PBS NewsHour - Segments

Fewer than 40 percent of fourth and eighth grade students nationwide are proficient readers. Now, led by parents of children with dyslexia, a learning disability that makes reading and spelling difficult, some states are trying to change how reading is taught. Special correspondent Lisa Stark reports from Arkansas, where a group of determined advocates have upended traditional reading instruction.

The deadly California synagogue shooting is the latest in a series of attacks that raise profound questions about keeping sacred spaces safe. Judy Woodruff talks to the Islamic Center of Greater Cincinnati's Shakila Ahmad, Rabbi Devorah Marcus from Temple Emanu-El of San Diego, Ted Elmore of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention and Bishop Eugene Sutton of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland.

Emily Chang, author of our April pick for the PBS NewsHour-New York Times book club, Now Read This, joins Jeffrey Brown to answer reader questions about “Brotopia.” Plus, Jeff announces the May book selection.

In our Monday news wrap, Catholic clergy in Sri Lanka are demanding a crackdown on Islamic extremists after the Easter bombings that killed more than 250 people. Security forces continued to search for suspects amid calls for tougher action. Also, the U.S. military has fired the commander overseeing terror detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, citing a “loss of confidence in his ability to command.”

The deadly weekend shooting at a San Diego synagogue appears to be the latest in a series of hate-driven domestic terror attacks across the U.S. This time, the killer left a manifesto praising other recent assaults. How is the Trump administration responding, and is it enough to quell the growing threat? Amna Nawaz talks to Nick Rasmussen of the McCain Institute for International Leadership.

On the 2020 presidential campaign trail, former Vice President Joe Biden gave his first speech as an official candidate, attempting to appeal to frustrated swing voters and contrast himself with President Trump. Meanwhile, an assortment of other candidates appeared at a union conference in Las Vegas, many of them touting new policy proposals. Lisa Desjardins reports.

Sen. Cory Booker is just one of 20 Democratic presidential candidates so far. How does he distinguish himself from his robust competition? Judy Woodruff sits down with Booker to discuss his combination of executive and legislative political experience, being pragmatic when it comes to health care and tax policy, confronting American mass incarceration and the need for "courageous empathy."

NPR’s Tamara Keith and Amy Walter of the Cook Political Report join Judy Woodruff to discuss the latest news in politics, including an interview with 2020 candidate Sen. Cory Booker, current poll numbers, Joe Biden’s entrance into the presidential race and how Democrats on the campaign trail are characterizing strong economic numbers.

In Colombia, an estimated 83,000 people have been forcibly disappeared since 1958. But peace accords between the government and the FARC, the country’s largest guerrilla group, in 2016 mandated that finding the missing was a necessary step toward reconciliation. Special correspondent Nadja Drost reports from Colombia on how loved ones suffering a “never-ending grief” are searching for closure.

Between producing recordings for major music stars, writing soundtracks for films and TV and releasing a new album of his own, “The Invisible Light: Acoustic Space,” T Bone Burnett might be one of the busiest men in entertainment. Jeffrey Brown caught up with him at Austin’s recent South by Southwest to talk about artistic autonomy and why he has scorched Big Tech.

Oscar-nominated film director John Singleton died Monday at age 51. He was taken off life support after suffering a stroke earlier in the month. Singleton's remarkable career launched with the critically acclaimed 1991 film “Boyz N the Hood,” about three teens growing up amid Los Angeles violence and gang culture. At the time, it was a world seldom portrayed by Hollywood. Jeffrey Brown reports.

A day after a gunman stormed the Chabad of Poway synagogue outside San Diego, killing one woman and injuring three others, offerings of support from the community at large are pouring in. For the latest on the aftermath of the shooting, Steve Walsh, a reporter for San Diego public media station KPBS, joins Hari Sreenivasan.

Joe Biden raised $6.3 million on his first day of campaigning, surpassing his fellow Democratic candidates, and Congress will return to work on Monday amid growing tensions in the aftermath of the release of the Mueller report. Special correspondent Jeff Greenfield joins Hari Sreenivasan for some political analysis and perspective.

For more than 20 years, thousands of Peruvian women have been seeking justice, alleging they were sterilized without consent in the 1990s under an aggressive population control campaign carried out by the government of former President Alberto Fujimori. But in October, criminal charges were filed against Fujimori and several of his former health ministers. NewsHour Weekend special correspondent Kira Kay reports.

Starting Monday, PBS debuts "Nature: American Spring LIVE," which will document the change from winter to spring in real time from iconic locations across America. The three-day, multi-platform event looks at the unique changes spring brings and how climate change can affect ecosystems from cities to the mountains. Hari Sreenivasan spoke to the show's field scientist Phil Torres to learn more.