captioninsored by p newshourroductions, llc >> woodruff: good evening, i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight, deaths covid-19 top 40,000, as ther country continues to grapple with when to reopen for business then, amy walter and tamara keith analyze the politics of the pandemic, anhow the trump administration is responding tol the historic cge. plus, a close look at american agriculture. why farm workers find themselves especially vulnerable, and what it means for the food supply. >> you've got families living together. so it makes social distancg hard. we know that often times they are traveling to work in a truck and they're all piling up together. >> woodruff: all that and more

on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> the william and flora h.lett

foundati for more than 50 years, advancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better world. at www.hewlett.org. go >> and with the g support of these institutions: and individuals. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: there are forecasts tonight that the worst of the covid-19 pandemic is still ahead, even after the current wave passes. the warnings come as deaths in the united states have nearly doubled from a week ago. but also at the same time

momentum is building here andes abroad to liftictions. william brangham begins our coverage. >> we are ready to reopen tennessee! >> brangham: more protests occurred today as debate heated up across the country, -- to reopen the economy. from tennessee to washington state today,pponents of shutdowns, some carrying weapons, blasted theirta governors'at-home orders. d 45 days with no pay. we've been affec the virus in our family. and it's not a joke. but you know, not letting people ishave food on their tablet a joke either. >> brangham: but the "washington e st" and others report, s these demonstrations are in part being orchestrated by pro-gun, far-right groups on social media. and recentublic opinion polls show a strong majority of americans, over 80%, keeping up distancing measures to control the virus. at the same time, even though the protests are often in

opposition to his own public health officials, the president has urged them on, tweeting that states need to be "liberated." >> these are great people. look, they want to get-- they call it "cabin fever." you've heard the term. they've got cabin fever. they want to get back. >> brangham: amid pressure to reopen, some manufacturers, likn boeing in waon state, are getting ready to put thousands of people back to work this week. gorng ga's governor announced he some other businesses reopen this frievment but dr. anthony fauc but dr. anthony fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, warned today that states could see a new outbreaks if restrictions are lifted too soon. >> if you jump the gun and go into a situation where you have a big spike, you're gonna set yourself back. in new york emphas today,leaders even as the state's death toll dipped to its lowest point in more than two weeks. >> we're going to be srt about

how we come back. we're going to be smart about how we turn the corner. we'rnot going to let our foo off the gas prematurely. >> brangham: local leaders say it's a decion that hinges on the capacity for much more widespread testing, which is still lacking in much of the country. the president on sunday argued again that, in his words," a testing ocal thing," and not the federal government's responsibility. but maryland's governor, republican lry hogan rejects that idea. >> to try to push this off to say that the govnors have plenty of testing and they should just to get to work on testing, someh we are not doing our job, is just absolutely false. >> brangham: and today, hogan struck a deal with suppliers i south korea to secure 500,000 tests. testing in the u.s. has partially been delayed due to a shortage of the nasal swabs used to take samples. the president said sunday that he would use the "defense production act" to boost swab

production. new york officials today rolledt out an aody testing program to see if people who've been infected have now developed antibodies which might offer some protection against the virus. it's another crucial test, but dr. fauci cautionethat many of the tests currently being marketed are not reliable. >> point number two,t:hat's imports that we don't know exactly what antibody means. there's an assumption that when you have an antibody that you are protected against re- infection. but that has not beeproven for this particular virus. >> brangham: in genevathe world health organization also warned today that the decision to ease restrictions should be weighed with extreme caution. >> trust us. the worst is yet ahead of us. >> brangham: meanwhile, some nations around the world are moving to regain a sense ofno alcy.

in germany, a nation that did widespread testing, small stores opened their doors to customers today, for the first time inar a month. for the pbs newshour, i'm william brangham. >> woodruff: economic damage p from tdemic knocked the bottom out of the oil market today. the cost of benchmark u.s. crude for delivery in may actually fell below zero. and, that drove down the stock market. rae dow jones industrial a lost 592 points to close at 23,650. the nasdaq fell 89 points, and, the s&p 500 gave up 51 points. the collapse in oil prices comec as some prs are literally running out of places to store unused oil. let's break down more about what's behind these shocking numbers. special correspondent ryan chycote has covered the ene markets for years and joins me from london.

so ryan, what exactly happened toyed? -- today. >> well, look, the price of oil was already cheap. just last we people were paying just $23 a barrel-- $2 a barrel, prices never before seen but the problem people don't have anywhere to put this oil. so if you arer aader on the oil futures market d you arel looking to seil right now, whoever buys it from you has to physically receive, take delivery of that oil and put it somewhere. and since they have e to put it because everywhere you could possibly want to put oil is already ful, you have to pay that person to take the oil. so literally if you want to sell oil, if you want to sell oil pday to someone in the united states you have y them as much as 40 bucks a barrel. now this is a problem that i part is specific to the united states because outside of the u.s. in many places u don't actually have to take physical delianry. so you c kind of kick the can

down the road but even still there are fundamental problems with the oil markets right now. >> well, tell us about what are those? >> well, first off there was nalready a big problem the oil market in the sense that there was too much oil. and the russians and the saudis and the opec countries said saudi arabia that sa aubia leads, they had a production cut and then about a month ago they failed to agree to continue those cuts. and they went into a pce war. they started a battle for mart share, you know, trying to outprice one another, undercu one another or prices that also undercut producers in the united states. the problem judy, is that then covid-19 ha dched amand for oil plummeted. and so even after president trump encouraged them to come back to the table and do another

deal which they did last week by agreeing to cut production by 10 million barrels a day, it was too little, too late. and there is just way too much oil out there. >> woodruff: so this sounds like something that will be very painful for a number of countries. what happens next? >> it is goes to be very painful and it's going to be painful right around the world and the united states. you have the shale producers in laces places likeagle fort texas n north dakota, they are already pumping oi at prices, you know, negative prices, well below theyer used it. so that means they have to stop producing if they can and lay people off. that is one of the reasons why president trumin the last hour said the united states is actually going to buy oion the market and put it in the strategic reserve, 75 mlion barrels. but that will only lead to a short term ndaid to this long-term problem. outside of the united states,

also big trouble. saudi arabia, to balance their budget they need an oil price of about $80 a barrel. the global price for oil right now outside the united states is 125. they are in big trouble. russia is big trouble, nigeria is in big truble, venezuela is in big trouble. all that can really clang things is a, if th pandemic eases and we see some kind of rincover the global economy or if some of these oil-producing countries that need to sell that oil to fill their cough of coffers agree to cut supply by more than they already have. >> woodff: so many repercussions from this pandemic. ryan chilcote, thank you. dr >> wf: in the day's other news, israeli prime minister njamin netanyahu and riv benny gantz reached a three-year ndalition deal, ending a year-

long political sf. netanyahu will serve as prime minister for t first 18 months, followed by gantz. that leaves netanyahu in office duringis upcoming corruption trial. authorits in canada searched for answers today, after a gunman killed 18 people nova scotia over the weekend. it was the country's deadliest mass shooting ever. the gunman was disguised as an officer, attacking some ople in their homes, and setting fire to other hes. today, prime minister justin trudeau said all of canada isng grie >> how could this happen? we may never know why. but we do know this. no one man's action can build a wall between us and a better day, no matter how evil, how thoughtless or how destructive. died, but police gave noalso details. in afghanistan, officials said taliban attacks killed at least

29 security officers on sunday. the violence came as the two sides are negotiating a prisoner exchange. it's supposed to be part of au. -brokered peace plan. back in this country, at least three people died after severe storms swept the deendsouth, on . hail rained down on houston, ani heavy rahattiesburg, mississippi caused flash floods. began today after inds andp at least one tornado struck welast night. ago, tornadoes killed 36 people in the region. the s. supreme court ruled today that state juries must be unanimous to convict ctsminal defend w o states, louisiana and oregon, still alvided juries to reach verdicts. the high court acted in e case of a louisiana man serving a life sentence for murder. and, a federal appeals court says a texas ban on abortions

during the pandemic includes those induced by medication. that overturns a lower court ruling. the state has temporarily baed all abortions as non-essential procedures. still to come on the newshour: how long will it take for america to reopen, and what will it look like once it does? the pandic abroad-- w brazil and afghanistan are coping with the crisis.am amy walter anda keith on washington's latest response to coronavirus, and much more. >> woodruff: as officials arouno the country aridering how to reopen their communities,t there's grncern and debate brewing over how long shutdowns should last and ether re- opening too soon could be

dangerous. donald mcneil reported extensivy on these questions for the "new york times" in a piece that explored how society could be profoundly af and disrupted for the next two years. he's been covering edemics for close to two decades for the times and joins me now. pus. you do open ye our pioting scientists as saying this could last for some time. why? what do they base ?at on >> well, you know, basically they say th at thetion that we're all going to be out of this in two or stlee months and the football stadiums open in the fall and out together is a fantasy that right now somewhere north of 300 milelion amricans are stinl infected and vulnerable to the virus. if we allut go o again, things will look good for two or three weeks and theddn suly the infections will begin to tick up and thenhe emergency rooms

will fill and we'll be back on our way towards two mllion dead which we were when the lockdown started. so that can't happen and we won't really get out of this until we have either a vaccine or a prove lactic pillthat will let us out. >> and the vaccine, we are tol dr. fauci says a year, a year and a half. what do the scientists you talk say about that why it takes so long. >> well, they say look, a yar or 18 month is really optimistic. the record for making vaccine in this country is the mumps vaccine we made in the '50s and it took four years. now things have set up in modern times. we actually have vaccine-- that part is set up, you can make a vaccine candidate very qui evment you can't speed up the immune system, you still have to do the tests in people. and coronaviruses have problems. they have a tendency to create a thing call theib anty enhancement when other vaccines have been made.

which means the vaccine can actually make you more likely to get th disease rather than less which would be a disaster so yo have to test carefully about that and then the production problem. most vaccines are made in batcheof five to 10-- 5 to 10 million doses but if we need a take, that is either 300 million or 600 million disoases if you needwo shots. so that is a whole different trder of magnitude of vaccine production and ng factories working to do that. >> woodruff: a huge almost anag unable amount. what about treatment. you mentioned medicines. whatbout teatments for the coronavirus. could that make a difrence in how people respond? >> it can. and we're in the clnical trials now. d those are going to take probably at least a couple more months depending how many more people get enrolled in the trials and how they go. mostf the medicines we kno something about tend to help people who were alreadynd hospitalizedn trouble rather than being something that

you could pop and take as a pill as you can the prep for hiv. so there has been information from the whiteouse that hydroxychloroquine will work as a preventive.ea nobodyy thinks that. it might help people who are likely to crash, because it st an imme suppress ant but st not an antiviral, most of the antivils we know about are not lazarus drugs, they don't save, they aren't like anti-buy oltics make people come back from near death. so it may be a long time before we have a pill that is proph lactic and then we need to make 300 million doses p day, as ubiquitous as aspirin so thatak willa while too. >> woodruff: and what about test, is there discussion about that no j that there isust not the capacity for testing that is but how much does that matter to getting us even close to back to

normal? >> it matters he nor news-- enormously. when dr. fai said the virus will tell us, what he means is we have to get a stable platform of the same number of tests being done all acrs the country every day and then you, and they have to be raped, you can't have it three, four days, and then you want, you watch that level of testing to see how many positives and neglectfe you get once you have a base. and different people have different estimates as to ho many tests we need. i mean i heard one estimate 750,000 per daivment i heard another estimate from harvard 5hat came out that they think to 10 million per day, per day in order to understanacross e country where the virus is rising or is falling so you would know hey, we've gt a hot spot. we have to go into something more like a lockdown in order to get those people out of the patf he virus. so you will need a lot of testing to be able to process that. >> and so when people say once we begin to say we're part of

the way to normal, how much worry is there that were going to see a resurgence of this. this is not a virus that is just going to go away, is it? believes the virus is going to-- in the summer it ishe spreading inndia, the philippines, in spreading happily in hot wether countries, that is typical of ctimses, if they have vi they have never seen before, a big difference.'t really make the worry is that as we are in lockdown, we may be ammer and the-- the hammer has come down and now we dance out of lockdown for a little while and realize oh we are getting infections and deaths rising so we go back into lockdown an wait a little while, it will drop. and on the ep beam-- epidemiological models it is like shaark speed, deth rising and falling, deaths rising and falling and that could go on are in the we get a vaccine.

some people might delerately decide toin effect them severes to get out, young healthy people. thatill be a very risky thi to do but people may just get really, really fed up of being in lockdown while the rest of the world is out having fun andi taking tjob. there will be a lot of psychological changes in this country over the next cple of years. >> woodruff: and do we ever get back to a precovid normal, if we can remember what that was like? >> hopefully, hopefully there will be a vaccine ultimately. and once we are all potected we are back to the way we are with flu shots and meansle shotsd everything else, life will go back on again. and maybe life will beome better. this is like going through a wamplet and you know, in the post war period world war one and world war ii, people'sti de toward life changed. they wanted a league of nationed, they wanted the united nations, income equality changed.pl life was for pwho lived through that generation, often they recognized it was more

ivecious. likeg through the blitz. people began to know what was important in life and what wasn't. s sort of how i stay hopeful through all of this. we have to go thgh some pain before then. >> woodruff: that is something we can at least hang ono even as we realize the reality of this donald mcneil with "the new york times," thank you so much. >> thank you for inviting me. >> woodruff: covid 19 is disrupting the farming industry on many leve. the trump administration recently announced it ll spend $19 billion to help farmers, but as stephanie sy reports, they aren't the only ones who need help. >> reporter: the cows still have to be milked, but dairy farmers are dumping millions of gallons of their output. endless acres of lettuce remain unpicked at the peak of the spring harvest.

>> it's very difficult, not just for me on the economic side but the emotional side as well. destroying crops, owing theme back into the groun. he you can see all these beautiful beans se plants, that were scheduled to go to the staurant industry. >> reporter: the closure of down the food service industry,t forcing farmers to make difficult decisions.o but if there'sch food, why are grocery store freezers so empty? reckaging and re-routing supply is an involved process, says davpuglia, president and c.e.o. of the western growers association. >> if you think out a grocery store, you're going to see something on the shelf that's packaged for you as a consumer. you go to a restaurant, theye buying in bulk. so we can't unfortunately flip that infrastructure over all that quick. >> reporter: and what about donating the food to charitable food organizations, so desperately demand right now?

food banks only have so much storage and getting the surplus to them also costs money. >> that farmer has to decide whether to spend the money to harvest it, which is the most expensive part of farming in the produce industry. so if you already know you're taking on a percent loss, do you want to make it 160% by harvesting a product that doesn't have a profitae home?r: >> reporeanwhile, the livestock industry is facing other problems.ce meat ping plants around the country have suspended operations due to outbreaks, including one of the nation's largest pork plants in south the smithfield foods plant in sioux falls had hundreds ofem oyees test positive for covid-19, and at least one die.r in r georgia and iowa, the virus has claimed the lives ofs six employ tyson foods and other tyson plants have doze of cases. and in greely, colorado the j.b.s. beef plant has temporarily closed aft least four workers died of the vis. one of them was saul sanchez,

who's daughter and co-workers accuse the plant of king precautions soon enough. >> now they have everything, now they're spacing them, now they're putting pictes everywhere, but it's too late. i mean it's not too late for those employees, but it's too late for my dad. >> reporter: the plant closures may be necessary to ensure worker's safety, but they also mean farmers are running out of places to take their livestock. and the potentiafor a meat shortage looms. thom petersen is minnesota's agriculture commissioner. >> it's been really vast. so it's rely effectively just about every sector of agculture right now. pork is probably the hardest, but also egg farmers, our ethanol farmers, beef.'s an really across the board. things may get worse before they get better. >> reporter: that also may hold true for farmworkers. >> ( translated ): it's a bit complicated. but we work in the fields and we have to put in extra effort to get the work done so that families have food in their homes. if there are no workers doing

this, there won't be food in the stores. >> reporter: in the covid 19 pandemic, th're considered by the government "essential workers," but many are workingl without essentnefits. >> ( translated ): i have to biwork to pay the rent, ths, these things don't wait for you. reporter: like many oth farmworkers, if bernardita falls sick or stops working, she esn't have a safety net. according to the u.s. department of labor, about half of farmwoers are undocumented immigrants. >> ( translated i don't have papers. i don't have the same benefits as someone who hasapers. >> reporter: dr. e galvez is the daughter of farmworkers from mexico and works at a community health cenr, outside portland, oregon. tell me what your greatest concerns are when it comes to farm workers health and covid, 19. >> you've got families living together. so it makes social distancing hard.

we know that often times they are traveling to work in a truck and they're all piling together. you know, even something as simple as washing your hands often can be really difficult if your hand-washing station is far from your station.te >> rr: and, farm workers that spoke to the newshour said they weren't getting adequate >> (rtranslated ): they've never spoken to us about the virus. everything we know, the care we take, the precautions, we know thanks to the news, what we watch on television, on social networks.t' >> reporter: tonly part of what leaves these workers more vulnerable says, armando elenes secretary treasurer of theit farm workers. >> the stimulus bill excluded workers that undocumented so they can't collect unemployment. the additional $600 a week that other peop are getting, they can't get that. >> reporter: and some farmers do have protectio in place. jim cochran is the owner of

swanton berry farms in davenport, california, a union grower with 25 workers who have benefits. >> you know, i don't want anybody who's sick working at the farm. so a way to assure that is to pay their wages or during any time that they might be sick. >> reporter: but even farmworkers under a union contract are concerned. >> ( translated ): what would vppen if one of my colleagues got sick with thus? the company would automatically close. they would send us home. at are we going to do without getting paid? >> reporter: in california, there may be some temporary relief after governor gavin newsom announced $75 million in ste funding for undocumented workers. from the crop pickers to farmvi owners, cod 19 is taking its toll. >> it was urgent before we had a covid 19. as i said, we've had five years of down prices.u ow, we've had farmers that i know personally take their own lives. we we've had a lot of farmers

with really high stress. >> reporter: pressures onwe farmin compounded in recent years by the trump administration's trade war with. chin bankruptcies for familrms shot up 20% last year. to and so i just ask peopl keep farmers in their thoughts as we into this as well. >> reporter: the pandemic is making the already risky farming business even re unpredictable, not only for the people that make up ine farming stry, but for the nation's food supply. part of the trump ministration's plan to bail out farmers also includes the overnnt buying $3 billi products from farms and finding ways to get that food to food banks. for more on how the epidemic is affecting the way farmers do business amy mayer joins me. she's agriculture reporter for iowa public radio and harvest public media. amy, you have covered deadly

disease outbreaks among farm animals such as avian flu and farmers always seem to have to adapt. w is this panmic different? >> there are a couple of ways thing with a live stock disease outbreak is something that really impacts farmers first and the rest of the public may find out about it after they have been dealing with it for some and other people mt really feel it has a direct impact on their lives.s with the the entire coury was affected pretty of all at the same time. and so in that sense farmers are right alongside of the rest of the population. important is there are certain types of challenges that farmeca anticipate and they ken sure themselves against such as a severe weather event and to soe extent livestock diseases, clearly this is something nobody saw coming or had preparation for. >> i want to talk about what ish coming aboutmeat processing in plants. when it comes to the covid-19 clusters, amy, are company's responsibility at all or and are

they doing anything differently now. >> we are seeing a differents amg the companies, in some cases temperatures are taken as workers enter the building each day. some of the companies may have given masks or face shields to employees, although in other cases it seems that has been up to tid employees to prfor themselves. we are getting scattered reports of plexiass dividers going up between the different stations on the line, those are something that wouldn't normally be there. but there have not been specific required guide lines from any federal agency or even anyat of the and local agencies about what the companies could or should be doing. >> and clearly a lot of employs are no being sent home at the meat procet,ing plome are having to suspend operations. should consumers expect met shortages to result from this? >> right now what we've been hearing there won actually be shortages of meat in the big picture, whatnsumers may start to see is that the cuts of

meat, the types of meat that are available at the grocery stores may be a little different thoon what they have been used to or may get relled in those cases in the grocery store as quickly asomhey have becaccustomed to. it is important also to remember that restaurants and other institutions that serve food have been shut down and thatwe happened befortarted seeing the problems at the processing plants. that meant aot of the meat that you talked about redistributed to food banks may ultimately also be able to beis repackaged andibuted and become available where supermarp kets might have some cuts thatld normally wust be at fine dining steanlts. >> amy mayer of iowa bli radio and harvard pblic media joining us from iowa, thank you so muc >> thanks for having me. >> woodruff: how does a country fight covid-19 when its own president says it's not a

serious matter? brazil is finding out, as president jair bolsonaro prioritizes latin america'ses laeconomy in the face of the pandemic. nick schifrin reports. >> schifrin: this weekend, the headedf brazil's government, l a protest against his own government. president ir bolsonaro rallied supporters, practicing no social-distaing, and invoked brazil's past military dictatorship, to disparage the government's covid9 restrictions. >> ( transled ): i'm sure that l of us will one day swear to give our livesor our country, and we will do whatever is possible to change the destiny of brazil. enough of the old policy. >> schifrin: bolsonaro has repeatedly called covia

little flu." his rhetoric, has been as dismissive as his actions. >> ( translated ): given my athletic history, if i was to bt in it would not necessarily concern me. i wouldn't feel anything other than at most a little cold.if >> sn: echoing president trump, he criticized governors who ordered lockdowns, including of rio's famous beaches. >> ( translated ): the >> schifrin: but many brazilians think there's something rotten in rio, and have spent their evenings protesting bolsonaro. >> we are in a dark situation. don't have a clue or how many af brazil.ople we have in >> schifrin: ivan franca junior is an epidemioloigst at the university of sao paolo. he says the official death toll is a vast underreporting. g been very slow to d toave distribute newstorona virus the p.c.r. test for >> schifrin: brazil has several communities at particular risk.

social distancing ishempossible inprawling, low-income neighborhoods known as favelas. there are six confmed cases in paraisopolis, with a population of 120,000. a former soccer star hirro d-the-clock medical service, the favela's only health care, says ambulance company owner diego cabral. >> ( translated ): due to the o deficiencithe public system, the overload of the public health system was directed all towards us. >> schifrin: and brazil has 305 indigenous tribes whom bolsonaro has disparaged with racistla uage, and open their land to commercial mining. now, indigenous leaders say bolsonaro's policies make them more vulnerable to covid-19. >> ( translated ): our soil is contaminated, we can't farm, we're here fearing that our people will die of hunger, and we don't know how long the coronavirus will last. >> schifrin: earlier this month, government's social distancing orrs. those orders were implemented by health minister luiz henrique mandetta, who criticized bolsonaro. (

translated ): when you see people entering a bakery, entering a supermarket, liningft up one another, leaning against each other, this ison clearly the thing. >> schifrin: four days later, when bolsonaro ann a new health minister, he emphasized the economy. >> ( translated e has no price but the economy. the employment has to back to normal. >> schifri unemployment is growing, leading to growing crowds at vendors who give away unsold food. >> ( translated ): i have four children and i have to go out and fi food. the government doesn't give us a solution, and the peopleuffer. >> schifrin: every day in rio,el firefightelson silva climbs his ladder to serenade the city. he plays elegies for a time before corona, a time before the government's disdain for its own policies, threatened its citizens lives. for the pbs newshour, i'm nick

schifrin. >> woodruff: the scourge of underdeveloped nations.evere in add in an active warzone, as in afghanistan, andviighting the s is even harder. there are now thousands of casei therluding more than a dozen within the presidential. palace alo fi special correspondent jane ferguson reportsting a war and the virus comes at a stark moment. >> rorter: combating the coronavirus is a sharp turn for the taliban, which has been fighting an armed insurgency against american and afghan .forces for nearly 20 yea yet, in afghantan the taliban want to be seen battling covid- 19 too. public awareness events like this one have taken place in

recent weeks in areas they control; the gup keen to showcase some form of medical preparedness. "we have prepared ambulances and ordered our medical teams to reach each and every house quickly and brg any suspected coronavirus patient to a place taliban health offial in rural wardak province. afghan journalist and filmmaker naseer rahim travelled to the taliban-controlled tangi valley, about 60 miles south of the capital kabul, for the newshour to discover if the group is capable of stemming the virus across rural afghanistan. much of these efforts are largely public relations, staged for the cameras. social distancing remains a foreign concept. officials meet in small roomsto ther, and mosques are open to large congregations, yet for a grat so often shows disregard to civilian lives in ngs bombing campaigns, there is

a sense ofrowioncern. medical facilities in afghanistan are beyond at best basic, and if the virus rages the taliban, long hostile toy. foreign aid groups say it has chged tack. >> ( translated ): our health commissionas said any n.g.o.s that want help from us, we will facilitate that and they should reacout to us. we are trying to coordinate with international n.g.o.s to bring assistance. >> reporter: t greatest fear here is people coming home from neighboriniran, where a massive outbreak of coronavirus has gripped the country. re than three miion afghans live and work there. in march alone, 150,000 pour across the border, coming home, many of them to cities like herat, close to the border, andr then on to provinces, bringing the disease with them. the taliban says it is forcing returnees to quarantine, le this man.

the truth is, testing for the virus out here in taban territory is practically nonexistent. they do not seem to understand taw contagious the virus is. some fighters arng precautions, others not. p ple get sick, they have little option but to travel cities controlled instead by the afghan government, hoping for treatment, yet those places are >> in herat weave around 20 ventilators. around 20 ventilators. and once we purchase more ators we will provide th more. and in kabul we have around this number. >> reporter: afghanistan's heth ministry spokesman gives a daily ess conference on the situation in the capital, kabul, where the lockdown has tightened in recent ys. in a city where mo people make a living from day labor, socially isolating means desperattimes for millions. despite some food handouts by the govement, food prices have increased sharply, as borders shut and supply routes are srupted by efforts to keep the virus out. people are goi hungry, yet,

authorities have little choice but to try to prevent the spread. >> we have to start from somewhere, it's better tn nothing, and day by day we intensify r efforts. >> reporter: the u.s. military has halted troop movement globally to contain the spread but says it is continuing to draw dowtroops in afghanistan in and out of the country, hoping to prevent moving the virus around. the commander of the us and nato mission he, general austin miller. says the disease can only be controlled if there is peace. >> it's something that affects the entire world, and it will affect coalition forces and afghan security forces as well. the focus on this particular virus has to be on preventing the spread which is difficult under even normal circumstances. but almost impossible if whave violence. >> reporter: president ashraf ghani's election win last september was contested by his rival, leading to in-fighting and uncertainty. now, rolling out washington's deal with the taliban for a u.s. tawithdrawal from afghanishas been delayed too. the kabul government was

excluded from the talks between the u.s. and the taliban and still needs to strike its itn peace dealthe group. yet, ghani's government took months to form a negotiating team and beg the release of taliban prisoners, something the group demanded before talks could begin. in march, secretary of state mike pompeo lost patiencand slashed $1 billion in aid to the afghan government. laurel miller is a former us special representative to afghanistan and pakistan. currently the u.s. has 500 million a year in assistance to afghanistan and in therent year over 4 billion is alcated to support for those security forces so so there billion dollars without cutting into the support for the security forces.

>> reporter: with the white house losing patience andbu punishing the government with massive funding cuts, the ghani administration is losing its ability to negotiate a strong settlement. >> in the past the u.s. was, i wouldn't just say unwilling, iwo d say unable to make those kinds of threats, because the u.s.ad a strategy in place that depended on the success and survival of the afghan government. the fact that the u.s. now is willing to make those kinds of threats, i think credibly, sugges that the u.s. is turning towards a strategy that doesn't see the success and suival of the afghan government as important to american security interests. >> reporter: no matter how soon american troops will head home, it won't be before the cntry is forced to face a public health crisis for which it is not equipped. the virus is being called a great leveler, encircling

nations and people of all incomes and ethnicities. t in reality, some countries like afghanistan are that much more vulnerable than others. now, as well as surviving fighting and near-daily suicide attacks, its citizens are left to fight alone against an invisible, frightening enemy. for the pbs nehour, i'm jane ferguson. >> woodruff: back in this country, president trump's coronavirus response, from social distancing to a ban on travel from china, is being challenged from both sides of the political aisle. amna nawaz has more fo "politics monday."o >> nawaz: hereeak down the political motivations behindti those social distancing" protests and the state of the 2020 presidential race-- amy walter of the cook political

report and hosof public radio's "politics with amy walter." and tamara keith of r. she also co-hosts the "npr politics podcast." welcome to you both. good to see u both from a safe distance. amy, i want to ask youbout thoseo prtests reported on earlier in the show, i'm certain people have been seeing th across the headlines. people protest the stay at home and shelter at home directive that so many are under. they are modt demonstrations but they are popping up across the country. when you look at where they a happening, what stands out to you? >> st not so much where they are actually protesting because it all kinds of states, red states and blue states, democrati r governorpublican governors. what stands out is somof the polling-- polling we have right now on how people feel about the stay at home orders and what iti suggesthe folks who are out there protesting represent a pretty small element of the

american public opinion right now. about 30% from a new nbc "the wall street journal" pom and pe-w poll saying that they are more worried that their governor or country won't open up soonth enough tha are worried that we'll open up too soon and morepeople wilget sick. the question now amna is wheth the % represents the sealing or whether that is the floor. wi we see that start to grow especially if the president keeps focusing on this and focusing his anger on certain governors. because what we saw in, forhe example in pe-w poll, while democrats are united on theve worry that gment is going to allow businesses to open too soon and maybe the spread will republicans are evenly divided on this question. and so i'm going boe watching very closely over this next week or so to see how the presidentnd is resg.

and some of these states are saying they are going to open a the end of teek like georgia or starting in the first week in may. >> what about that, we saw the numbers go by there. what we are hearing fromhe president lining up is where the concerns of the majority of the american public seems to be. >> well, the president has linud on all sides in fact. or has expressed concerns that the cure being thant disease, he has expressed tho concerns almost immediately after announcing social distancing measures. in the case last week he announced there would new guide lines to guide governors in their plans to reopen but he was sort of putting it over to the governors giving the governors the responsibility. of course the constitution alsoi s the governors the responsibility there. but as he did that, he said you know, we w tnt be slow, we want it to be responsible. and sthen withins hours he wa tweeting liberate virginia,

liberate minnesota, liberate michigan targeting states with democratic governors, of course, in some ways sort of contradicting his ownon recommendashortly after making those recommendations. you know, it is a tough balances the governo that they are frustrated with having to have things be closed but they also are putting health and safety first. and in some ways as we wer talking about, it is a small part of the population that ise doing etion protests, but they are getting a lot of hatention because it is something visualt is happening right now. and it is not unlike the tea party, the early days of the tea party move. which ultimately did have a major influence on politics for a little while. though that certainly has faded at this point. campaign issue in the months ahead leading up to the election. eaother key issue was red in the form of new ads from both the trump and biden camps. this is going to sort of a

foreign policy look moving forward, how does the u.s. is go forward with china listen to both camps right now. >> i believe in 1979 and i believe now that a rising china is a-- development. >> deadly epidemic but after 40 years joe biden failed. >> trump praised the chinese 15 times in january and feruary as the coronavirus spread across the world. >> st a tough suation, i think >> we just have aple ofod job. minutes left, i want to make sure we have boft you.at when you loothese dualing ads, what is your take away from this message? >> well, trump is the one that really started this war of advertising on this issue of schiena. you know, there is nothing particularly new here and cumbent president trying to de fine his opponent as early as possible. in 2 o 004 you will remember the swift boat ads, in 2012 you may

remember the obama attack on mitt romney and bain cap tavment this is all about setting the stage right now, the incumbent hiesident trying to put opponent on his heels, even an opponent as well-known as joe biden is not as well de fedins he will be come the fall. biden is pushing back, of course, with the wo of many democrats ringing in his ear, don't let yourself get clff noted. >> what is notessable about that trump ad is that it's interest a trump superpack stvment not from the trumcampaign itself. president trump has had this sort of weird thing going on where sometimes he is veryf criticalina, sometimes he not being critical enough offo china but then when reporters have asked what are you dngoi about chien coo-- china, he sort of backs off. h a very mixed record of wanting to sort of promote the trade deal that he got withch a and in doing so, he has

been reluctant to go too hard on china ornesident xi. he sort of vas lated back andin fortuding a tweet at one point praising the transparency of president xi in china. >> it is an issue i'm sure we will be covering, it will come up in both campaigns. tamara keith and amy walter, good to talk to you both. >> good to talk to you. k >> woodruff: when you th essential workers during this pandemic, typically first resonders and hospital work come to mind. but a key function of society: picking up our garbage to keep our communities clean. pbs station wttw in chicago is of conversations whand" series individuals affected by the pandemic. w sanitatiker,

sammy dattulo says his job is as essential as ever. >> the fire departments are worried about catching this, no, they are not going do that. o we can't stop, we have t our job. just like the first responders. we serv now we're protecting because if we g don'tet the garge, they got all this bacteria and you know, people can get infected by that. i take pride in my job, i love my job. i can't wait to get up inhe morning and go to work because i love my job. and what is great, the best part about my jobis the day goes by so fast. >> you go to a certain place you need to be, at 8:00,-- stay fun job. now all of a suddou have the virus, you have to be careful. it's not like when youo out

and had no carin the world. just throwing garbage. now you have to worry about what you touch. mi so vulnerable because you have water, there is f erksz ces, diapers, today i got splashed what water, i had to run and get my clorox wipes and wipe my face. inyou get that splashedyour face, you have to make sure you have hand sanitizer t wash your face because you get it in your mouth or eyes or ears, that is why you have to keep whing your hands. when i'm working, i'm not realizing it, even though i have my-- i'm touching stuff with garbage and touching my-- i'mod go but-- that is my face now i'm infected. you have to take extraec prtion now because i could take this home to my family. i have a four year old grandson that is there. d i don't want to get him

i couldn't live with myself. my biggestear is catching it, that is my biggest fear.in bawlgs i-- you know, i am up in age and i am working on my retirement. could t couldf ffect me ii couldn't work gerntion if it affects my lungses and i can't breathe like i used to. it is scary. am i scared to go to work, yes, i am.i am not going to lie. but they don't have someone to take their garbage, what are they going to do with it, the ry really on us. just do my job. i got to do it. s so it is something i have to do. >> ammy dattu, preciate you and every single sanitation worker out there. thank you. and that is theat and the newshour for tonight.

as you might have noticed, i am now doing the newshour from home and not going to the stuito. as taken a lot of work by many people behind the scenes to make this happen. we are all social distancing and doing our part. m judy woodruff. join us online and again here tomorrow evening. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you, please stay safe and see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ed >> and by the al. sloan foundation. supporting science, technology, and improved economic performance and financialth

literacy i21st century. ported by the john d. an catherine t. macarthur foundation. committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. more information at macfound.org >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by mea access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

& co.llo, everyone. what's the pathway out of great economicdepression? not just for the 1%. i asked the head of the imf. then our relationships withlo down and under lockdown. tens of millions tune in for therapy with esther perel. we get her top tips. >> 40% of americans don't realize that native-american people still exist. >> reporter: men minute's litenant governor peggy flanagan talks to michelle martin about the dev otating impa coronavirus on native-aricans and her own tragedy. losing her brother to the disease. plus