AMNA NAWAZ: Good evening.

I'm Amna Nawaz.

On the "NewsHour" tonight: COVID infections continue to hit new highs in the U.S., while deaths also spike.

Judy Woodruff speaks with Dr. Anthony Fauci about the troubling coronavirus surge.

Then: policing protesters.

Federal agents in unmarked cars detain demonstrators as part of the Trump administration's response to protests in Portland, Oregon.

Plus, inside the surge.

We report from Arizona, where the spike in coronavirus hospitalizations threatens to overwhelm the state's health care system.

DR. QUINN SNYDER, Emergency Physician: It's really hard to watch people be out and about and exhibiting dangerous behaviors, knowing that there's a good chance that I might be seeing them in my emergency department.

And, frankly, in a week or two, I might not have room for them in my hospital.

AMNA NAWAZ: And it's Friday.

Mark Shields and David Brooks break down the politics around the pandemic and the race for the White House.

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

(BREAK) AMNA NAWAZ: A record-setting week in the COVID-19 pandemic is coming to a close, with the world approaching 14 million cases and 600,000 deaths.

Nearly 140,000 of those deaths have occurred here in the United States.

And the virus continues to spread every day.

In response today, the city of Miami imposed strict enforcement of orders to wear face masks, as cases surge across Florida.

Military medics began deploying to help overwhelmed hospitals.

And governors in Texas and California set rules allowing schools to stay completely online this fall.

And now to Judy Woodruff.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Next week will mark six months since the first confirmed case of COVID-19 was reported in this country, but, as we just heard, much of the nation is struggling with the consequences of outbreaks and debating how to best respond.

Dr. Anthony Fauci is the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the NIH.

He is a member of the president's task force for dealing with COVID-19.

And, Dr. Fauci, we welcome you back to "NewsHour."

So, as we know, this pandemic is getting worse, more cases, a surge even in the number of deaths in a number of states.

You have said that, yes, things could get worse, but you don't think there will need to be another national shutdown.

What, short of that, do you think needs to be done?

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, Director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases: Thank you, Judy, for that question, because it is important.

I would think that, where we are right now, particularly in the Southern states, which are surging and are accounting for a considerable part of that now 60,000 to 70,000 new cases that we're seeing every day, is that we need to re -- sort of, I would say, maybe reboot, take a look at what we're doing there.

And several of the states, if you look at them, some have maybe gone a little bit too quickly from one phase to another.

And, in other situations, when the leadership of the states and the cities actually directed their citizens to do it correctly, that wasn't very responsive.

And we have seen that when you see people congregating at bars, not wearing masks, in crowds.

We have got to say, this is not working.

So, what we have got to do is reset.

You may need to pull back a bit on a phase.

You don't necessarily need to lock down.

But you have got to do three or four or five things that are absolutely critical, Judy, because we know they work.

And that is universal wearing of masks.

Stay away from crowds.

Close the bars.

You appeal to the people in the local areas, close those bars.

They are seriously the -- one of the major reasons why we're seeing it.

And I think, if we do that for a couple of weeks in a row, Judy, I think we're going to see a turnaround, because we know that that works.

JUDY WOODRUFF: But, with all due respect, Dr. Fauci, the American people have been hearing that message, and, in some places, it's not working.

So, are you saying we just keep on with what we have been doing, or something different needs to happen?

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI: No, I think it's -- I understand what you're saying, Judy, and you make a good point.

But it's been a bit spotty.

It hasn't been uniform, where everybody in that region says, wait a minute, we're having a serious problem.

We have got to reboot this.

And it isn't like some people say, wear masks, others say not.

Some people say bars are closed, others not.

We have got to do it across the board in those areas.

This is serious business.

And we can turn it around.

If I didn't think we could do it, I wouldn't be so emphatic about emphasizing why we have got to do this.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, I know you don't like to talk about politics, but, in the state of Georgia, for example, where you have several mayors who have said, I want everybody in my city, they have to wear a mask, the governor is saying mayors can't do that.

How do you have a consistent statewide message, when you have this kind of difference?

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI: Well, you're right, Judy.

I don't want to get involved in politics.

But all I can do is plead with the people out there to be consistent and listen to what health officials like myself, if I may, are saying.

Put everything else aside, and uniformly do the right thing.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Even if the governor of a state, like Governor Kemp in Georgia, is saying something else?

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI: Well, I would appeal to them to just not do that.

Again, you're right.

If I get involved in politics, what happens is, it diverts the message.

And my message is, if you're doing it this way, and it's not working, please reconsider, to be consistent with your message.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Let me ask you, Dr. Fauci, about testing.

It has now -- it's now clear that there aren't enough tests.

Yes, they have been ramped up across the country.

There are many more than there were being done months ago.

But, with this surge, there aren't enough.

What has to happen in order for there to be enough tests in enough places for the country to get its arm around this virus -- its arms around this virus?

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI: We have got to get the tests in the right place at the right time.

As you know, we have been told by the people responsible for the tests that there are a lot of tests out there and, as we get into the next weeks to months, there could be millions of more tests.

We have got to use them in the right manner.

We have got to get them to the right people who can do the proper identification, isolation and contact tracing, and even go beyond that, Judy, to be able to test more widely in a more surveillance way, so you can get a feel for the extent and the penetrance of this community spread.

JUDY WOODRUFF: But there's going to need to be -- as I understand it, there needs to be support, there needs to be funding for a number of these labs to open up.

That hasn't happened yet.

What -- do you know of a solution to get this ramped up immediately?

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI: We have got to make sure the dots are connected, Judy.

When the Congress, in -- with a great deal of generosity, gave billions of dollars to try and solve this problem, they gave something like $10 billion to the CDC to give to the states to do these kinds of implementing.

We have got to make sure that it gets well spent and that it gets done in the right way.

Again, we have a problem.

We need to admit it and own it.

But we have got to do the things that are very clear that we need to do to turn this around, remembering we can do it.

We know that, when you do it properly, you bring down those cases.

We have done it.

We have done it in New York.

New York got hit worse than any place in the world.

And they did it correctly by doing the things that you're talking about.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Vaccines.

You have been saying -- we have seen some promising developments in the last few days and weeks on vaccines.

You have been saying maybe later this year, into 2021.

And yet there was a cautionary word from the head of a major pharmaceutical company this week.

Merck, Ken Frazier, who's the CEO, said - - and I'm quoting here -- he said: "Anybody who says that" -- he says: "Officials are doing a great disservice by telling the American people there could be a vaccine by the end of this year," because there are a whole lot of hurdles that yet have to be dealt with before there will be a vaccine.

How do you answer that?

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI: Well, first of all, I know Ken.

He's a good friend and he's a good person.

But I have to disagree with him, respectfully, on this.

I don't think that's outlandish at all, because what we have been doing is that we have been putting certain things in line with each other in a way that's unprecedented.

If you look at the history -- and I don't want to spend a lot of time going in on it - - we have gone from the sequence of the virus to a vaccine development program in days.

We went from that, 62 days later, to get a phase one trial going.

What you just mentioned was published two days ago, and showed very robust antibody - - neutralizing antibody responses that were comparable to what you see when someone recovers from infection.

Generally -- and Ken is right -- generally, that would take a couple of years to get to that point.

We're already there.

We're going into a phase three trial at the end of the month.

And there are a number of other candidates that we will be following sequentially.

One is right.

When you're dealing with vaccines, you can't guarantee things.

But you can say, based on the science and the way things are going, that I'm cautiously optimistic that we can meet that projection that we made, that I made months ago.

And that is -- and I will repeat it -- that, by the end of this calendar year and the beginning of 2021, I feel optimistic.

Nobody guarantees, but I feel optimistic that we will have a vaccine, one or more, that we can start distributing to people, because, if you look at the infections that are going on right now, and phase three trials that are now starting at the end of the month, we could get a signal of safety and efficacy by -- as we get into the late fall and the early winter.

And if we do, then, by the beginning of 2021, we could have a vaccine.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Available to hundreds of millions of Americans?

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI: On day one, Judy, it's not going to be available to hundreds of millions.

But what we're hearing from the companies, who have been given a lot of money by the federal government to do this, is to start making doses before you know that the trial works, which means that, if it works, you have saved months.

If it doesn't, you have lost a lot of money.

So, we think we can start getting doses in the beginning of 2021.

And the companies have said hundreds of millions of doses within that year.

So it's not going to be from day one, but it will be quick.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Do you have a worry, though, Dr. Fauci, that the anti-vaccine movement could interfere with this timetable?

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI: Yes, I do, because, I mean, we have to admit and realize that there is an anti-vax movement that we have had to struggle with in this country.

And I believe the solution to that would be community engagement and community outreach, to get people that are trusted by the community to go out there and explain to them the importance of not only getting engaged in the vaccine trial, but the importance of, when the vaccine is shown to be safe and effective, to actually take the vaccine, because it could be lifesaving, and it certainly would be the solution to this terrible pandemic.

JUDY WOODRUFF: So much to ask you, Dr. Fauci, but one of the most important things on people's minds, of course, is going back to school.

And I do want to ask you about K-12.

As you know, the secretary of education this week said all children should be back in school this fall.

There's even a potential risk of losing federal funds.

Then, just this afternoon, the governor of California said most California schools are not going to be back in-person.

What are individuals, what are parents to make of this?

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI: Obviously, this is a disconcerting problem, because we care so much about our children and their education.

The way I look at it, Judy, quickly, I have, looking at 40,000 feet, a default position.

The default position is that you should try, to the best of your ability, with all considerations to the safety and welfare of the children and the teachers, we should try to get the children back to school as best as we possibly can.

With that as the framework, you have got to look throughout the country that the level of infection is different from region to region, state to state, county to county.

So there are going to be some counties where there's no problem, take the kids back to school, they're not in danger.

In those areas where it's iffy, where you see that there's a degree of infection, then what some schools will do, short of just shutting down, and some authorities may decide to do that, is to do something with a little bit of creativity, maybe alternating classes, spacing of the desks, for children who can do it, wearing masks, protecting the vulnerable.

So, you can go from one extreme to the other.

You have got to say, I'm going to try to open the schools, to the best of my ability.

And if there are issues with activity of virus, try to mitigate it by some creative capabilities.

And I think that's what you're seeing, as different states respond to the mandate to open schools.

JUDY WOODRUFF: The winter.

As you probably have heard, the city of Philadelphia, the mayor has said there won't be any large gatherings through February, with concern about the colder weather, what's going to happen with the coronavirus, coupled with people being -- having to deal with the flu.

How much worry do you have, Dr. Fauci, that this pandemic is going to be harder to control once we get into the winter?

And I know there's the vaccine question out there.

But, setting vaccine aside, what about this pandemic and cold weather?

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI: Yes.

Well, first of all, the thing that I hope we do successfully, Judy -- and it would really, really impact greatly on the answer to your question -- is that I would like to see us get back down to baseline as we enter the late fall and early winter.

If you look at the curve for many of the European countries, it goes way up, and then it comes down.

They may have had thousands of cases, but their baseline is measured in 10s and maybe hundreds of cases.

Our baseline is in the tens of thousands.

So, we went up and then came down to 20,000, 20, 20, 20, and then 30, 40, 50, 60, 70.

So, my main concern right now is, I want to get that curve down to a really low level.

If we go into the late fall and winter at that baseline level, as cases emerge, it will be infinitely easier to contain them than trying to chase them in a mitigation way.

Having said that, what does concern me is that -- the overlap of the influenza season with another respiratory virus, where you have got to be able to determine the difference of those two.

And that's the reason why I think what we should be doing is making sure that, as we get into the fall, we get as many people vaccinated as we possibly can against influenza to try, to the extent possible, get that off the table.

JUDY WOODRUFF: The White House.

You had your first conversation with President Trump, we are told, this week in perhaps a month or longer.

You had a meeting with the White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows.

But, just yesterday, he called you irresponsible for a statement you made comparing -- saying that this pandemic could be worse than the 1918 pandemic.

You also have been attacked, as you know, by Peter Navarro, the White House adviser.

Are you convinced that the White House is not trying to discredit you, Dr. Fauci?

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI: I think you have got to be careful when you say the White House.

There are -- the White House in general is not trying to.

Certainly, the president is not.

I certainly believe that Mark Meadows is not.

What happened with Peter Navarro and that editorial, I can't even comment on that.

That just is beyond my comprehension why he did that.

But I do not believe that the White House is trying to discredit me.

No, I don't.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Do you think there are individuals in the White House who are?

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI: Well, I already mentioned one.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And Mark Meadows saying you're irresponsible for that comment?

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI: Well, I -- what happened there is that that was something that was said in another interview where I went, where there could have been a misunderstanding that I was equating them.

So, one thing we wanted to do was to correct that, which I did in an interview that I had just, like, yesterday, I believe.

I don't think he was calling me irresponsible as a person.

I think he was referring to his concern that there was going to be some misunderstanding.

I don't have a problem with that.

Mark and I are on very good terms.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Let me ask it this way, Dr. Fauci.

Do you think you have the full backing and support of the White House, from the president on down?

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI: I do.

I do.

I believe I do.

I spoke to the president about that.

I believe I do.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And why do you think they have been trying to limit your public appearances?

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI: Well, I think it's a question of different messages getting out.

The real emphasis right now is on more of trying to get the country opened again and economic messages.

I don't think there's going to be that -- yes, it varies.

There are some times when I'm on a lot, and there are some times when I'm not.

Here I am with you.

You know I always like to be on with you.

I'm glad they said yes to that.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And we appreciate it.

And we appreciate it.

And just finally and quickly, Dr. Fauci, as you project ahead in the next -- in the next few months, you're optimistic?

You're realistic?

I mean, how do you -- how would you describe your frame of mind?

I mean, right now, many Americans are really worried about this.

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI: Well, Judy, I am looked upon as a very realistic person, some may even say pessimistic, but I think it's more realistic than it is pessimistic.

I fundamentally have a real bent of optimism in me.

But we're dealing with a serious problem that I believe we can handle.

So, what I don't want to see is that, when you say, well, it's a serious problem, you throw up your hands and say, God, we don't have any way of handling it.

I believe that, if we hold together as a country, and we do the things that I have been talking about in this interview with you, that we can get our arms around this, and we can turn it around.

I'm convinced of that.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Dr. Anthony Fauci, thank you very much for joining us.

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI: As always, Judy, it's great to be with you.

AMNA NAWAZ: In the day's other news, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg announced she's had a recurrence of cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy.

In a court statement, Ginsburg said the treatment has already reduced lesions on her liver.

She also said she has no plans to retire.

Ginsburg is 87 and previously recovered from lung and pancreatic cancers.

She was briefly hospitalized this week for a possible infection.

In Georgia, three white men charged with murdering an unarmed black man, Ahmaud Arbery, pled not guilty today.

Police say Arbery was shot and killed after the men spotted him jogging, thought he was a burglar, and chased him down.

It happened in February.

No charges were filed until video of the incident emerged last month.

The Pentagon issued a new policy today that effectively bans the Confederate Flag from military installations.

Defense Secretary Mark Esper said in a memo that only the American flag will be displayed, along with state, territorial and military banners.

At a virtual town hall, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, said the oath that everyone in the military takes is paramount.

GEN. MARK MILLEY, Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff: Going back to the oath, going back to the idea, the idea that is America, the idea that every one of us is free and equal.

Remember the words of Lincoln, that this is a nation conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men -- and I would add all women -- are created equal, period, full stop.

And that's what we're about.

AMNA NAWAZ: The president has defended the right to display the Confederate Flag.

In view of that, the Pentagon policy never directly mentions the flag or uses the word ban, though it does have the same effect.

The federal government has carried out its third execution this week.

An Iowa drug kingpin, Dustin Honken, died by lethal injection this afternoon at a federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana.

He'd been convicted of killing five people in 1993.

Federal executions resumed this week after 17 years.

The Democratic National Committee is telling members of Congress not to attend the party's national convention next month in Milwaukee.

An e-mail from the DNC cites COVID-19 and says the convention will be mostly virtual, with delegates voting remotely.

Republicans have downsized their convention in Jacksonville, Florida, but are still planning for delegates to attend in person.

The Democratic chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Eliot Engel, lost his primary to a progressive challenger today.

The Associated Press declared Jamaal Bowman the winner.

He campaigned for racial justice and argued Engel has lost touch with voters after 16 terms.

The primary was June 24.

It took this long to determine the winner from absentee ballots.

Nations across South Asia are now reporting more than 220 dead in monsoon flooding.

Nearly four million people across Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, and Nepal have been cut off or forced to flee in recent weeks.

The devastation has submerged homes and roadways across the region, leaving people, like these in Bangladesh, increasingly desperate.

MORIUM KHATUN, Survivor (through translator): We have taken shelter beside a road, and we're out of work.

Our children are with us, and we can't get a square meal.

We don't have anything good to eat.

You cannot imagine how we are getting through this.

AMNA NAWAZ: Forecasters in Bangladesh say the flooding could get worse next week, as two major rivers overflow.

A 100-year-old man in Britain was knighted today for raising more than $40 million in pandemic relief.

Tom Moore sought donations last spring, using his walker to lap his garden 100 times, one for each year of his life.

His feat became a sensation, and the money poured in.

Today, outside Windsor Castle, Moore leaned against his walker as queen Elizabeth honored him.

And, with the traditional sword tap, he formally became Sir Tom.

And on Wall Street today, stocks mostly marked time, as investors weighed surging COVID infections against the possibility of more economic aid from Congress.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 62 points to close below 26672.

The Nasdaq rose 29 points, and the S&P 500 added nine.

And a key civil rights leader, the Reverend C.T.

Vivian, died today in Atlanta.

He was a close ally of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and organized Freedom Rides across the South.

He also led efforts to register black voters in Selma, Alabama, where a white sheriff famously punched him, galvanizing the movement.

In 2013, President Obama recognized Reverend Vivian for his decades of leadership and awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

C.T.

Vivian was 95 years old.

Still to come on the "NewsHour," federal agents detain demonstrators as part of the president's plan to stop protests; the spike in coronavirus hospitalizations threatens to overwhelm Arizona's health care system; Mark Shields and David Brooks break down the week's political news; plus, much more.

State and local leaders in Portland, Oregon, are calling for federal agents sent in response to weeks of protests to leave the city.

Those protests were first sparked by the police killing of George Floyd.

Since their arrival, federal agents wearing military-style gear, and sometimes driving unmarked vans, have unleashed tear gas into crowds, rounded up and detained protesters, and even shot one man in the head with a non-lethal round, causing serious injury.

Their presence and their tactics have raised questions about the use of federal agencies to police cities, even when local authorities don't want them there.

Jonathan Levinson has been reporting on all this for Oregon Public Broadcasting, and he joins me now.

Jonathan, welcome to the "NewsHour."

We should point out that those protests have been largely peaceful.

There's been vandalism, some property damage, but you have been following this.

So tell me, when did you first notice there were federal agents, not local police.

And who do we know that those federal agents are?

JONATHAN LEVINSON, Oregon Public Broadcasting: So, there's always federal agents at the federal courthouse.

But there was an increased presence and they played a much larger role starting around July 4.

And that's when sort of federal reinforcements came from the U.S.

Marshals special operations group and Customs and Border Protections' BORTAC, which is essentially their SWAT team.

And that night, July 4, and then since then, they have been playing a much more active role, clearing the protesters off the streets, in some nights right alongside Portland police and, as you mentioned, really venturing away from federal properties onto the city streets in order to effect arrests at times even.

AMNA NAWAZ: And there have been a lot of questions around who those men are in camouflage.

Do we now know who those agents are, what agency they're from?

JONATHAN LEVINSON: So, yes.

Just recently, about an hour ago, Acting Deputy Secretary for Homeland Security Ken Cuccinelli acknowledged that it was Homeland Security officers doing it, and basically said that this is a tactic they use.

The U.S. attorney in Oregon here, Billy Williams, announced an investigation, or he requested that the Homeland Security inspector general launch an investigation into possible arrests being done without probable cause.

AMNA NAWAZ: And there's a lot of questions about their tactics.

You reported on the story of one protester, a man named Mark Pettibone.

He says he was peacefully protesting on the evening of July 15, taken into custody in an unmarked car by armed men in camouflage.

From what you have been able to report, what exactly happened to Pettibone?

JONATHAN LEVINSON: So, Pettibone has been protesting a couple nights a week since all of this started.

On -- that was Wednesday night, he was protesting.

It's sort of a festive atmosphere at these protests some nights.

And this was one of those nights they were dancing.

There was music.

He said he was playing Frisbee for a while.

Around two thirty in the morning, he and a friend walked back to their car.

And a few blocks away from where the protests are from the federal courthouse, a minivan pulls up.

Four or five guys with rifles jump out.

He said his beanie was pulled down over his head, blindfolding him, they tossed him in a van, and one officer held his arms above his head while they drove around a little bit.

And, eventually, he was unloaded inside a building, which, only after he was released, did he learn was the federal courthouse.

While he was in there, they searched his stuff.

They photographed him.

They read him his rights.

He was under the impression that he was being arrested.

He asked for a lawyer, and, very soon after, he was released.

They didn't give him any paperwork.

They didn't give him any indication that he had been charged with anything.

He still isn't sure if he's been charged with anything.

AMNA NAWAZ: Jonathan, less than a minute left.

We should remind people, as we mentioned earlier, that city and state officials say they don't want these federal agents there.

You have been in touch with the agencies.

What are they telling you about their presence?

JONATHAN LEVINSON: Well, the federal agencies say that they are here to quell, they have called it mob violence.

They have called the protesters criminals.

The governor has said that their presence is a provocation and that they are unwanted here.

The mayor has said that they should stay inside their buildings and not come out, and, if they can't do that, then they should leave.

AMNA NAWAZ: That is Oregon Public Broadcasting's Jonathan Levinson joining us tonight with the latest on the protests in Portland.

Thanks so much, Jonathan.

JONATHAN LEVINSON: Thank you.

AMNA NAWAZ: As hospitalizations and deaths related to COVID continue to rise nationwide, Arizona's downward spiral stands out.

Here is Stephanie Sy with a closer look at how inaction by state leaders and residents could soon lead to things spinning out of control.

STEPHANIE SY: Early hopes that the extreme heat would keep the Valley of the Sun safe from COVID-19 are gone.

For weeks now, the greater Phoenix area has reported among the highest rate of COVID-positive tests of any place on the planet.

At Fire Station 25 in Phoenix, which sits in the city's zip code with the most cases, about half the calls it fields these days are from suspected COVID patients.

And the department itself has had dozens of firefighters fall ill.

ROB MCDADE, Captain, Phoenix Fire Department: Right now, I really believe we're in the middle of it, or it's going to keep rising.

We have built everything out to a doomsday scenario of staffing.

It's all hands on deck right now for the Phoenix Fire Department.

DR. QUINN SNYDER, Emergency Physician: It's gotten to the point where we have truly hit saturation.

STEPHANIE SY: Emergency physician Quinn Snyder works in Mesa, Arizona.

DR. QUINN SNYDER: It's really hard to watch people be out and about and exhibiting dangerous behaviors, knowing that there's a good chance that I might be seeing them in my emergency department.

And, frankly, in a week or two, I might not have room for them in my hospital.

He got sick very quickly.

I had never seen him this ill before STEPHANIE SY: Among the more than 2,500 Arizonans who have now died of COVID-19 is Mark Anthony Urquiza, Kristin Urquiza's beloved father.

She now lives in San Francisco.

KRISTIN URQUIZA, Daughter of Coronavirus Victim: At first responded really well to the treatment.

He had a positive spirit.

He kept on saying, "Oh, I'm going to be home next week."

Shortly thereafter, he stopped talking to us.

And I was like, "Mom, something's wrong."

It took several hours for us to get a doctor on the phone who then shared with us, "Yes, your dad's condition is deteriorating, and we need to put him on a ventilator."

And when I heard the word ventilator leave the doctor's mouth, I collapsed and just said, no, no, no.

STEPHANIE SY: Kristin's dad died on June 30.

Since then, she's been critical of Arizona's Governor Doug Ducey's handling of the pandemic.

KRISTIN URQUIZA: My dad was a supporter of the governor, as well as the president, and was following their advice.

So whenever, you know, I would call him and say, "Dad, this is still a crisis, it's not safe to be out there," his response was, "Well, Kristin, why would the governor say it was safe if it wasn't safe?"

STEPHANIE SY: How do you think we got to this point in Arizona?

DR. QUINN SNYDER: I think mistakes were made at many points in the pandemic.

The governor and the director of AZDHS decided to lift those restrictions in mid-May, against the advice of the medical community at large, including myself.

I felt like it was it was a bad idea.

STEPHANIE SY: Governor Ducey lifted the more than month-long stay-at-home order in early May, one day before a visit by President Trump to Arizona.

The governor announced an accelerated plan to reopen businesses, including restaurant dining rooms.

At the same time, the act of wearing masks was becoming highly politicized.

A rally of anti-mask protesters took place in Phoenix on July 4.

Last month, a Scottsdale city councilman, Guy Phillips, had this moment.

GUY PHILLIPS, Scottsdale, Arizona, City Council: I can't breathe.

STEPHANIE SY: The councilman then dramatically takes his mask off in indignation.

GUY PHILLIPS: Insanity.

GOV.

DOUG DUCEY (R-AZ): I want to see every Arizonan wear a mask.

STEPHANIE SY: Even though the governor has not implemented a statewide mask mandate, he pointed out this week that nearly 90 percent of Arizona communities now have local mask ordinances.

GOV.

DOUG DUCEY: There's strength in numbers, and the more numbers that are making the better decisions, the better off we will all be.

STEPHANIE SY: Corey Woods is the new mayor of Tempe, recently recovered from a mild case of COVID.

He wants to strengthen local enforcement of mask wearing in his first days in office.

COREY WOODS, Mayor of Tempe, Arizona: When it comes to masks and social distancing, We're not trying to harass, you know, and frustrate residents who want to spend money in our local economy.

What we're trying to do is to really stop the spread of COVID-19 and prevent a second shutdown.

STEPHANIE SY: As cases began to surge last month, the governor re-closed bars, nightclubs, and gyms.

But restaurants were allowed to stay open, operating at half-capacity.

COREY WOODS: There have been folks like myself that have really begun to press the governor and say, look, we have to talk about maybe going to outside dining only.

The reality is just we do know more now than we did two or three months ago.

STEPHANIE SY: But dozens of businesses, including this chain of gyms, are defying state orders and suing to stay open.

TOM HATTEN, CEO, Mountainside Fitness: We are not the cause of the coronavirus spike, period.

STEPHANIE SY: Dr. Quinn Snyder cautions that if pre-pandemic life is allowed to continue, the virus will wipe them out.

DR. QUINN SNYDER: There's this continuing fallacy that I find among the leadership in many states across America, and certainly in Arizona, and that people think that you can somehow bluff this virus.

This virus doesn't care about your feelings.

This virus doesn't care about your business.

We are going to lose if we continue to try to fix the economic crisis without first fixing the public health crisis.

STEPHANIE SY: Meanwhile, as Arizona tries to gain a handle on the situation, demand for testing has skyrocketed, with people waiting in line for hours in triple-digit heat.

RAYMUNDO HERNANDEZ, Arizona: Shoot.

Yes, it's been like six hours now?

STEPHANIE SY: Besides the long lines for drive-through tests, some clinics require referrals, and people without symptoms are having a hard time getting appointments.

Without enough testing and quick results, it's impossible to figure out who has been infected and should be quarantined, especially because many COVID-infected people may not show symptoms, but may be contagious.

Will Humble is the former Arizona state health director.

WILL HUMBLE, Executive Director, Arizona Public Health Association: If the laboratory test comes back seven to eight days later, which has been the trend recently, then your contact tracers are finding the case after they have already begun to recover and exposed people in the workplace and in their personal lives.

STEPHANIE SY: The federal government stepped in this week to add testing capacity.

Hundreds of nurses from out of state have been contracted to staff the packed hospitals.

But, for many, it's too late.

Forty-two-year-old Ricardo Aguirre, his wife and two young children caught the virus, and his parents are still sick.

RICARDO AGUIRRE, Coronavirus Victim: So, where did we get it?

I have no idea.

But I do blame the government for the new cases that are happening, because Arizona is the number one hot spot right now.

The governor is not doing his part, from my point of view.

STEPHANIE SY: Kristin Urquiza agrees.

KRISTIN URQUIZA: The speaking out has really been oxygen to my purpose to continue to fight for my dad.

These decisions have real life impacts.

My dad's life mattered.

And this, I believe, could have been prevented.

STEPHANIE SY: Mark Anthony Urquiza lived in Maryvale, a predominately minority area in Phoenix that has borne a disproportionate cost in lives and livelihoods in the pandemic.

He was laid to rest on July 8.

For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Stephanie Sy in Phoenix.

AMNA NAWAZ: We now turn to the political analysis of Shields and Brooks.

That's syndicated columnist Mark Shields and New York Times columnist David Brooks.

Welcome back to you both.

And, Mark, a very special welcome back to you.

We're glad to see you again.

I want to start with you.

We heard Dr. Anthony Fauci tell Judy just a little while ago he believes he has the full backing of the White House, from the president on down.

When you look back at the week and the criticism some White House officials were lobbing at Dr. Fauci, what were you thinking?

MARK SHIELDS: I was thinking, he's a remarkable - - he's a public treasure, somebody who is so large, that he doesn't personalize criticism, sniping from the White House that, obviously, is both jealous and upset with his candid assessment.

I mean, I -- he has an exceptional ability to explain the mysteries of disease and medicine to Americans, ordinary Americans, including this one, and do so in an unvarnished and just brave way.

AMNA NAWAZ: David, I got to ask you.

The president's criticism, and other White House officials' criticism of Dr. Fauci, the lack of response to the pandemic that's led to some criticism of President Trump himself from within his own party I wanted to ask you about.

We have now heard an outright defense of Fauci and criticism of the president from Senator Mitt Romney, from Congresswoman Liz Cheney.

There was that scathing op-ed from Maryland Governor Larry Hogan.

What does all of that, open critique from senior Republican officials, say to you now?

DAVID BROOKS: Well, there are a couple of gigantic curves that explain what's going on right now.

The one is the curve of the daily infection, and that's just like zoom.

That's up to 77,000 new cases a day now.

The other curve is of Trump approval, and that's zoomed down.

And then the third curve is Republican Party I.D.

If you look at the Gallup numbers, in January of this year, if you asked people, what party do you sort of lean toward, it was 49 percent Republican and 30 -- and 47 percent Democrat.

So the Republicans had a 2 percentage point lead.

Now it's 50 point Democrat, 39 Republican.

The Democrats have an about 11-point party I.D.

lead.

That is just a monumental shift in six months.

That doesn't happen very often.

And Republicans are seeing that, and they're rightly panicking.

They are rationally panicking, which is what they should be doing, and, therefore, the criticism.

AMNA NAWAZ: Mark, speaking of shifts over time, I want to point you to some recent poll numbers we saw from The Washington Post and ABC News, showing that, regardless of what's happening in the party, President Trump is losing some support among core parts of his coalition from back in 2016.

Among white evangelicals, support has dropped 16 points, now at 68 percent.

Among white men without college degrees, it's dropped 15 points down to 56 percent.

Among rural residents, it's down to 48 percent.

That's an 11-point drop.

Do you look at those numbers and see those as signs of trouble for the president?

MARK SHIELDS: Oh, sure.

They are signs of trouble, Amna, make no mistake about it.

And the reality is this, that Donald Trump has had a very loyal, very consistent cadre of support, rather remarkable.

As one of the most prominent and respected Republicans in the country said to me today, voters are just -- and a Trump supporter -- he said, voters are just tired.

They're exhausted.

They are tired of the chaos.

They're tired of the melodrama.

They are looking for calm, and they're looking for emotional maturity.

And, as of today, Joe Biden is the one of the two who fills that bill.

AMNA NAWAZ: David, what do you make of that?

Speaking of Biden, what does all this mean for him?

It seems the campaign is very much steady as she goes, even as we have seen chaos in the Trump campaign, including a campaign shakeup, right, at the very top.

There was the ousting of the campaign manager, Brad Parscale, for the elevation of Bill Stepien, who is now running that campaign.

What does this mean for Biden?

DAVID BROOKS: Well, Biden is running an underappreciated campaign, I think a very good campaign.

They are keeping him somewhat under wraps, but he's making enough statements to be in the news.

And then he's focused his campaign and -- at least a part of his campaign on the white working class.

This is a class he emerges from.

It's 44 percent of the electorate.

It's whites without a college degree.

And this is a very important part of the Republican base.

This is the Republican base.

Trump beat Clinton among this group by 28 percent.

But Biden is able to speak to this group.

He doesn't, frankly, offend this group by being, frankly, a coastal elitist.

And in the two financial packages he announced this week, he sends money directly at the white working class.

I had a chance, with a few other columnists, interview him this week, and he talked about manufacturing over and over and again, getting another -- our industrial economy going and going again.

And the people who would be hired would be African-Americans and members of this group.

And so he's directly talking straight at them.

And if he can take the white working class away from the Republicans, then he's recreated the New Deal coalition, and realigned our politics.

AMNA NAWAZ: Mark, what do you make of the way that Biden's been messaging and laying out these new policy proposals?

We know that there persists that enthusiasm gap, when you look at the numbers, right?

More people are saying that they're enthusiastic about supporting Mr. Trump than say they're enthusiastic about supporting Biden.

Is what he's doing enough and sustainable through November?

MARK SHIELDS: Well, I think -- first of all, I stand corrected on Joe Biden.

He finished a weak fifth in Iowa -- a fourth in Iowa, a weak fifth in New Hampshire.

He was given up for dead by many of us, and I think probably yours truly included, and went on to win in South Carolina and sweep to the nomination, without ever compromising and capitulating on the shiny objects of Medicare for all or whatever else.

He had the resistance of standing against that.

I think, as we look at it right now, that Donald Trump, voters have really made up their mind about him.

The five polls, national polls this month, Donald Trump is 37, 39, 40, 41, and 40.

They have made up their mind they don't want Donald Trump for another -- another term.

And I think Joe Biden is very much in the position that Ronald Reagan was in 1980.

The voters had decided -- it was a very close race between Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan.

Voters had really decided they didn't want Carter to come back for a second term, but they had doubts and reservations.

In that one debate, Ronald Reagan put those doubts to rest by showing that he was nonthreatening, didn't want to start World War III, and was a reasonable person.

And, quite bluntly, that's what Joe Biden has to do.

He can win by not being Donald Trump.

But he could win a real victory by being decisive and effective in the debate.

And those debates are going to be the only time that there's going to be really a major event involving the two candidates all year.

We're not going to have the rallies and the bandwagons and the bands and the balloons.

This is going to be it.

And I would -- Peter Hart said, Joe Biden ought to just spent three hours every day just preparing and repairing and comparing and getting his story down, because that will be the test.

AMNA NAWAZ: David, do you agree with that?

I mean, the next few months are not going to look like any other last few months leading up to a general election.

Do you think those numbers for President Trump will hold, given that we have no idea what will happen with the pandemic next?

DAVID BROOKS: I don't see how they turn around.

There must be a way.

They may tighten.

I don't know the future.

But I just don't see an occasion - - I agree with Mark.

I think the American public has made up their mind.

But who knows?

You would not want to bet much money on a Trump reelection right now.

And, as for Biden, like, even in our conversation this week -- I have interviewed Biden many, many times over the last 20 years.

And the Biden I heard talk this week was the same guy that I have been interviewing this whole time.

The idea that he's lost a step, if so, it was not evident in our conversation.

I do think -- I'm admiring of the way he's running the campaign.

I think that economic populism message, left-wing version of it, is the right way to go.

And, as Mark says, he has not done the things that would offend the middle of the electorate.

Even this week, he said, 'I'm not for defunding the police.

I'm for increasing funding for the police.'

And that is by far a majority position in this country.

It's by far a majority position in the Democratic Party.

And so they're running a canny campaign.

I would prepare for the debates, as Mark says, because I hadn't thought about it until this moment, that that is really the only possible turning point that we're going to probably see.

AMNA NAWAZ: So, before we know what happens in November -- it feels like a long time away - - Mark, I have to ask you about some election results we do already have and can talk about.

We saw Jeff Sessions lose in Alabama this week.

In Maine, Sara Gideon is now going to be the candidate running against Republican Susan Collins.

That is a race that you have been following.

What do you think will happen there?

And what do you think that means?

MARK SHIELDS: Well, I mean, Susan Collins is not to be written off.

I mean, she's 24 years in the United States Senate.

She survived, wins in all sorts of problems in that state.

But I think, this year, she's in trouble.

And she's tied with Donald Trump, even though she has established her independent record over the years.

She's very much tied, I think, in voters' minds.

And she will run better than Donald Trump in Maine.

I think, if Donald Trump loses Maine decisively, Susan Collins is in trouble.

As far as Jeff Sessions is concerned, he was Donald Trump, really, without the meanness before Trump on immigration, on trade.

And because he took that one stand on recusing himself, he became Donald Trump's lifelong enemy, even though he had been the first senator to endorse him.

And Trump exacted his pound of flesh.

He ended his career in Alabama.

And it shows Trump's clout with Republican primary voters in Alabama, make no mistake about it.

AMNA NAWAZ: David, what about you?

When you look at the results we have this week, what messages do they hold for what we could see down the line?

DAVID BROOKS: Well, the Sessions race proves why Democrats -- why Republicans are walking into their doom and they're not defecting from Trump.

They have no good options.

If they defect from Trump, they lose their people.

If they don't, they lose the rest of the country.

In Susan Collins' case, I think she would like 69 percent of the vote six years ago.

But the times have changed.

And her approvals are way down in the upper 30s in one poll I saw.

People want to take -- they want change.

And we saw that in the Engel race.

We see it.

People are disgusted with the way the country is being run right now.

And if you're a moderate Republican, like a moderate Democrat, it's just not a great place to be right now.

I say that with some evident sadness.

AMNA NAWAZ: Mark, before we go, I have to ask you about another story we have been tracking about absentee ballots.

We have obviously seen them play a much bigger role in the primary elections this year and mid-pandemic, and will probably continue to be through the general election.

Reports about tens of thousands of absentee ballots or mail ballots being rejected so far.

How big an issue do you think this is going to be?

And what kind of impact do you think it could have moving forward?

MARK SHIELDS: Well, it's a major issue.

I mean, just think about New York, the Empire State.

They voted on June 23.

We just got the results today.

And you're right.

There is -- people are unfamiliar with voting by mail.

We have a national pandemic.

We have to have - - we have an obligation, as a nation, to make it possible and easy for people to vote, and that their vote is counted.

And I really think every state, every officeholder has that responsibility, certainly every governor.

And I think it's obvious that the Trump campaign is not interested in a huge turnout.

But I really don't think they will be able to stop it this year.

The enthusiasm is higher right now than it has been in October of past presidential years, in the interest.

And I think we're going to have an enormous turnout.

AMNA NAWAZ: A lot we do not yet know, and a lot of questions, especially amid this pandemic.

David Brooks and Mark Shields, always good to talk to you, especially at the end of this particular week.

Thanks so much to both of you.

Please stay safe.

MARK SHIELDS: Thanks, Amna.

AMNA NAWAZ: As we discussed tonight, the coronavirus pandemic continues to devastate communities and has taken a toll on countless families.

Now we take a moment to remember some of the lives loss.

Lloyd Cornelius Porter was gregarious, entertaining, and loving.

His brother said he carried on the spirit of their mother, a minister, by uniting people in his Brooklyn neighborhood cafes.

Lloyd welcomed the customers, and his wife, Hillary, cooked.

Also a professional actor, his family said Lloyd's sparkle, wit, and artistic qualities came through in his 11-year-old daughter, MacLemore.

Lloyd was 49 years old.

Maima Darbah Fahnbulleh's work in public service spanned five decades and several countries.

She was an advocate for those with disabilities in Liberia and helped establish the first women's resource center in Grenada.

She moved to the U.S. and eventually settled in New York.

After she was diagnosed with Parkinson's in 2014, Maima became a self-advocate, proudly participating in the city's annual Unity Walks.

A dedicated mother and grandmother, her family said she was ambitious and resilient, always holding her head high in the face of adversity.

Maima was 73.

Sixty-two-year-old Patricia Wilke was devoted to her career as a pharmacist in Arizona.

While studying in Tucson, Patricia, or Patty, met her husband, Ted, a pharmacy technician in the Air Force.

Ted said Patty was a patient and understanding mother to their five children, including three sons who followed in their footsteps and found work in the pharmaceutical industry.

Ted called Patty his best friend, thoughtful, cheerful, and loved by everyone.

They would have celebrated 40 years of marriage this year.

Brian Miller was blind for most of his life, but he refused to let that hold him back.

Through his work at the Department of Education and various advocacy groups in the Washington, D.C., area, he helped institute policies to aid the blind.

Brian's mom said he had great energy and a love for history, music and travel.

That included his plan to visit 100 different countries in his lifetime.

He made it to 65.

Brian was 52 years old.

Twenty-eight-year-old James Simpson was a natural at connecting with others.

His family called him a gentle giant, with a smile and energy that could light up a room.

Growing up in foster care in Sacramento, James developed a passion for helping young people.

He served as a camp counselor and mentored other fostered teens.

After moving to Washington in 2015, he began counseling youth at a mental health facility.

Those who knew him said, despite life's challenges, James was selfless and always positive.

AMNA NAWAZ: All examples of lives well lived.

And a thank you to all their friends and family for sharing their stories with us.

That's the "NewsHour" for tonight.

I'm Amna Nawaz.

Have a great weekend.

Thank you, please stay safe, and good night.