Experiment with offflabel use of ent drugs in hope of combating covid19. We havent had a situation like this. People are used to saying ive got this disease, where is the drug . Evyone is starting to learn a little bit more about what Drug Discovery is like. Judy l that and more tonight. Major funding forws the pbs nehour has been provided by Consumer Cellular. Johnson johnson. Financial Services Firm raymond james. Supporting social tentrepreneurs andir solutions to the worlds most pressing problems. Committed to improving lives through invention in the u. S. And developing countries. Supported by the john d. And catherine t. Macarthur foundation. More information at macfoun d. Org. And with t ongoing support of these institutions. Mthis program we possible by the corporation for public abroadcasti by contributions from viewers like you. Thank you. Judy the u. S. Death from th covid19 pandemic has now topped 127,000 people the epicenter has shifted to the west and the south, where cases haveo balloonedcord highs. Alifornias Covid Response was ce called a miracle for quickly stemming virus spread, buthe state today took steps to move back into lockdown after new cases spiked almost 80 in the last two weeks. Bottom line is the spread of this virusaontinues a rate that is particularly concerning. Fourth of july weekend has raised a lot of concern from our health officials. We want to again remind each and every one of you that ifto we wt e independent from covid19, we have to be much more gilant. California is not alone. A majority of states in the country are now reporting surges and infections. Yesterday, the u. S. Reported 47,000 new cases, the highest single day spiked for the nation in the pandemic so far. To slow virus spread, 14 states are moving to pause or reverse plans to open their economies. But the majority of states are still moving ahead on lifting restrictions despite the rise and infections. Only 17 states and the district of columbia have issued mask mandates. And texas is not one of them. Lieutenant governor dan patrick said last night that he doesnt need any advice from dr. Anthon pyeongchan fauci, the nations top infeious disease expert. He said he is concerned about ppstates like texas that s over things. He doesnt know what hes talking about. Texas is reversing reopening steps. Hospitals here are already bracing for the weeks ahead. The hospitals are operating with nearly 100 of intensive care unit beds occupied at several hospitals. If the community doesnt start behaving differently, there was goinbe a limit to what hospitals can handle. That is three weeks from now. In phoenix, Vice President mike pence met with governor doug ducey as arizona struggles to contain its spike. I know we will get through this. Absolutely confident. With your leadership, with the full support of the federal govement behind you, the cooperation of people of arizona, we will slow the spread and we will flatten the cur. Meanwhile in washington, the senate last nighand the house day approved a five week extension on the paycheck extensn program for Small Businesses struggling to stay open sith theps and starts of state plans. Business owners are left struggling to keep up with shifting plans, like texas rent reversal. It added a lot of complexity and stress tomall Business Owners like me. We were hoping it would turn around by may. Now that everything is going in the wrong direction, it does wet look like re going to be over this anytime soon. Plans on hold across the country as states scramble to stifle another swell of covid19 infections. We will return to Judy Woodruff and the rest of the program after the latest headlines. Police in hong kong begin making security law imposed by mainland china. Thousands of protesters took to the streets in the semi autonomous territory after the tuesday. Went into effect more on the contentious new law after the news summary in seattle today, police cleared protesters from a socalled Occupied Zone nearowntown. Violence had flared there in recent weeks. Two teenagers were killed and six others were wounded in separate shootings. Officers in riot gear moved in on theam eent after the mayor issued an executive order for police to begin clearing the streets. They arrested more than 20 people. O job is to protect and serve the community. Our job is to support peaceful demonstrations. But what has happened here on the streets over the last two weeks, few weeks that is is lot less a it is brutal and bottom line it is simply unacceptab. The demonstratisps were in se to the Police Killing of george floyd in minneapolis in may. Lawmakers in new york city have agreed to shift 1 billion in Police Funding to education and social service programs. Advocas argue those cuts dont go far enough in protesters camped outside city hall for the ninth day in a row. New york city mayor bill de blasio defended the action. This is a huge reinvestment in communities while we still stay safe as a city. Im very comfortable we struck the right balance. Again, what im saying represents im certain the majority of new yorkers who want this to be a safe city, they want more fairness, they want more reform,ut they also want to make sure we consistently stay safe. Department is also preparing for cuts. E city Council Voted to cut 150 million from the department budget. The move ces a day after the los angeles board of education approved a 35 cut to a School Police force. Richmond, vginias mayor ordered the removal of all confederate statues on city property. Crews and the former capital of the confederacy began by taking stonewall jackson. Ing general meanwhile, two republican senators, ron johnson of wisconsin and James Lankford of oklahoma, filed an amendment to replace columbus day with juneteenth as linew federal y. The results from yesatrdays elections are in. Former colorado democratic Governor John Hickenlooper willi face repn Senator Cory Gardner in november after winning his primary tuesday night. In western colorado, five term republican congressman scott tipton lost in his primary to rrightusinesswoman lauren bogert. In oklahoma, voters narrowly approved expanding medicaid in the state. The Trump Administration pushein back today a accusations the president neglected reports offoussian bounties killing u. S. Troops in afghanistan. Mr. Trump dismissed those intelligence reports as for canoes. Secretary of statete insthe situation was handled incredibly well to safeguard troops. We see threats and intelligence reporting to our thldiers stationed all ove world every single day. Every single day. The fact that the russians are engaged in afghanistan ins a wy thatverse to the United States is nothing new. Nationasecurity advisor Robert Obrien told fox news a top cia officl decided not to verbally brief the president on the matter since the telligence was unverified, but he said Response Options were nformationn case the was corroborated. Still to come, russians vote to change their constitution to allow Vladimir Putin to extend his presidency. The American Academy of pediatrics calls for students to be back in e classroom this fall. Protesters face arrests in hong kong as a controversial security law goes into effect. And much more. This is the pbs newshour from wetadi s in washington and in the west from Arizona State university. Judy the polls closed in russia after seven days of voting on constitutional changes. One would allow president putin to stand for two more terms in office. Early indications were that 70 plus voted in favor. Our special correspondent reports that russias preeminent leader for two decades maye around for years to come. It is a vote in russias future and the higher the itrnout, the more credibl will look. Some good old electioneering, each ballot paper comes with a Lottery Ticket with prizes from cash to cars. The biggest winner will likely be president Vladimir Putin for a chance to rule into his 80s. Many of his supporters dont need incentives. He is the best president of all the president s. Pressure will survive even though many people dislik him, i think hes right and our country is flourishing. Voters like this one have spent most of lheir adues under his leadership she was 30 when he came to pow inhe year 2000, but she also remembers what came before in the 1990s when russias economy collapsed. She credits putin with its recovery. People live well now the standard of living has increased. Each family has two cars. That is an indicator that he was able to do it. I saw how it was transformed in sochi. Work is underway, you cant deny it. The campaign for the co played in national pride. He said the changes would reinforce russian values. We are not just voting for clendment clothed ir legal rules. We vote for the country in whice ant to live with modern education and health care with reliable socialcirotection of zens, with effective power accountable to society. One amendment would outlaw samesex marriage. The Campaign Video was about parents. Others woulduarantee the minimum wage and pensions. Criminal immunity for life. Tin and yet with all that, there has about the ant that couldion extend his time in office. Changes all come as a single ckage. There is just one question. Yes or no . This National Vote takes in hundreds of amendments to tit russian conion. Critics say it is designed to minimi the focus on putins power and executedtn a way t gives them almost no chance to argue. Raies and protests are banned because of the pandemic and campgners say russian state media does not give them a fair hearing. We are not allowed to express our position to those against this vote. Everything that is happeni is an absolutely strange, cedure tmate p recognize results that are simply impossible. But russia alshas a troubl history with outright fraud and baot stuffing. Election monitors say they witnessed multiple violations. Officials took the unprecedented hours before pollsd,arly results something which would usually be banned. Putin has been involved in messy military interventions in chechnya, grgia, ukraine, and syria, and suffered under economic slipped in the last year, but remain high. So far, he has played coy and has yetay tohether he will stand for another term in office, even if he is allowed to. It is necessary to preserve this possibility in order to prevent elites from looking around in search of a successor. So what he was basically trying to say is that he cant afford to be a lameduck because it is dangerous because he is surrounded by people he cant trust. But not everyone who remembers the 1990s is voting mer thements. One let a libal opposition partydnd he sai just as russia had its first chance that democracy, Vladimir Putin let it in a different direction. I understood that those mistakes and crimes were committed then, would inevitably lead russia to an authoritarian regime a so it happened. Unfortunately, we foresaw this. We understood that at the beginning of the century. For an older generation of voters, this is about whether e relative stability gained in putins russia has been worth it. S if the amendmee passed, the children may live most of their lives knowing nothin else. For the pbs newshour, im lucy taylor in moscow. Judy mlions of American Children and their parents are desperate to know what the fall might look like for schoo there is an argument that kids need to be in the classroom. Thats right. The American Academy of pediatrics came out with a very clear statement, arguing that given what we know about the virus and about kids being stuck at home, the aap strongly advocates that all policy considerations for c ting school year should start with the goal of having students physically present in school im joined by one of the authors of that report. A pediatrician, and Infectious Disease expert, and theice chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee oea infectious ds. Thank you for being here. Your report offers all kinds cautions about how to make school safer, how toee teachers and kids safe. But given what we know now, make the argument you made in this report. I know there is a lot ofe concern about risks of kids going into school for students and teachers. We know a lot more now than we did in march when we pretty much all shut schools down. I think there are ways that we can make schools saf it is really a strategy of risk mitigation. We are not goi to be able to eliminate risk in schools. The other crucial side of the coin is that kids will suffer from not being in school. Lots of concerns with Behavioral Health and all types of problems being at home. Youwe look at wha are trying to do now with reopening the economy, it hato do with children being in school. We really need to be doing that. Some of your report seems to be informed byab learnint how kids get sick with coronavirus and how they might transmit it to others like teache. It is becoming clear that kids are less likely to get infected with covid19. When they do get infected, the disease tends to be much less severe than adult, and they seem to be less likely to disease to other people. We think probably because they are less symptomatic. Erthere are a nuf factors involvedhai think we now know that we didnt know then. I hear everythingoure saying about the importance emotionally psychologically, educationally of getting kids back in schools, but i know so many parents who have heard the mantra of social distance, stay away from others, now sending her kids back into clotted class crowded classrooms is terrifying for them. How do we make schools safe so that can happen . A few things we physical distancing works. Ideally six feet, but even three feet is good. Wearing face coverings, particularly for the olderids. Wmasksk. There was more and more evidence coming out about the effectiveness of masks. We have to consider the teachers and staff, as well. What we have seen in other places that havepen schools is that thebe spread tends t adult to adult as opposed to childo adult or adult to child. Education week did aoll of teachers and they said they were nervous, two thds said they were. Meight be looking to retire early. Are you worried that reopening plans might cause early retirement . We are in a pretty precipitous place right now with cases increasing in a lot of states. So yeah, i think there is reason to be nervous. I think for communities where the virus is not raging, i do think it is realistic to open schools safety. Yevo im n. I understand why teachers would be nervous as well. All things considered, though, school is crucial on so many levels. That was the infant andim tus behind this guidance. Teachers should be inlved in our involved as plans reopen. Im optimistic in a lot of places we are going to be a. E to get the thank you very much for your time. Thank you. A new crackdown in hong kong. 23 years to the c dayna took back control. A report on how this ominous d dawned on the freewheeling hub of international business. With the wave of a blue banner, a confrontation with protesters and an arrest, Hong Kong Police made it clear that it does not allow fre of speech. Police arrested activists for what they did and what they said. Prodemocracyts activ were detained. Protests continued into the nigh Police Detained more than 300. It definitely completely changed inside hong kong. Isaac chang is Vice President of a prominent prodemocracy group. Gtheup disbanded after fear of arrest after the law was passed we have the rights to protest. The National Security law restrict o these kin freedoms, so we can no longer seek speak anything to fight againstis this commregime. Nick the national securitca losses anyonbe arrested or jailed who organizes, or plans demonstrations for undermining national unification, who promotes desk provokes hatred of beijing, who directly or indirectly receivestr itions or any other kinds of support visiting hong kong. Why are you willing to do this interview despite the threats . I have to speak to present the hong kong situation that we hope the International Society can recognize the situation. Nick the u. S. Has revoked visas of senior officials and promises more action. The u. K. W face deptation. s it is a lifeline for one hong kong couple eligible for citizensh british who i spoke to today. Why are you thinking about leaving hongong . We have to do it for our daughter. We have a nextgeneratn. Nick of the hundreds of thousands that have filled the streets, thousands feel like they have lost the battle and are planning on emigrating area the couple did not want to give their names or show their faces criticizing the new law ever g it is what people say, what people wear, what people look like. With k this law, we no longw how the government is going to define or execute the law. Nick you are talking about leaving your home, leaving where you have been raising your child, leaving all your friends. How do you feel about that . Really sad. To be really honest, this is the last resort for us. Im pretty sure my parents ckent going to be ok to move out. Where are you hoping to move . The covid19 and the political situation in the states and also the brexit poses a lot more questions. Nick ne other place that has done a pretty good job of covid19 is taiwan. Would you consider going to taiwan . A a lot of peop now questioning how aggressive beijing would be toward taiwan now. Nick that is a nightmare for wu. S. Policymaker have been trying to bolster taiwans ability to stand up to beijngg more than ong could. Another group not standing up to beijinis the business mmunity every good community. I think it would be a leap to say that tourists or regular