wow, you get to watch all your favorite stuff. it's to die for. now you won't miss a thing. this is the way. xfinity internet. ma for streaming. amna: good evening. i'm amna nawaz. geoff bennett is on assignment. on the "newshour" tonight, a highly anticipated report concludes the u.s. will continue sending weapons to israel, despite apparent violations of international humanitarian law. witness testimonies resume in

former president trump's hush money trial, as attorney michael cohen prepares to take the stand. and horrific new details from sudan, where paramilitary forces have killed thousands, in what human rights groups call ethnic cleansing. ♪ >> major funding for the pbs newshour been provided by the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. and friends of the newshour. including jim and nancy builds men and the schiller foundation. the co-fleur foundation, upholding freedom while strengthening democracies at home and abroad. >> on an american cruise line's journey, along the legendary mississippi river, travelers

explore civil war battlefields and historic riverside towns. aboard our fleet of american riverboats, you can experience local culture and cuisine and discover the music of the mighty mississippi. american cruise lines. proud sponsor of pbs newshour. >> the john s. and james l. knight foundation. fostering informed and engaged communities. more at kf.org. >> certified financial planner professionals are committed to acting in their clients' best interest. more information at lets makeaplan.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. and friends of the newshour.

♪ >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting, and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. amna: welcome to the newshour. a highly anticipated report from the state department concludes the u.s. may continue to send weapons to israel despite apparent israeli violations of international humanitarian law. the findings come just two days after the president said he would suspend shipment of 3500 bombs to israel as it now surges forces around rafah in southern gaza. the administration says it opposes a full-scale ground invasion of rafah city, where more than a million gazans are sheltering. here to walk us through the details at the end of this eventful week is our nick schifrin. tell us more about this report. what more did it say?

nick: the national security memorandum number 20 requires them to attain reliable and credible assurances that israel is using weapons in accordance with international humanitarian law and not restricting u.s. humanitarian assistance. the report is very critical about the former aspect of that quote. it is reasonable to assess that defense articles covered under national security memorandum 20 have been used by israeli security forces since october the seventh in instances inconsistent with its international humanitarian law obligations. it also says while israel has , the knowledge, experience, and tools to implement best practices for mitigating civilian harm in its military operations, the results on the ground, including high levels of civilian casualties, raise substantial questions as to whether the idf is using them effectively in all cases. the report is less critical and

-- on humanitarian aid -- "we do not currently assess that the israeli government is prohibiting or otherwise restricting the transport or delivery of u.s. humanitarian assistance." but after all that, the report's bottom line is, as you said at the top, the u.s. could have cut off weapons, but they did not. the quote is, "u.s. government currently assesses the assurances provided by each recipient country to be credible and reliable." that is the threshold of this report, "so as to allow the provision of defense articles covered under nsm-20 to continue." in other words, the weapons will keep going. amna: highly anticipated report. what kind of reaction are these findings getting? nick: the report makes the final conclusion that israel weapons can continue because in part of the nature of fighting hamas and because of what israel has done internally. hamas, a terrorist organization, the u.s. describes it as hiding in tunnels, hiding among the

civilian population, and it describes how difficult an environment of war that is for the israeli defense forces. it says the idf lawyers are embedded and they have taken steps to hold itself accountable, including criminal actions against certain officials. that is the context that leads the former deputy assistant secretary of defense to argue the report struck the right balance. >> what this report is saying is there are instances in which israel has not achieved or lived up to its obligations, but it is also a professional military who has investigative processes and accountability mechanisms. when many of the mistakes made over seven months, the israel defense forces and government of israel have taken measures to address mistakes and move forward in a way that mitigates civilian harm. nick: but others are much more critical.

they cite specific instances, including one that the report cites, there you see on the refugee camp in october, the report says it killed dozens of children and wounded hundreds, as an example of a violation of international humanitarian law. the argument there is that israel should face consequences, says a former career foreign service officer who worked in the state department's office and monitors if countries comply with international humanitarian law. >> the government's report says things like it raises concerns, and there are acts that are inconsistent with international humanitarian law. that is a dodge. the conclusions that flow from what even the report says, but certainly what the taskforce's report said, is that israel has violated international humanitarian law in its use of u.s. origin items. and that should have been the

clear assessment of the department's report. nick: so the debate will go on both about what israel is doing and the report's conclusions, but the u.s. senate tonight the -- the u.s. said tonight the weapons will continue. amna: nick schifrin with the latest on this late-breaking news today. thank you. nick: thank you. ♪ stephanie: i'm stephanie sy with newshour west. police moved into clear out pro-palestinian encampments at three universities across the country. lisa desjardins has the story. lisa: for sunrise police arrived at the university of pennsylvania to disband a two-week pro-palestinian encampments. some demonstrators were hauled away and more than 30 people were arrested. governor josh shapiro said they were warned.

>> by their own admission, the leaders at the university of pennsylvania have made clear that those protesters, those who are living in these so-called encampments, are violating the rules of the university and in some cases the laws of the city of philadelphia. lisa: in boston, a similar predawn scene at m.i.t. police removed tents and barriers. 10 protesters were arrested, but some remained defiant. >> it's quite embarrassing. they had hundreds of riot gear officers, state troopers, all to come down for a student encampment that was peaceful throughout its time here." lisa: and in tucson, riot police at the university of arizona fired tear gas at protesters and broke down wood and plastic barriers. at least one commencement speaker has canceled. author colson whitehead will no longer address the university of massachusetts amherst's graduation ceremony, writing on social media that, "calling the cops on peaceful protesters is a

shameful act." elsewhere, an act of mass applause. >> asna tabassum. [applause] lisa: at the university of southern california, cheers for asna tabassum. >> you may not know this, but asna is usc's 2024 valedictorian. lisa: a prominent student activist. the university canceled her speech, but students at an awards ceremony gave her a standing ovation. for the pbs newshour, i'm lisa desjardins. amna: there were also arrests at new mexico state university last night. police charged 13 people after a school building was damaged and vandalized. protests over the war in gaza our impacting this year's "eurovision" song contest in malmo, sweden. it's the world's biggest live musical event. israeli singer eden golan has made tomorrow's finals after modifying her song. organizers ruled the original, about the october 7 hamas attack in israel, was too political.

on thursday, more than 10,000 demonstrators took to the streets. security confined golan to her hotel room while she's not performing. in ukraine, the battlefront has shifted to the kharkiv region in the northeast. overnight, russian forces bombarded the city of vovchansk -- near the border -- and ground troops invaded this morning. ukrainian authorities sent in reinforcements and said they blocked the russian advance, but they ordered the evacuation of 3000 people. the white house said u.s. officials believe the russians now aim to create a new buffer zone inside kharkiv. the death toll from flooding in brazil rose to 113 today. days of heavy rain have battered the country's south, and floods have driven more than 300,000 people from their homes. soldiers have been out rescuing survivors in inundated areas. but some who relocated to makeshift shelters say they're being plagued by thieves.

>> "a man went to work and asked them to look after his mattress. they took his mattress and clothes while i was standing here with my back turned. it's crazy. this person is already at the bottom, and now he'll sink even deeper. amna: back in this country, the federal aviation administration will not run out of money tonight after all the senate approved $105 billion dollars over five years for the faa. the measure will pay for more air traffic controllers and additional safety inspectors. it also funds new technology to prevent runway collisions. current funding was extended for a week, until the house can vote on the new bill. two public schools in northwest virginia are getting their old names back -- for confederate figures robert e. lee, stonewall jackson, and turner ashby. the shenandoah county school board dropped those names four years ago. but early today, a new school board reversed that decision after a heated six-hour meeting. the majority said the previous board ignored popular sentiment.

a federal judge blocked a new rule today that would have capped credit card late fees at $8. the consumer financial protection bureau rule was set to take effect next week. business and banking groups argued the rule exceeded federal authority. it would have saved americans $10 billion in late fees each year. a sky show in the works this weekend, a solar storm is coming and it is so powerful that the national oceanic and atmospheric administration has issued its first geo-magnetic storm watch in 20 years. satellites and power grids could be at risk. solar flares of plasma began erupting on wednesday. the effects could be visible by tonight, creating the so-called northern lights much farther south than usual. still to come, why the century-old boy scouts of america is changing its name and a trailblazing indian chef marks 50 years of her breakthrough cookbook.

>> this is the pbs newshour, from weta studios in washington, and from the west from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. amna: the third week of testimony in former president donald trump's criminal hush money trial came to a close today in new york city, with prosecutors saying they may be able to rest their case next week. william brangham was in court today and joins us now to tell us what he saw and what comes next. five witnesses took the stand today. what did jurors hear? william: jurors heard a procession of witnesses talking about some very granular bits of evidence, like how cheques were sent from the trump organization in new york city down to the white house and how they got signed by president trump and then sent back to new york. how cell phone calls and text messages are recorded and

authenticated both by prosecutors and by cell phone companies. and while some people have been arguing that these are kind of dry, dull, technical pieces of evidence, especially compared to stormy daniels over the last couple of days, that's true, but these granular details are, in essence, the core of this case. this is a case about falsifying business records, and so those quotidian details are important and they will be in some way what this case lives and dies on. amna: still a lot of anticipation next week as michael cohen, donald trump's former lawyer, is expected to testify. he's considered the prosecution's star witness. so what are we expecting to hear from him? william: michael cohen is at the absolute center of this case. he's the one that negotiated the hush money payments to stormy daniels. he's the one that paid that payment -- that $130,000 -- to

her, out of his own home equity line of credit, at donald trump's direction, he argues. he's the one that complained that it took forever for donald trump to pay him back. and most centrally, he is the one that argues that trump and a few of his associates were central to this scheme of masking those repayments as more mundane legal fees, so he is right at the core. his testimony will be huge. amna: i think it's fair to say he's not considered an ideal witness by any stretch. he does bring a lot of baggage with him. how could that impact the case? william: he is as problematic a witness for the prosecution as you can imagine. just to recap, he has pled guilty to tax fraud, to bank fraud, to lying to congress. he's pled guilty to campaign finance violations, which are a central part of this case. his credibility has been attacked, and will continue to be. he's also been incredibly inconsistent in terms of what donald trump's role was in this

scheme. if you remember, before he turned on trump, he said that donald trump had nothing to do with these payments whatsoever. and he's also made it very, very clear that he absolutely hates the former president and would love to see him go to jail. so that makes it very hard for the prosecution to put him forward. the challenge for the prosecutors is hopefully to their case, they have built enough evidence from witnesses, documents, other records, that supports the story that michael cohen is telling, so that even if jurors think michael cohen can't be trusted, he is at least supported by this architecture of all this other evidence that they've been laying out over the last few weeks. and that that will be central to their case. whether that works or not, that is still to be determined, and we'll start to see that on monday. amna: another week to watch in that trial. william brangham reporting from new york. thank you. william: thanks, amna. ♪

amna: more than a year of brutal war in sudan between two factions of its army has killed tens of thousands of people and forced more than 8 million to flee their homes. some 5 million are now at risk of starvation. as nick schifrin reports, there is new evidence of ethnic cleansing. nick: this week human rights provided evidence of ethnic cleansing and war crimes, crimes against humanity against the paramilitary rapid support forces of western sudan's dart it is there that this new war four. have produced the world's largest displacement and hunger crises. new evidence now reveals the sheer scale of atrocities faced by civilians, with hundreds of thousands still at risk.

in darfur's el geneina, they lived to tell the tale of what happened here of history being , repeated. beginning last summer, local activists bore witness to what human rights watch and the u.s. government label ethnic cleansing. they recorded how their city of half a million was burned. where there used to be homes and schools that became shelters for the displaced, there is now only ash. the targets were members of the massalit tribe, many women and children who suffered looting, rape, and torture. the ethnic violence, unleashed by the paramilitary rapid support forces, or rsf, and other arab militias. the rsf descends from government-backed janjaweed militias, that in the 2000s brutally crushed an uprising and killed hundreds of thousands of non-arabs. the u.s. labeled it genocide. these 2023 videos obtained and

reported by the newshour last summer are part of a new human rights watch report released this week, "the masalit will not come home." tens of thousands of them have been forced to flee, and are now refugees who fill camps in neighboring chad. human rights watch says this is what the rsf's violence is designed to do, drive them from their homes, permanently. >> for the past year, the people of sudan have suffered slaughter, crimes against humanity, sexual violence, ethnic cleansing. at the hands of the rapid response forces. nick: tom perriello is the u.s. special envoy for sudan. he and the u.n. are now warning of a new rsf assault on el fasher, home to sudan's largest camp for the displaced. doctors without borders says some 15,000 children there are suffering from acute malnutrition. >> the rsf and its leadership are rooted in the janjaweed militias, who committed genocide 20 years ago when i first went to darfur. in particular, if we see the fall of el fasher, we will see a new level of suffering for this

war. nick: the other side of this civil war, which has turned residential streets into battlegrounds is the sudanese armed forces, which the u.s. has also accused of war crimes. this week, usaid administrator samantha power accused the sudanese armed forces of "obstructing" humanitarian aid from reaching darfur, and said nearly 900,000 of darfur's most vulnerable had received no assistance since early april, ahead of what she called "looming famine." to discuss the situation in darfur, and human rights watch's new report, i'm joined by tirana hassan, human rights watch's executive director. welcome to the newshour. you guys collected 221 witness statements from the worst hit parts of darfur. what did those witnesses tell you? tirana: we have received and

documented grueling testimony from survivors, eyewitnesses of the attacks on the predominantly non-arab populations in el geneina. what we documented, as you noted in your report, was that there has most definitely been all indications that ethnic cleansing has taken place. the violence and targeted killings of massalit and non-arab communities shows all the hallmarks of ethnic cleansing. we have also documented war crimes and crimes against humanity being committed by the rapid support forces as well as in concert with allied militia across west darfur. particularly in el geneina. this campaign has been brutal. our researchers have been on the ground, speaking to people inside sudan for the last 10 months. we have documented a conference

-- a comprehensive account of the large-scale atrocities that have taken place. we are talking about houses and entire neighborhoods being burned to the ground. we have documented thousands of people that have been killed, but we really don't know what the true death toll is. it could be much larger. as you noted earlier, half a million people are now driven from darfur into chad by the violence. on their journeys they told us they will continue to be hunted down and attacked, women raped, on the journey to safety in chad. nick: as i noted, rapid reports, the rsf diff -- descends from the janjaweed militias that were accused of genocide. does human rights watch believe that genocide is happening again?

tirana: what we have been able to conclude from our current research is that there are definitely war crimes and crimes against humanity being committed. there is also the possibility that some of the acts that we have documented were genocidal in nature. what that really means is there needs to be an investigation and a collection of evidence so that an international court can gather evidence to be able to see if the crime of genocide has taken place. this is not just, though, about if it has taken place. we are now at a point where these same forces, the rapid support forces and their allied militias, are currently surrounding the town of el fasher. we should be talking about genocide prevention. we are on the cusp of mass atrocities if the international community does not start to mobilize to ensure there is not some sort of mechanism to ensure

that there is civilian protection. what we have seen in el geneina is a grim snapshot that indicates what could happen and the atrocities that could unfold in el fasher in the coming days or weeks. nick: you just said some kind of mechanism. what does the international community need to do? what does the united states need to do to try to prevent further atrocities, especially el fasher, which is the location of the largest collection of internally displaced within darfur? tirana: that is right. the population of el fasher is approximately 1.5 million people, so the level of urgency we need to see from the united nations and african union is that they should urgently deploy a mission to sudan to protect civilians, and they should start in locations where they are most at risk of these deliberate attacks. on top of that, we need to track

back and look at where the weapons are coming from. there are arms embargoes already, but we know that they are in place for darfur. they need to expand to all of sudan, because we know outside the darfur region, there are possible war crimes committed across the country. one of the reasons we are seeing this level of uncontrolled violence and the rapid support forces committing these atrocities town after town is because there is a history of no accountability. so ensuring that the international criminal court is resourced well enough to be able to conduct the investigations and ensure that there is justice and accountability for the crimes committed is not only important for the survivors for today's atrocities, but also it sends a message to those responsible for the war crimes and crimes

against humanity, that there is no more impunity in these times. nick: finally, it is important to note the sudanese armed forces, as i mentioned before, samantha power, others in the u.s. have called them out for blocking the aid that would go from chad to darfur. the sudanese armed forces want to be seen as the legitimate rulers of sudan. what are you calling on the sudanese armed forces to do? tirana: we are calling on the sudanese armed forces who also have been implicated in possible war crimes to abide by international law to protect civilians. one of the things we had seen is that they have been deploying munitions with large explosive capacities in densely populated areas which we know has led to civilian casualties. but on top of that, in a conflict, there are rules, even in wars.

the sudanese armed forces as well as the rapid support forces need to be ensuring that there is full, free, unfettered humanitarian aid. people are already living through such horrors. to add no access to water, no access to food and basic shelter just compounds the inhumanity the population is suffering through. nick: tirana hassan, executive director of human rights watch, thank you so much. tirana: thank you for having me. ♪ amna: in a move towards rebranding and embracing inclusivity, the boy scouts of america announced this week that is changing its name to scouting america. as ali rogin tells us, the organization, which already includes thousands of girls in its programs, is aiming to attract a more diverse membership. ali: amna, this change comes at a pivotal time for the

organization as it continues to emerge from bankruptcy and is paying out more than $2 billion to men who say they were sexually abused as scouts. the scouts have seen dwindling membership numbers in recent years and currently have just over one million members. that includes 176,000 girls and young women, with over 6,000 achieving the highest rank of eagle scout. in a significant move towards inclusivity, the boy scouts also stopped excluding openly gay youth from its activities in 2013. i'm joined by sydney ireland, an eagle scout and advocate for girls in scouting who has been at the forefront of this campaign for almost a decade. thank you so much for being here. what appealed to you about the boy scouts that you could not find in the girl scouts organization? sydney: thank you for having me. i am grateful to be here. the boy scouts taught me life skills that i personally could not find anywhere else. i think the girl scouts is amazing, but it is really about

choice for women. at that time, girls were not able to join an organization that had really important ranks and had the eagle award that opens up opportunities for girls . so now it is so exciting that girls are able to have that opportunity and that the organization changed their name. ali: you joined the scouts when they opened for girls in 2018, and before that you had been following along because you had siblings in the program. officially, girls started joining the boy scouts in 2018. why is that significant in andu- of itself? sydney: a name change is so significant because it shows the country and the world that this is a scouting organization for everyone, not just for boys. while the boy scouts did open up years before, this change really ignites a new pressure on the organization to really embody their inclusivity mission now.

ali: i'm sure you're aware there's been some criticism from conservative ranks, some lawmakers who are saying this is a byproduct of, "wokeness." what do you think of that? sydney: i think that inclusivity is so important, especially in an organization that prides itself on creating leaders. and so i think this change in the name is only going to benefit everyone, including young men, young women, non binary people, and so it's such an exciting time for the organization. ali: and what does the inclusion of girls bring to scouting america? sydney: i think it brings a new perspective. it's been this way for a few years now. and so this name change opens up opportunities for people that hadn't heard of scouting before. or maybe didn't think it was open to girls because the name is boy scouts of america to now be involved in organization that has created so many presidents,

astronauts, leaders in the country and the world. and so it's just an important opportunity for young women to know that they have this here. ali: you've been campaigning for these changes since you were a young child, and you've been at it for more than a decade now, and i have to ask you that you had some resistance from within the organization that you were trying to join. so i wonder, why did you -- why was it so important to you to join? and why did you continue to want to join, despite that resistance? sydney: yes, there was resistance within the organization, but there was also a lot of support, and maybe some people that didn't realize that it was so important for this change to happen and for the inclusion to occur. and so for me, it was really important for girls all around the country to be able to join a movement that is growing and will only grow more with this change.

again, the leadership skills that teaches are incomparable and unmatched to any other program that they could join. and so i just wanted girls to be able to have the same opportunities that boys have had for over 100 years. ali: what's your favorite badge that you've learned over the years? sydney: i really enjoyed the swimming badge. i got my bsa lifeguard certification and i spent a whole summer at camp and so i really enjoyed that one. but there's so many that i was able to do as part of the organization. ali: sydney ireland, eagle scout and advoca for girls in scouting. thank you so much for being here. sydney: thanks for having me. amna: conflict abroad rattles campaign politics here at home. the former president is tried in criminal court and the court of public opinion, and the republican speaker owes his gavel to democrats. for all of that, we turn to the

analysis of capehart and lewis, that's "washington post" associate editor jonathan capehart, and matt lewis, columnist for "the daily beast." david brooks is away. great to have you back. let's start with president biden and a lot of the big news around israel this week. we saw nick schifrin's report that found israel may be in violation of international humanitarian law but the u.s. will continue to supply israel with weapons, following bite and sang not only were they pausing some weapons deliveries but he would consider pausing more if there is a full-scale incursion into rafah. having him swear all these things, it seems to be a contradiction. >> with all these things we cannot look at them in isolation. these are not isolated, they are part of what i view as an enormous diplomatic effort on part of the president to get

israel and hamas to agree to a cease-fire, namely hamas, agree to a cease-fire, maybe for six weeks, and then hope that it holds and they can bring an end to the conflict. but in terms of what the president is saying, i interviewed him on march 9, asked, what is your redline with benjamin netanyahu, invasion of rafah? he said yes. fast-forward to may 8 in an interview with cnn, he is once again asked a redline question, and he says if netanyahu invades rafah, i will halt weapons shipments. i don't see how that is in contradiction with what this report says. i think nick's report was very good and the interviews were very good at showing how the administration is trying to do a lot of things, buffing and polishing things here and there, because i think ultimately what the administration wants and what the president wants is for israel and hamas to get back to

the negotiating table in cairo and agreed to a cease-fire. amna: matt, is it clear to you where president biden's redline is on this? matt: i think should be drawing redlines on our political -- on our enemies, not our alleys -- allies. i think biden has a political problem that is, it is axiomatic in politics that if you try to please everybody, you will end up pleasing nobody. up until now, i think domestically, in terms of domestic politics in america, joe biden had a problem with young progressives who were unhappy that he was standing firmly with israel. i think now that has become muddied. i think we are now in a position where, number one, it is unlikely that these young progressives who were calling him things like genocide joe are going to come around to liking joe biden and voting for him. he also risks alienating

democrats who are pro-israel, kind of the mainstream democrats. the other thing that is not really being talked about is the impact this may have on never trump conservatives. we saw people like liz cheney, nikki haley, mitt romney come out and strongly condemn joe biden's comments about rafah. keep in mind nikki haley just this week got 21% of the vote in a republican primary in indiana. there are people out there open to voting for joe biden, and i think they are less likely today than they were a week ago. amna: on the domestic politics, jonathan, was the talk of bibi netanyahu pausing weapons deliveries, was that president biden bending to political pressure at home? jonathan: no. matt, love you to pieces, but anybody who thinks that there are domestic political considerations on the part of the president that is driving his decisions, you have not been

paying attention to joe biden. we have to remember this man has been on the world stage for 50 years. during those years, he was chair of the senate foreign relations committee. he has known prime minister netanyahu for 50 years. he is about using the power of diplomacy to bring about a resolution. he's done a lot of things on the world stage that domestically have hurt him. the withdrawal from kabul and how disastrous that was. he stood by that decision because it was the right thing to do. i think the president doing what he is doing, from carrots and sticks with netanyahu, he is doing it because for him, the resolution is a cease-fire deal. however he can get it. amna: it is worth pointing out previous u.s. presidents, including republican presidents, reagan, h w bush, w bush as well, have all withheld weapons from israel at some point. why shouldn't this one? it is a couple of things. this is a little different.

some have said that what happened on october 7 is the worst thing that has happened to the jewish people since the holocaust. i think qualitatively this is different. i would also say from a political standpoint, someone like ronald reagan was seen as a strong, tough leader, and he was someone who, if anything, the perception was maybe he is a little too bellicose. with joe biden, and you mentioned afghanistan, that may or may not have been the right move, but joe biden's poll numbers have not returned to where they were before the afghanistan withdrawal. he is himself facing an existential crisis in this election in november, and if this turns out to be anywhere close to afghanistan in terms of what it does to his approval ratings, which are not great, then he may be out of a job come november. amna: i want to turn to the former president's hush money trial in new york, because there were a lot of headlines around the witness testimony, in

particular that of stephanie clifford, known professionally as stormy daniels. some tense moments as she has been cross-examined, including this exchange with the trump attorney who asked her, you are celebrating the indictment by selling things from your store, referencing her merchandise which she is associating with mr. trump. stormy daniels replied, not unlike mr. trump. jonathan, what did you take away from ms. daniels and the other testimony this week? jonathan: stormy daniels is the central figure in all of this. it was important to hear from her. i am not surprised, if you follow stormy daniels on twitter, her testimony and her giving as good as she was getting from the defense would not be a surprise. that response was not a surprise. there was another response she had about whether stories were made up and her response to susan necklace was also very

funny and inspired and turn it -- and it turned it around on her. donald trump had a mug shot taken in georgia and almost immediately turned around and started making money off it from his supporters for any number of his criminal defense trials, cases. who is going after stormy daniels for doing the same thing? it does not matter what we think, it matters what the members of the jury think. amna: to that point the trump attorneys went after her hard, tried to attack her credibility, paint her as an opportunist. was all of that for the jury in the room or the court of public opinion outside? matt: i think it was for the jury. donald trump only needs one juror to acquit for a hung jury. that may be the end of the whole thing. is there one juror who could

impeach her character? that may be the best -- i don't think trump can win on merits. i thing he is dead to rights in terms of the subtext. can they throw enough at the wall and try to take down stormy daniels, michael cohen and make them look bad and have one juror who sort of nullifies the whole thing? amna: meanwhile, on capitol hill, house speaker mike johnson, with the help of democrats, survived an attempt by representative marjorie taylor greene to oust him that we knew was coming. jonathan, was it the right move by leader hakeem jeffries to save speaker johnson, and is a speaker johnson safe now? jonathan: the answer to the first question, yes it was the right move because if , you are interested in governing, you must keep this speaker in place to get other priorities done. that being said, that does not mean that speaker johnson is out of the woods.

when i, through my phone calls with members of congress, each one made it clear, they said that this is a one and done thing, whether they vote for him , vote to save him, or not. if they were going to vote to save him, they made it clear that the next time, it depends. i think that is why he is not am -- he is not out of the woods. i have been saying that his speakership is republican in name only, because he cannot get anything done, pass legislation save his own , speakership, without hakeem jeffries in the democratic minority. amna: matt, how do you look at that? matt: i give democrats a lot of credit. they stood with speaker johnson to do things like funding ukraine and israel, which are very important, basically to govern.

and also, i think, to stand with team normal versus the radical marjorie taylor green maga wing. i think it is short-term, may be not the last, but for now the good guys won. amna: i have to ask, there is the maga folks supporting marjorie taylor greene and others supporting johnson. is it going to continue to play out that way? matt: i think it is. but for some reason, donald trump likes mike johnson. some of it has to do with the fact that it is such a slim republican majority, trump does not want chaos in the house right now. but i think there is a personal friendship. as long as donald trump has mike johnson's back, he is safe. amna: we will see. matt lewis, jonathan capehart, great to see you both. jonathan: thanks, amna.

amna: this asian pacific american heritage month, we bring you an icon of the community. madhur jaffrey first made indian cuisine accessible to the west decades ago with her milestone cookbook "an invitation to indian cooking." 2024 marks 50 years since that book made madhur a household name, selling millions of copies and launching her into the culinary stratosphere. she spoke to us recently from her home in new york, for our arts and culture series, canvas. reporter: in the crowded, cosmopolitan world of cuisine, she has single-name status. >> madhur jaffrey. >> madhur jaffrey. >> madhur jaffrey. reporter: but for famed indian chef madhur jaffrey, the path to numerous best-selling cookbooks, multiple james beard awards, and the highest civilian honors in both india and the united kingdom wasn't planned. madhur: i think of it as a huge, wonderful accident.

it's, serendipity. i don't know what you want to call it, but it just happened. and i've enjoyed myself hugely while it happened. reporter: ironically, growing up in north india, madhur jaffrey didn't spend much time in the kitchen. madhur: i did everything the boys did. i played with them. i played cricket, i went fishing i went swimming in the river , behind our house. reporter: an aspiring actress, she left home in delhi for london's royal academy of dramatic arts in 1958 at the age of 19. far from home, what she missed most was her mother's cooking. madhur: we used to go up five floors of steps to the canteen and then we would get this, you know, great slice of roast beef that you could hardly look at. and i would think, oh my god, the food at home is so good. why am i eating this? so, what i did was, rather than just give up and eat that

rubbishy food, i wrote to my mother, and i said, look, i don't know how to cook, but can you teach me? can you send me letters with recipes? reporter: her mother obliged, and the trans-continental cooking classes began. madhur: she didn't write very long, elaborate recipes. she wrote three line recipes. do this, take that, stir that, get it done. reporter: there's no measurements or anything in the recipes. madhur: no real measurements. a bit of this, a little bit of that. but what was the wonderful thing that i realized much, much later was that i had a memory of the taste of everything i'd eaten. amna: as she pursued a performing career, years later in new york, strangers would ask again and again, where could they find good indian food? madhur: it was always just come to my house. after a while, it became too much. i mean, how many people could come to my house?

so i started writing recipes and gave them out to people. it just sort of mushroomed and grew. amna: in april 1973, it bloomed into her seminal cookbook, "an invitation to indian cooking," reissued 50 years later. a collection of recipes for the daals, chutneys, keemas, and biryanis that defined her youth, and kept her connected to home. it wasn't the first indian cookbook on the market in america, but it was the one that caught on. madhur's straightforward, simple letters, offered unfamiliar western chefs, newly-intrigued by indian cuisine - an easy entry. madhur: what i have here -- amna: the book made madhur a household name in america and the u.k.. a cooking show on the bbc followed in 1982, combining her love of food and performing. madhur: you want the dish to be hotter, you can add as much

cayenne as you like. amna: she recalled auditioning in a studio with no kitchen, no utensils, and no food. madhur: now i'm going to put the that cumin that i roasted because i want that lovely smoky aroma. amna: i can see you doing it, no food, no tools. you're doing the same thing now. madhur: i'm just like i'm telling you. and then i'd say i'm taking a cucumber and i'm grating it. grate, grate, grate. right into the yogurt and mix it in. now i clean off the edges and put a little ground cumin on top. little ground kashmiri chili powder on top because it look very pretty. there is your yogurt. i did it that way and, i got a job. amna: she produced best-selling cookbook after cookbook over the years, welcoming home cooks more deeply into the food she loved. a memoir brought a generation of fans closer to the cook they'd come to know. and along the way, madhur never abandoned her original love of acting.

>> what are you three so intense about? madhur: the jig is up. amna: on television, with a guest role in the "sex in the city" reboot, "and just like that," in 2021. and always ready to try something new, like a starring role in new york rapper mr cardamom's music video for his song "nani." but "an invitation to indian cooking" remains an enduring part of madhur's legacy. >> chickpeas! >> better known as chani. for a generation of south asians inspired to build new lives abroad in the 1960's and 1970's, the brook offered more than just recipes. it offered a connection to the home left behind. including for my own mother, seema. i wanted to share something with you, if you don't mind. my mother's copy of an invitation to indian cooking. madhur: oh my goodness.

amna: it has been used and reused so lovingly for so many years. it's kept in the bag because the cover fell off. this is a well-worn truly loved , book. and so my father said, you can't use this one anymore. he got her another copy. madhur: do you know how to peel ginger? it is good to scrape it like that. i keep telling people when they are cooking, where is the emotional aspect? because indians and pakistanis and bangladeshis, there's a lot of emotion tied to our food. and it has to do with brothers, sisters, ancestors, cousins eating together, going on picnics together. all those memories are tied in to every little bit of food. so now the interesting thing was that this generation in the

early 1970's was cooking from my book, but then they cooked the food and their children ate it, and then the children bought the book. >> you made a good base for the chickpeas. >> that is so delicious. madhur: so i got letters from the children, my parents used to cook from your cookbook and we ate your food, so now we are cooking from that. and there have been three generations like that, who've actually cooked from the book already and passed it on to their children. it is very gratifying. it's very nice to know that several generations within the same family have been cooking my recipes in america. >> cheers. amna: those families now await madhur's next book, the details of which, she's holding close for the moment. madhur: i won't tell you too much about it, but it's great fun for me. amna: is it another cookbook or

not? madhur: it is, but it's a kind of fun cookbook for me that includes aspects of me that you don't know. you'll find out. amna: now i'm intrigued. madhur: that is what i meant to do, and i'll leave it at that. amna: the happy accident that inspired this journey is still propelling the now 90-year-old madhur jaffrey down new paths ahead. remember there is much more on our youtube page, including pbs news weekly, which this week focuses on the war in gaza, including president biden's pause on a major weapons delivery to israel. be sure to tune into "washington week with the atlantic" tonight. jeffrey goldberg and his panel discuss the big political news of the week. and tomorrow on pbs news weekend, how older americans are

seeing healthier golden years by living and working with younger people. >> one case study is the benevilla community center for older adults in arizona's west valley, where many members are in the early stages of dementia. one of its biggest draws is an on-site preschool. activities with benevilla's "grandmas" and "grandpas" are built into the curriculum. [playing "shake it off" by taylor swift] >> when we get to see the little ones, it's very heartening and makes us all feel younger again. >> benevilla member colleen peterson has family nearby, but loves interacting with the younger generations here. >> i had one little boy, and he was just sobbing and sobbing, and i just kind of patted him and pretty soon he just slid right off my lap and went with the other kids and started playing.

amna: you can see more of ali rogin's report on tomorrow's pbs news weekend. and that is the newshour for tonight. i'm amna nawaz. on behalf of the entire newshour team, thank you for joining us. have a great weekend. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- >> it was like an aha moment. this is what i love doing. early-stage companies have this energy that energizes me. these are people who are trying to change the world. when i volunteer with women entrepreneurs, it is the same thing. i am helping people reach their dreams. i am thriving by helping others every day. people who know know bdo. >> and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions, and friends of the

newshour, including kathy and paul anderson and camilla and george smith. >> certified financial planner professionals are proud to support pbs newshour. cfp professionals are committed to acting in their clients' best interest. more information at letsmakea plan.org. >> the walton family foundation, working for solutions to protect water during climate change so people and nature can thrive together. the william and flora hewlett foundation. for more than 50 years, advancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better world. at hewlett.org. and with the ongoing support of these individuals and stitutions. and friends of the newshour. ♪ >> this program was made

possible by the corporation for public broadcasting, and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy.] >> this is pbs newshour west from weta studios in washington and from our bureau at the walter school of journalism. >> you are wat

wow, you get to watch all your favorite stuff. it's to die for. now you won't miss a thing. this is the way. xfinity internet. made for streaming. >> joe biden drops the hammer on israel. marjorie taylor greene tries and fails to drop the hammer on the speaker of the house. in new york, a very strange trial of an ex-president. it has been a strange week. we will discuss all of it, next.