captioning sponsored by newsur productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight: the covid olympics. the games begin with a largely empty stadium for the opening ceremony, recent cases among athletes, d protests outside. we get the latest from tokyo. then, crackdown. the chinese government's banning of a children's book in hong kong becomes emblematic of the larger repression of the city. >> some wolves brings some troubles to the lives of the sheep, and indeed it is the experience of a lot of hong kong people. >> woodruff: and, it's friday. david brooks and jonathan capehart consider the politics

of the january 6 investigation, and the shifting guidance from elected leaders over vaccines. all that and more, on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> fidelity wealth management. >> bnsf railway. >> consumer cellular. >> johnson & johnson. >> financialervices firm raymond james. >> the john s. and james l. knight foundation. fostering informed and engaged communities. more at kf.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions:

and friends of the newshour. >> this program was made possible by the corporation fo public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: theiden white house is keeping up the pressure tonight for more americans to get vaccinated against covid-19. infections have been surging in parts of the country-- mainly in states with low vaccination rates. but, the presint's press secretary, jen psaki, pointed today to potentially encouraging numbers from this week. >> the five states with the highest case rates-- arkansas, florida, louisiana, missouri and nevada-- had a higher rate of people getting newly vaccinated, compared to the national average. that is a good sign.

>> woodruff: despite those numbers, an associated press poll out today found that most of the unvaccinated say they won't get the shot. a federal appeals court has ruled against putting a stop on most residential evictions during the pandemic. the three-judge panel in cincinnati aeed with a lower court that the c.d.c. lacked authority to impose the moratorium last year. it is already due to expire at month's end. the tokyo olympics officially opened today, amid a covid emergency in the city. fireworks capped the nighttime ceremony. it was held at a nearly empty stadium, with infections hitting six-month highs. outside, hundreds of people demonstrated. they claimed the games are putting public health in japan at risk, and demanded they be halted. separately, it turns out that 100 of more than 600 u.s. athletes are not vaccinated. the head of the u.s. olympic

and paralympic committee confirmed it today. >> we recognize how very, very difficult this has been, and we come here humbly and with respect for our japanese hosts, and again, we will follow every protocol, will follow every rule, to ensure that this is a safe and secure games for everybody. >> woodruff: we'll return to the olympics, after the news summary. in haiti, shooting and protests erupted today, outside the funeral of slain president jovenel moise. the u.s. delegation and other dignitaries were rushed back to their vehicles, but no one was hurt. the service was held with heavy security. moise's widow, martine, who was wounded in the assassination, spoke against any violence or vengeance. monsoon rains in western india have triggered landslides, killing more than 100 people, with dozens missing. the downpours across maharashtra state also brought heavy flooding before easing today.

officials say rescue workers saved more than 1,000 people trapped by floodwaters that reached historic levels. >> ( translated ): the level of the floodwater had never risen to 20, 25 feet before. it's at this height for the very first time. all the properties of the residents are destroyed. they have nothing to eat and drink. >> woodruff: scientists in india say that climate change has intensified the annual monsoon season. state media in china raised the death toll to 51 today, in a flood disaster across central henan province. in zhengzhou, crews removed submerged cars and drained flooded areas. damage may total $10 billion, with nearly 400,000 people displaced. back in this cntry, improved weather has helped firefighters contain about 40% of the giant bootleg fire in southern oregon. but, an outbreak of covid has forced nine crew members into quarantine. meanwhile, firefighters battling

the tamarack fire, along the california and nevada border, are still facing high temperatures and heavy winds. the search for bodies officially ended today at a collapsed condominium tower in surfside, florida. firefighters drove away in a convoy after 29 days at the site. at least 97 people are confirmed dead in the disaster, with one still listed as missing. on wall street today, the major indexes closed at record highs, to end the week on a strong note. the dow jones industrial average jumped 238 points to close at 35,061. the nasdaq rose 152 points, and the s&p 500 added 44. and, cleveland's major league baseball team will be the "guardians" after this season. the club is dropping the name "indians" following years of criticism that it is racist. the new name derives from two "guardians of traffic" statues

that have been cleveland landmarks since 1932. still to come on the newshour: why the chinese government bans a children's book as the latest crackdown on hong kong. what we know about children who are covid long-haulers. a new smithsonian exhibit highlights the contributions of latinos to baseball. plus, much more. >> woodruff: when the tokyo olympics officially kicked off today, it was under the most unusual circumstances in modern times. while 16 days of international competition are what is planned, william brangham takes a closer look at thtensions behind these games. >> brangham: that's right, judy.

the strange dynamics of the opening day were yet another sign of the times. today's ceremony acknowledged the pandemic and the isolation experienced by many over the past year, and paid tribute to medical workers. usually a star-studded show, this was a quieter ceremony. national teams paraded in, waving to a nearly empty stadium. one of the more notable moments: tennis star naomi osaka, arguably japan's most famous athlete, lit the olympic torch. it was noisier outside, as protests against holding the games in the middle of a pandemic continued. just 23% of japan's population is fully vaccinated. for more on this, i'm joined by philip crowther. he is reporting on the games from tokyo for the associated press. philip thank you so much for being here with us. this sounds like a very unusual opening ceremony by olympic standards. can you give us a sense of what 's like there? >> look it was extraordinary.

because usually these opening ceremonies are celebrations aren't they? there clearly wasn't mood for a celebration here in tokyo. you mentioned it earlier, this was more of a solemn occasion and just an extraordinary thing to see that this olympic stadium where there should be 68,000 people were almost empty, a thousand people were inside. they will not be allowed to see a single second of olympic sport in person. that is quite something to get your head around. as to the atmosphere you just mentioned those protests, that isn't something that happens with olympic ceremonies. on the inside of the stadium you could hear the pro-testimonies during the quiet moments and it was because of the is covid-19pandemic that there were is moments of reflection. calling for those games to essentially not be held at all. >> i understand you were at that protest today for a period of time.

is that what they would like? they think in the midst of a pandemic this is simply too dangerous to go forward? >> that is basically it, actually, that's what leads to those polls as you mentioned, there is very clearly a majority of japanese people who do not want this olympic games to happen, during too pandemic that is getting worse, specifically in this city. they the do not want these games to be held. they think it is a money grabbing exercise. and for the good of the people this should not happen. >> speaking of the pandemic it was revealed today, that at least 100 of the u.s. athletes have not been vaccinated. which i think is somewhere like one in six athletes are no protected from covid. how are officials explaining that? how so many came to tokyo in the middle of a pandemic and did not get vaccinated? >> well look according to the

u.s. olympic committee this is actually a good number. the medical experts there were -- seemed to sound pretty satisfied with there statistic that was actually only revealed in the last 24 hours. now, one fs reasons for this might -- of the reasons for this might be athletes that were a little bit reticent to get vaccinated because of a fear that it might somehow influence their performance. that is absolutely possible. but what this also does, the exact that other athletes now know that in the same olympic village there are other american athletes that have not been vaccinated. would they get close to them? that could be the fear of close contact, you might have shook hands with somebody who had covid-19. if you have been close to one of those people then you're also going to be collect for covid-19 and you might be isolated for a short while, putting into serious peril your olympic dreams. that is why there is this

nervousness among athletes that i have spoken to a few, as soon as you hear a rumor you have always had to check, did you train with that person, did you have a meal with them? that is part of the atmosphere we have in the olympic villages here in tokyo right now. >> philip, we talked about the protests the that happened outside the stadium but also protests by the athletes themselves. many took a knee. that too seemed unusual for an olympics. there are rules about fro testimonies and is there your sense that the athletes will actually aguide by them? >> there are some rules, some of them more strictly than others. the international olympic committee made it absolutely clear that some types of protests would definitely not be welcomed but would be tolerated. when u.s. women request taking a

knee, that is absolutely allowed and there is increasing pressure 23rd for other toourps of protests to be allowed, including proteing on the actual medal podium. of course if you want to make your case you'll get a much, much bigger audience. it is probably only a matter of time before we see other protests, on track and field stadium, the olympic stadium you see right behind me and maybe even an attempt to protest against or for something on a podium, that there would again go against the rules of the olympics. >> but as we well know protestors don't always abide by the rules. philip crowther, joining us from.stoak yoa for the associated press, thank you for your time. >> thank you.

>> woodruff: in hong kong, authorities arrested the authors of a children's book this week, and accused them of sedition. the story book uses animals as it explores the politics of a protest movement, facing off against an increasingly assertive china. nick schifrin has the story. >> schifrin: for a hong kong parent reading to their child, the book's message is solidarity. the good guys are sheep. >> ( translated ): "there were many kind and brave sheep living in sheeps' village." >> schifrin: the bad guy? the big bad wolf and his gang. >> ( translated ): "they took away the sheeps' food, destroyed their homes for no reason, and even spread virus to poison the sheep. big bad wolf wished the most to cleanse all the sheep and take over the village." >> ( translated ): "but no matter how cunning the big bad wolf was, the sheep were defending the village bravely. although the sheep didn't manage to drive the big bad wolf away, the sheep became braver and more unified." >> schifrin: the book is "defenders of sheeps' village,"

part of a series of children's books where the metaphor is direct. >> the wolves are chinese, and sheep are the local hong kong people. >> schifrin: fan cheung fung works with the hong kong federation of trade unions. the books were written by members of the union of hong kong speech therapists, and fan spoke on their behalf. >> some wolves brings troubles to the lives of the sheep, and indeed it is the experience of a lot of hong kong people. >> schifrin: in 2020, hong kong police imposed beijing's national security law. activists say the law eliminates freedoms of speech and the press. hundreds were arrested. th's when a dozen activists, who became known as the hong kong 12, fled the city on a boat, hoping to reach taiwan. >> "among the 12 warriors, fook, wai, yin, the warriors had no choice but to leave their beloved families in a hurry. it brought tears to the 12

warriors for having to leave their most beloved village. as the 12 warriors were struggling, suddenly, a wave splashed over and they saw some lights." >> "'fetch them all and go back to the wolves village!' chairman wolf, leader of the wolves village, was delighted to receive these 12 sheep coming to him as a great meal. he told the gang to lock the sheep in the prison. >> schifrin: today, the writers of the book are in prison, after hong kong police labeled the books seditious. >> the childrens, maybe because of the information inside, the seditious information inside, can turn their mind, and develop a moral standard to become against the societies. >> free hong kong! free hong kong! >> schifrin: the group that wrote the book was born during 2019 protests. at times, more than a million hong kong residents filled the streets, at first to demand the end of extradition to mainland china, and then, more fundamental reforms.

the protests turned violent. hong kong and beijing authorities said they had to restore stability. in part, they blamed young people's teachers, and overhauled their education so it was more patriotic. >> the national security law has been enacted. >> schifrin: cartoons teach kids that the national security law is essential, and teachers are now disciplined if they deviate from a beijing-approved curriculum. >> the stakes for any kind of pushback are now just getting higher and higher. >> schifrin: jeffrey wasserstrom is a professor at the university of california-irvine, and the author of "vigil: hong kong on the brink." he says the national security law created expanded police infrastructure that's targeting an ever-widening net, and eroding what made hong kong different from mainland china. >> a separate system of rule of law being different and freedom of speech being different, freedom of assembly being different, all that's-- all that's gone. they want the next geration of hong kongers to be less challenging to them than the

last generation of hong kongers was. >> schifrin: the national security law has convinced thousands, especially young people, to flee hong kong. but not everyone. >> if we give up fighting for democracy in hong kong, then the remainder of the people in hong kong will be only left with less and less power and prospects to succeed. >> "the sheep kept sending letters to the wolf village to show their support. some sheep organized assemblies and distributed leaflets. in the wolf villages, some brave animals stealthily assisted the warriors." >> schifrin: but in the book, and in life, there's no happy ending. the hong kong 12's family members held a press conference in disguise, after the 12 were caught and sentenced to seven months to three years in jail in mainland china. >> "now, the 12 warriors still have no chances to go home. other warriors in the sheep village may have to face similar circumstances in the future."

>> schifrin: the book teaches the lesson that sheep who are victims can still be powerful. but it also teaches that sometimes, wolves win. for the pbs newshour, i'm nick schifrin. >> woodruff: since the pandemic began, children have largely been spared from severe illness and hospitalization. but, the number of adolescent covid cases is rising, and a growing number of children are showing up in pediatrician offices and emergency rooms. while rare, that includes debilitating symptoms that can drag on for months. as special correspondent sarah varney reports, black and

latino children have been especially impacted. this story, part of our ongoin“" race matters” series, was produced in collaboration with our partner, kaiser health news. >> reporter: just a few weeks ago, 15-year-old yazmen salermo didn't have enough strength to even play with her beloved pet ferret. >> i just remember feeling, "oh, i'm never going to get better.” i mean, i had covid during my birthday. >> reporter: when yazmeen first tested positive for the coronavirus, she felt nauseous. she couldn't breathe, and had piercing headaches. her mother, bakeya ali, took yazmeen to a local emergency room three separate times for migraines and severe vomiting. ur months later, yazmeen's symptoms have still not gone away. most people with covid feel better within weeks.

but, some develop what's called long covid, or long-haul covid, four or more weeks after their initial infection. the symptoms, first widely identified in adults, include overwhelming fatigue, brain fog, stomach pain, and difficulty breathing. >> just going up and down the stairs. when i go with walks with my family, i realize that i get winded easily, start coughing. laughing. when i-- when i see something funny, anyone tells a joke, laughing is probably the worst. i start coughing uncontrollably. >> reporter: at first, doctors told bakeya that her daughter's health wouldmprove. >> that was what i was told-- that she's young, she's healthy, she's going to be fine. just go home and wait it out. >> reporter: and at this point, people have been starting to hear about long-haul covid cases among adults. but what, at that point, did you understand about this being a phenomenon that we were seeing in children? >> nothing. and i didn't hear, i didn't know anything. >> reporter: children are less likely than adts to become severely sick with covid-19.

but, 4.1 million children have tested positive so far. even though many have mild or no symptoms at all, close to 500 have died. black, hispanic, and arican indian children have been hardest-hit. they account for three out four deaths under the age of 21. and, researchers are finding somewhere between 2% and 10% of infected children have long-haul symptoms. yazmeen's mother eventually found a pediatric infectious disease specialist, named dr. uzma hasan. as the number of children with long-haul covid kept growing, she started this pediatric post-covid care program at st. barnabas medical center in livingston, new jersey. >> the initial myth that children don't get infected has clearly been dispelled. i think we've seen the impact where-- where children can get overwhelming illness from covid.

>> reporter: the majority of patients in hasan's clinic are black and latino. nationwide, these communities have faced systemic barriers like lack of health insurance and overt racism in the health care system for decades. the pandemic has only deepened that mistrust. how do you ensure that people trust the hospital, that they are actually bringing their kids in when they might need the treatment? >> as physicians and health care professionals, we have our work cut out for us to provide the constant reassurance, the need to recognize an illness that's real, and to reach out. >> reporter: while the racial demographics nationwide have been more mixed than in hasan's clinic, physicians don't yet understand what causes long covid, and why certain children get it. some speculate it could be the immune system going into overdrive, so doctors are

borrowing treatments used in other post-viral syndromes, like mononucleosis, epstein-barr, and lyme disease-- treatments that work best when symptoms are detected early. the quickest way to prevent more of these cases, doctors say? more vaccinations. all of this remains troubling because most children are not yet eligible for the vaccine. in some parts of the country, like here inississippi, adult vaccination rates remain low, and that puts children at greater risk. kevin bass was an active and good-spirited five-year-old boy. th, one day last december, before vaccines were widely available, kevin lost his appetite and said his head hurt. angela bass took her son to the doctor, where he tested negative for covid. but even after days of high fevers, stomach pain, and a rash, doctors in the emergency room sent kevin home. >> i kept going back to the e.r., saying this is not normal.

i think on the second time that i went to the e.r. is when people started to really take me more seriously. >> reporter: by then, angela had learned about a post-covid condition called multi-system inflammatory syndrome in children, or mis-c. and angela pressed the doctors. >> i asked specifically, like, "could this be mis-c? i saw it on the news." and there's another family that i knew whose little girl had the same symptoms. and i asked specifically. and they were like, "no, he doesn't... he hasn't had covid. so it's probably not mis-c." >> reporter: but follow-up tests showed dangerously high markers for inflammation, and a blood test found antibodies for covid. that meant kevin had been infected perhaps weeks before, but never showed any covid symptoms. >> his eyes were swelling shut. his face was, like, huge. his legs, everything was just really swollen, and it was

getting, like, in his lungs. he was-- he had fluid on his heart. and he had to get a blood transfusion because he lost blood that way. >> reporter: he was really sick. >> he was. he was really sick. i was really preparing myself for-- for the worst. >> reporter: kevin spent 15 days in the hospital. >> soon as i got from the hospital, i couldn't run. >> reporter: why not? >> because my legs was swollen. every part of my body was swollen. >> reporter: about two out of three kids with multi-system inflammatory syndrome are black or hispanic. to understand why, a massive national institutes of health research effort is probing everything from genetic factors to repetitive exposure from parents considered essential workers. angela bass says doctors also need to be aware that mis-c

might look different in black and latino children. >> to me, i could see the rash. it was all over his belly, all over his arm, and i was like, there's a rash there, you know, please look at it. and they were like, "okay," you know, "are you sure?" and i saw some of the images on the internet, and they were, you know, very much more pronounced. but they were on, like, very, like, white bodies, and his skin is darker. >> reporter: but children of color aren't the only ones affected. angela bass joined an online community of mothers supporting each other, often when the medical community wasn't. there, she met leann henderson, and her 14-year-old daughter allie. so little is widely understood about mis-c that doctors mistakenly removed allie's appendix before realizing that she was having a near-fatal inflammatory reaction from an undetected covid infection. while it's unclear what the longer-term impacts will be,

researchers agree that kids with long-haul covid and mis-c will need to be followed osely for the next five to ten years. the good news, dr. hasan and her colleagues say, is that many of these children, if treated, do improve with time though it varies widely from case to case. kevin is back on his four- wheeler. allie recently played softball in the world series in panama city, florida. and even yazmeen, who still suffers from long covid, can now take short walks with her mom. step by step, getting back to the business of being a kid. for the pbs newshour and kaiser health news, i'm sarah varney in elizabeth, new jersey. >> woodruff: the number of

apprehensions at the u.s./mexico border have climbed steadily this year. in may alone, agents documented more than 180,000 encounters with migrants. lorraine rivera of arizona public media spent a day recently with c.b.p. on the ground and in the r, during a sweep of the sonoran desert. >> okay, it's 39 miles awa it's going to take us about 22 minutes to get there. >> reporter: jack painter is an air interdiction agent with customs and border protection air and marine operations. today, he's been directed to help locate a group of four people walking in the desert a few miles north of the border, northwest of nogales. >> looks like an agent down in the cut, right there. >> we've got bodies right in front of me. >> reporter: when we arrive, we find the group wearing camouflage, hiding under the trees. two agents take the group into custody, place them in handcuffs and walk them out of the canyon. >> i'm going to wait for my partner. >> okay, sounds good. great job. >> reporter: with this

assignment complete, we are on to the next call. >> i'll just be putting the coordinates in real quick. >> reporter: painter coordinates with operators in tucson and agents below him. >> okay, this is going to be actually right close to the border. >> reporter: a group of eight, also in camouflage. as the helicopter nears, the group scatters. they're hard to spot from the air. other agents on foot arrive, as well as agents on horseback. >> i think they're pretty well told when the helicopter is in the area, "just don't move," because that really gives away their position. >> reporter: three of the eight are located, and arrested. but helping locate migrants is not the only mission for the c.p.b. air unit. pilots respond to requests for emergency aid, too. on the tohono o'odham nation, a man has called for help using whats app on his phone. >> he's a good 20 miles north of the border. he could have easily been, you

know, second or third day, >> yeah, we've got the 911 caller in sight. he's standing right now. looks a little dizzy. >> reporter: with no easy place to land and low on fuel, painter can't offer immediate help, but he's marked coordinates so paramedics on the ground can find him more easily. >> we're going to have to break off for fuel, but just want to let you know that he is in the coordinates. >> reporter: over the altar valley, we see the vastness of the sonoran desert. during the summer, conditions can be deadly. in the first few weeks of june, the pima county medical examiner recorded 29 migrant deaths. hours after our flight, we learn that the 911 caller died. a 35-year-old man from honduras, his call had come into the air coordination center... >> okay, go ahead with the coordinates. >> reporter: ...which links c.b.p. partners alongside other federal, local and state agencies. >> all the dots are agents, actually. we color-coordinate, based on...

>> reporter: ryan riccucci serves as the acting director. his team manages calls placed along the arizona/mexico border, overseeing calls fm cell towers and imagery off of surveillance systems. >> so, we have a decision support system, so that when a call comes in, it's, "where's the call? what condition are they in? is it a rescue? do they have battery life? is it urgent? what capabilities are up?" and then we have to do the pilot calculus, i call it. figure out that bird, how much flight time does it have? how long is it going to take to get to the area? because we don't want to send a bird just to turn it around. >> reporter: every agent in the field has an android smartphone connected to what's known as the team awareness kit. the network expanded this past april, giving everyone in this room and in the field a clear enough picture to send support where it's needed. >> are they, like, just on the other side? >> yeah, they're on top of it. >> reporter: improved technology though isn't always enough to save people from the deadly elements in the desert, as shown with the honduran man who died. >> and i would say this is the worst-case scenario, where the team did the best they could

with what they had. so the call comes in, and it's immediate. do you have coordinates? no. so that means you have 100,000 square meters to try to figure it out. the person on the phone wasn't quite lucid, so they weren't able to give good information about where they were, what the mountain looked like. >> reporter: that's where aircraft comes in, yet again. this air and marine fleet is the largest and busiest in the country, lging more than 10,000 flight hours every year. this is also where customs and border protection sends all of its blackhawk helicopters for maintenance. director mike montgomery says surveillance systems aboard helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft have saved countless lives over the years. >> anywhere along that corridor we could be called to. so we need the speed. the terrain is terrible. some of those areas where border patrol agents works, it takes an hour and half, sometimes two hours to get where they can start working. from here, i can be in ajo in 45

minutes, and in the bootheel of douglas in about the same time. >> reporter: back on the grnd, agent jesus vasavilbaso drives us along the newly-constructed border wall near the town of sasabe. a man appears along the fence line. >> si, traemos agua. >> so he wants some water? >> que onda, como estas, que paso? >> reporter: the man agrees to talk to us, as long as we don't show his face. he says he's 38 years old and from the state of guadalajara. he tells me the smugglers stole his phone and most of his money. vasavilbaso translates. >> there were a group of ten. they paid them $1,000. he heard a helicopter and took off before they even crossed the border. he's trying to get, to walk, to the town of sasabe, to try and get some help. and try to go back home. he said it's not very manly for the coyote to leave him behind, and that's he not going to attempt to come again. >> reporter: on the ground,

and in the air-- one day with tucson sector offers a snapshot into the latest surge along the southern border. for the pbs newshour, i'm lorraine rivera along the u.s./mexico border. >> woodruff: from aspirations around infrastructure to political cracks in the investigation into the insurrection, there is a lot to unpack with the analysis of brooks and capeht. that is "new york times" columnist david brooks and jonathan capehart, columnist for the "washington post." hello to both of you on this friday. it's always so good to see you! let's start with the fireworks this week david. house speaker nancy pelosi surprised i think a lot of people by saying no, i'm not going to accept two of the five republicans appointed to this january 6th select committee. and then in turn you had kevin mccarthy the house minority

leaderring saying if you are going to do this i'm going to pull the whole group. what did you make of all this? was it -- does it move the process forward? what do you think? >> brooks: no, it's around 947 of stupidity in congress i guess. we have this commission, the idea is, in normal life in normal country the two parties would get together, leaders would get together, say let's do this commission, important to ins, we have the basic person we want on this commission, a kind of person that's trusted on both sides, then put honorable, trust worthy people on the commission. of course none of that obtains on that commission. ing pelosi and mccarthy don't get together and mccarthy takes the extraordinary step of appointing jim jordan and jim banks, two people exposed to the commission and would clearly undermine it. he could have fikd any number of

dozens of other people. throwing it in your face and pelosi then takes another extraordinary step of not letting the republicans not pick their own people. it is one case of dysfunction, and not out of congress a bipartisan commission. >> woodruff: what did you make jonathan much what they were making here and where does that leave this whole thing? >> capehart: i wanted to push back on something david just sid, spieker mccarthy wouldn't had let, pick their own people. two of them were basically stink bombs in the process but he was given the opportunity to choose people. he decided to throw a huge wrench in the process. i'm going to say it again, for speaker pelosi her faith in the constitution is only second to her catholic faith.

she takes her role in the united states government extremely serials. so for her -- erltz sooz. seriously. to overturn a free and fair election at the question hess of the then sitting president of the united states is something that is important to her, it is vital for the history of the country. and so for kevin mcthy to do what he did and then to blame her, blame her for -- mccarthy to do what he did, she is the reason the exat police were not prepared, to me listen to house minority leader kevin mccarthy has flash backed to begnaud. bengazi. is the hillary clinton standard down order.

that spieker pelosi is to blame on. >> woodruff: david? >> clearly tey would have screwed up the whole works. why did jordan and banks get picked? a it could have been so nancy pelosi could throw them off and mccarthy would have a fit. he must have foreseen that. second, it's further revel tri atoryof where the party is, so e party is still over there and mccarthy is not a ideologic person but he probably knows where the center of his caucus is. michael wolf had written three books on trump and just had durn with him, he says he was certain that he was going to run for president again. guess that's who he has to genuflect to. >> woodruff: this is a minority leader of the party who

is responding tot -- in his view the titular head of the party. judge right, and where he thinks the base of the party is. and there is another golden rule to coo he keep in mind. here is the golden rule about house speaker kevin mcthy. whatever he does or says is geared to one goal, becoming speaker of the house. that's why he's doing what he's doing. >> woodruff: infrastructure, negotiators are at this time negotiating but be the smoke signals look like something going to happen. are you getting the sense that this is going to be a good thing? how are you reading all this? >> brooks: we should have thomas the tank engine to talk about infrastructure. would be more pbs like. >> woodruff: wait a minute! >> brooks: in a good way. what's interesting to me, for last week's episode there are two bills, bipartisan bill that

is smaller and infrastructurey. and then a part sedan bill. the partisan only bill would have smoother sailing because it's all just democrats. but to me it looks like the bipartisan bill is progressing, progressing, progressing, of course they are negotiating and there are stops and starts but that bill seems to be moving forward. and i begin to wonder, say they pass or at least get a deal on the bipartisan deal, a imump of moderate senators on the democratic side, say i got what i need, i don't need this other bill, i wonder if the other bill was more in trouble which is the partisan reconciliation -- >> woodruff: among democrats? how are you reading this? >> capehart: you mentioned smoke signals, to me that means something might be on fire. just before we came out here a story hit about how there's another wrinkle. last week it was republicans were against the pay for by irs enforcement, you had the interview yesterday with senator

capeto and you asked her a question about that. then earlier this week, i guess even this morning, battle over transit funding. the proportion of transit funding. then just before we came on there's a story about, there's consternation among democrats bcause republicans are pulling out something relat to the prevailing wage. it seems like this bipartisan bill that you still have so much hope for there are still so many moving pieces and so many emencumbers that are burning i don't know if the bipartisan bill is going to make it. we'll see on monday so they say. >> woodruff: we'll learn more early, early next week we think. vaccine politics. david we're seeing a few more republicans come out and stay openly hey people please get vaks necessitated. steve scales every who is the number 2 person in the house of

representatives, including kay ivey of alabama, i'm reading what she said this week, it's time to start blaming the unvaccinated folks not the regular folks, the unvaccinated let us down. that's not all republicans but highway significant is it? >> i love what she said. i think if that's true if we face a shutdown again, hurt economy, poor people laid off that's not disease, that's huge error and that's us. getting more aggressive like she is and some others, strikes me as absolutely right. will it be effective? i'm not so sure. i think once donald trump and other republicans made it a manhood issue or freedom issue or whatever issue they made it it's hard to walk back that culture-war signal. and it comes at a time when the party has hard time talking about the collective good and the common good. we all breathe the same air, in this together. i think that has been dug deep into american history but

especially the republican party right now and i'm not sure mitch mcconnell saying a few things is going do reverse that trend. >> woodruff: how much difference do you think this could make? >> this being more -- >> woodruff: a few more republicans in the media as well conservatives. >> capehart: david just spoke for me in what he said. if we had a president of the puts who took this seriously when he this first came on the scene, if we had a republican party who took this seriously enough to warn their constituents, wash their hands, put on a mask then go get the vaccine we wouldn't be where we are right now. and i agrees with david. i think that this has become such a cultural point, that even if donald trump were to come out tomorrow and say you know what not only did i get covid i survived it and i also took the vaccine and you should too so you can vote for me ain in

2024. he could say all of that and to david's point i think the point has been driven so far deep that he won't convince anye. no one to get the vaccine who doesn't want to get it right now. >> woodruff: how do you david i mean, what kind of a divide is this among republicans? i mean is it based on science? is it -- how do you read what's going on? >> brooks: the people i know personally who are not getting the vaccine for them it was like they rushed this thing, you know, who knows what's going to happen to all these people who get thehots in ten years or 2 years so why should i take the risk? and that's not completely crazy but it's not -- it's based on some sense of general distrust for the establishment including the medical establishment and that distrust is the core of this thing. if we lived in high society where we all felt the institutions of our society could be trusted we'd all get the shots but the pevasive distrust which really started in the 60s and 70s with vietnam

and watergate, can which has been ramping up in the past decades that's the core villain. and how do you trust society which is the fundamental problem right now and it is radio very big one. >> woodruff: and there is still a core of people out there jonathan who are saying i'm not going to take this. there was another survey out i think this afternoon from the associated press of people who are saying i'm not going to get it no matter what. >> capehart: which is it breaks my heart. you read stories of i think it is too doctor in alabama who wrote about, talked about how before she intubates someone ad says c i have the vaccine? i'm sorry titus late and then going to their loved one and say honor your loved one, get the vaccine, and thy telling her, i thought it was all politics, it was a hoax. that breaks my heart. because to david's point, trust in anything and anyone that is

not themselves is completely broken down completely. >> woodruff: i remember seeing an interview with a man in his hospital bed with serious covid, who said even if he had it to all do over again he wouldn't get vaccinated. >> brooks: religion is a powmple think. to get into anything fun in america you have to show your card and that is the only way to go. >> woodruff: david brooks, jonathan capehart you both say.safe. the delta variant is out there. >> woodruff: with ballparks filling up around the country as pandemic restrictions ease, it's time to "take me out to the ballgame." jeffrey brown has a look at a new exhibit on the long history of latinos playing baseball, and

how they've changed it fundamentally in this country. it's part of our arts and culture series, "canvas." >> brown: fenway park in boston, 2017: the flag of the dominican republic covers the famed outfield wall known as "the green monster," a tribute to beloved red sox slugger david ortiz. a deeply moving moment-- even for baseball historian and lifelong yankees fan, adrian burgos. >> i cannot have imagined a day when the flag of the dominican republic would be unfurled over the green monster. and it signaled a couple of really important things to me. one was the power of the game to help transform ideas and feelings about a community. >> brown: today, latinos, born outside and within the u.s.,

make up some 30% of major league ballplayers, including some of the game's biggest stars, prominent in the recent all-star game. but the long history of latinos and baseball in this country is less known-- and that's the focus of a new bilingual exhibitiont washington's smithsonian museum of american history titled “pleibol!: in the barrios and the big leagues." >> it's about how latinos have been able to make a space for themselves. >> brown: curator margaret salazar-porzio wanted to capture the game at ground level, through more than a century, and what it meant to families and communities. her team held a series of gatherings around the country to meet individuals and collect material for the exhibition. some, like this high school letterman jacket, were then repaired by the conservation staff. also here? a scrapbook using “life” magazine. a stickball bat made from a broom handle... an old and very worn-in mitt.

>> we were hearing the same stories over and over again, whether you were in california or you were in texas or you were in florida. >> brown: and these stories were? >> those were stories about family, about community. those were stories about how, you know, "my father played this game and he was an agricultural worker" or "he worked on the railroad" or he did l of these other things, but he made sure to incorporate baseball into his everyday life. they were about women playing in the barrios, being able to play because maybe their team was sponsored by their local church. and those stories kept on coming up over and over again, so that after a while, we realized that these hyper-local stories were actually part-- they were microcosms of a larger kind of american experience for latinos and latinas. >> brown: a key point? latino immigrants brought the game with them, as far back as the 1860s, from long-standing traditions in cuba, the dominican republic, mexico, puerto rico and elsewhere. among many other examples: workers for sugacompanies in colorado's so-called “spanish colonies” formed teams like th“" greeley grays,” and the game gave them something more than a

bit of fun in a country that was often unwelcoming in so many other ways. >> sometimes the networks that came out of baseball were networks that allowed them to find health care and to find services that they needed, to become part of their local churches or support local community centers and businesses. and so, some of it was, yes, we can play seball and we can become part of these larger communities, but then other times they weren't accepted and they had their own community. and they were fine with it. >> brown: and baseball was part of that identity. >> and baseball was part of that identity, absolutely. >> brown: at the national level, there's the 1939 uniform of a young marge villa, who later became a star in the "all- american girls professional baseball league," and renowned game-changers like roberto clemente: his san juan, puerto rico uniform, his pittsburgh pirates cap helmet from 1960. and fernando valenzuela, the center of “fernando-mania” as a

pitcher for the los angeles dodgers in the 1980s. but this is also a story of discrimination and the “color line” in baseball and america. >> roberto clemente himself said about latino players, particularly black latino players: "we had two strikes against us-- one, because we're black, and the other because we're latin, we're foreign." >> brown: historian burgos, a professor at the university of illinois, served as an advisor to the exhibition, and has written widely about one key figure: orestes “minnie” minoso, who starred in his native cuba, in the negro leaes in the u.s. when blacks were excluded from major league baseball, and then with the chicago white sox when the color line was finally broken. burgos is among those pushing for minoso's accomplishments to finally gain him entry to the baseball hall of fame. >> he was a pioneering player, and the excellence that it took to excel, the persistence, the resilience, while the majority of the league was not yet

integrated, while many of the hotels that the chicago white sox stayed in did not welcome black individuals-- there was so much that minoso had to deal with on and off the field. for him to perform at that level is what a hall-of-famer is. >> brown: burgos and curator salazar-porzio point to continuing problems-- lack of representation among managers and front offices, racism still heard in the stands... but also, how latinos have permanently changed the style, the look, even the tastes of the game and ballpark, amid broader changes in american culture, including at museums themselves. officials at the smithsonian museum of american history told us that all future exhibitions will have bilingual signage. this one, says salazar-porzio, can help lead the way. >> it shouldn't be so transformative, but for our institution, it is! you know, to have a fully

bilingual show, that was planned to be so from the very beginning. to have, you know, the fundamental premise of it be that latinos have changed, you know, this quintessential american sport-- that is a transformative moment. >> brown: the exhibition,“ pleibol!,” is on in washington for the coming year. a smaller traveling version is in select cities around the country. for the pbs newshour, i'm jeffrey brown, at the smithsonian museum of american history in washington, d.c. >> woodruff: so good to see all of this. and on the newshour online right now, our friday “five stories” video shares stories you may have missed, like a dangerous climate tipping point, and the genes behind puppy love. you can watch on our yoube channel, or on our website, www.pbs.org/newshour. and stay with pbs tonight. yamiche alcindor and her panel explore the investigation into

the insurrection, and the politics on this summer covid surge. that's tonight on "washington week." and that is the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. join us online, and again here on monday evening. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you, please stay safe, and have a good weekend. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> fidelity wealth management. >> consumer cellular. >> johnson & johnson. >> bnsf railway. >> financial services firm raymond james. >> the william and flora hewlett foundation. for more than 50 years, advancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better world. at www.hewlett.org. >> supporting social entrepreneurs and their

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