this is "nightline." tonight. building america back. firing up factories in the middle of a pandemic. >> this is something that everybody has been affected by. it is a fear for everyone. >> balancing getting back to business with lives on the line. >> a lot of my employees, i feel like they're family. >> plus, class of 2020. first of their families to go to college. knocked off course by the coronavirus. big dreams now derailed but not defeated. >> it's like paying it forward and like paying it back to my parents. "nightline" "bringing america back" starts right now with byron pitts. good evening. thank you for joining us. nearly 13 million americans make a living by making things.

a vital part of bringing america back means getting them back to work and getting manufacturing online. but how to do it safely. here's abc's clayton sandell. >> i've lived in southern indiana my whole life. this is kind of my thing, working on engines and hot rods and motorcycles. that's kind of what brought me into it. >> reporter: it had been three long weeks at home. but amanda harbold was finally headed back to the factory floor. >> it was kind of emotional because of everything that's going on. remember the cummins engine plant reopening last week after shutting its doors amidst crush of covid-19. >> i'm not someone who can just sit around the house, so i was ready to come back. >> are you suffering from any of the following symptoms? >> we're asked a series of questions to make sure we're not feeling ill.

then we get our temperature checked. we're given a mask for the day. then you're ready to go to work. build some engines. >> reporter: creating everything from engines to baseball bats, manufacturing is a giant industry, employing nearly 13 million in the u.s., powering how we move, how we work, how we live. but now with more than 33 million people filing for unemployment nationwide in the last seven weeks, this industry, too, is feeling the pressure. more than a million jobs lost, as it faces plummeting demand, supply shortages and factories shut down. today we go inside an industry long called america's backbone. those who are surviving. some thriving and others just fighting to hang on. in colorado, where the governor eased restrictions last month, brothers barry and kenny carson

realized the key to saving the family business was doubling down on what they do best. >> this is a big pile of plexiglass. >> reporter: they make workstations for 911 centers. they make dividers. with many trying to to figure o how to safely get back to work, these provide a barrier. the idea is the brainchild of customer service rep karen tennis. >> i was at the grocery store, and i saw these plastic pieces that they had up. i was thinking, we have this material. they took it and ran with it within a week. >> reporter: you said it's taken on a life of its own. are you getting calls now. >> yes, we are inundated. >> reporter: are you keeping up with demand? do you think you'll be able to

keep up with demand? >> we've been talking with some of our suppliers to make sure they've got a good stream of material available. we've been pre-buying product we don't have sold yet because plexiglass is getting rare. >> there is an energy here we are doing something above and beyond for our kus customers. >> reporter: did either of you think you'd be doing this? >> oh, gosh, no. >> reporter: now you're on a mission. >> yeah, we are. a lot of the people we sell to are the behind the scenes people, the 911 dispatchers. they have to work. right now they don't have a choice. they have to go to work. >> it's getting to the uncertainty part of it. manufacturing in any business hates uncertainty. >> reporter: dennis slater represents equipment manufacturers nationwide. >> how do they plan for what's next, how many machines to have, how many employees. they will start to react to how can they make work sites safer but make machines more

efficient. >> reporter: in indiana where the state has cautiously entered phase two of reopening, the manufacturing industry employs roughly 17% of the workforce. engine maker cummins saw early on how the virus would impact their operations. >> it started for us back in january, because we have a number of manufacturing facilities actually in wuhan. >> reporter: peter anderson is the vice president of global supply chain. >> over 80% of our suppliers at some point closed down. and we're still struggling with many of the suppliers. >> reporter: down but not out. they chose to close for three weeks to implement new protocols, reducing productivity but prioritizing safety as the state battled with more than 25,000 covid-19 cases, and 1400 fatalities. >> i was nervous because i didn't know what kind of changes was going to happen. but i feel they've come into work, all the different changes, like the plexiglass in the

bathrooms so when you wash your hands you keep your social distance. >> it's something that everybody has been affected one. a fear for everyone. >> reporter: the high stakes are palpable in bloomington where a farm suit cam manufactur pharmaceutical manufacturer has a plan. she holds a key in fleeing the country from the clutches of covid-19. >> we are manufacturing covid-19 vaccination. >> reporter: many are preparing for clinical trials and find being themselves in an enviable position in high demand. >> ten years ago we 250 head count. >> reporter: dennis johnson is the general manager of the plant now using lessons learned from years in the army. >> marshal resources and stop doing things you don't need to do. essential right now is keeping our people safe. without this team we wouldn't be

able to produce treatments. >> reporter: coronavirus hygiene requirements were already second nature here, given the exacting demands of drug manufacturing. >> everyone changes into clean room scrubs, hair net, glove, booties. when we get up in the morning we're happy to come to work. now you have a little more pride when you come to work. you know you're doing something big. >> we've been lucky enough to speak to some companies that have been able to adapt. but there are a number of companies that are not going to survive this. and i'm wondering, do you see a silver lining? >> i think the silver lining is some of the things we're doing today will help us as we go forward that we wouldn't have done if the economy stayed going strong. we look at how we make our machines, the technology more productive, more efficient. >> reporter: before covid-19 hit american shores, manufacturing was on the decline, losing 7.5 million workers since 1980,

partly due to automation and outsourcing, then the virus causing the american economy to grind to a halt and accelerating job losses across the industry. the oil industry was hit especially hard as prices were already in free fall, thanks to an oil price war between russia and saudi arabia. here in texas where they produce 41% of the nation's oil, they haven't had a moment to catch their breath. >> at one point, in 2008, i had 55 employees here and we were running 24 hours a day. now i have 13 employees, and we have one shift. >> reporter: kenny east is vice president of taylor oil field manufacturing. they specialize in repairing drilling tools. he has never seen things so dire. er ts really hard to li ty' f

tell somebody that hey, i got to lay you off. you go to a situation where sometime where you got to pick and choose, that isn't easy either. we're going to battle through it and stick it out like we did all the other times and hopefully we can make it through. we've done it before. >> reporter: and once they do, east hopes he'll have jobs waiting for employees he had to let go. >> i told whenever we can, we're going to hire you back. you don't have to sit and wait. if you find something, that's okay. but i will call you back when things pick up. >> our thanks to clayton. up next. unexpected life lessons, first generation college students make a new plan in a pandemic. this is my body of proof. proof i can fight moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis. proof i can fight psoriatic arthritis... ...with humira.

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♪ wash hands now was narrator: handwashing is one of the best ways to stay healthy all year long. another part of bringing america back is building on the american dream. right now an estimated 400,000 students are the first in their families to go to college. tonight devon dwyer with dreams in this pandemic. >> i keep going so i can make

it, so when i make it, i can help the family, but also my students can look up to me as a ro role model. >> reporter: he is the oldest of four and son of west african immigrants. the college to be the first college graduate is immense. >> she wants me to go very far in life and for her, the only way i can do that is through education. >> reporter: from a small bronx apartment, he was finishing his degree in advanced economics when his dad recently lost work. he started help pay family bills, working part time as a researcher from his bedside desk. >> i decided to at least, you know, help pay for the electricity and for the internet. >> reporter: the extra financial strain during the pandemic

hasn't shaken him from his goal, but it is making it that much harder. >> what i come, from what i have been through, what my parents have been through to make sure i have this opportunity, that alone is a mind-set that i have in me that no matter what happen, i shouldn't give up. >> reporter: an estimated 400,000 students in this country will be first in their family to graduate college this year. tonight, a look at five students fighting to stay on course, bearing their family's financial burdens and big hopes for a better future. >> i struggled for a couple months, going back and forth between committing to law school or deferring my acceptance. >> reporter: sophie kim is reaching her goal at rutgers university. a first generation korean immigrant. the closure of her parents' nail salon is making her dream of law school seem almost irresponsible. >> my dad and i applied to

sech several different grants and loan programs for their small business. we were looking at thousands of dollars of financial loans. >> reporter: now threatening years of progress for first-generation students. >> i really see being a first generation college kid a gateway, a door. it's true. >> reporter: high school senior omar in austin, texas just got accepted to the university of richmond. he had to start working full time at walmart last month after his mother lost her housecleaning job of 20 years. >> just trying to keep everyone afloat, and it's been tough. >> reporter: at a small desk in his bedroom he pays the family bills and tries to keep from falling behind with homework. >> i just got done paying for the apartment bill. which rang up to $1,018.48.

>> reporter: the walk to work past piles of trash and graffiti, a reminder, he says, of why he's chasing that college dream. >> definitely don't want my future family or my older brother or little brother's family growing up around this kind of environment. >> reporter: that dream facing major disruption says morgan state university janai yeah, she's struggling to finish her first year. do you feel like you got this? >> i'm the first one that goes to college. it's not like i had someone to ask questions about like how to do this, how to do that, it's like figuring everything out on your own, but then everything switched to online. >> reporter: she's wonder being whether it's still work it. >> now i have to figure out how to put it all together. like class work plus work.

>> we're in a situation where a lot of first generation and low-income students are very fragile. let's be real, we have students today that are learning in bathrooms, closets. there is not enough space in their homes. >> reporter: many are persisting, showing passion to give back to family and community as the nation fights back from the pandemic. >> it's like paying it forward and paying it back to my parents. >> reporter: omar charging ahead to his freshman year. >> it's a matter to expand my social better, i'll be able to help my mom and my father. >> reporter: theirs is a drive do escape a minimum wage existence to a better life. >> even though it's going to and long time from now, i know it will be worth it. >> their children, their grandchildren will have a better shot at the things that we all dream about. economic mobility, security, access to health care.

access to civic participation. all these things go up if you have more and more education. so that college degree and first generation moment is a huge moment. >> i personally don't sigh this as a big downfall but a huge challenge. >> reporter: he will be the first in his family of seven to get a college diploma. >> i've always been the child that was succeeding in school and stuff, so my parents expected me to make something of myself. >> reporter: did you ever imagine you'd be finishing up your dream at home? >> it was overwhelming at first. it took a long time to cope with thing thin things. >> reporter: his disappointment postponement. now looking at the job hunt in a pandemic as one more test to

pass. >> everything happens for a reason. you can't just sit around and be upset. i try to keep it alive. >> our thanks to devon. next, their love is sealed.

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and finally tonight, bringing hugs back. >> you get to hug me! >> 10 year old paige of riverside, california built an ingenious way of staying close to family. >> oh, i love you, oh, my god. >> using a shower curtain, ziploc bags and a hot glue gun, she made a perfect plastic barrier to keep grandma and grandpa safe yet still 20

way to go paige. hugs all around. you can catch our full episodes on hulu. thank for the company, america, goodnight. ♪ ba, da, ba, ba, da, ba, da, ba, da, ba, da, ba, da, ba, da, ♪ jimmy kimmel live this is ridiculous. >> from his house! >> jimmy: hello, i'm jimmy, thank you for watching. what are you lookin' at? something weird about my face? that's because it isn't my face! it's a mask! a friend made me a mask of my own face.

i have to say, i love it. i think it's great. this will make a great gift for the dumbest bank robber in your life. anyway, today, doctor anthony fauci testified before the senate today to warn senators - many of whom are ready to get going about the dangers of opening the country too quickly. fauci testified remotely because he's under quarantine which was fun because we finally got a chance to see inside his house. and answered a question from senator bernie sanders. >> are we fearful that if we don't get our act together, as bad as the situation is now, it could become worse in the fall or winter? >> i think that a possibility does exist. however, and the reason i say that ♪ who let the dogs out