captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the "newshour" tonight, outrage: protesters clash with law enforcement antrump y pporters as armed right-wing groups increasinke their presence known amid the continuing racial reckoning in the u.s. then, election threats: members of congress raise thalarm after the director of national intelligence cancels in-person briefings on voting interference. and healthcare in america. we visit houston to examine the stark and widening disparities in access toedical treatment in the u.s. >> houston representboth what is the best of american healthcare, and really what is the worst. you have parts of harris county, which is where houston is, whers

life expectancower than what you see in many third world countries. oodruff: all that and more on tonight's "pbs newshour." >> major funding for the pbsee newshour has bovided by: >> when the world gets complicated, a lot goes through your mind. with fidelity wealth management, a decated advisor can tailor advice and recommendations to your life. that's fidelity wealth management. >> consumer cellular. >> financial services firm raymd james. >> the william and flora hewlett foundation.

for more than 50 yeaea, advancing and supporting institutions to promote a better world. at www.hewlett.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: and individuals. hi >>program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. >> woodruff: a pol battle is intensifying tonight over protests against racial injustice and incidents of violence. am nawaz will focus in a moment on what's happened with some of the armed civilian groups andhe role of polic but first, white house

correspondent yamiche alcindor reports on how the psidentialss candidates added it today. >> reporter: amid a weekend of largely peeful protests, dueling messages on who bears the blame for outbursts of violence. in pittsburgh today, democratic presidential nominee joe biden pointed at president trump. >> this president long ago frfeited any moral leadership in this country. he can't stop the violence because for years he has fomented it. >> reporter: after the speech, president trump tweeted, "to me, he's blaming the police far more than he's blaming the rioters." and white house press secretary kayleigh mcenany said democrats are atault. >> when the trump administration arrives in a democrat-run city engulfed in chaos, peace is upheld.d, law and order is >> reporter: the vast majority of nationwide demonstrations sparked by the killing of george floyd in may have not turned violent, but incidentsf shootings, property damage andlo ing have ignited debates over how authorities should respond-- and whether

demonstrators on both sides have gone too far. prheident trump has attacked efforts of democratic local officials. in scores of tweets this weekend, he keyed in on new clashes in porand,gon. the city has seen nearly 100 days of protests against police violce. it began saturday, when supporters of the president drove through the city in a 600 vehicle caran rally. they were met by cou protesters alonghe route, and fired paintball gu into thes crowds. that led to clashes, which were eventually bken up by the police. ter the caravan left, a backer of the right-wing group "patriot prayer" was shot and killed. it's unclear if the rally and the shting are related. the man has not been identified and the gunman has not yet been pinpointed. sunday night, police arrested at least 29 people in separate demonstrations.to and y, oregon state police returned to portla. sunday, the city's democratic mayor accused prident trump of fomenting unrest.

>> mr. president, why this is the first time in decades that america has seen this level of violence? it's you who havcreated the t hate a division. >> reporter: president trump defended his supporters on and, this morning,ain threatened federal intervention, writing, "if this joke of a mayor doesn't clean it up, we will go in and do it for them.", meanwhn kenosha, wisconsin, tensions remained high ahead of a pland presidential visit tomorrow.ou on saturday, rly 1,000 people peacefully marched in the of jacob blake by kenoshao police. last sunday, an officer shot blake in the back seven times. s family says he is now paralyzed. at the march, his father demanded the off hers involved d accountable. >> my nature ito protect my son, to stand up for my son when he cannot stand up >> reporter: president trump has criticized the local response to protests in kenosha, which h also seen some violence.

on tuesday night, kyle rittenhouse-- a 17-year-old-- showed up at the protests with a long gun. he claimed to be proteing business. w heas later charged with shooting three people, killing two. as kenosha copes wit unrest, the city's mayor and wisconsin's goveboor tony evers, democrats, urged the president not to come. in a letter to president trump on sunday, evers wrote, "i am wiconcerned your presence only hinder our healing." today, the mayor of kenosha had >> reporter: today, the president tweeted that his visit will go ahead. yamiche alcindor.our, i'm >> nawaz: for a closer look at the protests, and those armed groups showing up in response, we turn now to mary mccord. she's legal director at the ctstitute for constitutional advocacy and pron. she's also a law professor at georgetown university, and formerly witthe department of justice, as acting assistant attorney general for national securityto >> welcome bache "news hour," and thanks for being hear. we should mention it has been 14 weeks now since

george floyd was killed. and was just reported, in the hundreds of protests, they have been overtelming peaceful, b things have taken a turn, as we saw in portland and kenosha. and now some e deadly. do we know y that is? >> well, i think there are a lo dt ofifferent contributing factors, but certainly the violence we saw recently in kenosha was, at least in largeib part, atable to the ivate malitias who tookp itn themselves to do what they call protecting property, but they did so without any authority. they came heavily armed. they weren't answerable to governme entities or anyone other than themselves, and they created a permissivevi nment, where others, including the 17-year-old, who may or may not be officially part the malitias that came, but nevertheless was a hanger-on, they created this permissivero enent that resulted

in tragedy. i think we've seen more and more across the country at peaceful protests, at protests against racial injustice, we've seen more and more self-proclaid and self-assessed malitias showinup, with no authority, heightening teions and intimidating people, and sometimes resulting in violence like we saw in kenosha, albuquerque, and portland. >> i want to ask yoabout the word "malitia," because we use it to armed white men, but rarely to armed black men or any other group. do you know why that is? >> malitia, the term goe back to the founding of the country, and at that time referred to al able-bodied white men, ages.ly, between certain it didn't include white in it, but it was who,tl

predomin the land-owning people were, so i think it has historical roots. but private malitias have never been law ful l. e extent malitias have ever been laful, they are only in service by the state or the federal government. so they can only be called forth by the state or the federal government. as yo idicated, had we talk about people of color having armed groups, other terms might be used for those groups, including terms like "gangs. so what has evolved over the course of time is something that breaso down what racially, and i would also add that the malitia groups, they facy themselves as patriots, and suggest that what they're doing is actually in furtherance of the constitution, when it really is nothing of th sort. >> so, mary, the groups in kenosha will are they're protected under the second amendment, to be there and armed and to protect the community. what do yo say tothat?

>> the supreme court has been quite clear back in 1886 and as recently at 2008, that the second amendment protects an individual's right to bear arms, but does no prevent states from prohibiting private paramilitary organizations. and that's what thosewe groupse, they were private paramilitary organizations. the second amendment doesn't protect their activity in kenosha or soelsewhere. >>f they're not supposed to be there, who's job is it to enforce ey are not there and armed the way that they are? >> well, there are certainly state authorities that could enforce that and state law in wisconsin prohibits -- not only does the state constitution prohibit rogue malitia that aren'ab answ to the governor, but also prohibits falsely assuming the funcons of a public official. so when thoses malit were aggregating to

themselves, thaw enforcement responsibility, the responsibility for protecting property, thel were fsely undertaking the functions of law enforcement, hich they ha authority to take. >> the protestors will say they have the right to gather, d so do the trump supporters. who is to stop it before it gets to a violent, maybe deadly clash? >> it may require with the help of the state, and maybe the federal government, if necessary, to actually enforce the types of time, place, and manner restrictions that are permissible in order to allow foar peceful protests. that means not allowing malitias, not allowg violence, not allowing firearmswhere it is impossible to ban them. so those are the kind of things that law enforcement and goervent officials need to be able to enforce, although it is very difficult given the spontaneity of some of the protesting activity we have seen.

>> and gieen th tensions keep rising. that is marliyn mccullough for the substitute for constitutional advocacy. thank you very much, mary. >> thank you. >> woodruff: in the day's other news: the trump administration's new covid-19 adviser says americans should feel cautiously optimistic. dr. scott atlas says infectionst and are declining in hard-hit states, and there is no need to fear, even as more schools reopen. confirmed cases nationwide topped six million today, with 183,000 deaths. a federal appeals court in waington has refused to en the criminal case against michael flynn. the form national security advisor pled guilty to lying about contactsith russia before president trump took

office. but the justice departnt had moved to dismiss the case. the appeals court also tosd a congressional lawsuit to make former white house counsel don mcgahn testify. house democrats plan to appeal. in lebanwmakers endorsed diplomat mustapha adib as prime minister-designate today. the largest sunni party, the shi-ite "hezbollah" and christian blocs all backed him,n a rare display of unity. today, adib visited neighborhoods recovering from a devastating beirut port explosion. he promised accountability. >> ( translated ): words fail to describe this horrific scene. we will try as soon as the government is formed to speed up the investigations and to haveve the igation's result given to the public as soon as possible. >> woodruff: lebanon ho been rocked by protests over government failures as theun y's economy crumbles. the first commercial flight from

israel landed in the united arab emriates todaynow that they have normalized relations. a emirati, israe american flags waved after the plane arrived in abu dhabi, wi officials including jared kuner, president trump's s in law and adviser. back in this count p, thousands ple in louisiana are still waiting for power to return after hurricane laura. the extent of the damage crystallized this weekend, as evacuated residents went home. estimates for insured losses a now nearing $9 billion. the storm killed at least 18 people. in economic news, delta, american and united airlines have now all abolished fees for changing domestic travel plans. hoping to get people flying again. and, on wall street the dow jones industrial average lost 223 points to close at 28,430.

the nasdaq rose nearly 80 points, to an all-time high, and, the s&p 500 slipped 7, but had its best august since 1986, and, hall of fame basketball coach john thompson has died. transformed georgetown university into a national champion and was outspoken abou race iorts and society. jeffrey brown looks atis life. ( cheers ) >> reporter: john hompson jr. maistory that day in 1984, becoming the first black head coach to win an n.c.a.a. title. thompson was known for transforming georgetow a powerhouse and molding basketball greats like patrick ewing and len iverson both on and off the court. >> coach thompson saved my life. no other schools were recruiting me anymore. my mom went to georgetown d begged him to give me a chance

and he did. ( applause ) >> reporter: thompson saw his own role as going beyo basketball. >> i could use it as something to open a doorway for myself or other people. it was an educational instrument for me. >> reporter: thompson made a point of recruiting black athletes to the predominantly white campus, and spoke out about injustices he saw. in 1989, he famously walked off the court before a game to protest an n.c.a.a.rs schop rule he felt would hurt disadvantaged students. >> because of the success we were having as a basketball coach and me being an african- american, i had an obligation ta y something about it. >> reporter: the n.a. ultimately modified the rule. john thompson coached at georgetown for 27 seasons and won almost 6 games. he was 78.

i'm jeffreey brown. begin casting ballots in this fall's general elections in just a couple of weeks, and election day itself ijust a little more than two months away. but now ere is word of changes to how top u.s. telligence officials will brief congress, about other nation's attempts to interfere in the election. for more on that, i'm joined by our own lisa desjards and nick schifrin. >> woodruff: so hello to both of you.t lisa, firsof all, tell us a little more about ywhat is happening and this matters? >> speaking to many sourcetoday, both parties are very concerned about threats to election security this year coming from foreign adversaes. i have learned there was scheduled a briefing for

the holiuse intnce committee in mid-september, but friday, director of national intelligence, sent a letter to both chfmbers o congress, saying that all briefings in person wold be canceled. this led to a confusing back and forth for the next 24hours abohut wat exactly he meant, and now sources are telling me the understanding, coming largely from republicans, now republican seators will be briefed but not house democrats. so just to review, here ise' what talking about: as a co-equ branch of two committees thtare the usually are fully briefed, house intelligence, led by democrat adam schiff, and senate intelligence, led byarco rubio. the change, judy, as we understand it right now, onlye senate intelligence committee, both parties on that committee, will be briefed fully in person. everyone else will get written statements.

why does this matter? first of all, briefinid pra great deal more information in person than on paper.se rately this shows the mistrust that is growing between lawmakers, who usually put politics aside, on this issd is coming at an important time, judy. there are real concerns a right nout russia, in particular, attempting t manipulate this elec and as one senator, angus king pointed out to me on a phone calre is a feeling in 2016, the public was warned too late doing, and there isas concern that, again, the public may not be aware of what is going on right now. >> woodruff: and, nick,t what is the ligence community saying about that. >> an o.d.n.i. official told me they're committed to meet the statuto responsibilities, but they won't confirm what lisa just reported about whetr there will be some in-person briefing to either the senate or thein houstelligence. the letters that lisa just mentioned were sent to

congressional leadership and committe on friday, and radcliffe wrote that he didn't want information, qte, "misunderstood or politid zed." he tox news that that ant he didn't want to see information leaked. >>e've had a pandemic of information being leaked out of the intelligence community, and i'm going to take the measures to make sure that that sps. >> i asked radcliffe's office about leaking, and all they would say is that take unauthorized disclosures of classified information seriously. >> todd to tat, judy, i asked lawmakers, also, and senateepublicans could not pinpoint a specific example of a leak th came from democrats that they thought was a problem. instead they said it is a general politicalization of intelligence. democrats pushed back that they think they're being penalized for being too aggressive or more o aggressithis issue. and some democrats do believe, as nick just reported, that this ion

could be illegal. >> woodruff: and nick, you've bn talking to former intelligence officials. what are they saying? >> these former officials, republicans, democrats, officials, they accuseence radcliffe of misleading the public on the threat to the election. in th n foxews interview he insisted that china was the u.s. top tnreat,d many officials across the government do believe that china is t long-term strategic thre that the u.s. is most conceed abt, but the immediate, overt threat to the election, was russia.e that was in aent statement released by the office of the director of national intelligence. it said pro-kremlin actors were trying to boost president trump's cabdz see. and china's was pressure political figures considered antini-and deflect criticism. that leaves to the fear of the politicalizati ofe ntelligence community. first ambassador rick bernell, with no

experience, became acting director, and now john radcliffe, elected and withdrawn, and confirmed a few months ago, and now former officials tell me senior career intelligence officials are leaving the fear it is being politicized. >> woodruff: and all of this happening weeks before the election, and people start voting. nick anud lisa, thank both an >> woodruff: tho of protestors in belarus marked birthday yesterday with anko's derive chant of "happy birthday psychopath," after a week in which the security apparatufurthered its crackdown on protestors and journalists. in ptnership with the pulitz center, here's special correspondent simon trovsky in

minsk. >> reporter: the embattled leader's birthday was all jeering, not cheering sunday. even still, demonstrators did bring "gifts." a funeral wreath and a coffin. one man marked the day dressed as the angel of death. >> despite intimidation and threats, the belarusian people have continued to protest, a this is exactly what the authoritiehere don't want you to see, because over t last week they've arrested dozens of journalists. many have had their credentials revoked and many have been sent out of the country altogether. larus ordered a sweeping crackdown on the media in the ad up to sunday's march. these were the scenes last week when some 50 journalists were taken into custody as they covered demonstrations in the capital, minsk. 19 reporters were stripped of their government press cards,re the foners among them expelled, according to the belarus press club. o arrests inary rally-goers

also continued a video shared on social media depicts the moment a pstor attempting to escape police was drged off of a bus. in all, close to 500 people were detain last week, according to belarus' interior ministry. it's all part of lukashenko's struggle to ho on to power after he declared mself the winner of an august 9 presidential election, rected as a fraud by the opposition; the u.s.; and the e.u. one major power has, however offered lukashenko assistance. >> ( anslated ): i asked t russians to give me two, three teams of journalts from thece most advtv. we're t paying for these russians at all. >> ( translated ): according to the closest estimates ea new day of illegal protests costs belarusians from $10-20 million. >> reporter: the changin tone on belarusian state television has not gone unnoticed by ordinary viewers.

>> the style of opaganda has changed. before that it was much more primitive, and now ibecame more subtle. we don't want some foreigners >> reporter: one ele of that" ain stateange," the broadcaster no longer ignores dethe very obvious country opposition rallies.ea instd it presentsat demonss either as paid foreign agents or "useful idiots"ith little w understanding they came out to protest. >> ( translated ): this week alternative rallies also took place, not so well ad during the working week, but they did happen and to ignore them wouldn't be right. >> reporter: opposition protestors have gone to extraordinary lengths to protect the few dependent reporters that dare to cover the protests. at a women's mch on saturday demonstrators prevented security officers in plain clots fr detaining a man with a camera who they had tried to pull from the crowd. it was a very different atmosphere at one of the small pro-regime rallies the

authorities have hasown together in response to the three week old protest movement. >> ( translated ): the goal of the protests is to come to power and then tear us away from russia. we can't let that happen. >> reporter: riot police were nowhere to be seen and television crews and photographers cod operate openly. for the pbs newshour, i'm simon ostrovsky in minsk. >> woodruff: this global pandemic has again driven home the crucial role that our healthcare system plays in oural and well-being. and tonight, we begin a special ries about how we provide healthcare in america, compared with how it is done elsewhere in the world. a william brangh producer jason kane filmed this series in the weeks before themic

broke out, and william joins me now to explain a bit more about the series. >> woodruff: so hi, william. i know you two worked very hard on this. tell us a lite about what the series covers. >> well, as you said, judy, we started this before the pandemic broke out, and the idea was to look at the state of american health care, how it isoday. and, as you know, this is a country with remarkabl innovation in that field, remarkable en vaccina and yet this is a country with incredibly stark disparitie there are over 30 million people who have no health care insurance whatsoever. so, we thougn we learn something about -- can we learn something orom other nations that d a better job of covering everybody? and there is obviously a political side to this. we saw a big debate going on in the democratic primary. we know this will be a bi issue in the presidential campaign. vice predent biden wants expand the affordable care act, and president trump says he wants to gete rid of t a.c. a. and

replace it with something better and t lower costs. we thought since there are so many nations already doing a very good job of see how they're do it.d >> woodruff: inevitably, it is ing to be a part of the campaign. where did you go to make these comparisons? >> we went to three countries that provide good,nexpensive universal health care to their people. debate happening in this country about is health these are nations that are not having that debate. they are just doing it for their citizens. the key metrics we looked at here are access, quality, cost, and how they take care of the disadvantaged in their societies. and the u.s., frankly, doesn't do that well lot of those metrics. so we went to several nations, three in particular, the united kingdom, switzerland, and australia, all of which measure better. and we wanted to see how did they do it? let's look at the

mechanics of how they get there. >> woodruff: and, as yousa you started filming, and you were filming before the pandemic broke out, and of course snce then it has become a huge atblic health concern. how do you loo how these countries are dealing with that? >> initially we're not looking at that. we really wanted to stay focused on this issue of universal ca pre. rt, also, because the way these countries responded to the only partly influenced by .he structure of their health care syst i should say at the end of this series, we will have a conversation very specifically about howey esponded to covid, but we really wanted to stayocused on how is it that these countries are able to cover everyone at seemingly a reasonable cost, and what might we learn from that experience. and so for that we begin our story here in the u.s. e houston, txas. >> reporter:his is a boy saved by amerin innovation.

a bouncing, rocking, joyful testament to t miracles of modern american medicine. his life was transfoed here, in what's called the largest medical city in the world: the texas medical center, in houston. here, doctors test artificial organs built from scratch. technicians design robots to speed efficiency. surgeons use virtual reality reconstruction to see tumors inside the body before ever making an incisi. and, kids like six-year-old cason cox come back from near- death. cason was born with only half his heart functioning normally. the hints of blue in his skin a sign of a little body hungryor oxygen. most kids with this condition don't live very long. >> i can remember it perfectly. it was pouring rain outside, of course, and i was by myself, and one of my, my doctor told me that she sees that cason's hears nderdeveloped. it was, it was a very few dark

days for me. >> reporter: but in 2017, using a new and highly complex surgical technique at the texas dical center's children' memorial hermann hospital, dr. jorge salazar changed the course of cason's life. >> cason was going to die. and had we done what wve always done, he would have had a trsplant already, or, it's hard thing to say, but he woulde assed away already. but now we have a normal child in front of us. >> doctor salar came out with the biggest smile on his face, and he said, "i did it, you did it, he did it, and it works." so, i mean, i think we all started crying. >>eporte cason cox is one story. the texas medical center performs 180,000 surgeries every year. it-- like other gold standard medical centers across the u.s.-- draw hundreds of thousands of patients from around the world. the technologies and innovations created in the u.s. also get

exported globally. but just a few miles away, it'so d apart. in north houston, the mostly low-income residents here experience a very different healthcare story. >> i wan just a few miles, you have the very best, and the very worst, >> reporte president and ceo of thehe episcopal th foundation. they analyzed c.d.c. data that revealed incredibly stark inequalities here. the mostly black residents here are disproportionately uninsured, and they often don't get care until it's too late. they die, on average, 20 years eaheier than residents in ot parts of houston. >> you know, the deck's stacked against yo if you could geto the medical center, that would be great, but you'd probably be really sick, because of the neighborhood you etlive in, by the time you there.

>> reporter: the u.s. spends more than $3.5 trillion on healthcare every year. it's nearly a fifth of our economy. as a percentage of g.d.p., that's almost twice what most developed nations spend. we spend more than all these nations combined. anfyet, americans still die preventable and treatable diseases at higher rates than in other high-income countries. ours has been called "the most expensive, least effective" healthcare system in the moder world. lack of health insurance, or the high cost of healthcare, is a huge barrier for millions. in one recent poll, more than one in three peoe said they skipped medical treatment because of money. that includes people with health insurance. and last year, more than 30 million americans-- about 9% of the country-- had no health insurance at all. since the pandemic, an estimated three miion more joined their ranks.ea for many, houston resident lakeisha parker was among the uninsud.

she was a certified nursing assistant. >> i was proud of that work, i enjoyed doing it, becaabe i love to b to help people. so, what i would do is go into people's homes, after their surgeries or illnesses, and assist them with getting back to life, daily activities of living, bathing, fixing them a small meal. reporter: that's very intimate work. >> it is, very intimate work.ut >> reporter:arker says the pay wasn't great. she says the most she ever earned was about $13 an hour. and it never came with health insurance she could afford. >> i'm actually working in healthcare, and can't afford to pay it. that's not right. >> reporter: texas has the highest uninsured rate in the nation. roughly 18% of texans-- five-- million people don't have insurance. and the state didn't expand medicaid, which would insure more low income texans, under the affordable care act. so, like many, parker went for years without checkups, or seeing a regular doctor. too expensive she said.

but then, she discovered a lump the size of a tangerine in her breast. it was malignant cancer. parker found this houston clinic that would treat her on a iding scale, based on her income. only after the cancer diagnosis did she qualify for a special medicaid program. so the tumor-- along with 33- lymph nodere removed. while surgery was a success, it -- along with the chemotherapy and radiation-- left her unable to use one of her arms like before. >> alright, ke my ha >> reporter: do you think if you had had health insurance you would have found ts sooner? >> if there would have been healthcare for me, at that time, healcare that i would have been able to afford, i would have easily accepted it. but, again, it comes the question of having somewhere to live, having something to eat, gas get back and forth to work. >> reporter: those were the choices you were wrestli with? >> of course. you know, those are everyday

life choices that a lot of people have to make,ased on their income. >> reporter: the weakness in her arm cost her her job. with no money, she lost her apartment. >> and you become homeless if you cannot pay rent. >> reporter: parker is now homeless, unemployed, and-- at the time of our interview-- living in a shelter.>> ouston represents, i think, both whais the best of american healthcare, and really what is the worst of american healthcare. you have parts of harris county, which is where houston is, whe life expectancy is lower than countries.ee in many third world >> reporter: dr. ashish jha, who's now the dean of brownun ersity's school of public health, traveled with us for this series.s he sat the seeming choice-- between medical innovation and universal coverage-- is a false one. >> i reject that dichotomy of, somehow, we have to have 20, 25% of people uninsureif we're going to have a really hvehly innovati healthcare system. there are many reasons to reject that.

so, take a state like massacsetts, where i live. it's also very dynamic, incredible new innovations happenin and yet, pretty muchverybody in massachusetts is covered. >> reporter: so, how do we wrestle with this idea, that we're in a place with this incredible level of invation, and technological advancement, and yet we are seeing these disparities in healthcare. what is causing that, those horrible end of the numbers? >> so, the disparities we see are driven, some by high costs, of course if healthcare spending was cheaper it would allow us to cover more people. but there's also a bunch of political choices we've made. society, not everyone has decided this, but many political leaders have, that it's okay to have people die from totally preventable, totally treatablese es, because we're not going to cover them. that's a political choice. ofourse, i think that's a terrib political choice. we can cover everybody in america without bankrupting the country, without creating long but we have to decide that we're

going to do that. >> reporter: for our next threer rams, we travel to the united kingdom, switzerland andt lia to look at how they get to universal coverage, and what the u.s. might learn. so that america can both embrace its innovation. >> and it just makes me feel good, just to know that, like, deserves.tg this life that he >> reporter: and address its disparities. >>o it makes me feel that don't matter. >> reporr: so those two worlds don't remain so far apart. for the pbs nehour, i'm william brangham in houston, texas. >> woodruff: a quick postscript to william's report: lakeia parker has a new job at amazon. it has benefits, and she'll soon be moving into her own apartment.

>> woodruff: both president trump and former vice esident joe biden are hitting the campaign trail in person this week, each delivering remarks on racial tension and violence in a number of american cities. our politics monday team is here to analyze each party's message. that is amy walter of the "cook public radio's "politics with amy walter." and tamara keith of npr. she also co-hosts the "nprli cs podcast." >> woodruff: hello to both of you. good to see you after two weeks of conventions. i want to start with what joe biden and the president are saying about source ofand th it, but, tam, i want to start with something the moments ago at a briefing at the white house. he was asked about the teenager, kyle rittenhouse, in kenosha, wisconsin, who just a few days ago shot and killed two black liots matter tors in the aftermath of the shooting

of jacob blake, and here is what the president said in answer to a question about mr. rittenhouse. >> preside trump: he ll and they very violently attacked him. it was something we're looking at right now, and it is under investigation. >> woodruff: so, tam, in essence, the president defending why kyleri enhouse has done. he was a 17-year-old carrying a long gun, and the presidenis saying it s in self-defense, in essence. >> that is what the president is saying. you know, president trump has this tenncy to, when there are people who support him or ae idea logically aligned with them, he is very quick toe defend them, he best in them, look for reasons and we live in a system where you're innocent until proven guilty,

obviously, and this is an alleged crime at this point, but president trump was much more quick to blame people on the let for violence in other cities, including the shooting death o a right-wing activist who was part ofaravan in support of president trump in portland over the weekend. so this is part of a long-standing pattern thaten prestrump has, where he has difficulty finding the right words, or whatever you want to call it, condemning violence aligned with him.he has a much e condemning violence that is not ideallogically aligd with him. >> woodruff: amy, when e president talks about this, that the democrats are going to bring lawlessness and violence to the american streets, what voters is he trying to reach? a it is interesting that

this is where we right now, judy. it sort of fits, actually, into what joe biden was saying today. he was out in western pennsylvania pushing back on charges that were convention by the president and by a lot of republicans that were on the convention stage, that joe biden w-uld bringing joe biden into the white house would unleash this wave of violence in the cities. and biden said, essentially, wait, do you feel safe right now? talking not just about the violence, but exactly what tam raised her which is when the president has an opportunity to lower the tonight, he raises it. when he has a chance to calm the wa, te justice roils them. you have been hearing that from vors that now the president is going after, whether we're calling them suburban voters or wo voter, who have said time and time again, while they may like the message,e

don't want violence, we don't want to see our cities turned into this vigilante justice, at theme ime they don't see the president as having the temperament to be abll to dth this. >> woodruff: and, tam, joe biden now cominghow back, he is saying that the president is the one who has created the conditions for this violence. he has created an atmosphere of chaos does the white house have an answer? paignthe trump cam have an answer for that? >> well, president trump was given an opportunity today, he was asked: do you nt ared malitias going into cities or do you want law enfmeor to handle this? and he said, well, i want law enforcement. and then he started about going after decrats for thdea of defunding the police. the campaign response -- they had a call, sort of a rebuttal to the biden

campaign speech. here is a quote from someone who was a surrogate for president trump. "in trump's america, this will stop." there is a ltle bit of cognitive dismiss because this is trump's america. campaign and the white the house will say is, in places where tthey acc the help of the federal government, in place where the national guard goes in orederal law enforcement, then things calm down. and in places where they don't, chaos reigns. it is a difficult argument for an incumbent to make, that things that are s country in th while he is president are not his resbunsibility, you know, i talked to a long-time trmp advisor who says president trump sees himself as a outsider, he is going to run as an outsider, and he is the outsider, ev though he is president of the united states. >> woodruff: so, amy, pickp on that.

looking historically, other candidates, back to richard nixon in the 0s, and other republicans have tried to use this law and order argument. successful has it been? and how hard is it for the democrats to pusback against it? >> right. and tam is totally right, wh you're an incbent and bad things are ppening on your watch, it is really hard to turn it on the other person, especially in the case when that other person happens to bejoe biden, and he said in his speech today, "you know me, do i look like a radical socialist with a soft spotfo rioting?" this has been the challenge for republicans from the get-go. in joe biden they have a very difficult target. he does not sort of fit the stereotype of the kind of candidate they were hoping to run against,dy someho identifies as a socialist or somebody who would have more sympathies with some of the folks that are leading these protests and some of the riots that are going there. so that's challenge number

one. and as i said, the other challenge for the president is having believeabilityrn the issue eing seen as a broker on this issue that >> i would just add -- we are, however, and onp' president trground right w. this whole conversation is president trump's ground. >> woodruff: it was the pandemic, and now we're talking about the tamara keith, amy walter, thank you both. >>ou're welcome. >> woodruff: stay with us. as we take a look at our august pick for newshour-"new york times" book club, "now read this."t rst, take a moment to hear from your cal pbs station. it's a chance to offer your support which helps keep programs like ours on the air.

>> woodrf: n a look back at one of our favorite things, john yang's conversion with film legend julie andrews. this encore presentati is part of our arts and culture series, "canvas." >> reporter: both "sound of music" and "mary poppins" were touchstones in my-- >> in your youth, yes. actually, they were in mine too! yeah. ( laughs ) >> reporter: then talking to my colleagues, they are showing their children. >> yes. isn't that phenomenal? i mean, that's a bonus and that, and that you just don't expect, ift those timeless good musicals they were so bealy made. >> reporter: andrews' legendary career includes the stage, movies, tv, concerts and recordings. she's a dame commander of the british empire and has six golden globes, three grammys, o emmys, an oscar and a kennedy center honor. andrews and hamilton-- ari professionalr and arts

educator-- have written more than 30 books for children and young adults. they wrote this on "home work: memoir of my hollywood years," as a team: emma, when you were, as you were sowing up, were there mov or, or, or projects of your mothers that were particular favorites? >> i was pretty much there most of the time on set for most of the fis. i couldn't sit through "the sound of music" for years without weeping because anytime i saw mother cry on a film, i burst into tears myself. >> yes, she'd suddenly say, i'm just going out for a little bit. blinkingery furiously. >> yeah, but, but i have to say probably now among my favotes of her films are, is "a hawaii film." i think her performance in it is so different than many of her other films and so strong. ee reporter: you mentioned one of the, of the tarly ones you made, "americanization of emily." and being one of your favorites. >> it's the virtue of at's the fraud, not war itself.

it's the valor and the self- sacrifice and the goodness of war that needs exposing. >> it's a very timely theme. more than ever maybe about the folly and excess owar and the needlessness of it. >> reporter: in writing about your early days in vaudeville, you talked about the contrast between the glamorous appearance of life in the theater and the rather shabby reality of it backstage. so, you give us a lot of examples as , in your movie making. particularly of that wonderfulen g scene of "sound of music." where we just, the camera s you on a mountain top. ( laughs ) ♪ ♪ >> yes, but acturaly being photed by a cameraman hanging from the side of a ashelicopter, i kept beingd to the ground by the downdraft fromhe jet engines. every time i came up, you know, with grass and hay all over me.

♪ ♪ >> reporter: one lyric in the movie at you never quite got. >> there was just one tiny line that i really didn't know how to sing. i thought the best thingo do, since i'm out of the wild and so on, just say, sing through the night like a lark learning to pray. i go to the hills and carry on very fast after that! ♪ ♪ >> reporter: for her very first film, "mary poppins," she won the oscar. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> i know a stunning surprise. i didn't expect to and i really thought for a while that maybe it was given to me as a kind of welcome to hollywood gesture. and what a lucky, lucky moment in my life. >> reporter: the book focuses ot the imce of family. emma, the child of her first

marriage to theater, dr tony walton, two step children-- second marriagto noted filmher director/writer/producer blake eredwards and the two daug she and edwards adopted, amelia and anna. edwards-- who died in 2010-- directed andrews in seven movies, including "10"/vnd" victtoria." ♪ ♪ >> i love the unity that it provides and workingith blake and we've felt so very safe in his embrace. i knew that i didn't have to worry about a thing, but i'm on camera. but just sticking together, traveling together, being together. it's why home in homework is there, because making a home, keeping family together means so much to me. >> there's a sweet story in the book of when she flew in to

surprise me for my 15th birthday and, and she only left about t weeks prior to go back to work in europe. i came home from school and discovered her sitting on my bed completely wrapped in wrapping crepe paper, i guess. and then i burst into tears. happy tears. >> reporter: yet, not all the >> blake was a very, a depressive personality and yet devastatingly funny. but when he was in a bad way, it was very sad. >> reporter: you felt the need to make things better, to make >> well, it's sort job in a way, john, if you think about it being on stage all my life, it's about hopefully giving joy and i love tdo it. r >>eporter: in her next book, andrews also expec to deal with the emotional impact of losing of her singing voice after throat surgery in 1997 though she says e can't discuss the procedure itself. >> i'm unfortunatelyt can't

ta about it since it was part of my agreement in a stlement where i gave all the settlement to charity and so on, but, but it... ♪ ♪ >> reporter: she's still rking, though, recently creating and appearing in" julie's greenroom" on netflix. the children's series, produced with the jim henson company, is about puppets staging their own of andrews-- now herself a eye grandmother of 10-- and great grandmother of three. for the pbs newshour, m john yang in new york. >> woodruff: before we go, the book club.this" our august pick was "beijing

payback," a fast-paced thriller discovery of his late father's involvement in a ve t chinese crndicate. you can find the full conversati between jeffrey brown and author daniel nieh online. in this brief exrpt nieh >> that's the key sort of feeling in the united states as e're individuals and we h our own desires and we want to do what we want to do. at the same time, we're subject to the gravitational pull ofan historof our families. and so, everything that we think and feel and everything that we enjoy, all the privileges we enjoy are produced by our parents, for us and our societies, for us. and victor is discovering that, he's discovering that he's linked inextricably to his and, of course, tha sense in which this is a metaphor for che relationship between the united states ana. we buy a lot of things from china. every time we buy chp things at the store that were

manufactured overseas we're participating in the biggest economic relationship in the world. has immense consequences for everyone who's involved. woodruff: daniel nieh on his novel, "beijing payback." and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. join us on-line and agown here tomorrvening. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you. please stay safe and we'll see you soon. major funding for the p newshour has been provided by: >> consumer cellular. >> the kendedateund. commto advancing restorative justice and meangful work through investments in transformative leaders and ideas.

more at kendedafund.org. >> and by the alfred p. sloan foundation. >> and with thongoing support of these institutions: >> this poogram was made ible by the corporation for public broadcasting. anbsby contributions to your station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

hello, everyone, and welcome to "amanpour & co." w heret's coming up. >> character matters. decey matters. civility never goes out of style. >> former arizona senator flake, one of the first senior republicans to turn on trump, makes a conservative case r joe biden. and "vanity fair" pays tribute to breonna taylor's beautiful life. plus -- >> donald trump and ronald reagan were very different people. >> a historian takes us to reagan land.