AMNA NAWAZ: Good evening.

I'm Amna Nawaz.

GEOFF BENNETT: And I'm Geoff Bennett.

On the "News Hour" tonight: With Vice President Harris presiding, Congress formally certifies Donald Trump's election victory under the long shadow of the Capitol riot four years ago today.

AMNA NAWAZ: Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announces he is resigning amid mounting public disapproval.

GEOFF BENNETT: And a veteran's decision to take his own life and detonate a Cybertruck in Las Vegas refocuses attention on mental health care for members of the Armed Services.

GEOFF BENNETT: Welcome to the "News Hour."

Congress today formally certified president-elect Donald Trump's election victory.

AMNA NAWAZ: As congressional correspondent Lisa Desjardins explains, it was a routine procedural moment, in striking contrast to the violent insurrection of four years ago.

LISA DESJARDINS: An unusual scene, a winter storm all but shutting down the nation's capital, but Congress at work with a historic charge, counting electoral votes and... KAMALA HARRIS, Vice President of the United States (D): The votes for president of the United States are as follows.

LISA DESJARDINS: ... certifying that former President Donald Trump will soon be president again.

MAN: Donald J. Trump from the state of Florida received... LISA DESJARDINS: There were no objections, just repeated cheers as winning states for each party were announced.

(CHEERING) LISA DESJARDINS: Presiding over this in her role as vice president, Kamala Harris, the woman who hoped this day would be hers.

Instead, she did her duty and gaveled Trump's victory into history.

KAMALA HARRIS: Donald J. Trump of the state of Florida has received 312 votes.

Kamala D. Harris of the state of California has received 226 votes.

(CHEERING) LISA DESJARDINS: On social media, former Vice President Mike Pence, who rejected pressure from Trump in 2021, wrote it was "particularly admirable" that she presided over an election she lost.

Harris told reporters Americans must be willing to fight for and respect democracy.

KAMALA HARRIS: Otherwise, it is very fragile and it will not be able to withstand moments of crisis.

And, today, America's democracy stood.

LISA DESJARDINS: For her replacement, a standout moment.

Senator J.D.

Vance of Ohio was present for the certification of his win as Trump's V.P.

Outside, beefed-up security surrounded the Capitol, but the tall barriers stood untested.

Snow, rather than protests, blanketed the National Mall.

PROTESTER: We're not going to take it anymore!

This is our country!

LISA DESJARDINS: A stark contrast to four years ago, when a mob of Trump supporters fed lies of a stolen election, easily overwhelmed bike rack barriers, assaulted police and stormed the Capitol.

The violence delayed things.

Congress returned that evening, with 145 Republicans still voting against certifying.

But they failed.

The riot is now the largest prosecution in Department of Justice history.

So far, 1,500 people have been charged or convicted for their actions that January 6,590 charged with assaulting or impeding police.

Some 700 people have been sentenced to time behind bars so far, but all of them are now on the cusp of a promised pardon from Trump, as he again dressed last month on NBC.

DONALD TRUMP, Former President of the United States (R) and Current U.S. President-Elect: Yes, I'm looking first day.

KRISTEN WELKER, Moderator, "Meet the Press": You're going to issue these pardons?

DONALD TRUMP: These people have been there, how long is it?

Three, four years.

KRISTEN WELKER: OK. LISA DESJARDINS: Today, on the Senate floor, Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer called for Trump to reconsider.

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): Pardoning the criminals who assaulted police officers and tried to halt the democratic process would be a dangerous endorsement of political violence.

LISA DESJARDINS: President for two more weeks, Joe Biden wrote an op-ed in The Washington Post, calling on Americans to remember January 6 "as a day when our democracy was put to the test and prevailed, to remember that democracy even in America is never guaranteed."

Today, certification again felt like a formality, but it had more unseen guardrails.

Reforms passed after the insurrection raised the bar for objecting and clarified the vice president's role as purely ministerial.

REP. JAMIE RASKIN (D-MD): I think we will remember the people who were lost, the people who were injured, the people who were wounded and all of their families.

But I think we can feel good about the fact that we still at this point have a functioning constitutional democracy.

LISA DESJARDINS: Democratic function will be on display in two weeks, when Trump returns to take the oath of office, his second.

Trump took to social media today to call this a big moment in history Republicans will control the House, Senate and White House, but razor-thin margins mean even the smallest divisions could derail the incoming president's agenda.

Trump wants one massive partisan deal, loading almost every Republican priority into one multi-trillion-dollar tax and spending package to come.

That plan is at odds with those announced by other leaders in the capital, who have envisioned smaller, separate bills.

Snow didn't shut down Congress today, but for all the tranquility and normalcy, expectations are for a hard-to-predict and potentially wild ride ahead.

AMNA NAWAZ: And to catch us up on the latest news on the Hill today, I'm joined now by our Lisa Desjardins.

Lisa, it was so striking to see those images from four years ago, when a very normal procedure and part of our democracy was upended by violence.

I remember you being inside the Capitol four years ago, and you were inside today as it all unfolded without incident.

So what were you hearing from lawmakers about the mood?

LISA DESJARDINS: That's right.

Amna, you were right outside for that too.

It was an emotional day, and I think surprisingly so.

There have been anniversaries of January 6, the date itself, since 2021.

But there has not been an anniversary of the Electoral College certification.

And I think being in that room today, talking especially to Democrats, was highly emotional.

I talked to more than one, a handful even, who were brought to tears, surprisingly.

They didn't mean to come to tears when they were there on the floor, but felt themselves really drawn back into that moment, felt themselves fearing that perhaps something like that isn't all the way out of the realm of possibility now, because there is a real concern, especially from Democrats, but some Republicans I talked to also, about the white Washington of January 6, the idea that it wasn't that big of a deal, the idea that people want to move on, also in that group, Capitol Police officers.

For those who were there that day, it is a spectrum of emotions.

Some of them still feel betrayed.

In that group is Harry Dunn, the police officer who went on to run for Congress.

He told me tonight that, while people are calling to move on, how can they move on when there haven't been consequences and when Trump still hasn't closed the door to this kind of activity?

Other Capitol Police officers, frankly, Amna, are more jaded and some of them that have been there just counting the days to retirement.

AMNA NAWAZ: Lisa, meanwhile, today, also, Republicans are marking the governing trifecta they have won, control of the White House, the Senate and the House.

So what does today mean for them?

LISA DESJARDINS: Right.

For Republicans, this was a celebration.

They won the presidency.

They were there together, and they also have that trifecta.

But there's another layer to it too, Amna.

A couple of Republicans admitted to me that for the past four years, they have been sort of carrying the water of this idea of a stolen election, that they couldn't even speak out, many of them, publicly against former President Trump and the lies he told about this.

Now they have won an election, in the words of one, fair and square, so, for them, less shame after these four years.

But all of these issues, of course, still remain hovering above the Capitol.

AMNA NAWAZ: Lisa Desjardins with the latest on a big day on Capitol Hill.

Lisa, thank you.

LISA DESJARDINS: You're welcome.

GEOFF BENNETT: A major winter storm is still rolling across the U.S., beginning with blizzard conditions in the Plains last night and dropping snow onto mid-Atlantic states this morning.

The National Weather Service warned, some places could see their heaviest snowfall in a decade.

It's having a major impact on travel, while students from Indiana to Maryland are enjoying a snow day.

In Washington, D.C., this morning, the competition was fierce... WOMAN: You just saw me nail that guy in the face, right?

GEOFF BENNETT: ... as huge crowds gathered at Meridian Hill Park for a timeless snow day tradition, the snowball fight.

The nation's capital received its first major snow of the winter, as a polar vortex chills a large part of the country.

Baltimore was blanketed in white this morning as Maryland canceled classes and closed government offices.

Temperatures are expected to plunge from the Northeast as far south as Georgia and Florida.

In Woodbridge, Virginia, residents like James Rastatter were snowed in.

JAMES RASTATTER, Virginia Resident: My four-wheel drive broke down, so I'm using a two-wheel drive with chains.

And, hopefully, I can get out today.

And, hopefully, the plow comes tomorrow and gets us out.

GEOFF BENNETT: The storm kicked off in the Central states on Sunday before moving eastward.

Fighting winds created blizzard conditions in Kansas yesterday, covering the roads with snow and ice.

Ten inches of snow has already fallen there.

More than 14 inches are expected for Kansas and parts of Northern Missouri.

The storm also complicated air travel, causing more than 1,300 flights to be canceled and 8,500 to be delayed.

As the storm spread to the East, dozens of semitrucks were backed up in downtown Cincinnati.

A cluster of trucks stuck in the snow on a ramp led to a nearly seven-hour delay last night.

Hundreds of thousands were without power across Kentucky, Indiana, Virginia, West Virginia, Illinois and Missouri.

(LAUGHTER) HUGH ROSS, Louisville Resident: Couldn't be worse.

GEOFF BENNETT: Kentucky declared a state of emergency, closing government buildings and many schools.

Louisville recorded more than seven inches of snow, blowing out the date's old record of three inches set in 1910.

At a news conference, Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said the snow would end soon, but urged residents to stay off the roads.

CRAIG GREENBERG (D), Mayor of Louisville, Kentucky: Please, give us a little bit more time.

Be patient.

Don't get back on the roads yet.

Let us have some time for the trucks, for the plows and the salt to continue making progress once the accumulation ends.

GEOFF BENNETT: Also today, President Biden is taking steps to ban new offshore oil and gas drilling across a huge stretch of federal waters.

Altogether, the action affects more than 625 million acres of ocean along both coasts, plus the Eastern Gulf of Mexico and the Northern Bering Sea in Alaska.

The Biden administration says the environmental and economic risks of drilling in those areas outweigh their potential economic benefit.

It comes just two weeks before president-elect Trump is set to return to the Oval Office.

He's vowed to -- quote -- "unban it immediately," but that would likely need an act of Congress.

U.S. Steel and Nippon Steel are suing the Biden administration for blocking their nearly $15 billion merger deal.

In a lawsuit filed in federal court today, the companies say the decision was based on politics and had no legal basis.

In a separate filing, they also alleged that the head of the steelworkers union and a rival steelmaker engaged in racketeering to tank the buyout.

On Friday, President Biden officially blocked the deal, citing America's national interests.

In South Korea, the government's anti-corruption agency has asked the police there to take over its efforts to detain impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol.

Pro-Yoon demonstrators gathered outside of his residence in Seoul today.

That's where presidential guards blocked investigators from detaining Yoon last week.

Authorities are investigating whether Yoon's declaration of martial law back in December amounts to a rebellion.

He has refused to be questioned about his actions.

It's all unfolding as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with his counterpart in Seoul today.

He said South Korea's political crisis would not hurt its relationship with the U.S. ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. Secretary of State: The United States has full confidence in South Korea's institutions, and we reaffirm our unwavering support for the Korean people as they work tirelessly to uphold those institutions.

We trust that the Republic of Korea, as a leading global democracy, will proceed in full accordance with its Constitution and the rule of law.

GEOFF BENNETT: A police official says they are considering all available options in addressing the standoff with Yoon, including arresting presidential guards who blocked them from detaining him.

Here at home, a judge in New York has rejected Donald Trump's attempt to delay sentencing in his hush money case scheduled for Friday.

His lawyers had asked for time to appeal Justice Juan Merchan's decision last week to uphold the verdict.

Trump's legal team said the sentencing as planned would force him to appeal the verdict while in office and deal with criminal proceedings for years to come.

Mr. Trump was convicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records last may.

Judge Merchan has said he does not intend to give Mr. Trump any jail time.

Meantime, a separate judge in New York found Donald Trump's former lawyer Rudy Giuliani to be in contempt of court today.

That was for failing to cooperate in the handover of millions of dollars in assets to two former election workers he defamed.

The lawyers for Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss say Giuliani has displayed a consistent pattern of willful defiance over the last few months in supplying what's needed to pay down the $148 million defamation judgment against him.

The judge has yet to detail what specific penalties Giuliani could face.

Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez met with President Biden at the White House today.

The U.S. recognizes Gonzalez as the winner of last year's disputed presidential election.

He's on a regional tour to rally support for removing Venezuela's incumbent President Nicolas Maduro from office.

Maduro was set to start his third term later this week.

Outside of the White House today, Gonzalez would not reveal what he and Mr. Biden spoke about, but said the meeting was long and fruitful.

EDMUNDO GONZALEZ, Venezuela Opposition Leader (through translator): We are grateful for the support that the government of the United States has given us in this struggle for Democratic recovery in Venezuela.

We will ensure that the road to restoration and democracy is paved as soon as possible.

GEOFF BENNETT: Gonzalez also said he expects a very close relationship with president-elect Trump and that he's in contact with Mr. Trump's team.

The city of Minneapolis this afternoon approved a police reform deal with the federal government that stems from the 2020 murder of George Floyd.

Today's agreement, known as a consent decree, requires long-term supervision of the city's police force by a federal court.

It follows a scathing Justice Department report in 2023 that found systemic discrimination towards racial minorities and frequent violations of constitutional rights.

A judge must approve today's agreement, and then an independent monitor will oversee the changes.

The state of Louisiana has reported the nation's first bird flu-related human fatality.

Health officials say the patient was over the age of 65 and was reported to have underlying medical conditions.

In a statement, Louisiana's Department of Health said the unnamed person contracted the disease -- quote -- "after exposure to a combination of a noncommercial backyard flock and wild birds."

Since March, more than 60 confirmed bird flu infections have been reported in the U.S. but most of them have been mild.

Officials say the current risk to the general public remains low.

The Pentagon said today that it's sending 11 Yemeni prisoners from the Guantanamo Bay detention center to Oman.

That's as the Biden administration looks to draw down the prison population there.

None of the released men had been charged with crimes during their two decades of detention.

Their departures leave 15 men at Guantanamo.

On Wall Street today, stocks ended mixed to start the week.

The Dow Jones industrial average gave up early gains to end just a fraction lower.

The Nasdaq jumped more than 240 points.

The S&P 500 also ended higher on the day.

Still to come on the "News Hour": Tamara Keith and Amy Walter break down the latest political headlines; editorial turmoil at The Washington Post serves as a microcosm of the news media industry; and we remember those killed in last week's New Orleans attack.

AMNA NAWAZ: Today, Canada's Justin Trudeau announced that he intends to resign as prime minister and leader of the Liberal Party, under tremendous pressure from his own caucus and from among his closest allies.

Here's part of his remarks making that announcement earlier today.

JUSTIN TRUDEAU, Canadian Prime Minister: I have always been driven by my love for Canada, by my desire to serve Canadians and by what is in the best interests of Canadians.

And Canadians deserve a real choice in the next election.

And it has become obvious to me, with the internal battles, that I cannot be the one to carry the Liberal standard into the next election.

AMNA NAWAZ: Trudeau will remain prime minister until the new Liberal leader is selected by the end of March, as his party prepares for a formidable challenge in the next election later this year.

I'm joined now by Professor Roland Paris.

He's director of the graduate school of public and international affairs at the University of Ottawa and a former senior adviser on foreign policy to the prime minister of Canada.

Professor Paris, welcome.

So we should say there have been signs.

This was coming for months, but help us understand why this is happening now and was his resignation, in your view, inevitable?

ROLAND PARIS, University of Ottawa: I think it was heading in this direction for some time.

This is a story of a government and a prime minister who's been in power for nearly 10 years.

Canadians are very clearly tired of him.

Polls turned decisively against him about 18 months ago.

He tried and his team tried everything they could to try and reverse that trend.

But with the prospect of an election in 2025 and what looked like an almost inevitable crushing defeat in that election, as you mentioned in your intro, members of his own caucus and his own party called for him to resign and to be replaced by someone else.

And that's what he did today.

AMNA NAWAZ: It's worth reminding everyone he was a real rising star in global progressive politics when he first became prime minister back in 2015.

He had very high approval ratings soon after in the mid 60s.

By the end of last year, those were down in the low 20s.

So what was behind that?

What was fueling such a spectacular fall from grace?

ROLAND PARIS: Well, like a lot of incumbents, he suffered from having been empowered during the pandemic and with all of the disruption that was caused by the pandemic landing on his doorstep, also, of course, inflation, cost of living, housing.

But, mostly, it was time.

Governments don't tend to last more than about 10 years in Canada.

And he was into his ninth year.

Governments and leaders are always popular when they're elected, and they're usually unpopular when they're defeated.

And I think that's the basic story here.

AMNA NAWAZ: Tell us about the opposition leader here of the Conservative Party, Pierre Poilievre.

What role did he play in Trudeau's downfall here?

ROLAND PARIS: Well, of course, he was doing everything he could to weaken the Liberal Party.

He's in an interesting position right now because the opposition Conservative Party is 24 points ahead in the polls.

And by the -- if there were an election today, that would likely result in a really crushing majority victory for the opposition Conservatives.

So it seems like it's his job for the taking.

At the same time, his net approval ratings are negative-17.

So a lot of Canadians haven't really warmed up to him yet.

So we will see what he does over the next few weeks and into what is almost certain to be an election maybe in May and whether he can win over Canadians.

I suspect that if there were an election right now, he would win anyway.

But he does have a personal approval challenge.

AMNA NAWAZ: Professor Paris, what about the role of the U.S. president-elect here, Donald Trump?

He has mocked Mr. Trudeau.

He has dismissed him as a governor, rather than a prime minister.

He threatened tariffs.

That prodded Trudeau to quickly fly down to Mar-a-Lago to discuss with him in person.

And, today, Mr. Trump posted this.

He wrote -- quote -- "Many people in Canada love being the 51st state.

The United States can no longer suffer the massive trade deficits and subsidies that Canada needs to stay afloat.

Justin Trudeau knew this and resigned."

He goes on then to suggest that Canada should merge with the United States.

But do you think that Mr. Trump and his attitude towards Trudeau played a role in his weakening in any way?

ROLAND PARIS: Well, I would say that the statement that Mr. Trump made today in previous similar ones are just nonsense and viewed as nonsense here.

And the dynamic that led to Mr. Trudeau resigning today was under way long before Mr. Trump was elected in November.

But, that said, Trump's threat of imposing 25 percent tariffs on Canada and other countries once he takes office, that is taken very seriously here.

It would have devastating effects.

I should say, with regard to Mr. Trump's comments about Canada's trade surplus, that that's really the result of Canada selling to the United States resources that the United States wants, including oil and electricity; 50 percent -- more than 50 percent of the crude oil imports in the United States come from Canada.

Lots of the critical minerals that fuel America's technological industries come from Canada.

I don't think Mr. Trump wants to cut off those things.

AMNA NAWAZ: In the minute or so we have left, you have Mr. Trump coming back into office in just a matter of weeks.

There could be a change of government in Canada ahead.

What do you see as the relationship between these two countries moving forward in the near-term?

ROLAND PARIS: I expect that the fundamental relationship remains solid because it's so much more than the relationship between the president and whoever the prime minister is.

It's a very deep, intermeshed relationship, one of the closest relationships in the world, and both economically and in many other respects as well.

But, that said, I think that we might be in for a bumpy time.

For Canada, we will have a lame-duck prime minister, because Mr. Trudeau will serve until there's a new Liberal leader.

Then there will be a Liberal leader through an election campaign, and, finally, the results of that election, we will have another prime minister or maybe that same Liberal leader.

So there's a period of uncertainty on the Canadian side, and I certainly hope that the good work that has been done to build relationships right across the U.S. political system will continue to forward this very important bilateral relationship in the months and years to come.

AMNA NAWAZ: That is Professor Roland Paris from the University of Ottawa.

Professor Paris, thank you for your time.

Good to speak with you.

ROLAND PARIS: Thank you.

GEOFF BENNETT: There are new details tonight about the man believed responsible for exploding a Tesla Cybertruck last week in front of the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas.

Police and military officials now believe Matt Livelsberger suffered post-traumatic stress disorder, and we now have some of the final words that he wrote that might help explain the end of the life of a decorated Special Forces soldier.

Here's Nick Schifrin.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Matthew Livelsberger was a warrior, a career Special Forces soldier known as a Green Beret.

In 13 years, he deployed nine times, including five times to Afghanistan, and rose to become an intelligence, then team sergeant with the rank of master sergeant.

But his final days were spent on leave, stopping at Tesla charging stations on a circuitous route from Colorado to Las Vegas, where he died by suicide, before exploding his rented Tesla Cybertruck in front of Trump Tower.

In notes on his phone released by Las Vegas police, he called out -- quote -- "Military and vets, be prepared to fight to get the Dems out of the fed government."

But he also wrote: "Why did I personally do it now?

I needed to cleanse my mind of the brothers I have lost and relieve myself of the burden of the lives I took."

U.S. officials confirmed Livelsberger, like so many other warriors, suffered trauma from service, including a reported traumatic brain injury.

He also suffered moral injury.

QUESTION: You want to read the e-mail?

SAM SHOEMATE, Former U.S. Army Intelligence Officer: Yes.

NICK SCHIFRIN: That, he detailed to Army intelligence officer SAM Shoemate, who read a Livelsberger e-mail on "The Shawn Ryan Podcast."

In the e-mail, Livelsberger admitted he participated in a 2019 strike in Afghanistan that he said killed hundreds of civilians and a subsequent cover-up.

Livelsberger was also in touch with an ex after splitting up from his second wife.

SPENCER EVANS, FBI Special Agent in Charge: It ultimately appears to be a tragic case of suicide involving a heavily decorated combat veteran who is struggling with PTSD and other issues.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Army officials confirmed he was in therapy -- quote -- "Livelsberger had access to and used the Preservation of the Force and Family program.

He did not display any concerning behaviors at the time and was granted personal leave."

That was just days before his life ended in Las Vegas.

For additional perspective, we turn to retired army brigadier general Stephen Xenakis, a psychiatrist with extensive experience working with veterans with PTSD and traumatic brain injuries.

Stephen Xenakis, thanks very much.

Welcome back to the "News Hour."

When you look at Master Sergeant Livelsberger's deployments, when you read what he wrote in that suicide note released by the police and that e-mail to Sam Shoemate, what do you see?

BRIG.

GEN. STEPHEN XENAKIS (RET.

), U.S. Army: Well, it's tragic.

And, unfortunately, it's a story that we have heard at other times.

It's a story that comes out of all these 20 years of warfare and goes back, actually, many, many years, thousands of years.

These men and soldiers, these men and women that go through these multiple deployments under these circumstances are really events, and the stress and the trauma pile up on them.

And you have all these factors in play with him.

You have his sense of moral injury, which is a guilt and shame that comes with what soldiers do and haven't done, knowing that there's a core ethical principle that they live by.

It's very individual, but that is a common principle that we have that is very important in terms of justifying or being able to make sense out of the activities, actions that have to be undertaken in war.

You have the stress, and it comes out as post-traumatic stress.

There is traumatic brain injury, which he -- there's evidence that he also suffered that, that there's injury and damage to the brain.

Very often, these soldiers also have other injuries and musculoskeletal pain.

They have problems with sleep.

We don't know in this particular circumstance if there was self-medication, sometimes prescribed medications.

All of this piles up.

And, over time, it just gets to be too much.

NICK SCHIFRIN: And... BRIG.

GEN. STEPHEN XENAKIS: And -- I'm sorry.

NICK SCHIFRIN: No, no, it's OK.

Sorry to interrupt you, but can PTSD, can the reported traumatic brain injury that his ex-girlfriend reportedly say, can that really drive someone like him to do what he did?

BRIG.

GEN. STEPHEN XENAKIS: Well, what happens is, it piles up, and there's a period where the soldier copes as best as - - the soldiers copes as best as they can.

And they're able to go through their daily life, have relationships, and then at some point it gets to be too much.

Maybe it's part as they get older, as they get more responsibilities, as they're thinking back and haunted by the memories.

And it's almost like they fall off a cliff.

And it can be very precipitous.

And they get into a very dark place in their life.

So it's the piling on, it's the cumulative effect of all these different circumstances that they're living with.

(CROSSTALK) NICK SCHIFRIN: And how does that -- sorry.

Forgive me again.

And how does that interact with his apparent family issues?

He reportedly split from his second wife just days or weeks before January 1, with whom they had a very young child.

BRIG.

GEN. STEPHEN XENAKIS: Well, there's a lot of stress, right?

And they're having problems in day-to-day coping, and that can particularly play out in intimate relationships and family relationships.

And then that feedback loop of, well, I can't do this, I can't do that, I don't have people that are supporting me, I don't have people that are caring, understand what's going on, and things just -- their lives just get worse.

And they're more -- their struggle gets even harder.

So there's no one factor here.

It's the connection of all these factors.

It's the whole is much more than the sum of the parts.

And what's important in terms of being able to care for these men and women, for our soldiers, for our veterans, is really experiencing them and engaging them as the whole person that they are, and realizing that each of these problems that they're facing will over time cause them to feel worse and maybe get to a desperate situation, as this man got to.

NICK SCHIFRIN: You talk about experiencing with them, engaging with them.

In the minute or so that we have left, is the U.S. military doing enough, in your opinion, to provide mental health services to service members?

BRIG.

GEN. STEPHEN XENAKIS: Well, look, they're trying as hard as they can.

Look, these are tough problems.

And even in very -- with experienced clinicians, there are people that, for whatever reason, don't seem to be able to get better.

Is there more to do?

Well, that's an obligation we have as military physicians, as leaders, to keep thinking about, what more can we do?

What are we going to learn from this incident?

What are we going to learn from all the others?

And what can we do to improve our support?

Warfare is tough.

And people bear the burden and struggle with it.

So the military is doing what it can.

We do that as part of that.

But we have got to continue to put more energy and time to improve our support for our service members and their families.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Psychiatrist and retired Army Brigadier General Steve Xenakis, thank you very much.

BRIG.

GEN. STEPHEN XENAKIS: I'm glad to help.

Thanks.

AMNA NAWAZ: Now that Congress has formally certified the results of the presidential election, a path is officially paved for president-elect Trump to take office later this month.

For more, we turn now to 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.

So, Tam, as you saw Lisa reporting earlier, we had the certification of those 2024 election results passing without incident today.

Four years later, a dramatically different scene unfolded on Capitol Hill.

When you look at recent polling from The Economist, though, it shows that less than half of all Americans, some 49 percent, say they believe that Mr. Trump bears some or a lot of responsibility for that January 6 attack.

That includes, in terms of a partisan breakdown, 83 percent of Democrats, 17 percent of Republicans.

Do you feel like Mr. Trump and Republicans have sort of successfully recast that day and rewritten political history?

TAMARA KEITH, National Public Radio: Yes, and a lot of these questions, the answers that people give in polls is often just a reflection of their views on Trump, no matter what the question is.

I don't know if that's the case here, but it certainly could be, because views of January 6 have begun closely tracking with views of Trump.

That is, he says it was a day of love.

He says it wasn't a big deal.

He also has said that he is going to pardon some share of the people who stormed the Capitol that day and have pled guilty or been convicted of crimes.

We don't -- it isn't clear yet whether it will be truly considered on a case-by-case basis or whether these will be blanket pardons.

But he and Republicans, since the very beginning, since just within days, began rewriting history, began describing it as a tourist visit.

And, initially, that sounded absurd to almost everyone, but over time, Trump and his allies have sort of reshaped the Republican Party's view of this.

They haven't really reshaped the Democratic Party's view of it.

And there are certainly, as Lisa reported, Republicans in Congress who were there that day who have much more complex feelings.

AMNA NAWAZ: Well, Amy, Tam mentioned those potential pardons from president-elect Trump.

In that same Economist poll, I should point out, some 33 percent of Americans, including 63 percent of Republicans, support pardons for people convicted of crimes related to January 6.

I mean, when you step back and look at this day in the context of what happened four day -- four years ago, rather, how do you look at this moment?

AMY WALTER, The Cook Political Report: Yes, I do think that if you think back to where we were back in January of 2001, the possibility of Donald Trump coming back into the White House seemed more than remote.

But I think there are three big things that happened.

The first is just the passage of time.

For some of us, four years ago doesn't feel that long ago.

I think for many four years ago was actually a pretty significant amount of time.

So it fell out of the day-to-day conversation.

The second is the thing that Tam was talking about.

We have a partisan and fractured media environment in which you get fed views that align with your own personal feelings, whether it's about Donald Trump or other issues.

And I also think that we had the fact that the president wasn't prosecuted.

The former president was never prosecuted for this.

There was not a case brought against him.

So all of those things together, I think, helped to put this issue more on the back burner in the 2024 election than we thought it would be in 2021.

At the same time, I think it would be very dangerous for Republicans or for President Trump to assume that voters don't think that these actions were problematic, that they support the pardoning.

As you pointed out, only 33 percent really overall support pardoning these January 6 defendants, and that many voters went into the voting booth holding two thoughts at one time.

One, they really did not like Trump's actions in the January 6 events.

And at the same time, they really did think he was going to do a better job for them as president on their most salient issue.

And for many of them, it was the economy.

AMNA NAWAZ: Well, Tam, this is the context in which lawmakers now step in to do their jobs, right?

And Republicans have a governing trifecta now.

They have chosen their leader in the Senate, in Senator John Thune, House Speaker Mike Johnson.

And we know there's been some questions about how Mr. Trump and the Republicans will move forward with a very broad and aggressive policy agenda that they have, everything from the border crackdown to energy policy and tax cuts.

Mr. Trump himself weighed in on what seems to be a suggestion of what he'd like to see in the way they move forward with a Hugh Hewitt interview earlier today.

Take a listen.

DONALD TRUMP, Former President of the United States (R) and Current U.S. President-Elect: I favor one bill.

I also want to get everything passed.

And there are some people that don't necessarily agree with it, some open to that also.

My preference is one big, as I say, one big, beautiful bill.

AMNA NAWAZ: Do you see Republicans moving forward with one big bill with all of these policy items?

TAMARA KEITH: You know, it's a good question.

I think it is a matter of debate that is being debated right now among Republicans.

Trump, as you say, both in that Hugh Hewitt interview and in a social media, post said he wanted one big, beautiful bill.

One big, beautiful bill is really hard to do when you have an extremely narrow margin.

And that is especially the case in the House of Representatives, where Republicans just have such a narrow margin.

We saw that with the election of Speaker Johnson that was as narrow as you can get.

And Republicans have struggled with big budgetary bills that do a lot of things.

This is a particular area of struggle for Republicans for the last several years.

AMNA NAWAZ: Yes.

TAMARA KEITH: They have had to rely on Democratic votes alone.

It's not clear that just having Republicans alone in power is going to be enough to get them past all of these issues, which is why just doing immigration or just doing immigration and oil drilling together and saving the tax bill for later, some Senate Republicans especially think that might be more plausible.

AMNA NAWAZ: Amy, what do you make of that?

AMY WALTER: Right, yes, get the W on the board as early as possible with an immigration and energy policy bill, which is going to be easier to get all Republicans on board, even in the House, where they have such a narrow majority.

The danger with that, though, is that you get one thing done, but you drag out the tax bill and other things further and further into the year.

And, as we know, they have got a lot of other difficult votes to take before we even get to the summer.

We still have to fund the government in March.

There's going to be a debt ceiling bill.

And then there are the things that we don't know are going to happen that will take both energy and time and potentially the president's capital.

So the theory of one big bill is, there's so much in there that everybody gets something.

There's something, a little something for everybody.

One thing I will note historically, regardless of the size of their majorities, presidents in their first term have been able to get one big piece of legislation done on party-line-only votes.

So Trump got his tax bill in 2017.

We will see if he can get it again in 2021.

AMNA NAWAZ: We will see indeed.

Amy Walter and Tamara Keith, always great to see you both.

Thank you so much.

AMY WALTER: Thank you.

GEOFF BENNETT: Staff at The Washington Post are bracing for a wave of layoffs that are expected to be announced this week.

It's the latest hit for The Post, coming just days after a longtime editorial cartoonist, Ann Telnaes, resigned in protest.

Her editor rejected her latest cartoon, which depicted Post owner Jeff Bezos and other media leaders on bended knee before president-elect Trump.

The Post said the cartoon was rejected because it had been repetitive of a recent column and another that was set to be published.

Her editor in the statement said, in part: "Not every editorial judgment is a reflection of a malign force."

To many observers, though, it's the latest in a series of events that are raising questions about Bezos and the leadership of The Post, including a series of high-profile staff departures and a wave of reader backlash.

For more on that, we're joined now by Kara Swisher, multiplatform journalist, entrepreneur, and author of "Burn Book: A Tech Love Story."

Thanks so much for being with us.

KARA SWISHER, Author, "Burn Book: A Tech Love Story": Thank you for having me.

GEOFF BENNETT: And we should mention that you are putting together an investor group to buy The Washington Post.

Jeff Bezos has... KARA SWISHER: I'm thinking about it, yes.

GEOFF BENNETT: Thinking about it.

KARA SWISHER: Yes, I have been talking - - I'm talking to a lot of people because I'm just disturbed by what's happening there.

I'm sure other people are too.

The question is if he wants to sell it.

He hasn't indicated any interest whatsoever, but I wanted to raise the idea because I think it needs new leadership and new management.

GEOFF BENNETT: And -- right, I was going to say he's given no indication that he intends to sell it.

KARA SWISHER: Yes.

GEOFF BENNETT: But what's the vision?

Why are you in the hunt?

KARA SWISHER: Well, I started off at The Washington Post in the newsroom -- in the mailroom.

Excuse me.

That's where I started my career when I was at college at Georgetown University.

And so that was my first job.

And I worked there for many years.

I started covering the Internet there, which is my big area.

I went on to work at The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times and did a whole bunch of different things, including a very famous tech conference that was pretty good.

And so I have been watching what's happening at The Post for a long time.

And I was quite heartened when the Grahams, family which had owned it for so many years, sold it to Jeff Bezos.

And in the initial years, he did a very good job.

He got it for a very low amount of money, by the way.

But he was doing a very good job.

And it's just recently that his business interests are not aligned with The Post.

And everything he's done so far over the past, I don't know, year or so has been pretty questionable, I would say, not because necessarily it's malign.

I don't -- I mean, bringing in malign forces, it sort of takes it to a new level.

I think he has business interests that are not aligned with The Post.

And some of his selections have been bad, including pulling the endorsement of Kamala Harris at the last minute.

There's always some excuse.

He didn't see it.

He didn't read it.

It doesn't really matter.

He's involving himself in ways that are aren't working for The Post, which is also in distress as a business at this moment.

GEOFF BENNETT: Well, on that point, I mean, strong journalistic ethics prioritize independence.

KARA SWISHER: Sure.

GEOFF BENNETT: And Jeff Bezos obviously isn't a journalist.

He's a businessman.

KARA SWISHER: No, of course.

GEOFF BENNETT: And you can make the argument that he has a fiduciary responsibility to minimize any scrutiny or retaliation that could affect The Post or his broader media empire.

KARA SWISHER: Yes.

GEOFF BENNETT: I mean, what do you say to that argument?

KARA SWISHER: Well, there's only one shareholder here, and that's Jeff Bezos.

So he can do whatever he wants.

So it's not like it's a public company, and there's other things.

But other public companies have been very explicit that they're going to do fair and accountability coverage of the things.

And I think some of the actions he's taken, including with Ann, who's an amazing Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist, I don't think Jeff had anything to do with this decision.

I think it was done by David Shipley.

But it's in this mood of not poking the bear, I think, the bear being Trump or Jeff Bezos.

I don't know which one they're not trying to poke.

But what happened to The Post was, Jeff bought it in 2013 and did a lot of stuff that improved it, but they never really figured out what to do post the first Trump era, which gave a bump to a lot of people.

And so, in many ways, it's his fault of where it is.

And now he's doing things that are making it worse.

And I'm not sure why, right?

I'm not sure what's happening with him.

And I think he's -- again, he's been a very good owner until recently, I would say.

And now he just doesn't -- I'd like to know why he wants to own it, what his plans are.

The plans that they have outlined seem preposterous, really.

I don't know what else to say.

He's a very good businessperson, but a lot of these ideas are really an antithesis of what an independent newspaper should be.

And I don't mean to stay in the past.

And The Post has a storied history.

I'm a journalist who's blown up a lot of things.

I believe in changing and shifting.

But you have to come up with something that preserves the integrity of The Post and at the same time makes it into a pretty good business.

GEOFF BENNETT: Are there lessons The Post could learn from The New York Times' multimedia diversification... KARA SWISHER: Yes.

GEOFF BENNETT: ... or from the rise of digital native outlets like Axios or Substack or Semafor?

The list goes on.

KARA SWISHER: Well, I don't mean to be rude, but I did the first one, which was called AllThingsD at The Wall Street... GEOFF BENNETT: That's right.

Yes.

KARA SWISHER: We -- Walt and I - - Walt Mossberg were the O.G.

of all this stuff.

It's funny when it's like, oh, this is new.

I'm like, no, we did it a long time ago, because we did see what was coming and the importance of digitization of media and how the consumer had changed really drastically.

And we also supplemented it by having a conference that was highly lucrative that could pay the bills too, because news is hard.

Advertising is tougher.

Some people have done subscriptions really well.

Like, The Information does great journalism and does subscriptions.

Other things rely on advertising, like we did at AllThingsD, or sponsorship like we did at the Code Conferences.

There's all kinds of things you could look at, and The New York Times is one way of doing it.

They do everything, they cook everything internally, right?

But they did an important diversification.

News is not the driver of the growth of The New York Times right now.

It's Wordle.

It's cooking.

It's sports.

It's all kinds of things.

And that's important, for a news organization to have multiple revenue streams around it, especially as people, especially young people, go off and get things from TikTok or Instagram or wherever they happen -- or YouTube, for example, has become critically important in the TV watching space.

And so The Post hasn't really done anything.

They don't have a podcast division to speak of.

Other companies have done a really good job at that, and it can be very lucrative.

I have some ideas, which I will outline if I get a meeting with Jeff.

I have known him for -- I knew -- I met Jeff before he was a billionaire, when he first started Amazon.

He's a wonderful entrepreneur.

And I think he has to understand that maybe where he is today is not where he was and that he may not be the correct owner for this thing.

That's all.

I just want to talk to you about it and understand why he wants to own it if he continues to do these things that are causing a huge amount of people to leave, very -- a huge amount of talent.

And that's not -- that's hard to get back.

So I have some ideas of different structures, financial structures, the way you could do it, and I'm sure other people do.

GEOFF BENNETT: Well, if you could redesign the current media ecosystem to better serve the public in this polarized... KARA SWISHER: Yes.

GEOFF BENNETT: ... fractured and fast-paced era, what would you prioritize, especially since, after this last election, we learned to the degree to which legacy media has limited reach and limited influence?

KARA SWISHER: Yes.

Well, that's been happening for a long time.

It's something I warned of in my book and many -- for years and years, I wrote this column.

I'm like, everything that -- the thing I said over and over again is, everything that can be digitized will be digitized and it was, right?

This was at the beginning of my career.

And I think one of the things they have to recognize is, where is the audience?

The audience has taken control of the media.

And it's not giving it back any time soon.

So you go where they are going, you try to create things they want to consume.

It doesn't have to be light.

It doesn't have to -- there's a terrible word in media, make it snackable.

I think that's the worst thing I have ever heard in my life.

But make it interesting.

I mean, I have a million ideas of what you can do and how you could structure it so it's more protected.

But being at the mercy and kindness of billionaires, good luck with that.

I'm sorry.

It's -- maybe a lot of billionaires, so none of them have control, but a single billionaire?

I don't care how you slice it.

And I don't know how nice that billionaire is.

It's never going to end well.

It just isn't.

GEOFF BENNETT: Kara Swisher, thanks for joining us.

We deeply appreciate it.

KARA SWISHER: Thank you.

Thank you.

AMNA NAWAZ: President Biden will meet privately this evening in New Orleans with the families of the 14 people who were killed in the terror attack there on New Year's Day.

Before that, the president and the first lady stopped on Bourbon Street, laid down flowers at a makeshift shrine for the victims, and held a moment of silence.

The president will also attend a prayer vigil and memorial service.

Before we go tonight, we wanted to take a moment to reflect on the victims, the lives they led, and the legacies they leave behind.

Stephanie Sy has our remembrance.

STEPHANIE SY: Nicole Perez was a mother who was teaching her 5-year-old son how to read.

She'd just been promoted to manager at the local deli, where the owner told reporters she was a good mom who learned quickly.

She wanted to be successful.

Perez was 27.

That was also the age of Martin "Tiger" Bech, a former wide receiver for Princeton University who was in Louisiana on a hunting and fishing trip.

Before he passed, his brother Jack was able to say goodbye on FaceTime.

JACK BECH, Brother of Martin "Tiger" Bech: If he could have lived, he would have.

He fought so hard.

Like I said, he's always been a fighter.

He was always the little guy, and he always had to fight.

And that's what he did until the last breath he took.

STEPHANIE SY: Terrence Kennedy, 63, was a born and raised New Orleanian.

His sister told reporters he was a kind man with a big heart who loved watching football, especially the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Drew Dauphin graduated from Auburn University in 2023, and, according to his LinkedIn page, worked at Honda Motor Company.

In a statement, Auburn University President Christopher Roberts said of the 26-year-old alum: "Words cannot convey the sorrow the Auburn family feels for Drew's family."

Kareem Badawi had just finished his first semester at the University of Alabama.

His father told reporters his son spent all his life loving people and socializing with friends.

He was only 18.

Also 18, Nikyra Dedeaux, who had her whole life ahead of her, according to her great aunt.

She dreamed of becoming a nurse, like her mother, who hadn't wanted her to go to New Orleans.

Dedeaux was from Mississippi.

Elliot Wilkinson was 40 years old and living on the streets at the time of his death.

His older brother Cecil told reporters Elliot had a history of mental illness.

He said on Facebook: "You will be truly missed.

I know life was hard for you at times."

Reggie Hunter headed to Bourbon Street straight after work.

His cousin said he loved fashion and always matched.

The 37-year-old was also a father of two.

Twenty-one-year-old Hubert Gauthreaux was from a nearby town and was a huge Chicago White Sox fan.

In a Facebook post, his sister Brooke said: "You deserve so much better than this.

I don't know how I'm supposed to go on without you."

Edward Pettifer was from London and had ties to the British royal family.

His stepmother was Prince William and Prince Harry's nanny.

In a statement, the elder prince said: "Catherine and I have been shocked and saddened by the tragic death of Ed Pettifer."

He was 31.

LaTasha Polk, 47, lived in New Orleans.

The nursing assistant had a 14-year-old son.

Her aunt said: "She wouldn't want us to be sad, but, at the same time, we can't help but be selfish and want her back."

Twenty-five-year-old Matthew Tenedorio was a beloved son, brother, uncle and friend who worked at the Superdome as an audio-visual technician.

His father, Louis, urged him not to go out on New Year's.

LOUIS TENEDORIO, Father of Matthew Tenedorio: I think, as time goes by, I will see something that reminds me of him and I will break down.

I know that's going to happen probably for the rest of my life.

STEPHANIE SY: Also 25, Billy DiMaio of Holmdel, New Jersey, known as a standout lacrosse player with an infectious laugh.

In a statement, his family wrote: "His energetic personality inspired everyone around him."

Forty-three-year-old Brandon Taylor was the last victim struck by the truck, according to his fiance, Heather, who spoke to reporters.

Taylor was described as a quiet Christian who liked to rap.

Heather said: "No one should ever have to die like that.

He didn't deserve it."

AMNA NAWAZ: Of course, our thoughts are with their families and their loved ones.

And that is the "News Hour" for tonight.

I'm Amna Nawaz.

GEOFF BENNETT: And I'm Geoff Bennett.

Thanks for joining us, and have a good evening.