Transcripts For KQED PBS NewsHour 20240713

Major funding for the pbs neur has been provided by moving our economy for 160 years. , the engine that connects us. Fidelity investments. Consumer cellular. Financial Services Firm raymond james. Supporting social entrepreneurs and their solutionto the worlds most pressing problems skollfoundation. Org. The lemelson foundation. It cod to improving lives through invention, in the u. S. And developing countries. On the web at lemelson. Org. Supported by the john d. And catherine t. Macarthur foundation. Committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. More information at macfound. Org and with the ongoing support of these instituon this program was made possible by the corporation forl broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs thank you. Wers like you. Woodruff tensions over when, and how fast, to reopen, dominate American Life tonight. States and cities are g their own pace as they weigh twoverriding factors economicevastation, and nearly 84,000 aths in the United States and counting. Stephanie sy has our lead report. Reporter grabbing a drink at the bar may have never felt so risky. He we have the staff doing thing, with the cleaning. Were taking temperatures of the staff comi in. So, yeah, weve taken a lot of other steps that were predictable, ande got it done. Reporter in places like palm beach florida, more restaurants are reopening. Other cities say theyre not ready, including washington d. C. Mayor Muriel Bowser were not there yet, and not quite ready to begin that phased new opening. So today, we will extend the districts stayathome order through monday, june 8. Reporter decisions on when businesses reopen are playing out nationwide, after the white diuse and the centers for ase control and prevention disagreed on when and how that should happen. An unreleased c. D. C. Document, obtained by the associated press, shows the agency called for a National Guide to re opening, outlining steps thatan all amerneed to take iner but the white houselved the guidance, instead leaving the proces officials. E and local senator Chuck Schumer called for thsrelease of those guideli on the senate floor today. The point is that America Needs d must have the candid guidance of our best scientists, unltered, unedited, uncensored by President Trump for s political minions. Reporter President Trump spoke this afternoonith the governors of colorado and nort dakota, a day after the nations Top Health Experts warned against reopening too quickly. Wants to play all sides of the equation. I was surprised by his answer, actually, because, you know its just to me, its not an acceptable answer, especially when it comes to schools. Reporter meanwhile, the chair of the federal reserve, jerome powell, urged washington to take more action to prevent a lasting recession today, but he said the u. S. Is wellpositioned to rebound after the pandemic. Itll take some time to get back to where we were. I have every reason to think we can get back there. The economy should substantially recover, once the virus is under control. Reporter many Health Experts have warned the virus wont come under control until testing is more widely available. A new House Oversight subcommitteeheeld its first ing today on testing and tracing the virus. Testing is critical. Testintells us who has the disease and who doesnt, and testing is the cornerstone of controlling every single disease outbreak. Precipitated thtionalting that shutdown. Eporter the u. S. Has conducted more than nine million covid tests more than any thher country but trails nations in per capita testing. Germany now tests at a similar rate to the u. S. , but made Testing Available much earlier in the country outbreak, avoiding a higher death rate there. That relative success is partly why masked passengers are checking into flights in frankfurt once again. The german governmenbegan a gradual easing of border controls this week, aiming to open travel across the e. U. By midjune. And in turkey, playgroun filled with masked patrons today. After a drop in covid cases there, the government allowed children under 14 to leave the house, for four hours. Istanbul local Mehmet Kahraman is graful to be outside, albeit briefly. translated i havent been otwo months. They gave us permission today, but i dont know for how many hours. No need to calculate that now. Were really happy and, god willing, the coronavirus will end. Reporter masks over smiling faces, short moments of relief in the longhaul push to end a pandemic. For the pbs newshour, im stephanie sy. Woodrf worries about the risks of reopening, and about a slow recovery,ook a toll on wall street. The dow jones industal average lost 516 points 2 to close below 23,248. The nasdaq fell 139 points, and the s p 500 gave up 50 points. Senatolamar alexander is the chairman of the health, education, labor and pensions committee. His hearing on capitol hill yesterday focused on the trump administrations handling of the coronavirus pandemic. He joins us now from tennessee, where he is currently in self quarantine. Senator alexander, thank you very muc first of all, how are you doing and how is your staff member doing who had tested positive . Hes fine. I just talked with him a few minutes ago. He lt his sense of smell, but thats it. You know, thats the symptom that alerted him. Im fine, too. I was just exposed for a short period of time, and, so, under the protocol, it says two wee. Oodruff well, were glad to hear both of you are doing well so far. Let me ask you about yesterdays hearing. As you know, the Senior Health officials in the trump administration, dr. Anthony fauci and others, tetified, essentially, that every state needs to be careful as it opens, up becaf it moves too quickly and doesnt have the adequate amount of testing in place, there could be more illness, deaths, loss of livelihood hood, but, senator, this comes a day after we have metump sa the moment and prevailed with regard to testing. So whos right here . Well, i think we have a way, to d i think well do it statebystate like most thingsn ur country. For example, our governor bill lee is testing aressively every prisoner, every nursing home resident, drivethrough testing on the weekends, anyone can get a test at the loal Public Health department. I talked to a reporter this morning in mcminnville who said he showed up twice and gotten his free test. The governors mott o when in et a test. So, as a result, in our state, we will have, by the end of theo month, tested 7 of our sopulation, which will help u monitor whats happening as we sc back to work and, eventually, back tool. Woodruff let me ask you Something Else about comparing the United States to other countries like germany, like south korea, where testing started much earlier in south korea, they have been able to hold the total death number to Something Like 300, compared to 8000 in the United States. What are lessons that u. S. Should learn from these other other countries . S welth korea is certainly an example of one we should Pay Attention to because of they lower death number. The United States hadha glitch at beginning with a botched test from the c. D. C. Any president would have been very unhappy with that. States has done has been very impressive, ice as many tests conducted today more than any country which is very good news for principals d chancellors who are thinking of students who will want to go back to school in august because it creates tha possibleyou could test whole classes or whole schools as part of a way of keepinthem safe. Woodruff one other thing, in connection with this, pressing some states that have not been prepared to open early, like pennsylvania, and said that theyre making a mistake. He said, yesterday, there just seems to be no effort in getting certain blue states to get back should he be pressing these states this way . Well, he can do whatever he wants to, hes the president. He lso toured the state of of georgia they were going too fasa and thated state. I think most states dont want to be told by the president what do, they want to be able to have the tests, thschedules their way, e colleges thir way, and i think the president understands that, hes got a right to express his own opinion. Woodruff senator, we have we know that the house tf representatives is looking a legislation this week to provide aid to state and local governments, figure 3 trillion has been thrown out, a trillion of that, supposedly, for state have you decided where you stand on that . Well, i havent seen i. Ive decided that we ought to send the money that weve already approiated out, thats 3 trillion, and see how it works. Most of it, muf ch oit, has not yet gone out. For example, all the money for hospitals hasnt gone out and the first thing we should do with states is givme t more flexibility on the money weve already given them. But no amount of money will solve the hurt that this is causing people. The only thing isting, tracking those exposed, isolating the sick, and then amoving ahead on very rapid pace with treatments and vaccines which is happening right now. Alexander, chairman of the Senate Health committee. Senator, thank you vernkmuch. Tyou, judy. Woodruf few states have been hit harder by the coronavirus than new jersey, which is second only to new york for the total number of deaths used by covid19. And, while most other states in the country are reopening, the gardentate has been under nearlockdown for months. Earlier today, its governor, democrat phil murphyunced plans to allow some non essential business to reopen. He joins us now from trenton. Governor murphy, thank you very much for talking with us. He it is case that new jersey has had some of the worst numbers in the country, but youve also seen improvement, by all meewsurements in the last weeks in terms of cases, in terms of hospitalizations, and even deaths. You did make this announcement today to beopgin to en up some businesses. How do you make a deciiksion that . Good to be with you, judy. Ure absolutely right. Weve made progress and, yetw, e are particularly, in terms of cases per 100,000 residents, fatalities per 100,000 100,000 resints, hospitalizations, were number one in theion, so even more impacted than new york on a perta basis. We have to balance it. We opened up oustate and cnty parks two weekends ago, imploring folks to keep ups social dincing, wear face parking spacat work quite and well. So, you know, our progress has e allowed us to take mor what i would call baby steps. There will be no day, at least that i can see, that will flip s big lighitch and a whole lot of things are going to happen all at once. Were going to take, i think, a series of steps that gives us a chance to evaluate them in real time, to see how things we tannounced, nonessential ail Curbside Pickup today, we expanded construction, we allowed drivethrough, three steps we can monitor over the coming days. Woodruff so we were looking at other statistics, when it comes to new positive cases per 100,000 people, new jersey is still struggling, if you will, when youmpare to other states. Is this onof the reasons that you are holding back . Because we know you, like er governors, are getting pressure from business owners, from others to open up. It is one of the reasons, youre absolutely right. So if you look at per capita numbers of all the american states per 100,000 residents, unfortunately, were in the poll position on positive tests, hospitalizations and fatalities. Having said that, your ope ang remarke also true weve made eormous progress over the past couple three weeks on hospitalizations, flattening the test curve, i. C. U. Beds, ventilator use, the heat mapslo that wk at. So, essentially, were in one of these moments,were trying to balance the progress with still, in a grave, serious sitti and recognizing that while weve made a lot of progress, were not out of the woods yet. Woodruff governor, i want to specifically ask you about Nursing Homes because, as si wa looking today, youve had Something Like 5,000 deaths among nuing home, longterm care facility residents. Re than half our states fatalities have been nursing home residents, well over the national rate. The worst outbreak has been at a home from military veterans in paramis, over 90 of the residents there have been have tested positive, 72 deaths. What do you say to the fails of these people . Its awful. I mean, the trgedy within the tragedy is longterm care facilities. You know, were the densest state ind america, an our density is a huge asset most days. And Something Like this, its a huoss that we bear, frankly. Its a tragedy. Theres just no other way to put it, and it isnt just vet homes, although it is certainly our essed veterans weve lost. But weve got this running through our state as, by the well, but were neption toas that. The performance by the operators has been etremely uneve this is a virus, clearly, that eats away at older folks, particularly folks with underlying heah conditions. We have thrown everything at this, more staffing, national guard, the v. A. , our attorneyd general launc investigation, weve hired a nationally recognized firm to come in and plus s ourtaffing and oversight. It is the tragedy within the tragedy. New jersey is no exception. But it is certainly the case here and, yore absolutely right, its over half the fatalities in our state today. Woodruff will there becy pohanges as a result of this . Absolutely. Absolutely. This is not unique to new jersen enlystry which is very unev regulated, and the performancen is uneven,d thats being charitable, including the basic uff of communicate beived ones on the status of a residenh loved ones on the status of ant resi so the answer, is yes, there will be changes in our state and i would guess our country. The work youre saying youre going to be doing now involhas, as w been discussing nationally, Contact Tracing, of course more tesng, you were t. Alking about t does new jersey have the financial wherewithato cover what it is going tcost to do the necessary testing and Contact Tracing . Yeah, we will do what it takes in terms of testing and Contact Tracing, and we promise to at least double our testing by example by the end of this month. New jersey does not have all the resources it needs, and new jersey is not unique, and its not unique st to ue states either. This is a time for direct feral cash assistance to states. I applaud senat menendezand our state is going to bipartisan bill with senator cassidy ofa. Louisi i applaud Speaker Pelosi with whom im speaking reg including this morning on the bill she came out with yesterday, thats exactly what the doctor orded, again, not just for my state but all states in the middle of this this is the most critical crisis any of us ever facede and, at this moment in time, we need thent federal govern there in a big way in terms of its financial support. Woodruff but im sure you know republicans from the adership on down areying they dont see a rush to do this, that a lot of these states asking for ney have mismanaged their finances and shouldnt bne gire money until they spend what theyve got. Yeah, i would say not all republicans. The good news is were starttog ee republican governors and republican members of Congress Also say the right things. I heard what senator mcconnell said afew weeks ago, and this has nothing whatsoever to do with our legacy issues, thats a complete myth. Issue. Nt a blue stat this is about our ability to continue to employ versus laying them off. N u imagine laying off firefighters, police, first responders, e. M. S. , healthcare rkers, educators, we need them at this moment more than ever i the hist our country, we off if went get federaly them direct cash assistance and its all states, t t jusblue states. Woodruff Governor Phil Murphy of new jersey, we wish alyou the best withl youre working on, thank you. Thanks for having me, judy. Woodruff in the days other news, the u. S. Supreme court heard arguments on whether Electoral College members must back the president ial candidate who carries their states. The Electoral College dermines the winner of the presal election. President trump won the electoral vote in 2016, while losing the popular vote. Weill take a closer look, after the news summary. A federajudge has now delayed a decision on dismissing criminal charges against michael flynn, the forr u. S. National security adviser. Instead, he is inviting legal experts and outside groups to weigh in. Flynn pled guilty to lying to the f. B. I. During the russia investigation. But, the justice dep ttment now sa investigation was flawed from the start. Meanwhile, the president s onetime campaign chair, paul manafort, was released from federal prison. His lawyer says it was due to fears about the coronavirus. Manafort will do the rest of his sevenyear sentence for tax fraud, bank fraud and conspiracy in home confinement. In afghanistan, the death toll rose to 24, after an attack on a Maternity Hospital in kabul. There was no claim of responsibility in tuesdays assault, but the taliban denied that it played any role. We will take a closer look later in the program. U. S. Secretary of state mike pompeo says that israel needs to consider a number of issues before annexing west bank settlements. Pompeo spoke after landing in tel aviv today. Ar he met sely with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and coalition partnny gantz. Their politil agreement calls for moving ahead with annexations. Ck in this country, two u. S. House races in special elections on tuesday. California Republican Mike Garcia is leading for what had been a democratic seat near los anles, with more ballots to count. And in wisconsin, republican tom tiffany easily won a seat in a protrump district. Still to come on the newshour the Supreme Court hears a critical argument that could affect future president ial elections. Nationwide stayathome orders raise concns over a potentially dramatic increase in child abuse. The family of an American Contractor held hostage by the taliban speaks for the first time. And, despite social distancing, musicians band togetr to create songs of comfort. Woodruff since the coronavirus closed schools wide, children are staying at hom reports of child abuse and glect have declined dramatically. As William Brangham tells us, advocates for Child Welfare are especially concerned about what this says about their safety. G fore we continue, a warn this segment is focused on a sensitive subject. And, if the are younger viewers with you, you may want to take a moment to pause or opt out. Brangham thats right, judy, in normal times, Child Welfare and allegations of child abuse are a very difficult story to cover. Thats even tougher now. We want to begin by sharing some of the concerns and experiences of people who are working to reeventhat abuse. Some of what we heard. My name is kelly white. Im the coc. E. O. At the safein alliance in autexas. We work across the issues of child abuse, child sex trafficking, sexual assault, domestic violence. We are particularly concerned because if children are at risk in a home, nobody is seeing them now. Childrens aid society. He with in new york city. E of our biggest concerns inring this pandemic is the safety and wellof children across new york city. The Child Welfare system relies heavily on schools and ysicians and other adults that are coming in contact with children on a regular basis to report incidences of child abuse and neglect. Hi, this is jim dudley. I am in redwood city,an californiacurrently im a lecturer on faculty at San Francisco state university. Th when i was witpolice department, i was the captain of our child abuse prevention andve igation group. In covid19 days, we dont get those reports. So, its up to the offics to be aware without those other sort of subtle hints that a child may be being abused. Im leah fraley, im the executive director of stop child abuse now of northern virginia. Reports are going down. Theres less reports because the frt line of Child Protection really isnt in that childs life anymore. Reports are going down. That doesnt mean abuse is going wn, right . So, just the reports. We are seeing minors making those reports, which is t typical. I, m dr. Don plumley, i am in orlando, florida, and im the medical director at orlando old palmer childrens hospital. What weve seen during the weve seen a major increase of children presenting with major injuries. Theres children coming with broken bones, head injuries, burns, and weve probably seen an increase of at least 50 to 100 of these cases in the last two months. Im xanthe scharff. I live in washington, d. C. Im the c. E. O. And cofounder of the fuller project, which is a global nonprofit newsroom thats dedicated to doing groundbreaking reporting on issues that imct women. What were seeing is that during coronavirus, there has been a spike of 230 inhe material online, which is child sexual abuse, which is being shared. And thats material thatbls on the accessible web. We had a call from a child prottive Services Worker because of a young woman that had been in our teen Parent Program thats a part of our childrens shelter and had left to go back to with her child, to go back to her family. And now, someone from her family that had been sexually aggressive toward her was now sexually abusing her child. We got them into our fily shelter in a second. There has been a breakdown, as far as the actors that are monitoring and taking down this child sexually abusive material online. We he found through our reporting that the instances of material being taken down has been reduced by 89 . In our two county areas, Orange County and seminole county, florida, well see eight or nine patients a month. In the last two months of march and april, weve seen 19 and 15 children that required hospitalization. For a family who, prior to the pandem, was in t situation and stressed out, ovwhelmed, worried about, et cetera, all of the things that really do lend to diftscult environmthats now worse, significantly worse. Brangham so now to understand a bit more coout theserns right now, im joined by dr. Robert sege. Hes a pediatrician at the Tufts Medical Center who works to combat these problems. Hes also a senior fellow at tufts center for the study of social policy. Dr. Sege, thank you very much for being here. We heard some, obviously, very alarming reports of injuries going up, of sexual abuse online going up, what concerns you the most . Wt concerns me ise really dont know what going on that our states and most states around the country have seen a dramatic dechiline if c abuse reports. We know some of the risks factors are increased families under more stress, fincial stress, the children are at home when they should be in school, and parents could be employed in essential businesses, could be unempcoyed, or thed be trying to work from home all of those things tend to increase family stress. One thing bewie know about child abuse is most people who abuse their childn are kind of at the end of their rope. There arent people who are really that did bad who wake up in the morning and sant to abuse and neglect my child. Its mostly gooparents that just lose it. What we would expect in aic pandhat would have been cooped up for this amount of time, this is in some ways maybe inevitable is not the right word, but this is not an unexpected event. You know, in natural disasters, there was an increase in child abuse in the great recession, an increase in the most serious child abuse, of head trauma in infants. This h never happened beore. Se ssatarty dme wan onitsee terrible for every child, and were concerned that, a we slowly begin to reemerge, when its safe to do so, thse children have a place to go, people to talk to, and ways to talk about their experience, particularly if they have been abused or neglectedn some way. Reporter im so struck by this idea that when thers a decline in reports of abuse that that sets off alarm bells for people like yourself. Yeah, and think about child t thing about child abuse is most child abuse is not reported, and we know than all times, and thats done because, if you ask adults in many different ways, were you abused as a child, the numbers are much higher than the numbe of reports. So, in all times, and now the hiople who reportld abuse are their teachers, their Early Childhood educatorssometimes their neighbors, the children may confide in someone like a grandparent or a beloved aunt or e uh uncle, and things end up becoming reports in the Child Welfare system and, of course, physicians, when we see children, if they have bruises they cant explain or injuries or they appear to be neglected, were also required law to report. So all of those safety nets built around childn just arent there right now. Do you have any advice for hrents . I hear youre saying, that this isnt a chronic condition for the most part, people arent inherently abusive to their children, its often a situational stress that sets it off. Lets say there are parents who are watching this who ae wheling those feelings o are feeling stressed and anxious and nervous and fri aghtenend angry. Is there any generalized advice you can offer them . Yeah, there are a couple of things we know. The first one is reach out for help. Even though you cant physically join someone o tnelephone, video, any other way you can get a chance to vent those feelings and know that its not u not unusual. Were all feeling moments of frustration and pair under the circumstances, its the way it is. Ta secondly, unde that your childrens lives are disrupted, also. So, if they are misbehaving or having problems, take moment to ask them whats going on and what they miss. Yet, they havent been around long, and sometimes parents can help with some of the things and i think the opiece thatut. I just sort of wanted to make sure to say is no ones very efficient or productive these days. Take some yome, enjoy ur children, build a fort, go for a walk, whatever it taes, just have some fun because this is really bad, itreally hard, but maybe, at the end of the day, we could look back and say it was really difficult time, but boy did we laugh. Repter all very, very important advice to take to heart. Be dr. Sege of the Tufts Medical Center, thank you very much for your time. Inviting me. Very much for woodruff very important, as we heard, and there are a number of groups and hotlines you can call or find on the web if you know someone in need of help. We will include them on our site tonight. You n start with the childhe National Child abuse hotline. It can be reached by phone or text at 18004achr you can go to inildhelp. Org childhelpho woodruff President Trump today reiterated that u. S. Ust leave afghanistan, saying american troops are not a police force. But the horrors of that war wern again brough sharp focus with yesterdays cruel strike on a maternity hospit. And now, as the u. S. Is withdrawing, the fate of one american held hostage lies in the balance. Heres amna nawaz. Nawaz a solemn prayer, for the lives brutally taken in yesterdays attack on a Maternity Ward in kabul. Crews today hastily worked to dig fresh graves for the victims, including expectant mothers and newborns. translated i saw eight dead bodies of women in this ward and seven other dd bodies were in the other ward on thebe ds, and they were hit in their heads or faces. Nawaz as authorities were responding to yesterdaysab assault in, scores more re killed in the easte province of nangarhar. There, a suicide bomber attacked a funeral for a local police commander. The taliban denied involvement in either of yesterdays attacks, but afghan president ashraf ghani ordered his military to ramp up. translated for defending i order all thafghan securityns and defeforces to come out of defensive mode, back to offensive, and start their operations against the enemy. Nawaz yesterdays violence is just the latest cra in the already fracturing u. S. Deal with the taliban. In late february, the two parties entered into an agreement, led by President Trumps appointed negotiator, ambassador zalmay khalilzad. S. The ould begin a troop withdrawal to end americas longest war, and in exchange, the taliban would stop attacks on u. S. Forces, and deny otherro militant gs safe haven. The Afghan Government was not part of that initial agreement. But, the deal set the ground for further direct negotiations between afghanistan and the taliban. Those negotiations have beend stal pt by disagreements over prisoner exchanges, and continued taliban attacks onfo afghan securites. And, the chaos and camity raise questions about the fate of american mark frerichs. The 57yearold u. S. Navy veteran was working as a commercial contractor in ghanistan when he was kidnapped at the end of january. U. S. Officials believe he is held by the haqqani network, a faction of the taliban. Earlier, i spoke with frerichs family, from the home in lombard, illinois. His sister charlene is a retired her husband chris isor. Truck driver, working overnight shifts. In the familys first interview, exclusive to the newshour. So a lot of people will hear this story and will wonder, what was he doing ighanistan . Hes been there over ten years, and he was doing construction work. He just enjoyed it and stayed out there and he could make very good moy, taxfree money, and they let him do the kind of work that he liked to do tha rt heeally couldnt find here. So he joined the environment and kept going back in and eventually stayed. So were kind of a imazed att, but its something that he wanted to do, so we supported him. Reporter tell us how you came to know that he had been dnapped. We found out sunday morning, groundhog day. We had a knock on our door, 9 0s Lombard Police and the f. B. I. Ca to our dor, and basically told us that they wanted to talk to us, and they explained to us that my brother, mark, had been kidnapped by the taliban, the haqqani group. Reporter what did you think at thaomt ment . I was shocked. I thought it was i couldnt believe i i basically kept sayingver again, are you sure . They were very sure. I really didnt come into reale y of it until they ca my house the following tuesday, and i talked to washington, d. C. , and the whole big oup, and then reality set. And i just just still cant believe it and cry every now and then at night, and i jusk thbout what hes going through right now. Is he bei basd . Is he being fed . Is he cold . Is he warm . Does he have a pillow . I mean, i just cant imaine what hes gointhrough right now. Reporter have you been able to get any kind of update on his well being . Theyre letting us know, the f. B. I. Nd when we talked to he is alive. Sically are saying theyre not saying hes well because they dont know, but they are saying that they dont have any reason to think that hes hes dead. So they feel that he is stil out there. Reporter and whe you mean te chief negotiate dealing directly with the taliban. Last week the f. B. I. Released a poster seeking information about the the release of your broever, reported u. S. Forces raid looking for information on him d his ereabouts. Do you believe, charlene, that the u. S. Is doing everythingt they can to mark released . Sometimes i think yes and sometimes i think no. I think i know is covid thing has taken over, and i feel that the f. B. I. And the u. S. Government is doing all they can do, but i really dont feel anything an hes the one with the power to get mark me safely. Sounds like zal is more worried about doing a prisoanr ex of great numbers rather than looking at the importance of onsoe per and thats mark and getting mark home. Reporter let me ask you about what it is youd like to see because you have the u. S. Chief negotiate dealing with the talibasaying i have asked th to do everything they can, clearly hes working under the directn of President Trump. So what else specifically do you want to see the u. S. Governm st do to maure that mark is releoed . That negotiations go on about trading prisoners or anything in that regards until mark is brought hom then, you know, whatever they need to do, they need to do, but they need toput mark first. Reporter youd like to see the entire negotiation process stop until theres a precondition that mark is released. Is that right . I believe that would be right, yeah. Reporter and if the process moves forward without that precondition, what are yop worried would n . That he would be forgotten, at thats what hes going to do with or without certain accomplishments but our concern some for mark. Reporter we are talking about americas longest war. Three president s have tried to end this and president eump believedould be closer than ever to having some kind of a home. And getting u. S. Troops are you worried that the commitment to that goal could mean mark gets left behind . Very much so. Yeah. Very much so. I have a very fear, i think of every day, at i am going to wake up some morning and all this will be fine and clear and mark ist not home safely, and the peace deal has been signed and done a done deal, and marks still out there. And what are we going to do en . Reporter weve seen President Trump get very directly involved to try to gotiate prisoners relse in the past with different countries. Marks case if heto do the same in this situation . Than harm at this point. E hel hes shown hes a prettywe ul guy, hes gone toe to toe against the strongest leaders in the world and come out okay. Yeah, i really support doaldt he will bring my brother home efely. Hes dt in the past with other prisoners, oth so i believe that hell get my brother home. Reporter if you could deliver a message right now to President Trump, whawould you say to him . I would say please bring my brother markome safely, and please dont do any moreigning any more deals until my brother din clued in that deal an gettinmy brother home safe. Reporter charlene, l me ask you, because this is the very first interview anyone inil your fhas given,hy are you talking to us today . Its been long enough that i feel that we have to be a little stronger and move more forward i have to getore out there, more to get the word out, and maybe get presintrump a little bit more mentioning my brother marks name and more motivated, and i think the more my brother marks name is put out there, i think the more, you know, the power up there will do what theyve got to do, because we are very concerned. Rorter if you had a way of getting a message straight to mark, what would you want to say to him now . I just want to tell him were doing everything weto get you home, i miss you and i just want you home safely. An ive ovorried about youer a decade with this, and weve felt so comfortable that you were doing okay and you were i guess we just let our guard down. But i want you home safe, and im doing everything i can to gemeyou ho safe. So just hang in the. Hes my brother and i love him, my only brother. E and we only two years apart so we were always goes as kidng and ut. Hisgh lch aool when i got picked on. Hes always been there for me. So ive got to be here for him. Reporter charlene and chris are talking to us today from lombard, illinois. Which wish your family all the best. Thank you for your time. Thank you for your time. Woodruff can stes punish nncking a pledge to vote for in their state . Thatn at the heart of todays Supreme Court asguments. St qg w johehn ys the story. Im just a guy. I was just a regular person. I wasnt a pol hician. Yanmay be a regular guy, but micheal baca was one oh just 538 peoplen to vote for president in 2016. Thats right while more than 150 million americans headed to the polls on november 8, 2016, to choose between donald trump and hillary clinton, the presidency was actuallyecided weeks later by the 538 members of the Electoral College. Theyre actually voting for. , yang this indirect election of the president is established in the constitution. Each state has the same number of electoral votes as their representation in the house and senate. Candidates need 270 votes to win, and most states are winner takeall. In 2016, clinton won the popular vote in colorado, so all nine of the states electoral votes were supposed to go to her. But baca one of colorados electors voted for republican. John kas it was part of plan he hatched with other electors to try to prevent mr. Trump from becoming president. It was to find more moderate a moderate republican. The popular vote winf colorado was hillary clinton. But the majority of people in colorado did not want donald trump. Yang jason harrow is bacaso ey. They were putting country over party. And there is a place for that. Its not to blow up the system. Its actually to further our constitutional democracy. Yang colorado invalidated bacas vote and replaced hime with an alterno did vote for clinton. Electors are supped to go and vote. When i attempted to go a exercise my my right to vote in the Electoral College in 2016i was i was denied tha vote. Colin powell, of the commonalth of virginia, has received three votes. Yang as thvice President Joe Biden announced the results, seven socalled faithless electors were succeful, casting their ballots for other candidates. In Washington State, four of them were fined 1,000 each. They and baca sued. And today, meeting once again by phone, the Supreme Court heard u pair of nts on the constitutionality of state laws punishing faithless electors. Marcia coyle is chief washington correspondent fothe national law journal. The court has ruled wayatack in 1952 tates can require electors to pledge to support certain candidates or political parts candidates, but the court has never said whether the states can enforce pledges. It is an unprecedented question for them. Yang but just months bore the next president ial election, the stakes for the justices were clear. Justice samuel alito pressed lawrence lessig, the attorney for the Washington State el ttors. Se who disagree with your argument say that it wouldh lead ts. Do you deny that that is a, good possibili your argument prevails . We deny its a good possibility. We dont deny its a ssibility. We believe there are risks on either side. In the history of electors, there has been one elector, out of the 23,507 votes cast, who has switched parties against the Majority Party in a way that yang rick hasen, an election law expert at u. C. Irvine law school and autr of election meltdown, explained the potential risk. These electors could be subject to pressure. Ld they ce subject to bribes. They could vote in an independenway. And that would throw off the result. Imagine the election is very close and it just takes one or two electors changing their views. Yang during the arguments, washington solicitor general noah pcell defended his states decision to fine faithless electors as a way to protect three million other voters. Once the legislature has given power to vote to the public, the public now has a fundamental right to vote and have their votes counted equally, as this court has said in a number of cases. And so, the legislature cant then override that vote aftere ct. It would radically change how american president ial electionsy have aworked in our country. Yang but chief Justice John Roberts pressed bacasat attorney on imits may be placed on an elector. So, the elector cide, im going to vote im going to flip a coin and however it comes out, thats how im going to vote . Yo yes honor. Thats the same discretion that u. S. Senators have, reprentatives have, congressional electors have. These too are elected officials and they have that same discretion. Well, that sounds pretty yang depending on how the justices rule, the republicans andemocrats may do things differently this fall. This is not an exaggeration, i expect there are going to be investigators investigating the lives of these electors to make sure that these are people who are those who would reliably vote for joe biden or donald trump. Yang president ial candidates and electors should have a better idea of their options before the Party Nominating Conventions later this summer. For the pbs newshour, im john yang. Woodruff finally tonight, our occasional look at the songs of co worldrenowned cellist yoyo ma launched on social media. Jeffrey brown looks at the anowing collaboration in these miniperfos, as tough times bring people together through music and technology. Its part of our ongoing arts and culture series, canvas. Irish National orchestra brown in a time of isolation, a desire to connect, rough music. As the psychology of pandemih changes throe weeks, you can see that play out in the songs of comfortproject, through morend more collaborations. That includes the man whote stit all yoyo ma, who celebrated west african singer angelique kidjo. And another with syrianborn clarinett, kinan a the urge to merge is often a family affr, as with this young mother and father in their berlin, germany living room their new baby adding a little percussion. In arizona, six women family members put the 70s song id like to teach the world to sing to multistringed accompaniment, joined by the whistling of the person capturing it all on camera. T and a violinth the washington, d. C. Area National Philharmonic sat dow hera. Delightful bach to the barre breakfast scene created by musicians from the toronto symphony and dancers with the cadian national ballet, pl two children, who performed their roles to perfection. Oh, happy day oh, happy day much older children at potomac, marylandst. Andrews Episcopal School sang oh happy day, joined by alumni a faculty. And 24 student cellists from around the world managed to get fgether for a performance saintsaens the swan. In houston, members of the symphony, used to playingge er on stage, created a virtual quartet. And while it can be a lonely me for many, Technology Allows another kind of quartet, all the parts perfvimed by one inal. S played alone. Songs played together. And, as we saw in that berlin living room, some things dont change the desire to share, and maybe inspire the next for the pbs newshour, im jeffrey brown. Woodruff songs of comfort. And tune in later tonight on pbs to watch the premiere of novas the onehour film follows scientists in the global race to develop a vaccine, and takes viewers to the frontlines in wuhan, china and new york during the height of the outbreak. Thats decoding covid19, tonight onbs at 9 00 eastern, 8 00 central. You can stream it as well, across pbss digital platforms. And that is the newshour for tonight. Im judy woodruff. Join us online, and again here tomorrow evening. For all of us athe pbs newshour, thank you, please stay safe, and see you soon. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by consumer ceular offers nocontract wireless plans that are designed to help you do more of the things you enjoy. Whether youre a talker, texter, browser, photographer, or a bit of everythg, our u. S. Based Customer Service team is here to find a plan that fits you. To learn more, go to life isnt a straight line, and sometimes you can find yourself heading in a new direction. Fidelity is here to helpghou work throuhe unexpected, with Financial Planning and advice for today, and tomorrow. Bnsf railway. Financial Services Firm raymond james. The ford foundation. Working with visionaries on the frontlines of social change worldwide. Nd ith the ongoing support of these institutions og this m was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by Media Access Group at wg access. Wgbh. Org hello, everyone. Welcome to ampour company. Res whats coming up. There is no doubt, even under the best of circumstances, when you pull back on mitigation, you will s some cases appear. Dr. Anthony fci delivers a stark warning as he testifies a distance befthe senate. Reaction from congressman and former Health Secretary donna an shd Donald Mcneil on the path to reopening. Then, iceland has almost fully recovered. The Prime Minister on their viral success. Plus fe the coronavirus pandemic is more oless a p storm to