captioning spoor by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening, i'm judy woodruff. face-- the highest rankingbout military officer apologizes for appearing with the president during the peaceful protests in the wake of george floyd's death. then, feeling the pain-- a grimf economecast shows high unemployment lingering in theoa u.s. and abras a result of the coronavirus pandem plus, the economic impact: covid 19 t black-owned businesses in the a u.lready facing financial challenges. >> it is hard as an african- american to get big funding, even small funding, even micro loans to get tt. and i have excellent credit. i own property and everything.

>> woodruff: all tt and more on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> life isn't a straight line, and sometimes you can find yourself heading in a new direction. fidelity is here to help you work through the unexpected, with financial planning and advice for today, and tomorrow.

>> carnegie corporation of new york. supportingnnovations in edation, democratic engagement, and e advancement of international peace and security. at carnegie.org. >> and with the ongoing supporti of these itions: and individuals. >> this program was made possible by the corporation r public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thanyou. >> woodruff: an about face--be the splieen leading military leaders, current and former, and the president, is wider tonight. the country's top military officer, the president's chief military advisor, has

rhetorically broken with the commander in chief, over a photo-op last week. nick schiffrin explores the latest clashes.t >> schifrin: lnday, president trump walked out of the white house to pose for a photo outside a nearby church that had been slightly burned by protestors. behind him, walked chairman of the joint chiefs, general marka' milley, amersenior most military advisor.president's top milley spoke in a recorded commencement address to ene national d university. >> i should not have been there. my presence in that moment and perception of the military volved in mestic politics. as a commissioned uniformed i've learned from. and i sincerely hope we all learn from it.

>> schifrin: meanwhile, several hundred alumni of the united states military academy at west point sent an open letter to the cls of 202 now, with me to discuss general milley's remarkable about face, and this fraught moment in civilian-military relations is retired lieutenant general ben hodges. 20 served as commander of u.s. army europe unti, and has know general milley for 20 years. ben hodges, welcome back to the newshour. general hodge, welcome back to tae newshour. why was it a mi for general milley to walk with the president as parted of a photo opportunitk, >> well, nihank you. mark milley recognized that he had t himself get into a political situation where he became a prop actually, and therefore played into the situation where you had military getting involved in adomestic

situation. that was the mistake, and that'e what acknowledged today. >> schifrin: and milley says he doesn't know he was walking toward that photo opportunity. ould he have figured that out earlier? should he have turned around? >> i thipart of what general milley acknowledged in his public apology is that he as a senior leader, he knows people are always watching him. he knows that he has an important constitutional role, and that he should have been a more. i mean, giving all the events of the past several day, he was in the oval office meet with the esident and the secretary and others, and then knowing what was going on outside, what we call siuational awareness, he acknowledged that he should have been more alive to the possibility of what could happen. the same thing for being in

uniform. you know, in hindsight, clearly the image of him being in that uniform set the tone, not intended, and that was what heiz apol for. his mistake is that he should have been more aware of thegs kinds of thand frankly recognized that in this sort of set of personalities that he would be used. >> schifrin: of course, part of this tension is that the president threatened to useve acuty military troops to quell some of the protests, somi of theence in the united states. why have so many militaryil officials,ley included, retired and active duty, resisted the idea of using active duty inside the united ates >> the idea of american soldiers being used, being put in a position where theyuse violence against our fellow citizens is anathema to everything that we

believe in. from the day we start off as brand-new cadets or officers, you're trained to resct civilian authority and to protect our fellow citizens. that's the oath that we take. the idea that somehow soldiers would be it is in a position, regular army soldiers put in a potion to use vilence against our fellow citizens just is repulsive to all of us. that's why we see so manyeople come out and say things. and generally even retired nerals and admirals who prefer not to get involved in things like this that are political because of this tradition of apolitical military. this was such an egregious situation, clearly not something calling for implementation of the insurrection act. the president had not de the case for that at all. so i think because of the trition of an apolitical military, that's why the words of people like geeral mattis

had such resonance.d others have e >> schifrin: let me giu some examples of forts whose name weall know. fort bragg, fort benny, fort polk, me of the most famous military installations in the edcountry namfter confederate generals. is the military and its leders acknowledging that they need to do better when it comes to race? >> this is going to change. these installations. i have to tell you, i'm embarrassed. of course, i went to fort i've been to fort bragg, fort campbell, all these places,and while i often thought it was unusual, i never thought deeply about it. it was probably only about three years ago that i had an epphany that while it didn't seem like a big deal to me, it would be a g deal to others, and now i'm embarrassed that it took me so many years to realize that this makes no sense.mo the i think about it, the

moreindefensible it seems. these are not traditions dating back to the revolution. mo of these forts were camps that were established just ar ore the first world the second world war for ilization, somob there's no long patriotic sort of legacy there that needs to be defended. i think we -- the navy has a good model where they name the base after the town. i wold also recommend -- i always bereave in building something, something positive versus always tearing things town, and what a powerful statement it would be if there was a monument next to any confedere statue or any of these sort of legacy things that listed the names of all the former slaves who joined the union army during the american civil war. at huge risk to themselves, thousands were killed, to hav that monument there with those names next to an olgacy sort

of statue, what a powerful statement that wod be about the values that we really actually do believe in. >> schifrin: retired general, ben hodank you very much. >> nick, thank you. >> woodruff: in the day's other news, wall street plunged back into melt-down mode, on news i that coronavirections are rising in 21 states. the dow jones industrial average s,lost well over 1,800 poi nearly 7%, to close at 25,128. ane nasdaq fell 527 points the s&p 500 dropped 188. the sell-off also came as anotr 1.5 million americans filed for unemployment benefits. we'll take a closer look, after the news summary.

the pandemic is also continuing to surge in other countries. cases across africa doubled, to 200,000, in the last 18 days. brazil and india have reported spikes in inctions as restrictions ease. and, the world health organization urged vigilance today. >> most people remain susceptible to this virus and the threat of a resurgence remains very real. all of us have a part to play in protecting ourselves and protecting oths. >> woodruff: globally, some 7.4 million people have been infected. nearly 3.5 million have recovered so far. back in this country, protesters are pulling down more monuments linked to white supremacy.t, overnirowds in richmond, virginia tpled a statue of confederate president jefferson

davis. protesters in st. paul, statues of christopher columbus. anwhile, the country mus group lady antebellum shortened its name to "lady a". "antebellum" generally refers to the pre-civil war era, when slavery was gal. president trump called today fou racial justicehe also suggested some in the protest g movement ang too far. he spoke in dallas, and gave no specifics. >> americans are good and gertuous people. we have to work er to confront bigotry and prejudice wherever they appear. but we'll make no progress and heal no wounds by falsely laling tens of millions of decent americans as racists or bigots. >> woodruff: the president also drew criticism for announcing he will resume holding campaign rallies on june 19th, in tulsa.k

the day wn as "juneteenth" and commemorates the end of slavery in america. and, tulsa was the scene of rioting by a white mob that killedundreds of black victims in 1921. former vice president joe biden says he is worried president trump will try to "steal" the november election. biden has wrapped uphe democratic presidential nomination. he spoke last night on "the daily show with trevor noah." >> it's my greatest concern. my single greatest concern. this president is going to tryis and steal thlection. this is the guy who said all mail-in ballots are fraudulent. >> woodruff: biden also suggested the military could be called on tovict mr. trump, if he loses the election, but refuses to leave office. and, the united states is moving to impose sanctions on thcr internationainal court for investigating alleged u.s. war crimes in afghanistan.

president trump's executive order today authorizes travel restrictions and other measures. secrety of state mike pompeo called the i.c.c. a "kangaroo court." still to come on the newour: a grim economic forecast shows high unemployment lingering as a result of covid 19. protesters worldwide show solidarity with the black live matter movement. the coronavirus takes an e tsized toll on black-owned businesses in ths. and much more. >> woodruff: the number of weekly unemployment claims we reported in the news summary is the lowest since the economic shutdown began in march, but it remains far above what we have seen in other financial crisis.

it follows federal reserve chairman jerome exwell saying he cts unemployment at the end of 2020 to top 9%, and t fremain elevat years to come. to help us look in these numbers and the broader economic concerns they raise, we ssrn to david , director of the hutchins center on fiscal and monetary policy at the brookings institution hello again, david wessel. so how are we to interpret all of this? we see the markets today reacting negatively to news that the coronavirus rising in a number of states, and yet we see unemployment, we see unemployment continuing, but better than it had been in recent months. what direction do we look when we see these numbers? >> i think it's important to separate the markets from the

real economy. nely 30 million people ae checking unemployment, that's nearly 20% of the workforce.th 's goo because even though people are out of work, they have some incomeg but it's go be a long, slow climb out of this covid recession. i think what happened in th markets is the markets basically fell 30%, anhen we had atocks euphoric moment.ed stocks recovll their lost ground, and then the last couple days they have given up 10%. so the stock market is now 10% lower than it was before covid and that seems to me about the right place where it should be. >> woodruff: and then we have as we mentioned the chairman of the federal reserve, jay powell, saying he expect unemployment to be over 9% still by the end of this year, only slowly cong down. americans can't be excited about that. >> right. i mean, i thnk that chairman

powell was trying to do two things. one was be realist wick the american people, explain to them that we're not going to come out of this quicly, and secondly put some pressure on congress to do something. we can have lower unemployment by year end if we get more help atom congress. as the chairman's message i think. >> woodruff: so sending a signal to the congress. david, i also want to ask you about this census survey of small businesses. first week of june, showing that fewer small businesses, while fewer of them are cuting hours, in all more of them are cutting than increasing. how do we read that? >> right, one thing... i'm i thiave bad connection. isorry. i'm sorry about that. one thing, at the census bureau, they have been doing weekly surveys of households and small businesses it's a sign of just how bad things are. twice as many small businesses

cut hours in t first week of 12%., 26%, than increased them, so it's... we are not out of the woods yet. even though we see this modest improvement in the job market, it's really hard te ovrstate just how bad the economy is and how hard it's going to be for u to recover from this, because people are going to be reluctans end, businesses are going to be reluck reltant to reopen, how many of us are going to get on an airplane in the next few months? this is going to be a long, slow slog. >> woodruff: and dav, economists say it's going to take a vaccine, some dramatic piece of new information or science to make people el more comfortable. is that still what the economts you talked to are saying? >> i don't think we know how peoplere going to bave. is is such an unusual event. so we see now that people seemet to beng late impatient with t the lockwn. so we' have the see. do people come out of their

houses? are they willing to go back to the malls? will the offices reopen? and ifheyo, will that... will we be met withc a seond wave of covid in the fall thaten will sus all back into our houses? so i think there are three things we have to worry about. one is the science, thetr tment, and the vaccine. two is how people react, and nobody really knows.g. and third is how much the same support will the economy get from the federal government until we're past this horrible episode in history. >> woodruff: i know people wantanswers. what we're hearing is's just hard to come up with definitive answers right now. we just keep payg close attention. david wessel, thank youo much. >> you're welcome. >> woodruff: the killing of george floyd has led to reckonings not only here in the

united states, but in many countries around the world. nick schifrin is back with that. >> schifrin: from madrid... to tokyo. from sydney... to seoul, george floyd's death sparked a worldwide reckoning. >> i think it's important that we're doing this even in koreakn because you , racism is a global issue, it's not just an american issue. >> schifrin: in the birthplace of the enlightenment, french demonstrators chant no justice, no peace. they say france also struggles with police miscduct and discrimination. three days after a minnesota police officer killed floyd, a hfrench police officer ke knee on a black suspect. but that treatment often happens off-camera. these protestors chant adama traore, a young black frenchmen asphyxiated in police custy in 2016.

no officers were charged. >> and he's not the only one. you have several young french blacks, or arabs, who died in the hands of the police. and i think that george floyd's death echoed the very local situation. >> schifrin: rokhaya diallo is a filmmaker and journalist, who's lped lead french protests. this week the interior minister banned police from using chokeholds and promised to but activists say leers. french governments haven't done enough. >> it has been point several times, there was a problem with police brutality, wh racial profiling in france and that nothing has been done by any governments. it's a display of systemic racism. >> schifrin: diallo regularly appears on tv to argue france struggs with systemic racism. she's been called divisive. >> i am the only person of color around the table. d d ever since i tried to tackle race, i'm assaul the others around the table.

>> schifrin: do you think you're controversial? >> i don't think so. i think that race is controversial in france because it reallquestions the structures of power. in that fallacy of universalism of a country that would be color ind. and i think it's comfortable to live in that dream. but it's not possible for people who experience race every day just to forget i >> schifrin: european activists have worked to ensure colonialist pasts aren't forgotten either. in brussels, demonstrators chanted ¡murderer' on top of king leopo ii. and in antwerp, officials removed a leopold statue, 125 ars after he oversaw belgium's brutal colonial t expansion inhe congo, that historians say killed 10 million. in bristol, england, protestors tore down edward colston, a 17th

century merchant, and threw him into the same waters ships he w set sail filled with slaves. churchill, who helped win world war ii but also argued white people were superior, goted ta, racist. british activists say the country's history is often whitewashed. and police treat black brits equally. >> we've got people that say, oh, you know, all lives matter. we know. right now, it's us that' being killed. >> schifrin: pauline stepney is rdprotest organizer in bed outside of london. >> black lives matter is not a trend, because i am black, always. >> schifrin: last weekend activists released this video oi a soally distanced protest. activists cite t case of sean rigg, who died in 2008, after being held down by officers for eight minutes. no officers were charged in his, or other deaths, by police. >> when you see the injustice of people not being convicted for

killing a child, for killing somebody that was walking away with killing somebody, that was somebody tt was reaching >> schifrin: london's mayor is pressuring police to change their tactics. but activists say the problems rudeeper, including denying caribbean immigrants rhts, because of institutional racism. >> once you're dehumanized, once you're seen as not having any feelings. being told we have to work twice as hard. we want you know equal access to jobs, equal access in education. we want our children to just not discriminated by teachers. >> schifrin: for artist diana, aro's lived in germany for 16 years, floyd's death gave ol causes, mentum. >> we've never had this kind of turnout. anmy fear is among these white activists who go to this is that they, too, still don't understand that the problem is also at home. >> if you e not fighting ainst it when there's not a video, then you are part of the

problem. >> schifrin: she says germany has its own institutional racism, and it's time for the government to atone. >> there needs to be reparations as the form of structural funding in all aor black communities, so that we can lead the work in all areas of civil society. >> schifrin: no society is free of discrimination, and inequity is n new. but floyd's death provides a catalyst for minority mmunities, and their allies, to fig for change. and allows a father in france to teach a lesson to his child, that's universal. >> there are some people who might think less of us because we're black, but we know that's not true, right? we know that we're just as smart, just as intelligent, and you're just as beautiful as anyone. >> schifrin: for the pbs newshour, i'm nick schifrin.

>> woodruff: su.tting down the economy over the coronavirus outbreak came at enormous cossito american sses. but, as paul solman reports, the impact on african amican entrepreneurs has been especiallyatire. it's theest installment of making sense. >>l watch like this a man w really areciate. business is beyond these days. but think of what you're up against if you're african- american. >> i've even been asked is this stolen? many, many times i've been asked, this is not stolen? whicis absolutely appalling. they ask who owns this business because it's such a nice upscale store and when i tell them me. >> reporter: james mack's dream come true: his own jewelry store but there's at lea majorlina. hurdle: his race.

>> a lot of people say that maree, you know, you should someone, of caucasian or mexican descent to stand in the front. but it's like, you know, when do we get the respect of running a business at a high level? >> cassius clay, right? before he was mohammed ali. art adorns terence dickson'sn- terrcafe, opened in baltimore 11 years ago, despite lacking what many entrepreneurs almost take for granted. >> normally, you know, you go to business school, you need a business plan. ed six months of revenue you need six months of payroll. the average black business starts with about 1500 bucks and a couple halfway credit cards and a dream. >> reporter: black businesses hamstrung from the start says economist robert fairlie, since half of black families have less than $9000 in wealth. hiteou compare that to families white families have 130,000. that contributes to the lack of ability to find financial capital to start a business.es it contribo the lack of

financial capital to grow that business. so the wealth gap is big problem. >> black people represent about 13% of the population, but only about four percent of the overall number of business owne. >> reporter: and andre perry of the brookings institutiosays it's not for lack of drive. >> it's probably more because of a lack of access to capital, which of black businesse receive less loans. and when we do get loans, interest rate.uch higher >> reporter: it's been like this forever. virginia ali, now 86, and he husband founded ben's chili bowl in 1958 in washington, d.c. >> we found that it wasn't easy to get the financing if you wanted to expand and things like that. that's the way we found it. >> reporter: true 62 years ago, when the chili bowl opened in segregated d.c. still true for mack today. t >> it e, you know, it is hard as an african-american toin get big fu you know, even small funding, even micro loans to get that.ve

and i haxcellent credit.nd i own propertyverything. terence dickson, wtorse's african-american business owners, once went to the bank wi a group of them. >> the only thing that we nted was a business credit line. as easy as let us deposit this thousand dollars in and give us a business credit line. they gave us donuts. we got coffee or water. they say, we appciate you. and thank you. that's it. a.k.a. get the hell out. you feel me? >> reporter: compare that to white entrepreneurs. >> they have family, all right? that are helping them. they have an education of some type tt is helping them and see it started before they even started with business. i don't know about savings. i don't know about i.r.a.s. i don't know about business structure. i just know that i got enough this week to pay the light bill

and bring some groceries in and out and i'll get the rest of the rent next week. >> reporter: yes, saysmist fairlie... >> the racial gap in wealth, the racial gap in education, this racial gap in family business ownership. you put all those factors together and that's what's contributing to why i say aun person today who's african-american has a much newer chance of starting up a bu and running a successful business than someone who's white.or >> rr: and the pandemic reduced the number of african-es american buss by 41%. >> twice as high as it has been for white owned businesses. >> reporter: what to what do you attribute the greater impact on black businesses of covid-19? b >> it was partause of the industries that black owned businesses are in. often ese are smallescale businesses that were shut down that weren't dmed essential and so that's created problems. >> reporter: but wait: the paycheck protect"n program o" p.p.p.", signed by president trump, was supposed to aid small businesses. >> when the treasury announced that they would be distributing

these funds through mainstream banks, i immediately rolled myio eyes in frustrbecause we know that mainstream banks have ng had a sordid history with blk business owners. they essentially work with their existing customers, many of which were not black people. so structurally, it was set up where black people would get less money. >> reporter: now, the treasury has set aside funds for firms that lend to underserved communities. still... >> for black businesses, it's very difficult at this time. >> reporter: virginia ali's daughter-in-law vida also works at ben's chili bowl. they did get a p.p.p. loan.t 's not enough. >> business was down 80% on u a strend all other ben's chili bowl were closed we just reopened our h street location a couple of weeks ago. but business is still down 70%. >> we're not going back to business as usual. that's done. >> reporter: terence dickson's lounge room sits empty.

his cafe is open for take-out only. so he's developing safety asures to re-open. >> how do you eat an elephant? one smalbite at a time. how do we work our way out of this corona? one small bitet a time. >> reporter: simone charles had 56 dates booked in her cincinnati event space. by the end of march? >> we literally had three events left. we were looking at oper ng reopening ors at the beginning of june. however, with the protests that are that have been occurring scheduled to do tove who were reached out saying that they feel uncomfortable wanting to postpone those tours. >> reporter: chaes hopes to re-open soon. as does james mack. c heaning up after his store was broken into amidst the protests in charlotte. security cameras captured the incident. >> i mean, not being able to do business in that timeframe is extremely hurtful. we just trying to climb back to our way back, you know, without losing our space, without losing our business. and then we have another hurdle

to go over, not taking away from any of the protests or any of the demonstrations at all. but, you know, hurting african- erican businesses in the meantime, it is only bringing us down more in an economicio situwhere we are trying to rise up. >> reporter: mack, charles and dickson all support peaceful protests. ben's chili bowl was the onlyse pestaurant allowed to stay past curfew in washington during the 1968 riots. i think they are making a difference now in our country. they're and i want them toue conto be persistent and peaceful. we've got to get positive change.o we've got toat before i leave this earth, paul. reporter: this is paul solman, reporting for the newshour.

>> woodruff: stay-at-home orders posed a challenge to americans who struggle with addiction and rely on the support of in-person recovery meetings. and many others found their drinking habits changed drastically during the pandemic. william brangham looks at the impact covid-19 has had on americans' substance use, and the consequences that could long outlast the virus. >> this week has been allenging. i found myself having an unexpectedly strong urge to drink yesterday. >> brangham: this is what a recover iy meeting looks li >> it's been kind of difficult, in having urges and avings to drink. >> brangham: groups like this one, for people struggling with substance abuse and addiction, have been forced to move online. the"members of what's called smart recovery," it's an

alcoholics anonymous alternative, all aeed to be filmed/recorded. >> i have been dealing with quarantine in a rather negative way, with my anxiety panicking, and i am fighting off a lot of urges. brangham: separately, o member of a.a., reagan reed, decided to depart from that group's anonymity policy to speak personally about the challenges posed by coronavirus. >> we had to find a way to literally bring all of alcoholics anonymous online. and we did so via zoom. it's been a big challenge for everyone to rt of adapt to this new way of maintaining sobriety. but then also, you know, the whole other side oit has been the enormous amount of uptick of ople reaching out to us. people who have a drinking problem, who are home and

isolating, particularly those essential workers. o brangham: in-person meetings are the foundatirecovery programs like alcoholics anonymous. priding a connection that' now sorely missed. >> there's something so important about phys making yourself go to an a.a. meeting and sit down in that that'ssential to staying o air. sober. >> thenline meetings are good, but not getting a meeting where i can talk tpeople has definitely been hard on me. >> one of the other things we don't get in the online meetings that we get in face to face meetings is getting together a few minutes eaofy, before the cial meeting starts and getting a chance to just chat, and hang around a bit after. >> it worries me from a repse standpoint. we're all suffering from a great psycholocal trauma.

it's absolutely anxiety provoking. so for patients who might be tenuous in their sobriety, feelings of isolation, feelings of loneliness, feelings of anxiety can really represent >> brangham: according to one study, data from nielsen, alcohol sales spiked 55% nationwide over one week in march, just before stay-at-home orders went into effect in many ates. online alcohol sales jumped. 24 sa>> i'm the head of onlins and marketing at sherry's wine and liquors in washington, d.c. march has suddenly gotten the same amount of business as you g would normal in december, and in this industry it's typical for a decent store to get at least 25% of their year's take in the holiday season.so o be getting a holiday season on your website in mid- march is a humgous benefit to the store. >> brangham: of course, most of this spike in alcohol sales inkely comes from so many bars and restaurants closed

nationwide, not from people with abuse or addiction problems. having a huge percentage of the couny stuck inside their hom is changing people's drinking patterns. justine d'souza is one of many who say theidrinking habits expanded from weekends to weeknights during the lockwn. >> i was used to having a lot of activities after work, so i would have rehearsals, i was very involved in the performing arts scene locally. i had never really had time to sit down at home and have a glass of wine, and i guess my thought was, okay now i have nothing but time after work. >> brangham: austin mcmullen said he started drinking more after he became one of the millions who lost their job because of the pandemic. >> i don't really have much to do. so, yeah. not only ever, it just kind of been drinking more. but it's been more. definitely not socially. it's just drink, play madden, watch tv. but then, you know, i'll start to feel bad about it, but then i'll go outside and i'll see everybody else is doing the same

thing and then i'll take my escyclables down there and it's just full of botf just different kinds of alcohol. so everyone's well, kiget like me and i should probably slow down. i feel kind of upset abo i this, but thealize that everybody else is doing the same thing. >> it's ve normal for people to reach for a drink when they're feeling me anxiety. but because of the physiology of alcohol tolerance the tient needs to drink more and more in order to achieve the same desired effect. i really worry that some of the rootof addiction are going t take hold. and i'm also worried that patients won't necessarily realize it at the time until it's too late. i'm very much worried about a gathering storm of paties who i don't even know about yet. >> brangham: residential recovery centers are bracing for that storm of new patients. the chief medical officer of the hazelden betty ford treatment centers said new enrollment

numbers have held steady so far, but that they expect to encounter a flood of people seeking inpatient treatment after stay-at-home orders end. >> they say that you really have to hit a sort of rock bottom before you can get help. but that bottom right now for people who are struggling isin gelower and lower.i s u knowrry about people drinking themsel death just as much as i worry about people with the virus. you know, if you'rin a meeting and yore a newcomer and you sepeople from literally al over the globe struggling with somethinthat you struggle with but are scared to admit to your about, you know, that's that that help >> brangham: for the pbs newshour, i'm william angham.

>> woodruff: it was two years ago when the 240 year old american academy of arts and sciences put together a bipartisan commission to take a hard look at the state of our democracy in the 21st century. the commission is today issuing a report detailing 31 recommendations on how to strengthen it. full disclosure: i'm a member of this commission, and while i'm very much for a stronger democracy, i do not advocate for any specific policy changes. here's a look at what the commission found. these recommendations are meant founding ideals and documents. challenges our democracy isd the facing-- rising inequality, political polarization, a surge of white nationalism, a lack of trust in our nation's enstitutions, a fragmented media ronment.

solutions, broken ntot offers broader themes. one theme is aimed at equality of represeation-- changes that would address governance. the report recommends substantially enlarging the u.s. house of representativ 1, establishiyear term limits for supreme court justices, an big changes to campaign finance laws. it also calls for so-called" ranked-choice voting," where voters rank candidatesder of their preference for elections at the federal a state level. and it sees room for improvement in how we vote. the commission recommends switching to universal, automatic voter registration. it says federal election day should be a holiday. and it recommends making voting a requirement of citizenship, much like jury duty. it also wants change how we get information, like a tax on digital advertising that would

go to a public media fund. and it calls for a culture change toward service, witham icans putting in a year to serve in programs like americorps, the military, or other nonprofit work. all this is just a starting point. this report to be tot wants action and for the recommendations to inspire debate. to discuss the report, i'm join by two of the three chairs of the commission: danielle allen, a political theorist and professor atun harvarersity. and stephen heintz, president and c.e.o. of the philanthropic foundation, the rockefeller brothers fund. welcome both of you to the newshour. stephen heintz, let me start with you. why dithe commission think now is the time to overhaul our democracy? >> you know, many americans, we have discovered, feel that our

representative democracy is neither truly representative or very democratic. they don't think their voice is heard. they don't think their votes count. they think the system is stacked against them.ri so the amn academy, which sponsored this commission, felt it was time to will listen to americans, to study the questions and the issues that tonfront us, and to try develop a comprehensive plan for how we could reinven our democracy for the challenges >> woodruff: you bring upury. inequality. danielle allen, this report is issued at a moment when the nation is feeling thecause of aftermath of theth of george floyd. how much is that woveen into the fabric of what you're proposing here? >> we have been working on this report for tw years. it must be said, and with a sense of urgency the entire

time. that urgency has been fueled byh the sense that social compact in this country has crked, fractured, just as stephen says. dipeople feel sempowered. people feel that government has not been responsive. we also feel separate and apart from each oter, divided and pollerrized. this has been the truth for s time. this moment has brought out clearly just hower jet the problems are. if one focuses on the question of policing and racial justice, it's a perfect example. people have been pusuing change for long time, but certainly with renewed energy since 2014 with the death of michael brown and others, and although there have been some successful reforms here and there, fundamentay what we've had to take away is that the government has been non-onreve. now we're seeing a rediscovery of common purpose. a reiscovering of the goal o securing liberty and justice for all and a recognition thatin

achithat does require living together, responsive institution, genuine opportunities for emp civil society organizations that connects people, and healthy information ecosystems that help us all this our work as specific participants. >> woodruff: stephen heintz, it's such a parled moment in american history. how are people to believe this is truly a t bipartisan ideas. >> from the very beginning of our work back 2017, we were committed to recruiting a very diverse group of commissioners from all across the country and people with different backgrounds, different experience, different poic perspectives and partisan ideologies. but one thing we all shared was a love of country and a concern about our democracy. and we worked together for two years. we did the analysis. but the most important thi was

to talk to americans all across the country. we benefited from their experiences with how our democracy has enduring strength. >> wooaluff: danielleen, audacious, bold ideas, increasing the size of the houst of repreives by 50 more members, putting an 18-year term icest on supreme court just many people are going to look at this and say, can this really happen? what are you trying to accomplish here? >> it really can happen. the first thing for people to recognize is that a healthy democracy pends on a virtuous circle linking efftive functional institutions, civil society organizations that connect people to their institutions and a civic culture that cult interest rates a commitment oamericans to one another and to our constitutional democracy. so our recommendations are not just a hodgepodge, a grab bag os policy i they're very considered things that interact with each other.ye

so the requirement for universal voting, but at the make voting easier, and across the slate of our recommendations, there are champions for all of them, peopleho are already worki hard on these things. a lot of times act evaluating feasibility. we also thought to make sure forward on many levels of our system some there are some things that municipal lead kearse move forward, some that state leaders can remove forweqd. some thatire actions by congress. only one constitutional amendment, that was our goal to, avoid constitutional amendments wherever possible some that way we can do the things we need with regard to issues of campaign finance. even a change at the supreme court term limits, that's ach ge that can be made within nal existing constitut parameters. across the board, we saw pathway of implementation that wasgh aligned with feasibility, taking 2026, the 250th anniversary of the nation's political birth, as our tart. >> woodruff: stephen heintz,

31 recommendations, priority, what do you start with here? what do you say to te american people, these are our priorities? >> well, i think what we're sayingo the american people is that we're issuing an invitation to them to pick te recommendations that mean the most to them and to begin to work tether on them. we're not establishing priorities for them. that's t work of the citizens of our country. we're offering them a comprehensive plan. we think all the recommendations should be carefully debated and expanded on and developed in the years ahead. but i want to stress one thing tact challenge here. we are at a moment i think where there is greer recep tiftd --iv recey to change and a greater need for change. the pandemic we've been livine through and acial justice crisis make the flawings in our democracy all the more vivid and the need for reinvention all the morer jet. i think people in america

understand this. they want to believe in this democracy. they want to be connected to each other, and they want it to work. >> woodruff: danielle allen, finally, that was going to be my question do, you believe the american people are receptive to these kinds of idas right now? >> absolutely. this country is full of brilliance and full of can-do energy. the most inspiring parts of our work was listening all over the country, and the opportunity to see the way people are already rebuilding, rebuilding trust in eir own communities, inventing forms of civic media that can look at the corrosive effects of social media, for example some the american people, they'r hungry for this. the american people are full of ideas, full of can-do energy. i am 100% confident that we can bring about the transformation that we all decemberratsly aspire to. >> woodruff: and danielle allen, where do people go if they want to read this? >> th website is amaca d d back

slash or common purpose. >> woodruff: all right. we're going thleave it there. dannydanielle allen, stephen gostkowski, we thank you both. s >> thank yoo much, judy. >> woodruff: chinatown is typically a vibrant and bustapng of new york city. but as a result of covid-19, thm area ba ghost town, with some there experiencing xenophobic attacks. karlin chan createime resident chinatown block watch to help keep everyone safe. he'she focus of tonight's brief but spectacular.

>> i started patrolling the streets of the lower east side with a couple of friends because we heard of some harassment that was going on here. inen i shared it on social media and other friendhe five people, six people, and now we've expanded to a group of 20, 30 people. we are a multi-ethnic group who are banding together, who unite to fight xenophobia and hate. i love this area because i grew up in this area.ed i've lere in this area over 60 years now. it's a vibrant, functioninco immigranunity. first it was an irish slum, then it was an italian jewish slum, but then it became a chinese slum, and now it's changed. we have a functioning chinatown rd my hope is that no mat how much we get gentrified, it'll always remain a functioning chinatown. pre covid-19, this was a bustling area. right around the lunar new year annually, reets are packed with celebrants.

we have tons of tourists that will shoot into this area just to observe the various traditions that we have, lion dancing, dragons, mue floats, thc, the food. covid-19 affected this communitt early onting in even mid9. december, of 2 as news out of china, broke about the covid-19 outbreak in wuhan, many tourists stopped visiting the area. even regulars to this area stopped coming to this area to patronize our shops and our restaurants. a lot of it was caused by xenophobia. it was aisconception that all chinese carried this virus, whereas we're born with this virus or something. 0 staurant's experienced a 60% drop in business, and manyd were for close. this is even pre lockdown, which went into effect pre-march. since the lockdown, the streets are really totally empty. there's no one out there. only t few came out to wait on line to buy necessities every two days. we do have incidents of harassment, verbal. people passing through the neighborhood.

t,if we witness an incidene will witness it, we will record it, document it, and we will help the victim report it. we're he to tell people and with these highly visible safety vests that we have a visible presence on the streets and we're not going to tolerate any incidents of harassment or attacks here. because we are residents of the community. the business owners who are toen, they recognize us and it's really reassurinhem, to see a friendly face keeping an e on them. my name is karlin chan, and this is my brief but spectacular take onhinatown block watch. >> woodruff: and you can find all of our brief but spectacular sepbents online at org/newshour/brief. and on the newshour online, as protests over systemic racismn continuee wake of george floyd' death, there have been growing calls to defund the police. but what ectly does that mean? our amna nawaz took your

questions about the movement earlier today with yale university phillip v. mcharris, who has studied the issue for a number of years. u can find the full interview on our web site, pbs.org/newshour. and that's the newshour for tonight. m judy woodruff. join us online and again here tomorrow evening. for all of us at the pbs nesthour, thank you, please ay, sad see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> the ford foindation. workg with visionaries on the frontlines of social change

worldwide. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and friends of theewshour. >> this program was made possible by the corporation fost publicroadg. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by media access group at wg access.wgbh.org

hello, everyone, and welcome "amanpour & co." here's what's coming up. >> this is 2020. enough is enough.pe thle marching in the streets are telling you enough is enough.>> moment to change america. how will the nation face it? ng-time activist and civ rights veteran mary francis berry joins us. plus, racism, demoy and a health crisis. all pandemics hiing the black community the worst. using force against peaceful protesters is a mistake. >> america's former top military isaacson about why he could no longer stay silent.