May 15, 2020 - PBS NewsHour full episode

In the U.S., more than 87,000 people have died from COVID-19, and another 300,000 have recovered from it. The House of Representatives is considering another round of federal relief, but Republicans, and even some Democrats, dismissed the proposed bill as unrealistic. Meanwhile, more areas of the country, from the Grand Canyon to the Jersey Shore, are preparing to reopen. Amna Nawaz reports.

In our news wrap Friday, the U.S. envoy to Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, blamed the Islamic State group for an attack that killed 24 people at a maternity hospital this week. Meanwhile, the Taliban condemned Afghan President Ashraf Ghani for attributing the attack to them. Also, a tropical weather system off the Florida coast could become the year’s first named storm in the Atlantic.

While only a small percentage of children infected with the novel coronavirus become seriously ill, researchers are now learning about a potentially dangerous syndrome in young people apparently caused by the virus. In more than 100 cases in New York and 60 in Europe, doctors have seen an inflammatory response similar to Kawasaki disease. William Brangham talks to pediatrician Dr. Jane Newburger.

Bangladesh is about the size of Iowa, but it has 50 times as many people. That extremely high population density makes containing coronavirus a huge challenge -- as does the recent influx of a million refugees from neighboring Myanmar. Special correspondent Fred de Sam Lazaro reports on how one non-governmental group is trying to tackle the problem. It's part of his series Agents for Change.

Earlier this year, a woman named Tara Reade accused former Vice President Joe Biden of sexually assaulting her in 1993, when she worked for his Senate office. Biden has categorically denied the allegations. Lisa Desjardins and Daniel Bush conducted extensive reporting on the story, talking to 74 former Biden staffers to understand the culture in his offices, and they join Judy Woodruff to discuss.

This time of year, graduates are usually crossing the stage, shaking hands and receiving their diplomas. But the look and feel of these events in 2020 is of course quite different, with nearly all of them virtual. How does the absence of in-person ceremony shape graduates’ transition to a new chapter? We share commencement messages, including Judy Woodruff’s for graduates of her alma mater.

It has been another devastating week in the U.S. battle against the novel coronavirus pandemic. With the national death toll above 85,000, we take a moment to share stories of five people in the U.S. killed by the disease, including a Marine veteran, a Navajo activist and a woman known as her Brooklyn community’s “universal mother.” Judy Woodruff reports.

Syndicated columnist Mark Shields and New York Times columnist David Brooks join Judy Woodruff to discuss the week’s political news, including former Vice President Joe Biden’s response to an allegation of sexual assault, which U.S. officials Americans trust during the pandemic, a new proposal for more coronavirus relief and an insider trading investigation of prominent senators.