captioning snsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight: a dire warning. the top u.s. health officials, all is self isolation, testify to congress that we face a long road ahead. then, the balance of power. the supreme court hears two to president trump's financial records. plus, who is hitardest? as the pandemic persists, a clearer picture emerges of the disproportionate impact of covid-19 on communities ofr. co >> there's a long history of disadvantage in this country. when you think about access to health care, when you think about access to healthy food, when you think about job security-- they make it really

hard for certain communities to be healthy. >>,oodruff: all that and mo on tonight's pbs newshour. major funding for the p newshour haseen provided by: >> when it comes to wireless, coumer cellular gives its customers the choice. our no-contract plans give you as much-- or as little--atalk, text andas you want, and our u.s.-based customer service team is on hand to help. to learn more, go to consumercellular.tv >> fidelity investments. >> bnsf railway. >> financial services firm raymond james. >> the john s. and james l. knight foundation. fostering informed and engaged communities. more at kf.org.

>> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: t s program was made possible by the corporation for and by contributioyour pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: there are new f warnings tonigm the nation's public health leaders.h fight against covid-19 is far from quickly could bring it roaring back. d the warnininated this day, as u.s. coronavirus deaths passed 82,000. amna nawaz begins our coverage. >> nawaz: on capitol hill, a sobering message on the devastating u.s. death toll: >> the number is likely higher. i don't know exactly what percent higher, but almost certainly it's higher. me nawaz: and a blunt asse of the national response so far: >> do we have the coronavirus

contained? >> if you think that we have it completely under control-- we don't. >> nawaz: dr. anthony fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, appeared virtually before a senate committee today, the first such hearing since the pandemic began. amid a national debate over reopening, a stark warning to state leaders: >> there is a real risk thatwi yo trigger an outbreak that you may not be able to control, which in fact, paradoxically, will set you back, not only leading to some suffering and death that could be avoided, but could even set you back on the road trying to get economic recovery. >> nawaz: fauci was joined on the panel by dr. robert, redfierector of the centers for disease control and prevention; dr. steven hahn, commissioner of the food and drug administration; and admiral brett giroir, assistant secretary of health at the department of health and human services. fauci, redfield, and hahn are all self-quarantining, after contact with an infected white house e affer. aring itself was a

senators, many of re for working remotely. >> in a one-time exception,in some senators-uding the chairman-- are participating by video conference. >> nawaz: in aenate first, committee chair lamar alexander conducted the heining from home, elf-quarantine, after a staff member tested positive for the virus. ste hearing room remned empty. senators inside the room sat sit part, and most wore masks, including makeshift ones, like virginia senator tim kaine. the questions, at times, reflected the nation's political divide. senator chris murphy, democrat fromonnecticut, slammed the white house response, citing reports they shelved c.d.c. guidance on re-opening. >> why didn't this plan get released? >> we have generated a series of guidances, as you know, and this outbreak response has evolved from a c.d.c. to an all-over government response. nawaz: washington senator patty murrey pushed admiral

giroir for more national testing >> nawaz: while there was bipartisan concern about a lack of testing so far, as from utah senator mitt romney: >> by march 6,he u.s. had completed just 2,000 tests, whereas south korea had conducted more than 140,000 tests. find our testing record nothing to celebrate whatsoever. >> nawaz: some republicans, like georgia senator kelly loeffler, cehoed president trump's c about information-sharing from china. >> i'm incredibly concernedup about the covend misinformation coming from china, and their efforts to suppress life-saving informatio at the out this outbreak. >> there were discussith the u.s. personnel engaging with chinese c.d.c. i srsonally had discussions early-- i think c.d.c. did-- as early as january 2, and myself jatary 3, with the counterp to discuss this. so at a scientificevel, we had very good interactions. >> nawaz: and senator rand paul of kentucky called into question the warnings areopening. >> i think we need to have a

lile bit of humility in our belief that we know wh's best for the economy. and as mh as i respect you, dr. fauci, i don't think you're the end-all. there e people on the other side saying there is not going to be a surge and we can reopen the economy. >> i am careful and humble in knowing i don't know everythin about this disease, and that's why i am reserved in making broad predictions. >> nawaz: meanwhile, at the white house-- where vice president pence was seen arriving earlier today wearing e mask-- pre trump held a closed-door meeting with republican senators. as the number of u.s. infections and deaths continues to rise, a new poll from pew resear suggests where the public is looking for answers. a majority of americans, oveay 60%,t is primarily the federal government's responsibility to make sure there's sufficient testing, before states can safely reopen. still a vocal minority continues to clamor for restrictions to be

lifted, fast. protestors in raleigh, north erolina today demanded th or accelerate plans to reopen the state's economy. inreexas, where restrictions already easing, the state today required all nursing home residents and workers be tested to slow the virus' spread. in california. governor gaven newsome today unveiled new state guidelines for reopening, noting lovecal ments could remain more strict if needed. los angeles county said stay-at-home advisory reriction could continue through july. los angeles county official said stay-at-home restrictions could extend through july. back on capitol hill, lawmakers working to mitigate the economic meltdown forged on with plans for another relief package. house speaker nancy pelosi pushed for another massive spending effort. >> we must think big for the people now, becausif we don't, know it will cost more in lives and livelihood later. not acting is the most expensive course. >> nawaz: senate majority leader >> we can't spend enough money to prop this economy up forever. people need to be able to begin

to be productive again. country awaits much-needed help, here in the nation's capitol, the debate over how to help rages on. for the pbs newshour, i'm amna nawaz. >> woodruff: we now turn to two key members from today's hearing.bl first up, rean senator he is one of two m doctors. on the health, education, labor and pensions committee. senator cassidy, thank you so much for talkingoith us. didcome away from today's hearing more or less confident in the administration's handling of this pandemic? >> i came away more confident.c my speciestions, for example, were that we have a whole group of folks cald children who are being impacted far n tmoonanhalse yinge symptoms from coronavirus infectkn. dr. fauci wledged that was an issue. he mentioned, though, he had not

worked out the tension. i accept there's uncertainty. i just want people thinking about throblems, how do we get kids back to school, mothers and dads able to go to work with their chilen safely cared for. as long as they're working towa demand a solution right now. >> woodruff: well, we did hear dr. fauci say he is concerned about the dynamic that they are seeing among some chldren right now. it's clear that's something he and other scientists focused on. does that give you pause about s when schoould be open? >> it does give me pause. the question i asked him, what is the risk-benefit ratio for how children are being treated at that critical point when someone is five, their brain is exploding.n that's wey need to be in school. it's in the like their brain continues to learn like that every year of their life. no, that's when they rticularly learn. there is a huge opportunity. the concerns about kawasaki disease, it real, but the

bigger concern in terms of just sheerbe num, millions, are the children who are missing out both economically, educationally, and potentially other means from everything that school offers. >> woodruff: senator, let me also ask you about testing. president trump said yesterday, anybody whwants a test should get one, is able to get oneno righ you said earlier today you had questions about testing availability. what do you believe right now? >> i think that what's mosto important isthe sheer number of tests, but that we're using the test wis i just got off the phone with the chancellor of the university of nebraska medic cenr. and so when they have 200 people working, they will pool the samples. they will che, okay, all 200 of them are checked at once. if it comes outh positive,n they go to 100/100, and then 50/50/50 until they get to one person who has i it may only take five tests to find the one person, but you've

found one out of 200, so the overall number isn't imortant. it's the strategy by which we implement. checking a hermit who lives by himself in the middle of the desert is noimportant. checking a child going to school who might infect others, ver important. that's where we should focus our efforts. >> woodruff: bottom line, is it accurate to say anybody who wants a test now can get one? >> well, im not sure what we san by a tet. we have two tests. i suspect most people what want a swab up their nose can get it, but if you want see if you've been previously infected, there is a shortage of those anal a shortage of antigen tests, but they are increasing in their volume. >> woodruf i think we heard there's a long way to go in terms of testing, but louisianat your home is preparing to reopen on friday even though statewide you have not reached what was a c.d.c. goal of having 14 straight days of declining

arcases. you concerned that it's too early? >> new york i think if you look at a state, you mayve a concern, but what you really need the look at is regns of the state. so it's easier to explain with texaa i looked uple weeks ago at where the infection was in texas. a lot in harris county, houston. there was none soutof san antonio, some counties along the rio grande. granted very few people live there, but the point being, a state a set of regions, a set of smaller regions and then a set of communities and microcommunities. i'm more concerned what's haening in a microcommunity, which could spill out, than i am at the state as ahole. if we have adequate testing which is able to zero in on those plac with more infections, that's more important than a statewide lockdown in which this region is doing well and folks rigerhtly wohy they can't go see their barber. >> woodruff: but if the governor of the state says, "we are opening up," what's to stop even those communities where cases are increasing from going

ahead and opening up and letting busisses go back to something closer to where they were? >> i g ck to you have to have strategy on testing. if you open up and say fare thee well, that's not good. but if you have strategy and you follow up where your cases are coming up, and you go to those teas where you have a f people at risk if they get infected or a lot of people at risk to geect infd, that's where you focus your testing. simultaneously ope your economy but do it safely. it has to be about a strategy for testing. i keep saying that. not the total number oftists necessarily. but a stry.at that's what we need. >> woodruff: finally, senator, a question aboutenator ran paul's comment that dr. fauci, that he is not the end all, and other criticisms we're hearing. i hearfrone toda a former advisor to president trump, jason miller. he said, "athony fauci is good

at moving the goalpost.pu he's the undd king of moving accountability away from himself." is that your view? >> i have nothing but the highest respect for anthony fauci. period. end of story. do sometimes facts on the ground change and perceptions change?ly absolu fauci said today that he was not the end all. so he's bringing certain humility to it. i have had my differences with fauci. but what i'm afterhere a not definite answer, because facts change, i'm after people pursuing the truth. >> woodruff: senator bill cassidy of louisiana, we thank you very much. >> thank you. >> woodruff: and for a democrat's take, we turn to the committee's ranking member, senator patty murray she joins us from washington state, one of the first areas hardest t by the coronavirus. nator, thank you very much for talking with us. we just heard senator cassidy say that he is more confident after today's hearing of the administration's handling of this pandemic. are you?

>> no, i'm not, and here's wh: we have been hearing from thisti administ forever. we're going to have 100 tests by friday, a million ttss most of the time, in fact all of the time they don'reach it. do we need to reopen, not just two weeks from now, butxt september, a year from now, they are not giving us that number. we need to know how many tests we need, what the capacity is, what the supply chain is, so weo can build uphat and make sure we have it. they're not transparent about e at. and theyt real about it. >> woodruff: so when the admiral, the assistant secretar ath.h.s. was saying in the hearing that there would be 40 to 50 million tests being done in the montof september, are you saying that doesn't sound like enough? >> well, i do t't know whheir goal is, but i will also tell you that i have heard them thr those numbers out time and time and time again nowing since the middle of february, and never

having reached them. so the aswer thayou really need is how many will we need in septber, and how are you gong to produce them? and that's what we don't see. no transparency into that. so i find it hard to believe. >> woodruff: we heard from senator cassidy just now. he said, "i'm more concerned about testing protocols than i am about the she number of tests." what about you? >> well, i think it's close. i think we need the knowledge what testing is it really gives you the knowledge to make the decision you'reed if youe just simply family and you want to know if it's safe to go visit your elderly mother or whther you are a business and you need it to know it's okay to openo your doors,r employees are safe, if you're a school, are your empdyees, are your kis free of the virus so they don't give it to anybody else? that's what testing is important. it's knowledge. and that is why it'soritical in a pandemic where we do not

have a vaccine and we do not have a cure for this very aggressive virus. it's the tool we need. >> woodruff: senator, i don't want to interrupt, but i want to ask u about k-12 schools. a lot of people are concerned about whether schools are goingp to ben in september. we just heard senator cassidyor say he'se concerned about tting especially children from low-come families back to school in the fall. he's more concerned about that than he is at this point about this new inflammatory disease that's been identified among af small numberhildren. >> well, i don't think that at's the right way the look at it. i think we obviously all wantin kids bac school, every single parent does. and the answer to that rally is we don't kn yet, because this is a new virus, and it has been different and we're learning every single kay. i think the question we should all be asking is how do we makee ur kids get an education next year if this pandemic is

raging at any time or the whole year and make sure they get a equitable education. what are we doing? making.e the decisions we're do we plan for that? and there is no plan for that. there is no help om c.d.c. who should be issuing guidelines or the department of education, knowing that we are in this, what are their best recommendations and how do we get people ready fo we don't know in the fall, either to have kids back at schoolo safely or be able to educate them if we can't have them back. >> woodruff: senator, what's your best understanding of when a vacce may realistically be available? n well, i'mot an expert, but i listen to the experts, and i have watched this for a long time, and i nkiverybody's hope is that we will have a vaccine in the next year. but there's a loof wish to that -- that it's effective, that it's safe, that there aren't any by-product of that that are more dangerous, and how

do we ramp it up. what is it going thee? do we have the shots, do we have the manufacturing capability? and that clearly is not going to happen in a year, even in the best-case scenario. we have to know what we need to do between new and then. and that is the knowledge, that's why i talk about testing. ay you have it, you st home. if younow your employees are sick, they are not at work, what's the precautions we need the takewhat's the protocol that works so tha's not passed around, and how do we make those tough decisions that inevitably we're going to beth faced with ine coming year and maybe longer.dr >> wf: you mentioned going back to work. the governor of your state, governor inslee of shington state, has extended the stay-at-home order at least until the end of this month of may. and yet you have something like what, 800,000 folks in washington sta who have filed unemployment claims. what do you say to people who

are worrie about ir livelihood who are saying, yes, i know, we all have toe careful, but i don't know what kind of life i'm going to have if this goeson much longer. >> what i say to those people is that it's exactly why the federal government needs to step in right now and provide the supported for people so they don't have to make that horrific choi of being able to put food on their table or be able to pay their rent or be able to survive. that's what our role has to be right now. because the other choice is to send people out in dangerous health and perhaps their life. it's an impossible question -- economy versus health -- but there are things we can do so it is not so impossible. that's what the federal government needs to be doing. >> woodruff: senator patty murray, ranking member, democrat, on the senate health committee. thank you so much. >> thank you.

>> woodruff: in the day's other news, the u.s. supreme court heard two cases on whetherp president trn keep his tax returns and financial congressional comm and a district attorney in new york nthave subpoenaed the docu the day's arguments were made over the phone, and we'll have excerpts and a closer fter the news summary. in the presintial campaign, the presumptive democratic nominee, joe biden, denounced president trump's claims that anyone can get tested for covid- 19. in an interview, the f vice president charged that mr. trump continues to show what he called "needless complency." >> he knew about this crisis all the way back in january and february. he's been incompetent, the way he responded.

we have 80,000 aths. we have more deaths, more of the virus, than any nation in the world. what the story here? i mean, come on. this is just fantasy land, what he's talking about. >> woodruff: meanwhile, the trump re-election effort raised nearly $62 million. the biden campaign raised more than $60 million. in moscow, dmitry peskov, the spokesman for russian president vlimir putin, has beensp alized with the coronavirus. he is the latest senior kremlin figure to be infected. meanwhile, france beganop ing schools today, with physical distancing andmi li on class size. and in india, trains rrvumed limited e as the c governmetinued easing a lockdown. it has been a day of unspeakable violence in afghanista gunmen stormed a maternity hoital in kabul, and kille 16 people, including new mothers and their babies. afghan security forces nurses alike carried newborns out of the hospital. inside, blood stained e floor

under baby beds, and a doctor told of hiding out from the >> ( translated ):hen the firi started we went to the safe room. there were nine of us inside the safe room, for four hours. k e attacker came at the b the safe room door and fired, but he couldn't enter the room. all our colleagues were unhurt there, but there were casualties amongst the patients inside the wards. >> woodruff: in stern afghanistan, a suicide bomber nangarhar province at a police commander's funeral. back in this country, the georgia state attorney generales asked for an igation of how prosecutors handled the ahmaud arbery case. he was killed by a white father they were charged with murder last week, when video of the incident emerged. and on wall street, stocks slumped on warnings about lifting pandemic lockdowns too soon. the dow jones industrial average lost 457 points to close at 23,764. the nasdaq fell 189 points, and

still to come on the newshour:e the suprurt hears two arguments over access to president trump's financial records. inside t arrest of two american veterans in an attempted co in venezuela. a clearer picture emerges of the disproportionate impact of vid-19 on communities of color. and, much more. >> woodruff: the supreme court ard arguments today in president trump's legal battle to keep his personal financial records secret.ya as joh reports, the justices' decision could have

profound implications for the constitutional separation of government powers. >> yang: arguing before the nation's highest court to try to keep president trump's financial records private, :r. trump's personal attorney made a broad cla a sitting president is immune from any criminal process, even a grd jury subpoena. justice ruth bader ginsburg said that would put a president above the law.ju >> is the gran right to every man's evidencesive of the president? >> this court has long recognized that the president is nat to be treated as an or citizen. he has responsibilities.im he is,lf, a branch of government. he ithe only individual that is a branch of government in our >> yang: today's cnce-call oral arguments-- which ran longer than scheduled-- centered on subpoenas from congand a new york city grand jury to mr. trump's accoting firm and banks that finance trump organization businesses for

tax returns another financial records. while the supreme court allowed a federal sexual harassment civil suit against president bill clinton to go forward while he was in office, the justices have never ruled on criminal investigation. today, justices pressed theen press attorney why this was different. >> how is this more burdensome, though, than what took place in clinton versus jones? >> yang: the house says its subpoenas are for a legislative purpose. but, several justices-- including chief justice john roberts and samuel alito--wh askeher that justification was too sweeping. >> you were not able to give the chief justice even one example of a subpoena that would not be pertinent to some conceivable legislative purpose, were you?i >> aid, your honor, that's correct, because this itself has said congress's power to legislate is extremely broad. >> yang: justice stephen breyer worried about the effect on

future presidents. >> whai hold today will also apply to a future senator mccarthy asking a future franklinoosevelt or harry truman exactly theame questions. that bothers m yang: the immediate effect llof the court's decision e on whether financial records that democrats have long wted, and mr. trump has long fought disclosing, will be turned over. the house overght committee made its demand after hearing last year from former trump attorney michael cohen. >> it was myxperience that mr. ump inflated his total assets when it served his purposes, such as trying to be listed amongst the wealthiest people in "forbes," and deflated his assets to reduce his real. estate tax >> yang: the house financial services and intelligence commites want trump records veyommo olosneneloe ansi eauns have made the president

vulnerable to of particular interest to investigators is deutsche bank, the only major financialin itutioconsistently lending to trump businesses. "new york timeen editor david ch is author of "dark towers," which focuses onti mr. trump' with the bank. >> deutsche bank is holding a pzzying array of financial information on tsident. it has information on money coming in and out of his bank accounts, all the infon that trump used when he was applying for loans or opening bank accounts.on anop of that, it has a lot of its own records about its employees' concerns as they were working on the trump relationship. >> yang: mhattan dtrict attorney cyrus vance wants the president's tax records as part of a probe into "hush money" payments he made to two wome with whom he allegedly had sexual relationships. but, the court's ruling could have a longer-term effect on the constitutional balance of power between congress and the esident. marcia coyle of "the national law journal": >> this is a true separation-of- powers dispute, which generally

had been worked out between the branches over the decades. but this one-- in the face of both parties really hewing to their old positions,s now before the u.s. supreme court. >> yang: and there could be consequences for the court itself. >> there's a very real possibility that the generalic puight view this decision as political, if it is 5-4 in favor of president trump. that's why i also think john roberts very much isay critical here, and how he can try to find a resolution to thist case tll be hopefully bipartisan of sorts.is >> yang: a dn will likely come by june, just in time for for e pbs newshomcampaign. jo yang.

>> woodruff: the trump administration has made no secret of its desire to depose venezuela's presidennicholas maduro, as his country spirals further into economic and humanitarian catastrophe. but, earlier this month, an operation to invade and kidnap maduro shocked everyone, it seemed, but maduro himself. nick schifrin reports on a bizarre, botched invasion attempt, and the implications for a country in collapse. >> schifrin: the first sign the secret mission wasn't so secret? the venezuelan military helicopter. as soon as operation gideon came ashore, it ran aground. more than a dozen captured, eight killed. and among the detained? >> secure caracas. >> schifrin: two americans, paraded on venezuela tv. venezuelan president nicholas maduro showed off their u.s.po pas, blamed president trump, and said the authorities knew about the plot all along. >> ( translated ): they came to venezuela. we named them.

their little game was revealed. >> schifrin: the mastermind of this misadventure? rdan goudreau, whose promotional video shows him as a former army green beret, c.e.o. of a private security , and provider of securi at a trump rally. during the raid, as his men were being captured, he pos video with his venezuelan co-conspirator. >>t 1700 hours, a daring amphibious raid was launched from theorder of colombia deep into the heart of caraca >> schifrin: and in a skype interview with a vezuelan news organization, goudreau bragged about how he'd been training for a year >> are you familiar with alexander the great? the battle of galgamella, completely outnumbered. he struck deep into the heart of the enemy, and that's how he won. >> there was no u.s. government direct involvement in this operation. if we'd have been involved, it would have gone differently. >> schifrin: secretary of state ke pompeo denied the administration knew, as did venezuelans interviewed by pbs newshour. but the trump administration ham waged a diic campaign to oust maduro, announcing criminal

charges and a $15 milln reward for his capture in march. >> maduro and his other defendants have betrayed the venezuelan people and corrupted venezuelan institutions. >> schifrin: and in february 2019 in miami, president trump urged venezuelans to rise up. >> letour people go. set your country fre now is the time for allzu vean patriots to act together as one united people. >> schifrin: the centerpiece ofh administration's campaign is juan guaido, whom dozens of countries call venezuela's rightful presideua. as part ofo's effort to overthrow maduro, he turned to ami-based venezuelan consultant, j.j. rendon, who's usually focused on politics. en you talk about how ju guaido wanted you to use allor options, or exall options, what did that mean? >> he specifically say ae table.

we're exploring-- and he's used the word "ploring," that is accurate-- every option. >> schifrin: rendon says he we have, according to our otnstitution, the mandate, the right-- every venezuelan, invested or not in power, have thduty to do whatever in h power to recover a state of freedom and democracy. >> schifrin: last year, rendon hired gdreau and agreed to this 42-page, $200 million agreement-- designed to be paid with maduro's money-- to maduro" with a "quactionicolas force" of venezuelans. their operations had to minimize "accidental injury to civilians and rce that was "necessary and proportional." it said "use of all types of conventional wns is permitted." but rendon said he quickly grewa skeptical, cut ties to godreau last october after paying goudreau's expenses.

>> we back off. ad we didn't like the guy to keep talking to more. there were some red flags, too. i told him, look, if you have some expenses, will pay myself. and i did. so we said okay, you have that ?0,000, it's good for you fine, bye. >> schifrin: guaiddenied any personal knowledge, and shifted the blame to maduro. >> ( translated ): we have nothing to do with any company, for obvious and evident reasons, but we have to make it very clear right now: nothing the usurper caysa is goi tghhrou. suffering from debilitating inflation, a humanitarian disaster, and worries about the a covid-19 outbreak. maduro used arrested american luke denman... >> i was helping venezuelans take back control. >> schifrin: ...and arian berry... >> what were the objectives of the miion? >> i believe it was to obtain

maduro. >> schifrin: ...to shift the administration.ning the trump >> ( translated ): donald trump, mike pompeo, were directlys. behind thi it was a contract ordered by the state department as a covert operation against venezuela. >> schifrin: goudreau launched the operation, even after colombia intercepted some of his weapons. he did n reply to pbs newshour requests for comment. the opposition and trump administration officials speculate maduro might have co-opted it. >> there was a push fo patriots to get slaughtered and killed, to stage a theater and vileimize himself, in the mi of the worst moment of my country. ( crs ) sorry about that. >> schifrin: on monday, after years in the venzeulan opposition, rendon resigned as an unpaid advisor touaido. >> spiritually, let's say, in myself, yes, i will love to go m,ck in time, not talk to and not be related to this craziness, and the sacrifice of people like slaughter.

>> schifrin: the trump administration and the opposition a trying to ensure the operation isn't a setback. but, maduro's using it as a distraction, andis regime remains in power, despite the campaign to overthrow him. for the pbs newshour, i'm nick schifrin. covid-19 and the enormousn to toll it's taking. people of color have b particularly vulnerable to the virus. 3 near of covid patients in the u.s., where race wasar identifiedblack. that, despite african americans making up only about 13% of the popu yamiche alcindor has this report on how these disparities are

playing out in communities on the ground. j >> theret this huge weight that lays around my shoulders. c >> alcinra bates chamberlain is seeing up close the devastating impact of covid-19. the virus has torn through her family. >> my grandmother, my father, my cousin and my aunt, they're l hospitalized. >> alcindor: at hospitals across icago, they've all been on ventilators. >> i've never told my dad i love him so much. and i don't think we've ever told each other that we love each other this much. >> alcindor: glenn harston ii is mourning his aunt, margaret jones. after two weeks in the hospital, her kidneys and liver shut down. her family wasn't able to visit her. >> we don't know what the final we-- from the time that she entered the hospital, we never saw her again.r ned a conversation with her again. >> alcindor: he now fears 15 of

his family members may have the rus. i still don't know the exact number. you know, a lot of relativesn' weable to get tests. it's one thing to sit watch things on tv and you say "that's-- that's sad. it's different when you're living it. >> alcindor: as the of cases and deaths continues to mount, a clearer picture is forming of the disproportionate toll covid-19 is havinlack people and communities of color. in new york city, the u.s. b epicentecks and hispanics are dying at roughly twice the rate of whites. in chicago, blacks are dying at nearly three timit the rate of . and in new mexico, native americans account for more than s,half of all confirmed ca despite being only 11% of the population. >> the disparities that existed, that are being unearthed during covid, they existed before covid. >> alcindor: dr. andrew marshall is an emergency physician at beth israel deaconess medical center in boston. >> there's a long history of

disadvantage in this country.bo when you think access to health care, when you think about access to healthy food, when you think about job security, the things that many of us enjoy and we take forgr ted, they make it really hard for certain communities to be healthy. >> alcindor: experts point to long-standing social and racial inequities. bates chamberlain's loved ones who ended up hospitalized suffer from the diseases that run in her family: diabetes or high blood pressure. african americans as a whole suffer disproportionately fromhr those sameic illnesses, which can make covid-19 more deadly. blacks and hispanics are also less likely to have health and, people of color in general are more likely to live in denst cities than . they also have less access to high-quality food. at the same time, working from home isn't an option for many. ay a lot of people get to home and quarantine themselves. that's great. i'm happy for them. you know?

i'm not lucky enough to do that. a lot of us are not. >> alcindor: rubwoquintanilla rks at an amazon warehouse in chicago. a number of her co-workers have tested positive for the virus. for her, social distancing is a >> it's next to impossible. sometimes, to be honest with you. it really is, 's really hard to. the aisles inside the cells in the clusters are really small and tight-knit. you over-think absolutely everything. you go wash your hands, come back out, you go look at this water station and you're like, "do i really need that glass of water right now?" >> alcindor: quintanilla works she can spend the king a.m. so care of her parents. her mom has osteoporosis. her dad is anemic and has diabetes. >> he could work all day to give us the world. that's my father. it's our turn. 's our turn to take care of, our turn to give the world. our turn to ensurefehat they're

d just like theyid for us. but it's really hard right now,t really are to t with. >> i think we were grossly unprepared. >> alcindor: back inn, dr. marshall says the messaging for the under-served-- ispecially in a time of cr often falls short. >> we forget that their pockets in the city don't have as much means. we also forget that when we goll somebody tome and self isolate, we take f granted that you can do that. that you have a room in your house where other people don't live, where you can self isolate. >> alcindor: back in chicago, glenn harston sees ht's death squarely as a failure on the part of government. do you think your aunt's deas eventable? >> i absolutely think it was i think that there were some missed opportunities forip leadero really impress upon us that this is a serious disease and that we needed to be mindful. he didn't seriously.takeryt ve therefore, why should anybody else? i know that absolutely.

if i turn on the tv and i see the president of the united states wearing a mask, i'm absolutely going to tune in and, and think that something is-- is pretty serious. >> alcindor: meanwhile, president trump has appointed ben carson, the secretary of housing and urban development, to lead a council focused on looking at how the virus is impacting communities of color. but lawmakers, including membert congressional black caucus, have been pushing thera adminion to do more. they say officials need to take immediate steps to address disparities and improve the way >> we're angry andlected. hurting. chamberlain, life is still a daily struggle. all four of her family members were released from the hospitalu bu this morning, her father had to be rushed back. she believes her experience, and countless others like it, must serve as a wake-up call for the country. >> we can't continue just blaming black people for their own deaths.

but it also fuels the fire to say, like, this is something that we have to address. and i also demand some type of equitable response. >> alcindor: for the pbs newshour, i'm yamiche alcindor. >> woodruff: one of the best ways to prevent spre coronavirus is hand washing. flint, michigan-- that is not a simple task. flint-- which is majority african american and l new public health emergency. john yang is bac speaking with e doctor who helped expose the water crisis about how this pandemic is hitting thcity. >> yang: judy, in flint, michigan, the coronavirusnd ic isn't the only health problem the folks there are dealing with right now.it omes on top of the ongoing issue of elevated lead levels in the drinking water, a problem

that marked its sixth anniversary recently. flint pediatrician dr. mona hanna-attisha was one of the earliest to sound the alarm about the water problem. she jos us by skype from her home. dr. mona hanna-attisha, thanks so much for joining us and i should note, one reason why you are at home and not seeing patients right now that you have-- you have recovered from coronavirus. how are you eling now? >> knock on wood, i am feeling so much better. i still can't taste or smell, but the scary respiratory cough, shortness of breath, those things are all gone. i >> yanas just looking at these statistics at the genesee health department's website.ay theyhat 40% of the cases where flint is-- are in the city of flint, even though flint accounts for only about 25% of the population. why do you think that and do you think it could have something to do with the water

crisis? >> that's really being seen thsughout the country in te of the disparities of who is getting most impacted by this crisis. we are also seeing very much in detroit, michigan's kind of one of the hardest-hit states and this pandemic outside the detroit area. it's genesee county that has seen a signicant number of cases and deaths, including our hospital security guard and many of our loved ones th we work with on a daily basis. so why is this happening? why? why are we seeing these disparities? and absolutely, we canle out the water crisis in flint and also in detroit. many families, and up to 5,000 families in flint could not even wash their hands. they did not have running water to wash their hands. i and i mean, whthe most important thing to do to kill the virus right now? c look, actually kill the virus with soap and water, b we can't do that in many placesn includin flint. >> yang: when we were in flint, we met a young boy who had had developed rashes and blisters from being bathed in the waters when he waa very young at the beginning of this water crisis.

he's afraid of the water. he doesn't want to deal with the water. d how do yl with that in a place where you don't trust what's coming out of the tap, and yet, pple are being told to wash their hands? >> you know, it's-- it's very difficult. you know, we are just beginning to recover from our last public health crisis. and then, this is an added public health crisis that is straining very limited resources anexacerbating preexisting we have, fortunately, over the last few yrs, in our recovery fr the water crisis have been able to build some of the public health infrastructure to support families. for example, the fli registry is supported by the c.d.c., funded by congress, is exactly what we need right now. and it helps families getd connec nutrition, education, water, a these different, all these important things that we need right now. fo texample, just this week, flint restry connected a family who did not have running water to the services in the city that now can get them back connected. son some respects, the har

work that we have been doing in our recoveryhe last few years, the building of that disinvested public health infrastructure has enabled us to more quickly respond to this crisis and further support famili. however, that infrastructure, just like that public health infrastructure throughout our nation, needs more support and needs more funding. and for example, that flint registry, the funding without congressional action is set to expire in a year. >> yang: are there other waysat he water crisis is sort of making the pandemic more complicated in flint? that's actually what keeps me up at night. so, our previous public health crisis, the flood crisis, was ne exposure of otoxin on top of a population that had a lot of risfactors for health and development. so we potentially have a population of children who will have long-term health and education deficits. and now we have this pandemic

which creates signicant gaps in education and nutrition and health care. c our ki't go to high quality child care anymore. they can't participate in literacy services. the home visiting programs, all these things that we have put into place to buffer, to mitigate the impact of the water crisis with the flood exposure are gone right now. another thing that we o recognize with this pandemic is thmental health issues tha are-- that are happening. people, pecially in low income areas, they're stressed just like we're all stressed. they're anxious. they don't have the luxury of, for example, staying at home in big, spacious hos and doing remote work and getting paid. they're on the front lines. th are delivering our mail they are working in our grocery stores. they are driving our buses. they are keeping america ruing. >> yang: when we were in flint last year, we found a lot ofop who continued distrust of the government. and now there'concerns about the way the leadership is

handling the coronavirus pandemic how is that affecting people? >> there's been significant loss and trust of every level of government because of the betrayal from this water crisis. they were essentially, you know, lied to by people whose job was sto keep them safe and mae that their water was safe to drink. that wasn't lost trust. you know, it was-- had really been builtn decades of lost trust, because flint as a city,a just lik of our urban centers, many of our post manufacturing communities had suffered from disinvestment and neglect and racism for quite some time. then our water crisis happened, and now we are in thee midst of this pandemic where were our leaders also failed us. y>> from outside flint, michigan. thk you very much.

>> woodruff: today is internatnal nurse's day, and there probably has never been a mde importnt time to stop recognize this profession. betty ferrell of city of hopeal national medenter in southern california, has worked in nursing for more than 40 years. in tonight's "brief butcu specr," she reminds us how nurses show up for us, and how we can show up for them. >> across america, and around the world, nurses are delivering excellent care. it is a nurse who is in that room holding the phone as a family member is saying goodbye to a patnt that they can't even see. it's the nurse who will be in that room when the ventilator is withdrawn, a it is a nurse who ll be bathing the body of that patient and calling that family to comfort them after the death. nurses are really thewo predominanforce across all settings of care, for every population impacted by this

disease. >> so, palliative care in this country has evolved over the illness care that's focused on quality of life. i've been an oncology nurse my entire career. our project, elnec, is the end-of-life nursing education consortium, an international effort to try provide this training for nurses to help them acquire these skills it's nurses at the bedside at 3:00 in the morning, when the patient asks the question, "am i going to die?" it's so important for nurses as the front lines in every setting of care to have this knowledge and skills and support. because the end of life, even in the midst of crisis, should be a sacred time.se right now, ndon't have time to stop and go through training. fortunately, our elnec project

has trained about 24,000 nurses across the country who a supporting their colleagues. another key principle of our elnetraining is, how do we take care of the nurses? these nurses are so busy. they've just cared for a wonderful, loving, kind, amazing grandfather who just died. but, you know what, five minutes from now, they're going to fill that bed with another patient. t re's no time to grieve. there's no time to care for themselves. my daughter is a pulmonary critical care physician. she is on the front lines and she is working in a covid i.c.u. and so, i'm afraid. i'fearful for my daughter' safety. but i'm also very proud of my daughter i'm proud that my daughter has made a commitment to care for real sick people. i think everyone in the country is very well aware of the fact that one othe greatest tragedies of this current pandemic is that mothers like me have had to see our children go into their daily work without

protective gear. i hope that we take the time to think of, how can we supportre every firsonder? whether i'm putting on my hat as mother, as grandmother, as a-- nurse mysee first need to say, let'sll celebrate what we have done. let's celebrate the good care, because at the endf the day, what we all have to say is, we showed up. you know, nurses, doctors, everyone has showed up for this pandemic, and it's our obligationow to see how we can bett support them for the future, because they've done amazing work. i'm betty ferrell and this is my "brief, but spectacular" take on showing up. >> woodruff: thank you to all the nurses out there.

and you can find all our "brief but spectacular" segments online at www.pbs.org/newshour/brief. and tune in to pbs tonight-- "asian americans" continues to track from the first new immigrants to the u.s. to trailblazers of the present, those prominent and those forgotten, defining what it means to be asn american today. on the newshour online right now-- thousands of photographic images documenting dance maestro alvin ailey and his groundbreaking company, they ar ailable to view online through the smithsonian's national museum of african american history and culture. you can read more about his legacy and the photographer who captured his vision on our website, www.pbs.org/newshour. and that is the newsho tonight. i'm judy woodruff. join us online, and again here tomorrow evening. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you, stay safe, and we'll see you

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hello, everyone, and welcome to "amanpour & co." here's what's coming up. we must stay alert. we must continue to control the virus and save lives. >> confusion reigns after the british prime minister sets about unlocking lockdown. should brins stay alert or stay home? i ask sir david king, the country's former chief scientific adviser. then -- with the supreme court hearing the biggest presidential immunity case since watergate, author and investigative rerter david enrich looks at what t esident doesn't want revealed and why. and later -- >> we are feeling like an impending famine at a time when, again, we're