December 5, 2024 - PBS News Hour full episode

On a recent evening in Washington, moviegoers filled the lobby of a local theater to watch the D.C. premiere of a new film from a renowned documentarian that explores the first Trump administration’s family separation policy on the southern border. Geoff Bennett discussed "Separated" with executive producer Jacob Soboroff.

Many of the people President-elect Trump has selected for his next administration have promised to shake up long-held norms. His picks to lead agencies that will oversee the nation’s national security, intelligence and law enforcement communities have repeatedly expressed contempt towards the agencies they are nominated to run. Laura Barrón-López discussed more with John Sipher.

In North Gaza, Mahmod Almadhoun, fed the famished. They called him Chef Mahmoud for running a soup kitchen for the most vulnerable. He opened a school with a sign on the roof in Hebrew and English reading, "Please don’t bomb." On the morning of Nov. 30, Almadhoun’s family says he was killed by an Israeli drone. Nick Schifrin discussed more with Almadhoun's brother, Hani Almadhoun.

In our news wrap Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron has vowed to stay in office until the end of his term after his prime minister was ousted, the manhunt continues for the suspect who stalked and killed United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York and the Department of Justice found that Memphis Police routinely used excessive force and discriminated against Black residents.

Rebels dealt another blow to the Syrian government by capturing a city in the center of the country. Opposition forces took control of Hama, one of the few cities that remained largely under government control since the civil war started in 2011. The northern city of Aleppo fell earlier this week as the opposition launched a major operation against the regime of Bashar al-Assad. John Yang reports.

CRYPTO’S RISE (YAFFE-BELLANY DIS)

It was a busy day on Capitol Hill where Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy met with House and Senate Republicans. The two were recently appointed by President-elect Trump to lead a new commission that aims to reduce government spending. Pete Hegseth, Trump’s nominee for defense secretary, continues to face an uphill climb on his path to confirmation. Lisa Desjardins reports.