January 4, 2021 - PBS NewsHour full episode

In our news wrap Monday, the United Kingdom imposed a new lockdown as the coronavirus variant spreads, Washington, D.C. activates National Guard ahead of expected protests against certifying President-elect Biden's win, a British judge refuses to send WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to the U.S., and Iran says it has ramped up uranium enrichment as the country seizes a South Korean tanker.

The U.S. is stumbling out of the gate in getting the COVID-19 vaccine distributed in 2021, as a more contagious variant of the virus spreads around the country. Dr. Robert M. Wachter, the head of the department of medicine at the University of California at San Francisco, joins William Brangham to discuss the vaccine rollout, and why he thinks the U.S. should delay a second round of COVID doses.

President Trump's hour-long phone call with Georgia's secretary of state over the weekend and his requests to change the vote count have raised a number of legal questions. Rick Hasen, an election law professor at the University of California, Irvine, and author of the book "Election Meltdown," joins Judy Woodruff to discuss.

Lawmakers returned to Washington, D.C this week, but control of the U.S. Senate still hangs in the balance. It all comes down to two senate runoff elections tomorrow in Georgia. Lisa Desjardins reports on the final push for control of the Senate.

NPR’s Tamara Keith and Amy Walter of the Cook Political Report join Judy Woodruff to discuss the latest political news, including the U.S. Senate races in Georgia, Trump's call to the Georgia secretary of state, and how some Republicans are continuing to question the election results.

In a world of Zoom and FaceTime, conversations may be more critical than ever to find connection. Designer Fred Dust shares his Brief But Spectacular take on how we can all communicate better together.