February 18, 2022 - PBS NewsHour full episode

As many top American officials fanned out across Europe Friday, the drumbeat of war accelerated across Ukraine. U.S. officials say even more Russian troops have arrived at the border in recent days, joining 150,000 already on station, who the U.S. says are poised to attack. Nick Schifrin reports.

In our news wrap Friday, the Supreme Court agreed to hear a Biden administration appeal of the Trump-era "Remain in Mexico" policy, police in Canada arrested at least 70 protesters and towed away trucks in an effort to end protesters’ three-week siege, and the National Archives confirmed it had found classified information in documents taken from former President Trump's Florida home.

This is the closing weekend of the Winter Olympics, which have in many ways been overshadowed by larger concerns, such as China's human rights record and doping allegations. We take a closer look at the controversies surrounding this year's Games, including the conduct of the Russian squad. Stephanie Apstein, of Sports Illustrated, joins Lisa Desjardins to discuss.

HIGH TECH GAMES

Despite the problems and criticism around the Olympics, these past two weeks still have provided their share of incredible accomplishments and powerful moments to celebrate. That includes veteran Olympian Nick Baumgartner, who not only won a gold medal in mixed snowboard cross, but did it as the oldest American athlete to compete at the Beijing Games. He joins Amna Nawaz to discuss.

Kim Potter, the former Minneapolis police officer who killed Daunte Wright, was sentenced on Friday to two years in prison. That was far less than the standard manslaughter sentence of around seven years. Potter fatally shot Wright, a 20-year-old Black motorist, during a routine traffic stop last April. Special correspondent Fred de Sam Lazaro has our story.

At the three-day security conference that began Friday in Munich, U.S. and NATO leaders aimed to further unify western nations in their efforts to combat Russian aggression. Emily Haber, the German ambassador to the United States, joins Nick Schifrin to discuss the crisis in Ukraine.

New York Times columnist David Brooks and Washington Post columnist Jonathan Capehart join Judy Woodruff to discuss the week in politics, including the congressional response to Russian aggression and gun violence in the United States.

NewsHour profiled former Rep. Gabby Giffords’ journey to "retrain her brain" after she was shot in 2011. Part of her routine includes playing her childhood instrument, the French horn. That piece caught the eye of cellist Yo-Yo Ma, who then reached out to Giffords to play together. Watch now as they rehearse Simon and Garfunkel's "The Sound of Silence" to honor the lives lost to gun violence.