captioioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening, i'm judyoodruff. on the newshour tonight, fedal social distancing guidelines expi as the global health an economic impacts of the coronavirus deepen. i speak to republican senatorst g and congress' ongoing response to covid-19. then, feeling the pain-- the latest jobs report shows morell than 30 n americans have been laid off in the last six weeks. we answer your personal finance questions as rent and mortgage plus, e food fallout-- applications for federal assistance skyrocket as millions more americans struggle to feed their families. longer then we could start to see actual starvation in america.

any developed western nation.n >> woodruff: all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshouras been provided by: >> life isn't a strasoht line, and times you can find yourself heading in a new direction.re fidelity is heo help you work through the unexpected, with financial planning and advice for today, and tomorrow.

ew carnegie corporation of york. supporting innovations in education, democratic engagement, and the advancement of international peace and security. at carnegie.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institution and individuals. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public badcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. no >> woodruff: ec wreckage from the pandemic is on painful display again tonight, in the latest government data. there's also new talk about how,

and how much, to help state and cal governments. white house correspondent yamiche alcindor begins our coverage. >> alcindo one in every six americans is now jobless.er last week, ano.8 million filed for unemployment. that means in the last six weeks, more than 30 million people lost their jobs but at the white house, president trump held out hope for bett times to come. >> i will say i think next year is going to be a spectacular year in terms of growth, in terms of bringing our country back. i think we're going to have a really good year. >> alcindor: the president spoke at a sit-down meeting with phile murphy, ey's democratic governor. murphy made his pitch for federal aid to help statesope. he said new jersey alone could need $20 to $30 billion. >> we don't see it as out, we see this as a partnership, doing the right thing in what is isthe worst health care crn the history of our nation. >> alcindor: todayhouse speaker nancy pelosi said thatal told, states could need $1 trillion in aid, over the next

few years. the mounting economic losses are pressuring officials to lift restrictions on certain parts of the economy. and today, federal social distancing guidelineexpired.ad the trumnistration says those older rules are now incorporated into guidance for states on loosening their own safety measures. dr. anthony fauci of the national institutes of health urged states to be careful inin roback restrictions: >> there's no doubt when you pull back, there wilases. and what we need to do is make sure they have in place the capability of identifying, isolating and contact tracin individuals. if they do, do the states that feel cautiousloptimistic. >> alcindor: idaho governor brad home order will expire tomorrow. he will let places of worship and daycare centers open, but will keep hair salons and other sites closed. california governor gavin newsom ordered all state beaches and parks to close, after people defied health restrictions last weekend.

>> the issues have raised alarm bells. people that are conjugating -- congregating there that weren't practicing phical distancing. >> reporter: while in lansing, protesters crowded into the ate capitol building demanding an end to pandemic-related curve. today nascar annnced it will resume its season may 18. organization to ance a return to play plan. but the little league world series will not be played this year for the first time since the organization began because of the pandemic. in the meantime, the white house today issued new guidance for in the meantime, the white house today issued new guidance for nursing homes. the facilities have beenard- hit by covid-19. >> reporter: nursing home and f

long-term careilities in the a past two months, more than 11,000 people have died due to covid 19. acrov europe, some goernments are lifting across europe, some governments are also l the face of stark economic losses. in the first quarter of the year, the overall european economy shnk by 3.8%. >> ( translated ): the entire global economy, and also our national economy in germany, is confronted with the biggest economic slump in our histor we expect the worst recession in post-war history. >> alcindor: meanwhile, coronavirus cases in russia surpassed 100,000, with the country's prime minister now among the infected. in africa, trucks lined up for miles in kenya, waiting to enter uganda, as theountry issued new restrictions on drivers. one driver said he had been waiting for days for a health chec >> ( translated ): it is taking too long, so slow. s the third day since i got to the border. they should at least add more officers so the testing can be done faster. alcindor: for pbs newshour, i'm yamiche alcindor.

>> woodruff: the day's dismal economic numbers weighed down wall street. the dow jones industrial average lost 288 points to close at the nasdaq fell 25oints, and, the s&p 500 slid 27. for the month, the indexes tlined 11 to 15%, thanks p to rescue measures from congress and thfederal reserve. with more than 30 million americans long their job or business and millions of others forced to take pay cuts, many homeowrs and renrs are finding it increasingly difficult to make their monthly housinpayments. given the job losses and tomorrow's monthly payment deadlines, we spe with some viewers about the challenges they are facing. here's a sampling of what we heard. >> my name is evanna bac m and name is brenton mattox. i currently live in philadelphia, pennsylvania. >> my name is evanna bacon and i'm from tupelo, mississippi. >> i'm, christopher land. i live in taylor, chigan.

>> my name is candice. i am 28 years old. i just bought and bought a house prior to being laid off. and it's been difficult because there haven't been a lot of relief efforts that i've been able to take advantage of. so i'm just, you know, trying to make payments on time and wherever however that comes with whether it's through freelanceoj ts or just from savings. that's really how i'm coping with being laid off at the samew time ang a home. >> our mortgagor, theyre immediately ike "yep, we're just doing a flat 90 day forbearance," s just tacked the next three months onto the back end of our mortgage. if they hadn't done that, we'd be in much, much worse shape. >> my landlord was very accommodating because i had walways kept an open dialh him about when i could pay something, when i was expecting to pay something.

this affected me, he sympathized with that anwas able to accommodate me accordingly. i honestly i can't imagine what i would do in this situation if he was not flexible. >> this month, i'm also going to have to ask our landlos to cut our rent in half. it's kind of one of those situations where if they say no, then okay. you know, we'll scrape it together and i'll have to use, the government, whwascheck from hoping to make sure that we have food with that. there's no absolutely no buffer in our income. >> because i have this mortgagee i'm just hoping that employment prospects just picke up for the next few weeksd because i wove to be able

to not have to worry as much on a day to day basis aboutin provfor necessities and also just carrying on with regular life. >> if we had not gotten that mortgage forbearance, it would be. you know, it would be time to start looking at potentially going to... not yet, but we would we would be in range of talking about like where do we find different food banks? you know what? what is that going to look like? not paying for a mortgage for three months is the difference between life and death. like it, it's unimaginable. it's unimaginably huge. >> woodruff: john yang explores now what kind of relief and options might be available for people who are struggling to make their mortgage or monthly rent payments. >> yang: judy, just as strapped homeowners are scrambling for solutions, so are regulators and lenders. regulations at the consumergage financial protection bureau.

she now rks with the national consumer law center, a non- profit that focuses on consumer usues for low-income people. thanks for joini i know there's no one size fits all answer to the pople, the concerns we just heard. but let's try for the size that fits most. i know that 70% of the mortgages in america are backed by the federal govement one way or another, federally backed one way or another. if i hold one of thse mortgages know? lose my job, what should i >> the immediate thing to do if tou are in that situation is call or contact, email your rtgage servicer. under federal law, for homeowners that are suffering any kind of financial hardship related to covid 19, they can get upo to 12nths of forbearance, so 12 months ere they don't have to make the mortgage payment, and in most of those cases, what should hahppen withmortgage payment, it

will just get put on the back end of the mortgage.ep >>ter: you say 12 months. we heard one to have the gentlemen in the tape just say his lender gave him three months automatically. can he go back and ask for more? >> yes, that's exactly right. many lenders, wee're hearing, giving people three months automatically, butunder the cares act, you have a right to ask for up to 12 muths, if need it. >> reporter: and we've heard he was getti that ths tacked one end of the life of his mortgage. we have heard some people say that their lenders tell them ey will get 90 days' forbearance but, at te end of the 90 days, they will have a balloon payment of ree months they missed. what should the people say if their lender tells theam tht? >> well, in the vast majority of the cases, people will not hav to paylump sum. all of the federal regulators have been working on making

clear that most homeowners will get thpayments moved t the back of their loan, they will there has been an awful lot of misinformation out there, which many of the federal regulators are working now to correct. if people -- pople should go ahead and accept the forbearance, if they get to the end of the forbearance period and the lender says you have to pay this back in a lump sum, they should have o contact a housing counselor, see if they're elirgible for fee legal services, complain to the financial protection bureau and the state attorney general. >> reporter: are thereer kinds of help or forbearance meowners could be askin for right now? >> yes. all lenders have a whotele s of assistance options, opportunities for people who are having trouble making their mortgage payments for one reason or another. if you want something differenth the regular forbearance, you know that your income hasbe permanently reduced now,

you should just call up your mortgage company o, aga, contact them by email and say "i need help, i ned pursue some kind of loss mitigation," and they cu n work with yoto figure out what's the option that best fits your circumstance, anything from a shorterm repayment plan to a loan modification that will permanently lower your paymen on your mortgage. >> reporter: everybody's taking a hit in this, including lenders. is there a threat to the housing market and the home mortgage system -- the home mortgage industry? >> i thi there is a petty are already at 7%, roughly, of all mortgages in the country forbearance. those numbers are going up every week. we exput to see a largerge in the next week when we get to the may 1 payment date. that's a significant fraction of the mortgage system, and we're going need concerted,

effective leadership at federal level to prevent another major housing crisis like with we saw in 2007, 2008. one immediate risk is that the lenders have ep advancing the payments on the mortgages, even though the homeowners aren't making,he lders have to keep advancing payments in the mortgagefort least four months, and if that goes on and we keep seeing thesencreasing numbers of forbearances, there's a real question about when the mortgage companies will start to n out of cash. at that point, we could start to that could be devastating for owners as their mortgag get transferred from one compan ande ntono uptick in foreclosures. >> diane thompson of the national consumer law center, thank you very much. >> than.nks,oh

>> woodruff: the economic crisis so means demand for food stamps will swell. while congress did pass additional benefits for some recipients, a high percentage o orest households did not get an increase. questions over additional money will undoubtedly be debated in congress in the weeks to come. but many people are already facing complications with using their benefits right now. economics correspondent paul solman has the story for our series, "making sense." >> reporter: a mile-long line at a pittsburgh food bank. and it's hardly unique. dave wellons manages a food warehouse in el paso, texas. >> usually by 8:00 o'clock in the morning, there's vehicles rter:ic lop ie to a mile and a neyo onlf lg. >> typically, the hungry monk ruscue ts about 200veer

meals a week in our food pantry, over the past 35 days that number has grown to about 2,000a families tha serving. >> i don't have any incomeco ming in. i don't get y food stamps. it's just hard to get any help right now. >> reporter: nashville's brooklyn dotson doesn't get foo stamps, not yway, but nearly 40 million americans do as so-lled snap benefits. no one is arving, says hunger free america's joel berg, but... >> they're rationing food. if this goes on much, much loer then we could start t see actual starvation in america. we're doing far, much worse than any developed western nation. >> reporter: economist hilary hoynes. >> prior to the crisis, about 11 percent of americans suffered from food insecurity, and we have every reason to believe that tse statistics are increasing dramatically in the current time period. >> i'm natosha mccray and i live in the bronx, the nation's hungriest urban county. is is my daughter ariana and my son ethan.

>> reporter: three years ago, wmcray was struggling, evh snap. but the pandemic has her kids, now four and 16, home from scol, where they got their.. >> you got to have breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, and with them both being home everybody y hungry all the time. >> reporter: mccts about $550 a month for her family of a ree. but her income ator to low income kids has plummeted. so how about free food?g me was usw york city's grab and go schol program which expanded to ults on april 3. n >> and then shortly betwek three and four, wh i went to pick up a breakfast or a lunch or two, there weren't any moreor breakfasunch available. >> reporter: joel berg isn't surprised. >> even in the best of times, the charitable sector only handles a small portion of the ne. the federal nutrition assistance programs, stl provide more than 10 times the dollar amount. bitfoheter: but for those like

emalge, g ttad mnmumaxi >> you have to wear face mask. >> reporter: the assistance hasn't gone up while prices have. >> hamburgers $18.99, $31.99. >> reporter: at least in her food desert stretch of the bronx. >> when the pandemic first started, they were gouging prices. i mean the cost of eggs was around $8.00. milk was7.00. over the past five weeks it has been a nightmare. >> reporter: and the crisis has caused lots of snap snafus. quincy pettis is home from t gettingo he is meals there. but he can't get snap either. >> i applied, but they denied me because they were saying that io d have to work 20 hours. >> reporter: he got a job, at dominos pizza, even though he's taking 21 class credits online. and still no food stamps. >> i would have to go and have but i am currentlyg at my

parent's house. living at your parhouse asu're opposed to having your own apartment, you're not eligible for snap. >> yes sir, correct. >> reporter: did you get a stimulus check? check.ot get a stimulus >> reporter: because he's in college. e rules are a problem fo millions of students right now says ken regal of st harvest. >> college students can't get food stamps at school,taan't get foods at home. the parent can't get food stamps for the chilin their household. parent can't get the stimulus payment for the child and the child, the college student can't get the stimulus payment of their own. ou's a quintuple whammy. >> reporter: areungry at all? >> yes, i am hungry. >> reporter: another snap snafun online sho alisa grishman, a pittsburgh disability rights advocate, has six autoimmune diseases. >> the main ones that affect me are multiple sclerosis and crohn's disease. but i also have forms of arthritis. i have diabetes from steroids

for my other conditions. and so it's extremely dangerous for me to go out. i haven't left my house in a if i get sick, i'm going to get very sick.ep >>ter: so if you can't go out, can't you just shop onle?or online delivery of any sort of groceries. i also c't use it to do a pickup order to have someone pick it up either. >> reporr: in fact, only six states do allow it, under strict conditions. >> this is a huge problem fore lambers of people. people who are immunocompromised, peovee who disabilities, people have fficulty getting around. people whose buses have been cut.te >> rr: tens of millions of americans are food insecure right now. doesn't bode well foem, or the economy, says joel berg emphatically.

>> even before this crisis, food insecurity cost our economy ovei $160 b a year because hungry children don't learn as well.ng hu workers don't work as well. and hungry seniors can't stay independent. >> reporter: and all of their numbers are growing. this is paul solman. >> woodruff: that brings us to this week's ask us segment where we take your questions on the pandemic to experts who can help us make sense of these difficult times. fears about the economy has fueled an incredible respoe across our website and our various social media platforms: twitter, instagram and facebook. for the record, facebook is a funder of the newsho. amna nawaz has more. nawaz: thanks, judy, and thanks to all of you for sending us your questions. as we've been reporting, the economic fallout from the pandemic has been unprecedented. so this week we're focusing onrn

all your conabout your money and your jobs. are joined by michelleons, we singletary of the "washington post" personal finance columnist.we michelleome back to the newshour. good to see you. .>> good to see you as we >> nawaz: it will surprise you not at all to learn people have a lot of questions on the topic. so let's jump right in.e our first mes from ann nagahiro. she lives in the state of washington. shreached out on instagram here's the question from ann. >> for those of us who areng plann retiring in the next year or two, what would you suggest to make up the losses to our retirement funds? >> nawaz: mielle, a lot of people in this position. is there a way to make up those losses? >> no, not really. not in the short term. lots of people are won, should i sell, sell everything? but the fact of the matter is that sort of trying to aime the mark you don't want to do that and you're probably going to he years to retirement. what you really want to focus is on making sure that you have enough income to weather this storm for another year or two, that you would tap your

emergency savings, maybe some bonds, but you really want to leave the body alone if it'sad alwell diversified and have a good retirement plan. there really isn't anything you can or should do rig now. >> nawaz: michel, it strikes me that depending on how old you are, this economic pinch ishi ing you differently. i want to go now to one of our ewers, kamto reached out on facebook. he lives in raleigh, north carolina, and he sent us this question >> staying home as i continue my studies and begin a job search, i'm finding it really hard because i can't network. what advice would you have for a college student like me with limited skills entering the job market right now? s >> nawaz: michelle, ther much uncertainty for college students, recent college grads. what advice do you have for kevin? ap it's really, really tough. it just sons my son is named kevin.he an a senior in college. and he right now is trying to get an internship for the summer. and you know what was key for him? he stayed in contact with the

career office his school. he goes to the university of maryland, baltimore county, ande that is actually working to help its students finding summer inrnships. there's some that are actually virtual now he's looking a and that's the internship that will be virtual. he got a job actually for the summer. the mom is a little worried abt that, but he was able land an internship. so one of the things is contact hoolcareer office at your and just continue to put those applications out. even though companies have pulled back, you know, the economy will start again and they are going to need t tse some worket they're used to. >> nawaz: good luck to your kevin michelle and to kevin kamto out there who wrote in one last question now ming to us from lisa quinlivan. she's a pilates studio owner and she reached out to us on our web site. michelle, here's what lisa had to say. >> i'm bleeding financially. not unemployed yet, not fully employed as i was prior to covid.

what can i do to survive when i'm under the radar of the cares act and its economic distribution? >> nawaz: michelle, of course, that care is actually talking about the massive congressional plan to provide some kind of economic relief for america. what do you say to lisa stuck in this position now? >> well, there's actually two avenues she might wapursue both. em the same time, though, the care's expanded oyment for the selfmployed workers. so she should check with your state unemployment officrtto see which because lots of states are behind on that. but if that's a possility for her to get some inco ameou y up until july, i'm from the cares act. she should also pursue a small business loan. e's self-employed and those sml business loans are also available to self-employed folks like herself. now, that program has been plyued by issues and obviou some people already know it ran out of money right a but there's a stepup in funding. and so if she has a good

relationship with a local bank, that she should contact them and get in line for that. >> nawaz: that is great advice for people who really, really need it right now. michelle singletary of the "washington post." always good talk to you. ank you for being here. >> thank you for having me. ses mo ows n hd rs: awl anksoft website, twitter, facebook or wteebram accountsthatbs/nou oor si >> woodruff: in the day's other mocrat defended joe biden, the press rt ptivnomiesnee, ae gainstpr an an of sexual assault a former staffer says biden attacked hern the mid-1990's, when he was a u.s. senator. his democratic presidential campaign h strongly denied it. pelosi endorsed him on monday,he and said todays satisfied

with his response. >> there's been statements from his campaign, not his campaign but his former employees who ran his offices and the rest that there was never any cord of this. there was never any record. and at noby ever came forward or that nobody came forward to say somhing about apart from the principal involved. >> woodruff: meanwhile, president trump dismissed e former national security advisor chael flynn was tormented by dirty scopeand cited internal nse lawyers say the documents show flynn was set up during the russia investigation. he pled guilty to lying to theb.

, but is seeking to withdraw the plea. reports of sexual assaults in the military are still rising, but not by nearly as much. the pentagon's annual review finds reports were up t year a year earlier, the increase was 13%. and, britain paid tribute today to captain tom mh re on his 10rthday for raising $37 million for the nation health service during the pandemic. the world war ii veteran earne financial pledges by doing laps around his garden. toy, vintage warplanes did fly-bys as mre celebrated his centennial with fa, and cake. he said there's more to be done. >> i'm delighted we've got so much money for such a good cause. at the moment that cause is still necessary, they haven't finished, they're still working

their socks off aren't they, for all these poor ill people? >> woodruff: moore's fundraising feat has also earned him a place in the guinness book od records for most money raised by one person, walking. still to come on the newshour: republican senator john barrasso on the economy, testing andss congongoing response to covid-19on an examinaf the world health organization's handling of the coronavirus pandemic and what funding cuts could mean, plus much more. >> woodruff: as the debatever reopening states rages across the country, a similar dispute is underwain the nation's capitol.

the house of representatives remain in recess, but senators will retn to washington in just a few days, for the first timen more than a month. senator john barrasso of wyoming is the third higst ranking republican in the senate. he's also a physician and he joins us now from casper. senar barrasso, thank you ve much for joining us again. it's good to see you. i want to start out by asking you, as a doctor, how encouraged are you by these latest reports about this antiviral drug remdesivir as a treatme for the coronavirus? >> well, i'm very encouraged by this. i will tell you, juhis is very important for all of america because that's what we need, a treatment for this virus. that's the way that we get beyond this terrible edical condition, as well as the economic disaster that has occurred to the country. we neeto have therapeutics available, and this is real a good sign of hope. >> woodruff: so you see it as

turning a corner?al >> well, i do. it is a light at the end of the tunnel. it's an opportunity to morey quicpen the economy. in wyoming, we are opening our the right way., we're doin the governor is working closely with our health officers. we'rgoing to do it smartly, safe, and we're going to be returning as a senate to washington on monday, but i think this is really good news. fact that we have 30 million who are unemployed right now because to have theandemic, we need to do everything we can to help >> woodruff: i also want tork. ask you about testing, senator, long is it going to take to get to where the united states needs be on testing? right now, per capita, we are only about half of where germany , and we're behind a number of other countries. when can americans look for testing to be where it needs to be?re >> wetting closer. dr. fauci said we need about 3 million tests a week. we're at about 2 million tests a

week. we lost about six weeks by the delays in contamination for thee cefor disease control in february a early march. we're moving in a right direction. we're now at a point in wyoming where we have enough tests that we feel we can safely open because we have the medical supplies, we have thhospital beds, and we have the testing to ma sure that, if there's a flareup, we'll be able to detect it q hckly. e been fortunate in wyoming to not havthat many cases, onl about 400. but the impact of this virus hie everyone in ca. in wyoming more from an economic than a medical standpoint because it flat lined our economy in terms of energy, agriculture and tourism, and that's why people of wyoming are so happy, they want to get back to work, and we're going to get back to work tomorrow. >> woodruff: speaking of the economy and struggles states aru having, as yrobably know democratic speaker nancy pelosi

is saying, in fact, she saitod y, she's looking for a need to up to a trillion dollrsn the coming years for state and local governments hit hard by thvpandemic, ues are not coming in. at this point, republicans are not board with that, and, in fact, your leader, mitch mcconnell, said just a few days ago, he thinks it's acceptable for states think about bankruptcy. where are you on this? >> well, he ceainly got everyone's attention with that statement. i think that's much too early tl go down the. we had a conference of all of the republicantoday by phone talking specifically about the needs. 30 million there are americans who are out of work today because of coronavirus. we know th are going to ne help. we want to do it in a way that is targeted and is temporary. it needs to bear bisan, which is what we had last time with the cares act, 96 tothing in the senate, but it has to focus on the impacts oforonavirus.

what we've said is it's time to temporarily push t pause button, to make sure that all of this $2.7 tllion that has been committed is being used wisely. the states are askg for more money, the states just got $150 billion last tuesday. so none of those states have had an opportunity yet to see how faatthat's going to go, the needs are. what we really need to do is push the start button to get the economy moving again, and the sooner we can that, judy, the better it's going to be for everyone. so my goal is to get theo ecnomy moving and this medical breakthrough, i think, is one of e big helpers to hep us down that line. >> woodruff: in connection with all that, as you know, a lot of complaints and criticism about the facts that businesses that were ccig and susful have gotten big chunks of the money that has gon we out thaas intended for small, struggling go forward, there are going to be the safeguards, the

guardrails in place to ma sure the money goes to the peo need it?plo >> i've heard the stories and shared the concerns of those people who have seen those reports of whether it's the l.a. lakers or whoever getting in wyoming. we have had ovelr 7,00ans to small businesses, mom and pop small businesses, over $800 million. the program iworking. it's going to need to continue to work to help get these people back to work and make sure these businesses are there. the early goals were to just geu the moneas quickly as we could to trto keep people on the payroll. this was such an overprescribed program that what we saw is it ran out of money and sat empty democrats played cs ande the tried to get political leveragee under sppelosi and chuck schumer. that should have never been we now have this funded again, it is working for small businesses, and any business

that signed an t affidavt said with we need the money and it's coronavirus impacted, they were not going tose o yha di't nved the money, anivfoanfed have been pointed at returned the money so it can be used for the momma and pop businesses across the country who really need it badly, judy. >> woodruff: quickly, i want president trump's leadership. you have certainly defended him and said he's done a very good job of leading the country through this. but i want to quickly quot mething he said at the end of february. he said, at this point, there were 15 people in america who had died, he said this is going to be down close to sorry, we've done a pretty good job. senator, here we are two months later more than 61,000 americans have died, over a million cases a third of the cases in the world, the president's son-in-law is saying it's a big success story. how do you square this?

>> well, dr. fauci, just a couple of weeks ago, was talking about hundreds of thousands of americans dying, the "new york times" talked about millions of americans dying. the president has led from in front, he has listened to the medical experts, to dr. birx,uc dr. has done that regularly, and i believe he has now put the entire force to have the united states government in this fight against coronthirus. e is a light at the end of the tunnel, and thpresident is pointing that road to the futur return to a healthy economy, and the quicker we can get america back to work, the better. the president has a lot of security, economicfornational the country, the physical safety of the country, and he's continad to workrd every day balhseto asaatlid at the end offebruary the country was close to zero. >> well, we know what the numbers are today, and that's what i'm doing. we can spend a lotof tim pointing fingers. i know the house wants to put a commission together to go after

e president. i want to focus as a doctor and as a senator for wyoming on getting wyoming open again, getting businesses going, getting a strong, healthy, robust economy back to place and saving as many lives as we can p in tcess. >> woodruff: senator john barrasso of wyoming joining us from casper. thank u very much, senator. >> thank you, jy. >> woodruff: today the world health organizatn is hosting an emergency meeting, as the trumadministration continues for weeks the trum administration has blamed the world health organization for while the u.s. intelligence

community said today it made no judgment on that score. president trump has frozen u.s. contributions to the w.h.o. the u.s. has been the largest funder, paying more than 14% of the w.h.o.'s budget, double the next largestndidl country. as nick schifrin reports, the administration blamed the w.h.o for echoing china, and the w.h.o. says it's just doing its job.r >> the tor jerl led a firm emergencies that are medical.dn the title it's cable ofndeaclthn delivering the outcomes >> they're literally a pipe that's the way i vw it. >> schifrin: the admintration argues the w.h.o. failed to warn the world about covid-19, and failed to question china's inofrrect initial assessment no human to human transmission. over the years, fr to 500, have

for a long time, for many years. and china isiving $38 million. and yet they seem to work for china. >> schifrin: w.h.o. director generatedros ghebreyesus has pushed back, arguing he has to accept country's assessments, and the organization did its job. >> from the beginning, w.h.o.kl has acted quand decisively to respond and to warn the world. we sounded the alarm early, and we sounded it ofn. >> schifrin: here's the u.s. criticism: four times in early january, the w.h.o. released statements and tweets repeating ina's incorrect claims, and praising china's response, despite an early coverup inha >> i'm declaring a public health emergency of internatial concer >> schifrin: by january 30, ghebreyesus declared the organization's most urgent warning, and continued praising of china. >> the speed with which china ladetected the outbreak, id

the virus, and sequenced the genome, and shared it with whoe and rld, are very impressive, and beyond words. >> schifrin: the administration critics accuse esident trump of deflecting blame from his own failings, and annote he too praised chin the w.h.o. early on. >> i think china is very professionally run, in the sense that they have everything under control. oii really believe they're to have it under control. we're just sent some of our best people over there, world health organization, and a lot of them are composed of our people, they're fantastic. >> the united nations, a new organization exists to promote the welfare of all people >> schifrin: in july 1948, the w.h.o. was borwith an american director general and an agenda to help the sick across the world. >> all peoples of every race and belief will be helped by doctors from all races and nations. >> schifrin: w.h.o. has launched successful polio campaigns in some of the world's most dangerous countries, like syria,

coordinated and ained vaccine efforts, going back to cholera. and battled diseases like ebola in the developing world oonior u.s. officials tell pbs newshour they'reng to redirect money to other health organizations. but the us might also . cide some w.hograms are irreplaceable, secretary of state mike pompeo said yesterday. >> if there is a function that only the w.h.o. can do, and we think it is important for american national security a because good humanitarian partners around the world, i'm confident we'll find a way to deliver that outcome. >> schifrin: so is the trump administration's criticism of the world health organization valid? for that we get two views. dr. michael merson is professor of global health at duke university. he held a number of leadership potions at the world health including directinr acute, respiratory infections control program. and lanhee chen is the director of domestic policy studies at stanford university. he also served in the george w. bush administration as a senior official at the department of healthnd human services.

thank you very much. welcome to the "newshour" to you both. dr. merson, let me start with you. what do you ma of the fundamental critique of the w.h.o.? i think one can argue that the chinese government did not act fast and strong enough at ie appearance of thnew coronavirus. they ignored some early signs and they stifled some whistleblowers, and this nekeds to be lo into, but i think, from the standpoint of w.h.o., i think they -- for the most part -- acted quickly and decisively. >> reporter: lanhee chen, what about that? did they acquickly and decisively? the strzok said they accepted china too much at face value. >> i don't think there is any questionhat the w.h.o. was more interested in this case specifically of parroting what the chinese government was telling it as opposed to truly evaluating the situation.

some will argue that's because of systemic issues at the power and authorind thatts own may be, but the fact remains that the w.h.o. waited for n weeks between the first manifestation of symptoms in wuhan before even sending a group of individuals to go to the ound in china to having what was going on. >> interest merson, we just heard the word parroting, but the w.h.o. argues itas toass along what , its this ca smee, a wasn't giving it anything and, when it did give the w.h.o. some information, it was that there was no human-to-human transmission in late december, early january. of hearing about thisin 48 hours coronavirus, w.h.o. put the word out to institutions in seventy untries about the presence of the virus. they then continued hold

almost daily brenefings. they information to countries,ll of this in the first few weeks of january, about the virus, how it was spread.ab they wer to share the genetic sequence of the vir sori that cou could make diagnostic tests, even begin to ke a vaccine. they produce add booklet, information onow you cou even go ahead and make a p.c.r. diagnostic test. the director general and his team went to china to ta to the authorities there and, by the end of the month of january, they had convened an emergency committee that had declared a public health emergency, whh is under the international health regulations the highest so i think, wit month,issue. that's a very impressive ack record. >> reporter: so lanhee chen, what about that? the time china dclared something in late december all the way through late, jr.,o

w.h.o. those steps and the director general saying yesterday and the last couple of weeks they sounded the alarm early and often. >> well, there were critical missteps early that i think contributed unfortunat sy according me scientific analysis to the spread of the virus much more wideline and virulently than it had to. the notation on janu 14th january 14th essentially repeating china's claims regarding the virus noto being trance missable between humans and, in fact, no providing the e caveats that china provided at the time was a crualarly mistake. the failure, as i said earlier, investigate more thoroughly than med february as to whpp was ing on the ground, contrast that to how the w.h.o. very forcefully addedre sussargt information from nonrngontal sources, when it sought information on the ground, when it actually provoked china t

finally admit stuff was going oy there in cout the time. >> when i talked to the administration officials, they em asized they're trying t positive outcomes and want to reform the w.h.o. tanned to try to, for example, just repeat what china is telling them.os are ideas for reform valid? are they possie. >> is this it's always a good idea to see how u.n. agencies can be proved.h. , over its history, has had various looks at how its administrations and operations can be improved, but it's not nowe to do this st llavy hid hae smona,100 years. europe, northern united states, but tic i noew rhe going to rea strike the low andll middle-incy countries. there are over 110 of these, anu these cntries depend on w.h.o.

for their technicaldvice, for their strategic thinking, for their equipment, for supplies, and they need w.h.o., they're health systems are fragile. they don't have equipment that they need, and they're going to get that from w.h.o. and there's a projection from oxford that there might be as many4 as llion deaths in the next year in these low and middle-income countries in this is just not the time to break a key lifthat these countries have to keepheir populations as healthy as they can be. if we continue to have hot spots tywhere in the world, th's a threat to our own security and, unless all countries are healthy, no country is safe from this pandemic, and by going after w.h.o. now, we're basically threening our ow global security. >> reporter: lanhee chen what about the idea thattiming is bad that w.h.o. does things that it needs to be allowed to

do in this pandemic and, also, the criticism ofpresident trumpd ng theent trump be bla w.h.o. for some of the mistakes that he's made? >> undoubtedly thepo.h.o. does ant work and the w.h.o. is not solely responsible for the pandemic outbreak, but we have to take a cold look at the numbers and realize of the u.s. contribution in 2018, 2019 to the w.h.o., on1.6% of our contribution went to pandemic preparedness and response. the notion that somehow the organization is going e crippled because the u.s. takes a pause looking at how it wants to fund an pentially form t organization, in my mind, is a red herring. we need to continue to ensure the organization does what it's able to do best bu that doesn't mean continuing status quo. as secretary pompeo noted in the opening piece, the u.s. is going to find a way to ensure critical needs are funded, but the idea that somehow pandemic response is going to be curbed or shut

down haze because the u.s. takes a hold on funding is untrue gin the numbers and actual contribution we make to the zaga.tini ep dr. michael merson, thank you very much. >> thank you. in night's brief but spectacular, author and former hindu monk jay shetty has a message for those living alone during the pandemic. he's currently leading a 20-day, live meditation series on instagram, and his first book,mo "think like ," will be out this fall.me >> my firsage to anyone living alonet the moment is, i want you to know that you're not alone. we often refer to loneliness as

something negative and we look w at it askness. but wh i lived as a monk, solitude is often spoken of, as a strength. and so the first thing i'd recmmend is finding one thing thay you can do every single that brings you joy. it may be reading a book you love, it may be looking at a beautiful piece of art, doing onthing by yourself, for yourself, that creates joy is such an important habit. don't see social distancing as the incrediblehnology at our ec disposal to have more human connection, ask for support when you need it. don't feel ashamed or embarrassed. we are all in this together. we're all experiencing it and we're all going to bthere for each other. some people are fearing the loss of work.pl some pare dealing with the loss of work. people are dealing with the loss f

rescheduling of procedures and surgeries that were already planned. you ou at lee t tarimnd one of the best ways that we can experience gratitude right now is to look through our phones at the 72,928 pictures that you've ankeomto fl grateful for three things, the peop in your life, the place that you've visited and the projects tt you've worked on. during this pandic, i believe that we're going to get to s the best of humanity.ee often we think of change as raing llion dollarsisin or helping 100,000 people, but true change, real chan could be just calling one person who you know is lonely every single day. it can be delivering some food to someone who can't go out themselves, so don't measure your impact by how many people

measure it by how deeply you can help t people around you. my name's jay shetty, and this is my brspbuiecuect talataker on whye're never really alone. >> woodruff: and you can find all our brief but speccular segments at pbs.org/newshour/brief. 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, please stay safe, and see you soon. aj >> funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by:

>> the ford foundation. working with visionaries on the frontlines of social change worldwide. >> and by the alfred p. sloan foundation. >> and wh the ongoing support of these institutions and friends of the newshour. >> this possible by the corporation for public brocasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by

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>> today i'm taking you to a charming little townrt in the h of eastern washington. buitt mitay has hsmuge personay and is bursting with flavor. t a local restaurant,we'l farmsivi that teverything the old-fashioned way.s oely back in my kitch in san francisco we're making a chopped-soup salad with all kinds of berries and a grilled pretzel burger with a sweet and spicy cherry barbecue sauce. i love to travel the globe in search of new food and wine discoveries. for me, it's about with a handful of new recipes. it's about taking the spirit ofustria, of italy, of greece and of the danube river and injecting some of their magic into our everyday lives. food has a unique ability