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| Good morning, Daily Briefing readers! Lawmakers are racing against the clock to avert a government shutdown. We tell the incredible story of how a USA TODAY freelance journalist escaped the Taliban in Afghanistan. And, at long last, a movie museum will open in Los Angeles – and wannabe thespians will even be able to hold their own Oscar awards. |
| It's Steve and Jane with Thursday's news. |
| 🌎 New this morning: Staying could mean death. The escape nearly killed her. How one woman fled Afghanistan for freedom. |
| 🌏 Subscriber exclusive: "We just got 70 kids and 30 adults to safety": How an ad hoc group rescued thousands of the Afghans left behind. |
| 🔵 The Backstory: How a Navy officer, a Ukrainian colonel and a USA TODAY reporter helped an Afghan journalist escape Kabul. |
| 🌊 "Significant" swells: Expect dangerous surf stirred up by Hurricane Sam if you're headed to the beach this weekend along the East Coast, forecasters are warning. |
| 🐊 "I used the front like a hippo mouth": The tale of a Florida man, an alligator and a trash can. |
| 🎤 Britney Spears is finally free of her father's much-loathed role in controlling her life and finances, but she's not yet completely liberated from her 13-year conservatorship. |
 | | Britney Spears | | AFP photo via Getty Images; USA TODAY Life graphic | |
| 🎧 On today's 5 Things podcast, hear the latest from Capitol Hill as lawmakers work against the clock to avoid a government shutdown. You can listen to the podcast every day on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on your smart speaker. |
| Here's what's happening today: |
Congress appears poised to avert partial government shutdown |
| Congress hasn't scheduled votes to extend funding the government as the clock ticks down on a shutdown, but leading lawmakers said Congress will likely take action Thursday before the midnight deadline. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Wednesday the Senate could work quickly to pass a funding bill that would allow the government to operate through Dec. 3, and give lawmakers time to approve routine spending measures such as funding federal agencies and the programs they administer for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1. After Senate approval, the bill would head to the House for a vote, which they're expected to approve, and then to President Joe Biden for his signature. If Congress does not avert a shutdown, hundreds of thousands of nonessential federal employees could be furloughed – forced to take time off without pay – beginning Friday. |
House plans to vote on the $1.2T infrastructure bill, but drama remains |
| The House plans to vote on a $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill Thursday – but lingering Democratic infighting puts the bill in jeopardy. Members of both political parties reached a breakthrough this year when Senate Republicans, Democrats and President Joe Biden came together to create a bill that funded roadways, bridges, public transportation and expanded broadband. It passed the Senate 69-30 in August. But a bill with bipartisan support is in trouble because progressives and moderates within the House Democratic party are leading competing factions toward a showdown. Progressives are arguing that they should not vote on the infrastructure deal without passage of a separate budget bill that would include "human infrastructure" priorities such as subsidized child care and provisions to fight climate change. Moderates are attempting to unlink the two pieces of legislation in hopes of gathering more GOP support. |
What else people are reading: |
| 🌋 One of the most active volcanos on Earth is erupting on Hawaii's Big Island. Webcam footage showed lava fountains covering the floor of the Kilauea volcano's Halemaumau crater. |
| 🔴 "Fear of harassment": More than a year after U.S. health care workers were saluted as heroes during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, they are now being issued panic buttons. |
| 🤳 Opinion: "I grew up "under a rock." My parents banned social media until I was 17. I'm glad they did. |
| 🔵 An Arizona woman accused of killing her two children, who were decapitated in their Southern California home, has been arrested in Tucson, authorities said. |
| 🎥 Tommy Kirk, a child star who played in Disney films such as "Old Yeller" and "The Shaggy Dog," has died. He was 79. |
| 📺 Lena Dunham is a married woman. The creator/star of the HBO series "Girls," 35, tied the knot with musician Luis Felber, 35, over the weekend. |
| 🐻 Fat Bear Week is here! Who's the chonkiest of them all? |
 | | 128 Grazer. | | A. Willingham | |
Congresswomen to share abortion stories |
| Three congresswomen will testify about their experiences with abortion during a Thursday House hearing on reproductive rights. On Wednesday's episode of MSNBC's "The ReidOut with Joy Reid," Rep. Barbara Lee, D-CA; Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo.; and Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., shared intimate accounts of their decisions to end their pregnancies. Lee said she traveled to a "back-alley clinic" in Mexico. "I was one of those that survived and I think it's my duty now, as hard as this is, to talk about it. Because I know it's going to happen again if we don't stop what's taking place," she said, alluding to the Texas law that renewed a national conversation about reproductive rights. |
Newsmakers in their own words: Injured pitcher expresses remorse |
 | | Milwaukee Brewers relief pitcher and 2020 NL Rookie of the Year Devin Williams | | USA TODAY Sports photo and graphic | |
| Milwaukee Brewers president of baseball operations David Stearns said Wednesday that key relief pitcher Devin Williams will require surgery to help repair a fracture in his right throwing hand, and the injury "is likely to keep him out for the remainder of the season." |
| Williams told reporters the injury was self-inflicted – he punched a wall out of anger after having "a few drinks" following Sunday's celebration of the team clinching the National League Central. He expressed remorse for his actions and said he apologized to his teammates for what unfolded. |
Also happening Thursday: Jon Stewart returns to TV and he has a 'Problem' |
| Jon Stewart, the Emmy-winning host of Comedy Central's "The Daily Show" for 16 years before leaving in 2015, is back on a biweekly basis on Apple TV+ with "The Problem with Jon Stewart," (streaming every other Thursday) a series that devotes entire episodes to a single issue, or "Problem." The first investigates and highlights the health issues that affect veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars who were exposed to "burn pits," the term for landfills in which the military's waste was burned near bases overseas. |
| "Part news show, part comedy, part soap box, 'Problem' is familiar but distinct, and a natural outlet for this version of Stewart," USA TODAY TV critic Kelly Lawler writes in her ★★★ out of four review of the new series. |
 | | Jon Stewart on the set of his new Apple TV+ show, "The Problem with Jon Stewart." | | Cara Howe/Apple | |
Facebook official to testify after report on Instagram's effect on teens |
| A Senate Commerce Committee panel digging into Instagram's impact on young users has summoned its owner Facebook's head of global safety, Antigone Davis, to testify Thursday. Davis' appearance comes on the heels of a recent Wall Street Journal report that said top Facebook officials were aware that Instagram, the popular photo-based social media platform, can have a negative impact on mental health, body image and more for teenagers, particularly teenage girls. In a study of teens in the U.S. and the U.K., Facebook found that over 40% of Instagram users who reported feeling "unattractive" traced that feeling back to the platform, the report says. Davis is set to testify that the company is developing features to protect young people on its platforms, using research and consultations with outside experts to make the users' experience positive. |
ICYMI: Some of our top stories Wednesday |
| 🔵 Despite scientific evidence of safety, Sage Steele says ESPN mandating COVID-19 vaccine is "sick" and "scary." |
| 🔵 "My life ended" Steven Van Zandt says he still regrets leaving Springsteen and The E Street Band. |
| 🔵 Russian President Vladimir Putin seemingly tried to set off former President Donald Trump's germaphobia by purposely coughing, according to a new book. |
A film museum finally opens in Los Angeles |
| Thursday's ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will end the long-sought and oft-delayed pursuit of a movie museum in Los Angeles. It was called for by the original charter for the 94-year-old Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the group that presents the annual Oscar awards. Guarding the grounds for the 300,000-square-foot, seven-story museum is a fearsome introductory centerpiece: Bruce, the 1,208-pound, 25-foot-long shark from Steven Spielberg's 1975 thriller "Jaws," hanging over the main escalators. The museum also features a section highlighting original costumes – from Dorothy's sequined ruby slippers in "The Wizard of Oz" to The Dude's robe in "The Big Lebowski." Visitors can even hold their own Oscar. |
📸 Photo of the day: Cardi B dazzles at Paris Fashion Week 📸 |
 | | Cardi B attends the "Thierry Mugler : Couturissime" photocall as part of Paris Fashion Week at Musee Des Arts Decoratifs on Tuesday in Paris. | | Richard Bord, WireImage | |
| Fashion lovers, models and designers are off to France for Paris Fashion Week. Rapper Cardi B left jaws on the floor with this fiery red look at Thierry Mugler's "Couturissime" exhibition. |
| Tap here to see the best runway looks and celebrity sightings from Paris Fashion Week 2021. |
| The Daily Briefing is free, but several stories we link to in this edition are subscriber-only. Please support our journalism and become a USA TODAY digital subscriber today. |
| Contributing: The Associated Press |
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