JUDY WOODRUFF: There's a new advance tonight in the long struggle with COVID-19. The drugmaker
Pfizer has requested federal authorization for its pill to treat the virus.
Trial data shows that it greatly reduces hospitalizations and deaths in high-risk adults with early
symptoms. Pharmacies could be selling the pills within weeks, if the FDA approves emergency
use.
President Biden hit the road today to push his new infrastructure package and social
policy agenda, in the face of falling poll numbers. He traveled to Woodstock, New Hampshire
where an aging bridge now stands to be repaired. And he touted the social spending and climate
bill still awaiting action.
JOE BIDEN, President of the United States: I am confident that the House is going to
pass this bill, and when it is passes, it will go to the Senate, I think we will get
it passed within a week. And it is fully paid for.
JUDY WOODRUFF: House Democrats are divided over the $1.8 trillion package, with moderates
demanding a full cost analysis. Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said
today that he hopes for Senate action by Christmas.
The jury in the Kyle Rittenhouse murder trial began deliberating today in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
Rittenhouse shot and killed two people and wounded a third during racial justice protests
last year. In an unusual move, the judge let the defendant himself draw numbered slips
to select the jury. That determined which 12 out of 18 potential jurors will actually
deliberate.
The state has rested its case in the trial of three white men accused of murdering Ahmaud
Arbery in Brunswick, Georgia. The prosecutors say the men assumed Arbery was a burglar,
chased him down and shot him. The defense says that they acted legally under a citizen's
arrest law.
In political comings and goings, Democrat Michelle Wu was sworn in as the new mayor
of Boston. She is the first Asian American and the first woman to be elected to that
job.
And California Congresswoman Jackie Speier announced that she will not run for an eighth
term. She is the 14th House member to decide on retirement at the end of next year.
Record rainfall and extreme winds eased today across Washington state and Oregon, but left
widespread damage. Interstate 5, the West Coast's main north-south highway, was partially
reopened near Bellingham, Washington, but heavy flooding covered vast tracts of land,
and 14 counties in Western Washington were under a state of emergency from floods and
mudslides.
WOMAN: The water just came in fast, way faster than we were expecting. So, our house is in
about four feet of water. Downstairs is all flooded. So, thankfully, we had a loft room
that we were all hunkered down in.
JUDY WOODRUFF: The same storm system touched off mudslides that trapped some 300 people
on a highway in British Columbia late Sunday night. Most were helicoptered to safety. Provincial
officials at today that one person was killed in a slide.
Russian officials denied today that they endangered the International Space Station with a missile
test that destroyed an old satellite. It generated more than 1, 500 pieces of space debris, but
Moscow said there is no threat to the station. NASA said the crew, including two Russians,
now face four times the normal risks.
In Myanmar, the state election commission announced that it's prosecuting ousted leader
Aung San Suu Kyi for alleged election fraud. Her party's sweeping victory last year triggered
a military coup.
Meanwhile, American journalist Danny Fenster returned to New York after six months in a
Myanmar prison. He'd been accused of lying about the military regime.
And back in this country, industrial production and retail sales bounced back last month,
rising more than 1.5 percent, while, on Wall Street today, the Dow Jones industrial average
gained 54 points to close at 36142. The Nasdaq rose 120 points. The S&P 500 added 18.
Still to come on the "NewsHour": former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers on what policy-makers
need to do about inflation; why aid organizations stay in Afghanistan to help those struggling
under Taliban rule; the major hurdles facing older prisoners once they win release; plus
much more.