JUDY WOODRUFF: Good evening.

I'm Judy Woodruff.

On the "NewsHour" tonight: unrest in these United States.

Protests across the country call for justice, as pockets of violence and chaos erupt in the streets.

Then: President Trump berates governors and calls for crackdown.

We look closely at this painful moment in American life.

And roots of anger.

We are on the ground in Minneapolis to examine how a history of racism sowed the seeds of today's protests.

EMON SMITH, Protester: I have been harassed for the color of my skin as far as I can remember.

When I walk out the house, I have to worry about what's going to happen to me today.

JUDY WOODRUFF: All that and more on tonight's "PBS NewsHour."

(BREAK) JUDY WOODRUFF: Dozens, maybe scores of American cities are bracing for new protests and potentially new violence tonight, pushing the pandemic out of the headlines.

Outrage over police killings of black people has fueled unrest from coast to coast.

As evening begins here in Washington, police are firing tear gas, deploying flashbangs to disperse peaceful protests near the White House.

Additional National Guard troops have been called in.

President Trump spoke defiantly in the Rose Garden just moments ago.

DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: Today, I have strongly recommended to every governor to deploy the National Guard in sufficient numbers that we dominate the streets.

Mayors and governors must establish an overwhelming law enforcement presence until the violence has been quelled.

If a city or a state refuses to take the actions that are necessary to defend the life and property of their residents, then I will deploy the United States military and quickly solve the problem for them.

I am also taking swift and decisive action to protect our great capital, Washington.

JUDY WOODRUFF: President Trump just moments ago.

Our White House correspondent, Yamiche Alcindor, lays out how the day unfolded.

YAMICHE ALCINDOR: Historic protests, a nation reeling, and an uncertain future ahead.

Today, Americans across the country woke up to burned buildings, shattered storefronts, and walls littered with graffiti.

PROTESTERS: Say his name!

PROTESTERS: George Floyd!

PROTESTERS: Say his name!

PROTESTERS: George Floyd!

YAMICHE ALCINDOR: This is the aftermath of a weekend filled with some of the largest demonstrations seen in a generation.

They erupted over the police killing of George Floyd.

He was a black man who died after a white police officer kneeled on his neck.

In more than 140 cities, across all 50 states, tens of thousands took to the streets.

Demonstrators from Boston to Los Angeles rallied against the disproportionate police killings of black people.

The protests were largely peaceful.

But with nightfall in some places, the tone changed, and cities burned.

Conflicts amongst the crowds surfaced.

Footage on social media showed the moment demonstrators in Washington tackled a white man to the ground as he attempted to provoke police.

In New York City, demonstrators came head to head with police.

And looting disrupted parts of 5th Avenue.

There was similar trouble in Washington, Philadelphia and elsewhere.

A number of cities imposed curfews.

Nationwide, at least 23 states and the District of Columbia called out more than 17,000 National Guardsmen.

But, in Minneapolis today, George Floyd's brother Terrence spoke to crowds, appealing for calm.

TERRENCE FLOYD, Brother of George Floyd: If I'm not over here wilding out, if I'm not over here blowing up stuff, if I'm not over here messing up my community, then what are you all doing?

What are you all doing?

You're all doing nothing, because that is not going to bring my brother back at all.

YAMICHE ALCINDOR: In some cities, police expressed solidarity with the peaceful demonstrators, when protesters in Washington struggled to wash tear gas from their eyes.

In New York City, some police cruisers drove into crowds.

And in Atlanta, two police officers were fired after dragging black college students out of their cars and Tasing them.

Through a historically tumultuous weekend, President Trump spoke only through Twitter.

There, he blamed anti-fascist organizations, or Antifa, for the violence.

On a phone call with governors today, the president called for harsher crackdowns.

DONALD TRUMP: You have to dominate.

If you don't dominate, you're wasting your time.

They're going to run over you.

You're going to look like a bunch of jerks.

You have to dominate, and you have to arrest people, and you have to try people, and they have to go to jail for long periods of time.

YAMICHE ALCINDOR: This afternoon, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany weighed in.

KAYLEIGH MCENANY, White House Press Secretary: The president has made clear that what we are seeing on America's streets is unacceptable.

Violence, looting, anarchy, lawlessness are not to be tolerated, plain and simple.

These criminal acts are not protests.

They are not statements.

These are crimes that harm innocent American citizens.

YAMICHE ALCINDOR: Outside the White House this weekend, the "NewsHour" spoke to demonstrators like Jaden Olley, who says lives like his are on the line.

What do you want them to understand about your life as a black man?

JADEN OLLEY, Protester: I just -- I'm as equal as anybody else.

You know what I'm saying?

I'm as comparable, as valuable as anybody else in the world, just because I'm a human being, just like anybody else is.

So, I just -- I just want justice for everybody, not just justice for people that people feel justice should be for.

YAMICHE ALCINDOR: When you see the video of George Floyd, do you think, that could be me?

JADEN OLLEY: Always.

I was 8 years old and my mind when Trayvon Martin -- when the Trayvon Martin case happened.

And ever since then, I understood that it could be me.

YAMICHE ALCINDOR: Demonstrator Taylor Jones says that's a painful reality for her, too.

TAYLOR JONES, Demonstrator: My plans were to actually be a police officer, but then I realized that that one good apple in a bad batch really doesn't make a difference, because once you sign your life over to that badge, you have to be loyal to who you work for.

And that just wasn't me.

I should not have to fear leaving my house and not being able to breathe, or my mom calling me crying because I'm protesting for my rights, because she is scared I won't come back home.

YAMICHE ALCINDOR: This weekend, criticism of police violence in America echoed around the world.

In Auckland, New Zealand streets filled with protesters chanting in support of Black Lives Matter.

And, in London, demonstrations there became violent as clashes erupted with police.

Back in this country, protesters gathered again this afternoon in New York, where an overnight curfew was imposed and in other cities.

And in Minneapolis, civil rights attorney Ben Crump announced that a private autopsy on Floyd showed that he died of asphyxiation.

He and expert hired by the family pushed back on a county autopsy that said underlying health conditions and possible intoxicates contributed to Floyd's death.

Instead, they said, sustained pressure on fluids neck and back by all four responding officers are what killed him.

BENJAMIN CRUMP, Attorney for Family of George Floyd: The scar tissue of George Floyd's death will be permanent scar tissue on the subconscious of America.

YAMICHE ALCINDOR: And the Minneapolis police chief said the three officers who watched Floyd's killing were -- quote -- "complicit."

But they have not been arrested or charged in his death.

For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Yamiche Alcindor.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Later, the medical examiner in Minneapolis officially ruled George Floyd's death a homicide.

Also today, the police chief of Louisville, Kentucky, was fired, a month before he retires, after officers who reported to him killed a black man early today and failed to record body cam footage.

A black woman was killed by Louisville police in March in an incident that is still under investigation.

As you saw in Yamiche's report, outrage and protests have erupted in cities across the country.

Amna Nawaz takes a closer look.

AMNA NAWAZ: Judy, that's right.

What started in Minneapolis last week spread to dozens of cities this weekend.

And thousands of protesters were arrested.

We have got reporters across the country joining us now.

"PBS NewsHour" special correspondent Fred de Sam Lazaro is in Minneapolis.

Rickey Bevington of Georgia Public Broadcasting is in Atlanta.

And Cerise Castle of public radio station KCRW joins us now from Los Angeles.

Welcome to you all.

And, Fred, let's go to you in Minneapolis first.

This is ground zero in many ways.

This is where George Floyd was killed, or where the protests began.

Bring us up to speed on what has been happening over the last two to three days and what is happening there now.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: What's happening here now all around me, very close to the 3rd Precinct, which was burned down, is a lot of cleanup activity, Amna, and officials here in Minnesota allowing themselves for the first time to be optimistic.

The governor has loosened the curfew hours.

So, they're a little shorter.

Certain National Guard deployments on standby are now being sent home.

There is a sense that people can be a little more optimistic.

There was word this afternoon a fund-raising drive, to which no fewer than 27,000 people have contributed $2 million to help businesses, the small businesses that have been devastated in these last few days.

So, for the first time, we're getting a sense of a Minneapolis that can look post-George Floyd into its future.

AMNA NAWAZ: Certainly good news for so many people.

But, Fred, just to follow up, I wonder if you can tell us about what that official response has been?

We heard President Trump on that reported call with governors earlier hail the response from Governor Walz, saying he had done a good job.

What have you seen and what does that mean about what you think people there can expect tonight?

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Governor Walz pushed back a little bit.

While agreeing that the beefed-up police presence, which was no-nonsense yesterday, did help de-escalate the situation, he said this is militarily unsustainable.

That was on one of two points that the governor seemed to make in his news conference today.

The other point is, he said, the compliance with the stay-at-home pleas, essentially, from officials, were escalated to be stay at home commands.

And there was a great deal more compliance and tranquility in the city, relative to the days before that.

So -- so, there was a little bit of pushback from the governor on what caused this.

He said, this is just not militarily or socially sustainable.

It is the antithesis of how we live.

All eyes are on tonight to see how it evolves in Minneapolis.

AMNA NAWAZ: And we will be watching as well.

Cerise Castle, I want to go now to you over in Los Angeles.

You were out covering the protests in the Fairfax district of Los Angeles.

It's an area with a lot of shops and restaurants and a tourist attraction.

Describe for us what you saw over the course of the hours that you were there.

CERISE CASTLE, KCRW: Sure.

So, I came out to cover a protest that was happening at Pan Pacific Park around noon on Saturday.

I was there for about six hours.

And in that time, I was walking with protesters as they made their way throughout the district.

Lots of them for the most part were peaceably gathered.

I saw lots of signs, lots of group chanting, and even some Aztec people that came out and performed a ceremonial dance, which you can see in the photos you are seeing now.

Now, things did start to get a little hairy as the afternoon wore on.

At one point, about 500 people had gathered at the intersection of Beverly and Fairfax, and I a saw a number of police cruisers that had been put on fire.

That was the only real violence that I saw while I was out there.

For the most part, like I said, people were gathered peacefully.

At one point, however, around 4:00 is when things started to turn up a little bit.

That was when police in full riot gear made their way to the intersection and began firing rubber bullets without warning at protesters and at journalists, such as myself.

I was actually hit with a rubber bullet in the arm, and -- by Los Angeles police.

And I haven't really heard any word from the police department as to why they were shooting at journalists.

AMNA NAWAZ: Cerise, very briefly, you mentioned to my producer you saw kind of two groups of people out there.

What did you mean by that?

CERISE CASTLE: Sure.

Well, for the most part, most of these protesters that I am seeing out here came with the intent to peacefully demonstrate and exercise their First Amendment rights.

On the other hand, there are people that are sort of taking advantage of the police being preoccupied with these demonstrators and sending all their resources over there.

These people that are coming in and choosing to break into stores and steal from them are, you know, taking advantage of the police being preoccupied.

Those are the two groups of people that we're seeing covered by most of the media in these protests.

But there isn't really a lot of differentiation between the two groups.

However, on the ground, it is clear that these really are two different groups of people with two completely different agendas.

AMNA NAWAZ: Rickey Bevington over in Atlanta, tell us about what you were seeing covering the protests.

Did you see something similar to what Cerise is describing?

RICKEY BEVINGTON, George Public Broadcasting: In fact, very similar.

Here in Atlanta, the police presence was robust.

It was professional, organized and calm.

The group, however, last night that I saw was less unified.

There were definitely people there to peacefully protest against police brutality, parents with small children, couples holding signs.

There were other groups of people who appeared ready for conflict with police.

In fact, those conflicts within the group were clear.

When one group of protesters began to tear apart a construction site, stealing the fencing to create a barricade in the road, other protesters were screaming at them to stop, saying that the property damage does not represent the message that they were there to send.

AMNA NAWAZ: Rickey, do you have any sense, based on the community and the people you have been talking to and the official response, of what is ahead for Atlanta tonight?

RICKEY BEVINGTON: Atlanta is under a 9:00 p.m. curfew for the third evening in a row.

Authorities do believe that there will be more activity today.

Earlier this afternoon, about 55 people were arrested for blocking the road in front of City Hall.

There were about 157 arrests on Saturday night, about half that many last night.

Authorities are hoping for a downward trend.

AMNA NAWAZ: Cerise, very briefly, in just a couple of seconds, do you know what officials are anticipating in Los Angeles?

CERISE CASTLE: Well, tonight, we have a curfew in place as well.

The curfews in L.A. county range from as early as 1:30 this afternoon to as late as 8:00.

We have brought in the National Guard to help disperse people and make sure people adhere to that curfew.

But I myself have already seen a number of protests planned that are outside the curfew hours.

So we can expect law enforcement to be out on the streets enforcing that tonight.

AMNA NAWAZ: We will all be watching, and we hope all of you stay safe.

Thank you for joining us tonight, Rickey Bevington, Cerise Castle, and, of course, Fred de Sam Lazaro in Minneapolis.

Stay safe.

CERISE CASTLE: Thank you.

JUDY WOODRUFF: As you have been hearing, there are more protests planned around the country tonight, and many organizers say they want them to be peaceful.

But there is no certainty they will stay that way.

We talk now with two people with experience managing unrest in their cities.

Michael Nutter is the former mayor of Philadelphia.

And Christopher Swanson is the sheriff of Genesee County, Michigan.

He received national attention for his approach to demonstrators in Flint this weekend.

Here's how some of that went.

CHRISTOPHER SWANSON, Genesee County, Michigan, Sheriff: We want to be with you all for real.

So I took the helmet off.

They laid the batons down.

I want to make this a parade, not a protest.

So, you tell us what you need to do.

PROTESTER: Walk with us!

PROTESTER: Walk with us!

PROTESTER: Walk with us!

PROTESTERS: Walk with us!

Walk with us!

Walk with us!

CHRISTOPHER SWANSON: Let's walk.

Let's walk.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) PROTESTER: Walk with us!

Walk with us!

JUDY WOODRUFF: So, Sheriff Swanson, watching that video, why did you decide to do that?

You were expressing solidarity with these protesters.

CHRISTOPHER SWANSON: You are right.

And thanks for having me.

And I can tell you that that night on May 30 made history on how to handle protests in a way that was honorable.

Our city is already under enough oppression.

We are already dealing with economic issues, a water crisis, and a pandemic.

And it was just the right thing to do.

As a veteran police officer who knows the community, I saw acts of kindness with fist bump, a small hug.

And I went to my right, and I saw that.

And I said, I'm taking the helmet off.

We're putting our batons down and I'm walking in the crowd.

And when I did that, that act of vulnerability, probably wasn't the best tactical move, by any means.

It sent a message.

And that message was that I need to say, we don't agree, that's not who we are, what happened to Mr. Floyd.

And when I said that to the crowd, the second question, what do we need to do now is to walk with us, that changed everything, because now they had a voice.

And they wanted somebody to listen to, and that's what was the change agent.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Mayor Nutter, former Mayor Nutter, how often does something like that happen, in your experience?

MICHAEL NUTTER (D), Former Mayor of Philadelphia: Unfortunately, Judy, it's pretty rare.

And, Sheriff Swanson, thank you for your leadership.

I also understand that something similar happened in Camden, New Jersey, just across the river from us here in Philadelphia.

I think, increasingly, Judy, these issues, these challenges can only be solved by partnership and cooperation, by police and community working together.

But, also, because of the racial aspect of this, the -- black Americans need to hear that white people really do understand, and are not only listening but they're hearing what we say.

The issues and challenges, you know, if you think about the last three, four months, what has happened?

Suddenly, worldwide pandemic, everyone forced into their home.

Virtually, no one can work.

Thousands, millions of people have lost their jobs.

Forty-some million Americans have filed for unemployment.

And then we see the video from Ahmaud Arbery's assassination, chased down by two or three white people, kill him.

We see Mr. Floyd killed in the streets, and a new autopsy report, homicide at the hands of police.

We see or hear about Mr. Cooper in Central Park, where, unfortunately, a white female used his race as a weapon to -- against Mr. Cooper, who was doing nothing.

And that could have turned out very badly.

And incident after incident after incident, and people are just tired, Judy.

They are really pissed off.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Sheriff... MICHAEL NUTTER: I hate to say that on PBS.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, that's the way a lot of people feel.

Sheriff Swanson, how do you know?

How does someone in law enforcement, in your position, know when the moment is right to do this?

Because, as we said, there are a lot of people who want these protests to be peaceful, but there are sometimes -- you know, things get out of control.

People get involved who take things to a different place.

How is law enforcement to handle that?

What's the best approach?

CHRISTOPHER SWANSON: Well, first of all, you got to know your community.

The mayor is spot on.

I'm sure he knows Philly better than anybody.

But if you separate yourself, especially as a police executive, from the streets, and how you go, and you lose touch, you become tone-deaf to what the language is, that separation creates a divide.

And now it just so happens that divide is police against African-Americans that has set the tone.

But that tone can be reversed.

And we saw that here in Flint, Michigan.

In eight minutes and 46 seconds, one individual who wore the same uniform and badge, but isn't who we are, he eroded and raced years of inroads that communities have built with their people, that law enforcement has tried so hard, that mayors in townships and cities across the nation have tried to build.

But those relationships were key.

And I walked into that crowd.

I'm going to tell you, being 27 years on the job, it wasn't just something that I thought of.

I would like to say that I strategized.

And it wasn't it.

I love my people.

I love the people of the community.

I have served them for my entire adult life.

I felt comfortable, although not the best tactical decision, as I mentioned.

But I knew that, if I laid down my weapons and I walked in, in a position of vulnerability, they would see this as an action, not just words.

Just like the mayor said, people are tired of words.

They're tired of empty promises.

And when they saw that, it changed their hearts.

And we haven't stopped there.

Day two, we had demonstrations right on the front of our lawn.

We took care of people.

We served them.

No issues.

Today, we had more demonstrations.

Served them, protected them.

Three days, no arrests, no fires, no injuries.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Mayor, let me just finally - - we have less than a minute, Mayor Nutter.

President Trump today is calling on governors to get tougher.

He's saying, if you don't dominate, then you are seen as weak, they will see you as jerks.

Is this a message that law enforcement should be heeding, governors should be heeding?

MICHAEL NUTTER: That is just accelerating the feelings of oppression that black people, Latino people, other people of color have already been feeling.

Donald Trump has no idea how to manage in a crisis.

He has no -- as the chief talked about, he has no feeling of the street.

This is not about domination.

This is about working with people.

But, Judy, you alluded to something, and I want to take it head on.

But there are some people at these protests whose interests are not about Mr. Floyd, whose interests are not about black people, whose interests are not about equity and justice.

There are people who want destruction.

They want chaos.

They want confusion.

And they mesh into, they meld into some of these crowds.

And the next thing you know, you have chaos.

Now, Donald Trump likes chaos.

And he likes this environment, because he can now play to his political base that he has to keep these people in control.

This is a political game that he is playing.

And we're talking about life and death, the life and death of people and the life and death of communities.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Mayor Michael Nutter, Sheriff Swanson, Sheriff Christopher Swanson, thank you very much.

CHRISTOPHER SWANSON: Thank you.

MICHAEL NUTTER: Thank you, Judy.

CHRISTOPHER SWANSON: Thank you.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Let's focus more on some of the deeper issues that are underlying the demonstrations and civic unrest shaking the country.

We have three voices to join us for that.

Roxane Gay is a noted essayist and author whose work frequently focuses on race, feminism, identity, and privilege.

Anna Deavere Smith, an award-winning playwright and actor whose works have explored questions about race, class and the criminal justice system.

That includes "Notes From the Field," which was adapted into a film by HBO and will be rebroadcast tomorrow.

And Tay Anderson is an activist in Denver who has been leading protests there.

He is also a member of the Denver Public School Board.

Welcome to all three of you.

And, Tay Anderson, let me start with you first.

You are elected to the school board.

You are part of the power structure, but you are also a young African-American man.

What do you take away from the death of George Floyd?

TAY ANDERSON, Board Member, Denver Public Schools: First off, thank you for having me.

As a black man, every day I wake up and wonder, will I be able to go home?

I have had my own fair share of interactions of being pulled over and not knowing, what do you reach for first, or do you put your hands up or put them out of the window?

And so to see that George Floyd was killed is heartbreaking.

But it is not the first time that we have had to gather like this.

And I hope that it will be the last.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Roxane Gay, as you listen to the voices of those who are protesting, what do you hear?

And is it what you're feeling inside you?

ROXANE GAY, Author: Absolutely.

I'm hearing and I think what all of us are hearing that are listening is rage and people saying, it's enough.

Every single day, almost, a new atrocity comes to light.

And people can only tolerate so much injustice and oppression.

And we're now seeing the consequences of not dealing with police brutality.

And, unfortunately, the response in most places has been to respond with more policing, which is actually not the answer.

So, I am frustrated, as the protesters are, and just wondering, when is it going to change?

But I don't know that it will.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Anna Deavere Smith, you have been writing about race and about social justice, about the criminal justice system for years.

What is different this time?

ANNA DEAVERE SMITH, Actor/Playwright: Well, there is one thing that, to me, is notably different.

And that is the composition of the people in the street doing the protests.

And more than one newscaster has commented that it's not just black people.

And, you know, this word allies, which I have heard from younger people, takes on a new meaning for me.

And I think it's -- actually, this is -- if there is any good news here, it is the evidence about how education, particularly in colleges, over the last two decades have increased sort of people's awareness of one another and people's awareness of black culture, and that many of the white people there and the black people out there peacefully protesting have been influenced by people like Toni Morrison and even to experience very powerful cultural makers, like the work of Shonda Rhimes or Jay-Z.

And they have experienced this together.

And they expect a lot more from the system.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And, Tay Anderson, are those some of the messages you feel are coming across?

You are expressing your own rage and frustration.

Do you feel some of this coming across?

TAY ANDERSON: Yes, we have -- in Denver, we have explicitly asked what we call allies that are showing up to please not escalate on our behalf.

But those asks have been ignored.

And, right now, we are seeing our city being destroyed.

And it is not in the name of black organizers or Black Lives Matter as a movement.

People are taking it on their own volition.

And it's heartbreaking to see that those who come out to support the cause are using the cause for their own agenda.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Is that -- Roxane Gay, is that something that disturbs you?

You said a moment ago, it's hard -- words to the effect, it's hard to have hope.

Why is it hard to have hope right now?

ROXANE GAY: It's hard to have hope because there's no change.

There is no productive response.

There's no leadership at the federal level, because the president is the racist in chief.

And so when you see that, even in liberal states like California and a liberal city like Los Angeles, where, today, we have curfews at 1:00, 4:00 and 6:00 p.m., how do you have hope, when even the most liberal of governments is not responding with anything but reinforcing the police state?

And, yesterday -- last night, in protests in Louisville, Kentucky, a 53-year-old black man, David McAtee, was murdered by police.

And so how do you have hope when, during a protest against police violence, another black man is murdered?

It is incredibly frustrating.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And I want to come back to you, Tay Anderson, on that, because you look at what is going on, and, to some extent, clearly, the violence that is happening is causing people to say, this has gone too far.

On the other hand, there is still a great sense of injustice.

TAY ANDERSON: Yes.

We understand that there is a great sense of injustice.

And it is heartbreaking to see us continuing to gather like this.

But we heard this morning that the family of George Floyd, they're asking us that -- to please be peaceful.

And so that's one of the things we're asking here in Denver, is just please be peaceful and respect our ask.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And is that -- is that being heard?

TAY ANDERSON: By some, it is, unfortunately not by And we're hoping that, if you claim to be an ally, that you will start listening to the asks of the black community, at least here in Denver, Colorado.

Now, organizers in different cities and different states may be doing different things, but, here in Denver, we are asking people to please keep the peace.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And that brings me back to what you said a moment ago, Anna Deavere Smith, because you said you see -- there is a sense of progress you see in the makeup of who is protesting and the message that is coming out.

And yet we just heard Roxane Gay say there's - - it is hard, because it just keeps happening over and over again.

ANNA DEAVERE SMITH: Well, no, I mean, I see a direct line in terms -- from lynching to this, right?

Lynching is, I think, defined as extralegal execution.

And that's really what happened, right?

Chauvin was working outside the bounds of what was acceptable.

And I was in the courtroom in Los Angeles for that second trial after the riots there.

And I saw how hard it is to bring police officers to justice, how hard it is to put them in jail.

We thought that second treatment was also going to have them all walk.

And, as you may recall, two did, and two did not.

And, of course, I was in Baltimore right after the beating and killing of Freddie Gray, and again.

You know, so I understand the frustration.

In my citing the peaceful -- the peaceful crowd and the makeup of that crowd giving me some hope, it is also a callout to education, quite frankly, right, is the power of education and the power of art to, you know, increase empathy and just teach people more about the world.

JUDY WOODRUFF: What is it going to take, Roxane Gay?

I mean, I come back to what you said a moment ago.

And I reread what you wrote in The New York Times on Sunday.

You said, "Eventually, doctors will find a coronavirus vaccine, but black people continue to wait, despite the futility of hope for a cure for racism."

It's bleak.

ROXANE GAY: It is pretty bleak.

And I don't even know what to do with that, because we can't say there is no hope, because, otherwise, what are we even telling our children and what are we telling ourselves about how we're going to live out the rest of our lives?

But we need systemic reform.

And I don't know that we can expect the police to reform themselves.

Like, the institution is corrupt.

And so I think reform is going to have to come externally, and we're going to have to really expand our imaginations to reimagine what law enforcement might look like, if racism didn't underpin it.

I don't know where to begin, but I do know that we need to start having conversations with our elected officials.

And they need to start doing more than simply reinforcing a police state in response to these kinds of uprisings, because the protesting is not going to stop until someone acknowledges why the protests are happening in the first place.

And it has to be more than just a speech about, we support peaceful protests.

Peaceful protest is important and necessary.

And I agree with what Tay said.

It's really frustrating to see people ignoring the black organizers who are saying, please, stop, because it's not helping our cause.

Like, it's a bunch of kids from the suburbs and anarchists and probably white supremacists coming in and creating these problems.

And it just further -- and shows that, like, we're not going to be taken seriously, because, even when we try to advocate for ourselves, white people come in and try to ruin it with their own nonsense.

So, it is frustrating.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And, Tay Anderson, back to you.

Do you have a sense that your generation is going to have answers that our generation, the older generation, clearly has not had?

TAY ANDERSON: I think our generation needs to, one, understand the importance of voting, because a lot of the change that we want to see is held at the ballot box.

And we have to be able to go out there and seek the change that we want to see.

I think our generation is waking up.

But I also think that there are people in this generation that are using this moment and this movement for a trend on Twitter, for TikTok video, or to go viral on social media, which is disgusting.

We shouldn't have white kids coming from the suburbs, throwing stuff at police officers on our behalf to be cool for a nice trend.

That is not what we have asked for.

And it's hurting us more than it is going to help us.

And so, hopefully, what I'm planning -- I plan to see in the future is that we are able to start coming together and actually start understanding that Black Lives Matter is not about asking for special privilege.

It's just saying, black people just want to be seen as human.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, we have to leave there.

But, for now, Tay Anderson, Roxane Gay, Anna Deavere Smith, this is just one part of a conversation that continues.

And we thank you all for being part of it tonight.

Thank you.

ANNA DEAVERE SMITH: Thank you.

TAY ANDERSON: Thank you.

JUDY WOODRUFF: In the day's other news: U.S. health officials voiced fears that mass protests could fuel new COVID-19 infections.

That came as deaths nationwide neared 105,000, including some 26,000 nursing home patients.

Meanwhile, in the latest reopening, the Florida Keys welcomed visitors back, while the World Health Organization again urged caution.

DR. MICHAEL J. RYAN, World Health Organization: Well, we need to be careful.

This is still a killer virus, and there's still thousands of people every day dying from this virus.

So we need to be exceptionally careful not to create a sense that, all of a sudden, the virus, by its own volition, has now decided to become less pathogenic.

That is not the case at all.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Parts of the Vatican also opened for the first time since March, and shoppers returned to London's Camden Market.

On Wall Street today, the Dow Jones industrial average gained 91 points to close at 25475.

The Nasdaq rose 62 points, and the S&P 500 added 11.

And the artist Christo, known for massive, temporary public arts displays, has died in New York.

There is no word on the cause.

He and his late wife, Jeanne-Claude, gained fame for swaddling large structures in fabric.

Over the years they wrapped the Reichstag in Berlin, a famous bridge in Paris, and floating barrels in London, among many others.

Christo was 84 years old.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Let's go back now to where this began, in Minnesota.

The problems in the Twin Cities with criminal justice there go much deeper than the George Floyd case.

And of the 100 largest metro areas in the country, Minneapolis' income gap between whites and African-Americans is the second worst in the country, a difference of nearly $50,000 a family.

Again to special correspondent Fred de Sam Lazaro.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: It was a week unlike anything Minneapolis has ever seen, the police killing of George Floyd captured on bystanders' cell phones, peaceful protests that quickly turned into violent and chaotic riots, reducing entire city blocks to ashes.

In the middle of a deadly pandemic, the city fell into a vicious daily cycle, cleanups under sunshine, and, by nightfall, violence, looting, and standoffs with armed law enforcement authorities.

PROTESTER: Say his name!

PROTESTERS: George Floyd!

PROTESTER: Say his name!

PROTESTERS: George Floyd!

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: On Sunday, though, at the site of Floyd's killing, protesters gathered for a peaceful rally.

EMON SMITH, Protester: I have been harassed for the color of my skin as far as I can remember.

When I walk out the house, I have to worry about what's going to happen to me today.

JENNIFER STARR DODD, Protester: When I saw the video, I literally wept.

It just broke my heart.

And I thought about, that could be my brothers, that could be my dad.

And I couldn't not come out here and protest this injustice.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: In some ways, Minneapolis may seem like an unlikely flash point for America's worst urban race riots in decades.

Sixteen Fortune 500 companies have their headquarters here in Minnesota.

The state has a reputation of being prosperous and progressive.

Minnesota nice is an expression one often hears.

But go to minority communities, and many people will tell you, that's not entirely true.

MIKE GRIFFIN, Community Change Action: You're doing well if you're white, Minnesota nice if you're white.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Mike Griffin is a community organizer in Minneapolis.

MIKE GRIFFIN: We need the leadership of the city, the leadership of the state to really lean in on, what are the structural problems that are making this community so angry?

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Among those problems, an education achievement gap that's one of the worst in the country, a dark history of discriminatory housing practices, and sharp income inequality.

BRITTANY LEWIS, University of Minnesota: What you're seeing on the streets as folks show up and protest is their kind of outward illustration of what trauma and rage look like.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Brittany Lewis is a professor at the University of Minnesota's Center for Urban and Regional Affairs.

We met her in North Minneapolis, the majority-black neighborhood where she grew up.

Over the weekend, it was the site of a massive food and supply drive for residents already suffering through the coronavirus pandemic, and now, after the rioting, the loss of so many grocery and retail stores.

BRITTANY LEWIS: You already had a community suffering from a lack of resources, food, community, and access.

A lot of folks who lost their jobs were in the service industry, black and brown people.

And then George Floyd happened.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: She says, long before George Floyd, minorities in Minnesota have faced a different kind of discrimination.

BRITTANY LEWIS: There's an overt form of racism, right, that you might be used to.

But then there's a subtle a form of racism that gives you the impression that you're welcome, you're invited, we want you to engage.

But then you learn really quickly, that's not exactly what they want at all.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: However, Lewis says the George Floyd killing highlights the most glaring and certainly the most raw example of inequality for many African-Americans, the difference in how their communities are policed.

MAN: I told him not to reach for it!

I told him to get his hand off it!

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: In 2016, Philando Castile, a 32-year old black man, was fatally shot during a traffic stop.

The year before, a Minneapolis police officer fatally shot 24-year-old Jamar Clark.

Both cases sparked outrage, protests and talk of change.

Four years ago, the Minneapolis Police Department put in place new policies aimed at reducing the use of force and requiring officers to intervene if they observe a colleague being abusive.

TONY WILLIAMS, MPD150: So, this is a cycle that we personally here have seen play out five or six times just in the last five years in Minneapolis.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Tony Williams is a member of a group that wants to radically change the city's approach to public safety.

He's studied the relationship between communities of color and the Minneapolis Police Department.

TONY WILLIAMS: I think, for those of us who have been following this history and the culture of policing here in Minneapolis, it's a watershed moment in terms of the community that's protesting right now is no longer saying that we think reforms are going to fix the underlying problems here.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Even police chiefs around the nation are expressing outrage and frustration over George Floyd's killing.

ANDY SKOOGMAN, Executive Director, Minnesota Chiefs of Police Association: I don't know of one police chief in Minnesota who has looked at that video and said, that is the right technique.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: ANDY SKOOGMAN is the executive director of the Minnesota Chiefs of Police Association.

ANDY SKOOGMAN: There is a sad irony in all of this.

I do believe that Minnesota has worked very hard over the last 10, 15 years to improve community relations.

So, I think we need to double down on that and figure out ways that we can recruit more diverse candidates, but more better-quality candidates just in general.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: But for young black men in Minneapolis, the fixes will have to go far beyond police departments.

MAN: So, we have an office here, and this guy came accusing us we can't be here.

MAN: What office are you in?

MAN: Don't worry about that.

We don't have to tell you anything.

MAN: I'm calling 911 now.

MAN: Go ahead.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: One day after George Floyd's killing, a white man threatened to call the police on a group of young black men while they were all working out in their office building's gym.

ABDI HASSAN, Minneapolis: The threat of, you know, I'm going to call 911, for a black person, if you say that to a black person in America now, it's essentially, to a certain extent, a death threat.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Twenty-four-year-old Abdi Hassan says the situation quickly escalated when the man began taking their pictures.

ABDI HASSAN: I think, if it wasn't for him taking pictures, we would have never thought to pull out our phone and start recording.

So, as soon as he started taking pictures is when our phones came out.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Hassan's colleague, 22 year-old Zak Ahmed, recorded and posted the interaction online.

The video soon went viral, and the white man who had confronted them was kicked out of the building.

ZAK AHMED, Minneapolis: I wouldn't say it's too bad, but there is some racism that you face on a day-to-day.

Just -- as a black person, you just learn to deal with those things and not make a big deal out of them.

But I think people should start recording these things so that, you know one by one, we can stop things like this from happening in the future.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: But after a volatile and chaotic week, Professor Brittany Lewis is uncertain about that future.

BRITTANY LEWIS: I fear this is not taken seriously.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Even now?

BRITTANY LEWIS: Even now.

I'm not going to lie to you, I'm worried, because, right now, people are -- we're still in the feelings of protest and rage, but there's still a trial.

There's still -- we're -- like, this is a long road.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Fred de Sam Lazaro in Minneapolis.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Thank you, Fred.

And stay with us, as President Obama walks from the White House to St. John's Church for an unusual photo opportunity.

But, first, take a moment to hear from your local PBS station.

It's a chance to offer your support, which helps keep programs like ours on the air.

Our Race Matters series has been exploring the issues now on the streets for years.

Back in 2016, Charlayne Hunter-Gault went to Gary, Indiana, to learn from the mayor there how that city works to improve the relationships between the community and the police department.

CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT: Karen Marie Freeman-Wilson became mayor of her native Gary, Indiana, after three attempts.

High on her list of priorities was improving relations between the police and the predominantly black community, not great in a town with high unemployment dating back to the steel mill closures in the '70s, in addition to a history of police brutality and crime.

But Mayor Freeman-Wilson is starting to change Gary, and we sat down with the mayor to discuss her solutions.

Mayor Freeman-Wilson, thank you for joining us.

How high on your list of priorities was police-community relations?

MAYOR KAREN FREEMAN-WILSON, Gary, Indiana: Well police-community relations was very high on my list, because public safety was one of the greatest concerns in our community.

CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT: Why?

MAYOR KAREN FREEMAN-WILSON: We had a very high and still have a high murder rate.

We had and have a high rate of crime, even though it's gone down.

A lot has to do with the fact that there's frustration associated with not having employment, with not having adequate income, with poverty.

And as a result of that, people tend to be angry or angrier.

And as a result of that anger, you will find that people resort to violence sometimes.

CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT: But at the time that you took office, there was real conflict between the community and the police.

What was the biggest problem that you had to deal with there?

MAYOR KAREN FREEMAN-WILSON: Well, there was distrust of the police.

CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT: Why?

MAYOR KAREN FREEMAN-WILSON: Residents often thought that perhaps the police were involved in illegal activity, or, more often, didn't care about what happened in neighborhoods.

There's a big gulf in between the fact that some of our police officers do not live in the city, and, as a result of them not living, that they didn't understand what was happening in the neighborhoods.

CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT: So, what did you do?

MAYOR KAREN FREEMAN-WILSON: Well, we became involved in the national initiative on building police and community trust, an initiative out of the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, as well as other organizations, Yale University, the National Institute of Justice, and other research organizations, that really look at ways to build police and community trust.

And so they come in, they talk to members of the community.

They provide training for the police department.

Our police officers have all gone through implicit bias training.

CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT: What's that?

MAYOR KAREN FREEMAN-WILSON: That's training to really check your biases, to ask you to look at the way that you look at other people.

So, do I look at you and think a certain thing?

And how does that impact the way that I interact with you?

So, as a police officer, do I look at an African-American male, whether I am an African-American male or not, and think a certain thing, and as a result act a certain way towards that person?

CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT: So, what would you say is the result of that?

MAYOR KAREN FREEMAN-WILSON: What we have found is that police listen to the community more, the community listens to our police officers more.

There's more positive interaction.

We have also found that there's more of an effort to interact when it's not -- when a crisis is not occurring.

And so, in August, we will have our National Night Out, when the community comes out on an evening.

And the police, fire, and other departments of the city get together.

But it's really focused on public safety and the fact that you can go out after dark, you can interact after dark in a positive way.

The police bring their canine units out.

And young people will get a chance to interact with the canine.

CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT: And not be bitten by them.

MAYOR KAREN FREEMAN-WILSON: And not be bitten by them.

It's a positive thing.

CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT: What's the complexion of your police department?

And does that matter?

KAREN MARIE FREEMAN-WILSON: About 55 percent of our police department is African-American.

Another 35 to 40 percent is Caucasian.

And the remaining officers are Latino.

And that absolutely does matter.

I think it's important that young African-American children see police officers, see people in authority that look like them.

CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT: What you have achieved here sounds pretty good.

It actually sounds very good.

Is it applicable in other circumstances in other cities?

MAYOR KAREN FREEMAN-WILSON: I believe that the solution is really for the police to establish a rapport with the community that doesn't necessarily involve an official interaction.

Sometimes, it's midnight basketball.

Other, times it's some type of youth league.

Sometimes, it's an explorers program, where you are recruiting young people to be involved with the police.

Other times, it's just neighborhood forums or neighborhood meetings where you help people to keep their community safe.

When you know the officers, then you're less inclined to think that they are there to harass you.

And when you know the community, you will understand that the overwhelming -- overwhelming number of citizens are really law-abiding people.

CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT: And you mentioned earlier the fact that your murder rate is going down.

What do you attribute that to?

MAYOR KAREN FREEMAN-WILSON: We attribute the reduction in the murder rate to the fact that we have now focused on those most likely to be involved in criminal activity.

And so there was a time when we were just doing sweeps.

I think a lot of people call it broken window policing.

CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT: Yes, city of Gary.

MAYOR KAREN FREEMAN-WILSON: And so everybody would get stopped.

You might get stopped.

I might get stopped.

And there might be positive results in terms of being able to detect a crime, or there might not.

Now we focus on those who are most likely to be involved in criminal behavior.

And we send them not just a punitive message, but we send them a message that we would like to see you become productive, law-abiding citizens.

We want to support you in that effort, but if you choose to continue in the road of crime, if you continue to be involved in non-productive behavior, we will hold you accountable for that.

CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT: And when do you tell them that?

MAYOR KAREN FREEMAN-WILSON: Well, we focus on those individuals who are on probation and parole.

And we conduct what they refer to as call-ins.

And so these call-ins are meetings.

They're meetings that involve the community, meetings that involve individuals on probation and parole.

And essentially what we tell them is, we want to help you, we want to support you, but we also want peace and safety in this community, and that the killing has to stop.

CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT: Well, Mayor Freeman-Wilson, thank you for joining us.

MAYOR KAREN FREEMAN-WILSON: Thank you.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And this update.

The National Guard has been called to disperse peaceful protesters from around the White House.

A short time ago, President Trump walked across Lafayette Park to visit St. John's Church after it was damaged last night.

Security forces surrounding the area cleared the protesters with tear gas.

The president stood for a photo while holding a Bible.

And that is the "NewsHour" for tonight.

I'm Judy Woodruff.

For all of us at the "PBS NewsHour," thank you, please stay safe, and we'll see you soon.