♪ >> tonight on pbs news weekend. what's next for the country after the debt limit deal and what's happening with the fast-growing field vying for president? some states are making it easier to put kids to work and pay them less when they do. and the future looks how? we hear from valedictorians around the country about their hopes. >> i know that our world has a lot of fixing to do, but i really trust our generation. generations the. -- generation z. i feel like we have a voice and know how to use it.

>> major funding for pbs news weekend has been provided by. >> consumer cellular school has been to provide wireless service that helps people connect. we offer a variety of no contract plans. to learn more, visit consumer cellular.tv. >> and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. and friends othe newshour. this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you.

>> good evening. i'm lisa desjardins. john yang is a way. with just two days to spare before the u.s. would have run out of money to pay its bills, president biden signed the bipartisan deal to suspend the debt limit, officially avoiding a potential catastrophic default. in the first oval office address o demoofcratic priorities protectd in the deal. in iowa today, republican presidential hopefuls refused to give mr. biden the last word. like nikki haley, who vowed to make cutting the debt more of a priority. >> when i am president, we will cut the spending, we will cut the debt, we will make sure -- i will veto any spending that doesn't take us back to pre-covid levels. no more debt once and for all. >> we will return to the effects

of the debt deal later in the broadcast. at the israeli egyptian border an unusual shootout last night. israeli officials say an egyptian officer crossed the border overnight and killed three israeli troops before being killed himself. it's rare violence for that order area. egypt's military says the shooter was an egyptian border guard officer who was chasing drug traffickers. more devastating news in eastern india, where the death toll in last night's train disaster has climbed to at least 280 people. nearly a 1000 more were injured. prime minister narendra modi pledged to hold an investigation. it's the country's worst train crash in over two decades. rescuers searched for survivors overnight. the site is now a recovery operation and the death toll is expected to rise.

last night a federal judge struck down a tennessee law that banned drug shows in public or in places children could see them. the judge ruled that the law, the first one in the nation to directly target drag shows, was a violation of first amendment rights. another tennessee law that bans transgender youth from receiving care is also being challenged in court. still to come, the push to relax child labor laws across the country and we hear from high school valedictorians on their hopes for the future. >> this is pbs news weekend from weta studios in washington, home of the pbs newshour weeknights on pbs. lisa: after hammering out a deal to avert a default disaster, we have a rarity in washington, compromise. with leadership in both parties

declaring victory. but they like us are already looking ahead. the debt deal pushes one political drama down the road, but another is heating up fast more republicans entering the 2024 presidential ring. the future of the branches is the subject of our weekend briefing. erin haynes, i want to ask you about the meanings of this deal. what are your takeaways as far as who outside of washington, which americans could be affected by this? >> there is definitely concern among both younger voters and frankly people closer to my age that are still paying off student loan debt. because the student loan debt moratorium was one of the casualties in this debt seal dealing compromise, people who had had their student l frozen during the pandemic are going to have to start repaying those in the next couple of months. these are people who are still struggling to do that.

also people who were hoping for student loan debt forgiveness from this administration. lisa: who do you think gained and lost here? >> president biden gains a lot with independent voters. swing voters really like dealmaking. there was polling that came out before the deal that said 60% wanted to see spending cuts attached. there are going to be people, both student debt holders and those who receive food stamps, there is going to be an expansion of some work requirements for those in the 50 to 55-year-old range and more paperwork requirements that could make it harder for them to find food. but overall it's a spending freeze and it's full of more holes than swiss cheese. we saw a right before the senate acted that there is a big bipartisan push to do an emergency spelled in -- emergency spending bill to

shoehorn in a lot of spending for ukraine and things on the domestic side that could make these caps pretty meaningless pretty quickly. lisa: ron desantis became an official candidate for president. he has a very uphill climb. maybe everyone elsen the republican primary field, what is the pass here for someone other than donald trump? >> mike pence and chris christie expected to be announcing imminently. i think former president trump defining desantis for months even before he became and it can -- an official candidate, he is now attempting to define himself and even going from i think the culture worried that a lot of people recognize him as as somebody who is willing to take on former president trump which a lot of voters who might be looking for an alternative to donald trump were wondering whether he would do and whether

he could do that successfully. so you see him on the campaign trail this week bringing up the issue of term limits and really questioning donald trump's assertion that he doesn't need eight years in office. so how that's going to paly out -- play out with voters -- we are going to see a lot more of the candidates in iowa even through this we can. voters are going to have a chance to begin to get to know them, but we are still 520 plus days away from election day. so a lot of time for these candidates to distinguish themselves and knoed trump off of his front runner campaign pedestal that he at least seems to be pretty secure in holding for now. lisa: a lot that we have heard in the halls of the capital. what else is shaping up for 2024? >> thiss going to be a big impact on house races of this deal.

overall i think the deal benefits the swing district moderate republicans. it makes them look like dealmakers. it could hurt mccarthy's ability to raise big dollars from donors. lisa: how soon could speaker mccarthy be in trouble? >> in the coming week they could bring a motion to oust him from the speakership. i suspect that would fail. there is a group of democrats willing to bail out the speaker on that vote. it would be a very strange situation. we haven't seen this kind of coalition of no-confidence vote in u.s. politics. i think he's got a backstop where he's willing to call the bluff. so far he is basically saying, bring it on, try to oust me. lisa: i did not feel the electricity in any of this. i think the american public is exhausted. maybe just i'm exhausted. how would you both assess the mood of the electorate right now?

>> i feel like fiscal issues aren't as prominent as they were. it was a very big issue among voters and i think cultural issues for right now, abortion is a big issue. a lot of things about teaching racism in classes. the voters are really not focused on the budget. it's always been a boring issue. the energy lack that allowed mccarthy to make a deal. >> i think there probably is a little bit of the been there done that feeling on the debt ceiling. maybe that's why there is a lack of enthusiasm or interest around this issue. also maybe a lack of understanding of how this debt ceiling issue is not just a wall street problem but also a problem for everyday americans on main street. maybe that connection was not clear enough. it didn't really give them a reason to understand what does this mean for me. again, we are still over 500

days away from election day. not all voters are as locked into this as those of us who get paid to pay attention to this kind of thing for a living. as the republican primary field comes more and more into focus, as the primary season, these debates, the primary elections begin to get underway, i think you will see voters begin to pay more attention and you will see they are actually quite engaged and interested in the outcome for 2024. lisa: eric watson and erin haynes, thanks very much. the economy has been high in the headlines, but less so has been news about the youngest workers. last year the u.s. government found child labor violations involving more than 38 hundred

miners. one quarter involving hazardous working conditions. both figures are up from the previous fiscal year. a handful of states say they think there's too much regulation of child labor. >> so far this year, iowa and arkansas have passed laws to loosen child labor restrictions and four other midwestern states are advancing bills through their legislatures. last year new jerse and new hampshire signed bills to lower age restrictions around child workers. i was law would allow some minors to work jobs that were previously prohibited to them, like those involving demolition and power driven machines. the other bills largely focused on removing requirements for work permits and increasing the number of hours children can work. to discuss the state of child labor laws, i am joined by the director of the center for the human rights of children at loyola university chicago and a distinguished fellow duke university school of law.

thank you both so much for joining me. why is it that these laws seem to be all making their way through state legislatures at the same time? >> thank you for having me. i find this very interesting in light of the fact there is also a parallel increase in child labor violations. under the department of labor. i certainly think this is a coordinated effort by industry and republicans to try to weaken federal labor laws particularly as it affects children. there is a gap in labor and people are looking for more people to hire. unfortunately children are bei thrown under the bus. >> a lot of the most egregious child labor violations that we have seen as you mentioned which have been increasing over the past two years, they would not really be impacted by these

laws. so where do you see the through-line between the efforts by lawmakers and companies to loen these restrictions and the child labor -- the increase in child labor violations that we have seen. what's the connection there? >> i think there's a couple of things. i wouldn't agree that these laws wouldn't affect the health of children. our child labor laws exist very intentionally and have been developed over decades, even over 100 years with the knowledge that children's brains and bodies are different. children are not adults in miniature. recognizing they are more vulnerable to toxins in the environment, to cleaning supplies, to longer work hours, to less sleep. this affects their brains and bodies. it also affects their ability to

engage successfully in school and education. >> there are federal laws on the books. the child labor provisions of the fair labor standards act sets maximum hours for 14 and 15-year-olds. some of these laws that have either passed or are being considered would run afoul of those federal regulations. what do you expect to happen? are we going to see challenges to these state laws? >> two days ago, a federal court throughout a law that blocked application of state laws under preemption doctrine. states can restrict child labor lawfully, it cannot expand child labor lawfully. on many points -- i disagree there is some sort of consortium of big business. most of the violations i have been looking at were from rogue

actors or franchisees. i was chief hr officer for coca-cola enterprises worldwide and we had some rogue actors. it might send a signal to these rogue actors that it's ok to do this until you get caught because the fines are fairly minimal. i don't think the laws will stand to the extent loosen. i think wisconsin allows 14-year-olds to serve alcohol. it's hard to imagine a 14-year-old serving cocktail waitress in some honky-tonk in this country. these won't stand, but the signals they may send our bad ones. >> about these being rogue actors as opposed to orchestrated larger attempts, would you like to weigh in on that? >> sure. i think with violations of y laws, there are rogue actors and

larger systemic issues. with many of the recent child labor violations, these are happening across several states by large corporations. i'm not saying youth and particularly adolescence shouldn't work. these are jobs where they are expanding hours of work, hours outside of school that affect children's ability to rest. they are low-wage jobs. these are not high skilled jobs. they are also affecting and impacting cldren's access to school. >> and dan brought up another point about enforcement. some lawmakers who have pursued these bills say the existing department of labor regulations are simply not really being enforced. >> one of the reason the department of labor in our division isn't pursuing these cases is because it is one of the least funded governmental agencies. it doesn't have the capacity to

pursue these cases in the way that it should. but is also a statement to where our values are. just because they are not investigating these cases or bringing them to e table doesn't mean the act itself isn't wrong. and isn't a crime and a law isn't being broken. >> there are efforts to revise the federal regulations on the books. there is a bill from congressman dusty johnson of south dakota which would expand working hours for children year r. what's going to be the interplay between efforts on the federal level to change department of labor regulations and what we are seeing on the state level? >> i think the chances of not getting anywhere are about the chances of me being appointed to the supreme court tomorrow. i'm not overly concerned about that. the department of labor, they are finding more violations meaning they are doing their job.

>> thank you for being here. lisa: for students around the country, this time of year marks something many years in the making, graduation. while politicians get plenty of air time debating the future, tonight we hear from some new voices. a few valedictorians about this moment and what they see ahead. >> i am the valedictorian. >> i am the salutatorian. >> i'm from rome, georgia. >> i'm from honduras. >> i'm luna from boston. i will be going to gallaudet

university, the only liberal arts university for the deaf in the world. >> i blinked and it was like i'm here. >> i'm excited about going to university. that was my dream, to be honest. i really worked hard for it. w i just feel so proud. >> i'm very proud of all the hard work and effort that it took to get here. i'm also very proud of the people and support system that helped me get here. >> my most proud moment was my valedictorian speech. i made a proclamation for trans rights. i held up this book is gay, a book that was recently banned in my district, and gave it to the superintendent himself. >> i learned how to be myself, focus on your grades and the classes. but alsooc on things you are

teaching you the life skills you need to know. >> to always be humble and never compare yourself for your success, no matter if you want to be on top or on the bottom, never compare yourself to anybody. >> get out of your comfort zone. that's where you can meet your real self. >> i want to become a social worker had worked in schools so i can work with kids like me. kids with mental health issues. i want to work with jeff, by pocket and minority people. >> to spread my wings and fly. >> make the change you want to see. you can support love, support human rights, trans rights, support everything. because at the end of the day, we are the ones who are going to find peace in the world.

>>ake akes. >> i know our world has a lot of fixing to do. i really trust our generation, generation z. i feel like we have a voice that we found and we are not afraid to use it. >> we are not as interested in the idea of the workforce or making money to survive or having families. we are interested in the ideas of doing wha dot awendto we at re breaking the norms in that sense. >> i think a lot of people look at us and say we can't do it. you're too young. but i'm telling you, we will change the world. lisa: i'm sure they will. and that's our program for tonight. i'm lisa desjardins. for all of my colleagues, thank you for joining us. see you again tomorrow. >> major funding for pbs news weekend has been provided by.

>> consumer cellular offers no contract wireless plans designed to help people do more of what they like. our u.s.-based customer service team can help find the plan that fits you. visit consumer cellular.tv. >> and with th ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. this program was made possible byhe corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like yo thank you.

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