AMNA NAWAZ: Good evening.

I'm Amna Nawaz.

GEOFF BENNETT: And I'm Geoff Bennett.

On the "News Hour" tonight: The House Ethics Committee fails to reach agreement on releasing the findings of their investigation of former congressman and nominee for attorney general Matt Gaetz.

AMNA NAWAZ: Donald Trump picks former pro wrestling executive Linda McMahon to lead the Department of Education.

What she's likely to prioritize at the agency Trump pledge to eliminate.

GEOFF BENNETT: And we report from Haiti on how sweeping gang violence has devastated daily life.

MACRICIA ATHIS, Victim of Gang Violence (through translator): I am crying because I can't live in this misery.

I don't have milk for my little one.

Now the children are suffering.

Sometimes, I can't even feed them.

AMNA NAWAZ: Welcome to the "News Hour."

Another key nomination made today by president-elect Donald Trump as questions and concerns continue to swirl around others.

Mr. Trump today announced Matthew Whitaker as his pick to be ambassador to NATO.

Whitaker briefly served as acting attorney general during Trump's first term.

GEOFF BENNETT: Meantime, vice president-elect J.D.

Vance, along with Mr. Trump's controversial pick for attorney general, former Congressman Matt Gaetz, met with Republican senators on Capitol Hill today.

The meetings come amid mounting pressure on the House Ethics Committee to release a report looking into several allegations against Gaetz, including sexual misconduct.

NPR congressional reporter Claudia Grisales joins us now from the Capitol.

Claudia, it's good to see you.

So the House Ethics Committee said that they did not reach an agreement as to whether to release their report looking into the -- these allegations against the congressman.

Bring us up to speed and help us understand what the pressure points are.

CLAUDIA GRISALES, NPR: Right.

Essentially, what it boils down to is a partisan divide at this moment on the House Ethics Committee.

We saw the chairman, Representative Guest, come out and say no agreement was reached.

But we saw a very angry Susan Wild -- this is the outgoing representative from Pennsylvania -- say that didn't entirely represent what went down in that room.

And she felt betrayed by his remarks.

Basically, reading between the lines, they were deadlocked.

In talking to a Republican source this evening who's familiar with their thinking on the panel, Republicans' concerns where the report is not finished and there's no precedent to release an unfinished report for the panel.

GEOFF BENNETT: We should say there's so much focus on this House Ethics panel report because the Trump transition team has not signed an agreement with the Justice Department that would allow the FBI to vet his nominees, upending some 60 years of precedent.

That said, you have Democrats, Senate Democrats, who've written a letter to the FBI asking for the complete file of the FBI's prior investigation into Matt Gaetz.

Help us understand what's happening there.

CLAUDIA GRISALES: Right.

There are a lot of forces here at play.

A lot of people want to get their hands on that report.

Even Senate Republicans want to see what is in that ethics report.

Talked to Senator Cornyn of Texas after meeting with Matt Gaetz today, who was here at the Capitol.

And he continues to maintain that they need to learn more about what is going on with Gaetz's background and all of these claims.

At the same time, he said he assured Gaetz that this is just the beginning of the process.

Everyone deserves a fair shake.

So when we look at Senate Democrats, they're especially interested in getting that background.

And we see it on the House side as well.

House Democrats are moving forward for a privileged vote to try and force this on the House floor, see if a vote could force a release of this report.

Meanwhile, Ethics is supposed to meet again on December 5.

GEOFF BENNETT: As vice president-elect J.D.

Vance took Matt Gaetz around the Senate this afternoon and met with those Senate Republicans trying to build support, based on your reporting, how did those meetings go?

Were they persuasive?

CLAUDIA GRISALES: You know, it's pretty clear that no one in terms of those who have raised concerns like Cornyn and other members who sit on the Judiciary Committee who would be very involved in this process, they haven't signaled this is a done deal at all.

They're just saying we need to let the president-elect have a fair shake at his nominees and have those nominees get a fair shake as well.

So it's just the very beginning, but there's already a lot of focus on this and concerns in terms of how nominations like Gaetz can move forward.

GEOFF BENNETT: Yes.

And my final question to you, Claudia, is a big-picture one, because Donald Trump is nominating the very types of people that he said he would when he was a candidate... CLAUDIA GRISALES: Right.

GEOFF BENNETT: ... people whom he knows well, people who are loyal to him, people who would potentially disrupt and dismantle the parts of the government that he views as suspect, and, in the case of folks like Dr. Mehmet Oz, Pete Hegseth, even Matt Gaetz, people whom Mr. Trump views as effective communicators on television.

Do you see it that way?

And how are these nominations generally landing with the Senate Republicans?

CLAUDIA GRISALES: Right.

He is going with what he promised in terms of what he wanted to see and the people he wanted to see make the kind of changes he envisions for all of our government agencies.

And so it's making a reality his campaign promises in terms of shaking up Washington.

There's definitely a lot of shaking going on here right now.

But there's also concerns in terms of the Pentagon and the concerns with that nominee to lead -- the next leader of the Pentagon, as well as, of course, Gaetz, as we have talked about, and Dr. Oz, in terms of what kind of changes they could install, in addition to others such as Tulsi Gabbard and concerns about intelligence that I'm hearing about from even Republicans.

GEOFF BENNETT: Claudia Grisales of NPR, thanks so much for being with us.

CLAUDIA GRISALES: Thank you.

AMNA NAWAZ: Well, as Claudia referenced, the Ethics Committee largely operates in secret.

Democrats and Republicans are always equally represented on the panel with five apiece, regardless of which party's in power.

They conduct their work and investigations entirely behind closed doors without public notice and generally avoid sharing details outside of finalized published reports.

But this investigation and its potential to upend the nomination of former Congressman Matt Gaetz is straining those norms.

House Speaker Mike Johnson has called for the report to be buried, while Senate Democrats are looking into whether or not they can subpoena it.

Representative Mark DeSaulnier of California was in the room today, one of the five Democratic members on the committee, and he joins us now.

Congressman, thanks for being with us.

Welcome to the "News Hour."

REP. MARK DESAULNIER (D-CA): Thank you so much for inviting me.

AMNA NAWAZ: Claudia just reported there your Democratic colleague on the committee Susan Wild came out and confirmed there was a vote, that committee members disagreed over whether to release the report.

We're reading between the lines here.

Can you confirm that it was a deadlocked vote, that Republicans voted to not release and Democrats voted to release it?

REP. MARK DESAULNIER: Unfortunately, Amna, I cannot.

The rules of the House Ethics Committee is that I can't talk to you about anything that happened in the room and that that is deferred to the ranking member or the chair.

I can talk to you generally about what I think is happening here, which we're trying to work through consensus, as we always do in the Ethics Committee, as you said, five to five.

But the Republicans being in the majority have the chairmanship.

So we're trying to work through it.

And I have faith and have before today and after today that we will ultimately get to a point of transparency, not as quickly as I would like and my colleagues would like.

But I have faith that we're going to get to where we need to go.

The Senate in, an advise-and-consent role, needs to have all the information available to them before someone is nominated to attorney general.

AMNA NAWAZ: Well, Congressman, Congresswoman Wild also said the committee is going to meet again in two weeks on December 5.

So what happens then and what happens between now and then that you think could break the impasse?

REP. MARK DESAULNIER: Well, there's some question about -- as was reported earlier, about whether the report is done or not.

There's a difference of opinion, as has been publicly expressed by the ranking member and the chair, of whether it's done or not.

I support releasing it.

But if there's more work to be done and there's a disagreement about process, I'm OK with that.

We take a little bit longer to get consensus as to what the next step will be.

And, in my view, that should be releasing the information.

AMNA NAWAZ: So can I take that to mean that you believe the report is done?

There's actually disagreement on the committee about whether or not the report is finished?

REP. MARK DESAULNIER: I believed it was done.

We have -- Mr. Gaetz has been under investigation for some time by the Ethics Committee on a consensus basis about his role as a member of Congress.

The only thing that's different about this is everyone before who didn't have the report released to the public resigned and wasn't nominated and never went on to serve in public office again.

What makes this different is, he has been nominated for attorney general of the United States.

AMNA NAWAZ: What's at stake here, as you mentioned, is just this, that there's an incoming president's nomination for the next attorney general.

It's an incredibly consequential and powerful post.

Just a couple of hours ago, you were asked about this and you said: "The scope and the scale and the danger to this is higher than anything I have ever lived through."

What did you mean by that?

REP. MARK DESAULNIER: What I meant by that is, this is attorney general of the United States in a time in our country's history where there's very little trust in the Congress.

I feel very strongly that our ultimate message or job here in the Ethics Committee is to keep an eye on the public's trust in the institution and specifically in this instance on the 10 members on the Committee on Ethics.

AMNA NAWAZ: Your committee has been looking into this since May of 2023.

I guess the question is, at this point, if you're at a deadlock and it doesn't seem like there will be a break in that impasse, to have worked on this for 18 months and not have a report to show for it, does that cause a lot of people to question both the relevancy, but also the potency of this committee itself?

REP. MARK DESAULNIER: You know, I liken the Ethics Committee in many ways to a grand jury.

We're not meeting in secret.We're meeting in secret in the context of those are the rules and there's good reasons for those rules.

But the process is different because our times are different.

The process was different because of the outcome of the election, to be honest, and the winner of that election, Mr. Trump, to pick this person, who happened to be under investigation as a House member.

So, to me, that's the issue.

And, ultimately, the issue, as I said, again, is the trust by Republican and Democrats in the institution.

I'm talking about average voters.

They don't trust us now.

And it's really important for us on the Ethics Committee, I think, to rise to the occasion and make sure we're honest and open with the American public, accepting the fact that we have a different perspective.

AMNA NAWAZ: That is Congressman Mark DeSaulnier of California, a member of the House Ethics Committee, joining us tonight.

Congressman, thank you for your time.

We appreciate it.

REP. MARK DESAULNIER: My pleasure.

Thank you.

GEOFF BENNETT: President-elect Donald Trump's pick of Linda McMahon as the next secretary of education is already raising alarm among critics, who feel the role should go to someone with more experience in education.

But her appointment has also been met with praise by supporters, who see this as a win for parental rights and school choice.

The former professional wrestling executive led the Small Business Administration during Trump's first term before she resigned in 2019.

This time around, she is set to head an agency that Trump has repeatedly pledged to dismantle.

For more, we're joined Jon Valant, director of the Brown Center on Education Policy at the Brookings Institution.

Thanks for being here.

JON VALANT, Brookings Institution: Thanks for having me.

GEOFF BENNETT: I think it's always useful to look at these selections in the context of what Mr. Trump has said about these respective departments and agencies.

So help us understand Linda McMahon as his choice to lead a department that he says he wants to get rid of and allow each state to handle education individually, as he put it.

JON VALANT: So there's an irony to selecting a secretary of the department that the incoming administration is looking to dismantle, from everything that they have told us.

Now, they are very unlikely to actually be able to do that, because eliminating the Department of Education would require an act of Congress.

It would be subject to a Senate filibuster, and there is no Democratic support for that idea, and there's very likely would be some Republican opposition too.

So I don't think that they're thinking in terms of how do we eliminate the department with this pick, but it is also the case that Linda McMahon has very little experience and expertise in education.

She has more experience running agencies and working in the first Trump administration, but is not one who seems to really understand the issues of the day when it comes to education policy.

GEOFF BENNETT: It strikes me that students with disabilities and their families in particular would experience the ripple effects if the administration really does make good on its promise to reduce the federal government's role in public education.

JON VALANT: So, when people talk about eliminating the Department of Education, it's important to ask what they mean.

And if, when they're talking about that, they're talking about eliminating the department and eliminating all of the programs that the department administers, it would be catastrophic for all kinds of student populations.

So students with disabilities are certainly one.

They receive protections from legislation and they receive resources.

Students who live in poverty are another.

They receive resources that they really need.

Now, the Trump administration can't just come in and do that.

And, in fact, those programs are hardwired into legislation that predates the Department of Education.

Part of the reason we have Department of Education is that they administer those programs, and we were sort of getting a lot of programs that we needed someone to administer.

So it would absolutely be catastrophic if we were to go in that direction.

I'm very skeptical, not only because there'd be a Democratic opposition, but students with disabilities and students in poverty, they don't just live in blue states and in blue areas.

They live all across the country.

And there are a lot of Republican members of Congress who are very sensitive to the impacts that that kind of move would have on their own constituents.

GEOFF BENNETT: Linda McMahon supports school choice.

The Trump campaign and Republicans broadly have talked about restoring parental rights in schools, cutting federal funding for programs teaching Critical Race Theory, gender ideology, any really lesson deemed inappropriate.

There's also this push to restore what Republicans, many conservatives see as the fundamental right to pray in school.

At the heart of it, though, is this fundamental disagreement about the role of public education.

Is that how you see it?

JON VALANT: It is.

And, in fact, I think it's actually easier to understand the attacks on the Department of Education as being an attack on a symbol of public education more generally.

And maybe the most important policy trend that we have seen around the country when it comes to K-12 education is that, in a lot of states - - and it's red states and a couple of purple states -- they have pushed toward what are essentially universal school voucher programs.

And the way those programs are designed, they're very different from the voucher programs of the past, in that they're available to all families, regardless of income, and really don't have many restrictions at all, either on the families using those vouchers or on the schools that are receiving the vouchers.

And so what I think we're really seeing is, we're seeing a push from the Republican Party and from the Trump administration away from public schools and into private schools, whether they're religious or not.

GEOFF BENNETT: How have the culture wars broadly affected public education and how do you see it evolving in a second Trump term?

JON VALANT: So it's been a really difficult few years for schools across the country.

And it started really or ramped up with the COVID-induced school closings.

And after those COVID-induced school closings, we did have this wave of cultural war battles, especially related to gender and to race.

And, at minimum, it has been incredibly distracting, when we really have had to focus on what are big issues for schools.

So, even today, we haven't nearly recovered all of the lost learning that happened as a result of those school closings.

And then, on top of that, we have issues with chronic absenteeism.

We have issues with politics infiltrating schools.

And it really is a bad time.

But in addition to that, it's not just a distraction, but often there are students who feel targeted by a lot of these cultural war battles.

So if you're a transgender student in schools right now, you're hearing the messages and you're seeing those TV advertisements that we saw throughout the campaign.

And so there's very likely a direct impact, in addition to just the sort of more general unhelpful distraction.

GEOFF BENNETT: Is there a connection between federal spending, federal involvement in schooling and student outcomes?

JON VALANT: So, the federal government is a relatively small player when it comes to funding our schools.

It puts about 10 percent of funding into our school system.

And the funds that it puts go highly disproportionately into the areas in greatest need.

So, if we were to rely entirely on state and local sources of funding, we would have an education system that vastly overfunds the wealthiest areas.

And part of the goal of the federal role in funding schools is to offset some of that inequality.

And what we know from a lot of research at this point is that, when we put resources into schools, and particularly when we put resources into schools that serve students in poverty, it has real benefits, both for those students and for society at large.

GEOFF BENNETT: Jon Valant with the Brown Center on Education Policy at the Brookings Institution, thanks for your insights.

I appreciate it.

JON VALANT: My pleasure.

GEOFF BENNETT: The day's other headlines start in the Pacific Northwest.

Communities are cleaning up after a so-called bomb cyclone unleashed torrents of rain and fierce winds overnight, killing at least two people.

Authorities in the Seattle area responded as trees smashed into cars and toppled power lines.

More than half-a-million homes and businesses were without electricity as of this morning.

Forecasters say there's a risk of excessive rainfall from Washington state to Northern California through at least Friday.

Climate change is making hurricanes notably stronger.

That's according to a new study published in the journal "Environmental Research Climate."

Researchers studied 40 Atlantic hurricanes over a period of six years and found them to be 18 miles per hour stronger than if climate change had not been a factor.

In real-life terms, that's the difference between a Category 2 hurricane and a category 3.

Warmer oceans were cited as the primary cause.

Today's findings add to other studies that say climate change has made hurricanes intensify quicker and move more slowly.

The Biden administration has given Ukraine a green light to use American-supplied antipersonnel land mines.

That's on top of the anti-tank mines it already provides.

It's the second major policy shift in as many days after the U.S. agreed to let Ukraine strike deeper inside Russia with U.S. missiles.

Antipersonnel land mines are often criticized by human rights groups because they can endanger citizens long after conflicts end.

But Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the American versions would be safer because they would deactivate over time.

Speaking today in Laos, Secretary Austin explained why they're needed on the battlefield.

LLOYD AUSTIN, U.S. Secretary of Defense: Because the Russians have been so unsuccessful in the way that they have been fighting, they have kind of changed their tactics a bit and they don't lead with their mechanized forces anymore.

So that's what the Ukrainians are seeing right now.

And they have a need for things that can help slow down that effort on the part of the Russians.

GEOFF BENNETT: Meantime, the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv was shut today amid warnings of a significant Russian strike on the Ukrainian capital.

This afternoon, the State Department said it's expected to reopen the facility tomorrow and resume normal operations.

The United States has vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

It's the fourth time the U.S. has blocked such an effort since the onset of the war more than a year ago.

Deputy U.N.

Ambassador Robert Wood said the U.S. could not support the measure because it did not link the cease-fire to the release of hostages held by Hamas.

ROBERT WOOD, Deputy U.S.

Ambassador to the United Nations: These two urgent goals are inextricably linked.

This resolution abandoned that necessity.

And, for that reason, the United States could not support it.

Simply put, this resolution would have sent a dangerous message to Hamas, there's no need to come back to the negotiating table.

GEOFF BENNETT: As the council met today, Israeli airstrikes killed some 15 people across the Gaza Strip.

One attack hit this school where displaced Palestinians had been sheltering.

Hospital officials say two women and a child were among the dead.

Meantime, in nearby Syria, state-run media says that an Israeli airstrike killed 36 people in the historic town of Palmyra.

The Israeli military declined to comment on the reported strike, while, in Lebanon, U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein wrapped up two days of cease-fire talks with Hezbollah and signaled signs of progress.

He now heads to Israel, where he will meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tomorrow.

A Venezuelan man was convicted today of killing Georgia nursing student Laken Riley.

Jose Ibarra was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

The 26-year-old was found guilty on 10 counts, including murder, aggravated battery, and kidnapping with bodily injury.

The case was a flash point in the national debate over immigration in the lead-up to the U.S. election.

Ibarra entered the U.S. illegally in 2022 and was allowed to stay in the country while he pursued his immigration case.

Comcast is planning to spin off most of its cable networks into a separate publicly traded company as it shifts its focus toward streaming and other revenue sources.

The new entity would house some of the company's best-known brands, including MSNBC, CNBC, and the USA Network, among others.

But it will keep its Peacock streaming service, as well as Bravo, which generates a lot of its streaming content.

It will also hold onto NBCUniversal properties, like NBC News, NBC sports, and Universal Studios.

Comcast says the change, if approved, will take about a year to complete.

U.S. wildlife officials are trying to protect the world's tallest animal.

A new proposal from the U.S.

Fish and Wildlife Service would classify three populations of giraffes as endangered.

Giraffes, of course, are not native to the U.S., but officials hope the move will reduce poaching of the animal in Africa by restricting imports here.

That includes giraffe body parts in products like rugs, jewelry, and shoes.

The Giraffe Conservation Foundation says there are only about 117,000 such animals worldwide, and that's down about 30 percent from the 1980s.

On Wall Street today, stocks drifted a bit, with the major markets ending mixed.

The Dow Jones industrial average added nearly 140 points, or about a third of 1 percent.

The Nasdaq slipped around 20 points on the day, and the S&P 500 added less than a point, so virtually flat.

And President Biden turned 82 years old today, the first sitting U.S. president to ever hit that milestone.

Family, friends, and colleagues past and present paid tribute on social media, including Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Barack Obama.

The previous record holder for oldest sitting commander and chief was President Reagan, who was 77 years old when he finished his second term.

Still to come on the "News Hour": transgender Americans share their concerns about the incoming administration's threats to roll back their rights; and an annual festival celebrates the music and poetry of the late Leonard Cohen.

We're going to take a closer look now at gang warfare in Haiti, which has rocked the struggling nation for years, displacing over 700,000 Haitians.

The United Nations Security Council met today to discuss the violence and whether to upgrade a police mission deployed earlier this year to a peacekeeping operation as the chaos and street warfare has reached a new and terrible level.

Despite that multinational security mission that deployed in June to try and restore some order, large parts of the capital remain under gang control and violence is endemic.

Special correspondent Marcia Biggs and videographer Eric O'Connor recently traveled to Haiti and have this look at the depth of the crisis.

MARCIA BIGGS: Downtown Port-au-Prince deserted after years of gang warfare; 85 percent of the city is held by various armed groups constantly battling for control.

They terrorize contested neighborhoods with a scorched-earth practice of kidnapping, rape, and murder.

No one in the city remains untouched.

WOMAN (through translator): I had no choice but to join them, in order to stay alive, to save the life of my child, and also to avenge my mother and my father.

MARCIA BIGGS: This 41-year-old single widowed mother asked us to protect her identity.

She says, in 2020, she was living on a front line between two gang territories when bandits attacked her home and murdered her mother, father, and husband in front of her.

She fled with her teenage son, and members of the Grand Ravine gang gave her a choice.

WOMAN (through translator): They asked those who want to stand and fight, to fight.

I chose to join with my child.

MARCIA BIGGS: How do you survive?

WOMAN (through translator): When a vehicle with goods is passing by, we hijack it, or we kidnap you.

We demand a ransom, you pay us, and we release you.

But if you refuse, I have to kill you to take what you have.

MARCIA BIGGS: Have you ever killed anyone?

WOMAN (through translator): Many times.

MARCIA BIGGS: And how does that feel?

WOMAN (through translator): You forced me to kill you.

I asked you for something, and you didn't give it to me.

I have gotten used to it.

It's nothing for me now.

MARCIA BIGGS: What was it like the first time?

WOMAN (through translator): Well, I couldn't sleep for three to four weeks.

But now that I have gotten used to it, it's like a game for me to kill you.

MARCIA BIGGS: It's been nearly five months since a Kenyan-led U.N. multinational security support mission arrived to reestablish security in Haiti.

It's a force meant to be made up of 2,500 security officers from various countries.

But the mission is critically underfinanced, and, so far, only around 400 have been deployed.

Still, force commander Godfrey Otunge maintains that they have made huge strides with the little they have.

GODFREY OTUNGE, Force Commander, Multinational Security Support Mission, Haiti: We pacified the airport.

Outside the airport, this road, when we came here, people were not using it.

As it is currently, it's full of traffic.

we've gone to downtown.

MARCIA BIGGS: But downtown is a no-go zone.

GODFREY OTUNGE: It is a no-go zone for the people that didn't see the way it was before we came.

MARCIA BIGGS: We went out on patrol with Kenyan forces to check out some of those no-go zones, areas still under gang control.

OFFICER: We pacified this road, especially this road that leads from this junction to the U.S. Embassy.

It was not passable because of the gangs.

Now we need to pacify and now dominate, dominate those areas.

MARCIA BIGGS: We pass the U.S. Embassy, whose staff can only come and go with armored cars, and where the U.S. ambassador admits to having limited contact with gangs to ensure their security.

Gang members try to slow the patrol with roadblocks and burning tires, but Kenyan forces remain resolute in their mission.

What do you say to those who are holding back the resources, who are dragging their feet about getting you what you need?

GODFREY OTUNGE: This is the time for action, because whatever voluntary contribution they put into the trust fund is what propels this operation.

So, once we get all those in terms of air support, maritime capability, personnel, the equipment that we requested, it will be fireworks, because I know where I want to go.

I know where I started, I know where I am, and I know where I want to go.

MARCIA BIGGS: One place the mission still hasn't gone is Cite Soleil, where gangs were born decades ago.

We were able to access it with the nonprofit organization Way to Health, which provides medical care and food to children there with the tacit permission of the G-Pep gang.

We're in a tap-tap, which is basically a pickup truck that's covered.

It's a lot safer to be in a tap-tap than in our own car, because members of the G-Pep gang know this tap-tap.

We cross the front line between the G9 and G-Pep gangs, nicknamed the Death Crossroads.

Last year, G9 blocked all other roads to the G-Pep territory and raped or murdered anyone who tried to get out.

Once in G-Pep territory, we switch to motorcycles, because a river of sewage and garbage makes the road impassable for cars, a physical reminder to all how forgotten this neighborhood is.

We arrive at Way to Health's makeshift clinic for sick, malnourished children and their mothers, victims of poverty and nonexistent health care.

This baby likely has typhoid.

Her mother was killed, so she's being cared for by her aunt, who says she does the best she can.

WOODLEICA BERNADANI, Port-au-Prince Resident (through translator): Sometimes, when the baby cries, I don't have enough money to feed her, so I beg in the street.

We sleep in the public square.

MARCIA BIGGS: The people here are really struggling.

They say they have no services, no electricity, no water, no schools, no hospitals.

This area has been attacked many, many times.

Everyone here has been a victim.

At every turn are footprints of homes burned down now marked by string.

Bullet holes puncture all remaining facades, remnants of horrific battles that took place between G9 and G-Pep.

PIERRELINE JULES, Victim of Gang Violence (through translator): I lost two brothers during the war.

We found the body of one of them.

The other one was burned.

People had no choice but to try to escape in the ocean, but many people died because they didn't know how to swim.

Many children died that day.

MARCIA BIGGS: During one of those attacks, seven men stormed into Pierreline Jules' home.

She was raped, along with her mother and her niece.

PIERRELINE JULES (through translator): They had balaclavas.

They were hooded.

I could only see their eyes.

I was really sad.

I was crying a lot.

But thank God they didn't kill me.

MARCIA BIGGS: When she showed up at the Way to Health clinic last year, she was a shell of herself.

PIERRELINE JULES (through translator): I kept this as a secret with my family, and I am telling you.

I didn't tell anyone else what happened to me.

MARCIA BIGGS: But maybe the same thing has happened to your friends.

PIERRELINE JULES (through translator): Yes.

Some friends of mine were also raped.

I don't talk about my problems to my friends.

I'm a woman with a lot of secrets.

MARCIA BIGGS: Nearby, children play where the river of sewage empties into the ocean.

Most of the homes burned down have never been rebuilt.

Those families now sleep in the street.

Over 700,000 people in Haiti are now homeless because of gang violence.

Without any formal camps set up to house those displaced, many of them have begun taking shelter in schools across Port-au-Prince.

They are desperate for food.

With no running water or soap, disease and pests run rampant.

The children are eaten alive by bedbugs at night.

Most of the women we talked to had been raped.

Some are now pregnant.

Macricia Athis lost her husband when gangs attacked her home last year.

She and her four children now sleep in this former classroom, with 46 other people every night.

MACRICIA ATHIS, Victim of Gang Violence (through translator): I am crying because I can't live in this misery.

I don't have milk for my little one, one can of milk.

I used to be able to find a can of milk.

Now the children are suffering.

Sometimes, I can't even feed them.

MARCIA BIGGS: A couple of months ago, she went back to check on her home, only to find it still occupied by bandits.

They raped and beat her for six hours before letting her go.

Does it bother you that members of your gang may be raping women?

WOMAN (through translator): No, because the other gangs came to our territory and did it to us.

They take a 7-, 8-year-old child and rape her.

It will never bother me.

You made me cry, I will make you cry too.

MARCIA BIGGS: What could the state do to end the violence?

WOMAN (through translator): The state should start with their high-ranking officials first, because they are the ones who set it up.

We don't take the streets of our free will.

Where do we get weapons?

How can I buy a Kalashnikov?

How can I buy an M16?

No, they must start with themselves first before that could change.

As long as they bring us weapons, we will take them.

MARCIA BIGGS: What do you see in your future for you and your son?

WOMAN (through translator): We will not surrender ourselves to the state.

If we fall, we fall together.

If we survive, we survive together.

(GUNSHOTS) MARCIA BIGGS: In a state incapable or unwilling to combat such brutal resolve, violence begets more violence.

For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Marcia Biggs in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

AMNA NAWAZ: President-elect Donald Trump made rolling back transgender rights a key issue in his campaign.

Republicans spent more than $200 million on ads targeting trans individuals, while Trump himself promised to limit access to gender-affirming health care and to prevent trans athletes from participating in school sports.

Here's Trump back in February of 2023.

DONALD TRUMP, Former President of the United States (R) and Current U.S. President-Elect: I will sign a new executive order instructing every federal agency to cease all programs that promote the concept of sex and gender transition at any age.

I will then ask Congress to permanently stop federal taxpayer dollars from being used to promote or pay for these procedures and pass a law prohibiting child sexual mutilation in all 50 states.

AMNA NAWAZ: His election has communities of trans people and their allies fearful of widespread discrimination and a loss of health care access.

Polls show that more than 60 percent of Americans support protecting transgender people from discrimination.

But they have also found that 55 percent believe support for trans rights has -- quote -- "gone too far."

We spoke with three Americans, a parent of a trans daughter, the executive director of a trans crisis hot line, and a two-spirit activist and parent to a two-spirit kid.

That's a term used by indigenous people that acknowledges the diverse nature of gender and sexuality.

SARAH ADAMS, Co-Founder, Cousins: I'm Sarah Adams.

I'm a proud Choctaw person.

I live in Oklahoma, and I'm two-spirit.

BETH, Mother of Trans Daughter: My name is Beth.

I am a parent of a trans child.

KAI ALVIAR HORTON, Executive Director, Trans Lifeline: Hi, my name is Kai.

My pronouns are he/they.

I'm from Los Angeles, California.

I'm the executive director at Trans Lifeline, a grassroots nonprofit that supports trans people in crisis all across America.

SARAH ADAMS: There's an overwhelming sense of fear.

We have had lots of conversations about the need for access, the need for access to health care, to gender-affirming care.

I work primarily with youth, and so that is a big, big concern.

Safety in schools is a huge thing.

KAI ALVIAR HORTON: We saw over 800 percent calls increased on that day, the day of the election results.

That was a very sobering number.

BETH: I mean, I think that there's a portion of Americans out there that just don't want to learn and stay ignorant whenever it comes to gender.

They are very black and white whenever they're like, there's only boys and girls.

SARAH ADAMS: We're scrambling to find resources and trying to figure out a way to maintain access to very, very basic services, much less services to thrive, right?

It's about survival right now.

KAI ALVIAR HORTON: We continue to be told that our bodies are not ours, that we don't get the right to decide how we exist in our own bodies.

No matter how much we fight for people to see us as human, we are constantly up against this idea that trans people are not human.

BETH: Raising a trans child is such a joy.

She has taught me so much about the human soul and how to love and loving unconditionally and not judging a book.

And she's just funny and smart.

She's a normal kid.

But I tell you, this is not normal parenting.

I have to vet anyone, like dance studios, hairdressers.

I want to ensure that my child is going to be around safe people.

SARAH ADAMS: I carry the weight of these kids with me, of their well-being, of their struggles, and I don't take that lightly.

We have a responsibility to them.

You know some of the things that are being spoken about what will happen with this Trump presidency, with gender-affirming care not being available for anyone.

Just, I think for a lot of them they were talking, they were thinking, well, 18, that's the magic age, right?

When I get to that age, when I get there, then this whole world will open up to what is available to me.

And then when the thought of that light at the end of the tunnel goes out, that can create this vacuum, this vacuum for hope.

KAI ALVIAR HORTON: I think that my biggest fear is that we won't reach the people that need us the most in times like this to remind them that there are trans people that believe that they deserve to live, that we are happy that they're alive.

BETH: It is hard to hate up close.

If you met my children, you would want to protect them too.

They're children.

AMNA NAWAZ: We're joined now by Orion Rummler, LGBTQ+ reporter for The 19th, to break down the potential impacts of all of these policy promises.

Orion, welcome.

Thanks for being here.

ORION RUMMLER, The 19th News: Thank you, Amna.

AMNA NAWAZ: So you heard a lot of the fear in some folks' voices there about what's to come.

What can we expect from a second Trump presidency when it comes to the rights of trans individuals?

ORION RUMMLER: What we can expect in terms of what's easiest for the administration to accomplish on its own is restricting federal funding, as in Medicaid and Medicare to hospitals, performing gender-affirming care for trans youth.

That's a specific promise from the Trump campaign.

He's made other suggestions that would expand to other ages, such as asking the Justice Department to -- quote - - "investigate big pharma" about providing gender-affirming care.

And that promise didn't -- it wasn't limited to just youth.

So I would expect the restrictions most immediately for Medicaid and Medicare for youth.

But it remains to be seen how this would apply to adults as well in terms of investigating all hospitals giving this care.

AMNA NAWAZ: He's also talked about proposing a national ban on gender-affirming surgery for minors, cutting off federal funding to health providers who offer that care.

What would that mean in practice for anyone seeking that health care?

ORION RUMMLER: In practice, if he did, if the administration did go ahead and pull federal funding to hospitals receiving Medicaid and Medicare, that would just restrict access to trans youth trying to get puberty blockers, hormone replacement therapy.

That would just restrict their access.

And it's something we have already been seeing in 26 states throughout the country.

So, in a way, this is an environment that a lot of trans youth are already living in.

But what I would be interested to see is how a national ban would play out in states that have put forth protections for trans youth like in California.

AMNA NAWAZ: There's also these specific rollbacks that he's talked about, protections for transgender students in particular in dealing with the education system.

When it comes to participation in sports, what have we heard from the incoming president?

ORION RUMMLER: Right.

So he would reverse the Biden administration's interpretation of Title IX, which, under this administration, applies to LGBTQ students, protecting them against discrimination.

And the focus from the Trump campaign would be preventing trans girls from playing in girls sports.

However, because these are broad nondiscrimination protections, this could implicate all LGBTQ students at schools where it can be an especially vulnerable place for trans kids and queer kids.

Just, if they don't have a safe environment at home, school is where they go to feel affirmed often.

AMNA NAWAZ: There's also this proposal we have seen in which incoming President Trump has said that he would ask Congress to pass a bill to establish a rule that the only genders recognized by the U.S. government are either male or female as assigned at birth.

What are the implications of a change like that?

And how much support is there for legislation like that?

ORION RUMMLER: So, that one is a broad policy statement.

And the way I would read -- to me, that threatens most directly the X gender marker that we have seen on passports under the Biden administration, an X marker meaning, if you're nonbinary, gender nonconforming, you put it on your documentation.

That would also threaten rules under the Biden administration that made it easier for trans people to update the gender on their passport or Social Security.

Right now, it's very easy to do that.

I'm sure that would be restricted under a Trump administration.

AMNA NAWAZ: Now, we have already seen the lone incoming trans member of Congress, Sarah McBride of Delaware, targeted by representative Nancy Mace, who introduced a bill basically to ban Sarah McBride, or, I should say, any transgender woman from using women's bathrooms on Capitol Hill.

When you talk to people, are they watching what's unfolding on Capitol Hill here in Washington?

And how is that resonating with them?

ORION RUMMLER: Trans people are absolutely watching this.

And I was struck when I was in Delaware prior to McBride's win on election night, I met a trans couple who had traveled from California to Delaware to knock on hundreds of doors for McBride.

And that was a moment where I was like, oh, this is a national campaign.

This is not just a -- this isn't a state campaign, someone going to Congress for Delaware, which, of course, it is.

But trans people across the country are watching McBride and how these politicians are treating her as she's stepping into this political space, making history amid a Congress that is likely going to be one of the most anti-trans Congresses that we have had in a while, just in terms of there's so many anti-trans bills that have been introduced, but have not gone anywhere.

But now Republicans have the majority in both Houses.

And I would expect those to move forward.

AMNA NAWAZ: Orion Rummler of The 19th, thank you for joining us, for sharing your reporting.

We appreciate it.

ORION RUMMLER: Thank you, Amna.

GEOFF BENNETT: In death, Leonard Cohen is having a rebirth.

The legendary singer is being remembered by older and younger generations alike for his timeless music.

Special correspondent Mike Cerre went to the annual Leonard Cohen Festival recently to hear why.

It's part of our arts and culture series, Canvas.

(MUSIC) MIKE CERRE: Singer, poet, lover, monk, Leonard Cohen still very much an enigma for his longtime faithful following and a new generation of converts, just now discovering him.

MAN: Hey.

Welcome to the San Francisco Leonard Cohen Festival.

MAN: How are you?

Glad to be here.

MAN: Would you like a program?

MIKE CERRE: Since Leonard Cohen's death in 2016, there has been no shortage of tribute shows, music compilations, and interpretations of his work.

This annual three-day San Francisco Leonard Cohen Festival features his music and his poetry performed by local musicians and poets, many of whom never got to experience him in life.

CLAY EUGENE SMITH, Director, San Francisco Leonard Cohen Festival: After Leonard passed, I think people are eager to keep his memory alive and the passion that he brought to his words and poetry and music.

And it's a little cathartic to revisit it annually.

There's so much comedy and humor in what he says.

MIKE CERRE: Clay Eugene Smith started the festival in 2018, soon after Leonard Cohen's death at age 80.

He also performs in it, with an a cappella men's choir, sporting Cohen's signature fedoras and suits, whose repertoire is exclusively Leonard Cohen music.

Calling themselves the Conspiracy of Beards, they have been performing at clubs around the San Francisco Bay Area for more than two decades.

(MUSIC) MIKE CERRE: They held impromptu memorial concerts at local transit stations the night Cohen died.

CLAY EUGENE SMITH: His passion for poetry, his words, asking questions, a little bit of religion, a little bit of politics, diving deep into those things and not having all the answers.

MIKE CERRE: Their sister a cappella chorus, a Conspiracy of Venus, highlighted Cohen's collection of love songs, originating from his poetry, like most of his music did.

LEONARD COHEN, Musician: If I knew where the good songs came from, I'd go there more often.

(MUSIC) GENNY LIM, Poet: I see him mainly as a poet of lovers, a troubadour of broken hearts.

MIKE CERRE: Genny Lim came of age in the '60s and '70s listening and performing Leonard Cohen's music as an aspiring folk singer herself.

Equally inspired by Cohen's poetry, she became a poet instead and is currently San Francisco's official poet laureate.

(SINGING) (CHEERING) GENNY LIM: What makes him so special, his songs are like journals of his life.

And because they're so deeply personal and intimate, they become universal, because everyone can identify with his struggles, his conflicts, his love affairs, his heartbreaks, his grappling with his spirituality, and his self-criticism as a human being.

SHARON ROBINSON, Musician: Writing songs with someone is an intimate process.

You have to shed the ego, take risks.

Having been invited into Leonard's tower of song, I got to know him well.

MIKE CERRE: Sharon Robinson was a co-songwriter on Leonard Cohen's albums.

She traveled with him on his first international tour, starting as a backup singer with his band and played with him on his last.

Since his death, she has created her one-woman show of Leonard Cohen's music, writings, and friendship.

SHARON ROBINSON: Well, he was mysterious and enigmatic, but I never let him know that.

I always just treated him as a regular guy.

Somehow, from the beginning, we had a rapport that was kind of just an automatic thing.

He's said many times that he can spend years on a song.

I feel very privileged to have been given these words to write music, these words that Leonard had worked on for years.

MIKE CERRE: Filmmakers Dan Geller and Dayna Goldfine documented the making of "Hallelujah," Cohen's most popular song, with the recent film "Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song."

DAN GELLER, Filmmaker: I think there is something about that song in particular that spans so many different considerations in Leonard's life, his philosophical, religious, and sexual complications that are evoked in the song and using it as a way into his mind.

WOMAN: That record album never came out in the States, did it?

LEONARD COHEN: No.

Columbia Records refused to put it out.

MIKE CERRE: Rejected by his record company, Cohen eventually self-published "Hallelujah."

The film also covers Cohen's three-year sabbatical from his music career to study as a Buddhist monk, while other artists' versions of "Hallelujah" made it a hit and one of pop music's most copied songs.

DAYNA GOLDFINE, Filmmaker: So many different artists were covering it, that -- and it was showing up in generation after generations animated film, whether it was "Shrek" in 2000.

BRIAN MISTLER, Festival Supporter: I think if you're a 20-year-old who has not found love or a 30-year-old who has found love and challenges in relationships, or you're a 50-year-old who's dealing with loss of a parent, or you're dealing with your own mortality, Leonard can be with you through your whole lifetime.

MIKE CERRE: For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Mike Cerre in San Francisco.

GEOFF BENNETT: And there's a lot more online, including a look at how the amplification of violent and hateful content on Instagram fueled rising hate crimes in India.

That's at PBS.org/NewsHour.

AMNA NAWAZ: And be sure to join us tomorrow night, when unseated Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio sits down to discuss the future of the Democratic Party.

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.