December 30, 2019 - PBS NewsHour full episode

Madeline Miller, author of our December pick for the NewsHour-New York Times book club, Now Read This, joins Jeffrey Brown to answer reader questions on “Circe,” and Jeff announces the January book selection.

Religious communities across the country expressed shock and sorrow after two weekend congregation attacks. The incidents, at a New York rabbi’s home and a Christian church in Texas, raise concerns that violence toward religious groups may be rising. Tree of Life Congregation's Rabbi Jeffrey Myers and the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention’s Reverend Ted Elmore join Nick Schifrin to discuss.

In the final weekend of the year, candidates for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination traversed Iowa and New Hampshire to rally support for primary contests that are now only weeks away. The end of 2019 also comes with a fundraising deadline. Meanwhile, former Vice President Joe Biden changed his stance on whether he would testify in a Senate impeachment trial. Lisa Desjardins reports.

USA Today’s Susan Page and Domenico Montanaro of NPR join Lisa Desjardins to discuss the latest political news, including the outlook for 2020 Democrats not making it to the debate stage, campaign dynamics in Iowa and New Hampshire, how senators running for president will handle a potential impeachment trial, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s impeachment strategy and the year in review.