PBS News Hour - Full Show - July 22, 2025 – PBS News Hour full episode

Episode Date: July 22, 2025

Tuesday on the News Hour, congressional leaders and the Trump administration take steps to quell frustration over the Jeffrey Epstein investigation. The president of the Philippines visits Washington amid trade tensions and fraying relations with China. Plus, as some anti-abortion activists turn their focus to birth control, we examine the facts about contraceptives and online misinformation. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders

Good evening, I'm Jeff Bennett. And I'm Amna Nawaz. On the NewsHour tonight, congressional leaders and the Trump administration take steps to quell increasing frustration over the investigation into sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The President of the Philippines visits the White House amid trade tensions and fraying relations with China. And as some anti-abortion rights activists turn their focus to birth control, we examine the facts about contraceptives

and how misinformation is rapidly spreading online. You hear these wild things. Birth control methods are one of the most researched hormones in our health care system. Welcome to the NewsHour. Divisions inside the Republican Party about the Justice Department's investigation into Jeffrey Epstein boiled over on Capitol Hill today. House Speaker Mike Johnson said the House won't take action before leaving town for

the August recess at the end of the week. The controversy is fracturing the party and renewing calls for transparency. Our congressional correspondent Lisa Desjardins has more. At the Capitol, a sudden rush to exit this week. Speaker Johnson explained why the House is leaving early. There's no purpose for Congress to push an administration to do something that they're already doing. But pledges from President Trump and AG Pam Bondi

to release more information about Jeffrey Epstein, his alleged sex trafficking organization, and his death have yet to be fulfilled. Bringing new reminders of Mr. Trump's former friendship with Epstein, Trump has said he knew nothing of Epstein's alleged crimes. But this bill from Republican Thomas Massie to release all records while protecting victims' identities would force a tough vote that the White House does not want now.

The issue ground the House Rules Committee to a halt last night after Democrats tried to force a vote on releasing Epstein information. Well, we could do it right now. And now the House will leave early for August recess. I don't think this issue is going away over August. Massey, known as a sharp thorn in leadership's side, is blunt. I mean, people have wanted these files for years. And then, you know, the president's staff, administration, his own children, his vice president,

have promised that these files would come out. And now we're being told it's a hoax. It just doesn't wash. But some, like fellow Republican Ralph Norman, now say they can wait. The information will come out. The Republicans are going to push it. And it's going to be a good,

what the American people will see. It just takes some time, but it's going to be out there. Johnson urges trust in the White House with a specific standard for what is released. The president himself has said that he wants maximum transparency and all credible evidence to be turned over to the American public so that everyone can make their own decision. Meanwhile... Put up or shut up. Follow through or don't follow through. Democrats are relentlessly pushing the issue.

We should release the Epstein files. It is what Donald Trump campaigned on. It's what Attorney General Pam Bondi talked about this February when she said the Epstein client list was, quote, sitting on her desk right now. Why don't we have that client list? Amid the debate, some news. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanch posted on social media that he intends to interview Epstein's co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell, to follow all leads and ask what she knows.

Maxwell's serving a 20-year prison sentence for child sex trafficking and other crimes. In the Oval Office today, just one reporter asked the president about Epstein. He said he wasn't aware of the Maxwell interview. I didn't know that they were going to do it. I don't really follow that too much. Instead, Trump repeatedly changed the subject to Democrats, launching into wild accusations about former president Barack Obama. He's guilty.

It's not a question. You know, I like to say, let's give it time. It's there. He's guilty. They, this was treason. Charging with no proof that Obama conspired to steal past elections. The man in the Oval Office now, under fire, is again targeting his political rivals, including those past. For the PBS NewsHour, I'm Lisa Desjardins. And here to discuss the legal implications of all the Jeffrey Epstein developments is

Arlo Devlin Brown. He's a former federal prosecutor and headed the unit at the U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan that later prosecuted Epstein. Thank you for joining us. Thank you. So the Justice Department said it reached out to Jeffrey Epstein's former associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, for a meeting amid the administration's handling of the Epstein's former associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, for a meeting amid the administration's handling of the Epstein documents,

the backlash to all of it. What kind of information might she have that didn't come forward in the trial? So it's really hard to know. It could be they're looking to see what information she has, and I guess also important is what information doesn't she have, since the DOJ is also looking to see if it's in a prior investigation which found that no other people were responsible for crimes

against the victims you know to make sure that was complete. Is it in her interest to cooperate how might she benefit from this? Well she could benefit two ways. One is the DOJ could move to the district court that had overseen her trial and asked that she be resentenced, claiming that she has provided substantial assistance to an investigation. In that case it would be totally up to the judge whether to resentence her and how much to adjust the sentence. She of course has another avenue, which is to go through the clemency process and make

a request to have her sentence commuted. And that's obviously entirely within the president's discretion. And if Maxwell doesn't have new information to share, how might that still be valuable to President Trump? Well, you could see the Department of Justice taking the position here that they went to this length to to interview her. She didn't have to speak. She gave them all sorts of information that she she knew about and you know that she credibly said that there were no other people that she was aware of anyway who were responsible for sexual misconduct against the victims. In that scenario you could see a situation where the DOJ said that's extraordinarily helpful to us in light of the public interest in this

matter and therefore we are going to take some action to get you resentenced, or President Trump could take some action and commute your sentence. Meantime, President Trump called on the Attorney General, Pam Bondi, to release what he called pertinent grand jury testimony related to Epstein. She has taken steps to seek that release. Is that testimony expected to yield

anything new or noteworthy? No, I don't think that's going to be helpful. And the reason is the only grand jury testimony that would have occurred would have been testimony against the people that the grand jury was being asked to indict. So it would have been focused on Epstein himself and then Ms. Maxwell. And second, it's typically the practice in federal courts for the evidence to be summarized, often by a single witness from law enforcement. So it's not like you're going to have, you know, dozens of people who have testified before that, those grand juries. It's maybe even one person.

How unusual a move is it to make grand jury testimony public? is it to make grand jury testimony public? It's very unusual. There are occasions where the defense counsel seeks it for various reasons relating to their legal situation, but the government almost always resists those efforts and fights to keep it secret, because one of the things that the DOJ likes to tell witnesses who are appearing in the grand jury

is that this is a secret process and can't be revealed to the media or to anyone outside of the court's permission. There are still many files related to the Epstein case that have not been publicly released. Based on your experience in similar investigations, what kinds of information might be in those files What kinds of information might be in those files, and might the DOJ find a way to release them? Yeah, so the grand jury testimony or other material that was subpoenaed to the grand jury, that the DOJ requires a court order to release. And the court may or may not do that.

But there's a host of other material that is not grand jury material. For example, there were searches of Mr. Epstein's properties that yielded, as we've seen, lots of documents and other material. The DOJ could release that information if it wanted to, likely without the need for any sort of court authority. Former federal prosecutor Arlo Devlin-Brown,

thanks again for being with us. Thank you. We start the day's other headlines in Gaza. The UN Human Rights Office says that Israeli forces have killed more than 1,000 Khazans seeking aid since May. Most deaths have occurred near distribution sites run by an American contractor. A breakdown in law and order has led to looting, chaos and violence during aid deliveries. Desperation is mounting amid Israel's near total blockade of the territory.

Israel accuses Hamas of diverting aid. Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry says 101 people have died in recent days from starvation, including 80 children, some of them infants. The baby was 40 days old. There are no formula boxes. A box now costs $100. We can't afford it, and it's not even available. The mother can't breastfeed.

There's no food or drinks, so there's no breast milk. The baby died of malnutrition because his mother had malnutrition. Meantime, Gaza health officials reported at least 25 deaths from Israeli strikes today. That includes 12 people who were killed when Israeli forces hit tents sheltering displaced people in Gaza City. The Israeli military says it's not aware of any such strike. The Trump administration is citing an alleged anti-Israel bias in its decision to once again withdraw the U.S. from the U.N.'s main cultural agency, called UNESCO.

In a statement today, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce specifically cited the organization's 2011 decision to admit Palestine as a member state, saying it was quote, highly problematic, contrary to U.S. policy and contributed to anti-Israel rhetoric. The U.S. withdrew from UNESCO under Trump in 2017 for similar reasons, then rejoined during the Biden administration. Today's decision takes effect in December of next year. Here at home, the Labor Department is proposing sweeping rollbacks

to more than 60 workplace regulations. They include eliminating minimum wage requirements for home healthcare workers, protections for migrant farm workers, and safety protocols for a range of working conditions, including construction sites and mines. Critics say the changes would put workers in harm's way. Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-Dreamer has said

the goal is to cut, quote, unnecessary regulations that stifle growth and limit opportunity. The rules must go through several stages of approval before they can take effect. Coca-Cola says it's rolling out a new version of Coke using real cane sugar, following a push by President Trump. In the U.S., Coke has been sweetened using high fructose corn syrup since the 1980s.

Some versions already use cane sugar, like the one sold in Mexico. Last week, President Trump posted online that Coke would be using cane sugar, but the company never confirmed. Instead, Coca-Cola said the cane sugar version will be added to its overall product line this fall. Its CEO told investors today, quote, we appreciate the president's enthusiasm for our Coca-Cola brand. We are definitely looking to use the whole toolkit of available sweetening options. General Motors posted a 35 percent drop in quarterly profit today, dragged down by the impact of President Trump's tariffs. The automaker said the levies resulted in a $1.1 billion dent in its earnings.

In a letter to shareholders, CEO Mary Barra said GM is trying to reduce our tariff exposure, which includes $4 billion of new investment in the U.S. GM is the second automaker this week to say that tariffs are taking a toll. Yesterday, Jeep maker Stellantis warned of a loss of $2.7 billion in the first half of the year due at least in part to tariffs. GM's shares drop more than 8% on Wall Street today as stocks overall ended mixed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added nearly 200 points on the day. The Nasdaq lost ground giving back around 80 points. The S&P 500 inched to a new all-time high. And we have a passing of note. Black Sabbath frontman and heavy metal icon Ozzy Osbourne has died.

With his trademark growl on songs like Iron Man and Paranoid, Osbourne brought a sense of darkness and danger that delighted fans and terrified Penny Perrins. The band fired him in 1979 for his wild behavior. A year later, he began a solo career. I'm going up the rails with a crazy train His first two solo albums went multi-platinum with hits like Crazy Train. Osbourne was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice, once with Sabbath in 2006 and again on his own last year. Rock and Roll!

And then a third act for the man known to many as the Prince of Darkness. Osbourne won new fans as the doddering foul-mouthed father in his reality show, The Osbournes, which ran on MTV for four seasons. In 2020, Osborne revealed that he had Parkinson's disease. He played his last show in the UK earlier this month. Ozzy Osborne was 76 years old. Still to come on the NewsHour. Texas legislators seek ways to better protect against future floods. The

immigration judge shortage is underscored by the Trump administration's efforts to ramp up deportations. And a playwright discusses his inspiration for his Tony Award-winning family drama, Purpose. This is the PBS NewsHour from the David M. Rubenstein Studio at WETA in Washington and in the West from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University. Today President Trump said he had reached a trade agreement with the Philippines following a White House visit by its president, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. He is now the first Southeast Asian leader to visit the Oval Office during Mr. Trump's

second term. The U.S., the Philippines and other Asian allies are increasing their cooperation to counter what the U.S. calls an expansionist China. But these partners and allies are also being targeted by U.S. trade policies. Nick Schifrin has more. This is Philippine Coast Guard vessel. You are directed to leave this area. also being targeted by U.S. trade policies. Nick Schifrin has more. 164. This is Philippine Coast Guard vessel. You are directed to leave this area.

In one of the world's most contested waters, a fierce face-off with China. Last week, the Philippines Coast Guard intercepted what it called a Chinese spy vessel. Your operation is not safe and unprofessional. China published this video of what it called Philippines aggression. But it has been China flexing its maritime muscles.

Last year, it attacked Filipino ships with water cannons, as part of its claims to control nearly the entire South China Sea. That's a claim contested by over a dozen countries, including by Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. We are essentially concerned with the defense of our territory and the exercise of our sovereign rights. Today at the White House, Marcos envisioned an expanded regional alliance. We need to do this with our partners.

And again, our strongest partner has always been the United States. Our present that position very clearly to anyone who has intentions of unilaterally changing the world order. NICK SCHIFRIN, The Philippines is the U.S.' oldest Pacific ally and the U.S.' treaty obligated to come to its defense. In recent years, that defense relationship has boomed. U.S. and Philippines troops recently held large exercises that for the first time deployed American anti-ship missiles

pointed at waters near Taiwan. In fact, in recent years, the U.S. has increased its military presence from the Philippines to Japan, including on bases that are closer to Taiwan than they are to the capitals, Manila and Tokyo. The U.S. has prioritized creating multiple regional military alliances willing to confront Beijing together.

That's an effort continued under this Trump administration, which has expanded warnings over Taiwan. JOHN BARRASSO, U.S. Secretary of State for the United States of America and the United States of America's President, China's President-elect, President-elect, and President-elect, President-elect, President-elect, President-elect, President-elect, President-elect, President-elect, President-elect, President-elect, President-elect, President-elect, President-elect, President-elect, President-elect, President-elect, President-elect, President-elect, President-elect, President-elect, President-elect, President-elect, President-elect, President-elect, President-elect, President-elect, President-elect, President-elect, President-elect, President-elect, President-elect, President-elect, President-elect, President-elect, President-elect, President-elect, President-elect, President-elect, President-elect, President-elect, President-elect, President-elect, President-elect, President-elect, President-elect, President-elect, President-elect, Taiwan. Any attempt by communist China to conquer Taiwan by force would result in devastating consequences for the Indo-Pacific and the world.

There's no reason to sugarcoat it. The threat China poses is real and it could be imminent. We hope not, but it certainly could be. But today, President Trump concentrated on cooperation with China. And I don't mind if he gets along with China, because we're getting along with China very well. We have a very good relationship. In fact, the magnets, which is a little complex piece of material, but the magnets are coming

out very well. They're sending them in record numbers. Beijing first withheld rare earth magnet exports, leading almost immediately to Ford temporarily idling some U.S. factories. PAUL SOLMAN, Former President of the United States of America, President of the United States of America, President of the United States of America, President of the United States of America, President of the United States of America, President of the United States of America, President of the United States of America, President of the United States of America, President of the United States of America, President of the United States of America, President of the United States of America, President of the United States of America, President of the United States of America, President of the United States of America, President of the United States of America, President of the United States of America, President of the United States of America, President of the United States of America, President of the United States of America, President of the United

States of America, President of the United States of America, President of the United States of America, President of the United States of America, President of the United States of America, President of the United States of America, President of the United States of America, President of the United States of America, President of the United States of America, President of the United States of America, President of the United States of America, President of the United States of America, President of the United States of America, President of the United States of America, President of the United States of America, President of the United States of America, President of the United States

of America, President of the United States of America, President of the United States of America, President of the United States of America, President of the United States of America, President of the United States of America, President of the United States of America, President of the United States of America, President of the United States of America, President of the United States of America, President of the United States of America, President of the United States of America, President of the United States of America, President of the United States of America But I was surprised to see the kind of numbers are very big and they're gonna get bigger under What we're doing and what we're proposing President Trump said in a post online this afternoon that Marcos agreed to remove tariffs on all US imports and that the US would impose a

19% tariff on Philippines goods. There's been no confirmation yet from the Philippines But that 19% is the same percentage the U.S. will impose on Indonesian goods in a new framework deal with that country also announced today. For a perspective on the Trump administration's overall approach to Asia, we get two views. Randall Schreiber was Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Affairs during the first Trump administration. He's now chairman of the Institute for Indo-Pacific Security. And Lyle Goldstein is the director for Asia Engagement at Defense Priorities, a think

tank that advocates for a non-interventionist U.S. foreign policy. He's director of the China Initiative at Brown University. Thanks very much. Welcome to both of you. Rani Shriver, let me start with you. I just mentioned how the U.S. has expanded defense cooperation across the Pacific, including exercising recently on a base in the Philippines that is basically closer to Taiwan than it is to Manila.

Why is that kind of presence important to U.S. interests and plans in Asia? Well, we're a distant power, and we're reliant on friends and allies for access for our four deployed forces. Taiwan is an important country to us, an important relationship for the region. Any threat to Taiwan, we'd want to at least be positioned to respond to, whether or not we do so militarily is a political decision, but we want to be in position. The Philippines is key to that. Well, Goldstein, respond to that.

The U.S. sees the region as needing to expand its presence, especially to be in position in case the political decision is made to defend Taiwan. What's your response to that? Yeah, what I see, Nick, is something very dangerous. To me, we've been quite focused on the South China Sea issue and some bullying going on mostly regarding fishing issues or oil exploration in the South China Sea. But this increasing inclination to tie the Philippines into the Taiwan issue, I think, is very, very dangerous. And I think we've seen a steady uptick in, since that's been going on, in Philippines-China

relations, which are really very dicey. So is the Taiwan strait situation. I'm urging Washington decision-makers to act with the utmost caution here. This is extremely dangerous, Nick. Randy Schreiber, is it dangerous to expand cooperation with the Philippines with the context of what you and I were talking about, Taiwan? Well, I think it needs to be done with a degree of deafness, but I believe that these moves are actually helping deterrence and helping stabilize the situation.

To do nothing, I think, is actually the real risk, because I think China's ambitions are quite significant here, and we want to be able to keep peace and stability in the free and open order in the region. Laugolstein, take that on again. Doing nothing, or at least doing less than what multiple administrations have done, would reduce deterrence. Yeah, we're not advocating for doing nothing.

Of course, we think that the Philippines is a valued treaty ally, and we support various cooperative actions with the Philippines. It's just, you know, we think it's critically important that they have a kind of defensive character that is, you know, that we should make our alliance with the Philippines very much in the spirit of defensive defense, not that is to say leaning into the Taiwan situation.

You know, Mr. Shriver just characterized Taiwan as a country, and that reflects, you know, a kind of big misperception in Washington, D.C., it seems to me. We, you know, our official policy is that there is a one China policy. We do not recognize Taiwan as a country, and therefore, it seems to me, we had better be very cautious here. And the situation across the Taiwan Strait is getting more and more tense. I'm of the view, I'm a defense analyst. There is no military balance.

China has vast military superiority against Taiwan and against the Philippines. So we had better not get our servicemen into a situation which is effectively mission impossible. You know, Bridge Colby alluded to this when he said that, what was it he said, you know, this is probably not viable. In part, what he was saying was it's just, Taiwan is just not defensible. Randy Shriver, is there a misperception in Washington, DC about Taiwan, and is it mission impossible to defend Taiwan? On the first, there may be among some. I certainly don't have any misperception.

I've traveled there quite a bit. And to the untrained eye, it looks awful like a country with a president, its own currency, its own military, its own defined geography. And it is recognized by at least a dozen countries in the world right now. So, you know, I used a phrase that I think is appropriate. Is it indefensible?

Well, that's actually not what Bridge Colby is saying, and that's not what the Department of Defense Interim National Defense Strategy says, but it does require taking certain moves, certain cooperative activities with our partners and allies, certain things in our own force modernization plans. And look, Taiwan is tough. It's 80 nautical miles of water, mountainous inhospitable terrain, unfavorable sea conditions for most of the year, unfavorable ports for embarkation.

This is a tough target for a military that hasn't seen combat since 1979. So I don't think it's indefensible. NICK SCHIFRIN, The Washington Post, The Washington Post, The Washington Post, The Washington Post, The Washington Post, The Washington Post, The Washington Post, The Washington Post, The Washington Post, The Washington Post, The Washington Post, The Washington Post, The Washington Post, The Washington Post, The Washington Post, The Washington Post, The Washington Post, The Washington just clarify. Bridge Colby, who we're talking about now, is the number three in the Pentagon, the undersecretary of defense for policy. And the national defense strategy that Randy Schreiber just brought up does use unprecedented language on Taiwan in the context of making sure that the U.S. focus on China.

And the language includes that the U.S. needs to prevent a fait accompli takeover by Beijing of Taiwan. Is that kind of focus on Taiwan? Do you think, is that wise? No, it's not wise. I mean, Colby's language there in his confirmation hearing was a considerable walk back from his book where he had kind of outlined a more kind of let's say a larger view of our interests he seems to have rethought it

wisely now I mean if we listen to President Trump here you'd see he didn't mention the South China Sea he didn't mention going to war over rocks or reefs he said nothing about the Taiwan Strait or the Luzon Strait so you know he's focused on straight in North Philippines. Right. And all of his statements on Taiwan have tended to be extremely cautious, which is, in my view, very wise. He, you know, he has definitely taken a different approach, say, than President Biden, who I think four times said that we would definitely defend Taiwan.

He, you know, President Trump very clearly stated otherwise. And in Secretary of Defense Hegstass's remarks, he made it very clear that, sure, U.S. forces should get ready for a bad day in the Western Pacific, but he also said it's not his call to make, and that whether we would actually do this remains unknown. I and many others who look at the military balance are suggesting this could be a terrible

catastrophe, not only with nuclear overtones, but a recent Washington simulation of this suggested that we would lose two aircraft carriers within the first week. Just imagine that. That's thousands of Americans lost. Devastating loss. Lyle Losey, sorry, Randy Shriver, I only have about 30 seconds left, so just take the last word here. There's the president's targeting U.S. allies and partners when it comes to tariffs, could

that undermine an overall strategy in Asia? I am concerned about that. I think the Defense Department and national security officials that are looking at defense issues think they can be siloed, but I'm concerned that most of what our Asian partners and allies are worried about and what they're focused on is the tariffs and the trade tensions. Lal Goldstein, very quickly, you as well. Are you worried about these trade and tariffs interrupting the overall strategy? No, I'm not.

I think some winds of change are blowing across the region. All countries, including ours, are rightly more focused on commerce. Let's try to decrease dangers throughout the region. Lyle Goldstein, Randy Schreiber, thanks very much to you both. Thank you. Thanks very much. As cleanup operations from the catastrophic flooding continue in Texas, state lawmakers are currently holding a special session,

in part to address the tragedy that killed at least 135 people. Three people in Care County remain missing. That's down from 100 just last week. Local officials say many who were initially reported missing have since been found safe. As William Brangham reports, volunteers have been crucial to the ongoing recovery efforts while larger questions of accountability linger. The debris is still slowly being removed along the Guadalupe River. And the many volunteers who rushed here are helping residents cope in ways both big and small. Just tons of people helping out.

Homeowner Greg Adkins, whose home was badly damaged, has literally been surrounded by fellow Texans coming to lend a hand. Adkins had no flood insurance. All of these volunteers, like Danny and his crew coming down from Texarkana, we've got people coming. I had another guy that's a remediation, restoration expert out of North Texas, up north of Dallas.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM. It's too early to know what rebuilding will look like across Texas Hill Country now that the threat from massive flooding is apparent to everyone. But in the short term, those volunteers offer hope, comfort, and relief. One local effort tries to find and return people's precious belongings. When such items are found, photos are posted to this Facebook group. Everything from stuffed animals, car keys, photographs, even beloved pets. Sometimes leading to heartfelt reunions.

Even far from Texas, volunteers are stepping up. This pet shelter in Chicago took in dozens of dogs from Texas. We're really happy to be able to help support the area by freeing up really needed space in their shelters so that they are able to open their shelters for displaced pets. I'm trying to keep things a little bit upbeat because I haven't been upbeat for a while. Back in Texas, country singer Pat Green, whose younger brother John died, along with several members of his extended family, held a benefit concert raising more than a million dollars

for flood relief. One of my favorite memories of my brother John at Billy Bob's was that every time we played Billy Bob's, me and the band would walk off stage and there would be no beer left. Nobody gets mad about a little beer drinking. But many questions remain about this tragic event, like why the floodwaters seemingly caught so many people off guard. Why hadn't better warning systems been deployed?

We at the Texas newsroom reviewed transmissions, emergency transmissions from that night. Volunteer firefighters asked for alerts to be sent out around 430 or so in the morning. But despite those requests, there were some delays. I can tell you I've seen a lot of destruction. Lucio Vasquez is a reporter for the Texas Newsroom. I think they said the special authorization needed to be granted before those alerts could be sent, those potentially life-saving alerts. So there were some delays there. After the alerts were sent out,

there were also some sporadic and inconsistent messaging, just in terms of who got the messages. We spoke with some people who said that they didn't even get messages at all. Some people got messages around 10 a.m., which, at that point, the water had already risen 10, 20 feet. WILLIAM BRANGHAM. Texas lawmakers have now started a special legislative session called by Republican Governor Greg Abbott in part to examine disaster preparedness. Over the coming weeks, the legislature will consider proposals to strengthen emergency communications in flood-prone areas, provide relief funding for recovery efforts, streamline regulations to improve preparedness, as well as whether

to improve early warning systems. Can we invest more money in warning systems? Can we potentially put sirens along the Guadalupe River to siren off whenever a flood happens again? And so these are the focuses that are going to be touched on. We have a responsibility to our communities to think about the worst-case scenario now ahead of time and to look at areas outside of our floodplains that could be affected and figure out who's living there and ask ourselves, how do we reach them if something happens?

WILLIAM BRANGHAM, Nurture Nature Center Director, Nurture Nature Center, California State University Rachel Hogan Carr researches disasters. She's the executive director of the Nurture Nature Center, a nonprofit focused on public communication about flood risk. In coastal communities, there's tremendous infrastructure for warning for hurricanes, for coastal flooding, for storm surge, and communities are highly aware of their risk and they're highly publicized.

In inland community where the events can be less frequent or have not happened for decades and decades, there's a lot less consciousness in the community. And so warning systems are generally less well-developed. They're less well-financed. Oftentimes, in smaller communities, there are volunteer services and emergency management people who are charged with delivering those warning systems.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM the state lawmakers discuss how to prevent the next tragedy, the victims of this one are coming home. Eight-year-old Virginia Hollis died at Camp Mystic. Her body was driven to her hometown of Belleville, Texas, in a solemn procession, town after town along the route, offering a Texas-sized goodbye. For the PBS NewsHour, I'm William Brangham. A key part of the Trump administration's hard-line immigration agenda is to deport immigrants without legal

status more quickly. But there's a massive backlog in immigration courts. And the Justice Department has fired or not renewed the contracts of dozens of judges who decide whether individuals should be allowed to remain in the U.S. Jimena Bustello covers immigration policy for NPR, and she joins me now. Welcome to the NewsHour. JIMENA BUSTELLO, N the NewsHour. Thank you. So what do we know about what's behind the firing and the non-renewals of these dozens

of immigration judges? So last week, the Justice Department decided to not renew the contracts of 17 immigration judges scattered across the country in states like Massachusetts, Illinois, Texas. This continues the pattern of firing immigration judges as they reach their two-year probationary mark. So in total, about 65 immigration judges have received an email that tells them that the attorney general has decided to not keep them on beyond their two-year mark. Immigration judges are not like a lot of other judges within the judiciary branch that we normally talk about.

Think about them a little bit more like civil servants. They work under the Justice Department and technically are a bit more at will. And is there any concern that there's something political about these firings or non-renewals? Democrats have raised a lot of concern, particularly with this administration's approach to dismissing so many judges.

So again, that number is up to about 65. During the last administration, the Biden administration, there were a few firings, I want to say about six, in the early years of the Biden administration. And Republicans raised much concern with the Biden administration's approach to sending those judges home after their two-year mark. But of course, we've far surpassed that number at this point. And in total, about 100 judges have left the bench, the ones that were not receiving that email. Some of them have decided to take the so-called fork in the road.

That's the voluntary resignation program that the Trump administration is using to reduce the size of the federal government. And just clarify for us briefly, who exactly is going to these immigration courts? And if the judges aren't there, as many judges aren't there, what's the impact on their cases? So immigration court is the place where people go

to legally seek reasons to not face a final deportation order. Many of these are going to be asylum seeking requests. And so that is one of the many places where immigrants are able to say that they should not be deported because of specific reasons, including seeking asylum. Without these judges, we see the cases continue to backlog. There is already a nearly 4 million case backlog in immigration court, in part because there just are not simply enough judges to move through them quickly enough. Also related to President Trump's broader deportation efforts,

you were reporting this week on the Department of Homeland Security preparing to use military bases in New Jersey and Indiana to detain people accused of being here illegally. How will that work? And what does this say to you about the relationship between the president's immigration agenda and the use of the military? KAYLEE KUAN, U.S. Secretary of State for the United States of America, the military has been a huge asset to this administration since the early weeks when a emergency declaration was declared saying that there's an invasion at the southern border. And that is what unlocks a lot of resources, particularly from the Pentagon to a separate agency,

the Homeland Security Department. What occurred last week was the Pentagon approved a new request from the Department of Homeland Security to do two things, open up its access at a National Guard base in Indiana and its access to use a Air Force base in New Jersey to detain migrants. There are other bases that have been approved for this kind of a request across the country. So this expands the use of military bases

as detention centers, but also to utilize them to facilitate deportations out of the country. The other thing that they approved was doubling the space at the Guantanamo Bay Naval facility that we have seen this administration also use. They have generally been able to only put about 200 people there at a time. That will now increase to 400.

And I wanna ask you, six months months into President Trump's second term, we have seen the rhetoric when it comes to deportations, that they are targeting the worst of the worst. And there are certainly people who are being detained and deported who have violent criminal histories. But what do we know about the facts around that in terms of most of the people who are being detained and slated for deportation? KAMALA KAZIER According to the data that's publicly available

by the Department of Homeland Security, about 70% of people who are in immigration detention generally have been arrested and are in immigration detention broadly were without criminal convictions. You know, that is a very clear distinction to make and that data also accounts for some of the numbers of the start of the fiscal year,

which of course were at the end of 2024. Now, of course, that's still going through a lot of process. There's a lot of changing numbers and data, but we have seen this administration scale up its ability to increase its arrests across the board. And PRS Comenobustil, thank you so much for joining us. Thank you. Appreciate it. The birth control pill is one of the most common forms of contraception in the U.S.,

but in recent years claims of side effects have filled social media platforms, often fueled by influencers promoting misinformation. Last night, we brought you a story about some of that misinformation and how contraception is being targeted as part of a larger anti-abortion movement. Tonight, we take a step back to delve into the science behind birth control. Special correspondent Sarah Varney reports for our series, The Next Frontier. Hormonal contraception has been around for decades. In 1960, the FDA first approved the birth control pill,

and it quickly became a revolutionary invention. I want the freedom to choose my own lifestyle. This coincided with the feminist movement, and so very quickly the oral contraceptive became associated with the ability of women to control their own fertility. Since the original pill, other types of contraception have been developed, from implants to shots to intrauterine devices, or IUDs, all of which are safe and effective. But in recent years, with the rise of social media, more and more influencers are posting

content that questions their safety. Here are 14 ways that the contraceptive pill robs us of our health. Some people have focused their videos on claims that birth control has affected their mental health. So the side effects while it was on it were completely terrible. Depression, anxiety, panic attacks. While others say it's unnatural. Birth control actually depletes your gut of essential vitamins, minerals, and your good gut bacteria. There are even videos with

unfounded claims that it alters romantic and sexual attraction. Younger age groups of women like they seem to go for girlier more feminine men. That is a there's a reason birth control does that to your brain. But these claims are not rooted in science, say experts and scholars. You hear these wild things. Birth control methods are one of the most researched hormones in our healthcare system.

So let's take a step back and start with how contraception actually works. In the U.S., about 25% of women between the ages of 15 and 44 who how contraception actually works. In the US, about 25% of women between the ages of 15 and 44 who use contraception take the birth control pill. The pill is available in different combinations of hormones, but they work the same way, by preventing a woman's ovaries from releasing an egg each month. The pill also thickens her cervical mucus, essentially creating a barrier so that sperm are blocked from entering the uterus. The hormones in the pill can also thin the uterine lining, making it less likely that

a fertilized egg will implant, which is when pregnancy begins. Accounting for missed or forgotten pills, the birth control pill is about 93% effective. Then there are IUDs, T-shaped devices inserted in the uterus that prevent fertilization. The hormonal IUD thickens mucus found in the cervix, and the copper IUD disrupts the sperm's movement. IUDs are one of the most effective forms of pregnancy prevention, about 99%. They can remain in place for three to ten years. And, like all hormonal birth control, once removed, do not affect a woman's future fertility. You will be able to get pregnant. All methods, when you stop a method, you will return to

your fertility just like you have before you started that method. Some of the women posting online say they're frustrated that doctors don't believe their complaints, while others share examples of bad reactions they've experienced while on birth control, many of which are exceedingly rare. Storytime on how my birth control almost caused me to lose my eyesight. That's right, my eyesight. What we find is that personal experiences, crying, talking about a really difficult experience, receive significantly higher engagement on social media

in comparison to videos and creators that are not doing those things. Mild side effects from birth control do happen, from nausea to bleeding between periods, but they ultimately vary person to person. And clinicians say it's crucial to speak with your provider about what will work best for you. It's a very individualized personal choice.

A lot of times folks say, well, I heard this or I heard that. And I really said, well, let's talk about you because you're the one taking it. Your body's unique. And how you might respond to a contraceptive method could be totally different from, say, someone who's told you a story. Experts also say there is no definitive evidence that any form of birth control causes depression, and only one method, a hormonal shot,

has been found to cause minor weight gain. Choosing to stop birth control does not lead to infertility. But many videos highlight possible side effects with little to no context. They pull out the FDA insert from their birth control prescription and jokingly talk about how it's so big that they could use it as a blanket to take a nap. Very very rare side effects are being talked about as common side effects.

The rise of influencers giving advice about hormonal birth control concerns those tracking this content. People are making money off of spreading this information as well, especially when these individuals have no medical expertise, when they don't have scientific credentials. It's especially worrisome that they're able to build up any sort of career or any sort of professional clout because these individuals very likely shouldn't be trusted. My new budget-friendly program, The 45-Day Hormone Reset, is now live.

To learn more, you can go here. In some cases, creators even preface that they are not anti-birth control, but still broadcast their experiences to hundreds of thousands of followers. I know what actually works and can help you go from pain to power in just three cycles. But misleading claims about health effects aren't the only source of misinformation

on hormonal birth control. Over the years, conservative Christian and anti-abortion groups have targeted birth control pills, implants, patches, shots and Plan B. That's an emergency contraception that contains a hormone that delays or stops ovulation. It's most effective at preventing pregnancy up to 72 hours after a missed birth control pill, a condom mishap, or unprotected sex. One formulation can work up to five days to prevent pregnancy. Despite that medical consensus, activists have flooded social media, falsely equating emergency contraception with abortion.

It can prevent the implantation of a new human being into the uterine line because it causes bleeding. This argument stems from outdated labeling on the Plan B packaging, which said that the pill might prevent implantation of a fertilized egg. But in reality. By suppressing ovulation, there's simply no egg to be implanted. It's been well studied.

If you already are pregnant and you take emergency contraception, it will not dislodge that implantation. You are pregnant, hard stop. No amount of EC is gonna disrupt that. Experts who monitor contraception misinformation worry the endless TikToks and Instagram posts are convincing people to avoid it altogether. And they're concerned it will stifle scientific research aimed at improving birth control

for everyone. All of the birth control is poison. Why are they so quick to want to put you on birth control, but they don't even teach you where your womb is? I think the existence of these side effects isn't evidence that these contraceptives aren't safe, but they might be evidence that we want to develop even safer means of contraception for everybody. For the PBS NewsHour, I'm Sarah Varney. It's been quite a few months for 40-year-old writer Brandon Jacobs Jenkins with his play Purpose, winning both the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and Tony Award for Best Play.

Senior arts correspondent Jeffrey Brown talked with him recently at Broadway's Hayes Theatre for our arts and culture series, Canvas. Somebody hurry up and bless this food. Dinner with the Jasper family. Heavenly Father. It brings out a few issues. I don't know why I thought, go ahead, go ahead. Some minor tensions.

No son, why don't you go on ahead? You are apparently the guest of honor. No father, that was just me on autopilot. You are the head of this family. What? What? Buckle up. And now the play Purpose is bringing Brandon Jacobs Jenkins

some major honors. It's very surreal though, because I look, I turn around and it's my name and then Pulitzer Prize for Draw. It's just ridiculous, you know. But it's real. It's real. No, it's happening. It's here all the time. Even when I'm not here, this is here apparently. I'm someone who have always loved the theater. You know, I've been going to the theater since I was single digits, and it's been the source of so much

revelation and warmth and comfort and learning in my life. And all I really want to do is honor the theater's power to do that. Hold on, hold on. JARED BOWEN, Actor, New Yorker, Actor, New Yorker, Actor, New Yorker, Actor, New Yorker, Actor, New Yorker, Actor, New Yorker, Actor, New Yorker, Actor, New Yorker, Actor, New Yorker, Actor, New Yorker, Actor, New Yorker, Actor, New Yorker, Actor, New Yorker, Actor, New Yorker, Actor, New Yorker, Actor, New Yorker, Actor, New Yorker, Actor, New Yorker, Actor, New Yorker, Actor, New Yorker, Actor, New Yorker, Actor, New Yorker, Actor, New Yorker, Actor, New Yorker,

Originally commissioned by and performed at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theater, renowned for its ensemble acting, much on display here. I'm going to need you to give me what I want. And it's directed by famed actress Felicia Rashad, making her Broadway directing debut. Give us grateful hearts, oh, Father, for all thy mercies. It introduces us to a prominent black family, led by a now aging civil rights icon whose time has passed and whose disappointment in his two sons is openly shown.

Specialty Junior, what are you even talking about? But there's plenty of anger and hypocrisy to go around, as well as a fierce love, with each family member experiencing a crisis of purpose. I like to think about what it would mean to have a crisis of purpose. What did that feel like for people? You know, what did it force you to do or be or act in some way that was outside of yourself? What do you mean you like to think about that?

Because that gives you a way into characters. Yeah, totally. I mean, yes, I mean, all you're doing, I think, is trying to build people, you know, build these illusions of people that actors will inhabit, and you want to build them with as much specificity and kind of novelty as you can. PAUL SOLMAN, Author, J.K.

Jacobs-Jakins plays often explore American identity through a lens of race, family and history. Appropriate about a dysfunctional white family facing secrets of its racist past won three Tonys last year. Purpose takes the classic theme of theater going back to Greek tragedy, the powerful family torn apart, and sets it in our world. I was interested in kind of picking that thread up in this contemporary moment, you know, because historically you don't see a lot of representation of black folks in those spaces ever.

You know, I think there's a really strong tradition of looking at the working class, you know, looking at... August Wilson did a whole encyclopedia of this for us in the 20th century, Lorraine Hansberry, and I just felt like there was something worth exploring about the rest of that forest. But that forest is one very funny place. Actress Cara Young also won a Tony for her performance as Aziza, an outsider with her own secret,

here just realizing whose home she's in. You said your daddy was some sort of reverend, but not like this kind of reverend. Not like a I organize marches reverend. Not like I used to kick it with Rosa Parks reverend. Not like an MLK shrine in the living room, Reverend. And didn't his son go to jail? Wait, that's your brother. Wait.

Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god. The power of any sort of storytelling is about giving people the widest experience of emotions possible in a very contained moment. So I do recognize it's very funny.

I like that it's funny. I like that I like an audience laughing because I think it's an audience telling you they're listening, you know. They feel connected and they open up. But also I do think it's about those swerves into that's just to me the experience of life is the laughter and the pain and you know if you can kind of capture that for an audience you know you bring them very close to an idea of what life is. Aziza here is a friend of Naz's.

Is that so? A special friend. And then there's that dinner scene, which starts innocently, but where all the family secrets eventually come spinning out of control. Well, welcome Aziza. Beware.

What is it about the dinner table? Totally. I mean, it's a really, you know, I thought a lot about this because, yeah, that dinner table scene does seem to be like a thing, which I love. I wonder if it's because everybody has the same need. What, like to eat or to be hungry? Yeah, we're all hungry.

You know, so it's like, you're all at the table because you're hungry, and that's why you stay at the table. You know, so much drama is like, why did they stay in the room? Why did they stay in this fight? You know, a dinner table is pretty functional. Everyone's kind of hungry, and that's enough. It's a family story, but also a larger American story.

Jacob Jenkins says he wanted the grounding of the civil rights movement and its achievements in order to raise questions about attempts to roll them back, where we are now and how we got here. That, he says, is part of his purpose. I really do see myself in the tradition of playwrights, which was someone who volunteered to hold a mirror up to the audience that came up to see it and gave people a space in which to exercise their emotional life, to kind of hear and debate and can feel their values,

the social values. The purpose runs through August 31. For the PBS NewsHour, I'm Jeffrey Brown on Broadway. And that is the NewsHour for tonight. I'm Jeff Bennett. And I'm Amna Nawaz. On behalf of the entire NewsHour team, thank you for joining us.