November 27, 2020 - PBS NewsHour full episode

There are now more than 90,000 people hospitalized in the country with COVID-related illness, the highest number since the pandemic began. Hospital ICU's are nearly filled in some places, and the U.S. currently averages more than 1,500 deaths a day. Amna Nawaz spoke with Bonnie Castillo, executive director of National Nurses United, to learn more about the strain this is putting on health workers.

Each Friday since the coronavirus outbreak began, NewsHour has been offering tributes to just some of those who have perished from COVID-19. During this Thanksgiving holiday, we remember five special people who have fallen to the pandemic.

NEWS WRAPIn our news wrap Friday, President Trump has lost yet another legal round in his bid to challenge the election results, "Black Friday" unofficially ushers in the holiday shopping season under the pall of the pandemic, and thousands of Indian farmers march on New Delhi.

President Trump's visit this year to Mt. Rushmore has drawn new attention to a decades-long battle between Native Americans and the federal government over millions of acres in South Dakota. Special correspondent Fred de Sam Lazaro reports on the campaign to reclaim that land. This report is in partnership with the Under-Told Stories Project and is part of the series, "Agents for Change."

There’s been a surge in the numbers of people drowning in the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean as migrants from Africa try to reach Europe. Activist groups are blaming European Union policies for their deaths and have been critical of its border agency, Frontex, for its cooperation with the Libyan coastguard. NewsHour Special Correspondent Malcolm Brabant reports.

These are perilous times for independent bookstores. More than one independent bookstore has closed each week since the pandemic began, and 20 percent across the country are in danger of closing, according to a recent study by the American Booksellers Association. Jeffrey Brown has the story.

Washington Post columnist Jonathan Capehart, and Gary Abernathy, an Ohio-based writer and contributing columnist to The Washington Post, join Amna Nawaz to discuss this week's politics, including President Trump's undermining of the election process and President-elect Joe Biden's picks for top cabinet posts.