Life isnt a straight line, and sometimes you can find yourself heading in a new direction. Fidelity is here to help you work through the unexpected, wi Financial Planning and advice for today, and tomorrow. And with the ongoing support of these 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. Woodruff the numbers keep building in the covid pandemic, even as the pace slows in some hot spots. The United States now has nearly a third of the worlds three million infections, and 55,000 aths. At the same time, tensions are growing over getting back to business ephanie sy begins our coverage tonight. Reporter its the start of a new work week, and most americans are still at home. But in some stat, more doors are opening for business. Georgia was one of the first states to begin relaxing restrictions last week that continued today with restaurants and movie theaters resuming normal operations. The grand reopening at this georgia gym over the weekend was quiet, with only a few venturing in for a work out. But manager mike martino says his employees needed this. H so the families, they have they have to feed their children. They have bills to pay their mortgages, their car payments. So we really wanted to start to some funds back inirtart getting pockets so they can actually get back to some type of normalcy. R orter elsewhere, Texas Governor gregg abbott announced his statewide stayathnde order willn thursday. Meanwhile, Public Health experts t washington warn that it soon to go back to business as usual. Force coordinator h birxtask said sunday that social distancing measures should last for months. Social distancing will be u withrough the summer to really ensure that we protect one another as we move through thesphases. Reporter at the u. S. Epicenter in new york, official utious about restarting the economic engines. D ey cancelled the states june president ial primary today. New york city mayor bill deblasio. Theres a little bit of a tale of two cities going on here in this country, the places that seem to be putting economics ahead of human lives and then those of us trying to focus on health and safety of people first a then build out the economic restart from theref reporter b countless Small Businesses in the u. S. , its about survival. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer are pressing the Trump Administration to set aside at least 10 billion in smallbu ness rescue money for minority banks and the like. They say aid is not reaching lowincome communities. And even big business is sounding the alarm, like factory farming giant tyson foods. The company, which has been criticized for its treatment of workers through the pandemic, newspapers on sunday warningjor that the Food Supply Chain is breaking and calling for morefe ral support. Across the atlantic, british ime minister boris johns returned to work on downing street, after needing spitalization for covid19li symptoms e this month. We are now beginning to turn the tide. If this virus were a physical invisible mugger, i cand and tell you from personal expeence, it is, then this i the moment when we have begun together to wrestle it to the floor. Reporter europes wothit country italy, is also trying to pick itself up. With the number of new cases dropping there, the Prime Minister Giuseppe Contes announced plr easing lockdowns. translated on may 18 we plan to reopen the retail sector. That sector serving manufacturing and construction activities which well open on may 4. Also on may 18 museums, exhibitions and libraries as well as training f team sports. June 1 is the date when we would like to open bars, restaurants, coiffeurs, beauty salons and activities related to selfcare. Reporter the World Health Organization today said that prudent approach will help to save lives. What we want to see is countries taking a stepbystep data driven approach that allows a country to move steadilyw towards a rmal, towards a new way of living that allows lives and livelihoods to return. But at the same time, not doingh it so quickl theres a rebound inases. Toeporter the worlds pus reopen, experts suggest, should not be a race, but a delicate dance. For the pbs newshour, im stephanie. Woodruff the expanded testing plan announced by the president is one more ep on a ng road toward reopening much of the country. But many say its still too small a step. A new bipartisan proposal calls for far more ambitious moves. This 46 billion dollar plan would hire 180,000 workers to help test, trace and track those whndwere infected or exposed the people they came in contact with. Allocate money for housing where infected people could isolate themselves voluntarily. And provide income support while people are isolated andy slavitt teamed up with former f. D. A. Commissioner Scott Gottlieb and many others on this blueprint. He is the former head of medicare and medicaid under president obama. Is andy slaferrity slagofility to you have with us again, they swre heard so much about test, they artalking about it again at the white house. The United States has a long way this proposal are you not focusing on testing, why not . Well, we have to improve our tetionz. We have to limit our case count. But once we do that, once wes reduced our and begin to reopen we have to give states the tools to prevent what we lived through the last month, judy, i would say is the equivalent of a forest fire. What we have to dos pevent forest fires from breaking out so we can catch things wen they e little camp fires. And in order to do that we have to have the ability to surround the outbreak as it happens. So it doesnt spread into and what that will mean as you tests positive, we want to help them figure out who are the people they ve been in contact with, this is tried and true method throughout the years, through measles and other outbreaks andpoelp su folks so the community can go on and people can feel safe. And the number are you using 180,000 people throughout the country, this is something organized by the states. How do you know people are going to cooperate with this . Well, i think they major of people will because people dont want to make her people unsafe. If someone were to tell you or me that i ha covid19, i would want to know who are all the people that i work with or werew in contath so they could be alerted. So if somebody was going tothelp me d and do it in a systemic way, it takes some resources. I would be appreciative. Of course it is going to be vor me td there may be people that dont want to do that. And i think we have to recognize that were no talking about eliminating all of this or making covid19 disappear. But what we are talking about doing is limiting the damage as much as possible. So that, i see you have about 12 billion in the plan setas e for what, again, we call contact tracing. You have snore 4 billion plus set aside for heat el hotel rooms fopeople, explain why those would be needed . Can isolate safy at home, ift we were to test positive and not infection our families, then there is where there is a Spare Bedroom or a room to go, eat. Is gr but that doesnt describe every american situation. And so if visomeone is in a multigenerational household say way parent or grandparent and covid19 would be dangerous for them, what we want to do is we want to have the many hotel and mot el rooms available across the country, made available on s volume tear. If people want to socially isolate for two weeks, have a couple of wes of cable tv and pbs newshour on their own, maybe away from their families and that way they will be able to b le to go back to their families and be safer. Of course this would have to be volume tear. Done this in a way, like china where it hasnt been volume tein. But we liv a liberal democracy. I dont think that is the right choi t. Still nk st a comfortable choice for many. Wntdruff but as you poi out, people have to agree to do that. And for many people it would be an option they wouldnt have otherwise. And andy slavitt, there is another 30 billion in here for what you call income support. What is that all about . This is reall important. We get asked to do our civic dultee duty throughout our lives. We g asked to s on jury duty. And when we do that we get some very small stipend but it helps people who arent getting reimbursed from their employer to be able to do thaand do their civic duty. So what we are proposing here is that for a period of time where people are going to be ially isolated, that they are eligiblo this level of income replacement. Otherwise i think it would be difficult forp people to complyo if you tolbody who was living paycheck to paycheck to go without two pychecks, in order to make all the rest of us safe, it may be hard for them to that. So we have a stiplation in this proposal that allows people that need that income to get it. And the 47 billion or s 46 billion total you think takes oare of it for the whole country for how lng . We estimate that this needs to be done until we either e heard immunity or more hopefully a vaccine. So this is about 18 month of fund approximating. The way we have structured it to be fiscally prudent the state was apply for a block grant with the decht health and human services. They would estimate their numbea of casd hopefully they have fewer cases than they t dought thd the money would revert back to the federal treshry. So we want to make re that we doing thiudent as possible in and of course if we get to a vaccine and they thr is still money in the state coughers this too coffer thitoo would go back to the federal gonment. And just quickly, you are saying this money would go to the states. As you know there has been some criticism test. People saying ittually should have been coordinate more at the these things should be run at the state level. Well, thereay role for the federal government in off these things and a role for the statee gove. So in test the federal government is the most efficient person to make suree that th supply chain works. To make sure that we have all of e materials we need, to make sure that states ar fighting and create bidding wars. That cant be done by thestates themselves. But when it comes to administering the test, those are cal activities. Likewise con tablght traition can get done at a local vel. And remember were not going to be all going through the same thing at the satime. So what what new york went through, they would need contact tracers after that point. Other cities, other states, they may need them at different so we think this could be much more easily coordinated at th state level. And finally, what are the prospects that the white house,n prestrump, the administration and the congress are going to go along with all of this . So this morning we had preliminary conversations. I think that there was really g important people on the political right and the political left to agree on this proposal. So w hashed outany of the issues that are going to i think rause potential concern f either party. I think the political right is going to focus on issues like Civil Liberties and making sure that peoples freedoms arent being violated and they ll nt to make sure it is fiscalically responsible and make sure the people on the left have those concerns well and people on the left will make su tests are equitiably distributed. We just dont do it in testing and con tablg conct tracing for the well off but that it is those are minor differences that i feel can be worked out. This feels like a very bipartisan problem solve approach that the white house did embrace. Andy slavitt explaining this proposal that was just made public today. Thank you so much, w appreciate it. Thank you. Woodruff in the days other news, wall strt opened the week with a rally, on hopes of easing pandemicrelated restrictions. W the nes industrial average gained 358 points to close at 24,133. The nasdaq rose 95 points, and, the s p 500 added 41. E a second w emergency loans became available to Small Businesses today under the paycheck protection program. Congress approved the extra 310 billion in funding last week. The initial round of loan money ran out in just two weeks time. Officials in south korea today renewed calls for caution amid speculation about kim jongn. Rumors about the north korean leaders wellbeing have swirled as he disappeared from view in recent weeks. The souths unification minister said today his government is confident there is nothing to the talk. A spokeswoman followed up. translated we can onlyy e same thing we have been saying. We have nothing to add regardini the rumor aboujong uns health. The National Security council had said there are no unusual n signs withth korea and woodruff meanwstate tvme. In north korea today read what it said was a statementha from kiming workers who built a tourism resort. It did not mention hlth. In afghanistan, civilian deaths om fighting during the years First Quarter were the lowest for that period since 2012. The United Nations rorts 533 people were killed from january through march, including me than 150 children. But, that was down 29 from one year ago, despite an escalation in attacks during march. Back in this country, the u. S. Supreme court rud today the federal government must Pay Insurance Companies for losses during the early years of obamacare. By 8 to 1, the court said companies can collect 12 billion, under a provision of the law at congress had sought to limit. Broader challenge law,r a later this year. And, in the president ial campaign, the Presumptive Democratic nominee, joe biden, picked up the endorsement of the nationsop elected democrat today. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi put out a video statement, praising the former vice president. She aid bin would be a voicen of read resilience. Still to come on the newshour more states are opening for business, but how safe is it toc goout . Another dispatch from the front lines othe fight against covid19. Amy walter and tamara keith on washingtons latest response to the crisisal plus, how soistancing has changed th their loved ones. Rn woodruff as some states begin to loosen their stayatic home resons, others are extending them. John yang begins our coverage of how some businesses are taking their first steps toward the new normal. Yang judy, in georgia, one of the states where restrictions are easing, some Business Owners are eager to reopen, but others doing so with misgivings oare staying shut. Lets hear from two of those voices now. Speaking for my industry, we have the ability to travel as a nail techs. St and barbers and so a lot of us in our industry were able to go to homes or have someone to come to our homes. And it really put us at a more vulnerable situation so the reason why i was excitedo e able to get back. Because it allows us to have a more controlled environment. Last week, when Governor Kemp announced that restaurants could begin reoping this week, my husband, i just kind of looked at one another and both shook our heads to say, no, we would not open up to dine in service this wee and we know that the recommendations are th we should see at least 14 days of declining cases before we start to consider opening up. And we also are thinking about our own staff and whether not they would feel comfortable coming back to work. Yang to hear how things are going in two states where businesses are reopening, im joined by bill nigut of orgia public broadcasting in atlanta, and anna rau of montana pbs in missoula. Welcome to you both, anna, i want to start with you because today was the first day that businesses were allowed to reopen if they wanted to. Some businesses in montana. But tell us what the situation in montana is with the virus. How badly hit has montana been . Well, we had actually been pretty lucky. E governor got on things very quickly and closed schools andes businearly on before we had a lot of cases. So we stand at about50ases today and only 14 fatalities thus fr. Any fatality obviously is too number given what could havew happened. So i think at this point the governor and other officials that run the state have deded at it is at a point where we can crack the door open. And if we start to see something rebound a bit here,we could trace it, follow it up and isolate the people. We have enough to doat. So i think it say low number of cases and low number of hospitalizations has made the governor and officials feel comfortable doing this soft opening. And is montana hitting the white house guide line of 14 days of declining numbers. Yeah, we have had declining nments since the end ofa mrch. The last couple of days, we had some days where we had one case or none at all. We definitely have seen a downward trend in the cases anda in hoszations. So it is looking quite gook. Good. And i think it makes people feel confident we can do a little for reopen oing. And with the repening tod are you seeing a lot of businesses reopening that canen rend are a lot of consumers heading to stores . No. And i think that bas one of the concerns going into it, that will the ctomers show up. The businesses can open but will customers want to come shopgond ack into the retail businesses. And at this point also a lot of them werent ready to open hso thve to order a bunch of things. They have stringent guide lines if thewould like to reopen. They have to keep the number of people in their store below 50 cupant see what they normally would have and also keep peosope al distance. And that is part of the requirements on reopening. So this is not just anybody can open up. You have to open with stringent place. Disdancing guide lines in so i think some people have been nervous about that. Some businesses they are expecting customers to touch thing ands they have to disinfect those. Nobody really knows what they need to do to make sure eycustomers feel safe but want to make sure they feel safe before they come back. Thats what they are looking at right now quns bill nigut in georgi scom businesses were allowed to open starting on friday. What has the weekend been like. A lot of businesses opened . A lot of people going t stores, to these places . Only anecdol evidence obviously at this point but friday it waser, there hair salon, barbershop, massage therapy, bowling alleys of all things and we found that barbershops on friday morning, had lines and ople waiting to get in the door. But i think for the most part over the weekend, we saw a great deal of resistance to people wanting to get out and patronize these establishments, and more to the point, many businesses chose and are continuing to choose to remain closed. Today the governor allowed restauras and social clubs to open for business. And here again for the most part most restauranteurs are saying they do not want to open. They dont feel comfortable. They dont feel safe. And at the same te we had some who have said weve got to get back to work. We need to start making money again. So it has been a very mixed reaction and the govercirs on is incredibly controversial here. Lets talk about that. What has been th public debate about there . We have seen polls from pew last week that said most hericans were worried tat restrictions would come off too soon rather than not soon enough. What is the public debatn georgia. Be it han exactly that. There is no question that georgia like every other state is suffering stra ordinary economic distress and is going to continue to for the time being. But there are many manpeople here, chosen, the economy and trying to kick start business over public safety. Even got a attacked by the president last week who said that kemp was moving too quickly, thatu stnned people. And anna n montana the governor is a democrat, what is the public discussion been there about whether this is a good idea or not . Well, it was a lot of concern go floog it i think when peoe found out this is kind of just like i said crackk the door open tstrknothrowing it wide, restaurants and bars and distilleries are still closed, not allowed to open until next week. They have stringent social diancing requirements. As they read the plan, and the steps, we talked about there are certain requirements you have to ve in place in order t open the economy, one wld be enough p. P. E. And another to hav enough testing in case you start to stee this rear its head and we c follow it quickly. Both of those things are in place to test imso symptomatic individuals with condence and have enough hospital spaissments i think all of theetion decision vtion been decided to open things up. And with this opening up it is just some thirntion schls are still closed. Schools can remain closed. Gyms, all those plas, bowling alleys, bingo hauls, all closed and you cant have anybodyver, group over ten. So they are still keeping it pretty tight, and stkill wor from home. So not much has changed. Just enough. Has the gernor indicat when he will take the next step or look to take the next step, see if there is a rebound in cases and move to the second face . Right, i talked to a doctoro tended. So Task Force Plan being. Be realistic, wh open thist to up we are going to see an increase in cases so we have tot exhat. However we dont want to stee a huge number of cases and we want to be able to track the ones when do see. So really how well this goes will decide when we go to phawoe phase one could last three weeks, a month and we kind receive what happens w and like how things look, question go on to phase two, by the way there are threehases to this plan and we move to phase three when that was okay. But if at any tme the governor doesnt like what he is seeing, he will absolutely move it back to a shell ter in place an get rid of phase one, i think what they will do is track it very closely. And if they get uncomfoe with what they are seeing and inople arent social dista and not washing their hands and to shelter in pace. Take it back and bill in gorge garks the governor has been pretty aggressive on this. Has he said what his next stepsr when do you move to the next step with this. He mass a very important decision to make. At the end o of the dayn thursday april shelter in place order will expire. We are waiting to see whther he is going to extend that order to off gorge gavment he has already said that as older gorge begans and people wmetdical risk should shelter in place until may 13th. N now he said mbusinesses can open again, what will they do about extending the shelter in place order for all people. And re all very eager to har what he decides about that. Bill nigut, georgia public broadcasting in eight, anna rau, in missoula, thank youo much, to the both of with you. Thankjohn. Thank you. Ov woodruff the number of cases has been picking up in some rural parts of the countryn and inareas, their hospitals were feeling squeezed before this health emergency. Georgia, as we just heard, is very mh front d center right now in the public debate over opening, but its read dealing with its share of cases. Currently, there are roughly 24,000 confirmed cases ithe have died. Nearly 1,000 people William Brangham has this view from the front lines in southwest georgia. Brangham thats right. For a look at how one Rural Community in the south i dealing with their unique outbreak, im joined by dr shanti akers. She is a pulmonologist at they phoebe putalth system in albany georgia. Dr. Akers, thank you very much for being here. U i wonder if uld just start off by telling us some people may be familiar with this case h the first case came to your community throune a through a l, if i remember correctly. Can you tell us about how that happened . Sure. So our index case happened almost six weeks ago now, if not earlier, actually, in my recollection. We had a person who came down for a local funeral. They happened to have some underlying medical problems, they unfortunately startedth becoming ill a were down here. And so they came to our hospital. They ended up requiring intensive care. And so the funeral tha whe had attend fully attended with numerous people in the community, people that knew the gentleo had passed away. And at that time, there was a people in the south, we like to hug and kiss and hold each others hands. And so we know that there was a lot of interaction in very cse quarters for a prolonged period of time during that funeral. And thats the initial first case that we had been aware of. And en subsequent to that, w found out that there was this large cluster of other people he had been in contact with that started arriving in our hospital and subsequently pretty much exploded the cases in our area. Brangham is that right . Exploded i mean, i know thats not the medical term. How quickly did you see a rise in cases . So he had come and gone. And then within quicklin i believne or two weeks, we started noticing a significant initially it was a handful. They filled one of our i. C. U. S but very quickly, in two, t all three of our regular i. C. U. S. Brangham andysow did you eel well prepared . I mean, obviously, youd been watching the news coming out of china and then the first cases on the west coast. Did you guys feel epared to deal with this . I think we had been anticipating that eventually it might reach our town, but i dont think we were prepared for when it did. I think with a case that we had ch earlier than many parts of the country, with the exception of parts of the west coast and east coast. So at the time, you know, ourem health care syad been planning on increasing the that nature with tnd things of anticipation of cases coming. I dont think any of us were ready for the cases when it finay showed up, though. Brangham people who have been wating this primarily as an outbreak happening in major cities, new york in particular. I understand that you would say that there are particular challenges that a Rural Community has that are different than what a big city has. Right. So people are obviously very well aware of new yo city. Factor is that corus doesng not distinguish whether you livy in new york r whether you live in rural georgia. And so for us, it was a challenge because we dont haveh resources of an n. Y. U. Or a Mount Sinai Health system with which to pull resources so it required very rly on us reaching out to people like our governor, to our state, Public Health department and to our state emergency relief departments in order to help us provide the care that we neededn addily, the patient populations are often very different. You know, in a Rural Community environment, you may have patients with various socioeconomic status. Youll have some people that are very well in but a lot of people that are underinsured or similarly have no insurancat all. Georgia has been a state that has not expanded medicai so we do have patients that come in with chronic medical problems utilizing parts of our Hospital System that should be safe for acute issues. Ll brangham and those are factors that were preexisting to the pandemic arrivg. Exactly. And i think its sort of those differences and disparities that reallyet even much more exacerbated during a pandemic. Brangham as you well know, your governor is one of several for us to start opoury its time o onomy back up and let some businesses startopen. How does that sit with you . So thats a very difficult question, because, you know, as we know, a lot of people have been very negatively iosacted by the g of businesses and unemployment has been quite high. At the same time, that has impacted our hospital as well. Weve been unable to perform elective procedures, things that people in our Community Count on to just help quality of life,a perhapee replacement surgery for someone whos had a difficult time walking. Weve had our peak about two weeks ago, so weve definitely seen some deescalation in terms of the volume of cases coming in the door. So it seems like we are in a a positi to open resources to handle the state opening. Or but ites us for obvious reasons, one of which is obviously that we are the only large hospital withiarea. Interacting much mat thatcially influx and that dieser, you know, that ceload that we saw a few weeks ago, few months ago, is going to pick back up. Bngham well, lets keep our fingers crossed that that doesnt occur. Dr. Shanti akers at Phoebe Putney in albany, georgia. Thank you so much for your time. Thank you. Woodruff the confusi coming from the white house is the wte house said there would not be a briefing to then announced thould be. 19 and for a look at how all the White House Briefings have been seen by the public im here wih am walter of the cook political rert and host of public raos politics im here with amy walter of the Cook Political Report and host of public radios politics with amy walter. And tamara keith of npr. She also cohosts the npr politics podcast. It is so good to see both of you. Thanyou very muc tam, i am going to start with nou because you have be looking at this question of the White House Briefings they have brn ing on now for weeks. Thh were we mr. Tomedse were all about updating the country on covid19. But they have branched out beyond that. What have you seen in examining them . Yes, so i have been loog back at these briefings and got some help frome Data Analytics firm factbase, they have a bsite that crunches all of the transcribes al of the president s press conferences. And what weve learned is it started out es vic president mike pence was going to come out of these briefs, come out of the Task Force Meetings and sort of brief the public on what the c task forvered. Very quickly President Trump started attending and then he started dominating. The analysis we found is that over the course of the briefings, President Trump has spoken for 30 hours and dr. Bir and dr. Fauci, the two medical experts that are part the task force most prominently, combine theyve spoken for eight hours. Thsort of traditional approach that Public Health communicators advocate for is that you know, the politic politicians get out, give a clear, concise, simple message about what the public can do, actionablen. Informat and then they hand it over to the medical experts to talk about the scillence. President trump has shown that he likes to talk about the science too. F woodrnd in fact, tam, staying with you, he got in, i think it is fir to say hot water last week after he was t musing, e white house words, about whether to inject disinfect ant into humans. Whether toin effect ultraviolet light. After that the white house nounced there prbt goito be any briefings today, as we said they did put one on. And there is one that has been under way. But has the white house takanen y a different view of these briefings . What have we learned about that . Is well, one of the things that is happening right now is that president and his new chief of staff has comptely overhauled the Communications Operation at the white house. There say new prtass sec there is a new communications director. And they are attempting to get their sea legs as this crisis is going. The white house has said that they sort of se ts as an insnreks point. That they are trying to transition, trying being an operative word, to talking more, focusing more on reopening the beonomy, rebuilding the economy, which is going t important for the president s reelection. But instead, so much of this has just become the trump show. And certainly the are people concerned that the president ent the better part of the weekend sort of offering new explanatio for why he was asking medical experts aboutnf injecting dit ants into human beings for treatment. Woodruff and amy, we know lot of americans have been watching these briefings. Wherever they have been able to find them, on televisio on cable, streaming online. What have we seen about the reaction of the public to what they are seeing. Yeah, judy, what we have seen is the more time that the president has spe in front of the cameras, the more his approval ring numbers have dropped. If you look at where this president was both ins opini of americans on his overall handling of his job as president as well as handling the coronavirus, his numbers were starting to inch up at the end of the march. But now they have gone on this sort of downward trajectory. This is in contrast to govanerns other state and local officials who have also been on tv a lot. Who are alo really under the public eye every week or every day,in front of cameras, talking to their residents. Reas see their numbers in their Approval Rating numbers increase to heights that they had not seen before. And a bg part of the difference is as tam pointed out about the trump showat were in a once in a lifetime crisi and theesident has chosen to meet this moment with the samrt of behavior, style, personality that he has met every moment, whether it is a crisis or not. And we know that at is incredibly polarizing. And for people who like it, who believe that this is the way that the president gets stuff down, taking it directly to thea stream media and others who they feel are undermini him, then they are getting something good out of these briefings, but for everybody else, they areng seeing somethat they have come to dislike over the course ofi s presidency. They dontinue toislike. And so for the president who has been sort ofe dsperate to capture the moment, perhaps the best thinfor him to do i to retreat from it and we know he wont do that. Woodruff and tam just quickly, this is a white house who does watch as evry president does, they watch the ratings, so this something they hye to figure out, the are absorbing it and figuring out what to do about it. Right and what the new White House Communications team thinks to be done, may not be superrelevant because there is aone person that watches l extremely closely who has pressed opinions about w should be sitting where in the White House Briefing room, even, and that ishe president himself. And if the president is continuing to pay very,ery, very close attention to this, continuingo not want to be upstaged by others, then there is aance the president is going to keep doing what the president does. And amyre, sort of ted to all of this, depending on how you see it, you have also been looking at not just how thees ent is doing in terms of his approval but what some ofwh senate raceich are critically important to Republicans Holding on to theira rity in the senate. What are you seeing so far . Thats right. And there hasf been a lot talk at least forp the last couple of weeks or so about the fact th the president s numbers as they are declining, we are seeing n republicbers decline over the koirs of that same amount of time up and down the ballo but judy here is the chalg eng. House, wherever you are on that ballot your political fotunes rise and fall with the political fortunes of that person in the white house. Other thing we have known for quite some time is that democrats are on the oense this year. They have been able to put about shall bsh bsh in place, republicans have to seats in place, democrats if they hold all of their seats they just need to win three and the white house to take control of the senate. Soou know, there is a very strong possibility judy that if joe biden were to winhi the house he brings with him a Democratic Senate ande dmocrats hold the house. So amy just in the little bit of time we have left are there specific races that you are seeing that you are watching where there is change i the fate of these republicans . Absolely. I mean i think North Carolina say perct example. Arizona to a cerin extent as well. Democrats early on were worried about these two states w especialn it looked like Bernie Sanders might be the nominee, with joe biden who hase ter appeal in those sort of purple states, they are feeling much better about their chances there. Anthen we have seen some challenges for republicans in places like geoia, where the republican senor there has gotten caught up in a stockselling scandal. And in kansas, there is a candidate who is very polar wing figu remains ahead in that primary. Republicans worry about kansas. E and of con montana, a state, these are all red states, the popular dem kraict governor announcing a couple weeks ago or the days are running together, that he was running for the woodruff yes, they are. So between putting a lot more seats in play, having joe biden at the tocht ticket and a president whose Approval Ratings are dropping, all of these are making democrats look and feel a lot better about the senate. Woodruff fascinating, amy walter, tamara keith, we thank you both. Please stay safe. We will. Urs welcome, judy. Woodruff the spread of cod19 has dramatically altered the way we both live and now unfortunately die in america. We reached out to you, ouro viewers,ar your stories about those who have lost loved ones to both covid19 and otesr ils. Amna nawaz looks at the process of grief for peoe in isolation. He was anbsolute wonderful, kind person. She was like fourfeven and she would not hold back on telling people what she thought. He would always say, well, a better day is coming. Ke you just got t living. Nawaz the memory of her father makes Kimberly Reese smile today, even though the pain of losing him in early april to covid 19 still lingers. I wake up every day with this emptiness and tryingo figure out how do i fill, fill that void. Nawaz hospital rules durg the pandemic preveed the tightknit family in new orleans from saying goodbye to 75 year s old, wayne reeior. What was it like in those final days when you werent even allowed to be by h bedside . I think that was the hardest part. Myas there for everybody and that was heartbreaking note being thr him. Not being able to touch him and talk to him. Ba thats gonna py haunt us really for the rest of our lives. Nawaz its an ache keeya steel of edina, minnesota knows all too well. I think that time of being with someone when theyre passing away is very sacred. Nawaz but she couldnt be with her friend clark osinicki,i wh of covid 19 earlier this month. She was also unable to see her uncle, mike tracy, and her grandmother, dee swaggert, both of whom died in Nursing Homes within days of each other, from alzheimers. I really wanted to be there with my dad. And we got word that only he could go visit her. That was probably the hardest part of this who week. Not being able to be in the room with him and really let that grief kind of be free and open and vulnerable with him. Nawaz for thousands of americans laying loved ones to resost during a time oal distancing, the goodbyes are not what theyd imagined. The social ritual. Of holding your loved ones hands while they die, and your grief at a viewing at a funeral is so fundamental to the human species. Nawaz nicole hibrater has worked as both a hospice nurse and an end of life doula, helping people prepare for how they wish to die. We are tribal people and that is how our species has evolved. And to have that taken away from people, i really feel is going to cause a lot of long term grief that is going toa lot of help processing. Nawaz pete wassermans grandmother gerda died earlier this mon from natural causes, just weeks shy of her 100th birthday. My grandmotrs brother, mother, father were all killed in the holocaust. She worked in a slave labor camp in latvia for her teenage young adult years. Then came to the United States when she was about 25 after th war. Nawaz the family had planned for a traditional jewish funeral. But new jersey rules banning large gatherings blocked that morial. Wed imagined like this, you know, coming together, a family to honor her in that way. And so we were robbed of that a little bit. Carryover ofcrue covid19 funerals can fuel the spread of the virus. A february service in alny, georgia is thought to have more than 1,500 cases today, and over 100 deaths. Funeral homes across the country have responded with ne restrictions, defining a new reality in how america mourns. I never in my lifetime thought i would ever have toan experience pmic right here. Up close and personal. Nawaz Lanier Levett helps h run five funeres in atlanta. Just a few weeks ago, he says, a Typical Service hosted 250 people. Today . No more than 10 are allowed. Life is different now for us and our Funeral Homes and the way re conducting funerals. And you know that the inability for families to properly give the type of sendoff that they are accustomedo giving. Nawaz in new york state, the epicenter of the u. S. Outbreak, funeral workers are strugglingee toup. Funeral homes are overwhelmed and there is no number. People are dying. Were all the Funeral Homes. Grief feels isolating ithe best of times. And when were already isolated even more right now, it feels even more so. Naw keri bokevitch, who lives in richmond, california, has put morial plans on hold, after her father David Lindstrom died recently of complications from dementia. There are so many people that my dad loved who loved my dad that dont have a space to say goodbye right now. Nawaz to allow some grief to be shared, and safely, some facilities are now offering driveup funerals, walkthrough viewings, and livestreamed services. Probably 30 our families ll choose to Live Streaming services prior to the paw emic. But out 80 of the families are choosing to livestream and so thats been an added benefit. Nawaz that was a Silver Lining for pete wasserman. He bid farewell to his grandmother over video conference, with a rabbi, family, and friends, all dialed in from michigan, nevada, and germany. All these people that ordinarily would not have been able to join were able to join and in that way, it was really it was really nice, really like her, heartening that so many people cared. Nawaz though he admits, hes not sure what his grd dmother woke of it all. A Virtual Service r we had to do funeral, she would have been her mind would been blown, just quite simply. Like i remember when we told her that she wasn the internet. She was like, how did i get on the internet . Get me out of there. Nawaz hibrater says this moment, difficult as it is, provides a chance for open and ones. T conversations with loved a way of dealing with that is saying to them, well, i waderstand that you may no to talk about your end of life wishes, but would you mind listening to mine . And usually what happens is that once they hear you being vulnerable and talking about the things that you would want or the things that you would not want, it kind of opens them up to also start having that dialogue. Nawaz kimberly and wayne heese junior say they know dad would not want a lot of fuss, and they did hold a small gatherin under new funeral rules. If it were just regular funeral that church would have been packed three times over. Nawaz the family is already looking towards a new day, and making plans for that moment. When we the city does open up, we will have a memorial to celebrate his legacy, just in ar dit way, in a different time. Hell get his. Hell get hidue. Well make sure of that. Nawaz a chance to gather in grief and celebration, for the moment, on hold. S for the newshour, im amna nawaz. Woodruff medical student Choumika Simonis is currently sheltering iplace in harlem, but in a few months, she will be doctor on the front lines in new york city. Her mother, Clemene Vertus lives in queens and has been working tirelessly throughout the pandemic as a certified nursing assistant at a v. A. Nursing home. Although the Current Health care crisis has kept them apart, we bring them together this brief but spectacular take y name is clemene virtus. I live in queens. Im working from 3 30 to 12 00ht for the new york sim home working as a certified nursing assistant. My mom is from hait she loves the health profession. And helping others in particular. Well, i le my daughter. Thats my first child, shes very nice and shes veryig intet, shes a doctor. R im happy at. Im currently a medical student, at loyola university, chicago. Igoing to be an internal medicine resident in a few months. Just hearing my mom talk about what she does at work, it is very stressful, knowing that shes on the front lines and the risk that she puts herself when she goes into work every day. For me, god bless me, im not sick, but im still going, because im taking care of elderly people, people who cannot do anything for themselves. The covid people. I have so many in my floor, and so many die already. Yesterday, we have one died, the other day, one die. Every day, three of them die. E patient who die, it hurt me so much. As he policeman and then he was in the army. In he used tofor us, and then he used to give a story every day. It hurt me. That hurt me. Ill be on the front lines in a couple of months myself. T, i know if my mom can do and shes been doing it for a long time, then i have nothing to fea mommy, i love you. Youve been working so hard for all three of us and you instilled in us this incredible work ethic and resiliency and iu creditn terms of where i am today, so i just wanted to thank yofor all the hard work that youve been doing. It has not gone unnoticed and you mean a lot to me, so thank you. Youre welcome. Me my name is clene vertus. My name is choumika simones, and th is my brief butla spectacur take. On my daughter. On my mother. Woodruff and you can find all our brief but spectacular segments at pbs. Org newshour brief. And on the newshour online right now, during the pandemic, School Figure out how to teach fromy to afar, but also how to continue students in need. Als to but the risk of exposing schoolk s to the virus, as well as mounting financial costs, areg promptme districts to rethink their programs. Learn more about those challeng on our web site, pbs. Org newshour. Th and thatnewshour for tonight. Im judy woodruff. Join us online and again here tomorrow evening. For all of us at the pbs neshour, thank you, please stay safe, and see you soon. Major funding for the pbs newshour has bn provided by th and be alfred p. Sloan foundation. Supported by the john d. And catherine t. Macarthur foundation. Committed to buildinre just, verdant and peaceful world. More information at macfound. Org and with the ongoing support of these institutions t possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by Media Access Group at wgbh hello, everyone. Welcome to amanpour co. A disaster for ny. Up. Opportunism for some. Nations creeping toward authoritarianism against coronavirus. I speak to two Pulitzer Prize bo rineut the threat to democracy. Ive never been at my grandmothers listening to the radio. I wish i could go. I wish i could go. Was. Then when i went, there i i was at woodstock. How a chance for teens and the revolution. The new documenry crip camp. Youd better have a certain