captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight: insurrection aftermath. the senate releases its report on the security failures during the january 6 assault on the capitol by a violent mob of trump supporters. then, the migration message. the vice president discusses the biden administration's immigration agenda in central amera, as the region struggles with rampant corruption. and, "rethinking college." as calls for free tuition at the nation's community colleges grow louder, the benefits and drawbacks of the idea become more apparent. all that and more, on tonight's pbs newshour.

>> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> a raymond james financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. life, well-planned. >> woodruff: the first congressional report detailing what went wrong on january 6 was released this morning. the 128-page bipartisan senate document recounts significant intelligence and security failures leading up to and on the day of the attack, as well as a list of recommendations. we will talk to one of the key senators behind the report. but first, lisa desjardins is here with me to walk us

through it. lisa, this report is representing views from both political parties, we know. so give us the gist of what it says. >> reporter: that's important. let's get right to it. the focuses on the security failures of that kay. first, one of the things it found was that capitol police did have the intelligence, they had seen numerous postings online about potential violence including "bring a gun," for example, but that the police did not share that widely and did not make the correct assessment about how dangerous all those pieces were. also something i had not seen before, that the pentagon, from interviews with the committee, the former defense secretary and former chairman of the chiefs of stf there said -- the joint chiefs of staff, said the pentagon actually wanted to lock down d.c. two days before january 6 because they were so concerned, and that idea was rejected. now, the national guard, we know the problems in the communications there, the reests did not go through and when the requests did go through the pentagon, it was delayed, all of that led to a finding in this report that the national guard did not arrive at the u.s.

capitol until after the capitol itself was secured. there is one of the 20 recommendations in this report that i think is most significant is that the capitol police be able to call on the national guard on their own. right now the capitol police are overseen as what some believe is an antiqted board of three people appointed by congress, they are slow to act and it's notable that something that is not this report, this report does not recommend any changes to that board's structure, and i know capitol police believe they can't do their job better until that structure changes, something else not in this report is president trump and any role he played on that day. that's because the whole purview of this report was limited to security failures on that day. that was the goal. >> woodruff: he is not mentioned. lisa, have any of the concerns that are outlined in this report been addressed so far, and what is thought to be the state of readiness right now at the capitol. >> capitol police have responded

to this report and they say there was not actually intelligence that an attack was coming. they say they are trying to change their staffing, to kind of spread communications better in a way that will help them connect the dots more better. but, otherwise, judy, there is a fence still around the capitol building itself, but everything else systemically is about the same as january 6, and the national guard has now left, in addition, you know, i have to say that the fencing and the future of security athe capitol is unknown because lawmakers themselves have not decided homuch they want to spend or how they want to do it. i think this report, what i'm saying is lawmakers own indecision is not just symbolic but is a factor still in the oversight of the capitol and the problems there. one other issues the capitol police have now, it's not well known, but i talk to many capitol police officers, i know some that left since january 6 and many officers tell me they are very short staffed. even if the capitol could open

for health reasons, they say they don't have the personnel to do it, they're concerned. >> woodruff: that is certainly a reason to be concerned. lisa desjardins. thank you for your reporting, we appreciate it. >> reporter: you're welcome. >> woodruff: and we hear now from democratic senator amy klobuchar of minnesota. she chairs the rules committee, which released today's report in a joint effort with the homeland security committee. and she joins us now from capitol hill. senator klobuchar, welcome back. >> thanks, judy. >> woodruff: thank you for being here, so what would you say were the main failures outlined in this report? >> well, the first was really echoed in the words -- the haunting words of one of the officers who said over the radio, does anybody have a pla there was just no preparation for this kind of an event, despite the fact that you had reports on social media, people posting pictures of the underground tunnels and the maps to the underground tunnels. so the number one thing, no preparation, no really plan for where the officers were

stationed. this was not the fault in any way of the frontline officers. they valiantly defended and did their jobs. this was the leadership of the capitol police. you start with the fact that you have the officers, 75% of them were in their plain clothes. one of the platoons were not able to access their equipment because it was locked in a bus, so they could only look at it through the window. you've got situations where only 10 percent of them had civil disturnce training, and then you have three different intelligence units within the capitol police and, of course, that should be combined. on the outside, f.b.i., the roars coming in didn't get enough information to the high-level people in the capitol police and as was noted the department of defense, it took quite a while for them to get the national guard over. so all in all, we made 20 recommendations, we have toic a on them immediately, and it was

really our job to investigate, yes, but to come up with some recommendations, and it was important that this be bipartisan so we can get them done. >> woodruff: how confident are you, senator, that the fixes that need to be made will be made? >> the ones out of this report, i feel good about that. we ed a new police chief. i was listening to lisa's excellent reporting, much more in depth than some of the reports that i've heard, because she gets the fact that some of these changes just haven't been made. you've got understaffed department, you need a new police chief, this pored has to make a decision about that police chief and we hope that's very soon, two new sergeant at arms have been installed in the house and senate with vast experienced, the other ones replaced, that is a good beginning. then we have to get the equipment and resources to the line officers. one thing i note abut the capitol police board, a good first st we suggest immediately which is to give the

police chief the authority to be able to call up the national guard without calling three people and desperately trying to reach them in the middle of an insurrection. that is one of the most absurd of many things that happened that should never have occurred. >> woodruff: so, as part of lisa's reporting there, senator, was that the concern is, right now, that if there were another attack on the capitol of this magnitude, you might not be ready, the capitol security system mit not be ready. is that your take as well? >> i think you saw by the way the state of the union excellent security there, i think what we've seen is heightened involvement of other agencies and different approaches. there's been a new hire made who's handled these kinds of events before, but there's more that needs to be done, we know that, and our focus was on that security to convince our fellow senators and work with the house to get this done through the appropriations process through the funding and make legal

changes as well. and there could be other changes to that capitol police board as lisa pointed out. i think the number one goal so the get the new chief in place first. >> woodruff: senator, finally, on this subject, you have been in favor of an independent outside economies created to look at what happened on januar. do you think that's still necessary after this report? >> of course. i think it's more necessary. our goal was singularly focused on the security and failures of intelligence, but there's so much more that must be uncovered, systematic issues, rise of white supremacism, what got us to where we are, and that is why i strongly support that commission even more than before we entered in and presented this report. >> woodruff: senator, another major issue that you are involved in, of course, is voting rights. we saw the announcement over the weekend pi your fellow democratic senator joe manchin that he will oppose the big voting rights bill in the senate now, so-called s-1.

without his support, the conventional wisdom is that's dead. how do you see it? >> well, i have been talking with senator manchin both before his announcement, during and afterwards -- well, not during it -- and it's been my impression that he has said he's going to give me a list of things, give one to senator schumer of things that he wants to see in a bill. he has voiced his support for the john lewis voting rights act which, of course, is very important to pass as well. but my argument is this -- we've seen over 300 bills introduced all across the country to limit people's right to vote, to take away their freedom tvote and they'rnot going to stop. they passed major bills in georgia and florida and in other states and, so, that is the argument that we are making right now, and there are many changes that i made to the "for the people act" that would have moderated the bill in response to some of the issues raised by

senator manchin and the west virginia secretary of state. that was a major amendment making it easier for rural areas, had the support of mark warner and (indiscernible) and unfortunately the republicans voted it down, but it is still there along with other changes we can make. so senator manchin is going to have to put forth his ideas because this a good bill and i'm not going to give up the right. >> woodruff: but without significant changes in that bill, paring it down significantly, getting senator manchin on board, your expectation is there's not going to be an end to the fill better rule and you won't have ten republicans to sign on to get the 60 votes so the question is how do you get this done? >> well, senator manchin has in the past indicated he would look at a standing filibuster, and i guess if you even look at his piece that he wrote this weekend, you could say that would be, in his words, i suppose, strengthen the

filibuster. so my argument , if we're not going to abolish the filibuster which i favor because i want to get stuff done and i'm sick and tired of this and people manipulating the process and using archaic procedures to do that, then at least make them stand and argue we shouldn't be giving water to votes for in line or that we shouldn't make it easier for peoplto vote in the safe way that they want to vote, whether it's voting early or by mail, make them stand and do it. so he has still not precluded that, and i think that would be one way to go along with working with him, listening to his concerns and making changes to the bill. like i said, there were significant changes made in the manager's amendment, supported by all of the senators on the committee, including moderate senators in and the independent angus king but theepublicans voted that down, so that's a good place to start. >> woodruff: are you saying that you believe now there's a real chance this can be revived,

that you can get senator manchin to agree to something that's a different looking bill? >> of course, i do, or i wouldn't be standing here saying it to you. i believe so strongly in voting rights, and people stood in line in milwaukee in garbage bags with home maid masks just to exercise their right to vote. people in texas had a deal with one ballot box dropoff place in harris county, texas, with 5 million people. these are outrageous stories that went on around the country, yet 8 million more people voted. we've seen joe biden win by that many votes, you've seen record turnout in the ddle of a pandemic because people cared about voting, and instead of simply chaining their policies and reaching out in different ways, the republican party has said, you know what, we're just going to make it harder for people to vote. and i think reverend warnock said it best in his maiden speech when he said some people don't want some people to vote. that is exactly what's going on

here and why i will not give up this fight for freedom to ssdz vote and put things in place to get the dark money out of our politics and finally get something done on ethics reform, democrats and republicans across the country support the provisions in this bill by overwhelming arguments including west virginia and this is our case. this is a bipartisan bill because both democrats and republicans want to see it happen. >> woodruff: condolences on the loss oyour father, long-time journalist in the state of minnesota. >> thank you so much. >> woodruff: in the day's other news, the biden administration's family reunification task force has identified more than 3,900 children who were separated from their parents at the u.s.-mexico border under the trump administration's zero-tolerance

immigration policy. so far, more than 1,700 have been reunited with a parent, but more than 2,100 children have not. the white house says a lack of data on the children has slowed reunification efforts. >> everybody wants it to go faster. everybody wants-- in this administration, everybody wants these kids to be reunified with their family members, and with verified family members. but, you know, we're working with a challenging issue related to data that we knew woulde the case from the beginning. >> woodruff: the biden administration will review the cases of an additional 1,700 children to see if they were also separated under the zero-tolerance policy. we will have more on the president's immigration policy, later in the program. international law enforcement agencies today unveiled the results of a 16-country sting operation, after criminals planned drug deals and killings on a messaging app secretly run by the f.b.i. more than 300 criminal gangs used the app. the raids led to more than

800 arrests, as well as seizures of 32 tons of drugs and more than $148 million. united nations judges in the hague upheld a genocide conviction against former bosnian serb military chief ratko mladic. the 79-year-old had been convicted of crimes against humanity during the balkan nation's w from 1992 to 1995. the judges rejected his appeals, so mladic will spend the rest of his life in prison. colonial pipeline's chief executive today defended his company's response to a ransomware attack last month. joseph blount told a senate panel the russian-based hackers breached their network through an account that was only protected by a single password. he said paying the ransom was the hardest decision of his career, but the right move to end fuel shortages. >> it was our understanding that the decision was solely

ours, as a private company, to make the decision about whether to pay or not. and considering the consequences of potentially not bringing the pipeline back on as quickly as i possibly could, i chose the option to make the ransom payment. >> woodruff: the justice department was able to recover much of the $4.4 million ransom paymenafter seizing a virtual bitcoin wallet used by the hackers. infrastructure talks between the top republican senate negotiator and president biden are now over. shelley moore capito of west virginia said the president broke off their negotiations today after being unable to reach a deal over his proposed $1.7 trillion jobs and infrastructure package. white house press secretary jen psaki said the president is now shifting his strategy by reaching out to a bipartisan group of senators crafting an alternate proposal. the senate is poised to pass sweeping bipartisan legislation tooost the u.s. tech industry

amid growing international competition, mainly from china. the roughly $250 billion bill will invest in semi-conductor manufacturing, artificial intelligence research, robotics, and a range of other technologies. it is being hailed as the country's ggest investment in scientific research in decades. the biden administration is also forming a task force to address disruptions in the semi-conductor, construction, transportation and agriculture sectors. it aims to boost domestic manufacturing, to limit dependency on countries like china. we will take a closer look at this, and the senate's technology bill, after the news summary. the u.s. centers for disease control and prevention eased pandemic travel recommendations for more than 110 countries and territories today, including japan, ahead of the olympics. meanwhile, pfizer expanded testing its covid vaccine in children younger than 12, giving

them lower doses of the shot. in economic news, the labor department reported a record- high surge in job openings. as more businesses reopened. they were up 998,000 in the month of april, to 9.3 million. also in april, the u.s. trade deficit narrowed to nearly $69 billion, as stronger economic growth led to more sales of american exports. and, trading was light on wall street today. the dow jones industrial average lost 30 points to close at 34,600. the nasdaq rose 43 points, and the s&p 500 added a fracti of a point. still to come on the newshour: the vice president discusses the administration's immigration agenda in central america. calls for free tuition at the nation's community colleges grow louder. and, a songwriter helps hospital workers process the pandemic through music.

>> woodruff: a short time ago, the u.s. senate-- on a rare, bipartisan basis-- passed a major piece of legislation designed to counter china and its global influence. the roughly $200 billion measure is also one of the largest pieces of industrial legislation ever to make its way through congress, though it still needs to be reconciled with a house version. stephanie sy has more. >> sy: judy, the senate bill invests billions in innovation and critical technologies, many of which the chinese government has made a top priority for years. and earlier, the biden administration announced it was taking steps to ensure the u.s. has its own supply of essential products and components, many of

which are, today, manufactured in china. all of this is aimed at boosting u.s. competitiveness with the world's second largest economy. nick schifrin joins me with more. nick, what steps did the white house take, and how do they fit in with the bill the senate is voting on? >> this is the white house and congress making a statement that in order to take on china, the u.s. must focus on itself. first, the white house critical supply chain assessment identifies four main areas of focus. they start with semiconductors, then batteries, as well as critical minerals. think about rare earths that end up in cell phones and pharmaceuticals as well. these are many of beijing's reports. the administration says that it's trying to address the vulnerabilities in supply chains, many of which covid exposed, and also strengthen u.s. resilience. then in the senate, as you said, stephanie, the u.s. innovation and competition act, one of the

largest industrial bills in u.s. history, it invests tens of billions of dollars in what are called key technology focused areas -- basically reenergizing high-tech research and development. it also boosts semiconductor manufacturing, and it makes some diplomatic statements -- a ban on u.s. diplomats going to the beijing 2022 olympics and also another call for a covid origins investigations. the sum of the parts today, stephanie, once again an attempt to make the u.s. stronger in order to take china on. >> and that bill is expected to pass the senate, nick, tonight, with bipartisan approach, but what do critics say about this approach to china? >> reporter: yeah, so beijing is obviously the top critic who says that this is evidence the u.s. is trying to contain china. on the hill, senior republicans say that the bill was rushed through d, therefore, isn't as strong as it should be because it contains internal

contradictions. but in the house, i talked to progressive democrats who say the billoes too far, is too anti-china and members to have the house foreign affairs committee are changing language on taiwan and beijing. we've talked to conservative and lirtarian groups who say that the senate shouldn't be in the business of choosing what research scientists do and also called the bill protectionist. but in this polarized moment, stephanie, this is a bipartisan statement that reflects the administration's arguments that the u.s. can't go on defense against china, can't just call out chinese behavior, it must also go on offense, stay in technology and get on its own house in order to take on china. . and some agreement that the federal government should subsidize high-techology companies which is a shift. nick schifrin, thank you. >> thank you.

>> woodruff: vice president kamala harris is wrapping up her first international trip today, in mexico. she earlier visited guatemala, in a bid to stem migration from the countries of the so-called northern triangle-- guatemala, honduras, and el salvador. nick schifrin is back with a look at harris's trip, and the thorny issues she and the administration are trying to manage. >> schifrin: in mexico city this morning, a united front. flanked by vice president harris and mexican president andres manuel lopez obrador, the u.s. and mexico agreed to help develop the so-called northern triangle: guatemala, honduras, and el salvador, home to 65% of migrants who try and make it to the u.s. >> the united states and mexico have a longstanding relationship. >> schifrin: mexico and the u.s. don't always agree on the tactics, but they share a goal of reducing migration by targeting root causes: violence.

the northern triangle has homicide rates among the highest in the world. poverty. the region is among the poorest in the western hemisphere. in guatemala, that's produced hunger. the country has the world's sixth highest rate of chronic malnutrition. and so far this year, more unaccompanied guatemalans have tried to enter the u.s. than any other country. >> the president and i also discussed e root causes of gration, in particular the lack of economic opportunity for many people here in guatemala. >> schifrin: harris spent yesterday with guatemalan president alejandro giammattei. who she's not meeting on this trip reveals another root cause: bad governance and corruption. honduran president juan orlando hernández is considered by u.s. law enforcement to be a key player in drug-trafficking, and salvadoran president nyaib bukele is consided increasingly authoritarian. in guatemala harris nounced a u.s. anti-corruption task force, and said better governance, can convince families to stay home. >> hope does not exist by

itself. it must be coupled with relationships and trust. it must be coupled with tangible outcomes, in terms of what we do as leaders. >> the question is no longer what can we do for the hemisphere-- it's what can we do with countries in the hemisphere together? >> schifrin: but harris isn't the first vice president to try and tackle root causes. when he was vice president, joe biden presented the u.s. as a partner to tackling the same regional issues-- and many of those issues have become more intractable. so, on this trip, harris also had a more immediate message. >> i want to be clear to folks in this region who are thinking about makinghat dangerous trek to the united states-mexico border: do not come. do not come. >> schifrin: border patrol is detaining more people at the u.s.-mexico border than at any point in 20 years. republicans criticize the biden administration for ending

trump-era programs to deter migrants, and criticize harris for not visiting the border, which she tried to deflect today on nbc. >> you haven't been to the border. >> and i haven't been to europe. and, i don't understand the point that you're making. i'm not discounting the importance of the border. >> schifrin: the biden administration describes its border policy as more humane. today it revealed, from july 1, 2017 to january 20, 2021, 3,913 children were separated from their families. so far, 45% of those children have been confirmed reunited. harris admits there's not going to be a quick fix to this problem. >> we have to look at not only what is actually happening at the border, but what is causing that to happen. >> schifrin: for more, i'm joined by eduardo gamarra. he is a political science professor at florida international university. has served as a consultant to several heads of government in the americas. >> professor gamarra, welcome to the "newshour". as weched many in the piece, this is not a new approach,

trying to tackle the rootcauses of migration. do you think there's anything that distinguishes vice preside harris' approach from previous attempts? >> well i think the fact that the causes are recognized at the beginning is something new, and that we're not just dealing with, you now, a very, very quick response, trying to get more than anything a political respon to this major crisis. so addressing the root causes is important as a policy statement. the problem is that the root causes cannot be solved overnight, they can't be solved during one administration and, as we know, this kind of goes back even as far back as president reagan. >> reporter: absolutely. the vice president has talked a little bit about the private sector, emphasizing that, but at the end of the day, this plan, this approach requires working with the governments of the northern triangle. are those governments reliable partners?

>> well, the fact is that democracy in central america is facing some very serious challenges. it has challenges that are both structural and, as we might say in spanish, con junctural, they're crises of the moment. so you have everything from climate change, to the problems of violence, to the problems of low growth and problems to have the pandemic -- and the problems of the pandemic. and on top of that, you have declining confidence in government, in institutions and declining confidence, above all, in the politicians that are governing those countries. >> reporter: more specifically, as we mentioned, she chose guatemala because, basically, it was the only government that she could be seen with. are there people in guatemala who will work with her compared to some of the real problems at the very top that we've seen in honduras and el salvador.

>> gaunt mallla has a private sector president who made some overtures to the united states and has been at least open enough to allow the vice president to arrive there and even push the idea that the assistance to guatemala should not be to the government but to the private sector and to civil society. >> reporter: do you think these leaders, whether guatemala, honduras or el salvador, are willing to achieve the structural reforms that we all know are necessary to tackle the root causes? >> well, to address those structural reforms, what needs to occur is a long-term investment by the united states and others. this is not something that those countries have to capacity to do. so structural reform means, for example, creating productive economies, to create productive economies you need long-term investment primarily from the american private sector or from the europeans. that isn't going to occur if te

conditions aren't right. >> reporter: some say the discussion with the vice president is all well and good, but to attack the immediate crisis at the border, the biden administration needs to enforce u.s. law to create a deterrence. do you agree? >> i agree and i think the vice president went down there with part of that message, don't come to the united states because we, in. , do not have open borders, but, yet, at the same time, we do have a crisis on the border, and people keep coming, and, so, there is a need to addss those structural issues that are generating, you know, this enormous move of people all the way from venezuela, by the way. they're coming up, they're using central america to arrive in the united states. but at the same time, you know, we also need to work with those governments and those countries d the development of better ways to enforce whatever is immigration law there and

immigration law here. >> reporter: and i wonder if, this moment, there's another approach, another thing that the u.s. can also focus on to try and achieve this relationship the vice president's talked about and that is vaccines, covid vaccines, something that she has discussed with every leader in the region. >> and i think that, you know, this is an opportunity for the united states. the u.s. has essentially lost leadership in latin america over the last couple of decades, and i think the covid pandemic, in fact, gives the united states unique opportunity to regain leadership in the region and beginning in central america might be the right place to do it. >> reporter: eduardo gamarra, thank you so much. >> thank you, pleasure. >> woodruff: now, to the debate

over providing free tuition for community college. 17 states already do so, and existing programs cover tuition for many students. but, president biden wants to make that happen nationwide. his plan starts with $109 billion to cover full tuition for community college. states would be asked to match a dollar for every three allocated in federal money. his plan also includes an $85 billion investment in pell grants for students in need at both two- and four-year colleges. and, there's another $62 billion for resources to help students complete their degree: money for transportationnd tutoring, for example. we are going to get different takes over the next two nights for our series on "rethinking college." to begin, i'm joined by margaret spellings, the former u.s. secretary of education under president george w. bush, and the former head of the university onorth carolina

system. she's now president and c.e.o. of texas 2036, a policy group to make texas successful after its bicentennial. margaret spellings, welcome back to the "newshour". thank you for joining us. i'm looking at something that president biden said when he was making this proposal. he said, it's not enough to restore where we were before the pandemic, we need to build a stronger economy that does not leave anyone behind. what about that rationale for this? >> well, it makes all the sense in the world and i commend him really for investing in american higher education. we know that mot of the jobs of today and certainly the future require higher levels of education and, right now, we're falling woefully short of having all our people with the skills to access the economy. so at the top line i really commend that goal. >> let me just go beyond that then because what the president has pointed out and the people

who advocate for this have pointed out are the people who have most benefited from community college or people at the lower income scale, people who haven't had the opportunity. in other words, it's a way to target those individuals who had the least opportunity in the past, as an argument for putting this kind of money into it. >> well, and we know that so many of our -- the majority of our community college students really are taking remedial education, levels of basic literacy and math that should have been learned in high school, and, so, sadly, our completion rates towards an associate's degree are something just a meaningful credential are not very encouraging at community colleges. and when students are well matched, they really do better in comprehensive universities like our minority-serving institutions hbcus. so to me i'm a fan of the pell grant. i think one of the greatest

assets of american higher education is for the ability of a student to take that purchases power to a place that suits them and, certainly, that can be a community college, but isn't necessarily. >> woodruff: but the question is why not go ahead and give these individuals who -- i looked at a number, something like 94% of total family income, on average, has gone toward education for the most disadvantaged students. why not direct the money to who is no need it the most? >> well, because i think, you know, often, they're going to be better off with a comprehensive university like an hbcu. they're going to be on track to complete and they will have a trajectory into a livelihood and, frankly, often doesn't exist when students are educated in community colleges. too many of our students in community colleges are taking what we call basic education which is really kind of literacy and math, not that they don't

need that, but, really, we need to empower consumerwith information and purchasing power to go where theyee fit, including community colleges. >> woodruff: well, the administration has shared with us a number of studies that show this kind of outside financial aid does help these students toward completing their two-year degree. so this would be a way of -- for those students who can't go for whatever reason to an historically black college which you've mentioned or to another four-year institution, at least this gets them off to a solid beginning. >> and that's why 17 states, as you rightly say, have invested in that. but there's also states who have invested in additional supports for four-year institutions, for technical schools, for other types of institutions. so, you know, i think, in terms of bipartisan support, i think there will be a lot of support for the pell grant, that will

obviously eneur to the benefit of families. but other places, adult learners and going tryg to from high school, them to chart their own path. we need information for students to understand what are they getting from community colleges, are they a ticket to a good job or not. >> woodruff: is it your argument that it's a waste of money? >> no, not at all. my argument is let's give students financial support, especially those who need it the most, through a pell grant and allow them to chart a path to their own -- around their own needs, including community colleges, but let's not limit it to community colleges. >> woodruff: well, as we reported, there's a lively debate around this issue, and we are so grateful to you, margaret spellings, for joining us. thank you very much. >> thank you, judy.

>> woodruff: and tomorrow night, we'll hear the case for proving free community college from another former secretary of education, john king, who served unr president obama. >> woodruff: as covid cases are dropping in most parts of the u.s. now, many frontline workers are now reckoning with how the pandemic has impacted their lives. it turns out that a few medical professionals are collaborating with grammy-nominated singer- songwriterary gauthier to weave their profound experiences into song. special correspondent jared bowen of gbh boston reports that gauthier-- who will release a new book in july, "saved by a song: the art and healing power of songwriting"-- says the effort to make these caregivers whole couldn't be more important. the story is part of our ongoing arts and culture coverage, "canvas."

>> it was a tough year. >> reporter: this is a moment to heal the healers. five members of the emergency department at boston's brigham and women's hospital gather on zoom to write a song. >> and what my goal with you today is, to do, is to kind of get what's going on, and find a common thread that you all share. >> reporter: in a two-hour session, they'll revisit what they ultimately describe as the darkest, most uncertain year of their lives... >> it just keeps going. >> reporter: ...contending with the virus that ripped through their e.r. walking them back through it is nashville-based singer/songwriter mary gauthier. >> what's it been like? and, and, just kind of throw some words out, or experience out. >> it was a year of a lot of dualities. it's like, we were close, but we were supposed to be alone. >> fear. i haa lot of fear. i remember walking up the hill some days and thinking, you know, "give me the courage to get through this day." >> i think a lot of us are, in some ways, kind of sad by the

fact that it may not ever go back to normal. >> now that is a great place to start. i really resonate with "will it ever be normal again?" ♪ ♪ ♪ >> reporter: the eort is called "frontline songs," and since september, has been happening across the country, as small groups of first responders and healthcare workers process the pandemic in music. >> so, the process is really therapeutic, in the sense that people are coming together as a group. >> reporter: a physician specializing in trauma, dr. ron hirschberg is one of the co-founders of frontline songs. >> when someone's words are reflected back to them, and there's that validation through a song, that can be powerful. >> i always say that songs are what feelings sound like. >> reporter: after decades of recovery, songwriting, and nine studio records, mary gauthier is a living testament to the power of music.

>> when we're dealing in trauma, we can feel very removed. >> reporter: well, what is it that music can do to help on that front? >> melody is so powerful, i think it comes in, into our ears and then radiates through our heart and soul. i think it's a matter of feeling seen. >> reporter: back in the songwriting session, the memories continue and begin to coalesce. >> we all experienced the hero aspect of it in the beginning, but then after a certain number of months, when everyone got used to it, we then became like, people who were exposed to it all the time. and so, you wanted to change your scrubs just so that if you left the hospital, people wouldn't look at you and say, like, "are you carrying it, or do you have it on you?" >> let me see-- they called us heroes, we were looked up to and revered, and then we were looked at as contaminated, removed and feared. >> reporter: it looked a lot like therapy. >> yeah. >> reporter: was it therapy? >> yeah, it became therapy. >> reporter: we spoke with chief resident dr. damarcus baymon after the songwriting session. a sometime songwriter himself, he says the process was a revelation.

>> to really step back and say, "oh, my gosh, i didn't know you experienced that, like, i experienced something similar," and connecting to that just made me really appreciate how hard it is to wake up every day, be a great human and be a great colleague, but then also have your own, you know, personal experiences. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> reporter: that is a refrain gauthier has heard before. she collaborated with war veterans for her 2018 grammy- nominated album "rifles and rosary beads," stemming from the similarly-minded program,“ songwriting with soldiers." ♪ morphine dreams >> reporter: how did that begin to shape your approach to this? >> i think learning how-- how to listen, learning how to not insert melf in the story, i have no more experience as a soldier than i do as an emergency room doctor. >> reporter: does it ever become hard for you to have to ask these questions? >> there's a line.

i can tell, by feeling it out, where to go and where-- where to be really careful. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> reporter: and then suddenly, a tailwind. an anthem emerges as the group steers the song into a hoped-for return to normalcy. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> i was listening to her, you know, play the chords, and she switched it up and she really found, i think, the essence of what we were all looking for, but didn't know. and that was her brilliance. >> repter: in under two hours, the group finishes the song. ♪ and i've run to the bedside. ♪ >> reporter: like other frontline songs, it's been recorded by gauthier to live online for the public and to be an enduring marker for its cowriters. >> for me, even if i have to cry or get through it, it is a way for me to really identify and process how i'm feeling and say,

>> wow. >> that was really nice. >> reporter: for the pbs newshour, i'm jared bowen in boston, massachusetts. >> woodruff: and we'll be back shortly with exciting stories to engage with online. but first, take a moment to hear from your local pbs station. it is a chance to offer your support, which helps keep programs like ours on the air. >> woodruff: there is a shortage of skilled tradespeople in the u.s.-- a problem even before the pandemic. paul solman reports for our series, "work shift," on navigating a post-covid economy. >> reporter: superstar seattle, where the high-tech young make six figures and up.

but, you can make that much in low-tech too, says plumber vinnie sposari. >> drain cleaning, light plumbing repairs and that kind of thing, we have got guys making over $100,000 a year. >> reporter: sposari owns seattle's mr. rooter franchise. >> i have got plumbers that work for me today that make $200,000-plus a year. >> reporter: and they're what age? >> any age-- in their 30s, 40s. >> reporter: making $200,000 a year or more? >> absolutely. >> reporr: that's because there mply aren't enough plumbers. not in boomtowns like seattle, not anywhere. >> manpower is one of the most frustrating parts of my job, filling all the spots. i could hire six, eight experienced plumbers right now. >> reporter: but they're just not out there? >> they're just not out there. guys that are my age, they're aging out. >> reporter: but why aren't they being replaced with the young, given their historically-low participation rate, made worse by the pandemic? there are all these kids who either aren't working at all or

are working in dead-end, low- wage jobs. why can't you just say to them, "hey, by age of 25 or 30, you could be making six figures; just come with me?" >> i would love to. i have gone to some career days. you know, the kids, you're waiting for them to come talk to you, and they just don't. >> reporter: so, why no takers? >> first and foremost is the perception of plumbing. >> reporter: trevor caldwell is vinnie sposari's right-hand man. >> there's this stigma that goes along with getting your hands dirty-- "just a plumber." not a person, just a plumber. and i don't want to be that guy. >> reporter: or that gal. >> you're doing manual labor. some people tend to look down on that. and that makes people not want to go into it, clearly. >> reporter: sarah schnabel isn't a plumber, but an ithaca, new york, electrical apprentice, another well-paying trade which can't find good help these days, a frustration for schnabel's

boss, brian lamorte, and for his colleagues. >> i know lots of guys in the trade who are contractors, and they're looking for help. >> reporter: and willing to pay for it. >> we have recently raised our rates as a business to $90 an hour, and we are not pushing the envelope. we were $75 a little while ago, and $65 a little while before that. it's getting to the point where you probably pay us more to come fix your light switch than you do to go to the doctor. >> reporter: so, again, why no takers? >> i do think, for people my age, it's definitely more glamorous to think of the tech job, where you're in a really nice cushy office building. we're the kind of people who are going to hire someone to go change a light bulb, let alone go into the trades. that's kind of where my generation is right now. >> i can't give them a power tool. they might kill themselves with it. they have never held a power tool in their life. >> reporter: yes, says detroit master plumber adrienne bennett, whose firm is currently helping to revitalize michigan's central station, it takes a non-cushy mind-set.

>> this is physical work. you need to be there on the job site every day. and, you got to be on time. and a lot of the young people today, they don't have work ethics. >> reporter: but, of course, plenty do. determined to breed new plumbers, vinnie sposari runs his own year-long training program, paying young people from the get-go to learn the trade. >> we're paying our trainees $15, $16, $18 an hour. and then, when you're done with the program, you're not a full licensed plumber, but you're a service technician who able to snake drains and to do the kind of small plumbing repairs and whatnot and get close to that six-figure income. you're getting paid to learn that. >> reporter: after a certain number of hours and possibly an exam-- the requirements vary by locality-- you can become a licensed plumber, a quality credential in an economy where only 11% of employers think colleges and universities are doing a good job of preparing people for the work force.

says sposari of his apprenticeship program: >> it's open for everybody. i would welcome anybody. >> reporter: but, says sposari: >> you would be amazed how many people we want to hire, but our insurance company won't insure them because of driving violations, drugs, can't keep a job. you see some applicants come in here in a ripped t-shirt, hasn't shaved. you go out, look at his car and it's full of garbage. it hasn't been washed in a month. those are the things we look at. >> reporter: but, hey, plenty of young folks have intact t- shirts, clean faces, clean cars. ybe they realize, or learn, that you need an apprenticeship to get licensed, says plumber adrienne bennett. >> and the apprenticeships are five years. and you art out at maybe $15, $16 an hour, and to get to $40, $50 an hour is going to take you five or six years. >> reporter: plus, to get a job,

isn't it who you know? and few potential candidates know tradespeople, it seems. >> i didn't knew nobody. >> reporter: manuel rios, a mr. rooter trainee, used to work on eleric motors for $18 an hour, with little prospect of making much more. but, by chance, he met some plumbers there. >> they say that they make a lot of money. and i realized that the plumbing is never going to end, because you are always going to need a plumber. so the business is always going to be there. >> reporter: the final barrier to entry in the trades is a familiar one, says electrician lamorte. >> there is a certain feeling that it's kind of like a white man's game-- i hate to say it. so, people who are l.g.b.t.q., minorities, ara little bit intimidated by the boys club that exists. >> reporter: and, of course, women. added together, that's about two-thirds of the country. in the late 1970s, adrienne bennett was recruited as a union plumbing apprentice under a federal program targeting women.

similar programs exist today. >> this is something that will keep food on the table. it will keep clothes on your back. it will keep a roof over your head. i'm living proof. >> reporter: living proof-- as c.e.o. of her own industrial contracting plumbing business since 2008. for the pbs newshour, i'm paul solman. >> woodruff: and, join us online to explore and engage with a few of this week's top stories. scientists are hunting for signs of life on mars. read more about how "perseverance," the latest rover, is on a mission to answer questions about the past and future of the red planet. find that on our website, that's www.pbs.org/newshour. on instagram, today, there are 21 lesbian bars across the country-- a dramatic drop from a decade ago.

owners across the country tell us about the significance of protecting these spaces. and, tomorrow at noon, join our amna nawaz for an instagram live with the founders of the lesbian bar project, who are tracking these issues and directing owners toward resources. and finally, with one in five teens living with a severe mental disorder, the pandemic is highlighting the emotional challenges facg adolescents. a new podcast, "on our minds," from our student reporting labs, offers a unique opportunity to show what mental health really looks like for young people, what kind of services are available to them, and the real stories behind the statistics. listen wherever you get your podcasts. and that is 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, and

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. hello, everyone. welcome to "amanpour & company." here's what's cg up. vice president kamala harris touches down in guatemala. journalist enrique acevedo joins me to discuss. and -- >> democracy itself isn peril. >> warnings of an authoritarian wave. who is to blame. then -- >> i cannot give up this platform to promote complacency and peace whe there is a war on my body and a war on my rights. >> a texas valedictorian goes off script and stuns the crowd. paxton smith tells