to learn more, visit safetyactioncenter.pge.com captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> nawaz: good evening, i'm amna nawaz. judy woodruff is away. on the newshour tonight, no end in sight-- as rockets contin to fly into israel, israelis hammer gaza with heavy air stkes, targeting militant tunnels and homes of hamas commanders. then, the longest war-- we talk to the president of afghanistan, ashraf ghani, as u.s. trps leave his country and violence escalates >> if taliban want peace, then it has to be a peace that respects the gains of the citizens of afghanistan and among them, first and foremost, women. >> nawaz: and, masng questions: americans are divided on whether or not to follow new c.d.c. guidance, relaxing mask and distancing rules.

all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major fding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> well, audrey's expecting... >> twins! >> grandparents. >> we want to put money aside for them, so, change in plans. >> all right, let's see what we can adjust. >> we'd be closer to the twins. >> change in plans. >> okay. >> mom, are you painting again? you could sell these. >> let me guess, change in plans? >> at fidelity, changing plans is always part of the plan.

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>> nawaz: the battle between the israeli military and hamas militants has now entered a second week, as calls mount for an immediate cease-fire. so far, the violence has killed more than 200 palestinians in gaza, and another 10 people in israel. that comes as the united nations stephanie sy has our report. >> as explosions continue to rock gaza today, paramedics rush the injured to hospitals. relatives trailing not far behind, heartbroken. acrossgaza ruled by the militant group hamas, failies like these have bother the brunt of israeli attacks that only intensified overnight. >> the air strikes went on since last night. at 2:30 at night, they kept bombing and bombing on houses and roads. they should hit those who hit

them. they shouldn't hit the poor people sleeping in their homes. >> israeli bombardments have thund erred down, unabated for a week now. set off last monday when hamas began firing rockets into israel. israel today said they targeted the homes of nine milint commanders including a top of leader of the islamic jihad group working along side hamas. the days offensive also centered on destroying a network of underground tunnels used by militants for hiding and transporting equipment. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu ruled out an immediate ceasefire until hamas military capabilities are weakened. >> the directive is to continue to strike at terror targets. we will continue to act as long as necessary to restore peace and security to allesidents of israel. >> attacks against israel from gaza only persisted today, with

the number of rockets fired by hamas climbing past 3100. israel says its missile defense system has intercepted about 90% of them. but those that get through have wrecked havoc in cities where a residential building was hit today. the fihting continued after a weekend that marked the deadlit day yet. 42 palestinians were killed in gaza on sunday, including ten children. israeli air strikes also flatenned a number of buildings across gaza city. among them a tower that housed the office of the associated press al jazz ear ar around other media outlets. journalists scrambled to evacuate offices saturday after israel gave a half hour warning before the air strike. netanyahu said the building was also used by hamas and that proof of it has been shared with the united states. >> but while traveling in denmark today, secretary of

state anthony blinken said he had yet to see evidence. >> i have not seen any information provided. >> blinken signaled there will be no immediate pressure from the u.s. for an end to the violence. >>. >> it is up to the parties to be clear if they want to make a ceasefire, any would be by definition between them, but we are ready to gage the support. >> u.s. has so far blocked the security kowb frill issuing a statement on the flon flict. but on a call wih nest nest, president biden expressed his support for a ceasefire, following growing calls for it in congress. republican senator todd young of indiana and democrat chris murphy of concticut both senior members of the senate foreign relations panel have issued a statementalling for a ceasefire. 28 other senate democrats are urging the same. but neither side on the ground is giving off signs the strike will come to an end any time soon. and late today more fire from

southern lebanon towards northern israel. the israeli military responded with artillery. for the pbs newshour i'm steph an knee sy.-- stephanie sy. >> nawaz: in the day's other news, president biden announced that the u.s. will send 20 million covid-19 vaccines overseas by the end of june. they'll come from pfizer, moderna, and johnson & johnson stockpiles. that's in addition to the 60 million astrazeneca doses biden already pledged to send abroad by the same date. the president made that commitment at the white house today, but stopped short of saying which countries will receive the vaccine. >> this will be more vaccines than any country has actually shared to date. five times more than any other country. we'll share these vaccines in the service of ending the pandemic everywhere and we will not use our vaccines to secure favors from other countries.

>> nawaz: meanwhile, concerns are mounting over the c.d.c.'s decision to relax masking guidance for fully vaccinated people. c.d.c. director rochelle walensky said on fox news sunday that the decision was based on science and not on political pressure. we'll have more on this story later in the program. in western india, authorities tried to evacuate more than 200,000 people from the path of a powerful cyclone. the storm roared up the coast of southern india and made landfall in the state of gujarat, with winds up to 103 miles an hour. about a dozen people have already been killed. forecasters say it will be the most severe cyclone to hit the area in more than two decades. >> ( translated ): this cyclone is going to have extremely high wind speeds and extremely heavy rainfall. this storm is expected to damage all thatched roof buildings. >> nawaz: covid-19 vaccination efforts in gujarat were suspended for two days. officials fear t cyclone will worsen the pandemic's already devastating impact there. back in this country, the supreme court today agreed to

consider a mississippi state law that bans abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. lower courts have blocked the measure as inconsistent with previous high court precedent. oral arguments are expected to start this fall. we'll discuss this case later in the program. telecom giant at&t is merging its media business with discovery to better compete with rival streaming services. the $43 billion deal will combine several businesses including cnn, hbo, hgtv, and the food network. analysts said the move will help the new company take on major competitors like netflix, amazon, and disney plus. evacuation orders are in place for about a thousand southern california residents as a wildfire burns out of control in los angeles county. one arson suspect was arrested. the blaze broke out late friday in the santa monica mountains, before rapidly scorching its way through dry vegetation in topanga canyon. fire officials said the drought fueled the fire.

>> the humidity was almost 60%, our wind speed was below 10 miles per hour but we still had active fire. that tells you that the drought, that the years of that have gone by since the last fire, sometimes as long as 75 years have changed the equation. >> nawaz: there were no reports of injuries or structural damage. some 12,000 gas stations in the southeastern u.s. are still without fuel tonight, after a cyberattack on the nation's largest gas pipeline. colonial pipeline resumed operations saturday after a six- day shutdown. but, the incident triggered widespre panic-buying, and today the price of gas hit a seven-year high. rmer florida politician joel greenberg pleaded guilty to six charges in federal court today, including sex trafficking of minor. as part of his plea deal filed onriday greenberg agreed to cooperate with prosecutors in the federal probe of his former associate, florida congressman matt gaetz. federal authorities are

investigating the congressn for possible sex trafficking of a minor. gaetz denies any wrongdoing. the governing body for horse racing in new york has temporarily suspended traine bob bafferfrom entering horses at major tracks in the state. his horse, "medina spirit," tested positive for a banned steroid after winning the kentucky derby and is under investigation. the horse lost its bid for the triple crown after a third place fini in the preakness saturday. president biden released his 2020 federal income tax return today. the president and first lady reported federal adjusted gross income of over $607,000. they paid more than $157,000 dollars in federal income tax, and donated over $30,000 dollars to charity. former president trump broke a long-standing tradition of presidents releasing their tax information. the treasury department today said 39 llion families will begin receiving monthly child tax credit paymes beginning july 15th. they're part of president biden's $1.9 trillion covid

relief package. and on wall street, a lag in tech shares pushed stocks lower. the dow jones industrial average lost4 points to close at 34,328. the nasdaq fell 51 points, and the s&p 500 slipped 10. still to come on the newshour: trying to answer the most presng questions about the latest mask rules. how the future of abortion rights now faces the supreme court. tamara keith and amy walter on what our latest poll says about race in america. plus, much more. >> nawaz: there has been continuous carnage in afghanistan, even just last week, when more than 200 people were killed, many at a girls school in kabul. that violence comes as the u.s.

and nato are withdrawing troops, scheduled to be gone completely by early september. in a moment, my interview with afghan president ashraf ghani. but first, se background. in kabul friday, worshippers mourned the remnants of a mosque in ruins, and a community destroyed by another attack. frustrated afghans blamed the government. >> ( translated ): the whole these government officials are traitors that do not pursue these incidents at all. how long should the situation be like this? if they cannot govern, thethey must step down. >> nawaz: the taliban condemned the attack, which took place during a three-day cease fire with the afghan government, during the eid holiday at the end of ramadan. no group has claimed responsibility. >> i have concluded it is time to end america's longest war, it is time for american troops to come home. >> nawaz: last month president biden announced the u.s. would withdraw all troops from afghanistan by september 11th, exnding the previous may first deadline, part of a deal struck

last year between the trump administration and the taliban. afghan president ashraf ghani voiced his supportor u.s. troop withdrawal, calling it a new chance for the country. >> ( translated ): the withdrawal of international few months, and it is the greatest opportunity in our contemporary history. >> nawaz: but in the last year, the violence has been unrelenting. the taliban have stopped targeting u.s. and nato forces, and now regularly attack civilians and afghan forces. nearly 2,000 afghans were killed in the first three months of the year. people here fear the u.s. withdrawal could tip the country into civil war. yesterday in kabul, schoolgirls returned to a near-empty classroom, after their school wabombed last week. nearly 90 people, mostly students, were killed. farida, who survived the attack, insisted she will not be intimidated. >> ( translated ): i will resist against them, if they use guns, i will use my pen. everyone, my father, mother and uncle encourage me tcontinue, and i will continue.

>> nawaz: and now to my conversation earlier today with president ghani, joining us from kabul. i began by asking him if he expects the ongoing violence to get worse as u.s. troops continue to leave afghanistan. >> as far as the state of war is concerned, we're ready. we've been ready for months. it is a strategic decision that clarifies a lot of things. the war will become simpler because all their allegations of international conspiracy or international desire to-- has now come to an end, we need to work together. anthe other factor is the region. the region now is glad the u.s. has no intention of a long-te

stay. consequently we need to get together to arrive at collective security strategy. >> nawaz: i hear you say you are ready and that says to me that you do anticipate violence increasing as the u.s. and nato forces leave. but already there is ongoing fighting in the majority of the provinces, right? something like 28 out of the 34 total provinces. and the taliban h been gaining and holding ground, essentially encircling urban centers there. when you say you are ready, if your forces have not yet been able to hold themoff so far, what makes you think that would change moving forward? >> i think first of all your per speption, i would ke to call your perception into question. the taliban are not holding, they are carrying sporadic attacks it is a destructive force, not holding of territory. -- kandahar is only district where they tried to hold and now the people hit them with passion. >> we know negotiators from your

government have been meeting with representatives from the taliban as well just a few days ago. was there any progress made in those talks? >> the key to the dialogues is that the taliban accept the future political system of afghanistan is based on election. that is the fundamental bottomline. other things are discussible, negotiatable. but if that fundamental issue is not granted, then the question of right and the question of game that has occurred in the last 20 years, particularly vees a vee woman, youth, minorit all walks of life, will be put into questio >> nawaz: and the taliban have said they will engage in the talks but i would like to talk to you about the plan you recently laid out in an arcle about how you think things shld move forward. you would like to see a short transitional government put into place, elections scheduled and held yosaid you would not run in those elections and that you would leave office early if your

successor who was elected had a mandate for peace. are there any other sirks under which you would step down early? >> no. >> nawaz: not at all. >> no. if there is war, i am the commander in chief. i will not abandon my people. i will not abandon my forces. i am willing to die for my country. i have no interest in power. i'm committed to the principle of ensuring order upon society, want order. >> at the same time the taliban has ld us that if you, president ghani want to stay in power, they say there will be no solution, and they say the longer you stay in power that it will only prolong the fighting. so if it is in the interest of even reaching a peace agreement in the first pce, would you consider stepping down early to mo forward that process. >> i have given you my answer. are they going to accept

elections as the fundamental basis of moving forward or not. i'm not the obstacle. i have brought this, i have declared it. i built consensus around it. they need to first say, is this a trojan horse strategy. to strip the government of capacity, behead the government. and then carry out this is a time wasting technique to focus on me, rather than on the solution. >> nawaz: mr. president, let me ask you about the time line, though. wh in there is a transitional government for a very long time you laid out it will be a short transitional government, elections are quickly scheduled. what if that doesn't happen, what if there are no elections for a long time, what then. >> well, the elections will have to take place. because we cannot go without the will of the people. legitimacy depends. i have been working on this for two decades. there are lessons, peace making

is not jazz. it's nom improvization. in order to do jazz you ned 10,000 hours of preparation. >> you've made clear that you do not oppose u.s. withdrawal. you have answered the question and said there is no sense of betrayal there on your part. the question you say is where are common interests now lie. so the u.s. has made very clear what their interests were, right. it was to get with osama bin laden, it was to make sure afghanistan does not provide safe haven for any threat to the united states. what aboutor afghanistan. where is the common interest between your country and the u.s. right now. >> the threat of terrorism has changed. it has not disappeared. we are all agreed on it. two, the united states is committed to support things. providing support, this is financial. and the security area, in the economic area and the

humanitarian area. because the united states fortunately shares the vlues of supporting the gains of the last 20 years and our discussion is for that. the same fortunately applies to nato members and nonnato members who have been our partners. >> naz: but when you talk about that support, what specifically are we talking about, humanitarian aid as you mentioned to rebuild? structure, infrastructure, and also continuing military aid for afghan forces? >> yes, yes. >> nawaz: and are yu satisfied with the level of commitment you have gotten from the u.s., do you trust there is an enduring partnership there? >> i trust them, yes. >> nawaz: let me ask you about the state of women, as you mentioned. there are parts of the country in rural parts of the country, and there are some places in which they have reinstituted something close to the brutal regime that they oversaw in the '90s. and women do not have the same rights they had before. i am curious how you approach those areas. do you plan on launching

offensives to go in and help women secure those rights or does afghanistan's future means your rights depend on where you live as a woman. >> the basic issue is citizenship. our constitution is amendable except in two areas. one, theslamic character of the state cannot be amended. second, the rights of citizens can only be improved by amendment. so it is crucial that we remai focuseon the values that holds this society. if taliban want peace then it has to be peace that respects the ganses of the citizens of afghanistan-- av afghanistan and first and fore most women. and if they do in the want peac and want to gain power through violence and impose a dik ta tor yal regime, than all the patriotic forces of afghanistan would have to rally and make a decision. and that issue, unfortunately,

would have to be decided on the field of battle. >> nawaz: m. president, with all due respect, there are parts of the country where that is already the case. there have been reports from the bbc recently just outside of-- sharif where the taliban have essentially set up a shadow government, and reports from other parts of the country as well. are you saying you are ready to defend in the future, but what have you already done to defend that ground. >> we've lost more than 40,000 of our forces. it's an all volunteer defensive security force. and the network of support that the taliban enjoys needs to be discussed, openly, transplanter-- transparently and people who provide support need to be on the table. >> nawaz: you are referring to some of your neighbors, pakistan in particular, correct? >> just not regional neighbors, they are international networks. the criminal networks,s no who are dn-- drug trafficking, want this kind of resolve. the terrorist networks are not

just from the region. we have people, we have 16 countries, were providing recruits to shall it-- right now, just women and children, trying to return. >> nawaz: mr. president, how worried are you about your own safety. >> i'm not worried. >> nawaz: you'reot wry. you have survived several assassination attempts. the taliban said they see you as a puppet regime for the west. are you not worried about your safety. >>o. look, i am a believer. i have survived a lot. the talk of assassination, i is a disabling mechanism. this issue should not focus on me. i'm an instrument for the realization of my people's wishes and aspirations and i need to take-- i cannot stop meeting with my people. i cannot stop focusing, to the day, to the minute that i am alive, i will be thinking

creatively and inva to cuzzed manner to improve the lives of my people. then history will make a judgement. >> president ashraf ghani, thank you very much for your time. >> thank you. >> nawaz: ever since the c.d.c. eased its masking recommendations for fully vaccinated adults, there's been a wide range of reaction-- everything from celebration to confusion and criticism. william brangham has more about those concerns, and some perspective from an emergency medicine doctor. >> brangham: amna, some states and big retail companies like costco and wal-mart will now allow fully vaccinated customers to be inside many public spaces without wearing a mask, or keeping a physical distance from others. new york's governor andrew cuomo said that would take effect wednesday in his state. but the are plenty of places where business and local officials are holding back.

california, for one, announced it won't lift its mask mandates until mid-june to give more time for cases to decline, more vaccinations, and so people can prepare. it's a lot to navigate, and to help us do that, we're joined again by dr. megan ranney. she's an emergency department physicians and teaches public health at brown university. dr. ranney, great to see you back on the newshour, so last week the cdc says any fully vaccinated adult, that means o weeks after your last shot can now take your mask off, virtually everywhere, except for hospitals and jails and public transportation. what did you make of that guidance, and have you seen changes already in your own hospital? >> so the guidance is absolutely scientifically sound, if you are fully vaccinated, the chance of your catching covid, getting severely sick, hospitalized or god forbid dying, is tremendously low.

however, most americans have not yebeen vaccinated. and lots of people who want to get vaccinated still haven't had the chance. the problem here isn't the biological science, it's the behavioral science behind what is going to happen when we tell folks that they can take their masks off. >> so help me understand what you would have preferred the cdc to say. would you have preferred a subtler message that are you vaccinated, you are largely safe but maybe we should be wearing masks in places where people are mixed, vaccinated and unvaccinated. >> that is exactly right. just like they were clear that you do still need to wear masks in health care settings and yes, i have not seen anything in my own er yet, similarly it would be fine to say listen, vaccines protect you. they protect you tremendously well. but for the sake of our community, we're all going to keep indoor masking just a little bit long tore help keep ch other safe until everyone who wants a vaccine has had the chance to be fully vaccinated.

it would also have been great to see metrics to provide policy guidance to states and businesses. i think california's decision is absolutely right. give it a little more time so all those folks who just became eligible in mid april actually have the chance to get vaccines in arms and for the vaccines to take effect. this is just an ex-- extension of what we have done for the last 15 months with protecting our community, a few more weeks of masking is not going to hurt us. >> brangham: we just came out with a newshour npr/marist ll that showed people have been vacs naughted or are hing to do so very soon, but a quarter of a people said they are not going to be vaccinated. and it seems if those people are now out in society without wearing masks, that kids and people wh compromised immune systems might really be at risk. because we can't tell who has been vaccinated and who hasn't. >> that is exactly right. at some point we can't protect everyone forever and people who choose not to get vaccinated

after vaccines are fully available, at some point they are taking on a risk for themselves. but it is the rest of the community who i am worried about it is those folks on chemo or immunosuppress ants or kids, 12 to 15 year olds just became eligible for vaccines. and it will be tough to keep masks on kids when no one else is wearing them. that is exactly the concern. is what does this mean for our larger community. now things will continue to change. cases will continue to drop, hopefully vaccines in arms will continue to week. in a few weeks from now, california said in mid june, that is an appropriate time to relax guidance. i think the cdc was right to talk about the science. i wish that big businesses and states weren't rushing to change policy based off of the fact that vaccines work. >> dr. megan ranney, thank you for helping us wade through all of this. good to see you. >> same, thank you.

>> nawaz: next term, the supreme court will consider an important case that could have major impacts for abortion law. our john yang has this. >> yang: amna, the court will review a mississippi law that would ban almost all abortions after the 15th week of pregnancy. that's significantly before viability-- the point after which a fetus can sustain life outside the womb and the point before which the cou has said states may not regulate abortion. at 15-weeks, mississippi's ban would be one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the nation. according to theuttmacher institute, which advocates for abortion rights, 18 states ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. mary ziegler is a florida state university law professor and author of "abortion and the law in america: roe v. wade to the present."

now this mississippi law has not taken affect because lower kowforts say it conflicts with "roe versus wade," does the courts say in taking this that they will use this case to overturn roe. >> no, you but i think the court taking this case says they are interested at least rethinking viability at point in which stats can ban abortions, that will be almost as significant as rover turning roe itself. i thk any outcome in this case short of seeing what the lower courts have done would be explosive. >> so explain what that would look likek what would it look like if the court upheld roe v. wade but also upheld the 15 week ban. >> the courts have a history in abortion context of tinkering what counts as thessential holding of roe v. wade, in 1929 in a case, the court changed the rules that apply to determine e constitutionality of abortion regulation.

it had been the trimester framework which disallowed most restrictions in the first trimester. now st the undue burden test. the court said we can get rid of parts of roe, but keep the most important parts t is possible the courts could say viability is no longer essential. and kind of repeat and extend what happened in 1992. >> so of thcurrent makeup of the court, three justices, justice thomas, alito and gorsuch have all said in one form or another in opinions they think the court got it wrong on abortion. what dwe know about the others chief justice roberts, jussity kavanaugh and barrett. >> chief justice roberts is the one we know the most about because this summer he sort of put out in-- that he is certainly a skeptic, that abortion rights are protected by the constitution. but he also seems to more-- preferential when it comes to the court's precedence so it was seen that roberts

would be reluctant to overturn roe and perhaps even yowp hold the mississippi law. we don't know as much about barrett and cav gnaw. kavanaugh has never voted to strike down an abortion restriction, he joins at the centers in june, he seemed more cautious certainly than justice thomas and alito and wasn't really on the-- for calling for the immediate overrulinof roe. barrett is a estion mark because e said almost nothing about abortion, written no opinions on abortion since juneing the court. but we can inform from the court's decision-- infer that there are at least four justices that think the court will uphold this law and that there are four justices who think they have a fifth so there no no reason for the court to agree to take this case unless the conservatives think they have a majority, at a minimum, to uphold this mississippi law and perhaps go much further. >> professor marry mary ziegler, thanks very much.

>> thanks, john. >> nawaz: in our pbs newshour/npr/marist poll released this morning, we asked americans to weigh in on some of the most pressing issues facing president biden and congress ght now, among them racism and policing. here to analyze the political impact of it all, our potics monday team. amy walter of the cook political report. and tamara keith of npr. amy and tam, welcome back. always good to start off the week with you both. let's jump into some of these numbers because it is fascinating stuff. one of the questions we asked folk especially because may 25th will mark one year since the murder of george floyd in minneapolis, around racism and policing was how much things have changed when it comes to race relations in america over the last year. there's a big divide here. look at some of these numbers. only 17 percent of those who responded think race relations have improved over the last

year. 39% think they stayed the same. 42% think they have gotten worse. amy when you look at those numbers what strikes you, what stands out to you. >> well, that same poll went all the way back to 2015, where they have asked that question. and whatou notice is it hasn't really changed that much over the course of the last six years. most americans, about 75% are still pretty poism when it come-- pes miss sticks about race relations only 25% feel more optimistic. but what is interestk when asked the question about what do you think is happening in your own local community, people are much more optimistic, about 49% said they think things are getting better, versus a smaller percentage who think that things are getting worse. so some of it i think about what you see on the national front, right, what you are seeing on television, what you are reading in national news, seems like boy, things are just sort of

intractable. but as you come closer to home are you feeling a little more optimistic. another thing that stood out to me, amna was just not surprisingly at all, have you feel about race relations is based a lot about where and how you see discrimination more broadly. not rprisingly, white ericans only 15% of them said they felt like they experienced discrimination based on their race. 60% of african-americans said they faced discrimination or had faced discrimination. and that i think is leading to a lot of the ws in which opinions about race relations and of course the way we look at policing and the issue of race is so bifurcated. >> and that is a perfect jumping off point for me to jump to tam, on race and policing, we asked americans if they believe people of color are treated more harshly by police. and there is a real divide in the result there as well. 25of white respondents said

yes, that was true. that people of color are treated more harshly by police. 61% of black respondents said that was true. and that is what the data shows. we know that, but tam, when you look at the efforts lawmakers are going through right now to push through police reform, what does all this mean for that. >> those numbers indicate that we are living in different americas. and basically every poll, you look at these days, indicates that there are just very different versions of the reality that we're a part of right now. the reality that people in america are experiencing. people are in different places. and certainly you see that in those numbers. you see that in perceptions much race relations divided by party. and by race. in terms of the effort to try to get some sort of policing reform through kok, there is a very concerted bipartisan effort, there are talks ongoing. the way things go with talks in congress, until there is a deal and it is announced, and you've got leadership signed on, there

isn't really a deal. there's just talks and you just never truly know how close i st. but the mebers of congress working on this are expressing some level of optimism. president biden has given a deadline saying he wants something done by memorial day weekend. this would be the anniversary of george floyd's death it is not clear whether that will happen or not. but they are certainly working on it. >> well, speaking of things they are working on, tam. we know there is an effort underway to establish a commission to investigate the attack of january 6th. the violent insurrection on the capitol, similar to a commission set up after 9/11 we should say. where does that stand right now on our republicans likely to get behind it? >> there is already a rewriting of history that is taking place, even as there is damage still visible in the capitol building. there are still very visible signs of that violent insurrection that happened there in the capitol. in terms of this commission, there s a by part san deal announced late last week.

it's not clear yet whether republican leaderships truly supports it or not. but it was being negotted and theris this agreement, an expected vote on it this week in the house. and really the suess or failure of this commission depends on whether it has bipartisan support, whether it is portrayed by republicans in congress as a legit thing or whether it is portrayed as some sort of extension of a wish hunt ainst former president trump. and how this goes for the next few days may really determine whether this by part san commission is granted legitimacy or not. there are also a lot of potholes thathey could fall into along the way, even if it does pass congress and the commission starts working, it could run into trouble over deciding principle who gets spped and who doesn't, to testify before this commission. >> amy, what do you make of the

prospecting for this commission, base it is how democrats move forward if it goes to a vote, what position does that put republicans in. >> that is the fascinating part, amna, not but four or five days ago republicans in the house kicked from their leadership congresswoman liz cheney who basically was saying we need to have a commission to study what happened on january 6th. a lot of republicans fement like she was pushing them off track, reopening or keeping open a wound, maybe even pouring salt in it. they want to move on, move beyond this, don't want to see the criticism of the president or other memberses of th republican partyho were there on january 6th, including leader mccarthy. and yet here we are, with a bipartisan deal to make this commission a reality. so it seems very hard for me to believe that at the end of the day, republicans are going to get behind something that could expose these same rifts that they were trying to get rid of

by ousting liz cheney from leadership. >> tam, before we let you go, very quickly, i want to ask you about the president's handling of this growing violence in the middle east between israel and hamas in gaza. what do you make of the way the president handled this so are fa. this was certainly not one of the foreign policy priorities coming in this administration. >> this was not part of his first 200 days planned, certainly. but when are you president things get thrurs upon you and there is one of those thingses. he had another call with prime minister benjamin netanyahu today. the statement that the white house put out after that call indicates that president biden discussed support for a ceasefire. he hasn't explicitly callefor one but even using those terms ceasefire is a bit of movement on the part of president biden. he really tried to stay low key on this. he was given multiple chances over the past few days to answer questions about this, to talk publicly about t he has

genelly deferred and put out carefully worded statements instead. >> nawaz: tough thing for any administration, amy walter and tam -- tamara keith, always good to see you both,hanks. >> thank you >> thankou. >> nawaz: it is one of the joys of an american summer: trekking to and through a national park. as covid restrictions lift, millions are expected to explore the great outdoors. now, a provocative article examines the deeper history of how these parks came to be, and their complicated legacy. stephanie sy has our conversation. in a phrase that's often repeated, writer and historian wallace stegner once called the national parks “america's best idea." but in a recent cover story for "the atlantic," author david treuer argues now is the time to

return national parks to native tribes who were forced off the lands. he's calling for the return of mo than 60 of them, including yellowstone, the grand canyon and joshua tree. all told, it would include more than 80 million acres. david truer is a member of the leech lake, ojibwe tribe in minnesota, and the author of "the heartbeat of wounded knee: native america from 1890 to the present." david treuer, thank you so much for joining the newshour. there were so many passages that stood out to me in your article, including the description of yellowstone, which you write from the perspective of history is a crime scene. describe how what happened there makes your case for returning national parks to tribes. >> yeah, well, yellowstone was enabled was created, i think, in so yellowstone was created during the height of the plains wars between various western tribes in the united states government.

and in the middle of that battle, they created this park which excluded a deprived, you know, primarily the shoshone benek and other tribes of access. they were forcibly removed, kicked out of the park, forbidden from hunting and gathering and using the park or that land as they had for four centuries. yellowstone is just one of many parks and it's a pretty unique one. but we can see even just by looking at yellowstone, how fraught that place is with history. >> sy: of course, yellowstone was the first of the national parks, and you write specifically that there is no better remedy for theft of land than land. so that is your argument. but hundreds of millions of people visit these parks every year and there are 574 federally recognized tribes. so, david, how would this plan work? >> well, that's the really great news. as you know, at least as far as my life is concerned, is that i don'have to have plans. i just have to have ideas. so as parks were being created, over 87 million acres of

parkland were being set aside for americans. native americans were being deprived of and we lost control of over 90 million acres. so i think it's high time that the united states did the right thing and returned land to native tribes. and, you know, we would manage it on belf of all americans. this wouldn't be a place that sort of non-native people would be excluded from. these parks would be open to everyone as before, but they would be managed, controlled and protected by us. and i think it's safe to say that we are much better. we are much better at encouraging and making room for our neighbors than the federal government and the majority of americs have been at least vis a vis native people for the past few hundred years. so, you know, if this were to happen, if the parks were run by a consortium of all the tribes, the united states and managed on behalf of all americans, this would be good for native pple, of course, but it would also be good for arican people. and good for parks. >> sy: so i get what you're

saying, that you're the ideas guy, not the policy guy, but you do mention a consortium and this is a really big idea. i wonder whether the tribes are equipped to maintain that twenty thousand some trails, the recreational areas and the wildlife. would there be some sort of agement that would guarantee that the public could continue to access these parks? >> what i propose is that there be, u know, sort of covenants put in place that protects the parks and protect access to them as to whetr native people are equipped. you know, we have through long and difficult experience, you ow, managing our own tribes by sort of fighting the united states government and trng to establish our own tribal gornments, working with the united states to form tribal governments, enduring the sort of paternalistic hand of the bureau of indian affairs. we have, through long experience, developed the perfect skill set. there is no one better equipped

to manage parks than tribes. we have the experience necessary. >> sy: david treuer, you lay out a lot of really indisputable atrocities that were leveled against indigenous peoples when this country was settled and founded, and yet many people would acknowledge those truths and say this is still too big a change at this point generations later, and that it maybe goes both too far and in a way not far enough to really right the pass. what do you say to those skeptics? >> well, you know, i don't think you can ever sort of, you know, undo the past. but this country has a has a fundamental problem in its in its persistence in, you know, believing the myth of its own innocence vis a vis slavery and vis a vis the theft of native land. and in terms of not, you know,

going too far, would you rather have tribes run the parks or would you rather have the park service administration inside the department of the interior run the parks? parks are right now vulnerable to shifting winds of federal policy and to the whims of and so i think it's actually not a very radical idea to give them to tribes to protect and not only to protect, you know, from sort of environmental degradation and overcrowding and all the other things that parks deal with, but to protect from the very government that created them in the first place. >> sy: you know, i'm reminded that it was another "atlantic" cover piece about reparations for african-americans by ta- nahesi coates a few years ago that really sparked a conversation about reparations. and now places are actually starting to pay out reparations for the descendants of slaves. david treuer, do you see that path forward for native americans? >> absolutely. you know, in reparations to native people need to be made in the form of land. that is fundamental.

you know what, you know, it's a really powerful thing to stand at, y, yosemite and to look up. observing and being a part of an incredible thing when we get to go to places like that or yellowstone or glacier or have really profound as well to stand in those places and know that you're standing on native land once again and to look up at half dome or el capitan and know you're not just seeing beautiful a beautiful mountain, but you're actually seeing the practice of justice and in this country in this day and age. that is something we need. you know, nature might be able to heal the soul of the individual, the gift of the parks back to native tribes to manage for all of us might go some way into healing the soul of this country, which is in pretty rough shape. >> sy: i think it would be hard

for anyone who reads your article to ever look at those vistas out of yosemite the same ever again. david treuer, historian and author, thanks for coming on the newshour. >> thanks for having me. >> nawaz: finally tonight, it's been an incredibly difficult school year for millions of educators and students across the country. some teens, like 17-year-old tiffany rodriguez from philadelphia, had to become the family breadwinner, putting their education on hold and their health at risk. this story is a part of“ disrupted: how covid-19 changed education,” a special from the newshour's student reporting labs, ouyouth journalism program for teens. the narrator is student reporter yeonseo seok from westview high school in san diego, california.

>> this school year was-- things went down hill immediately. er since september, everying has just been an uphill climb. >> tiffany rodriguez was out of school for threeonths thisser yoo, at first her music teacher din't know why she was absent from their online classes. >> when i stopped seeing you log in is when i obviously, my first concern started to really set in. so what was happening in like that first month of school for you. >> i ended up having to work. and work was a battle. it was a war, cuz i ended up having to sphort my family, is was the only one in the houseworking at the time. i had to take on a lot of hours including school hos so i would be in orchestra and music class while i was serving

smoothies to people. and it was very frustrating because you know, working at the same time while being at school, you don't really retain anything so i would take any hours i could and cuz money was short. so i did what i had to do. but then i ended up catching the virus. >> a week after her diagnosis, tiffany started to feel better and thought mybe she sailed rough it but then her held went down hill. >> my doctors almost hospitalized me. i couldn't get out of bed. i couldn't walk, i couldn't breathe correctly. >> tiffany, you were all smiles right now, which is fantastic. so that tells me you are in a much better place. >> i feel like my last few weeks of having covid, i really took that time to appreciate who i was and how what is life going to be like for me.

d just take things as it comesk you know, really appreciate the little things and be grateful for what you have had. i like who i am now because of this entire experience, this entire situation. >> things are better now for her family too. she says they are financially stable and no longer worried about working all the time. she still has lingering fatigue from her bout with covid ut is able to come back to her online asses in march and is busy catching up with what she missed. >> i know i speak for not jst myself but the other teachers at the school to say that we really, really proud of you. >> i am really hoping that my story can set somebody on the right path or inspire somebody, even, to just you know, even being pushed out so many times, you can still get back up, and get back up even stronger. >> nawaz: be sure to tune into the newshour's youtube channel

or facebook page tuesday night for the full program. and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm amna nawaz. join us online and again here tomorrow evening. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you, please stay safe, and we'll see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> a raymond james financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. life, well-planned. >> the kendeda fund. committed to advancing restorative justice and meaningful work through investments in transformative leaders and ideas. more at kendedafund.org.

>> the alfred p. sloan foundation. driven by the promise of great ideas. >> supported by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. more information at macfound.org >> and wh 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. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

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