ck>> schifrin: after four s and $3,000, behlog was able to leave honduras. flew through empty airports, this afternoon, finch was also able to leave peru, and flew wearing a handkerchief. but so many are still stranded, including those trying to get home, to try and save lives. for the pbs newshour, i'm nick schifrin. >> woodruff: as the days now become wee, to help make sense where we are, the analysis of brooks and marcus. that is "new york times" columnist david ooks, and "washington post" columnist ruth marcus. mark shields is away. hello to both of you. we are keeping you distant for your safety. david, to u first, the u.s. is now leading the world. we've surpassed every other country in cov 1cases. experts say it's just going to get worse because of early missed opportunities. do you think americans are ready for what's coming? >> well, they have been ready so far. i think the reaction, people are iously, they a doing the distancing. i have been on zoom calls with thousands of people this wee it seems, and people are volunteeng to help each other out i

the real answer is an immediate ceasefire, a durable ceasefire. >> schifrin: the european union >> schifrin: but on the greek border, and inside syria, hundredsf thousands of refugees remain displaced, and a cease-fire doesn't replace their st homes. here with me now to discuss syria, the refugee crisis and more is the united kgdom's defense secretary ben wallace, who's here meeting with u.s. officials. welcome to the newshour. mr. secretary. let's start with syria. does nato have an obligation to assist turkey in its fight against the syrian regime and the russian air force? >> it s an obligation under article 5 to any of its membew should thesh the seek to trigger that. nato also has an obligation the respond to anyrs mem concerns. that's why nato has already had a session at its headquarters to discuss the emeasuringing situation in syria. soink nato is doing what can do. it's being sup portive ofturkey insofar as understanding the challenges it has and recognizing the se situation right on its border. so i thi nato isfulfilling its obligations and will always continue to do so under its

i would say the capacity is finished. >> schifrin: dr. romano paolci was called out of retirement to help treat covid-19 patients at l.cremona's oglio po hospi doctors are pulling 12-hour shifts.re and, they' starting to get sick: x had to leave work after contracting covid-19. >> ( trslated ): psychologically, it's very difficult. >> schifrin: nurse luca dall'asta struggles to find the words. >>ll translated ): it e at the end of this emergency that we will see how we stand up. but at the moment, we have the very tired.t-- even if we are >> schifrin: doctors call the treatment for covid-19 "intense and lengthy." patients need weeks to heal. if they heal. there are only so many ventilators, and they're priotized for those most likely to survive. and so doctors are forced to decide who lives, and who dies. and when patients die, they die alone. funerals are illegal. coffins sit for days. in this chapel in a crematorium in altair, there are three times the normal number of dead. >> ( translated ): in theory, we are used to this, because our

nick schifrin has the story. >> schifrin: after 18 years war, an historic moment: a >> schifrin: mullahs political chief and lead negotiator. finally we are full of hope that everyone will participe in rebuilding the future of afghanistan. a >> schifrirican secretary of state mike pompeo also it is time, the opportunity is in front of us, we now haves commitmeom the taliban to break with al qaeda. this is historic. >> schifrin: the agreement says the u.s. commits to withdrawing all military forces with in 14 months. al qaeda or any other terrorsts to operate in afghanistan, and both sides agreed that intra- afghan dialogue and negotiations we're getting out we want to get out . we had good meetings with the fal ban ask we are going to bean leavin bringing our soldiers back home. >> the agreement committed the afghan government to release up to 5,000 prisoners and taliban release a thousand prisoners.nt but the presiaid that was dead on arrival. >> there's n >> ( translated ): there is no commitment to release the 5,000 prisers. this is the legal and absolute right of the people of afgha

people are close to each other, one tent next to the oer. >> schifrin: these syrian refugees in lebanon don't have space to practice social distancing. they don't eugh water to drink, let alone wash their hands. they don't have money, to buy soap. >> ( translated ): they gave us awareness sessions and one b of soap each, but this is not enou. we ask for disinfectants, sanitizers for the camp. we ask the united nations, we call upon the world to help us. >> schifrin: the world has5 million refugees, and 40 million internally displaced. nowhere are they more vulnerable than warzones, where efforts to fight the virus are patchy. in idlib, syria, local workers hand out covid-19 pamphlets. but the local medical leaderpb tells s newshour there are only 200 intensive care beds, for the entire region. yemen, women weave masks for what health officials calld- co's inevitable arrival. but half of all medical facilities aren't full functional, and medicine, equipment, and testing are limited. inibya, there's a state of emergency, and this cell phone video shows fire trucks on all sides, spraying d

even harder, and growing more dire. >> schifrin: borders don't stop viruses and pandemics don't stop war. nd the victims of war, ha protection. in northwest syria, the war is older than the children. pediatrician omar hammoud tries to ease his displaced patients' worrs. but he is worried. >> (th translated ): the ts, if the illness spreads, it will be very hard to contain. u see the way things are here in the camp. people are close to each other, one tent next to the other. >> schifrin: these syrian space to practice social distancing. they don't enough water to drink, let ane wash their hands. they don't have money, to buy soap. >> ( translated ): they gave us awareness sessions and one bar of soap each, but this is not enough. we ask for disinfectants, sanitizers for the camp. we ask the united nations, we call upon the world to help us. >> schifrin: the world has 25 million refugees, and 40 million internally displaced. nowhere are they more vulnerablo than ws, where efforts to fight the virus are patchy. in idlib, syria, local workers hand out cov-19 pamphlets. but the local medi

nick schifrin begins our coverage. >> schifrin: in european >> in the oim containment area in the country, food is handed out by the natiol guard. you in rochelle, new york sone of the cities on the front lines of disruptions, delays, and closings across the country because of covid-1ls public schre closing for nearly four million students,ud ining every k-12 school inio nd maryland. new york state banned gatherings of more than 500. broadway, and manchester's metropolitan meum of art, and metropolitan opera are going dark. dizzily land will close for rest of the month. major league baseball suspended operations. the national hockey league paused its season. and the n.c.a.a. canceled it march madness conference. on capitol hill, the question was whether the u.s. has enough tests. utah republican senator mitt romney. >>e don't have the level of testing that we're seeing in veher countries, and we wonder why they have sl thousand people a day getting tested and we have a handful. >> reporter: dr. anthony fau agreed in response to democrat debbie wasserman sch >> there's not one person that

here's nick schifrin. >> schifrin: 50 miles off alaska, a large russian reconnaissance aircraft, andther one behind it, are trailed by american jets. the air force says the u.s. jets the russians, stay out u.s. airspace. riit's a cat and mouse gamt out of the cold war. and today, there's another cold war practice: spending billions on new nuclearapacity. in 2018, russian president lfadimir putin unveiled a dozen new weapons systems, including a clear cruise missile he called invincible. the u.s. is replacing aging nuclear bombers, and intercontinental ballistic missiles, and recently fielded a new ballistic missile like this one, launched by submarine. >> today, on this vital sue, at least, we can see what can be accomplished when we pull together. >> schifrin: back in the cold war, the u.s. and russiago ated arms control agreements to limit nuclear weapons. the last of those agreements was signed in 2010 by president obama and then russian president dmitry medvedev. the new strategic arms reduction treaty, or "new start," limits the number of deployed warheads, and their delivery sy

nick schifrin has a look at that now, with someone who occupied a front row seat in government efforts decades. >> schifrin: for years, experts inside and outside government have sounded the alarm bell that e u.s. needed to better prepare for a pandemic. kee of those experts is dreth bernard, an epidemiologist, a retired rear admiral in the u.s. public health service, and the lead for public hea national security council staffo esduringe the cn lintonth and gs bush admations. dr. bernard, thank you very much. welcome to thehnewshour". isadministration, today, taking the right steps? >> yes, i think so. much delayed, but, in fact, they're doing the right thing. they're listening, they'r putting together a plan that will protectus into the future, disease we see in the unitedof statesand the president's plan to move forward, i think, is the right one. now, there have been a few missteps along the line, but i want to really emphasize tht, despite mistakes that have been made before this time, this is a battle, this is a war against a biologic enemy, and we all need to pull together as a c

from the pbs nshour, i'm nick schifrin. ♪ judy:ra thedies we see playing out in italy and around the are why most oblic healicials say it is far too soon to plan when people can return to work, but president trump today said he hos to see many parts of the country reopened by easter. other voices in busine have made a similar but lesaltime specificto provide the economy. we will examine those qstions with a pair of conversations. first, they look at the genera case for easing the shutdowns soon. >> dr. david katz wrote an op-ed piece for the new york times last friday that received enormous attention arguing we may be shutting down too much of the economy too soon. he joins me from his house in connecticut. welcome. >> thank you. >> what is the basic argument? >> ihe think best way to explain what i'm concerned about here is to talk about my parents. my parents are both 80 years old , generally in good health, bte clearly no m how we stratify for preventing the h-read of coronavirus, they are in the hsk gro. when i talk to the two of them about at they are mo worried about, my dad is

for that, we turn to foreign affairs and defense correspondent nick schifrin. so, nick, this is about the u.s. navy, the ship in the paific. they've just held a conference call. tell us what th're saying. >> yeah, judy, that conference call is ongoing. but the head of the u.s. navy in the pacific ocean, admiral jon aquino, was discussing the "theodore roosevelt", and he said they're taking extraordinary action to try to isolate soldiers on that ship, sting them while in quarantine. but i have to say what he just announced is not what the captain of the ship has been asking for. me number of hundreds, perhaps in the thousands, from the u.s.s. "theodore roosevelt" are leaving the ship right now, but the admiral said they would not exceed, by the request of the captain, which was really a extraordinary one, take 90% of the ship off and keep 10% on the ship in to clean the ship and maintain the nuclear reactor and what theaptain said was basically, "we needed to do this because everne on this ship was working too closely together, and we couldn't keep the sailors s

. >> nick schifrin is here with me now.k, it was botreh the sry of state and the secretary of defense who had news conferences to dy. wh they have to say? >> first the secretary of defense, mark esperlaid out how the department of defense can help. millions of masks to be given to health and human services. ventilators, as well. military testing labops will be ed up for civilian testing. governs, of course, beginning to ask the national guard for help. and the department of defense has been etty transparent judy, about how this virus has impacted them. 39 positives across the department, 500 tests. how they have been protecting service members, civilian, depends, there are severe travel restriions. if you areart of the department of defense, you cannot move essentially insi the united states beyond the base or your home. soal distancing inside the pentagon, even the secretary of defense and his deputy cannot see each other in the same room. as for the department of state, there's a handful of case, but we really don't know

nick schifrine will h more.israel, voters went to th polls for the third time in less than a yearndrime minister benjamin netanyahu appears to be near victory. exit polls gave netanyahu's seats in parliamen out of 120 his main opponent pledged to keep fighting. netanyahu still faces an upcoming trial on corruption a power vacuum in iraq worsene today after caretaker prime minister announced he's stepping down. his designated successor withdrew sunday, blaming political leaders for blocking reforms. this follows weeks of deadly protests. turkey's army has sent new reinforcements into id province after new clashes. turkey shot down warplanes. today a turkish soldier w children watched as turkish convoys crossed into the area whilpresident erdogan warned syria to pull back. >> those who have not learned their lesson and continue to threaten us must come to their senses. if they doet notat, they will have no heads on their shoulders. judy: greek border police battle to cross from turkey.gees trying at least one pers

nick schifrin reports the cease-fire is likely temporary and efugee movement hasec a crisis. nick: for syri an refugees europe's shores symbolize sancary. but in recent days families fling turkey to reach greece have been met by aggressive greek military boats. and evefi g. >> we have children. >> at the greece-turkey land borer refugees are rebuffed by wire, armed greek guards. and sometes clouds of tear gas. turkey sthass allowed and encouraged these refugee families to head to the greek border and created hope and orger at the greekslock being the border. finding a safe place for our children. where can we go? we don't have homes. we don't have work. we don't want anything. all we want is safety. >> safety from the wt' tha now being fought between turkey, syria, and russia. in idlib, syria, russian-backed syrian government forces are fighng turkish soldiers and syrian rebels. syria has killed almost 6 turkish soldiers since january. turkish president and russian president vlainmir p announced a de-escalation zone inside syria and a-f ceae. >> i expressed hope that these ag

nick schifrin is here.t was the secretary of state and secretary of defense who had news conferences today. nick: secretary of defense mark esper laid out how they can help battle this virus in the u.s. millions of masks to be given to help humans services from military stockpiles, ventilators as well. military testing labs will be open for civilian testing, governors beginning to ask the national guard for help. the department of defense has been transparent about how this virus has impacted them. 39 positives, how have they been protecting? there are severe travel restrictions. if you are a part of the department of defense, you cannot move inside the u.s. beyond the base or your home. social distancing, even the secretary and his deputy cannot see each other in the same room. as for the department of state, there are a handful of cases. judy: we know the state department has been outspoken about china's role, including propaganda. nick: let's break this down. there has been a concerted effort by the chin