Monday on the NewsHour:
Israeli hostages and Palestinian detainees are released after two years of war, signaling a fragile new phase in Middle East diplomacy.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration’s latest wave of firings further hollows out the Department of Education, raising concerns about policy continuity and leadership.
And Indigenous activist Leonard Peltier, convicted in the 1970s for the killing of two FBI agents, adjusts to life outside prison after his sentence was commuted — sparking renewed debate about justice and forgiveness in America.
📺 Watch tonight’s full program for in-depth analysis and exclusive interviews from PBS NewsHour correspondents.#BreakingNews #Israel #Gaza #HostageRelease #Trump #EducationDepartment #LeonardPeltier #USPolitics #WorldNews #MiddleEast #IndigenousRights #PrisonReform #NewsUpdate #GlobalHeadlines
Israeli hostages and Palestinian detainees are released after two years of war, signaling a fragile new phase in Middle East diplomacy.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration’s latest wave of firings further hollows out the Department of Education, raising concerns about policy continuity and leadership.
And Indigenous activist Leonard Peltier, convicted in the 1970s for the killing of two FBI agents, adjusts to life outside prison after his sentence was commuted — sparking renewed debate about justice and forgiveness in America.
📺 Watch tonight’s full program for in-depth analysis and exclusive interviews from PBS NewsHour correspondents.#BreakingNews #Israel #Gaza #HostageRelease #Trump #EducationDepartment #LeonardPeltier #USPolitics #WorldNews #MiddleEast #IndigenousRights #PrisonReform #NewsUpdate #GlobalHeadlines
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NewsTranscript
00:00Good evening, I'm Jeff Bennett.
00:05And I'm Amna Nawaz.
00:06On the NewsHour tonight, a day of reunion.
00:09Israeli hostages and Palestinian detainees are released after two long years of war.
00:15The Trump administration's latest round of mass firings further hollows out the Department
00:24of Education, which the president has pledged to close.
00:27And indigenous activist Leonard Peltier, convicted of killing two FBI agents, adjusts to life
00:34outside prison after his sentence was commuted.
00:37I would die for the people if I had to, but I was not going to turn against my people.
00:43So I stayed defiant all the 49 years plus in prison.
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02:44Welcome to the NewsHour.
02:46After two years of brutal war, 20 Israeli hostages and nearly 2,000 Palestinian detainees and prisoners
02:53were swapped today as the American-led ceasefire in Gaza held.
02:58It was a day of hope and relief for many, tinged with apprehension of what lies ahead.
03:03There are harder steps still to come and no guarantees of success.
03:07But a triumphant President Trump received a hero's welcome when he landed early today in Israel.
03:12Later, he led a multinational peace conference in Egypt before flying home.
03:17Special correspondent Leila Molana-Allen reports tonight from Tel Aviv.
03:20Watching, waiting, hoping.
03:24It was a day, two years and many prayers in the making.
03:28Someone ripped our hearts and now someone back.
03:32Overwhelmed with emotion, they stood in tearful silence.
03:36Since late last night, thousands of people have been gathered here.
03:39At what's become known over the last couple of years as Hostage Square,
03:43the epicenter of the call for the hostages to come home.
03:45They waited with bated breath, watching the gradual releases on a large screen
03:50and hoping that after today, the name here would become redundant.
03:54And then, the screams of joy began.
03:58Masters are free!
04:00As the Red Cross vehicles bearing their longed-for cargo drove slowly out of Gaza,
04:04well-wishers lined the roads by Israel's border.
04:07The hostages were then flown by helicopter to specially prepared medical facilities.
04:11As they appeared overhead, the crowds here erupted in elation.
04:16One after another, the last of the living hostages were reunited with waiting family,
04:21an embrace they feared would never come.
04:24But not everyone came home today.
04:27Just four of the bodies of the 28 deceased hostages were returned.
04:32Efrat Mashikawa has been here for 30 hours and counting.
04:35Six of her family members were kidnapped on October 7th.
04:39One was killed.
04:40The other five returned home in previous handover deals after an agonizing wait.
04:45I mean, the atrocity that happened here is really beyond understanding.
04:50And then the longing that builds up here.
04:53And the fear of torture, of hunger, of threat for your beloved man.
04:59Think of the brother, of the child, of the parents.
05:03But today, she's here to support the other hostages and their families,
05:08whom she's grown as close to as her own.
05:11We must have every single hostage until the very last one.
05:16Because unless everyone are here, the healing of the state of Israel cannot stop.
05:24Cheering and waving American and Israeli flags,
05:27They watched the man they credit with seeing this deal through address the nation from Israel's parliament.
05:34Thank you, Trump. Thank you, Trump.
05:38The president proudly proclaimed the war was over.
05:41His praise for Israel's leader leavened with a warning.
05:44But it was time to turn the page.
05:46Bibi, you're going to be remembered for this far more than if you kept this thing going, going, going.
05:52Kill, kill, kill.
05:53So Israel, with our help, has won all that they can by force of arms.
06:01You've won.
06:01Now it's time to translate these victories against terrorists on the battlefield
06:06into the ultimate prize of peace and prosperity for the entire Middle East.
06:11The Knesset was lit up red, white and blue as the president sped off to another pressing appointment.
06:17Hours behind schedule, Trump flew to the seaside resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt,
06:23where he welcomed world leaders to the Gaza peace summit
06:26and commended Arab and Muslim leaders for what he called the biggest deal to have ever happened.
06:32The Middle East, it's the biggest, most complicated deal.
06:37And also it's the place that could lead to tremendous problems like World War III.
06:43They always talk about World War III would start in the Middle East and that's not going to happen.
06:51Meanwhile, in the occupied West Bank, people flooded the streets to welcome home released Palestinian prisoners.
06:57Families torn apart by years of confinement, reunited.
07:01At last, with his loved ones, Kamala Abushanab says what he lived through was a nightmare.
07:08My weight was 280 pounds.
07:10Today, I'm 150 pounds.
07:13It was an indescribable journey of suffering, hunger, unfair treatment, oppression, torture and curses.
07:20More than anything you could imagine.
07:22We escaped death.
07:24His niece, Farah, struggled to hold back tears.
07:27We're crying because we don't recognize him.
07:30He's not the person we knew.
07:32Our uncle doesn't look like our uncle.
07:34It's unfair.
07:35Many released today were convicted of terrorism offenses that killed Israelis and were serving life sentences.
07:42But many others, among them women and children, were held under a policy allowing detention without formal charges.
07:50Around 80 miles south in Khan Yunus in Gaza, a sea of people.
07:54As buses arrived with hundreds of Gazans who were detained by Israel over the last two years.
07:59A moment of raw emotion as a child kissed a father after an unbearable separation.
08:06And a father lifted a child who grew up in his absence.
08:10For Gazans, this ceasefire is a moment to pause and grieve.
08:14But even as Israeli strikes have stopped, killings and mayhem have not.
08:18Today, Hamas publicly executed dozens of Gazans they accused of collaboration with Israel.
08:24Clashes have also erupted between Hamas fighters and other militias.
08:28On Sunday, a prominent Gazan journalist, Saleh al-Jafarawi, was killed by Israeli-backed militias.
08:34Al-Jafarawi had survived and reported two years of death and destruction, while stealing moments of joy and humanity.
08:42Palestinians, whether prisoners released today or families once again returning to Gaza City, are faced with a ravaged moonscape of ruins and rubble.
08:52They could have saved us a long time ago instead of all this destruction and ruin.
08:59What is left in Gaza?
09:00There is nothing left in it except for its dead people.
09:03We are dead, souls without bodies.
09:06Tell us where to go.
09:08How many years before they build our homes?
09:10A day filled with joy for many, and one they hope will bring an end to this stage of a brutal war, but also a day filled with fear of what comes next.
09:22Jeff?
09:23Did today play out as expected?
09:26And based on your reporting, Layla, what comes next?
09:31So it did initially play out as expected.
09:33We were expecting all the hostages to come home today.
09:36And from the early morning, that is what happened.
09:39First, a tranche of seven living hostages, and then 13 more living hostages were brought across the border by the Red Cross in vehicles.
09:47They met with family members and doctors at a camp right on the Gaza border, and then they were flown by helicopter to three different hospitals that had been placed and ready to receive them.
09:57Now, they will, in the coming days, go through significant medical checks.
10:00Of course, many of them have been without food.
10:02Some have been beaten.
10:03They will be in quite severe medical condition.
10:05And then the psychological support, too.
10:07But that is where things changed, and things stopped going to plan.
10:12What we saw next was supposed to be the release of the 28 bodies of the deceased hostages.
10:17Now, a few days ago, Hamas had said they actually didn't know where all the bodies were.
10:21And it was confirmed by Israel that there would be a task force to go into Gaza to look for them.
10:26But today, this afternoon, Hamas then said they were actually only going to release four bodies of the deceased, which were released this evening.
10:33That immediately resulted in calls from both the Hostage Families Forum and some on the far right of the government here saying that this was not what was agreed, and already Hamas was going against the deal.
10:43So that makes it clear just how tense and fragile this ceasefire deal is, because this part of the deal has played into Donald Trump's classic negotiating tactics.
10:53He's gone hard.
10:54He's gone fast.
10:55Get those hostages out.
10:56And Hamas has gambled letting the hostages go, because that's all they had to bargain with.
11:00What comes next is far more complicated.
11:03Now we see what will play out for the future of Gaza, whether there will, in fact, be any form of Palestinian state.
11:09Those are much harder questions to answer, and there is very little trust on either side.
11:14Laila Malana-Island in Tel Aviv tonight.
11:17Laila, thank you.
11:21For more on today's events, we turn to two people with extensive experience trying to negotiate peace between the Israelis and Palestinians.
11:29Dennis Ross played leading roles in the Middle East peace process for both Democratic and Republican administrations.
11:35He's now at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
11:38That's the Washington think tank.
11:40And Rob Malley had high-level positions on the National Security Council staff in the Clinton, Obama, and Biden administrations.
11:47He's now senior fellow at Yale University.
11:49Gentlemen, welcome to you both, and thank you for joining us.
11:52Before we get to what comes next, I want to just put to each of you to answer briefly on how we got here.
11:57Rob, start us off here.
11:58Why do you think this president now was able to get done what his predecessor was not?
12:06Well, first, I mean, he put together a peace plan, which is an eyesore.
12:09I mean, you know, it demands atonement for the Palestinians for what happened on the massacre of October 7th.
12:15It doesn't demand atonement for what Israel's barbaric war that followed.
12:19It is, you know, it is a cause for Gaza's deradicalization, but not for Israel's.
12:25It micromanages the future of the Palestinian self-governance.
12:29It doesn't say anything about the future of Israel's occupation.
12:32It's riddled with ambiguities.
12:33And yet for all that, despite all that, it's a major achievement by the president.
12:38And it was achieved, again, despite all the criticism that I just leveled, because he adopted a form of unconventional politics where he just exercised raw power, was prepared to break convention.
12:48He spoke to Hamas. He put pressure on Israel. He also gave guarantees to both sides.
12:54And it was a form of politics that his predecessors simply were not able or willing to exert.
13:00Dennis Ross, do you agree with that? In this case, Rob is saying that the man himself was more important than the plan.
13:05Well, I think, yes, I generally agree with what Rob said. I would put it a little differently.
13:13President Trump exercises leverage. Leverage takes two forms.
13:17One is incentives and inducement, and the other is penalties and consequences.
13:22What he he put himself in a position where the prime minister of Israel could not say no to him.
13:27But he also used the Arabs in a way that President Biden couldn't.
13:32He put them in a position where basically they were also willing to be responsive to him and they were not prepared to say no to him.
13:41President Biden wasn't in a position to to basically convince Bibi not to say no to him.
13:48And one of the reasons that was the case is because Bibi always had the Republicans that he could use against the president.
13:54So there was a context that was different, but he was prepared to use coercion and leverage in a way that went beyond what the Democratic president or Democratic administration was prepared to do.
14:04Rob Malley, do you feel that the previous government that under President Biden, did it have leverage that it didn't use?
14:11Or is it also true that President Trump just had different circumstances that offered him more leverage?
14:16Right. Israel had already met a number of its goals. Hamas was degraded.
14:20They killed Hezbollah leaders in Lebanon. They carried out joint U.S. strikes against Iran.
14:24Were the conditions more ripe for a deal?
14:29I think both statements are true.
14:30Yes, the conditions were more ripe for a deal for all the reasons you gave and some of the reasons that Dennis gave.
14:35But it is also true that the Biden administration, and this is something that Biden administration officials are going to have to face and have to account for,
14:42did not exercise the leverage that they possessed.
14:45Yes, they had huge leverage with Israel. President Biden was extremely popular with the Israeli public right after October 7th.
14:51So he had that leverage, political leverage. And of course, they had the leverage of the provision of weapons.
14:56You can't say that you're working tirelessly for ceasefire and continue to provide the weapons that ensure that the fire continues.
15:03That is simply inconsistent. So, yes, they had the kind of leverage that had they wanted to.
15:08They could have called Prime Minister Netanyahu out, which they didn't want to do.
15:12They didn't want to take tough votes at the Security Council.
15:14And most of all, they didn't want to withhold or condition the provision of weapons.
15:19Again, I agree that President Trump faced more favorable circumstances,
15:24but there's a lot of leverage that the Biden administration had, and they simply refused to exercise.
15:29Dennis Ross, there's also this approach by Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner,
15:33to reportedly meet directly with Hamas to make the case and make clear to them that President Trump wants peace here
15:40to get Turkey and Egypt and Qatar to apply more pressure.
15:44How different is that from previous efforts?
15:47And does that in any way, looking forward, keep Hamas from breaking the ceasefire,
15:51somehow put Trump as a guarantor?
15:54Well, it's an interesting point, because historically, no administration had been willing to meet with Hamas
16:01because they didn't want to legitimize them.
16:03They didn't want to undercut the Palestinian Authority,
16:05and they didn't want to make Hamas the representative of the Palestinians.
16:09This administration did not feel constrained that way,
16:12and so they approached Hamas directly at the end.
16:15But I'm not sure that was ultimately the key.
16:17I think the real key here on the Arab side, and also the Muslim side,
16:22was being prepared to use the relationship with Turkey, President Erdogan,
16:28use the Qataris, use the Egyptians,
16:30make it clear to them how much they had to gain with President Trump,
16:34but also what they had to lose if they weren't helpful.
16:38All of them decided it was in their interest to show President Trump how successful they could be
16:44and why he had a stake in them.
16:47The Biden administration never quite did that.
16:49And to be fair on the issue of the circumstances,
16:52the fact is those circumstances in terms of what Israel had done to Hezbollah,
16:57that was done a year ago.
16:59So many of the circumstances were there for some time.
17:03Obviously, what happened in June with Iran also affected things,
17:07but the reality is the real weakening of the proxy network had taken place before that.
17:13Rob Malley, take a look at how the president was speaking about this deal today
17:17with a major summit, right?
17:19All the world's leaders gathered behind him there,
17:22and he's using language talking about the end of the war,
17:25talking about a new beginning.
17:27Is he right?
17:28I mean, at the end of the war in Gaza, if he achieves that again,
17:34that's a momentous achievement.
17:36I think beyond that, it's typical Trump hyperbole.
17:39This is not the end of the conflict, not even the end of the conflict in Gaza,
17:43let alone the end of the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.
17:46I think the lesson here is that it's going to take a president,
17:49whether it's President Trump or a future president,
17:51to use an unconventional form of politics,
17:54a politics that is immune from the laws of political gravity in the U.S.
17:57and is prepared to take steps that may not be popular,
18:00that may not be traditional, that may not be typical.
18:02But, for example, engaging with Hamas,
18:04that is something that, as Dennis said, prior presidents didn't want to do,
18:08but it was simply a recognition of reality.
18:10How do you make peace in Gaza if you don't talk to the party
18:13that holds the key to war and peace?
18:16It may not be pretty, but it's essential.
18:18President Trump did that.
18:20I would be far from predicting now that we're on the verge,
18:23on the cusp of Israeli-Palestinian peace, one step at a time,
18:26I think for Gazans today, this is, you know,
18:29they're going from an utter hell to a mere nightmare,
18:33and that's progress for them.
18:35We've seen the joy of the families that are getting the hostages,
18:38the Palestinian detainees who are back.
18:40We're hoping that humanitarian aid is going to go back into Gaza again.
18:43That's achievement enough.
18:45I think it's going to take some time to get to the next phase,
18:48let alone Israeli-Palestinian peace.
18:51Dennis Ross, in the minute or so we have left,
18:52what are you watching in the days, weeks ahead,
18:54to see if this ceasefire does hold?
18:59It is going to be President Trump's direct involvement,
19:02his team's direct involvement, filling out that team with more.
19:05You have 20 points.
19:07I think every single point is interpreted differently by the parties,
19:11and the linkage between demilitarization and withdrawal is a key one.
19:15How is it defined?
19:16Who's going to carry it out?
19:17That's what I'm really watching for.
19:19A big first step, big questions, as you both say, ahead.
19:23Dennis Ross, Rob Malley, thank you both for your time.
19:29We start the day's other news in North Carolina,
19:45where Republican lawmakers say they'll vote next week
19:47on a new congressional map that could help them win an additional seat in Congress.
19:52It's the latest move in the nationwide battle over redistricting.
19:55Republicans in Texas and Missouri and Democrats in California
19:59have all made similar efforts ahead of next year's midterm elections.
20:03North Carolina last changed its map in 2023.
20:06In 2024, Republicans won 10 out of 14 seats.
20:10Before that, the parties were evenly split.
20:13New Jersey and parts of New York have declared emergencies
20:16as a powerful offshore storm slams the East Coast.
20:20One woman in New York City was killed when a solar panel was blown from a rooftop.
20:24The nor'easter storm is churning its way north after hammering the Carolina Outer Banks.
20:30Strong winds and flooding are expected from Virginia to New Jersey,
20:34where residents are already reporting high surf.
20:37Never seen the ocean like this.
20:38It's probably the craziest I've ever seen.
20:40Elsewhere, transit workers in New York City covered subway vents today to prevent flooding.
20:46The city's Columbus Day parade was canceled.
20:49Meanwhile, in western Alaska, dozens have been rescued after the region was hit hard
20:53by the remnants of Typhoon Ha Long.
20:56Officials there say three people remain missing after winds and flooding hit the remote coastal area.
21:01Officials in Mexico say the death toll from last week's rains and flooding
21:06has risen to at least 64, with dozens of people more missing.
21:10Most of the fatalities were reported in the states of Veracruz, Hidalgo, and Puebla,
21:15near the country's eastern coast.
21:17Residents of affected areas have been cleaning up and assessing the damage,
21:21with thousands still without power and running water.
21:24Some areas received more than 20 inches of rain last week, causing flooding and landslides.
21:29Officials are warning that the death toll could rise.
21:33Turning now to Madagascar, where President Andrei Rajolina says he had to flee to a secure
21:39location to protect his life.
21:41The 51-year-old made the announcement in a speech posted online,
21:45though he didn't disclose his location.
21:47The former French colony of some 31 million people off the coast of Africa
21:51has faced weeks of protests led by a youth group calling themselves Gen Z Madagascar.
21:57The demonstrations began over water and electricity outages and quickly grew to include broader
22:03anger at the government.
22:05Then this weekend, an elite military unit joined the cause and the president's office
22:10said a coup was underway.
22:12Today, protesters in the capital's main square said their work is not yet done.
22:16It is only the struggle on the ground that is over, not the struggle at the negotiating table.
22:24And that is where the change of the system, the desire to change the system, takes on its meaning.
22:29The situation on the ground in Madagascar remains fluid, with curfews in place in the country's
22:34major cities.
22:36Three researchers have won this year's Nobel Economics Prize for their work on the concept
22:41of creative destruction.
22:43That's where new innovations replace older technologies and businesses.
22:47Dutch-born Joel Mokir will receive half of the $1.2 million prize.
22:52Philippe Aguillon and Peter Howitt will split the rest.
22:56The Nobel Committee said the winners helped shed light on how innovation drives economic growth
23:01and human welfare.
23:02The economics prize was established by the Bank of Sweden in 1968 as a memorial to Alfred Nobel.
23:08And on Wall Street today, stocks regained their footing after President Trump tried to ease
23:14concerns about his China tariff threats.
23:17The Dow Jones Industrial Average added nearly 600 points.
23:21The Nasdaq jumped almost 500 points on the day.
23:24The S&P 500 also ended sharply higher.
23:27And after 16 years and more than 1,600 episodes, today, Mark Maron wrapped his groundbreaking
23:34podcast, WTF.
23:36The actor and comedian started the show in 2009 out of his California garage.
23:42Those humble origins set a template for a generation of podcasters that followed thanks to freewheeling
23:48and honest conversations with the likes of Robin Williams, Lorne Michaels, and Ariana Grande.
23:54Former President Barack Obama became the first sitting president to appear on the podcast in 2015,
23:59and he returned as Maron's final guest.
24:03Obama spoke to Maron's popularity.
24:04And I think that part of the reason you had such a big fan base during the 16-year run
24:10is there was a core decency to you and the conversations you had.
24:17Maron and his longtime producing partner, Brendan McDonald, announced they would end the show
24:22earlier this year, saying they were burnt out but, quote, utterly satisfied with the work we've done.
24:27In recent years, WTF has consistently been one of the most streamed and downloaded podcasts,
24:33boasting more than 55 million listens per year.
24:37Still to come on the NewsHour.
24:39The state of the government shutdown now that President Trump has ordered military members still be paid.
24:45And Tamara Keith and Amy Walter break down the latest political headlines.
24:54This is the PBS NewsHour from the David M. Rubenstein Studio at WETA in Washington
24:59and in the West from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University.
25:03The Speaker of the House said today the U.S. is barreling toward one of the longest shutdowns
25:12in history. That stark warning on this 13th day of the government shutdown comes as effects are
25:18already starting to ripple across the country, with federal workers facing their first week
25:22without a paycheck. Here with the latest is our White House correspondent, Liz Landers.
25:26All right, Liz, so day 13, has there been any movement?
25:29The short answer is no, Jeff. The president did announce over the weekend that he's directing
25:33the Pentagon to use, quote, all available funds to pay the U.S. troops. This is apparently
25:39reportedly going to be coming from leftover research and development funds that were
25:43left over from last fiscal year. The president talked about this last night on Air Force One.
25:49We're taking care of it. We've got the military paid in full. And we're doing a lot of things.
25:55We're ending some programs that we don't want. They happen to be Democrat-sponsored programs.
26:00But we're ending some programs that we never wanted. And we're probably not going to allow
26:06them to come back. I think they made a mistake. I think they made a big mistake.
26:10You hear the president there blaming Democrats still. That has been the Republican position.
26:15Speaker Mike Johnson taking that same position today, continuing to blame Democrats for this
26:19shutdown, saying that Leader Schumer is using misleading information right now to the public.
26:26And as you mentioned in the intro, Speaker Johnson saying that we're barreling towards the longest
26:32government shutdown in history. If that is the case, that means we will be several more weeks in
26:38this government shutdown. We're 13 days into this one. The longest one we've had in U.S. history is
26:4335 days. But I would add, though, Jeff, that the speaker has had the House out of session.
26:48They're not in session right now. The Senate keeps coming back. They continue to vote on
26:53these bills. The majority of Democrats continue to hold the line on health care. They say that
26:59they do not want to negotiate until, do not want to reopen the government until there are these
27:04negotiations on health care. We heard from Leader Jeffries yesterday saying that Democrats will
27:10meet anyone, anytime, anyplace to have those negotiations. As far as we know, that's not happening.
27:15Yeah, the sticking point remains. So let's talk about the impact. What's the impact of all of this?
27:20And when will more Americans start to feel it? Well, hundreds of thousands of federal workers are
27:23going to start missing their paychecks starting this week. We're also hearing that the Smithsonian,
27:30America's museums are closed now. All 21 of those had closed as of yesterday. And then one of the
27:37biggest impacts that we've seen thus far are these reduction in force memos that went out. Basically,
27:45these mass layoffs, the administration had been teasing that this would happen. These went out
27:49last Friday to more than 4,000 federal employees. Our colleague, Ali Rogan, reported over the weekend
27:57that more than 1,300 staff at the CDC received some of these notices. And of those 1,300, a few days
28:06later, 700 of them had those RIF notices rescinded. So that just gives you, I think, a sense of some of
28:14the uncertainty that these federal workers are facing right now. The chaos and confusion. Let's talk
28:19while we have you about a new personnel announcement the president made. Naming Dan Scavino to lead the White
28:25House Office of Personnel Management. Remind us who he is and why this matters.
28:29The president posted this on Truth Social yesterday. He announced that Dan Scavino,
28:33quote, will be responsible for the selection and appointment of almost all positions in government,
28:38a very big and important position. Scavino started in President Trump's orbit as his golf caddy years
28:45ago at his golf club. He has remained a trusted advisor to the president. He was handling his social
28:51media account during the first Trump administration. I'm sure you remember that.
28:56Scavino, though, somebody basically told me today, a former White House official in the first Trump
29:01administration, sort of described it saying that announcing Scavino in this role is making
29:07something official that he was already doing in an unofficial capacity, which has been advising
29:12the president about personnel decisions now for years.
29:14Liz Landers, our thanks to you as always.
29:16And we're going to focus now on some of the particular layoffs that were announced this
29:22weekend at the Department of Education. On Friday, the Trump administration fired most
29:26employees at the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services. That office is tasked
29:32with protecting the rights of some seven and a half million children with disabilities across the
29:37country and ensuring they get a fair education. For more on this, we're joined again by Laura Meckler,
29:42National Education Writer for The Washington Post. Thanks for being with us. Let's start with the
29:47basics. Help us understand what this office does and why people are so concerned about the loss of so
29:52many staff members at this office.
29:57What this office does is administers a very important federal law called IDEA, the Individuals
30:03with Disabilities Education Act. And what that does is it provides funding and it has requirements for
30:09school districts to provide a free and appropriate education to students with disabilities.
30:14So it's a $15 billion program, something that a lot of school districts really rely on.
30:20And that money is still flowing as far as we know. But the point of this office is essentially to
30:26oversee this program. It's a very big program to make sure that states and school districts are
30:31following the law to answer questions when states have about, you know, can we do this or can we do that?
30:36And essentially to provide oversight. So essentially the money is still going out, but without the kind
30:42of guarantees and controls that we're used to being in place when we're talking about billions of
30:48dollars. So give us a real world example of how these cuts would affect students, families, educators
30:54in the classroom.
30:55I mean, it takes, you know, it's a little bit removed from the direct, a direct impact. But one way you
31:04could see it is you can imagine, say, a school district that is sort of systematically not providing
31:10a certain type of service that students need. Let's say they need a certain kind of technology
31:15in order to communicate students who are nonverbal, for instance. And this district just isn't doing
31:20that. Well, it's the responsibility of the state to make sure that the districts do this. But let's
31:25say the state isn't forcing them to do it, isn't doing its job. Well, then that's where the federal
31:29government comes in. They do audits. They look at data. They look at reports. They go in and they sort
31:34of look over the shoulder of the states and a sample of the districts to see what are you up to? And if
31:41they find that there are gaps like this, then they work with the states to essentially force them to
31:46comply with the law. So in our example here, maybe there would be a student who was not getting an iPad
31:52that she needed to communicate. And after this work was done, maybe she gets it.
31:58Your reporting also found layoffs within the Education Department's Office of Civil Rights. What more have you
32:03learned about that?
32:06Yeah, and this really goes hand in hand in a way with what we were just talking about, because the Office for Civil
32:12Rights is where people complain when they feel like their rights are not being respected.
32:16are being violated, when they feel they're being discriminated on the basis of race, sex, or
32:21disability. And this office has just been absolutely decimated. Earlier this year, we saw about half of
32:28the workers laid off, seven of 12 regional offices closed. And then just last night, there were another
32:34round of layoffs, of reductions in force that were sent out to workers at the Office for Civil Rights.
32:40So for instance, the Seattle office, one of the survivors in the first round, you know, many,
32:45many people, a large percentage of those workers and attorneys who handle cases there,
32:51were let go. This is an office that was already had, you know, more than it could handle. Then it
32:57absorbed all the cases from the San Francisco office and was dealing with the entire West Coast.
33:02And now they have, you know, just a skeleton staff left in place once these rifts are carried out.
33:07So it really raises the question of whether they'll be able to do their congressionally
33:12mandated function of investigating potential violations of civil rights.
33:16The Trump administration has long sought to push more education responsibilities to the states.
33:22What's the worry about how states might interpret federal law and what's ultimately at stake for
33:27students and their families?
33:28I think that that's really the question here is sort of like, who do we trust to follow the law,
33:36to follow the rules? I mean, advocates, including some of who I spoke to today, said that, hey,
33:41states weren't doing it. And that's why the federal government came in. These kids were not being
33:45served before we had a federal law. And, you know, now they are more or less being served. So
33:51the risk is that when you leave it to the state, some states will do a good job and some states won't.
33:57But, you know, we don't know. I think that the argument that people who don't think that there
34:02should be a big federal role in education would say is that we can trust the states. They're going
34:07to do a fine job. They care about kids just as much as bureaucrats in Washington do. But, you know,
34:13for many years now, we've had the safeguard of a federal oversight. And I think when we're talking
34:19about such a large federal program, such as these special education programs, you know, there are a lot
34:24of people who would expect there to be some oversight attached to that.
34:29Laura Meckler of The Washington Post. Laura, thanks to you.
34:34Thanks for having me.
34:35President Donald Trump is taking a victory lap abroad after the announcement of a ceasefire in the
34:56Middle East. But at home, the government shutdown enters another week with no clear end in sight.
35:01To take a closer look, we're joined by our Politics Monday duo. That is Amy Walter of The
35:06Cook Political Report with Amy Walter and Tamara Keith of NPR. Great to see you both.
35:11Let's start with the biggest story. Obviously, President Trump oversees there, Tam, signing that
35:15major ceasefire deal as the first step to end the two-year war. Now, you cover this president,
35:20but you obviously covered the last president, too. You traveled with President Biden to Israel soon
35:25after the October 7th attacks. When you compare the approaches of these two presidents, what do you
35:31see? They definitely had different approaches. They had different relationships with Prime
35:36Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel. President Biden had a very long but also very complicated
35:43and strained relationship with Netanyahu. When we flew into Tel Aviv about less than two weeks after
35:49the October 7th attack, though, he embraced Netanyahu and hugged Israel close as well,
35:55really throughout his presidency. Occasionally there would be, or more than occasionally,
36:00there would be pushback behind the scenes, but it wasn't out front. President Trump has a very good
36:06relationship with Netanyahu, is popular and even more popular now in Israel. He's a popular figure
36:14broadly in the Middle East. And he also, though, gave Israel exactly what they wanted, gave Netanyahu
36:21exactly what he wanted, including the airstrikes on the Iranian nuclear facilities over the summer.
36:30So all of that, though, gave Trump a little bit more leverage to then come back and say,
36:36no, this is the time. It needs to happen. And also because he had those relationships with other
36:42countries in the Middle East and the Abraham Accords from his first term and all of that,
36:47he was able to get those countries to apply more pressure to Hamas to get them to this place.
36:52But I think it is still really important to note that there was a ceasefire agreement at the very
36:58beginning of the Trump administration, very end of the Biden administration, and it fell apart
37:04before they got to phase two. That's right. And there are very real disagreements about where
37:10things go from here for Gaza that, well, they weren't front of mind today. Yeah. Well, Amy,
37:17this is a president, as you know, ran on America First, right, on reducing American intervention
37:23overseas, now proudly holding up the mantle as peacemaker on the global stage. Is this what his
37:29supporters back home want to see? Oh, I think what they'd like to see and what the president has said
37:33often is, I alone can fix this. You were up at the UN just last month, where the president basically
37:40said, I'm the dealmaker. I know how to do this. These sorts of bodies like the UN, they do all this
37:45talk. They don't get stuff done. I can get stuff done. What I think is really interesting, though,
37:50as we go forward to Tam's point about the next steps, when you look at Americans' opinion of this
37:57war and of how the president has handled it, not surprisingly, very polarized by party,
38:03also by age. We've seen, of course, older voters much more supportive of how the president is
38:10handling this and of Israel. The one issue that both sides, both Democrats and Republicans,
38:16agreed on equally was Hamas should give the hostages back. So this is a rare point of agreement
38:22among Democrats and Republicans. Going forward, though, when you look at, and this was a poll taken,
38:28obviously before what happened this weekend, most Democrats say what their top concern is the deaths
38:39of Palestinians, especially starvation and the Israeli attacks on Palestinian civilians. Republicans,
38:45their top concern is that Hamas does not attack Israel. So going forward, you can see where,
38:52you know, trying to keep, this is the one moment where you had both sides in agreement that this
38:59is a good thing. Going forward, it's going to be hard to find that place where everyone agrees.
39:05Well, he's certainly saying he's a dealmaker abroad. Back here at home, though, haven't been able to
39:10reach a deal. The government shutdown does continue. And we've seen President Trump, Tim, as you know,
39:15criticize presidents in the past for not getting involved enough or doing enough to end shutdowns.
39:19We saw the vice president asked about it over the weekend by Kristen Welker on NBC,
39:23didn't really answer the question and said, we're more concerned with governing realities now
39:27than political ones. But again, comparing past presidents to this one, is this president taking
39:32a role in trying to end the shutdown? President Trump doesn't seem to be trying to make a deal
39:37in this case because he doesn't want to negotiate with Democrats. Republicans don't want to negotiate
39:43with Democrats because, as they said at the very beginning of this, that, you know, Democrats were,
39:52it's the wrong word to use on this day, but they're taking hostages. And that, you know, the Democrats were
39:58using their votes to try to extract political gains and they couldn't support something like that.
40:04That's still the position. Now, 13 days in, it's been going for a very long time.
40:11There really are no negotiations. This is a big difference between past shutdowns where there were
40:16frantic negotiations. I mean, the House is not even in session to take show votes, which typically there are
40:22lots of show votes and lots of stunts, but those are only right now happening on the Senate side where the vote
40:26keeps turning out exactly the same way. So this is just a very different shutdown. I think part of it is that
40:33Republicans are usually the ones who are trying to extract policy gains for their votes. And in this
40:38case, it's Democrats who are trying to extract policy gains for their votes. And, uh, and as a
40:43result, uh, the Republican president is like, no, I don't want to negotiate. Yeah. And both sides are
40:48dug in because both sides feel like they have the winning hand. And right now for Democrats, they believe
40:53that this issue of healthcare is so critical. It's an issue that they want to keep talking about,
40:59not just today, but going into the 2026 midterms that they, and that they are even surprised.
41:05I talked to some democratic strategists who before this shutdown happened said, you know,
41:11I'm a little bit worried. Our party tends to get fragmented and not stick to message. Yeah.
41:16They've been surprised at how disciplined democratic leaders have been on this issue for Republicans.
41:21They also do not feel like they need to compromise because as president Trump said,
41:26it's Democrats who started this and Democrats are going to feel the pain. And ultimately he believes
41:31that will bring them into, into ending the shutdown. But a fascinating situation here is that the,
41:39the white house started out driving a message about, this is a democratic shutdown. This is,
41:43they've never supported a shutdown before. Look, they always say how terrible it is,
41:47but that messaging has really fallen off. In part, the white house is behaving as if there isn't a
41:53shutdown at all. And they're just doing lots of other things that are distracting everyone from
41:58the shutdown that's happening. Yeah. And, and so it's, it's just, um, and at the same time,
42:03the president of the United States and his OMB director, Russell Vogt are saying, we're going to
42:07make this painful. We're going to cut, uh, democratic programs, which in a way then gives them more
42:15ownership in the, of the shutdown than they would have had if they were sitting there negotiating in good
42:20faith and, and trying and trying to bring it to an end. Well, to that point, if we can just bring
42:24up some of the latest polling, cause Amy, I know you've seen this as well, when it comes to how
42:27the American public is looking at this at this point, and this was conducted early in the shutdown,
42:32Americans seem to be holding Republicans more responsible than Democrats by 41 to 30%.
42:38But could that shift the longer this goes on? And the Tam's point is correct. You know,
42:43if the focus is on, oh boy, the, uh, Republican OMB director or the president, they're cutting
42:51programs specifically to, uh, extract something from Democrats that could backfire and make those
43:00numbers move even higher in terms of do we, uh, who do people see as being, uh, responsible for
43:07this on, in terms of Republicans at the same time, you know, part of the reason I think it feels so
43:13different is that we haven't seen a sort of unifying event that brings folks together that say, oh,
43:20the government being shut down is a real problem. People aren't getting paychecks, furloughs are causing
43:26so much harm, or in the case of military pay, that's not going through. Of course, they solved that issue
43:33over the weekend. So there hasn't been something that really is the pain point that can really bring
43:40this to an end today. It still may be coming to that point. As you've noted, the president is now
43:46pushing through those mass firings. They're kind of doing everything they wanted to do during this
43:51shutdown. Where is the Republican incentive to end it? I don't know where the Republican incentive to
43:59end it is unless polling continues to show them losing in the, in the court of public opinion on
44:04this. But, but truly the leading into this shutdown, Russell vote, I was at an event, attended an event,
44:11covered an event that where he was speaking. He said he thought that the budget process, the spending
44:17bills should be less bipartisan. He wanted a more partisan process. And that is exactly what's
44:23happening right now because, uh, a bipartisan process would require negotiation. Week two of
44:29the government shutdown. I think we'll be talking about this. I do too. I think we will. Tamara Keith,
44:34Amy Walter, always great to start the week with you both. Thank you.
44:37To many of his supporters, Leonard Peltier was a political prisoner unjustly punished for his
44:58activism with the American Indian movement. To his critics, he is a remorseless killer of two FBI agents
45:0450 years ago, a charge he denies. In the final minutes of his presidency, Joe Biden commuted Peltier's
45:11sentence, restricting him to home confinement. Our Fred de Sam Lazaro recently visited Peltier
45:16on the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation in North Dakota.
45:21Yeah. Can you see that screen or is it too small? It's too small. His sight is impaired among
45:27several health problems. Time in prison compounding the toll of time itself.
45:33Play Welcome Home, Uncle Leonard. Time has brought helpful technology. And at his home today,
45:40Leonard Peltier is surrounded by memories and art, much of it his own work.
45:45That's the drama right here. I've always wanted to be an artist. And then, uh, I painted murals and
45:53stuff before I went to prison. And when I got there, I probably painted two, three, four hours a day.
46:00And this guy was a modern-day medicine man.
46:02JEFFREY BROWN, That sustained him through the decades in federal prisons, he says,
46:06as did moral support of fans and celebrities worldwide.
46:10This was given to me.
46:11JEFFREY BROWN, One prized possession, the sculpture of an ancient indigenous warrior,
46:16sent to him by then-Bolivian president.
46:18Ivo Morales, the first full-blooded Indian president in this continent.
46:24I'm very proud of it.
46:25JEFFREY BROWN, This home was bought for him by his supporters,
46:30a modest two-bedroom rambler. But after a life in poverty or prison, it's an unimaginable luxury.
46:36When I walked in the door, I said, this is my home. This is what you guys bought me?
46:40I said, yeah. We, uh, you sacrificed for us. This is yours.
46:45JEFFREY BROWN, I just want to acknowledge the generation before us. Think about everything
46:55that Leonard aimed, the American Indian Movement did, his own freedom.
47:00And we're going to keep calling for Leonard's freedom.
47:03JEFFREY BROWN, Nick Tilson, who heads the indigenous advocacy group,
47:06NDN Collective, helped lead the most recent campaign to bring Peltier home,
47:12literally, including a rousing welcome earlier this year.
47:15NICK TILSON, They didn't wait for things to be perfect.
47:20They didn't wait for a strategic plan. When they seen the injustice, they did something about it.
47:26And so, for me, one of the big things that's being a big inspiration from him...
47:31LEONARD PELTIER, We called every goddamn name you could be called,
47:36so that the public would hate us. No, we weren't those people.
47:40JEFFREY BROWN, At 81, Leonard Peltier is as angry as ever,
47:44unapologetic for a lifelong effort to draw attention to the litany of indigenous grievances.
47:50LEONARD PELTIER, All we were trying to do was save a race of people from being terminated.
47:56LEONARD PELTIER, I'm damned. They enslaved us, killed us, massacred us,
48:02raped our children, enslaved our children.
48:06JEFFREY BROWN, Leonard Peltier says he felt his first call to activism as a young teen here on
48:11Turtle Mountain Reservation in North Dakota, a small, isolated Chippewa community that Congress
48:17was considering terminating in the 1950s. Termination was part of a larger policy of
48:23assimilating indigenous people, and it would have ended all federal support for the community here.
48:30Turtle Mountain was eventually spared termination, but the young Peltier did feel the sting of
48:35assimilation policies, placed when he was nine in an Indian boarding school. The children were
48:42forcibly removed from their families with the goal of erasing their native language and culture.
48:47LEONARD PELTIER, All of our hair was cut off, and they would start indoctrinating us into the white
49:01culture and education, whatever you want to call it. And when we continued to be rebellious about it,
49:10we would get the hell beat out of us.
49:12JEFFREY BROWN, Federal policies also relocated millions of Native Americans to urban centers
49:18and confiscated vast swathes of mineral-rich lands beyond those ceded in treaties. The legacy
49:25impoverished reservations and an indifferent Federal Bureau of Indian Affairs, which, Peltier says,
49:32colluded with local tribal governments.
49:34LEONARD PELTIER, You know, land and cattle, they were selling out.
49:38LEONARD PELTIER, We knew that. Almost every tribal government was corrupt back in them days.
49:44That's why we went after them.
49:46LEONARD PELTIER, We is the American Indian Movement, or AIM,
49:51armed self-described warriors who challenged the status quo.
49:56Like the Black Panthers and civil rights and anti-war campaigners of the time,
50:01they drew scrutiny from the FBI, particularly on and near the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.
50:08In June 1975, two FBI agents and one movement activist were killed in an encounter near an AIM
50:15campsite. Beltier was one of three AIM members charged in the agent's killing. He fled to Canada,
50:22while the other two were tried and acquitted after arguing that they acted in self-defense.
50:27LEONARD PELTIER, Had he been tried alongside his co-defendants, he probably, we wouldn't have,
50:32we wouldn't be having this conversation.
50:33MILES O' Nick Estes, professor of American Indian Studies at the University of Minnesota,
50:38says by the time Peltier was extradited back to the U.S., prosecutors changed their strategy and the
50:45trial venue. Estes is one of many academic and legal scholars who have questioned its fairness.
50:52LEONARD PELTIER, He just happened to be an American Indian man
50:56on the reservation that day in possession of a gun, because they could not actually prove
51:02that he was the shooter.
51:03LEONARD PELTIER, He's been unrepentant. He's been remorseless.
51:07LEONARD PELTIER, Well, he says that he did not kill these agents, so that would explain his
51:13lack of repentance, I suspect.
51:14LEONARD PELTIER, Well, the evidence, the courts, the appellate courts all say differently.
51:20MILES O' Michael Clark heads an association of former FBI agents. The agency has long
51:26vigorously opposed any clemency, insisting justice was served in Peltier's case.
51:31LEONARD PELTIER, He had 12 separate opportunities for appeals,
51:37all of which were denied. You just can't change the facts of this heinous crime.
51:43LEONARD PELTIER, Why haven't they sustained an appeal?
51:47LEONARD PELTIER, The overwhelming influence of the FBI. I mean, it's easy to just keep saying this,
51:53the way that the FBI has intervened, not only in his parole hearings,
51:57but in these appeals cases. Who wants to be the judge that lets off an alleged cop killer?
52:05LEONARD PELTIER, An allegation Peltier insists was false, brought by a legal system that has long
52:11mistreated indigenous people, and one reason, he says, he spurned any plea deal that might have
52:17lessened his sentence. I'm a sun dancer. I took that oath. I was a sun dancer. I would die for the
52:23people if I had to, but I was not going to turn against my people. So I stayed defiant all the 49
52:31years plus in prison. MILES O' And you say even today?
52:35LEONARD PELTIER, And today, you hear me now, I'm not against it.
52:38LEONARD PELTIER, Neither have the dire conditions in most indigenous communities
52:43and the campaigns for the return of lands for treaty rights.
52:46LEONARD PELTIER, We will continue to rise up no matter what faces our people.
52:51MILES O' Peltier will be there mostly in spirit, not in person,
52:55thanks to frail health and restrictions on his travel.
52:58LEONARD PELTIER, I can't go to Grand Forks for medical treatment without the paths
53:03or anything over 100 miles. I can only stay so many days. I can't have a whole bunch of people
53:10here visiting me at one time. I still haven't seen some of my family.
53:15MILES O' And is that your little sister Betty?
53:17LEONARD PELTIER, Little sister Betty, yes.
53:18MILES O' Aside from reuniting with family members this twice-married father of seven,
53:24Hope's upcoming treatment will improve his vision so he can resume painting.
53:28LESS certain is his second hope for a full pardon.
53:35For the PBS NewsHour, I'm Fred de Sam Lazaro on the Turtle Mountain Chippewa Reservation.
53:58MILES O' And join us again here tomorrow night
54:03for our conversation with former Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy about his new memoir.
54:07And that is the NewsHour for tonight. I'm Jeff Bennett.
54:10AMNA NAWAZ On behalf of the entire NewsHour team, thank you for joining us.
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