captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight: insurrection aftermath. republican senators block the an independent investigation into the mob attack on the capitol on january 6. then, mega-drought. the western u.s. faces a critical shortage of water as the threats of wildfires loom on the horizon. >> no, this drought is far from over. 2021 is shaping up to potentially be the driest of all of the drought years in the last century, and definitely one of the driest of the last millennium. >> woodruff: and, it's friday. david brooks and jonathan capehart analyze the failure to investigate the insurrection and

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like the one established after 9/11, failed today after g.o.p. leadership used special deying tactics for the first time thi year. lisa desjardins is here to explain what happened. llo, lisa, i know you re following this well into the night as we waited for a vote. tell us, how close did the senate come to seeing this commission voted into existence? >> for this divided senate, this was close, the commission came within three goats of getting the 60 senate votes in the support that it would need. that is adding in some absent senators because, as you said, it was a late night and about a dozen senators left washington before the vote. let's look at the republicans who supported moving on to this bill, kind of overriding that filibuster block. there were six republican senators, seven republican senators, who either voted today in favor of moving forward with

the commission or who said they would have voted in favor. i stress, of those seven, six of them were also senators who voted to convict president trump in the last impeachment trial which was, of course, related to january 6. senator lisa murkowski, one of the yes voters last night, said she did feel there was a trump factor. to her words, some republicans didn't want to rock the boat. democrats were furious. 57 votes, that's a majority of the senate. what does that mean for the filibuster? there was no effort by democrats to try to break the filibuster over this issue, while there was outrage. >> woodruff: lisa, you have been following this and the dynamics that led to january 6 in the first place. what is your reporting telling you? >> reporr: our team has been carefully watching all around the country to what's happening and something really caught our attention last night in dalton,

georgia. republican senators here in washington, most were preparing to block the january 6 commission. in dalton, matt gaetz, republican of florida, gave remarks to a crowd in sort of an america-first approach rally about the second amendment. i want to play his remarks here. >> it's not about hunting, it's not about recreation, it's not about sports. the second amendment is about maintaining within the citizenry the ability to maintain an armed rebellion against the government if that becomes necessary. i hope it never does! (cheering) >> reporter: there you heard it's about maintaing an armed insurrection. he says he hopes it doesn't come to pass. this is different than individual liberty, protecting individuals' homes. this is an obvious statement about making government itself an enemy.

gaetz is under federal investigation for racketeering and prostitution, which he denies. gaetz pointedly talking about the government as the potential enemy. >> woodruff: lisa desjardins reporting on both of these angles of what has been happening at the and we should add that late today gladys sicknick, who is the mother of fallen capitol police officer brian -- >> he talked to us d we've hild back. it was just tense. >> it was just tense because -- because we knew, i think, because we knew they weren't sincere. they weren't sincere. >> and they didn't want to get to the bottom of what happened? >> no, no, and i don't understand it. >> woodruff: we will continue our look at republicans blocking

the january 6 commission later in the program. >> woodruff: in the day's other news, president biden formally released his $6 trillion budget for the coming fiscal year. the plan would sharply increase federal spending on infrastructure, public health and education. it would be funded largely by tax increases on corporations and wealthy americans. even so, it forecasts a deficit of nearly $2 trillion, and would send the nation's overall debt to new records. on the pandemic, the c.d.c. says tonit that fully vaccinated kids do not have to wear masks at camp this summer. it also says children not yet vaccinated should use masks in crowds, or when they are inside. the new guidance has been much- anticipated by parents.

with covid restrictions easing, americans are traving in near- record numbers this memorial day weekend. today, the secretary of homeland security, alejandro mayorkas, warned of long lines at airports, with traffic hitting pre-pandemic levels. >> people will see lines because, you know, there's going to be a tremendous amount of people traveling this weekend, but patience is required. this is a partnership between t.s.a. and the people we serve. >> woodruff: mayorkas also said officials are considering possible vaccine passports for people going abroad. later, though, his agency said there are no such plans. the issue has become a flashpoint for opponents who say the passports would violate personal freedoms. also today, the world health organization said it's working up a plan for more studies on the origins of covid-19. overnight, a u.s. statement criticized the w.h.o.'s initial study as "insufficient and

inconclusive." it called for sending expert back to china, where the virus was first detected. a major new cyber-attack has hit more than 150 u.s. and foreign government agencies, think tanks and humanitarian groups. microsoft says the culprits are the same russians behind the solarwinds hack. this time, they accessed an email service used by the u.s. agency for international development, and targeted 3,000 other accounts. vice president harris told graduates at the u.s. naval academy today that they will face challenges unlike anything that came before. she spoke to about 1,000 graduating midshipmen in annapolis, maryland-- the first woman to do so in the school's 175 years. and, she warned, it's a new er >> adversaries have their sights set on our military technology, our intellectual property, our

elections, our critical infrastructure the ransomware attack by criminal hackers earlier this month, well that was a warning shot. >> woodruff: last year, the academy held a virtual graduation ceremony for the first time, due to the pandemic. three police officers in tacoma, washington pled not guilty today to killing a black man, manuel ellis, in march of 2020. two white officers are charged with second-degree murder. an asian-american officer is accused of manslaughter. prosecutors say they held ellis down until he suffocated. organizers in oklahoma have canceled monday's main event on the tulsa race massacre of 1921. they cite unexpected circumstances. u.s. homeland security officials had issued general guidance about possible attacks at such events. the massacre involved a white mob's killing some 300 people-- most of them black.

in economic news, the postal service is asking to raise first-class stamp prices by three cents, to 58 cents. it is part of a general increase filed today with the postal regulatory commission. and on wall street today, the dow jones industrial average gained 64 points to close at 34,529. the nasdaq rose 12 points. the s&p 500 added three. and, the investigation continues tonight in the railyard shooting that killed nine people in san jose, california. the motive remains unclear, but officials have identifiethe victims. stephanie sy has a remembrance. 36-year-old taptejdeep singh spent his final moments trying to keep others safe, his family said. a husband and father to two, taptejdeep was committed to serving others. michael rudometkin started at v.t.a. as a mechanic before becoming an overhead line worker. the 40-year-old was described on

facebook as a great friend. life with zest his family told the associated press. he was described by his father as a man with many friends. j alex fritch was described as optimistic, passionate, and a dreamer. he was a husband and father to two teenage boys. alex, who worked at a substation, was 49 years old. paul megia was an assistant superintendent at v.t.a. and always willing to help employees and accept tasks with a smile, his colleague said. paul was 42 years old. timothy romo was described as caring and selfless, and he had endless jokes. the 49-year-old husband, father, and grandfather worked at v.t.a. for more than two decades. lars lane was the first to help his neighbor, and he loved his family fiercely, his son said. according to local news outlets, lars would have turned 64 this

weekend. abdolvahab alaghmandan worked for v.t.a. for two decades. he often worked overtime and throughout the pandemic. he was 63 years old. adrian balleza was a light rail operator at v.t.a. he was a loving family man, who still had so much to give, his family said. adrian was 29 years old. still to come on the newshour: why the mega-drought is dangerous for the western u.s. how qanon is dividing families. art inspired by the tulsa massacre, 100 years later. and, much more.

today's move by the g.o.p. to block an investigation into the capitol insurrection. former new jersey governor tom kean, a republican himself was chairman of the independent bipartisan 9/11 commission, the congressionally approved panel which served as a model for the proposed january 6 commission. and governor kean joins me now. what is is your reaction to this vote today where the commission fell short by a number of votes? >> i'm sad. it looks to me right now like american people may never find out the truth, and we knead to know the truth. we have to find out why it happened, why the capitol defended the wayt was, who was involved in the conspiracies and need to do that to prevent it from happening again.

>> woodruff: governor kean, what about the argument made by a number of the republican senators, six of them voted for but the vast majority voted against, and a number said there are already investigations underway, congress has commissions looking into this, that an independent commission wasn't needed. >> it's the same thing they said when they tried to prevent the 9/11 commission from being cede. the truth is congress cannot properly investigate this thing unless you have a bipartisan structure and staff to find out the the truth. congress are busy doing a whole bunch of things that are extraordinarily partisan and this is too important for america's history. i'm afraid if they don't change their minds, they're not going to get it right. >> woodruff: >> woodruff: i was reading a comment from republican senator mike lee of utah, he predicted if it had been created it would have been a kangaroo commission, it would have been looking at areas outside january 6, and it

constituted a recipe for a witch hunt. did you see any potential for that in what was being suggested? >> none that i saw. you know, congress should have a clear description of what this commission should do and i think it did in the legislation, and, so, no, i didn't see any chance of witch hunt at all. i think they would have done a good job. there are good men and women in both parties who are willing to give government service and would have done it to find the truth. truth is what we need in a democracy so we can proceed. >> woodruff: governor, this is what you are referring to in the comments you are making but help our audience understand what's lost by not having an outside, independent, bipartisan body to look into the events of the attack on the capitol. >> credibility is what's lost because, right now, if you had a congressional investigation now, we've seen a lot, democrats and

republicans yelling at each other, and the truth gets lost. what we're asking for is a bipartisan investigation with good people who are retired from the congress, probably, or retired from public service who could look at it impartiality, openly and make a report to the american people that would have been accepted as truth, a model of the 9/11 commission. the 9/11 commission worked. we found out the truth and we acted on the truth, we made recommendations and due to this recommendations this country has never been attacked again in the same way. >> woodruff: governor kean, you are a republican, served two terms as governor of the state of new jersey. how do you explain the fact that so many members of your party are opposed to the idea of investigating what happened? >> well, i think they're worried, probably worried about what would come out, but the truth never hurts you in the end. the truth is what you need in a democracy, so i think they're making a mistake. same thing about the 9/11

commission, they oppose it for the same reasons, and it got through because the families of 9/11 pushed it through the congress. we need that kind of a push now because, you know, we got to find out what happened so we can proceed and go ahead. >> woodruff: and we know it was not just former president trump who made it very clear he opposed the idea of this commission, but the senate republican leader minority leader mitch mcconnell worked very hard to persuade other republican senators to vote against this. what is your message to him? >> well, what we learned in the 9/11 commission was republicans were very worried as were democrats would find out things about then president bush and it would hurt him for reelection. if we thought the president was selling the truth, it probably would have helped him. you don't suffer when you tell the truth. unfortunately, in this very

divided congress, to find out the truth is to do it in this manner, do it in a bipartisan manner and one that everybody accepts. unfortunately, that looks like that's not going to happen. >> woodruff: speaking of that, now that we've had this vote, is there a way that you know of where there could be some kind of independent investigation short of what congress was trying to create? >> well, you can do it outside of congress, but then you don't have subpoena power, you don't have the tools you need in order to do a proper investigation. so this was the right way to do it, and my hope is that the public and other people will call and the peple in both -- call on people in both parties to say let's do it and do it right to tell the american people what they need to know to go forward. >> woodruff: governor, have you been in contact with members of congress, with members of the senate on this to make the kinds of arguments you're sharing with us? >> i have not. i probably should have. i've said a nmber of things publicly, and i've talked to a

few congress merntion but i have notalked to members of the senate. >> woodruff: and based on what you're seeing right now, do you see hope? i know you talk to people in public life all the time. do you see prospects for creating something that could, in some way, get to the bottom of what happened on january 6? >> it looks very discouraging at the time we're talking, and it's not only discouraging for this. if congress has now decided they have an inability to appoint an independent commission to look at one of the country's most serious problems, that's a very bad sign for the fute because if they can't do this properly, they're not going to be able to do the next one properly either, and it sets the wrong precedent that says congress is incapable of telling the american people the truth about something very important that happened, and that's wrong. >> woodruff: the former governor to have the state of new jersey and the former chair

of the 9/11 commission, tom kean. thank you very much, governor kean, we appreciate it. >> thank you very much. >> woodruff: nearly one-half of the country, from the pacific coast to the great plains and upper midwest, is experiencing moderate to exceptional drought conditions. it is expected to get worse throughout the summer. but as william brangham reports, it's the western states in particular that are taking the hardest hit. >> brangham: across the american west, there simply isn't enough water to go around, and the full heat of summer is just getting started. from the rio grande to the rocky mountains, a mega-drought is underway. it's shaping up to be the worst water crisis in generations. the darker the red, the worse it is. reservoirs that store water for

millions are below normal, and are projected to hit historic lows soon. this month, california's governor, democrat gavin newsom expanded drought state of emergencies to 41 of his state's 58 counts, affecting one third of the state. >> guys, it's really bad. >> brangham: in utah, republican governor spencer cox declared a statewide drought emergency and has asked all residents to conserve water. lake mead, which was created by the hoover dam, is the largest reservoir in america. it's getting so low, it could trigger a first-ever federal shortage declaration, which could limit water for millions. fo those who've been studying climate change and the west, this has been brewing for years: >> since the year 2000, the western united states and northern mexico has been in near-perpetual drought. >> brangham: park williams is a climate scientist at u.c.l.a. by studying ancient tree rings,

he's able to compare today's climate and drought conditions to those of the past. >> while there have been droughts that were longer than this one in the past, you've got to go back hundreds of years to find one. and even so, this drought, which is now 22 years old, is just as severe as the driest 22-year periods in any of those historic mega-droughts. >> brangham: and this one is not over? >> no, this drought is far from over. 2021 is shaping up to potentially be the driest of all of the drought years in the last century, and definitely one of the driest of the last millennium. >> brangham: this intense dryness is endangering fisheries and wildlife, while farmers across the west are facing crop failures and cattle losses. >> when you're talking about compounding multiple years of drought, it becomes very, very difficult. >> brangham: kevin richards is a fourth-generation farmer in central oregon. >> if you don't have the water to plant a new crop, then you're starting off one step behind next year. so, even if the drought re to

recover, if we don't have new crops in the ground that we've planted in the fall, then-- then it's really going to take an entire2 th rtunately no relief in sight, much of this year's winter snowpack was well below normal. for example, in california, where snowmelt delivers roughly three quarters of the state's water, snow cover is the lowest it's been in the 21 years that nasa satellites have been monitoring it. all of this parched land increases the likelihood of another deadly, destructive, and extended fire season. california has already seen 900 additional wildfires this season, compared to this point in 2020, which itself was a record year. and this is a region-wide concern-- from last spring to this winter, arizona, new mexico, nevada, and utah each had their driest stretch in 126 years. >> for the farmers that grow hay, if they do have hay, they're in a good position, because the price is high. >> brangham: dustin cox is a farmer and cattle rancher in

utah. >> we're getting into the point of, okay, do you feed cows $200- a-ton hay, or do you sell the cows? if you sell the cows, you're not going to get very much right now because if all the ranchers sell cows, there's a big supply of cattle. there's not a big demand because no one in the west-- it's not like it's just regional, right? it's-- it's-- it's all over. it's all over the west. >> brangham: drought conditions are also causing problems for native american communities, like the yurok tribe along the klamath basin in northern california. >> drought puts our natural resources and way of life at risk. >> brangham: at a virtual hearing this week, yurok representative amy cordalis told congress that drought, as well as restrictions on water flows by the government, had harmed the salmon which are central to her tribe's traditions and economy. >> historically, the klamath river was the third-largest salmon-producing river on the west coast.

tragically, its estimated only 2% to 5% of the salmon runs remain today. we have lost millions of dollars as a result. >> brangham: and the impact of this drought could ripple out to consumers nationwide. a huge percentage of the nation's fruits and vegetables, nuts, and beef come from this increasingly arid west. >> it's going to take more and more good luck to pull ourselves out of this drought, and less and less bad luck to fall back into the drought. the long-term normal is changing in western north america, toward a drying one. >> brangham: for the pbs newshour, i'm william brangham. >> woodruff: a survey released by the public religion research institute this week found 15% of americans believe the false qanon idea that the government is controlled by a cabal of satan-worshipping pedophiles.

and just one in five republicans fully reject the qanon conspiracy theory. for many americans, those ideas are not only outlandish-- they are dangerous, and are tearing their families apart. we spoke to three people who relationships have been hurt by these far-right beliefs. >> hi, my name's rachel, and my relationship with my mother has become completely estranged in the last year. >> my parents have fallen down the qanon rabbit hole, and have become extremely obsessed with it. >> i have a sister who believes in the qanon coniracy theory. >> she's watching youtube videos and she's just getting funneled down that algorithm right to more and more kind of radical, bizarre things. >> my dad was my best friend growing up, we did everything together. and then, in just the past year, for sure, he's just changed into a different person. >> my sister is, has always been my best friend.

and she is, to this day-- i mean, i love her. it's hard to explain sister love, i love her in a way that i can't love anybody else. i worry about her now. >> right before the pandemic year was the closest we ever were. we would go on walks. she would come over and play with the kids. it's easier to feel angry at her than it is to start thinking about how much i miss her. i've always been really proud of my mom. she's a nurse, she's a cancer nurse. she's helped a lot of people and their families kind of face difficult moments and face death.

she's a kind, loving person, and i feel like she's been tricked into believing all these things that are against her core values, in a way that is so obvious to me. >> what qanon is doing is, they're trying to make the entire world a conspiracy. literally they will connect the dots to everything that you touch, see, feel, whatever. and that is where the danger zone-- that's when i started to be fearful for her. well, that's very dangerous r people to be believing that, because they're putting themselves at risk, but they're also putting more-- other people at risk. they're putting people at risk that they love. >> it's not just like a funny conspiracy theory, that unicorns and bigfoot is real and all, like, aliens, all these things. it's these they've almost

indoctrinated and they're, like, set in his core beliefs. it's exactly like a cult, and they drink the kool-aid and all and it's just, it's really scary. >> what happened in my relationship with my mother is that now i'm part of that. i'm part of this, you know, evil force that she has to reckon with. she doesn't trust me. she doesn't believe that i could sympathize with her or that i respect her. you know, a big mistake i made is that she thinks i think she's stupid. there's a lot that, like, if i could go back and correct what i could take responsibility for, it's that i wish i had gotten less frustrated. i wish that i had been more patient. i wish that i had been slower to react.

face, and i'm thinking now i'm at the point where i've given up. >> i pray for her every day that she will come to a realization that this is nonsense. i can't do much more than that because if i discuss it with >> i can't change him. i can't force him to do things. i just-- i do. i just have to sit here and wait and hope for one day he calls me, texts me, shows up on my door and is just like "yep, i was wrong." and then we go from there. but i-- i hate that i have to wait, but it's for my dad, so i'll do it. last number of weeks, and we turn from that to the analysis of brooks and capehart, that is "new york times" columnist david brooks and jonathan capehart,

columnist for "the washington post." very good to see you and thank you for being here on this friday night. jonathan, we are sharing those voices because we know that's part of what was driving the insurrection at the capitol on january 6. it came to a vote today in the kthe -- in the congress and the senate, as you know, and the republicans blocked it. what does that say about not just the republican party but what are theonsequences of what happened today? >> the vote today, judy, was just shameful. this should not have been a democratic issue or a republican issue, this should not have been a partisan vote, this should have been a vote just grounded in patriotism, being able to say with a unified voice that what happened there on january 6 when they were trying to certify the electoral college vote in a presidential election thawhat happened there was something that needed to be investigated and, if necessary, people held accountable and lessons learned

it doesn't happen again. it says a lot about the republican party. but, to me, i just -- i worry what that message sends to the country about how congress is functioning or not functioning, but also whether the capitol could withstand another attack. i mean, january 6 wasn't the end of something, it was either the beginning of something, or we're in the middle of something, and, you know, even though the independent commission failed, that doesn't mean that investigations aren't going on, and i'm not just talking about the court cases that are happening, but, you know, speaker pelosi could form a house select committee. there are committees inthe house and the senate that are and can do their own investigations. the only problem with that, though, it would have a partisan tinge just from appearances. but i would argue that any investigation into what happened

on january 6, i believe, would be done for the sole purpose of not through partisan lens but through a patriotic lens of trying to figure out what happened so it doesn't happen again. >> woodruff: david, what you're thinking as you look at the vote today and, frankly, listening to these family members of people who believe in the q anon conspiracy. >> every party organization has loyalty mechanisms. mostly, it's we commit to something together. the republican party's loyalty mechanism is you have to believe in the myth, you have to believe in the lie about the election, and you have to believe in the lie about the insurrection. i saw a poll today that 74% of republicans think leftist activists were a large part of what caused that. so you have to believe in the myth, and if you're a senator, you have to believe in the myth to stay part of the party, and that's the way it is. i have to imagine mitch mcconnell and normal republicans would love to get

rid to have the myth and the trumpian craziness and, it seems to me, for the benefit of the party and the country, this commission is a way to expose the truth and to begin the detoxification process. now, sure, your party takes a short-term hit, there would be bad headlines, but the long-range health of the party, it's got to be a good thing to get to the truth and expose what happened. the final depressing thing to me was 9/11 happened, it was a national blow, and we were at least able to come together around the centrist groups of establishmentarians, groups of individuals, and form a commission. we are no longer that country. so i we're hit by another blow, will we have another commission again? do we have a center in the country, a group of people that are trusted on both sides? i'm not sure we live in that country anymore. >> woodruff: yeah, and, jonathan, it does raise questions about not just who we are as a country, buthat's happened to our political

parties and their entire belief systems. but speaking to have belief systems, i want to turn to president biden, who, today, proposed his really shocking -- shockingly large budget proposal, $6 trillion. it really is a bringing together of all his recent proposals on infrastructure, families, and so forth, for the last several weeks. but it is a number we haven't seen before. is it realistic? does it meet the eeds of the country? >> i do think it meets the needs of the country in terms of this -- speaker pelosi, if you ever interview her about, you know, budgets and things like that, she will tell you, show me your budget, and i will show you your values. d i think what president biden has done with this budget is he is showing the nation what his

values, are what his priorities are, and what they are on behalf of the country. remember, in his joint session speech, he talked about and ground a lot of what he was saying in, you know, we must do this as a nation to prepare the nation's roads and bridges, to expand opportunity for americans by, for instance, expanding broadband access because that for the 21st century is what the national highway system was in the 20th century, all as a means of improving the country so that we can compete against china and that we are in this battle right now between autocracy and democracy, and the only way we can prove that democracy -- that democracy is better is that if we can show that democracy works. $6 trillion,udy, yes, it's a huge price tag, but, as we know from president biden, he sees this as a moment to do big things, to help as many people as possible,nd that

requires -- that requires some cold, hard cash in volumes that we have not seen before. >> woodruff: and, david, what's your cold-hard assessment of this budget plan? >> my warm, mushy assessment is that it's probabl necessary. i've never been a progressive or even close to that, but it is just simply a fact that over the last 30 years, folks with a high school education and associates' degree have not been reaping the benefits of our economy, and president biden wants to make an investment in those folks, and i think that's just. i was struck by how often he brags about the fact that the infrastructure bill, the benefits, the jobs, they go to people with an associate's degree and a high school degree. the folks who have a college degree don't need as much help, frankly, and, so, this redirects money to those who need it. so i take the direction to being right. the two cautionary warnings, i would say, is, first, the threat of inflation is real. this is not just warren buffett

and other business people warning about this, the consumer price index is up, and maybe this is just a hiccup and these are temporary inflationary effects, but if we overheat the economy then the feds will have to slam on to breaks and those we want to help most will suffer the most. i just hate it when we get rid of truisms, and it has been a truism that if your debt passes 100% of g.d.p., your nation is going to be in trouble, and to pretend that law no longer exists worries me. and, so, i'm worried about the inflation of the debt, but i do think the investment is necessary. >> woodruff: david, quickly, are you saying because to have the inflation worry, the budget is less needed? >> no, i'm saying we've thrown trillions of dollars into the economy, and that's heated up the economy to a great degree. and if we throw another bunch of ons in, as the budget envisions, then we're really

heating up and possibly overheating the economy, which leads to inflation, which leads to lower living standards, which leads to huge government payments on the debt that we owe, and the 1970s -- it leads to the 1-9d 70s, which is all sorts of bad things. >> woodruff: lots of warnings in that. jonathan, in the final minutes that we have, i want to turn to something we observe this week and that was the one year since the death, the murder of george floyd in minneapolis at the hands of a white policeman. what is it -- what do you see that our country -- about our country over the past year? has it -- have we come to terms in any way, do you think, with what was shown by the death of george floyd? >> it depends on my mood, judy on the one hand, yes, we have come to terms in the sense that

we are now talking more openly and a little more honestly about racism -- structural racism and the inequities that are built into our system and how black and brown people, but african-americans in particular, bear the brunt of that. i take that as a good sign, that we are able to talk about it more freely and more openly. where things have not changed is in the other shootings that have happened, the other incidences of law enforcement killing black people. you've got the situation of ronald green who was killed two years ago but the video has just come out where the police says one thing and the the video shows somethi horrifically different, or during the der chauvin trial for the murder of george floyd, right when we were all waiting for the verdict, what happened? dante wright was shot and killed by a brooklyn center, minnesota,

police officer, just up the road a bit from the courthouse in minneapolis. again, another unarmed african-american man killed by police. while we have incremental progress in some areas, we are reminded, sometimes daily, that the work, the hard work of changing and whittling away and chiseling away at systemic racism, it is a tough job, it is a hard job, it is a -- but it is a task that is necessary and requires persistence. >> woodruff: david, it keeps happening. 30 second for you. >> the big thing that changed for the good is what you miht call the main streaming of systemic racism. a lot of people thought racism was a bad person hating african-americans. but we understand if you take a look, for example, at the wealth gap between blacks and whites, that's not just about individuals hating, it's been built into the structure of our

society through discrimination and red lining and all the rest. the president biden became the first to use the term systemic racism, and that's a step forward becauseth not about blaming people, it's about recognizing the legacy of the past and the way it continues to apply injustices in the present. the mainstream strikes me as one step further. it's a conversation we'll continue to have in the days and weeks and months and years to come. david brooks, jonathan capehart, thank you both. >> thanks. , judy. >> woodruff: while new coronavirus cases continue to drop in the u.s., the immense toll of the virus remains a constant for so many families who have lost loved ones during the pandemic. we pause to remember some of their stories.

kao ly ilean her was a trailblazer dedicated to helping new immigrants and asian americans gain access to resources she never had as a young refugee in the 1970s. known as “ilean” to family and friends, she fled war in laos to a small town in iowa at the age of seven, helped to raise her four younger siblings while their parents worked long factory hours and went on to become the first hmong woman admitted to the minnesota bar association. empowering young asian american women was a special focus of ilean's. she leaves behind a series of nonprofits and an annual summer festival in st. paul that celebrates asian cultures across minnesota. ilean was 52. 74-year-old john “jack” delano harding was a renaissance man, said his wife.

he had a passion for the outdoors, art, and theater, among other things. a family man, he loved to share his hobbies with his wife, kids and grandkids. above all else, jack was drawn to science and all its possibilities. he loved discovery and collaboration. he dedicated himself to the field of molecular biology, and went on to work at the national institute of health in maryland, running its primate research center for almost 18 years. his wife said that breaking new ground that could better people's lives is what endeared jack to his work. simone parker's favorite place was in the classroom, according to a close family friend. as a high school chemistry teacher in trigg county, kentucky for the past two decades, simone brought inspiration and encouragement to every one of her students-- especially those who struggled.

after sine's passing, the school honored her with painting and a plaque that included her usual saying to her students “be good. be careful. come back to me tomorrow.” simone was 46 years old. cole brooks, served his small town of nowata, oklahoma as a paramedic for the last eight years. age 60, cole was a humble man of faith, a cowboy through and through who would help anyone he could, said his wife. the father of two beat cancer in 2018, then immediately went back to work on his ambulance crew. the nowata fire and emergency medical services department held a processional in cole's honor after his passing, as his family brought him home for the last time. the nowata area chamber of commerce later named him “hero of the year.” growing up in the phoenix suburb of tolleson, arizona shaped

hector zaragoza's life. hector became a hometown hero when, in 1961, his predominantly hispanic little league baseball team won the arizona state championship. hector went on to serve in vietnam. after the war, he became a high school art teacher. a sensitive soul, he expressed everything through his art, says his family, and loved sharing art's healing nature with his students. a beloved father and brother, hector saw beauty in everything around him, especially within his family. he was 71. >> woodruff: 100 years ago monday, a white mob descended on a black neighborhood of tulsa, oklahoma, killing people and burning homes and businesses. the tulsa massacre is being remembered in many ways-- one of them, an art and history project. jeffrey brown has our report for our arts and culture series,

"canvas." >> brown: a black man and white woman enter an elevator: this is a dance created by choreographer ari christopher in tulsa, oklahoma in 2021. but 100 years ago here, just such an encounter-- a black man accused by a white woman of assaulting her in an elevator, a charge never tried or proven, led to the one of the worst acts of racial violence in the nation's history: an out-of-control ite mob killing up to 300 black people and destroying an area called greenwd, a neighborhood so vibrant it was dubbed “black wall street.” part of the commemoration: the greenwood art project, co-led by houston-based artist rick lowe. >> as i talked to the neighborhood folks, they all had such powerful stories that they were referencing about this

history and many of them through direct family relations. and that's what this project is all about. it's about taking the stories and contextualizing them in a way that people see the art in it. >> brown: some of the results can be seen around tulsa already: installations of photos from the past; and one by contemporary tulsa artist crystal campbell. vibrant murals, representing pillars of the historic community. a collage by jimmy friday in the "black wall street liquid lounge." a van being filled with art is taking visitors around the neighborhood. >> right now we're on historic greenwood. this was the business district that had the doctors, the lawyers. >> brown: those riding along will see the work of professional artists, but also that of community members who are getting a chance to have their voices heard. >> i come from a long ne of survivors, a long line of people that make a way out of no way. that's what my grandmother used

to say. >> brown: therese anderson- aduni's film “rebuilding black wall street” was created from her father's oldome movies and photographs. it's partly an homage to a man who loved his community, a businessman who captured it with his cameras. >> iemember, as a child, opening the closet door, and all these cameras falling out, because every time a new one would come on the market, he'd get it. him and my mom's biggest back- and-forth was about him spending money on equipment. ( laughs ) >> brown: it's also a tribute to resilience and survival. therese's father was of the generation that helped rebuild the neighborhood after the destruction. >> at that time it was about survival. it was about living the american dream as quietly as you can and not drawing attention to yourself so that it wouldn't be taken away. >> brown: in fact, what happened in tulsa in 1921 was hidden away for many years after. city officials sought to erase

the historical record. black survivors, still living in fear for years after, often di't discuss it with their own families. no one was ever held accountable, no compensation paid. there was no official record until a 2001 oklahoma commission report, previewed by news accounts, which is how joi mccondichie first learned what had happened to her grandmother and others. as part of the “greenwood art project,” captured in this video about mccondichie, she's organizing a june 1 "century walk," to replicate the flight by foot out of the city many took to escape the terror. >> a century walk is just a way to commemorate her by walking a mile in her shoes. this is all it is. i don't want to-- it's not a protest. it's not a march. it's just a simple, quiet, memorable walk. and we're only doing 5.5 miles.

but my grandmother walked over 60 some-odd miles! >> brown: artist alexander tamahn and architect deborah richards, both transplants to tulsa, are taking another approach, connecting the past to contemporary black entrepreneurs. they're building large terra cotta blocks-- a nod to tulsa's art deco tradition-- to enhance today's business spaces. >> the history of greenwood is one of resilience and also building and rebuilding over time, because of what happened. we thought, how can we kind of build a workflow for this project for tulsa that is about rebuilding and building and this kind of ceramics history? >> a lot of the commemoration of the centennial is upon reflection and looking back. we really wanted to be more forward-thinking and more alive with, i think, hope for the future and just the progress. this is a part of my giving back

by not just consuming, but really contributing. >> brown: pakistani-born artist sarah ahmad, who first came to tulsa for an arts residency, offers a different kind of connection. >> the shared histories of state-sponsored violence, oppression, massacres of communities. and side by side, the pictures look just exactly the same. so there are those connections, but also personal connections of personal history of trauma that my work is about, rooted in healing from trauma. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> brown: one event in the greenwood arts project was a recreation of a 1920s so-calle“" strutters ball,” complete with period dress. amid the fun and strutting, an imagined moment when people realized what was beginning to happen in the streets outside. >> stop the music! all hell is breaking loose on greenwood. you all have to go home! hide your families, hide your

valuables-- go! >> brown: today, community members say, greenwood faces new challenges, around gentrification and economic opportunities, and continuing issues that permeate all of society. greenwood arts project lead artist rick lowe. >> whether it is police utality, whether it's gentrification, whether it's economic exclusion, all kinds of racial impacts that that we need to be talking about. while the george floyd issue kind of woke the nation up, the folks that we're working with in tulsa, they've been living with this their entire lives. >> brown: organizers hope this year's centennial commemoration honors the history, but also inspires action for the future. for the pbs newshour, i'm jeffrey brown. and separately, we are excited

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♪ hello, everyone. welcome to "amanpour & company." here's what's coming up. >> it's imperative that we look an we do an investigation. >> as president biden calls for a report into the origins of coronavirus, the wuhan lab leak theory comes under new scrutiny. i ask harvard epidemiologist marc lipsitch why it's so important to get answers. then, how we emerge from covid. science writer ed yong tells me why the mental wounds are here to stay. plus -- >> parents did not end up in oklahoma because they were fans of americmidwestern winters. >> palestinian