June 23, 2020 - PBS NewsHour full episode

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, testified before Congress Tuesday, referring to the spread of COVID-19 in a dozen U.S. states as “a disturbing surge.” Fauci and other top health experts reiterated the need for more testing, even as President Trump claimed that “testing is a double-edged sword” in the pandemic fight. Lisa Desjardins reports.

Texas is taking a particularly hard hit from COVID-19. For about a week, the state has been reporting roughly 4,000 new cases per day. In the Houston region alone, there are nearly 32,000 cases. For a report from the front lines of the fight against the disease, Amna Nawaz turns to Dr. Hilary Fairbrother, who works in emergency medicine at the Texas Medical Center.

In our news wrap Tuesday, mourners gathered in Atlanta for the funeral of Rayshard Brooks, a black man who was shot and killed by police when he tried to escape arrest. The service was held at the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, where Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. once preached. Also, a powerful earthquake struck southern and central Mexico, triggering small tsunamis along the Pacific coast.

President Trump traveled to Arizona on Tuesday, visiting Yuma to see newly built sections of border wall and then heading to Phoenix for a campaign rally at a church. The venue, located in a coronavirus hot spot, was reportedly filled to capacity, with no social distancing inside and few people wearing masks. Stephanie Sy joins Judy Woodruff to discuss what rally attendees are doing and saying.

The debate over physical symbols of the Confederacy has evolved into a broader one about U.S. history. Judy Woodruff talks to Peniel Joseph, professor at the University of Texas at Austin, W. Fitzhugh Brundage, professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Arielle Hudson, one of six students who petitioned the University of Mississippi to relocate a campus Confederate statue.

Violence in Yemen is surging after a six-week cease-fire prompted by the coronavirus pandemic ended in May. The war-ravaged nation has been facing disease and hunger for six years already, and COVID-19 is now pushing a devastated health infrastructure to the brink of collapse. Special correspondent Jane Ferguson reports on the world’s worst humanitarian disaster.

Distance learning proved a difficult experiment for many students, teachers and parents this year. Its urgent adoption underscored gaps in access and income. Now, school districts are scrambling to figure out how to adjust plans for the fall. We hear from viewers about their own school experiences, and William Brangham talks to Mark Bedell, superintendent of Missouri's Kansas City Public Schools.