to help unpack this standoff, i'm joined by congressional correspondent lisa desjardins. at is the senator doing here and why? lisa: the senator is flexing the unique power of an individual senator to affect the time on the floor and he is blocking 250 military promotions. these are senior level officers, flag officers, think generals and admirals, by and large. now, the issue is of course, why is he doing this? why is he slowing down these nominations? it's about abortion. senator tuberville objects to the now defense policy put in place after the end of roe vs. wade, in which the defense department will pay for travel for a service member to get an elective abortion if there's not one available where they are based. and tuberville says that is the issue here. >> these holds have no real impact on military readiness or operations. military wasting time and resources to coordinate abortion trips hurts readiness, not the senate using regular order to vote on nominees. lisa: he is also unhappy because defense secretary austin only called him once. he warned that he might do

lisa desjardins explores what has captured the attention of some voters. democrat robert f. kennedy jr. has sparked double-digit support in polls, controversy on airwaves, and a headache for president joe biden. this spring, the 69-year-old environmental lawyer launched his campaign highlighting his famous political family, speaking in massachusetts with a sea of “kennedy for president” signs. robert: i have come here today to announce my candidacy for the democratic nomination for president of the united states. lisa: an echo of the past impossible to miss. ag kennedy: i am announcing today my candidacy for the presidency of the united states. lisa: the son of senator robert f. kennedy, who was assassinated months after launching his campaign for president and nephew of john f. kennedy, killed while president. robert: my father and my uncle had a vision for america. lisa: on one hand, this kennedy leans into his family's legacy with views that are anti-war, pro-environment and talk of ending divide. robert: the possibility they foresaw is still alive, the

congressional correspondent lisa desjardins was there and joins us now.ns on the committee grilled the fbi director about the alleged weaponization of law enforcement agencies against donald trump. tell us about that. >> they were talking about trump and individual americans. this is a dense hearing. as you will hear, there were threats of many different issues that overlapped. when it came to the republican accusation of weaponization by the fbi, they made a few specific allegations. they brought up memos that were protecting school boards rather than parents. sort of implying parents were the threat. the department of justice has denied that was their intent. also a memo from the richmond fbi that targeted radical traditional catholics. the director said that was a single office and not what the fbi intended. one of the heated exchanges came around a pennsylvania man who was arrested and charged after he protested or was standing outside of an abortion clinic. when he was arrested, his lawyer said he was willing to voluntarily come in but the fbi sent o

congressional correspondent lisa desjardins was there and joins us now.epublicans grilled the fbi director about the alleged possession of law enforcement agencies against donald trump. tell us about that. >> they were talking about trump and individual americans. as you will hear, there were threats of many different issues that overlapped. when it came to the accusation of weaponization by the fbi, they made a few specific allegations. brought up memos that were predicting -- protecting school boards rather than parents. the doj has denied that was their intent. also a memo from the richmond fbi the targeteddirector ray saa single office and not what the fbi intended. one of the heated exchanges came around a pennsylvania man who was arrested and charged standing outside of an abortion clinic. his lawyer said he was willing to voluntarily come in the fbi sent over a dozen agents and held him at gunpoint in the morning before his family. the director was asked was that appropriate? wray: i'm not going to second-guess the judgment of the career agents on

i'm lisa desjardins. good night from washington. announcer: corporate funding for "washington week" is provided b- >> for 25 years, consumer cellular has been offering no contract wireless plans designed to help people do more of what they like. our u.s.-based customer service team can help find a plan that fits you. to learn more, visit consumercellular.tv. announcer: additional funding is provided by koo and patricia yuen through the yuen foundation, committed to bridging cultural differences in our communities, sandra -- sandra and carl delay-magnuson. rose hirschel and andy shreeves, robert and susan rosenbaum, the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to our pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. [captioning performed by the. national captioning institute,. which is responsible for its. caption content and accuracy.] man, voice-over: here at kato restaurant, we try to use a lot of ingredients that are highly prized in chinese/taiwanese culture. we try and see if we can change what certain perception of

correspondent lisa desjardins has more. rd to miss some broad similarities with today. in early 1973, president nixon faced congressional and criminal investigations related to the watergate break-in. he pledged that he had no role in the break-in and the american public was split over it. until news of the watergate tapes. after that, nixon's approval plummeted and key republicans broke with him. to compare and contrast that with today, i'm joined by jill wine-banks, who was one of the prosecutors in the watergate investigation of president nixon and stuart streichler who teaches law and politics at the university of washington. as many of our viewers know, the most damming audio is known as the smoking gun tape. i want to play an excerpt from that. in this audio, you will hear president nixon speaking with the then chief of staff. they will be talking about the idea of asking the cia director, walters, to tell the fbi to in the watergate investigation. here it is. >> on the investigation, you know, the democratic break-in

lisa desjardins has more. a symbol of freedom, reason, and the founding of this country. but two centuries later, that date, 1776, was a rallying cry for rioters disrupting a national election at the capitol. >> 1776! 1776! >> 1776! lisa: it is an example of how the politics and rhetoric around the founding has become enflamed, and can eclipse the actual history involved. joining me to discuss are amy cooter, the research director at the center on terrorism, extremism, and counterterrorism at the middlebury institute. and jim grossman, historian and executive director of the american historical association. amy, i want to start with you. july 4 celebrates our history of men who were radical in their time in the founding, but i want to talk about the group you study now, those were in militias, are extremists. how do they use 1776 for their own purposes? amy: for them, 1776 has been important for longer than what we just saw. it is their reason to be as a militia, as a man in society. they see themselves acting

lisa desjardins has our conversation. ll share the stage with several of those candidates at the first gop debate next month, after his campaign announced recently that he has met the fundraising and polling qualifications. before jumping into politics, ramaswamy ran a biotech company, managed a hedge fund, authored books including "woke, inc.," and made regular appearances on conservative media. the son of indian immigrants, on the trail, ramaswamy is clear and vocal, criticizing the left on cultural issues and pledging to pardon donald trump. just 37 years old, he's also hoping to be the youngest president in american history. and vivek ramaswamy joins me now. big question, why you? why should republicans choose you as the nominee? >> i think i'm best positioned to advance our america first agenda, take it even further than trump did, but also unite the country in the process. i think we live in an interesting moment today in the year 2023. i think it's a 1776 moment. if you want incremental reform, there are plenty of o

be sure to tune into washington week later tonight hosted by our own lisa desjardins.n pbs. and watch pbs news weekend tomorrow for a look at prisoners who are experiencing extreme heat with no air conditioning. finally tonight we want to wish , all the best to a longtime member of our newshour family who is moving on to her next chapter. mary lawrence has worked with us in our control room for more than 20 years as both an associate director and director. there she is. she has guided us through much of our coverage, including supreme court confirmation hearings, impeachment hearings and little coal conventions. and she was in the director's chair on january 6, 2021, when rioters stormed the u.s. capitol building on that fateful day. amna: her leadership and vision in those high-pressure situations is invaluable in our industry. but those who know mary also know she is also full of joy. if you step into the control room early in the day you will , often hear music playing and might even catch mary singing and dancing along. [laughter] mary will be getting some very wel

be sure to tune into "washington week" later tonight with "the newshour's" lisa desjardins for more discussionweek of supreme court decisions. and watch "pbs news weekend" tomorrow. that's "the newshour" for tonight. i'm geoff bennett. thanks for spending part of your evening with us. >> 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 and nature can thrive together. the william and flora hewlett foundation. for more than 50 years, advancing ideas and 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 broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like