Wealth tax on billionaires and defunding the police. Lets bring in our panel, wall street journal columnist and deputy editor, Dan Henninger and columnist kim strassel and holman jenkins. Kim, lets start with a threshold question. Are schools safe for children to return to . Well, all of the evidence that we have been reading so far suggests that they are. Weve had this experiment in European Countries where kids have been back at school. We know that kids do not tend to contract the disease. They dont seem to be spreaders of the disease for the most part and obviously they managed the disease much better if they do get it and that has to be all of that has to be measured maainst the real problem of not having inperson learning. Paul what about teenagers . With younger children the evidence is pretty definitive. But kim, what about teenagers who seem to be more transmissible . Yes, they are more transmissible. I think that is why you see those School Districts that are planning to have inperson learning and reopening are making distinctions between high schoolers, middle schoolers, and grade schoolers in terms of the safety protocols thate they implement. Now, the good newsin too is at least in theory is kids get older, they can be expected to follow rules a little bit better and so there may be more ability to do some social distancing at higher levels. Paul okay. What about the teachers . Thats a central question here. Theyre saying, well, we have to be safe too. Are there ways to keep them safe . Sure. They can wear a mask. They can stay inul the front of the room and keep six feet away from the students. I think this is not really about theres a real threat to teachers from going back to school. I mean, this is not a serious proposal for a serious problem, it really is costly for the country for the kids to stay out of school. Its a very left wing union out there, a pro Progressive Union in california. Theyre trying to establish the government workers dont have to work in order to get paid. Work is optional. I think this is a big part of the very progressive drift towards a universal basic income. Thats whats going onstst here. Because its not a serious proposal about how of you get kids back to school. Paul whats the evidence bow how well virtual about how well virtual instruction has done for children . Weve had test case in the spring and the evidence ive seen is not very encouraging that kids actually learn very much. I have a friend who is a teacher in the new york city schools. Ve it just is completely worthless. The kids dont show up. The teachers cant figure out who is there and who is not. They dont take attendance. It depends on the school too. The private schools, Charter Schools, people like that really have an incentive to do a good jobon by their students. Otherwise the students leave and go somewhere else. Theyve been able to pull it off for a while but its not a better solution than having kids in the classroom and it probably never will be. Paul its interesting, while the la Public Schools are saying were not going to open of, san diego Public School the same, the Catholic Schools in los angeles are saying they will reopen of. Now, some of that may be because they have theyre under a lot more competition from charters and so on. They dont have the luxury i guess of some of the resources that state schools do. But thats if they can make it safe, why cant Public Schools with more resources . Well, the Catholic Schools indeed i think are under tremendous financial pressure. 17, the archdiocese of new york announced that 17 parochial schools in the city would be closed for financial reasons and i think some of the private charters are under financial pressure as well. One could make the argument that ce unions are militating against the reopening of schools to put their competition out of business, especially the Charter Schools, explicitly have targeted Charter Schools. Now, look, schooling typically is a local issue and i think probably this needs to be handled on a state by state issue. You have tremendous surges right now going on in texas and florida. If i were a parent in texas or School Age Children i think i would be a little concerned with the case load thats going on right there. But on the other hand, look at new york, say and new jersey, which went through a terrible experience. Their Positivity Rate is down near 1 . The case load is absolutely flat in new york and new jersey and, yet, theyre not saying, neither governor quo noe mo cuomo or mae blasio whether they will reopen schools. How can they continue to push it out into the future . Its a dilemma but once you get the virus under control, as these states have, pressure should build to get the schools reopen again. Paul kim, holman mentioned the demands of the union in los angeles are a political act the to get more money . Do you agree with that, is this a holdup to get more cash . Its that and even more. Its hostage taking. Theyre not just demanding more money and greater safety protocols, but social revolution, from medicare to all to the end of Charter Schools to higher taxes on billionaires and millionaires. This has to do with economic demands, broader societyal change, not anything to do with education. Paul all right. When we come back, a closer look atco the economic and political fallout from the coronavirus spike, california shuts down for a second time. Ch are other states coming up next . And President Trump shakes up his reelection campaign, his polls showw growing frustration with his management of the crisis. [ engines revving ] its amazing to see them in the wild like th shhh. For those who were born to ride, theres progressive. You should switch it to Tracfone Wireless to get more control over your wireless plan. They give you unlimited carryover data you pay for your data, you keep really . Yeah, you just swap your sim card you can also keep your phone, keep your number, keep your network, 20 a month, no contract. Oh, but that case temporary its my daughters old case well, ok, you know. You do you. Available 24 7 at tracfone. Com Tracfone Wireless. Now youre in control. Paul the economic and political fallout from the rise in coronavirus cases continued to mount this week. California governor gavin newsom ordering Indoor Service at all bars, restaurants and movie theaters in the state to close once again. And President Trump shaking up his reelection campaign, as polls show voters are increasingly dissatisfied request his handling of the crisis. Homan, lets start with the california case, is that shutdown justified, in your view . The governor feels he has to do something when the hospitals are beginning to back up. I dont think the shutdown is going to fix the problem. I dont think the lifting of the lockdowns really caused it. You know, you get these outbreaks when people are aggressively mingling and there was just a lot of pentup demand for socializing. If you dont open the bars, people do it in their houses and Church Basements and that sort of thing. I think its a learning curve here. People are putting the masks back on, beginning to realize it doesnt make sense too go into these crowded situations. This is in the hands of the public now. The government cant fix it. People have to control their own of behavior and its taking a while for them to get the message. But i think this might be a little bit of a blip as the country gets the facts in perspective. Paul you dont buy t thehe argument made by a lot of our ticolleagues, your colleagues in the media, that all of these states reopened too early, homan, you think thats not whenever you reopen youre going to get a virus outbreak, youre going to have people going back and doing socializing and business they used to do and if theyre not careful, dont wear a mask, youre going to get transmission of the virus. You cant keep it locked down forever. Even in new yorks theres a lot of activities in bars and parties and whatever. Youll see a spike there in coming weeks too despite the numbers being really good now. The people have to decide theyre going to control it and most importantly the people who are most at risk for a bad outcome have to keep themselves out of circulation. A mask doesnt do it. You shouldnt go to situations in the first place where you need a mask if youre a highly vulnerable person. Paul lets talk about the political consequences of this, particularly the start with this little spat at some white house staffers taking shots at anthony fauci, the epidemiologist working at the White House Task force. Is that smart politics for those kinds of shots to be taken at fauci . Not at this point in time, paul. I really dont think so. I mean, to be sure dr. Fauci is a worst Case Scenario guy and i think paul paul thats his job, though, dan. Thats his job. You just took the words out of my mouth. Thats his job. Paul okay. So the sniping at this point isnt that helpful. I have a little bit of degree of sympathy for the white house and the president at this stage. To be sure, the president oversold the white house response and he oversold it personally you so the initial briefings didnt go all that well. Billion thibut this was a new v. We didnt know that much about it. We know a lot more than we do now. The press kept pushing the white house as though they should have perfect knowledge about addressing and dealing with a virus about which very little was known and their default was to close down the entire country which was never realistic. Weve already seen the damage that its done. Now were at a point where we do have surges in some states but we know a lot more. We know much better how to treat people, what treatments and medications to give them. Remember the great ventilator panic early on . Well, we now know that ventilators are not adviseable in many cases. So i do have some sympathy for how the white house had to go through that initially and i think they would be much better off now if they simply addressed the coronavirus for what it is, a serious problem and level with the American People about it, as some of these governors like ron de santis in florida has done and greg abbott in texas. Paul so kim, the polls, though, i mean, are clear, if you believe them. The public has soured on the president s virus leadership, Approval Ratings down under 40 on that issue. Why do you think that is . Well, i think its for the reasons that dan is talking about, in that if you are out there and you are saying, look, we did a fantastic job, and then you see cases spiking all over the place, theres an obvious disconnect. And thats why dans advice is right, in that what the president should be doing on a daytoday basis is saying, yes, this is serious and we are there backing up the governors, okay, the governors need to be making these decisions. We are standing by to help. And were also working on the things that we can do which are economic revival, trying to get people back to work and making sure that congress don doesnte it worse with more legislation. Thats a better message, not one the white house has yet embraced. Tul homan, do you think the Trump Campaign shakeup is going to make a difference . I would be surprised if it did. If this is a right track, wrong track election then trump is dead. They really need to turn it into a fight for the future of the country against the democratic left. I dont know if they can be consistent enough in their messaging, trump never has, in order to make that case against the headwinds they face because of the pandemic. Paul all right. Still ahead, another deadly week in American City as a summer surge in gun violence continues. A closer look at whats behind the rising crime rate when we come back. Stock slices. For as little as 5, now anyone can own companies in the s p 500, even if their shares cost more. At 5 a slice, you could own Ten Companies for 50 instead of paying thousands. All Commission Free online. Schwab stock slices an easy way to start investing or to give the gift of stock ownership. Schwab. Own your tomorrow. Im an associate here at amazon. Step onto the blue line, sir. This device is giving us an Accurate Temperature check. Youre good to go. I have to take care of my coworkers. Thats how i am. I have a son, and he said, one day im gonna be like you, im gonna help people. Youre good to go, maam. I hope so. This is my passion. If i can take of everyone who is sick out there, i would do it in a heartbeat. Save without even if i caleaving your house. Who is sick out there, just keep your phone and switch to xfinity mobile. You can get it by ordering a free sim card online. Once you activate, you only have to pay for the data you need, starting at just 15 a month. There are no term contracts, no activation fees, and no credit check on the first two lines. Get a 50 prepaid card when you switch. 5g is now included with all new data options. Switch and save hundreds. Xfinity mobile. Theres no acceptable violent protest. Any violent protest will be stopped and there will be consequences for anyone involved and anyone, anywhere, whether protest or anywhere else who assaults a Police Officer its unacceptable and they will suffer the consisten consequenc. Paul bill de blasio condemning the attack of Police Officers on the Brooklyn Bridge this week. Thise comes amid a spike in violent crimes. Among the victims, a 1yearold boy was killed last weekend when two gunmen opened fire at a cookout. Thank you for having me. Paul w lets talk about the flareup in crime around the country. How serious should we take it . How serious is it . And how widespread . How many cities are affected . Its quite serious. We ought to take it very serious. Its incredibly widespread. A number of cities from new york to chicago, st. Louis, philadelphia, baltimore, are seeing a lot of these jumps. Now, some of the jurisdictions have sort of had crime troubles for a good amount of time now. But i think what were seeing now especially in new york is particularly concerning because what it portends is an erosion of a lot of the progress we put in over two decades. Were flirting with the process of learning how quickly that progress can be eroded. Paul so what role do you think the antipolice protests in the wake of the George Floyd Killing have played here . A big role . Well, i think its playing a big role when you consider the fact that its an ingredient in a cocktail thats been brewing for quite some time here in new york. New york has kind of taken a very rapid approach to criminal justice reform. In the last few years, we have seen sort of progressive district attorneys elected in brooklyn and queens who have undertaken widespread efforts at diverting both nonviolent and serious offenders including gun offenders. Weve seen new york city adopt a number of pretty radical criminal justice reforms, closing Rikers Island and capping the capacity at 3500 inmates. This is a jail system that had more than 17,000 at one point. Weve seen the right to know act which requires the nypd to affirmatively apprise people of their right to refuse a search. We have seen the ending of anticrime units in more recent times. Weve seen serious levels of decar ceration which combined with the current moment, the heat of that moment, is making for a lot of what we see today in the streets. Paul and of course now the City Councils going to cut the Police Budget by a billion dollars out of 5 point some billion dollar budget. And you had the bail reform that was passed at the state level. So even some of these offenders who are arrested for the assaults on police have already been released from jail. Thats exactly right. Paul who knows what theyll do. The list you gave here is really quite something when you think about it. I mean, so whatdoes it portend . Are we going to see a big spike in crime here that continues . Youre young, okay. Im not. I was living in new york in the bad old of days and i saw the progress that was made under rudy guliani, bill bratton and the other Police Chiefs here and of course Michael Bloomberg too. Are we going back to the bad old of days . I think were certainly headed in that direction. Take a look at the crime numbers now. What were seeing is through july 12th murders are up in the city 23 , shootings are up 61 . And for people who would say, well, this is just a blip, this is just a product of the moment that were in and it will pass, consider the twoyear trends. Shootings are up 70 over the last two years in new york city. Murders are up 22 . Thats a pretty sustained increase. And if we keep that up for just another two years, i think were going to cut into a significant portion of the progress that we made over the last decade and while im certainly younger than you, i was living in brooklyn, new york in the 80s and 90s and remember what it was like growing up during that era and as the son of a new york city Police Officer and detective, i remember the worry that i felt whenever my father left the house to go to work and i think that we are again kind of flirting with the line, that if we cross it i think a lot of that progress will start to erode much more quickly, especially if we continue to alienate Police Officers who in this city have been on the front lines of pushing back against this trend. And one of the other things the city council recently did was to make it a crime, even if a Police Officer accidentally in the process of making an arrest, applies pressure to a susp