nick schifrin joins me with more. nick, what steps did the white house take, and how do they fit in with the bill the senate is voting on? >> this is the white house and congress making a statement that in order to take on china, the u.s. must focus on itself. first, the white house critical supply chain assessment identifies four main areas of focus. they start with semiconductors, then batteries, as well as critical minerals. think about rare earths that end up in cell phones and pharmaceuticals as well. these are many of beijing's reports. the administration says that it's trying to address the vulnerabilities in supply chains, many of which covid exposed, and also strengthen u.s. resilience. then in the senate, as you said, stephanie, the u.s. innovation and competition act, one of the largest industrial bills in u.s. history, it invests tens of billions of dollars in what are called key technology focused areas -- basically reenergizing high-tech research and development. it also boosts semiconductor manufacturing

nick schifrin reports. >> schifrin: today at the white house, president biden vowed to keep fightingca's longest war-- just without u.s. troops. >> the partnership between afghanistan and the united states is not ending. it's going to be sustained. >> schifrin: flanked by afghan president ashraf ghani, and high council for national reconciliation chairman dr. abdullah abdullah, president biden promised to confront afghanistan's third covid wave, by donating three million doses of johnson & johnson vaccine and badly-needed oxygen. and, he pledged support for afghanistan's government-- but with what an administration official called “tough love.” >> afghans are going to have to decide their future, what they want. >> schifrin: president ghani compared today in afghanistan to the u.s. civil war. >> the afghan nation is an 1861 moment. like president lincoln. rallying to the defense of the republic, determined that the republic is defended. >> schifrin: but that's not going well. this week, afghan soldiers in multiple districts surrendered to the taliban, and taliban fighters have threat

nick schifrin is back with that story. >> schifrin: for alaa shamally, it's not the first time the independentnalist has picked through the remains of his family's home. >> ( translated ): i tried to move away from the eastern borders so that my family would be safe, but the occupation bombs everywhere and everyone. >> schifrin: in 2014, israeli airstrikes destroyed his home along the gaza-israel border. so he moved further west. incaroel miry. three minutes later, an israeli missile destroyed their ap >> ( translated ): we, the adults, couldn't withstand the shock of losing our home. you can't find words to describe the feeling in dictionaries. can you imagine how it was for the children, who were sleeping peacefully and in a moment they became homeless? >> schifrin: his children include dema, 12, obada 10, salah 7, and abed ala 5. >> ( translated ): what is the price that gaza has to pay so that the international community addresses these crimes and provides a safe environment for citizens? >> schifrin: but even before a safe environment, they need basic necessities. at this u.n. food distri

for the pbs newshour, i'm nick schifrin. >> woodruff: and to the analysis of brooks and capehart.k times" columnist david brooks and jonathan capehart, columnist for "the washington post." hello to both of you. on this friday night, it's very good to see you, and there is a lot to talk about. david, let's start with where we are on the so-called infrastructure negotiations. not sure that term tells us everything, but today we're hearing president biden focus on the good news in the jobs report, but also we're learning that the talks with republicans coming up with some sort of infrastructure compromise don't seem to be going anywhere. if they don't, david, has this all been a waste of time? >> no, i don't think so. i think he's compromised a lot more than i thought he would. he's come down on the overall size of the package by a trill, republicans have come up by 2 billion. he wants to make sure there are some corporate taxes but is willing to bend on the original proposal. i think he needs to do that, in part, because there are a lot of moderate d.m.s w are nervous by this bill,

nick schifrin is back with me now. nick, good to have you with us to talk about this, as well.t are the military leaders saying they believe could happen? >> yeah, this is, perhaps, as blunt and pessimistic a statement as the military has ever made about afghanistan. it's also the first time that the biden administration or the military has publicly acknowledged the ultimate risk of this withdrawal. this is general scott miller the u.s. commander in kabul telling journalists civil war is certainly a path that can be visualized, if this continues on the trajectory it's on right now. that should be a concern to the world, and it's certainly a concern to t region for creating an environment where there's even more violence than there is today. so what's behind this warning? the first thing, taliban strength. since the u.s. announced it's withdrawal, the taliban have seized some 50 districts across the country, some not so important but others critical, and could cut off kabul from the other parts of the country. second, afghan army weakness. across the country, we are seeing examp

nick schifrin is back with a look at the trip, and the thorny issues she and the administration are tryingck: in mexico city this morning, a united front, flanked by vice president harris, the mexican president, the u.s. and mexico agreed to help develop the so-called northern triangle, home to 65% of migrants who try and make it to the u.s.. v.p. harris: the united states and mexico will build a long-standing relationship. nick: mexico and the u.s. don't always agree on tactics but they share the goal of reducing migration. the northern triangle has homicide rates amongst the highest in the world. poverty, the region is among the poorest in the western hemisphere. in guatemala, the country has the world's sixth highest rate of chronic meditation, and so far this year more unaccompanied guatemalans have attempted to enter the u.s. than any other country. >> the president and i also discussed the root causes, in rticular the lack of economic opportunity for many people here in guatemala. nick: harris spent yesterday with the guatemalan president, whom she has -- with the guatemalan presiden

nick schifrin explores this moment. nick: judy, that's right.two views on the state of relations between the united states and europe. jana puglierin is head of the berlin office at the european council on foreign relations. and heather conley heads the europe program at the center for strategic and international studies and was a state department official focused on europe, during the george w. bush administration. thank you very much. welcome to you both to the "newshour." let me start with you. does western europe believe that the united states will remain a reliable partner? >> terribly relieved to have joe biden as the american president and not donald trump. it feels lik the nightmare is somewhat over, but we do not know how long it will last, so there is a fundamental insecurity in the transatlantic relationship, seen from berlin and europe, whether in four year s' time the united states will have another president, a trumpian president again, and that is a big worry. nick: a response? >> it has increased bipartisanship, just as president

as nick schifrin tells us, now tigray rebels are claiming victory. and a warning: images and accounts in this report may upset some viewers. >> today, i tigray, celebration for what they are: liberation day. residents posted cellphone video of rebels entering the city flying their flag. just hours beforehand, the capital erected in fireworks after ethiopian soldiers were treated. the last eight months, those ethiopian soldiers with allies for this left a trail of scorched earth. they occupy much of tigre -- tigray. the military responded with widespread atrocities. children and over 60 civilians killed while they shot at a market bombed by ethiopian planes. families wailed and waited for 27 hours for international health care workers to arrive after if the opium troops blocks access. when they carried away the wounded, so many arrived at the hospital 20 miles away, the lobby became a triage center. the victims barely older than the civil war. this mother looks on as the doctor tries to save a young life. ethiopian soldiers are accused of systematic r

nick schifrin explores how this coalition government might usher in a new era of political leadership: it's the unlikeliest of coalitions. the next prime minister, right-wing naftali bennett, who vows there will never be a palestinian state. the next foreign minister, centrist yair lapid, former tv host who believes in the two-state solution. and mansour abbas, leader of an islamist party, who'demanded improved rights for israel's arab minority. along with others, they formed the change coalition, unit only in their opposition to one man. benjamin netanyahu is the country's longest running prime minster, one of israel's most consequential politicians, and today, one of its most divisive. the change coalition's strange bedfellows needed to come together to oust him because of the knesset, or parliament math. a government coalition needs 61 of 120 seats. in the last election, netanyahu's likud got the most, 30 seats, but he couldn't create a coalition. lapid's yesh atid party came in second with 17, so he tried next. the change coalition adds the centrist blue and white party's 8 seats.

nick schifrin explores this moment. >> schifrin: judy, that's right.ow we get two views on the state of relations between the u.s. and europe. jana puglierin is head of the berlin office at the european council on foreign relations. and heather conley heads the europe program at the center for strategic and international studies, and was a state department official focused on europe, during the george w. bush administration. thank you very much, welcome to both to the newshour, jana puglierin let me start with you, does western europe believe that the u.s. remain a reliable partner beyond the biden administration. >> western europe is terribly relieved to have joe biden as american president and not trump, it feels like the nightmare is some what over but we don't know how long that will last. so there is a fundamental insecurity in the transatlantic relationship seen from berlin and europe, whether in four year's time the united states, yeah, will have a different president, a trump president again and that is actual three a big worry here. >> heather

nick schifrin has more. >> the pentagon estimates there could be as many as 20-thousand sexual assaultsevery year. right now, military commanders decide whether service members under their command, should be prosecuted. an independent commission recommended removing the chain of command from that decision making process. but until tonight, the defense department resisted that. for more on secretary austin's endorsement of that recommendation, we turn to retired colonel don christenson, who had a 23 year career as an air force lawyer, and is now president of protect our defenders, an advocacy group. welcome back to "newshour". how to begin is this announcement? >> this is the first time in the history of the american military they have recognized that they are failing at addressing assault. that is a command issue. and that we need to take prox accused and away from commanders. >> as you well know, this has been resisted by members of the military at the most senior levels for many years. i have here the same from military members as well. what changed and why was that resistance so comm

nick schifrin has details, and speaks to the state department coordinator in charge of the effort. >> schifrin: the administration says it will donate 25 million vaccines immediately. 19 million, or 75%, will go to covax, the u.n. led effort to vaccine the world. of that, six million will go to central and south america, seven million to asia, and five million to africa. the other six million being allocated today, will be donated bilaterally to hard hit areas such as india, the west bank and gaza, and allies and partners, such as canada, mexico, egypt and iraq. echoing the world's scientists, the president said today, “as long as this pandemic is raging anywhere in the world, the american people will still be vulnerable.” by june, the u.s. promises to donate 80 million doses. to talk about this announcement and the administration's policy on sharing vaccines, i'm joined by gayle smith, the state department's coordinator for global covid response and health security. gayle smith, welcome to the "newshour". the administration has had dozens of requests all over the world for vaccines.

here's nick schifrin. >> schifrin: today in tigray, celebration, for what tigrayans are calling “liberationay.” in the city of shire, residents posted cell phone videos of tigrayan rebels enring the city, flying the tigrayan flag. just hours before, tigray's capital makele erupted in fireworks, after ethiopian soldiers retreated. for the last eight months those ethiopian soldiers, with allies from neighboring eritrea, left a trail of scorched earth. they occupied much of tigray, in a conflict with tigrayan military and political forces who used to run the country, and recently defied nobel peace- prize winninprime minister, abiy ahmed. ahmed and the military responded with what international humanitarian groups call widespread atrocities. the most violent, just last week-- children and more than 60 civilians, killed while they shopped at a market bombed by ethiopian planes. families wailed, and waited for 27 hours for international health care workers, after ethiopian ground troops blocked access. when a convoy of ambulances finally carried away the wounded, so many arrived at a hospital 20