October 19, 2023 - PBS NewsHour full episode

In our news wrap Thursday, the chair of the Federal Reserve said inflation is still too high and the economy may have to cool off to bring it down further, the European Union pressed Meta and TikTok to explain what they're doing to block disinformation about the Israel-Hamas war and the Pentagon says China is building its nuclear weapons arsenal faster than expected.

The leadership crisis in the House of Representatives became even more chaotic on Thursday. Republicans, unable to agree on a speaker, also rejected a plan to temporarily give the acting speaker more powers. Lisa Desjardins was outside the heated meeting and reports from Capitol Hill to try to explain this political mess.

The wide-ranging racketeering case against former President Trump took a new turn in a Georgia courtroom as a second co-defendant pleaded guilty to charges in the alleged scheme to overturn the 2020 election. This time it was one of Trump's former attorneys, Sidney Powell. Amna Nawaz discussed the development with Stephen Fowler of Georgia Public Broadcasting.

The war between Israel and Hamas has caused an eruption of anger and grief in many corners of the world. It has also launched governments into action with the U.S. and the Biden White House among them. Josh Paul resigned from the State Department this week after disagreeing with the administration's approach. He joined Nick Schifrin to discuss his decision to step down.

President Biden's trip to Israel was meant to reassure the Israeli government and people, but how is the visit being viewed in the region? Amna Nawaz got two views on Biden's trip with Marwan Muasher, a former Jordanian diplomat and politician, and David Makovsky, a senior advisor for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations during the Obama administration.

Amid ongoing police reform efforts in the U.S., Native American activists say they've often been left out of the conversation. But more than three years after the police murder of George Floyd, there's a renewed push in places like Minneapolis for awareness and change around law enforcement interactions with Native communities. Special correspondent Fred de Sam Lazaro reports.