January 11, 2019 - PBS NewsHour full episode

The partial government shutdown has now lasted three full weeks and will become the longest shutdown in U.S. history this weekend. Still, President Trump said he won't yet declare a national emergency to fund his desired border wall. Yamiche Alcindor joins Judy Woodruff to discuss public reaction, why the president thinks federal workers back him and the latest activity on Capitol Hill.

Syndicated columnist Mark Shields and New York Times columnist David Brooks analyze the week in politics, including whether Republicans are on the defensive, normal negotiations vs. “towers of ego,” Michael Cohen’s upcoming congressional testimony and the news that Paul Manafort may have shared polling data with a Russian associate.

An unexpected impact of the government shutdown: canceled training for wildland firefighters. With wildfires becoming more frequent, firefighters have a shorter off-season to prepare. Now that compressed window for training and gear acquisition has become even shorter due to the shutdown's frozen funding, says Jim Whittington, a consultant and former Forest Service employee. Judy Woodruff reports.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has seen a sharp rise in the number of families seeking asylum at the southern border. Some walk in on their own and surrender to authorities, while others try to slip past without being noticed. Arizona Public Media's Lorraine Rivera recently joined agents in Yuma for a first-hand look at how they handle the influx of asylum seekers crossing the border.

Malaria causes nearly half a million deaths worldwide every year. Ninety percent of them are in sub-Saharan Africa, where poor infrastructure limits delivery of drugs. But now there is worry that those drugs are losing effectiveness as disease strains become resistant. Special correspondent Fred de Sam Lazaro reports from Cambodia, where scientists are researching and tracking new outbreaks.

With the conclusion of the holiday season, many Americans face the task of disposing of their Christmas tree. A Massachusetts farm has devised an unusual method of eliminating the old trees: 19 hungry goats. Brian Sullivan of WGBY reports from Housatonic, Massachusetts.