May 4, 2020 - PBS NewsHour full episode

With the U.S. coronavirus death toll now over 68,000, some fatality projections referenced by the Trump administration have already been surpassed. Roughly 2,000 Americans are dying from the disease every day -- and that number could still rise. Pulitzer Prize-winning science journalist Laurie Garrett joins Judy Woodruff to discuss the latest predictions and what could be done to reduce them.

With COVID-19 cases in the U.S. still rising, many experts say the next phase in the pandemic response will require aggressive contact tracing. The technique has been used extensively in prior disease outbreaks elsewhere, but the U.S. currently lacks a nationwide tracing infrastructure. And while apps tracking movement and interactions could help, they raise privacy concerns. Amna Nawaz reports.

The start of a new week marked more reopenings across the United States, whose death toll from COVID-19 is now over 68,000. In Washington, D.C., the Senate returned to the Capitol, while the House remained at recess due to the pandemic. Meanwhile, in hard-hit European countries like Italy and Spain, more workers were back on the job as virus cases and deaths fell to new lows. Stephanie Sy reports.

In our news wrap Monday, the U.S. Treasury will borrow nearly $3 trillion this quarter to cover pandemic relief. That record number is well over twice the total for all of 2019. Also, Israel's Supreme Court is hearing legal challenges to the governing coalition Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu formed with former rival Benny Gantz in April. Netanyahu’s defense team argued the bloc is legitimate.

Monday marked a Supreme Court argument unlike any other -- not because of the legal issues at stake, but because of the logistics made necessary by the pandemic. The session took place over the telephone and was broadcast live, representing a major shift for a body steeped in tradition that has previously expressed reservations about broader access to proceedings. Yamiche Alcindor reports.

The rhetorical war between the U.S. and China is growing more aggressive by the day. Now, the Trump White House is boosting a theory that the novel coronavirus was accidentally released from a lab in China’s Wuhan, where the outbreak began. Nick Schifrin reports and talks to Antony Blinken, senior foreign policy advisor to Joe Biden, and Rebeccah Heinrichs, senior fellow at the Hudson Institute.

For weeks, Getty Images photographer John Moore has brought his camera to the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic, documenting the new realities of American life. He has accompanied emergency medical workers dispatched to collect the sick and gone inside intensive care units while patients are treated. As part of our ongoing arts and culture series, Canvas, Moore shares some of what he has seen.

NPR’s Tamara Keith and Amy Walter of the Cook Political Report join Judy Woodruff to discuss the latest political news, including President Trump’s prediction of an economic resurgence after the pandemic, the difference in campaign strategies between Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden and how public perceptions of the COVID-19 threat vary according to political identity.

May the Fourth has become an unofficial holiday for "Star Wars" fans. In observance of the date, we leave you with an excerpt from composer and conductor John Williams and the Vienna Philharmonic, playing "The Imperial March." It's a reminder of what we can look forward to when concerts and movies become available entertainment again.