AMNA NAWAZ: Good evening.

I'm Amna Nawaz.

GEOFF BENNETT: And I'm Geoff Bennett.

On the "News Hour" tonight: Gazans welcome the cease-fire deal with cautious optimism, knowing a lasting peace is still far from certain.

AHMED AL NABAHIN, 16 Years Old (through translator): I'm scared because the Israelis still haven't retreated.

And even though there is a cease-fire, nothing has changed yet.

AMNA NAWAZ: In the midst of the devastation from the L.A. wildfires, a glimmer of hope: Residents are banding together to help one another in their time of need.

GEOFF BENNETT: And Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland on the Biden administration's efforts to preserve public land and tackle climate change.

DEB HAALAND, U.S.

Interior Secretary: There is so much that could never be undone because the work is getting completed, our clean energy transition moving forward.

GEOFF BENNETT: Welcome to the "News Hour."

Israel's Cabinet has delayed a vote until tomorrow on the cease-fire deal struck yesterday to suspend the war in Gaza and swap hostages and detainees.

AMNA NAWAZ: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed Hamas for the delay, saying the militant group was trying to change the deal, a charge Hamas has denied.

In the meantime, American and Egyptian mediators met in Cairo to discuss implementing the deal, which is scheduled to begin on Sunday.

Nick Schifrin once again begins our coverage.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Today, in the blown-out destruction of what was once home to half-a-million people, where children play in the ruins of what used to be Khan Yunis homes, there is tension between the horror caused by 468 days of war and hope that it will soon be over, as young Gazans told us, 14-year-old Raghad Mohamad Al Zdoudi.

RAGHAD MOHAMAD AL ZDOUDI, 14 Years Old (through translator): We couldn't wait to hear this news because our hearts are tired.

We really couldn't wait for something to heal our hearts.

Finally, the end of the war is coming.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Sixteen-year-old Ahmed Al Nabahin.

AHMED AL NABAHIN, 16 Years Old (through translator): The most difficult moment was hearing that my father had been killed.

I'm scared because the Israelis still haven't retreated, and even though there is a cease-fire, nothing has changed yet.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Because, in this war zone, the war rages on.

In Gaza City today, the youngest victims received reassurance that the adults can no longer feel.

TAMER ABU SHAABAN, Victim's Uncle (through translator): Is this the truce they are talking about?

What did this young girl, this child, do to deserve this?

Is she fighting you, Israel?

Where are the Arabs?

Where are the Muslims?

No one has any conscience.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Israel says, over the last day-and-a-half, it struck more than 50 Hamas military sites and a commander who participated in the October 7 attacks.

Palestinian health officials say, since the cease-fire was announced, more than 75 Gazans have been killed.

MAHMOUD ABU WARDEH, Gaza City Resident (through translator): We urge the mediators who brokered this truce to hurry up.

Today is better than tomorrow.

Seven is better than eight, because there are martyrs every hour.

NICK SCHIFRIN: But the deal that would pause the war for six weeks is not done, said Israeli government spokesman David Mencer.

DAVID MENCER, Spokesperson, Israeli Prime Minister's Office: But Hamas have reneged on this hostage release agreement and has created a last-minute crisis in an effort to extort last-minute concessions.

NICK SCHIFRIN: But, in Washington, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he remained confident.

ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. Secretary of State: It's not exactly surprising that, in a process, in a negotiation that has been this challenging and this fraught, you may get a loose end.

We're tying up that loose end as we speak.

MAN: Please, sir, respect the process.

Thank you.

MAN: Oh, respect the process.

Respect this process while everybody from the... NICK SCHIFRIN: But Blinken was interrupted by two protests, including one ended by armed security.

MAN: And you're telling me to respect of process.

Criminals.

Why aren't you in The Hague?

NICK SCHIFRIN: There were also protests today in Israel.

Supporters of hard-right politicians called the cease-fire a surrender to Hamas that would end up killing Israelis.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir vowed to resign from the coalition government.

ITAMAR BEN-GVIR, Israeli National Security Minister (through translator): The existing deal increases Hamas' appetite and motivation.

This deal is letting them attack, explode and kidnap and get what they want.

NICK SCHIFRIN: But the families of Israeli hostages held in Gaza are demanding the government sign the deal.

They're anxious.

Officially, at least one-third of the hostages are dead.

Many do not know whether to plan a celebration or funeral.

Tal Haimi has been a hostage since October 7.

Udi Goren is his cousin.

UDI GOREN, Cousin of Hamas Hostage: The vast difference between the daily anxiousness about might this be their last day on Earth to the fact that some of these people by next week might have their loved ones sleeping in the bedroom next to them.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Until then, they pray for peace.

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

AMNA NAWAZ: Today, more of president-elect Donald Trump's picks for key Cabinet positions faced questions from senators on Capitol Hill in another mammoth day of confirmation hearings.

Our Lisa Desjardins has been covering these all, and she joins me now with the latest.

Another busy day, Lisa.

LISA DESJARDINS: Yes.

AMNA NAWAZ: Let's start with the nominee for Treasury secretary.

What do we need to know about him and how he sees the office?

LISA DESJARDINS: Scott Bessent is actually someone who's very well-known in high finance, famous even, and he has a distinct resume.

So, let's talk about it.

He used to work as a top executive for George Soros.

He was a Democrat at times.

He's a hedge fund founder, but he has more recently been a Donald Trump megadonor.

He is openly gay, Amna, and that would be historic because, if confirmed, he would be the first Republican Cabinet secretary to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

Now, a major focus in this hearing was, of course, taxes, which he would oversee, tax policy.

And the 2017 tax cuts by Donald Trump, which would end at the end of this year, tax rates would go up for most of us and for businesses as well.

He said that this would be cataclysmic for the economy, but Democrats say tax cuts should only be kept in place for those making under $400,000.

Otherwise, they say it's a giveaway to the wealthy.

He disagrees, as you can hear in this exchange.

SEN. RAPHAEL WARNOCK (D-GA): Do you agree that ending the tax cuts for those making more than $400,000 would help close the deficit and reduce our national debt?

SCOTT BESSENT, U.S. Treasury Secretary Nominee: Senator Warnock, I do not.

I believe that you would capture an inordinate amount of small business people.

SEN. RAPHAEL WARNOCK: What about $1 billion?

SCOTT BESSENT: Sir, again, that I think that these are the job creators.

LISA DESJARDINS: So, it's a real debate over who would benefit here.

Another big topic, tariffs, as we have been focusing on as an organization.

He defended Trump's tariff push as something that is sound and can be used in multiple ways.

But Democratic Senator Ron Wyden said, no, this is something that would hurt average Americans, people who can afford it the least.

So, I want to play their exchange.

SEN. RON WYDEN (D-OR): It's going to be paid for by workers and small businesses.

So, your response?

SCOTT BESSENT: Yes, Senator, I would respectfully disagree.

Foreign manufacturers, especially China, especially China, which is trying to export their way out of their current economic malaise, they will continue cutting prices to maintain market share.

SEN. RON WYDEN: That's an academic view of it.

But what I know is the history of this is it clobbers people of modest means.

LISA DESJARDINS: This is a critical debate not just for this country, but for the world, depending on how Trump moves forward with tariffs.

Overall, though, Bessent was very measured throughout and there really is a feeling that he's on a glide path to confirmation.

AMNA NAWAZ: Let's turn from the Treasury now to the top environmental officer.

The man nominated to lead the EPA also face senators.

Tell us about that.

LISA DESJARDINS: Right.

All right, we're talking about Lee Zeldin.

He's someone who's a former congressman from New York and ran for governor, lost that race, but he's generally seen as someone who's a little bit more moderate.

He has been a very strong Trump supporter.

Here, we're talking about a situation where Trump has made it clear that he wants to actually dismantle the EPA and roll back some protections that Democrats feel are important.

Zeldin has said he is more pro-energy as well.

He was asked about that idea of dismantling the EPA today.

He said he professed ignorance over that concept, which we know Trump has talked about, didn't really answer those questions.

But he was really more held to account for his own past words on climate.

We know the Environmental Protection Agency key in what is pollution, what is affecting the climate.

In 2016, he said this.

He said that the U.S. must move away from fossil fuels and pursue green energy.

So I want to play an exchange where he was asked about those words and where he is on those today.

They pressed him on that.

SEN. EDWARD MARKEY (D-MA): I said, do you believe it's imperative that we, using our words, reduce our reliance on fossil fuels?

Do you still believe that?

LEE ZELDIN, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Nominee: In considering all factors, in an ideal world, we would be able to pursue always the cleanest, greenest energy sources possible.

SEN. EDWARD MARKEY: Well, I'm not hearing you say you agree with Lee Zeldin in 2016.

LISA DESJARDINS: So we have to really watch him on the job and see if he's now a different person regarding the climate.

Overall, he did question whether some pollutants are pollutants, and we're going to track that as well.

AMNA NAWAZ: Another key figure in energy and environment also took questions from senators today.

What stood out to you from North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, who's nominated to be interior secretary?

LISA DESJARDINS: Our viewers know from your reporting too, Doug Burgum, the governor of North Dakota, presidential candidate.

Now, he is also an energy expert.

One thing that stood out, Amna, is what he was not asked about.

I'm going to get to that in a second.

He talked about drilling.

He talked about saying he's open to all forms of energy.

Now, this hearing, though, comes in an important time, one day after Donald Trump put this out on TRUTH Social about energy.

He wrote that he does not want any windmills built during his time in office.

He wants that to stop.

Burgum was asked about this, and he said he does want to prioritize fuel, that is, fossil fuel.

That's something that renewable fuel people need to pay a lot of attention to.

Now, what was he not asked about?

His potential conflicts.

He also is a multimillionaire, and he is not divesting from everything.

But that didn't come up.

It's just another sign that he's on a glide path.

This was not contentious.

Democrats are accepting that his fait is pretty much accompli.

AMNA NAWAZ: Meanwhile, another piece of news in the Republican Party I want to ask you about, a rare move by the speaker of the House to oust a chairman, in this case from the Intelligence Committee.

What do we know about this?

LISA DESJARDINS: It's so stunning.

Mike Turner, the Republican former chairman of the Intelligence Committee, someone very pro-NATO, also pro-some intelligence maneuvers like the FISA program, which is used to gain intelligence, now, he was asked to leave.

He's been pushed out by Speaker Mike Johnson.

Turner said to CBS that he was told Mar-a-Lago is involved, that this was something to do with Trump.

Johnson has denied that.

But there is real concern, there is split concern over whether this is Trump trying to sort of change the intelligence community to his benefit.

Others say, no, Turner was not a good chairman.

He kind of didn't tell some colleagues earlier last year when he made a big statement about threats, and he wasn't popular.

So we're still going to -- this is another thing.

I keep saying this, but we're going to have to watch it very closely.

AMNA NAWAZ: We will watch very closely indeed.

Lisa Desjardins, thank you so much.

LISA DESJARDINS: You're welcome.

GEOFF BENNETT: And we start the day's other headlines in space.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his company Blue Origin sent their first rocket into orbit after scrubbing an initial attempt earlier this week.

The successful test flight of the uncrewed New Glenn rocket is a major step in the company's hopes to challenge Elon Musk's SpaceX.

Meantime, astronaut Suni Williams got to venture outside the International Space Station for the first time today to carry out repairs.

She's one of the two astronauts who've been stuck aboard the ISS for about seven months longer than planned.

Williams and Butch Wilmore are now due to return to earth in March or early April.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis today appointed state Attorney General Ashley Moody to the U.S. Senate, setting her up to fill the seat of Senator Marco Rubio, whom president-elect Donald Trump tapped to be secretary of state.

GOV.

RON DESANTIS (R-FL): Our attorney general and your next United States Senator, Ashley Moody.

(CHEERING) GEOFF BENNETT: The 49-year-old was first elected as the state's A.G.

In 2018.

She will be only the second woman to ever represent Florida in the U.S. Senate.

Rudy Giuliani has reached a settlement with the two former Georgia election workers he defamed.

The former New York mayor and Trump adviser will get to keep his homes and other personal belongings.

In return, Giuliani will pay an unspecified amount to Ruby Freeman and her daughter, Shaye Moss.

He also promised to never defame them again.

The settlement came on the day Giuliani was due to testify in a trial over his assets.

At issue was whether he would surrender his Florida home and three World Series rings as part of the $148 million judgment against him.

There's news today in the nation's fight against cancer.

According to the American Cancer Society, the mortality rate dropped by 34 percent from the early 1990s to 2022, preventing millions of deaths.

But younger adults and women are getting cancer more often, with rates for women under 65 now higher than men.

Racial disparities also persist.

Blacks and Native Americans are dying of some cancers at double the rate of white Americans.

Today's report predicts that more than two million new cancer cases will emerge this year and hundreds of thousands of Americans will die from the disease.

Federal health officials authorized the sale of Zyn nicotine pouches today.

The FDA says it found that the products contain fewer harmful ingredients than cigarettes and other types of chewing tobacco.

As such, they can help smokers cut back or even quit cigarettes.

It's the first time regulators have authorized the sales of such products, which are the fastest growing segment of the tobacco market.

Turning now to South Korea, where a court rejected a petition today to release impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol from detention.

Yoon is reportedly refusing to cooperate with authorities as they try to question him over his declaration of martial law last month.

They're trying to determine whether his actions amount to rebellion.

Investigators are expected to move to formally arrest Yoon in the coming days.

Meantime, South Korea's Constitutional Court held a second round of hearings in Yoon's impeachment trial today.

The court will ultimately decide whether he can stay in office.

On Wall Street today, stocks cooled off a bit after yesterday's sharp gains.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost nearly 70 points.

The Nasdaq dropped about 170 points on the day.

The S&P 500 also ended in negative territory.

And the man known as Mr.

Baseball, Bob Uecker, has died.

BOB UECKER, Announcer: The Brewers win.

The Brewers are moving on.

GEOFF BENNETT: Uecker was the unmistakable voice of his hometown Milwaukee Brewers.

Before that, he was a Major Leaguer with underwhelming stats, but undeniable charisma, who won a World Series with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1964.

BOB UECKER: Vaughn into the windup in his first offering.

Just a bit outside.

He tried the corner and missed.

GEOFF BENNETT: When he wasn't calling games, Uecker's comedic wit landed him in the movies and on late night.

He appeared on "The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson" more than 100 times.

He earned honors from the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2003 for his lasting impact on the game.

Bob Uecker had battled lung cancer since 2023.

He was 90 years old.

Also, David Lynch, a visionary filmmaker who found mainstream success, has died.

His work was known for its dark and surreal sensibility.

ACTOR: You will want to turn away from him.

GEOFF BENNETT: Filmmaker and director David Lynch startled audiences by marrying mundane, everyday life with unsettling dreams, fantasy and horror.

ACTOR: She's dead.

GEOFF BENNETT: Perhaps his most famous work was the 1990 TV series "Twin Peaks," which he co-created with Mark Frost.

The mystery horror drama follows an FBI agent who travels to a seemingly normal logging town to solve a murder.

He quickly realizes nothing is as it seems.

"Twin Peaks" was a groundbreaking drama that was influential for years to come, winning three Golden Globes, two Emmys and even a Grammy for its theme music.

Lynch revived it decades later with a follow-up series on Showtime in 2017.

Lynch rose to fame in the 1970s with his film "Eraserhead," a cult classic horror about a deranged father and his mutant reptilian baby.

ACTRESS: One name that keeps coming up is this woman singer.

GEOFF BENNETT: Other hits included the crime mystery "Blue Velvet," that featured Laura Dern, Kyle MacLachlan, Isabella Rossellini, and revitalized the career of Dennis Hopper.

It earned Lynch an Oscar nomination for directing.

He was nominated as well for "The Elephant Man" and "Mulholland Drive."

NAOMI WATTS, Actress: What's wrong?

LAURA HARRING, Actress: I don't know who I am.

DAVID LYNCH, Director: When the lights go down and the curtain opens, we get to go into another world, and it's very beautiful.

GEOFF BENNETT: Lynch famously never discussed the meaning of his films, but he described in a 2007 interview what inspired the surrealist style that made him so famous.

DAVID LYNCH: I love a story that holds abstractions and gets a thing that cinema can do, saying abstractions.

So those things are -- they're kind of like the same feeling we have when we have a powerful dream.

GEOFF BENNETT: In all, Lynch directed 10 feature films.

He was also a prolific artist and painter, and created some of the attention-grabbing sound design and music in his work.

His cause of death has not been disclosed.

David Lynch was 78 years old.

Still to come on the "News Hour": TikTok prepares to be banned in the U.S.; and the outgoing U.S. ambassador to China discusses the future of the bilateral relationship.

AMNA NAWAZ: With calmer winds, fire crews are making progress on containing some of the major fires around the Los Angeles area.

But dry conditions and forecasts of strong winds next week suggest more dangerous conditions ahead for weary Angelenos and firefighters.

New video shows the depth and scope of the fire devastation along the Malibu coast.

More than 80,000 people remain evacuated, and some are growing frustrated they can't return to check on their homes.

Local authorities said today that residents may not be able to do so for at least another week.

ROBERT LUNA, Los Angeles County, California, Sheriff: There are areas that we are holding because we believe there may be deceased victims there.

We have to hold for the right time and the right resources to process the scene correctly, and that's going to take a little while.

AMNA NAWAZ: So far, at least 25 people are dead and dozens still missing.

While the fires have brought vast destruction and loss, we have also witnessed the best of humanity, Californians stepping up to help their neighbors in any way they can.

We spoke to many of those people working around the clock to help those affected.

Here is some of what they told us.

BRITTANY THORN, Executive Director, Best Friends Animal Society: My name is Brittany Thorn and I'm the executive director for Best Friends Animal Society in Los Angeles.

The last week has all felt pretty chaotic, from when we first saw the flames from the roof of our building.

We have been going out to any of the local shelters that are being impacted by these awful fires.

That would be the L.A. County shelters, L.A.

Animal Services, as well as, of course, Pasadena Humane.

And we have been pulling in animals that were already in their standing population.

So these are not animals that are currently being displaced by the fires, but we know that those animals are coming in and so we wanted to create as much space as possible in the shelters.

If we are able to get animals out on a flight to our sanctuary in Utah, and then from there they will be sent to other rescue organizations as well.

VICTOR DOMINGUEZ, President and CEO, YMCA of Metropolitan Los Angeles: My name is Victor Dominguez, and I am the president and CEO for the YMCA of Metropolitan Los Angeles.

Almost immediately, we started 15 distribution sites across the county of Los Angeles.

We have engaged more than 20,000 volunteers in less than a week.

We opened up all of our facilities free of charge so that if anyone needed to take a shower, anyone needed family time, anyone needed well-being time, that they had access to any of my 27 YMCAs across the county.

JACKIE FILLA, President and CEO, Hotel Association of Los Angeles: My name is Jackie Filla, and I'm the president and CEO of the Hotel Association of Los Angeles.

We wanted to make sure people understood, number one, rooms were available and we also wanted to have kind of a one-talk shop, so they weren't calling around and trying to figure out what was available in the area they wanted to be, in the type of accommodation they wanted to be.

Me and my mighty team of one other person, Veronica (ph), we wanted to create this document with access to what are legitimate special offers being offered at the hotels.

Our goal was to centralize as much information about accommodation as quickly as possible and to push it out to folks.

FIRAS AYYAD, No Res Gourmet: My name is Firas Ayyad, and, along with Erik Armstrong, we are the founders and operators of No Res Gourmet.

We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.

And our mission is to address hunger in the United States.

We cook meals and we distribute to those in need.

So this is a similar idea, but, obviously, on a much larger scale, which required the activation of as many people as possible.

Many, many people made those $25 donations, which supported a lot of the expenses for the groceries and things we needed.

There's forms for people to request supplies and food.

We had to track volunteers, who's doing what, and then it was multiple locations.

This church that we're talking from right now, Grace Church of Glendora, where the main kitchen is operating.

There's another kitchen in Gardena, and we're kind of overseeing all of that.

ANDREW GRUEL, Calico Fish House: My name is Andrew Gruel.

I'm the owner and chef at Calico Restaurant with my wife, Lauren Gruel.

I think it was Wednesday or Thursday and I said anybody who needs a place to stay just for a temporary period of time, come down.

We have got 80 parking spots in our restaurant.

And then when Lauren put out that call to action the donations, it's funny because we're like, oh, it's going to be two boxes worth.

And fast-forward, what, like 12 to 24 hours later, we had three full Amazon trucks full of products that immediately got delivered.

We had volunteers on every part of the political spectrum, people dressed in MAGA gear and then people who were dressed in like the opposing gear all coming together helping each other out, loading trucks up.

Like, it was -- it's just the greatest feeling.

LAUREN GRUEL, Calico Fish House: We have had kids as young as 6 to individuals in their 70s coming to volunteer.

ANDREW GRUEL: Yes.

LAUREN GRUEL: So it's really everybody is coming -- is coming together to help.

GEOFF BENNETT: The clock is ticking on a potential ban of the popular social media app TikTok.

In April, Congress and President Biden gave the app's Beijing-based parent company 270 days to find a new owner or face a shutdown, arguing Chinese control of the platform was a national security threat.

The U.S. Supreme Court is right now considering a challenge to the law, but barring any last-minute changes, users will no longer be able to download TikTok starting on Sunday.

For his part, president-elect Trump has pledged to provide some kind of reprieve from the ban.

His national security adviser, Mike Waltz, reiterated that on FOX today.

REP. MIKE WALTZ (R-FL): We will put measures in place to keep TikTok from going dark.

And the legislation allows for an extension as long as a viable deal is on the table.

And then essentially that buys President Trump time to keep TikTok going.

GEOFF BENNETT: We're joined now by Carrie Cordero.

She's a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security.

Thanks for being here.

CARRIE CORDERO, Former Department of Justice Official: Thanks for having me.

GEOFF BENNETT: So, with this January 19 deadline just days away, it appears members of the incoming Trump administration and bipartisan members of Congress are trying to buy themselves more time.

What are the possible outcomes?

CARRIE CORDERO: Well, the law that they passed last spring doesn't leave a lot of options.

What they really needed, what was in the law, was a credible buyer lined up and a willingness on behalf of TikTok to actually be sold to that buyer.

There's nothing out there right now that looks that that circumstance really occurs.

So the cleanest way for them to give more time for president-elect Trump once he comes into office would actually be, between now and Sunday, Congress passing a new law extending the timeline.

That seems pretty unlikely.

GEOFF BENNETT: And the president-elect, Donald Trump, he at one time supported this ban.

Now he doesn't.

What accounts for that?

CARRIE CORDERO: Well, it's hard to say what changed his mind.

One thing we can look to is his and his campaign's use of TikTok during the campaign.

This law was passed last spring.

Obviously, over the course of the campaign, between then and November, his campaign found that TikTok was useful to them.

Other candidates used it as well.

And so perhaps that's what changed his mind.

Perhaps also it was lobbying efforts on behalf of TikTok or other content users or other stakeholders.

GEOFF BENNETT: What's particular about the case that the Supreme Court is about to rule on?

And how might that affect things?

CARRIE CORDERO: Well, so that would totally change things, depending on which way the court rules.

Based on their oral arguments last week, the indications from the questions that the justices were asking are that the court intends to uphold the law, in other words, keep the divestment ruling in place, and, eventually, if there's no buyer in the next few days, that the app would not be as available as it currently is.

I think there is a legal path for the court to have ruled on First Amendment grounds and to actually rule in favor in TikTok.

But, again, the argument did not indicate that that's the direction the court's going.

GEOFF BENNETT: As we mentioned, the government sees TikTok as a national security threat.

What's the precedent, though, for the federal government banning a social media app?

CARRIE CORDERO: So I think this case really is novel.

The precedent for the government is the fact that this law was crafted as divestment.

And there is a history of the United States using divestment when there is foreign ownership of a company to mitigate national security threats.

What's different about this case is that it is about access to information.

Over 170 million Americans use TikTok, and this law is different because it governs the information space and it applies this divestment to a source of information and a place that Americans communicate, both as individuals and as businesses.

GEOFF BENNETT: In the meantime, people are now downloading and signing up for this other Chinese-owned app called RedNote.

Tell us about that and the potential dangers there.

CARRIE CORDERO: Well, so what happens is that another foreign-owned, in this case Chinese as well, app becomes available.

And so it's not a good outcome of this law that it is actually driving users to another Chinese-controlled or Chinese-influenced app.

So that's a downside.

And that's why I think really, in the long term, although the government made very compelling national security arguments backed up by classified information they provided to Congress, not backed up by much unclassified information provided for the public, but although the government alleges very strong national security concerns, in this case, my assessment is that the law is sort of shortsighted, because it deals with this particular situation and it doesn't really account for the fact that there could be some other foreign-controlled app down the road.

And then how do you handle that?

GEOFF BENNETT: If this ban goes into effect, what might an average user see starting on Sunday?

CARRIE CORDERO: Well, there really is a big question mark because we haven't been in this situation before.

The law itself applies not actually to TikTok.

The law applies to the companies that provide access to it.

So the way it is expected to be implemented is that the app would no longer be available through app stores, for example, for people to download following the 19th of January.

There also would not be further updates to the app.

So basically new users wouldn't be able to access it if the companies do in fact restrict that access and it would become more buggy.

It would not have new content necessarily.

And so there would be sort of a degradation over time.

GEOFF BENNETT: Carrie Cordero, thanks, as always, for your insights.

We appreciate it.

CARRIE CORDERO: OK.

Thanks so much.

GEOFF BENNETT: Returning now to the fragile Gaza cease-fire deal, the agreement announced yesterday largely mirrors a proposal made by President Biden last may.

In recent days, president-elect Trump's Middle East envoy joined the Biden team in Qatar in a bid to push the deal to completion.

For more insight, we turn now to White House Deputy -- Principal Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer.

Thanks for being with us.

And Jon, we understand there had been a last-minute hold up in implementing this agreement.

Israel blamed Hamas for reneging on part of the deal, which that terrorist organization denies.

Is the U.S. confident that both sides will be able to put this deal in place come Sunday?

JON FINER, U.S.

Principal Deputy National Security Adviser: So, look, I wouldn't call it a hold up at all.

I think things are continuing to move forward with the implementation of the deal that the president and the mediators announced yesterday.

This was always going to be complicated to implement.

There are a lot of moving pieces.

There's a lot of complexity to the arrangement.

There is zero trust, literally, between the two sides.

But our understanding is that now all of the relevant documents for the deal have been fully approved.

The Israeli government will begin its formal approval process tomorrow.

We expect that to proceed over the course of 24, 48 hours, and then the deal to begin being implemented as soon as Sunday or soon thereafter.

But everything remains on track at this point.

GEOFF BENNETT: Secretary of State Tony Blinken today, he praised president-elect Donald Trump's incoming special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, for his work with the outgoing Biden team on this deal.

To what degree was the overall Trump factor key to clinching this agreement, namely, the social media post from Donald Trump last month where he warned of hell to pay in the Middle East if the hostages weren't released by his inauguration?

JON FINER: Well, look, President Biden's diplomatic team was in the principal chair driving this deal forward.

The president himself announced the broad contours of the deal as far back as May.

All of those elements were present in the deal that actually was agreed yesterday.

And the president's special envoy for the Middle East, Brett McGurk, was in the region for almost two consecutive weeks straight, working through the fine print with the Qatari and Egyptian mediators and shuttling between the two sides.

That said, I think the Trump administration played a very important supporting role.

They said the right things about the need for this deal to get done, pressed both sides, as we were, and so we welcomed that participation.

Ultimately, this was about the outcome, which is getting the hostages home, getting humanitarian assistance into Gaza and bringing an end to the fighting, much more than it was about who gets the credit.

GEOFF BENNETT: Well, on that point, once the fighting stops, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza persists.

What's the plan, what's the mechanism to surge badly needed food, water and medical assistance into Gaza to those people who so desperately need it?

JON FINER: So, we have been preparing with the United Nations World Food Program, other NGOs that provide humanitarian assistance, to get ready to fully implement the terms of the deal, which involves 600 trucks a day of assistance surging into Gaza the minute the fighting stops.

And we fully expect the humanitarian community to be ready to do that.

And that's a very important part of getting things right on the implementation side.

Obviously, implementation is going to extend well into the new administration.

This is six or seven weeks in the first phase of the deal.

And so we're going to set the table for a successful implementation.

It will be up to the new administration, the incoming team, to carry that forward.

GEOFF BENNETT: Big picture question here, because critics on the right have argued that the Biden administration really handcuffed Israel in terms of criticizing its tactics, sometimes withholding weapons.

And those on the left say that the Biden White House really enabled Israel to act with impunity in Gaza.

Looking back now, would the administration have done anything different?

JON FINER: Well, looking back now, what I see is a strategic environment in the Middle East in which the United States and its key ally Israel, as well as its other partners in the region, are stronger than they were before October 7.

Their interests are better secured and safer than they were before October 7, in large part because of the collaboration between the United States and Israel.

When Iran sought to strike Israel twice with hundreds of ballistic missiles, it was the United States and a coalition of partners that helped the Israeli Defense Forces defend the country from those attacks.

When Israel decimated Hezbollah, it was the United States that backed Israel's willingness and efforts to do that.

When Assad, the president of Syria, fell and fled the country, it was the United States' efforts, with Israel, that weakened Iran and weakened Russia, Assad's two main backers that prevented them from being able to come to his rescue.

So, Hamas, I think, looked across the region, saw all of its friends and partners in a fundamentally weaker place and felt like it needed to make a deal.

Now, I will not deny that this came at an enormous humanitarian cost.

This is something that we have been acutely sensitive to, and that we have pressed in every day and every conversation that we have had with Israeli officials to increase the amount of humanitarian assistance going into Gaza.

And that is, in many ways, the most important part of this deal, in addition to getting the hostages home, is that there will be a significant increase in relief to people in Gaza, who badly need it.

GEOFF BENNETT: Why didn't President Biden push Netanyahu harder or more publicly to curtail the IDF operations and lessen the civilian costs in Gaza?

JON FINER: So, I mean, to be honest, the thing that was holding back the stoppage of the violence and the halting of the fighting was that there was a deal on the table that the president announced as far back as May, the details of which were continually refined over the course of the summer, that Israel accepted and Hamas didn't.

A number of months have now gone by.

Hamas has gotten to a place where it's under enough pressure that it was willing to actually accept the terms of the deal, with some very minor adjustments and alterations that took place over the course of those weeks and months.

But the holding point, the sticking point, very much so, in recent days and weeks was Hamas' unwillingness to take the deal.

Once they did take the deal, we were off to the races.

And now it is time to actually get the formal agreement with the Israeli government, which we expect over the next day or two, and then to begin implementing, which will provide significant relief.

GEOFF BENNETT: Question about Sudan, because today, for the first time, the U.S. sanctioned the head of the Sudanese Armed Forces, and there are reports out today that Sudan's military used chemical weapons on at least two occasions against a paramilitary group it's battling for control of that country.

How will the U.S. respond?

JON FINER: Well, so the United States has now imposed significant sanctions on both sides of this conflict.

The rapid security forces -- Rapid Support Forces have been sanctioned by the United States and actually designated by the State Department for perpetrating genocide in parts of Sudan.

Today, the United States imposed sanctions, as you said, on the Sudanese Armed Forces for their role in atrocities.

What we have got right now is the most acute humanitarian catastrophe anywhere on the planet as a result of this civil war.

But you have got two sides who, as of now, do not seem to be interested in stopping the fighting.

So the United States is putting pressure on both sides and is trying as hard as we can, along with our partners, to surge humanitarian assistance into Sudan to get some relief to the people.

But until either side, one or both, decides they're interested in actually stopping this war, it is going to be very challenging to get the fighting under control.

GEOFF BENNETT: Jon Finer, thanks so much for your time.

We appreciate it.

JON FINER: Thank you.

AMNA NAWAZ: For four years, the Biden administration has said there's only one country that has both the intention and capacity to reshape the international order in its favor.

That country is China.

Nick Schifrin is back now and talks to the man who's had a front-row seat and helped manage U.S.-China relations.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Amna, that man is Nicholas Burns, who has been the Biden administration's ambassador to China since 2022, and joins me now.

Nick Burns, welcome back to the program.

Thanks so much.

NICHOLAS BURNS, U.S.

Ambassador to China: Thanks so much.

NICK SCHIFRIN: The incoming secretary of state, Marco Rubio, said this about China in his confirmation hearing yesterday.

SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R-FL): The Communist Party of China is the most potent and dangerous near-peer adversary this nation has ever confronted.

They have elements that the Soviet Union never possessed.

They are a technological adversary and competitor, an industrial competitor, an economic competitor, a geopolitical competitor, a scientific competitor.

If we stay on the road we're on right now, in less than 10 years, virtually everything that matters to us in life will depend on whether China will allow us to have it or not.

NICK SCHIFRIN: "Industrial competitor, economic competitor, geopolitical competitor.

If we stay on the road we're right now, in less than 10 years, virtually everything that matters to us in life will depend on whether China will allow us to have it or not."

Do you agree?

NICHOLAS BURNS: I agree that we're in a major competition with China.

We're structural rivals.

We're rivals for military power in the Indo-Pacific and we can't afford to be number two.

We're rivals technologically.

Who's going to be first mover in A.I.

and machine learning and quantum computing and biotech?

We have got major problems on the economic side because China's not playing by the rules.

And we have, as you know, Nick, substantial differences in our belief in human freedom and their belief in not giving rights to their own people.

So I agree there's a competition, but the United States has strengthened its position in the Indo-Pacific over the last four years, and we have done it because we have strengthened our alliance with Japan, with the Philippines, with the Republic of Korea, with Australia.

We have invented the AUKUS arrangement, which is going to be a transformative national security military boon to us in the next couple of decades.

So I think we are stronger.

And the Chinese have begun to make mistakes.

So I don't think there's anything inevitable about China overtaking the United States in global power.

I would bet they won't in the next 10 years if we're strong, and if we also keep in touch with them and work with them on some of the global issues that are important, like climate change.

NICK SCHIFRIN: So, as you say, the main part of the U.S. strategy has been to expand the alliances in the region, whether that's gaining access to bases, some of which are close.

NICHOLAS BURNS: Philippines.

NICK SCHIFRIN: In the Philippines, Japan, some of which are close to Taiwan, improving relations with and between Japan, South Korea, Philippines, Australia, as you said, AUKUS, nuclear submarines.

And yet China's aggressive behavior, whether around Taiwan, whether toward the Philippines, whether hacking into the United States' telecommunications grid or critical infrastructure, has continued.

So does that mean that U.S. policy has failed to change Chinese behavior?

NICHOLAS BURNS: I don't think so.

In some respects -- you mentioned South China Sea.

The Chinese have tried to intimidate the Filipinos over the past year, especially this past summer.

The United States stood up to China.

We have a 1951 mutual defense treaty with the Philippines, and we told the Chinese time and again, if you use physical force, military force, which they did not do, against the Philippines, you're going to draw us into that.

And I think we deterred them.

We have also built up the military capacity of Taiwan through arms transfers, and, as you said, Japan and the Philippines, much more focused on that problem as well.

And you have now seen the European countries begin to act strategically in opposition to what China is trying to do, because China, of course, has been the major ally of Russia in the Ukraine war.

So I think the Chinese have miscalculated on some of this.

Have we resolved every problem with China?

No.

I spent three years trying to do that.

But the suggestion that somehow the United States is going to be overtaken in power by China in the next 10 years, I don't see it happening.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Let's bring us to Taiwan.

President Lai Ching-te of Taiwan says that the island doesn't have to declare independence from mainland China -- quote -- "We are already independent."

Is that semantics or is that provocative to Beijing?

NICHOLAS BURNS: Well, it depends who's listening to it and who's commenting to it.

I think it was provocative in some ways to the Chinese authorities, but we have told the Chinese, you need to commit -- this is the mainland Chinese -- you need to commit to a peaceful resolution of this dispute.

And there are a lot of countries that want to make sure that Taiwan has a deterrent, and 50 percent of global container traffic flows through the Taiwan Strait on a monthly basis.

NICK SCHIFRIN: But you have simultaneously had to also restrain William Lai, the president of Taiwan, not to go farther than he already has, right?

NICHOLAS BURNS: Well, the United States has been clear we do not support Taiwan independence.

And what's remarkable about the Taiwan policy, Nick, is, since 1972, there's been a consistent policy that has worked and has kept the peace by every administration of both parties.

So I think we did well to send the right signals on Taiwan.

NICK SCHIFRIN: China faces significant economic headwinds.

The number of PLA Chinese military officers fired for corruption seems to suggest that Xi Jinping is worried about corruption.

Do you believe that Xi Jinping's confidence is waning about the Chinese military's ability to be able to invade or blockade Taiwan by 2027?

NICHOLAS BURNS: It has to be part of the calculation, the problem they have got in thinking about a major -- if this is one option for them, a major cross-strait operation.

He fired and put on trial for corruption the two commanders are the rocket forces and, more recently, in the last 30 days, the senior admiral in the Chinese navy.

When Xi Jinping came in 12 years ago, he launched an anti-corruption campaign.

And there was this feeling that somehow this was going to be just the opening salvo.

It's been permanent.

And there have been hundreds of thousands of Chinese officials put behind bars.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Is his confidence waning, do you think?

NICHOLAS BURNS: Well, it's hard to know personally what he thinks, although we have spent a lot of time with him.

President Biden did in Lima six - - two weeks ago -- two months ago.

Excuse me.

But they have got to be concerned by a military that has never done a combined forces operation of this type.

So we just need to continue to be steady in leading the rest of the world to advise the Chinese, you can't use force.

There'd be a huge price to pay for that in terms of China's reputation.

And, of course, we're going to continue arming Taiwan.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Finally, quickly, president-elect Trump has refused to rule out military or economic coercion on Greenland and Panama.

Perhaps it's rhetoric, but how does Beijing hear that talk?

And just in about 30 seconds we have left, how does it affect the U.S. arguments about Taiwan?

NICHOLAS BURNS: Well, basically, the message to Putin and Xi Jinping, you can't take over someone else's country, you can't cross borders by the use of force.

So it sends the wrong signal to Xi Jinping.

And, Nick, I was ambassador to NATO.

On 9/11, the first country that came to support us was Canada.

Denmark supported us.

These are great allies of the United States, and we Americans built a world order on sovereignty, inviolability of countries' borders and respect your allies.

The biggest difference between the United States and China right now, China has no allies.

We have the NATO allies and the East Asian allies.

So that's the difference-maker, and we should respect the sovereignty of our allied countries.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Nick Burns, the outgoing U.S. ambassador to China, thank you very much.

NICHOLAS BURNS: Thank you, Nick.

AMNA NAWAZ: One of the legacies President Biden leaves behind when he exits the White House is his record on conserving and protecting the country's public lands and water.

Deb Haaland, Biden's secretary of the interior, played a key role in implementing his policies over the last four years, and I spoke with her earlier this week.

Secretary Haaland, welcome to the "News Hour."

It's great to have you here in person.

DEB HAALAND, U.S.

Interior Secretary: Thank you.

So happy to be here.

AMNA NAWAZ: So, as the very first native person ever to serve as Cabinet secretary in United States history, we should point out you were leading a department that once worked to remove indigenous people from their land.

And I know a lot has been written about how you wanted to use this role to really examine and grapple with history here in America.

A big part of this was the work you did looking into the actual work governments did to separate indigenous children from their families, put them into boarding schools, strip them of their history and language and culture.

When President Biden issued an apology for these actions, what was that moment like for you?

What stays with you?

DEB HAALAND: Oh, absolutely.

Yes, that was absolutely an historic moment.

And sitting in the crowd, listening to the president with my fellow indigenous friends and relatives around me, it was very profound.

Now, we finished that second report for the Boarding School Initiative, and we put a list of recommendations.

And no sooner did we get that out and over to the White House that the White House called us and said, the president wants to make an apology.

So he immediately felt the need to be out there and following our recommendations.

So we were all very pleased.

And, of course, it's important because, as I always say, Native American history is American history, and we all need to -- as Americans, we all need to heal from these tragic moments in our history.

And so the healing part of what we have done, we hope, is what really comes of all of the work that we accomplished on this issue.

AMNA NAWAZ: I know the transition process has begun.

You have had conversations, I assume, with your nominated successor, Doug Burgum.

Has this issue come up?

DEB HAALAND: So I haven't actually had any conversations with the incoming secretary, although I do want to point out that the mission of the Department of the Interior does not change.

It's the same mission throughout history that we are -- that we were dedicated to.

So we can hope that the 65,000 career staff who remain at the department, even though I'm leaving, will move so many of the issues that we found important enough to work on forward.

AMNA NAWAZ: The mission may not change, but I think it's fair to say it is being redefined with the way the incoming administration has laid it out.

Doug Burgum is said to be taking on a much more expansive role, much more energy-focused as well.

He's going to have a seat on the National Security Council.

How concerned are you that a lot of the work you have done on climate, on preservation of public lands, that that could be undone?

DEB HAALAND: So there is a lot that can never be undone, President Biden's Investing in America agenda that essentially moved $45 billion to our nation's Indian tribes for climate resilience, for landscape restoration, for infrastructure.

All of those things are in process and they're getting done.

Billions of dollars went to cleaning up legacy pollution sites across the country, and that work has also been ongoing.

There is so much that could never be undone, because the work is getting completed, our clean energy transition moving forward.

President Biden asked for a 30 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030.

We're more than halfway there in less than half the time.

So we have really moved the needle on a clean energy transition, legacy pollution on Indian country.

And so we feel good about the opportunities that remain for all of those sectors.

AMNA NAWAZ: This moment of transition, I need to ask you to look back slightly, because, in the past, you have called Mr. Trump a threat to democracy.

You did cite his election as your inspiration to run for office in the very first place.

It was in 2018 that you and Kansas Congresswoman Sharice Davids made history as the first Native American women elected to Congress ever.

I have to ask you, now that he's won, he's about to be sworn in for his next term, what is this moment like for you?

DEB HAALAND: So, of course, I -- when I first got to the Department of the Interior, it was very exciting.

Four years seemed like a really long time to get so much of our agenda completed.

Now, with just a few days left, of course, I'm feeling a little sad to leave my colleagues.

But I know that we worked so hard and we got a tremendous amount accomplished.

I have to believe that our best days are ahead of us.

And administrations come and go.

The voices of the American people who want to conserve our -- these beautiful natural resources that we have, those voices will continue.

Yes, I am always going to be involved.

And I feel confident that my voice was important in this administration, and it will be important in the future as well.

AMNA NAWAZ: What's ahead for you?

What's next?

(LAUGHTER) DEB HAALAND: I'm going to go back to New Mexico.

Looking forward to some enchiladas with red chili, quite frankly.

But we have an amazing group of political appointees, that my colleagues that I served with at the department, we're all sort of spreading out to do some amazing things.

And so I look forward to staying in touch with all of them and absolutely advocating for the things we know we need for our planet.

AMNA NAWAZ: Deb Haaland, outgoing secretary of the interior.

Madam Secretary, thank you so much for being here.

DEB HAALAND: Thank you.

AMNA NAWAZ: And that is the "News Hour" for tonight.

I'm Amna Nawaz.

GEOFF BENNETT: And I'm Geoff Bennett.

For all of us here at the "PBS News Hour," thanks for spending part of your evening with us.