PBS News Hour - Politics

In a continuation of its crackdown on so-called sanctuary cities and states, the Trump administration is planning to use U.S. Border Patrol agents from an elite tactical unit known as "BORTAC" to assist Immigration and Customs Enforcement in detaining undocumented immigrants. New York Times national immigration reporter Caitlin Dickerson joins Hari Sreenivasan for more on the escalation.

President Trump is apparently ignoring Attorney General William Barr's appeal for an end to public statements and tweets about the Justice Department, insisting he has the right to intervene. Also, former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe will not be charged with lying to federal officials. Judy Woodruff discusses with Thomas Dupree and Joshua Geltzer, both former Justice Department officials.

In our news wrap Friday, Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman will not be investigated over his impeachment testimony against President Trump, says Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy. Vindman already lost his job with the National Security Council. Also, Turkish-backed rebels shot down a Syrian helicopter near Aleppo, in northwest Syria, where renewed violence has driven more than 800,000 from their homes.

Syndicated columnist Mark Shields and Washington Post columnist Michael Gerson join Judy Woodruff to discuss the week in politics, including Sen. Bernie Sanders' victory in the New Hampshire primary and how it shapes the race for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, President Trump's strategy for reelection and the political conflict surrounding the Justice Department.

A new report from Human Rights Watch finds that the Trump administration's controversial "Remain in Mexico" policy forces asylum seekers at the U.S.-Mexico border to wait in crowded, unsafe and unsanitary conditions. Many said they lived in constant fear of violence, with some reporting that they had actually been attacked. Amna Nawaz speaks with Human Rights Watch's Michael Garcia Bochenek.

In our news wrap Thursday, Attorney General William Barr criticized public discussion of the Roger Stone case. Barr said in an interview that statements and tweets about Justice Department business "make it impossible" for him to do his job. Also, the Senate has voted to curb the president's authority to attack Iran unless Congress approves it, but the vote fell short of a veto-proof majority.

With the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary over, 2020 Democrats are looking ahead to states including Nevada and North Carolina. The three senators still in the race, Amy Klobuchar, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, were back at work on Capitol Hill Thursday, but campaign appearances and TV ads continue. Yamiche Alcindor reports.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., is currently one of the leading candidates in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary. Fresh off his New Hampshire victory Tuesday, Sanders sits down with Judy Woodruff to discuss why he thinks his campaign has a good shot at winning in Nevada, his "extraordinary" grassroots organization, how he would change health care and whether he accepts money from billionaires.

The Washington Post's Philip Rucker and Carol Leonnig published a book about the Trump presidency earlier this year. "A Very Stable Genius: Donald J. Trump's Testing of America" goes beyond the headlines to expose President Trump's chaotic first years in office. Philip Rucker sits down with Judy Woodruff to discuss why some administration officials are "worried for the country" under Trump.