PBS News Hour - Full Show - August 28, 2025 – PBS News Hour full episode

Episode Date: August 28, 2025

Thursday on the News Hour, a wave of high-profile resignations and a firing at the CDC raises new concerns about the government’s handling of public health. Minneapolis begins the long healing process in the wake of the country's latest school shooting. Plus, the deep mark on New Orleans left by Hurricane Katrina and the concern over preparedness for future storms. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

Good evening. I'm Omna Nawaz. And I'm Jeff Bennett on the news hour tonight. A wave of high-profile resignations and a firing at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention raises new concerns about the government's handling of public health. Minneapolis begins the long healing process in the wake of the country's latest school shooting. And we report from New Orleans on the deep mark left by Hurricane Katrina and the concern about preparedness. for future storms. In many ways, we are much better if we faced Katrina.

But we won't face Katrina. We'll face new storms that are different than Katrina. Welcome to the News Hour. There are serious concerns tonight about the Centers for Disease Control and its mission after director Susan Menares was suddenly fired from her position on Wednesday. She had refused to resign amid clashes with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over vaccine policy. Menares, an infectious disease researcher, was sworn in less than a month ago and had quickly clashed with Kennedy over the handling of the agency.

In a statement, her lawyer said, quote, when she refused to rubber-stamp unscientific, reckless directives, and fired dedicated health experts, she chose protecting the public over serving a police. agenda. For that, she's been targeted. Her dismissal set off a wave of resignations with several other senior CDC officials stepping down in protest. That includes the chief medical officer, Dr. Deborah Howry, who was met with applause and hugs from supporters and staff outside the CDC building today. And Dr. Howry joins me now from Atlanta. Welcome to the program. Thanks for joining us.

Thanks for having me. So let's just start with your decision. Why did you feel the need to resign? It was such a tough decision. I love the CDC. The work we do is so important. But I just felt we'd reached a tipping point when it came to our science and our data and being able to do the work we needed to do. I was concerned about the future of CDC and my ability to be a leader at the CDC and to do what was needed to be done on the inside. I thought my voice and the voice of my colleagues that also resigned with me will be more powerful on the outside. What is reaching that tipping point, as you put it, mean to you? You saw Dr. Menares as lawyers referenced the unscientific and reckless directives. What does that mean to you? Yeah, so we have an immunization committee meeting

coming up in a few weeks, and many of us, myself included, were concerned about some of the recommendations might walk back vaccines in our country. It's me. That's one of the tipping points. I think another tipping point is just the loss of Dr. Menares. We hadn't had a CDC director for several months. When she came on board, she brought scientific rigor and some new ideas around public comment and how to really make sure data drove the decisions. When she had done some of these changes, she was brought to the secretary's office for discussion. And at that point, I became concerned that she wouldn't be able to implement changes that were needed at CDC. And without that leadership, it would just leave us vulnerable again. And I thought that that was the point to say,

enough is enough and to really raise that bat signal that public health and CDC is in trouble. You've also said previously that her firing makes it easier for Secretary Kennedy's appointees to change vaccine recommendations. You just mentioned fearing a walkback in some of those vaccine policies. What does that mean specifically? What could we see ahead? So, you know, if we don't have a CDC director, and if there's not an acting CDC director, then the secretary would sign recommendations like he did for the last ACIP or vaccine committee meeting. So things like the COVID vaccine or hepatitis B vaccine, they could choose to change ages on it or the populations that have access to it. I'm just concerned about changing vaccine access in our country and that we

need to focus more on the safety and effectiveness of vaccines, shared decision making around vaccines, and not talking about misinformation around vaccines. And changes to things like the hepatitis V vaccine? Are those conversations you were a part of during your time there? Those are being discussed? So I know that the work groups have been asked to look at hepatitis B. They're in the middle of pulling a systematic review together right now. So I would imagine that means they will be discussed. My concern is we have pulled evidence reviews together before for the ACIP meetings that we had one that was pulled down and not discussed. I think it's really important when we do work at CDC for our data, our science and our evidence reviews to be publicly posted so the public can also review them

and understand. And to me, that is transparency and something we were trying to move towards, particularly with the Secretary's commitment to radical transparency. That would mean having publicly available data and documents. You know, the White House Press Secretary, Caroline Levitt, was asked about Dr. Menars as firing today and your resignation, among others. Here's what she said in response. I understand there were a few other individuals who resigned after the firing. of Ms. Monterez. One of those individuals wrote in his departure statement that he identifies pregnant women as pregnant people. So that's not someone who we want in this administration anyway.

So if people are not aligned with the president's vision and the secretary's vision to make our country healthy again, then we will gladly show them the door. Dr. Harry, any administration would argue that they should be able to staff it with people who will help them to see through their mission. So what's different about this? What would you state of that? So I served under the prior Trump administration, and I can tell you, I was able to brief the secretary and the assistant secretary. None of our senior scientists or senior careers have briefed the secretary on things like measles or H5N1 or vaccines. So to me, that's concerning. Certainly administrations have priorities, and my goal is not to judge what the priorities are,

but to help the administration implement those priorities as long as they follow science and data. I think what we have seen an issue is that this is less on politics and more on ideology. I really believe that if we can follow, data, science, have more involvement of the public, that we would increase the trust. I think when there's talks around don't trust the experts, as the Secretary recently said, that doesn't help build trust in the work we are doing. I should also note it was just earlier this month that the CDC headquarters in Atlanta was attacked by a gunman who was angry. about COVID vaccines, fired nearly 200 shots, damaged six buildings, killed a police officer. How did that impact your team? What's it been like to work there since then? So, and first I just want to acknowledge Officer David Rose, who gave his life to save my

colleagues' lives. I can tell you, it was very traumatic for many of our staff. I spoke to people in conference rooms that night until about 11.30 p.m. at night, facetiming them, calling them, trying to offer support because they didn't know what's happening. they'd heard the shots. I had several staff that were at the daycare picking up their children that laid across their children to protect them. I can't imagine going through that. So, of course, now there's mental health consequences and, you know, longer mental health trauma from that. They are concerned if they talk about things like vaccines or things that might have scientific controversy, that violence could be inflicted towards them. So it's had a

significant impact on our staff. That is Dr. Deborah Howary, former chief medical officer, from the CDC joining us tonight. Dr. Howie, thank you for your time. Thank you. The White House has reportedly selected Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s deputy, Jim O'Neill, to serve as acting head of the CDC. Mourners gathered since sunrise today,

outside the Catholic school in Minneapolis where two students were killed. We now know the name of one of those victims. Fletcher Merkel, the eight-year-old's father, Jesse Merkel, spoke outside the church this afternoon where his son was killed. As our family and the enunciation community grieve and try to make sense of such a senseless act of violence. Please remember Fletcher, for the person he was, and not the act that ended his life.

Give your kids an extra hug and kiss today. We love you, Fletcher. You'll always be with us. Special correspondent Fred de Sam Lazaro has our report from Minneapolis on the aftermath of the school shooting. Across the Twin Cities, a community mourns coming together in vigils today

and overnight to remember the young lives lost in the latest mass shooting to target school children in America. Moorner signed two crosses for the eight-year-old and the ten-year-old killed at a back-to-school Mass at Annunciation Catholic School. Paritioners and former students were still reeling from the attack on the church, which has been part of the fabric of the neighborhood for more than a century. I heard something like really loud, like I thought it was fireworks in the church, and then I saw the shooting and I was like, oh my gosh, I'm so scared.

15-year-old Evan Cook is a former student. I was shocked when I heard about the situation. Like, if you're not safe at church, then where are you safe? It's about a half a block away. Patrick Scallon ran to the church, which his family has attended for generations, when he heard the gunshots. There were three in particular that walked almost right into me, and one girl came out to me and said, I've been shot in the neck.

He comforted them until first responders came on the same. scene. They were crying and they were panicked and I just knew that they needed some help and nobody else was there to help them. And right away the girl that got shot in the head asked me to hold her hand and I held it the whole time. And they were all worried and they said we just wanted my mom and dad. Three adults and 15 children were injured in the attack. One of those children remains in critical condition according to hospital officials. Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frye said this moment called for more serious action. We need a statewide and a federal ban on high-capacity magazines.

There is no reason that someone should be able to reel off 30 shots before they even have to reload. We're not talking about your father's hunting rifle here. We're talking about guns that are built to period. to pierce armor and kill people. Authorities say the shooter died by a self-inflicted gunshot wound behind the church where police say the shooter's mother previously worked. Police say 116 rifle rounds were fired into the church and one live round was recovered from a handgun that appeared to have malfunctioned.

Literally hundreds of pieces of evidence have been recovered thus far which include electronic devices that will be further searched and processed. It now becomes our job collectively with all of law enforcement to process that evidence. Police say the suspect left behind a manifesto scheduled to post on YouTube during the shooting. It was removed by law enforcement. The shooter expressed hate towards black people. The shooter expressed hate towards Mexican people. The shooter expressed hate towards Christian people.

The shooter expressed hate towards Jewish people. In short, the shooter appeared to hate all of us. There appears to be only one group that the shooter didn't hate. The shooter idolized some of the most notorious school shooters and mass murders in our country's history. As authorities worked to find a motive, survivors recount the horror. All we hear is, pow, pow, pow! And my classmates, like some of my classmates thought it was confetti because they said, saw the glass from the stained glass windows flying, but right when I heard the shots, I knew I just needed to, like, get down and try to keep everyone safe.

The terror you feel in a situation like this is incredible. It's crippling. Shea McAdera was standing just inside the church entrance when the gunfire started. His second grade son was at the Wednesday mess and fled to the basement. He didn't have to go through it alone. Yeah, I'm glad that I was there for that. It didn't happen at the school, it's happened at the church. There were no systems of protection at the church, no drills. No one had conceived of somebody shooting a church full of children. It wasn't a level of evil that the, sorry, wasn't a level of evil that we had conceived of yet. I guess now society, it's here we have to deal with it.

Last night was full of challenges for parents across this community. I put him to bed last night and they said, mommy, where's the bad guy? And I don't like bad guys. I only like the police. And it's just devastating. Caitlin Nolan Björgy and her husband, Andrew, live across the street from the Annunciation Church. She heard the gunshots shortly after eight yesterday morning. I look outside thinking that there's like some kind of drilling going on.

I didn't know what it was and I opened my front door and this man with this, ginormous rifle is shooting up the side of the church and I just immediately called 911 and then I called my neighbors who have kids that go there and they didn't answer and I'm I felt like this urge to get into that church but I had to get my own kids and I grabbed them scooped them up in the car and drove away the six-year-old twins start school next week I don't want to drop them off but I want them to have a normal life and know that schools are safe but how do we We tell them that schools are safe when this happens all the time.

Governor Tim Walz has deployed state law enforcement to support local police in patrols of the city and survivors urge their community to band together. We need to lean into the thing that we loved about this place, which is the community. There are no silver linings in this story, but police chief O'Hara disclosed today that the doors of the church were locked from inside once the mass commenced. And that, he said, undoubtedly saved lives. today with the principal of the school, he was not ready to go on camera, still processing a lot of grief along with parents and students in this community. They don't know yet when school will resume. Jeff? Our thanks to Fred de Sam Lazare reporting tonight from Minneapolis.

The day's other headlines begin in Kiev, which is reeling from a massive Russian barrage that killed at least 21 people and wounded 48 more. Ukraine says it involved nearly 600 drones and 31 missiles. It's the first major combined attack on the Ukrainian capital in weeks, and it comes as the U.S. struggles to move peace efforts forward. William Brangham has our report. This morning in Kiev, a young boy watched in disbelief as some of his neighbors are carried away in body bags. The building they called home for years,

and the lives of those they shared it with destroyed instantly by a Russian missile. I felt an explosion. It all happened so quickly. The windows were shattered. The apartment was filled with dust, smoke, and smashed glass. There was a woman in her child. She was under a cement block. She was not saved. In the heart of the capital, the European Union said two successive strikes landed just 150 feet from the building housing its mission to Ukraine. No injuries were reported among staff, and the building were reported.

and the building remains open, but... I'm outraged. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen vowed today there will be consequences. We will come forward soon with our 19th package of hard-biting sanctions. And in parallel, we are advancing the work on the Russian frozen assets

to contribute to Ukraine's defense and reconstruction. Ukraine was also on the offensive overnight, hitting a Russian oil refinery. It's been nearly two weeks since the anchorage summit between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. There's still no progress on the next step floated by Trump, a face-to-face meeting between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodemir Salensky. After it strikes on Kiev today,

Kremlin spokesperson Dimitri Peskov claimed Russia is still committed to diplomacy. But Ukraine's president scoffed at that idea. writing that, quote, Russia chooses ballistics instead of the negotiating table. It chooses to continue killing instead of ending the war. The attacks come one day before Ukrainian representatives are supposed to meet President Trump's team in New York to discuss what security guarantees Ukraine could expect in any ceasefire deal. But that day seems, as ever, far off.

For the PBS NewsHour, I'm William Brangham. Here in the U.S., a judge granted a new trial for the three former Memphis police officers who were convicted in connection with the beating death of Tyree Nichols. Lawyers for the men had argued that another judge who presided over their trial was biased against them. They've been convicted of federal charges in 2024 of obstruction of justice through witness tampering. Video of the 2023 beating of Nichols following a traffic stop sparked nationwide protests against. police brutality. Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook today sued the Trump administration over the president's attempt to fire her. Trump officials alleged that Cook misrepresented her

primary residence on mortgage applications and can be fired for cause. Cook's lawyers say the unsubstantiated and unproven allegation that Governor Cook potentially erred in filing and filling out a mortgage form does not amount to cause. Today, the White House press secretary insisted that the president has the authority to fire her. He has the cause that he needs to fire this individual. He laid it out in the letter that he provided to her and to the public as well. And so we'll continue to fight this battle. No president has ever tried to fire a Fed governor in the bank's 112-year history.

It comes as the president is putting increasing pressure on the Fed over what he sees as an unwillingness to lower interest rates. An initial court hearing is scheduled for tomorrow. In Florida, a federal judge has upheld. her ruling to wind down the Everglades detention center known as Alligator Alcatraz by late October. The decision comes after emails emerged from last week showing a Florida official signaling that most detainees will be gone within a few days. The facility opened just last month. State officials say Florida stands to lose most of the $218 million invested in the project.

Also today, the Department of Homeland Security asked a military base outside Chicago for support on immigration operations in the form of, quote, facilities, infrastructure, and other logistical needs. The base said no decisions have been made on the request. Meantime, authorities in Rwanda say they've received seven deportees from the U.S. so far this month after agreeing to take in as many as 250. The East African country is one of four African nations, along with Uganda, Eswatini, and South Sudan that have such deportation agreements with the Trump administration. Rwandan spokesperson says three of the individuals have expressed a desire to return to their home countries, while four wished to stay and build lives in Rwanda. No further information was provided

about the identities of the deportees. The UN Security Council voted unanimously today to end its nearly five-decade peacekeeping mission along Lebanon's southern border with Israel. Scaling down the nearly 11,000 member force will begin immediately with a final withdrawal by the end of next year. The pullout follows U.S. and Israeli demands to end the mission and leaves the Lebanese government as the sole provider of security in the area. Meantime, in Gaza City ambulances rushed to the site of blasts from Israeli strikes today. The Israeli military has stepped up its bombardment there, calling it the last Hamas stronghold. Health officials say at least 16 Palestinians were killed today across Gaza. Back in this country, officials at the CDC said today that a salmonella outbreak involving recalled eggs has poisoned nearly 100 people across the country.

The cases appeared in more than a dozen states, starting in January. 18 people had to be hospitalized, and the CDC says the actual number of those infected is likely much higher than reported. The FDA says country eggs LLC of Lucerne Valley, California, was a common supplier in areas where people got sick. The company has suspended production of its brown, cage-free sunshine yokes or omega-3 golden yolk eggs. The Atlanta Journal Constitution is stopping its print edition and shifting to a digital-only model in the new year. In a statement, the company said, we knew this day would come, adding that many more people engage with our digital platforms and products today than with our print edition, and that shift is only accelerating. The announcement follows similar moves by the Star Ledger in New Jersey, among others, amid a broader shift in how people get their news. The AJC's final print edition will appear on December 31st.

On Wall Street today, stocks hit new highs after the latest earnings report from chipmaker Nvidia. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added around 70 points on the day. The NASDAQ rose 115 points. The S&P 500 closed at a new all-time high for a second day in the row. Still to come on the News Hour, Europe reimposes sanctions on Iran that were suspended as a part of the nuclear deal. A husband speaks out after his wife's immigration detention led to her being hospitalized. And we visit New Hampshire to examine the impact of state-level cuts to the arts. This is the PBS News Hour from the David M. Rubenstein studio at WETA in Washington.

and in the west from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University. Three European countries that were part of the initial 2015 Iran nuclear deal today launched a process to reimpose sweeping sanctions on Iran lifted a decade ago as part of the agreement with the Islamic Republic. France, Germany, and the UK accused Iran of breaking its commitments from that deal, starting a 30-day clock that could end with Iran's economy further squeezed. its arms deals halted, and its foreign assets frozen. Nick Schifrin is following this force.

So Nick, explain why these European countries are sanctioning Iran and why this is called a snapback. It's called a snap back because the idea is to snap back those sanctions that you just mentioned that were lifted on Iran back in the 2015 nuclear deal. Of course, President Trump withdrew from the deal back in 2018, but Germany, France, and the United Kingdom did not withdraw from the deal. And that gave them the ability today to send this letter, about Iran that judges Iran, quote, to be insignificant non-performance of its commitments under

the nuclear deal. The Europeans say Iran, one, exceeded the caps on its uranium, uranium stockpile or nuclear fuel. That includes uranium enriched to 60 percent, one step below weapons grade, that the Europeans said today, quote, has no credible civilian justification. Number two, the letter also says Iran restarted, prohibited enrichment. And it says Iran, quote, cease to allow nuclear inspectors from required verification monitoring to the extent that the UN's nuclear watchdog is not able to provide assurance of the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear program. In the last few days and weeks, Jeff, European officials made it very clear to Iran that they had to negotiate directly with the U.S.

They had to allow inspectors all over the country, including those sites that the United States bombed just two months ago, and three, Iran had to account for the 60 percent uranium that Iran and the U.S. say, were buried in those sites, but Iran did not take any of those steps, and therefore you get snapback today. And how has Iran responded to the threat of new sanctions? Iran's foreign minister and deputy foreign minister both released statements today. They accused U.S. and Europe long ago of failing to hold up their end of the nuclear deal, and therefore they said that it was, quote, illegal that they imposed snapback

today. They warned that their cooperation with those international, inspectors, the only real window that we have into Iran's nuclear program, would, quote, likely be stopped. And Iranian hardliners, Jeff, have long warned that if Europe proceeded with SNAPAC, they would leave the nuclear proliferation treaty, which obliges Iran to give access to international inspectors, but no follow-through on that threat today. So what happens now? Well, as you said, there's a 30-day clock, at the end of which we would expect the Security Council to reimpose all those sanctions, and they are punishing sanctions on Iran, although the U.S. sanctions, in fact, are even harsher than these U.N. sanctions. But the diplomacy can continue in those 30 days.

Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, also the National Security Advisor, released a statement today, and he said, quote, snapback does not contradict our earnest readiness for diplomacy. It only enhances it. Now, we talk to some experts today who echo that argument, and they say that today's step gives the U.S. leverage to make a deal. Take a listen to Elliot Abrams. He was a special representative for Iran and Venezuela and the first Trump administration. My view is that the Iranians don't negotiate in good faith without pressure. So if you think that there is a possibility of a negotiation with the regime, then I think

you've got to keep the pressure on it up. If the pressure is released, they're just going to walk away from a serious negotiation. But you heard Iran's threats about ending cooperation with international inspectors, perhaps leaving the Nuclear Proliferation Treaty, and other experts believe that this step by the Europeans today to initiate this snapback undercuts the possibility of a successful negotiation. Take a listen to Jennifer Kavanaugh. She's with defense priorities, a think tank that advocates for restraint around the world. I think that having more pressure placed on them will push Iran further from the negotiating table

with everyone. And it also creates domestic pressure. The Iranian regime can't be seen by its domestic public to be giving in now to pressure from Europe or additional pressure from the United States. It forces the Iranian regime to take steps like threatening to pull out of the nuclear nonproliferation regime and other types of drastic moves. Jeff, a senior U.S. official tonight told me that that was the debate that the U.S. was having internally before the 12-day war launched by the U.S. Israel, that one side was arguing that, no, this could lead to less likely of a successful outcome, the other side say, no, it gives us leverage.

But since that war, this senior U.S. official tells me tonight that most of those officials believe there is simply no downside to the snapback. But at the end of the day, there is also still no solution to the impasse that you and I have talked about for months. Iran is still demanding it contain or continue its enrichment, and the U.S. as part of any deal, is arguing that Iran needs to stop enrichment. that impasse maintains even today. Nick Schifrin, thank you so much for this reporting.

Thank you. days and moved between multiple detention facilities from Massachusetts to Maine. Her story has caught national attention as one of many people with no violent criminal convictions caught up in the administration's immigration crackdown. For more, I'm joined now by her husband, Marcel Rosa, and her lawyer, Todd Palmerlo. Gentlemen, welcome to you both, and thank you for joining us. Thank you very much for having us. We greatly appreciate the opportunity to be heard here. Marcel, I want to begin with you, and I'll just say we can't even imagine what when your family have been through this month,

but just take me back to that day. August 11th, you and Jamie and your three young daughters land home at the Boston airport. She's suddenly taken into custody. Tell me about that moment. They took Jamie into a room by herself and a few minutes later.

They opened up the door, asked me to go into room. I was with my kids. I told them I'm going to take my kids with me inside the room. And that's when once I walked into the room, That's when I noticed that something had just happened. My wife, she was sitting down, sunk in the chair.

I just knew that there was no way that she would be able to come out that room just based off the energy. There was only one officer that was really doing the talking. He essentially said that she wasn't leaving. I pleaded with them. I asked a series of questions. What they were saying was very vague. She just broke down crying. And just the way the CBP officers was treating the situation, I thought, was inhumane.

They was just, they was destroying my family. And it was as if it was nothing to them, like, as if it was like an assembly line in a car manufacturing facility, just another task that they have to deal with. It was tough. It was real tough. We felt like we was ambushed. It was just a tough situation. I mean, you go, we went from having the best vacation to just getting my wife ripped out of my life. Todd, as Marcel has mentioned, Jamie has a green card. She's a legal permanent resident here in the United States.

Your children, Marcel, they're all U.S. citizens. What have you learned about why she was arrested and detained? To this day, after two weeks of litigation, numerous written requests, we've never officially been served with any documentation for why she was detained. She came here at the age of nine for the American Dream. She came here with her green card,

her lawful permanent residency. When she was a 20-year-old college student, at one time in her life, she had some marijuana, and she accepted full responsibility for it. I knew that this charge was fully pardoned over a year ago by the governor of Massachusetts because marijuana possession is no longer a crime in Massachusetts just like numerous other states in the country in those 10 days what was it like for

her what has she told you about that time she was just scared the whole time she wasn't getting the proper treatment she has diabetes she has asthma she has a series of uh actually at one point her blood pressure was as high as 198 and the only thing that they was given her was anxiety pills We didn't even find out until a week after the fact that she went to the emergency room a second time. They wouldn't allow her to call or even allowed the doctors to call us. So that was actually news to us. It was surprising. Yeah, her health was deteriorating a lot, especially in the CBP custody.

I have to ask you, because you say this clearly caught you by surprise. As you say, you feel like you were ambushed. You're someone who has previously served in the government for about a decade, right? Also in the Department of Homeland Security, this government now says that a green card is a privilege, not a right. That's their language. They also say that even legal permanent residents with previous criminal convictions may be subject to mandatory detention. And technically, that does include your wife. What's your reaction to that?

I just feel as if the individuals that were involved in this case made the wrong decision. They stated that they may detain and detain someone going through the checkpoint. That means that they had an option either to detain them or just release them, summons them to a court or a hearing, some type of meeting. That wasn't done. There's a difference between will, shall, must. Those terms were not used. They said may. In the public statement, they said may.

So that means that the CPP supervisor had the option to let her go. You mentioned you feel one officer acted in a rogue manner here. Jamie's story is not unlike others that we've heard from across the country here. So when you see this campaign, this promise from this administration of mass deportations, and then you see your wife being treated the way that she was, what does that say to you? I feel as if better decisions could be made. She's not a flight risk. Also, I'm very confident that there's a lot of other individuals in the same shoes that don't have a voice.

I understand if someone is a criminal, you know, they're actively committing crimes. They've committed murder, things like that. I understand. But there's a lot of, from what I'm seeing right now, there's a lot of innocent people getting caught up in this system. Marcel, tell us about Jamie today. How is she doing? And is there still a potential that she could be detained again? or potentially deported.

As of right now, she was released. No bond, nothing. They never filed charges based off the lawsuit that we filed. I see no other plausible or legal basis they could ever seek to deport her again, but she lives in fear of that happening again. Marcel, if there's one thing you want people to understand about what happened to you and your family,

what would that be? It was a nightmare. I wouldn't wish this upon any family. It was very, very hard to get out of the situation. So we're just thankful. thankful all around for all the love and support from everyone it's really a terrible situation i really don't see too many people getting out of this situation it's just so complex marcel rosa we're thinking about you and jamie and your daughters at home thanks to you and your

lawyer todd parmelo for joining us tonight you're very welcome thank you for having us thank you appreciate it It has been 20 years since Hurricane Katrina devastated the Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama coasts. More than 1,300 lives were lost in the storms awake. The majority in New Orleans, while Katrina remains the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history, the deepest impact is found in the human suffering and the long, difficult journey toward recovery. For our series' tipping point, Lisa Desjardin recently traveled to the region to explore the lessons learned and what still lies ahead as weather has become even more extreme.

I didn't even realize how much music vibrates through the city all the time until it wasn't there. For Michael White, the most difficult part of Hurricane Katrina was the silence that came after. Every footstep I made had a different kind of sound. You realize that the heartbeat of the city is this vibrant pulse of music and life and joyous, expression, and that was completely gone. White is a clarinetist and among New Orleans most beloved musicians, dedicating his life to the rich heritage of the city he loves. For him and so many others, Katrina divided life in two, before and after.

Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast hard today from Louisiana to the Florida panhandle. On August 29th, 2005, the Category 3 hurricane slammed into southwest Louisiana. After levees failed, 80% of New Orleans was underwater. Thousands were rescued from rooftops. Tens of thousands more sought refuge in the Superdome. Across the region, over a thousand people died from the storm. You mean the line right there? Yeah, that's the highest point, and that was at least nine feet.

In 2005, White showed NewsHour the destruction. The storm made some 300,000 homes uninhabitable. And in 2025, some still are. It looks like there was some work done, or has there been no work done on this house, do you think? It's hard to tell, but one of the problems was a lot of people ran out of money to repair the houses. Abandoned buildings and empty lots still dot the city. some to this day bearing the Telltale X left by Katrina's search and rescue teams. You know, a lot of this area has come back, but as you can see, we have a row of houses

that are still abandoned, you know, nearly 20 years later. White returned from evacuation to find almost nothing could be saved, not his historic photos, not his sheet music, and not his dozens of historic clarinets. Each instrument is like a person that has its own sound, its own performance, personality and moods almost. I couldn't bear to open those cases, because to me, those are bodies inside. White built a new clarinet collection, but the city is not reborn. New Orleans population today is a quarter smaller than it was when Katrina struck. There are new levees in place, but some still question whether this city and the country are ready for the next big storm.

That includes the man who led the Katrina response. Russell Honore. He questions the federal approach now. It doesn't make sense. It doesn't make sense. And again, it goes back to the lessons learned from Katrina. Few understand the complex issues and high stakes better. The retired Lieutenant General led Joint Task Force Katrina. His no-nonsense approach was credited with turning around a chaotic situation. Now he sees another tricky landscape. He's worried about federal cuts to key agencies, but assured by the new levee system. We put $114 billion into recovery in Louisiana,

about $14 billion in a levy protection system, and we had a storm three years after Katrina came and the levee's held. In many ways, we are much better if we faced Katrina. But we won't face Katrina. We'll face new storms that are different than Katrina. Alessandra Girolaman of Loyola University, New Orleans, lost her home, her car, and much of the community she loved in Katrina. That transformed her purpose to disaster, preparation, and recovery. And she is concerned.

It is always a big concern for me that we might see a large hurricane. We might see rapid intensification where folks can't leave. Like Honoré, she's worried about a political storm. The Trump cuts to weather and natural disaster agencies, including the federal emergency management agency. We want to wean off of FEMA and we want to bring it down to the state level. President Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Christine Nome now say they want to reform FEMA, shifting more to the states, which they argue do a better job.

The president recognizes that FEMA should not exist the way that it always has been. It needs to be redeployed in a new way. But Honoré is blunt. The states aren't ready. I think the political speak about wanting to get rid of FEMA and reducing its involvement in response is putting doubt in a lot of people's mind. This as the Gulf Coast faces more extreme weather. Global temperatures and ocean temperatures are rising.

And the Trump administration has made key climate data harder to access. But no one can deny this. January, New Orleans shattered its snowfall record, followed by record heat this summer. Since Katrina, scientists have done a lot of work to document these strong storms and the anomalies associated with the science by why the storms appear to be stronger or why we're having two and three, 100-year storm at a 10-year period. What we see with climate change is some shifts in the parameters of weather events. Are you worried the lessons could be forgotten?

I am worried. We have to think about disasters like hurricanes in a more holistic fashion, right? Because the problem in Katrina, it wasn't just the hurricane. It was certainly the problems with the maintenance of the levees, but also coastal erosion, land loss, the long history of the oil and gas canals that hadn't been closed off, all of these myriad factors that were just piling on risk. There is holistic thinking on a local level here. like in the hard-hit lower Ninth Ward.

There were a lot of promises after Katrina, but not a lot of fulfillment of those promises. Arthur Johnson helps run a group known as Sustain the Nine. We lost a lot of trees from Katrina, millions of trees, and then every year you have a storm and that takes the trees out. They are now planting cypress trees and other native plants to reduce erosion and teaching sustainability

in the face of increasingly wild weather like tornadoes. We're no longer just dealing with hurricane and hurricane season, which is now six months out of the year. Like many low-lying places hit by Katrina, this area is at higher risk for problems. But this group insists on rebuilding. We're not going away. I mean, Katrina couldn't drown us. So we damn well ain't allowed no politician. They're failed programs to drown us.

It's not going to happen. That's not the only existential debate connected to Katrina. Musician Michael White feels it. There is no return to normal. Life, as I knew, it ended with Katrina. And it took a long time for that to sink in. I feel like I'm on my second life. Because everything changed.

Everything was destroyed or gone. And a part of me kind of died with Katrina. But something else was born. He rarely composed before the storm, but now writing songs has become a daily lifeline. I just pick up my clarinet, and I don't think about it. I just play a note. I don't know what comes after that, but I'll just play another note. And so from there, I'll go, after kind of,

coming away from the pain and the difficulties of Katrina for many years, my mind seemed to open up. And it seems like all of the music that I've ever heard is kind of in my head simmering around, like a gumbo pot. And it's like if you stir the pot, you never know what comes up. Like, you know, a shrimp, an oyster, hot sausage. All of those things are in gumbo, and that's kind of what it's like. 20 years on, New Orleans still has not recovered from Katrina.

But like the music it helped create, it keeps improvising. For the PBS News Hour, I'm Lisa Desjardin in New Orleans. There's been a lot of news about federal funding cuts to the arts, but some states are also slashing their arts funding. Senior arts correspondent Jeffrey Brown visited New Hampshire, where the cultural sector generated some $3.5 billion in revenue in 2023, but where arts groups now face a potential double hit. His report is for our series, Art in Action, exploring the intersection of art and democracy, and part of our canvas. coverage. On a hot summer evening at the Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music in the Woodlands of Nelson, New Hampshire, Concert Go is gathered for an evening meal and performance. The Center celebrating its 55th season was

originally started as a summer music camp for young musicians and later expanded to include students of all ages with a range of experience levels. In addition to instruction, a revolving faculty of professional musicians offers a series of concerts. Executive Director Sam Bergman says the center has become a staple of the Manadnach region of Southern New Hampshire's thriving cultural life. We bring in as many as 300 students a year

for our summer chamber music workshop sessions. They live on campus, but they also go into town. Their families come to hear their concerts. They stay in hotels. They go to the restaurants. They go to the bars. You know, these are people who are coming here, specifically for Apple Hill, but then they're captivated by the whole region.

But earlier this summer, Apple Hill got news from the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts that its funding had been cut. The grant of $13,500 makes up just a small portion of Apple Hill's $1.2 million budget. But the cut says Bergman sends a troubling message. We know that the arts in New Hampshire provide a tremendous economic impact to this state and also provide a social impact in one of the oldest states in the country, in a state that talks incessantly about the need to keep the young people of New Hampshire in New Hampshire as they grow up, to provide a place that they want to stay

and also to be a place that can attract younger people from elsewhere. We know that one of the key ways to do that is through cultural offerings. So that's at risk. It's a huge risk. The cuts came as the state legislature voted to all but eliminate. funding for the Arts Council, about $1.4 million last year, leaving just enough for one employee down from seven. The stated reason revenue shortfalls due in part to recent tax repeals and the drawing down of COVID-19 era federal assistance in a state that doesn't

have personal income or sales taxes. Republican State Senator Tim Lang heads the Ways and Means Committee. In good revenue times, he's a great functions to have. but we're in bad revenue times and we have to cut back and limit what government does. I mean, the term I heard was wants versus needs. Wants versus needs, right. Lange insists the cuts are not ideological. He says he believes in the value of the arts, but the state needs new ways to fund them.

We created a new funding mechanism through tax credits. So we allow in New Hampshire to get donations, and businesses can use, in this case, 50% of the donation can be used as a credit against taxes you might owe the state. So rather than the money coming in and going back out, we just don't get the money. And the business gets to get the benefit. So we felt New Hampshire has a vibrant art community, that there were enough private patrons that would buy the tax credits and that would give funding to the arts to continue the arts program. But it's not that

straightforward, counter Sarah Stewart, Commissioner of New Hampshire's Department of Natural and cultural resources, which oversees the Arts Council. Those grants, even when small, have outsized impacts. These are very meaningful. Over the years, we've built relationships, we've built a network. We have a roster of professional artists that we've been able to vet. These are sort of providing a gold standard to these organizations that are fundraising otherwise, but with a New Hampshire state grant, they can showcase that they've been vetted properly and that they're worthy of investment. The budget cut, she says, puts her state in an unenviable position. That leaves us behind all of our states and territories. New Hampshire is now with this

allocation, the least funded in the country behind Guam. That's not a good place to be for you. No, but we can only go up from here. It's painful. And knowing that we've worked so hard to build these programs up to where they are today and to have to now take a giant step back is a shame. Where does this leave arts organizations? Supercalabra, Fragilistic, X-Bi-a-Doh. Not so super-cala, maybe more fragilistic, even as the shows went on, including Mary Poppins at the New London Barn Playhouse, in the middle of its 93rd season when we visited it in

July, Executive Artistic Director Keith Kaufflin. The Northeast is an interesting sort of area of the country where there are these gems of theaters that have been around for decades, that... Including in old barns. Including in old barns, all up and down the East Coast. And I think they carry a rich history of providing entertainment to their communities, but also a breeding ground for young artists. The Barn Playhouse lost a state-funded grant that went towards a program called Improv for

caregivers, working through theater with caregivers of Alzheimer's and dementia patients. This program was entirely funded by the state, and we were able to offer it for free. That was really an exciting piece to what we could offer the community. There were also the hits from federal cuts and unknowns to come. The Barn Playhouse lost N.A. funding earlier this year for a program that includes bringing theater into local schools. After appealing the decision, that funding was reinstated. It's just a time of uncertainty. We're faced with tough decisions on terms of programming. Do we need to reduce because that funding is not coming? Do we need to change? We hope that we don't

have to push ticket prices or things that end up harming the organization in other ways. We seem to be living in a time where a lot of people are absolving themselves of the responsibility. of investing in the culture in which they enjoy. Sal Prizio, executive director of the Capitol Center for the Arts, a performing arts venue in Concord, also chairs Arts for New Hampshire, a statewide advocacy organization. I have reminded everybody, we lost a battle, we're not going to lose the war, because here in New Hampshire, there's elections every two years, so it's like the weather, it changes every five minutes kind of thing.

So it is the identity of what makes New Hampshire, New Hampshire. And can we come together under one umbrella? to be able to have a louder voice, a megaphone, that speaks to whether it's the elected officials on the statehouse or just more broadly to the entire state of New Hampshire. For now, the music and shows go on, here at Apple Hill and beyond, while artists, organizations, and audiences await the next act. For the PBS News Hour, I'm Jeffrey Brown in Nelson, New Hampshire. And 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.