judy: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight, under investigation. the trump organization's chief financial officer pleads guilty to tax fraud as other legal cases surround the former president. and the invasions impact. grained shipments slowly increase out of ukraine potentially alleviating high global food prices. and help wanted. despite an influx of federal funding, american cities and states cannot find enough workers leaving many essential jobs unfilled. >> you have to support your family. the rising cost of everything going on right now. to do the same job in the private sector and get paid

more, it is that decision. judy: all of that in more on tonight's pbs "newshour." ♪ >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- >> fidelity dedicated advisors are here to he you create a wealth plan. a plan with tax sensitive investing strategies. planning focused on tomorrow while you focus on today. that's the planning effect from fidelity. ♪ >> the kendeda fund, committed to advancing restorative justice and meaningful work through investments in transformative leaders and ideas. more at kendeda fund.org. carnegie corporation of new

york. supporting innovations in education, democratic engagement and the advancement of international peace and security at carnegie.org. and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. ♪ >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. vanessa: i vanessa ruiz in for stephanie sy. there is new trouble tonight for former president trump's business empire.

allen weisselberg, the longtime chief financial officer of the trump organization pleaded guilty to 15 charges involving tax fraud. he said nothing afr today's hearing in new york but s plea deal requires him to testify at the trump organization's own trial in october. he will be sentenced later. a federal magistrate in florida says he inclined to release some of the affidavit behind the search of the trump estate at mar-a-lago. today he gave the u.s. justice department a week to decide which sections it wanted to keep secret. the search turned up classified white house material. we will return to the trump investigations after the news summary. in ukraine, the u.n. called for demilitarized the area around europe's largest nuclear plant. kyiv and moscow

blame each other for shelling at a nuclear plant in an area now controlled i rush out. the u.n. secretary general met with president zelenskyy in western ukraine but russia has already refused to withdraw from the nuclear site. >> kyiv have has repeatedly demonstrated its ability to show provocations. this is the same reason why the proposals to demilitarized the zone around the nuclear plant are unacceptable. vanessa: the russians did not say if they would allow international inspectors into the plant. today's talks also included the president of turkey and focused more installed grain shipments. we will return to the story later in the program. the death toll in afghanistan has reached at least 21 after a mosque in kabul was bombed last night. taliban security forces cordoned off the mosque today. the explosion killed a prominent cleric among others and wounded dozens more. there has been no claim of responsibility. back in this country the man ,accused of having stabbed

salman rushdie was denied bail in western new york state today. he appeared in court after a grand jury indicted him. he pleaded not guilty to attacking the author earlier this month. salman rushdie remains hospitalized in pennsylvania. the nfl announced cleveland browns quarterback deshaun watson has agreed to an 11 game suspension and a $5 million fine for alleged sexual misconduct. two dozen women had accused watson of sexual assault and harassment when he played for the houston texans. two grand juries declined to indict him and he insisted that he was innocent. >> just because settlements happen does not mean a person is guilty for anything. i feel like a person has an opportunity to stand on his innocence. we proved that on the legal side. we've just got to continue to push forward as an individual and as a person. vanessa: watson recently settled 23 of 24 lawsuits involving the allegations against him.

three men were indicted for the beating death of whitey bulger, the u.s. department of justice alleged the three men, fellow prisoners, attacked him hours after he was traferred from a florida correctional facility. he was charged with conspiracy to commit first-degree murder among other charges. u.s. health officials announced today they're setting aside another 50,000 doses of monkeypox vaccine, for at least a dozen upcoming gay pride events. there've been more tha13,000 cases reported in the u.s. so far, nearly all of them involving sex between men. and, former first lady rosalynn carter turned 95 today. she is the longest living first lady, except for bess truman, who lived to be 97. mrs. carter's husband jimmy is the oldest living former president at 97. still to come on the newshour. vermont prepares to elect its first female representative to congress.

democracy advocates raise the alarm about election deniers in charge of vote counts. and singer bonnie raitt discusses her new album and dynamic career. and much more. ♪ >> this is the pbs newshour from wta studios in washington and from the walter kwok -- walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. judy: as we reported former trump organization's cfo allen weisselberg pleaded guilty today to tax fraud, and as part of the plea deal, he is expected to testify against the company to discuss what this means for the former president, i'm joined by andrea bernstein who covers trumps legal issues for npr. welcome back to the newshour. so we know the former president himself is not charged here. but how unusual is it for the company of a former president to be iolved in criminal charges

like this? >> i think was the only time it's ever happened. there has never been a post presidency like trump's and i think what was so extraordinary about the plea deal today is here you had a man who was sort of the closest thing you could come to as a physical embodiment of trump's business, saying yes, your honor. yes, your honor. i committed these crimes. 15 times. judy: and what exactly remind us what exactly is he pleading guilty to. >> so just a little over a year ago, the manhattan district attorney charged mr. weisselberg with 15 felonies. basically, the scheme was which lasted over 15 years was for him to lie about his income to say it was much lower than it actually was by taking his income in things like a luxury apartment.

mercedes benzes for him and his wife and private school tuition for his children, thereby avoid avoiding taxes on millions of dollars. and what he pleaded guilty to was everything from scheme to defraud, a scheme th lasted he admitted today from 2005 to 2021. during the entire time, when his boss donald trump was president, and of course donald trump never divested from his business. so he was still at the top of the corporate structure at the time that these crimes were committed. judy: so as we said, former president trump is not named here. but this took place as you just said over 16 years. is it conceivable that the former president didn't know what was going on? >> well, the district attorney the manhattan district attorney was preparing an indictment against mr. trump himself. that never went forward for a variety of reasons, mostly having to do with the changeover

in district attorneys. everybody that i know that has ever worked for trump and we saw this in the in the january 6 hearings, everybody that seems to work for him makes it clear that he has a very sharp eye on what is going on around him. that said he was not charged. , his company has pleaded not guilty and there's been no evidence introduced of his personal knowledge, except that we did here today that one of the accounts that donald trump paid a sum of the benefits the private school tuition from his own personal account, and also kept a record of some of these payments. as to whether he knew it was illegal that's a question that , remains unanswered at this point. judy: so he signed his name to some of the checks but it's not clear that he knew what was going on. is that it? >> that's exactly right. and i think, you know, let's not lose the significance that his business the business named , trump is charged with a crime and that, as we said, has never happened before in the history

of the united states and also very serious crimes. under new york law, when a top executive says i committed a crime, it's a very short road from there to convicting the company, and the company hasn't pleaded guilty. the company is in fact slated to go to trial in october but now with the guaranteed testimony of mr. weisselberg, who was going to say i did these things, i defrauded the taxpayers of the money that they deserve to get. so i could personally benefit. there is no clear way prosecutors have told me that the company can get out of that. judy: and can you give us a sense do we know what kinds of questions alan weisselberg is going to be asked this fall at the trial? >> so there's no indication that he's going to say donald trump knew any of these things i did. but what he has promised to do under penalty of getting a much more severe sentence is to answer questions truthfully. so this will be a chance for the

jury and the public to get all sorts of detailed questions about how this scheme worked, how it was played out across the company which other executives , were involved. this is a very embarrassing, detailed look at a president who was so secretive. he went to the us supreme court twice to keep his business records out of the hands of the manhattan district attorney. so we expect to learn much more about his company if as expected this case goes to trial and that can be very embarrassing, particularly since mr. trump is as we know considering another run for president. judy: and just finally, andrea bernstein. while all this is going on in new york, down in florida, having to do with the fbi search of the former president the -- his estate at mar a lago. a judge ruled today that the justice department needs to go back and redact any language who -- it doesn't want made public and the affidavit that ended up being used seeking that search warrant. how does that play into any

other legal worries the former president has? >> well, it does seem like it's a very big worry when you have the us justice department investigating you, as we now know under the espionage, espionage act and other potential crimes, but we it looks like we may learn more. now this has many steps to go through. obviously the judge has asked the justice department to come back. it can be appealed. it doesn't seem like we will see anything tomorrow but we see a pattern here, which is the president hiding things, the president not revealing things and a president being investigated from everything to whether his company being investigated from everything to whether he wrote a check for his cfos grandchildren's tuition to whether he mishandled classified documents. that is quite a roster for a former president. judy: journalist andrea bernstein. thank you very much. >> thanks so much.

judy: with most of the nation's primary elections behind us now, we are starting to -- to get a clearer look at the shape of novembers races. and now the only state that has never sent a woman to congress is poised to elect its first. but as congressional correspondent lisa desjardins explains, that expected milestone comes as women still struggle to be elected in equal numbers as men. lisa to date, 399 women have : walked the halls of power in congress as representatives and senators and they have come from 49 states. >> and now, please join me in welcoming my wife, becca balint becca balint is poised to make lisabecca balint is poised to make: vermont the 50th state - the last to send its first woman to congress - after she won the democratic primary in the deep blue green mountain state this month. >> it is sinking and little by little. it's very exciting. and it's also a little daunting.

as you can imagine, being the first of anything is a challenge because you want to do right by everybody. you want to make sure you you represent the state well. lisa: women wield substantial power in vermont, one of the first states to elect a female governor. three of the last four speakers of the house have been women. balint is president of the state senate. but even among supporters, questions went past her qualifications and to fears of prejudice. >> there was this sense of maybe vermont first isn't ready for a woman in this role and second, isn't ready for a gay woman. tonight, together, we all made history lisa: so what has taken vermont so long to elect a congresswoman? michele swers teaches about women and politics at georgetown writing two books ad a textbook , on the subject. she says in vermont, and elsewhere it is a question of , opportunity. >> some of what you see going on is that it's just harder for women as non incumbents running

as challengers and in open seat races to get elected. lisa: vermont is a small state with a small delegation in congress. seats rarely open, and incumbents have one nearly every time they have run since 1960. the state's lone house seat indirectly opened up after senator patrick leahy announced his retirement after nearly 50 years. women account for slightly more than half of the u.s. population but are not even 30% the house and less, about a , quarter of the us senate. why? >> there is a lot of research that shows that women need to be asked more, that they're more reluctant to throw their hat in the ring. lisa there are fewer of them in : state and local offices - which feed congressional

primaries. and big donors are less likely to write them big checks. >> for many people if they see a , woman's name on the ballot, that that person would have to clear a much higher bar than than someone with with a traditionally male name. lisa: charles robbins runs stony brook university center for changing systems of power. he says gender bias can be subconscious and reach down for my generation to the next, making it difficult for many in an women to picture a woman in charge. >> the patriarchy and the male-dominated system has influenced every part of our culture and every part of our society. in no place is that truer than in government and politics. >> there is an additional gender divide between the countries to biggest parties. in the house, just 16% republicans are women, and the

figure is 41% for house democrats. jennifer carroll, former lieutenant governor of florida, wants to see conservatives catch up. >> the party itself has not put a concerted effort in to say, we are going to go out and and recruit viable females to run for office. but the democrats have. carroll is a national visacarroll is a national: spokesperson for maggie'list a political action committee , that works to recruit and elect conservative women. she says the lack of vocabulary within the gop doesn't help her cause. >> female candidates have a challenge in that you cannot come out and say, well, elect me because i'm a female. the guys can come out and say elect me because i'm a strong guy and i'm going to go fight for you. lisa in 2020, republican women : had their best showing ever in the house, and now have more than doubled their previous number from 15 to 35. >> we saw that we needed to get our conservative female candidates over the finish line in the primaries to compete in a

general election. if you don't win the primary, you're not even going to make it to the general election. lisa: this 100 years after , montana elected the country's first woman to congress, jeannette rankin. the state has yet to send its second woman to washington as , vermont is poised for its first. >> i hope i'm making it easier for the next person to come up. that's what i hope. lisa meanwhile, women's gains in : congress and state legislatures aren't matched at the highest rungs. >> when it comes to governors, people seem to trust women more as legislators. legislature is a more of a consensus building type of position, and executive leadership is harder. lisa: nineteen states still haven't elected a woman as governor. nancy pelosi remains the only woman elected to lead either chamber of congress. and while kamala harris is second in command, the country is still waiting on its first female commander-in-chief. for the pbs newshour, i'm lisa desjardins. ♪

judy: this midterm election cycle, candidates are vying for state offices that are responsible for running and certifying elections. several among these candidates continue to deny the results of the 2020 election. amna nawaz has more on what's at stake. >> that's right election deniers , are winning republican primary races in critical battleground states. their victories have raised the stakes for the november midterms, as the power to oversee elections could be granted to the same people who falsely claim the last one was fraudulent. following this all closely is amy gardner of the washington post. she joins me here. welcome back. you did a deep dive into a number of things, one i want to ask about first, looking specifically at six states that were key to the 2020 election. arizona, georgia, michigan, nevada, pennsylvania, and

wisconsin. and you looked specifically at the republican nominees for certain offices, people who repeated that 2020 election lie, people you call election deniers, right? which offices did you zero in on, and why? and how prevalent was that lie among those republican nominees? amy: we wanted to look at the offices that have say-so over election administration and election certification. and so we looked at statewide offices that have those powers. it's governors in every state who certify the electors. it's secretaries of state in many states. and also lieutenant governors and attorneys general in some states have powers that are important to the election process, and federal office, congress. so that's what we looked at. and the significance of those six states is that those are the six states that donald trump contested in 2020. and they are also the six states that decided the 2020 outcome for biden. biden won all six of those states. and if you look at the results of our survey of these offices, you can see, in just three of those six states arizona,

michigan and pennsylvania, election deniers won who say that they would not have certified the result in 2020. and so those three states add up to enough electoral votes -- or did in 2020 -- to have denied joe biden 270 votes. so that just tells you what's at stake here if these folks win their general elections in november and we have a contested election in 2024. amna: i think you said, overall, in those s states it was an , overwhelming majority of those republican nominees. amy: that's right. but you mentioned some of these folks. and one of them we will mention, for example, like the arizona republican gubernatorial candidate there, kari lake, who has said, look, if i were in office in 2020, i would not have certified the results despite , the fact that joe biden won arizona. amy: she's actually said that those who did certify the result in arizona should be in prison. amna: so, what do experts you talk to say about this? i mean, assuming if she wins, if the same were things were to

happen in 2024, what did experts say about guardrails? what prevents someone like kari lake from basically disenfranchising hundreds of thousands of voters? amy: we don't know. what constitutional scholars and election lawyers told me as i worked on this story is that, certainly, democrats and voting rights experts or advocacy groups would sue immediately if someone like kari lake declined to certify a popular result in her state. but would every judge in this country uphold that norm? norms are only norms until they're broken. and a lot of these experts i spoke to say they're really, really alarmed at the prospect of certainly fewer guardrails being in place in 2024 than were in 2020. and look at the chaos that we had then. amna: well, and when you look at what people are supporting, i mean, these candidates are repeating the lie because people believe in it. millions of republican voters do believe in it. another part of your analysis i want to point out, when you looked at the fact that people who repeat this lie are winning, you looked across 41 states and

found that, out of 469 nominating contests so far, more than half, more than half of all republican winners, 250 candidates, have repeated that election lie, are election deniers, as you say. so there's an expectation built that they will fight, even if the next election -- say 2024 is definitive. is there an expectation they're going to fight, challenge, block, because the constituency expects them to now? amy: i think that the answer is yes. i think that denying the 2020 election has become a price of admission in the republican party. it's gone beyond just fealty to trump. it's fealty to the false statements about that election. and that's definitely what's coming in this country. amna: we should also say this is not just a hypothetical, looking ahead to 2024, right? already, as you have cited in your reporting, a number of states, 19 so far, have passed voting laws critics say restrict voting, justified in part by the election loss. so, when you talk to republican lawmakers, what do they tell you about why they have been pushing

some of those. amy: it depends on who i talk to, but it's kind of interesting. i have talked to a number of lawmakers in georgia, for instance, in texasfor instance, both of which passed such restrictive laws last year, who say -- not for attribution, but who admit off the record they had to. they had to throw this bone to their constituents who believed that the elections had been stolen, and they had to do something to show that they were pro-election integrity. so it's an admission that they are -- it's a solution in search of a problem, really. amna: what does this tell you about the potency of denying elections in the republican party right now? amy: i mean, it's everywhere. ron desantis, the governor of florida, announced the prosecution of 20 people who allegedly voted fraudulently in that state, and it was a huge televised press conference. he's coming to pennsylvania tomorrow to campaign with doug mastriano, one of the other big election deniers that i found in

my survey, the gubernatorial nominee in pennsylvania. so going to pennsylvania is a great clue that ron desantis is running for president, which we have all been speculating about already. but -- so the day before he goes on a presidential jag, he's making a big announcement about election fraud. i mean, that tells you everything right there. amna: fair to say 20 votes would not change an election one way or the other. amy gardner, the reporting is so important. we will be following your work in the washingn post. amy: thank you. amna: thank you. ♪ judy: in western ukraine today, president volodymyr zelenskyy hosted turkeys president and t u.n. secretary general. both architects of a deal last month that allows ukraine to export food to prevent war and global food shortage. but has that deal been effective

in achieving its goals so far? >> to you and called it a beacon of hope, one of the worlds red baskets once again able to export. for three weeks, ships carrying ukrainian grain, sunflowers, soy, and wheat, have left craney reports through a russian -- left port through a russian blockade. they met to assess how far they've come and how far they still have to go. >> there's a global need for more ships that can export in a secure way. our country will be a guarantor for global food security. for years, ukraine help provide that guarantee, with russia exporting one quarter of the world's wheat. but the war, combed with a historic drought in the horn of africa and complications from clue -- from covid, have created a global food crisis. the first africa bound ship left

yesterday. it carries cargo destined for ethiopia. 23,000 metric tons of wheat will go to a nation of 20 million people facing hunger. but so far, most exports are not going to those with the most need. of 25 ships, more than a quarter have gone to turkey. iran and south korea each received 5, next on the list: china, ireland, and italy. and the exports so far are a fraction of what's needed. 700,000 tons of food have left ukrainian shores. 20 million tons, remain trapped in ukrainian silos. >> that's have no illusions there is a long way to go before , this will be translated into the daily life of people at their local bakery and in their markets. supply chains are still disrupted. energy and transportation costs remain unacceptably high. nick: and some of the exports aren't arriving at their intended destinations. the very first ship that left ukraine arrived not in its

original, reported destination lebanon - but in russia-ally syria. syria also received stolen ukrainian grain, on a russ ship that arrived just today. and for more on food exports from ukraine, we turn to joe glauber, senior research fellow at the international food policy research institute. he previously served as the chief economist at the us department of agriculture. thank you very much. welcome to the newshour. how much of an impact right now is this deal having? joe: it is small, but it's it's hopefully we'll get bigger. right now, you know, roughly 700,000 tons have moved. that's about a 10th of what ukraine does on a monthly basis during their peak seasons. and this is their peak season as we come into wheat harvest. they want to be shipping that out to the rest of the world. nick: just to put that in 700,000, perspective. you know, the goal is for 20 million tonnes to be exported. is that is that even realiic?

>> i think they have serious storage problems. remember, they have a crop from last year that has been trapped inside of ukraine. they're in the process of harvesting a wheat crop and in the fall, they're going to have a corn crop and barley crop and other crops that are going to come in. what that's put stress on is the storage capacity they have. even with this potential of exporting a little bit more out of those black sea ports. of the good signs that we've one seen so far, according to the secretary general today, is that prices have come down for the rest of the world. the fao says its food price index fell by 9% in july, the largest decline since 2008. so is that a sign that this deal, at least initially, is having some positive impact? joe: well it's a whole bunch of , factors, actually. one is russia has exported a lot more than i think was initially thought. we have a good crop coming out of canada. but again, no question, the fact that we're actually able to get grain out of ukraine through those black sea ports is a very

positive for world food prices. nick: as we pointed out, these ships have gone to turkey, south korea, even ireland and italy, only one to the horn of africa, at least so far. why? joe: a lot of the grn that that left that's left ukraine in the last couple of weeks through this corridor were ships that were in docked in the ukraine ports before the war. and so they were targeted for those buyers and that included, yes, a lot of corn going to europe, it included a little bit going to the middle east and then then some wheat going to the horn of africa. and so we are i think that will the shift will change as we see more wheat coming out of ukraine. nick: the joint coordination center the u.n. run body that's that's coordinating this in istanbul said to me today that while there have been 25 ships that left ukraine, 20 are arriving in ukraine now.

is that a sign of what you were just suggesting, that that this food is now going to be going to more places? joe: i think we will see a mix of buyers. remember that that if you look who the markets that ukraine would typically ship to it's a , lot in north africa. it's a lot in the middle east as as far as wheat is concerned. and they ship a lot of corn around the world. a lot of that goes to china, a lot of that goes to europe. ]now, some of that goes to the world food program and others that, you know, help alleviate hunger and other other important things like that. nick: beyond this deal, do you believe that there's enough being done to ease a global food crisis? joe: well the real issue, i , think, long run for ukraine is ending the war and bringing back their agricultural system to some sort of normalcy. i think with ukraine hampered by a war going on and the fact that they aren't shipping as much as

they could ship normally, that means lower prices for producers, that means less production. and because of the important role ukraine plays in world markets, i think that means continued tight supplies. because overall global stock levels continue to be fairly low, that means any sort of disruption in terms of droughts or other things could really cause price spikes. so that's that's the real concern, longer run, as we move forward over the next year or so. nick: and how important iit to solve some of these problems, given how acute this global food crisis is? joe: i think it's you know, it is extremely important to to at least get this corridor up and running, at least make sure that we can get exports back to some sort of level that is closer to what we normally would be shipping. but obviously, the real the real goal is to get an end to the war.

nick: joe glauber, thank you very much. ♪ judy: the number of americans filing for unemployment benefits fell to 250,000 last week, a sign that demand for workers remains high. but that strong overall labor market has made it difficult for state and local governments to find enough workers, affecting almost every service they provide, from trash pickup to policing. special correspondent and washington post columnist catherine rampell has the story. catherine: i'm afraid to ask. what's floating on top? bill: so grease is one of our biggest problems. catherine: ahh it's grease. on the most glamorous of newshour reporting trips, bill davis showed us around his workplace, a wastewater treatment plant. that's exactly what you think it is. bill: wastewater is typically a light brown color and it sort of

smells earthy. i mean, it's not it's not little in your face. catherine: you've had some time to acclimate yourself to it, though. bill: oh, is that what it is? it's just poopy water. catherine: public service is noble work, but it's not for everyone. it can be smelly. stressful. and often, not super lucrative. here in richland county, south carolina, nearly a quarter of government jobs are now vacant, up from 13% before the pandemic. and it's not the only place struggling to hire, says researcheroshua franzel. >> overall state and local employment is still below its peak from the february 2020 time period catherine: nationwide, private sector jobs have recovered, with more jobs today than pre-covid. but state and local governments are still way behind, despite a lot of covid relief money from the feds partly this is about retirements. >> the state and local sector has been 3 to 5 years older on

average, relate to their private sector peers. catherine and those not yet : retirement age are demanding a lot more pay but government , employers are often slow to adjust. bill: one of the things we were challenged with is if you got $15 an hour and you're going to go to amazon and make $18 an hour to drive a forklift and pick up boxes and listen to your airpods all day. do you want to do that or do you want to come play in the poopy water. or do you want to go make 25% more and work at amazon? catherine: it's especially hard for governments to match pay for jobs where private employers are rapidly raising wages. like truck-driving and construction. what would help the situation? >> money. catherine: brian knight and will truesdale of jeffersonounty, colorado's road and bridge department said they were short 36 of 190 positions. when people are leaving, what do they tell you about why they're leaving. >> the majority that we hear is pay. you know, you have to support your family, the rising costs of

fuel, food, erything going on right now. and to be able to do the same job in the private sector, get paid x amount more, it's that decision at the end of the day. catherine: worker shortages, alongside higher material costs, are causing problems all year round. in the summer, potholes aren't getting filled. in the winter, roads aren't being plowed. >> if you don't have the personnel to do it, you know, we can't complete these projects. we can't do what we do. >> so our road network, it's deteriorating quicker than ever. we have more more cars on the road, more people in in the area. with the staffing, we're just falling further behind. the amount of lane miles we should be maintaining a road or improving is dropping. catherine constituents notice, : jefferson county manager don davis says. >> the citizens, all they know is they pay taxes and they expect these services to be done. they don't necessarily understand that it's unlimited expectations against limited resources.

catherine: in richland county sometimes that means garbage pickup problems, says public works director mike maloney. >> we have had some other issues with missed collections and that and those were due to, for them, lack of workforce, replacement workforce that wasn't trained properly. and also the equipment. catherine: trucks and other equipment have hit supply chain snags. but contractor charles bruce johnson's key concern is labor: >> there's been a very low pool of drivers that have been interested. it's been a challenge. catherine: jefferson county sheriff jeff shrader says it's not only about the money. some jobs have become less attractive for other reasons. >> through 2020 we had we saw a lot of people who were just getting out of law enforcement. people who were getting hired into law enforcement aren't my age. they're younger people. their social groups were probably questioning based upon the alogue going on, the role of police and its legitimacy. catherine: the work has always

been stressful and polarizing, but today it's even harder to recruit applicants. >> from 2019 pre-pandemic, pre george floyd up until 2021, we saw a 39% decrease in the number of applications for deputy sheriffs. catherine he argues the stakes : are high. >> if public safety, sheriff's offices, police departments aren't able to have staff that that put first responders out on the street or were not able to bring people into jail that need to be in jail because of staffing concerns, ultimately, the public's at risk. catherine: between higher crime, the pandemic, and dangerous heat waves, first responders are spread thin, says richland's assistant county administrator john thompson. >> we see that because of the increased demand for services, that means increased workload for that particular crew, for that paramedic, and for the emt working on that ambulance. catherine: captain winta adams with the emergency services department says burnout is

worsening worker shortages. >> as the crew goes in service, they're normally getting a 911 call right off the bat and they'll run the call, get to the hospital, get another 911 call, run that call. get to the hospital, get another 911 call. it is very hard for them to find time to take a break, whether that's to eat breakfast or lunch or just be able to use the facilities. catherine: they're recruiting aggressively to find more staff, and recently opened a new training boot camp. >> our job as the ems professionals is to save lives. and if we don't have the adequate staff to run the calls to get to the patients that need life saving measures, then we are not able to do our job,saving lives. catherine government managers : are also trying to increase pay, though voters and elected officials are not always keen on phanding more tax dollars to public workers. >> there is a 4% cost of living adjustment that will go in effect for the net -- next even

fiscal year. catherine though the inflation : has -- >> yes, absolutely. we can't compete with inflation. catherine governments are also : recruiting by singing the virtues of public service. >> government has got a bad rap and local government gets broad brushed into that national narrative. you know, i was in the marine corps for 27 years, and people that work atocal government, i have found them to be every bit as patriotic as any marine, sailor, soldier, airmen or coastie that i ever led in almost 30 years. they really want to make a difference. catherine: that only goes so far. >> the challenge is, is that when you're asking employees to give more, give more, give more, but they still have bills to pay, and so that makes it really difficult in the long run when you don't have the revenue or you don't have the money to be able to pay them what is competitive in the market. catherine: and it turns out, davis himself has been poached by another local government and switched jobs shortly after this interview. for the pbs newshour, i'm catherine rampell in jefferson county, colorado.

♪ judy: and we'll be back shortly with an interview with singer bonnie raitt. but first, take a moment to hear from your local pbs station. it's a chance to offer your support.

judy: rock and roll hall of famer bonnie raitt is touring the country. after releasing her 21st album, just like that, earlier this year. jeff sat down with her when she was in town for our weekend news program to discuss her dynamic career and what she has learned about herself along the way. reporter: let's talk about this new album that is doing incredibly well. congratulations. most of the albums are covers. how do you do that creatively? how do take somebody else's

songwriting, their arrangement, and put your own spin on it? bonnie: it is something i have always done. i grew up loving aretha franklin, frank sinatra, ray charles and they always put their own spin on the songs they picked. i love taking an older song -- i did a gerry rafferty pitch and turned it into a reggae song. i did a talking heads song, over the years. it is really fun for me -- a lot of times they are by guys and then i put them in my key. a put some slide on it and it is absolutely different. reporter: i want to talk about one of the songs you wrote called -- down the hall. >> i asked the nurse where he was going she said hospice down the hall ♪ reporter: it was inspired by a true story. what drew you to that story? bonnie: i read it in the new york times magazine and i saw a photo essay with that and the

article interviewing these guys for no benefits. they don't make money. they've been there, for whatever they felt about what they did in their previous life i put myself , in the place of a guy that had compassion for the guys who at the end of their life have no one to hang out with in their last moments. the fact that there are 75 programs all over the country where prisoners can volunteer and get trained to help care and be a pal and be there at the end. i was so incredibly moved. i thought it would be a great story. reporter: and living for the ones. that i gather was a song about personal loss you have experienced. when i first heard it i thought it was about the epidemic. bonnie: it is about everyone we lost. ♪ i'm living for the ones that didn't make it. just keep them in mind ♪ what i

did or started doing when my brother passed from brain cancer in 2009 is i am living every day for the life he did not get to have and that is in the lyrics of living for the ones. how do you get through? i'm living for the ones that did not make it. i will face the sun and look out the window and take a deep breath and that is the life they did not get to have. reporter: so many of your songs especially on this album focus on grace and redemption. how has that manifested in your life? bonnie: in 35 years of recovery, i have heard incredible stories in meetings from people that have lost everything who thought they could never reconcile with their family or their parents or get a job. and people find a way to reach out to each other and bring redemption, grace, forgiveness and that is the story that is

universal and timeless. i had no idea of the pandemic was going to happen when i wrote the songs but it is resonating for me on the audience. i think that is why the album i striking a reporter: you are at an interesting point in your career. you are getting all of these accolades, lifetime achievement awards and yet you are still , in your prime. what does that feel like to be so prolific and still be producing music and on the other hand being heralded as the legend you are? bonnie: it is a big surprise to get these rewards now but i am grateful that people feel that way about me. i was joking --i said,hat do you know? am i sick? [laughter] i just think that there is not that many people that last 50 years in the business. because of my activism and role model as a leader and guitar

player, i do a lot of different kinds of music and i think it is wonderful to be recognized for who i am in the world and not just the way that i sing. but i was surprised and pleasantly surprised as i am with the reception to this record. i was just putting out another record. i did not expect it to get all this attention on top , of coming back from the pandemic, it feels fantastic. judy: and she deserves all of the attention. thank you, geoff bennett. and thank you bonnie , raitt. you can watch an extended interview on our website. and new orleans is renewing its search for the remains of four victims who were attacked at a popular gay bar upstairs lounge nearly 50 years ago. we explore why the effort has taken this long and we talk with the family who has been pushing for answers. read more on our website.

that is the newshour for tonight . i'm judy woodruff. join us online right here, thank you, please stay safe, and we will see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- >> our u.s.-based customer service team can help find a plan that fits you. to learn more, visit consumer cellular.tv. >> the ford foundation, working with visionaries on the front lines of social change worldwide. >> and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. and friends of the newshour. and with the ongoing support of these institutions. ♪

and friends of the newsur. ♪ this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like yo thank you. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content anaccuracy.] >> this is a pbs newshour from w eta studios in washington and in the west, from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. >> you're watching pbs.

-"jacques pépin: heart & soul" is brought to you by... for those who cook with heart and soul, we present a kitchen made with passion. introducing the completely reimagined suite of appliances from kitchenaid. you can see more at kitchenaid.com. oxo good grips -- thoughtfully yours. vine connections, proud importer of casa silva, estate grown chilean wines from the silva family. bertolli -- proudly crafting olive oil since 1865. -viva bertolli! -riedel, the wine glass company. -oceania cruises -- worldwide destinations, fine dining, personalized service. your world. your way.