of intolerance that want to take away our rights to the temple mount and the other holy sites. this requires from time to time standing up and standing strong as israeli police and our security forces are doing now. we support them in this just struggle. >> nawaz: the neighborhood has become another flashpoint in the israeli-palestinian conflict.

palestinians say it represents a wider push to remove them from areas strategic to israeli settlers in east jerusalem. in the last four years netanyahu's government built over 9,000 new settlement homes in the west bank and jerusalem, an expansion policy unchallenged by the trump administration. palestinian families attempting to defend their homes have been met with violence from israeli settlers and arrests by israeli soldiers. last week the u.n. called the evictions illegal. >> the evictions, if ordered and implemented, would violate israel's obligations under international law. >> nawaz: today white house spokeswoman jen psaki said the u.s. is concerned with escalating violence. >> we are continuing to closely monitor the violence in israel. security advisor jake sullivan reiterated concerns about the potential evictions of palestinian families from their homes and they agreed that the launching of rocket attacks and incendiary balloons from gaza towards israel is unacceptable and must be condemned. >> nawaz: sheikh jarrah has long

been a contentious site between israeli settlers and palestinians. in 2009, settlers evicted dozens of families from their homes in the neighborhood. but in the past month, tensions have again come to a boiling point. in april, hundreds of israeli extremists marched through jerusalem yelling death to arabs. today, even as the muslim holy month of ramadan comes to a close, this conflict is far from over. for the pbs newshour, i'm amna nawaz. >> woodruff: the federal government today confirmed that a russian criminal group is behind the hacking of a crucial energy pipeline. the biden administration said it is working with the colonial pipeline company to deal with the cyberhack and its effects.

colonial shut down its pipeline; the largest of its kind in the u.s., after the company learned it was the victim of this cyber extortion attempt. william brangham has the latest. >> brangham: judy, the f.b.i. said a group known as "darkside" is responsible for the this cyberattack, which used what is known as ransomware. ransomware is malicious computer code that block an owner's access to their computer network until a ransom gets paid. colonial operates a 5,500-mile long pipeline that carries almost half the jet fuel and gasoline delivered to the east coast. the company has so far refused to say whether it paid any ransom but said it hopes to be largely back online by the end of the week. so far, the impact on gas prices has been small. this attack is the latest example of ransomeware incidents in the u.s. by one estimate, in just the past year, more than 113 federal, state and municipal

agencies, 500-plus health facilities and more than 1,600 schools, colleges and universities have all been attacked with ransonware. for more on this and the alarm bells it's sounding, i'm joined by megan stifel of the global cyber alliance, a non-profit dedicated to reducing cyber risk. >> brangham: very good to have you on the "news hour." this most recent attack on this pipeline, i think largely because it is such a major piece of infrastructure, seems like a real escalation. is this among the worst type of ransomware attack we've seen so far? >> thanks very much for having me tonight. in terms of its household recognition of this being an important issue, i would say yes. but we've seen in the st, for example, one that happened in 2017, hit victims in 150 countries. so this is a major incident in terms of the impact it can have on the east coast, and infrastructure distribution, but sadly more has happened in the

past. >> brangham: as i mentioned, ransomware is basically holding a computer network hostage for money. and the company -- the hackers behind this said yes, that was their goal. but does ransomware software allow hackers to do more than just hold the system? could they sabotage it? could they use it for nefarious purposes? does it allow you to that? >> in some cases, yes. they could have the ability to have very serious consequences on safety. but it is also against their interest to do so. if an individual -- if there is harm done, significant impact, that in some ways can ruin their brand, so to speak. in this case, and other networks say we're not going to target the health care sector, and we're seeing that these folks probably didn't mean to have the impact in this instance as they did. >> brangham: i touched on the huge numbers, but is this a growing epidemic? are we seeing a rise in

these types of attacks? >> yes. particularly over the last year. you mentioned some figures that added up to this one we know well, 2400 school systems and health care establishments were the victims. and not all victims want to come forward to law enforcement, and that really hinders the ability for law enforcement and the government to make an informed decision and to try to counter this attack. >> brangham: from a technical perspective, how does ransomware get into a computer network? >> technically, in most cases, ransomware evolves from a suspicious e-mail. someone clicks on an e-mail, the phishing e-mails, from someone you think is an associate or a colleague, and they say i need you to open this, and do this right now, luring you to clicking on a link, and that link reroutes the user to not the intended place they thought that were going to, but to a

malicious website, allowing the perpetrators to gain access to that particular individual's computer, and thereby the organization's network. depending on how well the network is architected, they may have access then to a range of places within the network, to very sensitive date, to, in some cases, not so sensitive data. they will look for data they know is valuable and they can then hold it ransom so they can make money. >> brangham: it is amazing how simple it is, one click on a dubious e-mail can set off this chain reaction and imperil huge pieces of infrastructure. >> it is. but we don't want to overplay the simplicity of it. there is a number of steps that can be taken to frustrate these actors' ability. such as using multi-factor programs, makingure there is -- making sure that software software is kept as up to date as

possible, which is how these people are able to take advantage of a weak network, making sure those networks are closed. it takes a range of steps, and in a lot of places, they need to be lucky ones, and in many cases they need to spend additional time on a network. and they want to make sure it is not their network that is risk; it is someone else's. >> brangham: it sounds like you're talkingbout a lot of patches, how we build software and how companies operate this software. do you think there is a role for the government to play in this in helping these best practices move along? >> absolutely. i was fortunate to lead a task force that wrapped up our concluding remarks just two weeks ago. that group came together, over 50 organizations, and identified a range of actions that could be taken, some involving the government. in this instance, we recommended that our government, as well as a

number of international partners and allies, work together and determine and make public that the ransomware is an international/national security risk, and they needed to development a coalition of governments working to a enforce the laws and bring these perpetrators to justice. and also taking investigative measures. raransomware is the latest taking advantage of the weaknesses, and potentially, there may need be to the need for regulation, and opponents of critical infrastructure, and that will hopefully be the subject of debate. >> brangham: the biden administration pointed the finger at this particular hacking group, darkside, and also hinted they might be based in russia and the russian government may have a responsibility in all of this. let's say other governments are involved. that's a much trickier nut if you have to get other

governments to crack down on actors in their own borders. >> it is. in many cases in ransomware, the actors are working from safe havens, governments that who are unwilling or unable to help further investigation. in that case, we have to work with other governments to use additional measures to try to bring these perpetrators to justice. that could involve a range of actions, including additional sanctions on russia, as well as looking at other measures, such as foreign and military aid, which are recommendations from this task force i was involved in, looking at all power to try to bring additional and important factors and make an impact. >> brangham: megan stifel from the global cyber alliance, thank you so much for being here. >> thank you for having me. >> woodruff: the war in yemen is

now in its seventh year, and shows little sign of ending soon, despite the horrific humanitarian toll. within the war between the houthi rebels, backed by iran, and the internationally- recognized government of yemen are other battles that threaten to split the country in two. for her final report inside yemen, special correspondent jane ferguson looks at the war to divide this land. >> reporter: the port city of aden, in the south of yemen, has been hammered by the country's six year war. it bears the scars in many places. in 2014, after iran-backed houthi rebels seized control of the capital sana'a, they swept south to aden. people mobilized, armed themselves and supported by a saudi-led coalition pushed the rebels back north. for many political leaders here this war has opened both an old wound and an opportunity. the push for independence from the north of yemen, and breaking

the country the into parts. >> ( translated ): we fought hard and liberated all our cities in five months. in the beginning this was a civil society revolution, but the southern people back then created a military power. >> reporter: dr. nasser al kobajy is the interim head of the southern transitional council or s.t.c., the main political and armed force in southern yemen, and calling for independence. >> ( translated ): this power could now fight for years. so the choice now will be to either choose a long war or the peaceful solution, which is dividing yemen into two countries. >> reporter: the s.t.c.'s leaders and military largely rules the south of the country in areas around the port city, aden. >> ( translated ): when we say we want to get our country back we are saying we want to go back to the old borders. when the british were in the south and the turks were in the north the british drew the border. >> reporter: yemen hasn't been a unified country for long, only since 1990. from the middle of the 19th century the south was ruled by colonial britain and local emirs, while the north was apart

of the ottoman empire. when both the british and ottoman empires receded after the first world war, local, separate authorities ran the two territories as different countries. from 1990 to 1994, southerners fought and lost a civil war with the north, trying to re-gain their independence. these days, in downtown aden, it's not hard to find people filled with nostalgia for a former period in this city, not only before the current war, but before unity, >> ( translated ): there is no comparison. aden was the mother of the world. aden was the most beautiful city in the arabian peninsula. now it is ruined. it's possible that after the war we may get independence. it's the solution for us southerners. if we stick with unity we will have the same problems. >> reporter: as efforts to end the war in yemen step up, it's not clear what a post-war yemen would look like, or whether it could even exist as a unified state. the war offered armed groups an

opportunity to rule areas they themselves either came from or took. now, bringing these regions all under one government is a serious challenge. >> there are some that are controlled by the houthis, some by the government, some by other forces. and so the real question is what happens when the war ends, how do we work that out? and i think the answer is probably some sort of federalist system. >> reporter: elana delozier is an expert on yemen and gulf states with the washington institute. >> conceptually there has always been a sense of local politics. you know, all politics is local, and in yemen that has long been the case, and so i'm not sure that this idea that we are going to have one totally psychologically unified yemen is necessarily going to be the case. >> reporter: making things more complex: there are more than two sides in this war. the houthi rebels control the

capital sanaa and much of the north. to the east in marib, they are battling the internationally recognized yemeni government. marib is the government forces' last major stronghold. technically, the separatists and the government are allied in their fight against the houthis, but it's a relationship of convenience alone. muddying things further is the fact that both sides are backed by separate, regional partners-- the saudis back the yemeni government forces in marib and the united arab emirates supports the separatists in the south. just as iran is allied the houthis, in yemen, regional players each back a side. >> ( translated ): of course we have a great relationship with the emiratis. i think they helped build the military power in the south because they were partners in the w against houthis and this gave us a relationship with them now and in the future. >> reporter: if the yemeni government loses marib to the houthis, it would weaken them severely in any upcoming peace talks. it could also help the

southerners in their push for independence. in an interview with the newshour, senior houthi leader mohammed ali al houthi dodged the question of whether a houthi takeover of marib would hasten a split of yemen between north and south. >> ( translated ): from an islamic perspective we want unity between the whole islamic community. and we hope the islamic community will get as powerful as the americans have now. now the whole world wants unity. >> reporter: driving between territories controlled by different forces and groups is like driving between different yemens, each less a part of a whole as the years tick by in this war. the country's fragmentation is coming to feel permanent as each group entrenches. in the capital, sana'a where the houthis enforce tight control, few people want to speak openly about politics. many have been jailed here for opposition to the group, and we were watched very closely as we worked. most yemenis are trying to keep their heads down and survive not only the war but also the politics surrounding potential peace.

yet, hospitality endures. this man, who gave his name only as abu al araby, owns a large nut shop in the old city of the capital. >> ( translated ): between us yemenis, we are brothers. we are one yemen. north, south all are yemenis. saudis and emiratis they don't want yemen to be one country united, but as yemenis whether it's the north or the south we are the same, we have the same blood. >> reporter: food is brought out, bread is broken with us, and little more of politics is discussed. everyone here agrees on one thing- they all want the war to end. >> ( translated ): we didn't attack anyone. we have hope. we want peace, we demand peace. but they attack us. the war will not come to any result, it is just destroying everything. >> reporter: back in aden, well to the south on the water, a similar sentiment endures. since the war broke out, neither the internationally-recognized

government nor the separatist leaders, have been able to provide basic services, jobs or aid to the people. while politicians in this area are passionate about independence, people here tell us that independence is important to them, they also say that ending the war and the economic hardships that came with it end too. there is a growing bitterness here and a sense here that regional partners are pursuing their own interests while yemenis struggle to live through the humanitarian crisis this war has brought. wajdem mohammed is a police officer fighting to get by. >> ( translated ): yes we want separation. we were good when we were alone. now there is no electricity, or salaries. >> reporter: a retired telecommunications engineer, ali ghazem doesn't believe the war will end any time soon. >> ( translated ): no it doesn't mean that war will bring independence more quickly. the war will continue. if there is no peace there is no stability. if there is no stability there

is no independence. >> reporter: as the war in yemen appears to reach a battle-field climax in marib and president biden pushes for peace, imagining what yemen will look like if and when the guns fall silent is increasingly complicated. a ceasefire may be the easiest part. putting the country back together again, will be much harder. for the pbs newshour, i'm jane ferguson in aden, yemen. >> woodruff: though rare in the u.s., before covid-19, tuberculosis was the world's deadliest infectious disease. john yang tells us of one scientist's journey to the discovery both of a new tool to fight t.b., and of her own potential. it's part of "breakthroughs," our series on invention and innovation.

>> yang: in many ways, mireille kamariza's life journey is longer than just the miles from her native burundi to the united states. now 31-years old, she's a fellow at harvard, has degrees from berkeley and stanford, and through her silicon valley startup, is working on a potential breakthrough diagnostic tool to fight tuberculosis. but if someone had told her as a teenager in africa that this is where she'd be now? >> what are you drinking? can i have some? (laughter) >> yng: growing up in burundi, a small, landlocked country in east africa, kamariza remembers loving science, particularly astronomy. frequent power outages gave her plenty of opportunities to marvel at the night sky. >> you would look up in the night and you would see, like, amazing bright stars. and i used to wonder, what's there? who's there? is there a light out there? i mean, is there someone shining a light towards us? is that why we're seeing it? the unknown is what attracted

me. >> yang: when she was 17, she joined her older brothers in california to pursue her education. as a french-speaker, she struggled. >> i knew how to say thank you and hi. that was about the extent of it. and so when i moved here, it was like landing on mars, right? >> yang: she enrolled at san diego mesa college, a community college, planning to study chemistry, graduate, and get a job. >> that's really the end of it. and there wasn't any imagination that i could be a scientist, a scientist is not someone that looks like me. i knew that growing up, it would have been an unrealistic expectation. but a french-speaking female chemistry professor from africa encouraged her to transfer to u.c.-san diego. there she found another role model in one of the few women of color on the faculty. >> my mentor at u.c. san diego is the one who said, you know, i'm a scientist. you could be one too. >> yang: she encouraged kamariza to apply to graduate school at

berkeley. again she was skeptical. again, she got in. it's interesting also that sort of every step along the way, you thought, well, this isn't going to happen this, i'll do this, but this isn't going to happen. >> yes, that's exactly right. >> yang: but then it did happen. >> and then it did! and here we are! >> yang: during her doctoral studies at stanford, she turned to a disease endemic in burundi and other developing countries. >> i grew up knowing that tuberculosis is a disease that you could die from. and it's a disease that is prevalent in my community. >> yang: before covid-19, tuberculosis was the world's deadliest infectious disease, killing 1.4 million in 2019, far more than h.i.v./aids. like covid-19, it's transmitted through the air, when an infected person speaks, sings, or coughs. harvard infectious disease specialist dr. eric rubin says t.b. persists, in part, because it's hard to diagnose.

>> t.b. in most people looks like pneumonia, and it's not th distinguishable from other forms of pneumonia. it also can look like cancer because it's a very slowly progressive disease and people have some of the same symptoms that they would from smoking induced cancers. so unless you think of it, it's hard to come up with. and then once you think of it, the diagnostic tests aren't terribly good. they're just not that sensitive. >> yang: rubin says there are better tests, but they require weeks or months to produce results, or more expensive, specialized equipment and training. >> if you look across the world, people are missed at the stage of diagnosis. or if they are diagnosed, they've already disappeared and gone back home before the tests are available and therefore they get lost. >> yang: with those missed diagnoses, patients get sicker, and may go on to infect others. that's where kamariza's

discovery comes in: she developed a cheap, simple technique for diagnosing t.b. that could be used in low- resource settings and provide quick results. >> what mireille and her colleagues have found is a method for essentially lighting up the bacteria. so instead of searching through a slide for those rare bacteria that hopefully stained with a laborious stain, you can simply add her reagent and the bacteria become fluorescent in a very specific way. >> and not only is it simpler to use, is it faster to use, but it also can tell you whether the pathogen you have is drug resistant and even what kind of resistance you have, what resistance you have against what drug. and all of that can be done to the point of care. >> yang: before it can widely used, this new diagnostic technique must undergo clinical

trials. but those, like so many other things, have been put on hold by covid-19. which underscores a larger problem: during the pandemic, many who study t.b. are worried years of steady progress against the disease, have been set back, and it could be years before things get back on track. >> part of what's going to slow it down is most of the world doesn't have vaccine. so it's going to be a while until we're able to rebuild the systems that we need and help >> yang: kamariza's mission now, she says, is to get this new diagnostic tool through clinical trials and to the people who need it. >> i'm hoping that not only would it get to where it needs to be, but i'm also hoping that the story of how it was made will inspire the people in those communities, whether they're young boys or young girls. and they can do something to maybe they find that there's a could be inspired by my own story of coming from burundi and making it here. >> yang: and so they, too, can see what a scientist looks like.

for the pbs nehour, i'm john yang. >> woodruff: this week in washington, a host of meetings with the potential to reshape politics and policy, from house republicans readying to oust their conference chair to president biden hosting the "big four" congressional leaders at the white house. it's the perfect time for politics monday with amy walter of the cook political report. and tamara keith of npr. hello to both of you on this monday. there is a lot to talk about. amy, let's start with what looks like is going to happen on wednesday in the house republican conference. the minority leader, kevin mccarthy, sent a letter today to conference members, telling them for sure the vote on the conference chair is going to happen to oust liz

cheney. and among other things, he said and i'm quoting: "each day spent relitigating the past is one day less we have to seize the future." and, of course, he is referring to the perception that liz cheney is relitigating the past with her references to president trump and what happened on january the 6th, saying that it is not the case, that president trump won the election. quickly, amy, is there a risk for republicans in doing this? we know most americans don't think president trump won the election. >> amy: there is some irony in there, judy, to say. the best way to not relitigate the past is just to all agree when someone disagrees, you stick with trump. so we can agree that there is no disagreement, and have control over the party. all that said, when i talked to folks, republicans especially, their feeling is that the

media and democrats are pouncing on this split, or what they perceive to be a split within the party, that there is sort of an open wound here, and that republicans do not want to make the 2022 elections about trump. they want to try to move on. and the best way to do that is to not allow the focus to be on cheney's difference with the president, and the president continuing to go after her. try to cauterize the wound, talk about joe biden and the democrats, and make the election in 2022on the party in power, not the party out of power. the reality, as we know, is that trump is never appeased. you can appease him in the short-term by saying that liz cheney is out because she does not believe that the election was fraudulent. but something else is going to happen between now and whenever that he

is going to be disappointed in republicans, who will attack republicans. and, once again, the republican leadership is going to be in the uncomfortable position of having to respond. >> woodruff: so, tam, what is the thinking here? you have this president who -- former president trump is not going to stop saying that he believes he won the election. so what's the thinking? >> tamara: i think the thinking is that anyone who contradicts him ends up having the nuclear option against them from former president trump, that he is like a dog with a bone. and if you contradict him or criticize him, he is not going to let go of it. he is going to make you miserable. just ask adam kinzinger and mitt romney and the late john mccain, and everne else that former president trump has gone after. so if they just don't talk

about it, if republicans can, you know -- whether they agree with the big lie or not, if they can just move on and not talk about it, and not talk about what happened january 6th and try to focus on anything else, then maybe they won't antagonize the former president because once he is antagonized, he is not going to stop talking about it and putting out statements. and it looks like at some point, relatively soon, putting out rallies. and marjorie green and others held rallies, at this metropolis in florida for seniors, and it was a pro-trump rally to go after everyone who has ever crossed trump. there is energy for that. and president trump -- former president trump -- is going to want to soak

up that energy. >> woodruff: and every week we get closer to the mid-terms, even though we know it is in november of next year. it is all about strategy right now. speaking of leader mccarthy, he is going to be one of the four congressional leaders at the white house this week meeting with president biden. interesting conversation, we expect. what does a meeting like that actually accomplish? everybody knows where everybody is coming from? az a>> amy: a lot of this, as you know, judy, is about theater. it is impossible to make someone look like their insanely partisan if they're having a nice and cordial conversation. we remember the very fraught conversations that then president trump had with democratic leader, and we all remember the cameras rolling, sitting in the oval office, where speaker pelosi and donald

trump went after each other. and it was very hard then to argue that this was a president that was looking to find a compromise. at the end of the day, though, judy, i do think that one of the things that is a sort of real speed bump in let's bring the two sides together and come to an agreement, is not just how much it is going to cost, but how they're going to pay for it. the democrats are saying we're going to go back to the 2017 tax bill, and we're going to roll some of the tax cuts back on corporations and rich folks. mitchell mcconnell saying absolutely not, we're not touching that tax bill. we're going to pay for it with fees, things like gas taxes and things like that. that, to me, more than just the cost of the new -- this new infrastructure bill is a real challenge to overcome. >> woodruff: so, tam, what does the white house expect from a meeting like this? >> tamara: this is not the only meeting their

doing. in fact, it is coming pretty late in the game compared to some of the other meetings that president biden and the white house has been having. so president biden, later this week, is also going to be meeting with republicans who have expressed a willingness to come together and work -- try to come to some sort of compromise on a much narrower infrastructure that really cuses on the infrastructure. last week ey tried to sell the infrastructure plan, and president biden and vice-president harris and everybody else was out on the road to try to sell it, and this is the week where they turned back to washington and it is a week of talking about it. it is the "look like you're negotiating" week, and maybe it will lead to something, but maybe it will just look like they're trying. >> woodruff: very quickly in the time we have left, amy, we know president biden, because

we aired a clip of it earlier in the program, is urging americans who have a job opportunity to take it, addressing criticism that some people are taking advantage of unemployment benefits. my question is: how concerned should the white house be about how this economy moves along with those tough job numbers last week? >> amy: judy, it is all about controlling the white house. where the white house would like the narrative to go, it is not just unemployment benefits. it is things like child care, things like vaccines. that's what is keeping people from going back to work. once the money gets out for those things, people get vaccinated, the jobs will be filled. >> woodruff: and, tam, in just a few seconds. >> tamara: yeah. in some ways, it allows them to say, hey, this jobs report wasn't great. maybe that means we need $4 trillion of additional spending, but certainly no president wants a jobs number like that. and so, you know, they are

going to keep pushing on this. >> woodruff: well, it is a week we're going to be watching, even more than usual. tamara keith, amy walter, thank you both for getting us started. >> you're welcome. >> you're welcome. ♪♪ >> woodruff: there's a rising voice in late night comedy: ziwe fumudoh, who goes simply by "ziwe," debuted her no holds barred take on race and social issues in america to television on sunday in a new self-titled sketch show. amna nawaz cght up with ziwe for our ongoing arts and culture series, canvas. >> what bothers you more, slow walkers or racism? >> that's a real question? >> nawaz: interviews you can't look away from... >> amazing, love it. >> can we perhaps make it blacker? >> nawaz: skits with an unflinching eye, and songs you won't soon forget...

>> ♪ let the wealth trickle down, let the money hit the floor ♪ >> nawaz: all brought to you by... >> hi, i'm ziwe. >> nawaz: in her new self-titled comedy program on showtime. >> i've been doing this art for six or seven years. and to and no one cared. no one watched these videos. no one shared my clips. it's honestly surreal to see these dreams sort of realize. >> nawaz: 29-year-old comedian ziwe made a name for herself with a provocative interview style. >> under what circumstances would black people look alike? >> they were wearing masks >> the answer is families. in families black people look alike. don't you think black people have families? >> yes. >> yes, you don't think black people have families? >> oh no. >> nawaz: on her youtube show "baited with ziwe" she presented her fellow comedians with impossible to answer questions. >> are indians the black people of asia? >> you want a soundbite? >> yeah i want a soundbite. >> nawaz: last year, stuck at

home in the pandemic, she took her craft to instagram live interviewing pop culture voices like playwright jeremy o. harris and actor and activist alyssa milano. through a series of direct questions on race, ziwe elicited some illuminating answers. >> huey newton? >> i don't know who that is. >> stokely carmichael? >> i don't know who that is. >> nawaz: as america was gripped by nationwide calls for racial justice, ziwe's work caught on, hundreds of thousands tuned in. do you think that these conversations resonated in a certain way because of what we were going through as a country? >> i think that the racial uprisings of 2020 really allowed discussing race to be at the forefront of american media. and so that opened people up to having these really intense conversations that ultimately are long overdue. >> nawaz: what makes a good conversation for you?

>> i think ultimately it has to be funny. i want people to laugh because i'm a professional comedian. but as far as the actual like the depth of the conversation, all i'm looking for is vulnerability and honesty. and because there's nothing that we can manufacture that is as vital as just everyone putting their cards on the table. >> nawaz: among her guests-- some who'd been publicly condemned for controversial comments... >> hi! how are you doing? >> honestly i'm really nervous, but i'm good. >> nawaz: like food writer alison roman, formerly of "bon appetit" and the "new york times," who faced a massive backlash for insulting marie kondo, decluttering guru, and chrissy tiegen, former model turned lifestyle mogul. both of whom are asian. >> can you name five asian people? >> umm, yes >> alison roman, is not an anomaly. so i think instead of villainize like her in particular, it's better to really talk about the society and the context in which that allow us to talk about race in this way. >> nawaz: one of the questions you ask her, which is something

you ask a lot of your guests, is how many black friends do you have? >> i would say four to five black friends that would pick me up at the airport. >> four to five! you are the third person to say they have four to five black friends in the last week to me. >> nawaz: why is that a revealing question to you? >> ultimately there is no right answer. and that's intentional, right? that that sort of inability to win really sets the stage for a really compelling conversation about race, because suddenly any response that you give is not only wrong, but it just is more reflective of what of your inner ideas and inner monologue. >> nawaz: why you think people want to talk to yo why do you think they agree to come on your show? >> some of them are fans of my comedy, some of them are interested in being public, part of public discourse, and others are just searching for a thrill. it really just depends on the respective guests. >> nawaz: ziwe's own eeriences with racism inform her work today. >> i am a black woman. i have had people confronting me

about race since i was old enough to speak. i've definitely been at many a party where someone starts bringing up their black friend out of nowhere and you're looking around like, "wait, sir, i just met you." why are you talking about this? why are you uching my hair? why are you calling me chocolate? and so thinking about these conversations as people of color that we have all of our lives. i'm just bringing this life experience of absurdity around race to to the screen. >> nawaz: she cut her teeth in the comedy world with internships at the daily show and the colbert report. eventually landing a writing gig for "the rundown with robin thede," one of the only black hosts on late-night. she went on to write for comedy duo "desus & mero" ziwe hopes her show will open doors for new voices in the industry. >> i see comedy as a microcosm of the real world. a lot of spaces with any sort of power are dominated by white men. a lot of the people i have on my show are first time writers and first time producers. and so i was really interested

in employing and elevating those voices that maybe weren't i've been looked aside or been looked over in history. >> nawaz: after years of having her full name butchered by hosts at standup shows, ziwe's keeping it simple. so see what you've reached, single name status, right? you're up there with madonna and cher. right? >> i am the madonna of comedy. that's what i always say. >> nawaz: you can watch or stream ziwe's show "ziwe" on showtime on sunday. for the pbs newshour, i'm amna nawaz. provocative. i look forward to watching her. and that is the for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you, please stay safe, and we'll see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> architect. bee-keeper. mentor. a raymond james financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. life, well-planned.

>> the kendeda fund. committed to advancing restorative justice and meaningful work through investments in transformative leaders and ideas. more at kendedafund.org. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

♪ hello, everyone. and welcome to "amanpour & company." here's what's coming up. as india shatters yet another daily covid case record, a variant spreads, i ask the uk government adviser. iidn't want the germans to have the satisfaction of killing me, of having me dead. >> her father, mother and sister were murdered in the holocaust. now former resistance fighter selma van de perre shares her incredible story of survival. then -- >> i could never imagine generating that much hate for people who had n