April 12, 2024 - PBS NewsHour full episode

Warning signs are flashing red throughout the Middle East and beyond as Israel and the U.S. await a possible Iranian response to the attack on its last week in Damascus, Syria. That Israeli airstrike killed one of Iran's senior military leaders. The Islamic Republic has vowed vengeance. Nick Schifrin reports.

In our news wrap Friday, House lawmakers approved the reauthorization of FISA for two years, the Biden administration announced a new wave of student loan cancellations, Vice President Harris visited Arizona in the wake of the state's near-total abortion ban and one person died and 14 others injured after a driver intentionally drove a semi-trailer truck into a Texas public safety office.

The nation is about to enter uncharted territory. On Monday, for the first time in American history, a former president will be tried in a court of law. Donald Trump is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records to prevent news of an alleged extramarital affair from becoming public. William Brangham previews this complicated, historic case.

Robert MacNeil died Friday morning at the age of 93. He was the visionary and driving force in the creation of the institution that, with Jim Lehrer, became the NewsHour. Jeffrey Brown looks back at his life and legacy.

Former colleagues of NewsHour co-founder Robert MacNeil joined to reflect on his life and career after his death at the age of 93. Judy Woodruff, Jeffrey Brown and former executive producer Linda Winslow worked with MacNeil over many years and counted him as a dear friend.

New York Times columnist David Brooks and Washington Post associate editor Ruth Marcus join Geoff Bennett to discuss the week in politics, including a major abortion decision out of Arizona weighs on the minds of voters and Republicans on Capitol Hill navigate their agenda with influence from Donald Trump.