JUDY WOODRUFF: Good evening.

I'm Judy Woodruff.

On the "NewsHour" tonight: a new chapter for Mexico, as left-leaning presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador declares victory.

Then: behind rebel lines in Yemen -- how the fight with the U.S. backed Saudi forces is causing children to starve.

LISE GRANDE, UNDP Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen: The reality of their life is that when they wake up in the morning, they have no idea if they will eat that day, no idea - - 8.5 million people are in that category.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And Race Matters -- perspectives on living while black from the president of the NAACP.

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

(BREAK) JUDY WOODRUFF: President Trump's search for a U.S. Supreme Court nominee is gaining momentum.

As he met today with the prime minister of the Netherlands, Mr. Trump said he interviewed four candidates just this morning.

DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: I will be meeting with two or three more.

And we will make a decision on the United States Supreme Court, the new justice.That will be made over the next few days and we will be announcing it on Monday, and I look forward to that.

I think the person that's chosen will be outstanding.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer urged Democrats to reject any nominee who'd oppose abortion rights and expanded health care coverage.

He singled out federal appeals Judge Amy Coney Barrett of Chicago, calling her an activist judge.

In Southwestern Syria, a government offensive against rebels sent thousands more refugees fleeing for safety over the weekend.

United Nations officials now say the number leaving has topped 270,000.

Many are fleeing toward the closed Jordanian border.

That country's foreign minister said today that he will hold talks with his Russian counterpart.

Russia is backing the Syrian offensive.

Good news today about 12 boys and their soccer coach trapped in a cave in Thailand.

The Thai youngsters were found alive nine days after they went exploring, and the cave complex flooded.

The region's governor said Thai navy SEALs located the group inside a partially flooded cavern.

Rescuers sent in food and water, but the operation is far from over.

MAN (through translator): When the medics have evaluated the children, if their health is in good condition, we will care for them until they have enough strength to move by themselves, and then we will evaluate the situation on bringing them out again later.

JUDY WOODRUFF: A doctor is spending the night with the boys, who range in age from 11 to 16.

Meanwhile, more monsoon rain is forecast.

There's word that Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel has reached agreement with her interior minister on immigration policy.

It could end a dispute that has jeopardized her government.

Minister Horst Seehofer had threatened last night to resign over his demands for tougher curbs on migrants.

His Christian Social Union is part of Merkel's coalition.

Back in this country, the FBI says that it arrested a Cleveland man who talked of bombing the city's July Fourth parade.

Demetrius Pitts was charged Sunday with trying to support a terrorist organization.

Officials say he scouted potential targets for an undercover agent who posed as an al-Qaida contact.

JUSTIN HERDMAN, U.S. Attorney for Northern District of Ohio: He looked for locations to park a van that would be packed with explosives.

He talked about targets like St. John's Cathedral off the map.

And just yesterday, he discussed giving remote-controlled cars packed with explosives and shrapnel to the children of our military uniformed members.

JUDY WOODRUFF: The FBI says that Pitts was radicalized in the United States, and that there's no evidence he ever traveled abroad.

Movie producer Harvey Weinstein was indicted on new charges today.

He's now accused of sexually assaulting a third woman.

It allegedly happened in 2006.

Weinstein has already been charged with sexually assaulting two other women in 2004 and 2013.

A new wildfire in Northern California burned out of control today, after growing by nearly a third overnight.

The flames have spread across 70 square miles and forced evacuations north of Sacramento.

Hot, dry hot winds have fanned the fire since it ignited Saturday.

It's only 3 percent contained and threatens now more than 100 buildings.

Another big fire, in Colorado, has forced evacuations of more than 2,500 homes.

And on Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average gained 35 points to close at 24307.

The Nasdaq rose 57 points, and the S&P 500 added five.

Still to come on the "NewsHour": Mexico elects a populist president -- what it means for U.S. relations; behind rebel lines in Yemen's civil war; Race Matters -- living while black, perspective on daily and sometimes deadly racial incidents; and much more.

After two previous runs for Mexico's top office, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador won that prize last night, and won big, beating his two main rivals by double digits and cementing a strong mandate in Mexico.

AMLO, as he's known, received a congratulatory phone call today from President Trump.

The two leaders discussed trade, migration and security.

Our correspondent Nick Schifrin has been in Mexico for the last 10 days, and he reports tonight from a country that's spoken up for change.

NICK SCHIFRIN: On the streets of Mexico City, they celebrated a victory more than a decade in the making.

Supporters of Mexico's president-elect, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, hugged strangers and stayed up late to mark his landslide victory and mandate to change the country.

Thirty-nine-year-old Diana Mercado and 36-year-old Daniel Castillas (ph) voted for Obrador and against the establishment politicians they consider corrupt.

DIANA MERCADO, Mexico (through translator): We have had many presidents who have misused the national budget, and now we want resources to be used properly, in favor of the people, not in favor of the few.

NICK SCHIFRIN: In the city's central square, Lopez Obrador, wildly known by his initials AMLO, spoke to tense of thousands and promised to lift up the poor.

ANDRES MANUEL LOPEZ OBRADOR, Mexican President-Elect (through translator): There will be no divorce between the government and the people.

It will be a government of the people, for the people and with the people.

NICK SCHIFRIN: This is the central historic district of Mexico City, and tonight there is a party.

I talked to young people who have come out here who say that they now hope for their future.

I talked to older people without say that they have been sick of the corruption and now hope for their children and their grandchildren's future.

But now perhaps comes the hard part.

And the campaign turns to government, and they have to fill all their promises.

When he arrived at a nearby hotel to make his official acceptance speech, the man who has described himself a political savior moderated his tone.

ANDRES MANUEL LOPEZ OBRADOR (through translator): The changes will be profound, but they will be carried out in accordance to the rule of law.

Businessman Alfonso Romo will translate what critics call Lopez Obrador's unrealistic economic politics into policy.

Is Lopez Obrador a radical?

ALFONSO ROMO, Head of Economic Transition Team: No.

No, no.

And I think you have to see, you have to study Obrador in Mexico City.

And he was not a radical.

NICK SCHIFRIN: AMLO was Mexico City's mayor from 200 to 2005.

And even his critics admit he governed pragmatically.

But more than 40 percent of Mexicans live below the poverty line, and AMLO has promised them jobs, pensions and scholarships.

ALFONSO ROMO: The problems are vast, are enormous, but we have to be disciplined.

And the important thing is to change the course of the vote.

I'm not trying to do everything in one year.

It's not possible.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Can you keep your promises and not raise taxes?

ALFONSO ROMO: Absolutely.

That is a promise.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Where is the money going to come from?

ALFONSO ROMO: From savings and fighting corruption and optimizing expenses.

NICK SCHIFRIN: But many economists doubt AMLO's ambitious promise that cutting corruption will pay for his programs.

Romo admit they will have to prioritize.

ALFONSO ROMO: You never have enough money.

I have -- in my businesses, I would love to do many things.

I never have enough money, but I do -- the key things in order to direct the course of the ship.

NICK SCHIFRIN: The other reassurance AMLO's team wants to provide, coordination with the U.S. will continue.

Marcos Fastlicht will help run the security policy.

MARCOS FASTLICHT, Lopez Obrador Security Adviser: We're looking to work with the U.S.

I think we need each other.

I think basically we need the technology that we lack and that the U.S. has.

NICK SCHIFRIN: That means on the Mexico-Guatemala border, where Central Americans can easily cross on rafts, increased border checkpoints and surveillance, and on the U.S.-Mexico border, improved checks on people going north and guns going south.

But the U.S. and Mexico are now led by men who portray themselves as populists protecting their countries from enemies, and that could lead to a clash between Lopez Obrador and Trump.

MARCOS FASTLICHT: I hope that it doesn't affect the relationship with the security, because that would be terrible.

I think that in order to work 100 percent well on the security issue, things economically have to work out also.

NICK SCHIFRIN: AMLO will also face the massive challenge of violence.

Last year was the most violent in Mexico since the government started tracking homicides.

AMLO's promised to curtail the killing, but most experts believe will take a generation.

People are expecting a lot from him, right?

MARCOS FASTLICHT: That is one of the big problems, expectations, expectations.

People won't accept any excuses.

They want to see results in three, six months.

And it's not easy.

NICK SCHIFRIN: In Mexico, there is so much hope and so many problems.

Take just one voter.

Rafael Riveros' sister, brother-in-law and nephew were all murdered by Mexican organized crime.

RAFAEL RIVEROS, Relatives Killed (through translator): In their honor, we will support this new government.

We really want Mexico to be blessed, for the violence to stop, for the corruption to stop.

NICK SCHIFRIN: But those problems are enormous.

But for one night, Mexicans celebrated a sweet victory and hoped for a better future.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And Nick Schifrin joins me now from Mexico City.

So, Nick, I know they are still in the glow of this big win, but do his supporters believe that he can actually deliver on his promises?

NICK SCHIFRIN: They are certainly hoping he can deliver, but they didn't vote for him for the specifics of his promises.

They voted for him because his predecessors in the current government have failed and they are looking for new ideas.

And that really goes to show that people are looking for change here.

Now, how does proceed pose to fix some of the problems?

In terms of corruption, he's talked about targeting a mafia in power, running an austere government, lowering senior officials' salaries.

And in terms of violence, he has talked about low-level amnesty.

But his promise, Judy, are vague.

And that really shows that Mexicans are fed up and looking for new ideas, rather than some of the old failed ideas of the past.

But they have huge expectations.

And as we just heard in that story, he will have to deliver very quickly.

And as many populist politicians have discovered in the past, while winning may be relatively easy, governing is harder.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And also, Nick, we know that there are critics out there saying this is a man with authoritarian tendencies.

Is there going to be a check on the power that he has?

NICK SCHIFRIN: In a word, answer, no.

He's going to control both houses of Congress, many governorships.

And this is what one critic says, he has a Death Star.

And we simply don't know whether he will use that power for good or for ill, but certainly after he takes power, there will be a lot of Mexicans -- more than half this country voted for him -- watching to see what he does with that power.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Nick Schifrin wrapping up a week of great reporting in Mexico, thank you, Nick.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Thanks, Judy.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And now perspective from former Ambassador Roberta Jacobson.

She served as U.S. ambassador to Mexico until earlier this year, when she resigned over what she said were concerns about the Trump administration's policies toward the country.

That ended a 30-year career at the State Department.

Among many posts, she served as assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs during the Obama administration, during which she led the diplomatic effort to open relations with Cuba.

Ambassador Jacobson, welcome back to the "NewsHour."

ROBERTA JACOBSON, Former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs: Thank you, Judy.

JUDY WOODRUFF: So, when it comes to AMLO, the new leader of Mexico, we just heard a lot of conversation about whether people think he can deliver on all of these promises.

Is he someone you see as able to do what he says he is going to do?

ROBERTA JACOBSON: Well, I think that there are enormous expectations, as you say and as Nick said, but I think there are also a lot of people willing to give him a chance.

The kinds of changes he is suggesting will take Congress, where it looks like is he going to have majorities.

So that may enable him to do what he wants.

But they also are the kinds of things that can't be done very quickly.

And so that's the real question.

Will Mexicans have enough patience and enough willingness to wait for some of the changes?

JUDY WOODRUFF: And it does sound like there is a fair amount unknown about what we can expect.

ROBERTA JACOBSON: Absolutely.

I mean, his own policy pronouncements and those of his teams during the campaign were all over the map.

And so there is some things that you can point to that are very reassuring, on economics, on other subjects of importance to the U.S.

But there are others that were inflammatory and of concern.

So which AMLO will govern?

JUDY WOODRUFF: What about -- let's talk first about border security.

The president, President Trump, said they talked on the phone today for something like half-an-hour.

ROBERTA JACOBSON: Right.

JUDY WOODRUFF: What do we think he can actually get done when it comes to border security that is different from what the current Mexico government is doing?

ROBERTA JACOBSON: Right.

And that will be really interesting.

I think, as we know, there are actually fewer Mexicans coming into the United States than leaving.

So this is largely a problem of non-Mexican migrants, especially from Central America.

And they go through or sometimes even stay in Mexico.

So, currently, Mexico is helping with the return of some of those migrants.

Will Lopez Obrador continue that?

That wasn't a huge issue in the campaign, although what he did say didn't necessarily sound encouraging in terms of help on that score.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And you mentioned -- you said when it comes to the economy, you think that he may well be able to do what -- to make some changes.

We know that NAFTA remains a huge issue.

The president is now saying, we will deal with that after the midterm elections this year.

ROBERTA JACOBSON: Right.

I mean, what is interesting is, Mexico's transition and our own fall midterm elections are sort of concurrent, in that he -- Lopez Obrador doesn't take office until December 1.

That's after our midterms.

So, that is the point at which formally he would sit down with the administration, although he has asked to be part, to have his team be part of any NAFTA negotiations that take place before he's inaugurated.

But his own potential negotiator for NAFTA has said he thinks -- that is, Lopez Obrador's - - that he thinks that the Pena Nieto administration, the current Mexican administration, has done a pretty good job in the NAFTA negotiations.

And the really tough part has been, frankly, some of the intransigent positions of the Trump administration.

So it is hard to know whether that side will change or whether, if the leaders get along well at the top, maybe there is more flexibility.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And I want to ask you about that in a minute.

But, before I do, just quickly, a question about corruption, a huge issue, a huge challenge for him in Mexico.

ROBERTA JACOBSON: Right.

JUDY WOODRUFF: What is the real expectation there?

ROBERTA JACOBSON: I think the expectations there are actually among the most difficult to satisfy.

Mexico, these electors were largely looking at the corruption issue, the security issue and the economy to some extent, but corruption was top of mind.

And there is a national anti-corruption plan in Mexico which is not fully implemented.

So Lopez Obrador could move ahead on that plan aggressively, set up a special prosecutor, et cetera.

The question is, will he?

He didn't have any specific policy recommendations that came up during the campaign.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And, finally, you mentioned President Trump, the relationship between the two men.

As I said in the introduction, you did leave your post.

And you were -- you have spoken about it -- because of problems you had with the administration policies toward Mexico.

What are you looking for between the two?

ROBERTA JACOBSON: Well, I think, for starters - - and one can only hope that today's phone call is the beginning of that -- we need to see less vilification of Mexico and Mexicans by the president, frankly, and others in the administration.

Those are the things that Mexicans were united about, that they really dislike those tweets or rallying cries about Mexicans and how to characterize them, and that they are never going to pay for the wall.

Those are two things they were unified on.

If we can have a more civil tone, a more respectful tone, and one that characters how much we both benefit from this relationship, then there is the possibility of progress.

So I would be looking for the two of them to have probably some similarities and get along as people, because there are some similarities, populist, nationalist, but the policy issues will remain and be very tough.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, so much to keep an eye on at this point.

Roberta Jacobson, who formally represented the United States in Mexico, thank you very much.

ROBERTA JACOBSON: Thank you, Judy.

JUDY WOODRUFF: The "NewsHour" has reported from Yemen many times over the years, but access to the territory held by the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels is rare and dangerous.

That's why we take note of the series of reports we begin tonight originating from that region.

First, a word of warning: Images in this story may disturb some viewers, but they are necessary to show what is happening in one of the world's most desperate places, trapped in a brutal war that the United States is supporting through a Saudi-led coalition.

Special correspondent Jane Ferguson has just returned from rebel-held Yemen, and tonight brings us the first of three reports from behind rebel lines.

JANE FERGUSON: Life is slipping away from Maimona Shaghadar.

She suffers the agony of starvation in silence.

No longer able to walk or talk, at 11 years old, little Maimona's emaciated body weighs just 24 pounds.

Watching over her is older brother Najib, who brought her to this remote hospital in Yemen, desperate to get help.

The nurses here fight for the lives of children who are starving.

MARIAM AL-FAKIH, Nurse, Hajjah Hospital (through translator): Because of the war, she is suffering from malnutrition.

Her father is jobless.

Most of the families in Yemen are jobless.

JANE FERGUSON: Every day, she says she sees these sorts of cases.

People have lost work.

Therefore, they have no money.

Therefore, there's just no food in the house.

You were never supposed to see these images of Maimona.

A blockade of rebel-held Northern Yemen stops reporters from getting here.

Journalists are not allowed on flights into the area.

No cameras, no pictures.

The only way into rebel-held Yemen is to smuggle yourself in.

And for me, that means being dressed entirely as a Yemeni woman with a full-face veil just to get through the checkpoints.

I traveled across the embattled front lines to see what's actually happening inside what the United Nations is calling the world's worst humanitarian disaster.

The Houthis cautiously welcomed me in and, once I was there, watched me closely.

The hunger here and this human catastrophe is entirely manmade.

Yemen was already one of the poorest countries in the Middle East, and the war has pushed an already needy people to the brink of famine.

In the midst of political chaos in Yemen after the Arab Spring, Houthi rebels from the north captured the capital, Sanaa, in 2014, before sweeping south and causing the country's then president to flee.

Neighboring Sunni, Saudi Arabia, views the Houthis, from a Yemeni sect close to Shia Islam and backed by rival Iran, as an unacceptable threat along their border.

So it formed a military coalition of countries in 2015, determined to defeat the Houthis and reinstate the old president.

Crucial military support for the campaign is provided by the United States, a longtime ally of Saudi Arabia.

After three years of aerial bombardment and fighting on the ground, the coalition has so far failed to dislodge the rebels.

What the campaign has done is devastate the economy, leaving two-thirds of the population relying on food aid for survival, and over eight million people on the brink of starvation.

I traveled across this country to see for myself what that looks like.

Since ancient times, Yemenis have lived securely in villages perched high up on mountaintops.

But now they can't hold off the hunger, like in Rafeah village.

Because most of the people in these areas are so desperately poor, they cannot afford to transport their children into the towns to the hospitals whenever their malnutrition gets so bad their lives are in danger.

And so many of the worst cases are in small villages scattered all around these mountain ranges just like this.

Hannah and her little brother Ali are frighteningly thin.

Their grandma tells me food prices shot up beyond their reach when the fighting started.

DHABIA KHARFOUSH, Yemen (through translator): One month after the war started, we were starving.

We are dying from hunger, and we don't know what to do.

Their dad, Ahmed, picks up occasional work whenever it's available.

But most of the time, all he can afford to give them is a smile.

Nearby sits Gebran, so frail, he can no longer walk.

The Saudi-led coalition imposes a blockade on rebel-held Yemen because, they say, Houthi rebels are bringing in weapons from Iran.

All food coming into the country must get approval from Saudi Arabia.

That process is frustratingly slow and has helped push food prices up.

Yahya Al-Habbari is one of Yemen's main importers of wheat.

He says Saudi inspections in nearby ports hold everything up.

YAHYA AL-HABBARI, Importer: All our wheat shipments, with each shipment worth about $16 million to $18 million dollars, it stops in Djibouti for six to five weeks, which every single day costs us $25,000 for the ship owners.

JANE FERGUSON: Bridges have been bombed and businesses destroyed by airstrikes.

Government workers in Houthi-controlled areas of the north haven't been paid in two years.

Before the war, the Yemeni government was the country's biggest employer by far.

When wages suddenly stopped, millions lost their livelihoods.

Stephen Anderson runs the United Nations World Food Program in Yemen.

STEPHEN ANDERSON, Country Director, World Food Program: The very simple fact is that most of the civil servants as from September 2016 have not -- not longer regularly received their salaries.

That's affecting the civil servants with their families.

That's almost nine million people out of a country of 28 million, 29 million.

JANE FERGUSON: That's what happened to Maimona's family.

Her father was a public school teacher, a job that pays middle-class wages here.

Now, with almost no money coming in, they are destitute.

I went back to the hospital to check on her a few days later.

Her mother had arrived from their village.

NAIMI, Mother of Maimona (through translator): My husband now receives half-a-months salary in one year.

And when it comes, we have debts to pay that are more than the salary.

The house is full of kids and we don't have anything to give them.

JANE FERGUSON: Maimona was feeling better after some treatment.

The doctors have saved her life for now, but the money problems that nearly killed her will still be there when she returns home.

The Saudi-led bombing campaign and blockade have brought Yemen's economy to its knees.

The Houthis also make life difficult for aid workers to get access to the most needy.

Mistrust and harassment of foreign aid organizations is pervasive.

They are on the ground here, but international staff stay in the capital.

Camps like this are very close to the fighting and the intensive airstrikes just over there.

International aid workers cannot access areas as dangerous as this very often, and even the Yemeni aid workers often struggle to help these people.

Meanwhile, the crisis is spiraling, with the number of people going hungry rising by the day.

Lise Grande heads up the U.N.'s humanitarian effort in Yemen.

LISE GRANDE, UNDP Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen: Most of the 8.5 million people that we describe as being pre-famine, the reality of their life is that when they wake up in the morning, they have no idea if they will eat that day, no idea -- 8.5 million people are in that category.

The U.N. estimates that, by the end of this year, if there is not an end to this war, another 10 million Yemenis will be in that situation.

That's 18 million innocent civilians who are the victims of this war.

And that's why all humanitarians are saying, enough is enough.

There has to be a political solution.

And the parties to this conflict have to sit at that table and agree on how to stop this.

JANE FERGUSON: The warring parties are not yet listening to that call.

Last month, an offensive for Hodeidah city, currently controlled by the Houthis, was launched by the Saudi-led coalition.

Almost all the food coming into rebel-held Yemen come travels through that port.

A battle risks shutting it and cutting off supplies to millions.

If they hope to survive, the malnourished children arriving into Yemen's hospitals will need to hold on even longer for this disaster to ease.

The truth is, many of them won't outlive this war.

For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Jane Ferguson in Hajjah, Yemen.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And now, after her reporting trip to Houthi-controlled Yemen, we have our intrepid presidential correspondent, Jane Ferguson, here in our studio.

Jane, that was very hard to watch, such important reporting, which leads me to this question.

It has been difficult for reporters to get to where you got behind rebel lines.

How did you do that?

JANE FERGUSON: To get in, I had to go alone.

I tried for a very long time to see if it was possible to bring a team in, a cameraman of my own.

And that wasn't possible, simply because I had to be smuggled in.

As you saw in the piece there, I was dressed as a Yemeni woman.

So, that was the only way to get past the checkpoints.

And, otherwise, essentially, it is just a case of driving in and hoping you are not asked for I.D.

and turned back or arrested on the way.

JUDY WOODRUFF: So, tell us a little bit about - - there are two more stories come in this series.

Tell us a little bit about them.

The first one is -- explains more of what the U.S. role here is.

JANE FERGUSON: That's right.

The next story that will be up, we will be talking about the aerial bombardment of these areas.

There has been an aerial campaign, a bombing campaign against the Houthi rebels.

And that has been essentially carried out by the Saudi-led coalition of countries that are fighting the Houthis.

But there is a role played by the U.S. military, one that is sort of more passively behind, not quite as visible.

And so we're going to be looking at that role.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And, just quickly the third report then in the series, the Houthis themselves, who are they, their connection to Iran?

JANE FERGUSON: They are a group, you know, which is becoming more well-known as this conflict carries on.

But like -- because journalists aren't able to get into those areas, that has also been hindering a greater understanding of who they are.

They have been accused by the Saudis and the Americans of having very close relationships with Iran, being completely armed by Iran, being allied with Hezbollah, having a more formal relationship with them.

They say that that is not the case at all, they have a political alliance, a philosophical alliance, but that they themselves are an independent Yemeni group fighting against what they see as an invading force.

JUDY WOODRUFF: It's become such a subject of political dispute, including right here in this country.

Jane Ferguson, such important reporting, thank you.

JANE FERGUSON: Thank you.

JUDY WOODRUFF: A number of recent incidents have highlighted how racial tension or bias, even what social scientists call unconscious bias, can escalate.

This spring and summer, those concerns have taken on new urgency and risen to national attention as routine events have turned into confrontations among citizens and sometimes with the police.

Yamiche Alcindor explores this issue further now.

It's part of our Race Matters reporting.

YAMICHE ALCINDOR: Several of the latest confrontations have involved white citizens calling police on African-Americans engaged in typical everyday activities, including a 12-year-old mowing lawns near Cleveland, Ohio, two men barbecuing at a public park in Oakland, California, or this 8-year-old girl selling bottled water without a permit outside the San Francisco Giants' ballpark.

The woman who called police here being captured on cell phone video posted by the girl's mother.

WOMAN: Oh, you can hide all you want.

The whole world is going to see you, boo.

WOMAN: Yes, illegally selling water without a permit.

WOMAN: On my property.

WOMAN: It's not your property.

YAMICHE ALCINDOR: The woman who made the call later apologized, and denied her actions were racially motivated.

Most of the incidents took place outside and in public and were caught on video that often went viral.

While none of those incidents resulted in arrests or charges being filed, they followed other high-profile confrontations, including one in May that took a much more violent turn.

Police in Warsaw, North Carolina, responded to a call from Waffle House employees over an alleged argument with a black patron.

And officers slammed 22-year-old Anthony West (sic) into a wall and choked him.

They said West, who had taken his sister to her high school prom earlier that night, was uncooperative.

He was later charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.

The CEO of Waffle House later apologized to West privately.

And in early April, two black men were arrested in a Philadelphia Starbucks when employees called police because the men had taken a table without ordering anything.

The men were later released, and settled with the city for $1 each and a pledge from to establish a program for young entrepreneurs.

The founder of Starbucks personally apologized to the men.

HOWARD SCHULTZ, Founder, Starbucks: As I shared with you in Philadelphia, it was a reprehensible situation that we took complete ownership of, and something that really was embarrassing, horrifying, and all the issues that we talked about that day.

YAMICHE ALCINDOR: And the company closed thousands of its stores nationwide a month later for a one-day employee training session on how to recognize and overcome implicit or unconscious bias in their decision-making.

All of this comes at a time when police behavior and response is under scrutiny, particularly when it comes to detaining and arresting black people.

On June 19, police in East Pittsburgh shot and killed 17 year-old Antwon Rose as he fled a car.

The vehicle was stopped during the investigation of a drive-by shooting.

Rose was shot three times in the back as he ran.

The officer who fired the shots was later charged with criminal homicide.

Many of these incidents have taken on hashtag and memes of their own, often referred to as living while black.

We examine the concerns and some of the responses with the president of the NAACP, Derrick Johnson.

Derrick Johnson, thanks so much for being here.

I want to jump right in.

There have been incident after incident of people calling the police on black people while doing regular, everyday things like swimming and barbecuing.

What do you think is at the heart of these incidents?

DERRICK JOHNSON, NAACP President: Well, we have seen since the president's election in 2016 an increase of intolerance.

And you have individuals who simply see young kids and think they are criminals, they pose a danger.

In my home city of Detroit, Michigan, a 14-year-old simply asking for direction to school to get shot at.

The level of intolerance is germinating directly from the White House.

YAMICHE ALCINDOR: Some people are criticizing the police, saying that they shouldn't respond when someone calls the police on an 8-year-old selling bottled water.

What roles do you think the police have, especially when the police say that they need to respond because, if they are called, they need to engage?

DERRICK JOHNSON: Well, at some point, the police also need to take account that individuals are being falsely accused, and those who are accusing should also be facing criminal charges.

How could a -- anyone call the police on an 8-year-old selling bottled water?

The level of intolerance is something that needs to be responded back to by the police, so, if there is a false claim, those individuals who are making the claim should be charged.

YAMICHE ALCINDOR: And in some of these incidents, we see white people, white women calling the police on black people.

These callers often say that they aren't motivated by race, they are just concerned citizens that want to talk to the police.

What is your response and what do you make of people saying that people should have a right to call the police if they have a concern?

DERRICK JOHNSON: Well, we're not suggesting no one should call the police, but implicit bias is something that we have seen across the country for many years.

The difference now between the past is, social media has allowed individual citizens to capture what is taking place to report it, and/or have a countersense of information, the truth.

YAMICHE ALCINDOR: People are so disturbed by some of these incidents, because we have seen lethal incidents where police have encountered unarmed African-Americans and shot them unjustifiably.

But we also see that Starbucks closed thousands of its doors to train its employees on implicit bias and unconscious bias.

Are you at all encouraged by what you see Starbucks and others doing?

DERRICK JOHNSON: Well, when corporate citizens such as Starbucks understand the complexity of what is taking place to take a step back, shut down the stores, take a loss to ensure that their employees understand the seriousness of misrepresenting someone's character or behavior, that is significant.

Other corporations should take note.

YAMICHE ALCINDOR: So, what do you think the NAACP is doing or should be doing to kind of counteract some of the things that you just talked about?

DERRICK JOHNSON: Well, presidential election is the high watermark of voter activity.

Midterm elections is when activity go down.

We are encouraging our voters, individuals who have the history of voting in the presidential, we must go vote during the midterm elections.

Elections have consequences, and we're living through those consequences.

YAMICHE ALCINDOR: But America had issues, race issues in particular, long before President Trump was elected to office.

You referenced President Trump several times, but what do you make of the idea that this has been a long history, going back generations of people, looking at African-Americans and saying, hey, that is a criminal, I need to call the police, overpolice -- overcriminalizing African-Americans?

DERRICK JOHNSON: Well, yes, it's been going on a long time, but to normalize what is taking place -- see, that is what is happening now.

There was a time that it would have been unheard of in the last 15 years to have a Charlottesville-type rally.

And, over time, people say, this is not right.

But since the presidential election, we have seen a sharp increase.

In fact, since the election of President Obama in 2008, we have seen this increase.

And now there's a complete loss of civility in the public discourse, complete distrust.

And media plays a key role in creating tribalism in ways in which we have not seen in many, many years.

YAMICHE ALCINDOR: So, do you believe that, if someone can then elect, go to the ballot box, elect an official that cares about racial discrimination, cares about these issues, that that is going to stop someone from calling the police on a girl who is selling bottled water?

Do you think that this is something that is ultimately political, or do you think that there is a cultural change that needs to be happening here?

DERRICK JOHNSON: Well, it is an accountability question that I'm raising.

Police officers only respond if there is accountability in place.

So, when you have accountable district attorneys to ensure that they will apply the law equally to bad actors, police officers, as they will criminals, then the police officers adjust their behavior.

If you have an elected officials who are leaders in their communities, and they put in place public policy to hold people accountable, then the level of intolerance will go away, and because there is an accountability measure that is in place.

YAMICHE ALCINDOR: You talked about the laws, you talked about policies, but what we're talking about is white citizens is looking at an African-American child selling bottled water and saying, I need to call the cops.

That is not a law that can change.

That is someone's heart or someone's mind looking at that child and saying, something needs to happen here.

DERRICK JOHNSON: Well, it is hard to legislate one -- someone's heart.

The only thing you can do is put accountability measures in place, and hope that different communities embrace a multicultural reality, where people can have greater appreciation and understanding.

YAMICHE ALCINDOR: I want to ask you about President Trump's nominee to the Supreme Court.

We don't know who they are yet.

However, a lot of these cases, lethal cases with police, they are ultimately litigated in the courts.

In your opinion and in the view of the NAACP, what are some of the most important things that might come before the Supreme Court?

DERRICK JOHNSON: So, for us, we're saying that the new standard that the majority leader established with the appointment of the last Supreme Court nominee should be the standard now.

There shouldn't be anyone seated until after the new Senate is seated.

That is because the Supreme Court is significant.

We have the Voting Rights Act will be coming right back before the Supreme Court in the near future.

You have all types of civil right gains that we have seen over time will be coming before this court.

And if we allow an activist court to undermine and wipe out the gains this country has made over the last 50 years, we will be a worse nation for that.

YAMICHE ALCINDOR: Well, thank you so much for joining me, Derrick Johnson, the president of the NAACP.

DERRICK JOHNSON: Thank you.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And now back to the looming high-stakes showdown over Justice Anthony Kennedy's seat on the Supreme Court, a debate that could very well help define the politics of this summer.

John Yang begins there.

JOHN YANG: Judy, we will talk about that and more now in Politics Monday.

We're joined by Amy Walter, national editor of The Cook Political Report, and Susan Page, Washington bureau chief for USA Today.

Susan, Amy, welcome.

This -- we don't even have a nominee yet, but we're already debating the nominee's positions on all sorts of issues.

AMY WALTER, The Cook Political Report: Of course, John.

This is where we live now.

We don't have to have a candidate to already have battle lines.

We know this in this polarized environment we pretty much know how most members of the Senate are going to vote regardless of who the nominee is.

So the actual targets in terms of vulnerable or senators who could flip their vote is very narrow.

That is why we are talking so much about a handful of Democrats in red states who are up in 2018, and then a couple of Republicans, Lisa Murkowski from Alaska, Susan Collins from Maine.

The next real fight -- and I think this is a fight that is going to go beyond the nominee and maybe even beyond the vote -- is defining the terms of the debate around what this is.

You already see Democrats talking about this as, this is a referendum on Roe v. Wade and this is a referendum on access to health care.

For Republicans, they want to make this a referendum on the quality and the qualifications of the Supreme Court nominee, and use it to mobilize their base to say, see, this is what happens when you get control of the Senate and the presidency.

You control who sits on the court.

Let's not move that in 2018.

Let's go turn out and make sure we keep our majority in the Senate.

SUSAN PAGE, Washington Bureau Chief, USA Today: Well, that's true.

And I think Democrats face a really uphill battle here.

Now, it is possible that President Trump puts forward a nominee that has some vulnerabilities, some things we don't know about him, some controversy, which happens occasionally.

There might be a fighting chance.

But I think this is a fight that was pretty much settled with the 2016 presidential election.

The president gets to make a nomination.

The Senate has been very united behind him, by and large, on even things that -- on which there would be less pressure than this.

So I think it would be an extraordinary step for the Democrats to be able to actually deny confirmation.

What they might do, though, is generate some enthusiasm, maybe some anger among base Democratic voters, help them turn out.

But, of course, a Supreme Court fight is also likely to do the same thing for the other side.

This is helpful for Republicans to have a fight over an issue like this, demonstrating exactly the value of them hanging together, as they did in 2016.

JOHN YANG: And we have already seen this.

If you're talking about you're already seeing the battle lines drawn, Susan Collins over the weekend saying that a demonstrated opposition or hostility to Roe vs. Wade would be a deal-breaker for her, but then what does demonstrated mean?

AMY WALTER: Right.

And we know that, in these hearings, the justices, the people who are potential justices, they are not going to come right on out and say, well, I'm absolutely going to make a statement about Roe vs. Wade or any other established precedent, right?

They find a way to dance around it.

And Susan is also right that it's -- the focus is on Susan Collins as on that one Republican vote.

But there are plenty of Democrats who Republicans could get to come and vote.

So I think it is going to be very hard to deny it.

But the overall landscape, a fight over Roe v. Wade, I think Democrats believe that that is also going to be able to turn out the kinds of people who don't normally turn out in midterm elections, because this has never been a real referendum in a midterm year.

JOHN YANG: Another topic we're talking to talk about through the summer is the childhood - - separating the families at the border.

Lisa Desjardins, my colleague, has gotten reporting from the Department of Health and Human Services that they say they are no longer receiving children who are being separated from their families at the border.

But that has sparked a whole other debate within the Democratic Party.

Let's take a listen to Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Senator Tammy Duckworth.

Let's hear what they had to say.

SEN. KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND (D), New York: We should protect families that need our help.

And that is not what ICE is doing today.

And that is why I believe you should get rid of it, start over, reimagine it, and build something that actually works.

SEN. TAMMY DUCKWORTH (D), Illinois: You need to abolish ICE now, you still have the same president with same failed policies.

Whatever you replace it with is just going to still reflect what this president wants to do.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN: So, no, you don't support abolishing ICE?

SEN. TAMMY DUCKWORTH: I -- you know, I -- I think there's a lot of other things we can do before we get to that point.

JOHN YANG: Susan, is this now -- as the Democrats struggle to figure out to respond to President Trump, is this now going to be a debate within the party, maybe in primaries, whether or not you want to get rid of ICE?

SUSAN PAGE: No, again, it is a gift to Republicans.

The table is set for immigration to be a great issue for Democrats in this election, because there was a lot of concern about the separation of children at the border under the previous Trump administration policy and over the failure to do anything about the situation facing dreamers.

So immigration is an issue that ought to be great for Democrats.

This is an issue that gives President Trump and Republicans an opening to argue that Democrats aren't going to be tough on the borders, they're not going to secure the borders.

That can only help Republicans.

AMY WALTER: I think this has been an issue, though, for Democrats for a long time, not just recently.

And I think Democrats have been, quite frankly, very reticent, even as the DACA situation was unfolding, to make this a campaign issue.

They have spent many years, especially people who have been in Congress for a while, watching the issue of immigration be turned against them.

You don't care about safety.

You don't care about security.

You support the rights of illegal immigrants.

You are not spending enough time worried about what is going on here.

The White House sent out a tweet, for example, to Senator Kamala Harris from California, who also was calling for abolishing ICE in some way.

This is the White House Twitter account saying: "Why are you supporting the animals of MS-13?

You must not know what ICE really does."

So the expectation is that Republicans are going to make those same arguments against Democrats.

I think that was going to happen anyway.

We saw it happen in the Virginia governor's race, where the issue of MS-13 and sanctuary cities was used against the Democratic candidates to try to paint him as not tough enough on crime.

It didn't work there.

But there are plenty of Democrats in swing districts and swing states that are worried that it will be turned in that way.

JOHN YANG: We have got to leave it there.

Amy Walter, Susan Page, thank you very much.

JUDY WOODRUFF: On our Bookshelf tonight, we explore the unique role of vice presidents and their often complicated relationship with the commander in chief.

I recently sat down with author Kate Andersen Brower to discuss her new book, "First in Line," and asked her why she wanted to write about vice presidents.

KATE ANDERSEN BROWER, Author, "First in Line: Presidents, Vice Presidents, and the Pursuit of Power": I thought this idea that you are in a primary, you lose, and then you have to work for the person who beat you was just fascinating.

And then, of course, the whole idea behind "Veep," I always love, the show on HBO, is this idea of constantly trying to get the president's attention.

And each of these relationships is so very different.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, in telling the story of these vice presidents, you're also clearly telling the story of the president and how they deal with them, how they view them, because they're -- you know, they're dealing with somebody who could replace them.

What did you learn about that?

KATE ANDERSEN BROWER: Well, it really -- the vice president's entire existence is determined by the president, which I think makes it incredibly difficult.

Mike Pence's chief of staff told me, there's one person he has to keep happy, and that one person is Donald Trump.

So, I start with Nixon and Eisenhower in this book, and I go up through the current White House.

And you have stories from Lyndon Johnson and Hubert Humphrey, where Johnson is insisting that Humphrey not travel with any reporter, because he doesn't want Humphrey to get any attention.

And he's insisting that Humphrey run his speeches by his West Wing, which is something you also do see with Mike Pence and Donald Trump.

And the West Wing would go through the speeches that Hubert Humphrey would make and strip out any of the really interesting things.

And it was about kind of keeping him down.

And then, when he ran for office, of course, that really made it impossible for him to win, because he had to support the Vietnam War, even though he was personally against it.

And I think just the idea of these competing - - you know, this high-wire act.

JUDY WOODRUFF: The choosing of the vice president, such an interesting dance.

You have this little known story of how hard Ronald Reagan tried to get former President Gerald Ford to be his vice president.

KATE ANDERSEN BROWER: It's an incredibly compelling idea, I think, the fact that Ronald Reagan really, seriously considered Gerald Ford.

And I interviewed Dick Cheney, who worked for Ford at the time, and he said, we couldn't believe how much power Reagan was willing to cede to Ford at the time.

And so during the convention in 1980, there is a scene that's very similar to what happened when -- in 1960, when Robert Kennedy was shuffling between these hotel room floors trying to get LBJ not to sign onto the ticket.

Something similar happens in the 1980 convention, where Gerald Ford and his aides just were asking for the moon.

And they kept pushing and pushing, and finally this famous interview that Walter Cronkite did in which basically Gerald Ford was giving the idea of a co-presidency.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Right.

KATE ANDERSEN BROWER: And that was a bridge too far for Ronald Reagan.

JUDY WOODRUFF: You do write about the current - - the Mike Pence-Donald Trump relationship.

Even after Pence was chosen, the "Access Hollywood" tape comes out.

Mike Pence doesn't -- he's still then the nominee.

He doesn't take Donald Trump's calls at first.

Really interesting high-wire act, as you said.

KATE ANDERSEN BROWER: It was one of the few times where the power was really in Mike Pence's court.

At that moment, he was -- if he had pulled out, who would Donald Trump have gone to?

I mean, on that list, he had Newt Gingrich, Chris Christie, who was persona non grata at that time.

He even had Michael Flynn on that list for a while, no matter how many times people told him to get him off the list.

And something I thought that was also fascinating is that his top vetting lawyer said he is - - quote -- "It terrifies him" that there's no FBI vetting for vice presidents or presidents.

JUDY WOODRUFF: There are also stories about Joe Biden.

And you have a little bit of reporting there too.

KATE ANDERSEN BROWER: Yes.

I mean, when I talked to Biden, I was really struck, first of all, that he talks to Mike Pence, he said, at least once a month, and that when foreign leaders like the king of Jordan, like the Greek prime minister come to the U.S., and when he travels, he meets with them.

And he says, if you have an issue, talk to Mike Pence, don't talk to President Trump.

He says that Mike Pence is someone you can deal with, in the way that Bill Clinton dealt with Newt Gingrich, someone you could work with.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Why have no vice presidents - - you pointed this out -- since George H.W.

Bush been elected president?

Theories?

KATE ANDERSEN BROWER: I just think it depends entirely on the president.

And I do think that the natural inclination of the American people is for change.

And it's very hard to keep that message going after two terms.

JUDY WOODRUFF: It's interesting, because it's almost turning the clock back.

You had presidents giving their vice presidents more and more autonomy.

But now it's turned around.

KATE ANDERSEN BROWER: Yes.

I mean, right now, it's like Hubert Humphrey and LBJ, I think.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Which wasn't a close and warm and cozy relationship.

KATE ANDERSEN BROWER: It wasn't.

I mean, I interviewed Mike Pence's brother, his older brother, Greg, who said, when my brother was considering taking the job, he called me up, and he said, you know, I think Donald Trump reminds me of our dad.

And Greg said he was surprised by that.

And it -- and it took him a minute to think about it.

And then he said, I can see what you mean.

Their dad was a Korean War vet.

Very tough.

I mean, if the six children didn't stand when an adult walked into the room, he would push them, bring them up onto their feet.

He sometimes disciplined with a belt.

I mean, he was a very difficult man to please.

And I think that Pence has learned to deal with Donald Trump because he spent his childhood negotiating and trying to work around a difficult personality who kind of sucks all the oxygen out of the room.

JUDY WOODRUFF: So many stories here, so many relationships, and just fascinating lessons about the relationship between these two, "First in Line: Presidents, Vice Presidents, and the Pursuit of Power."

Kate Andersen Brower, thank you.

KATE ANDERSEN BROWER: Thank you.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And that's the "NewsHour" for tonight.

But, before we go, a heartfelt thank you and farewell to longtime cameraman Charlie Voth and tape supervisor Don McClurkin.

You will both be missed.

We are grateful to you both.

I'm Judy Woodruff.

Join us online and again right here tomorrow evening.

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