>> major funding for the pbs newshour h been provided by: ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. in >> supportg social entrepreneurs and their solutions to the world's most pressing problems-- skollfoundation.org.fo >> the lemelsodation. committed to improving lives through invention, in the u.s. and developing countries. on the web at lemelson.org. >> supported by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. committed to building a more just, verdant d.d peaceful wo more information at macfound.org >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to frur pbs statio viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: the nation is now within days of approving pfizer's coronavirus vaccine, and the casualty count is adding urgency. nationwide, nearly 2,600 people died tuesday, and the overall death toll topped 288,000. canada approved the pfizer vaccine today, and inoculations have begun in britain. but, british health officials warned those subject to serious allergic reactions to wait, after two reported cas president-elect biden day introduced retired army general lloyd austin as secretary of defense-designate. he'd be the first black american to hold that office, if confirmed. but, some senators haveon ques waiving a ban on recently retired military officers in the secretary's job. they did waive it for present trump's choi of james mattis in 2017. today, in wilmington, re, mr. biden urged a waiver for austin as well. >> i would not be asking for this exception h not-- if i did not believe this moment inor our hididn't call for it. it does call for it. and if it didn't have the faith i have in lloyd austin to ask for it. i believe in the importance of civilian control of the military. so does the secretary-designee, austin. >> woodruff: also tonight, the newshour has confirmed that the biden pick for u.s. trade representative is katherine tai she is currently chief trade lawyer for the house ways and means committee. the president-elect's son, hunter biden, announced today that his tax affairs are under feral investigation. he gave no details but said he believes aeview will show he has acted legally. the michigan sta supreme court has rejected another effort by president trump's alli to change the election outcome. the court refused today to sbaze ballots anot boxes, or investigate alleged vote fraud in detroit. meanwhile, youtube said it will start removing newideos that falsely claim mass fraud in the presidential race. the federal government and 46 states sued cebook today over they accused the world's largest social network of stifling smaller mpetitors. the new york attorney general, letitia james, laid out the states' complaint, in new york city. >> we cannot let large corporations gain more and more power over our lives, through anti-competitive practices that only serve their interest, and undermine the competitive spirit of our nation and the spirit of our economy and cause harm to consumers. >> woodruff: separately, the boderal trade commission demanded that fa sell two of its most popular services: instagram and whatsapp. regulators in china have ordered more tn 100 mobile phone apps overhauled. it's billed as a crackdown gn pornographbling and prostitution. of actions by the st in a string communist party to control what is seen online insidchina. a boeing 737 max made its first commercial flight today since ono fatal crashes grounded all of the planes 20s ago. brazil's largest carrier, gol airlines, used a 737 max o a flight from sao paulo to porto alegre. american airlines plans to resume flying the planesern the u.s. lhis month. and, on wall street, stocks sank over worries about coronavirus infections and economic stimulus.do thjones industrial average lost 106 points to close at 30,068. the nasdaq fell 243 points, 2%, and, the s&p 500 slipped 29. how lawmakers are scrambling to provide economic relief in thend emic. from the frontlines: we hear from a healthcare worker on the challenges of covid why women are too often carrying the burden and economic hit in this trying time. plus much more. >> woodrf: the negotiations involve senators, house members an hammer out an economic relief bill during thismic, that and to update us on where it all stands is our own lisa desjardins. so, hello, lisa. tell us, where do things stand. has there en any new movement in the last 24 hoursay >> i have tojudy, these are complex negottions to begin with. in the last day they have become more conng. lawmakers seem to agree on the rough amount of aid thn they ss. they don't agree on where it should go. let's look at where we stand right now. the white house yesterday made offer that would have $600 in direct checks to most americans, but the white house wouldn't benefits for those without jobs. democrats say they need more unemployment benefits and ta states and local governments also need more than the white use was offering. another problem: the senate republican conference is divide over most of these issues, and it's difficult to figure out where a majority of that conference could aee. now on this question of direct payments, there has been inepsed momentum and discussion of adding direct payments to any deal. however, that is a costly prospect, as much as $300 billion. and it is that total cot that senate republicans have a problem with. so while that seems to be a popular idea, tre has not been a proposal that seems to have momentum that has worked it to everyone's satisfaction. >> woodruff: so, lisa, how much pressure from the public are these lawmakers feeling we ha the results of a new pbs newshour/npr/maris poll about what americans want congress to do here. >> we cover so much divide. so many issues in amrica are 50-50. not this one.e in t pbs neour/npr/maris poll, two-thirds of people responded that federal government is not doing enoughav on corus relief, and even more, two-thirds said that congress needs to comanomise, not son principle, but compromise. why do people feel this way?ll wemore and more americans are directly affected. let's look at this graphic there shows how many people told us o that th someone in their household had lost a job or% income, . and when you look at how many people of color, non-whites, 49%, almost half of all the people of color in our survey said they have lost income. so very serious effects, and ssthat's where the pree is coming from. >> woodruff: and, lisa, looking at that poll, there were also some interestingindings about where the public is with regard to a vaccine anat they-- how they're feeling this pandemic >> yeah, let me go throu these quickly. it's interesting, on the vaccine front, 61% of americansun or survey told us that they would be vaccinate. that's a big jump report from 49% that gave us that reponse in just stember. and there is a partisan divide on this question. so if you look at at partisan breakdown, democrats, 75% of democrats say they would be vaccinated. but it's not just partisan divide. it's a gender divide. republican men, 61% say they would be okay wih being vaccinated. but 34% of republican women only would say they're vaccinated. genderething going on in there, possibly. but one area that everyone seems to agree with, most people, two-thirds, judy, say they now know someone who was sick or they themselves have been sick with the coronavirus. >> woodruff: so interesting and concerning, lisa, a you say about that political divide over the vaccine.g all , lisa desjardins reporting for us, thank you. >> woodruff: the bipartisan plao is not sed by all. one key voice of dissent,an senator berniers of vermont. he wants to see moneg to go directly to americans bank accounts. he joins me now. senator sanders thank you so much for joining us again. tell us why you think thi so-called direct payment is the way to go. how much should it be? how much do it cost. >> judy, i think you just gave the answ ament ago. we are looking right now at the worst economic crisis facing working people since the great depression. i mean, we're talking about millions of people who have lost their jobs and their income. we're talking about te of millions of people who face eviction. we're talking about laf half our population living pay check t paycheck. people don't have any hek. and we're seeing ale record-breakinl of hunger in the united states of america. people can't feed their kids. this is an emergency. and in an emergency, it is obligatory for the united states government to respond to the pain and needs of its people.i now, the that we are discussing right now has some good things in it, to be sure. but it is, in terms of new money-- it's a $900 bil--on bin terms of new money as opposed to the money carerried rom the cares act, it's like $350 bilion. democrats have demanded over $2 trillion. what this bill does not do is provide one nickel in direct payment to adults-- and i want see $1,200, $500 for kids-- and it only has $300 a week for unemployment supplement. so we've got to do a lotte b than that if in fact we're going economic probleming ourious people. >> woodruff: well, you don't seem to hav democratic leadership on board with this yet, as you know. but what i want to as you about is the fact that some republicans are with u. conservative electronic senator josh hawley of new jersey is pushing the white hse har and no doubt influenced the white house to say it favors rect payments. how odd-- how usual is it for you to be on the same side of this argument with him? >> well, you know, want truth is, i think when pushed, for whatever reason, donald trumpwi , in fact, end up supporting a $1,200 direct payment for working class people in this country. we have some republican support. and you have, i think, at the end of the day, an overwhelming majority of democratic senators nt to do this. but what has to happen right now, we have got to have the backbone to say very simply, we are not leaving washington, we're not going home for the christmas holidays unless we stand with the working familiesh of this countrare in such teible distress >now.ow. >> woodruff: again, senator, you have democratic-- democratsn he leadership, speaker pelosi, minority leader chuckin schumehe senate, saying it's more important at this point to get money out the the form of unemployment benefits, rather than thse direct payments-- which was something they earlier supported. so how are you going to square this circle? how do you see this comg together? >> well, pay attention. we're taking a hard look at the senate rules.d i think-- i dt see the kesults of your poll, but my guess is if you the american people whether or not at this terrible moment in terms of our economy, whether the united states government should be providing dire assistance, as we did a number of months ago in the cares act, i think it would be overwhelmpport for that. and i think that is what we have got to do. >> woodruff: and, senator, you're asking, as you said ao minute ago,a lot of money, a lot more money than many thmbers are comfortable w our poll is showing most americans, more than 60% of them, want toe compromise. are you prepared to settle for something passed? just to get >> well, judy, as you ma recall, it wasn't so many months ago where mr. minew rochellein, represenng theesident, was willing to go to $1.8 trillion. and right now we're at $900 llion and $350 billion in new money. there has been not only a compromise, i think major, major concessions on the part of the democrats. all i am asking for isnother $300 billion to400 billion to make sure every working hass adult in country gets a check of $1,200, kids $500, in the midst of this terrible economic crisis. glig well, there's no doubt this has looked a lot like a roer coaster over the lanth months, senator, since the house passed lislation back in-- back in may. but one other argument i want to raise with you quickly againstct diayments is-- is those saying that what they do is they end up heping people who may not all need help, that the mtos direct way to get it to the people who need money the most is to go with unemployment be ofit for people who ar of work. >> judy, it's not either/or. it is both. and one of the problems of the president's proposal the other day, they did away with virtually all supplementary aid for unemployment. you've got millions and millions of people today who are unemployed, ey have income. we cannot turn our back on them. but let me just say this: you know, i find it amusing, having been in congress for a few t yeart when the government wants money for war, there's trlz of llars available. you nt tax breaks for billionaires, we have arillion dollars for the 1% and large corporations. you want corporate welfare for s e fossil fuel industry? we've got hundr billions a year. but when it comes to making sure that the children in this country don't hungry, suddenly everybody is very worried about money. well, this is an unprecedented pment in american history. we've got aandemic. we have an economic crisis. now is the time, not to turn our backs on people who are suffering. fact, modest. asking for is, in it is less than what the democratic leadership asked for several months ago and less than what the white house agreed to. >> woodruff: well, we will certainly see what happens, both g the democratic leadership and among the republicans. senator bernie sanders, we thank you very much. >> thank you, judy. >> woodruff: the surge of covid cases in the u.s. is putting tremendous pressure on hospitals and healthcare workers. t mon 100,000 people around the country are hospitalized because of covid at the moment. that's double the amount compared to the start of november according to thcovid tracking project. texas and the southwest haveen articularly struggling with the pandemic. and that's where amna nawaz focuses our tention tonight. >> nawaz: judy, let's look at how this is playing ouin the lone star state. more than 9,000 people are hospitalized, nely a third in intensive care, and texas' death toll is now above 23,000. things are particularly dire in across the state, ing inpiking and around houston. that is where we find doctor richa bicette, of baylor college of medicine. she's an emergency room physician treating covid patien. doctor, welcome to tth newshour ank you for being with us. we can't be inside the hospitals to see what you see every day upon. take us inside. describe what it looks like at, it feels like, and do you have what you need to do your job right now? >> awm na, thas an interesting question. do i have enough verntularities? sure. i have enough oxygen tanks,bu yes. i don't have the staff that i need to take care of all ofts the patihat i'meeing. i don't have the answers to all of the questions that myre patientssking me because of the large degree of disease.nty that surrounds th so in terms of equipment, we may have what we need, but there are still a lot other things that we're missing in terms of taking care of covid patients. >> obama: wwe have seen vast disparity, we know black anlatino and nativ communities have been hit the hardest. are you seeing the same thing is n? >> absolutely. in the state of texas we have a large hispanicpulation. el paso county is actually 22% hispanic. hso definitely the areast are being hit hardest are made up of communities.se min african americans and hispanics are two times more likely to be dnoseddiagnosed with covid-19. they're about four times more likely to be hospitalized with covid. and they're almost three times more likely to die from covid-19. f this disease is deinitely affecting some communities more than others. do you know why you're seeing cases rising the way that they are now? is any of this because of the anksgiving travel we saw? >> i actually don't think we're seeing a spike from thanksgiving just ye and that's actually horrifying. just yesterday, we hit over 213,000 new cases of covid in a single day, and that's withouting us having yet to really realize the spi that's coming from thanksgiving. i think what's happening is that a lot of people are experiencing pandemic fatigue. if they have yet to be affected, they think that they can't be affected, they're continuing to go out. they're not social distancing. they're gathering with friends and family member who are not in the same household. people are not wriea masks. businesses are open. and as people continue to go out, they continue to get sicker. you and your colleagues? the cheses that you see are worst of the worst. after all these many months, the better part of a year no, treating these patients, what's the cumulative toll, both emotional and mental? >> i n't even begin to speak on what people are feeling right now. it not just mental. it's not just emotional. but it's physical, alsino. we're puin long hours. there are colleagues of mine that have been out sick for weeks, and some of them months, so we're having to pick up the brunt of their shifts and work extra hours because of that. there's not a shift that i go into the hospital they don't have to mind staff members to pull their masks up or to make sure that they're distancing in e break room when tlking to colleagues. there's not a shift that a nurse msn't calling me into a roo because a patient is argumentive, and they don't understand why they need to havo a ma. aside from pandemic fatigue, i think a lot of meical professionals are exasperated because we're seeing people continue to trvel. we're seeing people continue to go out and dine at restaurants. and we know that all of this ist contributi the sickness, to the death toll, to the hospitalization rate. and we don't know whse to do to get the public to understand >> dr. bicette, in just a few seconds left, when you look at what leaders in texas other and places are doing, is enough being done to stop and sw the spread of the virus right now? >> absolutely not. it's not about what the leaders e doing. it's about what they're not doing. there are still places in texas where businesses are allowed to opate at 75% caacity. there are still place where's bars are opehen. ew england journal of medicine" probably one of the most respected and recognizedic scientournals in the world, wrote a piece on it, called "dying in a ladership vaxume" where they stated our leadership has failed us. they failed this test and turned crisis into tragedy. d . richina bicette on the front lines of that tragedy in houston, texas, thank you for all do and for joining us tonight. >> thank you for having m. >> woodruff: facebook is one of the most valuable companies in the world. but its dominance is the subject of major new anti-trust actions. a pair of lawsuits filed by the federal trade commission, and 46 states, along with the district of columbia and the territory of guam allege facebook used its power illegally to drive out competition and buy out rivals, specifically instagram and phil weiser is the attorney general of colorado.wa a democrat, whpart of this lawsuit. he joins us now. mr. attorney general, thank you so much for being here. begin, we want to note, for the record, that the khan zuckerberg initiave founded by facebook's mark zuckerberg and his wife are a newshour furpd, that organization. to you, mr. attorney general,t tell us wh is that you and the others who are part of this lawsuits by thea sttes allege that facebook has done illegally. >> judy, it's a pleasure to be iere. we're bringing s lawsuits because facebook embarked on a campaign. they were eith going to buy its most-challenging rivals or it was going to bury them. d that was a well-designed campaign. and what would happen is if you were a threateningpstart, like instagram, like whatsapp, you could be purchased. alternatively, if you refused to sell out, they would cut you off with acsos a discriminate or basis and undermine your ability to compela in the marke. the result is facebook doesn't face competition. they don't have to prvide as good a product, including as good of privacy protections. and we don't have the novation. that is the american way, that helps provide better products and services for cstomers. >> woodruff: so specifically, you're saying-- this is something you're saying facebook did systematically at one time? be a little bit mpre secific. >> sure thing. starting a little less than a decade ago, facebook was in a dominant position in the social networking space, they had asserted their dainance. theycome to basically be the go-to place. their plan is we don't want face competition, so we can either buy out the would-be rivals or we can undermine their able to comte, choking all of their air supply. so that was the campaign they had. two of the most notable threats they faced were instagram and whatsapp. they purchased those companies. and hey engaged i this effort to cut off others so they couldn't be effective rivals. >> woodruff: so they-- facebook issued a statement today, and i know you're familiarith it. they say this is all about punishing a successful buswhine. theyat they did with instagram and whatsapp, that ey became popular products-- the popular products they are because facebook invested billions of dollars in them and years of innovation and that is at least the surface of their argument. we have a different explanation for what's going on here,h wich is both companies were on stellar trajectories, de agned very effectively i powerful niche where they could erode facebook's dominance. and when facebook purchased them, facebook then managed the products to remain in a space that wouldn't undermine facebook's dominant position. and so facebook has squelched competition through these t purchases, at is, nched, a core part of our case, as well as, of corse, underming other rivals who refuse to sell out. >> woodruff: so the instagram takeover happened in 2012. the whatsapp in 2014. why has it taken all these years to pull these-- this lawsuit orese lawsuits together? >> under the antitrust laws, mergers can be conducted for purposes of maintaing a monopoly. and there have been past case where's that's happened. what we've done hs e iwe've done a thorough lookback. we've sought to explain why is facebook this dominant firm that's not facing competitive threats? and part of the answer was this strategy of acquisitions, along with a commitment to bury those who fuse to selut. so we're bringing what is an integrated case, puttin together a chain of events, a campaign by facebook, that we see as anticompetitive and violating antitrust laws. >> woodruff: as reported, mr. weiser, the federal trade t commissiay announced a similar lawsuits against facebook. are-- other things, the they would require, if they're successful, that facebook divest its assets, including instagram and whatsp. is that hat your lawsuits is also asking them to do, essentially to brea facebook? >> judy, we have two differe categories of the remedies that we seek to restoreompetition and toive consumers the benefits of a competitive marketplace. first, awns, divesting illegally acquired companies that were acquired for the purposes of squelching competition. number two, provide reliable, nondiscriminate or access o facebook's platform so facebook can't use this as a tooto undermine and threaten would-be rivals, as it has done so in the past. >> woodruff: and are you saying they could do this without essentially breaking the company up. >> well, the divestiture is, if you will, a form of taking a piece of the company-- instagram now a part of facebook, whatsapp a part-- andhey would be d off to rivals so they could be used as a basis fothreatening facebook's dominance. facebook is allowed to compete on the merthits. 's the american way. what they're not allowed to do is acquire oth ter compani prevent them from facing real threats, or cut off acss in a discriminate or way so that companies are unable to compete against them. >> woodruff: the attorney general for the state of colorado, phil weiser. we thank you very much for joining us. >> thank you, judy. appreciate it. >> woodruff: today the army briefed senior commanders on a new independent report that details widespread, systemic problems at fortood, texas, including a culture that allows sexual assault in the ranks. the report, released yesterday, was ordered after the gruesome murder of specialist vanesil n, who was stationed at fort hood. the report led to the removal or suspension of 14 commanders. nick schifrin has the detas. >> schifrin: it's a report the secretary of the army says, goes beyond one base and e person. >> this report, without a doubt, will cause the ay to change our culture. >> schifrin: the independent panel found fort hood's command ineffectively implemented the military's sexual harassment/assault response and prevention program, or sharp, left serious crimes unaddressed and ran an inefficient criminal investigations division in response, the army relieved or suspended more than aozen commanders, including major general scott efflandt, fort hood's now-former commander.mu it took er for the army to investigate and admit its problems. wnessa guillen was a 20-year- old private whoted to join the military since she was young. guillen told her family she was harassed by a higher ranking soldier, but fort hood had a culte of retribution, so she was too scared to report it. she went missing in april. two months later her body was found, burned and partially dismembered. >> schifrin: earlier today i spoke to army under sey james mcpherson. >> we have failed. leadership has failed our junior sotiers, men and women at f hood. but we're not naive. greater than fort hood. and so today, every general officein the command position and their senior enlisted received a copy of t report. the action taken yesterday by the secretary in the 14 dedividuals that were either relieved or suspis unprecedented. my has never had that wi a swipe, if you will, of holding senior members accountable in its history. we believe that sent a profound message throughout the army, throughout leadership of the army, like a tsunami wave. >> schifrin: the report criticizes fort hood's implementation of the program designed to prevent and improve sexual assault reporting but acknowledges, "many of those most closely involved in thear program at fort hood lacked confidence in most aspects of the program." >> i believe that the real problem that we saat fort hood was the implementation of the sharp program at the lower o levethe command. aders at every echelon of the attention, weren't carefully motoring how that informationim ementation was taking place at every echelon of command. and when you got down to they compvel at fort hood, it wasn't being implemented at all. >> schifrin: the report emphasized women at fort hoodto were afraid eport because previous cases of harassment and assault, had gone unpunished. independent review committee mber carrie ricci. >> and then other women would say, because of what happens to eethis soldier, i wouldn't comfortable coming f wward. so the an overall sense that, there that reluctance to report because, who is going to believe us? especially for a junior enlisted woman. >> one of the things the army has depend upon its success for decadeand decades has be trust that our junior soldiers had in their chain of command trust in every level of their chain of command. we recognize n at fort hood that trust was lost because women were afraid toeport. when they did report, they perceived nothing was happening. when they did repod , they perceiat there was they were being targeted in response to that. it will convince leadership that they need to take ownership of what's going on. they need to take ownership, that they're responsible for the safety and the health of their men and women that are underei command. >> schifrin: several pieces of legislation exist that would remove the chain of command fr the decision to prosecute sexual harassment and abuse claims. the military opposes that. >> i think t chain of command is essential to ensuring good order and discipline among our formations. and although there's every indication that we failed, the leadship failed to do that at fort hood and perhaps oth installations as well. you take it out of the hands of the mmander, eventually the commander, not today, maybe not tomorrow, but eventually the commander is going to say it no longer belongs to me. it's no longer my problem. it's some other agencies problem. >> schifrin: and now for a different perspective we turn to retired colonel ellen haring. e had a 31-year career in the army, and is now a research fellow at the service wowon's action n. welcome back to the newshour. you hearunder secretary mcpherson say the army believes these problems might bh greate fort hood. is there any doubt about that? >> absolutely not it like that is just very narrow minded. we've known about these problems since 2014 when congress first started making the army document the problem of sexual assault it the miy. this is not new. and as recently as 2017, a rand report pointed specifically to fort hood as being a spciec problem and the base with the highest rate of sexual harassment and sexual assault across >> schifrin: so yesterday we heard the army secretary say thathe report identified thingsthat "we had not seen previoly," as youst said you've been following this for years. hasn't the army known about these problems for that many years? >> absolutely. and the idea that this is unknown is absurd to me. not only has an organization like mine was cr deated inirect response to these problems, but women have been telling their sphrs decades stories for decades. ... joined the army in 1979. certainly we experienced these problems throughoutmy entire career. but it was more recently that it's been broughto the fore by mostly women, who have challeng the existing status quo across the services. and there have been just a series, subsequent series after series after series of these scandalscross the military services, and certainly in the army. it's absurd to characterize this as something new. >> schifrin: in response to this report, the army has suspended or relieved 14 commanders. is that sufficient? >> no. but it is certainly one of the first times that they've actually done that. and will send a strong message. but they-- i s-- i'm very upaccept the by the relief of 1u people local to fort hood, that included enlisted men. bfirst of all, this is aroad, systemic problem that should be carried by the officers who lead those enlisted me. to relieve enlisted men, that's-- to me, that's shirking the responsibility at the highest levels. i'd like to see senio commanders relieved, the third corps commander was not lieved. in fact only his deputy was relieved. the previous third corps coander when all these problems developed, not only is he not being considered for a sanction or punishment. he's now gone o to another star. so commander after commander after commander hasadhis problem at fort hood. none of them have addressed it. instead, it's usually a stepping stone to another star. >> schifrin: let's talk about the military's sexual assault progradesigned to increase reporting and prevent sexual assault. you heard underc seretary mcpherson say the problem is the program's implementation, not the program itself. do you agree? >> i wouldn't blame the problem on the program itsd f. i woame it on the leadership that is required to execute the program. so i do thnk that there are fundamentally good things about thifprogram. bueadership isn't involved, doesn't care about it, it's going to be one of those things that nevers actually implemented. and in this case, there were broad-based leadership failures, but, again, it's not isolated to fort hood. this is across the army. >> sifrin: when it es to solutions, you heard underp secretary herson saying keeping the chain of command in the investigation process keeps mmanders accountable. do you think the investigations process should be removed from the chain of command? >> absolutely. we've long advocated for removing commanders frothe investigative process. un, they always say that it goes to good order and discipline. militaries that do not havey commanders in their chain of command, like the brtht. brits-- commanders in t british army do not get to make the cision about when and how crimes are prosecuted. and they don't have a problem withood order and dscipline in the british army. sohy is it that we would have that poblem in the u.s.? nless we have poor leadership. good order andscipline is the result of good leadership. and, clearly, there was a failure of leadership here. there's been a failure of leadership on this topic for decades. >> schifrin: ellen haring, thank you very much. >> thank you for having me. >> woodruff: we want to look now at what the pandemic is doing to women in the workplace and the distincturdens they are facing. a recent survey found roughly a quarter of womenere considering reducing hours, switching to less-demanding jobs or leaving the workforce altogether. two million women have dropped out of the labor force in the last year. paul solman has the "making sense" story, and as part of our "chasing the dream" series on poverty and opportunity in america. system announced that our starting remote i in mye resignation. >> reporter: nurse and mother on three n niemann quit to watch the kids in august.il in october, reorker and single mom of two michelle perez was let go.wa >> because ino longer convenient for them to actually accommodate the schedule that worked for me. >> reporter: gabriela villagomez-morales, also single, worked at a daycare center until it closed in march. >> i think if it wasn't for my sister helping me out, i'lly probe out in the street with my kids. >> reporter: when trav to maui halted, so too did jessica oyanagi's tourist-dependent photography business. >> i never thought at 40 i'd be on unemployment, food stamps, living with my parents at this age at this time of my life. >> reporter: just some of the faces of the so-called "she- cession." >> in the 2008 recession, people called it a man cession because it was men's jobs that wen first. that's because we were losing jobs and construction and finance, places where men tend to dominate. >> reporter: economist betsey stevenson says the gender dimension of this recession is different. >> we lost jobs in retail and leisure and hospitality and in hospitals and health care services. and those are all jobs where women hold the majority of the jobs and they actually got the majority of the layoffs. >> reporter: after the great recession of ¡08, the economy shifted away from male-dominated manufacturing to female-heavy services, says economist, mom a lnd blogger dia. >> people seem to get more s pleasure out of experiend buying experiences and buying services, than buying things like having a fancy car or buying a big house. all these really people intensive jobstlthose were exthe jobs that got hammered >> reporter: it's so interesting because in stories i've done in face to face jobs. jobs were the >> right. all those thgs that were considered essential services s were exactly tvices that we were told, look, you can't do that right now becausenot safe to be so close to other people. >> reporter: perhaps nobodyth knowrisk better than direct care workers. like single mom catherine namisango. in april her manager told her to tiassist a covid-positive t. >> and i think about it and i say, you know, i don't have anye job. i don't have any other income. and my kids, they have to eat. they have to. i have to pay my rent. i ha to pay my bills. so i have to do this job. >> reporter: did you get coronavirus? >> yeah, i had coronavirus. >> reporter: did your kids get it too? >> all of us, all of us. we were covid positive. because our housis small. we use the same bathroom, the same toilet, the same kitchen. >> reporter: women are being disproportionately hit in another way. take jessica oyanagi, whose tourist-based business went bust.nt >> if i to try to go find just like a traditional 40 hour week job, that would be pretty much impossible at this point in time. because she's caring for her young daughters. across the countrynare centers closed, mothers are forced to fill the care gap. >> my husband is an essential worker. he a welder. he's continued to work throughout the pandemic. so, i mean, it's a pretty black and whitchoice. >> reporter: shannon niemann quit her dream job as ato lactation nursend to her school-age kids while her husband managed s business. >> i really felt like my job was a ministry. that's how much i loved it. when i had to make the choice to leave, i mean, i cried. but my husband also has a responsibility to his 13 workers and all of their families. >> reporter: according to the census bureau women are three times more likely than men to have left their job because of childcare during t pandemic. >> i think it's amplifying the inherent bias not just in the economy, but in our households. if kids are relying on moms to make sure that they get out the door in the morning more than they relying on da, that's a small gap. mom to get them all the way on through the school day because they're doing school from home,h 's a giant gap. >> reporter: economist melissa kearney, tweeted a recent "change with her children why don't any of you bother dad?" she asked. the response: "he's not asus ul." moms are more than three timesas ikely as dads to do most of the work at home. it's unpaid and thus not eventin counted .d.p. but consider the work women do that is counted. >> they get the majority of college degrees. advanced degrees.rity of and not only that, but they're coming at the top of their classes. you literally cannot have a v shaped recovery if we don't get the women back >> reporter: but the hardest hit moms are the 15 million raising kids by themselves. after gabriela villagomez d morales lost hcare job, she and her four kids moved in with her siste where she's been helping them with online school. >> with my second second grader. i am sitting right nt to her >> reporter: what would she what would she be doing if you weren't sitting next to her? >> probably go to youtube or and ay other games and not focus on what she's doing. >> reporter: but if you get awh job, thetakes care of the kids?>> would have to find some... i don't know, it's hard. >> reporter: are you sort of just trying not think about it? >> and get myself overwhelmed. >> reporter: single mom michelle perez worked retail for yes. but with her kids at home doing virtual school, she couldn't work the hours she used to. that's why she was laid off. >> my son was supposed to start kindergarten so i could actually go back to school and start working more. but here we are. trying to learn as much as i try. it's notororking. >> rr: so how are you getting by? >> my roommate, and so he isel actually compltaking care of us for the most part through all of this.ha and, you know,is very hard to kind of accept because i kind of feel like, you know, i'm not ngntributing to my family at all and then i'm putim in this position that he also shouldn't be in. >> reporter: women account for two-thirds of the job .sses in reta the economic implications, in stevenson's view? >> i think we are creating a system with worse inequality than we already have today. and we're already in a pretty unequal society. >> reporter: michelle perez and her kids have a long road ahead. >> this was supposed to be the time where i was able to really start working towards changing our lives. and now this is going to set me back for years. like i have no income cong in, but i'm in debt. i don't kn how i'm gonna change that. >> reporter: for the pbs newshour, this is paul solman. >> woodruff: we coweinue with ou-long reporting on the challenges facg former prisoners with bryan stevenson, an ameriwyer, social justice activist, and founder of the equal justice initiative. kelly corrigan, host of pbs' "tell me more," spoke to stevenson about his li's work and what he believes americans should be talking about aroundab their dinner. it's part of our special series, "searching for justice." om>> once in a generation,ne comes alg and holds up a giant mirr and asks us to look at the totality of who we are as a country. that's the story of brian stevenson's life, harvard law school superstar who spent the first 18 months after graduation sleepi on a buddy's couch so that he could represent people with no money and only the tiniest sliver of hope. 30 years later, he's still at it. along with his colleagues at the equal justice initiative, he's ill taking the kinds of cases he documented. sonforgettably and his 201 best-selling memoir just mercy. >> i went to law school because i was concerned about inequalitn and injusticit didn't seem like those were priorities in my first ye of law scho. and it was really only in my second year of law school, that things turned around. i drove down to jackson, georgia, which is where death row is and they brought this man in and he had chains everywhere. and they unchained this man. and i got so nervous that whener he walked o me, i just said, i'm so sorry. i'm just a law student. i don't know anything about the death penalty. i don't know anything about criminal pcedure, but they nt me down here to tell you that you're not at risk of execution anytime in the next year. and i never will forget that, man, just slowing me down and saying, wait, wait, wait, say that again. and i said, you're not at risk of execution anytime in the next year. and he closed his eyes and he said, wait, wait, say that nain. and i said, you' at risk of execution anytime in the next year. and that's when that man grabbed my hands and he looked me dead in the eye. and he said,hank you, thank you, thank you. aneni couldn't believe how, in my ignorance, just being present, just showing up could make a difference in the quality of someone's life. and it taught me something really important about being present about proximity. s rted to sing. i'm pressing on the upward way. new heights, i'm gaining every word bound.praying as i'm all and then he said, lord, plant my feet on higher ground. and when i heard that man saying everything changed for me. that's when i knew i wanted to help condemned people get to higher ground. and in that instant, my interest .in the law was radicaliz it's so clear to me that we are l more than the worst thing we've ever done. i think if someonethells a lie, 're not just a liar and they should not have to go through life.d branly as a liar. i think if someone takes something, they're not just aen thief to, f you kill someone, you're not just a killer and we can't do justice until we understand the other things you are. we have a generation of kids, poor kids that by the time they're five have trauma disorders, what you're trying to do with kids is you're trying to make them feel human again. 'rt when you're told you're a prisoner, when ytold you're worthless, when you've been condemned to die in prison, you're basically being told yo life has so little meaning. so little purpose, a little value. we're not going to let you have that life. and you know, for me, it's allowing people to be human despite the tragedy of a past crime or despite the tragedy of the injustice, despite the tragedy of what 've done to people, kids that's especially. so i never pretended to be just their lawyer. i didn't, they didn't want me to be just their lawyer. and i never tried to pretend that that was my role. i'm just as professional. you know, a lot of, of my young clients need me to be a brother or a dad or uncle or wr. and i embre that because i believe to be an effective advocate. i have to go with where they are. yens of representing people death row, w we won a case that endedlet deated the death penalr roper v simmons in 2005 banned the execution of children. and whene told them they weren't going to be executed, it wasn't joy. it's like, oh, i'm just going to die in prison. and i recognized that that wasn't right either. so we quickly gan thinking out now that we've kind of eliminated that problem. how do we, how do wehink about challenging life without parole for children? >> and it is like, it is aeath sentence, yeah. >> however, harsh life without parole is for an adult. it's doubly hard for a 13 year old or a 14 year old. that means their time of incarceration will be even longer. it's just so irrational, right? because we don't let kids drinkd 't let kids smoke because we recognize that children are changing. they're evolving, their maturity hasn't fully arrived. the children, i was representing places like florida had been convicted, were getting harsher sentences than adults would come in at the same crime, because we idwere fascinated with thi of a super predator child. and that's how we then created this legal landscape every state in the country lowered the minimum age for trying children as adults. there are 13 states that have n minie for trying a child as an adult, which means that i've represented nine ar old mpds facing adult sentences, decades of adultsonment. >> what conversations do you feel like? every family could be having around the dinner table right now? >> the highest rate of incarceration in the world. and nobody seems to give any thought tohat. you know, having six million people on probation and paroleyz really par whole sectors of our community, that we have 70 million americans that ve criminal arrests histories. and that then makes it harder for them to get loan to jobs is a real crisis, right? swhen the bureau of justid in 2001, the projection is that one in three black male babies jaborn is expected to go t or prison. but what was even more shocking was the absence of any reaction. and that's, what's so difficultc because we aable of responding to a threat to our lives. we're in that response mode nowa in thiemic. when we go to the doctor, we don't want the doctor to just tell us about one part of the disease. we need to know everything, but somehow in the justice context, we act as if there's a limit to how much we should know or understand. and, and that's just not healy. and part of the way that i think our nation will recover from our 400 year history of injustice of racism and bigotry is, is if we find the courage to e it all, to hear it all. >> so a thing that you talk about a lot is the ways that we affectne another. and i just wanto say that you've had a tremendous effect on me and my kids and super grateful. >> thank you. that means a lot. so i appreciate th. >> woodruff: so much to think about, and thank you, too, bryan stevenson and kelly corrigan. tonight.'s t newshour for i'm judy woodruff. join us online and again here tomorrow evening. for all of us at tur pbs newshothank you, please stay safe, and see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> you can do the things you like to do wh a wireless plan designed for you. with talk, text and data. consumer cellular. learn more ater consumllular.tv >> we'd be closer to the twins. >> change in plans. >> at fidelity, changing plans is always part of the plan. >> the ford foundation. working with visionaries on the frontlines of social change worldwide. >> and with e ongoing support of these institutions and individuals. >> this program was made possible by the corporation fora public broing. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org hello, everyone, and welcome to "amanpour & company. "here's what's coming up. as vaccines roll out i the uk, we take viewers inside an iranian hospital for a rare report on the worst covidak outbn the middleeast. then -- >> yes, i do have an absolute right to pardon myself. >> howar can a president stretch his pardonrs po former prosecutor, preet bhar a bharara, explains the web of cases that could ep angle the trmily. plus --. one of hoywood's all-time greats sophia loren and her son tell me about their new film, "the life ahead." and former republican strast

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