to learn more, visit safetyactioncenter.pge.com captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening, i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight, dividing lines-- congresswoman liz cheney is ousted from house republican leadership after criticizing former president trump for inciting the capitol insurrection and lying about the election results. then, deadly strikes-- fears of war are rising amid escalating violence between israelis and palestinians, as dozens more are killed in the fighting. plus, desperate journey-- the biden administration struggles to counteract seductive messaging from smugglers to central americans about easy passage to the u.s. >> ( translated ): when we first

get in touch with them, they say it's a guaranteed trip. they say "don't worry, you won't suffer, you won't be hungry, the trip is 100% safe." the truth is, when i left, i did believe him. >> woodruff: all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us.

>> supporting social entrepreneurs and their solutions to the world's most pressing problems-- skollfoundation.org. >> the lemelson foundation. committed to improving lives through invention, in the u.s. and developing countries. on the web at lemelson.org. >> supported by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. more information at macfound.org >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting.

and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: we have three major lead stories tonight: escalating violence in the mideast, the head of the n.i.h. on covid vaccines for adolescents, but first a political turning point here in the u.s. in less than 20 minutes behind closed doors, house republicans made their allegiance to former president donald trump clear. wyoming congresswoman liz cheney was ousted as the number three g.o.p. leader. even after the vote, she remained defiant in her criticism of mr. trump and his repeated misinformation about

the 2020 election. >> we must go forward based on truth. we cannot both embrace the big lie and embrace the constitution. i will do everything i can to ensure that the former president never again gets anywhere near the oval office. we have seen the danger that he continues to provoke with his language. we have seen his lack of commitment and dedication to the constitution. >> woodruff: we turn now to our lisa desjardins and yamiche alcindor. hello to both of if you. lisa to you first, tell us exactly what happened today and w did the republicans explain this decision? >> desjardins: judy, cheney spoke to her colleagues behind closed doors and at the end she offered a prayer for the country and for freedom and then something truly shakespearian

happened. her colleagues at the end of remarks, the colleagues who were about to o oust her from leadership, gave her a standing ovation. the vote was very quick, by voice vote, instead of members having to cast ballots expect house leader kevin mccarthy, they did it by voice it was just seconds. i spoke to a couple dozen members afterwards as they flooded out of that chamber. clearly they wanted this to be quick. clearly they wanted to get it behind them. but the truth is, there was a lot of ideas and dynamics in the air. those who ousted cheanl told me repeatedly they felt she went too far and was a distraction. here is one dan bishop of north carolina. >> liz cheney's responsibility is to lead our party in the congress. she has a particular responsibility in that, frankly

it doesn't serving us well if she is creating, fomenting division in our ranks. >> desjardins: others of course said cheney was right. whether they agreed with her or not there was a sense from republicans that something dangers was going to happen, a member was booted from membership by holding fast to about deeply held convictions. and speaking the truth. not getting into the right or wrong of it, this is an upside down part of it, here it was that they booted one of their most hard line conservancy, who voted 90% of the time with president trump. and elise stefanik of new york has a much more conservative record. it's about the trump brand and about january 6th, something i must add which is bubbling up into real action and decisions

now in the politician of congress. >> woodruff: and so lfs, what is the sense about what this says about what the future holds for liz cheney? and for house republicans and what does that tell us? >> desjardins: well, cheney isn't just going down fighting today. she is going to keep up this message and a spokesman for her was texting where me saying she plans to keep pushing for the constitution which she believes should be republican ideals and against democrats messages,ing elise stefanik, some conservative members including marjorie taylor-green of georgia has asked to delay did vote to replace cheney. that now is planned for friday but they are not happy with stefanik, they believe she's too moderate. she does have wide spread support however including from former president trump, from kevin mccarthy, from jim

jordan who leads the freedom caucus. there is not a clear other candidate now. the conservatives are looking for one now. there continues to be frayed ends in the republican caucus in the house. >> woodruff: yamiche tell us about the white house reaction to this and how it's going to affect relationships between the white house and republicans? >> alcindor: well, judy, standing out again, what we saw today was thous ter of liz cheney. what makes this day stand out today is house leader kevin mccarthy came to the white house today and he didn't want to own up to the idea that liz cheney was beingoused from her leadership position because she wouldn't embrace the false conspiracy theory, that the election was rigged. when the question was put to

hi how is this going to impact the ability for democrats and republicans to work together? >> i don't think anybody is questioning the legitimacy of the presidential election. i think this is a all over with. we are sitting here with the president today. so from that point of view i don't think that's a problem. >> alcindor: in fact of course we know that dpormer president trump is every single day questioning the legitimacy of president biden. that's why liz cheney was ousted, she would not back what former prlt is doing when i requested, how this is going to affect the white house view, they say the president is determined to try to work with republicans. they have been using words like grace, responsibility, duty to try to describe why president biden continues to work with republicans. that said though the elephant in the room when republicans come to the white house is still, this is a party that is embracing the idea that president biden should cannot be in office even though of course

he legitimately won did election. i've been talking to white house officials who say the president simply cannot understand what's going on in the gop, whether or not they want to embrace truth or conspiracy theorize. theories. >> holman: quickly is there a sense coming out of that meeting how there may be a chance for any bipartisanship going forward? >> alcindor: this was a big meeting between the president and the big four congressional leaders. it was a 90 minute meeting. i'm told it was constructive, there wasn't any extra-contentious moments. here is what was said right after the white house meeting. >> we're not interested in reopening the 2017 tax bill. we both made that clear to the president. that's our red line. we believe that in february, of

2020, we had the best economy we've had in 50 years. we believe that was a major reason for it. >> alcindor: now, president biden said his red lines are raising taxes on anyone making under $400,000 as well as inaction. here's what the president sid when he was asked today how the meeting went. >> generically i'm encouraged that there is room to have a compromise on a bipartisan bill that's solid and significant. and a means by which to pay for it without dropping all of the -- all of the burden on middle class and working class people. we're getting them out of -- they're coming around. but it has to -- this has to be a burden shared across the spectrum. >> alcindor: now i'm told by white house sources that there is still this feeling that a deal can be reached but the white house really wants to hear from republicans they say how they plan to pay for some of the big plans that president biden

has of course it's $4 trillion worth of plans. tomorrow a group of republicans are going to be coming to the white house to real presently their proposal for how they can deal with infrastructure. i'm told that will be a nuts and bolts meeting, we'll have to see whether a deal can be reached. >> woodruff: yamiche alcindor at the white house, lisa desjardins reporting on the hill. an pursuant to one in washington, another one. thank you lisa and yamiche. >> woodruff: we turn to a lawmaker now for response to today's house g.o.p. vote and the president's infrastructure meeting with congressional leaders: republican senator rob portman of ohio. prior to serving in the senate, he was director of the office of management and budget during the bush/cheney administration. portman was also a member of the republican leadership team when he served in the house.

senator portman, welcome. >> good to you on with you again. >> woodruff: and it's very good to have you with us. let me start with the mood by house leadership today to remove liz charli liz cheney as the nu3 leader for the party in the house. you said she's a friend of yours, she's done a good job representing the republican party. was that a mistake today? >> i'm on the senates side as you said, the house republicans have worked their will. i would have done it a different way but i do believe they want to change the topic back to the policy issues. i noted in your reporting earlier someone said that, you know, republicans here in the house and the senate do not question the legitimacy of joe biden as president. i think that's true in the senate certainly. i've been at meetings at the white house as you know, including meetings on infrastructure, something you want to talk about today. i don't get any sense from my

colleagues that that's an issue. part of what they decided was moving look and talking about the policy issues. liz cheney is a friend, she's a valuable member of the team, she will continue to be a real able spokesman particularly on policy issues. >> woodruff: i hear what you're saying and what kevin mccarthy is saying about yes we accept joe biden. but form err president trump does not accept that the election was held legitimately and liz cheney was saying that out loud and she's being finished for it. so the message is that it's feelity to president trump rather than issues -- fealdy to president trump rather than issues that are driving the republican party. is that right message for the future? >> no, the right message is focusing on policy issues and they're stark right now. when president biden talks about raising taxes at a time when the economy is coming out of the covid-19 recovery it concerns me greatly when he talks about more

spending, $6 trillion more spending when you add everything up that concerns me greatly. so we've got huge differences on policy. we have to focus on those. this infrastructure package i ow you want to talk about today, when you look at it judy it is hard to call it infrastructure. eerve the most generous description of infrastructure which would include broadband let's say water infrastructure and electric grid would only amount to about 20% of what he wants to spend money on. so a lot of it's as you know other worthy causes like nursing home spending or spending on health care generally, it's spending for electric car companies, and so on. but there's not infrastructure by any definition. so did we could focus on the infrastructure part which is about 20% of what he's talking about, roads and bridges about five or 6% of it and then talk about the pay force for that which i think they're out there, i think we can get something done, very optimistic about it and i hope the meetings at the white house will be very

productive. >> woodruff: you're saying part of what president biden is proposing you're prepared to go along with the. some of the infrastructure and some of the tax piece as well, am i hearing you correctly? >> well, here's what i think. i think $600 billion is where republicans are going to end up. the proposal is about $568 billion. so that includes all forms of traditional infrastructure plus because it includes things like broadband and so on. the president may be at about $900 billion as i understand it, when you look at apples to apples comparison number of years and so on. so we're far apart in the sense of 300 billion is a lot of money but not far apart as compared to what many of reporting. his proposal is $2.3 trillion and ours is 500-some. the fact is most of that is not infrastructure. if we focus on infrastructure we can get it done. there are other ways to pay for infrastructure as you know, user fees have traditionally been used, that makes a lot of sense but also using things that we

currently do use like using the ability for the government to borrow at lower rates and be able to git the private sector engaged or local communities engaged. the fundings used for roads and bridges is often that kind of funding. people talk about a infrastructure bank which i support which is essentially that same methodology. so there are ways to find the funding for infrastructure that are different in that it's a long term capital expense as compared to say a programmatic expense. there is way to get there. >> woodruff: i do want do ask you about the how do you pay for it piece. user fees often fall on average income americans, middle income americans ereas what president biden has proposed is taxing the wealthy and in fact if you look at the history of income tax in this country, today, corporate taxes for one are only about a fourth as large as a share of the gdp as they were back in the 1950s and 60s. revenue collected from taxesn the income of the top earners,

in this country, has declined over the last 25 years. plus, in the 1990s the last time tax rates were what president biden wants them to be, the economy was booming. so my question is: why not take a look at these tax hikes? >> well, we have a more recent example judy don't we which is the 2017 tax reform and tax cuts which resulted in this incredible economy prior to the covid-19 crisis. in february of last year, just before covid-19 hit, we had 19 straight months oof wage growth of 3% or more. most of that wage growth among low and middle income workers, lowest poverty since the 1950s. we had historical low unemployment group including asian americans, blacks, hispanics. the economy was growing overall but it was an inclusive economy, people off the sidelines.

the idea of going back and raising those taxes that proved to be making us more competitive would be a mistake. the congressional budget office said when we reduced the taxes that president biden would now like to increase, that 70% of that benefit was going into workers' pockets and benefits and salaries and wages for workers is where the benefit was found and that's why you had again this wage growth which was so impressive. and we hadn't had it for a couple of decades. so we need to be very careful to raise taxes right now. there are other ways to pay for it. >> woodruff: one other thing i wanted to ask you about quickly senator. you mentioned items that you don't support and part of what the president is trying to do with both the jobs infrastructure and the families plan is to provide home health care, childcare, and this is at a time when there a waiting list we're told of something like 800,000 people who are looking for help at home taking care of an elderly family member or a child. what do you do about that?

and why isn't now the moment to look at that issue, when so many women have had to leave the workforce in this pandemic? >> we should definitely look at those issues and we should also reopen our schools judy because one of the things that all the data shows is you're right me women are not going back to the workforce and when you dig deeper part of it is that not all the schools have reopened. that is something that should and can be solved relatively quickly. i agree with regard to childcare we need to come up with better ways to reduce the cost and also with regard to family medical leave. so i think there's some opportunities here. my point is that if you're going to focus on infrastructure let's focus on the actual hard assets that are always considered to the infrastructure and let's come up with ways to pay for those that are something that has always been done on a bipartisan basis. the user fees i'm talking about includes the highway trufngd which would support $200 --

trust fund, why should electric vehicles not be subject to some sort of a charge to use our highways? i have a hybrid vehicle, i should be charged as people who have gasoline engines. i think there's a way to do this without hurting working families but also providing the funding for this long term infrastructure which is a good long term investment for our country. >> woodruff: i hope we have a chance to talk about a number of these issues in the future. senator portman thank you. >> great judy great to be on with you. >> woodruff: the push to vaccinate adolescents and teens in the u.s. got a big boost today. the centers for disease control and prevention is now recommending pfizer's covid vaccine for those between the ages of 12 and 15. many parents have been eagerly awaiting this decision, but that view is far from universal.

dr. francis collins is the director of the national institutes of health, and he joins me now. dr. collins, thank you so much for joining us. let me start out with this news that the cdc is authorized the use of the vaccine for 12 to 15-year-ol. how much difference do you think this is going to make in the fight against this pandemic? >> oh, i think it can make a huge difference. so this is an exciting day, judy. certainly fda issued their emergency use authorization recommendation just monday and then cdc voting 14-0 with one recusal endorsed that same recommendation. and the cdc director signed off on it about an hour ago. so yes. kids 12 to 15, time to roll up your sleeves. and i think a lot of them are going to want to do that, including my 14-year-old granddaughter who is already making an appointment because this is a chance to have those high schoolers and some middle schoolers get themselves in a place where it's safe to go back to school, to go to sleepovers,

to play in sports, all the things that they've been deprived of for the last year. so i think this is a very good step. and i must say the data from the trial that was reviewed today by the cdc committee is extremely compelling as far as safety and efficacy for kids this age. >> woodruff: at the same time, dr. collins, how do you overcome either hesitancy or just outright opposition from parents as a new kaiser poll showing something like 40% of parents say they are reluctant or completely opposed to having their child get this vaccine? >> you know, i always wonder with polls, because we have seen over time how those opinions can change. i think a lot of parents were waiting to see okay, what really is the data here that says this is safe and effective? that data is out there now. people can look at it. i think a lot of parents will come around. i think a lot of teenagers will come around and say mom and dad i'm all ready to go, roll up my sleeve because i want to be able to get out of this circumstance

i've been in for the last year. so watch the space and see. i know there will be some families that are already resistant for themselves in vaccination and they will probably be resistant for their adolescent kids as well. more and more people are beginning to get convinced this is really a wonderful opportunity waiting and seeing was a good thing for a while but maybe we don't have to wait anymore. people have now been vaccinated for many months. there doesn't seem to be they long term surprise and the effectiveness when you look to see what's happening in our country now with cases coming down especially in older people is just hard to argue with. we are on a good path. >> woodruff: and dr. collins with the biden administration now pushing very hard to get this vaccination effort out into the community, down to virtually the neighborhood level, they said they want to get 70% of americans vaccinated by july 4th, is that realistic, do you think that can be done? >> i think it can be.

we are at 59% today of adults who have received at least one dose on the way to 70. that seems like that's within reach by july 4th. and something like 116 million americans are fully vaccinated. we want to get that to 160 by july 4th. i think that's reachable as well. immunizations they websites back a little bit per day a couple of weeks ago but they're holding up pretty well right now and there are a whole lot of ways for people to find out where they can go. if you haven't already heard about, there is this opportunity to text 438829 and punch in your zip code and you will get immediately three places near you that have vaccines in stock or you can go do vaccines.gov and there you can also find out which of those sites have the pfizer vaccine because that's what the adolescents need to get because that's one that's been approved for them. lots of ways for this to be easier for people. >> woodruff: you've got it

memorized. hopeful. dr. collins quickly, you said 160 million. so that's a number of americans that is going to give you what, peace of mind? >> 160 million being fully immunized that would be about 63% of adults. i'd like to see that go higher but if you have above that number, the ones that have gotten at least one dose, that is 70%, that's getting into the place where we would think at least in communities that have been pretty faithful about this, the infection rates really should start to go down. i don't know if we ought to be talking quite so much about herd immunity as if there is some bright line where you get to that but it is the idea that when more and more of the population is immune, the virus doesn't have so much to do anymore and we want to send it packing, something we all want to do. >> woodruff: two things i want to ask you dr. collins, one of the growing chorus of skepticism at the cdc and its guidelines

saying they're just too cautious and dr. lena nguyen who is an emergency physician here in washington former baltimore city health commissioner she commented for us today on the fact that the cdc is still recommending masks in certain outdoor settings even for vaccinated people, for youth to wear masks at summer camp and it also has not yet provided guidance for employers even when everyone is vaccinated. if you could just listen for a moment to what she had to say. >> plic health guidance has to make scientific sense and it has to make common sense. and right now, the guidance from the cdc is making neither. look at what the cdc is currently saying about being outdoors. we have overwhelming evidence at this point that being outdoors is extremely protective and actually that's the best place for unvaccinated people to be. i think also the cdc being so slow and so overly cautious i understand they want to wait for

perfect information to come in but we're in the middle of a global pandemic when we also need quick decisions. and this is what local officials and employers and businesses all depend on as well. and so if the cdc is too slow, then these other entities end up moving on without did guidance of the cdc. and there is a ream harm there because the cdc loses its credibility, it loses its relevance and people are just not going to follow the recommendations at times when it really matters. >> woodruff: dr. collins how would you respond? >> well, i know dr. nguyen and i think she's voicing an opinion that probably a lot of people arefeeling frustrated about. we're all getting vaccinated, can we have freedom please? let's admit, cdc is trying to get people the opportunity to get out there, which we are all now doing. my wife and i we can have family, other groups come to our house for dinner if they're all

fully vaccinated, we take our masks off. this is great. we can have a street party with people already immunized and take our masks off. but if cdc goes a little too fast and we end up with a surge because we weren't quite careful enough then what have we done? so always this difficult balance but i think you are going to see the cdc relaxing a lot of these restrictions in the coming days and weeks. because they're watching this closely and they have nothing to gain by telling people to do things that aren't important or necessary anymore. they're on the same side that we all are. >> woodruff: well, i know a lot of people have qstions, and they're going to continue to watch those cdc guidelines. the last thing i wanted to ask you about dr. collins is what's going on in the rest of the world. we know even as we celebrate how many americans have been vacts necessitated, you and i have been talking about it, other parts of the world, india and

brazil that we're talking about, terrible situations in those countries, and now asia, particularly southeast asia. are you comfortable with the united states deciding to hold off on sending vaccines overseas, and particularly the decision to vaccinate younger americans, children, adolescents who aren't frankly as vulnerable as older people elsewhere? >> well, we do have a great responsibility to the rest of the world. the united states has's been in that -- has always been in that place. thinking about our global neighbors and doing everything we can when there's a crisis and god knows there's a crisis now. you probably know we are sending materials to india in terms of vent later and oxygen tanks and supplies for them to make their own vaccines, south america is also in real trouble. we have dozes of a astrazeneca,

after the cdc clears them to make sure they're okay. the u.s. is the largest donor to the kovacs effort, impended for vaccines for low and middle income countries. i have a real heart for global issues so i'm also deeply troubled when i see what has happened. we should be pushing out all the stops to help our neighbors. vaccinating the kids, you could say well, you know they don't get that sick anyway. well that's part of it but, you know, some of them do. 300 kids have died of covid-19. more than 3 million have had infections, some of them are infected with long covid where you don't get better after you've had the acute illness, we don't understand that. nobody should minimize the risk. plus the other aspect of there is we know that adolescents is often the place where the virus gets started. if we want to start that

pandemic we have to stop the chain of transmission and that involves children zoo. >> woodruff: dr. collins it is always very good to have you as a guest. thank you very much. >> thanks judy, great to be with you. >> woodruff: president biden spoke today with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu about the spiraling violence between israelis and palestinians. mr. biden said he hoped this latest conflict would end "sooner than later." thus far, at least 53 palestinians, including 14 children have been killed; seven israelis have died in rocket attacks. even so, as john yang reports, israel stepped up air strikes in gaza, and hamas militants continued rocket fire into

israel. >> yang: today, plumes of gray smoke marked the sites of more israeli air strikes that pummeled the gaza strip, as the latest spasm of violence showed no signs of letting up. most of a high-rise building in gaza city collapsed. in khan younis, at the southern end of gaza, people arched through the rubble for victims in a building hit by an air strike. ambulances rushed the injured to a hospital after a car was hit. >> ( translated ): what should i say? this is a crime. they were civilians: a woman, her children, a barber and a shop owner. these are the people who were at the scene. they didn't hit a militant nor an official, we are civilians. >> yang: at a nearby morgue, a woman grieved the loss of her grandchild killed in a blast and those who remain missing. >> ( translated ): my son's wife and my son's son died, and my son's daughter is missing without any trace.

the jews target women and children. my son's wife is five months pregnant. this is terrorism. they bombed them without any warning. >> yang: several leaders of the militant wing of hamas have been killed, including its gaza city commander, the highest-ranking hamas official killed since 2014. at least one israeli soldier has died. israelis and palestinians are grappling with the worst conflict since the 50-day war in 2014, with no resolution in sight. steven david is a political science professor at johns hopkins university: >> there is a spiral of escalation, and the spiral of escalation sadly not only is killing and wounding many people but is supporting the political interests of the belligerents. >> yang: in the mixed arab- jewish city of lod, home to israel's international airport, burned cars filled the streets.

arab-israeli protesters set them and a nearby synagogue on fire overnight in response to the air strikes. israelis gathered torah scrolls left in the aftermath. >> ( translated ): we had a nightmare of a night, a real riot by hundreds of arab youths, they came in masses, torched car after car, trash bins, broke windows and it was really dangerous to leave the house. >> yang: police have since imposed a curfew there. in the northern city of umm al- fahm, arab-israeli protesters set off fireworks at israeli police firing stun grenades. earlier today, prime minister benjamin netanyahu addressed the unrest. >> ( translated ): we are in a struggle on multiple fronts. we are continuing our efforts to stop the anarchy and restore governance to the cities of israel, with an iron fist if needed, with all forces needed

and all authorities required. >> yang: at the state department, secretary antony blinken, renewed american support for israel's defense against hamas, while calling for de-escalation. >> i think israel has an extra burden in trying to do everything it possibly can to avoid civilian casualties, even as it is rightfully responding in defense of its people. and as i said, palestinian people have the right to safety and security and we have to i think all work in that direction. >> yang: later, netanyahu tweeted that he had spoken with blinken by phone: “i thanked him for american support for israel's right to self-defense, a right that secretary of state repeated in our conversation.” at the white house, press secretary jen psaki said president biden was working to fill the vacant post of u.s. ambassador to israel. >> we course will nominate a that's in process and when it's

ready we'll announce that but in the meantime we have great confidence in our team on the ground in jerusalem. >> the conflict in the middle east enormously complicates the biden administration's efforts to if not ignore at least disregard the middle east. while thunited states may want to leave the middle east alone, the middle east does not want to leave the united states alone. >> yang: amid the conflict, many muslims on the west bank are preparing for eid al-fitr, marking the end of the holy month of ramadan. but not all are in the mood to celebrate what is usually a joyous occasion. >> ( translated ): the conditions are a bit tough. not a bit, actually, they are very tough on everyone. this is not the eid atmosphere, look at the market, it is deserted because of what is happening in gaza, in jerusalem in al-aqsa. >> yang: as the unrelenting violence casts a pall for both sides. for the pbs newshour, i'm john yang.

>> woodruff: in the day's other news, inflation fears washed over wall street. major indexes lost two percent or more, after news that consumer prices rose 8/10ths of a percent in april, the most in 10 years. the dow jones industrial average lost 681 points to close at 33,587. the nasdaq fell 357 points. the s&p 500 dropped 89. the u.s. death toll from covid- 19 has fallen to an average of about 600 a day, the lowest in 10 months. fatalities have dropped to single digits in more than half of the states. and, in boston, newspaper headlines celebrated after massachusetts had no covid deaths on tuesday. this afternoon, at the white house, president biden also hailed the good news.

>> safe and effective vaccines are curbing the spread of the virus. and they're saving thousands of lives. there's a light at the end of the tunnel, well it's growing brighter and brighter. and we need all of you to bring it home. >> woodruff: as of this evening, the total official u.s. death toll is more than 583,000. panic buying of gasoline is shut it down. clone yam pipeline announced the move amidst panicked buying of gasoline across the southeastern today, drivers in a number of states waited in long lines for gas. but hundreds of service stations ran out, even as parts of the >> i'm not even panic buying. i've just been getting a little low for the last couple of days. and i knew i should have filled up a week ago. i was kind of overdue anyway. and then all of this starts going on and it's like the toilet paper fiasco all over again. >> woodruff: the "washington post" and others reported that

colonial pipeline has no plans to pay a ransom to reopen the line. repairs to the interstate 40 bridge over the mississippi river could take months, after inspectors found a crack in main support beam. the bridge links arkansas and tennessee, and its closure has forced thousands of cars and trucks to detour today. it also shut down shipping on a section of the river. border patrol agents encountered fewer migrant children along the southern border in april. the number traveling without adults eased to just over 17,000, still well above the old record. overall migrant crossings, including adults, rose three percent. we'll hear more, after the news summary. partisan fireworks sparked today at a u.s. congressional hearing on the capitol assault last january. republican lawmakers played down the violence that day by trump supporters.

democrats tore into christopher miller, the former acting secretary of defense, for waiting too long to send in troops. >> will you apologize to the american public for what happened on your watch? will you apologize to the troops for what happened on your watch? >> the department of defense and our members of the armed forces performed magnificently on january 6th. >> yes. no one. secretary, no one is questioning what they did. i'm questioning what you did. >> woodruff: former acting attorney general jeffrey rosen also testified, and said he was proud of the justice department's response. top members of the biden cabinet pledged a harder line today against domestic extremism and white supremacy. at a senate hearing, attorney general merrick garland and alejandro mayorkas, the secretary of homeland security, said the storming of the capitol sent a message. >> there was an attempt to interfere with the fundamental passing element of our democracy, the peaceful transfer

of power. and if there has to be a hierarchy of things that we prioritize, this would be the one we prioritize. >> woodruff: garland also said the justice department has begun a review to try to remove any extremists within the ranks of federal law enforcement. the former minneapolis police officer convicted of murdering george floyd could be facing an even longer prison term. a judge has now ruled that derek chauvin abused his authority and acted with cruelty-- kneing on floyd until he went limp. that finding allows the judge to exceed the upper range of 15 years in prison, when he sentences chauvin next month. the federal budget deficit is running a record $1.9 trillion so far this fiscal year. the treasury department said today that's up 30% from a year ago. it's due largely to pandemic relief packages passed by congress. and, the rock and roll hall of fame has a new class of inductees.

the lineup elected today includes jay-z, the foo fighters and the go-go's, plus carole king, tina turr and todd rundgren. they'll be inducted at the hall of fame in cleveland on october 30th. still to come on the newshour: the biden administration struggles to counteract messaging to migrants about passage to the u.s. and a 96-year-old gives his brief but spectacular take on dancing into old age. >> woodruff: there were more migrants arrested or detained along the southern border in april than during any other month in the last 20 years. desperate to make it to the u.s., many central american migrants are being influenced by

smugglerand their rosy pitches of an easy journey north. amna nawaz reports on the messages that are fueling migration. >> nawaz: those who enter salcaja, guatemala are met with a massive monument to those who've left. a lone migrant, memorialized in bronze, heading north, representing the thousands who've made the journey to the u.s. >> ( translated ): i have friends who have already gone. we'd sometimes play around my house. but there's no one left. >> nawaz: just a few miles away, 19-year-old kevin, father of a one-year old child, is weighing whether to follow. he misses his friends, but he also sees the big new houses cropping up in town. a sign those relatives in the u.s. are sending home money his own crumbling home is now eclipsed by a brand new one, built just across the road. and kevin himself is doing construction for a man who only five years ago set out for the states. all this, he says, is making him

think now is the time to go to america, even though u.s. officials are saying, it's not. >> the message is clear: the border is closed. >> nawaz: president biden himself has said it plainly.. >> the vast majority, the overwhelming majority of people coming to the border and crossing are being sent back. >> nawaz: but those messages are competing with these, in guatemala. (radio broadcast in spanish) coyotes, advertising an easy trek tu.s. destinations, and a chance at a better life. (radio broadcast in spanish) >> ( translated ): they broadcast it on the radio, saying “you can call this number, it's a guaranteed journey,” they say. they sometimes drive by on the street, passg out cards, asking us if we're interested in pursuing the american drm. >> nawaz: similar sales pitches spill across social media-- ads marketing affordable trips to

the u.s., all just a phone call away. so we called one of those numbers, to see what exactly was being promised... the smugglers offer assurance: a guaranteed safe arrival. half of kevin's 12 siblings have already jumped at the offer, and are in the u.s. his brother-in-law, alvinex, was the latest to tap into the smugglers' network... >> ( translated ): they travel with us, leaving guatemala, and going through mexico-- they come with us up until hitting the border. then, they drop us off with another smuggler, who has to help us get through the desert. >> nawaz: but his trip was cut short, way before the u.s. border. stopped by mexican authorities, he was deported back to guatemala. >> ( translated ): when we first get in touch with them, they say it's a guaranteed trip. they say “don't worry, you won't suffer, you won't be hungry -- the trip is 100% safe.” the truth is, when i left, i did believe him. >> nawaz: the sales pitch he bought into was far from

reality... >> ( translated ): he told me there are bathrooms, shower stalls, almost like describing a mansion-- they explain it all in detail. (laughs) but once you get there, it's different. >> nawaz: the biden administration is engaged in information warfare, messaging to would-be migrants with thousands of radio and digital ads across the region. they feature harrowing testimonies, in both spanish and indigenous languages, from people who've taken the journey, warning others not to try it. >> ( translated ): the smugglers tell you that the journey is easy and you will only walk for one night, but it's all a lie. we walked for five days and five nights. they would only give you canned food, and we had run out of water. >> ( translated ): fear has always been used as a strategy to deter migration. >> nawaz: dora alonso works at a non-profit nearby, steering young guatemalans to opportunities here, in the hopes they won't leave. >> ( translated ): nevertheless, for most guatemalan youth, it's a “see it to believe it”

philosophy. the message that's getting here right now is that people are getting in: now is your chance, if you want to go to the united states, whether you are a minor, young, old, or a woman-- everyone is passg through. that's the message that has intensified. >> nawaz: while the number of children crossing the border dropped back slightly last month, overall encounters at the u.s. border have continued at a 20-year-high, with over 178,000 in april. 30,000 of them from guatemala. most single adults are turned away under a pandemic-rule implemented by then-president trump, and kept in place by president biden. but alonso says biden's rhetoric, when compared to trump's, may have led to mixed signals. >> ( translated ): the biden administration is being seen not as weak, but as a government willing to give people a much better chance at moving forward than the trump administration did. >> nawaz: beyond rhetoric, the biden administration says it is taking steps to slow migration,

including by targeting the smugglers themselves, as alejandro mayorkas recently told the newshour. >> the message is clear: the we are sending through channels here for the united states, but we have commenced operations sentinel to target the smuggling organizations here in the united states, where they move money and other resources, and south of our border as well. this is an all-of-government approach, not only by messaging but also by law enforcement efforts. >> nawaz: and, the white house is focusing on root causes-- cycles of violence and poverty fueling migration. vice president kamala harris leads that effort. >> these are the acute factors that, in many ways, are causing people to leave their homes. >> nawaz: in a virtual meeting last month with guatemalan president alejandro giammattei, harris pledged more than $300 million in relief to the region. but alonso says the promise of help later, won't change much now. >> ( translated ): a lot of people won't care about that. people right now are looking for

ways to survive. not just live, but to survive. >> nawaz: the chance to do more than scrape by is a strong pull for kevin... >> ( translated ): when i look at the situation here, it's very complicated. you barely make any money here. you usually make enough only for your weekly expenses, so i do think about going there to get ahead. >> nawaz: and despite his failed attempt, alvinex is already messaging with another smuggler, who tells him not to worry. this time, the smuggler says, he's guaranteed to get in. for the pbs newshour, i'm amna nawaz. >> woodruff: tonight's brief but spectacular comes from 96-year- old stuart hodes. hodes took his first dance lesson at the martha graham school after a distinguished

stint as an air force aviator in world war ii, and he has been dancing through life ever since. he recently wrote a memoir called "onstage with martha graham." >> well, i'm 96. how are you supposed to feel at 96? a lot of people don't live that long and i'm here. death doesn't bother me. i don't really think it ever bothered me when i was 19, your age, i was flying combat missio and they were shooting at me. i didn't like being shot at o the heck would, but the idea of dying was not like, oh my god, am i dying? i still don't feel that way about it. when the time to die, i'll be quite content to understand or to experience whatever comes next. i guess i've been a dancer most of my life.

although it was really foolish to become a dancer, but i did it anyway. i started at the age of 20 and i, the last performance i had was four years ago, it was 92. flew b-17s in world war ii. that was the time when you flew in the cockpit and you felt the whole country was up there with you. i knew i loved flying. i had to solo first, you have to fly the plane yourself. and the plane became an extension of my body. and, uh, i was crazy about it. and after the war, i had the same experience that was hitting it, hitting dance. i loved it. i felt that dancing and flying were two ways of getting to the same state. people don't understand how flying in dancing can be similar, but they do something to you. i think anything that you do with every particle of yourself can be wonderful and it can make

you forget the world. it's magic. how the heck am i supposed to describe it? something happens. it takes everything you've got. and for that, for those brief moments that you're dancing, you're transported. you're in another world. you sense nothing. but that moment when it hits you, you want more. i can't imagine dancing outside of being completely myself. i never liked my own dancing because i was too conscious of my own flaws. well, i wanted to be perfect. i think all dancers do. when i watch old videos of myself today, i think i'm not as bad as i thought i was. i still see the flaws, but i don't expect to be perfect anymore.

so why make a fuss about it? my name is stuart hodes, and this is my brief but spectacular take on magic time. done? done, you got a big editing job don't you? going to be terrible. >> woodruff: the spectacular for sure stewart stewart, dancing through l and you can find all of our brief but spectacular segments online at: pbs.org/newshour/brief. and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. join us online and again here tomorrow evening. 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: 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

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station from viewers like you. thank you. 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. crisis in the middle east. who can end the latest violent spiral between israel and the palestinians? we talk to two former negotiators, american aaron david miller and juror danian marwan muasher. then covid comes to the ecuadorian amazon. then ana porzecanski at the american museum of natural history joins us about the vital role of