News Wrap: Israel continues deadly airstrikes in Gaza and Lebanon

In our news wrap Saturday, a flurry of new nominees is rounding out Trump’s next administration, Israeli airstrikes killed dozens of people in southern Gaza and central Beirut, and the CDC is investigating the country’s first case of bird flu diagnosed in a child.
Laura Barron-Lopez:
Outside of those top public health roles, a flurry of new nominees are rounding out Trump’s administration. Today, President-elect Trump named Brooke Rawlins as his pick for agriculture sector secretary. Rollins is the president and CEO of the America First Policy Institute, a Trump aligned think tank.
In the first Trump administration, she served on his domestic policy council. The president-elect’s choice for the Office of Management and Budget is a familiar name. Russell Vogt led the budget office during the first Trump term. Vogt was one of the lead authors of Project 2025, the conservative playbook that proposed dramatic plans to overhaul and gut parts of the government.
Vogt has said the U.S. is living in a post constitutional time and he crafted plans for Trump to deploy the military during civil unrest. Sebastian Gorka has been named White House senior director for counterterrorism.
Gorka became a Fox News contributor after an abrupt end to his brief stint in the White House during Trump’s first administration. In response to the announcement, Trump’s former national security adviser John Bolton told CNN, he’s a dangerous choice.
John Bolton, Former National Security Adviser:
Well, Sebastian Gorka is a con man. I wouldn’t have him in any U.S. government. Fortunately, it’s not the highest position he had been mentioned for, but I don’t think it’s going to bode well for counterterrorism efforts.
Laura Barron-Lopez:
President elect Trump also announced his picks for the Departments of Labor and Housing and Urban Development. Labor secretary nominee Lori Chavez DeRemer, who recently lost her reelection bid to the House, is backed by labor unions, including the head of the Teamsters and former Texas state representative, professional football player and Trump White House alum Scott Turner has been tapped for HUD secretary.
In the Middle East, deadly airstrikes killed six people, mostly women and children, in the southern area of Khan Younis. Gaza’s health ministry said the death toll from the 13th month long war has ticked past 44,000. The health ministry does not distinguish between fighters and civilians.
And in Lebanon, an Israeli airstrike killed more than a dozen people in Beirut. Lebanese health officials say the strikes hit the central part of the capital, killing 15 and wounding more than 60 others when an eight-story building came crashing down.
And in California, the CDC is investigating the country’s first case of bird flu diagnosed in a child. The health agency says the child has mild symptoms and is recovering.
An investigation into how they contracted the virus is underway, but officials say the child may have had contact with wild birds. No other cases involving children have been announced.
Still to come on PBS News Weekend, why decades old toxic foam is still contaminating waterways in northern Michigan and the long term impact major storms can have on children’s mental health.