PBS NewsHour - Segments

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.

In our news wrap Tuesday, violence broke out in Baghdad as security forces fired on crowds protesting corruption and a lack of jobs. Officials said one person was killed and some 200 hurt. Also, a mass march in Hong Kong erupted into some of the worst violence yet, as police shot a protester for the first time since the protests began.

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.

Tensions between police and protesters in Hong Kong escalated overnight, as officers opened fire. A young activist was shot, but survived. The unrest came just as mainland China marked the 70th anniversary of the Communist state. Nick Schifrin, who has reportedly extensively on China's power and place in the world, joins Judy Woodruff to offer some perspective.

Chinese 5G technology is designed to transmit huge amounts of data instantly, and deploy vast networks of surveillance cameras and facial recognition software. While dozens of countries around the world plan to adopt the innovation, human rights advocates and the U.S. are sounding the alarm. Nick Schifrin reports as part of "China: Power and Prosperity," with support from the Pulitzer Center.

The number of horrific images of sexual abuse against children being posted on the Internet has exploded in recent years. A New York Times investigation found that technology platforms like Facebook and Google reported some 45 million videos and photos last year -- more than double the amount from the year before. Amna Nawaz discusses the problem with Donna Rice Hughes of Enough Is Enough.

In a new Frontline documentary, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman addresses, for the first time, his role in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Frontline's Martin Smith, who tracked the crown prince down for the film, says Khashoggi's murder opened a window for journalists to ask more questions. Smith joins Judy Woodruff to discuss what Frontline uncovered.

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.

In our Monday news wrap, the Kremlin declared that U.S. officials need Russian consent before releasing transcripts of President Trump's phone calls with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Democratic lawmakers are pressing for their release. Also, two front-runners in Afghanistan's presidential election claimed victory even as vote-counting continued.

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.

Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., said the allegations about President Trump's actions on Ukraine suggest the possibility of "very serious betrayal," and an attempt to "besmirch the reputation" of Democratic rival Joe Biden. Booker joins Judy Woodruff to discuss the necessity of a sober impeachment investigation and how he met a key, self-imposed fundraising goal of $1.7 million to stay in the 2020 race.

Amy Walter of the Cook Political Report and NPR's Tamara Keith join Judy Woodruff to discuss the week's news, including House Democrats' push for a formal impeachment investigation into President Trump, how talk of impeachment is dominating the 2020 campaign trail, and what the pace of whistleblower developments means for public opinion.

Technology is transforming China, helping improve life in some ways, but also collecting big data. The government is beginning to convert that data and surveillance footage into social credit scores, which critics say can be used to penalize those who criticize the Communist Party. Nick Schifrin reports as part of "China: Power and Prosperity," with support from the Pulitzer Center.

Sally Rooney, author of our September pick for the NewsHour-New York Times book club, Now Read This, joins Jeffrey Brown to answer reader questions on "Conversations with Friends," and Jeff announces the October book selection.

The modern-day False Claims Act protects whistleblowers who point out fraud and abuse in government. John Phillips, who helped author the law, joins Hari Sreenivasan to discuss the rights whistleblowers have. Phillips is a founding partner at the law firm Phillips and Cohen and a former ambassador to Italy under the Obama administration.