'cause we are. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening. i'm judy woodruff on the "newshour" tonight, a new alzheimer's drug: the f.d.a. approves a controversial treatment for the disease despite mixed results in clinical trials. then, impasse at the capitol-- a major voting rights bill fails in the senate as the president and republicans remain far apart on infrastructure. and voices of the virus: members of the south asian diaspora share their experiences trying to help loved ones in india amid the deadly covid surge. >> the emotional aspect of it is something which i don't think i've had adequate time to process through, and i'm just trying to keep myself busy.

>> woodruff: all that and more on tonight's "pbs newshour." >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> before we talk about your investments-- what's new? >> well, audrey's expecting... >> twins! >> 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. >> consumer cellular. >> johnson & johnson.

>> bnsf railway. >> financial services firm raymond james. >> the william and flora hewlett foundation. for more than 50 years, advancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better world. at www.hewlett.org. >> the chan-zuckerberg initiative. working to build a more healthy, just and inclusive future for everyone. at czi.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and individuals.

>> 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: the u.s. food and drug administration today approved the first new drug to treat alzheimer's disease in nearly two decades. federal heal officials said it may help slow the brain- destroying disease's progression. but the approval goes against the agency's independent advisers who said the treatment wasn't effective in clinical trials. we'll have more on this after the news summary. the justice department has now recovered a majority of the cryptocurrency payment given to hackers after last month's "colonial pipeline" ransomware attack. the bitcoin ransom-- which is currently valued at $2.3 million-- was seized from the russia-based hacker group "dark side." deputy attorney general lisa monaco made the announcement

this afternoon. >> by going after the entire ecosystem that fuelsansomware and digital extortion attacks, including criminal proceeds in the form of digital currency, we will continue to use all of our tools and all of our resources to increase the cost and the consequences of ransomware attacks and other cyber enabled attacks. >> woodruff: the cyber attack on colonial pipeline forced the company to shut down operations for five days, triggering major shortages at gas stations up and down the east coast. vice president harris was in guatemala today to discuss the surge in immigration from central america to the u.s. it was her first foreign trip since taking office. in guatemala city, she met with president alejandro giammattei. they discussed economic opportunity, anti-human trafficking meases, and a new u.s.-backed task force to fight

corruption in the region. >> there are many reasons why this is one of our highest priorities, which i think the people of guatemala know well. and the people of the united states know well. if we are to be effective, if we are to be true to our principles, we must root our corruption wherever it exists. >> woodruff: she meets with the president of mexico tomorrow. back in this country, the u.s. supreme court unanimously ruled that people who immigrated illegally to the u.s. for humanitarian reasons are ineligible to apply for a "green card" to become permanent residents. the court also decided not to take up a case to determine if the u.s. military draft discriminates against men, in that only men are required to register when they turn 18. in southern pakistan at least 51 people died and more than 100 others were injured after a pre- dawn collision between two express trains.

one of the trains derailed in the city of ghotki, shortly before the second train crashed into i rescue crews rushed to find survivors trapped in the wreckage. investigators are still trying to determine the cause. the death toll from a jihadi extremist attack on a village in northern burkina faso friday night has risen to at least 132 people. insurgents burned down homes and the local market while shooting at villagers. many of the injured were taken to nearby hospitals to be treated for bullet wounds and burns. the regional governor called it a tragedy. >> ( translated ): a man in shock is speaking to you right now. you've seen the injured, there's even a little girl who is less than five years old. you saw men and women who got shot in the back, these types of actions have no human soul. no one can watch this and go home and sleep in peace. >> woodruff: it was the deadliest attack on civilians the west african nation had seen in years.

so far, there's been no claim of responsibility. india began a partial reopening today after new covid-19 infections dropped to their lowest level in two months. new delhi and mumbai eased lockdown measures for businesses and shops, while the delhi metro transit system resumed service half capacity. that comes after a surge in april and may killed 4,000 people per day at its peak. we'll look at india's covid outbreak later in the program. stocks were mixed on wall street today. the dow jones industrial average lost 126 points to close at 34,630. the nasdaq rose 67 points. and the s&p 500 slipped three. and, billionaire amazon founder jeff bezos will be flying into space next month on a rocket made by his space company, blue origin. he'll be joined by his brother and the highest bidder in a

charity auction. the trip to space and back will take just ten minutes, and will launch july 20. still to come on the "newshour," what you need to know about a controversial new alzheimer's drug; protests intensify as a new pipeline threatens indigenous lands in minnesota; members of the south asian diaspora try to help loved ones amid the covid surge; plus much more. >> woodruff: the f.d.a.'s approval of a new alzheimer's drug today followed months of debate within the medical community about the agency's procedures which, as amna nawaz reports, the announcement has done little to quiet.

>> nawaz: that's right, judy. the approval was based on two clinical trials. one showed some improvement in patients who'd been given the drug adcucanumab, but the other found no benefit. a number of practitioners said that was not good enough, and fell short of f.d.a.'s usual standards for approval. and in november, an outside advisory board recommended that f.d.a. not approve the drug. but other medical professionals said the need was so great that any medication that offered promise was worth trying. the last treatment for alzheimer's came on the market some 18 years ago. pam belluck is a health reporter for "the new york times"nd has been following all these developments closely. welcome back to the newshour, thanks for making the time. let's start with the news of the approval today. even with this disagreement 0 over how effective drug is the fda still approved it. why? what do you know they based that on? >> well, what they said they actually acknowledged that there was not clear evidence of clinical benefit. thathere was you know, some

kind of da, milkiness in the evidence about whether this will actually help patients slow down their memory and thinking problems. but what they said is, there is so suggestion of that, and one thing that everybody, all sides agree that the drug does do is it attacks a key protein in alzheimer's disease, a protein called amyloid and it is the protein that clumps into plaque in the brain of people who have alzheimer's. so they said, well, we are going to approve this drug because it does can attack the biology of the disease. we have some signal that there might be some benefit for patients symptoms and we are going to tell the company that they need to do another clinical trial, and if the results of that trial do not show benefit then the fda might revoke the approval and you know, it could

end up being that those trials don't show a benefit at all. the issue with that is that the clinical trial takes you know, three or four, five years, and so this drug will be on the market, patients will be using it without actually being certain that it has the ability to help them. so why while the drug is out there, i am assuming there will be high demand for it, right, with millions of people in the u.s. suffering from alzheimer's. do we know enough about the benefits and the risks at this point? what did they find in the trials in terms of the risks that people take on in taking this drug? >> yes. there is definitely a risk. this drug can cause brain swelling and brain bleeding, and in thtrial about 40 percent of patients in the trial did experience that. now, it is not quite as serious as it sounds because most of those cases didn't actually produce i symptomsor patients, but some number did and about

six percent of patients had to quit the trials because they -- because of the brain swelling or brain bleeding so those can be serious side effects. and as a result anybody who takes this drug will have to have regular brain mris to check to see if their brain is experiencing anything like this. in terms of the benefit that they found and as you said in the beginning, only one trial found any benefit, another completely identical trial did not find any benefit, the benefit in the trial that did seem to be positive is actually quite slight, so some of the scientists who were concerned and arguing against approval were saying we don't have a slam-dunk here. we only have one trial that shows any possibility of benefit and that benefit itself is pretty slight, and then on the other side we know that there is

a risk and so they were saying the potential benefit here doesn't outweigh the risk. >> pam here is the one of the question questions here though, when the fda approval it implies this drug is safe, and effective there doesn't seem to be a clear-cut case for this here so what is the role of the fda in all of this? >> i think fda is looking at the seriousness of this disease, the fact that millions of people have it, that there is very little on the market that actually helps for more than a few months, and they are saying that this drug seems to have a hint of benefit and it goes after this key protein of amyloid and that is what they are sort of banking on. now, there isn't a lot of really strong history with drugs that have tried to attack amyloid, there is about 25 years of failed clinical trials with anti-amyloid drugs. they have succeeded in knocking down the proin and clearing it

out of the brain, but they have not succeeded in producing any benefit that people would actually notice in terms of their symptoms. so that is kind of the gamble that the fda is taking here. they are saying, we think this one is going to be the one that sort of crosses that threshold. we think that its ability to get rid of amyloid in your brain is actually going to help you see that your memory loss declines at a slower rate. >> that is pam belluck of the "new york times" joining us tonight. thank you so much, pam. >> thank you. >> >> woodruff: a protracted stand- off between a major oil company and northern indigenous american tribes intensified today. stephanie sy has the story. >> a pipeline battle brewing in

minnesota. today, with the largest show of resistance yet. >> we will. >> stop the pipeline. >> we must. >> stop lie 3. >> more than 1,000 protesters from across the country called for a halt to construction rerouting part of enbridge's line 3 pipeline, the canadian based energy company transports oil produced from the tar sands in alberta, canada to refineries in superior, wisconsin. >> since 2014, it has sought to replace a section that runs through northern minnesota. the new 340-mile replacement pipe would nearly double the amount of oil occurred while crossing, carried while crossing two bodies of water and 800 acres of wetland and also run between three reservations. >> stop line 3. >> resistance has only inteified since construction began in december. >> stop line 3! >> dozens of protesters have been arrested. >> get get out of the area immediately or be placed under

arrest. >> opponents say the pipeline risk builds in sensitive areas where native americans, the giniw tribe have the right to. >> and tar sand oil one of the dirtiest forms of fossil fuel will worsen climate change and threaten water resources. >> ♪ ♪ >> those concerns are not unwarranted. in 1991, the prairie river and grand rap bids, minnesota was contaminated with nearly 1.7 million-gallons of crude oil that leaked from the line 3 pipeline. the largest inland oil spill in u.s. history. >> justice. >> now line they have facing legal challenges at the state and federal level, but pressure is mounting for president biden to intervene as he did when he canceled the keystone xl pipeline in january. >> there is absolutely no question that president biden

could shut down the pipeline, line 3. >> celebrities, including actress jane fonda joined that call today. >> keep coming back and making a ruckus. >> enbridge says the replacement pipeline will bring thousands of jobs to the region, meet higher demand for oil and deliver it more safely. the project is already more than half finished. >> for more on today's demonstrations >> reporter: for more on today's demonstrations and what's at stake for the native tribes behind them, we turn to tara houska, an attorney and the founder of the advocacy organization giniw collective. she is a member of the couchiching first nation. ms. houska, you are actually joining us i understand from the construction site, where this pipeline is being built, talk us through how you believe this pipeline is going to impact native tribes. >> the impacts of this project are very clear. it is a threat to our watershed,

to our wildlife tributaries to the beautiful places we call home. it proposes to cost over 200 water bodies, 800 wetlands and dozen of wildlife watersheds along its path and obviously folks are here to say that is not going to happen and our wildlife matters. >> tell me what what happened ae protest today. i know you were expecting hundreds of people. were there any arrests? were with there confrontations? do you feel it was successful? >> yeah. there is actually over 2,000 folks that have shown up near northern minnesota doing multiple actions at different sites. there have not been any like really aggressive confrontations. i think they are actually overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of folks that are here. and perhaps didn't realize the level of support that the native nations have and frontlines have across the island and the concern that people all jointly

share about our water and our future. >> and what are you all a calling for? are you expecting that president biden is going to cancel this project the way he did with the keystone xl pipeline back in december? >> if there is a want to avoid civil unrest and a want to uphold tribal sovereignty, a and to be a climate champion, there is no way that this project should be allowed to move forward. line 3 is the equivalent toe mission equivalents of 50 coal fire plants and three nations suing against its approval and as the violation of not only indigenous rights but of th rights of future general races to have habitable plant. >> so you are talking about both climate change issue and an indigenous rights issue, but there has been some tribes that have backed this pipeline and there are some tribal members that are even working for the

company, enbridge which says this is going to provide thousands of jobs. what do you have to say to them? >> in northern minnesota i am well aware of the fact that most of the good paying jobs in places like this are jobs that involve construction. there are jobs that require destroy natural world around us and cutting down the forest and extracting minerals from the earth or building fossil fuel infrastructure projects that we are left to deal with the risk of. there needs to be investment into our economies and there needs to be respect for our economy a, our existing economy by the economy of wild rice and it is time for something different. you know, thousands of jobs are a promise, there were supposed to be all of those local jobs, 75 percent, it went to 33 percent and most of the jobs are not the high paying jobs. you know, the contract and security workers and things like that. this is not a big, huge influx of persons into our economy, it is very temporary and short

sighted and we are the ones that have to deal with all of the risks when these guys go home and start counting their checks and by these guys i mean enbridge. >> ms. houska you are also a tribal attorney. besides the protests like you are seeing today, the acts of civil can disobedience what legal recourse remains, the project is more than 60 percent done, it is supposed to be done by the end of the year, how do you stop it from becoming operational at this point? >> obviously, there are folks who are here that are saying that is not going to happen, and i would say that enbridge has promised its pipeline project would be running years ago to its shareholders and it is still not running and it is because of the people coming together and in a regulatory review process, indirect action on the ground, in courts, in litigation that has prevented them every single step of the way. we don't want this project and there is multiple lawsuits. there are multiple lawsuits that are proceeding, which include minnesota 0 owned department of commerce suing minnesota's

public utility commission, the state actually suing itself because this pipeline was not actually justified in terms of need and oil forecasts. >> tara, tara houska is joining us from the construction site of the line 3 pipeline in northern minnesota. ms. houska, thank you for your time. >> thank you so much. >> >> woodruff: covid-19 has torn across india with a deadly ferocity. while infection numbers have dropped from their horrific peaks last month, more than 120,000 new cases were reported today, while prime minister narendra modi announced that all adults in india will now be eligible for vaccines; slow rates of inoculation helped the disease spread. but all the while, immigrants from india here in this country, and indian-americans, have raced

to help friends and family back home. here are some of their stories, in their own words. i name is, a and i live in sacramento, california. >> i am -- and i live in austin, texas. >> my name is -- and i am from cambridge, massachusetts. >> my name is -- and i familiar pittsburgh, pennsylvania. >> my name is -- and i live in san diego, california. >> hi, i am sean, i live in belmont, massachusetts. >> last summer, i, my maternal grandfather passed away from covid, the hardest part for us was not being able to appropriately say good-bye to him. and then just over the wekend there was a need for an oxygen concentrator because we were seeing the o 2 levels for one of myamily members go down precipitously. it was an eye opening experience

figure out a way to get an oxygen concentrator during a time when there is essentially a black market for oxygen cencentrats this independent i can't, india, so i feel lucky .. you know, my family and i are in a position to be able to do this for the folks in my family who are suffering, but at the same time i feel extremely, you know, i feel an extreme sense of guilt, but there are so many other folks that don't have access to the same resources and relationships that we do. >> just a few weeks ago we began to see what was happening with the cases surge, to put it lightly. so at the same time that my school at the harvard business school everyone is sort of celebrating graduation and vaccination, understandably so, began to think of having, having a fund raiser for howard specifically. i then thought, okay, why limit it to howard or y leave it to

one school because there is so much strength in numbers. the i realized that -- from carnegie mellon was thinking something very similar so we shout out to him. >> my mom called me last week around 2:00 o'clock in the might in india saying that a lot of our friends were getting infected and weren't getting basic infrastructure, i am really worried for them you know, and i wanted to do something about it. so i put up a page together quickly like within a couple koff hours a on gofundme. i think within 24 hours we gained a lot of traction and that's when like khannedly reached out to me. >> in just a week we have been overwhelmed with all of to support and enthusiasm from students across the country .. we have about 35 student organizations, some folks from south asia and some broader. i certainly saw a shift within myself as i moved from this state of you know, completely being consumed in sadness and despair to being able to make

this small difference. >> since i started the fund raiser i have lost members of the extended family, the emotional aspect possess it is something which i don't think i have had adequate time to process through, and i am just trying to keep mysf busy but i know i will get back to it at some point, and how to reconcile with that. i am a person who is indian but living abroad, it comes with a sense of helplessness and a sense of you know, even if i do something it is kind of few tile, i am just click ago few buttons but is it actually making a difference? virtually the classes it became a way for me to conduct fund raisers for very worthy causes. the fund raise search sort of twofold, one is garnering the community support and really hitting home that this is an important issue that affects all of us not only through india, and the second fund of the fund raiser work is compassionately, as compassionately as possible call into action a influential individuals and also larger

companies that have profited from indian culture and request yoga culture ask because millions of people around the world are raising their voice they do more than pay attention and take action. >> so once the groups have been very transformational for us, i left india in '93 and my first school, the middle school was st. anthony's girl senior's secondary school and these are all girls and we pretty much grew up together, if i showed up in island for a visit, and pinged them and the girls would come together, sometimes they would write fair, bring their own children along, it has always been a fun place to share, entertaining stories of each other's lives. so this whatsapp as my middle school whatsapp group isin undate idea you can get oxygen cylinders and where you go for an icu bed, mental health and south asia, you know, we don't talk about it as much as here

you know, in the u.s. but india right now people are just trying to survive. and there are only two ways to do this. either we acknowledge that there will be -- that the trauma that people have experiend is going to be multigenerational and do something about it, or we pretend it never happened. >> i am the founder of crossover basketball scholars academy, the mission is to impact gender equity and education rate in marginalized communities across india by using the app called the vehicle of change. i got a text message today of a young girl who has been in our program and came for three straight years, she waiting on medical school admission, however, her mom had her hours scaled back and now all the way cut. that is going to put her and putting her in a position of making a hard choice, do i continue in school where i don't

have necessary funding for tuition? we may not extra a place to live or food, or do i put that dream aside for someone like me who had been typically traveling to india over the past decade one or two times a year. >> that expectation of going is just so ingrained. so for me, okay, when can we restart this program. >> and when can i get back to working? and engaging with these kids. but for my parents, my dad was born in 1941. we are talking about a manho is older than the country itself, and the reality is, as all of our parents get older, that i am sure ne of them ever think about this is my last time going to india, but to not be able to even think of a future moment, it is very -- i think it is disheartening for them but i think at some point there is going to be family across the country whose parents are going to pass away here in the u.s.,

never getting to go back. and i think there is going to be a heartache that exists that is hard to understand of like that idea of not seeing home one last time. ♪ >> >> woodruff: the senate has returned to work, facing a crowded agenda in what we expect will be a pivotal month on many issues. but there was news this past weekend that could throw a wrench into one piece of that agenda. it came from centrist democratic senator joe manchin of west virginia, on the issue of voting rights. lisa desjardins is here with me in our studio to walk us through all of that, and more. it feels strange to be in person but it is about time. >> i agree. >> but here to walk us through what is going on.

so let's talk about joe manchin, a lot of attention this weekend, he wrote an opinion piece saying she opposed to this great big voting rights bill that democrats have their hearts set on. what is behind the opposition? >> first way on the remind folks what is in this bill, this is a critical issue to democrats and part of president biden's agenda when he was running for office. there is is before the people act is what culled as the, sometimes s-1 or hr 1, what is is is in it? provisions that would expand early voting and registration across the country in federal elections, it would block states from doing some of the things they are doing now, like voter purges and make it harder to do those things and also end partisan gerrymandering so it is a broad bill, and it would make large donors would have to disclose themselves publicly, campaign finance. now it is a big bill, it is something that is obviously very critical right now as we see rising in this country, both sides talking about democracy and voting rights and what is

happening at this moment in comes joe manchin, heould be the 50th vote democrats would have for this in the senate, they have 49 and here is what he said in his op ed saying why he opposed it, he wrote i believe that partisan voting legislation will destroy the already weakening binds of our democracy and for that reason i will vote against the before the people act, notable he did not have any substantive problems with the bill that he raised instead he said the issues is there are no republicans on board. democrats of course have a real problem with that. they say, we think republicans are going to play games here and block this bill. but the bottom line, judy, at this time, this manchin decision is a body blow to this legislation. it is not dead yet but it is in real trouble. it is unclear if, when chuck schumer of the democratic leader will bring it back up. >> and raises questions about a number of other pieces of legislation the democrats have their heart set on, one, infrastructure, this proposal by the president, the president has been having a number of

conversations with senator shell and the other senator from west virginia, shelley, who is a republican, where does all that stand a? >> it is called the political mountain state right now, right? there is a quick update on infrastructure something that could effect affect almost every state this country. >> the state of negotiations, senate republicans offered $250 billion in new spending this was back and forth over the weekend, president biden has lowered sort of his you know, bottom line to at least 1 trillion, he has offered a compromise on thousand pay for this, which is interesting saying he would accept a lower corporate tax rate of 15 percent a, he would want it wanted up to 28 percent but he says they would have to pay that 15 percent, no loophole, now republicans haven't responded yet but i think the bottom line on this one, judy, is that this also is not going well, they are very far apart and this is something that they don't have a lot of time to figure out, biden wants to go big, a lot of democrats are pushing him this way and end negotiations, republicans are still talking.

>> and you are suggesting, lisa, you told us you think this month could be crucial for at that number of issues before the congress. >> that's right. senator tim scott of south carolina, the republican, told me a couple of weeks ago before they left for recess it is june or bust on racial justice legislation, police reform so that is going to happen in the next two weeks, infrastructure also some spending rules, speaker pelosi is trying to get through her spending bills on infrastructure by the end of this month as well, all of that on top of this situation with the, before the people or the votingights act, it is going to be very busy an it is critical because the direction the democrats choose now could delay road for the rest of this year and for the biden administration. >> several weeks to, go it is only week 7. >> it is getting hotter. >> very good to have u in the studio. >> very good to be back. >> for more on some of these biggest political stories of the week we turn to aim a my walter of the cook political report and errin haines of the 19th news. tamir rice is away, it is so

good to seethe both of you and let's see where question left off with lisa on this big voting rights piece of legislation. amy, to you first, with joe manchin weighing in now and saying he is not going to go for something that doesn't have republican buy-in, where does that leave voting rights? >> well, the other thing that senator manchin said that op ed and he has said publicly is he supports voting rights legislation that is more narrowly tailored, and there is one of those in congress right now that he supports, john lewis voting rights act, and he says this does have some bipartisan support, it has one bipartisan, cosponsor, and that's lisa murkowski, the senator from alaska, but judy you know as well as anybody that that doesn't get you 60 votes, you need 10, not just one other republican toet something passed, the finish line, so the

discussion right now is about the filibuster, would joe manchin support the filibuster to pass something like a more tailored voting right bill and the answer he seems to get now every five minutes is, no. he is not interested in getting rid of that t1 thing that i think is also important to understand is, while joe manchin is taking the bulk of the criticism about his opposition to upending the filibuster, there are a lot of other democrats in the senate who quietly agree with him. he is something of a heat shield for the democrats. he is taking all of the incoming and presenting them from having to say out loud how they feel about getting rid of the filibuster which would have really tremendous and unforeseen consequences for the future. >> so, errin, the issues don't get much more important than voting rights this year for the democrats, if they are not able to hold their ranks together on

this, what does it say? >> well, what it says is, especially to democratic voters is, you know, they are questioning what it is that they voted for. democrats asked these voters during the 2020 election to do whatever it took to get creative to really fight for this democracy and to hand them the democratic majority that they now have in congress and also the presidency and the vice presidency. and so those voters are now looking to their elected officials especially at the federal level and expect results, they don't care about things like the filibuster and budget reconciliation, they don't know what those things mean. they only know they expect that their vote should be counted and protecting or expanding voting rights is certainly a way that they would expect those -- their votes to be counted, and so this is a very frustrating thing for a lot of the voters i talked to, not to mention the organizers, the activist whose galvan knifed

so many of those voters even in the midst of a pandemic to turn out in record numbers .. that gave democrats the majority, but for now a lot of those folks do not feel like democrats are governing as if they are the ones who just won the election in 2020. >> and, amy, just, i mean, we are just what six months into the biden administration and to be throwing in the towel, although that is obviously not what the democrats are doing, they haven't publicly given up yet, but it doesn't bode well, does it? >> it doesn't. but this is what what happens wa 50-50 senate and it is reality for democratic parties that, look, their 50-50 senate only there because there are a couple of senators who represent really red states, joe manchin represent as state that donald trump won by almost 40 points. there are other members up in 2022 who represent sort of purple or swing states that also

have to be aware that to win, they can't just rely on democratic votes, and so, you know, again, this is the reality of the world in which we currently live where just a few thousand votes separate democrats from the majority in the house a and for control of the senate come 2022. >> and while we are talking about voting and voting rights, errin, we did see the former president show up in north carolina over to weekend, giving a very political speech, a very critical of president biden, former president trump again goinafter the dr. anthony fauci, but notably saying he plans to get involved and campaign for congressional senate candidates in 2022. here is just a little bit of what former president said. >> the survival of america depends upon our ability to elect republicans at every

level, starting with the midterms next year. we have to get it done. >> errin, what does that mean for democrats and for republicans? presumably she firing up some republicans, but what is the democratic response to him? >> well, you know, i think that we have to continue to look to the state and you know, another gop state convention that happened over the weekend was down in my home state of georgia, where you definitely had some very interesting dynamics i think could kind of pretend what we can expect to see going forward for the mid terms and possibly in the next four years. govern brian kemp took the stage at the convention and jackal lan and was booed, this is somebody who said publicly that georgia's elections were fair and accurate, you know, in opposition to the former president who wanted a recount in georgia, despite those ballots being counted 3 times, people like governor kemp,

people like secretary of state raffensperger who you know, talked about the disweg of the elections in georgia were put on, you know -- put in the former president's cross hairs while folks like margery taylor green were hailed by republicans in georgia for her political you know, rejection of political correct correctness and really embrac the former president and continued support of him. .. so you have republicans being rewarded, the republicans who stood with former president trump and were calling for you know, an investigation or you know, a look into the election results in georgia, and so the extent to which we continue to see president trump out on the campaign trail which he signaled he is willing -- is something he is going to be doing, the extent to which he continues to talk about a rigged election or the false threat to election integrity in this country and republicans continuing to push

these laws at the state level and continuing to kind of align themselves with those ideas, i think seeing how long the so-called big lie is going to continue to last in our election cycle i think what we know now is almost six months after the january 6th insurrection that is very much in our political ecosystem. >> and no doubt about it. and amy, what does the president, the former president involvement now at this point, what -- how is that going to change the make-up of this campaign between now and november of next year? >> and potentially the make-up of congress. ju, the other thing he did in north carolina besides, as errin pointed t, still continuing to make the baseless claim that the election was rigged, is he endorsed a candidate forhe north carolina senate, so why is this important? well, when donald trump says we are going to take back the house

and the sat for republicans, what he is actually saying is we need to make back congress with the kind of candidates that are like me or kind of candidates that get my seal of approval, now some of those candidates are going to win and some aren't but the fact is, if they do go on to succeed next november, it means that the congress is going to look a lot trump ier than it does at this moment .. >> and that is what we are already looking at the possibility of. here we are, early june, 2021. amy walter, errin haines, thank you both. >> you're welcome. >> >> woodruff: and we'll be back shortly. but first, take a moment to hear from our local pbs station. it's a chance to offer your

support, which helps keep programs like ours on the air. >> woodruff: we turn to civil rights activist ruby bridges, who writes her own story in a cildren's book, hoping adult this is part of our "race matters solutions series" and our arts and culture series, "canvas." >> reporte ruby bridges' name is synonymous with civil rights trailblazing, immortalized in this norman rockwell painting entitled “the problem we all live with.” bridges historic moment came when she became the first black child to desegregate an all- white elementary school in new orleans at six-years-old. she had to be escorted by federal marshals as she walked past loud and unruly protestors and into the william frantz elementary school.

now, 60 years later, bridges has written tond for children, the same age of as her younger self. she describes it as a call to action, and contains historical photos of her pioneering time. pioneering history is still being made. and remembered, including a photo illustration that went viral after the election of vice president elect kamala hris walking alongside the shadow of ruby bridges. ruby bridges. first, let me say happy new and on behalf of my generation of civil rigs pioneers, let me just say thank you for paving our way. now, you've written other oks, but this one is specifically aimed at readers who may be as young as you were when you first took those historic steps, when you were six-years-old, into the elementary school there. why did you do this book? and do you see similarities between then and now? in some ways?

>> absolutely. you know, back in march, i was sitting in front of my television on lockdown because of the virus, like everybody else, and watching faroo much witness this young man's brutal death-- mr.floyd-- right in front of my face, like so many people did, and i was so disturbed by it and didn't know how to react or what to do, i felt like, you know, i'd been spending so many years talking to kids across the count. ani knew that they were watching this as well and probably wondering what wa going on. you know, the majority of my time, i talked to kids and explained to them that racism has no place in the minds and hearts of our kids across the country. and yet, they were witnessing this. i was very moved by what i saw after his death. i saw young people take to the

streets, and i felt like the torch had been passed and that now they had a cause to get behind. when dr. king was assassinated, i felt like we should have picked that torch up and kept it moving. even my own experience after going into the school, it was something that happened. no one talked about it in my community, in my neighborhood. it was swept under the rug and life went on. i'm happy now to see that all of a sudden activism is cool again, you know, and it should have been from 1960 until today, we didn't do a very good job of passing those lessons on to that generation. >> reporter: let's talk about teenagers and others in their 20s, where there seem to be, big demonstrations that are going on, multiracial, multigenerational, led by a lot of young people. but there are also a lot of

deep divisions and, you know, from politics even to wearing masks, there are divisions. how do you how do you explain that? >> we cannot be a hopeless people. we have to be hopeful. and we do have a lot of work to do. >> reporter: one of the things that you say in the book is that you believe that racism is, let me read this, "a grown up disease" and that you're talking to the children now, the young people, you say we adults must stop using you, our kids to spread it. it's we adults who passed racism >> we all know that none of our kids are born knowing anything about disliking the child sitting next to them. our babies don't come into the world knowing anything about racism or disliking someone because of the color of their skin. it is learned behavior, and i believe that if it c be taught, it can be taught not to not to be that way. >> you mentioned your children. you have four, you had four black boys, and your eldest was involved in an unsolved murder. what is your advice to mothers

like yourself and also to ose protesting the murders of black men especially, but also black women? >> that is a parent's worst nightmare, and you're absolutely right, my son's murder was never solved. we do know that the people that actually took his life looked exactly like him. you know, there's so many parents out there like myself who have lost children, whether my son's age or, you know, even babies by people by gun violence, which is very, very disheartening. that is an issue that we have to deal with as well. whether it's the murders, like the murder that happened with my son, or murders like george floyd. if you are passionate about that, then you need to do something about it. >> reporter: i'm very impressed with your passion and, and moved by it. and i wonder, i imagine there might be a part of your book or that you that is a favorite of yours.

>> yes, i have it right here. i will definitely do that:“ when i think about how great this country could be. america, land of the free, home of the brave. i think about what dr. martin luther king jr. said about being great. everybody can be great because everybody can serve. you only need a heart full of grace. really, it is that love and grace for one another that will heal this world." >> reporter: well, ruby bridges, it's been such a pleasure to see you once again you are a hero for all time in the best of times, and it will always be your time. thank you. >> thank you. such, such a pleasure to see you again.

>> woodruff: carey candrian is a colorado-based social scientist she's spent much of her career investigating how healthcare can be compromised if an open discussion with patients about what and who matters most to them, is avoided. tonight, she offers her brief but spectacular view on reimagining the language we use in healthcare, especially around elderly l.g.b.t.q. members. married? do you have kids? and now think how isolating and a silencing that script can be when you don't fit. i think the language we use around healthcare needs to be reimagin. >> dealing with the health crisis is hard for everyone, but it is even hard fore lgbt seniors. if you think of our form, our

intake questions, our admission questions, they are all critical in medicine because they really tell us who a patient is, what they want, what they don't want, who they want in the room, and the challenges that the questions and forms are so scripted that they are limiting. do you come out and risk being treated poorly or do you stay silent and hide a fundamental part of who you are. >> that is a heck of a choice. for other, our other option is we break these scripts and open them up in a way that gives people space to answer in a way that benefits them. i got into a major in communications pretty randomly. the first day of class and there was a large lecture hall and the professor got up the first day and said, people are not the problem. it is the way people talk that is the problem. and if you want to change culture you need to give people a new vocabulary so i really feltike i could do something

about that with the degree in communications. currently there are 2.4 million lgbt seniors in this country, and nearly half, 48 percent of them have not shared that with their doctors people who grew up when it was basically unthinkable and dangerous to begbt, so they spent years honing the habit of silence about a fundamental part of their identity, and research shows us the stress from hiding can take up to 12 years off of their life. it is hard to break these scripts when you are fine and even harder when you have faced this lifetime of training to be silent, and knowing that you risk being treated poorly if you do come out. even just not asking are you married? who is the biggest support in your life? who do you want to have in the room? i mean these just need a slight change to know that it will be okay, that you can trust this person, that you can be safe with sharing this information,

goes a really long way and makes a huge impact for the lgbt community. i see a lot of myself in the people that i work with, because i am one of them and i think it does matter to a certain degree because you do become deeply connected and wanting to do this work and also wanting to do tis workhat actually leads to change. people say you know, we are inclusively treat everyone the same. we should never want to treated everyone the same because we aren't all the same. my name is carey candrian and this is my brief but spectacular take on braining the script in healthcare. >> >> #01: and we all need. >> you can find all of our brief but spectaculars pbs.org/newshour. 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 see you soon.

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hello, everyone, and welcome to "amanpour" and company. here's what's coming up. >> if this last border crossing is closed, it will force people into making desperate decisions about their futures. >> the forgotten crisis in syria. millions face disaster, if aid is cut off. america's ambassador to the u.n., linda thomas greenfield joins me on this, and the many challenges facing the international community. then. lled fighting for democracy. 32 years, since the tiananmen uprising, china continues to queldissent. i'll speak to one of the activists from tiananmen, now, in exile. and a leader of t new generation fighting for

democracy, in hong kong.