♪ judy: good evening, i'm judy woodruff. on "newshour" tonight, biden abroad, making his first overseas trip to europe to reengage wh allies and adversaries. insurrection aftermath, u.s. capitol policefficer gives his first interview since the attack on congress by trump supporters. rethinking college, the push for free community college nationwide gains support, but questions remain about the effectiveness ofhe plan. all that and more on tonight "pbs newshour."

>> major funding for the "pbs newshour" provided by -- >> bnsf railway. consumer cellular. johnson & johnson. financial services firm raymond james. >> supporting social entrepreneurs and their solutions to the world's most pressing problems. skollfoundation.org. >> the lemelson foundation, committed to improving lives in the u.s. and developing countries, on the web at lemelson.org. supported by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur, committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful

world. more information at macfound.or g. and with the ongoing support of these institutions. this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. judy: president biden landed in the united kingdom this afternoon, the first stop on his three nation european trip. he will begin by meeting british prime minister boris johnson tomorrow. then, the three day g7 summit that begins friday in southwest england. mr. biden spoke a short time ago to american forces at raf mildenhall. it's a british air force installation. pres. biden: the united states is back and democracies of the world are standing together to

tackle the toughest challenges and of the issues that matter most to our future. we are committed to leading with strength, defending our values, and delivering for our people. democracy does not happen by accident. we have to defend it and we have to strengthen it. renew it. i know that the american people are up to this job. judy: our yamiche alcindor is traveling with the president, and joins me now from plymouth. hello to you, and safe travels. first of all, tell us what the president is hoping to accomplish on this trip and what are the main concerns as he meets with american allies in europe? yamiche: judy, i'm so happy to join you, especially because some cicadas at one point were delaying our plane, but we are here now in the u.k.. yes people heard me right, , cicadas. that aside, president biden, for his first overseas trip as

commander in chief, is really coming to a group of european leaders who are familiar with him. experts tell me this will be a sort of lovefest. but it's also going to feel like a family reunion. if anyone's ever been to a family reunion, that means there will be love, but there will also be drama. a lot of european leaders who want to talk about trade, who want to talk about covid vaccines and the role that the u.s. is playing, with the president expected to make some announcements on that front. there's also going to be talk with china and how to deal with it or the president is trying to come here to really underscore the fact that america is back, that diplomacy is something that he's going to embrace, and that america is once again going to be embracing nato and the g7 and all of our european allies, something that his predecessor really was hostile toward. judy: you used the word drama. what are the most contentious issues expected to be in his meetings with the european leaders, ahead of his meeting with vladimir putin of russia? yamiche: president biden has known some of these european

leaders for up to three decades per he has long been working on issues of foreign policy. there'll be hefty talks about trade, especially when it comes to talking about the difference between make america great again, as well as buy american first. there are europn leaders who are really wondering if there's going to be more american protectionism on that front. there's so going to be this feeling of whether or not president biden is a sort of placeholder, because of all of the drama and all of the real contention that was there when former president trump was coming to nato and g7. these european leaders will be cagey and they want to know if they can trust america again. and that's really a long-term issue that president biden's going to have to deal with. ahead of his meeting with vladimir putin, there's going to be a lot of talk about january 6 and the idea that there are real issues with american democracy right now, with the gridlock in washington. these european leaders are going to be wanting to talk about the state of american democracy. that said, the president got a big applause today when he was talking to u.s. troops, saying that he came to talk to vladimir

putin about the things that he wants to let him now. there were no details, but there was a tone that was firm. the prident, in some ways, has been saying that he's there to talk frankly to vladimir putin, so there is a real expectation on that front. judy: and we heard some of that just a few moments ago. yamiche alcindor, who will be covering all of president biden's trip into next week. thank you, yamiche. ♪ stephanie: i'm stephanie sy at newshour west. we will return to judy woodruff and the show after the latest headlines. there is were the u.s. will buy 500 million more doses of pfizer's covid-19 vaccine to donate to 92 low income countries and african union. about 200 million will be shared this year. the remainder wilbe distributed in 2022. the official announcement tomorrow.

the united kingdom reported its highest daily count of new covid cases since late february, more than 7500. the rise is due in part to the highly contagious delta variance, first found in india. prime minister boris johnson says it obligates plans t reopen on june 21. >> cases are going up and in some cases, hospitalizations. what we need to assess is the extent to which the vaccine rollout, which has been phenomenal, has built up enough protection in the population, in order to go ahead to the next stage. stephanie: the delta strain is spreading quickly in the u.s., where it now makes up 6% of all infectio, but vaccines have been effective in preventing symptoms. here are creative ways estates are trying to increase vaccinations later in the program.

a government investigation revealed police did not forcibly clear racial justice protesters from an area near the white house last june so president trump could stage a photo for the press at a nearby church. a new report from the interior department inspector general maintained the area was clear due to fire plans to install new fencing. the demonstration was largely pierced for -- peaceful before police fired tear gas. the colonial pipeline for oil from canada to the u.s. has been terminated. the canadian sponsor tc energy pulled the plug on the venture today. native american tribes and environmental groups cheered the decision, which was expected after president -- after president biden revoked a key permit. in arizona, fire crews made progress against massive wildfires east of the knicks. many residents were forced to evacuate. more than 1000 firefighters have

been battling the wildfires amid the dry heat and drought. e biden administration took action to restore federal protections for hundreds of thousands of waterways and wetlands today, reversing trump-era rollbacks that favored builders, oil developers, and farmers. the back-and-forth over federal jurisdiction over the clean water act has occurred for years under different presidential administrations. the largest beef processor paid a $1 million ransom to cyber criminals and had to shut down their plants. jbs confirmed this today. the attack is the latest in a spate of cyber attacks using ransomware. president biden revoked trump era orders that tried to ban popular chinese apps tiktok and wechat. he signed an order for broad review of apps linked to foreign

rivals and directs the commerce department to assess risks these apps pose to data and security. a federal appeals court in missouri blocked enforcement of a law that bans abortions at or after eight weeks of pregnancy. the law also prohibited women from getting the procedure if their fetus was diagnosed with down syndrome. missouri's attorney general plans to appeal to the u.s. supreme court. in afghanistan, gunmen killed 10 people and wounded 16. workers with the halo trust were clearing unexploded landmines when armed men attacked their camp in a northern province. the islamic state claims responsibility for the attack. still to come on "newshour," the fight to vote intensifies nationwide amid dozens of restrictive proposals. the chairman of mastercard discusses corporate responsibility in the pandemic.

the push for a free community college nationwide gains support, plus much more. >> this is the "pbs newshour," from weta studios in washington and in the west from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. judy: since the presidential election, a wave of new state measures to tighten voting laws has raised questions about access and integrity. across the country, laws that expand access to the ballot box have passed in at least 14 states, shown on this map in green. at the same time, the states in 14 yellow have passed laws restricting access. all have republican-controlled state legislatures. the restrictive laws have sparked outrage from voting rights groups and from two men who served as general counsels for competing presidential campaigns. democrat bob bauer worked for

president obama in 2008 and 2012 and advised the biden campaign in 2020. ben ginsberg, his years as a republican election lawyer include work on the landmark bush v. gore dispute in 2000. they both joined me now. welcome back to the "newshour," to both of you. let me start with you, bob bauer. it isn't often these days that we see a republican and a democrat, prominent republicans and democrats, coming together on issues as contention as -- contentious as voting rights. what provoked you to come together on this? ben: ben and i cochaired the presidential commission on election administration established by president obama in 2013 and reporting in 2014. we worked on a bipartisan basis on a bipartisan commission toward the goal of professionalized administration of elections and, in particular, nonpartisan professional administration of elections. and over that period of time, we got to know election officials across the country, democrat and

republican. we came to know how hard they worked, how they recved little credit for what they did well and much blame for what occasionally goes wrong. and our view was that it was really important to continue to press in this direction of nonpartisan support for what election officials do. and now we see a significant problem developing of attempts on t part of state legislatures to assert partisan control over election officials, to subject them to threats of liability and suspension if they don't perform the way that the politicians in these legislatures want them to perform. that, we view, as a serious and direct threat on our democratic institutions that warrants a fully bipartisan response. judy: ben ginsberg, i would just point out that you are a republican. a majority, what is it, two-thirds of republicans tell pollsters that they don't think the election was fairly carried out, that there was a lot of fraud involved, and they favor these kinds of tightening rules.

how do you square that with your support for trying to do something about these state legislatures and state laws? ben: there will be battles amongst the parties on the specifics of the way ballots a cast and counted. but, as bob said, we got to know a large number of state and especially local election officials. one thing that should not be done is to politicize the actual casting and counting of ballots. it is extremely important in a democracy for everyone to realize that the way elections are tabulated is nonpartisan. and we thought it was important, as these ls sort of crept into the legislative process, to tell the state and local election officials that we're going to have their backs if they are prosecuted at all for doing their job.

judy: bob bauer, how do you see partisanship playing role in these laws that are being passed around the country by republican-controlled legislatures? bob: this battle i think can be put into two categories. there have always been disagreements between the two political parties around this fundamental confct between one party looking to eand access and the other party troubled, it claims, by the threat of fraud, restricting access, in the interests of so-called election integrity. i fall squarely in the democratic pro-access camp. however, that set of arguments have gone on for some time. they help shape the last enactment on this topic by the congress, the help america vote act, immediately after the florida recount. but there's another battle line. and that's over whether or not we're going to respect the fundamental institutions, as ben just said, by which we administer the electoral process, whether we're going to

depoliticize or protect those institutions from being politicized. that is something that a new battle has broken out about, the attempt of politicians to intimidate and harass election officis, to call into question the work that they do both in the original counterbalance and then subsequently in recounts. that is a profound attack on democratic institutions. that's something around which the two political parties should agree action needs to be taken to prevent it. judy: ben ginsberg, how do you perp pose -- do you think you could have success persuading these republican state legislators who think it's time now to rein in state election officials, as those in georgia, who said what they were fighting for was a free and fair election? ben: i think i think there will be more success in some places than others. but one of the things that i think is true and which my

fellow republicans are not taking into account, is that, when you pass laws like this, what goes around comes around, and that, in point of fact, if you try and nullify election results in one state by pressuring state and local election officials, that that's going to have an influence on all candidates in that state. that can hurt republicans as much as democrats. i think it is naive to think that if, for example, the provisions that weaponize poll watchers in polling places are just going to be implemented by republican poll watchers in democratic precincts, they are sadly wrong. in fact, democrats will do the same thing to preserve their votes. and the end result will be a very muddled election in which people don't have faith in the results. that has real consequences for the democracy. judy: bob bauer, what about

that? and i do want to bring into this the big voting rights bill that is right now apparently stalled in the united states senate, with the democratic senator joe manchin of west virginia saying he is not going to support it. he thinks it is not bipartisan enough. do you see remedies in that piece of legislation to address your concerns, your and ben ginsberg's concerns at the state level? bob: i will begin by saying, i mean, there are some important provisions of h.r.1 and s.1. it's an omnibus reform bill, and it deals with a lot of topics. but it does set some voting standards that i think are very healthy and important. it was developed over a period of time when i don't think we all recognized the extent of the threat, the institutional threat that ben and i are concerned with. as this reform debate continues, it seems to be those protections need to be added to any congressional debate, to any reform agenda.

in the meantime, at the state and local level, there are steps that can be made to do what ben suggested, which is to have election officials know that democrats and republicans alike have their back. the network of lawyers we are recruiting around the country, democrats and republicans, to defend them, i think, is a really important step. it does not rely on breaking through any stalemate in the coress at the president time. -- at the present time. judy: please pick up on that, ben ginsberg. what do you see as an appropriate remedy at the federal level for what concerns you? ben: there will always be concerns about federally legislative elections on the state and local level. but there are parts of the bill, of h.r.1., that could be done, but the democrats are making a huge tactical error, if they really care about these election situations and even about the voting rights situations, in having so many other provisions in this bill. you talked before about how republicans are trying to tilt

election results by the state that is true. -- state legislation. that is true. but the democrats are trying to do the same thing in s.1 through a number of provisions that are just designed to give them a political advantage. so, if they actually want to deal with the voting issues, it's time to kind of do the obvious and concentrate on those issues and strip away the other provisions. judy: we are just about out of time. bob bauer, do you agree with th, that that's whatemocrats are doing? bob: no, i don't. we don't degree about that. we dagree, however, that we have to defend our democratic institutions. judy: we thank the two of you for coming on to talk about that. bob bauer, ben ginsberg, we appreciate it. bob: thank you very much. ♪

judy: as we reported earlier, president biden is expected to announce tomorrow that the u.s. will purchase 500 million more doses of covid vaccines will be donated to the world's poorest countries and african union p this announcement as leaders in the private sector are stepping up their efforts to aid in the pandemic response. amna nawaz explains. >> in one of the largest private sector donations of its kind, the mastercard foundation announced today they will give $1.3 billion over the next three years to vaccinate 50 million people on the continent of africa. fewer than 2% of the people who live in africa have gotten a single dose of the vaccine yet, far lower than many of the wealthiest countries and well below the global average of 11%. ajay banga is the executive chairman of mastercard and he joins me now. welcome and thank you for making the time. $1.3 billion, one of the largest

private gifts in the entire pandemic. why this much and why now? ajay: thank you for having me. the fact is, this whole pandemic is something we have to put our shoulder to the wheel at spirit it is not -- it is not enough to say governments will fix it or some other company or foundation will. we are all trying to do our best. there are lots of governments and companies doing their best. the foundation is an independent foundation. it was created at our ipo and runs independently. they have our name and where the only donor. i'm very proud of their ceo and their chair and this decision. basically, the idea is that they work in africa, they help to do economic development in africa, and how can you ve economic development in a continent which sn't yet got vaccinations for its citizenry? so the objective here is to kick-start the process with a large enough donation to get 50 million people vaccinated, but also to build infrastructure and capabilities and training through the african cdc and the african union for this to become

a real operational opportunity. amna: let me ask you about some of the activity you have taken in central america, though, because this is something that's very central to the biden administration's efforts there. vice president harris is wrapping up a trip to the region. she is there on a mission to try to address the root causes, causing people to flee in the first place to address irregular migration. mastercard has me a commitment to invest in the region. what do you see as mastercard's role in this part of the administration's efforts? ajay: amna, i think that no company grows when the communities around it are not successful and growing. the same idea applies to the northern triangle. when the administration said, we want to find a way to help people stay where they are, i'm not somebody who can open a manufacturing factory or an export factory, but i can help in the distribution of aid digitally, and reduce some of the corruption leakage that happens through normal aid distribution. that's the idea of saying, we will help five million people come into the financial

mainstream in the northern triangle and help a million smes get digitally enabled. that is the starting point of the commitment to the vice president's effort. amna: i want to get your take on where we are right now in the u.s. in terms of the economic recovery, because, last year, you said you were worried about what people call a k-shaped recovery, that the inequality gaps that persisted in the pandemic would continue to get wider. based on what you have seen so far, are you still worried about that? ajay: yes, i am. i am optimistic in general about the state of the u.s. economy. i believe that the package of measures that the system has put into place, from monetary and fiscal policy, as well as all the things that i see underlying in the economy, are very constructive. but the problem is, overall, u.s. gdp will do well, but we have got to worry about those that are getting left behind. we know during the pandemic women-owned businesses, minority-owned businesses, women and minorities in jobs suffered disproportionately compared to others. we know the digital divide exists right now.

to be clear, the patent -- the pandemic did not suddenly create this. it's exposed issues in our society that have existed for a while. we need to build back better. just in case -- in the case of the digital divide, which is where the k-shaped recovery idea comes from, the digital divide will actually make it worse, right? if you can't get access to broadband or infrastructure of that type, whether you're an sme or a student, that's not great place to be. it's the same for the unequal spread of vaccinations across the world, between some developed markets and other developing countries. and that's one of the reasons why the mastercard foundation made this commitment. it is alintertwined, the idea we are in it tether. if you're going to come out of it, we're going to have to come out of it together. this beast is going to need your shoulder and my shoulder at the wheel. amna: you mentioned the gaps. the white house will argue that one of the ways to close those gaps is with these big spending plans they're proposing, like the infrastructure package. they say as part of that companies like yours should pay

higher taxes to help pay for them. do you agree with that? ajay: yes. we benefited when the taxes came down. we put a lot of the money we got from those tax breaks into our philanthpy, as well as into our employees for 401(k) matches at a much higher level. one of the facts that people don't know about us is, if you put in 6% into your 401(k) and our company, we match you 10%, meaning you get 16%. that is one of the rarest examples of that effort. we did the same with tax savings. if taxes go back up, that's policy. we have to learn how to live with it and lay with it. my real response here is, it's actually about competitiveness. so, if you need to fix the taxes at a level that you think makes sense for what the government's revenues should be, go ahead and do that. make sure we are all competitive because global multinationals , have got an opportunity to keep growing and doing good things for the american population and the american system. we can't if you are not competitive. so make it competitive and we have to carry our share. i don't have a problem with a

tax rate that is higher than where we are today, so long as i understand and appreciate that it's competitively introduced. amna: there is another key issue i want to getour take on, the string of high-profile cyberattacks that we have seen, these ransomware attacks, how quickly and dramatically they have brought parts of american life to an absolute standstill. in the global banking world right now, how secure are financial services? how worried are you about mastercard being hacked? ajay: i have been involved in cybersecurity for a while, both at the company, but also at different presidential commissions. i will tell you that i have been making a case that we're only as strong as our weakest link. mastercard has been one of those beneficiaries of people trying to get at us for a long time. we have strong processes and so have most of the financial services industry. today the financial services industry works very closely across the industry, but also with government. america's financial services industry is in relatively good shape.

but remember, you are only as strong as your weakest link. think about all the supply chain that interacts with financial services, or any company, for that matter. if the supply chain is not as strong as it needs to be, you expose yourself to weakness. cybersecurity is a real issue and no single company can fight off nation-states or very large organized criminal gangs beyond a point. i think we are in this together, like the pandemic. cyber is also a pandemic of a different type. we need to put our shoulder to the wheel together across industry and government. this is a place where the hackneyed words of public-private partnership actually mean a great deal. amna: ajay banga is the executive chairman of mastercard. thank you for your time. ajay: thank you for having me. ♪

judy: we return now to the debate over providing free tuition for community college students. last night, we heard the case against president biden's effort to create a nationwide free program. as a reminder, his plan starts with $109 billion to cover full tuition for community college. the 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. tonight, we get a different perspective on this proposal for our series on rethinking college. i'm joined by john king, the former u.s. secretary of education under president barack obama and former new york state education commissioner. he is now president of the education trust, and advocacy group working to close

opportunity gaps from preschool through college. he is also seeking the democratic nomination to be maryland's next governor. john king, welcome back to the "newshour," thank you for being here. you like president biden's proposal for free community college, free tuition. why? john: it is hugely important. if you look at the economic recovery after the 2008 financial crisis, nearly all of the new jobs that were created went to people with some level of post-secondary education. that might have been a four-year degree, often was an associate's degree, or even a career and technical education certificate. we know that investing in community college can help to spur economic recovery. we also know it improves people's life circumstances. folks with a college degree earn more than a million dollars more over the course of their lifetime. this is reallyn investment. i know folks want to talk about it as an expense, but we really have to think about it as an investment. the evidence is the return on

investment of more students with community college degrees will more than pay for the cost of this investment. judy: last night we spoke with another former secretary of education, margaret spellings, who had the job under president george w. bush. her argument, though, against this is that so many of these students in community college don't complete their time, they don't get to the associate degree, and the money would be better spent in other ways. what about that? john: two things. one, we know that, for many community college students, the very reason they don't complete is they don't have the financial support they need. what president biden envisions here is really a state-federal partnership to get students the resources they need, not just to start, but to finish. there's also, as you mentioned, the $62 billion investment in additional supports for students, better advising, access to childcare, access to mental health services, the kinds of supports that evidence

shows greatly increase completion, particularly for low-income students and students of color. this is a very carefully thought-through package of reforms. as you know, states have disinvested in public higher ed over the last few decades. this is an opportunity to change that by saying public higher education is going to help us build a stronger economy for the long term. judy: we heard from margaret spellings last night, john king, the argument that, when students go to what she called a traditional comprehensive university, like an hbcu, historically black college, they get more support, as she called it, more likely to get what she called help for a trajectory into a livelood, the kind of thing that just doesn't exist in many community colleges. john: look, this plan also includes a very significant investment in historically black colleges and universities and

minority-serving institutions. the reality is, we need a mix of strategies. where you have some students who are only going to want that community college degree, they're going to need very specific skills to advance in their career, whether that's an emerging field, like cybersecurity, or a traditional field like logistics. this is an opportunity to help support folks who may need this degree to better support their family, to move up at their job. i think what president den is aiming for here is a vision for a society that helps people improve their own lot in life through education. shouldn't we all supporthat? judy: finally, i want to quote a conservative economist, glenn hubbard, who wrote a piece about this, and arguing against free tuition in community colleges. he said, if you do this, it's just going to flood colleges

with students and make them less inclined to experiment or to collaborate there it about that? john: i mean, that strikes me as deeply misguided. i think we have good evidence here. governor haslam, the republican governor of tennessee, was the first to really lead on this with a statewide community college tuition-free program. and the evidence is, it's attracting, yes, more students, but it's also helping to increase completion rates, it is increasing the transfer rates from two-year colleges to four-year colleges. it's creating new pathways to economic opportunity for folks who historicallyave been locked out of economic success. this is a republican idea that president biden is advancing because it's good for the long-term health of our economy. judy: john king, former secretary of education, it is an important debate we are glad to have you here to

participate. thank you. john:hanks for the opportunity. ♪ judy: i day after the release of a senate report detailing the widespread security failures in january 6 capitol riot, lisa -- lisa it was a chaotic scene, : marked by tragedy and heroism. officer james blassingame, 17-year veteran of the capitol police, thank you for joining us. you're here along with your lawyer, patrick malone, who is representing you and a fellow officer in a civil lawsuit against former president trump over harm done from the january 6 riot. he requested to be present for this interview. tell me what happened that day. james that's something that i

: try to process and go through from time to time with what happened, how did it happen? it was an insurrection. it was a significant amount of people that felt aggrieved and felt that invading the capitol to impose their will felt an appropriate action. it looked like a horde of zombies, people as far as you can see, just salivating. lisa: faces and bodies. james: yes, tugging on the officers. they are in danger and there is nothing we can do. then i hear somebody yelled, they are coming in a window. i go toward the north side the , senate side of the capitol. there was some door, nobody could get inside a door. the capitol was kind of an old

place and some things are antiquated. so we rolled out towards the center of the rotunda, looking north, and you just hear just noise and people running at me as far as i can see, from the crypt all the way to the north side, senate side of the capitol, is running at us. i looked to my left and right, and there's like maybe eight, nine of us. i am thinking,, [beep]. sorry. they kind of leak out. we are holding a line, but there is no line we are holding because there is an insurmountable amount of people and 8, 9 officers. lisa: it is a massive space. james: i'm 39 years old. i have never been called [beep]

to my face in 39 years. maybe [beep], but never to my face. i was called [beep]. i was called a trader -- traitor, various epithets. lisa: what were you thinking? james: i don't want to make it seem like braggadocios, like there was no fear. there was no time for fear. i have to make it home, i have to survive this. i have been with the department 17 years. i have never been in a situation where i felt i h to use my weapon. that was a situation where i was pegging, this is it to be the only reason i did not do it because the mentality was, this a fisr-alarm blaze. and if i pull my gun out and start shooting, i'm throwing kerosene

on it. maybe there is a chance i survive if i don't pull my weapon, but if i do, i probably am not going to make it out of here alive. you don't have enough bullets. lisa: i want to help people understand that we have seen a lot of pictures from outside of the capitol. the places you were, were some of the most dangerous and diffult confrontations in the capitol, but you were not unharmed. james: it is much more emotional and mental than anything else because we can't move past it. something as simple as a commission being passed, or trying to take that on, at the end of the day, as bad as it was, we d our job. no member of congress was harmed. to hav to see these people every day and they don't have our back, something as simple as trying to find out what happened so it does not happen again.

my fear is this was the tip of the iceberg. u have a lot of people that are radicalized, that is is exactly what they wanted to do. by there being no accountability, it's emboldening them. lisa: i want to play sound of what some lawmakers hav said in recent months, a different narrative from republican lawmakers who question how serious january 6 was. i want to play that and get your thoughts. representative clyde if you : didn't know the tv footage was a video from january the 6th, you would actually think it was a normal tourist visit. representative fallon was : january 6 an insurrection, or could it be more accurately described as a mob of misfits? senator johnson i condemn the : violence, but to say there were thousands of armed insurrectionists breaching the capitol, intent on overthrowing the government, is just simply a false narrative. lisa: what do you say? james: i would think certain things are above politics.

it is deplorable to say -- as baas it looks on film, believe me, it was much worse. they can stitch together as much footage as they want to, but i'm telling you, and anybody in that was in that scrum will tell you, was much worse in person than anything you're ever going to see on film. and for the narrative to be modified or changed to make it seem other than what it was is disheartening. we go to work every day and have to protect members of congress. and for them to come and say, thank you for your service, and appreciate what you do, but you don't, because this is very simple, just having a commission to find out what happened, so this doesn't happen again. i personally feel that this is a very real threat moving forward. lisa: your lawsuit charges president trump himself with directing and enabling this

attack. why focus on him? why do you believe he's responsible? james: there is no shortage of people who are responsible, but i think just being a pragmatic person and seeing the timing of events and how things unfolded, to feed people incorrect narrative for months and have them come to the city at the time they are going to certify the votes, and whip people up and say we will go down pennsylvania avenue, as a president, to use the bully pulpit, how does that not mean something? the president of the united states, this is the most powerful human being on the planet. if the mou -- if the most powerful human being on the planet is not held accountable, can do whatever they want to do,

what does that say about our democracy as a whole? lisa: we have reached out to the former president for comment on your lawsuit and have not heard back at this point. do you think the u.s. capitol is secure right new? james: i don't think i'm qualified to answer that question. lisa: james blassingame, patrick malone, thank you very much for talking with us and sharing your story. james: thank you. patrick: good toe with you. ♪ judy: we will be back shortly. from cold beer to cold, hard cash, new incentives to get the covid vaccine. first, take a moment to hear from your local pbs station. it is a chance judy: the growth e

so-called delta covid variant in the u.k. and more recently in the u.s. is worrying health officials. vaccines have proven effective against all the variants, particularly when someone is fully vaccinated, but the pace of inoculations in the u.s. is slowing. last week the u.s. was averaging , about 800,000 doses a day, well below this spring, when 2.5 to 3 million were being given each day. the den administration's goal of getting 70% of adults inoculated with at least one shot by july 4 is looking harder. given that, a month-long campaign has begun, with incentives from state governments, sports leagues, and businesses, all to get people to roll up their sleeves. william brangham has the story. pres. biden: do it for yourself, do it to protect those more vulnerable than you, your friends, family, community. william: while roughly 140 million americans eagerly lined up for their shots, officials

are trying creative new ways to get the rest of the country into a vaccination center. is transportation the problem? uber and lyft have partnered with the white house to offer discounted rides to vaccination sites. major league baseball teams are offering free tickets to people who get their jabs at the ballpark. there's free beer being offered to vaccinated adults in multiple cities. >> it is one of the reasons i came out here. it is my day off. free beer is better than a beer you pay for, so nice day to bring a dog out to a park. william: anheuser-busch says, if the country meets the biden administration's 70% vaccination goal by july 4, it'll off 200,000 people a free round to celebrate independence from the virus. united airlines' frequent fliers can upload their vaccination card for a shot to win free flights for a year. but one of the sweetest rewards, krispy kreme is giving away free doughnuts for the inoculated through the end of the year.

>> i think it is a great idea. krispy kremes are delicious. >> the vaccination is a reward all by itself. that is the reward, staying alive, but the doughnut is just like a little pat on the back. william: in the nation's capital, where marijuana possession is legal, home growers offered free pot to those getting their shots. >> just like they're giving away krispy kreme doughnuts, we're giving away joints. william: washington state, in tandem with its commercial cannabis industry, announced a similar so-called joints-for-jabs promotion. governor newsom: $50,000, 15 people. william: for those who want a shot at winning a fortune with their shot, several states have rolled out lotteries, with scholarships and prizes ranging from $10,000 to $1 million. >> a stable future, after the last year that we have had, is worth all the money in the world,ut it doesn't hurt to , take your chance at a million dollars as well. william: in west virginia, a

state that had one of the most successful initial rollouts, newly vaccinated young adults are offered $100 gift cards and the chance to win free vacations in state parks, college scholarships, and one of five custom-made shotguns. it's hard to know how effective these incentives are at motivating the hesitant. but, in ohio at least, the vax-a-million lottery seems to be working. in the first week after the program began, the state saw a 28% increase in the vaccination rate for those 16 and older. and for those who don't win a million dollars, there will still be doughnuts. for the "pbs newshour," i'm william brangham. judy: let's hope it all works, and let's hope everybody who can gets vaccinated. that is the "newshour," i'm judy woodruff. join us online and her tomorrow. from all of us at "pbs newshour

," thank you, please stay safe. we will see you soon. >> major funding for the "pbs newshour" provided by -- >> for 25 years, consumer cellular's goal is to help people communicate and connect. we have no contract plans and our service team can help you find a plan that fits you. visit consumercellular.tv. ♪ >> johnson & johnson. bnsf railway. financial services firm, raymondjames. the ford foundation, working with visionaries on the front lines of social change worldwide. and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. ♪

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