AMNA NAWAZ: Good evening.

I'm Amna Nawaz.

GEOFF BENNETT: And I'm Geoff Bennett.

On the "News Hour" tonight: The killing of a Mexican cartel leader sparks retaliatory violence across parts of Mexico, including in tourist towns.

AMNA NAWAZ: FBI Director Kash Patel's trip to the Olympics raises questions about the bureau's priorities and use of taxpayer dollars.

GEOFF BENNETT: And a fragile peace arrangement holds between Syria's new government and its Kurdish minority.

We speak with the Kurds' top military leader.

GEN.

MAZLOUM ABDI, Commander in Chief, Syrian Democratic Forces (through translator): We want to envision Syria to be rebuilt, but we also want to see the Kurdish region's development prosper, and for Kurds to have their own major roles within the country.

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

We are tracking two major stories tonight, including the blizzard that brought travel to a halt in the Northeast and is setting record snow levels.

AMNA NAWAZ: But, first, we start south of the United States, in Mexico, where the battle against drug cartels has kicked up a worrying wave of violence.

Stephanie Sy details why this takedown led to a destructive aftermath and what could be coming next.

STEPHANIE SY: Tonight, fear continues to brace many parts of Mexico following a weekend of violence.

Massive plumes of smoke darken the skies of seaside resort towns and tourist hot spots, but locals are the most threatened.

MARIA DURAN, Mexico Resident (through translator): We're scared.

We only go out when it's necessary because people don't know where to go out or what to do.

STEPHANIE SY: The fire set to wreak havoc following the death of drug kingpin Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes.

For years, the 59-year-old known as El Mencho led the Jalisco New Generation Cartel.

On Sunday, government forces, aided by intelligence from the U.S., led an elaborate operation to capture the crime boss.

He was wounded in a shoot-out and died later.

Reaction and revenge were swift, stopping daily life in parts of the nation.

At the airport in Guadalajara, passengers panicked as shelter-in-place orders went out.

Even families enjoying a weekend outing at the Guadalajara Zoo were forced to stay overnight.

From infants to the elderly, the zoo had to find room for more than 1,000 stranded visitors.

MAN (through translator): Police determined it wasn't safe to return to their cities, so they requested the support of the zoo to stay within our facilities.

CLAUDIA SHEINBAUM, Mexican President (through translator): The most important thing at this moment is to guarantee peace and safety of all of the population, of all of Mexico, and that is being done.

Today, there's more tranquility.

STEPHANIE SY: While President Claudia Sheinbaum urged calm, fear of escalating violence has swelled.

More than 70 people died in the operation to capture the drug kingpin, including 25 members of the Mexican National Guard.

Authorities said 30 criminal suspects were killed in Jalisco state.

And more than 250 car fires known as cartel roadblocks were set across the 20 states where the cartel is known to operate.

They were cleared today.

El Mencho was one of the most wanted men in Mexico and the U.S., where a $15 million reward had been in place for information leading to his capture.

Today, Sheinbaum vowed to restore order to the country.

CLAUDIA SHEINBAUM (through translator): It is important to say that there is a command center that continues to operate today, a national coordination with all state governments.

STEPHANIE SY: Even as charred cars and trucks were cleared off the roadways, residents say life is not back to normal.

ANTONIO LUIS DE LA CRUZ, Mexico Resident (through translator): Well, I came here on an errand, but it's closed.

I don't know what's going to happen to all the people today, the people who come to sell their products.

STEPHANIE SY: Former U.S.

military attache to Mexico, now a professor at University of Arizona, Michael Burgoyne says pressure from the Trump administration played a role.

MICHAEL BURGOYNE, Retired U.S.

Army Colonel: By getting El Mencho, they have kind of handed a scalp over the United States, right?

They're like, hey, you wanted us to take action.

We have now taken down the most important, most kind of visible, well-known narcotrafficking leader in Mexico.

STEPHANIE SY: But the kingpin strategy has its limits.

MICHAEL BURGOYNE: Just taking down one more kingpin is not going to fix drug use in the United States, nor the rule of law in Mexico.

These are difficult, complex problems that require a comprehensive solution.

DEBORAH BONELLO, InSight Crime: Wherever you take out a leader, there's someone waiting to step up and take his place, and that's what a lot of the violence will be connected to.

STEPHANIE SY: Journalist and author Deborah Bonello has covered the cartel for more than 20 years.

DEBORAH BONELLO: Mexico's drug trade and organized crime in general is the product of sort of systemic failure across the region, poverty, a lack of good education, a lack of job opportunities, an absence of the state in many parts of the country, as well as the corruption that is so endemic to local politics and all of the state institutions that are at work here.

So it's important to understand that it's not a case of sort of good guys against bad, but really a product of a system that's letting people down and simply doesn't work.

STEPHANIE SY: For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Stephanie Sy.

GEOFF BENNETT: Now to our other major story.

Parts of the Northeast are just beginning to dig out after a powerful storm.

In some cases, it was the worst blizzard in a decade, compounding more trouble onto what's already been a difficult winter.

It was another winter storm for the ages, millions on the East Coast waking up to the most snowfall they have seen in years, more than two feet in some areas.

ELIZABETH AXEL, New York City Resident: This is a once-in-a-lifetime storm.

My dog loves it, and I'm just going to hunker down inside.

GEOFF BENNETT: Cities slammed, suburbs submerged and beaches blanketed in snow.

Blizzard warnings and states of emergency stretched along the Eastern Seaboard from Maryland all the way to Maine.

The wintry mix and near hurricane-level winds began swirling over the area yesterday afternoon.

It intensified overnight and by morning the storm knocked out power for about 500,000 homes and businesses, mostly in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

Officials in Providence say the snow was so heavy that they had to order plows off the roads.

BRETT SMILEY (D), Mayor of Providence, Rhode Island: I know it looks like many roads haven't been touched, but that's because of these high winds.

We had to give them a break because the visibility was so low, but they will be back on the roads as soon as the wind dies down a little bit.

Right now, it is just about safety.

GEOFF BENNETT: It's a region that only recently started to thaw from an ice storm earlier this year.

Forecasters say this snow will melt far more quickly.

But for now, daily life is frozen in time.

More than 5,000 flights in and out of the U.S.

were grounded today.

That's on top of 4,000 cancellations from the day before.

Advisories and even bans on non-emergency road travel were issued across the region.

ZOHRAN MAMDANI (D), Mayor of New York City: If you can, remain indoors.

GEOFF BENNETT: New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani encouraged residents to hunker down, but some couldn't resist clipping on their cross-country skis and hopping in their sleds.

The city's public schools were closed completely, unlike the last storm, where students had to log on for remote learning.

ZOHRAN MAMDANI: I hope our students enjoy their snow day today and stay warm and safe throughout, but I do have some tough news to share.

School will be in person tomorrow.

You can still pelt me with snowballs when you see me.

GEOFF BENNETT: A brief blast of snow forcing the Northeast to trudge through this unusually stormy winter.

Also today, a federal judge is permanently blocking the release of a report on President Trump's handling of classified documents after he left office in 2021.

In her decision, Judge Aileen Cannon, who was nominated by Mr.

Trump, said its release would be a manifest injustice because the case never reached a jury.

Special counsel Jack Smith's findings led to charges that were once considered the most damaging that Trump faced.

Cannon dismissed the case in 2024 after concluding that Smith had been unlawfully appointed.

But the documents case may not be entirely over, as two watchdog groups have been pressing a higher court for their release.

President Trump is warning countries to stick with the tariff deals they agreed to following last week's Supreme Court decision striking down many of his measures.

Mr.

Trump wrote on social media today -- quote -- "Any country that wants to play games with the ridiculous Supreme Court decision will be met with a much higher tariff and worse than that which they recently agreed to."

The threat comes as the European Union says it will wait to ratify a major trade deal it struck with the Trump administration last July.

E.U.

lawmakers said today that the U.S.

side of the deal is now unclear.

BERND LANGE, Chair, European Parliament Committee on International Trade: This means not that we never voted on that.

No, we want to have clarity about the situation.

We want to have clarity from the United States that they are respecting the deal, because that's the crucial element, that we want to have stability.

GEOFF BENNETT: Also today, President Trump doubled down on his tariff power saying he does not need congressional approval for any new levees.

It comes after he announced plans this weekend for a new 15 percent global tariff up from the 10 percent rate he announced Friday just after the Supreme Court decision.

The Supreme Court today agreed to hear a bid by oil and gas companies to block lawsuits seeking to hold the industry liable for the effects of climate change.

The case stems from a lawsuit brought by the city of Boulder, Colorado, back in 2018.

It's one of dozens launched by state and local governments seeking billions of dollars in damages.

They allege that the companies deceived the public about the impact of fossil fuels on the environment.

ExxonMobil and Canada's Suncor Energy appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing that air pollution crosses state lines and should be heard in federal court.

Arguments are expected to take place in the fall.

The U.S.

State Department is ordering nonessential diplomats and their family members to leave Lebanon amid heightened concerns over a possible U.S.

military strike on Iran and regional retaliation.

The action comes as the USS Gerald Ford arrived in the Greek island of Crete, home to a NATO military base.

It's part of a major deployment of U.S.

military assets to the region as President Trump ratchets up pressure on Tehran to strike a deal on its nuclear program.

A spokesperson for Iran's Foreign Ministry said today that such steps, along with what he called inconsistent positions from the U.S., are only hurting chances for a deal.

ESMAEIL BAGHAEI, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman (through translator): We have no benefit in the continuation of the negotiations.

Our people are under pressure and facing difficulties arising from the unjust sanctions that have been imposed against Iran under the pretext of the nuclear issue.

GEOFF BENNETT: It's all unfolding as presidential envoy Steve Witkoff and Mr.

Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner are expected to meet Iranian officials in Geneva for a new round of talks later this week.

British police arrested Peter Mandelson today on suspicion of misconduct in public office related to his dealings with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The former U.K.

ambassador to the U.S.

was seen leaving a London residence alongside plainclothes officers.

He was taken to a police station for questioning.

British authorities are investigating whether Mandelson passed on government information to Epstein more than 15 years ago.

He has not been charged with a crime.

Separately, longevity influencer Dr.

Peter Attia is leaving his role as the CBS News contributor amid a growing fallout over his ties to Epstein.

He too has not been accused of any crimes.

On Wall Street today, stocks dropped amid worries over President Trump's tariff plans.

The Dow Jones industrial average sank more than 800 points on the day.

The Nasdaq fell more than 250 points.

The S&P 500 also ended sharply lower.

Still to come on the "News Hour": the latest PBS News/NPR/Marist poll shows Americans are concerned about the direction of the country; Tamara Keith and Jasmine Wright break down the latest political headlines; and we take stock of the Winter Olympics through some of the Games' most dynamic images.

AMNA NAWAZ: The FBI director, Kash Patel, is under fire after videos of him chugging a beer and celebrating with the men's U.S.

hockey team in Italy yesterday were obtained by multiple news outlets.

The FBI had previously argued Patel's trip to Italy was for official travel.

But critics are now questioning the optics of his visit amid broader questions about his leadership at the bureau.

Patel pushed back on his critics saying in a post on X that he was -- quote -- "extremely humbled" when the team invited him to celebrate its gold medal win.

For more on this, I'm joined now by Asha Rangappa.

She's a former FBI agent, now a lecturer at Yale University.

Asha, it's good to see you.

So, as you know, the U.S.

does have an official presence at the Olympics.

We have seen the Vice President Vance and his family at ceremonies and events.

But what did you make of this locker room video of the FBI director in particular?

ASHA RANGAPPA, Former FBI Special Agent: Well, Amna, there's a leftover mantra from the Hoover days in the bureau, which goes never embarrass the bureau.

And that was the guiding principle for us when we were out in public, whenever we were interfacing with anyone.

And I think that applies here.

The director was ostensibly out there for official business.

I think officials go to a big event like the Olympics.

I think the issue here is the decorum of partying it up with the team, if you will.

I think it can lend itself to a perception that maybe this is not someone who's taking his role seriously or not taking his job seriously.

AMNA NAWAZ: I just want to underscore something you're saying here, because we have heard from the FBI, them making this point, that he was there for official meetings.

And we did see the U.S.

ambassador to Italy today post some pictures of himself with Kash Patel, saying -- thanking him for meeting with embassy team and with their Italian counterpart.

So is this a situation where both can be true?

He was there for official meetings and also went to events and then ended up in the locker room celebrating in this way?

ASHA RANGAPPA: Yes, I think both things can be true.

I'm not familiar with the specifics of the director's schedule, but the FBI does have a global presence.

And there are legal attaches in the U.S.

embassies around the world.

And there may be reasons for the director to go to those embassies and to meet with other intelligence officials in other countries as well.

So that may be very well a part of his official duties.

So I think that should be separated from -- and I think even attending the Olympics is not necessarily -- officials are allowed to have hobbies and go to go to events.

I think what is really the question here is kind of the -- as I mentioned before, the decorum.

AMNA NAWAZ: There's also the question that's been raised about his use of this taxpayer-funded aircraft, right?

We know he previously criticized his predecessor's travel in the same way.

He's now facing similar criticism amid questions.

Last year, there were some questions about him allegedly using the FBI jet to see his girlfriend perform.

Just for folks unfamiliar, why does the FBI director have the use of this jet?

And how do you separate out personal and professional obligations?

ASHA RANGAPPA: Well, the director has the jet to enable him to be secure, to be able to go to official business, basically, whether it's in the country or around the world.

The FBI is a small-C conservative organization.

It tends to be frugal.

And I think most directors have tried to be judicious when using taxpayer resources.

Definitely, as a rank-and-file agent, that is the ethos that is handed down to you.

The one director, William Sessions, who did kind of abuse FBI resources for his personal use, was actually investigated internally by the Office of Professional Responsibility.

And, Amna, I think that's an important point here is that normally these kinds of questions would be addressed through an internal investigation by OPR, the Office of Professional Responsibility, possibly by an inspector general investigation.

But the inspector generals are not really operating in the way that they were before.

And it's not clear to me whether even OPR is operating.

So the normal way that this would have been addressed is not -- we're not necessarily seeing it now.

AMNA NAWAZ: Asha, in the minute or so we have left, I mean, you have worked inside the bureau.

In your view, what kind of message do you feel that this director is sending about the direction overall of the bureau right now?

ASHA RANGAPPA: I think that, for where the bureau is right now, what we have seen is hundreds of agents who've resigned or have been fired for simply doing their jobs, people who have left for being asked to do things that they don't want to do.

For example, the special adage in charge of the Atlanta field office resigned a week before the search warrant application was submitted to Fulton County.

All of these things that -- the reallocation of resources to immigration and two things that the FBI doesn't normally do, missteps in investigations, like the Charlie Kirk murder, when things were announced and had to backtrack, all of those take a toll on agents, who really rely on public trust and for people to see them as being highly competent and trustworthy in what they do.

So this last event I don't think will help that situation at all.

AMNA NAWAZ: That is former FBI agent Asha Rangappa now at Yale University.

Asha, thank you for your time.

We appreciate it.

ASHA RANGAPPA: Thank you.

GEOFF BENNETT: As President Trump prepares to deliver the first State of the Union address of his second term, six in 10 Americans say the country is in a worse place than a year ago.

That's according to a new PBS News/NPR/Marist poll.

AMNA NAWAZ: The president will have a chance to try to turn the page tomorrow night, laying out his list of priorities for the year to come.

Ahead of that speech, White House correspondent Liz Landers checks in with voters about how they see the direction of the country.

DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: The state of our union is stronger than ever before.

(CHEERING) LIZ LANDERS: For decades, it's become routine.

JOE BIDEN, Former President of the United States: The state of our union is strong and getting stronger.

BARACK OBAMA, Former President of the United States: The state of our union is strong.

GEORGE W. BUSH, Former President of the United States: The state of our union will remain strong.

LIZ LANDERS: Presidents walk into the House chamber to project optimism and strength to the American people.

Heading into this speech tomorrow night, just 43 percent of Americans say the current state of the union is strong in this latest PBS News/NPR/Marist poll.

That's a four-point drop from last year.

Of course, how you define strength is in the eye of the beholder, so we talked to some of the participants in this poll.

MARK MEULEBROECK, Oregon Independent Voter: Strong compared to other countries, very much so.

Strong compared to what we are or could be, certainly not nearly as strong as we could be.

LIZ LANDERS: Others would choose another word entirely.

DYLAN KELLY, Minnesota Democratic Voter: If I used one word to describe it, I'd probably say terrible.

I'm concerned about our democracy.

It feels like we are teetering on the edge of losing it all, and that's a pretty scary place to be.

CHRISTOPHER GUNKEL, Virginia Republican Voter: I'm divided because I think the issues are very divisive.

Trump is extremely polarizing, in some aspects for good, because what you see is what you get.

DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: I, Donald John Trump... LIZ LANDERS: Since Mr.

Trump reentered the Oval Office last January, he's pushed policies at a frenetic pace, sending immigration agents and the National Guard to American cities, launching bombs in Iran and missiles on boats in the Caribbean, threatening to take over Greenland slashing the federal work force, calling for investigations into his perceived political enemies, all of it testing the limits of presidential power.

A majority of Americans in this latest poll say President Trump's actions so far are changing the country for the worse, and it's affecting them personally.

A majority say the policies of his second term are having a negative impact on their lives.

Less than a third say it's made life better for them.

LEE MIRINGOFF, Director, Marist Institute for Public Opinion: We're here, and, if anything, people's perceptions of what's been going on have deteriorated.

LIZ LANDERS: Lee Miringoff is the director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion.

He says views of President Trump's policies are directly tied to people's perceptions of him.

LEE MIRINGOFF: Donald Trump is defining the landscape.

You're for him or against him.

He's the incumbent and he's bigger than life in terms of the figure he projects to the American people.

So, Republicans and Democrats alike divide up along what view people have of him along partisan lines.

LIZ LANDERS: Two-thirds of Republicans feel good, with some pointing to the economy.

CHRISTOPHER GUNKEL: I feel like he knows what he's doing because he's a businessman.

I feel more comfortable with him at the helm and with our economy personally.

LIZ LANDERS: More than half of independents disagree.

MARK MEULEBROECK: Nothing's going down in Christ.

Everything's still going up in costs.

Most people are struggling these days.

LIZ LANDERS: And the overwhelming majority of Democrats say they have personally seen negative effects from the president's actions.

MAN: I have done nothing wrong!

LIZ LANDERS: Like the immigration crackdown across the country.

DYLAN KELLY: ICE agents coming into Minnesota communities and terrorizing people here.

I have people I know who have been afraid to leave their houses.

I have had family members detained, family members tear-gassed.

LIZ LANDERS: So, tomorrow night, Mr.

Trump will likely try for a reset, pushing his policy prescriptions for the weeks and months ahead, like lowering electricity costs and requiring I.D.

to vote in elections, while still continuing his aggressive anti-immigration agenda.

The speech is a high stakes moment for the president.

LEE MIRINGOFF: Donald Trump needs to, in a sense, redefine what his second term is about.

He started off with numbers that were much better than they are right now.

So the past year, in consulting terms, he's gotten off-message.

LIZ LANDERS: It's also likely to be his biggest audience of the year, with millions of Americans watching from home, and inside the House chamber, his Cabinet tasked with carrying out his agenda, his Republican allies in Congress, Democrats trying to block him, and representatives from the nation's highest court, where many of his executive orders have already been tested and in many cases upheld.

But just last week, and one of the most significant blows to his economic agenda so far, the justices struck down tariffs the president had unilaterally imposed on foreign countries.

DONALD TRUMP: I'm ashamed of certain members of the court.

LIZ LANDERS: After the decision, Trump lashed out, suggesting he doesn't care if they show up tomorrow night.

DONALD TRUMP: They're barely invited.

LIZ LANDERS: When every co-equal branch of government will be in the same room, at a time when Americans' faith in the delicate system of checks and balances is at an all-time low.

In the new poll conducted before the latest Supreme Court decision, two-thirds of respondents say the system is not working well.

That lack of trust in a core tenant of American democracy has jumped 12 points since Trump's speech to Congress last March, and it has doubled since the month before his inauguration.

KIMBERLY WEHLE, University of Baltimore School of Law: I think it's hard to over exaggerate, frankly, or exaggerate the extent to which the last year has degraded, if not demolished the basic pillars of constitutional democracy.

LIZ LANDERS: Kimberly Wehle is a professor at the University of Baltimore School of Law and author of several books, including "How to Read the Constitution and Why."

She sees how the branches of government are working together as a deeply troubling moment.

KIMBERLY WEHLE: It's not the actual speed limit that slows people down.

It's the threat of enforcement or consequence for speeding.

It's that ticket that motivates compliance with the speed limit.

If the speed limit is the Constitution, where do the tickets come from?

Either Congress or the courts.

Donald Trump understands there's no enforcement.

JOHN YOO, Former Deputy Assistant Attorney General: I wouldn't mess with that.

mistake what Congress is doing now for some kind of constitutional breakdown.

LIZ LANDERS: John Yang sees it differently.

He's a law professor at the University of California at Berkeley and a former Justice Department official in the George W. Bush administration.

He says it's no surprise that Republican Congress is going along with the policies of a Republican president.

JOHN YOO: What he's trying to achieve in terms of reform of the relations of the executive branch with the other branches and presidential power generally is to restore the presidency to the way it was originally understood by the founders.

LIZ LANDERS: But Yoo says that voters will hold the ultimate power during November's midterm elections.

JOHN YOO: Those critics should go and win the elections at the midterms and then place political pressure using Congress's constitutional powers to try to restrain him.

LIZ LANDERS: A potential shift that wouldn't be on full display until next year's State of the Union address.

For the PBS "News Hour," I'm Liz Landers.

GEOFF BENNETT: For more on the latest PBS News poll and what to watch for during President Trump's State of the Union tomorrow night, we turn now to our Politics Monday duo.

That's Tamara Keith of NPR and Jasmine Wright White House correspondent for NOTUS.

Amy Walter is away this evening.

Great to see you both.

So let's start with this poll.

As we just reported, 55 percent of Americans say President Trump is changing the country for the worse.

That includes 64 percent of independents.

Tam, what stands out to you in these numbers?

TAMARA KEITH, National Public Radio: President Trump has really -- he relied on independents to win.

And he is losing them, which is going to be a problem in the midterms.

And I think the other thing that broadly stands out from the poll is just people are upset.

There's a lot of discontent about the state of the country, the direction of the country, the viability of American democracy.

And there is still huge polarization.

If you look under the hood of these numbers, it really is Democrats are going this way, Republicans are going this way.

However, independents are more in the direction of Democrats right now.

GEOFF BENNETT: And, Jasmine, another thing that stands out in this poll, 53 percent of respondents say President Trump's policies have had a negative impact on them personally.

That is different than abstract disapproval.

This is people speaking about their direct experience.

JASMINE WRIGHT, NOTUS: And I think that is reflected in a lot of people's discomfort with the tariffs.

Obviously, we know that those were just struck down the way that he was using them by the Supreme Court.

But we have heard people be really frustrated about the tariffs, frustrated about high prices, frustrated about the economy not being as good as they have heard the president say, and also frustrated with the president's immigration agenda.

I think, if you look at some of the more recent polls, you have seen people being broadly accepting of the idea that more people should be deported, but not happy with the tactics.

And so the president is facing strong headwinds kind of across the board when it comes to how people are responding to his individual policies, which is not just about his personality.

GEOFF BENNETT: Let's talk more about the tariffs, because, just today, the president said: "As president, I do not have to go back to Congress to get approval of tariffs.

It's already been gotten," he says, "in many forms a long time ago."

He is really just brushing past the Supreme Court here, Tam.

And tariffs were already unpopular.

In many ways, this was an off-ramp that he could have taken, but he's not.

TAMARA KEITH: He is not taking the off-ramp.

He is doubling down.

He is claiming to continue to have massive powers.

The reality is that there are a whole bunch of three-digit number options that the president can use, and none of them are as powerful as IEEPA.

None of them are that Swiss army knife that he was using IEEPA as.

But, obviously, the Supreme Court found that he was using it in a way that wasn't legal.

For a lot of voters, the tariffs, as Jasmine said, are a problem.

They see things getting more expensive.

Now you see major corporations and companies people have heard of are asking for refunds for the tariffs, which is another indication that it wasn't foreign companies that were paying it.

But President Trump, this is a core belief for him.

This is something that he has been talking about at least since the 1980s and probably before then.

He -- it is his favorite word, he likes to say.

It is his favorite policy prescription for everything from foreign policy to the economy to trying to get world peace.

And so he is not giving this up easily, and he's not creating any separation for Republicans in Congress, who are going to have to explain this in the coming months.

GEOFF BENNETT: Jasmine, say more about that, because, to Tam's point, FedEx today, the international shipping company, filed suit in the International Trade Court seeking a refund.

This is a story that is really breaking through.

Based on your reporting, how are Republicans thinking about this in terms of the messaging and the policy?

JASMINE WRIGHT: Yes, and you're going to have more of these companies and perhaps individual small businesses coming out and saying that, based on the ruling, we want a refund.

Now, the White House has been clear that is going to be settled later on in litigation.

But, still, that is going to be a thing.

I think that this is fundamentally important, because, so far, Congress has not necessarily been receptive to the president's tariffs, particularly Republicans.

And in votes that they have taken against tariffs, particularly that Canadian tariffs vote to revoke those, six Republicans joined Democrats to remove those tariffs from Canada.

That was a symbolic vote, because, even if it did pass in it, which it likely is not, it would still need to be veto-proof for the president.

Now, if he does in fact decide to go to Congress, which he says he won't -- but if he wants to continue those Section 122 tariffs, he will have to go to Congress.

If he does, that vote becomes not symbolic, but serious.

And it means that Republicans are going to have to be on the record in support or against these tariffs.

And that, of course, puts them potentially in hot water with their constituents, who may not like tariffs.

But then on the other side, if they don't vote for tariffs, it puts them in hot water with the president, who has shown that he will primary just about anybody that goes against him.

GEOFF BENNETT: And there's a risk here for President Trump being cast as out of touch when you have the American people by and large saying that they're not - - they don't support these tariffs.

I remember, back in the early 90s, I think it was 1992, then-President George H.W.

Bush was cast as being out of touch because he went to a grocers convention and there was one of those bar code scanners.

And he said something like, oh, that's cool, I have never seen anything like that before.

And people were like, how could you not know what a bar code scanner is in the supermarket?

That was what passed for scandal and controversy back then.

And here you have pluralities, majorities of the American public saying that they don't want these tariffs.

And the president is saying, OK, fine, 15 percent tariffs.

TAMARA KEITH: Well, the president has also said that he has won affordability, that he's done.

I think a big question that I have about this coming State of the Union address is, does he pivot to talk about affordability in a way that is relatable to the American people or does he once again say, don't believe what you're feeling, believe the numbers, believe me, believe anything but what you're feeling?

I think that this is a real problem for him.

But he is not, unless something dramatic happens, going to be on the ballot again.

Yes, he wants -- he and his team want the midterms to be about him because they think that's the only way that they can juice turnout.

But he personally is not on the ballot again.

GEOFF BENNETT: Democrats tomorrow night are boycotting?

Tell us more about that.

JASMINE WRIGHT: Yes, there are a handful of Democrats, growing kind of in numbers, that are just -- that are saying that they are not going to be in the chamber as the speech are going on.

Some are going to be having their own speech outside.

But I think you are seeing this kind of clash between Democratic leadership that says, if you are going, you need to be respectful.

We don't want to see some of the antics like holding up the sign that felt a bit unserious, if we're going to be honest, last year, versus people saying, I'm going to opt out anyway.

Now, when we go back to those traditional Democrats, they are bringing people with them, as we have seen happen in the past, that are directly kind of in opposition to the president's agenda.

I know that Democrats are bringing some Epstein survivors, people related to Epstein survivors.

They're bringing folks who have been attacked or harmed, they say, by the president's immigration policies, including people who have been legitimately ripped out of their car on video.

And so I think you're seeing a traditional way of Democrats responding to the State of the Union and this nontraditional way, which is basically they're opting out.

GEOFF BENNETT: What are you watching for tomorrow night?

TAMARA KEITH: Well, the president says it's going to be long because he has a lot to say.

He has now delivered a number of these addresses.

He does tend to stay on the teleprompter.

He does tend to follow the script.

But, sometimes, he -- they put surprises in there.

And I guess what I am watching for and looking for is, does -- is this the bridge to the midterms that a White House official told me it would be?

Does he focus on affordability?

Does he maybe even make a case for whatever it is that he's doing in Iran, as President George W. Bush did back in 2002?

Or is this another episode of the Trump show?

GEOFF BENNETT: Jasmine Wright.

Excuse me, I almost called you Amy Walter.

I was... JASMINE WRIGHT: I'm only Amy Walter on the best days.

(LAUGHTER) GEOFF BENNETT: That's right.

Jasmine Wright, Tamara Keith, my thanks to you both.

Well, tomorrow night, we will have live coverage of the State of the Union address and the Democratic response, along with in-depth analysis.

That starts at 9:00 p.m.

Eastern right here on your PBS station and on our YouTube page.

AMNA NAWAZ: Today, the Syrian government confirmed it had closed one of the largest camps that used to house ISIS fighters and their families.

It's the latest example of major transformations in Syria, from how it confronts ISIS to whether the U.S.

will remain.

A key player in all this is General Mazloum Abdi, head of the Syrian Kurds.

Nick Schifrin recently sat down with him to discuss the future of the Kurds and the fate of the country as a whole.

NICK SCHIFRIN: In Syria, what the U.S.

called a historic milestone.

Kurds mark the moment they hope will give them reason to celebrate, autonomy and equality at last.

For the last decade, Kurdish fighters have waged war alongside the U.S.

to liberate Syria from the Islamic State, and in the northeast they call it semiautonomous region.

But, recently, Syrian government forces hoping to unify the country overran the Kurds and seized some of their territory, leading to a deal between Syrian president Ahmed al-Sharaa and the leader of the Syrian Kurds, General Mazloum Abdi.

Earlier this month at the Munich Security Conference, Mazloum rubbed shoulders with the Americans, who want to see him and the Syrian government make a sustainable peace.

How historic was the late January agreement for the Kurds and for all of Syria?

GEN.

MAZLOUM ABDI, Commander in Chief, Syrian Democratic Forces (through translator): This late January agreement was the best possible outcome under the current circumstances.

We are not saying that it was the best deal for the Kurds.

However, to secure a cease-fire, to establish stability and address our problems through dialogue made acceptance possible.

NICK SCHIFRIN: That acquiescence reflects the Kurds' military and economic setbacks.

In January, the Kurds were forced to withdraw from huge parts of Northern Syria, including oil and gas fields that once provided revenue.

They're now supposed to hand over border checkpoints to the Syrian central government, which is trying to consolidate national control.

Kurdish forces will integrate four brigades into the Syrian military.

In return, Syrian forces withdrew from some, but not all, of Kurdish territory, and Kurdish regions have been guaranteed civil and educational rights.

If you are granted empowered local governance, the right to control police, local schools, is that enough?

Or will Syrian Kurds be seeking autonomy or even independence?

GEN.

MAZLOUM ABDI (through translator): No, in these specific circumstances, this is what we want.

That is the existence of a local administration, where Kurds can govern their regions and preserve Kurdish identity.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Are you saying that empowered local governance is enough and you don't need autonomy or even independence?

GEN.

MAZLOUM ABDI (through translator): We want autonomy.

However, due to the current circumstances, that the condition for the Damascus government to accept us is just local administration.

NICK SCHIFRIN: If the deal collapses, would you consider launching an insurgency against the government?

GEN.

MAZLOUM ABDI (through translator): I don't want or wish for something like this to happen, but if the deal collapses, we will persist in our fight until the very end.

It is absolutely impossible for us to give up on the Kurdish regions.

NICK SCHIFRIN: For years, the U.S.

and Kurdish forces have tried to prevent ISIS' resurgence and stop ongoing threats.

But now the U.S.'

main partner against ISIS is the Syrian central government's military and police.

Mazloum urges the government to integrate and learn from Kurdish fighters.

GEN.

MAZLOUM ABDI (through translator): ISIS is still very strong and has also gradually gained access to major Syrian cities.

ISIS can carry out attacks whenever it wants.

I believe that if the fight against ISIS has not continued vigorously, the organization will once again continue to pose threats to the world.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Even if experts call that an exaggeration, the threat includes ISIS fighters in prison camps that have held tens of thousands of militants and their families.

Earlier this month, the U.S.

transferred 5,700 ISIS prisoners to Iraq, what a U.S.

official told "PBS News Hour" were the most dangerous prisoners.

GEN.

MAZLOUM ABDI (through translator): Undoubtedly, this transfer will have benefits in weakening ISIS' influence.

The transferred prisoners no longer pose a risk of participating in ISIS attacks.

NICK SCHIFRIN: But the largest camp, al-Hol, is now empty, and U.S.

and regional officials tell "PBS News Hour," after the Kurds transferred control to the Syrian government, at least 10,000 ISIS women and children left and have not been tracked.

The future of ISIS will determine the future U.S.

presence.

The U.S.

has recently closed two of its bases and announced a consolidation of troops.

U.S.

military officials tell "PBS News Hour" any further movement will be based on conditions.

Outside experts say they believe the U.S.

will eventually fully withdraw.

GEN.

MAZLOUM ABDI (through translator): Withdrawing American troops at this critical moment is not a good idea, as it will inevitably present inherent challenges, especially in the ongoing fight against terrorism.

NICK SCHIFRIN: But the fact is, the U.S.

has already withdrawn its support for the Kurds.

DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: The Kurds were paid tremendous amounts of money, were given oil and other things, so they were doing it for themselves more so than they were doing it for us.

GEN.

MAZLOUM ABDI (through translator): And when the Syrian government attacked Kurdish positions, the U.S.

did not come to the Kurds' protection.

NICK SCHIFRIN: So do you feel abandoned by the United States?

GEN.

MAZLOUM ABDI (through translator): A major attack was launched against our regions.

Many of our people were killed, and the U.S.

stance was not strong enough to stop the attack.

So, due to this stance, there is also a widespread disappointment among our people.

NICK SCHIFRIN: At this point today, what does it mean to you to be a citizen of Syria?

GEN.

MAZLOUM ABDI (through translator): I have two identities.

One is being Syrian and the other is being Kurdish.

I am essentially Kurdish.

I am proud of both.

We want to envision Syria to be rebuilt, but we also want to see the Kurdish regions develop and prosper and for Kurds to have their own major roles within the country.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Those roles are still in flux, as is the fate of the country as a whole.

But all sides say they want this transition to succeed to help create stability out of a still-fragile state.

For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Nick Schifrin.

AMNA NAWAZ: It was a strong finish for Team USA at the Milano Cortina Games, as they brought home the most gold medals for the country in a single Winter Olympics.

The U.S.

men's hockey win over Canada wrapped up the games in dramatic fashion, as the team's first gold since 1980.

For more on that and some signal achievements from these Games, I spoke earlier today with Christine Brennan of USA Today, who joined us from Milan.

Christine, it's great to see you.

CHRISTINE BRENNAN, USA Today: Amna, my pleasure.

Thank you.

AMNA NAWAZ: OK, so a record number of winter golds there with Team USA in skating, skiing and more, but let's start with those hockey wins.

Both the men's and women's teams had to go into overtime to beat their archrivals, Canada.

I think the iconic image from the men's game may be this, Jack Hughes with a big smile, missing a few teeth after that game as well.

What did that win mean for the team and for the country?

CHRISTINE BRENNAN: Amna, for the men's team, was the first gold medal in 46 years, since 1980, the Miracle on Ice.

And, in fact, what they call the Winter House, the party area afterwards, all the players, the men's players, were there.

And they were lifting Mike Eruzione, the captain of that 1980 team, and screaming "Miracle, miracle, miracle" as they celebrated into the night in Milan.

So the tie-in there was extraordinary, even though the parallels are completely different.

There are no parallels, in the sense that was a bunch of amateurs and college kids beating the Big Red Machine, the Soviet Union, in 1980.

This is an all-star team, the Americans, the Canadians, others that are NHL players who know each other very well, obviously competing for their nations, but a great moment for men's hockey following, of course, the great success of the women's team, which has won three gold medals during that same time period and continued their great play, of course, here as well.

AMNA NAWAZ: Let's turn now to figure skating, where I know you have been focusing a lot of your reporting.

And Alysa Liu, you told us going into these Games she would be one to watch.

Where does her individual gold place her in Olympics history?

CHRISTINE BRENNAN: It's right up there.

She's in one of the most exclusive clubs in all of sports, U.S.

women who have won that figure skating gold medal.

And the names are iconic, Dorothy Hamill, Peggy Fleming, Kristi Yamaguchi, only a few more, and now Alysa Liu, one of my favorite stories of the Games, one of my favorite stories I have covered the last few years on, actually.

She won the title at 13, won the national title at 14.

Fed up with people telling her what to do and having no life other than skating, she retired at 16.

She unretired at 18, she won the world title at 19, and now she's won the Olympic gold medal at 20.

I have never seen someone smile more under pressure, and we know what watching skating, watching Ilia Malinin have such trouble, the pressure is enormous here at these Olympic Games.

Nothing like it.

And Alysa Liu smiled throughout the four minutes.

She talked about, if she won a medal, great if she didn't, no big deal.

She had the perfect attitude, and she also was cheering on her competitors all the way through, the Japanese women who could beat her, the Americans at the nationals, and also here, just a terrific statement by this young athlete, this young skater, this great young American about women supporting women, about having fun and about keeping everything in perspective.

Keep an eye on Alysa Liu.

She's going to be doing a lot of interesting things, not just skating, but off the ice as well, in the future.

AMNA NAWAZ: And such a joy to watch as well.

Well, speaking of women in sports, you wrote a column I want to point to, and you called it "Title IX as responsible for so many women's Olympic medals for Team USA."

Tell us about that.

Where did we see that in these Games?

CHRISTINE BRENNAN: Oh, throughout the Games.

And for the third straight Winter Olympics, the U.S.

women won more gold medals and more overall medals than the U.S.

men.

And just to also kind of put this in perspective, it is now four Summer Olympics in a row, four of them going back to London in 2012, where the U.S.

women have won more gold medals and more total medals than the U.S.

men.

This is an extraordinary story.

This is the story of Title IX signed by Richard Nixon in June of 1972, as you know, Amna, very well, opening the floodgates for girls and women to play sports in this country, especially team sports.

If there's no Title IX, we have never heard of the U.S.

women's hockey team.

If there's no Title IX, we have never heard of the U.S.

women's soccer team or softball at the Summer Olympics.

It is that big a deal.

And every other nation knows that the U.S.

has an incredible head start because we decided we cared about our daughters playing sports, as well as our sons, back in the '70s, obviously all the way through the rest of this century, into this century.

What we're seeing in NCAA women's basketball and the WNBA and throughout college sports, we are seeing it here at the Olympic Games, where the U.S.

women are the reason that the United States Olympic team is performing so well one Olympics after another.

AMNA NAWAZ: That is sports columnist Christine Brennan of USA Today joining us after weeks of covering these Winter Olympic Games in Milan.

Christine, thank you so much.

Always great to talk to you.

CHRISTINE BRENNAN: Oh, it's fun.

Amna, thank you.

AMNA NAWAZ: The final ratings for these Olympics aren't in yet, but the Winter Games have been on a solid pace with an average of nearly 24 million viewers watching daily on NBC's platforms.

Of course, televised coverage is just part of the way that we experience the Games.

Often, it's the indelible photographs that stay with us, capturing a moment in time that can help shape our memories and Olympic history.

Our team spoke with several photographers behind some of the Games' most iconic images.

JACQUELYN MARTIN, Associated Press: I'm Jacquelyn Martin.

I'm a photojournalist of the Associated Press, and I'm here covering the Winter Olympics in Cortina, Italy.

It's very physically challenging to cover downhill skiing.

So, as one of the people that skis, I'm mostly on the Hill.

And, of course, Lindsey Vonn was the story because of this kind of comeback kid story.

So, we were going to be covering her no matter what happened.

And so I locked onto her with the camera and I was following her through.

And as she was coming towards the gate, she kind of hooked the gate with her right pole and I just gasped out loud and said, oh, my God, I didn't know exactly what had happened.

But I knew that it was a really bad crash, that it was going to be a really huge story, and that I had to really do my utmost journalistically to document what was happening.

HECTOR VIVAS, Getty Images: I'm Hector Vivas.

I work for Getty Images as a staff photographer.

We know how to tell the stories about the Olympic Games.

We know how to photograph the Olympic Games.

But we want to try to tell the story in a different way.

We are using this vintage camera for a tribute of the last big Games in Cortina in 1956.

They're like all cameras.

They have imperfections.

So we have the vintage look, but real.

It's not a filter.

It's not a Photoshop.

RICHARD HEATHCOTE, Getty Images: I'm Richard Heathcote.

I'm one of the chief sports photographers for Getty Images.

Generally, the skeleton athletes have fantastically decorated helmets, but the Ukrainian athlete had portraits of people on it, and saw it the first run.

I looked at it.

I was like, OK.

And then you kind of put two and two together and think, hang on a minute, is this people that have been unfortunately killed in the war?

So, do a little research, find out, yes, it is.

And then all of a sudden, the story starts developing very fast that he could be potentially banned or disqualified if he tries to ride with the helmet.

But he quite rightly stuck to his guns and said, no, I'm not going to race unless I can wear it.

As a photographer, you're looking to capture everything in front of you.

But when something important happens like that, you need really to concentrate on the details.

ELSA GARRISON, Getty Images: I'm Elsa Garrison.

I'm a staff photographer with Getty Images.

I knew Alysa Liu was kind of a young phenom coming up and then she retired at 16.

So this was kind of her comeback tour.

She just kind of found a new sort of joy and purpose in skating again.

And that was pretty evident in her gold medal routine.

You just see, like, the big smile on her face.

She was just having such fun out there.

And as a sport photographer, I'm pretty neutral about a lot of things, but I did kind of get a little bit of chills just because the atmosphere was so electric.

ASHLEY LANDIS, Associated Press: My name is Ashley Landis, and I'm a staff photographer for the Associated Press.

With Ilia Malinin, he's so dominant and we really wanted to capture his back flip particularly in his long program.

He came out and fell once and then he fell twice.

And all the photographers, of course, while we're concentrating on it, we all we don't respond and we just keep going because this story is unfolding.

One thing about the Olympics is that all of the athletes, it's their lifelong dream to be there.

And so it plays out in very dramatic fashion and super high highs and super low lows.

So you see this whole range of emotions.

ALEKSANDRA SZMIGIEL, Reuters: I'm Aleksandra Szmigiel, and I'm working for Reuters.

For me, covering Olympic Games is one of the hugest moments for a photographer's career.

One of my favorite shots from this Olympics comes from luge.

I photograph Julia Taubitz from Germany when she achieved a gold medal.

She is amazing, but her journey to Olympics wasn't so easy.

We always see the athletes in the moment of glory.

But I think that in this image is also her behind-the-scenes story.

Like, she was really struggling, and she finally get it.

So she's crying and smiling.

BRUCE BENNETT, Director of Photography for Hockey Imagery, Getty Images: I'm Bruce Bennett.

I am director of photography for hockey imagery for Getty Images.

I look forward to the women's matches every year and it's always Canada against the U.S.

are usually the two best teams.

The crowd was the loudest that I had heard it throughout these Olympics, chanting "USA, USA."

And I'm telling you, they spurred the players to rise to the occasion.

Megan Keller came in and scored the gold-medal-winning goal against Team Canada, and immediately spins away for me.

So you're thinking, oh, this is a disaster, but I stuck with her as best I could.

It's kind of a weird shot that got all the attention because it's the back of her celebrating.

You can see the American fans in the background starting to stand up and celebrate, and by chance as a Canadian player laying on the ice in front of her.

So you have exactly what you need to make the perfect sports photo.

You have celebration and dejection in the same frame.

ELSA GARRISON: My last assignment for the Olympics was covering the gold medal men's hockey game between the U.S.

and Canada.

And overtime games are always incredible.

And once a goal was scored, they all just piled out of the bench.

There were like the gloves thrown and helmets thrown in the air.

It was just chaos and mayhem.

And it was such joy on all of their faces.

And there was a picture that I shot of Jack Hughes.

He's got a bloody lip.

He's missing a tooth.

I mean, that's pretty much hockey in one photo there.

And you got the flag drip over his shoulders and just celebrating with his family.

And I just think it's great.

GEOFF BENNETT: A reminder to join us tomorrow night.

AMNA NAWAZ: When we will have live coverage of President Trump's State of the Union address.

NARRATOR: It's been one year since President Trump returned to power.

How have his policies reshaped the country?

KRISTI NOEM, U.S.

Homeland Security Secretary: When the American people put President Trump in the White House, they chose law and order.

SEN.

CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): This is not law and order.

This is chaos.

NARRATOR: What are his plans for the economy, conflicts abroad, and the future of our democracy?

A PBS News special, the State of the Union, February 24, 9:00 p.m.

Eastern/8:00 Central.

AMNA NAWAZ: We hope you will join us then.

Meanwhile, 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.