PBS News Hour - Full Show - January 30, 2026 - PBS News Hour full episode

Episode Date: January 31, 2026

Friday on the News Hour, protests continue against the Trump administration's immigration crackdown in Minneapolis as federal authorities arrest reporters who covered a church demonstration. The president nominates inflation hawk Kevin Warsh to lead the Federal Reserve. Plus, people with disabilities bear a disproportionate burden after funding cuts to Medicaid and children's health services. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

Good evening. I'm Amna Nawaz. And I'm Jeff Bennett on the news hour tonight. Protests continue against the Trump administration's immigration crackdown in Minneapolis. As federal authorities arrest reporters who say they were covering a protest inside a church. The president nominates inflation hawk Kevin Warsh to lead the Federal Reserve, prompting concerns about the central bank's future independence. And after a massive Republican funding bill cut more than a trillion dollars from Medicaid and children, health services, people with disabilities are bearing a disproportionate burden.

This is the single biggest rollback in federal support for health care that we've ever seen. And people with disabilities are much more likely to rely on programs like Medicaid. Welcome to the News Hour. The Justice Department said today it has opened a federal civil rights investigation into the shooting of Alex Pretty, the ICU nurse killed by immigration officers in Minneapolis. The FBI will conduct that purpose. That's a change from the department's stance earlier this week when it only agreed to a more narrow inquiry into the use of force. That news followed more arrests in Minnesota over a protest at a church.

Special correspondent Fred de Sam Lazaro has our report. Another wave of protests swept through Minneapolis today and echoed in cities across the country. As tensions grow over federal immigration. enforcement and the Trump administration's response to dissent. Federal agents today arrested former CNN anchor Don Lemon and three others in connection with a January 18th protest at a church in St. Paul, where an ICE official serves as a pastor. Lemon, who was fired from CNN in 2023, now hosts an independent show on YouTube. The Justice Department has charged Lemon with federal civil rights crimes. The National Association of Black Journalists, along

with other news organizations have condemned the move. We're here just chronicling and reporting. We're not part of the activist, but we're here just reporting on them. Lemon's lawyer says he was there strictly in a journalistic role. So this is what the First Amendment is about, about the freedom to protest. Lemon has a history of voicing his disdain for President Trump. I wanted to alert the public. that agents are at my door right now.

Independent Twin Cities journalist Georgia Fort was also arrested after federal agents arrived at her home this morning. I don't feel like I have my First Amendment right. Fort livestreamed the moments before her arrest, saying agents had a grand jury indictment. After her release hours later, Fort called for the truth to be, quote, amplified. Do we have a Constitution? That is the pressing question. Also arrested, Black Lives Matter activist Trahearn Gene Cruz and Minnesota state legislature candidate Jamail Lidall Lundy. Attorney General Pam Bondi said the four were arrested because they violated people's ability to worship, quote, freely and safely.

And if I haven't been clear already, if you violate that sacred right, we are coming after you. Meanwhile, the Justice Department said today it has opened a civil rights investigation into the shooting of Alex Prettie. At the same time, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the Justice Department is looking at left-wing groups as part of the investigation into Prettyskilling. It means looking at documentary evidence, sending subpoenas if you have to, and I expect that investigation will proceed with those parameters in mind. Blanche notably dodged multiple questions about whether an investigation is being opened into the shooting of another U.S. citizen in Minnesota, Renee Good. Despite hints from administration officials of a de-escalation, there's little to suggest any let-up in the aggressive and widespread enforcement in the Twin Cities area. Just yesterday, two Minnesota children, a second-grader and a fifth grader, were taken into custody at the request of their mother and sole caretaker who was arrested while the children were in school. Their principal, who'd witnessed another of his pupils taken last week, became emotional after seeing a picture.

a five-year-old Liam Cornejo Ramos, now detained in Texas. Open your eyes. Believe your eyes. Believe what you see. He's not a criminal. It's not politic. It's about treating people like humans. Meantime, there were calls nationwide for peaceful disruption. School closures and work in shopping boycotts aimed to draw attention to the Trump administration's immigration crackdown. And back in Minneapolis, as protesters were out in the streets, I shall now. Musician Bruce Springsteen made a surprise appearance at a benefit concert singing his newly recorded song, Streets of Minneapolis.

A rally cry for many as uncertainty and fear persist. For the PBS News Hour, I'm Fred Di Sam Lazaro in the Twin Cities. Today, President Trump announced Kevin Warsh as his pick to be the next chairman of the Federal Reserve. A conservative economist at the Hoover Institution, Warsh is a former advisor to President George W. Bush, and was a member of the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors from 2006 until 2011. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said, quote, he will go down as one of the great Fed chairman, maybe the best. On top of everything else, he is central casting and will never let you down.

The president went on to praise his pick this afternoon. He's got the whole package. He's got the whole package. and I think he's going to do a great job. If confirmed by the Senate, Warsh will succeed current chair, Jerome Powell, whose term ends in May. Joining me now is David Wessel. He's director of the Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy at the Brookings Institution. David, welcome back, and let's just start with your brief take on what you make of this selection.

What should we know about Kevin Warsh? Well, Kevin Warsh is actually a lawyer. He's not an economist. He's a very ambitious guy who has been an excellent networker. He was appointed to the Federal Reserve Board by George W. Bush at age 35, younger than anybody else. He is a man who understands the markets. He's very good with people. I think that'll serve him well. And he has sort of changed his stance on monetary policy over the years. He was what is generally called a hawk, an inflation fighter when he was on the board.

But in recent years, particularly as he's been campaigning, if you will, to be Fed chair, he's become more in sync with President Trump. He's very critical of the Fed. He's very critical of their staff. And he's promising regime change, but we don't really know what that means. Well, to that point, David, we know the current Fed Chair, Jay Powell, has faced a steady stream of criticism and insults from President Trump. Here is how Warsh himself assessed the Fed and their work last summer. Take a listen.

I think the Fed has done a very good job of blaming others for their mistakes. It's been very popular to blame the president because he's being so mean to them. Well, most of the Fed's mistakes are because of choices they've made. I've strongly believed for 20 years and history tells us that the independent operations in the conduct of monetary policy is essential. But that doesn't mean the Fed is independence in everything else it does. David, as you mentioned, he's currently called for regime change at the Fed. What does all of this tell us about how Kevin Warsh might lead the central bank?

Well, I think we know that he believes that the economy is capable of growing faster than a lot of economists think because AI will increase the productivity of the economy. So I think we expect him to be prone to cut interest rates. In the clip you played, what he's talking about is bank regulation, where I think he'll be in sync with the deregulatory instincts of the, or policies of the Trump administration. And he's been critical of them for being interested in things like climate or inequality. He thinks the Fed should narrow its focus to interest rates, inflation, the economy, and not do anything else. As we know, the central bank was designed to be insulated from political interference. when you hear him say there that the Fed isn't independent in everything it does, does that worry you?

No, it doesn't worry because I think he's talking about things other than monetary policy. But the real question is which Kevin Warsh is going to show up. Is he going to be independent, focused on delivering stable prices and maximum employment, and doing what the economy and his staff tells him is essential? Or is he going to be prone to lean in the direction of, President Trump, who inevitably will be criticizing him on social media no matter what he does. The president has talked about huge rate cuts, one full percentage point, two full percentage points. That's lunacy, and I can't imagine that Kevin Warsh is going to do that.

We'll have to see how does he stand up if the president starts to put the screws to him as he did to Jay Powell. Well, this is the central question, isn't it, David, that if he's confirmed, he wouldn't preside over a Fed meeting until June, the economy could be in a different. state by then, we have no idea of knowing, but the president wants to see lower interest rates. Can Kevin Warsh deliver those? Well, the financial markets have been predicting that the Fed would cut interest rates at least one or two times later this year. And I suspect he can deliver that. He'll probably have a bit of a honeymoon at the Fed and the other

policymakers will go along with him. I think the test will come probably in 2027 and 28 when he'll have to decide if the president's view of the economy matches his, and will he prove to be independent there? I'm sure in his confirmation hearings, he will assert his independence. He understands what a central bank is. In a way, the president picked one of the candidates who knows what it's like to be at the Fed, and that will serve him well. What really will have to see how he acts when there's conflict between the economy, what the economy needs, and what the president and his political needs are. In the minute or so we have left, I have to ask you about conversations we've had before about the fact that the world is watching when it comes to the Fed, when it comes to its perceived

independence and monetary policy, what's at stake if he is confirmed and takes the helm? In general, the United States has benefited from having a strong independent central bank, not a perfect one, but global investors believed that the central bank, the Ben Bernanke, J. Powell, Janet Yellen, Central Banks were doing their business. best to deliver on the congressional mandate, and they were standing up, and Jay Powell has done this very effectively, to political pressure. The world will watch whether Kevin Warsh does the same thing. And if they think he isn't, then we're going to have to pay more to borrow. And we're the world's largest borrower. So a little bit of increase in interest rates, if people are worried

about the independence of the Fed, will cost taxpayers a lot of money. David Wessel of the Brookings Institution. Thank you so much for your time. Great to speak with you. You're welcome. We start today's other headlines in New York. A judge ruled that federal prosecutors cannot seek the death penalty against Luigi Mangione in the killing of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson. U.S. district judge Margaret Garnett dismissed murder and weapons charges that carried the death penalty. She said they were legally incompatible with separate stalking charges.

We're all very relieved. Outside the courthouse, Mangione's lawyers welcomed to day. decision, prosecutors have 30 days to appeal. It comes a day after authorities say a 36-year-old man claiming to be an FBI agent tried to get Mangione released from Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center. He was arrested and is now being held there, too. The U.S. Senate moved to pass a spending package this evening that would fund many federal agencies through the end of the fiscal year. As part of an agreement between Republicans and Democrats, funding for the Department of Homeland Security would only be extended for two.

two weeks that's meant to give lawmakers time to hash out a deal on how to fund the DHS amid efforts by Democrats to rein in President Trump's immigration crackdown. The House is then set to pick up the measure as soon as Monday, meaning a partial government shutdown is expected to run at least through the weekend. More than 200,000 homes and businesses across the South have now gone six straight days without electricity after last weekend's debilitating winter storm. And there's little relief in sight. Temperatures are expected to plummet this weekend. More than 200 million Americans are under alerts for extreme cold for the next several days. And weather officials say a rapidly deepening storm is expected to bring heavy snow and wind from the southern Appalachians across the Carolinas and into Virginia.

At a news conference today, North Carolina's governor said people should prepare for the worst. If the snowfall comes in at the high end and communities experience, 15 inches of snow, that's a lot of weight, and that will knock over trees and that will knock over power lines. Authorities say nearly 90 people have died in areas suffering from extreme cold from Texas to New York. Roughly half of those deaths were in Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana, where power outages have been the worst.

Russia says its temporary halt on attacking Ukraine's capital will only last until Sunday, just when temperatures there are expected to get even colder. President Trump said yesterday that he got Russia's Vladimir Putin to agree to a one-week pause in strikes due to the frigid temperatures. But the Kremlin was instead vague on such terms. And Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said today that Russian forces struck energy-related targets in several other regions yesterday. Meantime, on the icy streets of Kiev today, generators sat outside businesses providing power and residents voiced their doubts that any pause would last. I trust neither Putin nor Trump. So I think that even if Putin complies now, he will stockpile missiles and will still keep firing.

Putin's goal is the destruction of Ukraine. Ukraine has often accused Moscow of weaponizing winter by intentionally knocking out power and heat as temperatures plummet. Panama Supreme Court has ruled that lease contracts for two major ports at opposite ends of the Panama Canal held by a Hong Kong-based company are unconstitutional. The decision is being seen as a political win for President Trump as the White House looks to limit China's influence in Latin America. And it comes as the administration leans into a renewed national security focus on the Western Hemisphere, a strategy aimed at expanding U.S. primacy in the region. President Trump announced today that an IndyCar race will be held in the streets of Washington, D.C. later this year as part of the nation's

250th birthday celebration. Congratulations. This is really exciting. Mr. Trump signed an executive order in the Oval Office, establishing the event alongside Roger Penske, owner of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and IndyCar itself. The White House has dubbed it the Freedom 250 Grand Prix. It's set to be held on August 23rd. Officials say the route will include the National Mall, though no further details have been announced.

On Wall Street today, stocks ended lower after President Trump announced Kevin Warsh as his picked ahead the Federal Reserve. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost nearly 180 points on the day. The NASDAQ fell more than 220 points. The S&P 500 also ended the weak in negative territory. And the entertainment world is mourning the loss of one of its comedy greats. Catherine O'Hara has died. She leaves behind a body of work that ranges from cult classics to blockbuster films

and some small screen gems. Hello. I'm Moira Rose. She was the wacky, wealthy matriarch in Schitt's Creek. You'll remember the experience and you'll remember the name Herb Ervlinger, Bert Herngyhe, Erv Hermlinger. A role which earned Catherine O'Hara an Emmy and a Golden Globe. Next step is to fold in the cheese. What does that mean?

What does fold in the cheese mean? He folded in. And captivated an entire generation of fans. generation of fans. David! But O'Hara got her start decades earlier. Correct! That's rip!

Born in Toronto, she launched her sketch comedy career with the legendary Second City Truth and starred in its TV offshoot alongside her later Shitz Creek co-star Eugene Levy. Our next topic is music. Margaret Meen Central. Abba? No, it is not Abba, Margaret. It is not Abba. Her writing on the series secured her first Primetime Emmy Award back to her first time Emmy Award back

in 1982. She'd go on to play characters in some of the most beloved films of all time, like the avant-garde artist Delia Dietz and Beetlejuice. The devoted mother, whose frantic journey home gives the holiday classic, Home Alone, its heart. If I have to sell my soul to the devil himself, I am going to get home to my son. And she was a staple in Christopher Guest's mockumentary-style films, including Best in Show. O'Hara's colleagues to day paying tribute. Home Alone star McCauley Calkin writing, I thought we had time. I had so much more to say. I love you. Merrill Streep said O'Hara brought love and light through whipsmart compassion for the collection of eccentric she portrayed. Are those weeks real hair? I just want to reach out

just touch. They don't. No, Maureen does not like to be manhandled. In 2017, the height of Schitt's Creek's popularity, O'Hara was recognized with the Order of Canada. It's one of the country's highest honors. And just last year, she received an Emmy nomination for her role in Seth Rogen's TV series, The Studio. Her talent agency did not cite a cause of death, but said she suffered from a brief illness. Catherine O'Hara was 71 years old. Still to come on the news hour, the Justice Department releases three million pages of documents related to the Jeffrey Epstein case. Election officials cry foul on the FBI's raid of a Georgia voting facility over the president's 2020 election loss. And Jonathan Capehart and Gary Abernathy weigh in on the week's political headlines.

This is the PBS News Hour from the David M. Rubenstein studio at WETA in Washington, headquarters of PBS News. The Department of Justice released its latest and likely last major batch of files related to investigations into the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. This comes more than a month after the DOJ missed a deadline set by Congress and signed into law by President Trump. It includes more than 3 million pages, 2,000 videos and 180,000 images. The DOJ says there are redactions, including the personally identifiable information of victims, but the department has not provided a full explanation of what's excluded. The Deputy Attorney General said the White House did not have oversight over the review or redactions.

We complied with the statute. We complied with the act. And there is no, we did not protect President Trump. We didn't protect or not protect anybody. There's a hunger or a thirst for information that I do not think will be satisfied by the review of these documents. And there's nothing I can do about that. Our team has been going through that document dump today. And NewsHour Justice Correspondent, Ali Rogan, joins me now with what we know.

So, Ali, what did we learn today? This was a massive document dump, as you said, 3 million pages. As you can imagine, our team is still sifting through them. Before today, for comparison, the DOJ had released about 500,000 pages, so this is orders of magnitude bigger. And the person making this announcement today is also notable. Todd Blanche, now Deputy Attorney General, he was President Trump's former personal attorney. He was emphatic, though, that the White House had no involvement in any of the preparation

of the documents. He also said that between this release and a forthcoming report to Congress, once that's out, the DOJ's obligations under this law that Congress passed, the Epstein Files Transparency Act will come to an end. So I know you're still going through the files, but what do we know about what is inside the files themselves so far? I think most notably what people are looking for is mentions of President Trump, and there are thousands of them in these documents.

Many of them, we should note, are news clippings, But there are some lists and summaries of unsubstantiated claims made against him from individuals alleging wrongdoing, including graphic depictions of alleged sexual abuse, including of underage girls. Some of those complaints date back to the 90s, others from more recently around when he was campaigning for president. What we don't know, though, is whether any of these claims have been substantially investigated. But the Department of Justice says that they were required by law to release. everything, including those documents that were fake or falsely submitted. There's also a new diagram we saw today that shows basically an organization chart of Epstein's inner circle. Some employees were blacked out, but we see the connections between him and co-conspirators like Gleine Maxwell,

as well as several attorneys and an accountant. There's also what appears to be a new picture of a desk or a table filled with photos of Epstein, Maxwell, and public figures, including Trump, as well as. one with Pope John Paul the second. We've also seen in past releases, some pages are entirely redacted, and others are completely mundane things like schedule updates. I also want to note that we've reached out to the White House for comment, and they have provided none.

We should also note, I understand there are other members of the administration mentioned in some of these documents. What do we know? Yes. We already knew that Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnik had a relationship with Epstein, which he claims had ended in the early off. but new documents indicate that they made plans to meet for lunch in 2012 on Epstein's private island in the Caribbean, while Lutnik was also vacationing in the Caribbean elsewhere with his family.

And it does seem in those documents like they followed up and had that lunch. We should underscore here. Just being mentioned in the documents is no indication of any kind of wrongdoing. But we should also double down on this idea. The deadline to release those documents was more than a month ago. Why is it taken so long? It was indeed. It was on December 19th, the Department of Justice says they sent more than 500 lawyers to go through these documents and meticulously redact these things in a letter today.

Attorney General Pam Bondi said they'd identified more than 6 million pages that needed review, which resulted in the 3 million today. They say they redacted personally identifiable information of victims and sexually explicit material. She also said that approximately 200,000 pages have been. been withheld or redacted because of various privileges, including attorney-client privilege, and that within 15 days, they're going to give Congress a more detailed look at government officials and, quote, politically exposed persons in this document, although there's no definition of what politically exposed means. Speaking of Congress, how is all this landing on Capitol Hill?

Well, we heard today from one of the authors of the Epstein Files Act, Congressman Rokana. He says he has outstanding questions about why, by the DOJ's account, 2.5 million. of these documents remain out of the public view. He said he was looking for victim interview statements, many of which were included in today's tranche. He's also looking for additional documents from Epstein's computers. But of course, this massive trunch was just released today, so there could be more revelations in the hours and days to come. Justice correspondent, Ali Rogan. Thank you very much. Thank you. The FBI's moved this week to execute a warrant at voting offices in Fulton County, Georgia,

to seize records from the 2020 election and the presence of National Security Director, Tulsi Gabbard, on the ground there, has ignited a fierce debate over election security and federal authority. Joining us to discuss some of these issues is Rick Hassan, professor of law and political science at UCLA, and author of A Real Right to Vote. Rick, thanks for being with us.

What legitimate legal purpose could this raid serve at this stage more than five years after the election? It's really hard to say. We have seen the search warrant. It does suggest the potential for criminal charges, including for interfering with an election as well as for destroying documents. It would appear that these claims would be beyond the statute of limitations. It's not clear who's being investigated. This seems to be potentially, and maybe this is the most optimistic reading, just trying to indulge in the president's statements about him being concerned that the 2020 election was stolen and just perpetuating the look by the government and by others into what happened

in the election, not even the last presidential election, but the one before this one. And the president continues to suggest that prosecutions are coming, stemming from what he says is fraud connected to the election, based on what we know, how plausible are federal charges? Well, with the statute of limitations likely having run, without knowing of any wrongdoing, there's, there's, been a lot of investigation, not just of the 2020 election generally, but of Fulton County, Georgia, in particular. They've been investigated by the Secretary of State there, who's a Republican,

even though Fulton County is a Democratic county. It's hard to know who might be implicated. I'm much more worried about the signal this sends to election administrators and others for 26 looking forward than I am about what might happen to those looking backward. Another flashpoint here is the presence of the Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard. The Deputy Attorney General today defended her presence, defended her role in all this, saying that it was consistent with her job. I think her presence shouldn't be, there shouldn't be questioned. Of course, that's a big part of her job.

And so the fact that she was present in Atlanta that day, you know, is something that shouldn't surprise anybody. Why would the DNI be involved in a local election matter? Is there any reason for her to have been there? Well, the Director of National Intelligence should be looking at problems coming from outside the United States to the extent that they want to claim that there's something happening outside the United States. I suppose that that's plausible.

But there was reporting in the Wall Street Journal that Gabbard has been put in charge of the administration's look into voter fraud across the country. And so it may be, regardless of what portfolio she has, that this is going to be something that she's going to be moving forward with in the future. She was supposed to appear before secretaries of state today and address a kind of skeptical crowd for what I understand. And she was a no-show. At the last minute, she said she had a scheduling conflict. Could all of this function as a precedent or even a rehearsal for what could come in the 26 mid-term? terms, more aggressive federal involvement?

Yeah, I'm very concerned about the future, especially the idea of seizing ballot materials. You know, there are extensive chain of custody requirements to make sure that nobody tamperes with ballots. I mean, what happens if the FBI tries to go in while they're still tabulating votes during the midterm elections? I think we're going to have to be very proactive in thinking about steps that states and localities might have to take to protect the integrity of their elections from the federal government. And the idea that we have to do that just tells you how far things have deteriorated

with democracy in the United States. Are states prepared? Well, I think it varies based on the state, and I think some people don't realize how far things could go. I think right now, it's not just the states and not just local election administrators. It's going to have to involve courts. It's going to have to involve the people being prepared to stand up to make sure we can continue to have free and fair elections in 2026 and 28. Rikassin, thanks as always for your insights. Thank you. President Trump's massive tax and funding bill, known as the one big, beautiful bill, was passed into law last summer.

And according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, it will slash more than a trillion dollars in federal spending from Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program by 2034. Senior correspondent Judy Woodruff examines what those cuts could mean for home and community care. providers who serve adults with special needs. It's part of her ongoing series, Disability Reframed. Franny. Siddiqui Kamara's mornings are often filled with fist bumps and high fives. So what's the plan for today? He's the president of Bright Center, a day program for special needs adults in Manassas,

Virginia. So this is our main century. This is where, you know, we do a lot of our activities. Five days a week, the center provides education and a host of our host. of activities for participants like exercise class, arts and crafts, and meditation. In 2014, Kamara started the center with his wife Naomi, who was born with sickle cell anemia. At the time, she told him she'd always dreamed of creating a center like this. So when she came to me with that idea, at first I was like, why do you want to do that? But then, you know, after her explaining that to me, it's her passion. She wants to help.

She wants to get back to the community. She wants to make a difference. Kamara says by 2021, he was working three jobs to help that vision become a reality. And Bright Center moved to a larger building so they could help more special needs adults. But then his wife's condition took a turn for the worse. June 3rd was like the worst day of my life. The worst phone call of my life. Even to the day, I can picture it.

His wife's doctor had called to tell him that she had died unexpectedly while in the hospital, leaving Kamara with two young children. I wasn't even able to function for at least a month and a half, because I didn't even know what to do because it's like, you know, she was everything. You know, and I'm kind of like, I can't, I can't do it with her. You got 10 plus 8 minus 5. What is that? But today, more than four years later, Kamara says he is still. committed to keeping his late wife's dream alive for people like Imani Bush, who has an intellectual disability. What kinds of things do you do when you're here? What kinds of things?

Well, I like to color. I like to do meditation. I like to sleep during meditation. I like to watch movies. I like to just hang out with all my friends. In 2020, Bright Center was serving nearly 30 special needs adults. But once the pandemic hit and forced Kamara to close for about four months, he says it's been a steady decline in enrollment. Today, just 14 individuals regularly attend. All of them pay with Virginia Medicaid waivers, which allow for care outside of institutions. And while the bulk of the cuts to Medicaid aren't expected to kick in until next year, states which administer the federal funds are bracing to lose more than $900 billion over the next decade. This is the single biggest rollback in federal support for health care that we've ever seen.

And people with disabilities are much more likely to rely on programs like Medicaid than people without disabilities. Even though the bill did not directly cut their services, it's highly unlikely that there won't be some effects. Alice Burns studies Medicaid and the uninsured for KFF, an independent health research group. She says Virginia is expected to lose nearly 20 percent of its federal Medicaid funding by 2034 and that day programs like Bright Center could be especially vulnerable. With this level of a funding cut, states are going to have to make some tough choices about how to deal with the loss of federal funds. And we know that home and community care for people with the people with the state's

disabilities is a significant source of Medicaid funding and almost all the services are optional for states to cover. There's no cuts to Medicaid. There's simply restrictions in the growth of Medicaid over the next decade. The Trump administration has repeatedly said there would be no cuts to Medicaid and that it's committed to rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse in the program. The Department of Health and Human Services also provided the news hour with this statement, which reads, in part, the one big, beautiful bill removes, quote, illegal immigrants from eligibility,

implements work requirements for able-bodied adults, and safeguards Medicaid for the vulnerable populations it was created to serve. Pregnant women, children, low-income seniors, people with disabilities, and struggling families. But Lori Sills is worried about what those changes will mean for her children. 28-year-old son, Nicholas. Quite frankly, Nicholas, he's a wonderful kid. He really is. But he needs some support in just about everything he does. As a young boy, Nicholas was diagnosed with cerebral palsy and then autism. He's been coming to Bright Center since 2019. He's here with people his own age. He's here with people that he is involved with. He's got

staff that cares for him and he loves the staff here. So it's, you know, it's a place that I know that he's comfortable coming to and that I'm comfortable bringing him to every day. So it means a lot to me. Can you scoot over a little bit more? Sill says Bright Center is the only nearby day program that accepts the Virginia Medicaid waiver she relies on to pay for these services. And without the center, she'd be forced, she says, to shoulder even more of her sons round-the-clock care.

He is never left alone. He likes to go into the kitchen and he'll press buttons, he'll go to the stove. I don't, in general, have babysitters. I don't have any family in the area. So I really don't have any other care for him but me right now. It's a common story for parents at Bright Center, says Siddiqui Kamara. You know, once they graduate from high school, it's kind of like this stick kind of just washes their hands. You know, it's kind of like you're on your own now.

So that's what we come in. Virginia's Medicaid program currently reimburses Bright Center $69 per student per day. But Kamara says that's barely enough to keep going. And while he's already relying on donations and his own savings to stay open, it's what could come next that worries him most. We're at a moment now where the federal government is making some changes. How is that affecting what your outlook is? It will affect a lot of the families, and it would affect us as a facility because then we may end up losing the small students that we have now.

For parents like Lori Sill, she's already feeling the impact of budget cuts. She says last fall the state reduced the number of hours she'll be reimbursed as her son's primary caregiver going forward. I'm sure there is some waste, fraud, and abuse. I'm sure there is throughout the system, but every case is not waste, broad, and abuse, some individuals really need the care. And quite frankly, that's my son that really does need the care. Care that could become even harder to find for so many families across the country. For the PBS News Hour, I'm Judy Woodruff in Manassas, Virginia.

For more on the political fallout from a hectic week in Minneapolis. and in Washington, we turn tonight to the analysis of Capehart and Abernathy. That's Jonathan Capehart of MS Now and Gary Abernathy, author and editor of the Abernathy Road Newsletter on Substack. David Brooks is away this week. Gary, it's great to have you with us. Jonathan, good to see you here. We need to start in Minnesota because a lot happened in this last week.

There seems to be a consensus that something shifted after the killing of two U.S. citizens by federal agents. And Fox's latest poll reflects that. Take a look at these numbers. When asked about ICE whether they were too aggressive, about right, or not aggressive enough, 59% of Americans said they were too aggressive. 24% said about right. 17% said they're not being aggressive enough.

So, Jonathan, let's just start with that. Is there agreement that ICE, that the president's immigration crackdown, have gone too far? When it comes to the ICE enforcement, yes. You cannot have the killing of two U.S. citizens by federal agents and then have the administration lie about what happened and then continue to lie about what happened despite multiple videos, recordings coming out, showing each incident from multiple angles

and think that that's going to fly with the American people. I mean, this is an incident, particularly the shooting of Alex Prattie. Gosh, was that last week? That was last week? Just last week. Broke through in ways that people have been commenting on folks who don't even pay attention to politics. It's broken through to them. And so this 59% to aggressive does not surprise me.

But I have also seen, and I want to make this distinction, Because I do think the American people make a distinction between ice enforcement and securing the border. And those are two separate things. And the American people in the polls, you will see. They're all for securing the border. Do what's necessary to secure the border. But when it comes to federal agents roaming through American cities, roughing up U.S. citizens and others, and in the case of Renee Good and Alex Prattie, killing them, that's too far.

Gary, what about you? Do you agree with the majority in this poll here that ICE has been too aggressive? What's your take? I'm sure that, you know, that's what they've been hearing. That's what that's kind of the media narrative about it. But let's remember why there's a lot of ICE enforcement going on in Minnesota and in Minneapolis in particular, because people are led to believe that these sanctuary cities are a real thing. And Amna, they're not. not a real thing. By the way, it's good to be back with you and Jonathan tonight. Sanctuary cities, there's no sanctuary for being in the country illegally. Federal agents are allowed to come in and do their job and enforce the law. The only thing sanctuary cities does is it allows local leaders not to cooperate with them with law enforcement, not to, you know, they can tell law enforcement we're not going to cooperate with them. And when that happens, and I thought Tom home and did a really good job yesterday of laying this out. When that happens, it requires

ICE, border patrol, federal agents to also then do law enforcement and to do crowd control. And these are not things that they're good at. And to me, and I know, you know, people look at this so differently, whether you're kind of from the left or whether you're more conservative, as I am, I look at this and I say, why is Governor Walls and Mayor Fry, why are they encouraging people to come out and confront law enforcement and to confront ICE agents, to confront federal agents. You know, we were told back on January 6, 2021, how horrible it was that officers that law enforcement had been attacked on that day of that riot. And I agree with that. I'm with you on that. But I'm also with you on it now. I'm saying it's terrible to confront these folks who are

just trying to do their jobs to enforce the law that Congress passed. And we need governors and mayors to encourage citizens stay out of the way while they do this enforcement. Don't put yourself in harm's way. Jonathan? Tell that to Chung Li Tao. U.S. citizen, who everyone has seen the picture of him being hauled out of his home by federal agents clad in just boxer shorts and crocs and a blanket thrown over his shoulder. Tell that to the...

I can't remember the name of the name of the... the young woman who had federal agents surround her car. And all she was trying to do was to get out of the way so she could get to a doctor's appointment and had her window broken, forcibly removed from her car, the seatbelt cut away, and hauled off by her arms and legs by federal agents. You know, look, the governor and the mayor are concerned about the people who live in their state and the people who live in their city. I'm coming at this as an American. There is no way you can expect people to see their friends, their neighbors, their coworkers, maybe even people they don't know, but who live around them, being abused, treated roughly by a government that folks are paying taxes to pay for.

you're going to expect them to stay home and not exercise their First Amendment right to be, one, constitutional observers, because that's what the folks in Minneapolis are doing. When they're recording what's happening, they are making sure that people's rights aren't violated, even though they are right there on recordings. They're there standing at bus stops. They're there standing in front of restaurants ensuring that their neighbors, that their neighbors can at least have some semblance of safety. The level of siege that is felt by the people in Minneapolis,

and not just Minneapolis, down in Northfield, Minnesota, where my alma mater is, ice has been roaming around the town. The level of fear that is out there cannot be underestimated and cannot be discounted. And I think that the governor and the mayor, when they're telling people to exercise, their First Amendment rights to protest and have their voices be heard, they are also saying in the same voice, do so peacefully.

We saw it today in Minneapolis when thousands of people took to the streets in really cold temperatures in Minneapolis to make their voices heard. And we saw it last Friday when thousands of people took to the streets of Minneapolis to make their voices heard. Gary, what about this idea that we are hearing from some Republican lawmakers as well, that it's time for a reset. That's the language I've heard from some Republican senators, right? That the mission was supposed to be targeting the worst of the worst. That's what they want to see happen. That's not what's been happening. What do you make of that? Well, it is what's been

happening. And that's what Tom Holman came in and said yesterday. This is what's happening. But illegal immigrants are, you know, not going to be off the hook. Donald Trump was elected with a mandate to do what he's doing. But let's be clear. Let's be clear about protest. It's not peaceful protesting to be pushing police barricades back. It's not peaceful protesting to be throwing rocks and ice and fireworks at officers. It's not peaceful protest to drive your car in the middle of the street and block traffic or to confront officers as they're doing their job in their face with cell phones, provoking them and trying to get a reaction out of them. This is not peaceful protesting. This is dangerous behavior. And yes, I know that there's there are always sad cases

that can be pointed to, but people should also go to the DHS website and look up the list of the violent murderers, child rapists, and so on that are being taken off the street. This is the job that federal law enforcement officers is supposed to be doing. Carrie, can I ask, is the president acknowledging, even calling for de-escalation, whether or not we see that on the ground, but the president acknowledging he reached out to Governor Walls, they spoke, he mentioned de-escalation, and now backing a compromise deal when it comes to this funding deal, right? We've been stalled in the Senate, but it looks like it will pass. Does that say to you that the president himself acknowledged something needed to shift? Oh, I think so, yes.

And isn't it interesting? We don't usually talk about Donald Trump as the guy being the voice of reason in any given stretch of time. And yet I would say this week, he really has, I've been proud of him. I'm often very, very critical of the way Donald Trump goes about doing things, even when I support what he's trying to accomplish. But while you've got Tim Walls and Jacob Fry and others, I think just being, you know, they represent the height of irresponsibility. Trump has actually been trying to lower the temperature

and move the ball forward a little bit. Even when people are coming back at him and criticizing them, even in Davos a few days ago, he was complimentary of Governor Newsom, who was there, you know, ripping on Trump. So I don't know what's going on. I'm sure this will change very quickly. But yes, I do think that President Trump realizes he's a master at understanding public opinion,

and he can read the tea leaves. He knows when the winds have shifted a little bit, and he's very good at resetting things. And I do think he's trying to do that a little bit. I will say we haven't seen the action on the ground match the rhetoric just yet, but he has shifted in terms of what he said. The action will happen when the cooperation begins, right? I mean, there's not going to be a reset until the Minnesota and Minneapolis officials begin to cooperate with ICE?

You know, yeah, sure. The president is a master of whatever it is that Gary just said. He is a master of saying what he needs to say in the moment. This is the same person, President Trump, who just overnight or early this morning called Alex Prattie, quote-unquote, insurrectionist. So the idea that the president is lowering the temperature is, it's not a thing. And also the idea of going to the DHS website to look at the folks who they've arrested

to say that these are the worst of the worst, tell that to the school officials who had to watch five-year-old Liam Ramos be used as bait for his father. That's not true. And then, I'm sorry, Gary. And then had them both shipped off to a prison camp in Texas. How are they the worst of the worst?

How is Liam the worst of the worst when his own mother was inside and other relatives were inside saying, please let him stay? Gary, this has gotten a lot of attention. I'll give you a chance to respond. What do you make of that case? No, that's okay. But we know there's a different story about the five-year-old. We know that that narrative is not true. What the officials say is that the father actually abandoned that child and the officer was taken care of that child, making sure he was safe, not running into traffic or anything. But you know what? child is now in federal custody with his father at the detention center. Please confess. Yes, right, right, with his father.

If he was separated, they'd be complaining that he separated from his family. So he's with his father. We have just a few seconds left, gentlemen, and I want to get your take very quickly on this. But there's also the arrest of journalists that we saw just in the last couple of days. And press freedom groups have obviously spoken out about it. There's very little time left. But Jonathan, very quickly, how worrying a signal is that for you? Oh, this is very worrying.

I'd like to remind people that there's only one profession that is protected in the Constitution of the United States, and that is a free press. And that is because the founders understood that for a democracy to survive, it needs to have an informed citizenry. And that informed citizenry gets its information from journalists who are able to report without fear or favor. And right now, the president has tried to inject some fear into journalists, but he will not succeed in the... stopping journalists from doing their jobs. Gary, I apologize. Just 20 or 30 seconds left, but I'll give you the last word. That's okay. It's very quickly. I can do it very quickly because I think Don Lemon quit being a journalist a long time ago. He became an activist. He became a political activist.

He's on the scene basically participating in the invasion or in the incursion. That's not true. Which is also a first amendment issue. Gary Abernathy, Jonathan K. Part, lots more to talk about. We hope to have you back again soon. Thank you so much. Thank you very much. online right now my conversation earlier today with congressman wakene castro of texas who visited five-year-old liam ramos now held with his father at a family detention center in texas on the news hour we've reported on the conditions at dilly reports of food being served that's been

contaminated with mold and in some cases worms did did his father describe anything like that yeah his father said that you know he hasn't uh taken to the food uh there were other kids there who said that they had food allergies, for example, that are not taken seriously, that they're served the same food over and over again. People did complain of things like worms, occasionally in their food. And remember, these are jails. They're a type of prison, and we shouldn't have a five-year-old who's committed no crime, and a two-month-old baby. We should not have them in prison in the United States of America. Castro also discusses the broader impact of the Trump administration's aggressive immigration enforcement that's on our YouTube channel and on our website.

And be sure to tune in to Washington Week with The Atlantic later tonight right here on PBS. Jeffrey Goldberg and his panel discuss President Trump's susceptibility to bad optics and why he backtracked on major issues twice in his many weeks. And watch Horizons with William Brangham tomorrow for a look at why Phaas, also known as forever chemicals, are so persistent. And on compass points this weekend, Nick Schifrin and his guests examine President Trump's options for dealing with Iran. And that is the NewsHour for tonight. I'm Jeff Bennett.

I'm Amna Nawaz. On behalf of the entire NewsHour team, thank you for joining us.