February 14, 2020 - PBS NewsHour full episode

President Trump is apparently ignoring Attorney General William Barr’s appeal for an end to public statements and tweets about the Justice Department, insisting he has the right to intervene. Also, former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe will not be charged with lying to federal officials. Judy Woodruff discusses with Thomas Dupree and Joshua Geltzer, both former Justice Department officials.

In our news wrap Friday, Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman will not be investigated over his impeachment testimony against President Trump, says Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy. Vindman already lost his job with the National Security Council. Also, Turkish-backed rebels shot down a Syrian helicopter near Aleppo, in northwest Syria, where renewed violence has driven more than 800,000 from their homes.

Candidates for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination are moving toward southern and western states as more primary contests approach. Campaigns made stops in both Carolinas and in Texas, but the immediate priority is Nevada, whose caucuses will be held in just over a week, on February 22nd. The South Carolina primary follows -- and then it will be Super Tuesday. Lisa Desjardins reports.

The U.S. has reached a short-term agreement with the Taliban that could pave the way for ending the war in Afghanistan that has endured for nearly 20 years. Under the plan, U.S. forces and the Taliban agree to a temporary cessation of violence and a phased approach to the withdrawal of American troops. But is the Afghan government on board? Nick Schifrin joins Judy Woodruff from Munich to discuss.

A new report from Human Rights Watch finds that the Trump administration’s controversial “Remain in Mexico” policy forces asylum seekers at the U.S.-Mexico border to wait in crowded, unsafe and unsanitary conditions. Many said they lived in constant fear of violence, with some reporting that they had actually been attacked. Amna Nawaz speaks with Human Rights Watch's Michael Garcia Bochenek.

It’s being called the “Sheku effect” -- the rise of young people in the United Kingdom signing up for classical music lessons to play the cello. Sheku Kannah-Mason is a 20-year-old acclaimed musician who performed at the royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in 2018 -- and has been making a major impact inspiring others to play. Jeffrey Brown recently sat down with Sheku in Baltimore.