PBS News Hour

News and Public Affairs Series / 9 Seasons

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Watch Latest: S2025 E10

56m 45s

LA reflects wildfire destruction while looking to future

7m 43s

Firefighters are making some progress in the battle against a series of catastrophic wildfires in the Los Angeles area. More than 10,000 structures have been damaged or destroyed and at least 10 people have been killed. There's still danger ahead as winds are expected to pick up once again this weekend. Stephanie Sy reports.

Climate created 'perfect storm' for fires, researcher says

4m 58s

Prolonged drought and powerful Santa Ana winds set up extreme conditions that have fueled the devastating wildfires in the Los Angeles area. Those conditions were compounded by climate change. According to NOAA and NASA, the ten warmest years on record have all occurred in the past decade. Geoff Bennett and Daniel Schmidt of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies discussed the implications.

News Wrap: Maduro sworn after Venezuela's disputed election

5m 48s

In our news wrap Friday, Venezuelan President Maduro was sworn in for a third term following a disputed election, the White House extended protections for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans and El Salvadorans living in the U.S., the Israeli military struck targets in Yemen after Houthis launched drones at Israel and the Biden administration announced sanctions against Russia's energy sector.

How Trump avoided punishment for his felony convictions

5m 31s

President-elect Donald Trump was sentenced in New York, months after a jury found him guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business documents to cover up an extramarital affair. The judge granted Trump an unconditional discharge, a sentence that affirms he’s a convicted felon, but one where he will face no further penalties, fines or any time in jail. William Brangham reports.

TikTok's future now in hands of Supreme Court

7m

In a matter of days, one of the most popular social media apps in the country could pull the plug if the Supreme Court doesn’t grant it a legal reprieve. Concerns about TikTok's Chinese ownership led Congress to pass a law that would ban it in the United States unless its parent company sells it. John Yang discussed more with PBS News Supreme Court analyst Marcia Coyle and NPR's Bobby Allyn.

Jake Sullivan reflects on Biden's foreign policy legacy

10m 8s

On Monday, President Biden will give a farewell speech at the State Department focused on his foreign policy legacy. Ahead of that address, Nick Schifrin sat down with one of the key architects of Biden's foreign policy, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, to discuss his time in the administration and the incoming Trump administration's unconventional foreign policy tactics.

Brooks and Capehart on Trump's sentencing and his 2nd term

10m 14s

New York Times columnist David Brooks and Washington Post associate editor Jonathan Capehart join Geoff Bennett to discuss the week in politics, including President-elect Trump's sentencing in New York, Trump's comments about claiming Greenland and the Panama Canal and the state funeral for President Carter.

Critics say not enough U.S. aid is reaching African farmers

11m 23s

One of the biggest challenges facing sub-Saharan African nations is how to help farmers withstand climate and economic headwinds and produce food for a growing population. Critics say most U.S. aid dollars are going to U.S.-based companies with little involvement by locally-led groups closest to the problem. Fred de Sam Lazaro looks at two food startups in Ghana for his series, Agents for Change.

LA faces apocalyptic devastation as wildfires still burn

9m 32s

Firefighters continue to battle multiple major fires in the Los Angeles area. At least 5 people have been killed, a number officials expect to rise, and 180,000 are under evacuation orders. The fires that started on Tuesday are now among the most destructive in California state history and thousands of buildings and structures have been destroyed already. Stephanie Sy reports.

A look at Southern California's fire response and resources

5m 38s

Many questions are being asked about the response to the deadly wildfires in the Los Angeles area. Amna Nawaz discussed some of those concerns with Juliette Kayyem, a former assistant secretary at the Department of Homeland Security and faculty chair of the Homeland Security program at Harvard’s Kennedy School.

News Wrap: Venezuela's opposition leader arrested

5m 56s

In our news wrap Thursday, Venezuela's opposition leader Maria Corina Machado was arrested while leaving an anti-government protest in Caracas, Lebanon's parliament elected a new president, Gaza health officials say the death toll from the Israel-Hamas war has now topped 46,000 people and Defense Secretary Austin announced details of a $500 million aid package to Ukraine.

How Carter's life of service and humanitarianism will be recognized

9m 44s

Former President Jimmy Carter was remembered Thursday with a state funeral in Washington. To discuss Carter's life and legacy, Geoff Bennett and Amna Nawaz spoke with Judy Woodruff, who has covered Carter since before he was elected president, presidential historian Barbara Perry of the University of Virginia and Stuart Eizenstat, who was a domestic policy adviser to President Carter.

Jimmy Carter remembered and honored at state funeral in Washington

5m 37s

Thursday marked a National Day of Mourning for the funeral and burial of the late President Jimmy Carter. It was also a day to remember and celebrate the life and legacy of the nation's 39th president, a man who served only one term but forged an enduring legacy as a selfless humanitarian and a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. Laura Barrón-López reports.

GOP lawmakers take early steps to implement Trump's agenda

4m 25s

The Republican majority is closing out the first week of the new Congress ready to push through President-elect Trump's agenda and on the cusp of passing its first law. Congressional correspondent Lisa Desjardins reports on that bill and the broader message it sends.

Wildfires rage across LA, leaving neighborhoods in ruins

7m 58s

Wildfires accelerated by historically strong winds have created extreme conditions for millions of people in the Los Angeles region. More than 100,000 people have evacuated their homes because of four different fires. Stephanie Sy reports from Los Angeles.

LA Crews struggle to stop fires fueled by historic winds

4m 37s

The Eaton Fire is just one of the devastating wildfires that broke out in the Los Angeles area on Tuesday night. Winds of 70 to 80 mph allowed it to quickly spread over thousands of acres. Geoff Bennett discussed the latest with Pasadena Fire Chief Chad Augustin.

Biden announces final Ukraine aid before Trump takes office

4m 56s

With less than two weeks left in office, the Biden administration is announcing its final shipment of weapons for Ukraine. The White House believes nearly all of this $500 million worth of weapons will arrive before the inauguration of Donald Trump, whose Ukraine envoy said they will aim for a solution within his first 100 days in office. Nick Schifrin reports.

News Wrap: DOJ plans partial release of Trump Jan. 6 report

4m 44s

In our news wrap Wednesday, the Justice Department plans to release special counsel Jack Smith's findings on Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, Greenland's finance minister pushed back over Trump's comments about taking control of the territory and the Israeli military says it's recovered the body of a hostage inside an underground tunnel in Gaza.

Buttigieg recaps transportation infrastructure improvements

9m 46s

The tenure of Pete Buttigieg atop the Department of Transportation is coming to an end this month at a critical juncture for many of the industries the agency oversees. Buttigieg juggled crises in the rail and airline industries and oversaw the distribution of billions of dollars in funding from Biden’s infrastructure bill. Geoff Bennett sat down with Buttigieg as he prepares to leave office.

Syria's Alawites face uncertain future after fall of Assad

9m 35s

As Syria emerges from decades of dictatorship, people in the Assad family's ancestral home of Latakia province are both overjoyed and anxious. Assad and his family are Alawite, an offshoot of Shia Islam, and the people of his former region fear the new Sunni-controlled government will target them. Leila Molana-Allen reports from Assad’s hometown, a crumbling vestige of the regime.

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