PBS News Hour - Politics

The list of Democrats running for president now exceeds 20, and the crowded field hit early primary states over the weekend. Former Vice President Joe Biden and Mayor Pete Buttigieg were in South Carolina, while Sen. Bernie Sanders, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Sen. Amy Klobuchar and former Rep. Beto O’Rourke visited Iowa. As Yamiche Alcindor reports, race and gun control were prominent campaign topics.

NPR’s Tamara Keith and Amy Walter of the Cook Political Report join Lisa Desjardins to discuss the latest in politics, including why so many Democrats are running for president, the importance of appealing to voters of color, which campaign issues are resonating and which aren’t and what to expect from the first debate.

On the eve of the House Judiciary Committee’s deadline for the Justice Department to turn over special counsel Mueller's full report, questions remain over whether the time limit can be enforced. The deadline comes as Democrats threaten Attorney General Barr with contempt over his refusal to testify before the committee. Wall Street Journal reporter Sadie Gurman joins Hari Sreenivasan to discuss.

President Trump has long claimed U.S. intelligence agencies spied on his 2016 campaign. This week, he considered himself vindicated by a story in The New York Times detailing an FBI effort to covertly gather information from a Trump campaign adviser. Judy Woodruff talks to reporter Adam Goldman about what sparked the investigation and whether it appears to have followed standard processes.

Syndicated columnist Mark Shields and New York Times columnist David Brooks join Judy Woodruff to discuss the week’s political news, including Attorney General William Barr’s Senate testimony and absence from a scheduled House Judiciary Committee hearing, deteriorating relations between Congress and the White House, the president’s phone call with Vladimir Putin and 2020 Democratic candidates.

In our Thursday news wrap, conservative commentator Stephen Moore withdrew as a potential nominee to the Federal Reserve Board after losing support from Senate Republicans over past writings disparaging women. Meanwhile, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro declared that he retains the military’s loyalty after commanders ignored opposition calls to revolt this week.

After Attorney General William Barr failed to appear before the House Judiciary Committee for a scheduled hearing on the Mueller report, House Democrats threatened to hold him in contempt. Meanwhile, Republicans argue Mueller’s investigation was biased against President Trump. Amna Nawaz talks to former Justice Department official David Rivkin and Neal Katyal, former acting solicitor general.

Attorney General William Barr testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday to explain his handling of the Mueller report. While Barr defended his actions, Democrats zeroed in on a newly discovered letter from Mueller criticizing Barr's summary of the report's “principal conclusions.” Meanwhile, Barr said he would not attend a planned House hearing Thursday. Judy Woodruff reports.

It was a contentious day on Capitol Hill as Attorney General William Barr appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee to discuss his handling of the Mueller report. Yamiche Alcindor and Lisa Desjardins join Judy Woodruff to analyze Barr’s testimony, including his explanation of why he determined President Trump hadn’t committed obstruction of justice.

Rep. Doug Collins of Georgia is ranking Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, which planned to question Attorney General William Barr on Thursday. Judy Woodruff talks to Collins about Barr’s late-breaking decision not to attend the hearing, why Collins believes that Democrats are engaging in a partisan “stunt” over the Mueller report and what questions he would ask of the attorney general.