AMNA NAWAZ: Good evening.

I'm Amna Nawaz.

GEOFF BENNETT: And I'm Geoff Bennett.

On the "News Hour" tonight: Ahead of President Trump's summit with Vladimir Putin in Alaska, what Russia likely hopes to get out of the meeting.

DMITRI TRENIN, Higher School of Economics: There is an element that deals with Ukraine, and then there's a lot of interest in discussing the future of the badly damaged U.S.-Russian relations.

AMNA NAWAZ: Troops and law enforcement ramp up arrests and push homeless people out of public spaces in Washington, D.C., as part of the president's federal takeover of the nation's capital.

GEOFF BENNETT: And we report from Bangladesh, as the closure of USAID halts programs fighting tuberculosis, the deadliest infectious disease worldwide.

ASIF SALEH, Executive Director, BRAC Bangladesh: If it is not controlled within the borders, then it's just going to spread across, all over the world.

(BREAK) GEOFF BENNETT: Welcome to the "News Hour."

It was a day of expectation-setting across several nations, as President Trump prepares to meet Russia's Vladimir Putin in Alaska tomorrow.

Both struck optimistic notes, but their first encounter of Mr. Trump's second term unfolds against the backdrop of Russia's war in Ukraine now in its fourth year.

AMNA NAWAZ: For his part, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy continued a tour of European capitals, drumming up support today in London.

His fraught relationship with President Trump is no secret, but the two spoke yesterday, alongside many European leaders, in preparation for tomorrow's summit.

As Nick Schifrin reports, the stakes are high and the odds of success may be long.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Today, in the Eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, a Russian tank obliterated what was already ruined, rubble pounded further into dust, making Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's meeting today with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer more urgent to discuss security guarantees for Ukraine and more than a billion dollars worth of European weapons.

The Europeans have rallied this week to press President Trump that any deal made with Putin start with a cease-fire, and only Zelenskyy will decide whether to swap land with Russia.

DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: I think it's going to be very interesting.

We're going to find out where everybody stands.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Today, President Trump admitted there's a 25 percent chance the summit could fail, but predicted the meeting would be a pivot point in history.

DONALD TRUMP: And if it's a bad meeting, it'll end very quickly.

And if it's a good meeting, we're going to end up getting peace in the pretty near future.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Today, Russian President Vladimir Putin embraced the optimistic outlook.

VLADIMIR PUTIN, Russian President (through translator): The stage we are at with the current American administration, which, as everyone knows, is making, in my opinion, quite energetic and sincere efforts to stop hostilities.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Putin also envisioned normalizing relations with the U.S., including extending the final existing U.S.-Russia arms control treaty set to expire early next year, a cap on the number of Russian and American deployed nuclear warheads.

Putin's top foreign policy adviser, Yuri Ushakov, today went further, saying Friday could expand U.S.-Russia economic ties.

YURI USHAKOV, Foreign Policy Adviser to President Putin (through translator): An exchange of views is expected on further developing bilateral cooperation, including in the trade and economic sphere.

I would like to note that this cooperation has huge and unfortunately hitherto untapped potential.

NICK SCHIFRIN: But U.S. officials tell "PBS News Hour," while President Trump is interested in those other topics, Friday is focused on ending the war in Ukraine.

For more on tomorrow's summit between President Trump and Putin, we turn to Dmitri Trenin, a longtime analyst based in Moscow who was the head of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace's Moscow office and is now professor at the Higher School of Economics University.

Dmitri Trenin, thanks very much.

Welcome back to the "News Hour."

U.S. officials described President Trump's goal to me tomorrow as getting a cease-fire from Vladimir Putin and hearing a fundamental idea that Putin is willing to end the war.

So is President Putin willing to accept a cease-fire and willing to end the war?

DMITRI TRENIN, Higher School of Economics University: Well, I think that, from the Russian perspective, the agenda of the meeting in Alaska is much broader.

There is an element, a huge element of that deals with Ukraine.

But then there is a lot of interest in discussing the future of the badly damaged U.S.-Russian relations.

Now, in the Russian thinking, a cease-fire is a very important element of the resolution of the conflict.

But it cannot be the only element, and it cannot come first.

NICK SCHIFRIN: So just to be clear, that position that the cease-fire should not come first is not acceptable to Ukraine.

So do you believe that Russia believes that it can make a deal with the United States, even if that deal is unacceptable to Ukraine?

DMITRI TRENIN: Well, Russia is talking - - or President Putin will be talking to the president of the United States.

And it is a bilateral meeting.

And they will discuss a lot of issues, including Ukraine.

But this is not -- at this point, this is not the place to discuss the situation with the Ukrainians and the Europeans.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Even if there were a cease-fire, would President Putin, would Russia be willing to stop where it is today?

DMITRI TRENIN: Russia has declared the entire territories of the new Russia, the four regions in the southeast of Ukraine, as Russia's constitutional territory.

And it's a stated goal of Russia to have those territories in full incorporated into the Russian Federation.

NICK SCHIFRIN: But, again, does Russia expect a conversation with the United States to come up with some kind of deal, including a land swap, that we already know Ukraine will reject?

DMITRI TRENIN: I think that time will come when Ukraine will have to accept the realities.

And I think that Ukraine will recognize at some point the truth that its security and its future existence actually depend on a good relationship with Russia.

NICK SCHIFRIN: We have talked about the map.

We have talked about these regions.

But, for Russia, is this really about the map?

Is it not more about the nature of Kyiv's future, whether that's the size of the military that it can yield, its support from the West, or in fact its membership in Western institutions?

DMITRI TRENIN: Well, I think it means -- well, the territorial issue is part of the bigger picture.

But the bigger picture includes -- and I think that this is far more important than any territorial changes -- the security aspect.

And security aspect for Russia means exactly no NATO membership for Ukraine and no NATO in Ukraine.

It means a military force that will not be threatening Russia.

NICK SCHIFRIN: You mentioned the threat that Russia sees posed by Ukraine's military.

Of course, Ukraine sees the long-term threat posed by Russia's military.

President Trump has talked to European leaders about security guarantees for Ukraine, whether that's a level of military support or whether that's punishment on Russia if it were to launch another full-scale war against Ukraine.

Is Russia at the point where it could accept some kind of what the West calls security guarantees for Ukraine to make a deal?

DMITRI TRENIN: Well, I think a good security guarantee for Ukraine would be strict neutrality between Russia and NATO.

That's the best security guarantee you can think of, which would lead to a correct, normal and productive relationship with Russia, as well as with the West, but excluding the military dimension.

NICK SCHIFRIN: As you know, that is an unacceptable position for Ukraine, which says the only guarantee that it can have against Russia is a robust military with Western support.

So is there not a fundamental gap here that means that there cannot be a long-term deal between Russia and Moscow, regardless of what Donald Trump wants?

DMITRI TRENIN: Well, at this point, I don't think that Ukraine is ready to face up to the realities and the potential future of this conflict.

But I'm sure that, at some point, they will have to face up to those things and accept the reality.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Dmitri Trenin, thank you very much.

DMITRI TRENIN: You're welcome.

GEOFF BENNETT: We start today's other headlines in the Middle East.

Israel's far right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, announced the approval of a controversial new settlement in the occupied West Bank that's been on ice for decades.

The construction of several thousand housing units would connect one of Israel's largest settlements to Jerusalem, but it would also effectively cut the West Bank in two.

The Palestinian government and the U.N. say this will complicate efforts to reach a two-state solution.

Several countries, including France and the U.K., have said they will formally recognize a Palestinian state in September.

But Smotrich said today the planned settlement - - quote -- "buries that idea."

BEZALEL SMOTRICH, Israeli Finance Minister (through translator): The time has come to fully apply Israeli sovereignty over Judea and Samaria, the West Bank, to forever remove from the table the idea of dividing the land and to make sure that, by September, Europe's hypocrite leaders will simply have nothing to recognize.

GEOFF BENNETT: Israeli settlements are considered illegal under international law.

Today, a State Department spokesperson said -- quote -- "A stable West Bank keeps Israel secure and is in line with this administration's goal to achieve peace."

Tropical Storm Erin is gradually getting stronger.

By tomorrow, it's expected to become the first Atlantic hurricane of the season before intensifying into a Category 3 major hurricane over the weekend.

Officials warn Erin will bring heavy rains and dangerous oceans surf to the Northern Caribbean.

Meantime, clear across the globe, Tropical Storm Podul hit the southeastern coast of China with heavy rain, leading to closed schools and canceled court proceedings in Hong Kong.

Podul slammed the island of Taiwan as a stronger typhoon yesterday, injuring more than 100 people.

One person remains missing after being swept out to sea.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced plans today to open a second immigration detention center in the state.

The North Florida facility will be dubbed Deportation Depot and will be housed at a vacant state prison West of Jacksonville that can hold up to 2,000 beds.

It comes as the fate of existing makeshift detention center known as Alligator Alcatraz stands before a federal judge.

Built on the protected wetlands of the Everglades, at issue is whether that site violates environmental laws.

New data today showed wholesale inflation rose unexpectedly last month, a sign that higher prices on store shelves may be soon on the way.

That led to a mixed and muted reaction on Wall Street.

All three major indices barely budged, starting with the Dow, which lost 11 points.

The Nasdaq fell by a 100th-of-a-percent, while the S&P notched a minimal gain.

And, tonight, we mark a milestone; 90 years ago today, then-President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law.

The Great Depression era program aimed to provide economic stability for older Americans.

Fourteen presidents later: DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: So, today, we celebrate that 90th anniversary of one of the significant pieces of legislation ever signed into law, the Social Security... GEOFF BENNETT: President Trump marked the occasion in the Oval Office and claimed he would strengthen Social Security, but his administration has slashed the agency's staffing and alongside Congress hasn't proposed a long-term solution to address its depleting reserves.

Today, 69 million people are supported by Social Security.

A decade from now, that number is projected to reach 82 million.

By the year 2034, the program isn't expected to have enough money anymore to pay people full benefits.

Still to come on the "News Hour": how countries neighboring Russia have been working to secure their borders; and Texas Democrats who blocked redistricting consider their next move, as one special session ends and the governor threatens to call another.

AMNA NAWAZ: The Trump administration's federal takeover of Washington, D.C., is escalating, with several people arrested at high-profile locations and homeless encampments torn down.

Protests also erupted in the streets last night after the White House said federal agents would patrol around the clock and the president himself hinted that his monthlong crackdown could last even longer.

PROTESTERS: Get off our streets!

Get off our streets!

AMNA NAWAZ: Protesters took to the Northwest D.C. streets last night.

PROTESTER: Why are you here?

You're trying to arresting innocent people.

What's your purpose?

What's your goal?

AMNA NAWAZ: Responding to this show of force, federal agents alongside city police now under federal control running a checkpoint at a busy intersection.

WOMAN: Turn left.

AMNA NAWAZ: Some residents warned approaching cars to turn away.

Police say they arrested 76 people in the District yesterday, outpacing last year's daily average of 56.

And the D.C. police chief said today that information collected during these kinds of traffic stops could now be turned over to federal immigration authorities.

It's all part of a federal crackdown in the nation's capital launched by President Trump, citing a crime emergency that the data doesn't fully support.

DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: Crime is rampant in D.C.

It's rampant in our generally blue-run cities, and they have got to do something about it.

AMNA NAWAZ: Federalizing the D.C. police force carries a 30-day legal limit.

The president said yesterday he may extend that.

And this morning, blocks from the White House, another part of the president's plan went into action, homeless encampments toppled, and the people who once sheltered there nowhere in sight.

More visible in D.C., National Guard troops activated by the president as part of what he calls an anti-crime agenda.

For more on the D.C. takeover, we're joined now by Juliette Kayyem, former assistant secretary at the Department of Homeland Security.

She's now at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

Juliette, welcome back.

Thanks for joining us.

JULIETTE KAYYEM, Former U.S. Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary: Thanks for having me.

AMNA NAWAZ: I just want to ask you to react to some of those scenes we just showed.

You have federal agents wearing Homeland Security gear running a traffic stop with Metropolitan Police, National Guard troops patrolling high-tourist areas like the National Mall.

I mean, from your experience, is it clear what the intention and strategy is here?

JULIETTE KAYYEM: So there's two different pieces of this.

One is, federal law enforcement agencies, FBI, HSI, Homeland Security Investigations, working with, in tandem Washington, D.C., police.

This is -- it's unique.

It is not clear what their -- what the federal agents' authority is.

It is not clear whether they have -- they can arrest for a petty crime, since that's not a federal crime.

And I think there's a lot of confusion about what their authority is.

Right now, we just see them walking around.

The second is what we call presence patrols that is being done by the National Guard.

Presence patrols are, we are here.

We're an army or a unit that is making its presence known.

It is not generally used in the military because there's really no task or purpose for it.

There's no mission for it.

It's just simply that we are present.

And, in both cases, the concern is, because the mission isn't clear -- ending crime, getting rid of poverty, all of those things are sort of nebulous in terms of what are the tactics that would justify federal involvement - - it is not at all clear whether the mission will maintain or you're going to get mission creep over the next couple of days and weeks.

AMNA NAWAZ: Juliette, when the president launched this effort, he talked about ramping up the use of force, right?

He said that the D.C. police are now allowed to do, in his words, whatever the hell they want, promising forces would hit harder now.

Does the presence of federal forces, federal agents somehow allow for more force in these interactions?

JULIETTE KAYYEM: It doesn't.

I mean, and, to be clear, there's nothing - - there's no change in the laws of what engagement is.

If someone spits at a police officer, they're not allowed to shoot them.

That is not -- that's not permissible.

That is not an appropriate response.

The president talks like this as a signal of authority, aggressiveness, and some would even say totalitarianism, or at least the usurpation of local control by the executive branch.

Where I worry is, of course, with a undefined mission and unclear integration of these forces with these forces with now the National Guard, you will get mistakes.

You will get people working and acting outside their authority.

You will get responses to First Amendment activities, including lawful protests, that violate the First Amendment and undermines people's rights to free speech.

You're allowed to criticize this activity.

And let's just be honest here.

This is a lot of people who are now not looking and not investigating fentanyl and domestic violence and terrorism.

AMNA NAWAZ: Juliette, the president has said he wants to extend this authority in D.C., possibly even to other cities.

What are the implications of that?

JULIETTE KAYYEM: Well, there's going to be the legal implications.

D.C. is unique.

It has a home rule aspect to it.

What would be the legal authority for the president to do that?

There's also the political issue, of course.

Is this an attack on Democrat -- Democratically run cities, blue cities, blue cities in blue states?

And is that the appropriate use of the military or federal law enforcement?

But I want to take a step back and say my concern is, is this is working?

We have decades of research about what works in this arena, especially in terms of policing.

It's community policing.

It's outreach to communities.

It's engaging people and neighborhoods that might have crime to work with them to minimize crime.

This is exactly what D.C. has done.

A federal military or federal law enforcement overlay seems many steps away from that.

AMNA NAWAZ: Juliette Kayyem of Harvard's Kennedy School of Government joining us again tonight.

Juliette, thank you.

Good to speak with you.

JULIETTE KAYYEM: Thank you.

GEOFF BENNETT: Russian officials have described one of their top priorities at tomorrow's summit between President Trump and Vladimir Putin to be normalizing relations with the U.S. on topics beyond Ukraine.

And that concerns European officials, who consider Russia a long-term threat and believe Moscow is producing enough weapons to one day attack members of NATO too.

Nick Schifrin recently sat down with Estonia's defense minister about the Baltic nation's increasingly fortified border with Russia, a story documented with the help of journalists from the University of British Columbia's Global Reporting Program.

NICK SCHIFRIN: For 16 hours a day, this Lithuanian factory is buzzing.

Massive machines alongside workers build barriers by the hundreds.

They're called dragon's teeth, concrete pyramids, each one hundreds of pounds, and more than foot-thick metal rod roadblocks.

They're called hedgehogs, a storybook name for a serious purpose, protection against a Russian invasion like Ukraine.

DONATAS JANKAUSKAS, CEO, Gelmesta (through translator): It's about the defense of our country and the security of our people.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Donatas Jankauskas is the CEO of Gelmesta.

Its barriers might be low-tech, but they're highly efficient.

The size, weight and angle of the dragon's teeth stop enemy tanks in their tracks.

And, in Northeast Lithuania, American and Lithuanian troops train fewer than 10 miles from the Belarusian border, where hundreds of dragon's teeth are already glaring, at the ready to stop Russian tanks.

Lithuania is not alone fearing an attack from neighboring Russia.

Up the road in Eastern Estonia, the Narva Bridge, 500 feet, separating the European Union on one side from Russia on the far side, and before it barbed wire, several rows of dragon's teeth and additional massive metal gates, which Estonia began installing earlier this month.

It's part of the Baltic defense line launched last year, a more-than-500-mile-long defense system constructed by Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia along the Russian and Belarusian borders, with thousands of barriers like these in Latvia, hundreds of bunkers seen here being battle-tested in Estonia, and miles of anti-tank trenches all spanning across NATO's historic Eastern flank.

DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: Thank you very much.

This has been an honor.

NICK SCHIFRIN: After years of questioning NATO, this summer, at the NATO summit in The Hague, President Trump praised the alliance and the other 31 heads of state he just met with, who pledged to increase their defense spending to 5 percent of GDP.

DONALD TRUMP: And I left here differently.

I left here saying that these people really love their countries.

It's not a ripoff and we're here to help them protect their country.

MAN: Fire!

NICK SCHIFRIN: Part of the U.S.' part in that protection, a handful of American soldiers deployed in the Baltics who train on American weapons, like this multiple-launch rocket system in Estonia.

Hanno Pevkur is Estonia's defense minister.

Can Estonia rely on President Trump to come to Estonia's defense if attacked by Russia?

HANNO PEVKUR, Estonian Minister of Defense: I believe all the NATO allies can rely on President Trump, because President Trump said very clearly in The Hague that the United States is a strong ally to everyone.

Dear Pete, thank you.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Pevkur recently visited Washington to meet Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, alongside fellow Baltic defense ministers.

The message they heard, the Trump administration is trying to focus on the Indo-Pacific, not Europe.

HANNO PEVKUR: We clearly understand the administration message that they will focus more on the INDOPAC.

So this is not news.

And that also probably means that there will be reduction forces in Europe.

This is also fine.

I believe that Europeans have to take more responsibility, and we are doing that.

NICK SCHIFRIN: That message echoed to me at The Hague by NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte.

MARK RUTTE, NATO Secretary-General: We can defend ourselves now, but there is a big risk in three, five, seven years from now without the extra spending.

HANNO PEVKUR: When we take the plans approved by the Russian government, and we see that they are ramping up their defense industry, they are also increasing their troops, number of troops, so they will go up to 1.5 million troops.

They will bring to our neighborhood two to nine times more equipment.

It consists from the attack helicopters, armed personnel carriers, infantry (INAUDIBLE) vehicles, tanks, et cetera.

So, my question is very simple then.

When Russia wants to be in a good relationship with the West, why to make these changes?

NICK SCHIFRIN: What have you learned from Ukraine that you are applying to your own defense?

HANNO PEVKUR: We have to bring home all the lessons learned from Ukraine.

For instance, we had the biggest NATO exercise this year called the Hedgehog, where we had 18,000 troops in the Estonian forests.

We also trained combat exercises against the drones or together with the drones.

NICK SCHIFRIN: I spoke to a Ukrainian officer recently who played a red team up in the Baltics pretending to be a Russian drone unit, and NATO troops really struggled against that red team Russian drone unit.

Do you acknowledge that NATO has a lot to learn?

HANNO PEVKUR: NATO has a lot to learn, of course.

We all need to be ready.

And this is why we are training.

This is why we are cooperating also with Ukrainians, to be better and to be ready to defend and protect our people.

TOMAS MILASAUSKAS, CEO, RSI Europe: We have been under Russian occupation for hundreds of years, and it's just a matter of question when they will come again.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Tomas Milasauskas is one of those Lithuanians cooperating with Ukraine by building drones that are already being used on the battlefield.

He says Lithuanian history, from subject of the Russian empire, to Soviet satellite, to independence in 1991, proves the country will always face a threatening neighbor.

TOMAS MILASAUSKAS: The 30-year gap that we have as independent country, it's just a very short, short glimpse in the history that we're having.

This is a civilization battle.

The outcome, of course, is up to US.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Preparing for that possible battle is a national effort.

These aren't soldiers, but ordinary citizens in Lithuania's National Defense Volunteer Forces.

For them, Ukraine is a wakeup call.

VLADISLAV KRIVEL, Lithuanian Volunteer Soldier: We need to protect our freedom, because there is no one who will come and fight for you as well as you would do.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Vladislav Krivel's day job is at a nuclear power plant.

He says they have to be ready to defend their own land.

VLADISLAV KRIVEL: You can see that in Ukraine, that they're getting all these promises that someone will help them, but, in reality, only Ukrainians are responsible for their defense.

So it goes the same way for us.

NICK SCHIFRIN: And so the Baltics will bolster their defenses, hoping they will not have to fight the European war that continues to rage.

For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Nick Schifrin.

GOV.

GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): We have got to recognize the cards that have been dealt, and we have got to meet fire with fire.

GEOFF BENNETT: That was Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom throwing down the gauntlet today, saying his state will move forward to redraw congressional maps in his party's favor if Texas Republicans do the same.

Texas House Democrats have so far blocked the Republican plan by walking on a special session that ends tomorrow.

But a second special session is set to start the same day.

For insight about whether Democrats will change their strategy moving forward, we're joined now by Texas State Representative Ann Johnson, one of the Democrats who left the state.

Thanks for being with us.

STATE REP. ANN JOHNSON (D-TX): Thank you for having me.

I appreciate you paying attention to what's happening in Texas, because it's not just about affecting Texas.

It will impact the entire nation.

GEOFF BENNETT: And the current special session, as we said, ends tomorrow.

Governor Abbott says he will call another one immediately.

You and your Democratic colleagues have set conditions for your return.

What are they?

STATE REP. ANN JOHNSON: So, one, we are taking this day by day.

And the special session was supposed to go through the middle of next week, and the governor has indicated that he will try to get the speaker and the lieutenant governor to sine die tomorrow, which means ending that session, and taking away the arrest warrants that are effectively on each of our heads, effectively.

And then it's up to the governor to call the next.

And when he calls it, he has to determine what's going to be on the special session agenda, meaning, what does he want to talk about?

And you are right.

We have successfully stopped the clock.

We are attempting to defeat this particular special session call.

And it is up to Governor Abbott what he wants to put on next.

Personally, as a Democrat, I would like to see us address the issues around public health, around public education, and of course, the flooding that has occurred in Central Texas.

But Governor Abbott and Texas Republicans have made it clear the only reason they wanted us there in July was to try to steal five congressional seats and effectively determine the outcome of the election before anybody went to vote.

And so what we have asked for as Democrats is not only to stop that effort, but to raise the national awareness around what Governor Abbott and Trump are attempting to do.

And I am grateful to see that, today, Governor Newsom has indicated that they are going to go to the people of the state of California and ask if they are willing to vote to effectively say what's good for the goose is good for the gander.

If Texas wants to take this extraordinary step of mid-decade redistricting, which really violates the spirit of the Texas Constitution, then California will match that energy and effectively fight fire with fire.

And at a time when the balance and having any check on this administration couldn't be more important, I am grateful that blue states are stepping up.

GEOFF BENNETT: So, it idea is, if California moves forward, that's five seats in California for five seats in Texas potentially.

But you have also got Republicans in Florida, Missouri, possibly Indiana who are moving forward to claim even more seats.

So where does this all end up?

STATE REP. ANN JOHNSON: Yes, I mean, this is a terrible political partisan game.

I mean, we have not only seen Abbott now say, well, if California does five, then I want to ask for 10.

This is about politicians trying to reinforce their power.

I don't know anybody that doesn't hate gerrymandering.

We all hate gerrymandering.

It's why I repeatedly have offered legislation for an independent commission in Texas to redraw the lines based on the voters and not by politicians.

I can't even get that bill to get a hearing in our Republican chambers.

Democrats in the United States voted for H.R.1, an independent commission nationwide.

Every Democrat voted for it.

Republicans refused to support it.

And so, when people say, well, both sides just do it, no, not really.

Democrats support having the voters draw lines, and then we compete on fair ideas and fair policy.

That's what Republicans are afraid of.

Mid-decade redistricting is not a normal thing.

They are doing it because they're afraid of the next election.

It's up to the people to say, Republicans need to stop.

I will say, one of my favorite things about this conversation is now you have Republican congressmen in blue states try to pass a law that says we shouldn't do mid-decade redistricting.

So they're fine with it when it hurts Democrats.

They're not OK with it when it hurts them.

And that should tell people everything they need to know.

GEOFF BENNETT: In fact, one of those congressmen, Mike Lawler of New York, was on this program recently making that point.

But we also heard from Texas Republican Representative Carl Tepper this week on the program.

And he said that he thinks some sort of deal could be worked out.

How do you see it?

Do you see a path toward an agreement?

STATE REP. ANN JOHNSON: Yes, there's no deal.

It's just stop.

I mean, it's up to Texas Republicans.

Governor Abbott has not yet called his next special.

He has not yet said what we're going to talk about.

And so I agree with Representative Tepper.

I consider him a friend.

And I would ask, tone it down and stop the insanity.

Don't move forward with this.

We all know they actually don't want to do it, but they won't have the courage to step up and say no to Trump.

And so it really is up to them.

This is all on Republicans.

Do you want to break the rules?

Do you want to break the institution?

And don't forget, when Trump called Georgia Republicans and said, hey, boys, I need you to find me almost 12,000 votes, they said, no, sir, that's a line too far.

We're not going to do that for you.

But when Trump has called Texas and said, hey, boys, I need you to find me five new congressional seats, they said, does July work for you?

I am proud, as a Texas Democrat.

We have stopped that play in July.

And here we are now in August.

It's up to those same Texas Republicans.

Are you going to do what he asked you to do, in violation not only the Texas Constitution?

But 99 percent of the people that showed up on this bill to testify said, don't do this.

We don't want this.

This is not good for Texas.

And so Texas Republicans are about to prove to people who do they play for.

Are they here to serve the interests of Texans or are they here to serve the interests of partisan extremism?

GEOFF BENNETT: Texas Democratic Representative Ann Johnson, thanks again for being with us.

We appreciate it.

STATE REP. ANN JOHNSON: Thank you.

I appreciate you all.

AMNA NAWAZ: Earlier this year, the Trump administration's defunding of USAID brought an abrupt halt to hundreds of global health programs, including those targeting tuberculosis.

The disease kills more people than any other infectious agent, more than a million worldwide in 2023.

In partnership with the Pulitzer Center, Fred de Sam Lazaro reports from Bangladesh on efforts to contain the fallout.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: The USAID signs are still all over this 250-bed hospital in Bangladesh's capital city.

Inaugurated four years ago with state-of-the-art-lab equipment, specialized doctors, and wards for the more dangerous MDR, multidrug-resistant cases, this was considered a model facility in the global effort to eradicate tuberculosis.

DR. AYESHA AKTHER, Deputy Director, 250-Bed T.B.

Hospital: It's more and more challenge for us.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: After the closure of USAID, hospital deputy director Dr. Ayesha Akther says they have had to pull in resources from other sectors of an already stressed public health system.

DR. AYESHA AKTHER: T.B.

is curable disease, and we can prevent it easily.

We can take drugs, antibiotics.

USAID funded our T.B.

drugs everywhere, not only in this hospital, but all over Bangladesh.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Over the past decade, USAID spent more than $100 million to support Bangladesh's T.B.

program.

And it's paid off.

T.B.

deaths dropped nearly 35 percent, from 73,000 in 2015 to 44,000 in 2023.

Bangladesh has made significant strides in containing tuberculosis, but getting to the finish line is a daunting task in the conditions that are ideal for the infection to spread.

Many people suffer from malnutrition, making them vulnerable to infections, and there is a sheer lack of space in one of the world's most densely populated countries.

ASIF SALEH, Executive Director, BRAC Bangladesh: Early detection is extremely important.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Asif Saleh heads the nongovernment organization BRAC, which leads a consortium of 13 groups still fighting T.B.

with remaining support from the government and other international donors, trying to build on earlier successes, particularly in increased early detection, which is critical ASIF SALEH: In 2001, we had about 27 percent detection rate, and that has gone up dramatically to 82 percent.

Bangladesh's success in T.B.

detection has been because of that, on one hand, there has been community mobilization and community awareness, and, on the other hand, a lot of the new innovations that has come in, like mobile clinics, mobile detection facilities.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Mobile testing vans have been deployed in slums and many garment factories, the country's largest industry, densely crowded environments that are ripe for infection.

Tuberculosis spreads through the air, attacks the lungs, and can be fatal if left untreated.

Portable X-ray machines make the rounds of harder-to-reach rural areas.

Radiographer Sultana Amin (ph) screens 50 to 100 people on any given day, X-raying lungs and using artificial intelligence to assign scores for each scan for the likelihood of T.B.

How many patients come positive for T.B.

in a month?

SULTANA AMIN, Radiographer: July month, 120.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: A hundred and twenty.

SULTANA AMIN: A hundred and twenty T.B.-suspected.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: So-T.B.

suspected means its likely T.B.?

SULTANA AMIN: Right.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: In this case, she determined a 90-year-old patient had a high likelihood of infection.

MAN (through translator): I have coughing.

I have an uncomfortable feeling in my chest, and I have fever also.

Now only Allah knows actually what will happen.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: For patients whose X-rays find lesions that might be tuberculosis, this is the start of a journey that will take them next for more accurate testing and, accordingly, for treatment.

The goal is to catch infections early and start patients on a strict six-month course of daily medication before the disease can spread further.

And it's here's that many fear progress will stall, or worse.

After the Trump administration issued a stop-work order in January, detection, treatment, and research efforts like these were scaled back or shut down.

Thousands of health workers lost their jobs.

Many were employed by the USAID-funded International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research.

Center officials declined to participate in this report.

Like many defunded USAID grantees, they cited fear of jeopardizing potential future funding.

ASIF SALEH: Oftentimes, whether the foreign grants come or not, it's very whimsical.

These are political decisions.

So, for that, you need to diversify.

You need to have your own independence.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: That's the big lesson from USAID's demise, says Asif Saleh of BRAC, which is considered one model, now the world's largest NGO, operating in 12 developing countries.

It relies on foreign aid, but also various businesses that generate revenue for its charitable work, medical clinics for paying patients, a commercial bank, retail store for rural craftwork, even a university.

ASIF SALEH: Every country needs a thriving social sector.

I think the Bangladeshi government as well need to think that how some of their own development budget can be used to -- for -- where implementation can be done by local NGOs.

DR. NAZMUL HUDA, Former Country Project Director, Health Systems for Tuberculosis: My project was about to prepare the government to take the responsibility of managing and financing the tuberculosis program.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Dr. Nazmul Huda led a now-shuttered USAID-funded project, ironically one intended to wean this country's T.B.

program off foreign funding.

Economic progress in recent years has moved Bangladesh from a less developed to a lower-middle-income nation, something that will automatically mean a drop in foreign assistance.

DR. NAZMUL HUDA: It has stopped at a very crucial time for the country.

There is a process for technology transfer.

So, whatever we achieved in the last few years, we could not transfer that result to the government.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: He says the setback not only stalls Bangladesh's path toward self-reliance, but also threatens to reverse progress made, as fewer cases are detected and many that are diagnosed do not complete their treatment regimen.

DR. NAZMUL HUDA: It requires long treatment.

And if there is interruption, more complexities might happen, for example, in the form of multidrug resistance tuberculosis.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: How many patients will have interrupted therapy?

DR. NAZMUL HUDA: You know, the data, recent data, there is also interruption.

Data is not coming.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: We don't even know because the data has been interrupted as well?

DR. NAZMUL HUDA: Yes.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Some estimates are that tens of thousands of patients have seen their treatment stopped.

ASIF SALEH: So the full impact of it is not visible as yet, because it's early days.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Saleh says it's not just Bangladesh that should be concerned about infections that could emerge in the months and years ahead.

ASIF SALEH: If it is not controlled within the borders, then it's just going to spread across all over the world, so we are going to go back to a situation where no country will be immune to these kinds of challenges.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Back in Washington, the Trump administration and congressional leaders have moved to restore some global health programs, including tuberculosis.

But experts say many projects already dismantled will be difficult, if not impossible to quickly restore.

For the "PBS News Hour," this is Fred de Sam Lazaro in the village of Raipur in Bangladesh.

AMNA NAWAZ: And Fred's reporting is a partnership with the Under-Told Stories Project at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota.

GEOFF BENNETT: We will be back shortly.

But, first, take a moment to hear from your local PBS station.

AMNA NAWAZ: It's a chance to offer your support, which helps keep programs this one on the air.

For those of you staying with us, we bring you an encore from two-time Grammy nominee Sierra Hull, who has reached the pinnacle of her bluegrass on her chosen instrument, the mandolin.

GEOFF BENNETT: Special correspondent Tom Casciato has the story of how she got there for our arts and culture series, Canvas.

TOM CASCIATO: On this night at The Hamilton in Washington, D.C., it's easy enough to hear why 33-year-old Sierra Hull has been six times named the International Bluegrass Association's mandolinist of the year.

Not as immediately clear is why "Rolling Stone" has termed her a rebel of the genre.

SIERRA HULL, Musician: Usually, I'm just kind of searching for sounds and going by feel and trying to write something that is satisfying.

TOM CASCIATO: And, indeed, she and her band are right at home with traditional bluegrass sounds.

But take the lead single from her latest album, "A Tip Toe High Wire."

It's a song called "Boom."

An American songwriter used a pretty non-bluegrassy term for it.

(SINGING) TOM CASCIATO: They called it funky.

SIERRA HULL: Funky?

All right.

I will take it.

TOM CASCIATO: I'm thinking, I wonder if Sierra Hull growing enough thought, someday, people are going to hear me and play the mandolin and say, well, that's funky.

SIERRA HULL: No, I probably wouldn't have thought about it, honestly.

TOM CASCIATO: But the song is kind of funky.

SIERRA HULL: It's kind of funky.

That's the beauty of where I have gotten to more than I would have imagined, just things, the opportunities that have come, unexpected things, because I was so lucky to have some things happen.

TOM CASCIATO: What's happened to sierra whole is extraordinary, though it started out pretty ordinary.

SIERRA HULL: We had one of those old bowlback mandolins.

TOM CASCIATO: Yes.

SIERRA HULL: We call them a tater bug where I'm from.

TOM CASCIATO: Where she's from is Byrdstown, Tennessee, population under 1,000.

SIERRA HULL: And I remember learning my first tune.

I just connected so deeply to that right away.

TOM CASCIATO: Were you good right away?

SIERRA HULL: I think it was a combination of having some natural ability, but also being fully obsessed to, where every day my dad would come home from work, he was teaching me what he knew at first, and then I was going to these bluegrass jams.

TOM CASCIATO: The jams took place at a community center, where local players would perform for crowds of 20 or 30.

SIERRA HULL: And I remember being super tiny and those local bands saying, do you want to get up here and play along with us?

I learned so much.

They weren't trying to go out and do it professionally.

They just loved it.

TOM CASCIATO: Who were you listening to at that time?

SIERRA HULL: Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver, some of those really harmony-based bluegrass Gospel albums.

Then my dad brought home a Tony Rice album called "Church Street Blues," and I remember just falling madly in love with that record.

It was a cassette tape, actually.

We used to drive around in his old Ford truck, and I remember the truck kind of ate the tape, and we were so devastated.

TOM CASCIATO: But there was one artist in particular who made the biggest impression.

SIERRA HULL: I got my first Alison Krauss album when I was 9 years old.

And that just kind of lit my world on fire.

And it made me go, this is what I want to do.

TOM CASCIATO: With Krauss as her inspiration, she buckled down and practiced and practiced.

SIERRA HULL: And I was lucky to have parents who breathed a lot of love and support into it.

If I'd ever get lazy practicing, I remember my dad saying: "You have been a little lazy lately, hadn't really been practicing too much."

He said: "Well, you know what's going to happen.

One of these days, Alison Krauss is going to call you to come play, but you're not going to be ready."

TOM CASCIATO: You wrote Alison Krauss a fan letter.

SIERRA HULL: Well, I did.

It was -- she never got it, but it was a school assignment.

Write a letter to your.

hero.

TOM CASCIATO: By sheer coincidence, I have a copy of that letter here.

SIERRA HULL: Oh.

TOM CASCIATO: Would you mind reading it?

SIERRA HULL: Sure.

Let's do it.

(LAUGHTER) TOM CASCIATO: We will get to the letter.

First, Alison Krauss was probably the most accomplished woman in bluegrass, already 10 Grammys into a career that has seen her win 27.

Sierra Hull was 10.

SIERRA HULL: "Dear Ms. Krauss, Dear Ms. Alison Krauss, my name is Sierra Hull.

I'm a very, very big fan of yours.

I'm coming to one of your festivals for the first time, MerleFest, North Carolina.

I'm bringing my half-size fiddle for you to sign so maybe one day I can show my kids how to play.

You're my hero."

And the idea of going to another state to go to a festival, let alone one Alison Krauss was at just seemed impossibly cool.

TOM CASCIATO: It got cooler when she was outside the festival playing a song by mandolin virtuoso Chris Thile, who happened to buy and must have liked what he heard.

SIERRA HULL: I look up, and Chris Thile is right in front of me.

And he says: "Holy cow.

Want to play it together?"

And I was like: "What?"

And so we went and found a little corner somewhere and he jammed with me for like an hour-and-a-half, and he took me backstage to meet my hero.

And she signed my fiddle.

TOM CASCIATO: Dream come true, right, and the beginning of a musical friendship.

Just two years later, Alison would invite sierra to perform with her on country's greatest stage, Nashville's Grand Ole Opry.

I have seen a picture of you where you're about 12 and you have got your mandolin and you're with Alison and the band and you're looking at the camera like the cat who caught the canary, like you... SIERRA HULL: To say the least.

TOM CASCIATO: What would follow was a formal music education fueled by a full scholarship to Boston's Berkeley College of Music, leading to a series of compositions and collaborations that have seen her search out directions far beyond bluegrass, among them, ethereal tracks produced by banjo legend Belarus Fleck, jazz funk jamming with guitarist-producer Cory Wong, and sophisticated rhythmic explorations with her own band.

"Rolling Stone" calls her a musical force not only in bluegrass, but in various genre circles.

But no matter how intricate the music, her approach remains straightforward.

SIERRA HULL: A lot of times, I'm just kind of going, what does the lyric demand?

What feels good on the instrument?

I will write some sort of crooked, crazy thing, share it with my bandmates.

And they're the ones that will be like, oh, yes there's that weird bar of three here.

And I'm like, OK, great.

TOM CASCIATO: Does your music have boundaries, do you think?

SIERRA HULL: I don't think so.

Those things that I love about all these collaborations I have done, combined with my bluegrass roots, I think it's kind of an inevitable thing.

You're going to get a little funky in there.

TOM CASCIATO: For the "PBS News Hour" I'm Tom Casciato in Washington.

GEOFF BENNETT: Now to a story about what Americans wish for the future of the country.

AMNA NAWAZ: At the Smithsonian Museum of American History, a recent time capsule exhibit asked visitors to reflect on their hopes for the next 50 years.

Student reporters Alia Soliman, Diarra Gangazha and Jayden Hall from PBS News' journalism training program Student Reporting Labs bring us the story.

QUESTION: And you're here today at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History?

GINO, New Jersey: Yes.

QUESTION: Amazing.

Did you get to write your wish for the future?

GINO: Yes, I did.

QUESTION: Wow.

What did you wish for?

QUESTION: World peace.

NARRATOR: Here at the Smithsonian Museum of American History in Washington, D.C., Adam Rozan is the director of Civic Season.

ADAM ROZAN, Civic Season Director, National Museum of American History: We have this beautiful mural behind me designed by 25-year-old Katie Costa from Atlanta, Georgia.

WOMAN: I wish that we could respect one another a little more and see the beauty in humans as they are, even with our differences.

GIRL: I'm just going to agree with her.

NARRATOR: When the exhibit ends, all the letters will be collected by the Smithsonian's archivists and stored away.

ADAM ROZAN: Your wish included in a time capsule held by the Smithsonian Institution Archives for 50 years.

It's going to reopen June 19, 2075.

Imagine that.

We could also then see, how do we do as a society moving forward 50 years, when we're able to actually turn the corner on some of these issues?

We have so many wishes about curing cancer.

Have we gotten closer to curing it?

That's what I'm seeing on the wall, all sorts of things that are both beautiful, powerful, emotional.

GIRL: I wish that soldiers don't die in every single war.

GIRL: I wish soldiers could come back, see their families and explore the world, basically.

NARRATOR: Alex Edgar is the youth engagement manager at Made By Us, an organization that connects institutions like museums and libraries to young adults.

ALEX EDGAR, Youth Engagement Manager, Made By Us: We know that young people are really civically active and they care a lot about their country and they want to be involved.

IAN, North Carolina: I wish that anybody who's scared to do anything and just doesn't have the confidence to just put themselves out there or just take that risk, I just pray that they can just have that confidence to do that.

ALEX EDGAR: Whether you're 4 years old and all you can do is draw a little picture of world peace, or you're 90 years old and you're sharing life lessons that you have learned, every person can walk up to and say, this is for me.

DEBORAH, California: We all would treat each other like we are children of God created in his image and likeness and that we would all share our resources and support each other in that way.

AMANDA, California: I wish that our country could be a model for respecting the rights of everyone on our country's soil, no matter how they got here.

ADAM ROZAN: What I love about this wall is that we have so much more in common with one another than we actually think we do, right?

We want safe schools.

We want a clean, beautiful country and society.

DANIEL, Maryland: Everybody deserves to achieve their goals, strive on what they want.

ERIC, Washington: I wish that my kids inherit a good, healthy planet.

ALEX EDGAR: Young people are the future inheritors of our country, but they're also the leaders of today.

JOSEPHINE, Virginia: We're all responsible for keeping this world peaceful and clean and making sure that we're just being kind individuals.

MARY, Illinois: I wish that there was no war.

I wish that everyone could just be happy and healthy and get along like our children do.

NARRATOR: For PBS News Student Reporting Labs, we are Alia Soliman, Diarra Gangazha and Jayden Hall in Washington, D C. AMNA NAWAZ: And be sure to join us again here tomorrow night, when we will have full coverage of President Trump's meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska.

And that is the "News Hour" for tonight.

I'm Amna Nawaz.

GEOFF BENNETT: And I'm Geoff Bennett.

For all of us here at the "PBS News Hour," thanks for spending part of your evening with us.