♪ amna: good evening. i'm on bus. geoff: the white house defends a sweeping freeze of federal spending after a judge orders upon the action. waxed global experts sound the alarm on how u.s. spending cuts could impact health around the world. >> it's a big deal and this will

not be easy to recover from, with real harms we're already seeing. geoff: and, president trump orders the pentagon to abolish diversity and inclusion programs in the military. ♪ >> 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 charles kettering foundation. working to advance inclusive democracies. >> the john s. and james l. knight foundation. fostering informed and engaged communities. more at kf.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. president trump's efforts to put the brakes on government spending that was already approved by congress, and signed into law, have hit a stumbling block amna: late this afternoon, a federal judge ordered a temporary halt on a sweeping white house plan to pause funding for all federal grants and loans. the funding freeze was laid out

in a memo from the office of management and budget late yesteday and was set to take effect today. as laura barron lopez reports, that led to a flurry of confusion and clarifications. >> good afternoon, everybody. laura: at the first white house briefing of the second trump administration, press secretary karoline leavitt addressed an unprecedented order by the white house to freeze all federal financial assistance. >> it is the responsibility of this president and this administration to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars. it means no more funding for illegal dei programs. it means no more funding for the green new scam that has cost american taxpayers tens of billions of dollars. it means no more funding for transgenderism and wokeness across our federal bureaucracy and agencies. laura: leavitt said the pause would not affect individuals receiving direct assistance from the government, but didn't answer which specific programs, including medicaid, were affected.

the action created widespread confusion on tuesday. in a statement provided to the news hour, meals on wheels, a nutrition program which delivers food to millions of seniors, said, "the lack of clarity and uncertainty right now is creating chaos for local meals on wheels providers, not knowing whether they're going to be reimbursed for meals served today, tomorrow, who knows how long this could go on." after the briefing, omb clarified that "mandatory programs like medicaid and snap will continue without pause." the freeze could still affect trillions of dollars of federal assistance, ranging from funding for disaster relief, to health research, to infrastructure projects, and beyond. >> is it woke to fund cancer research, or to rebuild an unsafe bridge? laura: on capitol hill this morning, senate democrats lambasted the freeze, calling it an unlawful overreach that disregards funding already passed by congress. >> no matter how much he may believe he does, the president

does not have the authority to ignore the law, and we're going to fight this in every way that we can. >> when he froze it, i'm glad. laura: at the gop policy retreat in florida, house republicans deferred to the president. >> let's wait and see. let's let him do his review and see what the result is. and i'm sure we'll work work together on what the right solution is. laura: legal challenges have already begun. this afternoon, new york attorney general letitia james announced a lawsuit to block the funding freeze. >> the president does not get to decide which laws to enforce, and for whom. when congress dedicates funding for a program, the president cannot pull that funding on a whim. laura: as some programs remain in limbo, the administration instructed agencies, in a follow-up memo obtained by news hour, to report to omb in 10 days if any of the federal aid programs being halted promote things like gender ideology, or if it supports abortion or other related activities. in another move late yesterday,

the justice department announced that it fired more than a dozen officials who worked with special counsel jack smith on the two federal prosecutions of president trump. >> we will win in court. laura: back in the white house briefing room, karoline leavitt was asked if trump directed the firings. >> this was a memo that went out by the presidential personnel office, and the president is the leader of this white house, so yes. laura: also last night, u.s. immigration and customs enforcement announced that it made 1,179 arrests yesterday, the most in a single day since trump returned to the white house. the crackdown has resulted in more than 3500 arrests since last thursday. last night, trump's border czar, tom homan, said undocumented migrants with no criminal record will also be deported, and defended the administration's decision to allow raids at or near schools, churches and hospitals. >> what is the standard to go into an elementary school? what we had heard from immigration advocates is that this is going to provide a

chilling effect to parents in the school dropoff line, or something of that matter. >> it shouldn't be a chilling effect unless your child is a terrorist or public safety threat. if they are a public safety threat, national security threat, they should be chilled, they should be afraid, because we're looking for them. laura: it all came as department of homeland security head kristi noem addressed dhs staff today after joining ice for a raid in new york city. and, president trump's cabinet further solidified today.. >> on this vote the yeas are 77 and nays are 22. the nomination is confirmed. laura: the senate confirmed former congressman and fox news host sean duffy to be the transportation secretary this afternoon. confirmation hearings for more controversial picks, like rfk jr. and tulsi gabbard, are scheduled for later this week. with minutes to go before the president's freeze on federal grants and loans was set to take effect, a federal judge in washington, d.c. temporarily blocked the action. geoff?

geoff: tell us more about this judge's ruling. laura: the district judge said there has to be a pause on this freeze that president trump was trying to institute across loans and grants. this order only applies to a pause of disbursements in open grants. that is going to, this blockade is only going to be until monday, february 3, when this judge will hear more arguments about the legality or non-legality of this action the white house has taken. but of course, this comes after a lot of confusion across organizations that rely on this federal assistance. geoff: here point about the confusion, some members of congress said medicaid payments had been affected in their states and the white house had said it would not be affected. give us a sense what programs might be. laura: we don't have a sense. we asked the white house for a ravens a list of the programs that will be affected and they didn't provide one.

stephen miller, a top aide trump blamed the press for the confusion but medicaid websites went off-line, according to democratic senators. republican leaders in louisiana asked the white house for more clarity. they are worried it could jeopardize their financial assistance. there appears to be a pattern here, which is that stephen miller has said, and others in the trump white house, that they don't believe the impoundment control act is constitutional. they don't believe other laws they are currently potentially violating our constitutional. so they believe the president does not have to follow them. geoff: thank you. amna: to understand the impact of this sweeping pause we are joined by democratic congresswoman rosa delauro, the ranking member of the house appropriations committee. thank you for joining us. i am sure you have seen, late today a judge issued a temporary halt on the implementation of this freeze on federal funds and grants until

a february 3 hearing. that was supposed to go into effect at 5:00 today and it will not. what is your reaction to that news? rep. delauro: a very positive reaction. first of all, thank you very much. it is great to be with you. this is outrageous what the trump administration is trying do, to just rob appropriated funds. there is a process we go through in the appropriations bills and to get them passed, you have to have buy-in from republicans, democrats, the senate, the house. the president signs the bill and those funds that are to be administered by the agencies, and that is where we are. it is outrageous. i'm delighted this judge understands this needs to have more debate, more clarification, and we need to have a hearing on it. in the meantime, we can provide

all the information needed to talk about what will happen. what happens to the american people, hard-working people? amna: if i may, congresswoman, let me ask you about what we have already seen today. the white house said it is a temporary pause. they also said assistance going to individuals would not be impacted. they sent a facts sheet which said medicaid and snap benefits or food stamps would not be impacted. funding for pell grants, headstart, rental assistance, other similar programs would not be paused. is that consistent with what you have seen in your state? rep. delauro: no. look. i just left a press conference with our governor and attorney general and the fact is, direct federal aid connecticut is $14.3 billion, all of which is in jeopardy. they cannot pick and choose what they want to fund or not. the congress has power of the purse by virtue of the

constitution and article i section 9 clause 7, no money shall be drawn from the treasury but in consequences of her appropriations. -- we appropriations. we voted on these bills, they were passed, the money is there. they cannot be deciding because they had a backlash that they are going to redirect, not going to take money from this effort, but they will from that -- hell no. amna: we did speak to a constitutional expert, and he said in his view, this move is unconstitutional. here is what he said about why -- >> the 1974 impoundment control act is basically intended to create a process where if the president wants to not spend money congress has appropriated, he's supposed to go to congress and tell them why and then give congress 45 days to either agree with the president or disagree

with the president. we've seen none of that here. the president does not have the right in the first place to decide for himself what the spending priorities are going to be. that's literally congress's job. amna: i guess the question is, is there anything lawmakers can do about this right now? rep. delauro: we are working with, in concert with, the lawsuits that are out there with our attorney general and others around the country, with nonprofit groups we represent. and we will look for legislative opportunities for what we can do. but in the meantime, you probably have seen what the administration has put out, what they are doing. they are going to cut the green new deal.

you know what? there is no green new deal. that is a done deal. they talk about a woke agenda, whatever they think that is. amna: i hear your concerns and i know there are a lot of questions and uncertainty around this now. i need to ask, in many ways we knew this was coming. president trump, when he was running for office back in 2023 said specifically that he would do this. here is how he put it. pres. trump: when i return to the white house i will do everything i can to challenge the impoundment control act in court and if necessary get congress to overturn it. we will overturn it. amna: what can be done about it? how can you make sure you don't allow more of your power to go to the executive? rep. delauro: we are not going to do that. you heard the constitutional attorney talk about that this is invalid. the supreme court has spoken out on the impoundment. he did that in conjunction with,

i believe, was it ronald reagan, and said it is not inherent in the constitution for the president to have this power. amna: but you are saying it is now a matter for the courts? is that right? rep. delauro: we are going to fight this battle before the courts. the fact is, he does not have the power. supreme court, government accountability office, department of justice, have all spoken out on this issue over the years. but you know what? you know what this is about? this is about america's hard-working families. this is about a family who wants to send their kids to school, who has a child who has maybe developmental disabilities and they need to go to special education. the money needs to be there. this is about local law enforcement. this is about defunding the police and our firefighters, cutting off that money.

the violence against women act, the funding for that. our community health center which for millions of people across this country, is their primary health care. that would cut off the funds and freeze the funds for these groups. for state opioid response grants. substance abuse prevention and treatment. are they going to reverse themselves on all of this? they cannot pick and choose what they want to fund or not. that is the purview and power of the u.s. congress. amna: democratic congresswoman rosa delauro of connecticut joining us tonight. thank you for your time. rep. delauro: thank you. i appreciated. geoff: for a g.o.p. perspective we are joined by congresswoman nicole malliotakis of new york. she is at the republican house retreat in florida tonight. thanks for being with us. understanding trump believes he has a mandate and the

administration wants to make sure federal funding is in alignment with his agenda items, it is a core constitutional principle that congress gets to decide how to spend taxpayer money. it is one of the separations of powers. do you have concerns about the president's actions? rep. malliotakis: congress does have the power of the purse. that is why we allocate the funding and determine what levels to what agencies. the difference here is, he is talking about grants and loans decided by bureaucrats. at the end of the day, it is not congress, and this is one of our pet peeves with the process. we have too many federal bureaucrats sitting behind a desk, not in touch with our constituents, that are making decisions on how these grants are issued and what -- and to what organizations. i think it is warranted there is a pause so we can reflect on how this money is spent. also i think president trump is in his right to say he issued

350 executive orders over the past week. a lot of them would mean certain programs, dei, green new deal programs, would not be eligible any longer for federal funding. to put a pause, to review, to make sure grants that are being issued our precious tax , dollars, which are limited, are being sent to organizations that are in compliance with the trump agenda and executive orders he has issued over the past week. i think that is a fiscally responsible thing to do. we are stewards of taxpayer money and want to make sure the money is spent properly. geoff: understanding that trump objects to biden's climate initiatives there is no green new deal, but how is this not an encroachment on the purview of congress given this funding was approved by congress and signed into law?

rep. malliotakis: because we are not talking about the funding level, that is not changing. what we are talking about is the way that these grants are issued. it is not congress. when we do earmarks, that is members of congress deciding which organizations are infrastructure projects in our district are receiving funding. these are grants being issued by federal agencies and who is making that determination? it is not congress, but it is bureaucrats sitting in these agencies. the american people voted for a new congress, a new white house, and they voted for a change in policies. they do not want to see their precious tax dollars, when we have a $37 trillion debt going to these left-wing programs that were approved under the biden administration when they were in power. geoff: the white house says this pause will not affect americans who receive direct payments from

the government. but there are nonprofits i imagine your constituents rely on like meals on wheels, especially serving older americans and other people at the margins, who say that they are concerned about their funding and their ability to meet the needs of those they serve. what would you say to them? rep. malliotakis: i don't think the president issued an executive order in the last week that affects meals on wheels, nor do i know that they were expecting a grant from the federal government. again, this is just a pause to review the money that is supposed to be going out. it is an appropriate pause to make sure that people's tax dollars are used appropriately and in line with policies of this administration and executive orders put in place over the last week. it is as simple as that. if they are in line and they are not violating executive orders, the money will flow to them. geoff: i want to ask you about

the series of immigration raids we have seen in new york city and others across the country. nearly 1200 arrests on sunday alone and nearly half those detained do not have criminal records, according to a senior trump administration official. how does that sit with you? rep. malliotakis: they are criminals and that is why they were arrested. they have been arrested for all sorts of crimes. you look at the list in new york city alone. we had an ms13 gang member and a guy from the dominican republic it's wanted -- who was wanted for two murders, you have sex offenders, all kinds of criminals and gang members taken off the streets. these are not innocent people and anyone acting like they are innocent is not being honest with the american people. these are hardened criminals, they are gang members. there are suspected terrorists in the mix as a relates to new york city alone. my constituents who have dealt

with havoc on our streets because of the criminal element that has been allowed to enter into this country under the biden administration are quite pleased that they are seeing these individuals were dangerous and committing crimes being detained and deported. i would urge my mayor, nypd, my governor to comply with these detainers and not stand in the way of federal law being enforced. because we have seen thousands of crimes. geoff: that is not what the senior trump administration official is saying. this person is saying that nearly half of those detained do not have a violent criminal record. their only offense was coming across the border illegally and that is a civil offense, not a criminal offense. rep. malliotakis: that is not my understanding at all. my understanding is, they are going after criminals and those i have seen are dangerous and committing crimes.

that is their priority. we have tens of thousands of people who committed horrible crimes. in new york city alone, we have to make sure those people are removed. my constituents see it every day, read about it. they know that there have been cops assaulted by people in the country illegally, people stabbed, a woman set on fire by somebody on the train and died, by the hands of someone in the country illegally. cops were shot out and assaulted by people in the country illegally and murder committed in nyc by people in the country illegally. it has to end. that is who this administration is prioritizing. if you are seeing something else, i would love to see that source. but that is not what, that is not my understanding at all. geoff: ok, that is congresswoman nicole malliotakis of new york. thank you. ♪

stephanie: i'm stephanie sy with newshour west. here are the latest headlines. in an effort to shrink the government, the trump administration is offering severance pay to federal employees who opt to leave their jobs by february 6th. an email obtained by the news hour says the offer would be worth nearly eight months of their salary. it is unclear at the moment where the funding to pay for the buyouts would come from. there is a growing crisis in congo. a rebel group known as m23, which is backed by rwanda, has claimed the critical city of goma in the country's east. it's a major trade center, home to about 2 million people. hundreds of thousands have been displaced during a decades-long conflict, which the u.n. call one of the most serious humanitarian crises on earth. the taking of goma was met with protests in the capital, with demonstrators targeting foreign embassies including france, the u.s., uganda, and others. they accuse the countries of supporting rwanda, which they

say has fueled the conflict. >> what rwanda is doing is in collusion with france, belgium, the united states of america, and others. congolese people are tired. how many times do we have to die and in how many days? stephanie: rwanda has denied supporting the m23 rebal group, -- rebel group, but admitted to keeping troops and missile systems inside congo to protect its own borders. the u.s. state department advised american citizens today to shelter-in-place, and to leave the country while they still can. oklahoma's board of education voted unanimously today to require parents to provide proof of their child's immigration status when enrolling them in public schools. under the proposed rule, parents would have to show a u.s. birth certificate, passport, permanent resident card, or other legal document. those without legal status can still enroll, but school districts would be required to report the number of those without documentation to state

eductation officials. -- education officials. at a press conference today, oklahoma state school superintendent ryan walters explained why he thinks the data is needed. >> we want to make sure that all that information is gathered so that we can make decisions on where resources go, where personnel goes, and we can continue to make sure that oklahoma is leading the country in education reform. stephanie: today, students and parents protested the board's decision. the rule still needs approval from oklahoma's legislature and governor. in hawaii, one of the world's most active volcanoes is erupting once again. nearby webcams captured the kilauea volcano spewing lava as high as 120 feet today. the hawaiian volcano observatory says it's the seventh eruption since december. officials say high levels of volcanic gas are a primary concern for anyone in the area, but the lava does not pose any risks to homes or businesses.

and, the most visited museum in the world is getting a much-needed renovation. >> vive la republique, et vive la france. stephanie: "long live the louvre's new renaissance." with those words, french president emmanuel macron announced the project today, in front of the museum's most famous resident, the mona lisa. the plans include giving the da vinci masterpiece her own dedicated room. the project is expected to take up to a decade, and cost hundreds of millions of euros. the museum's last upgrade dates back to the 1980's, when the iconic glass pyramid was installed. since then, it's become plagued by outdated facilities and overcrowding. still to come on the "newshour", southern california eyes the extent of its long recovery from this month's deadly wildfires. and we sit down with grammy winning jazz vocalist samara joy who's up for more awards on sunday.

♪ >> this is the pbs news hour from the david and rubenstein studio at weta in washington and in the west, from the walter cronkite school of journalism from arizona state university. geoff: the uncertainty around the trump administration's sweeping funding freeze is also alarming many in the world of global health since it could affect key programs overseen by the u.s. agency for international development, or usaid. late today, the state department issued a waiver on its pause of foreign assistance in some circumstances, including for "life-saving medicine and medical services." but the waiver explicitly excludes activities that involve abortions, gender or dei programs. and there's still concern about how the freeze will impact other programs. for more, we turn to dr. atul gowanday, who oversaw these programs as assistant administrator for global health at usaid during the biden

administration. thanks for being with us. dr. gawande: glad to be here. geoff: you managed global health initiatives. you had a $10 billion yearly budget, more than 2000 staff in over 65 countries and there was a stop work order just met this evening with a waiver which suggests the trump administration is rethinking their approach. as best as you can gauge it, what is the impact at this point? dr. gawande: i hope they are rethinking. the stop work order that came in with the president's signing of an executive order on january 20, already we have seen the shutdown of major programs. i'm talking about assistance for the global hiv program. aiming to and hiv. their central information systems were turned off yesterday. the distribution of drugs were ordered to stop and that affects 20 million people who require

access to those drugs for staying alive. but the waiver hopefully opens the door for that work to resume. but we don't know. it has been disruptive on several other fronts. the waiver does not seem to include programs that would eradicate polio, that are stopping tropical diseases that have been nearly eliminated like river blindness. there is not clarity in a lot of spaces including around outbreaks. there was an episode in the congolese, a report of an ebola outbreak. that is going on simultaneously. that ability to have surveillance and partnership with w.h.o., that is not waived. organizations like usaid are not

mated to have communications with w.h.o. means critical processes that keep america safe from outbreaks and give us the flu vaccine that w.h.o. coordinates through its influenza network, those capacities are locked and frozen. geoff: a trump administration state department smoke -- spokesperson said this about the funding phrase. president trump stated clearly the u.s. is no longer going to blindly dole out money with no return for the american people, reviewing and realigning foreign assistance on behalf of hard-working taxpayers is not just the right thing to do, it is a moral imperative. react to that characterization of the work of usaid. at first glance there is no direct return for the american people. dr. gawande: a couple things. number one, every administration does a top to bottom review of

the spending that there is. but you don't need a pause to do that. it is enormously disruptive. you are seeing the dismantling of major functions in u.s. agencies. this is not just about policy and whether these programs are tuned one way or the other. usaid is a cornerstone of national security. these are networks of hundreds of thousands of people, supported by awards and grants, working on behalf of the u.s., in cooperation with other countries, in areas of neutral -- mutual interest. it is work like advancing agriculture, advancing markets and development, as well as economic and health developments. programs eliminating hiv, stopping tb, malaria, so it does not affect us and improves the world overall, that is a core

set of work and not some woke ideology. the u.s. has had an american center of health innovation and public health that has led the world, doubled life expectancy and this work, putting it aside, shutting it down, seeing there have been layoffs and dismissals, more than a thousand staff have been sent home. many of them fired, in the last 48 hours. that process is still underway and is a major concern. geoff: in the minute that we have left, what would you say to those who hold the worldview that the u.s. should not be in the position to always have to step in and solve public health crises around the world, problems the u.s. did not create, and that there could be private organizations, philanthropies or other countries that should step in to fill the void?

dr. gawande: outbreaks happening around the world are ones that affect us no matter what. for example, avian influenza, bird flu, killed an american citizen on home soil. we have monitoring for where it is moving around the world in 49 countries and that has been shut down. staff have been sent home without pay. you start degrading and losing those people. as you do that work. you have to work around the world to advance health. you can't just advance health within the borders alone. geoff: thanks again for your insights. we appreciate it. >> delighted. ♪ amna: president trump has signed

an executive order directing the pentagon to end all programs that encourage diversity, equity and inclusion, known as d.e.i. the order says the initiatives undermine military leadership, lethality, and force readiness. here's nick schifrin on the debate those programs have inspired, and what they have tried to do. >> diversity, equity and inclusion is vital to making us a stronger, more unified navy. nick: for years, the military has argued, diversity makes it stronger. >> the tuskegee airmen broke the color barrier. america's women broke the gender barrier. nick: for the last 5 years, initiatives begun under the previous trump administration, and expanded under the biden administration, have argued equity and inclusion builds brotherhood. >> we understand the value and importance of taking care of people. nick: and the military has celebrated how it has expanded representation of women and black and hispanic service members, and leaders. >> research shows that organizations that demonstrate dei have higher, organizational

effectiveness and innovation. >> there is no justifiable reason for discimination. >> the military described dei as a of historic efforts to fight racism, including as one of the first american institutions to integrate. >> here is a big deal, merit. our country is going to be based on merit again. can you believe it? nick: but president trump has argued diversity efforts are discriminatory, and distract from the military's core mission, an argument echoed by now secretary of defense pete hegseth. >> the dei policies of today are not the same as what happened back then. they're dividing troops inside formations, causing commanders to walk on eggshells, not putting meritocracy first. that's the indictment that's made by those serving right now. nick: in one of his first posts as secretary, hegseth wrote, dod doesn't equal dei.

president trump's executive order prohibits the military from promoting divisive theories, abolishes d.e.i. offices and gives the secretary of defense 30 days. we get two views, chris walker had a career in the air force and was a senior advisor from 2021 to 2023. he is on the board of advisors of stand together against racism . diane ryan was a professor at west point and the army war college. she deployed to iraq and his associate dean at tufts university. thanks to both of you. chris walker, the president and allies argue the department of defense spent too much money and time on d.e.i. projects and that has reduced the lethality and readiness of the truth. do you agree? >> i absolutely agree.

are doing. every dollar they spend is to be able to not only mitigate our military power, but defeat it. any dollars we are spending not trying to keep up with china or surpassed china is going to put our troops, our sailors and marines, in mortal danger. i don't think this country is ready to watch an aircraft carrier sink to the bottom of the sea. we need to spend money making we are so awesome china doesn't try it. nick: are these programs a waste of money? >> i don't think they are a waste of money at all. d.e.i., diversity, equity and inclusion is part of talent management. it is about leveraging the talent of people and recognizing the strengths people bring to

the fight. it is leader development. we can certainly look at how the money is being spent, but to say they are all bad and let's put all of our money into technology and things related directly to the kinetic fight, you forget all of our fighting is done by people and we need to invest resources into building this. nick: senior military leaders believe some of the criticisms of the di -- d.e.i. efforts are making women and people -- or minorities in the military nervous and turning off people who do want to fight to read what is your response? gen. walker: anybody who really wants to fight will not be turned off by any of it. anybody who i call a buttkicker, i say that other word that starts with a, is not turned off by any of this. to my colleague's comments,

quite honestly being a leader means knowing how to respect people. you do not need d.e.i. training for that. i reject all of what i call the propaganda. nick: why do you even need d.e.i.? col. ryan: because people are coming from all other places, it is a rapidly changing environment. i would like to look beyond training and think about policies that help people. they help people do things that they might not have otherwise and as effective doing. a good example is uniforms. i fought for 30 years, trained in uniforms not designed for me, my body type. in the last 10 years we changed that and created helmets for women and body armor for women. women are achieving things they never could have achieved before, so that is an example of an equitable investment that raises the bar for everybody.

especially in our deteriorating civility in the united states, i think that setting standards, commanders paying attention to this, measuring it and putting resources to it is a good investment in our people. nick: i want to ask both of you about recruiting. do you believe that some of these efforts could impact recruiting? col. ryan: yes, i can't tell you how many times someone has come up to me and made those i'm's of assumptions that if you let your kid go in the military they will be mistreated. i think some of the rhetoric we are hearing over the last couple weeks, would certainly strike fear in me as a parent, worried my kids are not going to be treated the way they deserve to be treated if we allow this kind of rhetoric to persist. nick: are you worried about these efforts affecting military

recruitment? gen. walker: i have heard the opposite over the last four years. i have heard from literally hundreds of vets who say they don't want their kids in the military now because it is not about military. i'm hearing from youngsters and parents saying, now i will let my kids go in. one last point. we have to do it like professional sports does it. start inspiring kids at age 10, whether they go in the military or not. have competitions with aviation, cyber. some will choose the military, some will not. but we will be able to get the michael jordans of the world because that is what we need in order to keep china from rising. geoff: -- nick: thanks very much to both of you. ♪

amna: recovery efforts are underway in southern california as the fires that ravaged the state have now largely gone out. william brangham is reporting from the los angeles area and he's been speaking to people who are hoping to get back to their homes to see the damage. joins -- he joins finau to break down the latest on the ground. so william, tell us what you've been hearing from folks on the ground about the recovery efforts and what they're going through right now. >> it's a mixture of shock and grief and sadness from everybody that we've talked to, as you'd expect. all of the people that you see in line here behind me, these are all residents of the pacific palisades, and as of noon yesterday, they've been granted permission that if they go to this checkpoint, prove that they lived in this neighborhood. they can now get in to see their homes. many of these people seeing them for the very first time. and so over the last day or so we've been with some

people as they've gone through and seeing what is left of their homes, and you can only imagine the difficulty. imagine if you were to see your home that you had lived in perhaps for decades is now just this twisted destroyed toxic pile of debris. we went with one woman today who went to her home of 47 years. this is a home she raised her kids in, and she was walking around the perimeter of the place, and she found a little tiny child's tea set that she'd been given when she was 4 years old and that was one of the few things that had survived this fire, so it's just all sorts of emotions for people. where are they going to live? where are they going to rebuild? do they want to rebuild? will insurance pay for any of that, so it's just a a very complicated, confusing time for people right now. amna: william, what about the official response? what are we hearing from authorities right now and are they, are they still saying that it's too dangerous for everyone to go back to their homes?

>> they are saying that and that has been a source of great frustration for people. there was a community meeting here in the palisades on sunday where residents vented a lot of frustration that things were just going too slowly. they want their properties cleared off and they want to then figure out what the future actually holds, but local officials are saying, your properties are full of toxic debris and until someone, a contractor or the epa can get in there and get those chemicals and solvents and battery acids out of all of that ash, we can't clean up that property, and so it's that tension where people want things to be moving faster, and officials are saying it's just not safe for them to go back there, so it's still a real point of contention here. amna: there's also been a lot of talk about blame for these fires and the response and the recovery. we saw president trump blaming california for mismanaging its water resources, even though that's been disputed by state officials. what do we know to be true and

what do we not yet know? >> the president has made many accusations blaming local and state officials for their management of the fires for diverting water or withholding water. state officials have said that there is no evidence that any of those types of actions had any bearing on this fire whatsoever. president trump last night said that he sent the us military to california to open some water taps to release water. state officials said the military was never sent to california and that their water supplies are plentiful here that -- but that said, the governor of the state, gavin newsom, has ordered an investigation into why there were reports that fire hydrants in many places here in los angeles, in the area were , under pressure and low pressure when they needed them to fight those fires. many of the experts that we have heard from have said that that is simply a function of the way this entire municipality was built, that it was built to fight a couple of smaller fires, but nothing on the scale that

unfolded here three weeks ago. but there is an investigation underway for that. the larger, i think, thornier public policy issue here that state officials are going to have to deal with is the simple fact that they've been permitting people to live in increasingly dangerous places, tucked up into the woods and the hills and in the forests where everybody wants to live because it is beautiful and we're here in southern california, but those places become a tinderbox under the right circumstances, and that's what we saw here. amna: william brangham reporting on the latest in the recovery efforts response to those wildfires around los angeles. william, thank you. >> thanks amna ♪ geoff: already a three time winner, jazz vocalist samara joy is up for two more grammys at sunday's awards ceremony, while her latest album is receiving critical acclaim and creating

more awards buzz. all this and she only turned 25 in november. senior arts correspondent jeffrey brown has more for our arts and culture series, canvas. >> ♪ you stepped out of the dream ♪ jeff: samara joy singing a jazz standard "you stepped out of a dream." from her new album "portrait." following in the footsteps of legends like dizzy gillespie and john coltrane, the bronx native recorded in inglewood cliffs, new jersey. >> ♪ i want to take you away ♪ jeff: earlier this month she returned to talk about her meteoric rise, surprising since her first introduction to jazz came in 2017 when as a high school junior she was invited to sit in on a jazz practice. soon she was listening to ella

fitzgerald and sarah vaughn. what grabbed you? samara: the pure emotion combined with the technical prowess of all the musicians i heard, and the creativity and seemingly never-ending ideas. jeff: you heard that and thought? samara: maybe i could do this. i will give it a try. ♪ jeff: hooked, joy enrolled in the jazz program at the state program at the university of new york at purchase. by 2019, her professors were so impressed with her abundant talent, they encouraged her to enter the coveted sarah vaughn local jazz competition. she won and used the prize money to finance the recording of her debut album samara joy in 2020.

a year later she leveraged videos of her performing going viral on social media to embark on a first european tour. >> ♪ did you miss your train? were you caught in the rain? ♪ jeff: her second album, linger a while kumble was a critical and commercial success. in february 2023, joy took home two grammys for best jazz vocal album and best artist. -- best new artist. a big win for the jazz community. samara: i have been singing all my life, my grandparents, my father. >> as she beat recording artists from all genres. >> it helps us to know what to say in jesus' name, amen. >> if her rise has been rapid its roots stemmed from a , three generation family tradition of expressing deep christian faith through gospel music. her grandmother and grandfather started the family tradition singing in the philadelphia

gospel group. her father antonio, who we met at the family's favorite bronx restaurant, is a professional musician who has performed in front of audiences around the world. he toured for many years with a gospel star. what has it been like seeing your daughter rise like this? >> it is the essence of what dreams are made of. i often go between tears and smiles when i think about it, when i have the opportunity to see her perform. there is always something about her performance. unlike, she got me again. jeff: his daughter has grown more comfortable incorporating gospel roots into her jazz sound. samara: when i was first starting to listen to jazz, because it was the only genre i was listening to, i felt i did not apply as much of what i learned growing up to that. jeff: you are treating it as something new?

different? samara: yeah. and i felt i already had a grasp on it. jazz was the thing i had not heard or been exposed to. now i feel like i have a grasp on both and it does not seem like it's fake or like i'm doing it because i can, but because it is meant for something, to express a certain story. ♪ and the soul felt its worth ♪ jeff: a story joy shared in the release of her christmas ep, a joyful holiday. >> ♪ the thrill of hope ♪ >> five standards and a christmas carol recorded by joy and family members. some even joined her on a national tour in december. you are not only seeing her. you are on stage with her. >> how cool is that? i always say singing is what a mcclendon is born to do. to do that together is again, that is the thing that dreams are made of.

jeff: as well as fulfilling a mcclendon family dream, the album garnered two more grammy nominations for best jazz vocal album and best jazz performance. >> ♪ joy to the world ♪ >> while also introducing joy to an even wider audience. >> there are people saying, this is my first time going to a jazz concert in life. you are my first and i saw you on tiktok. there are some parents who say, my kids introduced me to you, and i'm a fan. i've never been into jazz, ever. >> she's eager to extend her songbook. >> ♪ time and time again ♪ >> your writing more lyrics and music. why? samara: because i want to. if not now, when? dizzy, miles, all these wonderful musicians were very

young when they started to contribute so by the time they got to their 30's and 40's they were sure and established in what their sound was. so i want to put my best effort forward to figuring out what it is i love about it and how to make it better, so 20, 30 years down the line, i have a better sense of my writing and composition style. but the crafting of it starts now. ♪ jeff: it is nice to think about those things sitting here, in the place where some of it happened. samara: yeah. where it happened. and to record in here was a dream. jeff: all this is still new to you, the attention? it has been fast, right? samara: faster than i ever imagined. jeff: you are surprised? samara: yes.

i'm still surprised. i knew i loved to sing. i knew my family had a beautiful legacy of music, but i never knew where it would take me. jeff: she begins a five-month world tour in february including an upcoming debut at carnegie hall on april 30. for the pbs news hour, i'm jeffrey brown in inglewood cliffs, new jersey. amna: and that is the news for tonight. geoff: crawl of us at the pbs news hour, thanks for spending part of the evening with us. >> 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 our 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 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. ♪ >> this is pbs news hour west from the david and rubenstein studio at weta in washington and her bureau at the walter

cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. ♪

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