geoff: laura barron-lopez, thank you so much. more perspective on today's impeachment hearing and the legal basis for the inquiry, we're joined by frank bowman. he is professor emeritus at the university of missouri school of law and author of “high crimes and misdemeanors: a history of impeachment for the age of trump.” professor, welcome and thank you for joining us. i want to begin with your reaction to that impeachment hearing today. what were some of the key takeaways for you? what new information did you learn? frank: regrettably, very little. i think it is certainly true to say that no impeachment inquiry of a u.s. president should begin unless there is at least significant proof that the president did engage in some sort of wrongdoing. that has been the case in every prior presidential impeachment. the difficulty for the republicans is, on the one hand, they have the advantage of dealing with hunter biden, the president's son. and the one uncontested point one can agree on is hunter biden has spent his entire life being i

for the pbs newshour, i'm laura barron-lopez. amna: today the government of nagorno-karabakh said it would dissolve, formally ending more than 30 years of separatist rule for the ethnically armenian enclave inside azerbaijan. as ali rogin reports, this comes after azerbaijan launched a lightning offensive last week that has triggered a massive humanitarian crisis with more than half of nagorno-karabakh's population fleeing to neighboring armenia. >> a massive exodus, visible from space. the only road connecting nagorno karabakh to armenia now an escape road. people arrive in armenia hungry and scared. >> we ran away to survive. it is horrible. children are hungry. reporter: that is a reference to last week's artillery attack. residents rushed for cover after azerbaijani air strike set buildings on fire. they called it an antiterrorist operation and released video of drone strikes on what they said were armenian defense positions. the 24 hour offensive ended in a russian brokered cease-fire forcing separatist kara bach -- karabakh

laura barron lopez has more. laura: this weekend in iowa, a focus on faith. >> our rights were endowed by the hand of almighty god. laura: and guns. >> as president, i will make sure that our 2nd amendment is protected. laura: as most of the republican presidential hopefuls courted voters four months before the state's first-in-the-nation caucuses. >> you ready to hear from these presidential candidates? laura: one critical voting bloc -- evangelicals, who made up nearly two-thirds of republican caucus-goers in 2o16. most candidates made their pitch saturday at the annual faith and freedom dinner in des moines. >> there is a debate within the party today, ralph, and it's an important debate. laura: on display, divides inside the gop on a critical issue for conservative voters -- abortion. florida governor ron desantis touted recent six-week bans enacted in iowa and his home state. >> i think the states have done the better job thus far. congress has really struggled to make a meaningful impact over the years. laur

white house correspondent laura barron-lopez begins our coverage. laura: the general assembly gathered today under dark clouds of war, climate crisis, and inequality. secretary general antonio guterres was blunt. >> our world is becoming unhinged. geopolitical tensions are rising. global challenges are mounting. and we seem incapable of coming together to respond. laura: 145 world leaders were set to address the group. but leaders from britain, france, china and russia were absent. pres. biden: as president of the united states i understand the duty my country has to lead in this critical moment. laura: making the united states the only permanent security council member with veto power to address the body. president biden drew applause after he denounced russia's war as ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy looked on. pres. biden: if you allow ukraine to be carved up, is the independence of any nation secure? i respectfully suggest the answer is no. we have to stand up to this naked aggression today, and deter other would-be aggressors tomorrow. la

laura barron-lopez has our report. the horrors of that september day in 2001 remembered on this 22nd anniversary. >> officer, third class, jamie and fallin. laura: nearly 3,000 people died when planes hijacked by al-qaeda terrorists crashed into new york's world trade center, the pentagon, and a rural pennsylvania field, making it the deadliest terror attack on u.s. soil. >> i lost my dad here. it never gets easy. it's the same thing all over again. it hurts. laura: vice president kamala harris was among those who gathered to pay their respects at ground zero in manhattan. keeping with tradition, family members read the names of the dead aloud. >> i needed to be here. laura: brian macleod, a former new york city police officer, returned to the site for the first time in more than two decades. >> i have not stepped foot on the grounds since october of 2001. laura: in arlington, virginia, crews unfurled a giant american flag. a ceremony paid tribute to the 184 lives lost when one of the hijacked planes smashed into the p

laura barron-lopez joins to discuss the significance the president's travels in asia. you. president biden has already met with the indian prime minister. what are we learning about that meeting? laura: white house officials were saying they were hopeful a potential deal could be struck on a railway info structure project. the deal would be between india, the united states, saudi arabia and the arab emirates. it would link the gulf and arab countries as well as linking them to india via seaports. one official described it intentionally as an earthshaking corridor. topics -- talks are still developing and they haven't come to a deal quite yet. beyond that, the prospect of real big developments out of the summit are slim. india doesn't want to alienate china or russia and waters are skeptical there will be any type of supportive joint statement behind ukraine that comes out of this summit. critics also warning the administration that as biden tries to improve his elation ship with india, reminding him india is a human rights abuser and their democracy is backsliding. amna

laura barron-lopez has more. arsh rebuke of alabama's lawmakers, federal judges struck down the staples's new congressional map, after being ordered to create a second majority black district, republicans in the state instead chose to defy the u.s. supreme court, violating the law under the voting rights act alabama is just one of a handful of southern states that are litigating congressional districts. maps in florida, louisiana, and georgia have all been challenged for diluting the power of voters. -- black voters. joining us is npr's conseil along. -- hansi lo wang. the judge came down hard yesterday, saying that "the law requires the creation of an additional district that affords black alabamians, like everyone else, a fair and reasonable opportunity to elect candidates of their choice. the 2023 plan plainly fails to do so." you have followed this closely. what happens next now that this has been struck down? hansi: now that it is shut down, the court has come up with experts, with three proposals, congressio

our colleague, guest moderator laura barron-lopez and her panel will discuss infighting among house republicans mccarthy's comments daring members of his party to try to remove him from the speakership. and tomorrow on pbs news weekend, the rise of robo-taxis and the benefits and risks they pose. and that is the newshour for tonight. i'm amna nawaz. geoff: and i'm geoff bennett. have a great weekend. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf. the engine that connects us. >> and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions, and friends of the newshour, including kathy and paul anderson and camilla and george smith. the walton family foundation. working for solutions to protect water during climate change so people in nature can thrive together. the william and flora hewlett foundation, supporting institutions to promote a better world. at hewlett.org. and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. ♪ and friends of the newshour. ♪ this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadca

laura barron-lopez has more on what this sentence means and the larger threat of far-right extremism.que tarrio's sentence is the harshest punishment handed down to date for those convicted for their involvement on january. tarrio led the proud boys, a white power group that played a critical part in carrying out the insurrection. the group is just one part of a trend, an increase in white supremacist and far-right violence. those extremist movements, top u.s. law enforcement officials say, pose the biggest domestic terrrorism threat facing the country. to discuss this, i'm joined by kathleen belew, a historian at northwestern university and author of "bring the war home: the white power movement and paramilitary america." and seamus hughes of the university of nebraska omaha's national counterterrorism innovation, technology, and education center. thank you so much for joining us. kathleen, tarrio was not at the capitol and january 6 because he was arrested a few days prior for setting fire to a back lives matter banner but he did direct is proud boys to attack the capital without hi

singleton, cnn political commentator, and democratic strategist, maria cardona, and senior analyst, laura barron-lopezlly this is a time to put politics aside, ayou know, it's had mixed results with chris christie having a particular kind of moment. generally you put politics aside when talking about a storm like this. desantis, this appears to be a political move. >> it appears that way. just a year ago, last october when hurricane ian struck florida, president biden went down there. governor desantis and his wife greeted him when he arrived, when president biden arrived, held a press conference alongside him, said that they don't agree all the time but they would put that aside and work to go. chris christie is another example, where he even pushed back republican criticism in 2012 and 2013 saying, no, president obama worked with me well, kept his promises and republicans are playing politics. >> the hurricane ian example, the image that came out of that, of biden kind of being chummy with the people on the ground and desantis kind of out there by himself. that was not a great image for desantis. it

also with us republican strategist shermichael singleton, cnn political analyst laura barron lopez and former federal prosecutor joseph moreno. joseph, i want to start with you here. as the mayor just said, it really does read like a movie script. meeting a girlfriend, marrying her quickly after, and she just happens to have contacts who are close to the egyptian government that then are seeking information from a sitting united states senator. how strong do you think this indictment is? >> gold bars, wads of cash, a mercedes convertible? tawdry, absolutely. but tawdry does not always equal illegal. and the supreme court has made it pretty difficult to bring these bribery cases against elected officials. you need not a just quid pro quo, you need an official act, an exercise of governmental power. a vote on something, approval of a policy. when i go through basically those four kinds of conspiracies that senator menendez is accused of, i see holes in at least two of them. >> but what about providing that information? according to the allegations, he received -- he sought information fr

so, you have fixed something that laura barron lopez mentioned something that is important. have democrats who are now saying, no, we won't support the speaker who is in place right now, partly because he went forward for an impeachment without a vote, but if he goes who might take over, and what is the risk there, natasha? >> that is right. i mean, i think that what all of this is pointing to is the weak position that kevin mccarthy is in. kevin mccarthy has expressed that he did not like the idea of a shutdown, because when you shutdown the government, you never win and you are in a weaker position, and this is the position that he has accepted in order to have this speakership, so it is seeming that he is losing on all fronts, and he has the smallest majority in the house, and clearly, he is vulnerable to the threats that the hardline republicans are making. what is interesting is that the majority of americans have shown time and time again that they do not like government shutdowns, and think don't appreciate the government being brought to a halt. they often blame the

laura barron-lopez has been following all of this. what is the situation in texas right now? ura: right now, the law is fully in effect, and it is going to ban providers from giving puberty blockers, hormone treatments, surgeries which are very rare for minors to transgender youth in the state of texas. it is also going to require that if any of these patients are currently receiving those treatments that they are weaned off of it. advocates on the ground have told me that ultimately already, providers and pharmacies are not even trying to approach that weaning off, that they simply are going to stop providing treatment altogether. john: are they still fighting this in court? laura: they are. what happens next is that lit a -- litigation will continue to play out even as this law takes effect. ultimately, the texas supreme court will decide whether or not this law is constitution under texas state constitution. but i ask the attorney general's office what their response was to this all taking effect. they said they will enforce it fully, and that this law, they claim it is des

with the presidential election a little more than a year away, laura barron-lopez explores the issue.america's two major political parties has turned away from democracy, warn steven levitsky and daniel ziblatt. one key accomplice to the backsliding, they say, are politicians called semi-loyalists, who rather than expel anti-democratic extremists from their party ranks, accept and make room for them. why is this happening? their new book, "tyranny of the minority," concludes that part of the problem lies in the constitution. they join me now. thank you so much for joining. steve, can you first establish we knew, as someone as an expert in the collapse of democracies, diagnosed that there is now a popular authoritarian movement within the republican party? steven: there have been authoritarian movements in both parties historically. what is new is it became a primary majority in the republican party. effectively took over the republican party. the first sign was trump's nomination in 2016. the reason we wrote our first book is because we were so concerned about the republican party's f

and also joining us laura barron lopez, white house correspondent for pbs newshour.ts sinking. 67% in his own party would prefer a different candidate in 2024. and yet what is the answer to that question? there doesn't seem to be one. >> yeah. in fact, that was asked. and if you give people the opportunity to name who they want, very often they won't give you a name. there is not an obvious second candidate on the horizon. and that's one of the reasons why democrats have said look, we're going to stick with the only person we have who has beaten donald j. trump for the presidency. in the end as joe biden will tell you you're not voting for the almighty. you're voting against the alternative. and that is the core of the matter from democrats' perspective. >> yeah. what do you think? >> i think that evan's right, that when you talk to voters they don't name one particular person over and over again. you'll hear gretchen whitmer thrown out or amy klobuchar. but there's not a consensus candidate for voters at all. i think that look, the white house is very aware, the cam

. >> and there's much more online including our own laura barron-lopez with a rare look at the newly situation room where some of the most consequential u.s. military decisions are made. and later tonight on "washington week" with the atlantic, moderator jeffrey goldberg and his panel take stock of the biden presidency so far and the challenges he face as he seeks re-election. >> a new united nations seeds lying of the invasive species. that's the newshour tonight. i'm amna nawaz. jeff: and i'm geoff bennett. >> major funding if the pbs newshour has been provide by -- ♪ >> moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions, and friends of the newshour including kathy and paul anderson and camilla and george smith. the walton family foundation, working for solutions to protect water during climate change so people and nature can this reeve together. >> william and laura hewlett foundation advancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better world. at hewlett.org. >> and with the ongoing sup

william: our white house correspondent laura barron lopez joins us now to break down what we can expect from this new office. the number of dead from guns in america is just horrendous. what is this, new office hoping, intending to do? laura: this new office is going to be a central hub essentially for enforcement, coordination, public outreach. as you well know, last year, the president signed into law a bipartisan bill that cracked down on background checks, essentially trying to enhance background checks. they will be cordoned aiding aggressively with states to make sure that is enforced. there were billions of dollars allocated in that bill to tackle gun violence prevention, mental health, school safety. a lot of the people i have spoken to, including the white house, say this office is going to make sure all of that is enforced and implemented, that those communities realize there is that money there for them to use. william: vice president kamala harris will oversee this. laura: that is correct. harris will oversee this. there will be a specific director that is also named. they b

laura barron lopez has more. >> delivering a harsh rebuke of lawmakers, federal lawmakers shut down alabama's new congressional map after being ordered to create a second majority black district. republicans instead chose to define the u.s. supreme court. violating the law under the voting rights act. alabama is just one of a handful of southern states that are litigating congressional districts. mavs in florida, louisiana, and georgia have been challenged for diluting the power of black voters. following this closely is npr's ponzi low on. thank you for joining us today. the three-judge panel in alabama came down hard on the state's new map yesterday saying the law requires the creation of an additional district that affords black alabamians like everyone else a fair and reasonable opportunity to elect candidates of their choice. the 2023 plan plainly fails to do so. you have followed this closely. what happens next now that this has been struck down? >> now the court has appointed experts to come up with three proposals, three congressional maps for the state of alabama. those proposals are