April 16, 2025 - PBS News Hour full episode

In our news wrap Wednesday, the Trump administration sued Maine for allowing transgender athletes to play in women's sports, California is suing the Trump administration over the president's sweeping tariff policy, a military base in Georgia returned to its old name of Fort Benning and a new CDC study says depression has become more common among U.S. adults and adolescents over the past decade.

Amid Sudan's brutal civil war, the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces are using sexual violence to terrorize women and girls from non-Arab ethnic groups. These war crimes have sparked international outrage. Special correspondent Neha Wadekar and filmmaker Zoe Flood, with the support of the International Women’s Media Foundation, spoke with survivors and a woman determined to help them heal.

The Trump administration wants to cut the federal funds that support public media. It would impact NPR, PBS and the roughly 1,500 local public media stations across the country. The White House drafted a memo that could make those cuts happen soon. William Brangham reports.

In a news conference on the rise in autism spectrum disorder, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made no mention of vaccines and instead emphasized the government’s plans to study potential environmental factors. To help put Kennedy's pledge in context, Stephanie Sy spoke with Christine Ladd-Acosta of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pledged to find out what's driving the country's rise in autism spectrum disorder after a new CDC report said that rate had continued to climb. There are reports that the CDC plans to study a supposed connection between autism and vaccines, despite dozens of studies showing no connection between the two. Ali Rogin reports.

The National Labor Relations Board protects workers' right to organize and investigates unfair labor practices. A whistleblower complaint filed by an IT staffer claims Elon Musk and his DOGE team gained access to sensitive data that could have led directly to a “significant cybersecurity breach.” Amna Nawaz discussed more with NLRB whistleblower Daniel Berulis and attorney Andrew Bakaj.

Iran and the U.S. confirmed that a second round of talks over Iran’s nuclear program would take place this weekend in Rome. But at the same time, both the U.S. and Iran have hardened their negotiating positions after describing the first round as constructive. Nick Schifrin reports.

What started as a challenge to the Trump administration’s deportation policy has morphed into a battle over executive and judicial power. A federal judge said there is probable cause to hold the administration in criminal contempt after officials defied his orders to turn around planes carrying deported migrants to a mega-prison in El Salvador. Amna Nawaz discussed the latest with Steve Vladeck.