PBS News Hour - Politics

Tuesday's election outcomes represented successes and failures for both parties. In Kentucky, Democrat Andy Beshear beat Republican Gov. Matt Bevin by a very slim margin, while Mississippi elected a Republican governor. And Virginia voters put both houses of the state's legislature under Democratic control. Amna Nawaz reports and Judy Woodruff speaks with the University of Virginia's Kyle Kondik.

House committees involved in the impeachment inquiry said Wednesday that the investigation will go public next week, with senior State Department officials scheduled for open hearings beginning November 13th. Meanwhile, Amb. William Taylor's deposition transcript illuminates why U.S. military aid to Ukraine was withheld. Nick Schifrin reports and talks to Yamiche Alcindor and Lisa Desjardins.

Recent polls in early voting states show Pete Buttigieg's popularity surging among Democratic voters. The mayor of South Bend, Indiana, is now in the top tier of candidates vying for the chance to challenge President Trump in the 2020 presidential election. But with that growing support comes rising scrutiny. Judy Woodruff talks to Buttigieg about health care, taxes and uniting a divided country.

Transcripts were released Tuesday of testimonies from two central figures in the impeachment inquiry: Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland and former Special Envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker. Both men were on the July call between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskiy. Meanwhile, more White House officials declined to appear for interviews. Lisa Desjardins reports.

On Tuesday, transcripts of impeachment inquiry testimony from Ambassador Gordon Sondland and former Special Envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker were released. Nick Schifrin and Lisa Desjardins break down the details of the newly released transcripts, including how Sondland revised some of his original answers, and Yamiche Alcindor joins William Brangham to discuss how President Trump is reacting.

President Trump announced Monday that in a year, the U.S. will formally withdraw from the Paris climate agreement. The global accord was signed in 2015 by nearly 200 nations pledging to cut greenhouse gas emissions to slow the planet's warming. Brookings Institution's Todd Stern, who was chief climate negotiator during the Obama administration, joins William Brangham to discuss the fallout.

Monday marked a milestone in the House impeachment inquiry, as almost 500 pages' worth of transcripts from two of the investigation's closed-door witness depositions were publicly released. Lisa Desjardins, Nick Schifrin and Yamiche Alcindor join Amna Nawaz to discuss new details revealed by the testimonies of former Amb. Marie Yovanovitch and former State Department official Michael McKinley.

Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., sits on the House Judiciary Committee, which has a central role in the impeachment inquiry of President Trump. On Monday, House investigators released nearly 500 pages of testimony from the depositions to date. Raskin joins Amna Nawaz to discuss the "explosive" details in those transcripts and why he and his colleagues are releasing them on a staggered basis.

The Kentucky governor's race is one of three gubernatorial contests that will serve as key tests of Republican strength ahead of the 2020 presidential election. President Trump is campaigning there Monday for the incumbent, Matt Bevin, who's facing a very tight race on Tuesday against Democrat Andy Beshear, the state's attorney general. William Brangham reports from the Bluegrass State.

NPR's Tamara Keith and Amy Walter of the Cook Political Report join Amna Nawaz to discuss the latest political news, including the release of transcripts from the impeachment inquiry, what three upcoming gubernatorial races say about President Trump's support, early polling in key 2020 battleground states and the waning distinction between local and national politics.