captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening. on the "newshour" tonight, covid on the rise-- infection rates i. th continue to break cords as the president claims the rus will disapar. we speak to the republican governor of maland about the pandemic response. grow over the trum concerns administration's response to protests as federal agents impose their presence on demonstrators in portland, oregon. and the economic aftermath-- italy's urism industry struggles to escape the specter of the coronavirus, even as the rest of the countrreturns to normality. >> ( translated ): today fear is throwing the tourive industry to e.

and it's creating enormous economic difficult ts. italy rism. >> woodruff: all that and more on tonight's "pbs nshour." >> maj newshour has been provided by: >> when the world gets goes througha l your mind. with fidelity wealth management, a dedicated advisor can tailor advice and recommendations to your life. that's fidelitwealth management. >> consumer cellular. s >> financiervices firm raymond james.

at czi.org. thwilma and hewitt foundation for more than 50 years, pmote ago better world. >> the william and flora hewleun tion. for more than 50 years, advancing ideas and supporting instions to promote a bett world. at www.hewlett.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: and individuals. >> thiprogram was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contrutions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: the resurgence of covid-19 has more of the country facing a choice tonight: mask up or shut down.

and in washington it has political leaders facing critical choices of their own. white house correspondent yamiche alcindor begins ourco verage. >> reporter: at the height of summer, the ndemic is hitting new heights. today in florida, cases topped 10,000 for the sixth da row. but despite those figures,an governor ron ds repeated calls for schools to reopen this fall. >> we just got to be guid by the evidence and data and make sure wre putting the interest of kids first and give parents the choices that they der:rve. >> reporoday, the florida education association-- the largest teachers union in the state-- sued desantis over that decision. meanwhile, at the white house, the continued virus surge is forcing an about-face ongy stra today, president trump said his covid-19 briefings with top health experts will likely resume tomorro >> we have had this big flare up in florida, texas-- a couple of other places. so i think what we're going to

do is i'll get involved and we'll start doing briefings. >> reporter: the president met nawith republican congress leaders to begin talks on a fifth round of coronavirus relief. >> wre working on negotiatin with the democrats on trying to get a plan tt lps small business, helps people, helps this country. >> reporter: back in may, democrats in the house passed a bill to pride another $3 trillion. but senate republicans are eyeing a narrower, $1 trillion package expe ected tonalized tomorrow. >> we're looking for a theme here, think liability protections for those trying to deal with the pandemic. don't need an epidemic lawsuits on the heels of the pandemic we're alreadyh. struling w >> reporter: a major sticking point in negotiations: money for testing. in an interview with fox news that aired sunday, president trump said that responsibility falls on the states.>> ome governors have done well, some governors have done poorly. they're supposed to have

supplies they didn't have. i supplied everybody. >> reporter: he alsoook another shot at dr. anthony fauci, the nation's top infectious disse expert. >> he's a little bit of an alatmi. okay. >> reporter: and, he sded a nationrder mandating masks would not do enough to slow the spread. >> i want people to have a certain freedom and indon't believhat. and i don't agree with the statement that if everyone wears a mask everything could disappear. >> reporter: despite that, thisd afternoon prt trump tweeted this photo of himself wearing a mask. he wrote, "many people say that ittriotic to wear a face mask... there is nobody more patriotic than me." today on fox news, surgeon generajerome adams pleaded with americans to leave polics aside and cover up. >> i'm begging you, plea understand that we are not trying to take away your freedoms when we say wear a face covering. >> reporter: other countries, with far few cases than the u.s., are embracing face coverings as the new normal.

and, on the vaccine front, new research by scientists at oxford university is owing early promise. we have found that in over 1,000 people, the safety profile looks rather good and reassuring.tl and import we are seeing good immune responses in almost everybody. >> rorter: for the pbs newshour, i'm yamiche alcindor. >> woodruff: as we have seen, governors are on the frontlinehe of combatingandemic and its economic fallout. republican larry hogan of maryland is chairman of the nationalovernor's association. recently, he has spoken out about failures on the federal level to respond. his book, "sti standing", is out next week and he joins us now from annapolis. governor hogan, thank you so much for joining us today. i do want to start with the. pandem we have some new information about what's going on in maryland. your state, of course,moved ahead with reopening much of your economy, but then, on sunday, it was reported 900 newa cases in day.

the previous week, over 500 new cases. over 700 new cases and five days out of a week. this, in spite of the reopening, is it time to put that reopening on pause? a whole lot of numand youing at have to put it a little bit in perspective because we did, over the past few days, two or three times er than normal -- than normal testing, so w did almost 30,000 tests, yesterday, as opposed to doing normally about5 10 or our positivity rate is actually down, and we have been trending in.he same direc we hit or peak about 90 days sto when we'reeadily going in a down direction. we're one of nine states in the country that's going in a down direction or staying level oro plateaued,we're keeping an eye on the additional number of cases, but what's go wod ise're seeing a good trend on the positivi rate which yesterday was 3-.-smrks and we're gettingl

a haon where the cases might be. we're doing a good job on contact tracing. we're looking at other states where we're seeing bigs. increa we're doing good on hospitalizations, ses and deaths which are trending in a down direction. >> woodruff: a baltimore sun editorial criticized you for pushing back in june to reopen bars and restaurants. it said, we spite keeping social distancing is difficult, it's not impossible.it oints out that the cases rising in maryland as in other states are mainly among a 20-year-ol 30-year-olds. is that something that you think could havetaeen a mis? anthony fauci now says bars should be closed. >> i think it was a mistake on the part of a lot of other states. wehe other hand, did not open bars the way they did in other states. we only opened them for seated distanced dining and with very strict capacity restrictions and masks.

soopany other stateened up bars with hundreds of people standing in line at bars. we never did tat. i saw the editorial in the sun but didn't agree with it, but i'm the one that raced the alarm on the concern here in oure. st while we're very r down on people over 35, we're seeing an increase in our 20-something and d30-something yrmingdz, a lot of th has to do with parties and people going out, hanging out together, and corning gait at some these facilities, so we're keeping a close eye on it department officials to step up the enforcement of some issues to make sure people are following the rules, and if we have to roll things back, we definitely will take those actions. >> woodruff: lete ask you out the book. we were only given access to part of it. i gather you will release the rest of it inoming day but in the book, you write about your life, your many experiences, but you also have pretty pointed criticisms of president trump's handling of

this pandemic, especially in the early days, d you write about a period you call his -- you refer to his public dismissals of theou seess of this crisis, and you say he was commenting "like a man mored concerout boosting the stock market or his reelection plans." was this, in action, the cau of thousands of people losing their lives? >> well, you know, i talk about -- i have about -- you know, this book was coming out a little earlier, ani pushed the pause button and i asked my publisher to put it off and they asked me, because of the pandemic, they would only push it off till the end of april and asked if i would add the more recent things. i added fierve chato talk about the the early response to the pandemic and what we were faced with governors. it's not really an attack on the president, but it deals with the

mistakes i saw early on ignoring advice of experts. i ink the early messaging o about there was nothing concerned about, when we all knew that there was, and i tink not havinso early actions on nationwide testing and things like that. so it wasn't just meant to be critical of the president. i've always ben up front and direct and try to tell people exactly what's going on. i've praised them when they've dope something right, but there were definitely mistakes made the beginning of the crisis. the president could have listened to tad vice of the smart people i his administration, scientists, doctors, made decisions quick aroundone a better response and done a better job of letti people know how serious it was. we wasted several months whego we could hav anbetter handle on this. >> woodruff: did that lead to lives lost? >> no question about it. in some ways, weve saved lives

because this thi has been attach down. the original estimates were up to 2 million lives lost. johns hopkins was predicting by now we would have lost 12,000-some lives at a minimum. we've lost aboe,ut 3,000 peo which is tragic. so web look at the lives we'vesa lost od, either way, but, righnow, i think everybody's tryi to do everything they can to move forward to make sure that we aren't bmck in the e position now that we were back in the height of this crisis, back in the early days of marchd and april, that's the scary thing right now that it looksli it's coming back to the same kinds of levels. >> woodruff: you have said, governor hogan, that you didn't vote for president trump in 2016. it sounds like you may not vote for him thiar. will you vote for joe biden? >> well, look, i have, like everyby else in amrica, have till november to decide what to. do i'm chairing the national

governor's association. i'm not able to get involved in politicsight now on a partan basis. regardless of what happens in november, i think we're going to take a hard look a what the future of the republican party is going to look like and what the future of our country's going to look like over the next four years. >> woodruff: and what advice do you give to rcaublicans, e it's clear that many of them are saying now they're not comfortable with president trump lectedree what advice do you have for them? >> i tnk the republican paty has aally got to tke a look at how they'rongoing t --d reagan always talked about a bigger tent, and he did a good job of reaching out and winning over independents and swing mocrats and i think that's one thing the repubcan party is not doing now. successful politics is about addition and multiplication, not subtraction and division. if we're going twin as a party, we have to appeal to more people and not shrink the base. that's what i've done in

maryland and we've bone over suburban women, democrats, minority voters, and the republican party is doing a ore job ofing those folks and messaging to them these days. >> woodruffand larry hoga c might bendidate for president in 2024. is it sething you're looking at? >> that's way too early to look at. i've got a great job as governor till the middle of 2023, and we're in the midst of twin crises wick the economic crisis and the virus and ingm gto keep things foced here at home. >> woodruff: larry hovean, or of the state of maryland. we appreciate it. >> thank you. thank you, judy. >> woodruff: in the other news: labor unions and racial justice groups held a nationwide "strike for black lives" to protest against racism and economicnequality. organizers called walkouts in

more than two dozen u.s. cities. inew york, protesters rallied outside the trump international hotel. they said they have to work, regardless of the pandemic. >> we e all standing together and fighting against every single injustice passed our way. every time you leave your house to provide for your family and also to save the sick, you are putting your fily and yourself at risk. children, elderly, even your neighbors. >> woodruff: separately, in fire to the entryway of thes set federal courthouse overnight in new clashes with federal agents. the mayor and governor demanded ents be withdrawn, but the department of meland security sa they'll stay. we'lget much more on the portland story, after this news summary. >> a white couple are charged with showing guns in a racialot

t. mark and patricia says they were defending their home. a local prosecutor said they could have triggered violence. investigation and suggested he might intervene. the u.sof representatives the u.s. house of the late john lewi manhonored that many called the "conscience of the congress." the georgia democrat died friday at a 80. civil rights movement, and his later career in politics spanned three decades. this afternoon, la observed a moment of silence after senior members of the georgia legation paid oweir tributes.ld >> the ws a better place because john lewis spent his life pursuinfreedom love peace and justice for all of humanity. >> our nation has indeed lost a giant, and its times like these ethat we must be reminded stand on the shoulders of

giants, likeohn. >> woodrf: in georgia today, state democrats selected their party chair, stateenator nikema williams, to replace congressman lewis on the november ballot. in new jersey, investigators say they may have found the gunman who kille a fderal judge and wounded others in the home. roy den hollander was found dead today apparently by his own nd. he was a self-described antifeminist and had dered the judge. in the presidential campaign, in the presidential campaign, democrat joe biden picked up endorsements from top muslim-american officials. they include democratic congresswoman ilhan omar of minnesota.th former vice president addressed an online muslim summit, and vowed to get rid of thban on travelers from a mainly muslim countries. >> donald trump has fanned the flames of hate in this country

across the board, through his , rds, his policies, his appointmens deeds. if i have the honor of being president, i will end the musli. ban on day o >> woodruff: meahile, president trump took part in a roundtable with supporters this evening at his hotel in washington but in his interview that aired sunday on fox he would not say if he will accept november's election results if he loses. >> you don't know til you see, it depends. i think mail-in voting is going to rig the electn. i really do.ve look, i o see. no, i'm not going to just say s. i'm not going to say no. and i didn't last time, either. >> woodruff: we'll take a clos look at the presidenal race later inhe program. the united arab emirates launched the arab world's first t terplanetary mission today wi a spacecrafund for mars. the unmanned orbiter "amal," meaning hope, blasted off from

japan, beginning a seven-month journey. the mission will study the martian upper atmospnd monitor climate change for at least two years. and wall street, the tech sector shot higher, leaving the broader market in its wake. the dow jos industrial average gained not quite nine points to close at 26,680. the nasdaq rose nearly 264 points and the s&p 500 added 27. still to come on the "newsho," federal agents impose their presence on protesters in portland, oregon; italy's ttourism industry struggl espe the specter of the coronavirus; six months after the pandemic onset in the s., we examine the response, and much more.

>> woodruff: some of the recent protests against police violence and racism have been met with a deral response o and in portlangoocal officials believthat presence is causing more harm than good. john yang reports on the growing mprift between president tnd local leaders. >> reporter: for more than 50 days, protesters have crowded the streets of portland, oregon, in response to the kling of george floyd. many of the demonstrationsl. stayed peacefu but following the increased presence of federal agents this month, clash between law enforcemt and protesters have eslated. city officials say that's caused an uptick in alleged police brutality, arson and vandalism. >> it's like pouring gasoline on a fire. >> reporter: sunday night, a group of mothers linked arms to protect hundreds of protesters demonstrating outsidcity's federal courthouse.bu

t later, federal authorities e up the crowd by settin off flash bangs and tear gas. >> four or five men out, jump out and just staring at all of us. it was absolutely terrifying. >> reporter: today pnt trump defended his decision to deploy federal law enforcement officers in portland. >> we're going to have more federal law enforcement, that i can tell you.d in portley've done a fantastic job. these are anarchists, these are not protesters. people say protesters. these people are anarchists.th e are people that hate our country. and we're not going to let it go forward. >> reporter: state and local officials want them off the streets.ea >>. your presence here is not wanted; it's not needed. >> reporter: portland mayor d wheeler. >> unmarked vehicles, driving into crowds, pulling people off the streets without any probable cause as far as i can tell. and the people who are engagingr in these activen't even willing to identify who they are d they don't wear an insignia on their uniform. that's a real that tocr

dey. >> reporter: on fox news this morning, acting department of homeland security secretary chad wolf said his agentson't need invitations to do their job. on friday, oregon general ellen ronblum sued the department of homeland security and other federal agencies for allegedly violating protters'ts civil ri the suit claims agents in unmarked cars took people off anthe streets without warrts. the american civil libertiesn union of oregoso sued d.h.s. and the u.s. marshals service for allegedly violating the rights of journalists and lel observers. oregon democrats accuse the president of playingolitics. >> there's no question in my ploy on the part of the trumpcal white house. i absolutely believe tt the play here is to supporhis own base. >> reporter: democratic senator jeff merkley tweeted he will administration from sending" paramilitary squads" into u.s.

cities. as protests continue across the country, portland is not the trump administration's only focus. today, "the chicago tribune" reported d.h.s. plans to deploy 150 agents to chicago. responding to that report, chicago mayor lo lightfoot told reporters her city don't need fedal agents without insignias "taking people o the streets."ro kate is the governor of oregon. we're joined by kate brown, governor of oregfr rk joining us portland. thank you so much for being with us. you heard president trump in that taped spot saying the reason the federal fors are in portland are to restore ordere and, lis afternoon, d.h.s., the elpartment of hd security, tweeted out that portland is ripe with violent anarchists, assaulting federal offices and federal buildings. what's your response?

, well, unfortunately, things were calming down, when trump's troops appeed on our streets. i was really clear when i spoke with theectary of homeland security last week. i asked them tod leave, an that their presence here was not needed. the challenge is their presence here is escalating an already challenging situation. things were beginning to calm down, then trump's troops arrived, and it's simply like pouring gasoline on a fire. >> reporteave you had any more conversations with secretary wolf since then? >> no, haven't. the harsh reality is this is about scoring polical points with their base. this is about political theater. in problem-solving or in public safety, they would be lling to deescalate and engage in dialogue. stead, they bring mre troops to the streets, thy take peaceful protestors off into

unmarked,ars and unfortunately, last weekend, protestor.t killed a peaceful is is outrageous. it is a viotion on the principals on which this countr. is found >> repter: they almost killed a peaceful protestor.as the protestor hit by a nonlethal projectile fired by someone, i believe it was the marshall service, and the u.s. atrney has referred that to d.h.s. inspector general for investigation. we've heard d.h.s. talk about the assaults and the attacks on the federal building, but the federal protective service, whichpart of d.h.s., does have the authority, tye responsibi of protecting the federal building, where all this is going on. how can you argue that you don't want them in the city? >>ook, there's noio que about their legaluthority to protect public buildings, but

is is substantially more than that. if you d are interes resolving a crisis, wouldn't you call the elected leaders involved? thuldn't you see how youould lp? irony of this entire situation is that we do need help. li s alltes, oregon is substantially in need of financialasstance. we need help with testing plies and equipment. this is a challenge and the exacerbating an alreadyd are challenging situation on the streets. look, this is distraction for the trum administration.g they're wanto distract from the challenging job they have done, the fairly to lead this country through aational pandemic. there is no national response and no leadership out of the trump administration. >> reporter: you talk about if

they were interested in trying to resolve this problem they'd talk with local and state officials. usually in this situation, there is coordination between federal, state and local officials. instance been the case in this >> absolutely not. speaking with the ary off, in homeland security, said we do not want you here, please leave. they came in without talking to us, and now they are staying without our permission. and i have toay elected officials at the local level, at the state level and a the federal level, we are all united against the presence of these trump troops here in the streets of portland. last night,e had hundreds mothers from arounthe city puttintheir bodie putting their lives between protesters and federal officers. this is a very serious siation. the federal troops need to pack up and go home and let us manage

the situation. >> reporter: have you been hearing from any of your colleagues, any governors from other states worried about whath happen in their states? >> yes. i spoke to twoovernors yesterday. folks are extremely concerned. a couple of weeks an a call with the white house, the president said, we nded to dominating the streets, we needed to have our national eeard, r military out patrolling the s. that's not how we do things here. but governors from around the country are concerned, particularly democratic governors that the president will bring troops in and increase the level of tension and increase the level of violence. look, the violence is viewl - the violence is absolutely unacceptable, no question about that. the violence is aistraction for the incredibly important work that we need to do t eradicate racism in our crimil

justice system, in our healthcare system and, of course, in our educati system, but the trump administration is not interested in poblem solving, the trump administrati is not interested in public safety. they are interested in political theater and scoring points with their base. >> oregon governor kate browntl from pd tonight. thank you very much. >> thank you. >> woodruff: italy is emerging from its covid nightmare. now in high tourist season,ur m is a vital part of italy's economy, usually bringi in 13% of italy's more than $2-trillion g.d.p. but many are worried a nopersisting fear of the u will cause lasting damage to thr e. from the beach town of rimini on the adriatic coast, specia correspondent malcolm brabant

reports. >> reporter: this is an essential part of gabriele pagliarani's new regime: disinfectingun beds on his stretch of rimins extensive beach. he's had to remove some umbrella stations to boost social distancing and comply with new rules to reduce the risk of contagion. >> ( translated ): unfortunately this is anything but a successf summer. this damn virus covid has derailed everything. and we have an economy below zero. >> reporter: for 33 years this beach club has been a money maker. normally at this stage of the season, says pagliarani, it would be full of visits from across europe and beyond. but legions of empty sunrs lounepresent potential disaster. can survive.t ): one year you two certainly not. let's hope this pandemic goes away as on as possible. >> reporter: a recent analysis of rimini's tourism prospects is devastating. a profesr from bologna university is predicting many

bankruptcies, as so many familiesre dependent on tourism. going to have to gsed to. are they may find their inme slashed in half or even worse. in his most optimistic scenario bhe says losses here willas great as 40%. and for this city alone, that means more than $1 billion or more. >> ( translated ): 40% means that in all likelihood 20-30,000 people in the hotel and accommodation sector won't be rehired. >> reporter: patrizia rinaldis speaks on behalf of hoteliers in rimini, but she's worried abou italian tourism as a whole. in less crazy times,he 1dustry generates about $250 billion a year, of italy's g.d.p. >> ( transled ): today fear is throwing the tourist industry te e. and it's creating enormous economic difficulties. aly is tourism.

>> reporter: the downturn will jahangir alam from bangladesh has eked out a living on the beach for the past 11 ars. >> ( translated ): no tourists are here. now it's a hard life. this year is a bad year. the viruhas hit the whole world. it's a bigroblem. not only for me, but for everyone. >> reporter: but tunisian ice cream vendor adam rais is more optimistic. >> ( translated ): it's difficult, but we'll try to adapt. we've come from a very diffilt situation.we nol try toet our lives back in our own hands and crack on. >> reporter: but the desire to reboot the economys tempered by concern about a second wave. grottamare, south along th adriatic coast is, another tow reliant on tourism. market trader maria rita quinzi says anxiety is prevalent.

>> ( translated ): more than anything people are scared. they don't know what to do in terms of wearing gloves or havingontact. they look around and complain if someonis not wearing a mask. ♪ ♪ >> reporter: but this is a sign of confidence. hospital dtor christopher muscat's family celebrates the rthdays of his mother and son >> the was surely an emergency until some time ago, but now we are over.ve there are very few cases of people who are asymptomatic-s don't have aptoms-- so i think it's safe enough to come over. >> reporter: as soon as italy opened its borders, germanin uencer andrea eggers drove south to check out destinations for her 55,000 followers on instagram. at rimini's grand hotel, perspet screens breakfast buffet protect guests and staff.

cast a medical practitioner's eye. >> i see safety. and i think all tourists can me to italy and they don have to be afraid. >> i think the situation is wonderful. >> reporter: to compensate for the lackf foreigners, business leaders hope italians will behave patriotically and takes vacati home. on rimini beach, sunbathers alessandro and angela nasi from northern italy lapped up the solitude. >> covid forced us to be locked months without being able tof move. we couldn't wait to get out and breathe some good sea air. >> reporter: normally, money starts to flow after dusk. not any more.la at this ponightclub, the dance floor is off limits. no chance of getting up close and personal under new social distancing rules.

>> ( translated ): why is it i hours elbow to elbow with a person, and then masked up i can't dance with someone for half an hour? things d't add up. the measures are just too absurd. club ownerr: nig lucio paesani is anxiousot least because he took out a quarter milln dollar loan before the pandemic began. so far his earnings have been negligible >> ( translat ): it's more than devastating. this was a healthy business with a great balance and good income in this region. no matter, in three months, they've put us on our knees. >> reporter: across italian tourism, businesses and workers are marking time. emergency la guarantee that jobs are protected until august. but unless there's an unexpected upturn, the wheel of misfoune of work.ow tens of thousands out for the pbs newshour, i'm malcolm brabant in rimini.

>> woodruff: with the nuthers of nfections and deaths related to coronavirus continuing to climb in this country, amna nawaz marks the moment with two people focused on stopping the pandemic and looking at what needs to be done next. >> reporter: it was just about six mont ago when the very first known case of covid-19 was confirmed in the united states. since that time, the toll has been enormous. more than three and a half million people infected, nearly 140,000 killed, and millions more have lostobs and now face an uncertain future. to look back at how we got where we are over these last sixhs mond where we go next, i'm joined by john berry. he's a pfessor at tulane university school of public health and author of "the greato influenza: the of the deadliest pandemic in history." also, dr. jishah. he's president of the

rockefeller foundation and a u.rmer administrator of th agency for international development. welcome to you both. thank you for being here., and dr. shwant to start with you, because the rockefeller foundation has just ovannounced a new national testing and tracing action plan. was an idea we should say has been floated from the beginning of the pandemic. you were talking about it in interviews weeks ago. i think a lot of people find iwe hard to believon't have that kind of plan yet. why don't we? >> well, we do know that every country in the world that has gotten on top of covid-19, has done ibased on a plan that makes testing effective and ubiquitous for their populations and then ties testing and test. results to isolation and quarantine efforts that can help reduce the chain of transmission.lp i lead the ebola response in 2014 in west africa, getting t sting times down from ei nine days to four hours made all the difference in beating back ebola.

we put a plan out therhs ago to get america from about 6-700,0 tests a week, up to 30 million. and we today announced a new approach that wi help us actually get to 30 million teste , which is what we think america desperately eds tort avoid and to a catastrophe that's even worse than what we're experiencing now thi fall. >> reporter: but we are now six months in. again, wha why don't we have this kind of plan? what's stood in the way? >> well, it takes leership and coordination at all levels of government, and it takes industry wking togetth the public sector, and because we haven't seen that happening as much as we would likethe rockefeller foundation pulled together industry groups, scientts, investors and public health autrities at all levels of government.we ork in more than 30 cities around the count. and what we found is basicallyop need protocols for how to use testing much more aggressively, especiallyor asymptomatic testing. so the teachers, firefighters,

police officers, essential workers, healthcare seice providers, residents in nursing homes are getting regu testing. and we can cat people who don't ve symptoms. that's the big missing piece and that's the piece that threatens to shut down our economy again this fall when the flu season hits. >> reporter: john barry, you wrote recently, looking back over the last six mont, i'min to read you back your quote. you said, "had we done it right operating at near 100% right now." hindsight is certainly 20/20. thisas a novel virus. so how can you be sure of that? how do y know that? >> well, every other developed country in the world is done. they've all done a better job some of them have robably better than anybody in public heth thought was possible. you know, italy was the epicenter. we're all familiar with the devastation. they are now down to under 200 cases a day. compare that tflorida, which i

think today was over 13,000 cases a day. texas, over 10,000. often it's just impossible to do the kind of testing and tracing when youo that. dr. shahs talking about when you have over 10,000 cases in one state. en you get it down to something like what italy is doing, what's germany is doing,a what other eurcountries have done. forget aboutome of the asian countries where the counts are even dramatically less than that, then you can get control of the virus. we should have done, we should have, could have and, you know,l we san we do have an opportunity going forward. but the window is closing rapidly. >> reporter: dr. shah, let me ask you abt what john berry ju said, though. we hear a lot about comparing the u.s. response to other countries. you've led emergency response in other countries. the u.s. is different in culture, in leadership in a lot of ways. are those fair comparisons?

>> well, well, they're very fair comparisons, and frankey also offer a roadmap to allow us a y out. i just want to reiterate what john just said. we have a very short window to act now to avert a real catastrophe is fall. and that catastrophe can only be averd with a major new investment in testing and tracing the development of protocols so people without symptoms are getting regular screening tests. the good news is there's someno new tegies, particularly the low cost, less sensitive, but more freent and rapid antigen tests that could change the reality in america. but we need to embrace that new opportunity now and act on it. >> reporter: john barry, we've also we should note that those cases did increase. there were some miti steps put into place not consistently across the entire countr but as dr. fauci recently pointed out, we never went into a full lockdross the country. do you think that could still be ahead? c

>> weltainly, i think in, county, that may very well probably is necessary. you know, potically, nationally, that would be difficult. obviously, we never got the baseline down where it needed to be. and right now it is, i think, out of control and in several states.yo anre not going to get control of it simply even if you gewidespread compliance wi social distancing mass han washing and staying home when sick and so forth. that is not going to do more than blunt the explosive growth. it will not in a, in a short timeframe, at any rate, get things done where they need to be. you need to be mucmore aggressive thathat so that you will have few enough cases that the testing and tracing is poible. >> reporter: dr. shah, it's hard for many people to remember what

life was even like six months ago, it has changed so dramatically in so many different ways. and we can mark the beginning of thpandemic with that first confirmed case on january 20. how do we ma the end? >> well, you know, as we've seen the end is when you see therk curve bent so low that then it's really no longer an imminent and immediate threat to everyone and we've done this before. frankly, some states have succeeded in this first wave of getting cases down. we've seen other countries, as john mentioned, succee getting over the hump. we ourselves, america led the effort in west africa to fight back against the ebola crisis and won. so we know how to do this. but it starts th having a data driven, evidence based report approach. and that requires testing. that requires tracing, and that requires behavior chan and it has to be top-down and the federal government has an opportunity.d

everyone shove that kind of access to testing so they can go dtheir essential work. and the vernment coue that possible by putting resources into advanced purchase contracts or using the defense production act to make tens ofll ns of additional test kits available, especially these new low cost rapid tests that get yoa result in 15, 20 minutes. so with thatort of mindset of we're all in it together. we'll work together, left and right. public a private. that's what it's going to take to win this fight. heard often over the last six months: we're all in it together. that is drrajiv shah of the rockefeller foundation and author john barry. than so much to you both. >> thank you. >> thank you for having us. ze>> woodruff: here to anahe political consequences of president trump's coronavirus

response, our poamtics monday that's amy walter of "the cook political report" and host of puic radio's "politics wit amy walter." and tamara keith of npr. she also co-hosts the "npr politics podcast." it's so good to see both of you. let's talk about the president. right now, tam, he's coming under a lot of criticism, as we have been hearing. governor larry hogan ofo maryland, e interviewed earlier on the program, writes in his new bookbout the point back in march wheretop wiz saying anybody can get a test when, behind the scenes, governor hogan said no one, no governor could get tests and, in fact, we just heardt'st sill hard to get tests in. the fox interview yesterday, the president said testing is what's causing the rise in cases. tell us, tam, is this a deliberate strategy on the part of the white house? >> let's starty saying that testing is not what's causing

the rise in cases. the rise in cases is vastly testing.g the increase in so a quick fact check there. but i've spoken to advisors of the president before who've said he simply does no want to be the messenger when it comes to the coronavirus. he doesn't want to talk about it. he wants to talk about the ecoomy. he wantsalk about things that he thinks can lead to his reelletion. the pris all roads lead back to the coronavirus, and there's a sense that maybe he's rehaizing maybe a couple of front-page "new york times" ticles have helped wake him up to that, but he now says he's bringing bac the coronavus task force briefing, bringing back the briefings. wel see if that really happens and, you know, if all the scntists are there and if those briefings are helpful but the challenge that he has at this point is that the majority of americans tell pollsters that they do not trust the informationhat they're getting from the president of the united

states on coronavirus. so that is a problem, as he tries to run foreelection and also tries to communicate with the american public potenally e's bringing back these briefings about the pandemic. >> amy, what do you make of what the president's saying these and that interview yesterday with fox news about how he's describing his w relationshiph this virus and his leadership of trying to address this pandemic? >> well, he's trying to do both administration has the best that we can, this wasn't our fault, this was the chinese fault, and really ishep to governors to te the ball from there, it's not necessarily my veb. but as ween in poll after poll, judy, the governors of these states, red states andbl states, most of them are getting higher ratings on their

handling ofvi the coros than the president is. now, in a state like arizona, that's not the case, where, obviousl there's a very big hot spot, but in places that tht present p to -- places like michigan where he said they won't let him comend have rallies ere -- the democratic governor there has a much higher approval rating on her handling of the coronavirus. what he's also doing, judy, he did it in this chris wallace interview, his campaign is doing this in tv ads, essentially, wh the campaign message is at this point from donald trump is don't be scart of the coronavirus, be scared of the radicalhe left, are going to defund our cities and we'll fall into chaos t'and anarchy, t where he wants the battle for it's that americans aren't particularly interestein it

being fought there. they want an answer on how to live and deal with this pandemic. >> woodruff: and picking up on that, tam, yesterda the presidenepdid a tne -- a couple of, i guess, over the weekend, telephone rallies,ral lis by phone, including one in arizona, where he, asmy said, he pained this very scary cture of joe biden -- he's ing to send immigrants into your neighborhood to do terrible things, he's going to create subsidized housing with allof sort unsavory people. is the goal to frighten people? >> certainly. the messag that the president is delivering and it's been more explicit in the last week or so is that democrats are going to destroy the suburbs. i spoke to former republican congressmen who represented the suburbs until he saw the writing on t wall and decided not to run for reelection, and he said he doesn't e that message

really selling in the suburbs. he says that surbanoters are sophisticated enough t know that joe biden is not gng to eliminate their local police departments and that fair housing policy and multi-family housing is not going to lead to e destruction of their towns. he's, like, i live in a suburb, i don't how they'rgoing destroy the suburbs. yoyou know, talking plsters, too, so far, they don't think that this is something that bters are reallying. the reason the president is making a play for the suburbss he won the suburbs last time and, now,ol show vice president joe biden up by a lot, by a who a lot, for democrat, in the suburbs. >> woodruff: go ahead, amy. ell, i thinktrying to do, if he can't win those voters back, at least make them skeptical of supporting joe bideou maybe even si this like donald trump, but they're

worried about joe biden. but, judy, a state that you know really well -- georgia, thebs atlanta sub- just to show you how quickly the suburbs changeh gwynounty, which for a long time was a republican strongld, mitt romney won there by almost 10 points in 2012. in 2018, stey abrams won gwyneth county. a lot is because the suburb has becoess white, it's become almost a third african-american, and latino and asian popularity growing tre tooo the suburbs theup is talking about and maybe he remembers from the '70s and '80s, that's not the suburbs that have been moving toemocrat, that's not what they look like anymore. >> woodruff: a ltle time left, but i want to ask you both to quickly say something about

this, and tha is that congress is back, tam, looking at how much money and where to spend money in covid relief. does it go to individuals? is it going to go to cities and states? what do you see right now? >> well, there's f majorht brewing, and the answer is above, but the question is sort of how much money goes to what thing, how muc money will go to schools to help them reopen safely. president trump talked a lot about wanting the schools toop . there's something that comes after that for mostarents, which is safely, and mitch mcconnell has said -- and we'll find out more detail soon -- but said that he thinkso the s do need to get money, and one of the fights will be about thenemployment insurance, the extra unemployment people have been hetting because to have pandemic. >> woodruff: and amy, quickly, how much does all this matter politically that they get this done and get the money out there? if schools are the big issue

here, remember, schools start opening in many states in august, sohis money has to start getting out the door very quickly. they can't wait until september and october. the other thing is that if you look at some of the a run by incumbent republicans that are in danger this yr like susan collins, they're touting the amount of mey they'verought ck to their states. they would love to talk about that in the reelection campaign ads than having talk about donald trump, especially in some of these really competitive blue and purpleootates. >>uff: so interesting. elnltion is three and a half months away. l iked at the calendar. we know it's coming, november 3. amy walter, tamera keh, thank you both. >> you're lcome.

>> woodruff: and that's the newshour for tonight, but before th go, a word about someon country lost this weekend. i first interviewed john lewis director of the voucatione was project. i was a cub reporter for a local tv station. he was in his early 30's but already a hero of the civil rights movement. i remember being strucby the contrast between his burni determination to make a difference, and that polite, soft-spoken demeanor.i s lucky to be able to interview him many more times over the years, including in 2002 when, classically john lewis, he publly forgave then- senate majority lead, republican trent lott a mississipper lott had praised south carolina segregationist strom trmond. congressman lewis told me, "it's ery much in keeping with philosophy and the discipline of nonviolence to forgive people." he defined what it meant to be courageous, anwas truly one of the greatest people i've ever known

i'm judy woodruff. join us on-line and again here tomorrow evening.al foof us at the pbs newshour, thank you, please stay safe, and see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> since our beginning, our business has been people, and their financial wellbeing.at ission gives us purpose, and a way forward. today, and always. >> the kendeda funar. committed to advancing restorative justice and meaningful work through investments in transformative leaders and ideas. more at kendedafund.org.

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♪ ♪ ♪ -today on "america's test kitchen," julia and bridget reveal t secrets to making perfect barbecued chicken kebabs, jack challenges julia to a taste test of sparkling water,