PBS NewsHour - Segments

When ride-sharing pioneer Uber goes public Friday, it will be the largest public stock offering in the U.S. since 2014. But the company, its business model and how it pays its drivers remain controversial. William Brangham asks Farhad Manjoo of The New York Times and The Information's Amir Efrati about why there’s so much interest in Uber’s IPO and the viability of its business model more broadly.

Longstanding U.S. tradition sees champions in many sports visit the White House as a celebratory honor. But in this bitterly polarized era, meeting the president is no longer a routine practice. Many star athletes have opted out of the experience based on their political and philosophical perspectives. Yamiche Alcindor talks to Kevin Blackistone of The Washington Post and ESPN about the divide.

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.

When reports emerged Tuesday that special counsel Robert Mueller had sent Attorney General William Barr a letter expressing concern over Barr’s characterization of the Mueller report’s conclusions, several Democrats called for Barr to resign. Among them was California Rep. Ted Lieu, who joins Judy Woodruff to discuss that and his reaction to Barr's decision not to attend a House hearing Thursday.

In our Wednesday news wrap, police in Charlotte, North Carolina, are trying to determine a motive in Tuesday’s college campus shooting. A former student allegedly opened fire in a classroom at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, killing two and wounding four. Meanwhile, Florida's Republican-led state house gave final approval to expanding a program that allows teachers to carry guns.

After Tuesday’s violent clashes, Wednesday dawned quiet in Caracas but eventually grew chaotic again. Police threw tear gas at Venezuelans demonstrating in support of opposition leader Juan Guaido. Meanwhile, it was unclear why Guaido’s earlier talks with military leaders about joining his campaign to unseat President Nicolas Maduro appeared to have fallen through. William Brangham reports.

While Facebook remains one of the world's largest companies, it has lost some public trust in recent years, due to the Cambridge Analytica scandal, Russian influence campaigns during the 2016 election and privacy issues. Now, founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg is embarking upon a major shift to the platform’s basic design and approach. Jeffrey Brown talks to The Washington Post’s Elizabeth Dwoskin.

Freshman GOP Congressman Denver Riggleman is now four months into his new job. Between the government shutdown and hearings over the Mueller report, he’s learning to balance life on the Hill with the needs of his Virginia constituents. Lisa Desjardins caught up with Riggleman at home in Nelson County over the recess to talk about satisfying voters, attracting donors and navigating party lines.

The Trump administration wants NASA to get back to the moon by 2024, using any means necessary. But will the money and the commitment be there to support the effort? Science correspondent Miles O’Brien talks to NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine about technical and political risk, international competition and his broader vision for the agency.

The political power struggle in Venezuela took a violent turn Tuesday, as opposition leader Juan Guaido appealed to the military to turn against President Nicolas Maduro’s regime, and for the public to take to the streets. Thousands turned out in support, but it was unclear whether the armed forces are indeed ready to shift allegiance. William Brangham reports on a volatile day in Venezuela.

In our news wrap Tuesday, President Trump has proposed charging a fee to process U.S. asylum applications. In a presidential memorandum signed Monday, he said the current system is plagued by “random abuse.” Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland Security asked for more money to handle the surge of migrants. Acting Secretary Kevin McAleenan said the need was due to "the scale of what we're facing."

Although anti-Maduro protests exploded on the streets of Caracas Tuesday, by nightfall it was unclear if the Venezuelan military had heeded opposition leader Juan Guaido’s call to abandon President Maduro. William Brangham talks to Carlos Vecchio, U.S. representative of Venezuela’s opposition, about why he believes increasing the pressure on Maduro through a three-pronged approach will succeed.

Hints of bipartisanship emerged between congressional Democrats and the White House Tuesday as the two sides announced a $2 trillion general agreement to renew aging U.S. infrastructure. The apparent progress came despite a standoff over investigations related to the Mueller report. Lisa Desjardins reports and joins Judy Woodruff and Yamiche Alcindor to discuss the unusual episode of "good will."