PBS News Hour - Full Show - July 15, 2025 – PBS News Hour full episode

Episode Date: July 16, 2025

Tuesday on the News Hour, a slight uptick in inflation muddies the economic waters as the Fed chair faces White House pressure to lower interest rates. The president's reversal on arming Ukraine sparks debate about the best way to end the war. Plus, we travel to Kenya to see how USAID projects to bring water and hope to a drought-ridden land are now in peril. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders

Good evening. I'm William Brangham. Jeff Bennett and Omna Nawaz are away. On the news hour tonight, a slight uptick in inflation muddies the economic waters as the Fed chair faces White House pressure to lower interest rates. The president's reversal on army Ukraine sparks debate about the best way to end the war. And we travel to Kenya to see how USAID projects to bring water and hope to a drought-ridden land are now in peril. With the pullout of USAID, there will be a lot of dire consequences in terms of health. People will even die. Welcome to the News Hour.

New data show inflation picked up last. month, and analysts believe the prices of many goods increased, in part, because of President Trump's tariffs. Inflation rose 2.7 percent compared to a year ago, and prices increased broadly by 3 tenths of a percent last month. While that's not a huge hike, it is the largest monthly increase since January, and it will play into decisions by the Federal Reserve about when and whether to finally cut interest rates. This comes as the president and his team have ramped up their pressure campaign on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to lower those rates. They've also openly speculated about firing him.

Earlier today, the president was asked about Powell and when the two had last spoken. I told him he's doing a very bad job. He's way late. That's why I call him too late. Jerome Powell is too late. He's way late. Interest rates should be coming down. We have a very, very successful country. We should have the low, interest rate anywhere in the world, and we don't. Jerome Powell has done a terrible job, and frankly, I don't think he could do a worse job. He's called everything wrong. For more, we are joined again by David Wessel.

He's director of the Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy at the Brookings Institution. David, nice to have you back again. Before we get to Powell, help us understand these inflation numbers and the price hikes. Is it because of the tariffs? Well, you know, when we get these measures of inflation, some things have gone up and some things have gone down. Airfares are down, for instance, in the last in June. But what analysts are picking up is a number of prices of goods that are imported. Apparel, appliances, toys went up in June. Women's dresses were up 3.9% in June alone. And so many analysts are saying that this is the beginning of a sign that tariffs are pushing up prices. just as economists had been predicting, hasn't happened as quickly as they had anticipated, in part because the tariffs were on again and off again.

So how is that information going to be perceived by the Fed as they weigh this issue of when to raise rates? Well, the Fed will be meeting later this month, and they've pretty much signaled they're in wait-and-see mode. This will reinforce the wait-and-see. The problem with these price numbers is it's like looking in the rear-view mirror, and the Fed has to look through the windshield. And if there weren't for the tariffs, I think the Fed probably would be cutting interest rates now.

Inflation has drifted down. There are a few signs of cracks in the labor market. But they look ahead and they're afraid that more tariffs will mean more price increases and even more serious that businesses and households will expect inflation to remain high. And that's the one thing they want to avoid. And we should say there are people, even within the Fed, who think we should have cut the rates already. Exactly. Sometimes the decisions that the Fed makes are pretty straightforward.

When we had the COVID crisis, it was clear they had to lower rates. When inflation went much higher than they expected, the obvious thing to do was to raise interest rates. Now they're at the point where they have to make a judgment call. And at least two members of the seven-member board of governors at the Fed, both happen to be Trump appointees, have been publicly calling for lower rates. So I'm sure they'll have a discussion. But the most likely outcome is that they will cut rates maybe in September and, October, but not in July.

As we just heard, the president keeps ripping into Jay Powell, saying he's done a terrible job and should have been bringing these rates down already. Has Trump's reasoning about this changed? I mean, he's asking for a very big rate cut. Well, I think the president is trying to make clear that if we have a bad economy later this year or early next, it's Jay Powell's fault, not his. Presidents often want lower interest rates. He's not the first president to be frustrated.

George Bush was frustrated, Harry Truman was frustrated, Lyndon Johnson was frustrated that the Fed didn't move more quickly. What is striking in the last few days is the president has been saying they should cut interest rates not because that's what the economy needs, not to fulfill their mandate of maximum employment and price stability, but instead they should make it cheaper for the government to borrow, make it easier for the government to run deficits. And that really is unusual.

In fact, the whole reason we have independent central banks is because politicians decided if they said interest rates, they would send to tet them too low. Right. We get more inflation just to make it easy. This is the kind of stuff that the leaders of Hungary and Turkey do. It's very unusual in the United States. On this campaign that the president and the White House have been waging against J. Powell,

they've cited this piece of evidence about an allegedly elaborate renovation of the Fed offices. And apparently there's some cost overruns, and Jay Powell has now said, yeah, we should have the Inspector General look into this. The president says this is evidence of financial mismanagement. Do you think that this renovation issue is going to be the card that the president uses to fire Powell? Well, the president is frustrated that he can't fire Powell because the law says you can only fire the Fed chair for a cause. So he needs a cause.

And I think some of his aides have been feeling. pressure for him, he said to them, find me a cause, and they're using this. Look, the expansion of the Fed, the renovation of their old building is extensive, and it may very well be over the top. The fact that there were cost overruns was no secret. The Wall Street Journal had a story about this on the front page two years ago. I think it's a very thin argument to say this is caused to justify the Fed share. I think they seem to be just determined to make Jay Powell, his term is up in May. He's made it pretty clear he's not quitting.

And if they try and fire him, which the president now says he doesn't want to do, except now maybe he does, Jay Powell has lawyers ready to defend him. So I think it's more of an annoyance. But it's alarming because it makes people wonder whether the next Fed share will be someone who Trump thinks will take orders from him. And that's not something that we want to see or that the markets will. want to see. David Wessel, always great to hear from you. Thank you very much. You're welcome. night, soaking streets and stranding passengers. Parts of New Jersey recorded at least six inches

of rain. While in New York City, I'm going to call this one in. I can't open the doors if not safe. Water overwhelmed the sewer system and gushed into subway stations. Some riders stood on their seats as train cars flooded. New York City's chief climate officer says these types of storms are becoming more frequent. It is now the case that five of the most of the most of the most intense rainstorms. New York City's history have taken place in the last four years. We have an infrastructure that was designed for an environment we no longer live in. As residents clean up from the storms, forecasters say the weather is set to improve across

much of the region, though more storms are possible in parts of the northeast and mid-Atlantic through the end of the week. In Texas, search efforts are ongoing for those still missing after the deadly 4th of July flooding. At least 132 people are known to have died with the vast majority of those in Kerr County. Officials say 101 people are still unaccounted for as officials look to drain reservoirs to search for victims. Rainfall this week has hampered recovery operations,

and a flood watch remains in effect for parts of South Central Texas, which includes Kerr County. Turning to Gaza, health officials say, Israeli air strikes overnight killed at least 93 people, including dozens of women and children. One strike hit the Shata refugee camp in the north. Hospital officials there say a Hamas politician was killed, along with a couple and their six children. Israel did not comment on that attack, but it frequently blames Hamas for civilian deaths, saying its militants hide in populated areas. Syria's defense minister announced a ceasefire today

after sectarian clashes killed dozens of people in the country south. The truce came shortly after government forces entered a vital city in the southern Sawada province. The fighting began with kidnappings and attacks between local Bedouin tribes and fighters from the Druze minority group. Officials say more than 30 people were killed yesterday. A UK-based monitor says at least 135 people died over two days. Neighboring Israel had launched strikes on the area,

saying they were aimed at supporting the Druze and preventing further fighting near its own border. A judge in the UK sentenced two men today to more than four years in prison for cutting down England's iconic Sycamore Gap tree. Daniel Graham and Adam Carruthers were convicted of two counts each of criminal damage. one for cutting down the tree, as seen in this grainy video that was used as evidence, and the other for damaging the ancient Hadrian's Wall, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The tree stood for nearly 150 years before it was chopped down in 2023 in what prosecutors called a moronic mission. A team of private astronauts is safely back on Earth after a nearly three-week visit to the International Space Station. And we have splashed down of the AX-4 crew back on planet Earth. Welcome home. Nighttime footage shows the SpaceX capsule landing in the Pacific Ocean in the early hours of this morning. The crew included the first astronauts from India, Poland, and Hungary in more than four decades. Each country paid more than $65 million for the trip. In Mission Lead, Peggy Whitson broke her own record for time spent in space, now at 695 days, over 5,000.

missions. That's more than any other American or woman from any nation. On Wall Street today, stocks largely dipped after that report showing a rise in inflation. The Dow Jones Industrial average fell more than 400 points on the day. The NASDAQ managed a slight gain, thanks largely to AI giant Navidia, but the S&P 500 eased back from its recent highs. And the man believed to be the oldest marathon runner has died. Fauchia Singh, was known as the turban torpedo. He began running at age 89 after losing his wife and son. Singh became the oldest man to run a full marathon at age 100,

though his feet was not recognized by Guinness World Records because they could not certify his age. Local media says Singh died from injuries after being hit by a car in his native village in Punjab. Fauja Singh was believed to be 114 years old. Still to come on the NewsHour, why a highly successful HIV-AIDS program the president wants to cut may be off the chopping block. A preliminary report into last month's deadly air India crash raises new questions. And a Palestinian comedian uses humor to process the ongoing war in Gaza.

This is the PBS News Hour from the David M. Rubinstein studio at W.E. VTA in Washington, and in the west from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University. In announcing a new weapons package for Ukraine yesterday and a 50-day deadline for Russia to agree to a ceasefire, President Trump reversed his previous stance towards Russia's invasion. Today, he reiterated the economic pain Russia would face if it violated his deadline, but also cautioned Ukraine not to go too far. What happens now? Do you talk to Vladimir Putin? Well, at the end of 50 days, if we don't have a deal, it's going to be too bad. Should Zelensky target Moscow or deeper into Russia?

No, he shouldn't target Moscow. I don't think 50 days is very long, and it could be sooner than that. I don't think 50 days is very long. But will yesterday's announcement of new weapons have the intended effect, or does this new deadline give Russian President Vladimir Putin weeks more to continue his onslaught? For perspective on all of this, we get two views. Kimberly Kagan is the president of the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington think tank. And Jennifer Kavanaugh is a senior fellow and director of military analysis at defense priorities,

which advocates for restraint in U.S. foreign policy. Kimberly Kagan and Jennifer Kavanaugh, great to have you back on the program. Kim Kagan to you first. The president and NATO Secretary General Mark Ruta yesterday made this announcement, and the president has presented this as a real boost for Ukraine and a real threat to Russia. Do you see it that way? President Trump's decision to allow Europeans to buy American weapons and thus support Ukraine on the battlefield is fundamental and important. It's important to Ukraine's ability to plan and sustain its battlefield campaigns, and it's

extremely important in telling Putin that the United States will stand behind its allies and partners and that the United States will, in fact, use force or help with the use of force to bring Putin to the negotiating table. Jennifer Kavanaugh, how do you see this? Do you think this will be a real lever to bring Putin to the negotiating table? I don't. Militarily, I see yesterday's announcement as a lot more show than substance. U.S. and European stockpiles are very low right now. There is not that much in them. So the aid that can provide quickly is very limited in quantity and types of weapons. So the bottom line is that the military balance isn't going to change that much. There's also been a lot of focus here on defensive weapons, patriots, and interceptor missiles. Those are great for defending Ukrainian cities.

They're not going to change things for frontline soldiers. So in my view, this announcement may seem like a big step forward. It certainly is a politically significant move for President Trump, but militarily it makes very little difference for the Ukrainians and won't change the trajectory of the war. Kim, Kim Kagan, what do you make of that? It does seem to be a big reversal for Trump, but may not move the need. too much on the battlefield?

First of all, it is important that Ukraine be able to defend its cities. It is also important that Ukraine be able to defend its defense industry and its defense industrial base, which is actually extremely productive and very important to Ukraine's war waging and war fighting capacity. The Russians are not making material gains on the battlefield. field right now. Since the beginning of 2025, they have advanced, really, a distance that is about three-fifths the size of Rhode Island. And they've lost 100,000 soldiers in doing so. That's a huge loss for very little game. Finally, Putin needs to know that he cannot win on the battlefield.

field. And the best way to do that is to show him that his advances are sowing and that the Ukrainians can retake territory. Jennifer Kavanaugh, we heard the president just a few moments ago say, I'm giving these weapons to Ukraine, but I don't want them to direct those weapons at Moscow or deeper into Russia itself. Is that wise for him to say that, given that Russia, who's the invader in this circumstance, has shown no hesitancy about doing exactly that to Ukraine. I do you think it's the right statement and guidance for the president to give here. The reality is that Ukraine does not have that many missiles left right now. That can fire deep into Moscow.

I think they have less than 20 of the Atacombs, which are the longest-range missile that the United States has provided for them. So that's not a lot. And they can't even reach to Moscow. Their range is more limited under 200 miles. So their capabilities are limited, but the bigger issue here is the escalation risk. Firing deep into Moscow runs a significant escalation risk. Russia still has a powerful nuclear arsenal and a lot of conventional weapons that they have not used on the battlefield in Ukraine.

For the United States, which has limited interests at stake in Ukraine, it makes zero sense to run any sort of escalation risk by encouraging Ukraine to strike deep into Russia. So I do agree with the president's guidance here. Kim Kagan, what about that? Fear of legitimate escalation by Russia if Ukraine shoots deep into Russia? First of all, Ukraine has been conducting strikes in Russia, including through its exquisite drone program, as we saw over the summer. Putin has not escalated with nuclear weapons. So the president is right to be concerned about that. But I think we've learned a lot about Putin's unwillingness to risk the credibility of his nuclear deterrent by using it and instead just try to exercise his nuclear capability by saber-ravelling.

I want to ask you both one final question. Jennifer, to you first, the president has established this 50-day deadline and says if Putin, if you don't get to the negotiating table by the, then here comes the economic pain. The flip side of that is that that's 50 days of carte blanche for Putin to do whatever he wants. We know some in Russia are actually celebrating this extra 50 days. Do you think that's a fair criticism? Well, I think the 50-day deadline is counterproductive for a number of reasons. The first being that it does give Putin an incentive

to try to push as hard as he can, you know, maybe not do whatever he wants, but try to push as hard as he can and consolidate his gains. The second issue here is that it puts President Trump in a corner. Now at the end of 50 days, if Putin doesn't come to the table, he's forced to make a tough decision. Does he want to impose economic penalties on close partners like India and Europe that will reverberate on the United States? Or does he want to back down and look weak in Putin's eyes? So he's placed himself in a really tough position that causes his own credibility to account. Ultimately, I don't think that Putin cares that much about our official deadlines. He has a set of goals that he aims to achieve and he'll keep pushing until he achieves them. Kim Kagan, what's your response to that? Putin has already been using everything that he has against Ukraine. We see that in the way that he uses his drones, his missiles, every night against Ukrainian cities.

And the way he wastes men on the front lines to try. to move the front lines forward. So Putin's already giving everything he's got. And so the 50 days are perhaps a constraint on President Trump, but they are not material for the way that Putin is waging the war. All right. Kimberly Kagan and Jennifer Kavanaugh, thank you both so much for being.

here. Thank you. There was some significant news out of the U.S. Senate today, especially for the global fight against HIV and AIDS. The White House has backed off 400 billion immediate cuts to global health programs, and NewsHour has learned it pledged to protect others from the chopping block. This is part of the package of cuts being debated in the Senate this week. Our Lisa Desjardin was on the hill today and joins me with more. Lisa, what happened today? Quite a lot. We're talking about that rescissions package that is over $9 billion right now. Oh, I'm mistakenly said 400 billion. Excuse me. That's right. That's right. And now it's in my head, too. I know, exactly. Well, we're going to lay this out exactly, make it all very clear. So let's

look at where this recisions package we've been talking about stands right now. So originally, proposal was for 9.4 billion with a B cuts overall. But now senators have drawn a line and it has been reduced. Now the cut proposal is expected to be $9 billion. What has changed? Well, cuts have been restored 400 million with an M in health, global health funding, and especially that includes PEPFAR, which of course is a global AIDS HIV prevention and treatment program. Now, addition to this, I want to make one smaller note. The White House also pledged a very small amount, relatively $9 million for Native American radio stations. Why does that matter? They did that to win a vote. It is the vote of this man, Senator Mike Rounds of South Dakota.

He is someone who didn't like this recisions package, and frankly, it was one of the people who probably could have killed it, but he said he got a deal. For this $9 million, it's said to affect some 28 radio stations he told the press across the country. We are waiting for the first votes as soon as tonight next few hours. Let's talk a bit more about PEPFAR. you mentioned. This is not a president who's known for backing down. So what was it about PEPFAR particularly that made senators want to fight so hard for it? That's right. These Republican senators chose their battles and they chose this one. One reason is this is seen as one of the great bipartisan accomplishments of the modern Congress and modern presidency,

the George W. Bush program from 2003. But it is also a global success. I want to show you in this map just how far PEPFAR reaches all around the world. We're talking about 20 million people who get antiviral treatments, 5 million babies born without HIV because of the protections from PEPFAR. And this has been just an incredible force for saying America wants to do good in the world and has helped our alliances with many countries. Now, at the same time, the Trump administration's freezes that they had earlier this year and some of their cuts to programs have directly affected already some HIV programs, as you've

been reporting from Africa so well. And those, that damage is something that senators paid attention to. They didn't believe the line from the White House that there was no damage being done at all. So in all, you can see that people that are in the AIDS-HIV realm right now, this, I'm sorry, I'm losing the train of my thought. But right now there is a conference going on in Rwanda about this. And we spoke to one of the American advocates, Mitchell Warren of Avoc, who says, yes, this has been a real serious situation. And they have seen real damage there. There has been disruption and chaos around PEPFAR programs since January 21st, when the executive order was made public, when pauses and then terminations began to roll out.

The implications are huge for people living with HIV, who tens of millions of whom have benefited from PEPFAR as a life-saving program. And that's something that's not Republicans really felt. So this is not just about HIV and AIDS. It would still cut other global health programs, but you've learned that there might be a deal about that as well? Right. So still in the cuts are $500 million for global health, other global health programs.

There was real concern, but I have been told by multiple sources that senators were given a guarantee by the White House that would not include malaria programs, nutrition programs, TB programs, or maternal health. Those are all very big deals. I asked Senator John Thune, though, what about the pushback, the concern about other global health?

health cuts. Here's what he said. A lot of these recommendations now are an implementation of what Doge found in areas of the budget that they thought we could achieve savings, but not undermine the critical mission aspects of a lot of these, some of these programs do. But if you ask some nonpartisan health experts, even if you leave all of those programs, malaria, those things intact, they say there are still real problems. We talked to Jen Kate's at KFF, and she said this will still affect lives around the world. It just would leave a quite a big gap globally because the U.S. was such a main supporter of contraceptive commodities for low and for women in low and middle income countries. It is not clear that there's anyone, any other government that's going to be able to step in and make up that gap.

And of course, that family plan and aspect is something conservative as opposed as well. One other thing, what's going to happen now? Well, it takes four votes to block this bill for Republican votes. Let's look at what we see right now. I know of two likely nose, not firm, but likely, Senator Collins Murkowski. And now because of the events of today, about a dozen people that I was watching as possible knows have disappeared. Right now it looks like this recisions package without those cuts to PEPFAR and not global health stuff. It looks like it's on track to pass, but we will watch it closely.

Lisa Desjardin, thank you so much. Thank you. We return now to our periodic look at the consequences of the Trump administration's dismantling of USAID. In previous reports, we looked at how these cuts are impacting the fight against HIV, malaria, and maternal health. As America's work abroad contracts, which of USAID's investments and projects can live on without American support? In partnership with the Pulitzer Center, producer Molly Knight Raskin and I traveled to a community in central Kenya to look at the legacy of two American aid projects. For the millions of herders across Africa, livestock is their source of wealth and survival, and that survival depends on water. While the rainy season just ended in East Yolo County in northeastern Kenya, the land here is normally arid and dry.

Water is scarce, and competition for it can be fierce. We've had a bad water shortage here for a long time. It's led to a lot of fights with our neighbors. Those fights have been made worse by increasing droughts, driven in part by climate change. During the last one, no meaningful rain fell for five consecutive growing seasons. Tens of thousands of cattle died, food ran short, and violence. broke out when herders fought and killed each other and nearby farmers. Enough is enough.

They have crossed the red line. The government sent soldiers to quell the violence. It was in these circumstances and in these areas, like the little village of Atan in Isiolo, where America targeted its help. So USAID, after working in close consultation with this community, had an idea, which is to build a system to guarantee more regular access to water and thereby improve the quality of these herder communities' lives.

Last year, the regional head of USAID celebrated with community members and local officials the opening of a pilot project, which dug a large well, filled a solar-powered water tower, and then sent water into troughs for cattle, nearby fields, and this water station. They also taught people, including young herders, farming skills, and gave them start-up supplies. The project gave this parched village New Hope. We embraced crop farming. The foreign aid from America chipped in to save us by improving our farming techniques and giving us seeds. Julius Ira is one of those men who started planting.

Our young men used to steal livestock from our neighbors, but when farming started, and embraced it and stopped stealing, and everyone was peaceful, all because of the American support. No one knew how to farm crops in this village. I never dreamt of becoming a farmer. I was raised to make charcoal. Like most women here, Estal Logokin used to make and sell charcoal for money, a practice that's destructive to forests and people's lungs. But with support from this project, she would.

walked away from that life and started farming. We can grow food from our soil, like maize, beans, and even sweet potatoes. And our children appear healthy and strong. It has given them a change of mindset. Mansour Shaban is the local government's agricultural director. They had very little to none ways of making a livelihood. And that would mean that they have to compete for the small resources they have with other people. And that would mean life or death, because they were fighting for resources.

Let no one lie to you. Highly impactful, life-saving, because everybody knows that water is life, basically. This project serves an unstated but secondary purpose. This region is a known recruiting ground. for al-Shabaab, the Somali-based insurgency responsible for multiple terrorist attacks inside Kenya. His father remembers the day his son went to Somalia to join al-Shabaab. Any project that helps support and anchor young men to their community is, according

to the UN, an important part of counterterrorism. USAIDs and other donors' plan was to considerably expand the project, to pipe well water farther, triple the acreage could be farmed, more training and supplies were to come, along with a large dammed basin to capture and store rainwater. But then, only two years into the project, USAID's work was stopped. So what this community is left with is a project that was showing great promise, was benefiting dozens of families in nearby, but now because of these cuts, this project will now likely never be finished.

that with this. The ECOLO livestock market was started over 10 years ago with large support from USAID. Today, it's a bustling, thriving monument to economic empowerment and organization. Two days a week, herders from across the region come here to sell their livestock. Different tribes of different faiths haggle and negotiate in a free, secure, and open marketplace. Mohamed Wario oversees the market. He says that for many years, herders would often get taken advantage of by dishonest brokers who'd lie to them about market prices. But here, with so many customers bidding,

herders get the best, fairest prices. People can change money through a supervised system, and because of the guaranteed crowds, a perimeter marketplace was built for local women to sell products. household, benefit every day during this market. So this is the sustainability project through USA, which change the levels of our people. Seeing this remarkable growth,

the local government then helped fund the construction of a soon-to-open multi-million dollar slaughterhouse so buyers can butcher their meat on the spot, have it packed up and shipped from the local airport. So it's this kind of a process that USAID starts, but then the local government and local community picks up that gives people hope that this kind of a project could sustain even if America's support never returns.

But just 15 miles away and a ton, it's a different story. Locals say the well isn't generating enough water anymore, and USAID has left. Residents hand dug this long channel from a nearby river, but they fear it's only a temporary fix. The American withdrawal came as a big shock. We never expected it. We were hoping for a dam, but our expectations died instantly.

Other people lost hope and stopped farming. Esther Lojikin fears that the fledgling progress they've made will be lost. We're worried about what will happen in the future. Even the crops in the ground will not mature. The river is drying up, and there's not enough. water in the well. I can't imagine going back to charcoal. With the pull out of USAID, there will be a lot of dire consequences in terms of health, in terms of livelihoods. There will be a lot of consequences. People will even die.

You believe people will die because of these countries? Of course, because these projects are not become sustainable by the time USID. by the time USAID pulled out. They were getting close. Yeah, the journey was there. But the pull out was so sudden that people were not ready for self-reliance yet. Two USAID projects, two different outcomes.

In one, American aid was a seed, one that was given time and grew into a sustainable, thriving enterprise. The other, a promising start that was interrupted, leaving more despair than hope in its wake. For the PBS News Hour, I'm William Brangham in Eciolo County, Kenya. New and troubling questions are emerging about what caused last month's Air India crash in Ahmedabad, which killed 260 people. A preliminary investigation released this weekend ruled out mechanical or maintenance issues. The 15-page report found that the Boeing 787 Dreamliners' fuel cutoff switches, which stopped fuel from flowing to the engines,

had both been flipped in sequence just seconds after the plane took off and not long before it crashed. Experts believe it's most likely that one of the pilots was responsible. For more on this report, we are joined by our aviation correspondent, Miles O'Brien. Miles, so good to see you. Let's talk about those fuel switches and how they seem to have been shut off right after takeoff. How do they work? Is it possible that someone bumps it with their elbow and switches it off? Is it possible there's some mechanical issue with those switches?

What do we know about that? those switches william are designed to be readily available to the flight crew in the event that they need to cut off the fuel because of say an engine fire but because they need to be readily available and they're so crucial they are guarded in two ways they are spring loaded you have to pull up on the switch and then when you put it in place it latches in place so it's actually secured in two separate fashions. It's, dare I say, impossible to just brush aside it and move that switch. It's not something that can be done casually. And it points very strongly to deliberate intent. In addition to that, William, there was no evidence of any sort of mechanical problem with the

engines, whether the engines might have failed in some fashion. And there was an incorrect procedure to restart the engines. That was one of the early speculations. But there's zero evidence that occurred. The flight data recorder simply records the fact that those switches were absolutely inexplicably turned off. There was this in the report, a mention of a very odd conversation between the two pilots about these switches and who turned them off or what happened. What did the investigators find out? The flight data recorder, we don't know who is talking to whom at this stage of the game. They haven't released that. But one of the pilot says, to the other, why did you just do that? And the response was, I didn't do that. So there was a

recognition that something very drastically wrong happened, and on the other end of the equation, a denial. So again, that points toward some sort of deliberate action, and for some reason, no recognition of the fact of what just happened. Given that there is still a lot that we don't know, But let's, for the sake of conversation, assume that this was an intentional act. I'm correct that this is not the first time that this has happened with a flight. William, it isn't. I've taken a look back. And going back to 1982, that's the first case I can find.

It occurred with the Japan Airlines flight in Tokyo. There are benign separate occurrences that could be attributed to the flight crew taking some sort of deliberate action. In other words, suicide and homicide. Now, I am including the missing Malaysian airliner, MH370, and that's a controversial statement there. But most of the thinking right now is that that is what happened there. And that also includes this case in Air India. So nine separate incidents, more than 1,100 people dead throughout all of those incidents. So you couldn't say this is a common thing, but it's not something that is unprecedented either. It's a rare occurrence, not something that I think people should worry about too terribly, but to the extent that

it is very difficult to get at ways to solve it, it's something that the aviation community is grappling with. I mean, obviously, mental health is spread all the way across society, but as you're indicating, when it comes to pilots, by nature of their job, they have so many people's lives in their hands. What is the screening mental health-wise for pilots? And do the people that you've been talking with believe that it is enough? Well, it's interesting, William, because, you know, the pilot who's flying your airliner has a physical exam every six months, but there is no specific psychological evaluation. The doctor say, hey, how are you feeling?

You're depressed, and they say, I'm fine. The problem is that there's a trap here for pilots. If they self-report a problem, that they're depressed or whatever, it's likely they'll be grounded. And this gets right to their livelihood. And so there is no incentive for them to self-report if they're dealing with mental health issues. So it's a real trap. And the system has to sort of rethink how it approaches this, I think, and be more proactive in ensuring that pilots are not grappling with mental health issues.

Some of the things we could look at is a more formalized approach. to dealing with mental health issues, making those psychological exams more part of the routine. Another thing I would advocate for are video recorders on the flight deck so we can see more of what's going on. Anytime you get into coming up with systems to prevent this, though, you might put a flight crew into a situation where a system inhibits their ability to respond for an emergency. So at the end of the day, we have to trust the individuals who are at the the pointy end of these airliners. And that leads us to kind of the inscrutable area of the human mind. And it's for aviation people, it's more about psychology, whereas we're more accustomed to

dealing with changing procedures. Miles O'Brien, always great to talk to you. Thank you very much. You're welcome, William. Comedy has long been a way to bring a different lighter lens to heavy topics. That holds true for Palestinian-American comedian Sammy Obeyed, who has taken to the stage to spotlight the pain of the war in Gaza. Amna Nawaz has the story for our arts and culture series, Canvas. Comedian Sammy Obeyed has built his career tackling the tough stuff from politics to war. The night that Israel attacked Iran, there was a spike in pizza sales right next to the Pentagon.

The former high school math teacher even jokes about that. America's ranked 33rd in math in the world. Japan had to count that for us. It's pretty bad. I think once I started doing math jokes, it just seemed like I could pretty much make any painful subject very funny. And so I've never had a problem with that. At Mama Aisha, a Palestinian restaurant in Washington, D.C., obeyed said his work is often fueled by what others aren't saying or won't say.

There is certainly a void in stand-up on certain topics, specifically Palestine. The fact that that void is there is very motivating for me to be like, oh, if nobody's talking about it, I will. And I feel that way about any subject that people don't really touch. The Palestinian-American comedian grew up in Northern California, where his interest in politics took root. I love being Palestinian because it's the one identity you bring up, and it's instantly controversial. Growing up, I kind of had to learn gradually that I was Palestinian because what do you mean? Like, I don't think I asked what ethnicity I was to my parents until I was

maybe like 10 or 11. My parents started inviting me to like pro-Palestine protests and vigils. So I became more aware of it in my 20s. And then I started stand up. And at that point, it was already like kind of my identity. He was drawn to the voices willing to lean into the uncomfortable. I think the first one that really inspired me was Chris Rock. I watched a special of his when I was 15, and this is when I became tangentially aware of politics. So when you white, the sky's the limit. When you black, the limits the sky. Just learning about what politics were and like what was going on in the world, and then seeing him make it funny, I was like, whoa, that's so cool. Obeyed First got national attention for a thousand-day streak of

consecutive comedy performances in 2013, culminating in a late-night booking on Conan. Crazy, because I'm Palestinian. My roommate is Jewish, so we're always fighting over his room starts and mine ends. But millions of people have seen Obed's work in a new surge of interest fueled by his jokes about Palestine and a string of viral moments like this one. Let's say 80% of the voting population showed up. So that's 20% of the total population now. And 40%, what's 40% of 20%? Come on, you may not be on the side.

You gotta be on the side of math, right? It's 8%. At most, 8% of the people living in Gaza voted for Hamas. You detoured your show for an hour to engage with this person. Yeah. Why? Well, because it was really hard to not address the eligible. in the room, which was that she was making some very bold claims that were arguing against

some of the basic premises that I was setting up for my jokes. And so I wasn't just going to like let that sit there, I had to like say something. Really, I treat comedy about Palestine like an illegal settler does land of the West make? Like if I don't take this, someone else will. You also joke sometimes about Palestinians having what you call a dark sense of humor. Very much. I still think people don't understand how dark of a sense of humor Palestinians have and how necessary it is for us to deal with what we see on a daily basis. Sometimes during my show, I'll tell a dark joke and people be like, oh, you know, do I laugh at this?

And I'm like, look at the Palestinians and they look at the Palestinians and they're just busting up laughing. I'm like, it's okay. Like, this is how we cope. Say hi to everybody here. His fans in Kaza are watching. One even facetimed in during his D.C. show. We are appreciated everything you do for best time and ask for Gaza. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Shukran.

But it's another fan in Gaza who Obeid says he's in touch with almost every day and whose family he's been helping after connecting online. His house was bombed in November 2023, and him and his family of 18 who lived in that house had to evacuate. They recently had to evacuate from their tent, and so now they're living under a piece of nylon on the beach. Now they're just living day by day on the little food they have. I've watched him, like, grow thin. I mean, it's just, it's insane. It's insane that they are the lucky ones, and they are living a life that anyone here in America would go crazy, just experiencing for one day.

That connection inspired Obeid to launch a platform called PAL collective, allowing people to link with and support a family in Gaza however they can. They can essentially be your adopted family. You can basically talk to them on a daily basis, you know, send them money, whatever you feel comfortable doing. Or if you want to provide like therapy services, or if you're like a doctor, you want to give free medical consultations, you can basically sign up to do that. On stage, Obeid somehow continues to find a way. to make light of dark topics. I wish I could be telling people about A squared plus B squared equals C squared.

But I'm out here trying to put out A's fire. I'm trying to put out B's fire, and that requires a C's fire. Do you understand what I'm saying? Do you ever reach a point where you're like, okay, this is too much? There's no way to make people laugh about what's going on here. Yeah, I mean, there's definitely days where it's just so dark. What happens is so dark,

news that comes out of Gaza is so dark. But I will say to be honest, like most things, I can kind of find a way to talk about it while also like making humor. And that's a lot of pressure to try to make people laugh about very heavy topics. I definitely have felt the toll from this just emotionally as a person. I have these people who come on my shows and will listen to what I say every night. And so I feel like I have my form of therapy. So as long as the world is functioning the way it is. You know, unfortunately, I'm going to have to be talking about it for a while. I would love it to stop immediately.

But when it stops, you better believe I'll be doing math theorems. Tonight's brief but spectacular features Byron Komenik, who's returned to his family's Colorado farm with a bold idea, grow crops and harvest solar energy. At Jack's solar garden, Byron has transformed hay fields into a thriving hub, demonstrating how farming and clean energy can grow side by side. Climate change is happening. I don't really see a way that we can stop it. So we need to learn to adapt to it.

Agrovoltaics is a way to help agriculture adapt to our hotter temperatures. Continuing to do the same type of agriculture 20 years from now as we did back in the 80s and prior was not going to work because it's going to be too hot for a lot of crops. We're already seeing that on our farm of my hay grass browning earlier. I'm getting less production out of it and that's happening with plenty of other people too. When I moved to the farm in 2016, I didn't really have a lot of connection to it. Jack was my grandfather. Never met the fella.

Born in 1895, he was a carpenter, the first half of his life, a farmer, the second half. He had a 120-acre farm in Westminster and Colorado, where my mother grew up. I did five years with USA. In Zambia, a couple years, in Mozambique, I wanted to see what it would be like to do something in my own culture. The farm was there with nobody living on it for at least eight years and learned about how we were losing money hanging the fields. It wasn't anything that was looking towards the future of what our farm could be for our family. And the idea of solar came about because it was something that could be passive income for the land. Dual land use is taking two different things and just doing it together.

With solar, it could be a tennis court underneath solar panels. It could be a beer garden, a bowling alley, whereas agributalex is a subset of that where you're specifically integrating agricultural activities. The dumbest thing I hear is that things can't grow in the shade. I tell people, go look in the forest. There's plenty of things that grow underneath the trees. The shade from the solar panels reduces the overall temperature on the property over the course of the day.

It reduces stresses on the various types of vegetation, and shade keeps moisture in the ground longer. And the hotter it is, the drier the land is. So the more shade that's there, the more moisture can stay in the ground longer. Dual use for landowners provides multiple streams of income, and it oftentimes for farmers and ranchers, it keeps the purpose of the land there. For our land, it's really nice having people on the land.

I have a couple thousand people that come out to visit my land every year. It makes me feel more part of the community. It feels like I can be a better contributor to the community that I live in. My name is Byron Komenik. This is my brief but spectacular take on agrovoltaics. You can watch more brief but spectacular

videos at pbs.org slash newshour slash brief. A news update before we go. The Trump administration says it's ending the deployment of half of the 4,000 National Guard troops who were sent to Los Angeles to protect federal property during immigration protests last month. 2,000 guardsmen will remain in the city along with 700 Marines. And that is the News Hour for tonight. I'm William Brangham.

Thank you so much for joining us. Thank you.