Harry Zahn

As September comes to a close, public schools across the country are finding themselves at the edge of a funding cliff as pandemic-era federal dollars run out. Principals in Georgia and Ohio describe how they are affected, and Ali Rogin speaks with Marguerite Roza, director of Georgetown University's Edunomics Lab, for more about what schools have planned.

For decades, California police departments that want to sever ties with officers for misconduct have agreed to let them resign and to keep the bad behavior confidential in order to avoid lawsuits. But as a result, hundreds of officers have landed new jobs in law enforcement with no records of their past misconduct. John Yang speaks with investigative reporter Katey Rusch for more.

Israel carried out its heaviest bombardment of Beirut in its campaign against Hezbollah overnight. Civilians who had evacuated their homes returned to ash and rubble. Nearly one quarter of the Lebanese population has been displaced, with some living out of their cars or tents. Special correspondent Leila Molana-Allen reports from Beirut.

A Biden administration program offering a path to citizenship for up to half a million undocumented spouses of U.S. citizens is on hold while a federal court considers a challenge from 16 Republican-led states. For more on this issue, John Yang speaks with Ashley DeAzevedo, president of American Families United, an advocacy group that backs the program.

This fall, Pennsylvania is living up to its name as the Keystone State. Both the Harris and Trump campaigns see the state’s 19 electoral votes as key to reaching the 270 needed to win the presidential election, while contests there could also determine control of Capitol Hill. John Yang checks in with Julia Terruso, national political reporter for The Philadelphia Inquirer, for the latest.

Saturday is the first day of statewide early voting in Michigan, and both Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are in the state trying to energize their supporters. Chad Livengood, politics editor and columnist at The Detroit News, joins John Yang to discuss the neck-and-neck race for Michigan’s 15 electoral votes.

Haitian immigrants have found themselves at the center of a political storm this fall, as former President Trump and his supporters repeatedly make unfounded claims about them. Most came to the United States to escape the humanitarian crisis in Haiti, brought on by wide-scale gang violence. Ali Rogin reports on how Haitian leaders are trying to restore the rule of law in their country.

On Friday, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump held dueling rallies just five miles apart in Wisconsin. Trump won the state in 2016 after it had gone for Democratic candidates for 28 years, and President Biden narrowly won it back in 2020. This year, it could help determine control of the White House, Senate and House of Representatives. John Yang speaks with PBS Wisconsin’s Zac Schultz for more.

Reproductive rights are front and center as the election enters its home stretch, more than two years after the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Despite the state bans that followed the Supreme Court ruling, the number of abortions has actually gone up. At the same time, infant mortality has been on the rise. John Yang speaks with The 19th’s reproductive health reporter Shefali Luthra for more.

Trump has long cultivated strong support among Christian conservatives. He got about 80 percent of the white evangelical Christian vote in 2016 and 2020, and appears to be on track for a similar result this year. In the closing days of the campaign, some of his supporters have characterized Harris with terms like “devil” and “Antichrist.” Historian Kristin Kobes Du Mez joins John Yang to discuss.