January 24, 2025 - PBS News Hour full episode

President Donald Trump jetted off for the first trip of his second administration to tour one sprawling disaster zone after the other. The president is in California where he'll survey damage from the wildfires that are ravaging the Los Angeles area. But first, he stopped in North Carolina, four months after Hurricane Helene, and threatened the future of FEMA. Laura Barrón-López reports.

In our news wrap Friday, Hamas announced the names of four Israeli hostages it intends to release as part of the ceasefire deal, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu said Israeli forces might not withdraw from Lebanon by the deadline set in an agreement with Hezbollah and President Trump ended the government-funded protection detail for Dr. Anthony Fauci.

Monday marks the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp. One of the youngest survivors was an eight-year-old Polish girl named Rutka. She moved to Canada after the war and took the name Rachel Hyams. Decades later, she died by suicide. Rachel’s daughter has been retracing her mother’s steps and allowed Malcolm Brabant to come along on the emotional journey.

Women's basketball has seen an overdue surge in popularity in recent years. With 3.3 million viewers, last year's WNBA championship was the most-watched finals game in the league's 25-year history. Now, a new three-on-three league called Unrivaled is building on that success. Amna Nawaz discussed more with WNBA all-star and Unrivaled co-founder Napheesa Collier.

The State Department suspended all foreign assistance around the world for at least three months. That affects tens of billions of dollars on programs that run from military assistance to Ukraine to supporting police in Mexico who interdict fentanyl coming into the U.S. Nick Schifrin reports.

The Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina got a major boost in its decades-long fight to become federally recognized. President Trump signed a memo directing the Interior Secretary to submit a plan for full federal recognition of the tribe. That status would unleash hundreds of millions of dollars in support for the 60,000 member Lumbee. Geoff Bennett discussed more with Lumbee chairman John Lowery.

New York Times columnist David Brooks and Washington Post associate editor Jonathan Capehart join Geoff Bennett to discuss the week in politics, including the busy first week for the Trump administration, what President Trump has prioritized since reentering the White House and his pardon of Jan. 6 rioters.