September 1, 2020 - PBS NewsHour full episode

The United States is drawing down its military presence in Iraq, reducing troops from 5,200 to 3,500 as part of a plan developed with the Iraqi government to hand over security responsibilities to its own forces. But the country also faces economic challenges that a new prime minister backed by the U.S. is struggling to solve. Nick Schifrin reports and talks to Ali Allawi, Iraq’s finance minister.

In our news wrap Tuesday, more than 50 Black former McDonald’s franchise owners sued the fast food chain. Their federal lawsuit, filed in Chicago, accuses the company of steering them to less-profitable locations in crime-ridden neighborhoods. Also, in New York, Mayor Bill de Blasio delayed public school reopenings for another 11 days, to give teachers more time to prepare for in-person classes.

The economic crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic has lingered for months, but Congress is still far from passing additional relief. A few weeks ago, President Trump took steps toward granting more federal unemployment aid -- but that money is still in the process of being distributed. Lisa Desjardins joins Judy Woodruff to discuss how Americans are coping and the outlook for legislation.

In the United Kingdom, residents have long considered the National Health Service (NHS) one of the nation's greatest accomplishments. Across the Atlantic, U.S. Democrats have proposed a similar single-payer system for the U.S., but conservatives have raised alarms about access problems within the NHS. William Brangham reports as part of our series, The Best Health Care? America & the World.

More than 2,000 American newspapers have been shuttered since 2004, and now the global pandemic means local news organizations are facing additional challenges in keeping the presses running. Margaret Sullivan recently published a new book about this decline, titled “Ghosting the News: Local Journalism and the Crisis of American Democracy.” She joins Jeffrey Brown to discuss what’s at stake.

The United States Census is always a daunting challenge, but in 2020, the effort is further complicated by the novel coronavirus pandemic. With a compressed timeline to complete the once-per-decade population count, some census officials worry that the effort is being politicized -- and is likely to undercount certain groups. Amna Nawaz talks to NPR’s Hansi Lo Wang, who covers the Census Bureau.

Millions of students will be relying more heavily on technology this year to access their education. The companies behind these digital platforms will accumulate massive amounts of data as a result. But what about the tools and apps parents deploy to keep their kids safe? Law professor and internet privacy expert Leah Plunkett shares her humble opinion on the drawbacks of high-tech surveillance.