GEOFF BENNETT: Good evening.

I'm Geoff Bennett.

AMNA NAWAZ: And I'm Amna Nawaz.

On the "News Hour" tonight: a day of reunion.

Israeli hostages and Palestinian detainees are released after two long years of war.

MIRIAM FELICITE, Tel Aviv Resident: Someone ripped our hearts, and now coming back.

GEOFF BENNETT: The Trump administration's latest round of mass firings further hollows out the Department of Education, which the president has pledged to close.

AMNA NAWAZ: And indigenous activist Leonard Peltier, convicted of killing two FBI agents, adjusts to life outside prison after his sentence was commuted.

LEONARD PELTIER, Indigenous Rights Activist: I would die for the people if I had to, but I was not going to turn against my people.

So I stayed that defiant all the 49 years-plus in prison.

(BREAK) AMNA NAWAZ: Welcome to the "News Hour."

After two years of brutal war, 20 Israeli hostages and nearly 2,000 Palestinian detainees and prisoners were swapped today, as the American-led cease-fire in Gaza held.

GEOFF BENNETT: It was a day of hope and relief for many tinged with apprehension of what lies ahead.

There are harder steps still to come and no guarantees of success.

But a triumphant President Trump received a hero's welcome when he landed early today in Israel.

Later, he led a multinational peace conference in Egypt before flying home.

Special correspondent Leila Molana-Allen reports tonight from Tel Aviv.

LEILA MOLANA-ALLEN: Watching, waiting, hoping.

It was a day two years and many prayers in the making.

MIRIAM FELICITE, Tel Aviv Resident: Someone ripped our hearts, and now coming back.

LEILA MOLANA-ALLEN: Overwhelmed with emotion, they stood in tearful silence.

Since late last night, thousands of people have been gathered here at what's become known over the last couple of years as Hostage Square, the epicenter of the calls for the hostages to come home.

They waited with bated breath, watching the gradual releases on a large screen and hoping that, after today, the name here would become redundant.

And then the screams of joy began.

(CHEERING) WOMAN: The hostages are free!

LEILA MOLANA-ALLEN: As the Red Cross vehicles bearing their longed-for cargo drove slowly out of Gaza, well-wishers lined the roads by Israel's border.

The hostages were then flown by helicopter to specially prepared medical facilities.

As they appeared overhead, the crowds here erupted in elation.

One after another, the last of the living hostages were reunited with waiting family, an embrace they feared would never come.

But not everyone came home today.

Just four of the bodies of the 28 deceased hostages were returned.

Efrat Machikawa has been here for 30 hours and counting.

Six of her family members were kidnapped on October 7.

One was killed.

The other five returned home in previous handover deals after an agonizing wait.

EFRAT MACHIKAWA, Hostage Family Member: I mean, the atrocity that happened here is really beyond our understanding.

And then the long game that builds up to you and the fear of torture, of hunger, of threat for your beloved one.

Think of a brother, of a child, of a parent.

LEILA MOLANA-ALLEN: But, today, she's here to support the other hostages and their families whom she's grown as close to as her own.

EFRAT MACHIKAWA: We must have every single hostage until the very last one, because unless all of them are here, the healing of the state of Israel cannot start.

LEILA MOLANA-ALLEN: Cheering and waving American and Israeli flags, they watched the man they credit with seeing this deal through address the nation from Israel's Parliament.

WOMAN: Thank you, Trump!

Thank you, Trump!

LEILA MOLANA-ALLEN: The president proudly proclaimed the war was over, his praise for Israel's leader leavened with a warning, that it was time to turn the page.

DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: Bibi, you're going to be remembered for this far more than if you kept this thing going, going, going, kill, kill, kill.

So, Israel, with our help, has won all that they can by force of arms.

You have won.

Now it's time to translate these victories against terrorists on the battlefield into the ultimate prize of peace and prosperity for the entire Middle East.

LEILA MOLANA-ALLEN: The Knesset was lit up red white and blue as the president sped off to another pressing appointment.

Hours behind schedule, Trump flew to the seaside resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, where he welcomed world leaders to the Gaza peace summit and commended Arab and Muslim leaders for what he called the biggest deal to have ever happened.

DONALD TRUMP: The Middle East, it's the biggest, most complicated deal, and also it's the place that could lead to tremendous problems like World War III.

They always talk about World War III would start in the Middle East.

And that's not going to happen.

LEILA MOLANA-ALLEN: Meanwhile, in the occupied West Bank, people flooded the streets to welcome home released Palestinian prisoners, families torn apart by years of confinement reunited.

At last with his loved ones, Kamal Abu Shanab says what he lived through was a nightmare.

KAMAL ABU SHANAB, Released Palestinian Prisoner (through translator): My weight was 280 pounds.

Today, I'm 150 pounds.

It was an indescribable journey of suffering, hunger, unfair treatment, oppression, torture and curses, more than anything you could imagine.

We escaped death.

LEILA MOLANA-ALLEN: His niece Farah struggled to hold back tears.

FARAH ABU SHANAB, Niece of Released Palestinian Prisoner (through translator): We're crying because we don't recognize him.

He's not the person we knew.

Our uncle doesn't look like our uncle.

It's unfair.

LEILA MOLANA-ALLEN: Many released today were convicted of terrorism offenses that killed Israelis and were serving life sentences.

But many others, among them women and children, were held under a policy allowing detention without formal charges.

Around 80 miles south in Khan Yunis in Gaza, a sea of people, as buses arrived with hundreds of Gazans who were detained by Israel over the last two years, a moment of raw emotion as a child kissed a father after an unbearable separation, and a father lifted a child who grew up in his absence.

For Gazans, this cease-fire is a moment to pause and grieve.

But even as Israeli strikes have stopped, killings and mayhem have not.

Today, Hamas publicly executed dozens of Gazans they accuse of collaboration with Israel.

Clashes have also erupted between Hamas fighters and other militias.

On Sunday, a prominent Gazan journalist, Saleh Aljafarawi, was killed by Israeli-backed militias.

Aljafarawi had survived and reported two years of death and destruction, while stealing moments of joy and humanity.

Palestinians, whether prisoners released today or families once again returning to Gaza City, are faced with a ravaged moonscape of ruins and rubble.

E'ETEDAL LOTFY, Displaced Palestinian (through translator): They could have saved us a long time ago instead of all this destruction and ruin.

What is left in Gaza?

There is nothing left in it except for its dead people.

We are dead, souls without bodies.

Tell us where to go, how many years before they build our homes.

LEILA MOLANA-ALLEN: A day filled with joy for many and one they hope will bring an end to this stage of a brutal war, but also a day filled with fear of what comes next -- Geoff.

GEOFF BENNETT: Did today play out as expected?

And based on your reporting, Leila, what comes next?

LEILA MOLANA-ALLEN: So it did initially play out as expected.

We were expecting all the hostages to come home today.

And, from the early morning, that is what happened, first a trench of seven living hostages and then 13 more living hostages were brought across the border by the Red Cross in vehicles.

They met with family members and doctors at a camp right on the Gaza border.

And then they were flown by helicopter to three different hospitals that had been placed and ready to receive them.

Now, they will in the coming days go through significant medical checks.

Of course, many of them have been without food.

Some have been beaten.

They will be in quite severe medical condition, and then the psychological support too.

But that is where things changed and things stopped going to plan.

What we saw next was supposed to be the release of the 28 bodies of the deceased hostages.

Now, a few days ago, Hamas had said they actually didn't know where all the bodies were, and it was confirmed by Israel that there would be a task force to go into Gaza to look for them.

But, today, this afternoon, Hamas then said they were actually only going to release four bodies of the deceased, which were released this evening.

That immediately resulted in calls from both the Hostage Families Forum and some on the far right of the government here saying that this was not what was agreed and already Hamas was going against the deal.

So that makes it clear just how tense and fragile this is cease-fire deal is, because this part of the deal has played into Donald Trump's classic negotiating tactics.

He's gone hard.

He's gone fast, get those hostages out.

And Hamas has gambled letting the hostages go, because that's all they have to bargain with.

What comes next is far more complicated.

Now we see what will play out for the future of Gaza, whether there will in fact be any form of Palestinian state.

Those are much harder questions to answer, and there is very little trust on either side.

GEOFF BENNETT: Leila Molana-Allen in Tel Aviv tonight.

Leila, thank you.

LEILA MOLANA-ALLEN: Thank you.

AMNA NAWAZ: For more on today's events, we turn to two people with extensive experience trying to negotiate peace between the Israelis and Palestinians.

Dennis Ross played leading roles in the Middle East peace process for both Democratic and Republican administrations.

He's now at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

That's a Washington think tank.

And Rob Malley had high level positions on the National Security Council staff in the Clinton, Obama and Biden administrations.

He's now senior fellow at Yale University.

Gentlemen, welcome to you both, and thank you for joining us.

Before we get to what comes next, I want to just put to each of you to answer briefly on how we got here.

Rob, start us off here.

Why do you think this president now was able to get done what his predecessor was not?

ROB MALLEY, Former U.S.

Special Envoy to Iran: Well, first, I mean, he put together a peace plan which is an eyesore.

I mean, it demands atonement for the Palestinians for what happened on the massacre of October 7.

It doesn't demand atonement for what -- Israel's barbaric war that followed.

It is -- calls for Gaza's deradicalization, but not for Israel's.

It micromanages the future of the Palestinian self-governance.

It doesn't say anything about the future of Israel's occupation.

It's riddled with ambiguities.

And yet, for all that, despite all that, it's a major achievement by the president.

And it was achieved, again, despite all the criticism that I just leveled, because he adopted a form of unconventional politics, where he just exercised raw power, was prepared to break convention.

He spoke to Hamas.

He put pressure on Israel.

He also gave guarantees to both sides.

And it was a form of politics that his predecessors simply were not able or willing to exert.

AMNA NAWAZ: Dennis Ross, do you agree with that?

In this case, Rob is saying that the man himself was more important than the plan.

DENNIS ROSS, Former U.S.

Envoy to Middle East: Well, I think, yes, I generally agree with what Rob said.

I would put it a little differently.

President Trump exercises leverage.

Leverage takes two forms.

One is incentives and inducements, and the other is penalties and consequences.

What he -- he put himself in a position where the prime minister of Israel could not say no to him.

But he also used the Arabs in a way that President Biden couldn't.

He put them in a position where basically they were also willing to be responsive to him, and they were not prepared to say no to him.

President Biden wasn't in a position to basically convince Bibi not to say no to him.

And one of the reasons that was the case is because Bibi always had the Republicans that he could use against a president.

So there was a context that was different, but he was prepared to use coercion and leverage in a way that went beyond what the Democratic president or Democratic administration was prepared to do.

AMNA NAWAZ: Rob Malley, do you feel that the previous government that -- under President Biden, did it have leverage that it didn't use?

Or is it also true that President Trump just had different circumstances that offered him more leverage, right?

Israel had already met a number of its goals.

Hamas was degraded.

They killed Hezbollah leaders in Lebanon.

They carried out joint U.S.

strikes against Iran.

Were the conditions more ripe for a deal?

ROB MALLEY: I think both statements are true.

Yes, the conditions were more ripe for a deal for all the reasons you gave and some of the reasons that Dennis gave.

But it is also true that the Biden administration -- and this is something that Biden administration officials are going to have to face and have to account for -- did not exercise the leverage that they possessed.

They had huge leverage with Israel.

President Biden was extremely popular with the Israeli public right after October 7, so he had that leverage, political leverage.

And, of course, they had the leverage of the provision of weapons.

You can't say that you're working tirelessly for a cease-fire and continue to provide the weapons that ensure that the fire continues.

That is simply inconsistent.

So, yes, they had the kind of leverage that, had they wanted to, they could have called Prime Minister Netanyahu out, which they didn't want to do.

They didn't want to take tough votes at the Security Council, and, most of all, they didn't want to withhold or condition the provision of weapons.

Again, I agree that President Trump faced more favorable circumstances, but there's a lot of leverage that the Biden administration had and they simply refused to exercise.

AMNA NAWAZ: Dennis Ross, there's also this approach by Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner to reportedly meet directly with Hamas to make the case and make clear to them that President Trump wants peace here, to get Turkey and Egypt and Qatar to apply more pressure.

How different is that from previous efforts?

And does that in any way, looking forward, keep Hamas from breaking the cease-fire, somehow put Trump as a guarantor?

DENNIS ROSS: Well, it's an interesting point because historically no administration had been willing to meet with Hamas because they didn't want to legitimize them.

They didn't want to undercut the Palestinian Authority.

They didn't want to make Hamas the representative of the Palestinians.

This administration did not feel constrained that way.

And so they approached Hamas directly at the end.

But I'm not sure that was ultimately the key.

I think the real key here on the Arab side and also the Muslim side was being prepared to use the relationship with Turkey, President Erdogan, use the Qataris, use the Egyptians, make it clear to them how much they had to gain with President Trump, but also what they had to lose if they weren't helpful.

All of them decided it was in their interest to show President Trump how successful they could be and why he had a stake in them.

The Biden administration never quite did that.

And to be fair on the issue of the circumstances, the fact is those circumstances, in terms of what Israel had done to Hezbollah, that was done a year ago.

So many of the circumstances were there for some time.

Obviously, what happened in June with Iran also affected things.

But the reality is, the real weakening of the proxy network had taken place before that.

AMNA NAWAZ: Rob Malley, take a look at how the president was speaking about this deal today with a major summit, right, all the world's leaders gathered behind him there, and he's using language talking about the end of the war, talking about a new beginning.

Is he right?

ROB MALLEY: I mean, the end of the war in Gaza, if he achieves that, again, that's a momentous achievement.

I think, beyond that, it's typical Trump hyperbole.

This is not the end of the conflict, not even the end of the conflict in Gaza, let alone the end of the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.

I think the lesson here is that it's going to take a president, whether it's President Trump or a future president, to use an unconventional form of politics, a politics that is immune from the laws of political gravity in the U.S.

and is prepared to take steps that may not be popular, that may not be traditional, that may not be typical.

But, for example, engaging with Hamas, that is something that, as Dennis said, prior presidents didn't want to do.

But it was simply a recognition of reality.

How do you make peace in Gaza if you don't talk to the party that holds the key to war and peace?

It may not be pretty, but it's essential.

President Trump did that.

I would be far from predicting now that we're on the verge, on the cusp of Israeli-Palestinian peace.

One step at a time.

I think, for Gazans today, this is -- they're going from an utter hell to a mere nightmare, and that's progress for them.

We have seen the joy of the families that are getting the hostages, the Palestinian detainees who are back.

We're hoping that humanitarian aid is going to go back into Gaza.

Again, that's achievement enough.

I think it's going to take some time to get to the next phase, let alone Israeli-Palestinian peace.

AMNA NAWAZ: Dennis Ross, in the minute or so we have left, what are you watching in the days, weeks ahead to see if this cease-fire does hold?

DENNIS ROSS: It is going to be President Trump's direct involvement, his team's direct involvement, filling out that team with more.

You have 20 points.

I think every single point is interpreted differently by the parties, and the linkage between demilitarization and withdrawal is a key one.

How is it defined?

Who's going to carry it out?

That's what I'm going to watching for.

AMNA NAWAZ: A big first step, big questions, as you both say, ahead.

Dennis Ross, Rob Malley, thank you both for your time.

ROB MALLEY: Thank you.

AMNA NAWAZ: We start the day's other news in North Carolina, where Republican lawmakers say they will vote next week on a new congressional map that could help them win an additional seat in Congress.

It's the latest move in the nationwide battle over redistricting.

Republicans in Texas and Missouri and Democrats in California have all made similar efforts ahead of next year's midterm elections.

North Carolina last changed its map in 2023.

In 2024, Republicans won 10 out of 14 seats.

Before that, the parties were evenly split.

New Jersey and parts of New York have declared emergencies as a powerful offshore storm slams the East Coast.

One woman in New York City was killed when a solar panel was blown from a rooftop.

The nor'easter storm is churning its way north after hammering the Carolina Outer Banks.

Strong winds and flooding are expected from Virginia to New Jersey, where residents are already reporting high surf.

MAN: Never seen the ocean like this.

It's probably the craziest I have ever seen.

AMNA NAWAZ: Elsewhere, transit workers in New York City covered subway vents today to prevent flooding.

The city's Columbus Day parade was canceled.

Meanwhile, in Western Alaska, dozens have been rescued after the region was hit hard by the remnants of Typhoon Halong.

Officials there say three people remain missing after winds and flooding hit the remote coastal area.

Officials in Mexico say the death toll from last week's rains and flooding has risen to at least 64, with dozens people more missing.

Most of the fatalities were reported in the states of Veracruz, Hidalgo, and Puebla near the country's eastern coast.

Residents of affected areas have been cleaning up and assessing the damage, with thousands still without power and running water.

Some areas received more than 20 inches of rain last week, causing flooding and landslides.

Officials are warning that the death toll could rise.

Turning now to Madagascar, where President Andry Rajoelina says he had to flee to a secure location to protect his life.

The 51-year-old made the announcement in a speech posted online, though he didn't disclose his location.

The former French colony of some 31 million people off the coast of Africa has faced weeks of protests led by a youth group calling themselves Gen Z Madagascar.

The demonstrations began over water and electricity outages and quickly grew to include broader anger at the government.

Then, this weekend, an elite military unit joined the cause and the president's office said a coup was under way.

Today, protesters in the capital's main square said their work is not yet done.

STYVE RAZAFINDRAINIBE, Student Protester (through translator): It is only the struggle on the ground that is over, not the struggle at the negotiating table, and that is where the change of the system, the desire to change the system takes on its meaning.

AMNA NAWAZ: The situation on the ground in Madagascar remains fluid with curfews in place in the country's major cities.

Three researchers have won this year's Nobel economics prize for their work on the concept of creative destruction.

That's where new innovations replace older technologies and businesses.

Dutch born Joel Mokyr will receive half of the $1.2 million prize.

Philippe Aghion and Peter Howitt will split the rest.

The Nobel Committee said the winners helped shed light on how innovation drives economic growth and human welfare.

The Economics Prize was established by the Bank of Sweden in 1968 as a memorial to Alfred Nobel.

And on Wall Street today, stocks regained their footing after President Trump tried to ease concerns about his China tariff threats.

The Dow Jones industrial average added nearly 600 points.

The Nasdaq jumped almost 500 points on the day.

The S&P 500 also ended sharply higher.

And after 16 years and more than 1,600 episodes, today, Marc Maron wrapped his groundbreaking podcast "WTF."

The actor and comedian started the show in 2009 out of his California garage.

Those humble origins set a template for a generation of podcasters that followed, thanks to freewheeling and honest conversations with the likes of Robin Williams, Lorne Michaels, and Ariana Grande.

Former President Barack Obama became the first sitting president to appear on the podcast in 2015, and he returned as Maron's final guest.

Obama spoke to Maron's popularity.

BARACK OBAMA, Former President of the United States: And I think that part of the reason you had such a big fan base during the 16-year run is, there was a core decency to you and the conversations you had.

AMNA NAWAZ: Maron and his longtime producing partner Brendan McDonald announced they would end the show earlier this year, saying they were burnt out, but -- quote -- "utterly satisfied with the work we have done."

In recent years, "WTF" has consistently been one of the most streamed and downloaded podcasts, boasting more than 55 million listens per year.

Still to come on the "News Hour": the state of the government shutdown now that President Trump has ordered military members still be paid; and Tamara Keith and Amy Walter break down the latest political headlines.

GEOFF BENNETT: The speaker of the House said today the U.S.

is barreling toward one of the longest shutdowns in history.

That stark warning on this 13th day of the government shutdown comes as effects are already starting to ripple across the country, with federal workers facing their first week without a paycheck.

Here with the latest is our White House correspondent, Liz Landers.

All right, Liz, so day 13, has there been any movement?

LIZ LANDERS: The short answer is no, Geoff.

The president did announce over the weekend that he's directing the Pentagon to use -- quote -- "all available funds" to pay the U.S.

troops.

This is apparently reportedly going to be coming from leftover research and development funds that were left over from last fiscal year.

The president talked about this last night on Air Force One.

DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: We're taking care of it.

We have got the military paid in full.

And we're doing a lot of things.

We're ending some programs that we don't want.

They happen to be Democrat-sponsored programs.

But we're ending some programs that we never wanted.

And we're probably not going to allow them to come back.

I think they made a mistake.

I think they made a big mistake.

LIZ LANDERS: You hear the president there blaming Democrats still.

That has been the Republican position.

Speaker Mike Johnson taking that same position today, continuing to blame Democrats for this shutdown, saying that Leader Schumer is using misleading information right now to the public, and, as you mentioned in the intro, Speaker Johnson saying that we're barreling towards the longest government shutdown in history.

If that is the case, that means we will be several more weeks in this government shutdown.

We're 13 days into this one.

The longest one we have had in U.S.

history is 35 days.

But I would add though, Geoff, that the speaker has had the House out of session.

They're not in session right now.

The Senate keeps coming back.

They continue to vote on these bills.

The majority of Democrats continue to hold the line on health care.

They say that they do not want to negotiate until -- do not want to reopen the government until there are these negotiations on health care.

We heard from Leader Jeffries yesterday saying that Democrats will meet anyone, any time, any place to have those negotiations.

As far as we know, that's not happening.

GEOFF BENNETT: Yes, the sticking point remains.

So let's talk about the impact.

What's the impact of all of this and when will more Americans start to feel it?

LIZ LANDERS: Well, hundreds of thousands of federal workers are going to start missing their paychecks starting this week.

We're also hearing that the Smithsonian, America's museums, are closed now.

All 21 of those had closed as of yesterday.

And then one of the biggest impacts that we have seen thus far are these reduction in force memos that went out, basically these mass layoffs.

The administration had been teasing that this would happen.

These went out last Friday to more than 4,000 federal employees.

Our colleague Ali Rogin reported over the weekend that more than 1,300 staff at the CDC received some of these notices.

And of those 1,300, a few days later, 700 of them had those RIF notices rescinded.

So that just gives you, I think, a sense of some of the uncertainty that these federal workers are facing right now.

GEOFF BENNETT: The chaos and confusion.

Let's talk while we have you about a new personnel announcement the president made, naming Dan Scavino to lead the White House Office of Personnel Management.

Remind us who he is and why this matters.

LIZ LANDERS: The president posted this on TRUTH Social yesterday.

He announced that Dan Scavino -- quote -- "will be responsible for the selection and appointment of almost all positions in government, a very big and important position."

Scavino started in President Trump's orbit as his golf caddy years ago at his golf club.

He has remained a trusted adviser to the president.

He was handling his social media account during the first Trump administration.

And I'm sure you remember that.

Scavino, though -- somebody basically told me today, a former White House official in the first Trump administration, sort of described it saying that announcing Scavino in this role is making something official that he was already doing in an unofficial capacity, which has been advising the president about personal decisions now for years.

GEOFF BENNETT: Liz Landers, our thanks to you, as always.

And we're going to focus now on some of the particular layoffs that were announced this weekend at the Department of Education.

On Friday, the Trump administration fired most employees at the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.

That office is tasked with protecting the rights of some 7.5 million children with disabilities across the country and ensuring they get a fair education.

For more on this, we're joined again by Laura Meckler, national education writer for The Washington Post.

Thanks for being with us.

Let's start with the basics.

Help us understand what this office does and why people are so concerned about the loss of so many staff members at this office.

LAURA MECKLER, The Washington Post: What this office does is administers a very important federal law called IDEA, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

And what that does is, it provides funding and it has requirements for school districts to provide a free and appropriate education to students with disabilities.

So it's a $15 billion program, something that a lot of school districts really rely on.

And that money is still flowing, as far as we know.

But the point of this office is essentially to oversee this program.

It's a very big program to make sure that states and school districts are following the law, to answer questions when -- states have about, can we do this or can we do that, and essentially to provide oversight.

So, essentially, the money is still going out, but without the kind of guarantees and controls that we're used to being in place when we're talking about billions of dollars.

GEOFF BENNETT: So give us a real-world example of how these cuts would affect students, families, educators in the classroom.

LAURA MECKLER: I mean, it takes -- it's a little bit removed from the direct impact.

But one way you could see it is, you can imagine, say, a school district that is sort of systematically not providing a certain type of service that students need.

Let's say they need a certain kind of technology in order to communicate, students who are nonverbal, for instance, and this district just isn't doing that.

Well, it's the responsibility of the state to make sure that the districts do this.

But let's say the state isn't forcing them to do it, isn't doing its job.

Well, then that's where the federal government comes in.

They do audits.

They look at data.

They look at reports.

They go in and they sort of look over the shoulder of the states and a sample of the districts to see, what are you up to?

And if they find that there are gaps like this, then they work with the states to essentially force them to comply with the law.

So, in our example here, maybe there would be a student who was not getting an iPad that she needed to communicate and, after this work was done, maybe she gets it.

GEOFF BENNETT: You're reporting also found layoffs within the Education Department's Office of Civil Rights.

What more have you learned about that?

LAURA MECKLER: Yes.

And this really goes hand in hand, in a way, with what we were just talking about, because the Office of Civil Rights is where people complain when they feel like their rights are not being respected or being violated, when they feel they're being discriminated on the basis of race, sex or disability.

And this office has just been absolutely decimated.

Earlier this year, we saw about half of the workers laid off, seven of 12 regional offices closed, and then just last night there were another round of layoffs, of reductions in force that were sent out to workers at the Office of Civil Rights.

So, for instance, the Seattle office, one of the survivors in the first round, many, many people, a large percentage of those workers and attorneys who handle cases there were let go.

This is an office that was -- already had more than it can handle.

Then it absorbed all the cases from the San Francisco office and was dealing with the entire West Coast, and now they have just a skeleton staff left in place once these RIFs are carried out.

So it really raises the question of whether they will be able to do their congressionally mandated function of investigating potential violations of civil rights.

GEOFF BENNETT: The Trump administration has long sought to push more education responsibilities to the states.

What's the worry about how states might interpret federal law and what's ultimately at stake for students and their families?

LAURA MECKLER: I think that that's really the question here is sort of like, who do we trust to follow the law, to follow the rules?

I mean, advocates including some of who I spoke to today said that, hey, states weren't doing it, and that's why the federal government came in.

These kids were not being served before we had a federal law.

And now they are more or less being served.

So the risk is that, when you leave it to the state, some states will do a good job and some states won't.

You know, we don't know.

I think that argument that people who don't think that there should be a big federal role in education would say is that we can trust the states.

They're going to do a fine job.

They care about kids just as much as bureaucrats in Washington do.

But, for many years now, we have had the safeguard of a federal oversight.

And I think, when we're talking about such a large federal program such as these special education programs, there are a lot of people who would expect there to be some oversight attached to that.

GEOFF BENNETT: Laura Meckler of The Washington Post.

Laura, thanks to you.

LAURA MECKLER: Thanks for having me.

AMNA NAWAZ: President Donald Trump is taking a victory lap abroad after the announcement of a cease-fire in the Middle East.

But, at home, the government shutdown enters another week with no clear end in sight.

To take a closer look, we're joined by our Politics Monday duo.

That is Amy Walter of The Cook Political Report With Amy Walter and Tamara Keith of NPR.

Great to see you both.

AMY WALTER, The Cook Political Report: Hello.

TAMARA KEITH, National Public Radio: Thank you.

AMNA NAWAZ: Let's start with the biggest story, obviously, President Trump overseas there, Tam, signing that major cease-fire deal as the first step to end the two-year war.

Now, you cover this president, but you obviously covered the last president too.

You traveled with President Biden to Israel soon after the October 7 attacks.

When you compare the approaches of these two presidents, what do you see?

TAMARA KEITH: They definitely had different approaches.

They had different relationships with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel.

President Biden had a very long, but also very complicated and strained relationship with Netanyahu.

When we flew into Tel Aviv about less than two weeks after the October 7 attack, though, he embraced Netanyahu and hugged Israel close as well, really throughout his presidency.

Occasionally there would be -- or, more than occasionally, there would be pushback behind the scenes, but it wasn't out front.

President Trump has a very good relationship with Netanyahu, is popular, and even more popular now, in Israel.

He's a popular figure broadly in the Middle East.

And he also, though, gave Israel exactly what they wanted, gave Netanyahu exactly what he wanted, including the airstrikes on the Iranian nuclear facilities over the summer.

So all of that, though, gave Trump a little bit more leverage to then come back and say, no, this is the time.

It needs to happen.

And also because he had those relationships with other countries in the Middle East and the Abraham Accords from his first term and all of that, he was able to get those countries to apply more pressure to Hamas to get them to this place.

But I think it is still really important to note that there was a cease-fire agreement at the very beginning of the Trump administration, very end of the Biden administration, and it fell apart before they got to phase two.

AMNA NAWAZ: That's right.

TAMARA KEITH: And there are very real disagreements about where things go from here for Gaza that, well, they weren't front of mind today.

AMNA NAWAZ: Yes.

AMY WALTER: Yes.

AMNA NAWAZ: Well, Amy, this is a president, as you know, who ran on America first, right, on reducing American intervention overseas now proudly holding up the mantle as peacemaker on the global stage.

Is this what his supporters back home want to see?

AMY WALTER: Oh, I think what they like to see and what the president has said often is, I alone can fix this.

You were up at the U.N.

just last month, where the president basically said, I'm the dealmaker.

I know how to do this.

These sorts of bodies like the U.N., they do all this talk.

They don't get stuff done.

I can get stuff done.

What I think is really interesting, though, as we go forward, to Tam's point about the next steps, when you look at Americans' opinion of this war and of how the president has handled it, not surprisingly, very polarized by party, also by age.

We have seen, of course, older voters much more supportive of how the president is handling this and of Israel.

The one issue that both sides, both Democrats and Republicans, agreed on equally was Hamas should give the hostages back.

So this is a rare point of agreement among Democrats and Republicans.

Going forward, though, when you look at -- and this was a poll taken obviously before what happened this weekend -- most Democrats say what their top concern is the deaths of Palestinians, especially of starvation, and the Israeli attacks on Palestinian civilians.

Republicans, their top concern is that Hamas does not attack Israel.

So, going forward, you can see where trying to keep -- this is the one moment where you had both sides in agreement that this is a good thing.

Going forward, it's going to be hard to find that place where everyone agrees.

AMNA NAWAZ: Well, he's certainly saying he's a dealmaker abroad.

Back here at home, though, haven't been able to reach a deal.

The government shutdown does continue.

And we have seen President Trump, Tam, as you know, criticize presidents in the past for not getting involved enough, for doing enough to end shutdowns.

We saw the vice president asked about it over the weekend by Kristen Welker on NBC, didn't really answer the question and said, we're more concerned with governing realities now than political ones.

But, again, comparing past presidents to this one... is this president taking a role in trying to end the shutdown?

TAMARA KEITH: President Trump doesn't seem to be trying to make a deal in this case because he doesn't want to negotiate with Democrats.

Republicans don't want to negotiate with Democrats because, as they said at the very beginning of this, that Democrats were -- it's the wrong word to use on this day, but they're taking hostages, and that the Democrats were using their votes to try to extract political gains, and they couldn't support something like that.

That's still the position.

Now, 13 days in, it's been going for a very long time.

There really are no negotiations.

This is a big difference between past shutdowns, where there were frantic negotiations.

I mean, the House is not even in session to take show votes, which typically there are lots of show votes and lots of stunts, but those are only right now happening on the Senate side, where the vote keeps turning out exactly the same way.

So this is just a very different shutdown.

I think part of it is that Republicans are usually the ones who are trying to extract policy gains for their votes.

And in this case, it's Democrats who are trying to extract policy gains for their votes.

AMNA NAWAZ: Yes.

TAMARA KEITH: And, as a result, the Republican president is like, no, I don't want to negotiate.

AMY WALTER: Yes, and both sides are dug in because both sides feel like they have the winning hand.

And right now, for Democrats, they believe that this issue of health care is so critical.

It's an issue that they want to keep talking about, not just today, but going into the 2026 midterms, and that they are even surprised.

I talked to some Democratic strategist who before this shutdown happened said, I'm a little bit worried, our party tends to get fragmented and not stick to message.

They have been surprised at how disciplined Democratic leaders have been on this issue.

For Republicans, they also do not feel like they need to compromise because, as President Trump said, it's Democrats who started this and Democrats are going to feel the pain and ultimately he believes that will bring them into ending the shutdown.

TAMARA KEITH: But a fascinating situation here is that the White House started out driving a message about, this is a Democratic shutdown, they have never supported a shutdown before.

They always say how terrible it is.

But that messaging has really fallen off.

In part, the White House is behaving as if there isn't a shutdown at all and they're just doing lots of other things that are distracting everyone from the shutdown that's happening.

And so it's just -- and, at the same time, the president of the United States and his OMB director, Russell Vought, are saying, we're going to make this painful, we're going to cut Democratic programs, which in a way then gives them more ownership of the shutdown than they would have had if they were sitting there negotiating in good faith and... AMNA NAWAZ: Trying to bring it to an end.

TAMARA KEITH: And trying to bring it to an end.

AMNA NAWAZ: Well, to that point, if we can just bring up some of the latest polling, because, Amy, I know you have seen this as well, when it comes to how the American public is looking at this... at this point -- and this was conducted early in the shutdown -- Americans seem to be holding Republicans more responsible than Democrats by 41 to 30 percent.

But could that shift the longer this goes on?

AMY WALTER: Yes, it can.

And Tam's point is correct.

If the focus is on, oh, boy, the Republican OMB director or the president, they're cutting programs specifically to extract something from Democrats, that could backfire and make those numbers move even higher in terms of do we -- who do people see as being responsible for this in terms of Republicans.

At the same time, part of the reason I think it feels so different is that we haven't seen a sort of unifying event that brings folks together that say, oh, the government being shut down is a real problem, people aren't getting paychecks, furloughs are causing so much harm, or in the case of military pay, that's not going through.

Of course, they solved that issue over the weekend.

So there hasn't been something that really is the pain point that can really bring this to an end today.

It still may be coming.

AMNA NAWAZ: Tam, to that point, as you have noted, the president is now pushing through those mass firings.

They're kind of doing everything they wanted to do during this shutdown.

Where is the Republican incentive to end it?

TAMARA KEITH: I don't know where the Republican incentive to end it is, unless polling continues to show them losing in the court of public opinion on this.

But, truly, leading into this shutdown, Russell Vought -- I was at an event, I attended an event, covered an event where he was speaking.

He said he thought that the budget process, the spending bills should be less bipartisan.

He wanted a more partisan process.

And that is exactly what's happening right now, because a bipartisan process would require negotiation.

AMNA NAWAZ: Week two of the government shutdown.

I think we will be talking about this.

AMY WALTER: I do too.

TAMARA KEITH: I think we will.

AMNA NAWAZ: Tamara Keith, Amy Walter, always great to start the week with you both.

Thank you.

TAMARA KEITH: You're welcome.

GEOFF BENNETT: To many of his supporters, Leonard Peltier was a political prisoner unjustly punished for his activism with the American Indian movement.

To his critics, he is a remorseless killer of two FBI agents 50 years ago, a charge he denies.

In the final minutes of his presidency, Joe Biden commuted Peltier's sentence, restricting him to home confinement.

Our Fred de Sam Lazaro recently visited Peltier on the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation in North Dakota.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Can you see that screen, or is it too small?

LEONARD PELTIER, Indigenous Rights Activist: No, it's too small.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: His sight is impaired, among several health problems, time in prison compounding the toll of time itself.

LEONARD PELTIER: Play welcome home, Uncle Leonard.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Time has brought helpful technology and, at his home today, Leonard Peltier is surrounded by memories and art, much of it his own work.

LEONARD PELTIER: That's the drawing over right here.

I have always wanted to be an artist.

And then I painted murals and stuff before I went to prison.

And when I got there, I probably painted two, three, four hours a day.

And this guy was a modern-day medicine man.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: That sustained him through the decades in federal prisons, he says, as did moral support of fans and celebrities worldwide.

LEONARD PELTIER: This was given to me.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: One prized possession, this sculpture of an ancient indigenous warrior sent to him by then-Bolivian President... LEONARD PELTIER: Evo Morales, the first full-blooded Indian president in this continent.

I'm very proud of it.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: This home was bought for him by his supporters, a modest two-bedroom rambler, but after a life in poverty or prison, it's an unimaginable luxury.

LEONARD PELTIER: When I walked into the door, and I said, this is my home, this is what you guys bought me, they said, yes, we -- you sacrificed for us.

This is yours.

NICK TILSEN, Founder and CEO, NDN Collective: I just want to acknowledge the generation before us.

Think about everything that Leonard, AIM, the American Indian Movement, did, his own freedom.

And we're going to keep calling for Leonard's freedom.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Nick Tilsen, who heads the indigenous advocacy group NDN collective, helped lead the most recent campaign to bring Peltier home, literally, including a rousing welcome earlier this year.

NICK TILSEN: They didn't wait for things to be perfect.

They didn't wait for a strategic plan.

When they seen the injustice, they did something about it.

And so, for me, one of the big things that's being a big inspiration from him.

LEONARD PELTIER: We were called every goddamn name you could be called, so the public that hate us.

No, we weren't those people.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: At 81, Leonard Peltier is as angry as ever, unapologetic for a lifelong effort to draw attention to the litany of indigenous grievances.

LEONARD PELTIER: All we were trying to do was save a race of people from being terminated.

They enslaved us, killed us, massacred us, raped our children, enslaved our children.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Leonard Peltier says he felt his first call to activism as a young teen here on Turtle Mountain Reservation in North Dakota, a small, isolated Chippewa community that Congress was considering terminating in the 1950s.

Termination was part of a larger policy of assimilating indigenous people, and it would have ended all federal support for the community here.

Turtle Mountain was eventually spared termination, but the young Peltier did feel the sting of assimilation policies, placed when he was 9 in an Indian boarding school.

The children were forcibly removed from their families with the goal of erasing their native language and culture.

Many schools were rife with abuse.

LEONARD PELTIER: All of our hair was cut off, and they would start indoctrinating us into the white culture and education, whatever you want to call it.

And when we continued to be rebellious about it, we would get the hell beat out of us.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Federal policies also relocated millions of Native Americans to urban centers and confiscated vast swathes of mineral-rich lands beyond those ceded in treaties, the legacy, impoverished reservations and an indifferent Federal Bureau of Indian Affairs, which Peltier says, colluded with local tribal governments.

LEONARD PELTIER: Land and cattle, they were selling out.

We knew that.

Almost every tribal government was corrupt back in them days.

That's why we went after them.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: "We" is the American Indian Movement, or AIM, armed self-described warriors who challenged the status quo.

Like the Black Panthers and civil rights and anti-war campaigners of the time, they drew scrutiny from the FBI, particularly on and near the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.

In June 1975, two FBI agents and one movement activist were killed in an encounter near an AIM campsite.

Peltier was one of three AIM members charged in the agents' killing.

He fled to Canada, while the other two were tried and acquitted after arguing that they acted in self-defense.

NICK ESTES, Professor of American Indian Studies, University of Minnesota: Had he been tried alongside his co-defendants, he probably - - we wouldn't be having this conversation.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Nick Estes, professor of American Indian studies at the University of Minnesota, says, by the time Peltier was extradited back to the U.S., prosecutors changed their strategy and the trial venue.

Estes is one of many academic and legal scholars who've questioned its fairness.

NICK ESTES: He just happened to be an American Indian man on the reservation that day in possession of a gun, because they could not actually prove that he was the shooter.

MICHAEL CLARK, President, Society of Former Special Agents of the FBI: He's been unrepentant.

He's been remorseless.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Well, he says that he did not kill these agents, so that would explain his lack of repentance, I suspect.

MICHAEL CLARK: Well, the evidence, the courts, the appellate courts all say differently.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Michael Clark heads an association of former FBI agents.

The agency has long vigorously opposed any clemency, insisting justice was served in Peltier's case.

MICHAEL CLARK: He had 12 separate opportunities for appeals, all of which were denied.

You just can't change the facts of this heinous crime.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Why haven't they sustained an appeal?

NICK ESTES: The overwhelming influence of the FBI.

I mean, it's easy to just keep saying this.

The way that the FBI has intervened not only in his parole hearings, but in these appeals cases, who wants to be the judge that lets off an alleged cop killer?

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: An allegation Peltier insists was false brought by a legal system that has long mistreated indigenous people and one reason he says he's spurned any plea deal that might have lessened his sentence.

LEONARD PELTIER: I'm a sundancer.

I took that oath.

As a sundancer, I would die for the people if I had to, but I was not going to turn against my people.

So I stayed defiant all the 49 years-plus in prison.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: And you say even today.

LEONARD PELTIER: Even today.

You hear me now.

I'm not -- I ain't changed.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Neither have the dire conditions in most indigenous communities and the campaigns for the return of lands for treaty rights.

NICK TILSEN: We will continue to rise up no matter what basis our people.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Peltier will be there mostly in spirit, not in person, thanks to frail health and restrictions on his travel.

LEONARD PELTIER: I can't go to Grand Forks for medical treatment without a pass or anything over 100 miles.

I can only stay so many days.

I can't have a whole bunch of people here visiting me at one time.

I still haven't seen some of my family.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: And is that your little sister, Betty?

LEONARD PELTIER: My little sister Betty, yes.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Aside from reuniting with family members, this twice-married father of seven hopes upcoming treatment will improve his vision so he can resume painting.

LEONARD PELTIER: This is going to be my studio.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Less certain is his second hope for a full pardon.

For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Fred de Sam Lazaro on the Turtle Mountain Chippewa Reservation.

GEOFF BENNETT: And join us again here tomorrow night for our conversation with former Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy about his new memoir.

And that is the "News Hour" for tonight.

I'm Geoff Bennett.

AMNA NAWAZ: I'm Amna Nawaz.

On behalf of the entire "News Hour" team, thank you for joining us.