♪ judy: good evening. on the news hour tonight, covid surge. we visit louisiana. strained icu's. the governor of maryland on how he is addressing the newly resurgent covid threat. then, the road ahead as the white house pushes electric vehicles. we take a look at the major climate-related revisions in the infrastructure deal. and the fight vote. restrictions on access to the ballot box nationwide raise alarms for democracy advocates. >> it took mass mobilization to get voting rights. it is going to take mass to keep it and go further.

judy: all that and more on tonight's "pbs news hour. -- our." >> major funng for the pbs news hour has been provided by -- >> before we talk about your investments, what is new? >> audrey is expecting. >> twins. >> we need to move closer to the twins. >> change in plans. >> at fidelity, a change in plan is always part of the plan. >> johnson and johnson. bnsf railway. consumer cellular. financial services firm raymond james. the kendida fund, advancing restorative adjustment -- justice and meaningful work, transforming leaders and ideas.

carnegie corporation of new york, supporting innovations in education, democratic engagement, and the advancement of international peace and security, at carnegie.org. then, with the ongoing support of these individuals and 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. vanessa: i'm vanessa we in for stephanie tsai. -- stephanie sy.

there's fresh evidence tonight that the delta variant of covid-19 is piling up casualties nationwi. federal health officials say hospitalizations have more than tripled in the last month. and they say the daily average of new infections is the highest since february, driven by a failure to vaccinate. jeff zients: in seven states alone, florida, texas, missouri, arkansas, louisiana, alabama, mississippi, states with some of the lowest vaccination rates acunt for about half of new cases and hospitalizations in the past week, despite making up less than a quarter of the u.s. population. vanessa: also today, california announced that all 200 million health and long-term care were is in the state will be required to be vaccinated against covid night team by september 30. -- seven -- against covid-19 by

september 30. in hawaii, the governor announced that all state and county employees there must get at least one vaccine shot by august 16 or be subject to regular covid-19 testing. an amazon -- and amazon delayed its return-to-office date for corporate and tech employees until january. the cdc's newly announced eviction moratorium is already facing a legal chaenge. the alabama association of realtors went back to federal court last night, asking for an injution that would let evictions resume. the judge ordered thbiden administration to respond by tomorrow morning. a windblown fire in northern california consumed a gold rush town overnight. the dixie fire, largest in the state, torched block after block of greenville. buildings that had stood for more than a century burned, but no one was killed. two other towns were threatened today and thousands of people were under evacuation orders.

and in greece, firefighters carried out evacuations just north of athens today, ahead of a wildfire fueled by record heat. anwhile, in southern gree, crews battled a fire that threatened the site of ancient olympia, birthplace of the olympics. and, in turkey, firefighters contained a fire that threatened a power plant. iran now has a new president, ebrahim raisi, cementing hard-liners' control of the government. raisi was sworn in today before parliament. he called for u.s. sanctions to end, but he insisted tehran will not stop trying to project its power. pres. raisi: we are the true defenders of human rights. we do not accept silence in the face of tyranny, crime, in violation of the innocent and defenseless people's rights. whenever there is crime and oppression, we will stand by the oppressed ones.

vanessa: in washington, the u.s. state department pressed iran to resume negotiations on reviving the 2015 nuclear deal. it said the opportunity won't last forever. 834 unaccompanied children were apprehended at the southern bordernd placed into customs and border protection custody yesterday. newsour has confirmed that is one of the highest daily totals ever recorded. the u.s. justice department has opened a full-scale review today of police practices in phoenix, arizona. the focus is on whether phoenix officers use excessive force and abuse the homeless. the mayor and police department leaders say they welcome the investigation. similar federal probes are already under way in minneapolis and louisville. police who battled pro-trump rioters at the u.s. capitol on january 6 received congress' highest honor today. at a white house ceremony, president biden signed a measure awarding the congressional gold

medal to the u.s. capitol police, washington, d.c. police and others. the president said their courage helped preserve democracy. and at the summer olympics in tokyo, the u.s. women's soccer team beat australia 4-3 for the bronze medal. and the u.s. men's basketball team downed australia 97-78 and faces france for the gold medal on saturday. americans also won gold in the women's pole vault and the men's shot put. still to come on the "newshour," how maryland governor larry hogan sees the surge in covid-19 cases, why the white house is pushing for more electric vehicles on the road, restrictions on voting rights nationwide raise alarms for democracy advocates, and much more. ♪ >> this is the pbs "newshour" f rom weta studios in washington

and from the croite school of journalism at arizona state university. judy: let's take an in-depth look now at the human effects of the latest surge in vid. louisiana has the nation's highest per capita infections, driven in large part by e extremely contagious delta variant. at the same time, louisiana also has one of the country's lowest vaccination rates. this week, governor john bel edwards reimposed a statewide mask mandate for all indoor settings. william brangham and our team re given special access to one hospital, baton rouge general, as staff there try to save lives and to convince more people to get vaccinated. dr. brierre: so, we have got 59-ish, fixing to be 60 icu patients. of those, 47 are covid-positive. william: each morning at baton rouge general hospital begins like this. dr. brierre: yesterday was incredibly busy.

we went from 39 to 47 covid icu patients. william: dr. stephen brierre, the chief of critical care, briefs the hospital's division chiefs on the latest covid numbers. dr. brierre: ohe other thing that -- and this is ugly. i hate to talk about it. we need to expand the morgue. you seem to be having some trouble with that. william: right after, dr. brierre is back upstairs in the icu. just over a month ago, there were 10 covid patients in the hospital. the day we visited, there were 129. it's a surge that's caught dr. brierre somewhat by surprise. dr. brierre: i thought we were close to done. i knew delta was going to be a little bit of a surge, especially in louisiana, given our low vaccination rates. but i had no idea that the impact would be almost as severe as the first surge that we saw. william: more than 60% of people in louisiana are not fully vaccinated, and that's overwhelmingly who's ending up in this hospital with covid. of those 129 hospitalized covid

patients, nearly 90% are unvaccinated. and doctors here believe, in part because of the delta variant, patients may be getting sicker faster. dr. brierre: we're certainly seeing a group of people, not all of them, but a group of them in the icu who rapidly deteriorate. so, people that we would have thought we would have been able to support without a ventilator for a week or two to get them through it, we're running to the bedside to intubate them 24, 48 hours into the hospital -- william: that fast? dr. brierre: yes, sir. william: seeing this large number of unvaccinated people coming through your doors, is that frustrating to you? and is it just -- you just think, that's just the way our society is? like, how do you square that? dr. brierre: i try not to dwell on it too much. william: why not? dr. brierre: because it does frustrate. there is a little bit of we shot ourselves in our foot.

i'm not mad at people who didn't vaccinate. and i understand a lot of it. i mean, there was so much misinformation out there. and the country is so polarized, -- polarized. robert: until it affects you personally, you don't know. now i know. william: in one of those in-demand hospital beds is robert wilson, a 49-year-old who contracted the virus last month. he wasn't vaccinated. robert: it wasn't political. it just -- i didn't figure i was going to need it, because nobody really knows the long term of this vaccine, and people are scared of it. william: so, that was your concern? that you might take the shot, and it might harm you long-term? robert: down the road, we don't know. and that's most people's stance that i know. but if it combats this, i'm going to get it, this go-round. william: because of his brush with the virus, wilson says his family is planning to get vaccinated too. 32-year-old jordan miller is an

icu nurse. she's been here through the whole pandemic. jordan: how we feeling? william: and she says, for her, this is the worst yet. staff are tired, burned out. they're working overtime. and she says too many people don't take the virus seriously. jordan: it's something that could have been prevented. and that's what's so hard. and because these people are younger and healthier, it hits even harder. you know, i had a 34-year-old patient that i was talking to, communicating with, having a discussion about his family, and then, within four hours, he coded and died, 34 years old, no medical history. william: unvaccinated? while the unvaccinated are the lion's share of hospitalizations and deaths here and nationwide, that's not true for all.

rita: i had my vaccine in january and february, and i just started feeling bad a couple of weeks ago. william:0-year-old rita eames says she did everything she was asked to do to avoid covid, including getting her and her family vaccinated. nevertheless, she developed a rare breakthrough case a couple of weeks ago. rita: i think my odds are much better than me not having any vaccine. if i had to do it all over again, i would do it all over again. dr. brierre: so what could we have done as a population to decrease her risk of being in an icu for her fifth day now? and what we could have done is, the rest of us could have been vaccinated, because we know, if we're vaccinated, we decrease the probability of catching it ourselves and transmitting it to someone like ms. eames. william: louisiana's low

vaccination rate applies to medical staff as well. at baton rouge general, about half the hospital staff haven't taken the vaccine. one of them is surgical tech ashley lanoux. she spent much of last year recovering from breast cancer and undergoing chemotherapy. ashley: i was very unsure about it just because it was thrown out so quick. william: you mean they developed the vaccine so quickly. ashley: yes. william: and that made you nervous. ashley: mm-hmm. yes. i mean, it was -- it felt very rushed. like, why -- why did you all of a sudden come up with a vaccine so quickly for something that just came around? william: well, they would say it's because over 600,000 americans died, and we have got to stop those deaths. that doesn't persuade you? ashley: no. william: then, two weeks ago, lanoux got covid, and ended up at urgent care, needing an infusion of monoclonal

antibodies. that experience pushed her cler to getting the vaccine, but not fully. ashley: i'm on the yes side, but i'm not 100% yet. i mean, there's a lot of people even around here that have questions about it and the uncertainty just with the employees. william: this week, another major hospital in baton rouge, our lady of the lake, said it would now require its employees to get vaccinated. baton rouge general says it's not quite ready for that step. dr. marcelle: i do think that mandating vaccines would be helpful when it comes to increasing the vaccination rate. william: pediatrician dr. dawn marcelle is the public heah director for the region that includes baton rouge. she works with hospitals, clinics, the national guard, and many others to increase covid testing and vaccination. she says, in addition to more

mandates, this surge in cases and deaths is already motivating some to change their minds about getting the shooting. -- the shot. the state saw a fourfold increase in first doses received in the six weeks from mid-june to late july. dr. marcelle: we have seen increased traffic at our parish health units across the state. people are calling n like they were at the very beginning of vaccine availability. so, we are seeing a definite uptick in interest in vaccines and people getting vaccinated. william: back on the icu floor, staff have already built two additional units and are planning on a third. dr. brierre: you're already down to 80% oxygen, and i'm going to decrease it some more. william: dr. brierre, nurse miller, and the other staff are stressed out and stretched thin, just hoping more people will hear their pleas to get vaccinated. do you think, if i come back here six months from now, we're going to still be having this debate? dr. brierre: i didn't think we'd be here today six months ago,

when we knew that a vaccine was fixing to be available to us. so i don't know. william: the covid surge here isn't expected to peak until mid-september. for the "pbs newshour," i'm william brangham in baton rouge, louisiana. ♪ judy: the recent surge of covid-19 and the new and contious delta variant have the biden administration, as well as state and local officials, facing tough decisions, including whether to impose vaccine mandates. we turn now to the governor of maryland, larry hogan. governor hogan, thank you very much for being with us. as we have been reporting, this delta variant is rising across the country. we saw in your state of maryland hospitalizations are up something like triple what they

were a month ago. what are you seeing? gov. hogan: well, so, we're a little bit luckier than most of the rest of the country, because we're one of the most vaccinated states in america. and we have vaccinated 78% of the people in our state, and nearly 94% of all of our seniors. so, we were down to almost no cases and no hospitalizations, and it's gone up. we're concerned about it, but we're much lower than just about any other state. this delta variant is of great concern to us, though. it's much more contagious. it potentially causes more serious illness. but, right now, we're -- our big focus is just continuing to vaccinate those last few marylanders, because, right now, nearly 100% of all of our hospitalizations and deaths are people who are not vaccinated. judy: you are doing well with vaccinations, and yet you have announced you are going to be requiring state employees who work in so-called congregate settings with individuals who

are vulnerable to be vaccinated. tell us how that's going to work. gov. hogan: well, we're concerned about our mo vulnerable citizens, so people that are in congregate facilities, that are in our department of corrections and our juvenile services, our health department facilities and in our veterans agencies, where we're taking care of some seniors and veterans in a nursing home, we want to make sure. we have done pretty well with them. they are about in line with some of the rest of the population, but we can't take any chances. this is where we had all the problems early on was with folks in some of those congregate facilities. they're putting folks at risk. and so we're controlling those employees who work for us and asking them to make sure that they get vaccinated, have a first shot no later than september 1. and if they don't and can't show proof of vaccination, then we're going to require masking requirements and constant, ongoing testing to make sure

that they're not bringing the virus into our facilities. judy: as i'm sure you know, governor, the governor of your neighboring state of virginia has announced that he's going to require all state employees to be vaccinated, or else to undergo rigorous weekly testing. why not do that? gov. hogan: well, virginia's in a much different place than we are. the virus is much stronger, more cases, more hospitalizations, and a much lower rate of vaccination. so, we -- these are the first steps that we thought were kind of the measured response to take today. that doesn't mean we may -- we may -- we watch these things every single day. and if have -- if we feel other measures are necessary, then we will certainly consider them and take action. judy: and what about manting masking, governor? you have bn quoted as saying that you don't believe that that's -- that that works. and yet you now have -- i'm reading today the city of baltimore mandating indoor masking.

clearly, experts are saying masking is the way to protect people from this delta. why are you opposed? gov. hogan: well, i'm not opposed. i was one of the first governors in america to require masking. and we just lift our mask mandate back in may because of our -- our vaccinations are so great. we don't have anybody being -- our main focus is hospitalizations and deaths. we don't have any vaccinated people who are going to the hospital or dying. we have it fairly well-managed because of the vaccines. but i'm not opposed to masking at all. in fact, we still strongly recommend that people who are not vaccinated should wear mask, particularly in indoor settings. and we provide the authority of all of our local governments and -- to make those decisions based on the metrics on the ground in their particular jurisdiction, along -- following along cdc guidance. but we also support businesses' abilities to make those decisions as well. and our hospital systems and others are taking actions that we support. judy: but i guess what i'm asking is, in a situation like

right now, where you have the delta variant posing this dangerous threat, why not go ahead and go back to requiring masking, when everybody can transmit, including people who are vaccinated? gov. hogan: well, from the beginning of ts, we have always followed the science. we have a terrific team of public health professionals and epidemiologists.and we're following their advice every single day. and they're not advising at at this point in time, because our numbers, our virus numbers, our positivity rate, our transmission rate, our hospitalization rate and -- are all the lowest in the country, and our vaccination rate is the highest in the country. and so we are doing -- taking the steps that we think are important, and other states are in a much different situation than we are. judy: i do want to ask you about children in particular, governor. the cdc's director, dr. walensky, said today that only

30% of children 12 t17 are fully vaccinated. and this is at a time when you have, again, pediatric infectious disease experts saying we know children now account for something like 15% to 20% of new covid weekly cases. and so children are vulnerable, not just children themselves, as these cases go up, but also the ability of children to spread the covid back to whoever they're living with. gov. hogan: yes. well, obviously, we're concerned about our children. again, we're, i think, the best in the country on vaccinating 12-to-17-year-olds. we haven't gotten to the point where we did with adults because they started much later. but we're well into the 60% of our 12-to-17-year-olds vaccinated. and we're -- 18 and over, we're one of the best in the country. but on the kids, we're doing great also. and we -- while we are seeing more infections with younger people than we were earlier, we are not really seeing that translate into serious illness or hospitalizations yet. but it's something we're very

conscious of and trying to keep a close eye on with this new variant, which everybody is learning more about as we go along every day. judy: so you're open to doing something more with regard to children, either -- requiring masking in schools? gov. larry hogan : most of our school systems are requiring masking. our primary focus is to try to ma sure that we get our kids back in school, because they have really suffered over the past year or no not being in school. we have had more than half of our school systems open for the entire year, all of our private schools and about half of our public school systems, with almost -- very little cases or serious prlems at all. this variant is different. and that's why, again, our duly elected school boards that -- have the power to make those decisions, and most of the of them are making decisions to require masks for the kids, because they're really trying to get kids back in, in a safe way. we have also put $1.2 billion into our schools to help address filtration systems and hvac systems that are going to help also to keep the kids safer.

judy: all right, governor larry hogan of the state of maryland, thank you very much. gov. hogan: thank you, judy. ♪ judy: now a look at president biden's plans on climate change from two perspectives. reducing emissions from cars and trucks is a big part of this. gasoline-powered vehicles are the biggest source of emissions here in the u.s., accounting for more than a quarter of the total. today, president biden laid out new rules, agreements and timelines to try to cut that%age -- that percentage down significany. amna nawaz begins there. amna: judy, a fundamental piece of that plan is getting people to buy electric vehicles and other so-called zero emission vehicles. beforeriving around the white house grounds in an electric jeep, president biden said he wants half of all new vehicles sold in 2030 to be zero emission

cars and trucks. pres. biden: they're a vision of the future that is now beginning to happen, a future of the automobile industry that is electric, battery electric, plug-in hybrid electric, fuel cell electric. it's electric. and there's no turning back. the question is whether we will lead or fall behind in the race for the future. amna: now, the plan is dependent on the infrastructure bill, which includes $7.5 billion for new arging stations around the country. the government would set tougher fuel standards as well. automakers are expected to have to meet an average of 52 miles per gallon for new passenger vehicles by 2026. for some perspective on all of this, we turn to two to two -- we turn to two people deeply immersed in the challenges ahead. fred krupp is president of the environmental defense fund. and dan becker is director of the safe climate transport campaign at the center for biological diversity. welcome to you both. and thanks for being here. i want to come to both of you for a quick reaction to the announment. fred, i will start with you. you lled this a defining

moment. why? fred: well, it was just inspirational to be out there on the south lawn. the president's vision of half of cars being electric vehicles by 2030 brought people together. it brought all three of the big three automakers, gm, ford, stellantis, which, of course, is chrysler. it brought the uaw, lawmakers, environmental groups all supporting the president's vision, because it can ptect the climate, clean our air, and create good, high-paying jobs for american workers. amna: dan, i want to come to you for your reaction. and i will quote you quickly. in a strong statement, you said that this look like a loophole-laden, swiss cheese rules. why don't you think this is going to work? dan: well, i think fred is -- first of all, thank you for having me on. fred is right. the vision is good. but action is better. and these standards don't take enough action. the president is right that global warming is an existential threat. it's roasting the west. it's stoking forest fires.

it's worsening storms. so now isn't the time to propose weak standards riddled with loopholes, and promise strong ones later. the biden proposal expands loopholes, and so it cuts less carbon emissions than the obama standards that auto companies agreed to nine years ago. and the climate crisis was a lot less worse then. amna: so, fred, a lot of people have raised this question about some of the existing loopholes and the enforceability of a lot of this. the biden administration says this will dramatically cut emissions. but, if it it's not enforceable, does it really make that much of a difference? fred: well, actually, the -- i agree with dan. this is an urgent problem. we have got to get after it. but what the president did with his executive order is order the epa to put in place binding standards. and we will work with dan and everyone else to make sure that the standards are robust, that there's accountability, and that they are transparent. the obama standards only went out to 2026.

these go out to 2030. the obama standards didn't mandate any electric cars. the esident is promising half the fleet, half of new car sales will be electric by 2030, under an epa rule. amna: so, dan, on those numbers, when you look at -- and i want to make this point too. this is the new standard applied to new cars, right, not to the full existing fleet. but it's worth pointing out 17 million new cars sold every year in america. so, even if half of those do improve their fuel efficiency, doesn't that make a substantial difference? dan: oh, of course, it makes a big difference, if it happens. but as the voluntary pledges, the only way to ensure that carmakers actually make the clean cars that they're talking abt is to require it by law. they're not very good at doing things by themselves without the prodding of the force of law. and these are the same companies that tore up the last set of standards, the obama standards that they negotiated in 2012. so how can anybody trust them on

a voluntary basis to go forward? the executive order that you refer to lacks the force of law, and the automaker aspirations lack any meaning whatsoever. amna: so, dan, i'm going to stick with you for a moment. stepping aside from the automakers, there's a consumer component to all of this as well. when you look at auto sales right now, just 2% of auto sales in america are electric right now. did you see plan for how to incentivize consumers to get on board with this? dan: well, first of all, the auto companies have to make the vehies. and ford, for example, only sold 11,000 ev's, electric vehicles, through -- last year through april. so the auto companies are whining about the consumer, but they're not advertising these vehicles. they spent $14 billion last year mostly advertising gas-guzzling pickups and suv's. if they start advertising electric vehicles, maybe some consumers will learn about them

and will want to go and buy one. amna: fred, what about the consumer part of this? we mentioned those billions of dollars in the infrastructure bill for charging stations, but the automakers say they're going to need billions more. but there's no consumer incentives in the plan right now. is thaa problem? fred: well, the -- pding in congress is also provisions of senator wyden's clean energy for america act that has plenty of consumer incentives. and we're supportive of that, too. so other things have to happen. but the president's order saying epa should immediately begin work on those rules, i take that seriously. and the fact is that the three -- big three auto companies are going to invest. they have announced investments of $100 billion. why? because these are the cars consumers now want. they're just fun to drive. they perform better. my three-year-old electric car, i haven't had to have maintenance. i'm saving thousands of dollars on gasoline. americans are going to love not having to go to gas stations. electricity cost half as much to

drive. on the ford f-150 lightning, there's 100,000 people on waiting lists to get it. the mustang electric car is outselling the internal combustion engine version. gm has announced electric school buses. why? because these are the cars consumers want. the real question is, are we going to make them here or be importing them from germany and china? there are an awful lot of people at the white house today that would be rather -- would rather be driving cars made in michigan, in georgia and texas, and not importing them from germany and asia. amna: and we know a big part of this, of course, is remaining competitive with china. and, dan, i want to come to you on this final point, though, which is the fact that the rules seem to change with each administration, right? in this move today, you had president biden's administration going back to obama era rus that had been undone by president trump's administration. none of these things go into effect tomorrow. so could these all have the impact of not having any impact

at all? dan: that's a big fear. these standards e an edsel, not a tesla. they're not very good. and if they remain the standards that are implemented, and the long-term visionary standards that both fred and i hope the biden administration promulgates are then thrown away by the next president trump, then end up with really nothing. and the fact that the auto companies have been a nefarious player trying to prevent strong standards from coming into force, telling president trump to roll back the obama rules that they had just negotiated -- these weren't fred's and my rules. these were gm and ford rules with president obama. so we really need to move forward. and these standards will get us on a trajectory -- or should get us on a trajectory to really get to those visionary standards of the future. and we call on the president to treat this set of standards as a

first draft, and to order his staff to go back and do a better job toughening them up, so that they get us on that trajectory for the long-term goals. amna: that is dan becker of the safe climate transport campaign and fred krupp of the environmental defense fund. thank you to you both. fred: thank you. dan: thank you for having us on. ♪ judy: this week, we arturning our focus each night to the trillion-dollar bipartisan infrastructure package and different ways it aims to help the country. the bill makes historic investments in roads, bridges, clean water, and broadband. but, as lisa desjardins reports, it also includes some unexpected provisions on climate change. lisa: this is an infrastructure bill. it's not a climate bill. but given the little amount of action on the issue so far, what is in this bill would make it

the most significant climate legislation to come out of congress yet. it would include $150 billion for clean energy and to protect from climate change. tens of billions are to fight drought and respond to wildfire, flooding, and erosion. and there's a host of smaller programs -- low-emission buses, cleaner ports, streets with less run-off, even more trees. to help us understand what this means, i'm joined by rebecca leber, who covers climate change for vox. rebecca, tell us, what do you think are the most significant things in this bill for clime change? rebecca: i think this addresses two important sectors that contribute to climate change. one is our transportation sector. so, the bill makes a lot of investments in electric vehicles and also public transit, which are both critical to bringing down our pollution and the biggest contributor to climate change. it also makes big investments in the electricity sector, so improving things like

transmission and electric-buying -- electrifying parts of the country that also make it critical to cleaning up the economy. in addition, this bill addresses the impacts of climate change. so, we have to both bring down emissions at the same time that we prepare for the impacts we know are here and are coming. lisa: we spoke to a young woman from california who is experiencing climate change right now. i want to play what she told us today. her name is caroline choi. caroline: i live in an island in the bay area in california. and within 35 years, part of where i live is going to be flooded and underwater due to sea level rise. every time i bike on one of our bridges, i can look over the side and see that the water is almost at eye level. lisa: so, that's happening now in real time. rebecca, you mentioned this, but i'm wondering, overall, what do you get from this bill about whether lawmakers are now thinking more about bracing for

climate change versus actually trying to prevent it? rebecca: the u.s. has lagged in its investments on climate change when you look at how it compares to other countries. so, this bill is historic, in that the government is finally putting funds in addressing the impacts of climate change. so, we have finally both parties acknowledging, at least in a bill, that people like this young woman are dealing with the actual impacts of sea level rise and increased flooding and wildfires. so, this bill provides additional funding for some key federal programs, like fema, like the army corps of engineers, like the department of agriculture, that all play pivotal roles in providing grants to people to prepare their homes and their communities from the effects of wildfires and flooding. so it represents historic investment in these kinds of programs to help prepare for these impacts and the impact we're already seeing unfold this summer. now, there's also the

longer-term track, where we have to actually bring down our emissions as fast as possible, so we hit about net zero emissis by mid-century. that's critical for keeping climate change under a disastrous 1.5 deges celsius. so, the bill also has to address the amount of pollution that the u.s. is responsible for, though it falls far short of investments that are actually needed to fully transition to clean sectors. lisa: i know many climate change activists are looking to the next bill that democrats hope to pass, the so-called reconciliation bill. just briefly, in 30 seconds or so, how much do you think that bill could do on climate? that's the big hope, i guess, from that side. rebecca: yes, this entire bill and what it means for climate really comes down to what happens in reconciliation. and, now, that's the parallel trk that democrats are pursuing. those numbers are critical to

see if we actually get those investments that's needed. and i think the policies to watch there include a clean electricity standard that sets an actual path for phasing out coal and even natural gas in this country. and other things to watch out for are clean energy tax credits, and how democrats address other sectors, like our buildings and pollution from other parts of the economy that are just left out in the bipartisan infrastructure bill. lisa: well, we will keep watching and we will keep asking you as well. rebecca leber from vox, thank you so much. rebecca: thank y. ♪ judy: now, the loss of a giant player in the world of organized labor. richard trumka was at the helm of the nation's largest labor federation, the afl-cio, for more than two decades. he died today.

paul solman begins our look at his impact. mr. trumka: the american labor movement is right here with you today. we will stand shoulder to shoulder with you for as long as it takes! paul: richard trumka, unswerving advocate for working women and men, ally of democratic lawmakers and presidents. pres. biden: he was always there. he was an american worker, always fighting for working people, protecting their wages, their safety, their pensions, and their ability to build a middle-class life. paul: trumka grew up the son and grandson of miners and followed his family into the coal mines of pennsylvania. college and law degrees helped take him to the top at the united mine workers. from there, he moved to the top of the afl-cio, still, as always, a fiery and passionate presence. mr. trumka: i will stop demonizing big business just as soon as they put their country before their profits and they put their workers before their greed.

i will stop at that point. paul: trumka has spent his career trying to reverse the waning influence of unions. but since the miners strike he led in 1989, union membership in america has dropped by nearly half, to some 10% of the workforce. an opponent of free trade, at the 2016 democratic national convention, trumka came out against the proposed tpp trade agreement, the trans-pacific partnership. it was never approved. mr. trumka: tpp is a very bad agreement. covers 40% of the world's economy, and it will cost us jobs. paul: more recently, trumka made waves by supporting workplace vaccine requirements, a position many unions oppose. forever marching to his own drummer, richard trumka died of a heart attack today at the age of 72. judy: and now we take a cler look at the life and legacy of richard trumka with someone who knew him well. robert reich served as secretary

of labor from 1993 until 1997 under president bill clinton. he's an author and he teaches at the university of california, berkeley. robert reich, welcome back to the "newshour." and we're so sorry for your loss. robert: judy, it's really a loss for america, the loss for the labor movement, loss for american workers. rich trumka really embodied the best of the labor movement, in the sense of protecting workers and understanding that workers needed more bargaining power in our system, not only in our particular companies, but also in our political system, if they were going to do better. judy: what made him the leader that he was? robert: i think it was a combination of his tenacity and genuine passion. you know, washington is filled with some very good people and some pretty cynical people. but rich trumka really did understand the plight of working

people in america. he never forgot his origins. and he felt it deeply. every time you were with him, every time i was with him, i understood where his passion came from. it came from his heart. it came from his background. he knew that working people in america were being, let's face it, shafted by many, many large companies. judy: as we just reported, robert reich, at the same time, we know that the number of american working people represented by labor, by organized labor, has shrunk. it's something like 10%. it used to be much more than that. how did he deal with that? and it clearly had to be enormously frustrating to him. robert: i'm sure it was. and he said to me a number of times he shared the frustrations. i think the way he dealt with it was to push as hard as he could. but he was, judy, facing the headwinds of corporate america that was determined to shrink and bust unions.

i mean, look what amazon did in bessemer, alabama, just a few months ago. the national labor relations board just found that amazon had violated the law. but it doesn't matter. it's like a -- it's like a kind of slap on the wrist for many of these large companies. clearly, we need -- if we care about american workers, if we care about wages -- and the only way that workers are going to get real wage increases that really last is if they have more bargaining power. if we care, then we are going to support legislation that strengthens unions. judy: and what more did he think needed to be done that wasn't being done, that was -- that kept seeing organized labor lose, rather than win? robert: one of the most important aspects of reform to rich trumka is embodied in what's now on the hill called the pro act. it increases penalties on employers for violating labor laws. and, remember, we're talking

about a law, the basic law, from 1935, the wagner act, the national labor relations act, but with increasing frequency and boldness, and, as i said, because the -- violati the law is almost the cost of doing business. businesses are making it harder for people to organize. a lot of surveys show that about 60% of american workers would like to have a union if they could. but there has been a tremendous decrease in the number of workers. in the 1950's, about a third of america's private sector workers were unionized. it gave them the power to get better wages and working conditions. toy, it's now down to 6.2% of private sector workers unionized. that really elinates most of their bargaining power. that's what rich trumka really was ncerned about. judy: and if you had to sum up what his message would be, if he had known he had so little time left, what would it be?

robert: he would say over and over again, in union, there is strength. judy: robert reich, we thank you for joining us. and, again, we're sorry for your -- the loss of your friend. robert: thank you, judy. ♪ judy: we turn now to the fight for vong rights. democrats in washington have so far been unsuccessful in their push for federal election reform. some republican state lawmakers, meanwhile, are passing their own more restrictive voting laws. yamiche alcindor takes a deeper look at where the battle for voting access stands. yamiche: tomorrow is the 56th anniversary of the 1965 voting rights act. and pressure is mounting on president biden and democrats in congress to protect voting rights. we look at the fight now with

reverend dr. william barber. he is co-chair of the poor people's campaign, a group that has been protesting for voting rights protection on capitol hill and across the country, and state representative chris turner, chair of the texas house democratic caucus. he is one of the many texas lawmakers who fled to washington, d.c., in an effort to stall passage of a restrictive gop voting bill. thank you so much, both of you, for being here. representative turner, i want to start with you. the texas republican governor, greg abbott, he is now calling a second special session of the texas legislature. tell me a little bit about what you plan to do. how long do you plan to be in washington, d.c.? and what's your response to his moves? rep. turner: well, good evening. thank you for having me on. you know, there was no question the governor was going to call another special session. we have known that all along. when we left texas nearly four weeks ago, we made a commitment, 57 of us in the texas house democratic caucus, that we would do everything within our power to kill the vote suppression bill, the anti-voter bills the republicans are trying to pass

for this 30-day special session. tomorrow, friday, is the 30th day of that special session, and so we look forward to marking that milestone and that victory tomorrow. but more importantly for our whole country, we have been able to use our time in our nation' capital to advocate for the urgent passage of federal voting rights legislation to protect the freedom to vote for all americans. and we believe we have made considerable progress in our conversations on capitol hill and with the administration in the intervening weeks. yamiche: and, reverend barber, you, of course, have been arrested on capitol hill recently. you have been protesting across the country on voting rights. what do you think it's going to take, though, to see real action when it comes to voting rights and voting right protections? rev. barber: well, first of all, we have to look at texass the canary in the mine. that's one of the reasons w went to texas and walked 27 miles with 40 different organizaons. beto o'rourke, even willie nelson joined us, but mostly poor and low-wealth people, to

say that this battle is not just about black people. it's not just binary. and we had to nationalize these stakes. secondly, it took mass mobilization to get voting rights. it's going to take mass to keep it and to go further. we have to think about the long term. you know, it took months to get the voting rights act of '65 signed. it wasn't that president lyndon johnson just did it. and then, thirdly, we mu break this understanding this is just a black issue. it's not binary. this is a moral, constitutional issue. i love what brother turner said. it's impacting all americans. i think democrats nationally made a little mistake there. they should have never framed this as jim crow. this is james crow esquire, an attempt to cut down the progressive voice, undermine the changing demographics, block the voting processes that 56 million americans used in the last election. yamiche: a broad and complete strategy, that's what reverend barber is talking about. i want to come to you, representative turner. you're a state lawmaker, but you have been talking to national democrats on capitol hill. talk a bit about how confident

you are that national democrats will be able to pass a federal voting bill. and at do you say to republicans all across this country who say, if that sort of bill was passed, that it would be federal overreach? rep. turner: yes. well, i'm very confident. i think that, in our conversations with congressional leaders in the house and the senate, i come away assured that there is going to be action soon on federal voting rights legislation, both h.r.1, s.1, the for the people act, and the john lewis voting rights act, which will be introduced in the house in the coming month perhaps. so, we are very encouraged by that. what i say to republicans is, why are you so afraid of people being able to cast a ballot? if you're afraid of americans voting and you're afraid of people being able to exercise their franchise, perhaps you need to look in the mirror. and maybe you need to start

talking to voters and talking to them about the issues they care about, and you wouldn't have to be so afraid of the voters. and, in texas, to tie it back to what reverend barber just said, because i just could not agree more, this is -- voting is the tip of the spear. this is intertwined with so many issues that are vital to people's lives. and my constituents in texas, right now, if they live in a -- i have a lot of constituents, if they lived in 38 other states, they would have health insurance because they would be eligible for medicaid expansion under the affordable care act passed by president obama. but because they live in texas and because greg abbott is their governor, they don't have health care. and that's what this is about. whether it's in the minimum wage, where, in texas, it's still $7.25 an hour, or lack of access to health care, or our failing electric grid, republicans have failed consistently on these issues that are pocketbook, bread-and-butter issues for all americans, for all texans. and they continue to fail, and they continue to pass these

anti-voter bills to try to hang on to power, so they can benefit their big corporate donors and not the people they're elected to represent. yamiche: and, reverend barber, senate majority leader chuck schumer has said that he has told colleagues that there will be some sort of vote on voting rights legislation in the future before the senate leaves for recess. that being said, talk a bit about whether or not you think democrats are showing enough urgency on this issue of voting rights. and, also, i wonder what do you make of the scaled-back bills that we have seen democrats try to pass? rev. barber: i don't think they're showi enough urgency. i think the president needs to come to texas, go to west virginia, go to arizona. then pelosi and schumer need to call him to the well of the -- of congress. he needs to make the connection between this crisis and the character of our democracy and say that we will not only have infrastructure, but we're going to ptect the infrastructure of people's wages and the infrastructure of our democracy, which is voting. and we can do it all. they need to get manchin and

sinema and say, we're not going to pass anything on infrastructure until you pass the infrastructure of this -- the democracy to vote. and until you lift these essential workers that you said you cared about, 32 million of them that make less than $15 an hourthey should not come out of this pandemic and still be in poverty, and still worse. these are things we have been promising. we haven't raised the minimum wage for 12 years. the problem is when democrats allow them to separate the issues. we can't separate the issues. they must be together. democrats must have a -- bring their caucus together to block this nonconstitutional filibuster. yamiche: in the 10 sonds we have left, i just want to ask you, representative turner, where do you see this going? what is the endgame here, with republans moving very quickly in passing voting bills, if democrats can't pass a federal bill? rep. turner: well, democrats have to pass a federal bill. that's where this has to end. we need the for the people act. we need the john lewis voting rights act with a strong preclearance provision to stop states like texas, georgia, and

other states from passing discriminatory voting laws and discriminatory redistricting plans. that's what we need. that's how this has to end. yamiche: well, this is an important convertion. and thank you so much, reverend william barber and representative chris turner. rep. turner: thank you. ♪ judy: one the "newshour" online, no matter how hard an olympian jumps, kicks a ball, runs, physics are at the heart of their amazing needs. learn how they use these rules to their advantage on our website, pbs.org/newshour. that is the "newshour" for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. please stay safe and we will see you tomorrow. >> major funding for the pbs

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(music plays) previously on a chef's life. today is the day that i have been waiting for, for like six mths. we have been planning for this huge lunch for the southern foodways alliance symposium in oxford, mississippi. four hundred people. food writers, chefs. what everybody is kind of waiting to try is a tom thumb. i can't believe i'm doing this, serving this organy thing. (music plays) the theme of the symposium is women, work, and food. so for the topic of my lunch i have chosen to honor all the women in my life. the women who have made me the woman that i am. some of these casings are definitely going to split and when that happens we can't freak out. i invited a friend named jason vincent from chicago