geoff: good evening. i'm geoff bennett. amna: and i'm amna nawaz. and i'm amna nawaz. on the news hour tonight. at the end of donald trump's first month in office, congress

moves forward on his nominees and legislative priorities. geoff: the bodies of four israeli hostages are returned -- including the youngest of those taken captive -- as the tenuous ceasefire holds. amna: and conservative michael knowles on presidential power and democracy in trump's second term. >> we have a system of checks and balances. we do not have a system, or at least we should not have a system of judicial supremacy. announcer: 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. the world of leisure and british style. all with cunard's white star service. ♪

>> as somebody coming out of college, it can be very nerve-racking not knowing what to expect, whether you like your job or not, whether you make friends or fit in. here i feel like it so welcoming in such an inclusive place to work. you just feel like you are valued. carnegie corporation of new york. working to reduce political polarization through education, cooperation and peace. more information at carnegie.org. and with the ongoing support of these institutions.

♪ announcer: 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. president trump has been on the job one month. and the pace of his administration has been unrelenting. a federal judge this afternoon ruled the administration can continue firing federal workers by the thousands. geoff: that's as a new trump higher became official today. the senate confirmed one of the president's most polarizing nominees to lead the fbi. lisa desjardins has the latest. lisa: a matter of fact conclusion to a controversial nomination as the senate confirmed kash patel to run the

fbi installing a staunch trump , loyalist to the top of the bureau. patel, a former federal public defender and counterterrorism prosecutor, has consistently blasted the fbi and department of justice as the so-called deep state weaponized, he says, against president trump and conservatives. republicans call him a reformer. >> i look forward to working with mr. patel to restore the integrity of the fbi, and get it focused on its critical mission. reporter: but democrats say patel is dangerous. >> only qualification kash patel has to be fbi director is that, when everyone else in the first trump administration said, 'no, i won't do that, that crosses moral, ethical, legal lines,' kash patel said 'sign me up.' lisa: this as trump's cabinet is nearly complete. only three nominees remain for the departments of education, and labor, and the u.s. representative to the u.n. on the president's top legislative priority, the sailing is not quite as smooth. the house and the senate are now in a staring contest over how to pass trump's tax cut and border package. the senate moving ahead with its

strategy which divides the president's wish list into two, while house speaker mike johnson is vowing to catch up next week, bringing one large house framework to a vote. republicans in both chambers know the risks here. >> what i don't want to see happen is us get into a competition. it's not a competition. lisa: what are the prospects right now? >> i think they are good. we've got to get it done. if we don't, we will have forfeited people's trust and they'll be mad at us. lisa: a rising controversy has been potential cuts to major programs like medicaid to help pay for proposed tax cuts. the president seemed to take that off the table this week. >> medicare, medicaid, none of that stuff is going to be touched. reporter: also gaining complexity, u.s.-ukraine policy. trump's ukraine envoy keith kellogg was in kyiv today for talks, but a planned news conference was abruptly canceled, as tensions remain high, especially after president

trump said this yesterday about ukrainian president. >> a dictator without elections, zelenskyy better move fast or he's not going to have a country left. lisa: that critique of a u.s. ally at war has sharpened the spotlight on the administration, including vice president jd vance. today he defended trump's decision for talks with russia but without ukraine in the room. >> they say, 'why are you talking to russia?' well, how are you going to end the war unless you're talking to russia? i really believe we're on the cusp of peace in europe for the first time in three years. reporter: meanwhile, one of ukraine's biggest republican backers made news. >> representing our commonwealth has been the honor of a lifetime. buh time. lisa: kentucky senator and former senate leader mitch mcconnell, a sometimes critic of

president trump, marked his 83rd birthday today by announcing he will not run for senate again. but, the longest-serving senate party leader ever said his remaining two years ahead will not be quiet. >> lest any of our colleagues still doubt my intentions for the remainder of my term. i have some unfinished business to attend to. lisa: mcconnell today voted to confirm kash patel as fbi director. two republicans did break ranks, though. relative moderates susan collins and lisa murkowski both said he appears too politically motivated for the job. geoff: on that point, what is your reporting on how those in the agency view kash patel? lisa: there is a split. there are some trying to wait and see what happens and they are hopeful that perhaps there will be a focus on things like for example drug trafficking, which patel himself told senators he wants to be central. but the vast majority of those around the agency have a kind of

pit in the stomach concern. they're worried that this is someone who does not want to reform the agency but rather slice it up without considering the changes. geoff: meantime, we have a court order regarding the mass firing of government workers. lisa: this could apply to fbi workers as well. judge christopher cooper ruled a short time ago that he's is not able to block mass firings of the trump administration as put into place. he said instead unions have to appeal to a labor relations board. he said it is not in my jurisdiction. that means mass firings will go ahead. we know there have been hundreds in the past couple of days at usaid, irs workers are waiting for information as we speak. geoff: you are also tracking capitol hill, determining the fate of president trump's agenda. what is the latest? lisa: we want viewers to pay a lot of attention for the next couple weeks. this is a key moment, you look

at the house and senate floor. there is senator bernie sanders speaking right now. this is a moment where senators are teeing up, basically the first step in launching the trump agenda and congress, how they could get a shortcut in the senate to have an easier 50 margin vote. the senate is starting on a smaller bill in the trump agenda. senate republicans focusing on immigration and border in this framework we see. tonight, they are not including tax cuts. the senate does not think the house can pass a huge bill all in one go. think of it like an older sibling saying you are taking on too much, you are going to break something if you try to do this. the house disagrees, next week the house will do a separate process. it is the take away? they are having trouble getting out of the starting gate even though there is determination. geoff: what is the bigger challenge? lisa: this is important. it is simply the math.

there are four main prongs we talk about. one, extend trump tax cuts, expand them, find border security and cut the deficit. the total cost is estimated between $5 trillion and $11 trillion, but house republicans are budgeting just $4.5 trillion. to make up that difference, you cannot just cut employees. instead you have to talk about entitlement programs, things like medicaid that affect many millions of americans. and trump saying medicaid is off the table, that is not where republicans are right now. pay very close attention to what happens with these programs a lot of people care about. geoff: one final question on the topic of ukraine. we heard president trump call president zelenskyy a dictator and president trump stated ukraine started the work. -- the war. trump said he trusts russians to negotiate in good faith.

how are republican supporters of ukraine reacting? lisa: some like thom tillis are saying it is clear putin is the aggressor, but most are staying from criticizing president trump. senator johns -- josh hawley said this is just to beginning approach. >> this is going to be a long process. ukraine is going to have to be involved and europe is going to have to be involved, because at the end of the day, europe is going to have to bear a greater share of responsibility for the defense of the continent. lisa: pay attention to that, ukraine was not involved in initial talks but holly is saying i hope, they should be involved. but they are not. others are saying zelenskyy started things by criticizing trump and saying he was operating on disinformation. one interesting person i talked to was ted cruz who himself used to be an opponent of trump. here's what he said. >> i think zelenskyy has made a very serious mistake. he's running to the european press and attacking president trump and it's not complicated.

that is a strategy doomed to failure. every time he attacks president trump, it is predictable that trump will punch back. lisa: this is a lot to take in today but the through-line is well there is concern about a very serious issues across government and the world with what president trump is doing, senate republicans now are either placing faith in him or they are not opposing him in public. geoff: thank you as always. in israel this evening outside tel aviv, three buses exploded in a parking lot in a suspected militant attack. explosives were found on two other buses and neutralized. there were no reported injuries. that further rattled the nation after the return today of the remains of four hostages held by

hamas in gaza. the top u.n. human rights official called the jeering, taunting display during the handover abhorrent and cruel. and while the scene sparked outrage in israel and beyond, the emotions of many are tempered by the return of hostages still alive as the news hour saw this past weekend in southern israel. in khan yunis in southern gaza today before a crowd of hundreds, with music and fanfare, hamas held a grim and ghastly ceremony, releasing the remains of four israeli hostages killed in captivity. as the body's return home to israel, a palpable sense of grief and agony. >> we hoped that they would come back alive, all of them. they were murdered. geoff: the bodies with their mother, barely nine months old,

the youngest hostage spent the majority of his short life in captivity. this video of her embracing her boys as they were kidnapped became a symbol of the brutality of the october 7 attacks. >> we remember the picture of her standing out the bush with the blanket and crying. geoff: in september, the news hour visited the home and saw evidence of the horror. the only survivor, shiri's father. oh lifshitz was kidnapped with his wife of more than 60 years. she was released in november 2023. but today, lifshitz, who was an artist to work for peace between palestinians and israelis, was returned in a coffin. likely killed in captivity over

a year ago. >> today, 503 days after the massacre, the body of mr. lifshitz who was murdered more than a year ago in captivity, has been identified. geoff: israel is a country in morning, and for some of the day is marked with rage. >> we got up this morning with a very bad feeling, very broken trust with the government. i'm not ashamed to say it. geoff: but israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu vowed to avenge them. >> our hearts are broken but our spirits are not broken and with this spirit, we will return all of our hostages, annihilate the murderers, wiped out hamas and together with gods help secure our future. geoff: all that many hostages -- families want is for their loved ones to be returned. the news hour was there as the

friends and family of israeli american hostage watched and waited. for the moment, he was released from captivity. >> we just saw him. he's fine. we just want everybody right now to come back. all the families deserve this day. geoff: he was released by hamas last saturday along with two other residents. back in israel, a tearful reunion forsagui in the arms of his wife, embracing his mother and father. he learned the name of his third child for the first time, born two months after he was kidnapped. she is now just over a year old with her father finally home.

another released hostage returned to his mother and another reunited with his father. >> amazing guy, i told him you are such a good person. but inside your such an amazing boy. yair, we love him so much, he is such a funny person. geoff: neighbors, family and friends gathered at the pub. it had been closed since the october 7 attack. it was reopening now for the first time. >> he was the king of this pub. we missed him so much and we are so happy he's back and i hope he can open his place again. geoff: of the nearly 500 residents, nearly one quarter were killed or kidnapped into gaza. >> the families of the people who are alive at the families of those who were not alive, everybody needs to come back to

be again with their families or to be buried properly in israel. geoff: a community now anxiously awaiting their return along with the rest of a rattled nation. amna: we start the day's other headlines in new york, where the state's governor kathy hochul has decided not to remove the mayor of new york city from office. at least, for now. however, hochul said she will push for increased oversight of mayor eric adams and his administration. the decision follows a fierce blowback over the justice department's push to have the mayor's corruption case dropped, so adams can focus on helping president trump's immigration agenda. governor hochul said today that new york is already facing a grave threat from washington, and that the city's residents should be allowed to decide their own future. >> it is up to the voters of

this great city to determine who they want to continue as their leader, or bring in a new leader. it is up to them. that is a sacred right that they have, and i will not deny them that. amna: adams was indicted last september on bribery and other charges. he has pleaded not guilty and said in a hearing just yesterday that he hasn't committed any crime. staying in new york, six prison workers were indicted today for second-degree murder in the fatal beating of a handcuffed inmate. four others were charged with lesser crimes. body cameras caught multiple officers beaing 43-year-old robert brooks hours after he was transferred to marcy correctional facility in december. he died the next day. in a statement, governor kathy hochul said "the brutal attack was sickening. the perpetrators have been rightfully charged with murder." even before this incident, a watchdog group had found rampant abuse by staff at the medium-security prison.

in south korea, embattled president yoon suk yeol appeared in two different courts today for hearings related to his imposition of martial law last year. in the first, his legal team contested his arrest on rebellion charges. the second was the latest hearing in his ongoing impeachment trial. yoon was greeted by a barrage of cameras and a silent but tense courtroom. the constitutional court is deciding whether to remove him from office. final arguments will be held next week, with a possible decision sometime in march. yoon denies any wrong-doing. in spain, the former head of the nation's soccer federation was found guilty of sexual assault today for kissing a player without her consent. luis rubiales kissed jenni hermoso on the mouth after her team won the world cup in 2023. rubiales resigned a few weeks later amid fierce criticism. his lawyers argued the kiss was consensual, and even if it wasn't, it should not be considered sexual assault. hermoso said in her testimony

that the kiss "stained one of the happiest days of my life." the incident sparked debate among spaniards, who remain divided over today's verdict. >> it is positive that such sentences are being issued so that people know there are consequences to their actions. >> i don't think it's a crime, if that's considered a crime then we have a problem in our country because such things happen daily. amna: prosecutors had asked for a prison sentence. rubiales was instead ordered to pay a fine amounting to more than $10,000. he plans to appeal the ruling. back in this country, nearly one in 10 u.s. adults identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or something other than heterosexual. that's according to results of a 2024 gallup survey out today -- which says that share of the population is up by since 2020. two thirdsthe trend is driven mostly by generation z which

, gallup defines as 18 to 27 year-olds. nearly one in four identify as lgbtq. and 1.3% identify as transgender, more than twice the number in 2020. experts believe the numbers are rising because more people feel comfortable coming out, but say it could still be an undercount. on wall street today, stocks fell back from recent highs. the dow jones industrial average dropped 450 points or about 1%. the nasdaq slipped more than 90 points and the s&p 500 fell back from yesterday's record close. and james bond fans may be shaken and stirred by a change in control of the famous spy character. amazon mgm studios will take the creative reins of the 007 franchise after decades of stewardship by the broccoli family. >> bond, james bond. >> mr. bond. amna: albert cubby broccoli secured the rights to ian fleming's novels and made the

first bond movie--1962's “dr. no” with sean connery. the current custodians decided it was time to step back after daniel craig's version of the character ended in 2021 with “no time to die” -- though they will retain intellectual property rights. over the years, the bond films have raked in more than $7 billion at the box office that's , a lot of martinis. and, one of oklahoma's most influential politicians -- david boren -- has died. he made waves in his home state in 1974, when he became the youngest governor in the country, at age 33. four years later, the democrat won a seat in the u.s. senate -- where he was instrumental in shaping u.s. national intelligence. midway through his third term he resigned to become president of the university of oklahoma. boren appeared on this program in 2015 to address a racist incident on his campus, saying academic institutions have a responsibility to lead the nation by example. >> all of us as americans, not

just on our campus, but everywhere, when we hear racist jokes or offhand comments or even in social situations, we have to start standing up and say, no, we won't put up with that. amna: david boren retired in 2018 -- leaving the university after a sexual harrassment probe. he denied wrongdoing, and there were never any charges nor litigation. at the time his lawyer described boren as a dedicated public servant for more than 50 years. david boren was 83 years old. still to come on the news hour. we explore how elon musk came to hold so much power in the trump administration and a rising star of cuban music discusses blending genres and being a global ambassador for music. announcer: this is the pbs news hour from the david m rubenstein studio in washington and in the

west from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. geoff: president trump has tasked elon musk with an enormous job to search across , the federal government and root out inefficiencies and waste. but musk's initial, often chaotic infiltration of various departments has sparked alarm. it's also put the tech entrepreneur at center stage of the conservative movement -- appearing today in front of an audience at c-pac, wielding a chainsaw he said he'd use to cut the federal bureaucracy. william brangham looks at the history of the man at the center of this effort. >> if the bureaucracy is in charge and then then what meaning does democracy actually have? william: elon musk, the richest man in the world, now standing in the most powerful office in the world. >> the people voted for major government reform. there should be no doubt about that. william: but how did this visionary tech leader a man who , once championed clean energy

to save the planet and remained politically neutral for much of his career, end up working with president donald trump to dramatically scale back the size of the federal government? >> very rarely do you see a business leader essentially camping out in the white house, trying to influence government spending, influence government regulations the way elon musk is doing. william: the wall street journal's tim higgins wrote a book on musk and tesla called power play. >> there's this kind of prove the world wrong mentality. he's got a huge chip on his shoulder. for so long, he's been told that what he was doing wasn't possible, that he was crazy, that he couldn't do it. and you when you talk to him, you realize he likes proving people wrong. >> he tends to think in terms of missions for himself. so those usually revolve around making a big impact for humanity. reporter: kate conger covers musk for the new york times -- and co-authored the book character limit about musk's , takeover of twitter, which he

re-named x. >> you see this with space x, where he's trying to extend the life of humanity by establishing colonies on mars, with tesla, where he's trying to cut back on ev emissions and save the planet. and with x too, he has given himself this mission of what he sees as protecting and saving online free speech. and his approach to the trump administration is the same. he views this as an opportunity to save america and save democracy. william: musk grew up in a wealthy family in 1970's south africa, then still in the midst of its racist apartheid regime. walter isaacson, who wrote a biography of musk, told amna nawaz back in 2023 that musk had a difficult childhood -- struggling with autism spectrum disorder, being repeatedly bullied, and dealing with an allegedly emotionally abusive father. >> those demons, the dark things about being bullied as a kid, having psychological problems with his father, turn into

drives too, drives that get him to be the only person who can get astronauts into orbit from the united states, or reuse rockets and land them, or bring us into the era of electric vehicles. but it also makes him a dark and mercurial character, and sometimes a crazed character at times. william: musk moved to the u.s. for college, where he studied physics and economics, but building web-based products including an online banking service is what earned him his first real fortune. he was around this time that he turned his sights into two very different fields. the nascent electric car industry, and the decades-old competition to conquer space. musk quickly became a groundbreaking pioneer in both. >> and launch of the space x falcon 9 rocket. william: musk founded the rocket company space-x in 2002. and quickly became a key partner with nasa on both manned and unmanned space flights.

musk invested in tesla, then a fledgling electric car company and would eventually become its ceo. >> an electric car can be the best car in the world. william: and in a remarkably short span, tesla became the world's most valuable auto company. >> time and time again as you look out through kind of his career arc, it's his ability to build excitement around his vision that tends to help him win the day. it's tapping into this kind of primal idea, this excitement that people have about what is possible. william: another of his ventures is starlink, a satelite internet provider that's used in over 100 countries, and has large u.s. government contracts. as these various businesses have grown so has his net worth. , in 2021, he became the world's richest man. and yet despite musk's power, he has spent most of his career avoiding politics. >> i'm sort of moderate, sort of half republican half democrat if

you will. i'm somewhere in the middle. i guess i'm socially liberal and fiscally conservative. william: during the first trump administration, musk even quit a presidential advisory board in protest, after trump withdrew from the paris climate accord. but during the pandemic, his politics began a rightward turn. he hated being ordered to lock down his tesla plants in california. >> he was also, at the time, going through some things in his personal life. he had a child who was coming out as trans and beginning a gender transition. william: musk often blamed his child's transition on so-called woke ideology. >> they call it deadnaming for a reason. the reason it's called deadnaming is because your son is dead. my son xavier is dead. killed by the woke mind virus. william: additionally, in 2021, musk was excluded from a biden administration summit on electric cars because tesla has blocked unionization at its facilities.

>> that's something that musk has typically resisted in his factories. so tesla was excluded and that really bothered musk. william: over the years, musk spent increasing amounts of time on twitter, shooting out messages at all hours of the day and night. everything from vulgar jokes to business updates to memes that critics called racist and sexist. even his intention to buy the platform, outright. he first tried to walk that back, but then purchased twitter for $44 billion in 2022, promising to create a digital town square but quickly taking actions that echo his work today in washington. >> musk's takeover of twitter was really chaotic, i think, by any measure. he came into the company and very quickly wanted to slash its budget, and that meant getting rid of everything from a large number of workers to getting rid of real estate, to firing the janitorial staff who were cleaning the offices. really, no item in twitter's budget went untouched.

william: musk changed the platform's policies on hate speech, and when analysts claimed that vitriol then flourished on the re-named x advertisers balked and the company's value slid. in characteristic fashion, musk had no time for his critics. >> if somebody's gonna try to blackmail me with advertising? blackmail me with money? go [bleep] yourself. is that clear? william: meanwhile, colleagues and board members at his companies reported that they were increasingly concerned about musk's mental health and drug use, specifically the drug ketamine, which musk says he's prescribed to treat depressive episodes. he began leaning even further into politics -- backing republican candidates during the 2022 midterms, and labeling democrats the party of division and hate. and he shared extremist, hard-right views on x --

endorsing the so-called great replacement theory that argues democrats want open borders to replace white voters -- and elevated antisemitic conspiracy theories. although he initially didn't support trump's re-election -- saying he was too old to return to the white house, after last year's assassination attempt, he changed his mind. >> the true test of someone's character is how they behave under fire. we had one president who couldn't climb a flight of stairs and another who was fist pumping after getting shot. william: musk formed a super pac to support trump's bid, donating more than 200 million dollars of his own money, >> this election i think is going to decide the fate of america. and along with the fate of america, the fate of western civilization. william: trump in turn, embraced musk on the trail -- and promised a role for him in a

second administration. >> i will create a government efficiency commission tasked with conducting a complete financial and performance audit of the entire federal government and making recommendations for drastic reforms. william: following trump's win, musk continued to turn heads by supporting a far-right political party in germany that's been accused of resurrecting nazi-era ideology, and speaking to one of its rallies. now, as musk leads this effort to scrutinize and cut federal agencies from within, his own companies retain massive, multi-billion dollar government contracts. musk has resisted any financial disclosures, and claims there's no conflicts with his cost-cutting efforts. while there are numerous court challenges to his efforts, musk continues to enjoy the full support of president trump 11:03 . >> the team we have is really unbelievable. those executive orders, i sign

them, and now they get passed on to him and his group and other people, and they're all getting done. we're getting them done. william: for the pbs news hour, i'm william brangham. amna: during its first month, the trump administration has brought dramatic proposals and unprecedented changes to the government, including a sweeping effort to remake the executive branch. our new series, on democracy, is taking a step back to look at big questions about laws, institutions and norms that have shaped america and the challenges they face today. conservative commentator michael knowles is the host of the michael knowles show on the daily wire. >> thank you for having me. amna: you are in town to attend cpac, the largest conservative gathering in america. what are you hearing from people attending and people in the

audience as well about the first month? are they seeing what they voted for? >> very much so. this year feels different even than it did in 2016 and i think it's because this time trump won the popular vote and this new coalition bringing over a lot of voters who previously voted for democrats. it feels as though the realm of public discourse and political imagination has opened up. amna: when you look at the conservative part of the party and movement, beyond donald trump who was a rallying figure for everyone, what is the tie that binds? what does it mean to be a conservative today? >> if you get 100 conservatives in a room, you will get 100 different answers. the only way you can get kennedy democrats and one in five blackmail voters and 46% of hispanics to come" for trump or even join a coalition is to

appeal to something that is deeper than political ideology. i think that's what frump has done. amna: what is that? >> he says we will take care of americans first, enforce the law, take out the gangsters, classified cartels as foreign terrorist organizations. this is basic stuff that you don't need to be a bowtie wearing conservative to agree with. that cuts across amna: amna: party lines. low immigration? >> nothing against immigrations, we have the highest foreign-born population ever and americans of all races and backgrounds seem to think it is time to assimilate people and reduce that. or on some of the lgbt issues which were big in november. i think a lot of people, no animus, no desire to offend or exclude anybody, but they think this ideology has gone a bit too far. amna: i want to ask you about president trump first month in

office and the behavior we've seen. he did recently quote napoleon which raised eyebrows. he said he who saves his country does not violate any law and compared himself to a monarch saying long live the king. does that worry you? do you want to see a king like president? >> it doesn't worry me at all. to make a comparison with napoleon, there's a wink and a nod, he makes plenty of jokes. amna: this is a joke or is this serious? >> i think he uses whimsical language. but this line from napoleon which is a really articulation of cicero and john locke, this gets to the point about the country that in times of great national crisis and distress, extraordinary measures can be taken. you saw this with abraham lincoln, franklin roosevelt, plenty of american presidents. amna: extraordinary measures meaning stronger executive? >> plan executive that wields

power in a just and effective way. amna: what about this ideal of checks and balances? this is what we hear a lot of concern for people who track democracy because other branches of government have been weakened. he usurped constitutional congressional authority by blocking funds that were appropriated by congress. he essentially said they don't have to comply by judicial rulings they disagree with. how is that a democracy? >> first of all, the majority of americans voted for trump, so that would seem to be in itself -- amna: most people voted for him but he did not win the majority. but i take your point. >> in something like executive funding, the president has a large prerogative to control funding. some people suggested his cleanup is unprecedented. that is simply not true.

this is more than 100 year president. woodrow wilson established the bureau of efficiency, almost the same name. amna: to bring it back to 2025, there are rulings that say he needs to unblock some of the funds you froze and the administration has not complied. does it worry you he is ignoring judicial ruling? >> we have a system of checks and balances. we do not or should not have a system of judicial supremacy. the judiciary is coequal with the legislative and executive branch. amna: so the executive has the right to ignore judicial ruling? >> they have the right to fight judicial ruling when they are overstepping. the notion they are willing by fiat can undermine the president -- authority to control the executive branch is crazy. when you think of that, how much of that authority was usurped? certainly not by trump but even by recent democrats, many of them democrats, how much was delegated by the congress to the executive branch? one might argue that was not a good idea and congress should do

more lawmaking, but congress has done that. to argue trump is an authoritarian because he's trying to reduce the size and scope of the executive branch and federal government to me is crazy. amna: you mentioned you think there's a lot of progressive overage to help propel president trump into the white house and specific to that you called transgender-ism in particular an issue that you think move people. he also said it should be eradicated from public life entirely. when you were asked about that, you said you were calling for an end to the ideology, not end to the peaking. if you have changed your view at all, please let me know but i don't know what the difference is when articulated like that. >> sure. if i say i want to eradicate poverty, i'm not saying i want to eradicate all the poor people. quite the opposite. when i made my comments at cpac, i have repeated it so many times i think i have it memorized.

for the good of society and the good of the poor people who have fallen prey to this confusion, transgender is must be eradicated from public life entirely at every level. the reason for this and in particular for those who fallen prey to those ideologies that we ought to do that is because men can't really become women. that is not how human nature works. i have a great deal of sympathy for people who were confused, but i don't think it helps people to lie to them. as a matter of public life, i think we need to respect reality. amna: i will say, as you are saying it's reality, this is a belief system you hold. transgender-ism is something that has been acknowledged by medical professionals. >> and rejected. amna: there are a few, there is an entire scientific and medical part that has been recognized. we are talking about 1% of the u.s. adult population. >> 30% of gen z self identifies.

amna: because more people experts believe are more comfortable. >> or because it's a social contagion. amna: you believe transgender people make other people transgender? >> this was backed up in 2018, that school children who are socializing with people who were are more likely -- amna: you realize this is the same argument people made about gay people, right >>? i'm talking about the whole lgbtq ideology. amna: you don't believe gay people exist? >> i'm talking about same stash i believe same-sex attraction does exist. amna: but do you believe that gay people exist? >> i believe some people are attracted to members of the same sex. amna: those would be gay people. without getting into a semantic back and forth about it, in clarifying what you have said, when you use words like eradicate, i'm asking about in

terms of the language, do you worry that puts a target on people's backs? >> certainly not. the only targets i've had on my own back are when i question these ideologies that have been so terrible for people. the only times that i've been attacked in public, in one case someone is in federal prison for trying to blow me up is because i dared to question the trans ideology. people are being introduced this ideology at younger and younger ages. it can lead to horrific outcomes especially for young people put on puberty blockers which often cannot be reversed which leads to castration and early death. these are not the things we should wish for people if we wish for their own good. when it comes down to it, is whether or not a man can become a woman or secretly be a woman if he appears to be a man. my contention is that is not how human nature works. amna: i'm going to clarify, you said it is your contention.

i would encourage people to look at research on their own. when you look at the democratic system, there is undoubtedly an ascendant conservative movement right now. it is worth pointing out the party tends to push out anyone who disagrees with president trump. mitch mcconnell seems to be the latest example speaking out against president trump when he says he's not running for reelection. is it worry you about the future of the party that the coalition does not seem to hold without donald trump? >> trump is the unifying figure right now, no question. what is unusual is to say people are kicked out of the party when they disagree makes it sound like the party is shrinking. but we saw that the party is growing. latest taking in new people and losing the figures who have been members in the past like liz cheney or adam kinzinger. amna: people disagreed with president trump. >> correct.

that means a new coalition has formed. trump is the singular figure. he is magnetic personality, an american original and genius politician. amna:amna: does the coalition hold without him? >> that remains to be seen. i don't think there's going back to bushism. if anyone can pick up the standard of trump afterwards, we have to wait and see. the republican party is a different -- different and stronger thing because of president trump. amna: michael knows -- knowles, thank you for being here. geoff: latin rock, afro-cuban funk-and many other names have been applied to the music of cimafunk. the 35 year-old star is now making waves around the world -- earning grammy nominations three years in a row, and being called a global ambassador for cuban music. in the final piece in their series from havana, senior arts correspondent jeffrey brown and senior arts producer anne azzi

davenport show how cimafunk is blending genres to produce his own sound. it's part of our arts and culture series, canvas. ♪ >> he's a man of many moves. dynamic on stage presence. a performer on the move. for a frenetic crowd at a historic venue in havana. at the annual dance party held every year as well in miami and new orleans. mixing it up with the crowd at austin city limits. everywhere he goes, cimafunk is bringing a mix of afro-cuban sounds and rhythms and african-american funk and soul. >> i'm trying to put more funk in the afro-cuban music i make. reporter: 70's soul and funk and you put it together with

afro-cuban. >> yes. it is similar to the cuban feeling in terms of expression and melodies. reporter: cimafunk was born eric iglesias rodriguez into a family he describes as very poor, two hours from havana. if his music is a blend, so is his stage name. cima comes from the term cimarr ones, the cubans of african descent who escaped slavery. >> whatever they were creating was original. it is freedom of expression. it was dealing with the things, we are free here. in that moment, i started to get more close to my roots, looking where i came from. i started to learn more about that, all of africa, and what they bring here, most of the

great things we have today in music and food, the contribution africa brings. i have to embrace that because i feel like finally i found my identity and i love it. i want more and more and more. reporter: though he sang in church as a child, his original path following other family members was medicine. he attended medical school for two years. people like stevie wonder, michael jackson, and the biggest bang of all, seeing the video of james brown performing. that, ended his medical career. >> [singing] i was like, what is this? it blew my mind. i heard the song before but i never imagined that it was this type of style and groove, and then i got obsessed with music.

i was like, i have to do this. reporter: you mean using your body as well as your voice. >> yes, everything. everything into me. reporter: we also hear of the influence has. flew the other way afro-cuban sounds of his youth impacting american music. >> i can hear it in james brown, marvin gaye, i can hear the groove. i can feel it is from cuba. reporter: this connection of grooves has got cimafunk three grammy nominations and one latin grammy nomination including this year for his album, a joyous example of his brand of music. it also fueled his leadership in a very direct project of connection called getting funky and havana. a recently brought together music students from havana and new orleans. cimafunk worked alongside his friend, jazz great trombone

shorty. playing with the stars of tomorrow, including at a music school in their own special kind of matchup -- mash-up. >> he's one of the greats, incorporating american funk with the cuban style, creating a whole new genre of music. the kids love him. i walk around town and see that. reporter: overlooking havana, cimafunk told us this work is giving young cubans a sense of the influence and power of their music in the wider world. >> when you do music, everybody knows and they respect cuban music. those kids, they did not know that and i didn't know either how much cuban music influenced all the music in the world. so when i do that, i was like, everybody should know that. i should have known this before. so when kids know that, they feel like i don't have a trumpet, but i have the feeling.

reporter: at the getting funky festival, the feeling for cimafunk extended beyond the stage to a fashion show where he swaggered on a runway, and a panel discussion including musical inspirations, taj mahal, and george clinton. >> we would have the every day of the house, everybody singing and we grew up with that kind of behavior. reporter: he also made a music video appearance with fellow cuban star edrito martinez. on this night at a free concert under the stars, cimafunk lit up the stage as part of a super jam for the getting funky fans and cuban fans alike. the havana and new orleans connection is an extra strong one now for cimafunk. while he returns home to visit his extended family, new orleans is where he mostly lives and makes his music. it is part of the reality of cuba today. a depressed economy with few

opportunities. many of your friends have left? >> yes, most of them in spain, nicaragua, the u.s., anywhere. reporter: because of no opportunity here? >> yes, when things get bad, you moved to another place. reporter: for you, being out of the country's necessity or a choice? >> i left because i could, but i keep working out of cuba because i want to. it is better for my career. united states and europe are a big market for my music. even if i could stay being -- everything good here, for my career, it's not the best option. so i choose to improve myself. reporter: in december, cimafunk joined trombone shorty at the kennedy center honors, in celebration of cuban-american music icon arturo sandoval. he also knows his island is again in many ways isolated from the u.s. and other parts of the

world, as recent political changes and continued travel restrictions. of the future he says -- >> i don't know what will happen but i would love for people to pecially from the street, that's what we hope and that's what we wish. that is my dream. that we get connected with the world. reporter: for now he's doing his part through music. for the pbs news hour, i'm jeffrey brown and havana, cuba. ♪ geoff: we have an important update to an earlier story in the broadcast.

after we came on the air, the israeli military said their identification process shows the body of shiri bibas was not returned and the hostage exchange. the body does not match any of the hostage and remains on direct -- unidentified. amna: societyamna: of says it confirms the bodies of her two children were returned and called for the immediate return of their mothers remains. remember, there's a lot more online including what experts say buyers and renters can expect in the u.s. housing market in 2025. that's at pbs.org/newshour. geoff: and that is the news hour for tonight. i'm geoff bennett. amna: and i'm amna nawaz. on behalf of the entire news hour team, thank you for joining us. announcer: major funding for the "pbs news hour" has been provided by -- >> on an american cruise lines journey, along the columbia and snake rivers, travelers re-forge the root forged by lewis and clark more than 200 years ago.

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hello, everybody, and welcome to "amanpour & company." here's what's coming up. trump's jaw-dropping accusation as the president blames kruk for russia's invasion. have things ever been better for president putin? i spoke to former negotiator