April 22, 2021 - PBS NewsHour full episode

The emergence of long COVID has drawn attention to poorly understood chronic illnesses. This week, over a thousand people living with those diseases signed up to meet virtually with members of Congress to push for more funding for chronic illnesses. Disability advocate Rivka Solomon gives us her Brief But Spectacular take on advocating for those with chronic illnesses.

The United States set ambitious new goals today to stop the world from heating up, urging other nations to follow suit. And some of the world’s largest carbon emitters seemed to heed the call. But world leaders left open how they would get there as they met in a virtual gathering. William Brangham has our report.

In our news wrap Thursday, the U.S. Senate passed a bipartisan COVID-19 hate crimes bill, responding to attacks on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. The U.S. House of Representatives voted along party lines to grant Washington, D.C. statehood. Internationally, Russia announced its troops are withdrawing from the border with Ukraine — but leaving their heavy weapons in place.

This week, India set grim and global new high records Thursday with 315,000 cases in just 24 hours and another 2,100 deaths — the highest one day number of new COVID-19 infections of any nation since the pandemic began. The country's already stressed health care system is overwhelmed. Amna Nawaz speaks to epidemiologist Ramanan Laxminarayan about the situation and the Indian government's response.

To discuss the ambitions of the climate summit and the very real challenges to President Joe Biden's plans, we're joined by Michael Mann, a climate scientist and professor of atmospheric sciences at Penn State University. He's the author of, "The New Climate War: The Fight to Take Back Our Planet." This reporting is part of the international journalism collaborative called "Covering Climate Now."

While the guilty verdict in the murder trial of Derek Chauvin brought celebration to the streets of Minneapolis, people also came together today to mourn Daunte Wright, and demand justice for other recent police shootings involving Black Americans. John Yang speaks to local reporters about the country's reaction to this moment of accountability in a long history of unanswered calls for justice.

Can summer camp change the world? The documentary “Crip Camp” makes the case that one particular camp impacted the lives not only of the young people there but the culture at large, through the fight for disability rights. The film, from the production company of Barack and Michelle Obama, is vying for an Oscar this Sunday. Jeffrey Brown has a look for our arts and culture series, CANVAS.