Pursuing solutions for americas neglected needs. And by contributions to this pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. This is bbc world new america. From new york city, im laura trevelyan. The u. S. Marks another grim milestone, 70,000 people have diedn the coronavirus outbreak as the white house downplays projections of worchester,. Clearing the air. Hocoronavirus reduced indias pollution problem and why there are worries about the smog returning. Plus, how a pandemic. Ie during hollywood is struggling in the age of social distancing. You have your camera operator who has a dolly grip. For them to be six feet apart. S impossible laura for all of inu wat around the globe, welcome to world news america. 70,000 people have died of coronavirus in the u. S. , a staggering death toll that leaves many families grieving. More than 40 states are moving towards reopening their economies and the white house is talking about winding down the corovirus Task Force Area the human cost, says ternor ofer the new york. The president is on the road in izona. Compromise in the time of covid. R at clearwaach in florida, sunbathers use seaweed to social distance. Re than ever, people want to enjoy the outdoors and police are on hd to conform control crowds. This is the bargain many ates are making wh anxious residents and businesses ready to lift lockdown. Some governors are doing so before fedele federal esguidel deem safe. It is aciilemma that dr. F says is answered by one question. How much suffering are you willing to accept to get back to what you want to be some form of gne reality normality iraq of more projections dire consequence of opening without proper care. A new model shows 134,000 americans could now diby august, nearly double the estimate last month. A draft government model obtained by the media shows the average daily death toll from the virus could reach 3000 by june 1. President trump pushed backn th report on his way to arizona, his first across the country nce the virus emerged. He remains convinced, despite the lack of a nationwidstplan for g and tracing, that the country can safely reopen. The fact thth they are out, are mitigating, they are social distancing, they are washing their hands a lot, but we have to get o country open. We have to open our country. You have all reports, models this summer will be closely watched for spikes in coronavirus cases and progress towards a vaccine. In the united states, pfizer announced human trials have been announced for their experimental vaccine. The company says several million ses could be ready as early as september. President s trip and political headlines, i am joined by katty kay. What is the president signaling on this trip to a mask facility in arizona as the caseload grows and he tries to reopen the economy . It is a triple whammy for the president. It is a battleground state in the election, a state he won by four points in the 2016 election so it is a state he wa rally politically. Going to honeywell, a defens contractor normally that has switched production to making n95 masks come a shows the country that is in the effort to fight coronavirus, and beyond that, getting out of washington and bng around the country, h has been frustrated, heai has he has been conduct up in the white house and he wants to get it out. He wants to seen on the road. Getting out arizona is a chance for him to be little political, if you like, and not shut up in the white house in washington. Like chris christie, are framing this debate as lives versus livelihood. How influential is that view with the president . That is something the governor of new york spoke about today, that they are touching on something. Everybody is thinking about the cost of the economy and thet c to people lost their jobs, the cost of the shutdown. We have had Anthony Fauci say he spoke to medical experts that are worried some people are not getting the medical advice and medical treatment they need because of the shutdown. That could cost lives. For any leader, there must be a constant balance between the need to shut down in order to stop the coronavirus and protect the Health Care Service and save lives, against the devastation caused by shutting down, to people losing their jobs and potentially being hurt in their health the csin of the shutdown. Is clear from the president s words that he wants to get back to opening the economy. He said it on his way to arizona. He talked about it inrina. His focus now is on the economy. He knows this is a political issue and the question is, how does he do with while he has the pandemic going through the country . Laura why is thehite house talking about winding down the Coronavirus Task force . At this point, in the middle ofe the ou . Speaking in arizona, thet presidid it will be replaced with something different. He s grouping that is looking at safety and reopening the economy. He wants to push forward looking at reopening the economy rather than being caught up in the crisisen m of the early days of the pandemic. There is also a political factor, because these ratings he was loving that he touted on twitter with these white house coronavirusrc task briefings actually dont seem to have on hird well acg to opinion polls. Maybe this is a chance to reframe all of this. It doest sound like it is as if the white house is abandoning corona. Ftit is sg focus, and this may look a little different. Laura katty kay, thank u. There are nearly 1. 2 million coronavirus cases in the u. S. For more, lets turn to dr. William shaffer at vanderbilt university. Thanks for joining us. Does it surprise you the u. S. Is seeing 25,0 new coronavirus cases per day . It is and it isnt. The reason is, we are testing so much more. Still not as much as we would like, but the more you test, the re you will find. There are many cases out there that still go undiagnosed. For a period of time as we expand testing, we will find new cases. That will complicate the evaluation of opening things up. Because we want to make sure that people are not spreading while people are out walkingion about and getting reacquainted with each other. Laura what is happening in your own state of tennessee . The economy is reopening. What is happening to the caseload . At the moment come our state is opening up in the rural areas, but the cities are maintaining pretty close reshutdown. Werying to do a balancing act. At the moment, our cases have plateaued. They were up a little, down a little depending on th day, but and i am taing principally about hospitalized cases, that is my most important metric. We are clearly finding cases during our expanded testing. In tennessee, anybody who was a testan now receive a test. Laa are we close to having the outbreak under control in the u. S. . No. I wish. And the next several weeks will really tell the tale. It h been decided to open up in a more or less gradual phase, very closely. Watching that this is an extraordinarily contagious virus, and as people go about their nowexpanded business, if they dont tend to the social distancing recommendations, im afraid this virus ll start to spread again. And we will see not onlyor cases, but unfortunately, more hospitalizations. Laura are you encouragedy potentially be rea that it could emergency use by the fall . Ocs im encouraged by two things. One is, the anticipation of having vaccine. If everything goes right, by this fall or winter, we may have one or more Vaccines Available to us. That would be fabulous. Encouraging is that there are many trials going on of therapies. We need treatments, and we have heard about remd there are other trials assessing other drugs alone and in mbination. I hope within the next several months, we have positive results from those. My fingers are crossed. Laura thanks so much for joining us. My pleasure. At india,s loo which has been in lockdown for more than a month and a half. Pollution levels have dropped in cities that were trapped b smog. As the restrictions are slowly lifted, there are fears the bad air could return. A blanket of smog so thick, one of the worlds most polluted cities, it is breathing easy now. The horrifying pictures from are fading away lockdown to blue summer skies. For some, this has been a precious breath of fresh air. Abrina has been taking medication for bronchitis for five years. When i step out the days, i really feel that freshness and i reallyeel that air inside my lungs and i can see that yes, can breathe properly, and the frequency of coughing and eezing has lessened. Apart from essential Services Like police, delhi has seen all snow traffic as schools, offices and industries were shot. Ha lived here most of my life. Umther is dusty, the sky is white, but it is less polluted. But this is something else. It is like we have had a deep cleanse. Airquality experts saye suer has never been cleaner. For residents in some northern indian cities, it was likedi overing their neighborhood. One morning, they woke up to the view of himalayan peaks. We looked and there is a cleansing, and a dome your the surface but in the troposphere. Not only to the surface but in t troposphere. Emergency admissions for almost halved. Doctors fear this could change quickly. If everything returns to business as usual and we have as many vehicles on the roads, the pollution levels will deteriorate rapidly. Llution damages the lungs. It is, maged lungs are more prone to cid and more prone to die when covid happens. It is not just the air that has benefitedre. Riversunning cleaner than ever. This may change soon, and International Studies suggest high levels of air pollution would raise the risk of dying from covid19. As the country restarts, it may have to pause to prepareor this challenge. Airbnb n other news, cutting nearly 1900 jobs as it battles with the downturn in the Global Travel industry. That is one quarter of their workforce. E firm says revenues this yearut will be aalf what they were in 2019. Esident trump spake to be the new director of national telligence insists he wi take a nonpartisan approach to the role that is despite his fierce backing of mr. Trump during the impeachment hearings. Congressman John Ratcliffe rick withdrew his nomination. He is expected to be approved for the job. Chinlaunched a new rocket. It is capae of lifting 25 tric tons to a lower lowearth orbit. It will carry part of the proposed space station into orbit,s ferrying astrona ace and is typical of getting them to the moon. Capable of getting them to the moon. You are watching bbc world news america. Still to come laura the power of music. How a choir in the u. K. Is uplifting people with special needs, even from afar. E Eu Health Commissioner says they are better eipped to provide Member States with ppe for health carstaff following criticism it was reliant on china for pplies. The eu depended, and other countries come on china for personal protective equipment because china produhad over 50 of globally. We are affected by the pandemic. Their factories closed down fo over two months. It was clear there was going to be a problem in the supply chain, but what has happeneds, we have worked closely with dustry, production has increased within europe as well, industry has diversifie producing personal protective equipment and we are now in a position to support members Member States because this is a situation that needs to be safeguarded into t future. Laura od holly is a land of makebelieve where fane. Sy comes to l social distancing is keeping the dream factory closed. California is looking to reopen, so filmmakers and tv producers are figuring out how to get tinseltown shining again. I have done crazy things in d ay. This is the latest american co drama. Las finest. This is how it is made. O more time. Cast and crew crammed together. Action. Los angeles was once a hotbed of create activity. Now, iconic locations where films and Television Series are set live empty. Lie empty. While beaches could reopen to the public, it is unlikely cameras will be allowed to roll anytime soon. There are so many micro industes built with production. For instance, we have filming which requires t crew and you have the camera operator who has a dolly grip tllt pushes the the camera sits on. For them to be six feet apart is almost impossible. As film sets lie deserted, empty like the streets they will replicate, several scenarios circulate as to how production d fution in the future one project i heard about was considering quarareining the en crew because it is interesting, and a unique way to do it. Sounds like everyone would get tested beforehand, going to quarantine together, make the movie tother. That would mean a lot of seeing family, depending t on hw lot is, that could be tricky. He is finessing his swing, confidentha the the ability to great a safe environment. When we should love scenes we try to keep a closed set. This is the new normal. Vaactors are morable than are. I hate to say it, but they are. I think we have to do everything we can to make them feel hacomfortable and safe and is going to take time, to get them back on set feeling comfortable and safe so they can do with they do. She gets too hungry the work may have halted but many here were born to perform. In the absence of theaters, every balcony has become a stage. While much of the city ielf a film set, lies empty, the eative community is confident e wheels of production will turn again. Laura hollywood will have a cond act. For people with special needs and their families, the pandemic has been incredibly difficult. Especially for tse who have been selfisolating because of in the u. K. , music made thems. Lockdown more bearable. A choirsen oxfordonline gatherings to support its singers. Amazing grace how sweet the sound a voice from deep confinement. Music helps make isolation bearable for sam, age 37. He has aulnerable immune stem and cant leave home. I once was lost, but now i am found. Was blind,eeut now i u when re singing together, what is the feeling . I feel powerful when i am singing. I feel the power of music. Now it has got to this fifth beat. It is different for him. His mother keeps a video diarym filming his daily exercise. That is lovely. She is in her 70s. Her husband, in his 80s. Both with Severe Health conditions. The carsho once visited sam every day cant come anymore. The carer will say on the phone, you have to get in the bath, you have to get washed, things like that. It means facetoface sessions with his beved choir, founded last year by a charity, and at the center of life for dozens of special needs people in oenord. For difffamilies, different challenges. The choir drummer was born blind and unable to speak. He cherishes the human touch of his brother cj, his parents. But matthew ves in support of accommodatn and because of the virus, cant ve visitors. His mother and father bring freshly baked bread, which they leave at the entrance for their child. He likes to give you a big hug and a kiss. I must be honest and say i do miss him. I ss him becau also, not knowing how long the lockdown if it ifor, you think, a few weeks, which is what i thought it was originally, we will be able toee him. Now, we dont knowow long it is going to be. In a time of anxiety, what is striking about the choir families is their optimism and good humor. 14 years ago, edward was too weak to cry. Listen to him now. What does the sound of a choir mean to you . It changed my life. I think i am just what does it mean to you . Means erything. Drives me insane. There is another reason for laughter. Using video conference, the reunites. S isolation and matthew hears the sound of his mothers laughter. Matthew, hope you have a really good day lily, blind with special educational needs, taught herself pianond leads the choirs version of an anthem for our times. [singing] [applause] laura the comfort of the choir in oxford. Before we go, an update on president trumps visit to arizona. He has visited a Production Facility in phoenix run by honeywell inrnational. He went on a tour of the factory floor. Without a mask. His vice psident found himself in a hot water after he refused to wear protective gear. Mr. Trump is on his fst major trip since the outbreak took hold. He said the White House Task force will be wound down. Thank you so much for joining us and watching bbc world news america. Narrator funding for this presentation of this program is provided by. Language specialists teaching spanish, french and more. Raymond james. 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. Narrator yo re watching pbs. Mr. Rogers its a beautiful girl we are the curious. Woman 1 wow man 1 the adventurous. Man 2 oh daniel tiger grrr woman 2 those venturing out for the first time. All blast off [rockeexplosion] man 3 and those who have never lost our sense of wonder. Man 4 whoa man 5 are you seeing this . [quacking] vo we are the hungry. On cookieer cookie man 6 the strong. Muhammad ali i must be the greatest . Vo the bob ross a happy little cloud. Man 3 we believe there is always more we can uncover. Girl more we can explore. Man 6 . The capacity for womgoodness. Believe. In vo and the potential for greatness. Man 7 the torch has been passed to a new generation of americans. Man 1 pbs. Man 3 pbs. Girl pbs. Captioning sponsored by newshour productio, llc woodruff good evening. Im judy woodruff. On the newshour tonight the threat persists. Co vid19 infection and death the president leavhingtonas visit a maskmaking facility in arizona. Then, the latest view from the front lines of the battle against thcoronavirus. This time, from a medevac nursec tioner. Plus, making use of idle time. Je the unique ps people are pursuing as they adapt to life under social distancing. Wn you are conf theres less environmental stimulation to keep the mind engaged. Theres le to do, unless you exercise creative responses to