September 24, 2021 - PBS NewsHour full episode

"5 STORIES'' serves up five stories that you may have missed. On this week’s episode: McDonand’s will end fossil-fuel-based plastic in Happy Meal toys, a Kansas boy sparks a federal investigation into invasive spotted lanternflies, advocates successfully extend protections of Amazonian tribe, researchers teach cows to use the potty and a new app helps treat spider phobias using augmented reality.

New York Times columnist David Brooks and Washington Post columnist Jonathan Capehart join Judy Woodruff to discuss the week in politics, including the divide among Democrats over the $3.5 trillion spending bill, the looming debt ceiling deadline, and the Biden administration’s response to the Haitian migrant issue on the southern border.

The fate of the bipartisan infrastructure bill and a $3.5 trillion spending package is at risk amid Democratic infighting. On Friday, Biden acknowledged concerns, but urged Congress to pass both bills. Amna Nawaz begins our report, and joins Judy Woodruff to discuss.

Republicans in the Arizona State Senate had commissioned a review of 2020 ballots in Maricopa County even though election officials found no large-scale fraud. But a partisan group called Cyber Ninjas undertook a controversial review of the vote and affirmed Joe Biden won Maricopa County and Arizona. Nate Persily, an election law scholar at Stanford University, joins William Brangham with more.

Germany is one of America's most important allies. Nearly every American president since George W. Bush has worked closely with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. But for the first time since 2005, she will not be a candidate when Germans head to the polls this Sunday to vote for her successor. Special correspondent Malcolm Brabant is in Berlin with a preview of this upcoming election.

Artist Shazia Sikander is straddling worlds and using her art to examine how we see the past and present, east and west. Jeffrey Brown has the story from New York for our art and culture series, CANVAS.

R. Kelly has faced sexual abuse allegations for decades, settling multiple cases. In his first criminal trial since being acquitted of child pornography charges in 2008, prosecutors argued Kelly oversaw a criminal enterprise, sexually assaulting and imprisoning underage girls, boys, and young women. Kelly pled not guilty. Reporter Emily Palmer of The New York Times joins Amna Nawaz to discuss.

In our news wrap Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention approved booster shots for older and high-risk Americans, adding frontline workers to the list. Vice President Kamala Harris had her own COVID scare moments before an interview with ABC's "The View." A migrant encampment in Del Rio, Texas where thousands of Haitian migrants had converged this week has now been cleared.

Whether teaching NYU marketing students or co-hosting the podcast “Pivot," Scott Galloway rarely misses an opportunity to share his insight on the effects of big tech. Tonight, he shares his Brief But Spectacular take on this country's response to the pandemic. It’s also the subject of his latest book: "Post Corona: From Crisis to Opportunity."