♪ anchor: good evening. anchor: tonight, president trump tries to convince global business leaders to invest in the u.s. by promising lower

taxes and threatening tariffs if they do not. anchor: a federal judge blocks the order to aid in the birthright citizenship, calling the move blatantly unconstitutional. anchor: residents of southern lebanon take stock of the destruction from israeli airstrikes and occupation of the border region. >> we were happy. i used to love to work in my garden but they destroyed it. what was in the house? nothing. ♪ >> major funding has been provided by -- >> on an american cruise lines journey, travelers retraced the route forged by lewis and clark more than 200 years ago. american cruise lines fleet of

modern riverboats travel through american landscapes to historic landmarks, where you can experience local customs and cuisine. american cruise lines, sprout -- a proud sponsor. >> two friends set up to make wireless coverage accessible to all. with no long-term contracts, nationwide coverage, and u.s.-based customer support. consumer cellular, freedom calls. ♪ >> carnegie corporation of new york, working to reduce political polarization through philanthropic support for education, democracy, and peace. and with the yarn going support of these individuals and institutions -- ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. ♪

this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your station by viewers like you. thank you. anchor: welcome. president trump made his first major foray of his second administration on the world stage today, delivering a virtual speech and taking questions from business leaders at the world economic forum in dollars, switzerland. -- davos, switzerland. anchor: he railed against the european union, again threatening to levy major tariffs on adversaries and allies alike, ruminated on global energy markets, and spoke of his hopes to into the war in

ukraine, which will enter its fourth year month. >> the president of the united states. reporter: at the world economic forum, president trump's virtual reintroduction of the world stage. >> come make your product in america and we will give you the lowest taxes of any nation on earth. reporter: he had clear instructions for other world leaders. >> if you do not make your world -- product in america, you will have to pay tara -- tariffs. saudi arabia will be investing billions of dollars in america. i will be asking the round prints to round it out. reporter: more money, lower prices. >> i will ask saudi arabia and opec to bring down the cost of oil. reporter: a higher spending bar for nato countries. >> i will last all nato nations

to increase defense spending to 5% of gdp, which is what it should have been years ago. reporter: while at home on the resolute desk, a new batch of freshly signed executive orders, among them, the classifying files on the assassinations of jfk, rfk, and martin luther king jr. he also signed pardons for antiabortion activists and created a cryptocurrency advisory council. he said the ukrainian president is ready to talk with putin. >> d is ready to negotiate a deal -- he is ready to negotiate a deal. he lost a lot of soldiers in soviet russia. russia lost more soldiers. i would say that is a lot. reporter: trump appeared in a wide-ranging interview from the oval office with fox news. >> fema will be a big discussion

very shortly. i would rather see the states take care of their own problems. reporter: he said he wants a new approach to federal disaster aid, sharply living -- limiting it. >> late oklahoma fix it. and then the federal government can help them out. reporter: he singled out california, threatening to cut off a and asserting that releasing water from northern california would help, which local officials say is flat wrong. >> i don't think they should get anything until they let water flow. reporter: meanwhile, nomination mobilization. a former congressman was sworn in as the cia's new director after his senate confirmation today. pete hegseth narrowly won a procedural votes. senators collins and murkowski voted against him.

he is expected to get enough support to pass his confirmation vote tomorrow. from democrats, some sharp pushback to another nominee. he will run the office of management and budget. chuck schumer single date -- singled out his nomination. >> he is probably at the very top of the listed how dangerous he is to working people and america. he is the godfather of the ultra right. he is the chief cook and bottle washer for project 2025, which would decimate the lives of so many americans. reporter: as for the trump agenda, today a first barrier. a federal judge temporary block the executive order to end birthright citizenship, saying it is blatantly unconstitutional. that is not yet dissuading from some republicans in congress you propose to codify this idea.

>> this opportunity will not, again for a long time. reporter: in washington, a sense of the opportunity and concerns around a fast-moving new presidency. anchor: list i've a little deeper into what we heard from trump at davos today with acing -- senior fellow at the brookings institution. he was speaking to the elite. he blasted european regulation and trade policies. your assessment of his speech and how do you think it landed in the room? >> it seemed like a speech designed to appeal to an american audience. he was giving instructions left and right. it was typical trump. he accused canada of running up a huge trade deficit.

these are the people who prosper from globalization. and he was making the case for america first. anchor: the carrot and stick approach of telling business leaders to manufacture your goods in the u.s. or else pay this tariff, how do you think that will play out? >> we will see. a lot of it depends on the specifics. how much will he impose tariffs and on whom? what will the exemptions be. what will be the retaliation from our trading partners? the canadians and mexicans have already talked about that. it may help some domestic manufacturers but hurt others. i don't see how it lowers reflation. he has a lot of authority.

anchor: he seems to link energy policy and oil production to inflation. thus he have that right? >> he has the right to link anything he wants. energy prices are a relatively small part of the consumer basket. the u.s. is producing more oil than it consumes. it is producing 20% more oil today than it did when president trump left office. so that seems a little bit overstated. climate change seems to be off the table altogether. anchor: absolutely. he also said he would demand lower interest rates from the fed and ask saudi arabia to lower oil prices.

what influence can he have on either of those fronts? >> i don't think he could have much. i'm not sure american producers will be happy with that. i think it is all bluster. i think the fed will stand up to him. anchor: you think so? >> yes. anchor: let's turn to the foreign policy aspects. we have been talking about this. there were a lot of different points. what did he have to say about ukraine? >> senior officials have told me that ukraine is one of is not the top priority for this administration. trump has consistently said that his priority is to end the war

and what he called the killing fields of ukraine. >> i have seen pictures of what has taken place. it is carnage. we really have to stop that war. it is horrible. i'm not talking economics. so many young people being killed in this war. >> he said zelenskyy was ready to make a deal but it was not clear if putin was. it is becoming increasingly clear that ukraine on the battlefield did not get enough pressure on the russian military . senior trump officials tell me that.

he said there is no other choice but to put high levels of taxes and sanctions on anything being sold by russia to the u.s. and various other participating countries. russia does not sell to the u.s. much more. but he appears to be threatening the russian economy. the best way to do that is to attack the lifeblood of the russian economy, oil. trump also said that he wanted to see increased production of oil to lower prices. anchor: even if he can get to a cease-fire, previous cease-fires have been broken. how does the trump team overcome that history? >> as part of any negotiation,

trump officials including the secretary of state says ukraine needs a security guarantee moving forward. that means troops inside ukraine. european governments have been talking about sending european troops into ukraine to try to force a cease-fire. it would not be nato troops, it would be individual european countries. that is a long way from now. just today we heard from a

spokesman for putin saying they remain ready for mutually respectful dialogue. russia is not playing their hand. anchor: waiting for signals. we will see. ♪ anchor: we begin today's other headlines in california, where firefighters are battling new fires in the los angeles area. in the mountains north of los angeles, a fast-moving fire has grown to nearly 16 square miles.

no homes or structures have been reported burned, but more than 50,000 people remain under evacuation orders and warnings. officials say high winds and low humidity will keep the risk of fire critical through tomorrow morning. firefighters have expressed some optimism. >> the situation remains dynamic. the fire remains difficult to contain. anchor: los angeles is still reeling from a couple of other blazes, the palisades and eaton fires that erupted earlier this month. the eaton fire is now nearly contained. california lawmakers passed a $2.5 billion aid package. purdue pharma and the family that owns it will pay billions of dollars to settle lawsuits

from the opioid crisis. the sackler family will pay billions of dollars and give up ownership of the company. this does not make them immune to future lawsuits. in the united kingdom, a teenager was sentenced to more than 50 years in prison for stabbing three girls to death at a taylor swift themed dance class last summer. videos shown in court showed him approaching the studio where he killed the girls. he wanted to carry out mass murder of innocents, happy young girls. he was a minor at the time of the attack.

the international criminal court's top prosecutor is seeking arrest warrants for taliban leaders. they have crackdown on women's rights since taking back control of the country. a prosecutor said gender-based persecution by the taliban supreme leader and the head of the supreme court amounts to crimes against humanity. >> the status quo for women and girls in afghanistan is unacceptable. they deserve accountability before a court of war. anchor: in thailand, marriage equality is now the law of the land.

they have the same marital rights as heterosexual couples. 200 register their unions during a daylong celebration at a bangkok shopping mall. thailand is the first country in southeast asia to legalize same-sex marriage and the third in all of asia after taiwan and nepal. on wall street, stocks rose after comments from trump about lower interest rates and oil prices. the dow jones industrial average gained more than 400 points. the nasdaq added 44 points. the s&p 500 closed at a new all-time high. the academy of motion picture arts and sciences announced its oscar nominations this morning. >> emelia perez. >> a musical about transgender identity leads with 13

nominations. that is the most ever for a non-english language film and includes a best actress nomination for the first openly trans actress ever nominated. wicked followed with 10 nominations, as did the postwar epic the brutalist. the announcements have been delayed twice due to the fires averaging -- ravaging los angeles. still to come, the judges who oversaw the trials of january 6 rioters express frustrations with the president's pardons. the small people behind and app giving updates on the wildfires. and how one county in ohio is making strides to reduce infant mortality. >> this is the pbs news hour from our studio in washington and from the walter cronkite

school of journalism at arizona state university. anchor: as we reported, a federal judge temporarily blocked president trump's executive order to and the birthright citizenship. it was enshrined in the constitution and upheld in a landmark supreme court ruling. today, nearly two dozen states are suing president trump. washington is one of them. they called it blatantly unconstitutional. what is your reaction? >> washington brought a case

along with arizona, oregon, and illinois. they said it was blatantly unconstitutional. he has never seen something so obviously illegal. this reaffirms that we need to protect and defend the constitution. it is the first step of many to come. anchor: do you take the ruling as an indication of what could come? >> we certainly have a long way to go. they will not take any action. anchor: at the heart of all this

is something enshrined in the 14th amendment. it said all persons born or naturalized are citizens of the u.s. the trump administration is saying that people born to parents in this country illegally have always been excluded from this because they are not subject to the jurisdiction of the u.s. why is that legally wrong? >> that is a french theory that is not well supported. the supreme court ruled on this matter. the provision has been used.

with the u.s. is arguing is people born to undocumented people in the u.s. would not be subject to the laws and jurisdiction of the u.s. if an undocumented person was charged with a crime, they would not be subject to that. we feel really confident in the legal precedent. anchor: it is worth pointing out that it would not just impact people born to undocumented residents. have you taken stock? about who could be impacted? >> in any given year there is

about 7000 people this might impact across the country. they are attempting to erase their citizenship. we could not stand that. this would be significant. it is important that people understand where this position -- provision of the 14th amendment comes from. it was an infamous supreme court decision. the 14th amendment reaffirms that people here in the u.s. who are born here are americans.

it was initially brought forth to defend free black americans. there are many who have birthright citizenship. we need to defend the constitution. anchor: even if this does not succeed in the courts, i wonder what you think about this is now a conversation that is being had. that courts are forced to contend with it and legally defended. does that have some kind of impact? >> we hope we do not have to spend so much energy and resources focused on this kind of work. we want to defend the right to be an american. we will take every action as it comes.

we have so many things that we do on behalf of the u.s. we cannot be deterred by un-american actions. anchor: thank you. it was good to speak to you. >> thank you very much. ♪ anchor: in the days since president trump's sweeping clemency of january 6 rioters, federal courts have been busy processing the dismissals. but judges who oversaw the trials are not appreciating it.

one judge criticized it, saying no parting can change the tragic truth of what happened on january 6, 2021. it cannot whitewash the terror that the mamba left in its wake. another judge said no national injustice occurred here. charges were fully supported by evidence. the comments are some of the best -- first after the decision was made. for perspective we turn to a retired federal judge. thank you for being with us. you spent nearly two decades on the federal bench. how do you perceive the impact of these pardons?

>> bravo to my former colleagues. judges are not allowed to make extrajudicial statements about cases. they cannot call a press conference. they shouldn't. but they let their orders do the talking for them. you can read directly from their orders and tell that they are pretty anguished about the fact that these folks were pardoned. they understand what happened. they sentenced to these people. they are intimately familiar with the facts. anchor: donald trump has for

years sought to reframe the public understanding of what transpired on january 6. he often refers to it as a beautiful day. another judge said that the real history of the data is captured in the evidence. she said those records represent the truth. how does that strike you? we have seen how the truth can bend to the power of perception. >> that is exactly right. let's take the example of the judges.

many of them pled guilty. there is a report that is very thick. these judges are intimately familiar with every shred of evidence in these cases. and they are simply not buying the idea that these are victims or hostages. in many cases they know and they are quite sure that there is a danger of recidivism. these defendants may get out and commit crimes. we can already see from their pronouncements that they are far from full of remorse. some have indicated that they will not play by the rules. there will be retribution for what happened to them.

this all goes into the judges calculus when they write the orders and make the comments. anchor: in some instances judges have dismissed these cases without prejudice. you see a universe in which this could be refiled? >> they will not be prosecuted again. that is just a statement by the judges. a little bit of a finger in di for some enjoyment. they are not going to get refiled. anchor: big picture question, how should the judiciary remain its independence in this moment when so many americans view the judicial branch is just another political branch? >> i have been there and done that. i used to joke that when i was

on the bench i thought my name was changed. i surprise some people by ruling in cases in a way that was against what folks thought i would do given who appointed me. i think that happens every day the judiciary because judges take an oath. there has to be a bulwark against tyranny. if you have a president who does not respect the judiciary and believes they should bend to his will, the judiciary will have to stand up as a coequal branch of government.

anchor: thank you so much. >> great to be here. ♪ anchor: on sunday, the 60 day window to implement the cease-fire between lebanon and israel will close. israeli troops maced -- must withdraw from lebanon. but just days before the deadline, troops remain in the status of hezbollah remains unclear. we have a report from beirut. reporter: the southern suburbs are once again in peril.

>> there are only peaceful civilians. reporter: thesis strikes decimated hezbollah's top echelon. this is considered a stronghold.

many support the group. experts at the american university are calling the israeli bombardment the deliberate obliteration of urban fabric. >> we have seen massive destruction. reporter: israel coined a doctrine that says there will be large-scale destruction to pressure adversaries. back then, israeli jets leveled buildings. the latest strikes appear to be scattered over a much wider area.

they set the goal was not just to degrade military capabilities. >> we are seeing an effort to create a division between hezbollah and the population. reporter: benjamin netanyahu addressed the lebanese people. >> for too long, hezbollah has been using you as human shields. please get out of harm's way now. once our operation is finished, you can come back safely. reporter: this continued long after the cease-fire went into

effect. people watched in horror. their house has been damaged. >> we were happy there. nothing was reporter: reporter: in the house. just days before the deadline to withdraw, there are still occupied border towns. we have compared satellite villages before and after the war to look at the level of distraction.

243 buildings have been destroyed. in the village center, more buildings have been destroyed, including three mosques and a school. >> the israeli army tends to target the historic cores, buildings that are known to people and bring people together. reporter: the pattern is repeated in this adjacent village, which has almost been completely knocked out. the destruction was captured in this video. the idf says large-scale demolitions have targeted tunnel networks. but it has not given good evidence.

>> they are saying this so they can bog people's houses. they are trying to punish civilians so that they turn on as below. -- hezbollah. reporter: this is along the border with israel. the objective is to create a depopulated buffer zone. >> they are bulldozing villages and booby-trap in people's homes, hospitals, public infrastructure. and then they are broadcasting this to the world to see a sign of their strength. sadly this is weapons and funding that is coming from u.s. taxpayers. reporter: with the deadline for the truce just days away and hezbollah threatening to resume fighting, there is a risk of more fighting and destruction.

♪ anchor: ever since the deadly wire fires began in los angeles a couple of weeks ago, residents have largely turned to one app for the most up-to-date information. it is called watch duty. we spoke to the small team that makes it possible. reporter: smoke filled the sky on january 8. winds were gusting. just a day earlier, the palisades wire began its deadly march. as a staff reporter for watch duty, he had a job to do. >> we saw it start and takeoff. we assigned more people because it got bigger and bigger and bigger. reporter: watch duty gives

updates on wildfires. it has interactive maps, allowing users to track evacuation zones, shelter locations, and information about containment on specific fires. the team is small. it also relies on volunteers. >> it was really tough. we had people sleeping in shifts. all of our work is designed to give people as much time as we can to give them an informed ability to make decisions. >> i downloaded the watch duty app. reporter: the map was projected on a wall in the los angeles

emergency preparedness center. shortly after the fires exploded , another blaze threatened homes near hollywood. >> they had an evacuation order basically just down the street. the helicopters were going above my house. it was surreal. this was my place. it was a very interesting perspective. i knew we had a lot of people reporting on it who would get the information that everyone needed. reporter: this is something you would trust with your own life? >> absolutely. reporter: by the end of last year, they had almost 3 million users.

since the los angeles fires broke out, that number has almost doubled. >> those sad part is we were ready for this. we did not know it was going to be so bad but i'm glad we were here and that we practiced. it has been years and years in the making. i went through my first fire and 2020. you end up having 15 browser tabs open. you're trying to piece all of this together. reporter: shouldn't the government have ana app that was trustworthy that can be readily referenced for reliable information? >> sure, that would be great. it would be great to have more engines, better pay, more water, more infrastructure, better

forest management. this is not what the government does very well. nobody talks about any great government website. reporter: we were in los angeles county when a massive alert went out to all 10 million residents of los angeles county. that ended up being a false alarm for most people. but you're pp did not send that out. >> we don't just let machines or system send information out blindly. we saw a lot of systems crashing. everybody came to us. we were doing about 3 million users. we were able to stay afloat. reporter: the organization

currently covers fires in 22 states but it has plans to expand with coverage of other natural disasters like hurricanes. >> will try to take out time to understand those environments. we need to deliver every day consistently. continue to keep the trust of our community. reporter: it is a nonprofit funded through donations and memberships for premium tools. for users who simply need a life-saving information from a single source, it will always be free. ♪ anchor: when it comes to infant mortality, the u.s. ranks 54th in the world. that is on par with countries like romania, hungary, and the

uae and three times the death rate of japan, singapore, or slovenia. ohio is in the bottom 25% of all states. hamilton county is even worse. until it started working on saving newborn lives more than a decade ago. today they have improved and they are aiming to cut the rate even lower. we went there to find out how they have done it. >> she says bringing her son into the world two years ago was nearly a catastrophe. >> at about 20 weeks i was on bed rest. reporter: he seemed about to be born four months early. >> i had several hospital stays and emergency visits in the middle of the night trying to keep the baby safe and alive and growing. he made it.

and he wanted to stay longer. we were so worried that he would not do that. reporter: they survived in a historically perilous place for newborns. >> we have the second highest infant mortality rate for a county of our size in the nation. >> the way society is measured is by how we treat our babies. if we have babies dying at an alarming rate, we have a problem. >> that means that baby is not

in utero past 28 weeks. reporter: she is an ob/gyn doctor at ohio state university. >> that extreme premature baby starts out life at a disadvantage. more black babies are born very early. that is where the disparities began. they age more prematurely than white mothers. they have more hypertension. reporter: five years into this project, they decided to focus more narrowly on black infant mortality. >> we must change this rate in order to see success.

as we focus on black women and their reality, we close the gap. reporter: this exuded a massive county outreach to all pregnant mothers. even billboards and social media. but not just to prevent premature births. >> we identified three issues. smoking, spacing, and sleep. reporter: spacing means having more -- babies more than a year apart to restore the mother's health. what were the particulars? the county investigated. >> we have interviewers to go out and learn about the situation. reporter: the county health commission tracks every nsaid to.

one area has become more bedeviling. co. sleeping with a baby accounted for most deaths. where i am, that is considered a positive thing. reporter: we have seen that contribute to infant mortality. every single time it is a sad, horrible story. the parent was not intending for it to happen. we know a lot of parents work multiple jobs. when that happens, you are very tired at night. the last thing you want is your baby crying's when you try to sleep.

the possibility of suffocating the child while you are sleeping is very hot. reporter: -- very high. reporter: they tried a new approach. >> what we are doing is centering black women's voices and asking them what they need. we think about how you want to receive care. that changes the way we understand caring for people. >> thinking about yourself is a radical concept as a black woman. reporter: that is what they provide. >> it is very easy to put yourself on a back burner when you have been taught to be good. no one talks about what it means to be a good person to yourself. i think that is a really big thing. reporter: she now leads a

women's wellness class that shifts the focus. >> if i am well, my kids are well. i did not know that before. reporter: she has three children, including a nine-month-old daughter. >> i have to make sure i am ok. reporter: do you think she was safer as a resort -- result? >> for sure. because my mental health is better. because i'm getting at here, i am able to be more nurturing and caring. reporter: the women here find strength in community. that saved her son from an extreme premature birth and enable her. >> my son was diagnosed.

he was 90 down any food. he was losing a lot of weight. that was very scary. there was a lot more support to help me navigate that system and reality of what it looks like to deal with something so scary. will he make it through his first year? reporter: since 2011, hamilton county has seen the infant mortality rate plummet. this is support. ♪

anchor: that is the news hour for tonight. anchor: on behalf of the entire team, thank you for joining us. >> major funding has been provided by -- >> cunard is a proud supporter of public television. the world awaits. diverse destinations. a world of leisure and british style. ♪ >> the ongoing support of these

individuals and institutions and friends of the news hour, including the bloom kovlar foundation. the ford foundation, working with visionaries for social change worldwide. and the ongoing support of these institutions. ♪ and friends. ♪ this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your station from viewers like you. thank you. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> you a

♪ hello, everyone, and welcome to "amanpour and company." here's what's coming up. president trump moves quickly to reshape the u.s. government and its role in the world. britain's former spy chief john sawyers joins us. then --