January 17, 2019 - PBS NewsHour full episode

On day 27 of the partial government shutdown, President Trump rescinded approval for a military plane, effectively cancelling a trip to Afghanistan planned by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and a congressional delegation. The move comes after Pelosi asked to postpone the president’s State of the Union Address over safety concerns. Lisa Desjardins joins Judy Woodruff for an update on the shutdown.

Since the end of the Cold War, the U.S. has built missile defenses primarily to counter rogue states. President Trump on Thursday expanded the program's ambition, including calling for updated space technology. Officials say the new policy responds to Russian advances. Nick Schifrin talks with Joe Cirincione of the Ploughshares Fund and Rebeccah Heinrichs of the Hudson Institute.

In the early 20th century, Standard Oil was broken up because of its vast power. Today, many think Facebook, Google or Amazon present similar threats, but they proceed unchallenged. In "The Curse of Bigness," law professor Tim Wu argues that America has abandoned antitrust enforcement and left us with an economy dominated by de facto monopolists. Economics correspondent Paul Solman reports.

While so far there have been no major lapses in benefits for the nearly 39 million people who depend on food stamps amid the partial government shutdown, 2,500 retailers around the country are unable to take any form of SNAP EBT payments.

When Alabama closed a regional hospital, the warden of Metro Jail says that the population of people with mental illness doubled at their facility. Trey Oliver says they often see the same people over and over again, people who should have a different kind of around-the-clock care. Oliver gives his Brief But Spectacular take on why incarceration can’t solve mental illness and life at his jail.

The inspector general at the Department of Health and Human Services paints the most detailed picture to date of the Trump administration's actions to separate immigrant families at the southern border. The report found that the government was separating children long before it announced its policy; thousands more may have been separated than previously reported. Amna Nawaz joins Judy Woodruff.

There have been many expeditions on the frozen continent of Antarctica, but Colin O'Brady's 54-day solo trek across more than 930 miles without any assistance was the first of its kind. "You are locked in a prison of your own brain," O'Brady said. "Fortunately, I like my own company." William Brangham talks with him and his expedition manager and wife Jenna Besaw about this test of endurance.