March 28, 2019 - PBS NewsHour full episode

The U.S. is serious about making peace with the Taliban, but some experts question whether Afghanistan is ready for the U.S. withdrawal that would accompany an accord. As Nick Schifrin reports, Afghanistan currently relies upon American firepower, training and financial support, and it faces risks of renewed violence, government collapse and loss of progressive gains if those resources disappear.

More than 400,000 people in the U.S. have died from opioid use in the past two decades. As the country tries to contain the crisis, many states and cities are challenging the drug manufacturers in court. The latest lawsuit, brought by New York against Purdue Pharma, comes as the company considers filing for bankruptcy. William Brangham talks to Barry Meier, author of a book about Purdue Pharma.

From the Mueller investigation's end to renewed debate about health care, it's been a busy week in Washington. But how are these political issues resonating outside the nation's capital? Judy Woodruff talks to Kent State University professor and columnist Connie Schultz and Chris Buskirk, editor of conservative journal and website American Greatness, about what the Americans they talk to think.

Naomi Alderman, author of our March pick for the PBS NewsHour-New York Times book club, Now Read This, joins Jeffrey Brown to answer reader questions about “The Power.” Plus, Jeff announces the April book selection.

In our Thursday news wrap, the House passed a non-binding resolution to oppose the Trump administration’s ban on transgender people serving in the military. Democrats called the policy “targeted discrimination.” Also, reporting that special counsel Robert Mueller’s findings exceed 300 pages sparked fresh criticism of Attorney General William Barr, who summarized them in a four-page letter.

The amount of student loan debt Americans hold is at a record high, and much of it is shouldered by Millennials--people in their late 20s and 30s. Now, children in Generation Z, the group born after 1996, are facing their own quandary about how to pay for college. As economics correspondent Paul Solman found, some are taking very seriously the prospect of being saddled with a lifetime of loans.

Naomi De La Rosa was nine when her mother was deported from the U.S., after authorities learned she had entered the country illegally a decade earlier. Though she was thrust into a caregiver role for her younger brother and eventually her elderly father, De La Rosa still managed to excel at school. Now a freshman at the University of Arizona, she shares her brief but spectacular take on family.