PBS News Hour - Politics

NewsHour Weekend producer Sam Weber joins Hari Sreenivasan to discuss this year's "Roads to Election 2020" coverage: taking a whole show on the road during the pandemic, keeping climate change front and center and finding and telling election stories that were a little off the beaten path. PBS NewsHour is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders

The ability to pardon criminals is a unique power of a president, one that can be politically motivated and often draws criticism But as Reveal's Michael Schiller explains, pardons can also change lives. PBS NewsHour is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders

New York Times columnist David Brooks and Washington Post columnist Karen Tumulty join Amna Nawaz to discuss the week in politics, including a stalemate between Congress and the president over COVID relief, the latest pardons from President Donald Trump and what they learned this week about how the Biden administration is preparing for office. PBS NewsHour is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders

This Christmas Eve has been anything but quiet in Washington after President Trump's surprise announcement that he doesn't support a new COVID relief bill. And last night, the president added 29 pardons and commutations, with many familiar names on the list. William Brangham spoke with Andrew Weissmann, former lead prosecutor in special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe, to discuss.

PBS NewsHour is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders

Following nine months of tense negotiations, Britain and the European unions have at last hammered out a post-Brexit trade deal. The agreement averts a chaotic and costly breakup. Amna Nawaz spoke with Robin Niblett, director of the British think tank Chatham House, to learn more on the breakthrough. PBS NewsHour is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders

2020 has been a year unlike any within living memory, and one that exposed some of America's deepest divides. Judy Woodruff spoke with emergency medical physician Dr. Uche Blackstock, Eddie Glaude, of Princeton University, New Yorker staff writer Jill Lepore, and Yuval Levin, editor of National Affairs magazine, to discuss the pandemic, America's race problem, and the country's leadership.

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As the nation nears 325,000 total deaths, millions of Americans are feeling the economic impact of the pandemic. The Department of Labor on Wednesday reported 803,000 new jobless claims last week, and up to 14 million people could soon lose unemployment benefits unless President Trump signs the COVID relief bill passed by Congress. POLITICO's Anna Palmer joins Judy Woodruff to discuss. PBS NewsHour is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders

President Trump late Tuesday announced a flood of pardons and commutations for three former Republican members of Congress and two others who pleaded guilty in the Russian probe. Trump's latest round of executive clemency was a nearly 50 percent increase from the number he granted in the previous four years. William Brangham reports. PBS NewsHour is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders

With much of the United States solidifying its partisan leanings, Maine has stood out for its bipartisan vote. Jeffrey Brown reports on what is different about the state and what it can teach us about the rest of the country. PBS NewsHour is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders

Members of the U.S. Congress are mostly home for the holidays after approving aid for an economy battered by the pandemic. The mega-deal includes economic relief and a catch-all spending bill to fund the government for the rest of the year, and comes as California is hit hard by the coronavirus. The legislation now awaits President Trump's signature. William Brangham reports. PBS NewsHour is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders