Believe taking care of tomorrow can help you make the most of today. Mutual of america financial group, Retirement Services and investments. Consumer cellular offers no contract wireless plans that are designed to help you do moe of the things you enjoy. Whether youre a talker, texter, brser, photographer or a bit of everything, our u. S. Based Customer Service team is here to find a plan that fits you. To learn more, go to www. Consumercellular. Tv. Additional sport has been provided by and by the corporation for public broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the american people. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Sreenivasan good evening and thanks for joining us. A fifth night of protests swept through the streets of cities across the country last night. Protests spread well beyond minnesota where george floyd, a black man, died on monday after derek chauvin, a White Minneapolis Police officer, pressed his knee into floyds neck for nearly nine minutes. The National Guard said as of this morning about 5,000 soldiers and airmen were activated in 15 states and washington, d. C. , with another 2,000 prepared to activate if needed. In new york city, peaceful marches during the day yesterday turned violent as Police Clashed with demonstrators around the city. In widely shared videos, an n. Y. P. D. Officer accelerated an s. U. V. Into a crowd of protestors in brooklyn. screaming new york city mayor bill deblio defended the police today and said the vast majority showed restraint, and that there would be an independent review of police actions. Mayor deblasio said he wasnt considering a curfew in new york, but across the country dozens of cities instituted them. In washington, d. C. , police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse protestors outside the white house. In chicago, a 9 00 p. M. Curfew was declared as the mayor said what had started as a peaceful protest had devolved into criminal conduct. In los angeles, hundreds of protesters have been arrested since friday as the National Guard assisted local Law Enforcement but not all protests were violent when i say camden, you say strong. Strong sreenivasan in camden, new jersey, police marched hand in hand with protestors yesterday. I took my helmet off. Laid down the baton. Sreenivasan in flint, michigan, police also joined protests. And in minnesota, where protests started, Governor Tim Walz said curfews in the twin cities would continue tonight. After fires and violent protests on friday night, police, state troopers, and the National Guard moved in last night with a much larger presence. Today, a makeshift shrine where george floyd died continued to grow, as residents left flowers, signs, and paid their respects. Managing the lawful and peaceful protests that continue in the twin cities, while preparing for the possibility of more violence, is the job of state and local authorities. I spoke with st. Pauls mayor Melvin Carter earlier today about his citys next steps in the aftermath of the death of george floyd. Mr. Mayor, i want to ask, whats the situation now . What have you learned from the events of last night . The situation now continues to be an extreme amount of emotion, an extreme amount of frustration and of anger around the wrongful killing of george floyd and certainly around the fact that we are still looking for some certainty that not just one, but all four of the officers who were responsible for his death will be held legally accountable. We asked our residents yesterday for a major thing, and that was through this curfew to stay home, to give us an opportunity to isolate the individuals who were hoping to do destruction to our neighborhoods, to separate those folks from the peaceful protesters. We really appreciate the work of our neighbors to stay home and in that to choose to channel this extreme sorrow and trauma that weve all been through, this extreme energy that we have right now, not into destroying our neighborhoods, but into building a better world for our children in the future. Sreenivasan is it working . The National Guard deployments, the police presence, the requests for people to stay at home, the curfew . We certainly saw a more stable and more peaceful nht last night than weve seen in the previous nights. But ill tell you this the only thing that we can do through that show of force, through that Law Enforcement presence that we have right now in the immediate sense, is address the how, how people a protesting. We have to know that that anger, that that rage is real, especially when we know that George Floyds name is now on a too long list of African American men, armed African American men whove lost their lives at the hands of Law Enforcement. Weve had a lot focus on that over the last ten years as weve seen it play out on camera phone videos, but we have to remember that whats new is camera phones. Those things have been playing out for decades and generations and without, without reprieve. This very understandable anger is being manifested in very unhealthy, unacceptable and destructive ways. But were not asking people for patience. Were not asking people for pacifism. My hope is that everyone who is outraged to channel that energy not into destroyinour neighborhoods and further traumatizing the same communities that have been traumatized so many times over and over and over again. But lets channel that energy into dismantling all of the laws and precedents and lice Union Contracts that makes it virtually impossible to hold officers accountable when we see Something Like what we saw last week. Sreenivasanyesterday, there was some confusion about this. You and the governor had said that a lot of this was from peop from out of town. Whos actually responsible for this and are you able to arrest them . You know, were working very closely with our Law Enforcement partners to get right to the bottom of who is behind all of the incitement of violence. One of the biggest tragedies of this is theyre taking the focus away from where it should be. The focus should be on thfact that george floyd should still be alive. Our focus should still be on pressing for accountability for those four officers, not just one, but the four officers who were responsible for taking his life. And on the deep soul searching work that were going to have to do as a community and as a country to break this cycle and ensure this never happens again. Sreenivasan what does the city do Going Forward to try to make sure that not only are its citizens safe, but that you can address some of these deep inequalities that seem to be within the Law Enforcement syem, the criminal Justice System . Well, ill tell you, one of the things thats true about st. Paul is, i ran for mayor as perhaps one of relatively few elected leaders around the country who knows what it feels like to be pulled over for driving while black. The question you just asked me is a central part of why i ran for mayor in the first place. Weve worked in the past couple of years with our Police Department to completely revise, view and revise our use o force policies to completely engage, to change how we operate with our civilian Oversight Board he locally, the things that we would do in st. Paul because we see these tragedies play out weve already been doing it over the past couple of years. This is why im challenging our young people, and i always say young people of all ages, who are passionate, who are on fire right now, who are angry right now, to channel that energy, you can channel that enegy in a way that puts you in these spaces that, you know, if you vote with that energy, if you engage with that energy, if you fill out your census with that energy, if you engage in your mmunity with that energy and the legislative process at city hall in all of those different spaces, instead of being on the sidelines demanding that someone else on the inside makes different decisions, step into a Decision Making role, step into your role as stakeholder owners of our community, of our city, of our country, and lead us forward into a new day. Sreenivasan do you think that that is possible . I mean, unfortunately, we have a cycle where Something Like this happens. Everyone focuses on it for a while. Whats different about this scenario . Is it covid, is it the disproportionate impact that thats had on africanamerican and latino communities . Is it, i mean, you know, its, i dont want to seem cynical, but i feel like were on this unfortunate loop. You should seem cynical. If youre not cynical, then youre probably not paying attention to whats been going on in our country over the past 10, 20, 50, 400 years . You should absolutely be cynical, as am i. I would tell you, im experiencing what you just described. I grew up the son of a st. Paul Police Officer. My father spt nearly 30 years patrolling the streets of our city. And so, ive gotten to experience this conversation that were having, this paradox that we continue to have in our country on the front line, at the front level. And we are in the process of doing that deep work in st. Paul right now with a police chief, with a Police Department whos supportive of that work. But to your point, its not completely surprising that i an africanamerican young man, am standing here speaking to you about how wrong this is. I was talking to a group of older white men recently and they said, well, we dont need to be talking about this, mayor. You need to be talking about this. And i looked at them and i told them, listen, with all due respect, all of my friends already know. Until youre talking about this, until this is something that every Single Person who can look at that video and say, i would never want to be treated that way. Thats not the way. Thats not the humanity that i want to be a pa of. We have to have a different social contract between our Police Officers and our community members. And until we do, we cannot rest. We need much broader set of people, of all races, of all ages, of all cultures, of all economic backgrounds who are looking at this video. And i talk to them in st. Paul. Our officers are disgusted by this video. Our c. E. O. S are disgusted by this video. Our neighbors are disgusted by this video. And we need all of those people working together saying that to our judges, saying that to our Police Officers, saying that to our legislators and lawmakers, saying that to their neighbors and family members every time, every time we go. And thats the spirit. Thats the american spirit of change, of progress, of momentum, of humanity that has created all of the movements that weve seen in our nations history. Thats what its going to require to have this moment be different than all of those moments. Sreenivasan mayor Melvin Carter of st. Paul, minnesota, thanks so much for joining us. Thanks for having me on. Sreenasan in europe today, there were large protests against the death of george floyd. In london, thousands gathered in Trafalgar Square and marched toward parliament. Many chanted floyds name george floyd orge floyd sreenivasan and in berlin protesters gathered outside of the u. S. Embassy carrying banners calling for justice for floyd. President donald trump told reporters late yesterday that he is postponing the g7 summit originally planned for june in washington, d. C. To later this fall. His announcement comes one day after german chancellor Angela Merkels office said she would not attend an inperson summit due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The president also said he considers the current makeup of the g7 outdated and suggested inviting russia, australia, south korea and india to join the summit of the worlds top economies. The spacex capsule successfull docked with the International Space station today, the first time a privately owned and operated spacecraft has done so. The dragon capsule, carrying astronauts doug hurley and bob behnken, completed its 19 hour journey from cape canaveral, florida at just after 10 00 a. M. Eastern time. It is now in orbit about 260 miles above the chinese mongolian border. Its automatic controls were able to dock with the International Space station without any manual assistance. The two pilots emerged from the capsule and entered the station roughly three hours after docking. For the latest on the nationwide demonstrations and other news go to pbs. Org newshour. Sreenivasan the unrest over the death of george floyd again puts the spotlight on how Police Officers are prosecuted and how the Justice System does, or does not, address racial bias and inequality. In 2014 a white Police Officer shot and killed Michael Brown in ferguson, missri. Two years later the people of st. Louis overwhelmingly voted Kimberly Gardner to be the circuit attorney, the chief state prosecutor for that city. Shes the first africanamerican to hold that position, and has promised to both reform and rebuild trust in the criminal Justice System among communities of color. Shes also facing lawsuits and challenges in ongoing cases and seeking reelection this summer. I spoke with her on fday afternoon. Ms. Gardner, thanks for joining us. What goes through your mind as you see the protests in what i see is a community hurting. What i see is the everyday slights that happen in communities around this country. When we deal with racial inequalities and the systemic issues that we always look at this these big instances of mike brown. We look at the whats happening in minnesota with george floyd. But what we dont look at as a prosecutor are those everyday slights that individuals who have mistrust with the criminal Justice System, that people need Law Enforcement the most in these communities. Theyre frustrated and theyre tired. I mean, as a prosecutor, im thinking about accountability and how do we root out individuals who cause harm to the community regardless of their occupation . Sreenivasan how should a prosecutorance out the needs to enforce the law, workinwith police and the systemic shortcomings and inequalities that youre pointing to . As a prosecutor, we have to be about addressing the root causes of the mistrust in the system. And that means holding everybody accountable. And thats what we have to do. So its not about certain groups are being with, you know, whether we support Law Enforcement or not. We support justice and thats our job. Sreenivasan in the case of the plain view project, you were able to find Police Officers in their private time saying horrible things on social media. And i wonder, when you were doing that, did you think, you know what . Ive got these officers, maybe some other oneswill stop posting. But does that change how they feel towards people of color . When you have a bias or animus against certain groups that you are supposed to protect and serve we have to do our job to protect justice. And that means if we exclude those officers from testifying because theyre not credible, because they show have shown a bias to certain groups. So when they bring that arrest, that arrest will be scrutinized differently or they have to be held accountable. And thats how we stop these, these everyday slights that were talking about, these systematic injustices. And that means we have to root out those baactors in the community as well as on a Police Department. Sreenivasan considering sreenivasan sadly, weve had this conversation before. Weve talked about the need for criminal justice reform, weve talked about the needs for communities to come together. Why are we not solving this problem . We have to address this in a way where we can be beyond lip service. And we have to have real action, and we have real action. Thats why a prosecutor like myself and other prosecutors around this country have been elected to, to look at how we can make the system fair and address those root causes of the mistrust in the criminal Justice System. And we should stop rationalizing violence and hate against other people and communities that need police the most. Ferguson was the ground zero of that conversation, and were gonna continue to push and fight. Sreenivasan kim gardner, thanks so much. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. Sreenivasan we know from history that both peaceful and violent demonstrations can change the political landscape. Omar wasow is an assistant professor in the department of politics at Princeton University and studies the history and political effects of protests. Omar, youve been looking at the 60s as a period of social unrest, but also how that influenced opinion, and you just recently published some of this. What have you learned . I looked at both nonviolent and violent protests in the 1960s. And, to be clear, this is looking at thousands of protests over aut a dozen years. And what i found was that protests are enormously powerful at generating press. And, in addition, what the news covers predicts what changes in Public Opinion. So, when there was a massive wave in the early part of the 1960s of nonviolent protests, that drove headlines about civil rights. In a later period in the 1960s, as we start to see morviolent protest, we see more coverage of riots and Public Opinion shifts. And the most important problem, people say, is issues of crime and riots. Sreenivasan hmm. So, is it about the framing or is it about the actual actions . Meaning if its nonviolent protest that influence opinion in one direction do violent protests have opposite, maybe the opposite effect . So, framing matters enormously here. And i think both protest tactics and Media Coverage matter a lot. So theyre both important actors. And protesters obviously have the ability to make choices about what kinds of tactics they employ, what kinds of strategies in terms of rhetoric, what kinds of things are done. For example, in the 1960s, we see really remarkable intention to create very dramatic images that would help to, in the language of the 1960s, shock the conscience of the nation. The framing that the media does is really central here. So whether were sort of looking through the eyes of the protesters or really through the eyes of the Police Matters a lot. And that kind of justice frame or a police centric frame does a lot to shi Public Opinion. And in the latter part of the 1960s that we saw more violent protest arise the frame really does shift from justice to this kind of focus on, kind of, disorder and riots and that that shift in the media frame has a significant influence on Public Opinion. Sreenivasan one of the questions that people have is, how will this play a role in novembers election . What i see in the 1960s is that counties that were near nonviolent protests vote more in the, kind of, coalition that is aligned with black interest, right. In 1964 the Civil Rights Act passes. The Democratic Party becomes the party of black interests. And we see a shift where people are near nonviolent protests that are, kind of, liberalizing effect of nonviolent protests. At the same time, what i also see is the counties that are close to violent protest vote more conservatively. Sreenivasan so when we see peaceful protests, we respond in a way that thinks about human rights and civil rights, but when we see violent protests, or riots, we respond in a way that wants more law and order . Is that roughly, am i summarizing it correctly . Yeah, i think thats a very good summary, and i think its also really important to begin with the, sort of, peoples sense of rage and grief and horror at what they saw in this imagery, in this footage of George Floyds death, right . That that that seeing a a member of the state engage in violence against an unarmed citizen is, you know, is enraging for a lot of people. And when our attention focuses on that act of state violence it, it moves that, you know, theres a persuadable chunk of ters who sort of say, oh, i care about that issue. Thats something thats going to, you know, mobilize me. But as the conversation shifts to acts of protesterinitiated violence it, you know, for those persuadable voters, the story becomes more complicated. And protesters can move those is what i see in the 1960s. And so, we should so, the kind of tactics protesters employ are a kind of rhetoric that is persuading voters who may be sympathetic both to george floyd and potentially to ccerns about disorder. Sreenivasan omar wasow, assistant professor at Princeton University. Thanks so much for joining us. Thank you so much, hari. Sreenivasan finally tonight, the covid19 pandemic has disrupted inperson ceremonies for may graduations, but schools are finding creative ways to celebrate their seniors anyway reporter for the Eminence High School graduation, everyone waited for dusk tuned to the same f. M. Radio frequency to listen and watch a slideshow of photos from their years together and the prerecorded video on an 80x40 foot tall screen. Sreenivasan you can watch the full story online at pbs. Org newshour. Thats all for this edition of pbs newshour weekend. Im hari sreenivasan. Thanks for watching. Have a good night. Captioning sponsored by wnet captionedy Media Access Group at wgbh access. Wgbh. Org pbs newshour weekend is made possible by bernard and irene schwartz. Sue and Edgar Wachenheim iii. The cheryl and Philip Milstein family. Rosalind p. Walter. Barbara hope zuckerberg. Charles rosenblum. We try to live in the moment, to not miss whats right in front of us. At mutual of america, we believe taking care of tomorrow can help you make the most of today. Mutual of america financial group, Retirement Services and investments. Additional support has been provided by and by the corpotion for public broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the american people. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Youre watching pbs. [announcer] explore new worlds and new ideas through programs like this. Made available for everyone. Through contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. [narrator] dont let chronic pain control you and stop you from doing the things you love to do. Lee albert is a neuromuscular therapist who has been helping people learn to eliminate most chronic pain without drugs or surgery for more than 25 years. To realize that i dont have to have a true pain in the neck all day long, im just like so grateful to meet lee albert and see what he does for people