The freeman foundation. By judy and Peter Blum Kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for americas neglected needs. And by contributions to this pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. His is bbc a. Rld news amer a massivesi expon rocks by written. Thousands are injured as the Prime Minister says those responsible must pay the price. We e lower than the world. Lower than europe. And what . Take a look. President trump arguesg america is h the coronavirus pandemic better than anyone else. A royal mystery. Spains former king leavesy. The countr where is he . For all of youin wat, welcome to world news america. Beirut has been rocked by a waterfront. Osion on the Officials Say dozens were killed and thousands injured. The cause is under investigation. State run media says it may have started at a fire at a warehouse that conined explosive materials. It was a massive explosion. Ranot view. [shouting] from the streets. What happened . Oh myod. [sirens] it looked as if dozens wereev dead and sal thousand injured. A country already deep in crisis has been hit by a catastrophe. I dont know what happened. I was fishing, i hard there was i heard something explode then this happened. Wa thithe fire in a report. They say the flashes were fireworks then something bigger united ignited. Lebanons interior minister told local media it was Ammonium Nitrate that had been stored the since 2014. It can be used as fertilizer or to make explosives. This is downtown beirut close to the parliament building. Since the end of last year, lebanon has been paralyzed by economic crisis. Street demonstrations before the country was gripped by the pandemic. The damage has spread across the city. The sck will run much deeper. This tragedy risks pushing the the Prime Minister broadcast to the nation. He told them that those responsible would pay the price. Beirut hospital is already pressed hard by covid19. Faced with hundreds of casualties. We were at home, we heard what sounded like fireworks. We thought it was a coniner i the port that was on fire. If you seconds later, we were flying through the air. Far flying throe air. E were they will get International Help which until now its friends were reluctant to give because of corruption and incompetence in the wealthy elite. Public anger already strong will demand real change if the rulers cannot heal the wounded, fix the damage, and punish the guilty. There is one big question. Oso allowed the storage of so much deadly exple for so long in a warehouse so ctyse to the cienter . We will be live in beirut lar in the program. Turning to the coronavir pandemic, President Trump claims the u. S. Has the outbreak under control despite 4. 7 million cases0 here and more than 155, dead. His latest defense came dur wg an intervih axios. In july in america, there we 1. 9 million cases of coronavirus. The worst month to date. The psint repeatedly insists it is all going well. How can that be justified . They are dying, that is true. It is what it is. T that doesnan we arent doing everything we can. Take a look at these charts. Hedu proced a series of graphs the details of which he uemed unfamiliar with. Right here, tted states is lowest in numerous categories. We are lower than the world. Lower than the world, what does that mean . And what . Take a look. First. St meeting we are the last week saw the death of john lewis, one of the heroes of the Civil Rights Movement who marched on washington with Martin Luther king in 1963. At his funeral, th president predecessors spoke but donald trump cho not to pay his respects. How do you think history will remember john lewis . I dont know. I dont know john lewis. He chose not to come to my inauguration. I never met john lewis. U do nd him impressive . Ct say one where the other. Another moment was when he doubled down on his support for ghislaine maxwell. The friend of Prince Andrew and former girlfend of jeffrey stein. She is now in prison awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges that she denies. You said i just wish her well. Would you wish such a person well . Parks her friend or boyfriend itwas either killed or cod suicide in jail. She is now in jail. I wish her well. I would wish a lot of people well. Donald trump believes he is his own best salesman. He will be giving a lot more interviews. Ether they will produce the headlines he wants is another matter. F more on that intview, i am joined by a former advisor to president george w. Bush and a bbc analyst. What do you make of the claims and that interview . Good evening to you. I think to myself one of the most valuable commodities a president has is their time andr thbility to communicate with the american people. Bit of discussion. As he seemed to dismiss the achievements of the civil rights icon in john lewis. He didnt seem to have a firm grip on what was going on here in the United States and around the world. Putting that altogether, i would y we cant ever have you go out there and do that again. Meanwhile, what about the 30 million americans who lost their enhanced Unemployment Benefits last week . They are waitingor lawmakers to come to a deal. Whos move is it now . Is a failure in leadership at all levels. Mitch mcconnell and nancy pelosi bear some responsibility. At a time of a pandemic, the president has lead. He has to bring people into a room and say we are going to go out this go at this every day until we have a decision. The president is not carrying on in this manner and he seems almost detached from it. A lot ofem people willber that in november when 600 per week for 30 million americans means so lot when so mae. Have so lit the election is 91 days away and we are in the middle of a pandemic. The president doesnt like itsn maioting unless its in florida. Is there a case to be made for nationwide nail mailin ving . Yes if we dont have voter fraud. There are a number of states that have a mailin ballot system. I look to utah. It works very effectively. We are talking about a federal election, maintaining a sse of discipline to make sure if there are those who would seek to srupt our electoral system, that we have a way to prevent that. Can it be done . S. Do we have enough time nsur the safety and veracity of the ballot box . I cant say. Meanwhile, the conventions are about to get underway. They are going to look very diffent because of the pandemic. Yes i he been to every publican Convention Since 2004. It is raucous, there are balloons, people make all kind of noise. Si lar error athleticer facilitiesin the u. K. , you have a jarring silence. It will be interestingo meo see how voters react to a Virtual Convention to accept the nomination for the presidency of the United States when there is no one there to participate in pomp and circumstance. It will be quite a surreal experience for us all. An he still reset between now and november, the president . Absolutely. At this point in 2004, psidentnd bushis senior advisers came to the conclusion that we were going to lose. Enpres trump has the time, he has the resoces to reframe the narrive. The question is, will he be his own worstmy e thank you so much for joining us. Ts return to our to story. The enormous explosion and beirut. We can cross live to ourwh correspondenis live at the medical center. Escan youibe the scene at the hospital . We are standing in front of the emergency gate. Tople are still coming in either to check ir relatives or to check if their relatives are inside the hospital because there is a large number of people unaccounted for. Ththis hospital like every hospital has been completely overwhelmed. They are worng to their utmost capacity and are still unable to do with the large number of injured coming in. Every single space in the hospital has been turned into an emergency unit. People are treated in corridors. They are even treated inside offices. Not only in the medical rooms because it is impossible to accommodate everyone. There triaging people according to the severity of cases and giving priority to those who are think critical condition. This is the only way to do with the High Pressure they are under. As you can see, this is like aen real eme inside. People are here not only because they are injured. They are in shock and panic. At the moment, it is very hard to say what is the real scale of what happened this afternoon. Beirut has been immensely shattered by thislo eon that happened hours ago and up until now, everyone is still looking for answers and tryi to understand what really happened. Is there anyway a word on what caused the explosions . There are several narratives being circulated. The Prime Minister addressed the nation. He talked about explosives stored at the port. Eres a lot of confusion and there are so many questions left unanswered about why have the explosions, why are they being kept in the country for such a what caused it or his really people are under so much pressure. It is a national trauma. Probably these problems later. Forwill be everyone right now is checking on their loved onesou and neighbors trying to help as much as possible because we are seeing efforts all over the place. Every Single Person is trying to help as much as they can and everngle way they can. People are still trying to asss the damage, the situation, and there are so many unknowns that people are trying to figurout. Tha you so much for that update. In other news from around the commissioner has rd. s health she cited her deep disappointment mayor de blangos handf the coronavirus outbreak saying her was not used to the degree it could have been. Infection rates in new york are now low. Tropical storm isaias has brought tornadoes and storms to the east coast of the u. S. After making landfall in north carolina. In virginia, more than 300,000 people are without power. A Tropical Storm warning is in effect all the weight to main. Viin atlantic filed for bankruptcy protection. The long haul carrier is the second member of theirgin group to file for bankruptcy prection. Airlines around the world have been hammered by the drop in air travel during the pandemic. You are watching bbc world news america. Still to come, a former fashion model in china was handcuffed to his bed for reeducation. Tens of millions of people around manella have been told to stayathome after a jump and coronavirus cases. Most shops have been ordered to close and public tnsport has been halted. The latest restrictions which are currently in place for two weeks were introduced after dons of medical associations warned that the Health Care System would collapse. Infections continue to rise. There is cause for concern. Or than 6000 new cases were reported on tuesday. Following a week of recordfar numbers. The measures an the people who are not essential workers will only be allowed out to exercise or purchase vital goods. Domestic flights have been the restrictions are currently in place until the 18th of august. Docts hope it will give medical workers time to deal with the ske in cases. The bbc has obtained rare footage from china. A former fashion model from the uighur ethnicro can be seen handcuffed to a bed. His relatis say he was taken away for reeducation and that nothing has been heard from him since. After one million uighurs have been detained in training ministeeither the or authorities have responded to our request for comment. A few years ago, he was a long way from his home in xinjiang. Making good mon, as a fashion model in southern china. This is him in february. His camera reveals h clothing and his left arm is handcuffed to a bed i. Hes now clearly back in xinjiang. A propaganda announcement drones away in the uigh language. Despite the risks that it might bring him further punishment who live in amsterdam say they have no choice but to release the video he sent them. Staying silent wont help him either. The only thing i can do is to raise public awareness. It is our only chance to rescue the young model had already served 16 months in jail having been convicted of as offense in 2018 although his family says he was innent. Upon completing his sentence, ewhatever relief he may h felt shortlived. Soon after, the police pickedga him up and took him back for a few days edution. We have asked Chinese Government aloffiwhether he was suspected of further offenses and if he was, why he was handcuffed to a bed. Have received no response. Of facilities across xinjiang. We wershown this video as proof that they were schools for reeducation not prison camps. The texts he sent along with his video clearly suggest otheise. 5060 people were locked in a small room he writes. All had sacks on their heads anl sh. Elsewhere, he could hear the signs of torture. One time, he said i heard a more man screaming from morning to evening. His firhand description of the Police Holding cell is very vivid. He writes in good chinese. It gives us a lot of detailnd a lot of horrific detail about the way in which these people are treated. Rcit is a raree. In the end, it was the virus llowed him to get a word out from this system. With his slightly high mperature, he was moved to this sale as a precaution and given access to personal belongings which are known to his guards, contain his phone. A soon as they began, the messages stopped. He has not been heard from since. The plight of chinas uighurs. The is a mystery unfolding in spain, theormer king announced he was leaving after being implicated in apt corn investigation. There are reports that he could be in the dominican republic. There has been no official confirmation. In spain that had been brutalized by dictatorship, he became much loved. Ecint years, he failed to escape the snch of real corruption. He hoped his abdication to his son six years ago would help but it did not. Now, he has abandoned his country. Spains Prime Minister said it was for the best. Er the gent i lead fully respects the decisions taken by the palace. We do this in the knowledge of what is behind the palaces decision. It is distancing itself from actions committed by a member of the royal family. And attempted coup in 1991 was the defiisng moment of h reign. Police stormed the parliament. He refused to let spainto succub military rule once more. He was someone to be seen with. It was an elephant hunting holiday in 2012 a a time when spain was in economic peril the his was a family crisis. When the king took the throne in 1975 after the death of general franco, there were many expectations. He and his wifeilaised three en. Christina became an official a suspect ig Corruption Case involving her husband. She was acquitted what he was jailed. One carlos abdicated in 2014 at the age of 26 76. Now with the Spanish Supreme Court investigating his involvement in a business deal, he says he is leaving the state altogether for the sake of h son. Do you think this is enoughfo him to restore the nishibility of the s monarchy i think it will be a great help, but i fear that it will not enough. He needs to do a lot more and itfs going to be very ult because spain has so many other problems. Tonight, it is not clear where he has taken refuge. A king who managed to guide his country from dictatorship to democracy but who failed to control his own destiny. A regal mystery and a reminder of our top story. A massive blast has rked beirut. Dozens were killed and thousands have bitn injured. Hos are struggling to treat all the casualties. It is not clear what caused the explosion. Accordg to the minister interior, highly explosive materials were being stored at the port. The u. S. Secretary of state, mike pompeo,asssued a statement offering condolences. Story at our website. E on that plus to see what we are working on anytime. Thank you so much for watching bbc world news america naor funding for this presentation of this program is provided by. Language specialists teaching spanish, french and more. Raymond james. The freeman foundation. By judy and Peter Blum Kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for americas neglected needs. And by contributions to this pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Nat the height of the conflict. To vietnam he became ngle parent of two young children. We moved a lot. We slept in rest areas. We slept in our car. It makes your world reallywere actually small. If we happened to stay in a motel that happened to have a tv, it was really special. We loved nova. Especially when it would be about space. We would talk for hours about the univer. Watching nova, i felt big, like, my mind was big, my ideas were big. The trajectory of my life changed. I could see a world outside of our poverty and i felt like things were going to get better. Pbs opened up a world i didnt know existed. Captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc woodruf good evening, im judy woodruff. On the newshour tonight, no progress yet as the pandemic persists, Congress Struggles to find Common Ground on economic r lief. I ask house speancy pelosi about the state of negotiations. Then, covid crackdowns the ercoronavirus provides covor authoritarian leaders worldwide to consolidate their power and stifle dissent. Plus, vote 2020 jill biden on her husbands run for the white house and handling of the pandemic and, rethinking college while many colleges continue to charge full tuition, one school plans to keep its drtically reduced cos permanent