AMNA NAWAZ: Good evening.

I'm Amna Nawaz.

GEOFF BENNETT: And I'm Geoff Bennett.

JOE BIDEN, President of the United States: Congratulations.

DONALD TRUMP, Former President of the United States (R) and Current U.S. President-Elect: Thank you.

GEOFF BENNETT: Donald Trump returns to Washington, meeting with President Biden and members of Congress, as the Senate chooses a new leader.

AMNA NAWAZ: More Trump loyalists are named for top Cabinet positions, including Congressman Matt Gaetz as attorney general and a FOX News host to head the Defense Department.

GEOFF BENNETT: And we look at why more Latinos voted for Donald Trump this year and what that means for future elections.

GEOFF BENNETT: Welcome to the "News Hour."

President-elect Donald Trump took a victory lap in the nation's capital today, bouncing from meetings with House Republicans to the Oval Office, which is soon to be his again.

AMNA NAWAZ: President Biden hosted Trump for nearly two hours, a familiar ritual in the peaceful handoff of power.

That comes as critical roles are being filled from more members of Trump's Cabinet to new leaders in the Senate.

Lisa Desjardins begins our coverage.

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): The 47th president of the United States, Donald J. Trump.

LISA DESJARDINS: Donald Trump's big return to Washington echoed his rallies on the campaign trail, walk-up song and all.

DONALD TRUMP, Former President of the United States (R) and Current U.S. President-Elect: It's nice to win.

LISA DESJARDINS: The president-elect spoke to House Republican leadership for the first time since his victory last week, declaring GOP control of the Lower Chamber.

That is within reach, but it has not been called yet, with more than a dozen House races still uncertain.

DONALD TRUMP: We worked with a lot of you to get you in, and you helped me, and you helped me too.

LISA DESJARDINS: Much of the meeting happened behind closed doors.

REP. TOM COLE (R-OK): It was mostly kind of a replay of Donald Trump's greatest hits.

I think it was more just a reminder to the troops to hang together, get things done.

He intends to move pretty fast and strap it up and get ready.

LISA DESJARDINS: In the room was Elon Musk, reportedly greeted with a standing ovation one day after Trump named him, along with Vivek Ramaswamy, to lead a brand-new Department of Government Efficiency.

Despite its name, it is not a government entity or agency.

Those in attendance welcomed Musk to the party.

REP. NICHOLAS LALOTA (R-NY): Members acknowledge his presence and want him to be part of an administration moving forward that helps make our government more efficient.

REP. AUSTIN SCOTT (R-GA): We need these people that can bring in a new perspective, if you will, to how we run the agencies, and I think we can get more done with less money.

And so eliminating the deficit is obviously something that all Americans are concerned about.

JOE BIDEN, President of the United States: Donald, congratulations.

DONALD TRUMP: Thank you.

LISA DESJARDINS: From there, Trump returned to the White House itself with a handshake and a nod to the coming handoff from President Joe Biden.

JOE BIDEN: Looking forward to having a, like we said, smooth transition.

Do everything we can to make sure you're accommodated, what you need.

And we're going to get a chance to talk about some of that today.

LISA DESJARDINS: Meetings between incoming and outgoing presidents are traditional, but, in 2020, then-President Trump did not extend an invite to then president-elect Biden.

In the Oval Office today, they both pledged a smooth transition.

DONALD TRUMP: Politics is tough, and it's, in many cases, not a very nice world, but it is a nice world today.

And I appreciate it very much, a transition that's so smooth.

It'll be as smooth as it can get.

And I very much appreciate that, Joe.

JOE BIDEN: You're welcome.

LISA DESJARDINS: Notably absent from today's visit, the incoming first lady, Melania Trump.

The White House says Jill Biden wrote her a letter and is prepared to assist her with the transition.

Trump announced four names today to his new White House, all of them close campaign advisers, Stephen Miller as deputy chief of staff for policy and homeland security adviser, as well as Dan Scavino, James Blair, and Taylor Budowich.

They will all serve as deputy chiefs of staff.

Trump has tapped former representative and former Democrat Tulsi Gabbard to serve as director of national intelligence and a bombshell choice for attorney general, Florida Representative Matt Gaetz, a staunch Trump loyalist who has been an elected politician for most of his adult life.

He would step into the role of the nation's top prosecutor.

Meantime, on Capitol Hill, after two rounds of voting, Senate Republicans emerged with their first new leader in nearly 18 years, choosing John Thune, the senior senator from South Dakota, known outside the Senate as a communicator and inside it for good relationships with all corners of the party.

SEN. JOHN THUNE (R-SD): The American people have loudly rejected the failed policies of the Biden/Harris/Schumer agenda.

And this Republican team is united.

We are on one team.

We are excited to reclaim the majority and to get to work with our colleagues in the House to enact President Trump's agenda.

LISA DESJARDINS: But to win, 63-year-old Thune had to address his past breaks with Donald Trump.

In 2016, after the release of the "Access Hollywood" tape, in which Trump bragged of assaulting women, Thune called on Trump to leave the presidential race.

Then, in 2020, Thune decried Trump's efforts to overturn the election results in Congress.

Trump fired back that Thune was a RINO, Republican in name only, threatening that his political career was over.

Thune worked this year to repair the relationship, meeting with Trump in March, and recently writing that he is open to Trump's demand for potential recess appointments.

He spoke to that today.

SEN. JOHN THUNE: Well, what we're going to do is make sure that we are processing his nominees in a way that gets them into those positions so they can implement his agenda.

I have said this, and I mean it, that we expect a level of cooperation from the Democrats to work with us to get these folks installed.

And, obviously, we're going to look at, explore all options to make sure that they get moving, that they get moved quickly.

LISA DESJARDINS: Leader Thune's relationship with Trump will be a test for both men and for the Senate itself, which has traditionally stood as a check on executive power, whether the president is a member of your party or the opposite party -- Geoff.

GEOFF BENNETT: And, Lisa, what does Senator Thune's election, his elevation as Republican leader now, what does that tell us about the GOP-led Senate?

LISA DESJARDINS: That's right.

It tells you that this is a place that still values institutions and traditions, as well as the way the Senate has functioned for most of modern politics.

And the reason here is, this was a furious push from MAGA Trump-aligned Republicans to try and get in who the person they saw as the most loyal Trump supporter, someone who wanted to change the way the Senate operated.

Instead, the senators in secret ballot measures voted for John Thune.

And part of that too is the way senators themselves work.

They clearly are saying that they believe John Thune is the one who can help them and help the Senate get things done the best.

GEOFF BENNETT: Lisa, I know you're also tracking control of the House.

Bring us up to speed.

What's the latest?

LISA DESJARDINS: All right.

Let's take a look, guys.

We are getting very close to Republicans clenching control of the House right now.

According to Associated Press calls, 207 seats Democrats have won, 217 seats Republicans have won.

And I want to take a look at the map in particular, at the seats that are still remaining.

You can see some of these.

If you look over at Alaska there, you can see it's a shade of pink that the Republicans are leading there.

However, Democrats are leading somewhere else, in Oregon.

Now, you do all this math together.

We have all been doing it for the last couple of days.

And in the end, we're seeing things break about even at this point.

The House Republicans are on track at this moment to pick up a single seat, not a lot, in the House.

GEOFF BENNETT: But, Lisa, Donald Trump, the president-elect, he continues to nominate members of the House to serve in his administration, Elise Stefanik, Matt Gaetz.

What does that do to the numbers?

LISA DESJARDINS: That's a real problem for House Speaker Mike Johnson and his team.

They already were struggling with close margins before, but let's kind of break down what happens here.

Right now, the House, as I said, is on track to pick up one seat, so that would be 222 Republicans.

Now, if three members go to the Trump administration, if it's not more than that, then that would leave Republicans with 219, at least temporarily, Republicans.

And what does that mean?

They can only lose three votes on anything.

This gives more power to different factions within the Republican Party.

And I can report right now talks are under way about that motion-to-vacate rule, whether that should be extended and increased.

That would give Speaker Johnson more protection, but there's no agreement on that yet.

One other note, the House did vote, the House Republicans did vote to install the replacement for Elise Stefanik.

Her name is Lisa McClain, representative of Michigan.

She will be the new conference leader, the messenger of House Republicans' message in politics going forward.

GEOFF BENNETT: Lisa Desjardins on this busy day on Capitol Hill.

Lisa, thanks, as always.

LISA DESJARDINS: You're welcome.

AMNA NAWAZ: All right, and we're joined now by our White House correspondent, Laura Barron-Lopez, who's been following the transition meeting between President Biden and president-elect Trump.

Laura, good to see you.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Good to be here.

AMNA NAWAZ: So tell us a little bit more what you learned from your sources about how this historic meeting unfolded.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: So President Biden and president-elect Trump were joined by their respective chiefs of staff, Jeff Zients and Susie Wiles.

And according to the White House, president-elect Trump was gracious and he came with a detailed list of questions.

President Biden talked about the important items that he feels he still has to do in the lame-duck session of Congress, including funding the government, as well as some more additional disaster relief funds that he wants to see done.

He also stressed to the president-elect that the United States needs to stand with Ukraine, that that is a national security interest of the U.S. Jake Sullivan came out and spoke to reporters, his national security adviser to President Biden.

And Jake Sullivan said that President Biden is going to continue to make his case, both privately and publicly, to Donald Trump and to the incoming administration.

And Sullivan noted that investment in Ukraine is not just sending millions of dollars to Ukraine.

It's also investment in American jobs, as Americans are making the military weapons and strengthening military capacity at home.

Sullivan also said that the Biden administration is willing to work with the incoming administration when it comes to American hostages that are still being held in Gaza.

Now, I asked a White House source, an aide to the president why President Biden decided to invite president-elect Trump to the White House, considering that he, as well as Vice President Harris, campaigned heavily, calling Donald Trump a threat to democracy.

And this aide said that ultimately President Biden felt as though, when he entered the White House, he critiqued Trump at the time for not inviting him, for not keeping that established norm, and that he felt that he had to do that, given his principles and his values.

AMNA NAWAZ: This is the first time, though, that Mr. Trump was back at the White House since he left in 2021.

That was weeks after the January 6 insurrection, hours before Biden's inauguration, which he did not attend.

So what have you noticed about the way this has all unfolded over the past week in terms of the tone of this transition?

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Well, the Trump world sources that I have been talking to, they say the ultimate goal is to be much more prepared when they enter the White House versus the first term.

And one of the biggest themes is that loyalists are key.

And so, as you can see across the board, with these appointments, Donald Trump is looking for loyalists.

And as one source inside Trump world put it, last time the establishment was much more involved, the establishment Republicans were much more involved in who Trump selected to be across his administration.

This time, the people that are involved are strictly Trump world people, and that the president-elect wants people who are going to listen to him and he wants the people that he has selected to ultimately get confirmed to these positions.

It isn't some chess move, that he wants these people confirmed.

And it could ultimately, this source said, double as a bit of a test to see how loyal Senate Republicans are to the incoming president.

AMNA NAWAZ: So where do things stand with all the many people Mr. Trump has now tapped and nominated to serve in both his administration and his Cabinet?

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: As Lisa pointed out, there's top four campaign advisers to Trump that are coming into the White House.

That's Stephen Miller, Dan Scavino, James Blair, and Taylor Budowich.

And the reason I highlight those, Amna, is because these are people who have long served Donald Trump.

They are going to also be key in a lot of the decision-making.

Some of the power is going to be very centralized inside of the White House, and not always across the agencies, especially when you look at Stephen Miller.

When it comes to James Blair, who's also pointed as deputy chief of staff, he's been a long time political director for the president-elect, worked with him on his 2020 campaign.

And so this is going -- this just shows you how Donald Trump, this time around, is surrounding himself with the people that he trusts the most.

AMNA NAWAZ: White House correspondent Laura Barron-Lopez.

Laura, thank you.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Thank you.

GEOFF BENNETT: Well, as we mentioned, president-elect Donald Trump has also nominated one of his most prominent loyalists in Congress to lead the Department of Justice.

Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz is the former president's pick to serve as the nation's top prosecutor.

AMNA NAWAZ: He's been a longtime critic of the federal government.

Here he is at a conservative conference back in 2023.

REP. MATT GAETZ (R-FL): I don't care if it takes every second of our time and every ounce of our energy.

We either get this government back on our side or we defund and get rid of, abolish the FBI, CDC, ATF, DOJ, every last one of them, if they do not come to heel!

(CHEERING) GEOFF BENNETT: Gaetz is well-known in Washington for leading efforts to oust former Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

He was also recently the subject of a Justice Department investigation himself, as prosecutors looked into allegations of sex trafficking a 17-year-old girl and obstructing that investigation.

Prosecutors declined to indict him.

Gaetz was also a major supporter of Mr. Trump's efforts to overturn his loss in the 2020 presidential election.

NPR's Carrie Johnson covers the Department of Justice, and joins us now.

Thanks so much for being here.

Appreciate it.

CARRIE JOHNSON, NPR: Thank you.

GEOFF BENNETT: So this is another sign that Donald Trump is rewarding loyalty as he builds his Cabinet, as is his right.

Matt Gaetz, we should say, though, is a polarizing figure with a little prosecutorial experience.

Help us understand why Donald Trump is choosing him.

CARRIE JOHNSON: Matt Gaetz has minimal legal credentials, Geoff, but he has a shared animus with Donald Trump against the institution of the Justice Department and the FBI.

Both of these men, of course, have been subject to federal investigations, FBI investigations, looked after by federal prosecutors.

And they have come away kind of radicalized in some respects about those institutions and the power they have.

Donald Trump today in his statement, announcing he wanted Matt Gaetz to be the attorney general, called him tenacious and praised his relentless oversight of the Justice Department from Congress.

And Trump seems to want to clean House at the Justice Department.

Matt Gaetz may be the man to do that if he gets confirmed by the Senate.

GEOFF BENNETT: And, as we said, Gaetz has his own ethical and legal problems.

The DOJ investigated him as part of a sex trafficking probe.

He was not charged.

There is an ongoing House ethics investigation, though.

And he was said to be so concerned, Carrie, about his legal exposure after January 6 that he asked Donald Trump for a pardon.

That's according to a former Trump White House lawyer.

What more should we know?

Bring us up to speed.

CARRIE JOHNSON: Yes, Matt Gaetz did not get that pardon.

But one of the things the incoming president, Donald Trump, has promised, is pardons for a whole host of January 6 defendants, people who were actually charged with and convicted of crimes.

It's not clear where Trump is going to want to draw that line, whether it's going to just involve nonviolent people on January 6 or others.

But Matt Gaetz seems to share a view of what happened on January 6 with the incoming president of the United States.

Matt Gaetz has actually introduced legislation to support some of those defendants.

And so I think he's very like-minded with Trump on that topic in particular.

GEOFF BENNETT: An A.G. pick, as you well know, is among the most important selections a president can make.

The attorney general guides what is really the world's largest law firm.

Big picture, help us understand, what does an attorney general do?

What does the DOJ do?

And what could an A.G. Matt Gaetz, what kind of impact could he have if he's confirmed?

CARRIE JOHNSON: It's a huge institution, over 110,000 employees, who do everything from investigate crimes against children to cyberattacks to potential terrorist attacks.

They go after drug crimes and drug gangs.

And also the head of the Justice Department is in charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

It's in charge of the FBI in significant respects.

An attorney general has the -- basically the power to set priorities about what gets investigated and what does not.

And we already know Donald Trump says he wants to investigate some of his political enemies, including members of Congress and perhaps even the former president, almost former President Joe Biden, and his family.

GEOFF BENNETT: Lastly, Carrie, multiple outlets are reporting that the special counsel, Jack Smith, plans to wind down the existing cases and that he and his team plan to resign before Donald Trump takes office.

What more should we know?

CARRIE JOHNSON: Yes, famously, Trump has said he wants to fire Jack Smith within two minutes or two seconds.

That won't happen because Jack Smith will already be gone, as will his team.

There were two ongoing criminal cases against Trump, one involving January 6, the second involving classified documents at Mar-a-Lago.

Both of those are going to be unwound before the inauguration.

The big question is whether Jack Smith will write a report with new details that all of us may be able to see before inauguration.

GEOFF BENNETT: Because it would be up to Merrick Garland, the attorney general, if that's made public?

CARRIE JOHNSON: Merrick Garland has promised to make as much public as possible.

The open question is whether Jack Smith can get that report written and edited in time for that to happen.

GEOFF BENNETT: Carrie Johnson, so grateful to be able to draw on your reporting and insights.

Thank you.

CARRIE JOHNSON: Thank you so much.

GEOFF BENNETT: The day's other headlines start in Belgium, where U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken pledged to rush assistance to Ukraine in the Biden administration's final months.

The nation's top diplomat made the comments during a visit to NATO's headquarters today, where he met with European officials.

President-elect Trump has signaled that he wants to reassess the U.S. commitment to Ukraine.

Blinken said that he's determined to give Kyiv the aid it needs before Mr. Trump takes office in January.

ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. Secretary of State: As we're working to make sure that Ukraine has what it needs to effectively defend itself, the United States continues to step up.

President Biden is committed to making sure that every dollar we have at our disposal will be pushed out the door between now and January 20.

GEOFF BENNETT: Meantime, the war shows no signs of winding down.

In Ukraine's capital, residents scrambled for shelter in metro stations today, as Russia staged its first missile and drone attack on the city since August.

A U.S. government employee has been charged with leaking classified information about Israel's plans to attack Iran.

Asif William Rahman faces two felony charges related to the willful transmission of national defense information.

He was arrested in Cambodia this week by the FBI and will make his first court appearance in the U.S. territory of Guam.

It's not clear which agency employed him, but officials say he had top secret security clearance.

The charges come after documents detailing Israel's movement of military assets appeared last month on the messaging app Telegram.

U.S. officials formally admitted today the extent of China's recent hacking of America's telecommunication system.

The nation's Cyber Defense Agency and the FBI say their investigation revealed a broad and significant cyber espionage campaign.

In a joint statement provided to "PBS News Hour," the agency said that the breaches enabled the theft of customer call records data and the compromise of private communications of a limited number of individuals in government or political activity.

The hack also included court-approved surveillance.

Federal authorities have been looking into recent security breaches involving telecoms companies, random individuals and public figures, including president-elect Donald Trump.

Drug overdose deaths in the U.S. appear to be showing a sustained decline.

Provisional data from the CDC today shows there were 97,000 overdose deaths in the 12-month period ending in June of this year.

That's down 14 percent from the 12-month period before that.

Experts say it's hard to pinpoint a specific reason for the decline, but they cite the end of the isolation of the COVID pandemic and the increased availability of overdose-reversing drugs as potential factors.

Inflation climbed slightly last month due in part to higher prices for rents, used cars and airline tickets.

The Labor Department said today that consumer prices rose 2.6 percent in October when compared to a year earlier.

That's up from a 2.4 percent reading in September, which was the lowest level since 2021.

It's also the first increase in seven months, which economists say could be a sign that a steady decline in inflation could be leveling off.

On Wall Street today, stocks drifted a bit following that inflation data.

The Dow Jones industrial average added more than 40 points for a modest gain.

The Nasdaq dropped 50 points, so about a quarter of 1 percent.

The S&P 500 ended the day virtually unchanged.

And a passing of note: Ted Olson has died.

He was one of the most consequential conservative lawyers of modern times.

Among his official roles, Olson was assistant attorney general under Ronald Reagan and served as U.S. solicitor general under George W. Bush.

He argued 65 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, including the Florida vote recount that helped Bush win the 2000 election.

But Olson also took positions in several landmark cases that broke with his conservative allies.

WOMAN: In legal terms, basically, he said, home is here.

You belong here as well.

GEOFF BENNETT: He defended young undocumented immigrants known as dreamers from efforts to have them deported during the Trump administration.

And he worked to overturn California's ban on same-sex marriage.

THEODORE OLSON, Former U.S.

Solicitor General: Today, we are more American because of this decision.

When the citizens of California voted to take away the right to marry from many, many, many of our citizens in California, they violated the United States Constitution.

That cannot stand.

GEOFF BENNETT: Over his six-decade career, Olson also served as lead attorney in the Citizens United case that reforms campaign finance law, and he fought for the freedom of the press.

In so doing, he displayed a commitment to his libertarian views that often broke with partisan ideology.

Ted Olson was 84 years old.

Still to come on the "News Hour": Illinois' governor discusses a new state-level effort to protect democracy; how FOX News personality Pete Hegseth could reshape the U.S. military as Trump's pick for secretary of defense; and a look at why more Latinos voted for Donald Trump in this election.

AMNA NAWAZ: Donald Trump isn't the only one preparing for his return to the White House.

Several Democratic governors across the country are too.

And they are uniting, they say, to protect democracy at the state level during Trump's second term in office.

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker and Colorado Governor Jared Polis announced the launch of Governors Safeguarding Democracy.

And Governor Pritzker joins us now.

Governor, welcome back to the "News Hour."

Thanks for being with us.

GOV.

J.B. PRITZKER (D-IL): Thanks, Amna.

Great to be with you.

AMNA NAWAZ: I want to start with your reaction to the news that president-elect Trump has named Matt Gaetz to be his attorney general.

What message does that send to you as a governor about how Mr. Trump views the rule of law, and also the role of the Department of Justice, what that could be in his next administration?

GOV.

J.B. PRITZKER: Well, the nomination of Matt Gaetz raises the question about whether the office of attorney general is now going to be fully politicized.

Matt Gaetz is somebody who has demonstrated that he's willing to say things that aren't true, that he has advocated that the Justice Department should go after certain people or choose not to for political reasons.

So I'm deeply concerned and hopeful that the Senate will take seriously its obligation to advise and consent on this one in particular, because we want a Justice Department that's fair and impartial.

AMNA NAWAZ: Let me ask you about this group that you and Governor Polis announced today, Governors Safeguarding Democracy.

What does that mean in real and practical terms in terms of the steps that you're taking now?

And can you give us a sense of how many governors have signed on to join this group?

GOV.

J.B. PRITZKER: Sure.

Well, let's begin with the idea that each governor has good ideas that are worth sharing across state lines with one another about how to safeguard our states from what we think might be an onslaught from the federal government to take powers away from the states and/or to actually violate the Constitution.

So we want to know, I want to know what governors across the country, whether they be Republican or Democrat, have - - what their ideas are for pushing back.

So, in Illinois, we have done a number of things to protect, for example, reproductive rights.

Other states may not have taken those actions.

Executive orders are useful for some governors who may not have a legislature that agrees with them.

And in other cases, like in my state, where we have Democrats in control of the legislature and the governorship, we might be able to move on legislation.

But getting ideas, sharing ideas, and, by the way, bringing in outside advisers and organizations to give us thoughts about how do we deal with the fact that the Trump administration, when it comes into office, apparently wants to reimpose prayer in public schools?

And I know that can sound like it's something that would be a Supreme Court issue, but it may be that they're going to try to take away funding from our schools if, in fact, we're upholding the separation of church and state.

So how do we push back on that?

So that's just one idea.

But the point is, we have a lot of very smart governors across the country, and we will work in a bipartisan fashion to try to solve for these problems.

AMNA NAWAZ: Well, we know Mr. Trump has specifically mentioned on immigration some of his plans, right?

He says that he wants to begin mass deportations on day one in the White House.

You in Illinois have an estimated 400,000 or so undocumented immigrants.

So what does it mean to you to be able to safeguard democracy at the state level against something like that?

Could you protect them?

Could you block federal agents from carrying out raids in your state, for example?

GOV.

J.B. PRITZKER: Well, we're not legally allowed to block federal agents from coming into the state to carry out their duties.

However, to the extent that they want to deputize local law enforcement or sheriffs, there are a lot of sheriffs who think that they have some independent constitutional capability that they don't have.

But the reality is that the federal government cannot order our state law enforcement to carry out those deportations.

Now, as far as I'm concerned, when we're talking about violent criminals who are undocumented, we obviously want help from the federal government in order to find out, seek out, make sure that we're taking care -- deporting people who are dangerous to the people in our states.

But importantly, what we don't want -- and I heard this just two days ago.

What we don't want is red state National Guard moving into blue states to try to enforce this kind of mass deportation.

That is illegal.

We want to push back on that and make sure that we're not allowing that to happen.

And I won't let it happen in the state of Illinois.

AMNA NAWAZ: So does the formation of this group sort of send the signal that you and others are preparing for four years of opposition and resistance to this incoming administration?

Or is there -- are there areas that you think you can work with this president on?

GOV.

J.B. PRITZKER: Of course I think that there are areas.

I was governor for the last two years of the last Trump administration.

And, of course, there are areas that we will work with the Trump administration on.

But we're also preparing for the idea that there may be things that we really have to band together or share ideas about how to push back.

So it's both.

Look, the federal government plays a very important role in people's lives all across this country.

And we just want them to live within the law and make sure that they're not taking away rights that we have established in our respective states.

AMNA NAWAZ: Governor, when you look at your own party right now, President Biden is now on his way out.

Vice President Harris just lost both the electoral vote and the popular vote across the country.

Who would you say in your party right now is the leader?

Who's the standard-bearer of the Democratic Party right now?

GOV.

J.B. PRITZKER: I don't think there's any one person that you would look at.

But I will say, we have a set of values as Democrats that really are shared across quite a number of leaders.

I would point at the governors, by the way, because we -- I remember sitting around the table at Vice President Harris' residence when she had invited a number of governors just to talk about the election back in April, before the switch took place.

And I looked around the room at people like Roy Cooper and Gretchen Whitmer and Josh Shapiro and Tony Evers, and I thought, this is a spectacular group of leaders in the Democratic Party, and we share a common set of values.

And they are values about standing up for working-class people and the most vulnerable in our country.

And so I really feel good about the potential future for our party.

But I can't point to one person and say that person is now the standard-bearer of the Democratic Party.

AMNA NAWAZ: In the minute or so I have left, though, it's worth noting that American voters did not agree with what Democrats have laid out as their vision for the country in this last election.

So what do Democrats need to do to course-correct?

Where did you go wrong?

GOV.

J.B. PRITZKER: Well, let's be clear.

The American public agrees with Democrats on the issues, and you can see that poll after poll after poll.

So the question is, what went wrong, if they agree with us on the issues?

And I think -- I don't want to speculate, because there's a lot of data that we all need to look at before we come to a conclusion.

But, certainly, one conclusion you could reach is that we aren't messaging properly to the middle class, to working-class people, if we lost their votes, because we have the issues.

They agree with us on those.

So I don't know which one of those individual issues.

We could sit here and speculate.

But I think we need to look at the data and come back.

And we have a little bit of time to do that.

But, importantly, I think the values that we're carrying out as Democrats across the states, as governors, certainly, are, I think, commonly viewed by middle-class, working-class and vulnerable people across our country as the values that they hold dear.

AMNA NAWAZ: That's the Democratic governor of Illinois, J.B. Pritzker.

Governor, always good to speak with you.

Thank you.

GOV.

J.B. PRITZKER: Thanks, Amna.

AMNA NAWAZ: The nominations came fast and with some fury last night and today from the president-elect, three picks to lead the bulk of the expansive American security and diplomatic apparatus.

GEOFF BENNETT: A senator, a soldier turned television host, and a former member of Congress have been chosen by Donald Trump to lead, respectively, the State Department, the Defense Department, and the Directorate of National Intelligence.

For a look at who they are and what they may do if they're confirmed, we turn now to Nick Schifrin.

NICK SCHIFRIN: It is the largest bureaucracy in the country and the most expensive military in the world.

And president-elect Trump's nominee for secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, says the department's policies are all wrong.

PETE HEGSETH, U.S. Defense Secretary Nominee: Well, first of all, you got to fire -- you got to fire the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, and you got to fire this -- I mean, obviously you're going to bring in a new secretary of defense, but any general that was involved, general, admiral, whatever, that was involved in any of the DEI woke (EXPLETIVE DELETED) it's got to go.

GENERAL C.Q.

BROWN, Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff: I'm thinking about my mentors and how rarely I had a mentor that looked like me.

NICK SCHIFRIN: In 2020, before he became Joints Chief chairman, General C.Q.

Brown acknowledged the racism he suffered.

That year, the department redesigned military education to teach implicit bias, and, under the Biden administration, diversity programs have expanded.

PETE HEGSETH: There's a reason we're not -- people don't want to serve, because they don't trust that their senior leaders are going to have their best interest in mind in combat.

That trust is broken.

And you have to reestablish that trust by putting in no-nonsense war fighters in those positions who aren't going to cater to the socially correct garbage.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Hegseth also opposes an Obama era decision to allow women to serve in combat.

PETE HEGSETH: I'm straight up just saying we should not have women in combat roles.

It hasn't made us more effective, hasn't made us more lethal, has made fighting more complicated.

NICK SCHIFRIN: In 2019, Hegseth helped convince then-President Trump to pardon two Army soldiers accused of murdering Afghan civilians and reversed the demotion of Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher, convicted of posing for photographs with a deceased Iraqi civilian.

PETE HEGSETH: So let's just be honest about it and unleash our war fighters to fight.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Long before Hegseth became a FOX News co-host, he was a major in the Army National Guard who served in Iraq and Afghanistan and won two Bronze Stars.

As a soldier and veteran, he sent messages to his supporters advocating for the surges in Iraq and Afghanistan.

That was then.

PETE HEGSETH: I have been a recovering neocon for six years now.

Like, the foolishness with which we ricocheted around the world, intervening, thinking it was in our best interest, when really we just overturned the table and created something worse in almost every single scenario, has led to almost -- I mean, the hubris of the Pentagon is that they want to now tell other countries how to do counterinsurgency based on what we did in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Are you kidding me?

NICK SCHIFRIN: On the Hill today, Hegseth's nomination produced a bipartisan split.

New York Democrat Dan Goldman: REP. DANIEL GOLDMAN (D-NY): This person is going to be far more loyal to Donald Trump than the Constitution, and that's really dangerous.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Florida Republican and House Armed Services Committee member Carlos Gimenez: REP. CARLOS GIMENEZ (R-FL): Served in the military and definitely has ideas of how the military or the Defense Department needs to be shaken up.

As a member of HASC, I will tell you, it needs to be shaken up.

NICK SCHIFRIN: There's also expected to be a fight over Tulsi Gabbard to be director of national intelligence.

Gabbard is a former Hawaii Democratic congresswoman who would oversee 18 intelligence agencies.

In 2017, she visited Syria and met President Bashar al-Assad and for years has trumpeted Syria's and Russia's arguments that all of Assad's opponents are terrorists.

FMR.

REP. TULSI GABBARD (HI): Why is it that the United States, its allies in other countries are providing support, are providing arms to terrorist groups?

Assad is not the enemy of the United States because the United -- Syria does not pose a direct threat to the United States.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Russia's R.T. channel often celebrates her, and she calls Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy an authoritarian.

FMR.

REP. TULSI GABBARD: So the real reason Zelenskyy has outlawed elections is to stop any who dare to criticize the rampant corruption in Ukraine or the war.

NICK SCHIFRIN: But, today, there was bipartisan support for Florida Senator Marco Rubio as secretary of state.

Rubio has long been an advocate for Ukraine, in part because it's a test of U.S. alliances, as he argued last September.

SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R-FL): If the United States tomorrow announced we're not doing anything more with Ukraine, we're gone, the impact wouldn't just be felt in Ukraine.

Every alliance -- our entire alliance system would be put into doubt.

NICK SCHIFRIN: But, recently, Rubio has emphasized Trump's position, that the war must end.

SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R-FL): I think the Ukrainians have been incredibly brave and strong in standing up to Russia, but at the end of the day what we are funding here is a stalemate war, and it needs to be brought to a conclusion.

NICK SCHIFRIN: For a perspective on president-elect Trump's pick to be secretary of defense, we turn to James McPherson.

He served as undersecretary of the Army and as the Army's general counsel during the Trump administration.

He also had a 25-year career in the Navy and served as that service's top lawyer in uniform.

James McPherson, thanks very much.

Welcome back to the "News Hour."

What is your reaction to the nomination of Pete Hegseth?

REAR ADM. JAMES MCPHERSON (RET.

), Former U.S.

Undersecretary of the Army: Thank you.

It's a pleasure to be with you.

Well, I think Mr. Hegseth has an impressive record.

He went to prestigious schools.

He's a major in the Minnesota National Guard and multiple deployments, combat deployments, that resulted in personal decorations.

I think he's well qualified to be a lieutenant colonel in the Minnesota National Guard.

Does that qualify him to be secretary of defense?

That's a question that the Senate is going to have to wrestle with during the confirmation and that your viewers are going to have to wrestle with when they judge the quality that they're receiving from the Trump administration.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Let me go... REAR ADM. JAMES MCPHERSON (RET).

: I think there's two things that -- yes, sir.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Sorry.

You continue.

REAR ADM. JAMES MCPHERSON (RET).

: I think there's - - I would urge the Senate to look at two things with regard to his record.

First is competence.

Does he have the record demonstrating competence in what is probably the most important and the most powerful job in the Cabinet?

The secretary of defense has a number of hats he wears.

And one of them is, he is in the operational chain of command.

It's actually the secretary of defense that makes the decision to send our sons and daughters overseas in harm's way.

In addition to that, he also leads and manages the largest organization in our government, one of the largest organizations in the world.

Does he have the character and the competence to do that?

And when I say character, I mean, does he have the courage to say to the president, if the president has an idea that perhaps would damage our standing, our national security standing overseas or at home, does he have the courage to say, Mr. President, that's not a good idea, we really shouldn't do that?

Again, that's a decision that the Senate is going to have to make during this confirmation.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Let me ask you about your experience in the Army.

As I said, you had a top job in the Army during a moment that I highlighted, when then-President Trump pardoned two Army soldiers accused of murdering Afghan civilians and reversed the demotion of Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher.

What was the impact of then-President Trump's moves then?

REAR ADM. JAMES MCPHERSON (RET).

: It sent a terrible message, especially with regard to those three individuals were alleged to have committed war crimes.

The two Army officers were alleged to have ordered their men to kill civilians.

And one of the individuals had been convicted of that, including a court-martial and sentenced to Leavenworth, and the other was pending a court-martial.

The pardon that came down really sent the message to the troops in the field that you don't have obey the laws of war.

You don't have to adhere to the Geneva Conventions.

You can kill civilians.

That's something that our Army, our nation simply does not do.

Our people wouldn't stand for that.

You're supposed to protect civilians on the battlefield, not victimize them.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Mr. Hegseth had a role in convincing then-President Trump of making those decisions.

Are you concerned by his role in that moving forward?

REAR ADM. JAMES MCPHERSON (RET).

: Well, his role was to advocate for those pardons that the president awarded while he was with FOX News.

He repeatedly had members of the family, wives of the two Army officers on to tell their side of the story.

And really the Army didn't have an opportunity to tell its side of the story.

And it was the FOX News advocacy that prompted then-President Trump to grant those pardons.

And that is a concern.

NICK SCHIFRIN: As I -- as you mentioned at the top, he's a veteran, won two Bronze Stars, served in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay.

Does that kind of experience help when it comes to leading the Department of Defense?

REAR ADM. JAMES MCPHERSON (RET).

: Well, it's the experience that he knows what it is like to be a troop in the field.

And that's important.

We have seen that in previous secretaries, both Secretary Mattis, Secretary Esper.

And I think it's important that that experience is under his belt.

But it certainly was on a lower level.

He led troops as a major.

He probably had maybe 10, 15, 20 people he was in charge of.

That's vastly different than what he's going to be called upon to do as secretary of defense.

NICK SCHIFRIN: The top of my story highlighted some of his criticism of what he called the DEI woke stuff.

Have diversity efforts had an impact on military readiness, in your opinion?

REAR ADM. JAMES MCPHERSON (RET).

: Not in my opinion.

I haven't seen that.

I haven't heard that from the people that I stay in contact with.

What you're referencing there is very troubling.

And that is the creation of this panel that's going to review general and admirals and see if they are woke.

That evidence is a misunderstanding of the role of an admiral and a general.

Admirals and generals execute lawful policy and lawful orders.

It's a policy that an administration sets that guides the Pentagon, and it's expected that those officers will implement that policy.

It's not a policy that they may like.

They don't have to like it.

As long as it's lawful, they have to execute it.

And that's exactly what these officers have been doing.

When the Trump administration moves into the White House, they can change those policies.

They can issue new policies.

And they will find that their admirals and their generals will execute those policies.

Decades now, we have heard it called it was Bush's generals, or it was Obama's generals, or it was Trump's generals.

That's just a misunderstanding of what the role is and how generals really attain that rank.

They're selected by boards that select them -- those that are best and well qualified.

And it's a meritocracy.

They're not appointed, like civilian presidential appointees.

And now to say that you're going to judge them upon execution of a lawful policy, it doesn't make sense.

NICK SCHIFRIN: What would be the impact then if the new administration went beyond just simply changing the policy, as Mr. Hegseth has threatened, as former Trump officials tell me is possible, to fire the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, to fire service chiefs, to fire combatant commanders, as you just said, deemed -- quote -- "too woke"?

What would be the impact?

REAR ADM. JAMES MCPHERSON (RET).

: I think it would send a terrible message.

I think it would send a terrible message that the United States military is no longer a meritocracy.

You're not selected for promotion because of the tremendous job that you have done in previous assignments.

You're selected for promotion as long as you adhere to the policies of the current administration.

That's an anathema to the officer corps.

NICK SCHIFRIN: James McPherson, thank you very much.

REAR ADM. JAMES MCPHERSON (RET).

: Thank you.

GEOFF BENNETT: While a majority of Black and Latino voters turned out for Vice President Kamala Harris in this election, president-elect Donald Trump made significant inroads with both groups, especially Latinos, to help him secure the White House.

Voter surveys from the Associated Press show that the president-elect won 43 percent of the overall Latino vote.

That's an eight-point increase from 2020.

And, this year, 48 percent of Latino men voted for Mr. Trump.

For a closer look, I spoke yesterday with Pastor Samuel Rodriguez.

He's president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference and a former adviser to presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama.

Pastor Rodriguez, welcome back to the "News Hour."

REV.

SAMUEL RODRIGUEZ, National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference: Thank you for having me.

GEOFF BENNETT: Well before the election, you predicted that Latinos and Latino evangelicals in particular would vote for Donald Trump.

Why?

I mean, understanding that no group is a monolith, his support among Hispanic voters is up eight points from 2020.

What accounts for it?

REV.

SAMUEL RODRIGUEZ: I really do believe that what we experienced at this election was the official breaking up of the Latino community with the Democratic Party.

It doesn't have to be a permanent breakup, by the way.

It would require a bit of humility on behalf of the Democratic operatives.

The primary reason I do believe has to do with faith.

Latinos are becoming more and more evangelical every single year.

That evangelical ethos will prompt them to embrace what you would deem as conservative values, what we deem as biblically substantiated truths.

So Latinos are becoming more conservative because of their faith.

But, number two, I do believe Latinos are becoming more conservative or at least voting more Republican because the Democratic Party abandoned the party of Barack Obama in 2008.

It's no longer that.

Dorothy, we're not in Kansas anymore.

It's no longer even a liberal classic party center-left.

It's to the extreme left on a plethora of issues.

(CROSSTALK) GEOFF BENNETT: Issues like what?

I mean, is it specific policies or is it perceptions of the party?

REV.

SAMUEL RODRIGUEZ: No, it's specific policies.

You can't let 10 to 15 million illegal entries into the country.

No other nation has ever done that.

And you would assume Latinos are in favor of open borders.

Guess what?

We're not.

And we proved it that we're not.

We want people to come here legally.

By the way, we believe immigrants are a super blessing because we're immigrants.

So we love immigration, but we want them to come here legally.

That's one area.

The second area I do believe, has to do with our children.

Basically, the message Latinos conveyed to the Democratic Party was, get your hands off our children.

I will explain to you what that means.

It's parental rights in school.

It's the mandated COVID vaccines in 2020, 2021, vaccination.

But even beyond that, even on the issue of gender and so forth, a very controversial issue, with great empathy for those that suffer from gender dysphoria, of course, as Latinos, we are faith and familia.

We perceive an intrusion.

There's government intrusion into both our faith and our family apparatus.

Hence, get your hands off our children, and you saw the election results accordingly.

GEOFF BENNETT: There are people of faith who would wonder how you are able to look beyond Donald Trump's moral character, the felony convictions, the divisive rhetoric and cast your vote in support.

REV.

SAMUEL RODRIGUEZ: It's a legitimate question and something we have to discuss.

And I put that right next to abortion demand without any restrictions, even in the late term, late-term abortion here versus character, tweets, rhetoric, personality and bravado.

So I have to measure this.

I have to measure government coming and intruding in how I raise my children versus character, rhetoric, tweets and bravado.

So we measured it.

Latinos measured it and went like -- and many Latinos went, like, man, we don't like the guy.

Many Latinos say, we don't like the guy, but his policies were amazing and his policies lined up with what I believe.

And the Democratic Party sounds good, but the policies are counterintuitive to who I am as a Latino and as a Christian.

Now, there may be, there may be an opportunity here.

Let me explain.

The policy of mass deportations, that policy is -- it is controversial.

I don't deny it.

And what our understanding is mass deportations will take place regarding targeting primarily criminals, those that are involved in the terrorist activities.

(CROSSTALK) GEOFF BENNETT: Potentially, but the scale of what the Trump campaign has promised would likely extend beyond those undocumented immigrants who have committed violent crimes.

So the question is, what does that mean for Latinos who live in mixed-status families or who are here legally, but are profiled and caught up in what could be this mass deportation effort?

REV.

SAMUEL RODRIGUEZ: Now, I could tell you right here to your audience, I would be the first one vociferously protesting if the administration comes after families that have been here 20, 25, 30 years, 15 years, God-fearing, hardworking, not living off government subsidies, whose children were born here.

I will be the first one protesting, because that's not my understanding.

And I can't disclose my conversations with the president-elect's team, but I can tell you that there have been multiple assurances from very powerful individuals to yours truly directly, regarding the targeted audiences.

And we're talking about those involved in nefarious activities.

So my understanding is that good, God-fearing, hardworking families that have been here for years, for years and are not living off government subsidies and whose children were born here, these families will not be targeted.

I hope and pray that they adhere to -- adhere to what they conveyed with yours truly regarding the mass deportation efforts.

GEOFF BENNETT: Well, we will see.

I want to ask you this, because you were raised in the Rust Belt to immigrant parents from Puerto Rico.

And in the lead-up to Election Day, the conventional wisdom was that Donald Trump was going to pay a price after that insult comic said that Puerto Rico was an island of floating garbage.

What did the pundits miss?

REV.

SAMUEL RODRIGUEZ: But you would expect the Puerto Rico vote to go like absolute -- hey, in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, where I'm from, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, Puerto Ricans voted for Trump.

For Trump in Kissimmee, Florida, which is Puerto Rico North, we call it, San Juan North, Puerto Ricans voted for Trump.

The pundits missed it because they thought that an emotional moment, which was -- which was valid, by the way, and justified -- the pushback was justified, but that moment would, no pun intended, trump the policies.

It did not.

Again, the Democratic Party went too hard left.

They need to come back to the values, to the middle.

We're not asking them to go to the right.

Go to the middle, meet the Latino community halfway.

We are temporarily breaking up.

It could be a permanent break up based on the next steps taken by the Democratic operatives.

GEOFF BENNETT: Pastor Samuel Rodriguez, thanks for your insights.

REV.

SAMUEL RODRIGUEZ: Thank you for having me.

GEOFF BENNETT: And there's a lot more online, including a look at how the Smithsonian is helping Black communities in St. Louis preserve their rich histories.

That's at PBS.org/NewsHour.

AMNA NAWAZ: And be sure to join us tomorrow evening.

We will speak with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries on Democrats' priorities and on his new children's book about democracy.

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.