GEOFF BENNETT: Good evening.

I'm Geoff Bennett.

AMNA NAWAZ: And I'm Amna Nawaz.

On the "News Hour" tonight: Senate committees give the green light to two of President Trump's controversial nominees, Tulsi Gabbard and RFK Jr., paving the way for their full confirmation.

GEOFF BENNETT: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits the White House to discuss the tenuous cease-fire in Gaza.

We speak with the niece of a hostage who was released as part of the deal.

AMNA NAWAZ: And amid efforts to curtail birthright citizenship, one family's story demonstrates the history and legacy of that constitutional right.

NORMAN WONG, Descendant of Wong Kim Ark: I'm a product of these laws.

So if those laws were never here, I probably would never get born.

AMNA NAWAZ: Welcome to the "News Hour."

Two of President Trump's most embattled Cabinet nominees cleared major procedural hurdles today on their paths to confirmation.

GEOFF BENNETT: The Senate Finance Committee voted along party lines to send to the full Senate Robert F. Kennedy's nomination to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Senate Intelligence Committee advanced former Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard's nomination to serve as director of national intelligence.

Our congressional correspondent, Lisa Desjardins, is following the Cabinet confirmation process and joins us now.

So, Lisa, let's start with HHS first, since that's one of the largest federal agencies.

What does the Kennedy committee vote mean?

LISA DESJARDINS: Unless something changes, RFK Jr. will become the next HHS secretary.

He has the votes to be confirmed at this point.

There are enough votes on the Senate floor for him.

Now, this is a 71-year-old, of course, who does not have a history or expertise in health care, other than the fact that he's an environmental lawyer and he spent years researching and writing about health care.

He does deserve credit for changing the conversation about processed foods.

And that's what we heard during his Senate confirmation hearings.

But at the same time, there are open doubts about his views and his past statements about the safety of vaccines, his refusal to accept studies that have shown there is no link between autism and vaccines.

And that raised real concerns about him.

You could hear these two very sharply view different views of him in committee today.

SEN. THOM TILLIS (R-NC): I, for one, think that it is time to put a disrupter in.

It is time to put somebody in there that's going to go wild.

But there are areas where I think that's exactly what we need and there are areas of Health and Human Services that if you touch the gold standard for the NIH and the CDC, then I will have a problem with that nominee and we will bring that up during oversight.

SEN. RAPHAEL WARNOCK (D-GA): Mr. Kennedy appears more obsessed in chasing conspiracy theories than chasing solutions to lower health care calls for working families in Georgia and to make sure that we are protected the last.

The thing we need is a dilettante dabbling in conspiracy theories at HHS.

LISA DESJARDINS: Now, this came down to a single Republican senator in that committee, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, himself a physician.

Now, he had expressed real concern during committee hearings about the vaccine views of Kennedy.

Today, he did vote yes, and he said because Kennedy agreed to certain things.

This is highly unusual.

Cassidy said on the Senate floor that Kennedy agreed that he will make no changes to the vaccine recommendations from HHS and that he would seek congressional approval for any major policy changes by HHS, and, get this, that Kennedy and Cassidy would meet regularly, multiple times a month.

Now, the thing here is, whatever agreement Kennedy has made, everyone knows, and Kennedy himself has said, President Trump calls the shots here.

Now, today, President Trump put a message on TRUTH Social in this regard about Kennedy's nomination, and he raised concerns about autism, which, of course, many Americans share.

But raising this today has led some critics to believe he is opening the door to more vaccine skepticism, he is not closing it, which is what Cassidy wants, and says he has a deal on.

GEOFF BENNETT: Let's talk about Tulsi Gabbard, who has faced some criticism from Republicans in the past.

It appears no longer with the Senate Intelligence Committee advancing her nomination.

What does that suggest?

LISA DESJARDINS: Right.

Frankly, she also is on the path to confirmation, which is quite a turnaround from last week, when it was moving the other way.

Today, the Senate Intelligence Committee voted behind closed doors on partisan lines.

And I want to show three of the particular Republican senators we have been watching the closest.

These three raised doubts about her at different points, especially about her refusal to call Edward Snowden a traitor.

I spoke to Senator Collins.

She said she likes that Gabbard will reform the agency.

Senator Lankford there in the middle, I talked with him as well.

He said, in talking with her, he was reassured that she will protect classified programs he cares about, including warrantless wiretaps.

But Democrats say these Republicans are swallowing their own concerns across the board.

Yes, these are non-status quo nominees.

That's what Trump ran on.

But they say this is something else, and Democrats are just laying down and doing what Trump tells them -- Republicans.

GEOFF BENNETT: I know you're also tracking the news involving the FBI.

Bring us up to speed.

LISA DESJARDINS: Right.

There's a lot to talk about there.

First, we expect another confirmation.

That's Pam Bondi for attorney general.

Also on track right now is the FBI director nominee, Kash Patel.

Now, Democrats do want a second hearing with him, so we don't know when that would happen.

But it's important that this is one of the fastest paces we have ever seen of nominees being approved.

Real quick to look at where we're at right now, so far, when you look at all of the nominees moving through for the Cabinet positions, 10 of them, about half, have been approved.

That leaves the other half, but some big ones, like HHS, OMB, still to go.

Now, let's talk about the FBI positions, because those are on the verge of being confirmed.

Now, today was a deadline by Department of Justice asking for the names of every FBI officer who worked on the January 6 prosecutions and also the Mar-a-Lago classified document prosecutions, Trump prosecutions.

January 6, the largest prosecution in DOJ history, that's thousands of agents.

Today, there are two lawsuits filed by FBI agents in different forms seeking to block this, saying this was punitive, this is dangerous.

They're worried about the outing of these FBI agents' names, because, remember, those January 6 offenders were found guilty, some of them, of violence against officers.

And these FBI officers are worried that could come back at them.

They're also worried about losing their jobs.

So this is a very serious business happening, even without people confirmed yet to head these agencies.

GEOFF BENNETT: Indeed.

Lisa Desjardins, thanks so much.

LISA DESJARDINS: You're welcome.

AMNA NAWAZ: Well, as the rest of President Trump's appointees move through the confirmation process, he's also pushing his agenda on tariffs and immigration.

Today, the Chinese response to President Trump sweeping tariffs, countertariffs on certain American imports, plus an antitrust investigation into Google.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters this morning that Trump would have a call with Chinese President Xi Jinping soon.

The U.S. president has framed his actions as fighting the flow of illegal drugs.

KAROLINE LEAVITT, White House Press Secretary: He is not going to allow China to continue to source and distribute deadly fentanyl into our country.

That was the reason for this tariff.

It was a retaliatory tariff on China for the last four years of their unprecedented distribution of fentanyl into our nation's borders.

AMNA NAWAZ: Just minutes after President Trump's 10 percent tariff on all imports went into effect this morning, China responded with a 15 percent tariff on cold and liquefied natural gas, plus 10 percent on crude oil, agricultural machinery and certain cars.

Trump's initial tariffs included Mexico and Canada, but both of those leaders made deals to delay a potential trade war.

If Trump's tariffs in all three countries were in effect, economists say inflation in the U.S. could increase by 0.4 percentage points and cost the average household $1,000 to $1,200 in annual purchasing power.

MARCO RUBIO, U.S. Secretary of State: They deserve a lot of support.

AMNA NAWAZ: In Costa Rica today, after leaving El Salvador, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the administration would consider an offer from El Salvador to accept deportees from the U.S. of any nationality, including convicted criminals who are American citizens.

MARCO RUBIO: Obviously, we will have to study it on our end.

There are obviously legalities involved.

We have a Constitution.

We have all sorts of things.

But it's a very generous offer.

No one's ever made an offer like that.

AMNA NAWAZ: El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele confirmed the deal online, saying the U.S. would pay a fee and calling it an opportunity for America to -- quote -- "outsource" part of its prison system.

Legally, the U.S. government cannot deport American citizens.

It's not clear how this exchange would work or hold up to legal challenges.

Bukele, using emergency powers, has led a brutal crackdown on criminal gangs in El Salvador, building one of the largest prisons in Latin America to house many of the 80,000 people swept up in arrests.

The U.S. State Department has described the overcrowded prisons there as harsh and dangerous.

In the Oval Office today, President Trump said he would send Americans to prisons abroad in a heartbeat if he can do it legally.

DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: If we could get these animals out of our country and put them in a different country under the supervision of somebody that made a relatively small fee to maintain these people, because you know what, these are criminals.

You call them hardened criminals.

We don't want these people in our country either.

AMNA NAWAZ: All this comes with news from the White House about another infamous prison system.

KAROLINE LEAVITT: And I can also confirm that today the first flights from the United States to Guantanamo Bay with illegal migrants are under way.

AMNA NAWAZ: President Trump has ordered the Naval base on Cuba to expand detention space for up to 30,000 deportees, and the Pentagon began moving additional troops there over the weekend.

In other Pentagon news, President Trump announced former congressional candidate Sean Parnell as the Defense Department's new spokesperson.

Parnell is a veteran who Trump endorsed during his 2021 Senate run in Pennsylvania.

Parnell dropped out of that race after his ex-wife testified in court that he violently abused her and their children.

Parnell denies the allegations.

And another Trump appointee making headlines today at the State Department, Darren Beattie, a former Trump speechwriter who was fired during the first Trump administration for speaking at a conference attended by white nationalists.

As recently as October, Beattie posted online that -- quote -- "Competent white men must be in charge if you want things to work" and has spread false conspiracies about the January 6 U.S. Capitol riot.

Beattie was named acting undersecretary for public diplomacy and public affairs.

His acting role does not require Senate confirmation.

GEOFF BENNETT: Well, as we have reported, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s nomination to lead the Department of Health and Human Services cleared the Senate Finance Committee today, senators voting along party lines.

It now heads to the full Senate for a final vote.

Republican Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin sits on that committee, and I spoke with him earlier today.

Thanks for being with us.

SEN. RON JOHNSON (R-WI): Thanks for having me on.

GEOFF BENNETT: So the committee vote to advance RFK Jr.'s nomination followed from what I understand was a fairly intense pressure campaign from Trump administration officials and Mr. Kennedy himself.

Your colleague Senator Bill Cassidy, who happens to be a physician, said that his yes-vote came with conditions to ensure the public's continued access to vaccines.

Take a listen.

SEN. BILL CASSIDY (R-LA): To this end, Mr. Kennedy and the administration committed that he and I would have an unprecedentedly close collaborative working relationship if he is confirmed.

We will meet or speak multiple times a month.

This collaboration will allow us to work well together and therefore to be more effective.

GEOFF BENNETT: So, that raises the question, if securing confirmation demands such unprecedented concessions, is RFK Jr. truly the right choice to begin with?

SEN. RON JOHNSON: Well, first of all, I don't think those are particularly major concessions on the part of RFK Jr.

He wants to follow the science.

He is not anti-vax.

I'm certainly not anti-vax.

We want to make sure that the vaccines that are on the childhood schedule are as safe as possible, recognizing that nothing is 100 percent safe, and that they're effective.

Certainly, we want to prevent childhood disease to the extent we can, but we also have to have an open mind, I mean, that there are -- the reality is, there are vaccine injuries.

They acknowledge that fact when they passed the Childhood Vaccine Safety Act back in 1986.

Injury, vaccine injuries are just unavoidable.

It happens.

We need to take care of those individuals, which is why we set up a compensation fund.

It's completely indisputable that the COVID injection caused injuries.

So, again, all these things have to be explored.

People have to have an open mind on it, but nobody wants to take anybody's vaccine away because we -- vaccines are miracles if they can prevent disease without causing too much undue harm.

GEOFF BENNETT: What actual ability would the Senate have to oversee or rein in HHS if that's what's needed beyond what has been done in the past?

SEN. RON JOHNSON: Well, again, all I'm looking for -- all I have ever looked for is total transparency.

Follow the science.

And, unfortunately, I believe science has been corrupted.

You have had capture of our federal agencies by corporate interests, whether it's big pharma or big food processing or big agriculture.

I think that's also pretty much indisputable.

So what we need is, we need total transparency.

We need to uncorrupt science.

When you pay for science, you get the result you want.

And that's not in the public's best interest.

So, for my standpoint, it starts with making sure that science has integrity, that peer review actually means something, that we're also willing to take a look at observational studies and other forms of evidence, but that we have an open mind toward these things.

That's all I'm looking for.

That's all I think that RFK Jr. is looking for.

GEOFF BENNETT: Big picture, how do you and other Republican lawmakers view your role in this moment as you lead what is a co-equal branch of government?

And I ask the question because, as we sit here and speak, Elon Musk is unilaterally dismantling the foreign aid agency USAID.

He now has access to sensitive government payment systems, with no public concern, no public constraint from Republicans in Congress, whom the American people actually elected to run this government.

Why not?

SEN. RON JOHNSON: Well, first of all, we have people in these agencies that believe they're completely unaccountable to the American public.

They have stiff-armed me as I have written multiple requests for information for multiple agencies.

Secretary of State Rubio basically made the same claim against USAID.

So you already have bureaucrats run amuck who don't believe they're accountable.

What President Trump is doing is, he's fulfilling a promise.

He's trying to get the bottom of this, of the waste, fraud and abuse of the federal government that is right now completely out of control.

So I appreciate Elon Musk's endeavors.

He's a genius in terms of squeezing out all his money inefficiencies from the businesses he's run.

And he's like the perfect guy putting types of people who have access to computer models and A.I.

to quickly diagnose what inefficiencies are occurring in these agencies.

And let's face it.

USAID is just the tip of the iceberg.

SEN. RON JOHNSON: It's just the tip of the iceberg.

GEOFF BENNETT: But if there's a debate about USAID's mission or funding, why not have that debate?

There is a process for that, a legal process to have that debate.

SEN. RON JOHNSON: We will have that debate.

First, we need the information.

And you can't get the information when you have these bureaucrats who are protecting the information and not turning it over to Congress or over to the elected president.

It's undeniable that you had bureaucrats in the first Trump term that undermined and sabotaged his administration.

He's trying not to let that happen again.

I applaud his swift and decisive actions.

GEOFF BENNETT: Well, here's a thought experiment that occurs to me.

If, during the Biden administration, George Soros had access to sensitive government payment systems and unilaterally dismantled an independent government agency, Republicans in Congress would be apoplectic.

The indignation would be palpable.

Why is that not happening now?

Is it because Donald Trump is president?

SEN. RON JOHNSON: Well, we weren't particularly happy when President Biden weaponized the Department of Justice, the FBI, engaged in lawfare, persecuted his political opponents.

So, again, that's the problem, is big government is unaccountable.

It's infiltrated by radical leftists who have weaponized government against conservatives.

So, again, we're trying to get control of the situation.

President Trump experienced, again, the sabotage undermining his administration in the first term.

He's trying to prevent that from happening in the second term.

I completely understand why he's trying to do these things.

GEOFF BENNETT: In the time that remains, I want to ask you about tariffs, because you have said that you share the market concerns about President Trump's tariff plan.

What are your concerns?

SEN. RON JOHNSON: Well, first of all, there's multiple uses for tariffs.

And I think President Trump has demonstrated a unique ability to use tariffs to gain concessions from, for example, Mexico and Canada to try and help us secure the border, try and stop the flow of fentanyl.

I think Peter Navarro said this isn't a trade war.

This is a war on drugs.

I don't disagree with that.

And what I would be concerned about is a generalized tariff long term, creating long-term dislocation in terms of supply chains.

I want free and fair trade.

Another use for tariffs is to discipline people who are not engaging in fair trade.

So this is a complex issue.

I have concerns, but I also give President Trump the benefit of the doubt in terms of using tariffs to negotiate a better position for U.S., for the U.S. and for its citizens.

GEOFF BENNETT: Is that how you think he's using them, for leverage and as a negotiating tactic?

I ask the question because Canada is Wisconsin's single biggest trading partner.

Wisconsin has a lot on the line here.

SEN. RON JOHNSON: Well, I think it's obvious right now.

I mean, he used it effectively in his first term to make sure that Mexico cooperated with remain-in-Mexico and we were able to secure the border.

We have now got a pledge for both Canada and Mexico to move personnel into place to help us secure the border and stop the flow of drugs.

So I think the proof is in the pudding.

Seems to be working pretty well right now.

GEOFF BENNETT: Senator Ron Johnson, always good to see you.

Thanks for coming on the program.

Appreciate it.

SEN. RON JOHNSON: Have a great day.

AMNA NAWAZ: We start the day's other headlines with a rare mass shooting in Sweden that killed about 10 people.

A gunman opened fire today at an education center for adults in the city of Orebro, which is about 125 miles West of Stockholm.

It prompted a massive emergency response.

Police say damage at the crime scene is so extensive that they couldn't give an exact death toll.

Sweden's prime minister called it a painful day for the whole country.

ULF KRISTERSSON, Prime Minister of Sweden: It is difficult to take in the magnitude of what has happened today.

We have seen a brutal deadly violence against completely innocent people.

This is the worst mass shooting in Swedish history.

AMNA NAWAZ: Authorities say the shooter is among the dead and they believe he acted alone.

Officials say they don't see any connection to terrorism at this point, but have not yet determined a motive.

Here in the U.S., authorities say they have recovered the remains of all 67 victims from last week's aircraft collision near Reagan National Airport.

All but one of the victims have been identified.

Today's update comes as salvage crews continue their efforts to recover wreckage from the waters of the Potomac River, including the jet's cockpit.

In the meantime, federal investigators say air traffic control data confirms the Army Black Hawk helicopter was flying at approximately 300 feet at the time of the collision.

Aviation rules require helicopters in the area to stay at or below 200 feet.

They hope to have a preliminary report within 30 days.

Maryland officials gave a first glimpse of the redesign of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge today, nearly a year after the original structure collapsed.

Artistic renderings of the new bridge show it to be taller and better protected against the type of ship strike that toppled its predecessor.

The project has a price tag of almost $2 billion and could be completed as soon as 2028.

The original Key Bridge collapsed last March when a massive container ship slammed into one of its supports.

Six construction workers were killed.

In Ukraine, the U.N.'s nuclear chief is warning that attacks on Ukraine's power grid could lead to a nuclear accident.

Rafael Grossi, who heads the International Atomic Energy Agency, met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv today.

He also toured a heavily damaged power substation nearby.

While there, Grossi warned that Russian attacks on Ukraine's power supplies could threaten nuclear safety by potentially disrupting the cooling procedures needed at atomic facilities.

RAFAEL GROSSI, Director General, IAEA: The situation is quite dire.

Infrastructure has been degraded.

But I must say that I am impressed with the work, with the effort that is being put in order to ensure nuclear safety.

AMNA NAWAZ: Grossi's visit comes as a Russian missile strike left this city council building in Ukraine's northeastern Kharkiv region in tatters.

At least five civilians were killed and another 55 wounded.

On Wall Street today, stocks ended higher as concerns about President Trump's tariff plans eased a bit.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained more than 130 points, or about a third of 1 percent.

The Nasdaq jumped about 260 points on the day.

The S&P 500 climbed back above the 6000-point level.

And if you want an egg with your meal at Waffle House, it's going to cost you 50 cents more.

The restaurant chain says the surcharge is temporary, but necessary, as the nation's egg supplies are under threat.

That's because recent outbreaks of bird flu have led to fewer hens.

The Department of Agriculture says more than 13 million birds were lost or slaughtered from December into January.

Bird flu has infected at least 67 people since last year, and one person has died, though health officials say the chances of people catching it remain slim.

And 10 minutes, just 10 minutes, that is how long it took an asteroid to slice two Grand Canyons into the surface of the moon nearly four billion years ago.

An artistic rendering shows the moment the object slammed into the moon, sending giant rocks outward like missiles.

British and U.S. scientists used data from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter to determine that those rocks cut two Grand Canyons into the lunar surface comparable to the one in Arizona.

Their findings were published today in the journal "Nature Communications."

And the Aga Khan, who led the world's Ismaili Muslims, has passed away.

Considered by his followers to be a direct descendant of the Prophet Mohammed, the Harvard graduate grew into a business magnate and philanthropist.

He mixed with royals and used his riches to build homes, hospitals and schools in developing countries.

His foundation said that an announcement on a successor would come later.

The Aga Khan was 88 years old.

Still to come on the "News Hour": residents of a kibbutz that was attacked by Hamas begin the long rebuilding process; and the ACLU sues the Trump administration for restricting care for transgender minors.

GEOFF BENNETT: President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu met for talks today that focused on hammering out a second phase of the cease-fire and hostage agreement between Israel and Hamas.

AMNA NAWAZ: Netanyahu is the first foreign leader to visit the White House since Trump's second term began.

The two leaders also discussed the future of Gaza, which Trump has said might need to be emptied of its population, a potential war crime, since Israel's campaign to destroy Hamas has also destroyed much of the enclave.

President Trump spoke in the Oval Office.

DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: You can't live in Gaza right now, and I think we need another location.

We can build them through a massive amount of money supplied by other people, very rich nations.

One of the countries, and it could be Jordan, and it could be Egypt, it could be other countries.

And you could build four or five or six areas.

I mean, we're talking about probably 1.7 million people, 1.7 million, maybe 1.8 million.

But I think all of them, I think they will be resettled.

GEOFF BENNETT: Under the terms of the current cease-fire, Hamas is supposed to release 33 hostages in exchange for Israel releasing around 1,900 Palestinians.

AMNA NAWAZ: Let's turn now to the story of one of the American hostages who was released.

This past Saturday, Keith Siegel was brought on stage in Gaza City and paraded in front of a crowd.

He held two small bags, waved to the crowd and was quickly escorted away.

He had been held hostage by Hamas for 484 days.

Keith was reunited with his family, including his wife, Aviva, both of whom had been kidnapped from their home in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, Gaza, during the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack.

Aviva was released in November of 2023 during a weeklong cease-fire.

I spoke a short time ago with Keith Siegel's niece Hanna.

Hanna Siegel, welcome back to the "News Hour."

Good to see you.

HANNA SIEGEL, Niece of Former Hamas Hostage: Thank you so much for having me.

AMNA NAWAZ: So you saw that video there of your uncle being released, being paraded out like that.

Just what was it like for you to see that, to know he was still alive in that moment, and to know he was finally going to be free?

HANNA SIEGEL: I don't have any words.

It was completely surreal.

I think we have been waiting, inching towards this moment.

There have been many, not many, but there have been several moments over the past 15 months where we thought maybe we were close to a deal, and then it wouldn't happen.

So seeing him up there, he looked a little thin and a little pale, but, mostly, I mean, I saw my uncle.

He looked like himself, and it was just a huge sense of relief.

AMNA NAWAZ: How is he doing today?

Have you been able to speak with him directly?

HANNA SIEGEL: He is doing -- I mean, I can't believe it.

He's doing remarkably well.

He's talking and he's sharing a lot.

He remembers everything.

And he -- I mean, it's kind of amazing.

He used a lot of mental tricks to keep himself sane.

AMNA NAWAZ: Mental tricks.

HANNA SIEGEL: He spoke to the family in his head a lot, and he always knew the dates, remembered, thought about anniversaries, thought about birthdays, like, really showed remarkable mental fortitude and sort of taught himself to survive.

It's incredible.

He's doing -- I mean, he's home, and he took a walk on the beach today.

AMNA NAWAZ: Has he shared anything with you about his time in captivity that surprised you, that you hadn't heard in news reports?

HANNA SIEGEL: You know, I have heard some.

I haven't heard a lot.

I know that it was horrific.

I mean, I know this from my aunt Aviva, his wife, who was in captivity.

I think it was awful.

I -- yes, it's very dark.

AMNA NAWAZ: We know, of course, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is here in Washington as we speak.

And previously, when we have spoken, you have mentioned, your aunt has also said to me when we spoke, you expressed some doubt that he was incentivized fully to stop the war in Gaza, to have a cease-fire and bring the hostages home.

Do you believe that your uncle could have been freed sooner than he was, 484 days, or was it always going to take this long?

HANNA SIEGEL: Yes, I mean, I'm obviously not privy to all of the ins and outs, but I know that this deal was available a long time ago.

And I do think that Prime Minister Netanyahu was an impediment to getting him home sooner.

As ecstatic as we are that he's here, it took a really long time.

And there are a lot of people still being held.

I worry that Prime Minister Netanyahu's incentives and the way that he's thinking about this haven't changed.

There have been reports in Israeli media that he is thinking about changing up the leadership of Shin Bet and Mossad, other entities in the Israeli government that are essential to negotiations.

Doing that in the middle of the deal, in the middle as things are moving forward hopefully towards peace, could endanger that, could jeopardize that peace.

And so, yes, I'm very worried.

And I'm counting on the Trump team to push him on this.

And I think they will.

AMNA NAWAZ: Your uncle was also released into really a sea of Hamas fighters when they paraded him out in that way.

It says in many ways that Hamas still has a presence, a very strong one there, could still be a threat.

Do you think that's a reason for Israel to continue to prosecute a war there?

HANNA SIEGEL: I think what we have seen over the past 15 months is there's only one path forward, and that's through diplomacy and political agreement.

First of all, all of the hostages need to come home.

There has been so much endless and unjustifiable violence in the last year-and-a-half.

And I know I speak for the other families of hostages and hostage survivors when I say that we don't condone any of that.

We need everybody home.

We need a cease-fire.

We need a path forward to peace in the region.

Diplomacy is the only way.

AMNA NAWAZ: Your uncle and aunt, of course, called that border region with Gaza home for those many, many years.

Will they go back, do you believe, and what do you think they want to see, what do you want to see in the community across the border from them in Gaza?

HANNA SIEGEL: Yes, I mean, it's a good question.

Kibbutz Kfar Aza, Gaza, their home for so many years, I mean, we -- I grew up visiting Kfar Aza, Gaza -- is decimated right now.

And so will they ever be able to go back?

Will that community be able to rebuild?

I don't know the answer to that.

Not right now.

They're there with their children in the north.

I think my family in Israel has long been involved in peace activism, facilitating dialogue between Palestinians and Israelis, working towards peace in the region.

That's what we have always wanted.

That's what so many people around the world, that's what we have seen these past months, want.

And so we think that the cease-fire deal is the first step towards that, but it has to continue.

AMNA NAWAZ: Your uncle is now free.

Your aunt has been free.

I know you haven't had a chance to see them, but you're planning too soon.

HANNA SIEGEL: Yes.

AMNA NAWAZ: They have a long road ahead, obviously.

But what do you hope to tell them and say to them when you finally get to see them?

HANNA SIEGEL: I mean, I want to give them the biggest, biggest hugs.

I want to tell them and I want to thank the people who got us here, like I said, the Biden team and the Trump team, but also NGOs who work on behalf of families.

There's one called Global Reach, Mickey Bergman, Eric Lebson, and Stacia George.

Keith would not be home without them, the Qataris.

Actually, Aviva bought a journal and had world leaders and people working on his release and supporting his release all over the world write notes to him throughout the last year, so that he could see how the world was rooting for him and rooting for us.

AMNA NAWAZ: Hanna Siegel, thank you so much for being here, for sharing the stories of Keith and his wife, Aviva, both of whom are now free.

We're so glad to hear it.

Nice to see you.

HANNA SIEGEL: Thank you, Amna.

Nice to see you.

GEOFF BENNETT: There are many kibbutz communities that border Gaza, and many of them were attacked on October 7 by Hamas.

But one with among the highest death tolls and perhaps the greatest destruction was Nir Oz.

Now, as some of its members were released just this past weekend after nearly 18 months in captivity, the community there is facing an existential question, how to rebuild and how to be reborn.

Producer Karl Bostic in Israel and Nick Schifrin have this report.

NICK SCHIFRIN: It must be torn down, some residents say, to rise up again.

Kibbutz Nir Oz is taking the first steps to regain what was lost, removing ruins to heal the hurt.

OLA METZGER, Nir Oz Resident: We want to come back to Nir Oz, and we feel that you cannot start a life while living next to a cemetery, you know?

NICK SCHIFRIN: Ola Metzger has lived in Nir Oz for 30 years and raised her kids here.

She says to give Nir Oz new life, it must be reborn.

OLA METZGER: Something more beautiful needs to come raised from the ashes, needs to start from scratch.

I think it will be more healthier for people who come back and who decide to build their lives here again.

NICK SCHIFRIN: On October the 7th, a tide of terror tore life here apart.

No Israeli community paid a heavier price,of 400 residents, more than 40 killed, and 76 kidnapped to Gaza, including Ola Metzger's father and mother-in-law, Yoram and Tami.

She was released in 2023.

He died in captivity.

OLA METZGER: The shadow will stay in our lives forever, I think.

I don't need any ruined house to remind me of that.

I think my father-in-law would want that, to see this place flourishing and full of families again.

I want to remember the life that was here before, and I want to celebrate that life.

And it's very hard to talk about it right now because we still have hostages in Gaza.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Nir Oz hostages are now part of each release just a mile-and-a-half from the kibbutz.

Last Thursday, Gadi Moses with the white hair endured chaos and crowds to reach the International Committee of the Red Cross and his family after 482 days.

On Saturday, Hamas released Nir Oz residents Ofer Calderon and Yarden Bibas, but without his wife, Shiri, and their two children, Ariel and Kfir, kidnapped at just 9 months old, the youngest hostage, who spent the majority of his life in captivity.

Israelis fear they have not survived.

IRIT LAHAV, Nir Oz Resident: We remember the picture of her standing here under this bush with a blanket and crying.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Like everyone here, Irit Lahav remembers that moment like a flashbulb, the Bibas house frozen in time, Ariel and Kfir's ransacked playthings.

In the home still haunted by horror, the neighbor's house, where a woman was forced at gunpoint to watch her husband being murdered before being kidnapped herself.

IRIT LAHAV: When I come out of the kibbutz, I always take a shower, a long, long, long shower, because I think about all these people who were murdered here and all the pain and sadness that was taking place here.

I remember the fear I had here.

NICK SCHIFRIN: But she's on the other side of this community's debate.

She wants to preserve the damage so the world cannot doubt or deny.

IRIT LAHAV: I think some of the houses should be kept as they are, burned, because this is a very strong evidence.

Nobody, nobody would be able to say that this has not happened.

And what I'm worried is that if we demolish these buildings, and people will say, really?

It didn't really happen.

You're exaggerating.

No, the house didn't burn down completely.

NICK SCHIFRIN: The community has yet to decide what to do with the houses that did burn to the studs with everything inside.

This was once a piano.

Today, its mangled strings, its rusted frame once played by Oded Lifshitz.

He was a gifted player, here performing a song that asks, will our house not be destroyed?

Will our love survive?

He married Yocheved more than 60 years ago.

They were abducted to Gaza together.

He remains there, feared dead.

She was released in November 2023 and attended the Nir Oz rebuilding ceremony with their son, Yizhar.

YOCHEVED LIFSHITZ, Released Hostage: I want him to return.

I hope that he returns and that everyone comes back and that he comes back healthy.

And if he's not, we will take care of him.

NICK SCHIFRIN: The Lifshitzes were among Nir Oz's first residents.

Back then, the story of Nir Oz was the story of Israel.

In the mid-1950s, they considered themselves pioneers, hoping to transform uninhabited land near the Gaza Strip into an oasis and communal farm.

RON PAUKA, Nir Oz Resident: We planted around 20,000 trees in the desert.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Ron Pauka is a landscape architect who helped create Nir Oz.

He and the other residents held a ceremony to mark the demolition that will begin reconstruction.

They know that once again Nir Oz is the story of Israel, this time as a community whose country failed to protect them and must decide how to move on from October the 7th.

RON PAUKA: I say it sad that we have to destroy the old houses.

But it's a happy day that we're beginning the renewing of the kibbutz.

I think it will be better than before.

QUESTION: Really?

RON PAUKA: Yes.

QUESTION: Why?

RON PAUKA: We have enough courage to rebuild it.

OLA METZGER: It's really, really, really emotional and really mixed all together.

What can we do?

I don't want to be hating forever.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Hatred and hurt, but also hope to create a new future.

For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Nick Schifrin.

AMNA NAWAZ: Today, the American Civil Liberties Union sued the Trump administration over the president's executive order targeting gender-affirming care for minors.

The lawsuit says Trump's actions -- quote -- "unconstitutionally usurp congressional authority by withholding lawfully appropriated federal funds" and violate the rights of trans youth by - - quote -- "depriving them of necessary medical care solely on the basis of their sex and transgender status."

Our White House correspondent, Laura Barron-Lopez, has been covering this and joins us now.

So, Laura, just lay out the scope for us of the president's executive order and what's happened since it was signed.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Last week, President Trump signed an executive order targeting gender-affirming care for minors.

And that action states that the federal government will not fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support the so-called transition of a child from one sex to another.

And we should note that that order defines child as anyone under the age of 19, which includes legal adults in many states.

The order also threatens to withhold federal funding from hospitals or institutions that may also happen to provide gender-affirming care.

And that's led some providers, even in states that protect this kind of care, to suspend it.

Children's National in D.C. said that it is pausing all puberty blockers and hormone treatment prescriptions for youth.

Reports of similar moves are also in Colorado and New York, which led New York Attorney General Letitia James, she told providers that canceling care would violate state law.

We should note, Amna, that gender-affirming care is endorsed by the majority of major U.S. medical associations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics.

AMNA NAWAZ: I know you have been talking to a family in Texas who says they're feeling an immediate impact.

What are they telling you?

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: A couple of years ago, we interviewed a Texas family, John, Mary, and their now 14-year-old trans daughter, Leah.

We have changed their name to protect their identity.

And after Texas banned gender-affirming care for minors, they started going to New Mexico for treatment.

We spoke to John and Mary again today.

And since the executive order, they say that they haven't been able to get ahold of their doctor in New Mexico.

They were actually planning to try to move to Colorado, one of the states that supports and provides gender-affirming care for minors.

But Leah had her -- Leah had her bags packed and was ready to go, but now they say that the signals from Colorado are murky, and it's unclear if they're going to continue to provide treatments.

And here's John.

JOHN, Father of Leah: It was definitely going to be just a safer move.

And to be in a place where our daily lives just felt safe and accepted was worth the effort to do that move.

But now, with these executive orders, he's already talked about going after sanctuary states if they don't comply with his orders.

So we're kind of now in this weird floating place where, yes, we want to get out of here, but can we really go anywhere we're going to be safe?

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Leah's parents told us that she has enough medication -- that's puberty blockers and hormone treatment -- to last until about June, but they don't know what may happen after that, Amna.

AMNA NAWAZ: Laura, back it up here.

What is the White House argument for this executive order, and what is the ACLU saying their legal argument is to challenge it here?

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: The White House claims that this is about protecting children, and they have increasingly described gender-affirming care in graphic and sometimes disdainful terms, calling it -- quote -- "chemical castration" and -- quote -- "mutilation."

And it's important to fact-check that treatments like puberty blockers are commonly used and are reversible, and gender-affirming care for minors is rare.

All gender-affirming care treatments are part of extensive evaluations between doctors and families.

But the White House's main argument here is that, with this action and other sweeping actions that they have taken so far, they say that the president has the authority to stop funding from going to anything that they believe is against or the opposite of the president's ideological agenda.

Now, we spoke to Chase Strangio, who's an attorney at ACLU, who argues the opposite.

CHASE STRANGIO, American Civil Liberties Union: President Trump simply does not have the authority to attempt to cut off federal funding for institutions that provide medical care for transgender adolescents and that he is directing his federal agencies to violate federal law that in fact protects the provision of this care.

We're also arguing that these attempts to restrict care violate the individual constitutional rights of transgender adolescents and their parents.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Now, Chase said that their argument also is saying that the transgender people are protected under the equal protection rights clause against discrimination based on sex, and this is also about due process rights of parents.

And I should note, Amna, that I accidentally said that gender-affirming care for minors is rare.

It's gender-affirming care surgery for minors is incredibly rare.

AMNA NAWAZ: Thank you for that important clarification, but a broader look here now.

When you look at the rights of transgender people, where does this move from the Trump administration fit into any broader pattern that we have seen?

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Trump's actions have been very sweeping when it comes to trying to dismantle some transgender rights.

That includes instructing the government to acknowledge only two genders, moving trans women to men's prisons, directing the DOD to reinstitute the trans military ban, and stopping social transitioning in schools.

And, tomorrow, we are expecting that the president will sign another executive action that would ban trans athletes from playing on girls and women's school sports teams, Amna.

AMNA NAWAZ: Laura Barron-Lopez, thank you.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Thank you.

AMNA NAWAZ: What makes a U.S. citizen?

An executive order signed by President Trump aims to end a 127-year-old precedent clarifying universal birthright citizenship.

Instead, the president is aiming to fulfill a campaign promise to limit citizenship at birth to people with at least one parent who is a permanent resident or U.S. citizen.

GEOFF BENNETT: That order is on hold until a court hearing on Thursday.

Stephanie Sy reports now on how -- the history and the legacy of birthright citizenship.

STEPHANIE SY: Over pork buns and tea, the Wong family welcomed the lunar new year with what they see as unwelcome news.

WOMAN: I won't say it wasn't a surprise, but it happened so quickly.

NORMAN WONG, Descendant of Wong Kim Ark: It's frightening, actually.

DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: Birthright, that's a big one.

STEPHANIE SY: President Trump's attack on birthright citizenship hits home for Norman Wong and his sister Sandra.

NORMAN WONG: I'm proud of what my great-grandfather Wong Kim Ark did, because he stood up.

STEPHANIE SY: It was their late relative Wong Kim Ark whose fight for birthright citizenship led to a pivotal 1898 Supreme Court case.

Law Professor Amanda Frost details Wong Kim Ark's story in her book "You Are Not American."

AMANDA FROST, Author, "You Are Not American: Citizenship Stripping from Dred Scott to the Dreamers": He was born in the United States.

And the government, they argued that he was not, in fact, a citizen of the United States.

STEPHANIE SY: Wong Kim Ark was born in San Francisco's Chinatown in the early 1870s.

His parents were merchants who were living in the country legally.

As a result of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution ratified just a few years earlier, he was by virtue of birth an American citizen.

AMANDA FROST: The first sentence of the 14th Amendment provides that all persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof are citizens of the United States.

And that clause very simply was intended to ensure that everyone born on U.S. soil is a citizen, with minor exceptions.

STEPHANIE SY: The primary goal of the amendment was to overrule the Supreme Court's infamous Dred Scott decision, which held that no Black person, free or enslaved, could be a citizen of the United States.

AMANDA FROST: The Reconstruction, Congress and the nation post-Civil War, post-slavery said, no, we need to end that.

We need to integrate the Black residents of our country fully into our country as equal members.

STEPHANIE SY: And Frost says it deliberately applied to the children of immigrants born on American soil.

AMANDA FROST: This was also explicitly discussed.

The Reconstruction, Congress and the nation knew that birthright citizenship would apply equally to the children of all immigrants.

STEPHANIE SY: By the late 1800s, Chinese immigrants were vilified, in part due to an economic downturn and rising unemployment among white Americans.

Anti-Chinese sentiment was enshrined by the federal government in the Chinese Exclusion Act.

In August 1895, government officials sought to take this a step further.

AMANDA FROST: They were looking for a test case to challenge birthright citizenship.

They specifically and very clearly wanted to challenge it for the children of Chinese immigrants, and they chose Wong Kim Ark.

STEPHANIE SY: Then a cook working in San Francisco, Wong was prevented from reentering the country after a visit to China.

NORMAN WONG: He had proper papers.

They just didn't want him in.

STEPHANIE SY: The government denied he was a citizen by birth, at least in part because of his race, language, color and dress.

With support from Chinese community groups, Wong appealed to the Supreme Court.

NORMAN WONG: By himself, he couldn't have done it.

The fact that there were other people that stood up alongside with him made a difference.

STEPHANIE SY: In 1898, the court decided 6-2 in his favor in a landmark judgment.

AMANDA FROST: The text of the 14th Amendment speaks in universal terms and does not make any distinction based on race.

It says all persons born are citizens.

It's why the Supreme Court upheld that provision for Wong Kim Ark.

Even if they didn't believe in the sentiment, they couldn't deny the scope of the text.

STEPHANIE SY: Today, Wong Kim Ark is seen as an Asian American pioneer.

The court's decision paved the way for generations of children to become citizens.

NORMAN WONG: I'm a product of these laws.

So if those laws were never here, I probably would never get born.

It's amazing that they caught them.

This is mom, Kimiko Takayuchi (ph).

STEPHANIE SY: For the Wongs, President Trump's executive order also brings back much more recent family history on their mother's side.

NARRATOR: The beginning of America's war with Japan opened very badly for America's Navy.

STEPHANIE SY: In the aftermath of the Pearl Harbor attack, an executive order by President Roosevelt authorized the incarceration of more than 70,000 Japanese Americans.

That included the Wongs' mother, who was only 16 years old at the time, pictured here with her family waiting for a bus to take them to a detention facility.

Decades later, the government would apologize and offer survivors reparations.

RONALD REAGAN, Former President of the United States: No payment can make up for those lost years, for, here, we admit a wrong.

Here, we reaffirm our commitment as a nation to equal justice under the law.

STEPHANIE SY: With a family's story rooted in challenges to citizenship, Norman Wong worries that this struggle will carry on to the next generation.

His granddaughter is half Asian American, half Mexican American.

NORMAN WONG: I really think that this effort, latest effort, it's actually directed against the people of Latin America and Mexico.

J.D.

VANCE, Vice President of the United States: America should actually look out for the interests of our citizens first, and that means if you're here permanently and lawfully, your kid becomes an American citizen.

If you're not here permanently, if you're not subject to the jurisdiction of the United States and don't plan to be, why would we make those people's children American citizens permanently?

STEPHANIE SY: Whether children born to undocumented or temporary immigrants are subject to the jurisdiction of the U.S. is the crux of the Trump administration's argument.

But that clause of the 14th Amendment has only ever been applied to exclude two groups, says Professor Amanda Frost, the children of foreign diplomats and, until a federal law in 1924, children born into Native American tribes.

AMANDA FROST: So that phrase clearly does exclude those very unusual, narrow groups of people.

And undocumented immigrants are fully subject to U.S. jurisdiction.

All of the laws and policies of the U.S. apply to them.

If they violate a traffic law, they're fined or jailed just like the rest of us.

The Supreme Court rejected that argument in 1898, and I still don't see its logic today.

STEPHANIE SY: Besides, Frost says, birthright citizenship is a fundamental American value that makes the country stronger.

AMANDA FROST: The United States is unusual in our ability to integrate new immigrants and the children of immigrants.

Other countries don't do that nearly as well as we do.

Children of immigrants thrive in America, and I think they're one of the reasons that America is an economic superpower.

STEPHANIE SY: And a military one.

At the same time that Norman Wong's mother was in a Japanese intern camp, his father, whose right to citizenship had been guaranteed by Wong Kim Ark's legal victory, was serving the U.S. Navy in World War II.

So, what has the experience of your family, your great-grandfather, your mother, what has it taught you about the American experience?

NORMAN WONG: I say, if you're here, we're all Americans.

It should be a dream, not a nightmare.

I think we're turning this country into one side gets to dream, the other side gets just fear.

The American experience is what we create.

And that creation wasn't fixed in stone.

STEPHANIE SY: The bedrock has been shaken before, and the fight over what it means to be American is not over.

For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Stephanie Sy.

GEOFF BENNETT: And that is the "News Hour" for tonight.

I'm Geoff Bennett.

AMNA NAWAZ: And I'm Amna Nawaz.

On behalf of the entire "News Hour" team, thank you for joining us.