captioning sponsored by wnet >> sreenivasan: on this edition for saturday, may 23: states brace as memorial day weekend brings new openings. dropping healthcare coverage in the middle of a pandemic. and, as social distancing loosens, some tips for getting back together. next, on pbs newshour weekend. >> pbs newshour weekend is made possible by: bernard and irene schwartz. sue and edgar wachenheim iii. the cheryl and philip milstein family. the jpb foundation. rosalind p. walter. barbara hope zuckerberg. charles rosenblum.

we try to live in the moment, to not miss what's right in front of us. at mutual of america, we believe taking care of tomorrow can help you make the most of today. mutual of america financial group, retirement services and investments. >> consumer cellular offers no contract wireless plans that are designed to help you do more of the things you enjoy, whether you're a talker, texter, broer, photographer or a bit of everything. our u.s.-based customer service team is here to find a plan that fits you. to learn more, go to www.consumercellular.tv. additional support has been provided by: and by the corporation for public broadcasting, a privat corporation funded by the american people. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> sreenivasan: good evening and thanks for joining us. there are now more than five million confirmed coronavirus cases worldwide. more than 1.5 million of them are people in the united states. this memorial day weekend is about reopening-- how people

are managing social distancing, wearing face coverings, and getting back to business. globally, during this month, russia and brazil both saw cases increase to more than 300,000, as the pandemic continues. let's get started with today's top stories. with every state lifting some restrictions, president trump began the memorial day weekend with his first visit to one of his golf clubs since march 8. leaving the white house for his virginia club this morning, the president was not wearing a face mask. secret service agents with him were wearing masks. around the country, officials prepared for the holiday weekend at newly reopened parks, campgrounds and beaches. with predictions of a heat wave over the next few days, big crowds are expected at southern california beaches where only active recreation is being allowed. >> we don't allow any sunbathing. you can't lay out on the beach. you have to be engaged in walking, running, swimming, surfing, anything where you're moving-- but actual sunbathing or using the fire rings right now is prohibited. so, it's active use only on the beach. >> sreenivasan: the united states still has the most confirmed cases of covid-19 worldwide, and the death toll

is nearing 100,000 people, according to the johns hopkins coronavirus resource center. the trump administration recently discussed carrying out a nuclear test, in what would be a first for the nation in nearly 30 years, according to the "washington post." quoting several anonymous sources, the paper reported that senior national security officials discussed a nuclear test during a meeting last week, as a response to administration concerns that russia and china are conducting low-yield nuclear tests. both countries have denied the accusation. an unnamed u.s. official said the move could put pressure on the two countries to agree to a trilateral arms control deal with the u.s. no final decision was made about conducting a nuclear test, according to the report. but, another source familiar with the discussion said the administration will take other stepto respond to russia and china. the car rental company hertz filed for bankruptcy protection last night. the nation's number two rental car company ld off 12,000 employees and furloughe thousands of othin late march.

hertz, which also includes the dollar and thrifty car rental brands, lost almost all of its revenue when travel shut down due to the coronavirus. the company was unable to make payments to creditors on its estimated $24 billion in debt, triggering the chapter 11 filing. a massive pre-dawn fire on san francisco's fisherman's wharf destroyed a warehouse and sent plumes of smoke and flames across the waterfront. more than 130 firefighters used aerial ladders and a fireboat to keep the fire from spreading to nearby historic areas. the warehouse is usually unoccupied at night, and there were no injuries reported. an investigation is underway to determine the cause of the blaze. in russia today, president vladimir putin says the coronavirus outbreak there has "stabilized," and that restrictions will continue to ease. moscow streets were busier after almost two months of lockdown in the country's capital. with more than 335,000 confirmed cases, russia currently has the second worst outbreak-- after the united states. the number of reported covid-19 deaths in russia has been

relatively low, leading some outside health experts to suspect that officials are undercounting the mortality rate. russian officials reject that claim. the world health organization has identified south america as the new center of the global coronavirus pandemic, and no country on that continent is as hard hit as brazil. there are more than 330,000 confirmed coronavirus cases in brazil, and more than 21,000 deaths, according to the country's health ministry. amid the crisis, brazil's president, jair bolsonaro, has downplayed the threat, and clashed with local officials who have imposed lockdowns to try and slow the spread of the virus. for more, i recently spoke to "new york times" reporter ernesto londono, who is in rio de janeiro. ernesto, we've been hearing quite a bit about latin america and how covid-19 is working its way through south america, as well. where is brazil at right now in terms of infections, deaths, how people are affected? >> brazil is now clearly the epicenter in latin america.

we're seeing upwards of 80new deaths each day, and contagion is growing. so, health officials here and local officials are warning that the next few months are going to be very, very hard. they're looking at a breakdown of health care systems in areas where the virus has struck pretty ferociously. and, unfortunately, the approach has been rather erratic. on the one hand, you have the president telling people, "get back to work." you know, with these shut downs and these lockdowns, don't make good sense. let the virus burn out while local officials and doctors are pleading with people to stay indoors if they can. >> sreenivasan: and this disagreement has gone all the way up as high as the health minister. >> that is correct. brazil has-- has seen two health ministers leave pretty abruptly over the past-- over the past month. the first one, minister mandetta, had a very acrimonious relationship with the president.

you had a really surreal situation where the health ministry was telling people these lockdowns measures, these quarantines make sensef you adhere to them. it will allow us to keep the system from being overloaded, and it will prevent deaths. and at the same time, his boss, the president, was encouraging people to take to the streets. he himself was walking around, you know, spurring people to gather around m, shaking hands and essentially saying that this virus was not a big deal if people wanted to make it out to be and that these lockdowns would be ruinous for the economy. >> sreenivasan: where is the health care inastructure of brazil, especially considering some of the incredibly dense urban areas? what's the likelihood that someone that living in one of these favelas that has accs to a hospital? how expensive is it to get treated if they do come down with symptoms? >> brazil has a fairly robust primary health care system, and in the past it has risen to health care challenges, and in a way that has won it praise

abroad. however, there have been cuts in funding over the past couple of years as the economy has been struggling, and we're really feeling the effects of that. so, it really varies on where in the country you are. >> sreenivasan: also, put this in the context of what else is happening in braziright now. i mean, how severe of an impact is this to the brazilian economy? >> it has been a huge blow to the brazilian economy, but i think it also has to be looked through the lens of what's happening, politically. you have a predent who has become a pariah abroad on the global stage as a result of other policies such as his approach to the environment. and now, there are growing calls for his impeachment. and there are criminal investigations into his conduct and those of people around him, including his children. so, president bolsonaro is very much a politician in survival mode who has not been able to

mount a coherent and robust response to the coronavirus crisis as we've seen other world leaders do in recent weeks. >> sreenivasan: s that shaken his base of support? do the people who love president bolsonaro agree with his views on, well, public health in this case? >> it does seem to be changing. the nature of his support and his popularity numbers appear to be dropping, although not dramatically. you know, i think there's a lot of people in the population who are very worried about their job prospects, their ability to put food on the table. so, i think it's early to know just how the president's stance on this is going to play out politically. some analysts say that at the end of the day, when the econom takes a huge hit some months from now and the unemployment numbers go through the roof and you really start feeling the pain that is building-- building up slowly right now. the governors who have been

calling for quarantines and lockdowns may pay a bigger price than the president, who could be able to sort of bill himself as the one who was looking after the working class and the poor. >> sreenivasan: ernesto londono of the "new york times" joining us from rio, thanks so much. >> my pleasure. >> sreenivasan: in spain today, there were protests against the country's continued coronavirus lockdown. thousands of supporters of the far-right vox party paraded in cars and on motorbikes to protest the government's handling of the coronavirus pandemic. spain's left-wing coalition government declared a state of emergency and imposed one of the strictest lockdowns in europe on march 14 and only loosened some restrictions in the last few weeks. today, spanish prime minister pedro sanchez announced more openings. in july, spain will welcome foreign tourists, and starting in early june, the top tier spanish professional soccer league, la liga, will be allowed to resume games without fans. spain has suffered more than 28,000 covid-19 related deaths in the pandemic. and in karachi pakistan today,

mourners attended the first funerals for the victims of yesterday's plane crash. the pakistan international airlines flight was traveling from lahore to karachi when it crashed into a crowded neighborhood, while attempting a second landing. of the 99 people on board, only twoassengers survived. one of them reported turbulence before the pilot told passengers to prepare for a "troublesome" landing. authorities are continuing to investigate the cause of the crash. >> sreivasan: for more on how states are easing restrictions, and all of our coverage of the coronavirus, visit www.pbs.org/newshour. >> sreenivasan: since march, more than 38 million peoplin the u.s. have filed for unemployment insurance. most are also at risk of losing employee-sponsored health insurance, with nearly 13 million still eligible for publicly-subsidized coverage. that's according to a recent report from the kaiser family foundation. but back in february, the trump administration did something that caused thousands to give up

their health insurance just as the pandemic was gathering steam. special correspondent simon ostrofsky has our report. a note: this report was produced before stay-at-home orders went into effect, for our ongoing initiative, "chasing the dream: poverty and opportunity in america." >> ( speaking in spanish ) >> reporter: norma martinez is what's known as a volunteer health promoter. she's handing out fliers and plaining to members of this mainly immiant latino community in takoma park, maryland, that they don't need to give up their health insurance. >> ( translated ): when you go apply for a green card, they tell you, "ah, you are a public charge to the government, i will deny it, i will not give it to you." well, this is the strategy that the new administration is using. it hopes to terrify us. >> reporter: in 2018, the trump administration announced plans to expand regulations governing whether immigrants receiving government benefits are eligible for permanent residency. the new rule which came into force in february involves what is known as "public charge" and

expands the list of government assistance that will count against a permanent residency application. formerly, only those receiving cash from the government were affected. but now, benefits like medicaid are also taken into consideration. the more forms of assistance an applicant receives, the worse their chances of getting a green card. the changes have been sprding fear in immigrant communities nationwide, causing one in seven to avoid public benefit programs, according to the urban institute. many immigrants in the country legally, including those who aren't applying for residency and are not affected, have taken the public charge rule to mean th receiving any type of government assistance could get them deported. >> ( speaking in spanish ) >> ( translated ): well, according to what they say on the news, if you are labeled a public charge, you have to leave this country if you do not work, if you receive state benefits for housing or food stamps.

>> reporter: experts warn that the growing number of uninsured people in america-- which is part of a larger trend affecting all demographics, not just non-citizens-- is especially worrying at a time of increased concern over a viral pandemic. public charge is definitely a big issue that shoppers here are concerned about right now because they're worried it's going to affect their immigration status. but you can tell from the content of people's shopping carts that the other thing they're worried about is the spread of coronavirus. and it's at a time like this that health professionals say it's important for as many people as possible to have medical insurance and coverage. >> we've been seeing a decrease in-- in volume of people looking to renew or enroll in medicaid. we have seen it, local departments of social services has seen a decline. >> reporter: michelle larue is a medical doctor and senior manager for health and human services at casa de maryland, an

immigrant advocacy and assistance organization. >> the biggest change is really the fear and confusion that it's perpetrating in immigrant communities. i think right now in the environment that we're living in with this pandemic, weon't want people that are fully elible for health insurance to go without health insurance, specially young children. you know, right now, in this context, we need all-- everyone to have access to healthcare in case they need it. >> reporter: larue says many eligible medicaid recipients are cancelling their plans simply out of an abundance of caution. but the new rules affecting immigrants and the fear they're generating are only one piece of america's health insurance puzzle. >> repeal and replace the disaster known as obamacare. >> reporter: during the 2016 presidential campaign, donald trump repeatedly promised to repeal and replace the affordable ce act; and as president-elect, he went a step further, saying he'd make sure

all americans had health insurance. that meant he'd have to better the a.c.a.'s record. >> as a result of the affordable care act, which was enacted in 2010, 20 million people gained health coverage, which took the uninsured rate to the lowest it has ever been in the entirety of u.s. history. >> reporter: aviva aron-dine is a former obama administration health care official and vice president for health poli at the center on budget and policy priorities, a progressive think tank in washington, d.c. >> since president trump took office in 2016, one million to two million people have lost coverage, eroding about 10% of those gains. and then, there's a risk that all of those gains could be lost if the administration gets its way in court or in congress and undoes the rest of the law. >> reporter: the figures aron-dine cites come from the u.s. census bureau. >> between 2017 and 2018, the uninsured rate increased 0.5 percentage points, and the number of uninsured people increased by 1.9 million. >> reporter: according to the

census bureau, this represents the first increase in the uninsured rate since 2009. aron-dine worries that the fear of high medical costs could potentially discourage people exhibiting early symptoms of covid-19 from seeking medical attention in a timely fashion. >> well, if you think about the fear that i think all of us are feeling as we face this unprecedented public health crisis, imagine that being compounded byorrying that you can't go to the doctor; that if you do go to the doctor, it could mean medical debt that would compromise your future. one of the things a public health crisis drives home is that all of us are better off wh everybody can get the coverage and care they need, and all of us are at risk when people are afraid to seek care. >> reporter: so, why is the national uninsured rate going up? >> i certainly think that the decisions that the white house has made haven't helped at all. some of these trends are ongog and existed before trump. and so, certainly you can't say increasing healthcare costs are just because of the trump administration.

>> reporter: sarah miller is a researcher at the university of michigan's ross school of business, who tracks trends i healthcare. >> first of all, there was the repeal of the individual mandate. so, there used to be laws in place that you had to purchase insurance. now, those have been essentially removed. people heard that the mandate was repealed; maybe they weren't sure if that meant that other aspects of the law were repealed; maybe they weren't aware that they could still get marketplace covera. then, i think on the employer side, the cost of insurance has been going up. and as the costs go up, you know, it becomes more unaffordable to more people, and that can also discourage people from taking up coverage. ♪ ♪ >> reporter: maria brodskaya is a recording tist and a music producer who came to the united states from russia seven years ago on a so-called "extraordinary ability" visa to further her musical career. like many applicants for permanent residency, she gave up her medical plan-- most of which was subsidized underhe

provisions of the a.c.a.-- when the trump administration announced plans for its new rules. >> the moment when the public charge rule came out, i was in the process of working on my green card. and, of course, we didn't have any other option except for just-- the sooner, the better-- to get off, you know, to show that you are not using it anymore and hoping that they're not going to punish you, like. >> reporter: retroactively. >> retroactively, exactly, yeah. >> reporter: and so, your immigration lawyer said that this was the best course of action. >> yeah. she said that basically it was the only course of action, otherwise they would just not even consider eligible for-- for being permanent resident. if something happens to me, i don't even know where to go, you know, and whatind of help i can receive. >> reporter: she'd like to buy a private plan but worries she won't be able to afford one now

that all of her performances are being cancelled as a result of social distancing measures that people around the country are now facing. >> sreenivasan: as the nation opens up, some people are starting to think about cautiously expanding their social circles. gideon lichfield, the editor in chief of the "m.i.t. technology review," recently broke two months of isolation to form with some friends what's known as a pod, a bubble or a "quarranteam"-- that's "team" with an "m." lichfield wrote a guide about how to do this safely and spoke recently to newshour weekend's megan thompson. >> reporter: so, y wrote recently about forming a covid "pod" or a covid "bubble." what does that mean? >> it means there's a handful of friends, some people who i decided to treat as safe. in other words, we all take the same precautions. we agree on what precautions

we're going to take. we make sure we're all on the same page. we're not mixing with other people, but we go to one another's houses, and we hang out as normal people do. and we do that because it's a way to basically have time to spend with other people. since i live alone, being alone for two months has been pretty hard. >> reporter: so, you've been going through this period of self isolation totally alone? >> yes. i mean, i've done a handful of, like, walks in the park with friends where we, you know, spend-- are distanced apart, and we wear masks. i've done a little bit of that. obviously, i do zoom calls with friends like everybody else. but, yes, i-- i live alone, and i hadn't-- hadn't spent normal time in proximity to other people since we all went in to shut wn. >> reporter: so, you came up with a guide about how to navigate these covid bubbles. what is one of the most important things to keep in mind? >> look, first of all, keep in mind that if you decide to share your life with other people, you are adding risk to yourself and to them and also potentially to the rest of society because you could, if you catch the disease,

you could then transmit it to other people. so, don't go into it without really thinking about that risk and also really making sure that you meet-- you're doing it with people that you really trust. the next thing i would say is, you know, communicate in really excessive detail about what precautions you take. how do you wash your vegetables when you come in from the store? do you take your shoes on or off? do you change your clothes when you come in or out of the house? do you clean your keys? >> reporter: what kinds of things did you discuss with your friends before you decided to bubble up with them? >> well, we discussed, for instance, when do you wear a mask? so, when we first started having the conversation, i wasn't wearing a mask when i went outside. i-- i wore one if i went to the store, but not if i was just walking in the street. and my friends said, "actually, we'd be more comfortable if you wore a mask when you walked on the street, as well." so, you know, we discussed in detail all of the things we do and all the precautions we take, and we got on the same page about what we were going to do. and then, we waited two weeks because it was like starting quarantine from zero. we wanted to make sure that we were being completely safe and

doing it the same way before we actually met up. one of the things that i think is important is, we're all making this up as we go along, and we're all taking decisions about which precautions to take based on, you know, stuff we've read, our gut, how we feel that day, what we've heard. so, what's mt important is to just be completely on the same page with the people that you're with so that there are no surprises. >> reporter: you also wrote that you almost want to treat this more like a business transaction than a friend transaction? >> i think that's important because, you know, all of us have friends, multiple friends, but you can only be in one of these bubbles at a time. it's really not safe to be, you know, bubbling with multiple families, for instance, where, you know, you have no idea what everybody's really doing. and so, feelings can get easily hurt if somebody wants to be with you and you don't want to be with them or vice versa. treat this as something that you're doing because it's good for your mental health or whatever-- whatever your reasons are for doing it, but-- but

don't treat it as a commentary or a judgment on your friendship with someone. >> repoer: so, now, you've been socializing with your friends for, what, about a week and a half now? how's it been going? >> it's been going great. honestly, for me, one of the besthings is to be able to cook food forther people rather than just for myself. so, it's-- it-- and to have conversations that don't get ended because somebody has to hop off on another zoom call or that are constrained by the parameters of the screen. you know, that-- that quality of human contact is completely different from the kind that we have when we're talking to people on the phone or on the screen. and even though i've had lots of contact with-- with friends through zoom, there's-- there's a point at which it just doesn't-- it's not the same thin it isn't enough. >> reporter: all right, gideon lichfield, editor in chief of the "m.i.t. technology review," thank you so much for being here. >> thank you very much, megan. >> sreenivasan: have you and your friends or family formed a covid bubble, or are you trying to figure out how to do it safely? pbs newshour weekend would love to hear about how you're navigating it all.

we may even use your story on the broadcast. send us an email at nhweekend@wnet.org. >> sreenivasan: that's all for this edition of pbs newshour weekend. for the latest news updates, visit www.pbs.org/newshour. i'm hari sreenivasan. thanks for watching. stay healthy, and have a good night. captioning sponsored by wnet captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> pbs newshour weekend is made possible by: bernard and irene schwartz. sue and edgar wachenheim iii.

the cheryl and philip milstein family. the jpb foundation. rosalind p. walter. barbara hope zuckerberg. charles rosenblum. we try to live in the moment, to not miss what's right in front of us. at mutual of america, we beeve taking care of tomorrow can help you make the most of today. mutual of america financial group, retirement services and investments. additional support has been provided by: and by the corporation for public broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the american people. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. you're watching pbs. d d by.

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