PBS News Hour - Politics

Syndicated columnist Mark Shields and Ramesh Ponnuru of The National Review join Judy Woodruff to discuss the week's political news, including President Trump's insistence that foreign leaders should investigate the Biden family, how the White House is responding to the subsequent House investigation and the newest fundraising and poll numbers among 2020 Democrats.

President Donald Trump is facing an impeachment inquiry because he urged Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son. But Thursday, Trump said he would welcome similar involvement from another foreign power: China. The admission comes as the two countries prepare for trade talks. Judy Woodruff talks to Yamiche Alcindor and The Washington Post's Michael Kranish.

What are the legal and national security implications of President Donald Trump's encouraging foreign powers to investigate a potential political rival? Judy Woodruff talks to Michael Mukasey, who was attorney general under former President George W. Bush, and Carrie Cordero, a former Justice Department and intelligence official who served in both Republican and Democratic administrations.

Top House Democrats sent a warning to the White House on Wednesday: Stonewalling the impeachment inquiry will be treated as grounds for impeachment itself. Meanwhile, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo acknowledged for the first time that he was on a July call between President Trump and Ukraine's president. Yamiche Alcindor reports, then joins Lisa Desjardins and Judy Woodruff for more.

Do Republicans believe President Trump's conversation with Ukraine's leader warrants an impeachment inquiry? Judy Woodruff gets two perspectives from former Republican Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona and Chris Buskirk of American Greatness on the potential political ramifications.

Many of the 2020 Democratic candidates spent Wednesday at a forum devoted to curbing gun violence, explaining how they would address the problem. Former Vice President Joe Biden chose the event to release his plan. Amna Nawaz learns more from John Yang, who was at the forum in Las Vegas, about where candidates agree, and how they are trying to distinguish themselves.

While Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday pushed back on demands by House Democrats for testimony and documents related to the Ukraine investigation, Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley defended the whistleblower who filed a complaint about President Trump's actions. Lisa Desjardins and Yamiche Alcindor join Judy Woodruff for more developments.

According to The Washington Post, Attorney General William Barr has been personally visiting with foreign leaders to encourage them to help out with an investigation that President Trump hopes will discredit special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe. William Brangham talks with Devlin Barrett of The Washington Post to untangle the many threads of the story.

President Trump acted as his own defender in chief on Monday, criticizing a whistleblower complaint, as some of his allies tried to argue that Democrats are rushing an impeachment inquiry. But not all Republicans are defending the president, including his former Homeland Security adviser Tom Bossert. Lisa Desjardins reports, then joins Yamiche Alcindor and Judy Woodruff for more.

Democratic presidential candidates spent the weekend in early primary states, where there was one major topic on their minds: the formal impeachment inquiry into President Trump. All 19 Democrats now support that inquiry, with some saying the details in the whistleblower complaint are the president's clearest offenses yet. Yamiche Alcindor reports.