Right now, all we really have in terms of Public Safety is one system, and that is policing. People are going to be scared to create a new system of Emergency Response and i think its going to take a lot of conversations. Judy all that and more on tonights pbs newshour. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by consumer cellular. Johnson johnson. Financial Services Firm raymond james. The womens Suffrage Centennial commission. Supporting social entrepreneurs and their solutions to the worlds most pressing problems. The lendl son on the web. Supported by the macarthur foundation, committed to a more just and peaceful world. And with 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. Thank you. Judy new milestones tonight in the covid19 pandemic. In Public Health, the world has topped 700,000 deaths. In politics, Democrat Joe Biden has decided against accepting his president ial nomination at the Partys National convention in milwaukee. And, President Trump says he might give his acceptance speech at the white house. All of this comes amid a resurgence of the virus. But today, Infectious Disease expert dr. Anthony fauci dismissed talk of a new shutdown. Dr. Fauci we can do much better without locking down. And i think that strange binary approach either you lock down, or you let it all fly. Theres someplace in the middle where we canpen the economy and still avoid these kind of surges that were seeing. Judy meanwhile, the white house and Congressional Democrats negotiated again on a new Economic Relief package. The president s chief of staff said mr. Trump may take executive action on Unemployment Benefits and eviction protections, if theres no significant progress by friday. Our other major story is in beirut, lebanon, the aftermath of a cataclysmic explosion that killed at least 135 people and injured 5,000. Special correspondent Jane Ferguson reported for us for years from beirut, and has tonights report on a city shattered. Jane it began with a fire at the port, and then, an explosion so great it created a red Mushroom Cloud, and a shockwave that roared through the entire city. On the citys streets, everyday life shattered the wedding photo shoot turns to disaster. And a priest performing mass, runs for safety. Oh my god, its all gone. Jane residents returning to their apartments found blastedout windows and glasscovered streets. 72yearold janitor boulos touma was standing outside his apartment when the explosion threw him back inside. I saw my wife covered in blood, hit on her head, her ears. My wife has high blood pressure. Everyone was worrying about their own condition. Jane hospitals already overrun with coronavirus patients and partially destroyed, were flooded with the bloodied bodies of the walking wounded, and those carried bythers. I just was shouting, is my daughter ok . I got to my apartment, which was unrecognizable with no door, and , i saw my daughter at the beginning had two gashes on her leg and was naked and wrapped in a towel, with my husband applying pressure. Jane dr. Seema jilani is an emergency room doctor from texas working in beirut. She spent the hospital ride singing to comfort her fouryearold daughter. Ive worked in areas of conflict like iraq, afghanistan and gaza. What i saw yesterday was on the scale of that, if not more, in my particular personal experience. I have never experienced Something Like this. My ears are still ringing. Jane Lebanese Security officials have said nearly 3000 tons of the fertilizer Ammonium Nitrate was stored in the port. Its highly explosive and can be used for making improvised bombs. It had been there for six years, after being confiscated from a ship. A level of mismanagement hard to comprehend. Today lebanese president michael aoun visited the blast site. In a speech later in the day, aoun promised justice. We are determined to investigate and reveal what happened as soon as possible, to nd out punishment to those responsible. Jane the port is a lifeline for a city and a country already in the grip of an economic collapse, the result of years of corrupt leadership. The large white buildings here, halfdestroyed, are grain silos, holding the countrys precious supplies of wheat, needed to provide subsidized bread to millions. Lebanons people have been struggling to buy food in the midst of currency collapse and hyperinflation. Now, in a country where 50 of the population have slipped below the poverty line, the loss of grain supplies only adds to this catastrophe. Panicked families are still desperately trying to find loved ones. This Instagram Account holds painful pleas for any information. Many of these people worked at the port. An entie team of firefighters that rushed tohe initial blaze is missing. For dr. Jilani, shes grateful she has her daughter back in her arms, safe. The main thing is she is out of the hospital, she is stable, she is not needing oxygen, and she is back to her feisty self. So the moments that you used to curse as a mother, those moments of tantrums, are joyful now, when you hear your childs cry. It is a joy now. Jane the lebanese scribed as resilient, have no choice but to live through yet another tragedy, and try to mend their homes and their lives. For the pbs newshour, i am Jane Ferguson. Stephanie i am stephanie sy with newshour west. We will return to Judy Woodruff and the full program after the latest headlines. In election news, progressive mcgrath scored key wins in tuesdays primaries. Inetroit, firstterm congresswoman Rashida Tlaib won renomination over City Council President brenda jones. In missouri, black lives matter activist cori bush beat longtime congressman william lacy clay. Well talk with two political observors about whats on the mind of american voters, after the news summary. A former u. S. Deputy attorney general defended the obama administrations probe of the trump 2016 campaign. The investigation involved michael flynn, who became National Security adviser, and his contacts with russia, during the trump transition. At a senate hearing, sally yates said flynn was trying to neutralize sanctions against russia. She rejected claims that president obama wanted to sabotage mr. Trump. Something like that would have set off alarms for me and it would have stuck out both at the time and in my memory. No such thing happened. The president was focused entirely on the National Security implications of sharing sensitive intelligence information with general flynn during the transitional process that was obviously already underway. Stephanie the flynn probe later became a fullblown investigation of russian interference in the 2016 election. Facebook has removed a post by President Trump for the first time. Video from the post was part of a fox and friends interview where trump said children are virtually immune to covid19 p the social Media Company said the post violated its rules against sharing this information about the coronavirus. A spokesperson for the Trump Campaign responded, saying, the president was stating a fact that children are less susceptible to the virus and she blamed silicon valleys flagrant bias against the president. The u. S. State departments acting Inspector GeneralStephen Akard has resigned less than three months into the job. Akards predecessor, stephen linick, was fired less than three months ago. Congressional democrats allege its because linick was investigating secretary of state mike pompeo over claims that he had staffers perform personal errands. Which pompeo denied. Reports from south korea say deadly explosions in north korea killed or injured dozens of people on monday near the chinese border. Video obtained by the Associated Press shows flames and black smoke firing into the sky amid loud bangs. The report say propane gas cylinders may have exploded in a residential area. In india, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi broke ground today for a controversial hindu temple where a 16th century mosque once stood. Hindu extremists tore down the mosque in ayodhya in 1992, and 2,000 people died in the ensuing violence. Today, worshippers danced in celebration as modi offered foundational stones for the temple. It will be dedicated to the hindu god ram. And, legendary new york city columnist and author pete hamill died today at a brooklyn hospital. Hed suffered heart and kidney failure. For decades, hamills storytelling captured the color and essence of the city, on everything from politics to civil rights to sports. Pete hamill was 85 years old. Still to come on the newshour, with the president ial nominating conventions just days away, we hear what voters in the heartland are saying in this election season. Former secretary of defense William Perry on why the president shouldnt have the Sole Authority to order a Nuclear Strike. Minneapolis struggles as it tries to defund the police and reimagine Public Safety. And much more. This is the pbs newshour from weta studios in washington and from the west, from the Walter Cronkite school of journalism at Arizona State university. Judy at a fundraising event today joe biden told supporters , he hoped his decision to forgo an inperson appearance at the democratic National Convention would set an example. I am quoting from the start of , the process, weve made it clear, scien matters. He said the coronavirus has upended not only this president ial campaign season, but also millions of lives in even the most rural parts of the country. For more on how voters outside the beltway are thinking about the pandemic and its political ramifications, im joined by gary abernathy, in hillsboro ohio. He is a contributing colonist for the washington post. And, sarah smarsh, in topeka, kansas. Shes a freelance journalist and author of the book heartland. Welcome to both of you, it is great to see you. Lets start by talking about, what is on the minds of voters you are hearing from . The pandemic, the numbers were grim again today, over 1300 deaths were reported overnight, Something Like 53,000 new cases in one day. What are voters saying . Sarah here in my state of kansas, this is one of the states where new cases are on the uptake, unfortunately. In this region like across the country, it is certain the pandemic is foremost on voters minds. It is a twin issue with the economy, the present state of which we cannot separate from the Public Health crisis. Certainly the pandemic and its ramifications is the talk on main street, as well as the stuff of local politics here in kansas, which has a split Party Control of state government, a lot of backandforth, battles between a democratic governor and republican legislature, democratic mayors and republicanleaning counties. It feels i suspect the way it feels and the rest of the country, that there is no leadership and it is a bit of a mess. Judy gary, what about where you are in southern ohio . Gary thanks for having me. Maybe a little different attitude here. People are talking about the pandemic. They take it seriously, but it is also an area where you have a lot of people push back, worried about the violation of their constitutional rights. There has been a lot of pushback in this area on mandates from governor dewine about the masks and so on, which people take seriously, but they also think constitutional liberties have maybe not been taken as seriously as they could. They do not like the idea they have been ordered not to work. The economy has been shut down. I think people here, their attitude is, treat us like adults, give us the information we should have, tell us what the Health Experts say, and let us decide how to deal with it. Judy sarah, kansa are you hearing that conversation with people you talk to . How much are they connecting what is going on to what is happening in washington . Sarah i think that here the controversy over whether a mask is in order in these times certainly tracks along party lines. I would say if i go to a Farmers Market or somewhere, a public place of commerce, this is a state where a governor attempted to make a statewide mandate and there was pushback from other jurisdictions. That was the debate i was referencing a moment ago. At the moment, local places are at the mercy of their local government. What i would say is, for those who feel a mask infringes upon their personal liberties in a way that outweighs their responsibility to their neighbors, they are reliably conservative and that tells m they probably are listening to messaging from washington. On the other hand, i would say that is not the same as saying all conservatives refused to wear a mask. There have certainly been some erosion of fellowship of the president for that reason. Judy i want to pick up that with you, gary, in terms of the economy, the loss of jobs, to what extent do they connect it with decisions made by trump, by democrats . Gary i think, keep in mind i am in part of a part of the country that is very protrump. They see things as more of an effort to intentionally hurt trump through closing the economy. A few months ago everyone agreed the biggest thing trump had going for him was a strong economy. The quick effort to crash it, turn it on its head, throw people out of work, is seen here by a lot of people, right or wrong, as an effort to hurt trump, so there is resistance to that. On the other hand, as reported elsewhere, in rural areas we see coronavirus cases rising, so people are starting to notice. Ok, it is a real thing, not just in the cities. It is coming to the rural areas, too. The more those numbers rise, a little less they will blame it all on a political person. Judy to both of you, we are getting closer to the conventions, to honest to goodness election season. Joe biden is staying put, not going to his convention. President trump isnt, either. How much are people looking at the partisan divide right now and these two candidates . Sarah in contrast to four years ago in the election leading up to the 2016 casting of votes, i see fewer trump signs, for whatever that is worth, as a qualitative measure, in rural kansas where i live, as well as in townsnd cities. That does not mean folks have moved left. I see a lot of signs for farright and conservativeleaning candidates running for state offices or representative offices. We just had a primary yesterday. The republican candidate for the now you open u. S. Senate seat, favored by Establishment Republicans over the more extremist kris kobach, won, which is seen as a win for republicans in that race. I do feel like things have shifted away from embracing trump since 2016. Judy gary, how do you see the trump popularity and joe bidens presence now . Gary i am sure sarah is right about where she is at, but right here, the young the enthusiasm is unabated. The signs are up and have been for a while. The make America Great again signs have been replaced by trump 2020 or keep America Great. The enthusiasm level will be high here in southern ohio. I think the decision by Vice President biden so far to run of he was in the white house, you would call it a rose garden strategy, cant last for too much longer. I think the media will pressure him to come out more. In areas where i am at, it is not doing anything. Judy we shall see. We are watching this with great interest, as you can imagine, as this very unusual Election Year unfolds. Gary abernathy, sarah smarsh, thank you. Gary thank you, judy. Judy Stuart StevensStuart Stevens is one of the Republican Partys most successful Election Campaign strategists. His career spans decades and in his revealing new book, it was all a lie how the Republican Party became donald trump, he admits the g. O. P has used race as an issue to divide americans, in order to win elections. And Stuart Stevens joins us now. Thank you so much for talking with us. The book is jarring. I have to say, you write about how the Republican Party the last halfcentury, its hypocrisy, what you call selfdelusion, let it naturally to embrace donald trump, and embraced what you said was its racism. Explain what you meant. Stuart there is an eisenhower strain going back to the 1950s and a mccarthy strain. We think William Buckley is this intellectual soul of the Republican Party, which he was, but we forget he was a racist. There has always been this element. Since 1964, the Republican Party failed to attract large numbers of africanamericans. We use to acknowledge this as a failure and talk