captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening, i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight, vote 2021-- president biden weighs in on the surprising results from last night's key races. we look at the issues most important to voters, and the top lessons for both parties looking ahead to the midterm election. then, guns in america-- for the first time in over a decade, the supreme court hears arguments in a firearms case that could have major implications for regulation. and, house call-- we go door to door with health care workers as they try to increase vaccination rates, by administering covid shots at their patients' homes. >> it does provide yet another option for individuals to get vaccinated so that we're not just doing seven out of 10, we're hoping for 10 out of 10

eventually. >> woodruff: all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour. major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us.

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>> woodruff: the off-year elections have turned two key states a lot less "blue"-- and left democrats feeling a lot more blue. congressional correspondent lisa desjardins begins our coverage of a momentous outcome for republicans. >> desjardins: cheers heard around the country, as virginia elected its first g.o.p. governor in more than over a decade. >> my fellow virginians, this is our moment. >> desjardins: first-time candidatand former investment c.e.o. glenn youngkin defeated former virginia governor and former democratic national chairman terry mcauliffe. the governor-elect said his win was for freedom and families. >> together-- together, we will change the trajectory of this commonwealth.

( cheers and applause ) and friends, we are going to start that transformation on day one. >> desjardins: youngkin campaigned on more oversight for parents in public schools, as well as tax cuts, gun rights and a pledge to heal political divides. and while former president trump endorsed him, youngkin avoided campaigning with or referencing him. with that formula, republicans flipped virginia just one year after president biden won it by 10 percentage points. while that is an historic virginia trend, rejecting a new president's party, exit polls showed republicans made particular gains in some key groups, like suburban women. >> people who speak out for their kids are targeted and sort of afraid to do it now. >> reporter: it was the first >> desjardins: in all, it was the first statewide loss for democrats since 2009.

with the votes still close last night, mcauliffe waited to concede. that came this morning. in a statement, he said, “i am confident that the long-term path of virginia is toward inclusion, openness and tolerance for all.” republicans swept all three statewide offices, with winsome sears, who touted her support of gun rights, becoming the first woman of color to win lieutenant governor in the state and a pro- meanwhile in new jersey, more alarms for democrats, with its gubernatorial election still too close to call. democratic incumbent governor phil murphy narrowly led republican jack ciattarelli by as mail-in ballots continued to be counted. this in a state with one million more registered democrats than republicans. >> we're going to have to wait a little while longer than we had hoped. we're going to wait for every vote to be counted, and that's how our democracy works. >> desjardins: democrats could

find bright spots in mayoral races across the country, including a number of historic votes. in new york city, democratic former police chief eric adams became the second black mayor elected. >> we are so divided right now. and we are missing the beauty of our diversity. we have to end all of this division of who we are, where we go to worship, what do we wear. no, today we take off the intramural jersey and we put on one jersey, team new york. >> desjardins: boston's new mayor will be city councilor michelle wu, making history as the first woman and person of color in the 200 years the office has existed. >> we're ready to be a boston that doesn't push people out, but welcomes all who call our city home. we're ready to be a boston where all can afford to stay and to thrive. >> desjardins: in cincinnati, aftab pureval will be that city's first asian-american

mayor. and voters in dearborn, michigan, chose the city's first arab-american mayor, abdullah hammoud. leadership was on the ballot, but so were issues, like in minneapolis, where residents voted to keep the city's police department, and reject a new agency proposed after the murder of george floyd sparked wide protests last summer. >> woodruff: the results of virginia's gubernatorial election are looming large on washington as president biden congressional democrats feel mounting pressure to find a path forward on infrastructure and social spending bills. for more on all, this i'm joined by our congressional correspondent lisa desjardins and our white house correspondent, yamiche alcindor. hello to both of you. so, yamiche, to you first, what is president biden's message today after the news democrats received last night? >> reporter: well, president biden's message is that democrats need to do better and that they need to pass legislation in order to do better in future elections.

he said democrats need to make sure they find a solution for prescription drug prices, they need to give people tax breaks, they need to essentially pass the infrastructure plans that have been mulling through congress but not passed. here's a bit of my exchange with the president from earlier today. what could democrats possibly do differently to avoid similar losses in november especially as republicans are now successfully running on culture war issues and false claims about critical race theory? >> i think we should produce for the american people. people need breathing room. they're overwhelmed. what happened was i think we just have to produce results for them to change their standard of living and give them a little more breathing room. >> reporter: so there is president biden really centering the idea that passing legislation is the way to avoid a midterm elections where democrats suffer some of the losses they saw last night. i now pushed the president on this idea of republicans being

able to successfully run on false claims about critical race their but also claims about the economy. the president said the way forward is to speak the truth. he said there was a l of "confusion" out there and said people are confused about covid, about the way forward with their children, going back to school. he said the way out is to pass legislation, do tax breaks and do the things talked about in the build back better agenda. here's the president who even after last night is sustaining some of the losses, feels that democrats will be able to do better next time around. >> woodruff: and, so, speaking of that legislation, yamiche is referencing and the president is talking about, lisa, where does all that stand now? >> reporter: getting stuff done, is it getten done. i can report tonight that actually the house is poised to now move forward this week, as i thought they would. the house rules committee is meeting right now and that means

we could have a vote on build back better and the infrastructure bill as soon as tomorrow. the house infrastructure bill is going tomorrow, votes on both. everything you and yamiche are talking about with the virginia election is affecting the idea, the atmosphere in congress over when things happen, and i want to play the difference between someone like senator joe manchin, a more moderate or conservative democrat versus a progressive pramila jayapal, how they see the resultslas night and what they're saying that means for this agenda right now. >> it's unbelievable to see what went on in virginia and not just from the governor's race, but all the way down that ticket. people have concerns. people are concerned very much so, and for us to go down a path that we have been going and they were trying to accelerate it and slowed down, we need to do it right. >> every attack against terry mcauliffe does not say congress hasn't passed the infrastructure

bill, it had to do with education and parents and i think what we have to do is get real relief to parents who are struggling, to families who are struggling and that is the best case for why we have to pass the infrastructure and the build back better bill this week and that's what i'm hearing from my colleagues as well. >> reporter: marchen wants to slow things down but everyone elsen the house and the senate democrats want to speed things up when it comes to the two bills. >> woodruff: in the senate you need 50 votes. >> reporter: that's right, it's going to take two weeks at least. >> woodruff: tell us what's not resolved in this. >> reporter: so much is happening. i want to take you through a few of the key points in discussion now. firs paid leave. we reported on that today. nancy pelosi put in the house version four weeks of paid leave, a compromise from progressives wanted initially. that is in the house version. a compromise is being talked

about five years of what's being called parole for some undocumented immigrants, meaning it would not be a path to citizenship. that is where the house is going now. on state and local tax deductions, is an issue especially in the northeast. some moderate members say they won't vote for anything you be less there is a state and local tax deduction than there is currently. the deal would raise the cap from $10,000 to $2,075. i want people to understand it, the house bill, whatever is voted on this week, whatever we expect, is definitely not the final. this is a first issue from house democrats, a first idea, and then the senate will respond. this will go back and forth, but this is getting the process moving, that's what house democrats want to do more than anything. >> woodruff: so a matter of days, longer, weeks? >> reporter: i think days for this house bill to pass and weeks before we gent to a final sort of end game here. >> woodruff: all right, and finally, yamiche, back to you,

when the president went to europe for the climate summit meetings, he was saying he hoped that at least one house would get this legislation passed. what is the white house doing to try to push this legislation? >> well, judy, as you said, the president really really wanted this to be passed, at least one of these bills, the bipartisan infrastructure bill, he wanted it to be passed while he was in europe. he wanted it to be passed when he landed in europe. that did not happen. even though house speaker nancy pelosi was pushing lawmakers and said let's give the president a vote of confidence from congress, when that did not happen, the white house continued to engage. i'm told by white house sources the president and top white house aides will contestant to engage with lawmakers. they're trying to make the cases in what lawmakers, including senators manchin and sinema, this should a bill they could get behind, it does not add to the deficit. adding back paid family leave,

critical to people across the country, especially women of color, and also men as well who are going to be able to take care of a sibling or family member if they're going to be on medical leave. today the president has a message for democrats as relates to the bill, five words, get it on my desk. the president is urging his party to get on the same page. it's anyone's guess whether or not the president will be able to get this together. lisa is saying it could be weeks, maybe days for the house vote. at the white house there is a feeling the president is trying to be the closer in chief. he has not been able to get there, but the white house is watching all this very closely. >> woodruff: the drama continues. yamiche alcindor at the white house, lisa desjardins following it on the hill. thank you. >> woodruff: to help us understand what these election results mean, i'm joined by three political experts. veteran democratic strategist

james carville worked on many democratic campaigns including as lead strategist for president bill clinton in 1992. he is now the -hosts of the podcast, "politics war room." full disclosure, the other co- host is my husband, al hunt. former republican congresswoman barbara comstock represented northern virginia until 2019 and is now a senior adviser at the law firm baker donelson. and amy walter of the cook politcal report with amy walr. hello to all three of you. amy walter, i'm going to start with you because you have been looking very closely at these exit polls, interviews with voters as they left their poll places yesterday. we want to try to understand more about who voted and how they voted. tell us what you're seeing. >>ell, judy, it's pretty career, whether virginia or new jersey that this was really a repudiation, in many ways, of the president, president biden's low approval ratings nationally

are also pretty low in these blue states. the exit poll in virginia showed that president biden's job approval rating was just 45%. this is a state he won with 54%. so the drag that the president's disapproval rating has goes all the way, even into these state and localails down ballot as well as the gubernatorial. all politics now is national. it's not local anymore. so i think that's one big factor. the other is there is a question throughout the trump years from democrats and republicans about just how sturdy this suburban movement away from republicans and two democrats would be, as one democrat said to me during that era, he said, i'm worried that we're just renting these voters. based on the results of last night, indeed it looks like they were just rented, at least at this point.

democrats lost the ground they had made up during the trump era with many suburban voters, especially the exurbs outside the beltway in washington, in and around richmond, in the tide water area. they didn't lose as much ground as going way back. they didn't abound as well as, say, barack obama did. but you combine that with solid turnout, above presidential numbers for glenn youngkin in some of the rural areas, and that was politically a deadly combination for terry mcauliffe. >> woodruff: quickly, we can show our viewers a graphic that shows that glenn youngkin was able to pull in, what, 53% of suburban voters in virginia compared to president and former president trump, 45% just last november. james carville, to you, looking at these results, your party,

what went wrong? >> what went wrong was this stupid wokeness. don't just look at virginia and new jersey, look at long island, look at buffalo, minneapolis, even seattle, washington. i mean, this defund the police lunacy, this take abraham lincoln's name off schools, people see that. it's had a suppressive effect across the country to these democrats. some of these people need to go to a woke detox center or something. they're expressing language people just don't use and there's a backlash and frustration at that. the suburbannitis in northern virginia and new jersey, you know, pulled away a little bit. youngkin never ran any ads against biden. i think what he did is just let the democrats pull the pin and watch the grenade go off on them. we've got to change this and not

be about changing dictionaries and change laws. and these faculty lounge people that sit around mulling about i don't know what, they're not working. look what happened in buffalo, again, seattle, i think the republicans may have won a city attorney's race in seattle, the autonomous zone. who could even think of something that stupid? and they're suppressing our vote, and i've got news for you, you're hurting the party, you're hurting the very people you want to help. terry got caught up, he's a good friend of mine, he's a good guy, you know, he got caught up in something national, and we've got to change this internally, in my view. >> woodruff: and barbara comstock, we've heard that perspective from james carville, the democrat. what about from the republican perspective? what did glenn youngkin do right? what did the democrats do wrong? >> well, i would agree with james on the wrong end, but for glenn, he's just a very uniquely

talented candidate, competent person, and he understands that politics is about addition not subtraction, like donald trump, and it's bringing people together. the sunny optimism he saw in him. you know, as james knows, as the economy is stupid and the economy was the number one issue in virginia and he focused on that and as a competent businessman but also somebody who was very involved in charity and philanthropy. he really, you know, his genuineness came through. then focusing on the education issues, those are always state issues and, you know, parents have been home-schooling their kids online, and they want to be engaged and involved, and that, i think michael steele called terry's line on parents not being involved as sort of throwing parents under the school bus a pretty disastrous line, and those things happen in elections, and he just doubled down and wouldn't leave it. then the public safety issue, i think james is exactly right, that public safety issue played

in virginia, and you had police and law enforcement strongly supporting glenn. he had endorsements from a lot of democrats in the law enforcement community because of what the democrats had been doing. they endorsed glenn. i think what you saw in minneapolis and new york with having now a new mayor who's a former police officer, i think the defund the police was also disastrous. so these things all came together in a perfect storm. but glenn also did even better with rural base voters than donald trump did because -- and many of that with women because women realize they like a nice person with a sunny personality it wasn't that we disliked republican ideas, we didn't like donald trump. people like me an anti-trump republican in my family and a lot of my friends, it was very easy to vote for the positive, bringing together, you know, vision of glenn youngkin after going through the toxic years of donald trump.

>> woodruff: and that's what i want to ask you about, amy walter. terry mcauliffe went into this campaign trying to make former president trump a big issue, tried to tie glenn youngkin to him. what happened to that strategy? >> quite frankly, didn't work for the reasons that barbara just laid out. it was hard to make glenn youngkin a trump clone because he didn't embrace donald trump. yes, he had to sort of thread the needle during the nomination process, so he didn't completely give him a stiff arm and say, get away from me, but he did keep him out of that race. this is going to be the real question going forward, judy, is will republicans be able to do the same thing, be as disciplined as youngkin was as we go into many of these senate and house contests in 2022. the first thing that happened, there wasn't a traditional

primary in virginia this year. that meant there wasn't a long drawn-out president where former president trump could come in and sort of make mischief. that's not likely to happen in 2022. plus, many republicans do believe that donald trump is the answer in their states, which may actually work in some states. it doesn't work in a state like virginia. so the trump piece, while it was critical when trump was in the white house -- >> woodruff: right. -- using trump as a lightning rod doesn't work when he's not there. >> woodruff: and james carville, we heard some of your prescription for what democrats need to do or not do going forward, as we look to the 2022 midterms. but what about president biden is saying today that if you will just pass build back better, if you will just pass this infrastructure bill, people will be helped and that will make a difference. how much difference will that make? >> i think it can make enormous

difference. by the way, it seems to me and a lot of other people, that the numbers are getting better. there's a ton of pent-up and in in this economy. i'm not one of these people that thinks we're necessarily doomed in 2022. we could have a roaring economy. this build back better is going to give people a lot of confidence, and as long as we talk about things that are relevant to people and understand what's going on in their lives and get rid of this left wing nonsense, this clap trap i hear, i think we can be fine. but we've got to stop, we've got to get off of this, these people have got to understand they're not popular around the country. people don't like them. and they're voting because that's the only way that they can express themselves and how much they disagree with this. and again, i go back and it's not just virginia and new jersey, it's literally everywhere up to and including seattle. and there's a real lesson here, and it can be corrected, but they've got these people have to

understand, you're not popular. people won't ride in a car or in the subway with you. you're annoying people and you need to understand that. very important. >> woodruff: you're saying president biden is not a drag for democrats? >> well, look, he is probably somewhat, but i don't think so. youngkin never mentioned president biden. he just let the democrats sit there and light themselves up and literally terry just got caught up in it. t i think he can be -- if they get this through, they've got a lot of good things in, and they've got to sell it. every democrat wants to be a policy-maker. no one wants to be a salesperson. you have to sell your product, tell people what's in it and quit worry about being in the policy shop and being some self-important bureaucrat. that's what i think. >> woodruff: barbara comstock, to you, if president biden is

able to get this passed, is that going toelp democrats? >> well, i think their policies are what are popular right now and, you know, biden's numbers as well as terry's numbers were underwater, and i would point out trump's numbers were underwater in virginia, also. it was only glenn youngkin focusing on policies -- the economy, schools and public safety -- his numbers were -- you know, he had good numbers, he was positive. so this is the kind of thing that, if republicans get back to the issues and the popular issues we can focus on have pleasant people doing it and get rid of the surly sore loser who hopefully is in the rear mirror now, they can do much better and i think they will. the problem for the democrats is they're going to continue this in-fighting. we had it with our freedom caucus and not hurt but now everyone is united to get back in the game. so it's different for republicans. and, you know, democrats have already spent a year of this

infighting, and i think it had an impact and, you know, thank you very much, congresswoman jayapal. >> woodruff: it's a dayfter and a lot to chew over. barbara comstock, james carville, amy walter, thank you all three. we appreciate it. >> say hi to mary, james. i will, i will, barbara. always good to see you, amy. >> woodruff: in the day's other news, republicans in the u.s. senate blocked consideration of a voting rights bill for the fourth time this year. democrats needed 60 votes to begin debate, but fell well short. they say the bill is needed to combat new restrictions on voting in at least 19 states. republicans charge it would usurp state authority over elections. young children across the u.s. began getting vaccinated against covid-19 today. inoculations began after the

c.d.c. approved low doses of pfizer's vaccine for children five to 11 years old. meanwhile, white house officials warned against vaccine misinformation. >> every parent has a right to the facts so they can make decisions for their children based on accurate scientific information. misinformation robs them of this freedom, that's why i'm asking parents to please seek answers from credible sources. >> woodruff: officials also say a federal rule mandating vaccinations at large private companies will be issued in the next few days. the u.s. military warned today that china's nuclear force is growing much more rapidly than expected. a pentagon report said beijing could have 1,000 nuclear warheads by 2030. the u.s. has some 3,750. general mark milley, chair of the joint chiefs of staff, said he does not expect china to use its growing power against

taiwan, at least within the next two years. another pentagon review has concluded no one should be punished for u.s. drone strike that mistakenly killed 10 afghan civilians. it happened amid the chaotic u.s. pullout in august, days after an islamic state bomber killed 13 u.s. troops and 169 afghans. the review cites communications and targeting failures, but no misconduct or negligence. the u.n. human rights office is blaming ethiopia's government and tigrayan rebels for extreme brutality in their civil war. thousands have been killed and wounded in tigray province since fighting began a year ago. and, witnesses have told of famine and mass expulsions. the government joined in the probe and barred investigators from some of the worst-affected areas. back in this country, the federal reserve will begin

easing its pandemic-era economic stimulus. today's announcement came as prices for food, fuel and other goods keep rising. fed chair jerome powell acknowledged today that it's likely the problem will last well into next year. >> as the pandemic subsides, supply chain bottlenecks will abate and job growth will move back up. and as that happens, inflation will decline from today's elevated levels. of course, the timing of that is highly uncertain, but certainly we should see inflation moving down by the second or third quarter. >> woodruff: the central bank has been buying treasury and mortgage bonds to stimulate economic activity. it now plans to phase out those purchases by next summer. wall street took the fed's news in stride, and major indexes managed modest gains, and more record closes. the dow jones industrial average was up 105 points to finish at 36,157. the nasdaq rose 162 points. the s&p 500 added almost 30

points. and, for the first time since 1995, baseball's atlanta braves are celebrating a world series championship. they finished off the houston astros last night, in game 6. the braves erupted after the last out, on houston's home field. it marked atlanta's fourth world series title overall. still to come on the newshour: a look at the health care workers making home visits in a push to improve vaccination rates. doctor sanjay gupta discusses the lessons of the pandemic and how to prevent the next one. a new exhibit honors the legacy of artist and educator david driskell. plus much more.

>> woodruff: gun rights and the second amendment were front-and- center at the supreme court today. as john yang reports, it's the first major test of gun regulations since the court said gun ownership was a right protected by the constitution. >> yang: while the supreme court has said the constitution gives americans the right to keep a gun at home, gun rights advocates say that should apply outside the home as well. >> the second amendment doesn't end at your doorstep. >> yang: tom king is president of the new york state rifle and pistol association. >> i think that someone who is not otherwise prohibited should be issued a concealed carry permit without any problems at all. >> yang: king's group sued new york on behalf of two upstate members who are licensed to both were denied concealed-carry permits for self-defense because officials said they didn't prove they needed them. >> they were turned down for no reason at all. okay, no reason given.

other than, “i don't think that you need it.” >> yang: when the supreme court recognized an individual right to gun ownership in 2008, the ruling, written by the late justice antonin scalia, acknowledged that "the right secured by the second amendment is not unlimited.” gun control backers argue that limits are needed to protect another right. kris brown, president of the advocacy group, “brady.” >> it's abouthe right to live, about our ability as americans to walk down the street, to leave our homes, to go to church, to go to synagogue and actually be able not to fear being shot. that's ultimately what's at stake in this case. >> yang: while king, a member of the national rifle associations' board, says that big city gun laws do little to curb violent crime, brown says that licensing systems like new york state's do. >> states that don't have robust permitting systems have on average at minimum, about a 12

percent increase or spike in gun related violence in those states. these permitting systems work. >> yang: new york is one of eight states plus the district of columbia that require gun owners to prove a need for a concealed carry permit. some of today's oral arguments focused on the history of gun regulation in america, which the court had used to establish the right to gun ownership. justice sonia sotomayor, pressed the attorney arguing for the gun group, on which history was relevant. >> in colonial america, at least four if not five states restricted on concealed arms. after the civil war, there were many, many more such states, some included in their constitution that you can have a right to arms but not concealed. i don't know how i get past all that history without you sort of making it up, saying there's a right to control states that has

never been exercised in the entire history of the united states as to how far they can go in saying this poses a danger. >> yang: chief justice john roberts asked one of the attorneys arguing in support of the new york law why someone should have to show a special need to exercise a constitutional right. >> so why do you have to show in this case, convince somebody that you're entitled to exercise your second amendment right. you can say that the right is limited in a particular way, just as first amendment rights are limited. but the idea that you need a license to exercise thright i think is unusual in the context of the bill of rights. >> that showed one indication that the chief justice is thinking that there's something not quite right here about what's going on. >> yang: marcia coyle, chief washington correspondent of th“" national law journal.” >> the court appeared just as divided as they were in 2008,

and in 2008, the court was divided over what the right in the second amendment meant. but this time they're looking at what is the scope of that right. >> yang: roberts and other justices pushed the gun owners' attorney on whether the right to bear arms extends everywhere-- the new york city subway, crowded football stadiums, times square on new years' eve. >> this is why this case is difficult. there is this balance between public safety and a constitutional right. >> yang: the court will likely rule by next summer. for the pbs newshour, i'm john yang. >> woodruff: even as vaccinations for younger children are expected to ramp up soon, covid-19 vaccination rates for adults have slowed across much of the country. nationally, about 70% of

americans 18 years and older are fully vaccinated. but many cities and states aren't giving up on pushing that number higher. amna nawaz reports on one effort in washington, d.c. that brings vaccines straight to residents' homes. >> nawaz: every morning in this washington, d.c. warehouse begins like this... nurses prepping. packing up. and rolling out portable subzero freezers full of covid19 vaccines. >> today, we're doing 20 vaccinations in the community. >> nawaz: patrick ashley helps lead the district's health emergency response. that includes this program, that takes the vaccine straight to people's homes. >> we want to take out any, any, you know, any excuse that they might have of why they wouldn't get vaccinated. so we've heard from some people that it's child care. so we take we've taken that away. we've heard that it's hard to find you pick up phone or schedule it for you will come to your house.

>> my name is adae. i'm calling from deptment of health >> yes. >> i'm calling regarding your vaccination for today. >> nawaz: on this day, adedelapo adegbite, she goes by adae, is one of two nurses crisscrossing the district to dole out doses. >> with this homebound, it literally makes people feel safe.“ i'm in my home, i have a nurse coming to me. i get to be in the comfort of my zone, my home,” and i feel they feel safer. >> nawaz: since launching this spring, d.c.'s at-home vaccine program has administered more than 1500 shots. it's a fraction of the one million shots the city has given out. but officials say it's just one part of the district's plan to boost its vaccination rate - which, at around 75%, is already higher than the national average >> we're not going to get everybody with this program, but it does provide yet another option for individuals to get vaccinated so that we're not just doing seven out of 10, we're hoping for ten out of ten eventually. >> nawaz: in fact, the majority of residents using the service are getting their first covid

vaccination. but adegbite's first stop today is to administer boosters to 90 year old peggy templeman. and her caretaker lillian bazemore. both were originally vaccinated in the spring. >> it's difficult for me to get out and about. >> nawaz: so if they hadn't come to you to give you the shots, how would you have gotten your vaccine? >> i would have had to go out. which would have been kind of difficult for me, more difficult than staying in the house! >> nawaz: bazemore says she works around the clock, making it hard to go get a vaccine during business hours, even though it's crucial for her job. >> i work around seniors and i'm always around seniors. i can't afford for any of them to get sick. so i'm afraid to take something to them, you know, even though i might not feel bad, i wouldn't want to jeopardize them in that fashion. >> nawaz: adegbite delivers the

doses, monitors for side effects, and answers questions on site. sometimes, she asks some of her own. especially now that demand, she says, has ticked up. do you ever ask them why they waited till now to get the shot or why they're getting it now? >> for first dosers when you ask it's like "my job is making me get it". >> nawaz: most of them because they're getting them because of mandates. >> right or, "i didn't know i could get it" or "i didn't know how serious it was." oh, there's another variant and it's like, wow, yeah, yeah, and for some people it's just education. >> nawaz: health officials tell us among the many reasons they hear for why people choose to get vaccinated at home, privacy is something they hear often. in fact, even though most of the shots they administer are first or second doses, none of those patients wanted to talk to us today. >> whatever avenues are available to us to get more shots in arms we need to take advantage of them. >> nawaz: dr. james hildreth of nashville's meharry medical college says every shot counts. and figuring out how to get to people who aren't looking for

the vaccine is a challenge for health officials nationwide. >> trust is a huge issue here. so whether it's a city or state or federal agency that's trying to get more vaccines, we have got to identify trusted organizations and trusted individuals to be engaging the communities, those who are resistant to vaccines, because that really is what makes the difference when you have someone engaging, those who are hesitant, who they trust or respect. >> nawaz: back in washington, d.c., adegbite's day continues, house after house, shot after shot. do you think about the role that you're playing and sort of the bigger picture ending this pandemic every day? >> initially it wasn't much of like, i just felt like i was working like this, just me doing my day to day work. but knowing what the covid did to everybody and how long it's taken for us to like, get over it. it's really exciting to know that people are actually coming

out now for whatever reason they're coming out to get it. we're just glad that we were able to help. >> nawaz: one house, one patient, and one shot at a time. for the pbs newshour, i'm amna nawaz in washington, d.c. >> woodruff: late next month, it will be two years since china confirmed a mysterious new virus was behind a cluster of pneumonia-like infections in the city of wuhan. as of today, that virus, covid- 19, has claimed the lives of over five million people worldwide and nearly 750,000 americans. many questions about the virus still exist but much more is known, as well. we see that in a new book by dr. sanjay gupta: "world war c: lessons from the covid-19 pandemic and how to prepare for the next one."

in it, he has insights about the last two years, and some optimism about the future. and dr. gupta joins us now. sanjay gupta, welcome to the "newshour". we're used to seeing you on cnn, so we appreciate your joining us to talk about the book. you end this book on hope and you talk about the fight for the future, but you also have a sobering message throughout, and that is that, in fact, you quote experts as saying that this could be just a dress rehearsal, that many of us in our lifetime are going to see another pandemic. why do they believe that? >> well, i think what most people believe when they look at these emerging pathogens is that these jumps of pathogen from animal to human are happening more and more frequently, part of that is because the population of humans is increasing, we're increasingly encroaching on animal habitats, and that's where the majority of

these new pathogens come from. so that's likely to happen. i think the -- that's the part of that i think alarms people, but i think the optimistic part is that it doesn't necessarily mean that those emerging pathogens have to turn into pandemics. i think that's what really struck me over the last year and a half, judy, just talking to experts all over the world, this ea that we could essentially become pandemic-proof. i think, first, it sounded audacious to me but became increasingly real. those jumps may happen but they don't have to turn into what happened here. >> woodruff: right, and you spell out mistakes that were made by even developed countries like the united states, that we assume would have known better. what were some of the big mistakes you've seen and what are the prescriptions for avoiding them in the future? >> you know, i'll tell you, i'll preface by saying, judy, that, pre-pandemic, the united states was listed, according to these

indices, tas the best prepared country in the world -- you know, wealthy country, lots of resources -- and we all know how that turned out. there were times where we had the highest numbers of cases certainly per capita but overall in the world. i think, you know, there was a couple of sort of very specific mistakes and more philosophical mistakes. i think one thing was just testing. in order to really diagnose a problem in medicine, whether an individual patient or be a, you know, societal pandemic, you have to understand what you're dealing with, and i think, with this particular pandemic, for lots of different reasons, we simply weren't testing. we did not do testing early enough, and even when the tests rolled out, in part because they were flawed and for some other reasons, we simply didn't have enough widespread testing. and frankly, judy, it's still a problem now. you know, in the fall of 2021, this many months into the

pandemic, it's still very hard to get a clear idea of just how widespread the problem is. if i were to ask a simple question how many people have been exposed to covid in the united states, you will get lofts different answers from different experts. that's a big problem. i think a second big one was if you looked at the data coming out of wuhan at a time when they were saying, hey, look, you know, we think things aren't that bad, it doesn't appear to be spreading human-to-human, at the same time they were also shutting down a city of 11 million people, and that should have been a really significant clue that this was not only spreading, but it seemed to be spreading asymptomatically, meaning people didn't even have symptoms, they didn't know they were sick and, yet, they were still spreading, and that should have been a clear indicator that masks were going to be necessary. so we didn't start leaning into masks in the united states until later in the spring, whereas other countries, including china, including south korea,

many countries in that part of the world were doing masks much earlier. those were specific things. but, y know, fil philosophicall, like you alluded to, you know, when you live in a wealthy country, i think a lot of times you have this belief that we can wait for the home run hit, we can run for the knockout punch, we don't have to do these simple things, we can, you know, just do the big thing when it comes, and the big thing was the vaccine. but as a result of waiting so long, i think we missed a lot of opportunities to, sadly, judy, just very sadly to have prevented a lot of deaths, and i mean hundreds of thousands of deaths potentially prevented, and i don't think i'm exaggerating that. >> woodruff: dr. sanjay gupta on his book, and we'll have the rest of my conversation with him tomorrow on the "newshour". >> woodruff: artist david

driskell died last year of covid at age 88. driskell was best known for his work as an historian and curator, raising the profile of african-american art and artists. jeffrey brown has this report for our arts and culture series, canvas. >> brown: scenes of city life, and nature. of christian religious imagery, and african masks. they were subjects david driskell would return to again and again in his more than six decades as an artist. work, says art historian and curator adrienne childs, that deserves to be better known. >> why are we looking at david driskell now? it's because it's about time! i think his work was overlooked because his energy was not funneled into getting his work on the wall. it was funneled into getting others noticed. >> brown: artist, historian, curator, educator, collector-- driskell influenced several generations of artists and students, and helped change the

landscape of american art generally with exhibitions such as his 1976 landmark “two centuries of black american art,” showcasing then under- recognized individuals and art forms. art historian julie mcgee is author of a biography of driskell. >> i think there are probably five david driskells. >> brown: five? >> yeah, or maybe more than that. i think he absolutely felt a sense of mission. as an art educator, an art historian, who took up the mantle to ensure that african- american art was known and that african-american artists were supported. >> brown: now, driskell is being celebrated for his own art, in“ david driskell: icons of nature and history,” co-organized by the high museum of art in atlanta and the portland museum of art in maine. julie mcgee is its curator. adrienne childs coordinating curator for the installation at

its current stop, washington, d.c.'s phillips collection. one of the earliest works here: the 1956 painting “behold thy son,” a response from driskell to the gruesome murder of 14 year old emmett till in mississippi a year earlier. till's mother had insisted the casket be open so the world could see the viciousness of the racist attack. >> and he comes us with this really interesting take on it “" behold thy son” where his mother, the beaten boy's mother, is holding him up and presenting him in church to the congregation. >> brown: it's painting almost in real time, but it's also looking to the history of art, right? i mean, the crucifixion, christ on the cross. >> there's no question about it, he's definitely looking through the history of western art in this case. but bringing it home. >> brown: another subject for driskell: scenes of urban black life. he painted “ghetto wall #2” in 1970: a brick wall, graffiti, a figure in black, the american

flag exploded, in pieces amid a riot of color. >> it is very much an artist who is using the canvas to express the experience of living in america in 1970. the associations that david driskell would have as a black man in america. what is it? do i love america? is the flag: i, you, me? is it a shattered promise? >> brown: color, form, surface, composition-- driskell was looking at artists like cezanne and rembrandt, and constantly experimenting as a painter. his ¡homage to romare' honors the artist romare bearden and his work with collage. driskell then developed his own collage technique, seen in paintings like “upward bound” in 1980 and “flowing like a river” in 1996. driskell taught all his life: at talladega college, howard and

fisk universities and, beginning in 1977, the university of maryland, which in 2001 established the david c. driskell center, dedicated to furthering scholarship in african american and african diaspora art and culture. he also had a longtime home and studio in falmouth, maine, where he continued to work on another great love: scenes from nature, especially, in a variety of forms, the pine tree. julie mcgee would often visit him there: >> there's something about the studio space that was a creative sanctuary for him, that provided and i would say that in many ways it is the audacity that he had as an artist and creator that enabled him to be the curator and scholar that he was. >> brown: driskell, who collected and painted african masks, often spoke of art as a¡ priestly calling.' here he is in a 2020 interview

for the phillips collection: >> everybody has a calling; everybody has a field that they are supposed to be dedicated to. and if one can define that field beyond ¡self', and be inclusive of others, then that's one of the most important things that can be done, if you can pass it on, if you can say ¡here is my gift to you.' >> brown: he often walked through the galleries of the phillips. when he was a student at howard university, washington, d.c. was still a segregated city and the museum was one of the few cultural spaces open to him. there is a sense of coming full circle back to the phillips, where he was a student. >> where he was as a student, yes. and it is bittersweet to be here, in the rooms with his works that, you know, were in

his studio and going from the 1950s up into the 2000s. and he's not here. >> brown: david driskell helped with the early coordination of this exhibition-- it was meant to coincide with his 90th birthday. he worked to the end of his life, dying of covid at age 88 on april 1st, 2020. the exhibition, “david driskell icons of nature and history continues in washington through january 9th, 2022, and then moves to the cinnnati art museum. for the pbs newshour, i'm jeffrey brown at the phillips collection. >> woodruff: and an important news update before we go, the associated press has now called the race for governor of new jersey for the incumbent democrat phil murphy. he narrowly defeated jack 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

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♪ hello and welcome to manpour & company." here's what's coming up. >> you've got to be doom and gloom and you've got to remain doom and gloom until we think that we have fixed this thing. >> my sbrer view with prime minister boris johnson on this make-or-break moment for humanity. then -- >> the climate issue. >> john kirby tells me why he is hopeful that china can and will help save our future. and -- >> i hope nobody thinks i just had a bad day and said, okay, i'm done with this. >> dr. francis collins tells walter isaacson why he stood down as director of the national institutes of health after 12 years guiding u.s. policy.