captioning sponsory newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. onhe newshour tonight: feeling the pain. the pandemic causes the largest quarterly reduction of the u.s. economy on rord as congress struggles to react. plus, antibiotic resistance. the economics of antibiotic industry as risingg the drug hospitalizations increase the need. >> if we losour antibiotic infrastructure, that's the real threat. we lose our ability then to create the innovations we need when we need them. >> what a gift john lewis was. >> woodruff: farewell to a hero: late civil rights activist and congressman john lewis is laid to rest.

all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs nehour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ >> wn the world gets complicated, a lot goes through your mind. with fidelity wealth managemento a dedicated adcan tailor advice and recommendations to your life. that's fidelity wealth argement. >> consumer cell financial services firm raymond james. >> the kendeda fund. committed to advancing restorative justice and meaningful work through

investmen in transformative leaders and ideas. more at kendedafund.org. >> carnegie corporation of new york. supporting innovations in education, democrati engagement, and the advancement of international peace and security. at carnegie.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and individuals. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. andco bributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: theandemic leveled the u.s. economy in the second quarter of the year, lapeading to the worst se since the great depression. ths domestic product, a broad measure of the country's

economic activity, fell by 9.5% between april and june when much of the country shut down. if that drop continued over a full year, the economy would have shrunk by nearl33%. parts of the economy have clearly improved. but the initial recovery may be slowing. weekly jobless claims were up again, to 1.4 million. let's look at the state of our ken rogoff is an economist at harvard university and the co- author of a widely cited book on financial crises, "this time is different." this time is different, ken again.you for joining us worst decline in a quarter ever? just how bad is this? i >> i mes stunning. we're looatking great

depression type numbers. of course we gnaw we had a very bad quarter but we were hoping by now the virus would be calming down and things would be coming back am but we hen't tamed it. at least not nearly as europe has or asia has. so i think it is still going to be very difficult fore next six mnts or more. >> woodruff: well, let's talk about th largest. before we do i want to dig into this. everybody knew its with going to be bad, everything practically was ut down in the second quarter of the year. but what is behind this? what do you see in these numbers that explains what happened. >> well, we're all locked at home. you can't go to restaurants, tertainment is shut down. businesses can't bring people in. frankly, i mean, i'm surprised it's not even bigger a number. of course it would have been if we hadn't had you know pretty powerful intervention from thera

fereserve and congress at least in the la >> woodruff: and as you think about it, you mentiod strants, the service industry, but it goes beyond that. i mean what does this man in human terms? >> i mean it just is incredibly exacerbates inequality problems. we have had people who don't have a place to shelter in place, that's comfortab or safe. and there are a lot of other things going on. people getting other diseases that they're not taking care of. mental health problems. you know, heart problems, you name it. this is just a catastrophic situation. i think certainly the wovet thing i een in my lifetime, the worst thing i think we've seen if generations. and it isn't over. >> woodruff: d ken rogoff, clearly this is connected and we talked to you earlie today and you talk about how much this is

connected to what is going on, with cove fact that we are seeing a resurgence across much of the country including in some ples where it lookedlike it was getting better. can the economy begin to come back while this-- this, this virus is still ragingin parts of america? >> i mean only up to a poineet. weparts of our economy, not just restaurants, hotels and bars. there is entertainment, airha travel, people to socially distance. there are limits to how much businesses can do. frankly,'m just stunned we don't have a national policy on something simple like wearin masks which would help a lot. contrast us with great britain. their leader also said oh no problem, this is just a cold. and of course he got it. but then when they shut down, they shut down. and the virus is really in remission there. here we kind of did it halfway. and we're just back to the starting line.

we still need to deal with it. >> woodruff: so you're saying that there is a directbsolute connection between the economy and this virus >> oh, absolutely. this is a health crisis that spilled over into an economic crisis. and if you don't fix the health crisis, people aren't going to want to go out. we're not going to have the economy come back. it don't mean nothing can happ and we can't function. we will learn to live with it. but we shouldn't have to. and you know, they shoulddo giant stimulus, they should protect people but there is noing they can do that would help as much as some basic things like improving testing, requiring people to wear masks. eventuallyhere will be a vaccine but i done know when that is going to be. so yes, as long as the vy rugs is raging, i just don't see hw the economy can come roaring >> wf: so we see the back. federal reserve which has a lot of control over economic activity saying it is doing everything it can.

and now we see congress frozen in place unable to come to an agreement. how much does it matter ken rogoff whether wey come h a $1 trillion plan which is what the republicans are talking about, or a $3 trillion plan that the democrats want? >> i think a one $1 trillion plan is pred kateed we are just-- things will get better, we just have tyou were canon things for awhile. that is not where we are. i think you can argue at the margin of how to spend the money but the states ed help, local govern need help, unemployment. the unemployed, et cetera. i think the 3 tillion is much more on the mark. going to end of this. this is i think it will go on for awhile. i thinlit will be 3 trion and then 3 trillion again. i don't know what they are going to agree to. i have to say if they expect to get re-elected, they better, and idm not just talking about the

prt, i'm talking about congress. they better come up with something. sse when people are about to run out of support when going to lose the unemployment, extra unemployment insurance, et cetera, i think they will come up with something but it, we're just nowhere near out of this, so the one trillion dollars is kind of dreaming that things are getting muchbetter quick l, they're not. >> and you said a couple of mes that this is hard toow how long this is going to go on. i moo mean what are we realisticically looking at, nextier, the end of next year,s whate soonest this could start to look healthy again? >> well, the soonest could be we get a vaccine and everyone has it by a year fr now. that would be pretty fast. but i don't think it's going to be that fast. prmean again, you have many experts on thisram who can speak to it better than me.

but right nontil that happens, we just don't know ther is enormous uncertainty and the economy and people are in a very precarious position. and they're certainly not going be an exit in september, certainly not an exit in november, it going to be well into next year. we where a few months into this only, and it started in march. it is still just the end of july. we have at lagst the samen to go. i mean people are naturally going crazy from the confinement. we need to find a solution, at least with masks or with t something hat people can function at some level compared to what we have now. >> grim forecast. ogoff, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> woodruff: in the day's other

news, senate republicans today news a stalemate in the u.s. senate again side-lined a pandemic relief bill. enead senators left for the wewhich federal jobless benefits and eviction protection set to expirafter tomorrow. republicans ask for a short-term extension just or the unemployment benefits but they needed unanimous consent. democrats rejected a temporary piece meal approach. >> what i'm offering today is a simpleseven day >> what i am offering today is a simple 7-day extenon of the extra $600 a week for unemployed americans while we worugh our differences on how to move forward. >> this request is clearly a stunt. a one week f can't be implemented in time and the senator knows that. >> woodruff: in turn, republicans blocked attempt to bring up the democrats' trillion relief bill. on wall street, the day's economic reports and the impasse in congress pushed stocks mostly lower. the dow jones dustrial average lost nearly 226 points to close

at 26,313. the nasdaq was the only bright spot, risingbout 45 points, but the s&p-500 slipped 12. president trump stirred a new storm today, with a tweet suggesting the november 3 presidential election might be postponed. he claimed again, without evidence, inthat mail-in vot would mean widespread fraud. then, he asked if officials should "delay the election until and safely vote???", securely that drew bipartisan disapproval including from the top senate and house republicans. >> never in the history of the country through wars, depressions, and the civil war have we ev had a federally scheduled election on time. and we'll find way to do that agn this november 3. >> i understand the president's concern about mail in voting, tiich is different than absentee vo.

obut never in the historyf the federal elections have we ever not held an election, and we should go forward with our election. >> woodruff: house speaker nancy pelosi pointed out te u.s. constitution gives congress the sole power to set election dates. owning he said he does not want a delay but he insisted again onil-in vetting would be e to fraud and greatly delayed results. a federal appeals cot sa that it will review an order to dismiss criminal charges against michael flynn. the former criminal charges against michael flynn.at the formernal security adviser pled guilty to lying to the f.b.i. in the russia investigation. later, the justice dept ved to dismiss the case. last month, a panel of the appeals court ordered the trial judge to grant the motion. state lawmakers in ohio ousted their house larry householder.

he is accused in a $60 million federal bribery scheme aimed at two nuclear power . bailout for a federal grand jury today formally indicted householder and ur associates on racketeering charges.tr ical storm isaias spent this day dumping heavy rain on puerto rico, touching off landslides and flooding, and knocking out power and water service. from there, it headed toward landfall in the dominican republic, and on a track taking ow near the bahamas by early tomo stsa has launched perseverance, the largest and dvanced rover ever sent to mars. t ohe car-sized rover blast today from cape canaveral, florida. ros mission is to drill fo samples that will be brought back to earth and analed for signs that life once existed on mars. >> if this little rover were to diover bio signatures of ancient life on mars, i think it would transform how ou think space exploration and discovery. i think you would see a lot of people wanting to do a lot me science and make discoveries as

to what is out there, even in our n solar system >> woodruff: the mission also includes a mini-helicopter that will try to make the first powered flight on another planet. u.s. s court justice ruth bader ginsburg is said to be resting comfortably at a new york hospital after a non- surgical procedure on wednesday. on a bile duct stent. ginsburg is 87. anrlier this month, she unced she is undergoing chemotherapy for a recurrence of cancer. esd, former republican ential candidate and businessman herman cain has died in atlanta of covid-19. he'd been diagnosed after attending president trump'sal campaign in tulsa, anlahoma last month. heain was 74 years old. still to come on the newshour: recovery efforts are ruconsered as the u.s. passes 150,000 coronadeaths.

questions about the atmosphere inside the state department under mike pompeo's leadership. the economics of antibiotic devet hamstring the drug industry as bacterial infections increase. and much more. >> woodruff: the number of new covid infections may be slowing a bit, but the virus is taking an enormous toll. more than 1,400 coronavirus- related aths were reported yesterday, hospitalizations are up significantly, and at least five states reported single day records of deaths this week. all of this coming as the u.s. has now passed 150,000 deaths. many doctors and public health voices say it's time to change our approach. william brangham has that conversation.

>> brangham: judy, in response 1 the growing death toll in the u.s., ov0 health professionals have signed an open letter saying that if we dn't change course, many more wi. their letter is titled "shut it down. start over. it right." it recommends targeted closures in certain hotspots, far more testg, better contact tracin and the need for unified, coherent communication. citing the successful efforts by other countries, it says:" we could've prevented 99% of america's covid-19 deaths. but didn't." one of the signatories of that letter joins me now. es megan ranney is an emergency physician, archer, and director of the brown center for digital health at brown university. dr. ranney, very, very good to have youn the newshour, can you explain to me why you wanted to sign this letter? what is the argument, the core

argument you are making? >> the reason why we wrote this letter and why i agreed to sign on to it is because uewe cont to lack a coherent national strategy to prevent the trsmission of covid-19. we're seeing rising number of hot spots across the country including in states that had managed to de crease the number of people who were infected. and it is becoming clearer and clrer that without the national plan we are not going to get this viru under control. >> so i ticked off a few of gste thhat you in your signatory suggest you ought to do. can you explanned, what is this order of business th we ought to be doing. >> absolutely. so the first in listing is that we all need to be aring masks all the time. i'm not wearing one with you right w because i am in my office that is closed and there is virtually no one else in office building. outside of this i wear masks whenever i'm around so is not part of my immediate family and that is what we nhould all be doing.

we need tes to make that happen. we need it to be easy for people to wear masks. the second tng that we need is a coherent national testing strategy. we've been talking for months about the need for tests and toe rehy is showing up now. for anyone w tried to get a covid-19 test in the last couple of weeks you know that the delay in test results is growing and growing making the point of getting that test almost pointless, right? the third thing is a national strea gee for preventive personal prevent tiff equipmenti ths look gloves, mask, gown. if we don't have adequate masks, glove and hand sanitizneer we ae r going to be able to keep us all safe. and until we can do thogs th it's on us to keep people apart. we have to do things like make ing to a bar more difficult. sure that we protect the keyking parts of our economy, our schools and essential businesses before we open up places where people are likely to transmit

covid-19. so those are a few of the things that we are calling for. >> brangham: i mentioned that your letter state that ha we done a lot of these things that p are calling for, that we could havented 99% of the covid-19 deaths? do you really bref that is true. have sen other parts of the u.s. that california that did many of the things that a talking about. and they too are really struggling. do you really thinwe could have stemmed the deaths that much? >> so i can talk from my own experience in rhode island. we put many of those measures in place here. and we relatively klqu plateaued the number of cases and then saw a dramatic decline. and for the past couple of months we have kept our number of neinfections and hospitalizations at the th very, very low level. we did reopen in early july an our number of cases is starting to go up. so our rnor just yesterday said she's going to de crease the number of people that can be in a single place at any time. by doing this we are de creasing

the deaths in our state compared to other similar states. and when you look at californiak when they had those measures in place, they had fewer infekszs an death. so is it 99%, is it 90%, that is a question of modeling. but there is zero deaths, that we could have a dramatic de kres in the number spof alizations and death were we following a strategy from e get-go. >> brangham: obviously we have en the economic devastation of the prior shutdown. have seen this incredible resistance for staying closed one day more. there is a huge push to open schools. what makes you confident that the argument that you are maki through this letter and your appearances here are going to change people's minds. i mean the tide seems to be pushing so much in the other direction. >> so the goal is to reopey n te econd to get kids back to school. and that's precisely why these measures are needed. i'm the m of two school-aged kids. i really want my kids to go to school physically in the fall.

i'm also a professor here at brown. i really want e stuts to come back. and we're planning on that. but that is not going to be possible if we have these public health measures in placei rly, i think about all of my friends and colleagues' businesses, those are going to go under if pple are getting infected by covid and are scared o go out and spend money. in orderve our economy, in order to save our kids and their schools we have to have these strategies in place. >> brangham: dr. megan ranney of brown university, thank you very, very muchor your time. >> thank you. 7 >> woodruff: today secretary of state mike pompeo responded to concerns about the state of the state department, during teimony toenate foreign relations committee. nick schifrin was watching, and joins us now. so nick, what arehose concerns and tell us how cretary pompeo is onding

to them. >> judy, congressional democrats, former senior officials and seen some mid-level current ate department officia describe to me a state department in ich ecmpeo and his allies are protd and career officials can sometimes be sidelined. the staff of the senate foreign relations commatee released report this week detailing four concerns. number one vacancies. 11, more than a third of nior positions are vacant or filled by acting officials, clining morale and confidence measure by the stitt depament's data, increased fear of repriefl to employees who suspect have ilations of its law. and disrespect and dispain-- distain shoined to career employees. on that last point pim cane of vergeia chal eoecked pof marie yaf yaf whoas-- ia von vich was fired by president

trump, when somebody worked for their entire career for the state department, and they are sland erred, with lies and in fact for no good reason, that be clearer to other stated not department officials and it may be jus a big joke, i look at you smiling and laughing. you don't think it's silly to marieyavonovich or the people that work for you. r i don't think it is silly to unan sta every bams do or, political appointee knows if the president they ck confidence in the president he has the right to terminate, that includes me, i didn't slandaner ne, this was handle appropriately and properly. >> pompeo ght, he has never criticized marie yrksz avonovuch senior officials say heresisted giuliani's campaign at least for

a few months but he didn't go pubc to avoid alienating president trump, and that is the core of the criticism. from former senior and current public defenses of careerrde the employees at the state department this they need to hear. they also point out that only two and soon to be only one seor official isa career employee. as for that senate democratic staff report, the state department sent a statement earlier accusing top committee democrat senator bob menendez of blocking sm of the state department nominees and quote not withstanding senator menendez's obstruction, the trump administration has successfuls delivered on i for be policy goals for the american people their safety and economic prosperity. >> woodruff: so nuk, we know that just last month president trp fired the state department inspector general, steve linock was his name. i understand that came up today. >> yeah, democratic lawmar accused pompeo of firing him

becauseynockk was looking too actions by pompeo and his wife, he acknowledged that he initiated an audit into secretary pompe and susan pompeo for quote the misuse of government resoues. linock also accused a senior pompeo aide of bullying him to dropping a separate investigation. whistle-blower com when aa ren whistle-blower who witnessed misconduct requestedd clarification idance, they were blocked from doing so. today judy pompeo repeated thate id not know linock was investigating him or his wife. c esed him of screwing up the department's financial audit and accused lunock of leaking to the press. >> he didn't act with integrity throughout that process in a way be counted on to behave.ve to >> l, nock recently testified that after hean other inspectors general were fired, he heard that current inspectors general are quote fearful of retribution by this administration and juave

been told the same by a current inspector general. >> woodruff: and nick, something else that came up today, questions raised about secretary pompeo's trael upside the united states and dinners that he hosted at the state department. what about all of that? >> yeah, democratic lawmakers and former ss enr officiar that pompeo's travel is less about the state department and more about his politicalti am. he has traveled multiple times to kansas, to iowa, to florida, senior state department official tells me the travel was to recruit, to explain the department to the whole country. and this oasksz poins out pompeo's predecessor also traveled domestically. that is tr, but former secretaries who traveled domestically extensively were traveling to their homes. pompeos lived in d.c.. the other concern from democratic law make ares and senior officials that i talked is that dinners hosted by pompeo and his wife are more about collecting information om donors. a senior state department official counters that telling me that all formerieecret

had dinner and former secretary hillary clinton once hosted ar dinner at home with donors to the clinton foundation who had business with the state development department. erbut the form officials i talk to say those former secretaries had dinners about policy and tenat these cu dinners are about pompeos talks. >> it sounds like its with quite a hearing with some fairly testy moments. thank you so much for followi this. >> thanks very much. >> woodruff: last economics correspondent paul solman reported on the ominous collap of the antibiotics redustry, just as bacterial infections are iing as a side-effect of the coronavirus. tonight he explains wh because much of this story was shot before the pandemic kicked in.

part of ouregular series, "making sense". >> reporter: , you warned us this was going to ppen, right? >> i wish i'd been wro, but yes. >> reporter: that's antibiotics pricing expert kevin outterson, whom we previously interviewed st 2017, when antibiotics tups were worth hundreds of millions of dollars. what's happened to the industry since? >> four out of the last 14 drugs approved by the f.d.a. went int0 bankruptcy i. and there'll be more drugs falling into bankruptcy in 2020. >>eporter: as a result, big pharma has dropped antibiotic development, and small firms making effective new drugs are nearly worthless. and the pandemic is making things worse because of the need for new antibiotics to prevent and treat dangerous secondary infections in covid-19 patients, especially those on ventilators. >> it's horrifying because you can't get your breath. and all you can think in your a ventilator? going to end up on >> reporter: here's the emandary, though: the economic profacing the

industry were perfectly clear three years ago. thfirst, as one-time pharm exec john rex put it? doctors were reluctant to prescribe new antibiotics. >> when you inve a new antibiotic that hits the very- most resistant bacteria in the world, what we as ycommunity wa to do with it is sit on it, okay, and save it for just that rny day. >> reporter: that's becae using a new superdrug too soon could sp the evolution of resistance, rendering the new drug worthless. >> once we have found this precious jewel, we need to protect it, because every e of an antibiotic, even a correct use, drives resistance >> reporter: "stewardship," it's called, but not a great way to make money. a second hurdle, sai infectious disease specialist lindsey baden: >> often the treatments are short, a week or two, and intermittent. and that's very different than for hypertension, diabetes, hyper-cholesterol, where it's aa treatment everfor the rest of your life. >> reporter: okay, so why not

just hike the prices of superbug drugs? for the sake of discussion, oh, say $10,000 a treatment. that's what they're wort says outterson. >> when u consider what cology drugs, cancer drugs or orphan drugs that are being priced at hundreds of thousands of dollaven a couple above a million, you know-- when you the life of the person,that they're going to die from this $1fection? 000 is really a bargain. >> reporter: and that's why pharma start-ups are usually so attractive, says investor richard anders. >> there are of drugs which make a lot of money at very high prices. >> reporter: but, he says, investors have come to realize new antibiotics can't bericed that high. >> because the political system would be in an uproar,nd the drug companies want nothing to with that, because of all the flak they're already taking for fighting these battles on other fronts. >> because of the societal good of antibiotics, they feel ke they can't charge more.

>> reporter: infectious disease specialist dr. helen boucher. >> the reason that we've been told that big pharma has use they'reis be not making enough return on their investment. plain and simple. >> reporter: but only big pharma can efficiently get these new drugs to market. >> as an early-sta life science investor, i think, when i invest in a company, how is that company going to get ifquired by a larger company? anhe larger companies aren't acquiring, then it's thally difficult to invest in companie are early in the market. >> reporter: compare that to drugs for viral diseases. e even befe frantic search for a coronavirus cure, the antiviral market was booming-- more than doubling over the last decade, market shrank.otics t what, besides the increasing aversion to raising antibiotic prices, has changed in the last three years? the economics of hospitals. >> if you go into a hospital with bacrial pneumonia, e hospital gets a fixed payment. if they use the cheap antibiotic or t expensive antibiotic, t

ruspital gets paid the same. >> reporter: notfor antivirals, by contrast, which face no ch reimbursement constraints. meanwhile, says kevin outterson, hospitals have come unde increasingly intense cost pressure, made even worse by the decrease in elective surgeries during covid. so, new antibiotics are too pricey, given cheaper alternatives. >> a course of treatment of a common g, might be $150 over an entire hospital stay. and for the most expensive antibiotic, it might be $8,000 to $10,000. >> reporter: ted schroeder's drug, xenleta, is actually just $1,000 a treatment, and even that's too much. >> so the economic problem really is a reimbursement problem. reporter: and three years ago? >> i don't think anyone anticipated that hospital margins would fall so low so quickly. >> reporter: final, tetraphase c.e.o. larry edwards, whose drug va is also $1,000 for a

course of treatment. but his business was moribund. orhat can he say to do he asks, who tell him... >> "i had a patient that with an intra-abdominal infection, we gave them your drug. we saved their life." >> reporter: tetraphase sold itself in march to another small pharma firm, for a song: one-tenth its market value three years ago. now, before you despair completely, there are even newer antibiotics in the pipeline. >> we've supported 56 small dompanies at this point, with millions oars. >> reporter: kevin outterson runs carb-x, a public-private antibiotics.ests in new this meeting occurred before physical distancing rules were put in place. erin duffy, carb-x's r&d chief, says it's a constant battlia against bactresistance. >> it has happened in ashort as a six-month piod of time, which is the whole reason that we have to keep innovating. >> reporter: and innovating they have been. but will the new dru ever get to market?

there is a bill in congress to allow for higher prices. and rld's largest drug companies just announced a billion dollarund to help bring two to four new antibiotics to f.d.a. approval. "but, then what?" asks john rex, s ven the reluctance to use the new antibioticalready out there. >> you need to have $350 million in revenue over the first ten years in the marketplace just to that's not repaying anybodyasis. keo's invested in you today. it's jusing the lights on. so the drug is manufactured and it's out there in pharmacies. >> reporter: so, as scientists exit antibiotics research iner droves for orugs, who will create the next generation, to fight the next generation of germs, perhaps in tandem with the next generation of viruses? >> we wish we had a therapeutic for covid-19 right now. and the lack of that is sting us-- i can't even begin to guess how much it's costi us.yo

know, if we had a bacterial infection, could have a similar effe. >> if we lose our antibiotic infrastructure, that's the real threat. we lose our ability, then, to create the innovations we need when we need them. >> reporter: like w, when the dangers of under-investment to prevent catastrophe are all too apparent. paul solman, from boston, for the pbs newshour. >> woodruff: after a long hiatus forced by covid, the n.b.a. resumes its season tonight and with the playoffs soon after. it comes just one week afterjo league baseball began its delayed season and just days before theational hockey league is set to return. but, as amna nawaz tells us, e are very big questions brewing about the return of professional sports. >> nawaz: judy, even as the pro

leagues are starting back up, they're doing it in very different ways. the n.b.a. has moved its league tto a bubble of sorts in orlando, limitjust players, coaches and staff. so far, no players have tested positive major league baseball, however, is allowing teams to travel for a shortened seasonnd it's now dealing with an outbreak-- 19 players on the miami marlins-- that's set off new protocols and delayed game to unpack it all, i'm joined by syndicated sports columnist mike wise. by mike weiss wiseckmike welcome o the newshour, have i to say after all the planning, all the safety precautions, all the protocols in the mlb, days in to what is supposed to be a sprint to the 60 game season, this is where theyre. are they going to make it to 60 games? >> well, as a sports journal ill by trade amna, i hope so. i don't think it's going to happen. i just think the pandemic is

something that is going toe not just with society but with sports and for a long time. and if i were the mainler league baseball commissio tr, i would haought seriously about pushing my season back to 2021. and for various reasons. don't want to call it war but ai misguided arms race for th ae nortmerican sports league, major revenues to get back on the field af play as soon s they could. and be the first one to capture i don't know why, because clearly asiami marlins have shown, it makes no sense. when yoget a thd of a major league roster testing positive for the coronavirus, you're endangers t just the health of the players but your season. >> meanwhile in the nba is it is a very different story. the season restarts tonight. they announced recently ai just mentioned that the 344 plers down there in that

bubble, that enclosed space, none has tested positive since they got down there. are theres, less as you look at how the nba, iswill leons for other proleagues. >> the lesson is you want to become the truan show, pu everything you c into a bubble and hereticly seal yourself off from the. world i think what the nba commissioner has done is pretty azing and it should be modselled and lionized across the country. i also ink to work that bubble, there has to be some sort of disassoiociand almost, you know, a cognitive disonance from what is happening outside the bubble. i mean we're talking 286 people died in flida from the coronavirus yesterday. that's the third straight day record fatalities in the hottest spot in the country. so of those people without died are mere miles from where lebron james and many of theer plare staying in an

opulent disney-owned hot and property. and so while on one hand i admire the nba and i can't wait to see the games, there is a part of me that has to say goshy you rehave to, you really have to work hard not to see what is happening outsithe bubble. because-- because if yodo, you might realize that basketball shouldn't matter as much as it doesright now. >> meanwhile with the wnba we should mention, they have alrestarted their season. and it has been a lot of interesting conversations in the leigh already, the entireleague dedicated their season to the memory of breonna taylor who was killed in her home by louisville police earlier this year and to the say her nammovement. before the season opener, both teams walked off the flr before the national anthem, you have players saying that they aren't even coming back because they want to commit themselves to the black lives matter movement right now. nection betwee what is happening in the league, in the bubble and what is happening in the rest of the world. >> in is true.

d this is where i would give the nba especially the s wne big credit. don'ted era of social conscience among athletes. it is almost a renaissance of the 19 '60s of arthur ashe and tommy smith and john carlos putting the black power salute in mexico city. these athletes are using a platform to essentially better the world and eak out about society's wrongs an ills in ways that noneof can. e> you know mike, so many people really mid sports and are wanting it to come back but tsafely. do yink that they will? >> i would like to think so. i think it's important that sports resembles the resilience that we have going in society, against this pandemic, against this racial reckoning we're dealing with. but i'm worried right now. and i think the reason is, is that this don't feel likeafter

9/11 when the new york yankee had sort of rallied the town and a country together in the wake of a terrorist attack it don't feel like post cat runa and the new orleans st.s where you could feel a town left lifting up an area and this communal hope and bonding happening. right now major league baseball resembles the worst of society. the pandemic ising on and players are catching it. and god forbid a manager, an elderly manager gets the virus and ends up in the hospital. so i would like to see it come back. i just don't know if it's going to any time soon. and that is about as real as i ren be about it. >> we'll take thness. we appreciate it mike wise, syndicated columnist joining us tonight. thank you so much, mike, good to see you. >> thank you, amna

>> woodruff: the nation bid a final farewell to john lewis in n lanta today after more t week of celebrations of the life of the long-time congressman and cil rights leader. we'll hear some of the remembrances frohis funeral service in just a moment, but we begin with a look back at the life and legacy of john lewis. on the edmund pettus bridge in selma, alabama, where, 50 years earlier he and other civil rights leaders were brutally beaten on bloody sunday-- john lewis reflectedwe >> wre beaten, tear gassed, some of us was left bldy right here on this bridge. 17 of us were hospitized that day. but we never became bitter or hostile. we kept believing that the truth we stood for had the final say >> woodruff: the civil rights

icon was born near troy, alabama the son of sharecr, he grew up in the deep south in the he wanted to be a minister, and would preach to chickens on his. family's f as a teenager, he began n stening to civil rights leaders like marther king jr. on radio broadcasts and would soon join the growing. movement d in 1961 lewis volunteereth other freedom riders, fighting to degregate lunch counters and public transportation across the south. many, including lewis, were arrested, attacked wrah dogs and spyed with fire hoses. some were killed. >> you believe in something that is so right, sgood and so necessary that you are prepared to stand up and be willing to die for it. >> woodruff: at the height of the civil rights movement, he led the udent nonviolent coordinating committee, or

s.n.c.c. altogether, lewis was jailed more than 40 times. he also became close to dr. king whom healled, "my inspiration." at 23-ars-old lewis delivered a speech at the 1963 march on washington. he spoke to the newshour about the experience 50 years later: >> i felt that we had to be haugh. to deliver a speech that flected the feeling, the views of the young people., and ale views and the rufeeling of the people ling in the black belt of alabama, in southwesgeorgia, in the delta of mississippi. >>uff: lewis was back in washington in 1965 alongside president lyndon johnson as he signed the voting rights act, the landmark civil rigs

legislation that prohibited racial discrimination in voting. earlier that year, johnson had called on congress to pass the bill after a months-long, often violent voting rights campaign across the south led bleaders like lewis. johnson asked congress for the legislation just days after bloody sunda >> but even if we pass this bill, the battle will not be er. what happened in selma is part of a far larger movement which reaches into every section and state of america. it is the effort of american negroes to secure for themselves the full blessings of american life. their cast be our cause too. because it is not just negroes,

but really it is all of us, who must overcome the crippling legacy of bigotry and injustice. and we shall overcome. >> woodruff: voting rights became a part of lewis' ongoing fight for civil rights. after leaving sncc in 1966, he began working with groups like the voter education project, helping more than 4 million minority voters register. then, in 1981, lewis won a seat the atlanta city counci in 1987 he was elected to congress, where he would represent atlanta for the rest of his career. >> when you see something that is not right, not just, not fair, you have the moral obligation to say something! w >> woodruff:le serving in the house of representatives, lewis championed what he calle"" good trouble," continuing to push for civil rights th in congress and outside.

as a lawmaker, he was the voice mr voting rights. >> the vote is tt powerful nonviolent instrument or tool we beve in our democratic society and people shoulble to use it. >> woodruff: and later, gun reform in 2016, in the spirit of his younger years during the civil rightmovement, he led house democrats in a sit-in on the house r fl protest the inaction by the republican majority. >> do we have raw courage to make at least a down payment on ending gun violence in america? we can no longer wait. we can no longer bpatient. so today we come to the well of the hous for action.e the need not next month, not next year, but now.

>> woodruff: president barack l ama awarded lewis the me freedom and remarked on how he changed the trajectory of the nation. >> when we award this medal to scongressman john lewis, s we aspire to be a more just, more equal, more perfect union >> woodruff: lewis stayed home in atlanta for president trump's inauguration, opting instead to march in the city's protest the next day. >> as a nation and a people d we've come atance, we made progress. but there are forces in america that want to take us back to another time. >> woodruff: in december of last year, lewis announced he had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. still, he kept up his "good trouble" fight for civil rights. in march, 55 years after bloody su, he crossed the edmund pettus bridge on time. and just last month, in what would beinal public appearance, lewis joined a newf

generationotesters in washington, d.c., fighting for justice and equality. for the final farewell to john lewis day, local activists and national luminaries joined his friends and family at atlanta's ebenezer baptist church, the historic church where lewis himself worshipped. the funeral service for representative john lewis included remembrances from fr former u.s. presidents, three in person, including republican, george w. buo said lewis and his faith elevated america's politics. >> listed n, john and i r disagreements, of course, but in the america john lewis fought for and the america i believe in, differences of opinion are inevitable elements and evidence of democracy in action. we the peoe, including

congressmen and presidents can have differing views on having to perfect our union while sharing the conviction that our nationwever flawed, is at hea a good and noble one. president bill cli, amer reminder that john lewis the -btivist was also a committed bridlder. >> as a young man, he challenged others to join him with love and dignity to hold americuse down and open the doors of amica to all its people. we honor him because in selma on he got into a lot of good trouble along the way but let's not forget, he also developed an absolutely uncanny ability to heal troubled ters. jimmy carter sent tenresident message and hoe speaker nancy pelosi remembered the lawmaker she served with for decades, with whom she returned to lma many times.

>> that is what john lewis was all about. non viy insisting on the truth. he instituted on the truth in nashville, in selma, in washington dc, at lincoln memorial; he insisted on the truth wherever he went. and he insisted on the truth in the congress of the united states. he always talked about truth marching on. he always worked for a more perfect union. la woodruff: pioneering activist james on said lewis was leaving a legacy of working against oppression of all sorts. >> racism, sexism, violence, plantation capitalism. those poisons still dominate far too many, in many different wayss john's life singular

journey from birth thrs gh the campai the south and throh congress to get us to see that these fces of wickedness must be resisted. >> woodruff: it was left to the last of the former presidents to obama, toay, barac deliver the eulogy. he chose to link lewis's cause to the politics of now. >> there are tn power who are doing their darndest to discourage people from voting by closing polling locations and targeting minorities and students with restrictive id wiws and attacking voting rights surgical precision, even undermining the postal service in the runup to an election

he kne every single one of us has a god-given power and that the f this democracy depends on how we use it. >> woodruff: the oinma eulogy waeeping with lewis's forward-looking final words to americans, written shortly today in the "new york times" and other outlets. he wrote: "in my life i have done a i can to demonstrate of love and nonviolence is the more excellent way. now it is your turn to let freedom ring. when historians pick up their pens to wre e story of the 21st century, let them say that it was your generation who laid down the heavy burdens of haat at last and eace finally triumphed over violence, aggression and war." late today, john lewis was laid to rest, in his beloved atlanta.

and how much this country owes that one man, john lewis. and that's the >> woodruff: and that's the i'wshour for tonight. judy woodruff. join us online and again here morrow evening. for all of 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 welling. that mission gives us purpose, and a way forward. >> consumer cellul >> the ford foundation. working with visionaries on the frontlis of social change worldwide.

>> the alfred sloan foundation. driven by the promise of great ideas. >> and with the ongoing support of these instituons: and friends of the newshour. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and byibutions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by newsur productions, llc captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

. hello, everyone. and welcome. here is what's coming up. four ceos of tech giants worthl $5 tn face a reckoning via zoom in washington today. should congress reign in their massive power? then, as the world wreck onon wreck ones with the murder of gege floy they confront the it's conceivableha france. astrazenika might make it in october. >> the state of play in the global race