captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodrf: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight: evictions on hold. in a surprise move, thetr ump administration bans evictions until the end of the year, but questions remain about rent payments. then, coronavirus on the re. infections spike in iowa,wh prompting the house to urge the governor to re-impose restrictions. plus, health care abroad. we visit switzerland to examine a system with both universal coverage and market-driven private insurance, and ask how it compares to the u.s. >> the swiss have the lowest avoidable mortality rate. mortality amenable to health care intervention. which means the lowest rate of people who die, who shouldn't

die. the u.s. has the highest. >> woodruff: all that and more, ononight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ >> fidelity wealth management.r >> consullular. vi johnson & johnson. >> financial serces firm raymond james. >> supporting social entrepreneurs and their solutionto the world's most pressing problems-- skollfoundation.org. >> the lemelson foundation. esmmitted to improving liv through invention, in the u.s. and developing countri.

on the web at lemelson.org. >> supported by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. recommitted to building a just, verdant and peaceful world. more information at macfound.org >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: >> this program was made possible by the corporation for and by contributioyour pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: the pandemic and puic schools headline the presidential campaign news tonight. j democr biden hammered away at president trump today, saying schools are facing a "national emergency." in his home town of wilmington, delaware, he called out mr. trump for failing to provide more aid. >> this is an emergency, mr. president.

this is an emergency. a and donald tru his fema should treat it as one. mr. president, where are you? where are you? why aren't you wking on this? we need emergency support funding for our schools, and we need it now. >> woodruff: also today, the biden campaign and the democratic national committee reported raising a record haul of $364 million in august. meanwhile, president trump traveled to wilmington, north carolina, marking the 75th anniversary of thd of world war ii. he spoke at the battleship "north carolina," now a floating museum and memorial. there is word that a coronavirus vaccine could be rdy by late october or early november for heal care workers and high-risk groups. the centers for disease control

and prevention confirmed todayt thattified public health officials in all 50 states and five major cities. the pandem has claimed 185,000 lives nationwide. germany says that it has confirmed that russian dissident alexei navalny was, indeed, poisoned.ln nafell into a coma last month in siberia, and is now in nihospital in berlin. germany's prime er angela merkel announced he has tested positive for novichok, a soviet- era nerve agent. >> ( translated ): alexei nalny is the victim of a crime. he was meant to be silenced. and i coemn this in the arpest possible manner, in the name of the entire german government. we expect the russian ment to explain itself to this incident. >> woodrf: the same nerve agent was used on a former russian spy and his daughter in britain, in 2018. ismoscow said today that i

waiting to see the official findings. the united states has imposed new sanctions on the international criminal court's chief prosecutor and a top aide. it is retaliation for their investigations of alleged american war crimes in afghanistan. the penalties include a freeze on t court officials' assets. they were already under a u.s. travel ban. 14 people went on trl in helping plan attacks on a satirical newspaper and a kosher supermarket in 2015. the islamist raids killed 17 people. all three gunmen died as well. the newspaper, "charlie hebdo," had published cartoons mocking the prophet muhammad. lawyers representing the paper said today that the trial is about defending freedom against terror. >> ( translated ): that's what "charlie hebdo" is about: g the refusal ive up freedom of expression, including ideologies, dogmas, religions. not anymore in a country with

freedom of expression. we would be in a country of fear, wi a dark future. >> woodruff: most of the defendants say they did not understand the kd of crime they were helping coordinate. back in this country, o prominent democratic incumbents have been re-nominated in masshusetts. on tuesday, senator ed markey held off a challenge from congressman joe kennedy iii. kennedy is the first of his family to lo a congressional race in the bay state. l,d, congressman richard n the chair of the powerful house ways and means committee, defeated his progressive challenger, alex morse. mississippi is one step closer to getting a new state flag. the old flag, featur confederate emblem, was retired two months ago. today, a state commission recommended a new design featuring a magnolia. voters will decide whether to accept it in november.

the congressional budget office is projecting the federal budget deficit will hit a record $3.3 trillion for this fiscal year. that is three times the red ink yof 2019, and it's driven pandemic losses and relief costs. but on wall street, stocks rallied again, partly on hopes for a covid vaccine. the dow jones industrial average gained nearly 455 points to close at 29,100. the nasdaq rose 116 points, and the s&p 500 added 54.s hitting recor both. still to come on the newshour: the trump administration ban evictions until the end of the year, but questions remain about rent payments. covid infections spike in iowa, prompting e white house to urge the governor to impose restrictions. we break down how the electora map has changed sinc2016 as the race for the white house intensifies. us, much more.

>> woodruff: in an unprecedented move, the trump administration announced a temporary national moratorium on evictions for tens of millions of renters who have lost work. the tion comes through the c.d.c., which says evictions pose a health hazard during the pandemic. while this would stop manyun evictionl the end of the year, the rent is still due, eventually. let's hear from some people dealing with this-- residents on the verge eviction, or where it's already ha >> my name is victoria lambert and i live in philadelphia, pennsylvania.

my money that i receive from social security is $1,000, and my rent was $750, t they're now raising to $765. i read about the moratorium being extended. that might give some people an opportunity between now and december to amass some money to carry you through or to even get right, to get current. you still always on the edge., >> my name is kyle pongrat >> and my name is brittany pongratz. >> and we got papers in the mail, and a sheriff's deputy droppethem off to us, for an eviction court hearing date. and, you know, we... we didn't know what to do. like, we just... our heart stopped. come october 1, everything has to be out by then. it's probably not going to help us because we've already made an agreement through the courts. i got $275 to my namgo until knows when unemployment comes through.'v and got six kids between us, and that's going to go

really, really fast. >> you really-- you're at the end of the string here, man. like, what-- what do you do?>> y name is doug quattrocchi, and i'm a small landlord. i have three rental units in worcester. i live in one of them. the eviction moratord.m the enacted makes sense from a health point of view, but it dodges the fundamental question, which how we are ultimately going to pay for this. just putting temporary band-aids on isn't going to work, when we knew at the start of this we were going to need stihes. >> woodruff: thank you all. and now for a look at what prompted the c.d.c.'s action, and who it will and will not help, we turn to diane yentel, president of the national low income housing coalition, a non-profit advocacy group. diane yentel thank you very much for joinings. how much of a difference will this new moratorium make, do you

think. >> thanks for having me, it could make a tremendous diff aence, it isn extraordinary and unprecedented action that the cdc has taken here. and if it is upheld by the courts, it will save lives and it could prevent tens of millions of people from losing their homes in the middle of a pandemic. >> we were-- i saw a number, something li0 20 to 3 million people are potg entially fac the brink of eviction, are all of them going to be helped. we just heard from that one couple who said they had a court date, they will be out in september, does there save everybody who is dealing with there? >> so it doesn't quite protect everybod and you are right, that we were predicting that as many as 30 to million people in about 17 million hoseholds are at risk of losing their homes by the end of the year if gress or the administration disnd act. so this eviction moratorium that the cdc is putting into place

will protect the vast majority of low income renters who are at risk of eviction due to covid-19. there are some eligibili requirements and actions that renters need to take in order to have this protection. so in order to be protected a renter neds to be-- have a certain income, an individual with an income less than 90,000e or a household with income of less than 190,000 a year, that is about a6% ofll renters meet that income eli availability-- eligibility requirement, and they would have to attest they lost income r ey had extraordinary health-care costs. they would have to attest that they have done everything they can to pay the rent and they will continue to do everything they can to pay the rent. and they would have to attest that if they are evicted they would face homelesess or have to double or triple up wi family or friends. and if they meet all of those

eligibility reqnts, the renter needs to sign a declared statement to say so, give it to their landlord andh then tey are protected under this moratorium which begins t ta effect on friday. >> so there are steps they need toake actively themselves, and it could be just in a matter of days that they have to get it done if they are facing eviction in the very ner term. >> absolutely. i mean so this, this order takes affect beginning on friday. and this declare tiff statement-- declareitive statement is the first st renters should take, as soon as possible. t ke it on friday, sign and declare a statemat they meet the eligibility requirements, give it to their landlord and mawk sure that ey receive this protectionf they are eligible for it. and even ifenters live a state that has some eviction moratoriums in place, this order ask acts as a floor, so if there

are places thahave stronger eviction moratoriums for mor renters, those are what take precedents but if thre are renters in areas where there is no eviction more foriums or very weak eviction more foriums, now this moratorium will prtect them. >> now we just heard dianne yentel frothe landlord, who owns three units, he said. he said this is just a temrary bandaid. he said the money is going to ame due, what aboutndlords who are not healthy but are counting on this rental income themselves, what happens to them? >> well, that is absolutely right. the eviatction morium is essential. but it is a half measure it doesn't actually prevent evictions, it delays them. d buys us some time to keep people houd get congress and the white house to get backo ork to negotiate on a final covid-19 spending bill that offering a true solutions to th

eviction crisis. and that is emergency rent asis tras. rent is still going to be due at the end of this moratorium. and low income renters are not going to be able to a vord-- afford it when it is due any more than they can afford it now. we don't want owe increomnters to be saddled with more debt thn they can possibly pay off. and at the same tie small landlords rely on rental income in order to pay theirills and keep the lights on and continue to maintain and operate their properties.and small landlords e sw income renters are the landlords who aruggling most right now. so emergency rental assistance absolutely has to be paired with this eviction moratorm and only congress can provide those resources. >> and so far that has not happened. we are still waiting to see what if anything congress will do on this front. well, it certainly is, some questions hae raised a number

of others, diane yentel, thank you so much. >> thank you for having me. >> woodruff: now, let's focus in on a covid hot-spot in the midwest. iowa is dealing with a surge of cases in recent weeks, along with nearby states such as north dakota, south kota and kansas. iowa has one of the fastest- growing rates in the country at the moment. amna nawaz has a report from juere. >> nawaz: thanks. that surge in iowa has been driven in part by the return to school, including the state's .ajor universities. but that's not a o. kay henderson is the news director at radio iowa, and appears regularly on iowa pbs. e joins me from des moines.

kay, welcome back to the newshour, the numbers are worth highlighting statewide we shoulo meiowa currently has more than 66,000 con furthermored cases, more than 1100 deaths, but it's not the infection volume that is troubng experts t is the per capita numbers. the average in iowa ise tri the national average over the last week. conference about this earliers today. how would you describe her response to the latest troubling legures? >> well, many penow the white house coronavirus task force has been advg isates on steps to take to sort of mitigate the spread of the virus and the task force this paswet recommended iowa close bars in 61 of its 99 cunties and have a statewide mandate for face coverings in public place the governor's resisted both of those things but last week she did act, closed bars in six of iowa's counties, three of them are in the populist places in

iowa, poke, theo desnes metro, lynn countwitcedar rapids is, the other major metro in iowa, and then in the college communities where the big state universities are located. >> nawaz: let me ask you about transmission remaiigh inute those university towns. when you look at at that one coy nd the university of iowa, mere was a third positive iterate intter of weeks, back in august 2 and, the positive itere which is a percentage of the positive cases of everyone tested, right, august 2nd, that wa 9.9 percent. by august 23rd that had jumped to 29.7%. what happened here? was there t enough igation put in place before? were those steps not enou? >> well, many of the folks in iowa city who work in the health would be tested as they returned to campus. and then put in quarantine. but the university decided not to test stunts who were

returning. but students have been tested as they he been exposed to positive cases. >> nawaz: let me ask you about another county, story county where iowa state univeity is. there were plans in place for a football game next week, this was tching a lot of attention. governor reynolds was actually asked about that football gamepl and thns to allow fans to attend in the press conference. here is what she sid in response. 'r so if you have underlying conditions and ypart of a vulnerable population, maybe i wouldn't go to the iowa state football game next week. it's 25,000 out of a capacity o. 61,5 it ioutdoors. they should, i'm sure, should wear a mask. and if we see an impact, then we'll have to adjust accordingly. if you don't think it's safe,go don' >> we're pointing out, that was. less than three hours later, plans changed and they said no fans are allowed. what happened there, who is

driving the decision making. >> well, iowa state athletics director jaimy pollard made the announcement 90 minutes afterma the governore that statement that your viewers just hard in his written statement the he said the university president reached out to people in the community for their concern and reversed course. meaning that there will be no fans in the stands when iowa state has its homeowner on the story county rd of public health had been urging university officials to have games without fans in thest ds. and last night there was a lengthy city council meeting in aims where citizens were expressing either outrage or support of a city mandate that people wear face coverings in the city. it passed. it goes into effect on friday but because the governor's public health declarations here that prevent cities ancounties from enforcing local mandates, so there will be no pealty for k,t wearing a face mas although there is anrdinance

saying that folks should. briefly before w you go,y the republican senator joanie ernst has rt cently casdoubt on not-- likely overstated eveny though experts say the opposite. is that doubt, is that reflective of people's concerns on the grond in iowa? i was hearing from conservative republicans in the state legislature as early as april that they wereasting doubts about the number of covid deaths that were being reported in the statey back then. and as you mentioned a few moments ago, 1100 deaths in iow have been attributed to covid. and senator ernst mentioned she haheard from people in the health-care industry, that o hospitals are misdiagnosing pele as having covid in order to get higher payment for the care of those patients.ha reached out to the hospital association here and to the state medicaid program, neither of them have responded

to that accusation. >> nawaz: we should point out the death count is actually pandemic.ted nationwide in this that is kay henderson of radio thank you so much.ector there, >> thank you. >> woodruff: the general election season is officially in full swing, and both presidential campaigns are mapping their path to november. but, shifting demographics and a more diverse electorate have anged the voting picture in many ways since 2016. to help walk us through some of these changes, i'm joined npr's senior political a edit correspondent,on domeniconaro. domenica, we welcome back to the newshour, very good to see you. let's start by talking about the it all hinges on them, the

people who make up the electorate. te us how that electorate has changed, how does it look different from 2016? >> is with really curious aboute thisuse so many people keep talking about the 2020 election as if it is the same thing, as the 2016 election. so i talked to the demographer, william frye a he talked me through the changes, tht working white class voters from 2016 to 2020 have drfooppe points. ey went from 45% in 2016 to 41 persz as-- percent as a share of eligible voters is what we are talking about. meanwhile if you look at white voters with a college degree and latinos, each of those have gained two points each overall. if you were to combine white voters with a college degreand latinos, two groups that vote overwhelmingly demratic and pit them against white voters without a college degree who vote overwhelmingly for president trump, you would see that the g has almost completely vanished from 2016o

when whiteers without a college degree had a nine point advantage over whitte vos with a college degree and latinos. so really we're seeing a big change here. and president trump's base is s realinking. >> so interesting. so let's zero in on the states that are most competitive. the states where the candidates are focusingost of their attention. what are the issues on the ground, what does it look luke? >> well, you know, if you look at our battleground map, there are about 16 states that are really in the competitive when we say that we talk about states that lean towardt presidump, tossup states and states that lean towards joe so you can see he within those states the trend also continues. when you look at white voters without a colege degree, in 14 you see whites without a degree on the decline, con versely yu

see latinos on the rise in 12 of those 16 states. so the demographics mawking some big changes, big shiflts and it's part of why you see in a place likewise wise, forpl ex and arizona, where you have two sort of differing asons for this states to be competitive in wisconsin, stu know, a belt state that was super close in 201 y had a white was a college degree down five points and yet whites with-- whites with a college degree up three points, that i the real ballge there. latinos are down in wisconsin but if you look at arizona, totally different story, you have whites,working class voters, whites without a college degree down d latinos up six points and the big difrence here as far as016 to 2020 and why joe biden is competitive is latinos, they now make up about a third of the overall eligible

voters in arizona but a thing to keep in mind, this is not about who is going to voe, this is just about who is eligible to vote. as y can see, about 31% of ttinos in arizona being eligible to votat say big difference from 2016 when only-- when they on made up >> well, one votockte. domennico that is getting a lot of attention, suburban voters, especial suburban women we know president trump won suburban vote ares in 2016 but the mid-terms saw change in the suburbs. what does it look like now? there has been a huge shift. you know, in 2016 as you mentioned, president twob the su-- won suburban vots narrowly, 47-55 when you look at voter surve compare that to 2020 when you look at our pole, the bs newshour, npr merits poll, you have joe biden with a

61-36 advantage over president trump in the suburbs. if those number of poles, it makes itit very-- poll mawks it difficult for the president to win we election, campan managers who we talk to, republicans, up and down in these competitive hose races, why would these states, these house racesontinue to be competitive when these are republican-leading suburban districts, and that is why. because president trump is a drag at the top of the ticket for them. tt the same time, the group tha he can try to get out is those degree, they only turned out a 58% rate in 2016. there's room for them to grow because that is only about on par d even down from some past presidential elections.f: >> woodr lot of wildcards with really important information. domen ico, thank you so much. >> you are so welcome, thanks for having me.

>> woodruff: 2016 was only the beginning. the threats from hacking and interference to the november election from foreign governments are growing, as we move closer to november. nick schifrin explores the role.t we know about russia's >> schifrin: judy, the internet research agency was a troll farm-- a sock puppet army of fake online accounts and automated bots, spreadingnc syonized talking points. today, facebook and theen indepecyber-security firm graphika say members of that ilency created a new site, peacedata, which itself as a "global news organization." its stories are designed tde criticize bifrom the left to steer possible voters away from his campaign. was also hospitle to trump. intelligence officialsay the russian goal rains the same: spread disinformation, sow division. but the difference this time? they're trying to hire

americans, an attempt to launder the russian origins of the disinformation. and we are joined by the primary author of that graphika report, ben nimmo, the firm's direor of investigations. welcome back to the newshour, laundering the source of disinformatiav is a forite tool of russia, how did it work in this case. >> this thisase what you have is an operation that was built around a website called peacedata which published in english and arabic. named its member of staff, its editor, editorial assistants. and all of those were fake personas. they had all been invented the operators behind this particular network. they all hadpr fake ofile pictures which had been generated by ai. but what they were doing is rather than using these fake personas to write stories themselves, they used thim to then contact freelance journalists from around thein worluding in the united states. and say would you like to write for us, can you send us stories. and they, it seems that they hired quite a few differest journain different

countries to write stories which then went on thete web and then the operation itself had accounts on facebook and twitr. it has penas on linkedin and accounts to try a plant thea stories in front of per spent did shall di shall per septemberive audiences, so for example, on facebook once they got freelancers to write the stories it was interested in, it would use its own facebook accounts to post th groups that they thought i what be particular important targets. t and the kind orowps it was targeting were very much progressive groups, groups that focused on deocratic socialism, groups that hosted on-- some environmental groups in the mix. but you can see that the process was et somebody elsto write the stories so it looks authentic. and then you us the fake accounts to drop it in front of the communities you are trying to target. >> one of the other evolutions that you write about that the internet research agency has changed in the last couple of

ouars is using more crafted, mortar getted as than in 2016. what does that say about how these efforts are evolving. >> it really looks like they're trying harder with each perso partly because they're having to. if you think back to016, the internet research agency was running hundreds of accounts off different platforms with only ever a paper thin attempt at having an identity. but what has happened suns then of edowns by differentle rounds platforms, multiple exposed different ways that the internet research agencies and other information pritns have been working and really tuckly now with the election coming up, the hunt is on. there a who community of researchers out there both upside the platforms and outside who are looking for this kind of fake account activity. and so the operators who are behind thisti parlar network were having to try harder to create a pesona that would stand the test. so they have the same peritna on

the weand on facebook and on twitter and on linkedin.e they try and g a little biography. a little bit of a personality-- personality. but still it wasn't enough to stop them getting caught. and that really tells you something important about the way if you like the way the game has shifted in 201 in 2016 it was almost painfully easy fo the internet research agency to run these fake accounts and get away with it, hd what weave seen since then t has been getting harder and harn rer. >>e one hand facebook says the fact that this particular h sis so few audience members is a sign they're doing well and cracking down on this.th on the hand the fbi tipped facebook off about its con tnts in wuly. and heare in septeer. is facebook doing enough, fast engh. >> in 2016 the operation that targeted the u.s. election was finally exped and taken down the september after the election. this timaround we have en an operation being taken down cooperation with lawforms, in

enforcement, september before the election. and that is a really, really importt difference. catching it before it can actually reach the data it'sg target much more effective than catching it a year down the line. >> we ould mention that peacedata has supposedly sponded to these ticisms about it. saying that it is evident cethat ok and thfbu quote want to shut up independent left wing voices. is that in some way just pat of the disinformation playbook. >> yeah, that is something we see every time there is an exposure of an information operation. part owhat they will do is they will try and raise a storm of protest and say we are not an formation operation, you guys are. it is an absolutely typical part of russian information operations. have i seen it with various operations that have been takit down. s part of the trolling game. what will be interesting to see is whether anybody actually falls for it. this websi operates by running

fake personas, fake prfile pictures trk is now taken dowthn wage on the-- page on the within site where these fake profile pictures were being display approximated. without being a kept in number of archive webs so the evidence is still there. the operation takes down part of what it wing. and so if their claim is that we are just poor, oppressed journalists, the question remains so why were you using ag n rated profile pictures in the first place, which they don't have a an tnd whyhey are trying to hide the evidence. >> thank you.ank u very much. >> woodruff: we return now to our special series on universal health care. since the pandemic began, a growing number of americans think the u.s. healthcare system

is below average, compared to other nations. that is according to our latest pbs newshour/marist poll. as the u.s. considers changes, william brangham and producer jason kane travel to switzerland, which has preserved the private insurance market while still achieving universal coverage. like this whole series, this story was filmed before the pandemic erupted. >> brangham: the swiss shop for health insurance a lot like theo heir groceries. there's a wide array of choicese this ce, or that one? one with the high deductible? or one with the high premium? for all swiss families, like the prestonsit's a system that, in some ways, is even moreur market-driven own. but the big difference? everyone here is covered the idea behind it is what's known as "social solidarity," and it's what impressed american-born jason, who's a teacher, when he moved here and

married sabine, who is swiss. >> for me, it's just sort of a basic right, and ty seem to appreciate that. >> brangham: do you see it that way, too? i know that the swiss bout it that way. do you buy that idea that health care is a right? >> yes, because, i mean, yeah, again, coming from where i come from, there's is sort of negativity in the states that, you know, if you're poor then it's almost like you deserve to die, right, for being poor. it's like you're being punished for circumstances that are outside of your control. it may not be said like that explicitly, but that's kind of given off.g, the vibe that's that if you can't afford it, well, you don't deserve to be well. >> brangham: health insurance in switzerland is costly. jason and sabine pay about 16% of their income on premiums. on top of that, the average swiss pays more out of pocket average american.n the but, the prestons like the care they get, and they like buying into a system that protects everyone. h e it's a bit more humane. it's like, look, there's a basic

level of care that people deserv it costs, but you still deserve it. and i think that the swiss government's commitment to that is spot on. >> brangham: this is one of the men who helped design that system. ndomas zeltner was switzer ste secretary of health for many years, and is now consultant to the government, and until recently, chaired one of the cntry's private insurance companies. >> in the '90s, the was a debate on "is health care such an essential part of wellbeing, and feelg safe in your country, and in yo neighborhood, that you want that everyone has access to it?" and actually, it was something like 70% of the populatisa who "we want that." >> bngham: wow. that is a resounding yes. >> yeah. >> brangham: zeltner says one of the crucial innovations was separating health insurance from employment, which has allod

the swiss to keep their health insurance during the pandemic while millions of americans are losing theirs, when they lose their jobs. they've been able to separate the two, but instead of making the government the spayer like in the u.k., they've made it so that a wide array of insurance companies can flourish. >> and the fun thingoos, you can , and i just told a friend, you know, i can choose to go to thetharber here, or e. since 30 years, i go to the same barbernd >> brangham:e does a nice job! >> but the option to to choose is a kind of a freedom. >>rangham: this is all now baked into society, as swiss as this country's famously-punctual rail system. there are roughly 60 private companies selling plans, but the swiss government ds take a firm hand in regulation: it mandates basic coverage that

all plans must include, and the government sets the pric that can be charged for medications and procedures. depending on the plan they choose, the swiss can pi their own doctors and oid needing referrals for specialists. wait times for procedures are low, in part, because doctors get paid well, there's a lot of them, and the system is competitive. i met up with new york university's victor rodwin. he's a health policy expert who's traveling across theng country studts health care system. >> the swiss have the lowest avoidable mortality rate. >> brangham: lowest avoidable? >> which means mortality amenable to health care intervention. it means the lowest rate of people who die, who shouldn't die, if they didn't benefit from the medical care that they received. e u.s. has the highest. >> brangham: the swiss live about five years longer, on average, than we do, and they're a lothier than we are, suffering far lower rates of asthma, dietes, heart disease and hypertension. rodwin credits part of that to

swiss health care, a system whic here. incredibly well >> they express high confidence in the medicalhirofession and confidence that if a problem occurs, they know they're covered. there's a sense of q in this country which goes from chocolate to cheese, to watches. and in health care, is the sames... they do things carefully, and at generally high quality. >> brangham: swiss officials say there's anher main reason they achieve these results: it requires everyone-- like mel hirsig-- to have insurance, no excuses. it's similar to the individual mandate with the affordable care act-- but unlike the a.c.a., this mandate has srper teeth: the government will garnish your wages if you don't comply. that's partly how they get universal coverage, but for young people like hirsig, who don't need a lot of medical care, it can seem like a big imposition. so what happens? if you don't buy the insurance, what happens to you?

>> well, it's also like, you have to be registered to get a job, you have to have andr ads, you have to then show the local council office your proof of healtinsurance and blah, blah, blah. >> brangham: oh, really. >> so they can chase you down >>quite easily. rangham: and if the government wasn't forcing you tn buy health ins, do you think you would buy it anyway? >> no, i wouldn't have it r the health. o brangham: just because that monthly cost is ch? >> and because i don't use it. i don't get my money's worth o of it. >> brangham: the government offers premium subsidies for lower income workers, anit caps yearly out--pocket expenses, so, unlike the u.s., people rarely go bankrupt from medical bills. but those premiums can sometimes lead to serious debt for middle- income families. this woman didn't want her name revealed because of the stigma around debt.

her husband had multiple surgeries, lost his job, and their income dried up. >> we were getting subsidieso help pay for the health tosurance, but we still ha pay a large portion ourselves. >> brangham: and even with the subsidy, it still was unaffordable? >> at the time, it was unaffordable for us, yes. i think it is expensive, but i think the healthcare is also very good. >> brangham: hmm. so, even though the costs put you at real financial peril, you still see some benefit to the system? everybody pays into health insurance, it makes the qualityf ealth insurance better for the population.ng >> bm: brown university's dr. ashish jha studies health care systems around the world, and he traveled with us for this series as a collaborator. >> i think whas really remarkable about whae seen here in switzerland, is it's a totally different model for achievinuniversal health coverage. odtting-- making sure ever

has access to health care, providg high-quality care, in a way that's so different from what the u.k. does, through thee national healtice, and actually in many ways, pretty different from the u.s. approach >> brangham: jha notes the u.s. of course is much bigger tn switzerland, has a higher poverty rate, and the swiss have a more robust safety net. but there's more. >> andhat is kind of the rule-following mtality of the swiss. that the government says you must buy health insurae, and everybody says yes, okay, we will buy health inrance. as opposed to in america, where we bristle when the government tells us we have to do anything. and we bring up the broccoli argument: what if the government made you eat broccoli? the swiss don't worry eating broccoli. they think "if the government thinks that's something we oughw to dll do it." and in that way, it is very different, and it allows the swns health system to funct differently than what we've been able to do in the u.s. >> brangham: for the record, the broccoli, but sabine and jason

are fine with it. they also know the insuranceat macosts them a lot, but they see it as part of the greater good, part of being swiss. for the pbs newshour, i'm eriam brangham in oberhofen am thunersee, switznd. >> woodruff: stawith us-- to see how a s louisrass band is offering songs of hope in this pandemic. but first, take a moment to hear from your local s station. it's a chance to offer your support, which helps keep programs like ours on the air. uf

>> woo next, we take a second look at jeffrey brown's report on a documentary that chronicles the highs and lows alof a famous rock group cled "the band." this encore presentation is part of our ongoing arts and culture series, "canvas." >> brown: the honor of opening last fall's toronto international film festival went not to a splashy new hollywoodlm fi, but to the documentary "once were brothers." ♪ ♪ and why not? at its heart is robbie it big after first hearing early rock 'n' roll in the 1950s.ic >> when this mame along, that was like, that's it. that's the sound. that's the feeling. that's the rebel spirit. let's go. >> bro: at 15, he would join the rockabilly band of ronnie hawkins and begin touring all over north america.

a few years later, he was playing lead guitar as bob dylan went electric. he opened some doors that we didn't know what was behind those doors before. there was a way he could write about things that nobody wrote about before. ♪ ♪ >> brown: most of all,tson was ad guitarist and songwriter for one of rock'sor most int and beloved bands, called simply "the band." robertson, rick danko, richard manuel, garth hudson-- all canadian-- and levon helm, the arkansas-born singer and drummer. with songs like "up on cripple creek" and "the weight," the band brought together disparate inflnces to make something new. in the documentary, bruce springsteen recalls hearing the

seminal 1968 album "music from big pink." g there is no band that emphasizes comingether and becoming greater than the sum of their parts than the b simply their name, the band. thatas it. >> and when "music from big pink" ca out, people said, what is this? >> brown: yes. >> where did ts come from? this doesn't fit in. this isn't what's happening. and we were like, thank you. thank you. >> brown: that's what you wanted to hear. >> because our job is not to be what's happening. our job is to be as honest as we can about this noise that we're making. ♪ ♪ >> brown: it allulminated in 1976 in san francisco with one of rock's most renownedan concerts, "thes last waltz," made into a film by

martin scorsese, and featuring a long list of stars-- eric clapton, joni mitchell,va neil youngn morrison, and many others, capped off by dylan. it was music that changed time. but daniel roher, the director of "once were brothers," and alo,so from toront is just 26, and he says the music has lived on for many in his generation.ou >> i say that the cool kids know the band. >> brown: the cool kids know the band? >> yes.si i mean, the s timeless. well, when i came to this project, these guys were mythic, you watched "the lltz,"dary. and they're just the coolest, most incredible guys. you know, they just occupy this mythic space in rock ' a roll histor cultural history. and i think what really came into focushen i made the film is that these rock 'n' roll idols of mine, these heroes of mine, these guys tt i worshipped, they were just like me. you know, they were justlike, five guys trying to do the best they could, battling their inserities and their demons,

and it's very challenging circumstances, trying to navite success. ♪ ♪ >> brown: indeed, the brotherhood didn't last, amid drugs, alcohol, depression, squabbles over direction and resentments by other mbers of the band of robertson, who they claimed took too much credit, including when it came to collecting songwriting royalties. in a 1983 memoir, levon helm ote bitterly of his former st friend. helm died in 2012 of throat cancer. richard manuel took his own life in 1986. rick danko struggled with addiction for years, and died in 1999 at age 56. garth hudson is the only otherg survivnd member. robbie robertson told his siden of the storys 2016 memoir, daniel roher's newasis for >> i think it's a bittersweet

story. i think it's a bitcarsweet story e, ultimately, we're left with this phenomenal body of workthis music that will liv on forever. but, at the sa time, that comes with the acrimony that you, we spoke to earlier, and that comes with the bitterness and sadness and agedy. >> brown: robertson has written musifor many films, often working with scorsese, including composing the score for "the irishman." ♪ ♪ and he recently released a new album, "sinematic," his first in eight years, including songs like "dead end kid" featuring irish singer glen hansard, that tell stories from his own life. ♪ ♪>> ach song is like a little movie, and some of them are about, not about who i broke up at one time, when i was justnto

and i thought, "i'm going to doe this," and, "i think i could do that," and, "oh, it would beea to go out in the world, and i want to write songs and write"-- and people were like, what? oh, you're going to be disappointed. th's not going to happen. >> brown: it did happen for robbie robertson, along with much drama and pain along the way. for the pbs newshour, i'm jeffrey brown. >> woodruff: finally tonight, neighbors continue to try to socially-distance, yet connect in some fashion with each other, the red and black ass band in

st. louis has found a way to bring music to the streets of its hometown. local station kcet produced this story as part of our "canvas" series. ♪ ♪ >> we are the red and black brs band, and we're coming your neighborhood. ♪ ♪ >> i never thoughtit would be in a situation like a pandemic that we would beng playing, walown the streets. >> one day, ben, who is my roommate, the tuba player, he ked on my door and asked i wanted to go outside and just play. get out of the house. because, you know, we had been cooped up in the for so long. >> we didn't do thiso be disruptive. we wand just to kind of be

additive. ♪ ♪ >> so he tooout the tuba, i took out the trombone and we just played for the neighbhood. the next day, our building wenager told us that we ha viral on twitter. we hadn't even noticed.d ter that, we just decided, let's put the whole band together. let's get our frat brothers involved and let's g this thing on the road. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> i've done it before all my life, you know, growing up in south louisiana, you know, with mardi gras and all those things. and that's always a joyous occasion. but not for something like a pandemic. >> so we don't announce because we're a little worried that right now if we announce, more people would show up and it'd be a little out of control for

safety reasons. to continue to bring good spirit and music to the people.♪ ♪ >> woodruff: bring the brass to the streets of st. louis. and onhe newshour online right now, we talk to two poets about the anniversary of hurricane katrina, and how they found resilience in writing despite everything that was lost. that's on our website, www.pbs.org/newshour. and that is the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. join us online and again here for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you. please stay safe, and we'll see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> for 25 years, consumer cellular's goal has been to provide wireless service that helps people communicate and connect. we offer a variety of no-contract plans, and our u.s.-based customer service team can help find one that fits you, to learn morisit www.consumercellular.tv.

>> when the world gets complicated, a lot goes through your mind. with fidelity wealth management, a dedicated advisor can tailor advice and recommendations to your life. that's fidelity wealth management. >> johnson & johnson. >> financial services firm raymond james. >> the ford foundation. working with visionariesonn the tlines of social change worldwide. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and individuals. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for

public broadcasting. and by contributio to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

♪ >> hello, everyone, and welcome to "amanpour & comny." here's what's coming up. 2 million covid cases d counting in brazil, coming in second to the united states -- a report card on the populistid present who failed to takerd charge, with ainning filmmaker petra costa. then... >> wheyou see something that is not right, not fair, notju , say something! do something! >> a new documentary for our time -- director dawn porter on the legacy of civil rights giant, congressman john lewis. plus... >> the thing that is fairly ear is that kids are less severely affected with this virus than adults. >> the knowns and unknowns around returning to school. our hari sreenivasan talks to dr. sean o'leary of academy of pediatrics. ♪