Stories of the Week | PBS NewsHour Podcast | PBS

In part one of a two-part series Miles O’Brien travels to Hinkley, Calif., the town featured in the movie Erin Brockovich, for its multi-million battle over contaminated groundwater. O'Brien reports on the investigation into the chemical Chromium-6, the agency that regulates it and industry's influence on the process.

Pope Francis is known as a humble man, invested in issues of poverty, who is socially progressive and doctrinally conservative. Ray Suarez talks to Chester Gillis of Georgetown University and Sister Simone Campbell of NETWORK, a social justice organization, about how the new pontiff will help shape the Catholic Church.

The election of Pope Francis marked two firsts for the papal office: he is both the first South American and the first Jesuit pope. For more on the historic selection and what it reflects about the current state of the Catholic Church, Gwen Ifill talks with Michael Sean Winters of the National Catholic Reporter.

White smoke emanating from a Vatican chimney late Wednesday night signaled a new pope had been elected. Argentine Archbishop Jorge Bergoglio was selected as the 266th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church, assuming the name Pope Francis. Gwen Ifill reports on the election and the celebration in Vatican City.

The Arkansas legislature passed the nation's strictest abortion rules, outlawing any procedures done after the 12th week of pregnancy. To learn more about the legal ramifications for doctors under the new law and how it will effect other states, Hari Sreenivasan talks with Suzi Parker, a reporter for Reuters from Little Rock.

The United Nations Security Council imposed new sanctions against North Korea to stop that country from importing materials for its nuclear program. Ray Suarez talks with Victor Cha of the Center for Strategic and International Studies and Joseph DeTrani of Intelligence and National Security Alliance.

Congressional correspondent Kwame Holman reports on President Obama's new round of negotiations with Republicans on a long term deficit deal. Judy Woodruff talks with House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi about the prospects of a bipartisan budget deal, the sequester cuts and the confirmation of CIA director John Brennan.

In other news Thursday, Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, spokesman and son-in-law of Osama bin Laden, has been taken into U.S. custody and flown to New York to appear in court. Also, a new bill aimed to curb gun violence moved forward in the Senate. Members of the Judiciary Committee voted to make illegal gun purchases a federal crime.

The Senate voted to confirm John Brennan as director of the CIA after an intense confirmation hearing and filibuster over concern about the president's power to order drone strikes on American citizens stateside. Scott Shane of The New York Times and Niels Lesniewski of Roll Call join Jeffrey Brown to discuss the confirmation.

A Russian dance star confessed to masterminding an attack on the artistic director of the Bolshoi Ballet. For more on different theories on the motivation for the attack, Gwen Ifill talks with The New York Times' Michael Schwirtz.

A poll released Wednesday found that more than half of U.S. Catholics feel that the Vatican is out of touch with peoples' needs, though most also said that their own parish is responsive. Ray Suarez talks with Scott Appleby of University of Notre Dame and James Towey of Ave Maria University about Catholicism at a crossroads.

Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Stuart Bowen wrapped up a review of nine years' worth of Iraq rebuilding projects with a report that cites massive waste of resources and life. Judy Woodruff talks to Bowen about where the money went and what the U.S. government must learn for the future.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a stopgap bill to cover expenses through September in order to avert a government shutdown, but retained the sequester budget cuts. The bill now goes to the Senate, where Democrats hope to build in more exceptions to the automatically-mandated cuts. Gwen Ifill reports.

Natalie Randolph is one of the first women to head a high school football team, but to her students she is more than a coach. At Coolidge High School in Washington, Coach Randolph prioritizes academics by ensuring athletes attend study hall before practice. Jeffrey Brown talks to Randolph about success on and off the field.

It's getting harder and harder for some seniors to find a primary care physician. Ray Suarez reports on why the threat of massive cuts to Medicare reimbursement rates has left some doctors so worried that they've decided to stop taking new Medicare patients.