AMNA NAWAZ: Good evening.

I'm Amna Nawaz.

GEOFF BENNETT: And I'm Geoff Bennett.

On the "News Hour" tonight: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth pushes back against mounting criticism as he faces the threat of impeachment.

AMNA NAWAZ: The man poised to become the next speaker of the House, Hakeem Jeffries, discusses Democrats' election wins and what they think voters want them to do with their new majority.

REP.

HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY): They want us to fight for an affordable America, and, at the same period of time, they want a Congress that's going to be a check and balance on an out-of-control executive branch.

GEOFF BENNETT: And new inflation data shows Americans are still feeling the pinch of rising costs, despite a drop in gas prices.

(BREAK) GEOFF BENNETT: Welcome to the "News Hour."

The political shakeup in Washington continue today as Republicans chose their leaders for the next Congress.

After hours of closed-door discussion, Senate Republicans reelected John Thune as their leader, and, in the House, Republicans selected Jim Jordan to lead their party when the new Congress convenes in January.

AMNA NAWAZ: Those votes may pale in comparison to the effort already under way to try to impeach Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.

But, first, early this morning, Hegseth laid down the gauntlet, as congressional correspondent Lisa Desjardins reports.

LISA DESJARDINS: From the Pentagon podium, defiance.

PETE HEGSETH, U.S.

Defense Secretary: This is not patriotism.

This is sabotage.

LISA DESJARDINS: This morning, Secretary Pete Hegseth on defense as the House readies for a vote on his impeachment, a motion proposed by outgoing Republican Thomas Massie of Kentucky.

PETE HEGSETH: What one disgruntled and defeated congressman is attempting is not oversight and it's not accountability.

It's a political spectacle, a personal manifesto driven by ego and resentment.

LISA DESJARDINS: Massie, who lost his Republican bid in the primaries, called Hegseth a -- quote -- "threat to the Constitution."

He has introduced eight articles of impeachment against him, charging he waged illegal wars in Iran and Yemen, illegally kidnapped the leader of Venezuela, ignored laws to minimize civilian casualties, including missile strikes that hit an Iranian elementary school, illegally retaliated against navy veteran and Democratic Senator Mark Kelly, and oversaw extrajudicial killings at sea with strikes on alleged drug cartel boats.

PETE HEGSETH: I stand behind every one of these operations.

I was proud to execute them, and I would do it again tomorrow.

LISA DESJARDINS: Hegseth said his impeachment will undermine the U.S.

military, and he chalked the accusations up to mere disagreements in policy.

PETE HEGSETH: Not high crimes, not misdemeanors, not treason, not bribery, not the kinds of offenses the founders intended when they wrote the impeachment clause.

LISA DESJARDINS: Minutes after Hegseth's rare news conference -- he hadn't held one in six months -- President Trump displayed his support with a grade, A+++.

On Capitol Hill, with Democrats expected to back impeachment en masse, some Republicans said nothing.

Those speaking publicly pushed back.

REP.

GUS BILIRAKIS (R-FL): It's ridiculous that they are trying to impeach him.

REP.

TIM BURCHETT (R-TN): He didn't commit any crimes.

REP.

DARRELL ISSA (R-CA): It's going to die in the Senate.

LISA DESJARDINS: Don Bacon of Nebraska, a retired Air Force brigadier general, said he has concerns about Hegseth, but will oppose impeachment.

REP.

DON BACON (R-NE): I don't really agree with the impeachment itself, how Massie wrote it.

LISA DESJARDINS: As the GOP reckons with its midterm loss, House Republicans elected a new leader, Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan of Ohio.

REP.

MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): It is my great delight now to yield the podium to your new Republican leader, Mr.

Jim Jordan.

LISA DESJARDINS: Jordan, a close ally of President Trump and known for his bulldog style, defeated Steve Scalise of Louisiana in a closed-door secret ballot vote.

He will be the top Republican in January.

REP.

JIM JORDAN (R-OH): Over the next two years, House Republicans will fight for American families.

When Democrats offer more government, we will offer more freedom.

LISA DESJARDINS: As for the Senate... SEN.

BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT): Thanks everybody for coming.

LISA DESJARDINS: ... some Democrats had questions about their top leader.

SEN.

BERNIE SANDERS: I will not be supporting Chuck.

LISA DESJARDINS: Progressive Senator Bernie Sanders and moderate Elissa Slotkin together said that Chuck Schumer, the current Democratic leader, does not represent what the election was about.

SEN.

BERNIE SANDERS: If this campaign was about anything, it was about change and the need for the Democratic Party, in my view, to move in a new and bold direction.

LISA DESJARDINS: Schumer responded.

SEN.

CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): I'm confident I will be elected majority leader, and our caucus is really united in focusing on bringing down costs, on ending the corruption, on ending the chaos, on ending the war.

We have great unity in our caucus, and I will be proud to lead it as majority leader.

LISA DESJARDINS: The Democrats' vote on whether Schumer will stay as a leader is scheduled for December.

But, clearly, this is a critical moment for him right now.

AMNA NAWAZ: Lisa, let's begin with that effort to impeach the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth.

Bring us up to speed.

What's the latest on that effort?

LISA DESJARDINS: Yes, just in the past few minutes, Amna, we have had some news.

The House did take an initial procedural vote on that impeachment, and the House voted to send those impeachment resolutions back to committee, essentially killing the effort to impeach Secretary Hegseth.

This is a significant win for President Trump, for Secretary Hegseth, and for House Republicans.

Just a day ago, it felt like this is a vote that was going to go against Secretary Hegseth.

Instead, today, talking to Republicans, I heard them making two common arguments.

One was that they felt that these articles themselves were not written correctly.

Even if they had concerns about Hegseth, these were not the concerns they had.

The other is that these were likely to either not go to the Senate or to die in the Senate.

Either way, we saw just one Republican tonight, the sponsor of the bill himself, Thomas Massie, support this impeachment effort, and it completely went down just a few minutes ago on the House floor.

AMNA NAWAZ: Meanwhile, Lisa, the selection of Jim Jordan to lead House Republicans in this next Congress, what does that say to you about the next phase of the Republicans?

LISA DESJARDINS: This is a clear signal to me from House Republicans.

I have covered Jim Jordan a long time.

This is a signal that they want a fighter.

He is known for his confrontational style.

To put it in "Godfather" terms, he's a wartime consigliere.

Now, he is someone who obviously is an ally of President Trump, but interestingly enough, I walked along with him today, and one of my colleagues asked him, do you see your role as defending President Trump?

Jim Jordan, just elected as a Republican leader, said: "Actually, I see my role as trying to regain the majority."

So that was interesting.

He did not take questions at his press conference.

He did defeat his longtime internal rival, Steve Scalise, today.

And with Steve Scalise out of the leadership position, and the same with Mike Johnson leaving the speaker's role in January, now we have a Republican leadership in the House that, get this, will have no Southerners at the top of it.

Regardless, now, Jim Jordan coming in, and along with Stephen Miller at the White House, that means there are sort of two sort of no-holds-bards, ruthless defenders of the president in line in those two spots.

AMNA NAWAZ: Lisa, what about for Senate Republicans?

The selection of John Thune as their leader, what does that say to you?

LISA DESJARDINS: It's quite a contrast.

John Thune has a very different approach to how he gets things done than Jim Jordan, but he was able today, despite historic losses in terms of his timing in the Senate, to make -- to survive.

We weren't sure if they were going to delay his election, but in a very strong sign of confidence from Senate Republicans, they elected him rather easily, rather quickly today.

He will be returning, and he will be the top Republican in the Senate.

AMNA NAWAZ: And as you have reported, Democrats will have to select their leadership as well.

Among Senate Democrats, is Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer really at risk of losing his position?

LISA DESJARDINS: There is quite a lot to talk about here.

A week ago, talking to senators, talking to staffers on the Senate Democratic side, there -- really, no one thought that there was going to be a serious problem for Senator Schumer.

But I think today we hear a lot of Democratic senators, even those who have been full-throated supporters of Schumer in the past, say they are not sure that he is bold enough.

They are not sure that he has the vision that they saw in the election this year.

He's been touting his big wins.

He's been touting the candidates he recruited.

But there is a big conversation around him, and part of the problem for him is the freshman senators that he helped elect.

So far, six of them have said outright that they are opposed to him as leader.

Two others have said they're not sure.

So my reporting right now, Amna and Geoff, is that it's not clear where this thing -- where it stands with him, but this is a serious conversation, a serious challenge to him.

I think the next two days will show where this ends up.

Schumer has an opportunity to win back some support, but it's -- we will have to watch.

This is a serious moment for him.

AMNA NAWAZ: All right, that's our congressional correspondent, Lisa Desjardins, with the very latest from Capitol Hill.

Lisa, thank you.

LISA DESJARDINS: You're welcome.

GEOFF BENNETT: And for a legal perspective on the effort to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, I spoke earlier today before the failed procedural vote with Eugene Fidell.

He's a longtime military law expert who served as a Coast Guard lawyer.

He's also co-founder of the National Institute of Military Justice.

That's an organization dedicated to improving the military justice system.

He's now a lecturer at Yale Law School.

EUGENE FIDELL, Yale Law School: Thank you.

GEOFF BENNETT: Let's start by looking at some of the specific charges.

Article FIVE accuses Secretary Hegseth of extrajudicial killings in connection with the U.S.

strikes on those suspected drug smuggling boats.

And it cites an operation in which an initial strike reportedly left survivors, followed by an additional strike that killed them.

What's the central legal question here?

EUGENE FIDELL: Well, the government has argued, the administration has argued that these were deaths in the context of an armed conflict.

That's a ridiculous claim.

And, in fact, these are extrajudicial killings -- that's French for murder -- committed on the high seas in a totally botched law enforcement effort.

GEOFF BENNETT: So what would Congress need to prove in order to make that case?

EUGENE FIDELL: Very little.

The -- for one thing, the government has never released to the public the legal opinion that pretends to justify the boat strikes.

And basically you would have to put on evidence that the boat strike victims, who now count way over 200, were never convicted by any court of law, were never sentenced to death, and were basically executed.

GEOFF BENNETT: There are three articles that accuse Hegseth of violating the war powers resolution by directing military attacks against Iran without congressional authorization.

But presidents of both parties have ordered military strikes without explicit approval from Congress.

What makes this case legally different?

EUGENE FIDELL: Well, it's a fact that presidents of both parties have tended to either get chalk on their strips -- their spikes or go over the line prescribed in the U.S.

Constitution.

The Constitution gives Congress the power to declare war.

Congress has never declared a war against Iran, also against the Houthis in Yemen, and to pursue hostilities that clearly amount to war without that authorization puts this case squarely in the heartland of high crimes and misdemeanors.

The fact that other administrations have tiptoed around this or maybe committed the same kind of offense doesn't take Mr.

Hegseth or his boss off the hook.

GEOFF BENNETT: Well, on that point, Hegseth could argue that the president, as commander in chief, has broad constitutional authority to order military operations, and he was simply carrying that out as defense secretary.

How much legal protection would that offer?

EUGENE FIDELL: If I were voting, I would reject that defense.

GEOFF BENNETT: Why?

EUGENE FIDELL: Because the president cannot declare war unilaterally.

He -- the Constitution binds.

It's the supreme law of the land.

It governs him and it governs Hegseth.

And the president cannot pretend to arrogate to himself the power that Congress alone possesses.

So the claim that Hegseth was only following orders doesn't get him anywhere, because those orders were illegal.

GEOFF BENNETT: Where would Hegseth's independent responsibility under the law begin?

EUGENE FIDELL: He never loses independent responsibility.

That's the thing about a system of law and -- that includes accountability.

independent responsibility.

That's the thing about a system of law and that includes accountability.

You cannot invoke somebody else as the giver of orders and say, well, I wash my hands of this.

I'm just doing what I was told.

That was the problem in, for example, the case of Lieutenant Calley in the My Lai massacre.

That was the problem during World War II, and that's the problem that we're facing now.

GEOFF BENNETT: When we're speaking about legality, to be clear, impeachment is a political process, not a criminal one, not a criminal prosecution.

You told our team, though, that based on the conduct described in these articles of impeachment, that Secretary Hegseth could be exposed to criminal prosecution in civilian courts.

Say more about that.

EUGENE FIDELL: Well, I'm thinking specifically about the over 200 victims of those boat strikes.

The boat strikes can be characterized as murders.

Murder on the high seas is a federal crime that applies not simply to military personnel.

It applies to everyone subject to Title 18 of the U.S.

Code.

That includes Mr.

Hegseth.

So he, in theory, as an architect of these boat strikes and the approver of the boat strikes, has some exposure there.

Now, whether that exposure will ever take him into a courtroom is another matter, because, among other things, President Trump could give him a pardon.

That's a different question.

GEOFF BENNETT: The secretary today also suggested that this impeachment effort could ultimately expose American service members to war crimes prosecutions for simply following orders.

Is that a legitimate concern?

EUGENE FIDELL: That's a pathetic argument on his part.

Military personnel have a duty to disobey unlawful orders.

If any of them actually followed these orders, and obviously some people did, there is some exposure there.

But that doesn't get Mr.

Hegseth off the hook.

And the notion that he would trade on the fact, basically use subordinates as kind of human shields in the legal system is really sickening.

GEOFF BENNETT: Eugene Fidell, thank you for your time this evening.

We appreciate it.

EUGENE FIDELL: Thank you.

GEOFF BENNETT: In the day's other headlines: U.S.

authorities charged three men today of being Iran-backed operatives who planned to carry out nearly 20 attacks on Jewish communities in Europe and in the U.S.

They're also accused of plotting an attack at a British air base the U.S.

has used to carry out strikes against Iran.

The U.S.

withdrew some of its bombers from RAF Fairford last month following a suspected security incident involving Iran.

Then, today, officials said the U.S.

air force has moved military aircraft from another base, RAF Mildenhall, because of a security threat.

The Wall Street Journal first reported the moves, saying the threat was linked to Iran.

Tehran has not commented.

Separately, Britain's counterterrorism police say they have arrested a member of the U.S.

Army on suspicion of spying for Russia.

The unnamed 41-year-old is in custody pending charges.

Russian and Ukrainian representatives met for peace talks today for the first time in nine months.

President Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner and special envoy Steve Witkoff, led the nearly four-hour talks in Abu Dhabi flanked by delegations from both sides.

While he was not a part of today's dialogue, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the meeting quite substantive during a visit to Denmark.

And while at a G7 gathering in Paris, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the talks potentially open the door to more multilateral discussions.

MARCO RUBIO, U.S.

Secretary of State: It looks like the talks in Abu Dhabi were very productive.

I think the most important thing, obviously, there's a lot of work to be done in that regard.

It's not like something that's on the verge of being solved in the next 24 hours or anything like that.

But what's really important is that the Europeans are at the table.

GEOFF BENNETT: Russian officials have pushed back on European involvement in the talks, as Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov made clear again today while speaking with reporters in Moscow.

SERGEY LAVROV, Russian Foreign Minister (through translator): Let the Europeans stay at the hotel.

The Americans have said that prior to talks with our delegation they intend to meet with the Ukrainians and the Europeans, presumably to be inspired by their spirited commitment to a lasting peace.

I do not believe this is a particularly promising approach.

GEOFF BENNETT: Lavrov added that Moscow would not accept any form of temporary cease-fire while talks are ongoing.

Negotiations in Abu Dhabi are set to resume for a second day tomorrow.

Israel's Parliament was sworn in today without a new government in place after no major party secured a parliamentary majority in last month's general election.

Former military Chief Gadi Eisenkot has been tasked with forming a new government.

He and his allies introduced a series of bills today aimed at unwinding some of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's policies.

In a speech following Tuesday's inauguration ceremony, Netanyahu called for unity while also attacking his opponents.

(SHOUTING) GEOFF BENNETT: His address turned contentious when he demanded an inquiry into alleged foreign election funding.

Meantime, in Gaza, local authorities say several Israeli attacks killed at least seven people across the territory yesterday and into today.

Health officials say one of the Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City hit a metal factory, sparking a fire that killed at least three people.

The Israeli military says it targeted militants in one of the recent attacks, but did not provide further details on the others.

In California, voters have rejected a proposed tax on the state's wealthiest residents, raising questions about the political future of similar measures across the country.

Proposition 40 would have imposed a one-time 5 percent tax on residents with a net worth exceeding $1 billion.

The revenue would have helped fund health care, education, and food assistance programs.

The measure's defeat is a victory for Democratic leaders, including Governor Gavin Newsom, who warned that the tax could drive billionaires out of California.

But supporters say they are not giving up.

They plan to bring the proposal back to voters in 2028.

The Trump administration has proposed new restrictions on the nation's largest food assistance program that could leave millions more Americans without benefits.

The proposal would eliminate automatic eligibility for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, for households already receiving another form of government assistance.

An estimated 6.3 million people could be affected, and that comes on top of more than five million people who've already lost benefits following a tax law enacted last year.

Supporters argue the changes would reduce government spending on assistance programs.

Critics warn they would make it harder for struggling families to put food on the table.

In the business world, Anthropic says it plans to price shares of its upcoming IPO between $70 and $78 each.

That would value the maker of the Claude AI tool as high as $1.4 trillion.

Anthropic's IPO is seen as a test case for the health of the AI sector.

It's due to list on the Nasdaq as soon as next week.

Meantime, on Wall Street today, the Dow Jones industrial average fell around 150 points.

The Nasdaq shed about three-quarters of 1 percent.

The S&P 500 pulled back after yesterday's rally.

Still to come on the "News Hour": House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries weighs in on the effort to impeach Pete Hegseth; we report from Mississippi, where the Senate race there still has not been called; and a new book highlights social entrepreneurs tackling pressing problems.

AMNA NAWAZ: With Congress back this week, Republicans and Democrats alike are wasting no time preparing for the new session that begins in January.

As we reported, House Republicans today elected Ohio Congressman Jim Jordan to be their next leader.

Although Democrats haven't voted yet on their leadership team, Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York is poised to become the next speaker.

And he's here now to outline his priorities.

Leader Jeffries, welcome back to the show.

Thanks for joining us.

REP.

HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY): Great to be with you.

AMNA NAWAZ: So we're speaking a week after sweeping midterm Democratic wins.

You're on track to win the largest House majority since 2008.

The news, of course, is that you're also slated to vote later on whether or not to move forward with impeachment of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.

You have said you're a hard yes on that move to impeach him.

Will this new Democratic majority mean more impeachment efforts of more Trump administration officials?

REP.

HAKEEM JEFFRIES: Well, we will cross that bridge when we get to it.

We will focus right now on making sure we're doing everything possible to hold people accountable for what has happened up until this point, which is why I'm a hard yes on the Hegseth resolution.

He's abused his power.

He's undermined our national security, and Pete Hegseth is the architect of this reckless and costly war of choice in Iran, which has made our country less safe and made life more expensive for the American people.

AMNA NAWAZ: Could that accountability mean more impeachment efforts along the way, though?

You haven't ruled that out?

REP.

HAKEEM JEFFRIES: We haven't ruled anything in and we haven't ruled anything out.

AMNA NAWAZ: I want to ask you about just yesterday.

You received a classified briefing about the Nvidia CEO, Jensen Huang, and his affair with a woman accused of being a Chinese spy.

What did you learn in that briefing that told you if U.S.

national security had or had not been compromised?

REP.

HAKEEM JEFFRIES: Well, because it was a classified briefing, I'm limited in what I can reveal, but it certainly is the case that the Nvidia issue came up.

There was a discussion about it.

And, clearly, there's a need for members of Congress to be briefed moving forward so we can fully understand exactly the implications for America's national security.

I think the president himself yesterday indicated that the FBI has launched an investigation into the Nvidia situation.

That's another indication of the serious nature of what may have gone on in terms of involvement by the Chinese Communist Party.

And so members of Congress, both the Gang of Eight, as well as the broader House and Senate, are going to need additional briefings and additional information, certainly in a classified setting, so we can unpack the nature of the damage that may have been done to our country.

AMNA NAWAZ: It was also reported that the president had been briefed on this affair a year ago.

Did you see anything that says to you the administration should have acted on this earlier, before these revelations became public?

REP.

HAKEEM JEFFRIES: We haven't gotten any information that's been disclosed to us yet to be able to draw any conclusions with respect to the timeline, but that certainly will be exactly the type of questions that we're going to need to ask.

Secretary Rubio wasn't present at that briefing.

He's overseas, as I understand it.

We were briefed by the director of national intelligence, as well as the CIA director.

The FBI director was not present.

Certainly, if in fact it is the case that there has been an FBI investigation, which would certainly be appropriate, that has been launched, we're going to need to hear from the FBI as well.

AMNA NAWAZ: I'm sure you have heard President Trump also say after those sweeping Democratic wins that he would love to work with you and the incoming majority, particularly on something for immigration.

He then promoted Stephen Miller, the man behind his hard-line immigration approach, to chief of staff.

Yesterday, you called Mr.

Miller a stone-cold racist.

You said you have zero interest in working with that kind of individual.

So what is one thing that you think you can prioritize getting done with this White House?

REP.

HAKEEM JEFFRIES: Well, in this Congress, we were able to pass a meaningful housing affordability bill that was bipartisan in nature.

That effort was led, of course, by Maxine Waters in the House, working alongside French Hill, a conservative Republican from Arkansas.

And in the Senate, that effort was led by Senator Elizabeth Warren, working in partnership with Tim Scott.

We were able to get that bill to the president's desk.

He didn't sign it, but it has become law, and it was a meaningful step forward in terms of trying to create a supply of housing that the American people can afford.

And that's the type of foundational work that hopefully can be done in the next Congress.

We're committed to driving down the high cost of living in every area, that's housing, that's health care, that's groceries, that's gas, that's caregiving, and to making this country affordable again for everyone.

AMNA NAWAZ: Leader Jeffries, what about on the immigration front?

Is there something you can do with this White House?

REP.

HAKEEM JEFFRIES: Well, certainly, on the immigration front, we have a broken immigration system.

It needs to be fixed.

It should be fixed in a comprehensive way.

Immigration enforcement should be fair, just and humane.

We're not going to provide a dime to the administration's violent mass deportation machine.

Let's work together, perhaps beginning with moving the Dream and Promise Act this Congress as a foundation for the type of work that can be done in the next Congress.

AMNA NAWAZ: That Dream and Promise Act, of course, impacting the DACA recipients.

I should point out it's been reported some dozens of DACA recipients are among those already deported under this administration's immigration crackdown.

Would you support efforts to bring them back into the U.S.?

REP.

HAKEEM JEFFRIES: Certainly.

Anyone, whether they are a citizen, whether they were here lawfully, whether they're DACA recipients, who've been treated unfairly and unjustly by the administration, we need to provide remedial assistance to them and undo the damage that's been done to the country, to law-abiding immigrant families and to the American people over this last 20 months or so.

AMNA NAWAZ: What about working across the aisle?

As we just reported, Jim Jordan has been elected the leader of the House Republicans.

You a few years ago called him the poster child for MAGA extremism and a clear and present danger to our democracy.

Do you still believe that's true?

Can you work with him?

REP.

HAKEEM JEFFRIES: That remains to be seen.

What I do believe is that the American people gave Democrats in the House and the Senate a decisive majority and want us to get things done on their behalf.

They want us to fight for an affordable America.

And at the same period of time, they want a Congress that's going to be a check and balance on an out-of-control executive branch.

And that's going to mean that we visit accountability on the wrongdoers, the individuals who have unleashed this unprecedented corruption on the country over the last two years or so.

AMNA NAWAZ: But what does Jim Jordan's election say to you about what to expect from House Republicans for the next two years?

REP.

HAKEEM JEFFRIES: Well, I haven't had an opportunity to talk to Jim today subsequent to his election or see anything that he said about the course that he's going to chart.

We're going to have a historic majority, the largest majority that any party has had this century, 258 Democrats and counting.

We, of course, will always be willing to try to find common ground on the other side of the aisle,if there's interest in doing something meaningful to make life more affordable for the American people.

And we will see the posture that Jim, as well as the House Republicans, take in the new Congress.

AMNA NAWAZ: You will indeed have a historic majority, and we know House Democrats will hold their speaker nomination vote next week.

It is widely expected that you are poised to make history as the first black speaker of the U.S.

House of Representatives.

You know you face a number of detractors, though, and particularly among the incoming newly elected members.

Lakesha Womack from North Carolina, for example, has said "I don't think this is a time for us to be moderate" when asked if she would back you as speaker.

What is your message to those joining your caucus now who think that you are too moderate or too establishment to lead Democrats right now?

REP.

HAKEEM JEFFRIES: Well, we're going to work as hard as we can, to make the case, of course, to every single member of the House Democratic Caucus, both current members and incoming members, as it relates to the agenda that we have set forth.

We know that the American people are demanding change that's bold, that's dramatic, and that's transformative, and that's absolutely what we're going to work hard to deliver.

AMNA NAWAZ: Have you had any conversations with those incoming members who've expressed doubt about your speakership yet?

REP.

HAKEEM JEFFRIES: I have had conversations with a lot of different members, but there are over 81 new members to the House Democratic Caucus, and so that's ongoing.

AMNA NAWAZ: All right, that is House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries joining us tonight.

Leader Jeffries, always good to speak with you.

Thank you so much for your time.

REP.

HAKEEM JEFFRIES: Thank you.

AMNA NAWAZ: Mississippi, a state not known for close elections, now sits in the center of the national spotlight, as an unusually high number of absentee and provisional ballots will determine the size of the Democratic Party's majority in the U.S.

Senate next year.

Liz Landers reports on how election officials are handling the ongoing vote count and the historic nature of this Senate race.

And the story is in partnership with the Pulitzer Center.

LIZ LANDERS: In a chapel at Tougaloo College in North Jackson, Mississippi, civil rights groups and community members celebrated a historic election.

MAN: I'm so glad that Mississippi has not been silent.

LIZ LANDERS: Mississippi is one of the last races yet to be called in this election, where Democrat and district attorney Scott Colom could unseat Republican Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith.

He would be Mississippi's first Black senator since post-Civil War Reconstruction.

CINDY AYERS ELLIOT, Mississippi Voter: If it can be done in Mississippi, it can be done anywhere.

LIZ LANDERS: Many, like seventh-generation Mississippian CINDY Ayers Elliot, see this moment as the culmination of decades of organizing.

CINDY AYERS ELLIOT: We are definitely the fruit of the labor of the seed that was planted years and years ago.

LIZ LANDERS: More than 100,000 people in Mississippi voted absentee by mail.

Today is the deadline for those ballots to be returned to election offices.

Thousands of others who could not confirm their registration at polling places cast provisional ballots, also known as affidavit ballots, and their eligibility must be confirmed before their votes are counted.

Now the race hinges on local officials in each of the state's 82 counties, who must examine each of those ballots and submit results to the secretary of state by Friday.

This is the Hinds County election office.

This is one of the largest counties in the state and a Democratic stronghold.

And they are still counting days after the election a record number of these affidavit or provisional ballots.

JESSICA CARTER, VoteRiders: A lot of people are confused right now.

They don't know why they were asked to do an affidavit ballot or told they needed to do one, and they don't know why or what the process is.

LIZ LANDERS: Jessica Carter works for VoteRiders, a nonprofit focused on voter education efforts.

She is worried that not every ballot will be counted.

Jessica, how do Mississippi's voting laws compare to other states?

JESSICA CARTER: Well, I feel archaic, because there's not a lot of flexibility.

There's not a lot of really thinking about the voter and how -- and making it easier.

LIZ LANDERS: Monday, voters throughout the state continue to cure those affidavit ballots, showing up to county clerks' offices to verify their identification or addresses.

DAVID WILSON, Mississippi Voter: I have been voting in the same place since I have been voting.

LIZ LANDERS: Some at Hinds County Courthouse had found themselves mistakenly removed from their voter rolls.

Why did they take you off the rolls?

DAVID WILSON: I have no idea.

That's the reason why I'm down here today.

It's resolved, but they couldn't explain to me why I was not able to vote.

LYNNTINA LIDDELL, Mississippi Voter: Well, they mixed my address up.

They had my old address, and I want to make sure that my ballot count today.

DARRELL ARNOLD, Host, "Unleashed Media & Talk": Welcome to the "Unleashed Media and Talk" show with Darrell Arnold.

LIZ LANDERS: Conservative talk show host Darrell Arnold heard from plenty of his listeners about the affidavit ballots too.

DARRELL ARNOLD: It's never happened that I know of in my lifetime where all these affidavit votes, everybody showed up to vote.

They said you have to vote affidavit today, and they're like, what do you mean?

LIZ LANDERS: More than 230,000 voters were designated inactive by Election Day, some mistakenly, after inaccurate address lists were provided to local officials, civil rights groups said.

Professor D'Andra Orey of Jackson State University sees a link between Mississippi's history of voter suppression efforts and the historic nature of this midterm turnout.

D'ANDRA OREY, Jackson State University: Some people actually really literally thought that they were going to lose their right to vote, which then mobilized them to get out the vote.

LIZ LANDERS: Across the South, Black turnout surged this year after several states redrew congressional maps to favor Republicans, often by eliminating majority-Black districts.

Mississippi could follow suit next year.

But the cost of living was overwhelmingly the top issue for Mississippi voters.

MAN: Pick another protein?

Shhh, I'd rather pick another senator instead.

LIZ LANDERS: A frustration captured by a viral ad from Colom's campaign.

Orey says that concern caused some white voters to shift their vote from red to blue this year.

D'ANDRA OREY: I think it was really the perfect storm for the Democrats.

And I believe they crossed over because of the economy.

That, in itself, I think was enough to serve as an incentive for people to get out and vote.

LIZ LANDERS: The Colom coalition included split-ticket voters like Ginger Vaughn from Decatur.

GINGER VAUGHN, Mississippi Voter: I voted for the other guy.

LIZ LANDERS: Scott Colom.

GINGER VAUGHN: Because I feel like she's been there for a while now, and nothing has really gotten done, and his message was very positive, and hopefully, he can bring some change.

I don't think she put very much into her campaign to begin with.

And he went all out.

LIZ LANDERS: Arnold voted for Hyde-Smith for her conservative values, but concedes that Colom connected with voters better than she did.

DARRELL ARNOLD: This whole blue wave across the country, I believe Mississippi fell into that.

I really do, because Scott Colom ran a fantastic campaign.

He really did.

And his people ran a great campaign.

They focused on the mom-and-pop at-the-table issues, Cindy Hyde-Smith's Smith's campaign not so much.

LIZ LANDERS: As the count continues, both sides are insisting all votes be properly tallied.

MIKE HURST, Chair, Mississippi Republican Party: At the end of the day, if the facts show that our laws were not followed, we will be ready to act swiftly, and we will not hesitate to hold election officials accountable.

LIZ LANDERS: Today, Colom said that he believes his lead is insurmountable.

SCOTT COLOM (D), Mississippi Senatorial Candidate: The reality is she can't point to a direction where she has a possibility to win.

At some point, we have to put the people of Mississippi above our personal feelings and partisan politics.

LIZ LANDERS: Colom gained more votes today, slightly widening his elite over Hyde-Smith.

Right now, the tally has him ahead by about 2,500 votes, or 0.3 percent.

Mississippi has no rules for an automatic recount, which means this could still go to court, Amna.

AMNA NAWAZ: So, Liz, with no rules for an automatic recount, what are the next steps if either candidate wants to contest the election results?

LIZ LANDERS: Well, both campaigns have a robust legal presence here on the ground in Mississippi to make sure that all of these votes are counted here.

But there are basically two options we have heard from legal experts that could be pursued.

First option, according to David Becker, former civil rights attorney for the Department of Justice, is that this candidate in second place could go to court here in Mississippi, ask for a recount.

The court would have to consider that, and they could potentially grant that request.

The other option, according to a Mississippi civil rights attorney, Rob McDuff, that we spoke with earlier today, is that the second-place candidate could try to challenge the seating of the senator through the U.S.

Senate.

The Constitution says that Congress can judge the qualifications and elections of its own members, though that is a very unusual path to take.

For her part, Hyde-Smith was back up on Capitol Hill today telling reporters that there are still votes to be counted here in Mississippi and that she is still hoping for reelection -- Amna.

AMNA NAWAZ: All right, that is Liz Landers reporting from Jackson, Mississippi, for us tonight.

Liz, thank you very much.

LIZ LANDERS: Of course.

GEOFF BENNETT: Inflation remained stubbornly high last month, adding to the financial strain on Americans already struggling with the high cost of living.

The latest Consumer Price Index shows prices rose four-tenths of a percent, driven largely by higher food and energy costs.

Housing costs also climbed three-tenths of a percent, accounting for roughly a third of the larger-than-expected monthly increase.

Economists now expect inflation to run at about 4 percent for the year, outpacing wage growth and further squeezing household budgets.

Let's turn now to Austan Goolsbee, president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.

Welcome back to the "News Hour."

AUSTAN GOOLSBEE, President, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago: Yes, thank you for having me again.

GEOFF BENNETT: So, today's inflation report came in hotter than many economists expected.

When you look at the numbers, what stands out to you?

AUSTAN GOOLSBEE: Well, it's another distressing report, borderline disturbing.

We have been hoping to get progress, not -- everyone understands that the war in the Middle East leads to higher energy prices, and we have been dealing with that.

But several of these things that have been driving up costs were supposed to have gone away by now.

So the impact of tariffs on goods prices was supposed to have faded by now.

It still continues.

And the -- perhaps the most troubling part is that services inflation, including health care and a bunch of things that people don't need reminders to know that inflation remains too high, services inflation is not coming down, is probably not mostly driven by oil prices or tariffs or things that might be transitory.

And so we have got a real inflation issue on our hands that has been developing, and we're going to have to deal with that.

GEOFF BENNETT: And you have got food and housing costs that continue to climb, and unlike other expenses, these aren't things that families can simply cut out of their budgets.

What does persistent inflation in these essentials mean for the Fed's ability to bring prices under control?

AUSTAN GOOLSBEE: Well, the Fed has a limited tool set, only has the interest rate, and it can try to cool off the economy to cool inflation.

Everywhere I go out here -- and the Chicago Fed's district is kind of heart of the Midwest -- it's on everyone's mind.

It's on business mind.

It's on nonprofits' minds.

It's on ordinary consumers' mind.

I got a farmer Downstate Illinois sent me a diesel pump, says prices are killing them, and it's cost-side-driven.

And now we're getting demand-side-driven component that's coming from the AI build-out, unfortunately, that everywhere you're going in the country, they're saying the costs of construction are high, the cost of computers, electrical equipment, computer chips, very high.

And it's because they attribute this excess demand, almost conventional stimulus, if you want to think of it that way, that's coming from the data center build-out of multitrillion dollars.

GEOFF BENNETT: I was going to ask you about the inflationary effects of the AI data center boom.

What can policymakers do realistically to ease those kinds of pressures?

AUSTAN GOOLSBEE: It depends which policymakers.

At the Fed, again, like I say, we just have a interest rate tool, but business investment does get affected by interest rates.

And you have seen, as interest rates have gone up, you have seen various players in that space respond.

That's all you can do.

This is -- if it transpires the way it has been going, that's just old-fashioned demand overheating from excess stimulus that's coming from massive hype about AI overloading the economy in the short run.

Now, up until now, this has mostly stayed in its lane in the directly affected and adjacent sectors to AI.My fear and my concern is that we're starting to see this drift out into just overall overheating prices of a whole bunch of things, including services, rising way too fast, far higher than our target rate of 2 percent inflation.

At the same time, the job market has been pretty steady and stable.

And the law gives the Fed two jobs, the so-called dual mandate, stabilize prices, maximize employment.

The employment side is doing pretty well.

The inflation side is not doing well, and we're going to have to come to terms with that if this inflation is going to prove persistent.

GEOFF BENNETT: And inflation has remained above the Fed's 2 percent target for nearly six years now.

Is there a concern that you have got businesses and consumers accepting high inflation as the new normal?

AUSTAN GOOLSBEE: Yes, that's a major concern.

If that's what happened, it'll be that much more painful to try to get rid of inflation if it kind of gets built into the expectations that everyone has about prices.

It doesn't have to be that way.

And the only thing I will say is, it is true we have been above the 2 percent target for almost six years, but that hasn't been flat and high over that time.

There were periods where we were making progress, and I thought we were headed back to 2 percent.

Now what we have been dealing with is a series of shocks, some from oil prices, some from tariffs, now some from the demand side, and those -- a lot of those things were supposed to go away.

And they might still go away and prove transitory, but whenever you start hearing the word transitory, your -- the hair on your neck should be standing up a little bit, because we went through that, where it was supposed to go away.

And we found out that, when you have major disruptions to the supply chain, those oftentimes end up being far more persistent than let's call it the theory says they're supposed to be.

Hey, Austan, I almost made it through this entire interview without asking you whether the Fed should raise or cut rates, which I know you always enjoy.

GEOFF BENNETT: But, look, we have got a minute left.

And I ask the question because your colleague Christopher Waller has said he's open to a larger-than-usual... AUSTAN GOOLSBEE: Right.

GEOFF BENNETT: ... half-point interest rate increase in December.

Given today's inflation numbers, what do you think?

AUSTAN GOOLSBEE: Well, look, you know I'm not a fan of being very specific and tying our hands at the next meeting or meetings in the future.

AUSTAN GOOLSBEE: I will say it's the -- literally the biggest table I have ever seen in my life in that room.

So everything is always on the table, and we must get inflation back down to target, and it's going the wrong way at this point.

GEOFF BENNETT: The ever diplomatic Austan Goolsbee, president of the Chicago Fed, always good to speak with you.

Thanks.

AUSTAN GOOLSBEE: Thanks for having me.

AMNA NAWAZ: Well, hope is tough to hang on to when faced with some of the world's most pressing problems, but it's also a tool to help solve them.

Jim Bildner is the CEO of the Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation, one of the world's largest venture philanthropy organizations.

It finds and funds entrepreneurs tackling big issues, from health care access to clean water initiatives and more.

One of those entrepreneurs is Kiah Williams, co-founder of SIRUM, which redirects unused medications to people in need.

KIAH WILLIAMS, Co-Founder, SIRUM: My life's work is trying to impact the communities like the one I grew up in, which are Black, brown, and low-income communities in this country.

SIRUM started as a student project.

And it was like a ragtag group of students, alumni volunteers.

The original idea was this idea that it's just as easy to donate as to destroy medicine.

We have grown to a platform and a program that broadly distributes medications, and we have done over a quarter-of-a-billion dollars of medicine to over 300,000 people.

AMNA NAWAZ: In his new book, "A Matter of Hope," Jim Bildner more stories of impact and how hope fuels that work.

For the record, Jim Bildner and his wife, Nancy, are supporters of the "News Hour."

I sat down with Jim recently to talk about the book and his work.

Great to see you.

Thank you for being here.

JIM BILDNER, CEO, Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation: No, so, so glad to be here.

Thanks for inviting me.

AMNA NAWAZ: So Kiah is just one of the leaders, changemakers, visionaries, as you call them, that you profile in this book.

How did you decide who to choose, who to include in this book?

JIM BILDNER: So, at Draper Richards Kaplan, we have funded nearly 280 leaders like Kiah.

And you're asking me which one of these children, these adults who are making amazing things do I love the most.

I love them all.

JIM BILDNER: And the nine folks that are profiled in that book share this common characteristic, which is all of them have been profoundly impacted by the problems they're addressing.

And unlike too many, they have refused to walk away from it.

And the characteristic that has led them to be able to do these things -- and, by the way, they're not super-resourced, they don't have a ton of money, they don't have incredible networks.

It's this ability to see the world as it exists, but also to imagine a future that's different, and here's the key, to be able to turn that imagination into reality.

AMNA NAWAZ: You capture all of that resilience, this idea to imagine a better world, as you say, under the word hope, which can feel very wishy-washy sometimes.

What did you learn about each of these leaders in terms of where that hope is derived from?

How did they hang on to it in the face of what can be enormous challenges?

JIM BILDNER: Right.

So, in our world, hope is a verb.

It's something you do with, not something that you hope that just occurs.

It's a point of view.

It's this -- again, this ability to know the world you're living in, so you're not just blindly optimistic, but to see in clear ways what can be different, and the resilience of each of these folks, again, proximity to the problem.

Everyone profiled knew that problem cold because it hit them.

It's the ability to believe and see incrementally that, if you stay with this problem and make a difference, over time, you will change it.

We have funded 280 investments.

Nearly two -- nearly three-quarters are impacting 10,000 lives or more, nearly two-thirds 50,000 lives or more.

And the world has not given me a free pass.

And even in the things that I have had happen personally, and I'm not immune to the news, I wake up every day and know we have got incredible leaders who are changing the course and destiny of millions of people.

And, I mean, that's just irreplaceable.

AMNA NAWAZ: You write about a time in your life when hope has really seemed elusive.

You write very vulnerably about losing your own son, Peter, to a drug overdose in 2005.

You write, as you put it, that the construct you built your life around was shattered in that moment.

How did you hang on to hope in that unimaginable loss?

And so, like so many, at that moment, when I remember coming in -- I had been working out, and I got came into our house.

And Nancy, my wife, was on the phone, and I could tell just by her look that Peter had died, and it was the sheriff who had been -- had called her and found my son's body.

And the gravitational pull for folks who've gone through this is almost irresistible.

In our case and so many who have gone through this, there's a fear of -- not a fear.

There's just a sense of, how did we fail our son who we loved and cared for?

But I quickly understood that you only have one life to live.

And I could do more in service to Peter.

So I think about him every single day.

And the path I chose, as readers will know, now, about a month later, I penned an article that I then read on "Morning Edition" called "Anyone's Son," because I wanted all those folks who had lost their son or daughter to know they weren't alone.

AMNA NAWAZ: Fifteen years after Peter's passing, your wife, Nancy, was diagnosed with stage four cancer.

She was given six months to live.

That was back in 2021.

You write in your book: "More than 80 chemo cycles, two clinical trials later, Nancy is still with me."

JIM BILDNER: Yes.

AMNA NAWAZ: How is she doing today?

JIM BILDNER: She's holding her own.

She's an amazing human being, and I would not be the person I am without her, as I hope I made clear in that book.

And, again, contextualizing this for your viewers, I got that call that many people get from -- in Nancy's case from her surgeon, who finally got a look at the cancer and literally called me on my cell phone in our office and said: "I'm sorry to tell you this, Mr.

Bildner, but your wife has cancer everywhere, and if I were you, I'd put her in hospice now."

And, of course, I didn't.

And so what I learned from that experience, and, again, the gravitational pull, what's going to happen to her, what's going to happen to me, was in fact I could be a caregiver.

And the joy of taking care of my wife and what she has given back to me, again, is priceless.

AMNA NAWAZ: Jim, is there something about this moment in time in particular that made you want to write this book, that said this is the message people need right now?

JIM BILDNER: Oh, my gosh, if there ever was a moment in time.

Again, in this prelaunch of the book and writing the book, I have talked to thousands of people, and the underlying feeling I get from them is a sense of hopelessness, a sense of no agency, a sense of an inability to make a difference.

And I just felt like, I have to help them see the counterfactual.

We all can do so much more, and that book is about helping people see that.

AMNA NAWAZ: The book is "A Matter of Hope."

The author is Jim Bildner.

Jim, thank you so much.

It's been such a pleasure.

JIM BILDNER: Thank you.

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

I'm Amna Nawaz.

GEOFF BENNETT: And I'm Geoff Bennett.

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