PBS NewsHour - Segments

Thousands of young people are admitted each year to the U.S. as cultural exchange participants through the J-1 visa program, often to work as live-in childcare providers known as au pairs. Now, a lawsuit lodged on behalf of 90,000 current and former au pairs alleges sponsor agencies are exploiting the program as a source for cheap migrant labor. NewsHour Weekend's Ivette Feliciano reports.

As massive fires continue to rage in California, firefighters are setting backfires, dropping flame-retardant from planes and hoping for a break in hot, dry conditions. Another method is to intentionally set fires to tamp down the prospect of larger blazes. Jeff Mapes, senior political reporter for Oregon Public Broadcasting, joins Hari Sreenivasan to discuss.

One year ago this weekend, Charlottesville, Virginia was the scene of violent clashes between white supremacists holding a rally in the city's downtown and counter-protesters. But what has changed in the city since the summer of 2017? Nicole Hemmer, an assistant professor at the Miller Center at the University of Virginia and the host of the podcast A12, joins Hari Sreenivasan to discuss.

Americans pay more for prescription drugs than any country in the world, and the pharmaceutical industry earns billions in profits each year. Critics blame pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, for a portion of those high costs through their role as middlemen between insurance plans, drug makers and pharmacies—but PBMs say they save consumers money. NewsHour Weekend Megan Thompson reports.

In our news wrap Friday, Gov. Jerry Brown declared emergencies late Thursday in Orange and Riverside Counties, where some 20,000 people have been evacuated and more than 1,000 firefighters are on the scene. Also, Senate confirmation hearings will begin Sept. 4 for U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.

When a young girl named Sofi and her grandmother came legally to a U.S. immigration checkpoint, they tried to apply for asylum but were separated by U.S. officials. After 47 days, their story took a happier turn late Thursday in California. Amna Nawaz joins William Brangham to share an update.

President Trump turned a simmering conflict with Turkey to a boil, tweeting that he would double tariffs on Turkish steel and aluminum. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Turkey was at economic war, as the country's currency tumbled as much as 20 percent to a record low. Already, U.S.-Turkey relations have been strained over an array of conflicts. Nick Schifrin reports.

It was one of the darkest chapters in recent memory: hundreds of white supremacists gathered in Charlottesville, Virginia, for a rally to protest the removal of Confederate monuments, during which a counterprotester and two police officers died. William Brangham talks with P.J. Tobia, Mary McCord of the Georgetown University Law Center and Charlottesville City Council Member Wes Bellamy.

New York Times columnist David Brooks and Washington Post deputy editorial page editor Ruth Marcus join William Brangham to discuss the week’s news, including the anniversary of the deadly white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, and the politics of racially charged rhetoric, the implications of Tuesday’s close elections, the EPA moving away from global climate change efforts and more.

When artist Trevor Paglen looks up at the night sky, there's beauty and wonder, but also a planet completely transformed by humans into a "landscape of surveillance." His new exhibition at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, “Sites Unseen,” offers a new way to look at very familiar landscapes. Jeffrey Brown reports on Paglen’s latest obsession: how artificial intelligence is reshaping imagery.

In our news wrap Thursday, the death toll from a powerful earthquake on the Indonesian island of Lombok soared to over 300 people. Also, Puerto Rico’s government now estimates Hurricane Maria killed least 1,400 people after it hit the island in September 2017 -- far more than the official death toll.

The Mendocino Complex is a fire of unprecedented size, but the scenes are strikingly familiar: thick haze, homes charred, evacuees at shelters. At its peak, the fire displaced almost 20,000 people, and there are more than a dozen more blazes burning across California. Special correspondent Cat Wise joins William Brangham from Ukiah to discuss how the fires are affecting air quality.

Israel and militant group Hamas have agreed to a tentative truce to calm tensions that have risen dramatically in recent days and the last 24 hours. Militants have fired rockets and mortars toward Israeli towns, while Israeli jets pounded targets in Gaza. Foreign affairs correspondent Nick Schifrin reports that when wars in Gaza start, it’s often civilians who pay the biggest price.

The Trump administration on Wednesday announced new sanctions on Russia in response to Moscow’s use of a nerve agent on a former Russian double-agent and his daughter earlier this year in Britain. Russia has denied any involvement. William Brangham gets reaction from former State Department official Daniel Fried.

A secret recording acquired by MSNBC captures House Intelligence chairman Republican Rep. Devin Nunes at a fundraiser discussing the Russia probe -- specifically how Republicans should protect President Trump from the special counsel investigation into Russian election interference. Lisa Desjardins joins William Brangham to break it down.