geoff: good evening. i'm geoff bennett.

amna: and i am amna nawaz. ♪ >> major funding for the pbs news hour has been provided by friends of the news hour including jim and nancy built not on the robert and virginia schuller foundation. judy and peter blum kovler foundation, upholding freedom by strengthening democracies at home and abroad. >> a proud supporter of public television. the world awaits. a world of flavor, diverse destinations and immersive experiences. a world of leisure. in british style.

all with white star service. ♪ >> the john s and cell night foundation. -- james l night foundation. >> and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. and friends of the "news hour." this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and the contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. ♪ amna: welcome to theafter 15 mos

over gaza are scheduled to go silent in just over 24 hours. that is after the israeli government approved a cease-fire deal a short time ago. geoff: the war will stop for at least six weeks and israeli hostages as well as palestinian detainees will be released. nick schifrin speaks with the coordinator for humanitarian relief who has just been appointed envoy for middle east peace. he starts with this report on the tense hours before fighting is expected to stop. >> one of israel's final strikes as benjamin netanyahu and the israeli cabinet approved a cease-fire to begin on sunday. the cultural minister. >> we hope that in the future we will be able to finish the job in gaza. this is something we want to do. but now we want to bring our people back home. >> gazans who today are still grieving their dead. still desperate for food know

the war could resume after the six weeks cease-fire. but there is cautious hope. that this deprivation will soon be passed. >> when they said there would be a truce, we were so happy we couldn't sleep. we are exhausted from our exhaustion. our youth is gone. our lives are gone. our world is gone. >> they can't take out 1500 people. >> president biden said he pushed netanyahu to be restrained in gaza. >> i said you can't be carpet bombing these communities and he said to me, you did it. you carpet bombed berlin. you dropped a nuclear weapon. you killed thousands of innocent people. because you had to in order to win a war. that's when we came up with the u.n.. >> it is the u.n. planning to

surge humanitarian trucks into gaza starting sunday. joining me now is the un's and special coordinator for the middle east peace process and senior humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for gaza. welcome back to the news hour. congratulations on the new job. you entered this peace process job with a transformed region. iran on the back foot, a new u.s. president who is close to the israeli government and the arabs world willingness to normalize with israel if they take steps toward a palestinian state. do you see this as an opportunity for the peace? >> i think we have gone through deep crisis in the region and this is a moment of potential opportunity. we need to seize the moment starting with the crisis in gaza

, looking at the horizon which is a safe and secure israel alongside a palestinian state. >> the current israeli government has resisted a two state solution and members are talking about annexation in the west bank. where does that leave the peace process? >> it leaves a two state solution even further out of sight. are we had a historical moment potentially with new opportunities, i would say yes. it depends on many factors including political will to see this through. >> the cease-fire allows for humanitarian surge into gaza. is the u.n. ready and are there conditions in gaza that will allow for that humanitarian surge to arrive? >> the u.n. is as ready as it

can be. obviously there's a lot of work ahead of us. conditions in gaza are appalling. it will be very hard to deliver aid as we would like to. we don't have a mechanism on law & order because we don't have clarity on what the governance will be for and in gaza. in recent months it's been extremely difficult to work not just because of the fighting that goes on but also the criminality and looting that takes place. that doesn't disappear overnight. so we have to work in very insecure conditions. i don't expect that we will see miracles on day one in gaza but as a collective effort everyone is working to prepare to make sure we try as best as possible. >> can you describe the scale of the scarcity in gaza? >> nowadays you are surprised to see children wearing shoes in gaza. there's no winter clothes. there's no shelter. adults go by with one meal a day

maximum and most days not a hot meal. mothers save food from their mouths to give to their children. children spend their days running through garbage looking for anything that could be tradable. to imagine a gaza where the population was well educated, children thrived and we are always hoping for better. all that is gone. physically and mentally. you can see that in the destruction of the facilities. normal basic human requirements. that's the challenge. >> in addition to the massive surge of humanitarian aid, the deal calls for efforts to clear rubble and rehabilitate hospitals and bakeries. how will that work? >> it's a tremendous task ahead regardless. the equipment needs to get in. staff needs to be vetted. people need to be able to work.

not only hospitals but health points across the gaza strip. hundreds of organizations are active and willing. they depend on the approved import of the goods they need to do the job. but as a matter of time. assets, technical support and money. >> phase three calls for the long-term reconstruction of gaza and the scope is absolutely overwhelming as we saw just today with new before and after satellite photos released above gaza. two thirds of all structures destroyed. do you believe gaza can be rebuilt? >> it's our collective responsibility. we were not able to stop the war. children need to go to school. pregnant mothers need to be seen by doctors in the story goes on. and in the 21st-century i believe we can do it if we want to and we owe that to israeli

citizens and the palestinians. amna: the negotiations that led to the hamas israel cease-fire agreement took months and months. at the center of the talks representing the united states was brent mcgurk. i spoke with him earlier today just before israel's cabinet approved the deal. welcome to the news hour. thanks for being with us. >> thanks for having me. amna: you have been on the front lines of this effort to end this war. take us inside the negotiations. at any point did you worry you were never going to get to a deal? >> the president laid out this deal in may and in august we thought we were getting close to a deal. u.s., egypt and qatar put together a proposal. hamas never expected -- accepted

the deal. it never agreed to release hostages other than solely on its terms which was for the israeli forces to totally leave gaza, permanent cease-fire and go back to october 6. and no israeli government was going to do that and then we had six hostages killed in a tunnel underneath rafa including an american, hurst goldberg. we pretty much concluded that with the current leadership of hamas and given the regional situation at the time, in which hamas believed that a multi-front war that had been opened up against israel with the behest of iran, it was not going to do a deal. so we had to change the equation and that's really what we did. of course israel began its campaign in lebanon. that has actually been quite successful. that removed this threat from hezbollah and isolated hamas really for the first time. and of course the leader of

hamas was killed in gaza around the same time and that also removed a critical obstacle. so december after the lebanon cease-fire is when we reengage very intensively. amna: the unprecedented coordination between the outgoing biden administration and the incoming trump team. how did that work? how do you represent two leaders with very different approaches and world views towards the same goal? >> i think it's historic and effective. steve became a close partner of mine. i think a friend. president trump came to see biden in the oval office. president biden set the tone. we are going to have a seamless transition and work together where we can. i spent most of the last six weeks nailing this down.

it was at the end of december for the first time in a year. hamas agreed to a list of hostages that it was prepared to release in the first phase of the deal over six weeks. and after that happened and they had not done that until that point. we were then bargaining to try to close it. what is the exchange. palestinian prisoners to hostages. the redeployment of israeli forces. we were in the stages that we thought we could actually get this done. amna: at the deadline with the incoming administration, president trump had threatened that there would be hell to pay if the hostages were not released by the time he was sworn in. what do you believe would have happened? would the war have escalated? >> i think there has been hell

to pay. those who decided that was an opportune moment to launch a war against israel have paid a heavy price. this deal is difficult. any deal like this is difficult. many palestinian prisoners, many hamas prisoners will be released under this deal. amna: president biden has spoken about the deal since it was announced. he said within the first 10 days of the war that he met with netanyahu and told him, you can't be carpet bombing these communities. he said netanyahu said back to him, you did it, referring to the bombing in world war ii and the nuclear bomb in japan. in other words justifying the mass civilian casualties to come. >> the discussions in those early days was about the extreme difficulty of an enemy that has hundreds of miles of tunnels

underground in a civilian population that of course is not allowed in those tunnels and has nowhere to go and how do you do this? amna: more than 46,000 palestinians dead, the vast majority of them women and children. the question for the u.s. to answer is, is that proportionate for the attacks on october 7? >> we just negotiated a cease-fire that ultimately we hope ends the war. the only way to end the war was a hostage deal. i don't know how many times there have been headlines in the last year of the middle east on the brink of all-out war. there was not all-out war. i wish we could have gotten this done 10 months ago. amna: hamas has reneged before. we know that netanyahu is still under pressure from part of his government that doesn't want this deal. how tenuous is this cease-fire? >> we worked tirelessly to nail

down every conceivable detail. every palestinian prisoner that would be released. the rules of the road for the cease-fire exactly where israeli forces will be and won't be, what hamas can do and can't do. all the provisions for humanitarian aid. it is all outlined. it is clear what all the parties need to do. this has broad support amongst the israeli people and of course the gazans who have been living in hell. this will bring needed relief. finally, a cease-fire, a surge in aid and stopping the war. girl, thank you for joining us. good to speak with you. -- amna: thank you for joining us. good to speak with you. >> thank you so much.

geoff: the supreme court unanimously upheld a law that threatens to shut down the wildly popular social media app tiktok as soon as sunday. the justices ruled that free speech rights must yield to concerns that chinese control of the app creates a national security risk. president biden has said the enforcement of the band will now fall to the incoming trump administration. our white house correspondent has been covering this. let's start with the tiktok decision. it's not the content that's the issue, it's the ownership that lawmakers think is a national security threat. how is the biden administration going to handle this? >> at white house released a statement saying that tiktok should remain available to americans but under american ownership or ownership that addresses the security concerns

identified by congress. as you said, it's about the ownership. president-elect trumps that head -- said today that his decision on tiktok will be made in the future. ultimately this is going to have to be implemented by the incoming administration. geoff: the ceo of tiktok who was invited to the inauguration posted a message on the platform. >> he posted on tiktok crediting the president-elect earlier today. >> on behalf of everyone at tiktok, i want to thank president trump for his decision to work with us to find the decision that keeps tiktok available in the united states. amna: other tech moguls will be in attendance at the inauguration. >> the biden administration says it will not enforce this tiktok

ban. they unilaterally declared that the equal rights amendment is now the law of the land. >> the president believes that the equal rights amendment is a ratified addition to the constitution after virginia became the 30th state to ratify it in 2020 and the e.r.a. bands discrimination based on sex. it was first passed in 1972. the deadline for ratification was in 1979. it was extended to 1982. congress missed that deadline by decades. geoff: so this is entirely symbolic. >> exactly. the person in charge of certifying and publishing the amendment is the national archivist. she said ultimately it is up to congress to extend that deadline had without that happening, this e.r.a. is not actually ratified.

geoff: hhs published the next list of drugs for medicare price negotiations. break down what's here. >> 15 new drugs allowed as part of the negotiation. so far, 25 drugs total are up for medicare price negotiation and the announcement includes those popular drugs. all 35 make up 30% of medicare spending and the new prices are set to take place in 2026 and 2027. medicare only covers those weight-loss medications if you have a pre-existing condition like diabetes. it is not covered for weight loss. other drugs include ones that treat asthma, cancer and arthritis. geoff: president-elect trump has talked about repealing the law that allows for these negotiations. and rfk jr. has opposed some of

the drugs on this list so what does that mean for this? >> much of the medicare negotiations is set in that law. trump could decide he doesn't want to be as aggressive at the negotiating table and take a more industry friendly stance in the negotiations. when it comes to the ability for the next administration to decide more expansive coverage for rosenberg -- ozempic, they may be feeling some pressure. president biden already has a regulation in the works that would expand coverage of these weight loss drugs to medicare and medicaid so more people would qualify for these drugs under those programs. geoff: there was also an historic clemency announcement today. >> today president biden issued

2500 commutations for nonviolent drug offenses. president biden has issued more pardons and commutations than any u.s. president. in december he had set a record for 1500 commutations and we can expect more preemptive pardons to be coming. biden was seen as the architect and his party of mass incarceration because of the 90's crime bill. today's commutations represent a big shift and a focus on the sentencing disparities for crack and cocaine related crimes. many legal scholars say this could be legacy defining. >> i'm vanessa ruiz with news hour west. here are the latest headlines. another of president-elect

trump's picks for a key cabinet position face questions today from senators on capitol hill a confirmation hearing. governor kristi noem of south dakota is being considered to run the department of homeland security. >> please stand and raise your right hand. >> south dakota governor kristi noem is already known on capitol hill. today she personalized her biography. >> i am a wife, mother, grandmother, farmer, rancher, business person. i have served in our state legislature and governor. >> she is now the pick to run the department of homeland security. if confirmed she will oversee 240,000 employees tasked with securing the country from threats, dominating the conversation, border security, including trumps plan for mass deportations. she said she would prioritize criminals. >> getting criminal aliens out of the country will help

american commuters -- communities be safer again. >> she said she would sharply limit legal parole and asylum programs as well as ending the cbp one app used by asylum-seekers. he did not answer if he would give to border agents. >> i think it's great that you are a governor and you bring that expertise to the table. >> democrats questioned her experience and readiness. the senator asked for her top list of extremist threats. >> since i'm not on the role today, i shouldn't get into specific with you. >> what organizations that are out there. >> all the traditional terrorist organizations? >> such as? >> hamas, isis.

>> she aimed to reassure them that she would administer the office fairly. >> i will deliver the programs according to the law and it will be done with no political bias. if the programs change or you decide to change the rule of law than i will follow that. >> kristi noem's confirmation is expected in the next week or two. amna: president-elect trump and chinese president xi jinping spoke on the phone today. in a post on truth social, trump said they discussed balancing trade, fentanyl, tiktok and many other subjects. xi jinping congratulated trump on his second term and said china hopes for a good start of the china u.s. relationship during the new presidency. trump has threatened to slap 60% tariffs on all chinese imports coming to america but has also spoken highly of his past relationship with china's leader. the call comes as china reported

a third straight annual decline in population last year. an overall population of just over one point 4 billion people at the end of 24 is down by nearly one point 4 million from the previous year. experts cite a decline in new births as young people focus on work instead of starting families. the leaders of russia and iran deep into their country today. vladimir putin and his iranian counterpart signed a comprehensive strategic partnership treaty that covers trade and military cooperation plus areas like education, science and culture. the pact comes as both countries face damaging western sanctions for their roles in the war in ukraine. ohio's lieutenant governor john houston will fill the senate

seat left vacant by vice president elect jd vance. governor mike dewine announced his choice after months of speculation. the 57-year-old republican is a former ohio house speaker and secretary of state. vance served in the senate for less than two years before being tapped to run with president-elect trump. a special election will be held in november to fill the last two years of jd vance's six-year term. firefighters in los angeles are taking advantage of more favorable wind conditions as they battle blazes that have been burning for more than a week. at last checked the palisades fire was more than 31% contained. the eaton fire was 65 percent contained. cal fire officials warned the gusty santa ana indians -- santa ana winds will put more people at risk. >> we will take a little respite

for a few days but in the near future we could be right back in critical burning conditions. >> the wildfires have killed 27 people and destroyed properties. spacex says a fire may have called -- caused its starship rocket to break apart. the rocket broke up about eight minutes after liftoff. i witness video caught debris from the spacecraft raining down over turks and caicos in the atlantic. the federal aviation administration ordered spacex to investigate what went wrong. two large automakers were sued today by the u.s. equal employment opportunity commission. one lawsuit accuses one of subjecting female employees to sexual harassment including inappropriate touching and explicit comments. the commission accused general

motors of age discrimination against employees aged 66 and older. an acclaimed british actress of stage and screen, joan plowright, has died. >> if he would despise me, i would forgive him. >> considered one of the greatest actresses of her generation, she won a tony award and two golden globes over a seven decade career. she was also the widow of laurence olivier. they were married for 28 years and worked together on a number of plays. she enjoyed success late in life on films such as 100 one dalmatians and enchanted april. she described her beginnings on stage as a passion, outlet and:.

>> i think there was a rebel always inside. i never had the total confidence to behave as i felt until i was allowed on the stage. >> plowright was named a dame in 2004 for her lifetime of contributions to the arts. she was 95 years old. still to come on the news hour, david brooks and jonathan capehart offer their takes on the end of the biden administration and amanda gorman shares her new poem about the california wildfires. >> this is the pbs news hour. geoff: countries and businesses around the world will be watching to see just how quickly

president-elect donald trump new tariffs after he takes office on monday and how steep they may be. special correspondent catherine rand paul reports on how some companies are already preparing >> this is one of our newer products. >> when donald trump won in november, his first call was to china. >> called our major supplier and found out how many more pair we could make before chinese new year. >> trump has threatened 60% taxes on chinese made goods, which might include all the shoes his company sells. >> we import and distribute around the united states men's and boys shoes. >> he says shifting production

here is not an option given labor costs. >> there's a lot of labor in the making of shoes and there's no factories here to move production back. >> stopped getting up early was risky. >> you are tying up your capital , paying storage and making decisions over what you think the consumers going to buy and sometimes you are wrong. >> we see a 20% increase in bookings. >> ryan peterson is ceo of a trade and logistics company. >> you know they are probably coming so the easiest thing to do is move the goods in early. >> firms also look for creative ways to duck future tariffs. >> you could change the components of your product that if they are 51% polyester forces

49%, that is a different duty code. >> many companies began moving their supply chains but mostly not to the u.s.. >> the biggest winner was vietnam, mexico. it has continued to move for many years because of the cost of labor. china, can asia, india. >> these moves carry geopolitical risk. >> jordan is a peaceful place but surrounded by all kinds of conflict. quickly found out it's not that easy. >> their new location could get hit by tariffs, too. >> jenny goodman cofounded a hospitality workwear company. they thought they were smart to diversify production away from china and columbia.

>> mexico was a buffer should there be any issues moving forward. >> trump threatened huge tariffs on mexico. >> it feels like whack a mole. >> they produce about 10% in new york. are you trying to find domestic alternatives? >> no. we are at max capacity with what we can produce domestically based on price sensitivity of our customer and skilled labor. every time we lose a seamstress, it takes a while to replace because there isn't a huge pool of skilled labor. >> tariff threats have stressed their business. >> we have some big orders and have quoted those orders sourcing out of our factory in china. if there's a 10% increase in our margin is slim because it's a huge order that could affect

whether we have to raise prices or taken even worse margin hit. >> some costs would have to get passed down to customers and they may find that hard to swallow. >> we are trying to combat inflation because everything has gotten more expensive for restaurants. the tolerance would be really challenging. >> research on earlier tariffs by trump found they were mostly paid by american businesses. >> the price that we paid the exporters didn't change and we believe that those tariffs were passed through 100% to u.s. importers. >> mary studies trade at the peterson institute. >> washing machines an immediate

increase in price. the south korean washing machine was more than a thousand dollars higher. but also the domestic made machine was also higher as was the drier even though there were no tariffs on dryers. >> trump's plan for a 20% across-the-board care plus a 60% tariff on china suggests price increases for consumers could be large. >> the burden on the average family would be a minimum of $2700 a year. estimates go up to $4000 and above for the average american household. >> this will all ricochet back to u.s. companies. >> some people are going to be pushed out of the market. either way the company is going to be selling fewer items. >> there will be some domestic

winners. >> anything that will make it more difficult for somebody to import products that we make domestically helps us. chaos in general helps domestic manufacturers. i hate to put it that way. >> mitch founded union where three decades ago. >> in 1992, there were well over a thousand hat manufacturers and bag manufacturers. there are probably four or five hat factories left and maybe 15 or 20 bag factories. >> he has seen a lot in that time. >> we used to rent this space and the production floor to a biker gang. >> turns out new jersey has geopolitical risks, too. >> the biker gang said this neighborhood is not very safe and we will put an end to all of that. we have a remnant from them which is this stripper pole in

our cafeteria. >> what happened to the gang? >> they got in trouble with the local authorities and had to leave newark. there's a lot of people who are very pro made in the usa who are not buying made in the usa goods. consumers are generally driven to buying the least expensive thing. >> the biggest clients are unions, the military and organizations that care about cobranding with a made in usa label like political campaigns. >> this is one of the most popular hats that we ever made. we ended up making about 5000 units a day of this baseball hats. >> a boom in u.s.-made products is predicted. >> it's being driven by this perfect storm of events. one is the usa's 250th birthday,

the usa hosting the world cup, the usa hosting the olympics which definitely drives demand for us. >> he thinks tariffs will give an added boost even though his machinery comes from -- -- additional purchases until the tariff situation works itself out. >> even with tariffs, ramping up production won't be easy. >> we have difficulty recruiting workers and we are in new jersey and new york with a large immigrant population. we find it harder and harder to hire people who want to work in a factory. >> he's investing in what may be the key to making u.s. manufacturing more competitive, robust. >> we are automating our bad production. that may reduce our labor cost to 15% of the cost of the bag

and that's going to have a tremendous difference. >> how much will the tariffs actually cost companies, consumers, workers? we will soon find out. amna: with one administration leaving office, and another coming in, we turn to the analysis of brooks and capehart. that is new york times columnist david brooks, and jonathan capehart, associate editor for the washington post. great to see you both. jonathan: hey, amna. david: good to see you. amna: so, in mr. biden's final week in office, a lot to talk about. he's managed to push across the finish line a cease-fire deal in the middle east, started to cement his legacy with a prime-time oval office farewell address. jonathan, let's start in the middle east and the cease-fire deal. this is a war that began on his watch. we know the u.s. has been

relentlessly focused on pushing through some kind of deal. how critical was it for mr. biden to get this deal before he leaves office? jonathan: i think it was very critical. i know some people look at this through the lens of, well, he's trying to get this done for his legacy. and if you have been watching the president, excuse me, since october 7, he has been working. the secretary of state had been working overtime trying to get a deal done, get a cease-fire done, get a deal that would have to get the hostages released. and i think it was very critical for him with trump's inauguration coming. let's get this done. let's get these people home. excuse me. go ahead. amna: david, the idea, we have also been reporting on this, that this was as a result of coordination, right, between biden's team on their way out and trump's team before they have even come in, what does that say to you? david: yes, it was unusual and refreshing. brett mcgurk, who was on the show earlier, he was there. and then elsewhere in the middle east was the trump people. and they were both working together. and the trump people very graciously said, it's the biden administration. they're the senior partner. we're the junior partner here.

but i do think it was donald trump's pressure that really sealed the deal, because israel had to swallow a lot for this deal. they're trading away a few hostages, some of them dead, in exchange for terrorists, a lot of them. and so that israel didn't want to do that. the thing that worries me is the corridor that separates gaza from egypt, through which supplies military supplies can go into gaza. that may go into hamas or gaza hands. so it's a high price. but i think and so there's no celebration in israel. but on the other hand, the war's over. and some of the suffering will go back and the gazans could go back and begin to rebuild their homes. so it's a major accomplishment on a bipartisan basis. [crosstalk] amna: yes. jonathan: but i would just say that this deal is a three-step deal. amna: yes. jonathan: and this first step might be the easiest one. so we're not out of the woods yet. amna: that's right. and it hasn't gone into place just yet either, we should note, so holding our breath. meanwhile, i know you were both watching, of course, as he spoke to the nation for the fifth and the final time from the oval office. here in part is what mr. biden had to say. pres. biden: today, an oligarchy

is taking shape in america of extreme wealth, power, and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms, and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead. amna: jonathan, for a final address to americans, it was less about listing accomplishments, really more of a warning for the future. was that what you expected from the president? jonathan: actually, i did. and he did tout his accomplishments, but, as he did when he announced his candidacy for the 2020 election, he got into the race because he was concerned about the future of the country. and i think it's a rather fitting, but also sad bookend that he's leaving office with really big concerns about the country, concerns that i think we should take to heart and keep our eyes open, because he's talking about a oligarchy. we're about to see some of the world's richest people, richest men there at the inauguration for donald trump and what that

means for americans, for how they get their news and information, a whole host of things, which i think the president was getting at. amna: david, what do you make of that? david: well, of course, it's normal for presidents on the way to have to do a big warning, so george washington, entangling alliances, dwight eisenhower, the military-industrial complex. so he did oligarchy. i think he's right. there is an oligarchy, but it's completely bipartisan. most billionaires in this country are democrats. you go to i speak at aspen every year. i think i know something about billionaires. and there used to be one republican, one republican, this guy named fred malek, who unfortunately has left us. but, like, the hollywood, new york, san francisco, these are democratic places. the democratic party has half the country, but about 75 percent of the gdp of this country. so there is a democratic oligarchy and a republican oligarchy. and so to say it's all because of elon musk, well, that's part of it, but there are a lot of billionaires on the democratic side. the thing about biden is, we go around the country, we have followed him for decades now.

he's done a wonderful job over the course of his career, just a wonderful job. and i go around the country in new york state or ohio and there are manufacturing jobs coming back. but as frank foer wrote in "the atlantic" today, his job was to end to fight authoritarianism. the whole thing was to preserve democracy. and the election of donald trump suggested to some large degree he failed at that large mission. and so, at some sense, a wonderful guy, he's been a great public service, but there's a sadness and a tragedy at the end of it. jonathan: i don't know if it's so much that he failed, because he did try. and lots of people criticized him for talking about it, including those of some of us in the media. but i go back to a question that i asked i believe around the table when we were here for the marathon election night coverage, that i just wonder if, with these results, the american people just sort of gave up on democracy, or wanting to, hey, let's try this authoritarianism, this guy who has told us what he wants to do. let's give that a shot.

that's the thing that concerns me the most. amna: well, we did this week start to see the contours of a potential trump administration with the confirmation hearings, these slew of them unfolding on capitol hill. take a look here at the list. you saw among them the nominees for secretary of defense, secretary of state, attorney general, intelligence, energy, economic, national, security leaders, too many to name here alone. david, what did you make of the way they unfolded, in particular, probably among the most contentious, for pete hegseth, his nominee to be secretary of defense? david: yes, i was more or less appalled by that hearing. china is we're on the walking tour to war with china. the secretary-general of nato said, we have got to get in a war mind-set. china's building landing craft to where they can invade tehran. -- taiwan. they have got microwave weapons that have the force of nuclear power to wipe out our nuclear our military software. people are warning that they're looking for first stage nuclear attack on us. h.r. mcmaster said that a couple

weeks ago. and so it's the most dangerous security situation since world war ii. and so what is pete hegseth talking about? wokeness in the military. how trivial. and, frankly, the democrats, what are they talking about? could they have said to pete hegseth, what are you going to do about how does drone warfare affect our confrontation with china? amna: if i may, that is mr. trump's pick, though, to be the secretary of defense talking about wokeness, right? david: right, exactly, exactly. amna: ok. david: i'm not this is not a pro-trump speech i'm in the middle of. [laughter] david: and but then, what do the democrats focus on? women in combat. now, i happen to support the idea that a woman, if she qualifies, of course, she should be in combat. is that as important as preventing world war iii? no. talk about it. talk about the big issues of the day. at the very end, a few democratic senators, tammy duckworth among them, asked some big, serious questions. but you would have to say, overall, the republicans were the more intellectually serious group at that hearing. they did ask about shipbuilding. they did ask about drones. they asked about the big, substantive issues. but, mostly, we sidestepped the major crisis in front of the defense department.

amna: how did you look at the hearing, jonathan? jonathan: look, senator duckworth was going to be my touchstone, because she did basically a pop quiz on hegseth. can you name you're going to be doing negotiations. you're going to be doing negotiations with asean. can you name the nations of asean in your response? and he couldn't. that's outrageous. and the fact that he was picked to be the head of the defense department is part and parcel of what trump has done with virtually all of his nominees, with the exception of maybe rubio, burgum and a couple of others, is just put people in places who look good, who will also do his bidding. amna: will he get confirmed? jonathan: oh, yes. amna: david, do you agree? david: i agree. amna: before we say goodbye here, we have talked a lot over the last two years about how this election would determine the course of this nation's future for the next several years. as we transition from one government to the next, david,

how are you looking at this? david: yes, i go with the recognition that donald trump is the most consequential american politician since ronald reagan. we have seen a major shift, basically, the 50 years that joe biden was in office, liberal internationalism, a respect for institutions, at least attempts at bipartisanship. you had a system in place from 1945 to 2016 that trump said, we're taking it out. and the fact that he's reelected and now about to take office and use executive orders to wipe out a lot of things, including the civil service potentially, or parts of it, that's just a gigantic pivot in american history. jonathan: and this is why i believe that this what we're about to endure, i have great trepidation. i mean, he's promised to do a lot of radical things. and if he does even half of them, this country will be very different in four years. amna: jonathan capehart, david brooks, and you will be with us on inauguration day and for

many, many weeks and months to follow. we will talk about all of it. i thank you both. always good to see you. jonathan: thanks, amna. david: thank you. amna: and, of course, david and jonathan and many others will be back with us on monday for live coverage of donald trump's second inauguration. that's going to begin monday at 10:30 a.m. eastern right here on pbs and streaming on our youtube channel. and before we go, we want to take some time for reflections about how people are coping with the devastating california wildfires. the renowned poet laureate and los angeles native, amanda gorman, has penned a heartfelt tribute expressing her fears and hopes for her community. i spoke with her yesterday. welcome back to the news hour. >> thanks for having me. amna: you are los angeles native. you live in the pacific palisades. tell us how you're doing and

what it has been like to watch all this devastation and loss unfold at your home. >> i'm safe, my family is safe. my house is doing ok. it's devastating on a communal level to see this amount of damage and loss in a city we love. l.a. is incredibly strong and resilient and it has also been amazing to see the way people are coming together. we have a really long trek ahead of us. amna: telus what led you to write this poem, smoldering dawn. >> when the fires broke out in los angeles, i was in new york city. by accident i happened to be doing some press there. when i saw the amount of ruin and wreckage, i felt so hopeless and helpless that i couldn't be there with my city in that moment. i wanted to process that grief i was feeling as an angeleno.

i wrote the poem for myself to work through what i was feeling and decided to share it in the hope it might bring some warmth and soul and spirit in a time that feels really hard for californians right now. amna: would you mind sharing a few lines? >> absolutely. today we mourn, tomorrow reborn. we ended the burning, befriend the hurting. meant those who face the flame. we reclaim our city's name. a revelation that only this place tells. to find our angels, all we need do is look within ourselves. amna: this clearly resonated so much with so many people. he shared it online as a fundraiser for the fire response. you have raised over $100,000 in

aid so far. where is that going to go? >> i was so happy to be able to use this poem to do my small part. it's going to support firefighters and their families and people impacted by fires in california. the response that i got to this problem over the course of just a few days was amazing. there is also so many ways that angelenos in the country are showing up by donating, volunteering, giving their time and resources. across the board it has been heartwarming. amna: you are also talking about the new book you have out, girls on the rise, you are calling it a tribute to women's impact and resilience. why this message right now? >> i really wanted to come out with a children's book now more than ever that emphasized the importance of uplifting young girls and their allies because i

felt we are living in a time where that is incredibly necessary to make sure that young girls voices are protected and also celebrated because we are just seeing so many spikes in bullying and gender-based violence and all those things. i was curious what would happen if there was a children's book out that a children's book out that across gender lines said we are all in the same boat, we are all in this together and we are much stronger as a unit than we are separated as it were by gender or sex. amna: author and poet amanda gorman, thank you so much for making sure we are all turning towards the light in these dark times. >> nice speaking with you, too. thank you. ♪ amna: be sure to watch

washington week with the atlantic tonight on pbs. moderator jeffrey goldberg and his panel look at what to expect on monday when trump returns to the white house. geoff: on pbs news week and, nearly 75 years after a woman was executed for the soviet union, a recently declassified document has her son pushing the white house for an apology. i'm geoff bennett. amna: i'm amna nawaz. on behalf of the entire team, thank you for joining us and have a great weekend. >> major funding for the pbs news hour has been provided by -- the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions and friends of the "news hour" including kathy and paul anderson and camilla and george smith. the walton family foundation, working for solutions to protect water during climate change so people and nature can thrive together. >> the william and flora hewlett foundation, for more than 50 years, advancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better world.

at hewlett.org. ♪ >> and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. and friends of the "news hour." this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and the contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. ♪ ♪ >> this is pbs news hour west.

♪ ♪

jeffrey: joe biden says goodbye to the nation. and donald trump cements his status as the most dominant american political figure of the 21st century. on his way out, biden warns americans that the country is becoming a an oligarchy. and as if to underscore the point, joining trump at the inauguration on monday will be elon musk, mark zuckerberg, and the owner of the washington post, jeff bezos. next.