the cal state east bay pioneers have a new mascot, perry, the peregrine falcon. students and faculty celebrated their chosen new mascot with a block party earlier today. cal state east bay says the name perry beat out more than 70 other submissions. the school says it's not intended to replace their longstanding nickname, the pioneers, but embodies the soaring spirit of cal state east bay's students. cbs evening news with maurice dubois and john dickerson is up next, local news always ♪ ♪ >> announcer: from cbs news headquarters in new york, this is the "cbs evening news." >> maurice: good evening.

i'm maurice dubois. >> john: i'm john dickerson. president trump today began the second month of his second term as head of the u.s. government, a government he is determined to shrink. >> maurice: and he got some help today from a federal judge in washington. the judge -- an obama appointee -- refused to stop the president's mass firings of federal employees. >> john: the judge said unions representing those workers must their claims of wrongful firings to the federal labor relations authority. the chairwoman of that agency, a biden appointee -- is one of the people mr. trump fired. >> maurice: since the president was sworn in, he has taken aim at the federal workforce of 2.4 million and fired, laid off, or offered buyouts to untold thousands, and we say "untold" because the white house is not telling us exactly how many as the job cuts continue. weijia jiang has been tracking down the jobs being eliminated and weijia, what have you found? >> reporter: we found there is a group of more than half a million workers vulnerable to

the administration's sweeping layoffs. and many serve in key positions across the federal government. for some who have already lost their jobs, they are now desperately looking for answers why. >> i'm really not sure what i'm going to do. >> reporter: katie sandlin is still living out of boxes after uprooting her life in carbon hill, alabama, last month, a town of 2,000, to work at the national institutes of health outside of washington, d.c. >> i wiped out my savings account. i maxed out my credit card. i had to take out a loan. >> reporter: but she called her job an opportunity of a lifetime, educating communities about nih research. >> people like me, where i'm from, rural alabama, these kind of jobs don't happen to people like me. >> reporter: three weeks later, sandlin became one of thousands of federal probationary workers to be fired. they had less than one or in some cases less than two years of experience and fewer protections from layoffs, making them easier terminate.mi.

i have a ton of debt, and i'm also losing my health insurance. >> reporter: did it ever cross your mind you could be fired in a second? >> that part never crossed my mind. >> reporter: did your supervisor give you a reason for why you were getting fired? >> they made it clear i was not being terminated because of anything that i had done. >> reporter: an hhs official sent sandlin letter saying "your performance has not been adequate to justify further employment at the agency." >> when i got it, it really upset me. because it felt ike it wasn't truthful. my boss, her boss, and even his boss all said that that was not true. >> reporter: our cbs news data team found that at the veterans health administration, which implements the health care program for vets, probationary workers account for 30% of the staff. at the department of agriculture, it's 19% of the branch that performs food safety inspections. when it comes to air safety,

about one-third of the tsa may be impacted. so far, 2,000 probationary workers at nih have lost their jobs. what does the public stand to lose with these widespread layoffs? >> we are important and we do important work. we're impactful. and if you have questions or concerns about federal workers, ask one. >> john: weijia joins us now. weijia, what does katie do now? >> reporter: she says she can't afford to move back to alabama after shelling out so much money to move here to the d.c. area, so she's focused on looking for a new job. but she points out how daunting that is, considering there are now thousands of federal workers in the same boat who are competing for those positions. >> maurice: weijia, you showed us how many probationary workers are potentially vulnerable. do we have any sense of any of them ending up like katie? like, how many that could amount to? >> reporter: just because they are probationary workers does

not mean they will automatically be fired. in fact, depending on the agency, some are considered critical and so they have exemptions. they can only be fired for poor performance or misconduct. in katie's case, she says it was neither. that lawsuit you mentioned was just one of several including class action lawsuits in the works. >> john: weijia jiang, thank you very much. >> maurice: one day after the angry exchange between presidents trump and zelenskyy over the ukraine war, zelenskyy met in kyiv with u.s. envoy keith kellogg. a planned joint news conference was canceled but zelenskyy said they had a good discussion and it gives him hope of reaching an agreement with the u.s. >> john: the ukraine war will be the topic when mr. trump meets at the white house monday with the president of france and thursday with the british prime minister. bob costa is in washington. bob, these leaders are coming to washington to talk to the president because even though there are diplomats in the region, the president is driving this diplomacy. >> that's exactly right, john.

there is growing alarm among so many american allies in europe about president trump's position on president zelenskyy and ukraine but there is an acceptance behind the scenes they have to come to the united states, have a meeting with him, convince him up close that he maybe could take a bit of a different direction and not try to just focus on the terms of a possible deal between russia and ukraine. they're working the phones and getting on the plane. >> maurice: bob, a lot of people watching all of this unfold might be wondering what is behind trump's embrace, it appears, of vladimir putin? what do you say to that? >> reporter: when i'm at the white house talking to sources, it's evident that so many people close to president trump don't see it as an embrace, as some kind of hug of vladimir putin. what they see is the president trying to cut a deal. a president who's transactional. as so many people close to trump put it, at the end the day, trump sees putin like he sees president xi of china,

like he sees kim jong un of north korea, somebody who's a strong authoritarian type leader, somebody he wants to work with one on one. he's not concerned about post world war ii foreign policy the usual perception of world order, he wants to do it his way and have his fingerprints all over it. >> maurice: okay, robert costa in washington tonight. thank you. >> john: now some of the top stories from around the world in tonight's "evening news" roundup. an unlikely site in virginia beach, virginia. snow on palm trees. a winter storm brought a foot of snow and is blamed for more than 500 highway crashes in the state. >> maurice: the longtime republican senate power broker mitch mcconnell chose his 83rd birthday to announce he will not run for reelection next year. the former majority leader has spent nearly half his life in the senate. >> john: mcconnell joined all but two republicans today in voting to confirm kash patel as fbi director. patel is a trump loyalist and a fierce critic of the bureau. before he was nominated, he vowed to "come after" those

who he called anti-trump conspirators in the government and the media. it was one month ago today on his first day in office that the president made good on his promise to pardon the january 6 rioters, all of them. >> maurice: today some of them gathered in maryland and scott macfarlane has more on that tonight. scott? >> reporter: a celebratory reunion of sorts for some january 6th riot defendants outside of d.c. they attended this conference at which vice president vance and the house speaker appeared and spoke publicly. that includes members of the proud boys group, some of whom were convicted of seditious conspiracy, conspiring to overthrow the government january 6th. they even posed for a photo. some of the january 6th rioters told us at first they were turned away from the event. but the conservative political action committee later issued a statement after getting besieged on social media about it, saying those reports are untrue "and we support

wholeheartedly president trump's pardons of january 6 victims." critics say this declaratively cements the whitewashing of january 6th. >> john: scott, the proud boys were convicted under the biden justice department. the u.s. attorney in washington is now seeking to take action against someone else. who's that? >> reporter: yeah, that u.s. attorney is named ed martin, he was a stop-the-steal advocate an election denier who defended january 6th rioters in their court cases. in a memo obtained by cbs news, he told his staff that he is going to focus inquiries on democratic members of congress. and whether they made threatening statements when criticizing judges and elon musk's government efficiency team. that new u.s. attorney will work with the new fbi director, kash patel, who, when he enters his office has that 5,000 person fbi agent employee list of january 6th investigators

who are concerned they will be retaliated against. >> john: justice correspondent scott macfarlane in washington. thank you, scott. >> maurice: still ahead, a break from the cold weather for much of the country. >> john: and we'll have these stories. >> reporter: i'm charlie d'agata in groton, connecticut. building submarines has become the navy's top priority. in tonight's "eye on america," we'll show you the surprising place shipbuilders are looking for the next generation of skilled workers. >> reporter: i'm debora patta in east jerusalem. a day of mourning across the country after the bodies of four israeli hostages are finally brought home. that's next on the "cbs evening news." the "cbs evening news." "cbs evening news." long-lasting eylea hd could significantly improve your vision. more people on eylea hd had no fluid in the retina compared to those on eylea at 4 months.

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bodies of 4-year-old ariel bibas and his 9-month-old brother kfir. israel says their mother shiri was not among them. the family has become an indelible symbol of the october 7 terror attack. as the convoy made its way into israel, mourners lined the streets to pay their respects. the fragile cease-fire in gaza is approaching the end of its first phase. on saturday, six more living hostages are expected to be freed. yael alexander's son edan will not be among them. >> every release of course i'm crying and i'm feeling it's very emotional. i also cry because it's not edan. it's not my boy. >> reporter: originally from new jersey, edan is thought to be the last living american hostage. he volunteered for the israeli army after finishing school and is only due to be released in the second stage of the deal.

negotiations for that have not yet begun. >> reporter: do you feel the israeli government owes you something? >> of course. he came to protect israel. where was israel? they need to protect him. they need to bring him home. >> reporter: her message for prime minister benjamin netanyahu: "you cannot stop negotiating now." >> imagine it was you. imagine you were the father. your son is held in gaza tunnels, alive and still waiting to be released. why do you postpone it? do it. >> maurice: debora patta joins us now from east jerusalem. debora, you have reported from the region many times, and with this news today, what are you noticing, if anything, about the mood of the israeli people? >> reporter: for the past five weeks, the images of those red cross vehicles in gaza, waiting for another hostage exchange have been a symbol of hope here.

hostages released alive after more than 15 months in captivity. today really marked the first time that hamas has released the bodies of dead hostages. it signifies the very sobering reality that there will be more hostages coming home in coffins. for some families, there will be no longed-for reunion with loved ones. >> john: debora, what's the prospects for that fragile cease-fire as it moves into its next phases? >> reporter: john, the next round is going to be a lot harder. israel and hamas want very different things. we have heard one hamas commander say they are prepared to release all remaining hostages in one go in exchange for a permanent truce and a full withdrawal of israeli troops from gaza. that's a nonstarter for israel who has said it will accept nothing less than the complete demilitarization of gaza with no hamas presence at all. we are right back to that thorny

question of who is going to control postwar gaza. >> john: debora patta in east jerusalem, thank you. >> maurice: it was another day of bitter cold for much of the country, but warmer weather is coming. >> john: lonnie quinn is off tonight. filling in, albert ramon, chief meteorologist at cbs news chicago. albert? >> we have good news especially for the end of the weekend into next week. let me show you. the artic air map. there is the arctic air tonight. by the time we head towards late this weekend, into monday that is going to retreat up towards the north. much improved conditions especially as we head towards monday and tuesday. we got to get through tonight, though. cold-weather advisories, from the outer banks of north carolina all the way to texas. lows tonight breaking records. in the 20s tonight in charleston. temperatures will be in the teens in places like memphis and birmingham. but take a look at omaha. not a windchill. an actual air temperature. 11 below zero. that is 30 degrees below average for this time of year. we'll break a record set

107 years ago. this is one of the coldest winters in years. if you're wondering new york city, d.c., boston, we got to go back to 2014 to 2015. austin, we had that arctic air mass with ice. this is your coldest winter since 2021. back to you guys in new york. >> maurice: with those eye-popping cold temperatures, it's only going to get warmer we know that much. but how much warmer? >> monday, how about mid 70s in austin, texas? low 70s in places like tulsa and also in oklahoma city. bismarck though, 50s. that is an 87-degree warmup from the coldest temperatures you had this week to low 50s as we head to monday afternoon. back to you guys. >> john: that's quite warm. albert ramon, thank you. >> maurice: "eye on america" is next. next. next. and i was done settling. if you still have symptoms after trying a tnf blocker like humira or enbrel, rinvoq works differently.

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for a new generation of workers to build submarines. the navy has ordered 29 nuclear subs and the company that makes them has schoolkids on its sonar. charlie d'agata has tonight's "eye on america." >> reporter: at charles barnum elementary school in groton, connecticut... >> there are a lot of pipes on a submarine. >> reporter: these fifth-graders are learning about submarines. >> we are going to build some of these periscopes. >> it's actually working! i can see alexander! >> reporter: this is the beginning of a recruitment effort by general dynamics electric boat, groton's biggest employer and the navy's biggest submarine builder. >> people sometimes are like why are you in the elementary schools? 2033, the people we're hiring, some of them are in fifth grade right now. >> reporter: courtney murphy is in charge of bringing new workers to electric boat. >> what do you need right now? >> trained workers, welders, machinists.

>> reporter: that training is well underway at nearby ella grasso technical high school. students here work with the same state-of-the-art equipment they use at the shipyard. they learn to work in hot, cramped spaces, similar to submarines. xiamir fletcher is a senior. what is about welding that drew you to it? >> it makes me focus. once you start welding, that's it. you're dead-set on welding. >> reporter: it's part of a national effort by shipyards and the navy to bring on 100,000 skilled workers over the next ten years. they're urgently needed to build a new fleet of nuclear missile submarines and smaller fast-attack subs. to do that, electric boat needs to more than double production. >> it is the navy's number one construction priority. that's how important it is. >> reporter: admiral william houston heads the navy's nuclear powered fleet. what is it specifically about submarines that make them so

critical to what you need right now? >> they can go anywhere, anytime and hold an adversary at risk. they can just watch what you're doing. and you don't even know they are there. >> reporter: the problem? the navy says it doesn't have enough of them. electric boat is ramping up to meet that national security challenge, a challenge adam chioccola and emma isbell are happy to take on. >> it's a lot of stress, but the more you do it, the easier, the more natural it gets. >> i know there's a lot of pressure but you guys are making it sound like fun. >> oh, it's so fun. >> you gotta have fun. that's what takes the pressure off. >> there's not a lot of people in the world that can say they build nuclear submarines. like, it's pretty cool. >> reporter: as far as the navy's concerned, there aren't enough people who can say they build nuclear submarines. the future of the fleet is riding on it. for "eye on america," i'm charlie d'agata in groton, connecticut.

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>> reporter: a slight improvement. >> slight improvement, yes. >> reporter: at st. peter's tonight, father enzo fortunato a close aide to pope francis is encouraged by news of the pontiff's condition despite the lack of specifics and just a couple of rief updates a day. >> the mood at the vatican is very tranquil. >> reporter: tranquility may be the message from inside the vatican, but you'd never know that from outside rome's gemelli hospital, where a hungry media circus devours every word. >> we have little information. >> reporter: fabio marchese ragona is the pope's biographer and a correspondent for italy's mediaset channel tg-5. what is the result of so little information coming out officially? >> it's really hard to work. because with

good evening, i'm juliette goodrich. san francisco's historic precidio is the latest to be affected by president trump's cuts. >> we are going to fight with everything we've got to protect you and your homes but in this case, it's hard to fight

against nothing. >> why some are calling this latest executive order all bark and no bite. and thieves seen breaking into a san jose food store in the middle of the night and it didn't end there. what happened a few minutes later adding insult to injury. and the sound of music created from trees that may pose a risk if they are not taken down. >> this tree we are going to take down today and repurpose the wood for tailored guitars. >> the pioneering collaboration to help the environment that's hitting all the right notes. this is cbs news bay area with juliette goodrich. >> good evening. elon musk wielding a chain saw on stage at the conservative political action conference in dc, touting the trump administration's federal cutsy,