Six minutes of news from around the nation.

Colbert says CBS scrapped his James Talarico interview after Trump FCC's threats; NYS takes oversight action on DHS while federal reforms stall; TX Latino communities encouraged to continue the fight for clean air; NC police department tracker tech raises constitutional questions.

TRANSCRIPT

The Public News Service Daily Newscast for February the 18th, 2026.

I'm Mike Clifford.

Stephen Colbert taped a Late Show interview with James Tallarico, a candidate in the Democratic Senate primary in Texas.

But he says CBS lawyers intervened before the interview could air on TV.

Colbert told his viewers Monday night, "We were told in uncertain terms by our network's lawyers, who called us directly, that we could not have him on the broadcast."

That's the take from CNN.

They report CBS told a different story.

The network said the late show was given legal guidance but not prohibited from broadcasting the interview.

The controversy stems from the Trump administration's intensifying pressure against broadcast TV networks.

Meantime, New York is one of many states committing to oversight of federal Homeland Security officers.

It comes as reforms for ICE stall congressional budget talks forcing the department to temporarily shut down.

Governor Kathy Hochul is championing a bill to end agreements allowing local law enforcement to be used in federal immigration raids, but Julieta Lopez with the Hispanic Federation says other bills like the New York for All Act must also be passed.

The New York for All Act looks to protect immigrant New Yorkers by preserving the state and local resources for communities to ensure the dollars allocated for New York aren't being used to carry out any kind of immigration enforcement issues we're seeing.

She notes some local directives on immigration enforcement are based on political leaning, not what's happening on the ground.

14 New York law enforcement agencies in nine counties have signed 287(g) agreements with ICE, authorizing local law enforcement to work alongside them.

While both bills have sizable support, the unfamiliarity of the 287(g) program makes it challenging to pass them.

I'm Edwin J. Viera.

Next, groups across Texas continue to push back against the Trump administration's revocation of the endangerment finding, a 2009 ruling that determined six greenhouse gases were a threat to public health and welfare.

The EPA uses the finding to regulate gases under the Clean Air Act.

Hilda Berganza with the Hispanic Access Foundation says the change will adversely impact Latino communities in Texas and nationwide because many are in frontline areas.

1.8 million people or more than that. and Latinos live in the US within a half mile of an oil and gas facility, which then increases their odds of health problems, including respiratory illnesses, cardiovascular disease, anxiety, depression, and preterm birth.

The foundation released an air quality study last year that showed at least three Latino communities in Texas have unsafe levels of microscopic airborne pollutants known as PM2.5.

During a press conference, President Donald Trump said the finding was not based in fact.

I'm Freda Ross reporting.

This is public news service.

The police department in North Carolina's capital has purchased tracking technology that critics say could violate people's rights.

The Raleigh Police Department has acquired technology from the private company Starchase, which the department says will make high-speed chases safer.

The technology uses a GPS tracker that is fired from the front of a police vehicle and attaches to the back of the moving vehicle they're pursuing.

Attorney and head of Emancipate N.C., Don Blagrove, says attaching a device to someone's car is a form of search and therefore could infringe on protections against unreasonable searches under the Fourth Amendment.

The Raleigh Police Department requires much more extensive training and oversight before it be given the broad breadth of violating someone's constitutional rights by unilaterally deciding that they are going to deploy a tracking device that will track someone who is a suspect in a crime."

A more than $170,000 donation from the Raleigh Police Department Foundation is being used to purchase the technology.

I'm Eric Tegethoff reporting.

Next to Minnesota, where the Public Utilities Commission meets tomorrow.

There's a request to reconsider regulators recent approval of the high-profile sale of Minnesota power last fall The PUC signed off on a deal for global infrastructure partners to purchase the utility as major owners.

The environmental group Cure petitioned the state to reconsider claiming revelations about Minnesota Power linked to a controversial data center project at a winter meeting hosted by Cure Duluth community organizer Brandon Parker said he worries such projects will drive profit motivations.

They see a massive return on investments with increasing power consumption of hyperscale AI data centers.

The company filed a response ahead of this week's hearing, arguing Cure's petition fails to meet the PUC standard for reconsideration.

I'm Mike Moen.

Finally, vehicle collisions with wildlife injure and kill hundreds of people and animals each year in Utah.

Conservation groups say building more wildlife crossings could limit the cost and the carnage.

Bill Penning in the Utah Legislature would establish a fund dedicated to building wildlife crossings to keep animals off the state's highways.

Susan Bell-Lingenfelter with the Utah Wildlife Federation says these crossings are the most effective way to keep animals and cars apart.

The most obvious example is every year that we get a good hard snow, we're starting to see elk come out on I-80 and it disrupts the traffic between Salt Lake and Park City, which is a pretty important arterial.

Studies show that the thousands of animal collisions cost the state $137 million a year in health care and property damage, and they also hurt the hunting and agricultural industries.

Mark Richardson reporting.

This is Mike Clifford for Public News Service

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