That these numbers and just the tremendous trauma that the black community in particular is facing in this moment. And perhaps that will make them take Racial Health disparities more seriously. Woodruff all that and more, on tonights pbs newshour. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by moving our economy for 160 years. Bnsf, the engine that connects us. Fidelity investments. Consumer cellular. Financial Services Firm raymond james. Johnson johnson. Supporting social entrepreneurs and their solutions to the worlds most pressing problems skollfoundation. Org. The lemelson foundation. Committed to improving lives through invention, in the u. S. And developing countries. On the web at lemelson. Org. Supported by the john d. And catherine t. Macarthur foundation. Committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. More information at macfound. Org and with the ongoing support of these institutions this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Woodruff there are new criminal charges tonight in the killing of george floyd. The death of the minneapolis man at the hands of police has roiled the nation, and large scale protests are continuing. Lisa desjardins begins our coverage. Desjardins in minnesota, the family of george floyd, gathered on the eve of his memorial service, again faced learned news in his case. Today, the charge against derek chauvin, the officer who pressed his knee on floyds neck, was raised to Second Degree murder. The three other officers who watched and stood near as floyd died have been charged with aiding and abetting murder. Floyd family attorney benjamin crump. The family has always wanted firstdegree murder. To the full extent of the law. Whatever george floyd would have been charged with, if the roles were reversed, thats what the families have asked for. Desjardins crump says there is still the possibility of increased charges. Attorney general Keith Ellison announced the decision today. It came after a night of some of the largest, and largely peaceful, nationwide protests yet. chanting i cant breathe desjardins in new york, protesters defied a new, earlier curfew, with thousands flooding the streets well into the night, with only scattered looting. I dont preach violence, i preach equality. I want all of us to be equal, and thats why i stand. Desjardins ultimately, Police Officers began pushing people off the streets. Keep going keep going desjardins . Igniting a few clashes. They grabbed innocent people for no reason, and just stted, like, cuffing them, pushing them into the ground. This dude was a journalist in the press, he has a press pass, and they pushed him to the ground. Desjardins in washington, d. C. , the scene outside the white house was also starkly different from one night earlier. A new, tall fence rred protesters from Lafayette Park next to the white house. The crowd remained large and broke curfew to gather, but police did not use force to remove them, and things remained peaceful. Protesters pointedly worked to block anyone attempting violence. There hasnt been any violence, aside from a street sign that was torn down, and the crowd booed him because thats not what were here for. Desjardins White House Press secretary Kayleigh Mcenany today raised concern about Police Officers who have been injured, including david dorn, a retired officer, who was killed while trying to protect a friends store in st. Louis. President trump had demanded that governors and mayors get tougher and use the National Guard. Today, in a fox news radio interview, he claimed credit for things appearing to get calmer. If you look at what happened in minnesota, they were getting decimated. And after three days of watching it, i demanded that the National Guard be utilized, and in one day, it was over. Desjardins the president also talked this week of invoking the insurrection act to use the activeduty military in a bid to restore order. But today, secretary of defense mark esper told congress he opposes taking that step now. The option to use activeduty forces in a Law Enforcement role should only be used as a matter of last resort, and only in the st urgent and dire of situations. We are not in one of those situations now. I do not support invoking the insurrection act. Desjardins secretary esper also defended his monday night walk with trump to a nearby church for a president ial photoop, after Police Forcibly cleared away Peaceful Protesters. What i was not aware of was exactly where we were going when we arrived at the chch, and what the plans were when we got there. It was also my aim, and general milleys, to meet and thank members of the National Guard who were on duty that evening in the park. Desjardins but Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer again criticized what happened outside the white house that night. This administration ordered federal officers to gas Peaceful Protesters and charge on horseback and defend our monuments like battlefield positions. What is President Trump doing to this grand democracy . Desjardins the white house and pentagon today denied that tear gas was used on the protesters monday night. The white house today said that attorney general barr gave the order to push back the crowds, and it was part of a previously made decision. Meantime, the world is watching the unrest across the United States. In iran, Supreme LeaderAyatollah Ali Khamenei said the u. S. Is hypocritical. translated they kill people, committing crimes openly, and they dont apologize. But they shamelessly keep talking about human rights. Apparently, the African American man who was killed there was not a human being. Desjardins in china, the communist Party Newspaper global times said the u. S. Show of force proved beijing was right to crack down on pro democracy crowds in tiananmen square, 31 years ago tomorrow. The tragedy of George Floyds death has sparked global protests in solidarity against racism from london, to paris, to cape town, south africa. Back in thu. S. , new protests flared up across cities this evening, for a ninth straight night of unrest. For the pbs newshour, im lisa desjardins. Woodruff this evening, former president jimmy carter released a statement, calling for justice and acknowledging the pain of racism. He wrote, we all must shine a spotlight on the immorality of racial discrimination. But violence, whether spontaneous or consciously incited, is not a solution. I spoke a short time ago with the mayor of one city that has seen protests and curfews in the past few days. Stephen benjamin is columbia, south carolinas first African American mayor, and has held the position since 2010. Mayor benjamin, thank you very much for talking with us. As a black man whos been in public life going back to the 1990s, what has this past week been like for you . Im used to activism, thats why i got where i got my start. But this year and, honestly, the last several years have been unlike anything ive seen before. Obviously, the global pandemic, unlike anything weve seen in the last 100 years, trying to deal with is intersectionality of so many issues that led to despairty impact on communities of colors and affect on those and with so many other major issues going on, people forget were still very much in the pandemic. The collective pain that america has felt over the last week over the floyd case and as a culmination of the pain regarding systemic racism, violence, Police Violence and all these other issues, it has been overwhelming, and it requires, you know, real leadership willing to step up and address these issues. But its going to take a lot of work, a lot of work. Reporter you had, of course, protests on several nights, protests over the weekend that turned violent. What would you sa say is the ste of unrest right now in columbia . Just as you see across the country, indeed across the globe, there are several of our citizens and people who live here who may not be citizens who want to have their voices heard, who have felt for quite some time that they have been unheard. So we aggressively encourage people to participate in the right to petition your government for redress of grievous. South carolina case, u. S. Supreme court case, it started in columbia back in the early 60s, still case law taught in law schools, does secure peoples right to petition, to assembly and free speech and its something that we feel is at the center of who we are as a city and state. The challenge, of course, on saturday is what happens when those nonviolent protests become violent, and i fear that the great discussion that was emerging we started hearing voices last week that never talked about social justice, equity, systemic issues in policing last week actually Start Talking about them and speaking in words that flect love, grace and mercy, and i believe that the events over the weekend, in several cities, including ours, kind of took us off track. And my goal has been to pull us back on track tmake sure we continue having those important discussions. Reporter i read that you met with the protestors on a couple of occasions. They are talking to you about wanting more transparency in the work that police do in your community. The kinds of things theyre asking for are not on the books right now, so theyre asking you to change laws, change regulations . Yeah, its actually a mixed bag. So the list of concerns and demands, its actually a mixed bag of things that require local action, some require state action, some federal and some address cultural issues that have been part of our dna since before the founding of the republic, go back to 1619, but still require leaders today to address them. Our conversations have lent themselves to looking at these demands. Literaliterally we spent two hos yesterday going through all of them, and me sharing. It starts with dialogue. The challenge we have right now, judy, as you know, is a lot of wellmeaning people are yelling at each other or silent, and theres not much dialogue, so i promised to them we will work through this, have real dialogue. The things we agree on, well move on, the things we disagree on, well share reasons why, and if we have a fundamental agreement with some of the is shiewsh down the road, well let democracy do its work. Woodruff quickly, i want to bring this back to what you mentioned at the outseand that is the pandemic and covid 19. South carolina, i autosaw over the weekend, hat its highest daily new count of covid cases. How concerned are you, mayor benjamin, that these protests could lead to another outbreak of the virus of covid i . Incredibly concerned, especially after what we saw on some of our beaches on memorial day weekend. Most of the protesters are socially conscious enough to be wearing p. P. E. , to be wearing masks. However, we do know that the greatest way to slow or stop the spread of the virus is to do physical distancing, and thats not happening. We have been talking with organizes about offering covid 19 testing at some of the next rallies and do some of the things to try and curb the spread of the virus because it is showing no sign of abating or decelerating. It gives me grave concerns. Reporter mayor Stephen Benjamin of columbia, south carolina, thanks so much for talking with us. Its an honor, judy. Thank you. Woodruff the u. S. Topped 1. 8 million cases of the coronavirus and passed 107,000 deaths. The state of florida reported 1,300 new infections, one of its largest oneday surges. But, Governor Ron Desantis said it is because Testing Capacity is improving. Now, the virus isnt gone. I think that were testing a lot identifying cases, particularly in prisons, amongst agriculture workers, areas where you have a lot of congregation, close quarters for a long period of time, and so were going to continue to keep an eye on that. Woodruff overseas, the British Government said that it will mandate a twoweek self quarantine on anyone arriving from abroad. In the u. S. President ial campaign, former Vice President joe biden is now within a few dozen delegates of clinching the democratic president ial nomination. He swept tuesdays primaries in seven states and the district of columbia. We will look at that, and the other headlines from the primaries, later in the program. Republican Party Leaders made it official today parts of the g. O. P. Convention will take place this august in charlotte, North Carolina as planned. But, in an unusual move, President Trump will give his acceptance speech in a city yet to be determined. North carolinas democratic governor roy cooper has said that pandemic concerns make a fullscale convention very unlikely. Former Deputy Attorney general Rod Rosenstein conceded today that there were mistakes in the probe of the 2016 Trump Campaign and its alleged ties to russia. He said he would not have approved surveillance of Campaign Aide carter page if he had known of problems with the warrant. But at a. S. Senate hearing, rosenstein defended tapping Robert Mueller to lead the investigation, and insisted the probe was not corrupt. I was concerned that the public would not have confidence in the investigation. I decided that appointing the special counsel was the best way to complete the investigation appropriately and promote Public Confidence in its conclusions. Woodruff the Mueller Probe found the russians did try to interfere with the 2016 election. It did not allege a criminal conspiracy with the Trump Campaign. President trumps doctor reports that he remains healthy, based on his latest physical exams. Todays statement also says the president had no ill effects from taking hydroxychloroquine for two weeks to help ward off covid19. However, a major new study today in the new england journal of medicine said the drug has no effect on the coronavirus. The Trump Administration will ban four Chinese Airlines from flying to the u. S. That announcement comes after beijing refused to let united and Delta Air Lines resume flights to china, as the pandemic has subsided there. Before the pandemic, there were about 325 flights a week between the two nations. And on wall street, stocks pushed higher again, on growing optimism that the economy can recover quickly. The Dow Jones Industrial average gained 527 points to close near 26,270. The nasdaq rose 74 points, and the s p 500 added 42. It is now near its alltime high, set earlier this year. Still to come on the newshour we examine Police Practices that often target people of color, and possible reforms. A sociological perspective on the deep racial fissures of the United States. Plus, the critical takeaways from another primary election day in america. Woodruff the protests have become about more than just policing. But, the big disparities in how Law Enforcement treat African Americans and other people of color and how that has led to too many deaths is at the heart of how this all began. We are going to spend some time examining that again tonight with amna nawaz, and a range of voices. Nawaz judy, as weve seen, theres been quite a difference in how Police Officers have responded to some of these demonstrations and unrest, especially when they have become more chaotic or violent. Houstons police chief, art acevedo, has become known for condemning floyds death and walking with protesters early on. He also was critical of the president , arguing he should keep your mouth shut if he had nothing constructive to say. But in the past day,ome protesters have also demanded the release of body camera footage tied to a half dozen Houston Police shootings this spring. Art acevedo joins me now. Chief art acevedo, thank you for being with us and welcome to the newshour. I want to ask you about the response thats gotten so much rt of your response to get out and walk with the protestors. Why did you do that first of all, im an immigrant, english is my second language and, quite frankly, i live and work and serve a city that is the most diverse in the country, and i wanted to feel the pain, especially with my africanamerican community, and for those who dont think this communitys pain is real, i would ask you to march with them and look in their eyes and look at the teaf being shed and hear the stories and you will be empathetic. If youre not empathetic seeing what the world has seen in terms of how george floyd died, then i think youre probably part of the problem in this country as it relates to Police Relations and basically racism in our country. Reporter youve talked about changing that Police Cul