>> good evening, i'm judy woodruff. tonight, the covid olympics. the games begin with a largely empty stadium for the opening ceremony. recent cases among athletes. protests outside. we get the latest from tokyo. crackdown. the chinese government's banning of a children's book in hong kong becomes emblematic of the larger repression of the city. >> it brings some troubles to the lives of x and it is indeed the experience of a lot of hong kong people. judy: and it's friday, david brooks and jonathan cape are

considered the politics of the january 6th investigation. 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. ♪ >> bnsf railway. nsumer cellular. johnson and johnson. financial services firm raymond james. ♪ >> the john s and james l knight foundation fostering informed and engaged communities. ♪ >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions. ♪

and friends of the newshour. this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting, and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> i'm stephanie sy at newshour west. we will return to the full show after the latest headlines. the biden administration now considering adding covid-19 booster shots for people over 65according to the new york times. health officials are also looking at a third shot for the immunocompromised if they got the pfizer or moderna vaccines. it comes as research continues into how long vaccines remain effeive. the white house is keeping up the pressure for more americans to get vaccinated. infections have surged in parts

of the country, mainly states with low vaccination rates. the president's press secretary pointed today to potentially encouraging numbers from this week. >> the five states with the highest case rates, arkansas, florida, missouri, nevada, had people getting newly vaccinated compared to the national average. that is a good sign. >> despite the improvements, an associated press poll found most of the unvaccinated say they will not get the shot. a federal appeals court has ruled against putting a stop to most residential evictions during the pandemic. the three judge panel agreed with a lower court the cdc lacked authority to impose the moratorium last year. it is already due to expire at month's end. the tokyo olympic games open today amid a covid emergency in the city. fireworks cap the nighttime ceremony. it was at a nearly empty stadium with infections hitting six month highs.

hundreds demonstrated. they claimed the games are putting the health of japan at risk and demanded they would be halted. 100 of the more than 600 u.s. athletes are not vaccinated. the head of the u.s. olympic and paralympic community -- committee offered reassurance. >> we recognize how difficult it has been. we come here humbly and with respect for a japanese host. we will follow every protocol, every rule to ensure this is a safe and secure event for everyone. >> in haiti, shooting and protests outside of the funeral of the slain president. dignitaries were rushed back to their vehicles. no one was hurt. the service was held with heavy security. his widow, who was wounded, 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 the state also brought heavy flooding before easing today. officials say rescue workers saved more than 1000 people trapped by floodwaters that reached historic levels. >> the level of floodwater had never risen to 25 feet before. it is at this height for the first time. all properties are destroyed, they have nothing to eat and drink. >> state media raised the death toll to 51 today in a flood disaster of cross -- across central high zhang province. it drain flooded areas. 400,000 people he been displaced. back in this country, five firefighters in montana were hospitalized a day after winds drove a wildfire back on them. in oregon, fire crews are battling a fresh bout of dry winds as they try to get a handle on the bootleg fire. covid has forced nine members into quarantine.

firefighters facing the tamarack fire along the california and nevada border are going up against 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. cleveland's major league baseball team will be called the guardians after this season. they are dropping the name indian after years of criticism it is racist. the new name derives from two guardians of traffic statues that have been cleveland ndmarks since 1932. still to come, why the chinese government bans a children's book. the latest crackdown on hong kong. what we know about children who are covid long haulers. a new smithsonian exhibit highlights the contributions of lations to baseball -- latinos to baseball. plus much more.

>> this is the pbs newshour, from weta studios in washington, and in the west from the walter cronkite school of journalism at aaron nola -- arizona state university. judy: when the tokyo olympics officially kicked off, it was under the most unusual circumstances in modern times. while 16 days of international competition are what is planned, william brangham takes a look at the tensions behind these games. >> that's right. the strange dynamics of opening day were yet another sign of the times. today's ceremony acknowledged the pandemic and isolation experiend by many over the past year, and paid tribute to medical workers. usually, a star-studded show, it was a quieter ceremony. national teams paraded in waving to a nearly empty stadium. tennis star naomi osaka, arguably japan's most famous

athlete, lit the olympic torch. it was noisier outside as protests continued holding the games at all in the middle of a pandemic. just 23% of japan's population is fully vaccinated. for more on this, i'm joined by philip crowder, he's reporting on the games from tokyo. thank you very much for being with us. this sounds like a very unusual opening ceremony by olympic standards. give us a sense of what it is like. >> it was extraordinary. usually, these opening ceremonies are celebratis. there clearly was in the mood for a celebration in tokyo. this was much more of a solemn occasion. just an extraordinary thing to see that this olympic stadium, where there should have been 68,000 people, was almost entirely empty. just under 1000 people inside. none of them were members of the public. 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 the protests. this is also something that doesn't happen with opening ceremonies. on the inside of the stadium, you can hear the protesters during the quiet moments. it is because of the covid-19 pandemic that there were those quiet moments of reflection. you can hear those people chanting outside, calling for the games to not be held at all. >> i understand you were at that protest today for a of time. would they like in the midst of a pandemic that this is simply too dangerous to go forward? >> that is basically it. that leads to the polls you just mentioned. there is a clear majority of the japanese people who do not want these olympic games to happen during a pandemic that is getting worse in this country, specifically in this city. they don't want the games to be held. they think it is a money

grabbing exercise by the international olympic committee, the japanese prime minister, and for the good of the people, isn't something that should not happen. >> speaking of the pandemic, when it was revealed at least 100 of the u.s. athletes have not been vaccinated, which i think is somewhere like one in six athletes are not protected from covid, how are officials explaining how so many came to tokyo in the middle a pandemic and did not get vaccinated? >> according to the u.s. olympic committee, this is a good number. the medical experts seemed to be pretty satisfied with the statistic that was only revealed in the last 24 hours. one of the reasons for this might be athletes that were a little bit reticent to get vaccinated because of a fear it might somehow influence their performance. that is absolutely possible. what this also does, the fact other athletes now know in the

same olympic village, there are athletes who have not been vaccinated, will they get close to them? there's always the fear of becoming a close contact. that means you may have shook hands with somebody who once tested positive for covid-19, one of the 19 cases we have had among athletes. if you have been close to one of them, you will also be checked for covid-19. you might be isolated for a short while, putting into serious peril your olympic dreams. that is why there is a nervousness that i know about athletes having spoken to a few as soon as they hear a rumor about a new case, you have to check right away iyou have been with the person, trained with them, had a meal with them, that is the atmosphere we have in this olympic village right now. >> we were talking about the prests outside of the stadium. we have also seen some protests by athletes themselves. the u.s. women's soccer team. many took a knee before their

first game in solidarity with the rial justice movement happening in america. that seemed unusual for the olympics. are there rules about protests? is it your sense the athletes will actually abide by them? >> there are rules, some more strict than others. at the international olympic committee made it clear some types of protests would not necessarily be welcome, but accepted. when you see the female soccer team from the u.s. taking a knee, that is absolutely allowed within the rules of the olympic games. other things are not. there is increasing pressure for other types of protests to be allowed. it would include protesting on the actual metal podium, where if you want to make your case, you will get a much bigger audience. it is probably only a matter of time before we see some more protests, be it on the soccer field, may be on the track and field stadium, and maybe even an

attempt to protest against or for something on a podium. that would go against the rules of these olympics. >> as we will know, protesters don't always abide by the rules. philip crowder joining us from the games. thank you. ♪ >> in hong kong, authorities arreed 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 an increasingly assertive china. >> for a hong kong parent reading to their child, the book's message is solidarity. the good guys are sheep. >> there were many kind and brave sheep living in the sheep's village. >> the bad guy, the big bad wolf

and his gang. >> they took away the sheep's 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. >> no matter how cunning the big bad wolf was, the sheep or defending the village bravely. although the sheep didn't manage to drive the big bad wolf away, the sheep became braver and more unified. reporter: the book is defenders of sheep village, part of a series of children's books whose metaphor is direct. >> the wolves are the chinese, and the sheep are on local hong kong people. reporter: he works with the hong kong federation of trade unions. the books were written by members of the union of hong kong speech therapists. he spoke on their behalf. >> the wolf brings trouble to the lives of the sheep. indeed, it is the experience of a lot of hong kong people.

>> in 2020, hong kong police imposed beijing's national security law. activists say it eliminates freedom of speech and press. hundreds were arrested. that is when a dozen activists fled the city on a boat, hoping to reach taiwan. >> among the 12 warriors, -- uncertain with the challenges ahead, and worrying about big bad wolf's game chasing them from behind, 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. >> the books writers are in prison after hong kong police

labeled the books seditious. >> the children -- maybe because of the information inside, and developed a moral standard against the societies. >> free hong kong. >> the group that wrote the book was born during 2019 protest. at times, more than one million hong kong residents filled the streets. the demand of extradition in mainland china. and more fundamental reforms. the protests turn violent. hong kong and beijing authorities had to restore stability. in part, they blamed young people's teachers and overhauled education so it is more patriotic. >> the national security law has been enacted. reporter: cartoons teach national security law is essential, and punishment if they deviate from curriculum. >> the stakes of any pushback or getting higher and higher. reporter: jeffrey is a professor

at the university ofalifornia irvine and author of vigils hong kong. he says the national security law created and expanding police infrastructure targeting an ever widening net and eroding what made hong kong different from mainland china. >> a separate system of rule of law in different freedom of speech, freedom of assembly being different, all of that is gone. they want the next generation of hong kong there's to be less challenging to them. than the last generation. reporter: the national security laws convince thousands to flee hong kong. but not everyone. >> if we give up fighting for democracy in hong kong, we will only be left with less power and prospects to succeed. >> the sheep kept sending letters to the wolves village to

show support. some organized assemblies and distributed leaflets. some brave animals stealthily assisted the warriors. reporter: in book and life, there is no happy ending. the 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. f now the 2 -- >> now the 12 warriors have nowhere to go. they may have to face circumstances in the future. >> the book teaches the lesson sheep who were victims could still be powerful. it also teaches sometimes, wolves win. for the pbs newshour, ed sure for. judy: amid all the other

concerns around the spread of adele to varian, many parents remain concerned about children. so far, children have been spared from severe illness and hospitalizations. the number of adolescent covid cases is rising. and a growing number of children are showing up in pediatricians offices and emergency rooms. while rare, it includes debilitating symptoms that can drag on for months. sarah varney reports black and latino children have been especially impacted. this story part of our ongoing race matters series produced in collaboration with our partner kaiser health news. >> just a few weeks ago, she did not have enough strength to even play with her beloved pet ferret. >> i remember feeling i will never get better.

i had covid during my birthday. my mental health after declining my anxiety was on the highest point ever. reporter: when she first tested positive for coronavirus, she felt nauseous. she could not breathe and had piercing headaches. her mother took her to a local emergency room three sepate times for migraines and severe voming. four months later, her symptoms have still not gone away. most people with covid feel better within weeks. but some develop what is called long covid, or long-haul covid, or weeks after the infection. the symptoms, first identified in adults, include overwhelming fatigue, brain fog, stomach pain, and difficulty breathing. >> going up into the stairs, when i go with walks with my family, i realize i get winded easily, i start coughing, laughing when i see something funny, that is probably the

worst i start coughing uncontrollably. reporter: at first, doctors told her that her daughter's heth would improve. >> that is what i was told, she is young, healthy, she will be fine. go home and wait it out. >> at this point, people have started to hear about long-haul covid cases among adults. what did joy understand at that point about being a phenomenon we were seeing in children? >> nothing. i did not hear, i didn't know anything. reporter: children are less likely 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, 500 have died. black, hispanic, and american children were hardest hit. they come from three out of four deaths under the age of 21. researchers are finding somewhere between 2% and 10% of children have long-haul symptoms. >> how are you guys doing? reporter: her mother eventually

found a pediatric infectious disease specialist. >> catch me up on how things have been since we last met. >> i am experiencing more hair loss. reporter: as the number children with long-haul covid kept gwing, she studied this pediatric post-covid care program at saint barnabas medical center in livingston, new jersey. >> the initial myth children don'tet impacted has clearly dispelled. we have seen the impact where children can get overwhelming illness from covid. reporter: the majority of patients are black and latino. nationwide, these communities have faced systemic barriers, like health insurance and racism in the health care system for decades. the pandemic has only deepened the mistrust. how do you confront that? how do you ensure people trust the hospital, that they are actually bringing kids in when they might need the treatment? >> as physicians and health care

professionals, we have rules cut out to provide the assurance, the need to recognize and illness that is real, and reach out. i think it is our role to make sure we address every single concern put out there. reporter: while the racial demographics nationwide have been more mixed, physicians don't get understand what causes a long covid, and why certain children get it. some speculate it could be the immune system going into overdrive. >> already windows. reporter: doctors are borrowing treatments used in other post-viral syndromes, like monocleosis, epstein-barr, and lyme disease. treatments that work best when symptoms are detected early. the quickest way to prevent is more vaccinations. all of this remains troubling. most children are not yet eligible for the vaccine. in some parts of the country, like in mississippi, adult vaccination rates remain low.

that puts children at greater risk. kevin bass was an active and good spirited five year old boy. one day last december, before vaccines were widely available, he lost his appetite and said his head hurt. angela took her son to the doctor, where he tested negative for covid. even after days of high fever, and rash, doctors sent kevin home. >> i kept going back to the er saying it is not normal. i think the second time i went is when people started to really take me more seriously. >> a rare illness and think -- linked to covid-19 is appearing in children this winter. reporter: she learned about a post-covid condition called multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children. and angela pressed the doctors. >> i asked if it could be mis d. i saw it on the news, another

family that i knew his little girl had the same symptoms. i asked specifically, and they said he hasn't had covid. reporter: follow-up tests showed angels a 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. >>'s eyes were swollen shut, his face was huge, his legs, everything was really swollen. it was getting in his lungs. he had a little bit on his heart. and he had to get a blood transfusion, because he lost blood. reporter: he was really sick. >> he was really sick. i was really preparing myself for the worst. reporter: kevin spent 15 days in the hospital. >> as soon as i got from the hospital, i could not run.

because my legs were swollen. every part of my body was swollen. >> was this the bear from the hospital? >> yes, it is my favorite. >> about two out of three kids with multisystem 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 for parents considered essential workers. angela bassett says doctors also need to be aware that mis-c might look different in black and latino children. >> i could see the rash all over his belly. all over his arm. i was like there is a rash. please look at it. they were like ok. are you sure? and i saw some of the images on the internet. and they were very much more

pronounced, but they were on very white bodies. and his skin is darker. children of color aren't the only ones affected. angela bassett joined the online community of mothers supporting each other, often when the medical community wasn't. she met leanne henderson, and her daughter allie. so little was widely understood about mis-c, doctors mistakenly removed allie's appendix before realizing 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 kids with long-haul covid and mis-c will need to be followed closely for the next five to 10 years. >> surprisingly, those kids have done fairly well. >> the good news is many of these children, if treated, do improve with time. 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 yasmine, who suffers from long covid, can take short walks with her mom step-by-step, getting back to the business of being a kid. for the pbs newshour at kaiser health news, i'm sarah varney. judy: the number of applications at the u.s.-mexico border have climbed steadily this year. in may, border agents reported more than 180,000 encounters with migrants. lorraine rivera of arizona public media spend a day recently with customs and border patrol on the ground and in the air during a sweep of the sonoran desert. >> 39 miles away, takes about 22 minutes. reporter: jack paynter is an air

interdiction agent with customs and border protection arrow marine operations. he's been directed to locate a group of four people walking in the desert a few miles north of the border, northwest of novalis. >> an agent down in the cut. >> right in front of you. >> when we arrive, we found the group wearing camouflage, hiding under the trees. 2 agents took the group into custody, placed them in handcuff and walked them out of the canyon. with this assignment complete, we are onto the next call. >> put the coordinates in real quick. >> he coordinates with operators in tucson and agents below him. >> this is going to be close to the border. >> a group of eight also in camouflage as the helicopter nears, the group scatters. they are hard to spot from the air. other agents arrive, as well as agents on horseback. >> they are well called when the

helicopter is in the area. it really gives away their position. reporter: three located and arrested, five others last seen headed back toward mexico. helping locate migrants is not the only mission for the cbp air unit. pilot response to request for emergency aid. a man has called for help on his phone. >> he's a good 20 miles north of the border. he could have easily been on the second or even third day. >> we have the 911 caller in sight. he is standing right now, but it looks a little busy. >> with no easy place to land and low on fuel, he can't offer immediate help. he marked coordinates so paramedics can find him more easily. >> we will have to break off for fuel.

but he is in the coordinates. reporter: we see the vastness of the sonoran dert during the summerconditions can be deadly. in the first feweeks of june, the medical examiner recorded 29 migrant deaths. hours after our flight, we learned the 911 caller died. a 35-year-old man from hunter us, his call had come into the air coordination center. >> go ahead with the coordinates. reporter: it links cbp partners alongside other federal, local, and state agencies. >> all of the agents -- reporter: he serves as the acting director. his team manages calls placed along the arizona-mexic border. overseeing calls from cell towers and imagery off o surveillance systems. >> we have a decision support system so when a call comes in, what condition are they in, is it a rescue? is it urgent? what capabilities are up. we have to do the pilot calculus, figuring out the bird, how much flight time is left, how much it takes to get to the

area. we don't want to send a bird somewhere to turn around. >> every agent has a smartphone connected to 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 when needed. >> there on top of it. reporter: improved technology isn't always enough to save people from the dead the elements in the desert, as shown with a honduran man who died. >> this was the worst case scenario of where the team did the best they could with what they had. the call comes in, it is immediate, do you have the coordinates. 100,000 square meters to figure it out. the person on the phone wasn't lucid. they were not able to give information. > that is where aircraft comes in. this fleet is the largest and busiest of the country, logging more than 10,000 flight hours every year. this is where customs and border

protection sends its blackhawk helicopters for maintenance. director mike mungo murray says surveillance systems aboard helicopters have saved countless lives over the years. >> anywhere along the corridor, we can be called to. we need the speed. the terrain is terrible. some areas where the border patrol agents work, it takes an hour and aalf, sometimes two hours to get to where they need to start working. from here, i can be in ajo and the boot heel and douglas in the sa amount of time. >> back on the ground, this agent drives us along the newly constructed border wall. a man appears on the fence line. >> [speaking spanish] >> he wants some water. >> the man agrees to talk to us as long as we don't show his face. he says he's 38 years old from the state of guadalajara.

smugglers stole his phone and most of his money. >> there were a group of 10, they paid him $1000. he heard a helicopter and took off before they even crossed the border. he is trying to walk to town to get some help and go back home. he said i is not very manly for the coyote to leave him behind, and will not attempt to come again. reporter: on the ground and in the air, one day with the tucson sector offers a snapshot into the latest surge along the southern border. for the pbs newshour, lorraine rivera. judy: 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 capehart. that is new york times colonist david brooks and jonathan capehart. hello to both of you on this friday. it is always so good to see you. let's start with a fireworks this week. how speaker pelosi surprise a lot of people by saying i'm not going to accept two of the five republicans appointed tohis january 6 select committee. in turn, you had kevin mccarthy saying if you do that, i will pull the whole group. what did you make of this? does it move the process forward? >> it is around 947 of those in congress. we had this commission. in normal life, in a normal country, the parties would get together, leaders would get togeer, it is important to

understand, we have the basic kind of person we want, one trusted by both sides, and we put honorable, trustworthy people, and we get to the answer. none of that oains, pelosi and mccarthy never get together. a few people trusted. taking the extraordinary step of appointing jim jordan a jim banks, two people exposed to the commission and would clearly undermine it. he could have picked anyone of dozens of others who would have been quiet. but it is like throwing it right in your face. and pelosi takes another step of not letting republicans pick their own people. it is one escalation of dysfunction after another. and we are not going to get -- congress will not give a bipartisan investigation. >> what did you make of the argument each one of them was making? >> i just want to ph back on something david just said.

speaker pelosi would not let leader mccarthy pick his own people. he picked republican members, 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 think i have set it on this air, i will say it again, for speaker pelosi, her faith in the constitution is only second to her catholic faith. she takes her role as a constitutional officer in the u.s. government extremely seriously. for her, getting to the bottom of why americans storm the u.s. capitol to overturn a free and fair election at the behest of the then sitting president of the u.s. is something important to her, vital for the history of the country. so for kevin mccarthy to do what he did, and blame her -- she i

the reason why capitol police were not prepared. listening to house minority leader kevin mccarthy, it had flashbacks to benghazi. january 6 is the new benghazi. speaker pelo is the new hillary clinton. she did not have the capitol police prepared enough, is the hillary clinton standdown, the theatrics on part of kevin mccarthy, the constitutional duty speaker pelosi is trying to engage in. >> kevin mccarthy more to blame than the speaker? >> i think yes. republicans still get to pick him up but clearly they would have screwed up the whole works. why did they get picked? a, it could have been so nancy pelosi could drive them off and he could have a fit. he must have forseen that. the second, it is further about where the party is, it is more a jordan party than a cheney

party. so the party is still over there. mccarthy is not an ideological person, but he probably knows where the center of his caucus is. i read a piece in the new york times by michael wolf, just had dinner with him, he was certain trump was going to run for president again. if he runs again, i guess that is the center of the party and what mccarthy has to -- judy: he -- this is a minority leader of the party who is responding to the -- in his view -- the titular head of the republican party. >> taking his cues where he thinks the base of the party is. there's another golden rule to keep in mind. here's the golden rule about house minority leader kevin mccarthy. everhing he says and does is geared to one goal, becoming speaker of the house. that is why he is doing what he is doing. >> infrastructure, our favorite

subject. i know you are dying to talk about it. negotiators are still negotiating. the smoke signals look like something is going to happen. are you getting the sense it is going to be a good thing? how are you reading it? >> we should get thomas the tank engine to talk about it. >> wait a minute. >> in a good way. what is interesting to me, for those who remember the episode last week, the bipartisan bill that is smaller and infrastructure, and the reconciliation bill that is more progressive. one would have thought the partisan only bill would have had smoother sailing, because it is all democrats. to me, it looks like the bipartisan bill is progressing. they are negotiating stops and starts. that seems to be moving forward. say they pass or get a deal on the bipartisan bill, do a bunch of moderate senators on the democratic side say i've got

what i need? they don't need this other bill? i wonder if the bill i thought was more secure was more in trouble, which would be the partisan reconciliation. judy: trouble among democrats? >> yes. judy: how are you reading this? >> you mentioned smoke signals. to me, that says something might be on fire. before we came out here, a story hit about how there is another wrinkle. last week, republicans were against the pay for by irs enforcement. earlier this week, i guess even this morning, battle over transit funding. the proportion of transit funding. just before we came on, consternation among democrats because republicans are pulling out something related to the prevailing range. it seems the bipartisan bill you have so much hope for, there are still so many moving pieces and

embers burning that i don't know if the bipartisan bill is really going to make it. we will see on monday, so they say. judy: we will learn early next week, we think. vaccine politics. we now see a few more republicans come out and say openly that people should get vaccinated. steve scalise, the number two republican in the house of representatives, republican governors, including kay ivey of alabama. she said it is time to start blaming the unvaccinated folks, not the regular folks, the unvaccinated let us down. that is not all republicans, but how significant is it? >> i love it when she said that. i think it is true. if we face a shut down again, people laid off, that is not the disease, that is human error, that is us. getting more aggressive the way she is, and the way some others,

strikes me as effective. will it be? i'm not sure. once donald trump and republicans made it a manhood issue, a freedom issue, whatever issue they made it, it is hard to walk back that culture war signal. and it comes at a time when the party has trouble talking about collective good, and the common good, and how we are all in this together, the air we breathe together. i think that has been dug deep into american history, especially the republican party. i'm not sure mitch mcconnell saying a few things will reverse that trend. judy: how much difference do you think this could make? >> this being more -- judy: a few more republicans in the media. >> david just spoke for me. i think if we had had a president of the united states who took this seriously when this first came on the scene, a

republican party that took this seriously enough to warn everyone, their constituents, saying wash your hands, put on a mask, then go get the vaccine, we would not be where we are right now. i agree with david. i think this has become such a cultural point, that even if donald trump were to come out tomorrow an essay 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 again in 2024. he can say all of that, and i think the point has been driven so far deep, that he won't convince anyone to get the vaccine who doesn't want to get it right now. judy: how do you -- what kind of a divide is this among republicans? is it based on science? how do you read what is going on? >> the people i know who are personally not getting the vaccine, for them, it was like they rushed this thing.

who knows what will happen to all of these people who get the shots in 10 or 20 years, so why should i take the risk? that is not completely crazy, but it is based on some sense of general distrust for the establishment, including the medical establishment. that distrust is the core of this thing. if we lived in a high society where we file the institutions of our society could be trusted, we would get the shots. the basic distrust, which really started in the 60's and 70's has been ramping up steadily over the last five decades. that is the corpulent. how do you get people to trust each other? it is a very big one. >> there is still a core out there of people saying they are not going to take it. there was a new survey this afternoon with the associated press, people saying they are not going to get it no matter what. >> it breaks my heart.

you read stories, i think it was a doctor in alabama who talked about before she into bates someone, they plead with her to have the vaccine, and she says it is too late. going to the family members and saying honor your loved one, get the vaccine, and they tell her they thought it was politics, a hoax. that broke my heart. to david's point, trust in anything and anyone that isn't themselves is completely broken down, completely. >> i remember seeing an interview this week with a man in his hospital bed aft serious covid saying even if he had to do it over again, he would not get vaccinated. it is what you said. >> religion is a powerful thing. >> we have to make it to get into any fun thing to do in america, you have to show your card. that is the only way to do it to me. judy: both of you stay safe.

the delta variant is out there. with ballparks filling up around the country, as pandemic restrictions ease, it is time to take me out to the ballgame. jeffrey brown looks at a new exhibit on the long history of latinos playing baseball, and how they have changed it fundamentally in this country. it is part of our arts and culture series, canvas. >> fenway park in boston 2017. the flag of the dominican republic covers the famed 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 virgo's.

>> i could not have imagined today when the flag of the dominican republic would be unfurled over the green monster. and it signaled a couple of important things to me. one was the power of the game to transform ideas and feelings about a community. >> today, latinos outside and within the u.s. make up some 30% of major league ballplayers, including some of the biggest stars prominent in the recent all-star game. but the long history of latinos and baseball in this country is less known. that's the focus of a new bilingual exhibition at washington's smithsian museum of american history titled play ball. >> it is about how latinos have been able to make a space for themselves.

>> curator margit salazar wanted to capture the game at ground level, and more than a century, and what it meant to families and communities. her team held a series of gatherings through the country to meet individuals and collect material for the exhibition. some were then repaired by the conservation staff. also here, a scrapbook using life magazine. a stickball mat made from a broom handle. an old and very worn in mitt. >> we are hearing the same stories, whether in california, texas, florida. >> those stories were? >> about family, community, how my father played this game, and he was an agricultural worker, or worked on the railroad, but he made sure to incorporate baseball into his everyday life. women playing in the barrios. being able to play because maybe they were sponsored by their local church.

we realized these stories were microcosms of a larger american experience for latinos. >> a key point latino immigrants brought the game with them, as far back as the 1860's. from long-standing traditions in cuba, the dominican republic, mexico, puerto rico, and elsewhere. among many other examples, workers for sugar companies in colorado's spanish colonies formed teams like the 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 allowed them to find health care and services they needed to become part of their local churches, or support local community centers and businesses. some of it was we can play baseball and become part of the larger communities, but other

times, they were not accepted, and they had their own community and were fine with it. baseball was part of that identity. >> at the national level, there is the 1939 uniform of the later star in the all-american girls professional baseball league. renowned game changers like robert clemente, his puerto rico unorm, his pittsburgh pirates helmet from 1960, and fernando vallance whaler, the center of for non-domain you. -- fernando mania. there is also the story of discrimination and color line in baseball and america. >> he said himself about latino players, we had two strikes against us. one because we were black, and the other because we were latin. >> historian virgo's, a professor at the university of illinois, served as advisor to the exhibition.

he has written widely about one key figure. he starred in his native cuba in the negro leagues in the u.s. when blacks were excluded from major league baseball. then with the chicago white sox, when the color line was finally broken. virgo's among one of those pushing for the accomplishments to finally gain him entry to the baseball hall of fame. >> he was a pioneering player. the excellence it took to excel, the persistence, the resilience, while the majority of the league was not yet integrated, while many hotels the chicago white sox stayed in did not welcome black individuals, there were so much that he had to deal with on and off the field, for him to perform at that level is what a hall of famer is. >> he and the curator 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 taste 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 alluture exhibitions will have bilingual signage. this one says salazar porzio can help lead the way. >> it should not be so transformative, but for our institution, it is. to have a fully bilingual show planned to be so from the very beginning, to have the fundamental premise of it be that latinos have changed this quintessential american sport. that's a transformative moment. >> the exhibition play ball 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 and washington, d.c. judy: so good to see all of this. 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 youtube channel or pbs.org/newshour. stay with pbs. the panel will explore the investigation into the insurrection. and the politics on this summer covid surge. that is tonight on washington week. that is the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. monday evening. for all of us at the pbs, stay safe andave a good weekend. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by. ♪

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what's next for cuba? this week on "firing line." ♪ ♪ the calls for freedom are growing louder. in cuba, the largest protests in decades. a powerful new generation online. ♪ ♪ >> and in the streets chanting -- liberty. now the police crackdown. conditions on the island are bleak. food shortages, currency shock and covid. >> they're not asking for remit answers. they're not asking for aspirin. they're asking for freedom, for freedom. >> representative mario diaz-balart is cuban american congressman who family fled havana when castro took power. the florida republican w