♪ geoff: good evening. i'm geoff bennett. amna: and i'm amna nawaz. on the news hour tonight, senate

committees give a green light to two of president trump's controversial nominees, tulsi gabbard and rfk junior, paving the way for their full confirmation. geoff: prime minister benjamin netanyahu visits the white house to discuss the tenuous ceasefire in gaza. we speak with the niece of a hostage who was released as part of the deal. amna: and amid efforts to curtail birthright citizenship, one family's story demonstrates the history and legacy of that constitutional right. norman wong: i'm a product of these laws. so if those laws were never here, i probably would never get born. ♪ >> 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. diverse destinations and immersive experiences. a world of leisure and british style, all with cunard's star service. ♪ >> 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 john s. and james l. knight foundation. fostering informed and engaged community. 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. amna: welcome to the news hour. two of president trump's most embattled cabinet nominees cleared major procedural hurdles today on their paths to confirmation. geoff: the senate finance committee voted along party lines to send to the full senate robert f. kennedy jr.'s nomination to lead the department of health and human services. and the senate intelligence committee advanced former congresswoman tulsi gabbard's nomination to serve as director of national intelligence. our congressional correspondent lisa desjardins is following the cabinet confirmation process and

joins us now. lisa, let's start with hhs first, since that is one of the largest federal agencies. what does the committee's vote mean? lisa: unless something changes, rfk junior will become the next hhs secretary. there are enough votes on the floor for him. he is a 71-year-old, of course, who does not have a history or expertise in health care. other than the fact that he is an environmental lawyer, and he spent years researching and writing about health care. he does deserve credit for changing the conversation about processed foods, and that is what we heard during his senate confirmation hearing, but at the same time, there are open doubts about his views and past statements about vaccines, studies have shown there is no link between autism and vaccines, and that raised real concerns about him. you can hear two very sharply different views of him in committee today. sen. tillis: i, for one, think that it is time to put a

disrupter in. it is time to put somebody in there that's going to go wild. but there are areas where i think that's exactly what we need, and there are areas of health and human services that if you touch the gold standard for the nih and the cdc, then i'll have a problem with that nominee, and we will bring that up during oversight. sen. warnock: mr. kennedy appears more obsessed in chasing conspiracy theories than chasing solutions to lower health care costs for working families in georgia and to make sure that we are protected. the last thing we need is a dilettante dabbling in conspiracy theories at hhs. lisa: now, this came down to a single republican senator, bill cassidy of louisiana, himself a physician. he had expressed real concerns during committee hearings about the vaccine views of kennedy. today, he voted yes, because kennedy agreed to certain things. this is highly unusual.

cassidy said on the senate floor the kennedy agreed that he will make no changes to the vaccine recommendations from hhs and that he would seek congressional approval for any major policy changes by hhs, and get this, that kennedy and cassidy would meet regularly, multiple times a month. now, the thing here is whatever agreement kennedy has made, everybody knows, and kennedy himself has said, president trump calls the shots here. now today, president trump put a message on truth social in this regard about kennedy's nomination, and he raised concerns about autism, which of course many americans share. but today, some critics believe he's opening the door for more vaccine skepticism, he's not closing it, which is what cassidy wants. geoff: let's talk about tulsi gabbard, who has faced some criticism from republicans in the past. it appears no longer, with the senate intelligence committee advancing her nomination. what does that suggest? lisa: frankly, she's on the path for confirmation, which is quite

a turnaround, when it was moving the other way. today, the senate intelligence committee voted behind closed doors along party lines. i want to show three of the republican senators, that our watching. these three broad of different points, especially about her refusal to call edward snowden a traitor. i spoke to senator collins. senator langford in the middle, i talked to him as well. he said in talking with her, he was reassured she will protect programs he cares about, including warrantless wiretaps. democrats say these republicans are swallowing their own concerns across the board. yes, these are non-status quo nominees that trump ran on, but this is something else, and democrats are just laying down and doing what trump tells them. geoff: you are also tracking the news involving the fbi. bring us up to speed. lisa: we expect another confirmation, pam bondi, for attorney general. also on track is the fbi

director nominee, kash patel. democrats do want a second hearing with him, though we don't know when that will happen. it is important that this is one of the fastest cases of nominees we've ever seen being approved. where we are at right now, so far, when you look at all the nominees moving through for the cabinet positions, 10 of them, about half, have been approved. that leaves the other half, some big ones like hhs still to go. let's talk about the fbi positions, because they on the verge of being confirmed. today was the deadline by the department of justice asking for the names of every fbi officer who worked on the january 6 prosecution and also the mar-a-lago classified documents prosecutions, trump's prosecution. that's thousands of agents. today, there are two lawsuits filed by fbi agents, seeking to block this, saying it is punitive, this is dangerous. they are worried about the outing of these fbi agent's.

remember, the january 6th offenders were found guilty for some of the most violent against officers, fbi officers worry they could come back against them, they are worried about losing their jobs. this is very serious even without people confirmed yet to head these agencies. geoff: indeed. lisa, thanks so much. lisa: you are welcome. amna: as the rest of president trump's appointees move through the confirmation process, he's also pushing his agenda on tariffs and immigration. today the chinese response to president's trump's sweeping tariffs -- counter-tariffs on certain american imports, plus an antitrust investigation into google. white house press secretary karoline leavitt told reporters this morning that trump would have a call with chinese president xi jinping soon. the u.s. president has framed his actions as fighting the flow of illegal drugs. sec. leavitt: he is not going to allow china to continue to source and distribute deadly fentanyl into our country, that was the reason for this tariff. it was a retaliatory tariff on china for the last four years of

their unprecedented distribution of fentanyl into our nation's borders. amna: just minutes after president trump's 10% tariff on all imports went into effect this morning, china responded with a 15% tariff on coal and liquified natural gas, plus 10% on crude oil, agricultural machinery, and certain cars. trump's initial tariffs included mexico and canada, but both of those leaders made deals to delay a potential trade war. if trump's tariffs in all three countries were in effect, economists say inflation in the u.s. could increase by 0.4 percentage points and cost the average household $1000 to $1200 in annual purchasing power. sec. rubio: they deserve a lot of support. amna: in costa rica today, after leaving el salvador, secretary of state marco rubio said the administration would consider an offer from el salvador to accept deportees from the u.s. of any nationality, including convicted criminals who are american citizens. sec. rubio: obviously, we'll have to study it on our end. there are obviously legalities

involved. we have a constitution. we have all sorts of things, but it's a very generous offer. no one's ever made an offer like that. amna: el salvador's president nayib bukele confirmed the deal online, saying the u.s. would pay a fee, and calling it an opportunity for america to "outsource part of its prison system." legally, the u.s. government cannot deport american citizens. it's not clear how this exchange would work or hold up to legal challenges. bukele, using emergency powers, has led a brutal crackdown on criminal gangs in el salvador, building one of the largest prisons in latin america to house many of the 80,000 people swept up in arrests. the u.s. state department has described the overcrowded prisons there as harsh and dangerous. in the oval office today, president trump said he would send americans to prisons abroad in a heartbeat if he can do it legally. pres. trump: if we could get these animals out of our country and put them in a different country under the supervision of somebody that made a relatively

small fee to maintain these people, because, you know what, these are criminals, you call them hardened criminals. we don't want these people in our country either. amna: all this comes with news from the white house about another infamous prison system. sec. leavitt: i can also confirm that today the first flights from the united states to guantanamo bay with illegal migrants are underway. amna: president trump has ordered the naval base on cuba to expand detention space for up to 30,000 deportees, and the pentagon began moving additional troops there over the weekend. in other pentagon news, president trump announced former congressional candidate sean parnell as the defense department's new spokesperson. parnell is a veteran who trump endorsed during his 2021 senate run in pennsylvania. parnell dropped out of the race after his ex-wife testified in court that he violently abused her and their children. parnell denies the allegations. and another trump appointee making headlines today at the state department.

darren beattie, a former trump speechwriter who was fired during the first trump administration for speaking at a conference attended by white nationalists. as recently as october, beattie posted online that "competent white men must be in charge if you want things to work," and has spread false conspiracies about the january 6 capitol riot. beattie was named acting under secretary for public diplomacy and public affairs his acting role does not require senate confirmation. geoff: as we reported, robert f. kennedy jr.'s nomination to lead the department of health and human services cleared the senate finance committee today. senators voting along party lines. it now heads to the full senate for a final vote. republican senator ron johnson of wisconsin sits on that committee, and i spoke with him earlier today. thanks for being with us. sen. johnson: thanks for having me on. geoff: so the committee vote to advance rfk junior's nomination

follows what i understand was a fairly intense pressure campaign from trump administration officials and mr. kennedy himself. your colleague, senator bill cassidy, who happens to be a physician, said that his yes vote came with conditions to ensure the public's continued access to vaccines. take a look. sen. cassidy: to this end, mr. kennedy, and the administration committed that he and i would have an unprecedentedly close collaborative working relationship, if he has confirmed. we will meet or speak multiple times a month. this collaboration will allow us to work well together and therefore to be more effective. geoff: that raises the question. if securing confirmation demands such unprecedented concessions, is rfk junior truly the right choice to begin with? sen. johnson: first of all, i don't think those are particularly major concessions on the part of rfk junior. he wants to follow the science. he is not anti-vax. i am surely not anti-vax.

we want to make sure the vaccines that are on a childhood schedule are as safe as possible, recognizing that nothing is 100% safe, and that they are effective. certainly we want to prevent childhood disease to the extent we can. we also have to have an open mind. the reality is, there are vaccine issues. they acknowledged that fact when they passed the childhood vaccine safety act in 1986. vaccine injuries are just unavoidable. it happens. we need to take care of those individuals, which is why we have a compensation fund. it is completely indisputable that the covid injection caused injuries. so, again, all these things have to be explored. people have to have an open mind. nobody wants to take anyone's vaccines away. vaccines are miracles, if they can prevent disease, without causing too much undue harm. geoff: what actual ability would the senate have to oversee or

rein in hhs, if that is what is needed, beyond what has been done in the past? sen. johnson: well, again, all i'm looking for, all i have ever looked for is total transparency. follow the science. unfortunately, i believe science has been from corrupted. you have corporate interests, whether big pharma, big food processing, big agriculture. i think that is also pretty much indisputable. what we need is total transparency. we need to uncorrupt science. when you pay for science, you get the result you want, and that is not in the public's best interest. so it starts with making sure that science has integrity, that peer review actually means something, that we also take a look at observational studies and other forms of evidence. but that we have an open mind toward these things. that's all i'm looking for, and i think that is all rfk junior

is looking for. geoff: big picture, how do you and other republican lawmakers view your role in this moment as you lead what is a coequal branch of government? i ask the question because them as we sit here and speak, elon musk is unilaterally dismantling usaid. he now has access to sensitive government payment systems with no public concern, no public constraint from republicans in congress, whom the american people actually elected to run this government. why not? sen. johnson: first of all, we have people in these agencies who believe they are completely unaccountable to the american public. i have written multiple requests for information, for multiple agencies. secretary of state rubio has made the same claim against usaid. so you already have bureaucrats run amok who do not believe they are accountable. what president trump is doing is fulfilling a promise. he's trying to get to the bottom of this, the waste, fraud, and abuse in the government that is completely out of control. i appreciate elon musk's endeavors.

he's a genius in terms of, you know, squeezing out all inefficiencies from the businesses he has run. he is like the perfect guy, people who have access to computer models and ai to quickly diagnose the inefficiencies occurring in these agencies. geoff: but on the particular -- sen. johnson: it's the tip of the iceberg. geoff: if there's a debate about usaid's mission or funding, why not have that debate? there's a process to that, a legal process to have that debate. sen. johnson: we will have that debate. first, we need information, and you can't get the information when you have these bureaucrats who are protecting information and not turning it over to congress or over to the elected president. it is undeniable you had bureaucrats in the first trump term that undermined and sabotaged his administration. he's trying not to let that happen again. i applaud his swift and decisive actions. geoff: here's a thought experience that occurred to me.

if during the biden administration, george soros had access to government payment systems and unilaterally dismantled an independent public agency, republicans in congress would be apoplectic. the indignation would be palpable. why is that not happening now? is it because donald trump is president? sen. johnson: we were not particularly happy when president biden weaponized the department of justice, the fbi. persecuted his political opponents. again, that is the problem. big government is unaccountable, it is infiltraby leftists who have weaponized government against conservatives. so, again, we are trying to get control of the situation. president trump experienced,, again, he was undermined in his first term. he's trying to prevent that in his second term. i completely understand why he's trying to do these things. geoff: in the time that remains, i want to ask you about tariffs, because you said you share

market concerns about president trump's tariff plans. what are your concerns? sen. johnson: well, first of all, there are multiple uses for these. protections from mexico and canada, and i think peter navarro said this is a war on drugs. i don't disagree with that. what i would be concerned about is tariffs long-term creating long-term dislocation in terms of supply chains. i want free and fair trade. another use for tariffs is to punish people who are not engaging in fair trade. this is a complex issue. i have concerns, but i also give president trump the benefit of the doubt in terms of using tariffs to negotiate a better position for the u.s. and its citizens. geoff: is that how you think he's using them, for leverage and as a negotiating tactic? i asked because canada is one of our biggest trading partners. wisconsin has a lot on the line. sen. johnson: he used it

effectively in his first term, to make sure that mexico cooperated with remain in mexico, we were able to secure the border. we now have a pledge from both canada and mexico to move personnel into place to help us secure the border and stop the flow of drugs. i think the proof is in the pudding. it seems to be working pretty well right now. geoff: senator ron johnson, always good to see you. thanks for coming on the program. appreciate it. sen. johnson: thank you. have a great day. ♪ paul: -- stephanie: i'm stephanie sy with news hour west. breaking this evening, president trump said he wants the united states to take long-term ownership of the gaza strip. such a move would be a major departure for u.s. policy, that for decades one and a two state solution for israelis and palestinians. he made the comments at a press conference with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. pres. trump: the u.s. will take over the gaza strip.

we will own it and be responsible for all the dangers, unexploded bombs, all the weapons on the site, level the site, and get rid of the destroyed buildings, level it out, create an economic element that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing for the people of the area. stephanie: the president did not rule out deploying u.s. troops to support reconstruction of what he called the "riviera of the middle east." he said new residents would be people from all over the world, not specifically palestinians. today trump also signed an executive order withdrawing the united states from the united nations' human rights council and from participating in unrwa. also today, the senate confirmed pam bondi as attorney general. bondi is a former attorney general of florida and a staunch ally of president trump.

she is expected to radically reshape the department of justice. in her confirmation hearings, she refused to rule out investigations of trump adversaries. in sweden, a rare mass shooting killed about 10 people. a gunman opened fire today at an education center for adults in the city of orebro (prono: . which is about 125 miles west of stockholm. police helicopter it prompted a massive emergency response. police say damage at the crime scene is so extensive that they couldn't give an exact death toll. sweden's prime minister called it a "painful day" for the whole country. pm kristersson: it is difficult to take in the magnitude of what has happened today. we have seen a brutal deadly violence against completely innocent people. this is the worst mass shooting in swedish history. stephanie: authorities say the shooter is among the dead, and they believe he acted alone.

officials say they do not see any connection to terrorism at this point, but have not yet determined a motive. in ukraine, the u.n.'s nuclear chief warns that attacks on the power grid could lead to an accident. rafael grossi, who heads the international atomic energy agency, met with ukrainian air agency, met with ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky in kyiv today. he also toured a heavily-damaged power substation nearby. while there, grossi warned that russian attacks on ukraine's power supplies could threaten nuclear safety by potentially disrupting the cooling procedures needed at atomic facilities. mr. grossi: the situation is quite dire. infrastructure has been degraded, but i must say that i am impressed with the work, the effort that has been put in order to ensure nuclear safety. stephanie: grossi's visit comes as a russian missile strike left this city council building in ukraine's northeastern kharkiv region in tatters. at least five civilians were

killed and 55 others wounded. here in the u.s., authorities say they have recovered the remains from all 67 victims from last week's aircraft collision near reagan national airport. all but one of the victims have been identified. today's update comes as salvage crews continue their efforts to recover wreckage from the waters of the potomac river, including the jet's cockpit. meantime, federal investigators say air traffic control data confirms the army black hawk helicopter was flying at approximately 300 feet at the time of the collision. aviation rules require helicopters in the area to stay at or below 200 feet. they hope to have a preliminary report within 30 days. maryland officials gave a first glimpse of the redesign of baltimore's francis scott key bridge today, nearly a year after the original structure collapsed. artistic renderings of the new bridge show it to be taller and better protected against the

type of ship strike that toppled its predecessor. the project has a price tag of almost $2 billion and could be completed as soon as 2028. the original key bridge collapsed last march when a massive container ship slammed into one of its supports. six construction workers were killed. still on the news hour, residents of a kibbutz that was attacked by hamas begin the long rebuilding process. and the aclu sues the trump administration for restricting care for transgender minors. >> this is the pbs news hour. from the david m rubenstein studio at weta in washington and from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. geoff: president trump and israeli prime minister netanyahu met for talks today that focused on hammering out a second phase

of the cease fire and hostage agreement between israel and hamas. amna: netanyahu is the first foreign leader to visit the white house since trump's second term began. the two leaders also discussed the future of gaza, which trump has said might need to be "emptied of its population," a potential war crime, since israel's campagin to destroy hamas has also destroyed much of the enclave. president trump spoke in the oval office. pres. trump: you can't live in gaza right now. we need another location. we can build them, through massive amounts of money, supplied by other people, and it could be jordan, egypt, you could build four or five or six areas, probably 1.7 million people, maybe 1.8 million, but i think all of them, i think they will be resettled. geoff: under the terms of the current cease fire, hamas is supposed to release 33 hostages in exchange for israel releasing around 1900 palestinians. amna: let's turn now to the

story of one of the american hostages who was released. this past saturday, keith siegel was brought on stage in gaza city and paraded in front of a crowd. he held two small bags, waved to the crowd, and was quickly escorted away. he had been held hostage by hamas for 484 days. keith was reunited with his family, including his wife aviva, both of whom had been kidnapped from their home in kibbutz kfar aza during the october 7th, 2023 hamas attack. aviva was released in november of 2023, during a week long cease fire. i spoke a short time ago with keith siegel's niece, hanna. hanna siegel, welcome back to the news hour. good to see you. hanna: thank you for having me. amna: so that a video of your uncle being released, being prorated out like that.

what was it like to see that, to know he was still alive in that moment? hanna: i don't have any words. it was really surreal. there've been several moments over the past 15 months where we thought he would be released, that we were close to a deal, and then it would not happen. he was a little thin and a little pale, but mostly i saw my uncle, he looks like himself. amna: how is he doing today? have you been able to speak with him directly? hanna: i can't believe it, he is doing remarkably well. he's talking and sharing a lot. he remembers everything. it's kind of amazing. he's used a lot of mental tricks to keep himself sane. amna: mental tricks? hanna: he spoke to the family a lot in his head. he thought about anniversaries,

birthdays, really showed remarkable mental fortitude and sort of taught himself to survive. it is incredible. and he's home. amna: has he shared anything with you about his time in captiviy that surprised you, that you had not heard? hanna: i have heard some. i have not heard a lot. i know that it was horrific. i know this from my aunt aviva, his wife, who was in captivity, i think it was awful. it's very dark. amna: you know, of course, israeli prime minister bennett -- benjamin netanyahu is here in washington as we speak. previously when we have spoken, you mentioned you expressed some doubt that he was incentivized fully to stop the war in gaza, to have a cease fire and bring the hostages home. do you believe that your uncle could have been freed sooner than he was? 484 days.

or was it always going to take this long? hanna: yeah. i mean, i'm obviously not privy to all of the ins and outs, but i know that this deal was available a long time ago, and i do think that prime minister netanyahu was an impediment to getting him home sooner. as ecstatic as we are that he is here, it took a really long time, and there are a lot of people still being held. i worry that prime minister netanyahu's incidents, and the way he's been thinking about this, have not changed. there are reports and israeli media that he was thinking about changing of the leadership, other entities in the israeli government are essential to negotiations. doing that in the middle of the deal, in the middle as things are moving forward, could endanger that, could jeopardize that peace. so, yeah, i'm very worried, and i'm counting on the trump team to push him on this. i think they will.

amna: your uncle was also released into really a sea of hamas fighters. when they paraded him out in that way. hamas still has a presence, a very strong one there. could still be a threat. do you think that is a reason for israel to continue in the war there? hanna: i think what we've seen over the last 15 months if there's only one path forward, and that is through diplomacy and political agreement. first of all, all of the hostages need to come home. there has been so much endless and unjustifiable violence in the last year and a half, and i know i speak for the other families of hostages and hostage survivors when i say that we don't condone any of that. we need everybody home, we need a cease fire, we need a path forward to peace in the region. diplomacy is the only way. amna: your uncle went on to call that border region with gaza home, for those many, many years. will they go back, do you believe, and what did they want to see, what do you want to see

in the community across the border from them and gaza? hanna: yeah. it's a good question. it has been their home for so many years. i grew up visiting kfar aza, but it is decimated right now. will he ever be able to go back? will the community be able to rebuild? not right now. they are with their children. my family and israel has long been involved in peace activism, facilitating dialogue. peace in the region is what we've always wanted. that's what so many people around the world, that's what we see these past months, want. we think the cease fire deal is the first step toward that. but it has to continue. amna: your uncle is now free. your aunt has been free. i know you have not had a chance to see them, but you will soon. they have a long road ahead, but

what do you hope to tell them and say to them when you finally get to see them? hanna: i mean, i want to give them the biggest, biggest hugs. i want to thank the people who got us here, like i said, the biden team and the trump team. ngo's help a lot of families. there is one called global reach. he would not be home without them. the qataris. actually, aviva bought a journal and had world leaders and others supporting his release right notes to him throughout the last year, so that he could see how the world was rooting for him and rooting for us. amna: hanna siegel, thank you so much for being here, for sharing stories of keith. and aviva, both of whom are now free. we are so glad to hear it. geoff: there are many kibbutz communities that were gaza, and many of them were attacked october 7 by hamas, but one was among the highest death tolls and perhaps the greatest destruction was nir oz. now, as some of its members were

released just this past weekend after nearly 18 months in captivity, the community there is facing an existential question -- how to rebuild, and how to be reborn. producer karl bostic in israel and nick schifrin have this report. nick: it must be torn down, some residents say, to rise up again. kibbutz nir oz is taking the first step to regain what was lost, removing ruins to heal the hurt. >> we want to come back to nir oz, and we feel that it cannot paralyze while living this system. you know? nick: ola has lived in nir oz for 30 years and has raised her kids here. she says to give nir oz new life, it has to be reborn. >> something beautiful has to raise from the ashes and start from scratch. i think it will be more healthier for people to come back.

and who decide to build their lives here again. nick: on october 7, a tide of terror tore life here apart. no israeli community paid a heavier price. of 400 residents, more than 40 killed, and 76 kidnapped to gaza, including ola's father and mother-in-law. she was released in 2023. he died in captivity. >> the shadows stay in our lives forever, i think. i don't need any ruined house to remind me of that. i think my father-in-law would want that, to see this place flourishing, you know, and full of families again. i want to remember the lives that were here before, and i want to celebrate that life. and it is really hard to talk about it now, because we still have hostages in gaza.

nick: nir oz hostages are now part of each release just a mile and a half from the kibbutz. last thursday, one endured chaos in the crowd to reach the international committee of the red cross and his family after 482 days. on saturday, hamas released another two nir oz residents. but without his wife and their two children, one kidnapped at just nine months old, the youngest hostage who spent the majority of his life in captivity, israelis fear they have not survived. >> we remember the picture of her standing here under this bush, with a blanket, and crying. nick: like everyone here, she remembers that moment like a flashbulb. the house frozen in time, the ransacked placing. and the home, still haunted by horror, the neighbor's house

where a woman was forced at gunpoint to watch her husband be murdered before being kidnapped herself. >> when i come out of the kibbutz, i always take a shower, a long, long shower, because i think about all these people who were murdered here and all the pain and sadness. i remember the fear. nick: but she's on the other side of the community debate, she wants to preserve the damage, so the world cannot doubt or deny. >> i think some of the houses should be kept as they are, burned, because this is the very strong evidence. nobody, nobody will be able to say that this has not happened. i'm worried that israel will demolish these buildings, and people will say, "really? it did not really happen. you exaggerated. no, that houses did not burn down completely."

nick: the community has yet to decide what to do with the houses that did burn, with everything inside. this was once a piano. today, its mangled strings, its rusted frame once played. ♪ he was a gifted player, here performing a song that asks, will our house not be destroyed? will our love survive? he married more than 60 years ago. they were abducted to gaza together. he remains there, feared dead. she was released in november 2023 and attended the nir oz rebuilding ceremony with their son. >> i want him to return. i hope that he returns and that everybody comes back and that he comes back healthy. and if not, we will take care of him.

nick: the lifshitzes were among nir oz's first residents. back then, the story of nir oz was the story of israel. in the mid-1950's, they considered themselves pioneers, hoping to transform uninhabited land near the gaza strip into an oasis and communal farm. >> we planted around 20,000 in the desert. nick: ran pauker, a landscape architect, helped create nir oz. he and the other residents held a ceremony to mark the demolition that would begin reconstruction. ♪ they know that once again, nir oz is the story of israel, this time as a community whose country failed to protect them, and must decide how to move on from october 7. ♪ >> we have to destroy the old houses. that is the healthy way. the beginning, the renewing. i think it will be better.

nick: really? why? >> yes. we have enough courage to rebuild. >> it is really, really emotional, really mixed altogether. what can we do? i don't want to, you know, be hating forever. nick: hatred and hurt but also hope to create a new future. for the pbs news hour, i'm nick schifrin. ♪ amna: today, the american civil liberties union sued the trump administration over the president's executive order targeting gender-affirming care for minors. the lawsuit says trump's actions, quote, "unconstitutionally usurp congressional authority by withholding lawfully

appropriated federal funds and violate the rights of trans youth" by, quote, "depriving them of necessary medical care solely on the basis of their sex and transgender status." our white house correspondent laura barron-lopez has been covering this and joins me now. lay out the scope for us of the president's executive order. what has happened since it was signed? laura: last week, president trump signed an executive order targeting gender-affirming care for minors. that action states that the federal government will not fund, sponsor, or support the so-called transition of a child from one sex to another. that order defines "child" is anyone under the age of 19, which includes legal adults in many states. the order also threatens to withhold federal funding from hospitals or institutions that may also happen to provide gender-affirming care. that has led some providers, even in states who protect this kind of care, to suspend it. children's national in

d.c. says it has posed all puberty bloggers and hormone treatments. also in colorado and new york, which has led the new york attorney general to tell providers that canceling care would violate state law. we should note, amna, that gender-affirming care is endorsed by the majority of major u.s. medical associations, including the american academy of pediatrics. amna: i know you've been talking to a family in texas who says they are feeling an immediate impact. what are they telling you? laura: a couple years ago, we interviewed a texas family, john, mary, and their now 14-year-old trans daughter lia. we changed their names to protect the family. they started going to mexico for -- new mexico for treatment. we spoke to john and mary, and since executive order, they said they have not been able to get a hold of the doctor in new mexico. they were actually planning to try to move to colorado, one of

the states that supports and provides gender-affirming care for minors, but lia had her bags packed and was ready to go, but now they say the signals from colorado are murky, and it's unclear if they are going to continue to provide treatment. here is john. john: it was definitely going to be just a safer move, and to be in a place where our daily lives just felt safe and accepted was worth the effort to do that move. but now with these executive orders, he has already talked about going after sanctuary states, if they don't comply with his orders. so we are now kind of in this weird, floating place where, yeah, we want to get out of here, but can we really go anywhere where we will be safe? laura: lia's parents told us she has enough medication, puberty blockers and hormone treatments going to last until june, but they don't know what will happen after that. amna: what is the white house

argument for the executive order, and what does the aclu claim to challenge it? laura: the white house claims this is about protecting children, and they've described in graphic and somewhat disdainful terms, calling it "gender castration" and "mutilation." puberty blockers are reversible. gender-affirming care for minors is rare. all gender-affirming care treatments are part of extensive evaluations between doctors and family. but the white house's main argument here is with this action and other sweeping actions they have taken so far, they say that the president has the authority to stop funding from going to anything that they believe is against or the opposite of the president's ideological agenda. we spoke to strangio, an attorney at aclu, who argues the opposite. >> president trump simply does not have the authority to attempt to cut off federal

funding for institutions that provide medical care for transgender adolescents and that he is directing his federal agencies to violate federal law that, in fact, protects the provision of this care. we're also arguing that these attempts to restrict care violate the individual constitutional rights of transgender adolescents and their parents. laura: she said that their argument is also saying that the transgender people are protected under the equal protection rights clause against discrimination based on sex, and it's also about due process rights for parents. i should note, amna, that i accidentally said gender-affirming care for minors is rare. it's gender-affirming care surgery for minors is rare. amna: thanks for the important clarification. where does this move from the trump administration fit into any broader pattern we seen? laura: trump's actions when it comes to trying to dismantle transgender rights, including instructing the government to only acknowledge two genders,

moving trans women to men's prisons, directing the dod to reinstitute the trans military ban and stopping in schools. tomorrow, we expect the president will sign another executive action that will ban trans athletes from playing on girls and women's school sports teams. amna: laura barron-lopez, thank you. laura: thank you. ♪ amna: what makes a u.s. citizen? an executive order signed by president trump aims to end a 127-year-old precedent clarifying universal birthright citizenship. instead, the president is aiming to fulfill a campaign promise to limit citizenship at birth to people with at least one parent who is a permanent resident or u.s. citizen. geoff: that order is on hold until a court hearing on thursday.

stephanie sy reports now on the history and legacy of birthright citizenship. stephanie: over pork buns and tea, the wong family welcomed the lunar new year with what they see as unwelcome news. sandra wong: i won't say it wasn't a surprise, but, you know, it happened so quickly. norman wong: it's frightening, actually. pres. trump: birthright. that's a big one. stephanie: president trump's attack on birthright citizenship hits home for norman wong and his sister sandra. norman wong: i'm proud of what my great-grandfather, wong kim ark did, because he stood up. stephanie: it was their late relative, wong kim ark, whose fight for birthright citizenship led to a pivotal 1898 supreme court case. prof. frost: so, this was an extraordinary case. stephanie: law professor amanda frost details wong kim ark's story in her book "you are not american." prof. frost: he was born in the united states. and the government argued that he was not, in fact, a citizen

of the united states. stephanie: wong kim ark was born in san francisco's chinatown in the early 1870's. his parents were merchants who were living in the country legally. as a result of the 14th amendment to the constitution, ratified just a few years earlier, he was by virtue of birth, an american citizen. prof. frost: the first sentence of the 14th amendment provides that all persons born or naturalized in the united states and subject to the jurisdiction thereof are citizens of the united states. that clause, very simply, was intended to ensure that everyone born on u.s. soil is a citizen, with minor exceptions. stephanie: the primary goal of the amendment was to overrule the supreme court's infamous dred scott decision which held that no black person, free or penslaved, could be a citizen of the united states.

prof. frost: the nation, post-civil war, post-slavery said, no, we need to end that. we need to integrate the black residents of our of our country fully into our country as equal members. stephanie: and, frost says, it deliberately applied to the children of immigrants born on american soil. prof. frost: this was also explicitly discussed during those congressional debates and the reconstruction congress of the nation knew that birthright citizenship would apply equally to the children of all immigrants. stephanie: by the late 1800's, chinese immigrants were vilified, in part due to an economic downturn and rising unemployment among white americans. anti-chinese sentiment was enshrined by the federal government in the chinese exclusion act. in august 1895, government officials sought to take this a step further. prof. frost: they were looking for a test case to challenge birthright citizenship. they specifically and very clearly wanted to challenge it for the children of chinese immigrants. and they chose wong kim ark. stephanie: then a cook working in san francisco, wong was prevented from reentering the country after a visit to china.

norman wong: he had proper papers, they just didn't want him in. stephanie: the government denied he was a citizen by birth at least in part because of his race, language, color, and dress. with support from chinese community groups, wong appealed to the supreme court. norman wong: by himself, he couldn't have done it. the fact that there were other people that stood up alongside with him made a difference. stephanie: in 1898, the court decided 6-2 in his favor in a landmark judgement. prof. frost: the text of the 14th amendment speaks in universal terms and does not make any distinction based on race. it says all persons born are citizens. it's why the supreme court upheld that provision for wong kim ark, even if they didn't believe in the sentiment, they couldn't deny the scope of the text. stephanie: today, wong kim ark is seen as an asian-american pioneer. the court's decision paved the way for generations of children to become citizens. norman wong: i'm a product of

these laws. so, if those laws were never here, i probably would never get born. it's amazing they got this -- this is mom, kimiko takeuchi. stephanie: for the wongs, president trump's executive order also brings back much more recent family history, on their mother's side. >> the beginning of america's war with japan opened very badly for america's navy. stephanie: in the aftermath of the pearl harbor attack, an executive order by president roosevelt authorized the incarceration of more than 70,000 japanese-americans. that included the wongs' mother, who was only 16 years old at the time. she's pictured here with her family waiting for a bus to take them to a detention facility. decades later, the government would apologize and offer survivors reparations. pres. reagan: no payment can make up for those lost years.

for here we admit a wrong. here we reaffirm our commitment as a nation to equal justice under the law. stephanie: with a family story rooted in challenges to citizenship, norman wong worries that this struggle will carry on to the next generation. his granddaughter is half-asian american, half-mexican american. norman wong: i really think that this effort, latest effort it's actually directed against other people of latin america and mexico. vp vance: america should actually look out for the interests of our citizens first, and that means, if you're here permanently and lawfully, your kid becomes an american citizen. if you're not here permanently, if you're not subject to the jurisdiction of the united states -- margaret: yeah -- vp vance: -- and don't plan to be, why would we make those people's children american citizens permanently? stephanie: whether children born to undocumented or temporary immigrants are subject to the jurisdiction of the u.s. is the

crux of the trump administration's argument. but that clause of the 14th amendment has only ever been applied to exclude two groups, says professor amanda frost. the children of foreign diplomats, and until a federal law in 1924, children born into native american tribes. prof. frost: so that phrase clearly does exclude those very unusual, narrow groups of people. undocumented immigrants are fully subject to u.s. jurisdiction. all of the laws and policies of the u.s. apply to them. if they violate a traffic law, they're fined or jailed, just like the rest of us. the supreme court rejected that argument in 1898, and i still don't see its logic today. stephanie: besides, frost says, birthright citizenship is a fundamental american value that makes the country stronger. prof. frost: united states is unusual in our ability to integrate new immigrants and the children of immigrants. other countries don't do that nearly as well as we do.

children of immigrants thrive in america, and i think they're one of the reasons that america is an economic superpower. stephanie: and a military one. at the same time that norman wong's mother was in a japanese internment camp, his father, whose right to citizenship had been guaranteed by wong kim ark's legal victory, was serving the u.s. army and navy in world war ii. what has the experience of your family, your great grandfather, your mother, what has it taught you about the american experience? norman wong: i say, if you're here, we're all americans, and that it should be a dream, not a nightmare. i think we're turning this country into one side gets the dream. the other side gets gets just fear. the american experience is what we create. and that creation wasn't fixed in stone. stephanie: the bedrock has been shaken before, and the fight

over what it means to be american is not over. for the pbs news hour, i'm stephanie sy. ♪ geoff: and that is the news hour for tonight. i'm geoff bennett. amna: and i'm amna nawaz. on behalf of the entire newshour team, thank you for joining us. >> major funding for the pbs news hour has been provided by carnegie corporation of new york, working to reduce political polarization, for through philanthropic support for education, democracy, and peace. more information at carnegie.org. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy.] >> 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 ruben sided studio at wet -- david m rubenstein studio at weta and the walter cronkite

pati: green gold, the nickname for a plant that at one time made yucatán one of the wealthiest states in the world. production boomed. money flowed, and haciendas were the center of it all. today i meet preservationist daniel chiyean at hacienda tamchen,