tv PBS News Hour PBS May 28, 2020 6:00pm-7:00pm PDT
6:00 pm
captioning spoponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodrf: good evening, i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight, the u.s. death toll, by far the highest in the world, continues to climb as new hotspots emerge around the country. then, unrest turns to uproar--es prot in minneapolis take aol vit turn. we examine the collective trauma of the african american community and potential steps forward. aus, home work: the pandemic forces millions ricans to do their jobs from home, raising questions about the future of the workplace. >> maybe a year or two from now you can come back into thelook, office if you like, you can come back in o or three days a week and spend the otr couple of days at home. that's, you ow, the promised land, but that's definitely not where we are now. >> woodruff: all that and more
6:01 pm
6:02 pm
>> carnegie ation of new york. supporting innovations in education, democratic engagement, and the advancement of internaseonal peace and rity. at carnegie.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: and indivials. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: the toll of the covid-19 pandemic is on vivid display again tonight. new numbers paint a stark picture of the cost to the nation, in humannd economic terms. john yang gins our coverage.
6:03 pm
>> yang: it's a death toll of epic proportions. more than 100,000 americans have now lostheir lives to the coronavirus. but health officials fear that because of tting shortages and unreported cases, the actual number could be even higher. newspapers from coast to coast marked the somber occasion byno horing the dead with tributes emblazoned across their front pages. president trump acknowledged the toll in a tweet: "we have justry reached a ad milestone. i want to extend my heartfelt athy & love for everythi that these great people stood for & represent." white house press secretary kayleigh mcenany: >> t president recognized th landmark before we even hiit. the presidt, that was after all the impetus behind him lowering the fg half staff. the president has said one death is too many. he takes thivery seriously. he's said before this is the hardest part of his presidcy. it's something that no one
6:04 pm
wanted to see happen. yang: at least 44 of those deaths have been workers at meatpacking plants. the country's largest meatpacking union estimates more than 3,000f its workers have t been infected vus. meanwhile, covid-19 continues to inflict a devastating economic toll as well. the number of people losing jobs since the pandemic began hit nearly 41 million, with today's report that another 2.1 million americans filed for unemployment benefits last week. in washington, the house tried to help, passing aipartisan bill to make the terms of the paycheck protection program more flexible, to give small businesses more time to take advantage of federal loans. the measure now goes to the nate. as companies slowly re-open hire. doors, some are looking to but they're trying to do soy smartld safely. in pasadena, california, an cien-air job fair in a parking lot to maintain distancing. >> it's fosafety and i support
6:05 pm
everything about the safety and the health of everybody and i am willing to do whatever it takes to keep everybody healthy and safe. i don't mind it at all. >> yang: farther nor california, the solano town center mall in fairfield is ba open for business. it's the first indoor mall to re-opein the san francisco bay area, but foot traffic remains light. >> i'm not really worrd as long as i keep my distance from anyone. >> yang: in colorado, skiers can hit the slopes again at the arapahoe basin ski area in summit county. but face masks are required and admittance is capped at 600 skiers a day. >> it's great to get back out for sure. you know i mean it's just getting the legs back from noodles to muscle. >> yang: overseas, covid-19 cases continued to spike in india today with more than 6,500 new infections reported. the country's two-month-old lockdown is scheduled to end on sunday. spain is in the midst of a 10- y mourning period for e more than 27,000 lives thntry
6:06 pm
and in paris, health care worers and hundreds of thei supporters protested outside a hospital, to demand better work conditions. >> ( translated ): we are afraid that ultimately public hospitals will collapse.ne health is ever matter, for you and r us, and we need to preserve it. it is one of the pillars of our democracy. >> yang: that comes as the european commission in brussels pledged to be better prepared in the future. it announced plans today to set up a permanent stockpile of esntial drugs and medical equipment. >> never again do we want to see our healthcare workers having to choose which patient receis life-saving equipment. >> yang: for the pbs newshour, i'm john yang. >> woodruff: communities in minneapolis are reeling from the death of george floyd, the bitter relationship many residents feel with law
6:07 pm
enforcement and how protests have changed over the past day. yamiche alcindor begins our coverage tonight with a report on the latest. then, amna nawaz speaks with a community leader from the twin cities. this reporting is part of our ongoing series, "race matters." >> alcindor: violent protests.y a communiteling. and a case that continues to capture the nation. minneapolis in daylight... smoke, still billowing from scattered on the ground...ris for a second night, rmonstrations broke out o the death of george floyd. and again, there was violence; amid the chaos, one man was sho. de this acvate in responsed to unrest. the city has been on edge, when a minneapolis police officer kneeled on his neck for some eight minutes. floyd, a black man, had no pulse by the time he was loaded into an ambulance. the 46-year-old later died at a
6:08 pm
nearby hospital. mayor jacob frey has called ford the national g today, he acknowledged the ciaiast night is the result of built n:up angernd sadness. anger and sadness that has been ingrained in our black community not just because five minutes of horror, but 400 years. >> alcindor: yesterday, the protests started peaceful. hundreds stood in the streets just south of downtownti prot floyd's death. but pockets of rioting spread. looters broke into a target store, smashed pawn shop windows, and set an auto zone aflame. minneapolis poli chief medaria arradondo:ma >> the vasrity of people that have come together have been doing so peacefully. but there was core group of people who that had really been focud on causing some destruction. >> alcindor: and, d partial responsibility for the city's pain:teephe a >> i know there is currently a deficit of hope in our city. and as i wear th uniform before you i know that this department has contributed to
6:09 pm
that deficit of hope.>> lcindor: today, white house press secretary kayleigh mcenany said president trump has been briefed on floyd's death by the attorney general and the f.b.i. ap he was very upset by it. it was egregiouslling, tragic, and it prompted him to pick up the phone, or ief of staff to pick up the phone, and say we need to expedite what was already an f.b.i. investigation. he wants justice to be served. >> alcindor: thaficomes as the r who kneeled on floyd's neck, and the officers who witnessed the incident have been fired. mayor frey has called for them to face charges. across the country, police iefs in places like houston and los angeles have condemned foe officers' actions, and praised arradondtheir dismissal. it comes as police departments have devoted more resoto t-escalation training and building communist. in the wake of violence, community members and floyd'sio family have cad protesters to remain nonviolent. today, that was echoed in a
6:10 pm
prayer vigil nearby the grocery store where floyd was detained. it sharpton. reverend al >> there is a differen between peace and quiet. me people just want quiet. the price for peace is justice. >> alcindor: sharpton urged the community to stay engaged while they mourn. yamiche alcindor.our, i'm >> nawaz: we take a further look athe events overnight and a elnse of what residents of the twin cities are g today with tyronterrill, a long-time community activist andresidentfr of thean american leadership council, a local community engagement group.ou asell know, the eyes of the country are on minneapolis. people are looking at those images of the unrest overnigh struggling to make sense of it. we heard mayor frey talk about the anger and sadness. what can you tell us about what unfolded last night in minneapolis an whas happening there now? >> well, what's happening now,
6:11 pm
and first, thanks for having me, but what's happening now is we want justice, and justice meaning that we want the officer not only terminatedwhich we got from our two-hour meeting on monday with mayor frey and the chief, but we want the officers charged by our local county attorney. we want him to charge these officers, have them arrested, have them put in jail, and they may make bail, but to serve as any other criminal who commits murder in our city, and mr. floyd was murdered by a minneapolis police officer, and that officer needs to be tra ted asriminal that he is. >> nawaz: has what you've seen so far, the swift firing of the four officers, mayor frey publicly calling for charges, we just now had a press conference toom the s. atey in minnesota and the f.b.i. saying it's a top priority, does all of that give you a sense that there will be justice? >> i have a sense of justice
6:12 pm
from my u.s. attorney, erica mcdonald. we spent a lot of time with herx in the last to eight months, so i believe if she gets the right report on her cember thank she will find these officer guilty of violating the human rights of mr. floyd, but it's really important that ou county attorney does his part. he prosecuted his first oficer, which was a black officer, and he is in prison now, for kilng somebody. we want the same thing done when a white officer kills a blk person from our community. >> nawaz: i need to ask you about the video. there's been a lot of debate ano discussion this over the last just few days. we all know the truth in america. we know that law enforcement disproportio men, and every time there is a video documenting that devastating truth, people will think, well, this wilchange things, this will help. it doesn't. it keeps happening. i want to ask you, what is the
6:13 pm
collective impact of video afer video documenting this. is it helping, is it leading to change, or is it just contributing to the trauma? >> well, it leads to change, because witho video, whether it was steele, mr. floyd, without video, there would be causeng happening, be normally people side on the side of blue, and so the videos are very, very important, becse the public firsthand gets to see untampered, the finished product. so people need the video. without the videos, we don't get them fired. the video gotedim f the video got the four officers video, i keep tlling everybody, keep videoing. those videos are vry important, and they're the only way that we have chance to get justice. >> nawaz: it's been caled by some as contributing to a when there isn't any action to
6:14 pm
be back of video after video, it can end upg makinings worse for people in the african american community. do you agree with that? >> well, what has to happen, and i've said this numerous times, president obama had community policing, sick pillars. pillar should be vuing thefirst humanity of block people as you this white people. if you make a stoe p in thsame way you do a white person, ficer would the a white person. so when you don't value our humaty, you don't valu us as humans, and you treat us as animals, and that's the way mr. floyd was treating, he s begging for his mother at thed. it's just painful to even think ... none of us want the die, but to die in that manner, at the hands of someone that's hired to protect and srve, on the streets he was raised in or as an dull living if
6:15 pm
nneapolis, it's unheard of. it has to stop. we keep sayi on each one. i think as the mother of eric garner said here dayif it had stopped five, six years ago when her son was killed, whn he said "i can't breathe," i ituldn't be doing it again today. not just going to take black america by all americans saying enough is enough with o these kif killings. >> nawaz: mr. terrill, does >> it doesn't. it doesn't feel different. i understand the pain, but this is a marathon now. after the rallies ar gone, those of us in minneapolis will still have to fight this fightet toa verdict of guilty from . r county attorney or from
6:16 pm
hopefully our utorney. so this is just the beginning of a long race that may of us will have to endure. but we're going to do it, because mr. floyd deserves justice. he doesn't deserve all the other stuff that's going on now, but a 46-year-old man lost his life, but murdered because he was black inerica. >> nawazthat is tyrone p terrilsident of the african american leadership council. thank you so much for being with us tonhight. >>k you for having me. >> nawaz: in the day's other news china's national people's congress ratified planfor a national security law to tighten beijing's control over hong kong. the ceremonial legislature's action means the new law could take effect in september. the proposal has sparked new protests in ng kong.
6:17 pm
we'll take a closer look, later in the program. back in washington, house democratic leaders shelved a bill to renew surveillance tools. that came after president trump promised a veto. he has linked the foreign intelligence surveillance act, known as fisa, to abuses in the russia investigation.us e speaker nancy pelosi sharply criticized republicans aiday for following his lead. >> the presidenthe would veto the bill, so then all of the republicans abandoned their commitment to security, and said that they were going to vote against the bill. this has always been bipartin. >> woodruff: the bill originally passed the house with bipautisan support,as amended in the senate. now, the two chambers will negotiate. house minority leader kevin mccarthy defended republicans' e vetoal, in light of threat >> there was a concern that this id, "well, why don't youed, so i pause, and why don't we work on
6:18 pm
this with the ministration?" because i'm not interested in doing some political game, because i believe fisa is very important. and let's solve the concerns and let's make law. >> woodruff: scores of progressive democrats in the house also oppose the surveillance bill. presidentrump signed an executive order today aimed at social media companies. he accused tm of bias against conservatives, and directed federal agencies to consider rolling back their legal liability protections. the president acted after twitter slapped fact-checkon two of his tweets claiming, without proof, that mail-in balloting is rife with fraud. a battle over balloting in texas is moving to the federal courts. that's after the all-republican state supreme court blocked mail-in voting for those who cite fear of the coronavirus. state democrats favor expanded voting-by-mail and say they'll pursue a separate, federal
6:19 pm
lawsuit. on wall street today, stocks fell as u.s. tensions with china rose. the dow jones dustrial average st 147 points to close at the naell 43 points, and aq,400. the s&p 500 gave up six points. an the boston marathon has tien canceled for the firs in its 124-year history, dic to the pand the race was already delayed from april to september, but organizers officially scratched it today. instead, runners who verify they ran a marathon on thei will get a finisher's medal. still to come on the newshour: the head of the san francisco federal reserve discusses the economic calamity of covid-19. china's government passes a law to exert more control over semi- autonomous hong kong. we mark how passing one hundred thousand coronavirus deaths will reshape the u.s. and much more.
6:20 pm
>> woodruff: the economic toll of the pandemic and the shutdowns is growing. more than 40 million people have lost a job so far. the economy is expected to pick up momtum as business re- opens. but there's a growing debate about whatore needs to be done. mary daly is the president of the federal reserve bank of san francisco, one of a dozen regional fed banks aroe country that help support the ecomy. mary daly, welcome back to the news hour. so looking at today's report on the number of unemployment claims filed, some are looking at that and saying, well, we see a slight decline in the number
6:21 pm
of people filing. maybe that's good news. how doou see it? >> well, first, thank ou so much of having me. the number of over 40 million really filing for unemployment insurance so far is rely the number to pay attention. to it's an astoundingly large number. then, course, as we have gotten more people that have been dislocate, displaced on to the uninsurance program, you see a smalr and smaller number filing each week, but it's important to stay focused on that top-line number annot get too, too excited about the declining number of unemployment insurance clas. if you even look beyond unemployment insurance, there are countless peoplethousands of people, hundreds of thousands of people who havfe let the workforce all together because they're not eligible for unemployment insurance. this is the single biggest dislocation we've had in our economy in our recorded hitory. >> woodruff: you have made lower end of the income scale,e
6:22 pm
and this came out in a federal reserve aeport, have beent least twice as likely to be thrown off the rolls, off the worker rollsas anybody else. and in other words, to be suffering in this pandemic. why is that? what does thatrean in te of our ability to get back to where we want to be? >> well, think about -- let's put some faceso the people. this is one of those crises that is being borne most heffley by the people least prepared to get if you put face tse people, those are people with school education, people ofigh color, women, people who only just came into the economy and really got their legs und the at the end of the expansion. now they're out again mple. these are individuals that often occupy high-touch jobs, the jobs that are in service of us in our onomy, and so as we sheltered in place, of course, those are the very jobs that e
6:23 pm
displaced. now, what's rally important asop we n up and we see that some of those people are still left behind is we have to go back and make sure all of them are reintegred into the economy, because we really can't afford as a country the leave any ofpe thosle on the sidelines. we need everyone if we're going to get back to the growth rate that we need to move forward. >> woodruff: and what are somes of the best wao do that? as you know, congress is debating how mucand where the aid should go, whether it should go to the unemployed, whether it should go to small businesses, the chairn of the federal reserve, jerome powthl, has saide is a role for the federal government, f congress, particularly among other things in supporting stae d local governments who employ these front-line work ers. hodo you see that? >> i really want to expand our conversation away from trade-offs. i don't think it's state and local or small businesses or the
6:24 pm
unemployed. it really has to be everyone. i feel really good about at we've done as a nation to get money into the hands of the unemployed really quickly. the ppp program is getting money into the hands of small businesses. states and localities, they're the first line for the communities that we all serve, and they're going to need resourceso as congress looks are the pockets wh there iswhere still pain, still suffering, where we still need to treat, and the posh thing is that we're still having a conversation, and then we all recognize that wene a bridge, because it's over the coonavirus, past theem pa, and the bridge is likely to need to be longer than >> woodruff: and woesonths ago. that mean exactly in terms of suort fro washington, because as we know, states are running out of money.lo l governments are running out of money. >> what i hear being discussed, steninghink we're all li
6:25 pm
to the same news as this, but what i hear being discussed is how do take care ofates and localities so they can support healthcare professionals and healthcare facilities, so they can support educational facilities as they figure out how do you deal with educating people from kindergarteall the way through college in a way where you have to social distance, and sothink these are really important conversations, because ultimately, you know, when we get through this, we want to be on the best footing. ingredients to doihat well, maintaining the health and safety of our population and ensurica that eduon and ing continues so we're going toa get pasint thtre pandemic, we can really grow and expand and include everyone in the economy with th skills necessary to take the jobs that are created. >> woodruff: in ct, i have read where you have used the put a giant magnifying glass ons this country's inkities in
6:26 pm
education -- inequities in education. ishis a time when t country can afford to redress that, to do something about that? >> yeah, i think the way i think of it is we can't affisord not . as something that was not simply aboutairness before the coronavirus. it was essential to increasin our potential growth rate, ensuring that the pie grows for our entire onomy. we have to include everyone. that's important. it has become more important now when w see that cial distancing and other kinds of things are going to be important. if y have a college education, you're much more likely to be working from home. there are jobsat are going to be creat that allow all of our citizens to do that, all americans. we need to ensure they have the education that's required, and my view of this is ainvestment in human capital is one of the greatest investments you can make. it's abe most dur. and that kind of investment is one you can definitely afford to make and is defaitely one tht will help all of us. >> woodruff: there are also
6:27 pm
questions, mary daly, about what the fed itself can do. of course, it's already done a lo a lot of mey has been made available to businesses for lending, but i think there's still questions out tre about the main street lending program, whether it's going to rech enough businesses to make a difference. what's your view? >> so again, we're one of manyay s, right, so the paycheck protection program, that's really mend to treat the small businesses. larger busesses, you know, very large businesses have access to capital markets with other facilities we opened rlped settle, and then the main street facility ally targeting those businesses that are bigger than the small businees and not in th ycheck protection program, and smaller than the very large businesses by giving them access to lending facilities that allow them to bridge themselves over it. so we'll keep doing what we have been doing, which is put ts facility out there, see if
6:28 pm
there's still pockets of need, pockets of concern, and then do our power in combination with the treasury to really figure t how to reach those people in need. the main thing that i want t emphasize, though, is the federal reserve is not just opening facilities. wee also supporting the economy through, you know, lowering interest rates, through netary policy and giving forward guidance that says we're committed to doinga t until we've defeated the coronavirusck and we're n track with price stability and full emplufment. >> woo mary daly, president of the san francisco federal reserve bank. thank yoapvery much. wereciate it. >> thank you. w druff: china's moves to impose greater control over hont
6:29 pm
kong continuay, with a formal legislative process set forth in beijing.he in response,.s., united kingdom, atralia, and canada denounced the move; and the british foreign secretary raised an extraordinary prospect ifij g persists: citizenship for 300,000 hong kongers holding british passports, which date te re the city's handover to china. here's nick schifrin. >> schifrin: this is how hong dkong activists say libers; to thunderous applause. (applause)th national people's congress, beijing's rubber-stamp parliament, endorsed a legislative pathway that could effectively end hong kong's special status. the vote was 2,878 to one. in a press conference, china's second highest ranking official said beijing was maintaining security and stability. >> ( translated ): the decision adopted is designed to ensure the steady and long-term implementation of 'one country,
6:30 pm
two systems' and hong kong's long-terprosperitynd stability. schifrin: pro-docracy activists say this is beijing's version of stability-- police slamming a reporter to the ground during yesterdas protests. for more than a century, hong kong has provided its citizens freedoms, including todemonstra. those freedoms do not exist in c mainlana. and pro-democracy advocates fear this legislation, is a death blow. ni to a lot of people, this is at least the beg of the end of freedom. and now if you take aws essential element of this woerful city, what would b left? >> schifrin: alvin yeung is a pro-democracy legislator, who's protested against hong kg's pro-beijing government. he says young people started g hong kong's streets la year to fight an erosion of freedoms. lost, and are consgear they have leaving.
6:31 pm
>> and they thought maybe it's time to bring the kids abroad so from all this fear. free >> schifrin: what what can you do? can you really fight this at all? >> well, to be perfectly frank, i would be extremelysp irsible if we if i say there are lots of options. in fact, our options are limited. >> schifrin: the national people's congress did not write the final law. that will be done by the communist party's most senior body later this year. but their authorization to draft the law includes two major chges to hong kong: for the first time it allows" relevant national security organs of the central people's government" to be based in hong kong.an and it sayactivities that could "subvert state power,"" split the country," or" seriously endanger national security" will be punished. beijing says those protests last year turned violenand became" homegrown terrorism." and beijing argues these demonstrators were encouraged by the u.s. today foreign miniry spokesman zhao lijan said beijing was pushing back on american >> (rtranslated ): china will
6:32 pm
never waver in its determination if anyone insists on china, china is sure to take all necessary measures to fight back resolutely. >> schifrin: beijing's assertiveness is an attempt to end what the communist party calls the century of humiliation. hong kong used to be part china. but in the 1800s, foreign powers attacked. and the british rced china to lease the city. in 1997, the british hand the city over. and under a deal kwn as one country two systems, communist china promised hong kong could keep its british-written laws and independent judiciary. the administration sijing has not kept its promise, and is debating how to respon senior administration officials say they are considering sanctions on senr communist party officials, or even ending hong kong's special economicle status that'to 1300 american companies currently based in hong kong. the business community war the administration, it's not time to erode that special status yet. >> by introducing this
6:33 pm
legislation, it doesn't mean that hong kong is suddenly a part of china. hong kong will retain hong kong's individual identity. s >> schifrin: craig allene president of the u.s./china business council, which advocates for u.s. businesses in mainland china and hong ko. he wants the administration to go slow, but he also warns that american companies, already worried about rising chinese ng if the city's rule of law is eroded. >> most of those 1300 companies are there because of t rgule of law. to be compromised, then hong kong's value from a business perspective is greatly diminished. >> schifrin: some longtime china experts warn beijing could still change its mind abouhehong kong, ifdministration's response is judicious. doug paal is with the carnegie endowment for international peace. >> if we're discriminating in the way we respond, we can create more debate in china about whether or not xi hasch osen the right tools for the
6:34 pm
>> schifrin: but the pro-suff fd beijing's crackdown, call that naive, and are asking the u.s. to respond harshly. >> partial sanctions, embargoes or even freeze the separate economic entity in hong kong would also be the weapons for the world to let beijing to know that it's a must to completely >> schifrin: president trumpy lt says he will announce the u.s.' response, tomorrow. the fate of hong kong as a global hub, is in the balance. for the pbs newshour, i'm nick schifrin. >> woodruff: it is a toll unimaginable to many before thec pandtarted. more than 100,000 americans have died from covid-19 so far.
6:35 pm
the u. now has about a third to get some perspective on this moment, i'm joined by presidentialistorian michael beschloss. and andy slavitt, former acting administratoof the centers for medicare and medicaid seices. he's been a notablhealth voice about all of this. he hosts a podcast, "in the bubble." welcome to both of you. michael beschloss, to you first. this is a number that's i think almost impossible for uso conceive, this many deaths in such a short time, just matter three months. is there any calamity in american history? maybe i should ask, what calamity can you compare this to in american history? >> well, this is... even if the deaths did not grow any larger, this would be one of the great calamities and one of the rrible experiences of american history that our decent denwi unfortunaly be reading to the flu pandemic of go back
6:36 pm
1918/1919. that was 670,000 americans who lost ther lives, but that was over a century ago, and that wae the before modern medicine. so think that we could suffer losses like this and they may be growing and they may beta lo larger, that's something that's going to loom very large iner an history. it's a somber evening. >> w, druff: andy slavii looked it up. the united states has something like 4.5% of the global pulation, and yet our number of covid deaths are around % of the global number. and yet here we are, the richest country in the world with some of the most as advanced medicine and science. how could this have happened? >> i think we're going to have a couple of levels of regret. you know, first i think in advance of covid coming here, not recognizing what was going
6:37 pm
on in beijing and then in woo warned, not keepa stockpile ready, not being prepared o contain the virus. you know, those are all things i think that are prtty well-known and i think there are some estimates on lives that could have been saved. i think once they came here, our response was a little bit more hands off and tepid than in her countries around the world. i don't think the federal government wanted to embrace ownership of thehallenge as it happened in other parts of the world, and so you even seething president come out every day wearing a mask made an enormou difference in taking a little bit of medicine early so that we could have saved some lives, we would have opened up the economy earlier. and today i think we'retill in a similar spot where we are declarg victory ina manner of speaking, deciding that this is over, when the virus is really atill here. it's still as ddly.
6:38 pm
it's still as contagious. so i worry tha ct owetinme mist. >> woodruff: mic beschloss, how do you compare this predent'seadership at this time with the leadership of other presidents who hav led th country through war, through pandemics, and the rest of it? >> that's really what you have to compare it to, judy, and here's a case where, you know new york a time of war, a time no great depression, you you want a president, first of al to show empathy, that he understands what's going on. abraham lincoln, at the height of the civilar, so many pple were dying, they came to lincoln and they said, "we need to build another cemetery. where do you want it?" my summer home so that everynear single day i see the gravesg being and i'm reminded of all thecasualties that ae occurring because the decisions i was making."
6:39 pm
ople might have said lincoln was making mistakes, but they never doubted that his heartinws t and he was trying to work over as soon as possible.war another pele expect in a crisis like thiss a president to unify the country. that's part of his oath to is a more peect union. you don't normally in crisis ismes see a president who doing any less than, that any americans toome together behind a plan. and the other thing is that in a political year, you know, we've had presidents run for reelection before, 19an, in roosevelt was running for a third term at a time that many americans riwere tered of a war with japan or journal -- jucial -- germany that htmig kill members of their family. rather than trying the get votes, roosevelt said we need to
6:40 pm
strengthen our defense and have a draft. that lost him votes, but at' what great leaders do in an election year in a time ofis cr >> woodruff: pick up on that andy slavitt. you mentioned masks a momentag you mentioned the slowness in somey uarters. cleaere are some people who praise president trump forg close country off to visitors from china. but there's also been a lot of criticism. what else do does one look for at a moment like this fr a president at a moment of health crisis. >> well, i think michael hasis xactly right. what i think from a president probably underestimated and i think still underestimates is american tolerance for bad news delivered straight. i don't think thepublic here expects any more of a miracle tethan it was expanywhere in the world. we expected competency, direct,
6:41 pm
fact, transparent information, and i think if you would have, delivered thok, it's impossible to get an a in this. th is not a crisis he invented. he inherited itt, bu as david frum said to me, it is easy to get a b. getting a b a lotabout whatwins out being transparent. it's about being straight with people. a number of governors have dne that and while those day in and day out may not have been s important as some of the things that i mentioned earlier in terms of preventing lives, they would have helped keep this untry sustained and kept people through a difficult time and probably for his own political standpoint would hav been -- i think you would have been rewarded politically. >> woodruff: michael beschloss, i want to ask both of you about thoamerican ple. how have americans come throughk crisese this, calamities
6:42 pm
like this in the past, and what does that say about how we're likely to come through this? >> the good news, judy, is look at all the things we've been through, from valley orge to terrible natural disasterto depressis and wars and all of that. here we are in 2020, theha american peopl this amazing ability to bind together and to be silient, evenif their leadership is not perfect. so i would say thaif history tells us anything, and in my line of work, we think it tells us a lot, it would suggest that the result of this will be assuming that we survive and assumi that the country sticks together, will survive and pros interin a way that might even make this a better society. at the end of world war ii, e came back from europe and from asia, our soldis did, d said that we only finished part of the job when we defeated the germans and the japanese. now we have to bring equal rights to all americans.
6:43 pm
we have to make sure that every amican gets the blessings of american prosperity. that has not happened before world war ii, but the optimistic view is to think tharhaps at the end of this crisis we will be in a situation where we discover needs and ambitions that we didn't know before. >> woodruff: andy slafd, just in about 30 second, how do yoam see the ican people coming through this? >> i'm not going to repeat what michael said because that's exactly right. i think what we should do on a day li today is sale and thank every single first responder, essential worker, healthcare provider, doctor,y nurse, tve been true heroes. we owe them a debt of gratitude that will be very difficult to repay. >> woodruff: for sure. an we cannot say that often enough. we thank each and every one of and we thank both of you, andyt, slavichael beschloss. we appreciate it. >> thank you.
6:44 pm
>> woodruff: many of us, myself included and mosarof our staff, working from home these itys. an far from clear how soon people can, will or should go o their workplace. this could have significant repercussions for workers, companies and the etplace. paul solman's going to explore these transformations in a two- part look, beginning tonight fse oues "making sense." >> this has worked for other things but it's not working for you. >> reporter: c.e.o. dave kenny, rkr first interview for this thory about "ing from home" >> i gotta move e mike. yeah, yeah. i'm used to havingeople to do this. >> reporter: that'llique angle on the work from home problem. >> exactly. >> reporter: the c.e.o. of nielsen, the company famous for
6:45 pm
measuring television audience ratings, kenny used to think working from home waa bad idea. >> when i camen nielsen at the beginning of last year, which had a work from home option, i wa.really quite opposed to the people who were in the conference room were talking to each other. those who were working from home and phoning in or even videoing in were largely not in the conversation. >> reporter: i don't mean to use this phrase lightly, but has it been for you in a sense, a >> it's been a big event in my life because i was forced to look at a total system change as opposed to an incremental ulange. i don't think i have had the courage to go big and have everyone try this if we weren't but itid tell methings that, you do them big, they actually work. >> reporter: and it's not just o nielsecourse. last week mark zuckerberg told facebook's 45,000 employees: >> i tnk that it's quite possible that over the next five to 10 years, about 50% of our people could be working
6:46 pm
remotely. >> reporter: nielsen's policy? >> most people will work remotely as long as they can. allowing people to have much more of a hybrid model in the future where they're really only coming in when they need to. >> reporter: but for now, the third of the u.s. workthat can work from home is doing so, fu time. economist nick bloom: >> maybe a year wh two from now firms relax and say, look, you can come back into the office if you like, you can come back in two or three days a week and spend e other couple of days at home. that's, you know, the omised land, but that's definitely not where we are now. >> reporter: now work from home has ng had a surprisingly ba rap, bloom illustrated in a 2017 ted talk. >> if you go to google or to bi and you punch in "working from home" into image search, what do you get? a lot of pictures of basically naked people, cartoons, people juggling way too many babies to actually be doing anything constructive. >> reporter: but bloom, wanting to actually study the economic
6:47 pm
effects, found a willing partner: c-trip, china's largest >> here's a picturheir headquarters in shanghai. they're interested in working from home because shanghai is a phenomenally expensive place to run a business; very dilbertesque, lots of desks and people working, taking calls. >> reporter: two random groups of 500 workers each were studied. the results? >> we found amazingly that the working from home employees were 13% more productive. which is huge. week.s almost a day extra a and when we looked at the data, it turned out about a third ofas thatt's quieter. they said they don't get distracted, you know.av myite anecdote was i spoke to a woman that said, you know, the person in the desk next to me, she clips her toenails. i see her leaning below the desk and i hear that clip, clip, clip. it's horble. and then the other two thirds of the gain was actually people hours.g from home work more they also ok less sick leave. >> reporter: the 500 work-from- home employees were so much happier inact...
6:48 pm
>> quit rates dropped by 50%. c-trip? tthey reckon they made ab $2,000 more profit per person at home. they were super-positive; they rolled it out to the whole firm. >> reporter: and the u.s. experience mirrors c-trip's, says remote work consultant desmond dickerson, working from home himself for five years. >> reports show that folks are more productive and take less sick leave when they work remotely. and a huge advantage, i think this is going to be a games changer,at the pool of applicants grows. now we have folks thatna tradity couldn't make it into the office. maybe they have a disability or ronic illness or they're not in these places where these high tech companies or major corporations are based. so that could be, you know, minority folks or it could be folks that live in rural areas. >> and now they have basically the same access to the types of working from hjobs that everyone else does. >> reporter: no wonder, then, that nick bloom estimates working from home will increase three to fr-fold, post ndemic.
6:49 pm
but wait just a second. he himself, a stanford professor, is hardly working in a remote paradise. >> you can probably see i'm in a bedroom, you know it's out of i had a call with two dihaerent peopwere working in clothes closets, i could see a shirt hanging behind somebody's ear. kids coming in all the time... >> reporter: as if on cue... you can bring her in. bring her in. hi. now what do you call your daddy? what do you call him? >> doo-doo. >> reporter: doo doo? that's not nice! (giggles) >> post covid, kids will be back in school. but now, i mean, i don't need to say anything else. >> reporter: as for the childless... so you're the typical young worker who must love working from home, right? >> mmmmm.. it has its ups and downs. >> reporter: jamie andes works for a new york real estateok age. >> mostly it's difficult to find the work life balance because
6:50 pm
it's really easy to continue to ourk into the night and then it's bedtime andave had no time to yourself. >> folks will burn out if they're working those additional hours. s reporter: and then ther the bugaboo most remote jobs now entail: >> meetings, mtings, meetings. that's all we do every day. it's difficult to pay attention to everybody, lk when you're supposed to talk, listen when you're supposed to listen, people talk over each her, allat ind of stuff. so it's a lot more mentally draining than you'd crink. i'ing human contact right now. so i want to go back into the office. wi want to be communicatih everybody in person. >> reporter: and that might actually help her career, since -from-homers are promote less, for two reasons says nick bloom: >> one i outf sight, out of mind, get passed over, potentially forgotten about. the second is you may be nuinely need to be in th office to develop the ki of skills to manage people. >> reporter: skills that just aren't that easy to hone at home. >> i probably should have locked the office door, i think is the thing to do. >> reporter: this is paul solman, working from home, for
6:51 pm
the pbs newshour. >> woodruff: no doubt there's going to be a lot more working from home whenll this is over. and that has implications for, among other things, the value of commercial office space. that's paul's next making sense story. >> woodruff: now we hear from todd johnson. he is the youngest pastor in warren, ohio and preaches at the congregation in trumbull countye johnson is dto help the people he serves, especiallylt during diffiimes like when a community member was killed by police in january 2019. our brief but spectacular team spoke with pastor johnson before the pandemic. >> as i preach to my congregation, i am ever mindful
6:52 pm
that i am preaching and teaching to people who lived throughn segregatd jim crow. and some who participated in protest and advocated for change, so i always have in the back of my minthat i'm another link in the chain of progress, and i have this lega that i get to look at every day to encourage me that yes it can be done. i've wanted to be a pastor since i was a little boy. it's a pretty significant thing r r me to be able to minis the same city that raised me. in communities likwarren, it's kind of that place where everybody knows everybody. and when you are working with a justice system in a community like that, there's a lot of distrust of the system because you're well aware that the officers, the prosecutors, the judges, the lawyers, they all know each other very well. and in our view, that might affect how tough they're willing to be with onenother in matters of justice. there was an incident with a young man of color natthew burroughs. he was originally slated to have a court hearing and that hearing
6:53 pm
was canceled and on his way outo icer of the court attempted to stop him in regards to anotheratter and matthew home. flee the scene and go e ensued. and as matthew pulled into thele apartment x where heei sved,ghbors and witnesses describe a sort low standoff that cul aminated ery quick firing of weapons by niles police officers resulting in his death. amany feel that he was no threat to the officers at all. so we've beefighting all year long for the officers to be held accountable for their actions. unfortunaty, our trumbull county prosecutor decided not to pursue charges and the grand jury did not indt those officers. i've always had a positive vcew of law enfnt. i was taught to respect police officers and judges. at the same time, i'm always cognizant that tre are those who don't always respect all people the same way. i worry that our community will give in to despair, i worry that sometimes we can get so stuck in the successes of the past that we don't see the promise of the
6:54 pm
future. in some areas of our city, it's often seen as violent or crime- ridden or rankled by drug activity and while those things do exist, it's really not the prominent story of our community. we really do have a wide swath of individuals who are working in community organizations, churches, students who are excelling, and we're not just another rust belt city that doesn't have any hope or any i think it's vital for young people, to be a bridge with the historical kwledge that we have. when i'm letting some youngrs know that they really do have a future ahead of them and i'm letting some older persont know teir best days really aren't behind them, that's when i feel the most free my name is pastor todd johnson, and this is my brief but spectacular take on a young black pastor in warren, ohio. >> woodruff: and you can find all of our brief but spectacular segments online at pbs.org/newshour/brief.
6:55 pm
6:56 pm
>> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and friends of the nr. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs statio thank you.rs like you. captioning sponsored by newshour proctions, llc captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org
7:00 pm
>> i feel so lucky to be able travel ke i do, tasting great food and wine, but i think the best part is the people that i meet alg the way. today, we're going to visit an ancient wine cellar in parma, ital and spend a little time with my friend, diego, a great lover of food and wine. then, back in my kitchen, we'll celebrate the local ingredientspa by making esan flan with cherry-tomato sauce and basil and a pizzetta toppe with 'nduja and prosciutto. so get ready for se fun in the kitchen, parma-style. i love to travel the globe in search of new food and wine discoveries. for me, it's about more than returning home with a handful of new recipes. it's about taking the spirit of austria... of italy... of greece...e and of the danver and injecting some of their magic into our everyy lives. food has a unique ability to transport us. jo
110 Views
IN COLLECTIONS
KQED (PBS)Uploaded by TV Archive on
![](http://athena.archive.org/0.gif?kind=track_js&track_js_case=control&cache_bust=1770897309)