>> john: welcome to "cbs evening news plus." i'm john dickerson. president trump, elected on the promise that he would tame inflation, admits that his tariffs will raise prices but

promises a host of wonders in the future. the west coast gets hit with heavy rain and snow. the storms trigger mudslides in california and a massive crash of cars and trucks on an icy interstate in oregon. cbs's carter evans has the latest on the dangerous weather. and our in-depth focus tonight is on health care for the unhoused. elise preston rides along with an organization in los angeles that provides care for thousands of people experiencing homelessness. those stories and more right after our news headlines. ♪ ♪ >> congratulations, mr. secretary. >> john: the senate voted 52-48 to confirm robert f. kennedy jr. as health secretary. kentucky senator mitch mcconnelo who had polio as a child, was again the only republican to vote no on a trump nominee. he says kennedy has a "record of trafficking in dangerous conspiracy theories." it's those theories many

debunked by science that caused all democrats to oppose the son of one of their party's heroes. hamas says it will free more israeli hostages this weekend as planned, but is the plan still in effect? hamas accuses israel of holding out aid that was a condition of the cease-fire deal. and president trump appeared to have given israel a green light to break the cease-fire by saying unless hamas released all hostages this weekend, that all hell would break loose. and police in munich, germany, are investigating a car attack that wounded 30 people. the annual security conference where the top foreign policy and military leaders of the u.s. and europe convened. including vice president j.d. vance, secretary of state and secretary of defense. police say that 24-year-old suspect is an afghan asylum seeker with a criminal history. the fbi is now assisting with the investigation. ♪ ♪

president donald trump announced a plan for reciprocal tariffs on u.s. trading partners, marking another step in his challenge to the economic consensus that tariffs increase consumer prices. the announcement comes one day after new inflation data showed persistent price increases across the economy. during an oval office presentation, trump asserted that the tariffs would boost job creation. cbs news white house correspondent weijia jiang attended the announcement and joins us with more details. weijia, catch me up. we had the first the tariffs against mexico, canada and china. then the steel and aluminum tariffs. what flavor are these? >> reporter: john, these are global tariffs that are meant to retaliate on any fees that are put on u.s. exports, and so what the president signed today was not exactly an executive order that has any real teeth but it does direct his trade officials and his economic team to put

together a study for him to look at all the countries that have tariffs on u.s. goods and decide how they want to retaliate. so even though the nominee for commerce secretary, who is yet to be confirmed, by the way said they hope to have that given over to the president by april 1st and that means he could impose some of these tariffs by april 2nd. there's not even a real firm timeline, john, for when they could go into place. >> john: so this is the announcement before the announcement. so why make the announcement? what's behind this timing? >> reporter: well, we know, john, that trump uses tariffs as as a political tool. and there's a lot of time right, between now and then. so the hope is that some of these countries will take action preemptively, perhaps lower the rates already that they have on u.s. exports because they had administration said that they are open to not retaliating or to equaling the playing field so i think this is another strategy for trump to try to

shrink some of those deficits that he is always complaining about. >> john: and there was a press conference that you joined with the president and the prime minister of india modi what took place at that? >> reporter: well, john, what's remarkable about these foreign leader press conferences is that president trump has now taken the wheel. typically these are two by two. that means the u.s. president calls on two reporters and so does the foreign leader. but in this case, and in the other two press conferences that he's had, it's trump calling on everybody. and i can tell you that the prime minister of india has learned the language of trump. he said maga plus miga. make india great again. equals mega. mega cooperation, mega deals. he wants to warm up to president trump because the president says there will be no

exemptions of those retaliatory tariffs, including on india. >> john: okay, maga and miga we will have to sit with that. thank you so much, weijia jiang. leaders from american allies meeting in munich trying to catch up to the elements coming out of washington ever since donald trump announced he is in talks with vladimir putin on ending the war in ukraine. samantha vinograd is a former homeland security official and a cbs news contributor. she is joining us from washington. sam, you have been on the phone with sources today trying to gauge the response for national security community to developments here. what are you hearing? >> well, i'm hearing broad-based concern from foreign counterparts as well as really a bipartisan set of stakeholders here the u.s. about both the choreography of trump's outrage outreach as well as the substance of what he is saying vis-a-vis the war in ukraine. president trump spoke first with president putin of russia, not

president zelenskyy of ukraine, despite the fact that obviously president putin is the aggressor in the ongoing war, not to mention the fact that the united states has given about $175 billion worth of assistance to ukraine to try to stem the war. and placed russia under crippling sanctions along with our european partners so there's broad-based concern that president trump and secretary of defense hegseth are diminishing ukraine's negotiating position. if talks do start. and also concern about who might be part of those negotiations themselves. would european partners be at the table? would ukraine be invited? would this really be a bilateral trump to putin discussion? >> john: on the question of europe, europe has some history with invaders, so they are particularly nervous about talking to russia. what are some options for them if they are not in the

conversations, as it looks like they kind of aren't at the moment? >> well, the united states is by leaps and bounds the biggest provider of foreign assistance to ukraine. europe does give a lot of money relative to their own gdps but it pales in comparison to the u.s. contributions. europe could in some way up their own contributions to the ukraine if the united states withdraws support. there is an outstanding question as to whether the europeans would follow suit if the united states lifted sanctions on russia if trump negotiates some kind of peace deal with vladimir putin. for example, president trump secretary of defense pete hegseth had said it was unrealistic that ukraine would ever return to its 1991 borders. the europeans don't agree with that so may not follow through on any commitments made as part of a peace deal if they don't agree with the terms. >> john: sam vinograd for us. thank you. an atmospheric river is bearing down today bringing with it

heavy rains, evacuation orders and flash flood warnings. a setback for an area still reeling from devastating wildfires. cbs's carter evans is in los angeles pacific palisades neighborhood with the latest. >> rain would normally be a welcome relief for fire ravaged south california but this storm could be a nightmare on top of a disaster. it's only been a month since the devastating wildfires tore through altadena, pacific palisades, and malibu. now with warnings of heavy rain triggering mudslides, crews have raced to put sandbags in the fire zones. in malibu, the first sign of trouble: rocks starting to% tumble down. i am surrounded by bare hillsides, practically no vegetation to hold the dirt in place. they prepositioned some heavy equipment. look at this. a home spared by the fire, now they're just trying to protect it from the mud. evacuation warnings are now in place for communities next to

the burn scars, including along pacific west highway where we met chloe castillo with cal fire. >> i don't know. i look at that, and it's scary. >> definitely scary. it's scary for the residents that live there. the fire came and then immediately came the rain. there was no time in between so yeah, this probably is worst-case scenario. >> reporter: the fear is genuine. seven years ago, one of the most destructive wildfires in california history consumed parts of santa barbara county near the town of montecito, less than a month later, torrential rains triggered a mudslide that killed 23 people, wiping out more than 100 homes. an altadena, chris and anastasia mazella were surveying, few to survive the wildfire. >> the anxiety, the anxiety and the fear and it still is running through us all especially on a day like today. now you have a second potential

disaster that you're facing. >> reporter: leaving many wondering how much more trauma they can endure. carter evans, cbs news. pacific palisades, california. >> john: now three things to know. the war in gaza contributed to a record number of journalists being killed last year. the committee to protect journalists says at least 124 media workers were killed around the world, about two-thirds were palestinians in gaza. the previous record was 113 journalists killed in 2007 during the iraq war. americans' credit card balances have hit an all time high of more than $1.2 trillion, according to the federal reserve bank of new york. overall household debt is also at a record high, more than $18 trillion. this surge in consumer debt suggests many americans are struggling to keep up with rising costs. and check this out. a humpback whale briefly swallows a kayaker before releasing him unharmed. it happened last weekend off the patagonia region of chile.

the young man's father captured the moment when he thought he had been eaten alive. both made it safely to shore. we don't know if the young man's name is jonah. coming up, a sharp drop in the number of college aged students has the u.s. on the edge of it demographic cliff. and we will also have this stor. >> i am elise preston in los angeles where we take a ride with street medics who are prov ing care to the unho

>> john: more than 700,000 americans experienced homelessness last year. in tonight's in-depth, cbs's many lack adequate medical care. in tonight's in-depth, cbs's elise preston found one initiative in los angeles where the doctors aren't in the house. they are in a van searching for their next patient. >> who are we seeing next? >> we're going to be seeing isabella. she has been hit by a car a couple ago. >> reporter: catherine parsikian and her team at health care and action provide medical care. >> there she is. >> reporter: those living on the streets in los angeles. >> how is your knee doing? >> reporter: the team

treats isabella for chronic pain, substance abuse, and mental health. she escaped domestic violence last year and has been unhoused since. >> i was in an encampment and i came up to one of those workers and i said can you please help me. they said sure, we can help you. >> reporter: you are getting emotional. >> yeah. because they are so amazing. they helped me. in my darkest hour. >> reporter: it's help that routinely comes to wherever the patients are, in encampments on sidewalks. many patients are seen weekly. >> you think about something as simple as using insulin. people on the streets don't actually have refrigerators with they can actually store their insulin so you actually need to find creative solutions to be able to help them. >> reporter: the doctor launched the program more than three years ago to combat the growing gap of people without stable housing and medical care. today the nation battles an all-time high. nearly three quarters of a

million people are experiencing homelessness. why do you say at core it's a health care issue? >> i think many people find themselves homeless because they had a health event, could be a behavioral health issue, could be a chronic disease that goes untreated. >> the ultimate goal is to get people off the streets. >> i was just trapped in a nasty addiction. i continued to try to end my cycle of homelessness but i kept failing. >> reporter: the case manager eric knows the hurdles firsthand. >> there's no way our patients can burn bridges with us. sometimes they might not want us to come back but we'll just let them know that hey, we are here in case you change your mind. >> reporter: hia provides continuous care for at least 3500 people. >> usually when people interact with unhoused people, there is no interaction. >> people don't look at you. people don't talk to you. we don't get a hug often. this is patient centered care. we want to make sure you're getting what you need and we are doing what is going to make you the most comparable. the most comfortable. >> we are just one patient interaction away in some cases from actually solving these

people's problems. >> it's a good step forward. >> reporter: on this day, they% found isabella a shelter. housing and health care providing hope. elise preston, cbs news. los angeles. >> john: still to come wh the dwindli for all those making it big out there... ...shouldn't your mobile service be able to keep up with you? get wifi speeds up to a gig at home and on the go. introducing powerboost, only from xfinity mobile. now that's big. xfinity internet customers, cut your mobile bill in half vs. t-mobile, verizon, and at&t for your first year. plus, ask how to get the new samsung galaxy s25+ on us.

>> john: the country is headed towards a cliff, a demographic cliff. over the next decade there will be fewer 18-year-olds available to fill the nation's universities. an analysis of census data projects that by 2039, the pool will drop by 15% every year thereafter. in tonight's interview, jeff strohl, director of georgetown's center on education in the workforce, explains

what it means for america's future. jeff, colleges and universities have been experiencing an enrollment dropoff that's known as the demographic cliff. can you explain to us what that is? >> yeah, what we are having overtime in the united states is declining population. we just hit the marker where our high school class is going to go down in absolute terms. it then affects enrollments in colleges. the demographic cliff spreads wider than that. i often think about that enrollment decline as a small stream into a big pond because we've been having these demographic declines for some time and they are just catching up with us now. >> john: how long have we been seeing this come? are colleges prepared for the demographic cliff? >> they're not as prepared as one might've thought they would be. because we've known this has been coming, but people have treated it as 2042 is where people have talked about the united states becoming a minority-majority nation et cetera, et cetera.

but it's here today. this is the beginning of what's going to be, i think, a major crisis. >> john: jeff, this challenge to college enrollment that we are talking about, this is really about american opportunity, right? i mean, college was a road to opportunity in america. what's the health of that road to opportunity in the context of these challenges to enrollment? >> i would say with the demographic cliff that is coming at us right now is we are going to be leading into skills shortages. we are not going to have enough college-educated workers. b.a. and beyond. it will increase the opportunity potentially for the students who are coming in. for the u.s. economic growth, i think it's going to be more troubling, because under the current circumstances, we are going to fall well short of the college-educated that we need for more a complex and quickly moving global economy.

>> john: when you talk about the skill gap that will grow. how much is it hastened by the fact that people are talking about artificial intelligence unleashing something more disruptive even to the job market than the industrial revolution? >> i'm always hearing this every day. i say ay-ay-ay. ai. we in the united states have faced several similar waves. be it automation, be it off shoring. in each case, we had extremely large estimates about how much impact it's going to have. so i'm one of the skeptics about just how big the impact of ai will be and i think our future forward is working with ai, learning how to use it as a tool in preparing the next generation of the workforce for working with it. we can fear it as replacing but i tend to suspect that's not going to be in the main. yes of course there's going to be substitution.

we've always had structural change in the u.s. economy and we have bounced back. so i think that the american workforce can learn to use ai as a tool which then will enhance productivity and facing this demographic cliff, we've seen in japan they've been very successful in integrating technology to maintain productivity and benefit both the workers and the economy. so there is a hopeful future. we can talk about armageddon. but i prefer to be more optimistic than that. >> john: jeff strohl of georgetown university. thank you so much for being with us. >> thank you very much. >> john: and we'll be right back.

>> john: now a story for anyone who has ever thrown away something of value by mistake. in 2013, james howells, a welshman, placed an old hard drive in a garbage bag, didn't mean to throw it out but his partner at the time thought he did and took it to the local dump. on the drive, howells realized was his only copy of a 51 character private key to his bitcoin wallet. he did the math. access to millions in bitcoin were on that drive. ever since, he has tried to coax the local dump into letting him hunt for his drive of gold among the sneakers, the aluminum cans and the cracked flowerpots. no dice. the dump won't let him stir up the trash because they say it's an environmental hazard. i've followed the story for years because i'm attached to

notebooks but i lose them a lot which means periodically i'm seized with a frenzy to search for them. he's offered the dump all manner of solutions. robot dogs, artificial intelligence. the dump won't budge but "the new york times" reports howells is tried one last gambit, to buy the entire dump. even if he could, it's not certain he would be able to find the drive or retrieve the key but as anyone knows who has tipped the trash can on the front lawn to swim through the rubbish for a family heirloom, the expenditure may be worth the psychological satisfaction of at least being able to look. and that's tonight's "cbs evening news plus." i'm john dickerson. good night. thanks for joining u

we'll hear from residents keeping a very close eye on the rising waters. >> that's right before it comes in the garage. you just never know when it's going to stop. powerful winds and the saturated ground leaving some big problems in the east bay, we'll get to the root of the problem and show you some of the trouble spots. >> have a go bag ready. we're concerned about bauer lines coming down as well. plus, we'll take you to the sierra. look at that. they're getting blitzed with what could be so far the biggest snowstorm of the year. from cbs news bay area, this is the evening edition. we begin with that powerful storm causing all kinds of problems across the bay area. we're not done yet. >> good evening. i'm ryan yamamoto. let's give you a live look across our region from san francisco to the south bay and san