captioning sponsored by wnet >> sreenivasan: on this edition for sunday, july 12: coronavirus cases continue to climb across the country; more onoger stone's sentence commutation; and one city's attempt to curb residential waste. next on "pbs newshour weekend." >> pbs newshour weekend is made possible by: sue and edgar wachenheim iii. the anders family fund. bernard and denise schwartz. the cheryl and philip milstein family. barbara hope zuckerberg. charles rosenblum. we try to live in the moment, to not miss what's right in front of us. at mutual of america, we

beweve taking care of tomor can help you make the most of today. mutual of erica financial group, retirement services and vestments. >> for 25 years, consumer cellular has been offeri-c tract wireless plans, designed to help people do more of what they like. our u.s.-based customer servic team can help find a plan that fits you. to learn more, visit www.consumercellular.tv. additionalupport has been provid by: and by: the corporation for public broadcasting, a private corporatn funded by the american people. and by contributions tyour pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> sreenivasan: good evening and thanks for joining us. as new coronavirus cases continue to increase in dozens of stes this weekend, opening decisions are being reversed and in some parts of the country officials are urging people to stay at home again. there were more than 60,000 new confird cases yesterday according to data coiled by "the new york times," a more

than 50% increase, on average, over the last two weeks. and confirmed crfections are sing in 37 states. the surge in coronavirusns infectomes as school districts scramble to figure ouc how or if th reopen. today, education secretary betsy devos continued to por in- person instruction, despite centers for disease control and ayevention guidelines that" if children meet in groups, it can put everyone at risk." the c.d.c. guidelines are just that, meant to be flexible and meant appropriate for the situation. sreenivasan: questions about returning to school come as florida reported 15,300 new coronavirus cases toda more than any state has recorded in a single day since the pandemic hit the u.s. earlier this week bars in florida were closed to prevent the spread of coronavirus, but florida's republican governor ron desantis has resiste instituting a statewide mask mandate. in louisiana, democratic governor john bel edwards announced yesterday he was

requing residents to wear masks outside and orring bars to close. louisiana was an early hot spot for coronavirus and the state has seen daily cases rise to levels not seen since early apri today, white house coronavirus task force member, admiral brett giroir said completely shutting down again is not necessary and supported bar-closings and mask-wearing. >> our models really show that if you close down bars, where there's a lot of transmission, if you decrease restaurant capacity to about 50%, that you really strictly physicallyal distance, and , everybody, if you are out in public, we have to have about 95% mask wearing or face coverings. if we do just those simple things we can bring that r value, that transmissibility value down to below one, which means it goes away. >> sreenivasan: more than three months after the c.d.c. first recommded wearing a face covering, president trump wore a mask in public for the first time yesteayuring a visit to walter reed national military medical center.

mr. trump previous declined to ar one, arguing that he's regularly tested for covidti9. but many ccs have argued that it sends an important symbolic message, reinforcing public health guidance that face coverings are an important tool to prevent the spread of t virus. one day after president trump commuted the sentence of his longtime friend and former campaign adviser roger stone, former special counsel robert mueller defended his investigation of russian interfence in the 2016 election and the prosecution and conviction of stone. in an opinion piece published last night in "the washington post," mueller said he broke a long silence because he felt compelled to respond to claims that "our investigation wasle timate and our motives were improper, and to specific claims that roger stone was a victim of our office." president trump has repeatedly called the investigation a" witch hunt" and a "hoax." stone waslso said " oseced and convicted because he committed federal crimes. he remains a convicted felon, and rightly so."

stone was found guilty of seven felonies, including obstructing a congressional investigation, lying to investigators and witness tampering. joining us now for m the president's decision to commute roger stone's senttice and the re from special counsel robert mueller is ryan goodman, a professor of law at new york univerty and co-editor in chief of "just security." heara lot of people over the last 24, 36 hours about whether this was appropr what are the kind of longer terl consequences l from the president doing this? >> so the lonrger tem consequences in terms of what the law actually allows are pretty significant, so in normal universe, when we think this could be impeachable conduct and congress would mobilize around it and the current universe it is potentially a prospect that the houss bricensure resolution so you can censure the president, it is rarely used

so it has symbolic significance to do that and lastly one s to think about a future justice department, so a futume justice depa could look into this as an exercise of the obstruction of. justi bill barr when he was nominated in his own hearing said that a use of a pardon to get false testimony would be a criminal offense. >> sreenivasan: look, this is in the context of a pandemic, a reelection season, we have already been through an ente impeachment process, does congress have the stomach for this? >> right. that's the word i was going to use milar, to i would say i don't think there is any appetite, there is no appetite s the part ofaker pelosi, particularly given the situation we are in and we just thn ugh this and now with it being that close to the election there is a very sound argument that voters will be able to decide fs. themsel >> sreenivasan: why now? why not when the sentence was handed down in the first place? >> it is a greatio questabout the timing of this. if anything that's the biggest

surprise to me is the timing. i would also have thought that the best timing for president to do this would be right after the november election, whether he ns or loses, because at that point she much more politically insulated d if the news reports are correct that his chief of staff and the attorney general both adsed him against the commutation of the sentence, in parton part of the chief of staff, a political blowback reasons, you would think he would wait. >> sreenivasan: also surprising, the op ed by robert mueller who took great pains not to make any statements durg the investigation really after the investigation feels stroenny gh that he has to remind us of the felony convictions tt exist. >> i do tnk he was trying to re-establish the record here because in a certain sense there has been so much disinform eion about thire investigation being a hoax quote unquote and he was basically rebutinng that by s you know, this was a

resulted in multiple convictions and the other part of the importce of it is robert mueller had to step up for the lawyers who served in hi investigation because their names had been dragged through the hud when they wee really, you know, in my estimation just public servants trying to follow the law. >> sreenivasan: the department of justice, the career prosecutors have had great reputations because they work across administrations. they are not party to political appointments, but here we are now, is the department of justice's credibily at stke? >> i think so. i think this is a crisis that the department of justice, at the department of justice, reit ly is antithetical to the entire purpose and strture of our institutions and the department of justice as applying the law equally and might be a friend or the perho seed political enemy of the president and this pulls e rug ousht out from under a righte

prosecution of somebody who is convicted on all seven counts of lying to congress and it also pulls the rug out from the c jurors wmmitted their time and effort to deliberate at thip trial and it away in a way that just never has been seen sfore. as someod, president nixon never did anything like this. that's why this is just unchartered territory and the department of justice is rocked. so have suggested that a normal attorney general would resign, and i do thinks the kind of momenwe are at where it is that stark in terms of what is just occurred in the last couple of days. >> sreenivasan: ryan goodman, co-ed r of the justice security blog and professor of law at nyu, thanks so much for >> thank you. >> sreenivan:

>> sreenivasan: while the u.s. has the most confirmed cases of covid-19 in the world, daily cases are also steadily increasing in india, where there are now nearly 850 thousand cases according to the johns hopkins research center. several states in india instituted lockdowns, including dia's most populous state uttar pradesh. surge of more than0 new record cases were reported across the country. the surge comes as bollywood megastar amitabh bachchanwi announced oner yesterday that he, his son, daughter-in- law and grandchild have tested positive for covid-19. the 77-year-old actor and hisab soshek-- also an actor-- confirmed they are both hospitalized, but said they havm mild sym in israel, prime minister benjamin netanyahu is respondinm today to critif his government's handling of the coronavirus pandemic.he at his weekly cabinet meeting, netanyahu promised immediate financial aid to self-employed israelis harmed by coronavirus lockdowns instituted in mid- march. he also pledged the expanded

safety net would last for a year. netanyahu'new pledges come after an estimated 10,000 people protested in tel aviv last night. unemployment in israel re to more than 20% after the lockdown and critics say previous pledges of financial help have been slow to come through. in poland today there was a strong turnout in ofe second roun tight presidential race. incumbent president andrzej duda, a conservative backed by the ruling right-wing party, is seeking a second fiv term. his challenger is liberal and pro-european union candidate rafal trzaskowski the mayor of warsaw. voters lined up early and wore masks and gloves when marking their ballots. official resul are expected exit polls released shortly after polls closed at 9:00 p.m. in poland showed the race is too close to call. official results are expected later this wk. fodmore on the coronavirus other national and international news visit pbs.org/newshour. >> sreenivasan: with more people staying at home during the pandemic, residential food waste has spiked in some partsf the

evcountry. before the crisis, 40% of food never made it to people's a plates once it did, $281 billion of it a year was thrown away.ni t take a look at one city's effort to aggressively tackle food waste, an effort they're betting will help them feed more residents in need andg lower greenhoues. special correspondent allison aubrey has the story.iv it's part of apart nwshour series "waste not, want not," which was reported on before the covid9 outbreak. >> all right, so we're going to be talkin' some trash today. >> reporter: it's the city of denver's "wastextravaganza" bus tour, and megan lane, an administrator in the city's recycling program, is showing a busload of neiborhooers where their trash ends up. >> when we d through trash, what we find is 25% of the ndmaterial is recyclable a 50% of the material is compostable, which is a whole heck of a lot of material. so, easily, right, we should be dirting 75%. >> reporter: lane explains that

a good chunk of our trh is made up of food waste th could be composted. denver offers curbside compost pick-up for its food waste to try to keep it out of its landfills, but participation in the program is low, with less than 13% of eligible homes signed up. >> the opportunity for having an impact on the environment is huge. >> reporter: the city is hopthg at more people realize that a good percentage of their trash c can beposted so they sign up for denver's curbside compost pick-up. prarlotte pitts directs the city's compostinram. >> composting, it's basically turning them into ables and soil amendment. when you put organic matial into a landfill, it produces methane, because it doesn't hav the light e water and the oxygen that it needs to decompose properly, so keeping it out of the landfill is huge. >>orter: it's huge becau

methane is a powerful greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change-- it's 28 times more potent than carbon dioxide. composting food waste uses water and oxygen and only emits small amnts of carbon dioxide, s its impact on greenhouse gases is much lowe nationwide, american's generate around 40 million tons of food waste each year, but only 6% of th ends up being composted this denver family has been composting ever nce denver's compost pick-up program started back in 2006. >> after we started composting erything that could be composted, we saw about a 50% reduction in the amount of tra that we had. so, then i ordered a smallertr ash bin and, you know, of course, a bigger composting binr >>ter: in denver, chefse ining the battle against food waste with an initiative called the "chef's challenge."

the city appoints a handful of chefs to try out composting and reduce food waste in their own kitchens. jason burgett is chef-owner of a restaurant called the wooden spoon. >> it was, like, eye-opening, 63% of our food waste was compostable. >> reporter: it's all part of an effort to green up what already a pretty eco-conscious city. lots of people here in denver ride bikes and support renewable now there's an effort to show them that reducing food waste and composting are two of e top ways to really make a difference. the effort is getting a jump start from the natural resources defense council, a nationalat nonprofit ocuses on environmental issues. they're infusing local organizations that focus on unod waste with to bolster their efforts. in dsver, the n.r.d.c. went a far as funding and staffing a new city government position called the food waste and recovery program administrator. leslie baesens is filling that role.

>> we're focusing on cities because cities areore nimble. at the federal level, the u.s. does have an overall food waste reduction goal of reducing food waste, but i do think that at the local level is where the change is really happening. >> reporter: a study the n.r.d.c. presented denver back in 2017 shows how cities that aggressively attack food waste can dramatically shrink unmet food needs, or what's called, "food gaps,"or residents who ruggle to put food on the table. by increasing the recovery of the edible food that is normally tossed, the report shows denver potentially capturing an additionaleven million meals and cutting its food gap in half. arlan preblud started "we don't waste," one of colorado's largest food recovery organizations. he says having a national organization like the n.r.d.c.,a not only brought more resources to the issue of food waste, it raises the level of

awareness in the community about its connectiono both hunger and greenhouse gases. >> it has provided us with a platform to enhance what we do for the community and, through their efforts, they're asking organizations like "we don't waste" and others to reach further into the community and develop programs that bring food deeper into the communities so those folks that are less fortunate are overcoming food security. >> reporter: amid the covid-19 pandemic, preblud says demand for their services has nearly tripled. >> so, when a city takes on food reaction that happens. environmentally, if you waste f lessd you have a benefit in g terms ofenhouse gas emission, which benefits cities who often have these greenhouse gas reduction goals. then you also will feed more people and, i think, in a lot of cities that are struggling with food insecurity being able to

reue more food is a huge bonus. >> reporter: but increasing composting could be difficult. part of the reason: it costs $10 a month for compost ck-up, but trash pick-up is lumped into city taxes and perceived to be free by most residents. >> we're looking to change that model in the future. d right now have to charge a fee, but that's not our ultimate goal, because we really want toe incentivize le to participate.te >> repor and there are other economics at play, too. colorado has low tipping fees to dump trash because there's plenty of space for landfills. whereas in seattle, washington, composting is mandated and costs less than trash pick-up-- partly because land and landfills are scarcer-- and tipping fees to dump trash are much higher. about $70 a ton compared to less than $20 a ton in denver. despite this challenge, pitt c.ys she remains optimis >> whenever you work on behavior

change, it just takes some time, but the fact that we are over 21,000 people who have taken the time to call us, decide that they're going to pay for theic serv we think that's pretty good progress. s enivasan: for more than 100 years, the middle of the summer has signaled the tour de france annual bike race across fran. this year, due to the pandemic, the world's most watched bike race is delayed. but there is a heavily wated virtual one going on every weekend. >> we look down then on the avatars of the riders in this virtuatour de france. enivasan: world class bi riders and teams are racing against each other on their own kes at the same time often from their hes, and the world is watching them bike and play what looks like a video game. i recently spoke with eric min, the c.e.o. of zwift, the company enabling this virtual tour, and

racer lauren stephens, a professional cyclist who recently won the second stage of the virtual tour de france. >> as they make their way across the line, who takes it? it looks to me like lauren stephens i think may well have taken the stage. >> sreenivasan: first of all, congratulations.yo re a winner of this stage of the tour de france. you don't get to say that very often. most people don't derstand you're riding in dallas, texas, where you are now, and you'rein competin virtual race. how does this work? >> so, our bikes are set up onat e call a trainer. >> sreenivasan: think of it like a treadmill for a bike. >> and what that does is give the resistance to our bike. f we go up a hill, it's going to put more resistance on our bike. and if we're going downhill, we'll get less resistance. >> sreenivasan: so everybody is feeling the hills, so to speak. >> right. the other component is at the pedal it measures tput. we >> sreenivasan: so there's basicalla video game representation of you riding in

a race againstideo representations of everyone else. this has to take some getting grew up doing was riding a bike against real people in the real world. >> yeah, it's definitely a lot different than riding outside. >> sreenivasan: riders are racing from all over the world at the same time, some from new zealand at 2:00 in the morning, many from their basements or you can see how ha riders are working, how many watts their legs are generating and how fast their hearts are beating to do it. >> you can't feel your opponents, can't see if they're getting tired or if they're slowing down. everyone'svatars, you know, are-- look happy and fast and full of energy. so, it's a lot of ternal ur living room. thother thing on zwift is you're pedaling 98% of the timed where ou you know, you go down a hill or you're coming to a stop, like, yoease off.

gt on zwift, you're pedal all the me. >> sreenivasan: virtual racing means stevens has had to learn o thing or when you got on this platform, you were competing againstot people who areros, but are still pretty good. >> when i first got onto the platform there's peove never even raced outside or thed haven't even rutside and theye racing on this virtual platform. and at the beginning, you know, they're beating me. and i had a lot to learn. so this was a new discipline for me, and i think i'veigured out a lot of it now. >> so they all use some wer ups and lauren stephens is the wier of that stage. >> we have the liberty of doing something you can't do in the real world, for example, having these special powers>> sreenivac min, the c.e.o. of zwift, the company that connects all the bi treadmills together. >> you can go through dierent gates within the circuit of our maps and collect these random power ups, and they can make you faster for a short period of time. they can make you lighter. in other cases it takes away the

ability for the riders behind you to take advantage of your draft. and sometimes you can go invisible for ten seconds and you have to use ese power ups very strategically. k so, if yw how to play the game, you have a huge advantage omeone who thinks they'r just strong. so just being strong is not enough to do well on zwift. >> sreenivasan: how many people are watching this virtual tour de france on televion? >> we have 20 broadcasters around the world covering about 140 untries. the same broadcasterthat would have covered the tour de france during the month of july is covering the virtual tour de so it's in the millions. >> sreenivasan: so, millions of people are watching what looks like a video game play out. what, what are you learning from that? >> the fact that you can, you know, coete on a global scale from the comfort of your home. the fact that there'no travel and time wasted to get to your events. on balance, it's an incredibly

affordable, accessible global >> sreenivasan: you know, we talked to lauren stevens this morning, but, you know, one of the things that is hard to replicate is being able to figure out whether that rider next to you is getting tired or not. whether they look like they have more in their legs or whether maybe you should try to pass them now, because this is it. they're weak. they're on the ropes. >> we're not trying tocate outdoo you know, riding or racing, we're trying to create a whole new version of it. it's not a six hour bike race. it's a one hour race that's much more intense. an a viewing prosition it's much more dynamiexciting. >> sreenivasan: unlike the real tour de france, where women only virtual race days all have these women's races, same courses, same difficulty. it's something both min and stephens see as a pourtive sign. stephens still has stages left to race in this year's virtual tour.he we wiswell. last night's women's race was won by tonja erath, a doctor from germany whoecame a

professional cyclist by winning a competition through zwift academy. >> sreenivasanthat's all for this edition of "pbs newshour weekend." for the latest news updates visit pbs.org/newsho. i'm hari sreenivasan. thanks for watching. stay healthy and hava good ght. captioning sponsored by wnet captioned by media access groupt wgbhac ss.wgbh.org >> pbs newshour weekend is made possible by: sue and edgar wachenheim iii. the anderson family fund. bernard and denise schwartz. the cheryl and philip milstein

family. barbara hope zuckerberg. charles rosenblum. we try to live in the moment, to not miss what's right in front of us. at mutual of america, believe taking care of tomorrow can help you make the most of today.tu of america financial group, retirement services and investments. additional support has been consumer cellular. and by: and by the corporation for public broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the ameran people. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. you're watching pb

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