captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> nawaz: good evening. i'm amna nawaz. judy woodruff is away. on the newshour tonight: a tenuous peace. a ceasefire between israel and hamas holds, but tensions are high as both sides claim victory. then, covid's global toll. we look at the enormous vaccine gap between rich and poor countries, as the virus surges in the developing world. plus, one year later. how the emotion and trauma following george floyd's murder is finding its way into artistic expression. >> there were times that i was weeping, painting the picture, and i had to take breaks and, you know, seeing that face, that large, and painting it that way with that black and white, was-- was really profound to me as i painted it. >> nawaz: all that and more, on tonight's pbs newshour.

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knight foundation. fostering informed and engaged communities. more at kf.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: and friends of the newshour. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> nawaz: well, the shooting has stopped, but the war of words goes on. israel and hamas offered sharply different appraisals today of who won and who lost their fourth conflict in just

over a dozen years. john yang reports on day one of the ceasefire. ( cheers ) >> yang: the sounds of celebration replaced the echoes of artillery fire and rockets as the fragile truce largely held for its first full day. thousands of palestinians rallied in gaza, declaring victory over israel after 11 days of fighting. >> ( translated ): this is a liberation. we won. we broke their pride. i hope god will protect the resistance. >> yang: a senior hamas official in gaza city had a message for israel. >> ( translated ): netanyahu, the zionist enemy, and his army said that they would destroy the tunnels above our resistance, and i tell him today that our fighters are now striding proudly in the tunnels. >> yang: hamas' leader, ismail haniyeh, also thanked iran for supplying weapons to gaza. hundreds of hamas supporters marched in khan younis after friday prayers.

there were also celeations in the west bank and east jerusalem. at the same time, israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu declared his own victory. >> ( translated ): when we embarked together on the campaign, i defined its main goal to land a hard blow on the terror organizations, to harm their capabilities and restore calm while establishing our deterrence. and that is exactly what we did. >> yang: but he also sounded a warning: >> ( translated ): if hamas thinks we will tolerate a drip of rockets, it is wrong. we will respond in a different power to any show of aggression against the communities surrounding gaza or anywhere else in the state of israel. >> yang: the truce was tested today when palestinians threw rocks and molotov cocktails at israeli police outside jerusalem's al-aqsa mosque compound. officers fired back with stun grenades. palestinian protesters also clashed with israeli security forces in the west bank city of hebron. netanyahu is facing criticism from israelis who say he ended

the assault too soon. >> i'm against the ceasefire with gaza. i think we should continue the fighting, continue the fighting until hamas will collapse totally. it's only a matter of time until the next operation in gaza. >> yang: others welcomed the calm. >> finally, there is a ceasefire. hopefully there will be peace in the country. i'm sick of this mess. what can i say? let there be peace. >> yang: tens of thousands of gazans were forced to flee their homes during the conflict. some like hasan alyan returned today for the first time to see the damage. >> ( translated ): look at the rubble and broken glass. look at this ceiling, it has gone. my house was destroyed. if i had rooms built from concrete, i would have saved my kids inside them and wouldn't have fled the house. >> yang: the world health organization took stock of the toll on gaza's already-strained health care system. >> we have recorded significant trauma needs-- substantial fatalities andnjuries are overwhelming the health facilities. 33% of essential medical suppliesre at zero stock, so

even if the hospitals and clinics were functioning, they wouldn't be able to provide the care and services fully anyway because they lack the stocks. >> yang: the w.h.o. said 30 gaza health facilities were damaged, including one that was completely leled. the european union also welcomed an end to the bloodshed, but it insisted that only a political solution would bring lasting peace. in recent days, president biden stepped up pressure on netanyahu to de-escalate the violence, and secretary of state antony blinken will soon head to the region. state department spokesman ned price. >> for the past 10 or 11 days, we've been focused on bringing about an end to the violence, achieving a ceasefire, which we did some hours ago. we're engaged in intense planning for what comes next. >> yang: price also acknowledged the long road that lies ahead. >> no one here is under any illusions that a two-state solution-- that final status

negotiations are on the docket for later this month, or week, or maybe even later this year. so our goal in the meantime is do what can to improve lives, to build confidence, to build instill opportunity and some degree of hope in the palestinian people, so that together they can work constructively with israelis. >> yang: a goal that has frustrated so many white houses in the past. for the pbs newshour, i'm john yang. >> nawaz: in the day's other news, the world health organization said the true death toll from covid-19 is likely far higher than reported. the official global figure is 3.4 million, but the agency estimates the real figure could be six to eight million. we'll take a closer look after the news summary. the state of california says it will drop all social distancing requirements and allow full capacity for businesses starting june 15.

that announcement came today, as federal health offials acknowledged tt not everyone is comfortable with returning to normal. dr. anthony fauci pointed to relaxed guidance on wearing masks. >> as we said with the recent c.d.c. guidelines that say we can feel comfortable that if you are fully vaccinated, that you are safe from being infected, be it outdoors or indoors. you can understand that when people have been following a certain trend for a considerable period of time, that it may take time for them to adjust. >> nawaz: also today, the biden administration said it's partnering with popular dating apps to incentivize vaccinations. users who get the shots will have badges added to their profiles, showing their vaccination status. they'll also have access to premium content. the attorney general of minnesota will take over prosecuting the former police officer who killed daunte wright. keith ellison announced today that hisffice assumed the lead role, at the request of local prosecutors. kim potter was fired after the

shooting a now faces second- degree manslaughter charges. her lawyers say she meant to use her taser, but grabbed her gun by mistake. president biden hosted south korean president moon jae-in at the white house toda with north korea topping the agenda. the two men met as moon is pushing for new efforts to curb the north's nuclear program. mr. biden offered his take at a joint news conference. >> the two nations also share a willingness to engage diplomatically with the dprk, to take pragmatic steps to reduce tensions as we move toward our ultimate goal of nuclearization of the korean peninsula. >> nawaz: the leaders also discussed ways of countering china's growing influence in the pacific region. earlier, the two presidents paid tribute to ralph puckett jr, who received the medal of honor. during the korean war, puckett ran across a battlefield three times to draw fire and highlight enemy positions. his supporters campaigned for decades to get him the nation's

highest military award. puckett is 94 now. at today's ceremony, the presidents flanked him for photographs and said the honor was long overdue. in britainthe government is now reviewing oversight of the bbc after a scathing report on its 1995 interview with princess diana. in it, she laid bare her troubled marriage to prince charles. the inquiry found journalist martin bashir lied to get the interview, and that the bbc covered up the misconduct. diana's eldest son, prince william, said thursday that the interview helped lead to her death two years later in an auto wreck, pursued by paparazzi. >> the interview was a major contribution to making my parents' relationship worse, and has since hurt countless hers. it brings indescribable sadness to know that the bbc's failures contributed significantly to her fear, paranoia and isolation that i remember from those final years with her. >> nawaz: in the wake of the report, the bbc haissued an apology to the royal family. back in this country,

shareholders in tribune publishing voted on selling the major newspaper chain to a hedge fund known for sweeping staff cuts. alden global capital said they approved a deal vald at $630 million. but, the union representing journalists at the "chicago tribune," "baltimore sun," and other papers in the chain said the ballot-counting was in dispute. and on wall street, the stock markets turned in its second losing week in a row. the dow jones industrial average gained 123 points today, but the nasdaq fell 64 points. the s&p 500 lost three points. still to come on the newshour: apple and epic games face off in a trial that could decide the future of smartphone apps. david brooks and jonathan capehart break down the politics of the january 6 commissn. w.n.b.a. superstar sue bird on the impact of the league as it marks 25 years. us, much more.

>> nawaz: while the pandemic's toll is easing here in the u.s., it still has a firm, deadly grip on a number of other countries. the estimated global death toll from covid-19 remains around 13,000 people a day. and the w.h.o.'s new estimates are far higher than many realize. william brangham looks at some of the implications. >> brangham: amna, things are indeed better in the u.s. but still, more than 600 people died from covid-19 in america in the past 24 hours. in other countries, the official toll is many times higher, and new infections keep climbing. india reported more than 4,200 deaths in the last day. brazil, more than 2,400. in fact, six of the countries with the highest current death rates are in south america. and, according to the w.h.o.,

that's likely a significant under-estimate of the real toll, off by three to four million deaths, at least and for many of these nations, life-saving vaccines are barely available. dr. monica ghandi specializes in infectio diseases and global medicine at the university of california, san francisco. dr. ghandi, grade to have you on the prram. do you think that these w.h.o. estimates are accurate? and if those horrible numbers are real, what does that say about the real danger we are still in from this virus? >> you know, this is a very dangerous virus, and like you just said, there's this paradox of places that are vaccinated quickly and are wealthy and have access to those vaccines going back to normal and discussing wheno we get to take off masks, and that paradox is completely out of sync with what's going on in so many places in this world. this is a highly deadly virus. but beyond that, health systems

matter. so places where health systems are equipped to manage this load don't have the oxygen, the capacity, the fatality rate of this infection will be higher. i'm sad but not surprised that the death toll, as the w.h.o. said, is much higher, 13,000 a day. >> reporter: you touched on what we know is the way out of the pandemic, which are these life-saving vaccines. what role should the u.s. and the u.s. policy-makers play in trying to accelerate the rate of the vaccines globally? >> you're exactlright. the only way we can get out of the vaccines is we have the solution. we want to go back to being the global health leader that we played that role so often in the past, and the four ways are something we've already done, which is for the neutral -- work

with the w.h.o. to temporarily waive vaccine patents. other countries aret signing on. it's important for them to keep on pushing on that, the u.s., because this is for the future for countries that are not yet in trouble. for countries that are in trouble right now, we need to donate or loan doses, and we do have excess doses. i wrote a police in "the atlantic" and others and many have echoed this, our young, our kids in this country could even wait to get their doses of vaccine to help people who are much much more likely to get severe disease in other countries. and we do have surplus doses. estimated we have 300 million surplus doses, and with the astrazeneca we have more than that. third is the pharmaceutical companies should use philanthropy. this is a global health crisis. they will make money.

they should use philanthropy and give doses and i do believe the u.s. could help urging them. and then fourth is the u.s. role convening the u.n. in terms of global manufacturing and along with the w.h.o. figuring out how to get vaccines immediately into places that are surging and lately into places that are likely to surge. >>eporter: i want to touch on a point you made by is the biden administration temporarily approving waving the patent rights for the vaccines. in the 1990s hiaids epidemic, the adherence to patent rights killed many people in sub-saharan africa. do you think, in this debate, we have given too much credence to pharmaceutical companies' arguments about this? >> yes, we have, because what i wrote about was that want, as an h.i.v. doctor, asaw from 1996 to 2001 and all the way to 2005

arguments about whether we should temporarily wave patents while millions died in sub-saharan africa of aides and people living with h.i.v. in u.s. and europe had aess to life saving medications. the disparity was so great and the arguments went on years and years while people were dying and, finally, a lawsuit was actually filed by parmaceutical companies against south africa because they were purchasing cheaper drugs from india, who proved therapy to the world, who is now in trouble, and a lawsuit got so much international pressure to drop it, pharmaceutical companies dropped it and it was recognized this was terribly important that if we have access to these medications we can't let people die in other places. so yes we have to work on vaccine patent waivers now because if sub-saharan africa is not hurting now, they will. coved will eventually come to

every country until we can get them vaccinated. >> reporter: dr. monica ghandi, u.c. san francisco, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> nawaz: the high stakes court battle between apple and epic games, the maker of "fortnite," one of the world's most popular video games, is nearing an end. and today featured an important moment-- apple c.e.o. tim cook took the stand to defend the company's app store against charges that it's grown into an monopoly. lisa desjardins has a look at the antitrust trial that could have big implications for apple, other smartphones, and apps. >> desjardins: amna, this was the first time tim cook has ever taken the witness stand in a courtroom. this battle first started in august of last year, when epic announced it added a n direct payment plan. that gave "fortnite" players the option to purchase virtual currency from epic's payment

system, rather than from apple. apple-- and google, too-- take a 30% cut on purchases done through their app stores. "fortnite" was soon pulled from the app store, leaving millions unable to update the popular videogame for new releases. epic alleges that apple's policies stifle competition and violate titrust laws. but in court, cook said there's plenty of competition from rivals, and said allowing developers to use their own in- app payment plans could expose customers' to "fraud issues." to unpack all of this for us, i'm joined by reuters reporter stephen nellis. stephen, we've got two huge factors in american culture, apple and gamers going at it, but tell us, what's at stake for apple and for weeks who have just regularphones? what's at stake here is what makes apple a $2 billion company. if you think back to when the iphoneas release moderate

than ten years ago, with the big difference in the pcs is the wall garden, the idea that you can only install the software apple distributes will you the app store. android came along later and followed suit with the same model sot's set the bar for the entire mobile phone industry. one to have the features for that for apple is if you wanto be inside the wall garden as a software developer you pay a 30% commission, and that has created the anchor of this $54 billion services business for apple, a big part of what's powered their profits and a big part of what's set the expectations for everybody's smartphone today. >> >> reporter: $54 billion for apple. "fortnite" and epics leading. ics made last year an ad mocking or turning around apple's own iconic 1984 ad.

in this case it was a game character launching at the a.m. image itself. beyond the good guys, bad guys, the legal case is coming down to what does apple do, a device or a games and app company and is it a monopoly? can you help us understand the arguments? >> that's right, lisa. i think it's important to distinguish two things he. first is the actual trial at hand here. as you say, that does hinge on fairly arcane and technical legal issues. mainly, the first thing you have to decide whether you call somebody a monopoly or not is at is the market that we're talking about. and epic, in this case, is making an argument that might sound a little strange to a lot of people. epic is air do youing apple has such a strong lock on its customers, the 1.5 billion iphones are their own separate

market and apple controls the software that goes on to e phone and has a monopoly. as tim cook said today, they feel they can bid vigorously, samsung, apple is a global, so different ones they can buy. this is about video games and what you can pay to place "fortnite." in this case they face competition buzz gamers place "fortnite" on their xbox, play station or gaming pc rig and can pay for the payments there. so that's what this legal case is about. but wh i think is important is to remember that that's separate from the larger discussion about antitrust issues and technology platforms, so we go -- legal experts have said epic has an uphill battle in the case but this is generating a lot of record in the court documents and the testimony tim cook is

giving today that u.s. congress, that lawmakers in europe are going to look at and say, wait a minute, maybe what apple is doing is within the balance of contest of trust law but what if we want to change the trust laws, enact or reform. so that's the bigger battle that's not encapsulated in the specific cas at hand. .>> nawaz: lisa, what do you think -- >> reporter: what do you think tim cook to do? apple called them himself. >> they wanted to make the case that all the rules and restrictions apple places on developers are all in the service of the privacy, security and safety of apple's customer base. tim cook said on the stand many times today this is not all about the money, this is about the user nd experience. they want a phone that just works. they don't want bugs in software, malware and other bad software that crashes their

phone, they want something that's reliable and that feel like they can hand to their children and all the software on there is going to be safe and secure and appropriate for those children. and that's important for a couple of reasons. number one, that's definitely apple's defense in the broader public sphere, and number two, it's also actually important for a legal reason in this case because, under current antitrust law, even if you take -- even if you have a monopoly, even if you charge high prices, if you can show that some of the restrictions you put on one side of a two-side id marketplace like developers trying to get to the iphone customer, if you can show that it has some real benefits for the customers on the other side of it, the courts have said, you know, sometimes that can be okay. so it had an important rhetorical function and an portant (indiscernible) function as well. >> reporter: okay. reuters stephen nellis, we'll

keep following this case. thank you so much. >> thanks, lisa. >> nawaz: from the impact of the mid-east ceasefire on u.s. policy, to a potential coission looking into the january 6 capitol tack, it's a good time for the analysis of brooks and capehart. that's "new york times" columnist david brooks, and jonathan capehart, columnist for the "washington post." good to see you both. welcome back. happy friday. david, i want to start with you. the president was just speaking at the white house, actually, and was asked about this latest cease fire, asked also if there's been a shift in democratic party politics when it comes to the approach in israel. this is what he had to say -- there is no shift in my commitment to the security of israel, period. david, what do you make to have the way the president has handled these last eleven days and this cease fire? >> i think he's handled it pretty well. he's kept the u.s. out of being the center of the story, he's learned from some of the mistakes we learned in 2013

ending that gaza war. he's pressured to lean on bibi and israel top end them pluckily. if he does that it delays the cease fire so bibi can show his independence. and then if he does that, hamas gets more aggressive. so this is is a case where doing things in private was more effective than public so i think the administration was wise to handle it as they did. >> nawaz: jonathan, he was asked the question because growing pressure from within the party from progressives like bernie sanders and oters to do more in way of standing up for the human rights of palestinians. quick numbers from gallup, from a february poll, so before this latest conflict, but it does show that5% of americans do have a favorable opinion of israel. that is up in the last 20 years by 10 points. that same poll, though, when you're looking at the number of

people saying who they think the u.s. should put more pressure on, 35% now think they could put nor pressure on israel. 44% say they think they should put more pressure on the palestinians. are yoseeing that show up in the biden approach. >> i would love to have see what a poll would show today. i think that the bombing, the israeli air defense forces bombing of that highrise building in gaza that also has international news organizations was a pivot point in all of ths where the private conversations that were happening took on even more urgency and then forced the president to go even more public in terms of putting pressure on the israeli government to do something to curb the violence. but when it comes to the democratic party and the forces pulling back and forth, they bring up that pivot point

because senator bob menendez of new jersey w was the chair of the foreign relations committee is known in washington as a stalwart ally within the united states senate supporter of israel and israel's right to defend itself. after that bombing of that building in gaza, senator menendez put out a statement that caught the white house by surprise and a lot of people by surprise by condemning or raising very serious questions abwhat israel had done. and, so, i think that made it possible for president biden to be a little more shall we say forceful in his conversations with prime minister netanya. >> nawaz: well, david, let me ask you more broadly about president biden's approach not just on this one issue. you had a good chunk of time to sit down with him for a fascinating interview, a subject of your latest column called has biden changed, he tells us. you write at the top, what happened to joe biden? most people thought he was a

modern incrementalist but now promoting whopping big leslative packages that make many of the progressive left extremely happy. the answer seems to be it's complicated. david, tell us about that conversation with him. how is it complicated? oh, i believe we have lost the connection with david brooks. we will try to get him back in just a moment. in the meantime, jonathan, let me bring you back in here. you have certainly read the column, a long assessment of whether president biden is and faces this criticism of no longer being a moderate incrementalist many accuse him of. what do you make of it? >> well, david's column was terrific in being able to sit down with the president, particularly this president, who, you know, he wears everything on his sleeve. you know, i have been on a phone call between the president and, you know, opinion writers, including david, so i can pretty much imagine how that conversation went. look, i think president biden is

sort of the president who -- the man who is meeting the moment. a lot of people wonder, you know, whether progressivesave pulled the party farther to the left or pushing the party farther to the left, and i counter that, and i think president biden, by doing what he's doing, it's really that the party is catchinup to the country. you tick off any issue and ask where the american people are, and let's just take raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour, the american people want that done. the democratic party has been pushing for that for a long time. the president -- now the president of the united states joe biden -- is pushing for that. and, so, the beauty of david's column and what i loved about it is that itakes sort of the policy issues that we're talking about now, which is the american jobs plan, the families plan, the american rescue plan, and broadens it out in the way that

david famously does. so the 35,000-foot level, and shows that joe biden, it's the last line in the column, joe biden hasn't changed, it's just that he's gone bigger. the price tags on these things that he's pushing have gone bigger than what he pushed for when he was in the gnat for 36 years. the polls is is that he championed when he was vice president with -- yes, with president obama, so i don't know if it's right to call president biden incmentalist. i think he is incrementalist when it suits his purposes to get something doneright away but i think when you look at everything he's trying to do, he's going big, and he's going big because the problems facing the country are large but, as, he views it through the international prism, which i think david puts in his column because of his time on the senate foreign relations committee, that the problems

that america is facing, they are impacting not just america at home but america's standing abroad. >> nawaz: for anyone wondering why david brooks isn't weighing in on his own column, we just lost his connection. we'll try to bring them back into the conversation and will do so as soon as the connection is reestablished. jonathan, while i have you, i wanted to talk about the the vote on the potential commission to look into the janry 6 capitol attack. there was a proposal that came before the house, they voted on it, it passed there. 35 republicans joined democrats to back that commission. did that number surprise you? >> well, amnaish here's the thing that surprised me, what surprised me is that it was only 35. leave assayed the politics of everything of why it was just 35, the january 6 commission should not be a partisan issue, this should be a patriotism issue. what happened on that day was

horrifying. people right rush the capitol, invading the capitol while the united stes congress was certifying a free and fair and legitimate small "d" democratic election, certifying the election and making it official that joe biden would be the president of the united states. those people tried to stop that. the people who voted against the commission, the other republicans who voted against the commission, they were there thatay. how they could not vote to approve a commission that would look into what happened so that we finout what happened but also so that we can learn things that we could do to ensure that it doe't happen again. the fact that only 35 republicans voted for it, i think, is a shame. >> nawaz: i need to ask you as well, jonathan, because this is right now with the senate, ten republicans there would need to

back it for that commission to move forward. do you see that happening? >> i'm really having a hard tame seeing that happening. if memory serves, seven republicans voted with the democrats to vote to convict. then president -- well, at that point, former president trump, during impehment. i don't see where the other three votes to get to ten come from. that's assuming the seven vote for the commission. >> nawaz: jonathan capehart joining us tonight. i apologize to david brooks. tonight brooks and capehart is mostly just capehart. but, jonathan, good to be with you, as always. >> great to see you. thanks. >> nawaz: even as the pandemic shows some signs of easing in the united states, the number of deaths does continue to climb,

even if slower than before. each friday, we've been honoring some of the incredible lives lost during this pandemic. here tonight are five more stories. bob costello served as fire chief for the fast-growing city of buckeye, arizona for more than a dozen years. as the city expanded, the department-- with bob at the helm-- expanded with it. even then, a coworker said, the 62-year-old was always keen to connect with colleagues and residents in person, whether it was to field their questions, or just say hello bob was also a car buff, a passion that began early in life. and, he was quick to reach out to friends when they were going througstruggles, his wife told us. he'd always take the time to make sure they were okay. there were three things that defined the life of 64-year-old bernita elaine rayford kershaw: family, church and the new york police department, said her

daughter. a lifelong new yorker, bernita dedicated 30 years to the n.y.p.d., first as a police administrative aide, then an investigator. she took great pride in her job and enjoyed helping friends, relatives and even strangers find careers within the department. described by her loved ones as silly, vivacious, and resilient, bernita was a loving partner to her soulmate edwin, and a devoted mother and grandmother. serving and celebrating the native american community in chicago gave angel salas a sense of pride and purpose, said his son. the 70-year-old elder was a healer and a recognized chief of the lakota tribe. a vietnam army veteran, angel cared deeply about honoring other native veterans for their service. he helped organize annual gatherings of vets from various tribes across the country, finding solace and friendship through their shared experiences. his loved ones said angel was a giving man who would be the first in line to help anyone in need.

angel sharedis love of native traditions with his nine children. throughout h life, 89-year-old jane speir brook relished seeking out new challenges. around the time the first of her children left for college, she returned to school as well, earning both her bachelor's and master's degrees while in her 40s. jane also took up skiing at 57. and, over the years, the active church and hospital volunteer from georgia proved to be a prolific gardener. she passed on her love of plants and flowers to her five children and her many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. above all, retired lieutenant colonel john sloan aspired to a career in service, his brother said. it was why the former munitions officer and vietnam veteran joined the u.s. air force, and stayed for more than two dedes. it was also why john, when he retired from the force, made a second career as a university development officer. the 76-year-old especially enjoyed catching up with his brothers at family functions.

one brother described john as fun-loving, optimistic, and "always looking on the bright side." as always, we so appreciate the families who share these stories with us. and we want to note that john sloan, whom you just heard about, was a brother to one of our colleagues right here at weta, where this show is produced. it's another reminder again that this pandemic has touched so many lives over the last year, even those close to us here. >> nawaz: well, the women's national basketball association is celebrating a milestone this week-- its 25th anniversary. the w.n.b.a. has fought not only for national recognition of its athletes, but has long been at the forefront of the racial justice movement and the fight for l.g.b.t.q. equality. the league has faced its share of financial hurdles, yet the

w.n.b.a. continues to prove its resilience, and relevance. the 2020 season was dedicated to breonna taylor. players also took a united stand against former republican senator kelly loeffler, who co-owned georgia's atlanta dream team and criticized the league's support for the black lives matter movement. to explore the league's successes and hardships, i'm joined by sue bird of the champion seattle storm. she's won four titles in the league and is an 11-time all-star. >> sue bird, i am so excited to say this, welcome to the "newshour" and thank you for being here. this is going to be your 18 18th season in the league? you have played for minutes and games than anyone else, 25 years this week for the league. what does this moment mean to you? >> it's pretty special. i think, for myself, it's just really exciti both to know that i have been be able to play this long but also that i have been be able to see the league grow and, right now, it really

feels like the's a turning point in a good way happening, there's some momentum built surrounding our league. you mentioned it the work we've done off the court speaks for itself as well as the work on the court. >> nawaz: which means you have been playing it and killing it for this long and you are defending champio and the league has come a very long wayics right, the viewership has grownsteadily year over year. landmark deals when it comes to pay increases and paid maternity league and you have led the way for all pro leagues taking a stance for racial and social justice. why do you think the wnba has been able to lead in that way? >> i think it's just a product of a couple of things, one, being the makeup of our league. i think when you look at our percentages, we have a high percentage of black women in our league, a high percentage in the lgbtq community. these are things that we live and, of course, we're women and

so these are things we live every day, being marginalized in different ways. that doesn't leave us just because we put on a basketball uniform and start playing a game. so i believe it's in our dna a bit. but we've also found during our time as basketball players, trying to get a professional league going and making it successful, we've encountered a lot of different things. i joke sometimes that people say shut up and dribble, we wanted to. we actually wanted to be basketball players and judgments for our play on the court, but seems like everybody likes to talk ant all the other things that surround the league, that our uniforms should be tighter and we should ok more like women. so i think during the journey through the league, we've developed a backbone and learned to extend our voice to others. >> nawaz: you've lived through the pandemic as the rest of the world. you've played last season in the

bubble. this next season is bubbleless. are you work rid about going back to some version of a new normal? >> yes and no. i mean, i think, at times, you know, when, you know, we're starting to travel now, so we're taking commercial flights and we're in airports and it can be a little alarming at first to see feeble without masks, but simultaneously i think our league has done a tremendous job of educating our members, our players on the vaccine, and, you know, i don't have an exact percentage for you, but i'm pretty sure that our league is going to be pretty close to being 100% vaccinated, and that right there, you know, calls my nerves. not only have we educated ourselves to get that needle in our arm, we're also willing to help educate others and hopefully instill some vaccination confidence in some people who might be on the fence. so that gives me great confidence heading into this season that we're going to be able to play safely. >> nawaz: this last covid

season revealed a lot of the same gaps that persist in the rest of society absolutely still exist in pro sports. talked about reduced games for the wnba, worse facilities than the men's league and women make a smaller percentage of league revenue than the men do. at this point, 25 years into the league, what do you think it will take next to close some of those gap >> yeah, i mean, you know, a lot of people like to compare us to the men, and i understand why. i actually try not to fall into that trap. i think the n.b.a. is incred my successful for a lot of reasons, some of those reasons are investment. we haven't gotten that investment. we haven't gotten, you know, the corporate sponsorship investment, we haven't gotten the media coverage. these are facts. you know, i think it's something like we get 4% of media coverage. so, to me, when you think of the first 25 years of the wnba and then maybethink of what is hopefully the next into our 50th year, we just haven't been invested in.

so to me it's, like, what a great investment. we're haing on as it is and we're doing well anthe product on the court is getting better and better without the investment. so imagine what would happen from zero if you go up to one or two or three and you get something in that investment tegory, it can only do better. so that excites me. >> nawaz: as we mentioned, you and the seattle storm are kicking off this season as defending champs. care to make a prediction, back to back? >> back to back is hard. back to back is hard. you don't see it often, there's a reason. it's really hard whurch the target on your back -- hard when you have the target on your ck. we had a lot overturn-over on the roster because we're like a lot of teams trying to put it together. you will have to tune in and see what happens. >> nawaz: a great message for everyone out there. cushes, champion of the wnba as

they mark 25 years. thank you so much for joining us. >> thank you so much for having me. >> nawaz: next week marks the one-year anniversary of george floyd's murder in minneapolis. his death at the hands of police touched off global protests, and a worldwide tistic response. special correspondent fred de sam lazaro reports from minneapolis. it's part of our series, "race matters: america after george floyd," and our ongoing arts and culture coverage, "canvas." >> reporter: on plywood and sidewalks, brick walls and windows, creative expressions at spa aovent.lop thcity in the days following his death, george floyd's image became an icon around the world. here in the city of minneapolis, there's been an explosion of public art, featuring floyd's face, his last words, and on a

broader theme of racial justice. artist peyton scott russell grew up near 38th street and chicago avenue in south minneapolis-- the intersection where george floyd was killed on may 25, 2020. russell remembers the first time he watched the video of floyd's death. >> i just kept seeing my father's face on george's face. i thought i was alone in how i felt, the anger that i felt in that moment. and i was ju-- oh, i wanted to go out and physically protest. and then i had a few people tell me that i had a stronger voice than to go out and physically protest, which is my-- my art voice, as a street artist. >> reporter: so russell got to work on what would become one of the most recognized depictions of george floyd: a 12-foot black and white mural that, for the past year, has been perched just above the spot where floyd drew his last breath. >> the curfew had just been implemented.

our city was sldering. and i'm in my studio painting this picture, and so a lot of that emotions, i think, really went in there. i mean, there were times that i was weeping, painting the picture, and i had to take breaks and, you know, seeing that face, that large, and painting it that way with that black and white was-- was really profound to me as i painted it. my original thought was, i was going to install this night as, again, as an act of street art, anonymously, d paint mr. floyd's face as large as i could as a way to say, “look what you did.” you know, look, just put it somewhere that was just really intrusive, as an obstacle. my first idea was to bolt it into the mide of the street on the intersection of 38th and chicago. >> reporter: but russell realized a stiff breeze could knock the mural over. or, it could be taken by the city. so, he arrived at 38th and chicago and a group of about 30 people-- some strangers-- helped bolt it to the bus sheltewhere it sits today. russell says he hamixed feelings about the attention he's received for the painting. he's trying to redirect that

attention towards his youth art program, sprayfinger. >> people come from out of town to go to-- to go to that intersection and to take photographs and that, and i've seen tt picture, like, pop up in all kinds of publications. i've been contacted to give permission to use that piece and in a number of backgrounds and stories. and i've been really careful about-- am i really, morally, that person, to say yes or no, who can use this and who can't? i-- because i painted it for the community, and i needed to let it go and let the community own it. and that's what, really, street art is all about. >> reporter: over the past 12 months, countless pieces have been left at the intersection now known as george floyd square-- posters and handwritten notes, flor bouquets and drawings. some have since made their way here, to a pop-up exhibition near the square called “still here, unstolen, unbroken.” jeanelle austin is one of the square's lead caretakers. we spoke to her at the“ say their names” cemetery, a makeshift memorial for black people killed byolice. it's just steps from the exhibit. >> i like to call it "creative expressions of pain and hope" instead of "art," and really honoring the people who have laid offerings down, first and

foremost, as protest and then also as public grief. everything is somebody's offering, therefore nothing is thrown away. >> reporter: austin had a specific vision: remind people of the emotion during those early days of protest. >> we are building a re-memory. the space itself, the offerings themselves, calls people into a place where they remember where we were, they remember where th were, and they are then commissioned to continue the work of racial justice. >> reporter: it was kind of like an embrace that pulled people back to the time. >> exactly. exactly. >> reporter: austin hopes to eventually raise funds for a permanent space large enough to fit all the offerings, as well as a traveling exhibit. but she's been deliberately careful about e sources of that funding. she chose not to take monefrom the city of minneapolis. >> when i look at the story of the lynching of george floyd, i see a city employee on city time

that killed a man. >> it's holding those two contradictions. it's saying, can we trust you? do we have a relationship with you? >> reporter: gulgun kayim, the city's director of arts, culture and the creative economy, says the killing of george floyd broke down the trust it took years to build between the city, local artists and under-served residents. >> what i was expressing when i saw what happened with george floyd was: these are the leral communities we're in every day. our work is on lake street, our work is at 38th and chicago. r work is in many of these communities. and looking at what happened, it really was a sense of despair on my part, in seeing all that hard work really disappear with the action of one person. >> reporter: after floyd's killing and the unrest, kayim's office repurposed funding and managed $100,000 in grants for artists responding to the events. one went to “creatives after curfew,” a collective that painted a series of murals across the city. minneapolis native leslie barlow is part of the group. >> the murals that we started making, you know, of course, on one hand, were a way to process

what was going on, a way to grieve in community, a to also share these particular stories and messages. but also, it was a way to heal and connect with each other, because watching or hearing about george floyd's murder in isolation, right, when we had all been separate for a couple of months, you know, at that point with the pandemic, was incredibly difficult. and that's the time when you you didn't even have to talk, actually, right? like, even just the act of painting, that-- that processing in that way can be very healing for some people, and, you know, speaking for myself. >> reporter: and with messages of solidarity, black liberation, police abolition, barlow says who created the murals mattered. >> in thatirst week after george lloyd was murdered, you know, there was kind of some controversial conversations brewing about who gets to tell these stories in the public art, and the murals that are going up. we were seeing a lot of non-black artists taking up a lot of space. and, yeah, that really ignited something in me. if it's a movement for

black lives, those folks should be able to tell their own stories, or at least be centered in that work. >> reporter: barlow says there were challenges in deciding where to paint, too. >> something i saw last summer was businesses using black trauma as a way to protectheir property. right, so, they are putting up boards asking artists to come do murals, and don't actually align with the messages that are in the murals. it's a very performative act. >> reporter: so you think that some businesses were commissioning artists to make murals so that their businesses wouldn't be attacked if there was one? >> oh, absolutely. that was happening, yeah, all over. >> reporter: one year later, barlow sees a dual purpose in the work. >> i hope at the murals now arboth an archive of that time, but also a kind of liberatory space where people can-- can strive for the messages, right, that are being portrayed. >> reporter: for the pbs newshour, i'fred de sam lazaro in minneapolis >> nawaz: and fred's reporting is a partnership with the undertold stories project at the universi of st. thomas, in minnesota.

now, as we said, next week marks a full year since george floyd was killed. on tuesday night, join us for an hour-long special at where things stand a year later. >> announcer: in a year of racial reckoning, violence, abuse and inequities persist. the chauvin verdichinted at a path to justice. yet much more is to be done. ( protests ) >> biden: now is the time to act. >> announcer: how can we create lasting change? "race matters: america after george floyd." a pbs newsur special report. tuesday, may 25, at 10:00 p.m./ 9:00 central. >>awaz: you can watch the special report on tuesday, and join the conversation by following the newshour online. and don't forget to stay with

pbs tonight. you'll want to tune in to catch yamiche alcindor and her panel of wonderful journalists on "washington week." and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm amna nawaz. for all of us at the pbs newsho, thank you, please stay safe, and have a good weekend. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> fidelity wealth management. >> consumer cellular. >> johnson & johnson. >> bnsf railway. >> financial services firm raymond james. >> the william and flora hewlett foundation. for more than 50 years, advancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better world. at www.hewlett.org. >> supporting social entrepreneurs and their solutions to the world's most pressing problems--

skollfoundation.org. >> andith the ongoing support of these institutions and friends of the newshour. >> this program was made possible by the rporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your p station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by media acce group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

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hello. welcome to "amanpour & company." here's what's coming up. >> what we must achieve is an immediate cease fire. >> as the u.n. calls on iaelis and palestinian militants to pull back from the brink, we get the latest from the israeli defense force. also ahead, what it's like to live in gaza. i talk to a young woman about her daily life in the territory. then -- >> it is time to say enough. >> -- what is the world doing to broker peace? i'm joined by the pakistani foreign minister. also, former republican senator jeff flake on the fight for an independent inquiry into the capitol insurrec