JUDY WOODRUFF: Good evening.

I'm Judy Woodruff.

On the "NewsHour" tonight: the range of response.

Efforts to combat the coronavirus vary widely across the United States.

I talk with a leading Republican senator and a Democratic governor on the different approaches to reopening.

Then: the effect on children.

Nationwide, stay-at-home orders raise concerns over child welfare and a potentially dramatic increase in child abuse.

And hostage of the Taliban.

The family of a contractor kidnapped in Afghanistan speaks for the first time, as peace talks deteriorate.

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

(BREAK) JUDY WOODRUFF: Tensions over when and how fast to reopen dominate American life tonight.

States and cities are setting their own pace, as they weigh two overriding factors: economic devastation and nearly 84,000 deaths in the United States and counting.

Stephanie Sy has our lead report.

STEPHANIE SY: Grabbing a drink at the bar may have never felt so risky.

HUGH JACKSON, Owner, Paddy Mac's Restaurant: We have the staff doing their thing with the cleaning.

We're taking temperatures of the staff coming in.

So, yes, we have taken a lot of other steps that were predictable, and we got it done.

STEPHANIE SY: In places like Palm Beach, Florida, more restaurants are reopening.

Other cities say they're not ready, including Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser: MURIEL BOWSER (D), Mayor of Washington, D.C.: We're not there yet, and not quite ready to begin that phased new opening.

So, today, we will extend the district's stay-at-home order through Monday, June the 8th.

STEPHANIE SY: Decisions on when to lift lockdowns and let businesses reopen are playing out nationwide, after the White House and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention disagreed on when and how that should happen.

An unreleased CDC document, obtained by the Associated Press, shows the agency called for a national guide to reopening, outlining steps that all Americans need to take in every community.

But the White House shelved the guidance, instead leaving the process up to state and local officials.

Senator Chuck Schumer called for the release of those guidelines on the Senate floor today.

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): The point is that America needs and must have the candid guidance of our best scientists, unfiltered, unedited, uncensored by President Trump or his political minions.

STEPHANIE SY: President Trump spoke this afternoon with the governors of Colorado and North Dakota.

It came a day after Dr. Anthony Fauci and the nation's other top health experts warned against reopening too quickly, and as Fauci drew fire from conservative circles.

DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: Look, he wants to play all sides of the equation.

I was surprised by his answer, actually, because, you know, it's just -- to me, it's not an acceptable answer, especially when it comes to schools.

STEPHANIE SY: Meanwhile, the chair of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, urged Washington to take more action to prevent a lasting recession today.

JEROME POWELL, Federal Reserve Chairman: Additional fiscal support could be costly, but worth it, if it helps avoid long-term damage and leaves us with a stronger recovery.

It'll take some time to get back to where we were.

I have every reason to think we can get back there.

The economy should substantially recover once the virus is under control.

STEPHANIE SY: Many health experts have warned the virus won't come under control until testing is more widely available.

A new House oversight subcommittee held its first hearing today on testing and tracing the virus.

DR. ASHISH JHA, Director, Harvard Global Health Institute: Testing is critical.

Testing tells us who has the disease and who doesn't, and testing is the cornerstone of controlling every single disease outbreak.

It was inadequate testing that precipitated the national shutdown.

STEPHANIE SY: The U.S. has conducted more than nine million COVID tests, more than any other country, but trails other nations in per capita testing.

Germany now tests at a similar rate to the U.S., but made testing available much earlier in the country's outbreak, avoiding a higher death rate there.

That relative success is partly why masked passengers are checking into flights in Frankfurt once again.

The German government began a gradual easing of border controls this week, aiming to open travel across the E.U.

by mid-June.

And, in Turkey, playgrounds filled with masked patrons today.

After a drop in COVID cases there, the government allowed children under 14 to leave their house for four hours.

Istanbul local Mehmet Kahraman is grateful to be outside, albeit briefly.

MEHMET ZAFER KAHRAMAN, Istanbul (through translator): I haven't been out in two months.

They gave us permission today, but I don't know for how many hours.

No need to calculate that now.

We're really happy and, God willing, the coronavirus will end.

STEPHANIE SY: Masks over smiling faces, short moments of relief in the long-haul push to end a pandemic.

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

JUDY WOODRUFF: Worries about the risks of reopening and about a slow recovery took a toll on Wall Street.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 516 points, 2 percent, to close below 23248.

The Nasdaq fell 139 points, and the S&P 500 gave up 50.

Senator Lamar Alexander is the chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

His hearing on Capitol Hill yesterday focused on the Trump administration's handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

He joins us now from Tennessee, where he is currently in self-quarantine.

Senator Alexander, thank you very much for talking with us.

First of all, how are you doing, and how is your staff member doing who had tested positive?

SEN. LAMAR ALEXANDER (R-TN): He's fine.

I just talked with him a few minutes ago.

He lost his sense of smell, but that's it.

You know, that's the symptom that alerted him.

And I'm fine, too.

I was just exposed for a short period of time, and so, under the protocol, the Senate physician says two weeks.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, we're glad to hear that both of you are doing well so far.

Let me ask you about yesterday's hearing.

As you know, the senior health officials in the Trump administration, Dr. Anthony Fauci and others, testified, essentially, that every state needs to be careful as it opens up, because, if it moves too quickly and doesn't have the adequate amount of testing in place, there could be more illnesses, more deaths, loss of livelihood.

But, Senator, this comes a day after President Trump said, we have met the moment and prevailed with regard to testing.

So, who's right here?

SEN. LAMAR ALEXANDER: Well, I think we have a ways to go.

And I think we will do it state by state, like we do most things in our country.

For example, our governor, Bill Lee, is testing aggressively every prisoner, every nursing home resident, drive-through testing on the weekends.

Anyone can get a test at the local public health department.

I talked to a reporter this morning in McMinnville who said he showed up twice and gotten his free test.

And the governor's motto, when in doubt, get a test.

So, as a result, in our state, we're -- we have tested -- we will have, by the end of the month, tested about 7 percent of our population, which will help us monitor what's happening as we go back to work and eventually back to school.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Let me ask you something else about comparing the United States to other countries, like Germany, like South Korea, where testing started much earlier.

In South Korea, they have been able to hold the total death number to something like 300, compared to 81,000 in the United States.

What are lessons learned that the U.S. should learn from these other countries?

SEN. LAMAR ALEXANDER: Well, the South Korea example is certainly one that we should pay attention to, because of their lower death number.

The United States had a glitch at the beginning with a botched test from the CDC.

Any president would have been very unhappy with that.

But since then, what the United States has done has been very impressive, nearly 10 million tests conducted to date, twice as many as any country, more per capita than South Korea, for example, which is very good news for principals and chancellors who are thinking about all the students who will want to go back to school in August, because it creates the possibility that you can test whole classes or whole schools as part of a way of keeping them safe.

JUDY WOODRUFF: One other thing in connection with this, Senator.

The president has been pressing some states that have not been prepared to open early, like Pennsylvania, and said that they're making a mistake.

He said yesterday there just seems to be no effort in getting certain blue states to get back in gear.

Should he be pressing these states this way?

SEN. LAMAR ALEXANDER: Well, he can do whatever he wants to do.

He's the president.

He also told the state of Georgia they were going too fast.

And that's a red state.

So, I think most governors don't want to be told by the president what to do.

They want to be able to have the tests their way, the schedules their way, the colleges their way.

And I think the president understands that.

He's got a right to express his own opinion.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Senator, we have -- we know that the House of Representatives is looking at legislation this week to provide aid to state and local governments.

The figure $3 trillion has been thrown out.

A trillion of that supposedly would be for state and local governments.

Have you decided where you stand on that?

SEN. LAMAR ALEXANDER: Well, I haven't seen it.

I have decided this, that we ought to send the money that we have already appropriated out -- that's $3 trillion -- and see how it works.

Most of it, much of it has not yet gone out.

For example, all the money for hospitals hasn't gone out.

And the first thing we should do with states is give them more flexibility on the money we have already given them.

But no amount of money will solve the hurt that this is causing people.

The only thing that will work are testing, tracking those who are exposed, isolating the sick, and then moving ahead on a very rapid pace with treatments and vaccines, which is happening right now.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Senator Lamar Alexander, who is chairman of the Senate Health Committee.

Senator, thank you very much.

SEN. LAMAR ALEXANDER: Thank you, Judy.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Few states have been hit harder by the coronavirus than New Jersey, which is second only to New York for the total number of deaths caused by COVID-19.

And while most other states in the country are reopening, the Garden State has been under near lockdown for months.

Earlier today, its governor, Democrat Phil Murphy, announced plans to allow some nonessential businesses to reopen.

And he joins us now from Trenton.

Governor Murphy, thank you very much for talking with us.

It is the case that New Jersey has had some of the worst numbers in the country, but you have also seen improvement, by all measurements, in the last few weeks, in terms of cases, in terms of hospitalizations, and even deaths.

You did make this announcement today to begin to open up some businesses.

How do you make a decision like that?

GOV.

PHIL MURPHY (D-NJ): Good to be with you, Judy.

And you're absolutely right.

We have made progress, and yet we are, particularly in terms of cases per 100,000 residents, fatalities per 100,000 residents, hospitalizations, we're number one in the nation, so even more impacted than New York on a per capita basis.

We have to balance it.

We opened up state and county parks two weekends ago, imploring folks to keep up social distancing, wear face covers, limiting capacity on parking spaces.

That worked quite well.

So, we're -- you know, our progress has allowed us to take some more what I would call baby steps.

There will be no day, at least that I can see, that we will flip a big light switch and a whole lot of things are going to happen all at once.

We're going to take, I think, a series of iterative steps, and that -- which also, by the way, gives us a chance to evaluate them in real time, to see how things we announced, nonessential retail curbside pickup today, we expanded construction, we allowed drive-through, three steps that we can monitor over the coming days.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Right.

So we were looking at some other statistics.

When it comes to new positive cases per 100,000 people, New Jersey is still struggling, if you will, when you compare to other states.

Is this one of the reasons that you are holding back?

Because we know you, like other governors, are getting pressure from business owners, from others to open up.

GOV.

PHIL MURPHY: It is one of the reasons.

You're absolutely right.

So, if you look at per capita numbers of all the American states per 100,000 residents, unfortunately, we're in the pole position on positive tests, hospitalizations and fatalities.

Now, having said that, your opening remarks are also true.

We have made enormous progress over the past couple, three weeks on hospitalizations, flattening the test curve, ICU beds, ventilator use, the heat maps that we look at.

So, essentially, we're in one of these moments, that we're trying to balance the progress with still in a grave, serious situation, and recognizing that, while we have made a lot of progress, we're not out of the woods yet.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Governor, I want to specifically ask you about nursing homes, because, as I was looking today, you have had something like 5,000 deaths among nursing home, long-term care facility residents.

More than half of your state's fatalities have been nursing home residents, well over the national rate.

The worst outbreak has been at a home for military veterans in Paramus.

Over 90 percent of the residents there have been -- have tested positive, 72 deaths.

What do you say to the families of these people?

GOV.

PHIL MURPHY: It's awful.

I mean, the tragedy within the tragedy is long-term care facilities.

You know, we're the densest state in America, and our density is a huge asset most days.

In something like this, it's a huge cross that we bear, frankly.

It's a tragedy.

There's just no other way to put it, and it isn't just veterans' homes, although it is certainly our blessed veterans we have lost.

But we have got this running through our state, as, by the way, most other state has as well, but we're no exception to that.

The performance by the operators has been extremely uneven.

This is a virus, clearly, that eats away at older folks, particularly folks with underlying health conditions.

We have thrown everything at this, more staffing, National Guard, the VA. Our attorney general has launched an investigation.

We have hired a nationally recognized firm to come in and plus-up our staffing and oversight.

It is the tragedy within the tragedy.

New Jersey is no exception.

But it is certainly the case here.

And you're absolutely right.

It's over half the fatalities in our state to date.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Will there be policy changes as a result of this?

GOV.

PHIL MURPHY: Absolutely.

Absolutely.

This is an industry -- again, this is not unique to New Jersey.

This is an industry which is very unevenly regulated.

And the performance is uneven.

And that's being charitable, including the very basic stuff of communicating with loved ones on the status of a resident, for instance,.

But the answer is absolutely yes.

Yes, there will be changes to this industry in our state and I would guess our country.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Governor, part of the work that you're saying you're going to be starting to do now involves, as we have been discussing nationally, contact tracing, of course, more testing.

You were talking about that?

Does New Jersey have the financial wherewithal to cover what it is going to cost to do the necessary testing and contact tracing?

GOV.

PHIL MURPHY: Yes, we will do what it takes in terms of testing and contact tracing.

And we have promised to at least double our testing, by example, by the end of this month.

New Jersey does not have all the resources it needs.

And New Jersey is not unique.

And it's not unique just to blue states either.

This is a time for direct federal cash assistance to states.

I applaud Senator Menendez in our state, who has got a bipartisan bill with Senator Cassidy of Louisiana.

I applaud Speaker Pelosi, with whom I'm speaking regularly, including this morning, on the bill she came out with yesterday.

That's exactly what the doctor ordered, and, again, not just for my state, but for all states in the middle of this.

This is the most critical health care crisis, the biggest crisis any of us have ever faced.

And at this moment in time, we need the federal government there in a big way in terms of its financial support.

JUDY WOODRUFF: But I'm sure you know Republicans, from the leadership on down, are saying they don't see a rush to do this, that a lot of these states asking for money have mismanaged their finances and shouldn't be given more money until they spend what they have got.

GOV.

PHIL MURPHY: Yes, I would say not all Republicans.

The good news is, we're starting to see Republican governors and Republican members of Congress also say the right things.

Yes, I heard what Senator McConnell said a few weeks ago.

And this has nothing whatsoever to do with our legacy issues.

That's a complete myth.

This isn't a blue state issue.

This is about our ability to continue to employ vs. laying them off.

Can you imagine laying off firefighters, police, first responders, EMS, health care workers, educators at the very moment, we need these people more than we have ever needed them in the history of our country, to be left with no choice but to lay them off?

That's the reality, if we don't get federal direct cash assistance.

And it's, again, not just blue states.

It's all states.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Governor Phil Murphy of New Jersey.

Governor, we wish you the best with all you're working on.

Thank you.

GOV.

PHIL MURPHY: Thanks for having me, Judy.

JUDY WOODRUFF: In the day's other news: The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments on whether Electoral College members must back the presidential candidate who carries their states.

The Electoral College determines the winner of the presidential election.

President Trump won the electoral vote in 2016, while losing the popular vote We will take a closer look after the news summary.

A federal judge has now delayed a decision on dismissing criminal charges against Michael Flynn, the former U.S. national security adviser.

Instead, he is inviting legal experts and outside groups to weigh in.

Flynn pled guilty to lying to the FBI during the Russia investigation.

But the Justice Department now says the investigation was flawed from the start.

Meanwhile, President Trump's one-time campaign chair, Paul Manafort, was released from federal prison.

His lawyer says that it was due to fears about the coronavirus.

Manafort will do the rest of his seven-year sentence for tax fraud, bank fraud and conspiracy in home confinement.

In Afghanistan, the death toll rose to 24, after an attack on a maternity hospital in Kabul.

There was no claim of responsibility in Tuesday's assault.

But the Taliban denied that it played any role.

We will take a closer look later in the program.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says that Israel needs to consider a number of issues before annexing West Bank settlements.

Pompeo spoke after landing in Tel Aviv today.

He met separately with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and with coalition partner Benny Gantz.

Their political agreement calls for moving ahead with annexations.

And back in this country, two states held special elections for the U.S. House races on Tuesday, and Republicans won both.

In California, Mike Garcia captured what had been a Democratic seat near Los Angeles.

And in Wisconsin, Republican Tom Tiffany easily won a seat in a pro-Trump district.

Still to come on the "NewsHour": the Supreme Court hears a critical argument that could affect future presidential elections; nationwide stay-at-home orders raise concerns over a potentially dramatic increase in child abuse; the family of an American contractor held hostage by the Taliban speaks for the first time; and despite social distancing, musicians band together to create songs of comfort.

Since the coronavirus closed schools nationwide, children are staying at home.

And, coincidentally, during this two-month period, reports to authorities of child abuse and neglect have declined dramatically.

As William Brangham tells us, advocates for child welfare are especially concerned about what this says about their safety.

Before we continue, a warning: This segment is focused on a sensitive subject.

And if there are younger viewers with you, you may want to take a moment to pause or opt out.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: That's right, Judy.

In normal times, it is difficult to cover child welfare and allegations of child abuse.

Now, with a pandemic, it is even more difficult.

We wanted to begin by sharing some of the stories and concerns that we heard from many people who are working to try to prevent that abuse.

Here's some of what we heard.

KELLY WHITE, Co-CEO, SAFE Alliance: My name is Kelly White.

I'm the co CEO at the Safe Alliance in Austin, Texas.

We work across the issues of child abuse, sex trafficking, sexual assault, domestic violence.

We are particularly concerned because, if children are at risk in a home, nobody is seeing them now.

GEORGIA BOOTHE, Children's Aid Society: Hi.

I'm Georgia Boothe.

And I am in New York City with the Children's Aid Society.

One of our biggest concerns during this pandemic is the safety and well-being of children.

We heavily on schools and physicians and other adults that are coming in contact with children on a regular basis to report incidences of child abuse and neglect.

JIM DUDLEY, San Francisco State University: Hi.

This is Jim Dudley.

I am in Redwood City, California.

And, currently, I'm a lecturer on faculty at San Francisco State University.

When I was with the police department, I was the captain of our child abuse prevention and investigation group.

In COVID-19 days, we don't get those reports.

So, it's up to the officers to be aware, without those other sort of subtle hints, that a child may be being abused.

LEAH FRALEY, Executive Director, Stop Child Abuse Now: I'm Leah Fraley.

I'm the executive director of Stop Child Abuse Now of Northern Virginia.

Reports are going down, which makes sense, right?

There's less reports because the front line of child protection really isn't in that child's life anymore.

Reports are going down.

That doesn't mean abuse is going down, right, just the reports.

We are seeing minors making those reports, which is not typical.

DR. DONALD PLUMLEY, Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Children's Hospital: Hi.

I'm Dr. Don Plumley, I am in Orlando, Florida.

And I'm the medical director at Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Children's Hospital.

What we have seen during the pandemic, unfortunately, is, we have seen a major increase of children presenting with major injuries.

There's children coming with broken bones, head injuries, burns.

And we have probably seen an increase of at least 50 percent to 100 percent of these cases in the last two months.

XANTHE SCHARFF, CEO, The Fuller Project: I'm Xanthe Scharff.

I live in Washington, D.C. And I'm the CEO and co-founder of The Fuller Project.

The Fuller Project is a global nonprofit newsroom that's dedicated to reporting on the issues that most impact women.

During coronavirus, there has been a spike of 230 percent in the material online, which is child sexual abuse, which is being shared.

And that's material that is on the publicly accessible Web.

KELLY WHITE: We had a call from child protective services worker because of a young woman that had been in our teen parent program -- that's a part of our children's shelter -- and had left to go back to -- with her child to go back to her family.

And now her -- someone from her family that had been sexually aggressive toward her was now sexually abusing her child.

We got them into our family shelter in a second.

XANTHE SCHARFF: There has been a breakdown as far as the actors that are monitoring and taking down this child sexually abusive material online.

We have found through our reporting that the instances of material being taken down has been reduced by 89 percent.

DR. DONALD PLUMLEY: In our two-county area, Orange County and Seminole County, Florida, we will see eight or nine patients a month.

In the last two months of March and April, we have seen 19 and 15 children that required hospitalization.

LEAH FRALEY: For a family who, prior to the pandemic, was in that situation and stressed out, overwhelmed, worried about, et cetera, all of the things that really do lend to difficult environments, that's now worse, significantly worse.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: So, now to understand a bit more about these concerns, I'm joined by Dr. Robert Sege.

He's a pediatrician at the Tufts Medical Center who works to combat these problems.

He's also a senior fellow at Tufts Center for the Study of Social Policy.

Dr. Sege, thank you very much for being here.

We heard some, obviously, very alarming reports of injuries going up, of sexual abuse online going up.

What, in the midst of this pandemic, concerns you the most?

DR. ROBERT SEGE, Tufts Medical Center: I think what I'm concerned about is, we really don't know what's going on, that our state and most states around the country have seen a dramatic decline in child abuse reports.

We know that some of the risks factors are increased.

Families are under more stress, more financial stress.

Their children are at home, when they should be in school.

And their parents are -- could be employed in essential businesses, they could be unemployed, or they could be trying to work from home.

All of those things tend to increase family stress.

And one thing we know about child abuse is, most people who abuse their children are kind of at the end of their rope.

There aren't that many people who are really bad and wake up in the morning and say, I want to abuse or neglect my child.

It's mostly good parents who just lose it.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: So what we would expect in a pandemic like this, with people being cooped up for this amount of time, this in some ways is -- maybe inevitable is not the right word, but this is a not unexpected event.

DR. ROBERT SEGE: No.

We saw in past natural disasters there's been an increase in serious child abuse.

During the Great Recession, there was an increase in the most serious kind of child abuse, the abuse of head trauma for infants.

So, we're very worried.

But this has never happened before.

We're really concerned about what we don't see.

But it doesn't necessarily mean that it's terrible for every child.

And we're concerned that, as we slowly begin to reemerge, when it's safe to do so, these children have a place to go, people to talk to, and ways to talk about their experience, particularly if they have been abused or neglected in some way.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: I'm just so struck by this idea that, when there's a decline in reports of abuse, that that sets off alarm bells for people like yourself.

DR. ROBERT SEGE: Yes, the thing about child abuse is, most child abuse is not reported.

And we know that in all times.

And that's done because, if you ask adults, in many different ways, were you used as a child, the numbers are much higher than the number of reports.

So -- in all times.

And, now, the people who report child abuse are their teachers, their early childhood educators, sometimes their neighbors.

The children may confide in someone like a grandparent or a beloved aunt or uncle.

And those things end up becoming reported through the child welfare system.

And, of course, physicians, when we see children, if they have bruises that you can't explain or injuries, or they're -- or they appear to be neglected, we're also required by law to report.

So all of those safety nets built around children just aren't there right now.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Do you have any advice for parents?

I hear what you're saying, that this isn't a chronic condition for the most part.

People aren't inherently abusive to their children.

It's often a situational stress that sets it off.

Let's say there are parents that are watching this who are feeling those feelings, are feeling stressed and anxious and nervous and frightened and angry.

Is there any generalized advice you can offer for them?

DR. ROBERT SEGE: Yes, there are a couple of things that we know.

The first one is, reach out for help.

Even though you can't physically join someone, on telephone, video, any other way that you can get a chance to vent those feelings and know that it's not -- you're not unusual.

We're all feeling moments of frustration and despair under the circumstances.

It is the way it is.

Secondly, understand that your children's lives are disrupted also.

So, if they're misbehaving or they're having problems, take a moment to ask them what's going on and what they miss.

Children don't know very much yet.

They haven't been around long.

And, sometimes, parents can help with some of the things that they're - - that they're concerned about.

And I think the other piece that I just sort of want to make sure to say is, no one's very efficient or productive these days.

Take some time, enjoy your children, build a fort, go for a walk, whatever it takes.

Just have some fun, because this is really bad.

It's really hard.

But maybe, at the end of the day, we will be able to look back and say, it was a really difficult time, but, boy, did we laugh.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: This is all very, very important advice to take to heart.

Dr. Robert Sege at the Tufts Medical Center, thank you very, very much for your time.

DR. ROBERT SEGE: Thank you so much for inviting me.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Very important, as we heard.

And as we just heard, there are a number of groups and hot lines you can call or find on the Web if you know someone in need of help.

We will include them on our site tonight.

You can start with the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline.

It can be reached by phone or text at 1-800-4-A-CHILD.

Or you can go to Childhelp.org/childhelp-hotline.

President Trump today reiterated that U.S. must leave Afghanistan, saying American troops are not a police force.

But the horrors of that war were again brought into sharp focus with yesterday's cruel strike on a maternity hospital.

And now, as the U.S. is withdrawing, the fate of one American held hostage lies in the balance.

Here's Amna Nawaz.

AMNA NAWAZ: A solemn prayer for the lives brutally taken in yesterday's attack on a maternity ward in Kabul.

Crews today hastily worked to dig fresh graves for the victims, including expectant mothers and newborns.

ABDUL HADI, Local Official (through translator): I saw eight dead bodies of women in this ward.

And seven other dead bodies were in the other ward on the beds, and they were hit in their heads or faces.

AMNA NAWAZ: As authorities were responding to yesterday's assault in Kabul, scores more were killed in the Eastern province of Nangarhar.

There, a suicide bomber attacked a funeral for a local police commander.

The Taliban denied involvement in either of yesterday's attacks, but Afghan President Ashraf Ghani ordered his military to ramp up.

ASHRAF GHANI, President of Afghanistan (through translator): I order all the Afghan security and defense forces to come out of defensive mode, back to offensive, and start their operations against the enemy.

AMNA NAWAZ: Yesterday's violence is just the latest crack in the already fracturing U.S. deal with the Taliban.

In late February, the two parties entered into an agreement, led by President Trump's appointed negotiator, Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad.

The U.S. would begin a troop withdrawal to end America's longest war, and, in exchange, the Taliban would stop attacks on U.S. forces, and deny other militant groups safe haven.

The Afghan government was not part of that initial agreement.

But the deal set the ground for further direct negotiations between Afghanistan and the Taliban.

Those negotiations have been stalled in part by disagreements over prisoner exchanges and continued Taliban attacks on Afghan security forces.

And the chaos and calamity raise questions about the fate of American Mark Frerichs.

The 57-year-old U.S. Navy veteran was working as a commercial contractor in Afghanistan when he was kidnapped at the end of January.

U.S. officials believe he is held by the Haqqani Network, a faction of the Taliban.

Earlier, I spoke with Frerichs' family from their home in Lombard, Illinois.

His sister Charlene Cakora is a retired gas company supervisor.

Her husband, Chris, is a truck driver working overnight shifts.

It's the family's first interview, exclusive to the "NewsHour."

So, a lot of people will hear this story, and they're going to wonder, what was he doing in Afghanistan?

CHARLENE CAKORA, Sister of Mark Frerichs: He's been there over 10 years, and he was doing construction work.

He just enjoyed it and stayed out there and... CHRIS CAKORA, Brother-in-law of Mark Frerichs: He probably knew he could make very good money, tax-free money.

And they let him do the kind of work that he liked to do that he really couldn't find here.

So, he enjoyed the environment.

And he kept going back and eventually stayed.

So we were kind of amazed at it, but it's something that he wanted to do, so we supported him.

AMNA NAWAZ: Tell us how you came to know that he had been kidnapped.

CHARLENE CAKORA: We found out Sunday morning, Groundhog Day.

We had a knock on our door at 9:00 in the morning.

And it was Lombard police.

And the FBI came to our door, and basically told us that they wanted to talk to us.

And they explained to us that my brother Mark has been kidnapped by the Taliban, the Haqqani group.

AMNA NAWAZ: And what did you think in that moment?

CHARLENE CAKORA: I was shocked.

I thought it was that -- I couldn't -- didn't believe it.

I just basically couldn't -- say over again, are you sure, are you sure?

And they were very sure.

I really didn't come in the reality of it until they came to my house the following Tuesday, and I talked to Washington, D.C., and the whole big group.

And then the reality set.

And I just -- I just still can't believe it.

And I cry every now and then at night.

And - - and I just think about what he's going through right now.

Is he being bathed?

Is he being fed?

Is he clothed?

Is he warm?

Does he have a pillow?

I mean, I just can't imagine what he's going through right now.

AMNA NAWAZ: Have you been able to get any kind of update on his well-being?

CHARLENE CAKORA: They're letting us know, the FBI and when we talk to Zalmay.

They basically are saying he is alive.

They're not saying he's well, because they don't know, I mean, but they are saying that they don't have any reason to think that he's -- he's dead.

But -- so, they feel that he is still out there.

AMNA NAWAZ: And when you say Zal, I should clarify you mean Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, who's the chief U.S. negotiator dealing directly with the Taliban.

Just last week, the FBI released a poster seeking information about the release of your brother.

There was even a reported U.S. Special Forces raid looking for information on him and his whereabouts.

Do you believe, Charlene, that the U.S. is doing everything they can to get Mark released?

CHARLENE CAKORA: Sometimes, I think yes, and, sometimes, I think no.

I think I know this COVID thing has taken over.

And I feel that the FBI and the U.S. government is doing all that they can do.

But I really don't feel comfortable that Zal is doing anything.

And he's the one that has got the power to do all -- to get Mark home safely.

CHRIS CAKORA: It sounds like Zal is more worried about doing a prisoner exchange of great numbers, rather than looking at the importance of one person.

And that's Mark and getting Mark home.

AMNA NAWAZ: Let me ask you about what it is you would like to see, because now you have the U.S. chief negotiator who is dealing with the Taliban saying, I have asked them to do everything they can.

Clearly, he's working under the direction of President Trump.

So, what else specifically do you want to see the U.S. government do to make sure that Mark is released?

CHRIS CAKORA: That no negotiations go on about trading prisoners or anything in that regards until Mark is brought home.

Then, you know, whatever they need to do, they need to do, but they need to put -- put Mark first.

AMNA NAWAZ: You would like to see the entire negotiation process stop until there's a precondition that Mark is released; is that right?

CHARLENE CAKORA: Yes.

CHRIS CAKORA: I believe -- I believe that would be right, yes.

AMNA NAWAZ: And if the process moves forward without that precondition, what are you worried would happen?

CHRIS CAKORA: That he would be forgotten, that -- we all need to understand, too, that Zal is professional and an ambassador, and that's what he's going to do with or without certain accomplishments.

But our concern is only for Mark.

AMNA NAWAZ: Let me make this clear, though, because we are talking about America's longest war, right?

Three presidents have tried to end this now.

And President Trump believes that we could be closer than ever to having some kind of a deal and getting U.S. troops home.

Are you worried that the commitment to that goal could mean that Mark gets left behind?

CHRIS CAKORA: Very much so.

CHARLENE CAKORA: Yes.

CHRIS CAKORA: Very much so.

CHARLENE CAKORA: I just have the biggest -- I have a very -- fear I think of every day that I am going to wake up some morning, and this is all going to be signed and clear, and Mark's not home safely, and the peace deal has been signed and done, a done deal, with -- and Mark still is out there.

And what are we going to do then?

AMNA NAWAZ: We have seen President Trump get very directly involved to try to negotiate prisoners' release in the past from different countries.

Do you think it would help Mark's case if he were to do the same in this situation?

CHRIS CAKORA: I think it would do more help than harm at this point.

And he's shown he's a pretty powerful guy.

He's gone toe to toe against the strongest leaders in the world and come out OK. CHARLENE CAKORA: Yes, I really support Donald - - President Trump, that he will bring my brother home safely.

He's done it in the past with other prisoners, other -- so, I believe he will get my brother home.

AMNA NAWAZ: If you could deliver a message right now to President Trump, what would you say to him?

CHARLENE CAKORA: I would say, please bring my brother Mark home safely, and please don't do any more signing, any more deals until my brother is included in that deal and getting my brother home safe.

AMNA NAWAZ: Charlene, let me ask you, because this is the very first interview anyone in your family has given, why are you talking to us today?

CHARLENE CAKORA: It's been long enough that I feel that we have to be a little stronger and move more forward and more aggressive.

I have to get more out there, more to get the word out, and maybe get President Trump a little bit more mentioning my brother Mark's name.

CHRIS CAKORA: More motivated maybe.

CHARLENE CAKORA: And more motivated.

And I think the more my brother Mark's name is put out there, I think the more -- you know, the power up there will do what they have got to do, because we are very concerned.

(CROSSTALK) AMNA NAWAZ: If you had a way of getting a message straight to Mark, what would you want to say to him right now?

CHARLENE CAKORA: I just want to tell him that we're doing everything we can to get you home, I miss you, and I just want you home safely.

And I have worried about you over a decade with this.

And I -- we have felt so comfortable that you were doing OK and you were safe out there.

I guess we just let our guard down.

But I want you home safe.

And we're -- I'm doing everything I can to get you home safe.

So, just hang in here.

He's my brother, and I love him, my only brother.

And we are only two years apart, so we were always goes as kids and hung out.

And he was always my bodyguard in high school when I got picked on.

(LAUGHTER) CHARLENE CAKORA: And he's always been there for me.

So, I got to be here for him.

AMNA NAWAZ: Charlene and Chris Cakora, talking to us today from Lombard, Illinois, thank you so much for your time.

We wish your family all the very best.

CHARLENE CAKORA: Thank you.

CHRIS CAKORA: Thank you for your time.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Can states punish presidential electors for bucking a pledge to vote for the winner in their state?

That was the question at the heart of today's Supreme Court arguments.

John Yang has the story.

MICHAEL BACA, 2016 Elector in Colorado: I'm just a guy.

I was just a regular person.

I wasn't a politician.

JOHN YANG: He may be a regular guy, but Michael Baca was one of just 538 people chosen to vote for president in 2016.

That's right.

While more than 150 million Americans headed to the polls on November 8, 2016, to choose between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, the presidency was actually decided weeks later by the 538 members of the Electoral College.

NARRATOR: When people cast their vote, they're actually voting for a group of people called electors.

JOHN YANG: This indirect election of the president is established in the Constitution.

Each state has the same number of electoral votes as their representation in the House and the Senate.

Candidates need 270 votes to win, and most states are winner-take-all.

In 2016, Clinton won the popular vote in Colorado, so all nine of the state's electoral votes were supposed to go to her.

But Baca, one of Colorado's electors, voted for Republican John Kasich.

It was part of plan he hatched with other electors to try to prevent Mr. Trump from becoming president.

MICHAEL BACA: It was to find a more moderate - - a moderate Republican.

The popular vote winner of Colorado was Hillary Clinton.

But the majority of people in Colorado did not want Donald Trump.

JOHN YANG: Jason Harrow is Baca's attorney.

JASON HARROW, Attorney for Electors: They were putting country over party.

And there is a place for that.

It's not to blow up the system.

It's actually to further our constitutional democracy.

JOHN YANG: Colorado invalidated Baca's vote and replaced him with an alternate, who did vote for Clinton.

MICHAEL BACA: Electors are supposed to go and vote.

And when I attempted to go and exercise my right to vote in the Electoral College in 2016, I was denied that vote.

JOSEPH BIDEN (D), Presidential Candidate: Colin Powell from the Commonwealth of Virginia has received three votes.

JOHN YANG: As then Vice President Joe Biden announced the results, seven so-called faithless electors were successful in casting their ballots for other candidates.

In Washington state, four of them were fined $1,000 each.

They and Baca sued.

Today, meeting once again by phone, the Supreme Court heard a pair of arguments on the constitutionality of state laws punishing faithless electors.

Marcia Coyle is chief Washington correspondent for "The National Law Journal."

MARCIA COYLE, "The National Law Journal": The court has ruled way back in 1952 that states can require electors to pledge to support certain candidates or political party's candidates, but the court has never said whether the states can enforce pledges.

It is an unprecedented question for them.

JOHN YANG: But just months before the next presidential election, the stakes for the justices were clear.

Justice Samuel Alito pressed Lawrence Lessig, the attorney for the Washington state electors.

SAMUEL ALITO, U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice: Those who disagree with your argument say that it would lead to chaos.

Do you deny that that is a good possibility, if your argument prevails?

LAWRENCE LESSIG, Attorney for the Electors: We deny it's a good possibility.

We don't deny it's a possibility.

We believe there are risks on either side.

In the history of electors, there has been one elector, out of the 23,507 votes cast, who has switched parties against the majority party in a way that it could have mattered.

JOHN YANG: Rick Hasen, an election law expert at U.C.

Irvine Law School and author of "Election Meltdown," explained the potential risk.

RICK HASEN, University of California, Irvine: These electors could be subject to pressure.

They could be subject to bribes.

They could vote in an independent way.

And that would throw off the result.

Imagine the election is very close, and it just takes one or two electors changing their views.

JOHN YANG: During today's arguments, Washington solicitor general Noah Purcell defended his state's decision to fine faithless electors as a way to protect three million other voters.

NOAH PURCELL, Washington State Solicitor General: Once the legislature has given power to vote to the public, the public now has a fundamental right to vote and have their votes counted equally, and -- as this court has said in a number of cases.

And so the legislature can't then override that vote after the fact.

It would radically change how American presidential elections have always worked in our country.

JOHN YANG: But Chief Justice John Roberts pressed Baca's attorney on what limits may be placed on an elector.

JOHN ROBERTS, Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court: So, the elector can decide, I'm going to vote, I'm going to flip a coin, and however it comes out, that's how I'm going to vote?

JASON HARROW: Yes, Your Honor.

That's the same discretion that U.S. senators have, representatives have, congressional electors have.

These too are elected officials, and they have that same discretion.

JOHN ROBERTS: Well, that sounds pretty limitless to me.

JOHN YANG: Depending on how the justices rule, the Republicans and Democrats may do things differently this fall.

RICK HASEN: This is not an exaggeration, I expect there are going to be investigators investigating the lives of these electors to make sure that these are people who are those who would reliably vote for Joe Biden or Donald Trump.

JOHN YANG: Presidential candidates and electors should have a better idea of their options before the party nominating conventions later this summer.

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

JUDY WOODRUFF: Finally tonight, our occasional look at the Songs of Comfort project that world-renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma launched on social media.

Jeffrey Brown looks at the growing collaboration in these mini-performances, as tough times bring people together through music and technology.

It's part of our ongoing arts and culture series, Canvas.

JEFFREY BROWN: In a time of isolation, a desire to connect through music.

As the psychology of pandemic changes through the weeks, you can see that play out in the #SongsofComfort project through more and more collaborations.

That includes the man who started it all, Yo-Yo Ma, who recorded a distanced duet with celebrated West African singer Angelique Kidjo, and another with Syrian-born clarinetist Kinan Azmeh.

The urge to merge is often a family affair, as with this young mother and father in their Berlin, Germany, living room, their new baby adding a little percussion.

In Arizona, six women family members put the '70s song "I'd Like to Teach the World" to sing to multistringed accompaniment, joined by the whistling of the person capturing it all on camera.

And a violinist with the Washington, D.C.-area National Philharmonic sat down with her guitar-playing son for a piece by Astor Piazzolla.

There are also more elaborate cross-genre collaborations, a delightful Bach to the Barre breakfast scene created by musicians from the Toronto Symphony and dancers with the Canadian National Ballet, plus two children, who performed their roles to perfection.

Much older children at Potomac, Maryland's St. Andrews Episcopal School sang, "Oh happy Day," joined by alumni and faculty.

And 24 student cellists from around the world managed to get together for a performance of Saint-Saens' "The Swan."

In Houston, members of the symphony, used to playing together on stage, created a virtual quartet.

And while it can be a lonely time for many, technology allows another kind of quartet, all the parts performed by one individual.

Songs played alone, songs played together.

And, as we saw in that Berlin living room, some things don't change, the desire to share and maybe inspire the next generation.

For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Jeffrey Brown.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Songs of Comfort, that has to continue after this pandemic.

And tune in later tonight on PBS to watch the premiere of "NOVA"'s "Decoding COVID-19."

The one-hour film follows scientists in the global race to develop a vaccine, and takes viewers to the front lines in Wuhan, China, and New York during the height of the outbreak.

That's "Decoding COVID" tonight on PBS at 9:00 Eastern/8:00 Central.

You can stream it as well across PBS' digital platforms.

And that is the "NewsHour" for tonight.

I'm Judy Woodruff.

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.