June 12, 2019 - PBS NewsHour full episode

The Southern Baptist Convention is the largest Protestant denomination in the U.S., with nearly 15 million members. Now, it’s facing a reckoning over allegations of sex abuse and concealment revealed by a Houston Chronicle investigation. Judy Woodruff speaks to Rachael Denhollander, a survivor of sexual abuse both by the church and Larry Nassar, about her optimism for the forthcoming reforms.

Novelist Nathan Englander grew up in a highly observant Jewish family. As such, he was accustomed to discipline and observing ritual. When he left his religious community, Englander landed as far away from Orthodox Judaism as he could -- and then was surprised to find the lessons of his faith coming back to him. Englander shares his humble opinion on the role of ritual in creativity.

The House Oversight Committee voted Wednesday to hold Attorney General William Barr and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in contempt of Congress for not turning over documents related to the decision to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census. While President Trump defends the question, critics say it's intended to benefit Republicans politically. Judy Woodruff talks to NPR’s Hansi Lo Wang.

Sophisticated and inaccurate altered videos known as “deepfakes” are causing alarm in the digital realm. The highly realistic manipulated videos are the subject of a House Intelligence Committee hearing on Thursday. As Miles O’Brien reports, the accelerating speed of computers and advances in machine learning make deepfakes ever more difficult to detect, among growing fears of their weaponization.

It’s been nearly two decades since the terrorist attacks of September 11th, and many first responders continue to suffer dire health consequences from exposure to hazardous materials at the disaster sites. Meanwhile, Congress still struggles with how to compensate them, as allocated funding runs dry. Lisa Desjardins talks to Michael McAuliff, a journalist who has covered the story for years.