captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: goodvening. i'm judy woodruff. on the "newshour" tonight, elusive relief-- we're live with one of the white house's top what the president is willing to do to help millions of unemploy americans in the pandemic.il then, schools'ma-- as the pandemic persists, an increasing number of districtfor remote learning, despite the challenges of learning from home. and feele pain-- small esbusinewned by the formerly incarcerated are hit particularly hard amid limited access to the paycheck protection program. >> i built my company since i came home from prison.

my taxpaying dollars and those of my employees are helping to support othermall businesses roughout this time. but why couldn't we qualify? >> woodruff: all that and re ." tonight's "pbs newshour >> major funding for the pbs bwshour has been providedwo >> when thd 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. >> consumer cellular. >> johnson.

>> the kendeda fund. committed to advancing restorative justice and meaningful work through investments in transformative leaders and ideds. more at keund.org. >> carnegie corporation of new york. su education, democratic engagement, and the advancement of international peace and surity. at carnegie.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: and individuals. possible by the coion for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs yostation from viewers lik thank you. dr

>> wf: fsh data tonight highlights the u.s. economy's deep scars from covid-19 amid negotiations on a new government relief package. another 1.2 million people have filed for state unemployment they've now topped the million mark for 20 straight weeks. the tatween the white house and democrats include restoring federal jobless benefits, but there is no agreement in sight. we'll hear from congressional correondent lisa desjardins after the news summary. the pandemic'naonwide toll human lives is nearing 1ca60,000 as confirmes approach 4.9 million t one latest to be infected is ohio govern mike dewine.ve he tested posioday and cancelled plans to greet prident trump in cleveland this afternoon. in beirut, lebanon, authorities ha detaine16 employees at the city's port, as they invee tuesday's

catastrophic explosion. the blast killed at least 135 people, injured more than 5,000 and fueled a new wave of public fury. spec ferguson reports on the das developments. >> reporter: after the massive blast destroyed much of beirut, now comes the monumental clean up. groups of volunteers are working together, salvaging what they can. in some small way it helps distract from the trauma. >> ( translated ): you can't feel anything in lebanon, there's nothing to be sad about or to think about. >> reporter: the shatter o falling glass continues, as if the city keeps breaking. the funerals of rescue workers began today. this one, for a young female firefighter. distraught family and colleagues wept goodbye. the of this tragedy has drawn the atteion of the world.

rench president emmanuel macron kllked the streets, and was qumobbed by angry people. "it's unacce, the corruption is unacceptable," a help us.student shouts at him." here," pleads r.re for our kids france has led efforts to gather aid for lebanon, in thnogrip of an ec collapse in recent months. now even more help will be needed. >> we will launch a european and international initiave to bring money and help directly to people. all this fear, this anxiety, the anger you have is against politicians and against corruption. st reporter: protests calling for e have begun. mass demonstrations against government corruption and mismanement have rocked lebanon for nine months. now, with the blast seemingly caused by negligence-- highlyem

explosive als carelessly left in a warehouse-- the fury is growing. beirut airport continues to america is sending help, too. general frank mckenzie, commander of u.s. central oncommand, pledgednued support, including shipments of food, water and medical supplies. even before this disaster, lebanon was bankrupt and unable afford food and fuel. now, several hundred thousand of its people are homeless too, with a government incapable of helping them. for the pbs newshouus i'm jane fe. >> woodrufay marked 75 years since the united states dropped the world's first atomic bomb on hiroshima, japan. it leveled the city and killed y me 1,000 people. elderlrvivors marked the event at the hiroshima peace memorial park. the pandemic reduced turnout to fewethan a thousand, a fraction of past years. we'll return to hishima, later

in the program. new york state went to court today in a bid to dissolve the national rifle association. the civil suit accuses top executives of siphoning millions of dollars in funds for personal use. state attorney general letitia james says it's a blatant violation of the n.r.a.'s non-profit status in new york where the group is incorporated. s clear that the n.r.a. has been failing to carry out its stated mission for many, many years, and instead has for greed, abuse and brazennd illegality. the suit a baseless attack ond second amendment rights. terrible thing, and suggested the n.r.a. move to texas. new campaign fundraising numbers are in, and president trump outpaced former vice presidentde last month. mr. trump and the republican

national committee rep taking in $1bi million. thn campaign and the democratic national committee ought in $140 million. still, the two campaigns now have almost thsame amount of total cash on hand. the u.s. senate today voted unanimously to banny use of the video-sharing app tiktok from federally-issued devices. the house had already approved it lawmakers pointed to tiktok's chinese ownership, and said it raises national security concerns over data collection by china. president trump has threatened to ban tiktok outright. and, on wall street, stocks scored new gains and hit a new benchmark. the dow jones industrial average was up 185 points to close near 27,387. the nasdaq rose 109 points to finish above 11,000 for the

fime, and the s&p 500 added 21. still to come on the "newshour," congress and the white house struggle to counteract the d-onomic damage inflicted by co; an increasing number of school districts opt for remote learning and all its chall,enges; 75 years survivors of hiroshima and nagasaki say they're running out of time to pass on their message, and much more. >> woodruff: a deal on the next coronavirus relief package seems far from sight as democrats and republicans continue to be at an impasse on key issues. to help explain where things

stand i'm joined by our lisa desjardins. >> judy, hopes for a deal this week are very dim. there has been no real progss between the two sides in the last 48 hours. though they have conned to meet, it doesn't seem like any side is giving in on some of the key issues here in fact, republicans tonight and all day today are saying if there is no deal they are increa considering executive action by president trump. but, judy, it's not clearac y what president trump would do. perhaps he could initiate a payroll tameof sort, but that's not even popular with all his own te republicans. some democrats think the executive acon idea may be a bluff. it's not clear. roe timeline seems to be moving awaythis week and into a potential deal next week. republicans don't like that, but that seems to be where we are. overall, judy, it's a staring contest at this moment over a dozen different issues. think about this, these negotiations are prothe

largest divide our two parties have had in terms of dollar figures in modern american history. they are maybe $2 trilln apart on what this deal needs to look like. >> woodruff: and lisa, let me d ask you ll down a little on one issue know a lot of people care ab, of course, and that's aid to schools. what is known about the differences on that at this point? right. it's worth looking at that. let's talk about the dollargu s, first of all. republicans at this time are prosing -- or democrats, rather, republicans are proposing $90 billion for schools, that's k-12 and higher ed. democrats upped what they would like frasom their original in may. now they are requesting 45 billion. they would divide it different ways. republicans, in their offer right now, would like two-thir of that money for the k-12 schools to go to schools w reopened. so republicans pushing for reopening in some form. demoats, instead, would distribute that money by population.

so there, judy, you se the crux of the impasse right now. the two sides are divided over dollar figures by a largamount and over philosophy over how to handle the coronavirus and reopening itself. >> woodruff: such a frustrating moment and so many americans watching these negotiations very closely. to.a, i know you will continue thank you. >> you're welcome. >> woodruff: and now for the trump administration's vi of these negotiations, we're joined by larry kudlow. he's the director of the national economic council. larry kudlow, welcome back to the "newshour we just heard our lisa sjardins say this is like a staring contest, there doesn't seem to be any tangible what do you see? do you see any -- the two sides any closer together? >> well, thanks for having me back on, judy. look, they are negotiating righl now, as we. they're up on the hill.

chief mark meadows, secretary of treasury steve mnuchin, and the democratic leadership and the republican leadership of both houses and both parties, so they are talking. i think it's fair to say that the tone has probably improv a bit. they are going through a nuer of lists of items that divide them. i see where compromises areib po. but, no, i thinkthe reporting was accurate. i don't think any deals have been made. chief meadows has said, if nothing is achieved by friday we might conceivably walk away from it, that is thump people might walk away from it, and the president said repeatedly and said it again today that he can do a lot of important things on unemployment extensions, on preventing ictions, on a payroll tax cut, he can do many things by executive order orpridentia fiat, and he doesn't necessarily need these negotiation, so we'll

see how it turns out. at the moment, i don't think i have much new to report. >> woodruff: well, let ask you about what the president is saying thee. to clarify clarify something, sa said she heard some democrats say think think the president is bluffing act acting unilaterally. do you think he's serious? >> i think he's quite seriousd i myself have been engaged in a lot of the drafting of these orders, in particular the payroll tax cut. but we areai looking at the eviction stuff, student loans d various unemployment, employment reforms, and possibly added benefits for reemployment. so this is a very seious matter. coght now, the lawyers up in the white houssel' office are poring over a payroll tax cu draft. >> woodruff: well, let me ask you about that. a number of thingsbut on the payroll tax cut, as you know, a number of republicans oppose this, all the dets oppose it. does the president have the authority cut theyroll tax

which, after all, goes to social >> yes, of course, but our lawyers think he does have the authorit a lot of people have the authority. certainly, as you know, we have deferred payment o the income tax, an the relation last march, there was a business side payroll tax holiday. a lot of people think he has the authority to denever the payroll i don't think republicans oppose it. i think the issue was rather lukewarm. i think right now republicans on the hill are looking to put more economic growth incentives into ntial package i think many would welcome the payroll tax. it creates a terrific incentive for hiring, for new employment, and r people to return back to work. you know, if you tax something less, you will get moref it, and i think that thought is upper most in republican minds. woodruff: i've actually heard several republican senators say they're against it,

including, i believe, the majority leader mitch mcconnell. but what i want to ask you, also, about larry kudlow is unemployment benefits. the president mentioned he thought he might be able to something by executive order. how would he do that? where woulthe money come from? i know there's up spent money from what was passed e spring. is that what the white house is looking at? >> there may be some repurposing of unspent funds,udy. i can't say. i'm not a lawyer. they're combhg trough a number of things. i don't want to give away, i don't want to negotiate here. i'm just saying it's something we are worried about, first of all, look, the economy is doing much, much better. we all still believe in the v-shape recovery. newe had verys today on unemployment claims dropping for, again. wem,e seen a housing b a manufacturing boom, inventories at rock bottom. it looks to us like a self--sustaining recovery, but there is still harhehip, t

is still heart break as we deal with the virus, and we want make sure that people have a good, constructive unemployment plan with, i might add, added benefits for returning to work. so we are looking at all that carefully. >> woodruff: well, just to clarify, this is the 20t 20th straight week when over a miion americans have fild for unemployment benefits, over, what is it, 33 million americans have lo their jobs? so for you to say the economy is doing better, i think, u know, that needs to be in perspective. but i do want to ask you, are you saying that there's money that was appropriated that s you'ing that the president -- te house believes that he coul en create unemployment benefits, what, $600 a week, which flis what wasing up until last week? >> well, i don't want to put numbers on it, and i don't want to give away any of the legal drafts, i'm just saying it is something he is looking at very carefully, along with the

eviction and along with thx payroll d along with some student loan breaks as well. these are all part of what our counsel is looking. a treasury, nec,an ombd so forth. and, yes, we have been very keen on that. i want to say one thing, judyeci apte the context of the jobs. as i said, there is still a good deal of hardship going on out there. however, jobs have come back by nearly 8 million in the last couple of months, unemployment claims have fallen substantially fr the highs of this winter, and a lot of people have gone back to work, and somhae oft was because of a bipartisan rescue package last march which really helped the job story and really helped deal with the virus. unfortunately, we can't seem to find anymore bipartisanship, and that is a problem which is leading the presidt to act on his own. >> wdruff: but i'm sure y don't deny that, until there's a vaccine, until there's some sort sight right now, many smalln

businessings will remain closed, businesses are just not operating anymore and can't employ people, but very >> no, judy, if i may, you know, you mentioned that. we've spent an inordinate amo of money on vaccine resech. right now, there areve six or companies that are in stage three, phase three of a vaccine which are -- >> woodruff: correct, but it's - and may come befe the end the year. so i'm really proud of that and hopeful and prayerful that we can get that done. >> woodruff: right. and i know everyone shares that hope and that prayer. but just quickly, on the divide on schools, as you know, the republican proposal is to make two-thirds of that money con dingent on schools being physically open, in-class experience. a lot of teachers, a lot of parents just are not prepared to sendheir children back to school. why have, if you will, a punitive approach in terms of giving money to schools? >> well, look, i mean, we've

offered $ov0 billion, and so many groups -- i mean, there ie divisions hereke everything else, but so many groups of docrs and experts and psychologists and psychiatrists have said the ve best thing for our kids is to get them back in school. ere may be some mix that is acceptable, judy, in terms of in the school as well as byer compbut, no, we think the evidence is what's good for the kids, k-12 in particular, get them back to school and, by the way, it has economic impact. because a lot of parents can't from an educational standpoint, from a psychological standpoint, so many profegrssional ps have said get those kids back to school. woodruff: right. and in just a few words, how long is president trump prepared to wait before he act unilaterally on this? >> i'll let him make that

decision. what i want to say to youthis evening, and i appreciate coming on the program, is he's working very hard at it and we're looking at all our executive options. >> woodruff: larry kudlow with the counsel of economic advisors. thank you ve much. >> thank you. >> woodruff: many schools around the country are changing their plans and have decided to start the school year with distance learning. in some cases, school districts have reveed course in just the past few weeks. william brangham is going to look at the dilemmas that school districts, teachers,arents and public officials are all facing in two states. but first,et's hear from teachers, who have been grappling with their own tough choices. this was produced by our student

reporting labs teams. >> our school has really ambitious plans right now. they've decided to use a hybrid, in that th a plan for us to go back in person and a plan for us to take classes online. it's scary right now.ittle >> i want to go back to the clsroom. i just want it to be a safe classroom. is is historic. we have never had a hool year like this so the challenges are going to range from my own chilare to my own health to mental health to the students' mental hlth just actually learning and engaging and feeling like this year is productive. >> my husband has heart disease. i really worry about bringin the virus home to him. i've really had to think about what decision i will ma if we do go back in person, because i might need to take a year off from teaching. that's been, that's been tough.

>> i have thyroid issues which complicate everything. there's so many things you have to become conscious of, like touching your face, and it's kind of frustrating for me and i'm sureudents are the same way. we get in the classroom and that's arn i have, nobody's going to do anything" wrong" we are just going to forget sng. >> there is a lot of people saying we shouldn't go back to olhool or we should go back to sc what i know is that education has needed some kind of an eake for a very long time. omthink that we need to learn his time, fundamentally keange, and make it more equitable and t better for everyone. >> our county released a 16-pag documente teachers about a released to the coy and it was over 20 pages at that point in time. more and there's a lot of debate going between the county and the families and the teachers union rl>> teaching in a remote is hard. like many educators i've been rking 10-12 hourays

preparinclasses for online. >> a point of difficulty is student engagement. when school is not in person, when you are not physically with the kids it's really hard to build relationships. it's really hard to get them connected, and wanting them to keep going and wanting them to do more. have is student accountability. our district had this policy where no student was to receive anything less than a d. we had countless students that would have applied themselves further. >> a lot of our students are from a lower socioeconomic group, and that makes it difficult often for them to have access to the internet. >> i don't know how it's going to look. and that is so hard to just say "i d't know" and i, as a teacher, and teachers in general are flexible, and they're apble and we'll make it work no matter what hpens and we just gotta keep the students righin front of us.

>> i think the best possible thing to hope for is that my students know that i care for themr and that i'm there em even if i'm not physically in the classroom. icare that they have an education evat education is different in form. >> i don't know what else we c do besides say, "hey, this is the plan for right now and when the plans change i'll leyou know." >> this is a situation we can't control, and if we can ourselves grace, and if we can model to our students resiliency,e're going to be okay. it's not going to be perfect, and we're going to take care of >> i hope that we go back to school safe, sound, and healthy and that this just becomes part of our history that we are able to tell people about some day. >> reporter: some of those concerns you just heard from teachers were part of why me school districts changed course. in indianapolis, students had been told they would return to the classroom for in-person teaching. that changed last thursday, when

ficials announced that a classwork will be done virtually, at least through early october. to help us understand more about that decision, i am joined by the superintendent of indianapolis public schools, aleesia johnson. superintendent, very nice to have you on the "newshour". help us understanwha what it is that you saw going on in your community that made you said we have to change course? >> sure. thanks for having me. the decision for us came dowto whate saw happening in our community more broadly. we know and unrstand that schools are not in bubbles, we're not in isolation, we are a part o greater community, and we were concerned that we saw the positivity rates in our community going up and not coming down, and we were really concerned about what that meant in terms of the impat would have on our students and families returning to school with a pretty high rate of community spad at this point. >> so you see the virus spreading in your community at levels that you didn't like, and you say, okay, we're t going

to be in perso we're going to go virtual. that obviously changes what the avteachersto do. how did they respond to this change of course? i think we said in june, as you said earlier, that we were going to return in person, and, so, our educators were getting readt for that. also said that we were going to always be responsive to what w happening in terms of the health of our community. so they were certainly ready to take that step as they needed and have been able to do. i also think there has been, overall, a feeling of relief of about the of our staffcerned and students foremost and that theybe in a situation where they can ach comfortably and safely for the time being. eived byow is that r the parents? i mean, obviously, as a parent mylf, every parent wants their child to be safe when they go to school, but it's very hard to holdown a job if your kids are still at home. how did they take this deciion? >> mean, you know, that's one

of the tings that is heaviest on my mind during this time. i knew that, in making a recommendation to go fully virtual to our board and our board signing on and agreeing with that, that you can't deny the fact that that creates burden for working families who now need toa mke decisions (indiscernible). on the one hand, we had a number of parents be very supportive of that decision and again feel good act the district's position on keeping students and staff safe, but i also know that there is a burden on a number of our working families who are having to make other accommodations for your ildren, and that is incredibly challenging and hard. >> a lot of students and parents and i think a lot of teacherd s woknowledge the distance learning this last go round was difficult. there was a steep learning curve for everybody involved. how do you think that will improve when we try this again

in the fall? >> well, i think we've had, first of all, more time during toe last several weeks lan for the possibility of being all virtual, which we kn was going to be a potential scenario, even ways in which our students might be learning. for us, for example, we were not a one-to-one school district, meaning one device per student, in march. so we had amixture of devices for high school students, paper and penc for elementary students, which makes it quite instruction, realtimee instruction happening. we are now a one-to-one district. every student will have a device, we purchased a numbr of hot spots for our students who need internet access so at least we have the fundamental tools available. teachers, who are not trained to teach in a virtual environmentpr and a lot ofessional development, making sure that they are comfortable in thinking about the thwayheir

instruction shifts from being in person to that virtual environment. so i know we'll have bumps along the way, i fully expect thatal we'll be navigating these experiences together, but we feel much more prepared now prior to, you kn, march, when had to sort of flip everything on a dime. >> what wi take for you to feel confident that you can bring kids backnto school? >> so we're talking regularly with the director of our local taking her guidance underand consideration, obviously. we've also, as a district, set our metrics at looking at the 5% positivity rate over a 14-day period, seeing that average of 5% as beg an important indicator for us to know that we can more safely return students into our classrooms, into our school buildings. so we're really committed to that point we have a high to quality virtual experience and

learning environment for our students to have during these first few weeks of the school year. >> aleesia johnenn, superint of the indianapolis public schools. good luck and thank you very much for being here. >> thank you so much for having me. >> speaking of schools and difficult decisions, we wanted to >> reporter: speaking of schools and difficult decisions, let's widen the picture and look at how outbreaks are playing out in mississippi. and it has very high positive test rates. also up.izations and deaths a two days ago, governorat a time reevesissued a statewide mandate on wearing masks in public places. i'm joined now by dr. thomas efbbs, mississippi's ch health officer. dr. dobbs, thank you so much for being here. we've just heard from the superintendent in indianapolis about the fficulty they' having opening schools. i know a few days ago you sa

that you were urging mississippi schools not to open, and you said caseswould oar even mor if they did. how did that message go over? >> you know, i think it went over well. i think it does reflect a lot of people's concern in our state about opening schools in the context of having much high community transmission. it's not something that other countriehave done or other places have really tried to open schools in-person classes and certainly not full traditional open school on the setti so many kids who have it coming in. we have a school systemn corinth, mississippi, that has a reel really good plan, they do have online options, but i think 80, 85% of the kids were coming inperson, and within the r rst week, we had eight cases. now, it's not eight cases thate were tramid amongst kids or e'enagers that were at the school, but thso much out there in the community, when you bring these folks in, they're just going to bring it in with them.

>> reporter: i know that theid governor se would close or ask schools in certain particular hotspots in mississippi to close but didn't want to try to ask them stewide to dthe same. do you wish he had taken your advice on that and just asks ll schoto go remote initially? >> you know, in mississippi, do defer a lot of authority to the local school districts e lie sates, but we've spoken with olthe different scoards across the state. i personally recommended they 'llay in-person school opening, and be sending out additional conversations with them to try to make sure that they understand that we feel strongly that they need to delay school opening, sif pible. >> reporter: as we are learning more and more about this virus and how it spreads, it certainly seems that indoor close contact between individuals is how this virus gets around. that's bars, restaurants, gyms, anytime people congregate

insi, a lot of which are pen in mississippi still. why are those places, given what we know now, why are those plac opened. >> there are restrictions, and i think some of them make a lot of sense with the bars. essentially, you can only serve a drink in a restaurastyle when people are sitting down. we have a reduced capacitat 50%, so might could be lower, but that's kind of where we are. but to be honest, hen we investigate the cases, and i have been investigating some personally to have that sort of -- that personal sort of conversation with people to see where they're gettinit, mostly where people are getting coronavirus are at social events that fall outsidof the public spre. it's going to be a weddg shower, it's going to be a birthday party for 15 people, it's going to be auneral, it's going to be a few people went out for drinks, and the big sone we'ring are family get-togefaers, extended lies where cousins or so and

so came in from out of town and thextended family gets together. when people let their guard down in certain circumstances, we have a lot of transmission outdoors, too, where see the greatest vulnerability. >> reporter: we've heard a great deal of concern aboutpi hls being able to take care of surge in cases. how are hospitals doing in mississippi and the i.c.u.? you guys doing okay so far? >>ell, it's been a stress. it's been very difficult to maintain the capacity. we have been working very closely with our heth systems, and they've really done a fantastic job of surging up and basically creating new intensive care space. we have almost 400 covid patients in intensive care in mississippi, andis in the context of a he'll system that had very little flexibility or surge capacity in hospital space tyway. y have done really a great job, but we're really hitting up at the brim. we need the community to focus on limiting transmission, not

doing the things we know will spread disease. we're excited to have statewide mask mandate. we notice more compliance, but it's going to take sustained focused complince with the simple measures we know will work -- space, a mask, sma ll grou no groups -- before an're really going to have relief. >> reporter: all right, dr. thomas dobbs, state health officer of mississippi. thank you very much and good luck out there. >> thank you for having me. >> woodruff: as we mentioned earlier, today marks 75 years since the atomic bombing of hiroshima; ather blast hit nagasaki three days later. dmore than 200,000 japaned in the twin attacks. the horrifying aftermath has

been told and re-told by survivors rough the years. the youngest of them are today in their late 70's and 80's. now, a younger generation is trying to ensure those memories are not lost. special correspondent grace lee in hiroshima has the story. >> reporter: in a room full of his peers, 17 year-old niho ishibashi asks an important question. g >> how will yoople learn the truth about hiroshima now? >> reporter: he learned about the horrors of nuclear weapons from his great-uncle, a survivor of the hiroshima bombing who lost his eyesight due to the blast impact. >> when august 6 is coming, i often go to his house and hear testimony. >> reporter: now, ishibashi ar g that testimony with his high school peace studies class. it's a regular part of t curriculum for many schools in hiroshima, different from the rest of japan. takeda high hool's program was

developeby vice principal muneo hotta. >> my father was an a-bomb viim. so i'm second generation of "hibakusha." >> reporter: "hibakua" ithe japanese word for survivors of the atomic bombings. with their numbers dwindling, the race against time to reserve their memories has been a rallying cry for young people in hiroshima. >> i would like to do something that i can keep hibakusha's stories in the future.r: >> reporome have found caique ways to do just that. at fukuyama techhigh school's computer club students are working with vireality under the watchful eye of their teacher, katsushi hasegawa. they let me experience their project firsthand. with a headset and some a rphones i'm transported to hirosh 1945-- before the city is bombed. e >> ( translated ):nt people to know what happens when nuclear weapons are used. people tend to think about using it aack others, but nobody

thinks about what it's like to have the bomb explode right above yr head. >> reporter: students here understand that message-- especially when they're able to stand right on top of ground zero. >> ( translated ): there's a park there now, but the site of the bombing used to be a town called nagashima honmachi. i hope that, by knowing that town existed and seeing itv.here through r., people will be able to feel the reality of the >> (itranslated ): it's awful to see that a place so beautiful could be turned into a pile of rubble le that. when you watch the moment of the bombing in the v.r. program, it happens in a second. there's a blinding light and everytng is destroyed. >> reporter: the students aim to show their project to asany survivors hibakusha as possible, in hopes of creating a more accurate version of a pre-bombing hiroshima. >> ( translated ): the are >> reporter: education about the bombingstarts as early as elementary school in hiroshima.h elementary school tells a story on its own. located less than 500 meters

away from the bombing's epicentre, the school's west wing was the only structure left standing after on august 6, 1945. atit served as a relief station for survivors. this part of the school is now a museum. several of its wallserved as message boards for victims trying to reach loved ones. >> t ( translated s is a note from one teacher to another, saying that a badly burnt student undergoing treatment has become orphaned. students here make paper cranes every year for the museum. they were seen as symbols of hope after the bombing. >> ( translated ): students know about what happened here. they learn about it in peace studie the fifth and sixth graders are even trained to be guides for foreign visitors. >> reporter: hiroshima archive isocnother massive feat by lal students. irsrelied on student volunt to gather messages from a-bomb survivors d put them onto a digital archive. the app shows you where survivors were at the moment of

impact, so if you take a look here you can see we're standing michiko takano, was on that day. and if you click their names, you can see their testimony. this is hers. "at that moment, there was a flash, as if someone had lit a huge amount of mnesium on fire. and the house was blasted to pieces. ment i thought our house was hit directly with an incendiary bomb. but when looked around, the whole city was destroyed, and i standing in a daze on streetsh corners. it was like seeing a scene from hell." this year, ceremonies marking the anniversary of the bombings have been scaled back due to covid-19. and for survivors like setsuko thurlow, the pandemic has been a difficult time. >> you know, when i sa of dead bodies of t covid-19 victims.

that reminded me of what i experiencein hiroshima 75 years ago. >> reporter: she still remembers vividly what it was like 75 years ago when the bomb hit her hometown. >> although it happened it the morningas dark ke twilight. as my eyes got used to the situatio itarted seeing some moving dark obcts nearing me. and that was the processn of injured people. their parts of their bodies were missing, their hair was all burnt and standing up. skin and flesh were hanging eywn, off the bones. ere bleeding, burnt and

swollen. >> reporter: thurlow is an for the international campaign to abolish nuclear weapons. her advice to young people: reach out to local politicians. >> get in touch with them, let them know how you feel. i think you deserve the decent future waiting for you, your liveare just starting, you deserve better. >> reporter: her message is enll-received in hiroshima; where the nextation has already been planting their seed. >> the hibakusha is passing aw a lot, year by year. so we should keep this memory, this idea for a long time. >> reporter: and the generation after that is well on their way. >> i'd like to spread any criou, what happened to hiroshima and nagasaki.

♪ ♪ 19>> reporter: on august 6, 150,000 lives were lost in hiroshima. three days later, another 75,000 people were killed in nagasaki. 75 years have passed, but their deaths are still fresh on the minds for many here every summer. and everyear, new voices are speaking ufon their behalf. or the pbs newshour, i'm grace lee. >> woodruff: businesses hit by the pandemic have received llhundreds of billions of s in loans since the paycheck protection program opened for applications about four months ag but as our economics correspondent paul solma discovered, accessing that funding has been a challenge for record.s owners with a criminal

report is part of our new series, "searching force." >> i went to prison for a murder. er>> i was charged with mun the second degree. i was charged with killing my abus. >> i was incarcerated for selling crack cocaine. >> rorter: meet quan huynh, sharon richardson and dontae thomas. among them, more than four decades behis. but since coming home, successful entrepreneurs. dontae thomas runs a one-man personal training business in new jersey, begun in a sense with fellow inmates during his 11-year stint. >> i would train them for a dollar a day in there and that's how i got go i started learning more about the body. so i learned more about ntiut, supplements. so, i'm like, alright, i get good at my craft. i can utilize this when i go home. so every day i was just studying 12, 16 hours a day. for people to catch on to you-- >> reporter: released in 2017, thomas's "team chizel" built up to almost 40 clients.

quan huynh-- in for 16 years-- began working onewhe cleaning t the prison hospital. >> so, i knew about sanitizing. i know about cleaning. i know about bloodborne pathogens.so i just gave me an e for detail and so six months after i had been home, i saw an rtunity of a building that needed a cleaning company. and i ju created a company and let the email of the building owner and emthem. and that was when we got our first contract. >> reporter: his " janitors" in anaheim, california, cleans and restaurants., tv studios, his main labor pool: ex- convicts. same for sharon richardson, who launched "just soul catering" in ork after she came out. >> we hire, you know, women to come and actuallwork with us o that they don't have to feel that stigma or feel judged about being incarcerated. that's not something that i ask. i ju need to know, can you cook? are you friendly? can you work with a ile? do you love people?

do you love food? >> reporter: actually, richardson and huynh think those who've done hard time become better workers. >> formerly incarcerated people just come with a passion. and the reason why we come with want to be accepted. we just >> they're resourceful. they're loyal. they're go getters. they, they, they go the extra mile to work. i mean, the vastity of them are just looking for a second chance. >> reporter: moreover, says dontae thomas, a lot of ouconvicted felons have se business skills, however ill- gotten. like what he learned dealing ack. >> it was illegal. it was wrong. but it taught me how to actually be a businessman tay. it taught me actual numbers. i had to deal with numbers. i had to deal with individuals, i had to deal wi, basically i'm employing people, because the way i, what i was doing in the streets myself was i almost had employees working for me. >> reporter: okay, so we've got felons who turned their sword skills into profitable

ploughshares, hire ex-cons, whose unemployment rate is 7 mes the average. they're thriving entrepreneurs who actually seem rehabilitated. and then along came covid. the pandemic cost thomas most of his clients. huynh laid off four workers. richardson's income plummeted. and so, like hundreds of thousands of others,hey turned to the paycheck protection program, or p.p.p., part of the government's stimulus package. there was one not-small problem. administration's p.p.p. form asked about applicants' criminal status. on probation or parole? convicted or pleaded guilty to a it even asked about pre-trial diveion. ifhe answer was "yes"o any of these questions, s.b.a. application denied. >> it's like, oh! then you're like, agh. dat's where the heart drops and you're, like, th't apply to me.

>> right when i clicked "yes," the computer just grayed oit, i couldn'text. and i realized, okay, that means i don't qualify for the paycheck protection program. >> yes, i was surprised.rised? i was discouraged. i'm a small business owner. i, built my company since i came home from prison. and i, i was, you know, my taxpaying dollars and those of my employees are helping to throughout this time.usinesses but why couldn't we qualify? >> reporter: sharon richardson applied for multiple loans. >> i never heard from them. and to be honest, it did cross my mind, kind of like, you know, maybe i'm not hearing from them because theyid a background check on me and realized that i'm a formerly incarcerad individual and they're like, "we're not giving this loan to her." >> reporter: not to her, nor even to those facing just misdemeanor charges. of course, not getting loansor even jobs, has long been a barrier for ex-inmates. literally tens of thousands of laws in the u.s. still stand in their way. but a government program to revive the economy barr

basically everyone in the criminal justice system? >> but they've managed to start a business, they're making good, they're employing other people. >> reporter: a defy ventures," a post-prison entrepreneurship program. >> why does it make sense for us to prevent them from getting the same aid as every other small business owner?me this is dy who is paying taxes, paying wages, helping ep the economy afloat. >> reporter: in june, the s.b.a. changed the application language: once after lawmaker criticism, and then again after defy ventures-- with the help of the american civil lerties plion-- sued the government. now ication only asks about current felony charges. and besides certain financial crimes, about lony convictions, guilty pleas and parole or probation going back just one year. >> i don't know how they came up with that to be the rules. i just have no idea. had frankly, they obviousl no idea either because they changed it as soon as it was challenged. >> reporter: why the restrictions in the first place?

we asked the s.b.a. a spokesperson decned to comment. but for sharon richardson, the application change was vital. she re-applied and got her loan. she's beenooking for essential workers, hospitals and needy residents in new york ever since. quan huynh also successfully re-applied. he offered his four former employees their jobs back. two returned, both ex-inmates. he's pivoted to sanitization against covid, and his business has actually grown. everything.as has tried chcebook and zoom training, even selling teael apparel. and what about his p.p.p. apication? >> i haven't even looked back into it. it discouraged me from even trying to file for it to tell you the truth. eveu ry time back, you know, you think you get a second chance. but it's always what you did in the past that keep com. >> reporter: it turned out he had no idea the application had change t me be the first to tell you, you hould reapply because they

have changed the rules. >> okay, so i'll definite look into thanow! >> reporter: and maybe he, too, will be back in businessg. here's hopin for the pbs newshour, this is paul solman. >> woodruff: t signsf systemic racism often appear in small, daily actions. author dawn turner shares her humble opinion on why the incidents that don't make headlines, need to bined too. this is also part of our ongoing "race matters" series. >> my nephew, who's black, is 22-years-old and 6'9". he's been stopped by the police twice for minor traffic violations. whene was asked to step out of his car, he did so with this warning: "i'm getting out, sir, but i want you to know that i'm really tall." in both cases, the officers

epiled, taking in his height. myw, whose stomach had breathed a sigh of relief. both encounters were good ones. and yet we, his family, worry: what happens if he runs inof an cer unwilling to give him the benefit of the doubt? one who simply wantst him down to size. black people know that there are hegood police officers out. on want to believe that there ar a few bad apples. ont imprinted on our brain are decades ecades of painful images of encounters with the police. officers siccing dogs on pers. ,rodney king being beaten engulfed in a flurry of batons videos of men, women and children dying at the hands of e police. we know that there are good officers. but we are terrified by the police. and not only because of the ones who inflict lethal harm, but becthause oones who intimidate, who humiliate, who

wield their power in ways that may not cause bodily harm but are harmful nonetheless. black people, like everybody else, want law and order. and those who live in the toughest zip codes need bo the most. so, even though we know that there are good police officers. they're not the ones we imagine when we sit our children down and give them the talk. they're not the ones we contemplate, even in our most sperate moments, when we have to decide whether our desperation is worth dialing 9-1-1. that's because we are unsure what type of officer will answer. li pray for the day when we encounter the and won't have to worry about our height, our hoodie, our hairhands. blor, oukness. >> woodruff: thank you.

and that's the newshour for udtonight. i'mwoodruff. join us on-line and again 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: for the full delight campaign. learn more at women's vote 100.org. >> sings our beginning, our buness has been people, and their financial well being. that mission giveus purpos and a way forward. today, and always. >> consumer cellular. >> consumer cellular. >> the ford foundation. working with visionaries on the frontlines of social change

worldwide. >> the alfred p. sloan foundation. dry the promise of great ideas. >> and with the ongoing support nsof thesetutions and friends of the newshour. >> thiprogram was made possible by the corporation for public badcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewea like you. thnk you. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by media access gro

llo, everyone, and welco to "amanpour & co." here's what's coming up. beirut in s. i speak with an eyewitness to the explosion that shattered the capital. it is what it is, but that doesn't mean we're not doing ev ything we can. >> campaigning through a crisis. 2020 campaign adviser steve cortes on the election bid. we do need a consistent, strong message that you keep hammering home. >> the doctor trying to steer america through this health crisis, anthy fauci sits down wi our walter isaacson. as americans we have n come to grips with what has always been there.