captioioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening, i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight, statesw shut more communities across the u.s. are ordered to stay at home, as the increase of new infections spikes. and congress struggles to reach an agreement on aid for struggling americans. then, how prepared are the hospitals? examining the ate of our front line defense against covid-19 plus, reading througthe pandemic. award-winning author ann patchett on wh books to pick up during the long days of social distance. >> you read twelve pag a day of war and peace, in a whole community of readers, and the next thing you know, you've read the book and the pandemic is peace.nd you've read war and >> woodruff: all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour.

>> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> before we talk about your investments-- what's new? .. well, audrey's expectin >> twins! >> grandparents. >> we want to put money aside for them, so, change in plans. >> all right, let's see what we can adjust.d >> w closer to the twins. >> change in plans. >> okay. >> mom, are you painting again? you could sell these. >> let me guess, change in plans? >> at f eis always part of the plan.

>> the william and flora hewlett foundation. for more than 50 years, advancing eas and supporting institutions to promote a better world. at www.hewtt.org. >> and with the ongoing sunsort of thesetutions: and individuals. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public bsting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: the world health organization is warning tonight that the coronavirus is acceleting. more than a fifth of the global population has now been ordered or urged to stay home, including in a growing number of u.s. states.

overall, the u.s. has 35,000 cases, with more than 400at . and, military field hospitals are heading to new york and seattle.eg amna nawazs our coverage. >> nawaz: the week beg w with an urgening from the u.s. surgeon general: >> i want america to understand, this week it's gonna g. and we really need to come togeer as a nation. right now, there are not enough people out there who are taking this serioly. >> nawaz: the true scope of infection remains unknown,d nd is expecte grow, as testing expands. president trump pledged 1.4 million tests would be available this week. but according to one independent tally, the u.s. has conducted fewer than 240,000 to date. severin shwan, the c.e.o. of roche, a coronavirus test developer said today that broad testing in the u.s. could still be "months" away. meanwhile, on capitol hill, lawmakers working to stem the economic fallout with a

bipartisan smulus bill, have yet to strike a deal, leading to appeals for urgent action. >> we don't have another day. >> nawaz: republican senator susan collins of maine: >> never have i seen republicans and democrats fail to come together when confronted with a crisis, we did so after 9/11, we did so with the financial meltdown in 2008. we don't have another day, we don't have another hour, we don't have another minute to nlay acting. az: democratic senator sherrod brown of ohio echoed collins' call that congress learn from the past, and ensure edmoney goes where it's ne >> we have to show the people we serve that we learned from10 congress' mistakears ago when the banks didyoery well thanand wall street again will do very well thank you under the mcnnell plan. we have to come together to put money in people's pockets >> nawaz: that, as the first

senator test positive for the virus, rand paul of kentucky on sunday spurs colleaguewith whom he had close contact-- utah senators mike lee and mitt romney-- to self-quarantine. as congress hammers out a plan, an aggressfort to keep the economy afloat by the federal reserve, announcing today it would buy as much government- backed debt as possible. and leaders at the state level measures like lock to stop the virus spread. the latest? maryland, massachusetts, michigan, indiana, and wisconsin. across the globe, city streets ueprime minister johnson ia nationwide order banning all gatherings of more than two people. >> iiswill give the br people a very simple instruction. you must stay at home. >> those restrictions mirror measures taken by germany where today public health officials said they appear to be >> ( translated ): we are seeing signs that the exponential growth curve is flattening off

slightly. but i am optimistic that the erasures are already having an effect, which isearly because they have only been in place for a week.>> awaz: worldwide, though, another sobering milestone, as the total number of cases s 350,000, and with the virus continuing to spread to more vulnerae populations, the u.n. secretary general called for a global ceasefire. >> the fury of the virus illustrates the folly of war. that is why today i calling for an immediate global ceasefire in all corners of the world. it is time to put armed conflict on lockdown and focus together on the true fight of our lives. >> nawaz: a fight that in many corners, is only just beginning. for the pbs newshour, i'm amna nawaz. >> woodruff: wall street lost more ground today, despite the federal reserve's latest actions. the dow jones industrial average slid 582 points-- 3%-- to close at 18,591.

the nasdaq fell 18 pois, and the s&p 500 dropped 67. analysts say investors are waiting for congress to act onco anmic rescue package. we get more now on that situation, from congressional correspondent lisa desjardins. so lisa, it is not just the markets are waiting, but a lot of americans who are out of work are waiting. what is e holdup? >> well, judy, tonight it's been a two different views. what is what you see inpulic swi tension and dam drama on the floor of the senate. but the more impoant viewis behind the scenes. steadily through the day.ng on we're told that the two sides are coming closer. st now republican leaders, left the meeting saying they don't think they will get a deal tonight but thercould be one tomorrow what is the holdup? a good question. primarilst around a stablization fund for larger compinies. we're taabout 500 billion

that republicans proposed.hi you may see in a graphic. and democrats are concerned that they need mors e protectior workers. that those loans need to have guaranteed that the companies ll keep employees on payroll. dem krapts are concerned about provisions that republicans they think give secretary of the tresh ruhr steve munchin too much leeway to give out cash to these corporations. so judy, this is a sticking point tonight. how do thecome up with al inat does protect workers from large busses but which republicans don't think is too onerous on those businesses. >> woodruff: wold love to know what is going on inside those negotiations. but mean time lisaka, spe nancy pelosi has come up with her own proposal for all of this. what do we know,s she going her own way or what? >> i tell you what, i think right now this is nancy peosi being a smart negotiator, whatever package the senate needs to pass the hse, ultimately. and she was sound happy with the senate bill that she said i'm ing to put out my own bill. she has that in reserve if she

wants to vote it but right now i think this is mostly a tool of negotiation for her let me show you what she is proposing. a 2.5 trillion dollar deal. she would like to increase the amount of money for hospitals and for the medical care around the country. also she would rai those directayment checks to americans to $1500 per person. the republican proposal is 1200. and also she would incrse the amount of money directly helping states as well as ford unemployment money to help the elections in november. as itsay, ugh, this is-- pelosi has a large bill, 1400 pages but it remains to be seen if they will vote on this or this is something she is using to pressure the senate to cme more in her diretion. >> woodruff: so lisa, as those talks in the senate gon, you have reported today about how on the floor of the senate tensions just spilled right out into the >> right, this is what we have seen on the senate floor. this is over two votes called

clowch other, that is trying to start debate on this bill, even though there is no firm bill in e senate. democrats blocked that. some republicans felt that was completely irresponsible. that is debatable. both sides have different views on that. but listen to what happened on the senate floor when senator collins triereto getcognized today and then senator schumer, you can hear all of the tension mount in this short clip. >> mr. preendent. >> theor from maine. >> mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that proceedings under the quorum bee dispwith. >> is there objection. >> thank you, mr. prident. >> i object. >> the democratic leader. >> this is unbelievable. >> hearing something like that from susan collins is rare, judy. was the only reporter in the chamber. collins walked over, pointed her finger at schumer, got close to him and really just unleashed at him. so there is-- it is a very

emotional time for most members of the senate. tensions rising even as tals try to stay calm. enough going on, l theis is not senate is dealing with its own l.ronavirus crisis, if you wil senator rand paul has now been dying notioned. and he was just inthe senate mingling with other senators yesterday. >> brief really a lot of frustration from the parties with senator paul nd his disismghts in at the capitol you distancingeryone is them sechs even more. jiis say huddle, a gagem we had with senatol manchin, quu see reporters and senators staying farther apart. i was seeing in the chamber senators are not socialll distancinghe time. st a give-and-take. people are washing their hands but clearly there is mo of an understanding of the problem today than there was yesterday beuse of senator paul. >> woodruff: perhaps they are all convinced that everybody else is inc the lear. we'll see. lisa desjardins, thank you very t ch.

grporting. >> woodruff: as you know, t ere's growing concern around the country abw frontline healthcare workers will deal with a potential surge of patients and the fears doctors, nurses and others have for their own safety, as well as for their families. william brangham and i are going to explore many of those questions this evening with several voices. let's focus first with william on the biggest hotspot in the u.s. >> brangham: we begin with a view from one emergency room in new york city, one of the cities hardest hit by this outbreak so far. for that, i'm joined by dr. billy goldberg. he's an emergency room physician at n.y.u. langone health. dr. goldberg, thank you very much for doing this.ve can you just s a sense of what st like in the hospital day? >> it changes every day.

so you know, what it was like and what it is like today is a things are, are gtting real here in new york. we're getting sier and ker patients. we are all concerned about what is going to happen in the days and weeks to come. but we're hanging in there. this is what we are trained fo as emergency medicine doctors. we are there for you. >> o of the things wvee read a good deal about is this concern that there is simply not enough protective gear for masks, face shields, gowns forpe le like yourself. are you guys okay on equipment right now? >> so describe okay. we're not exactly where we want to be. nyu and-- are doing everything we can to get what we need. on a normal day when we see a patient like a patient with covid, we would be frepue tot on the full protective equipment that we need. when we leave the room, we

change that equipment and put on ext equipment for the patient.that is not the case no. we do have equipment for the short-term but we don't know at is going to happen. and we are doing things like iting a mask for the entire shift until advicably is soiled. and those are things that are u tricky fon the problem. >> so normally you would take one mask, one face sheeld per patient. yeah, the whole thing is you want to protect yourself, you want to take anything that may have gotten on that, carefullya remove thek and dis card it and then you start fresh with the next patient.e sometimes we hat we are calling super spreader events. these are events such as a incubation which is when we have to put a breathing tube down somebody's takeia. these are super spreader events because the virus is spread much more rapidly because we are aerosoiliz,ing the virus virus, most we talk about drop lets but because of the proximity to the airway,

exposu more risky for those of us in the health-care field. so were trying to really protect ourselves during tho times. and we have a shield that kind of protects-- protects the mask so you are hoping no splash gets on the mask. but when the virus is everywhere, st inevitable, you know, these precautions are not perfect. >> so you are talking about the need to put someone on a ventilator. that is something else we have heard there that we simply don't have ough ventilators for all the patients that mightneed them. are you equipped well enonoug or not? >> so again, now, yes. but tomorrow we don't know. we are seeing more andor patients. we have a-- at the end of ery day and occasionally we will put one or two people in the shift on a vent later. yesterday i got a shift with ten people in one 12 hour period. and you know, the numbers are ju increasing. we don't know where this is

going. so we need more supplies. >> so many of us, of course, are following what is going on with the medical aff and at all those hospitals in italy. and the hearwrching struggles that they had to make about who to care for and who not simply because they had run out of that capacity. were you following that? dispatches from doctors and were you talking mongsz your colleagues about this? >> so it did a very active thing a lot of us are doing.ly not o follow the stories like everybody, but also to learn about the disease process. so iswe are learning things all the time to our physician chat groups, through some of these online-- and yeah, we're following it. and we think about patients, what is in their best interest. we try to discuss events, directives. it igoing to become a much different situation. because as we get closer to the running out of these supplies we will have to make tough decisions about who is the

highest licklihood of survivorring. and that may mean you're not providing this high level care have had a chance. >> and how are you, i'm just curious,ow are you personally doing. this seem ises to be something that much of the nation is armed about in watcng the news and scared and worried and hoping for the best. but as someone who is onviously he front lines of all of this, how are you personally doing? >> we are hanging in there. this is what we are trned to do. it is scaishy. we are still trying to protect r sem-- our families and protect ourselves. people-- the er doctors now, our medicine floors, and all the people who work in the hospital are also dealing with it the clerks. the people who clean the floors. we are all toether in this. it is a scary time. i think our reserve is is a little low so small things will tip us off. but we are trying to do the best

we can to seek solace in the people who are doing the samed thing st keep pushing along. >> okay, dr. billy goldberg from nyu langone health, thank you so much. and utst of luck to you o there. >> thank you. >> brangham: and now we turn to get a broader perspective, how an entire health system is preparing for this outbreak. for that, i'm joined now by dr. anish mahajan, he's the chief medical officer for harbor- u.c.l.a. medical center which is operated by the los angeles county health depant. . mahajan, thank you very much for being with us. could you just give us a sevens how your hospital system is doin how are preparations going? >> well, we are workiyng ver hard to be prepared for a larger number of patients tha we anticipate, as we get into the curve. here in southern california we are maybe a few days behind new york city and other places certainly around the world. and so we are working very hard

to increase our capacity for icu level care and other types of care. >> approximately how many covid patients do you have right now?w >> well,ll speak for the public hospital system in l.a. orunty. we have about temaybe a few more than that that are confirmed positive. but as you kno v there isry little testing available. we know that in the community of l.a. county thare likely to be many more confirmed cases of covid. we just don't have the ability. to test th >> so is that your sense that absent good testing we really just don't understand w widespread t virus is right now? >> that rrect. we have proxies without testings such as patithat we where seeing presenting with flu-like so that gives us a sense. but we know already that there is community transmission occurring here in southern cal and many other places in the nation, commsiunity transm being patients acquiring the infection but not really knowing that they had contact with

someone who was positive. >> you mentioned that the systemwide you are going through a lot of preparation. wh does that preparation ok like? what are you actually doing? >> well, a number of things. one of the first things we're doing are making sure we have sufficient protective gear on hand and using that ptective gear wisely and when it st solutely needed to protect staff from getting the infection. the second thing we're doing is making sure we are protecting patients from each other. ensuring that patients that have systems that areflu-like or in this case coronavirus, are separated from other patients that we are the third thing we have done is of course cancelled all nonessential care such as nossential clinic visits, operations and surgeries. we're doing that one so people can stay out of the hospital and clinics, so they can be safe. >> and are you confident that do you have enoughctive gear? do you have enough ventilators.

do youave enough bs to all of those things if the spike is as as many people fear the worst could be? >> well, we are working very rd to shore up our resources on all of those things. you know, you have heard d al of us flow that there are a few global shortages in ote aive geit relates to vebt laters, same thing. at allures dictio levels of government are helping us find ttihose ventors. but perhaps the most significant problem is that we need staffing lur these critical care beds. so we are askingzs who used to practice clinical care who may be in admistrative roles to reacquaint themselves with how it is to take care of patients. because there ally going to be an all hands on deck approach if we dobility flat-- don't flaten the curve. >> what is the general sense amongst the st. for those us who are reading seems to be a great deal ofhere concern amongst medical staff about the difficult road that lies ahead. how are staff tellingyou how

are they doing, how are they coping with all of this? >> well, i think americans know the people who come to work in hospitals and clinics are compassionate, and these are not just the doctors and nurses, also the clerks, the people who clean the rooms and make sure they are safe is and turn ov the rooms. these people are very compassionate and mission deliver en. showing courage.ng is they are in a public health crisis like this where infection can transmitted so easily, naturally our staff want to continue theo helpr patients in the community but they also have to protect themselves. so yes, we are seeing a lot of anxiety among all levels of staff about whether thmay bring the infection home to their kids or to their parents. who do they protecvet thems when we have shortages of protective gear. >> we know your governor newsom issued basically a stay at home order forth entire state. is it your sensehat peple

have you noticed more peoplehat? seeming to stay away, to stay at home, to isolate themselves?er >>inly we have probably all seen the reports that l.a. freeways are no longerked. we can get around easily. pollution is down in major cities that have stay at home orders. >> that is say silver lining to this crisis, i take it. >> right, and a proxy that people are generally staying home. thataid, there are grous of people who maybe don't yet understand the message. and particularly young people. young people in general feel they are invisible, so it is extraordinarily important that everybody heed the stay at home order so they protect the entire mmunity and protect us from the infection spreading verypi leave. as you know the infection spreads rapidly we will be overwhelmed in being able to take care of the patients that need the help.

>> dr. anish mahajan, chief medical officer of harbor ucla medical center. thank you very much. and from all of us, best of luck to out there. >> thank you very much. >> woodruff: >> woodruff: that all brings u a arger look at what can be done in the u.s. to protect frontline workers and lessen the spread of covid-19. in a piece just published for the new yorker, doctor atules gawande writbout very specific lessons he sees from hong kong, singapore and south korea. dr. gawande is a surgeon at the brigham and women's hospital in boston and the c.o. of haven, a joint health care venture created by amazon, berkshire hathaway and j.p. morgan. and, he is a staff writer for the new yorker. he joins me by skype from boston. dr. gawande, thank you so much for talking with us. so we just did hear from an er physician and also the c.e.o. of a hospital about how difficult conditions are for the workers in these hospitals health

care settings. you have been looking at lessons learned possibly from asia. what are you finding? are seeing in italy is thet we hospitals themselves have become a source of infection. by contrast in hong kong and singapore, they were le to control the infectvery effectively. they had a play book and it worked. they managed t keep infections spreading inside hospitals to patients or to clinicians. and so we need to follow that playbook. >> woodruff: and what are some have written about this, about the type of masks they wore anwd ng they wore them, about simple things like hand washing. what did you e? >> well, first of all they started by saying when you come in to rk, they would do a health check on every health care work to seee, do you hav any symptoms like a fever, akoff. or any other kinds of flu-like symptoms. and then you would have to stay home. number two, everybody wor surgical mask when they came

into work and kept that mask on all day. health care workers but also because we are picking up infections in thcommunity as workers ourselves, and we don't want to spread it to coagues and to others. there is a third one is that you really need to separate the respiratory patients in their own clinics, in thr own wards if you have a respiratory sim is tomorrow, from the people who have nonrespiratory symptoms. keep them out, different tea, different line of traffic. and we need to be preparing to do all of these things. >> >> woodruff: and through all of this are you getting a better understanding of how long this virus lingers and how long it lingers on different kinds of surfaces? >> well, so it does linger long do regular cleaning, cleane to between each patient who comeso in the m on the surfaces. the second, one of the interesting things, i als

shows us that you don't have to be a total draconian. in singapore, for example, when you d, they didot automatically quarantine everybody who was exposed to a they only sent you home to be in quarantine if youwere within six feet of the patient for more than 30 minut with no mask on.t and ths effective. what that tells you that if you have a ief momentary exposure within six feet to someone who has coronavirus, that you don't have to fear that that is necessarily going to cause it to spread. it comes from substantial time together. >> so the duration of exposure, you are saying, really could make a difference. >> the duration of exposition sure and how close you were. and of course makes sure that you, if you had your hands touching athing that might have secretary relations on sh,-- is he kretions on it that are u ing your hands.

>> woodruff: and i'm sure you the debate between presidentut trump and some of the people around him aboerut whethese very restrictive measures that are being put in place in the united stes, state by state, maybe doing more harm than good. some people are questioning whether people will be bette off if the economy, if thep entire eyment picture isn't allowed to collapse. and some of thesioe restri are lightened up. >> well, i think in two weeks we're going to see the onslaught ofases andnderstand we are not ready to lift the we are, what happened inuhan after lockdown was it was three torour weekness la that you hit the peek of the overrun of thhospitals. then if we are successful staying at home and locking down the way we have, we should see that that peek starts to come down and sewe starteing evidence of that. we'll hopefully have testing

moving and more supplies, and that will low us to begin to look at ways to get people back to work. my bott line here is i'm so frommed in what is happening and making health care workers safe. because if those measures make them safe, those measures will allow all of us too get back to work again. to take several more weeksgoing before we have any idea. >> i expectetin the flex two four weeks we will understand whether these combination of measures keep us from infecting fellow colagues and getting infection from patients. if those work, that will shous over the next few weeks ways we can start mong people back to work jz dr. a tul gawande, thank you so much. >> thank you. >> woodruff: in the day's other news, democratic presidential candidatbiden pressed

president trump to use his fullh ity against the coronavirus. the former vice president also rejected a republican economic rescue bill as a bailout for big companies. we'll return to the campaign, later in the program. there's word that this summer'so o olympics will be postponed due to the viral pandemic. ound, an american member of the international olymp commtee, said today the game will likely take place next year. a growing chorus oons has called for a postponement. u.s. secretary of state mike pompeo made a surpse visit to afghanistan today, trying to end talks with the tal. blocking he met with president ashraf ghani and chief rival abdullah abdullah. both men declared themselves the country's rightful leader after a disputed election. pompeo left later, and flew to doha to meet with taliban officials. and, back in this country,

pacific gas and electric agreed to plead guilty to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter. the victims died in a northern california wildfire that destroyed parts of three towns, in november 2018. the utility now admits that faulty equipment started the fire. it will also pay $4 million in fines. still to come on the newshour: the virus in wartime-- covid-19 arrives in conflict zones across the globe. amy walter and tamara keith break down the politics of a pandemic. g plus, what to read durine long days of social distance. >> woodruff: fighting the coronavirus is hard enough in united states and n like the

europe. but as nick schifrin reports, areas with active conflicts and large refugee populations,he problems are even harder, and growing more dire. >> schifrin: borders don't stop viruses and pandemics don't stop war. nd the victims of war, ha protection. in northwest syria, the war is older than the children. pediatrician omar hammoud tries to ease his displaced patients' worrs. but he is worried. >> (th translated ): the ts, if the illness spreads, it will be very hard to contain. u see the way things are here in the camp. people are close to each other, one tent next to the other. >> schifrin: these syrian space to practice social distancing. they don't enough water to drink, let ane wash their hands. they don't have money, to buy soap. >> ( translated ): they gave us awareness sessions and one bar of soap each, but this is not enough.

we ask for disinfectants, sanitizers for the camp. we ask the united nations, we call upon the world to help us. >> schifrin: the world has 25 million refugees, and 40 million internally displaced. nowhere are they more vulnerablo than ws, where efforts to fight the virus are patchy. in idlib, syria, local workers hand out cov-19 pamphlets. but the local medical leader tells pbs newshour there are only 200 intensive cds, for the entire region. in yemen, women weave masks for what health officials call covid-19's inevitable arrival. but half of all mecal facilities aren't fully functional, and medicine, equipment, and testing are limid. in libya, there's a state of emergency, and this cell phone video shows fire trucks on all sides, spraying disinfectant. in afghanistan, ministry of health workers disinfect governmentffices. but whole swaths of the country, are left uncovered.

that helped inspire toy's global ceasefire call by un secretary general antonio guterres. >> silence the guns, stop the this is crucial to help create corridors for lifesaving aid, to open precious windows for diplomacy, to bring hope to places among the most vulnerable to covid-19. >> schifrin: david milliband is president and c.e.o. of the international rescue committee a global humanitarian relief organization. f vit latem its control room and the studio, are you isolating at home, i want to talk to you about a statement you made about how covid-19 can thrive in war gloarns. just how vulnerable are the refugees, are they internally displaced, are the people who are living in eetion countries where the health-care system has been broken by . >> your excellent report showed exactly the challenge. it is tough enough to beat covid when you have the best public health systems in the world.

we're talking about places where there isn't the hand washing facilities, there aren't the health facilies and i northwest syria where there are 0 international rescue committee staff working today, 85 he alth system-- alth facilities have been bombed by the syrian government and their russian suprtedders. so you see the conflict is standing in the way of preg a public health emergency. st thanks to the ngo workers on the ground we have a fighting chance of using a bit of time to prevent the spread of the disease. >> you have a $30 million campaign out to try and help some of these peopled the world suffering from covid-19. threatens these countries at we are talking about, syria and elsewhere, st willalso threatening places like the united states, places in the westhat are usually the humanitarian givers, usually the humanitarian doaners. how goch of this ing to de press some of those donations and number.r >> ourment is it would be the utter follow to use this

isis as a moment to international aid it makes far more sense to recognize at covid-19 proves that we're an interconnected world and he only way tamp out this crisis is to treat it we have the giftme in that most of the war zones of the world haven't yet been hit by the full force of covid-19. and we need to use that time to install the hand washing statio, to make sure there is the triaging of people to make sure those showing temperature are separated. and to make sure we get the fertion out by trusted people on the ground. that is what our $30 million appeal is designed too. we have 13,000 aid workers around the world and 17,nt000 vors who support them ready to spring into action. but we need that support to make sure that this disease is stamped >> you are absolutely right. this is not universal across these war zones, yemen, for example, doesn't have a single oase although officials there d expect cases to increase. we saseu.n. cretary general

call for a global ceaissefire. has suggested that its fighters shouldn't go to europe, the european union said don't send any weapons into libya. is there actually a chance for some of the olenceross the world to de crease? >> well, the lasttime i came on this program i bemoan an crieses of diplomacy allowing in timand claie civilianextend lives. sth a moment for the world to recoolize that the unsd problem of global glairks the unsolved problems of refugees, of war, of health system tion are not in place, it really needs to be address-- addressed. and at the moment it is the ngo, the front lines trying to make a difference. shouldn't just wake up to the problem immediately in front of it. the developed world has got to t recognize ths is an international crisis and needs to be treatedchas >> and i only have about 30 seconds le but i think this is

vital and you suggested it nyfore but let me ask you again. so maamericans, so many people watching this are scared aboutheir families, their communities, their country. what is your message to them utout why they should care abo these people thousands of miles away who are already so vul never-- vulnerable. >> i share the fears of all americans who are worried about their own health care and their own health. but what i say to them is thatre mber this country was built on a big heart but also a sound head, straight tnking. and straiginking tells you that this disease needs to be beaten everywhere if we are all to be safe, appeal to the head and the heart. >> david milli banked band, president & ceo of the international scue committee. thank you very much. >> thank you very much indeed. >> woodruff: another feature of american life transformed by the coronavirus: political

campaigns. the two democratic presidential candidates, former vice president joe biden and vermonte senator beanders, are no longer doing in-person campaigning, and are usingre lives to address the pandemic. we'll hear from both candidates and then, hn yang takes a look at where things stand in the race for politics monday. >> let me be clear: donald trump is not to blame for the coronavirus. but he does bear responsibility for our response. and i along with every american hope he steps up and starts to get this right. no, this isn't about politics. this is simply too much at stake. >> we will not accept profiteering and greed and corporations and individuals trying to rip off people in the dst of this crisis. not acceptable. and i don't think trn do the right thing on this, but

congress must do the right thing: >> yust as the presidential moves adapts to social distancing, so does politics monday. r joining otely from arlington is amy walter, the national editor of the cook political report and host of public radio's "politics with amy watler." and via skype om washington, d.c., tamara keith of npr, who is a co-host of the "npr politics podcast." amy and tam, thanks so much for being with us, let me start with you, just three weeks ago we were talking about the big story being joe biden roaring back in south carolina and thesuper tuesday stas. and now that has allnbee overtaken by the coronavirus headlines. what has this done to the campaign? adjusting.en campaign is and that is why you saw that ve stream. a few days ago biden saiyou know, we're working on it my team is working to set up aud in my house. and there you have it, there it was. they have upgraded his live

stream. they have upgraded his internet. the sanders campaign actually already had a prettrobust live streaming system set up. they had been streaming all the rallito supporters. but certainly for the bidentr campaign, he'ting this much like he is the ple su tiff nominee even though he isn't saying this. and he is focused on president trump and trying to counterbalance the daily live press briefings that are happening as we speakthat president trump is able to have. >> and amy, on sithe othee the delegate selection protes-- process ireally frozen. primaries have been delayed. the local andtate and county conventions have been postponed. but bernie sanders is still in the race, has not dropped out.wh is the state of his campaign? >> well, i think the state of th democratic primary right now is in limbo but it's also over.

and bernie sanders in order to win the nomination would need to win whenever these primaries eventually do happen, about 64% of the remaining delegates, remember about 60% of all delegates have already been selected. so this is going to be very difficult. there has not been one state since-- on or nce super tuesday that it he has been able to get even close to that number. so tam's right. essentially the de nominee at this point. i think there is something else to talk about here,john, swi it it was about three weeks ago we were talking all about super tuesday. the weeks ago the conventional citying about this election innd general was,t had been this way for the last two years, how does apersonally unpopular president win re-election. the way he with could do that is lean in on a god economy and about the fact that thisking president has gone from peace and prosperity president to a

wartime president. and the question isn't will he be able to line into how great the comple is, it will be how he will be judged on bringing back economy that is expected to hit the kind ofrecession we may never have seen, certainly in our lietime. wao we have literally overnight changed the very in which this scam pain is going to be run in ternlof the messaging, not only the way that we're communicating. >> and tam, what about that. you covered the white house for npr. as you say, he is now onve television day with these briefings. but he is no longer going t holding rallies. he is no longer campaigning. what is this doingto his drive for re-election. >> well, on the messaging, it has been really interesting to watch. he is now talking about how great the economy was, ht before coronavirus hit, rightli before phealth measures

were fired, the economy too essentially be shut down. his campaign is continuing to run a campaign. and what i mean by that is they are doing virtual training, much like on the democratic sired things have gone virtual on the republican side they have gone virtual. pley are reaching out to peo who attended the president's rallies, and aren't registered to vote. and encouraging them to register tovote virtually. but rallies were the centerpiece of trump's campaign before this. >> but no more. tamara keith, amy walter, that is it for politics monday. sthaw investment. >> you're welcome.f: >> woodrate this evening, there was another briefing at the white house. esident trump again was flanked by those leading the government's fight against covid-. our yamiche alcindor is athe white house and joins me now.

so yam opene, bring us yamiche, what you have you been learing.t >> the presi been stressing that he is doing all that he can to fight off the coronavirus and its spread in the united states. he said he had a message for americans, swi the government is doing everybody possible to get redical supplies to health systems. he also said he is really making sure people have what they need when it comes to essentials like hand sanitizer andother things. but the president also stressed that he is eager to get the economy back on track. and all day, judy, white house sources have been telling me th presids looking at possibly trying to see whether or not he will add just the white housea guide lines expire a week from today. here is what he said specifically about the economy. >> america will again and so be open for business, very soon. a lot sooner than thr or four months that somebody was suggesting. a lot seern. we cannot let the cure be worse than the problem itsele we t going to let the cure be worse than the problem. saying that the economy is going

to be starting up sooner than peop say, sooner than people are recommending. but also saying that the coronavirus outbreak could last s the ittes until august. and health care officials have said and stressed that social distancing is going to be key to fighting the virus. the other thing that thepr ident said that was a little misleading and different from what the experts are saying, he said the virus has spread to 148 countries strks actually 16 according to his administraon, the cdc. the other thinto kno the esident did say and had a message for asian americans, he didn't use chinese virus, a term he has been getting pushback for, he stressed the fact that asian americans should not be attacked or targeted. he said they are special people in this country and are helping fight the virus along with other all other americans here.n >> woodruff:dition to, that we know there has been some signaling from the whitehouse, maybe from the president themselve that there may be a change in thonese guide from the white house for the 15 day

period. what are you hearing about that? >> that's right, for a long time states were saying that they wanted federal guidance to figure out whether or not bars should clo, whether restaseants should cwhether people should be gathering in crowds of ten or more. nge white house came out with guide lines sa yes, people should stay at home when they can. they said workers if you ca work from home, you should. but the president stresses that was a 150 day guidance and he would assess it. now white house sources are telling me that the guide lines are set to expire on monday. they might actually either be ended or comanged. also viceesident pence said the cdc would come out with new guide lines which would makeit available for boarks who have reen exposed to the virus to go back to k, leaving some sort of musk-- mask he said. we are not qomuiteeer what workers would be clear to go back to work or the guide lines specifically. but it is pretty remarkable thas this admation could tell workers they can go back to work when we have masks that are ishn direortage of hospitals. and this administration has said

any masker gowns or medical equipment, that that should be used for health-care officials that are tngaoronavirus cases, so what we have here is this idea that the trumpmi stration might be allowing people to go back to work with supplies that hospitals and health care workers need. >> woodruff: and yamiche, very quickly, anti-mall aria medicine the sprecommend what do we know about that. >> the president has been saying that there is a sort of medicine that is reused toat mall aria, that it might be something that s. effective for the coronavi i have been talkingto fda officials have been stressing all day that none ofthat has been cleared. no medication at all has been approved by the fda to treat the ercoronavirus. was a man who unfortunately died eelf-medicating on some of the medication that president has been recommending. so health officials are really sounding the alarm and saying hold on, let's wait well. will have trials in new york and other states before anythings approved. >> woodruff: yamiche alcindor, thank you very much.

>> thanks so much. >> woodruff: many of us are spendi more time at home sheltered in place. over the next few days we are going to share suggestions on filling that time. jeffrey brown begins tonight with advice on books y might enjoy, part of our ongoing arts and culture series canvas.e >> brown: y of coping, taking comfort or making sense of the world during difficult moments is through reading. to help us with recommendations, i'm joined by ann patche, one of our nation's leading authors. her most recent book is "the dutch house." she's also the co-owner of parnass books in nashville. ann, nice to see you. thanks so much for doing thisus fo ann, what is reading doing for us now? >> well, there are all sts of things pouring in and my heart is really going out to writers who have books coming out right now who should be on book tour and their book tours have been canceled. so there are a lot of bos that i just don't want people to miss. and i would start off with

louise erdrich's wonderful, wonderful book, "th" nightwatchman. this is my very favorite of her books. it's a novel based on her gr helping native american people hold onto theig'land. lily k"writers and lovers" is wonderf and calming and mantic. >> brown: that's two fiction books, right? >> so in nonfiction, if you want something that's just going to make you laugh your head off, go for r. eric thomas' "herfor it."of it's a boossays. he writes for elle, he writes a lot of political things, butea these are justy laugh-out- loud funny. if youant something more serious, but surprisingly not too heavy, "the story of more" by hope jahren, which is a book about climate change that is calmnd kind of lays it out in a way that makes us feel more manageable. i think if you feel overwhelmed by the idea of sitting down with

a grown up novel, it's a great time to look at some fiction and nonfiction for younger readers.a dicamillo novels are the best. my very favorite is "the magician's elephant." she, of course, wrote because of winn-dixie. but you can have a full finished with it in an hour and a half or two hours. p >> brown: you'posing a book like that for all of us. right. >> your kids are reading klle dicaand you're reading it, too, you're gointo love it as much as your kids are. it is jason reynold's working with abneham ken and st the retelling of abraham kendy book which was sam from the beginning which came out in 2016, won the national book award. sth say you adult version and of course jason reynolds ask one of our greatest young adult writers. he wrote long way down, which is a book that i love.

anyway, he is terrific. >> how about the >> brown: how about the classics you and i taed about?le peeally want to actually take the time and sink their teeth into something. >> okay, so war and peace, right? it sounds almost like a joke, except the brilliant novelist yiyun li has started a war and peace book club online. so it's a public space. you read 12 pages a day of war and peace in a whole community of readers. and the next thing you know, you've read the book and the pandemic is over and you've read war and peace, which is terrific another thing that would be really fun to do if you have r some timd david copperfield. maybe you read it in high school, maybe you never read it at all. m itvery favorite dickens, but read it with the goldfinch by donna tart and see all the pallels between dickens an donna tart. so that would be two great

classic exercises. >> brown: what's flying off thet shelvearnassus and maybe >> cookbooks!res -- cookbooks? company, it makes perfect sense. we're all stuck at home. we want to cook. so, melissa clark, "dinner in tfrench" is a cookbot i love. melissa clark does a lot of recipes for the new york times. also, the's a new book by rose levy beranbaum called "rose's baking basics." and i have been using her books foreve so if you want to pull out the flour d the sugar and the measuring cups and get down to some serious baking, highly recommend "roses bang basics." that's hard to say fast. >> brown: before we go, you're a small business owner yourself. right. the importance of this moment for supporting local businesses? >> it's really true. we at parnassus, we're not open to the public, but we're still fulfilling online orders.

we have curbside delivery. lots and lots of small so if you want a book, take a minute. find out what yoin local pendent store, where they are, who they are, if they'reen nd selling books and take the trouble to order your books om your local independen bookstore. we want to make sure that the small businesses in our community also survive this time. >> brown: all right. great advice. ann patchett, thank you very much. >> thanks, jeff. >> woodruff: we've produced a special episode of o c podcast on tonavirus outbreak, how did this panmic begin, and how do you protect yourselves and your community. find it now on our website, pbs.org/newshour/podcasts, or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. join us online and again here

tomorrow evening. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you, stay safe, and see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> on an american cruise lines journey along the columbia and snake rivers, travelers retrace the route forged by lewis and clark, more than 200 years ago. american cruise lines' fleet of victorian-yle paddlewheelers and modern riverboats travels through american landscapes to historic landmarks, where you can experience local customs and cuisine. american cruise lines. proud sponsor of pbsewshour. >> and by the alfred p. sloan foundation. su,orting science, technolo and improved economic performance and financial

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♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ -today on "america's test kitchen"... elle makes bridget a foolproof kung pao chicken... adam reveals his favorite heavy-duty cutting board... and dan makes julia the perfect oven-steamed fish with scallions and ginger.