PBS News Hour - Full Show - October 13, 2026 - PBS News Hour full episode

Episode Date: October 14, 2026

Tuesday on the News Hour, the U.S. ambassador to Greece is forced out as a new press secretary starts at the White House. The conflict between Saudi Arabia and Yemen's Houthi rebels escalates with new strikes on oil facilities. The Vatican announces Pope Leo has lung cancer. Plus, we check in with a 96-year-old grandmother traveling the world with her grandson. 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, the U.S. ambassador to Greece is forced out as a new press secretary starts at the White House. The latest sun shifts within the Trump administration. The conflict between Saudi Arabia and Yemen's Houthi rebels escalates with new strikes on oil facilities. The Vatican announces Pope Leo has lung cancer, what we know about his diagnosis. And we check in with a 96-year-old grandmother traveling the world with her grandson. Hey, never say no. If somebody asks you to go somewhere, grab your bag, and go. Welcome to the News Hour. On her first day at the podium, the new White House press secretary, Katie Zachariah, made news. That was by announcing that President Trump had asked Kimberly Gilfoyle, his ambassador to Greece, to resign.

The move follows allegations that Gilfoyle asked a political donor to pay a 100,000. $100,000 credit card bill in exchange for access to senior administration officials. Our White House correspondent, Liz Landers, was at the briefing today and joins us now. So, Liz, the news of the Guilfoyle resignation operates on two levels. There's what led to the resignation and the fact that President Trump was willing to part ways with this official when he has so often stood by others accused of using their public office for personal gain. What more should we know?

This was a surprising announcement today from this new White House press secretary who made this announcement from the podium. And then two hours later, on social media, Ambassador Guil confirmed that she was resigning. She wrote that she called the allegations against her false and said that I intend to vigorously defend my name, my reputation, and my integrity. She went on to say, I will not allow false accusations to define my decades of public service. She also said that she will continue to support President Trump. But all of this comes in light of that bombshell Wall Street Journal reporting that came out last week that said that Gilfoyle had engaged in possible improper conduct. Most notably of that was a political donor who said and accused her of trying to bribe him

to pay off a $100,000 credit card statement, and she promised him access to administration officials if he did. The president was asked about this on his way out of the White House today, and he said, I didn't like what I was reading about what Kim Gilfoyle had been doing. But this may not be over for Gilfoyle, though. PBS News obtained last week this letter from the Democrat, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, who had already sent her a letter saying, please preserve your records related to this and saying that they wanted to investigate this. And of course, we learned about her parting ways with the administration, her resignation, by way of a very brief White House briefing today, the debut of the new press secretary.

You were there. Tell us about it and the new press secretary. Yeah, so Katie Zachariah is most recently, an advisor to the Trump Media and Technology Group, which runs the president's social media company Truth Social. She's also worked briefly at the Department of Homeland Security. She's also been a frequent conservative commentator on Fox News and sometimes on CNN. And she's been an ardent defender of President Trump, and she is a MAGA loyalist. She has promoted the falsehood that the 2020 election was stolen. And CNN also found some now deleted social media posts of hers making baseless accusations about Democrats.

being engaged in pedophilia. And what else stood out from her briefing? It was only 14 minutes long, and she only took a handful of questions towards the end. Zacharias says that she sees her job as highlighting the administration's policy wins for the American people and promoting the president's message. My goal is to be able to communicate that in complete tandem with the president, as he is his own best spokesperson, and will absolutely be leading the way as, With that. President Trump, as they left the White House, was asked what he thought about her performance at the podium.

He said he thought she did a great job. And in that exchange, he was also asked about her credentials. She says that she has been an attorney. And she had to kind of clarify and explain that she has been a practicing lawyer in China before. But she does have her law degree from Pepperdine's law school. Okay. I want to ask you, as we wrap up our conversation here, about this moment last night, it was at a Trump rally in Ohio. there was a protester. You see here they're physically assaulted, physically assaulted by a man, by the way. And rather than condemn the violence,

the president mocked the protester. That's hard to watch. I mean, what more do we know about what happened? We're increasingly seeing these protesters interrupting the president's midterm rallies. And this happened yesterday in Youngstown, Ohio. That woman was wearing a shirt that said, Release the Epstein files.

And right beside her, this man starts punching her, hitting her directly in the face before law enforcement steps in. Something like this also occurred in San Antonio, Texas last week at another Trump rally where protesters were getting beat up. And actually, the sheriff there put out an announcement and said, if anybody has any information about these people that were potentially assaulting protesters, please come forward. All right. Liz Landerser. Thanks to you, as always. Of course. The threat of a wider war on the Arabian Peninsula is growing tonight.

rebels in Yemen are once again targeting Saudi military installations and critical infrastructure, raising fears of a broader regional conflict that could draw in other powers. The Saudi-led coalition launched new airstrikes on oil facilities across Houthi-controlled Yemen in response to a deadly attack on an international airport in the Saudi capital of Riyadh. That attack over the weekend killed at least 13 people and wounded more than 300. Ali Rogan has this report. Today in Yemen's principal port city on the Red Sea coast, plumes of smoke engulfed blue skies, all part of a Saudi-led bombing campaign targeting Houthi-controlled territory and oil facilities.

And in eastern Saudi Arabia, loud booms echoed in the night skies. Saudi officials said fragments of an intercepted missile launched by the Houthis fell in a residential area. This follows weekend attacks by the Iran-backed Houthis that turned a crowded airport. in Riyadh into chaos. Saturday's attack at King Khalid International Airport killed at least 13 people and injured more than 300. Among the dead, an Egyptian flight attendant

who was 28 years old. And a Jordanian father of two who worked at a coffee shop inside the airport. His father called the death an indescribable loss. I hope that no other human being ever experiences what I've gone through because no one can understand this loss except the one who has suffered it. For Saudi Arabia, the failure of its air defenses to intercept the incoming missiles and drones

has further raised fears and questions on how far the kingdom is prepared to go in response. A sentiment the Saudi energy minister echoed yesterday. The event of recent weeks are serious. Our response must be equally serious. For Saudi Arabia, these circumstances have tested our infrastructure. our institution, our people, and our resilience. Earlier today, the Houthis renewed their warning against using Saudi airspace,

calling the country the, quote, Kingdom of the Horn of Satan. And released footage allegedly showing attacks on Saudi-backed government forces northeast of Yemen's capital, Sana. Saudi allies, including Turkey, called for the Houthis to immediately halt such strikes. Turkey, Turkey stands.

with Saudi Arabia and its Saudi brothers in the face of unlawful and inhumane attacks. Turkey's president, Recep Erdogan, also said he would submit a defense pact, struck among Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan to the parliament for ratification in the coming days. This comes as Saudi Arabia is pushing Washington for more direct military support. The hoodies have acted very bad. Today, President Trump weighed in, saying he talked with the Saudi Crown Prince. Did you speak to the Saudi Crown Prince? I did, yeah.

And what did you offer it? I can't tell you that. You really think I can tell you that? I'd love to tell you, but I'm not going to tell you that. But the U.S. has stopped short of sending military assets to attack Yemen, which could further threaten shipping through the Bab al-Mandab, a vital shipping route and southern gateway to the Red Sea that is especially key for oil exports from Saudi Arabia, which the Houthis have targeted. In the meantime, as threats grow, the consequences are already visible. A Yemeni town engulfed in smoke, an airport turned to rubble, and mounting funerals for civilians caught in the crossfire. For the PBS News Hour, I'm Ali Rogan.

For perspective on the escalating war between Houthis in Yemen and Saudi Arabia, we turn now to Michael Ratney. He served as U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia during the Biden administration. He's now a senior advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Ambassador, welcome back to the show. It's worth reminding people there was actually an informal cease. in place between the Saudis and the Houthis in Yemen until just July of this year. What do you make of how dramatically and how quickly this conflict has escalated? So what began as a six-month truce a few years ago was extended into a de facto ceasefire,

really, until just a few months ago, as you point out. And it seems as though at that point, the Houthis, who had more or less been in abeyance since the start of the Iran War at the end of February, got into the fight. The Iranians were helping them seemingly transporting advisors and weapons. The Saudis felt they needed to respond. The Houthis, in a sort of lightning campaign, took coastal positions on the Bablmendab that threatened shipping of oil. It threatened Saudi energy infrastructure.

And from there, things have just deteriorated badly. It's also worth pointing out, Saudi Arabia is the largest customer for U.S. arms exports. They spend tens of billions of dollars for U.S. war of planes. and air defense systems, why have they not been able to intercept or repel these Houthi attacks? So the Saudis have considerable air defenses, a lot of the U.S. origin, patriots, for example, but it's stretched thin. You can imagine they're prioritizing their energy infrastructure, which is still the lifeblood of their economy, and they need more. And the Houthis are able to attack in a very asymmetric way, sometimes in ways that defy conventional air defense systems.

So they do have air defenses. They need more. And that attack, that brutal attack on the airport just a few days ago, was really the evidence. You were just in Saudi Arabia recently. What was the mood on the ground there? So I was there last week, and there was a first attack on the airport the day after I got there, and it created some anxiety. And then this really horrific attack in which multiple people died and many, many casualties was the day after I left. And you had the sense that the Saudi people were, on the one hand, you know, in solidarity, they were angry at what the Houthis were doing. But I think they were somewhat anxious about the direction of this conflict. It's one thing

for the Saudis to strike Houthi targets in Yemen, which they're doing in force today. But it's pretty clear that the Houthis have this ability to respond asymmetrically in really, really horrible ways, not just attacking infrastructure, but really targeting civilians, trying to murder civilians in Riyadh and elsewhere. You heard President Trump there say he's been in contact with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. He said he's weighing, joining in on this fight. There's also reporting that he rejected a request from Mohammed bin Salman last month to do so. What do you see happening here?

Do you see the U.S. joining in this fight? So I sense the Saudis are pretty frustrated. You know, we and they have invested decades in this military partnership. And one of the expectations is when the chips are down, when the country is under attack, U.S. would support them. Now, there's credible reports that the U.S. is offering some assistance in the form of intelligence sharing or targeting and planning, but what the Saudis really want and need are U.S. airstrikes that can seriously degrade the Houthi's ability to launch these strikes. Trump has been ambivalent about that. The president at times has said that he's

supportive of the Saudis, but it seems like either because of limitations on U.S. military capacity or because, as a political matter, he doesn't want to open another front in the war. He's been really reluctant to get involved further. What are the Saudi options for dealing with the Houthis at this point? And what has to happen in order for this conflict not to escalate further? There's no real good options at this point. This was the inevitable, predictable escalation of the Iran war that started months ago. And I think the Saudis and others in the Gulf knew that this would happen eventually.

The Houthis, although in some sense are a proxy of the Iranians, are also quite independent and are not necessarily controlled by them. So I think for the moment, the Saudi options are take the gloves off, and they're doing that with some concerted airstrikes against the Houthis. But I think ultimately they have to get back to some kind of uncomfortable, imperfect diplomacy to de-escalate this, because the implications not just for global energy markets, for the Saudi economy, for the Saudi public, are pretty dire.

That is the former U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia. Michael Ratney joining us tonight. Ambassador, thank you so much for your time. Anytime. The Vatican says that Pope Leo has lung cancer and that doctors removed the lower lobe of his right lung today in a surgery that lasted roughly 90 minutes. In a statement, the Vatican called the operation successful

and said there were no complications. For more on the Pope's prognosis, we're joined by Dr. Omar Irwan. He's a radiologist and a senior public health contributor for Forbes. Thank you for being with us. First, explain what particular type of lung cancer this is and how serious the diagnosis this is? Sure, Jeff. So the Pope was diagnosed with adenocarcinoma.

That's the most common type of lung cancer. It produces some substances in lung like mucus, for example. This cancer can be seen in both smokers and non-smokers. I'm somewhat optimistic about this because they did say that it was localized, it was a localized form of lung cancer. And that means presumably it hasn't spread to other. parts of the body. We don't know that definitively, but presumably that's what that means. And also, the size of this lesion. We know before it was removed, it was a nodule. By definition, a nodule is

three centimeters of size or less. A mass would be greater than three centimeters. So those are all positive features of this lung cancer. Is removing an affected portion of the lung? Is that curative? or would someone with this diagnosis typically need treatment, such as radiation or chemotherapy? That, Jeff, will really depend on some of the features that we see on pathology, which is a report that's given once they've run tests on the tumor once they've removed it. So, for example, where the surgical margins clear? And what we mean by that is, is there any residual tumors still left in the lung after they've removed it?

Has it spread to other parts of the body? That's going to be important because that would be an ominous sign. And also the biological characteristics of the tumor. Some features can increase the risk of recurrence. So all that information really needs to be seen and understood before we can really understand the prognosis of the tumor. And that will be given once the pathology report is seen. The Pope is 71 years old.

He maintains a demanding schedule to say the least. What does recovery from this type of surgery typically involved? Well, they've removed one lobe of the lung, and the right lung has three lobes. So they've removed one out of the three lobes. So that can certainly reduce the function and capacity of the lung, but the lung does compensate and expands with time. So initially, the Pope is going to deal with just walking around, eating, making sure he can go to the bathroom. But then with time, after a week or so, they will have to work on his lung function, breathing exercises, his stamina. you know, leaving the hospital is very different than fully recovering because he does have a very demanding schedule. So he may leave the hospital, but he may not be fully recovered. And that's going to take weeks, perhaps even months, depending on his underlying health and its underlying lung function and stamina

as he does more breathing exercises with this medical team. Dr. Oman, thank you for being with us. We appreciate your insights. My pleasure. Thanks. We start the day's other headlines in New York. Cornell University is banning parties and other social events at fraternities for the rest of the academic year. The Ivy League School is also giving state police a role in investigating sex crimes on campus, among other measures. Cornell's president says the steps are aimed at providing time to evaluate whether Greek life there can continue

and to find out what he called safe social alternatives. The school has faced an uproar both on campus and around the country over its handling of allegations that a female student, known as Jane Doe was gang raped at a fraternity house in 2024. All seven men she's accused have denied any wrongdoing. In Georgia, police have identified the man who fell to his death while riding a roller coaster at a Six Flags Amusement Park outside of Atlanta. 42-year-old Hassan Jehahad Ibn Karim was an employee at an Atlanta charter school, according to local school officials.

He was found unresponsive when investigators arrived on the scene yesterday afternoon. at the Goliath. That's the tallest roller coaster at Six Flags over Georgia. Authorities say his body struck and injured other riders despite efforts by fellow passengers to save him. He turns sideways and he's flipping in the air. He comes down, he slams down on our cart. People reached out trying to grab him. Like, everybody tried to save this man. And we couldn't. We couldn't. He just literally did not. There was no, there was too much force to grab him. Raven. Aerial footage shows people on the next train evacuating mid-ride. Six Flags says it is

temporarily closing a number of similar roller coasters across the U.S. and Canada as a precaution. The U.S. Supreme Court says it will hear a case over access to Doge Records. A watchdog group argues that the agency, once run by Elon Musk, and officially known as the Department of Government Efficiency, should be subject to Freedom of Information Act requests. The Trump had been says it is exempt from that access as a presidential advisory body. Oral arguments are expected early next year. Also today, the court said it would consider whether a Nigerian man who cooked for terrorists can be denied asylum in the U.S. The case could expand how officials view what counts as terrorist activity under U.S. immigration law. In Las Vegas, a former gang leader

was sentenced to 40 years to life in prison today for orchestrating the murder of rap-eye consens Tupac Shakur in 1996. The world never forgot about him and his death and neither did Las Vegas. Took us 30 years, but at this time you are going to face justice for what you did on September 7th, 1996. D. Davis showed little emotion in court as the judge delivered his sentence. The 63-year-old was convicted of first-degree murder in August. Shikor was the victim of a drive-by shooting off the Vegas strip and later died in a hospital. Until Davis was arrested in 2023, murder was one of the nation's most notorious cold cases, and legal questions remain over who actually pulled the trigger.

A bipartisan group of senators is condemning President Trump's diesel deal with Russia. In a letter to the president, six Republicans and six Democrats write that, quote, this deal is a gift to our adversary and a betrayal of our allies. It should be rescinded. Last week, President Trump said Russia would, quote, immediately supply diesel fuel to global markets, including the possibility of the U.S. In their letter, the senators argued that this would have a negligible impact on energy prices and would instead help to fuel Russia's war machine.

In France, police and protesters clashed today as demonstrators once again took to the streets to call for improvements to the country's education system. In Paris, authorities used water cannons and tear gas to try to clear the crowds. The country's interior ministry estimates that more than 160,000 people took part in demonstrations nationwide today. The protest started last month over a lack of staff and poor school conditions.

Since then, hundreds have been injured and the police have made thousands of arrests. The U.S. Treasury Department is fining Bank of America $1.2 billion over alleged money laundering and sanctions violations. The penalty is the third largest in the department's history. Officials say the bank failed to report billions of dollars in suspicious transactions. A company spokesperson said in a statement that, quote, financial crime compliance is serious and that the bank is working on getting it right. In the meantime, it was a lackluster day for stocks on Wall Street as the first batch of quarterly earnings rolled in.

The Dow Jones Industrial average slipped nearly 200 points. The NASDAQ fell about 40 points. The S&P 500 ended virtually unchanged. And NASA's Perseverance Rover is now the robotic record holder for driving farther on Mars than any other vehicle. As of this week, the six-wheeled scientist has traveled more than 28 miles, as seen in this animated NASA map. It took perseverance less than six years to beat the prior record, which was set by the Opportunity Rover, which took nearly 15 years to travel about the same distance. Scientists credit the latest rover's self-driving capabilities for its success, and,

it's not done yet. Still to come, on the News Hour, why the rules for so-called Trump accounts for kids are raising eyebrows. Food banks struggle to fill the gap left by the Trump administration's cuts to food stamps. And climate change gives an unexpected boost to Swedish wine. This is the PBS News Hour from the David M. Rubenstein studio at WETA in Washington, headquarters of PBS News. The Treasury Department has now created Trump account. for every eligible child, automatically enrolling more than 60 million children. That adds to the roughly 7 million children whose parents already opted in since the program launched this July. But the expansion also comes with changes to how the program works.

Donors can now donate individual stocks to the accounts, stocks that families can't choose or reject and must keep for five years. Direct donations can also be made to specific groups of children based on location or age. for more on all of this. I'm joined now by Wall Street Journal reporter Richard Rubin. Good to see you. Thanks for being here. Hi. Thanks for having me. So how different are these new rules, these changes that came with the enrollment expansion from what was originally in place with Trump accounts? Oh, they're totally different. So auto enrollment really expands this program and makes it a universal savings account for kids. So parents who didn't sign up originally who may not have wanted one or didn't know about it, everyone is now in it. So it's universal for kids with social security numbers. And then the stock donations are also a big change. The original idea and what Congress had written was that this money was going into low-cost index funds. And that's what parent contributions and employer contributions still go into. But now you have these donors who are able to put in individual stocks and keep them in there for five years.

And just to clarify, when we say donors here, who are we talking about? So money has to go through a nonprofit and the Treasury Department has to approve any money that can come in. But what everyone is expecting is for wealthy individuals to do this. So we've seen this happen with cash donations. Michael Dell and his wife Susan have donated more than $6 billion in $250 chunks. Those are cash donations, not stock donations. But Treasury officials have said that they expect more of those to come and that the change to stock donations will encourage some of those donors who might not have otherwise given.

Well, so this is part of the argument from the Treasury Department, right, that it will incentivize private donors and companies to contribute more. They also say that these kind of automatic enrollment benefits children and lower income groups. Is there evidence of that? Is there data to back it up? Yeah, there's definitely been data over time that lower income households may be more confused by this financial product, may not know about it, and may not be busy with other things and not necessarily enrolling their kids. And so the automatic enrollment is something that I think has been sought on the left and the right.

I think for progressives, they really see auto enrollment as a way to expand access for lower income households to make sure every kid has starting with something in an investment account that turns into an IRA. For conservatives, I think it ends up being much more of a wealth-building financial literacy kind of teaching moment. And that's, I think, what's drawn donors and support from lawmakers on that side. I want to ask you more about these individual stock donations. Now, as we mentioned, the families have to keep these stocks. They can't choose them. They can't reject them. They have to hold them for five years. The Treasury Department says this is going to help families to feel more invested in the companies. What are the experts you talk to say about this and what could be problematic here?

Yeah, so there are definitely some concerns that have come up. The Treasury Department has signaled that they're open to rules that might allow opt-outs and they've asked for comments on those. But for now, there are no opt-outs. And so you have some odd situations that could emerge. The Treasury Department really did say the goal of this was to encourage more donations because they wanted kids and their families to have a stake not just in America broadly, investing in America, but really in these particular companies. So you could imagine a whole bunch of scenarios, and we can go through some kind of. So you could imagine something where it becomes part of a political or policy debate. If a company is able to ensure that every nine-year-old in a particular state owns a share of a share of. their company, then when the state says, we want to increase regulations, we want to raise your taxes, you could see companies or CEOs dangle this as an incentive or a reward.

So say a company is trying to get approval for a data center. They could say, oh, well, if you approve this, we will put two shares of stock in every kid's account in the town, and which auto enrollment allows them to reach more broadly. And I think you also will have issues with conflicts of interest for, again, because it's so broad and automatic for federal regulators, state regulators, people who have policies and rules that they're employers that prevent their minor children from owning stocks in entities that they're responsible for now may have those. And so there's a number of things that will come up and that may come up and that the Treasury Department's going to have to think about

as these roll out and as they approve each of these donations. You know, since the Trump accounts launched through to the automatic enrollment expansion that was earlier in October, there were only about 7 million signups, as we mentioned. What do you make of those numbers? I mean, I know this is a new kind of program, but was that low? Do you feel like there's hesitation in signing up for these? So it was relatively high in one subgroup, which is families that have newborns, kids born from 2025 or 2026, because the accounts come with $1,000 from the government if you open it up. And there was pretty good take up among that group. I think for some people, it was just an education thing, not knowing about it.

For other people, they didn't necessarily want to contribute, right? So if they weren't going to put money in, the government wasn't going to put money in, they weren't yet hearing whether their employer was going to put money in, they weren't going ahead and creating it. And so that kind of left a narrower pool for these other donors to come in. And then I think for some of the population, the fact that these are called Trump accounts is a problem for people, and they don't want to be involved with something that has the president's name on it. So you've seen some banks and financial institutions refer to these by their other name,

which is the Section 530A accounts. Okay, about 30 seconds left, but I have to ask, because of these new rules, the new language and some of the new rules around the expansion, do you expect legal challenges to this? So that's an very open question. I think it's often difficult to challenge tax rules. People who would be opposed to this, we need to find someone who's harmed in some way by these donations coming in.

And these really are donations. So, like, these are, it's not like, there are some strings attached, but there is a real gift that's happening in real wealth building that's going to happen, at least in this undiversified way for these households. Richard Rubin, Wall Street Journal. Great to have you here. Thank you. Thank you. More than 5 million people have lost their supplemental nutrition assistance program or SNAP benefits since President Trump's so-called one big beautiful bill passed last year. The bill cut SNAP funding, expanded work requirements, and recently pushed more program costs to state. And as Stephanie Sye reports, that's meant many more people are turning to food banks for support. 70-year-old Joan Steenberg rarely misses her weekly trips to the food pantry. In rural Hanover, Virginia, she visits moments of hope to supplement snap benefits for herself and the two children she cares for.

Now my food stamps have been cut from $500 a month to $300. I would expect that most people that are politicians, $300 meal would be nothing to them. But you expect for us to raise two healthy children for $300 a month. It's no way possible that you can do that unless you have help. More than 100,000 Virginians have lost their SNAP benefits in the last year. And in Central Virginia, SNAP participation is down more than 15%. When SNAP changes, people are forced to either not eat or access food banks. Dennis Hatchett is the head of Hunger Relief Organization, Feed More, supporting food pantries across the region.

He says in the last year, he's seen a 20% increase in visits to local food pantries. Can food banks be a substitution for SNAP? I'd have to tell you absolutely not. They're meant to work in conjunction. SNAP is the single most effective means of fighting food insecurity. and food banks are here to provide a supplement at the end of the month. President Trump's one big, beautiful bill is projected to cut $186 billion in federal spending on SNAP over the next decade. In one year, we have lifted 2.4 million Americans a record off of food stamps.

The law raised the age limit to be exempt from SNAP work requirements from 55 to. to 65 and increase the amount of paperwork required to stay enrolled. And starting next year, states with higher SNAP error rates will lose federal funding and have to pick up part of the benefit costs. In the last year, almost every state has seen a decline in people enrolled in SNAP, and many still eligible are receiving much lower benefits. We have people that are getting as low as $17 a month in food stamps or SNAP benefits. Betty Hayes runs moments of Hope Food Pantry.

She says client visits have doubled in the last two years, but her neighbor's support will help them get by. At the beginning of the year in my back warehouse, I had enough surplus, a two-month window. So if I could not get any more food, I had two months' worth of non-perishable items that I could make it through with the clients that we had. I have two weeks worth of food in the back warehouse. I think the community will step in because the community has stepped in before.

And I've never run out of food. We just keep on going. The Trump administration says the changes will cut waste and fraud and decrease dependency on government assistance, a stance echoed by Republican lawmakers. And I make this very clear, we are not cutting Medicaid. We are not cutting SNAP. We're working in the elements of fraud,

and abuse. Every dollar from this program is intended to help feed eligible individuals in need. That's not where every dollar goes, not by a wrong shot. These programs have massive waste, fraud and abuse in them. Democrats don't want to tackle them, Republicans do. But Dennis Hatchett says the people feed more serves rely on SNAP to put food on the table. There's this misconception that people who own SNAP don't need SNAP. What we're finding is that the vast majority of people who are accessing SNAP are working. They're asset limited, income constrained, employed people. We've got stats that show as many as 50, 60% of the people

who are accessing our food banks are people who are working one, two, even three jobs. And Joan Steenberg, a former nurse, says with less money for food, she now may have to go back to work. Well, I have worked for all, what are you talking about 30 years in nursing? or taking care of people. And now, instead of me sending back and enjoying life, I've got to get a job to be able to raise enough money and be 70 years old and have to get a part-time job at this point in your life again

to be able to make ends meet. For the PBS News Hour, I'm Stephanie Sye. Record high temperatures this year forced European wine producers to harvest grapes much earlier than usual. French wineries fear heat and drought will lead to the worst season in 30 years. But Nordic newcomers to the world of wine are toasting what they believe will be a vintage harvest, thanks in no small part to climate change. From southern Sweden, special correspondent Malcolm Brabant reports. This is the last day of harvesting at the Ostad

vineyard in Clagsham, southern Sweden. These grapes are destined to become sparkling wine. Clagsham sits at 55.5 degrees latitude, some 6.5 degrees. or 450 miles north of the Champagne region of France, whose harvest took place some three weeks earlier. The wine world is at a crossroads. Scientists say that 90% of all wine-producing regions in southern Europe could vanish by the end of the century if climate change continues. France is the most prominent nation facing potential disaster.

But while the Mediterranean is in crisis, Scandinavia is starting to boom. We had great weather conditions during the flowering. We have a very good fruit set on the vines. And then we had a very dry summer with quite low disease pressure. So the grapes are looking really, really well. Nils Melvin is the vineyard manager for the Ostad company, which makes sparkling wine. On average we get warmer weather, of course. And it makes the growing season longer.

So in general, you can say that it's easier to ripen grapes in Sweden. But we also get more extremes, like in terms of hail and spring frost and drought, and then when the rain comes, it comes too much. These are young vines planted two years ago. They will reach their full potential in two to three years' time. They produce the Solaris grape, which is suited to cooler climates and isn't grown in traditional regions. So this is the Solaris grape which is sort of special for Scandinavia.

Why is it special? Because it ripens so well in our climate, yeah. And it needs a shorter growing season to ripen. Let's just have a taste. It's beautifully sweet. Yeah. There's sugar and there's acidity, there's nice aromatics, nice fruit, flavors. But the only fruit flavor I can detect is great.

Great. But what do you detect? Now it's getting ripers. So now I detect some tropical fruits, almost like mango, passion fruit. Can you really taste that? Yeah, yeah. Contrast that optimism with the angst endured. by champagne wine growers in northern France.

Warmer weather means the harvest now takes place in mid-August instead of September. Yields this year were down by 30% because of spring frost, heat and drought. The impacts of climate change are unequivocally bad around the world. Kimberly Nicholas was born and raised in Sonoma, Californian wine country, and now studies climate solutions at Lunt University in southern Sweden.

We're already seeing in traditional wine-growing region. It's more difficult to grow the varieties and the quality of grapes that's been grown there. Even in places that might benefit in some sense from warmer temperatures like these northern latitudes, climate change increases variability and makes it much more difficult to grow crops. Meanwhile, 130 miles up the Swedish coast, it's what the winemakers call Game Day, the pressing, the next stage in production, where juice is extracted and separated from skins, seeds and stems. We want to make, be a part of making Sweden a wine country, not for Swedes, but for the rest of the world. Winemaker Class Bartelsen has been with this family-run Vintner for 17 years.

Last year we produced about 20,000 bottles. This year we are getting grapes for 70,000 bottles. So we're building a new winery for 300,000 bottles, starting this winter. This wine is not intended to compete against champagne because it comes. from a different grape. But just minutes into the pressing, Bartelsen is upbeat about producing a palatable alternative. So this is like the freshest use and I think it looks great today. Really pure.

So the acidity is like up here but the sugar is perfect. So yeah, it's going to be a great vintage and we can't wait to taste this in a couple of years. The belief that Swedish wine is coming of age was reinforced last December at a Nobel Prize banquet when a local vintage was chosen to refresh the laureate's palates. The wine came from the Kuleberg Vineyard on the coast, across the water from Denmark and run by Chief Executive Victor Dahl. We see that this is a very good place to be in order to grow grapes. We should be able to adapt for the future.

We can make elegant wine with very nice aromatic which the gastronomy is asking for, actually. Although the Swedish wine sector is booming, the state. retains what critics regard as an eccentric, outdated monopoly on alcohol sales. It's designed to limit consumption and to minimize the impact on society. Morat Safrakis is helping his neighbors while waiting to harvest grapes that he'll turn into a still white wine, which, like other varieties, is subject to sales restrictions. If you come to our vineyard, you need to pay for the visit. And after you paid, and I talked for 30 minutes, then you will...

be able to buy three liters of wine. So four bottles. You can't just drop in and buy a bottle of wine in Sweden, you know. We tracked down a bottle of Sophrakis vintage in a wine bar in the city of Malmo on Sweden's southwestern coast. The price was a shade north of $30. Wine journalist and Somelier Karen Ericsson gave her verdict. Here is a really aromatic wine and like peach and bananas.

and the piers and some nuttyness to it also, like a developed wine. It smells pretty good. I can't taste all of the tropical fruits that the experts seem to be able to find, but then I'm no expert. Let's just have a taste. Different.

I haven't tasted anything like that before, but good luck to it. I don't think it's gonna be a mass market and I don't think it should be either because if you say Swedish vineyards are quite small, and you always handpicked and you have low yields. And also one other part of it is that we protect the workers. So we have laws in Sweden that gives them a good salary,

that gives them a good quality of the work, which makes wines more expensive to do. The Swedes are relishing what they call their honeymoon period. So far, they've avoided some of the diseases that have afflicted vines in traditional European regions. Now they're hoping that the warmer weather can un-greens Cork a new successful era. For the PBS News Hour, I'm Malcolm Brabant in southern Sweden. 11 years ago, Brad Ryan took his then 85-year-old grandmother, Joy, camping in the Smoky Mountains,

after hearing that she had never seen a mountain herself. One trip to a national park turned into dozens, and eventually what they called Grandma Joy's road trip took them to every single one, making Joy Ryan the oldest person to begin and finish visiting every U.S. National Park. We spoke with Brad and Grandma Joy back in 2022 for PBS News Weekend. Well, I've lived in the same district in the same house for 67 years, and it's just hardly imagine all the beautiful, wonderful things that you find outside. And it's just made, it's just been miraculous. And I've enjoyed every minute of it. And it'll give me something when I get old and I can sit and talk about.

Joy Ryan has plenty more to talk about now. She and Brad have since completed trips to all seven continents. I spoke with them after they got back from Thailand and Australia where they traveled with Rhodes Scholar. That's a nonprofit that organizes educational trips around the world.

Brad and Joy Ryan, welcome to the NewsHour. Thank you for being enough. It's good to see you. You as well. So what made you decide that after visiting all of the national parks, all 63 of them, that the next adventure had to be all seven continents. Well, American Samoa is 7,000 miles from her front porch. It's a U.S. territory, but they have their own immigration system.

So we had to get passports to go to our last national park in American Samoa. And while we were there, we flew across the international date line to Western Samoa. So we had one stamp. And then we just realized that we still had a lot of advantage. left ahead of us, I think, more chapters to write. And the truth is that our followers on social media kind of ganged up on me. And they were like, we want to see more of these adventures. Where are you taking Grandma Joy next?

Three National Parks was not enough. And I thought, seven continents, that's a grand adventure that a lot of people strive to accomplish, and maybe we might pull that off. And you just got back from Australia, is that right? Yes. Of all that you have seen now and experienced, what amazes you the most?

It's amazing how many people are different, but yet underneath, they're all just the thing. Whatever. You can't beat that. When you're in the national park, everybody is just one big group. And it's amazing. And you were saying earlier that when you were in Africa in the Maasai village, that in many ways reminded you of the way that you grew up. Oh, yeah. They all live in this little hut, and I lived in a chicken house that made into a house. And we didn't have any electric.

We didn't have, we had outside bathroom. All of our neighbors was just the same, so we didn't feel like we was poor, you know. And over there, they didn't feel like they were poorly, or they dressed in real bright red and orange and yellow, outfits and all the little kids just laughed and played and jumped and just had the best time. So, you know, money isn't everything. Since we last spoke, Brad, you wrote the book, Grandma Joy and Me,

a journey of healing one national park at a time. And you write very openly about how the two of you for a time had lost touch and that there were things left unsaid. How has the traveling together? How has that for you been a healing process? You know, when you're on your normal life path, I think in America at least, we know our grandparents casually, but then we go to college and we go off and we have our careers and our families. And I don't think most people take the time to really learn the origin story of their family

and look for those threads that go through the generations. And when you're in a vehicle driving for, you know, we've driven over 100,000 miles at this point, but to all the U.S. National Parks, we drove about 70,000. And, you know, there's really not much you can do sometimes when you're on these long stretches of highway and you get hypnotized by that yellow line coming at you and all of these questions sort of come to the surface and there's nowhere to go.

And that's what we did. We looked at those things that I think a lot of families choose to keep hidden because it's uncomfortable, it's traumatic. and ultimately what we found is that although those conversations were painful at times, it was necessary to move us forward as a family and to find that ultimate place of healing. And Mrs. Ryan, what was it like for you to reconnect with your grandson in this way? Oh, we found out things about each other that we didn't know over the years. and it was great to have a comforting hand next to me when I needed it,

when I felt down in the dumps. And it was a wonderful outcome for him and for me to have him with me. And Mrs. Ryan, at 96, these aren't small trips. Brad, how are you organizing these trips so that they're comfortable and safe? Yeah, I mean, really, you have to remember always that it's about slowing down, staying in the moment, and that's something that I used to do not so well, because I was an Appalachian Trail Through Hiker, and my relationship to the Great Outdoors was seeing how fast I could get to the summit, and then suddenly I'm walking at the pace of an 87-year-old, now 96-year-old.

And so she speeds up more than she probably would, and I slow down, and we just find this, beautiful place in the middle to just be present and enjoy the moment. Do you ever look at the it itinerary and think, Brad, this is a bit too much or are you game for all of it? One thing about it, kiddo, I'm getting close to the end. You only go around one, so you better stop and take the smell of roses. That's true. That's true. I mean, I really, I've learned to just make sure that we leave plenty of space in the itinerary for spontaneity. And that's been a big part of the journey, is just seeing what's down this random side road. And so we don't pack the itinerary like we used to.

There are people watching who would love to travel like you do, who would love to just go for a hike, but they might not know where to start. What advice would you give them? Hey, never say no. If somebody asks you to go somewhere, grab your bag, go. Don't ever say no. The next day you'll regret it.

That's great advice. How has this changed you? Well, the beginning of the journey that I detail in the book, it's in the first chapter, is that I was in my fourth year of veterinary school, and I was in the throes of a chronic depression, and I was struggling with suicidal ideation. It's not in any self-help book that when you're at a low point like that, that you should take an 85-year-old woman camping. And that was what my heart told me I needed to do in that moment. I needed to be in nature, and I needed to be with somebody who I knew loved me unconditionally. And thankfully,

when I called her at age 85, she was willing to come along for the ride. And I know I've become a stronger person because of the time that I spent with her and the example that she set for me. I mean, yes, we journeyed to all the U.S. National Parks, and that's a beautiful thing to have experienced in life. But all of the roads in between these national parks were where the real magic happened, because those were the conversations where we went back in time. and I really learned who she is and what she's made of, the grit, and just the beauty of a soul that can experience so much grief and tragedy and still choose to show up for their life and say,

I'm going to let Joy tip the scale. And so it put my circumstance into perspective. And she was able to help me out of that low point with my mental health. And I never really did look back. I was a different person even after that first road trip. And then to be able to continue to 63 U.S. national parks and watch her break a world record and then step foot on every continent in the world. It's opened up infinite possibilities for how my life is going to unfold. I have a really high bar to

meet. All of the parks, all of the continents, dare I ask what's next? I don't know. You better ask him. He's the one that pops up with these ideas. Space travel, Jeff. That's the answer. Well, you'll have to come back once you've completed that. Brad Ryan, Grandma, Joy, Ryan. A real delight to speak with you both. Thank you so much. So good to see you. Thanks for having us.

We really enjoy coming here. And that's the News Hour for tonight. I'm Jeff Bennett. And I'm Omnan-N-Vaz. On behalf of the entire NewsHour team, thank you for joining us.