January 30, 2019 - PBS NewsHour full episode

More than a quarter of the U.S. population is expected to deal with sub-zero temperatures this week. The extreme cold has sparked some public skepticism over global warming, but scientists actually believe it is a consequence of climate change. Amna Nawaz talks to Dr. Jennifer Francis of the Woods Hole Research Center for an explanation of this counterintuitive weather relationship.

A bipartisan congressional committee tasked with drafting a border security bill for President Trump to sign by February 15 met for the first time Wednesday. Among its members is Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., who joins Judy Woodruff to discuss the committee’s “great desire to reach a conclusion,” components of effective border security and why she's optimistic about bipartisan compromise.

In Caracas, a revitalized Venezuelan opposition braved physical threats to demand that national assembly head Juan Guaidó replace President Nicolás Maduro. The Trump administration is backing Guaidó, but critics question whether U.S. intervention will help the country’s suffering population. Nick Schifrin talks to former Venezuelan diplomat Isaías Medina and the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Ben Gedan.

An intense debate is underway over the benefits and drawbacks of using microchips, typically relied upon to identify ranch animals and pets, on humans. Advantages include fast communication of critical patient data to medical teams, seamless payment and automatically opened doors. But skeptics warn of dire implications for privacy and ethics. Special correspondent Malcolm Brabant reports.

A Washington Post investigation found that a golf course owned by the Trump Organization employed about a dozen undocumented immigrants for years, firing them only recently and with no notice. After the news broke, Eric Trump announced the company would begin using E-Verify to confirm employees' legal status. David Fahrenthold, who co-wrote the Washington Post story, joins Yamiche Alcindor.

Sarah Smarsh is an author and a journalist whose environment as an adult diverges greatly from her childhood on a Kansas wheat farm. With exposure to extremely different regions and cultures within the U.S., Smarsh shares her humble opinion on why we should resist the temptation to reduce individuals with oversimplified labels based on where they live or how they vote.