WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Good evening.

I'm William Brangham.

Geoff Bennett and Amna Nawaz are away.

On the "News Hour" tonight: The family of a Palestinian-American murdered in the West Bank by Israeli settlers speaks out about his death and the escalating conflict.

Rural public media stations face an uncertain future as the Trump administration moves to slash funding.

And Canadian tourism to the U.S. drops dramatically in the wake of harsh rhetoric from the president.

HAROLD WHITE, Canadian Tourist: I have many U.S. friends, American friends that I will not be seeing in person for a while because of this.

But that's c'est la vie, as we say here in Quebec.

(BREAK) WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Welcome to the "News Hour."

There's word that some Syrian military units are withdrawing from the southern city of Suwayda tonight after days of deadly fighting.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced today that all parties, including Israel, agreed to a cease-fire.

But the day began with Israeli strikes in Syria's capital, part of an operation that Israel claimed was to protect a minority group within Syria that it considers an ally.

Today, the heart of Damascus shaken by huge explosions.

Several were captured live on TV, including this one reposted online by Israel's defense minister with his message: "The painful blows have begun."

The Israeli strikes targeted the headquarters of Syria's Defense Ministry.

Another hit the hills near the presidential palace.

Israel is scaling up its intervention as unrest in Southern Syria continues to rage.

The conflict started in Suwayda, where back-and-forth kidnappings and other attacks between bedouin tribes and Druze militias escalated this week, prompting the Syrian government to send troops into the predominantly Druze region.

A U.K.-based war monitoring group estimates more than 250 people have been killed.

JAMES JEFFREY, U.S. Special Representative for Syria Engagement: The Syrian government tried to mediate between the Druze and these bedouin tribes.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: James Jeffrey is a former envoy to Syria during the first Trump administration.

JAMES JEFFREY: The problem is their own troops are as ill-disciplined as the various militias that they're trying to get between, and that led to shooting on all sides and a very unclear situation and a very dangerous one because it involves outside powers, in this case, Israel.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Today, Israel vowed to continue its attacks until Syria withdraws its forces from Suwayda.

GIDEON SAAR, Israeli Foreign Minister (through translator): Our interests in Syria are known, first to maintain the status quo in the Southern Syrian region, the second thing, to prevent harm to the Druze community, with which we have a bold and strong relationship with the Druze citizens here in Israel.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Since the fall of Assad, Israel has launched hundreds of strikes on military sites in Syria and seized much of the Golan Heights border region.

Israel sees the Druze as a loyal minority.

Many of those in Israel serve in the Israeli military.

Today, hundreds of them crowded at the border to protest the violence in Suwayda.

Some even crossed into Syria.

MAJD SHAER, Golan Heights Resident: I have a big family there, that they suffer a lot there.

They have been killed.

And it's hard for us to stand here not doing anything.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: There are splits within the Druze themselves, but a prominent Druze faction has vowed to continue fighting despite today's cease-fire.

The U.N. Security Council will address the conflict tomorrow.

Also in the Middle East, an American aid organization in Gaza says 20 Palestinians died in a crowd surge at one of its distribution sites today.

It's the first time the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has reported deaths at one of its locations.

The injured were pushed to a hospital in the southern city of Khan Yunis.

The GHF says 19 people were trampled and one was fatally stabbed.

It blames Hamas for stirring chaos, but provided no evidence.

Witnesses say guards caused panic when they closed the gates to the site, trapping the crowd in a narrow entrance.

AHMAD ABU OMRA, Wounded at Aid Distribution Site (through translator): Each one of them was standing with their weapons and standing watching us, firing pepper spray at us while we were suffocating, and they pushed us down.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Also today, Gazans mourned the lives lost in the latest round of Israeli airstrikes.

Health authorities say at least 54 people were killed across the territory, including more than a dozen children.

Israel says it targets only Hamas fighters and blames them for operating in residential areas.

Meantime, in Israel, a second vital partner in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition is quitting the government, leaving him with a minority in Parliament.

The ultraorthodox Shas party said today it's against a proposed law that would require its supporters to serve in the military.

They have long been exempt from military service.

Shas says it would not push to dissolve Netanyahu's government, but it's the second ultraorthodox party to quit this week over the same issue of military service.

Ukrainian officials say at least 15 people were injured after Russia launched attacks overnight on four cities.

That included Vinnytsia in Western Ukraine, where firefighters were still battling blazes by morning.

Ukraine's Air Force says Russia launched 400 drones and a ballistic missile as it ramps up an aerial campaign ahead of a new September deadline set by President Trump to reach a cease-fire.

The U.S. has pledged to send more weapons to Ukraine and threaten sanctions if the Kremlin can't reach a peace deal.

Here at home, President Trump lashed out at his own supporters today over his administration's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case.

Appearing alongside the crown prince of Bahrain, Trump blamed -- quote - - "some stupid Republicans" for siding with Democrats over what he called a big hoax.

Earlier on social media, he wrote: "Let these weaklings continue forward and do the Democrats' work, because I don't want their support anymore."

Last week, the Justice Department and the FBI said that no more files would be made public about the deceased sex offender, which enraged a portion of the president's base.

The Department of Homeland Security confirms that it sent five immigrants it says were convicted of serious crimes to the African nation of Eswatini.

Officials say they are from Vietnam, Cuba, Yemen, Jamaica, and Laos, and were convicted of various crimes, including murder, burglary, and raping a minor.

The move comes after the Supreme Court last month lifted restrictions on such third-country deportations.

The Eswatini government said the men are being held in isolated units and that they will ultimately be sent back to their home countries.

On Wall Street today, stocks ended higher after President Trump denied reports that he's moving closer to firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell.

The Dow Jones industrial average added more than 200 points, or about half-a-percent.

The Nasdaq rose about 50 points on the day.

The S&P 500 also ended in positive territory.

And the largest piece of Mars ever found here on Earth has sold at auction for more than $5 million when counting fees.

The 54-pound chunk was discovered in Niger in the Sahara Desert in 2023.

It had been blown off the surface of Mars by a massive asteroid strike and traveled some 140 million miles to Earth.

The sale was part of an auction of rare geological and archaeological objects in New York, which also saw a juvenile dinosaur skeleton sell for more than $30 million.

Still to come on the "News Hour": new legislation aims to create a more stable environment for cryptocurrency, but questions remain; an Idaho farmer pushes back on immigration raids and argues for a new look at immigration policy; and a symphony honors the passage of marriage equality as its future is increasingly in doubt.

There's been a surge of attacks on Palestinians by Israeli settlers.

And on Friday, a 20-year-old Palestinian-American was beaten to death in the West Bank.

Saifullah Musallet is now the fifth American to be killed in the occupied West Bank by Israeli forces or settlers since the war in Gaza began.

As Stephanie Sy reports, the U.S. is now demanding accountability.

STEPHANIE SY: The body of a Florida native lifted above a throng of mourners in the West Bank, the scene Sunday, one all too familiar in the Palestinian territories, a procession of pain for the latest victims of Israeli settler violence.

A family friend closes the eyelids of Palestinian-American Saifullah Kamel Musallet.

He was only 20 and worked at his father's ice cream shop in Tampa.

He'd been in the West Bank for a few weeks for a family visit.

Last Friday, more than two dozen masked Israeli settlers attacked the nearby town of Sinjil, burning fields, throwing rocks and taking lives.

Musallet was beaten to death while protecting his family's land.

Relatives say settlers and Israeli soldiers prevented ambulances from reaching Saif for some three hours.

Killed in the same attack, 23-year-old Palestinian Mohammad Razek Hussein Al-Shalabi, Saif's friend.

He was found dead in an olive grove, shot in the chest.

A relative blamed Israeli policies for his loss.

SAMER AL-SHALABI, Relative of Mohammad Razek Hussein Al-Shalabi's (through translator): It's a continuous crime and continuous policy of the occupation to try and force Palestinians to leave their land.

The whole world is witnessing this crime, which all Palestinians are suffering from.

STEPHANIE SY: More Palestinians were injured last month in settler attacks than in any month over the last two decades, according to the U.N.. And there have been over 700 settler attacks just this year on Palestinians or their properties, nearly a 15 percent increase from the same time last year.

The town of Sinjil, where the killings occurred Friday, has been tense since Israeli forces began erecting a 16-foot-high barbed wire fence around the town in late April, reportedly cutting locals off from their lands and livelihoods.

But a stronger statement came from American Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, posting on X.

A longtime staunch supporter of Israel, the ambassador asked for an aggressive investigation into what he called Musallet's murder, adding: "There must be accountability for this criminal and terrorist act."

Since the war in Gaza began, five Americans have been killed in the West Bank.

No one has faced prosecution in any of the killings.

I'm joined now by Saifullah Musallet's cousin, Nizar Milbes, who is currently in Ramallah in the West Bank.

Nizar, first of all, thank you for joining us.

And I'm so sorry for the loss of your cousin.

Tell me what you know about what happened on Friday night, where Saif was and what happened leading up to his death.

NIZAR MILBES, Cousin of American Killed in West Bank: So for the last several weeks, the Israeli settlers have been encroaching on our lands, destroying property.

And so our town, Mazra'a ash-Sharqiya, is a town that has about 65 percent American citizens.

Saif was attempting to access his land.

There's been coordinated ambushes by settlers that have encroached on the land, and he basically was attacked just basically trying to access his land.

STEPHANIE SY: Tell me what the family is going through right now.

NIZAR MILBES: I mean, they're obviously devastated and profoundly sad, but they have very strong faith.

They believe that this is God's will, but obviously they're very devastated.

He was a few weeks away from his 21st birthday.

He was full of life.

And he was just an amazing young man.

He was very, very -- had a very precious, kind, loving soul that you will ever meet, very well mannered, raised with profound morals.

He was a normal American young man, loved baseball, was a huge Tampa Bay Rays fan, and actually had just went to a game with his uncle prior to arriving.

And they're devastated.

STEPHANIE SY: I wonder if you will go into how much recent Israeli security operations, especially in Sinjil and that area, have affected livelihoods and sort of the overall sense of access to one's land in that area?

NIZAR MILBES: You know, the Israeli army frequents the area.

They're really there to protect the settlers.

And so a lot of people are intimidated.

There's not too much -- there's a lack of trust with the communities out here because they feel really just abandoned.

STEPHANIE SY: Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed in West Bank violence and settler attacks in just the last few years.

And the attacks have been escalating.

But when an American is killed overseas, it's expected more will be done to seek justice.

Do you and the family have that expectation?

And what should the U.S. and Americans be doing?

NIZAR MILBES: As much as we trust in that the American government is there to protect the citizens, it's ultimately failed.

We hope that this time it's different.

We have gotten a call from the ambassador to the U.S. ambassador to Israel that promised an investigation, but fell short from guaranteeing that he will have the American law enforcement themselves be part of the investigation.

So we're not too optimistic.

STEPHANIE SY: And is there anything else that you would say Americans can do from afar to support you or your family?

NIZAR MILBES: The best thing to do right now is for Americans to demand an investigation.

Unfortunately, if you look at the statistics, only 3 percent of settler attacks have ever had any results of prosecutions for the perpetrators.

So we hope that this time is different, given that the circumstances of his death, the fact that he was beaten, and he was unarmed, and he was basically just on his land.

There was no confrontation.

He wasn't attacking anybody.

And we just hope that this time the outcome is different.

STEPHANIE SY: Nizar Milbes, thank you so much for joining us on the "News Hour," and sorry again for your loss.

NIZAR MILBES: Thank you for having me.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Among the programs targeted for cuts in this rescissions package is the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, or CPB.

It's the independent nonprofit created by Congress to distribute federal funds to non-commercial TV and radio stations across the U.S. Today, it funds more than 1,500 public stations, many of which produce local news, music shows, but also buy national content from NPR and PBS.

Collectively, public media stations give 99 percent of the U.S. access to public broadcasting.

Nearly 250 of those stations are considered rural stations.

Joining us to discuss what's at stake with these potential cuts is Tom Abbott.

He's the general manager of KFSK, the public radio station based in Petersburg, Alaska.

So, Tom Abbott, tell us a little bit about your community and the station and who you serve.

TOM ABBOTT, General Manager, KFSK Radio: Well, KFSK is located in the central part of the Southeast Panhandle of Alaska.

We're on the coast of British Columbia, on an island.

We're accessible by air or boat only.

It's primarily a commercial fishing fleet here with a population of 3,400.

And we have a 24/7 service that provides companionship to people, vital news and information, broadcasting, assembly meetings live, school board meetings, hospital board meetings.

And then there's the lighthearted just everyday things of who's celebrating a birthday today.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: I know you also do local news, national news.

You also play an important role with regards to public safety.

Can you explain that?

TOM ABBOTT: In the event of an emergency, we are the one that is going to receive the alert, whether it's coming from a national source, a state source, a regional source, or, if it's local, we're the ones that are firing it off.

And then we become the public information officer in the event of that emergency to relay the pertinent and important information to the public from the first responders of whatever that emergency may be.

And, recently, it was about two years ago on a Halloween evening when there was -- we had a week of heavy rain and the mountainside here had a slide, a landslide on it, and it blocked off the one road that we have, cutting the island in half.

We were the ones on the air that night telling people to stay clear of that area while the workers were there clearing the rubble.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: If these cuts go through coming out of Washington, D.C., what does that mean for your ability to do all of these things you're describing?

TOM ABBOTT: Well, it's going to make it very difficult for us to continue providing a meaningful local service here, because 30 percent of our budget comes from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting; 60 percent of our budget is our personnel cost.

The other things that are sort of static expenses that we can't do without, paying the electricity bill, the heating in the wintertime, the upkeep of the building, the upkeep of the broadcast equipment, it's all very expensive, and those are pretty much sort of a static budget.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: You're in Alaska, which is - - because of the sparse geographic nature and people spread out, public radio and TV are particularly important, but you're also -- there's other parts of the country in the South and the West that are very much the same.

What is the argument that you make if someone asks you as to, why should we be funding public media?

TOM ABBOTT: I will take anyone on a tour of this area and you will go to blank spots or dead spots where there is no cell phone coverage here.

And it's not very far.

It can just be as matter of three miles away.

And the FM signal Is delivered to that area, but the cell phone coverage is dead in that spot.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: You live in a community that is -- Republicans outnumber Democrats quite a bit.

And there has been an allegation that Republicans largely make that public media is biased and taxpayers shouldn't support it.

I know that's been an issue with regards to donations for your own station.

How do you respond to that critique?

TOM ABBOTT: Well, I like to sit down and talk with people one-on-one and hopefully have a good conversation about that, because, sometimes, they have got a point.

And I will grant them that.

There have been times where I could see their opinion on it or their point of view on a particular piece.

Overall, it's very good reporting.

But I believe that it's the best service we can provide here.

We have had tremendous support in this community.

I mean, it was 2-1 voted for Trump over Harris in this most recent presidential election.

But it's about 2-1 that also support KFSK as far as a conservative or a liberal goes.

The service that we provide is vitally important.

And that's why I think we do get support.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Tom Abbott, general manager of KFSK in Alaska, so great to talk to you.

Thank you very much for your time.

TOM ABBOTT: Thank you.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: More Canadians come to America than tourists from any other country.

Last year, Canadians made over 20 million visits to the U.S. and spent more than $20 billion here.

But, this year, many are not coming to America, as I saw firsthand on a recent trip to Vermont right near the Canadian border.

In a normal summer, the Kingdom Trails in Vermont's Northeast kingdom near the Quebec border would be teeming with Canadian bikers.

But executive director Abby Long says this season has been a rough ride.

ABBY LONG, Executive Director, Kingdom Trails: We have seen that 50 percent decline in our Canadian members.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Twenty-five miles away, at Hill Farmstead Brewery, business is off by a third.

BOB MONTGOMERY, Hill Farmstead Brewery: We just had a large festival last weekend and 50 or 60 of the ticket holders just did not come.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Last year, 20 million Canadians visited the U.S. That's over a quarter of all the tourists who come here.

But in June, car crossings to America dropped by 33 percent.

That's the sixth consecutive month of decline.

Air travel has also plummeted.

So why are Canadians staying away?

DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: Frankly, Canada should be the 51st state.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Most offensive to northern neighbors like Julie Morrison has been President Trump's rhetoric.

JULIE MORRISON, Canadian Tourist: This threat of annexation by this very powerful militarized ally, we took it very, very seriously.

And, honestly, it's frightening.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Morrison has happy memories of her many American vacations, but now she's staying home.

JULIE MORRISON: We don't have a lot of tools.

And, well, tourism is one of the tools that we have.

HAROLD WHITE, Canadian Tourist: I feel that I have been slapped across the face by this president.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Quebecer Harold White has vacationed in Maine for the last six decades.

This year, he canceled his annual trip.

HAROLD WHITE: And I have many U.S. friends, American friends that I will not be seeing in person for a while because of this.

But that's c'est la vie, as we say here in Quebec.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Jay Peak is a mountain resort just a few miles south of the border.

In wintertime, typically, half their seasoned pass holders are Canadian, most of them French speaking Quebecois.

That's clear even in summertime.

STEVE WRIGHT, President and General Manager, Jay Peak Resort: The signage that we have here is mostly all bilingual.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: General manager Steve Wright has proof... STEVE WRIGHT: I have the maple leaf here.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: ... that the bonds here run deep.

STEVE WRIGHT: My dad is Canadian.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Literally in your blood.

STEVE WRIGHT: Big connection, not just the dollars and the cents, but the DNA.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Even so, as the ski season wound down here and it came time to renew, many longtime Canadian season pass holders said no.

STEVE WRIGHT: We are 30 to 35 percent off.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: And you're sure that this is overall their antipathy to what's coming out of the White House?

STEVE WRIGHT: Well, yes, as much as I guess you can be sure of anything.

I called 100 households myself, Canadian households who had purchased season passes last year by this point who have not yet purchased.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: You called them directly?

STEVE WRIGHT: I called them directly, personally.

I got through to probably 70 percent of them.

And to a household, they referred back to the 51st state narrative as being emblematic of the reason that they're not coming.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Other areas of the resort have also been hit.

STEVE WRIGHT: We have already seen 30 percent of our Canadian golf groups cancel.

We do 42 weeks worth of hockey tournaments.

We're expecting that business to be off upwards of 40 percent by the end of the year.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Tourism across this northern part of Vermont is dependent on Canadians, yet they are nowhere to be found.

Normally, the Vermont highways in summertime are full of cars with Canadian license plates.

Here we are in summer on the road We haven't seen any.

Their absence affects even non-tourism businesses.

ABBY LONG: What's devastating is, when they come, there's an economic impact to our community.

Towns will benefit positively.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Sure, because they eat and shop and sleep and... ABBY LONG: Gallons of maple syrup.

(LAUGHTER) WILLIAM BRANGHAM: At Hill Farmstead Brewery, the Canadian beer enthusiasts who have come this year have spent less.

BOB MONTGOMERY: The tariff situation means that someone buying beer from us just coming for the day, they will pay not just the provincial tax, but they will now pay a 25 percent additional tariff.

They're paying 43 percent above cost to bring beer back.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Wow.

Wow.

BOB MONTGOMERY: And that... WILLIAM BRANGHAM: I mean, your beer is delicious, but, I'm sorry, that might be a real deterrent.

BOB MONTGOMERY: I appreciate it.

It is a real deterrent.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: And it's not just Americans who are feeling the pinch.

Just steps across the U.S.-Canada border in Quebec, Philippe Bachand's duty-free shop should be bustling this time of year.

PHILIPPE BACHAND, President, Philipsburg Duty Free: But, right now, it's very disappointing.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Bachand says Canadian business is down close to 50 percent.

For now, he's squeaking by.

PHILIPPE BACHAND: We did not lay off anybody, but it's -- we need to be careful in ordering and all that.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: But smaller duty-free shops along the border are on the brink.

PHILIPPE BACHAND: Four to six store are planning to -- if it's going on, they will close by the end -- by fall.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: To close for good?

PHILIPPE BACHAND: Yes, yes, after 30, 40 years of existing.

We're here on the border with our little white flag, and it's not because of bad management that we're in this situation.

It's because of politics.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: In Burlington, Vermont, outdoor store owner Mike Donahue (ph) says they're doing what they can to entice their northern neighbors to return.

MIKE DONAHUE, Business Owner: Church Street, which is the pedestrian market, is being renamed through Canada or Canada Street to show our solidarity with our Canadian neighbors.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: At Kingdom Trails, Abby Long has her own idea.

ABBY LONG: Free mountain bike day, free Canada day, where we shout to the rooftops how much we love them and encourage them to come.

And if they do choose to come, there will be a day in their honor, a free day.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Jay Peak offers so-called at-par pricing.

STEVE WRIGHT: We price obviously all of our products in U.S. currency, but we allow Canadians to buy in Canadian currency so they get the benefit of the exchange.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: But all these efforts may not be enough.

Canadian Harold White is spending his money elsewhere.

HAROLD WHITE: I'm just back from a lovely trip to Spain.

And my wife and I went on a five-hour drive east of Quebec City in the mountains off the St. Lawrence River.

It's a trip that we would not necessarily have done if we had gone to the U.S. for our usual vacation.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Canadian Julie Morrison grew up going to Vermont.

JULIE MORRISON: My family has owned property in Vermont all my life.

I learned to ski in Vermont when I was like 3 years old.

We hiked the long trail.

I mean, it's so beautiful.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: And yet her family has now resolved to sell their home there.

JULIE MORRISON: The process of selling this property for my entire family has been extremely difficult emotionally.

It's almost like we have to mourn this moment.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Back at Hill Farmstead Brewery, Bob Montgomery sympathizes with the Canadian boycott.

BOB MONTGOMERY: We actually admire it, to be can... WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Really?

Even though it's got an economic blow to your bottom line.

BOB MONTGOMERY: Yes, absolutely.

Our first outreach is, we completely understand and we look forward to you visiting again when you're ready to visit again.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: In the meantime, tourist-dependent businesses will just try to ride it out.

For the "PBS News Hour," I'm William Brangham in Northern Vermont.

It is a big week for the crypto industry, as Congress could pass a series of bills that would be the first to regulate this booming business.

Cryptocurrencies are a form of payment and an asset class which are created, used, and stored electronically.

They do not rely on any bank or government for their value.

Our Lisa Desjardins explains.

LISA DESJARDINS: Two key bills are up for vote.

The GENIUS Act regulates stablecoins.

What some see as the least risky digital assets because they're backed by real-world assets like dollars.

That would mean mainstream banks could increasingly use stablecoins.

The other bill, the CLARITY Act, regulates digital currency and assets overall, splitting oversight between the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodities Futures Trading Commission.

To help us understand what this legislation would do and its impact, we're joined now by two guests.

Patrick McHenry is the former chair of the House Committee on Financial Services and is now an adviser to financial companies, including some investing in crypto.

And Hilary Allen is a professor of law at American University and author of "Fintech Dystopia."

Thanks to you both.

Chairman McHenry, I want to start with you.

Basically, everyone wants regulation of this industry.

You helped write the CLARITY Act when you were in Congress, an initial version of it, to spark innovation.

But this is a very fast-moving industry, trillions of dollars at stake.

And it's confusing to a lot of Americans, as well as increasingly tied to our economy.

My question to you is, how does this bill make sure that the industry stays in check?

FMR.

REP. PATRICK MCHENRY (R-NC): Well, first, it defines, what is a digital asset?

Right now, you have the innovators or fraudulent actors defining what they call a digital asset or a cryptocurrency.

We need clarity under federal law.

The Europeans have it, the Japanese have it.

Most countries around the world have already defined this thing that's been around for 15 years.

And the United States is a follower here, not a leader in regulating digital assets.

So we need clarity of what it is.

We need a means of exchange, just like we have with securities, just like we have with commodities.

And we need a rules-based regime of how these things will be regulated.

That's what the CLARITY Act does, and it is a great first step in us regulating this innovation.

LISA DESJARDINS: Hilary, you're not a fan of digital currency and assets as they stand right now.

And you actually see this legislation as dangerous.

Why?

HILARY ALLEN, American University Washington College of Law: Well, to say this was unregulated beforehand, I think it mischaracterizes the issue.

Most crypto assets fit within the traditional securities law framework, and most stablecoins fit within the traditional banking law framework.

There's been a choice not to enforce those laws and instead put in place these lighter-touch regimes that legitimize the crypto assets by giving them a patina of regulation, but actually leave the American public worse off than they were before under the existing regulatory regimes.

LISA DESJARDINS: You heard that, Mr. Chairman.

Is this a patina of regulation that actually sort of just leaves a lot of loopholes for the industry?

FMR.

REP. PATRICK MCHENRY: No, we had four years of the Biden administration trying to kill cryptocurrency and crypto generally, and were unsuccessful at doing that.

They lost in the courts and the regulators were ineffective at ensuring consumer protections here.

So now Congress has to step in, provide rule of law and clarity under law, which has been lacking.

LISA DESJARDINS: Hilary Allen, what about those arguments that the U.S. is behind here in regulating this industry, that without more from Congress, that there will be further problems, both for the industry and for those any way connected to it, and that it's time to at least get something going here?

HILARY ALLEN: Well, to suggest that this law will create perfect clarity about the legal status of these assets, I think, is silly.

This law ties the definition of these assets to a moving target of a particular technology, which is going to evolve over time.

And in fact, we had a decent amount of clarity beforehand.

There was a degree of certainty that these crypto assets, including meme coins, were securities regulated through the investor protection regime that has stood us in good stead since the 1930s.

It's just not the clarity that the industry wanted.

LISA DESJARDINS: Chairman McHenry, we know the industry obviously has invested a lot in conversations about what this law should look like.

What to that argument that it is the industry that pushed the way this regulation ended up and did not want the SEC regulating it?

FMR.

REP. PATRICK MCHENRY: Well, the decision we made last Congress under my leadership in the House, the committee I chaired, was to actually give the Securities and Exchange Commission part of the powers.

Our attempt there was to bring clarity under law and make that divide between what is a commodity, what is a security, and what is a stablecoin and define it.

This seems like a sensible thing to do, whether or not you like the technology or hate it.

It should be separate from ideology and should just be a practical conversation, which it largely has been, a bipartisan debate on how to best regulate this thing that has been around for 15 years.

But the United States has been woefully behind in providing clarity under law.

LISA DESJARDINS: Just in our last minute or so, I want to ask both of you, what should people understand about this industry.

And starting with you, Hilary, you see risks.

HILARY ALLEN: I think you should know that this regulation or these laws are broadly deregulatory, not just for the crypto industry, but for traditional finance as well.

And they are taking us to the bad old days of the 1920s.

I think you should also know that most Americans do not own crypto, that most Americans have a vastly unfavorable opinion of crypto, and that this industry has absolutely driven this legislation.

And when we hear of bipartisan support, that bipartisan support is not coming because voters want it.

It's coming because vast amounts of money were expended by the crypto industry in the 2024 election cycle, 44 percent of all corporate expenditures on that election cycle.

LISA DESJARDINS: And Mr. Chairman.

FMR.

REP. PATRICK MCHENRY: This technology is here to stay.

Bitcoin is 15 years old.

Ethereum will be 10 years old at the end of this month.

This innovation is here to stay.

For those that are in opposition to crypto, they're howling at the moon for rising.

They're against technology and the deployment of new technology.

And what we're trying to provide here is a balanced approach so this innovation can happen here and can flourish here just like the Internet did; 1.0 and 2.0 happened because the United States got it right in regulatory policy and the deployment of that technology.

That's what's going to happen here with digital assets.

And this is going to be a great societal good over the long term and an innovation that will be powerful and helpful, especially in balancing the forces of artificial intelligence that is going to come to society very soon.

LISA DESJARDINS: Well, this was an exhilarating and important discussion.

Hilary Allen and Patrick and Henry, thank you to both.

HILARY ALLEN: Thanks for having us.

FMR.

REP. PATRICK MCHENRY: Thank you.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: President Trump's aggressive immigration enforcement is being felt across the country.

Immigration arrests have gone up in every state and more than doubled in 38 states.

The biggest increase is happening in Idaho, where, since January 20, ice has made more than 300 arrests.

One Idaho farmer, Shay Myers, who grows onions and other vegetables, is speaking out on behalf of his immigrant work force.

SHAY MYERS, Farmer: I know the undocumented workers that we're talking about deporting because I grew up in a small farming town.

I went to school with kids that were undocumented.

My kids go to school in a small town with kids who may not be documented.

If we're going to do things the right way, we need to think about the human, ethical side of mass deportation.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: And farmer Shay Myers joins me now.

Shay, thank you so much for being here.

You voted for President Trump.

He was very clear during his campaign that he would do the things that he is now doing on immigration, but you have been critical of some of these policies.

I'm curious as to why you chose to speak out.

SHAY MYERS: Yes, William, thanks for having me on.

I chose to speak out because it's wrong.

It's wrong for the people who have been here for decades upon decades and who contribute on a daily basis to every aspect of the U.S. economy, every aspect of the U.S. culture.

They're an important part of who we are.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: But that message, what you're saying in the Republican Party in particular, is not -- that's not a common theme that you hear.

SHAY MYERS: That is true.

It isn't a common theme, I think.

But in a lot of ways, whether it's left or right, whether it's Democrat or Republican, there's a very, very big misunderstanding about what it means to be an immigrant in the United States, what it means to be a falsely documented immigrant in the United States.

And so really the message needs to be spread to everyone so that they can understand it.

And certainly the right-wing Republicans have a hard time understanding, many of them, the reality of the contribution that immigrants play in the United States and the role they play on our farms and in our factories and in our hotels and in every aspect of the culture.

But the only thing we can do is to try and speak up and speak out.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Amongst the immigrant work force that you have, do you hear from them about -- I mean, how are they feeling in this moment seeing the news of these arrests around the country?

SHAY MYERS: You know, they're frustrated, they're scared, but, more than anything, they're feeling like they're being judged in a way that they never have before.

Just a few years ago, during the middle of COVID, they were deemed to be essential workers, essential to the survival of our country, right?

And we were praising farmworkers for what they do and the contribution that they made and the food that they provided us.

And all of a sudden, they're like criminals, right?

And so they have suddenly found themselves in a place where they don't -- that they're losing their footing and they don't understand why the harsh judgment when, such a short time ago, they were so important.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: The president at one point, sort of citing what you're exactly talking about, floated the idea of not targeting farmworkers, though His ag secretary, Brooke Rollins, recently said that's not the case.

What would you like to see done about immigration reform in this country?

SHAY MYERS: Yes, I mean, in that aspect, President Trump is right.

And Brooke Rollins didn't say that there wasn't a path to citizenship.

What she was saying is there wasn't amnesty.

And I agree with both of those sides.

As an advocate for immigrants, I want them to be able to feel comfortable, to be able to do their job, to be here in this country because they have done the right thing in contributing to our economy and to our culture and to our society.

But at the same time, we can't just give them their citizenship.

And the idea that someone who has proven that they have worked in the United States for several years, that they have been contributing and paying taxes and participating in that way should have a way to get a legal working status to be here in the United States, and that's partially because, if we don't have them, then we don't provide the food for people in this country.

And that's the part that people miss.

If we snap our fingers and every immigrant, undocumented worker is gone from this country, we will not eat in this country.

And it sounds like an exaggeration, but it is not.

We will not eat.

We will starve.

If tomorrow we said, hey, all of you that are illegal, you're not going to work, you're out of the field and you're out of the country, we won't eat.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: I hear everything you're saying, but let's just say you decide to hang up your farmer's hat and run for office in your own Republican Party.

You know you don't have a chance even getting through a primary talking like that.

How do we fix that?

SHAY MYERS: You know, I'm not sure that -- in this world anymore, I hope that I do.

Now, as a Republican, I'm not going to win.

But you're -- you're not incorrect there.

But I think as a commonsense citizen of this country, if I came to people, I think there's enough people from the center of the aisle, from both sides, whether they're a Republican or Democrat, that they would listen to what I had to say and they would understand it, because, on the far left, I have problems and, on the far right, I have problems.

But in the middle, there's a lot of people that understand that we need to fix this and we need to fix it badly for the economics of the country and for the ethics of the people.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: In addition to being what sounds like a very successful farmer, you also have a great social media presence.

And you sometimes turn your social media over to some of those immigrant workers.

Let's hear a little bit from one of those clips.

MAN: Every time you see food on your table, every time you see or you enjoy a really good steak, you should think about immigration as good, those jobs that sometimes you don't think about it.

We are grateful for this country.

Immigrant shouldn't mean bad.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: That appeal to both see the connections between our food and the immigrants who help produce it is clearly, as you have been saying, meant to humanize the people who are in this country helping us.

Who are you trying to speak to, putting those voices out there?

SHAY MYERS: You know, I'm trying to speak to the human heart is really what I'm trying to speak to.

Like, we all need to understand the contribution that these folks make and the necessity that we have as an economy, as a country to have them here.

Immigrants have been part of our system since the beginning of our country.

They have come, they have contributed and they have made a difference both for themselves and to lift up and improve our country.

And they're a necessary part of everything.

And I just want everyone to realize that that is the case.

And they're real people.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Shay Myers, farmer from Idaho, thank you so much for your time.

Really appreciate it.

SHAY MYERS: I appreciate you having me.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Ten years ago, marriage equality became the law of the land.

In the landmark case Obergefell v. Hodges, the Supreme Court ruled that state bans on same-sex marriage violated the 14th Amendment.

Jeffrey Brown went to the Washington National Cathedral to see how a new symphonic piece honors the love story of plaintiff Jim Obergefell and his husband, John, and how the fight to preserve that law continues today.

It's part of our arts and culture series, Canvas.

JEFFREY BROWN: Supreme Court cases don't usually engender a piece of symphonic music, but Obergefell v. Hodges was no ordinary case.

And so the joyous and exuberant sounds of "John and Jim."

JIM OBERGEFELL, Lead Plaintiff in Obergefell V. Hodges: There's what I have realized for me is the musical embodiment of champagne bubbles.

And my late husband, John, loved champagne, so whenever I hear that section, that's really when I feel John the most.

JEFFREY BROWN: Jim is Jim Obergefell.

John was John Arthur, his longtime partner, diagnosed with ALS in 2011.

In July 2013, as John was dying, they traveled to Maryland, a state that allowed gay marriage, to be wed.

But Ohio, where they lived, banned same-sex marriages, and Jim learned he wouldn't be recognized as John's spouse upon his death.

JIM OBERGEFELL: We had to figure out where to go to do something millions of other people took for granted.

But we made it happen.

JEFFREY BROWN: Fighting that led to the court case, one that changed American life.

Since then, nearly 600,000 gay and lesbian couples have wed, and a May poll showed 68 percent of Americans support marriage equality.

"John and Jim": was written by composer Viet Cuong, originally for the Pride Bands Alliance, and first performed last summer in Ohio.

At the cathedral, the National Orchestra Institute premiered a new symphonic version.

For Cuong, here with his husband, Trevor Rudge (ph), this was a very personal project.

VIET CUONG, Composer: I think the most important thing I wanted to show in the piece was love, because love is universal, and also humanize this Supreme Court decision that people know as Obergefell v. Hodges.

JEFFREY BROWN: Humanize a Supreme Court decision.

VIET CUONG: Yes.

JEFFREY BROWN: Yes.

It's a legal thing, but you're making it personal.

VIET CUONG: Yes, because it started with their story.

I didn't want to be apologetic about it being a love story between two men who love each other.

JEFFREY BROWN: You didn't want to be apologetic, meaning?

VIET CUONG: I didn't want to have a metaphor for the title or hide what it's about.

JEFFREY BROWN: To thread that musical needle, Cuong turned to an old wedding favorite, "Pachelbel's Canon."

VIET CUONG: When I was young, I would play the bass line of the "Pachelbel's Canon" on the piano, and I started to improvise melodies with the right hand on top of it.

And that was how I started to compose music.

And so it was around that time when I was a kid that I started to grow up, and I realized I was gay.

And I remember seeing on TV the "Pachelbel Canon" for wedding music.

And it made me sad that this music that I loved was so emblematic of something that I felt was wrong with me and something that I could never have.

Like, I could never be married in that way.

And so in this piece, I call it interpolating the music.

JEFFREY BROWN: Interpolating?

VIET CUONG: Yes, kind of like rewriting it.

In a way, I felt like I was kind of reframing that music and kind of reclaiming it.

JEFFREY BROWN: Jim Obergefell says he cries no matter how many times he hears the work.

And how does he feel today, thinking back to John and the court case?

JIM OBERGEFELL: Surreal is the best word I can come up with.

It still honestly surprises me that I was part of this, that our marriage inside a medical jet on an airport tarmac became part of this landmark civil rights case.

It still doesn't feel possible.

In fact, I have to remind myself when I see Obergefell referenced in a news story or I hear someone say Obergefell, I really have to remind myself that they're talking about me.

JEFFREY BROWN: He also knows firsthand how much that history is meant to others.

JIM OBERGEFELL: I was in Cincinnati and at an event on the steps of the courthouse in Cincinnati.

And before the event began, a man came up to me and shook my hand and thanked me.

And as he started to cry, he said: "Thank you, Jim.

Because of you, I know my son can marry whomever it is that he loves."

I had a young woman tell me that marriage equality, this decision, a lawsuit, saved her life.

She was planning to commit suicide because, as a closeted queer kid, she did not see a future for herself.

JEFFREY BROWN: Even amid the 10-year anniversary celebrations, Obergefell sees new threats to gay marriage amid calls for the Supreme Court to overturn the historic decision, as it did with Roe v. Wade.

JIM OBERGEFELL: I take those threats very seriously and I start with the Supreme Court.

We have two sitting Supreme Court justices who have made it clear that they want to overturn Obergefell.

They personally don't like it.

And I am very worried because we have all of these state legislatures passing resolutions calling on the Supreme Court to overturn Obergefell.

We have the Southern Baptist Conference calling for a ban on marriage equality.

So it makes me angry and it upsets me, because I just don't understand why.

VIET CUONG: In this piece, "John and Jim," I just wanted to humanize something that a lot of people just think of as a court case.

JEFFREY BROWN: For his part composer, Viet Cuong said reflecting through music the love of two people and the legal victory it led to has been a privilege.

VIET CUONG: It's really, really meaningful and something I never imagined when I was 11 playing the 'Pachelbel Canon' on the piano that one day I could be out as a gay man writing a piece called "John and Jim" that's actually celebrating marriage equality.

And to have it performed in the cathedral in Washington, D.C., and to have my husband sitting next to me, it's unreal.

JEFFREY BROWN: For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Jeffrey Brown at the Washington National Cathedral.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Coming up this evening online at PBS.org, Miles O'Brien has a look at the huge challenges facing one of America's iconic waterways, the Mississippi River, which helps power a $400 billion economy.

Miles O'Brien has a preview from Minneapolis of "Tipping Point: The Mighty Mississippi."

Miles, tell us a little bit about what you're planning.

MILES O'BRIEN: William, we're going to spend about 90 minutes taking a deep dive on some of the issues surrounding the Mississippi River.

It has some mighty big problems, agricultural run-off, which leads to a dead zone in the Gulf, riverside communities dealing with flooding a coastal situation in the mouth of the river in the delta where they're losing wetlands.

All of these problems do have solutions, and we're going to explore them in "Tipping Point: The Mighty Mississippi River."

So we invite you to tune in.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Sounds so great, Miles.

Thank you.

"The Mighty Mississippi" starts right after the "News Hour."

Watch it online at PBS.org/NewsHour.

And that is the "News Hour" for tonight.

I'm William Brangham.

On behalf of the entire "News Hour" team, thank you so much for joining us.