June 22, 2020 - PBS NewsHour full episode

In our news wrap Monday, a noose found in the Talladega Superspeedway garage space of NASCAR’s sole Black driver prompted a show of solidarity. Bubba Wallace had successfully pushed to ban Confederate flags from NASCAR events. Also, the White House now confirms President Trump approved the weekend firing of U.S. attorney Geoffrey Berman in Manhattan. Trump had previously said he was not involved.

As states continue to lift pandemic restrictions and allow economic activity to resume, many are seeing new surges in coronavirus cases. Arkansas has documented more than 3,500 new positive tests since it began the second phase of its reopening. Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson joins Judy Woodruff to discuss where the increase in cases is coming from and his thoughts on moving Confederate monuments.

On June 15th, a court in the Philippines convicted one of the country’s most prominent journalists, Maria Ressa, of cyberlibel. Advocates for press freedom quickly called the trial unfair, arguing it is part of a larger crackdown by Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte on his political opponents and media critical of him. Nick Schifrin talks to Ressa about an “ominous” global trend toward reporters.

Georgia experienced major problems with its voting processes during a primary election earlier in June. People waited in line up to eight hours to cast ballots, and poll workers struggled with new machines on which they hadn’t been trained due to the pandemic. What do Georgia’s election issues mean for other state primaries -- and for American democracy more broadly? Miles O’Brien reports.

Voters under age 25 are taking to the streets and to social media to express their opposition to President Trump. But will the political energy of Generation Z translate into votes for former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee? Yamiche Alcindor reports on whether there are signs of mobilization among a demographic with historically low voter turnout.

Although the coronavirus pandemic presents unprecedented challenges for people living through it, humans have endured similar health ordeals in the past. Jeffrey Brown speaks to two historians, Frank Snowden of Yale University and Nancy Bristow of the University of Puget Sound, about how previous pandemics have shaped societies. It’s part of our ongoing arts and culture series, Canvas.

The World Health Organization says Sunday marked the largest global daily surge in new coronavirus cases since the pandemic began: 183,000. In the U.S., daily fatalities from the disease have dropped since the initial peak this spring, but more than 600 people are still dying each day. Amna Nawaz reports and talks to Stephen Morrison of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

NPR’s Tamara Keith and Amy Walter of the Cook Political Report join Judy Woodruff to discuss the latest political news, including whether younger voters will turn out this fall to support presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, President Trump’s unfounded claims of fraud with mail-in voting and what to watch in a key primary race in Kentucky this week.