william: good evening. i'm william brangham. amna nawaz and geoff bennett are away. on "the newshour" tonight, donald trump's lawyers meet with the special counsel as a potential indictment on election interference looms over the former president. then, july is set to be the hottest month ever. how the record heat is disproportionately affecting americans based on where they live and work. and, efforts to protect right whales from possible extinction run up against lobstermen fighting for their economic survival. >> if we don't stabilize and begin the recovery, they will be gone within a couple of decades. they will be extinct. ♪

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and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. ♪ >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting, and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. ♪ william: good evening and welcome to "the newshour." former president donald trump's legal team met today with federal prosecutors as a grand jury continues to hear evidence about trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election. it comes days after trump revealed he received a letter from the department of justice notifying him that he was a target of a criminal probe into the aftermath of that election and the january 6 capitol riot.

joining us now is npr's justice correspondent, carrie johnson, who has been following all of today's developments. so nice to see you again. trump's legal team met with the doj today. not unusual for that type of meeting to occur. trump referred to it as a productive meeting in a post on his social media site. we know what was discussed? >> special counsel jack smith is not talking but what we know comes from trump who as you say posted that his lawyers met with a special counsel team today, presumably in an effort to stave off an indictment related to the january 6 investigation. trump said he did nothing wrong and relied on advice from his lawyers and it would be bad for the country, he said, for him to be indicted over again.

but we saw this same pattern when he was indicted for the mar-a-lago documents matter a month ago and not meeting between trump and justice department happened just before just -- just a few days before the indictment came down. william: the receipt of a target letter is almost always followed by an indictment. do we have any sense that that will happen still? >> i wish i could tell you. i was one of two dozen reporters all week, waiting. we know the grand jury was meeting today and we saw them come in and leave. but no action out of the grand jury today. the typical days they meet our tuesday and thursday but they might have done something in secret we will not learn about until later or prosecutors might

decide to bring them back next week. it is just not clear at this point but it seems clear something will happen. the exact timing is uncertain. william: the letter he received reportedly included three federal statutes. two of them were predicted, conspiracy to defraud the government and obstruction of a proceeding but the third charge struck some by surprise. >> with the caveat that some charges included in the mar-a-lago indictment did not come out in advance, and in other words most of the information we get is coming from the defense team and they are not always interested in telling us what is about to happen or maybe want to shaded things in the best interest of their client but as far as we know from trump's lawyers, the third charge dates back to the

post-civil rights era in which it was used to try to protect the rights of black voters who were trying to vote at the polls and were facing violence for doing so. the justice department has used this recently in another case that involved voting but it is relatively rare although not completely unheard of. it seems to involve taking illegal action that would deprive people of constitutional rights. we think it is voting but we have to wait and see. william: i appreciate your caveats. two of the charges contain a conspiracy involved in as far as we know, trump is the only one who has publicly said he is a target. if there is a conspiracy, others would be involved. any idea of who they might be?

>> it might be the justice secured cooperation from someone in trump's inner circle. it is not in the government's interest to disclose that until the last possible moment. william: carrie johnson from npr, i think he was always for helping us with all of this. -- thank you as always for helping us with all of this. >> thank you. william: in the day's other headlines, climate scientists at the united nations confirmed that july is on track to be the hottest month on record. the incoming head of the u.n. climate agency faulted governments for not taking bolder actions to reduce heat-trapping emissions. and in new york, u.n. secretary general antonio guterres sounded his own warning. >> the era of global warming has ended. the era of global boiling has arrived.

the air is unbreathable. the heat is unbearable. and the level of fossil fuel profits and climate inaction is unacceptable. leaders must lead. no more hesitancy, no more excuses. william: those warnings came as the heatwave that's already scorched the southwestern u.s. spread to the east. some 180 million americans spent the day under heat watches and warnings, with temperatures at or above 100 degrees. wildfires in greece, fueled by heatwaves, triggered a new disaster today. a series of explosions rocked an air force ammunitions dump at volos when flames reached the site. even before the blasts erupted, smoke billowed over the city. but the ammunition dump had been evacuated, and there were no reports of injuries. in ukraine, fighting has intensified in the russian-occupied southeast amid reports that kyiv is sending in

thousands of troops. ukrainian officials said today they're advancing on melitopol, in the zaporizhzhia region, but russian president vladimir putin denied that. meanwhile, putin met with african leaders in st. petersburg and he insisted they will get grain, despite russia's renewed blockade of ukrainian shipments. vladimir putin: we will be prepared to provide burkina faso, zimbabwe, mali, somalia, the central african republic, and eritrea with 25,000 to 50,000 tons of grain, free of charge in the next three or four months. we will also provide free delivery of these products to consumers. william: also today, photographs circulated of wagner chief yevgeny prigozhin, apparently at that same summit in st. petersburg. prigozhin had agreed to go into exile after his mercenary group briefly mutinied last month. since then, he's been seen in russia several times. back in this country, the u.s.

justice department has opened an investigation into the practices of the memphis police department. the announcement comes nearly seven months after tyre nichols was fatally beaten by five officers. the probe will look at whether memphis police too often use excessive force, among other things. the u.s. economy is showing more signs of resilience, despite rising interest rates and inflation. the commerce department reports growth ran at an annual pace of 2.4% in the year's second quarter. that was up from 2% the previous quarter, and was stronger than expected. on wall street, those growth numbers weren't enough to keep the recent rally going. the dow jones industrial average lost 237 points to close at 35,282. the nasdaq fell 77 points. the s&p 500 slipped 29. bronny james, the 18-year-old son of nba great lebron james,

is back home after suffering a cardiac arrest. cedars-sinai medical center in los angeles said today he's been discharged. his heart stopped monday during basketball practice at the university of southern california, where he'll attend this fall. and at the women's world cup, the u.s. is now preparing for its match with portugal on tuesday, after escaping with a draw against the netherlands. at the half, the u.s. trailed the dutch in their rematch of the 2019 final. but then lindsey horan scored the equalizer in the 62nd minute, and the game ended in a 1-1 tie. still to come on "the newshour," a coup in niger puts at risk u.s. efforts to thwart terrorism in the region. what a syrian migrant-turned-mayor reveals about the political divides in germany. and the american flag. what it symbolizes in an increasingly polarized america.

>> this is the pbs newshour from weta studios in washington and from arizona state university. william: in these record-breaking heatwaves, people who have to work outdoors, like agricultural workers or construction crews, are among the most vulnerable. earlier today, president biden announced new steps to try to protect those workers. using better weather forecasting, the department of labor will develop an alert to signal to employers and employees when heat is going to be dangerous. the department will also beef up inspections of certain worksites. the president noted today that americans can no longer pretend that we are living in a normal climate. president biden: even those who deny that we're in the midst of a climate crisis can't deny the impact of extreme heat is having on americans. americans like an elderly woman in phoenix, who fell out of her wheelchair. after five minutes on the ground, had third degree burns.

william: florida is one state that requires no protections for the estimated 2 million outdoor workers in the state. but one county is hoping to change that. for more on this, we're joined by nikolas rivero, who's a climate change reporter for "the miami herald." president biden is proposing rules to protect outdoor workers and we know that the department of labor and osha are working on longer-term plans. you have been reporting on the troubles outdoor workers in florida have. what have you been reporting? >> down here in south florida as in the world we have been going through record-breaking temperatures this summer. these are the type of temperatures where you are advised to spend as little time outside but a lot of workers do not have choice but to go to work. outdoor workers are working in

dangerous conditions without access to water. last week i was at a vigil for a worker who died on the job. workers just do not have access to the kind of basic protections you might need to stay safe. william: they might seem self-evident, but what are the protections? >> workers are asking for water, shade, and rest. access to water, clean water. in some cases employers are storing the water next to pesticides. also, breaks. sometimes they only get one break for lunch. and then somewhere on the jobsite where there is shade so that if somebody needs to get out of the sun and cool off, they can.

william: and i understand from your reporting that there is an effort by one county to try to enshrine some of those protections. what is the proposal? >> yes. commissioners in miami-dade county proposed a bill last week that would mandate a couple of things. the first is training for workers on how to recognize the signs of heat, stroke, another heat illnesses and how to administer first aid and emergency. then, on hot days where the heat index hits 90 degrees or above it would require employers to make sure workers have access to enough water, give them 10 minute breaks every two hours throughout their working day, and have some place in the job site where there is shade, and it has penalties for companies that failed to do that. william: right now there are no requirements for companies in florida did you that. >> that's right. miami, like much of the rest of the country, there are no official protections at the local, state, or federal levels

specifically for heat for workers. osha has a general duty clause which is a broad requirement employers have to create a safe workplace but there are no specific rules about you have to give them water or a certain amount of breaks throughout the day. william: so one of the provisions you are talking about is training workers to be able to understand when one of their colleagues is in trouble, teaching them how to ask. that is a lot ask. >> it is. a lot of workers have told me, i do not know what to do with my friend is in trouble. i don't know what to do when he could die. workers want to have the training so that they can look out for each other. william: what are employers saying? >> a lot of companies say they voluntarily are already doing the right thing.

they give access to water and breaks throughout the day. and it is true that many companies voluntarily do some of the things but what i hear from workers and advocacy groups is that many companies are falling down on one or more parts of it. so they are not giving adequate water or they don't have bathrooms on the job site then workers can't drink too much water because they won't have an opportunity to go to the bathroom. that creates a danger. so companies might do some of the right things but not all of it consistently. william: how likely is it that the proposal will pass? >> in miami-dade county it past the first reading unanimously, 11-0. now it goes into committee where it could be modified or voted down. then it would have to pass the final votes for -- from the full commission. it seems like it could pass in the county but the danger is

florida could preempt that, as they have with many local regulations. last month texas preempted similar rules in austin and dallas state legislator came in and funded the local governments. william: is it your sense that employers have probably taken on the idea that it is not like we are in a new normal and it will suddenly be this hot consistently but that the projections are it will continue to go up and get worse. is there a sense that the employers appreciate that and making plans for that future? >> no. what you hear a lot is, this is south florida, it is always hot. but if you look at this summer in particular, it is a record-breaking summer interns of heat by any number of metrics. i do not think we can keep doing the same old things and expect them to keep working in a

climate that is warming where the hottest days are becoming more common. william: all right. nicolas rivero, climate reporter for the miami herald, thank you so much for being here. >> thank you for having me. william: professor mendez, good to have you on the newshour. what is the urban heat island effect? >> it is my pleasure to be here to talk with you about the

important issue that is affecting many people across the nation. 40% of u.s. residents are under a heat advisory and many of them live in urban areas that do not have adequate infrastructure and trees that provide shade. so urban heat islands is when you have a lot of areas that are paved over with concrete and building materials that absorb heat and little vegetation or trees and these areas can be up to 20 degrees hotter than other areas that have more green space or shade. william: a shocking difference in temperatures. >> i think many of us remember

being on hot asphalt in schools and you could see the steam permeate out of the surface so imagine not just a schoolyard but an entire neighborhood and how that can change how you experience extreme heat events and if you are living in an older home you might experience it even more. william: a study says millions of americans live under these conditions. but i understand it is not equally spread across demographics. certain people are more vulnerable than others. >> yes.

the extreme climate events do not affect everyone equally because political choices have been made over the years that withheld vital resources and infrastructure from low income you -- low income communities of color so when extreme weather events strike these communities they are the least prepared because they have crumbling infrastructure and do not have amenities that can protect them. william: you have hinted at some possible solutions. if i were a city planner, what are some things i can do to try to reduce the urban heat island

effect? >> we hear about the million dollar urban mayors are trying to institute in their cities. planting trees that are resilient to drought can help cool down the cities. cool rooftops to reflect the rays of the sun. climate weatherization in our homes. cool pavements. moving away from the black asphalt and concrete that absorbs and retains heat and other type of green spaces. they can clean our water and provide green recreational spaces so we need to look for

multi-benefit policies that attack multiple problems. william: some of these seem quite quick. you can paint the roof a different color quickly. trees take longer to grow. are there communities in the country that are doing some of these things? taking this initiative had on -- head on? >> in my hometown of los angeles it is often thought of as a very suburban area but they are really leading the way in terms of creating climate resilience. they have a full-time staff to understand the issues and target resources to the most in need communities. los angeles, portland, seattle

have been at the forefront of enacting climate action and having a strong equity and justice lens. william: professor michael mendez, thank you so much for being here. >> thank you for having me. william: an apparent military takeover has occurred in the african nation of niger. the u.s. denounced the coup, and has long counted niger as a partner in the fight against insurgents there, and across the region, known as the sahel. stephanie sy has the latest. stephanie: while the democratically elected president of niger remains captive in the presidential palace, his supporters were out in force.

>> we are a democratic country and we support democracy. stephanie: but supporters of the military coup were also outsetting cars ablaze, and burning and looting the ruling party's headquarters. a group of soldiers appeared on national television yesterday announcing the power grab, and the removal of president mohamed bazoum. >> lead the defense and security forces have decided to end the regime you know. this follows a continuing deterioration of the security situation and poor economic and social governance. stephanie: the soldiers announcing the coup said they had dissolved the constitution, suspended all institutions and closed the nation's borders. on social media early today president bazoum vowed that the nation's hard-won gains would be

safeguarded. the army is supporting the coup plotters in its ranks, it says, to avoid a deadly confrontation that could lead to bloodshed and jeopardize the security of the population. niger has a long history of military coups, but in recent years the country has grown more stable. the coup is the seventh in west and central africa since 2020. for more on the latest developments in niger we are joined by kamissa camara. she previously served as the malian minister of foreign affairs and is now senior advisor for africa in the u.s. institute of peace. how are your sources in niger describing what is happening there now? >> yesterday we still thought the president could be kept in power and parts of the military

who were still loyal to him and those who wanted to conduct the coup were isolated. but early today the head of the army joined and a public announcement was made confirming the president had been removed from power and borders were closed and the constitution suspended. so i think it is a successful crew, unfortunately -- coup, unfortunately. stephanie: antony blinken has called for the leaders of the coup to release president bazoum, and he was careful not to call it a coup. the u.s. and france both have security partnerships with niger's government to try and contain terrorist groups there, so how does this change things? >> it does not change much, it

just prevents the u.s. from cutting all assistance to niger. if the united states were to call the event a military coup, automatically all assistance would be stopped and it also shows niger is still an important security partner and the u.s. might want to keep the door open to conduct business with niger authorities and to see if the president could maybe be reinstated. less observers today but some believe the president can be reinstated but the regional body of west african states has been deeply involved in this situation since yesterday and the president of nigeria, a

neighbor of niger, has been involved in negotiating to potentially release the president and be reinstated. stephanie: what do coup leaders demand and do you see possible negotiations moving forward that would put the president back in office? >> in the initial declaration the leaders of the coup said they took over in an attempt to bring security back to the country and used issues of good governance as an excuse, as have many other military coup leaders so this is not new language from leaders of coups in the neighborhood but i do not believe there is any possibility

for the president to come back to power. this is a done deal. stephanie: how much support is therefore the coup versus four the president and democracy in niger? >> yesterday when we heard the president was "kidnapped" by mutineers, nigerians -- measures citizens mobilized that they were not in favor of a military coup. the president was democratically elected two years ago in niger and it is safe to say a majority of citizens still supported him. he has worked with partners in egypt and put niger back on the map and worked closely with the united states, with france, he attended the u.s.-africa summit last year and showcased niger

and presents it as a country ready for more investment that was on the track for progress so i think there is general disappointment that an end has been put to progress. stephanie: thank you so much for joining the newshour with your analysis. >> thank you. ♪ william: spotting some right whales off the east coast of north america can be a majestic sight. but those whales are endangered, and their numbers are shrinking. many conservationists say fishing gear that entangles these mammals is a big part of the problem. but lobstermen now fear they may be driven out of business if they're pressured to change their practices even more. science correspondent miles o'brien reports on a battle that

both sides say is existential. miles: steve train has been fishing the waters of casco bay, maine for 49 years. steve train: it's a way of life for the people from the time they're born. miles: his home is on an island four miles northeast of downtown portland. it's a community built on lobsters, like so many here in maine. steve train: it provides for a lot of other things. lobster is what's maintaining more than summer communities. in most of these peninsulas and islands. miles: lobsters support about 15,000 jobs and contribute more than a billion dollars to the maine economy. and yet, the industry sees itself in an existential battle, pitted against a rare species fighting its own existential battle. north atlantic right whales, critically endangered. fewer than 350 individuals remain. and they are dying at a devastating rate. >> if we don't stabilize and

begin the recovery, they will be gone within a couple of decades. they will be extinct. they will be wiped off this earth. and we want to do everything we can to prevent that from happening. miles: janet coit is the assistant administrator of fisheries at the national oceanic and atmospheric administration, noaa. how many mortalities a year are acceptable, in your view? janet: zero. if we have a human caused mortality of even one whale a year, we're losing ground. miles: so what is killing them with such alarming efficiency? in the past 6 years, vessel strikes have killed 12 and entanglement with fishing gear has killed nine and injured 66 others. as the whales migrate along the eastern seaboard, they swim through a fast moving armada of boat and ship traffic, and a man-made underwater kelp forest

of vertical ropes, fishing gear. maine alone sells permits for about 2.8 million lobster traps per year. the traps sit on the bottom, 3 to 20 of them linked together in a daisy chain, known as a trawl. tens of thousands of vertical lines connect the trawls to buoys that dot the surface. in 2021, noaa finalized regulations to reduce all that rope dangling in the water, mandate gear marking, and add weak points that whales can break through. it also called for a seasonal lobster fishing closure of 1000 square mile area of the gulf of maine. janet: i think a goal that we all share is to have more monitoring so we can have more specific and even dynamic regulation. but right now, we have to take a broader approach to try to reduce the risks that are killing whales. miles: the regulations are based on an algorithmic prediction of the risk to the whales in these heavily fished waters. but the lobster industry insists

it is not proven guilty. >> they are assuming the absolute worst case scenario, and it is not something that is reasonably certain to occur. miles: patrice mccarron is policy director for the maine lobstermen's association. patrice mccarron: our concern is the amount of risk that they're saying we're responsible for doesn't match the data. we have these numbers, zero known no right whale deaths attributed to the maine lobster fishery ever. the last known entanglement, 2004. miles: but researchers believe they only document a third of right whale deaths. and what's more, linking entanglement injuries and deaths to a specific culprit is a huge challenge. >> we have documentation that north atlantic right whales are in the gulf of maine, but because gear wasn't marked and because it's often hard to retrieve the gear, we can't say with certainty where that gear came from. only 1% of the entanglements that we've been able to document do we know where that gear has come from.

miles: in 2020, maine lobstermen started using lines with distinct purple strands. gear marked this way has entangled humpbacks and minkes, but so far none has been found on right whales. steve: we're getting blamed for something that nobody can prove we're doing. it would be like saying we know people are speeding, so anyone who's got a car that does over 80 miles an hour, we're going to write a ticket for it. if it's not us, it's not us. miles: nevertheless, maine lobstermen are now using rope that has weak links so that whales can break though. steve: you can use a little piece of plastic that's got little weaknesses in it and tie it spliced into it. or you can use a weak rope. this is weaker. it's the way it's made. miles: the lobstermen's association says it has done enough and has sued the government to stop further regulation. in june, a federal judge ruled in their favor, writing that noaa fisheries is indulging in worst-case scenarios and pessimistic assumptions to benefit a favored side. six months before that court ruling, the maine congressional

delegation flexed its claws on behalf of one of its largest industries. >> why am i here to discuss lobsters on the floor of the u.s. senate? miles: senator angus king led the effort to insert a rider in the federal omnibus spending bill to buy some time, a six-year delay on imposing the new regulations. >> one, two. it's counting down. miles: the reprieve came with money to research better ways to track the whales as they migrate. and develop fishing techniques that don't require vertical ropes dangling in the water. >> press and release. miles: that idea is not just hot air. this inflatable ballistic nylon bag might be a solution. a select few lobstermen are beta testing so-called on-demand lobster traps. >> i can see my gear anywhere in the world. miles: rob martin's homeport is sandwich, massachusetts. >> it's like anything.

once you do it a while, it's second nature. miles: an acoustic signal with a unique code activates the air tanks linked to the lobster traps on the bottom, releasing compressed air into a tethered bag, sending it to the surface. the vertical rope is only in the water as long as it takes to retrieve the attached traps, -- traps. >> we need a bigger boat. [laughter] miles: the nascent technology allowed martin to fish for lobsters this year in massachusetts waters closed to protect migrating right whales. >> this takes a few minutes, maybe more to haul the gear, but a few minutes more to haul the gear, or stay home. it's not for everybody. i always tell guys. this is to get you back into a closed area, and it's another tool in the toolbox if you get closed. miles: but as it stands, right whales are speeding toward extinction. the clock is ticking on a majestic species and an iconic industry. for "the pbs newshour," i'm

miles o'brien off sandwich, massachusetts. ♪ william: many of the stories we have reported on the newshour about refugees have been focused on tragedy and struggle but tonight, a glimpse of light. special correspondent malcolm brabant reports from southern germany where even as anti-immigrant sentiment is rising, a young syrian refugee has just become a city's mayor. >> germany is a country that has given hope to many in the past.

reporter: in a small town on the edge of the black forest, a social revolution is taking its first tentative steps. eight years after ryyan alshaebl arrived in germany as a 20-year-old refugee, the people of ostelsein have entrusted him to be their mayor. >> i am the type of person that loves and likes to be loved i always felt this love over the past 8 years and i'm grateful for this. i'd like to give back where possible and with such a public office it is possible. reporter: the new mayor's election was a victory of german pragmatism over sentiment. he earned his spurs working for four years as an administrator in a neighbouring town. he has become an inspiration for the 8000 syrians that settled in germany.

>> this village is exceptional. reporter: for the past four years it's been home for adil, a computer engineer from the devastated city of aleppo. >> this shows the quality of competence here in this country, so the one who gets the right skills will get the job. reporter: one of the mayor's election pledges was to create more kindergarten places, which struck a chord with local families. kai schubert works in information technology and is alarmed that in common with other european countries, germany appears to be leaning right. >> i think that in germany the right-wing tendencies are very, very loud and very, very large, especially on the internet. but the rest of germany is more restrained. reporter: debbie dorn is picking up her grandson. a native new yorker, she's lived in germany for 41 years. >> the main thing is he learned german and respects the german law. and that is what is important as

a foreigner. that is what the germans want. they're taking in refugees and they want to help, but they want the people that come here, they want them to respect the german law and our german way of living. reporter: ostelsheim's new mayor took the same trail to europe as most other syrian refugees, sleeping on the streets in turkey before smugglers packed them into unseaworthy rubber dinghies and pointed them towards the greek island of lesbos. he landed in the autumn of 2015, just before europe sealed its borders. >> it was so terrifying that two hours into the crossing i began seriously asking myself what it would feel like to drown? reporter: this is a tale of two cities. after ostelsheim, we travelled 200 miles north to sonneberg in the state of thuringia in former east germany. in june, voters gave a major victory to the anti-immigrant

alternative for germany, or afd, by electing robert sesselman as the party's first ever head of a county administration. >> the sonneberg district is making history. the afd has now arrived as a people's party here on the municipal level in thuringia, and also in the federal republic of germany. reporter: the afd hopes this landmark success will lead to the party taking control of other regional and state institutions. as this video declares, the afd has come a long way in the past 10 years. >> we will hunt them down and we will take back our country and our people. reporter: "we are the people," the chant of east germans before the wall came down, has been adopted as the party's slogan. but it has more sinister overtones for thomas haldenwang, the head of the domestic intelligence agency, as he reports on a rise of right-wing extremism. >> we are currently working on

the alternative for germany party as a suspicious case, because we see a very strong current of people within this party who are opposed to our constitution. and we see a lot of hatred and agitation against minorities of all kinds there. reporter: ingo schreurs speaks on behalf of the afd, and he believes the intelligence agency is biased against those who oppose establishment ideas. when it comes to immigration, germany's population, the ethnic population is declining and you support the welfare state. >> we want to choose who is immigrating, like any other country in the world. the u.s. has strict regulations for who was coming into your country and who is not and we want the same thing for us. reporter: germany's chancellor olaf schultz has dismissed the significance of the afd's success in sonneberg. olaf scholz: i am quite

confident that afd won't perform much differently at the next federal election than it did at the last. reporter: political analyst timo lochocki says voters are unhappy at the major parties' failure to address concerns over migration and warns against complacency. >> that is why most voters intent to vote for the far right. they want to put pressure on the others to come up with a plan. reporter: this sculpture of a jewish family heading for cattle cars and a death camp speaks to the ultimate dangers of right-wing extremism. the central council of jews in germany has described the afd's success as a watershed that democratic forces cannot accept. is there an assurance you can give to the jewish community that they have nothing to fear? >> of course. because this claim that the afd's antisemitic is just a media hoax. reporter: that's not the experience of optician margret

sturm, who received numerous death threats after speaking out against the afd. >> we got calls from people we don't know, who don't know our business. it started with a caller threatening to send us a pizza topped with zyklon b and saying we should enjoy it. reporter: students of the holocaust will recognise the significance of zyklon b. it was the cyanide-based poison used in nazi gas chambers to murder millions of jews. despite concerns about her safety, margret sturm refuses to be silenced. >> i've been telling people to stand up and speak out. because if we don't mobilize civil society, things are going to get really bad. reporter: there's an optician in this town who says she's had death threats for speaking out against the afd, what do you think of that? >> i think it is disgusting. i do not know who does that but everywhere you will find crazy

people, hateful people. reporter: once a week in sonneberg, there are anti-government demonstrations which match the afd's platform. is this the example that german will follow? or will it emulate ostelsheim where adil, the syrian computer engineer, has great expectations? >> it shows here that the limit is the sky. i hope to go to important positions in germany. reporter: while millions of migrants and germans wish ryyan alshaebl every success, there are others willing him to fail. the burden on his young shoulders is enormous. for "the pbs newshour," i'm malcolm brabant in southern germany. ♪

william: the american flag is one of the world's most recognizable symbols, but the responses it provokes are anything but uniform. a new museum exhibit in arkansas explores how such a universal symbol can send so many different messages. ali rogin recently paid a visit for our arts and culture series, "canvas." reporter: it flies over the halls of justice, it's used to mark a solemn sacrifice, and it's wrapped around shoulders in celebration. it's present at the proudest moments. the flag represents america. but it can't represent all the experiences of those who claim it as their own. that's the idea behind the exhibit "flagged for discussion," at the crystal bridges museum of american art in bentonville, arkansas. >> every object here reflects the artist's personal relationship or connection to the flag. reporter: curator larissa randall came up with the idea for the exhibit while perusing items in the museum's permanent collection. there were so many depictions of the american flag, but each was so different. like this norman rockwell portrait of rosie the riveter, quite literally eating hitler's

lunch. or this wood carving by leroy almon, making clear that the transatlantic slave trade also took place under the flag's auspices. or "ward," by george tooker, in which the flag provides little comfort to ailing patients. >> i was struck by how artists from across time, across walks of life, of various backgrounds, all used the flag to comment on issues that are important to them. >> this is a flag. mexico and the u.s. as one. but it's bigger than that. it's, "can't we get along?" reporter: for artist consuelo jimenez underwood, the flag is both message and medium. underwood was born in sacramento, california. her mother was third-generation mexican-america, and her father was part of the bracero program, which allowed mexican seasonal workers to come to the united states during both world wars. her piece at crystal bridges is called "home of the brave." it combines the american and mexican flags, evoking the strong ties between the two

countries, but also the deep divides. >> i feel that the threads can join not just fabric, but people. and that's where i came in. i wanted to do something about the division between our countries, mexico, and u.s. for me, that line is very arbitrary. reporter: like many children of migrants at the time, underwood grew up picking crops with her family, taxing her small body. but with the help of her parents, she nurtured her spirit and mind. >> i learned how to appreciate the little that i had from my dad. when it was the hottest, picking tomatoes in sacramento valley at 110 degrees, it was hard. and he would sing and everyone would listen, because he had a beautiful voice. the other magic that happened in those fields in those earlier years were the book vans that

came to the fields for us kids that would miss school the first two months and the last two months of the school year. i made a promise to myself. because i am getting behind, i swear i will not read fiction. i'm only going to read biography, science, real stuff so that i can make up for the knowledge that i'm losing. reporter: america allowed children like underwood to labor alongside adults, a practice that continues illegally today. but as underwood sees it, america also allowed her to thrive. >> i lived under that flag, the u.s. flag. and i knew if i got an education i could move up the socio economic. so, "consuelo, don't cry. you'll be the first of 11 of 12 to get that high school education." reporter: she gets inspiration from the methods of the indigenous huichol people of mexico, from whom she is descended. her flag rests on a backdrop of intricate indigenous designs. >> underneath is a really

important history that, don't forget, it's the shoulders that we stand on. reporter: her flag features raw materials like plastic and barbed wires. safety pins hold the two flags' loose threads together. >> this flag is in disarray because it's not perfect, but it's beautiful, because the land that it waves over is wonderful. reporter: what does it mean to you to have this work in conversation with the other pieces in this exhibit? >> it really is wonderful. i feel like crystal bridges is embodying the best of these artworks that make you jump. go, "oh my god, what is going? i never seen something like that." >> i would see this project as successful if someone left thinking about the flag in a different way than they walked in. reporter: that's the exhibit's other common thread, each pieces' piece's ability to provoke deeper thought. >> it makes me proud. it makes me also thoughtful of our history and how far we've

come in expanding our civil rights. >> as my cap shows, i was in the service in the army. so the flag to me is freedom because that's what i fought for. >> how free are we, really, if you really think about it? >> some people when they look at the u.s. flag might see unity or fear or harmony or freedom. whatever people see i think is valid, but also is worth investigating whose freedom are we talking about and how, as we move forward as a country what , do we want this to sort of represent for us? reporter: "flagged for discussion" doesn't answer those questions. but it starts the conversation. for "the pbs newshour," i'm ali rogin in bentonville, arkansas. william: donald trump is now facing additional charges in the

case involving classified materials cap that his florida home. among other charges he is accused of asking a staffer to delete camera footage in an effort to obstruct the investigation. a third defendant, the mar-a-lago property manager, has also been charged. and that's "the newshour" for tonight. i'm william brangham. on behalf of the entire "newshour" team, thank you so much for joining us. ♪ >> major funding for the "pbs newshour" has been provided by -- ♪ the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. and friends of the newshour, including leonard and norma clorevine, and koo and patricia yuen. >> architects. beekeeper.

mentor. a raymondjames financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. life, well planned. >> the ford foundation, working with visionaries on the front lines of social change worldwide. and with the ongoing support of these institutions. and friends of "the 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. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsibl for its caption content and accuracy.]

♪ hello, everyone, and welcome to "amanpour and company." here's what's coming up. the not so hidden threat of russia's mercenary army. even vladimir putin couldn't see the danger. i'm joined by oxford and stanford historian robert service. then -- >> i'm still processing and it's not something that can just go away when the war is over. why rape is still used as a weapon of r, and how it can be stopped. my conversation with a survivor of the isis genocide against the yazidi people, now a campaigner against violence. also ahead -- >> the general response from ex-trump officials was a second term will not be as bad as you think. it will be so much worse.