she grew up in jackson, mississippi and worked for years in low-paying jobs. like many parents who can't afford reliable child care, she had to come up with patchwork solutions which included having her older kids watch their younger siblings. >> i wanted to be able to work. i wanted a career. i wanted a place where my kids could grow and be kids and not have to worry about the responsibility of taking care of the younger kids a having such a burden on them at a young age. >> reporter: ethel's story is not unique. mississippi has the nation's highest rate of women as primary breadwinners for families. and most are in low-paying jobs, living below the poverty line with little to nothing left to pay for child care. according to one study, a typical family in mississippi, with an infant and a four-year- old, has to spend about 20% their income on child care. but there are federal programs to help low-income parents-- head start and child care subsidies in the form of vouchers. and neither program is universal. carol burnett is director of the nonprofit mississipp

for the "pbs newshour" i am t wise in mississippi. judy: and join us tomorrowight as our series travels to nebraska where a lack of affordable childcare highlights how rural parts of the country face a dilemma similar in many ways for in major cities. , too and you can watch last nights story and all our coverage in this series on our website, pbs.org/newshour. ♪ as statues of generals robert e. lee and stonewall jackson were taken down in charlottesville, virginia this weekend, communities around the country continue to grapple with reminders of confederate culture. in an exhibit in lincoln, massachusetts, a sculpture park and museum features the look and winning behind the confederate flag. special correspondent jared bowen explores the exhibit of the 2020 winner of the museum's prestigious prize, as part of our "race matters" and "arts and culture" series. reporter: feeling much of the gallery space is a confederate flag of truce, or as the title of the exhition explains "we should know." >> i want everyone to know what this flag

one out of every six jobs in louisiana is from the mississippi river. i like to say it's one of our greatest-- probably our greatest natural resource. >> reporter: hathorn has navigated large ships up and down the channel for decades. >> our area is one of the most treacherous pilotage areas in the world-- very congested, with tens of thousands of barges, hundreds of tow boats. we have i think seven bridges in between new orleans and baton rouge to navigate through. it can be very trying on a person. >> reporter: even in normal conditions, navigating the mississippi is so challenging that a specially-trained local pilot must steer every international freighter safely to port. but the unpredictable high water season is making that job tougher. 2019's flooding was record- setting for both its duration and volume. >> we've had twisted anchors, broken anchors, brok chains. ten, 15 years ago, you didn't see that. >> reporter: captain jared ruiz of the east baton rouge sheriff's office deals with the aftermath of broken chains and twisted anchors. >> we'll co

i spoke with representative bennie thompson of mississippi who chairs the select committee on investigating the january 6 attack. what can people expect to learn from this investigation that isn't going to come from the number of other investigations underway? rep. thompson: well, the charge that this select committee is tasked with is looking at the circumstances and e facts surrounding what occurred and coming up with a body of recommendations. we have a number of committees of some jurisdiction, our charge is to collect all of the relevant committee information and synthesize it into one select committee report. we have staff, we have the budget necessary to do that. so to some degree, with singular focus on the events of january 6. judy: you have subpoena power, the select committee does. do you expect to call individuals including former president trump, former vice president pence, others in the white house? rep. thompson: let me just qualify saying we have the subpoena authority. if the facts themselves lead us to any individual we will not hesitate to bring them before the committee

with representative bennie thompson, i also asked him about rising cases of covid in his home state of mississippi. state, which has the lowest vaccination rate in the country now. here is a bit of what he had to say. >> the governor refused to take fema money to go out and i.d. those vulnerable areas. i have four counties in my district, out of 26, where we didn't have a single vaccination site. >> woodruff: you can >> woodruff: you can find his full response on our website, pbs.org/newshour. and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. join us online and again here tomorrow evening. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you, please stay safe, and we'll see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> carnegie corporation of new york. supporting innovations in education, democratic gagement, and the advancement of international peace and security. at carnegie.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions >> this program was made possible by the rporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you.

in some parts of the country, like in mississippi, adult vaccination rates remain low. that puts children at greater risk. kevin bass was an active and good spirited five year old boy. one day last december, before vaccines were widely available, he lost his appetite and said his head hurt. angela took her son to the doctor, where he tested negative for covid. even after days of high fever, and rash, doctors sent kevin home. >> i kept going back to the er saying it is not normal. i think the second time i went is when people started to really take me more seriously. >> a rare illness and think -- linked to covid-19 is appearing in children this winter. reporter: she learned about a post-covid condition called multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children. and angela pressed the doctors. >> i asked if it could be mis d. i saw it on the news, another family that i knew his little girl had the same symptoms. i asked specifically, and they said he hasn't had covid. reporter: follow-up tests showed angels a high markers for inflammation and a blood test found antibodies for

where vaccination rates are in the 70% and 80%, you're going to feel very different than when you're in mississippi. in my view we need to heighten the contradictions, where we have to make sure people understand where people are vaccinated, life is a lot better. we've learned this week where there have been an uptick in vaccinations, that if you make it mandatory for some workplaces and incentive structure very clear you have to get vaccinated, a lot of people will get vaccinated. it may be cruel to say but we have to make incentives overwhelming to get vaccinated for the common good. >> woodruff: e.j., we know it's not all politics. some people have an innate fear of getting a vaccination, apparently, but there is a political opponent to this in that a lot of influential conservatives are saying don't do this, it not the threat they say it is. is this a moment when things are going to get worse because of that? >> you know, in an odd way, i'm a bit hopeful because the messenger is getting through, sadly because of the deaths and the sickness, and people are starting to become very clear that if y

. >> as we traveled across america from oregon to nebraska, mississippi to the nation's capital, we heard a lot of different opinions when we asked, what now? >> we are already paying enough taxes. however, if they use the money they already collecting, to help parents, it would be great. >> childcare, even when a person starts making the living wage, it should not be taken away from them. >> i think childcare should be free. >> you want me to carry you? >> how will america work through his childcare dilemma? >> ok. >> this may be the moment the nation decides. for the pbs newshour, i am cap wise. -- cat wise. ♪ judy: it has been a full week of political ns with democrats pushing an ambitious plan for education and health care, child tax credit hitting the bank accounts of american families. and former president trump, the subject of two new books. here to make sense of it, we have a new york times columnist, david brooks, and jonathan capehart, columnist for the washington post. welcom i want to start with what we heard earlier in the program from the secretary of the interior, this hu

they include congressman bennie thompson of mississippi, who will serve as chairman. california's democratic governor gavin newsom will face a recall election on september 14th. state officials set the date today. discontent over newsom's handling of the pandemic has fueled the recall drive. in china, the ruling communist party celebrated the 100th anniversary of its founding with a military spectacle and a warning. warplanes put on an aerial show over beijing as thousands sang and waved flags. and, president xi jinping used blunt language to put the u.s. and other foreign critics on notice. >> ( translated ): the chinese people will absolutely not allow any foreign force to bully, oppress or enslave us and anyone who attempts to do so will face broken heads and bloodshed in front of the iron great wall of the 1.4 billion chinese people. >> woodruff: hong kong also marked an anniversary of its return to chinese control in 1997. police deployed in large numbers, enforcing a ban on protests under a national security law that beijing has used to quell dissent. back in th

showing up as a bright-red hot spot in the heat map of the region, along with the states of arkansas, mississippi, and louisiana. the crisis that erupted related to the delta variant in southwest missouri has made its way to the st. louis region, so we were trying to be proactive and act in as efficient and as rapid a manner in imposing a mask mandate to try to stem the same 10r9 of situations that our colleagues in southwest missouri would have experienced. i fear now that with increasing hospitalizations and increasing pediatric hospitalizations, we will see some of the worst-case scenarios played out over late summer and early fall. >> you said you were berated during your testimony. you were pushed, as you were leaving. you faced absolutely unacceptable racial slurs directed at you as wel. but i watched some of the hearing. there's clearly a growing sense of frustration among people who don't think that they're getting straight guidance or feel they're getting shifting guidance from health officials, such as yourself. have you ever seen this level of frustration among people in receiving that