♪ amna: good evening. i'm amna nawaz. gef bennett is away. on "the newshour" tonight... a department of justice investigation prompted by the killing of george floyd finds patterns of abuse within the minneapolis police department. severe storms rip through the southern u.s., killing multiple people and leaving behind a trail of destruction. plus... we speak with miami mayor francis suarez about why he's joining the already crowded field of republican presidential candidates. ♪ >> major funding for "the pbs newshour" has been provided by the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions,

and friends of "the newshour." including jim and nancy goldman and kathy and paul anderson. >> actually, you don't need vision to do most things in life. yes, i am legally blind, and yes, i am responsible for the user interface. data visualization -- if i can see it and understand it quickly, anyone can. it's exciting to be part of a team driving the technology forward. i think that's the most rewarding thing. people who know, know bdo. >> cunard is a proud supporter of public television. on the voyage with cunard, the world awaits. a world of flavor, diverse destinatns, and immersive experiences. a world of entertainment and british style.

all with cunard's white star service. ♪ >> the john s. and james l. knight foundation, fostering informed and engaged communities. more at kf.org. ♪ >> and with ongoing support of these individuals and institutions -- and friends of "the newshour." ♪ this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and contributions to your pbs station by viewers like you. thank you. amna: good evening and welcome to "the newshour." the minneapolis police department repeatedly used

excessive and unjustified deadly force against city residents. that was the conclusion of a major investigation by the u.s. department of justice. the findings documented long-standing patterns of abuse and discrimination against black and indigenous citizens. special correspondent fred de sam lazaro has the story from minneapolis. fred: attorney general merrick garland announced the findings of the two-year-long investigation today, and he said problems in the department began well before george floyd's murder. ag garland: the patterns and practices we observed made what happened to george floyd possible. as one city leader told us quote, "these systemic issues didn't just occur on may 25, 2020. there were instances like that that were being reported by the community long before that." fred: the federal civil rights investigation began after former minneapolis police officer derek chauvin was convicted of

murdering george floyd. floyd's death in 2020 was captured on cell-phone video, which sparked protests globally and calls for policing reform. among the federal government's key findings -- the minneapolis police department engaged in excessive use of force, including deadly force against black and indigenous people; unlawful discriminatory policing against those groups as well as individuals with behavioral health disabilities; and repeated violations of the first and fourth amendments of the constitution, including restraining and beating protesters and retaliating against journalists. garland detailed some examples of the worst offenses his team found. ag garland: mpd officers discharged firearms at people without assessing whether the person presents any threat, let alone a threat that would justify deadly force. for example, in 2017 an mpd officers shot and killed an unarmed woman who he said had "spooked" him when she

approached his squad car. a review found numerous incidents in which mpd officers responded to a person's statement that they could not breathe with the version of you can breathe. you're talking right now. fred: the report found officers stopped black people 6 and a half times more often than whites and stopped native americans at nearly 8 times the rate of whites. the report also found racial disparities in traffic stops and use of force. ms. clarke: mpd also uses force against, uses force during stops involving black and native american people more frequently than they do during stops involving white people, even when they behave in similar ways. fred: from january 2016 to august 2022, three-quarters of the minneapolis police department's reported uses of force "did not involve an associated violent offense or weapons offense." mayor jacob frey acknowledged there was much work to do, but

applauded reforms already in place, including new policies that prohibit neck restraints and no knock warrants. mayor frey: now weaven't been just waiting and sitting on our hands to see through change. we wholeheartedly shifted our form of government. we hired a new commissioner. a new police chief, a new city attorney. we're doubling down on violence prevention work even further, and we want to extend and enhance safety beyond policing. fred: earlier this year, the state reached a settlement with minneapolis after its own investigation by the department of human rights found similar widespread abuses and a lack of accountability. the justice department said it expects a consent decree to enforce new protections and rules against abuse and excessive use of force to be negotiated within the next several months. for "the pbs newshour," i'm fred de sam lazaro.

vanessa: i'm vanessa ruiz in for stephanie sy, with newshour west. here are the latest headlines. the man who opened fire at a pittsburgh synagogue was found guilty of all federal charges he faced. robert bowers killed 11 jewish worshipers at the tree of life synagogue in 2018. it was the deadliest antisemitic terror attack in u.s. history. now jurors must decide whether the 50-year-old should be sentenced to death or life in prison without parole. clean up efforts are underway across several southern states after powerful storms bore down yesterday. over 200,000 residents are still without power across the region. the severe weather killed at least five people -- in texas, florida and mississippi -- and injured more than a hundred others. the worst of the damage was in northern texas, where a tornado leveled much of one community, northeast of amarillo. john yang has our report.

john: devastation and destruction in the texas panhandle as a deadly tornado ripped through the small town of perryton. its residents are grappling with unfathomable loss. officials estimate that 200 homes in the area were destroyed. a trailer park in the north part of town suffered a direct hit. the storm began in the late afternoon with heavy hail. >> this is the tornado. john: residents caught the twister on camera from afar after it touched down, apparently without warning. >> total devastation. john: it continued for more than a mile, at one point barreling through downtown, leaving it unrecognizable. paul dutcher is the town's fire chief. chief dutcher: the power lines down, trees shredded, just debris all across the major highways, the major streets. everything was covered to a

point, i couldn't even get to the fire station. john: texas governor greg abbott sent state emergency services to help clean up and restore utilities. the severe weather was fueled by extreme heat in the region that's making the atmosphere unstable. it's expected to continue this weekend. forecasters say it could feel as hot as 110 degrees in parts of texas. severe weather also caused damage in other areas in the south. >> oh wow. john: from strong wind and heavy rain in louisiana... to massive hail in arkansas... to storms in the florida panhandle that became deadly overnight when a twister knocked a tree onto a house. and in the north, another suspected tornado in ohio toppled trees, and busted power lines, cutting electricity for thousands. more severe weather is expected in texas and oklahoma into this evening. for "the pbs newshour," i'm john yang. vanessa: at let two people have died after a severe cyclone

battered western india. 23 others were injured. heavy rains submerged parts of gujarat state as fierce winds uprooted trees and electrical poles. the cyclone was expected to weaken as it moved across southern pakistan -- an area still recovering from last year's devastating floods. chief dastur: the number of fallen trees has risen. yesterday, only a few small structures collapsed but, judging by the wind speed, the damage might be worse today. excavators are working now to remove those trees. vanessa: more than 180,000 people in both countries were forced to leave their homes to take shelter ahead of the cyclone. in greece, the search for victims of a migrant boat disaster entered its third and final day -- but hopes are dwindling fast. rescuers have not found any bodies since late wednesday and fear up to 500 missing people have drowned. in kalamata, emotional reunions

took place between survivors and their loved ones. about a hundred migrants were moved to a camp outside athens, where officials were overwhelmed with calls. >> i have unending photographs -- small kids, 16, 20-years-old, 25-year-olds, whose parents are looking for them. from what i was told there are no women, all the women died, drowned, with their chilen in their arms. it is a tragedy, it is unbelievable. vanessa: 104 survivors -- all men -- were rescued. they were from syria, egypt, pakistan and the palestinian territories. 78 people were confirmed dead. pope francis was discharged today from the rome hospital where he underwent hernia surgery nine days ago. his surgeon said the pontiff is doing better than before. the 86-year-old waved to well-wishers and prayed to an icon of the virgin mary before returning to the vatican. he plans to make his traditional appearance greeting the public in st. peter's square on sunday.

back in this country -- a federal judge has blocked an indiana ban on puberty blockers and hormone treatments for transgender minors that was set to take effect july 1. a ban prohibiting gender-affirming surgery will remain. no medical providers in the state currently preform the surgery on minors. the nba has suspended memphis grizzlies point guard ja morant for a second time for flashing a handgun in a social media video. this time, he'll sit out for the first 25 games of the upcoming season. he already served an eight-game suspension for showing a handgun in a video posted last march. and, two passings to note -- daniel ellsberg, the military analyst behind the 1971 pentagon papers leak, died of pancreatic cancer today at his home in california. the top-secret, 7,000-page document revealed that the u.s. government knowingly misled the nation about its involvement in the vietnam war. he spoke about his decision to leak the documents in a 2010 interview with the pbs program

"pov." daniel: as the pentagon papers showed -- and i have often said that i feel very regretful that i had not put out those documents when i could have in 1964 and '65 -- i think, that a war really might have been avoided. vanessa: daniel ellsberg was 92 years old. and, donald triplett -- the first person to ever be diagnosed with autism -- has died. he passed away at his home in forest, mississippi after an extended illness. triplett was profiled in the book "in a different key: the story of autism." it was a 2017 pulitzer prize finalist for general nonfiction and later led to a pbs documentary. donald triplett was 89 years old. still to come on "the newshour"... david brooks and jonathan capehart weigh in on the legacy of daniel ellsberg... a new poll reveals what voters think of former president trump's indictment... and musician john legend embarks

on a personal path for his latest creative endeavor. >> this is "the pbs newshour" from weta studios in washington, and in the west from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. amna: it was certainly an historic week as donald trump became the first ex-president to face charges in federal court. and a new pbs newshour-npr-marist poll helps explain how american voters view the former president. the indicted former president lashing out. mr. trump: a corrupt sitting president had his top political opponent arrested on fake and fabricated charges. amna: many of his republican rivals coming to his defense. >> this is my commitment, on january 20, 2025, if i am elected the next u.s. president,

to pardon donald j. trump. amna: mr. trump trump faces 37 federal criminal charges. the indictment alleges he conspired to hide classified documents from the government after being asked to return them. it was just the latest indictment of the former president. in april, he was charged in a new york court with 34 counts of falsifying business records to hide damaging information from voters before the 2016 election. and more charges may be coming. a georgia investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election is expected to wrap up this summer. the response from american voters? sharp divides and a clear test of party allegiance. in a new pbs newshour-npr-marist poll, half of americans say mr. trump has done something illegal, including half of independents. a quarter of respondents believe he's done nothing wrong. but half of republicans hold that view. those feelings were on display at a gop focus group in iowa assembled by pollster sarah

longwell that the newshour observed. >> why isn't biden indicted? just because he gave them back at an appropriate time? i mean, really? he did exactly the same thing. >> you have a current president who is siccing all of the doj on a potential candidate, that's never happened. >> the country is so divided that these events are being seen in absolutely separate lenses. amna: lee miringoff is the director of the marist college institute for public opinion. >> if you talk about what's happening in american politics, candidate trump, president trump, former president trump, all define so much of our political reality today, but not in a unified way. people are just viewing him so differently with a different set of, a different lens, depending on whether they're democrats, republicans or independents. amna: the latest indictment has only solidified mr. trump's support among republicans. in the marist poll, trump has seen an 8-point jump since february. 76 percent of republicans and

republican-leaning voters now view him favorably. >> raise your hand if it makes you support him more. raise your hand if it makes you support him less. amna: americans overall feel very differently. more than half say trump should drop out of the presidential race, including 58 percent of independents. but for republicans, nearly two-thirds say trump will have their support in the gop primary. just one-third say they'll support another candidate. as the number of primary candidates continues to grow, they'll need to change many republican minds before voting begins early next year. and the long list of republican presidential candidates gained its first mayor this week. miami mayor francis suarez says he can usher in a new era for the gop and the country. >> run for president of the united states of america.

amna: a third florida man in the race, miami mayor francis suarez kicking off his bid for the white house, the only mayor in the growing gop field. >> i believe america is still a shining city on a hill whose eyes of the world are upon us, and whose promise needs to be restored. and i believe the city needs more than a shouter or a fighter. i believe it needs a servant. it needs a mayor. amna: suarez is in the spotlight for the second time this week after helping coordinate security around the arraignment of his now-opponent, donald trump. >> in our city, a, we obviously believe in the constitution and believe that people should have the right to express themselves. but we also belie in law and order. amna: the cuban american followed his father's footsteps into politics. xavier suarez served as the city's mayor in the 1980s and 1990s. francis suarez was first elected in 2017 with more than 80 percent of the vote.

it's a part-time, largely ceremonial position, but suarez pushed an economic agenda with an eye towards cryptocurrency and tech. >> in miami, we've already shown that our city is willing to lead into this new opportunity of crypto. amna: the 45-year-old stands out in the gop field with more centrist positions on immigration and climate change which he believes is a major threat. >> it's not theoretical for us in the city of miami. it's real. we deal with it day in, day out, year after year. amna: over his two terms, suarez has at times sparred with florida governor ron desantis, now his gop rival, even criticizing the governor's fight with disney. >> he took an issue that was a winning issue that we all agreed on, which was parental rights for k through third-graders, and it looks like now it's something that spite or maybe potentially a personal vendetta, which has cost the state now potentially 2,000 jobs in a billion-dollar investment. amna: but suarez is also fighting his own battles. last month, the miami herald

reported he was paid thousands of dollars by a real estate developer in the city, money now under investigation as possible bribes. suarez denies the allegation. and the miami mayor now campaigns against two men who he did not vote for in previous elections -- the former president, and florida governor -- though he's said he will back the eventual 2024 republican nominee. here to talk about the launch of his campaign, is mayor francis suarez. welcome to the newshour. >> thank you for having me. amna: as we just heard, you did not vote for president trump and we know he currently leads in early polls among gop candidates. republican voters do like him. why should those same voters back you if you did not back him? >> i think the voters have a choice. they can decide to redo the 2020

election, that's a choice they have, or they can decide to choose something else. i think among the available candidates they have, i would rather be unknown and exciting than known and unexciting. amna: you've said specifically you are running because you have a different message. in terms of messages and how they land, how is your message different from mr. trump's? >> my message is different from all the candidates. i did not come from washington, i have executive leadership at the mayoral level, closest to the people. i have cut taxes. i have balanced a budget. i have created tremendous prosperity, we are number one wage growth, have the lowest unemployment in america. i've created that dynamism because i met the moment in our city. amna: i have to ask, because we are speaking after the front runner in your party was just arraigned on federal charges. you said you haven't ruled out pardoning mr. trump if you were to win. i want to be clear, if he's

found guilty of obstructing justice and illegally retaining department of justice documents, you would deem those pardonable crimes? >> i would not rule out a pardon for either party if it can heal the nation, number one. number two, the issue at stake in the trump case is whether he willfully retained national security documents. it is clear that the current president, former vice president, retained documents -- amna: but you know those are very different circumstances, that has been made clear. >> they are not different circumstances. amna: all due respect, they are very different. the question is whether mr. trump obstructed justice. in refusing to hand back documents. >> you can have your perspective and i have my perspective. amna: these are not perspectives, they are facts. >> he will be judged by a jury of his peers. i personally would not have retained documents. i think most americans find it strange that any public official, whether they are

current president, former vice president, current secretary of state, vice president under president trump or the president, they don't understand why anybody would retain documents of national security importance, willful or on -- or unwillful. i think that's bewildering to the american public. but everybody in this country has a constitutional right, despite what the press would like to see and debate constantly, they have a constitutional right to trial by jury. when the process concludes, we will know if he did some thing wrong or not. you cannot convict someone by indictment. if i am the president of united states and he or anyone else commits a crime that i feel pardoning that person would heal the country, bring the country together, unify the country, i would consider it. i would be negligent not to be -- not to. amna: you've spoken on immigration quite a bit. specifically daca recipients. there are tens of thousands in

florida alone. you know there is a court ruling pending that could deem the program illegal and throw many young adults's lives into disarray. in 2020 you signed a letter from the u.s. conference of mayors urging then president trump not to end daca. as president, would you grant those dreamers a path to citizenship? >> it's been a product of multiple different administrations, both republican and democrat, and we have to solve this crisis. first of all, we have a problem at the border, we have six or 7 million people that have entered illegally into the country just in the last couple of years. that is creating chaos in american cities. we have china spending $1 trillion of our money, subverting us in our own despair, putting more immigration pressure on our country, and we have an incoherent system for legal immigration that is not indexed to things like unemployment or the fact we have a declining

birthrate. that's the kind of conversation we need to have, and we also need to include daca recipients and those who are undocumented in the conversation to determine what kind of status they should receive. as a hispanic republican president, i think i would be in a stng position to be able to solve this issue once and for all. amna: how would you do that with respect to the dreamers? would you grant them a path to citizenship? >> i think what you have to do is convince both parties that that particular class of immigrant is one that should be a citizen. i think part of it is, as a hispanic republican potential president, and as a president, you will have the ability to hopefully convince republicans they should not be afraid of legalizing certain immigrants who will be productive members of society, like my parents when they came to this country. amna: you've made very clear who

you are and what you believe, but i wonder how your experience in what is a part-time job, what people describe as mostly ceremonial, as the mayor of miami, how does that translate to the demands of the presidency? >> i think that's a fair question, obviously, but the courage it takes to make tough choices does not depend on the number of zeros in your budget or the number of people you manage. it depends on your track record of decision-making, and my track record has shown i'm not afraid to make tough choices. those kind of decisions, the decisions that need to be made to bring our country back to prosperity, are not dependent on the job you have today, they are dependent on the ability you brought to the job. amna: that is the mayor of miami, thank you for your time. please join us again. >> for sure. ♪

amna: for reaction on the growing presidential field and former president trump's latest legal battle, we turn to the analysis of brooks and capehart. that's new york times columnist david brooks and jonathan capehart, associate editor for the washington post. good to see you. every time we get together, there is a new candidate to discuss. [laughter] there are other moderate republicans that said i'm not going to jump into this field. francis suarez is. are there enough primary voters to propel him forward? david: i thought so once upon a time, maybe six months ago. there seemed to be deflection. and the republican party through mitt romney, you would expect that would exist somewhere. i think it does to some degree. chris sununu i thought would be a strong candidate, brian kemp

from georgia, not as moderate. this guy is a genuine moderate, he was gesturing in that interview toward a comprehensive immigration plan, which he has supported in the past. amna: but you don't hear often. david: he has a fantastic story to tell in miami. he will have to get a lot more polished at question and answer, frankly. i still think in theory, there is room for one person not donald trump. it could be him or tim scott. in theory that person will get a bump at some point. amna: i want to revisit some of the poll numbers, this is the context which he is stepping in. when you look at mr. trump's support, it has grown among republicans. an eight point favorability jump since february. when you ask republican and a gop leaning voters, only a third say they will support someone else other than donald trump. do you see any of this changing? jonathan: no. suarez has a story to tell, but unfortunately no one wants to hear it. those numbers show no one really

wants to hear about anyone else except donald trump. if there are more indictments to come down the road for the former president, i fully expect his numbers to keep going up. this is part of donald trump's story, his political story. he could spend pretty much all of 2024 in a courtroom instead of on the campaign trail, but for donald trump, the courtroom will be the campaign trail. his poll numbers will go up and his fundraising will go up. amna: we have to remind people, this bump in favorability is happening after the latest indictment, but also after the indictment in new york, after he was found liable for sexually abusing and defaming e. jean carol. now you have candidates saying i will pardon him, and francis suarez not ruling it out. what kind of precedent does that set? david: trumps core narrative in

the republican party these days are they are out to get us. to attack our faith, they are changing our country. this can be spun into part of that narrative, they are out to get us. it resonates with people. i think what is interesting about republican voters is a clear majority of them think this is political. but if you ask if he did something wrong, a significant chunk think he did something wrong. so there's a little more cross pressure than in previous stories, and i'm not sure it will change, but we will see. some of the fox news analysts have been very harsh, bill barr. if there's a chance that some delete -- elite opinions are shifting that will lead to other opinions, maybe there is a crack in the window. but i think another indictment, he's up to 150%. [laughter] amna: do you agree? jonathan: sure, it is a crack in

the window because unlike say the muller investigation, this is really easy to understand. easy to understand in the same way the january 6 hearings were easy for the american people to understand. classified documents with national security secrets belong to the u.s. government and you are not supposed to take them. then you see the photos of bathrooms and storage rooms and ballrooms -- the nation's national security secrets just spilled out everywhere. the american people see that, that is not cool. you should be held accountable for that. amna: you talk about the consequences of the ramping up of the attacks against president bide also the language that this is part of the weaponization of government agencies. i want to ask about that. greg sargent wrote about this in a piece in the washington post about this, this is part of what

was said in terms of the other gop candidates echoing the message. "by endorsing this idea that mass victimization is real, trumps rivals could help lead a widespread yearning for mass retaliation under the next gop president." in other words, not necessarily about 2024 but the future. david: there is a cultural war going on the race and trumpism stands for a few things. that people are basically selfish you should grab what you can while you can and all of the , institutions are corrupt all the way down. i personally don't agree with that, we have all covered this town and i would say our institutions are frail and faltering but worthy of respect. a lot of the people who are prosecutors and in the department of justice or in the department of education just want to do their jobs. the idea that it is corruption all the way down is fundamentally not true. but i found it is hard to

persuade a lot of people in this country to that fact. amna: it is striking, the law the languages striking to undermine, it's asking to be in charge of as president of the united states. how do you see the long-term potential consequences like that? could that go back in a bottle? jonathan: i don't know. we are living in the middle of it now. the people now in washington, the new republican majority in the house, they were elected to come to washington and break it. whether it was donald trump or another republican president, the folks who vote for them hope those people will break this town. they think it deserves to be broken because they think it is rigged. a lot of the language that comes out of former president trump and a lot of republicans is all about projection. the weaponization of the doj. the term, weaponization. we know because donald trump has promised, heas said if elected

i will be retribution and go after the people coming after me. because if they're coming after me, that is a proxy for them coming after you. that kind of language is incredibly dangerous not just for our institutions but also our national political discourse. how we talk about each other, but also to david's point, the respect we should have for these institutions. without these institutions, where is america? amna: i do want to ask about something we reported on earlier, the passing of daniel ellsberg. the military analyst who was so deeply disturbed by the lies being told to the american public about the vietnam war, that he leaked the so-called pentagon papers. and changed the course of history. this is him from the 2017 newshour interview. daniel: the system that puts everything on the decisions of one man is crazy. and when i held that piece of

paper in my hand, the word in my mind was evil. evil. this should not exist. this was the operational plan, annually, for the joint chiefs of staff that had been approved by general eisenhower. and i thought, there shouldn't be anything in the world that corresponds to this. but there has been then, and ever since. amna: what it must have taken to arrive at that decision and stand by that, even when the president at the time calls you are trer. david: we just talked about classified document should not be taken out of where they belong, and i generally agree with that. i think most leakers are wrong. i thought edward snowden was terrible. but daniel as burke -- daniel ellsberg showed he could do it right. daniel ellsberg tried to go up the chain of command to show to senators. he went through all of the hoops to prove it's not just you being

in egomaniac, you have a legitimate cause. when he finally leaked the 7000 documents to the post, you could at least say he a, went through the hoops, and b, did with the expectation he would spend the rest of his life in jail. that to me is doing it the right way, anything that should almost never be done except in extreme circumstances. amna: how do you will be remembered? jonathan: as a hero, someone who stood up for principles, who had a strong belief and tried to do something about it. i agree with david. i would add one more thing, because you mentioned edward snowden. a lot of people were comparing the two when snowden leaked those documents. i wrote a column then, 10 years ago this week that said no he is not. while they both leaked documents, daniel ellsberg did something edward snowden didn't do, he stayed in the country, he turned himself in and allowed

himself to be held accountable. something edward snowden still refuses to do. in that regard, that's what i say someone like daniel ellsberg should be considered a hero, because he did something that stood up for his beliefs and value system and then suffer the consequences. amna: his family said in a statement today that he was not in pain and surrounded by loving family, even joking in the end. he said if i had known dying would be like this, i would have done it sooner. [laughter] of course our thoughts are with his family. thank you to you both, good to see you. ♪ amna: leaders from all 31 nato member nations will hold their annual summit next month in vilnius, lithuania. ahead of it, some members, and ukrainian president volodymyr

zelenskyy, are stepping up their calls for ukraine to join the military alliance. ali rogin has the details. ali: poland's parliament today passed a resolution supporting ukraine's admission to nato. ukraine-in-nato was a contentious issue long before the war began, and it has only accelerated since then. we have now our own debate over when or whether ukraine should be invited into nato. charles kupchan served on the national security council staff during the obama and clinton administrations. he's now a senior fellow at the council on foreign relations and a georgetown university professor. and evelyn farkas was deputy assistant secretary of defense for russia, ukraine and eurasia during the obama administration. she's now executive director of the mccain institute at arizona state university. welcome back to you both. evelyn, you support ukraine becoming a member of nato now. why? evelyn: ukraine has earned it. we gave them a political agreement back when we took

their nuclear weapons that we would defend them if they were invaded. the countries that were supposed to defend ukraine did defend ukraine to some extent but not to the extent that ukraine expected. since then ukraine has been fighting to uphold the international order, this entity -- the principles of the sanctity of borders, which russia has violated repeatedly, and nowhere n lo t asthe interot most battle hardened, capable military on the continent. the'e also earned it. ali: charles, has ukraine earned it? charles: i'm all for helping ukraine and doing our best to enable ukraine to recover as much of their territory as possible. hopefully all of its territory. but i part ways on the question of whether nato should open its doors and offer membership to ukraine at this point. president biden and nato allies

are helping ukraine defend itself, but they are not going to war to defend ukraine in part because they have made a judgment that they are not ready to see nato go to war with russia, risk world war iii over ukraine. we need to keep in mind that if nato does admit ukraine and a single bomb were to fall on kyiv, we would have a treaty-based obligation to go to war with russia. secondly, i think we see this is a war that will go on a long time. we don't know how it will end. we need to keep open the prospect for some sort of cease fire, perhaps an armistice in which we need russia to play ball. much harder to get them to play ball. two final reasons. there is no consensus in nato about admitting ukraine. nato's strongest suit right now is its unity and i don't think we want to interject this debate right before the summit in july and go into that summit with disunity.

finally, the domestic question. sweden is on the path to nato membership. turkey is blocking it. it's not clear to me that if we go down the path of wanting to admit ukraine, that our own senate would be ready to ratify it. before we start moving toward nato mentorship for ukraine, you need to get our political ducks in order. ali: i want to pick up on charles's first point, that we should not necessarily be ready yet to commit american troops to this fight. you pointed out that article of five nato's principles that state a collective self-defense does not necessarily specify what that response looks like. so we are not automatically promising troops to the front. you are saying you believe that is a commitment the united states should be willing to make at this point? evelyn: if russia is allowed to

prevail and a cease fire will essentially mean putin can rest, his military can regain strength and attack ukraine again. if putin prevails militarily in ukraine, he will turn to georgia, moldova, and then make no mistake, he will challenge the nato alliance. he will do something to cause us to have to make a decision about whether we trigger article five or not. it is far better to deter him in the ukraine context, than having the possibility of fighting another day against nato. how do we do this? we have a precedent in the cold war where east berlin was part of germany, and west germany, but we did not extend to code-5 to that area because it was occupied by soviet forces. there are ways to get around article five. if russia was to attack part of ukrainian territory where they are not today, meaning the ukrainian government has control

and therefore article five would count, we can then make a decision about what actions take and it doesn't mean it necessarily has to involve an escalation to nuclear or all-out war. ali: how do you make determinations about what parts of ukraine are ukrainian and what parts are under russian control in an active war zone where individual cities change hands every day? evelyn: i think if there's any question, you put it into the disputed category. i think it's fairly clear day to day which towns are controlled, but on the day ukraine becomes a member, that's the day it counts. i realize it is tricky and there is a little danger on those towns on those days, when the decision is being finalized. but i think it is a way to work around it. ali: the biden administration has indicated it's not

supporting nato membership for ukraine at this time. it wants to wait until fighting has ceased. but today there are reports that they are open to waive the so-called membership action plan, a series of commitments that nato applicants have to make before they are admitted. what do you make of that signal from the biden administration and is that enough? evelyn: i think the biden administration is responding to pressure from the europeans and the majority of nato members, i was just in sweden and finland, they are very much in favor of nato membership for ukraine. the biden administration is not leading this time when it comes to ukraine's nato membership, as in the past. i think the administration i trying to close the gap with us and our european allies. charles: i would agree, i think the americans are looking for something to give the ukrainians at the summit. waiving the action plan is not a bad idea, but it is a procedural

wendover that doesn't really change the game. it kicks down the road the question of will ukraine ever get into nato. i thk right now the main line of effort will stay the main line of effort, and that is getting arms to ukraine so they can continue this offensive and take back as much land as possible on the battlefield. ali: charles and evelyn, thank you for joining us. ♪ amna: at 44-years-old, john legend is the very portrait of success -- he's achieved the so-called egot, winning two at 44 years old, john wasn't is the very portrait of success. the first black man on the second youngest person ever to do so.

he is on the road with something new, performing and telling his own story. jeffrey brown met up with him recently for our arts and culture series, canvas. >> just a man and his piano. he had to do a sound check on the stage of the will tran national park for the performing arts outside washington, d.c. and that night, before a packed crowd. john legend is doing something new before his latest project, singing songs that influenced him and that brought him fame. ♪ bus, also telling personal stories of how he got there.

>> in addition to selling delicious fries, mcdonald's did outreach to the black community in the form of a black history month essay competition cultlike history makers of tomorrow. >> i wrote this essay when i was 15 years old and i said is going to try to make history by becoming a successful artist and using my success to try to make the world better and i still feel that same sense of mission and i'm going to keep doing it. >> the other thing you talked about was living up to this name. >> i'm trying, every day. >> reporter: in fact, he was born and grew up as john stevens. but as john legend, he sold millions of albums since his 2004 debut. in his 2013 love song, all of me ♪, and i would to his wife, model, cookbook author and tv

personality, chrissy teigen, has some 2 billion streams on spotify. a throwback in part to the rich tradition of soul and r&b, he is also known for collaborating with many of this year's biggest hip-hop stars, including at this year's grammy awards where he joined jay-z and others in arousing show ender. what is it that you are bringing to them? >> i am bring in soul, bringing gospel, all of my own personal experiences to that performance, and that is what they have me therefore. they don't need me to wrap, but they need me there to bring that soul and the musicality and i think i have always brought that in my collaborations with hip-hop artists. >> reporter: his celebrity coach on the hit singing competition series, the voice command celebrity husband as well as debt to the couple's three children.

and he clearly thrives on performing. >> i feel so connected to the audience. i feel so close to the music and it feels like i am just being fully myself up there. >> reporter: on stage now, a stripped-down version of john legend. it is just you and the piano. you like that? >> i love it. it takes me back to being a little boy. it takes me back to the church in some ways, where i grow back. it took me back to my family. >> reporter: he grew up in springfield, ohio, in a deeply religious household, a happy when it first.

and then his mother, suffering depression and addiction, left the family. he barely saw her for 10 years. >> that was a tough time, but it also made me more independent and driven as a musician. you know, you don't want those experiences to happen, but those experiences help create the person that you are, and if you react to it in the right way, then you can grow from it, and it can inform and inspire your music, your drive and ambition. >> reporter: in a social media age, legend and chrissy teigen have huge followings. in 2020, they shared photos of what teagan called a miscarriage at the time. she has since said it was important to clarify in light of the crackdown on abortion rights, that it was quote, on abortion to save my life for a baby that had no chance. despite some criticism for over sharing, legend says he is comfortable with their approach to personal and public life. >> i keep plenty of my private life private, even though it feels like a charolette.

for me and my wife, so much of who we are as artist and as creators is inspired by and driven by our family lives, and our relationships with her family members, and so it is all part of who i am. it is all part of the stories i tell. >> you shared some difficult things, a lot of grief in your family. did that help? >> yes. i think it helped us, but also help people that we spoke to, too. particularly when we went through pregnancy loss, there were so many people who came up to us, and they still do. because they felt it, too, and they have gone through it a lot of times in silence. a lot of times people feel shame about it and don't want to talk about it, and removing some of that stigma, especially because it is such a common occurrence -- so many people experience pregnancy loss, but we don't hear about it very often. >> reporter: legend also wants

to move the needle politically. he has expended social activism efforts focused on issues such as economic equity, and mass incarceration. >> i have never had anyone ask what are you or what is your skin tone. >> reporter: his film and notebook companies bring forth under told stories and writers. he performed at joe biden's inauguration, and says he is impressed with the presidents legislative achievement, even while continuing to disagree over criminal justice policies and he is ready to engage what he sees as a conservative backlash after the george floyd murder and the back lives matters movement. >> there has been a strain of conservativism that has looked at this new awareness, this new progressivism when it came on race and said no, we don't want that, and the backlash has been strong. and so, people on the site of

progressive values, people on the side of as being one nation together under god where we all have equality have to fight, just like the folks on the side of the backlash are fighting. >> reporter: at his concert, john legend revealed his alternative life. >> i take a job at a place called boston consulting group. >> reporter: unsure of making it in music, he worked as a management consultant for several years after college while recording and performing at night. it might not have been so better life, he says now, but -- >> honestly, i love making music so much. it's such an inspiring and motivating thing to be able to do, get up in the morning and know you can create something new that did not exist before. i cannot imagine not having that in my life at this point, but i am glad i made the decisions i have made and i am glad life worked out the way it did. ♪ >> reporter: for the pbs news hour, i am jeffrey brown at the

wolf trap national park with a performing artist. great interview, and now i know what music i'm listening to all weekend. be sure to turn into washington week later tonight right here on pbs for more analysis of former president trump's historic federal arraignment and watch pbs news week and tomorrow for a look at a new report on what is transforming and mobilizing extremist groups in america. that is the newshour for tonight. on behalf of the entire newshour team, have a great weekend.

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♪ this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. ♪ >> this is pbs newshour west from this is pbs news hour west from w tba studios in washington and from the bureau of the walter cronkite school of journalism at washington state university.

is a neonatologist i take care of newborns who need to be in an intensive care unit. people come from all over to have their babies here because of the fetal treatmen center and the treatments that were developed and conceived here. taking care of all these complicated, tiny little patience really requires a whole team of specialists from the nurses to the physicians, the respiratory therapist. the reason i love working here is because i get to work with families from the beginning of life until the time when they take their baby home. we make a really emotional connection with the family. i like being able to see in interventions and making a ur difference in these families' lives.

tonight, on kqed newsroom we will take you on a retrospective journey of the past five decades of bringing you the news on television. coming to you from kqed headquarters in san francisco, this friday june 16th, 2023. hello, and welcome to kqed newsroom. tonight and next friday we will share with you