PBS News Hour - Full Show - April 6, 2026 - PBS News Hour full episode

Episode Date: April 6, 2026

Monday on the News Hour, fears of a broader escalation are growing after President Trump threatens strikes on Iran's civilian infrastructure. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz spikes fertilizer prices, hurting American farmers during the critical spring planting season. Plus, NASA's Artemis mission makes history, carrying astronauts farther from Earth than humans have ever traveled. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

Good evening. I'm Amna Nawaz. And I'm Jeff Bennett. On the news hour tonight, fears of a broader escalation are growing after President Donald Trump threatened strikes on Iran's civilian infrastructure. The closure of the Strait of Ormoos spikes prices for fertilizer, hurting American farmers during the critical spring planting season. Farmers have to make choices. They plant less crops. They apply less fertilizer or they switch the crops that they plant. All of those have long-term effects. And NASA's Artemis mission is making history, carrying astronauts on the first flyby of the moon's far side and farther from Earth than humans have ever traveled. Welcome to the News Hour. Tonight, the war with Iran is on the verge of escalation, with President Donald Trump threatening to target Iran's power grid and Tehran vowing even more forceful strikes on Israel and U.S. Gulf allies if there is no ceasefire by tomorrow night. The president simultaneously expressed confidence in a diplomatic outcome, but there's no public sign of progress. Also today, the U.S. celebrated the successful mission that rescued the American aviators shot down on Friday.

Nick Schiffen begins our report on a busy day in Iran and at the White House. Today in Tehran, another dawn lit up by airstrikes on an airport and an apartment building cut in half in an attack that state media reported killed six. As President Trump threatened escalation. We have a plan because of the power of our military where every bridge in Iran will be decimated by 12 o'clock tomorrow night, where every power plant in Iran will be out of business, burning, exploding, and never to be used again. I mean, complete demolition by 12 o'clock. Yesterday he used coarser language, threatening, quote, two, two,

Tuesday will be power plant day and bridge day, all wrapped up in one in Iran. There will be nothing like it. Open the fucking straight, you crazy bastards. Or you'll be living in hell. Just watch. Praise be to Allah. They have till tomorrow. Now we'll see what happens.

I can tell you they're negotiating. We think in good faith. We're going to find out. This weekend, mediators from Pakistan, Turkey and Egypt reportedly offered a 45-day ceasefire during which Iran would open the Strait of Hormuz and the U.S. and Iran would open the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S. and Iran would negotiate the end of the war. Iranian state media reported that Iran rejected that, demanding the end of the war, sanctions relief, reparations, and financial control over the Strait of Hormuz, through which

20 percent of the world's oil and natural gas usually flows. We have to have a deal that's acceptable to me. And part of that deal is going to be we want free traffic of oil and everything else. Mr. President, are you willing to end this conflict with Iran charging toll? for passage through the street? Us charging tolls? Iran. What about us charging tolls?

Is that something you're considering? I'd rather do that than let them have them run. Why shouldn't we? We're the winner. We won, okay? They are militarily defeated. But Iran maintains its ability to threaten U.S. allies. Today, Israeli families cowered in fear during an Iranian attack.

Last night, Iran launched a barrage of cluster minions. of cluster munitions that break up into small bombs that fly miles apart. And today, rescue workers in Haifa dug out the bodies of four victims. Twenty-three Israeli civilians have now been killed since the start of the war. Today Iran vowed its own escalation. If attacks on civilian targets are repeated, the next phases of our offensive and retaliatory operations will be carried out much more forcefully. Israel has already been striking civilian targets that it says are also used by the Iranian

military. Today it was a petrochemical plant. And Tehran Sharif University of Technology that professor said had no connection to the military. This was not only once a place of learning, but also protest. Four years ago, the university's students demonstrated against the regime for killing activist Masha Amin. Back then, they fled from the very same security forces that Israel had. has said it hopes will be overthrown.

We're here today to celebrate the success of one of the largest, most complex, most harrowing combat searches. The White House today also celebrated this weekend's historic rescue. What the military said included more than 150 aircraft and hundreds of special operations forces inside Iran to save the pilot and weapon service officer of an F-15 after it was shot down on Friday by a shoulder-fired surface-to-air missile. Iranian police posted the Americans' documents. The pilot was rescued within hours, but the weapons service officer was missing, dozens

of miles away. He scaled clifaces, bleeding rather profusely, treated his own wounds and contacted American forces to transmit his location. He survived more than 50 hours, during which time the Iranian regime offered a bounty to find him. As helicopters flew so low, locals targeted them with rifles. The mission was risky and needed multiple contingencies. A specialized search and rescue helicopter took fire, their crew injured.

Helicopters needed to be refueled mid-mission. And an A-10 providing close air support was struck and had to be ditched over Kuwait. Hundreds of people could have been killed. So we had people that were within the military that said this is not a wise, and I understood that, but I decided to do it. That's when the U.S. deployed decoys to confuse Iran about the weapons service officer's location. And the CIA helped find him, said Director John Ratcliffe.

In addition to the human and technical assets deployed by the president to find our airman, CIA executed a deception campaign to confuse the Iranians who were desperately hunting for our airmen. Secretary Pete Hegsafe today explicitly compared the aviator to Jesus Christ's resurrection. Shot down on a Friday, good Friday, hidden in a cave, a crevice all of Saturday, and rescued on Sunday. Flown out of Iran as the sun was rising on Easter Sunday. A pilot reborn, all home and accounted for a nation rejoicing. But tonight, the nation of Iran is bracing for escalation, as President Trump said,

The entire country can be taken out in one night and that night might be tomorrow. For the PBS News Hour, I'm Nick Schifrin. Let's get a view now from Iran with special correspondent Reza Seya, who is in Tehran and joins us on the phone. Reza, it's good to speak with you again. President Trump today repeated those threats about bombing power plants and bridges in Iran tomorrow night if Iran does not strike a deal. I know you were at the foreign ministry today. What's been the reaction there to President Trump's comments? We did go to the foreign ministry today when a spokesperson had his weekly press conference.

Obviously, the foreign ministry, the leadership here is aware of these threats. They hear them. The foreign ministry is careful not to get into a war of words with Mr. Trump. They make it a point to be diplomatic. They did say that a diplomatic solution could not happen with threats in ultimatums. Over the past couple of days, we've seen a push by Pakistan to mediate talks. There's been a proposal for a 45-day ceasefire to get these sides to come to an agreement. Tafron's position is no ceasefire, and it's because of their mistrust of Washington.

They see a ceasefire as employed by Washington and Israel to go back home, reload, and attack again. They don't want that. So Iran has put forth its own proposal, its own demands that addresses its security concerns and its rights. But my impression is that TECRON won't accept verbal guarantees anymore. And that's why they're holding on to the straight-of-hormuz. This is key for them. They see the straight as a lever. If the U.S. keeps attacking, the lever stays down and creates pain for Washington and the global economy.

And that's why the strait of more moves now is the key. impact. We also heard President Trump talk about the people of Iran say that they are, quote, willing to suffer in order to have freedom that they're asking for the bombing to continue. Based on your reporting, is that an accurate description of what Iranians believe right now? I don't think so. I don't think most Iranians that I talk to that I see are willing to suffer. They don't want to be bombed.

They don't want their universities and bridges and infrastructure bombs. My sense is that Mr. Trump is referring to the many Iranians who came out and protested in January in case the deadly crackdown. These are Iranians who don't like their governments. They want reform change. Some even wanted regime change. But I can tell you, this is not what they had in mind. And I think that many of those Iranians see the narrative that a limited military intervention

would usher in freedom and democracy and a new government has stated they're in a war now being bombed every day. And now they're waiting for Mr. Trump's deadline tomorrow, see exactly what he means, what he says Iran is going to be a living hell. That is special correspondent, Reza Seya, joining us from Tehran tonight. Reza, thank you. Good to speak with you. Thank you. Our White House correspondent, Liz Landers, was in the briefing room for President Trump's press conference today, and she joins us now. So, Liz, let's talk more about that 48-hour timeline the president has given Iran. What more do we know about that?

That latest deadline is at 8 p.m. Eastern tomorrow. And the president set this yesterday. So we're about 24 hours from when that deadline is going to be reached. And that is when the president is threatening to bomb power plants, bridges, other sites across Iran. He, though, Jeff, has extended some of these timelines, these self-imposed timelines throughout the last month or so of this conflict. So that could change tomorrow. And I think we should be on the lookout for that. And he was asked today by a reporter, in that press conference about the shifting messaging throughout this war. Take a listen to what he said.

Your messaging on the war has moved from the war is coming to an end to we're going to be bombing Iran to the Stone Ages. And we've heard a range of those sort of messages. So are you, so which is it? Are you winding this down? Can't tell you. I don't know. I can't tell you.

It depends what they do. This is a critical period. They have a period of, well, until tomorrow at 8 o'clock. I gave them an extension. They asked for an extension of seven days, right? I said, Steve, give them 10 days. The president was asked if those threats to bomb energy infrastructure amounted to a war crime. And he said that he's not concerned about that and that he hopes that he doesn't have to do that.

But he says, no, no, I'm not concerned, Jeff. The president also said he was upset about what he called a leaker in the government who told members of the media about the second missing airman. Tell us more about that. Last week, there was enormous interest around what happened with this aircraft that went down in Iran. Of course, news outlets were reporting on this, and in particular, the missing second airman. President today said that he's going to pursue whoever leaked that information and threatened both the leaker, but he also made a point of threatening the journalists that reported this last week.

He didn't name any news outlets, but he said that the government is going to go to these outlets and pressure them to reveal their sources. and he talked about, you know, using national security grounds to do this. Jeff, this is the same administration that I would just, you know, remind people, has recently gone after and raided the home of a Washington Post reporter for some of her reporting about the Trump administration. And lastly, excuse me, before the press conference, the president participated in the annual White House Easter egg role. He was there at the rope line.

You were as well. You talked to him. What did you ask him? I asked him two questions. The first one was about that post that Nick pointed to in his piece, where he used quite vulgar language when he was describing how he would bomb the power plants and bridges if Iran didn't open up the Strait of Hormuz.

I asked him why he used that on Easter Sunday. He said, only to make my point, I think you've heard it before. I also asked him because when we were in this rope line here, he was talking about how he was doing all of this to help the Iranian people. I said, how is it helping the Iranian people if you're going to bomb their energy infrastructure? Here's what he told me.

The Iranian people, when they don't, Don't hear bombs go off. They're upset. They want to hear bombs because they want to be free. And the only reason they're not out protesting, you know that, is because they were informed that if they protest, like the wrestler and his friends, if they protest, they will be shot immediately. And that's an edict that's in writing.

He went on to say that the Iranian people will fight back as soon as they can and as soon as they get weapons. But, Jeff, that is, of course, not the case right now. Liz Landers. Thanks so much for this reporting. We appreciate it. Well, for perspective now on President Trump's talk about bombing all of Iran's bridges and power plants, and whether that's legal under international law, we turn to retired Lieutenant Colonel Rachel Van Lendingham.

She spent 20 years in the Air Force and is now a professor at Southwestern Law School. Welcome back to the show. You heard in our reporting there the repeated threats by President Trump to bomb Iranian infrastructure. He said specifically there's a plan to decimate every bridge in Iran to destroy every. every power plant. You've heard the concerns, Colonel, about this potentially being a war crime. Based on your expertise, is it? He's both threatening a war crime and he's engaging in a war crime through that rhetoric itself. And I'll explain that. First of all, the law of war, that's not just international law.

It's U.S. law. And our military members are deeply trained and steeped in this law. the law of war prohibits measures of intimidation against a civilian population, including threats of violence whose primary purpose is to sow terror amongst that civilian population. Those civilians whose electricity ensures that there's refrigeration for medicine, for those that are dependent on refrigerated medicine that provides electricity to hospitals where there are life-saving operations ongoing, where babies are being born, whose electricity is helping ensure that the water is purified and clean. They are terrified. It's reasonably foreseeable to believe that such rhetoric will so tear amongst the civilian population. And therefore, one can infer that that's what

President Trump intends. So he's committing a war crime just through that language. Second of all, he's threatening to make our military engage in war crimes and therefore stain their honor and their soul and come back with moral injury. Why? Because threatening to destroy every bridge and every single power plan in the entire state of Iran is called an indiscriminate attack. That is a war crime. Why? Because the law of war says we don't engage in total warfare anymore. We don't believe that children are the enemy and that civilians are the enemy. The law of war says, look, we're going to divide the battlefield, which in modern days is often a city like Tehran into civilian objects and they're protected and civilian people. They're protected. And then there's military targets,

lawful military objectives that make an effective contribution to military action and whose destruction provides a definite military advantage. We divide the world into those two camps. By saying we're just going to bomb everything, bomb every single bridge, every single power plant that serves civilians, that is threatening indiscriminate attack. And it is one of the most horrible war crimes there are because it brings us back straight back down the slippery slope to total warfare. Well, Colonel, let me ask you, if I may, if the military and their lawyers can argue that, yes, the power plants provide electricity to civilians and they use these bridges, but that the regime also gets electricity from these power plants, that these same bridges are used by members of the Iranian military forces.

Does that justify making them targets? You have to make an individual case-by-case analysis of each bridge and every power plant that is being considered to be a lawful military objective. because first of all, just saying by its use or intended use has to make an effective contribution to the military action, not the regime in general, but to military action. And so a bridge, therefore, like the bridge that was destroyed last week, a bridge could make an effective contribution to military action because it's being used as a resupply line. Logistical lines are often legitimate lawful military objectives in war, despite the fact that they also have a civilian use. Their destruction at the time has to provide a definite military advantage. But that's not the end of the analysis.

The law of war goes even further to say, okay, once you've determined that there's some kind of military connection here, there's a connection to military action, and its destruction or disablement will produce a military advantage, then you have to look at will civilians be harmed. And of course, by taking out power plants that are civilian in nature, civilians will be harmed because civilian power plants provide civilian's electricity to their homes, to water purification plants, to hospitals, you name it. Right.

This is why the United States strongly condemned Russia. And our State Department concluded that Russia was engaged in war crimes of indiscriminate attacks because it was taking out power plants, electrical infrastructure in Ukraine during the dead of winter in which Ukrainians were plunged into life-threatening cold without the definite military advantage. So, the next step that you... If I may, let me just ask you this, then. At this point in time, we have a minute or so left, what would your advice be to U.S. military commanders

if they receive these kinds of orders? What's your message to them? Follow your oath to the Constitution and to the law, trust your training, ensure that there's discreet analysis done on every single power plant that's on a targeting list, on every single bridge to ensure that not only it's a lawful military objective, but that proportionality, that the harm to say, civilians, right, is not excessive compared to the direct and concrete military advantage to be

gained. And that means that most of these, indeed, will not pass that test. And that's what our military professionals are trained on. And I really hope they go back to that training and that they're taking these threats of war crimes given by the commander in chief and filtering them through their own training and their own conscience and their own legal obligation to follow the law of war. Because these are war crimes if they don't follow those steps. And those war crimes do not have a statute of limitations, and many of our, and it has universal jurisdiction, and so many of our allies could, if you want to travel to Europe, and sure you don't get engaged in a war crime.

That is retired, Lieutenant Colonel Rachel Van Landingham joining us tonight. Thank you so much for your time. Thank you. In the day's other headlines, a new round of Russian strikes has killed at least four people in southern Ukraine. In the Black Seaport of Odessa, emergency responders dug through the rubble of a damaged apartment building to rescue trapped residents, including young children. Ukrainian authorities said other Russian attacks across the country took aim at the power grid,

leaving hundreds of thousands of households without electricity. One Odessa resident called Russia's attacks on civilians, acts of evil. After Easter, which Catholics celebrated yesterday, Russia continues to commit these acts and cannot get enough of human blood. No decent person, especially a religious person, could possibly support or justify this. Ukraine's military responded by targeting Russian oil infrastructure. Moscow says Ukrainian drones hit a major Black Sea oil terminal igniting fires across rigs, pipelines, and storage tanks. Russian officials also report strikes in residential areas

with eight people injured, including two children. Separately, a senior Russian Air Force commander died when a military transport aircraft crashed in occupied Crimea, last week, Alexander Otroshenko was among 30 people killed. Russia's Ministry of Defense said a technical malfunction was the preliminary cause of the crash. In Afghanistan, a deadly combination of storms, floods, and landslides has claimed at least 110 lives in recent weeks. A magnitude 5.8 earthquake also struck Afghanistan on Friday, compounding the devastation from nearly two weeks of relentless rain. Officials say hundreds of homes have been destroyed, thousands more damaged, and major roads washed out or blocked by the landslides.

My entire house collapsed. As you can see, everything is buried under the mud, and we haven't been able to take any of our important belongings. Extreme weather warnings remain in place nationwide through tomorrow. Here at home, today's show host Savannah Guthrie returned to the anchor desk this morning. for the first time since her mother's disappearance more than two months ago. And it is good to be home. Yes, it is good to have you back at home. Well, here we go, ready or not. Let's do the news.

Yes, so good to have you back. All right. Guthrie later fought back tears while thanking viewers gathered outside the show's Rockefeller Center studio. Her 84-year-old mother, Nancy, is still missing. Authorities believe she was abducted from her home outside Tucson, Arizona. Investigators have not identified a suspect or motive, nor have they released any new evidence in weeks. The UCLA Bruins celebrated program history today after routing the South Carolina Gamecox 79 to 51. To win the school's first ever women's basketball title last night, it capped off a dominant season in which their only loss came back at Thanksgiving.

The team returned to campus trophy in hand, surrounded by screaming fans, a larger campus celebration. is set for Wednesday. Meantime, the men's NCAA championship tips off tonight pitting a mighty Michigan offense against an unlikely underdog in the University of Connecticut. Yukon is chasing its third title in just four years. And stocks made modest gains today as the war with Iran weighs on the markets.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 165 points, recouping the losses it suffered late last week. The NASDAQ gained a little more than a half percent. the S&P 500 finished positively for its fourth straight trading day. Still to come on the News Hour, astronauts on NASA's Artemis Missions see the side of the moon no human eye has seen before. Tamara Keith and Amy Walter break down the latest political headlines, and crafting musical instruments gives purpose to people in addiction recovery. This is the PBS News Hour from the David M. Rubenstein studio at WETA in Washington,

headquarters of PBS News. Let's focus now on some of the economic effects of the war with Iran. About a third of the world's fertilizer supply passes through the Strait of Hormuz. And its effective closure is causing shortages and price spikes for fertilizer during the crucial spring planting season. That has led to fears of both elevated food prices and lower crop yields across the globe. This morning, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rawlins told PBS news Liz Landers that, quote, everything was on the table to fix the problem for American farmers. Clearly, I think we're at 36 days for the conflict,

has elevated the issue of fertilizer, and how important it is for American farmers and frankly for our food supply. The good news is that about 80% of our farmers actually last fall locked in their fertilizers, so as we're moving into planting season, it's only about 20 to 25% of our farmers that didn't lock that in. We are working directly to ensure that we can get them

what they need and it won't bankrupt them. Now, despite those numbers, farmers we spoke with say they fear these cost increases could put them over the edge. Here's some of what they told us. My name is Russell Bainting. My family and I farm right south of San Antonio. We're buying nitrogen right now. And it's about 40% higher than it was, you know, two or three months ago, before the conflict. Let's just say that. I'm Lance Lillebridge. from Benton County, Iowa. We booked most of our fertilizer before the conflict in Iran. However, some of it we did not because it was too expensive. We're probably going to go without that

particular nutrient on our crop this year. A lot of other farmers are doing the same thing. My name is Matt Frostick. I have a crop and livestock operation in Michigan. In January, we were looking at nitrogen for about $350 a ton. Today, that number is balancing around $600. dollar. Steve Turner, I'm a farmer in northwest Illinois, located about 40 miles northwest of Springfield. You've got a lot of our inputs paid for. But I'm afraid we're going to be looking at some elevated prices for a while. People say, well, there's 80% of the fertilizer has already been purchased for this year's crop. And we actually heard that figure from USDA. Even if 80% is pre-purchased and the other 20% goes up 50% or more, it can still be a pretty good hit for you. The reality is we're not breaking even. We didn't break even the last two years.

With the increases and the input prices, there are no margins. They appear to be zero at this point. It's just not the fertilizer. It's going to be the fuel end of this thing. And I know everybody's experiencing that right now with the elevated fuel prices. You know, I always say if gas and diesel go up, if all goes up, everything else is going to follow in some form or fashion. As fuel becomes expensive and it's hard to produce that crop or cost more to produce and transport that crap at all, it all kind of equates to higher prices. So much of growing a crop is out of our control and we can only manage certain things. When the prices of these inputs become so high, it's, gosh, what do we do? I don't know. And I don't think anybody's got a wonderful answer to it. Well, when it comes to policy, I mean, frustration might be a little bit.

bit of a strong word. There's maybe anxiety, even before the conflict. Let's be honest about it. Tariffs have caused the price of our inputs to increase. If you want to look at it from the 30,000 foot view, agriculture pretty much still trust this administration. That's still what I hear. When you look at a straight-harmos, we've got to have shipments out of there. And I think anything, whether it's our U.S. Navy or whatever it is, to stabilize that region to get shipments out of there. We were already fighting record inflation and a price squeeze already. And this is just, you know, more on it right there. For more on the impact of this fertilizer shortage,

we turn now to Caitlin Welsh. She's the director of the Global Food and Water Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Welcome back to the program. It's good to have you. Thanks for having me. So the Strait of Hormuz has been closed now for longer than a month. How critical is it for global fertilizer supply?

Very critical and for a number of reasons. first of all because the Gulf is responsible for production of a significant amount of major fertilizer types exporting, being the top exporter of some major types of nitrogen fertilizer and phosphate fertilizer. The Gulf is also responsible for significant proportions of exports of inputs to fertilizers as well, liquefied natural gas and sulfur, and combine both the restrictions on exports to fertilizer and inputs to fertilizer has caused the price spikes we just heard about. Well, say more about that. What has it meant for prices and availability? Yeah, the prices of all fertilizers are increasing, whether or not they're exported from the Gulf.

And the prices of nitrogen-based fertilizer, particularly, like some of the ones we just heard the farmers' reference, one type of nitrogen fertilizer has increased by 45 to 50 percent month-on-month. And what that means for farmers right now, as you mentioned in the spring planting season, a lot of farmers are faced with high prices. Some farmers, in fact, most farmers in the United States had already secured the fertilizer they needed for this planting season beforehand, but those who needed to purchase fertilizer in global markets and were exposed to those high prices. When that happens, farmers have to make choices. They plant less crops, they apply less fertilizer, or they switch the crops that they plant.

All of those have long-term effects. Globally, what are the biggest risks if this disruption continues? So biggest risks come in two categories. One is risks from high fertilizer prices. And those risks change depending on the time horizon of this war. The nature of the countries affected and how they're affected changes. When you look at the countries that were importers of the products that I mentioned, the final fertilizer products and the inputs to fertilizers,

those include some of the world's major agricultural producers and exporters. So potentially many really important countries on ag markets could be affected. alongside a lot of countries that are food insecure could also be affected. But the other category of impacts comes actually through a different channel, which is high energy prices. And it's actually through high energy prices that we're expecting to see high food prices in the short term, in the U.S. and around the world. If the straight were to reopen tomorrow, how quickly could the supply recover?

Weeks to months, likely. Really? Months. Mainly because liquefied natural gas is one of the most important inputs to nitrogen fertilizer. And what we've seen are intentional attacks on LNG production facilities. So the duration of time it takes to get those facilities back online is going to affect how long it's going to take to get fertilizer prices back to normal. There are comparisons to the 2022 disruption after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Is that a fair comparison? Yes and no. It's a fair comparison in that major commodities are affected in both scenarios. And the timing was very, very similar almost to the day. In the case of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, you had fertilizers and fuel and food exports affected. In the case of this war with Iran, you have fertilizers and fuel affected mainly. With Russia's invasion of Ukraine, because millions of tons of grains were effectively locked in Ukraine's ports immediately after the invasion, that's why you saw global food prices spike to a historic high within a matter of weeks.

In this case, again, it will take some time to see the impacts of high-fertilized reports. prices on agriculture markets and food prices, but in the near term, it's high energy prices that are driving food prices higher globally. We saw the first report of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization out just a few days ago, looking at prices in March. The price of all major ag commodities had increased. Well, that was my next question for you. We talked about the impact on these farmers, but for regular consumers, I hear you say that

we might not see the price increases for, what, a couple more weeks? A couple more weeks. I'll be looking for the Consumer Price Index report from the U.S. out in a matter of days. I'll be watching for subsequent reports from the UN Food and Agarguelta Organization. The World Food Program of the UN expects that the impact of high energy prices alone

will increase the number of people experiencing acute food insecurity by up to $45 million, depending on the duration of the war, and those impacts could spike within a few months. So it takes a few months for the impacts of high energy prices to bear out on high food prices. That's what we saw in the case of Russia and Ukraine as well. Caitlin Welsh.

Thanks, as always, for your insights. Thank you for having me. Today marks an historic moment for NASA's Artemis II Moon Mission, as the crew flies to the far side of the moon and sets a record for the farthest distance from Earth traveled by any human in history. The four astronauts are on a voyage around the moon and back. Today's part of the mission is the most anticipated,

a seven-hour fly-by that circles the moon more than 250,000 miles away from the Earth. This afternoon, mission specialist, Christina Cook spoke about the capsule's approach to the moon with a science officer back at NASA. Kelsey, it's so great to hear your voice on the loops. I write through you guys made it. We're ready to hopefully deliver on all the awesome training. Joining us once again is our science correspondent, Miles O'Brien. So Miles, this crew, three Americans, one Canadian, traveled the furthest distance ever traveled by humans from Earth. There's a moment when the mission commander, Reed Wiseman, sees a crater on the moon that's never been seen before. Tell us about that moment. Omna, I've been covering space for decades,

and I can't remember a moment quite like this from an astronaut speaking back to the planet Earth. Perhaps we could go back to the Apollo A crew reading from Genesis, but this one was distinctly personal. Reed Weissman was looking at specific features on the moon and took a moment to dedicate one feature to his late wife, Carol. Listen. A bright spot on the moon dedicated to his late wife. Reed Weissman has spoken openly and candidly and emotionally about being a single father to two daughters

and doing the risky things he does. And all of it made that moment very poignant, Amna. Such a beautiful moment just puts it all into perspective perfectly, doesn't it? Miles, I know we've been talking to you along the way. You've been documenting some of the issues they had right before Lyftoff, a few issues early in the mission since last we spoke. Have there been any other issues, any challenges for this crew? Well, they continue to have difficulties with the toilet. I'm sorry to report after that point in a moment.

But this is the truth is this is a test mission. And on a test flight, you want to ring out all these little details. You know, if you were going to Mars and the toilet didn't work, that could be a real problem. So understanding how a space toilet works, and apparently it's not easy, $23 million, and this is what you get, it's complicated. So they still are unable to go number one in the toilet, and that remains a problem. You know, if that's the only problem, that's good. but it is a problem to contend with, ultimately. This mission is all about testing out these things,

making sure the crew is comfortable, not too cold, not too warm, that they can fly the spacecraft manually. And ultimately, on Friday, will the heat shield, which was problematic on the first flight of Artemis three and a half years ago, make sure that heat shield protects them against the 5,000-degree Fahrenheit heat that they will encounter as they come back in. So that's the main event for this mission. And as you've been reporting, Miles, this is all leading to a potential moon landing in 28. This is the sort of test case for all of that.

So what can we expect from what we've learned so far, does that seem possible? Well, so, you know, this has proven the space launch system works. The capsule seems to be working pretty well. I'm sure they'll ring out all the issues that they're dealing with. Ultimately, you know, no bucks, no Buck Rogers is the expression. If you really want to build a sustained presence on the moon, it's a lot of missions and a lot of investment. The Trump administration has been sort of to and fro and has been not committed to funding for NASA.

As a matter of fact, it tried to cut the agency budget by about 25 percent, science missions by 50 percent. That money got re-upped. Without that money and that sustained commitment, it's unlikely we'll see a sustained presence on the moon in as little as two years. And they also have to build a lander that will make it to the surface safely, as well as a space suit for astronauts to walk on the moon. So there's a lot of work ahead. And it's unclear whether this mission, as successful as it is, will continue at a kind of pace that will lead to that encampment. Science correspondent, Miles O'Brien. Miles, always great to speak with you. Thank you so much.

You're welcome, Abna. President Trump's shifting deadlines on Iran, and his renewed threats today are raising fresh questions about his messaging on the war. To discuss that and more, we turn now to our Politics Monday duo. That's Amy Walter of the Cook Political Political Report with Amy Walter and Tamara Keith of NPR. It's always great to see you. So, Amy, let's start with you. What's stood out to you from President Trump's press. conference today? Yeah, if you were looking for that press conference to help answer the question, where are we going in the Iran war? You would not have gotten an answer. I know in Liz's piece, she pulled out the quote, which I think really said it all, asking, are we ramping up or are we

backing off? And the president said, I don't know. We don't really know where we're going on this. I do think it is also telling that here we are, what is this now, a month? More than a month. And I think what voters really want to know, what Americans really want to understand is, when are we going to decide that we have made either a deal or an off-ramp or have completed the mission? The president said in that press conference today, Iran will not become a nuclear power, but did not answer the question about how we will ensure that will be the case. Does that involve having troops on the ground to take the nuclear material, or will it be through a process of diplomacy?

And, Tam, did he say anything that clarified a broader strategy in Iran such that a strategy exists? No. He did say that he has a strategy. He has a plan, but he is not going to tell people what the plan is, because if he did, then... But that can be a tell more than anything else. You know, this was the second time in two weeks that President Trump used the trappings of the presidency, a solo press conference in the briefing room. Last week, an address to the nation. These are sort of the big tools of the bully pulpit of the presidency. And both times we came away wondering, why exactly did he do this? What was the point of it?

And part of it is that before the war, he didn't really do that buildup, didn't sell it to the American people. And some of that is now attempting to happen after the fact. But I think truly what today was about, he wasn't there to talk about strategy. He wasn't there to talk about what's next. He was there to wrap himself in the glory of that incredible rescue mission of those two airmen. And that was really his focus. That's why he had the military leaders there with him in the briefing, room. That's what he was there to talk about. And he did so in great detail. And Amy, when it

comes to the polling, we are seeing signs of softness even among Republicans. How significant is that? Well, the president's approval rating overall, if you look at the average, he is now at the sub-40% approval rating mark, which is the lowest of his presidency. And how he got there, isn't that Democrats don't like him anymore. They never have liked him. Independence have sour it on them a little bit more, but what you're seeing is a softening among Republicans. I don't think this means that Republicans are saying, oh, I can't wait to go support Democrats now. What it is saying is that they too are feeling this frustration. What are we doing in Iran? How come gas is so expensive? And P.S., I thought we were going to talk about the economy and

making our lives more affordable. And as such, those things really aren't happening. I think the president also said during this press conference that Americans would be willing to endure higher gas prices as long as it meant that Iran does not have any more ability to produce nuclear weapons. I don't know that the American public has been told that that's what they should expect. And gas is now above $4 a gallon nationally. How does that change the political calculus here? Right. $4 a gallon is a lot. Just to put that into perspective, I was on vacation this past week.

I was in California where it's even higher, rented a minivan, filled up the minivan. It was more than $100, or it was just about $100 to fill up that minivan. So that's something that Americans are experiencing. When you cross that threshold where it's now, it's $75 to fill up your car, it's $100 to fill up your car. That is a big emotional and mental barrier for people. It makes everything feel more expensive. And literally, there are spillover effects where things do get more expensive with delivery costs, airlines or charging surcharges, all of these things.

It really does build up. And the problem for President Trump and his party is that the part of the president's affordability agenda that he was most animated about, the thing that he cared about the most that he would talk about at length without even being asked was $2 a gallon gas is going to be the thing that brings down your costs. We're going to get that gas. Drill, baby, drill. Yes, drill, baby, drill, but it's a global market. And right now that market is being crushed by what's happening in the Strait of Hormuz. And at that press conference today, there was no additional clarity about how he's going to get that straight open.

And, Amy, the president is proposing a major increase in military spending. At the same time as the White House, the administration, they're cutting domestic programs. Right. How does that land in this election year that's focused on affordability? That's right. I mean, I have been sitting down with Democratic or Republicans. strategist all week, and they will both tell you, this campaign is about one thing. It is about the cost of living. And both sides want to focus on that and deliver a message that says to Americans,

we're concerned about this, and here's what we're doing about it. There are plenty of things that the president has been doing beyond just the Iran war, but then submitting a budget that increases the military budget to $1.5 trillion, cut $73 billion in domestic spending. That does not suggest one that says affordability to people that's cutting domestic spending. And then there was that private Easter lunch speech that he gave that was uploaded onto video where he said,

when we're fighting wars, we can't take care of daycare. That is the kind of message that is going to give Democratic ad makers a whole lot of material. Finally, Tam, you have covered the White House for more than a decade now for NPR. You're getting a new assignment. Tell us about it. Yes, I am now NPR's senior political correspondent. What that means is I am not going to be tied to this one building, and I'm going to get out into the country more, talk to voters even more regularly.

I have a big project plan talking to swing voters and have a bunch of races I'm looking forward to covering, and still going to sit right here on Monday. on your new role. Thank you. Great to see you both. In Eastern Kentucky, the heritage of folk and traditional music from instruments like guitars, mandolins, and dulcimers is deeply seated. Senior arts correspondent Jeffrey Brown reports on an effort to capitalize on this rich culture while offering some residents a fresh start in the process. It's part of our ongoing coverage of the intersection of health and arts, part of our Canvas series. When I first started, I had never really worked for me.

when he kind of find them working. Jeremy Haney hand makes mandolins for the Troublesome Creek Stringed Instrument Company. It's been a learning experience. It's been a challenge, a big learning curve for me as far as paying attention to detail and have my eyes open to what to look for. He's proud of his craftsmanship making instruments that will retail for about $2,000. But even more so, he says, the work has given him purpose. I destroyed myself with drugs and everything.

alcohol and just wrong decisions. And the work that I found gave me something to plug my mind into, to keep my hands busy. I love it. Nearly every one of the more than dozen workers at Troublesome Creek is in recovery from substance abuse. That's really pretty. Doug Nasal Road heads Troublesome Creek. A master Luthier or stringed instrument maker himself, he came to Heinemann here in the mountains

of eastern Kentucky to teach the craft about 14 years ago. and found people struggling. We began to realize that there was more dire need in the community because the opioid epidemic and the damage that it had compounded with the downturn of coal. So you came to fill one need in a sense, and then you found another one. Yeah. There was a larger purpose that came with the people in addiction. In partnership with a local rehab center, the county's drug court, and the nearby Appalachian

Artisan Center, Nasal Road co-founded a program called Culture of Recovery, providing workshops for blacksmithing, ceramics, and luthery to those in recovery. Stringed instrument making involves a long curve of delayed gratification. You have a labor-intensive activity. The rewards are not immediate. You really have to come back day after day and week after week to get to that result. If you engage in that and do so consistently,

it is our experience that people can really dig out of addiction when they find another focus. In 2019, he started Troublesome Creek as a nonprofit, hiring those like Haney who would take into the craft. The company is named for the creek that runs through Heinemann, which in the summer of 2022 lived up to its name, flooding quickly as part of an historic disaster that killed 45 people in the larger region, including 22 here in Not County. Downtown Heineman was underwater, and the building that housed Troublesome Creek's factory

was inundated, destroying instruments and hundreds of thousands of dollars of equipment. It broke everyone's heart. My boys were just like, Doug, do we just get fired? They thought they had lost the work, the job, the job, their dream, their home in this place. And almost instantly, I realized I had to gather them up and say, all right, boys, get your work boots on. We're going to dig out. For half a year, the Luthiers of Troublesome Creek became a cleanup crew, mucking out the space. We cleaned up and salvaged everything we could, and the rest has been replaced by donations and grants and just hard work.

This whole neighborhood was underwater. Jeremy Haney took us to the apartment he had just moved into when the flood hit down the road from the workshop. in his ground floor apartment was destroyed. I thought it was a total loss. I didn't think that I would ever get to go back to work, building mandolins there. And it was a bad feeling, too, because I thought I was going to have to go back home to where I grew up at, and that wasn't the option for me.

The 1930s-era building the Troublesome Creek is housed in was owned by a community college. And once reconstruction was completed, it was donated to the instrument-making nonprofit, including a community space for performing. Good evening, everyone, and welcome to the Not Downtown Radio Hour. We saw the first post-flood performance there of an occasional live-stream musical review featuring local artists, and even a few songs by employees of Troublesome Creek. And now I'm just a junkie. Ryan Owens is one of the newest employees coming to the work after more than two decades

of addiction. Opioids, methamphetamine, heroin, fentany, and all. at all, went into this rehab that got me into this place on an overdose, prison back, prison again. After landing in rehab, he pushed hard to start learning guitar making at Troublesome Creek. I thought maybe I could get my foot in the door a little bit because I knew what I was doing, so I talked a lot of big stuff to get in here. But you knew something.

I mean, you knew it could really help you. Yeah. I've never done anything that I've woke up and said, wow, I get to go to work. You can't keep a job in addiction, you get a job, but you can't keep a job. This is the longest I've ever kept a job in my life, and I've had this job a year. And that's pretty pathetic, but it's just the case, you know. Mm-hmm. Yeah, I love this place.

Are there failures along the way? I mean, are the people you've seen relax? Yeah. One or two, which is heartbreaking every time. But for those that can stick, Neasel Road says, there is real transformation on the other side. I judge success in the lives of these people. I would like to see us become a major economic engine in a tiny little town, and we're

well on our way to that. But there's different ways to measure profit. For the PBS News Hour, I'm Jeffrey Brown in Hindman, Kentucky. That is the news hour for tonight. I'm Omna Nawaz. And I'm Jeff Bennett. For all of us here at the PBS News Hour, thanks for spending part of your evening with us.