judy: good eveng from the i'm judy woodruff. tonight, uneven response. president trump pushinmpto extend uneyment benefits and suspend payroll taxes as congress andhe white house fail to reach a deal on economic relief. then, the crackdown continues. hong kpolice arrest the leader of a pro-mocracy newspaper in the most hi-profile use of the controversial national security law yet. plus, the pandemic in alaska. the influx of seasonal workers and the inaccessibility of remote villages present challenges for confronting the coronavirus. >> we knew that there was a matter of time before it did get here and we st tried to hold

it off as long as we can. judy: all of that and more, on tonight's pbs "newshour." >> major fundi for "newshour" has been provided by -- >> when the world gets mplicated, a lot goes throu your mind. with fidelity wealth management, aat dediceddv ae can tailor that's fidelity wealthr life. management. >>onsumer cellular. johnson and johnson. financial services for raymondjames. women's suffrage centennial commission. >>ew the william and flora hlett foundation. for more than 50 years, advancing ideas and supporting inttitutions to promote a be

worldlehat h.org. and with the ongoing support of these indivials and institutions ♪ announcer: this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting, and by contributions to your pbs omstation friewers like you. thank you. judy: confusion lingers tonight over the legality of president s ump's executive acti provide economic relief during the pandemic. that comes as congress remains at a stalete on negotiations for a larger covid-19 rescue package. the urgency is mounting now that the number of confirmed

infections in the u.s. has topped yamiche alcindor begins 5 million. oucoverage. >> how motivated is the white house? house flurry otions aboutte , a president trump's actions this weekend to bypass congress and ease the economic pain of covid-19. >> this president has taken f action to alleviate someat burden, but make no mistake . there's still much more we'd like to accomplish. that includes having willing negotiating partners in coress . yamiche: the patchwork of relief measures, made up of three men. does -- three memorandums and by the president ordayere signed after talks between all parties broke down. >> democrats are obstructing all of it. therefore i taking an executive amction. we've had it. and we're going to save american jobs and provide relief to the yamiche: the president said he would resume additional jobless benefits, but at a reduced rate of $400 per week. the federal government would pay 00 and request already

cash-strapped states to foot the rest of the bill. it's still unclear how many states would be willing to do so, and, for now, when any benefits would be sent. s actions also included pause on federaltudent loan payments until december 31st. and a deferral of payroll taxes for most workers from september through the end of the year. the president said this would mean bigger paychecks for working families but the taxes will eveually be due, and the move does little for millions of americans currently unemployed. finally, president trump also directed his administration to consider curbing evictions during the pandemic. but the executive der does not necessarily ban them, or provide any money to help renters. democrats over thebleekend ted the president's actions. they questioned their legality, and called for legislative solution. >house speaker nancy pelosi. >> itl was unconstitutioop. while it has the illusion of saying, we're going to have a moratorium on evictions, it

says, i'm going to ask the folky in charge to sf that's feasible. when he says he's going to do the payroll tax, what he's doing is undermining social security and medicare. these are illusions. right now, we need to come to reement. we got to meet halfway. yamiche: over twitter today, president trump claimed his weekend actions had given him leverage in negotiations with democrats. he said they were now ready "to make a deal."d easury secretary steve mnuchin said this morning the ball was now on their court. >> i think there is a compmise if the democrats are willing to be reasonable. there is still a lot of things that we need to do and that we've agreed on. porter: but the prospects for any talks, at the moment, are still unclear. judy: and the queion is what , more do we know about the president's weekend executive actions, and what they might or might not acmplish? yamiche joins me now, along with lisa desjardins.tandent,

before w about the president's actions over the weekend, there was just some drama in the white house briefing roo e secret service asked the president to leave. tell us what we understand happened. yamiche: thent presias beginning his briefing, talking about mail-in votinghe and stock markets. sooncr after, a service agent approached him and said he had to leave. the president left, came back a couple minutes later, and sbed someone ha shot outside the white house. we are not sure if thatth meant outsidgates or the building. but the secret service has taken it under control in the person has been taken to the hospital. thent presi says he feels very safe and the person -- the briefing continued. judy: let's go back to what the president did over the weekend. we are of course glad no one appears to have been hurt by what may have been a shooting. ubut mployment assistance and the president talking about

$400 a week, the questio is, how exactly would this work? there are still questions about whether it would actually get to the people it is intended for. lisa: let me answer the last question first. it is not clear any of this money will get to the unemployed. it will be state-by-state. if it goes out, it will take many weeks. let me breakown why. first, there is the issue eac state must o in to this idea and each state must itself contribute $100 per person per week and many states may not have tt right now. states may have to choose this and go throughce some p inside the state. let's say a state does decide to participate in this. the next issue is the president is look -- using money for -- from the disaster assistance reliefun which is provided for hurricanes or things like that. when you do the math, this money

would only last five or six s.eks worth of these payme the third problem is if a state does sign and wants these payments, it is going to take a long amount of times, weeks to months, to change the unemployment systean checks rolling. what could happen is ifes a stae ccept these payments and allows it to go to their citins, it could take them so long to get that system going that in the end, tre may just be one check and it may come out just as the money is running out. at best, this is short-term. for many states, it may not happenl. judy: wow. so much to absorb about that. yamiche, you talked in your report about evictions and housing. with the president isdo saying not go as far as banning evictions. what is the idea behind with the president said?

yache: that's right. the idea behind the executive order, h signed three memoranda's, but the executive order is on evictions. e president wrecks federal agencies to look into the idea whether therean be relief given to the more than 110 million americans renting as well as people with federal mortgages. the president has not set aside any money. if you are someone renting and scared he might be evicted, this does not stop your landlord from doing that. instead, this ud essentially ng the problem. i have spoken to a lot olypeople especiere in southeast ec and northern virginia where therere a lot of people affected disproportionately by the virus. thoseeople are very scared now that evictions protections have lapsed and they can be thrown out. they could still be thrown know unless the president puts more teeth into something else. judy: a lot of attention also on

payroll taxes. the president talking about cutting them and basically giving people a break for the last part of the year.wo hod that work, and what does it reall mean? would people actually see a reduction? lisa: that is the right question again, and again, it is not clear people will see this money the payroll6. tax i out of most pchecks. that goes to fund medicare and socialit security. bus not something we pay as individuals to theco irs. anies collect that money essentially and the company is responsible for forwarding that to the irs on behalf of employees. so the cut first round round goes to those companies and the companies have to decide whether they will pass it on to employees or not. one reason they wouldn't do it is because under the president's order here, the money must be

paid back unless something changes at the end of the year or sooner after. so a company like amazon, this is billions of dollars. they don't want to handed out and then have a bill come duee next year whenuld still very well be in the pandemic. may not pass on th money.anies instead they might hold onto it because they might need to give it back again in a few months. it's a complicated maneuver. mpa lot of isons are made to the obama era tax cut. the difference is congress actually passed replacemt funds for that so social security and medicare would not lose money. in this situation, there has not beenepcement funds and instead it is dependent on money back.nd employees paying judy: so many moving parts here. finally, i want to ask about the fact that while this is going on

an the president's part, those negotiations on the hill, people e still looking to see if that will produce anything. is there a thought that what the president did will cause that to move forward? what is the effect it is expected to have on the actio and the hill -- on the hill? yamiche: the president was eager to look like he w doing something for american people because talks stalled in the white house set a deadline for themselves. w it seems the talks continue to be stalled. the senate is not expected to be back. therg is a feelw that the president is saying this is the thing that will save everything is some feeling from the whitee house that he's has solved this butse the white hs still looking to maka deal. the president said n todaycy pelosi and senator schumer called him and were interested in making a deal. they said they ner called the we have a stalemate and the

president saying, i have tried to do sng her judy: so much toollow. elisa and yamiche, thank you so much for following this. with more than 5 million covid cases and over 160,000 deaths,c many publth voices are contendingnthe u.s. is eslly at another crossroads when it comes to dealing with the pandemic. this country currently accounts for more than 22% of all cases and deaths worldwide want to explore some of these concerns witdr. peter hotez, an infectious disease specialist and a pediatrician at the baylor stcollege of medicine in h. thank you very much for joining us again. when we compare the u.s. with bad as it sounds?orld, is it as >> unfortunately, it is. you pointed out 22% 25% of the

cases and significant number of the deaths worldwide, at ofde te 750,00hs globally.we are sadly at the epicenter of the epidemic. despiteri all the suf americans have gone through in 2020, there is still no end in sight. their projections are we will get up to 230,000 deaths by october, 300,000 deaths by december 1. that is from the institute for health metrics. it continues to rise from ere. not only just the deaths, but permanent and long-lasting injuries, a neurologic injury, lung injuries in survivors, vascular injury. this is an awful disease and it is taking a huge toll on american life and economy security. dy: an awful disease and so hard to understand with the country is one of the wealthiest in the world.

you told us today you think it is time for a national reset. what did you mhan by >> the strategy has been on the u.s. side, if you call it that, to have the states in front. lettas make their own decisions and the federal government would provide their own support, fema support and ventilators and ppe and so forth.it is a failed strategy. it is failed because we are the epicenter and continue to be. in the last sevedays, we still lead the world in new cases and deaths. my proposal and others have made similar ones that we not only eed a reset, but we need federal government and the lead. not only in the back but providing directives to states. that reset has different aspects depending on the state. for instance in new hampshire and maine, they are dng quite well and there may not be much to do it a.

but here in texas and florida an, georgia things are dire and we might need more aggressive measures. if you can get to that containment level and there are different definitions, one new case per 100,000 residents per day o, othe per million, that means we can safely openut schools throughe country and even sve sporting eve and have something that resembled normal american life. judy: when you say locked down in some places, are you saying in some states? half the states? what does it mean practically? >> in practical terms, for instance florida wherehe epidemic i raging in miami, there is clearly going to be more aggressive measures needed. mandatory stay-at-hom maybe not the entire state. same in texas, you have maggressive acceration ro areas. you can be a little more

suical than just simply saying we have to stop all of the pieces and locked down the entire nation. judy: b right now we don't see moves in that direction. thov federalnment, we know the president feel strongly it is up to the states. how do you see the wheels being set in motion for this to happen? >> you ask the hardest question of all. i have put out plan about how get movement on the white house to really take this on? i'm trying every lever i can. through the white house and other colleagues are doing the same. unfortunately we have people who say i hear yourcter plan but we don't need that, i have a november 3 plan. i say there is no november 3 plan. plan, a january 20, 2021 which is merely more like a february plan and by then we

could have another 100,000 americans perish. it is not an option. we have to do this now. 'we' already seen what happened in georgia when we try to open up schools in areas of high transmission - it will fla fail. judy: what do you say to those people who say we understand it is serious, we underst doesn't look good, but if we don't get businesses or schools open, the country cannot function, some people wil not be able to thrive if they can't get their livelihood gng? >> i understand that, especially ocial workers who have t physically be in the workplace and family-owned businesses. but i areas where transmission is still aggressive, we already know we can't open scols. we know we can't have anything resembling a normal life. at least if we can do the reset by october 1, i wouldn't say

entirely normal, but something that resembles like what they are doing all over the world. judy: it if we don't, if this isn't done, what are the consequences? >> we've got the models and they are dire. the deaths will continue to imb. long-lasting injury will continue. teachers will be terrified and appropriately so. it will not only cause further erosion to the economy but we will reach a point where people and that is what hdoing outside security threatens. right now unfortunately the waye the wh house is conducting business, it is guaranteeing homeland security will be threatened. don't have to live this way. we can do something about this now and make life that are for

all americans at this point. judy: an utterly sobering message. thank you, dr. peter hotez. >> thank you, judy. stephanie' im stephanie sy at "newshour w more details on the shooting near the white house that ocrred today. president trump was intrupted and escorting -- escorted outside the white house briefing news room and he returned minute salute -- later saying there was a shooting outside the white house fence. the secret service twitter account set an officer and male subject were transported to a hoital and at no time was the white house complex breached. chicago police beefing up their presence downtown after widespread lootingunvernight. thst broke out after police shot a 20-year-old man

who fired at them on the city's south side.hu reds of people descended on the magnificent mile shopping district. they smashed windows and stole merchandise. moren t one hundred were arrested. otmayor lori lightalled it an assault on the city. mayor lightfoot: whur occurred inowntown and surrounding communities was abject criminal behavior pure and simple. , and there cannot be any excuse pfor it, period. d is is not legitimate first amendment proteceech. these were not poor people engaged in petty theft to feed themselves and their familie this was straight up felony criminal cduct. stephanie: the melee lasted for several hours and left 13 police officers injured. 16 pple have been arrested i portland, oregon, after protesters rioted at a police union building last night. demonstrators lit a fire inside the structure, before police pushed hundreds of people away.

two officers were injured in the clashes. it was the 70th night of protests there since george floyd's killing in minapolis. in lebanon, prime minister hassan diab resigned today, along with his entire ruling cabinet. the move follows a week of protests demanding a government overhaul since the devastati beirut port explosion. diab said the unsafe storage of ammonium nitratehought to have caused last tuesday's blast highlighted longstanding negligence. >> today we follow the will of the people to hold accountable those responsible fo disaster that has been in hiding for seven yand their desire for real change. we take a step back to stand with the people to undergo this , battle of change with th want to open the door towards national salvation that the lebanese people are taking part in, and thus, i am announcing r today, theesignation of this government. stephanie: police clasd with

anti-government demonstrators again in beirut tonight. the protesters continue to denounce the government's mishandling of the explosion that killed at least 160 pple and injured thousands more. a potical crisis is also flaring in belarus, after sunday's election that was widely denounced as rigged in favor of longtime president alexander lukashenko. u.s. secretary of state mike pompeo said the election was not "free and fair." protesters also insisted it was a fraud, after showed lukashenko took 80% of the votes. alex thomson of independent television filed this report. reporter: this is belarus. the police ordered to teargas, stun grenade, and beat peaceful protesters off the streets across the country. several thousand arrests, one reported killed.y run overa police vehicle. which the authorities deny.

after 26 years in power, this so-election duly delivered president alexander lukashenko yet another reality-defying victory. 80% of the vote. the man who says you have be born to be president, notel ted. eo praised hitler, who denied the covid pandemsted, says opposition protests will be crushed. >>fi if yot against the country, if you try to plunge the country into chaos and destabilise it, cien with minor dents, you will receive an instant response from me. this is my constitutional authority. so why bla me? reporter: the protesters are sheep, says the esident. manipulated by foreigners. but he offered no evidence. quick to congratulate him, two more presidents whose commitment to democracy isat best questionable -- russia's putin and china's xi. quick to condemn him, european

democracies. belarus's opposition candidate, has read the message from the streets. >> i think we've already won because we overcame our fear, we overcame our indifference to politics. we overcame our apathy and indifference. reporter: western observers say the last free election here was way back in 1995. but this time, the numbers on the streets, and not just the capital. the numbers at opposn arrested, it all adds up, some say, to a genuine turning point. stephanie: that was alep thomson of ident television news. since filing that report, one protester died in minsk after an explosive device detonated in his hands as he was trying to throw it at police. afghanistan president ashraf ghani signed a decree today to release the final batch of 400 liban prisoners.

the taliban demanded they be freed as a condition for long-awaited peace negotiations with the afghan government. the militant group said it'ar ready to re-those talks in qatar within a week from the prisoners' release. the upcoming llege football season han in the balance because of the pandemic with the mountain west confeilnce saying itindefinitely postpone. conferences have y-- pac-10 describe. president trump tweeted that the student athletes were working too har for their season to be canceled. still to come, the crackdown continues as hong kong police arrest the leader of a pro-democracy newspaper. multiple runs in its fight against the coronavirus. daour politics m team breaks down the federal response to covid-19 and up coming morentions and much

announcer: this is the pbs "newshour" from weta studios in washington and in the west from the walter cronkite school of journalism at era stone estate -- arizona state university. judy: cna extended its crackdown in hong kong today, arresting a prominent pro-democracy activist and media owner. as nick schifrin tells us, it comes as the highest level american official in decades visited taiwan to reinforce u.s. ties to the island in defiance beijing. what protecting nationals is security looks like. frog marching a media tycoon through his own newsroom. hundreds of police corralling journalists and arresting editors who produced journalism nicole of thehinese communist already or ccp.

largest media outlong kong's and its owner jimmy lai, an outspoken movocate for deacy, whose arrest was designed to silence a hong kong media that until now enjoyed freedoms that don't exist in mainland china, says senior aide mark simon. >> we take a strg stand for democracy. we don't make any bones about it. our media is starting to look more like the mainland than, hong kong in the past. rt reer: many of hong kong's freedoms are stifled by beijing's new national security law. lai anactivist 23-year-old agnes chow were both arrested for "colluding with foreign powers," punishable witprlife in on. and the law is written so vaguely, pro-democracy advocates fear it can be used against any critics, anywhere. >> that law will mean exactly what they want it to mean, when they want to mean in it, and when they need to use it. yoit will also be used if g college student from hg kong stands up at ucla and starts talking about how much they love democracy and freedom. this is a widespread and overreaching law that has

incredibly draconian reporter: being says it needs to protect hong ko protesters who last year turned violent. last week, chief administrator carrie lam said becausinof covi upcelections that prdemocracy candidates were expected to win, had to be postponed until next year. in response, the u.s. imposed sanctions on lam and 10 other hong kong offials and called the national security law, "a tool of ccp repression."ry today the minif foreign affairs called that proof, the u.s. was biased against chin >> current u.s. licy towards china is a strategic mistake evidence, venting emotions, and mccarthyist bias. reporter: and beijing announced its own sanctions on six leaders of ngo'itical of five beijing, included national democratic institute president derek mitchell. it's part and parcel of today's china, where it's not just about what happens in china, but around the world, that they want people to b

quiet about what's really happening. they don't care about law. boey don't care about truth, and don't care a abiding by the basic law of hong kong. reporter: last year, mitchell spoke inong kong and has cowritten three books about china. he says under xi jinping, the chinese communist party is willing to sence domestic and international critics, no matter the consequence. >> they're going to use thr power and that they will not accept anything that is remotely rights based or democracy based in hong kong and keep going until they feel is squashed entirely. it's very, very sad. ro're seeing in our headlines on a daily basis in daylight, and it doesn't stop in hong kong. we have to recognize t can certainly move to the free people of taiwan. reporter: the fear that taiwan is next, is the backdrop for the highest-ranking u.s. visit in four decades. secretary of health and human services alex ar gavow of support to president tsai ing-wen, considered a beijing critic. >> it's a true honor to be here to convey a message of strong support and friendship from president trumto taiwan.

reporter: officially, azar's visiting because taiwan's a covid success story, in stark contrast to the u.s. taiwan's had fewer than 500 s ses thanks to quick actiin january like widespread testing and tracing, and mandatory masks. but beijing sees twan as a breakaway province, and u.s. support, especial military, is meddling in internal affairs. during azar's visit, the nationalist tabloid global times, reported chinese planes d taiwanese airspace as "clear message." and the clear message received in hong kong by the national security law -- activists, residents, even businesspeople,e are considerinaving. >> informaon is everything. this law is telling, especially the financial community, there are certain pieces ofth informatio we're not going to let you have. that ripple effect is going to be significant. it is not st one more cut in the grain here. th is like an ax chop.

today after the raid apple daily , vowed to continue its work, s t it acknowledged that in hong kong today, preseedom, is hanging by a thread. for the pbs newshour, i'm nick schifrin. judy: a coming covid storm. that is how the mayor of anchorage, alaska re described the pandemic in his city as he annoncced new emer orders restricting businesses and gatherings. as stephanie sy reports, the unique geography of the last frontier state has not spared it from the pain. hanie: remove from other states, mostly wilemrness, the pa took longer to gain a grip on alaska. but now it has in what officials have described as a rapid acceleration and exponential growth in ses.

summer is usually a boom time in alaska for tourism and fishing -- pillars of theconomy, that some locals worry will now expose them to an unwanted guest, the virus. >> as a mother, you're always concerned for the safety of your children. reporter: desi bond who is yup'ik, lives in dillingham, a small town in the bristol bay region knownor its sockeye lmon. during the summer fishing season, the population of some 7000 residents doubles with seasal workers. >>de my and my yogest have asthma. you're always on the alert. are they ok? are they healthy? but then to have somethin'ome in that'so invisible and such a big threat to our lives and our livesih and- livd it's , been very stressful. y we're going to be very careful all the til end of august, part of september. reporter: thos tilden is a tribal leader and commercial fisherman in bristol bay. >>di the mayor oingham and i had sent the joint letter to the governor asking him to postpone the fishery, cancel the fishery, .

reporter: but other local pushed to keep the fishery open, concerned about the economic hit. >>ndhen you're sitting here and the community is broke. upon that.ate anher disaster reporter: a compromise was worked out and seafood companies took steps, like testing seasonal workers before they could work, that so far have prevented outbreaks in bristol bay. not easy in canneries and fisheries where workers live together. >> they put gates around their living quarters. gates round their facilities. got to give them credit for for what they did to keep us all safe. reporter: but other coastal fishing villages have not dodged the virus. hundreds of seafood industry workers have tested positive. in seward, on the kenai peninsula, more than a third of workers at an ob i seafoods for covid 19, forcing the plant obi seafoods operates ten processing plants across alaska,

staffed with both seasonal and local workers. >> when you look at the remote facilities, like out in bristol bay and in kodiak on the far re campuses.e are closed they don't leave. they don't interact with anyone in the communities. reporter: mark palmer is ceo of the company. he says they work with local officials to keetabs on any ployees who test positive. >> where you have some local woeforce, those employees c and go back and forth to home every day. otso they're certainly required to stay on campus, t we try and keep them as separate as possible inside the facilities.po er: in addition to fishing, the tourism industry is vital to alaska's economy. cruise ships bring in $1 billion a year. >> wwent from that to, of course, almost nothing instantly. reporter: vivian mork owns planet alaska, a gallery thatve sells naade goods in downtown juneau.mi 1.ion cruise tourists were projected to come through the

port this summer before coronavirus cancelled cruises. >>m, we went froaybe doing well, to all of a sudden trying to figure out how to keep the roof over our head and the food in our belly and the store open and bills being paid. reporter: that loss in business has meana huge drop in income for many alaa -- alaskans. >> at the same time as it hits us economically, it also helped to protect us from having been inundated with positive cases. reporter: they are far from b being inundate cases have begun seeping into even the most remote communities, where there is extremely limited access to healthcare.ti ts have been medi-vac'd from places like bethel, in far west alaska, and fort yukon near the arctic circle, home of the gwichyaa zhee people. >> we've we have lost our firstc tribal member,munity membero covid a few days ago. reporter: councilmember dacho

alexander says they did their best to keep their town isolated but village and family life are remarkab interdependent, especially during the crucial peak fishing months. >> the reality of village life is it requires multiplrdfamilies in to basically survive because you're having to put away food for theinter. we knew that there was a matter of time before it did get here and we just tried to hold it off as long as we can. virus got to fort kon.ar how the the village was undea strict lockdown and curfews, but for a 10 day period in june when rules re relaxed. >> the rural areas are intertwined economically with the larger communities. reporter: nathan mccowan is head of the st. george tanaq village corporation. st. george is an island in the middle of the bering sea. >> once and gets into rural cities, dutch communities everybody understands the , capacity and the medical realities about how dangerous it can be. >> we're seeing some larger events occur now. is the medical director at the

alaska native tribal health consortium. he says many alaska natives are at greater risk for severe impactfrom covid 19. >> there is an increased burden of chronic disease, increased burden of smoking, increased burden of crowded housing, increased challenges with water and sewer access. and all those prevent incredible risk to the rural community. reporter: native alaskans have survived in the face of many hardships, but not without taking devastating losses. the 1918 spanish flu decimated many families, including thomas tilden's. >> someone bought that influenza into the v. one morning, there was no relatives, they had all died that day. and so they lost the vast number of their vilpoge people. er: that pandemic killed more than half of adults and elders across alaskan villages. more recently, the 2009 h1n1 flu hit the regi hard. alaska's geography is both an opportunity and a vulnerabilityn t comes to covid.

>> we want to rapidly identify and eradicate covid in these rural communities. not a mitigation strategy. we really need to prevent it entering those communiques -- communitie reporter: but an eradication strategy may be too late. when the summer fish harvest is over, nathan mccowan worries the cold season brings new peril. >> we can have seasonal storms that will ground all air travel for weeks. reporter: by the numbers, alaska has far fewer cases than other states, but desi bond says the burden is no different. >> i know alaska is a forgotten state. i know our people are overlooked, but we are here. we, too, are fighting to keep ourselves safe , to keep our families healthy. reporter: fighting an invisible enemy as memories of devastating pandemics loom large in the minds of many alaskan natives. the pbs "newshour," i'm judy: we are just one week away

from the start of the democratic r national convention and e first time in months, all eyes are on former vice president joe biden. our politics monday team is here to mark the moment. that's amwalter of the cook political report and host of public radio's "politics with amy walter." and tamara keith of npr. she also co-hosts th politics podcast." finally tonight, as more hello to. great to s you. all eyes on joe biden. he has been able to let donald trump havmost of the spotlight are almost all the time. what kind of pressure is o biden at this point? amy: unt this point, the race has really not in donald trump versus joe biden, it is dold

trump vers not donald trump. part of the reason joe biden has not gotten a lot of spotlight is donaldrump has not seen enough of it. he likes being in front of the camera. likes constantly having that level of attention. to make a referendum on joe biden, he has to give joe biden get in front of the camera. you are right that this coming week we will see a lot more of joe biden. the most important thing is that het answers the questions t lot of voters have about him. one, what are his priorities? he'seen giving speeches and doing stuff from wilmington, but there'sns never an in focus on who he is and what he stands for. and then of course who he picks for vice president and how the rollout goe does it go over among democrats very well? hodoes the media portray it? how does he look andtr sound ucing this person in what

will be his very first big decision he has made as a judy: how do you see the present?ns on the vice when you hear republicans make light of him saying he's been hing in the basis, -- basement, now is his chance to come out. tamara: yes, and that is by design. there have been numerous opportunities where joe biden could have tried to getwn on a trump cycle and the biden gn purposely did not jum in on the news cycle, in a way not taking the bait. that is a contrast with past people who have idn against prt trump. other news happening right now.h will joe biden and his running mate be able to dominate the news? will they be able to dominate the politicalthews? part of might depend on how negotiations go on coronavirus

relief packages and the ttential existst biden and his running mate don't get as long onews cycle as one noally would. and what does that mean? it's not clear. judy: well, we know it will be a won. how much is riding on this? 'amy:amy: that' a good point that they might not get the cycle to themselves. to me it wouldugst this is a good pick for joe bidenecse it's not raising the level of controversy that would keep it in the news for more than a couple days. but this, he has said yes he will pick a woman, but in the last couple of weeks, the impression is that he will pick a warmer -- woman of color. we have seen so many women brought up on the national sunday shows, getting profiles and national newspapers.

the expectation has been raised so high that this woman he picks will be a woman of color, that if he doesn't, it becomes much more of the story, and that vice president biden spends more of this time explaining why he chose someone who is not a woman judy: given that, the pressure is on him to do that which may be his inclinaon anyway. tamara: to add tomy what said, there have been numerous open letters with big names and long lists of themrging biden to pick an african-american woman. as amy says, there's a decent chance if he doesn't, that is what the convealation will be about. one thing that i think weon't fully know the answer to at this point, there have been two other women on the ticket before as vice president.

in both cases, they got picked apart in the press. some of it was based on real holes in the resume and problems, some of it wasn't. i have to wonder, what happens when another woman is on the ticket? what happens, do the same sexist tropes reir head again? we know the biden campaign is fully expecting that and seems to havela ato try and combat it. judy: we are going to know in e coming days. we are told we would see the announcement ts week. quickly, the covidti relief neions have gone nowhere on the hill. the presideex came up with utive orders over the weekend. where do you see the political play here? who is benefiting and who hasn't? amy: the big danger for both parties is this falls apart and

ody looks bad it's interesting, if you look in april and may, gallup reported job approval fo congress in the last 20 years. it is down to 18% july. certainly congress is not owing inith a deep well here of goodwill. but republicans are much more on the defensive in the senate because many of them live in states, especially blue states or purple states with arguments making the senate are not going to fly. they want to be able to campaign on bringing home money to state and local govern struggling right n and many of them are struggling with financing things voters care about, education. judy: and how do tiu see the po shaking out here? tamara: the other big risk is if they can't come up with something, people have already

lost unemployment benefits. wno the president is talking about trying to create a way but the states are saying it's problematic, they don't have the money and it will be tagistically challenging. the treasury sec says it could take a couple of weeks and that's optimistic. all the while, there is economic suffering. the real risk is the economy suffers further when this ground shifts underneathand the democrats and republicans. judy: moan of this is happening in a vacuum as you are point here. temer keith and amy walter, thank you both. finally tonight, as mo institutions across the country start to reopen and some close again due to spikes in the coronavirus, we look ahow the 173 year-old sprawling smithsoniainstitution is gradually welcoming back the public.

khn yang visited two of t attractions of the world's largest museum, education and research complex. this report is part of our ongoing arts and culture series, "canvas." reporter: it is re-opening dayl at the natior and space museum's "udvar hazy" center in chantilly, virginia, outside home to some of thtest exhibits of air and space travel.no there'rush of thousands of visitors as there normally would be this time of year. stead, an orderly, timed entrance of no more than 1500 people -- the daily limit of ad online.kets available >>nd they scan itou will be good to go. reporter: the same day, under a morning rain, animal lovers trickled into the the smithsonian's national zoo.es two sites are the tip of the spear for an institution that has more than 150 million artifacts and works of art and each year usually attracts more than 30 million visitors.

>> our secretary, lonnie bunch, has described in our opening and closing more like a thermostat or a switch that we can turn up and we can turn back down. porter: the smithsonian's 19 museums are free to the public. officials say these two facilities are uniquely positioned to open f >> steve monfort is director of the national zoo. >> we have a large campus, 163 acres. mostly, it's an outdoor experience. we do have indoor houses, but we can restrict access to those. so the idea was to be able to opt if we can provide enough social distancing we can mandate , the use of masks. reporter: following guidelines and regulations from the centers for disease control and prevention and the district of columbia, the zoo is admitting no more than 5000 people a day with timed entry pasths from 8:00 imorning to 4:00 in the afternoon. on an ordinary summer day, the zoo cohave as many as 25,000 guests.

now every visitor six and older is required to wear a face covering. the pandemic has also meant changes for zoo's permanent residents. assothate director brandie smi oversees animal care. talk about what it was like here for the months that you were closed. did the animal's behavior change at all the people gone? >> well, you know, the animals definitely notice that people aren't here. you know, i can tell wn i'm out in the park when i walk by, say, the lions and tigers. they definitely pay attention. rerter: they perk up? >> well, i think it's two things, right. so they're not used to seeing people. when a person comes by what are , they doing here? what do they have to offer me? also, i think sometimes, you g ow, the animals like see as much as we like seeing them. so we offer them entertainment and distraction. reporter another concern, the possibility that the animals could catch covid-19 from people. even in normal times, some zoo workers wear protecte gear to

prevent what are called "zoonotic" diseases, which are shared between animals and humans. >> zoonotic diseases are not a new thing. there's something we deal with all the time. think about avian influeraa. think aboues. think about e. coli. so we are always prepared to deal with and prevent zoonotic viruses. reporter: first-day visitors said they came to get out of the house and see both animals and her people. father nk chauvenet took daughters maia andonya. >> we have done natureg rails and go playgrounds, things like that. but they usually like coming to the zoo. so getting a chance to come back after a while. it has been nice. reporter: does it give you a sense of normalcy? >> a small amount. yes. it certainly feels like little tiny progress. >> we have waited all summer this to open. reporter: three generations of the vander time family wanted an interesting environment for baby hendrik. >> he was fascinated by the elephant over here. reporter: you feel that's

important educatih , not just frr? >> yes. >> he grows what he saw the elephant. he knows what the elephant is and now he is connecting it to the book, it's a real thing. ngit is gob smacor a one-year-old. reporter: the air and space psays the udvar hazy center can offer a hopeful messag >> this museum is about these stories of ingenuity, stories oo creativity, ovng huge problems. and to me, th's a message that maybe the public could use right now is look what we're capable of. reporter: last year was the 50th anniversary of the moon landing and that sort of resurgence of that spirit of that summer of 1969, which i rememb and now this summer, which is quite different. >> you know, 've been thinking about that a lot. because last summer we went all out and projectethe saturn five rocket on the washington monument and even launched it up the monument. how do you give that spirit to a new generation that as americans , we can conquer any challenge we put our minds to?

and so obviously, even though we're not celebrating as much this summer as we were last summer, that message of the american spirit, american ingenuity, you know, we have our apollo 13 face mask that has "failure is not an option" on it. reporter: for 90-year-old wallace coates from newcastle, pennsylvania and his extended family, seeing was believeth -- believing. >> i do appreciate a chance to see sort of is technology that went behind the science. and i also like seeing that the museums are survivinand adapting. reporter: though funded mostly by congress, both museums have lost millions of dollars in parking fees, and sales of food and souvenirs -- that's as much as 40% of their yearly revenue. but just as important to officials is returning to smithsonian founder james smithson's mission, " athe increase diffusion of knowledge." for the pbs "newshour," i'm john yang in washington, d.c.

judy: tonight online, how is the pandemic affting the 2020 elections? we are looking for your questions ahead of the democratic and republican national conventions.g ask us by fillt the form on our website, that's pbs.org/nehour.be anre we go, i just want to note that it's nice to be back in our studios tonight for the first time in some months. we are here preparing for special coverage of the tipolitical conventions st next week during this important election year. we are continuing to practice social distancing, being careful, and we hope you are as well. forthat's the "newshou tonight.i'm judy woodruff. join us online and again here tomorrow evening. for all of us at the pbs stay safe and see on., please announcer major funding for : "newshour" has been provided -- >> since our beginning, our buness has been people and their financial well-being. th mission gives us purpose

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♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ -today on ca's test kitchen," selia makes bridget vietna grilled pork meatballs... adam reveals his top pick for kitchen shears... and dan makes julia showstopping japanese negimaki on the grill. it's all coming up right here on "america's test kitchen."