October 19, 2021 - PBS NewsHour full episode

Jury selection is underway in the high profile case of white men accused of murdering Ahmaud Arbery, an unarmed Black man, in Georgia — one of the cases that set in motion a wave of racial justice protests nationwide in the summer of 2020. For our ongoing "Race Matters" series, William Brangham discusses the case with Gerald Griggs , vice president of the NAACP Atlanta chapter.

After public feuds between moderate and progressive Democrats cast doubt on a path forward toward agreement on the infrastructure and Build Back Better agenda, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer expressed optimism Tuesday that the dust has settled in his ranks, paving the way to a compromise. Lisa Desjardins and Yamiche Alcindor join Judy Woodruff with more.

In our news wrap Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas tested positive for COVID-19. He's fully vaccinated and is isolating at home with mild congestion. Kidnappers in Haiti who abducted 17 members of a U.S. missionary group are demanding a million dollars for each captive. North Korea stoked new tensions after firing a short-range ballistic missile into the Sea of Japan.

The special congressional committee investigating the January assault on the U.S. Capitol meets Tuesday to consider whether to recommend charging Steve Bannon with contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with a subpoena and sit for a deposition. Ambassador Norman Eisen, who was a counsel to the House Judiciary Committee for the first Trump impeachment, joins Judy Woodruff with more.

The pandemic has posed unprecedented financial challenges for U.S. colleges and students. The federal government has provided more than $70 billion in relief. Over $3 billion specifically for historically Black colleges and universities and more than $1 billion to minority-serving institutions where many students face fiscal hardship. Yamiche Alcindor reports for our "Rethinking College" series.

Leading child health care groups — including the American Academy of Pediatrics — said Tuesday the pandemic has triggered a “national state of emergency” in mental health among U.S. youth, and policy makers need to act. The Education Department issued new guidance for how to address the crisis in K-12 schools and bolster mental health. Secretary Miguel Cardona joins Amna Nawaz with the details.

During the early Nazi occupation of Europe, they forced more than a million Jews to live and work in ghettos. Most were killed in a brutal process called liquidation, or sent to concentration camps. Some 25,000 Jews escaped the ghettos and hid in Eastern European forests. The members of one family that survived years in the woods tell their story in Rebecca Frankel's new book, “Into the Forest.”

For many Americans during the pandemic, the home office has seen a lot of activity. But, as Maya Trabulsi of station KPBS reports, one San Diego man dedicated his home's workspace to his passion: American history. It's part of our arts and culture series, CANVAS.