January 30, 2020 - PBS NewsHour full episode

U.S. senators are preparing for a critical vote on whether to allow new witnesses to testify as part of President Trump's impeachment trial. On Thursday, they had their second and final chance to ask questions of House impeachment managers and Trump's legal team. Amna Nawaz reports on their different interpretations of truth, and Lisa Desjardins and Yamiche Alcindor join Judy Woodruff to discuss.

With only days remaining before the Iowa caucus, President Trump traveled to Des Moines Thursday to rally his supporters. Trump’s campaign events are known for their raucous energy and concert-like atmosphere, in contrast to the small, intimate gatherings that 2020 Democrats are holding as they head into primary voting. Stephanie Sy reports from the Drake University site of Trump’s rally.

Malcolm Gladwell is an acclaimed journalist, author and host of the podcast “Revisionist History.” In his latest book, “Talking to Strangers,” he explores how humans tend to misjudge each other during their first encounters, often perceiving conflict and danger where none exist. Gladwell shares his Brief But Spectacular take on intimacy, judgment and how to talk to people we’ve never met before.

This week has seen the rapid spread of novel coronavirus both within China and internationally to at least 14 other countries. On Thursday, the World Health Organization declared it a global public health emergency. As the U.S. records its first confirmed person-to-person transmission, William Brangham talks to Dr. Anthony Fauci of NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

In President Trump's impeachment trial, senators had their second and final opportunity to ask questions Thursday. The Brookings Institution’s Margaret Taylor, former chief counsel and deputy staff director for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and John Hart of Mars Hill Strategies, who worked for Republican Rep. Tom Coburn when President Clinton was impeached, join Judy Woodruff to discuss.

Economist Robert Frank studies peer pressure and how its power can be leveraged for good. In his new book, “Under the Influence: Putting Peer Pressure to Work,” Frank explains the idea of “behavioral contagion,” which he says can drive people to do what’s right. Paul Solman talks to Frank about applications for fighting climate change and real-life examples in Frank's hometown of Ithaca, New York.

In our news wrap Thursday, the World Health Organization has declared China's outbreak of novel coronavirus a global health emergency. The illness is still spreading both within China, which has confirmed more than 7,800 cases and 212 deaths, and worldwide. Also, a woman who says President Trump raped her in the 1990s, E. Jean Carroll, is asking for a sample of his DNA to try to prove her claim.