on an a special report american crisis. >>e we are in worst phase of the pandemic. >> we're now at over 250,000 deaths. you know, you couldet well over 300,000 and close to even more thanhat ife don't turn things around. robert: the numbers are staggering. hundreds of thousds dd. and more outbreaks nationwide. >> the pandemic is surging and frontline workers are getting sick and dyinbeg. rort: yet amid a ravaging pandemic, washington is divided. >> instead of facilitating an orderly transition helping us l saes in the fight against covid, the president's thrashing around with these p.r. stunts. robert: as the world watches and remains hopeful about ccines, who will lead? and what comes next?

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announcer: additional funding is provided by the estate of arnold adams and koo and patricia yuen through the yuen bridging cultura differences in our communities, the rporation for public contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. once again, from washington, moderator robert costa. robert: good evening. and welco to "washington week." we hope you enjoyed ks thving. we also know it wasn't easy. the coronavirus pandemic remains a burden and a threat. families can't gather. millions are isolated and struggling. and more than 250,000 americans have died. so our question tonight, for this special report is what's next? joining us to provide ansrs and insights are three of the they have been covering story.

different aspects of the cris. fareed zarekia, host of fareed zarekia g.p.s. on cnn. a "washington post" columnist and author of 10 lessons for a yasmeen abutaleb, a national "the policy reporter for and sarah kliff, an investigative reporter f "the new york times" covering the american health care syste t's begin with dr anthony fauci, the nation's top epidemiologist who spoke with arlier this week. he was upbeat about vaccines, but he warned that winter could be bleak. >>ow what we're seeing, almost the entire map of the country is lighting up with the rk colors which indicate increased test positivity and the slope is like that which means that if in fact you're in a situation when you do the t

thint are increasing the risk, the travel, the congregant setting, not wearing masks, the chances are that you will see a surge super imposed upon a surge. robert: that made me sit up. a surge superimpose upon a surge. yasmeen, when you listen to dr. fauci, and when you o health officials, what do you hear, what is keeping them up at night? yasmeen: i think, you know, the biggest concern is that there really isn a federal response at t now at this time where that we've been. this spring you saw federal leadership, and the crisis is actually than it was then. you know, there's this huge fear that's been playing out, you know, that feder response could not wait until president-elect joe biden takes over on january 20. you can't just let the crisis spread uhecked for those 10

weeks. and that's essentially what we're seeing happen. you see states taking different steps. you know, to try to control it. some states being more willing than others to take dramatic steps. but right now, you're not seeing a lot of f leadership. there isn't a lot of federal messaging about what to do. ou know, there's obviously travel and get-togethers and what'shat is going to mean for a surge or uptick after ward when we're already at 170,000, 180,000 cases a today. and that these smaller health care centers andta hos are not getting the help and resources they need. robert: y sarah, cover health care workers and patients. so out in the coury, what is their reality right now? sarah: i think there's a lot of really tired health care workers who have been fighting this day in and day out across the country. and really the fear right now that i heaed expre by public health officials, by hospital wecutives, is that wha could see in the next few weeks is something like what happened in new yk city in march and

april. just this huge surge, need for more staff and more ventilators,or more hospital rooms. what had happened in new york the rest of the country could help. other states sent ventilators, ravel nurses came to new yor city. but the real fear that seems to keep these workers and public health offpials u at night is that surge is going to come at so many places acrosshe country, that there won't be those resources to go from one place to another. and i think it's certainly production of p.p.e. there's more masks. and more ventilators, too. but the real linchpin is the people. there's only so many people in hothe u.s. who kno to operate a ventilator, who know howo treat this disease and that's the thing that keeps the health workers and hospital executives i talk to quite rrieand alarmed is that hey might not have the staff surge gets much worse in their area. robert: fareed, let me read a

line fro you write, quote, nations have created mechanisms and institutions to cooperate and some of common problems.in buhe end, extremists walk alone. this is a global crisis, but which challenges are uniquely american? fareed: you know, the paradox a pandemic that by definition it's global, it forces countries to beme somewhat more isolated. you know, you cut off or you limit travel. u have to put your own house in order. there are two principal think challenges. we're going to go beyond trump for a momt. one is the crazy quilt patchwork of center, state and local authority. the united states does not have the pandemic. handling it has 9,000 roughly separate units of government that have to coordinate and have similarr stan and travel and things

like that. and that has proved a huge problem. the second is more cultural. there is within america's d.n.a. a certain kind of anti-statism, the kind of don't tread on melo pphy. and so it becomes hard to get people to observe quarantines, mask wearing, you know, the c.d.c. has advised don't travel during thanksgiving or don't have large gatherings. it's very hard, that rubs against the culture of the country. both challthges exist for countries. but they are in some senses specially american and it is certainly true that we've been especially bad atealing with them. robert: yasmeen, what is the actlook onnes this week? what are they watching for at the f.d.a.? yasmeen: well, i think one of the rare sns of positive news been these three very promising vaccine candidates that have reported their first results.

a., ou know, at the f.d. data on pfizer's vaccine on the december 10. i think a lot of people are hoping tpear emergency authorization for that vacks -- an emergency authorization for v thatcine comes shortly after that meeting. and the moderna vaccine and astrazenaca, it will be the same process. the f.d.a. reviewing the data to see, you know, if it warrants an emergency authorization which is not t same as a full approval which takes more time. but basically is an assessment that the benefits of the vaccine outweigh any potential risks. in the middle of a public health emergency. robertar buth, is the system you cover ready to effectively distribute vaccines in then coming s? sarah: you know, that makes me think of the question you asked fareed. american experiench he wi coronavirus, one of the unique allenges we have is this care system where we don't have

a national helt care system like many of our peer countries. we have competing health insurancelans and some private plans and some public. and this whole patchwork of provider be a challenge to get the vaccine out through that system. if you think of all the differen places where americans get their vaccines ight now, sometimes at th sometimes at a pharmacy. sometimes through theire. workpl we're going to have to figure out how to distribute it and distribute it in an equitable way to make sure that the people who really need this vaccine get it first. so that's thed next large hle we're going to deal with. and i think it's one that public health officials are quite eager to dea with. they want to get this vaccine outo people. but we have a system that is not set up to be efficient because there are so many different players. you could have places where the lack of communication makes it a bit more c distribute a vaccine in our untry compared to some of our robert: fareed, beyond that fficiency point, will there be

vaccines to get the nation out of this crisis?ke you've s to bill gates in recent days about this topic. fareed: yeah. look, it's a huge problem. and t me pose what will be a real challenge if it materializes. right now, donald trump is eepro-vaccine because he it as being something that he's spearheaded.he an helped fund with operation warp speed. in aew months, the biden -- the vaccine is going to be joe point if donald trump becomes an anti-vackser and i started this program well but the biden administration has screwed it up and don't get vaccinated, remember, he sll has huge number of people who support -- who hang on his every word. that massively complicateses the lcenario. bu me sum up about this, i think that it's worth pointing ou these vaccines have been developed faster than any vaccines that we know of.

this is an extraordinary achievement, and probably going these.e seven or eight of y think about the first phase of the health crisis, was a publins health res which the united states basically botched. the second phase is goo be therapies and vaccines which is largely a private sector response. i would suspect the united states will overperform or outperform on that metric in terms of production even in terms of distribution. the key issue is going to be the one you asked which is public trust and over there, as i say the most worrying variable is donald trump. and he's not t only guy. as i point out in my book, this whole wave of populist leaders who scorn expertise works scorn scientific knowledge, they could -- they could have a second act with the vaccine. because that will be a place pre-eminently where you need to trust experts. ro trt: i spoke dr. fauci about this week and you have written about this in rysent

nd how the president has railed against the so-called medical deep state, his tsom. hile i spoke to dr. fauci and you're talking to him in other -- and other officials now inside the federal e right response? yasmeen: i thibl the p that no one is really in charge. inside the federal respons the white house has really not paid a lot of attention to the corovirus response for wee now preceding the election. you know, we've spoken with severabo officialsh political and health officials, who said the white house coronavirusask force meetings at this point are a little more than political tter. so you have the agencies that have very clear work to do. the f.d. on reviewing and authorizing these vaccines, distributing persona protective equipment, preparing for vaccine distribution, but when you're talking about the entire federponse that really should be led out of the white house, there isn't really a leader the t. andnk you can see that in the conflictingessages you get fromeople. u have people like dr. fauci,

you know, really sounding the alarm for these lastwe several s about the direction we're headed in. you have the president, you know sort of barely acknowledging the rising infection and death tolan then, you know, all manner of officials in between. you got the secretary of health and human services, alex azar, p reiterating basilic health tenets speaking about their vaccine progress. but you aren't seeing a coordinated centralized federal response. and i think that's reflected in depending on who's giving it that day. robert:arah, i want to come back to your beat for a moment. in terms of testing and treatment, what are the costs of this pandemic? sarah: so for patients, they are supposed to be free. there are soe rules that congress passed this spring that are meant to make corovirus testing fre and with goodeason. we don't want people to be afraid of a medical bill not get tested when they thk they might have coronavirus.

so that means n co-payments, no deductibles, a special fund to cover tests for those who are uninsured. unfounately, what i've been finding in my reporting is that many patients are facing costs. and sometimes quite significant costs for their coronavirus tests. you know, in rare cases over $1,000 for a test they expected to be free. and i tnk this really reflects the way that oural are system works. and again, the fragmentation. i talked to insurance that have tried tomplement these rules. but the coding is quitex. comp sometimesroviders will tack on extra services. patients weren't aware wereg be added. and they'll get billed for those things beyond their coronavirus test. so right now, we're having millions of coronavirus tests every single month. d unfortunately, you are seeing some patient get medical bills. i think the other side of this to be aware of is that you have patients who are uninsured or patients who have gotte a surprise medical bill in the past. d they might be a little bit nervous to get a coronavirus test because they don't think

they can afford it. i've talked to some people who faced steep costs for flu tests, for example. and now are nervous to get a coronavirus test. so it's a unique element of the esndemic in the united st that you have this medical billing side that is going to be an element that makes it harder to control the here versus in other countries. robert: those are challenges also sident trump but is putting together a strategy. however, for, the president refused to sign off on the transition. finally, ononday, the head of the general services administration informed biden that he cld begin the process. yasmeen, what's your assessment of biden and how he will handle the pandec? yasmeen: i think he made pretty clear as soon as he was declared the winner of the election you saw him two days later announce his coronavirus task force transition task orce which was made up experts. so, you know, i think he tried to signal right o outthe gate that this was going to be a science-led response. as going to

advice of scientists. you saw him appoint ron klain, chief of staff who was the ebola czar for the obama administration in 2014 andas generally praised for the way he coordinated across the federal government t manage the ebola response. so you see that this is going to be the top priority for the wden administrationn they come in front and center. you know, the biden team has also signaled that they will put the c.d.c. front and center includin career officials who were cast aside in the trump adnistration for, you know, straying from the message of the trump administration wanted to convey. so he's trying every way that he can, that this is going to be a much more muffing l federal respons they're going to try to help the states as they can. the big thing top in mind is they are going to inherit an enormous crisis. cases are already at almost 200,000 a day. where they predict over. so it is going to be an e that they're ing to inherit.

robert: fareed, what would you add here about president-elect biden? fareed: i think biden has exactly the right instincts. he has very good people around him. but i think that one of the things understand is that the united level. really failed at every trump, you can blame him for a lot of things.hi and i he deserves that blame. but it's been a broad systemic failure. one of the things i talk about in m book you look around the l ed the countries did w government right and how to get government right in a response to a crisis like this. n, which ample, tai this, figured out how to do not just testing but also tracing and then isolation of the. peop you see the most important thing is to get the infected and the potentially infected out of circulation. o i would hope that what the learn from tain, south korea. by thece way, all p that had no lockdowns.

the vice president of taiwan who ran this told me, a lockdown is a sign you have already failed. what you have to do is figure out how do you take the infected, quarantine them, isolate the potentially infected, that's usually in -- in taiwan's case, it was 1% of the population. that allowed the other 99% of the population t live life as normal. and if we were to isolate thes peop give them hotel rooms and give them five star service, the cost would be a fraction of fraction of what this country's losing economically as a result of the coronavirus. so anything you can spend to have annd intelligent aggressive response would be the right answer. on bof the things we're at in america is learning from other countries. we think we're exceptional. and we are in certain ways. but it blinds us to the reality that there are some things w do very badly. other countries do well. and it would do to have a little bitf humility and look around at best practices.

robert: sarah, coness is deeply divided here in the states. e you expecting mo issues likeesting rather thangi ation? sarah: i think i am. but there's only so far that executive action can get you. you can get a lot farther if you move legislation through congress. and i thinks,ou see t for example, with the issue of mask joe biden has spoken positively a mask mandate. but it does not appear that there is federal authority to create something lik that. you know, i do expect more executive actionround a testing strategy. joe biden has outlined a scomprevens plan for how he wants to increase to 100 million tests a month. that would be a big jump from the 30 or so million we're at right now. but a lot of it is going to be easier to do if you can get the buy-in of congress to fund those soet of things and to the buy-in of the american people. i think one of the things you're seeing right now isam icans are taking a lot of their cues from their political leaders. and if y have president trump

mocking masks or not talking about the importancet ofng tested, even if the capacity was there, you might see some of his supporters not wanting use those resources. so i think part of it is getting congress and getti the buy-in of congressional republicans would signal to the american publicha both parties feel like this is important. g to is is the right thin be doing. robert: yasmeen, quickly, what's one thing you're watching as a reporter in the weeks ahead? yasmeen: i think the big thing whether we see a big spike after thanksgiving and how states try to manage that. you know, w big spike after memorial day when people felt it was safe to get together and at that point cases were at about 20,000 or so i think that's the big thing. and then of course how the federal response changes or doesn't change in the coming weeks. robert: and far in just a watching? what are u fareed: the georgia races because everything depends on to her biden will be able

at the end of the day, as others are saying, this is all -- it all becomes much weaker unless you can spend a lotf o money fast. robert: we must leave it there tonight. a little earlier than usual. so you can support yourbs station. thank you so much to fareed zarekia, yasmeen abutaleb, and sarah kliff. we very much appreciate your time. we also appreciate yours and we will keep taking you as close to theews as we can. and check out our next chapter of our bookshelf can find it on our social media and website. i'll talk more with fareed about his book. i'm robert costa. stay safe. and good night from washington.

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[alastair sooke] this imposing house in kent was once the setting for' greatest mysteries. our story begins in 1870, on the 8th of june, round about 6 o'clock in the evening, e and on that particular day charles dickens had been hard at worky begins in 1870, on his latest novel. he'd worked for 8 hours lid, which was quite unusual for him-- he much preferred working in shorter bursts. and that evening here at gad's hill,which i, he came down to the dining room to have dinner with his sister-in-law, miss hogarth. almost as soon as he enteredpl he started comning of a toothacheel and immediathe collapsed and lost consciousness and never recovered. he died shortly afterwards, and he'd never complete his final novel, even though the first three installments had already been published,