>> provided by -- >> before we talk about your? investments, what is new? >> audrey is expecting twins. >> we want to put money aside for them. >> change in plans. >> let's see what we can adjust. >> change in plans. >> mom, are you painting again? you could sell these. >> let me guess, change in plans? >> at fidelity, a change in plans is always part of the plan. >> consumer cellular, johnson & johnson, bnsf railway.

financial services firm, raymondjames. the william and flora hewlett foundation, for more than 50 years advancing ideas and a better world at hewlett.org. the chan zuckerberg initiative, working to build a more healthy, just and inclusive you cheer for everyone, czi.org. ♪ >> and width of the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. -- with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. ♪ >> this progr was made

possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. think you. -- thank you. stephanie: i'm stephanie sy at newshour west. we will return after the latest headlines are the u.s. food and drug administration approved of the first new drug to treat alzheimer's disease in nearly two decades. federal health 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 demanded by hackers after last month's colonial pipeline ransomware attack. the bitcoin ransom -- which is currently valued at $2.3 million dollars -- 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 fuels ransomware 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. stephanie: the cyberattack on "colonial pipeline" forced the company to shut down its operations for five days, triggering major shortages at gas stations up and down the east coast. protests surrounding the enbridge line three construction project in minnesota turned more violently this evening. protesters surrounded a station in clashed with police. at least 30 people were arrested. the company said th evacuated 44 people from the site. later in the show i will have a

program with an interview with a native american protester. vice president harris was in guatemala today to discuss the surge in immigration from central america to the u.s. she met with president alejandro giammattei in guatemalcity. they discussed economic opportunity, anti-human trafficki measures, 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 of the united states understand well. if we are to be effective if we , are to be true to our principles, we must root out corruption wherever it exists. stephanie: she will meet 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 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 it. 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. >> a man in shock is speaking to you right now. you have seen the injured. there is even a little girl who was less than five years old review 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 back home and sleep in peace. stephanie: in california, the main water provider in santa clara county, which serves to million residents, would declare a water shortage emergency this week. nevada is the first state in the nation to outlaw certain types of grass. the governor signed legislation friday. the ban targets nonfunctional turf. it excludes single-family homes, golf courses, and parks. 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 10 minutes, and will launch july 20th. 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. >> this is pbs newshour west from weta studios in washington and in the west from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. ♪ judy: the fda costs -- the fda's approval of a new alzheimer's drug today followed months of debate within the medical community about the ency's procedures, which, as amna nawaz reports, the announcement has done little to quiet. amna: that's right, judy. the approval was based on two clinical trials. one showed some improvement in patients who'd been given the drug aducanumab, but the other found no benefit. a number of practitioners said that was not good enough and fell short of fda's usual standards for approval. in an outside advisory board november recommended that fda 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. she has been following these developments closely and joins me now. welcome back to the "newshour." let's start with the approval today, even with this disagreement over how effective drug is, the fda still approved it. why? what do we know about what they based that on? >> they actually acknowledged that there was not clear evidence of clinical benefit, that there was some kind of murkiness in the evidence about whether this will actually help patients slow down their memory and thinking problems. what they said is, there is some suggestion of that. one thing everybody on all sides agree that the drug does do is that it attacks a key protein in

alzheimer's disease. this is a proteinalled amyloid. and it is the protein that clumps into plaque in the brains of people who have alzheimer's. they said, well, we are going to approve this drug because it does attack the biology of the disease. we have some signal that there might be some benefit for patient symptoms, and we are going to tell the company that they need to do another clinical trial. if the results of that trial do not show benefit, then the fda might revoke the approval, and it could end up being that those trials don't show benefit at all. the issue with that is that the clinical trial takes three or four, five years. this drug will be on the market, patients will be using it without actually being certain that it has the ability to help them.

amna: while the drug is out there, i am assuming there will be high demand for it with millions of people in the u.s. suffering from alzheimer's. do we know enough about the benefi andisks? what did they find in trials in terms of the risks that people take on in taking this drug? >> there is definitely a risk. this drug can cause brain swelling and brain bleeding. in the trial, about 40% of patients in the trial did experience that. it is not quite as serious as it sounds because most of those , cases didn't actually produce any symptoms for patients, but some number did, and about 6% of patients had to quit the trials because of the brain swelling or brain bleeding. those can be serious side effects. as a result, anybody who takes this drug will have to ha regular brain mri's to check to see if their brain is

experiencing anything like this. in terms of the benefit 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. some of the scientists who were concerned and guing 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. on the others we know there is a risk. they were saying the potential benefit here doesn't outweigh the risk. amna: here is one of the key questions. when the fda issues approval, that implies this drug is safe, this is ok to use, and this is effective. that doesn't seem to be -- there does not seem to be a clear-cut case for this. what is the role of the fda in all of ts?

>> 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. there is not a lot of 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 protein, in 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. 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. amna: that is pam belluck of the new york times joining us tonight. thank you so much, pam. >> thank you. ♪ judy: a protracted stand-off between a major oil company and northern indigenous american tribes intensified today. stephanie sy has the story. stephanie: a pipeline battle brewing in minnesota, today, with the largest show of resistance yet. >> we will! >> stop line three! stephanie: more than 1000 workers -- 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 carried, while crossing more than 200 bodies of water and 800 acres of wetlands. it would also run between three reservations it would also run between three reservations. resistance has only intensifie since construction began in december. >> stop line three! stephanie: dozens of protesters have been arrested. >> get out of the area immediately or be placed under arrest. stephanie: opponents say the pipeline risk builds in sensitive areas where native americans, the ojibwe tribes, have treaty rights to hunt, fish and harvest wild rice. environmental groups also fear tar sands 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 in grand rapids, 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. now line 3 is 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. stephanie: celebrities, including actress jane fonda, joined that call today. >> going to keep coming back and making a ruckus. stephanie: 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 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 watersheds, to our wild rice tributaries, to these beautiful places we call home. it proposes to pass through over 200 water bodies, 800 wetlands, and dozens of wild rice watersheds along its path. folks are here to say that that is not going to happen and our wild rice matters.

stephanie: tell me what happened at the protest today. i know you were expecting hundreds of ople. where there any arrests, confrontations, do you feel it was successful? >> yes, there is actually over 2,000 folks that have shown up here in northern minnesota doing multiple actions at different sites. there have not been any really aggressive police confrontations. i think they are overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of folks that are here and perhaps didn't realize the level of support that native nations have and front lines groups have across turtle island and the concerns that people all jointly share about our water and our future. stephanie: what are you all calling for? are you expecting that president biden is going to cancel this projec the way he did with the keystone xl pipeline back in december? >> if there is a want to avoid civil unrest, if there is a want to uphold tribal sovereign,

and to be a climate champion, there is no way that this project should be allowed to move forward. line 3 is the equivalent of the emissions equivalents of 50 coal-fired plants. there are three ojibwe nations suing against its approval. it is the violation of not only indigenous rights, but of the rights of future generations to have a habitable plant. stephanie: you are talking about both a 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 deceit to them? >> i'm born and raised 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 extraction. there are jobs that require us to destroy natural world around us, whether it's cutting down

the forests, extracting minerals from the earth, or building fossil fuel infrastructure projects that we are left to deal with the risks of. there needs to be investment into our economies. there needs to be respect for our economies, our existing economies, like the economy of wild rice. it is time for something different. the thousands of jobs that were promised, they were supposed to be local jobs, 70 -- 75%. that it is less than 33%. most of those jobs are not the high-paying union jobs. they're the contracted security workers and things like that. this is not a big, huge influx of resources into our economies. this is very temporary and shortsighted. we're the ones that have to deal with all the risks, when these guys go home and start counting their checks. by these guys, i mean enbridge. stephanie: ms. houska, you are also a tribal torney. besides the protests, like you're seeing today, the acts of civil disobedience, what legal recourse remains the project is more than 60%

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 re that are saying that that's not going to happen. i would say that enbridge had promised that its pipeline project would be running years ago to its shareholders, and it is still not running. it is because of the people coming together and the regulatory review process, indirect actions on the ground, in courts, in litigation that's prevented them every single step of the way. we don't want this project. there is multiple losses -- there are multiple losses, multiple lawsuits that are proceeding, which include minnesota's own 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 forecast. stephanie: 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.

♪ judy: 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. >> my name is divya balakrishnan. and i live in sacramento, california. >> i'm vineet singal, and i live in austin, texas. >> my name is shyamli badgaiyan, and i am in cambridge, massachusetts. >> my name is priyank lathwal,

and i'm in pittsburgh, pennsylvania. >> my name is madhushree ghosh, and i live in san diego, california. >> i am shaun jayachandran. i live in belmont, massachusetts. >> last summer, my maternal grandfather passed away from covid. the hardest part was not being able to appropriately say goodbye to him. and then, just over the weekend, there was a need for an oxygen concentrator because we were seeing the o2 levels for one of my family members go down precipitously. it was an eye-opening experience to figure out a way to get an oxygen concentrator during a time when there is essentially a black market for oxygen concentrators in india. i feel lucky my family and i are in a position to do this for the

folks in my family who are suffering. but, at the same time, 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. >> my home is delhi. and just a few weeks ago, we began to see what was happening with the cases surge, to put it lightly. at the same time that my school, at the harvard business school, everyone is sort of celebrating graduation and vaccinations, understandably so, i began to think of having a fundraiser for harvard specifically. i then thoht, why limit it to one school, because there is so much strength in numbers. i realized that priyank lathwal from carnegie mellon was thinking something of very similar, so i reached out to him. >> my mom called me last week around 2:00 in the night in india, and saying that a lot of our friends were getting

infected and they weren't getting basic infrastructure. i wasorried for them and wanted to do something about it. i put something together on gofundme. within 24 hours, it had gained a lot of traction and that is when shyamli 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 brought -- broader. i shifted from being completely 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 of it is something which i don't think i have had adequate time to process through, and i'm just trying to keep myself busy, but i know i'll get back to it at some pointnd h ae to reconcile with that.

>> as person who is indian, but living abroad, it comes with a sense of helplessness and a sense of, even if i do something, it feels kind of futile. i'm just clicking a few buttons, but is it actually making a difference? virtual yoga classes became a way for me to conduct fund-raisers and raise money for very worthy causes. the fundraiser itself is twofold. one is garnering the community support, really hitting home that this is an important issue that affects all of us, not only if you're indian. the second arm of the fundraiser is to work as compassionately as possible call into action , influential individuals and also larger companies that have profited from indian culture and yogic culture. it is because millions of people around the world are raising their voice that they do more than pay attention and take action. >> whatsapp groups have been very transformational for us.

i left india in 1993. the middle school was st. anony's girls senior secondary school these girls grew up together. if i showed up in india for a visit, you ping them, and the girls would come together. sometimes they would being their own -- bring their own children along. it has always been a fun place to share stories of each other's lives. this whatsapp group, as well as my middle school whatsapp group, is now inundated with information on where you can get oxygen cylinders, where you can go for an icu bed. mental health and south asia, we don't talk about it as much as here in the u.s., but, in india right now, people are just trying to survive. there are only two ways to do this. either we acknowledge there will be the trauma that people ha experienced is going to be multigenerational and do something about it, or we

pretend it never happened. >> i'm the founder of crossover sketball and scholars academy. the mission is to impact gender equity and education rates in marginalized communities across india by using the sport of basketball as a vehicle of change. i just got a text message today from a young girl, riparia, who's been in our program. she came for three straight years. she is waiting on medical school admission however, her mom had her hours scaled back and now all the way cut. that is putting her in a hard position of making a hard choice. do i continue in school, where i don't have necessary funding for tuition, we may not have a place to live or food, or do i put that dream aside? c 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.

when can we restart this program? when can i get back to working and engaging with these kids? my dad was born in 1941. we are talking about a man who is older than the country itself. the reality is, as all of our rents get older, that i'm sure none 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 is very, i think, disheartening for them. at some point there are gng to be families across the country whose parents are going to pass away here in the u.s., never getting to go back. i think there's going to be a heartache that exists that's hard to understand, that idea of not seeing home one last time. ♪

judy: the senate has returned to work, facing a crowded agenda in what we expect could 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, in a first in a long time. lisa, thank you for being here. it feels strange to be in person, but it's about time. lisa: i agree. judy: let's talk about joe manchin. a lot of attention this weekend he wrote an opinion piece saying he is opposed to this great big voting rights bill that democrats have their hearts set on. what is behind opposition? lisa: first, i want to remind folks what is in this bill. this is a critical issue to democrats and was part of president biden's agenda when he was running for office.

this is the for the people act, the title of the bill. sometimes people call it s.1 or h.r.1. what is in it? , it conins -- it contains 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're doing now, like voter purges. it would make it tougher for them to do those things. it would end partisan gerrymandering. it is a broad bill. it would make that large donors would have to disclose themselves publicly, campaign finance. it is a big bill. both sides are talking about democracy and voting rights. joe manchin would be the 50th vote that democrats would have for this senate. they have 49. here's 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 for the people act." notable, he did not have any substantive problems with the bill that he raised it instead, he said the issue is there are , no republicans on board. democrats have a problem with that. they say we think republicans are going to play games here and block this bill. this is a body blow to this legislation. it is not dead yet, but it is in trouble. it is not clear when chuck schumer, the democratic leader, will bring it back up. judy: it raises questions about a number of other pieces of legislation that democrats have their heart set on, one, infrastructure, this proposal by the president. the president's been having a number of conversations with the other senator from west virginia, shelley moore capito, who's a republican. lisa: it is called the political mountain state right now. let me give folks a quick update on where we are on infrastructure, something that could affect almost every city in this country. the state of negotiations right now, the senate republicans'

last offer was $250 billion in new spendin this was back and forth over the weekend. president biden has lowered his bottom line to at least $1 trillion. he has offered a compromise on how to pay for this, which is interesting, saying he would accept a lower corporate tax rate up to 15%. he had wanted 28%. but he said, corporations would have to pay that 15%, no loopholes. republicans have not responded yet. this is also not going well. they are far apart. this is something they don't have a lot of time to figure out. biden wants to go big, a lot of democrats are pushing him that way. judy: you say this month could be crucial for a number of issues before congress. lisa: that is right. senator tim scott of south carolina, the republican, told me a couple weeks ago before they left for recess that it is june or bust on racial justice legislation, police reform. so that's going to have the next two weeks, infrastructure, also

some spending rules. speaker pelosi is trying to get through her spending bills and infrastructure by the endf this month as well. all of that on top of this situation with the for the people or the voting rights act. it is critical because the direction demoats choose now could lay the road for the rest of the year and maybe the rest of the biden administration. judy: good to have you in the studio. for more on these biggest political stories of the week we turn to amy walter of the cook political report and errin haines of the 19th news. tamara keith is away. it is so good to see both of you. let's pick up where we 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's not going to go for something that doesn't have republican buy-in, where does

that leave voting rights? >> the other thing that senator manchin said in that op-ed and he has said publicly is he supports voting rights legislation that's more narrowly tailored. there's one of those in coress right now that he supportsthe john lewis voting rights act. and he says this does have some bipartisan support. it has one bipartisan cosponsor. that's lisa murkowski, senator from alaska. you know as well as anybody that does not get you 60 votes. you need 10, not just one other republican, to get something past the finish line. the discussion right now is about the filibuster. would joe manchin support ousting the filibuster to pass something like a more tailored voting rights bill? the answer he seems to give every five minutes is no. he's not interested in getting rid of that.

the one thing that i think is also important to understand is, while joe manchin is taking th bulk of the criticism about his position 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 those democrats. he is rejecting them from having to say out loud how they feel about getting rented -- getting rid of this filibuster which has tremendous and unforeseen consequences for the future. judy: errin, the issues don't get much more important than voting rights this year for the democrats. if they're not able to hold their ranks together on this, what does it say? >> what it says, especially to democratic voters, is that they're 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. those voters are now looking to their elected officials, especially at the federal level, and expecting results. they don't care about the filibuster or budget reconciliation. they only know they expect their vote to be counted and expect -- expanding voting rights is a way they would expect their votes to be counted. this is a frustrating thing to a lot of voters i talked to not to mention organizers, actavis who galvanized so many of those voters, to turn out record numbers that gave democrats the majority. for now, a lot of folks do not feel democrats are governing as if they are the ones who just won the election in 2020. dy: amy, we are just six months into the biden

administration. to be saying throwing in the towel, though that is not what they are doing, they have not publicly given up yet, it does not bode well, does it? >> it does not, but this is what happens in a 50-50 senate. it's also the reality for a democratic party that, look, their 50/50 senate is only there because there are a couple of senators who represent really red states. joe manchin represents estate 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. 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 and for control of the senate come

2022. judy: while we're talking about voting and voting rights, errin, we did see the former president show up in north carolina over the weekend, giving a very political speech, very critical of president biden, former president trump again going after dr. anthony fauci, but notably saying that he plans to get involved and campaign for congressional senate candidates in 2022. here's just a little bit of what the former president said. mr. trump 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. judy: errin, what does that mean for democrats and for republicans? presumably, h's firing up some republicans. what is the democratic response to him? >> well, i think that we have to continue to look to the states.

>> another gop stateonvention that happened over the weekend was down in my home state of georgia, where you definitely had some very interesting dynamics that i think could kind of portend what we can expect to see going forward for the midterms and possibly in the next four years. governor brian kemp took the stage at the convention in jekyll island and was booed. this is somebody who had said publicly that georgia's elections were fair and accurate, in opposition to the former president who wanted a recount in georgia, despite those ballots being counted three times. people like governor kemp, people like secretary of state raffensperger, who talked about the integrity of the elections in georgia, they were put in the former president's crosshairs, while folks like marjorie taylor greene were hailed by republicans in georgia for her

rejection of political correctness and embrace of the former president and continued support of him. you had republicans being rewarded, the republicans who stood with president -- stood with former president trump and were calling for an investigation or to look into the election results in georgia. the extent to which we continue to see former president trump out on the campaign trail, which he signaled he is willing 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 6 insurrection, that that is still very much in our political ecosystem.

judy: no doubt about it. how does the former president's involvement changed the makeup of this campaign between now and november of next year? >> and potentially the makeup of congress. judy, the other thing he did in north carolina, besides, as errin pointed out, still continuing to make the baseless claim that the election was rigged, , he endorsed a candidate for the north carolina senate. so why is this important? when donald trump says, we got to take back the house and the senate for republicans, what he is actually saying is, we need to take back congress with the kinds of candidates that are like me, or kind of candidates that get my seal of approval. some of those candidates are going to win, some are not. if they go on to succeed next

november, it means congress will look a lot trumpier than it does at this moment. judy: 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 are welcome. ♪ judy: and we'll be back shortly with a brief but spectacular take on the need for doctors to openly talk to patients about their loved ones. but first, take a moment to hear from your local pbs station. it's a chance to offer your support, which helps keep programs like ours on the air. ♪ judy: we turn to civil rights activist ruby bridges who writes her own story in a children's book.

it's part of our race matters series and our arts series, canvas. >> if it had not been for you guys, i might not be here and we would not be looking at this together. >> ruby bridges' name immortalized in this rockwell painting, entitled "the problem we all live with." 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 protesters and into the william france elementary school. 60 years later bridges has written to and for children. the same age as her youer self, she describes it as a call to action, and the photos of her pioneering time. pioneering history is still made and remembered, including a

photo illustration that went viral after the election of vice presidt-elect kamala harris, walking alongside the shadow of ruby bridges. >> ruby bridges, on behalf of my generation of civil rights pioneers, let me say thank you for paving our way. you have written other books, 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. why did you do this book and do you see similarities between then and now in some ways? >> absolutely. back in march i was sitting in front of my television, on lock down, because of the virus, like everybody else. i witnessed this young man's brutal death, mr. floyd, right

in front of my face, like so many people did. i was so disturb by it, didn't know how to react or what to do. i felt like i had been spending so many years talking to kids across the country, and i knew they were watching this as well and probably wondering what was going on. the majority of my time i talked to kids, 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 street and felt the torch had been passed and 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 am happy to see that activism is cool again. it should have been from 1960 until today. we did not do a very good job of passing those lessons onto that generation. >> let's talk about teenagers and others in their 20's, demonstrations, multiracial, multigenerational, led by a young -- a lot of young people. there are deep divisions, from politics to weari masks. how do you explain that? ruby: we cannot be a hopeless people. we have to be hopeful. we do have a lot of work to do. >> one of the things you say in the book, let me read this, you

believe racism is a grown-up disease. you are talking to the young people. we adults must stop using you, our kids, to spread it. ruby: we all know our kids are not born knowing about disliking th child next to them. our babies do not come into the world knowing about racism or disliking someone because of the color of their skin. it is learned behavior. if it can be taught, it can be taught not to be that way. >> you mentioned your children. you had four black boys and her eldest was involved in an unsolved murder. what is your advice to mothers like yourself and those protesting the murders of black men especially, but also black women? ruby: that is a parent's worst nightmare. my son's murder was never solved. the people who took his life look exactly like him. there are so many parents out

there like myself who have lost children. -- children my son's age or even babies, by gun violence. that is very disheartening. that is an issue we have to deal with as well. whether it is the murder that happened with my son, or murders like george floyd, if you are passionate about that, you need to do something about it. >> i am very impressed with your passion and moved by it. i imagine there might be a part of your book that is a favorite. is there anyplace you could share with us? ruby: yes, i will do that. when i think about how great this country could be,

thank you. ♪ >> this is pbs newshour westis from weta studios in washington and from our bureau at the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. ♪ >> you are watching pbs. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy.]

is your family ready for an emergency? you can prepare by mapping out two ways to escape your home, creating a supply kit, and including your whole family in practice drills. for help creating an emergency plan, visit safetyactioncenter.pge.com

a little preparation will make you and your family safer in an emergency. a week's worth of food and water, radio, flashlight,

batteries and first aid kit are a good start to learn more, visit safetyactioncenter.pge.com ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ -welcome to "america's test kitchen" at home. today, we're focusing on recipes for two. i'm making grilled scallops with a fennel orange salad. jack's dropping some pepper knowledge on us.