tv PBS News Hour PBS September 21, 2020 3:00pm-4:00pm PDT
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captioning spons by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening, i'm judy woodruff.ew on theour tonight, a titan of american law-- the country mourns t passing of supreme court justice ruth bader a contentious fighherce sets up replacement. then, a grim milestone-- the u.s. approaches 200,000 deaths from covid-19.em weber the victims and examine the path forward. plus, fallout-- even after withdrawal from the nu deal, the trump administration insists on the re-imposition of sanctions against iran despite rejection from other globa powers. and it's monday, tamara keith and amy walter break down the impact of justice ginsburg and the latest on the ra for the white house. all that and more on tonight's
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pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> when the world gets complicated, a lot goes through your mind.it with fidely wealth management, a dedicated advisor can tailor advice and recommendations to your life. that's fidelity wealth management. >> the william and flora hewlett foundation.50 for more thaears, advancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better world. at www.hewlett.org.
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>> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: and individuals. >> this program was made possible by the corporation r public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: the stakes don't come any higher: the death of justice ruth bader ginsburg has created an opening on the u.s. supreme court, just before a presidential election. now, a battle royale begins, and the outcome shuld decisively t the court to the right, for decades to come.
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hn yang begins our coverage. er yang: flags flew at half- staff he white house today to honor the late justice who died friday of metastaanc inside, behind cloors, talks intensified as president trump prepares to nominate a successor. >> yang: the president said he's narrowed his list of candidates to five-- all of them women. >> president trump: i would say on friday or saturday i'll be announcing the pick. it's five women who areok being at and vetted very carefully. we'll pick somebody who is outstanding, very qualified. they're all qualified. but somebody who is outstanding. i would raher see t all take place before the election. >> yang: the president's proposed timing would leave less than 40 days for confirmationhe ings and a vote before election day. no supreme court justice has been confirmed that quickly since 1981, when sandra day
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o'connor was unanimouslyap oved to be the first female justice a little more than a month after president reagan nominated her. senate majority lead mitch mcconnell has insisted mr. trump's nominee will get a vote on the senate floor. >> the senate has more than sufficit time to process the nomination. history and precedent make that perfectly clear. c our democratic colleagues want im they are outraged, they can only be outraged the plain facts of american history. this senate will voton this nomination this year. >> reporter: but it is still unclear if there >> yang: but it's still unclear if there are enough senate republican votes to pusa nominaon through. the party controls the chamber 53 to 47. just four republicans breaking ranks would block the president's nominee. already two of the senators-- susan collins of maine and lisa sarkowski of alaska-- have they do not support a vote before election day. democrats slam the scramble to
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quickly confirm a replement as hypocritical. in 2016, mcconnell refused to consider former prident obama's nomination of judge merrick garland to replace justice antonin scalia, who died nine months before the election. >> mitch mcconnell and his mitch mcconnell believes that this fight is over. what mitch mcconnell does not understand is this fight has just begun. >> yang: yesterday in philadelphia, democratic n presidentiinee joe biden said jamming a nomination through the senate would be a" abuse of power and made a direct appeal to senate republicans... ow yourse fo conscience. nominated in the circumstances president trump and senator connell have created. don't go there. uphold your constitutional duty. the st thing we need is to a
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a constitutional crisis that plunges us deeper into the abyss, deeper into the darkness. >> yang: biden said that if he wins in november, psident trump's nominee should be withdrawn and replaced with his own. e supreme court building, a steady stream of mourners paid their respects at a makeshift morial. >> it was because of the work that she's done that ias able to have a good job that allowed myself and to choohave asupport family, to have reproductive choices that allowed me to delay pregnancy until i was ready for it. and then to choose to do it on my own, to have the confidence at my job would be okay. >> the fact th we had a supreme court persona who was dedicated to reason and justice and i think balance is something
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that is imperative in our judicial system, particulay at the top. >> yang: inside, black crepe drapes the entrances to the high court's chambers, justice front of it.eat and thbench in ginsburg will lie in repthe at supreme court wednesday and thursday, placed under theic portat the top of the court's front steps to allow the public for outdoor public viewing amid the pandemic. on friday,heill lie in state in the capitol's statuary hall, before a private burial next week at arlington national cemetery. for the pbs newshour, i'm john yang. >> woodruff: and for more on what's next, i'm joined by our white house correspondent yamiche alcindor and capitol hill correspondent lisa desjardins. hello to botof you. firsthe, to you exactly how does president trump want to move forward with this, and what do we know about who is on the
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short list? >> reporter: well, president trump is eager to fill this supreme court seat vacancy, and he has vowed to dso and senate republicans have also vowed to do so. he plans to make his nomination aouncement as early as saturday, and he wants that person confirmed on to urhe supreme before the election. republicans are arguing that there are a number of sutieme court juss who were confirmed in the number of days that we have from between now and inauguration. they point specifically to saying she was confirmedg, in 42 days, and john paul stevens, who was confirmed in 19 days. that bng said, the president says he is going to nominate a .m he has five women on the final list. first is judge barbara lagoa, and e is a federal supreme court, a judge on the federal court of appeals in atlanta, georgia. in 2019, she became the
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first hispanic woman on the florida supreme court. anthe nt is judge amy barrett. court of appeals for the seventh circuit in she is a devout catholic, and thatmp prod tough questioning. and she is a former clerk for the latest justice an antonin scaliía. and next sup a sueme court justice and law schoolprofessor, and a federal prosecutor, and she once volunteered for the presidential ompaigns of joe biden and bob dole. >> woodruff: and we see that with somears ago. lisa, meantime, from the hill perspective, take usro h what the timing and the logistics are. could they actually g this done before the
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election? senate leader mitch mcconnell's office isin stressg it is possible to get this done before the elec aon. let's lowhat needs to be done. if you can see this graphic, this very friy is 38 days from the ection. so a nomination on saturday would mean 37 days that the senate has to make this decision. what is involved? the nominee would have to submit boxes and boxes of documentd, for example, with the cavanaugh information, there were over one with his nomination.uments in addition, the nominee with all 53 republicanet senators, and perhaps somee democrats asll. all of that needs to happen in the space of just a few weeks, judy, because hearings need to happen in the judiciary that is usually at least one week. democrats can call for a one week delay in that. republicans can override it, but if they try to go
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with normal procedure, judy, what this all meansst is there is a space of two or three weeks for senators to make a judgment on the supreme court nominee setting up a vote fe end of september. judy, where are the votes exactly? john reported on tn his story. let's look at where we are tonight exactly. d s take a majority of the senate to pass a supreme court nominee on the floor. so 50votes are needed. the republicans have 53 members of the senate righnow, and that mens they could lose four. as he reported, there are lisa mccowski.susan and and there is chuck grassley of ia. he has said if he were chairman, he would not hold a hearinon any vacancy. he spoke to reporters not long ago and indicatedth a statement may be coming from him tonight. we'll be watching.ll
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>> woodruff: wbe watching. and just quickly, yamiche, what are you h the people y talked to about how this affects the election? >> well, this supreme court vacancy up-ends the 2020 election. it puts the supreme court top, top of mind for voters. it was already something that was going to be of course, on people's minds. but the coronavirus and now the supreme court, it really underscores the power of the presidency. people who say theto some president is funf aising it, and the democrats i talked to are worried this couldoc suppress dts, and some say they could also be motivated because it becomes a 6-3 majority for the republicans, democrats could be going to the polls in higher numbers. >> woodruff: all right. and aspects of thisssues election to follow for both of you. yamiche alcindor, and lisa desjardins, thank y >> woodruff: and now a perspective from the senate
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to give us a sense of at's next for democrats in their effos to block a vote on a supreme court nominebeforehe election, i'm joined by senator maggie has new hampshire. >> woodruff: how do you see the legacy of justice ginsburg? well, thank you for having me, judy. just a giant, not only in the field of law, where she paved the way for so icny women who came after her to pralaw, but in the cases that she chose to take on nd the way she really stood for the proposition if people are free to be themselves, it strengthens all of us. and i think for a lot of us, she was also a rle model when it cae to following a profession she loved but also raising a family. >> woodruff: and so when you hear president trump saying he is ing to nominate a replacement, another nominee for the court, by the end of the week, and the senate intends to vote, senate majority leader mcconnell says there is
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going to be a votsoon, what is at stake here? >> it kind of takes your y.eath awa because when you think about four years ago, when they made the decision tooc any kind of hearings for a nominee from presidenerobama aft justice scalia died, tod they're reversing themselves. and what i think about a lt is what is at stake here. we're in the middlef a pandemic, and the senate republicans have been tattempting, for the la several years, to repeal the affordable care act, take away protections for conditions. pre-existing they haven't been le to do it legislatively. together with democratsg and crafting another covid relief package to help people, they are rushing through a nominee to the supreme court because there a case before the supreme court right after the election that would, in farepeal the affordable care act and take awainy pre-exi condition protection.
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so that is their priority now, and that is what is at stake, to install a t justice who wie away health for millions of americans. >> woodruff: as i'm sure heu know, one of t arguments they're making is that historically, whe there has been a supreme court vacancy in the year of a presielntialtion -- and yod the senate maority of the same politicalpart that 29 times tho nominations have gone forward. so they are saying there is hisntrical prece for what they're doing. >> they're coming up with all sorts of arguments to stify this. people are voting already in ely voting in lots our states. and, again, the real iorities are for the american people are for us to come together, pass a continuing continue to fund the government, and come togethero do what weo need too continue to address the pandemic. and it is deey
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disturbing to me, as it is to my democratic lleagues, and i hope it is to more of myle republican coues, that the emphasis here would be on rushing through th nominee. this would be a rushed process, even if we weren't in the middle of a pandemic. and to rush this through in contradiction of therd same stanthey set four years ago is really, as i said, breathtaking. >> woodruff: senators, i'm sure you also know there is iconsistency o the part of the democrats' arguments. democrats argued foag yearthat there should be a vote, and i'm going to quote something that yoid when you were running against your predecessor, republican senator kelly aot. th from -- we're going to list something from a debate you had, and here is what you said. >> the constitution of the united states says that the president shall
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nominate a candidate to be supreme court justice and then the senate shall advise and csen it doesn't say except in an election year or when government is divided. it says you need to do your job. >> woodruff: againthat was from a debate when you were seeking to unseat, to defeat, kelly aot. and you m the argument there should be a vote in an election year, no matter what the party difference was. >> and then the republicans changed the rules. i opposed what they did. they changed the rues. e of the things that we have to be able to do in this democracy of ours is hold both parties to the same set ofles. and i think it is critically important that the republicans hold themselves to the same standards that they held themselves to ears ago. i think it is important for predictability in our democracy. but, again, it comes down to why are they doing
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this? rmally speaking, you would not rush a nominee through is quickly. you would not see the president of the united states making a nomination just a week or so aftero the deatf a justice. d there would be serious consideration over the hourse of weeks and months ofe nominees. so what i keep being struck by is why rush? and, again, we come back tohe fact thathis is a republican senate that has been trying to repeal the affordable care act for a long time, and they seem to be in a rush to mak t suey can install somebody who is likely tote n favor of doing that. the american people, i think, believe that it isle reason given these circumstances, and given what the republicans did fourears ago, to l the next duly-elected prident make this nomination after he is inaugurated. and i hope very much that
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my republican colleagues will examine their conscience and dcide to join democrats in insisting on that procedurally. >> woodruff: i would just make the point that democrats in 2016, and republicans this year, are ying that the cour needs all nine justices, all seats to be filled. so we're hearing the same argument from different parties. right now, tugh, it looks as if republicans have the votes to get this through, doesn't it? that's certainly one of ri. this we're hea we haven't heard from all of our republican colleagues. we are urging them, again, to abide by the rules hat they invented in 2016. and, you kow, i will also note that on the question of needing nine justices in case there is a dispute about the elections, thet corrently has a 5-3 majority of conservatives. >> woodruff: meaning -- meaning what? that il stileight justices. >>t is still eight
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justices, but, again, it didn't concern the t republicans why changed the rules four years ago. >> wayneago.i>> woodruff: allgh, we're going to leave it there. senator maie hassan of new hampshire, thank you. >> thank you very much. stay saf >> woodruff: and for the republicans' vw on the supreme urt nomination fight, tomorrow i'll talk to senator john barrasso of wyoming. >> woodruff: in the day's other news, the nation neared a somber new milestone in the covid-1 pandemic: 200,000 deaths. that count comes from johns hopkins university, which also says the global death count is closing in on one million. we'll return to this, right after the news summary.
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>> to count absentee ballots up to six days after election day. meanwhile, campaigns officiid joe biden and his campaign officials say the biden september with $466 million. that compares with $325 million for the president and his allies. a former topeputy to special counsel robert mueller says the evidence was there that president trump obstructed justice, in the russia investigation. but andrew weissmann says mueller would not say that, explicitly, because mr. trump could not be charged while in office. weissmann spoke to "the atlantic," ahead of publishingsi his r account. the u.s. jtice department reatened today to cut federal and portland, oregrk, seattle it follows president trump accusing the cities' democratic mayors of allowing anarchy and violence in anti-racist protts. but in new york today, mayor bill de blasio dismissed the >> this is just anone of president trump's games.
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it's thorougy political, it's part of his campaign strategy. it's not based on the facts in the least. it's insultingo the people of new york city, and his effort to withhold funding is unconstitutional. >> woodruff: the justice department says all thrree cities have resisted federal intervention to quell the unrest. another tropical system is plaguing the u.s. gulf coast. come ashore tonighexas,s due to then veer into louisiana and beyond. it has minimal winds, buasheavy rain h already made rivers out of rdways in galveston. ultimately, up to 15 inches of rain could fall. on the west coast, dozens of the "bobcat" fire in southern calirnia has doubled in size in a week, fanned by high windsl es have scorched 165 square miles of los angeles county hillsides.
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the u.s. commerce department says it will chaiaenge a califoudge's ruling that chat app. ban on the popular we- the judge found that barring we- chat from app stores could harm users' first amendment rights.n the s to have taken effect today. on wall street, stocks fell on worries about new pandemic lockdowns in europe, and lack of new stimulus action by congress. the dow jones industrial average lost 509 points, nrly two percent, to close at 27,147. the nasd fell 14 points, and, the s&p 500 slipped 38. and, the 72nd emmy awards are in the books. host jimmy kimmell stood on stage alone last night, with nominees gone virtual and trophies delivered personally, at home. and, 24-year-old zendaya became sse youngest best lead act
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for her role in hbo'sup ria." still to come on the newshour: the u.s. approaches 200,000 deaths from covid-19 the trump administration insists on the re-imposition of sanctions against iran plus, tamara keith and amy walter break down the potil fight following justice ginsburg's death. >> woodruff: as the country approaches yetmanother tragic er of the pandemic tonight, roughly 200,000 americans have died from vid and related complications, wwanted to take some time to look at how the virus has cut across so many communities in the unid states. and to remember the lives being lost.
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william brangham begins with what we know about its toll to this point. >> brangham: the slow beat of bells at the national cathedralg in wasn, d.c. on sunday. 200 tolls as the nation approached 200,000 american lives lost to the coronavirus. it's a daunting number, one .that's hard to fully gra its nearly twice as many americans who've been killed in every major conflict since the koan war, combined. so, as the country marks this solemn occasion, we felt it important to take a moment to lay out what the numbers tell us, so far. it's been 242 days since the first reported case of this novel coronavirus in the united states. since then, there have beenev nearly million more reported across all 50 states. daily cases have fallen from a t peak of mon 70,000 in july, to under 40,000 today.
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all told, louisiana, florida, mississippi, alabama azona have seen the most cases per capi so far. but over the last week, the dakotas, wisconsin, oklahoma and utah have seen the most cases per capita new york, which suffered the worst outbreak early-on, accounts for more than 16% of all covid deaths, with roughly 33,000. in new york city, one in every 360 residents died.ey new jecalifornia, texas and florida each have seen at least 10,000 people die. but the five states with the highest death rates in the last week are arkansas, mississippi, virginia, florida and north dakota. so far, in the u.s., the virus has a nearly 3% case fatality rate. more than 90% of deaths involving covid-19 were people over the age of 55.
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and more than 40% of deaths occurred in nursing homes or aisted living facilities. we also knowhis virus has taken a disproportionate toll on communities of colohis country.hi blacksanics and latinos, and native americans are morend than two half times more likely to get virus than whites. those same groups arimroughly five more likely to be hospitalized. and black americans are as likely to die. glally, among these major developed nations, the u.s. has, by far, the highest number of daily deaths. it's a number that will likely to continue to grow as we wrestle with our national response to this global tragedy. for the pbs newshour, i'm william brangham. >> woodruff: as we reach this devastating milestone, amna nawaz has more about the people behind the number.
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>> nawaz: over the last six months, we've tried to capture the heartbreaking and staggering loss of life, by sring the names, faces, and stories of just a few of the hundreds of americans who died each week from covid-19. and here they are-- 115 mothers, fathers, teachers, nurses,st arand grandparts, from every corner of the country and every walk of life.ka one, was phili. he was 100 years old, but, his faly says, as lively as ever. he kept his album of military totos close at hand. >> i stood next enola gay but i didn't know it had a bomb on it. i didn't know i was four feetfr the atomic bomb. >> nawaz: an air force co-pilot, kahn fought at iwo jima, later taking aerial surveys of the devastation from u.s. atomic bombs. he settled in new york, worked construction on the world trade centerand became a father, grandfather, and great- grandfather. this is lynika stroziegr
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raised by hedmother, she was diagnosed early with a severe leaing disability, but studied nonstop, and became a researcher at the world renowned field museum ichicago. was at home in the labrior out withds, and she was just 35 years old. according to her wife, spreading love and fighting for justice was a calling for reverend vickey gibbs. her final sermon at her houston church was an impassioned call to action on the panmic and racial inequality-- >> be the bridge to equality by >> nawaz: gibbs had a special bond with her grandson, whom she gifted the nickname,oo. reverend gibbs was 57 years old. postal worker jesus llazos took time greet every neighbor along his mail route in arlington, virginia. he spent over 20 years in the postal service after immigrating from colombia. he and his wife raised two children in a home he first discovered along his route. at 67 years old, he loved to
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show o his grandchildren on social media, always with the caption "life is good." hatsy yasukochi was the heart of her family-run san francisco bakery. >> i decorate cakes, i answer the phone and i wait on d stomers. >> nawaz: she li the japanese phrase "gaman,"ndo persevere,ing imprisonment with her family in u.s. internment camps in the 1940s, and beating breast cancer as an adt. the 80-year-old grandmother's bakery wls were adorned with family photos and silly snapchats. dolly raper was one of few fluent cherokee speakers left in the cherokee nation and, according to her family, madebe th fry bread in oklahoma. known for her generosity, friends say dolly was always there with a helping hand. she never complained, not even when battling breast cancer. the matriarch of her family, dolly was a mother, grandmother and great-grandmother.e s 67 years old when she
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died. to assess thisoment and the impact covid-19 has taken on our country and it's health care system, we turn to two dr. georges benjamin is executive director of the american public health professional group dedicated to and dr. megan ranney, an emergency physicn andpr essor at brown university.e welc you both, and thank you for being with us. i'd like to ask each of you this question, dr. ranney, i'll start with you because it is such a milestone, a moment are struggling wiw toeople process it. first, doctor, how are young reflecn this moment when we've hit 2000 american deaths. >> doctor: i first take a moment, as you just did, to honor all of the lives that have been lost, both those i have pernally touched in my emergency
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department, and the hundreds of thousands more across thecountry. to also honor their families and their communities and the effect and the holes tht athose lives lost are creating within their comnies. the second thing that i do is i think about kind of how we got here, td wha it is that we need to do going forward to keep this horrific number from doubling or tripling or quadrupling in the months to come. >> and before we get to how we got here and where we go, dr. benjamin, i would like to point out another staggering statistic for context. the u.s. makes up about 4.2% of the world's population but accounts so far for 20% of a covid-19 deaths worldwide., dr. benjamow do you get your head around that number right now? >> doctor: i also firstpe honor thle that tragically have died, and
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remind myself that this s preventable if you look at the rest of the world, they showed us a admap of what w should have done to try to minimize our numbers, and we've not done that. >> when you look at this pandemic, dr. benjamin, wed non the piece before, and william brangham noted, it is hitting efferent parts of rica very differently, depending where you live and whatou do, this is that you're scared every time the phone rings, or it seems like an stract nfolding in another part of the country. you mentioned other countries, but when youw look at h it is unfolding here, what does that mean? the fact that it is unfolding very differently from different parts of the country, does it mean the number resonates differently?>> doctor: it does. each of us have had a we're reactingrience, and
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differently. that's why we need a unified &ational plawe various communitiethe they needed it. that has not yet happened. when we look to the future, we know what we need to do. e pathway is clear. the science is clear. and prevention works. but we just have not done it yet. >> dr. ranney, anothe statistic i want to point out to you, when you look at the leading causes of death n the united states, and the projections experts are making for this year, it looks like covid-19 will be the third leading cause af death in the united states, after rt disease and cancer. you heard dr. benjamin sayav we't had testing at the level most experts say we needed, would having all of those things or any of thngose thi change the way ings are now. especially when you look at the other countries. >> >> doctor: absolutely, we would be in a different place if we had a
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comprehensive strategy, and to get us tesliting su and to get us peonal protective equipment, and mostim rtantly, had we had consistent, clear public health messaging forhe american public about what to do to prevent the spread of coviwi19. those three things put together, we could have had a death toll tha was half or a third of what we're currently facing. we are alone among high-income countries and having the per capita death rate that we do.e we ane of the top 10 countries worldwide in terms of our per capita death rate, that is not the place we should be in, given our centers for disease control and the national institute for health. this is failure of national strategy that has gotten us to this nt. >> very briefly, what needs to happen now?
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what can be done now so the ath toll doesn't get as high as projeed? doctor: absolutely. i love that question. we can talk about what we can do as a countrnd as individual communities. quatan insist of ade testing supplies. we can all mask. there is ample evidenceth universal masking decreases infection rates by somewhere between 60% and 90%. e that's anxtraordinary number. long before there is a vaccine, if we all wear masks always when we're out in pubc, we can stop the spreadf this virus. we can also insist on improvedational data inform that public health messaging. i'll say unfortunately, the federal government has been behind the curve in theidata, and so academic institutes and the non-profits, ch as the one i'm involved in, ha stepped in to fill the gap where there are p.p.e. needs, and even the spread of covid within schools, that is all
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provided privately instead of by the federal government. we can support those estaás d do it on a state or community level, where we also put pressure on a national level to try tor move national strategy forward. >> dr. benjamin, i want to put the same question to you. you heard dr. ranney mention we could see the death toll unfold. >> i'm very wotrried ab this. i'm afraid we had 200 bellsung, and we're under trajecty to have to ring 400 bells towards the end of the year, into early next year. the point is: wearing a mask, washing your hands, keeping your distance, not getting round in crowds, is clearly the way to go. and because were in flu season, get your flu shot. >> that's a good reminder for everyone out there. that is dr. georges benjamin and dr. meg megan
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ranney joining us as america mar a tragic milestone. thank you to both of you. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> woodruff: today, the trump administration announced additional sanctions on iran, after declaring over the weekend that all u.n. sanctions initially lifted by the iran nuclear deal, had been re- posed. but that "snap-back" of u.n.on sancwas rejected by much of the international community. here's nick schifrin.ri >> sch judy, the administration calls its policy on iran maximum prsure, and today it's trying to increase that pressure, but it's also increased a shpedown with eu allies. an executive order imposes sanctions on iran if is weapons, and on anyone selling weapons to iran. and e departments of state, treasury, and commerce sanctioned iranians affiliated
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with iran's nuclear ssile industries. oat followed what the u.s. calls the snapbau.n. sanctions over the weekend. these were the sanctions lifteds by tning of the 2015 iran nuclear deal. the u.s. says u.n. sanctions are now reimposed on iranian weapo sales, ballistic missile tests, and enrichment. but the other members of the security council, and the other signatories of the iran nuclear deal, say the u. does not have the legal authority to do so, because it withdrew from the deal. to talk about all that, and u.s. policy on iran, i'm joined by elliot abrams, recently named as the state department's special representative for iran. >> welcome back to the "news hour." it is not just thehe europeans,hinese and the russians who say sanctions have not snapped back at the u.n. the n. secretary-general says he doesn't recognize that the sanctions have snapped back does that isolate the u.s. and reduce your ability to enforce these sanctions? >> i doubt it.
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sanctions enforcement really donsn't depen what spokesmen in foreignor ministries, that matter, what the secretary-general said. it dends on thousands of individual decisions by lawyers, bankers, company executives around the world, who don't want to fall into the trap of u.s. sanctioning. other part of my question, which is isolation. yourou critics pointt the e.u. has an arms em on the u.n., and the practical impact of snapback was minimal and it wasn't worth breaking with european allies. >> i think if you look at the executive order tht the president signed today, it nis e broader than the u.n. arms embargo that did snap back. it covers more weapons and weapons systems, and allows us to impose sanctions earlier in the press. they don't have to wait
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until a weapon is actually delivered. you know, when i looked last week at the foreign ministers of bahrain and the u.a.e. and the prime minister rael with the president, we didn't look very isolated, and we don't feel isolated. and we think that, infa , these sanctions are going to have a very significant impact. what we hear from an awful nst of people, including from the europfor that matter, is that they wish the u.n. arms embargo had been extended. it was the failure of the security council and the e.u. 3 to extend the u.n. arms embargo that led us to snaback all of the sanctions. >> since the u.s. left the nuclear deal,ha iras stockpiled more uranium, which mee s the timthat iran would need to produce nuclear weap has dropped from 12 months to what experts say is three to four months today. if iran is, today, closer
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to a nuclear weapon than it was before th administration left the nuclear deal, how is that achieving your goals >> if you look at the j.c. jcpoa, it is a pathway for iran to get a nuclear weapon. re is what it can do after five yeanrs, and the eight and a half years, and after 10 years, and here is what it can do. after 50 yea it is a pathway to a nuclear weapon. we're going to ep this pressure on untiln is willing to negotiate a deal thatsiv actually closes the door for a nuclear weapon for iran. >> i want to take you back to this summer. what is the message thath iran leadersuld draw from explosions across iran, including at their nuclear facility. do you believe that the explosions were accidental or deliberate? >> you're asking me to comment on stuff that gets us close to information. i think, though, what they should conclude is that there is a fierce
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determination on the part of many people around the world to prevent them from and as of u.s.ear weapon. presidents, including president trump, have said we will not permit them to get to a nuclear weapon. now, these sanctions are anheway of delivering the same message:e are very serious about it, and others in the world are very serious about it, they will not get to a nuclear weapon. >> dos that suggest the u.s. or perhaps israel were behind someof these explosions? >> no, it doesn't suggest anythingexcept that the iranians are going down down a path, and they will not be permitted to g a nuclear weapon. and everything they're doing down that path only punishes them and the iranianiranian people because this is something that a series of presidents from both parties have said withe greatest possible clarity that this will not
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be permitted. they're not asking like a countrenthat has giup their nuclear ambitions, not at all. >> final, in the time i have left, the iranian foreign minister today said that the book wasn't closed on the chapter of the killing of the iranian general quassam sulemani. does it mean that the terms havenot been reestablished? >> i took his comment as a rect threat, which is a remarkable thing to have coming from the foreign minister of any country. the president has already respondo their threats. i think what it shows u is even the foreignw minister is the business of threatening terrorist attacks. it is pretty disgraceful. >> elliot abrams, the special representative for iran, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> woodruff: the death of ruth
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bader ginsburg has not only left a country in mourning, it's shaken up the presidential campaign with just six weeks left until election day. to explain the new dynamic, we turn to our polics monday duo. that's amy walter of the cook political report and host of public radio's "politics with amy walter and tamara keith of npr. she also co-hosts the "npr politics podcast." turn to you forments,e i two things i want to let our audience know. number on, it is reported that the president met with amy coney barret the appellate court judge, who is one of the people he is considering for appointment of the supreme court. and separately, liste desjardins wme to say to everyone what she wanted to say was there could beat a sevote by the end of the month of october. so that is out there.
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with that, i'm going to turn to you, tam, and sk you: how has what has gone on with jusce ginsburg, the fact that the president said he is going to nominate somebody right away, they're pushing for a vote, how is thangt chanr affecting the presidential campaign? >> certainly it is affecting the oxygen level in the political universe because supreme court fights, and this will be a fight, as the past couple have been -- the supreme court nominating fights take all of the oxyg they block the sun. pick your analogy.bi they are huge political events. and you can see that already happening. i mean, this is a day when coronavirus has killed 200,000 americans. we've hit this grim milestone or are very near it, and it is not the top story beuse there is a supreme court vacancy. although joe biden today did try t turn the focus
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back to coronavirus and other campaign issues. but threality is that this is going to be a huge focus right up until the election because the process is going to take that lon >> woodruff: amy, how do you see this changing the presidential race? >> so, judy, since the beginning of january we've had an impeachment, we arel st the mile of a health crisis pandemic,ec we've had annomic collapse, and we have now the potential for a supreme court fight right before th election, donald trump'spproval ratings at the beginning of january were 42% 43%, and today they're 42%, 43%. and in jan oua 2020a donald trump 50% to 40%. this weekend they put out a new poll, an this is pre-- it was befe th bader ginsburgied, but had the rates u51p 3.
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in other words, it seems as if, judy, at any momentof onhese ones in a lifetime events is going to bend the tjectory of this race and the opinions of the president, and it simply doesn't. electorate that su charged and super engaged, and these people are going vote no matter what. i agree with tam it definitely puts focus the supreme court and moves it off other issues. but, honestly, in watching you speak with senator hassan and hearing the former vice pr tident today campaign trail, i don't know if it is such a great idea for the president and for republicans to have to talk about health care going into the finalhe stre of this campaign. remember, health care was the issue democrsed to really beat them successfullynin 2018,d there is no signs that health care is better for democrats -- i'm sorry, this time around.icans
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>> woodruff: right. and, tam, some of the assumption going in wa that republica would want to make this about reproductive rights, about abortion. just quickly, the reporting is that senator chuck grassley of iowa, ama r figure on that committee for many years, is saying he is favor of going ahead with a vote. there was some question about what he would do. tam, how much does it n,fect the elect whether this vote -- if they try to rush a ve and get it done before the election, versus waiting until after? >> i'm not sure wha difference it will make. certainly in 2016, the idea of a court vacancy hanging out there and the d electioniding who would fill it was a very important part of the election for president trump. he p out that lt of nominees back -- or potential nominees back in 2016, and it helped him shore upco thert among evangelical ters.
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time, i'm not sure, and whether it happens on the front end or the back endl of thection. if the republicans are dr andetermined, it may not matter in terms of this particular seat. i will say, though, that democrats are energized in about the 30 hours after ruth bader ginsburg's death. act blue, which is ag fundraisatform raised $10million. that is a stunning amount af money. it is more n double their largest single day before that. so, you know, money sometimes indicates where energy is. there is a lot rgof e on the democratic side. and you can use that money -- yh money to compete up and down the ballot. >> woodruff: a lot of money being put on the democratic side right now. amy, what about thisju question quickly, before the election, a vote before or after the eltion, and then the
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senate races, the number of republican incumbents who are in tough races this year. r ght. we have a lot of senatere blicans who already know they are tied to president trump's fate.os if h their state, they are unlikely to win. so the better he loks the better their chances, which is why you're seeing most of those republice s who arup this year getting behind -- yeah, that are up this year getting behind the president. one person who has come out against is susan collins in maine, but she is always in that pickle, whershe is going -- matter what she says or does, folks who suprt trump in that state think she is wis wish wishy-washy, and those who supported her in e past, now because of her vote for brett kavanaugh, say even if she holds off supporting it before the election or if she won't support it during a lame-duck, we
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don't know if we trust her enough to think that she'll follow through on that. so she is the one really cost most in that ve. >> woodruff: and there are several other republican senators waiting to hear. senator dan sullivan of alaska, and it is expected, as amy said, they will back the prident, but we don't know we don't know. >> yeah, and the magic number is four. if fourblicans break off from the president,en his nomination -- it's in the abstract right now, but the nomination could be sunk. we also don't know what will happen in the hearings. itay not mtter what will happen in the confirmation hearings, but there have at times beenon confirmahearings that changed the trajectory. i'll just say in 2018, a number of moderate republicans learned there is noa bdge of courage you get for separang
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yourself from president trump. going to supportters you, you still have an "r" ne to your name. and if you lose the president, he'll tweet against you. >> woodruff: and ickly, amy, we've seen cory gartodener in is ugh race, joni nst, both unding like they'll be with the president. >> absolutely. and tom tillis in north carolina, as well. all of the senators have in common that they came in in 2014, and they don'tmu have ah of an identity that is separate from the political environment. w they do is tied ver much to how the president does, and they want to make sure tt if his voters are excited and they get out and vote, well, they're going to remember to vote or the republican down ballot, o. >> woodruff: many political calculi -- i'll
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let you guys sghten me out on the math. amy and tamara, thank both. >> you're welcome. >> woodruff: on thhour online, photojournalist sebastian rich visited u.n. peacekeepecyprus to see how they are adapting amid the coronavirus. find his images our web site,. pbs.org/newsho and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. join us online and again here tomorrow evening. 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 h been provided by:
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>> the kendeda fund. committed to advancing restorative justice andul meaninork through investments in transformative leaders and ideas. more at kendedafund.org. b >> supportthe john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. i moormation at macfound.org >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you.
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t welco amanpour. here's what's coming up. >> our sovereignty was violated by a foreign power that found a way to interre in our democratic process. >> pulling back curta on russia's chaos, has the u.s.ar d anything from interference in the 2015 election? i asked oscar winning filmmaker and former deputy director andrew mccabe. and then. >> starring johnny carson and now, here they come. >> the sit-in. remembers a ground breaking week for america.
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