judy: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. tonight, a slow-moving hurricane, is the u.s. raising fears of flooding as the storm batters the gold coast. then, millions of acres ablaze, spreadg smoke as far as europe. how the wildfires are devastating the western u.s. plus, how to vote? what we know about mail-in ballots and what the country needs to understand before making their choice in the pandemic. >> because of all those mail-in ballots being counted, we may not have a winner declared on election night. judy: all that and more on

tonight's "pbs newshour." ♪ >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- ♪ ♪ >> moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. ♪ >> consumer cellular. johnson & johnson.

financial services firm raymond james. ♪ >> supporting social entrepreneurs and their solutions to the world's most pressing problems. >> the lemelson foundation, committed to improving lives through invention in the u.s. and developing countries. supported by the john d and catherine t. macarthur foundation, committed to building a more just, verdant, and peaceful world. and with the ongoing support of these institutions. this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. judy: it has been a long and

damaging day along must've the u.s. gulf coast with much -- many flooded homes, plus broken bridges and rain by the bucket-fal. -- bucketful. hurricane sally has weakened, but major damage is piling up. stephanie sy has our report. stephanie: waves of swollen waters crashed onto southern shores. hurricane sally hit the gulf coast this morning as a category 2 storm and is moving forward at a glacial pace. in mobe, winds of up to 105 miles per hour swept through empty streets and downed trees in backyards nr the state border with florida. >> holy moly. stephanie: in pensacola florida, a portion of a three mile bridge collapsed in the wind, apparently after a crane crashed onto the roadway. >> it is pretty windy, blow you over. stephanie: residents were left

to wade through knee-high water is rainfall reached 20 inches and kept coming. the storm grew rapidly last weekend into hurricane force as it made its way past southern florida and up the gulf of mexico. climate scientists have found after a dense that hurricanes are -- evidence that hurricanes are forming more rapidly. can graham at the national hurricane center says sally, straits the potential damage. >> when you get a slow-moving storm, it compounds the issue. it has longer to put the rain down, longer to push the storm surge in. the combination of the rainfall and the storm surge, you just have opportunities to put torrential dangerous rainfall down on the ground. with tropical systems historically, 90% of the fatalities is from the water. stephanie: officials in alabama

and mississippi have urged residents in flood prone areas to get out, but some ignore the evacuation orders. one man ss he has endured false alarms before. >> a lot of times, there are hurricanes and they don't end up hitting as bad, so i guess everybody is thinking it is going to be like that again and then left last minute. stephanie: the slow speed made the path less predictable. meteorologists forecast it would hit biloxi, but that changed last night, sparing the city. the mayor told the pbs newshour he is relieved. >> it will be right on our backyard. we have a lot of issues, which would include the downed trees, the downed power, the communications, which is always a big thing. i'm relieved people are back at work this morning. stephanie: hurricane sally's lashing of the gulf coast comes

three weeks after hurricane laura hit with deadly force. this atlantic hurricane season has been among the most active in record with some 20 named systems so far. for the pbs newshour, i'm stephanie sy. ♪ i'm stephanie sy with newshour west. we will return to the rest of the program after the latest headlines. attorney general william barr suggested that rioters and those accused of vlence during road test be charged with sedition according to reports in the new york times and the wall street journal. he reportedly made the unorthodox suggestion during a call with federal prosecutors last week. he also asked prosecutors in his department to look to bring criminal charges against the mayor of seattle for allowing the establishment of a police-free protest zone.

dozens of wildfires kept burning across the pacific northwest and california. president trump declared a federal disaster in oregon where several small towns have been rqazed. cruise stopped a fire 500 feet from the famed mount wilson observatory. federal health agencies and the pentagon outlined plans to make covid-19 vaccines available for free to all americans. the campaign would begin gradually late this year or early next year. at a senate hearing, the head of the cdc cautioned that the supply will be very limited at first. >> if you are asking me when is it going to be generally available to the american public so we can begin to take advantage of vaccine to get back to regular life? i think we're looking at late second quarter, third quarter 2021. stephanie: later, president

trump contradicted redfield and said distribution of a vaccine to the general public will go very quickly. >> i think he made a mistake when he said that. it is just incorrect information. i called him and he didn't tell me that and i think he got the message may be confused, maybe it was stated incorrectly. we are ready to go immediately as the vaccine is announced and it could be announced in october, it could be announced a little bit after october, but once we go, we are ready. stephanie: during his testimony, redfield defended his agency's scientific integrity and dismissed claims that cdc scientists are plotting against president trump's reelection. that came from michael caputo at the health and human services department. today, the department announced he is taking two month leave of absence. the big ten conference has reversed field and will play college football after all this fall with pandemic precautions.

they announced eight regular-season games, plus a conference title game that would make the winner eligible for the national championship. democrat joe biden plat -- blasted president trump's recent statements on the pandemic. the president play down the need for masks and said he had done all that could be done. biden spoke today in wilmington, delaware. >> all the president had to offer last night was the same weak and feckless in action. i trust vaccines, i trust scientists, but i don't trust donald trump. at this moment, the american people can't either. stephanie: biden also dismissed claims by the trump campaign that he is trying to undermine public confidence in a potential vaccine for political gain. a u.s. house committee has issued a scathing report on the boeing 737 max. if claims fail to oversight and

boeing's flure to fix problems for crashes that killed 346 people and calls for major reforms. we will discuss all of this after the news summary. the state department defended the firing of the inspector general steve lennix who had been reviewing an arms sale to saudirabia. at a congressional hearing, department officials rejected democrats alletions of a cover-up, led by house foreign affairs chairman eliot engel. >> the fact that we had to drag you up here kicking and screaming itself makes me think that the department has been trying to hide the truth. >> there have been a variety of unsubstantiated claims in the media. nothing could be further from the truth. stephanie: he is one of several officials dismissed from oversight roles in the trump

administration. the parliament of japan elected prime minister abe's closest aid as the new reminisced her. the federal reserve announced it has no plans to raise interest rates at least through 2023 to boost economic growth. chairman jerome powell said the economy has recovered more cle than expected, but the outlook is uncertain. ask the labor market hasn't moved, but it is a long way from maximum employment and it will be some time back there. in many parts of the economy, there is just a lot of disruption and it is really hard to say precisely just where we are. stephanie: powell also urged congress to do more, but lawmakers remained deadlocked on a new relief package. the well-known intellectual and

jazz authority stanley crouch died today. he gained notice as a highly original and highly confrontational writer and cultural critic. he championed jazz, denounced rap music, and wrote extensively, including a biography of charlie parker. he was 74 years old. still to come, what went wrong with the boeing 737 max? how to vote either by mail or in person for november. a desperate journey to the cliffs of dover. and much more. ♪ >> this is "pbs newshour west" from weta studios in washington and from our bureau at the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. judy: tragedy in the skies. two boeing 737 max jets crashed

in 2019. the cause, multiple failures along the way. in none of ozxplores a new blistering report that reveals the extent of errors and the need for change. amna: that report was issued by the democratic members of the house transportation committee. their investigation into the crashes found what they call a horrific culmination of faulty technical assumptions by boeing engineers, a lack of transparency on the part of boeing management, and grossly insufficient oversight by the faa. the report also found that boeing withheld crucial information from the faa, customers, and 737 max pilots. miles o'brien continues to cover this story and he joins me now. welcome back. we should note, this is not the first investigation into those crashes, but it is the most comprehensiv they seem to find a problem or failure at every single step along the way.

how unusual is that? miles: it isnusual. this is systemic problem, not an isolated situation. the report paints a picture of a company in a very competitive landscape trying to get an aircraft to market, cutting corners financially, seeing problems crop up at a low level and those problems not being addressed by the company. meanwhile, the rulator using its so-called as acnes, that is to say boeing employees supposed to be watching all of this, not aware of much of this, and to the extent the faa was aware, overruling lower ranking people at the faa who raised concerns. this is a problem that requires a fundantal rethink on how aircraft are designed, built, and flown in this country. amna: let me ask you about what they found in boeing's role of all of this? earlier investigations found there was a problem with a

sensor feeding bad data that would then force the nose of the plane down. did we learn anything from this new report about what boeing knew from that problem and how to handle it? miles: engineers, pilots were all seeing the problem, which ultimately led to these two fatal crashes. those problems were raised and nothing was done about them internally. that did not get to the faa either. so what you had was a serious problem, a problem that ultimately led to the loss-of-life that was being papered over and overlooked. amna: the report also found when it comes to the faa that the entire regulatory system is flawed and that it needs to be repaired. despite all those problems, the faa signed off on the plane, it was deemed compliant. how does that happen? miles: how can it be compliant and considered safe and still have two crashes?

what you have is a system that over the years -- for decades the faa has outsourced its capability to inspect in these processes and sign off to the companies themselves, so-called designees do the work for them, they don't have their own foot soldiers on the ground. it would require a lot of money and a huge change in the faa process to change that, but maybe it is time to start thinking about not allowing the companies themselves to police their own procedures. amna: a spokesperson for boeing as this to say. they say, we have been hard at work strengthening our safety culture, rebuilding trust with the flying public. they said the company's thoughts and prayers remain with the families of those who died in the crashes, but those jets remain grounded worldwide right now. will we see them back in the air anytime soon? miles: this is a multi-nation effort right now. the united states, europe,

brazil, canada, regulators working together to try to get this aircraft back in flight. there are so-called airworthiness direct's out there that would fix the technical problems, but it is going to take a while to get to the point where this plane will be back in service, including the administrator of the faa is a very accomplished airline pilot he is going to fly it. there will be other reports, a final airworthy direct nest, then they will remove the grounding order and give it a new certification to fly. no one wants to put a date on the calendar yet. amna: that is miles o'brien covering this very important story for us. thank you. miles: you are welcome. judy: a quick correction in my introduction, i said there were two crashes in 2019. in fact, the first was in the fall of 2018. we regret the error.

how do you break a stalemate? lawmakers and the white house remain at odds on how to agree on relief to the economic casualties of covid. despite the odds, a group of u.s. house members on both sides of the aisle are trying to breach the divide. >> judy, the group of 25 house democrats and 25 house republicans calls itself the problem solvers caucus. it would provide added unemployment benefits starting at $450 a week, new stimulus check for lower income americans , 12 hundred dollars per adult, $500 per child, 500 billion dollars in new aid for state and local governments, and as much is 25 billion dollars in rental assistance. the two cochairs are representative josh gottheimer and republican tom reed of new

york. they join us appropriately distance for the pandemic. i would like to start with you. the leaders of the democratic caucus were less than enthusiastic about your proposal. eight chairman issued a statement it was not enough to save lives, not enough to boost to the economy and they said that in certain areas it was even a step backward. given that, how do you use this as a way to chart a path forward to show how compromise is possible? >> i have a deep respect for our chairs and their priorities, which is why all of them are in our acted from state and local support to up to $600 a week for unemployment. what we focused on was how do we get over the hump's that have kept us stuck for the last four months without giving any relief

to the american people and small businesses? how do we get parties back to the table to get things done instead of just fighting with each other? we put a framework together and to me doing something is much better than doing nothing. >> what are you hearing from the white house and from your republican colleagues in the other chamber, the senate? >> if you look at what the white house has said, with the press secretary said today, they highlighted our problem solvers caucus work as a great step in the right direction and that they are willing to go in the room. those are all positive statements, that we initiated a thaw in this gridlock. from my perspective, we did what we wanted to do and that is to show that congress should and can still do its job. >> your cochair talked about

getting over the hurdles, some of the bumps in the road that have blocked an agreement. from the republican perspective, what were somef the toughest bumps to get over? what were some of the last sticking points to get over? >> when you are discussing state and local aid, we had a great discussion. one of the concerns was when you look at how we broke that down. we wanted to cover actual expenses for past and future covid-19 related expenses. when you talked about lost revenue, you talked about documented lost revenues as shown before compared to where we are at now. and also recognizing, when we got these boosters and reducers -- it could be a 1.3 trillion dollars deal if we get a vaccine and if you get hospitalizations under control and you don't see an outbreak of the virus going forward. that got a lot of people going, we are basing it not in

politics, but on conditions in reality and what is truly needed by the american people, not what is needed for political purposes. >> from the democrat point of view, what were some of the priorities the democrats in the caucus had to compromise on? what were some of the tough gives from the democratic side? >> we figured out if we shortened the timetable and said let's just get through the next inauguration, let's get help for food insecurity, let's get help for the state and local, let's get help for our schools, and we all came together and said, we can agree to these things. as tom just said, we put in these things called boosters and reducers. if the virus is still spreading the way it is today and we don't have a vaccine that is widely distributed by march, which is why the path is called march to common ground. then boosters kick in and it becomes a $2 trillion package and it gets reduced if we are in a much better place and that is where we really started to come

together and said, we can meet our priorities, let's stop fighting over the top line number and we are really hoping our leadership and the white house and everyone can come to the table and he was our framework as a starting point just to get something done so we can help people because we can't go home -- it is unconscionable to go home without helping folks. what >> does it say about the current situation, the fact that you have millions of americans hurting across the country financially and also with the coronavirus it self that it is a group of relatively junior members who are sitting down reaching across the aisle while the leadership and the white house are not talkin >> the 50 of us came together and we've gotten to know each other over the last year. we don't just talk, but we listen to one another and that is the best way to break a gridlock, realizing -- we spent at least 100 hours on this,

working it over and over again. you have to be willing to try. we are really encouraging all the leaders -- we are happy to help in anyway possible, but we can get this done and i think we owe it to the american people. >> what does this say from your perspective that it is a group of freshmen and lower ranking members that are sitting down and doing this? the common >> bond >> of the problem solvers caucus -- we have been around for years -- we are committed to putting america first. we understand we are in a political town. we are committed to respecting eachther. i'm a proud republican, josh is a proud democrat. every member of the caucus carries that with them. we respect each other, trust ea other, listen to each other. we are about trust and respect, but recognizing we are republicans, we are democrats,

but at our hearts, we are americans first. >> cochairs of the problem solvers caucus, gentlemen, thank you. >> thanks for having us. >> thank you. ♪ judy: amid this pandemic, tens of millions of more americans are looking to vote by mail then in past elections, but there has been a lot of misinformation around the public -- process. william brangham has this report about the current state of voting by mail and how to make sure your vote is counted. william: there is a lot of confusion around voting by mail. people are worried about whether the vote will be safe and whether all votes will be counted. that is especially critical after a more -- mail-in ballots were thrown out or disqualified

during primary elections. in addition to user error, another major concern is driven by the tidal wave of misinformation or conflicting information around voting by mail. some of it is coming from political parties, some of it is coming from president trump, some of it is even coming from the u.s. postal service. the state of colorado recently sued the postal service to stop it from sending out this flyer to people since it included incorrect information about how coloradans can get there mail-in ballots. colorado and for other states already conduct their elections entirely by mail. this year, in part because of the pandemic, california, montana, nevada, new jersey, vermont, and the district of columbia have decided to mail ballots to all active voters. officials and some red and blue states are trying to increase access to mail-in voting.

ohio, a republican-controlled state, held an entirely male in riemer election in april. >> the democrats are trying to rig this election. >> despite president trump's repeatedly baseless claims that mail-in voting is riddled with fraud and the democrats are trying to use it to rig the election, his own campaign is mailing out flyers to supporters across the country encouraging them to vote by mail and assuring them that it is safe. utah's lieutenant governor told the newshour that universal mail-in voting in his state has increased voter participation and like in all states, mail-in ballots are carefully screened for errors or irregularities. >> we take painstaking procedures and efforts to make sure there is no fraud and we have not seen rampant voter fraud. >> some other organizations have inadvertently sent out that information. the nonprofit center for voter information sent vote by mail applications to 500,000 virginia

residents but with the wrong return addresses, adding to the confusion. meanwhile, the predent continues giving voters bad information. several times, he has told voters to vote absentee, which is a type of voting by mail, and that he is telling them to also try to vote in person on election day, to somehow check whether their first vote was counted. >> make sure you send the ballot in and then go to your polling place and make sure it counts. >> not only is voting twice illegal -- it is a felony in all 50 states -- election officials say it will lead to long delays at polling places. most states will allow you to track your mail-in ballot online, rather than physically going into the polling place. if you are confused, visit the website of your state of elections or your secretary of state. there you can find out how to track your ballot online, how to

fill it out correctly so it is not rejected, and any other questions you might have about voting. another critical piece of all of this is that unless the presidential election is a clear landslide one way or the other, because of all the mail-in ballots being counted, we may not have a winner declared on election night. elections officials and critical battlegrounds of pennsylvania, michigan, wisconsin, and other states are not currently allowed to begin counting those mail-in ballots until election day, so if an estimated 60% of voters plan to vo by mail, it could be another day, a few days, or even weeks to count ose balls. president trump keeps falsely saying that any delay would be defective evidence of fraud. >> you are not going to know this possibly if you really did it right for months or four years because these ballots are all going to be lost, they are going to be gone. >> ihink it is all designed to

create so much chaos. >> the worry for many democrats is that president trump might try to declare vic reed on election night without waiting for mail-in ballots to be counted. polling shows democrats are more likely to vote by mail in this election than republicans. it is important to stress that a delay does not mean there is fraud. >> if there is any delay, we assume there is a problem, wherein it allows time to make sure that the accounts are accurate. >> we might all have to make adjustments for our election night expectations. judy: we want to continue our regur look at how this election is seen across the country with patricia lopez, an editorial writer for the star tribune and she joins us from st. paul, minnesota. daniel garza is president of an advocacy group which will open policy forum with vice president

pence this friday. daniel garza is a former white house staffer in the bush administration. we welcome both of you to the newshour. we were listening to president trump's remarks at the white house half an hour ago. the president again continuing to cast doubt on mail-in voting. the people you talk to, how much confidence do they tell you they have in the integrity of the american voting system? >> they have a high degree of confidence. in minnesota, they have taken special precautions because we have been through this before. there is a ballot tracker, you don't have to check your ballots at the polling place. there is a barcode along with personally identifying information, so this goes way beyond the signature match. we have had an unprecedented

number of applications for absentee ballots come in. the secretary of state thinks a third of the state can vote by mail or early. judy: interesting. what about where you are? how much confidence to people have in the voting system? >> there is confidence in the voting system. latinos in texas will tell you that they have confidence. the rules change from county to county. we are going to start october 13 early voting, but you have to get your application for the ballot by the 23rd, but some counties ask it before the five days prior, so you have to do some research every of the reason that they prefer to do voting in person is that names

in the mail-in ballots have to match exactly and latinos like to use their mother's surname and sometimes that is a proem. many don't have permanent addresses. we have a high volume of senior citizens. many require oral assistance because of language. the possibility of disenfranchisement israel when it comes to mail-in ballots. in virginia, 5% of all the primary mail-in ballots were rejected. this is an extraordinarily high number. there was worry about that. over two thirds of latinos will tell you they prefer mail-in ballots. judy: i was just going to say we know there is a lot more of attention being paid to all of this this year and it does p a greater burden on voters themselves to find out what the rules are. i want to turn more broadly to the latino vote, the vote among hispanics. patricia lopez in minnesota, the

hispanic population is not you nor miss. what are they saying? >> there is a lot of energy among these voters. they are engaged in a way but i think they haven't always been because as they told me, they feel a direct connection between the policies and the effects on their lives. a lot of them have seen that play out in the immigration front. we have a lot of mixed status families here. you have daca recipients. you have older people who have immigrated themselves, young american-born children. the enthusiasm for biden is not quite as high. a lot of them are more intent on voting on trump than for biden. judy: daniel garza, what about

the latino -- and i you are very involved in the organization? but even beyond that as you talk to people you know about the latino vote, what are you hearing? >> look, i think there is something different this time around for donald trump and that he actually has a record he can showcase and it was one that benefited the latino community tremendously with record unemployment and labor participation rate and record homeownership. these are things that helped tremendously. they have now as opposed to 2016, a record to run on. they are mobilizing latinos to recruit latinos to persuade latinos. this is very important. it is very important we relate to the messenger, folks who have a shared language, a shared culture, shared experiences. when latinos are going

door-to-door talking to latinos, this generates excitement. the flotilla's, the caravans, the in-person events the president is doing. judy: if i could just quickly to clarify -- you are saying that is happening despite the pandem? >> that is happening despite the pandemic. obviously, i think people are trying to take steps in respecting the protocols state-by-state. we are going to make sure we comply fully with arizona state laws when we have our policy meeting with the vice president, but it will be in person with an audience, absolutely it will. judy: what kind of outreach are you seeing, patricia? door-to-door versus virtual? >> i think a lot of it has been virtual. the candidates themselves -- we will have both president trump and vice president biden here on friday with early voting starting.

that will be a kickoff. i don't think there is the sense that the trump record has been particularly positive for latinos. not among the people i've talked to. they are wary. i think they have seen a lot of the effects of deportations, there are concerns about ice and covid, regarding essential workers and a sense that they don't really count for as much as others do and that has been really disturbing to a lot of them. the one thing i do keep hearing about is that a lot of them are intrigued by, the harris and they feel she may be part of a new message, a n tone that the biden camp is trying to send, disconnecting them a little bit from the obama ainistration because obama was a very mixed bag for them. he did create the daca program,

but there were a lot of deportations under president obama and for some in the latino community that has been a little hard to get behind, but they feel overall much worse under trump. judy: so interesting, we will continue to reach out to the two of you through this campaign. thank you. thank you. five years into the refugee and migrant crisis, the numbers of people fleeing to europe are dropping due to the pandemic, except in one place. a record 6000-plus asylum-seekers crossed the english channel to the u.k. this summer from france. human rights groups are warning of the danger of a right-wing backlash. from the port of dover, our

special correspondent. [chanting] >> the protesters are furious that record numbers of asylum-seekers are landing on these shores. >> these are invaders. you should be protecting us, not them. >> one day this summer, more than 400 made it across the channel from france. >> are they isis, are they taliban, are they somali pirates? >> the protests begin by the port where migrants arrived after being rescued. on the busiest day, there were over 200. given the callousness of people traffickers, these children were lucky to make it. an unknown number have drowned. brexit appears to be a major factor behind this latest surge in channel all things. britain finally formally leaves

the european union on december 31 and the people smugglers are telling the migrants to cross the channel that they have to get here before the deadline kicks in. that is one according to government rhetoric britain is really going to take control of its borders, but if anything, these crossings are proving that britain is a -- unable to stop them from coming. britain's economy depends on free-flowing traffic in dover. the demonstrators want a blockade. [chanting] >> we are just reflecting the anger. it is the people who sit at home are angry. >> a former mayor of dover from the left-leaning labor party. arguing that asylum-seekers are treated better than thousands of homeless british military veterans. >> britain is under attack. i have no racism, i'm a

socialist. i want everyone to have that chance, but i want to know who we are going to give the chance to. [chanting] >> a mayor from a coastal town let it counterprotests. >> our country is not just the british, it is not just english, it is built up from people from all over the world and i'm proud to stand in solidarity. >> dover is a symbolic battleground. for one thousand years, the white cliffs have protected britain, especially in the second world war. live streaming a sentimental wartime song, a rally organizer -- ♪ >> ♪ the wide cliffs of dover!

♪ >> veterans participated, but so did white supremacist send other groups. >> i think we should always be concerned about the far-right. >> i don't think we can judge the threat they posed by scale. it only takes one person to attack someone, it only takes one person from the far-right to attack a migrant. >> migrants are taunted by an extremist group, britain first. >> all of the migrants with their bags are being ushered out of you. are you staying in a hotel? >> in the darkness, another sinister development, vigilantes have been turning back asylum-skers. they are called little boats 2020 and are led by jeremy davis , who is infuriated by scenes like this.

>> we got involved with this because we are being taken to the cleaners by our own government, they are allowing people to come in, we don't know whether they are traitors, terrorists. >> attacks on migrants doesn't only come in the far-right, there is a broader societal issue. the thing that the far-right offer is that they are much more extreme, much more violent, and we are seeing record numbers of terrorist arrests from the far-right. >> the cliffs of dover have been used a a canvas to fight back. he syrian war refugee -- >> five years ago, i was on the other side of this channel trying to cross. the cliffs represented hope that i would live a safe and stable life. >> the reality --

[indiscernible] >> a political activist in chad survive torture, fled central africa, and arrived in britain in a shipping container. >> i've been here, i work, i pay taxes, i do everything that a citizen needs to do. i also contribute to the economy of this country. >> one contentious area for anti-immigrant activists is that they failed to seek asylum in countries -- >> we are a soft target. >> there is nothing under international law that requires an asylum-seekers to undertake a particular journey. >> a human rights lawyer headlines a nonprofit and says asylum claims have been cut in half in recent years. >> they are very small numbers,

but there is a real sense of political panic, wch has been cultivated by the government for political ends. >> last year, britain was the fifth most attractive european destination for asylum-seekers with 45,000 applications, a long way behind germany, france, spain, and greece. prime minister boris johnson is planning new legislation, which will make deportations easier. next we will address the rigidities in our laws that make this country a target and a magnet for those who would exploit vulnerable people. >> for hundreds of people -- years people have come to britain as a beacon of freedom and safety and that tradition is on the line. waxed human rights groups blame government policies for encouraging right-wingers. they try to force police to take a to honor veterans.

[chanting] >> after taunting the police, the little veteran was arrested, but released later this same day. the lifeboat crew honors the national maritime government debt covenant, to protect those in peril on the sea. ♪ judy: it was a momentous decision, a recent supreme court ruling, much of eastern oklahoma remains indian country, granting jurisdictional control to the muscogee creek nation and four neighboring tribal nations. members of congress and tribal leaders are right now in two

days of virtual discussions to address issues facing indian country today. one topic of conversation, the impact of the case, which were native americans goes well beyond the law. with this part of our ongoing arts and culture series, canvas. >> as a girl, she worked as a pecan picker. to family members later in life, she was called little mother. last october, she died of complications from diabetes at age 73. >> she was a symbol of all the sacrifice that went into ensuring that my family has tribal identity today. >> this is virginia's nephew. >> when the decision came out, she was the first person i thought of. >> he is a bass that are for the muscogee creek nation, a diplomatic position reprimanding -- representing the tribe's

sovereign interests. >> it was a life of struggle. it is consistent with the struggle that all of our families as muscogee creek have faced and to have affirmation from the federal government's highest court that despite our struggles and because of the sacrifices of people who came before us our nation remainswhole and our reservation remainswhole was a powerful moment that resonated with me on a very deep, personal level. >> that struggle and sacrifice trace back to the trail of tears, the 19th century forced removal of the muscogee and other indians fm their ancestral homes in the southeast reservations in what would become oklahoma. today's map still carries the clues. tallahassee and tulsa are variations on the same creek word for old town. >> our story is a story of

difficulties, but rebir and it continued cha. because of the raves of time and unfortunate efforts by the state government and the federal government to dismantle this notion of home in our lands. it was an elusive concept, feeling at home in your nation's lands. that is a feeling that many creeks know and a lot of native american folks know wherever their reservation or territory is. >> the decision written by justice neil gorsuch declared the lands remain within indian reservations. its direct impact is on crimes committed by tribal members on the reservation, giving the tribe and the federal government jurisdiction rather than the state. >> not one inch of land, not one fistful of sand changed ownership by this ruling. simply it was a recognion that the muscogee creek nation's boundaries had never been

disestablished or destroyed, but that is not what brought tears to so many of our eyes. there is a picture in my living room of my mom and their siblings, my uncle cliff, my aunt, my uncle leon, they are there with my grandparents. each one of them had passed away due to the direct or indirect effects of removal, whether it be poverty or lack of resources to health care. my aunt was the first one to make it out of her 50's. >> the covid pandemic is sitting native communities especially hard. the country is again focusing on its history of past and continuing history of racism. do those things play into your feelings about the ruling and where things are now? >> absolutely. the moment that we find ourselves i think is beyond just pure readings of the law. the case itself was a beautifully written, well

reasoned opinion, but it exists in a larger context in the context shows that we have to fight to keep -- to keep the gains made on a social justice level. >> it is a context and history. for the pbs newshour, i'm jeffrey brown. ♪ judy: how do you picture a pandemic? tonight's brief but spectacular focuses on a photographer documenting funeral homes and health care workers. his images captured in march appeared in "the new york times magazine he spoke with us about his work in new york city. >> we were photographing in the emergency department at queens hospital, where two fdny paramedics that wheeled in a man who had gone into cardiac arrest

from covid-19. the hospital at the time was completely overwhelmed with patients. at that moment, it was all hands on deck to save this person's life a we watched for 10 minutes as these two paramedics flanked by hospital records, nurses, and doctors gave this man all of the attention that they possibly could in order to bring him back. and they brought him back after working tirelessly. casually, at the end of it, everyone just got back to work. it was just a and women operating at the highest level of professionalism. most of thwork that i've done for covid-19 has been with the new york times magazine. we really wanted to focus on what we had lost as a city. and what we had lost as a city were 20,000 lives.

new york is a place of many stories, but it really started to become one story. and the story was in the hospitals. over the course of six days, we ended up visiting nine municipal hospitals and clinics across five boroughs. working on this type of story, it requires an overdose of empathy. if the moment is emotional, i allow myself to feel emotional. by feeling that, i really hope it impacts the picture. one of the tragic things about being hospitalized with covid-19 is from the second that you are hospitalized and leave your family, you won't see them again until you get out, if you are lucky enough to get out. there were no flowers, there were no visits, there were no family members and waiting rooms. there is a new york before covid and there is a new york after.

and i've had a few moments realizing the world is going to look very dferent permanently. this is a moment that is larger than all of us. my name is phil montgomery and this is my brief, but spectacular take on reporting the pandemic in new york city. judy: remarkable. there is something about still pictures that you just don't see anywhere else. thank you. you can find all of our brief, but spectacular stories online at pbs.org/newshour/brief. and that is the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. join us online and again here tomorrow evening. for all of us here, thank you, please stay safe, and we will see you soon. >> major funding has been provided by -- >> for 25 years, consumer cellular's goal has been to provide wireless service to help people communicate and connect. our u.s.-based customer service team can help find a plan that fits you.

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this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content d accuracy.] ♪ >> this is pbs newshour west from weta studios in washington and from our bureau at the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. ♪

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