>> gd evening, covid and a race. how disparities in alabama are highlighted by the pandemic as the state sees record numbers of hospitalizations. forrest under seizure. gail logging devastates the congo rain fort basin. everything. our children will suffer. they will suffer from the effects ofg temperatures and climate change. we must protect the forest from logging. >> it is friday. examining the ongoing pandemic response.

the president's response against cities and the race for the white house. l of that and more on pbs newshour. ♪ >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- >> for 25 years, consumeras cellulareen offering no contract wireless plans. our customer service tea can help find the plan that fits you. for more, visit consumer cellular. >> raymondjames. johnson johnson. >> john s and james knight foundation. fostering engaged communities.

>> and with the ongoing support of these institutions. and friends of the newshour. this program was made possibleor by theration for public broadcasting. and by contributions from viewers like you. thank you. >> i am stephanie sy with newsho west. the nation ends this week with 145,000 roaths to date covid-19, andnfections spreading rapidly beyond 4 million. the white house renewed a push to see schls reopen this fall. the press secretary cited

revised guidance from the centers for disease control>> we because the effect we know scientifically chilen are not affected the same as adts. the best available evidence shows children are far less likely to suffer severe symptoms. >> president trump acknowledged re-openings at some schools may need to be delayed. innother development, mcdonald's announced customers at all o its u.s. locations will have to wear masks starting next month. officials in seattle warned today against federal intervention in protests this weekend. a team ocustoms and border agents arrived to protect federal buildings without notifying local officials. it followe nights of violence and vandalism. the mayor said federal action

could incitehe new trouble and urged calm. >> do not take t bait. be peaceful. not only is it right, buin many ways, it is our obligation. for those who are bent on destruction, those who wanthe fight to come, i say, stop. >> meanwhile, in portland oregon, a federal judge this evening has denied a ruest by the state to limit the powers of tofederal agents respondin protests. the state argued agents should not be able to arrest protesters. but the judge said the state lacked standing to sue on their behalf. demonstrators ssed at a owderal courthouse. some try to take a security fence. the top federal prosecutor in portland -- ogon said 18 people have been arrested in

portland. china has ordered the closure of a u.s. consulate as a diplomatic rift widens. the targeted ociice is in the of chengdu. it is in response to closing the consulate in houston. workers loaded moving trucks. the state department said the ste department was aggressively spying and stealing research. the justice department says a researcher is now in .custody intent francis she faces charges of visa fraud. a proposedla mine ina took a big step to becoming a reality.w a re said theno mine woul have an impact on fish.

critics say the product was rushed. the headquarters of the arizona democratic party was badly damaged inn overnight fire. authorities suspect it was arson based on evidence gathered at the scene. no one was in the building in downtown phoenix at the time. hurricane douglas is headed for hawaii, forcing people to -- it could bring 14 inches of rain to the islands this weekend. still to come, illegal logging devastates the congo basin rain forests. a new c analysis shotrol of the u.s. senate is up for grabs in november. and much more.

>> this is the pbs newshour. from w eta studios in washington. and in the west, from the walter cronkite school of journalism. >> there has been a great deal of attention on the spike of covid ces in states like florida, texas, arizona, and california. other stes are struggling with it too. alike louisiana abama. alabama doctors and nurses are seen record numbers of hospitalizations. more than 9000 as of today. the state has reported 1400 deaths since the pandemic began. there are 75,0 cases. stephanie sy has a report on how the vus has hit especially hard in a county in the central part of the state and h he disparities among black residents are leading to worse outcomes.

a 90 degree afternoon isg nothin like a walk around heaven. but the mourners came anyway to pay their respects to a pillar of the community. dead at the age of 50 from covid-19. >> we are here for the homecoming serce. >> my daughter, everyone says it is cold in the house.st >> she was fir featud in 2018. in a report in extreme poverty. showing the squalid conditions she was living in. no sewage system. a trailer home she worried was hildrenher and her sick >> i need to get out of this. the mold and stuff is bad. showing the trapped cages commit >> i got diabetes. ti don' need anything else.

>> sheno did not aigger risk lay ahead. the tragedy of her life and deh has deep roots. her neighborhood was built on erformer slave qua the poverty she experienced can be traced back to the legacyf o slavery in the southern black >> i was devastated. >> catherinelowers is a cousin and environmental justice activist wisted her and her advocacy work. >> i am from alabama. i live in a mobile home. with my two kids. >> in june, 2018, they testified before aom congressionalttee as part of the revived for people's campaign. >>14,000, in a mobile home. that has no power. >> i was devastated.

we did not have a chance to get her out of the trap she was in. to benefit from the workenhe had be doing all this time. to move her famil from the home she was staying in. >> pamela is one of only the lives -- many lives claimed by the pandemic. terrel is the county corner. >> it will be one otwo before the covid. after covid came, it started picking up. >> soar, 537 cases have been documented. in this sparsely populated place of 10,000 residents. it has infected one and 17, thel highest rate iama. one of the highest in the country.pl many p here have diabetes,

which experts say put them at covid-19.sk for death from >>er has anyone aid whether you might be diabetic. >> grge thomas, the only doctor in the county,pe ss elvis harris has it. >> he takes the test and get the result on the spot. >> we do need to srt you on some medicine. >> i guess i will stick with the fruit. >> dr. scott harris is the top health officer. >> alabama is not the healthy estate to begin th and are african-american population suffers from a number of problems is proportionately. >> the pandemic has had an

outsized impact on african-americans. in lowndes county, history might explain why. >> this shs that 1860 census. >> african-americans are represented in blue ahites in white. >> these represent enslaved people. >> he says if you look at where the most people have health conditions, it matches where the most slas lived. >> the legacy of these people is still felt today in the health disparity we have. the health disparity makes up more than a third of cases. approaching half of all deaths. >> brian stevenson says lingering trauma also affects health. >> lowndes county saw a lot of black people lynched. pulled out of tir homes,

beaten, tortured. that creates trauma. it creates an emotional injury, psychological injury. you combine that with a lack of employment and a lack of health care. you make a vulnerable population more vulne ible. >> there no hospital today. and there was not one in 1ti5, when dr. mluther king junior, john lewis, and more than 3000 supporters passed through. the gains of the civil-rights vement have not reversed the. trajecto >> we have failed to address the role of injustice, bigotry and making us sick. >>here are finally signs times are changing. a confederate monument had stood

in the town square and lowndes county. it bore the name of confederate soldiers whose families owned among them, pamela's ancestors. in the wake of t protests against the killing of george floyd, the monument came down in june. >> to be honest, i never thought i would see it in my lifetime. th history that the monume represented was very strong and represented the ar up inflicted on our family. >> -- terour inflicted o family. >> terror inflicted with systematic racism. >> it is hard. >> that soft spoken voice in front of members of congress, somehow echoing lowder in her passing. ak>> i have to sure weth

dismantl structures that kept her trapped. collect america -- >> america's reckoning with racism will come too late for pamela rush, but perhaps i will come in time for her children. ♪eft too soon without a mother. >> the democratic republic of congo is a massive country. the size of alaska and texas combined. it is part the congo bin rain forest. the second largest after the amazon. it is a habitat for countless species. one of the major threats comes from illegal and uncontrolled logging.

a special crespondent reports. >> pygmies have livedn the forest for generations. the village became one of the first indigenous communities in titlesntry to be given to their ancestral land. in march, 2019, the whole villagemoelebrated when than 20,000 acres of forest was handed o sustainably manage. fast forward to today. a village owner says the threat of climate change and the widespread logging is ruining that dream. >> we will die and lose everything. our children will suffer. they will suffer from the effects of rising temperatures. we must protect the forest from logging. >> the government has a forest code that determines which trees

can be cut and how many. but there is little enforcement. despite inrnational ls, from 2001 to 2018, cong dnc lost forests in the country. in environmental activist accuses longing companies -- logging companies abusing the country. what is happeningn the ground, they are coming and using their own power and money. they get permits. they modifit to get moe timber they will cut. >> why do you think the government is not doing more? who is responsible for this? >> the government in the congo you have power, you have money, you can do what you want in the forest sector. >> greenpeace has argued against

illegal logging. it argues timber should be traced to its origins. normally, a system of marks is in place. they have information about the location, where the tree was cut. greenpeace says much of the timber is cut without permission and manages to reach the final destination with counterfeit marks. we joint and environmental activist on a fact-finding mission. deep into the forest. thmany o forests are only accessible by riverboat. the reason many african parks have been spared is because the infrastructure is so poor, getting the timber out becomes expensive. thats not the case here. the congo river is such a good ans of transportation. operated by a congo corporation. he decided to visit the site as

he had heard the timber workers were on strike. >> these slices are normally guarded and off-limits. licenses and paperwork are the only way to prove timber i legal and loggers are not chopping down trees to old, too young, or endangered. but he says he has rarel seen a company operate with a valid license in this area. do you think a lot of this is going on in the congolese forest? >> yes, it is a major problem. not an isolatethn case. in areas, it is worse than here. the forest is being pillaged. >> what you know about the corporation -- do they have a license to cut this would? >> they had a license in 2018. it was valid for that year but they continue logg regardless. >> the logser are tied toge forming makeshift rafts.

this is one of many hubs in and around cachaca used for -- contrasts a. -- kinchasa. many of the trees are hundreds of years old. local authorities check the mark to make sure it corresponds. >> the log number. the owner name. the month and the log number, correct? >> he represents 300 small loggers. people like him only cut down on average 150 trees per year. large-scale loggers cut down tens of thousands. under congolese law, small sale loggers are given a special permit. but foreig companies are using these licenses to logst in an inal scale. operated by a chinese company

were hundreds of logs are piled up. we were not allowed to film inside. >> the chinese logging company has pushed dow prices so much, loggers like us cannot compete. we can only afford to float our logs downriver once a year. the chinese company brings in two full fairies -- iefe >> widespread logging continues to go unchecked. this trend is s to go on with irreversible consequences.s i am monica vm our -- >> thankou. for the record, the story was bfilmedefore the pandemic. with president tmp trailing joe biden in nearly every major national poll, democrats see

more opportunities for games, not just in the white use but the u.s. senate. we zero in on the races to wah. >> replicans begin the new year as the favorites, likely to hold on to the senate. take a look reports from january, showing an uphill battle for democrats. all of those red and light red states are leaning republican. look at theatpolitical predictions. just this week, far fewer red, more yellow. the p is moving toward democrats with the exception of alabama. ylor.xplain is jessica so accepted to talk about this wild year in the senate. tell us what is happening. >> the past few months,

everything has changed because of the pandemic. we have seen the political ground shift under republicans and move toward democrats. we were beginning to see some political shifts happening in march. what we have seen is a map drastically favoring democrats. we see democrats as a slight lifavorite in order tothe senate. that is becese they h expended the map. you have republican incumbents. this is a map where republicans are almost entirely on defense except for the alaba seat. and possibly in michigan. we see states like georgia, iowa, montana. none ohese expected to be competitive at the outset of this year. >> you mentioned this is because of the pandemic but it has to do with the president's response. >> as president trump's approval

ratings have dropped and we see his standing in the presidential race, which moves toward favoring joe biden, who we have is the favorite, that is very much hurting rvaublicans down d. republicans increasingly see the senate as their last firewall. >> let's focus on some of these fascinating races. senator susan collins used to be the most popular u.s. senator of any party. now shis in the race of her life against -- tell us about this. >> she embodies how difficult it is to be a centrist in the republican party that has drastically remade itself into trump's image. she finds herself in trouble. it is because, againthere is no centrism you are able tot

carve th trump. you are with him or you are without him. but is a hard lesson she had to learn when she voted to confirm brettanaugh to the supreme court. she voted to acquit president trump in the trial. that has energized progressives against her. it has chipped away at her coition of republicans, independence, and democrats. she faces a tough challenge from sarah gting who haseen out racing her. >> in arizona, we havanother republican woman with a big challenge. what is going on there? >>es mix l.a. is interting. she wathen elected to this seat. -- mcsally was appointed after a

contentious race a ainstther candidate. she is running against to wien republican admit is the best route crudecr -- t. mark kelly, a former astronaut, the husband of gabriel giffords. she has a very tough task. she has high negatives. she had to move to the right and th race to win a primary challenge.e s not been able to tap back towd the center. >> north carolina, tom tillis is inthmbent. he isunning against an army reservist. >> it is the nature of the state. arizona, so is northlo carolina. a margin. neit is going to bef the closest races this time

around. more outside money. it has a competitive governor race. tillis is part of this group of freshmenha won in 2014, which was a wave year for republicans. six years later, they are facing a different political climate. a foer state senator, a veteran, he has tha centrist blueog type of profile. that is one they think can appeal not just to suturban voterslso rural voters as well. >> jessica taylor, i think we will be talking to you some more. thank you very much. >> think it'-- thank you, great talking to you. >> that brings us to the analysis of shields and brooks. markok shields and david b

so great to see both of you. let's pick up with what we were hearing about the senate races movingn the direction of the democrats. what is going on here? >> i would say among republicans, what had beennc n has turned into panic. the president is behind by 12-13 in the national polls. that was survivable if you are a senate candidate in 19 80 and you had ticket splitting. that does not happen anymore. in 2016, there is basically no ticket splitting. it is super hard to win when you're president isdo losing. 't think there are any republican candidatewho have found posture how to be loyal republican and not totally trump us. you are not only loong at arizona and colorado which seem tos stake iowa

and georgia. those should be selid republican s. it is a completeps col it looks like right now. >> asd lisa poin out, the year started out with democrats thinking they mig not be able to take the senate. are you surprised at this turn of events? >> i am. i am surprised at a couple of things. david is right about democrats being onhe offensive and republicans being on the defensive. it shoulnot surprise me, this has been the pattern. when a president gets in trouble, his senate colleagues face the same thing very often. in 2016, for example, every rsena who won and the state, the presidential candidate of that party carried. in 2008, when obama swept, only

one republican survived in a state th obama carried. that happened to be susan collins in mai. 12 senate seats.0. giants of the senate. frank's church. all went down. the republins won the senate for the first time and 26 years. because the presidential candidate was incredibly weak. jimmy carter, 31% approval in 1980. george w.s bush 25% job approval in 2008, even though he was not on the ballot. he had iraq going south.pse when this is what republicans f right now.

that same kind of climate. >> david, it is interesting. as weeard, these democratic candidates turn outat to be cand who are talented in an election year, when people are paying attention to the challenger. so often it is the incumbent that is favored. >> often it is the incumbent who has the money advantage. money as the incumce as much the democrat running against lindsey graham is raising huge amounts of money. they are getting money. i think it is not even the campaign. james fallows once said, 1918 with the flu, the depression, in the war. it is a much more intense

potable era, revolionary political climate. it is unprecedented so we do not know. i just think you are going to see something much moreast than we think in a normal year. >> mark, at the same time, the democrats who are running and challenging major republicans have to be in a position to take advantage of what comes their way. >> exactly. the point in lisa's peace, nobody has been able to figure out how to distance themselves from trump effectively. two leading republicans who did this since themsves from trump, jeff fke and bob corker, found themselves on the outs. e and outse senate. ?how do you do th how do you walk that line? richard nixon used to say, say

anything you want for me against me, just win. there was a practicality against -- about it. donald trump does not hat approach. it is total loyalty to him which coming with an increasing political price. ak>> sg of the president, what we are seeing from the president now and just yesterday, announcing the republican conventiois not going to happen at least in jacksonville. hethe big eventhad planned. you are judged an almost hourly basis by the way he is handling this pandemic you have himending federal agents into american cities. that is the political reality thisresidential race is taking placin. >> the loss of the convention is

bad news for donald trump. he needs some event that can sht the race. all that is left is the debates. omhe will givesort of convention speech but it will just be another day of the new cycle. the violence in portland is something i am curious about. most people, you have nameless is not a democracy randomke this fascist state. on the other hand, there is a lot of violence in portland. violence and the protesters. rydonald trump isg to re-create a 1968 law & order campaign. maybe there will be a sense of panic. i tend not to think so. it is in one place. most people will look and see

whether we are turning to a police state. that sense of we need law and orde is the only way i see trump appealing to some people who are gennely scared if they are generally scared. >> is that a tactt t could be effective, when the president is facing so way he has and will be pandemic? -- handled the pandemic? >> he is playing whahe can play. that seems -- he had a meeting with roger stone after his pardon. was reminded of the bes scenes from 1968. 39 states saw increases in coronavirus and covid-19.

we had 4 million cases for the first time. the 1.i have seen encouragement, for the first time, donald trump seems to be taking it seriously. he cannot read from a teleprompter, no one has ever taught him to do it. he had a week where he wast least addressing the gravity of the situation and acknowledging. acknowledging in spite of the record heat wave,t is not going to miraculously disappear in hot weather. >> meantime, and just quickly, there is something i want to ask. you have republicans in the senate unable to come tony kind of agreement over what sort of relief to give themerican people with these additional unemployment benefits.

could this a serious blunder for the republicans if they do not make the right move? >> i think s the economic crisis is still ongoing. the way we solved it was to give 60peoplechecks. now that republicans want to cut it, which is an insult, or steven mnuchin wantso reform the process of disturbing the money in the middle of a crisis for bureaucracies that are barely keeping in together right now. it seems when republicans have a complicated thought, they rer back to fiscal discipline but this is not the time for it. they should be sholing it outn the doorhe nation's interest and their own political interest. >> i do want to turn you to john lewis. the civil rights icon, someo

who laid his body on the lineev for what he be in. in his quiet way, fighting for civil rights his entire life. you had many occasions tbe ound him. what would you say about john lewis? >> one of the disarminggr qualities of csman lewis was whenever you ran into him, he would grab you by the hand my brother, ho are you? being called a brother by john lewis was sort of special. you put it best. poor sharecroppers in alabama, born in the segregated south. he put his life, his body on the line. he was at the lincoln memorial. he was the firebrand t ay were worrieut.

he walked across the edmundee pettis bridge,ng the vote. which was promisedns to ameri and denied systematically. he had his skull fract bed, his boken, but never his spirit. he was incredible gentlemen. he left america so muc better than he found it. to be able to talk about changing the name of the bridge, what they ought to do is pass and act which naïvely thought this problem was over. we are seeing the systematic denial of the right to vote. cutting hours. purging of lists. ids, voter ids. that would be the testimony, the memorial john lewis would say is ap rights act.real voting

>> people will pay respects to him next week. his funeral is one week from today. mark shields, david brooks, thank you both. as we come to the end of another difficult week, we want to take a moment to honor some of the lives lost to covid-19. >> renée chavez had big dreams and an active imagination. said his wife, and that. passionate about the animated he-man series from the 1980's, renée launched aers called the nerds from a couch. he even drafted his own sci-fi

, ories. >> helnée. >> as a high school english teacher, he would often loan his comics to students to encourage them to read more. he was 45 years old. dr. gulati was a spiritual person. her pastor said she had a particular affinity for people who felt left out. a psychiatrist and social activist, she cared for drug addicts and hiv patnts. for more than 50 years, a mother of two served as an esteemed faculty member at howard university'solge of medicine. until hersi pasng at the age of 91, she never gave up her passion for dancing. ken kirkman was a friend to all, but especially to the underdog his family said. ken, whois was 74, andife

karen, grew up in the same reetn salt lake city. during their 50 years together, can served- ken served in the army and as a mortician. he was also a bishop in the church.he went to countleue famy barb run out of magre -- renata maguire was a devoted mother. her oldest was 19, her youngest was six years ol her disabilities encourage her to work with others in the disability community. born and raised in saint augustine florida, her family described her as fun-loving and generous. she was 39 years old.

edna was an outstanng cherokee citizen. said the nation's principal chief. she was one of the few fluent cherokee speakers in her neighborhood, and known for making the best diskettes and fry bed -- fry bread. kind and generous, she never complained, not even while fighting breast cancer. she raised four children with her husband in oklahoma. they had 1 grandchildren and one rate grandchild. as protests and rallies against raalsm ee, a boston artist says rather than put his voice front and center, he will paint

the backdrop. teaming with the city upon museum of fine arts. d we joihim at the site of his latest mural. the story is part of the ongoing arts and cture series, canvas. >> the routine is straightforward. it tries up and get music >> jamming on a saturday. things i have grown up. music is definitely a vital component. >> the lifelong bostonian is working on the third mural in epic work bringing fresh air into neighborhoods. begin an 2017, they offer a narrative. first, a little boy wveh massi mite. later, he painted h as deliberately -- giddilyy.

happ now, and his latest piece, she is floating into the world on her own. >> she is blowing a series of bubbles. out of them is going to be one that covers and protects the entire bubble. >> what do we see in her hair? >> you see the universe, the galaxy. two-year-old daughter.n making sure as she grows up, she has something toook up to. >> it is an uplifting message. instead of trying to feed to stake to a baby, -- steak to a baby, i wod sneak the pill ipln the auce. hopefully it is something she grows up with. >> he also grew up here, venturing into graffiti art. >> the ability to hack and manipulate the ideas.

>> he stuck mostly to his neighborhood. buildings where they had permission to paint. >> these were areas the city was not even caring about. >> part o fromn movies that cracked ope his view of the possible. >> one of the films was star wars. there were bthers and sisters that looked like us. hostinga sucrge platform. >> his platforms are expenve, there are the towering walls. there are also artists for humaty, an institution that puts under resourced teenagers to work as artists. now, the museum commission, which makes him an artist in residence. it is timed to coincide with an more importantly, museum ias.

movinga long history where local artists of color have often been left in the margins. >> he is saying, i am willing to be your ptner but really, the gift is to us. >> why is it important to you it comes in that emphasis? >> black aists from roxbury, dorchester traditionally been acknowledged our collection and programming. >> the timing is alsoorribly coincidental as the killing of george floyd has reminded the nation of the sanctity of breath. >> the statement, we cannot breathe. i'm takingeoe to take the time to breathe and look at what is going on. people are wking around with their head down, angry, mad.

it is a moment to taka breath and look up. >> it is painted on his almar. ma a sentimental spot but one also easily visible a mile away. is no accident this girl floats over boston police hehequarters. >> is owning her rightful place in the city. you want everybody to see that.o ly, you want little brown and black girls andoys to see that. >> they will also see gibbs's signature. >> it is our name. that signature, the style of what people see alone and can connect with me as an artist, speaks volumes and feeat. i got my daughter telling me i am a serhero. i am going to continue torow.

massachusetts.n, >> regular vwswers of the urnow how committed we are to reporting on arts and culture through our ongoing series, canvas. ithis reporting expano prime time with a new series on mppbs, beyond the . my colleagues are here with a preview. first, an excerpt from the det episode. conversation with bruce aspringsteen. reat singer has to inhabit -- you may not be able to hit all the notes. but if you can inhab your song, you can communicate. >>f jins me now. you sat down with the one and only bruce springsteen. it is just a sampling of the many conversations, remarkable

conversations you have had with these artists. >> that is right. that was a very memorable one. just to sit with him and hear him talk about the power of the music but also the vulnerability he feels as an individual human being. he talked about bouts of depression. it is not just the stars and celebrities like springsteen. i am b movthe artists andan writerstorytellers. if you think about what we do in the news, day.the story of the that i how i read novels. that is how i listen to music. these ar artists, the creators that are moving us. t also sort of teaching us about the day and our world.

>> you have done all this at a time of great tumult in the world and you have brought that into your porting. >> that is the world we are ths of our time. nliving in. the pandemic. we have moved a shaped all of our coverage. can think of several stories recently that meant a lot to me. one was about the power of the camera, the power of the image. civil rights. and up to this time. one that aired this week where we look at the impact of the pandemic in life music. it is partly a business story. it is also really just about our culture and what brings us together. what we all do and how we create

together. who tells our stories. that is how we fus right now. >> what you are going to be doing with beyond the canvas spring all of this to an audience. the primetime audience which may not have had a chance to see these stories. rp>> it is no se to you or any of our viewers. the storytelling on canvas ised unparallel what jeff has been able to build and so many others. it sets the bar for that kind of reporting. bring it to more people.cited every episode is a collection of stories. jeff represents this. we cnot ignore the fact we are rolling this out during a pandemic. i cannot remember the last time i went to a life concert.e

th a void. there is a social and cultural void. hope the show will fill some of that.aw we do not sh from the tough stuff. a lot is about what rings us together. there are conversations about ra and representation and identity because that is where we are as country as well. we hope these stories meet the moment but help to move usrw d. >> they come at a time when people are hungry for content, content with meaning. when you say it meets the moment, that is what this is all about. >> i think that is right. it is a reminder of the way things used to be. everybody remembers what they felt like when they heard that springsteen lyric. these are all storytellers who are documenting our times. when you pull themogether in a collection like this, it gives

people the space to process it. we hope it gives people something they need. we hope we can make this community even bigger. >> we are certainly excited about it. thank you both for all the work you have done. >> thank you, judy. >> really looking forward -- and you can watch the dut sunday, july 26, at 10:30 eastern. there is more beyonnethe campus on right now, you can read ouinfull rview with lewis york. they talk about why songwriting is so important in this time of crisis. website. our that is the newshour for tonight. have aat weekend.f. please stay safe.

>> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- >> when the world go it's complicated -- gets complicated, a lot goes through your mind. with fidelity wealth management, a dedicated advisor c give you advice and recommendations. his fidelity wealth management -- that is fidelity wealth management. n. sumer cellular. johnson and john financial services firm raymond james. >the floor hewitt foundation. advancing ideas to support a better world. >> supporting social entrepsoneurs and their tions to the world's most pressing problems. and o with theoing support of these institutions.

and friends of theewour. this progr was made possible by the corporation for public oadcasting. and contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. ithpbs newshour west. and our bureau at the waltergton cronkite school of journalism at arona state university. ♪

tonight on kqed newsroom, coronavirus cases climb in california, bringing more uncertainty as the federal government grapples with a new virus belief package. a e santa cldistrict attorney announces new criminal justice reforms, will they be ough to address ncerns over police misconduct in san jose? the crowds are gone, but sports lives on, how athletesba are playing like never before. welcome to kqed newsroom. this weekend, it will mark six months sin the first confirmed for the virus case in california, there have now been more than 400,000 cases and s 8000 dea the state, this week, we have seen the highest number of new cases