May 18, 2020 - PBS NewsHour full episode

More states are lifting restrictions put in place to help slow the spread of the novel coronavirus. Meanwhile, President Trump announced Monday he is taking hydroxychloroquine, a drug unproven as a treatment for COVID-19. The disease's national death toll is nearing 90,000, and the World Health Organization is facing global scrutiny about its initial response to the pandemic. John Yang reports.

The World Health Organization hosted its annual summit Monday. This year, the meeting was intended to enable world leaders to coordinate their responses to the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic. But the session was dominated by ongoing tensions between the U.S. and China -- and criticism from other countries about a vacuum of global leadership. Nick Schifrin joins Judy Woodruff to discuss.

In our news wrap Monday, federal officials say a Saudi gunman who opened fire at a U.S. naval base in Pensacola, Florida, in December had ties to al-Qaida. The shooter killed three sailors before being killed himself. Also, Attorney General William Barr says he does not expect criminal probes of former President Obama or former Vice President Biden, saying concerns are “focused on others.”

In all but two U.S. states, stay-at-home orders are being lifted, and businesses are reopening. But can the lifting of restrictions be safe, when COVID-19 is still increasing in many parts of the country? Atul Gawande, a surgeon at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and chair of the joint health care venture Haven, joins Judy Woodruff to discuss how to control virus spread as daily activities resume.

President Trump has fired three inspectors general recently, including State Department watchdog Steve Linick on Friday. Two Democratic lawmakers say Linick was investigating a Saudi arms deal the White House fast-tracked. Yamiche Alcindor talks to Joel Brenner, a former national security inspector general and director of national intelligence, about how politicizing the IG role is “all wrong.”

With schools closed and classes moving online, students nationwide are being forced to adapt to a new learning landscape. One challenge: standardized testing for college admissions, many of which have been canceled this spring. Although test administrators say tests will be run online by this fall, some experts worry that shift will exacerbate existing systemic inequities. Stephanie Sy reports.

Musician Pat “Mother Blues” Cohen has long met adversity with music. She lost her New Orleans home to Hurricane Katrina and relocated to North Carolina with assistance from the Music Maker Relief Foundation, a group that supports blues musicians. But now, the coronavirus pandemic has hit very close to home. Jeffrey Brown reports for our American Creators series on rural arts.

NPR’s Tamara Keith and Amy Walter of the Cook Political Report join Judy Woodruff to discuss the latest political news, including the escalating rhetorical war between President Trump and former President Obama, former Vice President Joe Biden’s campaign strategy and polarization and conspiracy theories related to the coronavirus pandemic.