Friday, April 8, 2005

Papal Funeral
The NewsHour presents extended excerpts of Pope John Paul II's funeral at St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City.

Then Chester Gillis, professor and chairman of the Department of Theology at Georgetown University; John-Peter Pham, assistant professor of justice studies at James Madison University; and Timothy Garton Ash, director of the European Studies Center at St. Antony's College at Oxford University, discuss Friday's ceremony.

Care Not Cash
Correspondent Spencer Michels reports on a new program to help the homeless in San Francisco.

Brooks and Meyerson
New York Times columnist David Brooks and Washington Post columnist Harold Meyerson discuss the formation of an Iraqi government, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's ethics scandals and the pope's funeral.

Thursday, April 7, 2005

Papal Legacy

Newsmaker: Margaret Spellings
Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings discusses some forthcoming revisions to the education law No Child Left Behind.

Restoring Neighborhoods
Correspondent Elizabeth Brackett of WTTW-Chicago reports on why a federal program designed to rebuild struggling neighborhoods may lose part of its funding.

Painkiller Problems
Drugmaker Pfizer Thursday agreed to suspend sales of painkiller Bextra after regulators found risk of serious side effects. Health correspondent Susan Dentzer joins Jeffrey Brown to discuss new recommendations for Bextra by the Food and Drug Administration.

Fatal Flu
Correspondent Fred de Sam Lazaro of Twin Cities Public Television looks at the impact of avian flu on Southeast Asia.

Wednesday, April 6, 2005

Governing Iraq
The Iraqi National Assembly on Wednesday elected Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani as the new president and Adel Abdul-Mahdi, a Shiite, and Ghazi al-Yawer, a Sunni Arab, as vice presidents. Shiite leader Ibrahim al-Jaafari is expected to be elected prime minister Thursday.

Margaret Warner leads a discussion on the next steps for the Iraqi government with Najmaldin Karim, president of the Washington Kurdish Institute; Judith Yaphe, senior research fellow at National Defense University; and Juan Cole, professor of history at the University of Michigan.

Tsunami Recovery
Jonathan Silvers looks at the rebuilding efforts in the Maldives Islands after last year's devastating Asian tsunami.

China Connections
Gwen Ifill speaks with Reps. Jim Kolbe, R-Ariz., and Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., about their recent trip to China.

Remembering Saul Bellow
Nobel laureate and Pulitzer Prize winner Saul Bellow died Tuesday at the age of 89 at his home in Brookline, Mass. Jeffrey Brown remembers the acclaimed author.

Tuesday, April 5, 2005

Patriot Act
Appearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and FBI Director Robert Mueller urged lawmakers to renew the anti-terror Patriot Act. Most of the law is permanent, but there are 15 provisions set to expire this December.

Gwen Ifill leads a discussion on the controversial law with Viet Dinh, assistant attorney general for the Office of Legal Policy during President Bush's first term, and Nadine Strossen, president of the American Civil Liberties Union.

African Disaster
Terence Smith speaks with Dr. Rowan Gillies, international president of Doctors Without Borders, about the ongoing violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Conversation: Papal Legacy
The crowds continued to swell at St. Peter's Square in Rome, Italy Tuesday as more than 1 million people made their way to visit the body of Pope John Paul II. Margaret Warner talks with former national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski about the pope's impact on international events.

Monday, April 4, 2005

Pope John Paul II
On Monday, the body of Pope John Paul II was carried from the Vatican's Apostolic Palace to St. Peter's Basilica for public viewing. International Television News reports on events at the Vatican since the death of the pontiff.

Then, Gwen Ifill speaks with John Allen, Vatican correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter, about what to expect in the days ahead.

Papal Legacy
Jeffrey Kaye of KCET-Los Angeles, looks at the impact of Pope John Paul II on American Catholics.

Then, Ray Suarez leads a discussion on Pope John Paul II's legacy in America with the Rev. David O'Connell, president of Catholic University; Peggy Steinfels, co-director of the Fordham Center on Religion and Culture; and Jim Davidson, sociology professor at Purdue University.

Conversation: Pulitzer Winner
In an encore report, Jeffrey Brown speaks with Ted Kooser, who won a Pulitzer Prize for poetry today, about his collection of work called "Delights and Shadows."

Society of Students
Education correspondent John Merrow provides a report about a special school program in Los Angeles aimed at countering gang influences.