PBS News Hour - Full Show - February 9, 2026 - PBS News Hour full episode

Episode Date: February 10, 2026

Monday on the News Hour, global fallout from the Epstein files widens as his accomplice pleads the Fifth before Congress. The surge of immigration enforcement in Minnesota leads many residents to forego vital health care for fear of being detained. Plus, a reporter who gained access to a Texas migrant detention facility details the experiences of children and families there. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

Good evening. I'm Jeff Pennett. And I'm Amna Navaz. On the news hour tonight, global fallout from the Epstein files widens as his accomplice pleads the fifth before Congress. The surge of immigration enforcement into Minnesota leads many residents there to forego vital health care for fear of being detained. I think everyone in Minneapolis, including my clients, every single one of them, are experiencing collective trauma. And I am too right there with them. And a reporter who gained access to a Texas migrant detention facility details the experiences of children and families there. Welcome to the NewsHour.

The fallout from the recent release of the Epstein Files is continuing. His longtime associate and convicted child sex trafficker, Elaine Maxwell, declined today to answer questions from a congressional committee in a closed-door deposition. Maxwell, who was subpoenaed by the House Oversight Committee last year, said she was invoking her Fifth Amendment right to avoid self-incrimination. She appeared by video from a prison camp in Texas where she's serving a 20-year prison sentence for sex trafficking and other crimes.

Maxwell's deposition comes the same day lawmakers were given access to view the unredacted files. That includes two congressmen who led the congressional push to release the Epstein documents. That's Congressman Thomas Massey and Rokane. It has exposed people in the highest levels in technology and finance, in real estate. It has exposed the establishment and monarchies in other countries.

So our push is how do we expose this and have accountability, not how do we score political points or have retribution. Our justice correspondent, Ali Rogan, has been tracking all of this and joins us now. So, Ali, let's start with today's developments. What did we learn? There were a number of actions today that really were efforts to pierce through this. shroud of secrecy that still remains around many of these documents we did just hear from Congressman Massey and Kana.

They said they've seen the names of six men whose names were redacted in the public version that they were able to see today, who they said would likely be incriminated by their inclusion in these files. They did not name the six men, but Massey said one was a U.S. citizen, one is a foreign national. The other four, he said he could not determine what nationality they were based on their names. He did say, though, that one, presumably the one that we know is a foreign national, is pretty high up in a foreign government. This is all happening as we're learning that the FBI

wrote a summary in 2025, saying that there were, quote, four or five Epstein accusers who were claiming abuse at the hands of men and women. Of course, we know that many more survivors have come forward than four or five, but that there was not enough evidence to federally charge these individuals, so the cases were referred to local law enforcement. Meanwhile, as you mentioned, Galane Maxwell pleaded the fifth today during her deposition before the House Oversight Committee, but her lawyer did say that she would, quote, very much like to answer questions if President Trump grants her clemency. He added, quote, both President Trump and President Clinton are innocent of any wrongdoing. Ms. Maxwell alone can explain why, and the public

is entitled to that explanation. The last time Jeff President Trump was asked about this, he said he wouldn't rule in or out, granting Phelaine Maxwell a pardon. And separately, we know that President Clinton has agreed to appear before this committee at the request of the Republicans who lead it. Have those details been worked out? That's right. We know so far that former President Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are slated to sit for separate, closed-door videotaped interviews before the depositions before the House Oversight Committee. But now Bill Clinton is saying that he does not want that deposition to be videotaped,

but that he would participate in a public hearing that people can watch in real time. But House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer said today that this is the way that he's conducted all of the depositions in this investigation so far. And he told us today that Hillary Clinton's is scheduled for February 27th and Bill Clinton for March 11th. And there is an international aspect to this because you have U.S. allies that are dealing with their own version of the Epstein scandal. How is this landing overseas? Very differently. There seem to be far bigger consequences for political leaders in the U.K. than there are here in the United States. The fallout in the U.K. centers around Peter Mandelson, who was serving as the U.K. ambassador to the United States. He was appointed to that role by Kier Starmer. Police are now investigating Mandelson for alleged

misconduct in public office tied to emails he sent Epstein, in which he shared government information. Bannelson maintains he did nothing criminal, but the fallout is already centering around Prime Minister Starmor. He's facing calls to resign, including from members of his own party. Already his chief of staff and communications director have resigned over this. And today he met with members of his own labor party, presumably to try to shore up some support. Also under police investigation is Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, King Charles's brother.

The king said today through a spokesperson that he, quote, stands ready to support the investigation and that, Jeff, his thoughts remain with the victims. And yet no such reckoning stateside. That's exactly right. And it's really, although we should note that just being mentioned in these files is not a suggestion that there was any wrongdoing, but the split screen that is playing out between the political crisis in the UK and businesses normal in the U.S. is really striking. And that's as new details are coming out about President Trump and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnik's connection to Epstein and things that they have told investigators. We now know that Lutnik had even more social interactions with Epstein than had previously been revealed. We covered that last week on this show a little bit.

Now we know that Lutnik and Epstein both signed documents to invest in a private company on the same day. And they traded cordial messages for years about Manhattan real estate. Lutnik invited Epstein to a fundraiser for Hillary Clinton in 2015. A spokesperson for the Department of Congress says this is a distraction and that the two men met in 2005 and had, quote, very limited interactions with him over the next 14 years. And Jeff, on Trump himself, there are new forms. files reported on tonight by the Miami Herald that President Trump, not then President Trump, told investigators back in 2006 that, quote, everyone knows he's been doing this,

referring to Jeffrey Epstein, which of course contradicts many of the things we've heard publicly over the years from President Trump about the nature of his relationship and when it ended. So much to track and yet we can't lose sight of the survivors. What are they saying about all this? That's exactly right. Yesterday evening to coincide with Super Bowl Sunday. Sunday, the anti-human trafficking nonprofit World Without Exploitation, released a 42nd PSA featuring Epstein survivors. We're standing together.

Standing. Standing together. Because this girl deserves the truth. Because she deserves the truth. Because we all deserve the truth. Jeff, this clip concludes with a QR code inviting viewers to sign a petition urging Attorney General Pam Bondi to release evidence they say exists and to provide an explanation for why millions of pages remain withheld from public view.

Allie Rogan, thank you for this reporting. We appreciate it. You bet. The day's other headlines begin in Arizona, where the search for Nancy Guthrie, mother of today's show host Savannah Guthrie, entered its second week. And an apparent ransom deadline is just hours away. If there's anything at all that seems strange to you, that you report to law enforcement, we are at an hour of desperation. And we need you help. In a new plea today, Savannah Guthrie credited law enforcement for working tirelessly, but ask the public for its help.

Over the weekend, the Guthrie said they are prepared to pay for their mother's safe return. Investigators to date have identified no suspects or persons of interest in the case. The U.S. military boarded a sanctioned oil tanker in the Indian Ocean today after tracking the vessel from the Caribbean. The Pentagon posted video of what it called a maritime interdiction aboard the Akila 2, which experts say departed Venezuela last month. The Pentagon did not say whether it had seized the ship. The meantime in Venezuela, opposition leader Maria Karina Machado says an ally of hers was kidnapped in Caracas, less than 12 hours after he was released from detention. The country's top prosecutor had called for Juan Pablo Guanipa to be

re-arrested but didn't say whether he had been. Critics accuse Venezuela of backtracking on its promises to the United States to release political prisoners after President Nicholas Maduro's removal. The Trump administration left other leaders of Maduro's regime in place. Japan's Prime Minister, Sanai Takaiichi, is pushing her conservative agenda forward after her party secured a supermajority in Sunday's parliamentary election. people of our nation gave us a powerful push forward, urging us to carry through with a shift in policy no matter what. Takaiichi will be able to fast track many of her priorities, which include cracking down

on immigration, tax cuts, increased government spending, and boosting defense capabilities to stand up militarily to China. President Trump congratulated Takaiichi on social media, calling her, quote, highly respected and very popular. The two leaders will meet in Washington next month. San Francisco, teachers walked off the job for the first time in nearly half a century with no set end date, closing public schools for more than 50,000 students in the city. Money for kids and education.

Not for a billion profit make it. The teachers in one of the nation's most expensive cities are demanding a 9% pay raise and greater help to deal with rising health care costs. The strike comes after nearly a year of stalled talks. Meanwhile, clear across the country a breakthrough. New York City nurses on nearly month-long strike say they've reached a tentative three-year deal for better staffing and pay with two major hospital systems. Nurses remain on strike with a third hospital, that's New York Presbyterian. On Wall Street, stocks added slightly to their rally last week.

The Dow Jones Industrial average barely budged but did notch a small gain. The NASDAQ climbed by nearly 1 percent. The S&P 500 rose by a half percent inching closer to record territory. The Seattle Seahawks basked in the glow of victory today after beating the New England Patriots last night, 29 to 13, to claim their second Super Bowl title. Coach Mike McDonald and game MVP Kenneth Walker III posed with a Lombardi Trophy in Santa Clara, California today before the team returned to their hometown fans. Walker's standout performance on the ground and the Seahawks stifling deep.

defense held the Patriots scoreless until the fourth quarter, denying New England a record seventh championship. The Seahawks Super Bowl parade will happen on Wednesday. And in Italy, Team USA has racked up two gold medals to start after the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics opening weekend. In the women's downhill ski, Breezy Johnson won the U.S. its first gold of the games, but her teammate, 41-year-old Lindsey Vaughn, crashed on her run and was airlifted off the Vaughn was racing despite tearing her left ACL just nine days prior.

Meanwhile, on the rink, U.S. figure skaters eked out a team win over Japan, anchored by the so-called quad-godgod, Ilya Malanin, who landed five quadruple jumps in one of his routines. He will skate again in the singles events later this week. Still to come, on the news hour, Hong Kong publisher and democracy advocate Jimmy Lai is sentenced to decades in prison. We examine the cultural impact of Bad Bunny's Super Bowl halftime show. And Tamara Keith and Amy Walter break down the latest political headlines. This is the PBS News Hour from the David M. Rubenstein studio at WETA in Washington,

headquarters of PBS News. Despite last week's announcement of a drawdown in federal immigration enforcement agents in Minnesota, tensions remain high in the Twin Cities. Some communities say they've seen little change in the numbers of Iraq. or sightings of federal officers. And as special correspondent Fred DeSam-Lazero reports, the crackdown has impacted nearly every aspect of daily life, including many residents' health.

This is a new routine for Viviana Salazar. I already have a system. Filling boxes at a Minneapolis food pantry for families now too afraid to leave their homes. For weeks, networks of volunteers have sprung up across the Twin City, to bring supplies to community members who fear that even venturing to a grocery store could lead to their arrest as part of the massive federal immigration crackdown known as Operation Metro Surge.

I received a message from a teacher saying my student had a glass of water for dinner. So that to me was heartbreaking. When we met Salazar, she was delivering food to a 45-year-old father who's been in hiding for more than two months. He declined to be on camera, but spoke over the phone. Day to day, what is the most difficult things that you have to deal with? The most difficult thing is knowing what's happening and not being able to go out, locked in with fear that they come knock on your door. Because of the fear and the worry, I cry. It's the most heartbreaking thing to think about. If you leave, you might not be able to come back.

The fear that is forcing people to shut themselves in extends far beyond just grocery shopping. Children are not being sent to school. Adults are not going to work, complicating the challenge of paying the rent. And entire families are putting off going to the doctor. I have type 2 diabetes and I have my pills, but they're about to run out. I have to go pick up more, but I'm afraid to go out. For years, researchers have documented the possible health embassies. of immigration enforcement, from worsening chronic conditions to poorer birth outcomes to heightened anxiety.

The effects can be felt by both people targeted in the raids as well as their neighbors. At a press conference late last month, dozens of Minnesota doctors spoke about the challenge of providing health care in this moment. I have been a practicing physician for more than 19 years here in Minnesota, and I have never seen this level of chaos and fear in the health care for. for patients and for our healthcare teams. And it's not that people aren't sick. Brian Fait is a pediatrician at Children's, Minnesota. Emergency room visits at Children's are down almost 25 percent,

but when patients do come in, they're often sicker. Admissions have jumped about a third. I saw a girl who was about five years old last week. She had sat at home for essentially seven days with a fever and an ear infection. Pain was keeping her up at night. By the time that she had presented to us, her eardrum had ruptured. He's received accounts from colleagues that paint a similar picture. There are cases of appendicitis that have showed up late.

There are terrible, like, asthma exacerbations that came in late as well, so that by the time you get there, the kid is really struggling to breathe. A 15-year-old with autism who came in with abdominal pain, and it turned out that his mother had been detained about a week earlier. So he had about three meals and five days. With the number of families not coming in, Fate says the situation is eerily similar to the pandemic. This is not a virus causing this. It is an action of the government which can be redacted. And I think there is a feeling of helplessness there too. We can do our best to try and reach out to families and to make things like telehealth more possible. But like vaccinations, kids are

falling behind on their healthy checkups, when families don't feel safe leaving the house, when they have to balance the health of their child with the safety of their family. No family should have to make that decision. Meanwhile, Fait says non-white hospital staff have even expressed fears driving to and from work. At other hospitals, there are reports of federal agents staying bedside with detainees and trying to question or arrest patients. I'm a position. I don't care.

Bystanders also said officers prevented doctors from trying to treat Renee Good and Alex Preti right after they were shot. The Department of Homeland Security told the news hour only that medics were, quote, on the scene at both shootings, but did not respond to other criticisms about how Operation Metro Surge has impacted health care. Across the Twin Cities, residents like Autumn Brown say the crackdown has strained their mental health. I think most people's nervous systems are really jacked up right now. We're all living on high alert.

And the human body can take a lot, but our bodies aren't designed to be on high alert for such a long stretch of time. It's absolutely wearing on me. It's wearing on all of us. The terror is real. And the care is real. And we feel that too every day. One of the people trying to provide that care is Valerie Carrillo. She's a therapist at Canopy Mental Health and Consulting, which works with underserved populations

in the Twin Cities. Clients of immigrant descent are very hyper-vigilant right now and are taking a toll from everything that's happening and are on a daily stressed out. I've seen those clients physically in my sessions come in crying and shaking and going through the emotions of having like that safety kind of pulled. underneath from them. Carrillo, whose family is from Mexico, has carried her passport for months. I think everyone in Minneapolis, including my clients, every single one of them, are experiencing

collective trauma. And I am too right there with them. For Viviana Salazar, also a U.S. citizen of Mexican descent, these food deliveries are how she's coping with the realities of life in Minnesota right now. Are you personally afraid yourself? yourself? I am not afraid because I don't look Mexican but my teenage daughter, she has dark skin, she has black hair, she has asked me, what am I going to do if they pull me over? Are they going to shoot me? And when she asked me that question, you know, my heart just broke,

I can't believe we're living in this situation. For the PBS News Hour, I'm Fred De Sam Lazaro in Minneapolis. Hong Kong democracy advocate and former media tycoon Jimmy Lai, who is 78 years old, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison by a Beijing-backed court. It is the longest sentenced handed down under China's national security law, legislation that has effectively silenced dissent in a city that for decades operated under British rule of law. The U.S. called the sentence by the China-backed court and Lai's earlier conviction for so-called collusion with foreign forces unjust. Lai's children called it a death sentence.

Nick Schifrin has more. Today, outside a Hong Kong court that once proudly protected Western liberties, authorities took an icon of democracy away and confirmed that criticism in this city will be crushed with Chinese characteristics. For decades, Jimmy Lai struggled for Hong Kong's freedom. an ever-present force fighting to preserve the city's rule of law. He arrived in Hong Kong at the age of 12, escaping communist China by stowing away on a fishing boat. He worked his way up to become a media tycoon, one of the city's most successful and powerful businessmen. But in the summer of 2020, Lai became the most prominent person arrested under Beijing's sweeping

national security law, which allowed Beijing back authorities to punish people for, quote, provoking the hatred of Beijing or receiving any support from a foreign country. That was Lai's conviction for, quote, conspiring to collude with foreign forces and for publishing, quote, seditious articles, sentiments echoed today by China's foreign ministry. His actions have gravely endangered national security and severely harmed Hong Kong's prosperity, stability, and the well-being of its residents. And therefore, he deserved to be severely punished in accordance with the law. And that makes Lai's detention and sentence about more than the man.

Thirty years ago, he founded Apple Daily, a tabloid willing to criticize the Hong Kong and Beijing governments. Today, six of its former employees were also sentenced, further extinguishing Hong Kong's press freedom, says Edward Lee, another former employee who's now in exile in Taiwan. A former Apple Daily colleague said to me, you didn't have much hope to begin with. And now you don't even have the slightest bit left. It criminalizes the exercise of freedom of association and expression. Today, the sentencing condemned by the United Nations, other governments, and Secretary of State Marker Rubio,

who called it a, quote, unjust and tragic conclusion to this case. It is especially tragic for Lye's children. Lye's daughter, Claire, called the sentence heartbreakingly cruel, saying if it's carried out, he will die a martyr behind bars. His son Sebastian today called it a death sentence. I interviewed Sebastian last fall. As you know, I interviewed your father in August 2020, and this is my last question to him.

Are you resigned on a personal level to being found guilty and spending a long time, even perhaps the rest of your life in prison? I don't think about this, because I don't want to put the psychological burden on myself until the time comes. You know, I'm not worried, just because my life is about myself, it would be meaningness. Only when I detach from myself and thinking of my life is about something bigger and not about myself, that my life becomes meaningful.

And that makes me going every day. What's your response to watching that? It's, yeah, it's obviously. very emotional. And he knew that despite obviously the danger to his life that he had something that mattered more. And so he stayed and defended his principles and defended his colleagues. And I'm so proud to call this a man my father. And today, Sebastian Lai appealed to President Trump to once again push for Jimmy Lai's release during an April trip to Beijing. For perspective on this, we turned a longtime career diplomat and former U.S. ambassador to China

during the Biden administration, Nicholas Burns. He's now professor of the practice of diplomacy and international relations at Harvard University. Nick Burns, thanks very much. Welcome back to the NewsHour. We've talked for years about the erosion of democracy, freedom of the media and press in Hong Kong, and that rule of law in the city looks like rule of law in mainland China.

And so what makes this 20-year sentence so significant? Nick, this is a travesty of justice. Jimmy Lai is a great man. He is the strongest voice for freedom, democracy, press rights, individual rights in either Hong Kong or China today. And he was not judged by a jury of his peers, but by a kangaroo court of judges appointed and beholden to Beijing. And so that's why this is important. There's a climate of fear in China today. There's increased repression in this authoritarian dictatorship, and he is the most prominent case. And I think it's very positive that Secretary Rubio issued the statement today, positive that President Trump raised the case of Jimmy Lie with President

Xi Jinping when they met last autumn. And I hope very much that the Chinese are now going to come under a lot of pressure, the government in Beijing, to issue a humanitarian release of Jimmy Lai, to live in his remaining years wherever he wants. I think that's what the United States should be pushing for. Elias Children has said that he is of ill health. But remind us, what did Beijing promise when the United Kingdom handed over Hong Kong back in 1997? I remember very distinctly, Nick, I was with our Secretary of State, Madeline Albright, in Hong Kong on June 30, 1997, when the United Kingdom handed over control and ruled in Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China.

And the Chinese leadership told us privately, and they told the world publicly, that there would be 50 years, of autonomy for the people of Hong Kong, that their individual rights, like freedom of speech and freedom of the press, would be guaranteed. And so, of course, this sentencing and the national security law that has taken place in Hong Kong has made the Chinese renege on all of their promises to the people of Hong Kong. And it's a very, very bitter result. So they've gone back on their word, as many people suspected that they would. And that's a warning. That's a warning to the people of Taiwan when the government of Beijing blithely says, we'll let you have, you know, the same freedoms that you enjoy now. That won't be the case if the Chinese succeed in taking

over Taiwan. The Hong Kong office of China's foreign ministry today issued a statement saying that foreign media should, quote, respect the independence of Hong Kong's judicial process. Is there any doubt that Hong Kong's judicial process is beholden to Beijing? None whatsoever. In fact, Hong Kong today is a fully owned subsidiary of the People's Republic of China. I was there in 2024 while I was in China as ambassador. I went to Hong Kong. In fact, during the week when this odious national security law was strengthened

and saw that freedom of speech had largely disappeared then and that business people had been cowed, both Western as well as Hong Kong business people. And there was very little, if any, freedom of the press. And I think today's sentencing has really put the lid on what was once a great, great role that the Hong Kong citizens had living in a free society next to mainland China.

As you mentioned, as Sebastian Lai mentioned today, President Trump did bring Jimmy Lai up to Xi Jinping late last year. President Trump, of course, is going to visit Beijing. In April, do you think there is, is any leverage that the U.S. could push for Beijing to release Jim Eli? I think that there's a strong outcry by the democratic world in the United Kingdom, certainly, and the United States and elsewhere, that this is unjust, that Jimmy Lai should be free.

He's already lived, Nick, five years in solitary confinement, and he's not well. And so I think if the outcry is strong enough, and if our government and the British government push strongly enough, there is a chance that the government in Beijing will decide that a humanitarian parole may be in their best interest, because this really shines a light on the fact that the government of Xi Jinping is increasingly oppressive, increasingly autocratic. You know, you see the number of business people, the number of military people who've disappeared, brought up on charges of corruption. And so climate in China is very, very severe right now. much more so than 10 to 20 years ago.

Well, as you say, it's not only Jimmy Lai. It's not only Hong Kong or democracy or press freedom, business leaders, communist party members, Christian Uighurs. I mean, they've all been targeted by Xi Jinping's China. And now we have, as you just alluded to, the equivalent of the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, basically. You see him there, General Zhang Yu Shia, essentially disappeared or he's been fired all of a sudden.

What do you make of this? This is the most important. purge of a military leadership in China since 1971 when Lin Biao, who was the successor to Mao Zedang, failed in a coup attempt and died in a plane crash. There's been nothing like it in China since. General Zhang was a close friend and associate of President Xi and the fact that he's been purged and that nearly the entire military leadership of the country has been brought up on corruption charges.

These are really uncharted waters for President Xi. And it indicates that he obviously wants full and absolute control of his government. Maybe there's a sense of paranoia here that he feels that he can't allow other people to have any degree of power. He has not named a successor. And in 27, next year, he will very likely decide to try to have a fourth five-year term in office. And that means probably he'll be president for life. So this is a very significant development, both the sentencing today, but also the purge of the military.

And on top of that, Nick, the Chinese in November and December launched a major arrest of religious leaders, Christian leaders in China. Absolutely. Nick Burns, former ambassador to Beijing. Thank you very much. Thanks, Nick. Last night's Super Bowl halftime show by Bad Bunny delivered a powerful message and made international headlines today.

The Grammy-winning Puerto Rican rapper, singer, and producer, whose full name is Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio is one of the most popular musical artists on the planet. His 13-minute set was historic. The very first in Super Bowl history performed nearly entirely in Spanish. The show was dense with symbolism, including messages of Puerto Rican pride and independence.

But it also quickly became a magnet for criticism from the president and others even before he took the stage. To help us unpack it all, we're joined now by Vanessa Diaz. She's an associate professor, at Loyola, Marymount University, and the author of the book, P-Fing R,

How Bad Bunny Became the Global Voice of Puerto Rican Resistance. This is all part of our arts and culture series, Canvas. Vanessa, welcome to the show. Thanks for joining us. Of course, thank you for having me. So you literally wrote the book on Bad Bunny. You teach a course on his cultural impact. For anyone unfamiliar, just how big a star is Bad Bunny?

Bad Bunny right now is the world's most streamed artist. So that just gives you a sense of the gravity. This isn't someone who just is popular in his hometown. On a global level, Bad Bunny is the number one artist. And in fact, he was three other years as well, 2020 to 2022. This isn't a new thing. His popularity just keeps growing. He just recently got the first ever Grammy album of the year for a Spanish language album,

his album, De Vittirad Most Photos. and he won two other Grammys last week. So he has broken records we never imagined possible for a Spanish language artists, and he's been doing that for some time. So on a global level, Bad Bunny is a massive, massive star. So your book situates Bad Bunny and the legacy of what you call Puerto Rican resistance. Walk us through some of the moments in which we saw that play out during yesterday's performance. I think one of the most profound moments where Bad Bunny showed himself to be,

not just a figure of resistance, but carrying the long tradition behind him is when just before he started the song El Apagon, he emerges from the fields with a flag, a Puerto Rican flag over his shoulder. And if you notice, the triangle in blue is actually the light blue. And the light blue is a symbol of Puerto Rican independence. That's the color of the flag before the U.S. in 1952, changed the color to the dark blue to mimic the colors of the American flag. And so that light blue is really symbolic of advocating for Puerto Rican independence. And as he walked out with that flag, we saw those folks who were the cane field workers in the beginning climbing these electrical poles.

And that was a reference to what was the longest blackout in American history following the devastating Hurricane Maria in 2017 that left Puerto Rico without power for almost a year. So that song El Apagon means the blackout. And so it was these workers, cane workers now, climbing the poles to repair electrical issues. And in the wake of the hurricane, one thing that was really striking was that the U.S. was not responsive. And Puerto Ricans, with no experience, often climbed these electrical poles to start reconnecting wires, risking their lives to try to bring their communities electricity. And all of that, was part of the meaning behind these things that some might not know.

There were some special guest stars as well performing with him. We saw Lady Gaga and Ricky Martin. Tell us in particular about the song Ricky Martin sang. Why is that important? So Ricky Martin took the stage to perform the song, Loke la Pazo A Hawaii. Which is what happened to Hawaii. And this song is perhaps the most pointed political song on the entire album,

DeVille Tar Mast Motos. And it's really about Hawaii and Puerto Rico as two nations that were taken by the U.S. in 1898, and one became a state, and one is the Commonwealth, some might call a colony of Puerto Rico, right? And so there's this tension around what should happen to Puerto Rico. And in that song, Bad Bunny is saying, you know, he doesn't, want us to be like Hawaii doesn't want Puerto Rico to become a state. And Bad Bunny, you know, had people at his residency every Sunday night. He had a guest sing that song. And so this was a kind of nod to the residency and also giving Ricky Martin who had to

cross over in English to become the massive star that he became and to have him take the world's biggest stage and be able to perform in his native language of Spanish, representing Puerto Rico, and do this political work he could never do as a mainstream artist 25 years ago was very significant. We mentioned some of the criticism. You saw the president described the performance as, quote, an affront to the greatness of America. He said nobody understands a word this guy is saying. As you also reported, Turning Point USA, the conservative political group that was founded by Charlie Kirk held a counter-programming halftime show.

They billed it as the all-American halftime show. They saw upwards of some six million viewers. What do you make of that sort of broader backlash, both to his selection to perform in the first place and the performance? I mean, from the moment Bad Bunny was announced, there was immediate backlash. And the reality is that that has everything to do, not just with the current political moment,

but with the entire history of the U.S., construing in a, like a mainstream narrative, construing Latinos as perpetual foreigners who do not belong, who are a threat to the U.S. And so this language of criticizing his performance and calling him on America, is just the perpetuation of these stereotypes, despite the fact that he is an American citizen.

And I think that the fact that the halftime show that Turning Point USA created was called the All-American Half-Time Show just goes to show you that this isn't about citizenship. This is actually about racism against Latinos. And that's just blatant to see because it insinuates that Bad Bunny's halftime show was not American. and that was the antithesis of what the performance was. He talked about the fact that not only do Latinos belong here in the U.S.,

we are an integral part of American culture, and that America, America, as he says, is actually more than just the U.S. It's all of the Americas. Despite the criticism, you may have seen the embrace that he and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell shared, backstage after his performance, the NFL even shared that moment online, clearly happy about their choice from a business and cultural perspective. Why was Bad Bunny a good choice for the NFL?

Well, the NFL is a business organization. Their primary concern is, is this good business? And there's no doubt, I don't think by anyone's, you know, there's no, there's no doubt from anyone that this was the smartest business decision. Bad Bunny is the biggest artist in the world. He's the most streamed artist in the world. He is selling out stadiums all over the world. So I think that Bad Bunny was not just a natural choice. He was the best choice from a business standpoint. And so this just happens to be a moment with something very political coincided with a strategic business decision.

And I'm really happy about that. That is Vanessa Diaz, Associate Professor at Loyola Mary Mountain University. Vanessa, thank you so much for your time. Good to speak with you. You too. Since it reopened in March of 2025, the ICE family detention center in Dilley, Texas has held around 3,500 people, more than half of them, children. The center was first opened in the Obama administration, shuttered by President Biden in 2021, then reopened under President Trump last year. As reports of contaminated food and the spread of measles have made national headlines,

ProPublica went inside the facility, and through phone calls, letters, and emails spoke to two dozen detainees about the treatment of minors inside. Michael Rosenberg of ProPublica joins me now. Michael, welcome to the NewsHour. Thanks for joining us. Thank you so much for having me. So as you've been speaking with these detainees for weeks now, half of them kids. We should just point out these are some of the kids you've been talking to 18-month-old, Amalia and her family. she's blowing kisses to the screen here. 13-year-old Gustavo, I know they're sharing their experiences with you.

Just tell us about what some of the common threads are, some of the common stories you've heard from them. Well, I think one thing that really stands out in what's happening in Dilley now is that, as you mentioned, this facility opened up during the Obama administration and families were housed there. But they were mainly families who were coming across the border and were there, supposed to be. for a short period of time and hoping to be released into the United States or to come here for the first time. But what's happening now is many of the children that I spoke to are actually kids who've been living in the United States for some for years. And their families were picked up by ICE arrests in the interior, some of them at regular check-ins. And so a lot of the kids that I talked to had really, in some cases, established U.S. lives. Some of them spoke perfect English.

Some of them were in the middle of their high school years when they were detained. And so that's one thing that was quite different than in the past. And we mentioned those reports about measles cases and some inedible food. Did you hear some of that from the kids inside? Yeah, we heard one of the things that we were trying to do with this reporting was really to get the kids to talk about their experiences in their own words. And so one of the things that they did is some kids about what they were going through. drew pictures about their experiences, and they talked about repetitive food, some of them saying that they were sick constantly or getting sick they may be believed from the water. But some of the more vivid descriptions about the conditions really came from their mothers, who I spoke to over the phone or who emailed me, and they would talk to me about food that they could see or they believed was contaminated and that it was giving their children sickness.

And, you know, the administration says that these conditions are not what they're described as, but this is from the firsthand experience of the detainees inside. One thing that we did found is that there were over 300 kids who had been there longer than the average of 20 days, which is what under a longstanding legal settlement is supposed to be the standard of how long kids should be detained for and no longer. We know officials from the administration have said the families are getting top-notch care inside Dilley. They say they get medical care and good food and learning services, special caregivers. You spoke with Alexander Perez, a 15-year-old from the Dominican Republic, who talked to you specifically about school. What did he tell you?

Well, he said that school is for the kids inside is really only an hour a day. there's the classes are capped at 12 kids per class and they said that it really only consisted of kind of worksheets, handouts, and that because the different age groups are mixed together and so a lot of the kids, as I mentioned, who were sort of in the middle of their school year were really missing their education, they were worried about falling behind. Is it just a matter, Micah, of repetitive food and inadequate learning or is there something more serious in terms of the emotional or mental toll that you saw? I think their parents were very worried that they were experiencing more serious distress. Mothers told me about some kids

who were self-harming, who had cut themselves, other kids who had spoken of suicide, kids who were very, you know, much older than they should have been starting to wet their bed, not being able to sleep well at night. So these are more things that the mothers told me about. And the kids would talk more generally. So I think it's hard to say what the long-term impact will be, but I think it's been difficult on them. And I know you were able to speak

with some parents and kids after some of them were released. What did they tell you? Were they able to go back to their lives as normal? Well, a lot of it happened relatively recently, you know, after I spoke to them, they were released. I did speak to one girl, Ariana, who was 14,

and she was able to go back to her high school where she was welcomed by the principal and her teachers who said that they had really missed her. She had worried about her grades and falling behind, but they said that they would try and support her. But when she and her mother were detained, they left behind two U.S. citizen siblings, a two-year-old and a five-year-old.

They were detained in their regular check-in and just didn't come home that day. So her siblings were really sort of traumatized by that. And her little brother said that he was afraid to go to school because he was worried that they wouldn't be there when he came back. So I think it's a combination of how the kids in detention are being impacted, but also the ones who are left outside. That is Micah Rosenberg of ProPublica joining us tonight.

Micah, thank you so much for your time and your reporting. Thank you so much for having me. A new poll shows what Americans think of President Trump and his policies, and it's not good news for the White House. For more, we turn to our Politics Monday duo. That's Amy Walter of the Cook Political Report with Amy Walter and Tamara Keith of NPR. It's always great to see you both. So Amy, the latest PBS News NPR Marist poll shows a majority of Americans disapprove of the job that President Trump is doing. With a majority strongly disapproving, how significant is the intensity of that opposition at this point in his term?

Yeah, well, we also took this new poll from PBS and made it put it into our Cook Political Report poll tracker, which is an aggregator of 21 national polls. And what we found this week is that the president actually is at his lowest standing of his second term at this point. And it's really driven by some key constituents that have soured on him since he was first sworn in. Latino voters, younger voters, independent voters, those were all critical to his success in 2024. But the group that really is the most fascinating to me, and I think it's going to be really important as we watch these next few months go forward are the voters that we always think of as his core constituencies, white working class voters who have long been very much behind

the president. We're seeing some significant slippage there, both in the PBS poll and in the Cook Political Report aggregator. And these are the kinds of voters that you could argue that the slippage is really driven by views on the economy, the frustration about inflation and the cost of living. And when you look at the battleground states that are going to determine the makeup of the House, but especially the Senate, they run through places where white working class voters make up a significant portion of the electorate. And, Tam, say more about that, because President Trump expanded his coalition. in 2024, but much of that expansion now appears to be slipping away. Of course, we don't know how enduring that is, but a snapshot in time. Right. And the intensity of that disapproval

is essentially back where it was right after the January 6th attack. So, they're riot. And so it's pretty dramatic. And it's a challenge for him. And as you say, he had expanded the base. He didn't win because of the base. He won because of all of these other people of independent voters, young voters, Hispanic voters, as Amy's talking about. On Air Force One over the weekend, we reporters asked him a lot of questions. At one point, he said something about his base that I think really stands out. He is so focused on his base.

And with his base, he, like the narrow base, the titanium piece of the pie that he has had since the beginning, he has strength still. And what he says is, my base has never been stronger. My base is me. And then let's put in an ellipsies to get to the end of what he said. You could call it the America First Base. They couldn't be more thrilled. And that is who he's playing to.

And that is the very reason that he's losing these other sort of expansion voters that he had gotten. And those are, you know, independent voters, these sort of expansion voters. These are the people who are going to decide the majority. in the House and the Senate. It sounds like the president is trying to speak some support into existence, which plays into a piece that you wrote about messaging. Yes, which is, again, if you are starting to lose, he's not doing worse with Republicans,

but his approval rating among those white working class voters definitely has shrunk. It's by about nine points since the beginning of last year. And again, the economy is a big driver of it. The president likes to say the economy is booming, everything's fine, inflation's been tamed. It's a hoax, this affordability thing that he's been hearing about in the press. But if you're a Republican on the ballot next year, you can't afford that to be the message. That affordability is not such a big deal. You want to talk about what you have done as a Republican to help tame that.

Now, what Republicans are hoping is that in these next few months here, as people filed their taxes, they're going to get some nice refunds. And there are studies out there showing that Americans are going to get a bigger refund this year than they did in 2025. Are they going to remember that by the time November rolls around? That's a really big question mark over that. And are voters going to feel, this is the other frustration that they're having right now, that the president is rightly focused on affordability instead of, of being focused on a whole bunch of other things that don't seem to have to do much with bringing

down the cost of stuff in their life. Yeah. So the president losing support on his handling of the economy. He's also losing support for issues like the posting of that racist meme on his social media account attacking the Obama's. I raised this because you mentioned you were on Air Force One. And after this program went off the air on Friday, the president all but admitted that it was he who posted that meme online after the White House initially, the United States,

denied wrongdoing and then blamed it on a staffer. Fill in the blanks. Yeah. So the White House was calling this fake outrage. It wasn't fake outrage. There were many Republicans who came to the president and said, this is bad. You've got to remove it. The fact that they removed it is an admission of something they almost never admit, which is that there was an error. This was a mistake. Now, President Trump, his response was, yes, I saw the beginning of the video, but I didn't see the end of the video. And really, he says, he said, thought he was just posting what, you know, based on viewing it, is an election denial conspiracy theory from the 2020 election. But that's what he said he wanted to post. What he actually

post was that with this racist meme sort of embedded in it. And he said, though, he told his staff to put it out. He also said, there's no reason to apologize. And an answer to me, he said, no, he wasn't firing anyone. He said he didn't make a mistake. And in fact, he said he's the least racist president that we've had in a long time, which is quite a claim. This would not be the first time where the White House seeks to clean up something for the president, and then he undoes the cleanup job, which speaks to this question of, if the White House comes up with messaging, how good is that messaging if the president can't stick to it? Right. And there is, they need him to stay on message for their own, but they also need him

to be in front to keep the base motivated. Amy Walter, Tamara Keith, always a pleasure. Thanks. Thank you. And that's the NewsHour for tonight. I'm Jeff Bennett. And I'm Omna Navas. On behalf of the entire NewsHour team, thank you for joining us.