JUDY WOODRUFF: Good evening.

I'm Judy Woodruff.

On the "NewsHour" tonight: the risks of reopening.

As the United States death toll nears 100,000, much of the country pushes ahead with relaxing restrictions for Memorial Day weekend.

Then: a critical moment.

As more people are examined for immunity, we explore the science behind antibody tests for COVID-19 and their limitations.

GIGI KWIK GRONVALL, Johns Hopkins Center For Health Security: Somebody may get the information that they have been exposed, and then they think, oh, I'm good to go, and then it turns out they were actually vulnerable, and they could get sick themselves and then transmit it to others.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And it's Friday.

Mark Shields and David Brooks examine the politics of the pandemic, the effects on the 2020 campaign, and controversial statements by the candidates.

All that and more on tonight's "PBS NewsHour."

(BREAK) JUDY WOODRUFF: President Trump declared houses of worship essential today, and insisted that governors reopen them this weekend.

Some beaches and lakes are also reopening, as Americans mark the Memorial Day holiday.

That all comes as the number of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. climbed to roughly 1.6 million.

William Brangham has our report.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: The flags stood at half-staff at the White House today for the more than 95,000 Americans who have died from COVID-19.

The staggering death toll comes as the U.S. enters the unofficial start of summer this weekend.

One mayor along the New Jersey Shore said he's committed to keeping beachgoers safe: PAUL KANITRA, Mayor of Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey: We're going to have personnel specifically dedicated to enforcing social distancing, to making sure that groups stay with who they came with and that they're keeping that six-foot radius at all times.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Mayor Kanitra said he's cut beach parking by half to try and curb the number of out-of-town visitors.

And beaches along Lake Michigan, like this one in Northwest Indiana, are also slated to reopen this weekend.

Park ranger Bruce Rowe said they will be watching the crowds carefully: BRUCE ROWE, Supervisory Park Ranger: Two weeks ago, we shut down a beach in the national park because of overcrowded, dangerous conditions.

And if that becomes necessary, we will do that again.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Meanwhile, a new report from The Lancet medical journal finds that the anti-malarial drugs chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, the latter of which President Trump says he's been taking to prevent COVID-19, is linked to a higher death rate among people who are sick with the virus, and it can double or triple the risk of an irregular heart rhythm.

There's no good evidence the drugs prevent COVID-19, and the president this week hinted he might stop taking hydroxychloroquine, perhaps when the typical 14-day course ends.

At a press briefing today, the president said he ordered the Centers for Disease Control to issue new guidance to allow places of worship to reopen their doors this weekend.

DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: The governors need to do the right thing and allow these very important, essential places of faith to open right now.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: And he said he will override governors who do not comply, though he doesn't have the authority to do so.

The CDC also updated other coronavirus prevention guidelines, saying that the virus is not as easily spread via contaminated surfaces as originally thought or spread through animals.

Across the globe today, Muslims are preparing for their normally big Eid celebrations, which mark the end of Ramadan, a bit differently.

From this Indonesian outdoor market, to this one in Kabul, crowds of people, some in masks, shopped for the holiday.

One Kabul official warned, the city will be under lockdown during Eid and urged families to avoid large gatherings.

MOHAMMAD YAQUB HAIDARI, Governor of Kabul (through translator): We ask all to stay at home and avoid going out for Eid celebrations, going to relatives' homes, picnics and all other means of celebration.

The reason for this restriction is the spread of coronavirus in Kabul city and the unexpected increase in number of positive cases.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Meanwhile, in Europe, there's a rush to implement new safety and prevention measures as businesses start to reopen, like at this upscale salon in Rome.

Owner Giada Capauno says she's happy to get back to work, but says new safety measures will also be costly.

GIADA CAPAUNO, Salon Owner (through translator): To re-sanitize an area between one client and the next takes as a minimum half-an-hour, which means taking less appointments and bringing in less money at the end of the month.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: And in Portugal, one coastal resort town says it will test all its 200,000 residents for coronavirus antibodies.

Officials say the results could provide peace of mind and hope it can lead to a busy tourist season.

But for each new reopening, new hot spots are appearing.

India reported 6,088 new coronavirus cases in just 24 hours, its biggest one-day spike.

And in Brazil, in what is considered by many to be an underestimate, more than 20,000 Brazilians have died from the virus, a fifth of those in Sao Paulo, including Daniela Dos Santos' mother.

DANIELA DOS SANTOS, Daughter of Coronavirus Victim (through translator): This disease is silent.

We don't believe it happens.

And look at this.

I'm burying my mother.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: In that city, graves are being dug at an unprecedented rate, now creating the largest cemetery in Latin America.

For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm William Brangham.

JUDY WOODRUFF: In the day's other news: A passenger jet in Pakistan crashed into a crowded residential district in Karachi today.

Most of the 98 people aboard were feared dead.

At least two passengers survived.

Smoke billowed up as ambulances raced through the busy neighborhood.

Emergency workers combed through the wreckage, looking for signs of life beneath caved-in roofs.

ALLAH TAWAKAL, Eyewitness (through translator): I saw from the rooftop of my house lots of smoke in the sky, so I ran towards the scene and saw the wreckage of the plane's cockpit and the body of a pilot inside.

We came to know that the plane was unable to land and crashed here.

JUDY WOODRUFF: It's unclear how many people on the ground were killed or injured.

In China, deliberations began today over a bill to limit opposition activity in Hong Kong.

The proposal was formally submitted at the annual National People's Congress in Beijing.

Meanwhile in Hong Kong, chief executive Carrie Lam backed the effort.

CARRIE LAM, Hong Kong Chief Executive (through translator): Hong Kong's government supports the National People's Congress deliberation of the decision to establish and improve the legal system and enforce mechanisms at the national level for the Hong Kong government to safeguard national security.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Pro-democracy activists say that the bill amounts to a crackdown on freedoms in the semiautonomous city.

China's move comes after months of anti-Beijing protests in Hong Kong last year.

We will discuss all this after the news summary.

The sons of slain Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi said that they have forgiven their father's killers, a move that spares the five convicted Saudi agents from execution.

One son explained that forgiveness was extended in line with the Islamic tradition of offering pardons during the holy month of Ramadan.

But in a tweet, Khashoggi's fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, said -- quote -- "No one has the right to pardon his killers, and I will not stop until we get justice for Jamal."

Back in this country, the FBI's director ordered an internal review of its investigation into President Trump's former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.

It will examine whether any FBI employees engaged in misconduct.

Earlier this month, the Justice Department dismissed the criminal case against Flynn for lying to the FBI.

The district attorney prosecuting the fatal shooting of Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia spoke for the first time about the case today.

Joyette Holmes is the fourth prosecutor assigned to lead the case.

The white father and son believed to have killed Arbery back in February were arrested earlier this month.

JOYETTE HOLMES, Cobb County, Georgia, District Attorney: We are going to make sure that we find justice in this case.

We know that we have a broken family and a broken community down in Brunswick.

Now, I do ask -- I know that there are a lot of people who have questions about next steps, about the facts, about where do we go from here, but we ask you that you allow us to try those things in the courtroom, for the sanctity of this case.

JUDY WOODRUFF: The man who recorded video of the incident was arrested yesterday.

William "Roddie" Bryan Jr. appeared in court today by videoconference to face charges, including felony murder.

His lawyer insisted That Bryan was nothing more than a witness.

The FBI today identified the gunman who opened fire at a Texas Naval air base in Corpus Christi and wounded a sailor.

The gunman, 20-year-old Adam Salim Alsahli, was killed during yesterday's attack.

The FBI is investigating the incident as terrorism-related, but offered no specifics.

The University of California will not require SAT or ACT admissions exams through 2024.

And it will eliminate them altogether for California residents after that.

The governing board for the bloc of 10 schools voted unanimously to do so yesterday.

Critics argued That the exams put low-income and minority students at a disadvantage.

And stocks were mixed on Wall Street today.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost nine points to close at 24465.

The Nasdaq rose more than 39 points, and the S&P 500 added seven.

Still to come on the "NewsHour": we explore the science behind antibody tests for COVID-19 and their limitations; China's government looks to exert greater control on semiautonomous Hong Kong; Mark Shields and David Brooks break down the latest politics of the pandemic; plus, much more.

We return now to the drastic proposal from China to tighten its grip on Hong Kong.

At their annual gathering in Beijing, China's leaders today unveiled a new set of measures designed to curtail freedoms enjoyed in Hong Kong since its transfer to China from Britain 23 years ago.

Amna Nawaz has more.

AMNA NAWAZ: Hong Kong is supposed be semiautonomous under the so-called one country, two systems policy.

But, in recent years, pro-democracy activists have resisted efforts to bring Hong Kong under tighter mainland control.

The new Chinese legislation is short on details, but would seek to ban what it refers to as secession, sedition and subversion in Hong Kong, all this as China seeks to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, which began there, and relations with the United States continue to worsen.

Joining me is Bonnie Glaser, the director of the China Power Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

It's a Washington-based think tank.

Bonnie Glaser, welcome back to the "NewsHour."

So as we mentioned, the law is a little vague.

We don't have a lot of details.

But what do we think the practical impact could be when it comes to businesses or people, freedom of press in Hong Kong?

BONNIE GLASER, Center for Strategic and International Studies: Well, it remains unclear, I think, as to how Beijing is going to implement the law.

It will likely lead to further erosion of rights and freedoms in the territory, possibly greater control over the media.

The law will permit mainland security forces to operate in Hong Kong.

And that could potentially result in new law enforcement organs that operate alongside those that already exist.

We could see an implementation of China's patriotic education that preaches Chinese Communist Party-approved messages that -- essentially political indoctrination.

The law could give new authorities to remove opposition lawmakers or even prosecute them.

There could be further erosion of Hong Kong's independent judicial system.

AMNA NAWAZ: So, what's behind this move?

Why would President Xi make this specific move at this specific time?

BONNIE GLASER: Well, I think that the massive protests in Hong Kong last year, with millions of people on the streets clamoring for democracy and desecrating the PRC flag, were very embarrassing for Xi Jinping.

And I think he wants to avoid a resumption of those kinds of large-scale protests as the pandemic gets under control.

So, with this fear in China that the situation in Hong Kong will deteriorate, I think that the Chinese have decided to take preemptive measures to strengthen their control over Hong Kong.

So, the basic law, which is Hong Kong's mini-constitution, really enabled the people of Hong Kong to keep their freedoms and have separate laws from mainland China.

But there was also a provision of Article 23, which would have contained these national security laws.

And it was never, ever really built out by the legislature in Hong Kong.

So what the National People's Congress has done is take a preemptive step to pass that law themselves.

AMNA NAWAZ: Bonnie, could a preemptive move like this actually spark more demonstrations?

And, if they do, what would be the likely response from mainland China?

BONNIE GLASER: This move could spark greater demonstrations, but there may be some people who don't want to return to the street because they fear that the new law will enable more people to be imprisoned and tried and incarcerated.

But I think that the radical activists, those are really committed to democracy, will take to the streets, and we will see greater violence.

And the question, of course, always in everyone's mind is whether the Chinese will intervene with force.

AMNA NAWAZ: Bonnie, we're already seeing some response from U.S. lawmakers.

There was one statement earlier today from Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley, who is, of course, a Democrat.

And he said -- quote -- "Today is a dark day for Hong Kong and the world.

Any illusion that China honors its obligations to respect Hong Kong's autonomy is shattered by this undemocratic power grab."

Beyond statements like that, Bonnie, is there anything else that U.S. or allies can do to pressure China and to make sure that Hong Kong's autonomy is protected?

BONNIE GLASER: Well, the United States can work in concert with other countries to put pressure on Hong Kong, certainly through rhetoric, but that probably won't be enough.

I think that there does need to be consideration of sanctions in specific instances.

And so we need to develop targeted sanctions that might be placed on police units or Chinese Communist Party officials, and maybe even banks that engage in transactions with individuals and entities that are violating one country, two systems.

And I believe that that's what the new legislation that is under consideration in Congress is really going to take a look at.

AMNA NAWAZ: That is Bonnie Glaser of the Center for Strategic and International Studies joining us today.

Thanks very much.

BONNIE GLASER: Thank you.

JUDY WOODRUFF: That party Congress in Beijing where the Hong Kong proposal was made had been postponed from March, as China battled the coronavirus.

The Trump administration has highlighted the possibility that COVID-19 was accidentally released from a Chinese lab by Chinese scientists.

That accusation is unproven.

But, as Nick Schifrin reports, questions of science have challenged U.S.-China collaboration and given way to increased confrontation.

NICK SCHIFRIN: It feels like a descent into the heart of darkness, Chinese virus hunters in Wuhan looking for coronaviruses in bats in a video posted as the pandemic began.

Scientist Tian Junhua acknowledges in narration, there are serious risks.

TIAN JUNHUA, Virus Hunter (through translator): Because when you find the viruses, you are also most easily exposed to the viruses.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Tian says he hunts for viruses to create vaccines, before viruses can hunt people.

And the promotional video ends with a brag, how many viruses Chinese scientists have discovered.

It may seem shocking, but it's normal work for virus hunters the world over.

And Chinese scientists have been trained by the West.

PETER DASZAK, President, EcoHealth Alliance: We're working in caves across Southern China to found out where the risk is highest and who is at most risk of this new disease.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Peter Daszak is the head of New York-based EcoHealth Alliance, which received Bush, Obama, and Trump administration funding to research in China.

"PBS NewsHour" filmed him five years ago with our partner Global Health Frontiers, as he tried to improve defenses to viruses that jump from animals to humans, like SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

PETER DASZAK: And what we're trying to do is to say, what's the next one coming along, and can we stop it before it evolves into a very lethal human pathogen?

NICK SCHIFRIN: To that work, Tian works in a Wuhan lab and received one of the first live samples of SARS-CoV-2 on December 26.

He and Chinese colleagues wrote one of the first papers about a COVID-19 patient.

In fact, in the last weeks of December, teams of Chinese scientists collect dozens of SARS-CoV-2 strains to share online.

And Chinese scientists submitted the first full genome after just two weeks of work.

That's incredibly fast, a sign of how far Chinese scientists have come, says Gregory Gray, an infectious disease epidemiologist who's worked with Chinese scientists since 2011.

DR. GREGORY GRAY, Infectious Disease Epidemiologist: The majority of scientists I work with are excellent and often very much Western-trained and Western-thinking.

They value truth.

NICK SCHIFRIN: But the Chinese government put a brake on that truth-telling.

On January 1, Wuhan Institute of Virology's director general, Yanyi Wang, messaged her colleagues, saying the National Health Commission told her the lab's COVID-19 data shall not be published on social media and shall not be disclosed to the media.

And on January 3, the commission sent this document, never posted online, but saved by researchers, telling labs to destroy COVID-19 samples or send them to the depository institutions designated by the state.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has repeatedly called that a cover-up.

MIKE POMPEO, U.S. Secretary of State: The party chose to destroy live virus samples, instead of sharing them or asking us to help secure them.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Last Friday, the Chinese government admitted to the destruction, but said it was for public safety.

LIU DENGFENG, Chinese National Health Commission (through translator): We released a guideline on January 3, aiming to prevent biohazards of labs and the occurrence of secondary disasters caused by unknown virus.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Those secondary disasters have occurred before.

The World Health Organization says, in 2004, the virus that caused the previous year's SARS epidemic accidentally got out of a Beijing lab, where it was being analyzed by scientists, causing small, brief outbreaks.

Scientists believe a 1977 influenza epidemic spread after a Russian lab accident.

And leaks have even happened in the U.S. WOMAN: We learned today that about 75 government scientists may have been exposed to live anthrax bacteria.

NICK SCHIFRIN: The Trump administration has repeatedly raised the possibility of a lab accident sparking the COVID-19 pandemic.

MIKE POMPEO: There's enormous evidence that's that where this began.

NICK SCHIFRIN: National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien added a crucial caveat.

ROBERT O'BRIEN, U.S. National Security Adviser: Look, there's certainly the potential it came from the laboratory.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Some scientists we interviewed agree the potential exists and worry about lab security.

TIM TREVAN, Biological Safety Expert: There's still this culture of compliance, rather than a culture of safety.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Tim Trevan is a biological safety expert.

He questions whether the Chinese government would allow scientists to point out mistakes.

TIM TREVAN: If you have a society where it's extremely hierarchical, and people don't question their superiors, and, if, on top of that, you have a political system that disappears whistle-blowers, then it's a very difficult starting point to have a learning organization where everyone feels safe to speak up when they see things which aren't going right.

NICK SCHIFRIN: But Trevan and other scientists say there is no evidence of a lab leak.

And over the last few decades, the Chinese have dramatically improved their facilities.

DR. GREGORY GRAY: There's a lot of scrutiny now.

There's video cameras monitoring who does what.

Often, they have rules like we do, where a junior person will have to be partnered with senior personnel.

NICK SCHIFRIN: But the Chinese government has admitted it needs to strengthen biosecurity.

WOMAN: Chinese President Xi Jinping says epidemic prevention and control systems must be strengthened.

NICK SCHIFRIN: In February, Xi Jinping announced new biosafety rules.

The pro-Communist Party tabloid Global Times wrote that labs faced chronic inadequate management issues, though denied this had anything to do with COVID-19.

But at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, at the center of many U.S. accusations, Deputy Director Yuan Zhiming wrote a paper about China's lab security last year that admits: "Most laboratories lack specialized biosafety managers and engineers.

This makes it difficult to identify and mitigate potential safety hazards."

The U.S. argues, the Chinese government must allow Chinese scientists to voice those concerns as a matter of life and death, as Deputy National Security Adviser Matt Pottinger put it, quoting a famous Chinese writer in mandarin.

"Those with the fortitude to seek and speak the truth in China today may take comfort in something Lu Xun wrote: Lies written in ink can never disguise facts written in blood."

For Xi Jinping, today's meeting is designed to project and ensure national unity.

He has centralized authority.

And that's affected even the scientists.

DR. GREGORY GRAY: Some of our best collaborators come from Beijing and from one of the leading military epidemiological institutions there.

And in the last few years, there's been more scrutiny with respect to me going, visiting them in their facilities.

Their availability has been somewhat reduced.

And so I attribute it to sort of a consolidation of power of Xi Jinping.

NICK SCHIFRIN: But it goes both ways.

The Trump administration ended Peter Daszak's grant to work with Chinese scientists.

Collaboration is eroding, as the two countries increase confrontation.

For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Nick Schifrin.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Scientists say antibody testing may eventually be a key tool in the fight against COVID-19.

There was encouraging news on that front this week.

Researchers said that antibodies found in a patient who had the coronavirus connected to SARS 17 years ago were able to neutralize COVID-19.

Still, many questions remain about the effectiveness of antibody testing and what a positive test means for immunity.

John Yang has the story.

JOHN YANG: Around the world, an increasing demand for antibody tests, as people try to find out if they have been exposed to the coronavirus.

Patrick Easley was tested in Chicago.

PATRICK EASLEY, Illinois: My thinking was, if I got the antibody test, and if it came back positive, that means that I already had COVID, and it had already gotten through my system, and that I should be A-OK-ish.

JOHN YANG: In West Texas, Coyne Gibson drove three hours to get tested.

COYNE GIBSON, Texas: My rationale comes from my science and engineering background and that, you know, knowing is better than guessing.

JOHN YANG: Sara Cureton said she was the sickest she's ever been in mid-January, and was surprised when her antibody test was negative.

SARA CURETON, Arizona: The question has changed from, did I have it, can I help someone, to, how accurate is that test?

JOHN YANG: That's the question even scientists are asking.

Gigi Kwik Gronvall is a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center For Health Security.

GIGI KWIK GRONVALL, Johns Hopkins Center For Health Security: There are a lot of things we don't know about the antibodies.

It's not the simple black/white, yes/no, go/no-go type of decision-making tool that I think people want it to be.

JOHN YANG: Antibodies are a crucial part of our immune system.

They attach to viruses, or virus-infected cells, and ideally, neutralize them, helping our body remove them.

Testing for antibodies is different from testing for the virus itself.

Antibody tests rely on a blood sample.

A positive result indicates exposure to the virus and an immune response to it, even if you never have symptoms, or at least that's the goal.

These tests, especially for a new virus like COVID-19, can be wrong.

GIGI KWIK GRONVALL: Somebody may get the information that they have been exposed, and then they think, oh, I'm good to go, and then it turns out they were actually vulnerable, and they could get sick themselves and then transmit it to others.

JOHN YANG: In March, under pressure to quickly ramp up testing, the Food and Drug Administration allowed manufacturers to start distributing tests without confirming their accuracy.

The market was flooded with more than 150 of them.

GIGI KWIK GRONVALL: It was kind of a let 1,000 flowers bloom strategy.

And that led to a lot of tests being less accurate than advertised.

JOHN YANG: Earlier this month, the agency began requiring that test makers prove their products are accurate, or risk having them pulled from the market.

But even if every antibody test was completely reliable, that wouldn't tell us much about immunity.

That's because scientists don't know yet if antibodies protect someone from getting COVID-19 again.

So, who should get an antibody test right now, and why?

What's the right reason somebody should want to get an antibody test?

GIGI KWIK GRONVALL: I don't fault people for wanting to know if that terrible, terrible sickness they had a couple of months ago, if that really was COVID-19.

But, you know, you just -- I just hope that people understand the limitations of our knowledge.

JOHN YANG: Even so, doctors across the country are making tests widely available.

DR. RAHUL KHARE, Innovative Express Care: It's important.

And we are opening it up to anyone who wants it.

People are saying -- are going to say, you're overtesting.

They're going to go, you are overtesting.

But we're not.

We're screening.

DR. KATHARINE MIAO, CityMD: We do, you know, rapid flus with that, knowing -- we know that they're not perfect.

Rapid strep tests, they're not perfect.

But it helps better inform the patient and it helps people make decisions for their own lives.

JOHN YANG: Stanford University bioethicist Hank Greely sees it differently.

HANK GREELY, Stanford University: I think the tests are not good enough to be pushed for almost all of them.

And people don't need them at this point.

If there are good tests, they should be used for important scientific research.

JOHN YANG: Studies from California to Massachusetts have tried to use antibody tests to draw conclusions about the prevalence of the virus.

In New York City, researchers estimate that one in five residents was likely exposed.

And researchers recently announced results from what they called the first nationwide antibody study.

They tested about 5,600 Major League Baseball employees.

The result?

An estimated positive rate of less than 1 percent.

One of the study's lead researchers, Daniel Eichner of the anti-doping Sports Medicine Research and Testing Laboratory, urged caution when looking at the data.

DANIEL EICHNER, Sports Medicine Research and Testing Laboratory: We're just looking at people employed by this one company.

And so we have got to be careful before extrapolate out to the whole nation on that one.

It's a very good study.

And so it's really good data.

But I think that infection rates are going to vary throughout the country, and they will also vary through different population and demographic areas, for sure.

JOHN YANG: Some hope antibody testing could eventually lead to so-called immunity passports.

Those with immunity would be allowed to end social distancing measures.

But the World Health Organization said there's not enough evidence for that yet.

And, even if there was, Stanford's Hank Greely said, there are ethical questions.

HANK GREELY: In a sense, it almost could lead to a kind of apartheid, where some people are allowed to do some things and others aren't.

If we had a thoroughgoing immunity certificate system, and it lasted very long, I think there'd be a lot of public discontent, because people would say, look, that's not fair.

And they would be right.

JOHN YANG: So, for now, the advice from most experts is the same: Stay the course until more is known.

For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm John Yang.

JUDY WOODRUFF: On Thursday, the FDA did move ahead with its crackdown on antibody tests.

Regulators published a list of more than two dozen tests that should no longer be sold in the U.S.

The FDA says that it will continue to add to the list as it learns more.

And now we turn to the analysis of Shields and Brooks.

That's syndicated columnist Mark Shields and New York Times columnist David Brooks, both joining us from their homes.

Hello to both of you.

I want to start with President Trump today ordering the nation's governors to open up houses of worship, saying, there's nothing they should do to prevent churches, synagogues and mosques from opening up.

Mark, the president told the governors that, if they don't go along with this, he's going to override them, although it's not clear he has the authority to do that.

What do you make of the president's really relentless push to get the country to open up, his leadership at this moment in this pandemic?

MARK SHIELDS: Well, Judy, the churches are an intriguing and complex problem unto themselves, that someone would order the churches to open.

And the reality is that the biggest concern has been gatherings of 10 or more people.

And churches frequently involve a lot more than 10 people in close quarters.

And they also have that problem with separation.

The president's commitment as a churchgoer brings to mind Tom Wolfe's great line about making world safe for hypocrisy.

This seems to be more political than ecclesiastical or theological on his part.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And, David, I want to ask you to weigh in too.

And I want to bring in the fact that we are seeing, as the president pushes harder and harder for the country to open up, the support for this is breaking along partisan lines.

We had a new poll this week, "NewsHour"/NPR/Marist, showing that more Republicans are with the president, more Democrats are more cautious.

How do you look at all this?

DAVID BROOKS: Yes.

First, the president is not subtle in his culture war fighting.

He wanted to defend Christmas against the alleged war on Christmas.

And now he is doing this.

It's a pretty naked attempt to try to appeal to evangelical voters.

Churches happen to be one of the places where we have seen a lot of super spreading.

One of the Korean churches was in -- early in -- was one of the worst things that happened.

And so that's - - it's just foolish.

The second foolishness is that a national policy here is just not a good policy.

This is very context-specific.

This virus is very decentralized.

It hits one place, it doesn't hit another.

So, every decision that should be made, in my view, should be at the local possibilist level.

And so Trump is just -- it's just politics.

It's just words out of his mouth.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Mark, in terms of the president's overall determination to get the country to open up, is this something that, in the long run, he looks stronger as a leader for having done this?

MARK SHIELDS: Well, Judy, I think the president, understandably, wants to switch the subject.

It's interesting.

ABC News has measured each month people's confidence in the president's leadership and their trust of him on handling the coronavirus.

It was -- it reached a high of 54 percent in March.

Then it dropped down to 44 percent.

And now in the latest, in May, it's at 39 percent.

So, the president wants to get off the -- his coronavirus shepherding and get back, he hopes, to an economy, which was his calling card for reelection, and that somehow, in the next six months, he could -- well, five months, I guess now in a couple of weeks -- that it could get revitalized confidence and optimism in the economy, and show some progress.

That's it.

I mean, it hasn't worked for him as surgeon general.

And he's got to try and do it as the economic chief.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And just quickly on this, David, one other thing.

A lot of people commenting when the president goes out, as he is trying to, he's not wearing a mask.

Does it matter that the president doesn't?

DAVID BROOKS: Yes, that's exceptionally poor leadership.

You lead by example.

That's elementary school leadership.

I think the worst thing that could happen right now is that we -- opening and not opening became a partisan issue.

Republicans and Democrats do differ, but not all that much.

You still get 75, 77 percent of the country supporting social distancing.

In our polarized age, you just don't get that much.

If you look at the movement in red and blue states, there's no real difference in how people are behaving.

There's a significant distance -- difference in how people see the future.

Democrats, by some gigantic percentage, 80 or 90 percent, say the worst is still ahead of us.

Republicans, by some gigantic percentage, say that worst is still behind us.

But the fact is, the opening up is happening.

And it's happening in all 50 states, and it's going to happen everywhere.

And it's not a political decision.

It's a question of striking a balance between safety and economic opportunity.

And so it's not an ideological issue.

It's just the delicate balance that will be different in every single place.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, it is a political year.

It's a presidential election year.

Both the president and Joe Biden in the last couple of days have gotten in hot water for some statements they have made.

I want to first let you hear what Joe Biden said this morning.

He was being interviewed by a radio host who goes by the name Charlamagne tha God.

And here's what Joe Biden said: CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD, Radio Talk Show Host: Listen, you got to come see us when you come to New York, V.P.

Biden.

JOSEPH BIDEN (D), Presidential Candidate: I will.

CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: Because it's a long way until November.

We got more questions.

JOSEPH BIDEN: You got more questions.

But I tell anyone, if you have a problem figuring out whether you're for me or Trump, then you ain't black.

CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: It don't have nothing to do with Trump.

It has to do with the fact I want something for my community.

I would love to see you... JOSEPH BIDEN: Take a look at my record, man.

I extended the Voting Rights Act 25 years.

I have a record that is second to none.

JUDY WOODRUFF: So, after Vice President Biden, Mark, said, if you're not voting for me, then you're not black, here's what he said a few hours later.

He called into a conference of the Black U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

JOSEPH BIDEN: I have never ever, ever taken the African-American community for granted.

And I shouldn't have been such a wise guy.

I shouldn't have been so cavalier and... JUDY WOODRUFF: Does something like this, Mark, hurt him?

MARK SHIELDS: It hurts.

I think he corrected it quickly.

But it was a serious mistake, Judy.

It showed a -- first of all, a sense of entitlement of black votes, African-American vote, that somehow that they have to vote for Joe Biden.

And that was wrong.

And it was haughty.

And it had a certain arrogance about it.

And, quite bluntly, in America, this marvelous mixing bowl of a country, whites don't get to tell blacks what being black means.

And I think that was a mistake on Joe Biden's part.

JUDY WOODRUFF: David?

DAVID BROOKS: Yes.

The -- Tim Scott, the African-American Republican senator from South Carolina, had a good tweet.

He said, 1.3 million African-Americans voted for Donald Trump, and it didn't make any of them any less black.

It's just a bad rule in general to say someone is less black, someone's less Jew, someone's less Catholic.

These are just tropes we don't need.

And so he said something.

He was trying to be funny on a show that's very edgy, and he apologized for it.

So, to have a president who apologizes, that might be a relief to a lot of people.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And so, Mark, the president got in some hot water himself.

He was in Michigan yesterday visiting a Ford assembly plant.

He referred to Henry Ford, the founder, of course, of the company, spoke about what great bloodlines he had, which a lot of people picked up on.

Henry Ford was known to be anti-Semitic.

He praised Adolf Hitler back in the late 1930s.

How does this add, or not, to our understanding of President Trump?

MARK SHIELDS: Well, it's either -- either he is stupid, unaware of Henry Ford, and is talking in code language about bloodlines, which just smack of eugenics and racial superiority doctrines, and which Henry Ford was a major pamphleteer.

I mean, he was a -- he wasn't a casual anti-Semite.

He was a practicing and convinced anti-Semite, who accepted the cross of the German Eagle Award from the Nazis in 1938.

I mean, so it wasn't just a casual thing.

So it was -- on Trump, it shows either the insensitivity, or it's some sort of a subtle whistle talk to white racists or white supremacists that he admires them.

JUDY WOODRUFF: David, does -- do you think it hurts the president?

DAVID BROOKS: No, I'm going with ignorance on this one.

First, when he does -- dog-whistles, Trump is not subtle about it.

So I'm not sure why he would start being subtle now.

I just think the guy doesn't read books.

And so to know the history of Henry Ford, to know what he did in the '20s and '30s and what sort of person he was, would require reading a history book.

And I -- it could be that he knew all this, but I don't think you see it watching cable TV 10 hours a day.

So, I'm going to give him the benefit that he just didn't know.

JUDY WOODRUFF: So, while we're talking about the election, the contest between these two men, Mark, the president has been on a campaign lately against mail-in voting.

This is something Democrats are talking up.

The president is saying it's -- it leads to fraud, it's illegal.

Is this something that could end up a serious issue in the fall in November?

MARK SHIELDS: Well, it could be an issue, Judy, but this is not the opening salvo.

Just to point out, it has been a Republican organized effort for more than the last decade to limit the number of voting precincts, to make registration more difficult, to introduce photo I.D.

requirements, to -- all of this totally bogus and fraudulent idea of voter imitation, and that there are people voting many times under several identities.

The most exhaustive study on this subject was done by Loyola University Law School.

And between 2004 and 2014, they got 31 documented cases of voter fraud out of a billion ballots cast in those 10 years.

So, this is just a way of trying to discourage and make more difficult.

He criticized the secretary of state of Michigan for sending out applications for absentee voting to all the voters of Michigan.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Right.

MARK SHIELDS: But, at the same time, Judy, he didn't mention Nebraska, Idaho, Iowa, South Dakota, where similar letters have been sent by the secretary of state, all of whom are Republican states.

So, it's to suppress the turnout, not to encourage people to vote, to discourage people to vote.

JUDY WOODRUFF: David, there is no real evidence, serious, substantive evidence, of voter fraud in connection with mail-in voting.

So, how do you see this?

DAVID BROOKS: Yes.

No, there isn't.

Encouraging people to vote is good.

Discouraging people to vote is bad.

We live in a democracy.

Voting is a civic act that we should be encouraged.

I'm also struck not only by the wrongness of it, but by, in my view, the stupidity of it for Republicans.

They have got it in their head they need to suppress voting.

But if you look at who likes mail-in voting, as Mark said, it's a lot of Western states.

They don't want to drive so far in normal times, and now they don't want to endanger themselves.

Mitt Romney had a comment that, in Utah, he said, we overwhelmingly vote by mail-in, and it works pretty well for us.

If you look at Trump voters, he's got a lot of rural voters.

And he's got, frankly, a lot of disengaged voters, low-information voters who aren't too active in politics, but who showed up for Donald Trump in 2016.

It seems to me he would want to lower the barriers to voting in order to keep those people engaged with him.

It's all mystifying.

JUDY WOODRUFF: All right.

Well, I wanted to get to the inspectors general.

Maybe you want to say something in 10 seconds.

The president in six weeks, Mark, has gotten rid of four different inspectors general.

It's unfair to ask you about it, but maybe three words each?

(LAUGHTER) MARK SHIELDS: Well, it's obvious that the president -- Susan Collins, senator from Maine, was right.

The president was quite chastened by the impeachment experience and is far less arrogant, hubristic and overreaching.

No, this is -- this is just unforgivable.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And David?

DAVID BROOKS: (AUDIO GAP) bad for America.

It was sort of a haiku.

(LAUGHTER) JUDY WOODRUFF: We will take haiku.

Thank you both.

My apology for not giving you more time on that one.

David Brooks, Mark Shields, we thank you.

As another week comes to a close, we want to honor just some of the remarkable people who have fallen victim to this devastating virus.

Arlene Saunders was as captivating as her soprano opera voice.

Born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, Arlene spent most of her career in Germany, performing with the Hamburg State Opera on stage and on television.

She would go on to sing at the biggest opera house in the world, The Met.

Down-to-earth and elegant, Arlene moved to New York in 1986, where she married the man she loved to dance and sing with, Raymond Raskin.

Arlene was 89 years old.

Abdelfattah Abdrabbo was often the first person at his Canton, Michigan, mosque arriving at 4:00 in the morning to lead the sunrise prayer.

A Palestinian immigrant, Abe arrived in the U.S. in the 1970s with close to nothing.

Devoted, tireless and hardworking, he worked overtime and on holidays to build his import-export business, always with a smile on his face.

His six children say he gave them the American dream.

He was 65 years old.

Hailey Herrera was nurturing and compassionate, the first person her friends called for comfort and advice.

The 25-year-old Bronx native was working to become a therapist.

She helped care for people with mental illnesses and earned a master's degree in marriage and family therapy.

Her mom says she was a ball of energy and a joy to be around.

Hailey loved throwing themed parties and making memories with her friends and family.

Ralph Pabon had an eye for fashion and a spirit of adventure.

Both came through in the bridal gowns he designed in New York City.

When his beloved mother remarried in 2014, Ralph walked her down the aisle.

She wore the wedding dress he designed.

Gregarious and fun, Ralph loved that his most recent work as a flight attendant allowed him to explore the world.

He was 51 years old.

Eighty-two-year-old Patrick Petit's family dubbed him the family philosopher, a nod to his ability to listen and offer advice.

After serving in the Navy, he became a community organizer during the civil rights movement, taught sociology at a university in Minneapolis and raised three children.

His last words were a message to his grandkids: "Be happy, be kind and keep learning."

And now the miller's tale.

Among -- many of you will know that we have borrowed the title of this story from the medieval British poet Geoffrey Chaucer and his Canterbury Tales.

Unlike that poem, full of adultery and trickery, we bring you a tale of uplift from a picturesque water mill from after Chaucer's era pressed back into service today to provide bakers and grocers fresh flour amid COVID-19 shortages.

From the county of Dorset, 120 miles south West of London, special correspondent Malcolm Brabant reports.

MALCOLM BRABANT: At Sturminster Newton, the dawn chorus and torrent of the River Stour provide an eternal soundscape.

For more than 1,000 years, various water mills have stood here, producing high-quality flour, first for aristocrats, then the most powerful medieval monastery in England, and now, during the dark ages of COVID-19, ordinary folk like thee and me.

PETE LOOSMORE, Head Miller, Sturminster Newton Mill: If you could bring back the miller who was here in those days 1,000 years ago, and stand him by the millstones, he'd know exactly how they worked.

So things haven't changed very much as far, as milling process is concerned, over that time.

MALCOLM BRABANT: Retired art teacher Pete Loosmore cranks up the water turbine that replaced the traditional water wheel over a century ago.

PETE LOOSMORE: We have absolutely every scrap of the grain that goes into the millstones is actually used in the flour, so nothing is sieved out.

We have the whole grain.

And nothing is added as well.

So, what we produce here in the way of flour is an absolutely pure flour, no additives whatsoever.

MALCOLM BRABANT: During the lockdown, there haven't been that many food shortages, but one staple that's been rather hard to find has been flour.

And that's largely due to the popular British pastime of home baking.

So, during the lockdown, people have been sourcing flour from wherever they can to make bread, cakes and pies.

And stop yourself right there, because I know exactly what you're thinking.

Who ate all the pies?

The 500-year-old mill is normally a museum, only grinding small quantities of flour for visitors.

But Loosmore stepped up production when the supply chain for local bakers and supermarkets collapsed.

PETE LOOSMORE: They didn't seem to be able to restock.

And here we were, ready for the next season, with something like a ton of grain stored away in the roof.

We had the facility to make that grain into flour, and local people needed it.

MALCOLM BRABANT: The mill's flour has been a godsend for this nearby artisan bakery, which set up a drive-in service to kick-start business.

SUE HARRIS, Customer: My husband likes white sliced, unfortunately.

And that is just revolting.

I mean, it's horrible texture, and it's got no flavor at all really.

So, this is just -- and it's sort of -- it's dense and it's chewy.

And it makes wonderful toast, and it just fills you up.

It's just good.

And it feels good.

And it's just nice to eat.

MALCOLM BRABANT: Dawn Harvey is buying flour to make sourdough.

How much difference do you think it makes to the bread itself?

DAWN HARVEY, Customer: So, the way you can work, the feel of it, the way you can work it, and the taste is definitely better than the supermarket.

MALCOLM BRABANT: Baker Steve Oxford is reaping the benefits of the new simplicity.

STEVE OXFORD, Artisan Baker: The grain that's milled at Sturminster is done so in such a way that it's milled in a more gentle, old-fashioned, softer gentler way, on softer milling stones.

So, hardly any of the nutrients is lost.

And so what you get is a much better flavor, a superior loaf for bakers like me who use a long fermentation process to produce their breads.

The mill is no good for very quickly produced bread, modern-day bread, but for a funny old bakery like ours, it's perfect.

MALCOLM BRABANT: The feedback delights artist and museum curator Imogen Bittner, enjoying a third career as a miller.

IMOGEN BITTNER, Sturminster Newton Mill: It's satisfying because you see the results straight away.

It's not just about putting it through the millstones.

There's a lot of sort of little techniques.

It's the smell.

It's the -- the hearing how it is.

It's just balancing everything to produce the flour.

And it's almost like alchemy what comes out at the end.

MALCOLM BRABANT: Along with other entrepreneurs, Steve Oxford recognizes that COVID-19 has forced a major reappraisal of values.

STEVE OXFORD: What this situation has done is raised awareness about things we should be appreciative of, things that can step up, things that do help, things that are so important to the heritage of our country, and the fact that, actually, when the world falls apart, there are men that can speak to men and women that can speak to women, and do business, and get things moving without the need of corporations, without the need of mass production.

MALCOLM BRABANT: Imogen Bittner also sees positives emerging from the lockdown.

IMOGEN BITTNER: The lesson is, I think we should do that more often with all our foods.

I mean, if you buy vegetables by the side of the road, they taste better.

It's -- we're importing so much.

The commercial aspect of it kills the taste, I think.

If you can get back to basics, then you get better-quality food.

MALCOLM BRABANT: Although the experiment suggests the mill has commercial potential, it is a historic landmark, and the sense here is that, once the crisis has subsided, this national treasure will return to semi-retirement.

For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Malcolm Brabant in Sturminster Newton.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Such a great story.

The only thing we miss when it's baking is the smell of that fresh bread.

And on the "NewsHour" online right now, a new episode of our podcast "America Interrupted" tackles why misinformation about the coronavirus is so hard to fight.

You can find that on our Web site, PBS.org/NewsHour, or wherever you listen to your podcasts.

And that's the "NewsHour" for tonight.

I'm Judy Woodruff.

Have a safe Memorial Day weekend.

Thank you, and we will see you soon.