GEOFF BENNETT: Good evening.

I'm Geoff Bennett.

AMNA NAWAZ: And I'm Amna Nawaz.

On the "News Hour" tonight: President-elect Donald Trump chooses anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the nation's health agency.

We delve into the former presidential candidate turned Trump supporter's record.

GEOFF BENNETT: Republicans retain their majority in the House, giving the GOP full control of the federal government.

What they could do with their newfound power.

AMNA NAWAZ: And a trend that's on the rise since the overturning Roe v. Wade, women being prosecuted for what they do while they're pregnant.

LAUREN SMITH, South Carolina Resident: This has caused so much strain on my family, on my kids.

It's affected so much.

Me, mentally and emotionally, like, I will never be the same.

GEOFF BENNETT: Welcome to the "News Hour."

Tonight, president-elect Donald Trump continues to roll out nominees to his Cabinet.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is Mr. Trump's pick for secretary of the Health and Human Services Department.

AMNA NAWAZ: Mr. Kennedy ran for president in 2024, first as a Democrat, then as an independent, before dropping out in August and endorsing then-candidate Trump.

He's also an anti-vaccine activist and has pushed several conspiracies about the COVID-19 virus, including that it was designed to target certain races.

To help us understand the impact of this nomination, we're joined by our White House correspondent, Laura Barron-Lopez.

So, Laura, if Kennedy is confirmed to lead HHS, what kind of power does that give him?

And what has he said about some of the other agencies that would be under his charge?

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: It'll give him a lot of power, Amna.

He will be overseeing with -- being the secretary of HHS, he will be overseeing 13 agencies that are under HHS, including the Centers for Disease Control, the National Institutes of Health, and the Food and Drug Administration.

And Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has said that he wants to fire experts at a number of these agencies.

ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR., Health and Human Services Secretary Nominee: In some categories, there are entire departments like the nutrition departments at FDA that are -- that have to go, that are not doing their job.

They're not protecting our kids.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: RFK Jr. also recently said that the Trump transition needs to act fast because they have to be ready with their own loyalists so that on January 21, 600 people are going to walk into offices at the National Institutes of Health and 600 people are going to leave, meaning they're going to be fired.

One source close to RFK Jr. told me that he also wants to focus on more standard priorities, like stricter food requirements in terms of food health safety and those health effects associated with ultra-processed foods.

But Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has also said a lot of -- spread a lot of conspiracy theories, things like baseless claims that vaccines cause autism.

He has blamed school shootings on anti-depressant use.

And he's claimed that the FDA is actively suppressing the use of raw milk.

Public health experts have warned that drinking raw milk can lead to illnesses.

AMNA NAWAZ: So you have been talking to public health experts here.

What kind of impact are they saying that Kennedy could have on Americans' health and also preparedness for another potential pandemic?

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: RFK Jr. has spread a lot of conspiracies, like the ones I just talked about, Amna.

But he's also said that COVID-19 was engineered so, that that way, Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people would be immune to it.

And I spoke to Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, and he said that RFK Jr.'s anti-vaccine rhetoric and the potential policies he might prioritize could have very dangerous ramifications.

DR. GEORGES BENJAMIN, Executive Director, American Public Health Association: RFK Jr. has been on the record of saying there's no safe and effective vaccine.

And, because of that, people are not going to take vaccines.

Even if he was to change his tune and promote vaccines, no one will know what to believe.

So RFK is not the person for this job.

He doesn't have the medical training, the skill of managing a large organization, and he is not a well-trusted individual.

And because of that, we're going to see more people get sick, and I'm really, really concerned that more people will die.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Dr. Benjamin said that a lot of what the federal government does is by influence.

It's not necessarily by regulation.

So when health guidances are put out or encouragement of an education of the public to receive vaccines, and so doctors like Georges Benjamin, as well as pediatrician Paul Offit, who I spoke to earlier this year, said that there are big dangerous ramifications when someone like RFK Jr. says that people shouldn't take vaccines, ramifications where there is a downtick in the number of people and children who get polio and measles vaccines, which can lead to deaths, Amna.

AMNA NAWAZ: So, Laura, we have now seen a number of names put forward by president-elect Trump, people he wants to join his administration.

Where does Kennedy's nomination fit into those picks?

Is there a pattern here?

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Above all else, president-elect Trump is prioritizing loyalty.

And sources close to the Trump transition told me that Donald Trump promised disruption to the status quo, that RFK Jr. is a very disruptive force, and that Donald Trump wants D.C. to be scrambling.

So when you look across these, that is what he's focused on.

AMNA NAWAZ: Also today, president-elect Trump announced he's nominating Jay Clayton as his pick for U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York.

Tell us about him.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Clayton served as chair of the SEC, Securities and Exchange Commission, during Donald Trump's first administration.

And Clayton has no criminal law experience and he's going to have to shift to work on that for what is known as the sovereign district, one of the most independent districts, with this nomination.

His role is notable because this office handles a lot of high-profile cases, particularly federal crimes and corruption cases.

And so the big question with this nomination, Amna, is, does Clayton help Donald Trump pursue what he campaigned on in terms of prosecuting his enemies?

And then another announcement that we just got moments ago was that Donald Trump has nominated Todd Blanche to be deputy attorney general, so the second highest ranking official at the Justice Department, Todd Blanche, who is Donald Trump's personal attorney, who represented him for 18 months during the criminal hush money trial in Manhattan.

And when it comes to responses to a lot of these nominations so far, Amna, we did have one that our Lisa Desjardins got from Senator Bill Cassidy, a doctor, in response to RFK Jr.

He's the chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor Pensions Committee.

And he said ultimately he's open to RFK Jr.'s nomination and that he wants to learn more about it.

And that's kind of what we're hearing a decent amount from Senate Republicans, which is that they are open to a number of these nominations, despite the fact that many of these people appear to have very little experience in the roles that they may take.

AMNA NAWAZ: Laura, if it speaks at all to the pace at which these names are coming out, we have also just gotten word the president-elect Trump has nominated former Congressman Doug Collins to be his VA secretary.

The shape of this next administration is coming together.

White House correspondent Laura Barron-Lopez, always good to see you.

Thanks.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Thank you.

GEOFF BENNETT: House Republicans will maintain their hold on the Lower Chamber next year, giving Republicans a political trifecta in Washington, controlling both chambers of Congress and the presidency come January.

Our Lisa Desjardins has been following it all and joins us now from our PBS News super screen.

All right, Lisa, so Republicans retain control of the House.

What are the margins looking like?

LISA DESJARDINS: OK, let's talk about this.

We have -- just having some changes in the last day right now with the Associated Press calling the races it has.

Republicans have 218, the exact amount they need for a majority, Democrats 209.

There are eight races for Congress, for the House of Representatives left to be called.

And at this moment, the Associated Press math is zero change, the exact same distribution in the House right now, according to their calls.

There are some races, of course, that are going to go, one in Iowa going to a recount.

We're still waiting for some vote counting in ranked-choice in two states as well.

But I want to look at it this way.

These eight races that are left, right now, who's leading in them?

Four Democrats are leading in those eight races.

And how about it?

Four Republicans.

So that gets us basically to the same exact pattern we have right now in the House.

Now, let's look at some of these races called just today, this race in Oregon.

I'm talking about the Happy Valley up here.

This is a Democratic flip, where Janelle Bynum, who is the co-owner of four McDonald's restaurants, was able to flip this district from Lori Chavez-Deremer, very hard-fought race here.

Democrats happy about this.

One place where Democrats are more concerned, however, and Republicans are happy is in Alaska, where Nick Begich, the grandson of former Senator, late Senator Begich, is ahead by four points.

Now, this is a ranked-choice state, so they're going to count now people's second choice, those who didn't vote for either candidate.

How many folks is that?

That's 5 percentage points.

That means for Mary Peltola to hold on to her seat, she needs to win a huge percentage of that.

That's going to be hard to do.

GEOFF BENNETT: Lisa, I know you have been talking with lawmakers as they take in some of Donald Trump's nominations, including that of Matt Gaetz as attorney general.

What are you hearing?

LISA DESJARDINS: Quite a lot to say here about Matt Gaetz.

He is a controversial figure.

He does have some allies in Congress, but he is someone who has rubbed a lot of people the wrong way.

And the Senate, talking to them, has taken pause on this, especially with the news that their House investigation by the Ethics Committee has been hanging over.

And it does -- there is reporting that the House Ethics Committee was getting ready to perhaps reveal their report on him.

Now, that report no longer is in play because of his resignation, which was official today.

Now, I talked to some U.S. senators.

They will decide whether Matt Gaetz becomes the attorney general or not.

And among Republicans, there is divide over how much scrutiny he should get.

Let's listen.

SEN. JOSH HAWLEY (R-MO): My presumption is that, listen, he's the leader of my party, Trump.

He just won a resounding victory.

I support him and his agenda.

I think he should be able to choose his Cabinet.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): He's a smart, clever guy.

I usually vote for Cabinet picks of all presidents, but, in this case, hearings will be in order.

He will have some hard questions to answer.

We will see how it goes.

LISA DESJARDINS: All right, so let's talk about the confirmations.

Anyone would need 50 votes.

Republicans have 53.

So they can spare three votes and still get a nomination.

But, listen, by my count, there are at least 10, maybe more Republicans with doubts about this candidate right now.

Two senators, Ernst and Mullin, told me today they don't think he has the votes right now.

GEOFF BENNETT: We will see how this nomination progresses, but how could it play out?

LISA DESJARDINS: OK, first step is the Senate Judiciary Committee, where senators, all of them Republicans, told me today they do expect they will in fact want hearings with Matt Gaetz, no bypassing it.

We're watching Senator Cornyn, Senator Tillis, perhaps Senator Cotton and Senator Graham in that committee.

And also, because of the new majority, there will be a new member of this important committee not yet named.

Also, we had a text or social media post from an attorney for -- representing a young woman who has made accusations against Gaetz.

And he is writing that they want this Ethics Committee report to be revealed immediately, the report that the House Ethics Committee had been working on for months.

GEOFF BENNETT: So, even though Gaetz has resigned, could the House Ethics Committee still release this report, Lisa?

LISA DESJARDINS: Well, Democratic senators have written this letter just in the last couple of hours asking that the House release that report.

The House Ethics Committee generally does not release reports after someone has resigned, but there is precedent.

So let's answer a couple questions really quick here.

Can they release the Gaetz report?

Yes, they can.

There is precedent for this.

But they meet secretly.

We don't even know when they meet.

Now, will they release a statement?

Often, instead of a full report, they will release some kind of statement.

So this is a maybe.

And then question now, we're hearing from some senators that they may even want to subpoena the House of Representatives for this Ethics report about this important top prosecutor position.

That is an unprecedented idea.

As you can see, we're in for a lot of questions and tricky times ahead on this nomination.

GEOFF BENNETT: Indeed.

Lisa Desjardins, thanks, as always.

LISA DESJARDINS: You're welcome.

AMNA NAWAZ: Now for the day's other headlines, starting in the Middle East.

Syrian state media says that Israel carried out two airstrikes today, killing at least 15 people.

The attacks happened in the capital city of Damascus and in one of its northwest suburbs.

Israel has ramped up attacks on Iran-linked targets in Syria since the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel.

Israeli military officials claim they struck strongholds of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which supports both Hamas and Hezbollah.

REAR ADM. DANIEL HAGARI, Spokesperson, Israeli Defense Forces (through translator): We are identifying rockets and other weapons that Hezbollah is launching at Israeli territory that were manufactured in Syria and given to Hezbollah from Syria.

We will attack all infrastructure we identify in Syria whose purpose is to produce weapons for Hezbollah.

AMNA NAWAZ: Explosions also rumbled through the suburbs of Lebanon's capital, Beirut, where Israel has carried out intense bombing for a third straight day.

State media said a separate strike in the east killed at least nine people.

Also today, Human Rights Watch accused Israel of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip.

The group points to the forced displacement by Israel of nearly two million Palestinians, amounting to what it called ethnic cleansing.

Israel has rejected similar such accusations in the past.

Suicides within the U.S. military increased last year, continuing a long-term trend that the Pentagon has struggled to bring under control.

A Defense Department report out today shows there were 523 suicides reported in 2023.

That is up from 493 such deaths in 2022, when the number of suicides had actually gone down.

Most of the 2023 cases involved young men who used a firearm.

The long-running rise in suicides comes despite efforts by military leaders to expand mental health assistance and gun safety education.

New Jersey is under a drought warning, as parts of the Northeast experience the driest conditions they have seen in nearly 120 years.

Unprecedented blazes are burning in places that haven't seen significant rain since August.

That includes a brushfire on the northern tip of Manhattan.

It's now contained after a fire boat shot water onto the flames.

In the meantime, New York and New Jersey officials have brought charges against two people accused of starting separate smaller fires in those two states.

The Pentagon is pouring cold water on recent reports of alien sightings.

In an annual report on unidentified anomalous phenomena, or UAPs, Defense Department officials say they have discovered no evidence of extraterrestrial beings, activity or technology.

But the report acknowledges 21 cases that -- quote -- "merit further analysis."

This comes after congressional hearings yesterday on reports of UAPs, often referred to in the public as UFOs.

One former Defense Department official insists that the government knows more than it's letting on.

LUIS ELIZONDO, Former Defense Department Official: Let me be clear.

UAP are real.

advanced technologies not made by our government or any other government are monitoring sensitive military installations around the globe.

Furthermore, the U.S. is in possession of UAP technologies, as are some of our adversaries.

AMNA NAWAZ: Yesterday's hearing comes more than a year after a whistle-blower accused the Pentagon of running a secret UFO retrieval program, which the Pentagon has denied.

The satirical news publication The Onion is buying Alex Jones' conspiracy theory platform Infowars for an undisclosed price after a bankruptcy auction.

Families of Sandy Hook school shooting victims helped to complete the sale.

Jones owes them more than $1 billion in defamation judgments for calling the elementary school massacre a hoax.

The father of one of the victims said -- quote - - "The death of Infowars is the justice we have long awaited and fought for."

The CEO of the company that owns The Onion says they plan to relaunch the Web site in January with satire aimed at conspiracy theorists.

BEN COLLINS, CEO, The Onion: By the end of the day, it was us or Alex Jones.

That's who could either continue this Web site unabated, basically unpunished for what he's done to these families over the years, or we can make a dumb, stupid Web site.

And we decided to do the second thing.

AMNA NAWAZ: Within hours of the deal's announcement, the Infowars Web site was down and Jones was broadcasting from what he said was a new studio.

A bankruptcy judge has ordered a hearing on the sale after Jones challenged the terms of the auction.

Turning now to the economy, the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell last week to a six-month low.

First-time jobless claims dipped by 4,000 to a total of 217,000.

That is slightly lower than expected and signals ongoing stability in the U.S. labor market.

Separately, wholesale prices ticked up 0.2 percent in October when compared to the month before.

Economists say higher costs for services are behind the latest rise.

On Wall Street today, stocks ended lower after Fed Chair Jerome Powell signaled there's no need to rush further interest rate cuts.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell more than 200 points, or nearly half-a-percent.

The Nasdaq gave back more than 120 points on the day.

The S&P 500 also ended in negative territory.

And Lindsey Vonn is coming out of retirement and heading back to the slopes.

The three-time Olympic medalist bowed out of competitive skiing in 2019 after a record-setting career that included 82 World Cup wins and a range of serious injuries.

Now, at the age of 40, she will return to the U.S. ski team just in time for the World Cup circuit this winter.

Vonn had partial knee replacement surgery earlier this year.

She says her training sessions have been pain-free.

Still to come on the "News Hour": what we know about Trump's controversial choice for director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard; House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries discusses Democrats' priorities and his new children's book; Marines reflect on the brutal battle for Fallujah in Iraq 20 years later.

GEOFF BENNETT: We're going to take a closer look now at president-elect Donald Trump's pick of former Democratic Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard to be the next director of national intelligence.

If confirmed, Gabbard would oversee 18 intelligence organizations, including the CIA and NSA.

But her nomination is expected to set off a confirmation fight, since she has no experience in the intelligence world and has been accused of defending dictators and parroting Russian disinformation, which she denies.

We're joined now by Michael Leiter, former director of the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center who served in both the Bush and Obama administrations.

Thanks for being with us.

So, Donald Trump has made clear that he wants to clean House.

He wants to overhaul the nation's intelligence services.

We also know that he is rewarding fealty as he staffs these top positions.

So help us understand, in that context, what he sees in Tulsi Gabbard serving as director of national intelligence.

MICHAEL LEITER, Former Director, National Counterterrorism Center: Well, as you noted, President Trump, president-elect Trump, is clearly looking for people who are loyal to him.

I'm not sure that that's fully different from any other president.

I think there probably is an extra concern for intelligence positions, because, at their very core, the director of national intelligence and the director of CIA, although, of course, loyal to the president, are also there in their positions to, as everyone has said, speak truth to power, make sure that they are providing an objective analysis of the circumstances and allowing the president to make the policy choices that he's empowered to do.

And I think some of the concern here is that whether Tulsi Gabbard has both the expertise and the experience, but also the inclination to speak truth to power.

GEOFF BENNETT: The role of director of national intelligence was created after 9/11 because there was a concern that other intelligence agencies weren't sharing information, that information had been siloed.

And so the federal government created this role.

Help us understand what the DNI actually does.

MICHAEL LEITER: The director of national intelligence, the DNI, was really a result of decades of challenges and fights between the intelligence organizations, the FBI, the CIA, the National Security Agency.

And those were really epitomized in the failures of the weapons of mass destruction debacle in Iraq and 9/11.

So the DNI was supposed to take this very large enterprise, coordinate budgets, coordinate efforts, and make sure that the president and the Cabinet had the best intelligence possible, regardless of where it came from, and making sure that differing views were coming to the president.

Now, it's been a subject of criticism over its 20 years as being overly bureaucratic and not very efficient, but I think those core needs for the intelligence community to be well-coordinated and to make sure, again, that differing views are presented to the president, that's still critical.

And I think the president is probably going to dig in to see if the DNI is fulfilling that role or if it's necessary at all.

GEOFF BENNETT: Tulsi Gabbard has been accused of echoing Russian propaganda.

She has traded in conspiracy theories about Ukraine.

She was widely criticized back in 2017 for meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who had been accused of war crimes.

Donald Trump's former National Security Adviser John Bolton said that she should not sit for a Senate confirmation hearing until the FBI investigates her because he said that she presents a national security threat.

Is that a concern that you share?

MICHAEL LEITER: Well, I certainly am very concerned with anyone in any position, national security or otherwise, who isn't thinking very critically and questioning what enemies of the United States, like Vladimir Putin and Bashar al-Assad in Syria, say to them.

Any official needs to realize that other countries and their leaders will try to manipulate our leadership for their benefit.

So I think it's going to be up to Ms. Gabbard to prove that she was not just echoing their propaganda, but she can actually reflect critically as an intelligence officer and will listen to all of the analysts who serve the United States government.

And she will ultimately get to make her own judgments.

But she absolutely does need to be free of any influence from foreign governments.

And that should be true of every U.S. official.

GEOFF BENNETT: What might a second Trump term, in your view, mean for intelligence sharing?

I mean, will our allies, NATO allies, the members of the so-called Five Eyes alliance, will they be as willing to share closely held secrets, sources and methods, not just because of Tulsi Gabbard potentially serving as DNI, but Donald Trump's own cavalier approach to guarding classified documents?

MICHAEL LEITER: Your question is critical.

And the critical premise is that we do rely on our allies, whether it's the United Kingdom or countries around the world, to share with us intelligence to protect our national security interests.

And the U.S. has a terrible record of protecting secrets.

And I think there's legitimate concern that a Trump administration will have challenges with that.

And Ms. Gabbard does not have a history of working in this.

So I think there's going to be real concern both from allies, but also within the intelligence community.

So she's going to have to establish to the Senate that she can protect our nation's most sensitive secrets and those secrets of our allies, because otherwise we will ultimately be weaker, have worse intelligence, and it will harm our national interests.

GEOFF BENNETT: Michael Leiter, thanks, as always, for your insights.

We appreciate it.

MICHAEL LEITER: My pleasure.

Thanks.

AMNA NAWAZ: Plans for president-elect Trump's return to Washington and the Republican Party's return to power are well under way, but for Democrats, who are now in the minority, the path forward is not as clear.

Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York is the House Democratic leader and he's also the author of the new children's book "The ABCs of Democracy."

He joins us here now.

Good to see you, Leader Jeffries.

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY): Good evening.

Great to be here.

AMNA NAWAZ: So, you said earlier today, I want to start with the news of the day, that you don't think RFK Jr. is qualified to serve in the role that Mr. Trump has selected him for as HHS secretary.

What is it specifically about him that worries you?

And do you think he will be confirmed?

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES: Well, on the campaign trail, President Trump was very clear.

He promised the American people that we would have the best economy, the best border security, the best military, and the best administration.

And we all have to ask a simple question right now.

Is Robert F. Kennedy Jr. the best-qualified person in the United States of America to be the secretary of health and human services?

Is he the very best available to the incoming president to look out for the health and the safety and the well-being of the American people?

Of course not.

And so the question has to be asked, why?

Why this nomination and why some of the other nominations?

Our hope as Democrats is to work together with the incoming administration whenever and wherever possible to make life better for the American people.

But we're also committed to strongly disagreeing and pushing back against the extremism whenever necessary.

AMNA NAWAZ: I want to ask you specifically about one of the other nominees, and that is Matt Gaetz, who you know from serving with in the House.

He's been tapped to be the attorney general.

ABC News is reporting late today that the woman who was at the center of a Justice Department sex trafficking probe into Mr. Gaetz, that that woman testified to the House Ethics Committee that was also investigating him.

And she testified that he had had sex with her when she was 17 years old and in high school.

That report is citing sources familiar.

I want to get your reaction to that.

Do you believe the House Ethics report should be made public?

And should that testimony disqualify him?

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES: Well, transparency is always the preferred approach, particularly when it comes to high-level government positions, such as the Department of Justice or the DNI or the Department of Health and Human Services and a wide variety of other positions that the incoming president is preparing to fulfill.

Now, in terms of the House Ethics Committee, it's traditionally operated in a strongly bipartisan way.

And it's my hope that the Democrats and the Republicans on the committee will get together.

It's my understanding they may be meeting as soon as tomorrow to try to figure out a path forward and if there is information that they can present to the American people.

I'm not going to get out ahead of that discussion.

But I do place my trust in both the principal Democrats and the principal Republicans who are on that committee to do the right thing, so that the American people have all of the available information necessary, and so do the members of the United States Senate.

AMNA NAWAZ: Do you think that report is necessary, though, to be made public before he's considered for a post like attorney general?

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES: Seems like a reasonable suggestion that's been made by some of the members of the United States Senate.

But let's see what the Ethics Committee does before members of leadership weigh in aggressively one way or the other.

AMNA NAWAZ: So Republicans have now officially one control of the House, meaning they have a governing trifecta here, the White House and both chambers of Congress.

It's now been more than a week since Election Day.

So you have had some time to reflect.

Does it surprise you, the success that they had in this last election, and also that Mr. Trump himself in his third run, knowing all we know about him, that he was able to win the popular vote?

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES: Well, we will see where that ultimately lands.

And I think the election probably at the popular vote level will be closer than is being projected right now.

AMNA NAWAZ: But he could still win it.

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES: Correct.

And, notwithstanding, however that turns out, he had a decisive Electoral College victory.

We have to ask the question, what happened?

Why did it happen?

How do we prevent this type of outcome that has so many Americans disturbed from ever happening again?

My view is that we have to work decisively to address the economic challenges that everyday Americans are facing in this country.

Far too many people are struggling to live paycheck to paycheck all across America, in urban America, in suburban America, rural America, exurban America, certainly small town America and the heartland of America.

And we're prepared to work with the incoming administrations to decisively deal with that issue.

It clearly is an issue that the American people have said loudly and clearly around inflation and high prices, we need Washington to act.

AMNA NAWAZ: Yes.

Well, you have said that it left some people upset, his win, but most of the American electorate backed him.

They are not upset about this.

This is what they wanted.

Did that outcome surprise you?

What's your takeaway from that message?

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES: Well, my takeaway is that, at least as Democrats, we have got to do a better job of communicating that we are in lockstep with the American people, who want to see decisive action as it relates to lowering housing costs, lowering gas prices, lowering food prices.

AMNA NAWAZ: Was this a messaging failure, you're saying?

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES: Well, no.

We're going to assess qualitatively and quantitatively sort of what happened on Election Day and we're in the middle of that process right now.

AMNA NAWAZ: Yes.

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES: What I am saying is, what is clear, the American people want and deserve this decisive action.

Far too many people believe that the American dream is out of reach.

That's not acceptable in a country that has given us the greatest middle class in the history of the world.

AMNA NAWAZ: Well, let me ask you about what Americans are seeing right now, just in the last few days, because there's a very sort of dramatic split screen.

You have a Republican Party that's just won control of both chambers of Congress and the White House.

They have hit the ground running.

The next government is coming together.

And then you have a Democratic Party that seems largely leaderless for the party and really rudderless, sort of directionless, as you say, still figuring out what to do next.

So what is the case that you will make for why you should be leader when House Democrats vote on their leadership next week?

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES: Well, I will make that case internally and I haven't officially announced my candidacy because I'm in the middle of having conversations with the various parts of the House Democratic Party.

AMNA NAWAZ: Is there a chance you don't run?

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES: No, well, what I will say is that House Democrats clearly overperformed the national environment.

Those are facts.

This is not a decisive electoral victory for House Republicans.

When Donald Trump was sworn in as president in 2017, there were 241 House Republicans and only 194 Democrats.

When Donald Trump is sworn in this time around, notwithstanding the presidential wave election, at most, there will be 222 Democrats.

At minimum, there will -- Republicans.

There will be 213 Democrats in the Congress.

It's a close margin.

It's a close election.

We fell a few seats short, and we're going to work to rectify that situation, so that we give ourselves the best possible opportunity in the next midterm.

AMNA NAWAZ: I think it's safe to say this is probably not the political landscape you thought you would be releasing this book under, "The ABCs of Democracy."

But you do write in this, in the introduction, that: "America is at a fork in the road.

Which direction will we choose?"

That's the question that you pose.

Does this last election answer that question for you?

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES: No, I think what the book is in part about is the fact that we have had a 248-year journey as a country, the greatest democracy in the history of the world.

And throughout that journey, of course, there are trials and tribulations.

There's been turbulence.

But there have been American values that have been a consistent part of that journey.

And as we are processing this particular electoral result, we have to lean into those values and lean into the strength and resilience of our institutions, of what we have been about as Americans as we approach our 250th birthday on July 4 of 2026.

And, hopefully, I have laid that out as an illustrated book for people of all ages, but with a focus on our younger Americans, on our children, and on those who are processing this moment and where we go from here.

AMNA NAWAZ: That is the House minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, joining us tonight.

Leader Jeffries, always great to see you here.

Thank you for your time.

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES: Thank you.

GEOFF BENNETT: In the first year after the Supreme Court ended the federal right to an abortion, a record 200 women faced criminal charges for behavior related to pregnancy, abortion, pregnancy loss, or birth.

The Supreme Court decision emboldened prosecutors to develop more aggressive legal strategies to charge and imprison pregnant women and new mothers.

But even prior to the overturning of Roe, hundreds of women faced such charges.

Special correspondent Sarah Varney traveled to South Carolina to speak with one family still grappling with the impact.

SARAH VARNEY: There's an empty seat at the table every time Lauren Smith and her family go out for lunch in Greenville, South Carolina.

In 2019, Lauren delivered a healthy newborn baby she named Audrey.

A few days later, a case worker told Lauren she would not be bringing her home.

LAUREN SMITH, Mother: I was completely blindsided.

Never in a million years would I have thought that's what would have been told to me, never.

It was so bad I couldn't even, like, look at diaper commercials.

I would just cry.

SARAH VARNEY: A urine drug screen taken without her permission showed she had used marijuana some time during her pregnancy.

After two rounds of drug testing, her baby tested positive for THC, a compound found in marijuana.

How did you think about marijuana use in your pregnancies, all of them?

LAUREN SMITH: It was a way for me to be able to keep food down.

I worked full time up until I was seven months.

So dealing with all the discomfort and the pain, it helped.

It helped with my anxiety, my depression.

SARAH VARNEY: The CDC cautions against using marijuana during pregnancy, but it says that more research is needed to fully understand the impacts of THC on fetal development.

Still, six months after giving birth, Lauren was arrested and charged with felony child neglect.

She has waited five years for a trial set for next month.

She faces up to 10 years in prison.

LAUREN SMITH: This has caused so much strain on my family, on my kids.

It's affected so much.

Me, mentally and emotionally, like, I will never be the same.

SARAH VARNEY: And Lauren is just one of hundreds of women across the country who have been arrested or lost custody of their children for reasons related to their pregnancies.

MICHELE GOODWIN, Author, "Policing the Womb: Invisible Women and the Criminalization of Motherhood": There are these women that are being surveilled and charged and sentenced in these ways.

SARAH VARNEY: Michele Goodwin is a law professor at Georgetown University and author of the book "Policing the Womb."

She says these cases rely on a legal concept called fetal personhood, a once fringe idea now at the center of anti-abortion advocacy.

The fetal personhood movement aims to grant full legal rights and protections to fetuses and in some cases embryos.

About a third of states have established fetal personhood by law or judicial decision.

And Goodwin says this concept applies to more than alleged drug offenses.

MICHELE GOODWIN: So if a woman is driving a car and there is an accident and it's perceived that she was not acting responsibly enough, considering that she is pregnant, then that is enforced upon her.

If there is an instance in which she is in some form of a fight, which we have seen, and she has been injured by another party, that she is the person who is responsible because she's been negligent towards fetal life.

WOMAN: Brittany Watts overcome with emotion after learning her case is moving forward.

SARAH VARNEY: Just last year, Brittany Watts in Ohio was arrested on charges of abuse of a corpse after she suffered a miscarriage in the bathroom of her home.

And in 2022, Hali Burns in Alabama was arrested when she tested positive for what her lawyers argued were legally prescribed substances during her pregnancy.

MICHELE GOODWIN: That's one of the problems with these laws, is that they're selective.

They select out women because of their condition, which is unlawful.

SARAH VARNEY: Between 1973 and 2023, at least 2,000 women were investigated, arrested, or prosecuted for circumstances surrounding their pregnancies and pregnancy outcomes.

DR. KATRINA MARK, University of Maryland: If you take a step back and look at the bigger picture, it's hard not to view it as its really actually about control of women.

SARAH VARNEY: Dr. Katrina Mark is director of the support clinic at the University of Maryland, which offers care for pregnant and postpartum women who use drugs.

She says separating mother from baby can cause lifelong trauma for everyone involved.

DR. KATRINA MARK: Separating that child from its mother is almost always going to be worse than the risk of that baby being exposed to any drugs that the mother took.

Disruption of that maternal and infant bond really increases the risk of neurologic and behavioral problems and relationship and social problems for that child for the long term.

SARAH VARNEY: And she says, since the overturning of Roe, pregnant women and mothers are under even more intense scrutiny.

DR. KATRINA MARK: Scaring the mom to the point that she's not coming to get health care during her pregnancy or not disclosing her drug use so that she can get the support and treatment that she needs, none of those things are protecting the baby.

Putting the mom in jail and taking the baby away is not protecting the baby.

There are lots of unsafe things that women do during pregnancy.

I might recommend that they take a certain medication for diabetes, and they don't take it, and their sugars are really high, and that's very harmful to them and their baby.

But no one is putting them in jail or taking their baby away.

STATE REP. JOHN MCCRAVY (R-SC): We strongly support the idea that a child is a person in utero.

SARAH VARNEY: South Carolina State House Representative John McCravy founded the Family Caucus, an influential anti-abortion group of lawmakers in a state with the third highest pregnancy-related prosecutions.

He believes these types of laws serve as a deterrent to drug use.

STATE REP. JOHN MCCRAVY: You use the carrot and the stick.

The stick is, hey, this is hanging over my head.

If I don't get clean, if I don't get rid of this drug use, then I'm going to go to jail and I may lose my child.

But if I test negative, if I do a good job of getting clean, I'm going to get to lead a normal life with my child.

So, it's a powerful thing.

SARAH VARNEY: Lauren Smith says she did pass repeated drug tests, and attended required parenting classes.

But she still does not have custody of her daughter.

LAUREN SMITH: With the drug testing, it was so demeaning.

But I was willing and happily going to do it if it meant getting my daughter back.

I would have given my left toe if it meant being reunited with her.

SARAH VARNEY: Representative McCravy says he's not familiar with Lauren's case, and that the system in place protects children in South Carolina.

He says it should be up to social services if women in these situations can see their children.

But he believes there should be a limit to the state's role.

I'm curious if you're worried about the sort of slippery slope, that you have good intentions to start with, but that this program could expand to a kind of surveillance almost of pregnant women.

STATE REP. JOHN MCCRAVY: If you have a child that's been in danger, the state has an interest in protecting that child and doing what it needs to do.

But I would never be in favor of a program that would go around testing women that are pregnant for illegal drugs and trying to make a big deal out of that.

You know, I think that would go too far.

SARAH VARNEY: Attorneys for patients caught up in these cases today, though, say the practice of drug testing pregnant women without their consent remains widespread.

Did anybody ever ask your permission to test your urine?

LAUREN SMITH: No.

No, ma'am.

SARAH VARNEY: Or to test Audrey?

LAUREN SMITH: No.

SARAH VARNEY: Today, Lauren's daughter, Audrey, is a healthy 5.5 year-old who lives with her paternal grandmother.

Lauren has little contact with her.

And the delay in Lauren's trial has made it difficult for her to even get a job delivering groceries.

LAUREN SMITH: Being able to Instacart, I was told I can't do due to my background check.

Being able to find adequate housing for myself and my children, it's affected in every way.

Every background check that I do, it comes up on every job I apply for.

SARAH VARNEY: She says, every day, she thinks about seeing and hugging her daughter.

LAUREN SMITH: Am I unworthy of being a mother to my daughter?

Am I unworthy of being in her life?

I have missed everything.

I have missed every first there is to miss.

I will be reunited with my daughter.

And I don't care how long that takes.

It's already been 5.5 years, but I'm never going to stop fighting.

SARAH VARNEY: For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Sarah Varney in Greenville, South Carolina.

AMNA NAWAZ: Twenty years ago this month, U.S. Marines began fighting the largest urban battle since the Vietnam War.

More than 12,000 American, British, and Iraqi troops fought for Fallujah just west of Baghdad, which had become an insurgent stronghold.

Now, in collaboration with the news organization the War Horse, Nick Schifrin spent time with the Marines who still remember and feel that battle like it was yesterday.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Section 60 of Arlington National Cemetery is filled with men and women who never returned from Afghanistan and Iraq.

It is filled with sacrifice.

It is filled with memories.

Twenty years ago, Corporal Mike Ergo and the men of Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, assaulted Fallujah.

Their mission, take the mayor's compound in the city center.

The fight was through narrow streets.

MAN: That was incoming.

Incoming!

NICK SCHIFRIN: It was deadly, and as seen in this BBC footage, dangerous.

MAN: I'm fine, man.

SGT.

MIKE ERGO (RET.

), U.S. Marines: I ran off first, and took a couple of steps and then immediately tripped and fell on my face.

And I looked to see what I'd fallen on, and it was a body of an insurgent.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Then-21-year-old Ergo and the team's mission was to clear the city of al-Qaida backed insurgents without overwhelming airpower.

So they went house to house.

SGT.

MIKE ERGO (RET.

): Originally, before we deployed, we were still concerned about winning the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people.

And so we obviously didn't want to destroy it to save it.

And as we walk through the city and were clearing it house to house, I had already developed the sense that I was expendable, just like my teammates were.

NICK SCHIFRIN: We spoke in the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Quantico, Virginia.

A new exhibit dedicated to the battle for Fallujah mimics its streets, down to the trash.

War can be imitated, but it cannot be recreated.

SGT.

MIKE ERGO (RET.

): I felt the whoosh of air going by me, of bullets creeping between my point man and I.

And I just assumed that was it.

The door opens and they toss a grenade out.

And we clear the area.

And I make sure everyone gets out, especially the guys on the stairs.

And as I turn around, the explosion happens, and I get a little shrapnel in my body, and most of its stopped by my armor, but a little piece of it gets into my neck.

LT. COL. AARON CUNNINGHAM (RET.

), U.S. Marines: At any given time, there may have been a half-dozen 360-degree firefights going on in our narrow sector.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Then-31-year-old Aaron Cunningham was Alpha Company's commander.

Fallujah was the largest battle that he or any of Alpha Company had ever fought.

LT. COL. AARON CUNNINGHAM (RET.

): Brutal, absolutely brutal.

It was a close fight.

Imagine turning a corner, and see how close you and I are?

That's how close.

And the toughest guy wins that fight.

NICK SCHIFRIN: And not everyone came home.

In six weeks of combat, the battalion lost at least 20 Marines.

Alpha Company lost three, including Lieutenant Dan Malcom, the company fire support team leader, shot in the back while briefing Cunningham.

LT. COL. AARON CUNNINGHAM (RET.

): Just a good -- a good man.

He was killed in the execution of this job, and he was doing it admirably.

That's one of the many pieces of my soul that got left in that city.

You can't leave an environment like that without some trauma.

I mean, it exists.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Fifteen days later, Lance Corporal David Houck from the 1st Battalion, 8th Marines died in Fallujah.

He was Ergo's friend.

For years, Ergo was too overwhelmed to visit his gravestone.

On this visit, he released 20 years of grief.

SGT.

MIKE ERGO (RET.

): You know, I asked my friend Robbie (ph), "Hey, where's Dave?"

because I just wanted to see him.

And he was like: "Didn't make it, man.

He got shot."

And I think it's just that surprise, just thinking I was out of it, thinking he was out of it, made it safe.

He didn't.

NICK SCHIFRIN: And you never got to say goodbye.

SGT.

MIKE ERGO (RET.

): Never got to say goodbye.

Never got to go to a funeral, I mean, never really got to tell him how much he meant to me as friend.

So, I did today.

NICK SCHIFRIN: And behind every Marine lost, there is a family, often themselves lost.

KATHLEEN FAIRCLOTH, Mother of Fallen U.S.

Soldier: Bradley was a rebel with a cause.

After 9/11, he was determined to go into the service.

And I was determined he was not.

And he won.

But he was part of something bigger than him, and I think that's what he really wanted.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Kathleen Faircloth is the mother of Alpha Company's Lance Corporal Bradley Faircloth, killed in Fallujah on Thanksgiving day.

His death sent his mother into despair.

KATHLEEN FAIRCLOTH: Bradley was my reason.

He was all the stuff that made me get up and function on a daily basis.

And so, once he was gone, it just completely deflated and waking up pissed me off.

And I tried repeatedly over and over to not wake up.

I'm like, God come on, give me a break.

There's lots of people dying.

I bet they like live living.

You can take me.

If you got a quota to fill, I'm raising my hand.

Get me out of here.

And the days just kept going, like, ugh.

You feel like such a failure that you cannot end your own life.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Since 9/11, American service members and veterans have been four times as likely to die by suicide than in combat.

War shadows its survivors long after guns go silent.

Ergo returned from Iraq in 2005.

SGT.

MIKE ERGO (RET.

): I would ride my motorcycle, blacked out, come in and out of consciousness as I was riding around and hoping someone would hit me, hoping I'd drive off the corner or drive -- took a turn too hard and be done with it.

NICK SCHIFRIN: And yet battle breeds brotherhood.

And two decades after Fallujah, Alpha Company held a reunion.

They are linked by loss, but also love that can help heal.

They call Kathleen Faircloth Squad Mama.

She calls them the family that saved her.

KATHLEEN FAIRCLOTH: I would die for them, willingly die for them, in a heartbeat, if it would help them.

I would lay down my life for them, because they will never know what they have done for me.

They will never know that they can't - - they sent me flowers the first Mother's Day.

Sometimes knowing that there's somebody on the other side of the America that might come and go, hey, mama, what are you doing, you know what I mean?

And I can't pay them back.

But I would die for them if it helped, willingly, in a heartbeat.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Mike Ergo healed at home.

SGT.

MIKE ERGO (RET.

): One day, my wife told me that she couldn't go down the path with me anymore in terms of how much I was drinking and using drugs.

She said I'd have to make a choice and either keep using or choose her.

And I stopped drinking and using drugs on July 11 of 2012.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Your wife saved you?

SGT.

MIKE ERGO (RET.

): My wife saved my life.

If she hadn't had the courage to tell me, demand that I stop, I would not be alive.

There's not a doubt in my mind.

I would be dead.

I'd be a statistic.

NICK SCHIFRIN: And now Ergo has transformed his pain into purpose.

Today, he directs a VA vet center to help veterans who suffered like him.

SGT.

MIKE ERGO (RET.

): I talk to men and women and help them understand that there is good stuff right below that hurt, and that if they have the courage to feel some more discomfort, it's almost like washing out an infected wound.

It's going to sting a little at first, but we're going to make the result even better and help them connect to their values, the things they love, the people they love and care about, the person that they want to be.

And so that became my new mission, my new why, is to help other people feel that hope again.

NICK SCHIFRIN: And that, he says, is the best way to honor those who never came home.

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

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.