JUDY WOODRUFF: Good evening.

I'm Judy Woodruff.

On the "NewsHour" tonight: The infections increase.

The U.S. records its highest one-day total yet of new COVID cases, as the coronavirus pandemic continues to undo plans to reopen.

Then: the future of Hong Kong.

Thousands protest in the streets, facing armed police and arrests, as a controversial security law goes into effect.

Plus: back to school.

Despite widespread calls for social distancing, the American Academy of Pediatrics says students should be back in the classroom this fall.

And the search for treatment.

Doctors and scientists experiment with off-label use of different drugs, in hope of combating COVID-19.

DEREK LOWE, "In the Pipeline": We haven't had a situation like this.

People are used to saying, OK, I have got this disease.

Where's the drug?

I guess everyone is starting to learn a little bit more about what drug discovery is like.

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

(BREAK) JUDY WOODRUFF: The U.S. death toll from the COVID-19 pandemic has now topped 127,000 people.

The epicenter has shifted to the West and South, where cases have ballooned to record highs.

Amna Nawaz has our report.

AMNA NAWAZ: California's COVID response was once called a miracle, for quickly stemming virus spread.

But the state today took steps to move back into lockdown after new cases spiked almost 80 percent in the last two weeks.

GOV.

GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): The bottom line is, the spread of this virus continues at a rate that is particularly concerning.

Fourth of July weekend has raised a lot of concern from our health officials.

We want to again remind each and every one of you that, if we want to be independent from COVID-19, we have to be much more vigilant.

AMNA NAWAZ: California is not alone.

A majority of states in the country are now reporting surges in infections.

Yesterday, the U.S. recorded more than 47,000 new cases, the nation's highest single-day spike in the pandemic so far.

To slow virus spread, at least 14 states are now moving to pause or reverse plans to reopen their economies.

But the majority of states are still moving ahead on lifting restrictions, despite the rise in infections.

Currently, only 17 states and the District of Columbia have issued mask mandates.

And Texas is not one of them.

In fact, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick said in a FOX News interview last night that he doesn't need any advice from Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert.

LT. GOV.

DAN PATRICK (R-TX): Fauci said today that he's concerned about states like Texas that skipped over certain things.

He doesn't know what he's talking about.

AMNA NAWAZ: Texas had one of the shortest stay-at-home orders in the nation and is now reversing reopening steps after a record number of new infections.

Hospitals here, already stretched, are bracing for the weeks ahead.

DAVID PERSSE, City of Houston Public Health Authority: The hospitals right now are operating with nearly 100 percent of intensive care unit beds occupied at several hospitals.

If the community doesn't start behaving differently, there's going to be a limit to what the hospitals will handle.

It's not today.

That's three weeks from now.

AMNA NAWAZ: In Phoenix today, Vice President Mike Pence met with Governor Doug Ducey, as Arizona struggles to contain its spike in cases and puts a pause on reopening.

MIKE PENCE, Vice President of the United States: I know we will get through this.

I'm absolutely confident that, with your leadership, with the full support of the federal government behind you, the cooperation of the people of Arizona, that we will slow the spread and we will flatten the curve.

AMNA NAWAZ: Meanwhile, in Washington, the Senate last night and the House today approved a five-week extension on the Paycheck Protection Program for small businesses struggling to stay open, with the stops and starts of state plans.

Business owners like John Nguyen are left struggling to keep up with shifting plans, like Texas' recent reversal.

JOHN NGUYEN, Owner, Cajun Kitchen: That definitely added a lot of complexity and stress to small business owners like me.

We were hoping it would turn around by May.

But now that everything is going in the wrong direction, it doesn't look like we're going to be over this any time soon.

AMNA NAWAZ: Plans on hold across the country, as states scramble to stifle another swell of COVID-19 infections.

For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Amna Nawaz.

JUDY WOODRUFF: In the day's other news: Police in Hong Kong began making arrests today under a new national security law imposed on the city by mainland China.

Thousands of protesters took to the streets in the semiautonomous territory after the measure went into effect last night.

We will have more on the contentious new law after the news summary.

In Seattle today, police cleared protesters from a so-called occupied zone near downtown.

Violence had flared there in recent weeks.

Two teenagers were killed and six others were wounded in separate shootings.

Officers in riot gear moved in on the encampment early this morning, after the mayor issued an executive order for police to begin clearing the streets.

They arrested more than 20 people.

CARMEN BEST, Seattle, Washington, Police Chief: Our job is to protect and to serve the community.

Our job is to support peaceful demonstrations.

But what has happened here on these streets over the last two weeks -- few weeks, that is -- is lawless, and it is brutal, and, bottom line, it is simply unacceptable.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Their demonstrations were originally in response to the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May.

Lawmakers in New York City have agreed to shift $1 billion in police funding to education and social service programs.

But advocates for defunding the police argued that those cuts don't go far enough.

Protesters camped outside City Hall for a ninth day in a row.

But at his news conference today, Mayor Bill de Blasio disagreed with them.

BILL DE BLASIO (D), Mayor of New York: This is a huge reinvestment in communities, while we still stay safe as a city.

I'm very comfortable we struck the right balance.

And, again, what I'm saying represents, I'm certain, the majority of New Yorkers, who want this to be a safe city, they want more fairness, they want more reform, but they also want to make sure we consistently stay safe.

JUDY WOODRUFF: The New York City Police Department is the largest in the U.S. Its current budget is $6 billion.

The new cuts come as the city is trying to claw its way back from $9 billion in revenue losses from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Richmond, Virginia, Mayor Levar Stoney today ordered the immediate removal of all Confederate statues on city property.

Crews in the former capital of the Confederacy began by taking down a statue depicting General Stonewall Jackson.

Meanwhile, two Republican U.S. senators, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and James Lankford of Oklahoma, filed an amendment to replace Columbus Day with Juneteenth as a new federal holiday.

The results from yesterday's state elections are in.

Former Colorado Democratic Governor John Hickenlooper will face Republican Senator Cory Gardner in November, after winning his primary Tuesday night.

In Western Colorado, five-term Republican Congressman Scott Tipton lost in his primary to far-right businesswoman Lauren Boebert.

Meanwhile, in Oklahoma, voters narrowly approved expanding Medicaid in the state.

The Trump administration pushed back today against accusations that the president neglected reports of Russian bounties for killing U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

Mr. Trump took to Twitter and dismissed those intelligence reports as - - quote -- "fake news."

And Secretary of State Mike Pompeo insisted that the situation was handled incredibly well to safeguard troops.

MIKE POMPEO, U.S. Secretary of State: We see threats in intelligence reporting to our soldiers stationed all over the world every single day, every single day.

The fact that the Russians are engaged in Afghanistan in a way that's adverse to the United States is nothing new.

JUDY WOODRUFF: National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien told FOX News that a top CIA official decided not to verbally brief the president on the matter, since the intelligence was unverified.

But he said response options were drawn up just in case the information was corroborated.

And stocks were mixed on Wall Street today.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 78 points to close at 25735.

The Nasdaq rose nearly 96 points, and the S&P 500 added 15.

Still to come on the "NewsHour": Russians vote to change their constitution to allow Vladimir Putin to extend his presidency; the American Academy of Pediatrics calls for students to be back in the classroom this fall; protesters face arrest in Hong Kong, as a controversial security law goes into effect; and much more.

The polls closed in Russia today, after seven days of voting on constitutional changes.

One would allow President Vladimir Putin to stand for two more terms in office.

Early indications were that 70-plus percent voted in favor.

As special correspondent Lucy Taylor reports, Russia's preeminent leader for two decades may be around for years to come.

LUCY TAYLOR: It is a vote on Russia's future, and the higher the turnout, the more credible it will look.

And to bring voters in, drive some good old electioneering.

Each ballot paper comes with a lottery ticket, with prizes from cash to cars.

But the biggest winner will likely be President Vladimir Putin, with a chance to rule into his 80s.

And many of his supporters don't need incentives.

MAN (through translator): He is the best president of all the presidents.

With him, Russia will survive.

WOMAN (through translator): Even though many people dislike him, I think he's right, and our country is flourishing.

LUCY TAYLOR: Voters like Tatiana Prokofieva have spent most of their adult lives under Vladimir Putin's leadership.

She was just 30 when he came to power in the year 2000.

But she also remembers what came before, in the 1990s, when Russia's economy collapsed, and she credits Putin with its recovery.

TATIANA PROKOFIEVA, Voter (through translator): People live well now.

The standard of living has increased.

Now each family has at least two cars.

That is an indicator he was able to do it.

We had a good Olympics in Sochi, and, after that, I went to Sochi and saw how it was transformed.

Work is under way.

You can't deny it.

LUCY TAYLOR: The campaign for the constitutional changes has played on national pride.

Vladimir Putin led a military parade on the eve of polls opening, and says the changes would reinforce Russian values, like truth, justice and respect for the homeland.

VLADIMIR PUTIN, Russian President (through translator): We are not just voting for amendments clothed in clear legal rules.

We vote for the country in which we want to live, with modern education and health care, with reliable social protection of citizens, with effective power, accountable to society.

LUCY TAYLOR: One amendment would outlaw same-sex marriage, with campaign videos portraying gay people as bad parents.

Others would guarantee the minimum wage and pensions.

And one would give President Putin criminal immunity for life.

And yet, with all that, there's been very little discussion about the amendment that could extend his time in office.

The changes all come as a single package.

There's just one question, yes or no, but this national vote takes in hundreds of amendments to the Russian constitution.

Critics say it's designed to minimize the focus on Vladimir Putin's power and executed in a way that gives them almost no chance to argue.

Rallies and protests are banned because of the pandemic.

And campaigners like Tatiana Usmanova say Russia's state media doesn't give them a fair hearing.

TATIANA USMANOVA, Activist, Open Russia (through translator): We are not allowed to express our position to those who are against this vote.

Everything that is happening now is an absolutely strange, illegitimate procedure to recognize results that are simply impossible.

LUCY TAYLOR: But Russia also has a troubled history with outright fraud and ballot-stuffing.

Election monitors say they have witnessed multiple violations.

Officials even took the unprecedented step of announcing early results hours before polls closed, something which would usually be banned.

Russia under Vladimir Putin has been involved in messy military interventions in Chechnya, Georgia, Ukraine, and Syria, and suffered under international economic sanctions.

His approval ratings have slipped in the last year, but remain high.

So far, he has played coy, and has yet to say if he will stand for another term in office, even if he is allowed to.

EKATERINA SCHULMANN, Political Scientist: It's necessary to preserve this option, this possibility, in order to prevent the elites from looking around in search of the successor.

These were his words.

So, what he was basically planning to say is that he can't afford to be a lame-duck, because it's dangerous, because he is surrounded by whom?

By people he can't trust.

LUCY TAYLOR: But not everyone who remembers the 1990s is voting for the amendments.

Sergei Mitrokhin led a liberal opposition party.

And he says, just as Russia had its first chance at democracy, Vladimir Putin led it in a different direction.

SERGEI MITROKHIN, Former Opposition Party Leader (through translator): We understood that those mistakes and crimes that were committed then would inevitably lead Russia to an authoritarian, corrupt regime, and so it happened.

Unfortunately, we foresaw this.

We already understood that at the beginning of the century.

LUCY TAYLOR: For an older generation of voters, this poll is about whether the relative stability gained in Putin's Russia has been worth it.

And if the amendments are passed, as expected, their children may live most of their lives knowing nothing else.

For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Lucy Taylor in Moscow.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Millions of American children and their parents are desperate to know what the fall might look like for school.

As William Brangham reports, there is an argument that kids need to be in the classroom.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: That's right, Judy.

The American Academy of Pediatrics, the AAP, came up with a very clear statement this week, arguing that, given what we know about the virus and about kids being stuck at home -- quote - - "The AAP strongly advocates that all policy considerations for the coming school year should start with the goal of having students physically present in school."

I'm joined now by one of the authors of that report.

Dr. Sean O'Leary is a pediatrician, an infectious disease specialist, a professor, and vice chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Infectious Diseases.

Dr. O'Leary, thank you very much for being here.

Your report offers all kinds of cautions about how to make school safer, how to keep teachers and kids safe.

But, given what we know now, make the argument that you made in this report.

DR. SEAN O'LEARY, Vice Chair, American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Infectious Diseases: Yes.

So, you know, I know there's a lot of concern about the risks of kids going into school, both for students and teachers.

I think we know a lot more now than we did in March, when we pretty much all shut schools down.

So I think there are ways that we can make schools safe.

It's really a strategy of risk mitigation, so putting together multiple different strategies, as opposed to risk elimination.

We're not going to be able to eliminate -- completely eliminate risk in schools, just the way we're not able to completely eliminate risk elsewhere.

I think the other really crucial other side of the coin is that, you know, kids have really suffered from not being in school, you know, starting with educational outcomes.

We have seen, really, a lot of evidence that those have really gone down, and then, of course, lots of concerns with behavioral health and abuse, all kinds of problems from kids just being at home.

And then you look at what we're all trying to do now with reopening the economy.

So much of reopening the economy has to do with children being in school.

So, I think everything we can do right now to get this virus under control in the coming, you know, one to two months to make it much safer for kids to be in school, we really need to be doing that.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Some of your report also seems to be informed by what we are learning about how kids get sick with coronavirus and how they might then transmit the virus to others, to adults in the room, their teachers.

DR. SEAN O'LEARY: So, you know, it's becoming clearer -- I mean, we're still learning every day, but it's becoming clearer that kids are - - appear to be less likely to get infected with COVID-19.

When they do get infected, they -- the disease tends to be much less severe than it does in adults, particularly older adults.

And they also tend to be less likely to spread the disease to other people, we think probably because they are less symptomatic when they have it.

So they're not coughing and sneezing as much when they have it.

So there are a number of factors involved with SARS-CoV-2 that I think we now know that we didn't know then.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: I mean, I hear everything that you're saying about the importance emotionally, psychologically, educationally, nutritionally, even, your report cites, of getting kids back into schools.

But I know so many parents who have heard the mantra of socially distance, stay away from others.

And now the idea of sending their kids back into crowded classrooms is terrifying to them, frankly.

How do we make schools safe, so that that can actually happen?

DR. SEAN O'LEARY: I think there are a number of measures we can take, but a few of the things that we know works.

Physical distancing works, ideally six feet, but even three feet is pretty good.

When you can't maintain six feet, wearing face coverings, particularly for the older kids, who do appear more likely to spread the virus.

Masks work.

There's more and more evidence coming out every day about the effectiveness of masks in preventing the spread of COVID-19.

But we really have to consider the teachers and the staff as well.

What we have seen in other places that have opened schools is that the spread tends to be adult to adult, as opposed to child to adult or adult child.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: "Education Week," I know, did a poll of teachers and educators.

It was two-thirds of them said that they were nervous about the idea of school reopening in the fall.

They argued that some of them might be looking to retire early.

Do you worry that that reopening plans might cause an exodus of teachers from schools?

DR. SEAN O'LEARY: You know, I think we're all pretty nervous right now about just about everything we're doing.

We're in a pretty precipitous place right now in this country, with cases increasing and a lot of states.

And so, yes, I think there's reason to be nervous.

I do think, if we can -- you know, for communities where the virus is not raging, I do think it's realistic to open schools safely.

So, yes, I'm nervous, and I understand why teachers would be nervous as well.

And I think, all things considered, though, school is crucial on so many levels.

And so that's -- that was really the impetus behind this guidance.

And I think teachers should be involved and are involved in the process of crafting these plans as schools reopen.

I'm optimistic that, in a lot of places, we're going to be able to get there.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: All right, Dr. Sean O'Leary of the American Academy of Pediatrics, thank you very much for your time.

DR. SEAN O'LEARY: Thank you.

JUDY WOODRUFF: A new crackdown in Hong Kong, 23 years to the day China took back control.

Nick Schifrin reports on how this ominous day dawned on the freewheeling hub of international business.

NICK SCHIFRIN: With the wave of a blue banner, a confrontation with protesters, and an arrest, Hong Kong police made clear the new national security law does not allow freedom of speech.

Today, in Hong Kong, police arrested activists not for what they did, but also for what they said.

Pro-democracy activists who unfurled foreign flags and talked about Hong Kong independence were detained.

The crackdown and protests continued into the night.

In total, the police detained more than 300.

At one point, they filled an entire bus.

ISAAC CHENG, Former Vice President, Demosisto: It definitely completely changed life inside Hong Kong.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Isaac Cheng was vice president of the prominent pro-democracy group Demosisto.

But after the national security law was passed, the group disbanded, out of fear of arrest.

ISAAC CHENG: The core of the Hong Kong is, we have the right to come out and protest to restrict the power of the government.

The national security law restricts these kind of freedoms, so we can no longer speak any things that -- against the government, no longer speak anything to fight against this communist regime.

NICK SCHIFRIN: The national security law says, anyone can be arrested and jailed who organizes, plans, commits or participates in any action that calls for separating Hong Kong from China or undermining national unification, who provokes by unlawful means hatred of Beijing, who directly or indirectly receives instructions, control, funding or other kinds of support from a foreign country.

And it could apply to anyone visiting Hong Kong.

Why are you willing to do this interview, despite the threats?

ISAAC CHENG: I have speak to present the Hong Kong situation.

We hope that the international society can recognize the situation.

NICK SCHIFRIN: The U.S. has revoked the visas of senior Chinese government officials involved in the Hong Kong crackdown, and promises more action.

The United Kingdom warned that Britons traveling to Hong Kong faced increased threat of detention and deportation.

And the government invited all Hong Kong residents eligible for British national overseas passports to become British citizens.

That's a lifeline for one Hong Kong couple eligible for British citizenship whom I spoke to today.

Why are you thinking about leaving Hong Kong?

WOMAN: We just have to do it for our daughter.

I mean, we have our next generation.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Of the hundreds of thousands of people who have filled Hong Kong's streets, thousands feel like they have lost the battle and are planning on emigrating.

The couple did not want to give their names or show their faces criticizing the new law.

MAN: It's what people say.

It's what people wear.

It's what people look like.

With this law, we no longer know how the government is going to define the law, how they're going to execute the law.

NICK SCHIFRIN: You're talking about leaving your home, leaving where you have been raising your child, leaving all your friends.

How do you feel about that?

WOMAN: It's really sad.

I mean, we both grew up in this place.

MAN: I mean, to be really honest, this is like the last resort for us.

WOMAN: We know that some people can't leave.

Like, I have my parents in Hong Kong.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Where are you hoping to move?

MAN: I think the COVID-19 and political situation in the States and also the Brexit, I think it just poses a lot more questions.

NICK SCHIFRIN: One other place that has done a pretty good job, COVID-19, is Taiwan.

Would you consider going to Taiwan?

MAN: A lot of people didn't expect how Beijing could be that aggressive towards Hong Kong.

It now made us question how aggressive Beijing would be towards Taiwan now.

NICK SCHIFRIN: That's a nightmare for U.S. policy-makers, who have been trying to bolster Taiwan's ability to stand up to Beijing more than Hong Kong could.

And another group that's not standing up to Beijing is the business community.

CRAIG ALLEN, President, U.S.-China Business Council: I think it would be a leap to say that tourists or regular businesspeople should be concerned about this.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Craig Allen is the president of the U.S.-China Business Council.

He says, the 1,300 American businesses and 85,000 Americans currently in Hong Kong are willing to live under the new national security law.

CRAIG ALLEN: I suspect that it will have an impact at the margin.

But I would not expect that to be overly large.

Businesses are not ideological, and businesses will go where there is security, stability, safety, and a good market.

And China is a very large and important market.

NICK SCHIFRIN: That is music to Beijing's ears.

For the Communist Party, today was a celebration, marking the anniversary of the 1997 Hong Kong handover from Britain to Beijing.

And, today, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said the legislation was necessary.

ZHAO LIJIAN, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman (through translator): This will safeguard national sovereignty and security.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Activists admit that means they're already restricted in what they can say.

ISAAC CHENG: Actually, I cannot speak a lot, because now is the national security law.

NICK SCHIFRIN: The silencing of Hong Kong activists has begun, and there is little standing in the way of Beijing's plans.

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

JUDY WOODRUFF: Representative Pramila Jayapal, a Democrat from Washington state, was elected to Congress in 2016.

She's the co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and has become a leader in pushing the party on issues like Medicare for all.

Her book "Use the Power You Have: A Brown Woman's Guide to Politics and Political Change" is out this week.

And, Congresswoman Jayapal joins us now.

Thank you very much.

Congratulations on the book.

This is the story of how you grew up in this accomplished Indian family.

You came from Indonesia to the United States to go to college.

And very early on, you started this search, as you put it, for your identity.

You wanted to stop living in the hyphen, I think, is how you wrote it.

What did you mean by that?

REP. PRAMILA JAYAPAL (D-WA): Well, Judy, first of all, thank you so much for having me.

I came to this country when I was 16 years old by myself, and it was really because my parents took everything they had, and they used it to send me here to this land of opportunity.

And I kept struggling to figure out, am I Indian, am I American?

And I stayed here for 18 years before getting my citizenship.

And I think that, when you travel from one part of the country -- one part of the world to another part of the world, you are in that limbo state.

That is the hyphen that I talk about.

Indian-American is the hyphen, Latino-American, African-American.

We all bring with us different pieces, whatever the means is that we have come to this country.

And I think immigrants today exemplify that search for identity, search for meaning, but also the striving to bring everything that we have to bear to this new country that we call home.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And your journey, as you describe it, you worked in the nonprofit arena.

You worked in finance on Wall Street.

You -- and you came to a point where you realized, as you said, it wasn't enough to be on the outside.

You wanted to be on the inside fighting for what you believe.

But you clearly think it's tougher for a person of color, I mean, hence the title of the book, A Brown Woman's Guide to Politics."

How is it different?

Give an example.

REP. PRAMILA JAYAPAL: Well, first of all, you can just look at numbers.

I'm the first South Asian-American woman ever to serve in Congress.

I am also one out of 14 immigrants out of 535 naturalized now serving.

And, you know, if you look at the history of Congress, over 11,000 people have served.

There have been only been 79 women of color who have ever served in Congress.

And so just that tells you the barriers that exist.

But when you get here -- and it's difficult enough getting here, the fund-raising, the way the system works, the lack of leadership ladders, until fairly recently, I would say, but, also, once you get here, this is a very male, very white institution.

It is getting on in age in many ways, and we have made a big difference over the last four years that I have been here.

But a lot of the structures are still built for a certain kind of power, and they are built with institutional racism and sexism built into the operation.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, you have taken on a very visible role.

Quickly -- as I mentioned, co-chair of the Progressive Caucus -- the issues are coming thick and fast.

One I want to ask you about is police reform.

Seattle, which you represent, we have seen protesters set up what they have called an autonomous zone.

They pushed out the police for a few weeks.

It was just today, in fact, that police were able to break that up peacefully, but two people died in the course of these last few weeks.

You sounded sympathetic to what these protesters were trying to do.

On balance, did they accomplish something useful, do you think?

REP. PRAMILA JAYAPAL: I am sympathetic to the whole idea of protest and dissent.

It is a fundamental constitutional right.

And it is absolutely critical and urgent in this moment, as we watched George Floyd murdered.

And so I think that what has emerged over the last several weeks should be, again, a lesson for us in Seattle, as well as across the country, that the kind of militaristic response that happened immediately after those protesters started going out was, in fact, the very thing that protesters were protesting.

So, I hope that, as we go forward, that the city leadership, the city council, all of us at the federal level, really all of us in elected office, as well as everybody who's fighting for justice, continues that fight peacefully, nonviolently, but urgently, because that is what we must do if we are to move forward as a country.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Very quickly, finally, a question about the presidential race.

You initially were very much with Bernie Sanders' campaign for him in April.

You did, after Bernie Sanders dropped out, endorse Joe Biden.

Are you concerned?

I have read what you have said, and you have expressed concern that he may not be progressive enough to excite younger voters, progressive voters.

Do you seriously believe that these are voters who would vote for Donald Trump over Joe Biden?

REP. PRAMILA JAYAPAL: No, I don't think that they would vote for Donald Trump, but that has not always been our problem with our base.

The problem has always been the base feels unheard, un-reached-out-to, uninspired by candidates who run in various elections, including as president.

And so I think that one of the things that we have to do -- and I talk about this in this book -- is, we have to actually speak to our base.

We have to talk to them with ideas that inspire young people and folks of color, because they won't vote for Donald Trump.

I really don't think that will happen.

But they will potentially sit out if they're not inspired.

There are a lot of reasons why these voters are disenfranchised to start with, and we don't have time to go into them.

But what I would say is any Democratic president has to understand that we need these voters.

We need our base to be with us.

We can't just go to the swing voter and forget about our base.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, thank you very much.

The book is "Use the Power You Have: A Brown Woman's Guide to Politics and Political Change."

Thank you.

REP. PRAMILA JAYAPAL: Thank you, Judy.

JUDY WOODRUFF: As the COVID summer surge climbs, before there is a cure, Miles O'Brien explores the push to find ways to treat the virus.

It's part of our Leading Edge series on science and innovation.

And a note: Some of the video Miles used here was shot as part of an earlier collaboration with PBS' "Frontline."

MILES O'BRIEN: Emergency room physician Ryan Padgett is back home with his family, on the mend after a near-death experience, a Hail Mary pass, and a stunning victory over COVID-19.

It all began in late February, when he and the team at Merchant Logo EvergreenHealth Kirkland began treating some very sick nursing home residents with the symptoms of viral pneumonia.

DR. RYAN PADGETT, EvergreenHealth Medical Center Kirkland: You're used to dealing with patients with illness, but to realize that you're going to potentially have 60 patients from one place with this novel illness was kind of scary MILES O'BRIEN: Still, with only a handful of sick days in 19 years on the job, Dr. Padgett wasn't too concerned about his own health.

In fact, he was the picture of it.

A starting offensive lineman for Northwestern University in the 1996 Rose Bowl, he has always stayed in great shape.

Then the telltale symptoms of COVID-19 came rushing through his body's defensive line.

DR. RYAN PADGETT: And I was like, wow, something is different here.

And, pretty quickly, I came to kind of think, timing wise, that I was probably infected.

They call it the beast, and you realize why.

It's like getting hit by a truck.

MILES O'BRIEN: Things went downhill fast.

He ended up in the intensive care unit at Seattle's Swedish Medical Center on a ventilator and a heart lung machine.

Sure, the virus had done plenty of damage, but inside his body, something else was at play.

Dr. Padgett's immune system had mounted a counteroffensive that had run amok.

This overreaction is called a cytokine storm.

DR. RYAN PADGETT: My immune system had caught a wildfire.

My body overreacted and was putting me into kidney failure, respiratory failure.

My heart and even my liver started going downhill.

MILES O'BRIEN: It was not a surprise.

There were numerous reports from China of COVID patients who succumbed to a cytokine storm.

A similar thing sometimes happens to cancer patients receiving immunotherapy.

So, the medical team reached out to the oncology department.

Dr. Krish Patel.

DR. KRISH PATEL, Swedish Medical Center: We were all really learning day to day how to try to manage this illness, and I think that's where kind of borrowing from other disease processes or other specialties seemed to make sense.

MILES O'BRIEN: He recommended an antibody called tocilizumab.

In addition to helping cancer patients, it is used to treat people with rheumatoid arthritis as well.

Doctors in China had some success with it, so the team here saw no reason not to try it on Ryan Padgett.

Within days, they had weaned him off the machines.

DR. KRISH PATEL: We were very encouraged by what we saw in his experience, since that time have had -- developed continued experience with the medicine.

MILES O'BRIEN: Dr. Patel says the team at Swedish has now treated more than 65 COVID patients with tocilizumab, with encouraging results.

He is participating in a big randomized study, results due later this summer.

But Ryan Padgett needs no convincing.

DR. RYAN PADGETT: It saved my life.

MILES O'BRIEN: You think?

DR. RYAN PADGETT: Absolutely.

This isn't the time for a yearlong randomized control trial.

This is a time of, put your finger where it's bleeding and hold it there, and let's hope it stops.

MILES O'BRIEN: Understandable in a pandemic, but it can often lead to false hope.

DEREK LOWE, "In the Pipeline": People want hope, but false hope is not just neutral.

False hope is worse than no hope at all.

MILES O'BRIEN: Chemist Derek Lowe has done early stage drug discovery for 30 years.

He also writes the well-respected blog "In the Pipeline."

People are scared and looking for a silver bullet.

DEREK LOWE: They sure are.

And I don't blame them for a minute.

And we haven't had a situation like this.

People are used to saying, OK, I have got this disease.

Where's the drug?

I guess everyone is starting to learn a little bit more about what drug discovery is like.

MILES O'BRIEN: We are all learning the hard way.

DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: And a lot of good things have come out about the hydroxy.

A lot of good things have come out.

MILES O'BRIEN: President Trump frequently promoted the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine as a COVID-19 therapeutic before there was scientific data to support the claims.

When that data came in, it showed hydroxychloroquine offers no benefit, but also great harm, causing potentially fatal heart arrhythmias in some patients.

On June 15, the Food and Drug Administration revoked the emergency use authorization for hydroxychloroquine as a COVID-19 treatment.

Dr. George Diaz treated the first U.S. COVID-19 patient at Providence Regional Medical Center in Everett.

He was failing fast, when Dr. Diaz got permission from the FDA and the patient to try the antiviral drug remdesivir.

DR. GEORGE DIAZ, Providence Regional Hospital: He was still having very high fevers and still was requiring oxygen the day that we gave it to him.

By the next day, his fevers resolved, and they stayed gone.

And he was able to come off of oxygen one day after receiving treatment.

So -- and he felt much better.

He felt like he had started beating the virus.

MILES O'BRIEN: Dr. Diaz is participating in a big randomized study of remdesivir, and, in the meantime, continues to see lots of encouraging signs among the patients he treats.

WOMAN: I sent two people home today.

DR. GEORGE DIAZ: Oh, that's fantastic.

WOMAN: Yes.

MILES O'BRIEN: A separate study released at the end of May shows remdesivir slightly reduces the length of hospital stays for COVID-19 patients.

DEREK LOWE: So, that tells you about where the drug is, helpful, but not a cure, because there's no way that one single drug can shut down a viral infection.

That's one thing that we have sort of proven over the years.

MILES O'BRIEN: Doctors on the front lines all over the world have tried hundreds of drugs for off-label use on COVID patients.

The most promising?

A steroid called dexamethasone.

One study shows it reduces the mortality rate for COVID patients on ventilators.

But perhaps the most proven way to beat back a virus is found in the blood of the survivors.

After all, the antibodies it contains have proven their mettle by defeating the virus.

But so-called convalescent plasma has limits.

One survivor may only be able to help no more than three others.

The solution to that may lie in immune cells which are cloned and grown in large batches.

They produce so called monoclonal antibodies, and scientists are now identifying the most effective of them.

Dr. Robert Garry is a professor of microbiology and immunology at Tulane Medical School.

DR. ROBERT GARRY, Tulane University School of Medicine: These have worked very well IN other serious diseases, like the Ebola virus.

So, I'm waiting for the SARS-CoV-2 human monoclonal antibodies.

I think that those are very likely to have a major impact on the course of this illness.

MILES O'BRIEN: Monoclonal antibodies are like a temporary vaccine for those who are sick, their families, and for health care workers.

And while it likely won't take as long to bring them to the market as a vaccine, scaling up production to meet global demand will take time, and maybe more patience than we have.

For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Miles O'Brien in Seattle.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Much attention, including ours here at the "NewsHour," has lately been focused on the push to end the COVID-19 pandemic, but some are calling racism in this country another kind of epidemic, and urging more attention be paid to ending it as well.

Despite the longstanding perception that the U.S. is a nation defined by its divisions, special correspondent Charlayne Hunter-Gault turns to a different perspective now.

It's the latest in our Race Matters series and her ongoing look at solutions to racism.

PROTESTERS: Black lives matter!

Black lives matter!

CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT: Despite the unity seen in Black Lives Matter protests, Americans have often been portrayed as being woefully divided on most major subjects.

But David Brooks, a New York Times columnist, has been insisting even before recent events that this country is more united than divided.

You surely know, David from the "NewsHour"'s weekly Shields and Brooks segment each Friday.

But, in another role, he's been reaching out to Americans of all stripes to understand how they're feeling in these uncertain times.

David Brooks, thank you so much for joining us.

DAVID BROOKS: No, it's so great to be with you.

CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT: You know, you have written columns in the past few months saying that the country is more united than divided.

Who were you talking to, and what was leading you to that conclusion, that we're more united than divided?

DAVID BROOKS: I put out a plea to my readers, and 6,500 sent me essays about how they were doing.

And a lot of them were in bad shape.

And yet, when I spoke to them over the weeks and over the months, they were super impressed by how their neighbors were showing up for each other.

And the things they talked about over and over again was: My local restaurant is now giving away food.

My local church is now a soup kitchen.

My neighbors are showing up for me.

And there was a sense that the country was actually acting for each other.

And so I think there was a feeling -- especially in the first few weeks of the pandemic, a feeling of common action and common purpose and common vulnerability.

CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT: Has there been anything else, as a result of the pandemic, that has made people come closer together or realize they were more united than they thought?

DAVID BROOKS: The reaction to the Floyd murder has been, on the whole, a very good news story.

I look at the marches, and there was some violence in the beginning, but the violence has gone down now.

They were not a black uprising.

They were an American uprising.

CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT: What's the solution to making the unity last?

DAVID BROOKS: I think the first thing we have to do is learn from each other and talk to each other.

My rule is, the more uncomfortable the conversation is, the more I learn from it.

And so I'm hoping the first thing we do is make use of this moment of useful discomfort to face realities in our country and to face each other.

And that's the shift in consciousness that needs to take -- you know, personal transformation and social transformation happen together.

But then it has to be institutionalized with action.

And one of the things that needs to be happening is, because of redlining and segregation and prejudice, we have areas of concentrated poverty all across this country.

To me, this won't be fixed until the school I visited in Detroit a few months ago, which was all African-American, where 3 percent of kids were reading on grade level, this won't be fixed until that's fixed.

And so getting involved in the things that join us together, the things we love together, we love our kids -- and if we can focus on African-American education, education for poor people, that's part of the solution, not just police reform.

We love our work.

If we can give common work, so there's a little more economic equality in this country.

And then we love our neighborhoods.

The people who are doing the best work are in the neighborhood.

I was talking about Watts recently.

And there's an organization there, Sisters of Watts.

And they have been living in Watts their whole lives.

They know what Watts needs.

Outside groups don't know what Watts needs.

But if we got money to them, and resources and power to them, they actually know what to do.

And so getting money right to the grassroots, to the people who can't write grants because they're too busy, that, to me, is how you build up a neighborhood.

And the neighborhood is the unit of change here.

CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT: Tell me about the Weavers and how they fit into your solution for unity.

DAVID BROOKS: Yes.

So, for years and years, it seemed like, every problem, every column I was writing and every appearance I did with Mark was about social isolation, social disconnection and polarization.

And I realized, this is a problem underlying a lot of other problems.

But it's also being solved at the local level by community builders, who I call Weavers.

And they're creating connection.

They're bridging divides.

They're creating a better country, and they're finding a better way to live.

So, for example, in Chicago, in a neighborhood called Englewood, which is a tough neighborhood, there's a woman who lives there named Asiaha Butler.

And Asiaha was going to move out of Englewood because she had a daughter and she was afraid for her safety.

And she was going to go to Atlanta.

And she had booked the moving company and everything.

On the day before she was going to move out, she looked across the street at an empty lot, and there was a little girl in a pink dress playing with broken bottles.

And she turns to her husband and says: We're not moving out.

We're not going to be just another family that left this behind.

And so she Googled volunteer in Englewood.

And now she runs RAGE, which is the big community organization in Englewood.

They have cleaned up the lots.

They have created connections within the community.

Now, if you go there, there's some stores.

And when stores are open, they sell T-shirts, "Proud Daughter of Englewood," "Proud Son of Englewood."

And so the community begins to get turned around by Weavers.

And I find Weavers everywhere.

We drop into a place, Wilkes, North Carolina.

We ask around: Who makes a difference here?

Who's trusted here?

And we found 75 people doing amazing stuff.

And so Weavers are -- I think, are leading us into a better future.

CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT: Are you hopeful, based on what you have seen, that the solutions you have seen working are going to continue?

And how do you make them continue for the benefit of all of us?

DAVID BROOKS: When I look at the marches, when I look at the people I speak to through the Weave Project, when I look at the people I interview through my journalism, I just see such a desire for just a new era, and such a sense that this is a portal to a different future.

And I have faith in that.

CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT: David, I think that's what so many people want to hear now.

And thank you for sharing that with us.

And thank you for being with us.

DAVID BROOKS: Oh, it's great to be with you, Charlayne.

It's a real pleasure.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Our Now Read This book club pick for June was a spy thriller that is relevant amid the Black Lives Matter protests.

Jeffrey Brown talks with author Lauren Wilkinson.

It's part of our series, Canvas.

JEFFREY BROWN: The West African nation of Burkina Faso in the 1980s, and the real-life figure of revolutionary leader Thomas Sankara, whom the CIA is eager to be rid of, it's the setting of "American Spy," a Cold War espionage thriller with a twist: Its protagonist is a black woman named Marie Mitchell.

Author Lauren Wilkinson: LAUREN WILKINSON, Author, "American Spy": The thing that I was after was creating a very complicated female character in the spy genre.

I felt that the spy genre is actually a really good opportunity to talk about double consciousness, because it is so much about -- to me, being a spy is so much about being very, very aware of how other people perceive you.

So, it felt like a perfect metaphor for that.

JEFFREY BROWN: This idea of the double consciousness that Du Bois wrote about and others have -- I mean, I was thinking about Ralph Ellison, of course, with "Invisible Man."

Your main character's father says at one point: I have been a spy in this country for as long as I can remember.

LAUREN WILKINSON: Yes.

I mean, that, to me, was a direct hat tip to Ellison, that his -- the main character's grandfather in "Invisible Man" says something very similar to him that kind of confounds the protagonist for most of the book.

I think this book is my own version of exploring that idea, what the grandfather was saying when he said that he was a spy his whole life.

JEFFREY BROWN: I mean, in this case, it's a spy, but as a black man in his case.

LAUREN WILKINSON: Yes.

I took it -- I took that metaphorical idea, and I made it as literal as possible to kind of give it a little more dimension.

JEFFREY BROWN: Well, another thing you're clearly exploring through your character is right and wrong.

In the classic spy genre, at least that I'm familiar, with like a John Le Carre Cold War, people are aware of the moral ambiguities, but they sort of fall into it, right?

I mean, you don't even know who is good and bad anymore.

Your character, she's trying to keep hold of what's right and wrong.

LAUREN WILKINSON: I love the spy that exists in the moral gray area.

That's the one that always speaks to me.

Le Carre's spies -- I love "Spy Who Came in from the Cold" so much, because I love that figure who is morally gray, who is trying to follow their own moral compass, because it may not be aligned with the country that they are working for.

And so I think, with Marie, with a black spy, there is an added dimension to that, which is that her awareness that she is working for and serving an institution that she does not feel is designed to serve her, as a black American.

So, she has every reason to challenge the moral compass of the institution in which she works, and she's challenged by it despite herself.

JEFFREY BROWN: And, of course, you wrote this before what's happening in our culture right now.

But we were reading it at our club.

I just read it in the last few weeks, after the killing of George Floyd, with the protesters in the street.

How do you see the book now?

I mean, does it resonate in a new way for you?

LAUREN WILKINSON: No, because I felt that I was writing about things that have always existed and will always exist, unless we make some real, real systemic changes.

So, I think what has been happening is that it's always been present.

Only now is there an awareness of it in sort of more mainstream thinking in our country.

As I said, the book took seven years, and I wrote about it through those full seven years with the confidence that the way that Marie felt was going to resonate with black people.

JEFFREY BROWN: All right, the novel is "American Spy."

Lauren Wilkinson, thank you very much.

LAUREN WILKINSON: Thank you for having me.

JUDY WOODRUFF: That was great.

And, for July, our book club selection is "Citizen: An American Lyric" by Claudia Rankine.

In it, she explores moments in her own life and those of others to draw a richly detailed portrait of race in America.

We hope you will read along and join other readers here and on our Facebook page for Now Read This, our book club collaboration with The New York Times.

And that's the "NewsHour" for tonight.

I'm Judy Woodruff.

Join us online and again here tomorrow evening.

For all of us athe "PBS NewsHour," thank you, please stay safe, and we'll see you soon.