January 19, 2022 - PBS NewsHour full episode

In our news wrap Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Neil Gorsuch deny a reported rift over mask wearing. In Afghanistan, the Taliban urged foreign governments to recognize their regime and loosen aid restrictions. New information from Tonga confirms severe damage on several islands after Saturday's volcano eruption. Interest jitters sent major stock indexes down.

Wednesday night on Capitol Hill: A vote some Democrats have waited years to hold. But with Republicans ready to block the voting rights bill in the Senate, Democrats are also poised to vote on whether to change the Senate’s rules. Congressional correspondent Lisa Desjardins joins Judy Woodruff to discuss where things stand.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in Ukraine Wednesday to meet with the country's president and high command, as more than 100,000 Russian troops remain deployed on Ukraine's borders. Nick Schifrin begins the report, and Judy Woodruff has a conversation with two U.S. senators who just returned from Ukraine to get their views on the situation.

One year into President Joe Biden’s tenure, we’re taking stock of where some of his key campaign commitments stand. Even before taking office, Biden called climate change an existential crisis, and promised to take historic action. Amna Nawaz joins Judy Woodruff for a closer look at what he’s accomplished so far.

The University of Michigan has reached a $490 million settlement with former athletes and students who say they were sexually abused over decades by long-time university physician, Dr. Robert Anderson. Anderson died in 2008. Last year, a university-commissioned investigation concluded that Anderson “engaged in a pervasive, decades-long destructive pattern of sexual misconduct.” John Yang reports.

Verizon and AT&T are forging ahead with their plan to switch to new high speed 5G service nationwide — but with an important exception near U.S. airports and runways. Those exceptions were made Tuesday because of fears that the new technology could interfere with plane technology and potentially impact landings. Science correspondent Miles O’Brien unpacks the details.

André Leon Talley, the towering former creative director and editor-at-large of Vogue magazine, has died. He had a front row seat to fashion shows around the world, and provided his readers a lens into that world through his writing. Jeffrey Brown has our appreciation of Talley as part of our arts and culture series, CANVAS.