♪ geoff: good evening. i'm geoff bennett. amna: and i'm amna nawaz. on the newshour tonight, a major breakthrough. israel and hamas reach a hostage and ceasefire deal that could end the 15-month war in gaza. geoff: firefighters battle high winds that threaten to further spread the wildfires blazing across the los angeles area. amna: many of president-elect trump's cabinet picks face

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these 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 newshour. after nearly a year and a half of brutal war in gaza that widened across the region, a ceasefire and hostage deal was struck today between israel and hamas. geoff: the deal between the warring sides was mediated by the united states, egypt, and qatar and will start this weekend. the biden administration had spent many months trying to force the parties toward a deal, but a final push in coordination with the incoming trump team helped get to this agreement today. nick schifrin is here with more. how down to the wire is this? reporter: geoff, a senior

administration official says the u.s. didn't know there would be a deal until just minutes before announcing it, after hamas tried this morning to insert new objections. but tonight, after 15 months of one of the most intense aerial campaigns in history, the deadliest ever war on israeli soil, and the deaths of tens of thousands of palestinians, there is cautious hope the ceasefire will hold. tonight in gaza, a celebration. and in israel, relief, that after 467 days of forehand war and 72 hours, the sound of gunfire. the three-phase deal begins with a six week cease-fire. hamas will release 33 is really hostages --israeli hostages and to americans. israel will release 1000 palestinian prisoners including hundreds serving life sentences

for terrorism. and israeli soldiers will lead population centers but remain along gaza's borders, including on the philadelphia corridor with egypt, allowing palestinians to return to their homes. >> this is the right move. this is an important move. this is a necessary move. there is no greater moral jewish, human obligation then to bring our sons and daughters back to us. reporter: the two sides agreed now because a diminished hamas realize the cavalry was not coming. israel's regional military success gave netanyahu political flexibility and bipartisan coordination. a senior biden administration officials says the middle east director and the president-elect trump's middle east envoy created a "historic collaboration" and negotiated side-by-side, alongside

mediator, the qatari prime minister. >> the u.s. has yielded to this moment. reporter: today trump took credit saying this epic cease-fire agreement could have only happened as a result of a his -- of our historic victory in november. if the cease-fire holds, the two sides will negotiate a second phase for a permanent cease-fire. hamas would release all remaining living hostages, including male soldiers, and israel would withdraw from gaza completely. if they got that far, they would return the remaining of hostages kept in captivity and launch gaza's reconstruction with foreign troops providing security, as laid out by secretary of state antony blinken. >> given the cost, especially

the human cost, heavy response ability to ensure that the strategic gains in door and lay the foundation for a better future. reporter: those costs to begin with the october 7 terrorist attack. gunman killed more than 1200 israelis and kidnapped more than 220 people, holding them in one former hostages call for conditions. today, more than 90 remain in gaza. officially at least one third are still alive. the war has transformed not only gaza but also the middle east. a brutal fight in lebanon that beheaded hezbollah, helped lead to a new government less beholden to hezbollah. the overthrow of president assad, chief iranian ally and an attack on iran itself that destroyed a bunch of its air defense and missile production. >> we are handing off to the

next team a real opportunity for a better future for the middle east. . i hope they will take it. reporter: and those caught in the middle hope this is an end to 15 months of suffering and agony. for the pbs newshour, i'm nick schifrin. geoff: for more on all of this, we turn to two newshour regulars, david makovsky of the washington institute for near east policy, and hussein ibish with the arab gulf states institute in washington. thank you both for being here. president biden today made clear that he laid out the precise contours of this agreement back in may. it was almost agreed to in july. why now? >> it had an going back to january and even november of 2023. these ideas have been around for a long time. the inflection points are the election of donald trump the pressure he put on prime minister benjamin netanyahu with

builds -- -- which builds on pressure from the israeli public and military to make such a deal. i think trump was very clear he did not want this war to go on during his inauguration, and on the other hand, major change of power within hamas inflicted mainly by the fall of the assad regime which signals a rise of turkey and qatar in the region at the expense of iran and hezbollah and shifts power within hamas away from the gunmen on the ground in gaza who did the october 7 attack back to the politicians that have left qatar but are now gathered in turkey. the main regional card that hamas can play now is not the military links they have with iran, but the political and diplomatic links they have with turkey and qatar. turkey and qatar don't want this war to go on. between pressure on those two sides, you have a deal. geoff: there was a temporary

cease-fire in 2023 that fell apart after a week on the eighth day, was different about this agreement or what's different about the climate that might suggest the cease-fire deal might be more enduring? >> like you said, that was the last big point, november when 105 hostages were released for a few days of cease-fire. this is a much more ambitious effort in terms of not just a few days but at least 42. we hope it is extended. the families of these hostages are being reunited. your heart goes out to the families of these hostages being reunited and the people of gaza who will get relief. there's a convergence of factors here. i agree with president biden when he said it happened because of the extreme pressure hamas has been under and nick schifrin's piece about losing hezbollah, hezbollah is out of the war after the death and

decapitation and the weakening of iran. its weakest in decades. in the transition between governments. i think it is unprecedented in american history that an ingoing and outgoing administration were sitting at the same table to get this done. we can agree if it is dark or light outside but they can agree on this -- they can't agree if it is dark or light outside but they can agree on this. everyone wants to be in the good graces of the new administration guess i disagree a little bitt with hussein and that i don't think it is the external elements of hamas. the people that hold the key is the hostages are gaza. those are the people doing the killing. i think without weakening them, he would not have had a deal.

>> i agree with that. geoff: there is such fragility around the cease-fire deal and the road ahead will be critical, but who are the people on the ground that can ensure that both sides abide by the terms of this agreement? there's no international observers or government structure that can make sure of this. >> the parties are on their own, i think. after the 42 days, which they will both probably live up to, both sides are going to have to decide if they want the agreement to survive the 42 days and then to go into a second phase. they are both going to have to agree. either side could decide to stop things at any moment. especially within gaza, a small group of people with guns could do something violent, and give israel either the reason or the excuse to say, the wars back on. it is going to be very delicate. if the leaders are committed to

following through and to a second phase, they will have to be willing to put up with some provocations that maybe have to simply be baked into the process, otherwise are no external guarantors, there is no one overseeing this. geoff: moving forward, the incoming trump administration believes it has the upper hand for a new presidential administration. leverage can be a wasting asset. how do you assess the trump team's chances of helping both sides navigate their way toward a lasting peace? >> this is going to be hard. what they are counting on his netanyahu in a certain way wants to turn the page and have a much broader conversation with the incoming administration about regional opportunities and halogens, the opportunity is a normalization deal with the saudis. the biden people did a lot of the work on this. but trump might get the benefit

of it. that is something the israelis wants very much. as part of a wider mega deal with saudi arabia and the u.s., that is the opportunity. the challenge with iran now that is been weakened, you know i like sports metaphors, iran is like a soccer team without a goalie, they have no air defenses right now. is this a way to get iran to the table on nuclear terms they would not have agreed to before? but this conversation goes way beyond gaza. there's an opportunity here for benjamin netanyahu to engage the administration. of everything is gaza, gaza, gaza, is going to be harder to have that conversation that i think both the u.s. and israel want to have. i think there is an incentive there that should not be overlooked. geoff: do you agree? >> that's exactly the problem. israel has done nothing to prepare for this day. especially for phase two and

phase three. benjamin netanyahu has refused to discuss a day after scenario and opposed any moves to create an alternative civil administration in gaza, as it was between israeli military rule and the resumption of hamas rule, which is a strategic decision that israel has made in this agreement for fear of strengthening the palestinian authority which i believe they fear more than hamas. they think the pa might be able to create a palestinian state. is a continuation of the old policy of dividing the palestinians. i think israel's intending to leave hamas and effective control of gaza and there is no other way to interpret this agreement. geoff: certainly more to come. thanks to you both. amna: the ceasefire deal will end the agonizing wait of dozens of families whose loved ones have been held hostage in gaza. some of them are american. as nick reported earlier, the

first phase of this deal will include the release of two americans. one of them is segui deckel chen, kidnapped from nir oz while trying to defend his family on october 7. i spoke to his father, jonathan, before the u.s. confirmed that segui was on the list to be released in phase one. jonathan, thank you so much for being with us. good to see you. >> thank you for having me. amna: i just want to begin with your reaction to the announcement of today's deal, what did you think when you heard the news? >> my first reaction was gratitude. to the two administrations, the outgoing biden and the incoming trump administration for being the catalyst to make this happen. it's a rare thing in american politics today for something like this to happen. so put aside the partisanship -- to put aside the partisanship and work together over the course of the last few weeks to bring us to the brink of ending

this madness in gaza and bringing the 98 hostages home. amna: and other details are still emerging but the hospice relate is likely to occur in phases, likely to begin with women. have you heard anything about when you might expect segui to be released, is it possible he could be part of the first phase? >> honestly, we really don't know. there's a lot of background noise. we will be wiser in six weeks, once this first phase is completed. we hope and we pray that segui will be a part of that but we will be overjoyed for the families of anyone who is released. more importantly, the incoming trump administration and the intermediaries, to make sure that all phases of this deal are implemented. it is simply not going to be enough to have the first phase go through and then allow the situation to deteriorate again. we need all 98 home and the

people of gaza need peace. amna: how worried are you that something over the next few weeks could fall apart and the teal cohen followthrough -- could fall through? >> it is a very delicate situation in a volatile part of the world that we live in. it is premature for me at least to be overly enthusiastic or optimistic because as we have learned over the course of the last 15 months, and for most of my lifetime in the middle east, there's always a surprise and usually about surprise on the corner. -- a bad surprise around the corner. we need help here. we will need their help to see you do if you would have little doubt in keeping pressure first and foremost on hamas to live up to as part of the agreement. perhaps also the israeli government, if it wavers its

commitment to getting this done. amna: you have been very pointed in your criticism before of the benjamin netanyahu government and accused them of not participating in the efforts to get the hostages released. hamas has not been a reliable partner in these talks. but in israel, what do you think shifted that allowed things to get to at least this point today where there is a deal? >> it seems to me that there is very little doubt that what put this into motion was president trump's statement about seven weeks ago about hell to pay. that rattled cages around the middle east and also in the israeli government. while the plan that been approved today is, as we learned couple hours ago, pretty similar to the one that was first proposed by president biden in late may of last year, it is clear that the urgency to get it done no matter what came as a result of that statement seven weeks ago from president trump. amna: we have been so fortunate

to have you join the show many times to share your efforts to get your son and the other hostages home. i remember in a conversation with my colleague, nick schifrin, you talked about the day that your son was kidnapped and how he was working to protect his wife and his children in their home. can you tell us how his wife is doing today and his children, have you told them, your grandkids, that their dad could come home soon? >> we have not yet shared the news about the impending agreement, or the announce agreement, because we do not want these girls to be crushed again. a three and seven-year-old. thankfully the 1-year-old does not ask a lot of questions so there is no worries there. what we are doing is we will be attending the inauguration of president trump for them to see the power really of america in

its best way, getting something good done that has to happen not just for the good of segui in israel but for all well-meaning people in the world. i hope the reunion will be as fast as possible but for now we are keeping the news to ourselves. amna: thank you so much for joining us once again. we hope segui is home safe with you and his family very soon. thank you again. ♪ amna: all around los angeles today, residents again held their breath while firefighters worked to prevent major fires from starting or spreading. at least 25 people are dead, and more than 12,000 structures have been damaged or destroyed. more than 80,000 people remain under evacuation orders.

stephanie sy has our report. reporter: it was another tense 24 hours in southern california has exulted firefighters worked to contain flareups and protect hard-fought progress across the city. >> the anticipated 70 mile an hour winds have yet to materialize. however, this could change, and we are still at risk. reporter: as of this evening, millions remained under red flag warnings, while crews continue to battle flames from the ground and the air. the good news, winds were mostly weaker than anticipated in the forecast for the week was largely favorable though there was still no sign of rain. >> the danger has not yet passed so please prioritize your safety. reporter: this morning, the only city officials faced tough questions about their preparedness and firefighting strategies. the los angeles times reported

the los angeles fire department chose not to extend the shapes of roughly 1000 firefighters and dozens of engines even as the winds worsened in the hours before the palisades fire. >> are firefighters on the truck -- reporter: they did not detail how many extra firefighters were initially called in, but defended the department's response. >> we have the capability and pull every resource in and around the area, we deployed the resources in very calculated way throughout the city, also not knowing where a fire might start and might not start, i think that is very important that everybody understands that. reporter: more than two dozen people are still missing. dogs trained to locate human remains are coming the debris in both major burn zones, helping hundreds of first responders complete a painstaking house by house search. >> it is a considerable amount of structures to search,

thousands. it is going to be a long process. reporter: officials have charged at least nine people for isolated incidents of looting and the l.a. county supervisor issued a stern warning to businesses that may try to profit from the crisis by price gouging. >> we cannot raise the price of rent, goods, or services more than 10%. we are taking these instances seriously, and there will be consequences. reporter: the cause of both blazes is still under investigation. but new video appears to show the early moments of the eaton fire at the base of powerlines in altadena. in the palisades, residents said flames erupted in an area where a fire had previously burned on new year's day. >> there was no lightning or powerlines up there, there's no reason a fire would start by itself, but who knows?

reporter: as efforts turn towards recovery, residents are still struggling to make sense of a natural disaster that took so much so quickly. >> you stand there staring like, how am i going to tell my kids that everything is gone? why did god not answer my prayers and do this to me? reporter: even those who have lost everything, like altadena resident erin lubley, are helping others come handing out food, water and other essentials from the charred remains of his front yard. >> you can never plan for what you do in a situation like this. all you can do is take one step forward, have the strength to take a second step forward. reporter: spoken like a true survivor and a good neighbor. the pbs news hour, i'm stephanie sy. amna: we start the day's other news with two announcements from the food and drug administration aimed at protecting americans' health. first, officials are banning red dye number three from food for its potential cancer risk. it was banned in cosmetics

nearly 35 years ago. the dye is now found in some sweets, flavored beverages, and oral medicines. regulators gave food manufacturers until 2027 to remove it from their products. the fda also proposed a rule today to make cigarettes less addictive by capping their nicotine levels. officials say that smoking is still the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the u.s. they estimate the rule could help nearly 13 million americans quit within a year, if implemented. >> today's action is a pivotal step toward reducing these monumental adverse health effects and the more than $1 billion spent a day in this country on smoking related health care costs and lost productivity. amna: the agency announced the plan in the final days of the biden presidency. it's unclear if the incoming trump administration will support the proposal. the supreme court signalled support today for a texas law aimed at blocking children from seeing pornography online. critics of the measure say it

violates the first amendment by requiring age verifications like photo i.d. they say parents should filter what their kids see instead. but members of the court's conservative majority pushed back today, with justice samuel alito asking, "do you know a lot of parents who are more tech savvy than their 15-year-old children?" texas is among more than a dozen states with such laws on the books. the court is expected to rule on the case by july. in south africa, police abruptly called off a rescue operation at an abandoned gold mine where hundreds of people had been trapped underground. a rescue operation began on monday, with crews pulling more than 240 people out alive, along with dozens of dead bodies. just yesterday, the police minister predicted the operation would last until at least next week. the miners had been working the site illegally. authorities first tried to force them out in november by cutting off their supplies. civic groups say that left the miners at risk of starvation and

deyhdration. rescuers will try one final sweep tomorrow. in ukraine, officials say a major russian missile attack forced authorities to shut down parts of its power grid today. there were no reported casualties, but energy infrastructure is critical during ukraine's frigid winter months. residents in kyiv huddled together, as they took shelter in the city's metro stations. today, president volodymyr zelenskyy met poland's prime minister, donald tusk, in warsaw. poland is ukraine's neighbor and a major european ally. zelenskyy said all eyes will be on washington next week when president-elect trump takes office. >> we are waiting, think the whole world is waiting because the united states is a strategic partner in global stability. this is my opinion. they are the main donors supporting ukraine in its war for survival against russian aggression. we expect continued support for ukraine.

amna: meantime, the biden administration is ramping up sanctions on entities connected to russia's war effort. the treasury department said today it is reimposing sanctions on 100 companies and institutions that had already been targetted and adding sanctions on 15 new ones. -- targeted and adding sanctions on 15 new ones. officials say removing the sanctions would require notifying congress. to south korea now, where the nation's impeached president yoon suk yeol is now being held in detention. he was taken into custody early wednesday, becoming the country's first-ever sitting president to be detained. investigators are looking into whether yoon's declaration of martial law last month amounted to rebellion. in a video message recorded shortly before he was taken into custody, yoon blasted his detention as unlawful. >> i can't help but feel it is deplorable to witness the way these truly illegal proceedings are being forcibly carried out. amna: south korea's anti-corruption agency must now decide wehether to seek a court order for yoon's formal arrest.

by law, he could face the death penalty or life in prison, if convicted of leading a rebellion. meanwhile, in space news, two lunar landers are now on their way to the moon. >> and lift off. amna: spacex launched the double-moonshot from florida in the middle of the night. the landers shared the first part of the ride, but peeled off on separate routes about an hour in. one belongs to the u.s. company firefly aerospace and is expected to arrive in march. the other belongs to the japanese company, ispace, and is supposed to get there by may or june. if all goes well, they will gather samples and carry out tests to help with future moon exploration. on wall street today, stocks jumped after a reassuring report on monthly inflation. the dow jones industrial average spiked 700 points, or more than 1.5%. the nasdaq added around 460 points on the day, as tech

stocks enjoyed a rebound. the s&p 500 also ended sharply higher. and, a heart-warming note from the world of classical music. american pianist ruth slenczynska turns 100 years old today. ♪ that is her playing beethoven's "minuet in g major" as a five-year-old child prodigy back in 1930. she is believed to be the last living student of russian pianist and composer sergei rachmaninov. the two were known to drink tea together. ♪ slenczynska was still going strong well into her 90's. she recorded her final album in 2022, at age 97. -- at the age of 97. over a nine-decade career, she played for five u.s. presidents,

including a duet with harry truman. we wish her a very happy birthday. still to come on the newshour -- president-elect trump's cabinet nominees in the hot seat for their confirmation hearings. ♪ >> this is the pbs news hour from the david m rubinstein studio at weta in washington and from the west from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. geoff: tonight, president biden plans to deliver a primetime farewell address to the nation. earlier today, in a letter released by the white house, the president said that americans emerged stronger, more prosperous, and more secure since he took office. for more, we're joined now by white house press secretary karine jean-pierre. thanks so much for being with us. >> thank you so much for having me. i appreciate the opportunity. geoff: president biden has dedicated 50 years the public service as he prepares to exit the white house and conclude his

career, what's the message that he hopes to leave with the american people tonight? >> i think what you said in that letter the president wrote that came up this morning with a fact sheet of over 100 pages laying out what he has been able to deliver for the american people in just four years, he's done more than most presidents have done into terms. i think -- obviously i will let the president speak for himself and he will have an opportunity to do that when he addresses the american people later today and the farewell speech, this is a president who has been a public service for more than 50 years, senator, vice president and now president. he brought the experience with him to get things done. for the american people. he will speak from his heart like he always does. he will talk about the possibilities of his country. meet the moment, talk about the future of this country and also step backwards and lay out what he's done the last four years.

i know he's very proud of what he's been able to accomplish and look forward -- looks forward to this moment tonight. geoff: yet according to the latest pbs news poll, 50 percent of americans disapprove of president biden's job performance, 42% approve. how does he reconcile this gap between what he views as achievements, infrastructure investments, job growth, climate initiatives and the perception that he has failed to deliver? >> the american people have gone through a lot of these for years, so we understand it's going to take a little bit of time for them to see the impact that this administration has had. but there are facts. there's data out there to show that the work that this president has done, building an economy from the bottom up, middle out has been has mattered making sure no communities are left behind has mattered more than 16 million jobs created. let's not forget when he stepped in, thousands of people, more than 3000 people were dying a day from covid.

he had to turn that around very quickly. i'll say this one last thing, the historic pieces of legislation that he was able to get through whether it's chips and science act, bipartisan infrastructure, the infrastructure act, the impact act, the bipartisan inflation reduction act, all of those things, you look at the provision for example and the inflation reduction act, they are popular. insulin cap to $35. beating big pharma so medicare can negotiate restriction drug prices, although things are popular. he took actions americans really wanted and we do believe is going to take some time for americans to see the full breadth of what is president has been able to do. our focus with five days left is to try and continue to run through the tape, what else can we do to make americans' lives

better? geoff: i want to ask about the cease-fire deal announced today between israel and hamas, and the days that remain, what is the biden administration doing to make sure the deal the sustainable? >> to give you a 30,000 foot view for a second, this is a framework of this deal goes back to may of last year. the president put up the endorsement of the world to move forward and that is what we are seeing, the word from this administration, from members of his team working day and night to make sure that we get hostages home to their families and make sure we get more aid into gaza and also make sure that we end this war. today is a great day. we are one step closer to getting that done because of this president's leadership. we have been since the election consulting with the transition team -- the trump transition team trying to make sure we are in line and make sure there is

not just a peaceful transfer of power but also an effective and efficient transfer of power. the president has lead by example and kept his word. that's exactly what we are seeing. the president is confident we are going into phase one of the deal and he is confident it will continue because of the work -- the ground we laid out over the last eight months. 15 months of this war, and now we are getting to a point where we can finally end this war. geoff: you held your final white house press briefing today, you made history when you assumed the role of white house press secretary, how are you reflecting on your time with the administration? >> it has been an honor and a privilege to serve in this administration. look behind me, there is the white house. i got to walk -- i've gotten to walk onto this campus for the past four years and go into the west wing, stayed in my office and do the work on behalf of this president and on behalf of the american

people, and it has been the best job i've ever had. the next thing i'm going to do is spend time with my kid, i will have a lot of time to reflect and look back on these last four years, but we are going to run through the tape in the next five days and do everything we can in our capacity in our power to make american lives better, that's what the president wants us to do. geoff: karine jean-pierre, thanks again for your time this evening. you can watch our live coverage of the president's address right here on pbs at 8:00 p.m. eastern. president-elect donald trump is still several days from re-entering the oval office, but some of his nominees for cabinet posts were in senate committees for one of the busiest days of confimation hearings in u.s. history. from the nation's top diplomatic post, to a top spy, to the country's top law enforcement officer, the hearings ran the gamut from cordial to confrontational. amna: we start with president-elect trump's picks for secretary of state and director of the cia. florida senator marco rubio would helm the state department, and former congressman john ratcliffe would run the cia.

they went before senators on the foreign relations and intelligence committees this morning. >> i get bilingual protesters. it's pretty cool. >> as you know, that is a first year perk. reporter: president-elect donald trump's choice for u.s. secretary of state, senator marco rubio, sailed relatively smoothly through his nomination hearing before the foreign relations committee on which he served for 14 years. >> you are welcome to the other side of the dais. >> born to immigrant parents from cuba, he would be the first person of hispanic origin to serve as the top u.s. diplomat. >> have the privilege to be born a citizen of the greatest nation of mankind and to be raised in a

safe and stable home. reporter: and home, he promised, would be the focus, a robust, america first foreign policy. >> president trump returns to office with an unmistakable mandate from the voters. they want a strong america. a strong america engaged in the world, but guided by a clear objective to promote peace abroad and security and prosperity here at home. reporter: in the past, trump and will be have class. over time, they found common ground. a past supporter of aid for ukraine. rubio voted against last year's supplemental, saying it didn't do enough on southern border security. democrat and ranking committee member senator jeanne shaheen asked him about that shift. >> can you talk about how your views on ukraine have developed and where you are now? >> once this war became what we now know it is, and that is a war of attrition, a stalemate, a protracted conflict, the dynamic on that situation has changed. reporter: the biden administration has sent ukraine more than $60 billion in military aid, vowing to continue that support “as long as it

takes." rubio said that has to change. >> that is not a realistic approach or position. i think it should be the the official position of the united states that this war should be brought to an end. reporter: rubio also said sanctions on russia could expand, and that ukraine could get a long-term security guarantee, but did not pledge continued weapons support from the u.s. under a new trump administration. mid hearing, major news in the middle east. rubio reaffirmed their top priority with this deal and going forward is bringing back hostages, when asked by republican senator dave mccormic of pennsylvania. >> do you agree that a permanent ceasefire in gaza must include absolute must include the release of those hostages? >> hamas has been severely degraded, but these people that include a number of american citizens need to be home as soon as possible. reporter: but it was china, where rubio has long pressed the u.s. to take a stronger stance, that he insisted remains

america's most potent adversary. >> if we stay on the road we're on right now, less than ten -- in less than 10 years, life will depend on whether china will allow us to have it or not. reporter: also today trump's pick for the director of the central intelligence agency john ratcliffe faced questions from the senate intelligence committee. democrat mark warner of virginia asked about the potential for political retribution. >> what assurances can you provide to this committee and to the cia workforce that you will resist efforts to fire or force out career cia employees because of their perceived political views, or somehow their views of loyalty to the president? >> well, i think the best example of that, mr. vice chairman, is, if you look at my record and my record as dni, that never took place, that, is -- that is never something anyone as alleged, and it's something that i would never do. reporter: ratcliffe himself has been accused of releasing unverified russian intelligence in a letter to a senator on the day of the 2020 presidential

debate while he served as director of national intelligence. democratic senator john ossof of georgia. >> my purpose here is not to suggest some kind of, political intent, but you've made it very clear that avoiding the politicization of the intelligence community's activities is a high priority for you. is that correct? >> correct. >> it strikes me that releasing politically sensitive intelligence, that you'd think carefully about the timing of that. >> you are correct. it was it was my decision, but it wasn't my process. reporter: both ratcliffe and rubio are expected to be confirmed and start in their roles next week, leading the next chapter of american intelligence and foreign policy . geoff: the senators today also questioned nominees who will be a and energy on law enforcement. amna: our lisa desjardins was on the hill all day and she was in the room for the hearing of attorney general nominee pam bondi. let's start there with a

reminder of who pam bondi is and why herne nomination -- her nomination is important to watch. >> she has a lengthy legal resume. 18 years as a prosecutor, she's a former florida attorney general for two terms, among her priorities was the fight against the opioid epidemic as well as some conservative culture war issues. she served on the first impeachment defense team for president-elect trump. she's done election related legal work and pro-trump groups including violent lawsuits of the most recent election. she's nominated to be the top prosecutor in the country and the top law enforcement agent, she would oversee the fbi itself . most of all this hearing was about the republican concern and contention the doj has become politically weaponized against the right. as a powerful agency but the thing is democrats fear that if she was in this office, that she

could weaponize it the other way. there's a question of how the politics work here. she told senators what she sees as her priority. >> my overriding objective will be to return the department of justice to its core mission of keeping americans safe and vigorously prosecuting criminals. >> she declined to answer questions specifically about, which regressive you -- would she prosecute people are like jack smith? amna: how did she answer questions about keeping herself independent from president-elect trump or keeping her agency independent from him? >> this was the focus for democrats, they reference the fact that trump dismissed his first attorney general who refused to go along with his request, his demand he intervene in an investigation on his behalf. she was asked by chris coons,

who is your client? >> the people of america would be my client. that is also my job to advise the president, my client are the people of america. >> is president elect trump eligible to run for another term as president in 2028? >> no, senator, not unless they change the constitution. amna: that was really her primary area of disagreement with trump, she did not really talk about the independents of the agency very much, she said she would follow the law, she would not answer a question over a hypothetical illegal order from trump. she said she did not expect one. again that she would follow the rule of law. amna: what about issues with january 6 and also this issue of mr. trump's political opponents? >> she was asked especially about trump's nominee for the fbi, director cash patel who has in memoir listed people he says who are deep state members of

the government, he did two things notably, she defended patel and says she doesn't think that is an enemies list and said there will be no enemies list at the doj if she is confirmed. she of course has been herself involved in raising claims of election fraud, of course unproven she was an election and i are about 2020, she was asked about the question, did donald trump lose the 2020 election? here's her answer. >> president biden is the president of the united states. he was duly sworn in, and he is the president of the united states. there was a peaceful transition of power. president trump left office and was overwhelmingly elected in 2024. amna: notice that answer. it's important because of the job she is about to undertake of confirmed. she did not say that biden west virginia public broadcasting -- that biden won or trump laws. democrats pushed back and say

this raises questions about her competence and potential bias. >> we have to be able to say no to the president of the u.s., you have to speak truth to power, you have to be able to say that donald trump lost the 20 election. >> notice she is actually on track, if you look at the hearing i took a couple of photos of it, it was not as well attended as i expected. all these nominees at once have taken some pressure after big nominations like this. she had a very good day. she's on track to be confirmed. amna: and on energy secretary chris wray, what have we learned? >> he has an energy executive known for fracking. he has said there is no climate crisis in the past but today he told senators that the climate change is real and he agreed it is man-made so there's a lot of question marks about

where he stands on that issue. amna: lisa, thank you so much. meanwhile, president-elect trump's nominee to lead the office of management and budget, russell vought, also faced difficult questions on the hill today. appearing before the senate homeland security & governmental affairs committee, he was pressed about the administration's plans to exert greater power over government agencies answering spending. geoff: mr. vought previously led the office for part of mr. trump's first term. he is also a co-author of project 2025, the controversial heritage foundation blueprint for a second trump administration. our white house correspondent laura barron-lopez joins us now for more on the hearing. remind us of who russell vought is and what the omb does across the federal government. >> it is not usually a household name but it is an incredibly important position in the white house. the head of the omb oversees

expending and can review all regulations across agencies, in charge of the president's budget policy and often involved in hill negotiations. when it comes to russell vought, he served during the first trump administration and wrote a project 2025 piece on expanding powers. he was head of a conservative think tank center for renewing america and there he drafted hundreds of potential executive orders and memos in preparation for a second trump administration. geoff: you are of course tracking his confirmation hearing today, what stood out to you? >> republican senators welcome this nomination -- welcomed this nomination, focusing more of their questions on how omb and the trump administration would slash wasteful spending but democrats pressed him on his

track record, when he was omb director during the first administration, under his leadership, the budget office delayed disaster relief to puerto rico in also withheld funds appropriated by congress for ukraine. so at the heart of those questions from democrats is what is known as empowerment authority, vought said he believed the impoundment authority is unconstitutional. under the law, the president 's forbidden from climbed back from declining to spend funds that are appropriated by congress for government agencies. vought made clear he think that's unconstitutional and the incoming president thinks it is unconstitutional and they would test the limits of it and draw a court challenge. he was also repeatedly asked about his support of replacing career civil servants across agencies and firing them and replacing them with political appointees who would put president trump first.

>> you believe intelligence agencies and law enforcement agencies need more political appointees to keep kind of management at those agencies? >> again, i'm not going to speak on behalf of a specific proposal that the president has not made. >> but what's your view? would you support a proposal? i'm just asking. you want the job? you want it back? do you? would you support a proposal to put more political appointees to oversee the activities of american law enforcement at the federal level and american intelligence community? >> again, the president hasn't spoken to that matter, to my knowledge, and i'm not here on behalf of my own personal views. >> the facts are that vought and trump throughout the campaign cycle talked about reinstituting schedule f which is an executive order that would allow for the replacement of civil servants, essentially firing a number of civil servants, as many as 50000 and replacing them with political

appointees and that is expected to be at the top of their agenda when they take the oval office. ultimately, vought is expected to be concerned and he is unlikely to face resistance from republican senators. geoff: he stands to be highly influential in a second trump administration, has he said what he wants to do in this role? >> today he tried to create some distance between his past comments and what his think tank proposed versus donald trump's agenda, but he stance to be highly influential and expand the budget office. specifically he is talked about the fact that he believes the president can slash spending programs with our congress and he drafted plans to use military during times of civil unrest and says the president can assert more control over the justice department and vought also supports stripping federal workers or protections. as for agencies' ability to remain independent, he previously has said he wants to destroy any notion of

independence across agencies. >> we have to solve the woke and the weaponized bureaucracy and have the president take control of the executive branch. so my belief for anyone who wants to listen is that you have to -- the president has to move executively as fast and as aggressively as possible with a radical constitutional perspective to be able to dismantle that bureaucracy in their power centers. >> big picture, russell vought will be at the center of any of donald trump's plans to get the federal workforce or the challenge congress' power of the purse strings. geoff: a jampacked day of confirmation hearings. thanks to you. >> thank you. ♪

geoff: and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm geoff bennett. amna: and i'm amna nawaz. on behalf of the entire newshour team, thank you for joining us. >> major funding for the pbs news hour has been provided by -- >> qnod is a proud supporter of public television. on a voyage with qnod, a world awaits, a world of labor, diverse destinations and immersive experiences. a world of leisure and british style. all with qnod's white star service. ♪ >> friends of the newshour, including jim and nancy build there and the robin virginia

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hello, everyone, and welcome to "amanpour & co." here's what's coming up. we have the latest on the contentious confirmation hearing for trump's defense secretary pick pete hegseth. then, with fire weather risk at its highest, i ask former california governor jerry brown what more could have been done in the most fire-proof state.