June 12, 2020 - PBS NewsHour full episode

In our news wrap Friday, President Trump defended his plans for a campaign rally on June 19 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The day, known as Juneteenth, commemorates the end of slavery, and Tulsa was the site of a white-on-black massacre in 1921. Also, the drive to reform policing in the United States is gaining momentum. New York state has moved to ban chokeholds and release police disciplinary records.

More than 150 years after the Civil War, monuments, schools and roads across the country still bear the names of Confederate leaders. But amidst recent protests demanding racial equality, there is a renewed push to take down the monuments and rename other landmarks. Lisa Desjardins reports on how the death of George Floyd has prompted louder calls to remove public symbols of the Confederacy.

NASCAR’s decision to ban the Confederate flag represents a major shift for a sport at whose races they have been ubiquitous. Successfully pushing for the ban this week was Bubba Wallace, a driver in NASCAR’s top series. He joins Amna Nawaz to discuss how his sport is showing leadership, why he sees the demographics of NASCAR fans changing and his own experience with the Confederate flag.

Gen-Z is entering adulthood as the U.S. grapples with systemic inequities in institutions from policing to education to health care. Student Reporting Labs, our journalism program for high school students, asked teenagers across the country how they're approaching the moment, and Stephanie Sy talks to activists Thandiwe Abdullah, founder of Black Lives Matter LA Youth Vanguard, and Jalen Thompson.

Today, cameras are almost ubiquitous on mobile phones, and anyone can be a photographer. In this new technological landscape, millions of lenses are focused on the major events of a tumultuous period. For this Race Matters report, Jeffrey Brown looks at the power of the camera to shape and shift public perceptions -- now and in the past. It’s part of our ongoing arts and culture series, Canvas.

Syndicated columnist Mark Shields and New York Times columnist David Brooks join Judy Woodruff to discuss the latest news, including the impact of widespread protests on American society and politics, what makes members of Generation-Z different from their predecessors and how the movement for racial equity is affecting President Trump’s reelection campaign strategy.

As more states push forward with reopening, the coronavirus continues to enact a devastating toll on families and communities across the country. Each week, we take a moment to remember a few of the remarkable individuals we have lost. Judy Woodruff shares stories of five more.