special correspondent fred de sam lazaro reports from the small minnesota town of worthington.part of his series, "agents for change." >> okay, marvin, we're going to be giving you the johnson & johnson vaccine today... >> ( speaking spanish ) >> congratulations, marvin. >> reporter: there's been little to cheer about in recent months in meatpacking towns like worthington, minnesota. the giant j.b.s. pork processing plant was an early covid hotspot. like several other facilities, it shut down for weeks, before being ordered to reopen by former president trump, who declared them critical to the nation's meat supply. >> we have honestly seen, like, the importance of folks who didn't have the option to stay home and work from a laptop, continuing to work in, like, confined and crowded spaces, >> reporter: nationwide, at least 50,000 meatpackers have been infected with the coronavirus, and some 250 lost their lives. but jessica velasco, who works for a community group called unidos, says the outlook is beginning to feel brighter. at j.b.s., which offered a $100 incentive, about 1,6

here would call unfinished business, even amid all the relief and jubilation. >> woodruff: fred de sam lazaro, who has been on the scene covering this, and i know, fred, you're going to continue to cover as we go forward. thank you, fred de sam lazaro. and amna nawaz now gets reaction from a community leader in minnesota. amna. >> reporter: that's right, judy. well, in the neighboring city of saint paul, we're going to take a closer look now at how the jury's decision the coming down. melvin carter is the mayor of saint paul which along with its neighboring minneapolis form the state's twin cities. he's also the first african-american to hold that office and he joins us now. mayor carter welcome back to the "newshour" and thank you for making the time. so derek derek has been found guilty on all three counts. what was your immediate reaction when you heard the news. >> reporter: you know, thanks for having me on. i was one of the people outside the hennepin county courthouse today as the verdict was read, and i was speechless. the crowd out there was, of course, waiting on pins and needles to

for the pbs newshour, i am fred de sam lazaro in minnesota.mna: now let's return to the impact of the shootings in indianapolis. eight people lost their lives last week at a fedex facility there. we wanted to take a moment to remember them and the legacies they left behind. this 66-year-old worked at a fedex sorting facility to help support her family. her granddaughter tweeted, after the passing of her mother, she never let her sisters feel that void. what a harsh and cruel world we live in. samaria blackwell, 19, was the youngest of four siblings. her family remembered her as someone who loved people, especially those of advanced age. she always found time to invest in the older generation. karli smith, 19, was born and raised in indianapolis, where she graduated from high school last year. indianapolis public schools released a statement calling smith a bright light. armor g sacrum was a hard-working mother of two in her late 40's whose husband was disabled. she worked the overnight shift so she could provide food for everyone in the house.

judy: our special correspondent fred de sam lazaro has been covering the trial for us.is outside that minneapolis courtroom. you've been there throughout the trial. we just saw pictures of people cheering. what are you seeing, a what are people saying to you? fred: judy, i am at a distance where i can hear you because otherwise i wouldn't be able to. the party continues a short hop from where i am standing. there's a great deal of jubilation. i expect that is going to continue later into thevening and into the wee hours of the morning, here and into george floyd square, and i suspect in the broader twin cities area, there are a lot of people heaving a sigh of relief given that this is a city that has been boarded up in anticipation of the alternative. a lot of people dreaded what that might have brought to the streets. judy: give us a sense of what the anticipation was like and what you expect to happen now given these verdicts. fred: i think a lot of people were optimistic, and there was quite a bit of pent up anticipation this afternoon. there was some optimism, but g

for the pbs newshour, i'm fred de sam lazaro.good evening, i'm vanessa ruiz in for stephanie sy. we'll return to judy woodruff and the full program after the latest headlines. updating our top story on use of force, in brooklyn center, minnesota, the city council voted to give mayor mike eliot control of the police deparment and then eliot fired the city manager. and in virginia, the state attorney general has asked the windsor police department to release records involving use-of-force from the past 10 years. a police chase in georgia left three officers wounded and an alabama man dead. the man's brother was taken into custody. the chase began outside atlanta, when state troopers pulled a car going 111 miles an hour. they say the driver took off again, and the other man opened fire on pursuing police. a shooting erupted this afternoon at a high school in knoxville, tennessee. police say one male student was killed and an officer was wounded. state officials say the student reportely opened fire when confronted by the officer, wh

special correspondent fred de sam lazaro reports. and a note: this report contains disturbing images from mr. floyd's death that were shown during testimony. >> reporter: during the sixth day of testimony in the derek chauvin trial, prosecutors called minneapolis police chief medaria arradondo to the stand. >> up until may 26, 2020, an individual named derek chauvin was a minneapolis police officer, is that right? >> that is correct. >> reporter: the city's top cop, who fired chauvin after the death of george floyd, is the first african american to hold the position. chief arradondo spoke to alternative methods minneapolis police officers are trained in, including de escalation. >> de-escalation is providing a knowledge base or skills for officers to really focus on time options and resources, it's really primarily trying to provide an opportunity to stabilize a situation, to de- escalate it, and with the goal having a safe and peaceful outcome. >> the minneapolis police department also has a professional policing policy, is that rig

for the pbs newshour, i'm fred de sam lazaro. ♪ judy: finally tonight, the latest selection for our “ssica bruder's “nomadland” documents a growing phenomenon in the country and was the inspiration for the new movie of the same name. just this weekhe film was the big winner at the british and later this month it vies at academy film awards. the oscars with nominations for best picture, director chloe zhao and actress frances mcdormand. jeffrey brown has our book conversation for our ongoing arts and culture series, canvas. >> ithe new drama “nomadland,” we meet a group of mostly older americans who've lost jobs, savings and homes in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. several of the key characters are played by real nomads whose lives were first captured in the non-fiction book on which the film is based. “nomadland: surviving america in the 21st century.” author jessica bruder spent several years immersed in this life. i asked her to describe what she called >> -- a new wandering tribe. >> these are people who got caught between flat wages and rising rents in the failures of

as special correspondent fred de sam lazaro reports, prosecutors continued to lay out their case. >> reporter: a trial already filled with emotion began with more tearful testimony this morning. george floyd's girlfriend, courteney ross, took the stand, and cried as she told the story of how the two met at a salvation army shelter in 2017. >> floyd has this great, deep, southern voice, raspy. and he's like "sis, you okay, sis?" this kind person just to come up to me and say "can i pray with you," it was so sweet. >> reporter: ross described floyd as a "momma's boy" who loved his two daughters. she also spoke about their shared struggle with opioid addiction. >> we both suffered from chronic pain. we got addicted, and tried really hard to break that addiction many times. >> reporter: derek chauvin's defense is trying to convince jurors that floyd's drug use-- coupled with underlying health conditions-- actually caused his death. an autopsy revealed floyd had fentanyl and methamphetamine in his system when he died. ross told jurors, she took floyd to the hospital in march 2020, just tw

special correspondent fred de sam lazaro has our report. and a warning: viewers may find some images disturbing. >> reporter: with calls for accountability growing louder in the minneapolis suburb, the police officer who fatally shot 20-year-old daunte wright resigned today. >> i'm hoping this wl help bring some calm to the communit although ultimately, >> reporter: the officer was identified as kim potter, a 26- year veteran of the brooklyn center police force. the city's police chief, tim gannon, who also resigned today, described the killing at a traffic stop on sunday as “an accidental discharge,” and said the officer had meant to draw her taser. >> reporter: the father of daunte wright, aubrey wright, said in an interview today he rejects that explanation. >> i lost my son. he's never coming back. i n't accept that. a mistake? that doesn't even sound right. >> reporter: cries for justice are reverberating across the community reeling after nights of protests. >> i prayed for mr. wright's mom because i know what she's going through beca

it's now the third week of testimony, and as special correspondent fred de sam lazaro reports, todayluded emotional testimony from george floyd's brother. and another warning that viewers may find some of the images disturbing. >> reporter: the 11th day of testimony began with defense attorney eric nelson asking judge peter cahill to sequester the jury, with news headlines dominated by the fatal police shooting of a black man in a minneapolis suburb osunday. >> this incident while it is-- i the problem is that the emotional response that that case creates sets the stage for a jury to say i'm not going to vote “not guilty” because i'm concerned about the outcome. >> reporter: but the judge denied the motion. >> this is a totally different case. >> reporter: ...and the prosecution called cardiologist dr. jonathan rich to the stand. >> have you formed any opinions in this case to a reasonable degree of medical certainty as to a cause of mr. floyd's death? >> yes i have. >> telus your opinion or opinions. >> sure, in this case mr. george floyd died from cardiopulmonary arrest it was caus

special correspondent fred de sam lazaro has our report. >> reporter: prosecutors began the ninth day of the derek chauvin trial with testimony from pulmonologist dr. martin tobin. a chicago-based critical care physician and lung specialist, tobin testified today that shallow breathing led to george floyd's death. >> would you please tell the jury what that opinion or opinions are? >> yes, mr. floyd died from a low level of oxygen and this caused damage to his brain that we see and it also caused a pea arrhythmia that caused his heart to stop. >> reporter: tobin said several main forces led to floyd's shallow breathing: his prone position, being handcuffed and pressure from chauvin's knees placed on floyd's neck back. illustrations and photos of the events, tobin concluded that chauvin's knee on floyd's neck caused narrowing of the hypopharynx, a critical area for getting oxygen into the lungs. >> i want to go to the period of time when mr. chauvin was on the back and neck of mr. floyd. did you see him get off of the back of mr. floyd by the nanosecond, by the millisecond, by any seco

special correspondent fred de sam lazaro has our report. >> reporter: the final day of testimony in theuvin trial began with confirmation that the defendant himself would not testify. >> is this your decision not t testify? >> it is, your honor. >> reporter: with that the defense rested their case. but the prosecution asked for pulmonologist . martin tobin, who testified last thursday, to retake the stand. the state hoped to rebut some points defense expert witness dr. david fowler made in testimony yesterday, particularly whether carbon monoxide from the police car exhaust could have been a factor in george floyd's death. >> so in other words, as to the statement that his carboxyhemoglobin could've increased by 10 to 18%, in your view that's not possible. >> that's simply wrong. >> and it was at most 2%. >> at most 2%. >> normal? >> which is normal. >> reporter: the prosecution also sought to refute fowler's claim that there is a lack of research on narrowing of the hypopharynx, an area critical for breathing, due to outside pressure. >> there's probably at least a dozen, maybe 20 stud