stephanie sy has the latest.the decision on the ban has already been delayed after it was expected to go through last summer. white house officials are reportedly at odds over the political implications. but public health officials in the fda say a ban would save hundreds of thousands of lives. menthol cigarettes are a leading cause of death among black americans. 81% of black smokers use menthols compared to 34% of white smokers. and there is a reason for that, author of the book pushing cool, big tobacco, racial marketing, and the untold story of the menthol cigarette. thank you for joining the "newshour." start by giving us a sense of how great a toll menthol cigarettes have had on black communities. >> the toll is incalculable. that is to say smoking itself has exacted in a norm is toll in terms of lung cancer cardiovascular disease and a large range of other ailments across america. the menthol cigarette in the way in which the menthol industry has pitched the cigarette over decades to the black community ha

. ♪ vanessa: i'm vanessa ruiz, in for stephanie sy with newshour west.latest headlines. winter storms battered much of the country with everything from tornadoes to blizzards. one system killed at least 3 people in the south. heavy rain and several reported twisters struck the florida panhandle. hurricane-force winds peeled roofs off homes, downed trees, and knocked out power to thousands. in the midwest, more than half a foot of fresh snow fell in some areas, disrupting travel. interstates and schools were closed in several states, and over half a million homes and businesses lost power. senate republicans signaled today that congress will need to pass another short-term funding bill to avoid a partial government shutdown. they've agreed on overall spending, but need more time to pass 12 individual appropriations bills. senate minority leader mitch mcconnell said a short-term continuing resolution would get them past the looming january 19th deadline. >> they have a topline agreement. in the meantime, we need to prevent a government shutdown. and so the

stephanie sy has our report.after days of freezing cold and snow, major cities across the united states woke up to find schools and offices closed. more than 1,300 flights on the east coast were canceled. for many places on the east coast, including manhattan, it's the first significant snowfall in years. new york hadn't seen more than an inch of snow in 701 days. philadelphia has faced a similar snow drought. >> and my daughter's four. she doesn't remember the snow, so it is her first time actually checking it out. so yesterday, i said, "it might snow today, you guys." so, when they woke up this morning, i see snow all over the ground, they lost their minds. stephanie: in the country's interior, temperatures have stayed below freezing. a brief warm up is predicted, but a new surge of cold air is expected by the end of the week. wind chills in the rockies, great plains, and midwest plunged as low as negative 30 degrees. austin rowser is managing the snow removal in omaha, nebraska, where crews have been working o

stephanie sy dives into the rise of women sports and the fandom and how they move forward. >> i was atn 2017. stephanie: she is a diehard fan of women sports. >> i'm a huge wnba fan and women's basketball fan in general. stephanie: catching a women's basketball game at her local sports bar proved complicated. >> the experience has been walking into a bar, looking around at the 20 plus tv's and knowing it is very likely game you want to watch is not on tv. >> that is until she took a trip into portland oregon and walked into the first women's sports bar. >> it was transforming. it's not a sports bar for women, it is a bar for women sports. >> it was opened in 2022. she maintains the sports bar aesthetics keeps the tv's tuned only to women's sports coverage. but it took a game plan. >> if it was just what was on tv on cable, there would not be enough to open the sports bra. so i reached out to some of the bigger brands. while traditional broadcast media is often treated women's sports as a benchwarmer, new media has given it more play. >> streaming platforms have completely changed the g

for the pbs newshour, i am stephanie sy. request a cease-fire calls from city halls in cleveland and oakland to the mayor's office in dearborn shaken, we have more. >> dearborn michigan is home to one of the largest muslim and arab-american populations in the united states. since the israel hamas war began, the city's residents, many of whom have a personal connection to the region have urged president biden to endorse the cease-fire in gaza. the nucera has learned the president is planning a trip to michigan on thursday to rally with united auto workers after they endorsed his reelection bid. this comes after dearborn's mayor was one of several arab-american leaders who turned down a meeting with president bynes campaign last week and he joined me now. thank you so much for joining the newshour. bynes campaign manager visited michigan recently and met with leaders of various constituencies across the state. why did you choose to decline the invitation. >> i don't think this is a moment that because for house -- for partisan

stephanie sy has more.na, ohio governor mike dewine had blocked this bill late last month, saying parents and doctors should make decisions around gender-affirming care, not the state. but yesterday, the ohio senate overrode the governor's veto. the new law bans gender-affirming surgeries, new prescriptions for puberty blockers and hormone therapy, and restricts mental healthcare for trans minors without a parent's or guardian's consent. doctors who provide care in violation of the law can lose their medical license. it also bans trans women and girls from playing on women's sports teams in high schools and colleges. orion rummler covers all this for the 19th news. and joins us now. what kind of impact will this law have on transgender youth and and transgender athletes? orion: thank you so much. this law, which is important to remember it will not go into effect until late april, like you said, would prevent trans youth from accessing medication such as puberty blockers and hormone therapy as part of their

stephanie sy has our report.anie: after days of freezing cold and snow, major cities across the united states woke up to find schools and offices closed. more than 1300 flights on the east coast were canceled. for many places on the east coast, including manhattan, it's the first significant snowfall in years. new york hadn't seen more than an inch of snow in 701 days. philadelphia has faced a similar snow drought. >> my daughter's four. she doesn't remember the snow, so it is her first time actually checking it out. so yesterday, i said it might snow today, you guys. so, when they woke up this morning, i see snow all over the ground, they lost their minds. stephanie: in the country's interior, temperatures have stayed below freezing. a brief warm-up is predicted, but a new surge of cold air is expected by the end of the week. wind chills in the rockies, great plains, and midwest plunged as low as -30 degrees. austin rowser is managing the snow removal in omaha, nebraska where crews have been working overtime. >>

stephanie sy reports. >> with the israeli counteroffensive to the hamas terror attack, the plight of palestinians in gaza and the occupied west bank has taken on new urgency to activists like shareen, a cleveland resident with strong ties to palestine. >> we are struggling every day. i wake up every morning and think of my dad who is in the west bank and call him and say i'm going to check on you, make sure you are still alive. we are watching these horrific stories unfolding of our families back home. >> she's channeled her grief into protest. and lately the protests have found their way to an unlikely venue. cleveland city hall. >> if you see my humanity that the genocide of people who look like me, family members of 25,000 palestinians in the greater cleveland area will be worried -- to the city's empathy. >> since october, the week public comment, a form to vent about local issues, has been dominated by talk of a war on the other side of the world, says the council president. >> i will say approximately nine out of 10 commenters every week for the last four to six weeks have been

. ♪ vanessa: i'm vanessa ruiz in for stephanie sy with "newshour west."the latest headlines. 21 people were injured following an explosion this afternoon at a historic hotel in fort worth, texas. debris littered downtown streets outside the sandman signature hotel. rescue crews found people trapped in the basement. investigators believe natural gas caused the blast. a powerful winter storm walloped the country's mid-section, with some states expecting a foot of snow. blizzard warnings and other advisories were in effect across a swath of states from northeastern new mexico to northern michigan. in iowa, the snow could be followed by sub-zero cold for next monday's republican presidential caucuses. in ukraine, russia fired its biggest barrage of hypersonic and cruise missiles yet. more than 50 missiles and drones targeted a string of urban areas, from the eastern front to western parts of the country. in kharkiv, rescuers pulled one man from his destroyed home as a layer of snow began to pile up on the rubble. the combined strikes killed at least 4 people

. ♪ >> i'm stephanie sy with newshour west. the u.s.my has turned in another strong showing despite higher interest rates. the labor department reports employers added 216,000 jobs in december. the unemployment rate held at 3.7%. it has been under 4% for 23 straight months. polls show widespread public discontent with the economy. prices are on the rise again in europe after seven months of declines. inflation rose in december and could prompt the european central bank to delay cutting interest rates. in the middle east, israeli planes and tanks pounded refugee camps in central gaza overnight, sending more people fleeing south. thousands of demonstrators in jordan rallied to show solidarity with gaza. they demanded an end to israel's offensive and its western support. that came as antony blinken arrived in turkey on his latest trip to the region. security forces in iran have arrested 11 suspects after suicide bombings claimed by the islamic state group. at a mass funeral today, mourners wept over the victim's coffins. the child granted

stephanie sy looks into the problems for the panama canal. >> the canal with one of the most importantaterways in the western hemisphere and carries 5% of the world's maritime trade in 40% of u.s. container traffic. with water levels below normal, authorities are allowing 24 ships to cross a day. that means more delays and higher shipping costs. the authorities deputy administrator joins me from panama. thank you for joining the newshour. describe the severity of the situation at the panama canal. you are operating at a reduced capacity. 24 ships a day. do you expect the volume to go lower in coming days? >> good afternoon, happy to be here. no, we are forecasting we will stay at 24 until the end of april, beginning of may, when hopefully rainy season starts again. we have to reduce the amount of traffic because we are entering the dry season. we will have no rain whatsoever. we had a very dry season in 2023 because of el niÑo. he said that all over the world, not only panama. a number of transits and maintaining the 44 foot draft for our clients not to be impacted too much. we have le

but as stephanie sy explains, this championship game is the end of an era for college football with major year. stephanie: starting next year the college football playoffs will expand substantially, allowing a dozen teams to compete for the title. and that is just one of the dramatic changes affecting what has become an american pastime. just before the bowl season began, the ncaa president charlie baker unveiled a new proposal that would impact all college sports. it would allow division i schools to pay athletes directly for the first time. colleges that participated would have to set aside a minimum of $30,000 per athlete for at least half of all its athletes. schools also could have direct agreements with athletes over their name, image, and likeness. pat 40 is covering all of this, a senior writer for sports illustrated and joins us from houston. i am reminded about something deion sanders said recently about the conference realignments in college football. he said all of this is about a bag and everyone is chasing that bag. how does this new proposal by charlie baker affect the chas

amna: welcome to the “newshour”" stephanie sy with newshour west.d hamas are still locked in heavy combat tonight in gaza, but much of the day's focus has been on lebanon. a top hamas commander, saleh al arouri, was buried in beirut, after being killed in a suspected israeli drone strike. that attack on tuesday sparked fears of a regional war between israel and the lebanese militant group hezbollah, which is an ally of hamas. today, thousands turned out for arouri's funeral procession, waving palestinian and hamas flags. leaders of hamas insisted they are undeterred by his death. >> this crime will not affect the resistance nor hamas, because hamas has lost the best of its martyrs, including its founder, and continued in the resistance, culminating in the october 7 operation. it will continue, god willing, until liberation and return. stephanie: meantime, in gaza, israeli forces pressed their offensive, centering on the southern city of khan younis. the hamas-run health ministry reported another 125 deaths since wednesday. and in the occupied west b