July 14, 2020 - PBS NewsHour full episode

How will the fall of 2020 look for students, families and schools as the pandemic reshapes the education landscape? Community colleges, which educate about 40 percent of U.S. undergraduates, were already stretched thin. Now, their enrollment is expected to increase as students and workers change their plans. Hari Sreenivasan reports on how Maryland’s Montgomery College and its students are coping.

Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden released new policy proposals Tuesday aimed at addressing the climate crisis. The plans were informed by a task force that included former Biden competitor Sen. Bernie Sanders, and they represent a progressive shift for Biden. But will the ideological evolution be enough to win over Sanders supporters? Sanders joins Amna Nawaz to discuss.

In the wake of protests against systemic racism in the U.S., many industries are reexamining past practices and facing questions about their own racial biases. One new effort puts a spotlight on the world of publishing. Jeffrey Brown reports and talks to Simon & Schuster’s Dana Canedy, the first Black person to head a major publishing house, for our ongoing series about arts and culture, Canvas.

More states are setting records for coronavirus infections and deaths, with some moving toward implementing restrictions as a result. California, Florida and Texas are a trio of high-population hot spots, reporting 30,000 new cases among them on Monday alone. And school districts in Houston, Los Angeles and San Diego have decided to offer only online learning this fall. Lisa Desjardins reports.

In our news wrap Tuesday, the British government reversed course and will ban Chinese telecom giant Huawei from its next-generation mobile phone system. The U.S. had pushed for the change. Also, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security dropped its directive that international students in the U.S. attend college classes in person this fall or leave the country. Harvard and MIT had filed suit.

The CDC is traditionally seen as the leading government agency to monitor public health and communicate key information to the public. But according to four former heads of the agency, the Trump administration has been interfering in the CDC's central role during this pandemic. Dr. Richard Besser, a former acting director, joins William Brangham to discuss what he argues is a dangerous shift.

From landmark decisions on immigration and LGBTQ protections to virtual oral arguments amid the pandemic, the Supreme Court’s recent term was certainly one for the history books. Amna Nawaz talks to Paul Clement, former U.S. solicitor general under President George W. Bush, Neal Katyal, former acting solicitor general under President Obama and the National Law Journal’s Marcia Coyle for analysis.