Pandemic, the effects on the 2020 campaign, and controversial statements by the candidates. All that and more on tonights pbs newshour. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by moving our economy for 160 years. Bnsf, the engine that connects us. Consumer cellular offers nocontracwireless plans that are designed to help you do more of the things you enjoy. Whether youre a talker, texter, browser, photographer, or a bit of everything, our u. S. Based Customer Service team is here to find a plan that fits you. To learn more, go to consumercellular. Tv the john s. And james l. Knight foundation. Fostering informed and engaged communities. More at kf. Org. And with the ongoing support of these institutions and friends of the newshour. This program was made pssible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Woodruff President Trump declared houses of worship essential today, and called on governors to reopen them this weekend. Some beaches and lakes are also reopening, as americans mark the memorial dayoliday. That all comes as the number of covid19 cases in the u. S. Climbed to roughly 1. 6 million. William brangham has our report. Brangham the flags stood at halfstaff at the white house today for the more than 95,000 americans who have died from covid19. The staggering death toll comes as the u. S. Enters the unofficial start of mmer this weekend. One mayor ong the new jersey shore said hes mmitted to keeping beachgoers safe were gonna have personnel specifically dedicated to enforcing social distancing, to making sure that groups stay with who they came with and that theyre keeping that six foot radius at all times. Brangham mayor kanitra said hes cut beach parking by half to try and curb the number of outoftown visitors. And, beaches along lake michigan, like this one in northwest indiana are also slated treopen this weekend. Park Ranger Bruce Rowe said theyll be watching the crowds carefully two weeks ago we shut down a beach in the National Park because of overcrowded dangerous conditions, if that becomes necessary well do that again. Brangham meanwhile, a new report from the Lancet Medical Journal notes that hydroxychloroquine, the anti malaria drug that President Trump says hes been taking to prevent covid19, is linked to a higher death rate among people who are sick with the virus, and it can double or triple the risk of an irregular heart rhythm. Separately, thes no good evidence the drug prevents covid19, and the president this week hinted he might stop taking the drug soon. A at a press briefing the president said the order for the centers to have Disease Control to issue new guidance to allow place of worship to reopen doors this weekend. The governors need to do the right thing and allow these very essential places of faith to open right now. Reporter and he said eh will override governors who do not comply, though he doesnt have the authority to do so. The c. D. C. Also updated other coronaviru and, the centers for Disease Control updated some of their coronavirus prevention guidelines, now saying that the virus is not as easily spread on contaminated surfaces as originally thought, or through animals. Across the globe today, muslims are preparing for their normally big eid celebrations, which mark the end of ramadan, a bit differently. From this indonesian outdoor market, to this one in kabul, crowds of people, some in masks, shopped for the holiday. A kabul official warned the city will be under lockdown during eid and urged families to avoid large gatherings. translated we ask all to stay at home and avoid going out for eid celebrations, going to relatives homes, picnics and all other means of celebration. The reas for this restriction is the spread of coronavirus in kabul city and the unexpected increase in number of positive cases. Brangham meanwhile, in europe theres a rush to implement new safety and prevention measures as businesses start to reopen. Like at this upscale salon in rome. Owner Giada Capuano says shes happy to get back to work, but says new Safety Measures will also be costly translated to re sanitize an area between one client and the next takes as a minimum halfanhour which means taking less appointments and bringing in less money at the end of the month. Brangham and, in portugal one coastal resort town says it will test all its 200,000 residents for coronavirus antibodies. Officials say the results could provide peace of mind and hope it can lead to a busy tourist season to revive the sluggish economy. But for each new reopening, new hotspots are appearing india reported 6,088 new coronavirus cases in 24 hours, its biggest one day spike. And, in what is considered by many to be an underestimate, more than 20,000 brazilians have died from the virus, a fifth of those in sao paulo, including daniela dos santos mother. translated thidisease is silent. We dont believe it happens and look at this, im burying my mother. Brangham in that city, graves are being dug at an unprecedented rate, creating the largest cemetery in latin america. For the pbs newshour, im william brangham. Woodruff in the days other news, a passenger jet in pakistan crashed into a crowded Residential District in karachi today. Most of the 98 people aboard were feared dead. At least two passengers survived. Smoke billowed up as ambulances raced through the busy neighborhood. Emergency workers combed through the wreckage, looking for signs of life neath cavedin roofs. translated i saw from the rooftop of my house lots of smoke in the sky, so i ran towards the scene and saw the wreckage of the planes cockpi and the body of a pilot inside. We came to know that the plane was unable to land and crashed here. Woodruff its unclear how many people on the ground were killed or injured. In china, deberations began today over a bill to limit oppositionctivity in hong kong. The proposal was formally submitted at the annual National Peoples congress in beijing. Meanwhile in hong kong, chie executive carrie lam backed the effort. translated hong kongs Government Supports the National Peoples congress deliberation of the decision to establish and improve the legal system and enforce mechanisms at the National Level for the Hong Kong Government to safeguard National Security. Woodruff prodemocracy activists say the bill amounts to a crackdown on freedoms in the semiautonomous city. Chinas move comes after months of antibeijing protests in hong kong last year. Well discuss all this, after the news summary. The sons of slain saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi said theyve forgiven their fathers killers, a move that spares the five saudi agents from execution. One son explained that forgiveness was extended in line with the islamic tradition of offering pardons during the holy month of ramadan. But in a twe, khashoggis fiancee, hatice cengiz, said, no one has the right to pardon his killers, and i will not stop until we get justice for jamal. Back in this country, the f. B. I. s director ordered an internal review of its investigation into President Trumps former National Security adviser, michael flynn. It will examine whether any f. B. I. Employees engaged in misconduct during the probe. Earlier this month, the Justice Department dismissed the criminal case against flynn for lying to the f. B. I. The District Attorney prosecuting the Fatal Shooting of Ahmaud Arbery in georgia spoke for the first time about the case today. Joyette holmes is the fourth prosecutor assigned to lead the case, after arberys death, believed to be at the hands of a white father a son, sparked a national uproar. We are going to make sure that we find justice in this case. We know that we have a broken family and a broken community down in brunswick. Now, i do ask, i know that there are a lot of people who have questions about next steps, about the facts, about where do we go from here, but we ask you that you allow us to try this case in the courtroom for the sanctity of this case. Woodruff her remarks came a day after the arrest of the man who videotaped the incident. William roddie bryan jr. Appeared in court today Via Teleconference to face charges including felony murder. His lawyer insisted bryan was nothing more than a witness. The f. B. I. Today identified the gunman who opened fire at a Texas Naval Air base in corpus christi, and wounded a sailor. The gunman, 20yearold adam salim alsahli, was killed during yesterdays attack. The f. B. I. Is investigating the incident as terrorismrelated, but offered no specifics. The university of california wont require s. A. T. Or a. C. T. Admissions exams through 2024. And it will eliminate them altogether for california residents after that. The governing board for the bloc of 10 schools voted unanimously to do so yesterday. Critics argued the exams put lowincome and minority students at a disadvantage. And, stocks were mixed on wall street today. The Dow Jones Industrial average lost nine points to close at 24,465. The nasdaq rose more than 39 points, and the s p 500 added seven. Still to come on the newshour we explore the Science BehindAntibody Tests for covid19, and their limitations. Chinas government looks to exert greater control on semi autonomous hong kong. Mark shields and david brooks break down the latest politics of the pandemic. Plus much more. Woodruff we return to the drastic proposal from china to tighten its grip on hong kong. At their annual gathering in beijing, chinas leaders today unveiled a new set of measures designedo curtail freedoms enjoyed in hong kong since its transfer to china from britain 23 years ago. Amna nawaz has more. Nawaz hong kong is supposed be semiautonomous under the so called one country, two systems policy. But in recent years, pro democracy activists have resisted efforts to bring hong kong under tighter mainland control. The new chinese legislation is short on details, but would seek to ban what it refers to as secession, sedition and subversion in hong kong. All this as china seeks to emerge from the covid19 pandemic, which began there, and relations with the United States continue to worsen. Joining me is Bonnie Glaser, a Senior Advisor for asia at the center for strategic and International Studies, a washingtonbased think tank. Welcome back to the newshour. So as we mentioned, we donts have a lot of details, but what do we think the Practical Impact could be when it comes to businesses or people, freedom of press in hong kong . Well, it remains unclear, i think, as to how beijing is going to implement if law. It will likely lead to further erosion of rights and freedoms in the territory, possibly greater control over the media. The law will permit mainland Security Forces to operate in hong kong, and that could potentially result in new Law Enforcement organs that operate alongside those that already exist. We could see an implementation of chinas Patriotic Education that preaches Chinese Communist partyapproved messages that essentially political indoctrination. The law could give new authority to remove opposition lawmakers or even prosecute them. There could be further erosion of hong kongs independent judicial system. Reporter whats behind this . Why would president xi make this specific move at this specific time . I think the massive protests in hong kong last year with millions of people on the streets clamoring for democracy and desecrating the prc flag was very embarrassing for xi jinping, and i think he wants to avoid a resumption of those kinds of largescale protest as the pandemic gets under control. So with this fear in china that the situation in hong kong will deteriorate, i think that the cheese have decided to take preemptive measures to strengthen their control over hong kong, so the basic law, which hong kongs mini constitution, really enabled the people of hong kong to keep their freedoms and have separate laws from Mainland China. Through there was but there was also a provision of article 23, which would have contained these National Security laws, and it was never ever really built out by the legislature in hong kong, so what the National Peoples congress has done is take a preemptive step to pass the law themselves. Reporter could a preemptive move like this spark more demonstration and, if they do, what would be the likely response from Mainland China . This move could spark greater demonstrations, but there may be some people who dont want to return to the street because they fear that the new law will enable more people to be imprisoned and tried and incarcerated. But i think that the radical activists, those who are really committed to democracy, will take to the streets, and we will see greater violence. The question, of course, always in everyones mind, is whether the chinese will intervene with force. Reporter bonnie, were already seeing some response from u. S. Lawmakers. One statement from jeff merkley from oregon, a democrat, he said today is a dark day for mcand the world, any illusion china honors its obligations to respect hong kongs autonomy is shattered by this power grab. Beyond statements, is there anything u. S. Allies could do to pressure china and make sure hong kongs autonomy is protected . The United States can work in concert with other countries to put pressure on hong kong. Certainly, through rhetoric, but that probably wont be enough. I think there does need to be consideration of sanctions in specific instances, and, so, we need to develop targeted sanctions that might be placed on police units or Chinese CommunistParty Officials and even maybe banks that engage in transactions with individuals and entities that are violating one country, two systems, and i believe thats what the new legislation that is under consideration in congress is really going to take a look at. Reporter Bonnie Glaser from the center for strategic and International Studies joining us today. Thank you very much. Thank you. Woodruff that Party Congress in beijing was postponed as china battled the coronavirus. The Trump Administration has highlighted the possibility that covid19 was accidentally released from a chinese lab, by chinese scientists. That accusation is unproven, but as Nick Schifrin reports, questions of science have challenged u. S. china collaboration, and given way to increased the confrontation. Schifrin it feels like a descent into the heart of darkness. Chinese virus hunters, in wuhan, looking for coronaviruses, in bats, in a video posted as the pandemic began. Scientist tian junhua acknowledges in narration, there are serious risks. translated because when you find the viruses, you are also most easily exposed to the viruses. Schifrin tian says he hunts for viruses to create vaccines, before viruses hunt people. And the promotional video ends with a brag how many viruses chinese scientists have discovered. translated now, this may seem shocking, but its normal work for virus hunters the world over. And chinese scientists have been trained by the west. Were working in caves across southern china, where the risk is highest, and who is at most risk of this new disease. Schifrin peter daszak is the head of new yorkbased ecohealth alliance, which received bush, obama, and Trump Administration funding to research in china. Pbs newshour filmed him five years ago with our Partner Global health frontiers, as he tried to improve defenses to viruses that jump from animals to humans like sarscov2, the virus that causes covid19. What were trying to do is, whats the next one coming along, and can we stop it before it evolves into a lethal human pathogen. Schifrin tian works in a wuhan lab to do that work, and received one of the first live samples of sarscov2 on december 26. He and chinese colleagues wrote one of the first papers about a covid19 patient. In fact in the last weeks of december, teams of chinese scientists collected dozens of sarscov2 strains to share online. And chinese scientists submitted the first full genome after just two weeks of work. Thats incredibly fast, a sign of how far chinese scientists have come, says dr. Gregory gray is an Infectious Disease epidemiologist whos worked with chinese scientists since 2011. The majority of scientists i work with are excellent and often very much western trained and western thinking. They value truth. Schifrin but the Chinese Government put a break on that truth telling. On january 1st, Wuhan Institute of virology director general yanyi wang messaged her colleagues, saying the National Health commission told her the labs covid19 data shall not be published on social media. And shall not be disclosed to t