captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening, i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight, the risks of reopening-- as the united states death toll nears one hundred thousand, much of the country pushes ahead with relaxing restrictions for memorial day weekend. then, a critical moment-- as more people are examined for immunity, we explore the science behind antibody tests for covid- 19, and their limitations. >> somebody may get the information that they've been exposed and then they think, oh, i'm good to go. and then it turns out they were actually vulnerable and they could get sick themselves and then transmit others. >> woodruff: and it's friday,

mark shields and david brooks examine the politics of the pandemic, the effects on the 2020 campaign, and controversial statements by the candidates. all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us.

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>> woodruff: president trump declared houses of worship "essential" today, a called on governors to re-open them this weekend. some beaches and lakes are also re-opening, as americans mark the memorial day holiday. th all comes as the number of covid-19 cases in the u.s. climbed to roughly 1.6 million. william brangham has our report. >> brangham: the flags stood at half-staff at the white house today for the more than 95,000 americans who have died from covid-19. the staggering death toll comes as the u.s. enters the unofficial start of summer this weekend... one mayor along the new jersey shore said he's committed to keeping beachgoers safe: >> we're gonna have personnel specifically dicated to enforcing social distancing, to making sure that groups stay with who they came with and that they're keeping that six foot radius at all times.

>> brangham: mayor kanitra said he's cut beach parking by half to try and curb the number of out-of-town visitors. and, beaches along lake michigan, like this one in northwest indiana are also slated to reopen this weekend. park ranger bruce rowe said they'll be watching the crowds carefully: >> two weeks ago we shut down a beach in the national park because overcrowded dangerous conditions, if that becomes necessary we'll that again. >> brangham: meanwhile, a new report from "the lancet" medical journal notes that hydroxychloroquine, the anti- malaria drug that president trump says he's been taking to prevent covid-19, linked to a higher death rate among people who are sick with the virus, and it can double or triple the risk of an irregular heart rhythm. separately, there's no good evidence the drug prevents covid-19, and the president this week hinted he might stop taking the drug soon.

a at a press briefing the president said the order for the centers to have disease control to issue new guidance to allow place of worship to reopen doors this weekend. >> the governors need to do the right thing and allow these very essential places of faith to open right now. >> reporter: and he said eh will oerride governors who do not comply, though he doesn't have the authoty to do so. the c.d.c. also updated other coronaviru and, the centers for disease control updated some of their coronavirus prevention guidelines, now saying that the virus is not as easily spread on contaminated surfaces as originally thought, or through animals. across the globe today, muslims are preparing for their normally big eid celebrations, which mark the end of ramadan, a bit differently. from this indonesian outdoor market, to this one in kabul, crowds of people, some in masks, shopped for the holiday. a kabul official warned the city

will be under lockdown during eid and urged families to avoid large gatherings. >> ( translated ): we ask all to stay at home and avoid going out for eid celebrations, going to relatives' homes, picnics and all other means of celebration. the reason for this restriction is the spread of coronavirus in kabul city and the unexpected increase in number of positive cases. >> brangham: meanwhile, in europe: there's a rush to implement new safety and prevention measures as businesses start to reopen. like at this upscale salon in rome. owner giada capuano says she's happy to get back to work, but says new safety measures will also be costly: >> ( translated ): to re- sanitize an area between one client and the next takes as a minimum half-an-hour which means taking less appointments and bringing in le money at the end of the month. >> brangham: and, in portugal one coastal resort town says it will test all its 200,000 residents for coronavirus antibodies. officials say the sults could provide "peace of mind" and hope it can lead to a busy tourist

season to revive the sluggish economy. but for each new re-opening, new hotspots are appearing: india reported 6,088 new coronavirus cases in 24 hours, its biggest one day spike. and, in what is considered by many to be an underestimate, more than 20,000 brazilians have died from the virus, a fifth of those in sao paulo, including daniela dos santos' mother. >> ( translated ): this disease is silent. we don't believe it happens and look at this, i'm burying my mother. >> brangham: in that city, graves are being dug at an unprecedented rate, creating the largest cemetery in latin america. for the pbs newshour, i'm william brangham. >> woodruff: in the day's other news, a passenger jet in pakistan crashed into a crowded residential district in karachi today. most of the 98 people aboard were feared dead. at least two passengers survived. smoke billowed up as ambulances

raced through the busy neighborhood. emergency workers combed throu the wreckage, looking for signs of life beneath caved-in roofs. >> ( translated ): i saw from the rooftop of my house lots of smoke in the sky, so i ran towards the scene and saw the wreckage of the plane's cockpit and the body of a pilot inside. we came to know that the plane was unable to land and crashed here. >> woodruff: it's unclear how many people on the ground were killed or injured. in china, deliberations began today over a bill to limit opposition activity in hong kong. the proposal was formally submitted at the annual national people's congress in beijing. meanwhile in hong kong, chief executive carrie lam backed the effort. >> ( translated ): hong kong's government supports the national people's congress deliberation of the decision to establish and improve the legal system and enforce mechanisms at the national level for the hong kong government to safeguard national

security. >> woodruff: pro-democracy activists say the bill amounts to a crackdown on freedoms in the semi-autonomous city. china's move comes after months of anti-beijing protests in hong kong last year. we'll discuss all this, after the news summary. the sons of slain saudi journalist jamal khashoggi said they've forgiven their father's killers, a move that spares the five saudi agents from execution. one son explained that forgiveness was extended in line with the islamic tradition of offering pardons during the holy month of ramadan. but in a tweet, khashoggi's fiancee, hatice cengiz, said, "no one has the right to pardon his killers, and i will not stop until we get justice for jamal." back in this country, the f.b.i.'s director ordered an internal review of its investigation into president trump's former national security adviser, michael flynn.

it will examine whether any f.b.i. employees engaged in misconduct during the probe. earlier this month, the justice department dismissed the criminal case against flynn for lying to the f.b.i. the district attorney prosecuting the fatal shooting of ahmaud arbery in georgia spoke for the first time about the case today. joyette holmes is the fourth prosecutor assigned to lead the case, after arbery's death, believed to be at the hands of a white father and son, sparked a national uproar. >> we are going to make sure that we find justice in this case. we know that we have a broken family and a broken community down in brunswick. now, i do ask, i know that there are a lot of people who have questions about next steps, about the facts, about where do we go from here, but we ask you that you allow us to try this case in the courtroom for the sanctity of this case. >> woodruff: her remarks came a day after the arrest of the man who videotaped the incident.

william "roddie" bryan jr. appeared in court today via teleconference to face charges including felony murder. his lawyer insisted bryan was nothing more than a witness. the f.b.i. today identified the gunman who opened fire at a texas naval air base in corpus christi, and wounded a sailor. the gunman, 20-year-old adam salim alsahli, was killed during yesterday's attack. the f.b.i. is investigating the incident as "terrorism-related," but offered no specifics. the university of california won't require s.a.t. or a.c.t. admissions exams through 2024. and it will eliminate them altogether for california residents after that. the governing board for the bloc of 10 schools voted unanimously to do so yesterday. critics argued the exams put low-income and minority students at a disadvantage. and, stocks were mixed on wall street today.

the dow jones industrial average lost nine points to close at 24,465. the nasdaq rose more than 39 points, and the s&p 500 added seven. still to come on the newshour: we explore the science behind antibody tests for covid-19, and their limitations. china's governme looks to exert greatecontrol on semi- autonomous hong kong. mark shields and david brooks break down the latest politics of the pandemic. plus much more. >> woodruff: we return to the drastic proposal from china to tighten its grip on hong kong. at their annual gathering in beijing, china's leaders today unveiled a new set of measures designed to curtail freedoms enjoyed in hong kong since its

transfer to china from britain 23 years ago. amna nawaz has more. >> nawaz: hong kong is supposed be semi-autonomous under the so- called "one country, two systems" policy. but in recent years, pro- democracy activists have resisted efforts to bring hong kong under tighter mainland control. the new chinese legislation is short on details, but would seek to ban what it refers to as "secession, sedition and subversion" in hong kong. all this as chinseeks to emerge from the covid-19 pandemic, which began there, and relations with the united states continue to worsen. joining me is bonnie glaser, a senior advisor for asia at the center for strategic and international studies, a washington-based think tank. welcome back to the "newshour". so as we mentioned, we dont's have a lot of details, but what do we think the practical impact could when it comes to businesses or people, freedom of press in hong kong?

>> well, it remains unclear, i think, as to how beijing is going to implement if law. it will likely lead to further erosion of rights and freedoms in the territory, possibly greater control over the media. the law will permit mainland security forces to operate in hong kong, and that could potentially result in new law enforcement organs that operate alongside those that already exist. we could see an implementation of china's patotic education that preaches chinese communist party-approved messages that essentially political indoctrination. the law could give new authority to remove opposition lawmakers or even prosecute them. there could be further erosion of hong kong's independent judicial system. >> reporter: what's behind this? why would president xi make this specific move at this spcific time >> i think the massive protests

in hong kong last year with millions of people on the streets clamoring for democracy and desecrating the prc flag was very embarrassing for xi jinping, and i think he wants to avoid a resumption of those kinds of large-scale protest as the pandemic gets under control. so with this fear in china that the situation in hong kong will deteriorate, i think that the cheese have decided to take preemptive measures to strengthen their control over hong kong, so the basic law, which is hong kong's mini constitution, really enabled the people of hong kong to keep their freedoms and have separate laws from mainland china. through there was -- but there was also a provision of article 23, which would have contained these national security laws, and it was never ever really built out by the legislature in hong kong, so what the national

people's congress has done is take a preemptive step to pass the law themselves. >> reporter: could a preemptive move like this spark more demonstration and, if they do, what would be the likely response from mainland china? >> this move could spark greater demonstrations, bt there may be some people who don't want to return to the street because they fear that the new law will enable more people to be imprisoned and tried and incarcerated. but i think that the radical activists, those who are really committed to democracy, will take to the streets, and we will see greater violence. the question, of course, always in everyone's mind, is whether the chinese will intervene with force. >> reporter: bonnie, we're already seeing some response from u.s. lawmakers. one statement from jeff merkley from oregon, a democrat, he said today is a dark day for mcand the world, any illusion china

honors its obligations to respect hong kong's autonomy is shattered by this power grab. beyond statements, is there anything u.s. allies could do to pressure china and make sure hong kong's autonomy is protected? >> the united stat can work in concert with other countries to put pressure on hong kong. certainly, through rhetoric, but that probably won't be enough. i think there does need to be consideration of sanctions in specific instances, and, so, we need to develop targeted sanctions that might be placed on police units or chinese communist party officials and even maybe banks that engage in transactions with individuals and entities that are violating one country, two systems, and i believe that's what the new legislation that is under consideration in congress is really going to take a look at.

>> reporter: bonnie glaser from the center for strategic and international studies joining us today. thank you very much. >> thank you. >> woodruff: that party congress in beiji was postponed as china battled the coronavirus. the trump administration has highlighted the possibility that covid-19 was accidentally released from a chinese lab, by chinese scientists. that accusation is unproven, but as nick schifrin reports, questions of science have challenged u.s./china collaboration, and given way to increased the confrontation. >> schifrin: it feels like a descent into the heart of darkness. chinese virus hunters, in wuhan, looking for coronaviruses, in bats, in a video posted as the pandemic began. scientist tian junhua acknowledges in narration, there are serious risks.

>> ( translated ): because when you find the viruses, you e also most easily exposed to the viruses. >> schifrin: tian says he hunts for viruses to create vaccines, before viruses hunt people. and the promotional video ends with a brag-- how many vuses chinese scientists have discovered. >> ( translated ): now, this may seem shocking, but it's normal work for virus hunters the world over. and chinese scientists have been trained by the west. >> we're working in caves across southern china, where the risk is highest, and who is at most risk of this new disease. >> schifrin: peter daszak is the head of new york-based ecohealth alliance, which received bush, obama, and trump administration funding to researcin china. pbs newshour filmed him five years ago with our partner global health frontiers, as he tried to improve defenses to viruses that jump from animals to humans-- like sars-cov-2, the virus that causes covid-19. >> what we're trying to do is, what's the next one coming ong, and can we stop it before it evolves into a lethal human

pathogen. >> schifrin: tian works in a wuhan lab to do that work, and received one of the first live samples of sars-cov-2 on december 26. he and chinese colleagues wrote one of the first papers about a covid-19 patient. in fact in the last weeks of december, teams of chinese scientists collected dozens of sars-cov-2 strains to share online. and chinese scientists submitted the first full genome after just two weeks of work. that's incredibly fast, a sign of how far chinese scientists have come, says dr. gregory gray is an infectious disease epidemiologist who's worked with chinese scientists since 2011. >> the majority of scientists i work with are excellent and often very much western trained and western thinking. they value truth. >> schifrin: but the chinese government put a break on that truth telling. on january 1st, wuhan institute of virology director general yanyi wang messaged her colleagues, saying the national health commission told her the

lab's covid-19 data "shall not be published on social media... and shall not be disclosed to the media." and on january 3rd, the commission sent this document, never posted online, but saved by researchers, telling labs t"" destroy" covid-19 samples "or send them to the depository institutions designated by the state." secretary of state mike pompeo has repeatedly called that a coverup. >> the party chose to destroy live virus samples, instead of sharing them or asking us to help secure them. >> schifrin: last friday, the chinese government admitted to the destruction, but said it was for public safety. >> ( translated ): we released a guideline on january 3, aiming to prevent bio-hazards of labs and the occurrence of secondary disasters caused by unknown virus. >> schifrin: those seconry disasters have occurred before. the world health organization says in 2004, the virus that caused the previous year's sars epidemic accidentally got out of a beijing lab where it was being

analyzed by scientists. causing small, brief outbreaks. scientists believe a 1977 influenza epidemic spread after a russian lab accident. and leaks have even happened in the u.s. >> we learned today that about 75 government scientists were exposed to live anthrax. >> schifrin: the trump administration has repeatedly raised the possibility of a lab accident sparking the pandemic. >> there's enormous evidence that's that where this began. >> schifrin: national security advisor robert o'brien added a crucial caveat. >> look there's certainly the potential that it came from the laboratory. >> schifrin: some scientists we interviewed, agree the potential exists, and worry about lab security. >> there's still this culture of compliance rather than a culture of safety. >> schifrin: tim trevan is a biological safety expert. he questions whether the chinese government would allow scientists to point out mistakes. >> if you have a society where it's extremely hierarchical and people don't question their superiors.

if, on top of that, you have a political system that disappears whistleblowers, then it's a very difficult starting point to have a learning organization where everyone feels safe to speak up when ty see things which aren't going right. >> schifrin: but trevan and other scientists say there is no evidence of a lab leak. and over the last few decades, the chinese have dramatically improved their facilities. >> there's a lot of scrutiny now. there's video cameras monitoring who does what. often they have rules like we do where junior personnel have to be partner with senior personnel. >> schifrin: gray also says >> schifrin: but the chinese government has admitted, it needs to strengthen bio- security. >> chinese president xi jinping says epidemic prevention and control systems must be strengthened. >> schifrin: in february xi jinping announced new biosafety rules. the pro-communist party tabloid global times wrote that labs faced "chronic inadequate management issues," though denied this had anything to do with covid-19.

but at the wuhan institute of virology, at the center of many u.s. accusations, deputy director yuan zhiming wrote a par about china's lab security last year that admits"" most laboratories lack specialized biosafety managers and engineers, this makes it difficult to identify and mitigate potential safety hazards." the u.s. argues the chinese government must allow chinese scientists to voice those concerns, as a matter of life and death. as deputy national security advisor matt pottinger put it, quoting a famous chinese writer in mandarin. >> ( translated ): those with the fortitude to seek and speak the truth in china today may take comfort, however, in something lu xun wrote: lies written in ink can never disguise facts written in blood. >> schifrin: for xi jinping, today's meeting is designed to project, and ensure, national unity. he has centralized authority. and that's hindered the scientists. >> some of our best collaborators come from beijing

and from one of the leading military epidemiological institutions there. and in the last few years, there's been me scrutiny--with respect to me going, visiting them in their facilities, their availability has been somewhat reduced. so i, attributed to sort of a consolidation of power, xi jinping. >> schifrin: but it goes both ways. the trump administration ended peter daszak's grant to work with chinese scientists. collaboration is eroding, as the two countries, increaseies, confrontation. for the pbs newshour, i'm nick schifrin. >> woodruff: scientists say antibody testing may eventually be a key tool in the fight against the coronavirus. there was encouraging news on that front this week: researchers said that antibodies found in a patient who had sars

17 years ago were able to neutralize covid-19. still, many questions remain about the effectiveness of antibody testing, and what a positive test means for immunity. john yang has the story. >> yang: around the world, an increasing demand for antibody tests, as people try to find out if they've been exposed to the coronavirus. patrick easley was tested in chicago. >> my thinking was if i got the antibody test and it came back positive, that means that i'd already had covid. and it had already gotten in my system and that i should be a- okay-ish >> yang: in west texas, coyne gibson drove three hours to get tested. >> my rationale comes from my science and engineering background and that, you know, knowing is better than guessing. >> yang: sara cureton said she was the sickest she's ever been in mid-january, and was

surprised when her antibody test was negative. >> the question has changed from, did i have it? can i help someone? to, how accurate is that test? (laughter) >> yang: that's the question even scientists are asking. gigi kwik gronvall is a senior scholar at the johns hopkins center for health security. >> there are a lot of things we don't know about the antibodies. it's not the simple black/white, yes/no go/no-go type of decision making tool that i think people want it to be. >> yang: antibodies are a crucial part of our immune system. they attach to viruses, or virus-infected cells, and, ideally, neutralize them, helping our body remove them. testing for antibodies is different from testing for the virus itself. antibody tests rely on a blood sample. a positive test indicates exposure to the virus, and an immune response to it, even if you never have symptoms. or at least that's the goal.

these tests, especially for a new virus like covid-19, can be wrong. >> somebody may get the information that they've been exposed and then they think, oh, i'm good to go. and then it turns out they were actuallyulnerable and they could get sick themselves and then transmit others. >> yang: in march, under pressure to quickly ramp up testing, the food and drug administration allowed manufacturers to start distributing tests without confirming their accuracy. the market was flooded with more than 150 of them. >> it was kind of a let a thousand flowers bloom strategy and they really opened the gates to a lot of different kinds of tests. and that led to a lot of tests being less accurate than advertised. >> yang: earlier this month, the agency began requiring that test makers prove their products are accurate, or risk having them pulled from the market. but even if every antibody test was completely reliable, that wouldn't tell us much about immunity. that's because scientists don't know yet if antibodies protect someone from getting covid-19

again. so who should get an antibody test right now, and why? what's the right reason somebody should want to get an antibody test? >> and i don't i don't fault people for wanting to know if that terrible, terrible sickness they had a couple of months ago, if that really was covid 19. but, you know, you just, i just hope that people understand the limitations of our knowledge, >> yang: even so, doctors across the country are making tests widely available. >> it's important and we are opening it up to anyone who wants it. people are saying, are going to say, you're over testing. they're gonna say, you are over testing. but we're not. we're screening. >> we do, you know, rapid flus with that, knowing we know that they're not perfect. rapid strep tests are not perfect, but it helps better inform the patient and helps people make decisions for their own lives. >> yang: stanford university bioethicist hank greely sees it differently. >> i think the tests are not

good enough to be pushed for almost all of them, and people don't need them at this point. if there are good tests, they should be used for important scientific research and not to >> yang: studies from california to massachusetts have tried to use antibody tests to draw conclusions about the prevalence of the virus. in new york city, researchers estimate that one in five residents was likely exposed. and researchers recently announced results from what they called the first nationwide antibody study. they tested about 5,600 major league baseball employees. the result: an estimated positive rate of less than 1%. one of the study's lead researchers, daniel eichner of the anti-doping sports medicine research and testing laboratory, urged caution when looking at the data. >> we're just looking at people employed by this one company. and so we know is you know, we've got to be careful before extrapolate out to the whole nation on that one. it's a very good study. and so it's really good data. but i think that, you know, the

infection rates are going to vary throughout the country and they will also vary through different population and demographic areas for sure. >> yang: some hope antibody testing could eventually lead to so-called ¡immunity passports:' those with immunity would be allowed to end social distancing measures. but the world health organization said there's not enough evince for that yet. and even if there was, stanford's hank greely said, there are ethical questions. >> in a sense, it almost could lead to a kind of apartheid where some people are allowed to do some things and others aren't. if we had a thoroughgoing immunity certificate system and it lasted ry long, i think there'd be a lot of public discontent because people would sa look, that's not fair. and they would be right. >> yang: so for now, the advice from most experts is the same: stay the course until more is known. for the pbs newshour, i'm john yang. >> woodruff: on thursday, the f.d.a. did move ahead with its

crackdown on antibody tests. regulators published a list of more than two dozen tests that should no longer be sold in the u.s. the f.d.a. says it will continue to add to the list as it learns more. >> woodruff: and now we turn to the analysis of shields and brooks. that's syndicated columnist mark shields and "new york times" columnist david brooks. hello to both of you. i want to start with president trump today ordering the nation's governors to open up houses of worship, saying there's nothing they should do to prevent churches, synagogues and mosques from opening up. mark, the president told the governors that if they don't go along with this, he's going to override them, although it's not

clear he has the authority to do that. what do you make of the president's really relentless push to get the country to open up his leadership at this moment in this pandemic? >> well, judy, the churches are intriguing and complex problem unto themselves. some would order the churches to open, and the reality is the biggest concern has been gatherings of ten or more people, and chrches frequently involve a lot more than ten people in close quarters, and also they have the problem of separation. the president's commitment as a churchgoer brings to mine the phrase making world safe for hypocrisy. this seems more political than ecclesiastical or theological on his part. >> woodruff: david, i want to

ask you, too, and i want to bring in the fact that we are seeing, as the president pushes harder and harder for the country to open up, the support for this is breaking along partisan lines. npr marist poll is showing more republicans are with the president and more democrats are more cautious. how do you lookt at all this? >> yeah, first, the president is not subtle in his culture war fighting. he wanted to defend christmas against the alleged war on christmas and now is doing this. it's a pretty naked attempt to try to appeal to angelical voters. churches happen to be one of the places we're seeing it spreading. one of thecine churches is one of the worst things that happened. and, so, you know, it's just foolish. the second foolishness is that a national policy here is just not a good policy. this is very context-specific. this virus is very essentialized. it hits one place, not another,

so every decision that should be made and my view should be in the local populist level and, so, trump is just -- it's just politics, just words out of his mouth. >> woodruff: mark, in terms of the president's overall determination to get the country to open up, is this something that, in the long run, he looks stronger as a leader for having done this? >> well, judy, i think the president understandably wants to switch the subject. it's interesting, abc news, each month people's confidence in the president's leadership and their trust in him handling the coronavirus, it was -- reached a high of 54% in march, and it dropped down to 44%, and now in the latest in may, it's at 39%. so the president wants to get off his coronavirus shepherding and get back, he hopes, to an

economy which was his calling card for reelection and that, somehow in the next six months, he could -- five months, i guess, now, in a couple of weeks, it could get revitalize quf dense and optimism in the econy and show some progress. that's it. it hasn't worked for him as surgeon general, and he's got to try and do it as the economic chief. >> woodruff: quickly on this, david, one other thing, a lot of people commenting, when the president goes out, as he is trying to, he is not wearing a mask. does it matter that the president doesn't? >> yeah, that's exceptionally poor leadership. you lead by example. that's elementary school leadership. i think the worst thing that could happen now is opening and not opening became a partisan issue. republicans and decrats do differ but not all that much. you still get 75%, 77% of the country supporting social distancing, and in our polarized

state, you don't get that much. if you look at the movement in red and blue states, there's not a big difference in how people are behaving. democrats by a gigantic percentage say the worst is still ahead of us, republicans by some gigantic percent say the worst is still behind us. the fact is the opening up is happening and is happening in all 50 states and will happen everywhere, and it's not a political decision. it's a question of striking a balance between safety and economic opportunity. so it's not an i ideological issue. it's a delicate balance that will be different in every single place. >> woodruff: well, it is a political year, it's a presidential election year. both the president and joe biden, in the last couple of days, gotten in hot water for some statement theve made. i want to first let you hear what joe biden said this morning. he was being interviewed by a radio host who goes by the name charlemagne the god, and here's what joe biden said.

>> listen, you've got to see us when you come to new york, v.p. biden. >> i will. t's a long way till november. we've got more questions. >> you have more questions. if you have a problem figuring out whether you're for me or trump, then you ain't black. >> it doesn't have to do with trump, it has to do with i want something for my community. >> take a look at my record. i extended the voting act 1250 years. i have a record that is second to none! >> woodruff: after vice president biden said if you're not voting for me then you're not black, here's what he said a few hours later, he called into a conference of the black u.s. chamber of commerce. >> i never ever ever taken the african-american community for granted, and i shouldn't have been such a wise guy, i shouldn't have been so cavalier. >> woodruff: does something like this, mark, hurt him? >> it hurts. i think he corrected it quickly,

but it was a serious mistake, judy. it showed, first of all, a sense of entitlement of the black vote, of the african-american vote that somehow they have to vote for joe biden, and that was wrong, and it was haughty and it had a certain arrogance about it, and, quite bluntly, in america, this marvelous mixing bowl of a country, whites don't get to tell blacks what being black means, and i think that was a mistake on joe biden's part. >> woodruff: david? yeah, he's got the african-american republican senator from south carolina had a good tweet, said 1.3 million african-americans voted for donald trump and didn't make them less black. it's a bad rule to say someone's less blacks jewish, catholic. we don't need this. he was trying to be a funny in a show that's very edgy, and he

apologized for it. so to have a president who apologizes? that might be a relief to a lot of people. >> woodruff: so, mark, the president got in some hot water himself in michigan yesterday visiting a ford assembly plant. he referred to henry ford, the founder, of course, of the company, spoke about what great blood lines he had which a lot of people picked up on. henry ford was known to be anti-semitic. he praised adolph hitler back in the 1930s. how does this add or not to our understanding of president trump? >> well, it's either he's stupid, unaware of henry ford anis talking in code language about blood lines which smack of eugenics and racial superiority doctrines, which henry ford was a major.

he was a practicing and convincing antisemite who accepted the cross of the german eying ail ward from the nazis in 1938. i mean, so it wasn't just a casual thing. so it shows the insensitivity or it's some sort of a subtle whistle to white racists and white supremacists that he admires them. >> woodruff: david, do you think it hurts the president? >> i'm going with ignorance on this one. first, he dog whistles, trump is not subtle, so i don't know why he would start being subtle now. he doesn't read books. so the henry ford, what he did in the '20s and '30s would require reading a history book. it could be that he knew all this but i don't think you see

it watching cable news ten hours a day. i'll give him the benefit that he just didn't know. >> woodruff: while we're talking about the contest between these two men, the president has been on a campaign against mail-in voting. the democrats are talking this up. the president is saying it leads to fraud, it's illegal. is this something that could end up a serious issue in the fall in november? >> well, it could be an issue, judy, but this is not the opening sell, though. just to point out, it has been a republican-organized effort in the last decade to limit the number of voting precincts to make registration more difficult, to introduce a photo i.d. requirements, to all of this totally bogus and fraudulent idea of the voter imitation and that there are people voting many times under several identities. the most exhaust study under this subject is done by loyola

university high school between 2004 and 2014. they've got 31 documented cases of voter fraud, over a billion ballots cast in those ten years. this is a way of trying to discourage and make more difficult. criticized the secretary of state of michigan sending out applications for absentee voters to all the voters of michigan, but, at the same time, he didn't mention nebraska, idaho, iowa, south dakota, where similar letters have been sent by the secretary of state, all of whom are republican states. so it's a suppressed turnout, not to encourage people to vote, to discourage people to vote. >> woodruff: david, there is no real evidence, serious substantive evidence of voter fraud in connection with mail-in voting, so how do you see this? no, there isn't. encouraging people to vote is good, discouraging people to

vote is bad. we're living in a democracy, voting is a specific act that we should be encouraged. i'm also struck not only by the wrongness of it but it might be the stupidity of it for republicans. they have it in their head they ed to suppress voting. who likes mail-in voting, it's a lot of western states. they don't want to drive so far in normal times and now don't want to endanger themselves. mitt romney said, in you tau, we overwhelmingly vote by mail and works well for us. trump has a lot of rural and disengaged voters, low-information voters who aren't too active in politics and showed up for donald trump in 2016. seems he would want to lower the barriers to keep those people engaged with him. it's all mystifying. >> woodruff: all right. well, i wanted to get to the inspectors general. maybe you want to say something in ten seconds. the president in six weeks, mark, has gotten rid of four different inspectors general. it's unfair to ask you about it

but maybe three words each? >> well, it's obvious that the president, susan collins was right, the president was chastened by the impeachment experience and is far less arrogant ant overreaching. this is just unforgivable. >> woodruff: and david. it's sort of a haiku. >> woodruff: we'll take haiku. thank you both. my polling for not giving you -- my apology for not giving you more time on that one. david brooks, mark shields, we thank you. >> woodruff: as another week comes to a close, we want to honor some of the remarkable people who have fallen victim to this horrific virus.

arlene saunders was as captivating as her soprano opera voice. born and raised in cleveland, ohio, arlene spent most of her career in germany performing with the hamburg state opera on stage and on television. she would go on to sing at the biggest opera house in the world, the met. down to earth and elegant, arlene moved to new york in 1986, where she married the man she loved to dance and sing with: raymond raskin. arlene was 89 years old. abdelfattah abdrabbo was often the first person at his canton, michigan mosque arriving at 4:00 in the morning to lead the sunrise prayer. a palestinian immigrant, abe arrived in the u.s. in the 1970s with close to nothing. devoted, tireless and hardworking, he worked overtime and on holidays to build his

import-export business-- always with a smile on his face. his six children say he gave them the american dream. he was 65 years old. hailey herrera was nurturing and compassionate; the first person her friends called for comfort and advice. the 25-year-old bronx native was working to become a therapist. she helped care for people with mental illnesses and earned a masters degree in marriage and family therapy. her mom says she was a ball of energy and a joy to be around. hailey loved throwing themed parties and making memories with her friends and family. ralph pabon had an eye for fashion and a spirit of adventure. both came through in the bridal gowns he designed in new york city. when his beloved mother remarried in 2014, ralph walked her down the aisle.

she wore the wedding dress he designed. gregarious and fun, ralph loved that his most recent work as a flight attendant allowed him to explore the world. he was 51 years old. 82-year-old patrick petit's family dubbed him the "family philosopher," a nod to his ability to listen and offer wise advice. after serving in the navy, he became a community organizer during the civil rights' movement, taught sociology at a university in minneapolis and raised three children. his last words were a message to his grandkids: "be happy, be kind and keep learning."

>> woodruff: now, "the miller's tale." many among you will know that we've borrowed the title of this story from the medieval british poet geoffrey chaucer, and his "canterbury tales." unlike that poem, full of adultery and trickery, we bring u a tale of uplift, from a picturesque water mill of chaucer's era, pressed back into service today to provide bakers and grocers fresh flour amid covid-19 shortages. from the county of dorset, 120 miles south west of london, special correspondent malcolm brabant reports. >> reporter: at sturminster newton, the dawn chorus and torrent of the river stour provide an eternal soundscape. for more than 1,000 years various water mills have stood here, producing high quality flour, first for aristocrats, then, the most powerful medieval monastery in england. and now, during the dark ages of covid 19, ordinary folk like thee and me. >> if you could bring back the

miller who was here in those days 1,000 yrs ago, and stand him by the mill stones, he'd know exactly how they worked. so things haven't changed very much as far as the milling process is concerned, over that time. >> reporter: retired art teacher pete loosmore cranks up the water turbine that replaced the traditional water wheel over a century ago. >> we have absolutely every scrap of the grain that goes into the millstones is actually used in the flour so nothing is sieved out and nothing is added as well so what we produce here in the way of flour is absolutely pure flour, no additives whatsoever. >> reporter: during the lock down there haven't been that many food shortages, but one staple that's been rather hard to find has been flour. and that's largely due to the popular british pastime of he baking. so during the lockdown people have been sourcing flour from wherever they can to make bread cakes and pies. and stop yourself right there, because i know exactly what you're thinking.

who ate all the pies? the 500 year old mill is normally a museum, only grinding small quantities of flour for visitors. but loosmore stepped up production, when the supply chain for local bakers and supermarkets collapsed. >> they didn't seem to be able to restock. and here we were, ready for the next season, with something like a ton of grain stored away in the roof. we had the facility to make that grain into flour and local people needed it. >> reporter: the mill's flour has been a godsend for this nearby artisan bakery, which set up a drive in service to kick start business. >> my husband likes white sliced fortunately. and that is just revolting i mean it's horrle texture and it's got no flavor at all really. but this, it's dense and it's chewy. it makes wonderful toast and it fills you up. it'sust good. it feels good and it's nice to

eat. >> reporter: dawn harvey is buying flour to make sourdough. how much difference does it make to the bread itself? >> so the way you can work. the feel of . the way you can work it and the taste. definitely better than the supermarket. >> reporter: baker steve oxford is reaping the benefits of the new simplicity. >> the grain that's milled at stuminster is done in such a way that it's milled in a more old fashioned, softer gentler way on softer milling stones so hardly any of the nutrients are lost. and so what you get is a much better flavor. a superior loaf for bakers like me who use a long fermentation process to produce their breads. the mill is no good for very quickly produced bread, modern day bread, but for a funny old bakery like rs it's perfect. >> reporter: the feedback delights artist and museum curator imogen bittner, enjoying a third career as a miller. >> it's satisfying because you

see the results straight away. it's not just about putting it through the millstones. there's a lot of, sort of little techniques. it's the smell, it's the, hearing how it is, it's bouncing everything to produce the flour. it's almost like alchemy what comes out at the end. >> reporter: along with other entrepreneurs, steve oxford recognizes that covid 19 has forced a major reappraal of values. >> what this situation has done is that it's raised awareness about things we should be appreciative of, things that can step up, things that do help, things that are so important to the heritage of our country, and the fact that, actually, when the world falls apart, there are men that can speak to men, and women who can speak to women, and do business and get things moving without the need of corporations without the need of mass production. >> reporter: imogen bittner also sees positives emerging from the lockdown. >> the lesson is we should do that more often with all our food. i mean, if you buy vegetables by the side of the road they taste better.

we're importing so much. the commercial aspect of it kills the taste i think. if you can get back to basics, then you get better quality food. >> reporter: although the experiment suggests the mill has commercial potential, it is a historic landmark and the sense here is that once the crisis has subsided, this national treasure will return to semi retirement. for the pbs newshour, i'm malcolm brabant in sturminster, newton. >> woodruff: on the newshour online right now, a new episode of our podcast, "america interrupted," tackles why misinformationbout the coronavirus is so hard to fight. find that on our website, pbs.org/newshour, or wherever you listen to your podcasts. and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. have a great weekend. thank you, please stay safe, and good night.

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. hello, everyone, and welcome to "amanpour & co." here's what's coming up. 5 million coronavirus cases worldwide and still counting. world famous epidemiologist who helped discover ebola joins us with the latest on a vaccine and what he learned from his own brush with covid. then a person, not a statistic. a sister'seartfelt poem giving a human face to the dead. also ahead. >> we are not all in it together. we haven't been and we're not all in it together in the pandemic. >> writer anand giridharadas says how this plague exposes inequality in america and what congress