our congressional correspondent lisa desjardins brings us the latest on the negotiations. a, tell us where do things stand? i know at one point they the shopped debating. where does it stand now? >> desjardins: that is still the case judy. senatesdemocrats, even as they were taking the floor oarch the relief bill, it surrounds one of their own members, democratic senator from west virginia, joe manchin. he would like those extended unemployment benefits to end perhaps in july. democrats announced a deem previously that would extend them about from september into october. that has led to an impasse, even though democrats hoped they would be flying closer to the finish line. we are hoping to see what resolves tonight. >> woodruff: with everything going on lisa tell us what's changing if anything in the bill and who would be affected. >> desjardins: that's right. there are major provisions that are still in play tonight and they obviously have major impact across the country. let's look at that. first of all those $1400 checks, the slightly more limited version now in senate d

we'll see. >> woodruff: lisa desjardins followig all of these important issues on capitol hill. lisa, thank you. >> woodruff: protests erupted again this week in lebanon, as a spiraling currency crisis led to violence in the streets. a strict covid-19 lockdown has crushed the economy and meant many lebanese have gone months without income. and, as special correspondent leila molana-allen reports from tripoli, many now are left with nothing. >> reporter: it's a smoggy tuesday afternoon in lebanon's northern most city tripoli and to families in some of the poorest neighborhoods. for some here it will be the most substantial thing they eat today. as lebanon's economy plummets, local charities are overwhelmed trying to provide for families basic needs and the need is greater than ever. the price of bread has nearly doubled in the last six months. now dm donations are drying up. >> there are a lot of people who call asking for something to eat but we can only provide what we're able to. people have forgotten what meat is here so they usually ask for simple daily needs like bread, even

and we dig in now, into more of the details, with our congressional correspondent lisa desjardins. , lisa. tell us, over all, where is the country right now with regard to the paycheck protection program? >> lisa: let's go through some big numbers here. this program, since it was started, judy, has given out eight million loans. since january, that is three million, almost a third of the loans on this program have been this year. there is $80 billion remaining in funding -- i'm s sorry, $80 million in funding, and that should be enough to end the funding, and that is what sources on capitol hill tell me. >> woodruff: and, lisa, we were just hearing these voices, of course, from people who struggled to get the loans. tell us about where we are with regard to disparity in handing out this money? >> lisa: as we heard from those voices across the country, there is a wide spectrum of experience here. but in general, we know this: last year the loans given out in p.p.p. were disproportionate. in fact, twice of rate of lines for p.p.p. were given out in white areas than were in areas that

lisa desjardins, thank you very much. elcome. ♪ judy: as we reported earlier, president biden pledged to meet a higher public vaccination goal today. right now, more than one in five americans have received at least one dose of a covid vaccine. but in many areas of the country, people who are eligible are still struggling to get vaccinated. john yang reports on some volunteers who are stepping in to help. mansi: my name is mansi, and i'm a volunteer. does harriet still need help in securing an appointment for the covid-19 vaccine? >> yes, desperately. she's 93 years old. john: for weeks now, mansi shah has been helping strangers nab slots to get their shots. mansi: are you guys taking appointments for seniors above the age of 65? >> no, we're booked. we're totally booked. john: shah works full time, but she makes calls and scours the web early in the morning and late at night, when spots are made available. mansi: if i'm not working, if i'm not sleeping, i'm doing this. john: vaccine supply remains limited in some areas. d

director christopher wray faced lawmakers today, reflecting on the capitol attack and as lisa desjardins reports, the growing challenge of domestic terrorism. >> desjardins: the day started with dramatic video of the january 6th attack itself, and the words of officers who were there. after watching, f.b.i. director chris wray's own words were unequivocal. >> i was appalled, like you at the violence and destruction that we saw that day. simple and it's behavior that we, the f.b.i., view as domestic terrorism. >> desjardins: repeatedly, the hearing focused on january 5th f.b.i. intelligence, warning of inteet chatter calling for war at the capitol. wray called the intelligence report uncorroborated but said his agents properly forwarded it within an hour. >> we did communicate that information in a timely fashion to the capitol police and m.p.d. in, not one, not two, but three different ways. having said that, i do not consider what happenedn january 6 to be an acceptable result. and that's why we're looking so hard at figuring out how can the process be improved. >> desjardins: carrie co

to help walk us through the latest, our congressional correspondent lisa desjardin and our foreign affairsspondent, nick schifrin. hello to both of you, and lisa, to you first, this massive covid relief bill, it is now in the senate. tell us the latest. >> reporter: well, judy, we're expecting this to start moving tomorrow, now. the senate is waiting for the final price tag from the congressional budget office before it can move ahead through its budget process. there was news today. democrats made a deal with themselves. moderates were concern this bill went too far and there's now an agreement to shave down the number of americans who would get those $1,400 direct payment checks. this agreement would mean that americans making up to $75,000 would get the full check. but now it would phase out and only those kind of get a limited amount up to $80,000 instead of the upper $100,000, and there's also a similar limit for families. so that deal is moving along, and we think we're going to see probably final votes in the senate in the next two, three days. >> woodruff: so, li, important time fo

lisa desjardins has the story of g.esterday not far from washington. >> desjardins: an unapologetic criminal, conservative firebrand and broadcast showman, g. gordon liddy held a unique place in american politics. after time in the army, the young new yorker rose quickly as an f.b.i. agent and then prosecutor. in 1968, he joined the richard nixon presidential campaign, managing a local campaign office. once nixon was in the white house, liddy springboarded into a job in washington. it was the time of the vietnam war, and the leak of the pentagon papers questioning the war. the nixon administration tapped liddy to join a group nickname“" the plumbers” to investigate leaks. that led directly to perhaps the greatest presidential scandal in american history. >> how high did the scandals reach? and was president nixon himself involved? >> desjardins: liddy masterminded the idea of breaking in and wiretapping the democratic national committee's headquarters inside the watergate complex in washington. when his burglars bungled

supporters say it's necessary for election security, but as lisa desjardins reports, it is drawing irevoting rights groups and even president biden. >> a fast-moving issue inside the georgia state capitol where a new election law got final passage and was signed by georgia governor brian kemp within hours yesterday. >> georgia will take another step toward ensuring our elections are secure, accessible, and fair. >> defiant of critics, he said this will improve elections. elections. but outside his office... >> why is the governor trying to sign something in private? >> ...critics were at the door because they see voter suppression. one lawmaker, democratic state representative park cannon, began knocking on the door and was arrested after police told her to stop. >> no, are you not-- >> reporter: outcry over the legislation. supporters say the new law, sb-202, increases access by adding another saturday of early voting, but critics point to myriad other provisions. it shortens the window to get an absentee ballot, it ends signature verification. instead, absentee voters must have a dri

address to the nation from the white house by the president with our yamiche alcindor and our lisa desjardins. hello to both of you. we are seconds away, we're told, from president biden speaking from the oval office, but, yamiche, in the few seconds that we have, the president is going to be trying to turn our attention to the future. >> reporter: that's right, he's going to be talking about how we can make it through this pandemic, he's going to talk about how to put the country on a path to n normalcy, calling ot hate crimes against asian-american and talking about a site the country will launch for vaccinet. >> woodruff: president biden. good evening, my fellow americans. i would like to talk about where we are as we marked one year since everything stopped because of this pandemic. a year ago, we were hit with the virus that was met with silence and spread unchecked, denials for days, weeks, th months. that led to more deaths, more infections, more stress, and more loneliness. photos and videos from 2019 feel like they were taken in another era. the last vacation. the la day with friends

congressional correspondent lisa desjardins begins our coverage. >> desjardins: house democrats are back in washington, standing by to give final approval to the $1.9 trillion covid relief package. white house press secretary jen psaki, on the bill, which is largely what president biden proposed. >> i will note that the plan that the senate passed this weekend puts us one huge step closer to passing one of the most consequential and most progressive pieces of legislation in american history. >> desjardins: senate passage came only after some high-drama and high-stakes bargaining. west virginia democrat joe manchin raised concerns about the size of unemployment benefits, but got on board after a compromise idea and a phone call with mister biden. pass the bill, democrats used a budget process requiring just 50 votes, but as they have exactly 50 votes, they needed the support of every senator in their party. after more than 24 hours of debate and votes on dozens of amendments, the senate finally passed the so-called “american rescue plan” saturday in a party-line vote. it included a new ro

lisa desjardins reports. (gavel pounds) >> desjardins: for the first time in more than 30 years, a congressional hearing on discrimination against asians. an issue both public and personal for asian-american lawmakers in both parties. >> the asian american community has reached a crisis point that cannot be ignored. since the beginning of the covid-19 pandemic, asian americans have been terrified by the alarming surge in anti-asian bigotry and violence we have witnessed across our nation. >> 68% of these incidents and crimes were targeted towards asian american women. this has to stop. >> desjardins: the topic is especially poignant in the wake of deadly shootings at spas in the atlanta area this week. eight people were killed, six were women of asian descent. the full motive of the accused gunman, 21-year-old robert aaron long, is still being investigated, but its effects are reverberating nationwide. numerous cities held vigils last night, moments of grief and frustration. >> it's heartbreaking to notice an

yamiche alcindor, lisa desjardins, thank you both. >> woodruff: as we reported earlier, astrazeneca is facing new questions today after a highly unusual reprimand from a board overseeing the company's clinical trials. just yesterd, astrazeneca announced its covid-19 vaccine was highly effective but today, it is scrambling to respond to allegations it used misleading data. nick schifrin reports. >> schifrin: astrazeneca is one of the world's most important covid vaccines: inexpensive, easy to administ, and the primary vaccine not only for europe but also for the u.n.'s program for low- and middle-income countries. but the independent american panel of experts that oversees the company's trials accused the company, in a letter seen by the "new york times," of a selectively positive analysis of its own data. and the organization led by doctor anthony fauci, blamed the company, and acknowledged its actions would increase vaccine hesitancy. >> this is really what you'd call an unforced error. this is very likely a very good vaccine and this kind of thing does as you say, do nothing but real

our congressional correspondent lisa desjardins brings us the latest on the negotiations. tell us where things stand. we know at one point ty had stopped baiting. where does it stand -- stopped debating. where does it stand? lisa: senate democrats instantly hit and major obstacle, and it is over the timing of unemployment benefits and it surrounds one of their own members, democratic senator from west virginia, joe mansion. he has indicated according to sources that he would like the extended unemployment benefits to end perhaps in july. democrats had earlier announced a deal extending them through september and into october. that has led to an impasse when thought th were be -- they would be flying to the finish line. judy: with all that is going on, tell us what is changing, if anything, in the bill, and who would be affected. lisa: there are major provisions still in play tonight and they obviously have major impact across the country. let's look at that. the $1400 checks, the slightly more limited version would affect about 150 million americans. $300 added per week see

to help walk us through the latest, our congressional correspondent lisa desjardins and national securityorrespondent nick schifrin. hello to both of you. lisa, this massive covid relief bill is now in the senate. tell us the latest. lisa: we are expecting this to start moving tomorrow now. the senate is waiting for the final price tag from the congressional budget office before it can move ahead with its budget process. there was some news today. democrats made a deal with themselves. moderates were concerned this bill went too far. there is now an agreement to shave down those americans who would get the $1400 direct payment check. this means americans making up to $75,000 would get the full check and it would phase out and only those will get a limited amount of two $80,000. -- limited amount up to $80,000. we will probably see final votes in the senate in the next 2-3 da ys. judy: important time for that legislation but there is also separately this threat hanging over the capital, worrying about violence tomorrow specifically. what is that about? lisa: there has been word from capito

lisa desjardins talks to a local leader there about what comes next. ense of where things stand with judge lina hidalgo, a democrat. she is the head of the governing body of harris county, texas, which includes houston and is the third largest county in this country. judge hidalgo, let's start, first of all, with setting the scene for us. take us there. judge hidalgo: starting today in texas, gatherings big or small can take place at 100% capacity with all mask mandates lifted. if history is any indication we , will see folks wearing masks less and less as the days go by. initially, we had a mask mandate here in harris county about a year ago at this point. folks were wearing their masks. then the governors superseded that mandate, eliminated it. folks stopped wearing the masks, until the governor reinstated the mask mandate, which he's now again removing. was it a good idea? i am afraid not. it was premature. we have such good news in terms of the stimulus package we were just hearing about, in terms of the vaccines that are steadily coming. we know we

lisa desjardins reports. this, we go to a reservation -- the hopi reservation in northeast arizona to speak to the tribe's chairman, timothy nuvangyaoma. there are some critics and western states, that she will shut down too much drilling. what does this mean to you? >> h from the hopi nation, we are excited that she will fill this critical role and across native communities, to have someone actually said in that position that understands what we are dealing with and someone who has that compassion to look at, of course there will be some of those challenges you mentioned. but as stewards of the land, she has the overwhelming task of managing such a large land base and looking at ways -- and the overall view of that which will definitely protect and overseas these areas. lisa: whether the biggest issues on your reservation right now that any covid relief money in particular could help with? timothy: we have a number of different areas, but i will focus on just a couple. broadband infrastructure, electrical inf

lisa desjardins takes us to one battleground state and explains the raging debate. >> vote no on hb-531rgia this week, the sounds of american democracy still struggling, and over an essential trait -- voting itself. >> this is what democracy looks like. lisa: outside the state house, protesters chant about access, fearful their ability to vote is under threat. >> all those in favor -- lisa: inside, the republican-led legislature says the issue is security, pushing sweeping bills to rewrite state voting laws, blaming 2020. rep. powell: if you didn't see confusion this year, i don't know what you saw. lisa: georgia's lower chamber, the house, has already passed hb-531, which cuts down early voting on weekends, adds i.d. requirements, and shortens the time to get an absentee ballot. the state senate is also considering ending no-excuse absentee voting and automatic voter registration at the dmv. debate has been sharply polarized. rep. jones: house bill 531 will greatly improve our election processes for all voters. rep. clark: hb-531 is textbook voter suppression. rep. dreyer: voter suppre

of other issues on the biden administration's agenda, i'm joined by our yamiche alcindor and lisa desjardins. hello to both of you. the president today did address this terrible shooting last night in boulder. we know he has seen this before, as vice president. he was there during the shooting at sandy hook, and during another mass shooting in orlando and before that as a united states senator. how is the white house responding to these latest atrocities? >> president biden is responding to the lady shooting in boulder, colorado, by again urging the passage of gun reform. something he has done over and over again route his career as vice president and as a sinner. it's still unclear whether some gun legislation can get to the house and the senate. that being said, the white house is throwing its support behind two bills that have already passed the house, one focused on increasing and improving background checks, another on banning -- a range of issues can be thought of and him going it alone in this executive order could be one of the ways that he does this. the other thing to notice that t

lisa desjardins talks to a local leader there about what comes next. >> reporter: we get a sense of whereand with judge lina hidalgo, a democrat. she is the head of the governing body of harris county, texas, which includes houston and is the third largest county in this country. judge hidalgo, set the scene for us. take us there. are people wearing masks for the most part or no, and do you think it's safe to lift the mask mandate now in texas? >> starting today in texas, every kind of entity, big or small, gathering big or small, can take place at 100% capacity and all mask mandates have been lifted. in fact, counties and cities have been prohibited from implementing their own mask mandate. remains to be seen what folks do, but if history is any indication, we will see folks wearing mazics less and less as the days go by. initially we had a mask mandate here in harris county about a year ago at this point. folks were wearing the masks, the governor superseded that, eliminated it, and then folks started wearing the masks until the governor removed it. was it a good idea? i'm afraid not. i

lisa desjardins looks at that record, and what the new legislation does to address it. >> desjardins:udy, the new law allocates $5 billion to farmers of color. most of that money would wipe out their federally-backed debt by paying 120% of their federal farm loans. the u.s.d.a. has told the newshour that it would help about 14,000 of those farmers, providing about $175,000 in relief on average. the struggles of black farmers are especially acute. john boyd is a fourth-generation farmer himself in southern virginia, and the president of the national black farmers association. >> let's start right away. how would this money help pblack farmers? >> it will give them a jump start in their farming operation. first and foremost, this measure is historic in nature. it provides $5 billion, $4 billion for debt relief and other incentives, and $1 billion for outreach and really look at the issues of discrimination at the united states department of agriculture. something i was trying to do for about 30 years. so this is a huge step in the right direction, especially for congress and for the agr

lisa desjardins reports. >> desjardins: to understand this, we go to the hopi reservation in northeastto speak to the tbe's chairman, timothy nuvangyaoma. first on deborah haland, she does have critic this western states those that think she will turn down too much drilling or energy production, what do you think of her and what does this mean to you? >> from the hopi nation we are extremely excited and we're also really encouraged that at this level that she has been appointed to fill this very critical role. and i think that resonates across native communities. they have somebody to actually in that position that understands through a tribal lens what we are dealing with. it is somebody that has that compassion to look at. of course there is always going to be some of those challenges that you just mentioned but you know, i know she has that overwhelming task of managing such a large land base and you know, really looking at ways to print the overall view of that, it is definitely going to protect and oversee the areas that. >> what are the biggest issues on your reservation right no