September 12, 2019 - PBS NewsHour full episode

Trade tensions between the U.S. and China are not expected to ease anytime soon, and in New England, tariffs are clawing away at lobster profits. Lobstering is a $1.5 billion industry that helps keep Maine’s economy afloat. But due to China’s retaliatory 25 percent tariff on U.S. crustaceans, it’s Canada that is gaining the competitive edge. Economics correspondent Paul Solman reports.

In our news wrap Thursday, the Trump administration began enforcing a new asylum policy after the Supreme Court allowed it to take effect nationwide. The rule requires migrants who pass through a country other than Mexico before reaching the U.S. to seek asylum there first. Also, the number of people missing in the Bahamas has dropped to 1,300, less than half of what was previously recorded.

Thursday night’s debate is the third of the 2020 presidential campaign, but the first in which the 10 Democratic candidates leading most public opinion polls will share a stage. Lisa Desjardins joins Amna Nawaz from Houston to discuss the different format of this debate, what’s at stake for the candidates and whether it’s the end of the campaign road for candidates who didn’t qualify.

On Capitol Hill, Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee are emphasizing that impeaching President Trump is still a real possibility. In a party line vote, the committee passed a resolution setting rules for future impeachment investigation hearings, with Chair Jerry Nadler vowing to scrutinize presidential behavior that “poses a threat to our democracy.” Yamiche Alcindor reports.

The Federal Election Commission's mandate is to ensure that campaign financing is transparent and election laws are obeyed. Intended to have six members, the agency currently has only three -- and as a result, is unable to pursue the hundreds of election-related enforcement matters before it. Judy Woodruff sits down with the chair of the FEC, Ellen Weintraub, to discuss the current limitations.

For everyone old enough to remember September 11th, 2001, their experience of that catastrophic day is seared into memory. But details of what the victims, survivors and emergency responders endured have faded from national consciousness over time. Now, a powerful oral history from Garrett Graff, “The Only Plane in the Sky,” offers a lasting reminder of that pivotal moment in American history.

The war in Syria rages on, with President Bashar al-Assad's regime continuing its onslaught of airstrikes in northwest Idlib province -- the last rebel stronghold. Stephanie Sy reports and talks to retired Gen. Joseph Votel, who until recently oversaw U.S. military operations in the Middle East, about the outlook for a “political solution” in Syria, stability in Afghanistan and the threat of ISIS.