May 28, 2021 - PBS NewsHour full episode

Nearly half of the country — from the Pacific coast to the Great Plains and upper Midwest — is experiencing moderate to exceptional drought conditions. That's expected to get worse throughout the summer. As William Brangham reports, it's the western states in particular that are taking the hardest hit, and the possibilities for devastating wildfires are at an all-time high.

Efforts to establish a commission to investigate the insurrection on January 6 failed Friday as the GOP delayed a vote on its existence. Only seven Republican Senators were in favor of debating the idea. Lisa Desjardins reports.

Former Republican New Jersey Governor Tom Kean was the chairman of the independent, bipartisan 9/11 commission - the congressionally-approved panel which served as the model for the January 6 commission. Kean joins Judy Woodruff to discuss why the commission was blocked, and what Republicans in power ought to know about independent commissions.

In our news wrap Friday, with COVID restrictions easing, Americans are traveling in near-record numbers this memorial day weekend, with traffic hitting pre-pandemic levels. President Joe Biden formally released his $6 trillion budget for the coming fiscal year. The CDC says that fully vaccinated kids do not have to wear masks at camp this summer.

A survey released by the Public Religion Research Institute this week found 15% of Americans believe a QAnon conspiracy that the government is controlled by a cabal of Satan-worshipping pedophiles. Just one in five Republicans fully reject the theory. For many Americans, those ideas are tearing their families apart. We spoke to three people whose relationships have been hurt by far-right beliefs.

100 years ago Monday, a white mob descended on a Black neighborhood of Tulsa, Oklahoma, killing people and burning homes and businesses. The Tulsa massacre, as it came to be known, is being remembered in many ways — one of them, an art and history project known as the Greenwood Art Project. Jeffrey Brown has our report for our arts and culture series, CANVAS.

New York Times columnist David Brooks and Washington Post columnist Jonathan Capehart join Judy Woodruff to discuss the week in politics, including QAnon conspiracy theories and the relation to Congress’ failure to establish a Jan. 6 commission, President Joe Biden’s budget plan and its influence on deficit and economic inflation, and how far America has come since George Floyd's killing.

Each week, PBS NewsHour pauses to remember five Americans lost to the COVID-19 pandemic, and shares memories and highlights from their lives.