January 4, 2019 - PBS NewsHour full episode

President Trump called a Friday meeting with congressional leaders "productive," but it doesn't seem to have moved the government shutdown closer to a conclusion. The president also said he might declare a national emergency to build a border wall if Congress won't provide the funding he seeks. Meanwhile, Americans feel the shutdown's painful impact. Judy Woodruff talks to Lisa Desjardins.

In our Friday news wrap, the chairman of the Federal Reserve sought to ease Wall Street’s concerns over future interest rate hikes. Speaking at a forum in Atlanta, Jerome Powell said the Fed is “listening” closely to the market. Also, China announced that a U.S. delegation will travel to Beijing on Monday, to restart trade talks that have been stalled for weeks.

More than 300,000 jobs were created in December, doubling what was expected and signaling that the U.S. economy remains stable despite the recent market volatility and political tensions. In addition, wage growth was the highest it’s been in a decade. Amna Nawaz speaks with Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, for more on why this report contained “nothing but good news.”

Effects of the federal government's partial shutdown are rippling across the country. With USDA offices closed, farmers can't apply for loans or the federal aid President Trump pledged to offset losses from the trade war with China. IPO filings are delayed while the SEC is closed, and lack of trash collection has closed down the campground at Joshua Tree National Park. Judy Woodruff reports.

Vijay Gupta is a Juilliard-trained violinist who's been using music as a way to connect with L.A.’s homeless and incarcerated and promote healing. A movement that began with one Skid Row occupant has now evolved into a group of 80 musicians who perform in shelters, jails and treatment facilities. Jeffrey Brown talks to Gupta about abuse, dysfunction and how art became his "lifeline."

Dr. Jedidah Isler has an unusual job: she studies supermassive black holes in space (they're called blazars). She’s also one of the few black women in astrophysics and is trying to change that. Dr. Isler, Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Dartmouth College, shares her brief but spectacular take on why inclusivity is so important in science, technology, engineering and math.

Tensions between ranchers and environmentalists are nothing new in the American West, but in New Mexico’s Sacramento Mountains, climate change could be magnifying them. In the past few decades, the government has designated several native species of animal and plant as endangered, warranting protection that ranchers say violates the rights they were afforded generations ago. Josh Buettner reports.