amna: good evening. i'm amna nawaz. geoff: and i'm geoff bennett. on the “news hour” tonight, gazans welcome the ceasefire deal with cautious optimism,

knowing a lasting peace is still far from certain. >> i'm scared because the israelis still haven't retreated. and even though there is a ceasefire, nothing has changed yet. amna: in the midst of the devastation from the l.a. wildfires, a glimmer of hope. residents are banding together to help one another in their time of need. geoff: and secretary of the interior deb haaland on the biden administration's efforts to preserve public land and tackle climate change. >> there is so much that could never be undone because the work is getting completed. our clean energy transition moving forward. ♪ >> major funding for the pbs "news hour" has been provided by. >> cunard is a proud supporter of public television. on a voyage with cunard, the

world awaits. a world of flavor, diverse destinations, and immersive experiences. a world of leisure, and british style. all with cunard's white star service. >> carnegie corporation of new york, working to reduce political polarization through philanthropic support for education, democracy, and peace. more information at carnegie.org. and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions.

this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. geoff: welcome to the “news hour.” israel's cabinet has delayed a vote until tomorrow on the ceasefire deal struck yesterday to suspend the war in gaza and swap hostages and detainees. amna: prime minister benjamin netanyahu blamed hamas for the delay, saying the militant group was trying to change the deal, a charge hamas denied. meantime, american and egyptian mediators met in cairo to discuss implementing the deal, scheduled to begin sunday. nick schifrin again begins our coverage. nick: today denny blown out destruction of what was once home to half a million people,

when children play in the ruins of what you used to be khan younis homes, there is tension between the horror caused by 468 days of war and hope that it will soon be over as young gazans told us. this 14-year-old. >> we could not wait to hear this news because our hearts are tired. we really could not wait for something to heal our hearts. finally the end of the war is coming. nick: this 16-year-old. >> the most difficult moment was hearing that my father had been killed. i am scared because the israelis have still not retreated. even though there is a cease-fire nothing has changed yet. nick: because in this war zone, the war rages on. in gaza city today the youngest victims received reassurance that the adults could no longer fear. >> is this the truths they are

feeling? is this child fighting you? where the arabs and muslims? no one has any conscience. nick: israel said over the last day it struck more than 50 hamas military sites and a commander who participated in october 7. palestinian health officials say since the ceasefire was announced, more than 75 gazans have been killed. we urge the mediators who brokered this truce to hurry up. today is better than tomorrow. 7 is better than 8. because there are martyrs every hour. nick: but the deal that would pause the war for 6 weeks, is not done, said israeli government spokesman david mencer. >> hamas have reneged on this hostage release agreement and has created a last minute crisis in an effort to extort last minute concessions. nick: but in washington, secretary of state antony blinken said he remained confident. >> it's not exactly surprising

that in a process, in a negotiation, that has been this challenging and this fraught, you may get a loose end. we are tying up that loose ends as we speak. please sir, respect the process. >> you tell me to respect the process? nick: but blinken was interrupted by two protests, including one ended by armed security. >> you tell me to respect the process? criminal! why aren't you in the hague? nick: there were also protests today in israel. supporters of hard-right politicians called the ceasefire a surrender to hamas that would end up killing israelis. national security minister itamar ben gvir vowed to resign from the coalition government. the existing deal increases hamas' appetite. they are getting what they want. nick: but the families of israeli hostages held in gaza

are demanding the government sign the deal. they are anxious. officially, at least one third of the hostages are dead. many don't know whether to plan a celebration, or funeral. tal haimi has been a hostage since october 7. udi goren is his cousin. >> the vast difference between the daily anxiousness about, might this be their last day on earth, to the fact that some of these people by next week might have their loved ones sleeping in the bedroom next to them. nick: until then, they pray for peace. for the pbs "news hour," i'm nick schifrin. ♪ amna: today, more of president-elect donald trump's picks for key cabinet positions

faced questions from senators on capitol hill, in another mammoth day of confirmation hearings. our lisa desjardins has been covering these and joins me now with the latest. another busy day. let's start with the nominee for treasury secretary. lisa: scott bessent is someone who is very well known in high finance, famous even. he has a distinct resume. he used to work as a top executive for george soros. he was a democrat at times. he is a hedge fund founder. he has more recently been a donald trump mega donor. he is openly gay and that would be historic because if confirmed he would be the first republican cabinet secretary to be confirmed by the u.s. senate. a major focus was taxes. the 2017 tax cuts by donald trump which would end at the end of this year, tax rates would go up for all of us. he said this would be

cataclysmic for the economy. but democrats say the tax cuts should only be kept in place for those making under $400,000. otherwise it is a giveaway for the wealthy. he disagreed. >> do you agree that ending the tax cuts for those making more than $400,000 would help close the deficit and reduce our national debt? >> senator warnock, i do not. i believe that you would capture an inordinate amount of small business people. >> what about $1 billion? >> so, again, that i think that these are the job creators. lisa: it is a real debate over who would benefit. another big topic, tariffs. he defended trump's tariff push as something that can be used in multiple ways but democratic senator ron wyden said no, this would hurt average americans. people can who can afford it the least.

i want to play their exchange. >> it's going to be paid for by workers and small businesses. so your response? >> i would respectfully disagree. foreign manufacturers, especially china, especially china, which is trying to export their way out of their current economic malaise, they will continue cutting prices to maintain market share. >> that's an academic view of it. but what i know is the history of this is it clobbers people of modest means. lisa: this is a critical debate not just for this country but for the world. overall, he was very measured throughout and there really is a feeling he is on a glide path denomination. amna: now to the top environmental officer, the man for leading the epa. lisa: lee zeldin is a former congressman from new york and

ran for governor and lost that race but he's generally seen as someone more moderate. he has been a strong trump supporter. we are talking about a situation where trump has made it clear he wants to dismantle the epa and rollback protections that are important. zeldin has said he is pro-energy. he was asked about that a dia of dismantling the epa today and he said he professed ignorance over that concept which we know trump has talked about and he didn't answer questions. he was held to account on his own past words on climate. what is pollution. in 2016 he said the u.s. must move away from fossil fuels and pursue green energy. so i want to play an exchange where he was asked about those words and where he is on those today. they pressed him on that. >> i said, do you believe it's imperative that we, using your

words, reduce our reliance on fossil fuels? do you still believe that? >> in considering all factors, in an ideal world, we would be able to pursue always the cleanest, greenest energy sources possible. >> well, i'm not hearing you say that you agree with lee zeldin in 2016. lisa: we have to really watch him on the job and see if he is now a different person regarding climate. overall he did question whether some pollutants are pollutants. amna: another key figure also took questions from senators today. what stood out for you for doug burgum who is nominated to be interior senator -- secretary? lisa: the governor of north dakota, presidential candidate. he is also an energy expert. one thing that stood out on what he was not asked about. he talked about drilling and saying he is open to all forms of energy. this hearing comes at an important time. one day after donald trump put this out about energy, he wrote

that he does not want any windmills built during his time in office. he wants that to stop. he was asked about this and said he wants to prioritize fossil fuel. that is something renewable fuel people need to pay a lot of attention to. what was he not asked about? his potential conflicts. he is a multimillionaire and he is not divesting from anything. but that did not come up. it is just another sign that he is on a glide path. democrats are accepting that his fate is inevitable. amna: i want to ask you about a rare move by the speaker of the house to oust a chairman from the intelligence committee. lisa: stunning. republican mike turner former chairman of the intelligence committee, very pro-nato, pro-the pfizer program, he was asked to leave. he has been pushed out by speaker mike johnson.

turner told cbs he was told mar-a-lago is involved. this is something to do with trump. johnson denied that. but there is split concern over whether this is trump trying to change the intelligence community to his benefit. others say that turner was not a good chairman and he didn't tell colleagues earlier last year when he made a big statement about threats and he was not popular. we are going to have to watch this very closely. amna: lisa desjardins, thank you very much. lisa: you are welcome. ♪ geoff: we start the day's other headlines in space. amazon founder jeff bezos, and his company blue origin, sent their first rocket into orbit, after scrubbing an initial attempt earlier this week. >> liftoff. geoff: the successful test flight of the uncrewed new glenn rocket is a major step in the

company's hopes to challenge elon musk's space x. meantime, astronaut sunny williams got to venture outside the international space station for the first time today, to carry out repairs. she's one of the two astronauts who've been stuck aboard the iss for about seven months longer than planned. williams and butch wilmore are now due to return to earth in march or early april. florida governor ron desantis today appointed state attorney general ashley moody to the u.s. senate, setting her up to fill the seat of senator marco rubio, whom president-elect donald trump tapped to be secretary of state. >> our attorney general and your next united states senator, ashley moody. geoff: the 49-year-old was first elected as the state's ag in 2018. she'll be only the second woman to ever represent florida in the u.s. senate. rudy giuliani has reached a settlement with two former georgia election workers he defamed.

the former new york mayor and trump advisor will get to keep his homes and other personal belongings. in return, giuliani will pay an unspecified amount to ruby freeman and her daughter, shaye moss. he also promised to never defame them again. the settlement came on the day giuliani was due to testify in a trial over his assets. at issue was whether he would surrender his florida home and three world series rings as part of the $148 million judgement against him. there's news today in the nation's fight against cancer. according to the american cancer society, the mortality rate dropped by 34% from the early 1990's to 2022, preventing millions of deaths. but younger adults and women are getting cancer more often, with rates for women under 65 now higher than men. racial disparities also persist. blacks and native americans are dying of some cancers at double the rate of white americans. today's report predicts that more than two million new cancer cases will emerge this year.

and hundreds of thousands of americans will die from the disease. federal health officials authorized the sale of zyn nicotine pouches today. the fda says it found that the products contain fewer harmful ingredients than cigarettes and other types of chewing tobacco. as such, they can help smokers cut back, or even quit cigarettes. it's the first time regulators have authorized the sales of such products, which are the fastest-growing segment of the tobacco market. turning now to south korea, where a court rejected a petition today to release impeached president yoon suk yeol from detention. yoon is reportedly refusing to cooperate with authorities as they try to question him over his declaration of martial law last month. they are trying to determine whether his actions amount to rebellion. investigators are expected to move to formally arrest yoon in the coming days. meantime, south korea's constitutional court held a second round of hearings in yoon's impeachment trial today. the court will ultimately decide whether he can stay in office.

on wall street today, stocks cooled off a bit after yesterday's sharp gains. the dow jones industrial average lost nearly 70 points. the nasdaq dropped about 170 points on the day. the s&p 500 also ended in negative territory. and the man known as mr. baseball, bob uecker, has died. >> the brewers win! the brewers are moving on! geoff: uecker was the unmistakable voice of his hometown milwaukee brewers. before that, he was a major leaguer with underwhelming stats, but undeniable charisma, who won a world series with the saint louis cardinals in 1964. >> juuuuust a bit outside. he tried the corner, and missed. geoff: when he wasn't calling games, uecker's comedic wit landed him in movies, and on late night. he appeared on the tonight show with johnny carson more than 100 times.

he earned honors from the baseball hall of fame in 2003 for his lasting impact on the game. bob uecker had battled lung cancer since 2023. he was 90 years old. also, david lynch, the visionary filmmaker who found mainstream success, has died. his work was known for its dark and surreal sensibility. >> you will want to turn away from him. geoff: filmmaker and director david lynch startled audiences by marrying mundane, everyday life with unsettling dreams, fantasy, and horror. >> she's dead. geoff: perhaps his most famous famous work was the 1990 tv series "twin peaks," which he co-created with mark frost. the mystery-horror-drama follows an fbi agent who travels to a seemingly-normal logging town to solve a murder. he quickly realizes nothing is as it seems. "twin peaks" was a groundbreaking drama that was influential for years to come,

winning three golden globes, two emmys, and even a grammy for its theme music. lynch revived it decades later with a follow up series on showtime in 2017. >> everything is fine. geoff: lynch rose to fame in the 1970's with his film "eraserhead," a cult classic horror about a deranged father and his mutant reptilian baby. >> one name that keeps coming up is this woman singer. geoff: other hits included the crime-mystery "blue velvet," that featured laura dern, kyle maclachlan, isabella rosselini, and revitalized the career of dennis hopper. it earned lynch an oscar nomination for directing. he was nominated as well for "the elephant man" and "mulholland drive" >> what's wrong? >> i don't know who i am. >> when the lights go down and the curtain opens, we get to go into another world and it's very beautiful. geoff: lynch famously never discussed the meaning of his films. but, he described in a

2007 interview what inspired the surrealist style that made him so famous. >> i love a story a story that holds abstractions. and gets a thing that cinema can do, saying abstractions. they're kind of like the same feeling when we have a powerful dream. geoff: in all, lynch directed 10 feature films. he was also a prolific artist and painter. and created some of the attention-grabbing sound design and music in his work. his cause of death has not been disclosed. david lynch was 78 years old. still to come on the "news hour," tiktok prepares to be banned in the united states. and the outgoing u.s. ambassador to china discusses the future of the bilateral relationship. >> 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: with calmer winds, fire crews are making progress on containing some of the major fires around the los angeles area. but dry conditions and forecasts of strong winds next week suggest more dangerous conditions ahead for weary angelenos and firefighters. new video showed the depth and scope of the fire devastation along the malibu coast. more than 80,000 people remain evacuated, and some are growing frustrated they can't return to check on their homes. local authorities said today that residents may not be able to do so for at least another week. >> there are areas that we are holding because we believe there may be deceased victims there. we have to hold for the right time and the right resources to process the scene correctly, and that's going to take a little while. amna: so far, at least 25 people

are dead and dozens still missing. while the fires have brought vast destruction and loss, we've also witnessed the best of humanity. californians stepping up to help their neighbors in any way they can. we spoke to many of those people working around the clock to help those affected. here's some of what they told us. >> my name is brittany thorn and i'm the executive director for best friends animal society in los angeles. the last week has all felt pretty chaotic from when we first saw the flames from the roof of our building. we have been going out to any of the local shelters that are being impacted. that would be the l.a. county shelters, l.a. animal services, as well as of course pasadena humane, and we have been pulling in animals that were already in their standing population. so these are not animals that are currently being displaced by the fires. but we know that those animals are coming in.

and so we wanted to create as much space as possible in the shelters. if we are able to get animals out on a flight to our sanctuary in utah, and then from there, they will be sent to other rescue organizations as well. >> my name is victor dominguez and i am the president and ceo for the ymca of metropolitan los angeles. almost immediately we started 15 distribution sites across the county of los angeles. we have engaged more than 20,000 volunteers in less than a week. we opened up all of our facilities free of charge so that if anyone needed to take a shower, anyone needed family time, anyone needed well-being time, that they had access to any of my 27 ymca's across the county. >> my name is jackie filla, and i'm the president and ceo of the hotel association of los angeles. what we wanted to make sure people understood, number one, rooms were available and we also wanted to have kind of a one stop shop so they weren't

calling around and trying to figure out what was available in the area they wanted to be, in the type of accommodation they wanted to be. me and my mighty team of one other person, veronica, we wanted to create this document with access to what are legitimate special offers being offered at the hotels. our goal was to centralize as much information about accommodations as quickly as possible and to push it out to folks. >> my name is faris ayyad. and along with eric armstrong, we are the founders and operators of no res gourmet. we are a 501c3 nonprofit, and our mission is to address hunger in the united states. we cook meals we distribute to those in need. so this is a similar idea, but obviously on a much larger scale, which requires the activation of as many people as possible. many, many people made those $25 donations, which supported a lot of the expenses for the groceries and things we needed.

there's forms for people to request supplies and food. we have to track volunteers. who's doing what. and then it was multiple locations. this church that we're talking from right now, grace church in glendora, where the main kitchen is operating. there's another kitchen in gardena. and we're kind of overseeing all of that. >> my name is andrew gruel. i'm the owner and chef at calico restaurant with my wife, lauren gruel. i think it was wednesday or thursday i said, anybody who needs a place to stay just for a temporary period of time, come down. we've got 80 parking spots in our restaurant. when lauren put out that call to action on the donations, it's funny because we're like, it's going to be two boxes worth, and fast forward, what, like 12 to 24 hours later, we had three full amazon trucks full of products that immediately got delivered. we had volunteers on every part of the political spectrum, people dressed in maga gear and then people who were dressed in the opposing gear all coming together, helping each other out, loading trucks up.

it's just the greatest feeling. >> we've had kids as young asx,r 70's coming to volunteer. so it's really everybody is coming is coming together to help. ♪ geoff: the clock is ticking on a potential ban of the popular social media app tiktok. in april, congress, and president biden gave the app's beijing-based parent company 270 days to find a new owner, or face a shut down, arguing chinese control of the platform was a national security threat. the supreme court is considering a challenge to the law, but barring any last minute changes, users will no longer be able to download tiktok starting on sunday. for his part, president-elect trump has pledged to provide some kind of reprieve from the ban. his national security adviser mike waltz reiterated that on fox nws today.

>> we will put measures in place to keep tiktok from going dark. the legislation allows for an extension as long as a viable deal is on the table. and then, you know, essentially that buys president trump time to keep tiktok going. geoff: we're joined now by carrie cordero. she is a senior fellow at the center for a new american security. with this january 19 deadline just days away, it appears members of the incoming trump administration and bipartisan members of congress are trying to buy themselves more time. what are the possible outcomes? carrie: the law they passed last spring doesn't leave a lot of options. what they really needed in the law was a credible buyer lined up, and a willingness on behalf of tiktok to actually be sold to that buyer. there is nothing right now that looks like that circumstance really occurs. so the cleanest way for them to give more time for president-elect trump once he

comes into office would be between now and sunday, congress passing a new law extending the timeline. that seems unlikely. geoff: donald trump at one time supported this ban, now he doesn't. what accounts for that? carrie: it is hard to say what changed his mind. one thing you can look to is his and his campaign's use of tiktok during the campaign. this law was passed last spring. over the course of the campaign between then and november, his campaign found that tiktok was useful to them. other candidates used it as well. and so perhaps that is what changed his mind. perhaps also it was lobbying efforts on behalf of tiktok or other content users were stakeholders. geoff: what is particular about the case that the supreme court is about to rule on, and how might that affect things? carrie: that would totally change things depending on which way the court rules. based on their oral arguments last week, the indications from

the questions the justices were asking are that the court intends to uphold the law. in other words, keep the divestment ruling in place and eventually if there is no buyer in the next few days, that the app would not be available as it currently is. i think there is a legal path for the court to have ruled on first amendment grounds and to rule in favor of tiktok but the argument did not indicate that is the direction the court is going. geoff: the government sees tiktok as a national security threat. what is the precedent for the federal government banning a social media app? carrie: this case really is novel. the precedent is that this law was crafted as divestment and there is a history of the united states using divestment when there is foreign ownership of a company to mitigate national security threats. what is different about this case is that it is about access

to information, over 170 million americans used tiktok, and this law is different because it governs the information space and applies this divestment to a source of information and a place that americans communicate, both as individuals and as businesses. geoff: in the meantime, people are now downloading and signing up for this other chinese-owned app called red note. tell us about that and potential dangers there. carrie: what happened is another chinese-owned app becomes available. so it is not a good outcome of this law, that is actually driving users to another chinese controlled, or chinese influenced app. so that is a downside. that is why i think really in the long term, although the government made very compelling national security arguments, backed up by classified information they provided to

congress, not backed up by much unclassified information provided to the public. although the government alleges very strong national security concerns, in this case, my assessment is that the law is sort of shortsighted because it deals with this particular situation and it does not really account for the fact that there could be some other foreign controlled app down the road and how to handle that. geoff: if this ban goes into effect, what might the average user see? carrie: that is a big question because we have not been in this situation before. the law itself applies not actually to tiktok. the law applies to the companies that provide access to it. so the way it is expected to be implemented is that the app would no longer be available through app stores for people to download following january 19. there also would not be further updates to the app. so basically new users would not

be able to access it if the companies do in fact restrict that access. and it would become more buggy, it would not have new content necessarily, and there would be a degradation over time. geoff: carrie cordero, thanks as always for your insights. we appreciate it. carrie: thank you so much. ♪ geoff: returning now to the fragile gaza ceasefire deal. the agreement announced yesterday largely mirrors a proposal made by president biden last may. in recent days, president-elect trump's middle east envoy joined the biden team in qatar in a bid to push the deal to completion. for more insight, we turn now to white house principal deputy national security advisor jon finer. we understand there to be a

last-minute hold in implementing this agreement. israel blamed hamas for reneging on part of the deal, which that terrorist organization denies. is the u.s. confident that both sides will be able to put this deal in place come sunday? jon: i would not call it a holdup at all. i think things are continuing to move forward with the implementation of the deal that the presidents announced yesterday. this will be complement -- this will be complicated to implement. there is zero trust, literally, between the two sides. but our understanding is all of the relevant documents have been fully approved. the israeli government will begin its approval process tomorrow. we expect that to proceed over the course of 48 hours and then begin being implemented. as soon as sunday or soon thereafter. but everything remains on track at this point. geoff: secretary of state tony blinken today praised president-elect donald trump's

incoming special envoy to the middle east for his work with the outgoing biden team on this deal. to what degree was the overall trump factor key to clinching this agreement, namely the social media posts from donald trump last month where he warned of hell to pay in the middle east if the hostages were not released by his inauguration? jon: president biden's team was in the principal chair driving the steel forward. the president himself announced the broad contours of the deal as far back as may. all of those elements were present in the deal that was agreed yesterday. and the president's special envoy for the middle east was in the region for almost two consecutive weeks straight working through the fine print with the mediators and shuttling between the sides. that said, i think the trump administration played a very important supporting role. they said the right things,

pressed both sides as we were, and so we welcomed that participation. ultimately this was about the outcome which is getting the hostages home, humanitarian assistance into gaza, and bringing an end to the fighting. geoff: once the fighting stops, the humanitarian crisis in gaza persists. what is the plan and mechanism to surge badly needed assistance into gaza to the people whoj so desperately need it? jon: we have been preparing with the united nations world food program, other ngo's that provide humanitarian assistance to get ready to fully implement the terms of the deal which involves 600 trucks a day of assistance surging into gaza minute the fighting stops and we fully expect the humanitarian community to be ready to do that and that is a very important part of getting things right. obviously implementation will extend well into the new administration. this is six or seven weeks in

the first phase of the deal. so we are going to set the table for a successful implementation. it will be up to the incoming administration to carry that forward. geoff: big picture question. critics on the right have argued the biden administration handcuffed israel in terms of criticizing its tactics and sometimes withholding weapons. those on the left say the biden white house really enabled israel to act with impunity in gaza. looking back now, with the administration have -- would the administration have done anything differently? jon: looking back i see if you environment in the middle east in which the u.s., its key ally israel as well as other partners in the region, are stronger than they were before october 7. their interests are better secured and safer than they were before october 7 in large part because of the collaboration between the u.s. and israel. when iran sought to strike israel twice, it was the u.s.

and a coalition of partners that help to the israeli defense forces defend the country from those attacks. when israel decimated hezbollah, it was the united states that act israel's willingness and efforts to do that. when asaad, the president of syria fell and fled the country, it was the united states's efforts with israel that weakened iran and russia. so hamas i think looked across the region, so all of its friends and partners in a fundamentally weaker place and felt it needed to make a deal. now, i will not deny that this came at a human -- at an enormous humanitarian cost. we have pressed on every day and every conversations we have had with israeli officials to increase humanitarian assistance going into gaza. in many ways that is the most import of this deal. in addition to getting the hostages home, they will be a significant increase in relief to the people of gaza.

geoff: why didn't president biden push netanyahu harder or more publicly to curtail the idf operations and lessen the civilian costs in gaza? jon: to be honest, the thing that was holding back the stoppage of the violence and the halting of the fighting was that there was a deal on the table the president announced as far back as may, the details of which were continually refined over the summer, that israel accepted and hamas did not. a number of months of now gone by. hamas has gotten to a place where it was under enough pressure that it was willing to accept the terms of the deal, with very minor adjustments and alterations that took place over those weeks and months. but the sticking point very much so in recent days and weeks was hamas's unwillingness to take the deal. once they did take the deal we were off to the races and now it is time to get the formal agreement to the israeli government and then to begin implementing which will provide six -- significant relief. geoff: today for the first time

the u.s. sanctioned the head of the sudanese armed forces. there are reports that sudan's military used chemical weapons on at least two occasions against a paramilitary group battling for control of the country. how will the u.s. respond? jon: the united states has now imposed significant sanctions on both sides of this conflict. the rapid support forces have been sanctioned by the u.s. and actually designated by the state department for perpetrating genocide in parts of sudan. today the united states imposed sanctions on the sudanese armed forces for their role in atrocities. what we have right now is the most acute humanitarian catastrophe anywhere on the planet as a result of this civil war. but you have two sides who as of now, do not seem to be interested in stopping the fighting. so the united states is putting pressure on both sides and is trying as hard as we can along with our partners to surge humanitarian assistance into sudan to get some relief to the

people. but until either side, one or both, decides they are interested in stopping this war, it will be very challenging to get the fighting under control. geoff: jon finer, thank you so much for your time. we appreciate it. jon: thank you. ♪ amna: for four years, the biden administration has said there is only one country that has both the intention and capacity to reshape the international order, in its favor. that country is china. nick schifrin is back, and talks to the man who's had a front row seat, and helped manage us-china relations. nick: amna, that man is nicholas burns, who has been the biden administration's ambassador to china since 2022. and joins me now. welcome back to the program. the incoming secretary of state marco rubio said this about china in his confirmation hearing yesterday.

>> the communist party of china is the most potent and dangerous near peer adversary this nation has ever confronted. they have elements that the soviet union never possessed. they are a technological adversary and competitor, an industrial competitor, an economic competitor, geopolitical competitor, a scientific competitor. if we stay on the road we're on right now, in less than 10 years, virtually everything that matters to us in life will depend on whether china will allow us to have it or not. nick: if we stay on the road we are on now, in less than 10 years, virtually everything that matters to us in life will depend on whether china will allow us to have it or not. do you agree? nicholas: i agree that we are in a major competition with china. we are structural rivals. we are rival for military power in the indo pacific and we cannot afford to be number two. we are rivals technologically. who will be the first mover in ai and quantum computing and biotech?

we have major problems on the economic side because china is not playing by the rules. can we have substantial differences in our belief in human freedom and their belief in not giving rights to their own people. so i agree there is a competition. but the united states's strength and position in the indo pacific in the last four years and we have done it because we have strengthened our alliance with japan, the philippines, korea, australia. we invented a transformative national security, military boon to us in the next couple of decades. so i think we are stronger and the chinese are the ones making mistakes. i do not think there is anything inevitable about china becoming a global superpower. if we work with them on global issues that are important like climate change. nick: the main part of u.s. strategy has been to expand the alliances in the region, whether

that is gaining access to bases, some of which are close to taiwan, improving relations with and between japan, south korea, philippines, australia, nuclear submarines. and yet china's aggressive behavior, whether around taiwan, whether towards the philippines, whether hacking into the united states telecommunications grid or critical infrastructure, has continued. so does that mean that u.s. policy has failed to change u.s. behavior? nicholas: i don't think so. you mentioned the south china sea, the chinese have tried to intimidate the filipinos. the united states stood up to china. we have a 1951 mutual defense treaty with the philippines and we told the chinese time and again, if you use military force, which they did not do against the philippines, you are going to draw us into that, and i think we deterred that. we also built up the military capacity of taiwan through arms transfers.

and as you said, japan and the philippines, much more focused on that problem as well. you have now seen the european countries begin to act strategically in opposition to what china is trying to do because china course has been the major ally of russia in the ukrainian war. i think the chinese have miscalculated on some of this. have we resolved every problem with china? no. i spent three years trying to do that. but the suggestion that somehow the u.s. will be overtaken by china in the next 10 years, i don't see that happening. nick: let's bring us to taiwan. their president says the island does not have to the pair independence from mainland china. quote, we are already independent. is that semantics or provocative? nicholas: it depends who is listening to it. i think it was provocative in some ways to the chinese authorities. but we have told the chinese, this is the mainland chinese,

you need to commit to a peaceful resolution of this dispute. there are a lot of countries that want to make sure that taiwan has a deterrent. and 50% of global container traffic flows through the taiwan straights. nick: ■you simultaneouslyalso had to restrain william lie, the president of taiwan, to not go farther than any already has. nick: -- nicholas: what is remarkable about the taiwan policy is since 1972 there has been a consistent policy that has worked and has kept the peace by every administration in both parties. so i think we did well to send the right signals on taiwan. nick: china faces significant economic headwinds. the number of chinese military officers fired for corruption seems to suggest xi jinping was worried about corruption. do you think his confidence is waning about the chinese military's ability to be able to invade or blockade taiwan by 27? nicholas: it has to be part of

their calculation. he fired and put on trial for corruption the two commanders of the rocket forces. and in the last 30 days the senior admiral in the chinese navy. when xi jinping came in 12 years ago, he launched an anticorruption campaign. there was a feeling that somehow this would be just the opening salvo. it has been permanent and there have been hundreds of thousands of chinese officials put behind bars. nick: is his confidence waning? nicholas: it is hard to know personally what he thinks, although we have spent a lot of time with him and president biden did two weeks ago -- two months ago, excuse me. but they have to be concerned by a military that has never done a combined forces operation of this type. we just need to continue to be steady in leading the rest of the world to advise the chinese you cannot use force, there will be a huge price to pay for that.

and of course we are going to continue arming taiwan. nick: president-elect trump refused to rule out military or economic coercion on greenland and panama. how does beijing hear that talk, and in the 30 seconds we have left, how does it affect the u.s. arguments about taiwan? nicholas: basically the message to putin and xi jinping, you can't take over someone else's country, you can't cross borders by the use of force. so it sends the wrong signal. i was ambassador to nato. on 9/11, the first country that came to support us was canada. denmark supported us. these are great allies of the united states. and we americans built a world order on sovereignty and the viability of country's borders and respect your allies. the biggest difference between the u.s. and china right now, china has no allies. we have the nato allies and the

east asian allies. so that is the difference maker and we should respect the sovereignty of our allied countries. nick: nick burns, thank you very much. nicholas: thank you, nick. ♪ amna: one of the legacies president biden leaves behind when he exits the white house is his record on conserving and protecting the country's public lands and water. deb haaland, biden's secretary of the interior, played a key role in implementing his policies over the last four years and i spoke with her earlier this week. secretary haaland, welcome to the "news hour." it's great to have you here in person. sec. haaland: so happy to be here. amna: so, as the very first native person ever to serve as cabinet secretary, united states history, we should point out you were leading a department that once worked to remove indigenous people from their land. and i know a lot has been written about how you wanted to use this role to really examine

and grapple with our history here in america. a big part of this was the work you did looking into the actual work governments did to separate indigenous children from their families, put them into boarding schools, strip them of their history and language and culture. when president biden issued an apology for these actions, what was that moment like for you? what stays with you? sec. haaland: absolutely. yes, that was absolutely an historic moment. and sitting in the crowd listening to the president with my fellow indigenous friends and relatives around me, it was very profound. now, we finished that second report for the boarding school initiative and we put a list of recommendations. and no sooner did we get that out and over to the white house that the white house called us and said the president wants to make an apology. so, he immediately felt the need to be out there and following our recommendations.

so we were all very pleased. and, of course, it's important because, as i always say, native american history is american history. and we all need to, as americans, we all need to heal from these tragic moments in our history. and so the healing part of what we have done, we hope, is what really comes of all of the work that we accomplished on this issue. amna: i know the transition process has begun. you've had conversations, i assume, with your nominated successor, doug burgum. has this issue come up? sec. haaland: so, i haven't actually had any conversations with the incoming secretary, although i do want to point out that the mission of the department of the interior does not change. it's the same mission throughout history that we were dedicated to. so we can hope that the 65,000 career staff who remain at the

department, even though i'm leaving, will move so many of the issues that we found important enough to work on forward. amna: the mission may not change, but i think it's fair to say it is being redefined with the way the incoming administration has laid it out. doug burgum is said to be taking on a much more expansive role, much more energy focused as well. he's going to have a seat on the national security council. how concerned are you that a lot of the work you've done on climate, on preservation of public lands, that that could be undone? sec. haaland: so, there is a lot that can never be undone. president biden's investing in america agenda that essentially moved $45 billion to our nation's indian tribes for climate resilience, for landscape restoration, for infrastructure, all of those things are in process and they're getting done. billions of dollars went to cleaning up legacy pollution sites across the country, and that work has also been ongoing. there is so much that could

never be undone because the work is getting completed. our clean energy transition, moving forward, president biden asked for 30 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030. we're more than halfway there in less than half the time. so we have really moved the needle on a clean energy transition, on legacy pollution, on indian country. and so, we feel good about the opportunities that remain for all of those sectors. amna: at this moment of transition, i need to ask you to look back slightly, because in the past you have called mr. trump a threat to democracy. you did cite his election as your inspiration to run for office in the very first place. it was in 2018 that you and kansas congresswoman sharice davids made history as the first native american women elected to congress ever. i have to ask you, now that he's won, he's about to be sworn in for his next term, what is this moment like for you? sec. haaland: so, of course, i when i first got to the

department of the interior, it was very exciting. four years seemed like a really long time to get so much of our agenda completed. now, with just a few days left, of course, i'm feeling a little sad to leave my colleagues, but i know that we worked so hard and we got a tremendous amount accomplished. i have to believe that our best days are ahead of us. and, you know, administrations come and go, the voices of the american people who want to conserve these beautiful natural resources that we have, those voices will continue. yes, i am always going to be involved. and i feel confident that that my voice was important in this administration and it will be important in the future as well. amna: what's ahead for you? what's next? sec. haaland: i'm going to go back to new mexico. i'm looking forward to some enchiladas with red chili, quite frankly.

but, you know, we have an amazing group of political appointees that my colleagues that i served with at the department, we're all sort of spreading out to do some amazing things. and so i look forward to staying in touch with all of them and absolutely advocating for the things we know we need for our planet. amna: deb haaland, outgoing secretary of the interior. madam secretary, thank you so much for being here. ♪ and that is the "news hour" for tonight. i'm amna nawaz. geoff: and i'm geoff bennett. for all of us here, thank you for spending part of your evening with us. >> major funding for the pbs "news hour" has been provided by. >> on an american cruise lines journey, along the colombia and

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♪ hello, everyone, and welcome to "amanpour & co." here's what's coming up. the israeli government and hamas reach a ceasefire agreement. we have the latest on the