2021 could bring for american politics. all that and more, on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 yearsgi bnsf, the that connects us. mo at kfrg >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: and friends of the newshour. >>his program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: on this first day of 2021, the united states is rking a sober milestone: we have officially passed 20 million confirmed cases of covid-19. that amounts to nearly a quarter of all cases worldwide. and,he number of u.s. deaths there is also word that a new, more contagious variant of the virus, first seen in britain, has appeared in 33 countries. in the.s., california, colorado, and florida havert red cases. the pandemic's grip forced muted new year's celebrations today. the annual rose parade in pasadena, california was one of mae events canceled nationw. e erseas, the vatican's st. peter's squay empty as pope francis reflected on 2020. >> ( translated ): the painful journey last year, especially the pandemic, taught us how much it is necessary to take an intemsst in others' probnd to share their concerns. >> woodruff: we will return to the pandemic's front lines in this country, after the news summary. for the first time, the united states congress has ovdden a veto by president trump. senators rejected his veto of the annual defense policy bill in a rare new year's day sessioe n. the ho representatives had already voted to override. the president wbianted th to strip protections for tech companies, among other things.na rs wrangled again today over increasing pandemic relief checks to $2,000. texas republican jo thune argued that too many better-off americans would qualify under the distribution formula. he accused supporters of bigger checks of "misrepresenting the facts" as he debated vermont independent bernie sanders on the senate floor. >> a family of five making $250,000ould receive a $5,000 now, just to put that in perspective, mr. president, middle-class familf fived to a under the cares that we passed back in march. >> when did you suddenly become a religious adherent, concerned with socialism, with t rh, when you gave 83% of theo benefitse rich and large corporations in the tax bill you support? >> woodruff: divisions within republican ranks were also on display. missouri senator josh hawley said psident trump, and many others, support $2,000 checks. >> the preside of the united the house adopted it, and a majority of senators have said already, publicly, that they support it. and yet we can't even seem to get a vote on it. with all due respect, doesn't seem to me like it's a republican vs. dseocrats issue. s to me to be the senate versus the united states of america. >> woodruff: in the end, republican leaders againocld a vote. the current congress adjourns for good, on sunday. vice president mike pence has now asked a federal judge to reject a lawsuit aiming to overturn the electoral college esults. mr. pence will preside next week when congress countsotes. texas congressman louis gohmert is leading a legal challenge that says the vice president alone should control which votes to count. figures from a number of american cities today showed a spike in killings in the year just ended. chicago along had 769 homicides, almost 300 more than in 2019. detroit, new york, washington, d.c. andiether calso reported more killings. police athnd experts cit effects of covid-19 and a wave of anti-police sentiment as faors. in iraq, explosive experts spent this new year's datrying to defuse a minhuplanted on the of an oil tanker. the ship was just off the iraqi oil port mf basra when te was discovered on thursday. blame, but the incident comes amid heightened tensions in the region with iran. this weekend mniks the first rsary of the u.s. drone strike that killed iran's general qassem soleimani commander of the perful revolutionary guard. today, iranian leaders warned the u.s. against any new litary pressure. a ceremony in tehran, soleimani's successor also issued veiled threat of new acts of revenge for the killing-- even insidthe u.s. >> ( translated ): by this crime, you have given motition to freedom-seekers all around the world. rest assured that even within your own home, there might be persons who wanto respond to the crime that you have committed. >> woodruff: after soleimani's killing, iran did fire a missile at a military base in iraq. about 100 u.s. troops suffered brain concussion injues. and, the new yr marked a new era for britain and the alropean union, with their economies now fo detached. trucks and ferries moved between england and france tod through the annel tunnel without major holdups. new customs rules took effectti after a transi period ended overnight. still to come on the newshour: a physician in georgia describes what the state's surge in covid cases means for her hospital, patients, and health care workers. a w report describes the failures of the v.a. health system during the pandemic. david brooks and ruth marcus break down the latest political news. plus, much more. >> wdruf as we've reported, the new year begins, unfortunatel with more bad ws about the coronavirus. there are rising cases across the country, and one of the worst hit right now ishe southeast. that includes the state of georgia, where, while a lot of people are focused on politics and two senate run-off campaigns, many hospitals are at the state set its cord just today, with more than 8,500 new covid cases. and, georgia has been averaging more than 35 deaths a day for the past two weeks. that is about 30% higher than a month ago. at the same time, georgia is lagginbehind many others when it comes to the number of people getting vaccinations. dr. shantikers is a pulmonologist who is regularly treating patients with cov. she is with the phoebe putney health sy istalbany, located in southwest georgia. >> again, tell us what is the situation right now, at your hoital? >> so right now unfortunately, since thanksgiving, the vecases ust exponentially risen. 20s in terms of hospitalize ed casesa but t number has climbed up into the 90s. and wein are dely seeing an uptick in the community cases as well. >> woodruff: i looked up population, alban about 75,000, about twice that in the metropolitan area. how are people treating this virus? arthey taking it serial? are they wearing masks? what dyou see? >> well i think unfortunately what's happened in a lot of parts of the country through here, people are fatigued. i think there are some places that are being more impressive with masking social distancing than others. but unfortunately there are a number of restaurants and community places where masking is not being strictly adhered to as it had been previously, and unfortunately we are seeing that shown in the number of cases wei are seeithe community. >> woodruff: with regard to phoebe putney, the ospital whereu work, are you able to handle the cases you have now? what is the outlook? do you think for the daysahead? well i think our concern is that this is only going to at present i th are able to manage with the caseload that we have. but again, that's not managing necessarily to the extent that we wouo. like t like i mentioned earlier our cases were lower previous to thanksgiving in the 20s and we were amply able to handle that. but at this time we have a satellite facility that we have cohorted the covid pinienc and we are rapidly exceeding the number of beds available. but more precious than the beds are the staffing. when we run out of sta ffinis when things go of concern. w wh have had to start doing is going forward limiting the amount of elective procedures that are completed that require hospital stay after the fact. because unfortunately, those things takep precious resources, nursing beds and equipment. >> woodruff: dr. a dr. arkansasm nonstop early this year, there is a sense of just being overwhelmed of being exhausted with this. thhow are heal care workers talking to each other about what you have to deal with every day? >> i think there are those of us who are just incredibly if a -- fatigued. it's hard to wake up day in day out and hisee the t play out. i think at thi at this point the transmission is well understood, we understand masking and social distancing so it's frustrating from justgl obal sense seeing people not doing the things they can be to limit t spread and see that play out in the cases and it's really hard because ese cases require so much care, and attention, the patient stays in the hospal a really long time. but there is a limited time with their loved ones to visit. the situation is nothow hard the day becomes or how hard it is to take care of the patients, we experience that ss on so many levels and similarly when we go home our ability to just blow off steam and visit our limited.and relatives is sex so from eferl -- self limited. each day more so than the day before. >> woodruff: it is hard to imagine. i also want to ask you about vaccinations because they are starting to be available. do you feel you're getting -- what you should have at this point, and opare accepting the idea that they should have >> well i think w were very fortunate to havement doses maids availabo us a few weeks ago. i myself did get vaccinated along with several of my colleagues. my concn however, there is good portion of our staff that has chosen not to vaksz necessitate for many different reasons. i think unfortunately, that ag n puts a fearof increased risk and exposures to the staff that are potentially transmitting the advisor to their colleagues. i would like to seeore of the vaccine ton sure. i've heard colleagues say things such as they esfeel the pr was potentially rushed, they feel that there wasn't enough people enrled in the ials. and a lot of different just concerns that are all based on fear and a little bit lack of understanding in terms of how aggressively studied all there sults from the virus trials have been. and i think, i hope to try to reassure some o my own colleagues. they see some of our own physicians, including those in critical care and pull mondayology are getting vaccinated i hoped to see that several of our colleagues are getting vaccinated. >> woodruff: not only the surge of cases but preading colleagues and others who work in health care how important these vaccinations are not to mention the general public. dr. shanti akers, thank you for joining us and we wish you the best in this new ar getting underway. >> thanky you vch. >> woodruff: one of the key parts of our health care system that typically gets a lot less attention is the veterans affairs, or the v.a., system. that has also been true during the pandemic. as we start a new year, we wanted to look at the challenges and problems the v.a. has faced over the past year as well.wi iam brangham has our conversation. >> brangham: the departnsment of veteffairs operates the nation's biggest hospital system,ng serviillions of former service members around the country. but according to a series of investigative reports in propublica, tt system not only has suffered badly during the pandemic, but it's also failing to provide adequate protection for its own medical staff, particularly the crucial n95 face masks. it's a response, according to propublica, that's been plagued , "incompetence and greed, poor planning and judgment failures." david mcswane wrote those h stories, ajoins me now. david, great to have you on the newshour. you start your most recent story with the vignette about a nurse at a hospital, a v.a. center i south dakota. kristen klein is her name. can you tell us about her and why she's so embmatic? >> sure, she's a senior nurse at small hospital in sioux falls, south dakota. and we got ttalking mewhere in early may when her area and l her facility hgely been untouched by covid, while omaer r cities were overrun. and she told me then that they were being asked to ration masks. there are no masks. there's an extreme shortage. they're really worried. and we just sort of kept in and slowly but surely, she was sort of in slow moti as the covid sort of swt over the country. and suddenly her small hospital and the small community was really at the epicenter. and for me, her journey and just sort of what she was watching as a healthcare provider was an interesting lens to lp us understand just the stress health care works are under and what it means to just worry each da are you going to have the mask you need so you don't get sick, or don't get your family sick? >> brangham: i mean, this far into the pandemic, nurses at government-run facilities-- i mean, that's what the v.a. is-- are still struggling to get the protective gear they need, right? >> yeah, and this facility, the nurses i spoke with do have access to n9ei5, but they're asked to use what was once a disposable, you know, mask, that you toss after each patient-- they're being asked to keep them in paper bags and shifts, which realtany as five at there'sand shows th a supply issue within the v.a. >> brangham: you quote the v.a. in your story, talking specifically about the situation in the south dakotfacility, and they say the issues you're reporting are not a problem anymore, there's nrationing going on. everyone's got enough gear. is that-- how true is th? >> well, it's just not true, from what i'm hearing. i mean, the definition of asking a nurse to hold onto a disposable item for five shifts is ration-- rationing. you're asking them to ration. and the v.a. has really sort of had this line from t outset of the pandemic, when-- when health care workers were saying, you know, we don't have enough, we're being stretched th, we're reusing items. everything's-- everything's fine, we have the supplies. but at the same time, you see this massive buying spwhree they're hiring anyone who says they can get masks, they'reve obviousl desperate for the masks, just like everybody else. and it's just not what'm hearing from-- from nurses on the front line. >> brangham: so how typical is this? i mean, we know that hospital systems, and state governments, for that matter, were faced with the similar surprise when the virus emerged. we suddenly were scra develop tests and to find enough protective gear for everyone how different is the v.a.'s experience comred to different states, compared to different hospital systems around the country? >> what distinguishes the v.a.,g aside from bhe largest hospital system, is that it had this really antiquated approache to getting sup. it had been dinged by the government accountability office for years for this old system at really wasn't built to respond to really any disruption in the supply chain, and thatst adn't been fixed. and so what you have is, you had this sort of perfect storm of a really bad, antiquattem, where individuals are updating spreadsheetsanually, and all of a sudden, a global shortage. and you need masks. you need them nowen you don't evnow what you have or how to. who needs more supplies to be shipped in. and that was a real mess. so to compensate for that, the v.a. just went on a crazy buying spree, just awarding contracts to really anyone who said they could deliver. i mean, we found companies thatt hadn't e just days before. >> brangham:nd you fompanies that hadn't existed days before, million dollar contracts, right? >> yeah, or companies that simply, you know, there were companies that were cre ted, obviouslprofit as a result of covid, but there were also just companies that hadn't been tested. they had no experience getting medical supplies, which medical supplid understanding a supply chain that really involves relatiiponwith china is complicated stuff. , brangham: as you report this all came at a time when the trump administration was going through this very substantive reorganization of the v.a.'s leadership. w much of it does this sort of chaotic, haphazard buying spree-- as you describit-- how much of it had to do with that leadership turnover? >> you know, it's really hard to say. you know, i couldn't put a specific number on it. i mean, what we know is, you have an agency that just had a really bad system. and, prior to the pandemic, right, prior to the pandemicn' they just wevery good at their inventory getting supplies. and then you have-- you take people out of nhat system. you've got sort of a broken ship, and now you've got fewer sailors to steer the ship. so we just know it wasn't good. >> brangham: all right, david mcswane of propublica,reat reporting. thank you very much for joining us. >> thank you. >> woodruff: now, to help us break down the week in politics, we turn to the analysis of ooks and marcus. that's "new york times" columnist david brooks, and "washington post" coluis ruth marcus o >> not a ljoy on this new years day but we're really, really glad to see both of you. thank you for being here. let's start david for looking back i'm sorry at 20 and lessons learned. i think we all agree it's been a terrible year thanks to the pandemic but whatre you taking away from it? >> brooks: yes i wish i could come up with sometng goodknbut, yo, this wa a year we sort of lost faith in ourselves. we were failedy our institutions including the cridz and the tifda bime. we were failed each other, americans alsay indivitic, but in a social body in a crisis they can come together and solve a obm. we more or less failed to do that. we never shut wn the way other countries did and we certainly are not doing that now. we sort of let each other downe. r can permanently believe that i america is a nation in decline slidings, but it was certainly a year when decline was certainly very much in the year. >> woodruff: ruth what are youki th as we close the door on 2020? usually the pessimist and david is usually the optimist. we are switching roles evently. but 2more hopeful vision of the pandemic lessons whh is good government, responsible leadership, capable manad ment cove worked. we could have with with a better president who had assembled a better administration and had taken this more seriously in thn start and hadot failed, at almost every step along the way, the one great spot is the vaccine development but now we're botching the rollout of it. we could have done better. we could have had 20that million figure just appallingco and wed have had a lot of damage and tragedy and economic distress but not on the scale that we are having with a better government and we ve a president coming in who is going to inherit this mess which is lot harder to clean up than it is -- was to- is to ameliorate from the ginning. but governme can perform better than our government performed for us. the part that for me is unsettling is, the lessons on democracy. democracy at the end of 2020 looked to me a lot more fragile than i understood ibe at the start of the year. especially the aftermath of the election where we saw what everybody had assumed was rea ly unassaable democratic norm that you would accept en if a president as irresponsible and self anvolved unfate rottic as donald trump would accept in the end howevergr gingly, and ungraciously, the results of a democratic election. and instead we e the spectacle that is continuing and is going to continue throh next we on assembles.h, when con i am very nervous about the consequences of that. not for joe biden who will be sworn in as president on january 20th.but or how it just shakes r norms going forward and makes the unimaginable more imaginble. >> woodruff: and david, what about going forward? i mean howmuch difference do you believe joe biden can make as president in what we face as a country?i >> brooks:ink significant. actual professionaff willng an make a big difference in ways we haven't been able to apprehaate. we jus had messing up at every single level and i remain a biden optimist, optimist in terms of how much he can actually get done. t i do thiere are a lot of people in congress who i talked legislation.y want to pas there e a lot of moderates who realize this is their moment. this is the moment they can stop the party leaders who want to get superpartisan, thiis the moment they susan collins has a power to stop a lot of stuff if a lot of people, especially in the senate want to have votes, because mitch mcconnell only thinks bout traditional can confirmations. there are a lot legislations, certain issues where you can gep prettyartisan support. so i remain much more hopeful cesst the legislative pro next year than maybe most. >> marcus: judy can i umment? >> woo: what about you? sure. >> marcus: now we're going back to our usual corners because i'm a sort of glass isar three rs empty and not one quarter full person when it comes to theapacity of president biden to get things through is senate. serge if mitch mcconnell and republicans retain control of the senate. the susan is collinses and notwithstanding, this is a body and a political system more broadly that rewards obstructionism. and through the primary process is only going treward obstructionism, that was ue before donald trump came on the scene and it remains true after and while there is a capacity to come together, through the desire to spend money, that is what congress is really good at doing. a lot of other things done.ting so i see way fewer possibilities theire. i possibilities for success in a biden presidency rests within what's wiin his control, in the executive branch undoing some of the terrible damage trump hasone, undoing some regulations, passing other regulations to the extent he has the authority tot do t. but i really hope that david's right and i'm wrong on this one because there is a lot of legislative need. >> woodruff: and david wh n about rigw? i mean this dispute over the $2,000 check to people. the president is pushing for it. mitch mcconnell ys no. what about those arguments and what about the political fallout from it iffully? >> boks: well, first i note the bipartisan sort of agreement on this between josh hawley on the right and bernie sanders on the left. i don't support it. i thinmitch mcconnell and john thune we saw earlier in the program, are actly right, those who make under $60,000 those $2,000 checks. i don't sehow we should give them to people earning more han 60,000. some danger of overheating the economy if we do that and so i think mcconnell's mostly right on the merits but it is odd thow he pop last presidency that trump could have had if he had really done populast thing, he passed that up and went for populast in talk advocacy or populast in action.st >> woodruff: ping dead in its tracks, any consequences from this, are we going tout forget at and move on to the next thing in a few weeks? >> we'll talk about georgia in a bit, there could be consequences there. i think that mitch mcconnell has a point about and others about the size of the checks along with david and larry summers. he is not in -- he has zero standing to raise this point. becausless i missed something i don't see him taking the brooksian approach of limiting it to some people who earn certain aunt or other thins that would be more targeted to extending unemployment benefits. he just wants to stop it inits tracks. what he's good at. are there consequences for tat? i see thesident was railing against senator thune earlier and urging challenges to him. so there may be consequences i guess from donald trump as he continues to thunder.oo >>uff: and speaking -- one of you mentioned josh hawley, i think it was you david, he is not only sidin with the president on this, he's speaking up that he's going to be the senator lyso far the on one who has said he is going to counted for joe biden., bei next week. what do you make of what josh hawley is up to, where doesthis leave him, and the republican party? >> brooks: i think it leaves the republican party divorced from reality intact even a post-trump era. josh hawley went to yale law school, aguably the finest law school in the country, sorry, for justice roberts, he is no intellectual slouch and yet he is pretending something is true that he has to know is not true because its plays to his base. and so it means going forward, the republicans are gointo do a lot of performative display of trumpian unreality. country because trs one of the the things we've lost this year parties going forward and i'd love to hear what's in e head thune, what's going on in his head as he sees hawy do this. ben shssmentsass, more 100 house members siding with the hawley side. it is bad news for the future.wo >> ruff: ruth. >> marcus: it is bad news for the future in the way i was talking inout earliehe terms of erasing norms of bestvior and allowing dangerous arguments go forward. but i see a strange upside in the hawley side which is this. to often dung the four long years of the trump presidency, republican lawmakers especially in the senate have been able to avoid taking a stand on some of e outrageous things that he is doing. and ifmaawles his colleagues to take this to a vote at least we'll finallykn , who are the republican senators who are just so that they will go along with the eys of the senate and w are the ones who are respecting the can constitution? and so the other way took at it, it is any vote that mitch connell fervently wants to avoid is a vote that in some way i'm happy to have. so i guess we're going to have it. >> woo well, just in the little bit of time we have left, that's the big thing we're watching this wee, along with those georgia senate runoffs david. we had a georgia reporter yesterday saying the democrats looked to be in strong shape. what are your sources? what's your reporting telling you? >> brooks: well, the polls have ticked up for both the early voting i was more in support of the democratic side. i'm just thinking that we've undercounted trump andan republ supporters pretty often in the last several years. i wouldn't get too confident i i was a democrat. >> woodruff: routes, abt 20 seconds. >> marcus: i wouldn't get too confident but it seems like rumple and his supporters-g donald trump and his supporte are trying to do everything they can to make things harder for kelly and david. in their argument that the georgia election was rigged so you can'hi trusts system and their argument that you need to reelect these repuan senators so they ask go back to washington and continue to block yourth$der shower checks. that doesn't seem like a winning argument to me. >> woodruff: well, there's a lot -- it's a lot that we're looking for this first week inn uary. that, and as we said the electors vote that is coming up on wednesday. we thank you both on this new year's day for jni us. david brooks, rruth cus. >> marcus: happy new yeaoor. >>uff: and to you. wi >> woodruff: a many things this past year, the typical live music scene was silenced. but there were creative attempts to provide entertainment, and a salve for the soul, ng out all over. recording artists put out new music that offered a wide range of options. in his final look at the "best of 2020" series, jeffrey brown checks in on what new works dropped that you can enjoy. it's all part of our ongonding artsulture series, "canvas." >> brown: postponed festals, canceled concerts, shuttered clubs, economic pain for musicians everywhere. in so many ways, 2020 was the year the live musicied-- or almost died. tt artists across all genres have used creatihniques to reach audiences. orchestras, like the national symphony orchestra, delivered performances from home, s lowing audien tune in remotely. country music legend garth brooks managed to crash facebook live during his virtual concert in late march. the star-studded, two-hour global conrt, "one world together at home," organized by the world health organization and lady gaga in april, brought in 21 million virtual viewers and more than $200 million for relief efforts. it's a time where unconventional events have taken center stage. >> the lack of an ability to put things on, on the scale that we used to, has changed everything. >> brown: craig jenkins is a magazine.tic for "new york" tell us about some of the interesting things you saw? >> one of my favorites was the erykah badu concert series. she had a quarantine concert series where you could pay like a dollar or two or three, and, you know, vote on songs that she would perform. i enjoyed "two minutes to late night," this sortf ke heavy metal punk rock talk show isat does these performances where they get a together from different bands and they cover classics. i really enjoyed the "verzuz" with patti labelle and gladys knight. >> brown: "verzuz," a live-eb streamedst featuring big names facing off against one another in song-- all in good fun-- was one pandemic- millions of home-bound fans. but "seclusion" became its own story in 202 ann powers is a npr music critic and correspondent. >> live-streaming has become a normal part of a music lovers' life now, whether you are an opera fan and you're watching huge, beautiful productions from were pre-recorded, or you like your local singer-songwriter who is getting on a platform like stagt every friday night or facebook and playing a few songs, chatting with fans. >> brown: and so-calledar" tine albums" capred the moment, a peculiar comfort in times like these. pop icon taylor swift surprised fans with not t one o records made in isolation. and there were many more. >> fiona apple, her album, "fetch the bolt cutters," what a powerful statement.t she made i her house with a small group of musicians banging anclanging on the walls. and i think it captures that feeling of being creative, even in a situation where you're confined. we all related to that. >> brown: artists also responded to calls for racial and social justice.be nce's "black parade" was nominated for song and record of the one month later, she surprised fans with her disney-plus visual album "black is kins " hailedcelebration of black empowerment. other standouts include h.e.r."" i can't breathe," lil baby's" the bigger picture," released weeks after the killing of george floyd, and leon bridges and terrace martin's "sweeter." one thing that hasn't changed? the emergence of new artists. >> the breakout star this year was bad bunny. what a personality.pe a true shifter, he j recentlyust had the first spanish languanumber one on billboard in recent history. and i love bad bunny. he's like the david bowie of lawnn pop. >> broand if you hadn't heard the name megan thee stallion, well, venow you ha shr e earned fougrammy nominations this year for best new artist, record, raong and rap performance. >> her song, "savage," incred the "beyonce remix," awesome. the song "wap" with cardi b ♪ ♪ >> ...definitely one of the hits of t year that makes me wish that there were any kind of clubs open.: >> brot even in a year without live performance, says ann powers, there was to bop to. you said this in one of your npr pieces, "the year of dancing alone." >> thereas a lot of great dance music, from dua lipa to jessie ware releasing a beautiful album called "what's your pleasure," to the art disco queen roisin murphy with her album "roisin chine." there's lots for you to have a dance party in your house. >> bro: for international artists, grabbing the attention of u.s. fans came with its own rdles. >> i really enjoyed the bts single, "dynamite." >> brown: with their world tour postponed, south korean pop sensation bts released its first all-english single in august, >> i'm really excited to hear, you know, what they do in the future. it's-- the field's wide open right now, it feels like. >> brown: in a hectic year, the special attention to records challenging the new normal. >> the english collective sault had the best record of the year. they actually released two records and this, again, and we were talking about protest music. it's this amalgam of funk and hip hop and jazz, and really captures the moment of change that we're living in. the young rocker, phoebe bridgers, she has just come into her own with her albu "punishe and that was another highlight of the year. >> brown: how about the best albums of the year? what are your picks? >> i enjoyed the mac miller album, the posthumous record, "circles." it's bittersweet when you see someone sort of take a left turn and start to really understand their artistry in a better way, and then you don't get any more. adrianne linker, who is from the band big thief, she's a great indie rock singer-songwriter who snuck off, into the woods, trying to clear her mind.ea and in she just started making this beautiful music and it ended up being one of the greatest albums of the year. >> brown: but for many musicians, 2020 has been dire. according to a survey from music workers alliance, roughly three- quarte of musicians and dj's have lost more than 75% of their income during the pandemic. some help is on the way, including $15 billion in dedicated funding to performance venues in the new covid-19 relief bill. >> i do think that people wa to be around other people, otheg bodies absorusic. maybe there's a greater awareness of musicis as creating something that we need to support and not just appreciate. >> brown: support will be necessary. with vaccines starting to be distributed, there is hope that by the summer, we can hear theiv music again, le and in onperson, withcerts and festivals back on. for the pbs newshour, i'm jeffrey brown. >> woodruff: we begin a new year, as we did every frngiday duhe last one, paying tribute to five extraordinary americanwho have l their lives to covid-19. adalberto cavazos and his wife fell in love through letters exchanged while he was stationed in germany with the u.s. army. they spent more than a half century together, settling in fresno, california. while serving abroad, he lost his hearing, but still worked as a foreman until he was 70. humble and hardworking, fami was his world. when he became a fir-time homeowneirr at 82, his purchase for the house was a dining table so he couly host his fa four children, ten grandchildren and six great- grandchildn. he was 86 years old. when m. laura escalanti walked the halls of pojoaque valley middle school in new mexico, far behind.gh-fives were never for many of laura's students, her language classes, where she taught english, spanish and their native language, pewa, were the only link to thei history, art and culture. laura's ancestors, including h grandmother, were potters, and she internalized their artistic mission in her teaching: >> to her, it meant moreo take care of not only her extended family, but the community itself. >> woodruff: her children said their mom, who was 69, was a source of a strength, a cheerleader and a moral compass. 36-year-old vania underwood was a tremendous hero not just for her work as a covid-19 unit nurse, but also as a mom of six, her husband said.rn nd raised in toledo, ohio, vania could always spot a person in need, and had a caring ainstinct that made nursi clear career choice.wo she firsed as a nursing assistant, but after starting a family, went bacto school ton become an. so she could better help her patients. known for their compassion and dedication to service, jesse and cheryl taken alive left an imprint on the hearts of their standing rock reservation communy. jesse, who went by jay, spent 24 yrs on the standing rock sioux tribal council, and served as chairman of the trie. known for prioritizing the preservation of lakota language and culture, he shared this wisdom with his students at the local high school, who called him lala jay, meaning grandfather in lakota. athe was also a fierce advof tribal treaty rights, outlining the rights of indigenous people and their lands. jay shared his passion for service with cheryl, who social worker, helped families recover from trauma. her big heart left a positive impact on many, said heson. he said it was jay's witty sense of humor and cheryl's beautiful irit that brought the two together. while both were active members of the reservation, at the end of the day, family came before all else. jay and cheryl, 65 and 64, would have celebrated their 46th wedding anniversary tomorrow. and to all he family members who share these beautiful stories, we thank you. our hearts go out to you and to all those who have lost loved onesin this pandemic. >> woodruff: the most reverend michael curry is the presiding bishop of the episcopal church of the u.s.st his laook, "love is the way holding onto hope in troubling times," revea how love fueled his journey, from a descendant of slaves to the top position in a predominantly white church. we spoke earlier, and i began by asking whether he foreshadowed the conflicts of this moment as wrote. >> the perfect storm of a pandemic or racialeckoning and a polarized american society had-- wasn't in my mind. but i ew that we were divided. i knew that we had some racial history with somhpast-- w some difficulty. and i hoped that my story would contribute something positive and constructive to that. again, pre-pandemic-- or b.c, as i like to say, before covid. >> woodruff: bishop curry, you "in a world that feels at times closen r to a nightmare te dream." i mean, you're pointing to the fact that we've been through some really tough times. >> we have been through really tough times. and the reality is, that happens. that's just the nature of life.a it's good an it's the alchemy of all of it mixed in together. i've been blessed in e course of my life to have been around people who have nogiven in to fate, if you will. who have been people of faith, who people who have struggled against the odds. and one of the patterns that i've seen in their lives has been that they were people who would not submit to sshelss or hatred or bigotry, but who really did live lives of love e and beli it. i remember my aunt lill, and when i was a kid, used to te us-- and she was quoting booker t. washington. i don't know if she knew it. but she was-- she used to setay, "nevernybody drag you so low as to hate them." i grew up with a father who lieved in something. yet hope goes beyond the moment and the ex yencies of the moment and dares to believe in something possible we can't even see. like george bernard shaw, some people ask why, we dream and ask why not. that's hope. r that's living by the po hope and that is living in spite of realized was that there are many people who have loved america, in spite of the fact that america often didn't love them. native americakn folk, bl folk, latin folk. have not always benefited from this great country, but they've. loved er you know, my grandmother had my two uncles take their pictures. and their army air corpsres, uniforms. having fought in world war ii, she lost members of her family. the two of them came home during that war. my wife's father, grandfather fought in the first world war. she's actually got his discharge papers from world war i. the black folk, they foisught fr ountry, and had to fight in order to fight for this country, not necessarilyecause of what the country was, but because of what the country metimes, in spite of its contradictions, stood for. "we holdhese truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal." that's true even when our country failed to live up to that. that's what people like ruthr bansburg stood for, in spite of the contradiction. that's what i mean bhope. hope doesn't just accept the way things are. it dares to hopend believe that something can be different and there and then works to make that happen. >> woodruff: and bishop curry, how do you make this ply in people's lives when we live in such a politically divided time, such a t le of when peoplek at each other across this gaping divide in ouy?coun >> and that is where love actually com in. if we take love out of the sentiment tal, take it out , even the romantic, just for a moment, and think of the kind of love the scriptures talk about, the kind of love that moses talked about, that jesus of nazareth that our religious traditns have spoken of? that kind of love tends to beis unselove that actually seeks the good and the welfare of others, as well athe self, you know, on the great seal of the united states. you know, with the eagle above the eagle are th pluribus unum." those words come from thero writings of ciwho said, and i quote, "when a person loves another as much, if not more, as he loves himself, then e pluribus unum, one from many, becomes possible." that is the motto of this country.ba it id on willingness to love and be concerned about others as wells yourself. that makes one nation under god, indivisiith liberty and justice for all. love is the kebecause love is unselfish, sacrificial living. and when we lienve like that, congress can work. when-- when-- when we live like that, then the ecomy can work. when we live like that, then there is equal opportunity for all. u see what i'm getting at. love is not a sentiment. it's a commitment to the common od. >> woodruff: and bishop curry, as we start this new year of people who frankly feel isolated there for at home, whether they've lost a job or can't be th their family right now, what is the message for them? they are physically separated from the people they love. >> you're absolutely right. itous hard. but,now what? we've got to figure out. one of the things i've learned is tt love very often must b embodied in community.wh my mother died and was sick and in a coma for over a year, there was a community of folk thered around us. that community was a context in which love was able to lift us up. i think we've got to figure out ways to be connected to each other. i mean, i've jokingly said, if you high-tech zoom, if you're low-ch text, if you no tech, call. send a note. stay in touch. socially distance, following what the public health folks tell us, but stay in touch. don't get disconnected. don't get cut off. the psychologists tell us: cut off is unhealt. we actually need each other. so if we can't touch each her physically, we can touch each by ridin the phone across the fence. but, find a way yto s connected to other people, and to intentionally, if you're able to connect with other people. sometimes i experience love whee i yself, which is to say, when i step beyond miaeand reach out to somebody else-- you know, like thasong says, "rea out and touch somebody's hand." when i do that, somehow i begin experience love myself in a very different way, when i give it away. >> woodruff: such good advice, and a book that is full of good advic and full of a lot of wonderful, wonderful stories. 's "love is the way of hding on to hope in troubling times." bishop michael curry, thanyou so much. it's very good to see you, and happy new year. >> judy, god bless you. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> financial services firm raymond james.f >> bnsrailway. >> supporting social entrepreneurs and their solutions to the world's most pressing problems-- skollfoundation.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutionsti and founs. and friends of the newshour. >> this program was made possible by the cooration for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. [upbeat music] - hello everyone, and welcome to "ampour & company" this holeason, we're bringing you some of our favorite interviews from the year. here's what's coming up. [whooshes] tonight, in a year where cultural connections have helped preserve our mental health. we turn to some of the great artists we've hosted. the "monty python" legend turned explorer, michael palin, guides us through a life of adventure. wunderkind photographer, tyler mitchell, goes radical exploring black people at isure. and then, as domestic abuse surges in lockdown, the pulitzeretrize-winning natasha tretheway, shares her own experience with our michel martin. and from homelessness to country music stardom, margo price tells her story and plays us out from her late album.

Related Keywords

New York , United States , Georgia , Qassem , Khuzestan , Iran , United Kingdom , Missouri , Texas , Washington , Putney , Florida , California , New Mexico , Germany , Iraq , South Dakota , Tehran , Colorado , Ohio , South Korea , Spain , France , Downe , Bromley , Chicago , Illinois , Britain , Americans , America , Iranian , Spanish , South Korean , American , Susan Collins , Adalberto Cavazos , Lala Jay , Joe Biden , Brown Woodruff , Tyler Mitchell , Fiona Apple , David Brooks , Michel Martin , Judy Woodruff , Ruth Marcus , David Bowie , Roisin Murphy , Josh Hawley , Michael Palin , Mitch Mcconnell , George Bernard Shaw , Shanti Akers , Craig Jenkins , Patti Labelle , Bernie Sanders ,