March 31, 2020 - PBS NewsHour full episode

President Trump’s Coronavirus Task Force held a briefing Tuesday evening to provide an update on the U.S. fight against COVID-19. The tone at the news conference was sober, as Trump urged Americans to prepare for a “very tough” period ahead. Yamiche Alcindor joins Judy Woodruff to discuss how Trump’s pandemic messaging has evolved and what might be in the next piece of crisis legislation.

The U.S. death toll from novel coronavirus has now exceeded that of China. While Italy and Spain have recorded many more deaths, the U.S. has the most confirmed cases of the illness. Dozens of states have limited residents’ movement outside their homes. And in New York, the national epicenter of the outbreak, a convention center has been converted into an overflow hospital. Amna Nawaz reports.

In our news wrap Tuesday, Wall Street ended a brutal first quarter with fresh losses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 23 percent during the first three months of 2020 -- the largest percentage decline since 1987. Also, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell claimed that President Trump’s impeachment trial earlier this year diverted government attention from the looming coronavirus crisis.

How much do we know about COVID-19, the virus spreading misery across the globe? Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee joins Jeffrey Brown to discuss understanding the dynamics of the virus within people it has infected, why some experience much more severe forms of illness than others, how we can limit asymptomatic transmission and the need to buy medical researchers time to develop treatments.

With unemployment soaring, the COVID-19 outbreak is taking a staggering toll on workers. Food banks are ramping up their services to meet the rising demand, even as donations, volunteers and supplies are limited. Meanwhile, organizations worry about keeping their own workers safe from the virus. Stephanie Sy reports as part of our Chasing the Dream series on poverty and opportunity in America.

More than 55 million American students are staying home amid the coronavirus pandemic. The impacts are huge — affecting students, parents and teachers. Learning is happening with a host of new challenges. Kate Gardoqui of the Great Schools Partnership joins Judy Woodruff to discuss.

The Trump administration wants to roll back another federal regulation intended to reduce global warming. Obama-era automobile fuel efficiency rules require U.S. vehicles to increase mileage standards by an average of 5 percent per year from 2021 through 2026. Tuesday’s move would reduce the improvement threshold to 1.5 percent. The Washington Post’s Juliet Eilperin joins John Yang to discuss.

The USS Theodore Roosevelt, a Pacific-based aircraft carrier, is facing its own outbreak of the novel coronavirus. With several sailors testing positive, the ship’s captain made the extraordinary request for it to be almost entirely evacuated. But the admiral in charge of the U.S. Pacific Fleet says that maintaining military readiness comes first. Nick Schifrin joins Judy Woodruff to discuss.