knight foundation. ♪ ♪ >> narrator: in the summer of 2020, a group of murals went up in salt lake city. they included faces of people killed by police over the past decade. they went up amid the growing reckoning over police violence around the country and after salt lake city police officers killed 22-year-old bernardo palacios-carbajal. "frontline" reporter taylor eldridge retraced his steps from where police had been called to a nearby motel over reports of an armed robbery. >> officers stopped here. >> the officers see bernardo right there. >> narrator: the officers shouted to him. >> hey! >> show me your hands! >> narrator: and then ran after him. >> we have a male on foot, running fast. show me your hands! >> narrator: a sergeant arrived. >> drop it, drop it, drop it! >> show me your hands! he's got something in his pocket! >> narrator: the officers spotted something that turned out to be a gun. (officer running, shouting) >> so bernardo comes around the corner here, and the chase ensues down

and james l. knight foundation fostering informed and erin -- engaged communities. >> with the ongoing support of these institutions. and friends of the "newshour." this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. judy: diplomats and negotiators from nearly 200 countries struggle to reach a global accord on reducing emissions to ease the impact of climate change. today was scheduled to be the last day of the so-called cop 26 summit in glasgow. but word came that deep disputes over fossil fuels and future commitments meant the talks would spill over into saturday. top officials said it was important to keep negotiations going. >> the whole of humanity is in danger and the ones who are in immediate danger are the ones living in small island states in the pacific and the ones in the caribbean suffering every year with the weather becoming more erratic. a lot of people are already suffering now but the

and james l. knight foundation. fostering informed and engaged communities. more at kf.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: and friends of the newshour. d >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you.th an >> woodruff: for most of today, capitol hill has been in limbo. the key question-- do democrats have enough votes to pass a trillion-dollar infrastructure bill and move forward on a larger social spending plan?la lisa desjardins begins our coverage. >> desjardins: for president joe biden, today was supposed to bring two hard-fought wins. >> the number-one priority should be seeing congress pass these bills. >> desjardins: house democratic leaders said they would hold votes and pass two biden agenda bills, that total nearly $3 trillion. to nudge wobbly democrats, biden went to the hill last week, made phone calls overnight, and was blunt this morning. >> i'm asking every house member-- member of the house of representatives-- to v

and james l. knight foundation. fostering informed and engaged communities. more at kf.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: and friends of the newshour. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: for most of today, capitol hill has been in limbo. the key question-- do democrats have enough votes to pass a trillion-dollar infrastructure bill and move forward on a larger social spending plan? lisa desjardins begins our coverage. >> desjardins: for president joe biden, today was supposed to bring two hard-fought wins. >> the number-one priority should be seeing congress pass these bills. >> desjardins: house democratic leaders said they would hold votes and pass two biden agenda bills, that total nearly $3 trillion. to nudge wobbly democrats, biden went to the hill last week, made phone calls overnight, and was blunt this morning. >> i'm asking every house member-- member of the house of representatives-- to vote yes o

and james l. knight foundation. fostering informed and engaged communities. more at kf.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: and friends of the newshour. and individuals. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: diplomats and negotiators from nearly 200 countries struggled to reach a global accord on reducing emissions to ease the impact of climate change. today was scheduled to be the last day of the so-called cop26 summit in glasgow, scotland, but word came this afternoon that deep disputes over financial aid, fossil fuels, and future commitments, meant the talks would spill over into saturday. top officials said it was important to keep negotiations going. franz timmermans represents the european union. >> the whole of humanity is in danger, and the ones who are in immediate danger are the ones living on small island states in the pacific and the ones in the caribbean, who is suffering every year with the weathe

and james l. knight foundation. fostering informed and engaged communities. more at kf.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: and friends of the newshour. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: kyle rittenhouse, the teenager on trial for killing two people and shooting and wounding a third in kenosha, wisconsin, was acquitted by a jury today on all counts. the now 18-year-old faced five charges, including intentional homicide, reckless endangerment of public safety and use of a weapon. the case was watched around the nation, and the jury delivered its verdict early this afternoon. >> we the jury find the defendant kyle h, kyle h rittenhouse not guilty. >> members of jury are these your unanimous verdicts, is there anyone who does not agree with the verdict as read? >> woodruff: rittenhouse shot three people, two of them, joseph rosenbaum and anthony huber, fatally, after protests and riots broke out in kenosha in

. ♪ >> the john s and james l knight foundation. >> and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. ♪ this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. judy: president biden is tapping an emergency national stockpile of oil to try to stem a rising tide of energy prices. his order today draws 50 million barrels of crude oil from the nation's strategic petroleum reserve. william brangham begins our coverage. william: with rising energy prices, president biden was under growing political pressure to make a move. >> today, i'm announcing that the largest ever release from the u.s. strategic trillium reserve to help provide the supply re-need as we recover from this pandemic. william: five other nations, including china, have agreed to make similar moves withdrawals from their own stockpiles. >> we are launching a major effort to moderate the price of oil. an effort that will span the globe and reach your corner gas station, god willing. william: all of this comes after

and james l. knight foundation. fostering informed and engaged communities. more at kf.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: and individuals. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: more and more countries are reporting cases of covid-19's omicron variant tonight, and more are mandating travel bans. at the same time, advisors to the u.s. food and drug administration have now endorsed the merck company's pill to treat the virus in high-risk adults. all of this comes as public health officials are emphasizing the need for global cooperation. nick schifrin begins our coverage. >> schifrin: today, from european capitals where omicron spread earlier than previously thought, to eastern africa, where health workers rushed to administer mrna vaccines, the world wrestled with worry. >> i overheard fears about the omicron variant which is ravaging the world, so i decided to come for the jab. >> schifrin: many countries aren

and james l. knight foundation. fostering informed and engaged communities. more at kf.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: and friends of the newshour. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> brangham: they're calling it "omicron," and its emergence is reverberating around the world tonight. key questions remain unanswered, but this new mutation of the coronavirus has already prompted a wave of reactions. word of the new variant triggered crowded scenes at airports, heavy selling on world markets, and appeals from health experts not to panic. the world health organization held an emergency meeting in geneva, and one of its top covid researchers, dr. maria van kerkhove, said this new version of the virus appears highly transmissible. >> what we do know is that this variant has a large number of mutations, and the concern is that when you have so many mutations, it can have an impact on how the virus behaves. >> brangham: t

and james l. knight foundation. fostering informed and engaged communities. more at kf.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: and individuals. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: pfizer is now asking u.s. regulators to authorize its covid booster shots for all americans over 18. at the moment, only older americans and those with weakened immune systems are eligible. pfizer's request today comes as holiday gatherings draw near, and as infections begin to tick higher in parts of the country. the prosecution has rested in kenosha, wisconsin, in the kyle rittenhouse murder trial. he is charged with killing two men and wounding a third during violence and protests last year. it happened after jacob blake, a black man, was shot by police and left paralyzed. prosecutors presented five days of testimony before wrapping up. the u.n. climate summit s entered its final days, with warnings that new pledges to cut carbon em

and james l. knight foundation. fostering informed and engaged communities. more at kf.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: and individuals. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: president biden is tapping an emergency national stockpile of oil, to try to stem a rising tide of energy prices. his order today draws 50 million barrels of crude oil from the nation's strategic petroleum reserve. william brangham begins our coverage. >> brangham: with rising energy prices, president biden was under growing political pressure to make a move. >> today, i'm announcing the largest-ever release from the u.s. strategic petroleum reserve to help provide the supply we need as we recover from this pandemic. >> brangham: five other nations, including china, have agreed to make similar withdrawals from their own stockpiles. >> it's a major effort. >> brangham: all of this comes after pandemic lockdowns had slashed the demand fo

and james l. knight foundation. fostering informed and engaged communities. more at kf.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: and individuals. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: voters went to the polls today to cast ballots in a number of contests across the country. two are races for governor, in new jersey and virginia, and the latter has especially captured national attention because of its closeness in a state that president biden won by ten points. to walk us through what to look for tonight, i'm joined by jessica taylor, senate and governors editor for the cook political report. jessica, very good to have you with us on this election day as the results are coming in and, in fact, we do have early exit numbers to look at but, before we do that, what has made this virginia contest as watchable as it's been and apparently as close as it is? >> well, this has been traditionally about what happens the year a