Democracy Now!

Amid a mass uprising against racism and state violence, social movements are not just fighting hostility and backlash from President Trump, but also dealing with a "Biden problem," according to historian, author and activist Barbara Ransby. "I think it's fair to say that Joe Biden is not our dream candidate, by any means," she says. "We should be critical of Joe Biden. We should be ready to hold Joe Biden accountable come January. But we should be clear about the need to defeat Trump in November."

As tribal governments call on President Trump to cancel his Mount Rushmore Independence Day celebration, we look at why Native Americans have long pushed for the removal of the monument carved into the sacred Black Hills and designed by a sculptor with ties to the Ku Klux Klan. "This place is very, very sacred to our people," says Nick Tilsen, president and CEO of the NDN Collective. "Stealing our land and then carving the faces of four white men who were colonizers, who committed genocide against Indigenous people, is an egregious act of violence."

States Reverse Reopenings as Daily U.S. Coronavirus Cases Top 50,000 for First Time, As U.S. Deaths Top 128,000, Trump Predicts Coronavirus Will "Sort of Just Disappear", Dallas Choir Members Tested Positive for COVID-19 Ahead of Performance for Mike Pence, San Quentin Prisoners Launch Hunger Strike Amid Explosion of COVID-19 Cases, Seattle Riot Police Clear Autonomous Zone, Los Angeles City Council Approves $150M in Cuts to Police Budget, Trump Calls Black Lives Matter Message Outside Trump Tower a "Symbol of Hate", Richmond, Virginia, Mayor Removes Confederate Statue, Trump Backs Confederate Base Names as Monuments to Racism Continue to Fall , Baltimore Court Reinstates $38 Million in Damages to Family of Korryn Gaines, Killed by Police, Family of Andrés Guardado, Shot by L.A. Sheriff's Deputy, Demands Autopsy Report, Families Demand Investigations into Police Killings of Sean Monterrosa, Erik Salgado, Shallow Grave Found Near Fort Hood, TX Likely Holds Missing Soldier Vanessa Guillén, Reporters German Vallecillo and Jorge Posas Murdered in Northern Honduras, U.S. Seizes Chinese Hair Products Said to Be from Uyghurs in Forced Labor Camps , Russians Approve "Rigged" Referendum Allowing Vladimir Putin to Remain in Power, Fires in Brazil's Amazon Surge to Highest Rate in 13 Years

As the United States experiences the world's worst outbreak of COVID-19, we speak with Ed Yong, science writer for The Atlantic, who warned of the country's unpreparedness for a viral outbreak in 2018. Now he says "it's truly shocking and disgraceful" how badly the pandemic has been handled in the United States, and blames a lack of federal leadership for most of the damage. "A country with the resources that we have should not be in this state," he argues, and adds that Medicare for All could have saved lives.

As a surge of a progressive candidates of color see victories in Democratic primaries across the country, we speak with former Bronx middle school principal Jamaal Bowman about his upset victory over New York Congressmember Eliot Engel, the 16-term Foreign Affairs Committee chair. Bowman ran on a Green New Deal, Medicare for All platform and recently joined protests demanding an end to racism and police brutality. He says his upset over Engel came down to mobilizing people who are "disenfranchised and ignored" by the political establishment. "We didn't just target those who consistently vote in primaries. We targeted everyone," he says. Looking forward, he describes his support for Palestine, a rent strike and police accountability.

Dr. Anthony Fauci Warns U.S. Could Soon Record 100,000 Coronavirus Cases a Day, Dozens of Healthcare Workers Died of COVID-19 After OSHA Dismissed Pleas for PPE, 627,000 in Western Hemisphere Will Die of Coronavirus by October, Warns WHO, Hickenlooper Wins CO Senate Primary; Oklahoma Voters Approve Medicaid Expansion, Amy McGrath Narrowly Defeats Charles Booker in Kentucky Democratic Senate Primary, Oglala Sioux President Says Trump "Doesn't Have Permission" to Visit Mt. Rushmore, Top Republicans Break from Trump, Recommend Masks to Slow Coronavirus, New York Court Blocks Publication of Tell-All Book by Donald Trump's Niece, Joe Biden Blasts Trump on Coronavirus: "Our Wartime President Has Surrendered", New York City Hall Occupation Continues as Budget Fails to Meet Protesters' Demands, Graham, NC Bans Protests & Enforces 24/7 Police Protection of Confederate Monument, Mississippi Governor OKs Removal of Confederate Emblem from Flag, Still Backs Monuments, Supreme Court Rules Private Religious Schools Are Eligible for State Aid, Federal Judge Blocks Trump Rule Forcing Refugees to First Seek Asylum Elsewhere, Immigrant Prisoners Denounce Inhumane Conditions, ICE Negligence Amid COVID-19 Outbreak in Arizona, Mexican Labor Leader's Arrest Draws Protests as USMCA Trade Deal Goes into Effect, White House Had Intelligence on Russian Bounties to Kill U.S. Soldiers in Afghanistan, Israel's Netanyahu Vows to Annex Occupied West Bank Despite International Condemnation, Hundreds of Protesters Arrested in Hong Kong as New Security Law Goes into Effect, Harvey Weinstein Sexual Assault & Harassment Survivors Awarded $19M Settlement, Rudolfo Anaya, "Godfather of Chicano Literature," Dies at 82

Rudolfo Anaya, "Godfather of Chicano Literature," Dies at 82, Immigrant Prisoners Denounce Inhumane Conditions, ICE Negligence Amid COVID-19 Outbreak in Arizona, Federal Judge Blocks Trump Rule Forcing Refugees to First Seek Asylum Elsewhere, Supreme Court Rules Private Religious Schools Are Eligible for State Aid, New York City Hall Occupation Continues as Budget Fails to Meet Protesters' Demands, New York Court Blocks Publication of Tell-All Book by Donald Trump's Niece, Amy McGrath Narrowly Defeats Charles Booker in Kentucky Democratic Senate Primary, Dozens of Healthcare Workers Died of COVID-19 After OSHA Dismissed Pleas for PPE, Dr. Anthony Fauci Warns U.S. Could Soon Record 100,000 Coronavirus Cases a Day, Mexican Labor Leader's Arrest Draws Protests as USMCA Trade Deal Goes into Effect, Israel's Netanyahu Vows to Annex Occupied West Bank Despite International Condemnation, Hundreds of Protesters Arrested in Hong Kong as New Security Law Goes into Effect, White House Had Intelligence on Russian Bounties to Kill U.S. Soldiers in Afghanistan, Mississippi Governor OKs Removal of Confederate Emblem from Flag, Still Backs Monuments, Graham, NC Bans Protests & Enforces 24/7 Police Protection of Confederate Monument, Joe Biden Blasts Trump on Coronavirus: "Our Wartime President Has Surrendered", Top Republicans Break from Trump, Recommend Masks to Slow Coronavirus, Oglala Sioux President Says Trump "Doesn't Have Permission" to Visit Mt. Rushmore, Hickenlooper Wins CO Senate Primary; Oklahoma Voters Approve Medicaid Expansion, 627,000 in Western Hemisphere Will Die of Coronavirus by October, Warns WHO, Harvey Weinstein Sexual Assault & Harassment Survivors Awarded $19M Settlement

New York police have closed in on peaceful protesters camped outside City Hall who are demanding $1 billion be cut from the police department's $6 billion budget, as the city approaches its July 1 budget deadline. Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a budget deal that would move $1 billion in NYPD funding in an apparent nod to protesters' demands, but organizers say they're not satisfied. "All they've really done is shifted money from the NYPD budget over to school safety officers," says Bianca Cunningham with the #OccupyCityHall encampment, who adds that school safety officers still contribute to a school-to-prison pipeline that disproportionately hurts Black and Brown communities. "It shows that they are completely tone deaf about what this moment is about," she says.

In a story Democracy Now! has followed closely, Juan González shares an update on efforts to prevent the demolition of the Lincoln Annex public school in New Brunswick, New Jersey. City officials are trying to proceed with demolishing the public school this summer, in a move that would force 760 students to be bused to other schools for years, and parents and local activists are holding a rally in front of the Lincoln Annex School. "They want to keep the pressure on in the streets and to call on allies … who support public education, who are against gentrification and the abuse of immigrants, to join the rally," González says.

In a historic vote, the Mississippi state Legislature passed a bill to remove the Confederate battle emblem from its state flag, making it the last state to do so, after an ongoing nationwide uprising against racism and police brutality and a mounting pressure campaign in Mississippi. Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the NAACP, says it has been a "long journey" to change the Mississippi flag. "We've had to fight both against the symbol of racial oppression, the revisionist history of racial oppression, and now the next step is to fight against the structural racism that's embedded in the public policy, not only in the state of Mississippi but across the country," Johnson says. He also addresses how President Trump shared a video on social media of a Trump supporter chanting "white power," as well as the growing boycott of Facebook for allowing the spread of hateful and false information on its platform.

In the first big ruling on abortion in the Trump era, the Supreme Court has struck down a restrictive abortion law in Louisiana that would have left the state with just one abortion clinic. The 2014 law required doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of their clinic, an onerous requirement that often made it impossible for abortion providers to continue to operate. "It was a moment of elation," says Lakeesha Harris, director of reproductive health and justice at Women with a Vision, a women's rights organization based in New Orleans. "Many of us have been working years, so this was justice in the making."

SCOTUS Strikes Down Draconian Louisiana Abortion Law, SCOTUS Rules on Federal Executions, Trump's Ability to Fire Head of CFPB, Funding of Int'l AIDS Projects, States Mandate Face Masks, Impose New Restrictions as Cases Surge Across U.S., WHO Says "The Worst Is Yet to Come" as Scientists Study New Flu Strain That Could Become Pandemic, Judge Sets March Trial Date for Police Officers Who Killed George Floyd, Madison Schools Vote to End Police Contract; Protesters Unfurl Breonna Taylor Banner in Louisville, Shooting at Seattle's CHOP Kills One Teenager, Injures Another, Twitch Suspends Trump's Channel; Reddit and YouTube Ban Accounts for User Violations, Viral Video Shows White Missouri Couple Brandishing Guns at Peaceful Protesters, LULAC, Family of Missing Fort Hood Soldier Demand Congressional Investigation, China Signs Security Law, Giving It Sweeping New Powers Over Hong Kong, AP Report Says China Engaging in "Demographic Genocide" of Uyghurs, Iran Issues Arrest Warrant for Trump over Targeted Killing of Qassem Soleimani, Progressive Dems Denounce Planned Israeli Annexation, At Least 23 Civilians Killed as Blasts Rip Through Afghan Market, Golden State Killer Pleads Guilty to 13 Murders, Over 50 Rapes, Baseball Greats and Fans Celebrate 100th Anniversary of Negro National League

Two environmental activists with the Louisiana Bucket Brigade face up to 15 years in prison for leaving a box of plastic pellets, found on the Texas coast, at the home of an oil and gas lobbyist in December. Advocates say the "terrorizing" felony charges reflect longtime attempts to criminalize environmental activists in Louisiana and come amid a campaign to block Formosa Plastics from building a new plant in St. James Parish, an area known as Cancer Alley. We speak with Anne Rolfes, director of the group Louisiana Bucket Brigade and one of those facing felony charges, and Gregory Manning, activist and pastor of Broadmoor Community Church, who was charged with inciting a riot as he led a peaceful protest along Cancer Alley in October of 2019.

Colorado Governor Jared Polis has ordered a new investigation into the 2019 police killing of 23-year-old Elijah McClain in Aurora, which is facing renewed scrutiny and outrage amid the nationwide uprising against police brutality. McClain was walking home from a store last August when someone called 911 to report a "suspicious person." Three Aurora police officers who answered the call tackled McClain to the ground and placed him in a chokehold as he pleaded for his life, and medical responders who arrived then injected McClain with the powerful sedative ketamine. He suffered a cardiac arrest on the way to the hospital and died several days later. "It's really atrocious that it's taken almost a year for this case to gain the kind of attention that it should have gained immediately," says Mari Newman, attorney for the McClain family.

As coronavirus cases top 10 million worldwide and spikes are being reported in 36 states, Vice President Mike Pence has touted "truly remarkable progress" on the pandemic. "This has just been a massive case of denial, of idiotic government policy, of the lack of any strategic planning, any really specific strategic goal," Pulitzer Prize-winning science writer Laurie Garrett says of the response to the pandemic. "We're in very, very dire straits right now."

Global Coronavirus Cases Top 10 Million as U.S. Cases Surge and a Dozen States Pause Reopening, Judge Orders ICE to Release Immigrant Children over Coronavirus Fears, Coronavirus Cases Mount in India, Iran and Australia, Gunman Kills One Person After Opening Fire at Antiracist Protesters in Louisville, Kentucky, Police in Aurora, Colorado, Pepper-Spray Protesters Calling for Justice for Elijah McClain, Protests Against Police Violence Gain Steam in NYC, Seattle, Philadelphia, Racist Symbols Come Down Across the Country Amid National Uprising, Trump Retweets Video of Supporter Shouting "White Power!", Facebook to Start Labeling Hate Speech Posts by Trump as It Faces Growing Ad Boycott, Georgia Signs Hate Crimes Bill into Law as It Increases Protections for Police, Federal Court Says Trump Cannot Use Pentagon Funds for Border Wall Without Lawmaker Approval, NYT: Russian Intelligence Unit Offered Taliban Bounties to Kill U.S. Troops, Gunmen Attack Pakistan Stock Exchange in Karachi, Colombian Soldiers Confess to Raping 13-Year-Old Indigenous Girl, Gunmen Attack Mexico City Police Chief, Killing 3, Rikers Employees Disciplined over Death of Layleen Polanco, Afro-Latinx Trans Woman, NYPD Pepper-Sprays Queer Liberation Marchers on 51st Anniversary of Stonewall Riots

Johnson & Johnson has been ordered to pay $2.1 billion to a group of women who developed ovarian cancer after using talcum powder contaminated with asbestos. Johnson & Johnson heavily marketed the powder to African American women despite warnings that the products could cause cancer. Six of the plaintiffs in the Johnson & Johnson case died before the trial started. Five more of the women have died since 2018. We get response from M. Isabelle Chaudry, senior policy manager at the National Women's Health Network, who says the company must ban the products globally and do more to address the harm it has caused, particularly to communities of color. "They have a history of engaging in racist practices," she says.

The controversy over police use of facial recognition technology has accelerated after a Black man in Michigan revealed he was wrongfully arrested because of the technology. Detroit police handcuffed Robert Williams in front of his wife and daughters after facial recognition software falsely identified him as a suspect in a robbery. Researchers say facial recognition software is up to 100 times more likely to misidentify people of color than white people. This week, Boston voted to end its use in the city, and Democratic lawmakers introduced a similar measure for federal law enforcement. "This is not an example of one bad algorithm. Just like instances of police brutality, it is a glimpse of how systemic racism can be embedded into AI systems like those that power facial recognition technologies," says Joy Buolamwini, founder of the Algorithmic Justice League.

The Supreme Court handed the Trump administration a major victory Thursday when it ruled the government can fast-track deportations of asylum seekers without first allowing them to fight for their cases in front of a judge. The ACLU's Lee Gelernt argued the case in court on behalf of Tamil asylum seeker Vijayakumar Thuraissigiam. "It's a very serious decision and will adversely affect many, many asylum seekers," says Gelernt. "We're likely to see more people fail their hearings, and now they don't have a backstop in the federal courts."

U.S. Sets Another Daily COVID-19 Record as Infections Surge in 31 States, Supreme Court Ruling Will Deny Asylum Seekers Their Day in Court, Trump Admin Asks SCOTUS to Annul Obamacare Even as Millions Lose Health Coverage, India Nears 500,000 Confirmed Coronavirus Cases as Pandemic Worsens Globally, WHO Declares End to Ebola Outbreak in Democratic Republic of the Congo, House Democrats Pass Sweeping Police Reform Bill That Trump Promised to Veto, Activists Demanding $1B Cut to NYPD Budget Occupy City Hall for Third Straight Night, NC Police Dept. Fires Officers Caught on Tape Discussing "Slaughtering" Black Residents, Trump Demands Toppled Statue of Confederate General Be Restored in D.C., Madison, WI Police Launch Hate Crime Probe into Black Teen Set on Fire by White Men, NASCAR Releases Photo of Noose Found in Bubba Wallace's Garage, L.A. Times Settles Racial Bias Complaint with Promise of Sweeping Changes in Hiring, FCC Approves Plan to Make "988" New National Suicide Prevention Hotline Number, Louisiana Environmental Activists Charged with "Terrorizing" Oil & Gas Lobbyist, Bernie Sanders Proposes 10% Cut to Pentagon Budget to Invest in Health & Education

The Poor People's Campaign offered a counterpoint to President Trump's sparsely attended Tulsa campaign rally with a mass digital gathering that unveiled a policy platform to spur "transformative action" on five key issues of systemic racism, systemic poverty, ecological devastation, the war economy and the threat of religious nationalism. "We have to repair and revive," says Rev. Dr. William Barber, co-chair of the Poor People's Campaign. "That has to be a part of if we're truly going to ever be the democracy we claim to be on paper."

As coronavirus infections worldwide approach 10 million, nearly half can be found in the two largest countries in the Americas: the United States and Brazil, which now has the worst infection rate in the world and could surpass the U.S. death toll next month. "What we see in the country is a reflection of the leadership that we have," says Marcia Castro, professor of demography, chair of the Department of Global Health and Population at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and co-chair of Harvard's Brazil Studies Program, noting far-right President Jair Bolsonaro has downplayed the pandemic's severity and undermined efforts to enforce protective measures. We also discuss the country's participation in vaccine trials, the impact of the crisis on Brazil's Indigenous population, and the spike in COVID in the three most populous U.S. states of California, Texas and Florida.

U.S. Coronavirus Cases Surge to Highest Daily Level Since Pandemic Began, WHO Warns Coronavirus Has Yet to Peak in the Americas, Kellyanne Conway Defends Trump's Use of "Kung Flu," Weeks After Calling the Term "Highly Offensive", Protesters Camp Outside New York City Hall Demanding $1B in Cuts to NYPD Budget, Democrats Halt Senate Police Bill, Saying Reforms Don't Go Far Enough, Colorado Lawmakers Demand Investigation into Police Killing of Elijah McClain, Family Demands Justice for Queens Man Tasered to Death by Police in His Own Home, NYPD Officer David Afanador to Face Strangulation Charges for Using Banned Chokehold, Tucson Police Chief Offers to Resign over Death of Carlos Ingram Lopez in Police Custody, Chrystul Kizer, Teen Who Killed Her Alleged Sex Trafficker, Freed on Bail, Three White Men Indicted on Murder Charges for Killing Ahmaud Arbery, Georgia Bill Would Bar Election Officials from Mailing Absentee Ballot Applications, The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations Will Shorten Its Name, Wisconsin State Senator Assaulted as Statues Toppled from Capitol Grounds, U.N. Secretary-General Calls on Israel to Abandon Plans to Annex Palestinian Land, Jamaal Bowman Declares Victory Over Rep. Eliot Engel in New York Primary, Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee Moved Mostly Online, Appeals Court Will Allow Justice Department to Dismiss Criminal Case Against Michael Flynn, Massive Saharan Dust Plume Heads Toward U.S. After Darkening Skies Over Caribbean, Minnesota Attorney General Sues Fossil Fuel Giants over "Campaign of Deception" on Climate

As coronavirus rapidly spreads through California's overcrowded prisons, 400 people have tested positive for the virus at San Quentin State Prison. Advocates and incarcerated people warn conditions behind bars make it nearly impossible to stop the virus once it enters. We speak with Adnan Khan, executive director of Re:Store Justice, an organization that advocates for policy and alternative responses to violence and life sentences. He links inhumane prison conditions to the mass uprising in the streets against systemic racism and state violence. "There are literally millions of people in prison based on the 'credible testimony' and written reports of the very police that we're seeing brutalize protesters, brutalize and shoot at media and nurses during these peaceful protests," he says.

The Black Lives Matter protests are dramatically shifting dialogues about racial justice in sports, says former NBA player, author and activist Etan Thomas. He describes how athletes are forcing a reckoning about systemic racism in professional sports, including in NASCAR, which has rallied around the sole Black driver competing in the Cup Series, Bubba Wallace, who led a push to ban Confederate flags from races. "It's amazing what's happening in NASCAR," Thomas says. "They did more in 48 hours than the NFL did for Colin Kaepernick for four or five years."

Israeli soldiers on Tuesday killed 27-year-old Ahmed Erekat at a checkpoint in the occupied West Bank as he was on his way to pick up his sister, who was set to be married that night. Ahmed Erekat is the nephew of senior Palestinian official Saeb Erekat, secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organization, and cousin of Palestinian American legal scholar Noura Erakat, who says Israeli claims that Ahmed was attempting a car-ramming attack on soldiers are completely unfounded. "What we understand is that Ahmed lost control of his car or was confused while he was in his car. That was all it took to have a knee-jerk reaction … and immediately to cause the soldiers to open fire on him multiple times," she says.

In what could be one of the biggest progressive upsets of the year, Jamaal Bowman, an African American former middle school principal, appears headed to victory over 16-term Democratic Congressmember Eliot Engel in Tuesday's New York primary election. The race has not been called, but Bowman has a large lead over Engel, the powerful chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee known for his support of Israel. Bowman supports a Green New Deal, Medicare for All and defunding the police. We air his remarks from a campaign party late Tuesday.

Dr. Anthony Fauci Warns of "Disturbing Surge" of U.S. COVID-19 Cases, Trump on Claim He Tried to Slow Coronavirus Testing: "I Don't Kid", Latin America Tops 100,000 Coronavirus Deaths as Brazilian President Ordered to Wear Mask in Public, Kentucky Slashes Polling Places by 95%, Causing Election Day Chaos, Progressive Challenger Jamaal Bowman Poised to Upset 16-Term Democratic Rep. Eliot Engel, 3,000 Pack Indoor Trump Rally in Arizona as COVID-19 Cases Surge to Record High, Student-Led March in Oakland Calls for End to Police in Schools, Louisville Police Department Fires Officer Who Shot Breonna Taylor, Two New York Attorneys Face 45-Year Sentences for Burning Empty Police Car, Ahmed Erekat, Nephew of Top Palestinian Official, Shot by Israeli Forces at Checkpoint and Left to Die, Egyptian Activist Sanaa Seif Abducted Outside Cairo Prosecutor's Office, 7.4 Magnitude Earthquake Hits Southern Mexico, Killing at Least Five People, Johnson & Johnson Ordered to Pay $2.1B for Cancer-Causing Baby Powder, Obama Helps Raise $11M for Joe Biden's Presidential Campaign, Charleston, SC Removes Statue of Former VP & Slave Owner John Calhoun, Mississippi Football Star Refuses to Play Unless Confederate Symbol Is Removed from Flag, Rayshard Brooks Laid to Rest in Atlanta 11 Days After He Was Killed by Police

As a new Amnesty International report documents at least 125 instances of police violence against Black Lives Matters protesters in 40 states from May 26 to June 5, we speak with Brandon Saenz, a 26-year-old Black man shot in the face by Dallas police with so-called less-lethal ammunition that shattered his left eye and fractured his face. We also speak with his lawyer, Daryl Washington, about how he has since helped to win a 90-day preliminary injunction against the police use of chemical agents and rubber bullets in Dallas.

As primary voters head to the polls in New York, Kentucky and Virginia, they face long lines, even as President Trump continues to attack mail-in voting, falsely claiming it leads to fraud. Kentucky has reduced the number of polling places from 3,700 to just 170 — a 95% reduction. "There's the potential for record turnout," notes Cliff Albright, co-founder and executive director of Black Voters Matter, despite such suppression tactics.

President Trump claims without evidence that anti-fascists are inciting riots at protests against police brutality, but has downplayed groups like the "boogaloo" movement, which are using the protests as cover to carry out violence, even murder. "We know that in this country the far right holds a monopoly on political violence and that since September 11th, far-right extremists have killed far more people than members of any other ideology," says Cassie Miller, senior research analyst at the Southern Poverty Law Center. We also speak with journalist Ali Winston about a new BBC investigation into how the neo-Nazi militant group The Base is grooming and recruiting teenagers online.

COVID-19 on the Rise in 29 States; Immigrant and Communities of Color Carry Brunt of Devastation, Coronavirus Continues to Devastate Latin America; South Korea in Midst of Second Wave, Trump Issues Ban on H-1B Visas and Green Cards Through 2020, KY Slashes Primary Polling Sites as Key Races Pit Progressives and Establishment Dems in KY, NY, VA, Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan Shutting Down CHOP, Says Police Will Return, Bridgeport Council Agrees to Shift Police Funding After Mass Protests, NYPD Says Officers Who Plowed SUVs into Protesters Were Not at Fault, Funeral for Rayshard Brooks Held in Atlanta, NAACP Lawsuit: Arizona Prisons Are Practicing Slavery, U.N. to Probe Torture, Mass Killings in Libya as ICC Investigates Mass Graves, Separatists and Saudi-Backed Gov't in Yemen Reach Ceasefire Deal, Canada Warns Dissident He Is a Potential Target of Saudi Kingdom, Longtime Animal Rights Activist Killed by Truck Transporting Pigs to Slaughterhouse, U.S. Soldier Charged with Plotting Attack on Unit with Satanic Neo-Nazi Group, Selena Reyes-Hernandez Believed to Be 17th Victim of Transgender Murder This Year, Temperatures in Arctic Soar Above 100 Degrees, Shattering Records, NASCAR Drivers Escort Bubba Wallace onto Track in Show of Solidarity After Discovery of Noose, New Yorkers Demand Gov. Cuomo Cancel Rent, Extend Eviction Moratorium Amid Pandemic

As mass protests against racism and police brutality continue, at least five men — four Black and one Latinx — have been found hanging in public across the U.S. in recent weeks. We speak with Jacqueline Olive, director of "Always in Season," a documentary that examines the history of lynchings through the story of Lennon Lacy, an African American teenager who was found hanged from a swing set in 2014. "They deserve a full investigation," Olive says of the recent hangings, "and given the context of this history … that we look at them more than three days, and then that they are looked at as a whole."

We play a video that has now gone viral from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where community activist Gary Chambers Jr. calls out members of the Lee High School school board for their racism during a June 18 meeting to discuss a resolution to rename the school, which is named after Confederate General Robert E. Lee. Chambers urged members to choose a name in honor of people who fought slavery and racism, not someone who defended it, and addressed board member Connie Bernard, who had defended Robert E. Lee and was seen shopping on her computer during the meeting.

As the U.S. death toll from COVID-19 nears 120,000 and mass protests against police brutality and racism continue, President Trump faces condemnation for his remarks at his poorly attended campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, when he repeated racist terms like "kung flu" and lashed out at protesters. "You just see this tremendous impulse to divide," says Emily Bazelon, staff writer at The New York Times Magazine. "This is what has worked for Trump in the past. He is not going to change now."

After a dramatic weekend showdown, the Trump administration has ousted Geoffrey Berman, the U.S. attorney in Manhattan who led multiple prosecutions and investigations into allies of the president. We look at the extraordinary measures U.S. Attorney General William Barr took to protect Trump, with New York Times Magazine writer Emily Bazelon, who has profiled Barr. "He believes in a very strong executive presidency, a kind of imperial presidency in which a huge amount of power resides in the president," she says of the attorney general.

AG Barr Under Fire as Dems Launch Investigation into Firing of U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman, Coronavirus Cases Surging in U.S. and Around the World, Antiracism Uprising Continues as Demonstrators Celebrate Juneteenth, Dept. of Homeland Security Spied on Protesters in 15+ U.S. Cities, More Confederate and Racist Statues Fall Across the Country, Protesters Call for Justice After Fatal Shooting of 18-Year-Old Andres Guardado in Gardena, CA, Louisville Police Chief Moves to Fire Officer Who Shot and Killed Breonna Taylor, 19-Year-Old Killed in Shooting in Seattle's Autonomous "Capitol Hill Occupied Protest" Zone, Noose Found in Stall of African American NASCAR Driver Bubba Wallace, Trump's Tulsa Rally Turnout Just Over 6,000 After Campaign Predicted Massive Crowds Amid Pandemic, White Security Guard Charged with Manslaughter for Shooting Black Guest at Tulsa Motel, NYPD Suspends Officer Who Used Banned Chokehold, Kentucky Slashes 95% of Polling Places Ahead of Primary Election, Louisiana Activist Blasts School Board Member Who Defended Confederate General Robert E. Lee, Tennessee Lawmakers Approve Near-Total Ban on Abortions, Judge Refuses to Block Publication of John Bolton's Book on Trump Presidency, On World Refugee Day, Nearly 80 Million Remain Forcibly Displaced

President Trump's first campaign rally since the start of the pandemic takes place Saturday in Tulsa, Oklahoma, despite a spike of COVID-19 cases there. Trump rescheduled the rally to Saturday after facing backlash for saying it would happen on Juneteenth — a celebration of African Americans' liberation from slavery — amid a nationwide uprising against racism and police brutality. Tulsa is also the site of one of the deadliest massacres in U.S. history, when a white mob in 1921 killed as many as 300 people in a thriving African American business district known as "Black Wall Street." For more on this history and the pervasive racism that remains, we speak with civil rights lawyer Damario Solomon-Simmons, who represents the last known survivor of the Greenwood massacre living in Tulsa. He's also the attorney for the family of Terence Crutcher, a Black man who was shot and killed by a white police officer in Tulsa in 2016. Terence Crutcher's sister, Dr. Tiffany Crutcher, also joins us from Tulsa.

June 19 is Juneteenth, celebrating the day in 1865 when the last enslaved Black people in the United States learned they had been freed from bondage. As momentum grows to enshrine it as a national holiday, we speak with author and historian Gerald Horne, who says that while the story of Juneteenth is "much more complicated and much more complex than is traditionally presented," increased recognition of the day "provides an opportunity to have a thorough remembrance of this horrific system that was slavery."

In a 5-4 decision led by Chief Justice John Roberts, the Supreme Court on Thursday blocked President Trump's attempt to end Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA. The federal program created by President Obama in 2012 protects from deportation about 700,000 immigrants who arrived in the U.S. as children. Luis Cortes, one of the lawyers who defended DACA at the Supreme Court, says the key to the victory was being able to share the stories of DACA recipients. "What moved Chief Justice Roberts in our case was the stories," says Cortes, who is a DACA recipient himself. We also speak with Erika Andiola, advocacy chief at RAICES, the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services, and host of the podcast "Homeland Insecurity."

Supreme Court Blocks Trump from Ending DACA in Victory for Immigrants, Global COVID Death Toll Tops 450,000 as Cases Keep Growing in 77 Nations, Navajo Nation Reinstates Lockdown Due to New COVID Surge, "Trump Death Clock" Heads to Tulsa for Trump Speech, Juneteenth: Longshore Union Shuts Down West Coast Ports; Trump Claims He Made Holiday "Very Famous", Atlanta Officers Involved in Killing of Rayshard Brooks Turn Themselves In, Probe Launched over Use of Military Surveillance Planes to Monitor Protesters, High-Ranking Black State Dept. Official Resigns to Protest Trump's Actions, Klobuchar Removes Herself from VP Consideration, Urging Biden to Pick Woman of Color, Another 1.5 Million File for Unemployment as Billionaires Make $600B During Pandemic, Faced with Ad Boycott, Facebook Takes Down Trump Ad with Nazi Symbol, Close Adviser to Bolsonaro's Son Arrested in Brazilian Corruption Probe, Vatican Urges Divestment from Fossil Fuel & Arms Industries, Study: Climate Crisis Tied to Increased Pregnancy Risks, AOC vs. Wall Street: CEOs of Goldman Sachs & Blackstone Back Ex-GOPer in Dem Primary, Egyptian LGBT Activist & Former Political Prisoner Sarah Hegazy, 30, Dies, Amazon Indigenous Chief Paulinho Paiakan, 66, Dies from COVID-19

In Seattle, the fight to demilitarize and defund the police continues as the King County Labor Council voted to expel the Seattle police union Wednesday, following weeks of protest. Seattle police sparked outrage for responding to massive protests against police brutality by using pepper spray, tear gas and flashbangs on demonstrators and reporters. Activists then formed an autonomous zone in response to the police department's abandonment of a precinct building. On Wednesday, President Trump threatened to send troops into Seattle to dismantle the community-run Capitol Hill Occupied Protest, which extends over several city blocks. Seattle socialist Councilmember Kshama Sawant calls the threat of military intervention "absolutely horrific" and says it "shows that Donald Trump is a coward and movements work."

As police officers in nearly 100 U.S. cities and towns have fired tear gas on protesters in recent weeks and left many with severe injuries, a new Amnesty International report finds the use of tear gas continues to grow each year, and fuels police human rights violations against peaceful protesters on a global scale. "Everywhere we look, police are just very quick to use tear gas, which is not a safe product and can cause real injuries," says Brian Castner, senior crisis adviser on arms and military operations for Amnesty International.

For more than a decade, the racial justice organization Color of Change led a push to cancel the long-running TV show "Cops," which glorifies police aggression. Now the show has been cancelled, along with A&E's "Live PD." "The thing about these shows is that they call themselves reality programming, but they are only from the vision of the police officers," says Rashad Robinson, president of Color of Change. "These shows have served as a PR arm for law enforcement." He is now calling on Netflix to cancel "Border Security: America's Front Line."

Prosecutors have charged the Atlanta police officer who shot and killed Rayshard Brooks with felony murder, and accuse Garrett Rolfe of twice shooting Brooks in the back and then kicking him as he lay dying. A second officer, Devin Brosnan, faces four charges, including assault. We talk to Rashad Robinson of Color of Change about the charges in Atlanta and growing calls to defund the police. "For the last 20 years in this country, violent crime has basically steadily went down," Robinson says. "At the same time, police budgets have continued to rise, continued to expand. We've militarized police."

Former Atlanta Police Officer Who Shot Rayshard Brooks Charged with Murder, Rayshard Brooks Described Struggles with Criminal Justice System in Video Recorded Before His Killing, Trump Calls Protesters "Anarchists, Terrorists and Looters" as Vigilantes Attack Peaceful Marches, George Floyd's Brother Calls on United Nations to Probe U.S. Racism and Police Brutality, Coronavirus Infection Rate Hits Record in States That Eased Social Distancing, Florida COVID-19 Cases Surge as Gov. DeSantis Promises to Keep Restaurants Open, Tulsa Mayor "Not Positive That Everything Is Safe" as 19,000 Plan to Attend Trump Rally, Brazil on Pace to Surpass U.S. Coronavirus Death Toll in July, Researchers Warn, Lima Medical Workers Beaten by Police at Protest Demanding PPE, John Bolton Says Trump Asked China for Help with 2020 Reelection Campaign, Trump Signs Bill Condemning Uyghur Internment Camps That John Bolton Claims He Once Supported, Lawmakers Press for Answers over Secretive $500 Billion Coronavirus Bailout, Fear Grows of Modern-Day Lynchings as Five People of Color Are Found Hanged, Aunt Jemima, Uncle Ben's and Mrs. Butterworth's Brands Scrapped over Racist Imagery, Human Rights Experts Condemn Israel's Plans to Annex Parts of West Bank, Oxford University to Remove Statue of 19th Century Imperialist Cecil Rhodes, Delbert Africa, Whose Beating by Philadelphia Police Sparked Outrage, Dies at 74

In the Bronx, the second most economically unequal district in New York state, the insurgent primary campaign of former middle school principal Jamaal Bowman threatens to unseat 16-term Democratic congressmember and House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Eliot Engel. Bowman supports defunding the police, Medicare for All and a Green New Deal. He has also gotten high-profile endorsements from Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and The New York Times editorial board. "I've worked in this district for the last 10 years as a middle school principal," Bowman says. "Over that 10 years, I've developed thousands of amazing relationships with the children and the families of this community, and I've learned intimately the impact of poverty and bad policy on their lives each and every day."

As hurricane season begins, we look at moves to privatize Puerto Rico's electric grid and a new investigation that reveals the island's government failed to follow proper oversight or examine the environmental impact when it issued a $1.5 billion contract to a company for the first large power generation project since Hurricane Maria, that will continue its reliance on fossil fuels. Former Puerto Rico Chief of Staff Ingrid Vila Biaggi co-authored the report and calls it "an ill-conceived project full of fiscally irresponsible practices."

President Donald Trump says he will push ahead with a massive campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Saturday, even as COVID cases are surging there as the state reopens. Trump delayed the rally by one day after it was originally scheduled for June 19, Juneteenth, a celebration marking the emancipation of enslaved people. Tulsa is also the site of one of the deadliest massacres in U.S. history, when a white mob in 1921 killed as many as 300 people in a thriving African American business district. "The rally is troubling to a lot of people because of both the venue, Tulsa, and because of the timing," says Hannibal B. Johnson, attorney and author of "Black Wall Street: From Riot to Renaissance in Tulsa's Historic Greenwood District."

U.S. Coronavirus Deaths Surpass World War I Toll; Nine States Report New Highs for COVID Cases, Trump to Hold Rally in Tulsa as COVID Cases Reach New High in Oklahoma, Prison COVID Cases Double in U.S.; Nursing Home Deaths Top 50,000, U.S. Exports Record Amount of Pork as Meatpackers Risk Lives to Keep Factories Running, WHO Hails New Study Showing Widely Used Steroid Could Reduce COVID-19 Deaths, Daily Coronavirus Deaths Reach New Highs in India & Pakistan; Beijing Locks Down Again, Honduran President Tests Positive for Coronavirus, U.S. Extends Border Closures with Mexico & Canada, Study: 450,000 Coronavirus Cases Could Have Been Avoided If States Mandated Face Masks, Trump's Executive Order on Policing Decried as "Toothless" and "Anemic", Justice for Jayson: Protest Encampment Outside Bridgeport, Conn., Police HQ Enters 5th Day, Richmond Police Chief Ousted Days After Forces Tear-Gassed Protesters, Buffalo Peace Activist Martin Gugino Suffered Brain Injury & Fractured Skull After Police Assault, Air Force Sergeant Tied to Far-Right Boogaloo Movement Arrested for Killing Two Officers, Police Probe Hanging Death of Black Trans Woman TeTe Gulley in Portland, Oregon, Study: Nearly 2,000 Lynchings Occurred in U.S. Between 1865 and 1877, Chinese & Indian Troops Involved in Deadly Fight in the Himalayas, Tensions Escalate on the Korean Peninsula, Syria Braces for Sweeping New U.S. Sanctions, Utility Firm PG&E Confesses to Killing 84 People for Starting Devastating 2018 California Fire, After Hunger Strikes, Prisoners at Otay Mesa Detention Center Blocked from Communicating with Support Group, Families of the Disappeared in Mexico Camp Outside AMLO's Home Demanding Probes, Justice Department Sues John Bolton over Forthcoming Book