August 6, 2020 - PBS NewsHour full episode

U.S. schools are still struggling with questions about how to open for the new academic year. In some cases, districts have reversed course in just the past few weeks, based on changing coronavirus circumstances. How are teachers enduring this uncertainty -- and their own fear? We hear from some of them, and William Brangham talks to Aleesia Johnson, superintendent of Indianapolis Public Schools.

In our news wrap Thursday, New York state is going to court in a bid to dissolve the National Rifle Association. The civil suit accuses top executives of diverting millions of dollars of the charitable organization’s funds for personal use. Also, the U.S. Senate voted unanimously to ban use of the video-sharing app TikTok from federally issued devices. The House had already approved the measure.

A deal on a new coronavirus relief package seems distant and elusive, as congressional Democrats and Republicans remain at an impasse on key issues. Lisa Desjardins joins Judy Woodruff to discuss where negotiations stand and how far apart the two sides are both in terms of dollar figures and philosophy of funding distribution.

As another 1.2 million Americans file for unemployment amid the pandemic’s economic wreckage, Congress and the White House are still stalled on a deal for a new coronavirus relief package. President Trump’s top economic adviser, Lawrence Kudlow, joins Judy Woodruff to discuss where negotiations stand as the two sides seek “compromises” and potential executive action Trump is prepared to take.

Authorities in Beirut have detained 16 employees at the city’s port as they investigate Tuesday’s catastrophic explosion. The blast killed at least 135 people, injured more than 5,000 and fueled a new wave of public fury in a country already suffering from multiple crises. Special correspondent Jane Ferguson reports.

Mississippi is a coronavirus hot spot, with confirmed cases per 100,000 residents and positive test rates among the highest in the U.S. The state is seeing increased hospitalizations and deaths, too, at a time when schools are beginning the academic year. William Brangham talks to Dr. Thomas Dobbs, Mississippi’s state health officer, about high levels of community spread and how to reduce them.

It has been 75 years since the United States dropped the world’s first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, leveling the city and killing some 150,000 people. The horrifying aftermath of that attack, and one on Nagasaki three days later, has been described to the generations since -- now with special urgency as the population of survivors dwindles. Special correspondent Grace Lee reports.

The killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis this past May sparked protests nationwide, and even across the globe, about racism and police brutality. But for many Black Americans, more frequent and mundane interactions cause a permanent sense of fear. In this essay, author Dawn Turner shares her humble opinion on why the incidents that don’t make headlines need to be examined, too.