captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight: closing in on the capital. russian forces escalate their bombardment of kyiv, as civilian casualties unt. we speak to the former united states ambassador to ukraine about the country's motives and resistance. then, confronting coronavirus. the white house and congress spar over funding to counteract the widespread impact of the ongoing pandemic. and, the emotional toll. how covid-19 is straining a mental health care system that was already under-resourced. >> this has been a tough couple of years for the nation, for the world. and you see it most in people who might have been struggling

even before the pandemic. >> woodruff: all that and more, on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> for 25 years, consumer cellular has been offering no-contract wireless plans, designed to help people do more of what they like. our u.s.-based customer service team can help find a plan that fits you. to learn more, visit www.consumercellular.tv. >> fidelity wealth management. >> b.d.o. accountants and advisors. >> bnsf railway. >> the john s. and james l. knight foundation. fostering informed and engaged communities. more at kf.org.

>> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: and individuals. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: the attack on the ukrainian capital kyiv intensified today, with strikes that hit residential apartment towers, on this, the 20th day of russia's invasion. the mayor of kyiv declared a daylight curfew to extend into thursday, as talks between russia and ukraine continued. and the leaders of three nato

nations: poland, the czech republic, and slovenia, braved the shelling to meet with president volodymyr zelenskyy in his embattled capital today. but, we begin again tonight with jane ferguson, reporting from kyiv. >> reporter: residents of ukraine's capital, kyiv, woke this morning to t more intense shelling at dawn. this time, an office building was hit, and a row of shops smashed. on day 20 of russia's invasion of ukraine, civilian lives and infrastructure continue to bear the brunt. this morning's missile attacks inside kyiv were the deepest-- they reached the furthest inside the city. although the russian advances outside the capital have stalled, that doesn't mean they can't menace the city center with missiles and artillery. we are told four people were killed in today's attacks on the city. among those killed yesterday?

a veteran combat cameraman for fox news, pierre krazkewski, and ukrainian producer oleksandra kuvshinova. they were killed just outside the city. rrespondent ben hall was wounded. >> volodymyr, in all the years i've know you... >> reporter: half a world away, canadian prime minister justin trudeau introduced president volodymyr zelenskyy to a packed session of canada's parliament. he again pleaded with a nato nation to create a no-fly zone. >> ( translated ): imagine if they were taking the flags down in montreal. >> reporter: but as the war grinds on, diplomacy continues. yesterday, the fourth round of negotiations between the ukrainian and russian governments began. >> ( translated ): we have been at war with russia for 20 days, and there has been some adjustment in their positions. they see that the war is not going according to their plans.

>> reporter: we sat down with mikhailo podolyak today. he heads up the ukrainian negotiating team, on behalf of zelenskyy. podoak says there has been a marked change in tone, the longer the ukrainians have held the russian army back. >> ( translated ): russia, in the beginning, was talking about ultimatums, and they were hoping that the propaganda and misinformation they had been using for eight years had not happened. so, this has been a wakeup call for them, and their position has softened significantly. >> reporter: he also believes a ceasefire is getting closer. >> ( translated ): we are confident because the russians have used all of their resources that they were planning to use in this war. they don't have the reserves. they don't have the supply chain. they were planning to move in their troops, capture as much territory as possible in three days, and basically have a blitzkreig. they did not do that, and they will not do that. they are stuck fighting in their current positions, and they have no chances whatsoever to move further into ukrainian territory. therefore, we have much

confidence that we will have a ceasefire in the coming days. >> reporter: yet, it's not clear if russian president vladimir putin will order his army to resupply and keep pushing towards their prize-- the capital of ukraine, and ultimate control of the government. today, a senior u.s. department of defense official told reporters, “we've seen no evidence of russian efforts to flow in additional supplies from inside russia or from elsewhere. but, we have reason to believe the russians are considering their resupply and manning options." the ukrainian government continues to push for a face-to- face meeting between their president and putin. how close are we to an in-person sit-down between zelenskyy and putin? >> ( translated ): yes, the only option to end this war is direct talks between the two presidents, and that is what we are working on with these peace talks. we are working on documents that the presidents will be able to discuss further and sign. >> reporter: so it sounds like you are pretty close? >> ( translated ): yes.

obviously this is coming some time soon, because this is the only way to end this war. >> reporter: for the pbs newshour, i'm jane ferguson in kyiv, ukraine. >> woodruff: while russian troops push closer to kyiv, they are making the most progress in southern ukraine. today, moscow claimed to have seized all the area around the strategic port city,herson, and russians continue to strangle and starve mariupol, on the sea of azov-- where nick schifrin begins his story. >> schifrin: in this city without electricity, you need a flashlight to keep your faith. ( explosion ) >> allah akbar, allah akbar. >> schifrin: a turkish imam calls the congregation to prayer. >> allah akbar. >> schifrin: they are turks trapped in mariupol. the faithful still here number only a few. and as mehmet yuce finishes, the shelling is close enough to feel.

>> ( translated ): right now our mosque is in the city of mariupol, the place where we prayed every friday until now, despite minor damage to mirrors, windows, exterior doors. this is the most adored, accepted building by the people of the region. it is seen as the most beautiful building in our city. >> schifrin: but as they leave to an uncertain future, their beautiful city burns. ( explosion ) for 20 days, moscow's made mariupol's apartment blocks its battlefield of choice. for two weeks, residents have had no food, water, or electricity. and so medics work by flashlight on victims barely old enough to understand. ( crying ) it is impossible to understand for their parents. anastasiya holds onto one child especially tight, because her other child was killed. ( crying ) >> ( translated ): i don't know where to run to. who will bring back our children? who? >> schifrin: what will happen to the hundreds of thousands of residents in mariupol who are

still trapped in the city, if that humanitarian aid isn't allowed to get in? >> the truth answer that we would-- they will die by hundreds of thousands. because we do not have more-- more food, more water. we are dying. >> schifrin: sergei orlov is mariupol's deputy mayor. he sent us photos of his city's destruction: the row of homes, the gutted hospital. the damaged car, despite the sign in the corner that says“ children onboard." >> a lot of mothers call, and they just saying, "hello, i have a baby on my arms. he is dying without food. what should i do?" >> schifrin: after we spoke, russian troops occupied this hospital, trapped civilians in the basement, and forced doctors to treat injured russian soldiers. orlon estimates 5,000 to 7,000 residents have died, many buried in mass graves. what do you say-- what do you think, when you look at the images from your city right now?

>> terrible, angry, try to kill- - who are ready to kill someone who is doing this, so no emotion. frozen heart. >> schifrin: today, what he hopes is a thaw. these humanitarian buses are still blocked, but orlov says yesterday and today, thousands of civilians managed to flee on informal escape routes. >> it's not safe, because there is no official negotiation and confirmation, but most of them were successful. but you should understand that they are going under shell, and they are going near mines. >> schifrin: when they flee, they head west, toward zaporizhia. that's where russia has already seized the nuclear plant. in all, the think-tank the "institute for the study of war" estimates russia controls everything in dark pink. in melitopol, russians recently kidnapped the mayor. they are besieging mykolaiv, and today announced total control over kherson, where there is a normality of occupation. russian vehicles drive by pedestrians going about their day.

( chanting ) but there is also defiance. on sunday, thousands of residents called russians“ fascist occupiers.” and, after the gunfire... ( gunfire ) ...they yelled, “go home while you're still alive." ( chanting ) mariupol is named for the virgin mary, and after pope francis called for the city's safety, a ukrainian created this: mother mary as protector, with the message, "we will not give up mariupol." and so they didn't give up. these women are the survivors of last week's massive bomb that destroyed a maternity hospital. it was a tragedy. this woman, and her unborn child, later died. but it was also a miracle, because a pregnant woman who came so close to death... ( crying ) ...this weekend birthed life. a relieved mother; a healthy baby named alana. from birth, she needs protection from war. another survivor, mariana vishegirskaya, last week walked herself to safety, before starting into the distance,

dazed. she too is now safe. they named their daughter veronika. it means "bringer of victory." for the pbs newshour, i'm nick schifrin. >> woodruff: just a blessing. the newshour's reporting on ukraine is supported in partnership with the pulitzer center. and now, to the view from moscow. our ryan chilcote is there, as the conflict accelerates in ukraine, as do some russian protests against it. ryan, good evening. good to see you. first of all, we understand now that a former kremlin official has criticized the russian operations in ukraine? how significant is that? >> i think it's significant, judy. he is out of government, but, you know, he's not so far out that he wouldn't have thought long and hard before he made the comments that he did. and he did break one of the cardinal rules here, which is he

did not refer to the conflict as what the kremlin insists we refer to it as, as a special military operation in ukraine. he also -- you know, and i know him very well, i've interviewed him more than half a dozen times as the president to have the international chess federation. maybe that's where this is coming from. chess is massive in russia and in ukraine, and there's a huge debate in the chess world whether he should be president because he's russian, whether russians should be able to play chess and compete under the russian flag. the answer is no, just like in the olympics. and what goes on, you know, from here on. i think what's extraordinary here is we are seeing people in the russian elite, if you will, trying to figure out what they can sort of get away with, if you will. we heard a lot of russian billionaires, industrialists, make very careful comments about

the conflict in ukraine over the last couple of weeks, but he is the first former government official and i think it's meaningful. >> woodruff: separately from that, ryan, yesterday, an employee of state television interrupted a newscast live to protest the fighting in ukraine. she held up a sign that said "no war." do we know what's happened to her? >> yes, we do. her name is marina, today she appeared in court and was fined the equivalent of $250, which by russian standards is really a slap on the wrist. she could have been punished much more severely. we don't know she's entirely out of the woods legally speaking because it is possible that a prosecutor could go after her for violating the russian law about fake news on russia's military activities in ukraine.

if she was found to have fallen afoul of that law, then she could be sent to jail for 15 years, obviously something much more severe than the $250. but, also, you know, this was on state tv, millions of russians would have seen it, and, again, russians also get their news on things like telegram, which is a messenger here, and, you know, tens of billions of russians would have seen it there. i saw it on several message groups myself. judy, even the leading independent newspaper here in russia -- yes, there still is one independent newspaper -- even they avoided using the words that were not supposed to and took that poster that protester had on that russian tv set and reduced it to the words "don't believe the propaganda, i.e., we moving the words that could get that newspaper in trouble. so there's a huge sensitivity right now about this law about

fake news and how people discuss what is happening in ukraine. >> woodruff: ryan chilcote, reporting tonight from moscow. thank you, ryan. >> woodruff: in the day's other news, there is word that pfizer will seek authorization this week for a new covid booster for people 65 and over. that would make a fourth shot in the pfizer vacne regimen. meanwhile, officials in china tightened anti-virus controls at ports today, amid an accelerating outbreak. the move raised fears of further trade disruptions. in washington, sarah bloom raskin withdrew from consideration today for a spot

on the federal reserve board. democratic senator joe manchin had announced his opposition, dooming her chances for confirmation in the evenly- divided u.s. senate. manchin and republicans cited raskin's support for factoring climate change into banking regulation. president biden won a separate confirmation fight, as the senate approved shalanda young to head the office of management and budget. she will be the first black woman to lead the cabinet-level agency. the vote was 61 to 36. in australia, an appeals court has overturned a landmark ruling on climate change. a lower court found the environment minister had a duty to protect young people from damage done by global warming. today, the appeals panel called the complaints, by eight teenagers, “unfounded." outside the court in sydney, the activists said they are disappointed, but they insisted there is still a moral obligation to act.

>> all around you, you are surrounded by young people-- who are not fooled by empty, useless rhetoric, by excuses, and empty promises. you are surrounded by young people who are demanding to be heard on climate change, and who will keep fighting for strong climate action in australia. >> woodruff: australia is one of the largest global exporters of coal and liquid natural gas, and faces increased international pressure to cut carbon emissions. prosecutors in russia are asking that opposition leader alexei navalny spend another 13 years in prison-- this time, for fraud and contempt of court. they spoke at a hearing in the prison colony where navalny is already serving 2.5 years for parole violations. he says the charges are bogus. a court in southern india has upheld a ban on muslim head- scarves in schools and colleges. the top court in karnataka state ruled that wearing the hijab is not an essential religious practice.

the ruling comes amid rising tensions between muslims and hindu nationalists. thousands of doctors and nurses in haiti were on strike today, protesting gang-related kidnappings. the three-day walkout began monday in the impoverished caribbean country, after recent abductions of two doctors. a number of hospitals were closed, with only emergency rooms staying open. back in this country, police interrogated a suspect in the fatal shootings of two homeless people and wounding of three others in new york and washington, d.c. the man was arrested early today in washington. this afternoon, the d.c. police chief said detectives have not found a clear motive. >> we believe that it's random. you know, i don't know that he knew these guys in new york; definitely here in washington, d.c., it's really hard to say specifically that he actually knows these individuals, or there was something that happened before this.

we're not aware of anything like that. >> woodruff: police say the suspect, gerald brevard, once spent time in a psychiatric facility, and has a criminal record. puerto rico's government formally exited bankruptcy today, after nearly seven years. the u.s. territory had faced more than $70 billion in debt. it underwent the largest public debt restructuring in american history. the u.s. senate voted today to make daylight saving time permanent, starting in 2023. supporters argued that it would promote economic activity and reduce seasonal depression, among other things. the house of representatives is considering a similar bill. the u.s. labor department has issued a sobering new set of inflation numbers. it says that wholesale prices jumped 10% in february, over a year earlier. but on wall street today, inflation worries faded as oil prices fell back under $97 a barrel.

the dow jones industrial average gained nearly 600 points, 1.8%, to close at 33,544. the nasdaq rose 367 points-- that's almost 3%. the s&p 500 added 89 points-- that's 2%. and, public tours of the white house resume next month, after more than a year's hiatus. the free tours were suspended when president biden took office and increased pandemic protocols. officials said today that face masks will be optional, but tour guests who test positive for covid should stay home. still to come on the newshour: what the withdrawal of biden's federal reserve nominee means for his agenda. americans describe the momentous mental health toll of the covid pandemic. plus, much more.

>> woodruff: few americans are as familiar with ukraine as former u.s. ambassador marie yovanovitch. she made headlines in 2019 during former president donald trump's first impeachment inquiry, after she was called to testify in front of congress about her removal from her post in kiyv. i spoke with her moments ago about russia's invasion of ukraine and her new book "lessons from the edge." ambassador yovanovitch, thank you so much for joining us. congratulations on the book "lessons from the edge." i want to ask you about it in a moment but, of course, first, ukraine, the country you were representing the united states in as ambassador. you not only bring your professional credentials, you come from a family, your parents were russian immigrants, you were born in canada, raised in

the united states. you grew up understanding european history. what do you think is at stake in this war in ukraine? >> well, i think president biden got it exactly right when he said, in the state of the union, that this is a struggle between freedom and tyranny. so this is about ukraine and vladimir putin's desire to an ex all of ukraine. it wasn't enough to take crimea in 2019 and part of the donbass, he wants all of ukraine now and perhaps to extend his domain even further. but i think the main issue for putin is that the international order, the rules-based international order that was created after world war ii just isn't working for him, even though it has made most of us more prosperous, more free and more secure. >> woodruff: is any part of what he's trying to do acceptable? i mean, if he were to, say, get part of ukraine, if he were to take the east and, of course,

keep crimea and a little bit more, i mean, is that something you think the west should accept? >> well, i think this is about what ukraine can accept. i mean, so often, in the runup to this invasion, this war of choice that putin has launched, we were asking ourselves what does russia want? and we were asking ourselves, what should we be doing? but very rarely did we ask ourselves what do the ukrainian people want? the ukrainian people, they want to join n.a.t.o., they want to join the e.u. they want the kinds of freedoms we enjoy here in the united states, they want a good life for their kids, and you know, that's democracy, that's market economy. >> woodruff: i mean, you mentioned the ukrainian people, are you surprised at the kind of stiff resistance they're putting up? >> well, i knew they were going to resist, but i am awed, just awed and amazed by how, you know, everybody, no matter how

old or how young, is resisting. the tenacity, the strength is really inspiring. >> woodruff: you have seen the biden administration, and i think you've said yourself that they need to do more than they've done. a lot of people said they should have given ukraine more weapons, they should have provided more support. but in the end, even if the united states were giving or the west were giving ukraine offensive weapons, do you think that would have been the right thing to do? >> woodruff: i think that defensive weapons are the way to go. i think we need to -- first of all, i think we shouldn't take any options off the table. >> woodruff: including offensive weapons? >> i think we leafed them all on the table. doesn't mean we do that but we leave them on the table. the facts on the ground are changing every day, the views of the american people and our politicians are changing every

day because we are seeing the destruction that putin is wrecking on ukraine and the ukrainian people. they are paying in blood because they want to live like we do. and, so, i think we need to leave options on the table toll see what comes next, which i believe the administration is doing, and the administration has done a lot. but they need to keep on doing more. what are the options that we can send them and get them on the ground as soon as possible? >> woodruff: you've also said, i was reading, that vladimir putin senses fear that if others don't respond boldly to him, he doesn't respect them. is the west, is n.a.t.o. being bold enough right now? >> well, i think next week there's apparently going to be a summit of n.a.t.o. leaders, and i'm sure that is one of the things that they are going to be discussing, and i think we need to discuss that because this is -- this is, you know,

probably the challenge overour life "times," how to -- our lifetimes, how to manage this problem in a way that gets us through that narrow lane of not pushing putin over the edge but also coming out in a place where the ukrainians are in a good place as well as the rest of the west. so i do believe that the history has shown us, you know, in georgia 2008, the invasion there, ukraine 2014, where we expressed criticism in 2014, we also put on a few sanctions, but itbviously wasn't enough because 2022, he's trying again. so it's my belief tat if he gets away with it again, he's going to keep on going. >> woodruff: on your book, it's the story of your life, your journey in the foreign service serving overseas, representing the united states. but when it came to the debacle

over what happened in ukraine under former president trump, his pushing you out of your job, in retrospect, did that send a signal of some kind, do you think, to vladimir putin, about the united states? >> i think that it may have indicated to those who were watching and perhaps putin was one of them that this was an administration that was about things other than our own national security interests. it was really, you know, later on i think the transcript revealed and the whistleblower complaint revealed this was an administration, a president trading on his office for his personal and political gain. that signals to putin and other bad actors around the world that you can make a deal, right, because if you somehow help the president, then you can go off and do your own thing.

i think putin, during the trump years, although the official u.s.olicy was very strong, during the trump years, i think what putin saw is that he was getting exactly what he needed to the extent that the president thought about ukraine, he kind of dismissed i have to as a weak pawn. and i think the other thing is that, with regard to n.a.t.o., the president's views were well known, and many of his senior advisors have said he probably would have pulled the u.s. out of n.a.t.o., had he won a second term. that would have probably spelled the demise of n.a.t.o. >> woodruff: you're very candid in the book, marie yovanovitch, to speak of how tough this public episode was on you personall you lost your mother in the middle of all that, you had to go through her being in the hospital and then her passing. what do you think you take away from this whole experience? it's now been almost two years. where do you come out?

>> well, i mean, i will tell you candid di, that was the worst period of my life, bar none, both personally and professionally. it was terrible. and it was, you know, still hard for me to talk about, actually, publicly. but i think what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, as they say. and i had friends and family that were so supportive and kind of, you know, got me through that period. and then i had the opportunity to write this book, and that was kind of a therapy all its own. i mean, it was tough to write the book because i looked at my whole life and, you know, some of the periods that are described in that book were obviously very painful personally, so you have to try to make sense of it, but it was an opportunity as well. fast forward to today, i am so fortunate that i have a book that's come out that hopefully

helps me tell the american people through my life story about the importance of diplomacy, the importance of our democracy and how the two of them are intertwined. >> woodruff: marie yovanovitch, "lessons from the edge," ambassador yovanovitch, thank you very much for taking with us. >> woodruff: thank you. >> woodruff: lawmakers joined president biden at the white house today to celebrate the signing of a $1.5 trillion government funding bill. the measure provides money for an array of items, most notably the military and aid to ukraine. but, despite this victory, the white house is upset that the $22.5 billion in covid funding that it requested was ultimately not included in bill. for more on what this all means, i'm joined by our chief correspondent amna nawaz from

the white house. so, hello, amna, you have been following this, i know, the white house clearly upset. what's at stake here if this covid money isn't passed somehow, some way soon? >> in a call earlier today whi house officials laid out their concerns about the lack of covid funding. they say without the additional moneys, basically 14 months of capacity building when it comes to the covid response could wither and disappear and the u.s. will be less prepared for whatever comes next inhis pandemic. they did lay out some of their top concerns and they include these three items -- testing, vaccines which include those booster shots, and treatments like the monoclonal anti-body treatment. specifically, under testing, the u.s. has had capacity for hundreds of millions of tests this month. without additional funding, after june they won't be able to maintain manufacturing ability. on the treatment front, the monoclonal antibody treatments, they have shipped 7 million

courses so far, have a new purchase order to go into place next week. without additional moneys, won't be able to make the purchase order and said the existing supply runs out by late may. on the vaccine front, who enwe began the pandemic and first had the vaccines, that was a two-shot regiment. that's been boosted to three to include the booster shots and the fourth shot for immunocompromised americans and older americans as well, we know the recommendation, could broaden to include many more men's for a fourth shot, and the white house says they won't have money for the fourth shot without additional funding. immediately, judy, they say the funding specifically for uninsured americans who have been getting access through these funds to testing and to treatment and to vaccines, that money, judy, runs out this month. they also say when it comes to the global vaccine effort, all of that is hindered without additional money. until the pandemic is over

everywhere, it won't be over here. >> woodruff: i have a question, amna, we know congress passed several covid relief packages the administration wanted. what was the holdup this time? >> woodruff: as you know, congress absolutely passed hundreds of billions of dollars and appropriated that money for covid response in the past. white house officials both earlier today on the call and gjen psaki in the briefing said that's been done on a bipartisan basis, saying it has been done, can be and should be done. but this time around it's been widely reported and white house officials were asked about this on the call, there was some frustration among lawmakers, democrats in particular, about not being brought into consultation by the white house early enough and having a massive $22 billion request come relatively late in a big negotiation process for a massive omnibus spending bill. top that off with concerns about bringing republicans on board

for additional fun and additional frustrations over additional lawmakers over cuts to aid also included in the bill, all of that piled on top of each other. and then the speaker said forget it. pelosi sent a letter notifying colleagues about it. today officials asked with great pains to lay out to congress. they said in february we breeched appropriators open what was at stake. president biden mentioned it in the state of the union but today you saw president biden hailing spending measures, no mention of the covid response funds because they didn't make it into the bill. >> woodruff: given all this, what is the white house' path forward? what is the way they can see they can get this done with congress in weeks to come? >> reporter: we asked white house officials about it earlier, jen psaki was asked about it today. they're very clear except to congress how to move forward,

whether through a stand alone bill or reonciliation package, they believe there are many avenues forward. their line is clear, they say we need those funds. the bigger picture is this, when you look at where we are in the pandemic, cases are dropping precipitously, down 95% from the omicron peak. but white house officials, experts are watching what's happening overseas, seeing the rise in cases and right anticipate what could happen next in the united states, whether a surge or variant, worried about additional funds that the u.s. won't be prepared to face it. also they want to prepare because the pandemic has already caught us offguard several times in the last two years, and judy, it is not yet over. >> woodruff: as you say, a lot at stake. amna nawaz reporting tonight from the white house, thank you.

>> woodruff: sarah bloom raskin has withdrawn her nomination to the federal reserve board after a stalemate in the senate over her nomination, as we reported earlier. fed policy makers are expected to raise interest rates tomorrow, for the first time in three years. lisa desjardins has more on the roadblocks the biden administration is up against. >> thank you... >> desjardins: the fight over sarah bloom raskin's nomination said much about the senate. the opposition was to her-- but raskin was part of a group with four other federal reserve nominations. all of them were blocked. raskin, wife of democratic congressman jamie raskin, has a hefty resume, and has been on the fed board before. opposition started with republicans like senator pat toomey. they raised ethics concerns from when she was in the private sector, and charged that she is too activist-- especially on climate. >> i think you've used the word

"existential," and that for those reasons, it is necessary and appropriate for financial regulators including the fed to allocate capital away from those companies that are contributing the most to the carbon in the atmosphere. isn't that true? >> senator toomey, it is inappropriate for the fed to make credit decisions and allocations based on choosing winners and losers. banks choose their borrowers. >> desjardins: to derail her, the g.o.p. used an extreme tactic. >> our constituents sent us here to vote. no one is on the other side. >> desjardins: the g.o.p. blocked raskin, and all the fed nominations, by not showing up to a committee vote. in the 50/50 senate, one republican must be present, even if they vote no. those absent senators are part of now-omnipresent obstacles for minees. >> what's different today is

that the degree of backlog is extraordinary, and the senate challenges we face as a country so enormous, that the consequences are very, very large. >> desjardins: max steier heads the partnership for public service, whose data show unfilled seats across government piling up-- nearly 300 empty positions the senate must confirm. >> it's a little bit like having a substitute teacher. they're not going to take on the difficult issues, and they're not going to get the respect from either their classroom or their peer teachers necessary to actually be an effective educator over time. >> desjardins: in nomination fights, both the procedure and the politics have gotten tougher. republicans last year boycotted a small business nominee who would have been the nation's highest-ranking muslim, and some hearings have become surprisingly pointed... >> do you care about the innocent people who were murdered? >> desjardins: texas senator ted cruz repeatedly accused judicial nominee nina morrison of wanting to release violent criminals.

morrison works for the innocence project, to free the falsely convicted. >> senator cruz, i have worked for 20 years on cases involving some of the most horrific crimes imaginable. murders and rapes. some of my own clients were murder victims' family members. they lost their loved ones and were wrongly convicted of killing them. >> desjardins: stier is concerned about the backlog. >> you can have many, many people who, in the ordinary world, would actually garner, you know, significant majorities of support. and they're not going anywhere. we have literally hundreds of folks that are in confirmation purgatory. >> desjardins: this nominee purgatory has left the nation without a permanent e.p.a. administrator, or confirmed ambassadors to ukraine or afghanistan. which, stier says, matters. >> when you do not have leaders in place, when you have acting officials, they do not take on those long-term questions. they do not take on the difficult issues. and they are also not invested

in by those around them. >> woodruff: and lisa desjardins joins us now. so, lisa, the withdrawal of sarah bloom raskin, what does this mean for the other four fed nominees? >> reporter: speaking with sources on the hill and also we know from announcements by the committee that they will move forward with the other four nominees as a bloc. they can do it at any"time" under senate procedure. they haven't set a date yet. this week, next week, i think it will be soon. there is a question about one of the nominees,ly is a cook, is someone who received criticism from republicans which democrats say is unfair, and really inappropriate. we have to watch and see if republicans again try and block her using this same technique. it's not clear. meanwhile, the white house is fighting back today, at least in its words, this is what we heard from president biden in the statement. he heard about the withdrawal of sarah bloom raskin. republicans are focused on protecting special interests more so than taking steps to

lower inflation and costs for american people. we know for sure it has become harder to pass nominees in the u.s. senate. democrats did lose one of their own, joe manchin as you reported earlier. it wasn't just republicans, but this is a boiling-up issue that is affecting how government operates. >> woodruff: and, lisa, you touched on this in your report, but why have these fights over nominations become so protracted? >> you know, i spent a lot of time thinking about this. i think there's two reasons. the one that is more tangible. these nominees have become a source of political capital in some sense. it's politicization, because some of these members are speaking to their base about opposing these nominees. senator ted cruz, in someone on the hill said it's performative of him when he goes after the nominee than substantive. that's tangible.

intangible, there's a philosophical question for republicans at the moment. they're divided, what is their agenda, who are they for? it's much easier to be against something or someone and takes the form of nominees and blocking them. >> woodruff: something we' seen again and again. lisa desjardins, thank you very much. >> woodruff: two years into the pandemic, concerns about covid-19's impact on mental health continue to grow. we spoke to people across the country about their particular struggles, and the work being done to help others suffering during the pandemic. here is some of what they told us. >> my name is jason wu. i work in the bay area of california, and i am a private practice psychologist. one of my specialties is trauma. so, a lot of trauma work has been done with a lot of my

clients over this period of time, and it's been kind of a blessing and a curse, because we're really, finally focusing on trauma. but then, you also don't have the social support that's really important to healing trauma. >> my me is channea curley. i live in houston, texas. i am a stay-at-home mom. i have three children, all in elementary school, and two of my kiddos have autism. we went on spring break and we were in san antonio when they started shutting down cities, and i had a major-- i had a major anxiety attack in the hotel. >> i'm andy hutchinson. i'm a psychiatrist. i live in charleston, south carolina. i'm supposed to know how to deal with this, how to navigate it, how to do the right things, how to meditate, how to run, how to take care of myself, so that i don't experience depression. and yet, there are times, even when you know all of the things, that you may still struggle with depression, as i have. >> what was different was that i felt like, after all this happened, like in atlanta, with,

you know, the really horrible tragedy that happened there-- i just saw an influx of asian clients, in general. it's like we've been made aware of the fact that, yeah, mental health is a real thing. it's okay for asian americans to seek that out-- there's a lot of cultural stigma with that, too. >> i just ended up calling my therapist, and i was like, hey, i'm having a hard time. like mid-march, after things had shut down, "i really think that this is going to be a problem." she gave me some meditation strategies, and she said, now might be the time that we need a psychiatrist. >> so, before covid, i was sort of thriving. i was teaching mindfulness groups, and that switched to online, and kind of petered out, and my motivation to do that kind of went away. i was exercising. i was gardening a lot. i was a voracious reader, so i ordered more books than i could. i could get through, just because i loved having books, and i noticed some of those things started dropping away. and i noticed i was sitting on the couch more, and i was finding myself sort of apathetic about all these things that i

was passionate about, and it struck me, and i was like, what's going on? like, have i just lost interest in everything? >> i've seen a lot of people who've dealt with depression, definitely, like, isolation, which kind of breeds a lot of that. we're meant to be social, so, anxiety, for sure. i mean, it's a lot of clients that have had-- that have o.c.d. this whole pandemic has been really triggering for them. >> she gave me the contact information for a psychiatrist, and i called her and i met with her virtually. and-- and she was like, yeah, we're going to-- we're going to take some medicine for this, and then when this whole pandemic thing dies down, then you can, you know, you can-- we can wean you off. and i was like, okay, that's great, because it should be over soon, right? and so, here we are, two years in and a second prescription for anxiety meds. >> i've had to invest in-- more money in sort of taking care of myself. i've reached out to my own

psychiatrist, to get the help that i needed, the support that i needed, to create sort of a team of supporters for myself. i've reached out to my friends and let them know i've been struggling at times. >> woodruff: and we thank each of you. and toocus on what can be done to address-- and improve-- mental health care in america, i spoke recently with dr. tom insel. from 2002 to 2015, he served as director of the national institute of mental health. he is the author of a new book“" healing: our path from mental illness to mental health.” dr. tom insel, welcome to the newshour. you've been keeping a close eye on the state of people's mental health during this entire pandemic. so, hearing that people are struggling right now doesn't come as a surprise. does it? >> it's hardly a surprise. this has been a tough couple of years for the nation, for the world.

and you see it most in people who might have been struggling even before the pandemic. having a mental health crisis is not new. it was there in 2019. but it's more apparent, and i think there's just a lot more despair going into 2022 and now starting the third year of this very difficult time. >> woodruff: you wrote this book, in large part because you are openly alarmed at the fact that this country, in your view, is so poorly equipped to deal with depression, anxiety, all forms of mental illness. not just, as you said, not just during the pandemic, but-- but all the time, right now. >> well, when i started my career, i think we were doing a better job. i wouldn't say that about very many areas of medicine, but in mental health, 40 years ago, 45 years ago, we had a broad community-based support system and a safety net. we had a lot of services available, particularly for

people who had the most serious forms of mental illness: schizophrenia, bipolar illness, severe depression. we were prepared, and we were there to serve. in the words of president kennedy, they need no longer be alien to our affections. we've lost that. we've lost that over many decades, and we've lost it in a way which means that too often, people with serious mental illness end up in the criminal justice system, not the healthcare system. that's unacceptable. >> woodruff: and it's not as if people haven'teen paying attention to this. and you, yourself, you were leading the country's institute, the national institute of mental health, for what 13 years? from what, 2002 to 2015? you surely were looking at these problems then.

>> we were, but the national mental health does a spectacular job of research, and they go after the science of mental health. the problem here, the problem of incarceration, homelessness, of early mortality for people with serious mental illness, that's actually not so much a scientific problem, and that was the discovery of my book. the book-- i was trying to figure out why was so much progress in science have we seen increases in suicide, increases in overdose deaths, increases in morbidity and mortality for people with mental illness? and the answer is not in the science. it's not even in the care system. it's in the lack of a safety net in the ways in which we do not provide for those people who can't provide for themselves. and that's the big tragedy, because we know what to do. we can help people with these illnesses. we have good treatments. we don't need to research that part. but we need to implement the sorts of treatments that n.i.m.h. and others have developed so that people can recover-- and they can, if we do this right, but we're not doing it right. >> woodruff: and what did that mean, to implement it? i mean, what exactly are some of

the things that-- that, in your view, need to happen now? >> well, to some extent, you have to fix a broken healthcare system. and that means ending a lot of the fragmentation in the way that people are paid for what i call a crisis-driven sick care system, not for our healthcare system. so changing the incentives in our care system. but you know, the thing that i think i learned most in working on this book was, if we really care about mental health, it's about more than mental health we have to think beyond healthcare, and to think about what i call the three "p's:" people, place, and purpose. how we help people with these disorders, to actually build a life. that's not about which medication you're on or what psychotherapy you're getting. it's about that, of course, the medical care, but you also need social support. you need a safe place to recover. you need, actually, all of those

services that give you something to live for. we aren't doing that. at least we're not doing that at scale. we're doing that in places. we need to do that far better as a nation, if we want to see people with mental illness, truly recover. >> woodruff: and for people who are watching, tom, and say, "okay, i'd like to help in some way," what c individuals-- is there anything individuals can do? >> there's a lot you could do. i mean, a part of what we need to do is to create the kind of community that's been missing, and this involves all of us. it's not just about those people who have schizophrenia or bipolar illness, it's about all of us. it's a measure of who we are. we once did this-- we used to have the kind of social fabric and the social services and the safety net that we've allowed to really get shredded. so part of what i'm talking about is-- is political action. and i think we need a social movement for mental health,

which is what i'm trying to start with this book, very much the way that vice president gore tried to start the movement for climate with "inconvenient truth." this is the inconvenient truth for the mental health crisis. >> woodruff: dr. tom insel. the book is "healing our path: from mental illness to mental health." thank you very much. >> thanks for having me, judy. >> woodruff: on the newshour online right now, a court case is detailing the damage done by arizona's privatized health care within its prison system. we take a look at what the ongoing case could mean for prison systems across the u.s. you can find that story at www.pbs.org/newshour. and today is equal payday, the first in a series of days throughout the year that look at

pay disparities between women and men. on our instagram account, we take a look at that gender pay gap but also the disparities among women, particularly women of color. you can see that by following us on instagram. and that is the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. join us online, and again here tomorrow evening. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you, please stay safe, and we'll see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> the landscape has changed, and not for the last time. the rules of business are being reinvented, with a more flexible workforce, by embracing innovation, by looking not oy at current opportunities, but ahead to future ones. resilience is the ability to pivot again and again, for whatever happens next. >> people who know, know b.d.o.

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hello everyone and welcome to "amanpour and company." here's what's coming up. >> he said that if nato countries take action, some terrible things would a. >> at russian attacks hit closer to nato territory, finland's present shares his eye-opening conversations with his neighbor, vladimir putin. and -- >> ukraine's humanitarian catastrophe reaches horrifying height. the u.n.'s relief chief joins me on what people need now. plus -- >> vladimir putin incriminates himself every day. his footprints are all over this war of adepression. >> david sheffer, america's

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