PBS News Hour - Politics

President Trump has fired three inspectors general recently, including State Department watchdog Steve Linick on Friday. Two Democratic lawmakers say Linick was investigating a Saudi arms deal the White House fast-tracked. Yamiche Alcindor talks to Joel Brenner, a former national security inspector general and director of national intelligence, about how politicizing the IG role is "all wrong."

NPR's Tamara Keith and Amy Walter of the Cook Political Report join Judy Woodruff to discuss the latest political news, including the escalating rhetorical war between President Trump and former President Obama, former Vice President Joe Biden's campaign strategy and polarization and conspiracy theories related to the coronavirus pandemic.

As thousands of transient, out-of-state oil workers enter states along the Keystone XL construction route in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, legal challenges are once again piling up against the Trump administration due to mounting health concerns. NewsHour Weekend's Ivette Feliciano reports.

In the U.S., more than 87,000 people have died from COVID-19, and another 300,000 have recovered from it. The House of Representatives is considering another round of federal relief, but Republicans, and even some Democrats, dismissed the proposed bill as unrealistic. Meanwhile, more areas of the country, from the Grand Canyon to the Jersey Shore, are preparing to reopen. Amna Nawaz reports.

Earlier this year, a woman named Tara Reade accused former Vice President Joe Biden of sexually assaulting her in 1993, when she worked for his Senate office. Biden has categorically denied the allegations. Lisa Desjardins and Daniel Bush conducted extensive reporting on the story, talking to 74 former Biden staffers to understand the culture in his offices, and they join Judy Woodruff to discuss.

Syndicated columnist Mark Shields and New York Times columnist David Brooks join Judy Woodruff to discuss the week's political news, including former Vice President Joe Biden's response to an allegation of sexual assault, which U.S. officials Americans trust during the pandemic, a new proposal for more coronavirus relief and an insider trading investigation of prominent senators.

The global death toll in the coronavirus pandemic has reached 300,000, with 85,000 fatalities in the U.S. alone. The new numbers were posted as federal vaccine expert Dr. Rick Bright, in congressional testimony, levied grave criticism of the White House's crisis response. Meanwhile, nearly 3 million additional Americans filed for unemployment amid a crippled economy. Yamiche Alcindor reports.

In our news wrap Thursday, Sen. Richard Burr stepped down as chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee over allegations of insider trading linked to the pandemic. The North Carolina Republican sold large amounts of stock just before the market crashed. Also, a powerful typhoon struck the eastern Philippines. Heavy rain and winds forced thousands to evacuate and crowd together at shelters.

Governing in a crisis like the novel coronavirus pandemic can define a presidency. What lessons does history have to offer as a guide? Judy Woodruff reports and talks to former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who was President Obama's chief of staff during the Great Recession, and the National Endowment for Democracy's Andrew Card, who served as President George W. Bush's chief of staff after 9/11.

Sen. Lamar Alexander chairs the Senate's Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, which held a hearing Tuesday about the Trump administration's handling of coronavirus. Alexander himself is in quarantine after a possible exposure, and he joins Judy Woodruff from his Tennessee home to discuss federal pandemic aid, his state's plans to reopen and President Trump's crisis response.