the corporation for public broadcasting.nd contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> once again from washington, our moderator. >> welcome to "washington week." it has been one year and one day since the january 6 attack. washington remains deeply scarred. former president trump has continued to spread lies about the election. on thursday, president biden addressed the nation. >> the former president has created a web of lies about the election. you cannot love your country only when you win. you cannot obey the law only when it is convenient. you can't be patriotic when you enable lies. yamiche: in a statement, former president trump said president biden was engaged in political theater. he set the democrats want to own the day so they can stoke fears and divide america. congresswoman liz cheney called out her republican colleagues for downplaying the riot. some trump loyalists quickly fired back. >> they out to be ashamed of themselves. history will judge them. >> we are proud of the work we di

the corporation for public broadcasting. and contributions from viewers like you.hank you. >> once again, from washington, our moderator. yamiche: good evening and welcome to "washington week." this week matched one year since president biden took the oath of office. challenges abound. covid is surging. inflation is at a 40 year high. his approval rail test rating is sliding he held the longest presidential press conference in history. one hour and 51 minutes. he touted progress on fighting covid, but admitted that more could have been done. >> should we have done more testing earlier? yes. but we are doing more now. yamiche: he called out republicans for former president trump's continued grip on the gop. >> did you ever think one man out of office could intimidate an entire party? wherthey are unwilling to take any vote contrary to what he thinks should be taken? fear being defeated in a primary. yamiche: a day later, republicans blasted the president. >> we have an economy that is damaged, cities and streets that are dangerous. we have adversaries who feel embol

additional support has been provided by: and by the corporation for public broadcasting, arivate corporationded by the american people. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> sreenivasan: good evening and thank you for joining us. starting today, private insurers are required to cover the cost of up to eight at-home covid rapid tests per person enrolled in a plan per month. on wednesday, those without private insurance will also be able to get free tests using a federal government website. every home in the u.s. will be eligible to order four tests online at covidtests.gov. the white house said a half- billion tests will be available and will be shipped within 7-12 days. as of today, the "new york times" tracking project shows 800,000 new cases being reported on average day. there arnow about 150,000 people hospitalized with the coronavirus, more than at any time in the pandemic. but that number includes people with minor symptoms who are being hospitalized for other reasons. doctor jeremy faust is an emergency room physician at brigham and women's hosp

the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> once again, from washington, moderator yamiche alcindor. yamiche: good evening and welcome to "washington week." we have a special new year's edition of the program. we will discuss the biggest stories of the year with top newsroom leaders. these are the folks who decide what you read, watch, and listen to every day. here to talk about trust in the media and lessons learned, are elisabeth bumiller, new york times assistant managing editor and washington bureau chief. every challenge, political director at cnn. julie pace, senior vice president at the associated press. and terence samuel, managing editor for npr. want to start with the january 6 insurrection at the capital and the lies about the 2020 election that continue. you're only days away from the anniversary of the attack, and it was a watershed moment in american history and journalism. reporters covered the story in real time, some even in harm's wa

additional support has been provided by: and by the corporation for public broadcasting, a private corporation the american people. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> sreenivasan: good evening and thank you for joining us. the biden administration is downplaying expectations for its security talks with russia that begin tomorrow in geneva. topping the agenda for the bilateral meeting is the buildup of russian forces near the border with ukraine. in interviews today, secretary of state antony blinken said that he did not expect any breakthroughs, and called for de-escalation. >> we're going to listen to their concerns. they'll listen to our concerns, and we'll see if there are grounds for progress. but, to make actual progress, it's very hard to see that happening when there's an ongoing escalation, when russia has a gun to the head of ukraine with 100,000 troops near its borders, the possibility of doubling that on very short order. >> sreenivasan: while u.s. officials say they are willing to make some concessions, including limiting offensive rockets

additional support has been provided by: and by the corporation for public broadcasting, a private corporationded by the american people. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewe like you. thank you. >> sreenivasan: good evening and thank you for joining us. the four people held hostage for more than ten hours yesterday at a texas synagogue, are safe and unharmed. today the f.b.i. identified the hostage taker as malik faisal akram, a 44-year-old british citizen. hours after the man first appeared at the synagogue yesterday during services, one of the hostages was released in the late afternoon. a specialized f.b.i. hostage rescue team continued negotiating, but at about 9:00 p.m. agents breached the synagogue, freeing the remaining three people. law enforcement officials said akram was shot and killed after the hostages were out of the building, but did not say who shot him. in a statement, the f.b.i. said there s no evidence anyone else was involved. this afternoon, at a service event marking martin luther king day, president joe biden was asked about the investigation. >> they did

additional support has been provided by: and by the corporation for public broadcasting, a private corporationded by the american people. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> hill: good evening and thank you for joining us. i'm miael hill, in for hari sreenivasan. as the first anniversary of the attack on the u.s. capitol approaches, the congressional panel investigating the failed january 6 insurrection plans to hold televised hearings and go public with its findings, according to the associated press. the committee's seven democrats and two republicans have spent the past six months collecting information and holding closed door hearings on the attack. the committee is focusing on any role that former president donald trump and his allies may have played in their failed attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. today, republican representative liz cheney, the january 6 committee's vice chair, warned her fellow republicans that the former president still poses a threat to democracy. >> we, as republicans, have a choiceo make. i

additional support has been provided by: and by the corporation for public broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the american people. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> sreenivasan: good evening, and thank you for joining us. as the omicron variant continues to sweep across the country, confirmed cases and hospitalizations are beginning to fall in some places, as they rise in others. overall, new hospital admissions for covid-19 are falling slightly, compared to those of a week ago. but the level of hospitalization remains way above peaks from both last winter and from the delta variant surge last summer, straining healthcare workers and facilities. as omicron spreads, new studies released yesterday from the centers for disease control and prevention confirm that boosters are effective at protecting people from the new variant. a third dose of the pfizer or moderna covid-19 vaccine was 90% effective against hospitalization from omicron. the rise in cases has also stretched labs testing for the virus, with many processing more tests each day th

additional supportas been provided by: and by the corporation for public broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the american people. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> hill: good evening, and thank you for joining us. i'm michael hill, in for hari sreenivasan. happy new year! we'll have some of our favorite 2021 stories from the newshour weekend team, but we begin with the start of the new year. around the world, peop celebrated the beginning of 2022, despite a record number of new covid-19 cases, driven, in large part, by the omicron variant. many cities held new year's eve celebrations for the first time since 2020. new york city held its traditional new year's eve ball drop. and, just after midnight, eric adams took the oath of office as new york city's 110th mayor. the rapid increase in covid-19 cases also affected travel again today, as at least 2,500 flights across the country were canceled due to staff shortages and weather-- the highest number of airline cancellations in a single day since the start of the holiday season. as of yester

robert and susan rosenbaum, the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. announcer: major funding for "the first angry man" was provided by... the national endowment for the humanities, bringing you the stories that define us. in association with justfilms ford foundation. additional funding was provided by the jonathan logan family foundation, california humanities, catapult film fund, the better angels society, and by berkeley film foundation. [static] ronald: reagan: government is not the solution to our problem. government is the problem. george bush: read my lips... [cheering and applause] now new taxes.

additional support has been provided by: and by the corporation for public broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the american people. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> sreenivasan: good evening, and thank you for joining us. a winter storm packing near hurricane force winds and heavy snow hit the northeast today, creating blinding blizzard conditions in some areas. ten states from maine to virginia felt the effects of the noreaster, with the worst conditions along the coast. officials warned drivers to stay off the roads, including in rhode island where all non-emergency travel is banned until further notice. in several major cities, including philadelphia and new york city, residents woke up to several inches of often blowing and drifting snow. boston is expected to get hit with up to two feet of snow by the time the storm exits the region late today. according to the web site flightaware, hundreds of flights going into and out of those cities were canceled today. as of this afternoon, more than 4,600 flights were canceled nationwide. over 1

additional support s been provided by: and by the corporation for public broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the american people. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> sreenivasan: good evening, and thank you for joining us. e largest city in kazakhstan is under tightened security today. after a week of deadly protests in the central asian country, the russian defense ministry released ftage of russian soldiers and equipment arriving in kazakhstan today. the deployment comes at the request of kazakhstan's president and is part of a russian-led post-soviet military alliance. kazakhstan occupies a stratec spot between russia, china, and several former soviet republics. and in almaty, the former capital in the southeastern part of the country, there was a large police and army presence on the streets. protests that started in the western part of the country over increased energy prices, spread, and became violent. government buildings and vehicles were burned, more than 4,000 people have been detained, and at least 26 protesters and 18 police of

additional support has been provided by: and by the corporation for public broadcasting, a private corporationded by the american people. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> sreenivasan: good evening and thank you for joining us. this morning, millions of people across the northeast woke up to snow totals ranging from just a few inches to almost three feet, after a fierce winter storm walloped the region. a major nor'easter struck on friday and saturday from virginia all the way to maine, with wind gusts over 70 miles an hour in some areas. massachusetts bore the brunt of the blizzard with parts of the state seeing 30 ches of snow. this morning more than 62,000 residents there were experiencing power outages in the midst of bitter wind chills falling below zero. on cape cod, strong winds pulled power lines to the ground and coastal flooding left roads covered in slush, with salt water freezing over and wrapping cars in ice. boston tied its record for biggest single-day snowfall, yesterday seeing 23.6 inches. roads from maine to connecticut to rhode isl

announcer: this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. judy: on january sixth, thousands came to washington dc to protest the results of november's election. the day started peacefully, but quickly descended into mayhem. after an angry, provocative speech from the president... trump: o country has had enough. we will not take it anymore. judy: a mob of trump supporters stormed the united states capitol building, attering windows, fighting police, ultimately forcing their way onto the floor of the house of representatives and the senate, where members were in session. for hours, chaos and uncertainty. members of congress, journalists and staff scrambled for shelter inside the capitol. law enforcement outnumbered. eventually order was restored, but the damage was done. for the first time in more than two centuries, the people's house was attacked and overrun... this time, by its own citizens. in this pbs newshour special, "witness to the siege" i spoke with my newshour colleagues who wer

national endowment for the arts, center for asian-american media, south arts, and by the corporation for public broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the american people. additional funding for "you asked for the facts" was provided by: [film reel] [crowd chatter] robert f. kennedy: you're going to go with them here. [crowd chatter] speaker 2: thanks. i appreciate it. speaker 3: could you give an autograph? speaker 4: senator, what do you feel about the reception you got from these students down here? robert f. kennedy: it's very nice. speaker 4: the students are most happy to have you here. speaker 5: why don't you try us at football? robert f. kennedy: i think you're too good for us down here. gerald blessey: he was speaking primarily to law students, although the rest of the student body was there, that advancing the law and adherence to law is what makes us unique in the world. he was appealing to the needs of the day. robert f. kennedy: the american tradition of giving free voice to conflicting opinions and beefs really distinguishes our society from oths. gerald blessey: free speech matters. o

. >> 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: today, ukraine's leaders tried to reassure their population, despite more than 100,000 russian troops deployed near the nation's northern and eastern borders, and despite new announcements of russian training exercises. the u.s. and western countries consider an invasion as possibly imminent, and that fear is being felt on ukraine's frontlines. nick schifrin begins our coverage. >> schifrin: on the frontlines of an eight-year-old war, the defenses are centuries-old trenches. and the target practice? the man who has this site in his targets. ( gunfire ) in eastern ukraine, ukrainian soldiers skirmish daily with russian-backed separatists. since the spring of 2014, 14,000 soldiers and civilians have died. that toll leaves troops, already fighting a generational conflict, in fear of a new invasion. >> ( translated ): russia is not interested in talks. they have their own plans and tasks to execute. th

. ♪ this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting, and by contributions tostation from viewers like you. thank you. judy: a biden administration is pressing tonight to ship more -- the biden administration is pressing to ship more tests to keep schools open, amid growing criticism of test shortages, and with infections piling up nationwide. we have this report. correspondent: as cases surge in classrooms and they are disrupted, the white house is promising to do more. >> we are taking additional actions. correspondent: the administration is saddening 5 million -- sending 5 million covid test two schools every month. >> these 10 million test will allow schools to double the volume of testing they are performing in november. correspondent: this comes on top of $10 billion allocated for testing in the covid relief law, as well as the 130 billion as 130 billion dollars to help schools operate safely. -- $130 billion to help schools operate safely, but it's triggering another round of debates. that is clark county school district, the fifth-largest -- nevada's wh

america reframed was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting, the john d. and catherinee foundation, the national endowment for the arts, park foundation, and the reva and david logan foundation. ♪ ♪

. ♪ this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions toion from viewers like you. thank you. ♪ judy: the u.s. supreme court today heard lengthy arguments challenging the biden administration's vaccine and testing requirements in the workplace. the cases could have significant implications for 100 million workers. john has the story. correspondent: the rules being challenged are at the heart of the biden administration's pandemic response that would require big employers to make sure workers are either vaccinated were tested at least once a week, the other requires vaccinations for health care workers in facilities that treat medicare and medicaid patients. as with all things surrounding the pandemic and vaccines these days, these rules are sparking strong opinions. we asked viewers for some of their opinions. >> my name is robert, 27 years old, and i work in public programming at a local museum in miami, florida. as of october 1 of last year, my workplace required all staff be fully vaccinated. >> my name is kayla, 27 years old, i am a nur

. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ del toro: major funding for america reframed is provided by the corporation for public broadcastingne t. macarthur foundation. additional funding was provided by the wyncote foundation, the national endowment for the arts, and the reva and david logan foundation. oggcccccg'''xx?■ñrç rcrcrcrcrcrc (soft dratic mus) ♪ - i'm tired of all the well meaning non-cripples determining what i can and cannot do to form my life and my future. you know, get out of our way. - i knew about the rights for women, certainly,

institutions. ♪ >> and friends of the newshour. ♪ >> this program was made possible byhe corporation for public broadcasting from viewers like you. thank you. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy.] >> this is pbs newshour west from w eta studios in washington and from our bureau at the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. ♪ >>> michael was a late walker. i noticed he was more stiff. >> he couldn't walk up stair without my hand or something to hold onto. >> he was diagnosed with this disease. we took him to a clinic at ucs l. >> he has this problem. the nerves in the spinal cord, there are hundreds of them. we tease them apart individually and stimulate them and see which ones are responsible for this. >> john had taken before and after videos. nine months later and he said look at this. i was speechless. sdr changed his life. who knows what he's going to be doing a year from now. >>> tonight on kqed newsroom. a crisis is unfolding in the classroom. teachers experience burnout and are considering l

this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to yourtation from viewers like you. thank you. vanessa: i'm vanessa ruiz in for stephanie sy, we'll return to the full program after the latest headlines. the top american and russian diplomats have had a high-stakes meeting over ukraine -- and agreed to keep talking. u.s. secretary of state antony blinken and russia's foreign minister sat down in geneva today. neither indicated there had been progress. we'llet all of the details, after the news summary. also breaking tonight, two new york city police officers were shot in harlem -- according to the associated press, one has died and the other was gravely injured. a suspect was shot. and killed. a federal judge in texas today blocked enforcement -- nationwide -- of a covid-19 vaccine mandate for federal workers. the u.s. justice department said it will appeal, and the white house said 98 percent of federal employees already have their shots. that came as the cdc reported booster shots are 90 percent effective against hospitalizations in pati

america reframed was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting, the john d. and catherine ♪ ♪ my name is furquann. it's a very common name amongst muslims all around the world. it is not as common of a name as it is in new england. but, growing up, most people would call me "fur-kwan," because of the way it's spelled. you see, they'see the q- in my name, and they'd immediately think, "qua," because that's how the english language works. in arabic, though, it is a little different, it's pronounced with a k. so, my name is an arabic word that means "the difference between good and bad." you see, back in fifth grade, i used to get upset about-- well, everything. and most people, they didn't really see that, well, they saw too much, that my name was a little different from the resof theirs, so, when the first nickname emerged, i remember, it was "furky," and everybody just loved it. so, when it happened, i just thought, well, i was already letting them call me "fur-kwan." because at age ten, i was way past the point of... i had already gotten tired of explaining the difference

. ♪ this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions tor pbs station fr viewers like you. thank you. judy: covid-19 has begun 2020 to the way it ended 2021, spreading quickly throughout the country. the omicron surge is forcing airlines and businesses to limit operations as more workers fall ill or test positive. the chief medical officer in congress is urging lawmakers to work from home and the virus is disrupting back-to-school plans in many communities as well. >> students around the country file back into classrooms in the new year, but many schools chose to delay that return. as parents rushed to secure covid swabs. schools in newark, milwaukee, and cleveland moving to virtual learning or canceling classes altogether today. schools and washington, d.c., baltimore, and detroit extending winter break to ease staffing shortages. north of the border, canada's most populous province of ontario moved all classes online, delaying reopen until january 17th. in america, district forging on with in person classes this weekend ramped up testing

. ♪ this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions topbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> i'm stephanie sy with newshour west. we will return after the latest headlines. the biden administration is moving tonight to make it easier to get at-home tests for "covid-19". the white house says starting saturday, private insurers must cover 8 at-home tests, per person, per month. also today, the cdc warned against travel to canada because of a rise in "covid-19" cases there. and in china parts of the city of tien-jen' were locked down, less than a month before the winter olympics in beijing -- 75 miles away. for the first time, doctors have transplanted the heart of a pig into a human patient. the university of maryland medical center says the 57-year-old man is doing well, 3 days after the surgery. he was ineligible for a human heart transplant. the pig had been genetically modified to prevent the human body from immediately rejecting the heart. the death toll from sunday's apartment building fire in the bronx was lowered to 17 tod

. ♪ >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributionstion from viewers like you. thank you. ♪ stephanie: i'm stephanie sy with “newshour west.” we'll return to the full program after these latest headlines. president biden is trying to ease criticism over the covid 19 omicron surge, as cases keep hitting new records. he argued today that those lly vaccinated and insteadre very unlikely to get seriously ill. at the same time, he said his administration is working hard to address a nationwide shortage of covid tests. pres. biden: on testing. i know this remains frustrating. believe me it's frustrating to me, but we're making improvements. in the last two weeks, we've stood up federal testing sites all over the country. we're adding more each and every day. stephanie: in other developments, the cdc approved earlier booster shots of the "pfizer" vaccine changing the guance from 6 months to 5 months after the second dose. and the state of maryland declared an emergency and activated its national guard due to overwhelmed hospitals. meanwhile,

this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions from viewers like you. thank you. judy: president biden and vice president harris both traveled to georgia today to up the pressure on congress to pass longstalled voting rights legislation. geoff bennett begins our coverage. >> president joe biden today with an urgent new call to protect the right to vote. >> to protect our democracy, i support changing the senate rules. >> the president during his full support behind a onetime change to the senate filibuster to ease passage of voting rights legislation. >> i believe the threat to our democracy is so grave that we must find a way to pass these voting rights bills. debate them. vote. let the majority prevail. and if that bare minimum is blocked, we have no option but to change senate rules including getting rid of the filibuster for this. >> but that requires the sport of all 50 democratic senators and west virginia's joe manchin and arizona's kyrsten sinema aren't on board. and republicans are nearly unanimous in opposing the bills as government

this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to youron fromiewers like you. thank you. ♪ female announcer: essential pepin is made possible by: female announcer: kitchenaid: for the way it's made. proudly celebrating ten years of cook for the cure to support the fight against breast cancer. female announcer: and by c. donatiello winery, producing pinot noir and chardonnay from sonoma's russian river valley. c. donatiello winery is a proud supporter of jacques pepin. and by: male announcer: oxo good grips. oxo: tools you hold on to. - i'm cooking with claudine today, with my daughter, titine. we've cooked together a while, huh? - we have. we definitely have. - but i know you are not great with pastry. you don't like it. - no, i'm scared of pastry. but this, this is beautiful. - but i did those little tartlets for you-- i mean, those little-- actually galettes. they are flat. and i have fresh fig here, so i'm going to put a center, right in the center of this and this.

. >> 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 biden administration's website for requesting free at-home covid tests is now open for business. it went online today, a day ahead of the officially- scheduled launch. the website, covidtests.gov, allows four tests to be ordered per residential address. we will focus on federal efforts to deal with covid after the news summary. the u.s. senate formally opened debate today on voting rights legislation-- with little prospect of passing anything. democrats want to expand voting access, increase regulation of campaign financing, and challenge states that-- they say-- restrict voting rights. republicans say it is federal overreach, and they plan to block action, again. party leaders sparred on the senate floor. >> senate democrats are der no illusion that we face difficult odds, especially when virtually every senate republican, every senate republican, is staunchly against legislation protecting the

the ongoing support of these institutions: >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcastingby contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: the c.d.c. is taking new fire for shortening covid quarantine periods to five days without requiring a negative test. the agency reaffirmed its decision last night. but today, the american medical association said "the new recommendations are not only confusing, but are risking further spread of the virus." the a.m.a. suggested a shortage of tests influenced the decision, but c.d.c. director rochelle walensky denied that today. >> first of all, this has nothing to do with the shortage of available tests, because you can see in our quarantine guidance that we actually do recommend a test for people to emerge from quarantine, and we do anticipate that there will be more people in quarantine than there are in isolation. >> woodruff: at that same and the top ranked men's tennis player novak joke viv was denied entry to australia for failing show that he had been vaccinated. he had planned to play in the sta

. >> this program was made possible by e corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: this has been a day for the annual remembrance of dr. martin luther king, junior. but also, this year, a day of calls to action on voting rights. in chicago, a car ravan rolled through streets in support of voting rights legislation now stalled in the u.s. senate. in washington, vice president harris helped out at a food >> today, we must not be complacent or complicit; we must nt give up; and we must not give in. to truly honor the legacy of the man we celebrate today, we must continue to fight for the freedom to vote, for freedom for all. >> woodruff: martin luther king . the civil rights leader's son martin luther king 3rd is chairman of the drum major institute and i spoke with him a short time ago. >> martin luther king the third, thank you very much for joining us, you have been observing your father's birthday for virtually your entire life. you've been speaking about the commitment that he h

this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to yourtion from viewers like you. thank you. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy.] >> you're watching pbs. - do you know anyone who doesn't like french fries? - nobody. - nobody doesn't like french fries, right? you want to taste those? - they look great. oh, man. how do you get them so crisp? - well, i'm gonna show you how i did it. classically i would trim all the sides for each potato to make a perfect rectangle. then you cut it into thick slice and then into sticks, which make every fry the same size. but you can also just cut the whole potato, you know, into slice. it's just that some fries will be longer than others. rinse the cut potato to a bowl of water. then drain them, and blanch them into boiling water for about 20 to 30 seconds, and then drain them and pat them dry. when completely dry, add the potato

. >> 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: there's fresh evidence tonight that the omicron spike in covid-19 infections is hurting the u.s. job market. new unemployment claims jumped 55,000 last week, to 286,000. that's the most since october. all told, more than 1.6 million people in the country are now collecting jobless benefits. the congressional committee investigating the january 6th capitol riot asked today to interview ivanka trump. members said they want the former president's daughter and adviser to discuss her actions and conversations on that day. meanwhile, a district attorney in georgia asked for a grand jury to help investigate whether mr. trump tried to interfere with state election results. president biden marked one year in office today, with a new focus on passing at least some of his domestic agenda. his giant bill worth nearly $2 trillion was blocked in the u.s. senate. so, on wednesday, he promoted action on any chunks

. >> 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: it is the most acute crisis between the west and russia since the end of the cold war, and today both sides escalated their military deployments. the u.s. is putting troops on higher alert, nato says it will reinforce its eastern flank, and russia is adding to its already 100,000 troops on ukraine's borders. nick schifrin begi our coverage. >> schifrin: moscow calls them drills, but they sound like preparations for war. russia's defense ministry today released new video of ships and military vehicles on trains deploying toward ukraine's border. these trucks will travel 3700 miles, from russia's east. from the west this weekend, american weapons traveled 4800 miles to land in kyiv. the u.s. says the additional 200,000 pounds of ammunition and other items inside these crates, shows the u.s.' commitment to ukraine. >> schifrin: simultaneously, nato's secretary general, during a press conference with s

. >> 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: president biden is trying to ease theational angst over the omicron surge of covid-19, as cases keep hitting new records. he argued today that those fully vaccinated and boosted are very unlikely to get seriously ill. at the same time, he said his administration is working hard to address a nationwide shortage of covid tests. >> on testing, i know this remains frustrating. believe me, it's frustrating to me. but we're making improvements. in the last two weeks, we've stood up federal testing sites all over the country. we're adding more each and every day. >> woodruff: in other developments, the c.d.c. approved booster shots of the pfizer vaccine, five months after the first two doses. that is down from six months. and, the state of maryland declared an emergency and activated the national guard, due to overwhelmed hospitals. in the day's other news, party leaders butted heads over the future of th

the ongoing support of these institutions: >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcastingby contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: the biden administration is pressing tonight to ship more covid-19 test kits to schools, to help keep classrooms open. it comes amid growing criticism of test shortages, and with infections piling up nationwide. william brangham reports. >> brangham: as cases surge and classrooms nationwide are disrupted, the white house is vowing to do more. >> so today we're taking additional actions. >> brangham: the administration announced today it's sending five million covid rapid tests and five million lab-based p.c.r. tests to schools every month. >> these ten million additional tests available each month will allow schools to double the volume of testing they were performing in november. >> brangham: this comes on top of the more than $10 billion allocated for testing in the covid relief law, as well as the $130 billion earmarked in that law to help schools operate safely. but the fresh wave of infections is t

this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting, and from viewers like you.udy: president biden's plan for fighting the pandemic has taken a hit at the u.s. supreme court. he lost in his effort to knock down a challenge to one vaccine mandate today, while winning another. william brangham begins our coverage. william the court ruled that the : biden administration must stop enforcing a rule that employees at big companies take the covid vaccine or undergo routine testing. the conservative majority of justices said the administration had overstepped its authority with the rule, which would have applied to more than 80 million workers. separately, the court did allow administrations requirement that most health care workers in the u.s. -- roughly 10 million -- be vaccinated against covid-19. in a statement, president biden welcomed that stance on the mandate for health care workers but said he's disappointed the , justices opposed what he called "common-sense, life-saving requirements for employees at large businesses." this news comes as a wave of new coronavi

. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting.y contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: hospitals in at least 24 states are edging close to capacity tonight, as covid patients keep arriving. government data also shows more intensive care units are running out of beds. meanwhile, a federal website will begin taking orders wednesday for free covid tests. there is a limit of four per home. we will return to the hospital crunch, after the news summary. the leader of the far-right oath keepers militia pleaded not guilty today to a federal charge of seditious conspirac stewart rhodes is accused in connection with the january 6 attack on the u.s. capitol. ten followers are also charged. a federal magistrate in plano, texas ordered rhodes to remain in jail for now. another republican congressman, who voted to impeach president trump over the assault on the u.s. capitol, is retiring. representative john katko of new york said today that he will not seek reelection. he is the third of ten house repub

. ♪ ♪ >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting, and by contributionstion from viewers like you. thank you. stephanie: i am stephanie sy with the newshour west. we returned to the full program after the headlines. the biden administration's website for requesting free, at-home "covid" tests is now up and running. it's online a day ahead of the officially scheduled launch. households can order four tests from the website, covidtest.gov. it will focus -- we will focus on efforts to deal with covid after the news summary. in oakland, administrators at three schools cancelled classes today after a third teacher "sickout" this year. in the last two weeks, the school district has closed more than a dozen schools amid organized protests from teachers and some students over covid safty concerns. more than 1200 students signed a petition asking the district to move to online instruction, and provide more testing and masks. students in other cities including chicago and new york staged walkouts on similar issues. the u.s. senate formally opened debate today on vo

the ongoing support of these institutions: >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcastingby contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: president biden fielded questions from reporters at aarathon news conference, on everything from soaring inflation, to the stalemate on voting rights legislation, to americans' anxiety over omicron. it was his first formal meeting with the press in ten months. geoff bennett joins me now to discuss where the president's agenda stands, and what remains to be accomplished. so, hello, jeff, let's talk about what the president had to say. what kind of assessment is he giving himself? >> well, the president, judy, in talking about the past year said that it has been one of challenges but, as he put it, one of enormous progress, the president citing the pace of covid vaccinations, rising wages, also an uptick in job growth. but he said in assessing the administration's setbacks of his first year in office that he failed to fully grasp the level of republican pushback he would encounter. take a look at this. >>

. >> 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 top american and russian diplomats have had a high-stakes meeting over ukraine, and agrd to keep talking. u.s. secretary of state anthony blinken and russia's foreign minister sat down for 90 minutes in geneva today. neither indicated there had been progress. we'll get all of the details, after the news summary. a federal judge in texas today blocked enforcement, nationwide, of a covid-19 vaccine mandate for federal workers. the u.s. justice department said that it will appeal, and the white house said 98% of federal employees already have their shots. that came as the c.d.c. reported booster shots are 90% effective against hospitalizations in patients with the omicron variant. anti-abortion forces staged their annual rally in washington, d.c. today, buoyed by hopes of a sharp rollback of abortion rights. thousands protested the u.s. supreme court's "roe v. wade" decision that legalized abortio