JUDY WOODRUFF: Good evening.

I'm Judy Woodruff.

On the "NewsHour" tonight: ongoing outrage.

Protests for racial justice continue nationwide, with pockets of violence, as the president visits Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Then: feeling the pain.

We explore the economic costs of COVID, as Congress remains deadlocked on any more aid.

And health care abroad.

We visit the United Kingdom for an up-close look at the benefits and drawbacks of a single-payer medical system.

OLIVE PARFITT, Dorchester, England: If I have a heart attack tomorrow, it's the best thing.

They will take me in.

They will do it.

But when you have got what I call disabilities that are not life-threatening, they can't cope.

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

(BREAK) JUDY WOODRUFF: President Trump has spent much of this day in Kenosha, Wisconsin, touting his law-and-order campaign.

The city erupted in outrage last week, after police shot a Black man, Jacob Blake, in the back.

Today, Mr. Trump toured burned-out stores, praising police and denouncing Democratic officials.

We will hear more after the news summary.

Protests broke out overnight near Los Angeles, after sheriff's deputies killed a Black man.

Officials say he resisted arrest, and then dropped a bundle containing a gun, and the deputies opened fire.

Dozens of people swarmed to the scene after nightfall, in protests that turned tense when officers pushed into crowds to disperse them.

Two sheriffs located outside of Portland, Oregon, are refusing the governor's plea to send deputies into the city.

There have been months of anti-racism protests, almost nightly violence, and a counterdemonstrator was killed over the weekend.

The sheriffs say that the city is doing little to calm things, so they won't risk their deputies.

In New York, Mayor Bill de Blasio today put off public school reopenings for another 11 days, until September 21.

It is to give teachers more time to prepare for having students back in class.

Meanwhile, schools across Europe began reopening.

Students in France practiced extra handwashing.

And, in Italy, faculty members warmly welcomed pupils.

DANIELA GIANETTI, Italy (through translator): After six months of being apart from our children, who are our passion in life, today, I was thrilled to be able to be with them once again.

Unfortunately, we haven't yet been able to hug them, but we will.

I was longing to see the mothers, and I can't wait to begin living again.

JUDY WOODRUFF: In Hong Kong today, a universal COVID testing program began.

But pro-democracy advocates warned that authorities might use it to collect citizen's DNA.

Meanwhile, a study of 30,000 people in Iceland, the largest yet, found that human antibodies last at least four months after COVID infection.

That is hopeful news for vaccine efforts.

Republicans in the U.S. Senate may roll out a slimmed-down pandemic relief bill next week.

It could total $500 billion for the unemployed, businesses and schools.

But Democrats favor a $2 trillion measure, and talks are stalled.

At a House hearing today, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin called for passing what's possible.

STEVEN MNUCHIN, U.S. Treasury Secretary: We should agree on areas where we can agree, and move forward for the benefit of the American people.

That's what we're all here for.

Again, let's not get caught on a number.

Let's agree on things we can move forward on a bipartisan basis now.

JUDY WOODRUFF: We will look at this in detail later in the program.

The Pentagon is projecting that China could double its nuclear warhead arsenal over the next decade.

A report to Congress says that the Chinese stockpile may grow to more than 400 warheads.

The U.S. has 3,800.

The Pentagon estimates that Beijing wants to become the dominant power in the Pacific by 2049.

Back in this country, more than 50 Black former franchise owners of McDonald's sued the fast food chain today.

Their federal lawsuit, filed in Chicago, says the company of steered them to low-profit locations in crime-ridden neighborhoods.

McDonald's denies the allegations.

And on Wall Street, stocks rallied as construction spending and factory activity increased.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 215 points to close at 28645.

The Nasdaq rose 164 points, and the S&P 500 added 26.

Shares of Zoom video surged to 40 percent - - surged 40 percent today, making it worth more than GM and Ford.

The Internet business has exploded with the pandemic.

Still to come on the "NewsHour": protests for racial justice continue nationwide, as the president visits Kenosha, Wisconsin; Congress remains deadlocked on a coronavirus economic relief package, as jobless claims remain high; we visit the United Kingdom for an up-close look at the benefits and drawbacks of a single-payer health care system; plus, much more.

Race, justice, law and order.

We face a critical moment in America.

As Yamiche Alcindor reports, protests in the streets are a key issue at the ballot box, and Wisconsin was at the center of attention today.

YAMICHE ALCINDOR: One day after comparing police shootings to golfing and defending a Trump supporter who allegedly killed two people, President Trump came to Kenosha, Wisconsin.

The city is still reeling from the police shooting of Jacob Blake.

The president toured damages stemming from the unrest and met with law enforcement.

DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: We have seen tremendous violence, and we will put it out very, very quickly, if given the chance, and that's what this is all about.

Yes, I keep hearing about peaceful protests.

I hear it about everything.

And then I come into an area like this, and I see the town is burned down.

YAMICHE ALCINDOR: The president's visit today spawned even more demonstrations and some confrontations between his supporters and Black Lives Matter protesters.

He did not meet with Jacob Blake's family.

They say the 29-year-old is paralyzed after a Kenosha police officer shot him seven times in the back.

Blake's uncle spoke this afternoon.

JUSTIN BLAKE, Uncle of Jacob Blake: Our nephew was shot seven times in the back.

Nothing can justify that.

He had no weapon.

And he's paralyzed right now in the hospital.

We don't have any words for the orange man.

All I ask is that he keep his disrespect, his foul language far away from our family.

YAMICHE ALCINDOR: The shooting on August 23 touched off a week of turmoil and almost daily protests.

PROTESTER: Black lives matter#~!

YAMICHE ALCINDOR: Many were peaceful gatherings, but some evenings saw fires, vandalism and looting, before Democratic Governor Tony Evers sent in the National Guard.

City officials estimate the cost of damage to city property so far at nearly $2 million.

And, today, Evers announced state loans to assist local businesses.

For his part, the president also pledged to provide millions of dollars for small businesses and law enforcement.

Democrats across Wisconsin repeatedly requested the president not to visit, saying he would only ignite tensions.

NARRATOR: This is Trump's America.

YAMICHE ALCINDOR: And the national Democratic Party released an ad today that echoed that, blaming President Trump for scenes of violence.

His meeting with law enforcement today comes after he told FOX News last night that police officers face high-pressure situations.

He then compared police shootings to golfing.

DONALD TRUMP: They can do 10,000 great acts, which is what they do.

And one bad apple or a choker -- you know, a choker.

They choke.

I mean, in the meantime, he might have been going for a weapon, and you know there's a whole big thing there.

But they choke, just like in a golf tournament.

YAMICHE ALCINDOR: Yesterday, President Trump also defended 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse, who is charged with shooting three people and killing two last Tuesday during the protests.

DONALD TRUMP: He was trying to get away from them, I guess, it looks like.

And he fell, and then they very violently attacked him.

He was in very big trouble.

He would have been -- I -- he probably would have been killed.

YAMICHE ALCINDOR: Prosecutors say Rittenhouse shot one person before protesters charged him.

They tried to take his gun away before he fired again.

In that same interview, President Trump also encouraged a baseless conspiracy theory that powerful people in -- quote -- "dark shadows" were behind the protests.

Wisconsin Democrats, such as U.S.

Congressman Mark Pocan, who represents Madison, condemned the president's words.

REP. MARK POCAN (D-WI): We don't want people coming in from out of state with guns, acting like vigilantes, thinking that they're running the streets.

And yet that is exactly what Donald Trump is promoting, as he promotes his racial division.

YAMICHE ALCINDOR: The presidents' comments are not the first time he has appeared to condone violence.

After a woman was killed protesting against a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville in 2017, he said this: DONALD TRUMP: You also had people that were very fine people on both sides.

YAMICHE ALCINDOR: And on the campaign trail in 2016, he said of a protester interrupting a rally: DONALD TRUMP: I'd like to punch him in the face, I'll tell you.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) YAMICHE ALCINDOR: Back in Kenosha, the family of Jacob Blake led a community cleanup, food drive and voter registration event at the site where he was shot.

They are still calling for the officer who shot him to be charged.

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

JUDY WOODRUFF: The economic crisis stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic has worn on for months now.

Congress is still a long way from passing a new round of economic relief, and one of the limited actions that President Trump took a few weeks ago is still in the middle of being implemented.

Here to explain where things stand is our own Lisa Desjardins.

So, hello, Lisa.

We know there are something like 27 million Americans who are receiving some form of unemployment benefits, and it was just a matter of weeks ago that President Trump promised an additional $300 a week.

But the states had to sign on.

What do we know about where all that stands?

LISA DESJARDINS: Judy, nearly every state has to apply to get that money.

But it's interesting.

They have to make a choice to do it.

States can either ask for $300 per person, and because of some creative guidance by the Trump administration, the state doesn't have to contribute anything, or the state could choose to add another $100 on its own, for $400 a week for each unemployed person.

But the trick is, Judy, each state has a different system.

Many are outdated, so it is taking weeks, in some cases maybe months, for the states to process and get this going.

So let's explain what is happening through a series of maps.

First of all, let's look at this.

Look at the red state here, South Dakota.

That is the only state that has declined to participate, that state saying that its economy is good, it doesn't need that extra money.

Now, the next series, let's look at these five states.

These are the five states that have decided to give $400 a week for their unemployed.

That is their plan.

But, as you can see here in yellow, nearly every other state is opting for that $300, because most states say they just don't have the budget to contribute themselves.

Now, Judy, here's the big question, though.

How many workers are seeing this money right now?

Those are these states.

Just five states so far have been able to get out this extra, in most cases, $300 per person.

And, Judy, this money is coming from a disaster fund that is also meant for hurricanes.

That money is running out quickly.

We're not sure how long it will last.

There is a race to get this money.

And it seems that maybe only four or five weeks total will be available for any state.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And, Lisa, if you step back, what does this mean for people who are counting on this money?

I know our team has reached out to number of -- a number of people who are unemployed.

LISA DESJARDINS: That's right.

We spent a day -- the day today really talking to a lot of people.

And, Judy, it was $600 additional that these unemployed workers were getting.

But that ran out weeks ago.

And Congress has sort of been stuck in negotiations since.

So, for many of these families, that's $3,000 less that they have.

And that means a lot of anxiety.

I have heard of families cutting back, trying to pool resources, but they're just not sure how long they will be able to make it with those tactics.

And, in fact, one of those people is Elizabeth Bartholomew from Grand Rapids, Michigan.

She is an event planner who lost her job because of the coronavirus.

ELIZABETH BARTHOLOMEW, Michigan: Before this, my husband and I kind of shared mortgage and split up our bills and stuff.

And now all of that is on him.

And so I think he feels a lot of pressure because of that.

And my -- whatever little I make is just -- I'm -- I'm buying groceries for my kids.

LISA DESJARDINS: That theme of family and trying to help people who depend on you was apparent.

Another quote, this one from a woman named Kim in Mesa, Arizona.

She was a church coordinator who -- also laid off because of the coronavirus.

She told us: "It's pretty much between the choices of paying car insurance at this point or buying food or keeping the Internet on for my children, who are paying to go to college online."

So, Judy, a lot of very difficult choices right now.

People telling us they're getting creative, but they're not sure how long this can last.

And anxiety is rising very quickly.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And, meanwhile, Lisa, everybody is looking to the Congress to see what they are up to, where everything stands.

What do you know?

LISA DESJARDINS: That's the frustrating part.

All of these people agree they expected Congress to come through with something by now.

But Congress is still negotiating.

Senate Republicans, I'm told, feel that they are close to having their own plan, a small plan dealing with unemployment and small businesses, largely.

But it remains to be seen, Judy.

And one issue is that the House itself is only supposed to be in session for three weeks in September.

So, everyone agrees, experts, unemployed, everyone, that September is the window to get this done.

And if Congress isn't able to come up with more relief, then we will have a more serious economic problem very soon.

JUDY WOODRUFF: A lot of people waiting to see what happens.

Lisa Desjardins, following it all for us, thank you.

LISA DESJARDINS: You're welcome.

JUDY WOODRUFF: We continue now with our series on universal health care.

Tonight, William Brangham and producer Jason Kane turn to the U.K., where its National Health Service covers everyone, while it sparks both inspiration and alarm in the U.S.

This story was filmed before the pandemic erupted.

WOMAN: good morning to you.

Did you have a good sleep?

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Even with the help of his mom, Liam Murphy still struggles to wake up each day.

ANGELINA MURPHY, Mother of Liam Murphy: I thought you would be dreaming about Charlotte, right?

Why Charlotte?

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Liam has Down syndrome, epilepsy and chronic lung disease.

He's dealt with these since the day he was born.

The 11-year-old lives in Watford, England, with his parents, Gary and Angelina, and big sister Laura.

They have to be constantly vigilant for trouble, like this seizure.

ANGELINA MURPHY: Don't start.

Don't start.

Don't start.

Can you get the mask, please?

No, I can't have that on -- not on the nasal cannula.

Turn it down.

GARY MURPHY, of Liam Murphy: You're all right.

Come on out of that.

Come on out.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Dozens of times a year, episodes like this will send Liam to the hospital.

He is always at risk of dying.

Liam's life, and the incredible care he gets, is a testament to the United Kingdom's National Health Service, known as the NHS.

Residents of the U.K. pay taxes to the government that support the NHS.

The government is then the single payer for health care.

It pays doctors and hospitals and covers nearly all costs.

For Liam, that's all his medicines and hospitalizations.

It pays for caregivers that come several times a week.

The NHS even paid for this chair and standing frame to help him exercise.

ANGELINA MURPHY: So, he's been up for about half-an-hour now, hasn't he?

So that's really good, Liam.

GARY MURPHY: No one says, well, that's going to cost too much, so we're not going to do it.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: You have never heard those words?

GARY MURPHY: No.

And if we call an ambulance, an ambulance will be here in five minutes to pick Liam up and take him to hospital.

A specialist team will come out, pick him up, put him on their ventilators, take him to intensive care.

An intensive care bed will cost 2,000 pounds, so, $3,500 a night.

No one mentions the money.

They just do what you need to do.

Without the NHS, we would be bankrupt.

Liam would probably be not with us.

NARRATOR: On July 5, the new National Health Service starts.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: The National Health Service was built from the wreckage of World War II, something of a gift from the government to a battered and impoverished nation, which welcomed it.

And, today, it's still considered the U.K.'s great equalizer.

Everyone, regardless of profession or income, has access to that system, from primary care, to, as needed, the full range of specialty services.

Do you ever think about how much things are going to cost when you come to the doctor?

DOLORES CLEMENT, Patient: No, it doesn't cross my mind.

But the thing is, because I'm diabetic, in England, if you're diabetic, your prescriptions are free, so I don't have to pay for it anyway.

So, it doesn't cross my mind.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Despite those benefits, per person, the NHS spends less than half what we spend in the U.S., including a lot less than we do on administrative costs.

And the NHS generally gets better health outcomes than we do.

Life expectancy is longer here than in the U.S., in part because people in the U.K. suffer much lower rates of chronic diseases, like asthma, diabetes and hypertension.

It's hard to overstate just how beloved the National Health Service is here in the U.K.

Some people have referred to it as the closest thing this country has to a national religion.

In fact, in 2018, when the service had its 70th anniversary, they had a huge celebration here at Westminster Abbey.

When the pandemic hit, a big part of the government's stay-at-home appeal was, protect the NHS.

BORIS JOHNSON, British Prime Minister: We must be sure that the infection rate is falling.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Even so, disillusion has grown in recent years.

In the rural town of Dorchester, England, I met 77-year-old Olive Parfitt.

OLIVE PARFITT, Dorchester, England: I was supposed to have the operation in August.

And 14 hours before the operation, they canceled it.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Parfitt needs to have her knee replaced, but she's been on a surgical waiting list for nearly a year.

She said she took four painkillers just to make this short stroll.

OLIVE PARFITT: Because I have walked so badly for over a year, I'm starting to throw the other knee out.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Oh, really?

Because you're compensating?

OLIVE PARFITT: Yes, so you wobble, so makes it difficult.

If I have a heart attack tomorrow, it's the best thing.

They will take me in.

They will do it.

But when you have got what I call disabilities that are not life-threatening, they can't cope.

I was told six months, and that was a year ago.

And now, last week, I was told, it's a year.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Parfitt has been a strong supporter of the NHS her whole life, but now, after a lifetime of paying in, she feels left out.

OLIVE PARFITT: Suddenly, when you get to a certain age and you want to get it back out again, it's not there anymore.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: An estimated 10 percent of U.K. citizens pay out of pocket for supplemental insurance, in part to avoid long waits.

And these delays also cause tens of thousands of residents to seek some care abroad.

For people like Parfitt, it's dispiriting.

OLIVE PARFITT: So, you just think, nobody cares about me anymore.

I'm an old girl.

Probably, if you carry on long enough, she will pop her clock, and then we won't have to worry with her.

I do feel that you become invisible.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Funding for the NHS has been a constant problem and a political flash point.

Different administrations fund the NHS at different levels, and the U.K.'s recent austerity measures have delayed upgrades, and made serious staffing shortages worse.

This has also led to a series of scandals, as seen in this 2017 BBC report.

Emergency rooms were overflowing.

And in recent years, after being rushed to the hospital, hundreds of thousands of patients were stuck in ambulances for over an hour.

SIR ANDREW DILLON, Former CEO, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence: There are always choices, and, inevitably, and in every health care system, there are always limitations on what the system can do.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Sir Andrew Dillon was, until this spring, the longtime head of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, known as NICE.

It's a sweet acronym, but some conservatives in the U.S. liken its work to a death panel.

NICE is one of the NHS' crucial cost-control mechanisms.

It studies evidence to recommend which treatments and procedures give the most cost-effective benefit.

SIR ANDREW DILLON: So, making sure that we really understand the benefits of one option over another, making sure we really understand the value for our money, particularly in a publicly funded system that has to account for how money is used, is really important.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Sir Andrew says, wait times for elective surgeries, like Olive Parfitt's, have improved, but funds aren't infinite.

DR. ASHISH JHA, Director, Harvard Global Health Institute: I love how open and explicit they are about the fact that there are always choices.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Dr. Ashish Jha studies health systems around the world.

He's now the dean of Brown University's School of Public Health, and he's been a collaborator on this series with us.

DR. ASHISH JHA: It's not like, in the U.S., we're not making choices.

We have rationing in the U.S.

It's primarily based on your ability to pay and whether you have health insurance or not.

So, the National Health Service tries to make explicit the rationing choices it's making.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Jha says the U.S. could learn a thing or two from a fully funded version of this system, access for everyone, transparent cost controls, and people rarely going broke because they got sick.

DR. ASHISH JHA: It's really clear to me that we could not do a wholesale adoption.

Where I think we get lost is the idea that somehow we could take the National Health Service and just import it into America.

And I think what's really lost is all that context, the history behind the National Health Service, the meaning people assign it.

We don't have any of that.

But there is a lot we can learn.

There are strengths of it, of the National Service that we could absolutely do better with in the U.S. WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Since we first filmed with them back in February, Liam Murphy was hospitalized and in critical condition, this time right in the middle of the U.K.'s worst stretch of the pandemic.

But he's back home now and doing OK. ANGELINA MURPHY: The general ethos that I have experienced is that nobody has given up.

And every time we have an episode where it could go either way, we come together and say, he hasn't given up, therefore, we aren't giving up, and then the health professionals go, good enough for me.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: The Murphys say the NHS isn't perfect, but it's given them more precious time with their son.

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

JUDY WOODRUFF: The U.S. is drawing down in Iraq from 5,200 troops to 3,500.

It is part of a plan developed with the Iraqi government to hand over security responsibility to Iraqi forces.

But the country faces larger challenges that a new, U.S.-backed prime minister is struggling to solve.

Nick Schifrin reports.

NICK SCHIFRIN: In life, Reham Yaqob led a clarion cry of Iraqi protest.

She opened a women-only gym and advocated female empowerment.

And she campaigned against Iranian-backed militias.

In death, she was a symbol of those militias' strength, and of government weakness.

YASSEN HABIB, Uncle of Reham Yaqob (through translator): We are still in shock.

We didn't expect this.

It is really a state of horror.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Her murder last month helped spark protests in her hometown, Basra.

Demonstrators torched the local parliament, furious the government couldn't keep them safe.

(GUNFIRE) NICK SCHIFRIN: Iraqi security forces responded with live gunfire.

In the last 10 months, they have killed more than 500 protesters.

Those protests condemn not only insecurity, but also an economic calamity, a lack of jobs, basic services, and smothering government corruption.

AHMED SAEED, Protester (through translator): Each government comes, gives us hope, and says it will honor our rights.

But, until now even, our demands are still not being met.

We don't have anything.

NICK SCHIFRIN: In Basra, Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi fired the police and intelligence chiefs and ordered an investigation.

MUSTAFA AL-KADHIMI, Iraqi Prime Minister (through translator): This is a new government that is working to establish the prerequisites of security.

Its goal is to establish security and prevent crime.

NICK SCHIFRIN: But he has struggled to de-arm Shia militias likely responsible for Basra assassinations.

The U.S. is reducing troop levels and transferring bases to Iraqi control, saying the Iraqi military is more capable.

But the main challenge is governance.

Kadhimi, who is U.S.-backed, has positioned himself as a reformer since becoming prime minister in May.

But he inherited crises of security, economy, and leadership all at once.

And I'm joined now by Ali Allawi, the finance minister of Iraq.

Mr. Minister, welcome to the "NewsHour."

It seems like your job is massive.

One expert described it this way.

You have to deregulate, de-corrupt and de-militia.

What is the size of that challenge?

ALI ALLAWI, Iraqi Finance Minister: Well, it is actually quite a large challenge and, I think, a very serious challenge.

But we have to do what one must, given the circumstances of the country.

NICK SCHIFRIN: We saw this horrific blast in Beirut recently, really caused by negligence and apathy of the government for many years.

And some of the observers that I talked to about Iraq fear that there's a paralysis in some of the government, and that major changes aren't happening, just like in Lebanon.

Do you see the Beirut explosion as some kind of cautionary tale?

ALI ALLAWI: It is.

I mean, it shows you what happens when a state becomes hollowed out.

We have not yet reached the same level, but we're not very far from it.

We have to reassert the authority of the government, not to allow the state to become basically an instrument of extraneous parties who then use it to derive advantage and benefits from the diversion of state resources for illicit purposes.

If we don't take remedial measures soon, the process might have gone too far.

We have to take very important and very radical measures soon.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Let's look at the region and relations with Iran.

Is it possible for Iran to play a constructive security role in Iraq, when it funds and staffs militias that are loyal or sometimes controlled by Iran?

ALI ALLAWI: We think that Iran's involvement in the past and in certain -- at certain times has been problematic.

And inasmuch as they are responsible for sustaining some of the more out-of-control militias, I think they will -- they will need to change and recalibrate their engagement to these - - to these entities.

So, I think that Iran is beginning to recognize that the way that it interacts with, engages with Iraq, through -- sometimes, through these militias, needs to be changed.

And I think they will move in that direction.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Let's talk about the U.S. role in that effort.

As you said, the prime minister talks about trying to reform those militias.

He talks often about improving government, reforming the bureaucracy.

Is the U.S. helping enough with those efforts?

ALI ALLAWI: The United States has pulled back from many areas in which it has been active, had been active before.

And now it appears to limit its engagement to mainly the area of providing support to the Iraqi security forces.

We also would like to see the U.S. reaffirm or expand its engagement to include sectors which it's not active now as it was in the past, for example, in the economy, helping us to reform, restructure.

We're not really looking for additional financial contributions or investments from the U.S. government, but we want to see the United States stand behind us in various international forums and to support us as we proceed along this path.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Ali Allawi, the finance minister of Iraq.

Thank you very much, sir.

ALI ALLAWI: Thank you.

JUDY WOODRUFF: The U.S. census is always a daunting challenge, now made more complicated by COVID.

Amna Nawaz explores the hurdles facing the once-in-a-decade population count.

AMNA NAWAZ: The deadline for counting the 2020 census is fast approaching.

The Census Bureau announced that it's ending door-to-door outreach efforts at the end of September, a month earlier than planned.

That's sent local organizers into a scramble to reach hard-to-count communities.

There are hundreds of billions of dollars in federal funds at stake, and pivotal congressional seats hang in the balance.

NPR's Hansi Lo Wang has been reporting on the census, and he joins me now.

Hansi, welcome back to the "NewsHour."

Let's start with that timeline and help people understand what it is behind it.

What drove that shortened timeline, moving it up from the end of October to the end of September?

And what's the potential impact?

HANSI LO WANG, NPR: Well, this is a surprise move by the Census Bureau, who -- and the bureau's director, Steven Dillingham, has said this was following a directive from the commerce secretary, who oversees the Census Bureau.

Essentially, the Trump administration has taken the position that they want to cut short counting for the 2020 census by a month in order to meet a current legal deadline, which is by the end of this year, December 31.

The latest state population counts are due to the president.

Those are the counts used to redistribute seats in Congress.

What's interesting is that, recently, President Trump issued a memo saying that he wants to adjust those counts once he gets them as president.

He wants to exclude unauthorized immigrants from those counts, even though the Constitution says that those numbers should include every person living in the country.

AMNA NAWAZ: So, let me ask you about this new process the Census Bureau has had to undertake, because a shortened timeline means they're crunched to reach communities they have already had trouble reaching during a pandemic.

We have already seen a lag in response rates from a number of census officials we have spoken to, as compared to 2010.

I want to play for you a little bit of sound from one local official we talked to who is seeing that kind of lag.

This is Michael Thurmond.

He's the CEO of DeKalb County, Georgia.

He said it's a very diverse area, a big Latinx, a big immigrant community.

He says he is worried about a severe undercount.

Take a listen to him.

MICHAEL THURMOND, CEO, DeKalb County, Georgia: The best, clearest most -- example as to why the census is so important, as to why every resident must and should be counted is, look no further than the CARES Act dollars that are being distributed across this nation.

Undercount in the census results in underfunding to fight one of the most challenging diseases we face.

AMNA NAWAZ: Hansi, that concern we heard from Mr. Thurmond, how unique is that?

HANSI LO WANG: You hear that a lot from a lot of places around the country.

We're in the middle of an unpredictable pandemic, a historic hurricane season.

We don't know what these next few weeks are going to -- what's going to happen, and whether or not Census Bureau workers, door-knockers, who are already out there trying to reach those households that have not participated yet, what new challenges may be coming their way?

Already, the census workers that I have been talking to, they say they're having trouble with the iPhones that they have been issued to try to collect this information.

They're seeing delays in being trained and a lot of pressure to go out in the field, while having not feeling adequately trained in these situations.

There are a lot of challenges here, and this shortened time frame really just exacerbates all of them.

AMNA NAWAZ: Hansi, you mentioned something else I want to ask you about.

That was the Trump administration's attempt to exclude the undocumented population from some of those counts for reapportionment purposes.

But we also heard a lot about their attempt to add a citizenship question to the census.

That was eventually shot down by the Supreme Court.

But we asked census managers about this around the country.

I want to play for you a little bit of sound from Nestor Lopez.

He's the census coordinator for Hidalgo County, Texas.

He says the effort alone to try to add that citizenship question is already having an impact.

Take a listen.

NESTOR LOPEZ, Census Coordinator: Even today, we still hear people asking, are they going to ask me about my citizenship status, because my family or the people living in my household, we do have mixed status.

So that fear often just results in inaction.

AMNA NAWAZ: Hansi, have you heard from others that the messaging alone, the attempt to add that question could have some kind of chilling effect?

HANSI LO WANG: I have.

And you also hear from community groups who have spoken to some of the challengers of the apportionment memo that President Trump recently issued.

All of this rhetoric and all of this talk about who should be included, who should not be included, even though, again, supposed to be a count of every person living in the country, there is a lot of concern that there is a lot of mixed messaging going around.

And, in fact, a lot of people still don't know that the 2020 census does not include a question about citizenship status.

It also does not include anything about a person's immigration status, which is one reason why people say, experts say, that President Trump's call to exclude unauthorized immigrants from the enforcement count, that it's not possible and it's not legal, that there is no way to do that in a legal way and in a practical way, because there's no question on immigration status.

So, the Census Bureau is collecting people's information not knowing what people's immigration status is.

And so it's going to be really hard to try to exclude certain populations.

AMNA NAWAZ: Hansi, there is this other concern we have heard from a number of census officials across the country, and that is that their bureau is being politicized.

Have you heard something similar?

HANSI LO WANG: I have heard there's concerns.

And, recently, the Trump administration appointed two new political appointees, a political science professor who specializes in African politics, a new senior adviser to this new deputy director for policy.

Both of them, their qualifications are very unclear.

And you have the American Statistical Association, other professional associations raising questions about what qualifies these individuals to take on top-level policy roles at a time when the Census Bureau is trying to finish a once-a-decade head count.

AMNA NAWAZ: Hansi, before we go, very briefly, with all of these concerns, is there any way that this will be now done right?

Have we reached a point of no return?

HANSI LO WANG: It's really hard to say at this point.

There are a lot of factors against the 2020 census.

But one thing to keep in mind here is, the Constitution calls for a count once a decade.

And there is a chance that, whatever numbers are collected, the data collected over the next weeks may be the data we all as a country have to live with for the next 10 years.

AMNA NAWAZ: That is NPR's Hansi Lo Wang, who covers the Census Bureau, joining us tonight.

Thank you so much, Hansi.

HANSI LO WANG: You're welcome, Amna.

JUDY WOODRUFF: More than 2,000 newspapers have closed since 2004, and now, amid the global pandemic, local news is again struggling to keep the presses running.

Jeffrey Brown recently spoke with Margaret Sullivan about this decline.

It's the focus of her new book, "Ghosting the News: Local Journalism and the Crisis of American Democracy."

JEFFREY BROWN: Margaret Sullivan, thanks so much for joining us.

I want to start with the title, "Ghosting the News."

Even beyond the numbers, what do you see happening?

MARGARET SULLIVAN, Author, "Ghosting the News": Well, we have a very serious situation with the local news ecosystem in the United States, in which local news in many communities is either withering or dying out altogether.

News deserts are springing up.

And, in some cases, newspapers which have been very stalwart in their communities for many years have become just ghosts or specters of what they once were.

And citizens are not being well-served in those communities by local news outlets anymore.

JEFFREY BROWN: Your concern goes even further than that, and that gets to the subtitle, "The Crisis of American Democracy."

So what's the link between the loss of local news and the loss of a larger ideal nationally?

MARGARET SULLIVAN: You know, in order to function as citizens in our society and in our democracy, we need to have kind of a common basis of facts.

We don't have to agree about those facts or what to do about them, but we need to kind of all be functioning from the same set of -- you know, the same set of facts.

And as local news goes away, we lose that in our communities.

Yes, we may still have wonderful sources of national news, but we have to think about our local governments, our town councils, our city government, our school boards, all of those things.

And, as that dwindles, you know, citizens become less politically engaged.

They become more tribal in the way they vote.

And all kinds of things happen that are not really good for a functioning democracy.

JEFFREY BROWN: You know, we're at a time where - - you mentioned facts.

We're in a time where facts themselves are questioned, right, where the whole idea of objective reporting is questioned.

Can you give me an example of what you think is being lost when we lose the local journalism?

MARGARET SULLIVAN: Yes.

In some ways, it is challenging to describe it, because when we don't have reporting taking place, it's that expression, you don't know what you don't know.

But if you just think of some of the great reporting that has happened at the local level -- I mean, for example, the way The Miami Herald, a McClatchy newspaper that is under siege right now, really brought the Jeffrey Epstein story, resuscitated it and created the situation in which that came further to justice.

If those reporters if Julie K. Brown of The Miami Herald hadn't been doing her job, justice may very well never have taken place there.

And then it can happen in a smaller way, too.

Who is covering the school board?

Who is covering the council meeting?

JEFFREY BROWN: What is interesting, though - - and, as you write, even while this is happening, a lot of Americans, maybe most Americans, don't even realize that it is happening.

And I wonder.

A lot of people -- most people feel like they're getting plenty of news, right?

I mean, in the age of social media, the Internet, more often the complaint is there is just too much information out there.

So how do you convince everyone that they're missing something?

MARGARET SULLIVAN: Well, this is actually why I -- a big reason that I wrote the book I did, because I read some very good research that said that seven of 10 Americans think that local news organizations are doing swimmingly.

And very few people are willing to or do pay for any form of local news.

So I thought that it would be important to sort of sound the alarm before we lose this really important resource that we have for being good citizens.

It is a hard message to get across, because, as you say, we have this fire hose of information coming at us, but, very often, that has to do with national politics, national and international news.

It doesn't have to do with our community news, which comes from other sources.

JEFFREY BROWN: I know that you wrote about some of the solutions, and we can't go into all of them, but are there signs of hope that you see?

MARGARET SULLIVAN: There really are.

In many cases, there are digital start-up news organizations.

I mean, you think of The Texas Tribune in Austin.

And there are many of them around the country that have been - - that are really a new model.

They're not newspapers.

They're maybe nonprofits or digital sites that are really doing good work.

And they're based not on advertising generally, but on membership, philanthropy, events, running events.

They are really important.

I don't think that they fully take the place of newspapers, and I think we need to do both.

We need to shore up and support newspapers, while also supporting these new measures that are going to take us into the future.

JEFFREY BROWN: All right, the book is "Ghosting the News."

Margaret Sullivan, thank you very much.

MARGARET SULLIVAN: Thank you very much for having me.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Stay with us to hear how tracking your kids digitally might expose them to more risk.

But, first, take a moment to hear from your local PBS station.

It's a chance to offer your support, which helps to keep programs like ours on the air.

Now we take a second look at Paul Solman's conversation with author and illustrator Mo Willems.

This encore presentation is part of arts and culture series, Canvas.

PAUL SOLMAN: At the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., a musical about a pigeon who really, really, really wants to drive a bus, based on a book by one of America's bestselling authors.

MOST WILLEMS: My name is Mo Willems.

I'm a... (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) MO WILLEMS: Thank you.

PAUL SOLMAN: This latter-day Dr. Seuss even spruced up the time-honored TV walking shot to cover our narration introducing him, letting his pigeon do the walking.

Mo Willems has created over 50 books about characters from the boisterous bird to anxious elephant and upbeat piggy, to abandoned Knuffle Bunny to Nanette's Baguette.

Willems is now the Kennedy Center's first education artist in residence, making music, art, the pigeon musical.

MO WILLEMS: They're grown adults playing with puppets, yelling and screaming and running around.

Hopefully, that's going to engender not just laughs on stage, but when the kids go home, the grownups will pick up a stuffed animal and pretend that it's a puppet and start to be silly again.

I'm more interested in sparking some sort of creativity, some type of joy that happens after the show, after the performance, after you read the book.

PAUL SOLMAN: Is that why the drawings are so simple?

MO WILLEMS: Absolutely.

Every one of my characters is designed so that a 5-year-old can reproduce it.

I want my books to be played, not just read.

The most important part of the book, the heart of the book, is the audience reacting to what I have splattered on the page.

PAUL SOLMAN: and by audience, you don't just mean the kid.

You mean the parent or, in my case, grandparent who's reading it... MO WILLEMS: Absolutely.

PAUL SOLMAN: ... acting it out, the voices.

Hey, can I drive the bus?

CHILDREN: No!

MO WILLEMS: I need you.

You are my orchestra.

And if I write a book called the happy bunny had a happy time in happy land you're going to read it.

The happy bunny had a happy time.

And you skip a couple pages.

PAUL SOLMAN: Oh, God.

MO WILLEMS: And you're at the end.

PAUL SOLMAN: I have been there.

MO WILLEMS: Right.

We have all been there.

But if I write something that jazzes you and get you to get the shame-ectomy to start yelling and screaming and jumping up and down, and maybe tickling or what not, now, suddenly these books are magic.

PAUL SOLMAN: Willems' work is silly, sure, but it also explores questions central to kids.

MO WILLEMS: You're just dealing with fundamental things.

Why are we here?

Why are people nice?

Why aren't people nice?

What can I do?

Can I drive a bus?

PAUL SOLMAN: Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!

was Willems' first book in 2003.

MO WILLEMS: So the pigeon was rejected by and I tend to exaggerate, so we will just cut that number in half 23 billion publishers.

(LAUGHTER) MO WILLEMS: And they said the exact same thing as the publisher that took the book.

They said it's unusual.

They were all right.

The question is, is unusual pejorative, or is it positive?

PAUL SOLMAN: So why did they all say no?

MO WILLEMS: Well, because it's terrifying doing something that hasn't been done before, right?

I mean, it's a book all in dialogue with sort of a chicken scratch drawing.

The audience is told it has to yell no back at the book.

But we never tell them that they need to do it.

Also, it's a pigeon.

It's a rat with wings.

Like, a children's book is supposed to be an adorable bear or a wonderful bunny, something that you want to hug and nobody wants to hug and squeeze a pigeon.

PAUL SOLMAN: That first book earned Willems the first of three Caldecotts, the highest prize in kid lit.

MO WILLEMS: The pigeon just arrived one day in a sketchbook, and literally the first drawing I made of the pigeon, the pigeon said, why are you drawing other things?

And he just he was a jerk from day one.

PAUL SOLMAN: But you didn't hear him say that?

You... MO WILLEMS: We communicate through doodles, yes.

So, part of the exploration for this play was for me to ask, who is this pigeon, which is also me asking, who am I, which is why I need to be with very close friends who can tell me the honest truth.

PAUL SOLMAN: Willems co-wrote the script with Tom Warburton, a friend since the two were animators 25 years ago, and an admirer of Willems' first film, The Man Who Yelled.

MO WILLEMS: An animated film by me, Mo Willems.

TOM WARBURTON: Mo was very good at branding.

He was already Mo Willems even before he was doing he was doing his picture books.

PAUL SOLMAN: In that film... TOM WARBURTON: Yes.

PAUL SOLMAN: ... he must mention his name, I don't know how many times.

TOM WARBURTON: Not just in that film.

In everything he does, he mentions his name over and over and over again.

Yes, yes.

That was that was just the start.

ACTOR: Oh my goodness.

A sheep.

PAUL SOLMAN: Over the years, the two collaborated on the Cartoon Network's short-lived Sheep in the Big City.

MO WILLEMS: And when we would look at the ratings, you would get a 5, that was the number of people watching it.

It was an unpopular show.

PAUL SOLMAN: But their show "Codename: Kids Next Door" was a hit.

Willems went on to write for "Sesame Street," for which he won six Emmys.

The musical poses a different problem.

TOM WARBURTON: How do you take a 40-page book about a pigeon not being able to drive a bus and turn it into an hour-long musical?

PAUL SOLMAN: Stick to a good story for kids, says Deborah Wicks La Puma, who wrote the music.

DEBORAH WICKS LA PUMA: You can't linger in a moment for the sake of lingering in the moment or sounding beautiful.

You know, the kids want to know what the story is and what's happening.

ACTOR: What if I don't like school?

PAUL SOLMAN: Willems' work has always kept the child's point of view front and center.

MO WILLEMS: Childhood is inherently unpleasant.

And nothing is to your scale, right?

The chairs, these chairs, are saying... PAUL SOLMAN: Immense, yes.

MO WILLEMS: They're giant.

They're saying, you don't belong here.

You really shouldn't even be sitting here, right?

And everything is big, because you don't know.

You're new.

And the grownups, they take you out of situations.

Like, if you're doing something, and you're having fun, some giant pair of hands grabs you and picks you up, and puts you in another room.

And you get in trouble for complaining?

For the "PBS NewsHour," this is Paul Solman, a new friend of Willems, an old friend of his books, in Washington, D.C., and my house outside Boston.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Million of students return to school this week, many learning primarily online, offering a trove of new data to companies.

But what about the apps and the Web sites parents use to keep kids safe?

Law professor and Internet privacy expert Leah Plunkett shares her humble opinion on why parents should shy from high-tech surveillance.

LEAH PLUNKETT, Author, "Sharenthood": The other day, my 9-year-old-son tried to convince me that he is ready to walk to school by himself.

His pitch: Put one of those smart watches on me, so you will know where I am.

My response?

No one should be spying on you, including dad and me.

When our kids think the best way for them to get more freedom is for us, their parents, to use surveillance technology on them, we are failing them.

I'm the mom of two young kids.

I'm also a technology researcher and a law professor.

With my parent brain, I understand the appeal of tracking our kids.

With my professor brain, I understand the risks if we go ahead and do it.

We can put a surveillance doorbell system on our front door to see when our kids come and go.

We can put a smart watch on them with geofencing that alerts us when they go outside bounds we have set for them.

We want to keep our kids safe, but, actually, we're jeopardizing their physical safety.

If the technology we're using on them, from smart watches to tracking apps on their phones and beyond, isn't fully secure, their whereabouts could be tracked by people who might want to harm them.

Remember, kids who are survivors of abuse often know their abusers.

We don't need to make it possible for potential predators in our networks or hackers to access the surveillance technology we put on our kids and stalk them.

We could also be jeopardizing their future opportunities.

When a technology monitors our kids' location, movements, or other behaviors, we typically have no ironclad guarantee that the information stays put.

The tech provider could sell information about where our kids go or how fast they drive to a data broker, which then might sell it to schools and employers.

We know that college admissions are increasingly informed by big data analytics.

Without ironclad guarantees that a tech provider won't share our children's information, we should assume that they will, either now or in the future, in ways that we can't predict or control.

When our children veer off course, we want it to stay in the family.

Parents, choose not to stalk your kids.

You're unlikely to be the only ones watching.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And on the "NewsHour" online right now: We have collected ways to help survivors of the devastation left by Hurricane Laura.

You can find that on our Web site, PBS.org/NewsHour.

And that is the "NewsHour" for tonight.

I'm Judy Woodruff.

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