JUDY WOODRUFF: Good evening.

I'm Judy Woodruff.

On the "NewsHour" tonight: how to change the system and our society.

As the U.S. Senate weighs police reform, I speak with Republican Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina about his plan forward.

Then: one-on-one.

Former Defense Secretary and CIA Director Robert Gates discusses the federal response to protesters and America's role in a changing world.

Plus: the movement's moment.

We explore the growing coalition around Black Lives Matter in the wake of recent police killings and nationwide protests.

BRENDA STEVENSON, University of California, Los Angeles: The people who I see who have not traditionally been so invested in African-American equality who are now invested, I think that's an important indicator to people who are in powerful places.

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

(BREAK) JUDY WOODRUFF: The drive to reform policing is accelerating tonight in the United States Congress.

At the same time, officers involved in a deadly encounter in Atlanta are called to account.

White House correspondent Yamiche Alcindor has our report, starting at the U.S. Capitol.

YAMICHE ALCINDOR: Two parties, two bills, and a national reckoning on policing and racism.

Today, Senate Republicans introduced their police reform bill.

SEN. TIM SCOTT (R-SC): Too often, we're having a discussion in this nation about, are you supporting the law enforcement community or are you supporting communities of color?

This is a false, binary choice.

YAMICHE ALCINDOR: The Justice Act includes incentives for police departments to ban choke holds and grants for body cameras.

It also increases disclosure requirements for no-knock warrants and the use of force.

Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina spearheaded the GOP legislation.

Today, he said he understands firsthand the need for change.

SEN. TIM SCOTT: I was stopped this year driving while black when I got a warning ticket for using -- failing to use my turn signal earlier in my lane change.

And so this issue continues.

And that's why it's so important for us to say that we hear you, we're listening to your concerns.

YAMICHE ALCINDOR: The White House said today it fully supports the Scott bill.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Democrats should also back it.

But Democrats have their own reform bill that they say more directly changes federal laws on police misconduct.

Today, the House Judiciary Committee held a markup of the Democratic proposal, which was unveiled last week.

Democrats said their plan is the only one that rises to the moment, especially in the wake of George Floyd's death in Minneapolis after being pinned by the neck for nearly nine minutes.

REP. SHEILA JACKSON LEE (D-TX): What the administration and the Senate are missing is the understanding of eight minutes and 46 seconds.

They're missing the deeply embedded pain that is evidenced by protesters, not only in the nation, but around the world.

Clearly, reform-lite, Milquetoast is not going to answer the pain of eight minutes and 46 seconds.

YAMICHE ALCINDOR: Among the differences between the bills, the Democrats' plan outright bans police choke holds and no-knock warrants in drug cases, rather than disincentivizing and collecting data on them.

The Democratic bill also ends qualified immunity, a controversial legal doctrine that has shielded police and other officials from lawsuits over their conduct.

Still, there is some overlap.

Both parties' bills would make lynching a federal crime.

Despite the points of contention, some think that Washington's partisan lines might be blurring, at least a bit.

Today, Indiana Republican Senator Mike Braun said his party needs to go further on qualified immunity.

And California Democratic Representative Karen Bass, who chairs the Congressional Black Caucus, voiced hope.

REP. KAREN BASS (D-CA): When I hear that many of our proposals have been incorporated in what I hear is coming out of the Senate, in a different way, not as strong, not as powerful, but it makes me feel like there is a pathway for us to do this.

YAMICHE ALCINDOR: Meanwhile, in Atlanta, the district attorney announced, the policeman who killed Rayshard Brooks last week is being charged with murder and 10 other offenses.

Officer Garrett Rolfe shot Brooks in the back and then kicked him while on he was on the ground fighting for his life, the DA said.

Rolfe has since been fired, and a second officer was put on desk duty.

That second officer is now charged with aggravated assault for standing on Brooks' shoulders after he was shot.

He has told prosecutors he is willing to testify against Rolfe.

The officers were trying to arrest Brooks for falling asleep at a drive-through and failing a sobriety test.

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

JUDY WOODRUFF: We want to take a closer look at today's plan with the man behind the Republican push for change.

He is Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina.

And he joins us from the Capitol.

Senator Scott, thank you so much for joining us.

I want to ask you first about some of the Democrats' reaction.

They are saying, yes, this is a move in the right direction, but the Senate minority leader, Chuck Schumer, said today it's not -- it doesn't rise to the moment.

We heard House Speaker Nancy Pelosi say it's inadequate.

Do you think you will be able to get enough Democratic votes to get this to a debate and a vote on the Senate floor?

SEN. TIM SCOTT: Well, if we do not, then they will have to explain to the families that I met with yesterday at the White House and the families that I met with yesterday in my office why we're not willing to take seriously some of the changes that are important to those families who have lost loved ones because of the police interaction.

This bill, modeled after much of the House bill, is an important step in the right direction.

It also includes the focuses -- the focus of the president and the priorities in the executive order.

So, we have a chance to do something meaningful for the American people, especially communities of color, who are losing confidence in the institutions of authority in this country.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, Senator, as you know, Democrats are calling for an outright ban on certain measures, like a choke hold or the so-called no-knock warrant.

SEN. TIM SCOTT: Yes.

JUDY WOODRUFF: In your proposal, you are saying these things should be tied to federal funding, that, if departments go ahead with them, they risk losing funding.

SEN. TIM SCOTT: Yes.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And yet you also said today that this is something that should be debated, the choke hold should be debated, for the American people to hear.

So, it sounds like you're open to a complete ban on a choke hold.

Is that right?

SEN. TIM SCOTT: Well, I would say -- say it this way.

My legislation gets us to the position where, if you are in a law enforcement department that does not already have a ban on choke holds, you do not have access to the federal funding.

The House bill does not have the ability to actually, in my opinion, ban choke holds.

What they do is, they defund states' revenue streams from the federal government.

It's kind of the same thing, to be honest with you.

The fact of the matter is that policing is a local government decision, not a federal decision.

So, I'd love to see how the Democrats thread that needle from federalism and the local departments' ability to make the decisions.

We do that through the refusing to give them the grant dollars.

The White House, in their executive order, does the exact same thing through a certification process.

So, all three levers of government have the same objective.

I think we get there if we keep working together, looking for a solution.

JUDY WOODRUFF: So, I hear -- I hear a little bit of give in your position.

But let me also ask you about this concept, legal concept, qualified immunity.

This is - - this protects police from lawsuits for actions taken in their official capacity.

This is something Democrats say should be completely done away with.

I think there have been 1,400 professional athletes who signed a letter saying, do away with it.

Even a Republican, Senator Mike Braun of Indiana, is saying, this is something that needs to be looked at.

Is this -- are you willing to consider tweaking or doing away with qualified immunity?

SEN. TIM SCOTT: It's a very important issue.

It could be considered a poison pill for the vast majority of my conference.

What we already know is that our focus on collecting information to lead to the right outcomes is a part of the bill that both sides agree on.

What we do know, as opposed to looking at this things that divide us, we better spend more time on the things that unite us, so we actually have an opportunity to have a conversation where the American people can decide whether the good-faith effort on the Republican side and the good-faith effort on the Democrat side leads in the direction of getting a bill done.

If we're only going to talk in this interview about the priorities of the Democrats, that seems to be inauthentic in dealing with the issues that are facing communities of color every single day.

The ability to de-escalate violence is a really important decision.

And if we can train people on how to get there, that's a great outcome for families.

It's a great outcome for communities of color.

And it's a great outcome for restoring hope and confidence in institutions of authority.

I am welcome -- I welcome all debate on the issues that should be a part of the conversation as it relates to police reform.

I'm not going to negotiate with you or with them through this interview.

I welcome the opportunity for them to give us a chance to have that conversation on the floor of the Senate.

If they are more interested in a political point, and not an actual law, then they will say no to the motion to proceed.

If they want to have a chance to actually have the debate, then we will have this debate sometime next week.

JUDY WOODRUFF: I appreciate what you're saying, Senator.

SEN. TIM SCOTT: Yes.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And all this is designed to better understand what your position is.

But when you say changing police attitudes, changing the kind of training police have, this is something that's been done around the country, and yet these incidents keep happening.

SEN. TIM SCOTT: Well, what I can tell you is, in 2015, I was on the floor of the Senate asking my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join me in providing more resources for those departments, so they could have body cameras.

Had we had body cameras, I think we would see the statistics that we have seen reinforcing the importance of body cameras.

We see a 90 percent drop in complaints, a 60 percent drop in the use of force.

So, the fact of the matter is, without a body camera or without a video, the Ahmaud Arbery situation would have never been known.

Without a video, the Walter Scott situation would never have been known.

And without a video, the George Floyd eight-and-a-half minutes would never have been seen.

So, there are lots of opportunities for my friends on the other side to come to the table five years later.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And in that connection, Senator, I heard one of the reporters at today's news conference when you were introducing your legislation and explaining it ask you whether you believe there's systemic racism among the police in this country.

And I think I wrote this down correctly.

You said, "Some people are racist, but we are not a racist country."

SEN. TIM SCOTT: Yes.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And yet, I would ask you, for those who have been protesting in the streets and calling out the names of George Floyd, and Michael Brown, and Freddie Gray, the Charleston church shooting, Breonna Taylor, Rayshard Brooks -- and I could go on, Senator -- they're asking -- there's a lot of racism in this country.

So, what would you say to them about how to understand that and how to understand if that's a problem among the police?

SEN. TIM SCOTT: I would say to all of my friends and neighbors in the communities of color, as an African-American elected official who's been stopped seven times in a single year, as an African-American United States senator who's been stopped coming into the U.S. Senate with my lapel pin on, as someone who was just driving while black earlier this year and was pulled over by the police officers, stopped last, November, for having my flashers on, I understand the pain and the frustration that comes with that.

I also, as an African-American, understand that when my house was broken in, law enforcement showed up to help me out.

I understand that, when I was in a major car accident, that the law enforcement folks who showed up at the scene to help pick me off of the interstate were there to help me.

I understand that we have a delicate and weak relationship between the communities of color and the law enforcement community.

I would say to them, as I say to myself every single day, as someone who has to be comfortable in this skin -- and I certainly am -- that we are making progress.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, in charge of this legislation introduced today to reform police.

Thank you very much, Senator.

We appreciate it.

SEN. TIM SCOTT: Yes, ma'am.

Thank you very much.

Have a good day.

JUDY WOODRUFF: In the day's other news: A bombshell has landed at the White House, in a book by John Bolton, the former national security adviser.

According to news accounts, Bolton says President Trump asked China's President Xi Jinping for reelection help by buying more U.S. farm products.

Bolton also reportedly accuses Mr. Trump of endorsing concentration camps for China's Muslim Uyghurs.

Beyond that, The Wall Street Journal quotes him as writing -- and I quote -- "I am hard-pressed to identify any significant Trump decision during my White House tenure that wasn't driven by reelection calculations."

The Justice Department filed suit yesterday to block publication of the book.

In the COVID-19 pandemic, new numbers today show New York state has cut infection rates to the lowest in the country.

It had been the epicenter of the U.S. pandemic.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization welcomed British findings that a steroid, dexamethasone, cuts death rates among critically ill patients.

But it also counseled caution.

DR. MICHAEL J. RYAN, World Health Organization: It's exceptionally important that this drug is used under medical supervision.

This is not for mild cases.

This is not for prophylaxis.

This is a very, very powerful anti-inflammatory drug.

It can rescue patients who are in very serious condition, where their lungs and cardiovascular system around their lungs may be very inflamed.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Also today, travelers in China looked for ways out of Beijing, as officials canceled two-thirds of flights in and out of the city amid a new outbreak.

Separately, China says that India has agreed to peacefully end a border dispute in the Himalayas.

The two sides clashed Monday in the Ladakh's region's Galwan Valley, as soldiers fought hand to hand on a narrow mountainous ridge.

A vigil was held in New Delhi today for the 20 Indian troops killed.

China has announced what its causalities -- has not announced what its casualties were.

The United States is targeting Syria's President Bashar al-Assad and his inner circle with new economic sanctions.

It's aimed at punishing Syria for abusing human rights and refusing to negotiate peace after nine years of civil war.

With Russia's help, Assad has recaptured nearly all the areas once held by rebels.

Back in this country, the U.S. Senate has approved the most far-reaching conservation measure in nearly half-a-century and sent it to the House.

The Great American Outdoors Act includes nearly $3 billion a year for national parks and other efforts.

We will take a closer look later in the program.

And on Wall Street, stocks mostly ran out of steam.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 170 points to close at 26119.

The Nasdaq rose 14 points, but the S&P 500 slipped 11.

Still to come on the "NewsHour": one-on-one with former Defense Secretary and CIA Director Robert Gates; Japan's government rushes to lift the state of emergency, despite a dire lack of testing; a growing coalition around Black Lives Matter in the wake of recent police killings; and much more.

The United States faces multiple simultaneous and competing challenges here at home and abroad.

One man with keen insight on how America has dealt with past challenges is Robert Gates.

He served eight presidents of both political parties, and was the secretary of defense under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama.

He was also director of the CIA under President George H.W.

Bush.

He is the author of a new book, "Exercise of Power: American Failures, Successes, and a New Path Forward in the Post-Cold War World."

And he joins me now.

Secretary Gates, it's so good to see you again.

And let me start with what the country is very focused on right now, and, as you know, that's the treatment of African-Americans.

For the first time, an African-American was named to head one of the military service branches.

I think my question for you, as someone who served at the head of the Pentagon, is, why wasn't this done earlier and why it didn't happen under your watch.

ROBERT GATES, Former U.S. Secretary of Defense: I don't know really know what it is about the promotion process that has led the number of people, African-American officers to not be as represented in the senior leadership as they are in the military service as a whole.

It's clearly not a question of competence or capability.

But what is it that kept colonels and brigadier generals and major generals who are African-American from moving into the most senior ranks more frequently than in the past?

And it is a challenge, but it's one that it seems to me right now the military is taking on seriously, I think, maybe for the first time.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Was it even discussed when you were at the Pentagon?

ROBERT GATES: No, it really wasn't, I guess in part because we had officers like General Austin who were in leading positions.

There was a lot of attention to diversity.

I would have to say that more -- I would say more frequently discussed was -- when I was secretary, was how to promote more women.

JUDY WOODRUFF: I want to ask you about the recent protests in front of the White House, the protests, how the president handled it.

After that, we saw Secretary James Mattis, former secretary under President Trump, say that this is a president who has, unlike any president before him, tried to divide the country.

Do you agree with him about that?

ROBERT GATES: It's quite clear that being a unifying president is pretty low on the priority of our current incumbent.

I think he is a divider, and I think he does so quite consciously.

JUDY WOODRUFF: The thesis of your book, Secretary Gates, is that American presidents need to use the full range of American power, not just the military, but diplomacy, economic, intelligence, strategic communications, even cultural connections, development assistance.

And you go on to say, not one of the past four U.S. presidents has done what it takes to be a global power.

You worked for two of these presidents at the Pentagon.

Do you accept responsibility, your own responsibility for that?

Expand on what you meant.

ROBERT GATES: What I was writing about there was that many of the -- most of the non-military instruments of power available to the United States and that played such an important part in the successful outcome of the Cold War were dismantled.

And some of them were dismantled by the Congress.

The United States Information Agency was disestablished by Congress in 1998 under President Clinton.

The U.S. Agency for International Development, they wanted to abolish, but Clinton refused, but instead tucked it under the State Department.

So, what I basically argued is that, all through the last 25 years or so, all of these non-military instruments of power have been allowed to weaken or wither or even disappear.

And the result is that it has left the military with a disproportionate role in both decision-making and in executing American foreign policy, that, in effect, if the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.

And that also means strengthening these non-military instruments of power, which are also instruments of leadership, to exercise our role in the world.

JUDY WOODRUFF: I specifically want to ask about China, because you describe how complicated it is, how China is playing the long game, while the U.S. is not.

Given the global nature of this competition, that it crosses not just military, but economic, it's cybersecurity, technology, do you worry that the tensions between the U.S. and China could just spin out of control in a dangerous way?

ROBERT GATES: Well, I think there is that worry, especially if the Chinese think that we're kind of on the mat.

If we're so -- if they -- if President Xi concludes that we're so preoccupied with our domestic affairs, our economic crisis, our race crisis, our financial crisis, then they may -- he may think that there are opportunities.

I think we have seen this in their action with the new law in Hong Kong.

We have seen this is in their aggressive actions toward Vietnam and Malaysia and the South China Sea, toward Taiwan.

So I do worry about that.

But the reality is, you know, if we're smart and we're lucky, this contest with China in the decades ahead will be against the backdrop of significant military power, but will take place in the realm of non-military instruments of political, the economic, the political, all of the different characters, all the different aspects of it that you described.

My worry is that we're doing nothing to strengthen those non-military instruments that, frankly, over the past number of years, they have developed to a very considerable degree, and we have no strategy for how we're going to deal with China over the long term.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Two other things I want to quickly ask you about, Secretary Gates.

One is North Korea.

You say it was a good idea of President Trump to make the overture, the outreach to Kim Jong-un.

And you go on to say in the book that you think that the U.S. should perhaps lower our sights, bow to reality and live with a North Korea that has limited nuclear capability.

ROBERT GATES: Well, I argue in the book that I favored President Trump's overture to the North and being willing to meet with Kim Jong-un, because, frankly, every other effort to limit the North Korean nuclear capability over the last 25 years has failed.

We need to come to the realization that the North Korean leadership is probably never going to give up their military -- their nuclear capability.

I think they see it as essential to their survival.

At what point do we recognize that the North is not going to give up its nuclear weapons and decide that some minimal number is acceptable, as long as we are able to have complete access to North Korea, to be able to verify an agreement and numbers of weapons and so on, and kind of anywhere/anytime inspections, so that we know they cannot expand that capability, and we know where the weapons that they have are?

We have to come to grips with the reality these guys aren't giving these things up, period.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Last thing I want to ask you about is what's happening in November.

You, in your last book, wrote of Joe Biden, former Vice President Biden, that he had been wrong on virtually every important foreign policy or national security issue of the last four decades.

So, you clearly have strong views about his policy chops.

You have also, though, said that you have questions about President Trump's character.

I mean, you said earlier in this interview about -- you spoke about dividing the American people.

Which -- if it comes down to policy positions vs. character, which one matters more?

ROBERT GATES: Well, I think that's what the American people are going to decide in November.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And what about what Robert Gates thinks?

ROBERT GATES: What Robert Gates thinks, he will keep to himself.

JUDY WOODRUFF: All right, we will leave it at that.

(LAUGHTER) JUDY WOODRUFF: Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

The new book is "Exercise of Power."

Thank you very much.

ROBERT GATES: Thank you, Judy.

JUDY WOODRUFF: A delayed response, limited testing, and a soft lockdown.

Japan has been going against the grain every step of the way in its battle against COVID-19.

But with coronavirus cases nearing 20,000, public health experts are asking whether Japan's response and outcome should be called a disaster or a success.

Special correspondent Grace Lee reports from Tokyo.

DR. TAKAYUKI OHISHI, Saiseikai Yokohamashi Tobu Hospital: Those are PPE.

GRACE LEE: At this hospital just south of Tokyo, a rare site in the era of COVID-19, a mountain of personal protective equipment.

Here, the first wave of the virus has already come and gone.

Staff are now preparing for what's expected next, the second wave of infections.

Dr. Takayuki Ohishi is deputy director of the facility's infection control team.

DR. TAKAYUKI OHISHI (through translator): My impression is that Japan just happened to be lucky.

We were in a position where masks were readily available and able to fight the infection that way.

GRACE LEE: Masks may be the answer to Japan's low death rate, at least according to the government's expert panel on COVID-19, but there are questions as to whether the country took the right steps to battle the virus.

There's been no lockdown here, due to Japan's strict constitution, only a polite request from the government: Stay indoors if possible, and close up shop if you're not essential.

That has been the essence of Japan's nationwide state of emergency.

It was put in place mid-April.

But even that was lifted late last month.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe: SHINZO ABE, Japanese Prime Minister (through translator): When we declared the state of emergency in Japan, we were not allowed to penalize and force people not to go out.

But, even so, we were able to conduct the state of emergency in Japan's own way.

And we were able to control the spread in just a month-and-a-half.

GRACE LEE: Experts aren't sure that Japan has controlled the spread, especially because of the country's low test rate.

Japan has tested 0.2 percent of its population, one of the lowest rates among developed countries.

There's worry here that the virus may be spreading silently.

Japan's rigid infectious disease law dictates that even mild cases must be hospitalized.

And that takes valuable bed space away from critical cases.

So, authorities here have been reluctant to test people who aren't in critical condition.

Instead, they have opted for a different method, track and trace clusters.

It's a strategy that experts say worked in the beginning, but has proven difficult in the long term.

DR. MASA NUMATA, Physician: Sometimes, it's just flooded.

GRACE LEE: Dr. Masa Numata runs a local clinic in Tokyo.

He's been handling a large number of patients with COVID-19 symptoms.

And to protect other patients, he's been opening his clinic on his usual days off strictly for those exhibiting symptoms.

He's recommended a handful of them get tested, but none of them has been able to.

This is why: DR. MASA NUMATA: If you get sick, then you have to give a call to certain call center.

And then the call center will just contact to distinct outpatient facilities.

And then they finally contact public to health center of local government.

But then local government will contact to another institution for the actual testing.

GRACE LEE: A growing chorus of physicians say, Japan's convoluted testing system is putting lives at risk.

DR. MASA NUMATA: That's not right, because some people get serious.

And I think only medical doctors can make decision, and not bureaucrats.

GRACE LEE: This COVID-19 survivor went through the system firsthand.

DREW, Hokkaido Resident: It felt like humans were being sort of set aside and not cared about.

GRACE LEE: Drew is a long time Japan resident who lives on the northern island of Hokkaido.

He's asked to stay anonymous due to the stigma surrounding the virus in Japan.

After exhibiting symptoms for more than two weeks, his doctor recommended he call the hot line and get tested immediately.

But he wasn't able to for more than a month.

DREW: And they just ran me around in circles, back and forth and back and forth.

Finally, at the end of like my fourth or fifth call with them, I just said to her, like, listen, the doctor is saying that I should have a test.

You have no medical experience or background or certifications or anything whatsoever.

You're just like a trained hot line answer - - call answering person reading a script.

So, like, how can you override the instructions of my doctor?

GRACE LEE: For Prime Minister Abe's administration, COVID-19 has been a P.R.

disaster.

MICHIKO UEDA, Professor of Public Health Policy, Waseda University: It seems to us, for a lot of Japanese people, just Abe government is - - just decide on the spot based on nothing.

That was the major problem.

I think that people see that, and they just keep changing the policies all the time, and that they don't have any firm ground what this country should do and then where we should go.

GRACE LEE: A recent poll showed that 55 percent of the public is not happy with how Abe handled the outbreak.

Most of them felt he was too late in declaring the state of emergency.

MICHIKO UEDA: The real problem is that they don't have good statistics in terms of the number of cases of COVID-19, because we are so behind in testing.

GRACE LEE: International criticism began in late February, with the government's response to the Diamond Princess.

More than 700 people were infected on board the quarantined ship.

Criticism toward the Japanese government intensified later over another hot-button issue in the global spotlight, the Olympics.

Abe was accused of downplaying the severity of the pandemic in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to keep the Games on for this summer.

Now, as restrictions are relaxed across the board, residents here are left feeling uneasy.

Many don't trust the official figures.

WOMAN (through translator): I'm afraid we might see a second or third wave of infections.

I have children, and they're currently not going to classes.

But if they have to start going on the subway to commute, I'm worried they might catch the virus there.

GRACE LEE: Doctors say Japan isn't quite out of the woods yet, and are urging the government to ramp up testing.

Medical staff are hoping, if there is a next wave of COVID-19, it won't overwhelm the system.

For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Grace Lee in Tokyo.

JUDY WOODRUFF: In the three-plus weeks since George Floyd's death, the protests that began in Minneapolis over policing, race and use of force have grown into a national reckoning on these issues and many more.

Stephanie Sy looks at how the coalition has widened around the country among different races and ethnicities.

PROTESTER: Systemic racism relies on your inactivity.

STEPHANIE SY: From rural towns, such as Craftsbury, Vermont...

PROTESTERS: No racist police!

STEPHANIE SY: ... and small cities, including Athens, Ohio, to far-flung communities in Alaska, among them Talkeetna, protests for Black Lives Matter are occurring for the first time in places where few African-Americans live, led by a mosaic of people of different creeds and cultures.

PROTESTERS: Black lives matter!

PROTESTER: Black lives matter!

STEPHANIE SY: From Waxahachie, Texas, to Des Moines, Iowa.

PROTESTERS: This is what democracy looks like.

STEPHANIE SY: From Laramie, Wyoming, to Anna, Illinois, a town with a particularly troubled history of racism.

JUDY MULLER, Former Journalist: I was really gobsmacked.

STEPHANIE SY: That was Judy Muller's reaction when she found out about a vigil for George Floyd organized in Norwood, Colorado, where she lives part-time.

JUDY MULLER: This is a town of 550 some souls, most of them white, almost all of them white, in a very rural area.

So for 40-some people to turn out for this, with so little notice, that's almost a 10th of the population.

STEPHANIE SY: She saw Democrats and Republicans and the city's two law enforcement officers participating in the somber vigil.

JUDY MULLER: I think the town of Norwood, Colorado, cares, and a lot of other rural towns across America care.

We have seen evidence of that.

STEPHANIE SY: Muller herself is a former television news reporter who covered the 1992 Los Angeles riots after the police beating of Rodney King.

JUDY MULLER: I have been through a lot of these stories, and nothing has really quite touched me as much as this one in my little town.

I'm quite moved by it.

STEPHANIE SY: Some say it's the graphic video of George Floyd's death.

Others point to the shared vulnerability that can only come out of a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic.

But, for whatever reason, this time, the death of an unarmed black man has brought activism out of the woodwork, including among other marginalized groups.

JORDAN ORTEGA, Protester: It was important for me, as a Native, to go out there and support the Black Lives Matter movement.

STEPHANIE SY: Jordan Ortega attended a rally in Gallup, New Mexico.

JORDAN ORTEGA: It was my first protest to go to, and I went to it because I had seen all the video and pictures of what happened with George Floyd and his murder.

And it struck a chord with me.

And it really -- it really shook me.

MARK TRAHANT, Editor, Indian Country Today: The protest marches have gone on around Indian country in a way that's really unprecedented.

STEPHANIE SY: Mark Trahant is editor of Indian Country Today, which covers Native American issues.

Native Americans experience a higher rate of fatal encounters with police than any other racial group.

And yet: MARK TRAHANT: A lot of the activists are saying, first, Black Lives Matter.

We're not going to talk about our issues.

We're going to be in complete solidarity.

BRENDA STEVENSON, University of California, Los Angeles: The people that I see who are in the small towns, the people who I see who are -- have not traditionally been invested in African-American equality who are now invested, I think that's an important indicator to people who are in powerful places who have some -- can have some impact on equality.

STEPHANIE SY: Brenda Stevenson is a professor of history and African-American studies at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Her optimistic view of the broadening coalition is tempered by her 24-year old daughter, Emma Cones.

Emma recently spoke at a rally for black lives.

EMMA CONES, Black Lives Matter Supporter: I'm happy about the support.

However, I have noticed some kind of attempts of performative activism on social media.

I have seen a lot of influencers do things such as repost other people's donations to Black Lives Matter, and then -- and screenshotting it and saying that they actually donated.

BRENDA STEVENSON: I'm interested in broad coalitions and getting the work done, no matter who does it and how it's done.

STEPHANIE SY: Other communities of color are also aligning with the movement, and in some cases facing a reckoning.

PROTESTER: The dam of our hearts broke open when George Floyd called out to his momma right in front of our eyes.

STEPHANIE SY: The opening speech at the Japanese-American group Tsuru for Solidarity's vigil in San Bruno, California, which included many aging survivors of Japanese internment.

Tsuru means crane, a symbol of healing.

Kim Miyoshi is co-founder of Japanese Americans for Justice and explains why the model minority myth has contributed to varying degrees of complicity in the oppression of black people, from officer Tou Thao's role in George Floyd's death to staying silent.

KIM MIYOSHI, Co-Founder, Japanese Americans for Justice: When you're confronted with violence and domination, right, coming out a system of white supremacy, I feel like part of our community -- and this is probably true for other Asian American communities -- turned towards and kind of allied ourselves with whiteness or the values right around whiteness.

And it was a way to survive racism.

STEPHANIE SY: More than 700 Japanese Americans have signed up to a pledge by her group to end anti-black racism and support the movement's demands for defunding police and reparations for African-Americans.

PROTESTERS: I can't breathe!

STEPHANIE SY: Other protesters have focused on more incremental change.

Jordan Ortega shared her next steps.

JORDAN ORTEGA: Supporting more black businesses that are out in Albuquerque.

And I have made a couple donations to a couple of protest bailout funds through Facebook.

STEPHANIE SY: Filmmaker Christian Vasquez is documenting the protests.

CHRISTIAN VASQUEZ, Filmmaker: I think something we all need to be thinking about right now is how we tell these stories around activists.

STEPHANIE SY: And many say their main priority is educating their own social circles.

LENORE CRAVEN, Protester: I can guarantee you that, with my five children, you're going to have five more people who are going to be protesting for the rest of their lives as long as injustice is part of our world.

CLAIRE CLICK, Protester: A lot of my white friends and family members don't understand systemic racism.

They don't understand implicit bias.

They don't understand that you can sit there and say, "I'm not racist," and you might not be, you don't actively discriminate against black people, but you have still benefited from institutions that they have -- they have not been able to benefit from.

STEPHANIE SY: Emma Cones has a bigger challenge for the protesters.

EMMA CONES: What else have you done?

Have you given money to Black Lives Matter?

Or are you just posting a black square on Instagram saying #BlackoutTuesday, and just moving along with your life?

STEPHANIE SY: Professor Stevenson isn't sure what will come from the growing coalition either, but she senses it will be transformative.

BRENDA STEVENSON: I'm very hopeful because of Emma and because black people have continued to fight for freedom in our country, and I know will continue to do so.

STEPHANIE SY: With more allies than ever in the fight.

For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Stephanie Sy.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Today, the Senate overwhelmingly passed an act that provides funding for national parks and public lands.

Our Lisa Desjardins joins me to tell us about this legislation and what else Congress is considering when it comes to the environment.

LISA DESJARDINS: That's right, Judy.

This is actually an extraordinary bill, bipartisan bill, that's been years in the making, and passed now at this extraordinary time.

Let me tell you a little bit about what's in it, first of all.

This bill passed by the Senate still has to go through the House.

But let's start with the top.

This would fund deferred maintenance for our national parks and other federal lands, $9.5 billion over five years.

That is -- those are needs that have been overlooked for a long time.

This also would permanently fund something called the Land, Water and Conservation Fund.

That is something we will talk about more in a minute, and it would fund that by using oil and gas revenues, offshore drilling, Judy.

Let's go back to the $9.5 billion for our parks and federal lands.

Judy, everyone knows that that is one of America's pride and joy, but the truth is, for decades, that those parks have been underfunded.

Let's talk about our first national park, Yellowstone National Park, for example.

In that park, they have not been able to take care of all their roads and trails.

And, in addition, some of the staff there have not had housing.

So, they actually haven't been able to hire the staff they want because there's nowhere for them to live.

This is what the bill would provide.

Judy, again, bipartisan, passed overwhelmingly in the Senate, and it has some strong hopes in the House as well.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And, Lisa, tell us why that is.

What is it that gives it the support in the House?

LISA DESJARDINS: Well, I think there is some really important policy here as well.

Let's talk about that Land, Water and Conservation Fund, for example.

That fund is something that is used to add to federal land, including national parks.

Say Yellowstone wants to grow.

This fund has -- which was incorporated in 1965, has been part of the idea that America's public lands are important.

However, Congress has barely funded it and used a patchwork of temporary funding year after year for it, so it hasn't been dependable.

Now it has a permanent funding source.

And it will be mandatory funding.

Congress will not vote on this every year.

And what that means is not just more land for national parks, but potentially more land in cities as well, urban areas.

That's where a lot of these environmental activists also want to expand federal land.

This is something that is a big issue, I think, for much of America, and that's why you see many Republicans, not all, but some, supporting it.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And, Lisa, prospects, you were telling us, look good in the House, but not unanimous.

Tell us what the folks who object to it are saying.

LISA DESJARDINS: There are some objections, largely along the cost of this bill.

While that expansion of the Conservation Fund is paid for by oil and gas revenues, the national park money, for example, is not.

So this would add to the deficit.

And some have concerns.

Also, Judy, some opposition coming mostly from livestock groups.

They say that this expansion of federal land comes before the federal government has really put together a plan to take care of those lands.

As many people know, especially in the Western part of this country, there is often heated debate over federal ownership of land.

The federal government, in fact, owns more than a quarter of the land in this country.

On the other hand, Judy, conservationists say they have a goal of trying to preserve 30 percent of the land in this country by 2030.

This bill is part of that effort.

So, it's a big move for them.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And just finally, Lisa, interesting that this bill does have the Republican support that it does.

And you were telling us there's more climate action legislation bubbling up on the Hill.

LISA DESJARDINS: Right.

I want to talk about the politics here.

One reason also Republicans are supporting this, look at this letter.

This is from an environmental -- the Evangelical Environmental Network.

Judy, 65,000 people who describe themselves as pro-life or anti-abortion Christians signed this letter urging Congress to pass this bill and other environmental bills.

Essentially, Judy, there is some fervor on the right from religious groups to say, the environment is a life issue.

And that is something that we're seeing senators listen to.

Also, there are some at-risk senators, Cory Gardner in Colorado, also Steve Daines in Montana, for whom this bill will help.

And there is more environmental legislation coming up the pike.

We will keep an eye on it.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Lisa Desjardins reporting on something that hasn't gotten a lot of attention on the Hill in quite some time.

Lisa, thank you.

LISA DESJARDINS: You're welcome.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Finally tonight: American artists of all kinds are responding to the pandemic with new creations.

As Jeffrey Brown reports, the art can be a call to action and a means of healing for the maker and audience alike.

The story is part of our ongoing arts and culture series, Canvas.

JEFFREY BROWN: The song is called "Six Feet Apart," a kind of anthem for the pandemic.

Country music star Luke Combs co-wrote it in April, about a month into quarantine at his home in Tennessee.

LUKE COMBS, Musician: You know, I don't want to come from a place that is opportunistic or something that's corny or cheesy.

You want to give people hope, I think, that this isn't going to last forever.

JEFFREY BROWN: Combs, a triple Platinum-selling artist, would normally be on the road performing for thousands.

LUKE COMBS: I wanted to voice a little bit, I guess, of my frustration with.

This was set up to be my biggest year of my career by a long shot.

And I'm sure there are millions of people around the world who feel the same way about whatever their job is or their passion.

And anything that can give someone even three minutes' worth of relief from that is something that I'm really proud of.

JEFFREY BROWN: Around the country, artistic responses of all kinds.

Photographer Carrie Mae Weems, artist in residence at Syracuse University, launched a campaign to raise awareness, combining images of everyday life with direct messages on the need for precautions among people of color, who are disproportionately affected by the virus: "Don't worry, we will hold hands again.

Sadly, you are the most impacted by COVID-19."

Sound artist Yuri Suzuki is collecting submissions for his now-virtual installation Sound of the Earth: Pandemic Chapter, a partnership with the Dallas Museum of Art.

To comfort critically ill patients, filmmaker Felipe Barral created a piece call Bella, streaming the natural world.

Different creative ways to speak and act now.

In Queens, New York, one of the pandemic's epicenters, a meditation on the ghostly silence of the No.

7 subway line.

FRISLY SOBERANIS, Filmmaker: When are we going back to normal?

JEFFREY BROWN: Twenty-six-year-old local artist Frisly Soberanis shot this short video of the tracks overhead.

FRISLY SOBERANIS: The memories of the past come up very often, and they just sort of slam in front of what I'm seeing.

I know the people that were moving here, the businesses that were open, the energy of the space.

And now I see it closed.

And then I see that this structure is still continuing to sort of tower over us.

JEFFREY BROWN: Soberanis' work is part of a large instant exhibition involving many artists commissioned by the Onassis Foundation, working with the Queens Museum and others.

Soberanis normally makes a living doing video and film work.

That's gone, and he and his extended family face urgent financial and other challenges.

The pandemic has hit especially hard in his largely minority and immigrant community, and heightened already profound societal inequities, playing out further now in the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd.

He's made those issues a focus of his art.

FRISLY SOBERANIS: I try to see the powers that are at play at the moment that I'm creating things, whether that's financial powers or cultural powers.

Art, at least for me, is essential to capture a moment before it's rewritten in a different way.

JEFFREY BROWN: In Duluth, Minnesota, artist Carolyn Olson is paying homage to her community with a vibrant series of portraits of what she sees as essential workers, filling drugstore orders, picking vegetables and fruits, delivering goods by bicycle, repairing a band student's instrument.

CAROLYN OLSON, Artist: Just being angry and frustrated isn't going to fix anything.

So I felt like it was something I could do.

I'm a -- I can draw.

I can paint.

I could comment about the people that were doing this kind of work and maybe bring light to it.

JEFFREY BROWN: We learned of Olson's work when she wrote the "NewsHour" to say she'd found some of her subjects through stories she'd seen on our program, a bus driver, a sanitation worker, first responders.

But most of her subjects are closer to home, including a daughter who's worked through this period at a grocery store.

CAROLYN OLSON: I asked my daughter one time about what was going on and said, what about the grief?

And I felt like my drawing at least could talk about some of the things that were going on.

JEFFREY BROWN: Artists have always done this, of course, including around pandemics of the past.

Edvard Munch, the Norwegian artist whose Scream is a viral image of our time, painted this self-portrait with the Spanish Flu in 1919, speaking directly to his.

More recently, David Wojnarowicz photographed his friend Peter Hujar as he died of AIDS-related pneumonia.

Choreographer Doug Varone: DOUG VARONE, Choreographer: I can think of the AIDS crisis.

I can think of 9/11.

Artists respond to those moments.

And this is no different.

I think artists are really driven by the times.

Things occur in our lives, they occur in the world around us, and we respond to them.

JEFFREY BROWN: Varone and his company have been presenting new works for more than 30 years, but COVID-19 took its toll.

In March, he furloughed his team until further notice.

Recently, he was asked to do something beyond his experience, create a socially distanced dance, with Varone working in his Upstate New York home, shown here on the small computer screen, and dancer Michael Trusnovec using his home in New Jersey as his stage.

DOUG VARONE: The concept behind it has been very much about the isolation that we all feel at.

And, for many people, you know, I have many friends who are in this alone.

This piece in many ways is speaking about that.

The role of the artist has always been to expand people's perception of what is happening.

JEFFREY BROWN: In another sign of the times, the work will receive a virtual performance later in June.

For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Jeffrey Brown.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And on the "NewsHour" online right now: The world has sat on edge for months while the pandemic disrupts life and COVID-19 takes lives.

We explore how chronic stress from the coronavirus, as well as discrimination, may be affecting the health of black Americans.

That's on our Web site, PBS.org/NewsHour.

And that's the "NewsHour" for tonight.

I'm Judy Woodruff.

Join us online and again here tomorrow evening.

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