AMNA NAWAZ: Good evening.

I'm Amna Nawaz.

Judy Woodruff is away.

On the "NewsHour" tonight: a widespread surge.

Coronavirus cases spike nationwide, as new infection records are set and some officials call for a return to more restrictions.

Then: abuse in the ranks.

Survivors of sexual assault in the military speak out following the harassment and murder of soldier Vanessa Guillen.

Plus: friends in high places.

The president commutes Roger Stone's prison sentence, despite his conviction in connection with the Russia investigation.

And it's Monday, so Tamara Keith and Amy Walter break down the latest politics news, from the ongoing pandemic response to the campaign for the White House.

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

(BREAK) AMNA NAWAZ: The rollback of reopenings is growing tonight, as the coronavirus explosion gains new energy.

But the man leading the public health fight is increasingly a target himself.

White House correspondent Yamiche Alcindor begins our coverage.

YAMICHE ALCINDOR: At hospitals nationwide, the focus is on the wave of new COVID infections.

At the White House, the focus has shifted to attacking Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government's top infectious disease expert.

Today, President Trump retweeted critical posts about Fauci.

That came after the doctor publicly and repeatedly corrected the president's misstatements.

Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino even posted a cartoon of Fauci as a water faucet that needed to be turned off, and branding the scientist as -- quote -- "cowardly."

But, this afternoon, the president took a milder tack.

DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: I have a very good relationship with Dr. Fauci.

I have had for a long time, right from the beginning.

I find him to be a very nice person.

I don't always agree with him.

YAMICHE ALCINDOR: The president himself has often made misleading statements about the virus.

He has wrongly said that 99 percent of the cases are harmless and repeatedly claimed the virus will simply disappear.

But White House aides insist that it is Fauci who has often been wrong about the pandemic.

Fauci did initially discourage the broader public from wearing masks.

He has since said officials took that stance in the beginning because they knew shortages were so bad that medical professionals couldn't get enough.

Early on, Fauci also said, historically, respiratory-borne viruses are rarely transmitted through asymptomatic people.

Since then, as more he and others have learned about COVID-19, he has said asymptomatic is more prevalent than other viruses.

For his part, Dr. Fauci has said that the science around the virus is constantly evolving.

Today, he spoke out again about the increase in nationwide cases.

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, NIAID Director: We did not shut down entirely, and that's the reason why we went up.

We started to come down, and then we plateaued at a level that was really quite high, about 20,000 infections a day.

YAMICHE ALCINDOR: All of this comes as Florida has set a national single-day record for new cases and intensive care units across the state fill to the brim.

Republican Governor Ron DeSantis: GOV.

RON DESANTIS (R-FL): We can't get swept away in fear.

We have to understand what's going on, understand that we do need -- that we have a long road ahead.

YAMICHE ALCINDOR: Still, Disney World in Orlando began its phased reopening this weekend, as mask-clad visitors flocked the park.

But, today, California ordered all restaurants, movie theaters and bars in the state to close down again.

It also called for shopping malls, barbershops and places of worship to close in half of the state.

Texas has also been hard-hit, and officials in Houston are now calling for the state to halt its reopening efforts and reimpose a lockdown.

Houston's Democratic Mayor Sylvester Turner: SYLVESTER TURNER (D), Mayor of Houston, Texas: Step back a couple of weeks, let's look at the numbers, look at the data, see where things are, and then gradually move forward again.

YAMICHE ALCINDOR: Today, the state Supreme Court upheld Houston's refusal to host the state Republican convention in that city as an in-person event.

Mayor Turner said it simply could not do so safely.

Republican leaders say they will consider their next steps.

Meanwhile, hospitals are buckling under surging admissions.

And, on Sunday, White House coronavirus testing czar Admiral Brett Giroir, pushed the use of masks.

ADM. BRETT GIROIR, U.S. Assistant Secretary for Health and Human Services: We have to have like 90 percent of people wearing a mask in public in the hot spot areas.

If we don't have that, we will not get control of the virus.

YAMICHE ALCINDOR: That came just a day after President Trump visited a military hospital in Maryland.

There, he wore a mask in public for the very first time.

At the same time, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos on Sunday continued the president's push to reopen schools in the fall.

BETSY DEVOS, U.S. Education Secretary: There's nothing in the data that suggests that kids being in school is in any way dangerous.

YAMICHE ALCINDOR: Other nations are wrestling with the same questions and the same surge in infections.

In Mexico, officials there say more than 35,000 people have died from the virus, now the fourth highest tally in the world.

For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Yamiche Alcindor.

AMNA NAWAZ: Even as Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, some political leaders, and many parents are pushing for a wider reopening of schools, some officials are worried about the risks.

Today, California's two largest school districts, the Los Angeles and San Diego unified systems, said they will only do instruction remotely this fall.

Between the two districts, that affects roughly 825,000 students.

In Florida, where infections remain very high, the state's education commissioner wants schools physically open five days a week.

Some districts are now looking at hybrid models instead.

We get reaction to all this from the president of the teachers union there.

Fedrick Ingram is with the Florida Education Association, and he joins me now.

Mr. Ingram, welcome to the "NewsHour."

So, your union represents thousands of teachers.

You yourself are a teacher.

What's your assessment?

Will the schools be ready for students next month?

FEDRICK INGRAM, President, Florida Education Association: Well, thank you for having me, and I appreciate being here.

We represent 150,000 educators and school employees across this state.

And, frankly, I believe our governor and our commissioner of education have been irresponsible.

They put out a plan last week to say that we must have a brick-and-mortar option for five days a week.

And I think, being in the epicenter of this virus, with cases steadily rising every day -- in fact, in the next couple of days, our state will eclipse over 300,000 positive cases -- I think it's irresponsible to think that our schools, our teachers, or our educational support professionals or, first and most importantly, our students are ready to go back to school in the brick-and-mortar option.

AMNA NAWAZ: In the meantime, though, we should mention, you have dozens of school districts in the state of Florida.

Each one of those districts is coming up with their own plan.

They all seem to be in different stages, right?

Some have been released.

Some school boards are voting on them.

Some are still very much in the works.

When you think about how students could physically return to school, do any of those plans catch your attention?

Do any of them look like a good plan to you right now?

FEDRICK INGRAM: Listen, kudos to our superintendents, our school boards, our local leaders, our local teachers unions.

They're all trying to put their heads together to create plans that will be as advantageous as we possibly can with our students.

But they can't do this without some guidance and some regulations and funding.

It's going to cost us more money to educate our students than less.

We have to deal with ventilations and cleanings of our school buildings.

We have to deal with social distancing.

That means that we will have smaller classes.

And we have to deal with masks or congregations in terms of our lunch rooms, our buses, our assemblies, or cosmetology class, of course, are banned.

We have gotten no guidelines as to how to do that.

Our districts are frantically trying to create these plans.

And they have been working really hard this summer.

But, under the guise of our governor and our commissioner of education, they have given us a slogan: We must open with brick-and-mortar.

They have not given us a comprehensive plan.

AMNA NAWAZ: Tell me what you're hearing from teachers.

What are they worried about right now?

And do they see specific steps that they want to see put in place as mitigation efforts before they walk back into schools?

FEDRICK INGRAM: Teachers are scared.

Teachers are, frankly -- they have angst that I have never seen before.

Some teachers are making the decisions to retire early, simply because they cannot go back into a school because they are either over the age of 60 or they may have an underlying issue.

Or a teacher may be healthy, and they may be taking care of an elderly parent, or they may be taking care of their own sick child who has a bronchial issue, who has juvenile diabetes.

But they don't want to be the cause of bringing that home from an asymptomatic child.

And so we're putting these things in place.

Our state has said nothing about reasonable accommodations for our teachers.

And that's what they're looking for.

If they get sick, what happens?

If there's a breakout, if there's a pandemic, a virus episode at a school or a particular feeder pattern, what's going to happen?

Do we invite a substitute teacher to come in and teach a class, given the circumstances of a teacher or a child being in that class that's sick?

There is no guidance here in the state of Florida.

And we have to do better, because our kids are depending on us.

AMNA NAWAZ: Well, let me ask you about those kids, then, because there's a lot of concern about the effects that the lockdown has already had, that concern being based on the fact that the gaps that were there before will be widened after kids go back to school.

If they didn't have Internet access in the spring, they won't have it this fall either.

How concerned are you that, the longer schools stay closed, some of those kids are just going to fall further and further behind in a way they can't make up?

FEDRICK INGRAM: Sure.

Well, let me tell you this.

I'm a parent first.

I have a 15-year-old who is going to high school this year.

And I want her high school to be as safe as it can possibly be, knowing that there will be some academic regression, knowing that she's been out of school for five-and-a-half months.

Listen, from March to May, our lawmakers have put in a testing vacuum that is -- that has very little to do with teaching.

So, I feel like our teachers still will do the magic that they always do.

Whenever we get these kids back, be it online or hybrid or brick-and-mortar, our teachers will do what they need to do.

Right now, our parents need to concentrate on exactly the same thing our teachers and our cafeteria workers and our bus drivers and secretaries are saying.

This is life or death.

Kids will die.

People will die because of this virus.

And, in Florida, we do not have this under control.

And we need to concentrate on that, so that we can protect our communities and our families.

Our teachers will still be there.

And our schools will be there as strong as they have ever been, because I have every confidence in our public schools.

AMNA NAWAZ: So, let me just ask you.

Based on what you have seen so far, in the way of the steps the state has been taking, do you see any way that schools could be back open next month safely?

FEDRICK INGRAM: Yes, I do see a way, if our state shows a trend, like the CDC regulations first told us, of 14 days of a decline in getting the virus under control.

We have to do that, because our schools will become a microcosm of what's going on out in the community.

We know that these kids will either be asymptomatic, or they will get sick, or they will go -- be hospitalized, and/or they will affect other people.

And so we have to see a 14-day decline, which we have not seen over the last six weeks here in Florida.

So, until we get to that point, I don't think that we should even be in the discussions of opening schools one way or another.

We should talk -- be talking about delaying over maybe a two-week period of time, so that we can see if we're going to get control of this.

If not, then we need to talk about the fall itself and moving and shifting to distance learning, and doing the very best that we can, given the circumstances.

AMNA NAWAZ: A lot of uncertainty ahead, for sure.

That is Fedrick Ingram of the Florida Education Association joining us tonight.

Thank you so much for your time.

FEDRICK INGRAM: Thank you.

AMNA NAWAZ: In the day's other news: The United Nations warned the coronavirus pandemic could push 130 million more people worldwide into chronic hunger this year.

Last year, before the outbreak, the annual U.N. report estimated 690 million people went hungry.

That's nearly 9 percent of the overall global population, and an increase of 10 million from the year before.

More than 200 universities have come out in support of a lawsuit against pandemic curbs on international students.

The Trump administration is denying visas to those not taking at least one in-person class this fall.

The schools filed briefs today, backing the suit by Harvard and MIT.

In addition, 17 states and the District of Columbia filed a separate suit against the policy.

The White House is defending President Trump's grant of clemency to Roger Stone.

On Friday, the president commuted his longtime ally's 40-month prison sentence for witness tampering and lying to Congress.

Today, the White House press secretary dismissed criticism of that decision.

KAYLEIGH MCENANY, White House Press Secretary: It is not the case that only those who are politically connected get a pardon.

This president is the president of criminal justice reform.

This president did the FIRST STEP Act.

This president has fought for those who are given unduly harsh sentences more than any Democrat who liked to talk about it, but never actually did it.

AMNA NAWAZ: The presiding federal judge in the case demanded to know today if Stone will still have two years of supervised release.

The Justice Department said the clemency order wipes out that requirement as well.

We will have more on this later in the program.

Tensions between the United States and China are escalating again in the South China Sea.

The Trump administration today rejected nearly all of Beijing's territorial claims in the region.

In recent years, China has built military bases to back up those claims, and U.S. warships have sailed through the region to contest them.

Separately, China announced sanctions against two U.S. senators, Ted Cruz of Texas and Marco Rubio of Florida.

Both have criticized human rights abuses against Muslims in Western China.

The U.S. ambassador for religious freedom, Sam Brownback, was also included.

The sanctions could ban all three from entering China.

In Poland, conservative President Andrzej Duda has narrowly won a second term after he defeated Warsaw's liberal mayor in Sunday's vote.

Duda apologized today for a campaign that stoked anti-Semitism and homophobia.

But gay activists warned of what may lie ahead.

JAKUB KWIECINSKI, Activist (through translator): It looks like we live in a country where hatred wins over love.

It looks like we live in a country where fear wins over the openness towards others, in a country where lies win over honesty.

And I am saying all of this as an ordinary person, who is disappointed with people around, disappointed with my neighbors, disappointed with my fellow countrymen.

AMNA NAWAZ: Duda has reduced poverty in Poland, but has also raised fears that he is curtailing freedom of the press and independence of the courts.

Back in this country, more than 1,000 employees of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are demanding that the agency address internal racism.

NPR obtained a letter from the group addressed to director Robert Redfield.

It speaks of a toxic culture of racial aggressions against black employees.

The CDC confirms that Redfield received the letter, but says nothing of his response.

Washington, D.C.'s NFL franchise announced today it will change its name, long criticized as a racial slur against Native Americans.

The team also retired its Indian head logo.

The move comes after years of protests, and just days after the franchise launched a formal name review, under pressure from corporate sponsors.

There's no word yet on what the new team name will be.

The U.S. budget deficit hit an all-time high of $864 billion in June.

That came amid increased spending to counter the pandemic's economic toll and a massive decline in tax revenue.

Meanwhile, trading was rocky on Wall Street today.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 10 points to close at 26086.

The Nasdaq plunged 226 points, and the S&P 500 shed 30.

And two passings of note: Actor Kelly Preston has died of breast cancer, according to her husband, John Travolta.

Her movie highlights included "Jerry Maguire" in 1996.

She was 57 years old.

And Naya Rivera's body was found today in a Southern California lake.

Officials say she drowned.

Rivera starred in the former TV series "Glee."

And she was just 33 years old.

Still to come on the "NewsHour": the mayor of Alexandria, Virginia, discusses the balance between reopening and public safety amid the pandemic; survivors of sexual assault in the military speak out following the harassment and murder of soldier Vanessa Guillen; the president commutes Roger Stone's prison sentence, despite his conviction in connection with the Russia investigation; plus, much more.

We talk often about the implications of COVID-19 on a national level, but a lot of the decisions that directly impact our lives are made by local governments.

We want to take a moment and focus on how those decisions are made.

So, a few days ago, I spent time with the mayor of my own hometown, Alexandria, Virginia, for a closer look.

JUSTIN WILSON, Mayor of Alexandria, Virginia: Our vehicle traffic, obviously, is a lot less now and Friday AMNA NAWAZ: Friday afternoon in Old Town, Alexandria, and Mayor Justin Wilson is walking the city's main drag.

JUSTIN WILSON: This allowed more space for social distancing.

AMNA NAWAZ: This is what phase three of Virginia's reopening looks like.

What's it like for you to come out now and see businesses open and people outside dining?

JUSTIN WILSON: It is definitely good to see.

Everyone's tables are separate.

Folks are mostly doing the right thing.

But it comes with, of course, some trepidation, right, because you don't want to see a situation where we're back where we were.

AMNA NAWAZ: Alexandria's a small city, about 160,000 residents, many whom cross the river into Washington, D.C., every day as federal workers.

The economy here depends on small businesses like these, restaurants, independent retailers, mom-and-pop stores all of them, all of them hit hard in the pandemic.

WOMAN: This is going to be definitely a three-year recovery program, at a minimum.

AMNA NAWAZ: Mayor is a part-time gig here.

Wilson also works for Amtrak.

But trying to stabilize his city's economy has now become an enormous job.

JUSTIN WILSON: We have what was an $800 million budget that we lost $92 million out of, which is an enormous hit for us.

And so we want to get our economy back going.

AMNA NAWAZ: The financial impact for Alexandria is immense.

In April of last year, dining out yielded $2.2 million in tax revenue, this year, just 570,000.

From hotel stays, April 2019 brought in $1.3 million.

This year, that was down to just $96,000.

Already, pay freezes are in place for City Hall staff.

Layoffs are a possibility.

JUSTIN WILSON: If this is a prolonged, multiyear thing, this is going to be dramatic for us.

It's going to be very, very significant.

AMNA NAWAZ: And the blow to the city budget means badly needed infrastructure work won't get done.

You mentioned a $90 million hit to your budget.

JUSTIN WILSON: Yes, 92, Yes.

AMNA NAWAZ: What does that mean for a city like Alexandria?

JUSTIN WILSON: The biggest question is, how sustainable is it going to be.

Is that a $92 million one-time hit?

We deferred to a whole bunch of capital projects.

We used -- drew down on some of our reserves.

So, a planned rebuild of a high school is going to be delayed for a couple of years.

Waterfront flood mitigation work is going to be delayed for several years.

AMNA NAWAZ: There is pushback against Wilson's push to reopen.

Northern Virginia had previously coordinated plans with neighboring D.C. and Maryland, which have been more restrictive in their openings.

This month, that changed.

And Mayor Wilson pressed ahead with the rest of Virginia to relax restrictions.

Alexandria's had nearly 2,500 COVID cases, and almost 60 fatalities.

Critics worry the reopening has fueled further spread of the virus.

JUSTIN WILSON: We understand that the prerequisite of any economic activity is public health.

Even some of the states that rushed reopening learned that you can open everything.

People aren't going to show up unless they feel safe.

A lot of businesses are making plans around reopening.

AMNA NAWAZ: Some kind of schedule.

(CROSSTALK) JUSTIN WILSON: Yes, and trying at least to get adopt to some new normal.

And so the last thing we wanted to see is have to go backwards.

AMNA NAWAZ: Like much of the country, black and brown residents here have been hardest hit.

Wilson says resistance from the federal government to help undocumented workers and others who need it most remains a problem.

What specific steps would you want to see from the federal government that would help your community right now?

JUSTIN WILSON: What I have said every single time I have talked to our -- both of our senators and our congressmen is just send money.

I mean, I hate to say it so simply, but send money.

Send money to our residents.

Send money to our businesses.

AMNA NAWAZ: For his part, the mayor is trying to lead by example, masking up in public, safely interacting with neighbors, and running a one-man social media P.R.

machine for local restaurants, featuring new outdoor dining or curbside pickup options.

But, like local leaders across the country, his optimism is tempered by the uncertainty ahead.

Are you worried that there could be another spike in cases?

JUSTIN WILSON: If you find me someone who is confident about anything in this environment, they're lying to you, because this is unprecedented, right?

We're all making decisions that have no rule book.

There is no -- there's no other jurisdiction you can consult.

There are no scholarly journals you can look at.

But, yes, I'm absolutely concerned.

AMNA NAWAZ: The disappearance and murder of Army Specialist Vanessa Guillen has sparked an outpouring of stories from mainly female service members with one common thread.

Like Guillen, they experienced sexual harassment and abuse in the ranks, but felt that the military's reporting system wasn't built to help them.

In a moment, Nick Schifrin speaks with two experts about what needs to change.

But, first, he has some background on Guillen and the stories of women, in their own words, who are part of the hashtag #IamVanessaGuillen movement.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Vanessa Guillen was 20 years old when she died.

Her family says she's always wanted to be in the military to protect the country, but they say the military failed to protect her.

Guillen told them that she'd been harassed by a higher-ranking soldier, but, because of a culture of fear at the base and in the Army, she felt too afraid to report it.

She went missing on April 22.

Her body was found more than two months later.

She'd been struck by a hammer, burned, and partially dismembered.

The police zeroed in on the man the family says was her harasser, Aaron Robinson.

When they approached him, he died by suicide.

Outside Fort Hood, there's a memorial for Guillen, and in Houston a march calling for justice and accusing the military of failing to defend its female service members.

On Thursday, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper admitted the military could do better.

MARK ESPER, U.S. Defense Secretary: We have made a lot of progress over 10 years, but nowhere near we need to be.

We need to get zero tolerance of sexual harassment and sexual assault.

And we need to make sure everybody in our ranks knows where they can go to for help, where they can find help.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Congress has a major piece of legislation called the Military Justice Improvement Act that would remove the chain of command from the decision to prosecute sexual harassment and abuse claims.

But this moment is different.

The viciousness of the crime, and a social media campaign with the hashtag #IamVanessaGuillen, has highlighted what countless female veterans say, that Guillen's story, sadly, is not unique.

We spoke to half-dozen veterans, women victims of sexual harassment or assault, who say they were initially silenced, but, thanks to Guillen, they are silenced no more.

JOANNA SWEATT, U.S. Marine Corps Veteran: My name is Joanna Sweatt, and I am a United States Marine Corps veteran.

TIFFANY SUMMA, U.S. Army Veteran: My name is Tiffany Summa.

I was and -- or I am an Army veteran.

RENEE YESSMAN, U.S. Army Veteran: My name is Renee Yessman.

STEPHANIE FLORES, U.S. Navy Veteran: My name is Stephanie Flores.

ASHLEY MARTINEZ, U.S. Army Veteran: My name is Ashley Martinez.

JORGINA BUTLER, U.S. Army Virginia: My name is Jorgina Butler.

ASHLEY MARTINEZ: Two months into my duty assignment, I was raped by another soldier.

JORGINA BUTLER: I was sexually assaulted by someone I knew.

RENEE YESSMAN: In October of 2016, I was at a party off base with some of my friends, and then I just remember waking up on my front yard.

TIFFANY SUMMA: I was wearing brown sweat pants and a tan Army T-shirt.

And the next evening, I woke up, and I was not wearing that.

And I had blood on me and I was covered in vomit.

STEPHANIE FLORES: On my ship, I personally experienced sexual harassment from my direct supervisor, right?

And it was a lot of sexist comments, a lot of sexual language and comments towards me.

JOANNA SWEATT: I didn't even know about the assault, the act or anything.

That's how blacked out I was.

RENEE YESSMAN: They made me actually call the male that they found his DNA.

It took me an hour to build up the courage to even pick up the phone.

I was scared.

I was crying.

JORGINA BUTLER: They had all the evidence of him saying, yes, I -- yes, I do remember that night.

Yes, I did do that.

And they still, for some reason, said there was not enough evidence.

I chose, like Vanessa, not to report it.

Like a lot of people say, the only difference between me and her story is that I walked away alive.

ASHLEY MARTINEZ: With the Vanessa Guillen's story, I think I saw myself in her.

I was a young Hispanic enlisted soldier.

I was also too scared to tell my mother my attacker's name.

TIFFANY SUMMA: I went to my chain of command, and I told them what happened and I was immediately told to bury this.

RENEE YESSMAN: They made me feel like I wasn't a victim, that it was me that initiated it by going to a party.

And they kicked me out for having PTSD, and he stayed in.

STEPHANIE FLORES: The first thing that they told me was like, well, you are new to the military.

No one is going to believe you or nothing is going to get done.

ASHLEY MARTINEZ: The first questions that I were asked were, were you drinking?

How much were you drinking?

And what were you wearing?

I ended up dropping the case, because I didn't feel comfortable prosecuting my attacker, because I didn't have faith in the system.

JOANNA SWEATT: My two friends thought that it was appropriate to go speak to one of our school instructors who happened to be on duty that day.

He had a very candid conversation with me about how that would negatively affect my life if I were to report such a crime.

TIFFANY SUMMA: I would like the "What were you wearing?"

to stop.

"What did you do?"

Because, in reality, there's no -- there's no way to protect yourself against somebody who has this in their mind to do it.

ASHLEY MARTINEZ: I really started to experience debilitating migraines.

Eventually, I was medically discharged because I was unable to perform my daily duties.

I still live with the trauma every day.

RENEE YESSMAN: I still go to therapy every week.

I'm on a lot of medications to sleep, to have no nightmares, to function normally.

I have a service animal.

JORGINA BUTLER: I went to the E.R.

And that's when I started to just like unreal -- reveal a lot of the things that was happening to me, like a suicide attempt with alcohol and pills.

ASHLEY MARTINEZ: I know that we all signed up for, and we have to really accept the reality that we may die fighting for this country overseas.

But we did not sign up for to be sexually harassed and sexually abused by our own fellow soldiers who we are supposed to fight alongside.

I would really like to see some more accountability.

I don't know how it's possible that Vanessa was missing for over a month in an institution where supervisors are supposed to have accountability of their soldiers at all times of day.

JORGINA BUTLER: You can't investigate yourself.

And that's what Fort Hood does.

They sent the cases back down to the unit to investigate themselves.

TIFFANY SUMMA: What a lot of the survivors and I have discussed is wanting a separate civilian entity that only deals with military sexual trauma.

I shared under the hashtag, and hundreds of people have been in my inbox through Facebook and Twitter wanting to share their stories with me.

And for a lot of them, it's the first time they have ever shared their story.

JORGINA BUTLER: You can't demote me.

You can't kick me out of anything anymore.

So, me using my voice might protect somebody else.

NICK SCHIFRIN: So, why is sexual harassment so prevalent in the military, and what can be done about it?

For that, we get two views.

First, retired Lieutenant Colonel Geoffrey Corn was a former Army lawyer who now teaches criminal law and national security at South Texas College of Law.

And former captain Melissa Bryant served nine years in the Army as an intelligence officer, including in Iraq.

She's now a veterans advocate and a legislative and policy consultant.

Welcome to you both to the "NewsHour."

Secretary Esper was quoted earlier saying that they had made some progress.

And I want to list some of the things the military has done over the last few years.

DOD is now required to release sexual assault data every year.

There's now mandatory training for all service members on what is sexual assault, how to prevent it.

Legal officers known as special victims advocates are assigned to people to report -- who report sexual assault.

And the chain of command at the colonel or Navy captain level have to be notified of sexual assault cases.

Melissa Bryant, have those changes made a difference?

CAPT.

MELISSA BRYANT (RET.

), Former U.S. Army Intelligence Officer: Those gradual changes were absolutely necessary for improved justice.

It's been gradually implemented by DOD, but it still doesn't take away influence out of the hands of commanders and put it into those special prosecutors that you just mentioned.

The fact that Vanessa Guillen stated to her family that she feared retaliation means that it has not been enough.

And we need to take that unlawful command influence out of the military justice system when we're talking about sex crimes like this.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Geoffrey Corn, Geoffrey Corn: do you think those changes have made a difference?

LT. COL. GEOFFREY CORN (RET.

), U.S. Army: I mean, they absolutely have made a difference.

And one of the differences has been the increased number of reports of sexual misconduct in the military, which is a double-edged sword, because the military is criticized because of increased sexual assault numbers.

But those numbers reflect an increase in reporting.

I don't think they reflect an increase in the propensity of these offenses to occur.

Look, nobody, nobody in uniform deserves to suffer the way these women suffered.

And there are male victims as well.

But there is no evidence that there is a substantial amount of command influence that's implicating the willingness of these convening authorities to send cases to trial when they're presented to them.

The challenge has been getting them notified of these incidents, which is why, as you noted, DOD imposed a requirement that all incidents of sexual misconduct be reported up to the colonel or captain level.

That's to ensure that junior level commanders don't sweep them under the rug.

CAPT.

MELISSA BRYANT: But when you're looking at the fact and you're looking at the overwhelming anecdotal evidence that unfortunately does not get captured by the reporting, then that's when we recognize that there is a very real fear of retaliation that still exists.

There is a very real command influence that exists over said commanders.

And so, yes, while that may be elevated, that convening authority decision, to two- and three-star general officer, flag officer rank, it still does not improve the issue of bias.

That bias is still there.

We need to be able to ensure that any form of bias whatsoever, implicit bias, has been removed from the chain of command and removed from the -- from anywhere within the procedures for any pending trial.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Geoffrey Corn, you mentioned increased numbers.

Just to put a number on that, Protect Our Defenders say sexual assaults jumped 38 percent from 2016 to 2018.

And, also, there are surveys that show underreported assaults have also grown.

So, is that not an indication that the problem is, in fact, getting worse?

LT. COL. GEOFFREY CORN: It is actually a manifestation that the efforts to enhance the probability of reporting have been improved.

And I think there's a point of consensus between me and Melissa.

And I can tell you, as a private, the idea that I would go make a report against my sergeant or my captain or my lieutenant was inconceivable.

The institution, by its very nature, makes reports by subordinates to superiors extremely difficult, particularly when they perceive there's misconduct.

So there is a lot of work that continues and needs to continue to give soldiers, airmen, Marines and sailors at every level the absolute confidence that they are - - if they're candid and honest about an accusation of misconduct, they will not be subject to retribution.

CAPT.

MELISSA BRYANT: Listen, I was a 20-year-old cadet who was at Fort Hood with an M.P.

unit.

I can understand what -- the pressure that a specialist like Vanessa Guillen could feel.

The reason why you need this is because we live and work among one another.

And that's why you need to remove that bias.

We need to be able to ensure that that survivor is able to come forward and not face any one necessarily from their unit who may have undue influence over the outcomes of justice.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Melissa Bryant, Geoffrey Corn, we will have to leave it there.

Thanks very much to you both.

LT. COL. GEOFFREY CORN: Thank you.

CAPT.

MELISSA BRYANT: Thank you.

AMNA NAWAZ: As we reported earlier, President Trump's decision to commute the prison sentence of his longtime ally Roger Stone is raising questions.

Our Lisa Desjardins has this report.

LISA DESJARDINS: Friday night, Roger Stone, political strategist, lobbyist and friend and adviser to President Trump, celebrated becoming a free man, after Mr. Trump commuted his upcoming three-year prison sentence.

ROGER STONE, Former Trump Campaign Adviser: I had a very gracious call from the president of United States, who told me that he had decided to use his extraordinary powers of clemency to commute my sentence, a -- what he called a full commutation of my sentence.

LISA DESJARDINS: Stone was convicted by a federal jury of seven felonies, five counts of lying to Congress, and one each of witness tampering and obstructing a congressional investigation, all part of the investigation into how he and the Trump campaign got a hold of damaging e-mails about Hillary Clinton that investigators found were part of a Russian attempt to sway the election.

DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: Roger Stone was brought into this witch-hunt, this whole political witch-hunt, and the Mueller scam.

LISA DESJARDINS: President Trump maintains the probe by special counsel Robert Mueller was a politically motivated hoax, and defended his commutation of stone's sentence.

DONALD TRUMP: I'm getting rave reviews for what I did for Roger Stone.

LISA DESJARDINS: Stone said he felt confident his conviction would be overturned on appeal anyway.

ROGER STONE: The president has said on a number of other occasions that he thinks I have a good chance of exoneration.

LISA DESJARDINS: The president's extraordinary action motivated Robert Mueller to break his year-long public silence, writing in The Washington Post -- quote -- "Stone was prosecuted and convicted because he committed federal crimes.

He remains a convicted felon, and rightly so."

Mueller wrote his team -- quote -- "identified numerous links between the Russian government and Trump campaign personnel, Stone among them."

While the president charges that he and Stone are victims of political bias, his attorney general, Bill Barr, last week defended the Justice Department's case against Stone.

WILLIAM BARR, U.S. Attorney General: I think the prosecution was righteous.

LISA DESJARDINS: ABC's Pierre Thomas asked at the time if Barr would recommend President Trump pardon or commute Stone's sentence.

WILLIAM BARR: It's the president's prerogative.

It's a unique power that the president has.

And it's certainly something that is committed to his judgment.

But, as I say, I felt it was an appropriate prosecution, and I thought the sentence was fair.

LISA DESJARDINS: Senator Lindsey Graham, a staunch ally of the president's, supported the commutation, noting, Stone's offenses were nonviolent.

But some other Republicans warned of political fallout, including Maryland Governor Larry Hogan.

GOV.

LARRY HOGAN (R-MD): It's certainly going to hurt politically.

LISA DESJARDINS: Meanwhile, speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi called the president's decision -- quote -- "appalling."

AMNA NAWAZ: And Roger Stone is just the latest high-profile recipient of a pardon or commutation during the Trump presidency.

Lisa is here to help put this all into context.

Lisa, it's good to see you.

Let's start with the context just of this president.

When you look at this decision to commute Roger Stone's sentence, how unusual is it?

LISA DESJARDINS: Well, I spent the day talking to experts, some of whom worked in this office previously, and this is a highly unusual number, for two reasons.

There are two things unusual about what the president has done here.

First, while the number of commutations is relatively low -- it's a small number -- it's actually high for this point in any modern presidency.

This is the highest number of commutations any president has had at this point in 30 years.

The other thing that's unusual, Amna, of course, is who's getting them.

Let's look at the graphic to explain.

So far, the president has commuted 10 sentences.

Of those, at least three are people who are personally or politically connected to the president.

It does depend on how you count it.

That number could be higher, depending on your definition of those.

We're seeing Roger Stone, Rod Blagojevich, the former governor of Illinois, and the Hammond brothers, who set fire to some public lands in Oregon.

And that became sort of a cause for conservatives.

Amna, it's to understand that commutations here are actually somewhat of a higher order than pardons.

Commutations, that ends or shortens a prison sentence currently under way or about to start.

A pardon, the technical definition of that is a forgiveness for a felon who's already finished their sentence.

So, for those in the Justice Department, commutations, to some degree, are more serious.

And I will say the president has also issued a large number of pardons.

And when you look at where those have gone, roughly about a third, just like the commutations, have gone to people who are personally or politically connected to this president.

AMNA NAWAZ: So, let's look now at the broader American context, right?

If you go back into history, have other presidents granted this kind of clemency to political allies?

And has there been the kind of political fallout that we just heard in your report Maryland Governor Hogan say there could be?

LISA DESJARDINS: It is so hard to compare almost anything these days to past history.

We're in very unprecedented days.

But President Trump is not the first president to commute or pardon the sentence or the felon record of a political ally or personal friend.

Gerald Ford, many of our viewers will recognize, pardoned Richard Nixon.

He was not convicted of anything, but ahead of any possible conviction.

That was very controversial.

Then, also after that, George H.W.

Bush pardoned six of the co-conspirators in Iran-Contra.

Now, Bill Clinton, some of the folks I talked to you today, say maybe the closest example, though not a perfect analogy to President Trump, he pardoned 140 people on the day he left office.

What is the political consequences of that?

Well, for Clinton and for George H.W.

Bush, they did it on the way out the door.

But Gerald Ford did it while he was still hoping to have a future career.

Some people arguably say that that was what helped end his career.

AMNA NAWAZ: So, Lisa, we heard Attorney General Barr also mention there this is all, of course, perfectly legal.

It's within the president's powers.

There's been, as we also know, a lot of debate around presidential powers recently.

So, of all the experts you talked to, where does this fit in to those theories of presidential power?

LISA DESJARDINS: Well, the founding fathers put this power in the Constitution, Alexander Hamilton, particularly, because they wanted to make sure the justice system didn't overreach, wasn't overly harsh.

They also wanted to have a place for -- quote - - "potential political forgiveness."

So, Trump is not really in either of those contexts.

It's hard to say.

One other note.

I want to look at how hard it is to get one of these commutations or pardons.

Let's look at a graphic quickly.

Right now, look at how many of these requests are pending, over 13,000.

Those are processed by a small office of the pardon attorney.

Just under two dozen people work there processing those claims, Amna, but the White House can intercede.

And as we have seen in most of the pardons under this president, the White House has interceded, rather than going through the traditional process.

AMNA NAWAZ: That is Lisa Desjardins with some important context for us tonight.

Thanks so much, Lisa.

Good to see you.

LISA DESJARDINS: You're welcome.

AMNA NAWAZ: Over the weekend, President Trump's critics seized on that Stone commutation.

The Lincoln Project, a group working to elect Joe Biden in November, released an ad calling the Trump administration a criminal enterprise, and listing the members of the Trump team who have been convicted of felonies.

Here to break down the political implications of this and more, our Politics Monday team.

That's Amy Walter of The Cook Political Report and host of public radio's "Politics With Amy Walter," and Tamara Keith of NPR.

She also co-hosts the "NPR Politics Podcast."

Welcome to you both.

And let's just start off with that ad.

It's worth mentioning, Tam, it was on Friday that President Trump commuted the sentence of Roger Stone.

On Saturday, The Lincoln Project had that ready to go.

An ad like that, leveraging Stone's commutation, what is the messaging there, and who is the messaging going towards?

TAMARA KEITH, National Public Radio: Well, The Lincoln Project has been a rapid-response unit coming out with ads quickly whenever President Trump does anything that they think deserves an ad.

And some of their ads are very trolley, seemed to be aimed at an audience of one who might be watching "FOX & Friends" that morning, the president of the United States.

In terms of who they're trying to reach, arguably, they're trying to reach Republicans who the last time around, in 2016, may have had some discomfort for President Trump, but couldn't bring themselves to vote for Hillary Clinton.

And now there is a push, and it's broader than The Lincoln Project, certainly -- that's just one example -- now there's a push to try to win over people who do feel uncomfortable with President Trump and his norms-busting or his handling of the coronavirus.

It's not clear to me, though, that the Stone commutation is going to be the thing that puts people over the edge.

I mean, President Trump has, as Lisa reported, done a lot of these things.

And look to how he sort of has rewarded his friends and gone after people like Lieutenant Colonel Vindman and others who testified in the impeachment trial.

AMNA NAWAZ: Amy, what do you make of this?

AMY WALTER, The Cook Political Report: Yes, I agree with Tam's point about that.

If there's anything that is hurting the president politically, it's the coronavirus.

It's the fact that, in the most recent polling, on overage, the president's disapproval rating (AUDIO GAP) the crisis that we're in right now, his disapproval rating (AUDIO GAP) The majority of Americans believe that, on the most important issue facing (AUDIO GAP) the president is not doing a good job on that.

That's what's weighing this president down, much more so than what is either happening with the commutations or the continuing back and forth with the president and (AUDIO GAP) as his political enemies and the tweetstorms.

AMNA NAWAZ: So, Amy -- or, Tam, rather, let me ask you about the president's pandemic response.

We have seen an administration struggling to message on it consistently and coherently, and this new development our colleague Yamiche Alcindor reported on earlier of attacking the very same experts who are working with the White House Task Force to help them respond to the pandemic, specifically Dr. Anthony Fauci.

What do you make of that messaging, and also the fact that the president was seen for the very first time wearing a mask this weekend?

TAMARA KEITH: Yes, the president was seen for the very first time wearing a mask this weekend.

It's been months since the recommendation was put out, and he actively avoided wearing a mask.

He wore it, and then his campaign was sort of shouting from the rooftop, spiking footballs, whatever you want to call it, on Twitter, saying how manly and amazing he looked, and now he's going to win the race.

It was sort of an over-the-top response from his campaign to what is a fairly standard thing that most people are doing, politicians or not.

So, the White House, in its response and its inability to sort of land on a message, this effort to separate from Fauci or to have Dr. Fauci be less of a public face, part of that is, when Fauci goes out and does these interviews, he often is asked questions that lead to him revealing that there is space between his view and the White House view.

And White House officials I have spoken to are frustrated about that, and keep saying, like, well, he's just one of the experts.

And yet Fauci has been held up as the expert.

He's on socks.

He's on donuts and prayer candles.

He's everywhere.

And the White House is sort of frustrated by that.

But the bigger question is, what is their plan?

What is their response?

And that is much less clear, sort of the going-forward strategy on how they're going to deal with the coronavirus.

I mean, the president is doing his best not to really talk about it, and, when he does talk about it, he's often downplaying it or downplaying the deaths.

AMNA NAWAZ: Amy, some people are looking at the way the White House has been messaging recently, specifically with regard to Dr. Fauci, and saying he's trying to undermine Dr. Fauci.

When you look at how people are viewing those two messengers, what do we know about how people are taking in those two sources of information?

AMY WALTER: Well, we do know that, at least in the most recent polling, Dr. Fauci has much higher favorable ratings than the president does.

He's certainly not as polarizing as the president.

The other thing we know that this president loves to do is muddy the waters.

And the Russia investigation is a perfect example of that, throw enough stuff out there that people really start to question and doubt what it is that they're seeing and hearing.

And if they throw their hands up and say, well, I don't know, it all seems kind of like a mess, that's kind of a win for the president.

The problem in muddying the water on a public health crisis is that it actually puts people's lives in danger.

And there's absolutely no way for the president to get back to the economy that he would like to have, talking about how great the economy was before COVID started.

He talked about how important it was to get schools back in session this fall.

None of that can happen unless COVID is under control and unless people in this country feel safe doing their everyday activities.

So, this is -- again, the president goes back to his traditional strategy of just make it somebody else's fault, or make it unclear, so that I don't get the blame.

But, in this case, when you're president of the United States in a major crisis, the buck definitely stops with you.

AMNA NAWAZ: Tam, let me ask you about how we're already seeing some indication that the virus could help to shape in some way the presidential election.

When you look at some new poll numbers out from CBS News, and you look at three key Sunbelt states, all states that have been hit very hard by the pandemic, are seeing surges, in Florida, Joe Biden is now leading President Trump by six points.

They are virtually tied in Arizona, and Biden is now competitive in Texas.

When you look at those numbers and how close they are, where they are today, what do they say to you?

TAMARA KEITH: Well, one thing about those three states, it's that they are demographically shifting, in that they are states that are growing more diverse.

And that would matter.

But what matters more now also is that President Trump is doing really poorly with older voters.

They have been a critical part of his base.

And it's possible he can get them back, but, right now, Biden is performing quite well with older voters, who are certainly a presence in those states and are a significant part of why President Trump was able to perform as well as he did in 2016 in those states.

And the issue with older voters is, the coronavirus is affecting their lives in a very real way.

I was talking to a Republican pollster who also does a lot of focus groups with women, who said, grandmothers are mad.

Grandmothers are livid.

It's not just about having to shelter in place or feeling at risk from coronavirus.

They can't see their grandkids, and that affects them in a very visceral way.

AMNA NAWAZ: Amy, let me ask you about some related or possibly related Senate races, too.

If you look at these battleground states and you see that President Trump could be vulnerable there, what about other incumbent senators in red states?

Should they be similarly concerned?

AMY WALTER: They should be very concerned.

And they are very concerned.

Amna, going into 2020, Democrats, they had a little bit of an advantage on the overall playing field.

They're not playing as much defense as they were, say, back in 2018.

But they didn't have a lot of obvious targets.

As the president's numbers sink, that means that Republicans' numbers are sinking, even in places that theoretically, at least earlier this year, looked safe for them, like Iowa, or we put up -- in Arizona, which is a purple state.

But we are starting to see states like Montana come online.

And so what this means now is, if you're a Republican incumbent in a state that is at all competitive, you should be very nervous, in part because the president is not just a little bit of a drag, but he's like an anchor right now around the ankles of these incumbent Republican senators.

If he doesn't see his numbers go up as we get closer to the election, it's going to be very hard for some of these senators.

And Arizona is a great example of that for the incumbent Republican senators to be able to get enough oxygen to win these races.

The other thing I would note about -- about Arizona and Texas, we had a preview in 2018 of why those states are more competitive.

And that is, as Tam pointed out, not that they're diversifying, but they're very suburban.

Arizona especially, most of the vote, more than 60 percent of the vote comes from Maricopa County, which is Phoenix and its suburbs.

As those suburbs are changing and as places like Dallas and Houston, San Antonio suburbs, the Austin suburbs become more Democratic-leaning, it gets tougher and tougher for Republicans to pull out the kind of margins that they're used to seeing in those kind of states.

AMNA NAWAZ: There is a lot to track in the weeks and the months ahead.

That is Amy Walter and Tamara Keith breaking it all down for us again in Politics Monday.

Thanks to you both.

Good to see you.

TAMARA KEITH: Good to see you.

AMNA NAWAZ: And on the "NewsHour" online: The Supreme Court recently made its first major decision on abortion since President Trump took office, and it was broadly seen as a win for the reproductive rights movement.

But some scholars and activists caution that the narrow ruling does not necessarily signal abortion rights will be protected by the high court in future cases.

We take a look at the implications of that June 29 decision and what it means for abortion access in the U.S. going forward.

That and more is on our Web site, PBS.org/NewsHour.

And that's the "NewsHour" for tonight.

I'm Amna Nawaz.

Join us online and again here tomorrow evening.

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