Transcripts For KQED PBS NewsHour 20240712

Tonights pbs newshour. Major funding for the newshour has been provided by. Pediatric surgeon. Volunteer. Topiary artist. A raymondjames financial advisor. Taylors advice to help you live your life. Life, wellplanned. For 25 years, Consumer Cellular has been offering no contract wireless plans designed to help people do more of what they like. Our u. S. Based Customer Service team can help find a plan that fits you. To lea more, visit Consumer Cellular. Tv. Johnson johnson. Bms f railway. Bnsf railway. The john sa and James L Knight foundation, fostering informed and engaged communities. And with the ongoing support of these institutions. This program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcastingnd by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Judy on this day with more than its share of climate news, we turn first to the white house south lawn, and the signing of the first arabisraeli agreement in a quarter century, as israel normalized relations with bahrain and the united arab emirates. In a moment, we will get the views of top president ial adviser Jared Kushner. But first, Foreign Affairs correspondent Nick Schiffrin lays out the stakes of the deal and todays moment. [applause] reporter israel, bahrain, and the united arab emires have never fought a war. But they all hoped today sparks peace. After decades of division and conflict, we mark the dawn of a new middle east. This peace will eventually expand to include other states, and ultimately it can end the arabisraeli conflict for all. We are already witnessing a change in the heart of the middle east, a change that will send hope around the world. Reporter the normalization agreements pledge to settle disputes without force, establish embassies, create direct flights, and expand investment, tourism, and trade. The countries share economic interests in deals that extend from tel aviv, to uaes Business Capital dubai. The great economic benefits of our partnership will be felt throughout our region, and will reach every one of our citizens. Reporter the countries also share fears of political islam, and iran. Shia iran threatens israel and sunni countries with the regions largest missile inventory and proxies that have expanded their influence. Analysts also say today is about shared doubts about the u. S. Commitment. Israel is now seen as the most reliable, regional partner. The uae is hoping to buy american weapons including the f35 and buy good will in washington among those who criticize the country for helping lead the war in yemen thats killed tens of thousands. Before today, the u. S. Had hosted the first two arabisraeli agreements, with jordan and egypt, that swapped land for peace. But left unsolved today israels core conflict with the palestinians. The emirates says normalization halted israeli annexation of settlements in the west bank. But during the ceremony, militants in gaza fired missiles into israeli cities. And this morning, palestinians in the occupied west bank protested normalization before peace. Palestinians and many regional analysts warn Regional Peace is impossible, without israelipalestinian peace. The real conflict is a palestinianisraeli conflict and thats what needs to be solved. This is the only way to peace and security and stability in this region. Reporter the u. S. Hopes today creates irreversible momentum that isolates the palestinians. In the meantime, today makes overt what had once been covert a partial israeligulf realignment of the middle east. For the pbs newshour, im nick schifrin. Judy and now to Jared Kushner, Senior Adviser to President Trump. He played a key role in negotiating this deal. And he joins us from the white house. Thank you for joining us. Let me ask you about the deal its always good to ask sign a peace agreement, but this is between countries that already had trade relations and diplomatic relations with another. What exactly will be your friend . First of all, its great to be with you, but they did not have trade relations or diplomatic relions. Two weeks ago, the arab emirates waived a boycott provision that was ongoing for 48 years of israel and saudi arabia opened airspace to allow the first commercial flight from israel to the emirates. I was on that flight. People who understand the history know the significance of the arabisraeli conflict and the boundary that was just broken with these peace deals. Israel in its 72 years has had two peace deals and then in the last 29 days, it has had two more thanks to president tmps untraditional style and brokerage to create a different prospect for the middle east. What we celebrate today was truly a historic breakthrough and what it does is shows the positive momentum people in the region have towardsanting to articulate a new future and not be held back by conflicts of the plast past, so that people of all the all faiths, they want to have Economic Opportunity and not be bogged down by the wars that have held back the middle east for the last 20 plus years. Judy i was referring to unofficial relations between these two countries, they had never fought a war with one another. But speaking with Economic Opportunity, left out of this deal at the palestinians. More than 5 Million People living in the crowded territories with very little Economic Opportunity for them, a chance to advance, hopes for their children. Is the plan here to try and isolate the palestinians so than they have to come on board . No, the palestinians have isolated themselves. Our plan has been to do practical things, slaughter the sacred calves that have helped things back for a long time and take a pragmatic approach. President trump on his first foreign trip, i dont know if your viewers know, he laid out his strategy and he spoke to the 54 arab countries and he said, if we want to bring the region around common interests, i want you to take more response ability. At the time, isis was running rampant. They caliphate the size of ohio was destabilizing and running proxies all over the region. There was a lot of bad things in terms of funding of terror and radicalizing the next generation. We reversed a lot of that. We destroyed the territorial caliphate of isis. We got out of the horrible ran deal iran deal that was probably one of the worst deals. Ever made with regards to the catalyst onions palestinians, we got the most detailed proposal that has ever put forward in history. We put out 100 pages of an economic plan that took 50 billion that would have created a million palestinian jobs, doubled their gdp and reduced their poverty rate. It would have made a big difference. We also got israel to put forward a palestinian state and a map. There has been a lot of progress made for them but at the end of the day, we cant want peace more than they want peace. Their leadership has a perfect track record of not making a deal. So when they are ready to come forward, President Trump shown he can make deals in the middle east and hes built strong relations with people who felt isolated before he came into power and i think theres tremendous peril potential for the palestinians if we all Work Together. Judy but we know at this point they oppose this deal, and it feels like to them a betrayal. Jared kushner , theyre so much to ask you about. I do want to ask you about the coronavirus, the pandemic. You and the president have in essence suggested the president has done a masterful job. As all of us know, 100 95,000 americans have died as of last friday. There were 1000 people a day dying in this country. How is that a masterful job . First of all, to go back to the last thing you said before we got to the virus, in negotiations, everyone is at know until they are at yes. I think what you are seeing is a lot of posturing in the region and President Trump has taken on a challenge in the least very few people were willing to take on and it has resulted in us having the ability to pull troops home and have less threat of terror in our country and more money here at Home Rebuilding our country. That is what the significance of todays events at the white house was. In regards to the coronavirus, obviously this is an unprecedented pandemic. It has impacted 180 countries around the world. President trump jumpeinto action very early on. We got all the governors the supplies they needed. We got a lot of hysteria up front that states would need 40,000 ventilators, that we would be short of supplies on the front lines of the hospitals, and we worked hard to make sure we secured all the resources we need. We allocated smartly and worked with all the governors and got everyone what they needed. We learned a lot. We have also been able to save the economy. People thought our economy would be over 20 unemployment at this point. We got down to 8. 4 percent which again nobody thought would be possible until next year. The economy is coming back well. We developed a vaccine and therapeutics. We have three vaccines right now in phase four trials the fastest vaccine ever to a phase three trial was 13 months. Weve done two of them in four months and one in five months. Those hopefully will prove efficacy. With regards to testing, we lead the world in testing, we have 100 million tests judy but again i was just going to say if you could let me interrupt, just quickly, the death rate in this country is one of the worst in the world. Something like 10th out of 172 countries. My question is, is that a record the president is proud of . Look, the president stepped up to the challenge. Obvisly one death is too many and we would have loved to not have the pandemic come, but it is a Global Pandemic and it has hit every country differently. If you look at europe and excess mortality, they have had a higher excess mortality because of the pandemic than what we had. Then again, we have some states that did better than others. We have done our best to try and make sure we get everyone the resources they need which is the job of the federal government. Again, i think we have taken you talk about the death rate. I think we are down to 740 people a day. It was at 2200 at the peak a couple months ago. Again one death is to money too many, but we are doing our best to identify cases and we have done a lot to get tests to Nursing Homes because thats how we have driven the death rate down by securing Nursing Homes, which was something not done by governors in early states. Judy i will just say that the record for most European Countries is far better than that of the United States, certainly in germany and others. But i do want to ask you about the election, the president has said in some but again, some states are better than other states. Compare florida to new york and you have to look at us comparatively. Again, it is not about constructive at this point to be cherry picking data to fight back. I think we have to look at the efforts that have been made. Judy i need im looking at the data that everyone looks at. Im not cherry picking. But very quickly. The president said on occasion in the past that he would have to see if he accepted the results of the election. As we know, there is an official at the department of health and Human Services who in the last few days,e is very close to the president , said the American People should be prepared to take up arms if President Trump loses. Do you and the president share the view that this this grave view that if the president loses, people should take up arms . Right, i believe he apologized for those comments. I just saw that on the news. In the last election, the president was asked if he would accept the results and the other side ridiculed him for saying he would have to see and then he accepted the results when it was done and other side didnt and created a false russian hoax for years and that was investigated for two years and was totally disproven. At the end of the day, the American People are going to look at the track record of the president. Today we are on here talking about an historic middle east peace deal. For three and a half years i have been ridiculed by the media and all the experts in washington who said we were doing at the wrong way and we were not the right people to be doing it but then we achieved today with those experts didnt do. And President Trump has taken unconventional approaches to a lot of things but he achieves results and the people who voted for him know exactly what they were getting and they couldnt be more thrilled. What i would say to the people ju and a lot opeople saying the same things now are the people who are saying President Trump was elected and we would have world war iii and today he signed two piece deals in the middle east. Judy nd we are reporting on that. One last question about science. The president was urged in his visit to california by a group of scientists to plate pay close attention to science and. Climate change his reaction was its getting colder and science doesnt know, in effect rebuking the sign spared my question is, is this what you want your own children to learn in school . I think that you often have scientists that contradict each other and you look at what that is. The president is openminded too many things judy but not anymore on Climate Change per there is an overwhelming view. But what i would say is we all agree we want to have clean air and clean p the president said that. Then you have Different Things to do. We brought the president earlier to join the trillion trees challenge. He said absolutely, that could sequester carbon and thought it would be a productive way that would not destroy the economy. We talk about pro Climate Change or antiClimate Change, it becomes divisive. I think what we have to do is put efforts toward solutions. What are we doing so we can libration between making sure we have clean air and clean water, but also not doing radical things that would destroy industry and make us less globally competitive. You look at the last administration, they did the paris climate deal that had huge restrictions on American Business and no restrictions on china and russia and the worst polluters and it whitewashed nine judy but you agree that the president with the president that science doesnt know . He president will speak for himself. My job is when he gives me a task to work on, i come up with the most constructive ways to do it. We look at the data here in the white house and what i will tell you is the president is an openminded person. I brought him Prison Reform and criminal justice reform. The president being a businessman had no expense without topic. But when i showed him that people leaving prison are more apt to commit crimes be crimes because they dont have a we passed landmark reform. President trump is a pragmatist. If you show him data and Constructive Solutions, we can do it. I think we all agree we want clean water. At the end of the day if you come with Constructive Solutions for him as to how to do it, he gets things done and he will be happy to engage going forward. No one likes the forest fires we are seeing. I think it would be great if we are working together to prevent them in the future and in the short term our focus is making sure we are helping them do Everything Possible to preserve life and keep the area safe as possible. Judy we are going to have to leave it there, but Jared Kushner Senior Advisor to President Trump, thank you very much for joining us. Thank you. Good to be with you. Stephanie good evening, im stephanie sy at newshour west. We will return to judy and the full program after todays headlines. Hurricane sally is inching toward the u. S. Coast heading , for the alabamamississippi state line late tonight. Its moving at just two miles an hour, and could linger long enough to dump two feet of rain. Storm surge waters pushed into bays and beach fronts along coastal alabama today. Governor kay ivey warned against underestimating the danger. Hurricane sally is not to be taken for granted. We are looking at rapid flooding, perhaps breaking historic levels. I know you all want to protect your family and your property but this is not worth risking your life. Stephanie in the west, the death toll has reached 36 in the wildfires and concerns are building about all the smoke in the air. Oregon was under an air quality alert today, while some flights in and out of portland and spokane were suspended. A milky haze of smoke from the fires even drifted over new york. The city of louisville, kentucky, agreed today to pay 12 Million Dollars in a settlement with Breonna Taylors mother. It came six months after police shot and killed taylor in her apartment. More details later in the program. The uber backup driver involved of the first selfdriving vehicle fatality has been charged with in negligent homicide. Prosecutors said she fail to look at the road because she was watching a tv show on her phone. New efforts are underway to get another covid relief package through congress. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said today her chamber will stay in session until theres a deal. Meanwhile, a Bipartisan Group of lawmakers endorsed spending 1. 5 trillion. Virginia democrat Abigail Spanberger said its a way forward. The American People need help, businesses need help. Th isnt about any one person, this is about the hundreds of thousands of people, the millions who are in need. What the house put forth months ago, isnt moving forward, didnt get us a deal. Now the next step is what comes next . Stephanie it is wednesday in japan and the nations longestserving Prime Minister shinzo abe has resigned. He announced last month he would step down due to health problems. Is closest deputy and loyalist will succeed him as head of the majority party, virtually guaranteeing he will be the next Prime Minister. The United States has issued a sweeping new warning against travel to Mainland China and hong kong. A Statement Today said americans could face arbitrary detention and lengthy interrogations. The wto today ruled against u. S. Tariffs on 200 billion worth of chinese goods. But, the ruling may not have much effect. The u. S. Can appeal, and the wtos Appeals Court is in limbo because washington has blocked appointing new members. Still to come on the newshour with stone Hurricane Sally he woodruff, the latest on Hurricane Sally hitting the gulf coast. How schools are reopening across the globe, and much more. This is the pbs newshou in the west from the Walter Cronkite school of journalism at Arizona State university. Judy Hurricane Sally is slowly making its way to the gulf coast tonight and as of now, alabama is squarely in the path. The city of mobile is on high alert. It could see rainfall of 10 to 20 inches and a surge of water that is 7 feet above normal. Sandy stimpson is the mayor of mobile and he joins me now. Thank you so much for talking with us. Tell us as of now, what do you expect . We are expecting as you said, 10 to 20 inches of rain. Combined that with the storm surge plus high tide, and you have seven to nine feet of additional Tidal Influence in the mobile river and bay. Judy how does that compare to storms mobile has seen before . The most recent was 2018, and it was a tropical storm. It was more wind than flooding. If you go back to 2004, ivan was the last major impact that hit just east of here but its been a while since we had a major storm really impact the city. Judy do you believe you are prepared . I think we are very prepared. It has been a very slow moving storm. Early in the press conference, we were saying we have truly thousands First Responders and personnel from the sheriff department, police, national guard, coast guard everyone is on highest alert to respond to the needs of citizens. We are as prepared as you can possibly be for this situation. Judy to what extent are you asking people to evacuate, to be ready, to go into shelters and so forth . Earlier today, the governor issued a voluntary Evacuation Order for the lowlying coastal areas, the islands and beaches. It was done voluntarily because some of those places are not as vulnerable as others. If it was category four or five, she probably would have said it was mandatory. We have seen some on interstate highways, but pretty much people are moving to family and friends in land where they will be affected by flooding. Judy judy and you are comfortable with that level of preparation . We continue to send the message out that if you are in a lowlying area, to get out or let us know so we can come get you. Once you have the title influence from flooding, when you call at that point, we have to send First Responders and their lives are in jeopardy at that point and we have just continued to beat that drum. Please let us know now how we can help you get out. Judy i hear you refer to having a lot of First Responders. Do you now have sufficient personnel and people to do what may come and handle it . Absolutely. We are very fortunate, the coaboration between cleanup crews and Law Enforcement is second to none. The Power Services have 500 people on standby in close proximity, another 500 who can be here at a moments notice. We feel very comfortable we will be able to come in for the after mass aftermath of this storm and restore some sense of normalcy. Judy finally, where do you plan to spend tonight . [laughter] i will be here for a while. Im not saying i will be here all night long but we do have people monitoring the facility all night, rescue and the Police Department and public works in the event of trees falling down that we can deploy to address any situation. Judy we certainly wish you the best and hope it is not as serious as some of the forecasters say. Mayor Sandy Stimpson of mobile, alabama, thank you very much. Thank you i appreciate it. Judy as election day looms, the race for the white house circles around key battleground states. Our Yamiche Alcindor reports. Yamiche today, former Vice President joe biden campaigned in florida his first visit to the state since being nominated. There, he delivered harsh words for President Trumps policy and rhetoric towards veterans. Quite frankly, it makes me very upset the way he gets in front of a camera and crows about how much hes done for veterans and turns around and insults Service Members and Fallen Heroes when the cameras are off. Calls them suckers and losers. Donald trump has no idea about the ideas of women and men who sign up to serve. Duty, honor, country. Thats what service and patriotism is all about. Yamiche the Sunshine State has one of the Largest Military and veteran populations in the country. Bidestressed the need to strengthen the v. A. We have a responsibility to ensure that we are providing veterans world class healthcare they deserve in every situation. Yamiche veterans make up a critical voting bloc in one of toughest battlegrounds. A statewide poll released today from Monmouth University showed biden just bary ahd. 50 of floridians said they plan to support biden, while 45 backed President Trump. Today President Trump began his day by calling into fox and friends. He spoke to the hosts for more than 45 minutes. He again claimed a Coronavirus Vaccine could be approved by election day and distributed immediately. Were going to have a vaccine in a matter of weeks. Reporter President Trump also lashed out at the democratic governor of nevada, who criticized him for defying warnings and holding an indoor rally las vegas last week. The president cused the governor without evidence of rigging the election. Now, hell cheat on the ballots. I have no doubt about it. This is the same man whos in charge of the ballots. Yamiche and following his visit to california yesterday, President Trump doubled down on his denial of Climate Change. He repeated a misleading claim that poor Forest Management is the only factor behind the wildfires raging in the west. You have forests all over the world. You dont have fires like you do in california, you know. In europe, they have forest cities. Yamiche in california today, senator Kamala Harris the democratic Vice President ial nominee lambasted the president s remarks on Climate Change. This is not a partisan issue. Ideology should not kick in. Its just a fact. This is just a fact. Yamiche and promised a different approach. It is incumbent on us and the leadership of the nation to take seriously the extreme changes in the climate and to do what we can to mitigate against the damage. Yamiche tonight biden and , harris are campaigning on opposite sides of the country harris in nevada, biden in florida. But they have a common goal, courting latino vors. While President Trump heads to philadelphia for a town hall with undecided voters. Four the pbs newshour, im Yamiche Alcindor. Judy today witnesses the last primary elections before november. Once winners are declared in delaware we will know who all the nominees are for every congressional race across our country. Here to break down what to watch for in the fight for control of capitol hill our own lisa , desjardins. Hello to you. Lets start with the senate. Catch us up on the contest to either take over or keep control of the Upper Chamber now that we are just seven weeks away from election day. Lisa thats right. So much to talk about. Lets dig right in. The senate. Democrats need or 3 three or four seats. That is the key number or they need to pick up three or four seats to take control. Lets go to the graphics. First of all, these are the seats that are in play right now. There are more tossups increasingly on the map. Its about 12 seats. Heres what democrats like. If you look at another map, these are red states, vulnerable republicans. 10 of them are republicans. Democrats have 10 chances they believe to pick up the three or four seats they need. Lets interesting here, one more map. These are the competitive seats, the ones in the senate that are tracking closely to the president ial race. Theres no question democrats are benefiting from joe biden doing well. The president falling behind him tionally. The senate races could change if the presential race changes. That is something to watch closely. Judy not on the list of most vulnerable, but a race we are watching, Senate Majority lder Mitch Mcconnell in kentucky. What does that look like . Lisa this is a fascinating race. Mitch mcconnell is currently the third most senior senator in congress. He has survived many challenges before. Some people see him as teflon, but hes up against a challenger who now has nationwide recognition. Amy mcgrath was the first female marine combat plight pilot. She closely lost an election last time. Massive amounts of money between the two of them. 60 million, at least, has been spent. These candidates are spending more money in the Campaign Funds than any other race. In addition, Senate Democrats however still see it as a longshot. They would need help from the president ial race. President trump is a factor in kentucky. Hes very popular in kentucky. If that decreases. Democrats could have a chance at unseating mcconnell. But republicans like this race not only because they believe mcconnell will win, but they also like democrats are sending money here. They think its a longshot pair they dont want money going to the other races they think are closer. We have to watch on election day. Judy wh are both parties saying right now . Lisa here are the big pictures. Lets look at the graphics. There are 55 house seats in play. Thats a smaller fraction of the entire house. Those are the races in control. Republicans essentially need 20 of those seats. Whats interesting is half of the competitive seats in the house are held by democrats, half by republicans. That is good news for democrats. Usually they would be on defense after having such a huge year. Democrats believe they might be able to pick up some seats and have a larger majority in the fall if things continue as they are. Judy you were telling us, yes, these are the numbers but youre also seeing bigger trends at work here. Tell us about that. Lisa thats right. Following in the good work of my friend talking about trends and electorally, the suburbs will decide so much about the house. It is where democrats are seeing gains but it is where the vast majority of competitive seats are outside of richmond, houston, phoenix, chicago, thats where the battle for the u. S. House is happening. Another couple things, a larger than usual number of rematches. Nearly one quarter of competitive races in the house voters have seen before. Its the same racas to years ago. These are often republicans trying to regain a seat they lost in that sweep. One more thing, the money. I mentioned this in the mcconnell and Mcgrath Senate race. Its true everywhere historic levels of spending. Im sorry to tell viewers, if you live in one of these battleground states and you think youve seen a lot of campaign ads, you probably havent seen athing yet. Judy mindboggling. A lot of it. And we are going to be looking at some of those ads in weeks to come. Lisa desjardins, thank you so much. After months of homeschooling, students are bracing themselves. We now look at the issues facing millions of schoolchildren, their parents and teachers around the world, from countries in asia, africa, and europe. But to begin, from the United Kingdom, heres special correspondent olly barratt. Reporter britains schools are back with children returning to classrooms for the First Time Since march. After weeks of Remote Learning because of coronavirus lockdown, this start of School Received a cautious welcome. Im excited to come back because ive missed being here and ill be able to catch up on extra work and ill be able to see my friends, and teachers, but obviously its nervous ming back. Reporter across the u. K. , all schools have been to to reopen, and all children urged to return. But the unprecedented impact of the coronavirus pandemic means reopening is by its very nature, an experiment. Schools have to follow guidance from the government, limiting contacts between different groups of children, extra cleaning measures, desks which all face the same direction. Britains Prime Minister Boris Johnson has described it as a National Priority to get schools back. There have been concerns raised by teachers unions and some parents about safety, and also about whether schools returning will cause the virus to spread more quickly. But most teachers have been keen to get back behind their desks. School principal andy fitzgibbon. We do have a moral duty to open our doors and get our children back in to education, and back in and learning. I think it is really important. Reporter the National Priority status given to schools being open effectively means that if and when lockdown measures need to be reimposed, schools will stay open while other parts of the economy such as pubs could be forced to close down again. But to be completely sure , classrooms dont empty once more, that will depend on the direction of the covid19 outbreak in the United Kingdom this is lucy hoh, across the English Channel in belgium, where school is also back on despite rising covid19 case numbers since july. For laurence gidden, mother of three, its a relief. The six months of homelearning have been a challenge. This year has been really shortened by the situation, we are now entering second grade and he doesnt have the same he is not able to read or write as my other children did. Reporter he is not alone in falling behind. Studies show School Closures have widened the attainment gap between disadvantaged students and their classmates and the largest gaps are for younger children. At Montgomery School in brussels , belgiums capital, theres catching up to be done and new rules. They were able to follow online classes so we adjusted the schedule a bit for them but we still managed to finish the program. Reporter belgiums schools have reopened under a fourcolor code system cuently on yellow, meaning a fullfive day week. Masks are mandatory at all times for kids over 12, with contact limited to small class bubbles. If theres a major outbreak and its code red, class size for older pupils would be lved and school time cut to two days a week. Playgrounds like this one are also emptier than usual. Children returning from Summer Holidays from highrisk red zones have had to quarantine for 14 days, even as the new Academic Year gets underway. But across europe, cracks are already starting to show. Several schools in belgium have already had to close due to localised outbreaks. France and germany have also seen dozens of closures. As the spread of covid19 accelerates across europe, teachers and their unions are concerned about safety with some calling for stricter measures and limits on class sizes. Measures differ across europe but there is agreement that the benefits of attending school outweigh the risks. Reporter this is Michael Baleke in uganda. Millions of children in countries across africa are back in the classroom, despite a surge in covid19 cases on the continent. Schools in tanzania reopened in june after three months of the covid19 lockdown. Many with no Running Water or working toilets, but classrooms are packed to full capacity. We believe in god and god will help us. Plus we wear masks these days. Reporter tanzania stopped publishing official figures on the extent of the coronavirus outbreak in april. This was followed by a declaration by president John Magufuli that the country is free from the pandemic ordering all schools to reopen with covid19 guidelines in place. The intertional Public Health experts are skeptical about the that tanzania is free from the pandemic, warning if it exists in one country, its bound to spread. Students walk to School South Africa continues to carry the heaviest burden of covid19 on the continent, with nearly half of all new cases. The government reopened schools in june. But some parents have been reluctant to allow their children back to class because of a surge in cases. Most of them were afraid of this covid, hence they decided to stay at their homes and their parents said no, their learners must not go to school. But most of them are at school. They are working. Reporter the democratic republic of congo is using a phasedpproach to reopen schools. For now the only classes in session are those for students who are in their final term before graduating. The plan is for the rest of the students to return in october. According to the Africa Centre for Disease Control and prevention, the continent has more than 1. 3 million confirmed cases of covid19 and over 31000 deaths. How the response to the virus affects millions of schoolaged children is a source of concern for all 54 african nations. In some african countries, like here in uganda, schools remain closed for fear that the pandemic may get out of hand. Distance learning in africa is difficult, and sometimes impossible, given that 80 of students have no access to the internet. For many students, electricity is unreliable. Others have no electricity at all in their homes. The longer the children are out of school, the greater the risk that they may not return to school. Reporter the u. N. Argues that reopening schools too quickly in africa could undermine the gains made so far in curbing the spread of covid19. Reporter this is patrick in beijing. At schools here, students arrived staggered by grade, and lineup front of their teacher, before theyre allowed inside passing through a screening point, where students have their temperature taken. Theres one more check once they reach the classroom. This is part of whats called the antipandemic new normal in beijing. To keep covid19 at bay, strict order, from kindergarten, all e way through to high school. Theyre doing lots of things, like alcohol disinfection, using temperature measuring guns, and they make us wear masks all day long. Reporter close to 600,000 students are now back to school in the capital. For some, its a second attempt at getting class underway. Some middle and highschoolers returned in april, before a cluster of infections here in june forced schools closed again. But thereve been no locallytransmitted cases in beijing since the end of july. Across china, people are confident the countrys overcoming the virus. Masks arent mandatory anymore in public. Some students dont see the point of following school rules. Sometimes i will take it off for a while. Im not being watched strictly all the time. Reporter because its the political heart of china, beijings had some of the strictest covid prevention protocols in the country. A lot of restrictions are gradually being lifted now particularly as new cases of infections have dwindled nationwide, but authorities arent likely to lift the lid on containment measures altogether anytime soon. Complacency could plunge the country back under the grip of the virus. South koreas learned the hard way. Its grappling with a resurgence after the government loosened restrictions early in august. About 200 cases were linked to a school in seoul, forcing authorities to put classesn hold. The cities of seoul, incheon , and gyeonggi province will switch to full Remote Learning. Reporter final year students taking College Entrance exams are exempt. But its unclear when others can go back. Covid cases in japan are comparatively stable. Students there returned early in august. Its just as well Remote Learning was hardly an option. The pandemics exposed a massive Digital Divide in the country. A ministry of Education Survey found just 10 of Public Schools offered online instruction after schools were shut in march. Critics say japans fallen behind in classroom technology, and students are over reliant on textbooks and lack tablets. In hong kong, theres another row over textbooks, as schls prepare to reopen. The government is accused of censoring them to promote patriotic education. I would not say its political screening, what we do is, professionally, we look at the text books already in the market, and provide some professional advice to the publisher. Reporter there are fears also about how the new, and vaguelyworded National Security law will impact schools. Pushed through by beijing to quell unrest and calls for independence, some teachers and students worry what they say in schools may land them in trouble. And wi tensions still simmering among many student protesters, how schools in hong kong handle covid only adds to their problems. For the pbs newshour, im patrick fok, in beijing. Reporter i micha baleke in kampala. Judy the citof louisvlle announced its settlement today with Breonna Taylors family, six months after she was shot by police and her death became a refrain of national protests. As amna nawaz tells us, policing changes are part of that agreement. But the larger question of potential criminal charges against the officers remains front and center to the family and many around the country. Reporter in the eyes of her family, one step toward justice for Breonna Taylor. Its only the beginning of getting full justice for breonna. Her beautiful spirit and personality is working through all of us on the ground, so please continue to say her name. Reporter today, the city of louisville announced a 12million settlement with taylors mother Tamika Palmer after she sued over her daughters killing by police. Louisville mayor greg fischer. I cannot begin to imagine ms. Palmers pain, and i am deeply, deeply sorry for breonnas death. Reporter it is the largest sum ever paid by the city in a Police Misconduct caseand the settlement includes a package of Police Reforms. Say her name Breonna Taylor reporter the settlement comes after months of protests following Breonna Taylors death. The 26yearold emergency medical technician was shot in her home march 13th by louisville police, serving a drug warrant. Police say that night they identified themselves before breaking down taylors door. But her boyfriend Kenneth Walker says he never heard that, thought it was a breakin, and fired a single shot from his licensed firearm. Police responded, shooting taylor more than 8 times, and killing her. No drugs were found in the home. Of the three officers involved, only one was fired in june. A separate, criminal investigation is underway by Kentucky Attorney general daniel cameron. Say her name. Breonna taylor. Reporter but taylors story remains at the center of a nationwide Movement Seeking racial justice, Police Reforms, and reminding people to say her name. The settlement may have taken six months, but this only relates to the taylor familys civil suit. And theres no admission of wrongdoing by the city of louisville in todays deal. All eyes are now on the kentucky atrney general, to see if criminal charges against the officers will be filed joining me now to discuss this, is hannah drake. Shes anuthor and activist in louisville, who has been leading the calls for justice in Breonna Taylors name. Welcome back to the newshour. Thank you for being with us. Before we dig into these details, i want your reaction to todays news. It has been a long time coming. I want to know, what did you think . It has bn a long tim. Coming i was certainly emotional. It was a very emotional feeling for me to see Breonna Taylors mother get some form of justice for her daughter. Reporter we mentioned its not just the 12 million. The single largest cd city payment in a police mconduct case. Theres a whole slate of reforms. They will now require approval of search warrants before it goes to a judge. They will offer housing credits for officers to actually live within the cities they police. They want to expand drug and Alcohol Testing for officers involved in shootings. Thats just a few of the highlights. When you look at those reforms, when you look at the disproportionate violence by police against black americans, what kind of difference dyou think those reforms will make . Certain it will take manifesting these reforms on the ground actually in the community. I will say that i was encouraged that for this to be a civil suit for Police Reform to be tied to it. I do not know if ive ever seen that that has ever been the case when there has been a payout for Police Misconduct, police brutality, and the murder of a person at the hands of the police. I am thankful to breonna taors family that they thought to have Police Reform tied to the civil lawsuit and i know that ms. Baker said it was nonnegotiable, there would be no civil lawsuit without some kind of Police Reform. Reporter thats right. We heard from. Both attorneys from the family, saying that they knew reforms had to be part of the deal. But i wonder, are there additional reforms you think are necessary . I think there are additional reforms. We have a section of the population certainly calling on defunding the police. When you look at defunding the police and also look at reforming the police, how do we Work Together as a community to those two things to work handinhand together . I certainly think its a great opportunity for police to actually live in the communities that they are policing, to actually know the people in the neighborhoods. I loved that they also mentioned there would be some type of volunteerism for the police, so they can actually know the people they are policing and hopefully, that will end some of the police brutality. I certainly think we still have such a long way to go when it comes to justice for Breonna Taylor and justice in the community. Reporter and we heard from several people who spoke today at that press conference and her name, saying they dont believe there will be full justice until those officers are arrested and charged. We mentioned that the attorney general is looking into possible criminal charges, that a grand jury is being convened. I am curious, based on your work and experience in louisville, how much faith do you have in that process right now . To be honest, i do not have faith in that process. I tried to remain hopeful as someone who is an activist and speaks out in the community, but we have seen how these cases have played t across the United States. Im not that hopeful that we will have complete and full justice for Breonna Taylor. Every day, i try to wake up and envision something different, that attorney general cameron will see briand a as a 26yearold black woman that was murdered in her home, that she should still be here today, that she deserves justice. If anyone of this if anyone of us did this, went to our neighbors home and killed them, we would be charged. I dont think anything less should have been because someone is a police officer. Reporter and legally you have heard, some people say it is an uphill battle legally to meet the burden, because the officers can claim selfdefense. They know there was a shot fired toward them at the beginning. Im curious if days restitution is the only justice that comes in the name of Breonna Taylor, what do you think the response will be from you and others in the community . People in this community will be very upset. This is a community that has been forever altered by what has happened. There is certainly a ton of trauma that has happened in louisville and this is a se city that needs healing. For the officers not to get charged will only cause further trauma in the community and frankly i dont think it will sit well for the people who have protested for more than 100 days. People who are protesting are demanding full justice. We are very happy for rihanna taylors mother. We certainly expected there would be some Breonna Taylors mother. We certainly expected there would be some restitution. But just like an airplane, there are two wings. We have restitution and we also need criminal charges against the officers. Reporter you mentioned days of protests, celebrities, magazine covers, people making sure her name continues to be said and the pressure is kept up. What do you think this step today means for the many other cases in which we dont even hear about the names of black women killed . I think this was a very important step, especially for black women that have been killed by the police and faced brutality from the police. I always said Breonna Taylor had two things working against her, she is black and a woman. That is often where a rock and a hard place collide for black women in america this was call out you could not continue to brutalize black women and murder them in their homes and its going to be ok or acceptable. That ends today. Reporter that is hannah drake, joining us from louisville, kentucky. Think you so much for your time. Thank you so much for your time. Thank you. Judy and thats the newshour for tonight. Im judy woodruff. Join us online and again here tomorrow evening. For all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you. Please stay safe and well see you soon. Major funng for the pbs newshour has been provided by when the world gets complicated, a lot goes through your mind. With fidelity wealth and management, a dedicated advisor can tailor advice and recommendations to your life. Thats fidelity wealth Consumer Cellular. Johnson johnson. Bnsf railway. Financial Services Firm raymond james. Carnegie corporation of new york, supporting innovations in education, democratic engagement, and the advancement of International Peace and security at carnegie. Org. And with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. This program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsibleor its caption content and accuracy. ] this is pbs newshour west, from weta studios in washington and our partners at the Walter Cronkite school of journalism at Arizona State university. Pati narrates theres something so romantic about travelling by train, isnt there . The sounds of the tracks, the swaying cars, watching the scenery change through the window. Years ago, when my boys were really little boys, we took one of our alltime favorite Family Vacations a ride on the rails on the chepe express, a one week journey from the breathtaking Copper Canyon to the end of the line, los mochis, sinaloa. Today im going to rele a part of that ride and im taking you with me. One of my favorite parts of that trip was the food on that train, especially the breakfast. From the freshsqueezed orange juice to the pressed coffee, to the crispy chilaquiles. Alan this is so good pati narrates so in honor of the chepe,