January 9, 2023 - PBS NewsHour full episode

President Biden and his Mexican and Canadian counterparts kicked off a leaders summit where migration will be a key issue. The talks come after Biden made his first visit to the southern border since taking office. Sunday, he joined border patrol agents at the ports of entry in El Paso, Texas, and met with migrant advocates and local officials. White House Correspondent Laura Barrón-López reports.

In the first big test of Kevin McCarthy's speakership, the House is voting on a controversial rules package that will set the procedural plans for this new Congress. The package includes provisions from closed-door deals made with hardliners in the Republican conference, conditions that many worry could lead to more gridlock. Congressional Correspondent Lisa Desjardins reports.

A watchdog group filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission accusing newly sworn-in Rep. George Santos of illegally using campaign funds and masking the source of those funds. The North Shore Leader, a small paper on Long Island, broke the scandal before the November election. By the time other outlets picked it up, Santos had been elected. Grant Lally joined Geoff Bennett to discuss.

Contractor and U.S. Navy veteran Mark Frerichs was kidnapped and held hostage by Taliban forces for over two and a half years. He was released as part of a prisoner swap last September and is now adjusting to freedom and life back in America. Amna Nawaz went to Lombard, Illinois, where he’s staying with family, to sit down with Frerichs for his first television interview since being freed.

She’s been called one of the most damaging spies in U.S. history. Ana Montes passed secrets and information to the Cuban government for almost 17 years until her arrest just days after the 9/11 attacks. After nearly two decades behind bars, she was released from prison on Friday. Jim Popkin chronicled Montes' fascinating story and joined Amna Nawaz to discuss his new book "Code Name Blue Wren."

The CDC is investigating a rise in severe cases of strep throat among kids in the U.S. Several children’s hospitals across the country have reported an increase in strep cases since November, including in Colorado where two children died. Dr. Peter Hotez of the Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development joined Geoff Bennett to discuss.