it has been perhaps the most significant day of court action for the second trump administration so far. amna: multiple judges have temporarily blocked efforts by president trump to dramatically gut the federal government hurried more lawsuits are yet to come. lower burrell lopez has this to report. >> a federal judge paused a takeover by billionaire elon musk and his team. blocking access for now from a sensitive treasury department payment system. that system holds personal information on millions of americans. from social security numbers to bank account details. a group of unions are you the agency was illegally sharing information with elon musk's team, known as the department of government efficiency. also today, an effort to purge the government of federal workers has been paused until monday by a federal judge in massachusetts. in an unprecedented move, his team directly emailed 2 million

civilian federal workers urging them to take a deferred resignation offer by midnight tonight, promising pay through september. unions representing workers who sued warned of a dangerous one to punch. a loss of expertise and the rise of partisanship over truth. the white house press secretary. >> the last time i checked in with office of personnel management, more than 40,000 federal workers had accepted the buyout row graham. we expect the number to increase. >> the intervention comes as democrats step up their fight against a sweeping power rabbi elon musk, the wealthiest man in the world. >> our message is very clear. elon musk should not be allowed to steal our money. elon musk should not be allowed to steal your data. >> house democrats led by akeem jeffries announced legislation the taxpayer date everett to safeguard personal information. >> what we are seeing unfold is

an unlawful power grab by an unelected and unaccountable billionaire puppetmaster pulling the strings of house republicans and apparently the trump administration. >> and f are unlikely to gain any republican support. at the national prayer breakfast, president trump announced a new task force led by attorney general pam bondi to root out so-called anti-christian bias in the government. >> while i'm in the white house, we will protect christians in our schools and military and government and workplaces, hospitals, in our public squares. >> president trump and congressional republicans also trying to avoid an interparty war as they move to cut spending and regulations. in a meeting behind closed doors at the white house, trump, house speaker mike johnson, and other leaders ironing out details for how to navigate narrow gop majorities and meet johnson's own april timeline.

later tonight, the republican-led senate is expected to confirm another trump nominee. the director of the office management and budget. >> to hear how bad russell vote is. >> emme kratz protested his nomination through the night. >> he's on a mission to get the federal government and is the chief architect of the controversial hargett 2025 plan. for the pbs news hour, lower burrell lopez. geoff: we start the day's other headlines with college sports. the ncaa updating his transgender policy to limit women's competition to athletes who were assigned as female at birth. the change comes a day after president trump signed an executive order aimed at banning transgender athletes from from girls and women sports. the policy is effective

immediately and applies to all 500,000 ncaa athletes across the organization's 1200 schools. prior to the change, eligibility was based on rules set by each sports national or international governing body. president trump signed an executive order this afternoon sanctioning the international criminal court. the measure includes freezing assets of employees who work on icc investigations of the u.s. citizens, or allies such as israel. it also block them from traveling to the u.s. the move comes as the israeli prime minister is visiting washington. last year, the icc issued arrest warrants for the prime minister and his former defense minister for alleged war crimes in gaza, which they deny. neither the u.s. nor israel recognize the court's authority. separately, it emerged netanyahu gave president trump a golden pager mounted on a wooden stand during their meeting in washington yesterday. it is a not-so-subtle not to

israel's operation in lebanon last year with pagers and handheld radios used two attack members of hezbollah. in panama, the president is pushing back on u.s. claims over transit fees for the panama canal. the state department posted on social media a deal was reached that would allow u.s. government vessels to pass through free of charge, saving the federal government millions of dollars a year. it followed marco rubio's visit to the critical trade route earlier this week. this morning, panama's president rejected the claim, calling it flat out false. >> i'm very surprised by the statement from the u.s. state department. that is simply intolerable. panama to you and the world expresses my absolute rejection of continuing to explore the path of managing the bilateral relationship based on lies and falsehoods. >> he also said waiving fees

would violate panama's constitution and laws regulating the panama canal authority. he also posted on social media he plans to speak with president trump about the issue tomorrow. there are growing concerns over the spread of bird flu after cattle in nevada became infected with a new variant of the disease. the latest strain is the second instance of the h1n1 virus from birds to cattle. linked to severe infections in humans, including the death of a person in louisiana. it is different the type detected across the 16th state last year. it raised concerns about the wider spread of bird flu. officials say the risk to the general population remains low. on wall street, stocks ended mixed ahead of the anticipated jobs report. the dow jones industrial average slipped about 125 points. the nasdaq gaining nearly 100 points. the s&p 500 closed in positive

territory. hip-hop music mobile irv -- irv gotti has died. he founded murder inc. with his brother in the 1990's and went on to produce dozens of hits. ♪ >> he helped launch the careers of artists like jar rule and a chante and worked with other stars like dmx and jay-z. murder inc. was once investigated for allegedly laundering drug money. irv gotti, irving lorenzo, was charged with -- but eventually acquitted. no cause of death was given but he battled diabetes and suffered a stroke last year. he was 54 years old. still to come. the trump administration's aggressive dismantling of efforts to fight climate change. the engineering skills of beavers offers insights into managing water resources. the so-called poet of havana uses his music to address

politics and pain. ♪ >> this is the pbs news hour from the david rubenstein studio at weta in washington and in the west from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. amna: a broad federal funding freeze announced by the trump administration last week blocked by a pair of judges is destabilizing a wide range of programs despite the court interventions. over the past few days, some health care and head start programs report they've had sporadically been blocked from funding, forcing some to shut down. lisa desjardins has been investigating what has happened and joins us to share what she has found. who is being affected? >> news hour has been doing three days of reporting to figure out what is happening. one area, head start programs around the country, and

community health care centers. both are funded in large part by the department of health and human services. there have been funding problems in the last week and day. head start programs have felt these funding freezes. many still feeling it. 20,000 kids and families the affected program. community health centers in nine states over the past few days have been blocked from accessing and getting funding. some programs are focused on early learning and families. some spent all of this money and they need to recoup it as part of the program. in washington state, head start programs have had these blocks, they call them rolling blackouts. >> it created an incredible amount of chaos across our community. a lot of programs, even until yesterday, were worried about paying rent, paying staff. at the end of the day, when

impacts are the kids and the families. they depend on childcare. if childcare is closed, they miss work. amna: there is a program that had to close because of this. some programs can access funds, some cannot. i want to talk about the other major program we are looking at. the community health centers across the country. ali rogin has done incredible reporting. it has happened in at least nine states, one virginia. the center was closed because of the problem. the issue is the payment management services. it has these health centers waiting for their funds. one is the ceo that said this is happening with no warning. >> all, it went down with no notification, nothing. we had to hear from health centers texting me to let us know we can't get into the pms system again.

i say that with the asterix that we are in a life of uncertainty. and we have frankly never been in this situation. >> community health centers in this country serve one in 10 americans and one in five people in rural america. amna: this comes after the funding freeze proposal. it has been blocked by the courts. do we know what is behind these blocks? >> we asked hhs. at first it seemed this is where it was coming from. for these groups, that is where the issue is. hhs responded last night and again, writing some payment management system users experienced technical issues last week. the system is back up and running. users may experience flags due to the high volume of requests. they say something happened with the system and they are trying to process all of the people that were backlogged. what we know is lest we come of

the funding freeze went in place. trump administration folks said it was not supposed to affect these programs. they felt it temporarily, so the switch went off a mother and back on. now some think the system could not manage that. however, we don't know that is the case because lorber rollo lopez has been asking the trump administration are you following the court orders to reinstate the funding? she has not gotten a response. we don't know what is happening behind the scenes. amna: the funding freezes affecting many programs who had funding restored. what about the wider programs who felt the same jolt? >> there is a universal programs concerned about grants and funding. some are individual tailored like women's and children programs that help mothers and fathers dealing with low income salaries. one of those is a woman who lives in new york city with a

two-year-old to six-year-old. she depends on the bigs and other healthy food she can get. the funding grandpas, the fear put her in a bad situation because so much for her is at stake. >> threatening to take away fruits and vegetables, eggs, milk and formula from babies is the worst i can think of. it is not acceptable. it is not only about the stress, it is being able to maintain our health and being able to live and survive. that is really at stake here. >> it is a climate of fear. trump allies want to look at a program like that. amna: you have looked at a number of other programs as their efforts to end diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. >> it is not clear what is applying. programs around the country are having unexplained blocks on some of these.

they think it may be related to the d.e.i. executive orders. one program was a domestic abuse shelter in pennsylvania. the manager said d.e.i. means they are including everyone. especially vulnerable populations. they have a d.e.i. site on their website. it is important to make sure to include everyone. that is a big steak item for them. we know there are problems in funding elsewhere, including with mental health programs, substance abuse programs, dhs, usda, all of these funding program blocks we are watching. amna: lisa desjardins, thank you. ♪ geoff: many of president trump's nominees have been confirmed by the senate at a breakneck pace.

cash patel, nominee to lead the fbi, will have to wait another week for a key senate committee vote. democrats on the judiciary committee forced a delay over objections to his plans for mass firings at the fbi. >> the fbi director's loyalty must be to the american people, the constitution, and the rule of law. but mr. patel has made it clear his loyalty is to the president. he has threatened to come after, those are his words, in the past critics. even the plan to rip move as many as 3000 employees who investigated in the capital attack and president trump's e case the fbi directors maken

nominee is unqualified. they say he is a partisan political actor, or worse, a comes -- conspiracy theorist who would turn the fbi into a tool of donald trump's retribution. what about his background, past work, past public comments suggests democrats are wrong? >> he was a prosecutor, public defender, chief of staff of the department of defense, he's held high-level government positions. interestingly, he was a victim himself. the fbi is ripe for reform. it has been weaponized in ways we have never seen before with christopher wray. the fbi went after catholics, parents who show up to school board meetings, the hunter biden laptop story. i think that is why you have seen approval ratings plummet for the fbi because of the political nature of their leadership. a lot of great men and women work for the fbi. i think cash patel will come in with the experience and reform agenda to get it back to what it should be.

fighting violent crime in this country. geoff: in his 2023 book, he included a list of 60 perceived trump critics democrats argue functions as an enemies list. if he's not going to be focused on retribution as they see it, why the need for a list of potential targets? >> that was their characterization of a footnote in his book. he was clear in his testimony he's committed. he came to the country as an immigrant, he believes deeply in the american experiment. that people should be treated fairly under law. having that perspective, the abuses over the last four years, going after catholics and parents had political enemies, he wants to put a stop to that. pam bondi wants to put a stop to it. she will be sworn in as attorney general. there will be an opportunity to get back to a place the law is being applied fairly, that we don't have two tiers of justice we saw under the biden

administration. >> want to ask about the potential of mass firings, especially thousands of employees who worked on the investigations into the capital attack. many agents involved worked in the fbi counterterrorism division. these folks investigate threats not only in the u.s., but from overseas, groups like isis, hamas, al qaeda. the list goes on. the fbi agents association says the mere threat of these firings distracts and destabilizes the fbi workforce. are you worried it makes the country as a result less safe? >> honestly, look at the approval rating that has plummeted for the fbi because of the weaponization of the biden administration, it kept people away who may not want to belong to a stalin like political retribution campaign. that is what we have seen, those are the facts. what cash patel testified about i thought was refreshing. he set about one third of the

fbi sarin washington, d.c. right now. get those agents across the country to take on violent crime, human trafficking. cities across the country could use that sort of help. regardless of the fear mongering taking place about what will happen, that is not what will happen. if there are people in the department of justice who have a political angle and want to subvert our justice system by settling political scores, of course they should be dismissed. that is not what we are talking about. people doing counterterrorism, they will have their jobs. we want to reward people for doing a good job. we should also make sure we don't have political acts -- hacks executing agenda. >> let's talk more about the changes. many of the rank-and-file within the fbi say there needs to be some changes made to the structure and management of the fbi. what kind of changes do you think cash patel will bring about? >> about one third of all of the fbi employees work in

washington, d.c. they need some people here. but it was a refreshing reform idea to say let's get those folks in st. louis, chicago, around the border where we see human trafficking from the cartels. a lot of good things the fbi can do. sadly, there has been a lot of distractions. >> before you were senator from missouri, you are the attorney general. i want to ask about this moment in time. president trump has a highly expensive view of executive power and a movement of conservatives who appear to be supporting or promoting the division of the presidency with almost no limits. how do you see the role of the executive and how do you see your role as a member of co. eagle branch of government? >> i wonder if you asked democrats about this because we had joe biden who bulldozed the

competition when he tried to forgive half $1 trillion of zip room court -- student loan debt. he tried it again and again and got slapped down. he charged osha, which was created to make sure forklifts beep when they back up, forcing the cobra shot on 100 million americans. >> i hear the point you're making, but joe biden is not president. >> i want to put this in context. democrats have somehow found religion on the separation of powers. what i can tell you is the executive branch, all of this trying to find waste, fraud, and abuse, the president has authority to do that in the executive branch. usaid was created through an executive order. it is important to reveal the facts. we should absolutely be reviewing abuse within the executive branch. that is what president trump is doing. geoff: senator eric schmitt of missouri, thank you. >> good to be with you. ♪

amna: the first two weeks alone of the trump administration have brought dramatic proposals and unprecedented changes in our systems of government. we begin a new series of interviews called on democracy. taking a step back to look at big questions around our laws, institutions, norms, and how they are changing. we begin with barton gellman, a longtime journalist and senior advisor at the brennan center for justice. a nonpartisan think tank at universities school of law. thank you for being with us. i want to begin with the tabletop exercises you and your colleagues ran in may and june, both democratic and republican potential presidencies. on the republican side, what would happen if trump came into office and made good on public promises and pledges he made, how the system of checks and balances would work. how have what you have seen in the last two weeks plus lineup

with those exercises? >> we did five different exercises. two were called everything everywhere all at once. those were the ones trump is going through with in which he's launching attacks on multiple fronts all over the federal government against the government itself. and he's doing so baldly in defiance of the law and in some cases, the constitution. these firing people he doesn't have the power to fire, or firing people without giving them hearings or reasons required by law. he tried to stop $3 trillion of payments congress had appropriated when it is congress under article one of the constitution that has the power, not the president. he's fired inspectors general. this resembles basically the worst case we had in our tabletop exercises. amna: was there anything you did

not include that you've seen in the last couple weeks that is particularly concerning? >> we did not anticipate that trump would offload so much presidential power on to a billionaire, elon musk. we did not anticipate a private citizen would be given access to the entire office of personnel management files in the treasury payment system that covers $3 trillion. we don't believe that is lawful. it will take time for courts to come to that conclusion. >> the kind of access to government and sensitive classified information has been described as, especially in regards to usaid as state capture. is it how you see it? is it easily replicable across other agencies? >> if elon musk is going to go

into any given agency and assert the power to take control of their computer system with system administrator privileges, that gives enormous power to retrieve, create, and even alter data. we don't know what he's doing with it. some of the data would be potentially valuable to elon musk's private interests. is he making copies, some of the data represents the questionnaires filled out by 4 million people who have clearances. in which they answer every kind of personal question there is. including what could be used to blackmail you. that is in these files he has access to. >> limiting some of musk's, halting the freezing of federal funds, are the courts here the

most robust guardrail? >> they are the only branch of government right now that is not fully under control of donald trump and the republican party. he's captured both houses of congress. although he's appointed a lot of judges in his first term. although he has a very friendly supreme court sitting on top. the judges are still -- judges appointed by multiple presidents, are still trying to enforce basic rule of law. trump is simply doing things that are flatly on their face illegal and seeing what happens. amna: if republican lawmakers aren't acting as the guardrails you expected to see, it will take a while to play out in terms of those cases. are there other guardrails you

saw in your exercises are expected to see that you have not yet? >> there are other guardrails, other points of leverage. trump really cares about public opinion and his polling numbers. he cares about the stock market. when he does something that crashes the market, he will pay a price for that. the idea that he would pardon all of the criminals who rioted and mobbed at the capitol on january 6 among more than 60% of americans disapprove of that. the fact he goes on to try to fire everyone in the justice department who participated in prosecuting those people, also very unpopular. i'm expecting there will be at some point a backlash against these lawless actions. >> we were talking about a

democratically elected leader in our president right now. half of all voters voted for him not despite what he said and promised to do, but because of what he said and promised to do. does it say to you america is in a strongman era, that all of these actions that concern you are what people wanted to see? >> some percentage of the electorate likes a strongman, authoritarians, the idea of let's cut someone who will cut through and the nonsense and get things done. it is always a minority. i don't think even a majority of people felt the country was on the wrong path, people did not approve of joe biden. people were very worried about things like inflation. but trump is not lowering the price of eggs. trump is firing the watchdogs whose job it is to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse in the federal government.

that is what he claims to be trying to prevent, waste, fraud, and abuse. i do believe there's a majority of americans who said i want the president to break the law. amna: barton gellman of the brennan center for justice. good to speak with you. geoff: among the many other big moves taken by the trump administration, boosting fossil fuel development has been a priority. in a series of actions, president trump is following through on his promise not just to ramp up oil and gas production, but to sharply curtail any effort to deal with climate change. william brangham has been tracking this enjoins us. we have seen major action the first two weeks on the trump administration energy policy. what are the biggest moves so far? >> he's been going gangbusters

on many fronts. a myriad ways he's been doing this. through federal government agencies like the epa, through his appointments -- appointment, cabinet secretary, interior, and executive orders. on day one, he declared an energy emergency, which basically tells every federal agent to do everything they can to ramp up oil and gas production on federal lands. trump also pulled out of the paris climate accord. the global treaty to bring down emissions. he's back out of that again. he's targeted biden's push for electric vehicles. the list goes on. there's a lot of efforts to go on this front. >> we know with president trump, personnel is often policy. for the people in his administration backing him up? >> the argument his cabinet secretaries and he has been making all along is the biden administration held back domestic energy production. oil and gas production in america is at record highs.

it became so under the biden administration. all of trump's cabinet picks are you biden did not do enough on the front and promised to do differently. lee zeldin at the epa, chris wright at energy, the interior secretary doug burgum, who described during his confirmation hearings how the trump administration will do things differently. >> when energy production is restricted in america, it doesn't reduce demand. it shifts productions to countries like russia and iran, whose autocratic leaders not only don't care at all about the environment, but use revenues from energy sales to fund wars against us and our allies. president trump's energy dominance vision will end those wars abroad, make life more affordable for every family in america by driving down inflation. president trump will achieve the goals while championing clean air, clean water, and protecting our beautiful lands. geoff: this raises the question of what it means for president

biden's achievement on the inflation reduction act. >> president trump, one of his first actions was an executive order that deals with terminating the green nude deal. that is how he refers to these efforts. that ordered all federal agencies to pause any of the money appropriated under the inflation reduction act, or the infrastructure act. they had to clarify later to say it was only climate related angst, but that is a large part of the bill. this order means a lot of the projects that were underway all over the country and the jobs connected are on hold. that could be things like battery manufacturing plants, a $5 billion loan to cleanup school buses and make them electric. we talked to julie mcnamara at the union of concerned scientists. here's what she said this means. >> we have seen projects have to be stopped, companies starting to reconsider whether or not they will move forward.

that is a terrible outcome for our country. and it has these long-lasting ramifications. by having this coordinated effort to send this chill that this is not a place we will welcome new investment is of deep concern. >> there is uncertainty as to how effective trump will be gutting that act. but this historic effort to ramp up batteries, wind, solar, nuclear to address climate change, all of those things are in doubt. geoff: this is unfolding as we get more warnings about the climate, the world's hottest january on record. last year was the hottest year on record. >> there is a new study from jim hansen, one of the first scientists to ring the alarm bell in the 1980's. he has a new paper that is a bit of an outlier. he has been vindicated very often in the past. warming is accelerating faster than we anticipated.

the goal of the paris accords to hold warming below two degrees celsius compared to industrial times. that is virtually out of reach. and some of these more serious climate tipping points might be unavoidable. whether you dismiss his paper are not, his concerns are affirmed by the vast majority of scientists that our use of coal, oil, and gas is changing the climate to a dangerous and unpredictable way. we talked with crisfield, here's how he describes it. >> the evidence for climate change and the human role in causing the warming in recent decades is overwhelmingly clear. there ae no democratic or republican thermometers ignoring the problem. does not make it go away. it just means we have a more serious problem to deal with by the time we finally get serious and adjusting it. >> president trump doesn't think

we need to do this. he thinks the concerns about climate change are overblown. and he is directing his administration. now the federal government to act accordingly. geoff: william brangham. thank you. ♪ geoff: now a very different kind of story about the environment. beavers and the dams they build are not always embraced, they can be faced with problems like flooding, crops, and other damage. there is growing recognition they are building a kind of natural infrastructure that helps with water management, wildfire mitigation, and the climate. miles o'brien went to see the beavers at work during their busy season and has this story for our ongoing coverage of the environment called tipping points. >> this team of scientists is gearing up to get waist deep on

a quest to better understand natures hard-working engineers and climate warriors. beavers. they invited me along and i was eager to join them. >> going deep into the world of beavers. >> leading this happy band of beaver believers is emily fairfax. she is an eco-hydrologist and assistant professor of geography at the university of minnesota. we met in southern wyoming. >> we are about to go into the beaver wetlands. >> in the national forest. we are going into a beaver complex. which is a huge beaver neighborhood. maintained by one beaver family. >> before we began our track, we got an advanced peak thanks to emily's prowess as a drone pilot. >> right now i'm flying over the corridor the beavers have

dammed. we are seeing quite a butte -- quite a few beaver ponds. >> in 2020, a wildfire ripped through here. there is still evidence. did great trees finding the edges of a lush linear oasis. how long does the green swath go? >>, i have flown half a kilometer away along the path. it is beaver engineered. we think it is one family doing this work. >> one family? for more than a kilometer? >> yes. >> we did not see them, but they sure are busy. the parents made for life. they have a litter once a year. anywhere between one and six kids. >> in a given family at a given time, expect somewhere between six and 10 beavers with the parent, teenage beavers, and the little kids. >> beavers build dams for protection. the water cover is in effect a defense against predators for a semiaquatic world. >> this is about having a

protected area to move around? >> yes. all about safety, protected area. if you look at the place from above, it is probably 14, 15 beaver dams and arrow that can go up and down the river corridor and stay above water 90% of the time, access food and building material and have a bigger area to rome. wax we were knee-deep in a pond that has captured her scientific interests. she and her team got to work. >> 11.7. >> the sponge. 94 centimeters. >> 0.0. >> the measuring of the sediment, the things you are doing, give us a sense of what you are after. >> there has been a lot of burning around the beaver wetlands, one of the things we want to know is how much sediment the pond is catching. >> the team often gets below the surface. at this pond in colorado,

snorkeling to see beaver engineering and the sediment traps. this dampens the causes and effects of wildfires. fax the most visually dramatic is the fireproof patch. we have mature pine trees, willows, the sediment capture, all sorts of different things continuing to provide benefits. >> the streams that flow through our the headwaters of the colorado. one of the most over utilized rivers in the world. the natural infrastructure beavers build can really help the river. >> every one of these wetlands is like a speedbump area delaying the water. especially as we see climate change and things get warmer, we have more rain and less snow, it is important to keep the water in the head longer. >> scientists estimate there were between 100 and 400 million beavers in north america before european migration. for a few centuries, beavers were trapped for their pelts and

killed as nuisances to near extinction. beavers can cause unwelcome flooding to property and crops. video showing the dams and lodges gleefully blown to smithereens all over social media. but land managers are now more likely to see them as an ally. and they are taking some unusual steps to try to bring back more beavers. scott miller is the aquatic resources program lead for the federal bureau of land management. he is at the center of a campaign to restore streams and rivers and the lush vegetation that borders them. to do that, he's thinking like a beaver. building beaver dam analogues. this is a handbuilt structure trying to mimic what beaver naturally do.

we first drive the post into the ground. we put in some sod, now we are weaving willow and aspen branches between the poles, and we are putting more sod in. they can be built anywhere from half hour to two hours, depending on size and complexity. >> they are building 100 at the muddy creek watershed near rawlins, wyoming. a lot of little structures instead of a few big overbuilt ones. >> this system is starting to naturally recover. be it would take a decade and we are trying to get the same amount of improvement by coming here and doing this work. >> todd chant and his father before him have been working this patch of land along muddy creek for more than 20 years. when they first got here, it was trampled by overgrazing sheep. >> we were standing here 20 years ago, what would it look like? >> i remember coming down here and it would be a dust cloud when the cattle come down.

there was no vegetation. >> the improved roads, built fences to allow for grazing, encouraged the growth of willow trees, and built the beaver dam analogues. do your fellow ranchers, are they skeptical of this? >> any of them potentially on the fence, they must not like grass. we are shading the creek, cooling the water temperature. cows were happier when they got a cold drink of water at 90 degrees. >> tom has two sons. rodeo stars in the making. he hopes they will one day succeed him in running the ranch. he thinks natures engineers will make the succession a little easier. for the pbs news hour, i'm miles o'brien near rawlins, wyoming. ♪

amna: has cuba stands to become more isolated, many are leaving. by one estimate, there's a 10% drop in population in recent years. though actual numbers are higher. those who stay on the island are essentially shut off from family in the u.s. senior carlos curbelo has spent decades putting the pain of that political divide into songs. here's jeffrey brown with his second report from havana for our series canvas and art in action. exploring the intersection of art and democracy. ♪ >> one word says nothing, sings carlos. at the same time, it hides everything. a renowned and beloved cuban singer-songwriter, he's a master of imagery and language.

singing wards as in one of his best-known songs that have spoken loud and clear if often through metaphor and poetry to several generations of cubans. >> it is a mystery. but the power of words, the power of a verse, the power of song, the power of a book, that is a blessing. his words can transform, they can read your soul and your heart, they can shake your bones and change her life. that cannot be lost. >> we recently joined him as he rehearsed at his havana home studio. and talked about his unusual life in music. a star in a country he loves but has often been at odds with. >> i've dedicated myself to know the problems of my people because for me, songwriting is not a job, it is therapy.

i don't write songs, i go crazy. this is my way of saying all i feel based on what i see, read, and here. the story has always been like in my generation a dissatisfied youth constantly questioning things. >> born in 1963 and raised in havana, his first love was theater. in his 20's, he turned to music. a cuban genre of folk single -- singer songwriters that emerged in the 1960's and addressed social issues. he learned from as was embraced by cuban stars such as silvio rodriguez and problem milan is. he was part of a post revolutionary that experienced the full brunt of the so-called special period of the 1990's after the dissolution of the soviet union and the end of the their support provided to cuba leading to near economic collapse.

moving in a one-party communist regime still run by the heirs of fidel castro, he song of both the country's beauty and promise, but also its problems. a dissent not directly political, but for all to hear. >> what really amazes me is so many people find their voice through my songs. but to be honest, i did not write them with that purpose. my songs almost always ask questions. why to win, why not. >> do you see yourself as a political songwriter? >> no, i don't like politics and i don't like politicians. politicians should all be on animal planet. but i do have societal concerns. therefore they are political. that is why for 43 years i have written songs that make politicians uncomfortable in cuba and outside of it.

i agree with bob dylan when he says he's not interested in spreading one message only. that is how i think. >> through the years, cuban authorities originally banned his music from the radio and kept him from performing. his last public concert in 2022 came after mass protests a year earlier were quickly put down. at the concert, chance of freedom were heard in the audience. >> i did not ask them to shout. but i'm also not going to ask him not to shop. be free. that it did -- not sit well with the politicians. >> the beauty of his music, power of his songwriting, captured younger generations. including keyboard player rodrigo garcia. >> sometimes the people were

thinking how is he telling those feelings in the songs? people were like -- i was in a lot of carlos' concerts. he was amazing because thousands of people knowing the songs but at the same time they were waiting to say what the songs were saying. >> he was expressing what they were feeling. like. >> he's been championed by american musical stars including jackson brown, who recorded a translated version of his song. they performed together in havana in 2015. he's performed in this country sporadically, including on pbs from lincoln center. seasons of cuba with joshua bell. where he sang walls and doors with dave matthews. he's also been denied visas. caught in the middle of

u.s.-cuban political strife and travel restrictions. in 2009, guitar in hand, he even lobbied on capitol hill for more open relations. today he said this. >> while politicians can or cannot come to an agreement, cuban and u.s. artists and writers can achieve what politicians have not been able to in 60 something years. that is what walls and doors is about. and my song, there is a verse that says and still the grandparents from both shores cast the blame in the sea. and we know this 60 something years, any have profited from the industry of hatred to make money. the worst thing is the people are the ones who pay for the blame. >> in his song family photo, he mourns the broken cuban family and individual family split by those who left than those who

remain behind. in recent years, migration from the island has accelerated, driven by a teetering economy, soaring inflation, and loss of tourist dollars with renewed restrictions on travel to the island. >> i love my country deeply. i deeply love the generations that live with me in my country. it pains me deeply to see how so many friends leave every day going away searching for a possible uncertain future. this is also what my songs talk about. this could be a wonderful prosperous country by opening the doors and the soul and the individual freedom of all cubans to develop all of their talent in their own land. >> for that to happen, many dinosaurs must disappear. >> is the idea or the hope of democracy in cuba possible? is it just a dream? >> it is a dream, but not only

is it possible, it is necessary. all human beings have different thoughts. there is no perfect society. neither is the cuban one with a single party, single opinion. if you don't think like me, you might go to prison. no. a society has to develop based on diversity of opinion of criteria. democracy in cuba is possible, it can be. i have faith and i dream it will be and i hope it is very soon. >> carlos sang for us one of his signature songs, my havana. havana, havana. if only a song were enough to give you back everything time took from you. ♪ for the pbs news hour, i'm jeffrey brown in havana, cuba. ♪

geoff: online right now, you can see more from jeffrey brown's trip to cuba. he spoke to some of the youngest musicians about what music means to them and the role it plays in their lives. that is on our youtube page. that is the news hour. geoff: for all of a sudden the pbs news hour, thank you for spending part of your evening with us. >> major funding for the pbs news hour has been provided by. >> cunard is a proud supporter of public television. on a voyage with cunard, the world awaits. a world of flavor, diverse destinations, and immersive experiences. a world of leisure and british style. all with cunard's white star

service. ♪ >> the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. and friends of the news hour, including leonard and norma, and the judy and peter blum kovler foundation. the ford foundation. working with visionaries on the front line of social change worldwide. and with the ongoing support of these institutions. and friends of the news hour. this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you.

hello, everyone, and welcome to "amanpour and company." here is what is coming up. a shock proposal from trump to clear out and take over gaza. we get reaction from palestinian