♪ geoff: good evening. i'm geoff bennett. amna: and i'm amna nawaz. on the news hour tonight, donald trump begins to choose the people who will carry out his foreign and national security policies, including marco rubio as secretary of state. geoff: we hear from newly

elected republican and democratic members of congress on what they hope to achieve in washington. amna: and, iranians react to the re-election of donald trump. what it could mean for their country and their lives. >> we're stressed out about war, worried about new sanctions that we have no doubt will come, worried about cost of living. for eight years, it's been like this. ♪ >> major funding for the "pbs news hour" has been provided by -- with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. and friends of the news hour, including kathy and paul anderson, and camilla and george smith. >> the charles f kettering foundation. working to advance inclusive democracies.

learn more at kettering.org. >> it really matters when you have the opportunity to give back. >> being part of something that's bigger than myself. that's what brings not -- brings me happiness. >> being able to integrate your career with these other things that are important to you. >> this is our community too and we want to participate and give back to it. >> people want those in -- those opportunities to make many impact and a difference. >> the john s and james l knight foundation fostering an and engaged communities. more at kf.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. ♪

>> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting, and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. amna: welcome to the news hour. a second donald trump administration is taking shape, one new appointee at a time. today, the president-elect tapped more of his closest allies to fill some of the government's top posts. geoff: among them, senator marco rubio, putting trump's one-time foe on track to becoming the first latino to serve as the nation's top diplomat. laura barron-lopez has more. laura: from 2016 rivals -- >> thank you for running, mr. president. laura: to loyal surrogate on the campaign trail. florida senator marco rubio is now slated to join

president-elect donald's cabinet. pbs news can confirm trump will nominate rubio for secretary of state of foreign policy. he's known as a china hawk. but after trump's win, he pledged a "pragmatic approach." rubio largely sees eye-to-eye with the president-elect on a number of issues, including more recently on russia's war against ukraine. >> what we are funding here is a stalemate war and it needs to be brought to a conclusion, because that country is going to be set back 100 years. laura: also today, trump announced his pick for the u.s. ambassador to israel, former arkansas governor, mike huckabee. an evangelical christian, huckabee has long been a vocal supporter of israel. as recently as june, he opposed cease-fire efforts between israel and hamas. trump said in a statement that huckabee "loves israel, and the people of israel, and likewise, the people of israel love him. -- love him." as for trump's secretary of homeland security, another loyalist. >> the only person in the race that i trust to do what needs to be done on these issues is

president trump. laura: multiple reports say trump has picked kristi noem, south dakota's republican governor for the job. like rubio, noem stumped for trump on the campaign trail and was herself an early contender to be his running mate. noem has echoed trump's anti-immigration rhetoric and she, along with trump's so-called border czar, will be critical to fulfilling a top campaign promise, mass deportations, on day one. tom homan, the former acting director of immigration and customs enforcement, or i.c.e. will step into that role. on fox news last night, he sent a stark message to all undocumented immigrants. >> if you're in the country illegally, you shouldn't feel comfortable, absolutely not. when you enter this country illegally, you have committed a crime, you are a criminal and you're not off the table. laura: one by one, the positions are filling out but still, the house of representatives hangs in the balance with more than a dozen races too close to call. >> we have an embarrassment of riches. laura: speaker mike johnson is confident republicans will retain their control, even as

trump pulls from their ranks, and narrows the margins. >> many of them could serve in really important positions in the new administration. but president trump fully understands and appreciates the math here. it's just a numbers game. we believe we're gonna have a larger majority than we had last time. laura: one of those appointees is new york representative elise stefanik picked to be the u.s. ambassador to the u.n. she's a staunch defender of trump, dating back to his first impeachment. trump today named three term florida representative mike waltz as his national security advisor, leaving another house seat up for grabs. waltz is a retired army national guard officer who served multiple tours in afghanistan and like senator rubio, another china hawk. and lee zeldin, a former representative from new york, was chosen to lead the environmental protection agency. he has little to no experience in environmental issues.

but he will be critical in trump's pledge to dismantle the epa's climate rules. >> day one and the first 100 days, we have the opportunity to rollback regulations that are forcing businesses to be able to struggle. advancing america first policies is one of the reasons trump got elected. laura: for the pbs news hour, i am laura barron-lopez. geoff: president-elect trump announced he is appointing -- mr. trump announced another major selection, john ratcliffe, is the director of the cia. foreign affairs and defense correspondent nick schifrin is here with more on the president-elect sticks. what should we know? nick: ratcliffe was director of national intelligence in the last year of the first trump administration. trump ally, who is involved in the intelligence community in the past, told me this is a

credible, knowledgeable, and excellent choice. back in 2020 when he was initially nominated, there was bipartisan criticism and any attempt to kill his nomination by the senate intelligence chairman, senator burr, and the vice chairman, senator warner, over concerns he was not qualified for the job, and over concerns about inflating his resume. that was then. he did become director of national intelligence. a u.s. official today said some of the concerns about him where that he believed cia was part of a "deep state," trying to take down donald trump, as trump when he nominated ratcliffe, at first he set the intelligence community agencies had open run amok." and ratcliffe would rein them in. it appears he will be back to do that. geoff: ok. nick schifrin, thanks as always. nick: thank you. ♪ amna: we start the day's other

headlines with the aid situation in gaza. the state department says the u.s. will not limit arms transfers to israel, after the country made some progress in boosting aid to the territory. the u.s. had threatened to do so a month ago, if the situation did not improve. international aid organizations, however, say the israeli government has failed to meet u.s. demands for more humanitarian aid to gaza, where conditions are at their worst point in 13 months of war. at the state department today, officials defended their decision. >> we would like to see some more changes happen. we believe that had it not been for u.s. intervention, these changes may not have ever taken place. but most importantly, we want to see continued progress, and that's what we're looking for. amna: meanwhile in gaza, a pair of israeli airstrikes killed at least 14 people today. hospital officials in the southern city of khan younis say two children were among the dead. most of the fatalities took place in an area that israel had declared a humanitarian zone.

the israeli military had no immediate comment on the strikes. separately, a rocket fired from lebanon killed at least two people in northern israel today, part of an ongoing exchange of fire across the israel-lebanon border. also today, israel launched attacks on the suburbs of lebanon's capital. one hit an apartment building east of beirut, killing at least six people. a new york judge is delaying a decision on whether to uphold president-elect donald trump's hush money conviction by a week. judge juan merchan was scheduled to decide the future of the case today, but is giving both sides more time following the supreme court's recent decision on presidentail immunity, and trump's election victory. his lawyers argued the case should be dismissed outright, seeing it's "necessary to avoid unconstitutional impediments to president trump's ability to govern." trump is due to be sentenced later this month following his conviction in may on 34 counts of falsifying business records.

he denies any wrongdoing. a federal judge has sentenced a former massachusetts air national guard member to 15 years in prison for leaking classified military documents about the war in ukraine. jack teixera pleaded guilty earlier this year to six counts of willful retention and transmission of national defense information. he was arrested in april of last year, and admitted to sharing sensitive defense secrets on the social media platform discord. it was of the most significant national security leaks in years. in louisiana, a federal judge has blocked a law that would force public schools to display the 10 commandments in classrooms. a coalition of parents from different religious backgrounds sued the state, saying the measure violated their first amendment rights. their attorney called today's decision a reality check for louisiana lawmakers who want to use public schools to convert children to their preferred

brand of christianity. the case is the latest in a series of republican efforts to insert religion into public schools. louisiana's republican attorney general plans to appeal. the head of the church of england stepped down today amid pressure to resign over an abuse cover-up scandal. an investigation found that justin welby failed to report a serial physical and sexual abuser to police when he became aware of it back in 2013. in a statement, welby says he takes personal and institutional responsibility. adding "i hope this decision makes clear how seriously the church of england understands the need for change." as archbishop of canterbury, welby served as the symbolic head of the anglican communion, which has more than 85 million members in 165 countries. police in china say that least 35 people were killed and dozens more injured when a man drove

his car into a crowd of people at a sports complex. the incident happaned on monday night as people were exercising in the southern city of zhuhai. locals paid tribute to the victims at a makeshift memorial tonight. police have detained a 62-year-old suspect who they say was upset over his divorce settlement. for the first time, a jury has found a u.s. defense contractor legally responsible for contributing to the torture of detainees at abu ghraib prison during the iraq war. virginia-based caci must pay $42 million in damages to three plaintiffs who said they were beaten and sexually abused at the infamous facility. one of the men, seen in the foreground of this courtroom sketch, wearing glasses wrote, "this victory is a shining light, and a strong warning to any company or contractor practicing different forms of torture and abuse." caci is widely expected to appeal. on wall street today, stocks retreated from recent records.

the dow jones industrial average lost more than 380 points to close back below the 44,000 point level. the nasdaq slipped about 17 points on the day. the s&p 500 also ended slightly lower. and we have a bit of nostalgia for you, with this year's entries into the national toy hall of fame. three playtime favorites made the cut, the phase 10 card game, transformers action figures, and my little pony. it was a long ride for my little pony, which once outsold even barbie herself. the pastel ponies needed seven tries before finally reaching the winners' circle. those three beat out nine other finalists. they included pokemon trading cards, hess trucks, and classics like balloons, the trampoline and the stick horse. maybe someday. still to come on the news hour, what trump's pick to lead the epa signals for environmental rules and regulations .

amid political shakeups, we speak with the family of hostages still held in gaza. and renowned fiction writer john grisham chronicles the real-life stories of people who were wrongly convicted. >> this is the pbs news hour from the david m. rubenstein studio at weta in washington and in the west from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. geoff: newly-elected house members won't take their seats until january but are on capitol hill this week for orientation a congressional crash course of sorts. republican congressman-elect rob bresnahan is among them. he flipped his district, representing the northeast corner of pennsylvania, from blue to red and joins us now from capitol hill. congratulations on your win and welcome to the news hour. rep. bresnahan: thank you for having me. appreciate the current -- the congratulations. geoff: you successfully defeated

a six time democratic incumbent. what was different about your approach? rep. bresnahan: we ran on kitchen table issues. we ran off an economy that works, borders that are secure and communities that are safe. we talked about the significance of making life affordable again for the people of northeastern pennsylvania i don't know if there was a magic sauce, but i don't think we over complicated it. we knocked on over 50,000 doors. we drove over 50,000 miles. we talk to real people. we talked to our veterans, senior citizens who are deciding between buying prescription medication, paying for heating their home. we talked to the -- talk to the real language to the people on the streets. people were frustrated, concerned and scared about their future. geoff: to what extent do you attribute having donald trump atop the republican ticket? he won pennsylvania with the most votes any gop presidential candidate has ever received in pennsylvania. rep. bresnahan: donald trump also won my district in 2016.

he won it in 2020, and he won it in 2024. we were the first candidate to be able to tale donald trump and put up enough of a margin to be able to successfully win the seat. we had to run a good campaign. we had to stay on our message. we had to interact with the people of northeastern pennsylvania and have a message that would resonate. geoff: when your constituency will help make their lives more affordable, what specifically are you and the expected gop house majority planning to do that? rep. bresnahan: i can talk about me specifically. something i am a big believer in is a balanced budget. i am also a big believer on energy being the biggest derivative of the escalation of the cost of inflation. northeastern pennsylvania one into homes are heated by natural gas. pennsylvania, the national -- natural gas industry, $76 billion in gdp and $45 billion in payroll.

being able to generate natural gas and the fracking industry specifically from within pennsylvania will be a big driver. also, working on advanced manufacturing, working on economic opportunities beyond, you have skilled trade and i am a big believer in infrastructure, reinvesting into northeastern pennsylvania. rebuilding northeastern pennsylvania. it will certainly add to the economic opportunities. geoff: i want to draw on your business background and talk about trump's promised tariffs. he has pledged to slap 60% tariffs on all goods coming in from china, and from percent tariffs on goods imported from everywhere else. pennsylvania could be hit hard. it has a big manufacturing industry, steel, agriculture. how concerned are you about the impact of president-elect trump 's second round of protectionist trade initiatives? rep. bresnahan: we have to be cognizant of the idea of the fact that people are struggling inside of the district. it is something that over the

next two weeks we will have down here, but we will watch carefully. obviously, people in my district are choosing between heating their homes, prescription medication, putting fuel in their vehicles, buying groceries. anything that is going to escalate the cost of living is certainly going to be a lot harder for me to wrap my head around. like i said from day one, i am about -- i am fiscally conservative, but at the end of the day, i have been elected by the people of northeastern pennsylvania. we have to put america first. we have to put our constituents first. that's something i will make decisions on every single day. geoff: as a newcomer to congress, what did you make of the high degree of dysfunction within the republican conference? rep. bresnahan: i filed to run october 2 of last year and the first day on my campaign trail was the speaker mccarthy vote. i remember looking out my fiance at the kitchen table saying, this is exactly why i need to

run. i never ran for public office before. i'm a political outsider. you look at the frustrations of what is happening in washington, d.c. i was felt it was broken, that congress was not working for the people of northeastern pennsylvania. you look around and you see election press conference after election-year press conference. ultimately nothing is getting done. it certainly leads to a level of frustration. i have always been a person to roll up my sleeves, to whom much is given, much is required. it is a big reason why i ran for congress. geoff: congressman elect rob bresnahan, thank you for being with us. rep. bresnahan: thank you for having me. amna: the 119th congress will have several members whose elections made history. one of them is sarah mcbride. a state senator who won delaware's at-large seat and the house and becomes the first openly transgender member of the united states congress. she joins me now. thank you for being here. >> thank you for having me. congratulations.

we should note you defeated your republican opponent by a comfortable margin. this also happened in the backdrop of a campaign that specifically included a lot of anti-transgender tv ads by the trump campaign. what does your win say to you about your constituents? rep. mcbride: i think this election, this result, reinforces what i have seen throughout my life. which is that delaware ian's are fair-minded. in our state of neighbors, we judge candidates based on their ideas and not their identities. i ran on my track record of bipartisan results in the delaware state senate. passing the largest investment in our state's medicaid or grandsons the affordable care act passed. on what i would do in congress, to focus on bringing down cost facing families, providing childcare and health care to every single one of my neighbors. voters responded to that, even with all of the anti-trans ads. i was not hearing about them on the trail. what i was hearing about is the need to make the american dream

more affordable and accessible for everyone. amna: let's talk about what you would be able to do in congress. as we sit here, it is likely you will be in the minority in the house. you will have republicans controlling the senate, republicans controlling the white house. what is realistic and achievable for you in the way of policy goals? rep. mcbride: democracy only works if we are willing to not only have conversation across disagreement but work across disagreement. i'm proud during my time in the general assembly, nearly every bill i introduced and passed, past bipartisan support. i am ready to roll up my sleeves and work with anyone who is willing to work with me to help delaware. given the results of the election, that is often going to mean standing up to the trump-vance administration and their attempt to undermine workers and retirees. where there are opportunities to find common ground, sometimes on their issues outside of the headlines -- amna: what are some of those issues?

rep. mcbride: in delaware, i was able to work closely with our conservative republican leader and the state senate to expand access to oral health care in rural communities. i would love to continue to work on issues that matter to delawarians across of delaware. i am going to look for those opportunities on a whole host of issues that make a difference in the lives of my constituents. they might fall outside of the traditional ideological and partisan battle lines. those are issues where you can find common ground with republicans. i look forward to building relationships and building trust and respect with colleagues on the others i do the aisle. we can't give up on our capacity to find durable bipartisan solutions for this country. amna: i have to ask you, donald trump and jd vance made a part of their campaign message and a strong part of their closing message a lot of anti-trans rhetoric. they spend millions of -- of ads around these messages.

a lot of your colleagues to be echo those messages. and share those views. how do you work with them? rep. mcbride: i think the ones that are particularly consumed with fomenting and manufacturing the culture wars, those folks are professional provocateurs parading as public officials. they are not willing to work with any democrat, they can barely work with her own republican colleagues. there are real differences of opinions on lgbtq equality. i'm used to working with people who not only disagree with me, but disagree with me on fundamental issues to my own life. but that is how we make government work better. it is by recognizing i might disagree with you on every other issue, but the one right before me, and i have to seize that opportunity to make that progress. amna: in the wake of a decisive victory by former president trump, there is a lot of soul-searching, finger-pointing within your party. there is this consensus that democrats are out of touch with the voters and what matter to

them in the selection. do you agree with that? how do democrats course correct? rep. mcbride: when i was campaigning in delaware, i was not hearing about these attacks on trans people. i was hearing about the cost of living. i was hearing about the need for a little child care, housing and health care. amna: should democrats have leaned into those issues more? rep. mcbride: i think vice president harris did lean into those issues. i think we can put forth a bolder agenda that is -- that matters to people. i think what we need to address is a bigger problem in our politics. all of us have to do a better job of seeing the very real pain that exists across this country, across the political divide, and living the truth that we don't have to believe that people are right for what they are facing to be wrong. we do not have to believe that they are right for us to right that wrong. i think they can do a better job of demonstrating that radical compassion and radical grace in our politics. amna: congresswoman elect sarah

mcbride of delaware, thank you for being here. welcome to washington. rep. mcbride: thank you. ♪ amna: as we reported, president electrons need team will include a former republican congressmen to head the environmental protection agency. william brangham takes a closer look at the stakes for energy and environment and the climate. william: that nominee is former representative lee zeldin of long island, new york. he has been a staunch trump ally. trent has called climate change a scam and has argued addressing it hurts american business and consumers. this comes as scientists say 2024 will likely be the hottest year in recorded history. to understand what this means for the country and the climate, we are joined by coral davenport of the new york times. so nice to see you again.

as you are reporting showed, it was not unusual pick. not someone shown a lot of interest or expertise in the climate. one of the major initiatives we know he will likely undertake is what donald trump has said all along, that he wants to undo biden's signature environmental law. the inflation reduction act which plowed 100 billions of dollars into this green energy transition. if trump has the son and likely the house, how likely is it that lee zeldin and trump will be able to undo that act? >> it is interesting. president-elect trump has been clear. he wants to undo or repeal the ira. biden's signature climate law, historic climate law. that is not something that can be done with executive authority. the president can't just say, make the law go away. he will need both chambers of congress and even then, even with the republican majority, it is not entirely certain that

that will happen. remember, with the republican efforts to undo obamacare, the health care law, in the first trump administration, they had both chambers of congress trying again and again to repeal it. and did not have the votes. william: the famous john mccain thumbs down moment. >> exactly. in this case, one thing that is interesting about the ira is so much of the clean, green energy money is by design, 80% going into republican districts. a lot of money is flowing into clean energy factories in republican districts. those factories are being built, have been built, theyre already creating jobs. it is not at all certain that there will be a republican majority to take that money away. it will be very interesting to see. that political resilience is built in to the structure of the law. it will be interesting to see

the contrast between the money going into districts and the loyalty to trump, and how that plays out in the fate of that law. william: grain money into red districts. there are other plans to get out of the paris climate agreement, to eliminate any so-called environmental justice initiatives, to perhaps even move the epa out of washington, d.c. are there any things the biden administration can do before it gets out of office to solidify its environmental legacy before trump comes in? >> biden administration was pretty clear i'd about the possibility that this would happen. that there would be a second trump administration. i have been working for the past couple of years to try to legally shore up their climate protections. one thing they did is in all of these climate regulations they put in place, they put back the old ones and made them stronger. a big regulation designed to

compel americans into electric vehicles. very controversial. trump has been clear about wanting to get rid of that. other regulations on shutting down coal plants, eliminating pollution from oil and gas drilling. they have worked incredibly hard on legally bulletproofing those regulations. we had an early sign that some of that has been effective. one example, one of these big regulations designed to shut down coal fire power plas, there was a request to put a pause on that. there is litigation against it. this up in court denied that request. -- the supreme court denied that request. the oldman arbiter will be a supreme court that has a conservative super majority, including justices appointed by former president trump. it's not a sure thing. but that is certainly within the biden administration, they were trying to prepare. william: trump selection comes at this critical moment. the human's annual client -- the human's annual climate is

happening now. we also know there is the belief that we have to cut our pollution by 50% compared to 20 years ago. trump's election seems to upend america's commitment to all of that. what are the global stakes here? >> president-elect trump has been clear he will do what he did in his first term, which is withdraw the united states from the global paris accord. he did that his first term. as an put the u.s. back in. trump is going to pull back out. this time, it seems likely trump will not just pull the u.s. out from the agreement, the accord but from the underlying united states -- united nations legal structure for that entire court, which would make it difficult for the u.s. to ever rejoin. it would be a much more permanent step.

the message that stent -- that sends to the rest of the world is very much the days of thinking that the u.s. will ever be a reliable partner on addressing global warming are over. the u.s. will never have credibility in this space again. as you say, it is coming at a crucial moment. scientists say there are five years left, by 2030, the major economies have to cut their admissions in half. the u.s. will not meet that target. william: thank you so much. >> always great to be here. ♪ geoff: president-elect trump's team coming into focus, one priority will be confronting and increasing pressure on iran. how does that look and feel to ordinary iranians? special correspondent or sport -- reports. nick: -- reporter: at the nazari street bakery in the capital tehran,

iran's famous barbari flatbread is always the right choice. but for bakery owner taher ali nazari, america's election of donald trump was a choice between two evils. >> the people are smarter than those talks about whether trump one or didn't win. whether the democrats won or the republicans. like they say, they are both as bad as each other. reporter: at friday prayers, a weekly gathering of iran's ultraconservatives, many said trump's victory over harris changes nothing in u.s. policy. >> it doesn't matter if it is democrats or republicans. nothing will change. >> there are two -- they are sides of the same coin. two their objectives are the same. they either want to sanction us or start a war. reporter: while many here downplayed the victory, others said, oh no, not again.

>> we laughed. it was the laugh that comes with the loss of hope. reporter: mehrab kaboli is ceo of a tehran-based engineering firm. kaboli says he was pulling for kamala harris, and what he viewed as the democrats softer stance on iran. >> right now, we expect things to get worse because it was during trump's last term when iran couldn't sell oil. during biden's presidency, the restrictions were mewhat eased. that made circumstances more tolerable. reporter: last month, a u.s. government report showed iran's oil sales, its leading export, topped $50 billion in 2023. an almost three-fold increase from trump's last year in office. in his first term, mr. trump made it clear, he was cracking down on iran oil exports. and he did. it was a key objective in his so-called maxium pressure campaign, a strategy designed to use aggressive sanctions to rein

in iran's nuclear program and support for its regional proxies like hamas and hezbollah. critics say the strategy failed. iran continued to fund its proxies and expanded its nuclear program after trump pulled out of the iran nuclear deal in 2018. many iranians say it is the people who felt the pain through record high inflation and cost of living. >> there's no certainty when you make economic decisions and more importantly, sanctions have directly impacted our work. reporter: isn't trump the more favorable candidate? >> it doesn't make a difference. reporter: he says iran has soften the impact of sanctions by strengthening economic ties with major powers like russia and china. >> what the united states is doing right now, not just to iran but to russia to many countries across the world, is

that they are creating an incentive for countries to move away from the united states so we are in the process of doing that. u.s. sanctions don't have the impact they had before. reporter: but one day after the trump victory, fears of a return to trump's maximum pressure campaign dropped the value of iran's currency to an all-time low. at the persia gym in tehran, top trainer soroush and his clients are bracing for trump and more sanctions. >> based on what we experienced during his first four-years, he is going to increase pressure. >> nothing good will happen when it comes to our livelihood. things will get worse. reporter: behnaz shafiei is iran's first ever female professional road racer. when she's not weaving the hillsides of northern tehran on her sport bike, she's training other women to follow in her

footsteps. shafiei says trump's win means more stress. >> we are stressed out about war. worried about new sanctions that we have no doubt will come. worried about the cost of living. for eight years, it's been like this. confusion. not knowing what to do. and now, there is the added worry of war. reporter: that fear of war has intensified with iran's support for hamas in the aftermath of its october 7tattack against israel and direct missile exchanges with tel aviv. but reyhaneh tabatabai has a glimmer of hope. tabatabai is a reformist journalist who spent two years in jail for what iranian authorities called propaganda against the regime. she says trump's promise to end the wars in gaza and ukraine, and his long-standing call for talks with tehran could be a path to better relations. for that to happen, tabatabai

says, the iranian government must show political will. >> i have to be hopeful that my government wants to do something. this decision has to be made within the islamic republic. the people of iran want the right to have a life. whether it's trump, harris or anyone else. any negotiations have to be with the objective of improving the lives of the people of iran. reporter: for now, the people of iran can only hope. last week, the justice department reported on an alleged iranian plot to assassinate trump. in response, the iranian foreign ministry said the allegations were lies and demanded president elect trump to stop what tehran calls the genocide in gaza. >> what the international community expects with new and previous governments as an end to the genocide and war crimes

in the instability of other parts of the region and western a -- western asia. reporter: stark reminders that in trump's second term in office, the 45-year conflict between washington and tehran is likely to continue. for the pbs news hour, i am reza sayah in tehran. ♪ amna: today, president biden met israeli president isaac herzog in the oval office, and reaffirmed his "ironclad commitment to israel." much of the administration's focus on gaza right now is about humanitarian aid, but both -- but they'll does -- but they also discussed the israeli hostages in hamas. nick: it has been 403 days since october 7th, 2023, when more than 250 men, women and children were abducted from israel and taken to gaza. the israeli government says hamas is holding 101 hostages in

gaza. and today, herzog said while the day after the war was important, the war would continue until the hostages return home. >> clearly you're thinking and working about the day after as well, which perhaps should be a trajectory of hope to the people of the region. and the ability to have our neighbors as well as us live in security and peace, but first and foremost we have to get the hostages back. pres. biden: i agree. nick: one of the most devastated communities on october 7th was the kibbutz nir oz. of 400 residents, more than 50 died on that day and afterward in gaza, and about 100 were kidnapped, including brothers yair and eitan horn. joining me is dalia cusnir, yair and eitan's sister in law, who also met president herzog yesterday. thank you very much. welcome. >> thank you so much. nick: how are you doing? >> very bad appeared we are all devastated. we are very -- we need good

news. we need to bring them home. and this is going to be are key to start rebuilding our live. nick: is there any hope? do you feel like there is any progress being made at all? dalia: i feel that maybe with the change of government, i don't want to go into politics because i am not a u.s. citizen, but i do feel a change just for the fact that it is a change might bring something good in this period in between the outgoing administration and the incoming one. it might be a good time for us. nick: president trump has criticized the "very bad picture." he has also said israel needs to finish the job quickly. why do you have some hope, or do you have any faith that a new administration can do something different? dalia: i think trump has said he wants to end the war and if you want to end this conflict right

now and bring a cease-fire, first they need to release the hostages. this is my hope. as trump and other countries, we both want to bring a cease-fire, they should push toward a deal. nick: until then, the war will continue until the hostages can come home. there is still some 70 days left until the trump administration takes over. you met president herzog. dalia: we cannot wait until the inauguration we need the administrations to work together to solve it. trump and biden and netanyahu, everyone. this is a historical moment. a change can be made. we met herzog yesterday and he is committed to bringing a deal and doing everything he can. it is complex. it's hard. but he is with us and he is bringing our voice to wherever he goes. like the meeting he had with president biden today. nick: you say herzog is with

you. he is the head of state, the head of government in israel. the government is run by the prime minister, benjamin netanyahu. do you believe the netanyahu government has done all that it can to release your brothers-in-law and all of the hostages? dalia: that is a very hard question. i believe they can do more. i believe that netanyahu government has waited too many days and they have put of the things ahead of the hostage deal. now that everything is solved, we want to believe, but we need also the u.s. government to help bring a deal that israel will accept, and bring an end to the suffering of so many people. for us, the family of hostages, we need to see our loved ones. but we also want to bring a time of being able to start healing

for the palestinians in gaza. they are also being held by hamas. i trust the head of the security system in israel when they say that now is the time for a deal. and israel can deal with whatever implication it might bring. releasing those terrible -- but also withdrawing our forces to the border which is not just bringing back people. it is bringing the value of life, it is bringing back security to the israeli society. nick: you mentioned the suffering of the palestinian people in gaza. the united states today has indicated it will not declare that israel has been "arbitrarily blocking aid into northern gaza." where little aid has gotten in the last few weeks. the u.s. will not block any weapons shippen -- shipments to israel. do you agree with that? dalia: i agree the u.s. should

be supporting us and not blocking weapons to israel. israel is fighting, israel is the doorkeeper of the entire free world. and the poor people of gaza remain in terrible conditions of hunger and starvation. but because hamas is using them. geoff: i wonder if we could end with what do you want everyone to know about your brothers-in-law? dalia: i want everyone to know that they are the most amazing, huge hearts. that all they want in this life is to make people happy. and they are the most amazing uncles to my two little children, and we miss them so much. and we won't stop. we won't stop until we have everyone back home. nick: dalia cusnir, thank you very much. dalia: thank you. ♪ geoff: when the organization

centurion was founded some 40 years ago, it was the first group of its kind working to overturn wrongful convictions for people facing execution or life sentences. decades later, as the death penalty continues to be carried out in some states and debated in others, it's work continues. a story now told by its founder and one of today's most popular novelists. senior arts correspondent jeffrey brown reports for our series, art in action, exploring the intersection of art and democracy, part of arkansas arts and culture coverage. jeffrey: in 2021 larry walker left a pennsylvania state prison a free man. after serving 38 years following a conviction for murder. on this day, he was visiting friends at centurion, the princeton, new jersey group that took on his case and finally convinced a judge, and even walker's trial prosecutor, that

his conviction had been based on the weakest of evidence and a flawed defense. >> i've always heard it happens to other people. but when it had happened to me, you know, reality just set in. but i don't know exactly when i look back, you know, how this happened. jeffrey: in the new book "framed: astonishing true stories of wrongful convictions," centurion's founder, jim mccloskey, and best-selling novelist john grisham, show how it happened come in 10 separate harrowing cases. >> we want to educate the public and those who administer the criminal justice system that this kind of thing, wrongful convictions, is far more common than you would ever believe. >> it's a huge problem we have. people don't believe that these cases happened. they don't believe there are thousands of innocent people in prison. jeffrey: because it just feels impossible? >> they trust the system. jeffrey: in their book and in public appearances, as here at

princeton's nassau presbyterian church, they offer case studies of men and women, black and white, failed by the system. while also relating their own paths to a personal commitment to help others. how, at age 38, after working in the business world but wanting more meaning in his life, jim mccloskey entered princeton theological seminary, and served as a student chaplain at trenton state prince it -- state prison. where he met jorge de los santos, who insisted on his innocence. >> after months and months of talking to him about his case, reading his transcripts, he asked me a question, after thanksgiving in 1980. he said, jim, do you believe i'm innocent? i said, yeah, i believe you're innocent. then he said, well what are you going to do about it? go back to your nice seminary in princeton and pray for me? that is nothing to get me out. he challenged my faith. he really shook me up. jeffrey: that challenge would grow into centurion, where volunteers pour through old court filings and correspond

with inmates before any decision is made to take on a case. and staff members work to help people post-release. >> so, your brother couldn't use any help on his food truck? jeffrey: to date, centurion has won the freedom of some 71 people. now led by executive director corey waldron. working through old-fashioned on-the-street re-investigations of old cases, often 20 years after a conviction, mostly without available dna tests, looking for new or missed evidence or misconduct by police, prosecutors or courts. john grisham took a different path, he had been a young lawyer and state representative in mississippi before turning to fiction. with thrillers from "a time to kill," and "the firm," up to this year's "camino ghosts." some 51 books, many turned into films, that have sold more than 300 million copies. his early experience as a lawyer

led him to believe the system did work. until he came upon a 2004 obituary of a man named ron williamson, who spent 11 years on death row and came within days of being executed before dna evidence cleared him. the story of how that happened became grisham's first nonfiction book "the innocent man." >> itas a shock at every turn. every time i researched that case, which was, you know, for 18 months, i found something new every day that i just couldn't believe. but that case took me into the world of wrongful convictions, something i had never thought about before. and once i got there, i'm still there. jeffrey: every case of wrongful conviction has its own details, its own twists and turns. but john grisham and jim mccloskey, who retired in 2015, see routine patterns, including evidence tampering, coerced interrogations that lead to false confessions, an overreliance on untrustworthy witnesses and junk science, and racial bias. each chose and wrote of five cases. there have been questions in the

media about grisham's overuse of reporting and language of others, without sufficient attribution in the new book. in response, he cites 8 pages of footnotes and citations and stands by his work. the book delves into the legal nuts and bolts and narrative drama of each case. mccloskey says the real crime malfeasance, is plain to see. >> they are astounding, the ineptness and the corruption and how the police and the prosecutors went after completely innocent people who had no criminal records, were clean as a hound's tooth. and how they just with zeal went after to either send them to death row or send them away to prison for life for crimes they had absolutely nothing to do with. >> my name is off today but there are still many many men and women in prison. jeffrey: larry walker was fortunate in one way, he had the support of friends and family. but in 1983 his murder conviction was largely based on

the testimony of two witnesses. another witness said walker was not among the three men she had seen fleeing the attack, but police never identified other suspects. over years of work on the case, centurion staff led by legal director paul casteleiro and investigator alan maimon documented the narrow investigation, shoddy defense walker received, and other factors, leading the current philadelphia district attorney's office to agree that a troubling confluence of circumstances had led to walker's arrest and conviction. they called for his release and a judge agreed. and walker was freed in 2021. >> ellis was one of the first women that i meant. jeffrey: his daughter sharena and he say they sought for years to get lawyers, the courts, anyone, to hear and help him. until centurion took his case in 2012. >> as time went on, my faith and

my hope was getting less. but until centurion eventually accepted my case. and then i, you know, i had my faith and hope grew. >> i felt like we had the lottery. jeffrey: the lottery. because before that? >> i mean, i'm 44. and at the time, i was only two and a half when my father was falsely convicted of a crime he didn't commit. so, you know, of course, as time goes on, you know, the case gets older, so evidence can possibly get lost or misplaced. whatever the case may be. and it was like, there was no hope. so they gave us hope. they gave us hope. they gave us my father. they brought him home. because it was without them, we wouldn't be here. jeffrey: larry, 38 years of your life. are you bitter? >> i'm bitter because of what, you know, was taken from my family, from my son and daughter and my mother and my father.

i'm not bitter because i have faith, you know, that things happen for a reason. i'm just really more, more thankful than to be bitter, you know. jeffrey: grisham says every wrongful conviction case deserves a book of its own. >> the elements are there for great storytelling. there's great drama, injustice, corruption, loss, perseverance, maybe redemption, maybe not but these elements go into a story that are just gravy for a writer. jeffrey: these cases matter profoundly for the individuals involved, and their families and friends. but mccloskey and grisham make a larger case, why it should matter to us all, going to the heart of how democracy works or doesn't. >> i would think the public and the world wants to know how accurate its criminal justice system is. and if it's flawed, then let's lay it out on the table and point out its flaws and its deficiencies. because the last thing in the world anybody wants, regardless of their political affiliation,

is for an innocent person to be wrongly convicted and sentenced to death or to life. who would want that? who would be proud of that? >> our democracy is based on the rule of law. you can't have a criminal justice system that's grossly unfair, that convicts innocent people interns the other eye to guilty people. if that happens, and it does happen, if it happens too often, then the whole rule of law starts to crumble. and it's the cornerstone of our democracy. jeffrey: for the pbs news hour, i am jeffrey brown in princeton, new jersey. geoff: that is the news hour for tonight. i am geoff bennett. amna: and i'm amna nawaz. on behalf of the entire team, thank you for joining us. >> major funding for the pbs news hour has been provided by -- >> consumer cellular, this is sam. how may i help you? >> this is a pocket dial. well, somebody's pocket. thought i would let you know

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