October 27, 2021 - PBS NewsHour full episode

Pressure is mounting on U.S. lawmakers and White House officials, who met again Wednesday, to secure a deal on the president’s Build Back Better agenda. But key sticking points, like how to pay for the massive social spending bill, remain. White House correspondent Yamiche Alcindor joins Judy Woodruff with the latest on the negotiations.

To fund their reconciliation bill, Democrats have suggested a billionaires’ tax, which could raise up to $250 billion. But the idea has faced opposition from Republicans and moderate Democrats. Lawmakers are also considering changing taxes on corporations. For more on the Democrats' plans to fund the bill, William Brangham is joined by Neil Irwin of The New York Times.

In our news wrap Wednesday, immigration arrests in the U.S. interior hit their lowest level in more than a decade. The White House says states are moving quickly to order Pfizer's low-dose COVID shot for young kids. The top U.S. military commander confirmed that China has tested a hypersonic weapon. Long lines wrapped around gas stations in Iran for a second day after a cyberattack disrupted flow.

School board races are usually quiet contests centered around local issues like budgets. But this year, many of these boards are engulfed in nationalized, cultural hot-button fights over issues like mask mandates and teaching critical race theory. Anger at school boards has resulted in heated meetings and threats of violence — and federal intervention. Judy Woodruff reports.

Many schools across the United States are grappling with ways to close the achievement gap between white students and students of color. Special correspondent Fred de Sam Lazaro reports on those efforts in Minnesota, which has some of the worst disparities. This report is part of our ongoing "Race Matters" coverage, and the "Agents for Change" series.

A Brazilian Senate committee investigating President Jair Bolsonaro submitted their findings to the country’s attorney general Wednesday. It recommended criminal charges for Bolsonaro's pandemic response. The inquiry is unprecedented and scathing, accusing a sitting head of state of crimes against humanity for Brazil’s COVID death toll, the second highest in the world. Nick Schifrin reports.

A new Philadelphia exhibit, “Liberty,” seeks to tell a more inclusive story of the American revolution by introducing visitors to people critical to building the nation — yet whose names they’ve likely never heard. John Yang visited as part of our arts and culture series, CANVAS.