PBS News Hour - Full Show - July 28, 2026 - PBS News Hour full episode

Episode Date: July 29, 2026

Tuesday on the News Hour, what Ukraine's president and Israel's prime minister are hoping to accomplish with their trips to the U.S. Politicians and family members pay tribute to late South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham. Plus, research shows abortion bans are worsening medical care during miscarriages and creating challenges for doctors. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

Good evening. I'm Jeff Bennett. And I'm Amna Nawaz. On the news hour tonight, two White House visits two different wars. What Ukraine's president and Israel's prime minister are hoping to accomplish with their trips to the U.S. Politicians and family members pay tribute to the late South Carolina Senator Lindsay Graham in Washington's National Cathedral. And new research shows abortion bans worsening medical care during miscarriages and creating challenges for doctors. It really is difficult to sit back and feel like your hands are tied and that you can't help them. You can support them, but you can't do anything for them. Welcome to the News Hour. Today, the late Senator Lindsey Graham was remembered as a tireless fighter for South Carolina

and an influential fixture on the world stage during a memorial service at the Washington National Cathedral. President Trump eulogized Graham after hosting two of Graham's strongest international allies. Israel's Prime Minister and Ukraine's president. Nick Schiffrin starts our coverage. Today, it was all smiles in the Oval Office and a tale of two leaders. A U.S. partner once disparaged, now praised, and a wartime ally once celebrated, now increasingly doubted. For years, President Trump has stood by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's side with repeated

endorsements. There's only one. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. We do. Please stand up. And crescendoing in an unprecedented joint war. We have a little difference, but pretty close. But recently, President Trump has acknowledged a gap between Israel's pushing for an indefinite

occupation of southern Lebanon. I was a little bit perturbed at his constantly fighting with Lebanon, you know. At some point, I said, maybe we've got to stop this. And a gap between President Trump's desire to make a deal with. with Iran and some Israelis pushing for escalation, even publicly discussing bombing Iran's pickax mountain, which Israel says hides Iranian nuclear enrichment devices. I don't need Bibi to tell me that. Bibi is telling me that because he wants me to stay involved.

I heard Bibi announced that. I said, why don't you just tell it to me? Why do you have to announce it to the world? And the war in Gaza has made support for Israel more partisan. Benjamin Netanyahu is a war criminal. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has disparaged Netanyahu. And endorsed Democratic candidates critical of Israel, all of whom won their primaries. Anybody in Israel who thinks their biggest problem is the President of the United States

needs to wake up and smell the reality of the situation that country is in. The criticism is increasingly bipartisan and voiced this month on Joe Rogan's podcast by Vice President Vance. There are some people within their system we know beyond a shadow of the doubt who are manipulating and trying to change American public opinion to keep the war going on indefinitely. Again, not towards any objective, but just indefinitely. But this afternoon, Netanyahu called today's meeting excellent. It was a conversation of full partnership, of mutual support, with an understanding of the shared goal to ensure that Iran will not have nuclear weapons and also other goals. As for Zelensky, he's done an amazing job. Look, he's been, he's been, uh,

Very effective. He's had the best equipment because he's had our equipment. President Trump and other senior officials have recently provided him praise. We've actually developed a good relationship. It's hard to believe, right? From the Oval Office to now. It's light years from last year's train wreck. You're gambling with World War III. And demands to end the war, no matter the cost to Ukraine. They shouldn't stop right now at the battle lines. Go home. Stop killing people and be done.

But Ukraine has recently seized the frontline initiative, launching strikes deep into Russia and cutting off Russian supplies to occupied Crimea. And tonight, Ukrainian officials tell PBS NewsHour the meeting was, quote, very practical and focused on restarting diplomacy, including a possible visit by presidential envoy Steve Whitkoff and Jared Kushner to Ukraine. Zelensky and Netanyahu came together briefly before Senator Graham's memorial, two leaders of two countries whom Graham championed. He loved the state of Israel.

He loved the people of Israel. And as Fox News, as Sean Hannity noted, to a full Washington National Cathedral, Graham's final trip was to Kiev to visit Zelensky and push a new sanctions package on Russia expected to pass in the coming days. Your country has shown a fighting spirit that no one ever predicted. Now, he was proud of you and the courage of your countrymen. A sentiment that President Trump has come to appreciate. even as he acknowledges gaps with a wartime ally.

For the PBS News Hour, I'm Nick Schiffen. Senator Graham's memorial today brought together presidents, prime ministers, senators, and cabinet officials. The day started at the rotunda at the U.S. Capitol, where the late congressman and senators served for 30 years and became known as a foreign policy hawk, a key presence on the Senate Judiciary Committee, and ultimately a strong ally of President Trump. President Trump and Graham's niece remembered him.

during today's funeral service. By the strength of his steadfast convictions, the force of his magnetic personality and the goodness of his noble soul, Lindsay rose from a small town in rural South Carolina, a place he loves so much, to become a constant fixture

of American politics at the highest level, and a force to be reckoned with all over the world. Lindsay was without a doubt, a family man. His world revolved around my mother, his family, and those he considered such, like his lifelong friends, colleagues, staff, and the citizens of South Carolina. Gavin Jackson from Public Media Station, South Carolina, ETV, was at the funeral service today and joins us from outside the National Cathedral. Gavin, thank you for being with us. So take us inside the cathedral. What struck you the most about the service today?

Yeah, Jeff, I think what struck me the most about the service today was maybe what folks couldn't see at home or what was happening before the service even started when you had, like you were saying, these international dignitaries there, including Ukrainian president, Volimer Zelensky, as well as Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu. They were mingling, they were talking. I know that happens at a lot of these major events in Washington, too. But it was almost fitting for the late Senator Lindsey Graham to essentially host an international confab as his last going away memorial in a sense as part of this day one of day two, a two-part day series of him being remembered, not just here in Washington, back home in South Carolina tomorrow. So to have folks from back home in South Carolina, I saw the Senate majority leader,

Shane Massey there, back home in South Carolina to, you know, these international figures. It was very fascinating to see that contrast. And then also to hear from the president, who, of course, you know, the Trump and Graham have both had a very fascinating friendship over the years. Anyone knows that, especially when they both ran for president back in 2016. And he referenced that in his remarks, too,

one of the funnier moments during that eulogy from the president talking about how he gave away the senator's number, his personal cell phone number, that he had for 20-some years on the campaign trail during this heated times. And he had to change that phone number, but then, of course, moving forward, the two became close friends, and he said Lindsay had kept calling me for the past 10 years now.

So I think it was a bit of a light-hard moment. I think Senator Graham would have appreciated not just all the dignitaries that he's worked with over the years, but also just the light-hearted nature of today's service. He probably could have enjoyed a few more jokes at his own expense, though. You covered Senator Graham for years. How do you reconcile the arcs from John McCain's wingman to Donald Trump's harshest critic, ultimately, as we know, to Donald Trump's strongest ally in the U.S. Senate? which was the real Lindsay Graham?

I think the real Lindsay Graham was the one that kept fighting for South Carolina and delivering for South Carolina. These other parts of his career were tangentioned to that because he wanted to get things done. In order to get things done, he had to adapt. A lot of people talk about that that he didn't, maybe wasn't strong enough after January 6th, despite his words on the Senate floor.

And he came back around to working closely with President Trump going forward to get him reelected being his top cheerleader. So in doing that, he got to advance now like his agenda, his agenda for South Carolina, but also his agenda for the nation, as well as the international stage. Of course, national security was a huge factor for Senator Graham, and he wanted to see that take place. He wanted to push his agenda. We're seeing that play out right now with what happened to the Middle East, of course, with what's going on Iran. And that's what actually accounted for Lindsey Graham to advance that agenda, to get the right people in place, to pay attention to his worldview and to push his foreign policy.

Yes, it was much different than the days of John McCain and, and, and, Lieberman, of course, the three amigos there too, but he had to adapt. This party has changed. His party has changed. And order to be relevant in this party, he had to change as well. Darlene Graham was there today, mourning the brother who raised her. She now occupies his former Senate seat. That special primary in South Carolina is two weeks away.

What does the campaign look like right now? It's pretty much wide open right now. We just saw filing clothes for the campaign end today. So we have about a dozen candidates who are vying. to be the next Republican nominee for the Senate seat to go on and face Democrat Annie Andrews in November as well as some other candidates on the ballot. Right now it's wide open, like we're saying, Darlene Graham was appointed to fulfill the remainder of her brother's term and then turned around and said that she was interested in running. and also has the support from President Trump that we know from looking at previous races in the state,

specifically the Republican gubernatorial campaign, that his support doesn't necessarily translate into a win, which is why several other folks, including a former gubernatorial candidate. He's also a congressman, Ralph Norman, is throwing his name in the race. He's already campaigning. He's up on air with ads already.

And he came in thirdly the gubernatorial Republican campaign. So he has a lot of momentum. There's a lot of folks. There's a lot of activists who are motivated for this race right now, because remember, this is not a typical primary, which already sees very low turnout. This is a special primary happening in August, and a lot of people are not around. So it's going to be a lot of name ID. It's going to be a lot of who you know.

And again, these are very motivated voters that will be turning out on August 11th. Right now, polling suggests that there's really no clear frontrunner. So we'll probably see in August 25th runoff. And there's going to be a lot happening in South Carolina over the next coming days. Of course, tomorrow we'll see the services honoring the late senator in Columbia and the state capital at the state house with a flyover and, of course, the ceremony. at First Baptist Church there in Columbia. So a lot will continue as we continue to remember the late Senator.

Gavin Jackson from Public Media Station, South Carolina, ETV. Thanks for making time for us. We appreciate it. Thanks, Jeff. We start the day's other headlines in southern Japan, where a powerful earthquake damaged buildings, roads, and bridges earlier today. The 6.8 magnitude quake struck Japan's southern main island of Kyushu, triggering a tsunami warning that's since been lifted. In and around the city of Kumamoto, the quake shook city cameras and toppled buildings,

including some centuries-old shrines. Other structures caught fire. Officials say that emergency crews are racing to rescue dozens of people who are feared trapped inside a shopping mall. Following the quake, Japan's Prime Minister warned that the threat was ongoing. To those in areas that experienced strong shaking, the risk of building collapses and landslides remains high. Please avoid entering dangerous areas and take all precautions to ensure your safety. Over the next week or so, please remain alert for the possibility of aftershocks with the maximum seismic intensity of seven. Japanese media is reporting that hospitals in the affected areas admitted dozens of injured people.

Police say one person died in a collapsed house. But officials say there have been no reports of damage to major public utilities, including several nuclear power plants nearby. In Seattle, police say that the 15-year-old arrested during this weekend's mass shooting at a food festival used an untraceable ghost gun with an extended magazine. At a press conference, officials said they continue to look for other possible suspects and believe the violence was gang-related.

The meantime... At a vigil, let it shine, let it shine. At a vigil last night, people grieved those who were killed in the shooting. They've been identified as 44-year-old Carlos Israel Sanchez-Vialva and 56-year-old Ashley Whitehead. Officials say the third fatality was a 19-year-old gunman. At least four other people were injured. We have an update for a story we brought you last week now. The Georgia teenager who shot and killed four people at Appalachie High School in 2024 was sentenced to life in prison.

today without the possibility of parole. Last week, Colt Gray pleaded guilty to 55 counts stemming from the attack. Gray was 14 at the time of the shooting and was charged as an adult. Florida is set to become the first state in nearly 10 years to carry out two executions in a single day. Earlier, a former police officer was put to death for killing a young girl in the late 1980s, and an 80-year-old prisoner is set to be executed this evening for killing his ex-girlfriend's parents in 1986. Under Governor Ronda Sanchez, Florida is continuing an accelerated pace of executions with at least 11 so far this year. In 2025, Florida executed 19 prisoners, the most in a single year since the death penalty was reinstated nearly 50 years ago. Across parts of Spain and France, firefighters are trying

to rain in massive wildfires before a scorching heat wave sweeps through. the region. Spain's Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, says the country is, quote, turning the tide against blazes near Madrid. Thousands of people are being allowed to return home. But Sanchez warned that difficult hours are still ahead. Meantime, in France, officials ordered another 4,000 people to evacuate coastal areas as firefighters struggle to keep a massive blaze near Bordeaux under control. One fire official said the weather is complicating their efforts. The situation has rather calmed down, but we can see behind us over there a large number of hotspots starting to emerge. And with the temperature and unfortunately the wind expected in the area, these hotspots could become the source of a new fire outbreak.

One fire in southwest France grew so strong that its smoke column became a thunderstorm, creating its own lightning and winds. It's the country's first recorded instance of the phenomenon. President Trump said today he's inviting a teenage lifeguard to the White House to receive a high civilian honor after video of his dramatic rescue of a young boy went viral. This footage shows the 16-year-old clinging to the child in rough surf at a beach in Santa Cruz, California last weekend. They eventually made it out safely. Trump's son, Eric, was among those who shared the video. He called for the teenager to receive an official recognition for his efforts. It wasn't immediately clear whether the invitation has been accepted.

On Wall Street today, stocks ended mixed as weakness and AI shares kept a lid on market sentiment. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added more than 500 points. The NASDAQ lost ground, giving back about 55 points. The S&P 500 managed a slight gain on the day. An artist Betty Saar, who was central to the black arts movement of the 1960s and 70s has died. A leading practitioner of assemblage, Sarr transformed everyday objects into sculptures over the course of her six-decade career. Her most famous work, The Liberation of Aunt Jemima from the early 1970s, transformed a derogatory stereotype into a revolutionary, armed with rifles and other weapons. The Los Angeles County Museum of Contemporary Art, which often showcased her work, posted a tribute to Sarr today, featuring her reflections on the importance of art.

Well, the style, art has been important. It is an inner need that people don't even know they have it and then until it's taken away. Sarr worked well into her 90s, telling the New York Times in 2024 that she feels lucky to have art as part of her life. The gallery that represents Sara announced she passed away in her sleep on Sunday. Betty Sarr was just four days shy of her 100th birthday. Still to come. On the NewsHour, new reports show the real-world consequences of the Trump administration's cuts to HIV funding. The President's allies on a federal board move to weaken protections for historic sites nationwide.

And a renowned baritone works to revive and celebrate the United States musical traditions. This is the PBS News Hour from the David M. Rubenstein studio at WETA in Washington, headquarters of PBS News. Well, the 26th annual International AIDS Conference is underway in Rio this week. And the collapse of American and international funding for HIV AIDS is on the minds of many. A new report details the impact of cuts to the program known as PEPFAR, which has been credited with saving over 26 million lives since it was established in 2003 by President George W. Bush. William Brangham has more. Omna, that report was done by the global HIV AIDS non-FARC,

nonprofit Amfar. It surveyed more than 166 organizations in 46 different countries about the impact of PEPFAR cuts and the broader dismantling of U.S. aid by the Trump administration. It found that more than 1,700 treatment sites globally had been closed. For some perspective on what this means, we are joined again by Dr. Atul Gawande. He was the former assistant administrator of U.S. aid under President Biden. is a writer and a surgeon at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. Dr. Gawande, great to have you back on the program. I mentioned the study from Amphar.

Their details will be presented in Rio tomorrow, but a lot of this we have already seen. I mentioned already over 1,700 sites of clothes. That's places where people can get treatment, preventative medications, etc. 73% of groups that provide services to particularly vulnerable groups, sex workers, men who have sex with men, injection drugs, those groups report that they have stopped providing at least one type of service. More than 63% of groups that provide medication to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission,

which we know is such a powerful intervention, have reported disruptions. Does any of this surprise you? And what does this mean for the larger fight against HIV-AIDS? On one hand, it does not surprise me. On the other, we're not. now finally starting to see some actual numbers about the magnitude of what's happened. And here's what I took away that was really significant. Some key pillars of fighting HIV is being able to get services to people who might be shunned from the medical system, people you named, like sex workers, people who inject IV drugs, gay or transgender people. The second thing that you have to do is not only get people on treatment, you have to

contact trace and test people who they are in contact with. And testing and prevention went way down. The numbers aren't as sexy as the closing of a clinic, but those are the things that start to happen when you have a surge of HIV return. The third thing is there were some reports, for example, from 22 neonatal clinics and network of hospitals in Africa where newborns come to. And they found that mothers had a 50% jump in HIV rates, and over 300% jump in those places finding women were not on treatment. And that means more children are now at risk of being born with HIV. But we won't know that for a while, especially when you haven't taken away the testing, taken away

preventive measures. Right, taking our eyes basically off this epidemic. Yes. I want to play something that Winnie Binyanyanyama said recently. She's the executive director of UN AIDS. Here's what she said. The question is no longer whether we can end AIDS.

The question is whether we choose to end AIDS. The ends is no longer limited by science. It's limited by inequality, by political choices. I mean, it seems like the political choices, again, not the scientific choices, the political choices we are making are moving in the opposite direction right now.

100%. President Trump, in his first term, actually set the goal, which seemed like a crazy goal, end HIV as a public health crisis by 2030. But since then, the technologies to make it possible have developed, including, you know, the whole range of community health workforce going after making sure people don't fall out of the system, the data systems, but then an injection to prevent HIV for six months. Right, Lena Kappavir. It's a remarkable drug. It is. Science Journal called it the discovery of the of 2025. The administration is rolling it out, but not like you're on a campaign to end HIV by 2030.

When you have said South Africa can't get, is no longer a partner on HIV at all, a place with one quarter of the world's HIV cases. We don't even partner with them around the development of HIV vaccines, and HIV vaccines have been largely removed from federal funding. So we are on a path that is not only not ending HIV, it's lost that commitment to saying we're going to even prevent it from resurging. We asked the State Department for comment about this, and they argued that the Amphar Studies methodology was flawed. They argue, in essence, that preventative and life-saving treatments and medications are still getting out through different routes,

through different partners, through different memorandums of understanding, and that the idea that there is some catastrophe here is misguided. What is your response to that? Well, they have made deals with governments to carry out the programs. Those deals are with far smaller dollars, and so they don't go as far.

They don't provide dedicated service. dedicated services for people who are shunned by the government medical systems that we talked about. And we already see information like I outlined indicating people are not getting the prevention. They're not getting the testing. And there are signs even of treatment not getting to people needed, like in the study of mothers who have HIV and are arriving pregnant and not on treatment. While we have you here, I want to ask you about this other outbreak, and that's Ebola. I believe it's 3,200 cases right now in the DRC Congo.

What is your sense about how that outbreak is going? Not well. This is now the third largest outbreak of Ebola in history, and it's on its way to being the worst outbreak ever. And the reasons why is that our ability to respond was set back from the very beginning by the destruction of a lot of our infrastructure and capacity. We used to have a full-time advisor with expertise on Ebola in the country, not there anymore,

and the investments weren't there anymore. We have now got a massive spend that's still not keeping track with this disease. 80% of the cases are occurring in people who are not even on people's contact lists for tracing. So we've got a long way to go, and we're not doing the work that would get it under control. Dr. Routul Gawande, always great to hear from you. Thank you. Thank you. It has been four years since the U.S. Supreme Court's Dobbs' decision opened the door to state abortion bans.

Now a new study finds those bans are hurting women who aren't seeking abortions at all. They're having miscarriages. That's according to researchers at Oregon Health and Science University. Researchers found delays in miscarriage treatment increased the risk to a woman's health and fertility and prolong the grief of a lost pregnancy. that weighs heavily on the doctors treating these women. Special correspondent Sarah Varney traveled to Kentucky and Texas, two states with near-total abortion vans,

to speak with OBGYNs about how these laws are changing, how they practice medicine. You want to go outside? Alicia Fields grew up in Kentucky. After medical school, she and her husband Marcus moved to New York for her residency in obstetrics and gynecology. There's me. I had my first baby.

residency. After graduation, the family moved to this rural Kentucky community in June 22. Hi. Hi. How's your day? Oh, goodness. How are you doing? Good. Her three boys know that their mom delivers babies, but Dr. Field says practicing medicine here in Kentucky has changed since the state's near total abortion ban went into effect almost four years ago. We had a case not that long ago where the patient had been seen. She had a really horrible pregnancy history of multiple pre-viable deliveries and losses and preterm labor and ultimately came in laboring, but she still had a pregnancy with a heartbeat. And she was begging us to do something to please make this just be done. She knew that at 17 weeks a pregnancy could not survive on the outside, and she was just stuck

waiting. And ultimately, we were stuck waiting until she got infected and was sick enough to intervene and do something. Under Kentucky law, physicians can perform abortions only when patients face death or permanent damage to a major organ. There are no exceptions for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest or fatal fetal conditions. How did you deal with watching this patient of yours be in pain and suffer? It really is difficult to sit back and feel like your hands are tied and that you can't help

them. You can't do anything. You can sit with them. You can hold space with them. You can support them, but you can't do anything for them. Doctors here face up to five years in prison and the loss of their medical license if they go against the ban. That's very terrifying and humble. as a position to work so long and hard to get to this point in my career and finally be practicing. And any sort of legal charge that would take that all away is scary. I'm the sole income provider for my family. They depend on me for everything financially and health insurance. And so that's a huge risk.

We are practicing in a place where people are so, so, so scared. And that's a terrible way to practice. 800 miles away in Houston, Dr. Anita Beasley feels that same dread. The prison sentences here are steep, up to 99 years, and the threat of civil lawsuits by so-called bounty hunters. So when you are saying, can this person have an abortion, you're not just thinking about, is it what this patient needs? You may also be thinking about what is this going to mean for me?

What does it mean if I make the wrong decision? What if someone sues me? Am I going to still be able to practice medicine? Am I going to still be able to take care of my family? Am I still going to be able to see my family? Will I be in jail? Dr. Beasley grew up here, and today she lives in a leafy Houston neighborhood with her husband and three kids.

As an OBGYN, she treats mostly poor and uninsured Texans. They walk into the room and are unsure if they can trust the information that they are getting from their physician. From you. Right. And so I might not be able to convince someone that I am trustworthy simply because of the environment that we're in. 31 eyes. Republicans in the state legislature and the Texas Medical Board have attempted to clarify when physicians like Dr. B. can intervene to prevent a medical catastrophe.

The board recently disciplined three Texas doctors who delayed giving medical care to two pregnant patients experiencing miscarriage. The women died as a result. You know, I have to say from the laws that I have read that are currently on the books, I think that they are actually very clear. Dr. Christina Francis says the confusion and hesitation experienced by Dr. Fields and Dr. Beasley is unnecessary. She works at a hospital and indesely. Indiana, taking care of women in labor or those hospitalized for pregnancy complications or emergencies. I think the problem is that many doctors have not actually read the law or haven't talked to

lawyers who are accurately interpreting what the law means. We met her in Washington, D.C., where Dr. Francis spends part of her time advocating against abortion as the head of the American Association of Pro-Life OBGYNs. I wonder how many of these physicians that are affected. afraid to act. Has anyone told them that there have been Texas, for instance, has documented hundreds of terminations of pregnancy since their law went into effect for their life of the mother exception. Not a single doctor has been charged or prosecuted because of their intervention in that situation. I mean, they're reading the same laws that you're reading and they're working in

hospital systems that are interpreting this to mean, how sick do you have to be, that you couldn't get ahead of a sepsis infection, that you couldn't do an abortion until. you had a fever of some amount, right? So there's actually, there's nothing in any law that says that a woman has to be a certain level of sick before you can intervene. It says in your reasonable medical judgment, if you think that this condition potentially poses a life-threatening or poses a life-threatening risk to a patient. It says to save the life of a woman.

Sure. But there's no time in medicine, there's no other time in medicine in which we, We wait until someone is actively dying if there was a time that we could intervene. I mean, certainly sometimes women come in and they're on the verge of death and you haven't had the opportunity to intervene. But there's not another time in medicine or in law that dictates medicine where we interpret saving a patient's life to only mean intervening once they are on the verge of death. Dr. Anita Biesley argues there are no laws that can account for all the complexities of pregnancy.

It's like if my house was on fire and the firefighters came in their truck and they connected their hoses and they had all the water and they had all of the equipment that they needed and they just stood there and said, I can't help you. That's what it feels like. Dr. Francis says she's never felt that way in Indiana. Just my group alone, I don't know the exact number, but patients that I can think of over the last few years, it's at least dozens of patients who we have intervened in a pre-vivalent viable state because she was facing a potentially life-threatening complication.

And again, we haven't even gotten a second look from the hospital because, of course, we just do what we need to do to take care of our patients. Dr. Field says she would love to do just that. But the laws in Kentucky have fundamentally changed how she's allowed to practice medicine. Why have you chosen to stay? I think for every day that I have a hard scenario of one of these situations that I want to just, like, bang my fist against the wall. You know, I have moments on the other side where I have those patients that are so appreciative of the fact that they have a reproductive health care provider in the state, in a rural area that's going to listen to them without shame, without guilt, and validate their experiences.

So that's why I stay, because they, they deserve access to good care. Have you ever thought of leaving Texas? I think everyone probably has. It's really hard to practice medicine with your hands tied behind your back. But this is where I'm from. My home is here. My family is here. My community is here.

This is where I've built my life. So just packing that all up to go somewhere else and start over is difficult. But also, I care about my community. For PBS News Hour, I'm Sarah Varney. Houston. An advisory council, packed with allies of President Trump, voted Friday to weaken federal oversight of construction projects affecting historic sites. Critics of the president's controversial projects in Washington are concerned that this move will open the floodgates to endangering preservation of historic and cultural places across the country. Senior arts correspondent Jeffrey

Brown looks at the bigger picture behind this latest move for our arts and culture series Canvas. President Trump's proposed arch on a traffic circle in Arlington, Virginia, Native American cultural sites in New Mexico's Chaco Canyon, two of the thousands of historic structure sites and more that could be impacted by a proposed change to rules governing construction on federal lands. Plus, a new executive directive to place signs outside the Smithsonian National Museum of American history calling into question the exhibitions inside. Joining me to discuss both is Philip Kennecott, Culture Critic for the Washington Post.

And thanks so much for joining us. Let's start with this proposed change to what's known as Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. Tell us how it works now and what might change. Well, at this point, if the federal government wants to develop a piece of property or make changes that would impact a federally historically protected site, they have to go through a process. And that process is essentially one of consultation.

They have to talk to the states and potentially Native American tribes. And they also have to solicit input from the public. What's just happened is that the federally appointed body that controls this process has just issued a new set of rules that essentially gut the law. It would minimize the number of properties that are eligible for review. It would minimize the kinds of impacts that are considered relevant and most important. It would effectively cut the public entirely out of the process if the government decides they don't want to solicit your opinion and they don't want to hear.

And in terms of potential impact, now I mentioned two that are well known, the controversial arch in D.C. and Chaco Canyon in New Mexico, what other kind of sites are potentially impacted here? This is essentially the big triumphal arch in Washington coming home to a site anywhere near you. It would impact historic sites all over the country, large and small. It essentially would allow, theoretically, if a developer wanted to make changes, say, put a golf course next to a historic home or historic landscape, if they got the ear of the president or even the ear of somebody well-placed

within the relevant federal agency, they could get the public process basically shut down. The federal government decided, no, we don't want to hear from you. And that will greatly speed the development of that property, no matter the consequences. Now, this change is being led by a little-known agency. It's called the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation,

all with appointees by President Trump. Do you expect legal challenges to come? Oh, yes, I think those are already in the works. And once these laws have gone through the process and been published, you'll see a number of avenues that people pursue in legal cases. I think one of these is that the changes are not consistent with the procedures of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation. And they're not consistent with the larger law, the 1960 law, and historic preservation. They also cut a lot of relevant parties, interested parties, like the states and tribes, out of this process.

And so they will have an interest in contesting this as well. All right. So let's turn to this other development that happened recently. President Trump's directive to put warning sides outside the Museum of American History. We don't know what those signs will say, but this is clearly part of the continuing attack he's made against the Smithsonian at large. What do you see happening? Well, as you're right, we don't know what the actual particulars and signs will say, but they seem to be an effort to basically breach the trust of the public with a Smithsonian.

The president has issued a report that really condemns the Smithsonian for divisiveness, for its focus on wokeness or DEI. But these reports and these previous efforts to belittle and beleager the institution really haven't had much purchase yet. This seems to be a little bit of theater that's meant to sort of garner attention. The president has ordered the National Park Service, another greatly beloved part of the federal government that interacts with the people to put these signs up. So effectively, what it's doing is pitting one beloved group against another, the congressionally chartered Smithsonian Institution. So two different developments, two different areas in some ways.

Do you see any connecting tissue here between the two things we've just talked about? I think it's about controlling how we tell history, whether that's at the material level of a building, or when it comes to the narratives that are intertwined and unfolded in a place like the Smithsonian. You know, authoritarian-minded regimes have always understood that there is both an material and an intellectual aspect of history. And if you can erase history in the material world in the built world, you assert a great power to actually erase narratives in places like the Smithsonian. And if you have that power, then of course you can control the present and the future. There is an argument that these regulations take too long that projects go on for years and years, so something needs to be changed in the way this is governed.

Well, they can cite a couple of cases, perhaps, where they've been burdensome and taken a long time to do, but we could cite, I think, many, many more cases in which a little bit of deliberation, a little bit of time, a little bit of thoughtfulness has preserved important historic and cultural places. One has only to think about the speed with which the president demolished East Wing of the White House, to get a perspective on what could happen to historic sites all over the country if this supposedly burdensome process is made essentially effortless so long as you can get to the relevant agencies to follow your particular view of the situation. All right. Philip Kennecott is Culture Critic of the Washington Post. Thanks so much.

Thank you for having me. His is a household name in the classical vocal traditions that have their roots in Europe. But for more than 25 years, Thomas Hampson has dedicated himself to reviving and celebrating American traditions in song. Fred de Sam Lazaro went to see that on full display in Aspen, Colorado, for our arts and culture series, Canvas. My days have been so wondrous free. My days have been so wondrous free,

which seemed like a fitting start to a concert held on Independence Day weekend. Composed, after all, by one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, Francis Hopkinson drawing from the poetry of Thomas Parnell. Thomas Hampson grew up in Spokane, Washington, and had a storybook path to stardom, attending prestigious music academies before his lyrical baritone was discovered. He's performed some 80 opera roles around the world, and as a renowned recording artist as well in the solo vocal tradition of Leder. But along with the European greats from Schumann to Verdi,

he's also loved the American tradition in song, like Charles Ives. Or Harry Burley, the prolific 19th century African-American composer. Hampson says nothing compares to the rich variety of song in America. To me, it's the essential I pluribus unum statement. It does not imply homogeneity. No, it's exactly not homogeneity.

Eplurab's unum does not mean the deletion of the difference. In fact, it means listening to the difference. Why should the beautiful ever be? Why should the beautiful die? Here at the Aspen Music Festival, he showcased that. difference with a program varied in culture, geography, and period in American song, accompanied by pianist Myra Huang, and on some works like this by 19th century songwriter Stephen Foster, violinist Jerusha Taylor.

I think in this very volatile time we're in, that one of the great refuges is the arts and humanities and the stories of who we are, especially as American. The works were selected from an online library called Song of America. Hamson began compiling it decades ago in partnership with the Library of Congress. All of these composers and poets, they were asking us, what does America sound like when it remembers itself? All of the works today saw the composer draw from poets who came before. There were works by 20th century composers like Aaron Copeland and Margaret Bond,

the latter using the poetry of Langston Hughes. From contemporary composer Jennifer Higden, The Death of Lincoln, with words from William Cullen Bryant. Can you teach history through song? Heavens, yes. It's fantastically interesting. All of the songs are tips of icebergs. We could spend an hour going through every one of them with all the wonderful anecdotal connections. If you interview are teachers in whatever field in American studies, I will give you a song to augment your teaching plan.

His Song of America Library was built to be accessible to teachers to increase the visibility overall of a cultural treasure that a commercialized market makes no room for. And he says song can provide a safe space for. reckoning with skeletons in America's cultural closet, notably issues around race or sexual orientation. He closed with To What You Said, a Walt Whitman poem that Leonard Bernstein put to song. Some scholars think because it speaks of repressed love at a time Bernstein was having a sexual identity crisis. Behold, love, choked, suspicious. You know, people are very agitated today about the indoctrination of young people because of this or that path of education. You know, you can either dam up the ocean or you can teach people to swim.

And I prefer to teach people to swim. What I sing is infinitely more important than who I am. We must listen to one another. Hampson now lives in Austria. He continues to teach and perform around the world. For the PBS News Hour, I'm Fred de Sam Lazaro in Aspen, Colorado. Appalachia is often stereotyped as a region defined by struggling coal mine towns and substance abuse. Writer Emily Hackney says those portrayals don't reflect her life growing up in southwestern Virginia. Her debut memoir, All That's Unseen, covers growing up inside that.

world and the political influences that came to shape it. I spoke to her for the latest episode of our PBS News podcast, Settle in. Here's a clip of that conversation. You talk about hearing folks back at home as they're learning about candidate Donald Trump, President Donald Trump, about him gaining popularity in Appalachia. They like that he told it like it is, things we've heard in a lot of communities where he has strong levels of support. Did his strength and his support, did his strength and his support in the place that you call home. Did all that make sense to you at the time? Absolutely. I mean, most of the people I knew were Trump supporters right from the very beginning because he comes to Appalachia. And he says, I'm going to help you. He pays attention. He,

you know, makes us feel seen for the first time in decades. And when you are coming from a place that's really struggling like Appalachia often does, or at least Coalfield Appalachia, you have to trust in whoever offers you hope because what else is there? What else do you hope in? So yeah, at first I was I was like maybe this is this is the way. Maybe he's actually going to help. Maybe yeah, maybe this is right. And I read about going to a rally that he held in Southwest Virginia at Radford University and feeling just the tension of that room didn't feel right to me and the way that he behaved, like seeing him in person, kind of turned me off from the idea of him. But if I hadn't gone to that rally, I don't know. I don't know if I think it would

have taken me a longer time to change my opinion of him. And even still, when I was at Harvard, I saw conflicted feelings about him because so many people I knew back home were still so supportive above him. And he was early in his first presidency. And, you know, we've seen him do a lot of things that now I'm like, oh my gosh, how could I have supported him? But at that point, it hadn't gotten to that point yet. And so I had these conflict these conflicted feelings about him. And once I started really looking into his policies or lack thereof in one of my writing classes, in my investigative journalism class, that was what finally, I guess, made me move, and started to move me in a different direction.

You've probably seen the comparisons being made now, right, between your book and the book written by Vice President Vance, Hillbilly, Elegie, about his time growing up in Appalachia and then in Ohio. Do you buy those comparisons? Do you agree with them? He makes a lot of generalizations about Appalachia based on his own. experiences, his own anecdotal experiences. And I don't feel like those are fair characterizations to make. I think that he probably encountered a lot of what I did. So I go up to Harvard. He goes to Yale.

And he writes about being an oddity to people at Yale to New Englanders. And, you know, I felt that way too. And I encountered this big appetite for what is Appalachia? Like, what are people like? everybody has the stereotype in their head, but I think that he saw that people wanted to know more about Appalachia and those stereotypes. Because we were on the heels of the 2016 election, Appalachia was being talked about. It's going to be so red, so Trump supporting. I just feel like he capitalized on that appetite, and he saw that people wanted to know more about Appalachia, but maybe not really. They just wanted confirmation of what they already thought about it. And I think he plays into those stereotypes by using his own stories from his childhood to say,

like, all of Appalachia is, you know, addicted. Like, addiction is endemic. It's such a problem. It's all over poverty. It's so widespread. And I just feel like that's a flattened and non-newanced characterization of Appalachia. He cannot speak for Appalachia as a whole as he does. in his book. You feel like his anecdotes, his story don't directly relate to what you experienced

growing up in a different part of Appalachia. Is that fair? It is. Yeah, I don't think that his story could speak for anybody else's. So in my book, I'm very careful to say, this is my experience in Appalachia. It's not going to be everybody's. And I don't think that he does the same thing. He's not careful that same way. And you can watch that full conversation and more episodes of settle in on our YouTube page or wherever you get your podcasts. And now some late breaking news. U.S. Central Command says Iran launched several ballistic missiles toward an American military base in Jordan this evening. This is the first such attack by Iran since President Trump pause strikes on the Islamic Republic

late last week. The U.S. says all Iranian missiles in this latest attack were intercepted. Well, that is the news hour for tonight. I'm Jeff Bennett. And I'm Amna Nawaz. On behalf of the entire NewsHour team. Thank you for joining us.