captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> nawaz: good evening. i'm amna nawaz. judy woouff is away. on the "newshour" tonight, the surge continues-- the risks of re-opening grow as cases of covid-19 spike across the country and the centers for disease contl faces scrutiny for its pandemic response. then, one on one-- senator bernie sanders on the race for the white house and former vice president biden's new plan to tackle climate change. plus, rethinking college-- the future of higher education remains in doubt for many community college students burdened by covid-19 and structural inequality. >> many of them live very fragile lives, and they're oftentimes one paycheck away from disaster.l >> nawaz: at and more on tonight's "pbs newshour."

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>> and with the ongoing support of these institutions >> this program was made possible by the corporation fad public bsting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> nawaz: the lentless rise of covid-19 cases has dominated another day, in the summer of 2020. more states are setting records for infectio and deaths-- and more are moving to curb activities again. lisa desjardins reports on the day's developments. >> reporter: in florida, the deadliest day yet from the coronavirus, with 132 deaths, a 10% increase from its previous record. republican governor ron desantis has defended reopening, but today, he sounded a somber note.

>> people are apprehensive. people are hurting. this virus has affected every flidian's life. >> reporter: florida is part ofo a f high-population hot spots, along with california and texas. those three states reported 30,000 new virus cases yesterday alone. leaders there have been forced to re-think their moves to re- open. officials outside houston in fort bend county, texas, have decided school this ll will open with online learning only. >> we cannot tell this vir what we will and will not do. the virus will teach us what is safe and what is prudent to do. >> reporter: in california, the same decision with even more impact. officials in los angeles and sag announced classrooms will stay closed-- online learning only-- when school start that affects more than 800,000 students. los angeles mayor eric garcetti. >> we've never had as many people infected or infectious.

and we've never had as many are tonight.e hospital as there >> reporter: but theres divide-- outside of los angelesr protestersnd against gathered as the orange county school board recommended that classrooms re-open next month without masks or social distancing.it on the oppcoast, the opposite direction. the city of iladelphia, took a dramatic preventative step today. mayor jim kenney announced all clarge public events in ty are canceled through february of next year. >> what we are doi here is following medical advice, which i thk every city and state i the nation should have, and we wouldn't be in this situation we see resurging. >> reporter: in louisiana, where cases are again mounting, governor john bel edwards has c.ndated facemasks for all residents in pub >> i just came by to say thank you.

>> reporter: vice president pence visited the state today, encouraging emergency workers. meanwhile, the white house's testing czar pushed back at some retwee sent by president trump accusing health officials of lying. admiral brett giroir spoke to nbc. >> we may make mistakes occasionally, but none of us lie. r >>eporter: dr. anthony fauci-- the administration's top disease aspert, whom president trump has criticized, was ked whom americans should trust, and backed the experts. >> i would stick with respected track record in telling the h, who have a track record of giving information and policy d recommendations based on scienfic evidence and good data. >> reporter: fauci also alluded to some good news on the vaccine front. thresearchers reported tha first u.s. tests of one vaccine did in fact boost immune systems- just one of ma steps and

d.nths of further tests ah abroad, india has seen confirmed infections elode-- with 100,000 new cases in just four days. the country has the third highest global tally. and in australia, the government is imposing tougher penalties for people who violate quarantine. in queensland state, the penalty for breaking the rules will now be up to sixonths in jail. for the "pbs newshour," i'm lisa desjardins. >> nawaz: in the day's other news, the department of homeland security dropped its directive that international students inth u.s. attend college classes in person-- or leave the country. the annocement came at a federal court hearing in boston. harvard and m.i.t. had filed suit, arguing the rule would force students to risk getting the coronavirus and cost the hools money.

more than 200 other collegesd suppore suit. three states held primaries today, amid the covid-19 resurgence. in texas, democrats were choosing a challenger to republican john cornyn, a three-term u.s. senator. the state did not require face masks at the polls, and did not expand mail-in voting. in alabama, former u.s. attorney general jeff sessions faced tommy tuberville for a republican senate nomination. anorin maine, republican sen susan collins awaited the winner of the democratic nominating contest. the question about black americans being disproportionately killed by police by saying quote so are white people more white people by the way. president also signed an order aimed at china's effortso reign in protests in hong kong.

they stripped the tort of preferential treatment. china criticized the u.s. for most of its fetterral claims in the south china sees aused washington of flexing on its muscles and interfering in the region. britain has reversede, and will ban chinese telecom giant "huawei" from its next-generation mobile phone system. the u.s. had pressed for thege chand the british government announced it today. dan hewitt of independent television reports.r: >> reporhe u.k. can no longer be confident it will be able to guarantee the futureri se of huawei 5g equipment. by the time of the next election we will have implemented in law a irreversible or complete removal from our 5g networks. >> reporter: so why've they done it? well, huawei may be the world's second largest supplier of mobile phones after samsung, but the chinese firmipment is also at the heart of the u.k.'s mobile network. d it's their role in the newest technology, 5g, where the apparent security risks lie.

in may, the united starts imposed sanctions on huawei, who rmaim china could use the to spy on them. and today, u.k. security services concluded ty could not guarantee using huawei's 5g kit was safe. so, their buying their equipment will be banned after this year and all their 5g technology will be removed from the u.k. by 2027 >> we're disappointed byhe announcement today. it wasn't totally unexpected, but we think the severity and the speed will be a problem for the u.k. network, so its not good news for u.k. consumers. >> reporter: but major economies do not see you as trustworthy, and they believe you are answerable to the chinese state. >> we provide communication services to 1/3 of the planet, so we are trusted. >> reporter: huawei will be allowed to carry on providing equipment for britian's 3g and 4g networks, but the government admitted today removing them from 5g would set the u.k. back two or three years, and cost the phone compans two billion

pounds. >> ultimately its very likely consumer is going to pay for that, going to pay for slower 5g roll out and waitingr fo the benefits that ensuesrom that. >> reporter: while this last government u-turn will be welcomed in washington, attention will turn ei reaction inng and the diplomatic cost of pulling the plug on one of it's biggest naats. >> nawaz: eport from dan hewitt, of independent television news.ea in bangladesh:nal monsoon flooding has now left more topn a million stranded or displaced. with major rivers rising, villagers the north are using makeshift boats to get animals and belongings to higher grod. the water is flowing in from india, upstream. the monsoon season beginin june and runs through october. back in this country, the utderal government carried its first execution in 17 years. daniel lewis lee died by lethal injection at a federal prison in terre haute, indiana. he murdered three people in

arkansas in 1996 in a white supremist plot. the execution went ahead after the u.s. supreme cou lifted a lower court's injunction overnight. maxwell pled not guilty today to luring young girls into sexual abuse by jeffrey epstein. a federal judge in new york then denied bail, and set a trial date for next july. epstein was facing sex trafficking charges when he killed himself in jaast august. a federal judge has rejected a $19-million deal between former movie producer harvey weinstein and his sexual misconduct accusers. weinstein is already serving a 23-year pris sentence for rape and sexual assault. the judge said t accusers in the proposed class-action settlement could not be considered legal class. supreme court justice ruth bader ginsburg was hospitalized today with a possible fection. a court statement says she is at

johns hopkins in baltimore, after having a bile duct stent cleaned out. she is expected to remain there for several days. ginsburg has had two bouts with cancer and been hospitalized several times in recent years. and, on wall street, stocks picked up steam after a slow start, as investors again pushed aside concerns over covid-19. the dow jones industrial average gained 556 points to close at 26,642, the nasdaq rose 97 points, and,&p 500 added 42. still to come on the "newshour," bernie sanders discusses the race for the white house and biden's plan to combat climate change; the struggles of the centers for disease control faces increasing scrutiny for s handling of the pandemic; the struggles of community college students burdened by covid- and structural equality plus much more.

>> pbs newshour weta in washington and in the west at the walter cronkite school of journalism. >> nawaz: today former vice president joe biden released new policy proposals aimed at the climate crisis. his $2-trillion plan will increase the use of renewable energy, and it includea goal of a carbon pollution-free power sector by 2035. here's what the former vice president said in a speech in delaware. >> i know climate change and the challenge that's going to define our america's future i know meeting the challenge will be a once in a lifete opportunity to jolt new life into our economy. strengthen our global leadership. protect our planet for future generations. if i had the honor to be elected presidenwe're not going to tinker around the evenings. we're going to make historic investments that will sees the opportunity and m >> nawaz: these policy proposalp were formed t by joint

task forces created to unify the democratic party. the task forces were put together by biden and vermont senator bernie sanders, who joins me now. welcome back to the newshour and than i want to ask you about your team's efforts to move the biden campaign and he biden team platform a little bit further to the left. as we just mentioned you did get him to move up that time line to commit to a hundred percent clean electricity but it's not e green new l. you did get him to commit to a government non-public healthcare option but it's not medicare for so what are the cign issues for you? do you think these policies are enough for your backe to want to back biden? >> well, given that the alternative is donald trump, the most dangerous president in the history of this country i'm absolutely confident that those proposals are not only a significant step for him butare going to win wide spread support from the progressive community. what joe biden unde

order to win this election and i'm going to do everything i can to see that he des win, were going to need a large voter turn out. to get a large voter turn out, there has to be energy and exassignment among younger people, among working class peop among people who very often who do not vote for a variety of reasons. i think what ourceask fo has managed to do is to reach compromises which are ing to bring a lot more excitement to a of voting population that was less entsiastic about jonah know those could ket perthose. there's already been some merticism even from your for national press secretary who says that the biden team wa showing quote mocking disspect for voters with these kinds of plans. what do you say to people whos have conceat these plans don't go far enough. >> i'll tell you. i don't think they go far enough and the people who are representing the progressive community on the task forces

don't think these proposals go far enough. but the answer is to elect j biden and then to strengthen our grass-roots movement to make sure that in all respects the environment, the economy healthcare we have a government that represents all of us and not just a few. i think it is very hard for anybody to seriously look at these proposals, whatever it is on healthcare, whether it's on the envinment or climate change, whether it's on education, whether it's in the economy and not to see that if these proposals were to beim emented, joe biden would be the most progressive president since fdr. it's a significant step forward but in truth it's not all i would like. >> nawaz: senator, do you know during th pandemic voters have shifted somewhat, things like healthcare, immigration and even climate change has movede further down list. obviously the coronavirus the pandemicesponse and the onomy has moved to the top. so congress is now considering

another spending plan. want to ask y how big do you think it should be and what do you say to people who are concerned that the bigger that response gets, the more it's going to push america into the red? >> well, this is what i think anthat is that we areving in an unprecedented moment in american history. we have a panmic because, and because of trump's ineptitudean down playing this pandemic from day one is getting worse in many states in this country. 135,000 people have aready die and that number will grow in months to come. we have an economy which hase lostns of millions of jobs today in vermont and throughout this country, people are hungry. by the millions people are worried out being evicted. people in many cases have lost their health insuranceav. wegot to stand up and rep the working families in this country as we are seeing today more desperation than they have seen many decades.

and the alternative to t becoming aggressive is in my view not only unbelievable huma suffering but to see this economy head straightforward into a gat depression. >> nawaz: senator to that point, how big do you think tha next spending plan should be then. >> well the house passed its bill for three trillion dollars. i think the senate should do at least as much. we are seeing now unprecedentedn sufferinhis country. we have tens of millions of people who have lost their jobs, many ha lost their healthcare. there are people in my state of vermont i and this country today are worried about feeding the families. people are worried about being evicted from their homes. this is america, the wealthiest country in the history of the world now is the time to plan with working families. and let me just say this. if we don't do that, not only are we going to seec an inrease in suffering and death but we're

also going to see is thi country plunging in my view into the worst economic decline since the great deression. >> nawaz: senator less than a minute left. i have to ask you as we look back to 2016 it's worth pointing out most of your supporters did end up voting for hillary clinton but most of a quarter dinot. i met many of them primary season desibing themselves as bernie or bust. they didn't know. do you think now a running mate who is more progressive like elizabeth warren would help mr. biden to win over some of those supporters. >> well i think that the biden campaign, they are vergood politicians and i think they t derstand that we need a vice presido not only will have the right politics for joe bden but somebody who he's personally compatible with. when you're dealing with the vice president there's got to be a ot of personal chemistry and that's a decision i'm sure that

joe and his team are looking hard at right now. >> nawaz: that is senatorrs bernie sanoining us tonight. thank you very much, sir. >> my pleasure. thk you. >> nawaz: traditionally, the u.s.enters for disease control-- the c.d.c.-- is often seen as the leadingovernment agency to monitor public health during an epidemic and convey key informatioto the larger public. the c.d.c. is not very political historically, but in many ways s its roms quite different during this pandemic. as william brangham tells us, four former directors of the agency say the c.d.c.'s public voice has been far too muted for political reasons. >> reporter: amna, the four former directors from past democratic and repubc administrations are out with a new editorial arguing the agency's voice and guidance have been sidelined or overshadowed

they wrote"we're seeing the terrible effect of undermining the c.d.c. play out in our population. willful disregard for public health guidelines is, unsurprisingly, leading to a sharp rise in infections and deaths." d e of those former directors, dr. richsser, joins me now. he is the c.e.o. of the robert wood johnson foundation, whichun is ar of the newshour. you very much for being here. e headline of your editorial said we ran the cdc. no president ever politicized its science the wa trump has. how has he done so? >> well you know, wt we'r seeing, william, is a class of messages. we hear every publihealthti leader in the talking about how serious this pandemic is, talking about the steps we need to take as individuals and as aation tensure we minimize the damage to people's

lives.th an we hear palm titionz starting -- politicians starting at the white ho talking about how there's nothing to worry about. how public health is overplaying this. in the injection of politics into a public health response is orextremely dangerous the nation. cdc is the nation's puc health ancy and their guidance informs what states do, what local public healthdoes by injecting politics into it andrm unding the trust that we need to have in that guidance. it puts people's lives at risk. >> what are some of the real sizing of the science?pli -- politicizing of the science. >> ofa numbe things. the biggest challenge i'm seeing for cdc is they're not having daily press conferences. they're not able to talk to the public thrgh the media about what they're doing or what they're learning. months ago cd talked about masks and the importance of but talked about the generalas

public not needing to wear masks. there's been a lot of learning that's gone on in every public health response. i ran emergency response at cdc for four years. during every response, what you don't know early far outways science to drive the direction of your response. so cdc learn more. as you learn more from other nations and what was successful cdc changed their guidance. theyecommend everyone in america wear a mask and the reason is because a lot of peop can transmit this infection before they even know they'rsick. by wearing a mask you an cut down on that. well the cdc had no opportunity to make that case to the pulic. flop. looked like a total flip t bringing the public along there's no way to build essential during the response. >> as i quoted, you write that the willful disregard of scientific expertise is leadinga to inng cases and deaths.

do you really believe that this interference has cost acan lives that people who would hav survived had this interference not occurred? >> i do, i do. d i also think that's part of hhe reason we're seeing suc disparate impact on black americans, latino americans, native americans. so many of whom are essential workers. if you're an essential worker and the people you're having coinact with aren't weg masks because they don't believe there's any value to it, you'ree putting tssential workers at risk. and those essential workers ybe their health is fine and they're going to do well with hers infection but hig proportions of black americans like you know americans live in multigenerational households so they're comingthome and maybe 'll give this infection to somebody who won't handle it so that cost lives. the fact we're seeing so m ay young peopund the nation ing back to their social lives, feeling like there's nothing to worry about here. that is a total und cut of

what public health science is saying to do. bwe need our puc health scientists and our political leaders to be on the same page and it needs to be the page of science. >> i mean as you well know from your time running the agency, the cdc has to walk this very fine line. it has to be close enough to its administration the so its advise aken but it also has to be separate enough so the public sees them as a ntral arbiter of had yo public maealth infon. do you see as grave you're describing this circumstances that the cdc director robert redfield shoulhave stepped forward more forcefully and said no, i don't think we're on the right path we need to do differently. >> i think evry leader, every cdc director has to know what their line in the sand is and recogne that if they are forced to step over that, that they're going to take an action. it is abolutely essential that

the public trusts the information comingdcrom the c, it's the best evidence. whatever cdc putsa guidance forward it goes through clearance. it's shared with other aencies, it's shared what the white house. that's where you have scien and policy interacting so that what goes forward could be gong forward with unified. but after guidance comes after it's un3re unprecedented to see political leaders under cuttingi you don't need to follow, it doesn't need to be done it's too expensive. the idea we can open our schools this fall, if we don't have this under control and if we're not providing schools with what they need so that our chi safe and staff are safe and this is something n do as a nation but it has to be driven by that roadmap that public health is laying out clearly. >> i mean as you know the cdc has had a few missteps. their initial viral steps

lfunctioned, they seemed for a period of time to be double counting the spiterasts and anti-body tests. do you think some of those missps might have added to the sort of ammunition of this being used to shoot at them now. >> well it's definitely ammunition. i worked at the cdc r 13 years and led emergency response for four. there was neveresponse effort that we had where we didn't make mistakes but we had the portunity every day to talk to the public and say here's something we tried. we thought this was the right way to go. it didn't work, here's what wed learom that. the cdc doesn't have that opportunity here. there's so much conversation about old mistakes thadt cc made. if cdc were out front and we're talking to the press every day, one of the thing the press does is it asked the tough questions and make sure that cdc doesn't have blind spots around this they should be paying attention to. they're not getting that. and so not only are they not

able to share trust their response is not as good cause they're not interacting directly. >> all right. dr. richard besser, ceo of the robert wood johnson foundation and former acting director of the cdc. thank you so much for your time. >> thank you. >> nawaz: now the first in a special series of reports about rethinking college during covid. many students, families and of course, colleges and universities are indeed rethinking about what this fall will be like as the pandemic reshape the higher education landscape. our series begins with community colleges, which educate about 40% of post-secondary students in this country. many were already stretched thii before the pan but surveys indicate enrollment is likely to increases students and workers shift plans. correspondent hari sreenivownan

looks atne community college and its students are faring. >> reporter: maryland's montgomery college, just outside d.c., is eerily quiet these days. during a typical july, the school's three campuses would be bustling with summerchool students. but, like so many colleges and learning here has shifted from classrooms and labs to bedrooms and living rooms. ♪ ♪ montgomery college is one of the niuntry's most diverse com colleges. it's nestled ico with pock pov about 00tudents or attend for accredited degreesr and otograms like workforce development. the school was one of the firsta in the area ounce it will continue remote learning in the fall with a limited number of small lab classes. it's too early to knowow many twill attend next year, b school is already seeing an uptick in interest.my >> if i look anrollment for summer we'll probably be

about 20% up in terms of where we were this time last year. >> reporter: derionne polld is president of the college. she says as the school gears upo for increased ment, she's udents, many of efom were strue pandic. >> our students huten times are ry. they are taking care of multiple generatis at any given time. they're tryi to figure out how to get to school. many of them live very fragile lives, andhey're oftentimes one paycheck away from disaster. >> reporter: in march, that disaster struck when businesses began to close. s madents and their falies lost jobs, and some struggled with the move to online learning. c that was te for 19-year-old graphic design major kayla savoy. she says she enjoys creating and learning about art in her classes, but technology issues and distractions at home made it difficul stay cused school >> the wif a atrocious at my house. there's technically five or six

of us all living at once. you have a toddler screaming about "paw patrol" in the ckground while your 8:00 a.m. class is going on. >> reporter: savoy is paying her own way through school and says she managed to get straight a's last semester. but she's been struggling to find work the last few months, and it's been hard to pay for things like gas and food. on top of those concerns, she and many of her classmates have been deeply impacted by recent events surrounding racial inequities. >> i got to this point where i ow how i'mi n't going to be able tjuggle more than i already have. and then i turn around and i see more senseless killings of my people. and as a black woman, i fear for so many people that are important in my life. it becomes just an overwhelming feeling of, "what can i do?" can i not study for classes, can i not go to the store without my life being in da >> reporter: montgomery collegeo has been tryinelp students cope with many of these stresses. the school has distributed more than $3.5-million in emergency

aid, money from the federal cares act, private donors, established emergency funds, ano $400,000 the ssaved from cancelled end of the year early on, local cos donated laptops and free food haed out tst the ouity unemployment has jumped up in recent months to nearly 9%. >> our students don't pop in for eight or nine months out of the year, live in a residence home, and theyo back to where they came from. they live here. they work here. they raise families here. so, as a result of that, the wealth and health of our community is a direct reflection of the health of our community college and vice versa. there's a mutuality to that that demands that we rise up in these moments. >> reporter: pollard says this moment also requires thoughtful engagement and action by the school-- and academia in- genera address systemic racism. during open zoom forums called" let's talk,"aculty and staff have been facilitating candid conversations.

>> we're literally watching the murder of people consistently on tv over and over. that's not oy dehumanizing to the personbut it desensitizesus o what the value of that life is. >> reporter: and some faculty, professor amy caratinni, are encouraging students to explore race and ethnicity in new ways. >> i think it's just so important to make students feel comfortable to talk about the issues. i think there's a lot of nervousness or fear of saying the wrong thing or doing the wrong thing. o >> reporter: bside of the classroom, some wonder how well montgomery college, and other community colleges, will be able to meet the challenges of these times. >> community colleges have been systematically de-funded for years and they were already in a tough situation when it came to resources, when it came to instructional supports when it me to being ready to ser these large numbers of students. >> reporter: temple university's

sara goldrick-rab is a professor of sociology and medicine. released a survey that found nearly three in five college students across the couny have experienced basic needsse rity during the pandemic. she says lack of funding can lead to staff shortages and limited course offerings, and the current job market may make it more difficult for students to get across the finish line. >> these studentghare at very isk of going to college dr all the right reasons leaving because they had very little cice. pele used to work their wa through college in the 1970s, in the 1980s. they've always done that. but now work has lit disappeared. this is not a temporary challenge when these people, if they drop out of college, they're going to struggle for the next 10-15 years, at least, y to repay the debt that te. >> reporter: montgomery college president pollard has those issues and others on her platehe asteers the college into what could be a rocky fall. d >> if studencome to us and, we know, they will need

financial aid. we know th the state and even the federal government may not be able to provide as much because they're tryingise an economy back up. we know that there's a lot of unrtainty. but here's the thing about it: we've been here before. community colleges have a deep competency in trying to respond to these types of environments. >> reporter: 55,000 students-- more or less-- will log into their online classes on august 31 when the fall semester beginsbut the school's campuses will remain quiet for the foreseeable future. for the pbs newshour, i'm hari sreenivasan. an >> nawaz: fromark decisions on immigration and l.g.b.t.q. protections trg virtual oralents amid the pandemic, the supreme court concluded a term last week that will be earmarked for the history books.

we taka deeper look into the roberts court and its blockbuster term with marcia coyle, chiefashington correspondent for the "national law journal," paul clement, former u.s. solicitor general during the george w. bush administration, and neal katyal, he served as the actingci sor general under president obama. welce you all and thank you for being here. neal and paul, i should point out between thtwo of youyou have argued almost 150 cases before the court. neal'm going to start wih you because i want to get a sense of how you're looking back on this term. earlier in june is was a sen this is the court that's leaning actually quite liberal. ethin a couple weeks ruled workers can't be fired for being gay or transgender they stopped trump's effo to end dacand struck down the abortion law in louisiana. how did youee that string on ruling, is that an outght wi for progressives. >> i awe grease there's an outreign win with daca, the lgbt

cases, the louisiana abortion and all of them, donald trump lost. i'm not aware of another president outside of richard nixon in our life times an rhaps even beyond who fared worse at the supreme court but i really think of it that way much more about serio loses for trump than they do about the court turning progressiver liberal which i don't think is true. mall and i both know this, wese both reped prides in the supreme court -- presidents in the supreme court. it's pretthard to lose if you're representing the president. you have to try but you have t work at it. here they've managed to lose a lot. i don't think itch really as he fault of the lawyers but really outland issueish opes by the trump administrathon and process by the trump administration so it looks like liberal results are really just kind of basic rule of law results. i'll point you particularle to x returns cases in which president trump's own appotees totally rejected his position of absolute immunity.

>> paul what's your take on that. when you look at those sting of rulings how do you assess them. >> i think the number of these cases you really have to look a the contat the court's specifically wrestling with. those tax return cases were very unprecedented cases and i think in some respects it is not that unprecedented for a president to lose big even with his o nominees when it comes toec ive power. president clinton sort of famously lost clinton against jones 9- and st a good nominees along the way in that case. so i do think it really deends a lot on the nature of the particular issues and i think i thyou look two weeks ago before the end of the term, it was looking qute liberal but by the end of the term, there were a number of religious liberty cases in particular that kind of made it a much more nuanced story in the end. >> nawaz: i want to get to those in more detail. before we do, ma sha i ha ask you.

when you look at the abortion decisions for example, in at case there were four liberal justices who voted to strike down the law andt was cef justice john roberts who sided with them. talk to me a little bit abothut role roberts has played on this court. at the same time we shoiould mehe had a very full plate. he was also presipeng over the hment proceeding. >> that's right. with an extraordinary term on many levels. as far as john robts go i'll take the 30,000 mile view of the term. this was a term that began with a nuer ofases that were fraught with political and partisan implications. and i think th supreme court emerged unscathed or untarnished by either of thfse because o john roberts. he was able by forming cross ideologic majorities to steer the court through those cases and to sort of confirm what he has been trying t tell the

public in some very rare public statementsthat the court is an independent institution. ceainly a number of conservatives did hope that with the confirmation of justices kavanaugh and gorsuch,t there would be a rock solid heconservative modulity on court -- majority on the court. and that is not the e.s it really does depend often on come before them. cases that but i really think if you wanted to look at winners and losers in the term that just ended, you would have to say that theer wiwas the u.s. supreme court. because it did emerge unscathed from so many seof thoases that could have taintedif there had been 5-4 decision in the normal identify lodge c cull split, it could have been painted as a partisan institution know know paul i want -- >> nawaz: paul itant to ge back to those religious freedom.

there seems to be a trend how those went.ig there was reus schools from lawsuits to employment discrimination. another one upholding the administration rule that employers can den contra ception coverages on moral owe ligious grounds. when you look the boy what was the message you think the court was sending. >> well i think adherence of relion people trying to advocate rights of liberty did very well in all of those cases. in every one of those cases they got the vote of two sets of roberts. some of though cases were more in the 7-2 department than the 5-4 decision. onof the most sequential the ipso pino saw case -- espinoz ght in limiting school choice i think was a five-four decisions in religious liberty. i think those cases underscore john roberts is not a liberal or even a me when it comes to some issues. i think it really depends onhe

nature of the ssues that come before the court in a particular term. >> nawaz: what about you when you look at those cases thione issue of religious freedom which was very important to the trump back on this term. do yolook >> i think paul is absolutely right. the religious freedom cases show the e onself-called conservative has won a lot of and you have to look at the overall context. it's just the number of cases here in which the trump administration position loss is pretty extraordinary. so marcia puts it bter than me that says theupreme court i the winner in the last ter the note to that is i think the rule of law was also a winner. our country is so bitterly politically divided riganow the supreme court really because of chief justices, robehe fear of the court, really points to a different way, a way of mutual spect, way in which we cn listen to those from the other sidde an maybe forge agreements with

them. it was rlly i think a majestic thing to behold and it's not a beral thing ani don't think the chief justice is liberal. the best evidence of that is at 2:00 a.m. this morning he cast the fifth vote evto riew the federal death penalty when the litigants didn't have a chnc to breathe and argue their challenges. i think everyone should be reful when they use liberal or conservative terms with respect to the court. >> nawaz: marcia reported earlier ruth bader ginsberg is in the hospital. as you look ahead to the next term tell me ow wshould be thinking about some of the cases ahead and some of the generaler co about the health of those. >> i think when youo lok at the ages of some of the justices, you have justice ginsberg now 86 i believe, you have justice breyer 81. several other jusovces areer 65 and are in that age group that is most vulnerable to the

covid 19 virus that you have to ker pau and -- take pause and wonder if next termthere could be some changes in the court's personnel on the bench. so that may w veryell be something to watch closely. i kn that the trump administration is hoping once in the presidential election.sue right now though i don't think that tt is going to ure into how the justices deliberate at. all don't count justice ginsberg out. she has be remarkably resilient. >> nawaz: she is of course to watch and we all wish that ginsberg recovery's. thanks so much for being with us. >> my pleasure. >> thank you.

>> nawaz: in the wake of protests against systemic racism ar america, many industrie facing q about past practices and racial biases. one new effort puts a spotlight on the world of publishing. jeffrey brown exores that for our ongoing arts and culture black ask non-black authors. the hashtag was staed by l.l. mckinney a writer of fantasy novels for youngdults. >> >> this advance has a lot to do with how we publher thinks the story will do.

if the story is more universal, then more people will have access to it. publishing views as the default for the universal story. >> reporter: the callout struck a nerve, and many prominentac blk authors weighed in, including novelist jesmyn ward, who wrote of how she "fought ano foughta $100,000 advance for her third novel, "sing, unburied, sing," even after her second, "salvage the bones," for which she received about $20,000, had won the national book award for fiction. by contrast, lydia kiesling, who is white, wrote of receiving a $200,000 advance for her literary debut. n.k. jemisin, a black novelist who won the hugo award recognizing the best science fiction and fantasy writing three years in a row, said she received just $25,000 advances for each of the booker award-winning "broken earth" trilogy. >> you have an award-winningau

or who is beloved by so many, you know, right on up toen pres picking up her book, you know, versus some people who 've never heard of because ehe book doesnn out or it flops. but then that person can turnha around and getsame advance and a second chance. >> reporter: the outpouring on twitter confirmed many spicions. >> i knew that there was a disparity, that was the whole i didn't realize how large the disparity was, but we knew i was there and we knew it was big, but we didn't know it was that big. >> reporter: a new novel by jeanine cummins has opened up a debate about white privilege, racism in publishing and the unintended consequences ofa tellinory that is not your own. >> reporter: earli this year the publishing industry came under fire over issues of payon and representaor the novel, "american dirt," a story of mexican migrants written by a non-mexican author, jeanine cummins, who reportedly received

a seven-figure advance. some prominent latino writers found the story inauthentic, advancing harmful stereotypes. for l.l. mckinney, all these issues are personal. >> i was a kid who loved science fiction and fantasy, but science fiction eventually did not love me back if i was on the page. i was the sassy best friend or i was the enemy or i was the help or i was the gangbanger or i was as a child i didn't have the vocabulary to articulate what i was seeing and feeling. but now that i do, twhat i want to change, is for the readers of today and the readers of the fut ae. >> reporteo now thinking of those readers: dana canedy, newly appointed publisher of simon & schuster. a former "neuryork times" list and more recently administrator of the pulitzer prizes, she comes the first black person to head a major publishing house.

she joins me now from new york. dana welcome. let's start with the hashtag. it put the spotlight on plaque writerpaid less and a sense of being valued less. industry but whayou see,s how do you respond to something like that. >> well i think it's going to be myob to make sure that doesn happen at simon and schuster and hopefully influence the larger publishing community as well. there's no excuse ar tht. i wouldn't sit for it when i was wring my book. thankfully that didn't happen to me but as a leader in this industry now, i want to hear from folks who have these experiences and figure out how we can solve it. >> many cultural inconstitutions of course are now reexaming themselves in light of the black lives matter protest. w at specific ways publishing has long been seen as an this is largely make up in its industry.

in what ways should it look a itself and change. >> it's funy to me when people say that publishinfits that sort of model because you could be talking about law or really sort oany other industry, i think stridps steed to look at themselves publishing including. i look at the initiatives at the "new york times" as part of my portfolio as a senianorer there, as a senior news room leader. and so i have a lot of tools in my tool chest i can call upon but for simon and schust specifically i don't have the efforts yet. i need to start the job get in therroll up my sleeves and see what they are doing and what are opportunies for growth. one thing anybody works with me knows i'm very honest. i'm tnot goio pretend i have answers that i don't. i'll get in there, talk to the staff, talk to the leadership and figure out where we go.

we will have and they may already but we will have a comprehensive approach to diversjuy outcomes. need to get into the need to go. fiure out where we and then i don't think it's enough as a leader in this industry who happens to be a person of color to just look simon and schuster, i want to look at the entire publishing community. it's a little had early to answer how but i will. year and hold me accountable. a >> okay i hope we get a chance to do that.on i menhe case of the debate around the novel american dirt. and i wonder, you're a reader, you're a writer yourself. when you look at this world of publishing, do you see a lacof opportunity for writers of color, do you see a lack of voices being heard. >> i think that's changed inye recens and there's more opportunity than ever before historically and not n in the the case.ant past that's been

i do think it's changing and i do think it will continue tohe because ofovement that's taken hold in this country. i also think that's where i'm going to have pre influen toin -- to have influence to bring in difrent authors. forces that could be very important. we have to do it collectively. i'm one person in one company but i think there areome opportunities for leaders across publishing houses to put tur headether and figure out how we can influence this ise, how we can improve things related t both subject matter,i pay eq for advances, the voices and the authors that get highlighted. all of that provides in my view an exciting opportunity to improve things and i will do that. i will, you know, as best i can. >> we just have 30 seconds but i read that your son calls you what, work nerd. i know you love books.

anwhy take this job and what do you want to do and why do you want it. >> i admire people greatly, and some of the great minds in the business. i think i could have influence in the waysou and i discussed and i will and i intend to. i'm a word nerd. love words. this is like a dream job. >> dana canady is the new publisher of simon and schuster. good luck. >> thank you for having me. >> nawaz: and tonight on the pba newshour onlinther episode of our podcast "america, grapples with how to reopen and contain the coronavirus, we go across the pond to the u.k. to hear about what we might learn from how brits are handling the

pandemic. e,listen on our webshat's pbs.org/newshour, or wherever you get your podcasts.ws also on the ur online, "citizen" by claudia rankine is our july selection for "now rear this,"ook club with "the new york times." it's a collection of essays, images ans poetry that er how collective expressions of racism play out in coy.emporary soci rankine recently told the newshour abt how natural disaster hurricane katrina .rompted her to focus her work on race in ameri and that's the newshour for tonight. join us on-line ann here tomorrow evening. for all of us at the "pbs newshour," thank you, please stay safe and see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> 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's fidelity wealth

management. >> carnegie corporof new york. supporting innovations in education, democratic engagement, and the advancement of international peace and security.ar atgie.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and individuals. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcastin and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you.

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to amanpour & company. here what's coming up. everything's bigge t inas and the stakes for 2020 are huge. former democratic presidential candidate bo o'rou joins us as coronavirus transforms the political landscape. then what you need to know about science and -- >> if you take your hands off our neck we will contribute to the greatness of this country. >> the first african-american head of the defense intelligence agcy tells our walter isaacson why he's speaking out plus -- ♪ ♪