Major funng for the pbs newshour has been provided by life isnt a straight line,u and sometimes n find yourself heading in a new direction. Fidelity is here to help you work through the unexpected, with Financial Planning and advice for today, and tomorrow. Carnegie corporation of new york. I supportiovations in education, democratic engagement, and the advancement of International Peace and security. At carnegie. Org. And with the ongoing support of these institutions and individuals. This program was made possible by the corporation for and by contributioyour pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Wdruff the official, global death toll in the covid 19 pandemic has rehed 300,000 tonight. That includes 85,000 in the United States. The new numbers were posted as a federal vacce expert laid blame at the white house door. White house correspondent Yamiche Alcindor begins, with this report. The subcommittee on health will now come to order. Reporter today on capitol hill, a top scientist and whistleblower. Ll, a top scientist andapitol whistle blower. Some scientists raised Early Warning signals that were overlooked. Pages of our pandemic playbo were ignored alcindor dr. Rick bright is a government expert on viruses who was working to combat covid 19. Ha he alleges tfederal officials withheld information re the early months of the coronavirus ou. We did not forewarn people, we did n not educate them on social distancing and wearing a mask as we should have in janud february. All of those forewarnings, ati of those edual opportunities for the American Public could have an impact on further slowing this outbreake and saving mves. Alcindor bright says he raised concerns about an unproven coronavirus treatment, hydroxychloroquine, touted by President Trump. He also claims, in retaliation, he was phed out of his job as the director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and development authority, or barda. In april, bright filed a whistleblower complaint. It says his efforts to prioritize science and safety over political expediency. Rankled those in the administration who wished to continue to push this false narrative. St week, the federal office of special counsel determined brights removal was retaliatory. It said he should be reinstated as bardas director during the investigation. But the bulk of brights warnings today focused on what he frames, as the white houses sluggish response tohe pandemic. He described warnings from the c. E. O. Of a major surgical mask ill never forget the emails i received from mike bowen indicating that we are our mask supply, our n95 mask supply was completely decimated. And he said that were in deep bleep . The world is. A and we need. Ldd i pushed that forward to the highest levels i cn h. H. S. T no response. Alcindor Committee Democrats also accused the white house of puttinpolitics before science. Dr. Bright has filed one of the most spefic and troubling whistleblower complaints ive ever seen. He was the right person, with the right judgment at the right time he was not only ignored, he was fired for being right. We cant have a system where the government fires those who get it right and rewards those who get it completely wrong. Lcindor but republicans questioned whether bright himself acted properly. They challenged his motives for testifying. Hi hearing is not about a whistleblower complaint. Its about undermining theon administrauring a national and global crisis. You chose not to elevateour concerns to the office of the Inspector General but instead kept selective screenshots that didnt include full context. Alcindor meanwhile at the white house, health ann Services Secretary alex azar echoed critiques of brights record and defended President Trumps. Everything hes complaining about was achieved. Dr bright was part of a team and was simply saying what erybody else at the whit house and at h. H. S. Was saying. And on hydroxychloroquine, dr. Bright literally signed the application for an f. D. A. Authorization of it. Alcindor President Trump dismissed bright as bitter. E looks like an angry disgruntled employee who frankly according to some people didt think heid a good job. Alcindor the back and forth over bright came amid the aongoing debate about whe how, to reopen the economy. New labor departnt figures showed almost three million more americans filed unemployment aims last week. That brings total claims since the pandemic began to more than pa million. The anxiety is pe across the country. Today, protestmis in lansing, igan again demanded a re opening. Neighboring wisconsin on wednesday, democratic Governor Tony Evers stay at home order extension was overruled by a conservativemority supreme last night, bars quickly filled with patrons not wearing facial coverings against Health Officials guidance. One owner, chad arntsaid at his Port Washington bar, employees were desperate to return to work. After my employees havent been paid in two months, i had to look out for them and their families and i had to look out for my business. Alcindor some cities in wisconsin, including milwaukee and madison, quickly imposed their own restrictions afterhe court ruling. President trump has encouraged an end to restrictions and today he traveled again, this time to allentown, pennsylvania. There, during a tiewfer a stribution center that makesec personal prve equipment, he ignored his own c. D. C. Guidance and did not wear a protective mask. For the pbs newshour, im yache alcindor. Woodruff also today, the centers fo prevention posted six pages of guidance for reopening schools, businesses, andther groups. The documents had initially been shelved by the white house. Another 57 pages of moreextensive guidelines have yet to be released. Tensions between hopes for a recovery and fears of new tbreaks made for another choppy day on wall street. But, in the end, the market made up some lost ground. The Dow Jones Industrial average gained 377 points to close at 23,625. The nasdaq rose 80 points, and, the s p 500 added 32 points. Stepped aside as chair of the Senate Intelligence committee, over allegations of Insider Trading linked to the pandemic. The North Carolina republican l soge amounts of stock just before the Financial Markets crashed in february. Burr spoke briefly today, outside his senate office, after federal ents seized his phone on wednesday. This is a distraction to thed haork of the committee and the members and i think the security of the country is tooto importanave a distraction. Woodruff burr says his stoc transactions wsed solely on publicly available information. The senate voted today to re instate survllance provisions of the law used in terrorism investigations. Parts of the foreign intelligce surveillance act, o fisa, expired in march. The senate added new Civil Liberties protections and sent it back to the house for a final vote. Us democrats are moving ahead with plans to vote tomorrow on a new pandemic relief bill. It totals 3 trillion, for aid to state and local governments and more payments to americans. But this time, republicans and democrats are divided, as Senate Majority leader Mitch Mcconnell and House Speaker nalosi made clear today. T ill reads like the speaker of the house pasted together random ideas from her most liberal members and slapped the word coronavirus on top of it. Us an unserroduct from an unserious House Majority that out of the crisis. Ealing itself were putting our offer on the table. Were open to negotiation, and so when people say partisan, its like, it wasnt partisan when they did it. Did you y that . And so now were saying heres our offer,ets see where you are. Woodruff the senate is not expected to consider the bill until after memorial day. T philippines, a powerful typhoon struck the eastern partc of tountry as the covid19 heavy rain and winds near 100 miles an hour forced tens of thousands of people to evacuate. Crowded shelters, despite the lack of social distancing, in order to escape heavy rain and the swearing in oraels newr. The swearingin of israels new government was delayed today, over infighting for cabinet positions. Instead, Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu and his former rival benny gantz announce ceremony will take place on sunday. They agreed to a powersharing deal to avoid a fourth election in the last year and a half. And, back in this country, a federal Appeals Court revived a lawsuit charging that President Trump is still profiting from his washington, d. C. Hotel, whe in office. The district of columbia and the state of maryland have argued he is violating the constitution. The Justice Department and mr. Trumps personal attorney said they will appeal to the u. S. Still to come on the newshour two former white house chiefs of staff offer Lessons Learned frol times of turmo colleges across the country grapple with how to continues clasring a pandemic. The coronavirus exposes the s healthcarertcomings of the u. S. Prison system. And much more. Woodruff governing in a crisis like the current pandemic can define a presidency. We were interested to ask whether story offers any guide to the present . The president of the United States. Woodruff on monday, surrounded by aides in mas, on monday, surrounded by aides in masks, and as the u. S. Death toll from covid19 passed 80,000, President Donald Trump eaclared victory in the battle to ramp up widestesting. In every generatirough every challenge and hardship and danger, america has risen to the task. We have met the moment and we have prevailed. Woodruff for many that echoed another moment, in 2003, when president george w. Bush spoke two months after launching the war in iraq. Major combat operations have ended. T battle of iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed. Woodruff that conflict woulo rage onearly nine more years, ultimately claiming morec than 4400 am lives, randreds of thousands more lives, and fail to produce the alleged weapons of mass struction. President sh faced major crises early in each of his terms the attacks of september 11, 2001 came just eight months into his presidency and killed nearly 3,000 amerins. Hurricane katrina hit new orleans in the summer of 200 1 killing over0 americans and displacing hundreds of thousands more. And then, in 2008, tsing bubble burst. The fallout quickly became president Barack Obamas problem, as Financial Markets ieized up. Major u. S. Induslike automakers teetered on the brink of collapse, and millions of americans lost their job a failure to act will only deepen this crisis as well as the pain felt by millions of americans. Woodruff 2010s Deepwater Horizon Oil spill in the gulf of mexico was the largest in history. The United States condemns in the strongest terms this outrageous and shocking attack. Woodruff two years later came the attacks on a u. S. Consulate in benghazi, libya. And at home, when a gunmanll ki 20 children and six adults at sandy hook elementary school. And in 2014, intense protests ergted over the police kill of Michael Brown in ferguson, missouri. Joining us now are two key figures previo president s have relied upon during times of national emergency. Dr card served as chief of staff to president george w. Bush and helped lead the administrations response after 9 11. He is now chair of the National Endowment for democracy, a non profitwarganization in ington. And former chicago mayor rahm emanuel served as presrsent obamas chief of staff, at the height of the great welcome to both of you. Its so good to see you. Let me ask you, first, is there really any way to prepare for a crisis like this one, a . Pandem rahm emanuel, i mean, you didnt face anything quite like this, did you . Wll, not like this, but we faced multi the difference is this is a singular crisis. A we fac crisis of a Great Recession, two of the longest wars in american history, and Auto Industry and a nufacturing base that wa going to collapse, and a Financial Sector that had totally contracted. So it was a f dominoes that were crises across the board, rather than one Public Health crisis instigating aneccausing anonomic cracks of unseen proportions, far greater, obviously, than what we faced on the eve of 2009. Woodruff well, youre right. It was a lot. And andrew card, you dealt with a lot i used to be 62 and 250 pounds. Woodruff go ahead, ady. Every president has to deal with something that they didnt want to have toe dal with. George w. Bush had a number of challenges. Obviously, 9 11 was theiggest one, in addition to the Great Recession that started under his watch. But this is kind of a unique uchallenge for theted states, but it isnt as if somebody didnt tell us that it couhald en. George w. Bush gave a speech at the in additio United Nations ir of 2005 where we called for t world to be prepared for a pandemic. I dont know when its going to come, but its going to come. And then he followed up wth a major speech inovember it was actually november 1, 2005, where he challenged america toad get to deal with a pandemic. And he said, we dont have one going on now, but we have to be prepared for doing it. He called r congress appropriate 7. 1 billion to get ready for a pandemic. Heid, you dont know when s going to hit, but its likely to hit. And that was aonderful road map to deal with the challenges we have today. Woodruff and given that,a rahm emnuel, what has this president done right, and what has he done wrong . Well, look, i do think that the order they put out about at are the metrics for kind of starting to open up society and the economy were theght metrics. I i dont think what you would do the day you put thpuem out, t out a tweet saying, liberate, michigan, liberate minnesota and rginia, and undermine the very premises there. I think one of the things the presidngt should be doone is this should be a time where you actually aspire toward malice towards none, Charity Towards all, rather than the inverse, which is male towards all and charity toward none. I dont think hes brought the country united. I actually think one of the great Silver Linings here is the ited states has discovered how much we actually all have our sense of community and nhbor. And a lot of times we talk about our divisions. I actually would say thegh highhere is the unity and the president should aspire towards that. The second thing is rather than than not jviding, i think the biggest loss and the bigges probs rather than what every pandemic, what every crisis shoiz deal with it fast and furious. We have been slow and sloppy. Foaz first ane weeks were crucial nine weeks. Rather than denying what was going to be a serus problem, rather than deferring, ignoring, even with intelligence and w public healtrnings, that nine weeks was a costly nine weeknd woodruff what about these points, when it comes to building community, and frankly, when it cos to spedhis administration could have done a lot better . Well, the president did a good job of calling us all to attention. We came to attention. I think it was a little bit tardy. And i dont fau the prsident, because i actually think he was on it pretty quickly by stoppi people from coming in from china. But i think the rest of thest admition maybe wasnt really sounding the alarm the way they should have, because it icwas easy to aate that this was likely to happen. And i know some believe that but i think too maninpeopl the white house maybe werent heeding the call to action that was coming from c. D. C. And n. I. H. Woodruff in a situation like, that rahm, how much of it is the responsibility of the man at the top, the president , and how much of it can be laid on the shoulders of the people who are work are forhem . I slightly disagree with andy. The intligence agencies and h. H. S. Were giving the warning to the white house. Theres a reason harry s. Truman is famous for, the bucstops herement. Nobody at the third floor of health and Human Services can call tontther entire govern with a sense of urgency like the oval office. Andy and i know, when youre the chief of staff, and you pick up the phone and say, the president wts, people get focused and real serious. If people say the under secretarof health and Human Services wants, let me put you on hold. Ill get back to you on itreal difrence. Atuesday. And im sorry, the first eight weeks when the president said it will disappear im not trying to make a prlz point when it comes to pandemic or crisis, andy and i both know what you do in he first nineeks or the first eight weeks, or the first six weeks, crucial, and the slow and sloppy start is costly for lives and the ability of america to move forward fast. And that has been very costly to the United States. And the president owns that. Woodruff what abo that, andrew card . The president does own that. And i understand that. But i also feel that maybe the other people at the white hous house im not talking aboute gencies. I know the Intelligence Community was sounding an alarm. But i think too many people maybe at the white house were not saying that this was a serious thing. Peter navnarro, evidently,ew it. Im not sure how often he was saying it inside the white house. Woodruff i just want to finally come back to both of you on this point rahm touched on earlier, and that is the role of nsthe president iniring the country, bringing the country together. When you think back to whether f. D. R. In world war ii o reagan after the challenger disaster, rahm emanuel, what criteria should we un judging a president in that regard at a moment like this . Well, its parent of the its part of the president ial responsibility to give the singular office a voice to the country. And i do think were unitedand ady to move forward, and he could marshal that resources. The president spe for all of us president bush on the ashes of 9 11 at the World Trade Center when he said, they will hear our voices. President clinton in oklahoma, when we saw the first domestic terrorism, at the ceremony he said, we will be by your side as many tomorrows as it takpres ident obama in south Amazing Grace he touched a chord of ourm huanity. And i think whats missing here, given the sense of unity thaal exists, that the president could actually take it to another level, and i think e reason governors are doing so well is because they see somebody thats trying bring us together and move forward. And,emember, president kennedy once said, to govern it sto oose between bad and worse. And the president in this case, inew, is squandering a unique opportunity to bring the company together with a o singularit both spirit and mission. And i think thats what, i think, is essential for the tesident. And ink hes actually falling short, which is why the public is judging him this way. Woodruff andrew card, finally what, about President Trump on this question of inspiration . Well, he has not been inspirational. Does have a tendency to listen more to rosy than the reality that you know, america is strong. The people areea rting. Governors and individuals are making a big difference to help, you knowcubring thirve down so that it doesnt overwhelm our Healthcare System and Pay Attention to what the scientists artelling us to do, to selfdistance and be very careful. But president bush was right when he most recently said, a pandemic doesnt ow republican or a democrat. Its there fo. R everybo this is not a war against anyone. This is a battle against a disease tht is allconsuming, and weve got to be all in itto ther. So dont divide, bring together. We with get through this, but we have to do it together. And i wish theresident, the current president , would offer that invitation more so tt we could all say, this is our battle. Were all in i. T togeth woodruff rahm emanuel, been theret the white house inve moments of crisis. We thank you both. Thank you, judy. Woodruff colleges and universities across the country are wrestling with how and when fall. Open for class in the many are planning to bringul students and f back to campus for classes. But not all schools believe itor wisetudents to return and some may include a mix of online learning. The California State University system, the largest fouryear Public University in the country, announced it plans topr offearily online, remote classes this fall, with few exceptions. Timothy white is the chancellor and he joinse now. Talking with us. So, for your, what, almost 500,000 students and 50,000 faculty and stat , wha this fall going to look like for them . Well, juy, nice to jon you. And, of course, the health and welleing of our studentand our faculty and staff, and also the communies where our 23 campuses are located across the state of california itsst al00 miles from the northeasternmost campus in humboldt to San Diego State in the south. Interest for our students, towards their deghich isogress so vitally important for them individually, and for the state of california. But also doing it in the covid19 era that will, sadly, persist over the next academic year. And so this is precisely te moment for students to lean inti redication, and we want to create as many options for as many students as is humanly ssible. Thats why we decided to, in the fall, to be prepared to be as 100 virtuals you can be. Flower some courses you could never do, some of the Laboratory Courses or handson experiments engineering, architecture, agricuure, things of that nature. But we want to be prepared for that, the worstcase snawr quo, so that hopefully things will te in some parts of the state, and we can actually do a little bit more in person. Woodruff so there will be some exceptions, as you say for labs, and you mentioned architecture. Im curious to know what percentage of your classes before now were being taught utline . We were ab0 of our courses online before. And when we pivoted two months ago in march to be online to finish out this academic tem here in the spring of 2020, we converted 72,000 courses from inperson to online in the course of about a week and a ha. Quite a monumental undertaking by our faculty and by our students andstaff. Woodruff thats what i meanted to ask you. Hohow much of your faculty has d experience with this biscause it change. It is a change. And thats reason were announcing now so our faculty over the summer moks can prepare theyre brilliant when it cometo theirontent area, whether in biochemistry or physics or whatever the case may be but some have experience with technology, Virtual Technology, assisted learning, and oths have not. Theyve been more of a ulty member over the years. Were actually putting in a Summer Institute across the system where the fact cult come in virtually coome in fan intensive immersive experience to learn how to use all this Amazing New Technology thats developing on a daily basis to create thasame vibrant, engaged learning experience independent fall in the virtual space, rather than in the physical space. Woodruff so with most people then being from home, is your tuition going to go down . Are costs going to go dowth no cost of delivery through Virtual Technology actually increases with the purchasing of hardware, softwa firmwear, the training of faculty. Antuition, of corse, only pays a portion of what it costss to educate a student. The the other part comes fromat the of california. Were clear on keeping our tuition and mandatory feesbe constantause our costs to summit delivering the education through a virtual means remai. Oodruff but how do you make the case to your students, though, that Online Education is every bits valuable as an inperson education . Welw,l, you k thats the adaptation to the moment of tis covid era. We have to find a way to make sure that our students and ill tell you, it will be different in the fall, but it elect very, very good. And not only the cufay teaching but also very robust virtual academic support and student support. So in the rtual space, it will be as robust as we humanly can. We will have on campus lents, for example, capstone for but instead of having 20ing. Students in a lab there, will be Something Like five students in and theyll be physically distanced and in betwee on use the instrumentitation, there will be cleaning of the instrumentitation, and people will have on pesonal protective gear. So we believe very strongly its time for r udents new ones and continuing to lean in and to get thalt alimportant degree because that can never be taken away from them. And at any given moment in time, if you have aleol draerk your Unemployment Rate is about half what the rest of the popundtion is, a income is did billion 1 million over your lifetime. Its not a time to stop even though there are someie inconves. Its a way to adapt and cope and woodruff youid that you are open, though, tocl reinstatinses if you get different news. What experts are you listening to for that ki of information . Were using scient, followinhe data. Were using intnational epidemiologists, and also local epidemiologists here in the state of california. We have infectious disea practitioners that are advising us. And, of course, our regional and local public Health Officials as well as state public Health Officials. And so since the health d wellbeing is at the top of the list, its going to be that advice, thaat forecasting tt guides us through this. And, quite frankl o its one the main reasons we have decided to do what were doing. Woodruff chancellor timothy white, capitol hill State University system, thank you very much. Thank you, judy, ebye c woodrufid19 is sweeping through the country jails and prisons. They have proven to be a breeding ground for contagion, with tight quarters that dont allow room for social distancing, shortages of cleaning supplies and lack of protective gear like masks. Some prison systems and jails have been leasing inmates early to free up space idbut people we spoke to i say it is too little, too late. Criminal Justice Reform with this special series, searching for justice, on our website, in a moment, William Brangham will talk with the former medical director of new yorks prisons, but first, Yamiche Alcindor brings us some voices from prisoners and their families. Alcindor there have been dozens cases of covidide the district of columbia jail. He tells me that people catch it like its water. Alcindor the situation became so dire that, in april, a emergency overhaule jails health measures. Cykeithia staleys partner, william cox, is being held in the d. C. Jail on a weapons possessi charge. People have corona. Instead of them sending people home or sending them to a doctor, all they doing ise quarantine peo the cell for a long period of time. And thats not safe because the cells are dirty. People have died from it on the same unit, same floors that hes on. Ik he feelsits easy for him to get it. A indor right now, more than two million americans are coronavirus outbreak deepens. Many prison systems have ended inperson visits for loved ones. Inmates say theres little they can do to avoid catching the virus. Brian asey is serving a life sentence for kidnapping and rape son. An quentin state p he now directs a media outlet its not really built for six feet distance, because its too packed. When they leus out to eat dinner, we still have to standin in ato get our food, theres no way we can keep the six feet. Sy if you havtoms or anything, its like they punish you because they put you in the hole to quarantine you away from everybody. So if a person is sick, theyre gonna try and get away from them because nobody wants to go in the hole. Ap if somethingns, theres nothing ey can do because its too crowded in here. A syem sayey areaking use of vacant space to keep inmates six feet apart. You may start the call now. Alcindor onenmate, who preferred not to use his full name, described the conditions inside the missouri prison where hes serving time for murder we have masks, they just gave us something they call a mask. The staff are not required to a wear masthis time. We keep trying to reason with them. Th we neestaff to wear it, because theyre the only ones who can bring it in here. We dont get cleaning chemicals for our cells. If you can afford ajax, the only thing you can clean your cell with is ajax. My main concern is the ventilation system, because they dont ve no air blowing out. If i cough in my cell, and if theres germs in it, it can go to the next cell or whatever, were all hooked up together. It. One person gets it we all got alcindor Cammie Maturin runs a nonprofit that works winh rcerated people in louisiana including her fiancee, sirvoris sutton, who is serving a life sentence for seconddegree murder. He has been there for, this is his 29th year. I believe that he had called the coronavirus back in march because he had all the symptoms, he had the sinus, the cough, the congestion, he had fever, he had couldnt smell, couldnt alcindor she worries prisons authorities are resigned to covid deaths. When you hear that theyve accepted 2500 bo bags and you get a will and testament from your loved one, that ithat you. s knocks the wind out because i did receive a will via email, so did a couple of other people. Alcindor meanwhile, inmates and their family members can dot littleait, and hope the virus doesnt find them behind bars. For the pbs newshour, imor yamiche alci brangham to help us better understand how and why this virus is hitting prisons so hard in particular, im joined by dr. Homer venters. He is the former chief medical jail system and auf lifeity and death in Rikers Island dr. Venters, thank you very much for being here. We heard a lot of concerns in that taped piece by yamiche inalcindor about conditionide the prison. We heard there are a lot of outbreaks in there. Thisviay seem very s to you, but can you just tell us a little bit more abjat why ils and prisons are such great vehicles for spregdz the virus . Cthtainly. Ank you for having me, and cusing on this imortant topic. Jails and prisons and ice detention cters, theyre really created, physically, in a manner that promoatsz the spread of communicable disease, and covid19 we know is very easily spread fm one person to another. And so the close contact that people are in when theyre detained, when theyre in housing areas, other parts of these facilities, really promotes the spread betweenboth the people who are detained and staff. But two other very important asects are that th way theyre run, these facilities, the way theres a high toerance for squalor, for fillingfith where e antithetical of whu seerol is inside these places with trash and garbage and lack of attention to keeping the places clean. The operational sandards in these places really promote the spread of this disease. Anc finally, beause weve kept all of our evidencebased h structures and organizations outside of these walls for. C. ,des, places like the c. D statements of health, c. M. S. , and the joint commission, things that help us have evidencebased practices in the community, those groups are generally awol when it comes to Health Practices and transparency be wnd bars. And find that implementing evidencebased practices in an emergency like this is ver hard when we havent tried to do that before the emergency started. Knowing who is sick and who is not inside thie prson walls is, obviously, enormously important. That comes back to testing. What can you tell us about the landscape of testing . Is it being don is it being done enough in jails and prisons around the country . No, it is certainly not being done enough. Scores of peoporting theyll have are short of breath, or even people who have objective fever that are not being tested so there is not enough testing. Bueyour point is a rally critical one which is these places already have broken systems fopeople whore sick to access any kind of health service, something thats called sick call in most of these down on a piece of paper my stmed hurts,my head hurt many places i investigates those complaints of medical problems go unanswered. Thats the baseline. And you put in covid19 where all of a sudden scores of people in these places have new healt problems. And therare broken systems at play. Certainly the lack of testing, thourt, is an imt part of this. Because when you see, for instance, cases among staff going up, up up, up, up, but you see no testing or no positive cases among detained people, you have to wonder whats going on. Its probably not that nobody who is detned actually has the virus. We have certainly seen certain jails and prison facilities releasing prisoners to tryo free up more space space. We saw Donald Trumps former caem manager, paul manafort, released because hean older person. How important is releasing prisoners to free up space . Itbs used in many areas but not enough. Allows us to get some of the most Vulnerable People ou of the setting, people at high risk of dying if they contract cocrd19. Its atical tool, as you mentioned, because it helps us manage the outbreak inside for everybody who is there. We can oread peopt, keep people in appropriate housing areas and a safer distance from. Each oth but its also a critical tool because it helps us pre local Hospital Systems from being overwhelmed. When the virus runs like wildfire through these facilities, just in thce of a day or two, it can overwhelm a pical hosl, and particularly for rural counties, where we have fewer and fewer hospitals because of hospital closures, but we have lots and lots of county jails, state and federal prisons, and i detention centers. When this virus tkes hold in crowded facilities it can completely overwhelm the sole one or two nties in wanterving space of a day or two. Thank you very much for your time. Thank you so much. Woodruff once again, the was in the million week. Jobs te official Unemployment Rate is likely to spi20 by june, if that is not already the case unofficially. And Federal Reserve chair jay powell warns we could be facing a prolonged recession that could damage growth for years to come. Everyone wants to restart the economy. The question is how. Paul solman gets the views of a nobelprizewinning economist as part of our series, making sense. Right now, this week, there is a choice about getting some more activity going versus um protecting lives. Reporter paul romer, who won a nobel prize in 2018 for his work on technology and economic growth. These days hes focused on how to avoid an economic depression. Really, the only way to get back to a healthy economy is to stop the death and make people feel safe. Reporter and ending the lockdowns nt do that, he says. Were going to have a kind of a seesaw pattern, i think, of trying to open up, realize that we havent done anyto protect againsthe spread of the virus and then pulling back. And what were going to just have tdo is find a Sustainable Way to contain this virus. Be reporter that way, he arguing, is mass testing everyone in the u. S. , every two weeks. If you dont know whos infectious, the onlyay to lock down and isolate the people who are infectious is lock down everybody. I think if we just test everybody and isolate the people who are fectious, we can easily suppress it and we can do it without, you know, causing a depression. Reporter but how can we do that, given the wellknown shortages of test supplies personal protective equipment, Laboratory Capacity . Says romer how can we not . Each additional test frees up about eight or nine people who can go back work. Whats the value of the work the eight or nine people cano. Man the test is really cheap compared to what tdo people can and for people who say, well, we cant get a lot of them right now. Im okay with that. Right now and start to get some people back to work. Reporter economics ista fundamy about costs versus benefits, so all this testing is added to the economy when the ni people that you were talking about go back to work. Test down to 10, unit ofof a testing per day will cost us about 3600 per year. If that frees up nine people then that means a Median Income of say 50,000. Ni times 50,000 would be 450,000 dollars. Its like a hundred fold increase on your on your investment. There arent very many investments where you get a hundred x return, pretty much guaranteed. Reporter the latest relief bill did include 25 billi for testing. So is 25 billn enough . No. We need to commit about a hundred llion a year to expenditures on testing. Thats enough to get us 23 million tests per day, or test everybody every 14 days in the United States. The 25 billion is enough to get going, itll give us some, some demonstration projects. I think we should be testing and reopen, you know, for tv, major league baseball, i think we should be testing everybody in nursinhomes, i think we should be testing frequently everybody whos a health care provider. T reporter y hths . No, no no. Bygones are bygones. I think its a horrible mistakeo orry about, you know, who do we blame, who are we going to punish. Ha to be thinking about, oh, would have, coulve, should have. Reporter romer does, however, fault the food and drug the f. D. A. Applion was 28 pages long. Reporter miles obriens recent frontline documentary described the challenges facedit by a univeof washington researcher in the early days of the pandemic, when he raced to get a new test approved. Ne of the things is they needed a document fed exed across the country bore they could lo at the document. You couldnt electronically transmit it . I could electronically transmit it, but they couldnt i look at it untwas fed ex ed. The f. D. A. Told me it did review grengers alication but it was incomplete. They also said they were lancing the need for tes with concerns about accuracy. I understand why they have to be very careful. But theyre making people who are innovating, finding better ways to do the tests, jump through these extraordinary hoops. And its takinmonths to just get simple things done. Reporter case in point, says romer the siva test approved last week. You just spitn a tube, much better than those, those swabs, but it took almost a month for the f. D. A. To say, okay, well, somebody can spit in the tube without being physically presenn ront of a Health Care Professional who watches them akile they do it. And i mean if it a month to make a decision like that, were never going to get to the faster, cheaper, better tests that we need. Reporter what about people stwhove gotten the blood that shows thathey have antibodies so they must have had the virus . Are they then okay . Is that a testpehat will allow le to just go back into the world . Reporter so you cant restart an economy with just the five percent whove got antibodies. Youve got to let the virus run through the community and get ti 60, 70 with antibodies. But its a horrific path to get there, because a Million People are gointo die along the way. And itll take a year for that kind of process to work through ole economy. Reporter whats your biggest the biggest risace islly . That the economic turmoil is going to lead to political we can rebuild. We can recover income. But if we damageur institutions of rule of law, democracy, basic freedoms, that can take a lot longer to rebuild. Reporter are we moving towards the kind of investment you think we have to make . I am actually very confident that its going to happenth because are no good alternatives. Were losing 500 billion a month. Its eventually going to dawn on people that we cant afford to keep doing that. And compared to that, 100 billion a year is really pretty cheap. Reporter in fact, romer is sure enough that testing will soon be everywhere, he offered to put his money where his heart is 500 of it. m so confident that testing will be the way out of thisis crhat ill bet you that in six months well be doing 20 million tests a day in the United States. Reporter so im bettingth against you no were not going to h 20 mis,ion a day, ten six months. And i pay your charity if you win and you pay my charity. Thats a deal. Reporter ill take that bet. Okay. Have me back and well see how it goes. Reporter for the pbs newshour, the ulerskeptical olman, now with some skin in the game. Woodruff that brings us to ask us, where we take questions on the pandemic to experts to help make sense of these tough times. We get your questions from our website, twitter, instagram and facebook. For the record, facebook is a funder of the newshour. Juna nawaz has more. Nawaz thanks, and thanks to all of you for sending us your questions. Now, parents and grandparents are dealing with even more responsibilities these days, taking on new roles as teachers and counselors. In addition to caregivers, a lot parenting in the pandemic tout answer them, were joined by dr. Sarah vinson, a child and adolescent psychiatrist. Shts also the former presid of the Georgia Council on child and adolescent psychiatry, and she joins us now from atlanta. Newshour. Welcome to the thanks for being here. J thank you for having me. Nawaz so letp right into the questions now. Our very first one comes from anne stringer. Gr shes dmother from mays landing, new jersey. She reacd out to on facebook. And this is anns question. She says, i feel anxious and closed off wh my adult girls back home. Also, my son is overwhelmed with s three kids. Any tips for our multi generational family . Dr. Vinson, what advice can you give . And so the advice that you have is going to be simir to the advice giving everyone right now is to focus on the things that you have control over and that you can change. So we cant change the fact that peoplere sort of cooped up, that your family have a lot of extra responsibilities right now. But we can still be intentional about making connections with people and talking and interacting in whatever ways we most sense for us. And so there may be things that you want to do to help like frantically, doing face based on the facts, not just looking for ways to be active and involving your grandchildrens lives. Another time with them positive way. Nawaz those are all great tips. Good luck to ann out there. Lets go to our next question now comes from julie gerien. Shes in napa, california. She also reaed out on facebook and julie sent us this video. Some parents are beginning to let their kids socialize. How can i keep my kids safe and still let them connect with friends in person . M making sure that my kids wash their hands and im monitoring their proximity to others. But other parents may not be. Nawaz dr. Vincent, how do you do that . Ou how doeep your own kids safe and can you to let them safely socialize with other kids . So like anything else, when it comes to parenting, theres sort of a risk benefit analysis that you do right and your child is learning to drive. Youre afraid of letting it do that. But, you kno its sort of part of what they need to do in order to progress. And so now were ipostcovid world or covid world whe part of parenting is thinking about these things. And so this way were going to have your kids go over for a party at someones house. May ask questions about, are the parents going to be ther whats the level of supervision . Those sorts of things. We get more information so that you can make a decision as a parent about this is safe enough for me to feel comfortable with them going. So under these conditions, i think its completely fine for me to ask questions about whether their friend has been sheltering in place. What precautions they have taken that people are going to be Wearing Masks when theyre getting together. And those are all pieces ofin rmation you have a right to know. And using that information and then make a decision about whether it makes sense to move what with that in pers not. A or ini do think that that is to be really helpful for children from a rural health standpointe tole to talk and interact with their friends. And so there are ways that wehi can makesafer if everybodys Wearing Masks, if were asking those questions and those sorts of things, the risk benefit analysis of parenting, we all know so well. Question now. s get to another this is from l. H. Philip. She works in education in arkansas. She submitted this question to us on facebook. She writes, wwere thrust into is situation with little preparation. What will we do with stunts who are poorly prepared . When schools reopen, dr. Vinson, its such a good question. What can you say to h. That . And what i say to l. H. Is this transition backs going to be a challenge for teachers, for administrators, for parents, and especially for the children. And i do think there are ways that we going to see preexisting gaps in education that get bigger as a result of people being home for so long. And so the next question iwe well, what do . And i think that there is time now for us to have conversations with school districts, with administrators, with state Decision Makers around the kinds of supports th we need to adequately support needs both from an academic standpoint and an emotional standpoint when they go back to school to give them a better chance at this being a successful transition. Nawaz so important to point ort the problems existed b will still be there post pandemic. Ouofinal question now comes us from holly joseph. Shes in the bay area in california. She reached out to us on twitter and holly sent us this video. How do we keep kids engaged and Distance Learning versus just completing their assigned tasks . Nawaz dr. Vincent holly is in my husband paul and heads. What how do we do this . This is so difficult for smany parents home schooliht now. Yeah, and, you know, teaching nts are being asked to do something that is a skilled profession. And so my advice is look for ways that it alies. That makes sense for you and it makes sense for the child and that you can demstrate sort of in the home setting. So it could be Something Like playing monopoly you gather if youre talking about money and making change. So looking for things that use those principles at school, but in a practical way where youe able to engage with them. But looking for n ys that you corporate that into activities that you do. Nawaz good luck to all the parents out there. Dr. Sarah vinson, thank you so much for being with us and taking these questions today. Thank you. Nawaz and thanks to all of you for your questions, you can send us more anyti hours, twitter, facebook and instagram accounts or on our web site, thats pbs. Org newshour. Woodruff online,e have more tips for parents on talking to children about the virus and their feelings. Thats on our website,ho pbs. Org ne. And thatshe newshour for tonight. Im judy woodruff. Join us online and again here tomorrow evening. For all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you,e stay fe, and see you soon. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by the ford foundation. Working with visionaries on the frontlines of social change worldwide. And by the alfred p. Sloan foundation. And with the ongoing support of these institutions and friends of the newshour. Rp this program was made possible by the ation 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 wgbh access. Wgbh. Org. Hello, everyone. Welcome to anpour co. Heres whats coming up. Brazil records its highest daily death toll yet as the president bolsonaro continues to address the threat. We get the story from theealth minister he fired. Then as the sessionooms large for the United States and many economies, c a more equal society emerge . The economistn o her way. Desperate types cause for desperate measures. Thats where we are now. Mark cuban talks about getting the nba bac c onourse and Small Business book its feet