Transcripts For KQED PBS NewsHour 20240712

Right now, all we really have in terms of Public Safety is one system, and that is policing. People are going to be scared to create a new system of Emergency Response and i think its going to take a lot of conversations. Judy all that and more on tonights pbs newshour. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by consumer cellular. Johnson johnson. Financial Services Firm raymond james. The womens Suffrage Centennial commission. Supporting social entrepreneurs and their solutions to the worlds most pressing problems. The lendl son on the web. Supported by the macarthur foundation, committed to a more just and peaceful world. And with the ongoing support of these institutions. This program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Judy new milestones tonight in the covid19 pandemic. In Public Health, the world has topped 700,000 deaths. In politics, Democrat Joe Biden has decided against accepting his president ial nomination at the Partys National convention in milwaukee. And, President Trump says he might give his acceptance speech at the white house. All of this comes amid a resurgence of the virus. But today, Infectious Disease expert dr. Anthony fauci dismissed talk of a new shutdown. Dr. Fauci we can do much better without locking down. And i think that strange binary approach either you lock down, or you let it all fly. Theres someplace in the middle where we canpen the economy and still avoid these kind of surges that were seeing. Judy meanwhile, the white house and Congressional Democrats negotiated again on a new Economic Relief package. The president s chief of staff said mr. Trump may take executive action on Unemployment Benefits and eviction protections, if theres no significant progress by friday. Our other major story is in beirut, lebanon, the aftermath of a cataclysmic explosion that killed at least 135 people and injured 5,000. Special correspondent Jane Ferguson reported for us for years from beirut, and has tonights report on a city shattered. Jane it began with a fire at the port, and then, an explosion so great it created a red Mushroom Cloud, and a shockwave that roared through the entire city. On the citys streets, everyday life shattered the wedding photo shoot turns to disaster. And a priest performing mass, runs for safety. Oh my god, its all gone. Jane residents returning to their apartments found blastedout windows and glasscovered streets. 72yearold janitor boulos touma was standing outside his apartment when the explosion threw him back inside. I saw my wife covered in blood, hit on her head, her ears. My wife has high blood pressure. Everyone was worrying about their own condition. Jane hospitals already overrun with coronavirus patients and partially destroyed, were flooded with the bloodied bodies of the walking wounded, and those carried bythers. I just was shouting, is my daughter ok . I got to my apartment, which was unrecognizable with no door, and , i saw my daughter at the beginning had two gashes on her leg and was naked and wrapped in a towel, with my husband applying pressure. Jane dr. Seema jilani is an emergency room doctor from texas working in beirut. She spent the hospital ride singing to comfort her fouryearold daughter. Ive worked in areas of conflict like iraq, afghanistan and gaza. What i saw yesterday was on the scale of that, if not more, in my particular personal experience. I have never experienced Something Like this. My ears are still ringing. Jane Lebanese Security officials have said nearly 3000 tons of the fertilizer Ammonium Nitrate was stored in the port. Its highly explosive and can be used for making improvised bombs. It had been there for six years, after being confiscated from a ship. A level of mismanagement hard to comprehend. Today lebanese president michael aoun visited the blast site. In a speech later in the day, aoun promised justice. We are determined to investigate and reveal what happened as soon as possible, to nd out punishment to those responsible. Jane the port is a lifeline for a city and a country already in the grip of an economic collapse, the result of years of corrupt leadership. The large white buildings here, halfdestroyed, are grain silos, holding the countrys precious supplies of wheat, needed to provide subsidized bread to millions. Lebanons people have been struggling to buy food in the midst of currency collapse and hyperinflation. Now, in a country where 50 of the population have slipped below the poverty line, the loss of grain supplies only adds to this catastrophe. Panicked families are still desperately trying to find loved ones. This Instagram Account holds painful pleas for any information. Many of these people worked at the port. An entie team of firefighters that rushed tohe initial blaze is missing. For dr. Jilani, shes grateful she has her daughter back in her arms, safe. The main thing is she is out of the hospital, she is stable, she is not needing oxygen, and she is back to her feisty self. So the moments that you used to curse as a mother, those moments of tantrums, are joyful now, when you hear your childs cry. It is a joy now. Jane the lebanese scribed as resilient, have no choice but to live through yet another tragedy, and try to mend their homes and their lives. For the pbs newshour, i am Jane Ferguson. Stephanie i am stephanie sy with newshour west. We will return to Judy Woodruff and the full program after the latest headlines. In election news, progressive mcgrath scored key wins in tuesdays primaries. Inetroit, firstterm congresswoman Rashida Tlaib won renomination over City Council President brenda jones. In missouri, black lives matter activist cori bush beat longtime congressman william lacy clay. Well talk with two political observors about whats on the mind of american voters, after the news summary. A former u. S. Deputy attorney general defended the obama administrations probe of the trump 2016 campaign. The investigation involved michael flynn, who became National Security adviser, and his contacts with russia, during the trump transition. At a senate hearing, sally yates said flynn was trying to neutralize sanctions against russia. She rejected claims that president obama wanted to sabotage mr. Trump. Something like that would have set off alarms for me and it would have stuck out both at the time and in my memory. No such thing happened. The president was focused entirely on the National Security implications of sharing sensitive intelligence information with general flynn during the transitional process that was obviously already underway. Stephanie the flynn probe later became a fullblown investigation of russian interference in the 2016 election. Facebook has removed a post by President Trump for the first time. Video from the post was part of a fox and friends interview where trump said children are virtually immune to covid19 p the social Media Company said the post violated its rules against sharing this information about the coronavirus. A spokesperson for the Trump Campaign responded, saying, the president was stating a fact that children are less susceptible to the virus and she blamed silicon valleys flagrant bias against the president. The u. S. State departments acting Inspector General Stephen Akard has resigned less than three months into the job. Akards predecessor, stephen linick, was fired less than three months ago. Congressional democrats allege its because linick was investigating secretary of state mike pompeo over claims that he had staffers perform personal errands. Which pompeo denied. Reports from south korea say deadly explosions in north korea killed or injured dozens of people on monday near the chinese border. Video obtained by the Associated Press shows flames and black smoke firing into the sky amid loud bangs. The report say propane gas cylinders may have exploded in a residential area. In india, Prime Minister Narendra Modi broke ground today for a controversial hindu temple where a 16th century mosque once stood. Hindu extremists tore down the mosque in ayodhya in 1992, and 2,000 people died in the ensuing violence. Today, worshippers danced in celebration as modi offered foundational stones for the temple. It will be dedicated to the hindu god ram. And, legendary new york city columnist and author pete hamill died today at a brooklyn hospital. Hed suffered heart and kidney failure. For decades, hamills storytelling captured the color and essence of the city, on everything from politics to civil rights to sports. Pete hamill was 85 years old. Still to come on the newshour, with the president ial nominating conventions just days away, we hear what voters in the heartland are saying in this election season. Former secretary of defense William Perry on why the president shouldnt have the Sole Authority to order a Nuclear Strike. Minneapolis struggles as it tries to defund the police and reimagine Public Safety. And much more. This is the pbs newshour from weta studios in washington and from the west, from the Walter Cronkite school of journalism at Arizona State university. Judy at a fundraising event today joe biden told supporters , he hoped his decision to forgo an inperson appearance at the democratic National Convention would set an example. I am quoting from the start of , the process, weve made it clear, scien matters. He said the coronavirus has upended not only this president ial campaign season, but also millions of lives in even the most rural parts of the country. For more on how voters outside the beltway are thinking about the pandemic and its political ramifications, im joined by gary abernathy, in hillsboro ohio. He is a contributing colonist for the washington post. And, sarah smarsh, in topeka, kansas. Shes a freelance journalist and author of the book heartland. Welcome to both of you, it is great to see you. Lets start by talking about, what is on the minds of voters you are hearing from . The pandemic, the numbers were grim again today, over 1300 deaths were reported overnight, Something Like 53,000 new cases in one day. What are voters saying . Sarah here in my state of kansas, this is one of the states where new cases are on the uptake, unfortunately. In this region like across the country, it is certain the pandemic is foremost on voters minds. It is a twin issue with the economy, the present state of which we cannot separate from the Public Health crisis. Certainly the pandemic and its ramifications is the talk on main street, as well as the stuff of local politics here in kansas, which has a split Party Control of state government, a lot of backandforth, battles between a democratic governor and republican legislature, democratic mayors and republicanleaning counties. It feels i suspect the way it feels and the rest of the country, that there is no leadership and it is a bit of a mess. Judy gary, what about where you are in southern ohio . Gary thanks for having me. Maybe a little different attitude here. People are talking about the pandemic. They take it seriously, but it is also an area where you have a lot of people push back, worried about the violation of their constitutional rights. There has been a lot of pushback in this area on mandates from governor dewine about the masks and so on, which people take seriously, but they also think constitutional liberties have maybe not been taken as seriously as they could. They do not like the idea they have been ordered not to work. The economy has been shut down. I think people here, their attitude is, treat us like adults, give us the information we should have, tell us what the Health Experts say, and let us decide how to deal with it. Judy sarah, kansa are you hearing that conversation with people you talk to . How much are they connecting what is going on to what is happening in washington . Sarah i think that here the controversy over whether a mask is in order in these times certainly tracks along party lines. I would say if i go to a Farmers Market or somewhere, a public place of commerce, this is a state where a governor attempted to make a statewide mandate and there was pushback from other jurisdictions. That was the debate i was referencing a moment ago. At the moment, local places are at the mercy of their local government. What i would say is, for those who feel a mask infringes upon their personal liberties in a way that outweighs their responsibility to their neighbors, they are reliably conservative and that tells m they probably are listening to messaging from washington. On the other hand, i would say that is not the same as saying all conservatives refused to wear a mask. There have certainly been some erosion of fellowship of the president for that reason. Judy i want to pick up that with you, gary, in terms of the economy, the loss of jobs, to what extent do they connect it with decisions made by trump, by democrats . Gary i think, keep in mind i am in part of a part of the country that is very protrump. They see things as more of an effort to intentionally hurt trump through closing the economy. A few months ago everyone agreed the biggest thing trump had going for him was a strong economy. The quick effort to crash it, turn it on its head, throw people out of work, is seen here by a lot of people, right or wrong, as an effort to hurt trump, so there is resistance to that. On the other hand, as reported elsewhere, in rural areas we see coronavirus cases rising, so people are starting to notice. Ok, it is a real thing, not just in the cities. It is coming to the rural areas, too. The more those numbers rise, a little less they will blame it all on a political person. Judy to both of you, we are getting closer to the conventions, to honest to goodness election season. Joe biden is staying put, not going to his convention. President trump isnt, either. How much are people looking at the partisan divide right now and these two candidates . Sarah in contrast to four years ago in the election leading up to the 2016 casting of votes, i see fewer trump signs, for whatever that is worth, as a qualitative measure, in rural kansas where i live, as well as in townsnd cities. That does not mean folks have moved left. I see a lot of signs for farright and conservativeleaning candidates running for state offices or representative offices. We just had a primary yesterday. The republican candidate for the now you open u. S. Senate seat, favored by Establishment Republicans over the more extremist kris kobach, won, which is seen as a win for republicans in that race. I do feel like things have shifted away from embracing trump since 2016. Judy gary, how do you see the trump popularity and joe bidens presence now . Gary i am sure sarah is right about where she is at, but right here, the young the enthusiasm is unabated. The signs are up and have been for a while. The make America Great again signs have been replaced by trump 2020 or keep America Great. The enthusiasm level will be high here in southern ohio. I think the decision by Vice President biden so far to run of he was in the white house, you would call it a rose garden strategy, cant last for too much longer. I think the media will pressure him to come out more. In areas where i am at, it is not doing anything. Judy we shall see. We are watching this with great interest, as you can imagine, as this very unusual Election Year unfolds. Gary abernathy, sarah smarsh, thank you. Gary thank you, judy. Judy Stuart Stevens Stuart Stevens is one of the Republican Partys most successful Election Campaign strategists. His career spans decades and in his revealing new book, it was all a lie how the Republican Party became donald trump, he admits the g. O. P has used race as an issue to divide americans, in order to win elections. And Stuart Stevens joins us now. Thank you so much for talking with us. The book is jarring. I have to say, you write about how the Republican Party the last halfcentury, its hypocrisy, what you call selfdelusion, let it naturally to embrace donald trump, and embraced what you said was its racism. Explain what you meant. Stuart there is an eisenhower strain going back to the 1950s and a mccarthy strain. We think William Buckley is this intellectual soul of the Republican Party, which he was, but we forget he was a racist. There has always been this element. Since 1964, the Republican Party failed to attract large numbers of africanamericans. We use to acknowledge this as a failure and talk about how to try to change it. Now, we do not hear any talk anymore and we seem to have settled into a very comfortable white grievance identity. Judy you acknowledge you yourself were part of this. You setting your first race you played the race card, so to speak. There is a lot of blame to go around, isnt there . Stuart it is really important not to blame others, but except responsibility for myself. Personal responsibility is one of the key elements that drove me to the Republican Party and we have abandoned that, it seems. My first race, i made ads like voter id ads, but informed africanamericans there was an africanamerican in the race. If you go back and read a memo written to nixon that outlined a strategy, the acknowledgment that republicans cannot get africanamericans, therefore the need is to suppress them or divert them from the democratic party, has been at the core of republican electoral strategy. Judy you write about that and how what you describe is the hypocrisy around family values and you name names, newt gingrich, jerry falwell, evangelical leaders, and how this culminated in the easy acceptance of donald trump. Stuart i think donald trump exposed these fault lines in the party d made it impsible for a lot of us to deny. The party clearly does not believe in what it said it believed in. If you go back a few years ago, we would have said there are beliefs, responsibility, character counts, strong on pressure, fiscal sanity, free trade, prolegal immigration, all of these are bedrock principles. It is not that the party has drifted away from these, they are actively against each of these principles. Judy whether it is family values or race, your point is, it comes down to some pretty ugly truths about the party you say is an entity that cannot be fixed. Stuart i really have given up hoping there will be some line donald trump could not cross. Since i wrote this book, that has only been reaffirmed. Be it race the same weekend my home state of mississippi took down t state flag, the confederate atul flag, donald trump was defending it. He is out tweeting white power, tweeting about protectg the white suburbs. For the most part the Republican Party is silent or goes along with it. That is incredibly damning. Trumpism is deeply embedded in the party. I do not think there is anyway that will be changed at least for a generation. Judy what happens now . You and other republicans who are dedicated to making sure donald trump is not reelected, you dont have a home in the party anymore. Whered you go . Stuart those of us working on various projects to defeat trump, each of us will have to come to grips with that and see what the world looks like on november 4. For myself, i will work with democrats. I think the future of america, the policy, will be decided by decisions within the democratic party. Take health care for instance. In 20 years, will america be the only one without National Health insurance . No. What that is going to be, not decided in the Republican Party. It will be decided in the democratic party, whether it is the aocbernie sanders or more of joe biden wing. They have made themselves irrelevant to those discussions by saying no. I would like to be part of what is happening. Judy what will happen to the republicans who continue to support President Trump . Lindsey graham, mitch mcconnell, you could go down the list. Stuart my feeling is,rump is george wallace. George wallace did some good things as governor. He passed three textbooks, but he is not remembered that way. I think trump will be the same. I am astounded there is not more awareness of how trump will be remembered, in the nearterm future. And why there has not been more position or selfish realization that if i do not stand up to donald trump, i will go down as a trump person. But it has not happened and they are very comfortable with trump obviously and that is how it will be remembered. Judy what do you say to those republicans who have worked with you over many years and say he is a traitor to the cause, he has forgotten all the good things we did together . Stuart my feelings are contradictory. They are good people. If thesaw you with a flat tire, they would help you. My feeling, there is a collective failure by the party. Most of us go through life trying to avoid moral tests, but donald trump was a moral test we could not avoid and we failed. It is particularly tragic and that this generation of american politicians are heirs to the greatest generation. My dad spent two years in the south pacific. Should encourage us standing up to donald trump. That was their legacy. I think they betrayed that legacy by not standing up for the principles they were for. Judy the book was it was all a lie how the Republican Party became donald trump. Think you so much for talking with us. Stua thank you. Judy on august 6, 1945, the United States dropped the first atomic weapon on hiroshima, japan. In the coming days, we will examine this 75th anniversary, the bombs immediate aftermath, and its lasting legacy. Today, Nick Schifrin looks at the president s Sole Authority to launch such a weapon, and how that authority came to be. Unamerican airplane dropped one bomb on hiroshima. Nick 75 years ago tomorrow president truman announced the u. S. Had harnessed the basic power of the universe. The Manhattan Project took three years to build and test an atomic bomb. Throughout truman and his , advisors called it the gadget, thinking it was just another, very big weapon. Even the thousands of men and women working on the project had no idea the staggering energy they were to release. Nick truman had actually delegated to the military, when, and where to launch. On august 6 he believed only atomic bombs could end the war. If they do not now accept our terms, they may expect a rain of ruin from the air the likes of which has never been seen on this earth. Nick but after the enola gay flew over hiroshima, and the Mushroom Cloud slowly darkened the sky the devastation of the , city was overwhelming and endless. Survivors hair burned, their skin peeled off. A few days later, the second atomic terror was loosed on nagasaki. Nick after that, truman decided the decision to drop a third bomb could only be made by him. President ial Sole Authority was born. The purpose of these bases can be none other than to provide a Nuclear Strike capability against the western hemispherein 1962, after the nick in 1962, after the cuban missile crisis, president kennedy wanted to tighten nuclear control, so a briefcase with launch codes started traveling with the president. Today, the socalled football, is the symbol of the president s Sole Authority to launch. Pres. Trump they will be fire and fury like the world has never seen. Nick President Trump is the rst president in more than 40 years to have his Sole Authority openly questioned by congress. Many americans share my fear that the president s bombastic words could turn into nuclear reality. Nick and Sole Authority is the subject of a new book, the button, the new nuclear arms race, from truman to trump, by former secretary William Perry. Secretary perry, welcome back to the newshour. Ls begin with this fundamental is the threat of Nuclear Annihilation a distant one . Sec. Perry we can be thankful we are going to 75 years since hiroshima and nagasaki without launching the bomb. But i believe the likelihood of it being used now, of breaking that record, is higher today than it was any time during the cold war. That is, the danger of a Nuclear Catastrophe today is equal to the darkest days of the cold war. And most of the public simply do not understand that reality. Nick there are many checks in the system that you write about, preventing an unintentional launch, preventing an unauthorized launch, but is there any way to prevent a determined president from launching a Nuclear Weapon . Sec. Perry if the president decides to launch, he has the authority to do it, he has the equipment to do it, and if it goes, theres no way of calling it back and theres no way of just destroying it in flight. It would be an unprecedented catastrophe, far greater than world war ii. Nick and thats, of course, the context for the main proposition that you have in the book, that the president should not have the Sole Authority to launch. Why is that . Sec. Perry there is a likelihood of a Nuclear Catastrophe today, but thats not because we expect russia to be making an attack on us. Thats not going to happen. Their leaders are not suicidal. Deterrence really does work. It could happen by political miscalculation by the president. A false alarm. Or it could happen because of a lack of sanity on the part of either the american president or the russian president. All of those things, none of them is likely, but even if its only one in 100, these odds are not good when you consider the other end of the odds would be the end of our civilization. Nick the main argument, of course, for having Nuclear Weapons at the ready and having the president as the Sole Authority to launch is the requirement to respond quickly. As you write Russian Nuclear , weapons hypothetically could be launched and land inside the United States within 30 minutes. Doesnt the president need to be able to respond quickly . Sec. Perry the reason we thought we needed a quick launch was because we believed that we were going to get a surprise attack, originally from the soviet union, today from russia, and we wanted to launch our icbms before that attack landed and destroyed our icbms in their silos. We have, however, at sea, more than enough Nuclear Capability to respond to russia. And russia knows that. There is no hurry about ending civilization. We should take time to consider that. We can wait it out to ensure, it really is an attack before we respond. The best way of ensuring that is to give us enough time to consider what is happening, bring in other people for consultation, technical consultation, and political consultation before a launch is ever made. Nick i want to ask about whether this is about the current inhabitant in the white house. You write that for donald trump, starting a nuclear war is as easy as sending a tweet and how much of what you are arguing here is about donald trump personally, whom you call impulsive . Sec. Perry i believe that no person, no president should have that authority solely by himself , without consultation, without taking time, deliberation, we have in the past president s like president kennedy was taking heavy medications, and that could have clouded his judgment. We had richard nixon, who was, in the last few months of his office, drinking heavily. That could have clouded his judgment. Even ronald reagan, the last few months he was in the white house, was in the early stages of alzheimers. So there is no reason that we have to give this authority to one person. And we should make every effort then to bring as many, other people into the decision, and slow down the decision process. No quick launch. Nick the other main change you advocate in the book, mr. Secretary, is that the u. S. Cannot launch on the warning of an attack, that is, before an attack is unambiguously confirmed. Why is that . Sec. Perry because we have had false alarms in the past, three of them that im historically aware of. If a president responds to an alarm, and it turns out to be false, there is nothing he can do to recall the missiles. So he will have started a nuclear war by accident. Nick and lastly, mr. Secretary, if i could ask you, you we a soldier who helped occupy japan and saw the aftermath of a Nuclear Weapon. Youve of course seen and been through a lot in those decades since, but how much of your argument today is grounded on what you saw back in the 1940s . Sec. Perry i saw, first of all, the devastation in tokyo. Then i saw hiroshima and nagasaki, one bomb, one airplane in an instant. If it is a nuclear war not just , a city can be destroyed in an instant, but a whole civilization. Ronald reagan and gorbechev said it best, which is a nuclear war , cannot be won and must never be fought. Nick former secretary William Perry, thank you very much. Sec. Perry you are very welcome. Judy now, an update on efforts to defund the police in nneapolis, where the killing of george floyd prompted calls for change. Tonight, the citys Charter Commission will decide whether to ask voters to weigh in on this issue. Special correspondent fred de sam lazaro has our report. We have eagle eyes, mace, water. Sam they are called the minnesota freedom fighters, an openly armed, mostly black citizens group, at in recent weeks has provided what ey call an added layer of security to the community through a particularly difficult time, says tyrone hartwell. We are tired of waking up, looking at the news or another facebook video with another person of my skintone shot down, strangled, whatever is the issue, because of a lack of understanding. Sam they came together soon after the uprising that followed events at a one nondescript a once nondescript Street Corner that is now named george floyd square. A growing shrine with artwork and tributes to floyd and dozens of others killed in Police Encounters across the country. It is also ground zero for a campaign to abolish the Minneapolis Police department by defunding it. Proponents of defunding the police, including a majority of the city council, say minneapolis has been here before. Several black men ve been killed at the hands of police. There was toff there was talk of reform and nothing happened. They say its time for the city to start over from scratch and reimagine Public Safety. Policing as a concept has had a complete monopoly on Public Safety. Sam city Councilmember Jeremiah Ellison says, its been a failure. I dont just mean a failure because it has perpetuated the kind of harm that you see in Police Killings, and things that fall well short of Police Killings that constitute harm, but it also fails to keep people safe proactively. Sam the council wants to amend the city charter, which now requires a police force with a minimum staffing level. That requires voter approval. Among those opposing the move is mayor jacob frey. He says the council hasnt provided any alternative plan. We have all this anger and frustration, and sadness, all of this energy and its our pens something that is specific and productive, not vague and ambiguous. Sam amid the debate over the policing, minneapolis has seen both a spike in Violent Crime and a Record Number of complaints against the Department Since the city erupted in protests after floyds killing, protests that resulted in a Police Precinct being burned, after officers were ordered to evacuate. Our morale has never been lower. Theyre scared to death to answer calls in case something turns violent, because theyre actively trying to send us to prison. Sam sergeant rich walker, who worked at the precinct, told a Minnesota Senate committee that as many as 200 officers, about a quarter of the entire force, may soon depart. A number have filed disability claims. Ive never been more broken as a Police Officer than i was to watch our leaders give up on our home. And the truth is the leaders of minneapolis failed minneapolis. Sam mayor frey says he has no second thoughts about his decision to abandon the precinct. We only had about 15 to 20 officers inside with almost nothing to defend themselves with other than guns. Imagine what would have happened if they had continued to fight, there was hand to hand combat and likely a scenario of death. Sam what now, when you have almost a quarter of the police force in some form of absentee situation . That sounds like a significant Staffing Shortage. We do have a Staffing Shortage right now. I disagree with the notion we should be abolishing the Police Department. Our officers are dealing with some very difficult siations. Sam ebony chambers described a recent incident outside her home in minneapolis largely black northside. There was about four teenagers walking down the middle of my street with guns out. My neighbor stood up to them, which i dont know why he did. But he said you, please put the guns down. I am calling the police. He called the police, never showed up. 15 minutes later we heard about 30 shots being shot off. I dont know if the person they were shooting at lived or died or anything. Sam in another instance, she says police came to her door to tell her they gave up chasing a suspect who had run through her backyard, and if she didnt like it, the officer said you need to contact your mayor so we can do our job. Sam chambers and Donald Crumbley areart of a Larger Community Organization Called isiah. They say theyre open to new ideas about Public Safety. It is not aut good police and bad police. We are past that. Its about right and wrong, and the community has to step up now, because weve received enough injustice. Sam but lisa clemons, a former Police Officer who founded a Community Group called a mothers love, says the City Councils actions havent helped matters. She says theyve only emboldened criminals. When the city council came out with their statement of abolishing and dismantling and disbanding the Police Department, those incendiary terms, i think it created a lot of fear in the community. But it also at the same time created a brazen attitude. I think the community has been left to fend for themselves. Were not trying to defund the police. We are not saying we dont need the police, but there needs to be a rebuilding of what they are. We need a full Culture Shift in our Police Department. Culture, to a certain extent, is about personnel. Its about people. Right now, wh the chief or i terminate or discipline and officer as much as 50 of the , time, that officer gets returned right back to the department from which they came because of an arbitration system. The mayor is going to have to recognize that again, this is not a personnel problem, but a systems problem. Sam councilman ellison says the powerful police union would never concede on arbitration or other changes. Whats needed he says, is a complete revamp, moving funds into violence prevention, Mental Health care and fixing other underlying causes of crime. He admits it will be a Culture Shift for the Larger Community. Right now, all we really have in terms of Public Safety is one system, and that is policing. People are going to be scared to create a new system of Emergency Response. I think it is going to take a lot of conversations. Sam the councils immediate hurdle is to get voters to approve a city Charter Amendment that would allow it to phase out the Police Department and phase in a broader office of Public Safety and violence prevention. For the pbs newshour, this is fred de sam lazaro, in minneapolis. Judy the focus on black lives matter remains, of course, one of the biggest subjects in the National Conversation right now. A new book looks at how hierarchy and class are very intertwined in the way race and racism plays out in america. Jeffrey brown talks to author Isabel Wilkerson. Its part of our ongoing arts and culture coverage, canvas. Jeffrey in 1959, Martin Luther king jr. Visiting india and seeing its caste system, realized he was a kind of untouchable in his own land. Its one of many stories told in the new book caste the origins of our discontent, which asks us to see our country in a new way. Isabel i really was lookinto better understand the origins, the very long standing origins of divisions in our country. The era in which we live is an era of upheaval, really requires and calls for new language, new ways of seeing one another, new ways of understanding how we interconnect and also what weve inherited as a country and as a people. Jeffrey Isabel Wilkerson is a former pulitzerprize winning journalist with the new york times, and author of the warmth of other suns, a history of the great migration of africanamericans out of the south. Working on that book, she came to see something embedded in american culture, even beyond race. Isabel the word racism seemed inadequate to capture the full effect and full total experience of being in a world in which every single thing that you could and could not do was based upon what you look like, a world in which everyone was in some ways consigned to preconceived notions as to who shld be where. People had to be careful to stay in their place or a could mean their very lives. Jeffrey wilkerson looks to india, where were used to seeing caste, and to germany, where the nazis created a racial hierarchy that formalized persecion and, ultimately, genocide. Drawing on the works of past anthropologists and historians she reveals americas own insidious and artificial caste system, a strict hierarchy with rules that set in place both privilege and privation. You write of caste as the, quote, infrastructure of our divisions. In what ways does caste help us think about whats going on in American History and now . Isabel the word caste is a reminder of an infrastructure beneath something that is larger, that sits beneath the foundation. It is the foundation the , framework for how people interact with one another. And so i have come to believe that caste, the infrastructure, the hierarchies that we often dont see, the bones of a thing, i think of caste as the bones and race as the skin. That is a way to see that race is used or has been used historically as the cue, the signal, the indicator of where an individual fits in the preexisting hierarchy that have been created from the time of colonial era america. Jeffrey slavery, from the beginning manifests that hierarchy, one life worth more than another. But wilkerson sees a continuity. Waves of european immigrants arriving in this country and, in a sense, learning they are white and therefore, a bove above those who are not. Isabel when youre in a caste system, a hierarchy, everyone is affected by it. It is about the investment in the hierarchy, how one moves about in the hierarchy. The insidious thing about such a hierarchy is its something that we dont see, again, bones versus skin. You can see the skin. You can see the outward manifestations. But you dont often see those unseen inputs and triggers and assumptions, the unconscious biases that pervade society that are there below the surface of consciousness, the ways that everyone has been socialized to to know and recognize who is very likely to be in positions of power, who is likely to be poor, who is likely to be on the margins . Jerey who is likely to sit in a position of power in the boardroom . Who is likely to live in certain neighborhoods . Who is likely to be stopped by police and treated with brutality the focus of current black lives matter protests. Isabel American History is reflective of the ebbs and flows pushback, moving forward and then receding. That is essentially the history of our country. This is another moment that could be potentially a sea change. I view it as the cusp of an awakening. An awakening to a part of much, much of American History that many people may not have known. The goal of this work is to allow us to see, again, the structure that we have inherited, to push forward and recognize we all have a stake in it and recognize it will take each and every one of us to make it the strongest house possible. Jeffrey i have to say in reading this caste as you , describe, it seems even more fixed in a sense than race as a concept, as a structure. Is it something that is fixable . Isabel i would like to believe that its fixable. I wouldnt have written this if i didnt think that it was. I have to remain hopeful. I have to believe that once awakened to our history and to our current reality, as has occurred in recent months, that this would move all of us to want to bridge these divides, to find ways to scale the walls that have been built between us and to recognize these are false and artificial divisions. These are manmade divisions. If they were made by man, they can also be fixed by man. Jeffrey the book is caste, by by Isabel Wilkerson. Thank you very much. Isabel thank you. Judy throughout the pandemic americans in elder care homes , have been some of the people most at risk from covid19, but there are those in Nursing Homes who have survived the disease despite their age. Tonights brief but spectacular features centenarian grace weissmanspiegeldavis who shares what her experience was like. I was a victim of the coronavirus and i must say, i am happy that i survived this. I did come down with a fever. Truthfully, i was not aware of it. It might be that i was not mentally facing it. There has been no activity in the hairdressing salon because of this pandemic, which is going on. So i said when i was asked to be interviewed, only if i can have my hair done. That is what happened. I got my hair done. So i am number one on this parade. Im 102yearsold and i live in a Retirement Development called the mary wade home, which is in new haven, connecticut. As a little girl we lived, it was a tenement actually in harlem, new york at 116th street. I never heard of a pandemic before this one. We had what we called epidemics and one was called whooping cough. I remember my mother taking us on the subway to the Staten Island ferry during the whooping cough epidemic because salt water was good for whooping cough. I remember that very clearly. My life has not changed much and i feel i can still have some fun and a few laughs and still have my mental facilities, or faculties i should say. All i know is that i tell all my friends if i die, please call , my hairdresser first. I want to have my hair done and look well at my funeral. Ive led a nice life. Ive been very fortunate. I would like to be remembered as a good friend, as a good relative, and is a good person who lived on this wonderful earth and hope that it all works out well. My name is grace weisman spiegel davis. And this is my notsobrief, but spectacular life. Judy grace, we are so glad you survived and a lot of us share your appreciation for hairdressers. That is the newshour for tonight. I am Judy Woodruff. For all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you and please stay safe. We will see you soon. Major funding for the pbs newshour provided by for 25 years, consumer cellulars goal is to provide wireless service. We offer a variety of no contract plans and ourustomer service team can help you find one that fits you. When the world gets complicated, a lot goes through your mind. With fidelity wealth management, a dedicated advisor can tailor advice and recommendations to your life. That is fidelity wealth management. Johnson Johnson Financial , Services Firm raymond james. Womens Suffrage Centennial commission. The ford foundation, working with visionaries on the front lines of social change worldwide. And with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. This program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. This is pbs newshour west from weta studios in washington and from our bureau at the Walter Cronkite school of journalism at Arizona State university. Lidia buon giorno. Im lidia bastianich. And teaching you about italian food has always been my passion. I want to taste it assaggiare its all about cooking together. Hello . As i recreate childhood memories. Good to the last drop. Restaurant classics, and new family favorites. Isnt that everybodys favorite part . Whatever youre baking, lick the spoon. Tutti a tavola a mangiare venite announcer funding provided by. At cento fine foods, were dedicated to preserving the culinary heritage of authentic italian foods by offering over 100 specialty italian products for the american kitchen. Cento. Trust your family with our family. Grana padano. Authentic. Italian. 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