geoff: good evening. i am geoff bennett. amna: and i mom -- i am on note of. will the chamber serve as a check on from's power? geoff: jake sullivan discusses the uncertain future of the wars in gaza and ukraine as the biden administration gives way to a second trump presidency. >> i believe that our legacy has

been substantially defined already. amna: tensions and fears rise in europe after anti-semitic attacks on israeli soccer fans. >> major funding for the pbs news hour has been provided by -- ♪ the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions and friends of the news hour, including leonard and norma, in the judy and peter bloom coble are foundation. >> two retiring executives turn their attention to greyhounds. a financial advisor gets to know you, your purpose and the way you give back. life well planned. >> the william and flora hewlett

foundation, advancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better world. 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. the u.s. senate returns to washington tonight, now facing more tough decisions about controversial nominations by

donald trump. geoff: that's as the president-elect is also pushing to bypass the senate entirely in confirming his key appointments. congressional correspondent lisa desjardins is here to bring us up to date and take a bigger look at the senate as a check on presidential power. great to see you. what is the latest on president-elect trump's most controversial cabinet selections? lisa: for the department of defense and attorney general. let's start with matt gaetz, the controversial nominee for attorney general. a florida attorney says he's representing two young women who saw gaetz having a sexual encounter with a woman who was 17. gaetz himself has denied wrongdoing and says he's being persecuted and targeted in this. there's an update on the house ethics report.

the chair of the committee has said that speaker johnson, who does not want them to release the report, said that word should not affect the committee's decision. we don't know whether it will but the ranking democrat on the committee has said it should be released and they will decide this week whether it will be. the department of defense nominee, pete hegseth. a lawyer for him has said he paid a woman a settlement after they had a sexual encounter. the lawyer says it was consensual. we know he was investigated as part of this for sexual assault but never charged. we raise this because now senators are raising it. oklahoma senator markwayne mullin has said this could derail the nomination. in the past few minutes, there's news on a third nomination, the department of transportation. we know donald trump he's nominating sean duffy. he is a fox news contributor and

former prosecutor and someone well known on social media. geoff: let's talk about the senate and the way the system is designed to have the legislative branch be a check on the executive but also the senate has the sole power to confirm appointments that require consent. how are senate republicans in the trump team approaching this? lisa: pretty seriously. it is a difficult needle to thread for some senators. they have a lot of reluctance and even opposition to some nominees. think about lbj back in the 1950's. the senate was the power center in washington and operated not just as a check on presidential power but one of the most power parts of our governmental system. that is changing now. no one has one or more executive power than donald trump. expansions of executive power that we can point to recently, war powers. we have seen presidents, including george w. bush, expand

war powers and the senate not checking them. executive orders have become more expansive and we know it is something trump wants to do, including for mass deportations. the vacancies act. president trump had several acting cabinet secretary's as a way to get around the senate. we spoke with an expert on presidential incident power about this. this is thomas berry from the cato institute. >> i think we are certainly at a lower ebb than we were in the 60s or most decades in the past -- the past. >> but where we sit today in november of 2024. would you say that senate power has been weakened and executive power really has been strengthened? >> i would say yes, that at this moment, the senate's power is fairly weak, given the control donald trump has over the republican party overall, given the lack of teeth in the vacancies act, given even with the recent court decisions, still a huge amount of power in the executive branch.

so it will take a lot to to push back on that. but certainly standing up to trump on recess appointments would be a good first start. geoff: when he says the senate is historically weak, what does that mean for president trump's effort to bypass the senate and install his appointees? lisa: this is what trump tweeted out just over a week ago, demanding the senate leader, now we know john thune, agreed to recess appointments. here's what the constitution says. article two says the president shall nominate and by and with the advice and consent of the senate appoint officers of the united states and it also says the president shall have the power to fill all vacancies that may have during a recess. it has not been used in this way. it would take a 10 day recess and both chambers would agree. if senators don't agree to a cabinet pick, they are unlikely to agree to a recess.

it's unlikely they would allow this. geoff: thanks. amna: in ukraine, russian attacks have killed at least 21 people in two regions. they, day after pbs -- they come a day after pbs news confirmed the biden administration's plan to let ukraine use u.s.-supplied weapons to strike deeper into russia. in the southern port city of odessa, a russian missile barrage on a residential area killed at least 10 people. while in the north, a strike hit a nine-story apartment building in the city of sumy, killing 11 people, including two children. meantime, ukraine's president visited troops in a frontline town in the donetsk region, where russia has stepped up its efforts. >> the pokrovsk section is a

very tense one. i know that only thanks to your resilience, the east hasn't been occupied in its entirety by the russian federation. the enemy gets our responses every day, from you and from your brothers in arms. i want you to know that the ukrainian people are very thankful. amna: zelenskyy's frontline visit comes a day before ukraine marks 1000 days since russia's full-scale invasion. it's now europe's biggest armed conflict since world war ii with tens of thousands of lives lost on both sides. in the middle east, israeli airstrikes pounded lebanon's capital city for a second straight day. the strikes hit just blocks from lebanon's parliament and other government landmarks. israel says it's targeting hezbollah militants. health officials say at least five people were killed and 24 others hurt. hours earlier, rockets fired from lebanon flew over northern israel, where israel said a

building was struck and one woman was killed. most of the rockets were intercepted. in gaza, palestinian officials say eight people were killed, including children, in israeli strikes today. israel has repeatedly blamed hamas' hiding among civilians for the death toll in gaza, which is now nearly 44,000 people, mostly women and children. the ongoing wars in ukraine and the middle east are casting a shadow over the g20 summit, which got underway in rio de janeiro today. leaders from the world's top economies are looking unlikely to issue a strongly worded statement on the conflicts amid uncertainy over the incoming trump presdiency. instead, brazil's president kicked things off with a focus on food insecurity, announcing the launch of a global alliance to fight hunger and poverty. for his part, president biden said the u.s. will contribute a record $4 billion to the world bank's fund for the poorest countries. he also urged member nations to support ukraine's sovereignty.

president biden urging congress to pass nearly $100 billion in emergency aid following hurricanes helene and milton, as well as other natural disasters. in a letter to speaker mike johnson today, biden said he heard from those affected by the storms that additional federal the larger share -- federal help is critical. the larger share would go to the mean disaster relief fund at fema. 24 billion dollars would help farmers whose crops or livestock were impacted. $12 billion would be set aside for community grants set up by the department of housing and urban development. toxic smog is blanketing parts of northern india, where pollution levels are 50 times what is deemed safe by the world health organization. authorities in the capital of new delhi shut schools and halted construction. the smog is partly due to smoke from farmers in rural areas burning crop waste each year. cold temperatures trap the smoke, and then wind blows it into cities. car emissions only add to the pollution. residents say officials need to take action.

>> everyone has a sore throat, fever because of this pollution and the government should ban crop residue burning. all this is smoke, it's not fog, it is just smoke everywhere. the government should stop crop burning. amna: studies have estimated that across india more than one million people die each year from diseases connected to pollution. the cdc and public health officials in several states are investigating an outbreak of e- coal i -- e. coli linked to carrots. officials say 39 cases have been reported so far across 18 states. at least one person has died. the infections are linked to organic bagged whole carrots and baby carrots from *grimmway farms in california. they've since been recalled, but had been sold at major retailers like kroger, target, trader joe's and walmart, among others. the cdc advises customers who have the affected carrots to throw them out into -- out and

to disinfect surfaces the products may have touched. spirit airlines has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy. the nation's largest budget airline is still struggling to recover from a covid-era dip in travel and has lost more than $2.5 billion since 2020. the carrier is also facing tough competition from larger rivals. and earlier this year a federal judge blocked its proposed merger with jetblue. spirit plans to continue normal operations as it works through the bankruptcy process. on wall street today, the major markets started the week mixed. the dow jones industrial average slipped more than 50 points on the day. the nasdaq added more than 100 points after steep losses last week. the s&p 500 also ended in positive territory. still to come on the news hour, how political divisions could threaten press freedoms in the u.s. tamara keith and amy walter break down the latest in the trump transition. and we report from ghana, a country that's become a global

dumping ground for used clothes. >> this is the pbs newshour from the david m rubenstein studio at w ata in washington and from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. geoff: president biden is making his final appearance at an international summit today, the g20 in rio de janeiro. this weekend, pbs news learned the president authorized ukraine to fire long range american weapons into russia, focused on the region of kursk, which ukraine seized and moscow is trying to recapture. our nick schifrin sat down with national security advisor jake sullivan for an exclusive interview this morning to discuss that authorization for ukraine as well as the middle east and president biden's legacy on the world stage. >> thank you. welcome to the news hour. two u.s. officials confirmed to me that the administration has

given ukraine authorization to use atacms the longest us weapon, longest range us weapon that ukraine has in its arsenal. why have you made that decision? >> well, we don't have anything to announce or confirm on that today. so those remain unconfirmed reports. one thing i would point out, though, for context, is that russia has just engaged in a massive escalation in this war. they have brought in a foreign army, north korea, north korean troops, to the front lines of the battle. and that represents a sea change in the nature of this conflict. >> the kremlin spokesman, dmitry peskov, today has responded, saying that, yes, there is no official confirmation and if there were it would mean that there was direct involvement of the united states in the war. >> if the u.s. were to authorize the use of any weapon system, including this weapon system, it wouldn't mean direct u.s. participation in the war. it would mean a continuation of the policy we've had since the war began, which is that we supply the means to ukraine to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity, and they

fight the war. >> in and around kursk, there are tens of thousands of troops being massed to try and retake this territory that ukraine seized earlier this year inside russia. there are russian command and control sites. there are air defense, rocket launchers. are those good atacms targets? collects -- >> look, i will obviously defer to the ukrainians about how they choose to prosecute the war. from our perspective right now, the major escalation that we've seen is not about a particular geography or about a particular part of the front. it's about the fact that russia has gone to another country from another part of the world, north korea, brought in thousands of their troops to the front lines and have added them to this war. that is a change, a significant change, a change that, in fact, we warned the russians about before they did it and said if they did it, we would respond. and of course we will respond. >> in the past, you've tried to avoid provoking the russians

from escalating at times. you didn't provide tanks and then you did decide to make that decision to provide tanks. you did not provide f-16s and then he did provide those f-16s. do you believe at this point, looking back, if you had provided any of those authorizations earlier, it would have made a difference to ukraine in the war? >> have we seen a marked difference since we have provided tanks to ukraine in terms of the battlefield? similarly, on f-16s, have we seen a market difference? our view has been that there's not one weapons system that makes a difference in this battle. it's about manpower. and ukraine needs to do more, in our view, to firm up its lines in terms of the number of forces it has on the front lines. it's about munitions. and it's about all of the other things that go to a country's national strength -- their morale, their cohesion, their industrial base. >> but i ask because ukraine is losing more territory today than any point this year, so do you really believe that nothing the u.s. could have done earlier would have changed that?

>> we provided the tanks, we provided the f-16s, we provided the himars, we provided the patriots. we provided many of the things that you said earlier we would not provide. and it is not back then. it's rather today that ukraine finds itself in a more challenged position on the battlefield, suggesting that there's not a straight line between those weapons systems and how it does on the battlefield. where is the straightest line between ukrainian performance and inputs? it's on mobilization of manpower. >> let's switch to the middle east. the latest draft you have been working on for the cease-fire in lebanon, has has blood agreed -- has hezbollah agreed? >> we don't. if we did we would be announcing it but we think both sides, both the lebanese side and the israeli side, have indicated a willingness to get this done and to get it done on a short timeframe. so we will continue working at this until we can get both sides to sign on the proverbial dotted

line. >> you've said that you've extracted further commitments from the israeli side in the last week about increasing humanitarian aid into gaza. what are those commitments? >> what the israelis have agreed to do is to create a new route, a new road to move aid on a daily basis into the humanitarian zone known as mawasi, where a huge number of palestinian civilians are currently living. and so we have seen a significant uptick in the amount of aid going day by day into that humanitarian zone. >> those steps that you say israel has taken have come in response to a letter sent by secretaries blinken and austin a little over a month ago. a consortium of ngos judged 19 demands in that letter. they say that israel has substantially complied with none of them, partially comply with four and not complied with 14. given that, how can you really say that israel has made substantial progress since that letter was sent? >> well, first, as you noted, this is a letter from our secretary of state and our secretary of defense.

they will work through a process to make their own judgments, the state department and defense department come about -- department, about compliance. what we have seen and i think this is very difficult to argue, is that since that letter was sent, there has been a change in the approach that israel has taken on these issues. it is not enough not even close to enough. so we expect more aid in both northern gaza and southern gaza. but the exercise of sending this letter, of laying out the terms of what we expect in very in a very detailed way, that has generated a change, and that is what american diplomacy should be about. and so we will keep pushing on it until we achieve an outcome in which there is a sufficient degree of sustained humanitarian aid for all of the civilians of gaza. >> you have said you're prepared to work with the incoming administration to try and release the hostages that are still being held by hamas in gaza. but can you do that until the trump team signs a memorandum of understanding that actually

officially allows you to share classified information with that team? >> so we can't engage in a normal transition until the incoming team signs the memorandum of understanding. but we can have informal conversations with the folks who are coming into our positions. those informal conversations can help shape a common message that says both the outgoing team and the incoming team are committed to bringing the hostages home. >> last week, the fbi and the cyber security agency acknowledged a chinese cyber espionage campaign compromised multiple telecommunications networks, and including information given to u.s. law enforcement under court orders from those telecommunications companies. does china still today have access to those telecommunications companies and that information? >> well, as you noted, this is an active investigation between the federal bureau of investigation, the department of homeland security. but what i will tell you is this is a significant event. the

intrusion into these private telecommunications and -- networks that also involve communications on an unclassified level by government officials. so it's something we take seriously. i'm saying the investigation covers both the question of what's happened in the past and what's happening right now. >> let me ask a question about legacy. are you concerned that one of your legacies will be facilitating the way israel has fought in gaza that has killed tens of thousands of women and children? >> the u.s. has taken a very clear position since this war began, which is that israel had a right to defend itself after the worst slaughter of jews since the holocaust. the u.s. also over the course of the past year has made a massive difference in terms of whether there would be widespread famine in gaza or not widespread famine. in terms of working with the israelis to try to minimize civilian harm over the course of the months of the conflict. i do believe that us standing up

for israel in its hour of need at a moment when its enemies were descending upon it has made a major difference for the good from the perspective of the united states. >> do you think the withdrawal from afghanistan is part of your legacy? and would you have done anything differently looking back? >> i believe that ending america's longest war and not passing it on to yet another president is a significant part of president biden's legacy and therefore as someone who works for him part of mine. i would further point out that to date, despite the warnings, we have not seen a deadly terrorist attack on the u.s. homeland while president biden was president. in addition, we are able to stand up to and push back against russian aggression in ukraine to keep kyiv from falling without having them have sitting ducks of u.s. forces in afghanistan to go after by, for example, arming up the taliban. so i think it is a good thing that the united states is no

longer fighting in that war and i believe that that is an important part of president biden's legacy. >> and on ukraine, do you think your legacy will be defined, in fact, in the end, by your successor? >> i believe that our legacy has already been substantially defined on ukraine, and it can be defined in two words, kyiv stands. the country was at risk of being wiped off the map. and thanks to the brave ukrainian people and their resourcefulness and their courage, but also thanks to president joe biden rallying countries from around the world, we defended kiev, we defended ukraine, and ukraine will continue to be a thriving democracy anchored in western institutions in the future. and i do not believe that anything that comes next is going to change that. >> jake sullivan, thank you very much. >> thank you. ♪ amna: jewish community leaders in the netherlands are inviting their muslim counterparts to

meet and try to find ways to reduce tensions caused by the war in gaza. divisions have deepened there and in france following two recent soccer matches involving israeli teams. special correspondent malcolm brabant begins his report in paris. >> you're the terrorists, chant pro-palestinian protestors, police -- taunting french riot police, preventing them from reaching an international match between france and israel. >> they're not killing terrorists, they're killing children, women and the elderly. >> i want a ceasefire, of course, but i want sanctions, too, because we have a genocide. actually, we have a genocide in palestine. so we have to put them in jail. >> the massacre continues for one year. and now we're dealing with a genocide. the numbers show us something like 50,000 dead but research by

the lancet tells us we're probably closer to 200,000 dead. >> thousands of officers were deployed to protect israel's soccer fans. apart from about 100, most heat warnings to stay away. thanks to the police, they chanted after the game. the french operation prevented a repeat of violence in the dutch capital amsterdam ten days ago when followers of a tel aviv soccer team were targeted by pro-palestinian supporters. >> israeli hooligans were accused of provoking trouble by tearing down palestinian flags and chanting anti-arab slogans. but the attacks that followed were widely characterized as a hunt for jews and community leaders were relieved there were no fatalities. >> that really changed my view of this town. i don't feel welcome anymore and i'm planning on leaving.

it's too much. >> jewish newspaper editor esther voet is worried about her personal security and asked us to ensure that we didn't identify her home. >> you can see it as a final straw because already on the 10th of march, we had huge things going on here with the opening of the holocaust museum, where holocaust survivors and their great great grandchildren had to pass by very aggressive protesters. >> we don't welcome zionists here. >> and, says voet, there have been many other incidents of intimidation. >> and nothing was done against it. you know, the nothing is done. that is the scary part. >> i think it's just continuing with playing the victim card, right? >> palestinian data scientist ali shanaa has helped to organise some demonstrations in amsterdam. his family became refugees in 1948 when israel was created. >> the people that we're referring to, while they might be jewish, mainly they're

zionist. and that's why they're feeling uncomfortable. and in my opinion, and i think in many other people's opinions, it's okay for them to feel uncomfortable if the reason for this discomfort is that they want to stand in support of a genocide and they don't want anyone speaking up against this genocide. >> the fallout from the violence almost led to the collapse of the governing coalition but the government remains under the control of right winger geert wilders, who wants to deport those responsible for the anti-semitic attacks. berber van der woude is a former dutch diplomat who served in the occupied territories and resigned over the netherlands' middle east policies. >> we have a dutch government in power that is far-right. they really instrumentalized this idea that there was a huge -- that there was basically a pogrom to use it as a stick to beat up basically the arab communities in the netherlands, the muslim communities. >> muslims comprise 5% of the dutch population. that's about one million people, whereas jews

number about 45,000, about a third of their pre-holocaust strength. this is a place of pilgrimage. it's where anne frank hid from the nazis and wrote her diary until her betrayal in 1944. 80 years later, antisemitism has a different face. >> jews are blamed for the bad things happening outside our community. i cannot pick up the phone. there's a dutch shoe. call netanyahu and ask him to stop it or to diminish it or whatever. he doesn't pick up the phone. >> community leader hans weijel believes trouble is being orchestrated by a violent minority and has proffered an olive branch. >> there are imams who talk to our rabbis and our laymen who talk to our laymen. but the problem is we don't hear any sound of, let's say, the leaders of the muslim community who say anti-semitism is wrong. you can't blame jews in holland.

you can't blame jews for what's happening in israel. >> back in paris, moroccan born protestor abdul karim insists it's wrong to depict the gaza debate as a conflict between islam and jews. >> for the last 18 years, there's been a blockade in gaza. can you imagine, a place as small as gaza under a blockade? it's not just muslims who are revolted by this situation. >> but the habit of linking all jews to israel's actions has exhausted esther voet. >> since october 7th, my world has shrunk. i don't go to bar anymore. i lost friends or people who i thought were friends. so you start hiding yourself and your circle is getting smaller with people you trust and that you can also talk about something else. then only this huge problem. >> half a mile away, the base of anne frank's statue is adorned with stones, a traditional jewish sign of respect for the

dead. they are also lamenting the return of antisemitism. for the news hour, i am malcolm brabant in amsterdam. ♪ geoff: the day after the presidential election, the non-profit committee to protect journalists issued a statement warning of a hostile climate for press freedom under a second trump term. it read in part, "legal persecution, imprisonment, physical violence, and even killings have sadly become familiar threats for journalists across the world. they must not now also become commonplace in the united states, where threats of violence and online harassment have in recent years become routine.” that's as advocates are urging senate lawmakers to pass a bipartisan bill that would protect journalists from government spying and other interference. jodie ginsberg is the ceo of the committee to protect journalists

and joins us now. thanks for being here. >> thank you for having me. your organization and others have raised concerns about what trump'second term could mean for press freedoms. what are your specific worries and what have you seen already that gives you pause? jodie: we need to think about two things specifically about a new trump administration. the first is around legal threats and the second is around regulation. there are many others that we can talk about but those are the ones i think we really need to be alert to in the second administration. already in the days leading up to the election, trump issued a host of legal threats against organizations like the new york times, cbs, and others. we might expect to see more of that in the new trump administration, personal, legal cases. personal legal threats but also

potentially challenges to pieces of legislation that have for decades protected the press against vexatious lawsuits like the supreme court case sullivan v. new york times, which allows the press to publish public interest information and be protected from being sued for defamation. geoff: i want to ask about a more recent piece of legislation, the press act, designed to protect journalists from being surveilled by federal law enforcement and will limit the government's ability to make journalists disclose their sources among other protections. time is running out for it to be passed in the senate why is this so critical? jodie: it's important we passed this law. some states have protections, which means that journalists in sources -- journalists' sources

cannot be subpoenaed. it's important we have that law at the federal level. we know trump is invested in going after whistleblowers ended syncytial that they are protected and journalists are also protected and allow to do their job. geoff: at the same time, i think it's fair to say journalists and journalism could benefit from some self reflection. i say that because the percentage of americans who say they have a great deal or fair amount of trust in the mass media has fallen to a new low of 31% in a new gallup survey and there are some who say that this trump win is a complete repudiation of the news media. how can they rebuild trust? jodie: by continuing to do what journalism does, which is to publish news and information in the public interest, and while it's true that there has been this drop-off in trust at the national level, people remain

highly trusting of their local media, which often has their most -- has the most impact. you tune into local media for what's happening locally could that's essential. those areas have been totally hollowed out financially at least. we are seeing so-called news deserts pop up across the u.s., which means we have no independent journalists able to hold local administrations to account for the spending of people's tax dollars, for example, so we have to continue to invest in that local journalism because people trust and rely on it. geoff: i want to ask you about the rise in violence and risks facing journalists. at least 100 37 journalists and media workers have been killed in gaza, the west bank, israel and lebanon since the war started, making it the deadliest

period for journalists since 1992, when they began reporting data. danielle: -- jodie: the material impact of this is it's harder to get information out of gaza about what's happening, about the impact of the war. there's almost no independent journalists able to operate freely in northern gaza, where there's been a program of removals of gazans and other organizations. we don't have the journalists and numbers there -- in numbers there to provide information about what's happening. that's why we need journalists, so the impact of this high level of killings coupled with journalists being repeatedly displaced, facing food shortages, fuel shortages, communication challenges, is

seriously undermining our ability to understand what's happening in gaza. geoff: jodie ginsberg from the committee to protect journalists, thanks for being here. ♪ amna: let's return now to the presidential transition and some of president-elect trump's cabinet picks that are sparking controversy. for that, we're joined now by our politics monday team. that's amy walter of the cook political report with amy walter and tamara keith of npr. great to see you both. let's start with some of the lingering questions over qualifications, ethical concerns over nominees, everyone from matt gaetz, congressman from florida, nominated for attorney general, pete hegseth, nominated for secretary of defense. we are waiting to see if that ethics committee report on matt

gaetz will be released or not. what do you think because republican senators are saying they want to see it? will we? tamara: they say also he deserves a fair hearing. matt gaetz has proven to have a very high pain tolerance and politics, incredibly hot. he is willing to pick fights and have everyone hate him. he is ok with that. he leans into it. so whether that report is released or not, i don't have any great insight i will say that someone who served in the trump administration said congress leaks like the titanic and that is fair. usually things get out and even if they don't there's already a

huge amount of information in the public discourse about what congressman gaetz was being investigated for. and there's already pressure being put on republican senators to pass through everybody. amna: what about this pressure? is this a test for senators and john thune, the newly elected leader? amy: we are eight years into donald trump. if you are a u.s. senator and a republican and have not already figured out where your lines are that you are going to draw the nets a problem.

it is about picking your fights in which things you will go along with even where you disagree. what's fascinating is to watch how democrats are responding to a lot of these picks as well. federman saying let's not go crazy with all of these. you have seen the governor of colorado have nice things to stay -- to say about rfk junior. i think both democrats and republicans are now coming to the realization that this is about picking your battles. there's also this possibility that the report is released and doesn't make a difference because we are now living in an era where the president elect was bragging about sexual assault, was convicted and held liable for sexual abuse as well. is there a line that they are trying to walk? do they cede their power if they

rubberstamp everyone? tamara: the challenges for republicans who have a majority in the senate. this is up to republicans. this is an interrepublican fight. and how much political capital to they want to spend on this? >> let me ask you about the economy. we have seen already improving markets. they have rallied since the election. there's optimism driven by expectations of lower taxes and regulations. the environment has shifted the environment -- was a just politics all

along?

they're also trying to fill as many judicial vacancies as possible. there were something like 130 openings in vacancies and now will you be down to the 30's. getting that money out the door, what democrats want to do is make sure that gets allocated and spend because trump as well as republicans in the senate are talking about clawing it back to

help pay for some of the things they want to do, specifically making the tax cuts permanent. >> great to see you both.

thank you. way beyond well-worn. >> is it torn or faded? >> it is torn and somewhat faded. >> it is pure lottery. vendors don't know exactly what they will find in the bundles they buy. >> are there good days and bad days? >> joyce is sorting through her own morning pile. >> look at the colors.

the bright colors. >> we have to reduce the price. >> we are looking for a stretched waste. >> some days she says she discards up to half of these close. >> throw it in the dustbin. >> do you know what happens to it? >> some people and people have used it to light fires. fuel for some of the fires at a vast dump site where electronic waste is incinerated to recover metals, like copper. but much of the textile waste lands up in lagoons and waterways leading into the atlantic ocean which sends a lot of it right back to to the shore -- -- to shore. thirty-four year old fisherman rahman botchway told us the nets cast from boats gather a lot of

rubbish alongside fish. >> we are collecting the rubbish. >> is one more headache for communities already struggling with unpredictable weather conditions and large commercial fleets that leave very little for small operators to catch.and -- to catch and fish mongers like mariam abubakari to sell -- to sell. >> this is nothing. >> it's obvious to see the physical and visible pollution along these beaches with the textile waste. what's less visible but equally as consequential is the sheer volume of micro plastics and synthetic fibers that is in all this waste, stuff that will never biodegrade. >> have high levels of

polyester. >> liz ricketts started the nonprofit here inattempting to p cycle waste, creating new products like this fiberboard and other products. >> an average of 20 tons of textile and waste on a weekly basis. every week, that is replenished. >> ricketts is american and spent years in new york and london as a designer in an industry that she says has become a breathless high-volume business. it went from two seasons a year to five with garments sewn cheaply in low-wage countries. >> is striven on a scarcity mindset that tells you you're

not going to fit in or not have that second date. we are pulling up our phone and see if there is something. they're access is about my middlemen exporters. >> we reach out to the american apparel and footwear association that said the industry with -- would support policies and regulations to encourage textile to textile recycling and the infrastructure to support it. another added no one in

the industry is intentionally making that will go to landfills or developing countries. they referred us to a group they support called accelerating circularity, formed five years ago, it has launched a number up or up, promoting a so-called circular economy, more reuse, less disposal and proper recycling. >> the idea would be a ghost somewhere where it's adequately recycled. >> but the university of california professor who studied the waste industry says recycling will not come close to solving the problem? >> fast fashion, you're talking about how to switch off the tap. >> get people to buy fewer clothes. >> fewer close, better made, have people repair them, but it's partly changing people's mindsets. there has been a shift.

>> ricketts since is a shift in mindset not just in consumers but in the fashion industry especially given the increasing visibility, the climate and the environmental consequences. >> most of the brands have said we hear you and we understand this is a thing we ultimately need to be doing but they are afraid of being the first brand to do it. this is not going to change overnight. >> at the same time, she says she is not calling for a ban on used clothing and ports that clothing on imports -- to ban clothing on imports. >> for decades. >> an environmental journalist we hired as a consultant remembers walking along pristine beaches here just two decades ago. and, like most ghanaians, his family bought secondhand clothes. in the past it was good business for all the traders and even the general public here.

people would go to the market and buy things that would last for decades. >> at kantamanto market, joyce asiamah yearns for a return to that time. >> ghana is not a dumping place. they should not bring it here. we want quality things, nice things, stylish ones. >> some u.s. states and the european union have begun or will begin requiring garment retailers to collect and recycle used clothes. the system will be modeled on similar efforts at electronics retailers, who add a recycling fee when goods are purchased. currently, just 20 percent of discarded textiles are actually collected. for the pbs newshour, this is fred de sam lazaro in accra , ghana. geoff: fred's reporting is a partnership with the under-told stories project at the university of st. thomas in minnesota.

♪ geoff: be sure to join us again tomorrow night, when we will report from on the ground in a texas counting on the u.s.-mexico border that voted republican in the presidential election for the first time in 120 years. and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm geoff bennett. lisa: and i'm amna nawaz. on behalf of the entire newshour team, thank you for joining us. >> major funding has been provided by -- >> travelers experience the maritime heritage and culture of the maine coast in new england islands -- and new england islands.our cruise ships explore landscapes, villages and historic harbors, where you can experience local customs and cuisine. american corridors --

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