judy: good evening. i'm judy woodruff cared tonight, the war worsens. russian forces edge closer to ukraine's capital as the bombardment of cities across the country continues and civilians suffering intensifies. then, fleeing the fighting. millions of ukrainianefugees face a bleak and uncertain future after escaping the brutal war in their homeland. >> the last three or four days because our village was heavily bombed and we wanted to stay there but lots of houses were destroyed and we could not. judy: and of the pandemic's grasp. despite a return to normal for many americans, covid-19

continues its deadly spread raising questions about whether the nation is trying to move on to soon. all that in more on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by. >> it is the little things. the reminders of what is important. it is why fidelity etiquette advisors are here to help you create wealth plan. a plan with tax sensitive inveing strategies. planning focused on tomorrow while you focus on today. that is the planning effect from fidelity. >> consumer cellular. bnsf railway.

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the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. judy: the russian onslaught on ukraine was largely stalled today according to u.s. officials, but the bloodshed and terror continued. top american and chinese officials met in rome to discuss in candid terms beijing's support from moscow. through riddle, ukrainians are fleeing by the tens of thousands, escape a brutal war that is barely three weeks old. tonight fromyiv, special correspondent jane ferguson gives her coverage. >> in kharkiv today, emergency crews battled to does the fire ignited by another russian missile strike. even more civilian homes smashed in this war now in its 19th day. >> the blding is in an historic center of kharkiv.

we are clearing the rubble mall. you have received information there are people under the rubble. >> 260 miles to the south, the port city of mario poll is in ruins. an apartment complex on fire. on the ground below, a board cries for his father -- a boy cries for his father. the sound of planes overhead sprinting for cover, helpless as battles range around them. -- battles rage around them. talk to a local resident described one of the buildings russian forces destroyed. >> this is school numbe36. elementary school was here. students from first to fourth grade were studying here. there were no military at the school. >> as the russian attacks continue to mount, so too does the death toll. among the latest, a pregnant ukrainian woman and her baby. they died after being injured in last week's russian bombing of the mariupol hospital where she was due to give birth.

an associated press journalist captured this video of emergency workers crying the woman away on a stretcher. today, 160 civilian cars were finally allowed to leave the city. the russian siege had cut it off from food, water, electricity and heat for over a week. calls for humanitarian corridors, partial cease-fires that allow civilians to flee cease-fires under bombardment have had limited success today in a suburb, sq efforts failed. these yellow buses should be filled with civilians who have been evacuated from the villages further beyond this hill. where some of the most intense fighting is happening. we have heard a constant thud and a bank of the artillery. the smoke rising from the fighting. >> when we were two miles from the village, we were going to collect women and children. a tank fired towards us.

it was a warning shot. our convoy was forced to turn around and go back. >> a colonel was at the front of the buses. >> we were in contact with the mayor from that town and she said there were women and children waiting for us but if we had moved any further, they would have shot at us. >> the police chief leaves the russians are deliberately keeping people in the towns. >> the russians have established defensive positions in the villages they have occupied they are digging in around 2 billion populations and their houses so they are using people as their human shields. >> if you families did make it here from other areas. some pushed to the brink of exhaustion and illness. on sunday, in another suburb of the ukrainian capital, 10,000 people are still believed to be trapped some civilians were able to get up in natalia and her family ate to this position after holding out in their homes for days. >> you stayed for a long time.

why did you stay? >>e believed our army will finish -- would finish the army, the russian tanks. >> do you still believe that? >> yes. you saw our ukrainian soldiers. young, brave and each of them is a hero. they helped us to get to this place. >> not everyone made it out alive. nearby, the body of an award-winning american documentary filmmaker lay. he and his colleague came under gunfire when entering the town on sunday afternoon should he died soon after. a senior u.s. defense official says russia has invaded ukraine with 100 percent of the 150,000 plus troops it deployed but the officials said almost all of russian military advances remain stalled.

russian soldiers are moving south from kharkiv in what the u.s. believes it an effort to block off any ukrainian deployments from the donbass region. and bid reports that russia asked china for military and economic aid, today in rome, the first high-level meeting between the u.s. and china since the invasion began. national security advisor jake sullivan met his counterpart. the u.s. says chinese efforts to help the russian invasion would trigger a severe response. >> we are communicating directly, privately to beijing that there will absolutely be consequences for large-scale sanctions come invasion efforts or support to russia to backfill them. we will not allow that to go forward and allow there to be a lifeline to russia from these economic sanctions from any country anywhere in the world. >> as those lifelines are reined in, protests continue inside

russia should hundreds were arrested over the weekend and this evening, on one of state tv's most popular channels, a protester. in kyiv, president volodymyr zelensky failed to keep fighting. >> russia has been preparing for this war for decades. they have accumulated significant territories for the conquest of neighbors and the destruction of the ukraine and the europe we know and value. >> and jane joins me from kyiv. you did arrive. it is late there tonight. you arrived a couple of days ago. tell us about the situation, the atmosphere in that time. >> people here have been living through 19 days of this war that is an incredible amount of time whenever you think about -- many experts thought this city would fall within a couple of days. when we talk to people here and it is not easy to talk to people

in the street because the streets are often abandoned. when you talk to the people who make it out of the areas who have been evacuated from certain areas to basically be removed from the shelling, they tell us they have been hiding in their basements. life has been held for 19 days. they have been desperately hoping that they would be able to hold out even longer. it is worth pointing out even though we had said in the reports, theussian military have not been advancing, they do not need to advance to make life hellish for the ukrainian people because of the heavy artillery fire. we saw that today. we could hear around the outskirts of town incredibly intense artillery fire. we tried to get to some of the areas where the humanitarian corridors were bringing people in and it was not possible. that has been a daily occurrence. the rescue professionals tell

us. what we have also seen our volunteers in the street cooking food, food for the soldiers, food for the workers working in hospitals. food for those driving back and forth from the front line. we have seen prepared right by check points and on the main thoroughfares into the city. although people are celebrating the fact the russians have nothing danced, they are very much prepared. when you drive around the city, you can see how prepared it is in defensive positions. >> we can tell from your reporting the remarkable resolve of the ukrainian people continuing. what about in the rest of the country? what are you hearing about where things stand across ukraine? >> as we have seen in that report, across the country, more places are coming under attack. we did here today that in mariupol, which had been under

one of the most severe sieges, they did manage to get some people out of there. we are seeing in cities from kharkiv, all across the south and further to the east and even over to the west toward the polish order over the weekend we have seen attacks. the russian attacks are actually expanding and that is a huge concern for the millions of ukrainians who live in those cities. who are not able to get out. it is worth pointing out around the country people are very aware they are not entirely sure where this war is going. there has been so much speculation about the liberation troops would come in from the north. with the russians were trying to complete cut off the seven cities. there is a grasp for information. people are not sure what to make of what russia strategy is. they're looking for answers. they are not sure not only when this is going to be over t what putin could do next strategic and what he is planning. most people are watching

desperately hoping there could be some sign of progress with any potential peace talks and maybe a cease-fire. so far we have seen far from any cease-fire and just before we came on air, we have been hearing the booms across the city from more artillery fire. judy: the level of uncertainty has to be off the charts. jane ferguson reporting from kyiv. nearly 10% of ukraine's population has been displaced in almost three weeks. almost 2 million people have moved within ukraine's borders. more than 2 million have left the country. the majority of those ukrainians are fleeing war by crossing into poland on the west. our special correspondent reports from the polish capital. dart of the polish president andrzej duda has signed into law

a series of measures that will make it easier for refugees to settle. they will get government identification. there will be able to get work, state benefits, their children will be able to go to school. this comes as the number of ukrainians crossing into poland has risen to 1.8 million overwhelmed by exhaustion and despair, ukrainians bid down in were sold central station, 117 miles from their homeland to they may be safe but sleep does not come easily. they have no idea how long their new existence as refugees will last the polls are trying to soften the children's trauma with toys and games and food. their innocence helps to shield them. unlike the adults who comprehend what they have seen. >> we left threor four days ago because our village was heavily bombed. we wanted to stay there but lots of houses were destroyed.

we just could not. we feared our house will be destroyed. >> maria is a 20-year-old student from a village of 5000 people northwest of kyiv. she fled with her mother, her sisternd their cat. one key family member is absent. her father. >> i am very frightened but i hope he will be ok. he dropped us near the railway station. he stayed there to fight. >> the station is a key transit point for refugees from the east. from here, they obtain tickets to head west deeper into europe but their minds are on their homeland and the men they have left behind to fight the russians. >> i think they are really brave and in met a lot of men -- and i met a lot of men fighting for us

and they are really good people. i hope they will be ok. >> poland's deputy foreign minister says the country will require billions of dollars in assistance to accommodate the lion share of ukraine's exit is. how big do you think the exit is could become? >> if putin's barbaric methods continue, if he continues to show residential districts, schools, hospitals, if he continues to motor civilians, more people will be fleeing the war and for their liv and we will obviously be ready to help them, but what we are already facing is incomparable to anything europe has experienced post-world war ii. the choir of st. mary magdalene orthodox cathedral provided temporary solace as ukrainians joined their polish hosts to pray for peace. the congregation is providing

food and shelter for a limited number of refugees. their open arms draw people like this woman and her niece from ukraine's second city that has been heavily bombarded she shared video of her residential college. >> all the infrastructure, everything is being destroyed. every thing that took years to build. all the private homes people saved up to buy were ruined in a moment. >> the russians want us to think they will reach kyiv. i hate putin. i hate him and want him to die. i was there and i saw everything. >> poland knows what it is like to be invaded by russia. a parish priest is old enough to remember soviet occupation. >> it is a tragedy. i cannot wrap my mind around it. it is satan's work. it is a fratricidal war.

>> does this feel like it is the start of the third world war? >> no. we do not believe it is. we pray to our god so he asked as soon as possible. everything now is in god's hands. the word must -- the war must end quickly so people can go back to their homes and live peacefully. >> the keyword as the old anti-communist slogan, solidarity. this building has become a center for a donations across europe. how afraid are you this war is going to spillover into poland? >> all the time i say to my wife don't be afraid because she is afraid a lot. if i have to be honest, i am afraid. so i can feel the next move of putin and the people people would be the next country. that is why we have to support ukrainians to focus to stop the

russian army and if we -- so we have to send them food. we have to support the families. >> dozens of refugees are being sheltered at an empty sports camp nearby. sickness is spreading among some of the children. a british doctor says the cramped conditions are not helping. >> the virus has been going throughout the schools in areas where lots of refugees have been kept in the same place. it has kept in school that has happened in school nearby -- it has happened in school nearby. we will have to keep an i out for the next time another child starts vomiting. if they cannot hold foods down, they need to go to the hospital. >> for the moment, ukrainians have space and it is relatively comfortable. refugee camps have a tendency to become permanent and overcrowded.

how optimistic is poland about the progress of the peace talks? >> we have been pessimistic to we are always pop -- we have been pessimistic give always been pessimistic against russia. they are ready to inflict death. they're ready to inflict terror to achieve this goal. >> if the minister's pessimism turns out to be justified, the scenes at the station are just a taste of worse things to come. ♪ vanessa: i'm vanessa rees in for stephanie sy with newshour west. we will return after the latest headlines. i ran defended firing missiles that lent -- that landed and your a u.s. consulate in northern iraq on sunday. the barrage struck a kurdish city with a dozen officials peered officials say they hid residential areas.

homes were damaged but no injuries were reported to tehran said it targeted israeli interest and other groups it deems hostile. >> iraqi soil has been misused by third parties including anti-revolution groups, nti round, kurdish terrorist groups. our warnings were ignored so we responsibly attacked one of the conspiracy and sabotage centers in iraq. vanessa: the strike came as i ran and world powers have paused talks on restoring the 2015 nuclear agreement due to last-minute demands from russia. on the pandemic, a more contagious version of the omicron variant, ba.2, spread to more cities in china. officials reported more than 1400 new cases and one northeastern province banned most people from leaving. tohe south, shanghai closed schools and several office buildings. the city began rounds of mass testing and people braced for even greater restrictions.

>> the long-distance distance bus station has been closed. a covid test is required when traveling to other provinces. we have still run into a new outbreak in shanghai so we should be prepared for a citywide lockdown. vanessa: in washington, the white house said the ba.2 version of omicron has been circulating in the u.s. for some time with about 35,000 cases so far. in this country, president biden's nomination of sarah blue rask into the federal reserve board is in jeopardy. joe manchin of west virginia and his opposition today over her support for considering climate change in banking regulation. that means she needs at least one republican vote in the evenly divided senate. police are searching for a gunman suspected of stalking and shooting homeless people in two cities. police in washington, d.c. released surveillance video today of a suspect. the gunman killed one person in

washington and another in new york city earlier this month. three others have been wounded. officials are urging meless people to be vigilant. pro football quarterback tom brady is not retiring after all. he will return to the tampa bay buccaneers for his 23rd nfl seon. in a statement, brady said i have realized my place is still on the field and not in the stands. that time will come but it is not now. the seven-time super bowl winner who had announced his retirement on february 1 is 44 years old and oscar-winning actor your ilium hurt has -- actor william hurt has died. he started in a number of 1980's hits and he won the oscar for best actor in case of the spider woman. william hurt was 71 years old. still to come on the newshour, taking stock of the covid-19 pandemic two years on timber keith and amber walter -- two

years on. camera keith and amy walter. plus, much more. >> this is the pbs newshour from w eta studios in washington and in the west from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. judy: today's meeting in room between top american and chinese officials was preceded by reporting that moscow had asked aging for military assistance in its war against ukraine. china has so far stayed somewhat removed from the conflict even if tacitly supportive of russia. a deeper look at that. >> a senior administration official told reporters this afternoon the room meeting was an intense seven hour session with very candid conversation between the two officials and that u.s. national security advisor jake sullivan invade deep concerns about china's alignment with russia.

here with me to look at china's role in the wider american response to ukraine are bonnie glaser pitches the director of the asia program at the german marshall fund and eric adelman. he was under secretary of defense for policy in the george w. bush administration. he is now at the center for strategic and budgetary assessments. welcome to you both. or like to start with you and those reports russia has requested both military support and economic assistance from china. if true, what does that say to you about how vladimir putin is assessing this moment in time where russia is and where they could go next? >> i think two things. both sides have denied this is the case so we need to keep our minds open about it but the u.s. government has told allies russia was seeking some assassins -- some assistance for the military operation in

ukraine, which does suggest they are running into very severe shortfalls and just tickle problems which they hope the chinese will help them with. >> what about the story about the potential economic assistance? no russia is facing deep and devastating sanctions from the u.s. and others in the world. is it possible china would fill some of that financial void? > it is highly unlikely that the chinese would directly violate sanctions. we have seen in the past when there are sanctions -- for example in 2014 against russia that chinese banks complied. commercial banks in china do not want to risk it and cut off from the internationafinancial system should the chinese can find creative ways to circumvent sanctions. they have done so with north korea and with iran. the chinese could let russia's central bank cash in on the

chinese bonds. it could use policy banks to provide loans directly to russian enterprises instead of going through russian banks. at the end of the day, i think china will be careful. it does not to suffer secondary sanctions from the united states. > all of this happens amid the high level meeting in rome. it was previously scheduled as a follow-up to the virtual meeting. they did say there is an importance of maintaining open lines of communication. from your perspective, what is the best case scenario for the u.s. coming out of that meeting with china? >> the best case scenario i think is there is some understanding between the united states and china about how to address some very high-priority security issues. ukraine number one. another one is north korea, which reportedly may be firing

off an icbin the coming months. there many issues between the united states and china that need to be dealt with. what we need to have his sustained dialogue with china and some clear pathways forward about how to address some of these issues. to do that, we need to build more mutual trust in the relationship to that is very difficult at this point. xi jinping views the united states as a country in declined to it sees western democracies as having failed and has a lined himself -- has aligned himself closely with prudent and with russia. i think this is going to be very difficult for the u.s. and china to find ways to work together to address these issues. >> if you are one of those officials in those meetings right now, what they call this moment of crisis, you are meeting with these chinese officials. we did press the official for details about what was asked from the u.s. perspective and

the -- and as far as they was -- they would go was they made clear there would be consequences to certain actions. if you are a u.s. official, what are you asking for from china as you are looking to contain russia? >> presidents putin and president she signed a document saying they had a limited partnership and what the u.s. officials and what jake sullivan were doing were -- was trying to him in the limits of that partnership and make clear there will be a real cost. not just in the u.s. and china relationship but more broadly if china were to violate the sanctions. even as bunny was saying, finding creative ways around the sanctions. they were trying to convey that providing military assistance to russia at this point in time would create real difficulties because it does raise all sorts of escalation issues.

my understanding from seeing some press reporting is what allegedly was being asked of china was for surface-to-air missiles, drones, which have been very effective and used by ukraine, logistics vehicles like heavy trucks, armored vehicles but also things like mr ease. -- mr e. which tells you how poorly this operation was planned by the russians and how much they are bumping up against the logiical obstacles. if china were to help roger overcome some of those obstacles, it would clearly change the situation on the battlefield and ukraine, which is not going well for russia. >> it is not going well for russia but we did see over the weekend a slight escalation with those attacks in western ukraine very close to the polish border. what is your assessment of that? >> that was clearly a message to

the u.s.. russia is clearly unhappy about the military equipment, the facility that was hit is a facility the u.s. has used in the past to train and exercise with the ukrainian military. it was clearly a message all of the fighting has largely been in the northeast and south of ukraine, that russia has the ability to hit west as well. and basically a warning as have been other actions taken by russia including the nuclear threats th have made including the discussion undertaken by russian media about the potential for chemical and biological weapons used, which in many cases is seen correctly as a potentially precursor to use of those weapons in this conflict, which would be a very severe escalation of course.

>> to follow-up on that in the minute we have left, how do you see given all that, the refusal of the biden administration and nato nations to enforce a no-fly zone, which we know president zelensky has repeatedly asked for? >> there are some very serious technical obstacles to a no-fly zone. i would prefer to see an effort in something more limited, which would be a humanitarian exclusion zone to allow people to be evacuated from the cities under siege and for medicine and humanitarian goods to get through. proposing things like that shines a light on the total barbaric nature of this military operation. >> very briefly, given this critical moment, what should be the u.s. message to china moving forward? dr. the u.s. message just -- to china should first be not to backfill the sanctions, circumvent them in any way to not to help russia's economy, not to help its military.

if it has any leverage at all that it can use in a conversation between xi jinping and russia's president putin, took call an end to this war. to implement a cease fire. to get russia to accept some outcome that is less than what prudent hoped-for, to begin negotiations with president zelensky. what china should -- china should use that leverage. i think our national security adviser jake sullivan likely conveyed those messages when he met in rome. >> thank you both so much for your time. ♪ judy: it has no build -- it has no been more than two years since the world health organization declared the

covid-19 emergency a pandemic. last week, the death topped 6 million people worldwide. in many ways, the united states seems to be moving into a new phase of the pandemic of the virus remains lethal to far too many to the u.s. is edging to topping one million deaths on its own. the real number is likely significantly higher. every day, an average of more than 1000 people are dying from covid across the country. some perspective on this moment and the state of the pandemic. >> back in the spring of 2020 when the u.s. recorded 100,000 lives lost to covid, the new york times ran this front-page with the names listed calling those deaths incalculable. in his new piece any the atlantic, he writes now the nation hurtles toward a milestone of one million. what is 10 times incalculable? he is a staff writer at the

atlantic where he won a pulitzer prize. great to have you back on the newshour. we are two years into this pandemic. cases are dropping in the u.s. and hospitalizations are not nearly as bad as they used to be but in your piece, you point out if there was a hurricane happening every day that was doing as much damage to our country as covid is, we would be act differently you hope he seems to get at trying to understand why covid is different. what did you lea? >> i think there are certain aspects of the pandemic that work against a broader social reckoning. the virus itself is invisible. the damage it inflicts on our society is often hidden from public view in icus and the privacy of people's homes. there is the fact the pandemic is so long now. we have been dealing with it for two plus years. it feels difficult to wrap our arms around it.

if we constantly fail at suppressing the virus, no wonder people -- a huge word is fatalism. the people who died are not a random selection of americans. their disproportionately black and brown. they are poorer. they are sicker, immunocompromised or their elderly. there are people who are often are marginalized in our society and that is regarded with less value. a horrible thing to have to acknowledge but that is what is happening now. and especially in the context of a very privileged people, a lot of people in the press and policymaking, a lot of them got access to vaccines early and easily. and became safe. and this narrative has been for a while that everyone else is safe, which is simply not true. that has greatly contributed to

the normalization we have seen. >> you also write in your piece that two successive administrations have floundered is the word you used in trying to control the virus and they largely push the responsibility for staying safe onto individuals. what does that mean and how did that play out? >> i think the pandemic has been individualized for a long time. this is a public health problem. it is a collective problem and we need measures that protect the health of entire communities. masking mandates would fall into the category. that her ventilation would full into the category. instead, we sort of pushed this narrative it is all about personal choice pin it is about whether individual people decide to get vaccinated or not and that individualization has absorbed a lot of our leaders. their role in putting a in these other measures that would protect the health of entire

communities including those who are least able to make the personal choices that protect themselves. if you cast the crisis in that light as entirely a matter of people failing or succeeding in doing things to protect themselves, it makes the deaths easier to dismiss. it makes it easier for people to say they died of covid p they did not do the right thing. maybe they were sick or had vulnerabilities before hand. that dismissal is hard. it is unfair and unjust. we should as a society take stock of how our collective failings led to this now almost one million deaths. >> among those one million deaths, you point out how something like 3% of americans have lost someone close to them should that is nine or 10 million americans have been

touched by this to if it is 3% touched by it, that is 97% who have not. do you think that also contributes to why so many of us have been able to say this is over, we are done. no more. >> i do. it is sometimes easy to forget given how widespread and significant covid was that a lot of people did not know anyone who died of covid. and that those deaths were clustered among some of the most vulnerable groups of people. i do think that absolutely has contributed to some of the counter narratives. it is easier to contest the significance of the crisis when so many people, especially in positions of power, have an untouched by it. -- have been untouched by it. >> piercing across europe and singapore and hong kong, omicron

is taking off in vaccinated populations and unvaccinated populations. to your point, it seems like we are nowhere near being done with this. >> i agree. i think that covid is not done with us and our decision to be done with it puts us on a path towards even more preventable deaths in the future. the cdc recently changed its guidelines but if you calculate based on those guidelines what level of death we would accept, it is sort of baked in we would tolerate around 1000 deaths per day across the country. that is a lot of extra mortality. that is a lot of families who are going to lose people because we -- our leaders have collectively decided this is what we should tolerate. don't have to tolerate that. we put in measures to protect lives for all sorts of things you mentioned hurricanes, the

terrorist attacks of 9/11 changed things that we are still feeling today. all kinds of things. there is a question about what sort of deaths in this country is prepared to normalize to and what it draws a line under and says no more. covid can be the latter. we don't have to accept our acceptance of it. >> the latest piece of yours in the atlantic is called helmet -- out of this many deaths come normal? thank you for your time. >> thank you for having me. don't come as the conflict in ukraine intensifies, members of congress on both sides of the aisle are calling for more support for ukraine. this comes as ukrainian president zelensky prepares to address congress later this

week. here to break down what is at stake is amy walter of the cook political report with amy walter and tamera keith of npr. it is very good to see both of you in the studio. the news that we are here to talk about, a lot of it is grim and that is the war in ukraine and as i just mentioned, there is this remarkable agreement between the two parties that russia is doing horrific things in ukraine and russia needs to be punished. how unusual is it to see the two political parties in agreement on foreign policy? >> there is nothing like a common enemy to unite politics. you have vladimir putin somewhere down near fidel castro and saddam a -- saddam hussein. when someone who is so clearly

disliked by the world and the american public, it helps members of congress be able to come together. there will be disagreements about tactics and you occasionally see some of those fissures already. republican saying president biden baby is not going far enough. as it invited insisting on staying closely tied to allies and moving in conjunction with allies even when it is frustrating for members of his own party. at this moment, there is something like unity. the american peopl seem willing to pay more for gas even to stick it to russia. judy: when you look beneath the surface, how real is that agreement? >> what we see is americans rallying around policies of the administration. we support sanctions on gas. we want to see a going to

ukraine. send them more weapons but they are not rallying around the president. the president's overall approval ratings have not budged that much even as people are saying they do approve of what his administration has done, which i think speaks to we can all agree on a common enemy but it does not mean we agree the president himself is doing the job they want him to do. judy: it is a question. you were pointing out a pole there is agreement the president is making the right decisions when it comes to ukraine but less support for his overall -- how does that work? 59% say biden has made the right is asians on ukraine but 43% approve of the way he is handling ukraine, which goes to the deeper -- we still remain an incredibly polarized country. judy: a lot of that is built in.

>> you're not going to give president biden any credit even if you like what his administration is doing. judy: is it like substance versus style almost? >> there is some of that. what is baked in about frustration with biden is the other thing on top of everybody's mind. inflation and gas prices judy: inflation still is a very real concern. we are in a midterm election. >> it is painful to fill up at the gas pump. every time you go to the grocery store, you are reminded inflation is real. gas prices and inflation are things the president of the united states has very little power to do anything about and yet it can seal his fate. judy: you -- going back and forth today about has historically how presidents may start out being seen in one way when it comes to a foreign crisis.

as time goes on -- things can change. >> or for george h w bush, the success of that war did not help him in his reelection in part because we were going through really tough economic times. he got a tremendous amount of support but it did not translate. judy: we are only two weeks into this more, going on three. >> i think that is important. how much this drags out and it only makes the president's job harder on those inflationary issues when you have a war that drags on. more pressure on gas prices for longer and other inflationary pressure coming from the sanctions and the rise of covid in places like china or the reemergence in places like china or europe also impact this inflationary pressure. judy: another tough issue for the president. right now, is the administration

-- when weeks and weeks they have been trying to get their nominees for the federal reserve board passed by congress, confirmed by congress. there has been a struggle. today, the democratic senator from west virgin joe manchin who has been a thorn in the side of president biden on a number of issues announced he is not going to support one of the presidents appointees. the argument he said has to do with she said climate change needs to be taken into consideration. what does this mean? >> what senator manchin said is he thinks inflation should be the number one priority and he is not convinced that will be her focus because she also has talked about climate change. you have to say he comes from a fossil fuel state and he comes from west virginia. it is a state where coal is a really big deal. talk of climate change is not good politics for joe manchin to that is part of the calculation.

you have to say this comes at moment when the white house has had some defeats in congress. they have not been able to get bill back better through. they did get this big-budget bill passed to dig up money for ukraine. they asked for $22 billion for covert relief and that was cut out. at this moment, they are still having difficulty getting some of the things they need from a democratically controlled congress. when you have a 50-50, democratic control is marginal. >> trying to especially on fiscal policy keep both elizabeth warren and joe manchin happy and you cannot lose either one of them. that is the allen c act the president has -- the balancing act the president has there was a time not too long ago when there were multiple joe manchin's on the democratic side were more fiscally conservative. who were more conservative on

climate policy or come from fossil fuel states, energy producing states. drum mention is the only one there now. -- joe manchin is the only one there now. in 50 for the senate, he becomes critical. judy: in congress we have seen move to the extreme ends of each party. does this signal this is a lost cause? does it look like they can overcome this? >> they would have to go out and find a republican or a couple of republicans and it is not clear they can. the white house is insisting they still want this late to go, that they all need to go together. these nominees are not getting confirmed -- republican said they would move on everybody except sarah bloom raskin. the white house position is the position until the position changes. and the fed is kind of important when it comes to inflation should judy: this is a year when the administration is looking

for some other wins in congress. politics monday. so good to see both of you. ♪ the lack of adequate housing has been a consistent problem in rural alaska. the covid-19 pandemic has made living there even more difficult. alaska public media reports from the city of shock to lick. >> outside, a winter storm nips through the northwest alaska village. inside, sofia unwinds after her long day at work. the smell of soup's fills her -- soup fills her home, which she shares with her husband and four

small kids. >> this is our room. >> living in such a tight space has been especially difficult during the pandemic when they have had to stay home during outbreaks. they meet the federal definition of overcrowding should the six of them share two bedrooms. their teenage daughter once her own room but expanding is not financially feasible. statewide, alaskans are twice as likely to live in an overcrowded household. 60% of residents live in overcrowded conditions. an estimated 400 new homes are needed to meet the need in the region. >> that has to be heated. >> eugene is a commissioner for the regional housing authority. >> we have multiple families living in houses. that adds to the social problems. >> part of the problem is the geography.

the vacant homes need work because of the harsh climate and substandard construction. because the town is only accessible by barge or bush plane, high construction costs keep able -- keep people from building more or renovating. >> when sheet of plywood cost you over a hundred dollars. >> financing is difficult since most of the ld is owned by the village corporation. thank loans are often inaccessible. climate change is eroding buildable land and slowing down economic activities like crab fishing, which used to provide more jobs in the village. the region's federally finding tribal housing authority is responsible for the bulk of the towns residential construction. they have not built here in more than a decade. thanks in part to federal covid relief funding, it is getting four new modular houses, which are prebuilt and transported to their final destination. that is welcome news for the city clerk.

right now back at home, she shares a hallway with two of her kids. after almost 10 years of waiting, she is getting a home of her own. she will pay an income-based rent for 25 years and then own it outright. it is a huge relief. >> i got quiet. tears in my eyes. happiness. >> like many other residents, she thought about leaving because finding houng is so difficult here but the subsistence lies five -- lifestyle and the tightknit community have kept her. >> home is home for me. >> jackson's future home and three others are sitting in a shipyard until the barge can access it in the spring. the bering strait regional housing authority is also bringing three more homes to the region funded in part by the american rescue plan and the cares act. still, it is only a small dent in the problemays the ceo and

president. >> we don't have the funding. that makes it difficult and frustrating when you know the need is greater than the for now >>, they will tackle the problem one home at a time. for the pbs newshour, i'm aaron mckinstry. judy: thank you for that look at what is going on in rural alaska. on the newshour online right now, medical historian dr. howard markel looks back at another time in american history when war and pandemic mixed with deadly results. find his column on our website, pbs.org/newshour. that is the newshour for tonight. join us online and again here tomorrow evening. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you. please stay safe and we will see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- >> for 25 years, consumer

cellular school has been to provide wireless service that helps people communicate and connect. our customer service team can help you find a plan that fits you. visit consumer cellular.tv. >> the rules of business are being reinvented with a more flexible workforce. by embracing innovation, by looking only at current opportunities but ahead to future ones. >> peoe who know, no bdo. ♪ >> bnsf railway. the kendeda fund, committed to advancing restorative justice and meaningful work through meaningful ideas. supported by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. more information at macfound

.org. and with the ongoing support of these institutions. this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. this is pbs newshour west from w studios in washington and from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona ate university.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ -today on "america's test kitchen," erin shows julia how to make poulet au vinaigre, dan explains the science of crispy chicken skin, and keith makes bridget tourte aux pommes de terre. it's all coming up right here on "america's test kitchen." -"america's test kitchen" is brought to you by the following.