October 30, 2019 - PBS NewsHour full episode

Adam Winkler, author of our October pick for the NewsHour-New York Times book club, Now Read This, joins William Brangham to discuss “We the Corporations,” and William announces the November book selection.

In our news wrap Wednesday, the Federal Reserve cut short-term interest rates for the third time this year, in an expected bid to strengthen the economy. But Chair Jerome Powell signaled that further reductions are on hold amid an outlook for “moderate growth.” Also, in the impeachment inquiry, reaction to the Tuesday testimony of Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman broke mostly along party lines.

A new fire is burning Wednesday in California’s Simi Valley. With winds gusting to 80 miles per hour, the National Weather Service issued a rarely used warning of extreme fire danger in the southern part of the state. In Northern California, meanwhile, both the Kincade Fire and the proactive power outages by PG&E continued, as residents strive to adapt to the disruptions. Stephanie Sy reports.

U.S. racial and ethnic diversity is ever increasing, but the medical representation of minority groups is not. A recent review of government-funded cancer research studies found that participants were disproportionately white, and fewer than 2 percent of these clinical trials focused on minorities specifically. Special correspondent Cat Wise reports on the problem and efforts to correct it.

Julián Castro was mayor of San Antonio when he delivered the keynote address at the 2012 Democratic National Convention. Under President Obama, he headed the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and today he’s one of 17 contenders for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. He joins Judy Woodruff to discuss his vision for immigration, health care, and helping all Americans prosper.

Fires are burning across several parts of California, and power is out for hundreds of thousands of residents there. As firefighters try to contain the blazes, frustration is mounting toward utility company PG&E for the prolonged blackouts it says are necessary to reduce fire risk. Stephanie Sy talks to Stanford University’s Michael Wara about the roles of climate change and aging infrastructure.

In Iraq and Lebanon, different events sparked current mass demonstrations, but protesters in both countries believe their governments are broken. Journalist Pesha Magid, reporting from Baghdad, and special correspondent Jane Ferguson, in Beirut, join Nick Schifrin to discuss economic and political instability in Iraq and Lebanon and how proximity to Iran is looming over both nations.