hello, i'm ros atkins, welcome to outside source. let's start in washington. the brother of george floyd has told a us congressional committee that people around the world want changes to policing. honour george, and make the necessary changes that make law enforcement the solution, and not the problem. we'll also have a comprehensive global update on the pandemic. in england, more restrictions are being eased. from saturday, adults who live alone or single parent families will be able to form what's called a "support bubble" with another household. and the world health organization is warning that the crisis

is far from over — as some health care systems continue to struggle. in washington, the brother of george floyd has addressed the us congress. philonise floyd spoke to the housejudiciary committee as it considers the issue of police brutality. he said his brother could not become "another name on a list" of african—american‘s who lost their lives at the hands of us police. i couldn't take care of george that day he was killed. but, maybe by speaking with you today, i can make sure that his death will not be in vain. i'm tired. i'm tired of pain. the pain you feel when you watch something like that. when you watch your big brother, who you looked up to for your whole life, die, die, begging for his mum. i'm here to ask you to make it stop. stop the pain, stop us from being tired. george called for help, and he was ignored.

please, listen to the call i'm making to you now. before mr floyd spoke, the hearing was opened by the housejudiciary chairman, the democrat jerry nadler. he recounted the events in minneapolis and said the american people wanted meaningful change. we are all familiar with the terrifying words "i can't breathe." they were uttered in minneapolis by george floyd while a police officer pinned a knee to his neck for a chilling eight minutes and 46 seconds, taking from him the final breath of life. six years ago, eric garner uttered those exact same fateful words while locked in a chokehold in new york city. he too died at the hands of law enforcement. millions of americans now call out "i can't breathe" as a rallying cry in the streets all across our country, demanding a fundamental change in the culture of law enforcement and meaningful accountability for officers who commit misconduct.

today, we answer their call. on the republican side — well, we heard from jim jordan today. he's a senior republican in the housejudiciary committee — he also paid respects to george floyds brother, he recognised the importance for change — he then had some criticsm for some of the protestors. the american people understand it is time for a real discussion, real debate, real solutions about the police treatment of african—americans. americans also understand that peaceful protest, exercising their first amendment liberties honours george floyd's memory and helps that discussion, that debate, and those solutions actually happen. guess what americans also get? guess what else they understand? they know it is pure insanity to defund the police. and the fact that my democratic colleagues won't speak out against this crazy policy is just that frightening.

the push for police reform is gaining momentum. but police unions say their officers need to be part of that conversation. that's a point that was made forcefully on tuesday by the president of new york's association of police unions. i am not derek chauvin. they are not him. he killed someone — we didn't. we are restrained. stop treating us like animals and thugs, and start treating us with some respect. that's what we're here today to say. we've been left out of the conversation. we've been vilified. it's disgusting. it's disgusting! for her analysis on the calls for reform, i spoke with katty kay who's in washington. look, the police unions have actually been seen as a major block to police reform in this country, because they have a huge amount of power.

they are the people who can stop police officers from being fired, they can protect police officers who have been accused of violence against minority communities, and they are seen as the stumbling block. so i think those who are calling for radical reform of the american policing system and an end to police brutality, particularly against african americans, would like to bypass the unions or would like to find a way to have police unions not have so much power in this country. and i think this whole issue of defunding police is caught up with the role of police unions, who have been a hindrance to having some kind of reform. what about that committee we just heard from george floyd's brother speaking at? the democrats and republicans don't have a great track record recently

of finding a way of working together, is there any evidence they can do it this time around? it has been really interesting listening to republicans over the last few days, and i think all politicians have been caught by surprise, really, at the power of these protests, at the scale of these protests. and republicans in particularfeel that they have been rather wrong—footed by all this or have been on the wrong side of all this, and are now playing catch—up. one of the things i thought that was interesting in the hearings was to hear republicans say, "we also do believe there has to be reform. we see that there is a problem here that needs to be addressed." now the way they want to address it is different from the democrats, whose proposals are more radical. but it has forced republicans into the position of trying to come up with counterproposals, and even in the white house we are expecting to hear from donald trump with some kind of proposal in the next 1—2 days on police reforms. they don't want to feel they are left behind in this conversation. but neither democrats nor republicans historically clearly, because we've seen so many times

when african—americans have been attacked so violently by police — have managed to fix the problems driving these protests. let's continue to explore this political dimension of the story. of course there is an election in november, and on this issue of racial injustice, attitudes among americans seem to be shifting fast. have a look at this from the new york times. in the last two weeks, support for the black lives matter movement has increased almost as much as it did in the last two years. and it's been donald trump's challenger, joe biden, who's been more willing to align himself with black lives matter. for example, he made this video contribution to george floyd's funeral on tuesday. we can heal this nation's wounds. and remember, it's pain, not "callous the heart and forget". and today, now is the time. the purpose, the season to listen and heal. now is the time for racialjustice. that's the answer we must give to our children when they ask, why? because when there is justice for george floyd, we will truly be

on our way to racial justice in america. joe biden followed up on wednesday with an opinion piece for usa today. in it, he writes that... and on defunding the police, mr biden‘s not keen. he writes... he's also promising an extra $300 million to improve community policing if he becomes president. not everyone‘s impressed with that. the america comedian rob delaney put it this way... or this is krystal ball from the hill's programme, rising...

but amongst democrats, there's optimism thatjoe biden can bring some change. here's jamira burley who was deputy millennial vote director for hillary clinton in 2016. many times, the average voter in america feels like the democratic party did not engage them unless it was an election year. and i think this is the time, very similar to 2016, where we can't take any vote for granted. i think what we saw over the last few months, especially during super tuesday — there was a lot of prominent african—american leaders, a lot of elders who came out in support ofjoe biden. and i think where we see a lot of the younger black voters who are more for revolutionary change, who want to break down systemic systems of oppression and dismantle the police — i think they're a little hesitant of joe biden. but what i think is very different from 2016 is now people see the stark contrast between biden and trump. well, donald trump and the republicans are also under pressure to develop their own plans

for police reform. katty was alluding to them a little bit earlier. senator tim scott, the only african—american republican senator, is leading the development of the justice act. this is the draft — it focuses on issues of reporting, accountability, training and community relations. it's much less sweeping than the democrats‘sjustice in policing, which they announced on monday. with the pressure to present an alternative move palatable to republicans, senator scott has already met with donald trump's son—in—law, jared kushner, on tuesday evening to discuss the policy plans. katty, if i could bring you back in at this point — both parties with different ambitions, and i suppose the question lingering behind all this is, what's different this time? it's not like we haven't known about racial injustice before. yeah, it's a question i ask people who go to these protests and african—american leaders. one of the things they point to is a widespread involvement

in these protests of white people. they say that is something they've not seen before. the other thing that point to is the global nature of the protests, the fact that other countries are now addressing these racial issues. so there is a sense of urgency that is there, and some sense of optimism amongst some african—america ns, particularly in the civil rights movement, who feel that this moment is different, that the video was so startling that even some have suggested the fact of the country had been locked down because of the coronavirus, that there were no sporting events on television, has really focused people on this issue, that there were no other distractions on it. they hope that, now that they have the attention of white americans at large, that that can affect change in a way that perhaps the killing in ferguson didn't back in 2015. so they feel this could be a different moment. stay with us on outside source. still to come: we go to india,

where there are warnings delhi could have more than half a million coronavirus cases by the end ofjuly — pushing hospitals to the brink. here in the uk, a special day of celebration will being held next month to pay tribute to nhs staff and other key workers. it will include what's being called a community round of applause — and it will take place on sunday, 5july — that's the day regarded as the birthday of the nhs. annemarie plas is the founder of clap for our carers, which was a weekly show of appreciation for key workers in the first ten weeks of lockdown in the uk. here's what she thinks of this. after what has already happened in the last ten weeks, and with the protests that are happening right now, it is so important that we do this all together. and maybe the idea alone of a clap or thank—you is a small gesture. but if we can make a connection, then it is way more

powerful — from the bottom up through the nation, that it comes to other way around from top to bottom — it can be the powerful start of a change that i hope is about to happen.