PBS News Hour - Full Show - August 26, 2026 - PBS News Hour full episode

Episode Date: August 26, 2026

Wednesday on the News Hour, Meta agrees to a multi-billion dollar settlement over claims that its social media platforms are harming children. How data centers are increasingly playing into the midterm elections. Survivors of the Maui wildfires face persistent health struggles three years later. Plus, Martina McBride remembers her friend and fellow country music icon, Dolly Parton. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

Good evening. I'm Amman Nawaz. And I'm Jeff Bennett. On the news hour tonight, META agrees to a multi-billion dollar settlement over claims that its social media platforms are harming children. How the construction and enormous energy consumption of data centers are increasingly playing into the midterm elections. Survivors of the devastating Maui wildfires face persistent health struggles three years later. People in the lower income brackets are definitely the ones who are we are seeing right now and are the most affected. And Martina McBride remembers her friend and fellow country music icon, Dolly Parton. Welcome to the NewsHour. Social Media Giant Meadow has agreed to pay up to $17 billion in a settlement,

putting to rest a trial where dozens of states accused the company of deliberately endangering children through their platforms. The parent company of Facebook and Instagram has agreed to implement new digital guardrails for minors. The company says it will enforce a two-hour daily time limit, for users under 18 years old, implement a nighttime block on the apps from midnight to 6 a.m., mute notifications, and restrict usage during school hours. They're also asking other social platforms to do the same. The framework we've negotiated will empower parents to easily manage their children's access to our platforms.

But this framework will only work if all our peers join us. Because teens move fluidly across dozens of apps, we need an industry-wide solution. We therefore call on our industry peers, TikTok and YouTube, to implement this new framework right away. The settlement signals a turning point for the social media industry, but META still faces multiple lawsuits from school districts and individuals. We're joined now by Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser. Welcome to the News Hour. Thanks for being with us. Great to be with you, Jeff. So Colorado is one of the principal states that brought this suit, and you accused META of knowingly designing products that hooked children and that put profits ahead of their well-being. You finally got META to trial. Why settle now rather than let a

jury decide whether META broke the law? We obtained the type of protections, and you outlined them very well. Protecting kids, ability to contribute in school, limiting total time on the platform, removing harmful features like what's happening? right now, and it's not going to wait for years in appeal. So given that this case was always about protecting kids and getting these protections in place, we took this remedy as the best way to protect kids. Do two-hour time limits, mandatory breaks, nighttime restrictions, does that address the underlying design? Or are you simply putting guardrails around a product that remains addictive? Our goal is to address the features that feed addictive behavior.

Having productive pauses, something that is built into this, having a cap on total time, not having notification alerts, getting people to go back on the platform, all that is going to make a difference. I recognize that we've got a major challenge because this is a crisis of youth mental health that's been fueled by social media use, where kids have been often going down dark holes, getting dangerous content. This is the first step to address that crisis, to change behavior. And as you noted, in the lead end, we need more companies to get on board, YouTube, Snap, and TikTok, and we're going to work hard to make that happen to. Well, right, part of META's payment is contingent on TikTok, YouTube, Snapchat, adopting similar protections.

Are you trying to use this settlement to establish a new, industry-wide standard. And if those companies don't follow Meta's lead, are they next? They're next. We're ready to go to court against other companies, too. For those who didn't believe our capacity to hold a company this big to account, take a look at what just happened. We were in this court case. By all accounts, we had meta on the ropes. That's why they're making such meaningful concessions and the settlement is so much greater than what we might. might have gotten even after litigated judgment. And if YouTube or TikTok is unwilling to come to the table and do something on the order of what we just got here, then we'll take them to trial to.

How do you make sure a meta actually follows through? Who is policing compliance in this instance? It is essential that the requirements are enforced, and that's why we have an independent auditor who's going to be able to oversee meta's compliance with. these requirements. To the point that you noted earlier, it's very important to me as someone who's a parent who worries about kids not sleeping, I do not want any of these notification, alerts, or other ways to get kids awake at night, not sleeping. If meta violates that requirement, we're going to come down on them. This is not an option. It's a mandate. It's enforceable by a court. And with the aid of this independent auditor, we're going to hold them to it. Meta still gets to use personalized recommendations

and targeted advertising, which is the heart of its business model, how much of this settlement really changes the financial incentives that you argue helped create the problem in the first place? This settlement makes meaningful progress to protect kids on many fronts. Let me mention one I haven't talked about yet. Because of the opportunity to get kids hooked at a young age, metam marketed to kids under 13, signed them up and kept them, even knowing that they had 12-year-olds, 11-year-olds, 10-year-olds on the platform,

that was part of a strategy fueled by a decision to make money and to put profits over kids' health. We're changing all that. We're forcing them to huge age assurance to not allow young kids access to this platform. We're forcing them to have time limits to stop the amount of time that could be hours and hours and hours. It's going to eat into their profits. It's going to hurt their business model because we're putting kid safety first.

You've compared this fight to big tobacco. That settlement fundamentally changed an entire industry. What makes you confident this agreement will do the same for social media? I want to emphasize that the case that we're talking about is a multi-state bipartisan case with essentially every single state and union. This is a statement. Among others, it's a statement of Congress. Congress needs to take what we've done. here and impose it across this industry, making clear that in the United States of America,

we're putting kids first. I recognize this is too late for many kids who we've lost to suicide, self-harm, whose mental health is in much worse condition because of social media. I'm committed to doing everything we can going forward to fight for our kids' future, and this step promises just the sort of change we saw with tobacco, which can include widespread relief across the industry and congressional legislation. This is the start of how we start protecting our kids. Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, thank you for joining us this evening. Thanks to the time. And we start the day's other headlines in a border area of Nepal and Tibet, where flash floods have left a trail of death and destruction. Authorities say at least 160 people

have died, hundreds more are still missing. A warning, some footage in this report may be disturbed. It came without warning. The silence of this security footage belies the panic at a border crossing between Nepal and China's Tibet region. Dozens of people running for their lives before a towering wall of mud and water barrels through, swallowing nearly everything in its path. The torrent tossed buses aside like toys and swept away buildings and parking structures. Chinese president Xi Jinping has ordered all out efforts to search for and rescue people who are missing. who are missing. The full toll is unknown. Chinese state media reported significant casualties

with hundreds of people still unaccounted for. The flash floods tore through the steep Himalayan valleys along the border between China and Nepal, with floodwaters surging south toward the Kathmandu region. Satellite images reveal the scale of the destruction, entire stretches of the landscape transformed. Studying the disasters say it may have started when a massive chunk of ice snapped off a glacier high in the Himalayas, unleashing a devastating cascade into the valley below. Eyewitness footage captured the torrent slamming into Nepal's Nuwaka district with terrifying force. Some residents say they escaped with only minutes to spare.

When I reached the bazaar in half an hour, the flood came and damaged all of the market. People were preparing to go to the office then. How many people are missing or dead? don't know. From above, the scale of destruction came into sharper focus. Buildings buried beneath a vast new landscape of mud and debris. As crews searched the wreckage, families waited desperately for word about missing loved ones. Nepalese authorities say hundreds of foreign nationals are among the missing, including dozens of Americans. But amid the destruction, remarkable rescues, including this man pulled to safety. Others caked in mud rushed by rescuers to

nearby hospitals. And some survivors linked arms as they made their way to safety trudging through waste-deep mud. And tonight, the U.S. State Department says it's aware of Americans affected by the flooding and is working with local authorities to assist them, adding that the U.S. stands ready to provide assistance to Nepal. Also today, more legal confusion over mail-in voting, with the first ballots for the upcoming midterm set to go out as early as next week. This morning, more than two dozen Democratic-controlled states filed a new lawsuit against the U.S. Postal Service challenging President Trump's executive order on mail-in voting. The original case was deemed premature by the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this week because the Postal Service rule had not been finalized.

That decision led a federal judge in a separate case today to lift a block on the president's order. Legal challenges are likely to continue, but the U.S.PS can, for now, continue with its final rule that says it can only deliver ballots to voters on an approved list of eligible voters. President Trump is celebrating the primary wins of candidates he backed in South Carolina and Oklahoma. That includes Darlene Graham, the sister of the late Senator Lindsey Graham,

who thanked the president for his support. Our victory would not have been possible without you, and we are truly grateful. South Carolina is truly Trump country. Graham, a political, Nocule novice was tapped to serve out the rest of her brother's term after he died last month. She is seeking a full term of her own in November's election. And in Oklahoma, Mr. Trump's preferred candidate Tulsa businessman Mike Masey narrowly won the Republican nomination for governor.

Turning now to the Middle East, Iran says it would bar all military vessels from passing through the Strait of Formuz as part of a potential agreement with Oman to reopen the waterway. The proposed agreement would last 30 to 60 days, while the two countries. countries work toward a permanent deal. In a radio interview today, President Trump said the waterway has been cleared of mines and is, quote, a very functioning strait, but Iran's deputy foreign minister disputed the president's account. They've cleared the mines, then why aren't vessels passing through the strait? This is nothing more than a claim.

Look, the Strait of Hormuz is unsafe for the passage of commercial vessels. No one other than the Islamic Republic of Iran knows the locations of these mines precisely. Meantime, President Trump submitted a proposed nuclear agreement with Saudi Arabia for congressional review. Under that agreement, the U.S. would develop and support the country's nuclear program for 30 years. But the president says Saudi Arabia must normalize relations with Israel before the deal can be finalized. The FDA approved a landmark new drug today for pancreatic cancer that can extend survival times for patients with the disease, which is one of the deadliest forms of cancer. The daily pill will be marketed under the brand name Razanqu.

It works by blocking a protein that fuels tumor growth. Researchers found that it roughly doubled life expectancy when compared to chemotherapy from nearly seven months to more than 13 months and comes with fewer severe side effects. Revolution Medicines, which makes the drug, says it'll have a sticker price of nearly $40,000 a month, but says much of that would be covered by insurance. On Wall Street today, stocks ended a touch lower after some underwhelming U.S. economic data. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped about 100 points. The NASDAQ fell about 20 points.

The S&P 500 ended virtually unchanged. And star of stage and screen, Tim Curry has died. Come up to the lab and see what's on the slab. I see you shiver with anticipation. The British-born Act. The director rocketed to fame in the mid-70s as a cross-dressing mad scientist in the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Curry had originated the iconic role of Dr. Frankenfurter on London's West End before taking it to Broadway and then to the cult classic film. With his sense of humor, expressive face, and unmistakable voice, Curry brought a mischievous energy to roles in films like Annie, Clue, and Home Alone, too, among many others.

Curry suffered a stroke more than a decade ago that left him confined to a wheelchair, and he died yesterday at his home in Los Angeles. Tim Curry was 80 years old. Still to come on the news hour, the custody fight that's erupted after a surrogate refused to get an abortion. How first responders in one of the nation's hottest cities are fighting heat-related illnesses with bags of ice. High beef prices pressure the White House to reconsider its tariff policy. And country star Martina McBride remembers the last. legendary, Dali Parton.

This is the PBS News Hour from the David M. Rubenstein studio at WETA in Washington, headquarters of PBS News. While there are many issues dividing voters this midterm season, one seems to be uniting them, opposition to AI data centers. Candidates who've taken notice are racing to shape policy around these centers, which could be a defining issue in some races. Elisa Desjardin has more. It is national.

Minnesota, we're afraid for our lives. To Virginia, voters are concerned. We do not want a data center in this county. And some, like here in New Jersey, outraged. You can either end this project, resign effective immediately, or we will take legal action to protect the children. This anger is over massive humming buildings, AI data centers. Local critics say these industrial facilities, which house fields of artificial intelligence

computers are loud, decreased property value, and suction off energy and water, harming the environment and raising utility bills. Polling shows opposition rising fast. At 49 percent in an Annenberg poll earlier this year, this summer, that's shot to 61 percent. Those running for political office, especially Democrats, are galvanizing the issue. Big companies have come before. Take what they wanted and left us with their mess to clean up. Now it's data centers. billionaires want to turn this whole field into a massive data center. John Hustead spent years aggressively recruiting data centers to the state. A recent Washington Post analysis found that candidates in at least 45 states have mentioned AI on their campaign websites.

And data centers account for the largest share of AI policies discussed by far. Data center production and energy use in Texas is skyrocketing to meet AI's needs. In the Texas race for governor, Democratic candidate Gina Inahosa has made the centers a central issue, attacking her opponent, Republican incumbent governor, Greg Abbott. He is backpedaling on the data center issues and people see it for exactly what it is. It is an election time political ploy. Abbott last year declared his state would be the global center for Google AI data centers. But he's since changed his tune. Earlier this month, he made Texas the second state in the country to put a pause on data.

center construction. And so they had not been working in collaboration with the state. They'd not been working in collaboration with local governments. And so they basically dug their own grave. In Pennsylvania, Democratic incumbent Governor Josh Shapiro has also changed his views. You don't want these irresponsible burdensome, reckless AI data centers in your community. And I want you to know, I hear you. Someone still bullish on the centers, President Trump.

And I can say, if I were the mayor of a town or the governor of a state and I had a chance to get a big plant in, an AI plant or a data center, I would absolutely want it because the jobs are enormous and the money paid, the taxes paid are just enormous. Evidence shows that data centers do create local jobs, but fewer than industry advocates claim. In Florida, you don't need a year-long moratorium. Republican Congressman Byron Donald's who's running for governor is in line with the president, saying the economic benefits can be enjoyed while lawmakers figure out how to address voter concerns. But as lawmakers try to connect, voters are the ones moving at high speed.

Joining me to help us understand this surge of opposition around data centers and what it might mean on the ballot is Clara Ans Moore, one of the Washington Post reporters leading that analysis earlier this month. Thank you for joining us. Based on what you reviewed, what are the concerns really animating voters and now candidates? I think there are a couple main issues that voters are concerned about when it comes to data centers. The first and the biggest one is environmental concerns, right? So concerns about water quality, about pollution, about land use. And there are also a lot of questions about energy prices, right? Some people saw their bill skyrocket when a data center went up near them. And we've seen that

those are the sorts of policies and regulations that politicians are proposing to sort of regulate data centers. But President Trump says, what about the jobs? He says there are jobs involved with these data centers. And that is something we heard more a year ago. perhaps the now, how has that changed the economic argument? Data centers have seen this almost historic drop in popularity over the past year, right? I think one of the things that's happened is that people have just seen so many of these data centers go up in their communities. Obviously, artificial intelligence has also come a long way in the past year as a technology. And what we've seen is that as voters find it less and less

palatable, politicians are responding and proposing new regulations, and in some cases, total moratoriums on data centers or on AI development. Is there a difference between how Republicans and Democrats are handling this? We're seeing members of both parties kind of increasingly push back, but is there a difference? Definitely. One of the most interesting things to me about the AI policy debate is that it hasn't quite developed a Republican party line and a Democratic party line yet. So unlike an issue like abortion or immigration, you can't really predict someone's stance based on how liberal or a conservative they are.

But there are definitely differences at a partisan level. Republicans, for instance, really tend to focus on the national security implications of AI, things like, you know, we need to beat China in the AI race. We need to be first in the world. Democrats in general are much more negative on AI. They're much more likely to talk about it on their campaign websites and to be down on things like AI sloth. and they also have led the push to sort of regulate or even ban data centers. This is fascinating. Something else that rare that has happened in this debate is a letter came out from the

National Republican Senatorial Committee right there. And they wrote that this issue has become a sleeper issue for the entire election cycle and they blamed high tech saying campaigns or party committees cannot fix the toxic brand of an entire segment of the economy. clearly trying to say our candidates aren't to blame. It's big tech that has to change the messaging, but Republicans are on defense in two big data centers, a few places, but especially two big data center states, Ohio and Texas.

How is this issue playing out in those very big Senate races there? I mean, I think what we've seen is that Democrats have seized upon the issue as a target of attack. Candidates like Greg Abbott have been targeted with ads specifically blaming them for increased data center construction in the state of Texas. The same has happened in the Ohio Senate race. And then Republicans feel like they need to respond. They need to propose policies halting or banning data centers or proposing new regulations.

And now my colleague Jeremy Merrill just found that Republicans have finally flipped over to being more negative than positive about data centers, following the Democrats and doing the same. Just in the last few weeks. Just in the last few weeks, correct. Oh, that's interesting. I know the Michigan Senate race is an example of that. Also, Michigan, I think there's a congressional race, Michigan 7, where data centers have been a big issue.

Yes. Is there time for Republicans to catch up? Or is it, if they were positive a year ago, is it too late to change their message? I mean, I think everybody's been changing their message. We've seen this with Democrats like Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, right, who said very positive things about data centers in the past and now has changed his tune. Everybody is responding to this voter sentiment that they don't want data centers in their communities and trying to figure out how to message on it, including, by the way, the AI PACs in

and political committees that have spent so much money to back their preferred candidates. Clara and Smores, thank you so much for this great analysis and reporting. Thank you. This week, a Texas court heard arguments in a legal fight between a California couple and their surrogate over a newborn with a serious heart condition. The case has drawn the attention of anti-abortion rights activists pushing for new restrictions on surrogacy. For more, I'm joined by Shefali Luther. She's a reproductive health reporter for the 19th News.

Welcome. Thanks for being here. Thanks for having me. So this case involves a California couple, Noshin Gilcar and Omar Ahmed. They struggled to conceive on their own, and it involves their surrogate, a woman named McKenna West, who's a nurse from Alaska. How did this case end up in court?

So a point, about halfway through the pregnancy, the couple received a diagnosis, that the, at that point, fetus had this anomaly that you mentioned, HLHS. It's one of these more complicated diagnoses. It's what we call a gray diagnosis, where there's no guarantee that the child will die, no guarantee the child will live,

but best case scenario, you will require a lot of medical care and have a very difficult life. At this point, the couple has acknowledged that they asked about an abortion. And what they say is initially the surrogate said, yes, and then she changed her mind and cut off contact with them. What she testified yesterday is that at this point,

she got connected with an anti-abortion group. They got her in touch with lawyers. they flew her to Texas, which is where she is now. They are keeping her up there. They are covering her legal fees. And in Texas, abortion is not allowed. The state attorney general also got involved. She did not terminate the pregnancy.

She instead gave birth. The baby is now there, has received surgery, and the ongoing legal fight is essentially over who has custody of this child and who will get to make legal decisions for his health. So this legal fight is unfolding. There was a California court that previously, ruled in June that this couple, the biological parents, are the parents that they have custody. Ms. West is seeking to reverse that, to gain custody of this baby boy. There was a very dramatic

emotional hearing around this yesterday. What happened? In this hearing, the biological parents talked about the lengths to which they have gone to try and have a child. And it's quite devastating what they've experienced. They went through eight rounds of IVF. They could not successfully get pregnant. She then had a hysterectomy, and at this point they got a surrogate. And that is how they got in touch with McKenna West. The other really, I think, pivotal thing about this hearing was that the lawyers for McAnna West repeatedly tried to suggest that the parents could not be trusted to make health care decisions for this child because they had sought an abortion at one point. And the parents made very clear, they wanted this child. They worked very, very hard to

have a child and they love this child and they do intend to do whatever they can to keep him alive. But the real core of this dispute over who has this baby's best interest at heart really led to a very emotional and very tense hearing between these two parties. I mean, one of the reasons we're talking about it now because it's gained national attention is because a lot of these, as you mentioned, anti-abortion rape groups have intervened, have jumped in to support McKenna West. Why has this surrogacy case drawn their attention in this West? It's a natural way in to discuss surrogacy for them because it is about abortion on some level, right?

There's this dispute over the possibility of terminating the pregnancy. But there is also a broader conversation happening in the anti-abortion movement about fertility treatments such as IVF and surrogacy. And many abortion opponents oppose surrogacy very strongly. They would love to see it banned. And many I've spoken to have said that they are hoping this case by putting attention on surrogacy can give them immunization. to get some kind of ban on the practice enacted in Texas next year. The case is still unfolding, but what could be the implications here? Could they be broader than surrogacy into other fertility treatments, IVF and egg freezing, for example?

Absolutely. And really, no matter how we get a ruling on this case, the attention it has put on surrogacy, opening the door to these kinds of restrictions really does in some ways lay the groundwork possibly for restrictions on IVF as well. A lot of the arguments that you hear against surrogacy, what we hear from abortion opponents, is that it commodifies pregnancy, isn't really natural as how they describe it, in terms of who the parents of a child are, are arguments also that they make about IVF. And so I think realistically, if we see this case lead to restrictions, it's a starting point to a conversation about who is able to access IVF and where it is legal and for whom.

We know the case is going to unfold. You'll continue to follow it and we'll follow your reporting. Shafali Luther of the 19th News. Thank you for being here. Thanks again. Across the south, another punishing stretch of extreme heat is taking hold. In Phoenix, temperatures were expected to reach 115 degrees today. And the danger goes well beyond discomfort.

Extreme heat kills more Americans than any other weather-related hazard. In Phoenix, heat kills more people than homicides each year. So the city is turning to an unlawful. likely lifesaver, bags of ice. And the fire department is creating a new model in the battle against heat stroke. Special correspondent Ben Tracy of Climate Central shows how this low-tech approach is saving lives. Part of our series tipping point. What are we heading to right now? So right now we're going to a 50s female outside of a dollar store. Phoenix firefighter Colin Kennedy always knows one number. It's 105, 106 degrees. The pavement is hot.

They find a woman having a stroke on a hot sidewalk. If her temperature hit 104 degrees, they would put her inside one of these blue bags and fill it with ice water. Firefighters demonstrated what is now their standard heat stroke protocol to quickly cool a person down on their way to the ER. We have a bag and we have ice and we're saving lives with it. Captain Dave Kirk says cold water immersion began with the military, with climate change driving longer, hotter heat waves, Phoenix faces 39 more hot summer days compared to 1970. And Climate Central found that dangerous multi-day heat streaks are increasing nationwide. Old ways of treating heat stroke no longer cut it.

Putting ice packs around the, you know, in the neck area, the groin area, and then giving cold IV fluids. How much more effective is this approach of putting somebody in this bag of ice? It's night and day. It can cool patients up to three to five times faster. critical to avoiding brain damage and organ failure. Here in America's hottest city where firefighters train in the searing sun, every fire station now has something you'd find at a gas station.

We've got eight bags at seven pounds each inside, essentially a large trash bag right now. And this bag is going to come out, and it's going to come with us on the call. So right now we've been dispatched to a person down at the bus stop, bus stop, unconscious person. Just this summer, they have used the rapid cooling bags more than 220 times. They also stockpile ice at popular trailheads to cool overheated hikers like this one on the spot. We're seeing people go from 108, 109, 110 core body temperature to 101 or 100 degrees even

by the time they arrive at the hospital. Sir, can you tell me your name? At this Phoenix hospital, Dr. Jeff Komp has been training his team on the pre-10-year-old. protocol for a few years. Why is putting somebody basically in ice water more effective? Because it's fast. The thermal conductivity of water is so much faster than air. Zip him up.

He says cooling patients before the ER is a game changer. If we're able to decrease the amount of time that the patient is impacted by that higher temperature, it's going to be better. By doing this, we're decreasing mortality. We're saving people's lives. A new weapon in the Cold War on heat. For the PBS News Hour, I'm Ben Tracy with Climate Central. Backlash is mounting over President Trump's plan to temporarily pause tariffs on at least 300,000 metric tons of imported ground beef.

The announcement, ahead of the midterm elections, has drawn sharp criticism from both ranchers and Republican politicians who say the cheap imports will undercut struggling American producers and weaken the industry in the long term. The president says the move is aimed at providing relief to Americans struggling with higher growth. free prices. We want to get the beef prices down, so we'll get them down a little bit. And that's what people want. That's what the voters want. And that's what I want. For a perspective from inside the industry, we're joined now by Walter Schweitzer. He is the president of the Montana Farmers Union and raises Black Angus cattle near Geyser, Montana.

Thanks for being with us. Yeah, thank you for inviting me. Of course, so President Trump announced this plan saying he has a commitment to sell imported beef at 25% below current market prices. The details so far have been scarce. What do you know about how this plan would work and where this beef is coming from? I know nothing more than anyone

because we haven't seen the plan. We haven't seen anything in writing. All we can do is guess. And what I do know is 300,000 ton of additional beef into our marketplace. It's really only increased by 2 to 3% over the total beef supply. that we have. And without mandatory country of origin labeling, the price of burger won't change.

What will happen is that these multinational packers will import this beef from their packing plants in Mexico, Brazil, other countries, and they'll send it straight to the burger plants here in the United States, mix it in, put a USDA inspected label, and sell it at U.S. beef prices. So looking at the numbers, ground beef prices have risen nearly 75% since 2021, while the U.S. cattle herd is now the smallest it's been in 75 years. So what's driving both sides of that equation? You've got higher prices and fewer cattle. Well, first off, demand. The consumers want to eat beef. They know it's a healthy product and they like the taste. I don't blame them. I like to eat beef too. But more importantly,

we don't have a shortage of beef in our supply chain. We actually have more beef in our supply chain than we did five years ago. Almost 30% of our total beef supply is imported. But no one knows this because we don't have country of origin labeling. You know, we could actually lower the price of beef here with this 300,000 metric ton if we required mandatory country of origin labeling, because then the packers, when they bring it to the grocery stores, would have a Mexican label on it or a Brazilian label. And the consumer, would be able to pay less for that Mexican burger or that Brazilian burger. And, you know, as a cattle producer, I'm not afraid to compete against these other countries

as long as we're doing it on a fair playing field with an honest label and total transparency. Well, say more about that, because earlier this month, the USDA recalled nearly 30,000 pounds of raw beef imported from Argentina. So I would imagine there are legitimate food, safety, and quality concerns with increasing these beef imports? There absolutely is. And you know, these countries, they don't raise their beef to the same standard as we do here in the United States.

In fact, when the Olympics were held in Mexico and Brazil, the Olympic Committee warned the athletes to not eat the local beef because they could potentially fail the drug tests. I want to play for you something that the Agriculture Secretary, Brooke Rawlins, said yesterday. Take a listen to this. There's a lot of ground beef that's sitting in other countries that would potentially help serve Americans, especially lower-income Americans, who really lean into the lean-ground beef. And so this is a very short-term fix from the president's perspective that he believed necessary to get lower-cost beef onto American plates.

So the administration says this is a short-term fix. You bring in cheaper beef, you increase the supply, you bring down prices. Why doesn't that argument hold up? We don't have country of origin labeling. So the only beneficiary of that is going to be these multinational packers. They'll be able to bring in that cheaper burger and put it in a package and sell it as U.S. beef, misleading the consumers thinking that they're buying high-quality beef from here in the United States. This would work if we had country of origin labeling and the packers were forced to put a truthful label on those packages

so that the consumers would know they're buying Brazilian beef or Mexican beef. Is the administration resistant to that? Well, they haven't done it yet. And all it would take is an executive order from the administration, and we'd have mandatory cool tomorrow. Bottom line, how difficult is it to make a living as a rancher right now? And what would actually make a meaningful difference for producers and consumers alike? Well, having certainty in the marketplace.

to have a fair playing field. You know, right now, these Big Four Packers, they can take advantage of both the consumers and the producers, and they do it. And if we just would enforce the antitrust laws that are on the books, we would enforce the Packers Stockyard Act, keeping these Big Four Packers honest, we could bring prices down overnight.

But as long as we allow them to price gouge consumers and take advantage of producers, we're not going to see much change in the marketplace. As all of this is unfolding, the president is escalating his trade fight with Canada, a major market for American beef, and the other top buyers of American beef, South Korea, Japan, and Mexico,

they're all facing tariff disputes with this administration as well. What does that mean for you as a rancher? Well, you know, for the last few years, Montana has been shipping a lot of our calves, north the border into Canada. And what's been happening is Canada finishes those calves, slaughter those calves, puts them in a box, and ships them to the markets that we lost

because of these tariffs. And now, adding 50% to the goods that we try to ship to Canada today means we've lost that market too. Walter Schweitz, their president of the Montana Farmers Union, thank you for sharing your insights with us. Thank you. Just over three years ago, the deadliest U.S. wildfires in more than a century devastated the Hawaiian island of Maui.

New research suggests the toll of the disaster may be far greater than the lives lost and property burned. Stephanie Syr reports on a landmark study aiming to track how the wildfires have continued to affect survivors' health long after the flames are gone. Four days a week, this Lahaina Food Bank opens its doors to survivors of the Maui wildfires. wildfires. Houses in Proto Bas are burning already. For many, like Mario Acosta, the memories of August 7, 2023 are still fresh. Can I take a ride from you? I'm sorry, take a right.

A video taken by a stranded stranger he and his wife picked up as they were trying to escape the inferno, captured that harrowing day. we saw the fire beside us where we were waiting for the traffic to move on. My wife wants to jump to the ocean. I told my wife, no. And then the traffic suddenly moved and then we were able to get away a little bit from the burning buildings beside us. The Acostas have lived in Lahaina for over a decade working in hotels. The home they were renting for about $1,000 a month burned down and they can now only afford a single room without a kitchen. What have been your biggest struggle since the fire?

All the expenses and things like that because it went out all the prices went up to. How are you doing like with your mental health at this point? It's really hard because it's really what they're buying. The memories of the ferocious wildfire are still raw for so many survivors and many are still struggling, struggling with things that were hard before the wildfires, namely the cost of living on this beautiful island, which has only escalated in the last three years. People in the lower income brackets who are often the people who were workers in Le Haina, you know, serving tourists are definitely the ones who are who we are seeing right now and are the most affected.

The University of Hawaii's Ruben Juarez and Alika Monakeha are conducting a study on the lasting impact of the disaster on survivors' physical and mental health. The wildfire exposure study, known as Maui West, is one of the biggest and most diverse studies of its kind in the country's history. It shows recovery has been uneven. It's housing, security, food and income security, social support and access to care. Those individuals who have this for traits are significantly better off than those who don't. After six months after the fires, they started health screenings for more than 2,000 participants,

including mental health assessments and lung and cardiovascular tests. I cough every day, and I'm not a coughing. It depends on what kind of day it is. If it's windy and dry, I don't even want to be out here, but I am breathing it in. Initially, more than 40 percent of survivors, like Maui resident Nancy Garnett, reported experiencing respiratory issues weekly. Now, three years after the fires, one in five adults continue to have below expected lung function.

Those participating in the study are also tested for exposure to heavy metals, like arsenic and lead, which can be released in urban fires and may pose health risks. It's a concern expressed by many in Lahaina. It took me about, I would say, maybe three, four weeks to go to the rubble. of Hawaiian historian, Kiamoku Kampu ran a cultural center which was destroyed in the fires. For weeks, he searched through the site to salvage precious objects and artifacts. Not knowing at the time that, you know, you get toxins, you got to worry about, you get asbestos, you get arsenic, you get all these lead paint and all that.

You could actually smell the stench, you know, yeah. State health officials say the burn zone has been safe for residents since the fire's debris and ash were removed in September 2020. It was a really difficult night. We cried and just watched the town burn from the beach. The study has also highlighted the fire's mental health toll on victims, like Krista Woodward, an artist based in Lahaina. Her home of 26 years burned down with the town. The studio where she worked on her glass art was also reduced to rubble. It's definitely hit a nerve to look there. Every time I, I just... And three years later, she's struggling to rebuild.

Her new house was less than halfway done when she says a contractor ran away with her money. I was experiencing this heaviness like I was moving underwater. I was easily overwhelmed and my focus, it wasn't like it was before. Woodward was diagnosed with PTSD, which puts her among the one in five survivors. experiencing symptoms of the disorder, according to the study. We're still not in a recovery stage. We're still in a crisis stage. Christopher Knightsbridge is the study team's mental health lead and treat survivors.

He found that levels of anxiety and depression are worse for those still struggling to meet their basic needs. Even now in therapy, a lot of the times, the stuff we're working on isn't their underlying traumas from that horrible day. it's just like, how am I going to feed my family? Those immediate needs have spurred the Maui West study to go beyond data collection and connect the community with care. With not only measure, we intervene.

Just to give you a very simple statistic, about 40% of individuals that we recruited into the study didn't have held insurance when they came in. One year later, we were able to link them to different charitable insurance programs, including Kaiser Permanente, and we're able to cut the uninsured rate. But half.

Still, access to medical care remains a hurdle for Lahaina's health recovery. The fires destroyed medical facilities and led to physician flight. Today, Maui County needs 41 percent more physicians in order to meet its residents' needs. How you doing? I'm doing great. After signing up for the study, Krista Woodward was eventually able to get a weekly appointment with Christopher Knightsbridge. She says the sessions have been a lifeline.

It brought me so much peace to know that I was experiencing, you know, common PTSD as the result of a horrible disaster. And it was normal and it was treatable and over time I would heal. Back at the food pantry for Lahaina fire survivors, this assistance is another kind of lifeline for Mario Acosta. It really means a lot for us, this kind of resources. But it can address all his needs. still triggered during wildfire season. Even only it smells, a few smoke. It's really scary, especially on our experience when we were almost

get burned alive. He thinks about the neighbors that didn't make it out alive. Three of them got burned in the fire, the one beside us got burned in the fire. They're gone. More than 100 people perished in the fires. The losses were staggering. And so many of the Lahaina fire victims continue to live with the harm suffered that day. For the PBS News Hour, I'm Stephanie Tsai in Lahaina, Hawaii.

Tributes continued to pour in today for Dolly Parton, a day after her death. According to her team, Dolly worked until the day she died, and a whole slate of projects planned well into 2027 will go on as part of her legacy. singer-songwriter Martina McBride named female vocalist of the year four times by the Country Music Association, three times by the Academy of Country Music, joins me now to discuss what made Dolly, Dolly. Martina, welcome, and thank you for joining us. Thank you for having me. Let me just start by saying how sorry we are for your loss. We know you knew Dolly, you got to work with her, but what was your reaction when you first heard the news and how are you holding up today? Well, Dolly had such a big life. And, you know, I spent all day yesterday and a lot of today just reading all the tributes and listening to her old interviews.

And, you know, she left such a legacy of love and kindness and spunk and, you know, on top of all of her talent, songwriting talent, singing talent, acting talent. So I think it was a life. I mean, I know it was a life well-lived, and that's how I'm holding up with it. We know you had a chance to perform with her on several different stages. You collaborated with her on your 2005 album Timeless. What was it like to work with the Dolly Parton? She was very professional. You know, that's the first word that comes to mind.

Obviously, the words I just said kind and talented, obviously. But she was, she came in. She was ready to work. She worked quickly. And I just thought, wow, what a pro. You shared that when she came in to sing with you on the timeless album, you felt compelled to go back into the studio after she'd recorded to re-record your tracks. Why?

Oh, because she really raised the bar vocally. You know, I had a vocal that I thought was finished. And she came in and sang a harmony. with me and I thought, oh, my goodness, I have to raise, I have to go in again and try to make it as good as what she was. And so she really pushed, you know, without saying a word, obviously she would never have suggested that. But she just made you want to be better. You know, you really wanted to be at that level. As a fellow country music artist, specifically as a fellow female country music artist, someone who built this whole business empire around

her over her career, what kind of impact did she have on you and the work you wanted to do and all the others following in her footsteps? Well, I think she proved that, you know, you could be a good, strong, smart businesswoman in this industry. It's not always easy, but she, I saw a clip today where she said she never loses her temper, but she uses her temper. And I think she just led by example. She was very, this interesting mix of super,

caring and giving, but also really, really strong. And when you were around her, you just got that, you got both of those things. You know, you knew that she was an amazing woman and she was strong. She stood her ground. She stood up for what she believed in. And so I think that that's part of what she loved for all of us is to, you know, she led by example. She also had this ability to appeal to everyone, regardless of their background or their beliefs or where they were in the world. loved Dolly? What do you think it was about her that allowed people to be drawn to her in that way? I feel like she had the intention that everyone deserves to be loved and accepted just the way they are. And I've heard her say that. And we're all God's creatures. And she, she, I think that she spoke,

she was just honest, really. Two things, her sense of humor was amazing. So she kind of approached, everybody was kind of caught off guard by what she was going to say next. She was so smart, so smart. And she was just honest. She was authentic. And when somebody comes at you with just who they are,

with no other frills or anything, she just was really dolly all the time. And I think that's, how can you fault somebody for anything? I really believe in what, they're saying and what they're doing. It's a tough question to answer, but is there any one memory with her that stands out to you or a favorite song or a line of one of her songs that stays with you? Yeah, I got to sing for her song, Code of Many Colors, which is one of my favorite dolly songs. And I sing that song as a child, you know, with my dad's band and my dad would

accompany me on guitar, and I would sing at different functions and in church and things. And I sing Code of Many Colors as a child. And I was asked to sing to honor her when, and she was in the audience. And that's such a hard thing to do, but she was so hard because you want to do such a great job and you're nervous. But she was so precious and so warm and wonderful and complimented me on the singing of the song. And it was just a, it was just kind of this moment that we shared together. And it's always so great when you get to honor someone in that way. Martina McBride, we can't thank you enough for making the time today to help us to honor Dolly Parton and her legacy. Thank you very much.

Thank you for having me. And that is The News Hour for tonight. I'm Omna Nawaz. And I'm Jeff Bennett. For all of us here at the News Hour, thanks for spending part of your evening with us.