January 16, 2019 - PBS NewsHour full episode

The Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal from veterans who had sued defense contractors over claims that toxic smoke from open burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan caused them serious health problems. One of the contractors, KBR, countered that waste elimination procedures were directed by the military itself. As Hari Sreenivasan reports, the afflicted soldiers have no remaining legal recourse.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi requested President Trump’s State of the Union be postponed for safety reasons related to the shutdown, although the Department of Homeland Security countered it is able to handle the event. Meanwhile, President Trump met with a bipartisan group of lawmakers to negotiate, as another payroll deadline approaches. Judy Woodruff talks to Yamiche Alcindor and Lisa Desjardins.

Andrew Wheeler, the EPA's acting head, appeared before a Senate committee for confirmation hearings in his bid to keep the position on a permanent basis. But the government shutdown has brought many of the EPA's daily operations to a halt, so most safety and pollution inspections are skipped. Judy Woodruff looks at reporting by Coral Davenport of The New York Times and the AP's Ellen Knickmeyer.

While lawmakers in Washington, D.C., battle over whether to reopen the government, the ripple effects of the shutdown are extending far beyond the Beltway. Two mayors, Republican David Holt from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and Democrat Michael Passero of New London, Connecticut, tell Judy Woodruff how the stalemate is affecting their cities' federal workers and even their populations as a whole.

In more than two decades as a district court judge, the Honorable Kathleen Coffey has sent plenty of people to jail. During her monthly sessions at homeless court, though, her goal is to avoid that. This Boston initiative aims to keep people charged with low-level crimes from being left on the streets, unable to break out of a perpetual cycle of offense. Tina Martin of WGBH reports.

Two new House members, Rep. Denver Riggleman, R-Va., and Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., belong to the largest congressional freshman class in decades. Even before their offices were fully set up, these Capitol Hill newcomers had to cast votes on how to handle a government shutdown that's stretched on for weeks. Lisa Desjardins accompanies Riggleman and Spanberger on their first days in Congress.

New York Knicks center Enes Kanter is foregoing a team trip to London due to safety concerns. An outspoken critic of Turkey's president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Kanter fears retaliation from associates of Erdogan, and that he might be detained or even killed. Meanwhile, Turkish prosecutors are accusing the athlete of connections to terrorism. Kanter tells Amna Nawaz why he feels "like an American."