September 9, 2020 - PBS NewsHour full episode

In our news wrap Wednesday, the United Nations is warning the warming globe could mean more natural disasters and extreme weather. A new report says the world is now nearly 2 degrees warmer than during pre-industrial times; the targeted ceiling set by the Paris Accord is 2.7 degrees. Also, Francis Collins of the National Institutes of Health insists a COVID-19 vaccine won’t compromise safety.

A new political firestorm has engulfed the White House -- this time over what President Trump knew about the pandemic vs. what he said publicly on the topic. The Washington Post’s Bob Woodward reports Trump privately acknowledged the seriousness of the virus in early February in recorded phone calls and later told Woodward that he was intentionally downplaying it to Americans. John Yang reports.

The American West’s wildfire disaster is only getting worse. As California struggles to corral widespread blazes, the governor of Oregon reported hundreds of homes had burned in her state. High winds are fanning uncontrolled flames, more power outages are expected and California’s national forests were shut down as officials try to prevent new fires from sparking. Stephanie Sy reports.

On the Greek island of Lesbos, a fire ripped through the Moria refugee camp Tuesday night and reignited Wednesday. The camp was overcrowded and unsanitary, but it was the only place its thousands of inhabitants called home. Special correspondent Malcolm Brabant visited Moria earlier this year and has this report on the blaze, which is only the latest trial to befall the camp amid coronavirus.

Black and Latino Americans are suffering disproportionately from the novel coronavirus pandemic -- both in terms of health and economic harm. These groups are three times as likely to contract the virus as white Americans and nearly twice as likely to die from it. Meanwhile, people of color are feeling the recession keenly, with many reporting job or income loss. Yamiche Alcindor reports.

A new book by legendary journalist Bob Woodward has sent shockwaves across the country -- and the 2020 presidential campaign. Woodward’s reporting includes audio recordings of on-the-record conversations with President Trump in which he admits he intentionally misled Americans about the danger posed by the novel coronavirus. The Washington Post’s Robert Costa joins Judy Woodruff to discuss.

The Justice Department has moved to intervene in a defamation lawsuit against President Trump. In 2019, columnist E. Jean Carroll accused Trump of raping her years ago, and later claimed his denunciations amounted to defamation. William Brangham talks to David Laufman, a former DOJ official under multiple administrations, about what he calls an "inappropriate" intervention by the attorney general.