geoff: good evening. i'm geoff bennett. amna: and i'm amna nawaz. on the "news hour" tonight, three years after russia invaded ukraine, the u.s. breaks with european allies and sides with russia on a vote at the u.n. geoff: the trump administration's latest firings

at the pentagon and irs raise new concerns. amna: and a los angeles suburb with a history of black homeownership confronts a difficult future after wildfires burn much of it to the ground. >> give us the opportunity to build this community again. we don't want to lose it to developers and change the whole look and feel and the being of altadena. ♪ >> major funding for the pbs "news hour" has been provided by. >> on an american cruise lines journey, along the legendary mississippi river, travelers explore civil war battlefields and historic riverside towns. aboard our fleet of american riverboats, you can experience local culture and cuisine, and discover the music and history of the mighty mississippi.

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this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. amna: welcome to the “news hour.” a grim anniversary was marked today in kyiv and across europe, three years after russia's full-scale invasion of ukraine. geoff: today's commemorations come as the u.s., under president donald trump, has decisively changed its stance on the war. it's sparked deep concern across europe and beyond, as the president has sought to deflect blame from russia for its invasion, and criticize the ukrainians and their european allies. on the ground in kyiv today more than a dozen western leaders

marked the third in of her three of russia's full-scale invasion. notably not present was a representative from the u.s. it was a symbol of a dramatic shift in u.s. policy since president trump took office again. mr. trump has promised to end the war but has so far largely left ukraine out of the negotiations. that is after last week calling ukraine's president a dictator while leaving the fate of continued u.s. funding for kyiv in question and refusing to blame russia for the war. today president trump was in washington with one of america's closest european allies, french president emmanuel macron. they met virtually with leaders of the world's seven largest economies to discuss the war. some of those leaders were in the room with ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy who appealed directly to mr. trump. >> it is essential that we work together so that we negotiate with russia, the strongest defenders of freedom are at the table. america, europe, and ukraine. geoff: later in the oval office

president trump said the u.s. is close to reaching a deal that would give the u.s. access to ukraine's critical minerals and other resources as part of wider negotiations aimed at ending the war. zelenskyy has said the deal would have to come with concrete security guarantees. president trump did not confirm if that was part of the agreement. mr. trump also said russian president vladimir putin would accept european peacekeepers in ukraine to back a potential cease-fire. >> he will accept it. if we do this deal he is not looking for more war. i specifically asked him that question. geoff: and that he would visit putin in russia if an agreement was agreed to end the fighting. putin has said he has not discussed resolving the war in detail with mr. trump. the new york the u.s. voted with north korea, russia, iran, and another of other moscow-aligned countries against a resolution condemning russian aggression in ukraine.

the european-backed resolution, which does not carry any enforcement, still passed overwhelmingly. the latest evidence of the growing rift between the trump administration and u.s. allies over continued support for ukraine. ♪ amna: president donald trump has picked a loyalist, dan bongino, to be second-in-command at the fbi. one who grew a massive online following spreading lies about election security, including that the agency he'll now help oversee tried to rig the 2016 and 2020 elections against trump. geoff: lisa desjardins is here with more. there are some fbi officials who say that the deputy director position is in many ways more important than the director role because the deputy oversees the day-to-day operations of the agency. what does it mean that dan bongino, someone who has never

been in fbi agent, will occupy this role? lisa: he is very well known in the maga world. he has repeatedly pushed lies. when you talk about dan bongino you have to talk about the podcasting audience where he pushed this lie that the 2020 election was stolen. specifically he said stolen by the fbi. he has often gone against the fbi, railed against it as being an agency that is political, and at one point he called to disband it. separately he spread misinformation about covid. for that reason youtube took him off of youtube. dan bongino does have law enforcement experience. he worked as a secret service agent, in new york police officer, but he has no xp -- he has no fbi experience. he is a trump appointee who worked at fox news and will oversee that operation. 38,000 fbi agents right now. that is a lot of day-to-day operations to run.

critics are concerned not just because of his lack of experience, but if you talk to fbi agents like we did, his conspiracy theories, the pushing of that, and the way he has talked about trump hyperbolic late, disqualify him. >> you gotta be objective if you're gonna investigate violations of the law. you just have to. you can't come in with preconceived notions because that will influence the outcomes of these investigations. lisa: this will be the least qualified number two that the service has ever seen, along with the least qualified number one they have ever seen in kash patel. amna: you are also covering other things. what is elon musk asking for? lisa: we are going to show you what an email he sent out said, asking all federal workers to email roughly five bullet points of what they did in the past week. he said they had to get that back by tonight at midnight east coast time.

i want to say on camera while we are not showing the email itself. it is because musk is known to put coding in his emails that reveal our sources. he said if you do not respond, you could be fired. and you see that there. there has been a lot of confusion. do employees need to respond to this or not? the office of personnel management gave out clear guidance saying no. you will not be fired if you don't send in what you did last week. but this has been completely chaotic. some agencies told their employees including homeland security and the fbi, do not respond. others said you have to respond. workers just do not know how to act or what to do on their jobs. geoff: where do things stand with the mass firings and court cases in general? lisa: right now by my count 27,000 workers have been told they have been fired or will be

fired. a lot of news today so i will go through some important things. at usaid there were more firings. we had a reduction in force which means career workers, 2000 of them notify their jobs will end in april. for probationary workers, those who have been on the job less than two years, a ruling in the past bit of time where six of those probationary workers were found by the office of special counsel to be restored to their job. the office of special counsel found what is happening to probationary workers is illegal, that it cannot be held. the issue is this was just six workers. waiting are thousands of others waiting to see if that ruling can affect them. the office that held that is trying to get there. and a federal judge today found that doge cannot have access to treasury and education systems, personal data for student loans, and for federal employees. the judge ruled it is illegal.

another big case. geoff: thanks to you as always. lisa: you are welcome. ♪ amna: today's other headlines begin in washington, d.c., where a federal judge declined to give the associated press its spot back in the white house press pool, for now. but district judge trevor mcfadden, a trump appointee, urged the government to reconsider its ban of the wire service. the a.p. sued three senior trump aides for barring its reporters from the oval office, air force one, and other areas after the a.p. stood firm in using the gulf of mexico in its coverage, with an explanation that president trump has moved to re-name the body of water the gulf of america. the a.p. says the constitution's first amendment prohibits the government from punishing speech. the white house argues that access to the president is a privilege, not a right.

the supreme court today declined to hear a pair of cases from abortion opponents over their right to protest near abortion clinics. the appeals center on laws in illinois and new jersey which allow for buffer zones between protesters and clinics. anti-abortion activists say the laws violate their first amendment rights, and that such restrictions aren't necessary since the supreme court overturned roe v. wade. cities say the laws help limit disturbing behavior outside of clinics. the court did not provide an explanation for declining the appeals, though conservative justices samuel alito and clarence thomas disagreed with the decision. apple says it will invest $500 billion in the u.s. over the next four years. that includes funding for a new factory in houston, texas that will make servers to power apple's ai offerings, plus new commitments to film tv shows and movies for its apple tv-plus service in the u.s.

apple will also create 20,000 jobs across the country. the company has not said how much of today's announcement is new funds, and how much may have already been in the works. on wall street today, stocks started the week on uneven footing. the dow jones industrial average added about 30 points for a minor gain. the nasdaq dropped more than 230 points as major tech companies came under pressure. the s&p 500 also ended lower on the day. this sunday's oscar race is looking wide open, after the screen actors guild awards delivered a pair of against-the-odds wins. >> and of the winner goes to, "conclave." amna: "conclave" won best ensemble, the equivalent of best picture. the thriller about the selection of a new pope beat out awards-season darling "anora." and timothee chalamet nabbed best actor for his portrayal of bob dylan in "a complete unknown," upsetting "the

brutalist" star adrien brody for the honor. conclave's win comes as the vatican announced nightly prayers for the ailing pope francis. the 88-year-old is battling a complex lung infection, though the vatican said today that recent lab tests showed a slight improvement in his condition. the secret service agent who jumped onto the back of john f. kennedy's limousine after the president was shot in 1963, has died. clint hill was riding on the running board of a car directly behind kennedy's when the first shot rang out. in visuals from the scene, he's the man in the dark suit pushing a distraught mrs. kennedy back to her seat as she tried to crawl away. hill received secret service awards, and was promoted for his actions that day. but, in later years, he spoke of his profound guilt over not being able to save the president. clint hill was 93 years old. and the music world has lost a giant. roberta flack, a grammy winning

singer best known for her pop and r&b hits in the early 1970's, died today. a piano prodigy from an early age, flack was catapulted to fame in her 30's thanks, in part, to clint eastwood. >> ♪ the first time ever i saw your face ♪ ♪ amna: her cover of the first time ever i saw your face appeared in his 1971 movie "play misty for me," earning a grammy for record of the year. >> ♪ killing me softly with his song, killing me softly ♪ ♪ amna: she followed it up killing me softly in 1973, which also won the grammy. that made her the first artist to win back-to-back grammys for best record. reflecting on her hit more than 20 years later, flack spoke of her pride that the song endures. >> you can hear it all over the world to this day. so i am just so grateful that a

song that i am associated with has lasted for over two decades. amna: those two decades have of course stretched to more than five. flack also used her platform to sing about racial and social issues throughout her career. in 2022, the singer announced she had als, commonly known as lou gehrig's disease, which left her unable to perform. roberta flack was 88 years old. still to come on the “news hour,” a center-right party wins germany's elections as the far-right doubles its support. tamara keith and amy walter break down the latest political headlines. and black homeowners fear they could be priced out of their los angeles suburb after devastating wildfires. >> this is the pbs “news hour” from the david m. rubenstein studio at weta in washington, and in the west from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. geoff: late friday night,

president trump fired the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, air force general c.q. brown, breaking with decades of precedent as part of a broader purge of senior military leaders. defense secretary pete hegseth also announced the administration would replace the top lawyers for the army, navy, and air force. here's hegseth explaining the decision on fox news sunday. >> ultimately we want lawyers who give sound constitutional advice and don't exist to attempt to be roadblocks to anything that happens in their spots. geoff: for perspective, we turn now to retired rear admiral james mcpherson. he served as undersecretary of the army and as the army's general counsel during the first trump administration. it is great to have you here. let's start with president trump 's decision to fire the chairman of the joint chiefs. brown is the first in the job since 2007 to not serve a full term and there is the added detail that around, a four-star

general, is being placed with a now retired three-star general dan kane whose military service does not include any of the key assignments that were identified in law as prerequisites for the job. you will need to get a waiver. how do you interpret this pic? james: it is not surprising that he fired general brown. that was rumored in the media many times before the inauguration and even afterwards. perhaps even of greater surprise was his chief -- firing of the chief of naval operations who was the first female admiral the navy had as chief of naval operations. it speaks of a profound concern that perhaps the president is putting in place individuals who he can be assured will be loyal to him and not loyal to the constitution or loyal to the rule of law. that is the greatest concern i think many people have. geoff: there is also his

decision to fire the military top lawyers known as jags. you had a 25 year career in the navy and served as its top lawyer in uniform. help us understand what those lawyers do in providing independent legal advice to senior military leaders. james: it is profoundly disappointing to hear the secretary of defense described the men and women of the services court, some of the finest attorneys this country has, many of whom would forgo lucrative civilian careers to serve their country. the answer the call of their country. they are truly embracing a lifestyle of service. to hear the secretary of defense describe them in a term that is not only crude but vulgar, is intolerable and frankly, shameless. it also evidences a lack of understanding of what they do.

their role is advising that warfare commander as that commander puts together an operational plan. their role is not one of a roadblock but one that facilitates the successful completion of emission within the bounds of the law. they are not the ones that, if you will, say shoot, don't shoot. they are not the one to promulgate the rules of engagement that guide our warriors. but they advise the commander who is the one who makes those decisions. geoff: secretary hegseth has often spoke about storing what he calls a warrior ethos to a military he views as having become too soft and bureaucratic. so when he says he views the jags as obstacles and removing them as extensively removing an obstacle, what are the implications of that? james: there is a common down nominator -- a common denominator of those he removed. they were all selected and nominated by president biden and confirmed during the biden

administration. clearly the commonality is they came into office during the biden administration, and that is why the secretary wanted to get rid of them. so he could put his own people in there. what is interesting is he directed the service secretaries to nominate names for him. the law requires the service secretary convene a board that consists of senior officers who will review the records of the eligible officers, captains and colonels, and make a recommendation to the secretary of the next general. they report back to the white house and then it is the president's decision. it will not be the secretary of defense of the fences decision it will be a recommendation that comes from a board. something also secretary hegseth in his time with the fox news interview did not understand. geoff: and yet a president has the right to assemble a team of military leaders as he chooses. supporters of the president have been quick to point out that

truman ousted douglas macarthur, obama ousted stanley mcchrystal. do they have a point or do you see something missing in their justification of president trump 's actions? james: i see something missing and what i see missing is they did not take issue with any decision the officers made. there was no misconduct involved. they simply dismissed them because they were not perceived as being loyal to the president. my fear is they are putting people in place for when that fateful day arrives and the suggestion is made, as it was in the oval office, should we just shoot them? my fear is there will not be a secretary-general who says no, we can't. my fear is there will be officers in the room who say sure, we will shoot them. geoff: admiral james mcpherson, thank you for joining us again. wwe appreciate it. james: thank you. ♪

amna: the internal revenue service is in the process of terminating more than 6000 employees, around 6% of the agency's overall workforce. it comes as elon musk's team, known as the department of government efficiency, continues its efforts to cut the federal workforce. our white house correspondent, laura barron-lopez has more. laura: amna, these firings come in the middle of tax filing season and target relatively recent hires. experts warn that this change will hurt the irs' ability to investigate ultra-wealthy who are evading taxes. today, in a new york times opinion piece, former irs commissioners who served under both democratic and republican presidents including ronald reagan and donald trump, called the mass layoffs a mistake. they write that the firings, quote, will shift the burden of funding the government from people who shirk their taxes to the honest people who pay them. and they added that it will impede efforts by the irs to

simplify the tax filing process for everyone. to discuss i'm joined by one of the authors, daniel werfel, former commissioner of the irs who resigned last month, more than two years earlier than expected. thank you for joining us. daniel: good to be here. laura: an irs commissioner from every administration from ronald reagan to present signed onto this op-ed. why do you see these layoffs as a mistake? daniel: we got together as former commissioners and tried to understand why this was being undertaken. we understood it was being undertaken in the interest of cost efficiency. this made no sense to all of us, all the previous commissioners who have experience in the private sector. from our experience, we know that the bottom line is not just about cutting costs, it is also about maintaining and increasing revenue. so by cutting the irs and depleting the ability of the u.s. government to collect revenue, we are really becoming

less cost-efficient, not more. we wanted to put that right up in front in our op-ed and ask the question, why cut the part of the government that collects the revenue if you are going to try and be more cost efficient? laura: what kind of impact could this have on americans, especially in this season, and could it make it easier for tax cheats? daniel: i understand they are really focusing on those who are collecting overdue or past due balances. so immediately you will see a reduction in revenue coming into fund the u.s. government. but also, a big layoff like this right in the middle of tax filing season is likely to be very disruptive. and it is absolutely important that the irs during this time is answering the phone, is maintaining those appointments in the walk-in centers, and really important, processing tax returns and getting people refunds as quickly as possible. all the commissioners, we all talked about the fact that

during filing season we try to not increase risk, we tried to maintain a lot of stability to maintain that people are getting their refunds on time. and a giant layoff like this is bound to increase risk and it is very concerning. laura: the white house says treasury secretary scott bessent thinks there should be more firings on top of the current ones. and all of this elon musk says is being done under the banner of fraud and waste which you mentioned. do you think there is a case for streamlining this agency? what is your response to those claims of fraud? daniel: i think there is an opportunity to modernize. during the transition would not was at the irs, i talked to the trump transition about opportunities to automate and add technology. but there is work to be done before you start terminating employees because you are going to lose performance if you are not ready to automate while you're cutting staff. so i do think there is opportunity in the future to

streamline the irs but it has to be done thoughtfully. i would not do it during filing season. you raised the question about fraud. there is absolutely too much fraud in the government. there are too many tax scams and the irs workforce has worked tirelessly to try and address that fraud and those tax scams and there is a lot of expertise and people at the irs that you want to maintain to help protect people from these scams and to protect taxpayer dollars. but here is the thing about fraud and error. i have been involved in fraud and error for pretty much my entire career, trying to combat it. i have lessons learned. one of the lessons learned is we don't know when payments are going out the door that they are fraudulent or not. in order to get smarter about it, you typically collect more information about the person or the organization receiving the payment -- laura: about american taxpayers. daniel: about american taxpayers

or businesses. and you take more time and do more diligence to validate whether the payment is in error or not. and when we have tried as a government to collect more information from the public to get a better sense of whether a payment is fraudulent or not, there has rightfully been pushed back. i don't want the government to have all this information. . i don't want this additional paperwork burden. i don't want the government to take so long to make the payment. so a balance is made where in the interest of speed and interest of reducing paperwork burden on americans, there is e rror in payments that go out. and work has been done over time to reduce that error. but if we are going to eliminate fraud and error the way the trump administration is describing, tough questions need to be presented on what does that mean in terms of the information you are going to collect from americans and businesses, and does that mean delays in payments that are going out. laura: i want to ask you about elon musk and his doge workers

getting access to the irs system which contains personal tax information for individuals and businesses. why should taxpayers care that musk, who is unelected, who says he is policing his own conflict of interest, why should they care about him having access to such material? and who typically has access to it? daniel: what the government does when somebody comes in, whether it is an employee or a contractor, and says i need access to this information, the government just does not hand it over. they ask questions like why do you need this information? how long do you need it for to achieve your objective? what is your proven trustworthiness to have this information? that is exactly what the government is doing. people are coming in and asking for a broad amount of information about every taxpayer, your bank account information, your address, your household makeup. before that information is just handed over, civil servants in

the government are telling us, tell us what you need it in for how long. and if the answer does not match up, if the answer is well, we don't have a good explanation but we need everybody's information, then these civil servants are going to ask more questions before they hand the data over. as a citizen, i am glad that the government is asking those questions before they just knee-jerk hand of the data over. laura: daniel werfel, former irs commissioner, thank you for your time. daniel: thank you. ♪ amna: the man poised to become germany's next chancellor accused president trump of being indifferent to europe's plight and blasted washington's interference in his nation's general election yesterday. friedrich merz has begun work to forge a governing coalition, having ruled out working alongside a far-right party supported by the trump

administration. from berlin, special correspondent malcolm brabant reports. malcolm: germans went to work this morning in a country that was radically different from the one they inhabited 24 hours ago. not only had germany taken a giant stride to the right, but it had also elected a chancellor who is a straight talker. and isn't shy about telling america what he really thinks. >> for me, the absolute priority will be to strengthen europe as quickly as possible so that step by step, we can really achieve independence from the usa. i never thought i would have to say something like that on a tv program, but after donald trump's latest comments in the last week, it's clear the americans, or at least this group of americans, this government cares very little about the fate of europe. malcolm: and merz laid into the trump administration for elon musk's strident support for the anti-immigrant alternative for germany party.

>> i have no illusions about what is happening in america. just look at recent events, including elon musk's interventions in the german election campaign. this is unprecedented. the interventions from washington were no less dramatic and brazen than those we have seen from moscow. we are under massive pressure from both sides, and my absolute priority now is to establish unity in europe. malcolm: germany's new chancellor is a man in a hurry. he wants to establish a stable coalition as quickly as possible. his priorities are, security, the economy, and migration. and he says he's confident about doing a deal with the outgoing social democrats. he says germany needs a government that can act because the world isn't going to wait. but lars klingbeil, the joint leader of the social democrats, is far more relaxed. >> whether a government is formed, whether the spd joins a government, is not certain. these are decisions that will be made in the coming weeks and

months. malcolm: at the far-right of germany's political spectrum, alice weidel, the leader of the anti-immigrant afd, was jubilant at becoming the second most popular party. >> we are the people's party, we are stable, the second-strongest party in germany, we are on the rise. malcolm: and she accused the new chancellor of betraying the wishes of the german electorate. >> voters want a center-right government and it is ultimately up to the cdu whether they want to implement this. at the moment, it doesn't look like they will. friedrich merz has decided to stick to his stance of blocking the afd. we consider this blockade to be undemocratic. malcolm: even though the afd will not be part of the government, public relations consultant mizgin aslan fears their influence. >> my prime concern is that it leads to an increasing normalization of far-right and racist ideologies. and unfortunately, the other

parties, by jumping on this debate of the so-called migration crisis, also contributes to this normalization of this ideology and thereby will also contribute to an increasing atmosphere of hate and distrust vis-a-vis people that don't look stereotypical german. malcolm: merz wants to reassure people like mizgin, that by being tough on migration, he'll reduce support for the afd at the next election. but that means more controls in places like frankfurt oder, on the polish border. such checks violate the european union principle of freedom of movement between member states. but right now, germany's domestic priorities come first. for the pbs “news hour,” i'm malcolm brabant in berlin. ♪ amna: from boisterous town halls to an upcoming budget fight in congress, there is a lot to

unpack already in this week in politics. for that, were joined now by our political stakes duo, that's amy walter of the cook political report with amy walter, and tamara keith of npr. great to see you both. we have seen lawmakers returning to congress after holding some townhomes in their home districts, getting their first real time temperature check in this second trump administration . and they are seeing anger and frustration. here is just one example we have seen by congressman mark alford in kansas city, missouri. >> how many of them do you think should be fired without cause? >> you! >> there is a legal and proper way to downsize the government. >> guys, guys, guys, this is not a junior high cafeteria. amna: a lot of that related to the mass firings and the federal workforce and he is not alone. what do these republicans do now? amy: that is an excellent question. i think what they are looking at for the very first time does the

reality of all politics is local. even though they have been in many ways just talking in a more national -- have been on a more national focus for quite some time. which is if you look at the polling nationally, the idea of covering -- cutting government waste, of firing excess government workers sounds really popular. until it comes to your home district. now, outside of this area that we sit in here in washington, d.c., most congressional districts have maybe 2%, 3% of their total workforce is employed by the federal government. but that doesn't mean it is not going to trickle out into other areas, meaning the people that are there suppliers or their contractors, their families. here is another thing we know. angry people tend to show off not just at town halls but they show up to vote as well. so i think what republicans are trying to do now, we have been hearing and seeing some of the stories, trying to do carveouts

for programs for other priorities in her districts. trying to take those off the chopping block. that will be really hard to do. the other thing i heard him talking with one republican source is that what folks -- what republicans are really worried about is that it is elon musk who they see as -- the voters see as being a big part of this problem. that republican members have to figure out a way to message about musk being unelected, and that these voters coming in saying, hey, how did we give the keys to somebody we never voted for. amna: a number of republicans have seen this kind of anger, but a few democrats as well are facing anger in their town halls from their constituents for not fighting hard enough against this administration. take a look at what congressman paul tonko of new york faced. >> i was so proud that my representative was on the front line, right there.

[applause] but i thought about jimmy carter and i thought about john lewis, and i know what john lewis would have done, he would have gotten arrested that day. [applause] make them outlaw you! we will stand behind you, we will be there with you, i will get arrested with you. amna: what do you take away from all this? tamara: democrats are certainly frustrated. they are going out and they are protesting at tesla dealerships. of course they are going to show up to town halls where there members of congress are. democratic leaders have not exactly given them -- given democratic voters who are frustrated and angry and worried about the country, they have not given them a lot of hope. hakeem jeffries, the minority leader, he walked this back, but at one point he said there is not much we can do. the reality is democrats are in

the minority in the house and the senate. in the house in particular, the minority party does not have a lot of power to do much of anything. amna: meanwhile the context for all of this are the latest polls we are saying -- seeing. in two new polls, 47% and 45% approval ratings for president trump, 53% disapproval ratings. that is a flip from earlier this month from one poll. at the same time we are seeing other polls which shows mr. trump holding steady at 52% approval and a majority support for many of his individual policies. what do you take away from these numbers? amy: if you look at the average of all the polls taken since donald trump was first inaugurated until now, what you see is kind of a steady decline in his overall approval rating. a hike in his negative rating of about eight point. he has become eight points less popular basically in the last month. the other thing i'm looking

closely at, and i think will be really important as we go forward, remember in 2020, donald trump's overall approval rating was low but people gave him high approval ratings are how he was handling the economy. we saw this in the 2024 election as well. now what we are seeing, what i think is for the first time, opinions about donald trump's handling of the economy are now equally as underwater in the same way that his overall approval ratings are. i think what we are hearing from voters is they are not really particularly happy with the direction of the economy, which is obviously something trump ran on. we saw it in the data coming from the michigan consumer index this last week. voters are more pessimistic now about the economy than they have been since the fall of 2023. amna: tam, what is your take? tamara: a lot of the things president trump has been doing since taking office have very little to do with the consumer economy.

in terms of bringing prices down. he and musk have had this focus on slashing the government. they argue that indirectly eventually that could bring down the deficit and potentially bring down prices through some sort of magical nonexistent math. the other thing president trump has spent a lot of time doing is talking about tariffs. he did that again today. polls are showing that the voters, a majority of voters, agree with the vast majority of mainstream economists who say that raising tariffs is functionally raising taxes on the american people. and so trump's approach to the economy, which in some ways is keeping allies and adversaries off balance, is also keeping american consumers off balance at the same time that prices are not coming down. there are growing concerns about inflation. egg prices are still way up. the promises that de-regulation

and freeing up oil and gas, drill, baby, drill, will somehow magically bring down prices, that has not happened. trump is saying it will not be his economy until six or 12 months. but voters are beginning to look at the economy and have questions. one other thing to add. all of these federal firings could show up in the jobs report that comes out next month. amna: i have to ask you because republicans in the house have to pass a budget plan. we already have at least 11 republican lawmakers saying they have questions or concerns about some of the potential for medicaid cuts in particular in the proposal put forward by speaker johnson. they have a slim majority. with 11, the math ain't mathin'. amy: the speaker has to decide whether they hold this vote at all or whether they go back to the drawing board. but i think this is going to be the issue for the next, i don't know how many months.

the reality of having a very slim majority. if they want to pass all the things they want to pass, they have to make deep cuts into programs that are really popular. amna: we are going to be talking about this a lot more. amy walter and tamara keith, always great to see you both. thank you. ♪ the wildfires that burned parts of southern california last month will likely become the most expensive wildfires in u.s. history. they also burned a scar through historically black neighborhoods in altadena. william brangham recently visited with families there who are still sifting through the debris, and are concerned about what altadena will look like going forward. >> oh my goodness. william: this is a drive that diane and her family never imagined they would have to make. >> oh my goodness. william: they are returning to the charred remains of their

beloved neighborhood in altadena , california. >> their w chimney fellhole -- their whole chimney fell. william: their house was divided by last month's eaton fire. her parents about this house in the 1960's, becoming some of the first black homeowners in this part of altadena. diane was raised here and then she and her husband richard raised their own kids here, including their daughter lisa. >> right before the fire, we were in the process and talks of having lisa and her husband have the house. william: three generations. >> yes. william: now, their -- they are gingerly stepping through what is left of the past, both their own family's and their community 's. >> it was a lot knowing that our own home was gone but then to see the devastation that we are

talking about an entire community, blocks and blocks and blocks and blocks. it was really too much to bear. william: richard and diane are now staying with lisa and her husband and their two kids in nearby pasadena. for lisa, the fire stole not only the family's refuge, but also the place of countless memories, where she took her first steps, and then years later, her son did the same. >> i cried. i literally collapsed to my knees and cried. it is just an unbelievable feeling. william: like so many families here, they are unsure about what comes next. lisa's lease is up in a few months. the mortgage on their house still comes due every month. they had insurance but it is not clear if it will be enough to rebuild. while the eaton fire destroyed

more than 9000 structures in all, it hit black homeowners in altadena particularly hard. a recent study found that almost half of black households had their homes destroyed or severely damaged compared to 37% of non-black households. many of those homes can be traced back several generations. >> the history of altadena as it pertains to black people is very significant. william: jazmine started the greenline housing foundation. it is a nonprofit that works to increase homeownership in minority communities. she says during the civil rights era, altadena became an increasingly popular destination for black families. >> redlining still existed in altadena, but it was much friendlier to black people purchasing, especially in the 1960's when the fair housing act was passed. you had a significant increase in the black population in altadena. so this was, for a lot of black people, a haven and a place of

solidarity and a place where they could actually access homeownership and the wealth building it affords. william: it is a legacy that continues. about 75% of black residents here own their homes, nearly double the black homeownership rate nationwide. but even before the fire things were changing. as the cost of housing in l.a. rose, more people flocked to this community of 42,000 people just north of pasadena. today, altadena is less than 20% black, down from over 40% in the 1980's. >> the black population in altadena had been declining significantly because of gentrification, because of increased home values and prices, because of speculative investment. but this threatens to decrease the population even more significantly. william: as rebuilding gets underway in altadena, there is a concern in this community that real estate developers are going to swoop in and buy up all of

this property and somehow change this integrated, diverse community into something that people here don't recognize anymore. >> there is a saying among the black community now. don't move out of altadena. if you move out, you will never get back in. william: michelle's family was lucky. their home survived the fires, coming right to the edge of their yard. >> it was burning so hot. william: he says divine intervention held the flames back. but he still cannot believe what happened everywhere else. >> for me, it is our home. but when i was driving by, i couldn't even recognize what street i was on because all the houses were burned down. william: he says the damage from the smoke and all the toxic particles make living in the house unsafe. >> everything was burnt up, whether it was the cars, the chemicals from the cars, the paint, aspestos, different

materials floating throughout the air. it's in ou over the floorsr house, all over the floors. william: michelle's daughter says they will never leave altadena. her great first came here back in the 1930's. >> considering jim crow and what it would mean to move to california and to build a life for yourself, as a black person in this country, is just such a great investment, such emotional strength to be able to come here and believe in that. there is no other place like this to me in the world. and i am not interested in finding another one. i am interested in growing everything replanted here. >> thinking about that and the thought of rebuilding, what is needed? william: jasmin's nonprofit is working with black families who lost their homes and want to rebuild, and those who don't plan to stay but don't want to

sell to outside developers. >> we have generations of blood, sweat and tears threatening to be wiped out if we are not able to come alongside and support the rebuilding. specifically as a black community. william: the eaton fire not only destroyed black homes, but also several black-owned businesses. this is what is left of rhythms of the village, a learning center that celebrated african culture and music. >> we are not going to give up so easily. i tell those developers, those capitalists, good luck. they can try but these are some resilient people. william: the store's owners are a father and son. >> this fire came here and devastated our community. and it is turning us around. each one is helping another. everyone is helping. william: right after the fires, they set up a donation space in his driveway, collecting and dispensing clothes, shoes,

toiletries, all for free. >> anybody out there who is in need right now is welcome to come here and take whatever you see that you need. william: while their store is gone, he says this effort and others like it across the area gives him hope about altadena's future. >> we have our free boutique here but this is being replicated all over the community. so, seeing us share resources at this level, i am very optimistic that we can rebuild. >> we are going to remember the beautiful memories, and also let's just look to the future. >> this is what is going on around the tree. william: despite losing everything, diane and richard are hoping to rebuild in altadena. they say it is the people who will make this area back into what it once was. >> give us the opportunity to build this community again.

we don't want it to be released to developers and change the whole look and feel and the being of altadena. william: for the pbs "news hour ," i am william brangham in altadena, california. ♪ geoff: with the oscars this coming sunday, it's a good time to learn about the essential people in hollywood we don't see, often referred to as working below the line. makeup and special effects artist katie middleton is one of them. she has worked on oscar-nominated films and tonight shares her brief but spectacular take on navigating an unpredictable industry. katie: i get asked for people how to pursue being a makeup artist, especially tv and film. and there really isn't a specific path. you just have to want to do it and you have got to go for it. in film and television, my job and a lot of other crewmember's jobs are considered below the

line jobs. >> do you have any idea why it is called that? katie: because we are not important. [laughter] this is why i am below the line, because i'm not supposed to be on the side of the camera. i grew up in richmond, bridging you with a family of artists. my mom and my grandmother were painters. we were always drawing and coloring. my brother and i used to make comic books. i went to college for painting because i wanted to make a living creatively. when i graduated, i actually had a job working in accounting for a couple years. so i went back to school for makeup and special effects in vancouver. >> what was the accounting stuff like? katie: it was a lot of numbers. [laughter] i moved to los angeles because i thought that is where i had to go to work in film and tv. it was a struggle for a while, just working on any kind of student film or short film or whatever i could find. i got into the makeup world because i wanted to do prosthetics. i was really interested in creating characters and special-effects.

prosthetics are used in everything from small wounds, to huge creature characters, to really anything we glue on the face or body to change somebody's appearance. the industry slowed down a lot when the unions went on strike and we were all out of work for at least six months. you are seeing a lot of friends leave the industry and had to find other jobs. we all found side jobs to get by. i took the time and set up a permanent studio in my apartment, and it has really made a difference. being able to just pick up a brush and paint for a few hours. being a freelance artist is a roller coaster and you never know when your next job is going to come or what state or country it will be in. in the last couple years i have worked everywhere from egypt to uruguay, new jersey, i go to north carolina next week. the community is one of my favorite parts of the job. you spend more time with the people you're working with then you do at home with your families. it is definitely not for everybody but i like the excitement.

it is an adventure to me. my name is katie middleton and this is my brief but spectacular take on working in the film and tv industry. geoff: and you can watch more brief but spectacular videos online at pbs.org/newshour/brief. and that is the “news hour” for tonight. i'm geoff bennett. amna: and i'm amna nawaz. on behalf of the entire “news hour” team, thank you for joining 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.

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contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy.] >> you're watching pbs.

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