September 25, 2019 - PBS NewsHour full episode

According to the Justice Department, the original whistleblower account of President Trump’s actions on Ukraine raised the possibility of a criminal act by Trump, related to campaign finance. But federal prosecutors reportedly decided that they could not identify a campaign finance violation from the two men's phone call. John Yang learns more from Devlin Barrett of The Washington Post.

In our news wrap Wednesday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani denounced the Trump administration's withdrawal from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal in his speech at the United Nations General Assembly. He said Iran would only come to the negotiating table if those sanctions are lifted. Also, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been tasked again with forming a new government.

The release of a five-page memo describing President Trump's July phone call with Ukraine's president revealed new details of Trump’s actions regarding Ukraine. The text shows that immediately after Volodymr Zelensky brought up military aid, Trump asked him for "a favor." Lisa Desjardins reports, then joins Yamiche Alcindor and Judy Woodruff for more on reactions from Trump and Congress.

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., says the memo summarizing the conversation between President Trump and the president of Ukraine is "absolutely devastating" and "underscores the need for the [impeachment] inquiry the House began yesterday." Murphy, who this month met with Ukraine's leader, joins Judy Woodruff to discuss why he doesn't believe Trump was just trying to clean up corruption.

The world's oceans and seas have already absorbed an enormous amount of excess heat in our climate system, according to a new UN report. And the risks of dire consequences for marine and coastal life will get significantly worse if carbon emissions don't change. William Brangham learns more from study co-author Michael Oppenheimer of Princeton University.

In Afghanistan, commando military units are kept busy chasing out the Taliban, then moving on to the next, inevitable advance elsewhere. But after special forces retake an area, ill-equipped regular forces that replace them struggle to hold on -- the same problem American forces faced there for years. Can Afghans find any peace? Special correspondent Jane Ferguson reports.

When it comes to military, global economy, and global influence, the two most important countries in the world are China and the U.S. And in recent years, both sides of that rivalry have become more combative. For our new series, “China: Power and Prosperity,” we travel around the globe to take stock of China’s position on the world stage. Nick Schifrin joins Judy Woodruff to offer a preview.

How does the White House capture a conversation between a president and another foreign leader? And who gets to review that material afterward? For more context on the phone conversation between President Trump and Zelensky, Judy Woodruff talks to Larry Pfeiffer, former senior director of the White House situation room.