captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight: matters of justice. ngistleblowers testify about the increaoliticization of the justice department following preferential treatment for associatesf the president. the senate fails te on am. police reform bill despite nationwide momentum. i ask republican senator james lankford about why t parties could not come together. plus, esntial work. employees at meat processing plants face the pressures of returning to work despite documented risks from covid-19. >> ( translated ): they told the workers not to worry everything was ok. to be honest, they were not prepared at all.g

noths ok. that's where many became scared and it was kind a "work or you don't eat" situation. >> woodruff: all that and more on tonight's "pbs newshour." >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: in >> supposocial entrepreneurs and their solutions to the world's most pressing problems-- skollfion.org.

>> the lemelcon foundation. itted to improving lives through invention, in the u.s. and developing countries.le on the web alson.org. >> supported by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur committed to building a more ju, verdant and peaceful worl more information at macfound.org >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public badcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: u.s. attorney general william barr is under new fire tonight over claims that he puts politics before justice. democrats renewed the charge at a congressional hearing today. a deral prosecutor testified that superiors pushed a lesser sentence for an ally of president trump.

we'll get all the details, after the news summary. a federal appeals court has ordered criminal charges dismissed against fo national security adviser michael flynn. today's two to one ruling endorsed a justice department motion.ia drop the case, pending a review, flynn admitted lying to the f.b.i., then asked to wihidraw plea. democrats in the u.s. senate btoday blocked a republicl on policing practices. it would increase incentives to ban chokeholds and restrict no- knocwarrants. but, democrats want stronger mandates. ahead of the vote, each side accused the other of bad faith. >> no final legislation can pass without 60 votes. if democrats don't like the final product, it won't pass. the only way there's any downside for democrats to come to the table is that they would rather preserve this urgent subject as their live gn

issue than pass a bipartisan answer. >> who is a better guardian of civil rights of african american when it comes to police reform? the naacp or mitch mcconnell? if this bill were such a good path to reform, why wouldn't one end of america to another say, "go forward, maybe we'll get something done" 'cause they know the bill is a ruse, and nothing will get done. >> woodruff: the house of representatives votes toexrrow on a mornsive democratic bill. the governor of wisconsin has after violent protests at the state capitol overnight. a state senator was beaten up in the melee. crowds tore down statues honoring an anti-slavery leadere and s rights, and th vandalized a number of buildings. meanile, three white men in georgia were indicted for murder today in the killing of ahmaud

arbery, last february. and, lisville, kentucky has fired a white officer who fatally shot breonna taylor during a no-knock raid in march. health officials are warning that a surge in covid-19 cases could swamp hospitals in the sunbelt. that follows worof nearly 35,000 new infections nationwide over 24 hours, the most since april. and today, new york, connecticut and new jersey announced visitors from nine high-riskes still have to self- quarantine for 14 days. >> this is a smart thing to do. we've taken our people the three of us, these tee states through hell and back. and the last thing we need to do right now is to subject our folks to another round. >> woodruf meanwhile, federal funding for 13 community-based testing sites will end this month.

they were aimed mainly at poor taand minority areas in 12s. the spike in covid cases pushed wall street's major indexes down more than 2%. lost 710 points to at.al average 25,4 the nasdaq fell 222 points,0 and the s&p-opped 81. in a party-line vote tate approved president trump's 200th federal judge nominee. the republican-majority elevated mississippi judge coryn to the 5th circuit court of appeals, against democraticr objections os record of undermining minority voting rights. his confirmation marks the highest number of judicial nominees confirm at this stage of a presidency in four decades. new york and kentucky after a flood of mail-in ballots in tuesday's primaries. among the major, undecided races: kentucky democrats amy mcgrath and charles booker are competing to challenge republican senate

majority leader mitch mccoell. and in new york, jamaal bowmanin is tto deny the democraticno nation to congressman eliot engel, who chairs the house foreign affairs committee. pharmaceutical giant bayer will pay as much as $10.9 billion to settle lawsuits over the weed- killer roundup. thousands of plaintiffs have allegeit causes cancer. the u.s. environmentalge protectiony says roundup is safe, when used as directed. ade by bayer'sis subsidiary monsanto. and, nasa announced today it will rename its headquarters in washington after its first african-american engineer, mary jackson. her work was pivotal inam launchinican astronauts into space, and was featured in the book and movie "hidden figures." mary jackson died in 2005. still to come on the newshour: whistleblowers testify about the increasing politicization of the

justice department. questions arise about nato'ses future as the ent looks to move u.s. troopsut of germany. employees at meat processing plants face the risks of covid-19. and much more. >> woodruff: in washington today, the house judiciary committee heard new allegations of abuse from within the justice department-- that camerom the s ry top. lisa desjardins e story. >> desjardins: on capitol hill, a hearing on whether the agenc t which enforc law is itself breaking it. two current justice department attorneys charged that d.o.j. leaders, including att general william barr, ordered some investigations and tried to weaken others for political reasons.

>> roger stone was treateddi fferently because of politics. >> desjardins: including pushin fore lenient sentence for roger stone, a close ally of president trump's. aaron zelinsky, the lead d.o.j. prosecutor in thwa case, said told to back off a tougher sentence recommendation for stone. he ultimely quit over the handling. >> the acting u.s. attorney for e district of columbia w receiving heavy pressure from the highest levels of the department of justice and that his instructions to us wer based on political considerations. and i was told that the acting u.s. attorney was giving stone a break because he was afraid of the president of the united states. >> desjardins: for stone, zelinsky had recommended seven to nine years. ultimately a jge disagreed, sentencing stone to three years in prison. but former attorney general michael mukasey, who served under former president george w. sh, said the doj and barr operated with integrity. >> the justice department is not politicized because senior officials disagreed with the sentencing recommendations for

mr. ste. plosecutors are supposed to seek justice, not to the sentencing guidelines like some sort of pinball machine to see how many times they can ring the bell. >> desjardins: the hearing also comes just days after barr and mr. trump ousted geoffrey berman, the top osecutor in anhattan. jerry nadler of new york said that's part of a "clear and dangerous pat": >> mr. barr's actions make clear that in his department of justice the president'allies get special treatment. the president's enemies-- real and imagined-- are targeted for extra scrutiny. >> desjardins: also alleging yesuse of power today, john elias, a lin d.o.j.'s antitrust office. he said barr forced unusual and unwarranted reviews of marijuana companies. >> in response to staff concerns about these investigations, the he of the antitrust divisi assistanattorney general lrahim acknowledged at an all staff meeting that the cannabis industry was "unpopular on the 5th floor," referring to a.g.

barr's office at the d.o.j. headquarters >> desjardins: republicanse n the commitshed back, defending barr as fixing previous problems of anti- consvative bias. >> he's cleaning up the mess of the previous administration and restoring integrity and honor to the d.o.j. and the f.b.i. >> i mean, they're notpo tical, they're just right. bubbling tensions.with republico how nadler ran the hearing. a preview of a bigger hearing yet to come, attorney general atrr is expected to testif the end of next month. for more on today's hearing and the dismissal ofriminal charges against michael flynn, i'm joined by carrie johnson of n.p.r.. carrie, let's just start with the hearing. we heard these attorneys allege barr useds d.o.jwer for political reasons. how unusual is testimony like this? >> it is extremely unusual for prosecutors at this level in the stice department to be testifying at all, let alone when some of these matters are

still ongoing, lisa. in the last 20 years, i feel like it's happened uponly one time.ka so it was reme, on that basis alone, but the substance of their tesmony was also pretty start ring to people -- artling to people who ha covered the justice department anfor many people who worked there, too. >> this came as the same day that charges were to beed dro in the michael flynn case. is this a unique case or is about that ruling regarding michael flynn today? >> well, the trump administration both the white house and tenhe justice depar called it a significant victory. nothing about this case has been noal from the beginning. it started, of course, with the outgoing adminiration and f.b.i. interviewing the ne president's incoming national security advisor in the white house itself. remember michael flynn pleaded guilty twice to making falsets

statembut when he got a new lawyer, he reconsidered, wanted to reopen the case, and the new brass in the justice departme sided with michael flynn citing legal deficiencies. in the ca the federal judge hearing the and michael flynn appealed toit the higher court. now the higher court has actually sided with michael flynn and sically ordered the the case and throw it out for good. >> reporter: have both political parties acusing different parts the justice department of having politic bias. what is your se of what's happening in the agency? is there a chance that peopleo are beming more political in this political time, or is that just something politicians are saying? >> depending on a change in thei stration, parts of the justice department often change, t right? differministrations have priorities about civil rights and environment and other

matters, but the kinds of issues that have been croppi up of late with the dismissal of the u.s. attorney geoffrey berman in new york over the weekend and the pattern of rein cases inially investigated and charged by the special counsel robert mueller does seem to be unusual and we're seeing not just sitting prosecutors going to congress and testifying but a lot of former prosecutorsle signiners. that said, bill barr has in his corner michael mukasey who testified on his behalf today and said the justice department fortunate to have bill barr at the hem. i think morale insidi the bu is pretty ugh right eow, and i don't know whether we're going to smore departures in advance to have the election. we have seen some of the appointees from president trump announce they're leaving in the wecoming days andks. >> briefly, i wanted to ask about the election. that came up at the hering.

of course, d.o.jhas very key responsibilities in overseeing protecting the election. what hasill barr said so far about what he's going to do and about some pele raising concerns he may be biased in this election. >> bill barr is outraged at the way the oba handled the mcclennan investigation and the set of surveillance issues in 2016nd, earlier this year, the attorney general bill barr basically said in order to open the investigat the f.b.i. that concerns election-relatees isr figures, you need the approval of the attorney general bill barr. so we're getting to that time in the year where we're close to the polanitical conventions, ultimately, the election, and bill barrer has positioned himself as the decider about opening investigations. 're going to see, i think in the next six weeks or so, whether any politically

sensitive matters get charged. if they don't get charg by then, i expect to see any of the election or never.her after >> reporr: carrijohnson of npr, thank you so much.nk >> tou. >> woodruff: president trump met drwith poland's president j duda at the white house today the leader arrived at the white house as president trump planned to reduce troops in germany, a decision that sparked bipartisan resistance. nick schifrin has the story. >> reporter: today the man >> schifrin: today the man who labels himse the law and order president hosted the candidate from the law and jusce party. and the bromance between president trump and polish

president andresz duda is between like-minded leaders. >> i do believe he has an election coming up, and i do believe he'll be successful. >> schifrin: back home, duda is uraying his trump card for his right-wing base days before a tight election. he's argued lgbt rights are worse than communism. the eu and freedom house accuse him of eroding poland's rule of law. >> this is a polish president who has rolled back democracy and the rule of law in poland, who is running an increasingly authoritarian ate. former state department official and intelligence officer, now at georgetown's center foan eurarussian and east european studies. >> he believes that by coming to his population that president trump values him as an ally., he can gliver a u.s. commitment to poland again to pralect poland against poten russian threats. >> schifrin: for years, the u.sc has beducting live fire exercises in poland, to deter ighboring russia. there are now 4,400 american soldiers in poland.

today present trump said that number would increase. these exercises that i visited, were led by then lt. gen. ben hodges. >> that is a powerful atpability ill be very effective at changing the calculus for russia. >> schifrin: hodges began his military career, back when communist poland was the largest country in the eastern bloc. as a lieutenant, hodges deployed to western germany -- one of 300,000 service members faced off with the soviet union. today there are 35,000 troops in germany. until late 2017, hodges commanded s. army europe. he's now at the center for european policy analysis. >> the presence of u. troops in germany benefits the united states. a germany gives orward station presence that allows us to carry out our national defense strategy and to conduct operations in africa, the middle east, as well as all over europe. >> schifrin: but president trump wants to cut the total number of us troops deployed to germany by

travel through gerin half.n >> i said, let's get it down from 50,000 to 25,000 because they're delinquent. >> schifrin: us officials are frustrated germany spends 1.3% of its.d.p. on defense--below the promised 2%, and is resisting us efforts to cancel an $11 billion pipeline with russia. >> they pay the country we're they pay billions of dollars to that country.we e supposed to protect them. excuse me, how does th work? >> schifrin: but the germany reduction in forces was met witb witherinartisan opposition. congressional officials were not consulted. the house armed services republican mac thorry, wrote it could leave behind "a fractured, more dangerous, less stable world." and the house foreign affairs' most senior republican mike mccaul and other committee republicans wrote to president trump: "the withdrawal of thousas of troops from germany

will place u.s.national security at risk." >> a 30 percent reduction of what's there now would seriously limit our ability to contribute to nato to as wells to conduct the operations we need to around this half of the world. >> schifrin: german and nato officials have said they weren't consulted either. the same.military officials say >> i spoke to people from army headquarters, air forcehe quarters and at nato and u.s. european command. they all were caught completelyo flatd.ea >> this isy not how the united states should be conducting its foreign policy, and particularly on such a sensitive issue, with what was, at least once, one of key allies in europe. >> schifrin: but those who advocate a more restrained u.s. opportunity.cy, see an >> the argument that somehow we need to be in europe so that wei can ervening elsewhere, for example, in the middle east or in afghanistan, sort of begsg

the question of whether or not we should be intervening in the middle east and whether we should be continuing to fight a war in afghanistan. >> schifrin: andy bacevich is a prstorian, retired colonel and former west poinessor. he is now president of the quincy institute for responsible statecraft. >> this interventionist impulse, which has been really the defining feature of u.s. national security policy since the end of the cold war simply has not delivered the goods. i think pullinout of europe, ending our security commitment should be one part of rethinking our overall security posture. >> schifrin: today president trump said the number of troops in germany would go down, with some going to poland, which does meet the 2% goal. >> we're going to be reducing our forces in germany. some will be coming home, and some will be going to other places, but poland would be one of those other plas, other places in europe. >> schifrin: but duda worried a d reduction in germany, wond the wrong signal to russia.

>> ( translated ): i do not deny that i requested the president forces from europeaw u.s. >> schifrin: stent worries the opposite: a move to ponind could anta russia. she's the author of "putin's world." >> we shouldn't be needlessly provocative. and it's not clear that moving more in the u.s. nationalany interest than keeping them in germany. >> schifrin: coness is bating whether to block the move out of germany. but the pentagon is already working on optionso remove troops from a historic ally in western europe, and increase them, in its eastern european neighbor. for the pbs newshour, i'm nick schifrin. >> woodruff: it's been nearly six weeks since production resumed in most meatpacking plants acrosthe country. many were shut down amid coronavis outbreaks. more than 27,000 workers have

become infected and have died. in late april, president trump ordered plants to re-open or remain open, calling them critical infrastructure to preserve the nation's meat supply. special correspondent fred de sam lazaro returns to one community in minnesota where a pork processing planis back on line. >> reporter: here in the fabled valley, the jolly green giant stands tall-- and now masked. but it is actually pork, not peas, that reigns. the ge meat processing plants are now nearly back at full capacity. but things are not exactly joy. >> ( translated ): we're still going to have to keep working in fear but we know that we need to continue working. we have noptio >> reporter: in worthington, minnesota, population 13,000, the jbs factory was shuttered by a covid outbreak that sickenednd ds of its 2,100 employees. the effect was felt across this onregion, mostly at first hog farmers in late april.

hundreds of thousands of their animals had to be euthized. >> it's devastating. i'd like president trump to invoke the defense productio act of 1950. we need to get these plants open, tay!! >> reporter: echoing farmer dave bullerman's plea, industry executives wned the nation's meat supply was threatened; a claim some analysts now say wasx aggerated, noting that in april there were record pork exports to china. >> reporter: but on april 28, presidt trump did order meatpacking plants to re-open and remain open, declaring them critical infrastructure.th president said his move shielded companies from liability if their workers got sick. back in worthington, community organizer jessica velasco says the plight of workers never seemed a priority. t >> folks startking about the hog farms that are losing the bigger issue ts them

euthanizing all those poor hogs. been, how can we support both the jbs employees and the hog producs? >> reporter: she says the employees, predominant refugees and immigrants, remain largely invisible and fearful. she says many lost trust in the company because of the way it acted as more and more workers fe ill, leading the plant orut down. rafael, like allrs we spoke to, asked to remain anonymous. >> ( translated ): they told the workers not to worry that therything was okay. and to be honest were not prepared at all and nothing was okay. that's where many beca w scared and kind of a you either work or you don't eat situation. >> reporter: rafael says he decided to quit because of a health condition that leaves him vulnerable to covid. these three woers returned >> ( tranated ): everybody feels scared. everybody feels like we do here. >> reporter: jbs declined our

request for an on camera it did send a video, parts of it time-lapsed, of improvements made at another plant in greeley, colorado where severalr wodied. jbs has put some older, covid w vulnerabkers on paid furlough and among other steps, masks and face shields and itr installed barriers between work stations. workers told us it feels safer but not safe. >> personally, i think that they should make it mandatory for employees to get tested, so that we know who has it and who does t. >> reporter: the company says it tests employees who show 'mptoms and takes employe temperature when thearrive. that's no comfort to anna, who ived a painful covid infection just before the plant closed. >> ( translated ): they took mine but it never showed a vemperature. but i was alread sick. i didn't show the symptoms.ep >>ter: most people like her have no choice but to return to work, she says.

>> ( translated ): we have family that we need to raise. we don't have savings so we could st stay home. >> reporter: meatpacking has long attracted new immigrants, who have few options. it is an intensely tough environment--as even this jbs job posting seems to warn: standing 10 hours a day, doing repetitive tasks in very high temperatures or very low odors.atures, with unpleasant its something labor historian peter rachleff says most americans avoid. >> the workforce in meatpacking has almost always been people who are within one generation of people who are able to work in that kind of blood and guts kind of environment. >> if it was not for the immigrant community, this community would just roll up and die. >> reporter: father james llahan says immigrants sustain rthington's economy today, but he says this small

town is not immune to the rancorous immigratn debate, recalling comments he's heard since the pandemic began. >> blaming the immigrant community for the spread o bthe viruming people from the asian communities for carrying it. i mean, a woman who said to me, she was never going to eat in a chinese restaurant again. i mean, how absurd is that?or >> rr: are you finding a lot of that? >> not a lot, but enough where it bomes disturbing. >> reporr: he worries that meatpacking plants, in minnesota and elsewhere--continue to see coronavirus spikes. so far, father callahan hasr presided onerals in three covid-related deaths of jbsrk s, two of them since the plant re-opened. for the pbs newshour, this is fred de sam lazaro in worthington, minnesota. oo

>>uff: as we reported earlier, the republican version of a police reform bill stalledt in the stoday after democrats said it did not go far enough. to talk about what comes nexse i'm joined btor james lankford of oklahoma. he is one of the republicans who worked on the bill. senator lankford, welcome back to the "newshour". we've seen protests in thousands country after the death of eeorge floyd, almost all of em calling for pol reform, but when it comes to washington, it fails. what happened? >> it's a great frustration today. speaker pelosi in the house p together a reform. we pulled together a bill from the senate side to havepole reform. the senate rules are very different from the house. obviously the majority in the house can put together whatever bill they want, doesn't have toe ii parents. in the senate it does. you have to have 60 votes, then amend it, once the amendment

are done, another 60 votes to make sure both sides are heardd ss it with 51 votes. so today was a procedural vote to say we brought 15 different items altogether to start the debate, we want to be able to open it up for amendmentand say let's amend it till we're done, and when we're done and all agree we're done on amending it, we can move to final passide. democrats oday, no, we want to do the pelosi bill or not do a bill at all. that was thafrustration we hd and the surprise, quite frankly, ofrepublicans because whad quite a few items in this bill that are very similar to t bill from speaker pelosi, things like ending chokeholds, increasing dramatically the use transparency, getting additional reporting from all over the country, so there are a lot of things that are inincluding additional trainings and things that are similar. so it was a surprise ey didn't even want to try to amend it. >> woodruff:everal things to pick up on, senator kamala harris called it "crumbs on the

table." democrats are saying it didn't go far enough in banning warrants, this sensitive issue of qualified immunity.he so was distance between democrats and republicans on this legislation. >> so about 70% of it weave wide agreement on, 30% we don't. but the thing is, in te senate, you open it up for debate. there were 20 amendment optionsh on this, any said, no, we don't want to amend it,we d't want to discuss it, we only want to do the one that's inhe that's the problem. it's become a political issue more than anything else. do ban ckeholds on it, we just do it a different way. chokeholds can only bea bnned for federal folks, then you have to be able to take funds away in other ways because we don't have local police deparwill do.a we ban a type of funding, they ban another type of fundg and

it has the same results. so i seems odd to sayyou don't ban chokeholds when we certainly do. we don't get into the issue of qualified immunity. you're correct. weant to hold police officers olate the lawke anyonehey else. after a criminal offense, we'll ily and back to their fam take away their home and their pension from the family after the lice officer is in prison. we think there's a better way to provide accountability to thar police dent where the individual faces criminal penalties but it y not also civilly punish the family as we so we have a disagreement on how to solve it. >> woodrf: senator braun of indiana says he's prepared to look at qualified immunity, senator lindsey graham says he's prepared look at it. you have other democrats say we're prepared to sitted down and negotiate but we weren't asked to be involved by republicans when this wa drawn

up. >> actually, that would be kind of peculser becauhere was a lot of conversation about this. er still go back to the same thing, when spe pelosi pulled together her bill in the house, she certainly didn't include republicans in the coe ersation. welling together a proposal from the senate which conversations wittipleultiple democrats in the process and pulled items from the democrat bill from e house as well to be able to include in this one. so it ends up being aalolit game that people get very frustrated with becausfrom the outside it says why can't we make progress. day we were frustrated because we blocked off this and next week to open up the bill to amendments and changes and anything they want to be able to add to it or makees cha on, we're welcome to engage it,it debate, pun the floor and discuss it. that's why we blocked off two wes time. today they said we don't want to debate it. say there are a lot of things on the table, body cams and things we have wide agement on, let's

move on what we can keep agreement on and keep going. >> woodruff: senator, what do u say to americans looking at this and asking where does this go? ask dead >> i hope it is not. there was a movement that said move to the national defense torsion thorgs which is also important. that was scheduled originally this week andneck wee speaker mcconnell moved that to the end of july, but since this failed, it ju got moed back up again. that means the next time we can take up the bill is now in the end of july to be able to deal with this. so our ho to have this done by july fourth. the house is coming back into session for a couple of days at the end of the month. we were hoping tget it out, have the house version passed to be able to conference it, ande beforet to july 4 to be done with this portion. we think the amepeople want to see progress inhis. for whatever reason, democrats are saying they will want to go back to committee, have multipls hearnd that delays this process significantly again. not only can we not get d on the floor on it today, with

they want to go back into commtees, they're into september before this can move again. the hope is let's keep everybody talking and moving but we can't get everybody to t table. we can set this on the tabe and say let's have that dialogue. >> woodruff: qickly to pho other important issues, one is the surging number of covid cases around the country especially across the south andt the south where does oklahomatand right now? >> our cases have increased dray platcally in the past ten days. we had seven or eight weeks of decline. we went through phase one through three and continued to seedeclines in thecess and in the last ten days it's popped up again. i talked to one of the scientists early in the process and they said dealing with a virus on ts is like putting a hands on a helium balloon. yocan hold it down but f you let go it will rise again. until we get a vaccine, we'llve o manage this and i think we'll have periods of it,g

reinforcto people wear a mask, hand wash anda distnce from other people. we have to be able to keep pele that are high risk away. in oklahoma we've seen th numbers rises special among the young. our mortality rate has not increased. the hospitalization has increased but we're less than 200 hospitalizations in the entire state. it's not been a huge increase liken other stat. but we've got to be able to pass this message on especially to >> woodruff: you say people should wear mask and yet, when president ump held a rally in teltulsa on saturday night which you attended, mask wearing wa not required. are you okay with that? >> so mask wearing is required in our state right now, it's recommended. i did wear a sk saturday night, i was at the rally. there were quite a few folks around wearing a mask at the rally, but it's optional. they were distributed to individuals as they came in so every individual was given the

option. there were hand sanitizers a temperature checks as you came in. so they're trying to monitor it. our state has 8 0fferent testing sites. if you were coming to a rally, you can get a test before you go as well. >> woodruff: president trump in the last few days usedthe term "kung flu" to refer to the covid virus. that's racist.e are saying are you comfortable with his use of that? do you use tht term? >> i don't use that term. i also don't see it as racist. i also see a lot of issues in the world that are a lot bigger than what term somebody uses to be able to identify this virus. so there's at lot of impoant, big issues that we should deal with. that one i just think is a distraction. >> wo lankford of oklahoma, we thank you. >> thank you.

>> woodruff: after the pandemic brought spring training to stop mid-march, major league will resume, with a shortenedt season, next month. amna nawaz reports. >> nawaz: that's right judy. baseball is back...with a twist. the agreement with the league comes after 40 m.l.b. players and staff tested positive for coronavirus in recent days. here's what we know: players will report to spring waining on july 1. the regular seasl start on july 23 or 24. instead of a typical 162 gameam season, will play just 60 games. the proposed schedule includesst divisional play, to mitigate team travel. beyond baseball, other leagues k have made moves to get b the game. e 2019-2020 n.b.a. season will restart july 30 in orlando, naorida. and thonal hockey league

is moving forward with a multi- tiered plan to restart its 29- 2020 seaso qualifying rounds for the stanley cup tournament kicoff july 30. we explore the many changes in the world of sports ohn feinstein, a sportswriter and closely. t follows this all welcome bathe "newshour", john. let's talk first about baseball. there was a ry public volley of proposals and bickering back and rth in baseball between the players and the league. what were some of the main sticking points and hr does this agreement go to address those concerns? >> well, amna, basically, they never did agree. they had a tentative agreement in place on march 26. the ownn'ers decided that wa good enough, they wanted the players to take further cuts in their salaries, and it become a very ugly negotiation on both sides, which finally ended with major league bas commissioner rob manford saying, okay, we're going to the agreement of march 26 nd only

play 60 games. the players oposed at one point playing 114 games. the more games there are, the more they getpaid. the owners wanted to play fewer so they could pay them less. it's a major issue goingar fo because the c.b.a. is up after next season. but now because they bickered so much about the money, they still haven't completely figured out how they're going to deal with the virus and testing and what happens when people test positive, which they're going to, and whether tthey're goino be able to even have a 60-game season even wit empty stadiums. >> reporter: let me ask you about basketball. the w.m.b.a. was supposed to start in midma y, they postponed it. the n..a. is moving forward. if they get back to the game, they're taking attention away t fr nationalprotests against police brutality and

systemicacism. what do you make of the concerns? do you see the restart plans moving forward? >> i think the restart plans will move forward. some players said they're going to opt out. nasha loud of the world champion washington mistics in the wnba said h she's not playig because she wants be involved in what's going on culturally now. there are other players who talked about that. but they're going to play in one place. in n.b.a. will bet at disney world in orlando, flowhridah is right now in the middle of another outbreak, and the women are going to plain bradenton, florida, at the i.m.g.a.ad y. shortened seasons, the wnba 22 games. the n.b.a. was almost 90% of the way through the season and to start with the playoffs, they're going to bring 22 teams instead of 16 to orlando, for one reason, because zion nilliamson would not have bee

on the new orleans pelicans who qualified for the playoffs. they want to getim on espn as many times as possible, that's y we'll see the end of the regular season before they start the playoffs. >> reporter: we should note, too, every professional league is sort of figuring this out as they go, is the rest of the country. if you look at what women's soccer is going, they're already back tostlaying. mi soccer say they will restart soon. hockey is still vey much sort of conservative approach.e the rest of the country has changed. do you see sports in the u.s. ever being what it was? >>hat's a question i don't amna because we don't know how exnsive this is going to be. we're seeing now in a lot of s places thtes opened up too soon and the disease is spiking again, florida notably being one of those itates. i thin going to take a long time. if there is a fooball seaso it's going to be within empty

stands. the n.f.l. makes so mucmoh ney off television, they can afford to play without payin spectators and season ticket holders. s llege football, do you justify bringing studeck to campus to play football if the rest ofm yours isn't open? that's a question they're all $4 billion question because the tv money is so huge in college football. so it's one of those deals where, if somebody says to you they know heswers, amna, either they're a lot smarter than me or they're lyng to you, take your pick. >> reporter: a lot-still n't know and a lot of sports fans waiting for those answers, of urse, at the same time, hoping everyone stays safe. john feitein back with us to talk all things sports. thank you so much for beinwith us. >> thanks, amna.

>> woodruff: as the pandemic wears on and protests over racial inequity pick up, young people may be looking to books to learn mor-and find some distraction from the tough realities of the world.je rey brown talks to a leading iter and advocate for young people's literature about how "summer reading" lists may reflect the times. the conversation is part of our ongoing arts and culture series, "canvas." >> brown: as the library of congress' "ambassador for young people's literature," 36-year- old jason reynolds is used to sharing his passion for reading and writing. >> brown: this is one of the regular talks he doea on social mer his "write, right, rite" project. and in normal, non-pandemic

times, he meets often with students around the country. he's author of 13 books for young people that have sold more than 2.5 million copies. his most recent, "look both ways: a tale told in ten blocks", was a tional book award finalist. he's also recently co-written" stamped: racism, anti-racism and you," an adaptation for young reads of ibram kendi's national book award winning history, "stamped from the beginning." i spoke with jason reynolds recently at his wash, d.c. home and began by asking what he looks for in books to understa the world in such unusual and difficult times as these. >> i mean, i'm always searching for human stories. i think ultimately human beings are human beings greatest inspirations and greatest influences. and i recognize that right nowrt we're f inundated with brilliant pieces of nonfiction, whether it be academic tomes or essay work. and i thk those things are important. but for me, i'm seeking empathy.

i'm seeking for something to attach itself to the chemical as a person.o am and change me and the best way to do that for me is through fiction. >> brown: so l's think about young people seeing now the death of george floyd, the protests going oki all the world of exploding around them. what do you recommend? >> number one, there's a book "black imagination," an it's by a woman named natasha marion. it's not technically a book for young people, but i do think younpeople could gain a lot from it. it's simply just a collection of notes and moments by people who are not famous, but juing how they feel about what it means to be black and the beauty of blaness. there's another book, a collection of short stories th i absolutely love and i'm honored to be a part of called "black enough." it was edited by ib zoboi. i think one of the most important things we can do right now is humanize blackness and humanize culture, right. i think we right now, people are looking at black people as sort

of like petri dish specimens. the reality is that we're just human beings living normal lives. and that book shines a light on that. eloise greenfield, "honey, i love." this is for the little kids. and i think this might be one of thbest picture books even though it's sort of a picture book, sort of not, collection of poems for little kids that i ink is just the best. the illustrations are beautiful. eloise greenfield, "honey, i >> brown: all right. what about the pandemic, which is still with us, which is for young people, of course, uprooted tir life, just as for the rest of us. >> you know, there's a book " cally" by niels schuster because i was thinking about this. what would i want young people to read during the pandemic? and there are a lot of books specifically, at least that i know of about pandemic young people. but "dry" is an interesting story because it's about what happens when the natital world turnback. what happens when we actually start to u up the resources and all of the sudden there is no more water. right? and so what happens us as

people? where do we go? what kind of nature comes out of us? who do we become when we have to fight for natural resources? and i think a lot of us are up against that right now because the pandemic has forceo be up against it in an interesting ty. so i would sugget and i also would suggest a collection of poems by this brilliant poet named ilya kominsky. the collection is "deaf republic" now, again, this isn't necessarily categorized for young people, but i do think that yng people can grapple with some of these poems. the poems are sort of addressing what happens in a world where no one can hear. and i think right now, for a lot of us locked in our homes, lsthat's kind of what it f like. >> brown: we're coming into summer is the time we think ofor usually asof escape reading. and i wonder if you can even think about escaping because of the heavy ings that we've just been talking about. >> i think that there are books that are about escape and that you can look to, books like lamar giles's "the lst day of summer." i think it's a brilliant book about young kids who are spending the summer in virginiao and sort of a who done it

magical fantasy. e d i think it's important that we allow and creportunity for young people to escape and .o escape into worlds that are not like their o we can havsummer escapbooks, escapist books, that also sort of bump up against our reality. so there are books like "a song below water" by bethany c. morrow. land this is a fantasy no because i don't think we talk enough about fantasy and sci-fi. i think we livin a world that is sort of tching fantastic elements and sort of the future of sci-fi and what the world looks like as it constantly changes, andhis book is about sirens, right. this idea of the siren song and about two young women who use the siren song and how they used it to change their community. it's beautiful and it's brilliant. and then lastly, elizabeth acevedo's "clap when y land" and this isn't a book that's going to sort of catapult you into some other world per se, but it is a book that i ink is an important read just because it's about love and family and struggle and reconciliation, and who esn't want to read about

that? >> brown: all right, so i'm people and all of me for young jason reynolds, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> woodruff: we want to close tonight, remembering one of ourm own, at the heart of theil newshour f e w people have had as much of an influence on wshour as les crystal. always behind the camera, les lead the way to transforming this program. he ce to us after a 20-year career at nbc, where he served as exetive producer of the nightly news and then president of nbc news. he joined jim lehrei and robin main 1983 to expand the half hour macneil lehrer report, intohe macneil lehrer newshour, the first national

nightly newscast to do so.ad >> a half houreen very successful, but i think the appetite had been there to do more than just a single subject. >> woodruff: the show won countless awar, a peabody and emmys during his tenure. les had a de commitment to puic media. as executive producer the show, he guided generations of journalists to tell the most important stories, he wadriven to get to the truth and tell stories from across the globe that were ten ignored. to us, he was a great boss: smart, kind and genero with his wisdom and time. linda winslow was the show's deputy executive producer durin' enure. she succeeded him as executive. produc >> he had an amazing ability toe relate to othele as human beings, not as whatever their job description saidwere.

r and the entire news, aff was one big extended family as as les was concerned. he shared our joys. he attded our weddings. he made our baby smile. and he mourned our losses. he was, in a word, a real mensch. and i'm going to miss him dearly. >> woodruff: a loving husband, father and grandfather - lese helped create wshour family. together with jim and robin, they instilled a passion for gettinto the heart of the news, that remains the core of the program today. journalist, as a leader, most of all as a decent human being. he took me under his wing long ago, first as a mentor and then as a colleague and for many years as his friend. >> how would i describe les crystal? sweet, calm, supportive, determined.

les expected the best from us, and because of his o kindness and his skill, we nted to give him the best. >> woodruff: and he was the consummate editor: e s infuriatingly scrupulous, poring over scripts like a medieval scribe. could be in the middle of five conversations and phone calls, he'd take yours, and yours was the only call inhe world. i mean, who loves their boss? ct, and i'm not exaggerating, in the case of lstal, literally everybody did.dr >> wf: les's demeanor defined his leadership style: >> it's hardo separate the professional les from the personal, beuse he was always calm. he was alwaya rock of stability,hether it was a stressful time, when we were in a war zone and he was us instructions or whether weere just sitting and chatting. he was always the same: strong, rock of stability and st wonderful. >> woodruff: when les stepped down as executive producer, he took on the role of president of

macneil/lehrer productions. officially retirindevoteder his life to ensuring the financial backbone to keep the newshour strong. was a dear friend to me and everyone he touched at the newshour. les crystal died after a long struggle with brain cancer and then pneumonia. he was 85 years old. >> woodruff: o hearts hurt. to toby, les'sife, his three children, brad, alan, and liz, and his grandchildre we send our love. the newshour is not the newshour without les crystal. i'm judy woodruff. join us online and again here tomorrow evening. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you,e stay safe, d see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newsho has been provided by:

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>> this program was made possible by the corporfor public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs yostation from viewers lik thank you. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> you're watching pbs.

hell everyone, and welcome to "amanpour & co." here's what's coming up. america in the age of trump. its leadership questioned, its valuesn doubt. i ask former republican senator and secretary of defense william cohen about this presidency and america's standing inhe world. plus -- >> i'm afraid i just nd to say this. the institution seems to be suffering from some kind of collective learning disability >> what do we want?>> justice! >> police under scrutiny. seattle's former chief, norm stamford, tells our michel martin about remorse and the >reckoning. hen from the other side we look at the psychology and science of