July 2, 2020 - PBS NewsHour full episode

In our news wrap Thursday, the U.S. saw a record 50,000 new cases of COVID-19 in a single day as infections rise in 40 states. Florida set its own record for new cases with more than 10,000 -- but Gov. Ron DeSantis insisted the state is equipped to handle the crisis. Also, there were signs of U.S. economic recovery, with the Labor Department reporting the country added 4.8 million jobs in June.

The Labor Department’s June jobs report seems to reflect a strengthening economy. After all, businesses across the country reopened during that month. But now coronavirus cases are soaring, raising questions about how we can have a functioning U.S. economy without adding fuel to the raging pandemic. Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Romer joins Judy Woodruff to discuss the dilemma.

Hong Kong is reeling from the impact of a new national security law imposed by the central government in Beijing. After nearly 25 years of relative freedom, residents are confronting a new reality in the semi-autonomous city. And the change has major implications for U.S. foreign policy. Nick Schifrin talks to Susan Shirk, a top State Department official for Asia during the Clinton administration.

President Trump is campaigning for reelection as the U.S. faces a challenging moment. To analyze how his rhetoric on race and his response to coronavirus are resonating across the country, Yamiche Alcindor talks to Chris Buskirk of the website and journal American Greatness and Cynthia Tucker, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist and journalist-in-residence at the University of South Alabama.

The child sex abuse case against disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein has taken a new turn with the arrest of his longtime companion and confidante, Ghislaine Maxwell. Epstein killed himself in jail in August 2019. Now, survivors of his abuse may be able to face Maxwell, charged with recruiting and grooming underage girls, in court instead. John Yang talks to the Miami Herald’s Ben Wieder.

Long before the coronavirus pandemic, manufacturing in the U.S. was transformed -- and with it, daily life. Now COVID-19 is delivering a new blow to the industry. But some companies are pivoting to create the personal protective equipment that the U.S. had previously outsourced overseas. Paul Solman reports on how a family textile business nearly 200 years old is adapting to this latest challenge.

During the pandemic, we've profiled front-line workers whose jobs have been deemed essential. One such employee is Savoya Taylor, a line-worker for ComEd, the utility that powers Chicago. She's the company’s first female overhead electrician -- and now she’s training one of her daughters to follow the same path. Taylor shares her Brief But Spectacular take on empowering her family and community.