amna: good evening. i'm amna nawaz. geoff bennett is away. on the “news hour” tonight, the fbi now says the new orleans attacker acted alone, but was inspired by isis. what we know about the suspect and his path to radicalization. we examine the complex legacy of president biden's 50 years in public office as he prepares to leave the white house. and two-year colleges try to

fill a shortage of manufacturing jobs by showing how the field isn't what it used to be. >> there's a big skills gap where we need to get this younger generation to replace these people who are retiring. ♪ >> major funding for the pbs "news hour" has been provided by. >> carnegie corporation of new york, working to reduce political polarization through philanthropic support for education, democracy, and peace. more information at carnegie.org. 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.” answers slowly began to trickle out today, after the deadly new years truck attack in new orleans. officials revised the death toll down to 14 victims, plus the suspect. they also gave more details about his activities in the hours before the attack. laura barron lopez begins our verage from new orleans. laura: as the sun rose over new orleans this morning, the french quarter, known for its parties and bustling crowds, was eerily quiet. and under tight security. residents, business owners, and tourists, coming to terms with the deadly new years attack on bourbon street.

>> sadly, this attack in my opinion was not against new orleans, it was against the nation. and sadly, it occurred here. >> we can't replace these lives, but we can make it better than we found it. and i think that's what new orleans is great at doing. laura: while the city grieved, law enforcement officials pieced together a picture of the suspect, 42-year-old shamsud din jabbar, a u.s. born army veteran. >> this was an act of terrorism. it was premeditated and an evil act. laura: christopher raia of the fbi's counterterrorism division said the agency now believes jabbar acted alone, reversing its position from yesterday. raia detailed the latest timeline at a press conference this morning. he said jabbar rented the white pickup truck used in the attack in houston on monday. and on tuesday night, drove it to new orleans. then, in the hours before the attack, jabbar posted five videos online proclaiming his support for isis.

>> in the first video, jabbar explains he originally planned to harm his family and friends, but was concerned the news headlines would not focus on the quote, war between the believers and the disbelievers, end quote. additionally, he stated he had joined isis before this summer. laura: in addition to an isis flag, authorities found guns and an apparent explosive device in jabbar's truck. today, the fbi's raia said there's also footage of jabbar putting explosives in coolers at two locations in the french quarter. he said initial reporting that accomplices placed coolers was untrue. authorities have received more than 400 tips, and are now examining jabbar's laptops and phones. president biden addressed the attacks today in remarks at the white house. >> people in new orleans are sending an unmistakable message. they will not let this attack or the attacker's deluded ideology overcome us.

we're going to continue to relentlessly pursue isis and other terrorist organizations where they are and they'll find no safe harbor here. laura: as the day wore on in the french quarter, there were signs of a slow return to normal, with bourbon street reopening to the public. freddie king iii represents this part of the french quarter on the new orleans city council. >> never anticipated that this would act of terror, that it was something that was done intentionally. those kind of things just don't happen in new orleans. laura: king is focused on what needs to be done moving forward, including increasing protection for bourbon street and the entire french quarter. >> i understand it's human nature to want to get answers, to want to find out who's to blame and how that has happened, to point fingers. i just don't think that that's warranted here. laura: how has the community and the people of new orleans responded to this? >> like we always do, like we did for katrina, like we did for hurricane ida and everything in between. we rally around each other. we support those who need

support. laura: meanwhile, the sugar bowl football game, postponed from yesterday due to the attack, kicked off this afternoon. with fans swarming downtown new orleans, though with a heavier police presence. >> the city of new orleans, we're resilient. laura: new orleans mayor latoya cantrell. >> i want to reassure the public that the city of new orleans is not only ready for game day today, but we're ready to continue to host large scale events in our city because we are built to host at every single turn. laura: but cantrell said the focus must remain on the victims and their families, as details emerged about some of those killed. among them, reggie hunter, a 37-year-old father of two from baton rouge. nikyra dedeaux, an 18-year-old aspiring nurse from mississippi. nicole perez, a single mother of a four-year-old.

and tiger bech, a 27-year-old from lafayette, louisiana, who played football at princeton. amna: and laura baron-lopez joins us now from new orleans. so laura, you are on the newly reopened bourbon street right now. just tell us what it's like there at the moment. laura: here on bourbon street, we're exactly where the suspect drove onto the sidewalk and it's slowly reopening here. there are a lot of people out enjoying themselves and it's slowly returning to normal on bourbon street. you can see though that there are more barricades here than there were previously. to my right, there are some yellow barricades on the sidewalk now that were not there previously because of the fact that the suspect to drive onto the sidewalk when he conducted the attack. amna: i know you've been talking to some residents there, to city leaders as well. what are you hearing from them about what they've seen in the

way of a response so far, and also what they want to see happen next? laura: many of the people that we spoke to said that they never expected a terror attack here in the french quarter in new orleans, and that's the new reality that they're living with now. however, a lot of the people we spoke to, business owners, residents, elected officials, said that they felt that the police acted quickly, that they were mostly happy with the city's response. my producer mary speak to a tour guide, and the tour guide told her that, you know, new orleans has always been a place where people come and are able to feel free and they come and they're able to enjoy themselves and it typically is a celebratory city, and that that's been tainted a little bit, but overall, people feel as though new orleans is going to be resilient and respond forcefully and try to go back to life as normal. one of the council members that

i spoke to, council member freddie king, who represents this area of new orleans, said that he wants to see more permanent barriers placed on bourbon street specifically on the sidewalks, and that he is hopeful that the city can create a plan that maybe other cities can replicate in times of terror attacks like this one. amna: meanwhile, as the authorities learn more about the attack, they've been sharing more of those details. what new details have we learned? laura: today we learned that the suspect was 100% inspired by isis, the fbi said that today. also the fbi briefed house lawmakers and told those lawmakers, according to sources in that briefing that the suspect was inspired by isis, but so far there's no evidence that he took direction from isis or any other foreign contacts, and that's something that is going to continue to be investigated. president biden said today that he wants the fbi as well as the

intel community to continue to investigate any potential contacts that the suspect had. and president biden also revealed today that there was a remote detonator inside the suspect's vehicle that would have been used to set off the explosives that were placed in two nearby areas in the french quarter. amna: alright, that is laura barron-lopez reporting from the scene of that horrific attack in new orleans. laura, thank you. laura: thank you. amna: law enforcement provided new details today on another disturbing incident from yesterday, a cybertruck that exploded in front of the trump hotel in las vegas. police identified the man who was driving the truck as 37-year-old matthew livelsberger, an active-duty member of the army's elite special forces. police said he shot himself in the head before a device detonated a combination of fireworks, gas, and camping fuel in the bed of the vehicle. joe schoenmann of nevada public radio has been reporting on this

and i spoke with him earlier. joe, welcome to the “news hour”" thank you for being with us. so we now know the identity of this suspect. what more did law enforcement have to say today about who this guy is and more about his background? joe: well, he has an extensive career in the military, beginning in 2006, he was a green beret -- and i'm going to take a look at some of my notes here -- a green beret active duty special operations soldier. he'd been based in germany. he was back on approved leave in fort collins, colorado, when he rented this cybertruck through this organization or through this company called turo. and he just has an extensive, extensive 19-year military background with no previous issues and no criminal activity that they could find in his background. amna: so one of the biggest questions people have had is whether there's any kind of connection between what happened

here in this particular incident and also the attack in new orleans. did law enforcement have anything to say about that today? joe: they really did. you know, a sheriff kevin mcmahill of the las vegas metropolitan police department, said he knows and they've and watching what's happening on social media. they're reading everything, and people are making these connections because both of these men had once been stationed in fort bragg, north carolina. both of them served in afghanistan in the same year. but they've also found no overlap between the two. no probable connections or communications between the two. but they said, you know, these are such coincidences that they're looking more into it. amna: so what kind of questions did people have today that law enforcement still doesn't have answers for, and where does the investigation go next? joe: motive. fbi special agent in charge of las vegas area came on and said they are searching literally worldwide for motive, to see if

there's a motive. one of the reporters asked if this was specifically a suicide mission, and sheriff mcmahill would only call it a suicide, and somebody asked or not this truck had been purchased specifically because it would allow the explosion to go up rather than out, because the explosion went up, the size of this truck was so strong that it didn't blow outwards and cause a lot of damage nearby. amna: we also know law enforcement's been searching the suspect's home in colorado. did we learn anything about that? joe: all they could talk about is that they are searching the home, but they didn't have any kind of information to bring forth. again, sheriff kevin mcmahill said, they've started this investigation, but they haven't even started looking at phone records yet. they haven't even gotten into any of the computer information that either of these people, one in new orleans and one here, might have logged on their computers. so they're really at the very start of this investigation.

amna: and joe, since you're there, just tell us what's the reaction been like on the ground as people are trying to figure out exactly what happened here. joe: they went through the shooting here in 2017 when 58 people were killed on las vegas strip. the pandemic, las vegas was one of the hardest hit places in the country, and i think people are just in a quandary. i think people are starting to realize this was isolated incident. the sheriff made that very clear. they don't see any other suspects. they have no evidence of anybody else involved. so i think people feel safe, they're just wondering, why here? amna: all right, joe schoenmann of nevada public radio joining us tonight. joe, thank you. we really appreciate your time. joe: you're welcome. amna: as we've heard, the suspect in las vegas, and the man who committed the terrorist attack in new orleans, both served in the military. to examine that side of the story, we turn to nick schifrin. nick: as we have said, there is

no connection according to law enforcement between the two men, but their military service did overlap. so is there a pattern we can discern? and what are some of the possible reasons veterans or active duty soldiers could turn to extremism? for perspective we turn to heidi beirich, co-founder, global project against hate and extremism. thank you very much and welcome back. let's focus on new orleans for a second. does his history in your opinion come -- fit a pattern of men who become radicalized? heidi: yes. there are parts of his recent history that a very common to all kinds of folks who become radicalized, whether white supremacists, islamic extremists or otherwise. when i am talking about is the collapse of his family background, is multiple divorces, financial problems. we find a lot of times that mass attackers have this kind of collapse in their family life going on. then it is the issue of him being a veteran, and if that

have might've played a role. that is also something that comes up a lot. nick: i am going to examine the veteran aspect in a second, but let's listen to how jabbar described himself back when he was selling real estate. >> so not only do i brilliantly market your property to make sure it gets sold as quickly as possible, or gets leased as quickly as possible, but i'm also going to take every ounce of energy and putting it into negotiating for you and for your property to get the best deal that you can possibly get for it. nick: let me read a statement today from his former commander. quote, he was a great soldier, someone who showed discipline and dedication. to think that the same individual who once embodied quiet professionalism could harbor so much hate leading to such unspeakable atrocities, is incomprehensible and heartbreaking. please watch out for one another. don't let hate take root, either in your own heart or in the hearts of those around you.

how do you explain when you hear the tone of that statement and watch the tone of that video with what he ended up doing? heidi: i know it is hard for a lot of people to believe that someone who is acting completely normally, even praiseworthy as the commander said about jabbar, could unravel to the point of committing violence. but it does happen. it is often precipitated with some sort of online radicalization that drives people down a rabbit hole. they are already desperate for various reasons. a particular extremist ideology calls to them in some way. that looks like what might have happened in this case. i know how incongruous it is but it does happen. nick: data from the university of maryland shows that since 2010, a larger number of veterans have been arrested, charged or died in an extremist attack than before 2010. do we know why? heidi: i think it has to do with

a few things. one, extremist groups are recruiting online in a way they could not before so they suck people into these movements. they are targeting veterans as well specifically. and also the military frankly has not done a good job of rooting out extremism in its ranks in recent years. nick: let's bring now the explosion in las vegas. that suspect was an active duty sergeant in special forces. again, there is no known connection with jabbar, but they both served in afghanistan in 2009, although in different areas, and both served at fort bragg, but at different times. is there any evidence that soldiers or veterans turn to violence in rates or ways that are different from those with no connection to the new -- to the military? heidi: the rate of a stream is is around the same outside the military as inside the military. the problem is someone who has

military training who gets radicalized could be far more deadly. we know that mass attacks perpetrated by active duty military or veterans are more lethal than those that aren't. that is really what the problem is and that is what needs to be focused on pre-we don't want to unleash people with military skills who are then radicalized or have already been radicalized on the american public. nick: heidi beirich, thank. ♪ amna: we start the day's other news in the gaza strip, where the new year has brought more death and destruction. palestinian health officials say israeli airstrikes killed at least 40 people today. one of those strikes hit a tent camp that israel had designated as safe zone. israel says the attack killed two high-ranking members of the hamas police force. officials on the ground say the

death toll was 10 people, including three children. as the sun rose on the second day of 2025, ziyad abu jabal emerged from his tent in southern gaza's al mawasi camp, still in shock. >> we were sleeping. everyone was taking shelter in their tents from the cold, and suddenly we found the world turning upside down. why, and for what? amna: witnesses say the pre-dawn israeli attack came without warning. some scrambled to put out fires, while others carried away the dead and the injured. the camp, which israel had designated as a safe-zone, is located by the sea, west of khan younis. hundreds of thousands of palestinians have relocated there to ride out the cold and wet mediterranean winter. israel says one of the hamas policemen killed in today's strike helped gather intelligence to carry out attacks on israeli troops. >> where did we find him? where else, but of course hiding in the humanitarian zone in khan younis, where gazans are

sheltering from this war. but among the dead were three children, from one family, ahmad, mohammed, and abdul rahman al-bardawil. at their funeral today, each received one final kiss from their mother and father. >> we woke up to the sound of the strike at around 1:20 a.m. at that time, i called on the children, but no one answered. the three of them had been sleeping next to each other. amna: israel also struck the hamas-run interior ministry headquarters in khan younis early today. nearby tents were damaged by the blast. in central gaza, at least eight people were killed in a strike on deir al-balah. hospital officials say the victims were members of a local committee that helps secure aid convoys. as the war grinds into a new year, israel announced that it will send negotiators to doha tomorrow in an effort to make a breakthrough in ceasefire talks before president biden leaves office.

also today, events are unfolding fast in south korea, where investigators are aiming to carry out a warrant to detain impeached president yoon suk yeol. it's part of their investigation into whether yoon's declaration of martial law last month amounts to rebellion. it's not clear at this hour whether the president will cooperate with the authorities. yoon has remained defiant, writing in a letter to supporters that he would quote, fight until the end against anti-state forces. yoon's legal team even warned that any officers trying to detain him could face arrest themselves by his security team. this comes as pro- and anti-yoon protesters have been gathering outside his residence in seoul. yoon himself said he had been watching the scene via youtube, and applauded his supporters' efforts. his future ultimately lies in the hands of the constitutional court, which has begun deliberations on whether to formally remove him from office, or re-instate him. at the white house this evening, president biden awarded the

presidential citizens medal this evening to 20 people who quote, performed exemplary deeds of service for their country or their fellow citizens. among them were democratic representative bennie thompson, and former representative liz cheney, a republican. both received standing ovations. in 2022, they led a congressional investigation into the january 6 attack on the u.s. capitol. their final report found that then-president trump engaged in a multi-part conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election. trump has said both thompson and cheney should be put in jail. in new york, police say 10 people were hurt in a shooting outside a nightclub in jamaica, queens. officials say three or four men approached a group of people waiting outside the club late last night before firing some 30 shots. the gunmen then fled on foot. six women and four men, between the ages of 16 and 20, were taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. police say the motive is unclear, but the shooting is not considered an act of terrorism.

tesla reported a drop in sales last year for the first time in more than a dozen years. the electric auto-maker delivered just under 1.8 million vehicles in 2024. that's about 1% lower than the year before. a strong fourth-quarter failed to offset the company's slow start to 2024. the dip in sales comes as tesla faces weakening demand for electric vehicles in the u.s. and worldwide. it's also battling increased competition from legacy auto-makers and startups in china, europe, and the u.s. on wall street today, stocks started the new year of trading on a sluggish note. the dow jones industrial average gave back about 150 points. the nasdaq slipped exactly 30 points on the day. the s&p 500 fell for a fifth-straight session. and, a passing of note. agnes keleti, a holocaust survivor and the oldest living olympic medalist, has died. born in budapest in 1921, her life as an aspiring young

gymnast was upended by world war ii. she was forced out of the sport for being jewish, and into hiding under a new name. after the war, keleti returned to gymnastics, and went on to win 10 olympic medals, five of them gold. she then settled in israel, where, for decades, she coached and helped build its gymnastics programs. even well into her 90's, keleti could still hit her splits. in 2021, on the eve of her 100th birthday, she told the associated press about the importance of physical fitness. >> i wish you all good health. health is the most important. without it, there is nothing. these 100 years feel to me like 60. i live well and i love life. amna: agnes keleti was hospitalized with pneumonia on christmas day and reportedly died this morning in budapest. she was 103 years old. still to come on the “news hour,” the rise in demand for weight loss drugs prompts

questions about access and affordability. and how barnes and noble is trying to revitalize its image. >> 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. amna: president joe biden's five decade-long tenure in public service comes to an end later this month, spanning four years as president, eight as second in command, and many more serving his home state of delaware in the u.s. senate. to examine the president's time in office and his legacy, i'm joined now by two reporters who have covered his career extensively. dan balz is chief correspondent for the washington post, and has covered mr. biden for decades. and annie linskey covers the white house for the wall street journal. welcome to you both and thanks for being here.

a mr. biden has spentmna over half his life in public service. first elected when he was 27 years old to a delaware county seat. three years later becoming one of the youngest senators in u.s. history. in those early years how did he put his stamp on washington? dan: his career almost ended before it started because of the tragedy of his wife and daughter being killed in an auto accident and his two sons being injured. he thought about resigning even before he was sworn in. he was talked out of that by the senate majority leader who took him under his wing and guided him through that first very difficult era in the senate. i think that made him kind of a creature of the senate. over the years he embedded himself on two very important committees. foreign relations in the judiciary committee. this allowed him to develop expertise in two significant areas. he was very active on supreme

court nominations and in the 1994 crime bill. and on foreign policy he was in and out of many crises. wars in the middle east and other issues. and so that time in the senate gave him expertise that he later applied to the presidency. i think it also gave him a sense of the rhythm of washington and of the legislative branch which also served him in the white house. amna: dan mentioned that lost early in his life in his career, losing his wife and his daughter, years later losing his son beau as well. this idea of grief and being a common theme throughout his life. how did that shaped his views and his leadership? annie: grief very much has been a theme that has run through his time in office and his presidency. it is something he talks a lot about. when you think back to the 2020 presidential campaign, the

country was in the midst of a pandemic. tens of thousands of people were dying or died of covid. and the president was able to connect to voters over grief. he was able to really feel their pain in a way and convince them and empathize with them and convince them he was the person who could really lead the country out of this pandemic. ultimately when the pandemic ended and his administration deserved a lot of credit for getting vaccines out the door, he struggled to connect with voters on the next level, on the next thing. but it was his empathy that really swept him into office. then one of his very final acts in office i think was steered by his connection to his family and his knowledge of the deep pain and loss he fell. that is when he decided to pardon his son hunter biden. amna: you mentioned he was vice president, second for eight

years under barack obama, but he clearly long-held presidential ambitions of his own. you covered that democratic primary back in 1988 and he first ran for office. ran again in 2008, then of course finally won in 2020. for this man to reach that level and win presidential office after all of those years, what does it mean and how did it inform how did he hold the role? dan: long before he ran for president he was talked about as a presidential candidate. in the early and mid-1980's it was clear he had presidential ambitions. he may have arrived in the senate with presidential ambitions. if he hadn't it took him only a few hours to get them. not uncommon for people in the senate. but nevertheless, he long wanted to be president. i think in 2020, he was determined to do it. for one reason it was the brass ring he never quite captured. a second reason i think he did it because of beau.

it's the title of his memoir, promise me dad, that you will stay in public life and perhaps run for president. and as he has said many times, it was donald trump in charlottesville that finally persuaded him to do that. but he was ready to be president. he had long served in the senate, eight years as vice president. he felt he was fully prepared, he felt he was the person to beat donald trump in 2020. and i think he came in with a sense of what he wanted to do. some of which he was able to do. a lot of which was not quite able to do for a variety of reasons. some through his own missteps and failings and some because no president gets to do everything they want to do. amna: in terms of finally making it to the highest office, where did you see mr. biden's biggest the compliments come through in terms of what he prioritized, where he spent his political capital, and what is left undone? annie: the first two years of his presidency was him and his

team wrestling with members of congress, going back and forth, and passing legislation to bring semiconductor manufacturing back to the united states, to fix roads and bridges, getting the infrastructure bill passed, to usher in a new green, clean economy, something he is very proud of. that was a major, major accomplishment for this white house. when he turned to foreign policy he did expand nato. he led efforts to rebuild u.s. relations with foreign countries. he really struggled to tell a story about what he was doing and what he wanted to do. that struggle was in part because of his experience but also because of his own deficiencies and his age-related decline, which has been well the last few months.

but really started much earlier than the white house has acknowledged. amna: this brings us now to where we are in the closing days of his time in office. this is probably not the way in which he saw his career ending. he ended his bid for a second term in office just 100 days before the election, under pressure from his own party and others, and questions about his age. how do you look at this idea of legacy, of how people will remember his time in office? dan: it is complicated as it is with most presidents. annie has ticked through major accomplishments which he will always be able to point to. i think the assembling of a coalition to defend ukraine against the russian invasion was a significant step forward, and something for which he won a lot of praise overseas. but there were some deficiencies. one was in passing all the legislation that they did in the first couple of years, that

helped to trigger the inflation that came back to haunt the administration. and i think that they were not as cognizant of that as they might have been. he was slow to deal with the immigration issue which cost the democrats politically in the 2020 election. and i think this issue of whether he should have run for a second term or not will only be a question that will be debated about his legacy. you are right, this is not the way he wanted to end. he obviously has thought, and i think continues to think that had he run this time around he might have won and there would be a second biden term. i think a lot of people question whether he would've done any better, or perhaps worse than vice president harris. so it is mixed. he will be able to point to many things he did which were positive that there will always be some downsides to that presidency. as they always are when someone ends up as a one term president. amna: especially over five

decades in public service as well. my thanks to you both, really appreciate your time. dan: thank you. annie: thank you. ♪ amna: in the next decade, millions of manufacturing jobs will open up in the u.s. as workers retire. meanwhile, the sector is also supposed to add more jobs with help from federal subsidies. but by some current estimates, only half of those jobs will be filled. so where will the workers needed come from? well, how about some two-year colleges like cincinnati state? our economics correspondent paul solman paid a visit in search of hope for the future. >> it had to have three wheels. it had to be a gas motor. and it has to have a wheelie bar. paul: we used to say cool as a moose. not exactly your grandparent's

shop class here at cincinnati state technical and community college. >> you have three semesters to design and build this. semester one they design everything you are sitting on. paul: zane teaches skills much in demand these days. >> let's see how it looks. paul: schools like cincinnati state our key training grounds to prepare students for manufacturing jobs for which there are just not enough workers these days. the job gap is especially important here in ohio, america's third most manufacturing heavy state. >> demand is skyrocketing for this. if you went back 20 years ago there was not as much demand as there is today. paul: demand for the likes of 20-year-old andrew lakes. >> determines that software into g code, and that is what this is. it is reading all those lines of code, and that tells us what

that tool is going to do. paul: which is? >> i am building a pocket knife handle. paul: a pocket knife handle? >> yes. you can see i have a few prototypes. i am working on my finished product. paul: your finger goes there? his first foray, a flop. >> here you could say i went a little too deep. i broke the tool. paul: is that humiliating? >> a little bit but you learn from your mistakes and you learn to move on and what to do better next time. paul: more challenging, a working race buggy. this was last year's model. >> next year's car which is what i am designing is going to be so small that it can fit inside of this car. paul: amy, also a student here. you are going to build the whole thing? then what do you do with it? >> then we will race it. paul: in the spring, a college baja competition like this one.

how do you expect to do with one of these? >> i think we are going to crush it. because we are one of two or three community colleges that compete alongside these major universities with huge budgets. and we have done pretty well. so i think this new car is going to be, like, the best. paul: baja razors and knife handles are a few lures for students to attend this program and acquire skills for america's supposedly manufacturing renaissance. >> we are going to launch a historic buildup of dominion -- of american any factory. paul: but there is a huge problem. what we hear and what we read is there is a real shortage of people going into manufacturing, while lots of people are retiring from manufacturing. >> that is absolutely the case. we have all these people retiring that have the skills. we have this younger generation, there is a big skills gap where we need to replace these people

who are retiring. paul: where better to get the skill than at america's community colleges where nearly 9 million students pay a fraction of the cost of a four-year degree. how much does it cost to be here? >> for mia cost about $3000 a semester. paul: for a job that pays? >> after i graduate i'm expected to make about $27 an hour. paul: so, $50,000, $60,000 a year. and around here that is good money? >> yes. especially for someone my age. paul: and especially for starting pay. >> we prepare students for the workforce for the future because our job is to meet the needs of the local economy. paul: monica, president of cincinnati state. >> 85% to 90% of our students stay in this area and work. and we have great partnerships with employers, and they tell us what they need, what we should

be investing in, what we should do. paul: but, and here's the crux of the story, zane's classes are under subscribed. cutting edge skills, good jobs, lack of workers nationwide, and yet not enough young people in the pipeline. how many of you think that people like yourselves aren't here because manufacturing is uncool? uncool, no? because it is too hard? really? almost everybody. because they just don't know about it? that too. i put the same questions to the teacher. >> we have got to work on changing and really having people realize that if you look around the shop, it is not all that dirty. people are out there challenging themselves, spending half the time on the computer, half the time on the shop floor. if we can show young people this is a viable career and training is available for it, we can fill that gap. paul: but we are nowhere near there yet?

>> no. i think a lot of it is the stigma around this field. and getting people to realize that it is a much nicer job than it used to be 50 years ago. paul: and as president monica says, cincinnati state gets state and federal funding to do so. >> we are recruiting and doing everything we can to invest in it. but we also know we need to recast manufacturing in terms of student and families, their attitude about the industry. paul: but still not an easy sell, even with incentives like this one. which literally anyone can drive. and if you spend four semesters here while prepping to propel america's proposed manufacturing future, you can even build. for the pbs "news hour," paul solman, risking my neck to amuse you, in cincinnati, ohio. ♪

amna: 2024 was a big year for weight loss drugs like ozempic and wegovy. more patients are relying on them to manage their weight, treat diabetes, or prevent heart attacks and strokes. and while they are highly effective, they also come with some concerns. william brangham has more on the rising demand for these drugs, which are part of a class of medications known as glp-1. william: about one and 80 u.s. adults now say they have taken a glp-1. but amid all the excitement about the efficacy, some experts also say it is important to keep in mind some of the drug's limits, their cost, and to better understand where they belong in the nation's long fight against obesity. for a check on where this all stands we are joined by an

assistant professor of medicine at harvard medical school and a clinical endocrinologist who specializes in medical weight management. so nice to have you on the program. you prescribed these drugs to some of your patients. from your perspective, what do they do, how effective are they, especially at helping people lose weight? >> thank you very much for having me. it is a pleasure to be on the show. i also want to mention i do not have any conflicts of interest. in terms of how these medications work and how effective they are, a lot of times what i will hear is patients using the same words to describe how they work. so people will tell me that they have reduced cravings, that they think about food less. there is this term food noise. people tell me they have a lot less food noise so they are thinking of food a lot less whereas maybe before you wake up in the morning and you are

thinking about what you're going to have for breakfast and while you're having breakfast you're already thinking about what you want to eat next. as well as an easier time with portions. so, still eating food that is enjoyable but eating less of it and feeling satisfied. that was on the main things that i hear from people who take these medications to lose weight, to help with weight loss. william: a couple questions about the downsides. do they work for everyone, and what are the side effects patients experience? dr. dushay: they work for many people but not everyone. there are nonresponders. it is a significant minority of nonresponders. in my personal practice that is about 10%. we don't know why. at the moment there are not any real predictors of response. but certainly there are nonresponders. in terms of side effects, they are very common.

most commonly people have reflux, nausea. less commonly you can have vomiting, constipation, or diarrhea, either of which can be severe. and less common side effects like fatigue. but overall i do tell people that side effects are very common and they should expect them. william: as you know, these drugs are extremely expensive in the u.s. while they are demonstrating real effectiveness, that creates challenges with affordability and access. how do you see that playing out in your own practice? dr. dushay: insurance coverage is a real problem. at the moment medicare does not cover these medications for weight loss. the exemption is wegovy being covered for cardiovascular disease covered by medicare. in terms of private insurance, either there is no coverage or you have to go through hurdles, meaning you have to try other medications and are there not tolerate them or have them not

work. or sometimes it is full stop with a private insurance, they will not cover it. so, access does remain a major problem, largely due to lack of insurance coverage and the very high cost of paying out-of-pocket. william: given the efficacy you have seen, would you like to see insurance coverage broadened including medicare? dr. dushay: definitely. especially for higher body weights and higher body mass indices, for people who may have lower body mass indices however, they may have high cholesterol, high blood pressure, prediabetes. if they have cardiovascular disease they might be covered. certainly people who are in the high risk category due to comorbidities or very, very high body weight, i would very much like to see expanded coverage. william: what do you make of the argument, i am sure you have

heard this, that given the efficacy at helping pooh-pooh -- helping people lose weight, that helps us take our eye off the ball of proper nutrition and exercise? dr. dushay: these medications are meant to be prescribed only in combination with a program that is paying attention to nutrition and physical activity. so, in the context of what someone is able to afford and physically do. however, there should always be a component of nutrition counseling, and also physical activity counseling as well. these medications are never meant to be used as a substitute for that, and always in combination for best health and also for optimizing how much weight loss you are going to get with these medications. you're going to get additional benefits if you take -- pay attention to lifestyle. they are not meant at all to be a replacement for that. william: dr. jody dushay of harvard medical school, thank

you so much for being here. dr. dushay: thank you so much. ♪ amna: last year, barnes and noble opened nearly 60 stores around the country, and plans for 60 more to open in 2025. it's the latest twist in a long running saga for a company that's been a bellwether for the book business. senior arts correspondent jeffrey brown continues our ongoing reporting on the book industry, part of our arts and culture series, canvas. >> it's recognizably barnes and noble because there are lots and lots of books piled high, but it looks very different. jeffrey: a pre-opening walk through a barnes and noble bookstore, a maze of small rooms and pathways, with company ceo james daunt. >> when you're very full, as this store often will be, it's creating space for people to drop into. jeffrey: this store, on manhattan's upper east side, is just a-year-old.

it's part of a large nationwide chain but, crucially for daunt, has its own look and feel. >> the key insight that i have is that it is about the bookselling team, and it's about how you take all of this huge number of books and arrange them and display them in a manner which really engages with your local community. the insight that gives me in terms of running lots of bookstores is, leave it to the teams in each store. the vast majority of them will do it exceptionally well and your stores will become better and busier and the business will thrive. jeffrey: barnes and noble's beginnings can be traced to 1873. but it was in 1971 that leonard riggio acquired its trade name and flagship manhattan store, and grew the company into the nation's largest bookseller, offering steep discounts and a huge selection, changing the landscape for how and where americans bought books, eventually with more than 700 superstores, all with the same titles and design.

>> one, two, three, four. >> we don't want this superstore. jeffrey: its success, along with borders, put hundreds of smaller independents out of business, captured in nora ephron's 1998 film, "you've got mail." >> can we save the shop around the corner? >> yes! jeffrey: but amazon, offering even steeper discounts and more supply, nearly killed off barnes and noble, which by the time daunt arrived, had closed hundreds of stores around the country. >> obviously, we've come back from the brink. jeffrey: the brink, meaning the end? >> yes. i mean, the business was a public company. it was sold really pretty much for the value of the books that were sitting on its shelves. so that's not a really very good sign of health. the job that i had was to restore it as a bookseller. jeffrey: daunt brought an unusual pedigree. he'd launched daunt books in 1990 as an independent bookseller in a gorgeous london setting that became a destination for book lovers.

in 2011, he was hired to rescue waterstones, britain's largest chain bookstore, then near bankruptcy. and in 2019, after hedge fund company elliott advisors bought barnes and noble, to attempt the same here. his success has gained attention, as in recent years barnes and noble began to open stores all over the country. even re-opening a flagship washington, d.c. store that had closed in 2012. the new philosophy, have stores act and feel like an independent, local shop. victoria harty, assistant manager at this upper west side manhattan store, has worked for barnes and noble for more than 10 years. >> we used to be told what table to do, how to curate it, where that table should go, what angle that table should be on, and what discount that table potentially is going to have. jeffrey: angle of? >> angle of the table. it was very, very regimented. there was no thought. jeffrey: these days, harty and

her counterparts see themselves as curators, of individual tables and shelves as well as the store itself, paying more attention to local consumers, and to social media, most of all, tiktok's booktok. >> it was a lot of young readers, almost this new generation that was coming into physical bookstores looking for books. so what i started to do with that was look at those titles, like, what they were coming in for, and how do you take that one title and curate a display around it? like, what are those books that are similar? pairing them together and creating a bigger display from it. jeffrey: so fervent in his approach is daunt that he makes amazon, which today accounts for more than 50% of the market, sound like an ally. >> i actually see amazon as being a massive positive for what it is to be a great bookseller. jeffrey: how can it be a massive positive if it's taking 50% of the market?

>> what it's taking is all the boring books out of our stores. we used to have great huge medical sections that taught doctors and nurses and all the other professionals. but those books are very boring. no more. you go onto amazon, poof, it arrives through your letterbox three minutes later. jeffrey: but surely people go to amazon for more than just what you're calling the boring books. >> of course they do. and you know, if you buy percival everett's "james" from amazon, it's the same percival everett i'll sell you. but if you come into this store to buy it, you will come and you'll be surrounded by other books which you can browse and engage with. almost certainly you'll have another, a fellow customer saying, oh, have you read this by him? have you read? you will have an experience. and when you walk out of the store with it in your bag, it will lift you. it's the same book, but i promise you it's a better book. and the reading of it will be more pleasurable because you bought it in a bookstore. jeffrey: that strategy applies to the nation's independent bookstores, too, of course. in fact, barnes and noble recently acquired one of them, denver's much-loved but bankrupt tattered cover, a move being watched closely locally and

beyond. daunt says this. >> bookstores get into trouble. what we now do as a chain is we rescue them. we give them a safe home. we don't change them. we don't change the people. we don't change the name. but we give them the structure of a large chain. jeffrey: an earlier plot line in this long saga was that barnes and noble is killing independents. now they can coexist? >> i think bookstores do coexist. i mean, my instincts are that of an independent bookseller. i would never open up in a location where i believed i was threatening an independent bookseller, ever, because that's totally unnecessary. we're in this vast country of ours with far too few bookstores. but, it isn't a zero sum game. jeffrey: it is a business, though, and daunt has to answer to the company's owner. the plot of this story, that is, is still being written. for the pbs "news hour," i'm

jeffrey brown in new york. ♪ amna: and remember, there's a lot more online, including a state lawmakers top priorities for the new year. that's at pbs.org/newshour. and that is the "news hour" for tonight. i'm amna nawaz. on behalf of the entire "news hour" team, thank you for joining us. >> 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 klorfine, and the judy and peter blum kovler foundation. the ford foundation, working with visionaries on the front lines of social change worldwide. and with the ongoing support of these institutions.

and friends of the "news hour." this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy.]

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♪ -"cook's country" is about more than just getting dinner on the table. we're also fascinated by the people and stories behind the dishes. we go inside kitchens in every corner of the country to learn how real people cook, and we look back through time to see how history influences the way we eat today. we bring that inspiration back to our test kitchen so we can share it with you. this is "cook's country."