Transcripts For KQED PBS NewsHour 20240713

Because believe it or not, many peopleith disabilities are not Getting Services right now. Woodruff all that and more on tonights pbs newshour. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by life isnt a stight line, d sometimes you can find yourself heading in a new direction. Fidelity is here to help you work through the unexpected, with Financial Planning and advice for today, and tomorrow. The william and flora hewlett foundation. For more than 50 years, advancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote a beer world. At www. Hewlett. Org. And with the ongoing support of these institutions and individuals. This program was madeib po by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Woodruff as of tonight, covid19 has killed more than t 80,000 People United states. The pandemic has also infected well over 1. 3 Million People nationwide, including, now, some in the whi house. In we bith White House Correspondent yamiche alcindor, and the days developments. Alcindor in muche country, the push to reopen is gaining steam. Right now i have 100 of an empty dining room,loo if you me 50 , were cool with it. Alcindor just as the white houses top scientists advising President Trump are being forced into selfisolation. Three white house g ficials leade nations Pandemic Response are all sequestered dr. Anthony fai, the nations top Infectious Disease expert; dr. Robert redfield, director of ntthe centers for disease l and prevention; and dr. Stephen hahn, the commissioner of the food and drug administration. They are doing so after coming into contact with key ite house staffers who tested positive. Today, the white house directed alwest wing staff to wear masks at all times in th building, except when they are at their own desks. President trump weighed in today, at a briefing in the rose garden. We have a lot of people schooling in and out, many of those people, most of those people are tested dependin what porgses of the oval office area they are going in. Everybody coming too the president s office gets tested. And i felt no vulnerability whatsoever. Alcindor just last week, the president s personal valet tested positive for covid19. But number one in the world even three and four, depending on where you are looking. And i get a question, when will everybody be able to get tested. Just last week the president s personal valet tested pos viv yet over the weekend, the president met with military leaders without a mask. Thatgh, c. D. C. Guidance, th the white has encouraged americans to follow, says masks virus. Lp stop the spread of the some white house officials have voiced worries, including economic adviser kevin hasset it is scary to go to work. I think that id be a lot sar if i was sitting at home than i would be going to the west wing. Alcindor Vice President pences press secretary katie miller has now tesd positive for covid19. She has been at many of the closely with seniocials. Ng pences office is pushing back on reports that he is self isolating. He will continue working in his white house office. Met with Vice President penceho twice last week, said today she would also selfquarantine. All of this comes amid reports that in recent weeks, the white ormius edlshtsffed protective equipment. But the president strongly continues defend the response. He rejects criticism that the they can safely liftto ensure restrictions. Instead, he is pressing for businesses to reopen. We have to get our countr open again. People want to go back, and youre going to have a p dblem if yt do it. Alcindor pressure to reopeh economy comes as the u. S. Unemployment reaches its highest rates since the great depression. Pr in, more than 20 million americans filed for unemployment. Ec treasurytary Steven Mnuchin told cnbc today he is optimistic about the potential effects of reopening efforts. I think the numbers are going to be Getting Better as we go eointo the summer and we rn the economy, and thats the important issue here. Alcindor meanwhile, new york state, which had been the nationsottest spot in the pandemic, today laid out plans to reopen. That comess the state hit its lowest daily death total since march. In rochester, gornor andrew cuomo said in some regions, low risk businesses and activies can restart after may 15th. Were talking about a phad reopening, thats what basically everyone is doing. The question is moderating that phasing and doing it intelligently. Alcindor at the same time, a new c. D. C. Report found at deaths from the coronavirus in new york city may actually be some 5,000 higher than the official tally. Many of those may have been in nursing homes. The white house today recommended testing for more than a million nursing home residents and aff nationwide in the next two weeks. Woodruff and yamiche joins me now, along with our own william brangham. Covid19. So first of all, the fact that you now have several people in the white house testing positive for covid, how is this affectk the ability. White house to stay on top, of thto monitor and manage this crisis . Judy, its prey remarkable. Of course the country as a whole, the world has a whole has been upended by the t coronavirs e white house itself is functioning, has been completely upended by ts virus. You have multiple people now that have worked inside the white house who have tested positive, people that worked closely with its president and you now have the Vice President not completely selfisolate, not completely in selfquarantine but officials tell me hedis keeping hiance and trying to lay low. You also have those top scientists who are no going to be testifying before congress on remote because they tore isotiftercog o contact awith someone who has w tested positiven and ou have this remarkable thing that happened day which was that the white house said every we wing staffer is now going to have to wear a mask. The only reason im not ise beca literally standing very close to the white house but not near the white house, when im inside im wearing a mask. The rson who isnt wearing a mask, President Trump. He says that he does not feel as though he nee to wear a mask because is he not close to anyone. There are questions still there presideherr not th might start wearing a mask because every staffer in the they need to do that to stop the spread of this virus. Wdruff so yamiche, we know the president spent part of the week end criticizing a number of people. What do we know, what more do we know about his maaging, his handling of all of this . Thats right, judy. The preside spoant the weekend and today lashk out at people that he sees as his opponents talking about the media, talking about democrats saying theare really out to get him. He talked about the fact that people and if look at theam tweets he sernghts i think we are putting them up there are all sorts of tweets whe he is going after, dozening age dozens of tweets. The esident is known to tweet and use his millions of followers as a way to talto the american people. But tbh this regard it was Something Different than in the past. One thing that is differens that mt obama, there was some leaked audio of him saying that the president s are, that president rumps reaction to the coronavirus was a quote chaotic disaster. So the psident has been talking about the fact that he doesnt like that obama was one other thing, the president held a briefing in the rose garden. He talked about tetionz. He stressat any american who wants or needs a coronavirus test can get a test. There are governors pushing back on tht, judy. Woodruff and is it is that point, i want to bring wil, am cause you have done a lot of reporting on this. What do we know about whether, what the white house is talking ,eeds are, and in particularhe feel comfortable for every ple to open up . Public Health Experts, we are nowhere near enough testing inth country. I mean the president touts that we are doing a record flm of vests. And while that is true, we have tested for coronavirus at this capacity, we are nowhere near what needs to be done in order to really get our hands around the epidemi that we are suffering under. Thestimates vary. I mean we are at about 300,000 tests being done per day, that sounds likte a lo. But Harvard Global Health Institute la week put out a study that estimated that we need to bet900,000 tests per day. So we are a huge gap. Only a third of the way there. We heard from caitlyn rivers testified before congress. She is an expert at Johns Hopkins university. She told Congress Last week that while the estimates vary, w could be needing 3. 5 to 10s of we are nowhere near there. So regardless of what the president says and says how we are putting out a Record Number of tests, its still not enoughg anin, the thing that we keep hearing is of course we need to get the onomy open. People want to go back to work. But as a business owner, as someone who runs a restauranor nursing home or meat packk plant or any of the places that weveu seen suffereaks. How you can edgity matily bring people back work if you cant tell who is sick and who is not. That say recipformore outbreaks. And that is the problem we have. A gap in testing leaves us vulnerable to seeing an increased spike in cases. O lliam, to be concrete what do we know about tie administs record on delivering wide spre testing and how that compares to what ir thident and his team are saying. Well, we have seen a series of staments put out by the president and by the white house that are, frankly, not accurate. The predent at that infamous meeting when he was down at the cdc said anyone who wants to get a test in the coury can get one. We know that is not true. To this day that is not true. Ere are places all over the country. Same. Gain not every state is the ere are places all over the country where people are desperate for more testing, need more testing, they cant get it. That is not accurate. Back in march the white house promised that we would have 27 million tests by thatmonth. That is not true. Many people have criticized the president s unwillingness to really use the defense esadsrtagestonttr tdro y for this tesng material, the swabs, the chemicals, the protective gear that you need to build a robust testing systwe. Ere promised drive thr Testing Centers at walgreens and walmart and all over the country. Very, very few of those have actually opened. Google was supposed to open a website that was going to direct people to test. That has not come through. Soagain, the thing that i think is frustrating to puic Health Experts is that they argue if you really want the economy to be growing aga, and tget people out of their homes safelo and back tk, you have sto know who is infected and who is not. And e first step in that process is testing. And we are just falling down on the job in that regard right now. And william, we heard the president again today and an hhs official both say that nirn who wants a test can get one. That is what they are saying at the white house today. William brangham, yamiche al sinlder, thank you both. Thanks, judy. Youe welcome, judy. Woodruff in the days others news, ptive democratic nominee joe biden blasted President Trumps handling of the pandemic. In an oped for the Washington Post biden wrote trump should be working to get americans the same necessary protections he has gotten for himself. The former Vice President argued ats the only way to get the ecomy going again. The u. S. Justice Department Says it is considering federal hate crimes charges in the killing of Ahmaud Arbery in georgia. The state attorney general asked for the investigatio two armed white men, george and travis mcmichael, chased and ot arbery in february. They were charged with murder w lak, after video of the incident went viral. Up the u. S. Me court heard more arguments by phone today, on whether religious c institutio be sued for employment disfoimination. Twer Catholic School teachers in california tried to ge their schools after be let go. The Court Must Decide whether a 2012 decisioon a related question bars the lawsuits. In hong kong, police have arrested more than 200 people after prodemocracy protests on sunday night. Theyre accused of setting fires and blocking streets. Earlier, demonsttions broke out in Shopping Malls nd the city. Protesters said police are usini otranslatedp in the midst of the coronavirus, the restrictions on gathering and turned it into a crackdown on freedom of assembly, not on y for the hughts of citizens, but also for other religious activities. I think this is a gross violation of human rights. Woodruff mass protestsns agmainland chinas rule rocked hong kong for much of last year. Irans military say a livefire exercise gone wrong has killed19 ailors. The army says a missile struck a naval vessel, instead of its intended target, near the port of jask in the gulf of oman. In addition to the dead, 15 sailors were wounded in the incidentn sunday. Ack in this country, twitter will post warninut tweets on the pandemic that contain disputed or misleading information. The company says it will not directly factcheck tweets. Instead, it may cover them entirely, or direct users to a link with mo information. Wall street had an uneven day, as investors kept watch for signs of economic recovery. The Dow Jones Industrial average lost 109 points to close at 24,222. But, the nasdaq rose 71 points. The s p 500 added just afr tion of a point. And, two passings of actor and comedian Jerry Stiller has died, of natural causes. He launched his career in the 1950s, teaming anth his wife, ne meara. 40 years later, he gained new stardom, as the irritable Frank Costanza on seinfeld. Here he is, touting festivus his substitute for christmas. You gather your family arounn tell them all the ways they have disappointed you over the past year. And is there a tree . He no, insteads a pole. Requires no decoration. I find tinsel distractin frank, this new holiday of yours is scratching me righter whi itch lets do it then festivus is back woodruff Jerry Stiller was 92 years old. And, grammywinning soul singer betty wright died of cancer on her breakthrough came in the 1970s, with hits like clean up tman, and later, where love. Betty wright was 66. Still to come on the newshour how countries at different stages of recovery are handling efforts to reopen. The coronavirus lays bare the needs of aongneglected chicago hospital. Why the pandemic exacerbatessh health cartcomings for those with disabilities. And much more. Oo uff from moscow to milan, and singapore to seoul, thwatchword these last weeks and months has been lockdown. Now, many of these places are restrictions. Loosen covid19 but, as Nick Schifrin reports, in this global pandec, the first steps are made cautiously, and with no guarantee that there nt be steps back. Schifrin after seven weeks q of spanirantine, the beach bums are back. Spains Small Businesses reopened too. And following one of the worlds strictest lockdowns, a cafe con leche, tastes like heaven. translated it tastes so good. It tastes like the glory of my tfe. Schifrin for first time in almost two months, parisians left the house without government permission. Shoppers filled the champs elysees, with their boutiques of choice written on mandatory masks. translated wearing pyjamas all y long doesnt pplp. I want to go shoing again. It is good for our morale. Schifrin in switzerland, beef is back on the menu, as diners are allowed to return to restaurants. Elementary School Students are back in the netherlands, sittins behind plastelds. And in rsia, despite a new surge of cases, president Vladimir Putin is also looking to reopen. translated starting from necessary to creatitionse, it is for the restoration of work of enterprises in the basic sectors of the economy. Schifrin ut theres a rip current under this wave of re openings. In seoul, night clubs have new posters banning gatherings and bars that werepen on friday night, now have padlocks. A single 29yearold visited this neighborhood last week to go clubbing, and infected more than 50 people. The only reason the clubgoer had been allowed out southla korea d social distancing, 10 days ago. e translated it will long time before the covid19 outbreaknds completely. Should also brace for the pandemics second wave, which many experts are predicting. This is a vy rugs that has a foomaold in the hn populations and is schifrin dr. Rebecca katz directs georgetowns center for Global Health science and security. Dr. Rebeccah im not even sure that we have finished the first wave. And already individuals and decision make are trying to move on as if we are over th prtm. Fa the cur midst of schifrin for months, singapore used widespreadcu testing and meus contact tracing, to prevent an outbreak. But in the last two months positive cases have jumped a hundredfold, because authorities admit theyd to consider these tower blocks. Theyre full of Foreign Workers who cant social distance. It. People in passes over to the rest of the population. Te in northeast chi snata schifrin in northeast china, state tv showed police settingin up new checkpots, after warning of a new wave and reclassifying a province ask. In wuhan, where covid19 began arutho hities reporghted a handful of cases the first, in more than a month. We are taking the first careful steps to modify our measures. Schifrin in london yesterday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson unveiled the united kingdoms first plan to get workers back on the job. Anyone who cant work from home, for instance those in construction or manufacturing, should bactively encouraged to go to work. Schifrin but this morning commuters and the Opposition Party called t guidance confusing. And scotlands first minister Nicola Sturgeon rejected the an, out of fear of a second wave. There will, of course, besk whenever we start to ease the lockdown but my judgement right now is that the risk is still too great. Too many people are still dying. World Health Organizations emergency director mike ryan said today. If disease persists in wicountries at a low levehout the capacity to investigate cluster, identify clusters, thes theralways the risk that the disease will take off again. Uire a loting to req of testing, tracing, isolation, arantine, treatment when we possibly can, through strong case management. This is resourceintensive. It requires a really Robust Public Health system which to be honnist doesnt reay exises in those parts of the wod. Which is why experts say this dsnt the second wave strkts second innings there a long, treacherous path home. For the bbpbs news disz hour. For the pbs newshour, im nick hifrin. Woodruff congress has appropriated roughly 175 billion so far thelp hospita and other Healthcare Providers weather the consequences othis covid pandemic. But some hospitals are struggling to keep up and Racial Disparities in the American Health care system arema ifying the problem. William brangham has our latesti conver from the frontlines of this crisis. Brangham we go now to the city of chicago, a city thats dealing with its own rising outbreak, and one small hospital on the citys south side Roseland Community hospital, and how it is struggling to keep up. The front page story in the t chicabune recently said it a outgunned, outmanned and underfunded. Im joined now by roselands and by the manager of its emergency room, lynette houston. Thank you bo very much for being here. Tim egan, to you first. Th inside your hospit seee ou all see every single yat ou just give us a picture of what its like in there now . W e oel cypamerg and righ t now, you can find gurneys at the nurses station. Patients bng treated right in the middle of the hallways. The demand for our service has been overwhelming, but weve been meeting that demand. And its thats why we say its a bright hope during dark chaos. Were giving people a chance to recover from this disease. Were giving the best treatment possible. Staff enough. R folks like lynette, our doctors, oue. V. s. Everyone is stepping to the front lines and delivering the care that people nee brangham and t, staying with you for a second, could you just give us a sense of who youa patient poon is . Well, the roseland hospitals on the far south side of the city of chicago, were the last hospital within the city limits on the far south side. Re were in theer Roseland Community. Africanamerican and over 87 of our patients are medicaid patients. Bngham and lynette, the same question to you as i asked tim. We cant see inside your emergency room or your i. C. U. Can you give us a snapshot of tiat its like, the kinds of ts that youre seeing there . The kind of patients that were seeing here is patients who come in and suspecting that theyve been infected by the virus. We have a 19bed e. R. , where we have other rooms where wcant improvise and ose patients there, which will come up too like twenty ds. But now were al using beds t nd the nurses station, where we c put at leght beds around the nurses station. These people are coming in and theyre sick. Theyre sick. And i know the news says stay home and try to take care of yoursel. But these are people who use the a loof people inme at this area dont have their own primary, so the emergency room is their primary doctor when they come here for services. Brangham we hear, tim, a lot of these that congress is passing billions of dollars out to the sta to try to keep them afloat. Use you tegettinseg s he blp fss state to help offset some of these costs that you incurring . So weve seen some federal aid that came from the payroll protection program. Ny more grants. Ma were seeking we need more support. Weve tested 10,000 folks whovo down to our hospital over covid19 testing. You know, the Roseland Community is 7 of the population of the city of chicago. Right now were 16 of the thein the fundinof health care that has happened over decades in thc city of o. While ive seen medicaid dollars flood out to resourcthe suburbs, to multibillion dollar corporations, hospitals like seland have been underfunded. Front page of the od on the tribune, were outgunned, outmanned anunded derfd. We dont have a reserve of funding that we can use to buy new equipment and hire more staff. And thats because of this woeful lack of funding that we brangham lynetston,y years. Tim is describing a situationli that sound a terrible circumstance for the staff that has to work in, day in and day out. I mean, obviously, the stress of this kind of work in a contagious environment where people are worried obvouusly themselves getting infected. And yet it sounds like youre having to work iredibly long hours just to meet this demand. How is Everybody Holding up . My staff is reallyem dous. Altake my hat off to them because this is. It can be sometimes overwhelming. But sometimes we go into chats where we try to laugh. The other side of ich is look at the dark side, because sometimed lose people, you know. The numbers of deaths is rising. And it has happened here also. Mi and those es cannot be with their loved ones. But we have to keep moving easy. Forward. We have to keep fighting. And my nurses are ally tremendous. The i. C. U. Nurses are really tremendous. Brangham it certainly sounds like it. Lynette, i understand youan havent had a to see as much of your family personally as you would like to. I havent, i havent. My daughter doesnt live here, to go round them right now. Brangham becausee worried about infection . Yes, but this is not only me. I have one employee thatagives in the g i have oneno ew. Mployee who movd out of her house, because she didnt want to be around her i mom, wsick, who has a condition where its compromised. So its noonly me. Is the sacrifice that we make this a whole group effort. So no,e havent seen our families. Brangham tim egan, you said ngat you have been complai abthe rfunfngun o hospitals like you for years, even before the pandemic. Do you think that this crisis will actually be the thing that finally wakes peop up to the importance of community hospitals, to rural hospitals, yours . Im praying t. God that it the number of deaths in the Africanamerican Community d to covid19 is a call for hope, a desperate call for hope that we finally get the decision communities like roseland derve an investment in the health care services. These folks are dying because they have comorbidities. Folks are dying because they have quad rbiditie thats because were not we dont have the ability to treath folk they were at their earliest onset of diseases like asthma, c. O. P. D. , heart disease, obesity. We need funding for programsre for primary rograms, for outreach to these folks to get overall health. Lness and and without funding, that is. Bsolutely available, we wont be able to do th and youll just see more omsparity in the deaths in the africanamericannity without that desperately needed bnding. Ngham all right, tim egan and lynnette houston of roseland hospital on the south side of chicago. Thank you both very,much for talking with us. And good luck with all of your work out there. Thank you. Thank you, i appreciate it. Oodruff one other note this is National Nurses week, we give a special thanks to lynette houston for speaking u wiand a shoutout to all of the nurses working on the frontlines of hospitals, clinics and Healthcare Providers around the country. At least 100 nurses in the u. S. Have died since the pandemic began, according to National Nurses united, theofargest union egistered nurses in the country. Woodruff for more than 60 million americans with e sabities, the rapid spread many l longterm care facilities, which are at greater risks r coronavirus deaths. These americans also are two times as likely to live in disability. But soar, legislation has fallen short for helping them. Stephanie sy has a closer lo at all of this and we begin by hearing some voices of those affected by this. I myself have a visual impairment. Im a wheelchair user. I am also an advocate with down syndrome. I have genetic physical disability called larsens syndrome. I work in a day program. We have been staying home for the past two weeks because of the covid 19 shutdown. I have one neurological disorder and it confines me to a wheelchair. So over time, i get a little bit weaker over time. E i h20 year old daughter with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and this has been really hard on her and on all of us as her routine has st been flipped upside down. I have a brother with autism. As a Family Member my brother going intohe hospital right now is my greatest fear. We dont know how we would be communicated with or understood. My biggest concern or fear during this is health care big time and medical rationing. Because believe it or not, many people with disabilities are not getting rvices right now caregiver. If he were to get sick or called backo work before i have to back to work. Insurance ll not allow me to get a home health aide, they he factover because of i work full time. Go to work and get a paycheck. O its also a place where he can develop his artistic talents. Also gives him structure and not staying at home. Thats also very iortant for me, gives me a break from keeping him busy the whole day. As a blind person when you step out, its inevitable that you need assis we have the social distancing. Ut nottancng abo touching each other, which is understandable, and on the other hand you need help. You need somebody sometimes to hold your hand. Were starting to see some challenging types of behaviors. We have a few new holes in our walls. And she sometimes just hasnt unllable sobbing during the day, which is heartbreaking. For a pare t my aides are not coming in on a regular basis y would before because they are scared of getting msick or of getting their family sick. I leel like i have taken a w to build my independence and i dont want feel like im kind of going backrds. There is a spectrum with essential workers and the spectrum is we are at the bottom of the barrel. T li doctors and the nurses and the Fire Department and the Police Department are high up. And yes, they put their lives at we have people who make 12 an hour. And we dont have the prer p. P. E. People will stop you in the street and theyll say, god bless you. You have a place in heaven. What about my place here . This is not a pandemic only problem. This is a systemic problem that occurs constantly. And we need to find a way to overcome these inequities in order to move forward and ensure that its a more accessible world for everyone. Reporter as you just heard, there are a cascade of challenges facing people with disabilities in this pandemic and facing the people that care for them. Ining me now for a broader discussion on all these issues is Rebecca Coakley. She is the director of thedi bility Justice Initiative at the center for american progress. Rebecca, thank you so much for your time. Mu thank you s for having me. Reporter and we just heard a number of people talk about their loss of services. Can you talk specifically about what servicehave gone away and how critical they are for people were hearing stories from all over the country of pele whve lost access to home a Community Based services, to the people that come into their hos a daily basis, help them bathe, help them eat, help them learn and help them actively engage in society. And because of theandemic, whether it be their caregivers or working for organizations that are closing right now due to the illness, were hearing stories from people who justga cant in society anymore. They are worried about the losse of seractually forcing them to be institutionalized or put in a nursing home agait their will. And nobody wants to be in a nursing home right now. Reporter and so even as people lose those at home services, they get thrust into a situation that could be more dangerous. Definitely. Having the inability to prepare food for yourself, having the inability to roll yourself over at night in bed to prevent bedre which is one of the most Critical Issues facing a lot of people with disabilities of this country. Being able to roll over in bedn kill you. For our folks, that sort of lack of access to serseces does mean ous injury and potentially death. Ha reporter happens when a person with a disability actually becomes sick with cov 19 . The center for Public Integrity recently released a report that said at least 25 states have enanted policies that could that people with disabilities could fall to the back of the line, if there is an overelming need, for example for ventilators or other health care supports. This is not sometng new for us. Anytime theres any sort of health care rationing, its the sad truth of history that we know that typically were put to the end of the line. People do not value our lives. People dont look at disables peopleything beyond sometimes being needy. Reporter for people that health care rationing and what does that say to somebody with a when it comes tgets priority of care, the hospital can actually, in some cases have language that that lowers the priority for people with preexisting conditions or other types of dieilisits. And so can decide that the 24 year old with Downs Syndrome is life is worth a lower level of quality of care or lower access to care than, you know, a 72 year old or a 54 year old. Reporter thats got to be pretty painful for a person with confront. Y to have to definitely. Is shihaopwiisitente acalized day basis anyways. Thats the reality we live with society. Led people in this but that doesnt mean its okay and we shouldnt bok with it. Reporter Rebecca Coakley with the center for american progress. Thank you so much for your insights, rebecca. Thank you. Dr wf new infections inside the white house challenge President Trumps an to reopen the economy. Week offer insights in whathis voting could look like in november. Here to break down all this and more, im joined by amy walter of the Cook Political Report and host of public radios politics with amy walter. And tamara keith of npr. She also cohosts the npr politics podcast. Hello to both of you. Tam, let me start with you and bring up somethingt we raised much earlier in the program and that is here you have the white house pushing the country, the president , pushing the country to reopen as much as possible to try to get e focus away from the health side of this pandemic. But uve got peple who work at the white house coming down with co id,sting positive for covid. How does that complicate whatter ins trying tdo . It certainly complicates theg meg. You know, the way the white house has been dealing with the safety of its ownempy healoviln testing in the last month or so. To rely much more avily on testing than on social distancing. Though testing that is not widely available for the rest of the public. La most wors dont have a test that they could just admiaster tove ree employes they come in. So the white house has in the last 48 hours sor so instituted a lot of measures that you can probably expect to seeat workplaces if and when people begin returning to the things like people wearingm, masks in e west wing. Woodruff and amy, how does it complicate white house efforts to get people to, you know, to say dont worry about this, weve got it under control. Lets focuseon getting th economy opened up when nevs got problems right in their o backyard, literally. Thats right. I mean part of thejob as the president of a leader of course is to setlicy but also set stad standards and behavior in the 2009 h1n1 so called swine flu president obamaactually went out and got the best vaccine for that. This was at a time when there were many folks who were vey worried about a vaccine. There was a big antinivaion move. Pushing people away from getting this vaccine. So actually taking the vaccine, that is supposed to send the signal f the president can do td evercan do it. So judy, i think whether the president wears a mask or doesnt or wear it in the white house or doesnt, what we are seeing in the data and you can hear anecdotally from regular americans is if is not whether the government says that businesses are open strks whether people feel safe to do these things. And what we are seeing over an over again, if you ask people, even people who say they dont think there should be stay atou home orders,sk them, would you be willing to get on a plane . Told you be willing to the Shopping Mall right now. Theyre not. And until people feel safdoing this, whatever attempt to reopen the economy are going to fall shorrebecause thegoing to vote with their feet more so than anything else. Well, spaking of feeeling safe people are already looking ahead to the nev elections wondering if people will feel safe then. Theris kind ever a trial run, i guess could you say, tomorrow, tam you have special elections for congressional seats in both wisconsin and california what may we learn in these two contests if anything about what lies ahead for voting . Well, there is going to be a. Contrast, rig in wisconsin there will be inperson voting. And about 250 members of the National Guard will be on hand to help administer that elction in a way that is hopefully safe for the ople going tote in wisconsin. In california it is almost overwhelmingly a mailin balloting sitti. And the state is preparing to be, i mean they have already been well on the iay to being, stay mail ballot state but being a mail tellot st in november, one thing that stands out to me about that california race i President Trump over the weekend tweeting that the race is going to be rigged if the republican doesnt win. That sort of language, the language talking about the race being rigged, the president raising suspicion about mailll ing, that is very much a preview of what we can see in november. Woodruff yeah and amy what about just in terms of go ahead, yeah. Yeah, well, i agreewith tam here which is the tweeting out about the worries about the rigging and all, i mean this is just a onetime election. As we get closer to the fall and in many cases we may see that ballot counting may take days. Because so many people vote by mail. This kind of sort of se owing th ceased of distrust even as the process is undergoing, just member when we were counting those hanging chads all those years ago. Now imagine thatwith this level of toksicity, thats super dangerous. The one tng i will sayalso blt special election in california t looks like it may be thene bright spot fo republicans right now. Republican for a time. Been democrats flipped it in the 2018 election, Hillary Clinton won this district. But right now when you look at the mailin ballot, the president talked aboutkehe doesnt mailin ballots, more returns have returned mailin ballots at this ntoi than democrats. So if republicans win it will be on the backs of mailin ballots. Woodruff and tam, i want to ask yot,about thaecause republicans have been in generaa much more criof the idea could be very well an election where they are winning because of mailin. Yes. Analso because of a compelling direpublican cante and a special election that followed a corsy with the democrats that won thoo seat. There are a lot of reasons why this seat could flip from eingcratic to republican, the first time a seat in california congressional payments flipped from demoepats tolican in a very, very, very long time. But it wasnt helped esidbyt tru mp and flat republicans have been highly sceptical in mabmailin ballots. There are otheases where in florida older voters are encouraged to vote by mail. Woodruff well stairks special election day, tomorrow, tuesday, may 12th. Utd well be reporting on it b for right now, its politics monday. Amy wallwa terter, tamara keith, thank you both. Youre welcome. Youre welcome n woodruf, coronavirus has upended life as we know it. But what has it meant for those trying to date . Lisa desjardins has that story. Desjardins the empty restaurants, theaters, and closed public spaces across the country are meant to keep people safe and apart. That has made dating, the search for being together, just strae. Like someone said to me, like after the pandemic, id love to cook you some spicy food. And i was like, what a weird pick up line. I mean, you can go to the a youre trying to build that foundation withoot of the same tools and interaction that you would normally have. We have got engood at opening netflix or sam glon prime and starting the same and rethinking as we go along. And part of desjardins as part of our oning coverage of life und this pandemic, we asked some of our viewers to tell us about their experience. I think dating is just like always sort of miserright . Like just as a general rule. Desjardins aditi juneja in aw york city is looking f relationship, and has noticed Something Different about Online Dating during the lockdown i am extremely lazy, so i was ve queens. Ike, i date in im not going to brooklyn. Im like, youre crazy. E and now thlike someone in Staten Island im talking to, m like, i dont know if we ever meet, but it doesnt matter. Were not no ones going anywhere anyway. Desjardins Online Dating apps like tinder have temporarily lifted geographic restrictions, and also pushed dates to encouragel and video distancing. Juneja says the pandemic has perhaps also forced peo slow down. It feels also less like people are racing toward some finish line, where youre trying to be like, are you the person im gonna spend my life with . Yes no, get out of my face. Re like it feels ike i just want somcompanionship. I havent that way, but thats a perfect analogy because it slows things desjardins 45yearold jeremy wade in columbuo met someone just as the shelter in place orders began. So how do they build a romance now . Virtually, watching the same things at the saug time. I t about potentially, you know, dancing together. So, you know, putting on the same song and like moving around the room with you, wounds very awkward and a little nerdy. But what else are you gonna do . D paramedic paul hess has been trying to keep the momentum going while apart, too. After 12 years of being single, november the 56yearold finally met someone through facebook. She was everything. Shes beautiful, shes smart, shes funny, shes snarky. Sh s patient with me. And thats very important when you deal with me. Desjardins because of his work treating covid patients, he ys last month he realized that itd be best to stay away from her and her kids. So now, its just calls and text messages. Thats been hard. When, you know, you come home just worn out emotionally and a physical and, you know, have to kiss the dog. I mean, hes a great dog. Dont t me wrong, but its just not the same. Desjardins of course, for couples now quarantining together, challenges can com from the other direction suddenly having too much time together. So like our actual time in increased. Ent has exponentially for me, its like, you know, you didnt change the toilet paper roll. Oh, i dont, youre rigr for two and a half years andil live in elphia. Despite minor annoyances, they say theyve grown stronger through this. Quarantine during covid as a couple has been really good for it kind of was likultimate test, like can we stand each other for this many days and hours unknowing, like not knowing how long its going to be, but doing everything together. And there was one day last week where i looked at him and said, i think im more in love with you. Not to negate everything thats hapned thats been horrible about this pandemic, but this kind of pause in fe has been a really beautiful thing for us. Desjardins many echoed tha feeling that despite all of the frustrations of this moment, its given them a chance to catch their breath and decide what they want out of life, and their relationships. It say big reset, everybody is checking out their priorities and maybe reexainling where they are in life. Its not that people are behaving differently. Are you actually getting to feel like truer ly its not that people are behaving differe youre actually getting to see like truer, more vulnerable senses of who people are. If youre in it yor a long ru got to be in it for the long run. Theres no cheating. Thats just, you know, stay, stay, stay the course and hope that everything tns out good in the end and finally, get to see the people you love again. Desjardins hope for seeing the people they love, and for some, those they are still falling in love with, despite the pandemic. For the pbs newshour, im lisa i desjardiwashington. Woodruff finally tonight, amidst these difficult, we wanted to acknowledge the outpouring of interest in the furry creatures who keep some of us company, onnd off camera, and to those pets who are becoming part of the newshour family on social media too. It started wh a crawl. Viewers writing in about feeling reassured and intrigued by seeing our correspondents beloved cats in the background as they report from home on the newshour every night. To some, the background became front and center in their mind, overriding the news at times. One viewer, paul, wrote, i am so every night, my wife and i get ready for the newshour. Anwondering will william am be on, will the cat be on the sofa, will it be awake, will the pbs logo ocure it. And to lisa desjardins, viewer craig wrote my c watching your cat dig into the pointed out to me that he felt your cat was getting treats, and its just not fair to r cats. So we wanted to reveal now what theres been a clamoring for brangham this is pepper. Woodru williams cats are all rescues. 10 yearold pepper, the tv star, d ikso td theres also macy the dog, but she isnt allowed into the Interview Room because shes a barker. And lisas desjardins this is rocky. Woodruff like williams, hes a rescue cat. He is a southpaw, jabs with his left, like his namesake, rocky balboa. The crawl of mail led to an onslaught dozens of notes, and then, followers on social media naming their rescue shelter pets for some of our onair team Erin Carlstrom on twitter in the midst of all this chaos, please meet Connor Woodruff thank you to judywoodruff for bringing sanity to our home every newshour and, scott tweeted i wanted to name him after my newshour fa too but i went a little crazy. . . His full name is snoopy desjardins alcindorwoodruff. Some viewers grew concerned when the cats were hiding. Was the brangham cat tonight . And then the fans went wild. Some accounts popped up on twitter purporting to represent ts themselves. Wed be remiss if we didnt givu a shouto the dogs and cats of the newshour, seen here onal our zoom editoeeting call, and supporting our staff behind the scenes. Wrote into the gravity omy life, the serious ceremonies of polish and paper and pen has come the mic animal whose innocent disruptions make nonsense of my old simplicities, as if i needed him to prove again that after careful e anning, anything can happen. We hat a glimpse into the behindthescenes life of the broadcast makes you feel more a part of th family. Urhoe ne thank you for watching. On the newshour online right and thats the newshour for tonight. Im judy woodruff. Join us online and again here tomooway evening. Safe, and see you soon. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by and by the alfred p. Sloan foundation. Supported by the john d. And catherine t. Macarthur foundation. Verdant and peacefulg a more world. St, ju more information at macfound. Org andith 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. Yok anu. Captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by Media Access Group at wgbh access. Wgbh. Org. Hello, everyone. Welcome to amanpour co. Heres whats coming up. One minute after midnight tonight, tuesday, the 8th of may. Celebrating 75 years since world war iis victory in europe with prominent historians Doris Kearns Goodwin and max hastings. Reecting on coronavirus. Then i connect with people, with words, with animals iis more mind to mind. Leading science