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tv   PBS News Hour  PBS  November 15, 2024 6:00pm-7:01pm PST

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wow, you get to watch all your favorite stuff. it's to die for. now you won't miss a thing. this is the way. xfinity internet. made for streaming. ♪ >> good evening. on the news hour tonight. another former challenger to president-elect donald trump joint's administration. while the house speaker pushes the ethics committee not to release a damning report on matt gaetz. >> the health community raises concerns off to rfk junior is chosen to lead the nation's health department. >> how western nations are
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inundating ghana with waste disguised as donations. >> some of these items, i would not wear. ♪ >> major funding for the "pbs newshour" has been provided by -- >> the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions and friends of the newshour including jim and nancy biltner and the robert and virginia schiller foundation. the judy and peter bloom kovler foundation, upholding freedom by strengthening democracies at home and abroad. >> it really matters when you have an opportunity to give back. >> being part of something that is bigger than myself, that is what brings me happiness. >> to integrate your professional career with other things that are important to you is critical to be happy.
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>> welcome to the news hour. president-elect donald trump continues to stalk his future cabinet with some high profile picks. >> today officially tapped one of his former rivals, that's north dakota governor doug burgum for interior secretary. lisa desjardins is here with more on how he could redefine that role and what we are learning about trump's other nominees. let's start with governor burgum, nominated as secretary of the interior but not just that. >> surprising people in the industry and also environmentalists today. burgum remind people, the north dakota governor, a self-made billionaire and energy has been a focus of his. let's talk about what he's nominated for, the president-elect and announced today pick not just the position as secretary of the interior but also trump announced a national energy council that
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would oversee every aspect of energy production and protection in this country. including the department of energy. that will sit on that. he would also have the seat on the national security council. that is also something new. a reminder the department of energy does have some nuclear energy in its portfolio. as i said, energy has been a focus for burgum. and he has said in particular he has been focused as he said in 2021 on increasing u.s. supply. >> because america produces energy cleaner and more efficiently than anywhere else in the world. if you try to regulate or executive order industries out of business, you don't drop the demand for energy. it pushes the energy supply offshore overseas. >> he's from a drilling state. let's talk about was on the table if he is confirmed. from offshore and onshore drilling expansion is something he and president-elect trump have talked about. also new natural gas terminals to handle the shipping of the growing u.s. supply, the
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department of energy function, but he could have a role in it. also changes to protected monument land. we would expect him and president-elect trump to push for more drilling on those lands. the u.s. is already the world's top producer of oil and natural gas but talking to folks, they say the biden administration has held them back and held back the economy. they want burgum and trump to expand it by an environmentalist say wait a minute. the department of interior's job is to protect u.s. land. they are worried that burgum does not understand that mission. that all he sees is fossil fuel and energy expansion. >> what about the other nominees? there been a lot of headlines, the nominee for attorney general matt gaetz. >> i'm going to drop in two other names as we heard today. as i'm talking, we see if we get more. these are two important positions, the head of personnel, sergio gorgi, used to work for rand paul. and a long time advisor, would
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be in charge of communications. cheung is important because he is someone who has that bombastic, almost cutthroat tone on social media and he would continue in that role. let's talk about matt gaetz because a lot of people consider -- there is an intense fight underway right now over what exactly senators will get to know about him before they have to decide if he should be attorney general. the house ethics committee has been spent months looking into improper campaign funds and bribery. here's how this will get decided. the house ethics committee is made up of five democrats and five republicans who would vote. they need a majority so at least one republican to vote to release that report. they were to meet today. that meeting has been postponed. in addition today, house speaker mike johnson said he would like them not to release this report.
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traditionally when someone resigns, the report is not released but in this case senators are saying they need to report to make their decision. that a bipartisan decision -- that is a bipartisan decision. one other thing that trump campaign is handling, defense secretary nominee pete has got -- fox news host, a current member of the national guard. police in monterey california say they investigated him for sexual assault in 2017. he was not charge. he said there is nothing he did wrong. and we don't know more from police about this. the trump administration is defending him but the military has had generations of problems with sex assault. the fact that he has been charged and experienced a charged is something is worth considering. >> where are senate republicans on on the process unfolding and the idea of recess appointments which allows mr. trump to bypass the traditional approval process? >> let me understand you how this works. recess appointments are
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appointments that avoid confirmation in the senate. and both chambers would have to adjourn for 10 days. all republicans must agree. something else that we are watching is that president-elect trump could try to keep people in office just in acting status. we will spend a lot more time breaking this down. we know it is a big conversation on the hill. >> thank you so much. >> you are welcome. >> i'm stephanie sy with news hour west. here are the latest headlines. in lima, peru, leaders from apec are gathering for the first global leaders summit since donald trump was reelected. all eyes are on president biden during one of his final appearances. on the sidelines, he met with leaders from japan and south korea. and pledge to spend his last days in office bolstering that partnership. >> in southeast asia and the
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pacific islands. with securing the technologies of the future. and countering north korea's dangerous did and destabilizing aggression. whatever the issue, we're taking it on together. >> biden will sit down with chinese president xi jinping tomorrow. it will be their first in-person meeting since last year's summit in san francisco. german chancellor scholz spoke today with russian president vladimir putin urging him to be open to negotiations with ukraine for the phone call marks the first publicly announced conversation a western head of state has had with putin in tw o years. putin did not budge that a peace deal includes pressure keeping territorial gains in ukraine. ukraine's president said schulz's call would open a pandora's box. a group of more than 20 influential climate experts and former leaders is calling for an
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urgent overhaul of the u.n.'s cop climate talks. in an open letter, they say the current structure simply cannot deliver the change at exponential speed and scale which is essential to ensure a safe climate landing for humanity. also at the cop conference, new data made public showing the world's most polluting cities. shanghai's tops the list. two u.s. cities, new york city and houston came in at numbers three and four. in pakistan, authorities in the eastern province declared a health emergency today due to severe smog. a toxic haze has engulfed the region for weeks, sickening nearly 2 million people. schools are closed until further notice. officials have ordered lockdowns in the cities where the average air quality index tops 600 today. any number over 300 is considered a health risk.
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lebanon's caretaker prime minister has asked iran to help secure a cease-fire between israel and hezbollah. those comments came during talks in beirut with a top adviser to iran's supreme leader. according to lebanese media, the u.s. gave lebanon a draft of a cease-fire proposal for israel and hezbollah. iran is the main backer of the militant group. at a news conference, he was asked if he came to lebanon to undermine the u.s. peace plan. >> we are not after disrupting anything. we are after solving problems. we will support the lebanese people under any circumstances. it's israel's prime minister and his mob that are after disrupting things. >> rescue teams combed through the rubble in the lebanese city after an airstrike on a civil defense building last night. 13 people were killed. a federal judge in texas today struck down a biden
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administration rule that would have expanded overtime pay for millions of salaried workers. the judge said the labor department exceeded its authority when it required employers to pay overtime to certain workers who made just under $44,000 per year. an estimated 4 million employees with -- would qualify. the previous threshold of about $35,500 set in the last trump administration will go back into effect. the texas supreme court has ruled against lawmakers who use their subpoena power to halt the execution of a death row inmate for his daughter's shaken baby death. robert robertson was sentenced to death in 2003 for killing his two-year-old daughter before much was known about the science of shaken baby syndrome. roberts it was set to be put to death last month but with hours to spare, lawmakers stopped it. the new ruling will allow the execution to proceed, but a date
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has not been set. three daughters of the late malcolm x are suing government agencies including the fbi and cia -- for their alleged roles in this his assassination peer the daughters filed the $100 million lawsuit in federal court today. it alleges a corrupt relationship between law enforcement and the " ruthless killers." malcolm x was slain in 1965 in new york. the plaintiff say the lawsuit was not filed sooner because defendants withheld information from the family. still to come on the news hour, what the polling got wrong and wrong in the presidential election. david brooks and jonathan capehart weigh in on the president-elect's cabinet picks. and dorothy's ruby slippers go up for auction. ♪ >> this is "pbs newshour." from the david m. rubenstein studio at weta in washington and
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in the west from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. >> president-elect trump's decision to nominate rfk junior as secretary of health and human services is sparking concern and criticism in the world of public health due in part to kennedy's long-held beliefs against vaccines. there are worries about his history of false statements and beliefs and debunked conspiracy theories on subjects like hiv and aids antidepressants and autism. at the same time, he's pushing hard on some major problems that experts say are real like nutrition, obesity, process food among them. we're joined by caitlin, who works in public health and writes the newsletter, your local epidemiologist. thanks for being with us. >> thanks for having me. >> hhs is sprawlinga bureaucracy, 80,000 employees across 13 agencies.
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if rfk jr. is confirmed, what would it mean for all of the things that hhs overseas, drug approvals, food safety in addition to medicaid and medicare. >> yeah, these are our agencies that protect the health of americans on everything from like you said in the introduction, nutrition to vaccines to our data, to see how the national health is going, where we can make improvements. where we cannot. the support to local and public health departments. so, it is a $3 trillion budget. it is a massive job. and someone that has a lot of experience needs to be there. >> he is one of the most prominent anti-vaccine activists in the country. as you pointed out in your writing, it is the states that help determine vaccine policy when it comes to things like school mandates or exemptions. so, help me understand what your worries are about his potential impact if he is confirmed. >> that's right.
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vaccine policy is governed by individual states rather than the federal government could however, there certainly are places, there are levers where the federal government can indirectly influence vaccines. for example, fda. rfk junior repeatedly said he wants more rigorous vaccine reviewer process. which signal something to the fda process but given that the united states has one of the most rigorous review processes for vaccines safety and effectiveness, it is unclear what he wants changed or what data would be considered sufficient. but, nonetheless, more data and more review processes could delay new vaccines, it just adds time. and this is a problem, for example, during an emergency or pandemic. also the fda could add, remove emergency use authorization for the next pandemic. then there is also cdc.
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they recommend childhoodoutine vaccination schedules. and it has been long criticized by rfk junior the problem is if this recommendation changes, there is a downstream effect, like insurance companies could stop covering them and adding costs could deter uptake. and there is others, like trump has suggested using the department of education to withhold funds from schools that mandate vaccines. but honestly, my biggest concern isn't necessarily through all of the policy itself, but it is the indirect lever of sowing doubt and confusion about vaccines from one of the most powerful offices. it can make a profound impact on american's ability to make evidence-based decisions. >> there are americans who welcome a different approach when it comes to practice -- to cracking down on processed foods and removing additives which rfk junior says he wants to do. and there was a new study published in the lancet that found nearly three quarters of
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american adults are overweight or obese and rfk junior attributes some of that to what he sees as this corrupt alliance between the food and drug industries and the regulators that are supposed to act as a check on them. what do you make of that? >> i think we can all agree that america has room for improvement. we live the shortest lives, have the most avoidable deaths, worse health outcomes. the first step is what is causing us to be unhealthy and fix that. i do think that there is need for improvement. for example, through the regulatory process, and through conflict of interest. but a lot of them make america health again talking points are not necessarily, are focusing on organic food or demonizing pesticides such as -- won't move the needle. and, look, i am going to agree with things rfk junior says.
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he says reasonable statements. but then mixes them with outright falsehoods. and in the end, i think it is a matter of whether rfk junior's net impact is positive or negative. and, given his history of sowing doubt at public health interventions, he can do a lot of harm. >> from my own reporting, i know how hard it is to make seismic changes at some of these agencies like nih and fda. what is the worst case scenario if kennedy is confirmed and makes good on his promise of transforming public health as we know it, combined with donald trump's promise to weaken civil service rules? >> look, i agree, cdc, fda, they need improvements. in fact i have been working with the cdc over the past three years for improvements. however, it needs to be done very carefully, because our public health system in united states is incredibly fragile. for example, a lot of people do not realize that 90% of funding to local and state public health departments come directly from
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the cdc. so, say we cut, for example the center of injury which is on the chopping block right now and the congressional budget. that means states will not get funding for the opioid crisis, which means lack of education or resources and we just got that epidemic started to decrease again. so i think that a lot of these cuts will have implications, to the institution but there can be downstream impacts and we need to be very careful on how we do that and i have not seen a careful narrative that has taken that into place yet. >> how could some of these public health agencies be preparing? >> what we're doing right now, a lot on the ground, is that we have to gain trust with the public, right? that means we have to build bridges instead of manning barricades. that means finding common ground. that means recognizing what we
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say and how matters especially to people that are hesitant or believe in conspiracy theories, that anger and shame will only drive people further away. and americans need their answers, their questions answered. not necessarily to be told what to believe. and i think we all play a role in this, especially at the federal government right now. >> thanks so much for your insights. we appreciate it. >> thanks for having me. ♪ >> one americans are ready to get rid of a car or a laptop or some of their clothing, where do those goods go? most end up in countries in the global south where millions of depend on repairing, dismantling or selling them to make a living. but now amid the lax regulations and legal loopholes, environmental groups say the business is a toxic trifecta of waste that inflicts damage to
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land, coastlines, and public health. we have the first of two reports from the west african nation of ghana produced in partnership with the policy center. >> ghana has enjoyed economic growth in recent years, and nowhere is that more evident than on the streets. but growing incomes have spiked the demand for automobiles. like cities anywhere, traffic delays are part of daily life but here they are costly, not just in time but health and safety and the environment. >> the cars that cloud the streets of ghana's capital have come a long way but they did not come directly from a factory. instead, most have had long lives on the streets of america, germany, dubai and many other places before being shipped here. long lives, unless they were in an accident. >> that's how this 2018 toyota
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sedan wound up in the repair yard. this came from the united states. northern virginia, in fact. we traced it back to a listing on an auction website where it was sold along with millions of used cars across a range of conditions shipped to africa each year. >> some of them do not even make it onto the boat. >> a kenya based -- researcher has studied the global trade and use card. >> would you say that most vehicles would not be certified is safe on the roads of countries where they came from. >> exporting countries export the majority of vehicles that are no good, not roadworthy. not roadworthy. >> at the repair shop, a mechanic says how much the corolla is repair is informed by the new owners budget. so, the side airbag has deployed and pushed the seat open. just the driver side airbag
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would be replaced, he told me, not the passenger ones. many of the repaired vehicles hit the road less safe and more polluting. often arriving minus their catalytic converter, a device required in developed countries since the 1970's and key to cleaner emissions. there was a robust global market for them because they contain platinum. we talked to a trio for mechanics in a repaired district. catalytic converters, you usually do not fix it. >> if the person has money, we fix it. >> how many people? fix it and how many don't? >> a reaction that suggested most are not replaced. >> financial problem. >> most people just let it go? >> yes. >> extending the life of cars that should have been recycled in america or europe. >> a vehicle in europe is
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recycled 98% of its parts. so, it's a very good circular approach. however, there are more sent to africa because it is cheaper than to recycle them. >> at the other end of their useful life, the junk cars come pound electronic waste. every day scrap workers harvest components from cars and all manner of electronics. they are looking particular for metals which are extracted mainly by incineration. this is the epicenter of ghana's imported waste. thousands of tons of used washes and dryers, refrigerators and computer hardware and air conditioners sit here awaiting demolition. by people looking for anything of value inside them. >> everything here is basically -- toxic. >> i came here with a consultant
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for this report. he is a veteran environmental journalist who has worked for the group greenpeace. >> we're talking about mercury, all of the toxic heavy metals that you can find are here. they are right in the soil. we are breathing it. >> an international agreement intended to prohibit the export of electronic waste went into effect in 1992. the u.s. did not ratify this convention but even in countries that did, there is a huge loophole. items classified as repairable often labeled as charity are exempt. >> when you examine these items, they are either obsolete and simply would not work. >> critics argue the so-called donations are causing more issues than they are solving. before we were shooed away by her supervisor, we talked with young men who work here, some
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without even close, sifting dirt to separate and salvage small scraps of metal. how much do you earn here? that's about $3.00 a day. 14-year-old jefferson told us he works here after school to help pay his school fees. what's your favorite subject? >> mathematics. >> what would you like to be when you grow up? >> doctor. >> a doctor? high aspiration but if his path is like so many men here, it may not take him far literally. >> this is petrol. >> like jefferson, mohammed cam e here when he was 14 from the unsettled north in search of work after his father died. >> 15 years ago. this is my work. is to support my family. >> he works six days a week to support his wife and four children. what would you like to do in your future? >> my future, i want to stop
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this work, i want to travel to europe and work and save my family. because i want to look my children to take an education. >> there are 20 million people in the world making their livelihoods off waste. >> a professor kate o'neill is the author of three books about the recycling industry. >> those people cannot be tossed off their jobs. you have to create jobs, create markets, create ways in which we move from a waste economy to a repair economy. that can be global. >> already in many developing countries, she says, secondhand and refurbished electronics and appliances are in markets but increasingly a lot of junk is sent here, hardware that by design has become difficult to dismantle and recycle. making it cheaper to send overseas, often disguised as a charitable donation.
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>> i remember back when i had my first computers, they came with manuals. the way the industry is structured right now, what is called planned obsolescence, we make sure you buy a new one every two years. so i think part of the problem is what we have can't easily be recycled or refurbished. >> they need to bear some responsibility. >> exporting countries need to step up their oversight of what leaves their shores. says ghana's environmental protection agency. >> developed countries need to do more within the -- but tickly when it comes to exports of some of these items. if they have i would -- i would say enough resources to be able to tell which items would be junk and which are not compared to us. >> an admonition we heard loudly and clearly on the street despite the language barrier by a nearby merchant.
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>> [speaking non-english language] >> he says it is the way people bringing the junk here and then we are burning, you ask for these things to be sent to you. >> much of the waste material here comes from europe and the u.s., so the copper or aluminum extracted is destined for china or india. the detritus people here complain leaches or washed into the drains that drain into the atlantic ocean. only to be washed back onto beaches mixing with a different kind of waste, it starts in the reject pile from thrift stores in wealthy countries. we will have that story in the second part of our series. for the pbs news hour in acre
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ghana. >> his reporting is a partnership with the under told stories project at the university of st. thomas in minnesota. ♪ >> while both are still being counted in some places from last week's election, donald trump is likely to be the first republican presidential candidate to win the popular vote in the last 20 years. and yet, reelection polls have consistently underestimated his support since he first ran eight years ago. and that is left some folks spending the last week trying to figure out what happened. we are here to help walk us through what the polls got right and what they missed. let's start, it is good to see you. help us remember what the poll said, what they set about support for donald trump and kamala harris nationally and in the battleground states.
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>> if you look at the national polls, they got kamala harris's number exactly right. if you look at the 538 final average before the election, it was 48 for harris, 40 74 trump. what did harris wind up getting? 48.2 in the polls nationally, in the final election result. trump at 50%. so the polls underestimated his support again which is what we saw in the last two elections and did so by about three points on average. when you look at the state polls, it was the same story. across all seven battleground states. trump's support was underestimated by anywhere from two to four points, and you know, they got pretty close to what harris's number was but there are some things that the pollsters will have to look at for the next election. i feel like we say that every election. >> i remember back in 2016 talking to voters and you say who they would vote for? i don't like either of them. and it would take five or six questions to say that people would vote for trump.
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the response bias is real. does that account for the undercount this time? >> the response bias is real but that is not what accounts for what was the, what we saw is the undercount. because the pollsters have really adjusted, they have tried to really get more people to be able to respond since the 1980's. it has gone way way down. they have done a lot of work on mixed modalities. it used to be life call -- live callers are the gold standard and they are doing them by text and in english and in spanish. they are trying multiple things to get people but what we really saw here is a couple different factors. number one you look trump at the exit polls trump won late deciders by double digits. when you look, the asked, if you were deciding in the last few days, trump won by six points, in the last week trump won by 12 and that was 7% of the electorate overall. you do the math, that could mean what, make up for those three points that we saw for the undercount. the other thing that i think is
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really important is that the white void went up in the selection. ok, you might say, why would that be a thing? that could be a possibility. not really. in the last three decades, we have seen the white eligible voting population go down significantly. this is the first election since 1992 that the share of the white vote went up, from 67% to 72%. that is because of the growth with latinos and asian americans, so the pollsters were not factoring in an increase in the white vote. they would've thought maybe there would be 60% or 65% and that also could have thrown the polls off a little bit. >> what trends did they actually -- accurately captured? >> there were a lot they got right. if you were to ask me 4.5 weeks ago who will win this election, if you were thinking there might be a two or three point bias because of what we saw the last time, trump's probably going to win because harris had a pretty sizable lead, four points in the
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national averages, then that collapsed after a month of a relentless attack campaign from trump folks, trying to define harris and they brought his numbers up for those undecided voters. so, i think that was a major part of what we saw in this election. but also the storylines that we saw. the effect that hairs was -- harris was struggling with latino voters and young men in particular, young black men. and we saw that play out on election day. >> despite donald trump sweeping the battlegrounds, their down ballot democrats who won senate seats, and arizona, trump won by six points but the democrat ruben gallego one by 2.5 points. in trump nevada trump, won by three but jacky rosen won by two. people are voting for donald trump for also voting for the democratic. >> people would say, ticket
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splitting is back. must be people voted for trump but also voted for the democrat. not the case. what we found, and in talking to the pollsters, they said that look at the number for donald trump and the number for the senate republican who ran and vice versa and what we found is they are calling a bully voters, people who went in and voted for donald trump but left and did not vote for the senate candidate at the bottom of the ticket because overall, i crunched the numbers, and pennsylvania, for example, the senate candidate was 144,000 votes fewer than for donald trump. 172,000 in arizona. 96,000 in michigan. that is really significant. and the democrats who ran almost hit kamala harris's number and some places were higher. >> bullet voters. i have never heard that before. >> me neither until i talked to them. >> thanks for coming in. ♪
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>> president-elect trump has hit the ground running announcing several key cabinet appointments that offer a glimpse of what is to come. meanwhile, republicans have secured the house giving them control over congress and the white house as they prepped their agenda for the new year. to break all this down return to the analysis of brooks and capehart. david brooks and jonathan capehart. great to see you both as always. a little bit of news i want to share. we have another point from trump . caroline leavitt who was his campaign national press secretary will be the white house press secretary as well. i want to ask you about other notable nominees we have been focusing on this week. here is a look at some of those names right now. marco rubio has been nominated for sec. state, matt gaetz for
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attorney general, kelsey gabbard for director of national intelligence, rfk junior for health and human services, kristi noem for homeland and susan wiles as his chief of staff and there is a -- elon m usk. david, this transition is moving so much faster than the previous one. what do you take away from not who is being named but how quickly? >> there are two possibilities with the speed. either they did a lot of pre-preparation or trump's riffing. and from what we know, it could be riffing, because matt gaetz was on a plane with trump. susie wiles was in the next room on the plane. and she had no idea what was happening and had a conversation. why not be attorney general? it may be him going with this g gut. i've had a roller coaster week and. in the beginning, he had nominated marco rubio, pretty good. michael waltz, national security advisor, professional. john thune, the senate majority
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leader. your font to the dentist expected to hurt. oh, this is pretty good but then comes matt gaetz which is root canal. and then comes rfk junior, another root canal. so, it got crazier as the week went on. we can talk about matt gaetz but to pick kelsey gabbard -- kelsey gabbard, she never had an intelligence job. she had no experience in intelligence. who does that? she is never even run anything. like running the pentagon without management experience. it is just like my only conclusion he's sent these people into these agencies to be agents of chaos and that is the core message i take away from this. >> jonathan let's get your take. >> root canal without anesthesia just to be clear. look, donald trump is the most predictable and easy to read politician i have ever had to
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cover, because he projects, he's thin skinned, he told us he was going to do this. rfk, you should be the head of hhs, and we thought he was crazy because it's nuts, but is following through. and what he's doing in terms of the speed, he's putting in loyalists, putting people who will not tell him no. also, people who actually believe in what he wants to do. you call them ages of chaos. a lot of people havec come to washington to wreck washington. so now they will get into the federal government and record from the inside. -- wreck it from the inside. the toughest vote was the one that elected john soon as majority leader. why? because it was secret ballot. every vote they will take from now on is going to be for public view. they will have to put their names to saying no -- to bob
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gates come to former congressman matt gaetz. say no to rfk junior. i don't think they have that much courageous to say, no, mr. president. but if they do have the courage to say no to matt gaetz and say no to the president, i actually wonder if naming gaetz was a chaos play because todd blanche, who was -- >> me to distract from other things? >> to distract, sure, but matt gaetz is so, what is the word i'm looking for? toxic, unacceptable in the job. but todd blanche, who was donald trump's lawyer in the hush money case, he was named the debbie, correct? -- the deputy, correct? he is and feeling better. he's an actual lawyer, a real
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respected lawyer. -- he is infinitely better. he went to work with donald trump. i can see that possibly happening. >> but that shows real strategy. >> i might be giving him more credit than is due. it is donald trump. >> let me ask about john soon. it is a good point. what does the election of senator john thune to be set majority leader, a huge shift away from mitch mcconnell but it also marks the rejection of rikc ck scott, who was running for leader and was backed by elon musk and other maga voices. what does it say to you that they elected john thune, about how senate republicans see their role in this next presidency? >> i think these leadership position elections are about personality and relationship, 50 republican senators basically and they all know each other very well, who they like, who do they feel comfortable with? john thune, has been in the
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senate a long time, very normal republican, not maga but knows how to do the dance. and i thought some of his skill was on display this week, which was he was asked about recess appointments which donald trump has talked about doing all these appointment without confirmation. and i thought he handled, it was on fox. he said, i'm open to anything, but donald trump should know there is all these barriers to doing recess appointments. you have to have all the republicans vote for every single -- this barrier and this barrier. so he was not saying no, but he was saying the process is going to take care of this. and he is saying that about each of the nominees. he is not endorsing them. he says that we have a process. and if the republicans want to use that process to turn down that day so i think is most likely if they turned down anybody, that process will be there. it shows the republicans in the senate, maybe they are kind of normal. >> matt gaetz is the only one they not going forward with? other others? >> i do have, and rfk junior is
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somebody think who is clearly unqualified. just one quick thing. we all live in washington, surrounded by people who live in government who are civil servants, nonpolitical, they do their job. i've had so many conversations of people in that role who are patriotic, work 60 to 80 hour weeks who want to do their jobs. they are thinking, should i quit, will i get fired, should i just hang on to retirement? there's a trauma going to the civil service and these are people who are patriotic americans who just want to do their job. you see them thinking, i should get out of here. >> jonathan are you seeing that. there's a real consideration here. >> yes, also because of schedule f. which was the executive order that trump put in place just before he left back in 2021 that president biden rescinded but is
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part of project 2025, part of the plan. these civil servants of the folks we have been talking to, they are worried about schedule f being revived, and then having being put in a position of having to choose, and then being fired. >> i need to ask about the democrats because there is deep soul-searching going on. it is fair to say. we asked illinois governor jb pritzker when he was on the show earlier this week about who is the leader right now of the democratic party? he said there is not any one person he can point to. hakeem jeffries he told me yesterday that the democrats are still very much processing the takeaways from election day. jonathan, how do they move forward, the democrats? how do they work with, as they say they want to, a man they spent years calling a fascist and a threat to democracy? >> look, i think when nancy pelosi was speaker and this carries over with leader jeffries, it was disagree where
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we disagree, let's work together where we can work together, wherever there is common ground, let's find it. i think democrats have always been about there are problems. we want to fix them. let's figure out how we can fix them. the governing piece is the piece i'm not worried about. it's the leadership of the party and how the party learns from the lessons of this election and moves forward where in the midterms in 2026, they can have a reversal of fortune. i think the party needs to do an , autopsy on what happened what they can do better, what they should do more of, do lots of, but the one thing i do not think they should do is run away from efforts and things they have done in the past to respect, to honor the dignity and respect of people who are looking to their leaders to protect them. >> i think they should take their time. these election results were not
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expected. if you had asked me and most democrats would kamala harris do worse among women voters? that would've been a shock to me. worse with latino voters, maybe more predictable. do worse with black and young voters? that upsets of -- the way a lot of people think the world will work. take time to think through this. but one thing i say not to do is to respond to every shiny apple. that trump is going to do the out -- the outrage du jour. that goes for us in the media. we know that did not work. that did not work for four years. try to rise, do not get into that tit for tat. try to rise above and actually have a vision that is somehow bigger than trump. >> always great to see you both. thank you. ♪ >> if you've ever wanted to own
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a piece of hollywood history now is your chance. a pair of dorothy's ruby slippers are up for auction. and just like dorothy, this pair has been on his long and very strange journey. megan thompson explains for our arts and culture series canvas. >> too late, there they are in there there will stay. >> dorothy's ruby slippers, some of the most iconic movie memorabilia. worn by actor judy garland in the wizard of oz. >> it's such a story a promise and hope. >> ♪ somewhere over the rainbow ♪ >> frank sinatra said we will all be forgotten but not judy. i think he was right on. >> john has made preserving her legacy his life's work, as a curator of the judy garland museum in grand rapids, minnesota, a small city three hours north of minneapolis. >> judy garland's parents owned
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this house for seven years. >> born francis gum in 1922, garland lived here until she was four and started performing in a local theater. 10,000 fans make the trek each year to visit her childhood home and museum. >> the slippers were exhibited on top of this pedestal. >> over the years the museum displayed a pair of ruby slippers loan from michael shaoul. it august 2000 five the slippers were at the resume for the fourth time when everything was shattered. >> he used a handheld sledgehammer. >> a thief walked right in. >> creeped along this wall like that. we are a small time you see them. we had security but there were many lapses. it was almost a perfect storm. and you might say, the affairs. -- a comedy of errors. >> the alarm was disarmed.
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>> i said, there is a sequent. >> all that was left was a single sequin. >> you feel violated and trust is gone. our credibility for borrowing other artifacts was destroyed. >> when you think of the wizard of oz and the magic of the wizard of oz, they are going into this farro fantasyland, meeting we are people. that is what these shoes did in real life in a criminal caper! >> pam a freelance writer who cover the crime for the local papers. >> i was making phone calls. >> as the case went cold, rumors swirled. was it local kids, an on scrupulous fan? the shoes owner? >> inside job, because it it seemed like there were too many things that went awry that night. so there were lots of different speculations. >> ruby slippers. >> brian matson is with the
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grand rapids police that chased several leads. >> you're not going to believe it. >> once staking out a house where he found high heels covered in glitter. >> it says made in china. i was kind of mad. >> but another lead ended up cracking the case. in 2018, 13 years after the heist, the shoes were recovered during a sting operation in minneapolis. but the first indictment would not come for five more years. so who were the alleged criminal masterminds that -- eluded the law. career criminals who decided to team up from a long -- one last score. >> now these two older guys, kind of crusty, little buggers, it doesn't fit the story of what we speculated on. >> terry martin who lives in grand rapids claimed he mistakenly thought the shoes
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were made of real rubies. >> i believe that they got something that was too hot to move. and they were very specific. they were identifiable. then they had to sit on them. >> so, the slippers sat allegedly in jerry's backyard near minneapolis bured in -- buried in a plastic box. >> the ruby slippers are among the most valuable pieces of movie memorabilia. >> he's the curator of the entertainment collection of the american museum -- the museum of american history. the team compared them to another pair of ruby slippers. >> the smoking gun was a missing stone replaced during production with the clear stone that was painted red, a detail that had never been published before not even the most skilled forger would know to do that. >> he says the smithsonian slippers one of four known to
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exist are one of the most popular items seen by more than 100 million over the years. >> i think people bring a lot of personal memories and love of hollywood film. >> follow the yellow brick road.. >> but i think they also bring the interest in dorothy's journey and the way that has played out in their lives. >> in march the stolen pair were reunited with michael shaoul decided to put them up for auction. >> this is judy. >> the current executive director of the judy garland museum, is raising money to make a bid, saying for the ruby slippers there is no place like home. >> having the ruby slippers in her hometown where she was happy as a child would be a happy ending to this saga. >> the slippers are estimated to be worth more than $3 million. in online bidding is nearing $1 million. >> it is definitely up your battle but dreams come true.
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>> the museum is excepting donations on its website and in person, they are approaching big dollar donors across the country. the state of minnesota has even pledged $100,000 with governor tim walz promising 24/7 ocean's eleven proof security. >> tap your heels together three times. >> they have a power. that is mythical. >> even if we aren't successful at the auction, perhaps someone will donate them someday. we could be surprised. >> bidding will end at a live auction in dallas on december 7. ♪ >> don't forget to watch washington week with the
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atlantic tonight on pbs. jeffrey goldberg and his panel will discuss donald trump's controversial cabinet nominees and how he is >> >> testing his own party. watch pbs news week and tomorrow for a look at the future of u.s. china relations. as president biden meets with xi jinping for the last time before mood leaving office. that is the news hour. >> for all of us at the pbs news hour, thanks for spending part of your evening with us and have a great weekend. >> major funding for the pbs news hour has been provided by -- and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. and friends of the newshour, including kathy and paul anderson and george smith. the walton family foundation, working for solutions to protect water during climate change so people in nature can thrive together. the william and flora hewlett
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foundation, for 50 years advancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better world. and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions -- and friends of the newshour. this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> this is pbs news hour west from the david m. rubenstein studio at weta in washington and from our bureau from the
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walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. ♪ >> you are watching pbs.
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wow, you get to watch all your favorite stuff. it's to die for. now you won't miss a thing. this is the way. xfinity internet. made for streaming. jeffrey: donald trump names a vaccine denier to head the health and human services department and for attorney general a person who likely wouldn't be able to pass an fbi background check, and international intelligence, a vladimir putin ally. that and more next. >> this is "washington week with the atlantic." corporate funding is provided by -- >> consumer cellular, this is

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