♪ judy: good evening, i'm judy woodruff. matters of justice. whistleblowers testify about the increasing politicization of the justice department. charging preferential treatment foassociates of the president. then, roadblockef tom. the senate fails to agree on a police reform bill, despite nationwide momentum. i ask republican senator james lankford about why the parties couldn't come together. plus, essential work. employees at meat processing plants facehe pressure of returning to work despite documented risk from covid-19. >> they told the workers not to worry, everything was ok. to be honest, th weren't prepared at all.

nothing was ok. that is when we became scaredan it was, either you work or you don't eat. judy: all that and more on tonight pbs newshour. ♪ >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- >> consumer cellular. financial services firm raymond james. johnson & johnson. in>> supportg social entrepreneurs and their solutionss to the world's most pressing probls. skoll foundation.org. >> the lemelson foundation. committed to improving lives through invention in the u.s. and developing o countries get the web at level send.org --

lemelson.org. supported by the john dn catherine t macarthur foundation, committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. more information atfo md.org . and with the ongoing support of these institutions. ♪ this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs thank you.om viewers like you. judy: -- stephanie: good evening, i'm stephanie sy. we will return to judy woodruff and the rest of the program after the latest headlines. democrats in the u.s. danate blocked a republican bill on policing practices. it wou increase incentives to ban chokeholds and restrict no knock warrants.nt democrats tronger 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 pruct, it won't pass. the only way there is any doubt that the democrats could come to the table is if they would rather preserve this u subject as a live campaign issue, then pass a bipartisan answer. >> who is a better guardian of the civil-rights ofic african-ams when it comes to police reform? the naacp, or mitch mcconnell?if his bill were such a good path to reform, why wouldn't civil-rights organizations fromn end of america to the other say, go forward, maybe we will get something done? because they know the bill is a nese and nothing will get stephanie: the house of representatives votes tomorrow on a more expansive democratic bill. the governor of wisconsin

has activated the national guard after violent protests at the state capital overnight. a state senator was beaten up in the melee. crowds tore down statues honoring an antislavery leader and women's rights, and they ber ofized a n buildings. meanwhe, three white men in georgia were indicted for murder in the killing of ahmaud arbery last february. louisville, kentucky has fired a white officer who fatally shotur breonna taylorg a no knock raid in march. police custody in ,no man in arizona, was captured on a veo that was released today. the bodycam video reportedly shows 27-year-old carlos ingram londcuffed and held in a face-down position for some 12 minutes. three officers, white and black, have resigned, and the police chief has offered to resign. health officials are warningur that a in covid-19 cases could swamp hospitals in the sun belt. that follows word of more than 36,000 new infections nationwide

over 24 hours, the mnce april. today, new york, connecticut, and new jersey announced visitors from nine high-risk states will have to lf-quarantine 14 days. >> this is a smart thing to do. we have taken our people, there of us, from these three states, through hell and back on -- and the last thing we need to do is subject folks to another round. stephanie:eanwhile, th "washington post" reports that dozens of secret service agents who were on-site at the president's rally in tulsa last week have been ordered tose -quarantine after 2 colleagues tested positive for covid-19. u.s. attorney general william over claims he puts politicsht democrats renewed the charge at a congressional hearing today. a federal prosecutor testified that superiorsushed a lesser sentence for an ally of president trump.

we will get the details after the news summary. a federal appeals court has c ordered criminrges dismissed against former national security advisor michael flyn today's 2-1 ruling endorsed apa justice ment motion. the trial judge refused to drop the case pendi a review. flynn admitted lying to the fbi, then asked to withdraw his pleap the u.s. senatoved president trump's 200th judicial nonee today. majority republicans elevated a mississippi judge to a federalt, appeals cos democrats criticized his record on voting rights. republicans say all appeals court vacancies are now filled for the first me in at least 40 years. they are still counting votes after a flood of mail-in ballots in tuesday's primaries, among the major undecided races,ra kentucky dem amy mcgrath and charles booker, competing to challenge republicanenate majority leader mitch mcconnell. in new york, jamaal bowman is

seeking to oust fellow democrat eliot engel,ir who cthe u.s. house affairs committee. pharmaceutical giant bayer will pay as much as $10.9 billion to settle lawsuits over the weedkier roundup. thousands of plaintiffs allege it causes cancer. the u.s. envonmental protection agency says it is safe when used as directed. round up is made by monsanto. nasa is renaming its headquarters in washington aer mary jackson, the first black female engineer at the space agency. her rk helped launch the original astronauts and was featured in the book and movie inidden figures." mary jackson die005. still to come on the newshr with judy woodruff, whistleblowers testify about the increasing politicization of the justice department. questions arise about nato's future, as the president looks to move u.s. troops out of germany. employees at meat processing plants face the risks of covid-19, and much more.

sh>> this is the pbsour from w eta studios in washington and in the west, from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. judy: in washington today, the house judiciary committee heard new allegations of abu fromce within the jus department. lisa de chardin has the story. lisa: on capitol hill, a hearing on whether the agency which enforces the law is itself breaking it. two current justi departmen attorneys charge that attorney general william barr andthers -- ordered some investigations and tried to weaken others for political rsons. >> roger stone was treated differently because of politics. lisa:ng includi pushing for a lenient sentee for roger

stone, an ally of president trump. ehrman z lensky, td doj prosecutor in the case, says he was told to back off a tougher sentencen recommendatr stone. he quit over the handling. >> the acting u.s.y attor the district of columbia was receiving heavy pressure from th department of justice, and his instructions to us were based on political considerations. i was told the acting u.s. attorney was adding stone break because he was afraid of the president of the united states. sa: for stone, zelensky recommendedye seven-nine s. a judgeisagreed, sentencing stone to three years in prison. a former attorney general who served under george w. bush said the doj and william barr operatedith integrity. >> the justice department is not politicized because senior ficials disagre with the sentencing recommendations for mr. stone. prosecutors areupposed to seek justice, not play the sentencing guidelines like some sort of times they can lisa: ring theny

bell. lisa:lisa: the -- this comes after the top prosecutor in manhattan was ousted. jerry nadler of new york said that is part of a clear and dangerous pattern. >> barr's actions make clear that in his department justice, the president's allies get special treatment. thent presi enemies, real and imagined, are targeted. lisa:ls alleging misuse of power, a lawyer and -- in doj's antitrust office. he said barr forced unwanted reviews of marijuana companies. >> the head of the antitrust sidi acknowledged at an all staff meeting that the cannabis industry is, quote, "unpopular on the fifth floor." referring to barr's offices. lisa: republicans pushed back, problems of anti-conservative

bias. >> he is cleaning up thef mess the previous administration and restoring integrity and honor to the doj and the fbi. >> they are not political, they are right. lisa: bubbling tensions amidst it all. with republicans objecting to how nadler ran the hearing. a preview of a bigger hearing yet to come, attorney general barr is expected to testify at the end of next month. for more on today's hearing and e dismissal o criminal charges against michael flynn, i'm joined by carrie johnson, justice correspondent for npr. let's start with the hearing. these attoeys allege william barr used doj's poweror political reasons. how unusual is testimony like this? >> extremely unusual for prosecutors at this level to be testifying at all, let alone when some of these matters are still ongoing. in the last 20 years, i feel like it has happened only one time. it was remarkable on that basis

alone, but the substance of the testimony was also pretty startling to people who have covered the debt --de the justie rtment and worked there for many years. lisa: this came the same day as a federal appeals court ruled with barr and doj to op charges in the michael flynn case. conservatives say the ruling proves their point about doj bias. is this a unique case or is there something more to say out that ruling regarding michael flynn? >> the trump administration, the white house, and the justice called it significant victory. nothing about the case has been normal from the beginning. it started with the outgoing administration, and the fbi interviewing the new presidents incoming national security adviser in the white house. michael flynn pleaded lt twice to making false statements, but when he got a new lawyer he reconsidered, wanted to reopen the case. the new brass at the justice department, led byarr, cited

with michael flynn o calli legal deficiencies in the case. a federal judge hearing the case had some concerns abou it, and mike flynn appealed the higher court. the higher court sided with michael flynn a will order the lower court judge to take b tk the case aow it out for good. lisa: i want to ask a bigger questi. through all of this, we have but -- both political parties accusing different parts of the justice department of haasng political what is your sense of what is happeningisn the agency? there a chance that people are becoming more political in this political time? or is that somethinepoliticians saying? >> depending on the change in administration, parts of the justice department often change. different administrations have priorities about civil rights and the environment and other matters. but e kinds of issues that have been cropping up of late,

with the dismissal of the u.s. attorney geoffy berman in new rk over the weekend and the pattern of re-investigating cases initially investigated and charged by this pencil count - the special counsel robert mueller, seems to be unusual and we are seeing not just sitting prosecutors, but former ecutors signing letters barr very much has in his corner the former attorney general michael mukasey, who testified justice department is fortunate to have bill barr at the helm. i think morale inside the building is pretty rough right now. i don't know whether we will see more departures in advance of e election. we have seen some of the appointees from president trump nnounced they are leaving the coming days and weeks. lisa: i wanted to ask about the election. that came up at the hearing. theoj has key responsibilities in overseeing and protecting the is going to do?et about what

what has he said about some people raising concerns that he may be bia this election? barrs sically outraged at the way the obama administration handled the mike flyn investigatio and a set of surveillance issues in 2016, and earlier this year, the attorney general bill barr basically said in order to open an investigation at the fbi, that related issueion or figures, you need the approval of the attorney general,reill barr. weetting to that time in the year where we are close to the political conventions and ultimately, the election. ill barr has positioned himself as the decider about opening investigations. in the next six weeks or so, i think we will see whether any politically sensitive matters do get charged. if they don't geted chay then, i expect to see any of that action happen either after lisa: carrie johnson of npr,

thank you so much. >> thank you. ♪ judy: today, president trump postedsi poland's pnt, the first head of state visit since the pandemic began. the eastern european leader arrived at the white house as president trump confirmed r plas uce the number of troops in longtime ally germany. a decision that sparked bipartisan resistance. nick schifrin has the story. nick: the man w labels himself the law and order president hosted the candidate from the law and justice party. the bromancesi between pnt trump and the polish president is between like-minded leaders. >> i believe he has an election coming up and i belie you will be succeniful. : back home, the president is playing the trump

card for his right-wing base days before an elecon. he is arguing lgbt rights are accuses him of eroding the rule of law. >> this is a polish president who has rolled back democracy and the rule of law in poland. nick: angela is a former state dertmentfficial and intelligence officer now at georgetown center for eurasian, russian, and east european studies. >>y he believesming to the united states and showing the population the president trump values him as an ally, he c deliver a u.s. commitment to poland to protect pola against potential russian threats. nick: for years, the u.s. has beonducting live fire exercises in poland to deter neighboring russia. there are now 4400 american soldiers in poland area today, president trump said the number would increase. these exercises were ledy a lieutenant general.

>> is a powerful capability that will be effective and change the calculusa. for rus nick: he began his military career when communist poland was the largest country in the eastern bloc. as lieutenant, he deployed to west germany, one have -- one of 300,000 service members faced off with the soviet union. today, there are 35,000 troops in germany. til 2017, he commended u.s. army europe and he is at the center of european policy analysis. >> the presence of u.s. troops in germany benefits the united germany gives us a forward station presence that allows us to carry out our national defense strategy and conduct operations in africa, the middle east, as well as all over europe. nick: president trump wants to cut u.s. troops deployed to germany by one third and the tnumber of troops who cvel through germany in half. what's i said, let's get --

>> let's get it dowfrom 50,000 to 25,000 because they are delinquent. frustrated germany spends 1.3% of gdp on defense, below the promised 2%, and it is resisting efforts to cancelth a pipeline ussia. >> they pay, the coury, we are supposed to protect them from, they pay millions of dollars to that company. we are supposed to protecte? th. excuse how does that work? forces was met with witheringn bipartisan opposition. congressional officials were not consulted. the house armed services committee's most senior republican wrote, it could lve behind a fractured, dangerous, less stable world. the house foreign affairs' senior republican end of republicans wrote to president trump, the withdrawal of thousand of troops from germany will place u.s. national security at risk. >> a 3 reduction would seriously limit our ability to contribute to nato awell as to

conduct the operations we need to around this half of the world. say they weren't consulted,ials either, and some military officials say the same. >> i spoke to people from army headquarters, air force headquarters, and at nato, and they were all caught completely flat-footed. >> this is really not how the united states should be conducting its foreign policy, particularly on such a sensitive issue with what was once one of its key allies. ck: those who advocate a more restrained u.s. foreign policy see an opportunity. a>> tument that somehow we need to be in europe so we can be intervening elsewhere, for example in the middle east or afghanistan, sort of begs the larger question, whether we should be intervening in the middle east and whether we should be continuing to fight a war ni afghanistan. : andy is an historian and

owtired colonel and former west point professor, 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. ili think p out of europe, ending our security commitment, our overall security posturing. nick: president trump said the er of troops in germa would go down, with some going to poland. >> we will reduce our forces in germany. some will come home and se will be going to other places, other places.uld be one of those other places in europe. nick: a reduction in germany, some worry, would send the wrong signal to russia. >> i don't deny that i requested that the president not withdraw u.s. forces from europe. nick: some worry this could

antagonize russia. she is the autr of "putin's rl" >> it is notvi clear that u.s. troops to poland is anymore in the.s.' national interest than keeping them in germany. nick:eb congress ising whether to block the move. the pentagon is working on options to remove troops from an historic ally in western europe and increase them in its eastern european neighbor. i'm nick schifrin. judy: it has been nearly six geeks since production resumed in most meatpack plants across the country. many were srot down amid virus outbreaks. moreavhan 27,000 workers become infected, and 99 have died. in late april, president trump orde td plantso reopen, or remain open, calling them

infrastructure t preserve the nation's meat supply. fred returns to one community in minnesota where a pork processing plant is back online. >> here in the fabled valley of the jolly green giant, he stands tall and masked, but it is pork that reigns. the huge meat processing plants are nearly at full capacity, but things are not exactly jolly. will have to keep working and fear, but we know we need to coweinue working. ave no option. >> in worthington, minnesota, population 13,000, the jps factory was shuttered by an outbreak that sickened 100 of its 21 hundred employees. the effect was felt across the hog farmers inri late among hundreds of thousands of their animals had to be euthanized. >> it is devastating. i like -- i would like president

trump to invoke the defense production act. we need to get these plants open today. >> echoing this farmers plea, executives warned the nation's meat supply was threatened, a claim some analysts say was exaggerated, noting that in april, there were record pork exports to china. >> i should be signing that over the next hour or so. >> on april 28, president trump ordered meatpacking plants to reopen and remain open, declaring them critical infrastructure. >> taking the liability which frees up the system. >> the president said this shieed companies from liability if their workers got sick. in worthington, community organizer jessica say the plight of workers never seemed a priorityta >> folks wering about the money.rms tt were losing the bigger issue was them euthanizing all those poor hogs. the conversation should have been, how can we suppo both

the jpslo ees and the hog >> says the employees, provide not -- predominantly refugees and immigrants, remain largely invisible and fearful. she said many lost trustn the company because of the way it acted as more and more workers fell ill. leading the plant to shut down. rafael, like all workers we spoke to, asked to remain anonymous. >>hey told the worot to worry, everything was ok. they weren't prepared at all. noing was ok. it was, either you work or you >> he says he decided to quit because of a health condition that leaves him vulnerable to covid. these three workers returned. >> everyone feels scared.ik everyone feee we do. >> jbs declined arst -- our request for an interview. it sent video of improvements made at another plant in

died.ado,here several workers they have put some older covid furlough, and among other steps, requires emploes to wear masks and face shields and installed barriers between workstations. workers said it feels safer, but not safe. >> personally, i think they should make it mandatory for weployees to get tested s know who has it. >> the company says it tests employees who show symptoms and takes employees' temperature when they arrive. that is no comfort to ana, who survived a painful covid infection just before the plant closed. show the -- showed a it never temperature. i didn't show symptoms. >> most people like hno hav choice but to return to work, she says. >> we have family we need to raise. we don't have savings so we can stay home. >> meatpacking has long

attracted new immigrants who have few options. it is an intensely tough environment, as even this job posting seems to warn. standing0 hours a day, doing repetitive tasks in very high temperatures or very low temperatures, with unpleasant odors. it is something labor historian peter s radcliffes most americans avoid. >> the workforce has almost always been people who are within one generation of havi lived in agriculture. people who are able to worin that kind of blood and guts kind of envirment. >> if it was not for the immigrant community, this communitwould just shrivel up and die. >> father james callahan says immigrants sustain muchf wohington's economy today, but he says this small town is not immune to the rancorous immigration debate. recalling comments he heard since the pandemic began. >> blaming the immigrant

community for the spread of the virus, blaming asian communities for carrying it, a woman said to me she is never going to eat in a chinese restaurant again. how absurd is that? >> are you finding a lot of that? >> not a lot, but enough where it becomes disturbg. >> he worries meatpacking pnts in minnesota and elsewhere continue to see coronavirus spikes. so far, father callahan has presided over funerals in three covid related deaths of jbs workers, the of them since plant reopened. i'm in worthington, minnesota. ♪ judy: as we reported earlier, the republican versiona o police reform bill stalled in said it didn't go far enough.

comes next, i'm joined byat senator james lankford of oklahoma. he is oethe republicans who worked on the bill. senator, welcome back to the newshour. we have seen protests in thousands of cities and towns across the country after the death of george floyd. almost all of them, calling for when it comes to washington, it fails. what happened? >> great frustration today. speaker pelosi in the house put together a bill that, they want to have police perform. we pulled together a bill to have police reform. the senate rules are different than the house. the majority in the house can put whatever bill the doesn't have to be bipartisan. in the senate, it does. before we get on the bill, you have to have 60 votes, then you amend it. once the amendments are done, you have another 60 votes to

rdke sure both sides are h then you pass it with 51 votes. today was a procedural vo to say we brought 15 items to be able to start the debate. we want to open it for amendments, and to say, let's amend it until we are done and when we are done ane agree we are done on amending it, we can move to final passage. mocrats said, we want to do the pelosi bill or not do the bill at that was the frustration we had. i am surprised by republicans because we had quite a few items that are in this bill that are very similar the bill from speaker pelosi, things like ending chokeholds, increasing dramatically the use of body wo cameras, increasing sparency, getting additional reporting from all over the country. there are a are in it, including additional training and things that are similar. it was a surprise they didn't even want to try to amend it. judy:er s things to pick up on. senator, harris called it crumbs democrats are saying it didn't go far enough in terms of banning chokeholdsndo knock

warrants, that it didn't address the sensitive of qualified immunity. sodi there really waance between democrats and republicans on this legislation. >> 70% of it, we have wide agreement on it. 30% we don't. in the senate, you open it up for debate. there were 20 amendment options that were allowed, 20 amendments on this and they said we don't even want t amend it, we don't want to discuss it, we only want to do the one in the house. hethat is problem we have. it has become a political issue more than anying. frankly, we do banned chokehold's on it, we just do it in a different way. chokehds can only be band from federal votes. you have to take funds away in other ways because we don't have jurisdiction to be able to tell what a local police department can do. we ban one type of funding, they ban another type, but it has the sameesults. it seems odd to me to say we don't bann chokehold's when we certainly do. we don't get into the issue of

qualif wd immunity. t to be able to hold police ari- officersnally accountable. ifhey do something criminal, they end up in prison just like anyone else. the issue of qualified immunity is, after they had a criminal offense, weto will go bac their family and take away their home and their pension away from their family after the officer is imprisoned. we think there was a better way to provide accountability to the poce department where that individual faces criminal penaltie civilly punish their family. judy: weren't there, aren' there democratse senators, one tor said he is prepared to lo at this issue of qualified immunity. senator lindsey graham said he is prepared to look at it. you have other dem arats paying prepared to sit down and negotiate, but we weren't even involved, we weren' asked to be involved by republicans when this was drawn up. that is peculiar because there was a lot of conversation about this. we go back to the same thing when speaker pelosi pulled together her bill in the house,

she certainly didn't include republicans in the conversation. we are pulling together a proposal from the senate which we did havpl mul conversations with multiple democrats in the process, and old items from the democrats' bill from the house, as well, to include in this one. it endsbe ug a political game. people are frustrated,ecause fr the outside, they say why can't we make progress? today, we wererustrated because we blocked off this weekend next week to be able to open up the bill to amendments and changes, and any ting they wantbe able to do, what it or make changes on, we areo o welcomebated. let's put it on the floor and discuss it. that is why we blocked off two but they said they don't even want to debate it. that is frustrating, to say there was a lot on the table, body cameras and everything else we have agreement on. let's at least move on what we can aee on and keep going. judy: senator, what do you say to americans look at -- oking at this and saying where does

this go? is it dead? >> i hope it is not. there was a movement to the national defense authorization, which is important. that was scheduled originally this weekend next week. speaker mcconnell moved that to the end ojuly, but since this failed, it got moved back up. that means the next time we can take up this bill is the end of july. our hope was to have this done by july 4. the house is coming back into session for a couple days at the end of this month. we aere hoping to be to get this out and have the house version passed, conferencit before july 4. we think the american people want progress on this, and this was the time to do it but for whatever reason, the democrats are saying as of the end of the day today, they want to go back to committee and have multiple hearings and that delays the process significantly again. not only could we not get debate on the floor today, if they want to go back to committees, we are now into september before this can move again. the hope is, le's keep everybody talking and moving,

but we can't get everybody at the table. if we can set things on the table and say, let's have that dialue. judy: a fewor other int issues, one is the surging number of covid cases around the country, espially in the south and southwest. where does oklaha stand right no >> our cases have increased dramaticallyn about t last 10 days. we had about seven or eight weeks ofecline every week. we went through phase 1, 2, 3, uecont to see declines, and the last 10 days, it has popped back up. i talked to one of the scientists early in the process and they said dealing with a virus is like putting both hands on a helium balloon and holding it down. if you let it go, i g isng to rise again. until we get a vaccine, we are goingo have to manage this as much as we can. i think we will have periods of reinforcing to people, wear a mask, wash your hands, keep physically distancing. we have to keep people who are

high risk away. numbers rise especially among the young. the mortality rate hasn't increased. our hospitalization has increased, but we are s00ll less than hospitalizations in the entire state. it hasn't bn ain hugease like what we have seen in other states. ect we have to be able to pass the message on elly to the young. judy: you say people should wear a mask but when presidentrump a rally tulsa on saturday night, which you attende, mask wearing was not required. are you ok wit that? >> mask wearing is not required in our state. it is recommended. i did wear a mask saturday night. i was at the rally. there were ite a fewolks that were around wearing masks at the rally, but it ishi an optional. they were distributed to individuals as they came in so every individual was given the option to be able to do th. there is hand sanitizer, temperature checks as you came in so they were trying to monitorth it. state has 80 different testing sites and the word was put out early on, if you are

planning on attending the rally, you can stop by anyone of those testing sites and gett before you go. people have toliake responsi. judy: president trump in the last few days has usedhe term kung flu to return -- refer to the covid virus. a lot of people is saying -- are saying that is racist. of that?ble with his use do you use that term? >> i don'tt. i don' see it as racist. i see a lot of issues in the a world that aot bigger than what term somebody uses to identify this virus. the was a lot of important, really big issues that we should deal with. that i think is a distraction. judy: senator james lankford of oklahoma, we thank you. ♪> thank you. judy: after the pandemic brough

spring-training to a mid-march, major league baseball has just announced that it will resume with a shortened season next month. amna: that's right. baseball is back, with a twist. leagureement with the comes after 40 players and staff tested positive fs the coronavi recent days. here is what we know. players will report to sing training on july 1. the regular season will start on july 23 or t4th. instead typical 162 gameil season, teamsplay just 60 games. e proposed schedule includes mostly divisional play to migate team travel. beyond baseball, other leagues made moves to get back to the game. the 2019-20 20 nba season will restart july 30 in orlando, florida. moving forward with a plan to restart its 2019-2020ean. qualifying rounds for the stanley cup tournamenticff

july 30. we explore the many changes in the world of sports now with john. he is a sports writer and author who llows all of this closely and he joins us now. welcome back to the newshour. let's talk about baseball. there was a very public volley of proposals and bickering back and forth in baseball between what were some of the main. sticking points? how far does this agreement go to address those concerns? >> basically, they never did agree. they had a tentative agreement in place the owners decided that wasn't good enough. they wanted the players to take furtherhe cuts in salaries, and it became a very ugly negotiation on both sides, which finally ended with major league baseball commissioner robert manfred saying, we are going to go to the agreement of march 26 and only play 60 games. the players proposed at one point playing 114 names, the more games they are, theet more

they paid. the owners wanted fewer games so they could pay them less. it is a major issue going forwardhe becauseba is up after next season, the cut -- but for rightow because they ckered so much about t money, they still haven't completely figured out how they itare going to dealthe virus and testing and what happens when people test positive, which they are goingo,nd whether they will be even able to have a 60 game season, even with empty stadiums. amna: let me ask you about basketball. the wnba was supposeid to start inay. they postponed the plan. the nba is moving forrd with a restart. fer teams at a single site. there arerns from the players not just about safety, but if they get back to the game now, they are taking attention away from the national protests against police brutality and systemic racism.at o you make of those concerns? do you see the restart plans moving forward? what's i think the restart plans will move forward.

there are some players who have said they are going to opt out. natosha of the world champion washington mystics said she is not going to play because she wants to be i iolved in wh going on culturally right now. talked about that.ayers who have but they are going to play. they are going to play in one place. the nba will be at disney world indo, florida, which is right now in the middle of another outbreak. the women are going to play in bradenton, florida. seasons, the wnba 22 games. the nba was a most 90% through it season and rather than say we will start with the playoffs, they are going to bring 22 teams instead of 16 to orlando for one reason, anthat reason is that zion williamson would not have been on aeam that qualified for the playoffs. they want him on espn as many times as possible.

eat is why we will see the of the regular season before we start the playoffs. amna: every professional league is figuring this out as they go, as is the rt of the country. if you look at what women's soccer is doing, they are back tolaying. men's soccer says they will restart soon. hockey, still very much figuring out, taking a more conservative approach. the rest of theas country changed. do you see sports in the u.s. ever being what it was? >> that is a queion i don't think any of us can answer. we don't know how extensive this is going to be. we are seeing now in a lot of places, that stat opened up to soon and the disease is spiking again. florida being one of those states. time.nk it will take a long here is a football season, it is going to be with empty stands. th makes so much money off television, they can afford to play without paying ticket

holders. college football, do you justify bringing students to play, back to campus to play football if the rest of your campus isn't open? that is a question th are facing right now, and that is a $4 billion question because the tv money is so huge in college football. it is one of those deals where, if somebody says to you they know the answers, either they are a lot smart than me or they are lying. pitake you. amna: a lot we still don't know and a lot of sports fans out there waiting for those answers. at the sameim hoping everyone stays safe. john, back with us to talk sports. ks for being with us. >> thanks. and protests over racialars on

inequi pickup, young people may be looking for books to learn more and find some distraction from the tough realities of the world. jeffre talks to a leading writer and advocate for young people's literature about how summer readingists may reflect the nvmes. the sation is part of our ongoing arts and culture series, canvas. >> as the library of congress ambassador for young people's literatu, he 60 jason reynolds is used to sharing his passion for reading and writing. >> these days we look on the internet for the use types of e greatest this is thing ever. >> this is one of the regular talks he does on sociahi media fo right right right project. in a normal nonpandemic time, he meets withnt stu around the country. he is the author of 13 bookse or young peoat have sold more than 2.5 million copies.

his most recent was a national book award finalist. he has recently cowritten an adaptation for young readers of tional book award winning history. i spoke with jas recently at his washington, d.c. home and began by asking what he looks for in books to understand the world. in these unusual and difficult times. >> i'm always searching for humain stories. i ultimately, human beings are human bein'greatest inspirations and influences. right now we are inundated with brilliant pieces of nonfiction, whether it be academic tomes ora ys. that is important, but for me, i am seekingmphy, i'm seeking something to attach itself to the chemical nature of who i amnd change me as a person. the best way to do that for me is through fiction.

>> think about young people eing theth d of george floyd, the protests going on, all of the world exploding around them. what do you recommend? >> there is aook called "black imagination" by a wan named natasha. it is not technically a book for young people, but i think young people could gain a lot from it. it i a collection of notes and moments by people who are not yfamous, saying how t feel about what it means to be black fand the beauty blackness. there is a collection of short stories that i love and i'm honored to be a part of called "black enough." e of the most important things we can do right now is humize blackness and humanize culture. nright, people are looking at black people as sort of petri dish specimens but we are human beings living normal lives, and that book shines a light on that. i think "honey i love" by eloise

greenfield, this is for little kids. it might be one of the best picture books, collection of poems for litte kids. it is best. the illustrations are beautiful. >> wt about the pandemic, which is still with us? it has uprooted young people's lives. >> there is a book called "dry. s thinking about what i would want young people to read ar lots of books specifically, that i know of, aboutcs pande for people but this is an interesting story because it is about what happenshen the natural world turns itsat back, appens when we actually start to usep the resources and all of a sudden, there is no more water. what happens to us as people? where do we go? what kind of nature comes out of us? who we become when we have to fight for naturalts resources? f us are against that

right now because the pandemic forced us to be up against it. i would suggest that i would also suggest apo collection of s by a brilliant poet, "deaf republic." this isn't categorized for young people but i think young people canhe grape with poems. they are addressing what happens for a lot of us, this is what it wfeels like. are coming into summer, the time we think of usually as escape reading. i wonder if you can even think about escaping because of the heavy things we have been talking about. >> there are books that are about escape that you c look to, books like lamar ges' "the last last day of summer," about kids spending the summer in virginia that go on a whodunit magical fantasy. it is important that we create opportunity for young people to escape into worlds that are not like their own. i think there are ways we can

have summer escape books, escapist books that also bump up against our reality. there are books like "a song below water." this is a fantasy novel because i dont think we talk enough about fantasy and i-fi, i think we live in a world that is touching fantastic elemen andort of the future of sci-fi and what the world looks like at this itng c -- as it changes. this is about sirens, the idea of theng siren's nd young women use the siren's song ind how they u to change their community. it is beautiful and brilliant lastly, this isn't a book that is going to catapult you into some other world, i b is a book that i think is an important read just becau i is about love and family and struggle and reconciliation. want to read about that? >> some reading for our time for young people and all of us. thank you very much.

♪ judy: we want to tonight -- close tonight member in one of our m own, the heart of the newshour family. -- a man at the heart of the newshour family. few people have had as much of an influence on t newshour as lessrystal les crystal. he came to us after a career at nbc where he served as executive producer of the nightly news. then, president of nbc news. the mcneil letter newshour. into the first national nightlyews cast do so. >> the half-hour had been very successful. but i think the appetite is

there to youor -- do more than just a single subject. >> the show won a peabody and enemies. -- and emmys.ods executive er of the show, he guided generations of journalists to te the most important stories. he was drin to geto the truth, and tell stories from across the globe were often ignored. to us, he was a great boss, smart, kind, and generous with his wisdom and time. linda winslow was the shows jet -- deputy executive producer. she succeeded les as executive producer. >> he had an amazing ability to relate to other people as human beings, not as whateverb their scriptiosaid they were. the entire newshour staff was one big extended f hily as far was concerned. he shared our joys, he attended

our weddings, he made our babies smile. and he mourned ourosses. he was, in a world -- in aea world, a mensch. judy: a loving husband, father, and grandfather, les hped create the newshour family. together with jim and robin, they instill the passion that >> les was a journalist, a leader, and a decent human being who took me under his wings a mentor and a colleague and for many years as his friend. >> how would i des hibe? sweet, cm, supportive, determined. les eected the best from us and because of his own kindness and skill, we wanted to give him the best. judy: he was the consummate editor.

>> he was infuriatingly scrupulous, poring over scripts like a medieval scribe. he could be in the middle of five conversations and he would take yours anti--- and yours was the only call in the world. who loves their boss? i'm not exaggerating, in the case of les crystal, everybody did. judy: his demeanor defined his leadership style. >> it is harto separate the ofessional les from the personal, because he was ways calm. he was a rock of stability, whether it was stressful time en we were in a war zone and he was giving usnsuctions, or we were just sitting and chatting, he was always the same, strong,, rock of stabili and just wonderful. judy: when he stepped down as executive producer, he took on the role of esident of production. in thisob and even after officially retiring, he devoted financial backbone to keep the

newshour strong. ashe dear friend to me and eryone he touched at the newshour. les crystal died after a long struggle with brain cancer, and en pneumonia. he was 85 years old. it is hard to say goodbye to him. we aremo overwhelmed with es today. to his wife and three children, and his grandchildren, we send our love. the newshour wouldn't have become the newshour without les crystal. i'm judy woodruff. evening.online and tomorrow from all of us, thank you and please stay safe and we will see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- >> consumer cellular offersra no co wireless plans designed to help you do more of the things you enjoy, whether you are a talker, texture, browser, photographer or a bit of

everything. our cusmer service team is here to find a plan that fits with you. go to consumer cellular.tv. when the world gets complicated, a lot goes through your mind. with fidelity wealth management, a dedicated advisor can tailor advice and recommendations to your life. that is fidelity wealth management. >> johnson & johnson. financial services firm raymond james. eord foundation, working with visionaries on the front lines of social change worldwide. and with the ongoing support of these indiduals and institutions. ♪ should

>> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. this is pbs newshour west from w eta studios ito washi and from our bureau at the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizone university. ♪

in ribeauville, a beautiful medieval town with less than 5,000 people. we lived on the top floor of mparents' patisserie. can you imagine what i ate as a child? i love cars, bikes of any kind and music, but my first love, besides my wife chantal, will always be cooking. ♪♪ this love i have followed to many different cities: rio de jeiro, everyone's favorite food city, and now las vegas, my adopted hometown. of course i am known for french food at my restaurant fleur,