captioning sponsor by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening, i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight, hope and heartache-- rescue crews comb the wreckage as officials look for answers in the collapse of the suride florida condo. then, one on one-- we discuss the ongoing pandemic recovery and threats from new covid variants with doctor anthony fauci. and, an unfair burden-- black women lawmakers nationwide live with a perpetual feeling of danger after being elected to office. >> this is an incredibly crushing weight to carry on a daily basis. to live in constant fear, feeling like you're in a state of constant fight or flight and not knowing who to trust. >> woodruff: 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. >> you can do the things you like to do with a wireless plan designed for you. with talk, text and data. consumer cellular. learn more at consumercellular.tv

>> the john s. and james l. knight foundation. fostering informed and engaged communities. more at kf.org. >> and with the ongoing suppt of these institutions: and individuals. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: crews in surfside, florida have spent another long day, delicately digging into a

collapsed condo tower, hoping to find survivors. so far, 11 people are confirmed dead, with 150 still missing. officials pledged today to keep at it, in the face of thunderstorms and dangerous debris that's falling off the building. >> the west side of the pile had to be cordoned off a little bit because it was becoming excessively dangerous to work there. what is happenin as i understand it, the work still continues from the sides and underneath. nobody's giving up hope here. nobody's stopping. the work goes on, full force. we are dedicated to getting everyone out of that pile of rubble. >> woodruff: meanwhile, "the wall street journal" and others reported the head of the condo board warned in april that damage to concrete supports had gotten significantly worse. and, thehite house announced that president biden will visit the site on thursday. a scorching heat wave along the pacific northwest coast has

moved east after breaking records in seattle and portland. it's now forcing rolling power blackouts in spokane and other parts of eastern washington state and oregon. readings across those areas could hit 115 degrees before today is over. on the east coast, tropical storm "danny" weakened today as it moved inland across orgia, and kept dumping heavy rain. the storm triggered flooding after coming ashore last night in south carolina. flood advisories were up all the way into eastern alabama. president biden appealed for support today for a bipartisan infrastructure plan costing nearly $1 billion. the bill also has opponents on both sides of the aisle. the president argued that is a selling point, as he toured a public transit center in la crosse, wisconsin. >> that's what it means to compromise and reach consensus and that's in the heart of every democracy. we can't give up on what we keep

finding ways to come together. because every time we negotiate in good faith, we come together and get something big done, we break a little more of the ice that too often keeps us frozen in place and prevents us from solving the real problems. >> woodruff: mr. biden and democrats in congress are also pressing for a much larger plan, costing $6 trillion. fox news will pay a $1 million fine to settle a sexual harassment and discrimination case. the agreement is with new york city's human rights commission. it stems from investigations that began when roger ailes, the company's founder and chair, was accused of sexual misconduct. he died in 2017. in economic news, united airlines announced, -- the most by any u.s. carrier in a decade. the deal will include 200 aircraft from boeing and 70 from airbus. it could be worth as much as $30 billion.

u.s. home prices in april surged at the fastest pace in more than 15 years. a 20-city index shows they were up nearly 15% from a year earlier. the spike comes as hebuyers have been bidding up prices for a limited supply of properties. and, a quiet day on wall street. the dow jones industrial average gained nine points to close at 34,292. the nasdaq rose 27 points. the s&p 500 added one point. still to come on the newshour: the armed conflict in ethiopia shows no signs of abating as control of tigray remains in doubt. the pandemic and our moment of racial reckoning prompt many college students to change course. black women lawmakers live with a perpetual feeling of danger after being elected to office. plus, how summer movies hope to draw audiences back to the big screen.

>> woodruff: the u.s. is in a far better place this summer than many other countries witnessing new covid cases. but the delta variant of covid, now expected to become the dominant strain in the u.s., is posing serious dangers in areas with low vaccination rates. its spread in many countries worldwide is triggering shutdowns and fears of more deaths. william brangham begins our coverage with this report. >> brangham: across the world, a wavef new lockdowns are being implemented as nations scramble to get ahead of the coronavirus strain known as the delta variant. >> the risk is real and we need to act quickly. >> brangham: the fear spans entire continents.

cities across australia, a country praised for its initial handling of the pandemic, but now with limited vaccination are now imposing stay-at-home orders. >> as of midnight, perth and peel will be entering a four day lockdown. >> brangham: in several asian nations, indonesia and malaysia, the variant has threatened to overrun hospitals. travelers in hong kong hustled to get on the last flights to the united kingdom before a travel ban went into place. >> it's killing people by the thousands. >> brangham: and across africa, the virus is hitting hard. it's forced south africa to reinstate bans on alcohol sales, gatherings and indoor dining for the next two weeks. president cyril ramaphosa issued a stark warning: >> we are in the grip of a destating wave that by all indications seems like it will be worse than those that have preceded it. >> brangham: this variant - originally identified in india, is highly contagious, much more

so than the original coronavirus, and it's now on track to become the dominant global strain. the centers for disease control and prevention says it's already been identified in at least 77 countries. >> why should we act like there is no solution when there is a solution? >> brangham: the solution is vaccines. public health officials say most protect against this delta variant, but only ten percent of the world's population has been vaccinated, and in some nations, the rates are far lower. many countries are desperate for more supply. >> the problem now is supply problem. just give us the vaccines. >> brangham: and given delta's spread, this week, the world health organization recommended masks even for those who are fully vaccinated. >> until the vast majority of our population is vaccinated, we will have to live differently given this strain of the virus. >> brangham: even the u.s., with nearly half its population vaccinated, and as people ditch masks and pack back into

restaurants and arenas, the delta variant is becoming the dominant source of cases here as well. where vaccination rates are low, like in the south and some western states, this variant is growing. public health officials say unvaccinated people account for virtually all hospitalizations and deaths in the u.s. >> you are still at risk of getting seriously ill or dying if you, in fact, have not been vaccinated. that's just a fact. >> brangham: as july 4th approaches, the biden administration has fallen short on its goal of getting 70% of americans fully vaccinated. and now it's begun shipping extra doses overseas, trying to halt the spread of this delta variant before it claims even more lives. for the pbs newshour, i'm william brangham. >> woodruff: let's understand more about the delta variant's growing threat, here and abroad. we turn to dr. anthony fauci, director of the national institute of allergy and

infectious diseases at the n.i.h. he's also the president's chief medical advisor. dr. fauci, thank you for being with us again. many americans were starting to feel we're moving w back to normal, restrictions slowly starting to be lifted. but now we see this variant, other countries slamming on the brakes. just how much of a game changer is it? >> well, it certainly is a game changer, judy, for people who are not vaccinated. one of the issues that's very very clear is that the vaccines that are used in this country, fundamentally t the vaccines without any question are doing well against promaticking against symptomatic disease and highly effective in preventing severe disease leading to hospitalizations or deaths. the concern we have is that we have pockets in this country, particularly put not exclusively

among certain southern states, where the level of vaccination is really dangerously low, around 35% or so. as a country, we're doing very well, we have 50% of the adult population is fully vaccinated. about 57 or 56% of the adult population has received at least one dose, and particularly among the elderly, about 85-plus percent of the elderly have received one dose. that's the good news is that, if you are vaccinated, in general, you are doing fine. it's the concern about unvaccinated people. so if ever there was, you know, what i would say a clarion call to people to please get vaccinated, you can protect yourself against a virus that has a better capability of spreading from person to person and that could make you more seriously ill. so that's the issue. you don't want to see two americas, one that's protected very nicely because the vaccines

work, and then certain pockets of the country where you can have these mini surges which could be very disconcerting and dangerous. >> woodruff: well, how do you -- i mean, in trying to understand just how much more worrying this new variant is, is there a way to quantify that? i mean, i'm reading stories about even people in australia who are quarantined in separate hotel rooms, they're still getting the covid, and there is concern about air circulation. >> yeah, it is clearly more transmissible by multi-fold, a few times more. and if you look at the hospitalization, there was a study, judy, from scotland which showed that hospitalizations clearly had a few times more likelihood of getting hospitalized if you were infected with the delta variant versus the variants that were previously circulating. in certain countries, the delta variant has become really quite

dominant. it has pushed aside the other variants that are there. this will happen in our country, the united states, in those areas of unvaccinated people. and again, that the the reason why we say we're dealing with something we have to take very seriously. it's reel a dichotomy -- it's really a dichotomy. if you're vaccinated, you're in quite good shape. if you're not vaccinated, you're at significant risk. >> woodruff: but until we see more americans vaccinated, do you believe there are going to have to be restrictions reimposed? for example, the world health organization is saying people should now again be wearing masks indoors because of this variant. >> yeah, we have to be careful of distinguishing what the world health organization has to deal with. the world health organization has to deal with recommendations for the entire planet, which is an undervaccinated planet, about 10% of the people are vaccinated in the world. some countries even less than

that. so there are some countries where the virus is raging with a high dynamics of spread. so, even if you are vaccinated and you are in that environment, the chances with a vaccine that, as good as it is, no vaccine is 100%, and we know that even the good vaccines, the ones that we really do know protect, protect about 88% against infection that's symptomatic and over 90% against severe infection. there are vaccines being used globally that are not nearly as good as that, and then there are those that have only received one dose because of a shortage of vaccinations, and we know that, in certain situations, one dose, the efficacy goefrom 88% down to 30%. so it's no wonder that the w.h.o. is saying that, even if you are vaccinated and you are in an area with a high density of virus, that you, in fact, should still wear a mask

indoors. in the united states, it's a bit different. we want to make clear that there will be some people, understandably, and nothing wrong with that who are vaccinated who don't want to take any risks. they're very risk-averse. i think elderly people and people with underlying conditions may consult with their physicians and healthcare provider and say i really don't want to take any risk at all. it's perfectly fine for those people to wear a mask. but as a country, the c.d.c., at this point, has not changed the recommdation that if you are vaccinated you do not need to wear a mask. they are following the dynamics of this outbreak literally on a daily basis, and if the data change to indicate there should be a change in the guideline, that change would be made. but right now things will stay the same vis-a-vis the original guidelines from the c.d.c. >> woodruff: so i hear you saying the door is open, possibly, to reinstating some restrictions, depending on where this variant goes.

dr. fauci, speaking of this variant and protecting against it, where does the rearch stand right now in terms of booster shots? we are reading there's more and more reason to believe that americans will need boosters. >> well, there is research and multiple studies, judy, going on right now, some sponsored by us at the n.i.h., some sponsored by the companies themselves, that are trying to determine what the feasibility and the necessity of a booster is, and it's based on two or three considerations. you boost for durability of response -- in other words, you get good protection but you're not sure how long it lasts. yocould monitor that either by monitoring laboratory data like correlates of immunity or whether or not you get more breakthrough infections than you would have predicted. that's one thing. then there's the idea of a

booster that might be a booster against a specific variant. up to now, even though we're testing for that, we haven't had to seriously consider that because the vaccines that we are using now, as i mentioned a moment ago, seemed to be doing quite well, even against the delta variant. bottom line, you keep an open mind always. you do the research in case you have to use boosters. i would think it was likely at some time we may need a booster. when that will be will be determined by the studies that are being done. >> woodruff: and finally, dr. fauci, your message to americans who are wavering right now, who are still reluctant to get the vaccine? >> well, the data are looking you square in the face. please, for your own safety, for the safety of your family, and for your communal responsibility to get the virus crushed, you do that when you get the overwhelming proportion of the

population vaccinated. so i encourage, very strongly, people who are hesitant to get vaccinated to please get vaccinated. >> woodruff: dr. anthony fauci, we appreciate it. thank you. >> thank you, judy. good to be with you. >> woodruff: today there is a fragile cease-fire in tigray, in northern ethiopia, after ethiopian forces and their allies withdrew from the region they largely occupied late last year. it is, for now, a dramatic turn in a conflict that has killed thousands, uprooted millions, and featured atrocities the international community say were committed by the government of a nobel-prize winning prime minister. and today, tigray rebels, are claiming victory. here's nick schifrin.

>> schifrin: today in tigray, celebration, for what tigrayans are calling “liberation day.” in the city of shire, residents posted cell phone videos of tigrayan rebels enring the city, flying the tigrayan flag. just hours before, tigray's capital makele erupted in fireworks, after ethiopian soldiers retreated. for the last eight months those ethiopian soldiers, with allies from neighboring eritrea, left a trail of scorched earth. they occupied much of tigray, in a conflict with tigrayan military and political forces who used to run the country, and recently defied nobel peace- prize winninprime minister, abiy ahmed. ahmed and the military responded with what international humanitarian groups call widespread atrocities. the most violent, just last week-- children and more than 60 civilians, killed while they shopped at a market bombed by ethiopian planes.

families wailed, and waited for 27 hours for international health care workers, after ethiopian ground troops blocked access. when a convoy of ambulances finally carried away the wounded, so many arrived at a hospital 20 miles away, the rooms overflowed, and the lobby became a triage center. the victims, barely older than this civil war. a mother looked on as dr. kinfe redae tries to save a young life. >> you can see this patient has sustained an injury to the abdomen and the chest. >> schifrin: ethiopian soldiers are accused of systematic rape. this teenager is six months pregnant. she says nowhere in tigray was safe. >> ( translated ): if you stay home, you will die. if you go out there, you will die. if i'm going to die anyway, i would rather die fighting. >> schifrin: they pushed tigray to the brink of famine.

usaid says 900,000 face famine conditions. the u.n. says five million urgently need assistance. and ethiopian troops are believed to have targeted the very organizations trying to help, including the offices of doctors without borders. last week spaniard maria hernandez's car was ambushed, and she and two colleagues, were murdered. the fighting produced an exodus. 1.7 million tigrayans fled their homes. the government's critics called the conflict an attempt to repress an entire region, and ethnicity, as they admitted earlier this year, to e.u. envoy pekka haavisto. >> they real used this kind of language that they are going to destroy the tigrayans, they are going to wipe out the tigrayans for 100 years and so forth. >> schifrin: until today, the government had been defiant. the military said it only targets rebels, not civilians. abiy denied tigray was experiencing famine. and during recent parliamentary elections, he said he could unite the country. today the government described its retreat, as a humanitarian

cease fire. but ethiopian forces have recently lost ground to regrouped tigrayan rebels. and international pressure and punishment, has increased. just today, the state department warned of further sanctions if ethiopia and its allies' withdrawal, wasn't permanent. >> if the government's announcement of a cessation of hostilities does not result in improvements and the situation continues to worsen, ethiopia and eritrea should anticipate further actions. we will not stand by in the face of horrors in tigray. >> schifrin: for more on today's events and where we go from here, we turn to aly verjee, a senior adviser to the africa program at the u.s. institute of peace, a nonprofit organization dedicated to resolving conflict abroad. aly verjee, welcome to the "newshour". at tigrayen forces have captured the capitol but they have not accepted the unilateral and do you expect tigray forces to try

to be on the offensive. >> i think so. there are still some parts to have the region that they don't have full control over. they're still other forces present in the arrearage and there's suggesting they aren't ready to have a cease fire as far as their combat activities. >> reporter: and, of course, part of the reason is there are other forces involved in this, it's not st ethiopis. it's not clear where the tigrayian forces will withdraw or harans that will withdraw. do you feel this fighting is not over? >> unfortunately, i think the potential for more fighting is there. the cease fire is a good step. it's a necessary step, but it didn't mean fighting will end conclusively. >> reporter: let's talk about why ethiopia's prime minister is on the verge of declearing senate intelligence committee riin recent elections. he's under diplomatic economic pressure from the international community, and his pores thes,

frankly, were routed by some tigrayian forces on the ground. are those the reasons we're seeing the cease fire today? >> i think probably those are the reasons. clearly, the military advances of the tigrayian forces in the last few days have been rather rapid, decisive in terms of their effect, and that has put the government of ethiopia, the forces of the federal government under significant pressure, but, at the se time, it's probably not the only factor. there's been pressure building for some time on the prime minister to halt the hostilities, withdraw forces, that's international pressure, that's also pressure from the region, and the fact that the elections are now out of the way also, perhaps, plays a role because, prior to the elections, there was a great deal of discussion within ethiopia and other parts of the country about how necessary it was to continue this conflict, while other poem

thought the war was necessary. actually, there was a degree of popularity attached to it. so, clearly, acting before the elections might have been more difficult for the prime minister, but with the elections out of the way, it's no longer the same consideration it once was. >> reporter: how important is this moment for the feature of ethiopia? what's the risk if the prime minister doesn't start a genuine political dialogue with tigray? there are others that are watching this closely. >> first, in tigray itself, as we have discussed, there's a by no means a certainty that the violence will end definitively, and even if it were, then the very dramatic humanitarian situation that exists isn't going to be reversed overnight. if people are on the verge of famine, that won't change by tomorrow. as you say, elsewhere in ethiopia, center also plenty of problems of insecurity, of grievance.

they aren't necessarily directly related to tigray. in cost cases not. but in reality the grievances have many commonalities as far as how effective the government is and what the vision for the country will be. so, in that sense, people are certainly looking at what's happening in tigray. >> reporter: on the humanitarian side, how dire is the situation for the displaced and for refugees? are they getting what they need? >> there seem to be around 2 million people who are internally displaced. the number of refugees is much smaller but a significant one. what we know at the moment is humanitarian access has been a severe challenge and that most people who are in need of assistance haven't been getting the sufficient systems that's required. so one real test now will be to see if the cease fire actually changes the humanitarian access questions. if you look at what happened as the federal forces withdraw, with attacks on the offices of

u.n. agencies, for example, the looting of some equipment, it wasn't a very promising sign. we'll have to see if, in the next few days and weeks, that improves, and if there's a genuine attempt to allow humanitarian access and systems to come into where it's needed most. >> reporter: aly verjee of the u.s.i.p., thank you very mh. # >> woodruff: and now, we bring you the final installment in our higher education series. over the last month we've heard stories about how students and institutions have been upended by the pandemic. tonight, we take a more hopeful look at students who have been inspired by the events of the last year and returned to school. hari sreenivasan has this report for our series, "rethinking college." >> sreenivasan: graduation day at howard university. student ahmari anthony,

started her senior year in the mile of the pandemic, and this day was not guaranteed. >> i had some doubts. sometimes i really did. we didn't find out we were having an in-person graduation until the last week of march. so initially i was thinking that i was going to be on zoom in my bedroom at home walking that way. >> sreenivasan: anthony majored in journalism, and not too long ago, hoped to begin a career as an investigative journalist. but in the midst of this unprecedented year, something changed for her. >> i just felt like, you know, there was a lot of people raising awareness and there was a lot of people studying and researching, willing to talk about what was going on. but there weren't enough people who were able to or willing to act at the time. and i felt like that's what i really had to do. >> sreenivasan: so after four years of college, instead of looking for jobs, she decided to start on a completely new career path. this fall, she'll be going back to howard to begin a masters program in social work. >> there's not enough people who

feel empowered to be able to act on what is going on right now. everyone feels like things are out of their control. a lot of people felt helpless. a lot of people felt alone. and i think that i really enjoy working with people and being able to empower them to solve their own issues and come up with their own solutions to what they're facing. >> sreenivasan: for anthony, part of it was seeing the effects of the pandemic first hand. >> i remember at the beginning of the pandemic, my grandfather, like, got laid off and he's older. so he was working past retirement age anyways, and he had started going to the food bank and he would have to sit in the food bank line for hours to be able to get food. and he wasn't even, as you know, i guess, high need as other people were, other people who >> sreenivasan: then came the murder of george floyd. anthony took part in the massive social justice movement that followed and watched the conviction of derek chauvin last month, but in the reactions she saw how much work still needs to be done.

people treated is like, okay, this one person has been punished for the wrong thing that they did. but it's not about like one person. it's very clearly not about one person. like it's not only a culture, but it's also like structures and systems that we have in place that need to be changed and it's life or death. and george floyd really cemented that in my mind. >> sreenivasan: about 1,000 miles away, zachary whitten lives on his family's farm in laneville, texas, population 1,193. >> sreenivasan: he was born and raised here, but spent the last decade traveling around the back in 2008 he graduated from junior college with a degree in psychology, but felt like continuing education wasn't for him. but this last year sparked something in him as well. >> there are a lot of cracks that i feel were exposed during the election and during the pandemic that i feel need to be addressed and have not been addressed. >> sreenivasan: because of laneville's isolation, whitten has been fortunately spared much of the effects of the pandemic. but he wasn't spared from the political upheaval unfolding in

the country. much of it was playing out right in front of his eyes on facebook. >> when i moved back, i decided >> i mean, one of the things that really concerned me was the amount of misinformation and ignorance in the in the literal sense of the word, you know, that that was out there. >> sreenivasan: whitten had always been interested in politics but for the first time he felt compelled to get more actively involved. last fall, he returned to school at the university of texas-tyler with the hope of getting a bachelor's degree in politics next year. he's hoping this formal education and his unique blend of experienceshe'll be able to bridge the political divisiveness and stem the misinformation he's seeing. >> i mean, i have i have i have a rural background. i have a hispanic background. you know, i've traveled around quite a bit and been exposed to a bunch of different cultures. i'm hoping that talking to them just in a calm, you know, an amicable way and telling them

about my story and telling them about my experiences and then listening to their experiences and making them kind of realize that there's not that much difference between different people. >> sreenivasan: whitten admits he could've just as easily stayed where he was, but now was the time to act. >> i'm hoping to essentially be the change that you want tsee in the world. you know. i feel like for a while a lot of >> sreenivasan: for ahmari anthony back in washington, d.c., the decision to go back to school was also a bit of a leap. >> i'm like the second person in my family to graduate from college. so, you know, going after a master's degree was kind of it wasn't something that i realistically saw for myself. >> sreenivasan: but after conversations with her family and reflection on the future, it all started to make sense. >> it's like if you think that you have an opportunity to help someone, even if it's one person, even if it's a little tiny way, even like, you know,

like living in a tent, why would you not take that opportunity? if you feel like you're stuck between a rock and a hard place and one has the potential of even making your life or someone else's life e littlest bit better, i think that that risk is always worth it. >> sreenivasan: for the pbs newshour, i'm hari sreenivasan. >> woodruff: 2021 has seen black women reach new heights in the halls of u.s. government, from kamala harris as vice president, to a record-setting number of black women in congress and in mayor's offices. while many celebrate the increase in representation, many of these elected leaders also face harassment and threats. amna nawaz has their story as part of our race matters series. >> nawaz: that's right, judy, many of these politicians have told the news hour their stories of fear and concern while trying to do their jobs. candice norwood is the digital politics reporter who led the

reporting effort for newshour, and she joins me now. candice, welcome to you. >> hi, amna. thanks. >> nawaz: so we want to unpack a little bit more about some of this remarkable reporting you've spent months pulling together. but first, let's just take a quick listen to some of the women you spoke to. >> i remember at the beginning of the one 116th congress when we were just spotlighting and highlighting the beautiful diversity of this incoming congress. but then on every caucus call, we had members who were literally saying, you know, they were getting death threats on a daily basis. >> early on, when we were getting the list of like credible threats coming in for members of congress, there were centered around members of color and there are only 25 black women that serve in the united states congress. and so it's not like i can blend in with my colleagues because there's not that many of us. >> i am always thinking, wow, okay, if somebody came in to the capitol building right now and they wanted to shoot all the black people here, what's my plan?

how do i escape, how do i get out of here? >> one of the turning points for me and my campaign was during the george floyd protests when someone, we still don't know who, drove by one of the democratic party offices in my district where my sign was in the window, there were black lives matter signs in the window and someone shot bullet holes. >> nawaz: so candice, it is incredibly disturbing to hear those fears and concerns from those four women. you spoke to a number of women, though, right? how common were those experiences? >> yeah, so i and my reporting partners, chloe jones and liz bolaji, spoke with 18 women in politics, black women in politics at all levels of government, and 17 of them recounted similar experiences with verbal abuse and physical threats. kiah morris is a former vermont legislator who suffered years of harassment and finally resigned in 2018. at theime, she and her husband

lived in his childhood home and decided to move for safety ncerns to a different city. but even in that new city and that new home, their now 10 year old son built a panic room type space, remembering the kind of the experiences they had back in their previous city. and it's not just physical thres, it's also verbal abuse, and these women recounted experiencing a daily barrage of these verbal attacks. baltimore state's attorney marilyn mosby recounted an experience listening to a voicemail that was sent to her that was laced with expletives and racial slurs. and we actually have a clip that we're going to play now and a warning to our viewers it does contain strong language. >> if we'd known you all were going to be this much trouble, we would have picked our own ( bleep ) cotton. >> and i should also note that though we spoke with 18 women, we did receive some hesitation and some reluctance to speak with us. and we heard not only from

academic experts we spoke with, but also the women themselves, that when they do speak out on the issues, they often see a rise in the abusive treatment, the attacks. >> nawaz: you also asked many of these women what it's like to carry that fear and concern through their days as they're doing this job. let's take a listen to what some of them had to say. >> you have a heavier responsibility. your community's looking at you to represent them well. the rest of the world thinks when you open your mouth, you represent all black people, you and so it does become one of these situations where you really are carrying the weight of the world. >> i used the line, when congress starts to look like us, nothing can stop us. and there was an onslaught of just backlash. what so many people were hearing was when congress is all black women. and i said, if that's all you see when you look at me, then you forget the fact that i'm a mother and a teacher and, you know, a community member and all these different things that i am are lost.

>> i intentionally came here knowing i was going to be the only black woman and that i have natural hair. and so i speak very even-toned, just monotone, every time i'm speaking in committee or on the floor because i don't get the right to do like the white men do with slam books down and and yell and be, use my outside voice all the time. i don't have that privilege. >> this is an incredibly crushing weight to carry on a daily basis. it is mentally exhausting to live in constant fear, feeling like you're in a state of constant fight or flight and not knowing who to trust. >> nawaz: it's so revealing candice to hear them talking about the pressure that they face every day in the job. but you ask them about what it took to get to that job in the first place. what did they share with you? >> yeah, so we know that in speaking with womebroadly, but also women from underrepresented backgrounds, including black women, that just to get them to run for office, they often have to be asked. and so the women we spoke with

described going through a series of mental steps to even enter that race. that includes things like child care, things like what a political campaign, what that strain would put on their families and also the safety measures. we know that black women tend to think about the legacy that they're leaving and the doors that they're opening for other people. so they feel that pressure. and we also know that women broadly and also black women are less likely to run for office again than white men if they don't succeed. >> nawaz: and what did they tell you about how all of this impacts the work that they do, the issues that they prioritize once they're in office? >> so we know that black women feel deeply connected to their communities that they are being elected to represent. and research indicates that black legislators broadly really championed issues that center the needs of different black communities. and so they're promoting things

based on their diverse backgrounds, they're often coming from backgrounds that are underrepresented in different institutions of power. so someone who's connected to immigration, someone who comes from a life of poverty or single parent household holds that informs the work that they do and the bills that they're sponsoring. >> nawaz: amid all this pressure and amid all this barrier breaking, in many cases, even the fear of death threats, in many cases, you asked them about what it is that keeps them going. let's take a listen to what some of them had to say. >> i chose this road, no one forced me. no one tied me up and said, do it. if you if you don't, you know, i chose this path. >> when things are happening, especially around issues of civil rights and voting rights, i have an obligation to speak up and stand up for my community. >> there's no way i can erase being black or female. and i wouldn't if i could. so i just have to keep moving

forward. >> nawaz: candice, when you spoke to all these women, heard all of their stories, what is it that stood out to you about all their experiences? >> the weight of being one of a few to be in these positions of power and what that means and this idea of if i'm not the one to champion these issues, who will be, but also the idea some women want to stay in power to push back against a common response that they hear that you're a public official, you've chosen this life, this life, meaning a life of threats and things like that. and they are saying no, right? and it's staying in power is a way to refute that. but then we also spoke to women who have hard lines. congresswoman lauren underwood from illinois was very candid about her feelings on being in public office and saying that she is not willing to die to do this work. there are other ways to serve her community. and if the threats grow, if they

become worse, she's willing to walk away. >> nawaz: it is a remarkable piece of reporting. it lives online at the newshour's website. and i know you led your team for months to pull it together. candice norwood, thank you so much for being here. >> thank you. >> woodruff: last year, we brought you the stories of migrants traveling through one of the world's most lawless and dangerous places: the darien gap, a roadless jungle expanse along the border of colombia and panama. special correspondent nadja drost and her husband, videographer bruno federico, along with producer carlos villalon, traveled there under harrowing circumstances to shed light on people striving for better lives. >> underneath the soaring canopy, migrants from aund the worked risked death crossing the

jungle in a desperate bid to reach the u.s. and canada. they have no map and no instructions on how to make it through one of the world's most dangerous migration routes. >> i would like to send a messagto anyone who is thinking of doing this route. it's very dangerous. if i knew this, i wouldn't have done it. >> many migrants spend a week or even two on this trail fore they reach a village and safety. but these journeys started long before. >> woodruff: two weeks >> woodruff: two weeks ago, nadja received a pulitzer prize for her writing from that trip, and last thursday, she and bruno were named peabody award winners, the most prestigious in broadcasting, for their stories reported for the newshour. that is an extraordinarily rare accomplishment, i spoke with nadja last week shortly after the news. nadja, congratulations. it doesn't come bigger than

this, a pulitzer prize on top of a peabody, the two of them together. how are you dealing with all of this? >> i -- i don't know how i'm -- i'm dealing with it, judy. it's a really wonderful shock, and i continue to kind of try to make sense of it, and i'm really grateful for the honors, and i'm especially grateful that, you know, these stories are getting renewed tension right now because they're ongoing. >> woodruff: and you remind us, nadja, that their lives are ongoing. as we were pointing out, you stayed in touch with a number of the migrants you met in covering the darien gap crossing. tell us about how some of them are managing now. >> sure. so, you know, in each group that we followed and, you know, these were groups from haiti, from bangladesh, from pakistan and cam aroon, many spent months in

i.c.e. detention and some were deported. many ended up having to wait about a year to get work permits. some of them are still in that limbo. so it's very difficult for many of them to basically sustain themselves in the u.s., right now, especially having arrived during the pandemic with lockdowns. we followed a courtroom of cameroonians, and some groups might remember george, a cameroonian man who was severely injured. he had sprained his ankle and his group had to basically leave him behind in the jungle. and by a small miracle, george managed to literally crawl his way through the jungle alone without food for two weeks. i'm happy to report that george now lives in maryland. i'll also mention a remarkable

woman, sandra, who was also a part of this cameroonian group. sandra spent eight months in i.c.e. detention, she was transferred between facilities, she was shackled and dressed in a prisoner's uniform, axe lib. when she was finally released, she was able to reunite with her fianceé in texas, and, meanwhil, she's trying to create a new life here in the united states and has a newborn baby girl who is three weeks old. >> woodruff: so many ups and downs, as you say, in these lives, as each individual tries to make their way. just finally, nadja, it's a hard enough situation as it is, but, as you mentioned, along came the pandemic. how would you sum up how the pandemic changed the migrate trail for these people? >> it did. you know, so many migrants who had already flown from asia, from south asia, from africa,

from the middle east became stranded somewhere along the route either in south america or central america. we've now seen a tremendous increase in the number of people who are retaking this route and, in fact, just in the months of april and may, 5,000 migrants each month have been crossing the darien gap for a total of over 15,000 just in this year alone, and i think that we really can see in those numbers, you know, they kind of tell the story of the impact to have the pandemic on -- the impact of the pandemic on these migrants. >> woodruff: truly the story of the pandemic as well as the story of each and every individual to try to survive tanned to create a life for themselves. nadja drost, congratulations again to you, to your husband bruno federico for this extraordinary work you've done. the bulletser, the peabody, we

are so proud of you. thank you very much. >> thank you, judy. >> woodruff: with summer underway, movie studios and box offices are clamoring for theater-goers to return as pandemic restrictions ease. and there's evidence that it's beginning to happen. the latest installment of the fast and the furious franchise, "f-9," earned $70 million this past weekend, the biggest opening for a movie since the pandemic began. jeffrey brown looks at what else theaters have in store this summer for our arts and culture series, canvas. >> brown: movie theaters are reopening across the country, but are film lovers ready to return. we look at some of the summer films that hope to lure them with "washington post" film critic ann hornaday and aisha harris, host of npr's "pop culture happy hour."

nice to see you. >> nice to see you. >> and in person. >> brown: nice to see you, aisha. let's start first before we get to films. aisha, are we seeing people returning to movie theaters? >> there are definitely people who are ready to go back out there, and i don't think it's just cinephiles and film critics like myself, you saw something like a quiet place, part 2, which did pretty well at the box office. it opened with around, you know, with a lot a lot of buzz. and it was held over from the pandemic. and it is also the kind of movie that is a thriller. it's crafted to be seen in a theater with other people. so i think that we are definitely seeing people ready to go back to theaters. >> brown: and what do you think? >> i agree. and i and i think it's fascinating that a quiet place 2 has already passed $100 million, which was something of a milestone in the pandemic era. also, the conjuring sequel has done incredibly well. and hoor, of course, is one of those genres that demands to be

seen in the theater. >> brown: you got to go to the theater, right? >> the pleasure of it is to experience those jump scares together. >> brown: why don't you start with a couple of the blockbusters that are coming that the industry is really relying on now? >> well, obviously, "black widow," was it's the sort of origin story of the scarlett johansson character who's been incredibly popular with marvel fans. and peopleave been including myself. we've been clamoring for a black widow movie. so i think there's a really high interest in that. and then f-nine, the latest "fast and furious" installment, that's just been a juggernaut of a of a franchise. again, hugely fun to see on a big screen. that's, again, one of those movies that i think hollywood and the studios are counting on, people flocking to in the theater. >> brown: what about some other maybe smaller ones or middle of the road that you're looking forward to? >> well, i am especially excited for everyone to see "zola," which premiered at sundance 2020, right before everything went bad and went south. and it's a it's a road trip movie. it's an absurdist movie. it's a smaller movie that i hope

people go see and that we've actually only going to be in theaters for its original release. it won't have a v.o.d. simultaneous release. i hope people check out "summer of soul," which is a documentary that premiered at this year's sundance that will be streaming on hulu next month. it captured, this festival that occurred in 1969 in harlem. and it was a brand musical festival with everyone from stevie wonder to gladys knight and the pips to sly and the family stone. it was buried for 50 years and now it's been unearthed. and the performances are just fantastic. >> brown: so and you have a couple that you really want you want to make sure people know about? >> i'm a huge fan of that movie. i also loved "coda," which was one of the big titles that came out of sundance this year. it's a coming of age story about a high school student who has been the only hearing member of her family. so she's been sort of their translator to the outside world and now she's trying to strike out on her own and find her own path. and it is touching. it's hilariously funny. there's she's in a glee club, so there's great music. it is a crowd pleaser.

and then the other one i'm really looking forward to is "respect," which is the aretha franklin biopic with jennifer hudson. i'm very eager to see that. >> brown: we've come to a year that in some ways changed everything, or how much did it change in terms of big screens and small screens? >> this is the question. i mean, i think the good news about the past year is that it has proven that people are as into visual storytelling as ever. i mean, when you think about the past 14, 15 months when we were all zooming together, what did we ask? what are you watching? now, the question is, do movies have a discreet presence amid that firehose of image, sound and image and storytelling? and i do think that these early numbers from theatrical film going on are encouraging because people are seeing them when they can and where they want to, >> brown: aisha, what do you see in terms of how movies are made and where they'll be seen now? >> i agree with that, and i also

think we were having these conversations fore the pandemic about what the future of moviegoing was, and i think that they're going to continue. my biggest fear and concern is that people will go back to the theaters, but only to see the big budget movies like "f nine," like "a quiet place." and i fear that these smaller movies, like the ones we've just talked about, may not be as successful on screen. but to me, if people can see films in any way, shape or form, even if it's not the way that i would personally prefer to see it, i think that's a win for the industry overall. >> brown: all right, aisha harris of npr, ann hornaday of the "washington post," thank you very much. >> thank you. >> thank you. and an update to our coverage of the condominium collapse story. the mayor of miami-dade county said the confirmed death toll in surfside, florida has now risen to 12 people. 149 people remain unaccounted for. that's the "newshour" for and that's the newshour for

tonight. i'm judy woodruff. join us online and again here tomorrow evening. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you, please stay safe and see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> carnegie corporation of new york. supporting innovations in education, democratic engagement, and the advancement of international peace and security. at carnegie.org. >> and with the ongog 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. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

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