AMNA NAWAZ: 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.

(BREAK) AMNA NAWAZ: 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 3,500 bombs to Israel as it now searches forces around Rafah in Southern Gaza.

The administration's says it opposes a full-scale ground invasion of Rafah City, where more than a million Gazans are sheltering.

Here to walk through the details of this report at the end of this eventful week is our Nick Schifrin.

So, Nick, tell us more about this report.

What more did it say?

NICK SCHIFRIN: The National Security Memorandum No.

20 that this report is based on requires the Department of State to obtain -- quote - - "credible and reliable written assurances" that Israel, as well as half-a-dozen other countries that gets U.S. weapons, are using those weapons in accordance of international humanitarian law and not restricting U.S. humanitarian assistance.

And the report is very critical, as you said, 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 7 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 operation, 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 on humanitarian aid, by the way.

"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 to Israel based on this report, but it did not.

The assessment there -- quote -- "U.S. government currently assesses the assurances provided by each recipient country," again, Israel and half-a-dozen others, "to be credible and reliable."

That is the threshold for 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 NAWAZ: As we mentioned, a highly anticipated report.

So, what kind of reaction are these findings now getting?

NICK SCHIFRIN: The report makes its final conclusion that Israel's weapons can continue to go, in part because of the nature of fighting Hamas and also what Israel has done internally.

So, Hamas, a terrorist organization, the U.S. describes it hiding in tunnels, hiding among the civilian population, and it describes how difficult an environment of war that is for the Israeli Defense Forces.

And it says there are IDF lawyers embedded in what it does and has taken steps to hold itself accountable, including criminal actions against certain officials.

And that's the context that leads former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Dana Stroul to argue the report struck the right balance.

DANA STROUL, Former U.S. Defense Department Official: Well, this report is saying is that there are instances in which Israel has not achieved or lived up to its obligations, but it's also a professional military who has investigative processes and accountability mechanisms.

And when many of the mistakes have been made over the course of the past seven months, the Israel Defense Forces and the government of Israel have taken corrective measures to address the mistakes and move forward in a way that mitigates civilian harm.

NICK SCHIFRIN: But others are much more critical of Israel and of the report.

They cite specific instances, including one that the report itself cites, there you see, on the Jabalia refugee camp in October.

The report says it killed dozens of children's - - children and wounded hundreds, as an example of a violation of international humanitarian law.

The argument there is that Israel should face consequences, says Charles Blaha, who's a former career Foreign Service officer who worked in the State Department's office that monitors if countries comply with international humanitarian law.

CHARLES BLAHA, Former U.S. State Department Official: The government's report, it said that.

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.

What -- the conclusions that flow from what even the report says, but certainly from what the task force's report said, is that Israel has violated international humanitarian law in its use of U.S. origin items.

And that should be -- that should have been the clear assessment of the department's report.

NICK SCHIFRIN: And so, Amna, the debate will go on, both about what Israel is doing and the report's conclusions.

But, again, the U.S. said tonight the weapons will continue.

AMNA NAWAZ: Nick Schifrin with the latest on this late-breaking news today.

Nick, thank you.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Thank you.

AMNA NAWAZ: In the day's other headlines: Police moved in to clear out pro-Palestinian encampments at three universities across the country.

Lisa Desjardins has the story.

LISA DESJARDINS: Before sunrise, police arrived at the University of Pennsylvania to disband a two-week pro-Palestinian encampment.

Some demonstrators were hauled away and more than 30 people were arrested.

Governor Josh Shapiro said they were warned.

GOV.

JOSH SHAPIRO (D-PA): By the -- their own admission, the leaders at the University of Pennsylvania have made clear that those protesters, those who are living in the so-called encampments, are violating the rules of the university and in some cases the laws of the city of Philadelphia.

LISA DESJARDINS: In Boston, a similar pre-dawn scene at MIT.

Police removed tents and barriers.

PROTESTER: We will be back!

(APPLAUSE) LISA DESJARDINS: Ten protesters were arrested, but some remained defiant.

PROTESTERS: We will be back!

MOHAMED, Encampment Organizer: It's actually 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 DESJARDINS: 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 graduation ceremony, writing on social media that: "Calling the cops on peaceful protesters is a shameful act."

Elsewhere, an act of mass applause.

MAN: Asna Tabassum.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) LISA DESJARDINS: At the University of Southern California, cheers for Asna Tabassum.

MAN: You may not know this, but Asna is USC's 2024 valedictorian.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) LISA DESJARDINS: 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 NAWAZ: 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 are also making headlines at 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 that 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 3,000 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.

APARECIDA DE FATIMA FAGUNDES, Brazilian Flood Survivor (through translator): 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 will sink even deeper.

AMNA NAWAZ: Amid the chaos of the floods, the rescue of a horse gained widespread attention on Thursday.

The animal, named Caramelo, had climbed atop the roof of a submerged house as the water rose and stayed there for days.

He's now recovering at a veterinary hospital.

Back in this country, the Federal Aviation Administration won't run out of money tonight after all.

Last night, the Senate approved $105 billion 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.

On Wall Street today, stocks had a quiet day.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 125 points to close at 39512.

The Nasdaq fell five points.

The S&P 500 was up about eight.

And a sky show is in the works for this weekend.

A solar storm is coming, and it's so powerful that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has issued its first geomagnetic 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 on the "NewsHour": why the century-old Boy Scouts of America is changing its name; and a trailblazing Indian chef marks 50 years of her breakthrough cookbook.

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.

He joins us now to tell us what he saw and what comes next.

So, William, five witnesses took the stand today.

What did jurors hear?

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Jurors heard a procession of witnesses talking about some very granular bits of evidence, like how checks 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, I mean, especially compared to Stormy Daniels over the last couple of days, that's true, but this is also -- 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 NAWAZ: Still, in many ways, there's a lot of anticipation looking towards next week, when 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 BRANGHAM: 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.

So, his testimony will be huge.

AMNA NAWAZ: At the same time, William, 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 BRANGHAM: No, 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 them, 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 have been laying out over the last few weeks, and that that will be central to their case.

Whether that works or not, that's still to be determined, and we will start to see that on Monday.

AMNA NAWAZ: All right, it will be another week to watch in that trial.

William Brangham reporting from New York.

William, thank you.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Thanks, Amna.

AMNA NAWAZ: More than a year of brutal war in Sudan between Sudan's army and a rebel paramilitary force has killed tens of thousands of people and forced more than eight million to flee their homes.

Some five million are now at risk of starvation.

As Nick Schifrin reports, there is new evidence of ethnic cleansing -- Nick.

NICK SCHIFRIN: That's right, Amna.

This week, Human Rights Watch provided that evidence of not only ethnic cleansing, but also war crimes and crimes against humanity against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in Western Sudan's Darfur.

It's there that the RSF and this new war have produced the world's largest displacement and hunger crises.

And now new evidence 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 Massalit 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 was designed to do, drive them from their homes permanently.

TOM PERRIELLO, U.S. Special Envoy for Sudan: For the past year, the people of Sudan have suffered slaughter, crimes against humanity, sexual violence, ethnic cleansing.

NICK SCHIFRIN: 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.

TOM PERRIELLO: The RSF and its leadership are rooted in the Janjaweed militias who committed genocide 20 years ago when I first went to Darfur.

And, in particular, if we see the fall of El Fasher, we will see a new level of suffering for this war.

NICK SCHIFRIN: The other side of this civil war, which has turned residential streets into battlegrounds, is the Sudanese Armed Forces, or SAF, which the U.S. has also accused of war crimes.

This week, USAID Administrator Samantha Power accused the Sudanese Armed Forces of -- quote - - "obstructing" humanitarian aid from reaching Darfur, and she said nearly 900 thousand of Darfur's most vulnerable had received no assistance at all 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.

Tirana Hassan, thank you very much.

Welcome to the "NewsHour."

You guys collected 221 witness statements from the worst-hit parts of Darfur.

What did those witnesses tell you?

TIRANA HASSAN, Executive Director, Human Rights Watch: We have received and documented grueling testimony from victims and survivors, eyewitnesses of the attacks on predominantly the Massalit and non-Arab populations in El Geneina.

What we document, as you noted in your report, reportage, was that there's most definitely been all indications that the ethnic cleansing is taking place.

The violence and the targeted killings and attacks on the Massalit and other non-Arab communities has been -- shows all the hallmarks of ethnic cleansing.

But we have also documented war crimes and crimes against humanity that have been committed by the Rapid Support Forces, as well as in concert with allied militia across West Darfur, and particularly in El Geneina.

So this campaign has been absolutely brutal.

Our researchers were on -- have been on the ground and speaking to people inside Sudan for the last 10 months, and we have documented a comprehensive account of the large-scale atrocities that have taken place.

We are talking about houses and entire neighborhoods being burnt to the ground and looted.

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, much larger.

And, as you noted earlier, half-a-million people are now driven from Darfur into Chad by the violence.

And even on their journeys, they told us that they were -- continued to be hunted down, targeted and attacked, women raped on the journey to safety in Chad.

NICK SCHIFRIN: As I noted, the Rapid Support Forces, the RSF, descends from the Janjaweed militias, which in the 2000s were accused of genocide.

Do you believe, does Human Rights Watch believe that it is possible genocide is happening again?

TIRANA HASSAN: Well, what we have been able to conclude from our current research is that there are most definitely war crimes and crimes against humanity have been committed.

We also believe that there is the possibility that some of the acts that we have documented were genocidal in nature.

And what that really means is, there needs to be an investigation and a collection of evidence so that an international court can actually gather evidence to be able to see if the crime of genocide has taken place.

This isn't 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.

So we should be talking also about genocide prevention.

We know we are on the cusp of mass atrocities if the international community doesn't start to mobilize to ensure that there is some sort of force, some sort of mechanism to ensure that there is civilian protection.

What we have seen in El Geneina is a very grim snapshot and indicates what could happen and the atrocities that could unfold in El Fasher in the coming days or weeks.

NICK SCHIFRIN: 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 and help prevent further atrocities, especially El Fasher, which, as we noted, is the location of the largest collection of internally displaced within Darfur.

TIRANA HASSAN: That's right.

I mean, the population of El Fasher is approximately 1.5 million people, if not more.

So the level of urgency that we need to see from the United Nations and the African Union is that they should urgently deploy a mission to Sudan to protect civilians, and they should start in locations where the most are at risk of these deliberate attacks.

But on top of that, we need to track back and look at, where are the weapons coming from?

There are arms embargoes already, but we know that they are in place for Darfur.

They need to be expanded to all of Sudan, because, outside of the Darfur region, we also know that there are possible war crimes being committed across the country.

And one of the reasons we are seeing this sort of level of just 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 enough, well enough to be able to conduct the investigations and ensure that there is just as an accountability for the crimes committed is not only important for the survivors for today's atrocities, but it also sends a message to the -- to those responsible for the war -- for war crimes and crimes against humanity that this -- that there is no more impunity.

These times are done.

NICK SCHIFRIN: And, finally, in the short time we have left, it's 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 wants to be seen as the legitimate rulers of Sudan.

What are you calling on the Sudanese Armed Forces to do?

TIRANA HASSAN: We are calling for the Sudanese Armed Forces to also -- who also have been implicated in possible war crimes, to abide by international law, to protect civilians.

I mean, one of the things that we have 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, it is - - there are rules even in wars.

And 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 that the population is currently suffering through.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Tirana Hassan, executive director of Human Rights Watch, thank you very much.

TIRANA HASSAN: Thank you for having me.

AMNA NAWAZ: In a move towards rebranding and embracing inclusivity, the Boy Scouts of America announced this week that it's changing its name to Scouting America.

And, 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.

ALI ROGIN: 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 now by Sydney Ireland, an Eagle Scout and advocate for girls in Scouting, who's been at the forefront of this campaign for almost a decade.

Sydney, thanks so much for being here.

What appealed to you about the Boy Scouts that you couldn't find within the Girl Scouts organization?

SYDNEY IRELAND, Eagle Scout and Advocate for Girls in Scouting: Yes, thanks so much for having me, Ali.

I'm so grateful to be here.

The Boy Scouts really taught me life skills that I personally couldn't find anywhere else.

I think the Girl Scouts is an amazing organization, but it's really about choice for women.

And, at that time, girls weren't able to join an organization that had really important ranks and had the Eagle Award that opens up opportunities for girls.

And so now it's so exciting that girls are able to have that opportunity and that the organization changed their name.

ALI ROGIN: And you joined the Scouts when they opened for girls in 2018.

And before that, you had been following along because you had siblings who were in the program.

Officially, as we mentioned, girls started joining the Boy Scouts in 2018.

This today is a name change, but why is that significant, in and of itself?

SYDNEY IRELAND: A name change is so significant because it shows the country and the world that this is a Scouting organization for everyone.

It's not just for boys.

So 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 ROGIN: I'm sure you're aware there's been some criticism from the conservative ranks, some lawmakers who are saying this is a byproduct of -- quote -- "wokeness."

What do you think of that?

SYDNEY IRELAND: I think that inclusivity is so important in especially 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, nonbinary people.

And so it's such an exciting time for the organization.

ALI ROGIN: And what does the inclusion of girls bring to Scouting America?

SYDNEY IRELAND: 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 an 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 ROGIN: You have been campaigning for these changes since you were a young child and you have 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 IRELAND: 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.

And, again, the leadership skills it teaches are uncomparable 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 ROGIN: What's your favorite badge that you have earned over the years?

SYDNEY IRELAND: 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 ROGIN: Sydney Ireland, Eagle Scout and advocate for girls in Scouting, thank you so much for being here.

SYDNEY IRELAND: Thanks for having me.

AMNA NAWAZ: 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.

JONATHAN CAPEHART: Hi, Amna.

AMNA NAWAZ: Matt, good to have you here.

MATT LEWIS, The Daily Beast: Good to be here.

AMNA NAWAZ: So let's start with President Biden and a lot of the big news around Israel this week.

We saw the report Nick Schifrin was reporting on earlier that basically found that Israel may be in violation of international humanitarian law, but the U.S. will continue to supply Israel with weapons.

That follows President Biden earlier this week, Jonathan, saying not only were they pausing some weapons deliveries, but that he would consider pausing more if Israel launches a full-scale invasion into Rafah, where a million Gazans are now sheltering.

How do you look at this and square all these things, some of which seem to be in contradiction with each other?

JONATHAN CAPEHART: Right.

Well, with all of these things, we cannot look at them in isolation.

These are not isolated incidents.

They are all part of what I view as an enormous diplomatic effort on the 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 that they can bring an end to the conflict.

But in terms of what the president is saying, I interviewed him on March 9, where I asked him, what's your red line with Benjamin Netanyahu?

Is it invasion of Rafah?

He said yes.

Fast-forward to May 8 in an interview with CNN.

He's also once again asked a red line question, and he said, well, if he does -- if Netanyahu invades Rafah, I'm going to halt -- I will halt weapons shipments.

I don't see how that is in contradiction to what this report says.

I think Nick's report was very good and the interviews were very good and just sort of showing how the administration is trying to do a lot of things and 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 get and agree to a cease-fire.

AMNA NAWAZ: Matt, is it clear to you where President Biden's red line is on this?

MATT LEWIS: Well, first, I think we should be drawing red lines on our enemies, not our allies, right?

But I think Biden has a problem right now, and it is a political problem.

It is axiomatic in politics that if you try to please everybody, you will end up pleasing nobody.

And, up until now, I think that, domestically, in terms of domestic politics here in America, Joe Biden had a problem certainly with kind of young progressives who were unhappy that he was standing firmly with Israel.

I think now that has become muddied.

And I think we're now in a position where, number one, it's unlikely that these young progressives who are calling him things like Genocide Joe are going to come around to liking Joe Biden and voting for him.

He also, though, risks alienating, number two, Democrats who are pro-Israel, kind of the mainstream Democrats.

And the other thing that I think isn't 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 percent of the vote in a Republican primary in Indiana.

There are people out there who were open to voting for Joe Biden.

And I think they're less likely today than they were a week ago.

AMNA NAWAZ: On the domestic politics front, Jonathan, was the tough talk for Bibi Netanyahu, the pausing of some weapons deliveries, was that President Biden bending to political pressure here at home?

JONATHAN CAPEHART: No.

No.

I mean, Matt, love you to pieces... (LAUGHTER) JONATHAN CAPEHART: ... but anyone who thinks that there are domestic political considerations on the part of the president that's driving his decisions hasn't had -- you haven't been paying attention to Joe Biden.

We have to remember this is a man who's been on the world stage for 50 years.

During -- during those years, he was chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

He knows -- he's known Prime Minister Netanyahu for 50 years.

He is about getting to -- he's 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.

But he stood by that decision because it was the right thing to do.

And I think that the president doing what he's doing, from carrots and sticks with Netanyahu, he is doing it because he's -- for him, the resolution is a cease-fire deal, however he can get it.

AMNA NAWAZ: Matt, it's worth pointing out previous U.S. presidents, including Republican presidents... JONATHAN CAPEHART: Reagan.

AMNA NAWAZ: ... Reagan, H.W.

Bush, W. Bush as well, have all withheld weapons from Israel at some point.

Why shouldn't this one?

MATT LEWIS: Well, look, I think there's a couple things.

First, this is a little different.

Some people certainly have said that what happened on October 7 is the worst thing that has happened to the Jewish people since the Holocaust.

So I think, qualitatively, this is different.

I would also say, from a political standpoint, I mean, someone like Ronald Reagan, I think, was seen as a strong, tough leader.

And he was someone who, if anything, the perception was maybe he's a little too bellicose, right?

With Joe Biden -- and you mentioned Afghanistan.

I mean, that may or may not have been the right move.

But I tell you what.

Joe Biden's poll numbers have not -- 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 all -- which are not great, then he may be out of a job come November.

AMNA NAWAZ: I do want to turn now to the former president's criminal hush money trial in New York, because there was a lot of headlines around the witness testimony, in particular, that of adult film star Stephanie Clifford, who's known professionally as Stormy Daniels.

Some very tense moments as she's being cross-examined, including this exchange with Trump attorney Susan Necheles, when Necheles, the Trump attorney, asked her: "You're celebrating the indictment by selling things from your store," referencing her merchandise when she's associating herself with Mr. Trump.

And Stormy Daniels replies: "Not unlike Mr.

Trump."

Jonathan, what did you take away from Ms. Daniels and the other testimony this week?

JONATHAN CAPEHART: Well, I think Stormy Daniels, she's the central figure in all of this.

It was important to hear from her.

And I'm not surprised.

If you were to -- 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 Necheles was also very funny, inspired and turned around on her.

I mean, look, Donald Trump had a mug shot taken in Georgia and immediately turned around and started making money off it from his supporters for his criminal -- any number of his criminal defense trials -- cases.

Who is going to begrudge Stormy Daniels for doing the same thing?

And I think, in the end, it doesn't matter what we think.

It matters what those -- what the members of the jury think.

AMNA NAWAZ: Well, to that point, Matt, I mean, the Trump attorneys went after her pretty hard, really 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 LEWIS: I think it is for the jury.

Keep in mind, Donald Trump only needs one juror to acquit for a hung jury.

So, that -- and that may be the end of the whole thing.

So, is there one person, is there one juror who can see them kind of tearing down, impeaching her character?

That may be the best -- I don't think Trump can win on the merits, OK?

I think he's dead to rights in terms of the substance.

JONATHAN CAPEHART: Toast.

MATT LEWIS: 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 just sort of nullifies the whole thing?

(CROSSTALK) AMNA NAWAZ: Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill, House Speaker Mike Johnson, with the help of Democrats, we should point out, 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 Speaker Johnson safe now, do you think?

JONATHAN CAPEHART: The answer to the first question, yes, it was the right move, because, if you're interested in governing, then you must keep this speaker -- 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, while they said that this is a -- this is a one-and-done thing, whether they vote for him, vote to save him or not.

The next -- if they were going to vote for - - vote to save him, they made it clear, the next time, it depends.

And I think that's why he's not -- that's why he's not out of the woods.

I have been saying that his speakership is Republican in name only, because he can't get anything done, pass legislation or save his own speakership, without Hakeem Jeffries and the Democratic minority.

AMNA NAWAZ: Matt, how do you look at that?

MATT LEWIS: Look, I think the Democrats -- I give Democrats a lot of credit for this, right?

They stood with Speaker Johnson to do things like keep the government open, to do things like funding Ukraine and Israel, which I think are very important.

AMNA NAWAZ: To govern, essentially.

MATT LEWIS: Basically, to govern.

(LAUGHTER) (CROSSTALK) MATT LEWIS: And also -- and also, I think, to stand with team normal versus the radical Marjorie Taylor Greene, MAGA wing.

(LAUGHTER) MATT LEWIS: So I think -- maybe it's short term, maybe it doesn't last, but for now, at least, the good guys won.

AMNA NAWAZ: Well, I have got 30 seconds left, but I have to ask you.

There is that split between the MAGA, the folks backing Marjorie Taylor Greene, and, like, the FOX contingent backing Johnson.

Is that going to continue to play out that way?

MATT LEWIS: I think it's -- I do think it is going to continue to play out.

But, look, here's the interesting thing.

For some reason, Donald Trump likes Mike Johnson.

And some of it, I think, has to do with the fact that it's such a slim Republican majority.

Trump doesn't want chaos in the House right now.

But I think there's a personal friendship there.

And as long as Donald Trump has Mike Johnson's back, he's pretty safe.

AMNA NAWAZ: We will see.

JONATHAN CAPEHART: He's got one seat.

(LAUGHTER) AMNA NAWAZ: Matt Lewis, Jonathan Capehart, great to see you both.

Thank you.

JONATHAN CAPEHART: Thanks, Amna.

AMNA NAWAZ: 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.

MADHUR JAFFREY, Author, "An Invitation to Indian Cooking": I'm Madhur Jaffrey.

AMNA NAWAZ: In the crowded, cosmopolitan world of cuisine, she has single-name status.

MAN: Madhur Jaffrey.

MAN: Madhur Jaffrey.

MAN: Madhur Jaffrey.

WOMAN: And we're talking about Madhur Jaffrey.

AMNA NAWAZ: But for famed Indian chef Madhur Jaffrey, the path to numerous bestselling cookbooks, multiple James Beard Awards, and the highest civilian honors in both India and the United Kingdom wasn't planned.

MADHUR JAFFREY: I think of it as a huge, wonderful accident.

And it's for -- serendipity.

I don't know what you want to call it, but it just happened.

And I have enjoyed myself hugely while it happened.

AMNA NAWAZ: Ironically, growing up in North India, Madhur Jaffrey didn't spend much time in the kitchen.

MADHUR JAFFREY: Well, I did everything the boys did.

I played with them.

I played cricket.

I went fishing.

I went swimming in the river behind the house.

AMNA NAWAZ: 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 JAFFREY: We used to go up five floors of steps to the canteen.

And then we would get this gray 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?

AMNA NAWAZ: Her mother obliged, and the transcontinental cooking classes began.

MADHUR JAFFREY: She didn't write very long, elaborate recipes.

She wrote three-line recipes.

Take this, take that, stir that around, add a little water, and let it cook until it's done.

AMNA NAWAZ: There's no measurements or anything in the recipes.

MADHUR JAFFREY: No real measurements.

Well, it's just a little bit of this and 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 NAWAZ: 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 JAFFREY: So, it was always, oh, I don't know.

Just come to my house, and I will -- and after a while, it became too much.

I mean, how many people could come to my house?

So I started writing recipes and giving them out to people.

And this, -- it just sort of mushroomed and grew.

AMNA NAWAZ: In April of 1973, it bloomed into her seminal cookbook, "An Invitation to Indian Cooking," reissued 50 years later, a collection of the recipes for the dal, 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 style, adapted from her mother's letters, offered unfamiliar Western chefs, newly intrigued by Indian cuisine, an easy entry.

MADHUR JAFFREY: Now, what I have here... AMNA NAWAZ: 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 JAFFREY: If you want the dish to be hotter, you can really put in as much cayenne as you like.

AMNA NAWAZ: She recalled auditioning in a studio with no kitchen, no utensils and no food.

MADHUR JAFFREY: Now I'm going to put that cumin that I roasted, because I want that lovely, smoky aroma.

So I'm going to put that in now.

AMNA NAWAZ: I can see you doing it now.

No food, no tools.

You're doing the same thing now.

MADHUR JAFFREY: I'm just -- like I'm telling you.

And then I say, I'm peeling your cucumber and I'm grating it, grate, grate, grate right into the yogurt.

I mix it in.

Now I clean off the edges and put a little ground cumin on top.

It'll look lovely, little ground Kashmiri chili powder on top because it'll look very pretty.

And there it is.

There is your yogurt right there.

So I did it that way.

And I got the job.

(LAUGHTER) AMNA NAWAZ: She produced bestselling 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.

ACTRESS: What are you three so intense about?

MADHUR JAFFREY: The jig is up.

AMNA NAWAZ: On television with a guest role in the "Sex and 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."

(MUSIC) AMNA NAWAZ: But an invitation to Indian cooking remains an enduring part of Madhur's legacy.

Chickpeas.

SEEMA NAWAZ, Mother of Amna Nawaz: Chickpeas.

AMNA NAWAZ: Better known as?

SEEMA NAWAZ: Chana.

AMNA NAWAZ: Chana.

SEEMA NAWAZ: So... AMNA NAWAZ: For a generation of South Asians inspired to build new lives abroad in the 1960s and '70s, the book 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 JAFFREY: Oh, my goodness.

AMNA NAWAZ: ... has been used and reused so lovingly for so many years, it's kept in a bag because the cover fell off.

MADHUR JAFFREY: Oh, my goodness.

That's the best.

AMNA NAWAZ: I mean, this is a well-worn, truly, truly loved book.

(LAUGHTER) AMNA NAWAZ: And so my father said, you can't use this one anymore.

He got her another copy.

SEEMA NAWAZ: And do you know how to peel ginger?

It's always good just to scrape it like that.

MADHUR JAFFREY: I keep telling people when they're cooking, where's the emotional aspect of it?

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 into every little bit of food.

So now the interesting thing was that this generation in the 19 -- early '70s was cooking from my book.

But then they cooked the food and their children ate it.

And then the children bought the book.

SEEMA NAWAZ: You made a good base for the chickpeas.

Look at that.

See?

AMNA NAWAZ: Oh, it's so delicious.

SEEMA NAWAZ: Now it's -- yes, it's coming.

See?

MADHUR JAFFREY: So I got letters from the children.

"My parents used to cook from your cookbook.

And now -- and we ate your food.

So now we are cooking from that."

AMNA NAWAZ: All the spices hit the pan.

MADHUR JAFFREY: And there have been three generations like that who have actually cooked from the book already and passed it on to their children.

It's very gratifying.

It's very nice to know that several generations within the same family have been cooking my recipes in America.

AMNA NAWAZ: Cheers.

Those families now await Madhur's next book, the details of which she's holding close for the moment.

MADHUR JAFFREY: I won't tell you too much about it, but it's great fun for me.

AMNA NAWAZ: Is it another cookbook or not?

MADHUR JAFFREY: It is.

It is.

AMNA NAWAZ: But it's a kind of fun cookbook for me that includes aspects of me that you don't know.

You will find out.

AMNA NAWAZ: Now I'm intrigued.

MADHUR JAFFREY: That's what I meant to do.

And I will leave it at that.

AMNA NAWAZ: 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.

And be sure to tune into "Washington Week With The Atlantic" tonight.

Jeffrey Goldberg and this 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.

ALI ROGIN: 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.

COLLEEN PETERSON, Senior Citizen: When we get to see the little ones, it's very heartening.

It makes us all feel younger again.

ALI ROGIN: Benevilla member Colleen Peterson (ph) has family nearby, but loves interacting with the younger generations here.

COLLEEN PETERSON: I had one little, little boy, and he was just sobbing and sobbing.

And I just kind of patted him.

And then pretty soon, he just slid right off my lap, went with the other kids and started playing.

(LAUGHTER) AMNA NAWAZ: And 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 and have a great weekend.