doctor leana wen, professor leana wen. thank you very much. thank you.after they were taken captive on board a bus in western ukraine. but a strange intervention from the country's president brought the situation to an end, with one man now under arrest. it all happened in the city of lutsk, as alanna petroff reports. a hostage situation on a buzz in the city of lutsk. a stand—off for hours with people trapped onboard. stand—off for hours with people trapped onboa rd. the stand—off for hours with people trapped onboard. the suspect, a 44—year—old with previous convictions that who has already spent ten years in prison. he posed a real threat. he fired shots and through explosives, but they didn't detonate. city residents were told not to leave their homes after it was warned he had put an explosive device in a public place. the hostage taker had a number of demands and he got on a goal with the ukrainian president, volodymyr zelensky. don't they set if we can do anything without launching an assault, if we can avoid putting at least one person was like l

doctor leana wen there.nsoring hackers targeting labs developing covid—19 vaccines. officials have charged two chinese men with ho allegedly spied on us companies doing coronavirus research and got help from state agents for other thefts. the accusations against former electrical engineering students who've been released, include charges of trade secret theft and wire fraud conspiracy. prosecutors say the men sometimes acted in their own self—interest — but at other times "were stealing information of obvious interest" to the chinese government. here's what the us justice department had to say. in this manner, china has joined that shameful group of nations that provide a haven for cyber criminals. here, to feed the chinese communist pa rty‘s feed the chinese communist party's appetite for feed the chinese communist pa rty‘s appetite for american and other non— chinese companies hard earned intellectual property, including covid—19 research. the official line from the justice department. thirteen hostages ha

leana wen. describesx booker surviving an attempted lynching when a group of white men pinned him against a tree on july 4. the police came, the fbi says it will investigate, but no one has been arrested.d. videoeose seen lots of that were lately racist and folks still dismiss racism. i think this moment is undeniable when a group of white memen feel they can call for a headed,all me nappy attempt to lynch a man in broad dayligight. amy: thehen we look at howow the twin p pandemicscs of covivid ad racism are impacting people with disabilities. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracycy now!, democracacynow.org, the quaranae report. the world healalth organizations repoports 230,000 new coronavivs cases were repeported acacross e globe on sunday,y, the highest single day total since the pandemic began. the united states reported 60,000 new infections saturday, 68,000 friday, the two highest totals to date. florida root did over 15,000 new coronavirus cases sunday, setting a new single d

leana wen. first, what goes through your mind?ll, it's unbelievably disturbing and infuriating. obviously, she is lying. obviously, there's no science there. and not only is she fundamentally dishonest, she's dangerous. and fortunately, you know, parents, teachers, superintendents, children, aren't paying any attention to what she's saying. she's made herself irrelevant. the president's made himself irrelevant. we're going to be led out of this, by amazing local leadership who live in communities, who live around people, are going to make the right decisions for children. educationally, yes, but also for their health and safety. that's going to happen at the local level, the grassroots level. >> so, dr. wen, secretary devos, president trump don't seem to be living in the same world as dr. birx and dr. fauci about how little we know about how this virus affects children. so how much does this add to confusion for parents, not to mention administrators, over schools? >> i think everyone is struggling with these questions. and at the

joining us, leana wen, baltimore health commissioner. and chancellor of the new york department of education. chancellor, let me start with you. the cdc guidelines that currently exist. i don't know if you have seen them. the cdc says they're just recommendations, you know, not mandatory. do you think they are too onerous or too difficult? and the notion that the cdc is now just going to redo them, because the president is -- thinks they're too tough. does that make sense to you, from a scientific standpoint? >> anderson, thanks for the opportunity. not at all. look. i'm an educator. i'm not a physician. i don't play a physician on tv. we depend on the guidance that we're getting from the cdc and public health officials. to make sure that we're being safe, as we go forward. we are depending on science, not science fiction, in terms of how our students will come back to in-person learning. so those are not recommendations. they're not just off-the-cuff things. we're taking them very seriously. every word. every syllable of that guidance i

leana wen, thank you so much for joining us. we will stay in close touch with you, as well.st ahead, we are taking a closer look at the disproportionate impact of the coronavirus on black and brown americans. we'll be right back. if you have postmenopausal osteoporosis and a high risk for fracture, now might not be the best time to ask yourself, are my bones strong? life is full of make or break moments. that's why it's so important to help reduce your risk of fracture with prolia®. only prolia® is proven to help strengthen and protect bones from fracture with 1 shot every 6 months. do not take prolia® if you have low blood calcium, are pregnant, are allergic to it, or take xgeva®. serious allergic reactions like low blood pressure, trouble breathing, throat tightness, face, lip or tongue swelling, rash, itching or hives have happened. tell your doctor about dental problems, as severe jaw bone problems may happen. or new or unusual pain in your hip, groin, or thigh, as unusual thigh bone fractures have occurred. speak to your doctor before stopping, skipping or delaying prol

leana wen, former health commission of baltimore.m coronavirus is above 1000 for the first time in weeks. wh does that say to you about the severity of this outbreak? time you and i are speaking today at lst two americans are go cg to dieid-19 -- die it is so tragic we are in this position, becauseote've seen r countries not just flatten the curve, but they have crushed the curve. the u.s. could've done that. we could have prevented the suffering and death we are seeing now. although all is not ltt. it's nevitable. there is still a chance for us to do the right thing, starti with the national strategy for testing and contact tracing. we need to foves on saving laura: but it doesn't seem like there is a natiol strategy on contact tracing. it is all down to the states, isn' it? he is wearing masks the closest we are going -- is wearing masks the closest we are going to have to a national strategy, even thondh it is not ed? dr. wen: we don't even have a universal mandate to wear masks in the u.s. we could reduce the rate of transmission

leana wen. thank you so much for being with us.f we look from now until july 4, it is pretty clear the virus is not dying down with the summer heat. should people in high-risk areas just a home this holiday weekend -- just stay home this holiday weekend? >> it is not only peopleean high-risk but all of us need to consider our own actions this weekend. there was a lot of quarantine fatigue following memorial day. it looks like -- it looked like people thought things are now the case at all.was really not unfortunately, we are seeing what happened as a result of people going out and abo. we are now seeing surges of covid-19 around the country. in addition to wearing a mask, we should all be avoiding crowds. because a number opeople around us, as well as the time of expose, significantly increases viral risk. not gather indoors.and being outdoors reduces the risk ofn transit period what we are doing now has a huge impact -- the risk of transmission. what we are doing now has a huge impact on what happens moving forward. >> i just wond

leana wen, a former baltimore health commissioner is here, plus white house reporter, star white houseeporter for "the washington post," ashley parker and former democratic senator claire mccaskill ashley parker, take me through what the thinking is i think everyone at this white house, if given truth serum or a stiff drink could acknowledge it was that briefing where the president suggested injecting disinfectant into the lungs for a good old cleaning certainly put emotion or accelerated his tumble in the polls. why bring that forum, why bring that behavior back they all know by now that the president is incapable of driving any message. >> it's a great question, and it's first worth noting there still is a divide within the white house. not everyone thinks it's the best idea to bring that back to the white house briefing room with the president himself leading those briefings. so some people are on board. not everyone my reporting tells me that if you recall a couple of weeks ago, vice president pence began holding a handful of task force briefings over at hhs. and that was part of a

leana wen and ashley parker, two of my favorite humans to talk to about all these things. when we come back, frustration is bubbling over in the hard-hit epicenter that is the state of florida. residents want to know what the governor is going to do. can he keep them and donald trump happy at the same time? and trump just this hour on, you guessed it, the confederate flag saying he has no problem with seeing them at political events. we'll bring you that new sound from him. >>> plus, donald trump has spent much of his presidency consumed with humiliating jeff sessions all because, well, because of russia, again. well, today we'll see if it's broken through to voters in alabama when they go to the polls in that republican primary in that state. all those stories coming up. - [narrator] the shark vacmop combines powerful suction with spray mopping to lock away debris and absorb wet messes, all in one disposable pad. just vacuum, spray mop, and toss. the shark vacmop, a complete clean all in one pad. >>> we came to jackson in, i think, early march when this pandemic was reall

leana wen, thank you so much for starting us off.gives me some hope that people trust the voices of people like yourself more than any politician at a time like this. thank you for sharing it with us. >>> when we come back, another explosive tell-all on donald trump is coming out. this time from a member of his own family. and it looks like she's not holding back. we've got our first look at what mary trump says about uncle donald. and more and more, the president is finding himself all alone when it comes to stoking the flames of his culture war. >>> plus, the white house today reportedly hunting down whistle-blowers again and right on cue. the lincoln project weighs in on loyalty. we'll show you the latest powerful attack ad against trump. all those stories coming up. when we started carvana, they told us that selling cars 100% online wouldn't work. but we went to work. building an experience that lets you shop over 17,000 cars from home. creating a coast to coast network to deliver your car as soon as tomorrow. recruiting an army

leana wen. and host of the epidemic podcast. in short, they know what they are talking about. they've done their homework, and that's why we have them on the air tonight. dr. gounder, if i could begin with you. okay. perhaps, as many as 7,500 people tonight. not socially distanced. masks optional. from a purely medical standpoint, just how dangerous is it for people attending that event tonight? >> yeah, jim. you know, this is a man who once said he could stand in the middle of fifth avenue and shoot somebody, and he would never lose voters. now, he's asking, essentially, people to shoot themselves. this is on par with the jonestown massacre but on a national scale. he's, essentially, asking his supporters to drink the kool-aid or jump off the cliff, in a way that's very dangerous. except, this is something that can spread to others. >> yeah. dr. wen, earlier this week, the surgeon general of the united states, dr. jerome adams, he was encouraging people, very much, to wear a mask. this morning, though, he would not advise people to avoid large gatherings. you know him. he is

leana wen. dr. wen, the cdc director robert redfield says these new guidelines are meant to facilitate the opening of schools around the country, not keep them closed. based on your reading of these new guidelines, do you think they accomplish that goal? >> wolf, they sound different from the guidelines that were released before. and i kept on thinking what is it that's so different and what's different is the tone. because what i'm used to seeing from the cdc is leading with the science and the facts. and these guidelines sound like they're cherry-picking data to make a specific policy point. and that's really concerning because what we need from the cdc is not a justification of why children should be in school. we all know that. we all want that. but we want the cdc to lay out what are the criteria that we need to meet. for example, we need to test positivity less than 5%, a consistent 14-day decline in the number of cases. something like that. and also here's a checklist of what schools have to

sanjay gupta and leana wen. what's happening in florida as they're trying to deal with this horrible death toll from the coronavirus? again it keeps spiking and now a hurricane is knocking on their door. >> it's the double whammy and we have to remember that it's the same individuals who have already been responding to covid-19 who are now also going to be tasked with responding to this emergency as well. and at the same time, it's the same individuals who are the most affected, who are the most vulnerable to the impacts of covid-19 who are also going to be hit again. so i do really worry about what's coming our way. i worry about the fact that testing sites will be closed an yet the test positivity rates in florida are already so high. of course, what happens when individuals have to be in packed indoor shelters, and in close proximity. without the ability to social distance. and what they may do, what that might do to the infection rates. >> sanjay, i want to look at the infection rate in florida. we have a gr

leana wen, emergency room physician and former baltimore health commissioner., arnie duncan, former education secretary under president obama. secreta secretary duncan, thanks for being with us. you just heard larry kudlow said. did that make sense to you? >> this is not the time to threaten to take money. they don't have the power to do that. he doesn't even have the power to give money. that would happen through congress. if they want reopening schools, they need to put 150, $200 billion out there to schools to get the ppe they need. we need a massive tutoring program to help kids catch up. unfortunately, too many places where we are seeing cases skyrocket to have to stay closed physically. >> dr. wen, i mean, it stands to reason if any kind of financial incent i have was offered, the schools most strapped for cash would be first to open. but aren't those schools the very same underserved communities that have been devastat devastated by the virus already? >> yeah, that he's right. these are completely backwards. you don't incentivize someone to reopen too so

leana wen about what returning tschool could look like for miions of students in the coming months, especiallyas coronavirus case counts continue to climb in the united states. that conversation is on our website, pbs.org/newshour. and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm amna nawaz. join us online and again here tomorrow evening. foall of us at the pbs newshour, thank you, please stay safe, and see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> consumer cellular. >> when the world gets complica your mind.oes through with fidelity wealth management, a dedicated advisor can tailor advice and recommendations to your life. that fidelity wealth management. >> the ford foundation. working with visionaries on the frontlines of social c worldwide. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions d individuals. >> this program was made possible by the corporation foro publiccasting. and by contributions 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,

leana wen, the former city health commissioner of baltimore. gloriaa, give us your thoughts on the return of this task force briefing in light of the president's apparent decision to not include actual task force members, medical experts like dr. fauci, dr. birx or dr. redfield. >> well, this is a president who wants this to be his show, doesn't want anyone else on the stage with him. and i think that what we know from the president being alone is that this is largely about his poll numbers and about his re-election. that there are people inside the white house and i've spoken with two republican sources about this who believe that the president's falling poll numbers are because he isn't seen to be in charge of handling the pandemic. so, as a result, they want to put him out there, they want him to seem like he is the one leading the charge against the coronavirus. however, you know, this could also turn the other way for him. the other briefings, which we saw for days and days after the president briefed on the virus, his poll numbers started

leana wen is the former health commissioner for baltimore.ming if they didn't do things. i'm not looking to beat people up here, i'm trying to figure out what went wrong. if you to listen to dr. birx, she says we meet all the time, we watch the positivity rates, 3% to 3.5%, that's your first warning. we pick up the phone, we call the mayors, the governors, we can put arizona on the screen for you as one example. if they have this data, and you watch this, the highlighted dates there, monday, she says every monday a governor gets a report. you see may, june 1st, two weeks later on june 15th, 6.5 to 14%. at one point, june 29th, 40% positivity in arizona. if they have the data, and they have these reports, and they're giving it to the governors and the public officials, why isn't anything being done? is it a communication breakdown, an action breakdown? >> i think there are a lot of problems here, john, so you look at the very beginning of this outbreak back in february, lot failures when it came to not having a national testing strategy. maybe

leana wen is joining us, the former health commission of baltimore. dr.en, thanks so much for joining us. new cases might be leveling off in parts of the south and the west awidespread infection and a rising death toll. do you see any encouraging signs right now, for example, in the sunbelt? >> well, what we're seeing is a reflection of the hard work that was done two to three weeks ago in these states. so it does appear that it's going in a better direction that we are able to suppress the escalating spread that's been happening in some of these states like arizona, texas, et cetera. the problem though is even if we level off, it's still at a really unsustainable rate. and i think we as a country need to be deciding where we want to go. are we okay with over a thousand deaths per day and 30,000 deaths a month? is that something that we would accept? or are there really hard decisions that we can be making now? for example, really restricting indoor gatherings, dialing back many of these re-opening measures and doing our part so that we're not just playin

leana wen, emergency room physician and former baltimore city health commissioner. video on schools reopening. let's take a look. >> hi. my question is, i'm completely torn on whether or not to allow my 17-year-old son to go back to school for his senior year. we live in georgia and it's become a hotspot. while we are extremely careful and wear masks in public, wash our hands, and social distance, i know, for sure, he will not be able to wear a mask and keep a mask on throughout the entire day. and with having to switch classes every 45 minutes or so, surrounded by thousands of kids, i'm scared he may catch it or bring it home to me. he has asthma, and it could be devastating. on the flip side, keeping him secluded and alone all day, i know for a fact, is not healthy either. i've weighed, both, the pros and the cons, but both are equally scary. any advice for a single mom of a rising senior, in the midst of a pandemic? this is just beyond anything we've ever had to deal with. >> it's such an important question that annie is asking. i mean, what do you recommend, doc

leana wen, former city health commissioner in baltimore and emergency room physician. dr.en, good to see you as well. this is on vaccines. if you already contracted the virus, this person wants to know, would you still need a vaccine? if yes, then why? >> so based on what we know today, anderson, the answer is yes. and that's because if you do get covid-19 and recover from it, you develop antibodies. but we don't know, yet, how long these antibodies last. and we don't know how much protection you get. do you get protection for a few months? a year? how complete is that protection? and the hope is that what ever vaccine is developed a lot more consistent and that it will provide better and longer protection than your own, natural immunity, alone. >> i should say there was these really interesting studies out of china and italy, you probably know, basically said, the sicker you got, the more antibodies you made. so there may be a correlation there between how significant your illness was, as well. >> sanjay, michelle in virginia sent in this video. let's take a look. >> it h

leana wen, a visiting professor at the george washington school of public health, as we turn our attention back to the house testimony set to resume any moment now. dr. wen, this is a hearing about our national plan to combat the virus. as you understand it, what is our national plan? what does that seem to be? >> that's right. that's the topic of this hearing, is the national plan. here is my question. do we have one or not? if we have one, then it seems like it's a national secret because i don't think anyone has been able to articulate it. if we have one, it's also clearly not working if we have 152,000 people who are dead in the u. s., whereas other countries have been able to fight the infection. if we don't have a plan, on the other hand, maybe it's time for us to really get one going instead of having these piecemeal solutions. i think even on something as basic as testing, why is it that we're having such backlogs of testing that we can't even get a guarantee of when we're going to get tested delays to be under 48 hours. over 48 hours is essentially worthless. we have the technolog

leana wen. she is a visiting professor of health policy and management at the george washington university public school of health where she is also a distinguished fellow at the mullen institute of health workforce equity. previously served as baltimore's health commissioner. thank you for being here. our third and final witness is chauncia willis. ms. willis is the cofounder and ceo of the institute for diversity and inclusion and emergency management. she is a certified emergency manager, a master exercise practitioner and served as the immediate past resident of the international association of emergency managers. welcome. without objection, the witness's statement will be inserted into the record. i now ask each witness to summarize his or her statement for five minutes beginning with dr. benjamin. thank you very much for allowing me to spend some time with you this morning. you have my full testimony. i'm going to focus on three areas. aboutoncerns i have preparedness activity and the impo

leana wen. let's just start with a fact check. donald trump spreading lies, dr.en, about hydroxychloroquine. spreading fantastical conspiracy theorists, spreading disinformation, at a moment that's crucial not just for our country's health and safety but for his own political health and safety. i guess, i don't even know what to say at this point. >> i also, really don't know why he continues to spread this miss information considering there are now therapies effective in the treatment of covid, dexamethadone reduces in studies done and we also know -- we now have an abundance of evidence that hydroxychloroqu e hydroxychloroquine, they solve heart problems, blood, lymph issues. it's very dangerous because we know people listen to donald trump as a trusted messenger and i fear they're going to continue to take these treatment that's are not advised by the fda or by medical experts. >> i think we have anthony fauci on good morning america responding to some of this. let's watch. >> i don't know how to address that. i'm just going to certainly continue doing my job.