PBS News Hour - Full Show - July 27, 2025 – PBS News Weekend full episode

Episode Date: July 27, 2025

Sunday on PBS News Weekend, Trump announces a trade deal with the European Union after months of tense negotiations. Israel opens some room for aid to reach Gaza amid worries it may be too late for some. We look at new cases of people carrying out crimes while posing as ICE agents. Plus, how funding cuts to national parks may harm the communities around them. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders

Tonight on PBS Newsweekend, President Trump announces a trade deal with the European Union, one of the largest in modern history, following months of tense negotiations. Israel opens up some room for more desperately needed humanitarian aid, including airdrops into Gaza. This amid worries, it may be too late for some. And we travel to New River Gorge in West Virginia to explore how funding cuts to national parks may impact the people around them. Protecting the park and building the economy, the recreation economy, can help

protect people that may never set foot in this park. It's a linchpin of this economy. ["Pomp and Circumstance"] Good evening. I'm Lisa Desjardins. John Yang is away. We are tracking two major stories tonight, in Gaza and in Europe. We begin in Scotland, where President Trump and the European Union announced a major trade deal between their two massive economies.

We were able to make a deal that's very satisfactory to both sides. So it's very, it's a tremendously, it's a very powerful deal. The framework for this preliminary deal includes a 15 percent general tariff on most EU goods entering the U.S. A 50 percent tariff on steel and aluminum would remain in place. In addition, Mr. Trump said the EU has agreed to buy some $750 billion in U.S. energy and invest hundreds of billions of dollars more. A much higher general tariff, 30%,

was due to go into effect later this week. David Lynch is a global economics correspondent at The Washington Post. He's also the author of The World's Worst Bet, How the Globalization Gamble Went Wrong and What Would Make It Right. David, let's start first of all. The U.S. is charging a 15 percent tariff from this preliminary deal with the idea of easing the U.S. trade

deficit with the EU. What U.S. industries withstand to gain from this? Well, I think we should start by saying this is really a bold departure from decades of US trade policy that's been aimed at lowering trade barriers. This new 15% tariff or tax is something that American companies will have to pay to import European products. So it's going to raise prices for some American customers. We don't know exactly to what extent the prices will go up, not down. Now that will affect anybody who brings in any European good in the auto industry, in the aircraft industry, French wines, you name it, this is going to affect anything that comes in from Europe.

And how about the reverse? The president likes to talk about the auto industry trying to make gains in Europe. Does that seem feasible or what does the U.S. and what industries stand to get to benefit there? Well, the problem, the president has complained frequently about European tariffs on raising the price of American cars that Detroit's big three would be trying to sell on the continent. The problem is the American automakers specialize in larger vehicles, big sport utility vehicles of the kind that are quite common here, obviously, and pickup trucks like the Ford F-150. And many Europeans say those vehicles just aren't suited for the tight confines of European cities like Paris and Brussels

and other places. So it's not entirely clear just how much of a potential upside there is for the American automakers in Europe. And there are concerns on this side of the Atlantic about whether all of the various planks of the president's trade policy really fit together. You said that part is not clear, but I want to ask you,

is it even clear that all of this deal is set in stone? For example, President Trump has said that Europe will no longer charge any tariffs on American goods, but Europe, from my understanding as we speak, has not confirmed that. How certain is this deal? Yeah, I would say not certain. We've seen a number of occasions where the president has gotten out

ahead of formal announcements and has announced some of these framework trade agreements, either with a true social Post or press conferences or remarks to reporters, and has claimed that items have been agreed or provisions have been agreed that we subsequently find out are not quite agreed to that extent. We've seen that in his discussion of planned Japanese investment in the United States, in the tariff rate on Vietnamese products, on the applicability of the tariff rates with Indonesia.

And so the White House has not made public the sort of detailed text of trade agreements that we've seen in the past. And before I think we can render final judgments on any of these, we need to see more paper. Quickly, in our last seconds, do you believe this establishes a 15% tariff as perhaps Trump's standard? Should we be looking at that going forward? Yeah, I think so.

There have been two sets of tariffs that he's had in mind since his April 2nd announcement. One is the sort of universal or baseline tariff that will apply to all $3.3 trillion worth of merchandise that we bring into the country from overseas. He's talked about that at 10% initially. More recently, I think after seeing that the financial markets took that in stride,

he's upped the levy to 15%. And I do think we're gonna see that as sort of the, you know, the cover charge for getting into the American market. David Lynch of the Washington Post, thank you. Anytime. The other major story we're following tonight is in Gaza. A temporary pause in some fighting there

as Israel and the world confront mass hunger inside the territory. The Israeli military ordered a tactical pause in three places, Gaza City, Deir al-Bala, and Mawasi from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day until further notice. Israel and nearby nations also resumed airdrops of food, though aid organizations say that's a dangerous method. All this comes amid growing international outrage over starvation and deteriorating conditions on the ground. That includes areas in Gaza, where Israel continues strikes. Gaza health officials said at least 38 died in those attacks in the last day, including many seeking aid.

Jeri Shee is the Jerusalem bureau chief for The Washington Post. Jeri, Israel has done a few things here in addition to that pause in some places, also trying to reopen and allow more space for these humanitarian aid organizations to get food to where it needs to go. Do we know if that is making a difference yet? It's still early to say, Lisa, but I think that what we're hearing from UN officials is that they are optimistic that there will be a relaxation of the restrictions on UN agencies, including the World Food Program, that many experts say are crucial to getting the amount of aid into Gaza. Now, by many estimates, the population of two million people,

they require about 120 trucks a day, minimum, going in to feed everybody at a basic level. We know that essentially for the last two months, less than half of that has been going in. So the situation is extremely dire. Do we know if it could even be too late for some people, I'm sorry to ask, there in Gaza? Yeah. So Israel says that it's been keeping close eyes and calculating the number of calories that are going in every day. It's a grim sort of arithmetic. But the fact is that we've

basically seen 130 or so deaths, six just in the last 24 hours being reported by Gazan health authorities. And this is one of these things that sort of, you know, for weeks now we've seen kind of, you know, growing reports of hunger, starvation and famine. These are things that kind of can kind of, you know, slowly begin to take root and then suddenly explode almost in kind of an asymptotic way. President Trump was asked earlier today about this and you know he said that Hamas has become a problem in talks and this is part of what we've seen the breakdown of talks happen.

He said over their refusal to give what Israel and America is asking for over hostages. But he said something in addition to this. Here's the sort of cryptic response here. They had a routine discussion the other day and all of a sudden they hardened up. They don't want to give them back. And so Israel is going to have to make a decision. What is Israel's decision between what and what do you think? Yeah, I mean, you know, it's interesting to hear President Trump say that, but the truth is that this is kind of this repeat of what we've seen now for more than 20 months.

You know, essentially the two sides are still at loggerheads over basic questions of whether Israel will hold out. Now Hamas has offered that, you know, as long as Israel is willing to pull its troops and install some sort of alternate governing body for the region, they would be willing to release all of the hostages. Now, Israel for its part, has maintained that Hamas has continued to change its demands for how many Palestinian detainees it wants to be released in exchange for the hostages. But the basic line, I think, is that,

it wants to be released in exchange for the hostages. But the basic line, I think, is that, you know, I think Prime Minister Netanyahu and many of his political allies in particular are not ready at this point to end the war. Do we know how long Israel plans to put the... keep this pause in place in those three areas? It's unclear. There have been some reports. We've heard from UN official that

it may last a week. Israeli officials are still going to say that, you know, as far as they're aware, you know, this will likely go on indefinitely, but may also be reevaluated at any time. Jerry Shi with The Washington Post in Jerusalem. Thank you. Thanks very much. In tonight's other news, at least six people are in critical condition after a knife attack inside of Michigan Walmart. Authorities say this was a random attack that a 42 year old man walked into the store Saturday night and used a folding knife to attack a dozen people. Customers helped a sheriff's deputy subdue the assailant and treat

others who were attacked. The suspect is in custody now. Prosecutors book to charge him with terrorism and assault. Overseas, there is hope for resolution in the conflict between Thailand and Cambodia. The leaders of both countries have agreed to meet in Malaysia tomorrow for ceasefire talks. The clashes stem from disputes over a 500-mile frontier between the two countries. Dozens have been killed and more than 200,000 displaced. President Trump threatened to cut the nations out of trade negotiations if they don't reach

an agreement and end the conflict. And millions of Americans are under an extreme heat risk as we start a new week. The National Weather Service warns a long-lasting heat wave will intensify across the southeast and Tennessee Valley. While temperatures will soar, it's the humidity that will lead to feels-like temperatures in the triple digits. But relief is on the way. Meteorologists predict a cool front will make its way through much of the country and lower

temperatures as soon as Friday. Still to come on PBS News Weekend, we explore new cases of people posing as ICE agents and carrying out crimes. How funding cuts to national parks may harm the communities that surround them. You may have seen pictures in recent months of ICE agents making immigration arrests in public spaces. Some wearing street clothes, using unmarked cars, and covering their faces with masks. But there's a related headline.

A handful of arrests of people posing as ICE officers, in some cases carrying out assaults and robberies and even fake traffic stops. To talk about ICE and its imposters, I'm joined by Jose Olivares, a freelance investigative journalist who's been covering this trend for the Guardian newspaper. Jose, you found or were able to document around half a dozen of these cases.

That may be a pattern, but it's not a huge number. Why do you still think this is significant to watch? It's not necessarily a new trend, right? We've seen examples in the past of people pretending to be police officers and impersonating people. But I think the recent escalation by immigration officials throughout the country, under the Trump administration, has opened this door

for criminals to take advantage and to prey on vulnerable immigrant communities that are afraid of these immigration enforcement actions, right? And I think experts are very worried that this rising trend of immigration officers wearing masks to conduct these arrests ends up blurring the line between

who is actually an officer and who is a civilian who might be, you know, taking advantage and capitalizing on this trend. In these known cases, what about the why? Are these ever vigilantes trying to go after people they think they should, or are these criminals, as you say? I think we've seen certain rumblings of vigilante groups going after people who are undocumented.

But a lot of the cases that we've seen within the past year, within the past few months under the Trump administration have been examples of people pretending to be ICE officers. Someone in North Carolina, for example, sexually assaulting someone who was vulnerable by pretending to be an ICE officer. Or we've seen examples of people pretending

to be ICE officers and robbing people by flashing a badge or even, in one case, kidnapping a person. And so it's not necessarily that they're working in tandem or pretending to be or acting like vigilantes, working to arrest immigrants throughout the country. It's more so a question of these opportunists and these criminals taking advantage

of this very delicate and vulnerable time in history to conduct these crimes throughout the country. Why is it that more and more of these agents are using masks? And if someone is on the other end or sees someone who has identified themselves as an ICE agent, what can they do to find out and verify that it is, in fact, an ICE agent? As federal officers, there's no law, there's no regulation that

bans or prohibits federal officers to wear masks. In fact, it's actually the opposite, right? The Department of Homeland Security says that it's so that these officers can protect themselves from people who might

be doxing them or identifying them and potentially threatening them or assaulting them. But I think in a lot of cases, what we have to understand is that ICE as an agency is not a popular agency right now. It's committing a lot of actions that people see you as, you know, trampling on human rights,

trampling on judicial due process rights. And so a lot of these officers that we're seeing is, we're seeing more and more officers wear masks when they're conducting operations, precisely because the agency is very unpopular. But a lot of people, they point to this and say, you know, this opens the door so that there is less accountability for officers

when they're conducting these types of operations. There are less transparency and it erodes a certain trust between people and law enforcement agencies, right? When ICE officers conduct large-scale operations, they have to wear a certain badge that identifies them, right? But that badge, you know, there's no regulation saying how big the display has to be, right? It could just be a tiny badge on their shirt or on their belt, and that might be enough, right? And so it's difficult. And what we're seeing is we're seeing certain lawmakers push for legislation, introduce different bills to Congress,

not just at the federal level, but also at the local and state level, that would require immigration officers to identify themselves when conducting certain immigration arrests. All right, Jose Olivares, thank you so much for your reporting. Thank you, Lisa.

Alivaris, thank you so much for your reporting. Thank you, Bisa. Finally tonight, from the towering peaks of Yosemite to the vast canyons of Zion, America's national parks have long been considered national treasures. But federal funding cuts imposed by the Trump administration are leaving a mark on these iconic landscapes and the communities that surround them. Ali Rogan is back with a report from New River Gorge National Park and Preserve in West Virginia. Hello, roosters. in West Virginia. Hello! Rafters! In the pristine waters of West Virginia's New River Gorge...

Where the civilization ends and the food chain begins. Can you do this? Rafters push off. And with a few practice strokes... Beautiful! Another day of dizzying beauty on the water has begun. Another day of dizzying beauty on the water has begun. New River Gorge has been a local treasure for generations, but was re-designated as a national park just four years ago. The Arrowhead brand brought newfound national recognition and record numbers of visitors.

But being part of the park's system also means being included in its budget. And this year that could mean steep spending cuts which locals fear will slow the gorgeous momentum. The national park brand itself carries so much cash. I mean, you know what a national river is, okay, but you know what a national park is inside New River Gorge. Rick Johnson runs River Expeditions, a rafting resort that's been around since 1972. He was part of the campaign to make the Gorge a national park. We've seen probably a 20 to 30 percent increase in visitorship in the area, which is what I had hoped for when we get a park here.

And more visitors means more money spent in the surrounding communities. In 2023, almost 2 million visitors to New River Gorge spent about $100 million in the surrounding towns like here in Fayetteville. The National Park definitely has put us on the map for sure. Shop owner Nicholas Tankersley opened the lost Appalachia Trading Company the same year the Gorge got its new designation. People were spending more time and finding their way into the towns you know around and into the shops so we've definitely seen an increase in foot traffic in the town of Fayetteville. That boost is welcome in West Virginia which has one of the highest rates of poverty in the nation. For generations the state's economy was built around taking coal from the mountains but now another industry is growing in harmony with the mountains themselves. Tourism is the only thing we've ever had here that the resource renews itself every day and the money stays here. The coal industry is wonderful. We need it.

Our nation needs it. But the money doesn't stay here other than the wages. But with tourism, the infrastructure is built by folks that live here and it stays here, the money stays here, it goes into local banks. But while the park's popularity got a boost, its budget did not. That's not a new problem, nor is it unique to the Gorge. In recent years, the National Park Service budget has hovered between $3 to $3.5 billion. It's gone up slightly nearly every year,

but barely keeps up with inflation, and in some years, fails to do even that. Now the Trump administration is proposing far deeper cuts, reducing overall funding by more than a billion dollars, over 30%, and cutting over a third of all full-time workers. And as the parks enter peak summer months, thousands of seasonal positions remain unfilled too. They should have been filled back in April.

And here we are in July. And there's no sign that things are going to get better, only worse. Phil Francis worked for the National Park Service for 40 years. He now chairs the Coalition to Protect America's National Parks, a group of current and former employees and volunteers. He told us funding cuts are pushing national parks to the brink. The proposed cuts that have been presented to the Congress

will have a significant adverse effect on the National Park Service's ability to meet its fundamental mission. 200 meters of trail is going to take about $8,000 in material. Boog Ferrell shares those concerns. He's the executive director of Friends of New River Gorge, a nonprofit organization focused on preservation and restoration. He says the park has become an essential economic engine for southern West Virginia. Is it good economics to be cutting the park's

budget this much? This park generates about 120 million dollars in economic activity for this region and this region really needs it. Any way of undercutting that through lack of maintenance and creating a lesser experience when people visit really damages the future you know economic impact of the park. He told us the gorge has about $100 million in maintenance projects they've put off due to cost. That's about the same amount the Trump administration has budgeted for maintenance across the entire national park system.

You have a really scary dynamic going on where we have more and more people expecting more and experiencing more in the park but less and less resources to deal with it. So it's going to put more, it's compounding the need for more nonprofit and outside help. Right. And volunteer help. But some of the sources of that outside help have also been gutted by the administration. It was really hit the road as soon as you can. Theo Fauchet led a team of 10 young adults from AmeriCorps on a trail cleanup assignment

at New River Gorge this spring. There was essentially 11 nominally free employees that they could turn loose and reasonably expect to handle themselves well and get the work done to a sufficient degree. But just over a week into the project, they were abruptly called off. The gist of it was effective immediately. You were all to return to our headquarters, which for the southern region was in Vicksburg, Mississippi, see-saw work operations, pull your team off the work site, if possible hit the road that night. Fauche and his team were part of an AmeriCorps wide reduction in force.

Cuts he told us that deprived the park of enthusiastic extra help. You have a lot of young Americans who come from all walks of life and they're united by the common goal of helping out other Americans they never would have met otherwise. Boog Ferrell wishes the AmeriCorps team had been allowed to finish the job. They were supposed to repair about five miles of trails and plant hundreds of trees and that was going to be setting us up for years and now that was aborted. And those improved trails aren't just about aesthetics he said, they also make a difference well outside the park's boundaries.

Protecting the park and building the economy, the recreation economy, can help protect people that may never set foot in this park and so it's a bigger need than just keeping these trails nice for trail runners, right? It is a part of this, it's a linchpin of this economy. For Rick Johnson, that linchpin is critical to the future of the state. The vast majority of our children leave here and they only come back to visit or maybe when they retire. We wanted to see something here that would provide jobs that folks could stay here and make a living. His hope is that a thriving new River Gorge not only helps draw more visitors but also a new generation that calls West Virginia home. For PBS News Weekend

I'm Allie Rogan in West Virginia. And that's our program for tonight. I'm Lisa Desjardins. For all of my colleagues on air and off air, thank you for joining us. See you tomorrow.