captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening, i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour night, four million dead-- the world passes a grim milestone in the pandemic as governments prepare for a potential new wave of covid infectio from the delta riant. then, ballot battle-- the fight to vote reaches a crescendo in texas as the legislature renews debate over strict new laws. and, a moment of reckoning-- canada confronts a troubling past after the discovery of hundreds of unmarked graves at the sites of former boarding schools for indigenous students. >> we've survived the holocaust of our people and now we look at

the conditions of our communities so this country and these churches, they need to be accountable. >> woodruff: all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> at fidelity, changing plans is always part of the plan.

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>> woodruff: the u.s. military mission in afghanistan will officially conclude on august 31st. president biden moved up the deadline today, from september 11th, and he defended the pull- out in the face of taliban gains. the president said the u.s. did not go to afghanistan to nation-build, and hpressed afghan leaders to prove their mettle. >> they clearly have the capacity to sustain the government in place. question is, will they generate the kind of cohesion to do it. it's not a question of whether they have the capacity-- they have the capacity, they have the forces, they have the equipment. >> woodruff: in afghanistan, government forces said they drove taliban fighters from a provincial capital in the north. other reports said the militants have now seized a key border crossing with iran. in haiti, officials reported that police have arrested two

haitian-americans in the assassinion of preside jovenal moise. two of the alleged assailants were turned over to authorities by a crowd in port-au-prince today. in all, six have been arrested, and four were killed after a gunfight with police. covid-19 has now killed more than four million people worldwide. that is based on official numbers compiled by johns hopkins university. the true count is believed to be even higher. in the u.s., public health leaders said today that most new deaths and infections are occurring where vaccination rates are low. we'll return to this, after the news summary. organizers of the summer olympics today banned japanese fans from the upcoming tokyo games, in the face of surging covid infections. foreign fans were already banned. the new announcement came as the government declared an emergency in tokyo, lasting through the olympics. the head of the japanese olympic committee acknowledged the event

will not be the same. >> ( translated ): the tokyo games were supposed to be a rare opportunity to feel the power of sports through the packed stadiums and united communities. however, it now must be held in a very limited way. i am very sorry for the fans and the local people. >> woodruff: the games are set to start in two weeks. we'll discuss all of this, later in the program. today marked two weeks since a condominium tower collapsed in surfside, florida, and the death toll reached 60. another 80 people are still missing. on wednesday evening, emergency workers held a moment of silence as they transitioned from rescue to recovery. tropical storm "elsa" is moving up the u.s. east coast tonight and regaining some strength. storm warnings extend into new jersey and new york and as far north as massachusetts. the system already killed one person in jacksonville, florida. it also spawned an apparent

tornado that injured at least 10 people in georgia. california called today for voluntary water conservation as drought grips more the state. residents are being asked to cut water usage by 15%. some of the state's reservoirs are already at dangerously low levels, with the sumr just begun. 15 states today endorsed a settlement with purdue pharma over the opioids epidemic. the maker of oxycontin and its owners, the sackler family, will release millions of documents and accelerate compensation to the states. massachusetts attorney general maura healey praised the new terms to let the company emerge from bankruptcy. >> today's resolution delivers thmost important things we've been fighting for. a reckoning that exposes the sacklers' conduct, strips them of their power, and provides money that will be dedicated entirely to prevention, treatment, and recovery.

>> woodruff: ten other states have rejected the settlement. the u.s. food and drug administration reversed itself today on a new drug for the memory-destroying disease, alzheimer's. it had initially approved broad use of aduhelm. now, the biogen drug will be limited to patients with mild cognitive impairment or mild dementia. the european union has fined german automakers $1 billion for blocking emissions controls that might help address climate change. the companies are bmw and volkswagen, plus, vw's audi and porsche divisions. e.u. investigators say they kept improved pollution technology off the market. california lawyer michael avenatti, who once sued president trump, was sentenced today to 30 months in prison. he had tried to extort millions of dollars from nike. avenatti previously represented porn star stormy daniels in her legal fight with mr. trump.

and, on wall street, stocks retreated after jobless claims rose slightly and investors turned to bonds over stocks. the dow jones industrial average lost nearly 260 points to close below 34,422. the nasdaq fell 105 points. the s&p 500 slipped 37. still to come on the newshour: how the surfside collapse raises concerns about future investments in other buildings. texas republicans continue their push for restrictive new voting laws. boomers respond to millennial complaints about the world they created. plus much more. >> woodruff: now, the staggering

death toll from covid-19. more than four million people have died from the disease globally, according to an official count. the actual number of dead is almost certainly much higher and will almost as certainly never be known. as the u.s. and other wealthy nations with high vaccination rates begin emerging from the pandemic, the disease and its variants are accelerating in some parts of the world, killing more quickly than ever. nick schifrin begins our coverage. >> schifrin: as south africa walks through the valley of the shadow of death, the fear is real, and there's little comfort. >> the deaths are now not numbers on a news station. these are people you know, it's family, it's relatives. it's friends. it's colleagues. >> schifrin: dr. kgosi letlape is a physician and activist in johannesburg. he says while the u.s. is normalizing, the world, and africa, are struggling, because of vaccine shortages. >> if it stays like that, not only are we not safe, the world

will also not be safe. >> schifrin: on a day like today, it's difficult to comprehend. four million. equal to the victims of every war, everywhere, for the last 40 years. equal to the entire population of los angeles. equal to the entire nation of georgia. back in johannesburg, these covid patients are the lucky ones. they have beds in makeshift clinics, set up by volunteer medics. south africa's public hospitals are overflowing. healthcare workers are overwhelmed. a third covid-19 wave is driven by an expanding delta variant, and shrinking vaccine supply. >> that is our single biggest chalnge right now. but a lot of the western governments have stockpiles of vaccine. let's release those to where they are needed right now. and increase production of vaccines globally. >> schifrin: south africa's story is a global one. as delta spreads through countries with few vaccines,

hospitalizations and deaths are at new highs. >> schifrin: it took nine months for one million to die. but the death toll rose from three million to four million, in just two and a half months. in the u.s., the delta variant is quickly spreading. in some areas, it accounts for 80% of cases, c.d.c. director rochelle walensky said today. >> although we expected the states, this rapid rise is troubling. we know that the delta variant has increased transmissibility, and is surging in parts of the country with low vaccination rates. >> schifrin: but at least much of the u.s. is vaccinated. much of the world's governments can't vaccinate their own people. and at this point, vaccines are the only way out, as white house covid coordinator jeffrey zeints admitted today. >> it's another life protected. another community that is safer, and another step toward putting this pandemic behind us that has sadly taken more than 600,000 lives here at home and a total of four million lives around the world. >> schifrin: four million

people. and in the 2.5 minutes since this story began, another 15 people have died of covid. for the pbs newshour, i'm nick schifrin. >> woodruff: let's fill in more of the global picture and the struggle to vaccinate as the delta variant spreads. dr. jennifer nuzzo is an epidemiologist who watches this closely at johns hopkins university's center for global health security. dr. nuzzo welcome back, to the newshour, and as we say someone who watched this closely from the beginning, what is the significants to you of this 4 million milestone? >> it just an absolutely, staggering grim milestone to reach. and it's terrible just to think that we've lost four million human beings. but also knowing that that is probably an undercount because being able to diagnose infection and count deaths is frankly a luxury that a lot of places in the world don't have the ability

to do. and you know, i reflect on covid in 2021 and i think about the fact that we now have in production aict vaccines, tools that can prevent these tetts. the fact that we have added more deaths since the invention of vaccines for covid than we had before hand, it's just an utter traged these deaths can be prevented if we are able to get vaccines where they are needed to go. >> woodruff: as we saw in th report from nick schifrin the picture in the rest of the world is utterly grim. the who was saying the continent of africa this past week, its worst ever. >> yeah, i mean i think in the beginning part of this pandemic there was a false narrative that this was a virus that was only affecting rich countes. and that there are certain countries and parts of the world that were largely spared.

we are now seeing that that was an absolutely false assumption and unfortunately i think it maybe took off some of the pressure to make sure that we not only developed vaccines but that we developed plans, real operational plans to make sure we share the vaccines that we do produce. and we are seeing this virus raffage all parts of the globe. and really any country that as of now hasn't been able to vacs naipt large portions of the population and haven't had a large surge of cases remains perilously at risk. we are seeing the virus surging in parts of the world where they had been previously successful at containing the spread of the virus, but these new var yabts outpace those efforts it is hard to keep up with the traditional public health methods the countries have been using and really the only pals way to-- for the prevention of this incredible loss of life and to return to normal for the tbloab is to ensure that all countries have access to vaccines so they can protect their population. >> how do you get that done. we heard the doctor say am that

report, the also of the world there is a stock pile of vaccines. what needs to happen. the u.s. is now shipping what, half a billion plus doses. other wealthy countries are shipping some vaccines to poorer countries. >> yeah, so number of countries have pledged vaccines which is really important. the g7 has come up with about 2 billion vaccine pledge. that is important. i don't want to undersell what an incredible achievement that is. that said, we, the estimates are that we need about five and a half billion vaccines. so first we need to figure out a way to make more and mawk more quickly and the other thing is make sure that these pledges turn into actual vaccines shipped to where they need to be going. and unfortunately, some of those efforts are really falling behind schedule. we have a narrow window of time to act, you know, if i see a proposal for sharing vaccines or making more vaccines just beyond a year have i to actually question how much of an impact it is going to have because we

need vaccines right now to save the most amount of lives. this virus is moving across the planet quickly so it is essential that we get vaccines in arms as quickly as possible and really in the next few months it will be critical. >> so you are talking about policy decision, policy changes at the highest levels here in the united states and in other countries. and then we have the announcement today from pfizer that it may be within just a few weeks of seeking u.s. authorizeation for a booster. a third shot which presumably would be in big demand here in the united states. >> yeah, so i think we have to have some of tough conversations about how we are going to use the vaccines that exist on the planet. today about 75 percent of the world's vaccines have been used by only a handful of countries and they ar all high income countries. i think when we are talking aout using vaccines in low priority populations, thinking out possibly giving a third booster, i think we have to really have a hard look at

whether that is an ethical thing to do or something to do later after some of the world has had an opportunity to protect its most vulnerable, at least the health care work ares who put their lives on the line every day, if we let countries put their heal care workers at risk and lose their health care workers, those countries are not going to be ready for future events. the fact that all of us had to sit home at various points in this pandemic have been because we are acutely aware of how to respond to a surge of cases. you can imagine if we allow health care workers to get infected and not be able to care for patients, countries will be crippled by that. so you know, i any we have to have a hard look at how we're using the vaccines in existence now and in my view, talk about a booster except for some very limited populations that we don't think have mounted an immune response from the vaccine doses they have received to bait. -- date. i think it is premature to be talking about that when the vats majority of the world has not even had access to one shot. >> woodruff: some very, very tough tradeoffs that certainly

deserve addressing. dr. jennifer nuzzo with johns hopkins university center for global health security, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> woodruff: now that workers searching the rubble of the fallen surfside condominium have shifted from rescue to recovery, more attention is turning to decisions made before the building's collapse. as stephanie sy tells us, part of the inquiry will focus on >> sy: judy, a 2018 engineer's report found "major structural damage" to the concrete in a number of areas of the complex, requiring an estimated $9 million in upgrades and repairs. but efforts to raise that money stalled, as homeowners and their board disagreed over how it might be done. when the building collapsed last

month, the price tag had risen to $15 million. and repairs had yet to begin. evan mckenzie teaches political science and law at the university of illinois at chicago. he is author of two books on condominium and homeowner associations. mr. mckenzie, thank you nor joining the newshour, based on your area of exertise, what is the larger problem that you think this condo collapse highlights? >> i think the larger problem is that we have probably 150,000 condo associatis in the country. tens of millions of people living in them. and their finances are not really sufficiently regulatedded. nobody really knows wht their financial needs are. nobody knows how many of them are in financial distress. and nobody really knows how many of them will probably need millions more dollars than they actually have access to. >> so are you saying there should have been or there should be state mandated requirements for these condo boards? in other words requirements for keeping enough money in preserve

for repairs because that is what is believed partly lead to the delay in repairs in this building? >> yes, definitely. i mean the state of florida does not even require condo owners, condo associations and hoa's to obtain professional advice on what their reserve funds can be. they can just decide what it should be themselves without even have a professional review the situation in hair building. and unfortunatelies that the the case in almost all states around the country. these boards and their financial decisions are largely unregulated and are almost entirely secret. in other words we don't even get access to the information. the public doesn't even know what the situation is in these condos as they go shopping for housing. >> and i know that one of the former board members had said to the media that he did not believe anyone believed there was an imminent danger. for what it is worth, the governor of florida ron desantis has said that he doesn't see state action playing a role at this point to look at these older buildings. beyond that, you point out that

condo boards which are volume tear are not qualified or experienced enough to make some of the decisions on the maintenance and repair of older buildings, so who do you put the onus on. >> well, you know, the most basic functions of state and local government in our system since the founding of the country have been public safety and control overland use such as buildings and streets and roads and this sort of thing. and the intersection of that is right here where buildings are unsafe and collapse and fall down and kill people. that is a fundamental function of state and local government to make sure that things like that never happen. and so i don't know what governor desantis thinks local government is for and state government is for if it is not for protecting people against this risk. and these volunteer directors, they have no qualification that is required by law other than just being a unit owner, that is it and they don't have any support or very little support from anyone except whatever property managers and lawyers they can afford to hire. and so no, there needs to be a great deal more oversight from

government it doesn't have to be intrusive. but it should be supportive and regulatory and it should keep them on the path that will safe gawferred all the owners gensz cat as fees like this-- catastrophes like this. >> you wrote an opinion piece recently for "the washington post" that framed the problem of building safety as a climate change problem. because structures like this one, surfside for example may face rising sea levels. how can these condo boards prepare better for those impacts. >> the know, the core problem here is just inic taking care of routine maintenance issues we know that a huge percentage of associations aren't even up to speed on that. on knowing about what wear and tear will do to their building and how much it will cost to fix and hen you need to have the money. so add to that that there are costs due to climate changes that no one anticipated. rising seas and landslide risks from heavy rains and wildfires and other things, that are much higher risk than before.

and you know, it does require professional opinion. so what they have to do initially is they have to get experts in buildings to conduct what we call reserve studies to tell them what they need. and to take into account the impact of climate change on their community. but i also think that they need external help. they are tbing to need funding from other levels of government to dpet them the funds they need. because i don't think they have it themselves or really have access to it. >> well, we are talking about thousands and thousands of buildings just on that coastline there. and we know that some of the delay in repairs in this case came down to costs. some people don't necessarily want to pay for repairs until it's too late. and some people can't afford to. and this board is basically a democracy, so what is the solution. >> well, that's the core problem right there. condo boards and their officers, the members control their own assessment levels. and they can decide to not set enough money aside.

and i think the way to do it is to first mandate the reserve study be done every three years and publicize the outcome. i think these reserve studies should be public, available to the public to see, and i think that we should know what percentage of the proper reserves that each association has, so that when we go shopping for condos there is some market pressure and sort of a reward on condo boards and their owners to have the proper reserves. and people see they are in good financial shape they won't be worried about buying in. but if another building is underfunded, then people will know in advance. and i think we could do that relatively easily. >> evan mckenzie of the university of illinois at chicago. thank you. >> thank you very much. >> woodruff: the texas legislature gaveled in today for a special session to address a laundry list of republican

priorities left undone when lawmakers left austin in may. chief among them: an update to the state's voting laws. lisa desjardins has the story. >> desjardins: judy, democrats in texas blocked the last voting bill by walking out of the chamber before a deadline. now republicans are back with a new version: house bill 3. it includes: i.d. requirements for mail-in ballots and a ban on 24-hour and drive-through voting. but this version drops some previous ideas to limit sunday voting. the debate over voting rights remains hot. vice president harris weighed in on the texas bill today during a speech in washington today. >> you know what's going on in texas right now. this all is designed, i believe, to make it harder for you to vote, so that you don't vote. >> woodruff: but republicans, including the bill's original sponsor, reject that argument. here's state senator bryan

hughes in a recent interview with the newshour: >> i hear that generalization, but none has shown me any evidence of it. this bill says that in those urban counties that the polling places have to be distributed evenly across the county. now, that's just straight up fairness based on where e voters live, regardless of their race, of their party, of their ethnic background, their religion. this is about making the system fair for all voters. >> desjardins: state representative chris turner is chair of the texas house democratic caucus and led the walkout in may that blocked the voting bill. and he joins me now. representati turner, republicans say they are determined to pass new voting laws. can you block them this time and how? our audience likes specifics. >> as you know democrats were successful in blocking the same type of legislation at the end of our regular session, as you've already told your viewers. and what i can tell you is that today on the first day of this special session that democrats

in the house and the senate here in texas are more unified than ever, more determined than ever to do all we can to block republican attempts to make it more difficult to vote in the state of texas. a state that is already very difficult to vote in. because we already have very restrictive voting laws on the books. so we are tbing to fight every step of the way. we're going to leave no stone unturned and in our mission to defend the rights of our constituents to cast ballots in a free, safe and secure election. and we are going to take it a day at a time. and republicans can expect a big fight from us on these bills. >> you know since you walked out, the supreme court, the u.s. supreme court has ruled in favor of republicans. and some restrictions they want on voting laws in other states. also there is more conservative pressure on your republican governor. could you have opened a pandora's box here. could it be that republicans may be more bold now about voting

restrictions and limits. >> yes, i think, you are absolutely right. our governor is reacting to his primary election where he already has two opponents in the republican primary. and he is just simply in a race to the bottom with-- not only his prime aero upon ents but i think other republican leaders around the country in trying to appeal to and play kate donald trump and the donald trump base. which is intention-- essentially now is the republican party. and so that's a real factor that we have to contend with because republicans control all levers of tboft in texas presently. but i think that with respect to the court decision while that was obviously not a decision anyone of us wanted to see, it is important for republicans to remember, section two of the voting rights act remains in tact. the court decision did not in anyway nullify section 2 like they did with section 5 several

years ago. and so we still have a constitution in this country, section two of the voting rights act and republicans in texas amefully have a track record of passing laws that have been found by federal courts to be intentionally discriminatory against african-americans and hispanic voters in tex under both the voting rights act and constitution. whether redistricting plans, our voter i.d. law, greg abbott secretary of state two years ago attempted a voter purge that the federal courts had to sto. so there is a track record in texas of republicans violating the voting rights act in the constitution, there say track record of courts continue allly defending and pushing back on those republican attempts. but they ought to be cautious about what they try to do. >> one final question, the speaker of the house there in texas has the power to compel new state troopers to force mbs back into the chamber tryinto avoid what you did last time. this is a serious question.

is this issue worth moving to another state or hiding out to avoid that? >> you a right, the speaker definitely has pot we are to compel a quorum. i think it is debatable how he can go about doing that or how any speaker can go about doing that but the speaker does have authority. what i would say is that those discussions would be premature right now to speculate. but we're never going to take anything off the table at the same time and as i say t is a 30 day session, it will go quickly, we'll take it a day at a time and make the best decisions we can day by day. >> i didn't hear a no there. it sounds like it's going to be a hot summer there in texas. representative chris turner of the house democratic caucus in texas, thank you for joining us. >> thank you for having me. >> >> woodruff: stay with us,

coming up on the newshour: canada confronts the discovery of hundreds of unmarked graves at a former indigenous school. and japan prepares to host the olympics under the shadow of covid-19. now, we contin our look at generational tensions over economic disparities. the covid-19 shutdown and recession may have exacerbated an already growing division in popular culture between millennials and baby boomers. tonight, we hear from that older generation, which includes our own economics correspondent, paul solman. >> no matter what you actually accomplish or feel like you accomplish, you don't feel like you're actually moving forward in life. >> reporter: the millennial's lment. we heard it last night... from a group of millennials. >> 2020 came still h no income so we were living with my parents. >> i still feel like i'm behind the eight ball. >> reporter: and the pandemic has only made economic matters worse, even for our group of college grads, a group hit less

hard than those without higher degrees. >> renting is basically all i kind of see for my wife and i for the foreseeable future. >> reporter: so, who to blame? more and more these days, it's“ ok boomer.” that is, the baby boom-- roughly, those of us born between the end of world war ii and 1964, is fingered as the culprit. so tonight we give my generation the right of reply. >> beating up on baby boomers, it's sort of the last acceptable prejudice, you know. >> reporter: professor lenny steinhorn wrote “the greater generation: in defense of the baby boom legacy,” 15 years ago, when blame was already being assigned. >> you see all of these essays and all of these articles and all of these people going on tv criticizing baby boomers as if they're somehow singularly selfish or narcissistic. i wanted to be able to correct the record, correct the history

and put it in historical context. >> reporter: part of the context, says steinhorn, 65, is pure luck: growing up in a booming economy. as a group of boomer panelists we assembled happily did. like joe ferreira, 56, a high- school history teacher in massachusetts. >> when i left school, i had no debt on my shoulders. the total amount after my second graduate degree that i had in debt was literally a thousand dollar personal loan. >> reporter: bert foer was a classmate of mine at brandeis university, became a lawyer, founded the american antitrust institute. >> when it came time to get jobs in college, the government was hiring and there were jobs in the government. we had that advantage because of a growing economy, a booming economy, if you will. >> reporter: norma mackay from the chicago suburbs, a retired software engineer. >> i had five job offers without me doing any bit of work. i got offers from ibm, bell laboratories, rockwell

international, sun microsystems and dell computing. i got to reject ibm. that was really something. >> reporter: alison adderly, a 62-year-old community college professor in orlando florida. >> i bought my first house when i was 24. >> reporter: how much did it cost? >> 51,000. >> reporter: that home has about tripled in value. by contrast: >> you have to lower your expectations. it's not viable. >> reporter: when we were their age: there was less inequality, homes were cheaper; the middle class, stronger, taxes on the wealthy higher;. climate? outsourcing? off-shoring? no issue. so, did our panelists feel guilty about what's happened on our watch? >> i'm right in the ddle of want to apologize because i don't feel we're leaving a better world for them. i guess we shoulder all the blame, right, because we're the people that were in charge. >> i feel somewhat guilty. like we dropped the ball, put >> reporter: the other half of

the panel, however, disagreed. >> i don't feel guilty because i believe that that it was just circumstance that that put us at that time period. i do feel responsible. i don't feel guilty. >> i don't buy this generational guilt at all. i think that we were lucky. we were on a ladder that was going up with no help from us. the ladder meant that things assets were increasing in value in ways that they are not today. >> reporter: so you don't feel guilty about the tax cuts, the offshoring, the things that you think have put millennials at a disadvantage? >> i've probably opposed all of those things during the last 40 years they happened, so i don't feel guilty about it. i feel frustrated. i've wanted to leave a better world for my kids angrandkids. >> reporter: but boomers voted for the folks who pushed these policies, no? >> politically, you have a very diverse country and people vote for any number of reasons at

that particular point in time. >> reporter: in fact, since the 1980s, boomers have, by and large, split about evenly in presidential elections. so about half of us voted for tax cuts and freer marketshalf not. half our panel feels guilty, half not. and look, says steinhorn... >> economic change is often beyond the control of a generation because you're living through it. you' managing you're trying to raise a family or trying to sort of support, you know, support yourself. you're trying to put a roof over your head and food on the table and have a meaningful, if you can, livelihood in that matter. >> reporter: instead of feeling guilty, he argues that baby boomers have plenty to be proud of. >> fundamentally, the baby boom generation took on the outdated norms of the generation before and began to transform america. >> reporter: sure, the greatest generation's survived the depression, helped win world war ii. but that's not their whole legacy, says steinhorn. >> they were the ones who chose to move into the levittown and

exclude black people from those suburbs. who continue to deny the rights of women, who forced gay people to go through implosive therapy or electroshock therapy because they didn't fit in. so the baby boom generation saw that and fundamentally changed it. >> reporter: civil rights, feminism, l.g.b.t.q. and disability rights-- no panelist felt guilty about this history. >> i am very proud. yeah. demonstrations on campus, peaceful demonstrations. i was there every day at lunchtime. >> those things we may we may not have brought it to complete fruition, but we started a lot of it. as a baby boomer. i'm going to take some credit for that as i take some blame for the other stuff as well. >> reporter: but what about the existential threat that millennials will face after we're long gone: global warming? >> under baby boomers watch did this happen? sure. but this is something that's been going on for 175 years sie the dawn of the industrial era. and we are really fully realizing the consequences of all of that now.

to say that one generation is responsible for that, that's ahistorical. >> reporter: and please don't forget, says steinhorn... >> it was the baby boom generation that basically motivated earth day and jump started the environmental movement. >> reporter: so, then how valid really is it to generalize about one generation at all? >> you have to look at history as a far more complex phenomenon than the sort of generational divide that is really artificial is framing right now. why are we pitting a generation against each other when in fact all they're basically doing is pointing a finger at baby boomers for a few bad mistakes that took place during those years? not recognizing how society has transformed since the 1950s in fundamental, deep, institutional, personal, interpersonal ways. >> reporter: bert foer agreed. >> you can't blame one generation because one generation never has power, at least not for much time.

>> reporter: allison adderley? >> i agree you cannot group any you cannotroup any group of people together and say that they all think alike. >> reporter: but, as a member of the generation that popularized the phrase “don't trust anyone over 30,” there is one part of the millennial critique that steinhorn applauds. >> i think “ok, boomer” is a great phrase. i think every younger generation should stick their thumb in the eye of their elders and poke them and prod them and basically say, ok, you know, you know, keep stop giving us your wisdom and stop telling us what to do. it's our turn now and we're going to do it. >> reporter: handing off the baton with some relief, then, for the pbs newshour, i'm paul solman. >> woodruff: the shocking discoveries of several hundred unmarked graves at former boarding schools for indigenous children in western canada has

focused attention on a dark chapter of that nation's history. as john yang reports, it's a story of forced assimilation and physical, emotional and sexual abuse. >> yang: judy, for more than a century, the children of canadian native communities, including what's known as the "first nations," were taken from their families and sent to christian boarding schools run the catholic church. an estimated 150,000 children passed through the schools before they were closed in 1996. they were banned frospeaking their languages or practicing their traditions. children died and their families were never told, their bodies never returned. after the discovery of these graves over the last six weeks, indigenous leaders have demanded an investigation into what they call "a crime against humanity." heather bear is vice chief of the federation of sovereign indigenous first nations, which represents 74 first nations.

she joins us from prince albert, saskatchewan. vice chief bear, thanks so much for being with us. i understand you went to one of these schools, what can you tell us about your experience and what it was like. >> this has shaken, shaken our country, not only first nations but many nonfirst nations, government leaders, professionals and i think just every corner of our country has now been impacted with this new awareness that is not new. this has always been. these stories have all been told. what is coming out with this is the real story. and we need to change that legacy because it is a very dark legacy, a dark history of first nations when we talk about the abuse and the horrendous crimes against children. at the time that i went was after 1972. the chief's task force in

saskatchewan, indian control of indian education, that was something that happened. the transition was happening where first nations were starting to operate these schools and the churches were transitioning out. however there still was that lonely heavy feeling that, you can't really explain, you have to be there. but also tied to that was the oral tradition, the stories the whispers, what the students and teachers would talk about in terms of what had happened at those schools and the hauntings. it was a very haunting experience especially when you look outside your window and there is a cemetery. and i'm naming-- i remember the swing set in the playground just, a few steps away, were you looking at a cemetery. so i aked the question, how many schools do you see with cemeteries in their yards.

that should have been playgrounds. >> what does this do, you talk about the legacy of this and i imagine with these new discoveries in these past several weeks, that sort of retraumatizing. what is the impact on generations and generations of indigenous people in canada? >> you know, i could probably sit here for a hundred years and not be able to explain or talk about the impact because they're so huge. and they're at different levels. you have your survivors who are directly impacted that still live today. whether it be sexual abuse, physical, mental, spiritual. language abuse, not being able to speak your mother tongue. not being able to pray, not being, and to be told you know, you're not human, you're inhuman if you didn't take on this christianity. and like i say, you know, what

is going on right now, i think when you look the impacts, th're direct impacts and impacts that are intergenerational. like today you still have addiction. you still have family violence. you still have poverty. >> 70% of these schools were run or started by the catholic church. the vatican has announced that they are going to have three of the biggest indigenous groups coming to the vatican, tbing to the vatican at the end of the year to meet with the pope. is that enough, this sort of meeting. and what do you want to come out of that meeting? >> well, contrary to-- contrary to what the pope says, he believes that that is not their role to have give an apology, according to their structure. you about i believe as a leader, as leaders we, i think we have to take responsibility and

account ability and when we talk about healing, you know, doesn't the good book talk about forgiveness and in tomples of our healing, we need to forgive but we need that church to apologize and admit the harm that they have done so that we as indij vows people, as survivors of res tension schools, you know, at least turn to you and have that opportunity to forgive and get on that long hard journey of healing and surviving. i mean there's great accountability. they're great leaders, these were men of the cloth that abused our children. men of the cloth that were perpetrators, who perpetrated the most horrendous crimes against children. i mean i think the church owes the indigenous people. this country, i know, i'm certain, you know, with all the

trans-- transgretions they owe us something back in the name of healing. >> heather bear vice chief of the first nations in saskatchewan, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> woodruff: the decision today to bar all spectators from attending olympic events in tokyo comes just two weeks before the games are set to begin. organizers once hoped the games would be a global showcase for japan. but there's been widespread opposition within the country to hosting them during the pandemic. only 15% of japan's population is fully vaccinated. and there's concern cases are rising again this summer. more than $20 billion have already been committed to pulling off these olympics. for a look at all of this, i'm joined by christine brennan, a

sports columnist for "usa today." she will be going to tokyo to cover her 19th olympics. and sheila smith, a senior fellow for asia pacific studie at the council on foreign relations. she has written extensively about japan. it is so good to have both of you with us. thank you for joining us. christine, i'm going to start with you. why the organizers' decision today to say not only foreign tourists can come to sit and watch these olympics, but no one, not even japanese residents. >> judy, they have declared a state of emergency that will run through the entire olyic games. this is exactly what the international olympic committee was not planning when it postponed the games last march during the height of the pandemic starting. but here we are. and so you have got a state of emergey. you've got covid cases rising in tokyo and the surrounding area and you've got basically what,

15 to 20% of japanese residents completely fully vaccinated. and it was a very slow process to vaccinate the population in scrap an. they were very slow off the mark. so now you've got this situation where you just can't trust it. you jus can't put people in those venues. and even as the athletes of the world show up, there will be some who are not vaccinated. we don't know how many but certainly there will be unvaccinated athletes coming into japan. and the ris sk too great. and it truly is a shame because this is the greatest regularly scheduled peace thyme gathering of the world. the olympic games r the youth of the world coming together for good, for sport. and of course this is a gathering that will have no gathering. because the athletes can't even mix. and you can't have those scenes in the square with television sets and everyone together in a glorious celebration it is very, very unfortute. >> and sheila, we are reading that the japanese public didn't want the games to go forward.

why then did the japanese government say yes, theames will go forward despite all these restrictions. and what kind of pressure were they under from the international olympic committee? >> thank you, judy. i think it's really been hard for the prime minister and cabinet to balance the covid pandemic and the management of that 357bd with the real investment both in financial terms but also in expectations for these olympics. the japanese people largely love the olympic games and were delighted when tokyo was selectedded to host them. but as the pandemic became more severe around the consequences of that pandemic for this year's becames became more acute not only in japan but around the world i think the public has turned sour on the idea that they should be hosting them. as you pointed out, about 85% of the japanese public feel that they should be postponed once again or cancelled all together. i think what is at stake is obviously a lot of government

investment. these olympic games for cities, for countries, are not inexpensive endeavors but there is also the idea that they could showcase japan to the world, to show a technologically sophisticated japan and japanese culture to the world. >> christine, bringing it back to the international olympic committee, they've been pushing very hard for these games to go forward. why? >> so much money. it's all about the money. it's all about billions of dollars, sponsorship, it's about the olympic committees that need that money as well. basically a summer olympics or winter olympics which will happen in beijing in six months, it funds everything. and there is also in addition to that, obviously that say very big reason, just the financial reason. and that is where it will is going to look like a tv show and they almost, they care about not having fans but not really. they want the show to go on, the television show to go on. it could be on a sound stage really. but also i think you've got the

hubris of the international olympic committee and that is not breaking news. we are talking about people who in some cases are royalty in europe or they think they're royalty. they stay at the finest hotels and have the piggest biggest per diems and great meals, they are the lords of the rings that run the olympics and they're not going to have anything but their olympic games and i'm wondering for the future f we look back at this time, maybe 20, 30 years from now, as the olympics struggle. we may look at this as this confidence bordering on hubris, the sense we will do this no matter what and come what may. we will see what comes what may over the next month or so. >> and sheila you were starting to talk about what is at stake for the japanese, for the organizers, for the country. it's their reputation. and they have to be worried about safety. >> absolutely, judy. i think the tboft is on tinter hooks here.

it is important to point out that the numbers of covid-19 cases in japan are still far less than they are here in the united states or in india for example. but none the less the japanese people are very worried that this is going to be some kind of superspreader event, that the government will not be able to manage. and of course the stakes for the prime minister and his political party are also very high. there is a lower house election scheduled for october. and getting to the other side of these games safely is going to be very, very important for his political future. >> woodruff: christine, i want to come back to something you said in your first answer about how different this is going to be for the athletes themselves. what is going to be different? as we mentioned you have covered, what is it, 18 of these olympic games before. but what will be different for them? >> there is no ability to go out on the town with family or friends after their events or during their events. there is no mingling with the other athletes. the joy of a canadian being ae

to sit next to an indiana indian sitting next to an australian, sitting next to german athletes, all different sports having lunch or dinner, that can't happen. they cannot sit in the dining hall and enjoy that time. when you talk to athletes as you and i have over the years, olympians from the past, they talk about that, the deep friendships that they made in the village. can't happen because you cannot have the risk not, it is covid of course is part of it but also contact tracing. someone goes and does that, and then there is of course the tracing, the apps we'll all have them. they will be watching our every move and then you go back to your olpic village hallway and you contact trace your roommates right out of their event. it sounds like that could be drammic and hopefully won't happen but it could. that is why it will be an austere and spartan olympic games where these athletes compete and then go home.

none of the celebration, the joy de viv that we are used to at an olympic game. >> woodruff: and quickly, the opening ceremony, the closing ceremonyhey will still have that? >> they are. there will be no fans. as we understand t the athletes may come in. again they have to keep them apart from other countries which is unusual. come in, walk around the track, have a wave to empty seats, and then walk right back out and get them back safely to their dorm rooms. again a tv show more than anything else. >> woodruff: christine brennan, sheila smith, the games begin in just a little more than two weeks. thank you th very much. >> thank you, judy. >> thank you, >> woodruff: on the newshour online, a slew of ransomware attacks have rocked the u.s., leaving both the corporate sector and government officials scrambling to address the growing threat. we look into the attacks and what can be done to stop them. that's on our web site, pbs.org/newshour. and that's the newshour for

tonight. i'm judy woodruff. join us online and again here tomorrow evening. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you, please stay safe, and we'll see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> architect. bee-keeper. mentor. a raymond james financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. life, well-planned. our u.s.-based customer service reps can help you choose a plan based on how much you use your phone, nothing more, nothing less. to learn more, go to consumercellular.tv >> the ford foundation. working with visionaries on the frontlines of social change worldwide.

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