captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening, i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight, care in the time of covid-- despite the ongoing pandemic and the upcoming election, the trump administration asks the supreme courto invalidate the affordable care act. then, a surge in the sun belt-- as texas and florirs again close we are on the ground in arizona as it reconsiders re-opening amid a dramatic spike in new coronavirus iections. >> we were coming into a summer and the weather here is great and everybody is gathe together in all kinds of places. people just went crazy and started to congregate and that's driven the numbers higan we ever expected. >> woodruff: plus, it's friday, mark shields and david brooks consider the week in politics and the ongoing federal response

to covid-19. all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> when it comesnso wireless, er cellular gives its customers the choice. our no-contract plans give you as much-- or as little-- talk, text and data as you want, and our u.s.-based customer service team is on hand to help. to learn morce go to consumular.tv >> the john s. and james l. knight foundation. fostering informed and engaged communities. more a kf.org.

>> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: d friends of the newshour. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for publ broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: two big states, texas and florida, are reining in their reopenings, as covid-19 infections surge back.pu ican governors in both states ordered bars to close today, or stop selli alcohol. florida governor ron desantis argued his early push pen is not to blame for the turn of events. >> we went to phase one in the

beginning of may and we had thet beovid results we've ever had all through may and begimeing of june. , positivity was low, the cases were low. i think what's just tppened since last few weeks, i think it's more, you know, people want to be social, they want to interact. woodruff: all told, the nation had a record 40,000 new cases the last 24 hours, and the death toll neared 125,000. in washington, dr. anthony fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, warned that younamericans are driving the new infections. >> you have an individual responsibility to yourself, but you have a societalbi responty because if we want to end this outbreak, really end it, and then hopefully when the vaccine comes and puts a nail in the coffin, you've got to realize that you are part of the process. >> woodruff: fauci spoke as

president trump's coronavirus task force gave its first briefing in almost two months. vice president pence acknowledged infections are rising in 16 states, but he said the overall situation is better than two months ago. he also defended the president's rallies.alo resu on resurgence had investors heading for the exits. the dow jones industrial average lost 730 points, nearly 3%, to close at 25,015. the nasdaq fell 259 points, and, the s&p 500 gave up 74 points. the minneapolis city council voted unanimously today in favor of dismantling its police department. that cld lead to a november ballot measure on creating a new hagency with a public hea approach, but also with licensed officers.

the death of george floyd, during a may arrest in minneapolis, galvanized th move. in seattle, city crews triedda to clear away protesters' so-called "occupied zone," but they were blocked. demonstrators chanted their resistance and lay down in frony of heaquipment. police stood by, but did not interven. meanwhile, democrats in the u.s. house of representatives celebrated passage of a major police overhaul measure. it seeks to ban chokeholds and reduce legal immunity forfi rs. in the senate, majority republicans favoa more limited bill, but democrats have blocked it. house speaker nancy says the next move is up to the a.o.p. >> we always hav responsibility to reach across the aisle, but instead of aha shake, you get a slap in the face, then you say you better gh back tdrawing board. and that's what they better do. and that's up to the senate, when they come to their

conclusion. they can't pass a bill, and you think we should embrace it? no. >> woodruff: senate majority leader mitch mcconnell has said the house democrats' bill cannot pass the senate. the house voted today, for the first time ever, to make washington, d.c. the 51st state. the measure pass 232 to 180, with all but one democrat in favor, and all republicans opposed. it is given little chance in the senate.l weke a closer look, later in the program. in mexico city, lice were out in force, after gunmen tried to assassinate the police chief in updaybreak assault. it happened in aale neighborhood where attackers blasted the chief's armored vehicle with sniper rind grenades. he was badly wounded, and ree people were killed. officials blamed a drug cartel,1 and sasuspects were in custody.

the last of thremen convicted in the infamous birmingham, iedbama church bombing has in prison. ku klux klansman, was 81.former officials sa he passed away today, of natural causes. the 1963 bombing killed four young black girls. blanton was finally convicted in 2001. and, corporate giant unilever will stop advertising on facebook, twitter and instagram to protest racist and violent content online. it's the latest company to take that decision, and it says the ad halt will last through december. unilever mes everything from dove soap to ben and jerry's ice cream. the trump administration asks: the supreme court to invalate the affordable care act. arizona reconsideramre-opening a dramatic spike in new coronavirus infections.

and much more. woodruff: the fate of t health care law often referred line again as the d pandemiche plays out. last night, the trump administration again sought toth strike it down time by filing a brief with the supreme court arguing it's unconstitutional. states joined in, contending the law must be overusturned becongress eliminated the individual mandate. more than 23 million americans get coverage through the a.c.a., but for some, the costs of that coverage are still too high. andy slavitt is the former acting administrator of the

centers for medicare and medicaid services during the obama administration. he joins me now. andy slavitt, welcome back to the "newshour". as you know, the argument that the trump administration and these 18 states are making is now that there's no longer a tax penalty imposed on people if they don't have insurance thata thisno longer has a therefore, it should bend, overturned. without getting too much into the legal weeds on this, andy slavitt, why is that wrong? >> well, they're suggesting, when the senate passed a tax law in the end of 2017, that it actually intended not to just eliminate the mandate but intended to eliminate the entire law -- in other words, that one was intendedo strike down all. senator lamarlexander made very clear when he said that was not the intent of anybody voting, nobody was voting to

repeal the entire law. so they are, i think this case is attempting to -- and i think in a political fashion- to try to reinterpret what congressional intent was witho really pund impact on the american public. now, it's not just theching law 23 millioneople who have coverage, it's the 130 million people with pre-existing protections, more peple who will need coverage coming out of covid 19 and pre-existing protection, so it's a sweeping law change t make on that basis. >> woodruff: so they're making the argument that 's not constitutional. as you know very well, there's sot criticism, as we just said, that, for many americans, the premiums art stiloo high. what's the answer to that? >> well, there is plenty to not system, and no on law, whether it's the aca or any other law, is going to fix it all. what we need to do is keep

and make it more affordable for other people. there is a bill just introduced his week that attempts to address that. i think it's long overdue. i think when the republicans were controlling the congress,tr rather thang to tear it down, they could have put forward these improvement bills. what we need to do is make suge everybodts a proper tax treatment that employers get. right now, if you earn up to about $100,000 a year, it's because you get the same tax subsidiesty the employer gets, but if yu're over $100,000 a year, you don't. that's clearly a gap in theaw, but there are plenty of people who make over $100,000 a year to whom healthcare is way too expensive. >> woodruff: andy slavitt, back to your first point, wha does this mn in human terms if tthis law is overturned ae court finds it unconstitutional, especially now that we're ithe middle of a pandemic? >> it means a few things. directly, 23 million people will

no longer be able to take care of their families if someone should get sick from covid or anything else, preventative care and all the things that come along with it. secondly, you have employer-based coverage, it will now be up to the insurancemp ies to decide what to cover and what not todorf. and if you lose employer-based coverage, you won't be able to eragenteed to get that cov back or, if you get it, your pre-existing conditions will b cluded, no matter what is said by the white house. rhetoricly, that is just the fact. and what happens to all the money being spent to get people healthcare? well, the top 1% of earners will going to get a $200,000 tax cut, and i think what's behind a lot of this is that the people who are pushing to repeal the law would rather you have that money you use for a tax benefit for e wealthy than for people individually. of coue, if you have covid and it becomes a prtie-ex condition, it's not just covid, it's the cditions from covid,

an insurance company coucild not to cover it. much greater while we're in the middle of fighting covid 19. today, the number of covid cases surgug around the country, follow this very closely. the white house is saying this is not due to reopening, it's what vice president pe te pence saday. how do you read the cause behind this resurgence across much of the country, 16 states? >> well, this is what the virus does. the virus moves fm bigger cities to smaller cities and, so, in some level, we seem to be one of the only nations in the world that dstesn't undd that that's going to happen. and then there's cause and effect and a time lag. so i think we have particularly in arizona and texas and florida, governors that have been repeatedly told through the course of may that this was waing to happen and theyted

not only to see enough cases, they waited not only to see th positivity rate go up, they waited to see if the hospital started tol. fil at this point, if they acted today with strong actn, they wouldn't be able to turn the tide for another three weeks or so. we're really dealing with the middle ojuly and things are going to continue to go on andge worse. so i think we have to question a better feel for what's causing these thngs, we have to be more honest, and the vice president, comeall due respect, can out and paint a rosy picture. it's not fair to the public who just wants to know what do they need to do to be safe. >> woodruff: certainly bad numbers today in the terms of the covid recurring, resurging across much of the country. andy slavitt, we thank you. >> thank you, juy.

>> woodruff: as we heard, arizona has beco a new epicenter for covid-19. in fact, it now has more per capita cases than reported by any european country. but as stephanie sy reports from orarizona, the renewed effts to flatten the curve are still meeting some resistance. >> reporter: at the downtown phoenix farmers market, kelvin west did some shopping and picked up extra face masks. >> coronavir is real. it's out there. people are dying from it. and it doesn't matter ifou're feeling anything or not. >> reporter: others weren't as concerned. >> i think the coronavirus is a real issue, but i don't feel like the hype behind it is as much as they say it is, in my personal opinion. i just think that the numbers are very skewed. and so i don't personally feel threatened. >> reporter: the grand canyonh state whics experienced several weeks of increasing coronavirus cases has become a talef two realities-- one,

where people like ed ziegler continue to socially distance. >> i'm doing exactly what the d.c. says. washing my hands religiously, using mask, trying to stay away from people as much as i can. >> reporter: and another, where people like ku brewer are enjoying weekend brunch as though the pandemic waover. >> i'm actually coming to eat to support local business people are kind of overreactin to how they're handling situation. >> reporter: under pressure from all sides, the republican governor, doug ducey, began re- opening the state's economy in mid-may, one of the first to do so. cases quickly spiked. >> there's a lot of places that are just winging it and behaving pre pandemic >> reporter: will humble is a former state health director. he ss many new cases in rece days have been among younger state residents. >> the average age of diagnosis is 34. new cases is 39. and so that number is moving down. >> reporter: humble says the

problem is not with e state re-opening, but how it reopened, allowing for complacency to set in. >> if we had put some complianc measures in plat were enforceable, we would have been able to preserve the gains or most many of the gains that we made during the stay at home order. >> reporter: officials are now taking steps to enforce social distancing and mask guidelines in restaurants governor doug ducey is not taing about shutting back down. he is urging people to stay home. >> there's no magical decision or golden government action that will stop this virus. >> reporter: as things stand, te of positivee tests each day has been above 20% for a week, comparedo new york state's positive testing rate, which is hovering at around 1%. >> although one of the things that we're hearing more and mora in ariow is that while testing capacity has improved markedlythe turnaround time

has been bad. and that's really important because your contact tracing effectiveness is really deter is depends on fast turnaround times from the laboratory. >> reporter: and in the state's worst affected areas testing sites are overwhelmed-lines of people waiting to be swabbed arizonans live has by far the highest number of cases, deaths, and hospitalizations in the state. but other areas are also seeing surges, including yuma, which borders hotspots in califoia and mexico. >> we were coming into a summer rand thweather here is eat and everybody is gathering people just went crazy and started to congregate and that's driven the numbers higher than we ever expected. >> reporter: yuma county chairman tony reyes suggests mindsets may have something to do with the higher rate of infections he's seeing. >> well, you have a lot of people who believe tything you mandate is an infringement of their rights.

we try to emphasize to our friends and our enemies that this ia health crisis. this is not a political crisis. it's not a cultural crisis. ve reporter: but politics come into play. at a rally for president donald trump in phoenix earlier this week, there was no social distancing, and despite the city's ordinance requiring masks in public places, many chose not to wear them.e for thrried about catching the virus, a mass rally with people coming in from all over the state and beyond defies logic. i have a pre-existing condition. if i get this virus, chances arr i'd have longor permanent organ damage or i'd die. >> reporter: heather frushour knows first hand how serious getting covid 19 can be. >> i got covid back in march and it's a long recovery for some and it was for me. so we are hesitant to go out. >> reporter: but as others

decide to go out, hospitals are closer to reaching capacity. >> in a word, terrible, anotherd wos overwhelming. department dr. fraecchio with valleywise health is concerned with staffing critical care units. >> i think a lot of the nurses are tired. a lot of nurses are exhausted. you know, a lot of doctors are exhausted. >> we are kind of on the exponential part of the curve. >> reporter: dr. sandra till with banner health is seeing intensive care unit beds fill quickly in arizona's largest hospital sysm. >> it's more that critical care stretched. the hospital beds are stretched. the nurses are stretched. >> reporter: and will humble, the public health expert who's been carefully mitoring arizona's spiraling covid crisis says some models have predicted, statewide, hospitals might beea full ay as mid july. >> if arizonans pick it up, if they use their masks, if businesses start to get serious about implementing c.d mitigation measures, then maybe those models are going to be wrong.

i hope they are. >> reporter: arizona never flattened the curve beforee- opening, and now it's scrambling to do so while trying to stay open. for the s newshour, i'm stephanie sy in phoenix. >> woodruff: we turn now to the trump administration's handling of protests around racial injustice, police reform and the coronavirus. yamiche alcindor has more. >> alcindor: we get the white house's view on all this with ta'ron smith. he is deputy ass to president trump and the deputy director of the office of american innovation. he is also one of the senior african american officials in the white house. democrats ccessfully blocked senator tim scott's policing bill from advancing in the senate but were able to pass the democratic verseon of the h bill. what's the plan now to get

thecing reform, and i white house open to compromise through the democratic bill? >> i think what we all want to f do isind common ground. i hate to use the word "compromise," but i think the senate and the white house have always been willing to work bipartisan. i think that what we should have done and what the democrats i should have dowork from a bipartisan position from the beginning becausip bartisanship is what's needed to get this done, and we are certainly willing too that, butit looks like the democrats don't because they'd rather play a little w politih the policy. and we're really focused on getting outcomes going, and i don'e think the people havme for the politics. >> reporter: so is it fair to say that the whiteoe will at some point be willing to work with the democratic bill since at's the one that went through the house? >> no, i think it's more fair to say we need to start in a bipartisan manner. you can't work with a bill that hano bipartisanship with it.

ues have different iss been to be flushed out. there are stakeholders on both sides that want to work with the issues. you've seen in the executive order us working with police departments and the families and coat's how you thread the needle because there armon accepts ways to go about doing this to get the reform that everyone wants. >> despite making up only 13% of the population, african-americans are two and a half times moe likely to be killed by police than white americans. does president trump believe there's systemic racism in thein united stateluding in policing? >> i think that the president been broken and it needs reform, and that system has createdon disparities no for african-americans but many vulnerable populations, but we african-american population has had some historic disparities and, so, this first step of e.og that we put ther helps deal

with that because the real issuo goes bacolicing, community relations. the direction that the democrats took is increasing that relationship in the wrong way, and i'll tell you how, because, if we have lespoli incentivized to be police, you have less oppheortunities for people who represent the community to be a part of the police department, and thats creame distrust. we want to do the opposite. we want to create better police communitlationships and invest in those police departonts so they recruit fm the neighborhoods and create that relational aspeck that can quell some of the disust. >> reporter: why hasn't the administration put out a larger plan to address systemic racism and racial injustice in this country? >> well, we actually have put out a rger plan. if people were to cover what the president announced in dallas, they would have seen the president put out alan on access to capital, access tohe education, tlthcare, and more importantly put out a plan on police and coms.munity

relati we've always taken a holistic approach. before we even had these desassers and issues and shined a spotlight on it, the president hired me to work revitalization policy and we set up the whi house revitalization council. >> reporter: we're seeing coronavirus spikes inates like texas and florida, but still about half to have the corovirus cases in this country don't have racial data attached to it. why hasn't the anministrat done more to get the data on who is being impacted especially when we know that black and iown communes are beng impacted disproportionately by the coronavirus? >> the c.d.c. actually doing that work and, just this week, we just invested $40toillion orehouse medical school to do more analysis on the o the investment is there. but as you can imagine, with this type of research and getting realtime data, that administration has a commitment there and the vice president made that commitment about two lked s ago when we t

half a million american stakeholders. >> reporter: i want to turn quickly to healthcare. the trunks filed arief with the -- the trump admina tration fileief with the supreme court wanting to dismantle the afrdable care act. why is it important and necessary during a pandemic when ople need insurance, why is the administration pushing to end the affordable care act? >> well, look, let me tell you about the affordable care at. my father had insurance all his life and as soon as we had that legislation, he lost the insurance he had, and also the spremiums for my mother went up. so i think we've always realized there need to be real fixes to that. more importantly, we're making historic investments into federally qualified health centers and community health centers around the country through the cares act, so the resources there for telehealth, telemedicinend mobe health clinics are there to deal with the disparities. but we're continuing to do more because closing that gap for these individual communities is something that's very important to the administration. >> reporter:nk thaou so

much, ja'ron smith, deputyto assistanresident trump. >> thank you so much, yamiche. dr >> wf: more than four million american citizens livins in territorom puerto rico co guam have no voting representation iress. but for the roughly 700,000 residents of washington, d.c., the house of representatives voted today to make a change. lisa desjardins reports. >> desjardins: welcome to a city flourishing, with one of the fastest growg populations in the country, awash in restaurants and ts. no one contributes to government more-- washingtonians y the most taxes per capita in the u.s. but almost no u.s. citizens have less say in government. l as theense plates decry, residents of washington d.c. have no vote in congress.

>> we alone deprive the citizens of our capital their rights that all americans can enjoy. >> desjardins: eleanor holmes norton, d.c.'s delegate to congss, cannot vote on bills but she can author them, and she's proposed a statehood bill every year for nearly 30 years. >> there being 232 votes in the affirmative. 180 votes in the negative. the district of columbia >> desjardins: today the house passed her wasngton, d.c. e mission act, the first t history that either chamber has voted to make the city a state.i th would name the new state " washington, douglass commonwealth" after former city resident and abolitionist frederick douglass. federal buildings, including the ouwhite house and capitol, remain a separate federal district still called the strict of columbia. the city would gain two senators, one voting member ofus the and control over its own decisions. currently congress can overrule

local officials. that's not theorical. earlier this month district officials had ttle say as federal park police moved in on peaceful protesters, in some blocks usually overseen by the city. and it affects pandemic respse. in the cares act offering relief, congress sent d.c. $750 million less than it gave to states. >> the cares act is a quintessential example of what it means to not have the same rights as others in our own country. >> desjardins: holmes norton points out two current states, vermt and wyoming, have smaller populations than d.c., and have full representation in congress. d.c. residts we spoke with feel the difference. at any moment congress can swoop in and make a decision on at i decided as a local resident in this city is not important and can change those things. >> if i want toy con

opinion about legislation to a member of congress, i can do that but they can't vote for or against something, and its frustrating and it's almost like i feel like i'm jus yelling into the wind. >> reporter:some opponents say what's fair to d.c. >> desjardins: but some opponents say what's fair to d.c. residents isn't the issue, itn. what's in the constitut >> well, when the district of columbia was established 230 years ago by congress, it was set up to be a unique entity, not to be part of any state. >> desjardins: roger pilon is a constitutional scholar at the cato institute. two of his arguments? first, the constitution defines the city as a federal district.s pilon arhat only a constitutional amendme, notke congress, can t a state. then there's the 23rd amendment, which gives the district electoral votes for president.

but that would conflict with the electoral votes a new state would get separately, and could >> in otr words, for the president, that 23rd amendment would have to be repealed. and you can't do that through mere statute. you have to have constitutional amendment to repeal a constitutional amendment. >> desjardins: eleanor holmes norton concedes that amendment should be repealed, but says the city can become a state first, and that congress can do it. >> now, it is true that theer frdidn't quite know what to do with this capital city, and so it gave jurisdiction ove. the congre well, the congress is taking action now and it is taking action to make the district fifty first state. >> desjardins: both acdge one towering obstacle to statehood: politics.ar >> it's alwayssan. largely democratic you cans a expect republicans and the president of the united states to be against it. >> what we're talking about here and that is not something that,

atthe republicans in the s want to see since the senate is so closely divided. >> desjardins: which is why there is little hope the republican-led senate will passh the statood bill this year. and why the stakes for d.c. ar high in november, when control and the long-term chances for d.c. statehood, are on the ballot. for the pbs newshourdii'm lisa desj. w we turnto the analysis of shields and brooks. that's syndicated columnist mary shields and "nk times" columnist david brooks. good to see both of you. thank you. for being here this friday. so let's start with somete insting poll numbers. they show not only president trump running

somewhere between eight, twelve, even 14 pointbehind joe biden, but the president's disapproval ratings are at record highs. is is from the new marist poll the "newshour" does with npr 58% disapproval for president trump, the highest it has evereen. and then you see on thi graph, his disapproval ratings higher than president obama at is stage of his presidency or president bush 43 at this point in their first term in office. david, how significant is this? >> oh, pretty significant. the numbers e devastating for the president, but, you know, big things have happened. we're looking at possible really serious and long economic recession orepression. we're losing the battle against covid, we're having a racial reckoning. learning what daily life is like for african-americans.

these are gigantic thingsha ening in the country and on each one of them, donald trump is considered an inadequate leader by a lot of people, so he's losing college educated women, some high school educated white men, just across the board in. our "new york times" poll th, is weden was winning by 14 percentage points. there's no way other than to say some seismic shift is happening a lot of people wa fireow, and donald trump. >> woodruff: mark, what do you see in these nmbers and how significant do you think they are? >> well, i tnk they're encouraging for the democrats, but, at the same time, judy, for those who want to put the champagne on ice, i would remine them of th wisdom of ann richards, the late governor of texaa who sid july results do not make a november election. you knorw, this is not the fst time that democrats have had a large lead and -- in the sumr and not managed to win in

november.i buink david's absolutely right about donald trump. right now, this election is a referendum on him, and he isin fathat test on virtually every major ground. there's only two times it's good to be a united states presint, one when things are going so swimmingly -- prosperity and peace in the world, you get to pass bask in the warmth of the era of good feeling -- the second time, is strangelyta enough, a rophe not of your making -- anarthquake or pandemic as we're having now -- and that's wheen a prsident can console and lead and comfort aa nation and ry be a figure who brings everyone together. donald tthump has faileat and miserably and i don't see him recovering. >> woodruff: david, the president is having his first rallies. arizona a few days ago gettingin thousands of people to show up.

what is it, in tulsa, 6,000.mi he's diing, if you will, the covid virus, though. i mean, he's saying tht if more testing -- if there were more testing don'e, there woube a virus. he is trying play to his base. >> to some part of his base. there is some base who likes hie rally, the jokes, spending 20 minutes talking about waing down a ramp which he did in tulsa -- but there is a part of the base that hate all that stuff. they ve for him for some other issues or because they think he's decent on the economy, but now he's no deent on the economy, and they don't likete - like the idea of voting for a president who's racoist. sou're seeing people flake issues, not for some temporary

tweet. so i agree with mark, this isth notime to celebrate, but we've had such a stable set of polls in the lasree years where trump has hung basically solis vis-a-vis other people, and nowhings look different because big things are happeni happening. >> woodruff: mark, i mean, could his arguments about th virus appeal to enough people to somehow persuade them that he's got the right argumengoing here? >>it doub, judy. he has not been a national leader on this issue. in fact, he's been a sniper on the sidelines too much, criticizing governors in virginia for taking measures to -- in their states to lead a lockdown in hopes of curtailing it. somehow, there seems to have emerged a choice between public health and a strg eonomy, and

donald trump says, well, i'm foc a strongomy, open up that economy, but the reality is we will not have a stong economy without restored public health. that's the road to it. i just think he's goi down a dead end, and it shows terrible indifference to the people who are his moloyal supporters, those 3,000 kids in arizona without any masks or social distancing, that's a terrible prospectfllness forthcoming. >> woodruff: and that's the image that the administration is projecting, david, the vice president, today, defending those rallies saying there's a first amendment right to assembly and people have a rit t to go d support the candidate of their choice. >. well, we're going to ha the george floyd protests which i think we should have had. you can't say to one group of people you can protest but to

another you can't, buns the precedenwas set. >> woodruff: right. the more i think about this a crucial moment when thee was president basically chose jar kushner over steve bannon, and what's interesting about the bannon populous wing is they were quick on this vid situation, they were saying it was a major crisis in february. they were taing it seriously, the side of order, the side of the health hawks, and trump went the other way early in his administration away from the populous and toward more wall street people and said, no, 's nothing because i don't want to upset the market. and that shift in the administration was one of pivotal shifts in the administration. bannon, but i thheer of steve president would be in better shape substantively and potically if he had listened to people in that wing. >> woodruff: interesting. we've forgotten about that. ffd, mark, to top it all o

it's what we talked about early in the program, the administration going to thepr e court to try to, yet again, do away with the affordable care act. i this something that'sly to wn him friends an admirers at this stage of his reelection effo? >> no, judy. john boehner, former republican speakeof the house, was very candid on the subject, said 25 years as a reblican in the house, not once, never once did republicans ever agree on ahe thcare plan. and he's absolutely right, there's neff been a republican p healthcaan. they're trying to repeal, replace the affordable care act, but, at a time when 20 million people turning to it, haing lost their jobs and, you know, at a time when it is more popular than it ever was when barack obama was president. healthcare group of anyry

significance in hospitals and doctors and -- exept the american nurse's association -- opposing the administron this, what happens if they win and there is no affordable care act and there's no pre-existing condition coverage? you know, it's an abolute political folly. >> woodruff: i want to ask you about that, david, and then i'vw goor three other things opinion to ask. so go ahead, if you want to comment,omment for us on the affordable care act and the administration, trng to, yet again, get rid of it. >> wel just quickly, if you're a republican senate candidate in arizona or georgia or wrever these close races are, suddenly you have to defend taking away conditions.h pre-existing

>> woodruff: police reform. after all the rallies across the country, it's clear there's a lot of sentiment for looking for ways to approve policing -- improve policing in the country. republicans and democrats completely at odds over tis. what's going on? >> this one, i blame the democrats, frankly. i think tom scott, the pr frm south carolina who is the republican sponsor put together a good faith bill. it had not eerything the democrats wanted, obviously, but some stuff, making lynching a federal hate crime, against chokeholds, more transparency for police misconduct, and then scott saide'll let y vote on amendments, and said maybe i'd support some of these amendments. so he had a pretty opnocess. i'm a big believer if you can take half the cake, take halfe the cake, tn if democrats win in november, they can get the whole cake. i think theshould have compromised and accepted half

better step forward to a better police departmeno >> wuff: have democrats tried to sit down with tim scott or any of the other republicans? >> i think tim scott was an authentic figure on this and absolutely a man of reality, talked aboutlis own perso experience of being stopped seven times by capitol hil police, he a united states senator, being asked for identification and papers. so he shod a sensitivity to it. i think there was a skepticism about how much he could dliver, but i did honestly think there was a chance. i fought for legislative compromise on this. i'm less confident of that todah last week. it's an election year. the senate is going to take two weeks of the closer we get to election, the less chance there is, and i'm sad about it. >> woodruff: and just very quickly to bo oyou, what year will the district of

lumbia become a state, david? >> i will live here and die here annever see it. so i'm pessimistic about that. >> woodruff: and mark? i'm more optimistic, judy. i mean, district residents pay more i taxes than 22 states, the residents of 22 states combined. they, at the same time, die at a rate higher than amenricans14 other states in wars. at some point, they've got to be afforded citizenship and i hope it's in the next administration. ru wo: citizenship, yes, but no voting representations. leave it there.id brooks, we thank you both. >> woodruff: as the u.s.es

approanother coronavirus milestone, we look back at the lives of a few of the almost 125,000 americans who have died because of the pandemic. 92-year-old theodore gaffney was a researcher and documentarian who brought great curiosity to his rk. after serving in the u.s. army following world war ii, theodore studied photography under the g.i. bill. the washington, d.c. native was one of the first african of the white house.raph inside in 1961, he documented the freedom riders as they traveledt through the to fight segregation. theodore later moved to brazil to study the african diaspora. it was there that he met his jess begay senior of the navajo nation was a long-haul trucker who transported everything from explosives to milk.

he taught others how to drive commercially, includs own daughter, leslynn. she said her dad was humble, and always open to learning more. he still referred to himself as a rookie, even as a 25-year veteran in the trucking industry. s family described jess as dedicated, prayerful, and loving. he was 73 years old. mary wilson had a way with animals. she was 23 when she started working at the maryland zoo, and went on to become thfirst black woman to be promoted to senior zookeeper. mary was a mother figure to many, including an orphansy gorilla nameia. mary continued to visit sylvia even after she left the maryland zoo. sylvia always remembered her. mary's dedication to her work to become a zookeeper, too.ron

mary was 83. lifelong educator udent. passionate about learning, thomas earned advanced degrees in education, well into his fifties.he aught english classes in kenya, where he was born. after immigrating to the u.s. in 1985, he taught at a minnesota technical college. thomas was a generous and devoted father and grandfather. at his church, he was known as a leader within the congregation. thomas was 69 ars old. maurice dotson's family said he always put others first. when maurice was 17, he wod often accompany his mom to her job at a nursing home, and it was there that maurice discovered that he, too, loved helping others. maurice went on to work as a nursing assistant for the elderly in austin, texas, for 25 years.

his younger sisters said he igs a father fe to them; protective and giving. maurice was 51. >> woodruff: as the black lives momentum, there are calls for equity in all sectors in life uding broadway. jeffrey brown looks at earorts blacsts in particular are making wh hopes that when the curtain rises on again, more diverse faces will appear, on the story is part of our ongoing coverage of race matters and our series, canvas. >> ♪ somebody say now, the time >> brown: it wasn't the renown"" tony awards", the annual

ceremo honoring broadway's best, but the brand-new "antonyo awards"-- a play on words, a streamed show with a virtual red carpet, original music numbe and star presenters. the purpose: to honor juneteenth, the date that marks the freedom of enslaved black people in america, and celebrate the achievements of black theater artists, on and off stage. >> as we continue to move forward and fight for equality and fight for justice and to fight foour lives, it's important to have self care and >> brown: renownedway star audra mcdonald added to her tony, grammy, and emmy awards with an "antonyo" for "best actor in a play on broadway", for her performance in "frankie and johnny in the clair de lune".

the award show was conceived amid the pandemic, as broadwayry and theatersere were closed, but before the killing of george floyd and the black lives matter protests of the past few weeks. now, the push for change was even more urgent. >> we n do both. we can celebrate and there's a desire and a want to be together and celebrate in any way we can when there is so much grief and pain because of what's happening racially in our country. we can, we can rally to make change. b wn: to that end, mcdonald and an all-star group of black theater artists: phylicia rashad, billy porter, brian stokes mitchell and many others, have also launched a new effort called "black theatre united." >> we need every voice lifted and every heart opened, aligned with ours to fight against racist ideologies that have rvided us by devaluing ou lives. we will not be silent.

>> brown: it's focused on the larger society: the coalition is "artnering with groups like" fair count"fair fight" to promote greater voter participation and otect voting rights. the theater itself is the other focus. among other projects, the group wants to create mentorship programs for aspiring young black artist and bring attention to inequities within the theater world. african americans make up just 7.5% of membsh in actor's equity, the labor union for livr theatricalrmance. members of color "ve fewer work opportunities"-- just 7.5% keof principal roles, and 0% lesshen they do find work. and, according to theater mania, an industry site, in the current season, out of the 37 shows that were on stage before covid, eight ca no artists of color." black theatre united" is just one among several new efforts.

another, called "dear white erican theater", called on ts institutions to "examine, change and dismantle their harmful and racist practices." >> brown: actor drew shade founded "broadway black" in el12 torate black theater achievements. his group produced the" antoos". >> we contribute and give of ourselves and of our talent and of our bodies eight shows a week, just like any other performer. just like any other artist. ani think that theco ntributions that we've given haven't been equally recognized or equally held up in the same manner. is it an overt ritutional bias? is it just 'this is how it's always been done' by the people who do control such things?

>> is always just the way it's been done. thing when it comes to black bodies and black stories that if certain people cannot relate, ghen it doesn't feel as th it's valued because it's not their experience or something that they know to be true. so it's l of those things. >> brown: audra mcdonald has had one of the mossuccessful and acclaimed careers in theater history, but she too sees the need for profound changes. >> there's not a lot of black stage managers. there's not a lot of black people in the hair union and wardrobe on the crew in casting offices. of us are oftentimes the only one in the room, so it's hard to >> brown: there's also a desire to address the issue of who goet to tater, who theater is seen as being for. >> it's al about how you create your marketing materials. who do you advertise to? and there has been a implicit bias to make the theater, the american theater, a older white type of craft, or older white type of experience and that's just simply not true, which is why i've come into the industry to sort of shake that up-- to

market to black people, to market to people that would not normally think the theater w for them. that's the whole reason why i' here. >> brown: the theater world, says mcdonald, reflects the larger society. >> larger house is on fire rht now. you know, we've got to save our lives. first, we need to engage, engage civically to do evtoything we caffect change, to protect our lives and our communities and give ourselves a greater voice. and then at the same concentrate on what we can do to change the theatrical landscape as well. >> brown: in the meantime, the actual shows are on hold, now at least through labor day. while theater artists wait for the curtain to rise again, the hope and work for change on broadway and beyond goes on. for the pbs newshour, i'm jeffrey brown. >> woodruff: and be sure to turn in to the newshour online, tomorrow for rtual town hall with presumptive democratic presidential candidatjoe biden

and trump campaign surrogate, former governor of guam eddie baza calvo. our amna nawaz will co-moderatel the townfocusing on policy issues and questions from the asian american and pacific islander community, beginning at 3: p.m. eastern time. it will be livestreamed on our web site, pbs.org/newshour. i'm judy woodruff. thank you, please stay safe, and good night. >> major funding fhe pbs newshour has been provided by: >> when the world gets complicated, a lot goes through your mind. with fidelity wealth magement, a dedicated advisor can tailor advice and recommendations to your life. 's fidelity wealth management.

>> the william and flora hewlett foundation. for more than 50 years, advancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better world. at www.hewlett.org. >> supporting social entrepreneurs and their pressing problems--st skollfoundation.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and friends of the newshour. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contribions to your pbs station om viewers like you. thank you.

hello, everyone.an welcome topour & co." here's what's coming up. >> i call on the israeli government tond a these annexation plans. >> the u.n. speaks out. isk the former israeli foreign minister and a palestinian legal adviser if this is the final nail in the coffin for peace. then -- h i want to thank the first lady for doing sgreat job. >> a power broker. how the first lady came to wield the most influence over her husband in the white house. and -- >> as we think about how to manage covid in this next phase really need drastic n approaches. >> america's former chief data scientist on how he to