JUDY WOODRUFF: Good evening.

I'm Judy Woodruff.

On the "NewsHour" tonight: coronavirus countermeasures.

Senate Republicans and the White House propose to curtail jobless benefits, despite a historically high unemployment rate.

Then: use of force.

Federal agents ordered in multiple American cities prompts nationwide protests against their presence.

And 30 years after.

We examine what the Americans with Disabilities Act has accomplished, its successes and the many challenges that remain.

JUDY HEUMANN, Disability Rights Advocate: Granting rights and really being able to be accepted by society is something that we're still striving for.

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

(BREAK) JUDY WOODRUFF: Republicans in the U.S. Senate say they are ready tonight with a new trillion-dollar COVID-19 relief plan.

It comes as the nation pandemic's death toll nears 150,000.

It also comes ahead of a Friday deadline for federal jobless benefits to expire.

Reports say the Republican bill cuts them from $600 a week additional to $200.

We will get the details after the news summary.

Final stage trials got under way today in the biggest COVID vaccine study so far.

The first of 30,000 volunteers received dosages at sites around the U.S.

The vaccine was developed at record speed by the National Institutes of Health and by drugmaker Moderna.

But the head of the Food and Drug Administration promised that safety still comes first.

DR. STEPHEN HAHN, Commissioner, Food and Drug Administration: Although we have gone at significant speed to get to this point, our job at FDA and our solemn promise to the American people is that we will judge based upon the data and upon the gold standard that we have at FDA regarding safety and efficacy of a vaccine.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden called for President Trump to commit to no White House involvement in vaccine development.

Meanwhile, the White House confirmed today that National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien has the virus and is self-isolating.

President Trump said today that he had not seen O'Brien lately.

Major League Baseball also has an outbreak, just days after finally beginning its season.

The Miami Dolphins (sic) called off tonight's home opener amid reports that at least 14 players have COVID-19.

That, in turn, forced the cancellation of the New York Yankees' game tonight in Philadelphia, where Miami had played over the weekend.

The body of civil rights icon and Georgia Congressman John Lewis has arrived in Washington for one last time.

A motorcade carried his casket into the city today, stopping at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Black Lives Matter Plaza near the White House.

Later, in the Capitol Rotunda, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi led the tributes to Lewis.

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): He understood the power of young people to change the future.

When asked what someone can do who is 19 or 20 years old, the age that he was when he set out to desegregate Nashville, Lewis replied, "A young person should be speaking out for what is fair, what is just, what is right."

JUDY WOODRUFF: Former Vice President Biden was among those paying final respects to the congressman.

He will lie in state through tomorrow.

Six American cities are appealing to Congress to bar deployments of federal agents.

The mayors of Albuquerque, Chicago, Kansas City, Portland Oregon, Seattle, and Washington, D.C., made that request today.

It followed new violence in Portland and other cities over the weekend.

We will return to this, later in the program.

South Texas and Northern Mexico faced more rain and flooding today from remnants of Hurricane Hanna.

The storm made landfall Saturday near Port Mansfield, Texas, as a Category 1 storm.

It wrecked boats, tore up marinas and flooded communities near Corpus Christi.

More than 200,000 customers lost power in an area already hard hit by COVID-19.

Separately, Hurricane Douglas narrowly missed Hawaii on Sunday, sweeping just north of the islands.

The storm brought heavy rain to Maui and piled up massive waves off Honolulu.

But no major damage was reported.

In China, the U.S. Consulate in the Western city of Chengdu officially closed today.

It's retaliation for the U.S. shutting down China's consulate in Houston.

Chinese authorities entered the now empty Chengdu consulate in protective gear, while onlookers lamented the rising tensions with the U.S. MAN (through translator): We are all ordinary Chinese citizens, but I still pay great attention to the relationship between China and the U.S. Because we need to go and travel in the U.S. and some of our relatives need to go and study in the U.S., these things will all be greatly affected, including the economy between the two countries, which will gradually deteriorate and even break apart.

JUDY WOODRUFF: The U.S. has four other consulates in China.

Civilian casualties in Afghanistan are down 13 percent so far this year from the same period last year.

The United Nations reports that the total killed and wounded was just short of 3,500 through June.

It's due in part to fewer attacks by international forces since a U.S. withdrawal agreement with the Taliban.

Back in this country, lawyers for President Trump are trying again to block the release of his tax returns.

They asked a federal court in New York today to quash a subpoena from the Manhattan district attorney, arguing that it is overly broad.

The U.S. Supreme Court rejected an earlier claim that the president is immune from criminal subpoenas.

There's word that Google will let employees work from home until at least next July.

Today's decision by the company affects nearly 200,000 employees and contract workers.

And on Wall Street, stocks started the week on an upbeat note.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 114 points to close at 26584.

The Nasdaq rose 173 points, and the S&P 500 added 23.

And a quick correction.

Just a moment ago, I meant to say the Florida Marlins when reporting the baseball story.

My apology.

Still to come on the "NewsHour": Republicans in the Senate join with the White House to propose a plan to curtail extra jobless benefits; more federal agents in American cities prompt nationwide protests; we examine the successes and remaining challenges of the Americans with Disabilities Act; plus, much more.

It has been months since the last coronavirus relief bill, and the extra $600 a week that it granted in unemployment benefits is set to expire on Friday.

That is leaving millions of Americans in limbo, as Congress debates what comes next.

Today, Republicans unveiled their proposed bill.

Our Lisa Desjardins is here to explain how close Congress is to a deal.

So, Lisa, this is all happening late in the day.

After days of disagreements, Republicans finally giving some public specifics.

What are you hearing?

LISA DESJARDINS: That's right.

Just in the last hour, Judy, Republicans have unveiled their specific proposals and legislative text.

As we speak, Leader McConnell is at the microphone explaining it to reporters.

And I can tell you a little about what is in it.

They are proposing direct payment checks for most Americans of $1,200 per person.

There would be an extra amount if you have an adult dependent, say, a college student.

Also in this bill, there would be some additional money for schools -- I think we're going to be talking about that for the next couple of days -- as well as some money for unemployment benefits that I think is important to dissect.

And Republicans are pushing liability protection, so that businesses, it would be harder to it would be harder to sue them for anything related to the coronavirus.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And so, Lisa, tell us a little more about what they're saying about these extended unemployment benefits.

It had been an additional $600 a week.

The Democrats wanted that to continue.

Now we're hearing from Republicans what they're prepared to do.

LISA DESJARDINS: That's right.

This is so important.

This will affect 20 million Americans.

It's already affecting them now.

Again, let's look at what we're talking about here.

First, as you said, Judy, right now, there are $600 per week in added benefits because of the pandemic.

However, Republicans would change that in their proposal to $200 per week instead.

And they would ultimately want to change that to 70 percent of wages, instead of that $200 flat rate.

For some people, that 70 percent will be more, especially if you're higher income.

For other people, that will be less than $200, if you're lower income.

Republicans in general say their philosophy here is that they think this added amount of money for unemployment is discouraging people from staying on the job, encouraging them to stay on unemployment.

That's why they want to bring it down to a lower amount.

But, Judy, Democrats raised a couple of points on their own.

They say, if you change this amount at all from the $600 to anything else, that alone will take weeks for state unemployment offices to adjust to.

And if you change the entire way of going about it, say, to a percentage formula, that could take months.

Judy, while the deadline for this money runs out Friday, technically, many of these states have already said that they will not issue this money in the next check.

So, Judy, because Congress hasn't acted on these unemployment benefits, we know, a week from today, people getting unemployment benefits will see $600 less.

Congress may try and backfill that later, but, right now, there will be a gap for those families.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, Lisa, with so many people dependent on whether it's these extended -- expanded unemployment benefits or other aspects of this relief plan, when does it look as if there could be an agreement, a deal?

LISA DESJARDINS: Let's look at the calendar.

It's very tight, Judy.

If you look at just today, for example, here's Monday.

Congress on Friday faces that unemployment deadline when money runs out for these enhanced benefits.

Then, if you look at the next date on the calendar, that's the end of the first week of August.

That's when Congress wants to leave almost until November.

Now, what other dates are on our minds?

August 17.

That is when the Democratic Convention begins.

So, Congress really is trying to get all of this done in two weeks.

But, Judy, they are very far apart.

Republicans don't even agree amongst themselves.

It's not clear that this proposal I have talked to you about could pass amongst Republicans, much less Democrats, who now are sitting down with Republicans to see if they can make a deal.

They're very far apart at this moment.

JUDY WOODRUFF: It certainly does sound like it.

Well, I know you're going to be watching it, and everybody's waiting to see what happens.

Finally, Lisa, today is the day that the United States Capitol, the Congress, members of Congress say farewell to civil rights icon John Lewis.

I know you covered him.

You have talked to so many members.

What does losing him mean to them?

LISA DESJARDINS: This was a profound moment, I think, for most every month of Congress in both parties.

You know, Representative Lewis is the first African American to lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda.

Others, Rosa Parks, for example, Officer Jacob Chestnut, have been there in repose, but not lying in state as an official.

So it's a high honor.

Senator Tim Scott, another African American, a Republican, said it was a hero's farewell and deserved.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Certainly so.

Certainly so.

Lisa Desjardins covering it all for us.

Thank you, Lisa.

LISA DESJARDINS: You're welcome.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Protesters and police again clashed in a number of U.S. cities over the weekend.

In Portland, Oregon, the Trump administration is reportedly sending more federal agents to the city to deal with nightly confrontations there, according to The Washington Post.

As Amna Nawaz reports, some of the crowds who initially protested the killing of George Floyd are now also confronting an intense federal force.

And a note: This report contains some violent audio and images.

AMNA NAWAZ: In the pre-dawn hours on the streets of Portland, clashes intensified between protesters and federal agents.

Those agents used tear gas to try and disperse crowds from a federal courthouse.

The building has become a rallying point for protests against police violence.

MAN: I just came here to try to hold the people who are supposed to be keeping us safe accountable for their atrocious actions that they have been committing on the city.

PROTESTERS: Black lives matter!

AMNA NAWAZ: Since the killing of George Floyd, Portland's seen regular demonstrations, overwhelmingly peaceful, against police brutality and racial injustice.

PROTESTERS: Feds, go home!

AMNA NAWAZ: But since the arrival of federal agents from the Department of Homeland Security three weeks ago, tensions have escalated... PROTESTER: This is not right!

AMNA NAWAZ: ... leading to more confrontations in the streets.

A Sunday demonstration that began peacefully ramped up overnight.

Protesters shot fireworks at the courthouse and officers responded with tear gas.

Demonstrators held umbrellas as shields and used leaf blowers to push back the gas.

Today, Portland police say they found Molotov cocktails and loaded rifle magazines in a park.

On Sunday, acting Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Chad Wolf said, what federal agents faced was beyond -- quote -- "normal criminal activity."

CHAD WOLF, Acting U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security: They're coming armed with rocks, bottles, baseball bats, power tools, commercial grade fireworks, eliciting that violence and targeting their violence on federal courthouses and federal law enforcement officers.

AMNA NAWAZ: Earlier this morning, President Trump defended the administration's response, tweeting: "We are protecting federal property."

Though peaceful protests continue across the country, Portland is one of a handful of cities that saw episodes of violence this weekend.

In Seattle, social media video shows police pepper-spraying protesters.

One officer swings at a demonstrator with a club.

In Oakland, California, protesters lit a courthouse on fire.

In Richmond, Virginia, vehicles were set ablaze.

Outside Denver, in Aurora, Colorado, two people were shot and wounded after a car drove through a protest.

And in Austin, Texas, one protester was shot and killed, after a motorist plowed into the crowd.

Police say the driver was also the gunman.

Federal authorities blame protesters and say the violence justifies their increased presence.

But demonstrators and many city leaders say that presence is only making matters worse.

As we mentioned, Seattle is one of the cities that has seen street demonstrations grow in both size and intensity in recent days.

Jenny Durkan is Seattle's Democratic mayor, and joins me now.

Mayor Durkan, thanks for making the time, and welcome to "NewsHour."

We should note that a lot of protesters in Seattle said they were out in the streets because of what they saw unfolding in Portland.

Now that the administration says that there's going to be more federal agents going to Portland, what do you think the effect will be in your city, in Seattle?

JENNY DURKAN (D), Mayor of Seattle, Washington: I think it is going to have a negative impact in Seattle and in Portland and in cities across the country.

I have talked to other mayors, and a number of people saw escalating protests, both in size and in intensity.

And, in Seattle, people clearly said they joined because of what was happening in Portland.

In fact, the largest protest was designated as a protest in solidarity with Portland.

I think adding agents is the wrong direction in Portland.

I think that we need to have a strategy that does not escalate tensions, but actually resolves them.

AMNA NAWAZ: Let me ask you about some of your conversations with the administration, though, because you have been in touch with the acting secretary of homeland security, Chad Wolf.

You said it was as recently as Thursday afternoon you made it clear you don't want federal agents coming to Seattle.

By Friday, there were reports that federal agents had deployed a tactical team to Seattle.

So, help us understand, when and how did you learn that there were federal agents in your city?

JENNY DURKAN: So, on Thursday, I spoke with the acting secretary, made it clear to him what our position was.

And he told me that they were not going to surge agents to Seattle, that he did not see the need to do so.

We then learned shortly after that from media reports that agents had indeed landed in Seattle.

We asked for clarification.

We have gotten some assurances that they are they're just on standby, if there is the need at a federal property.

But we have had additional conversations both with the United States attorney here, with the Department of Homeland Security.

And we have also asked for congressional help, because we want to have clear understanding of what the federal agents are going to be doing here.

The worst thing for Seattle would be if things escalated like they did in Portland.

And we really want to avoid that.

We're urging all protesters to be peaceful, but we're also urging the federal government, please, we don't need you to take the steps here in Seattle that you're taking in Portland.

It's the wrong thing for Seattle.

AMNA NAWAZ: Mayor Durkan, to be clear, since there are already federal agents in your city, do you know how many there are, what their mandate is?

Do you know if they have already been operating in any way or arrested anyone?

JENNY DURKAN: To our knowledge, they have not arrested anyone, nor have they been doing any visible operations.

We have not had any direct protests at those federal facilities.

So it is unclear how many agents are there or what posture they would take.

It's one reason we are continuing to ask for clarification from the Department of Homeland Security, to make sure that we don't see the kind of surge and escalation here in Seattle that we have seen continually in Portland.

But we also are planning as if that could occur and taking the steps we need to do to make sure that community understands what the -- what the potential is, and really asking people to protest peacefully.

You know, you -- we want to make sure that not only do we have not have that kind of escalation, but it seems in Portland that there are two people -- and the federal government is intent on having the fight.

And there are some people in that crowd who are intent on giving them the fight.

And I -- we don't want that happening in Seattle.

AMNA NAWAZ: Mayor Durkan, I should point out, your critics will point to the fact that, for weeks, protesters several weeks ago had basically taken control of a few downtown city blocks.

Your police chief had to go in earlier this month with heavy machinery and riot gear to clear that area.

There was already concern about violence over the weekend.

The police chief called it a riot on Saturday night.

Do you think that the presence of federal forces could help quell these protests before they get out of control, and something similar to what happened before happens again, where protesters are able to take over some chunk of city space?

JENNY DURKAN: I think that when you saw that the area on Capitol Hill that we were able to return to normal, that our police were able to go in there and clear that area with very little conflict and restore it back to a place that all the neighborhood and businesses could enjoy it.

Contrast what's going on in Portland, where, night after night after night, it is proven that what they're doing is not working.

They have not quelled anything.

To the contrary, they have escalated it.

So I do not believe that there's any evidence whatsoever that any of the strategies that the president is trying to employ will lead to peace.

And I don't think he wants it to.

He's been very clear that what he is doing is targeting cities that are led by Democrats to show that there can be division and the lack of law and order, so that he can run on that as a president.

That kind of political maneuvering of law enforcement really is un-American.

And I think it's dangerous for us to go down that path.

AMNA NAWAZ: Mayor Durkan, very briefly, you weren't told before the current federal team that's on the ground in Seattle was sent in.

Do you have any assurance you will be told in advance of any further deployment?

JENNY DURKAN: So, the assistant secretary did say he would call the chief of police and myself if the posture changed.

But I know that -- look, there's one person who's guiding the activities of this administration, and that's the president of the United States.

And so, regardless of assurances that anyone else might give me or any other local government official, we have to take the president at his word.

And he keeps escalating his rhetoric, and then the behavior follows that rhetoric.

And so, as a mayor of a city, I will tell you, I do need the federal government's help.

I need more testing for COVID-19.

I need to make sure that, as this health emergency gets worse, that my hospitals can withstand it.

I need the kids who are hurting not going to be back in school to be able to learn.

That's the kind of help we need from this federal government that we don't get.

A president should step forward and lead the nation.

And, instead, he's dividing the nation.

And I think it's a really dangerous time for America to be on this point of inflection in our history.

And what -- our choices today will decide what happens for generations of Americans to come.

AMNA NAWAZ: That is the mayor of Seattle, Jenny Durkan, joining us tonight.

Thank you so much, Madam Mayor.

JENNY DURKAN: Thank you very much.

JUDY WOODRUFF: This week marks the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, a groundbreaking law that prohibits discrimination based on disability.

The legislation has been invaluable for what it changed, but significant obstacles still exist for those who have physical or mental impairments of any kind.

When President George H.W.

Bush signed the law in 1990, it guaranteed new protections for work, education, access, and transportation, among other rights.

Many of the physical accommodations that are now commonplace only came to pass after the ADA became law.

In fact, as seen in the Netflix documentary "Crip Camp," it took longer to guarantee these basic civil rights than it did for other groups, including black Americans, Latinos and Asians.

And a generation of advocates took to the streets to demonstrate and protest through the 1970s and 80s.

But even after all of this time, the challenges for people with disabilities remain enormous.

Just 32 percent of working-age Americans with disabilities have a job.

People with disabilities also live in poverty at more than twice the rate of people without disabilities.

We're going to explore these questions more in a moment.

But, first, the "NewsHour" spoke with a number of Americans and asked them to reflect on what it means to live with a disability today.

BRITNEY WILSON, Civil Rights Attorney: My name is Britney Wilson.

I'm from Brooklyn, New York.

I'm a disabled civil rights attorney.

I have cerebral palsy.

BILL KREBS, Advocacy Coordinator, Keystone Service Systems: My name is Bill Krebs.

I live in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

I am a person with a disability myself.

You may not know it.

It's a hidden disability.

ELIZABETH BOSTIC, Mother: My name is Elizabeth Bostic.

I am first and foremost the proud parent and humble servant of king James.

He has a rare disease called Kernicterus, which is caused by severe jaundice at birth.

JEN DEERINWATER, Journalist and Organizer: I'm Jen Deerinwater.

I'm a citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma.

I'm also bisexual, two spirit, and I am multiply disabled with chronic illnesses.

ALICE WONG, Editor, Disability Visibility: My name is Alice Wong.

And I'm a disabled activist in San Francisco.

MAX BARROWS, Outreach Director, Green Mountain Self-Advocates: My name is Max Barrows.

I am a person on the autism spectrum.

I speak up for people with disabilities throughout the state.

BRITNEY WILSON: I think it's safe to say that my life wouldn't be anything that it is right now, because the ADA literally gave me my rights as a disabled person.

The fact that I was able to attend law school and receive accommodations and to be employed as an attorney, but I think also as a civil rights lawyer in particular, I know the limitations of the law.

And that's what ADA is.

At the end of the day, it's just a statue.

It gave us the bare minimum, which is our rights.

And rights are not anything if they are not enforceable.

BILL KREBS: Well, before that, the ADA, kids like myself were segregated in school.

We didn't have no education.

We were never heard, never seen, never did anything.

Employment was the hardest thing for people with disabilities.

We were placed in shelter workshop programs, where we just sat there and did nothing.

We did some minimum wage jobs.

We may have made a whole dollar.

Wow.

I was there for 10 years of my life.

I thought, as a person with a disability, I would go nowhere.

So, I started being a self-advocate.

ELIZABETH BOSTIC: When I think about ADA, the key word for me is access.

And that, coupled with a number of other disability laws, really gave everyone the ability to have access to whatever tools were necessary, any reasonable accommodations were necessary to be able to live as independently as possible.

And so, as his mother, of course, one of my primary concerns is, can he effectively communicate his wants, his needs, his desires to live the life that he wants to live in and to be in charge of it?

And so a lot of technology has been built as a result of that because there was a demand for it.

JEN DEERINWATER: One of the caveats of the ADA was to try to stop the institutionalization of disabled people.

Well, that's not really ended.

Like, yes, we do have more options, but disabled people are being institutionalized all the time.

I can't tell you the number of times I have had medical providers or health care workers try to put me in a nursing home.

I don't need to be in a nursing home.

Just make sure I have a disability-accessible apartment and a home health aide, and I can mostly get by on my own.

ALICE WONG: I do think, especially with the pandemic, my right to health care and to be protected from discrimination is really important.

I am legit worried about coming down with COVID-19 and not being a priority or considered a life worth saving.

And these attitudes will not be fixed by a law.

These are larger, more difficult cultural changes that need to happen.

And that takes time.

MAX BARROWS: We're still not seen as independent or productive people in many areas, because we rarely are given the opportunity to prove ourselves.

And people should let us be in the driver's seat of making decisions for ourselves.

And who knows us better than we know ourselves?

JUDY WOODRUFF: Let's look at the changes and challenges with a pair of activists from two different generations.

Judy Heumann is a lifelong civil rights activist.

She sued the New York City Board of Education to become that city's first teacher to use a wheelchair.

She's led numerous protests to force institutions and public buildings to become more accessible.

And she served as a special adviser on disability rights for the U.S. State Department.

And Keri Gray helped organize people with disabilities in a protest just last month in front of the White House as part of Black Disabled Lives Matter.

She is with the American Association of People With Disabilities.

And we welcome both of you to the "NewsHour."

Judy Heumann, this has been a cause to you going back to your days as a teenager.

What does this particular anniversary mean for you, when you think about the contributions of the ADA?

JUDY HEUMANN, Disability Rights Advocate: I think the Americans with Disabilities Act was an amazingly important piece of legislation.

It has allowed us, as disabled people, to see that our coalition work over the decades before 1990 resulted in an acknowledgment on the part of the Congress that discrimination was pervasive across the United States, and it needed to intervene to grant us our rights.

That being said, like many of the previous speakers have said, granting rights and really being able to be accepted by society is something that we're still striving for.

And I think, when we look at the built environment, including interpreters and captioning and other types of accommodations, other than employment, we have made really great progress.

But when we look at the data in the area of employment, I think that really speaks an amazing amount about how much further we have to go.

And those figures are pre-COVID.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And, Keri Gray, you were born the year the ADA was signed.

You've grown up under this law.

What has it meant to you?

KERI GRAY, American Association of People With Disabilities: The ADA has meant a lot of different things.

I think that one of the first things I think about is the ADA, what it has done for our inclusion and perception.

So, we know that one in five people across the United States have a disability, but it is still not widely known that disability is not just the summation of your medical conditions, but it is a legal term that gives you access to your human rights.

So, I mention that because disability is often used as a description that defines people's relationship to their physical and mental health in often hospitals and things of that nature.

Most people don't get excited or feel empowered about having to constantly assess their health.

And there's a lot of people with disabilities that have rough stories about all of the questions that people can have around, like, how much can this person do and contribute to society?

So, I think, for me, one of the first things that I think about, outside of the specifics of the ADA, is just how it ensures that we're defining disability as a legal term that grants people access to human rights.

So, I'm excited about what it has done, and how much more we're going to do moving forward.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Picking up on that, Judy, when you said -- you said there is a difference.

There's one -- it is one thing to be granted the rights.

It is another thing to be truly accepted.

So, pick up on that.

JUDY HEUMANN: So, one of the positive parts of the ADA is the growing strength of the disability rights movement, the depth of the movement, the racial diversity of the movement that is coming forward, the sexual orientation, religion, on and on.

People are more able to come forward and be their full selves, including having disability, as a central part of who we are, and not looking at disability as a negative.

I think more and more people are looking at disability as a natural, normal part of life, and something that we do not want to be seen as a medical condition, but, rather, as part of the civil rights movement, fighting not just for the rights of disabled people, but for the rights of all people who are marginalized.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And, Keri Gray, those are exactly the kinds of things I hear when I talk to people with disabilities of all ages, and especially the younger generation.

When you think about priorities during your lifetime, what are they?

What do you most want to see change?

KERI GRAY: I think there's two areas that I'm thinking of in particular.

One, employment is so important to people across our country.

We're having to figure out, how do we survive, how do we take care of ourselves, how do we thrive, even, as people with disabilities, and also people with disabilities who have other existing identities, such as race and gender and so many different things?

And so employment becomes a question and a situation that all of us have to explore.

I think that we have seen that the ADA has given us a lot of access to make sure that we can defend ourselves when situations of discrimination do occur.

JUDY HEUMANN: I think it is everyone.

Everyone has a stake in this.

The entities that are not allowed to discriminate need to understand not only what discrimination is.

They need to understand what the remedies are.

And I think, in many cases -- and COVID is a great example -- people being denied the right to work at home who have disabilities or didn't have disabilities, and how we were able to really quickly convert over to virtual.

Now, I'm not saying disabled people should only work virtually at all, but I am saying that, when a crisis occurred, people were able to do things they said they couldn't do before.

I believe it is very important for the leadership of business to make sure that their human resource people understand what their obligations are, that they're staff are trained.

I also think it is very important that the general citizen in the United States recognize the fact that disability is something that we can acquire at any point in our life.

And it is not a threatening comment.

It is a reality comment.

And so, in part, what we're saying is, learn from us, work with us, help us move forward in our lives, and help you prepare for your future life or other loved ones in your family.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And, Keri, I am curious to know how you see -- where you see the responsibility lies for making these changes that need to be made?

KERI GRAY: I absolutely agree with Judy.

Everyone has to do their part to ensure that we not only have this piece of legislation, but that it is being enforced throughout everyone's entities.

And so, as an individual, we have to get to the point where we are documenting our experiences and we're speaking out against any situation that can be harmful to us as individuals and our community.

The company has to make sure that they understand what their role is in this, and how they can be creating environments that are inclusive of all people, including people with disabilities.

So, I think, when all of us play our role, government, companies, the individual, we are actually getting towards that journey and success of full disability rights.

JUDY HEUMANN: We have a long way to go.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, it is something for all of us to think about on this 30th anniversary of the ADA.

I do hope all Americans spend some time thinking about their responsibility.

Judy Heumann, Keri Gray, thank you both.

JUDY HEUMANN: Thank you.

JUDY WOODRUFF: India has reported more than one million COVID cases, a number exceeded only by the U.S. and Brazil.

Special correspondent Fred de Sam Lazaro reports on the situation in Delhi.

It's part of his series Agents for Change.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: These women are India's foot soldiers in the fight against the coronavirus, their job, to find and help those with symptoms.

They are called accredited social health activists, or ASHA workers.

In remote villages, in cramped urban slums, across India more than one million women like Bhagwan Devi and Kundan Devi fan out on foot each day.

Until the pandemic, they would mostly check on pregnant women or see that children are up to date on their shots.

BHAGWAN DEVI, Accredited Social Health Activist (through translator): Put your mask on.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Now they also have a more dangerous mission.

KUNDAN DEVI, Accredited Social Health Activist (through translator): We have to check for patients.

We bring them oximeters, take their daily readings.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: This, they add, with little guidance or even protective gear from the authorities.

BHAGWAN DEVI (through translator): Masks.

If masks are available, we get them.

Otherwise, we have to buy our own.

And gloves, if we want gloves, we're on our own.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Global health experts say ASHA workers are a key, but so far poorly utilized resource to help contain the coronavirus in a country struggling to emerge from a three-month lockdown.

Traffic has been slowly returning to Delhi's streets and shops have begun to open.

The crowds are much smaller than pre-COVID times, except in food markets.

Here, social distancing is just not an option.

Like much of urban India, this city is bracing itself.

Hospitals across India have been overwhelmed with COVID cases.

In Delhi, a temporary 500-bed overflow facility, with limited medical equipment, has been set up for people suffering COVID symptoms.

There's also a new 10,000-bed quarantine center, the world's largest.

Many of the city's 20 million residents live in crowded single-room spaces.

MANISH SISODIA, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister: Thirty percent of the people don't have spare rooms if they have COVID at their homes.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: I reached Manish Sisodia, Delhi's deputy chief minister.

MANISH SISODIA: For people who feel some -- any discomfort, even if they are in asymptomatic condition, they can be brought to these centers.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: As Delhi prepares for a surge in COVID cases, there's been little evidence of any surge in economic activity several weeks after the lockdown ended.

MAN (through translator): Sir, there's no work.

There's just no work.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Across the city each morning, tradesmen wait at labor chowks, or exchanges, for employers or their agents to come by with work offers, usually in construction.

Like the majority of workers in India's economy they are informal, or off the books, paid by the day.

So no work means no pay.

MAN (through translator): I have three daughters.

Our family is in a terrible situation.

We get food from here and there.

And I'm not alone.

All poor people are in this situation.

RAJ PANJABI, CEO, Last Mile Health: The poor often suffer the worst because they have the least ability to gain access to basic essential services during those periods.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Raj Panjabi is a Harvard physician who also heads Last Mile Health, a group that serves hard-to-reach regions in developing countries.

Panjabi says the government ended the lockdown to ease the extreme economic hardship, but it still doesn't test enough people for COVID and, critically, isn't properly tracing contacts of those who test positive.

RAJ PANJABI: Then, essentially, one person goes on to infect three people.

And if that scenario plays out just 10 times, the first case will have led to more than 59,000 cases.

But if any one of those first few patients was isolated, you dramatically stop the transmission rate.

MANISH SISODIA: Frankly, it was hard to manage because, in India, systems are not online.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Besides not being online, he admits Delhi had a rough start.

Test results took two to three days, allowing infections to spread.

Testing capacity still lags far behind cities like New York, but it has quadrupled since the early days, with a fleet of mobile units testing some 25,000 people per day, and with quicker results.

MANISH SISODIA: Now you can get the result in maximum one hour.

So, that is helping.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: India's government is also touting an app that lets smartphone owners know of any nearby active COVID cases.

The government says it's had 100 million downloads.

The problem is, not everyone owns a smartphone, including many ASHA workers.

They are officially classified as volunteers, so they get no benefits and a monthly stipend as low as 1,000 rupees, or $13.

BHAGWAN DEVI (through translator): I don't have the salary.

I can buy gloves or pay the rent or feed myself.

What do I do?

We're scared, because, if they're positive, we have to touch their bodies.

We can only hope that we don't become sick.

KUNDAN DEVI (through translator): For all the extra work with coronavirus, we get nothing.

The 1,000 rupees we get, will that even buy medicines if I get sick?

RAJ PANJABI: We have neglected these front-line and community health workers.

And, often, we have neglected women in the work force, especially poor women.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Dr. Panjabi says ASHA workers could be a huge asset, since they're ideally positioned to do contact tracing.

But the reality on the ground is not that simple.

ASHA workers have been attacked, or, more commonly, just ignored.

KUNDAN DEVI (through translator): Only yesterday, I was told: Don't come near the gate.

Just leave as quickly as you can.

I said: I will stand on the road.

Just give me your name and phone number and tell me if this person came by or didn't come by.

That's all you have to tell me.

They wouldn't say anything.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Experts say, there's a pressing need for public education.

Misinformation abounds about coronavirus and how it's spread, leading to social stigma, or, as we found at the labor site, more immediate worries.

MAN (through translator): What do I think about coronavirus?

I have nothing to eat.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: "I will more likely die from hunger before I get coronavirus," he says.

For the "PBS NewsHour," with Rakesh Nagar in Delhi, this is Fred de Sam Lazaro in St. Paul, Minnesota.

JUDY WOODRUFF: There are less than 100 days until President Trump faces a Democratic opponent on Election Day in November.

John Yang has this week's analysis of the emerging political landscape.

JOHN YANG: Judy, to mark that moment, we are joined by our Politics Monday team.

Amy Walter is the national editor of The Cook Political Report and host of the podcast "Politics With Amy Walter."

And Tamara Keith is... (COUGHING) JOHN YANG: Excuse me -- a White House correspondent for NPR.

TAMARA KEITH, National Public Radio: And host of the "NPR Politics Podcast."

JOHN YANG: Excuse me.

And I... (COUGHING) (LAUGHTER) JOHN YANG: Thank you.

We are 100 days out.

Whoa.

Excuse me.

We are 100 days out.

Polls show that Vice President Biden is leading the president in - - not only nationally, but also in the battleground states.

I have so many Democratic voters come up to me and ask me, given what happened in 2016, is this time different than 2016.

Tam, what should I tell them?

TAMARA KEITH: Well, there are a lot of answers.

But one thing to say is that this has been a very stable lead for former Vice President Biden.

And the other thing that is notable and is different from the case in 2016 is that a lot of these polls are showing him above 50 percent.

That is to say that he's got a majority of voters saying that, if the election were held today, they would vote for him.

For Hillary Clinton, she did, at times, have pretty significant leads over Donald Trump, but she was at 45 percent.

There was room there, in a way that Biden has a more commanding lead.

Of course, anything can happen.

Anything can change.

The Trump campaign insists that the polls are totally skewed.

But the other thing that is different is the obvious thing that is different.

There is a pandemic.

It is affecting everyone's lives.

And the president's leadership is a major issue in this campaign, and is something that is weighing heavily on voters, as relates to the coronavirus.

JOHN YANG: Amy, Tam said things can change.

The cliche is that 100 days is an eternity in politics.

What can change?

AMY WALTER, The Cook Political Report: Well, I have been asking almost every single campaign strategist that I talk with that very question.

And, first of all, it is important to recognize that, 100 days, it is true -- it is a little bit less than 100 days until we get to the actual Election Day.

But a lot of states start sending out absentee ballots very soon, in about a little over a month.

The state of North Carolina, for example, sends out its ballots.

So people are going to actually be receiving ballots in the mail in a lot of these states before we even hit October.

So that is a very important thing.

The number one issue in my mind is what happens on the pandemic, on the coronavirus pandemic.

As Tam pointed out correctly, this is what is driving everything, and it was the major difference between now and 2016.

But even if something changes, there is a vaccine that is clearly in the works that maybe gets to go out early 2021.

Maybe, as schools open, things don't turn out as badly as some people are expecting, the real question in my mind is whether voters are going to give Trump any credit for this.

He has lost a lot of credibility on this issue.

We have seen his numbers sink now to something like 35 percent, 36 percent approval rating on how he has handled the coronavirus.

So, the question is, have voters, especially those swing voter voters, just shut the door on Donald and say, you know what, I don't -- he mishandled this, he mishandled the George Floyd protests, I'm not going to give him any credit, even if things start to go in the right direction?

JOHN YANG: Tam, Amy talks about how the pandemic has changed everything.

It has even changed the conventions.

I mean, the conventions are not -- are more than just a time for funny hats and confetti guns and balloon drops.

They are a time to get organized, a time to generate excitement.

The Democrats are saying they're going to have virtually a 100 percent virtual convention.

The Republicans' plans are still up in the air.

What difference is this going to make to the campaign, to the fall campaign?

TAMARA KEITH: Traditionally, the conventions are multiday prime-time infomercials for the candidates to make their case for the voters, unfiltered, right there.

And are the networks all going to carry this in the same way?

Maybe not.

Are they going to have all of these volunteers coming in, getting excited, going back into their communities, the strongest activists in the party?

No, that's not happening.

This is a very different situation, a very weird situation.

The other thing I would just point out is that, in some ways, the conventions have become a metaphor.

The Democratic Party realized early on that they likely would need to have a virtual convention, and they have been planning for one.

The Republican Party and President Trump were searching for a place where they could hold a traditional convention, so they could rub it in the faces of Democrats that they had an in-person convention, they weren't afraid, they were strong, they weren't wearing masks.

And that backfired.

And it is not clear that they have a whiz-bang virtual convention in the offing.

They may well pull it off, but it is a metaphor for how these things have been going.

JOHN YANG: Amy, is this putting pressure on the Republicans, now that the Democrats have this virtual plan, this virtual convention plan?

AMY WALTER: When you look back over the last 20 so years, what you find is, incumbent presidents rarely get a bump from the convention.

It is usually the challengers that do.

For example, Bill Clinton got a huge bump after the convention, his convention in 1992.

So the pressure is really on the Biden campaign.

And, quite frankly, I think that will be more fascinating, in part because not only have we never had a virtual convention, but never have we gone into a convention where the presumptive nominee has spent so little time actually in front of voters.

This is going to be the first opportunity for most voters to actually get a sense of who this guy is, and to see him in a -- it's a very different kind of environment, but still in a public environment like we haven't seen him before.

JOHN YANG: Amy Walter, and thanks to Tamara Keith for the assist in the introduction.

Thanks.

That's Politics Monday.

TAMARA KEITH: Thanks.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Finally, during this anniversary week for the ADA, we wanted to take a moment to highlight the achievements of performers, writers, comedians, and artists with disabilities.

Their work was featured in a special ceremony streamed over Facebook called ADA 30: Lead on.

Here are a few moments from the evening, which had a format much like a variety show.

And it included President Bush's speech when he signed the law.

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

GEORGE H.W.

BUSH, Former President of the United States: I now lift my pen to sign this Americans with Disability Act and say, let the shameful wall of exclusion finally come tumbling down.

MAYSOON ZAYID, Comedian: There are so many other things that I want to thank the ADA for, , but the most important thing, the thing I love the best about the ADA is that I got to cut the lines at Disney.

HEATH MONTGOMERY: Free our people.

DIANA ELIZABETH JORDAN, Actress: "What's wrong with your little girl?"

is what people in the town would ask my grandmother.

ANITA HOLLANDER, Leg Amputee (singing): I have the body of a fighter who's constantly at war.

I get knocked down 100 times and rise 100 more.

When you are someone slightly different, people say things to beware, like, why pursue a job when they don't want to have you there?

There's a little piece of wisdom passed around from friend to friend, says that which doesn't kill us makes us stronger in the end.

SELENE LUNA, Comedian: I actually just turned 45.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) SELENE LUNA: OK, like two years ago.

(LAUGHTER) SELENE LUNA: And I know a lady is not supposed to tell her age, but I don't care, because at least I am still at my birth weight.

(LAUGHTER) ALI STROKER, Broadway Actress (singing): Somewhere over the rainbow, skies are blue, and the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And so much more talent where that came from.

And that's the "NewsHour" for tonight.

I'm Judy Woodruff.

Thank you, please stay safe, and we'll see you soon.