AMNA NAWAZ: Good evening.

I'm Amna Naw GEOFF BENNET On the "News risk that the Israel-Hamas war could spread across the region.

AMNA NAWAZ: Facing a surge in migrants, including many sent north by the Texas Republican gover Chicago city officials call on the White House for more help.

GEOFF BENNETT: And as the ongoing investigation into the January FBI's resources, ordinary citizens have started to track down suspected rioters themselves.

CYNTHIA MILLER-IDRISS, American University: We don't have the capacity in any law enforcement agency to handle a surge of political violence or hate-filled violence.

(BREAK) GEOFF BENNETT: Welcome to the "NewsHour."

There is fresh concern tonight of a potential regional war in the Middle East after Tuesday's killing of a top Hamas leader in Beirut, Lebanon.

AMNA NAWAZ: Israel has not acknowledged any role in the attack, possible retaliation by Hezbollah, the powerful Lebanese militia backed by Iran.

In Lebanon today, the leader of Hamas-allied Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, delivered a grave warning.

HASSAN NASRA going to war against Lebanon, our combat will have no limits, Yesterday's crime was severe.

It will not go unpunished.

AMNA NAWAZ: That in response his home in Beirut by a suspected Israeli drone strike.

Yesterday, the head of Hamas' political wing, Ismail Haniyeh, lambasted the killin ISMAIL HANIYEH, Chairman, Hamas Political Bureau (through translator): We affirm that the assassination by the Zionist occupation of Saleh al-Arouri on Leba complete terrorist act, a violation of Lebanon's sovereignty and an expansion of Israel's hostility against our people and nation.

AMNA NAWAZ: Israel has not publicly claim chief David Barnea pledged to hunt down everyone involved in the October 7 attacks.

DAVID BARNEA, Head of Israeli Mossad (through translator): The Mossad is committed to settling the score with the murderers who rampaged through the Gaza border on Octobe It will take time, but we will get them, no matter where they are.

AMNA NAWAZ: It's all deepening concerns of a broader regional conflict.

Israel and Hezbollah have been exchanging fire at the Lebanese border since the war began.

And Iran-bac Red Sea headed for Israel.

International shipping company Maersk announced yesterday it's suspendin following a weekend attack on one of its vessels.

In the occupied West Bank today, protests erupted over the killing of al-Arouri.

And in the packed encampments of war-torn Gaza, Palestinians say the assassination will not deter Hamas.

MAN (through translato stronger than him.

Things won't stop because of al-Aro AMNA NAWAZ: Meanwhile, the U.S. declassified intelligence claims that Hamas used Gaza's largest hospital, Al Shifa, to hold some Israeli hostages and house command infrastructure.

It was raided by the IDF in November, sparking widespre Back in Gaza, the southern town of Rafah has turned into one massive tent city for displaced Gazans.

There is no heat and no real Za yda Al-Breem constantly has to clear water off the tent roof so it doesn't collapse.

ZAYDA AL-BREEM, Displaced Gazan (through translator): Displacement is somewhat bearable, but displacement and winter is unbearable.

All through the night, one A woman just asked me for a desk pan to dispose of the rainwater, but I don't have one.

AMNA NAWAZ: IDF bombings on areas they fled continue.

Chaos erupted across parts of the central and southern strip today after devastating airstrikes, a new year bringing new death, new destruction, and new questions for what comes next.

And one of the biggest concerns as the To decode what this means for the region, we turn now to Randa Slim, director of the Conflict Resolution and Track II Dialogues Program at the Middle East Institute.

She joins me now from Beirut.

Randa, it's good to see yo Tell us a little bit Who was he?

What should And what does his de RANDA SLIM, Middle East Institute: Saleh al-Ar He is also in charge of Hamas operations in the West Bank.

He was one of the founders of the military wing of Hamas, the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades.

And, more importantly, he's also somebody who has been closely involved in the relationship between Iran, Hamas, and Hezbollah.

There has been a rift between Hamas on one hand and Iran and Hezbollah on the other after the beginning of the Civil War in Syria and Hamas' decision to side not with the Bashar al-Assad regime, but with the opposition.

And, as a result, Hamas' leaders left Damas And so, in the last five years, Saleh al-Arouri has been involved in healing that rift, in leading negotiations between Hamas, Iran, and Hezbollah.

AMNA NAWAZ: So, Randa, what's the impact of al-Arouri's death on Hamas as an organization?

RANDA SLIM: Hamas is the type of organization that can survive the death of al-Arouri, as it has done in the past by surviving the death of other leaders who were assassinated over the years by Israel.

And so I think it's going to be, in the s difficult, but, in the medium term to long term, I think Hamas will be able to survive his death, and it's not going to affect its operation.

Now, he was also involved, he has been involved in the negotiation over the Israeli hostages as representative of a wing of Hamas.

And so how this attack and this assassination affect those negotiations is yet to be seen.

It might derail them.

It might delay them.

AMNA NAWAZ: Bu or not this conflict could broaden into the wider region?

If al-Arouri is in Lebanon as sort of the liaison, the connection Hezbollah, does his death mean that you see Hezbollah entering the war in fuller force now?

RANDA SLIM: I think Hezbollah into a larger escalation, into an all-out war.

Nasrallah Hezbollah, Hezbollah secretary-general, in his speech today paid his condolences to family of al-Arouri, to Hamas, but he did not go into detail about this, dragging them into any kind of major escalation.

In fact, to the contrary, he sa Lebanon because they have been calculating their move on that front very carefully in order not to give Israel any kind of reason to launch an all-out war.

However, he said that, if Israel were to drag us into this war, the response is going to be great, and there will be no limits to this response.

And he said Israel will know what I mean.

AMNA NAWAZ: Randa, what does that mea into that war?

What line do y RANDA SLIM: You know, there are An d I think, like today, there are unconfirmed reports yet of a senior Hezbollah commander has been targeted and killed in Naqoura in south of Lebanon.

I think more of this kind of assassination targeting Hezbollah in Lebanon, especially in Beirut's southern suburbs, is, I think, the red line that Hezbollah will not tolerate.

Arouri was a Hamas member, was a Palestinian.

Despite the fact that he was killed and assassinated in Hezbollah's security perimeter, in Beirut's southern suburbs, I still think this is not a major red line for Hezbollah.

However, Nasrallah said in his speech, his assassination will not go without response.

But, of course, very much in line with their modus operandi, he did not, of course, say anything about what kind of response and when that response will happen.

AMNA NAWAZ: We should point out Israel has not publicly claimed responsibility assassination of Saleh al-Arouri, but they have repeatedly said they will go after Hamas leadership wherever they are.

Do you see the possibility of Israel car like Turkey or Qatar, where we know Hamas leadership live?

RANDA SLIM: The intelligence services in Turkey have already issued a wa to carry out the assassination their territory.

I think it's going to be a little bit difficult for Israel to do it on Qatari territory, especially as they need Qatar's mediation in the hostage file between them and Hamas, at least until all hostages are released, all Israeli hostages are released.

I think they will continue to target them in Lebanon.

But after al-Arouri's assassination, Hamas leaders might either take extra security precautions.

I think the fear -- the fact that the assassination ra ises a lot of concerns about the security of Hezbollah leaders who live and work in that area as well.

AMNA NAWAZ: That i joining us from Beirut.

Randa, thank you so much.

Good to see RANDA SLIM: Thank you very much.

GEOFF BENNETT: In the day's other headlines: A double bombing in Iran killed at least 95 people and wounded more than 200, the deadliest attack since the Islamic Revolution back in 1979.

Crowds had gathered in the city in a U.S. drone strike in Iraq four years ago.

Iranian TV captured panic on the cemetery's main road as the blasts erupted 20 min apart.

The country' U.S. officials disavowed any involvement.

MATTHEW MILLER, State Department Spokesman: to say what might have caused it.

But I do want to address some of the irresponsible claims tha that, number one, the United States was not involved in any way.

And any suggestion to the contrary is ridiculous.

And, number two, we have no reason to believe that Israel was involved in th GEOFF BENNETT: By tonight, no group had claimed responsibility for the bombings.

Bomb threats across the U.S. forced evacuations of a number of state capitol buildings this morning.

Officials in Con Montana, and Hawaii, among others, confirmed receiving e-mail warnings.

Police found no explosives in any of the capitols.

Former President Donald Trump's challenge to being banne ballot is now before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Today, he formally appealed a state Supreme Court ruling serve as president again for engaging in the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

Mr. Trump is appealing a similar ruling in Maine.

Ukraine and Russia have completed the biggest prisoner exchange since their wa The United Arab Emirates arranged the swap today.

Ukraine's President Zelenskyy shared video of some of the 230 Ukrainian soldiers were returned.

The Russians recov Meantime, Moscow set its forces shot down 12 missiles southern border.

Ukrainian shelling killed 25 The death toll in Monday's powerful earthquakes in Western Japan reached 73 toda least 15 people still missing.

Rescue crews searched through the rubble of coll and freezing temperatures set in.

Many survivors spent a third day withou NAOMI GONNO, Earthquake Survivor (through translator): No supplies whatsoever have arrived.

For food, everyone is cooperating and sharing, but it's just so cold, and there are still aftershocks.

I can't beli When it gets dark, everyone is so scared.

There aren't many people who are able to sleep.

GEOFF BENNETT: Some 33,000 people are staying at evacu homes to return to.

Much of Europe's Nordic region shivered t day.

Overnight te there in 25 years.

Gale-force winds and heavy snow also closed and disrupted travel.

Thousands of doctors in Britain are now on Th e planned walkout is set to be the longest in the history of the country's Nation Service.

Junior docto It's the latest in a series of strikes across the British health sector over low pay and the cost of living.

Back in this country, Robert F. make the 2024 presidential ballot in Utah.

It's the first state where he has qualified so far.

Kennedy is now running as an independent, sparking quest the general election outcome in November.

And on Wall Street, tech stocks led the way lower for a second day, and Th e Dow Jones industrial average lost nearly 285 points to close at 37430.

The Nasdaq fell 173 points.

The S&P 500 dropped 38.

Still to come on the "NewsHour": states implement new gun restrictio mass shootings; we take stock of the 2024 campaign as voters prepare to make their choices in the first two states; and one of the fathers of the Internet gives his Brief But Spectacular take on its future.

AMNA NAWAZ: Now to the second of two reports from William Brangham on how northern cities are dealing with a surge of migrants from the southern border.

Last night, William reported from New York.

Tonight, he has the story from Chicago on bu sed and flown in by Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: It's move-in day on the South Side of Chicago.

A team of movers with a local nonprofit is helping yet another migrant family start a new life, with a rented van, donated furniture and housing assistance for three months.

Maria and her daughters, who asked me not to show their faces, fled Venezuela, crossed the Mexican border, declared asylum, and then were put on buses in Texas and sent north; 19-year-old Franck Marquez is their cousin.

He too left Venezuela after they did, and FR ANCK MARQUEZ, Venezuelan Migrant (through translator): More than anything, I left my country because of the security situation, to get to the United States and start a better future.

WILLIAM BRAN the treacherous Darien Gap in Central America before he arrived in Mexico and made his w to Chicago, where he was connected with local charities.

FRANCK MARQUEZ (through translator): They have given us a lot of s but many other Venezuelans who are also trying to do the same thing, create a better future for themselves and their family.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Scenes like this are playi newly arrived migrants trying to start anew.

Since August of 2022, an estimated 27,000, mostly from Venezuela, have come to But to city officials coordinating and funding this unprecedented wave, it's proving to be a serious burden.

City and state leaders have often been at Chicago's Democratic Mayor Brandon Johnson has echoed the calls of other Northern big city mayors who are asking for more help from Washington.

BRANDON JOHNSON (D), Mayor of Chicago, Illinois: This is a national pro It's an international problem.

And the federal government has to d WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Chicago's shel The city's 3,500 shelter beds were nowhere near enough for the surge of new arrivals.

Initially, migrants slept on the floors of police stations and in airports as the city built up capacity.

But once it stood up tem and unsanitary.

Just before Christmas, a 5-year-o inside a city-contracted shelter.

The city argues that many migrants are being sent to Chicago in BRITT HODGDON, Social Worker: This was a preventable death.

This was also a predictable death.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: If I had said to you a year or s to be dealing with and here's where you're going to have to scale up at the pace you have to scale it up, what would you have said?

MATT DEMARIO, Executive Director, New Life Centers: I w not believed you.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Matt D group that is one of the many nonprofits in Chicago that's partnered with the city and state to help migrants as soon as they get off the bus.

Before this current group arrived, New Life ran programs for young people in their community along with a food pantry.

Now they have dialed up a full-scale MATT DEMARIO: In the last seven months, we have moved 2,000 families into ab out 8,000 people.

And now, starting next week, we will So we will be doing 1,100 apartments per month.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Wow.

I mean, that a year ago.

MATT DEMARIO We built a system of trucks, movers, drivers, Bank, groups who have clothing, who have furniture.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: New Life opera es this 20,000-square-foot donated goods and household supplies for newly arriving families.

Meanwhile, the buses continue arriving from Texas.

Chicago has now filed lawsuits against multiple bus companies hired by Texas Governor Greg Abbott, alleging they're refusing to follow new rules on coordinating the times and locations of drop-offs.

One of the arguments tha they have been dealing with this for years now, and now they're trying to say, look, the rest of the country ought to deal with this as well.

MATT DEMARIO: Yes, I hear that argument.

And I think -- the first thing I think is, And the federal government needs to come in with appropriate resources.

We're building the infrastructure with almost zero federal support.

So this has been all state and city resources in Chicago and in Illinois building t And so we want them, we invite them.

We're a welcoming city.

But the reso DR. EVELYN FIGUE Chicago needs people to work.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Dr. Evelyn Figueroa runs th clothing, food and other services to migrants in the city.

She says she understands the severity of the crisis, but says Chicago has the capacity to handle it.

DR. EVELYN FIGUE Our population is 2.8 million in Chicago.

Are we really going to get, like, tossed apart by 25,000 people?

Seriously?

Of course no WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Wh can't afford that?

DR. EVELYN FIGUE It's expensive when we don't develop systems.

We are doing things the hard way, and it's ha It doesn't have to be like this.

We have thousands of nonprofits in Chica chickens without heads.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Figueroa On e example, earlier this month, the state had to scrap a proposed migrant tent camp on a former industrial site because the soil was contaminated.

The city lost close to a million dollars on that effort.

Meanwhile, Governor Abbott has been posting new videos, now showing migrant flown from Texas to Illinois.

For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm William Brangham in Chicago.

AMNA NAWAZ: Late today, the U.S. Justice Department sued Texas over a new st allow police to arrest migrants who enter the U.S. illegally.

The law is set to take effect in March.

Also today, dozens of House Republicans led by Speaker Mik border as negotiations continue over immigration policy between senators and the White House.

In a news conference, Johnson attacked the Biden administration's approach to the border and called for change.

REP. MIKE JOHNSON security, it better begin by defending America's national security.

AMNA NAWAZ: To delve further into where border funding negotiations stand now is our congressional correspondent, Lisa Desjardins.

Lisa, good to see you.

LISA DESJARD AMNA NAWAZ: LISA DESJARDINS: Right.

AMNA NAWAZ: LISA DESJARD We are, as w that on our border in the Southwest in December.

Let's look at the numbers that are recent from the First of all, in December, total migrant encounters on the Southwest border, 302,000.

These are from sources that give me this information.

Then, in December 2020, in December, we're going to point out not all of those were through illegal entry.

Some of those we 250,000.

What does th Let's compare it to a ye These are record numbers that we saw in December, I will say.

I also have been told that the numbers did go down over Christmas, And even today, as we saw the Republicans at the border, there were not as many people visible in the place they were standing at.

Unclear if that will last.

AMNA NAWAZ: And LISA DESJARDINS: Right.

AMNA NAWAZ: Well, we kno And the funding for Ukraine and Israel is Yo u have been covering those Senate talks.

Where do the negotiators stand?

LISA DESJARDIN Kyrsten Sinema, who was meeting with the two other key senators Let's remind people who really is at the core of these negotiations.

This is a group I call the Quad, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayo Chris Murphy, the Democrat of Connecticut, Sinema, the independent of Arizona, and Senator James Lankford, Republican of Oklahoma.

I am told that they have been working every day, e that staff has been working at breakneck pace to try and figure out how to handle this border situation.

They are tal removal power.

But the details Senator Kyrsten Sinema came out earlier today and told us that, actually, they a in on something and it's reasonable to think they could have something by next week.

Of course, there's not a deal until there is one.

I want to also say what Senate leader Chuck He's also in town, another indication of how serious this is.

This is what he told reporters: SEN. CHUCK SCHUME will put enormous pressure on the House to get something done as well, and no let these hard right people get up and say they are going to -- they, the 30 of them, to dictate how the whole country should work.

LISA DESJARDINS: So many of these de now for many reasons, one, millions of lives at stake on the border, but also millions of lives, as you pointed out, in Ukraine, because that funding is not going to advance until potentially they work out this deal.

AMNA NAWAZ: We heard Senator Schumer refe What about House Republicans?

Where are they w LISA DESJARDINS: Right now, and what we heard from Speaker st ill demanding the bill that they passed, H.R.2.

And I want to remind people of what That is your conservative version of this.

They -- in that bill, they would de this country.

And that inc They would reinstate family detention, something that right now Now, they would also have tougher screening standards for those applying for asylum, making it much more difficult.

And they would end All but two Republicans in the House voted for that.

Now, will they compromise?

They haven't e AMNA NAWAZ: Meanwh to impeach DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

What do we know?

LISA DESJARD Today, a Hou possible impeachment next week.

That's not the official inquiry yet.

But what I'm hearing, my reporting is this month or next of the homeland security secretary, even as he's dealing with thi border crisis, they say because he hasn't handled it well.

Homeland security says they're ready for this.

They see this as polit Yes, it is very diff Also, Amna, all of this could tie into a potential government funding c the month, Republicans saying they need border money before they will keep government operated.

So it is going to get complicated, difficult and intense even more.

AMNA NAWAZ: Lisa Desjardins, thank you, as always, for your great reporting.

GEOFF BENNETT: New gun safety laws are taking effect in a handful of states in this new year.

While the co in California, Colorado, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, and Washington are aimed at preventing gun violence.

I spoke yest Adam Winkler is a constitutional law professor at UCLA and an expert in gun policy.

Thank you for being with us.

ADAM WINKLER GEOFF BENNET Give us a sense of the categories of restrictions and what they aim to do.

ADAM WINKLER: Well, we have a host of new gun laws that have gone into effect with this new year.

Some states like Califor and where those guns can be carried.

States like Washington have expanded background st ill other states like Michigan and Minnesota have enacted red flag laws, which allow judges to temporarily remove firearms from someone who's deemed a threat to themselves or to others.

GEOFF BENNET in the U.S. in 2023.

Those are incidents where more than four pe What effect could some of these gun laws have on preventing gun violence of that sort?

ADAM WINKLER: Well, mass shootings are, of course, one of the hardest problems in the gun safety world to solve.

But, nonetheless, some of the Fo r instance, Washington state has expanded gun background checks in an effort to try to keep guns out of the hands of people who will commit mass shootings.

A waiting period can also potentially help prevent a mass shooting to the extent t it's a crime of passion that one does without much thought and consideration.

Still, other states like Illinois have banned the weapons that are most commonly used in high-profile mass shootings, those military-style assault rifles with high-capacity magazines.

GEOFF BENNETT: Many of the states that we have mentioned are Democratic-led states.

What are Republican-led states doing in the way of passing new gun safety laws, if at all?

ADAM WINKLER and more loose.

So, for instance regimes.

That is, you GEOFF BENNETT: Many of these new gun restrictions are already being challenged i How do you expect that to play out?

ADAM WINKLER: Well, it's ver going to fare in court.

One thing is clear.

The Supreme Cour virtually any gun law is likely to be challenged in court.

And many of those challenges will be successful.

The Supreme Court has said that, for gun laws to be constitutionally to resemble the gun laws of the 1700s and 1800s.

Given how different our gun laws are today from the 1700s and 1800s, many gun laws that are innovative and trying to solve today's problems are likely to run aground when they get into court.

GEOFF BENNETT: Are l violence?

What more needs to b ADAM WINKLER: Politicians are one th in America, and any new policy we adopt runs headlong into that simple fact.

We are a heavily armed society.

And as long as we are heavily arme going to be mass shootings, and there's going to be the easy availability of firearms for those who wish to try to commit suicide.

So we can reduce gun violence, but we can't expect to eliminate the gu in America.

GEOFF BENNET We appreciate it.

ADAM WINKLER: Thank you.

AMNA NAWAZ: The federal investigation into 2021's January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol is the largest FBI operation in history.

More than 1,200 people have been charged and over 900 convi charges are expected before the investigation concludes.

But it has stretched the bureau's resources, and it's often had to rely on th a bipartisan group of citizen investigators who came to be known as sedition hunters.

Judy Woodruff spoke with one of these anonymous sleuths as part of her ongoing series America at a Crossroads.

SANDY, Citizen Investigator: In the I would drop my children off at school, I would come home, and I would be on it almost like a workday.

And then once the kids were in up a couple hours later.

It takes its toll, definit JUDY WOODRUFF: Sandy, like many Amer DONALD TRUMP, Former President of the United States (R) and Current U.S. Presidential Candidate: We fight like hell, and if you an ymore.

JUDY WOODRUF police lines and stormed the Capitol Building.

RIOTERS: Hang Mike Pence!

Hang Mike Pence!

Hang Mike Pence!

SANDY: And I just re ever forget that moment in my life.

JUDY WOODRUFF: In the following effort to identify the individuals who broke into the Capitol.

She's been directly responsible for helping to put people behind bars, and she now has to hide her identity, for fear of retaliation.

SANDY: One of the more insidious ones would be a J6er who is yet to be arrest He started sending me like, videos of him racking his gun.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Sandy is today part of an informal community of dozens of ordinary Americans who came to be known as sedition hunters.

Over time, they developed their own methodologies, guidelines, even keep track of every individual rioter, giving each one a pseudonym and compiling dossiers of evidence that they then turned over to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, along with the rioters' real identity.

SANDY: One of the first things is just gettin And there is one rioter, #OrangeGoggleSpiker is his hashtag, you can see him in the tunnel section of the Capitol beating up the officers.

Eventually, when I found his face, we were able to plug it into some facial recognition software.

That popped (LAUGHTER) JUDY WOODRUF Scott Miller, which they submitted to the FBI, along with evidence of his actions on January 6.

He has since been ar RYAN REILLY, NBC News Justic images that shows you who's been identified, who has not.

So you see like a lot of these, the blue here, but not get arrested.

JUDY WOODRUF whose new book, "Sedition Hunters: How January 6th Broke the Justice System," spells out how the FBI has struggled to investigate the thousands of people who stormed the Capitol.

RYAN REILLY: The FBI was so overwhelmed with the number of tips that they were receiving.

They had received hundreds of thousands of tips.

And now you will have the FBI going to the sl We charge this guy, we want to make sure we got everything that he did that day.

Can you give us a full report?

They don't have the JU DY WOODRUFF: Is the FBI that far behind in terms of technology?

RYAN REILLY: They really just are sort of behind on open-source intelligence.

One of the jokes within the FBI is yesterday's technology tomorrow.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Reilly says it's estimated that about 3,000 people unla the Capitol, damaged property or assaulted police officers on January 6.

The FBI has charged more than 1,200 of them so far, but the citizen sleuths have identified and submitted tips on about 1,000 more.

RYAN REILLY: They're not going to be able to get the number of peo be charged with crimes on January 6.

We're going to end this investigation when the five-year statute of wi th people who are identified, but not yet arrested.

JUDY WOODRUFF: The FBI said in a statement that each tip is only the beginning of an investigation and that they are working diligently to gather sufficient evidence for prosecutors to bring charges in these cases.

The FBI did not address the question of whether it that its work has been -- quote -- "greatly assisted by the many tips provided by the public" -- end quote, adding it hopes these tips continue to come in.

But Reilly says the FBI's technology isn't the only reason for what he calls a backlog of January 6 cases.

RYAN REILLY: We do have a lo bringing these cases against people who attacked the Capitol on January 6.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Are there still people in the FBI not enthusiastic?

RYAN REILLY: There are, and I say that because some FBI have come out and said that publicly.

They have resigned from the FBI because of JUDY WOODRUFF: Reilly points out that, in addition t officials pushing conspiracy theories, members of Congress have opposed investigations into January 6 and also contributed to misinformation about what happened that day.

REP. MATT GAETZ: They were masquerading as Trump supporters and, in fact, were members of the violent terrorist group Antifa.

JUDY WOODRUFF: These inc to January 6 took the lead in filing a lawsuit to overturn the 2020 presidential election results.

He has said REP. MIKE JOHNSON the events of that day because we don't want them to be retaliated against and to be charged by the DOJ.

SANDY: If he's to identify more criminals, go for it, buddy.

Like, it doesn't matter to us.

We can look at their cloth JUDY WOODRUFF: This is the larg And although Sandy is at the heart of it, having helped identify hundreds of rioters, almost nobody in her life knows about her work.

SANDY: People want to know what you have been up to, and you have things that you want to say, and you can't.

I will just default to the kids and what JUDY WOODRUFF: You're not getting paid for this, are you?

SANDY: No.

No.

I haven't go This is lite their money, and their energy in holding people accountable.

We have some that voted for Trump, and then after J6 were disgusted by it, because they took the peaceful transfer of power and just stomped all over it, literally.

And then they called themselves patriots.

CYNTHIA MILLER-IDRISS, American ha ve to rely on groups of people, but I also think we're in a world whe have the resources to do these investigations.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Cynthia Miller-Idriss is the director of American an d Extremism Research and Innovation Lab.

CYNTHIA MILLER-IDRISS: We don't have the capacity in any law enforcement age surge of political violence or hate-fueled violence when that -- when it's driven by misinformation that is believed by millions and millions of people.

JUDY WOODRUFF: She says now that members of the public are engaging in violent extremist acts, it's a far greater challenge for law enforcement to prevent and to counter.

CYNTHIA MILLER-IDRISS: It's no longer just on the fringes when you're talking about people in the mainstream spontaneously taking up violent action for a political goal.

And I know everyone in my field is watching the year to come with a lot of concern.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Although she says she believes the prosecutions in the January 6 investigat have degraded the ability of extremist groups to organize mass mobilizations, Professor Miller-Idriss says that the focus must expand to addressing the root causes of extremism, where radical beliefs originate.

CYNTHIA MILLER-IDRISS: We put and think that the security side of it will solve it.

It has to be there, but so does the Department of Education and agencie that work with the elderly, that work with digital and media literacy.

SANDY: I would like to have an ability to counter this disinformatio It's incredibly frustrating.

JUDY WOODRUFF: SANDY: I haven't spoken to a few of my cousins since January 6 because they support it.

We're divided, and I don't know how to pull us back together.

I don't know how it's going to change.

JUDY WOODRUFF: F GEOFF BENNETT: Republicans in Iowa will be the first to cast their votes in support of a presidential candidate in less than two weeks.

That's followed a week later by New Hampshire's first-in-the-natio To give us a read on how the campaigns are shaping up in their respective st turn to Radio Iowa news director Kay Henderson and New Hampshire Public Radio senior political reporter and editor Josh Rogers.

Welcome to you both.

Kay, we will Ron DeSantis, who has spent a ton of time and money campaigning in what he sees as Donald Trump's broken promises on immigration.

GOV.

RON DESANTIS to do the largest deportation rallies in 2016 where he said the exact same thing.

And what was the result?

Fewer deportations than the first That is not getting the job done.

GEOFF BENNETT: Why aren't Ro n DeSantis' initial premise for his campaign was that And yet Donald Trump, his polling average right now in Iowa sits at 50 percent.

What accounts for that?

KAY HENDERSO who plan to vote for President Trump.

And DeSantis is appealing to people who may be inclined not to vote for Trump.

And in the end, they may actually go into a caucus and cast a vote for Donald Trump.

So he's walking a very steady line here, in that he is criticizing Trump policies, that he's making the argument didn't come to the fore or come to fruition during the Trump presidency as a way to try to make the closing argument.

GEOFF BENNETT: Kay, how are Donald Trump's legal troubles and his authoritarian impulses viewed by Republican voters in Iowa?

KAY HENDERSON: Well, the polling shows that An d if you talk to people at the rallies, in some respects, it has increased their ardor, if you will, for the former president.

GEOFF BENNETT: Well, Kay, for de but no longer.

Democrats removed Iowa entirely as calendar.

What signifi KAY HENDERSON: Well, it will be the first test of whether Donald Trump si zable victory.

The key here is, what is the margin bet and Nikki Haley?

The question is, will Trump sc 2000, when he was the sitting vice president and got 60 percent of Democrats' votes, or in 2000, when George W. Bush, who was the favorite heading in, got more than 41 percent in a competitive race?

So those are sort of the stakes for Can he overcome what happened to him l apparatus that was at the precinct level and was sort of depending on in 2016 his popularity to carry him to victory?

He has a very much different He is organized at the precinct level.

He's been having these events around the state, wh suspect, having seen lots of Trump rallies.

And he is connecting with people that are precinct captains.

They're people on the ground in Iowa.

GEOFF BENNETT: Let's shift our race.

Josh, is the JOSH ROGERS, New Hampshire Public Radio: Well, they hope so.

And it remains to be seen.

Certainly, what happens in Iow And it's evident in the polls and also out at events that former U.N.

Ambassador Nikki Haley is certainly clearly in second place here, picking up steam.

Whether there's an electorate that can deliver her close enough to Trump -- I mean, a lot of the expectations-setting that Kay was talking about going on in Iowa, that's going on here as well.

New Hampshir He hasn't campaigned here a lot.

And I'm not sure the grassroots been going on for Trump here.

Nikki Haley has the endorsement of our s That will help her.

How much it helps her is an open There's time for her to catch up, but she's still got a great de if you believe the polls.

GEOFF BENNET affiliation and participate in the Republican primary, potentially as a means of voting against Donald Trump?

JOSH ROGERS: Well, D If you are a registered Democrat, you must register -- you must vote in pr imary.

If you are a So while Democrats can't vote in the Republican primary, there are lots of Democratic-leaning independent voters that the non-Trump candidates are certainly reaching out to.

And so where they go -- I mean, where the independents go in the New Hampshire primary tends to be with the winning candidate.

And so that's something that all the campaigns are fighting f GEOFF BENNETT: Well, Nikki Haley was in New Hampshire today, and she was making the generational argument for her candidacy.

NIKKI HALEY (R), Presidential vo tes for president.

That's nothing to be p We should want to win the majo But the only way we're going to win the majority of the Americans is leader that leaves the negativity in the baggage behind and focuses on the solutions in the future.

GEOFF BENNET I mean, what issues are candidates gaining traction on in New Hampshire?

JOSH ROGERS: Well, that's certainly a pitch that has been a staple in her stump speech from the very beginning.

And Nikki Haley is i the course of this campaign.

A generational a In terms of issues, you know, the affordability of pre will tell you they're concerned about.

Housing costs and availability is a b International affairs.

A lot of vot some of them cite her more interventionist views in terms of the United States' overseas.

She makes a point of linking the wa Gaza as being all linked.

And that is something that some of the voters turning out to see her find Bu t the generational thrust is a big one.

And there are a lot of voters in New Hampshire en thusiastic about the notion of four more years of Joe Biden or four more years of Donald Trump.

And so her m GEOFF BENNETT: Kay, same question to you.

We focus so much on the pers What about the policies?

What do Iowa voters, KAY HENDERSON: Well, the biggest applause line at most of these events for all the candidates is how they describe their policies on immigration and Border Patrol.

But I do want to touch off on something that my colleague in New Hampshire just raised.

The most interesting thing about the Nikki Haley crowd in the past couple of weeks is that it's being populated in part by people who have participated in Iowa Republican Party caucuses and in Iowa Democratic Party caucuses.

And I talked to several people who are considering becoming a registered Republican for a day at a Nikki Haley event this past weekend because they don't want to see either Donald Trump or Joe Biden in the White House this time next year.

GEOFF BENNETT: Kay Henderson of Radio Iowa and Josh Rogers of New Hampshire Public Radio, our thanks to you both.

JOSH ROGERS: Y KAY HENDERSO GEOFF BENNETT: Vint Cerf is known for his pioneering Internet.

He now serve That's his actual title.

Tonight, Cerf shar VINT CERF, Vice President and Chief Internet Evangelist, Google: As the Internet evolved, it didn't occur to us that somebody might want to interfere wi information.

The good par environment.

The not-so-g including truths and untruths.

So we're being asked in some sense to by using our brains to think critically about the content that we see.

My good friend Bob Kahn and I started working on the Internet in 1973.

It wasn't like we woke up one day and said, huh, we're going to build the Internet.

It was more like a problem that was posed to us.

How do we figure out how to connect these different kinds And so it was an engineering job.

Well, let's look at the Ab out two-thirds of the world's population have access to it.

We have to understand how to make all of these applications literally If there's a sound component that includes speech, there should be captioning available in the normal course of events.

If you're blind and you can't see what t of describing it audibly.

All of these things are technically feasible.

It's just that not everybody who design for doing that.

And so we ne universally accessible.

Many people get worried about artificial For one thing, it brings to mind robots and the ro I think that's an overblown concern.

The thing that we do want to make sure of is that we use the in ways that are safe and secure.

And that is going to require a lot more attention, but I believe There will have to be laws agreed and on an international basis in order to protect people from harm or to hold people accountable for bad behavior.

But the agency part is to help people, institutions, and countries even to know how to p themselves in the online environment.

People ask about, what am I proud of them?

And I don't feel pride, as much as I and I and a mass of other people have designed and built is still open to further revolution.

And the fact that it has opened up so many opportunities for other people to contribute, I think, is a very important element in the Internet story.

My name is Vint Cerf, and this is my Brief But Spectacular take on the future of the Internet.

You ain't se (LAUGHTER) GEOFF BENNET AMNA NAWAZ: And that is the "NewsHour" for tonight.

I'm Amna Nawaz.

GEOFF BENNET Thanks for spendin with us.