GEOFF BENNETT: Good evening.

I'm Geoff Bennett.

AMNA NAWAZ: And I'm Amna Nawaz.

On the "News Hour" tonight: A massive earthquake off Russia's coast triggers tsunami warnings across the Pacific Rim.

GEOFF BENNETT: The economy grows more than expected, despite continuing concern over President Trump's trade wars.

AMNA NAWAZ: And a look at pronatalism, the growing movement encouraging families to have more children.

LESLIE ROOT, University of Colorado Boulder: This idea that this is women's job and the reason that birth rates are low is because women are not doing their job is really dangerous.

(BREAK) AMNA NAWAZ: Welcome to the "News Hour."

A major earthquake off the coast of Russia triggered widespread tsunami warnings, alerts and evacuations all across the Pacific.

It was the strongest quake on the planet since 2011 and the sixth largest ever recorded.

GEOFF BENNETT: Moderate waves hit the shores of Hawaii and the U.S. West Coast.

In South America, clear across the Pacific from where the quake happened, several countries and island territories remain on alert tonight, but so far most of the damage has been minor and without serious injuries.

Stephanie Sy leads our coverage.

STEPHANIE SY: In Far Eastern Russia, one of the largest earthquakes in recorded history rattled homes and businesses.

The 8.8-magnitude quake toppled parts of buildings like the facade of this kindergarten.

And thousands of miles from the epicenter, residents of Hawaii swarmed inland as tsunami alerts went off.

Officials issued warnings to stay vigilant.

RICK BLANGIARDI, Mayor of Honolulu, Hawaii: Please, take this very seriously and don't go down to the beach.

Don't be looking at waves.

Get yourself as high as you possibly can.

STEPHANIE SY: In Japan, this aerial view of the eastern coast shows the menacing approach of the ocean.

The powerful quake struck off the East Coast of Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula, triggering tsunami warnings in Japan, Hawaii and the U.S. West Coast.

The threat reached clear across the world, with Chile today upgrading its warning to the highest level and ordering evacuations.

In Russia, video showed the tremors hitting during surgery at an area hospital, doctors and nurses bracing to hold the patient steady.

Cliffs were shaken from their foundations, cascading into the sea, which swelled with fury not long after the quake.

The waves hit Russia's coast first, sending a wall of water inland and flooding ports.

Eyewitness video captured the rushing waters carrying entire buildings away.

SIMON BOXALL, University of Southampton: It's a bit like throwing a very, very large rock into the sea and then watching the waves propagate away from that rock, that splash.

And so that's what's happened in this case and that's why this particular one has generated a tsunami.

It's not huge.

It's not one that's going to cause mass devastation, but it will cause coastal flooding, and it will cause damage.

And it does put lives at risk if people don't move to high ground.

STEPHANIE SY: In Hawaii, officials recorded some tsunami waves as high as five feet last night.

MAN: So we decided just to get out and go to higher ground.

STEPHANIE SY: Many heeded the warnings.

Cars clogged the streets of Honolulu as people fled to higher ground.

Others in hotels and high-rises headed to upper floors.

In Japan, residents took no chances, scrambling onto rooftops.

It was in Japan that an earthquake and tsunami last brought mass devastation, including a nuclear meltdown.

The 2011 disaster claimed nearly 20,000 lives.

DAVE SNIDER, National Tsunami Warning Center: I think of this more as an ocean flood.

Storm surges would be another way to think about this with a hurricane or a tropical event.

STEPHANIE SY: Scientists who specialize in earthquakes and tsunamis, like Dave Snider of the National Tsunami Warning Center, say that all precautions are warranted since the impacts of a tsunami can last for even more than a day.

DAVID SNIDER: The most important thing to understand about tsunamis, this is not a surf wave.

It's not a wind wave.

A tsunami is the entire ocean column that is being lifted up above that high tide level there because of that extreme movement of the earth's crust with the earthquake there.

So this is a significant planetary event that we have just witnessed.

STEPHANIE SY: On U.S. coastlines, tsunami warnings had been lifted or downgraded by this morning, with no major damage reported so far.

But much of the Pacific remains on alert tonight, as concern about the threat of significant aftershocks and reverberations in the sea remain.

For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Stephanie Sy.

AMNA NAWAZ: We start the day's other headlines in Gaza, where health authorities say Israeli strikes and gunfire killed at least 46 people overnight and into today, many of them while seeking aid.

The latest violence comes as U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff heads to Israel after cease-fire talks appeared to stall last week.

International airdrops of food continued today.

Many people said they couldn't reach the aid boxes because of the crowds.

Israel started allowing some more food and supplies into Gaza a few days ago.

The Israeli military says it's implementing changes that had been recommended by the U.N.-backed group that monitors hunger.

But humanitarian groups say it's not enough.

Gaza's Hamas-run Health Ministry reported another seven malnutrition-related deaths in the last day, including a child.

Also today, Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney said his country will recognize a Palestinian state at the U.N.'s General Assembly in September if certain conditions are met.

Carney's announcement comes after a similar move by British leader Keir Starmer a day earlier, as leaders scrambled to address the growing hunger crisis in Gaza.

Back in this country, investigators are still piecing together why a 27-year-old man from Las Vegas carried out New York City's deadliest mass shooting in 25 years.

Police said today that Shane Tamura bought the assault rifle used in the attack from his supervisor at a Las Vegas casino for $1,400.

They also say he left behind a suicide note in his Nevada apartment, as well as antipsychotic prescription medication.

Tamura shot and killed four people in a Midtown office building on Monday before killing himself.

Today, loved ones paid tribute to the victims alongside the city's Democratic nominee for mayor Zohran Mamdani.

The younger brother of slain security officer Aland Etienne called him a hero.

SMITH ETIENNE, Brother of Shooting Victim: He didn't wear no cape.

He didn't have any fancy gears.

He wore a security officer uniform.

And I hope this is the last time family members, a wife, a mother, a daughter has to stand in front of the press for another situation like this.

AMNA NAWAZ: Last night, faith leaders and city officials joined mourners at a vigil in Bryant Park.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams and Governor Kathy Hochul offered words of support and called for nationwide gun reform.

Former Vice President Kamala Harris announced today that she is not running for California governor next year.

In a statement, Harris said she had given serious thought to running, but in the end decided -- quote -- "For now, my leadership and public service will not be in elected office."

Harris would have entered a crowded field to replace Governor Gavin Newsom, who is restricted from running for another term.

Prior to being vice president, Harris represented California in the U.S. Senate and served as the state's attorney general.

In Texas, Republican lawmakers unveiled a proposed congressional map today that could help the GOP win more seats in next year's midterm elections.

It comes amid pressure from President Trump to redraw districts as Republicans face headwinds in 2026.

The Republicans currently hold 25 of the state's 38 congressional seats.

The new map would make it possible to pick up five more.

Most of the changes target big cities, which are the few Democratic strongholds in the state.

GOP members introduced the map during a 30-day special session of the state legislature.

The effort has led to threats by Democrats in California and New York to redraw their own state maps.

Brown University says it struck a deal with the Trump administration to restore federal research funding that's been frozen since April.

The deal will also end some investigations into alleged discrimination at the Ivy League school.

Unlike a similar deal involving Columbia University, Brown will not pay a fine and won't have to bring in an outside monitor.

But it conceded to some demands, including a commitment to remove race as a consideration in the admissions process.

And the school agreed to pay $50 million in work force development grants in Rhode Island.

President Trump's former defense attorney is preparing for a new role as a federal appeals court judge following his Senate confirmation.

Emil Bove was approved by a 50-49 vote in a lifetime -- to the lifetime seat, rather, despite whistle-blower complaints stemming from his time at the Justice Department.

Democrats have also criticized his role in dismissing the corruption case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, along with efforts to investigate Justice Department officials who prosecuted those involved in the January 6 attack.

Bove will serve on the Third U.S.

Circuit Court of Appeals, which hears cases from Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.

Federal investigators say the Army helicopter that collided with the passenger plane in Washington, D.C., earlier this year was flying higher than it should have been, and that its altitude reading was off by as much as 100 feet.

The revelations came on the first day of hearings by the National Transportation Safety Board; 67 people were killed in that January crash, making it the nation's deadliest incident since 2001.

Army officials said the Black Hawk's faulty meter was actually within the acceptable margin of error, but NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy told reporters that discrepancy was significant.

JENNIFER HOMENDY, Chair, National Transportation Safety Board: We calculated that the margin of error was 75 feet from the glide slope at the greatest part of the glide slope to the east bank of the Potomac, and then it goes down from there as you go towards Runway 33, so a 100-foot difference is significant.

AMNA NAWAZ: The board has two more days of hearings planned, but won't release its final report until next year.

NASA teamed up with India's space agency to launch a satellite today that can track changes in the Earth's land and ice regions.

MAN: Three, two, one, zero.

AMNA NAWAZ: Scientists say the $1.3 billion mission will help forecasters and first responders prepare for natural disasters.

It's the biggest space collaboration between the two countries.

Separately, a rocket in Australia went up, or, rather, down in smoke today.

The Eris rocket crashed after just 14 seconds of flight.

It was the first such craft to be designed and made entirely in Australia.

Nobody was hurt, and the company's CEO said he was -- quote -- "happy" with the attempt.

On Wall Street today, stocks struggled amid concerns that the chances of a September interest rate cut are fading.

The Dow Jones industrial average slipped more than 170 points.

The Nasdaq managed a slight gain of around 30 points.

The S&P 500 shed about eight points on the day.

And there's been a unique trade in Major League Baseball.

The Baltimore Orioles traded relief pitcher Seranthony Dominguez to the Toronto Blue Jays for a minor league player, and they did it in between games of a double header between the two teams.

Dominguez says he was told to - - quote -- "go to the next dugout."

So you had scenes like this, with Dominguez in the jacket in the top left sitting in the bullpen above some of his former teammates.

He ended up pitching in the second game for his new team, throwing a scoreless seventh inning and striking out two batters.

And in the U.K. today, thousands paid tribute to the late heavy metal icon Ozzy Osbourne.

A band performing the Black Sabbath classic "Iron Man" led a funeral procession through Osbourne's hometown of Birmingham.

His family viewed the flowers and other tributes at a bridge named in the band's honor.

Osbourne's wife of 43 years, Sharon, was visibly shaken as fans showed their support.

(CHEERING) AMNA NAWAZ: The television personality waved the peace sign back at fans.

Known to many as the Prince of Darkness, Ozzy Osbourne died last week at the age of 76.

Still to come on the "News Hour": the impact of drastic Medicaid cuts included in the GOP's big tax and spending law; Colorado's attorney general investigates possible law enforcement coordination with federal immigration authorities; and a new study details simple lifestyle changes that could help prevent dementia.

GEOFF BENNETT: The U.S. economy rebounded in the second quarter of the year, but new data also show signs of some weakness under the headline numbers.

The country's GDP -- that's the value of goods and services produced in the economy -- grew at an annual rate of 3 percent in the second quarter.

But the overall rate of growth is just 1.2 percent for the year and spending by both consumers and businesses has slowed.

For its part, the Federal Reserve announced it would keep interest rates steady.

That's despite dissents from two members of its rate-setting committee, both of whom were appointed by President Trump.

President Trump has been pressuring Fed Chair Jerome Powell to cut rates, but Powell explained the hesitation today.

JEROME POWELL, Federal Reserve Chairman: If we cut rates too soon, maybe we didn't finish the job with inflation.

There's -- history is dotted with examples of that.

If you cut too late, then maybe you're doing unnecessary damage to the labor market.

So we're trying to - - we're trying to get that timing right.

GEOFF BENNETT: That timing may be connected to the prospect of more tariffs and whether they could spark higher inflation.

President Trump is threatening to impose new tariffs on dozens of countries starting Friday.

In fact, he said today that India would face tariffs as high as 25 percent.

To help break down where things stand, we're joined now by Nick Timiraos, chief economics correspondent for The Wall Street Journal.

Nick, it's always good to see you.

So let's start with the GDP because there's lots to digest in the report.

What are the takeaways?

What does it say about the state of the economy?

NICK TIMIRAOS, The Wall Street Journal: Well, it tells you that the economy is doing OK.

In the first quarter, recall, we had a negative GDP print, but it was sort of anomalous because it reflected a bunch of inventory front-running, importing ahead of the tariffs.

And so that actually pulled down the headlight number.

It all went the other way in the second quarter.

But as you noted in setting this up, if you look at private spending and investment, it was softer in the second quarter than it was in the first quarter.

And it was softer in the first quarter than it was at the end of last year.

In fact, that reading was the weakest since 2022.

So the issue here really is that the economy is slowing, but it doesn't look alarming right now.

GEOFF BENNETT: The White House said today that these numbers prove that the economy is solid, that mainstream economists were wrong about the tariffs, that inflation is under control.

What's your reaction to that based on your reporting and your deep knowledge of all this stuff?

NICK TIMIRAOS: Well, again, what you see is growth that's somewhere between 1 and 2 percent if you average the two quarters.

And so there's a little bit of an inconsistency from the White House, because the argument is the economy is booming and also we need lower interest rates.

And if we get into the Fed discussion, the Fed doesn't cut interest rates if the economy is booming, because they're going to be concerned that you could have an overheated economy and that you could have higher inflation.

So there's a little bit of a disconnect here between, well, if the economy is so outstanding, why does it so desperately need a lower cost of overnight money?

GEOFF BENNETT: You mentioned the Fed.

Today, it kept rates steady for the fifth street meeting, as markets well expected.

Tell us more about the chairman's rationale.

NICK TIMIRAOS: Well, if you step back to where we were a year ago, inflation was coming down.

It was coming down without a serious downturn that a lot of economists had said would be the price of getting inflation down two or three years ago.

So that was sort of the soft landing everybody was talking about a year ago.

Now, tariffs come along at the beginning of the year and they create sort of a crosswind because there's a risk, not at all a certainty, that higher tariffs will feed through to higher goods prices.

And so after several years of inflation, where businesses, frankly, have learned how to raise prices in ways that they didn't before the pandemic because they were worried about losing market share, the worry is, well, maybe businesses will do this again.

Maybe they will pass those cost increases along to consumers.

Now, Jay Powell, the Fed chair, did say today that consumers are fatigued with inflation.

So there's a chance they won't accept higher prices and businesses will in fact lose market share.

But the point here is that tariffs have created hand-to-hand combat between importers, suppliers, retailers, and potentially consumers because somebody is going to have to pay.

And the Fed wants to make sure that that if those prices get passed along to consumers, we don't have another episode of higher inflation.

GEOFF BENNETT: Hand-to-hand combat is a great way to explain it.

What about the potential for cuts in September?

How are things looking?

NICK TIMIRAOS: Well, I would say that Chair Powell today gave the old Heisman stiff-arm.

I was at the press conference.

And a number of my colleagues, we all tried to lay whatever traps we could to try to goad him and to giving any kind of clue about what it would take to cut interest rates at the Fed's next meeting, which, as you noted, is in September, and he just did not go for it.

So they will have two more months of jobs reports, two more months of inflation data.

I think what you would need to see to get a rate cut in September would be some weakness, some meaningful weakness potentially in the labor market.

And so if you're cheering for rate cuts here, it's a little bit of a story to be careful what you wish for, because the sorts of things that may get the Fed to move would be weaker labor market data.

Now, I should note, the Fed could also cut interest rates if the labor market is fine, and inflation comes in mild.

Everybody's been bracing for a little bit higher inflation, and if it turns out that those tariffs are not getting passed along to the consumer, then the Fed might judge, OK, maybe we have seen enough.

They have been on hold for six months now.

And so after two more months, they may decide, look, we're not seeing the price pressures.

It's being absorbed in the supply chain somewhere else, and they don't want to have a recession if the labor market slows in a sort of unexpected fashion.

GEOFF BENNETT: In the 30 seconds or so we have left, Nick, I want to ask you about the two Trump-appointed members of the Fed voting board who dissented, who want the Fed to cut rates.

You wrote a piece this week that the Fed is in many ways sort of split into three camps.

Tell us what they are and whether these two who dissented have more sway.

NICK TIMIRAOS: Well, sometimes, dissents tell you about where the Fed is going.

I would not say that that's the case today.

So one of the governors, Chris Waller, laid out very clearly two weeks ago why he was going to dissent.

And his worry is that the labor market is going to weaken more if the Fed keeps rates where they are.

Now, there's a second camp that this -- also that shares some of those concerns.

They just weren't ready to cut interest rates today.

And then there's a third camp that says, wait a minute, the economy looks fine.

We have got something creating price pressures.

And so we just need to wait here.

We don't want to cut interest rates right now.

GEOFF BENNETT: Nick Timiraos, chief economics correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, thanks, as always, for being with us.

We appreciate it.

NICK TIMIRAOS: Thanks for having me.

AMNA NAWAZ: Members of the U.S. House have left Washington for their summer break, and Republicans are working to promote the tax and spending cuts in the One Big Beautiful Bill, which President Trump recently signed into law.

But concerns about cuts to Medicaid in particular remain.

Congressional correspondent Lisa Desjardins is in Louisiana, home to the top two House leaders, and a state with the greatest reliance on Medicaid in the country.

She joins us now.

And she and the team are braving a wicked summer storm there.

But, Lisa, you have long been reporting on the potential impact to Medicaid from back here in Washington.

Tell us about what you found on the ground in Louisiana.

LISA DESJARDINS: That's right, Amna.

Welcome to the Bayou State in the summer.

This is a place that is worth looking at for Medicaid, because almost a third of this state is on Medicaid.

Now, when you talk to people here, going around the state, what I get most of all, what surprised me the most, is the level of uncertainty about what's about to happen.

And that's across ideologies.

That's because we don't really know how the new law is going to be implemented.

And a reminder that the new law would change how people need to show that they are eligible, how often they have to put in paperwork.

There would be new work requirements in this bill potentially.

And, also, it would decrease the amount of money states get.

So Republicans here say they think that they will be able to implement this law without hurting the vulnerable.

But many others say, no, they're concerned about that.

For patients, there is confusion, Amna, over what it means for them.

We spoke to a woman, Rita.

She's a mother of three.

She is working.

The work requirements probably wouldn't affect her.

But she's worried about whether her Medicaid would say if she misses some paperwork.

And, overall, she expressed what we heard from most people, a great deal of anxiety.

RITA NOEL, Medicaid Recipient: I'm very apprehensive about what's going on right now.

And I'm very concerned.

It's going to cause a lot more mental illness.

It's going to cause a lot more sickness.

And it's like that shouldn't be the way that we're gearing towards.

We're all Americans.

And I feel like we should all have a right to fair health care, no matter how much money we have.

LISA DESJARDINS: That's another idea most people agree on here, of course.

But implementation, that's what it comes down to.

The state of Louisiana has passed a law trying to unify all the safety net programs, but, again, advocates are worried that might not be enough.

And as it stands right now, there is a widespread concern.

As the lightning strikes over here, I want to get to how Americans see this in general.

The Wall Street Journal asked recently whether people think Medicaid, the changes, would help or hurt.

And 63 percent of people answered, they think these changes will hurt those on Medicaid.

Regardless, Amna, we know in this state there will be significant effects.

We just don't know yet, and people are concerned about it and waiting.

AMNA NAWAZ: Lisa, as we know, Louisiana is a deep red state.

It's also one of the nation's poorest.

How do the people on the ground that you talk to, how do they see the Trump economy at this moment?

LISA DESJARDINS: Yes, it's a parallel moment there too.

There is real economic uncertainty.

On the one hand, you have places like this seafood market behind me that are planning to expand, become sort of a brand called Gator Town.

But at the same time, seafood suppliers are concerned because of disruption to supply chains.

Inflation is ticking up here, especially for seafood, poultry and meat.

And that is something we heard across the board.

So it seems that President Trump is not winning on the economy yet.

Going back to that Wall Street Journal poll, we saw that divide.

We saw most people still believe the economy is still for the worst under President Trump.

I want to mention also, in the city of New Orleans, we talked to musicians, we talked to artists who work there.

They say their sales have slowed down.

They're concerned about the economy.

Things aren't for the worst yet, but there is concern.

One other thing, the city of Louisiana itself saw its GDP go down.

It actually shrunk in the first quarter of this year.

And that's something, of course, everyone in the state wants to turn around.

AMNA NAWAZ: Lisa, we will look forward to more of your reporting from on the ground there in Louisiana.

For now, you and the team should head to drier ground.

That's Lisa Desjardins reporting from on the ground in Louisiana for us.

Thank you.

GEOFF BENNETT: The state of Colorado is suing a local sheriff's deputy, accusing him of aiding federal immigration agents with the arrest of a college student with an expired visa.

Last month, Mesa County Deputy Alexander Zwinck pulled over 19-year-old nursing student Caroline Dias Goncalves during a traffic stop.

The Colorado attorney general's office alleges the deputy then shared Dias Goncalves' location and a description of her vehicle in a group chat that included ICE agents and bodycam footage of the arrest.

The deputy also asks her where she was born.

ALEXANDER ZWINCK, Mesa County, Arizona, Sheriff's Office: Where are you from?

You got a little bit of an accent.

CAROLINE DIAS GONCALVES, Nursing Student: I'm from Utah.

ALEXANDER ZWINCK: You're from Utah?

OK. How long have you lived in Utah for?

CAROLINE DIAS GONCALVES: About 12 years.

ALEXANDER ZWINCK: Born and raised or no?

CAROLINE DIAS GONCALVES: No, I was born in -- oh, my gosh.

I always forget -- down -- I was born in Brazil.

GEOFF BENNETT: After letting her go, the student was arrested by federal immigration authorities and spent more than two weeks in an ICE detention center.

In a statement, she said: "The past 15 days have been the hardest of my life.

I was scared and felt alone.

I was placed in a system that treated me like I didn't matter."

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser says the arrest violated state laws that ban state and local government employees from cooperating with federal officials on immigration enforcement.

His office is also investigating a handful of local law enforcement agencies accused of participating in that group chat.

And the Colorado attorney general joins us now.

Thanks for being with us.

PHIL WEISER (D), Colorado Attorney General: Happy to join you.

GEOFF BENNETT: So we just unpacked a lot of information about this case there.

Why did you decide to bring this lawsuit?

What made the sheriff's deputy's conduct, in your view, cross a legal line?

PHIL WEISER: Colorado's law is very clear.

Law enforcement does law enforcement.

In Colorado, law enforcement doesn't do federal immigration enforcement.

The line is when a sheriff's deputy, in this case, actually detain somebody in a vehicle for the purpose of enabling federal immigration enforcement to detain that person.

At that point, you're not operating as a Colorado law enforcement anymore, because there was no Colorado law that was determined to be violated.

There was a warning given, but there was no criminal action.

She hadn't committed any crimes.

All she was being held for were immigration related matters, which means a law enforcement officer is using his time to do work that Colorado law says you can't do.

Another point, of course, is he spends a fair bit of time actually asking her about her immigration status, looking to enforce immigration law.

That's not his job.

He violated Colorado law.

That's why we brought the case.

GEOFF BENNETT: The Department of Justice, as you well know, has filed a federal lawsuit against Colorado's sanctuary policies, alleging they obstruct immigration enforcement.

In the most recent complaint from the DOJ, they directly address your lawsuit.

And the DOJ attorney says this: "When officers choose to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement agents to keep their communities safe and enforce federal law, the state of Colorado hauls them into court as punishment for doing their jobs."

What's your response to that criticism?

PHIL WEISER: It's very important to note here, this wasn't about community safety.

There was no basis for concern that she had committed any crime, posed any threat to public safety.

When there are people who commit violent crimes, crimes that warrant being deported, Colorado law enforcement routinely will share information, as provided under Colorado law, so that ICE can do their job and deport people who are dangerous.

But this was a case of someone who hadn't done anything wrong, didn't pose any threat to public safety.

In that case, Colorado law enforcement shouldn't take it upon an individual to go ahead and start acting as if you're doing federal immigration enforcement solely for purposes of enforcing immigration law, which is totally federal, not for purposes of keeping communities safe.

That's what a state's job is.

GEOFF BENNETT: Well, I was going to ask you about that.

You almost answered my next question about the broad prohibitions on data sharing and restricting local cooperation with the federal government on immigration.

How does that not undermine public safety or a federal investigation into crime or fraud?

PHIL WEISER: Well, if there's an actual criminal investigation that's happening, in that place, there is actual cooperation around a crime.

That's a very different situation.

We in Colorado cooperate all the time with federal law enforcement partners.

And if someone is here without authorization and they have done harmful, dangerous actions, they should be held to account.

But what Colorado law says is, we need our law enforcement focused on law enforcement.

We don't have enough law enforcement officers in Colorado.

That's a public policy decision that we're making not to do the federal government's work.

It's their job to do that work.

And the problem with this lawsuit you mentioned is, they're trying to coerce us in Colorado to do their jobs.

They're threatening us, saying, we're going to hold you in some sort of negative way.

And we have had funds threatened before.

We have got cases involving emergency management funds, transportation funds where the federal government is saying, if we don't do their work for them, they're going to withhold money from us.

That's a blatant violation of the Constitution.

We're a sovereign state.

We get to make decisions about how our law enforcement do their work.

GEOFF BENNETT: On another matter, as I understand it, you have raised concerns about immigration agents, ICE agents operating in Colorado while wearing face masks that obscure their identities.

Tell us more about that and whether Colorado can do anything, has the authority to mandate that they remove their face masks.

PHIL WEISER: It's up to the federal government to make sure that federal law enforcement operate in a transparent and trustworthy manner.

In Colorado, I oversee law enforcement in a manner that seeks to build trust through transparency.

That means Colorado law enforcement officers have bodycams on them.

They're identifiable and they're in recognized clothing, unless in exceptional situations where it is warranted to be in plainclothes.

But ICE, as you note, they're operating in plainclothes with masks.

They can't be identified as ICE agents.

That's a threat to public safety.

Others can mimic being an ICE agent, engage in kidnapping pretending to be an ICE agent.

That's a threat to public safety, which is -- myself and a large number of my colleagues from the attorney general world, we have called on Congress to do something about this.

This is not sound law enforcement.

This is a threat to public safety.

GEOFF BENNETT: And, of course, they maintain that they obscure their identities because they're concerned about their own safety, to which you would say what?

PHIL WEISER: There are many cases that I can't see any plausible basis for an ICE agent to be worried about safety, when you're taking any number of deportation actions for people who didn't get whatever justification they were seeking to stay, there's no basis for concern.

And law enforcement takes on all sorts of situations where you're investigating crimes where you're not worried about a life-and-death situation.

There are some, and we recognize, maybe a cartel, maybe other dangerous, violent gangs where you would want to essentially be hidden.

But those are the exceptions.

What ICE is doing here is, they're acting as if they can't ever operate in plain sight, in transparency, and that's a way to undermine trust, gives rise to this concern I mentioned about copycat or mimicking of ICE.

It's not sound law enforcement.

We're calling on Congress to change it.

GEOFF BENNETT: Democratic leaders like yourself have taken a stand against what many Democrats see as the Trump administration's overreach on immigration enforcement.

Do you see your approach as part of a broader Democratic effort to push back?

And might this potentially serve as a model for other states?

PHIL WEISER: I see my job as enforcing Colorado law.

Whether or not people agree with the law or not, it is the law.

It's important that the law be respected,.

As someone who's elected by the people of Colorado to make sure that our laws are followed, that's how I want to do my work.

Whether or not other states follow our leader or not, that's up to them.

I'm here in Colorado serving our communities.

Part of that is building trust in law enforcement, knowing that our law enforcement does law enforcement, doesn't do immigration enforcement.

Whether other states follow that lead, that's up to them.

GEOFF BENNETT: Phil Weiser, the attorney general for Colorado, thanks again for being with us.

We appreciate it.

PHIL WEISER: Thank you.

AMNA NAWAZ: An estimated 42 percent of Americans over the age of 55 will eventually develop dementia, and we now have the strongest evidence yet that a balanced diet, consistent exercise and social activity can actually improve memory loss.

A new study, which included 2,100 older Americans at risk of dementia, found significant improvement in cognition by incorporating regular moderate to high-intensity physical exercise, adherence to what's known as the mind diet, such as grains, leafy greens, and berries, mandatory social engagement, as well as cardiovascular health monitoring.

For a closer look, I'm joined by Jessica Langbaum, senior director of research strategy at Banner Alzheimer's Institute.

She joins us from the Alzheimer's Association International Conference in Toronto, where this study was presented.

Jessica, welcome to the show.

Thanks for joining us.

DR. JESSICA LANGBAUM, Banner Alzheimer's Institute: Thank you for having me.

AMNA NAWAZ: So you have long researched Alzheimer's.

You were not involved in this particular study, we should note.

But it's my understanding it was already long believed that things like diet and exercise are critical to cognitive ability.

So why is this new study getting so much attention right now?

DR. JESSICA LANGBAUM: It took all of those individual -- all those things that we talk about, diet, socialization, exercise, and put them together in a very structured intervention.

And it it's replicating in a way in a way building upon a big body of research and showing in the U.S. population that together these things can really slow down memory and thinking problems that occur in our adults who are at risk for cognitive impairment and dementia.

AMNA NAWAZ: And we should note the participants in this study had, as you have described, sedentary lifestyles in the report before the trial began.

They changed their behavior then over a two-year period and found that their cognitive functions scores were then on par with people one or two years younger than them, which doesn't sound like a lot on the face of this.

So why is that so significant?

DR. JESSICA LANGBAUM: You know, I think it's important because every little -- it's showing that, first and foremost, a non-pharmacological intervention such as this can improve or slow -- improve somebody's memory and thinking ability or slow down what we observed with normal aging.

And so it's showing that we can change the trajectory of aging.

And I think what's notable here is that both the very structured, high-intensity intervention, along with the sort of more self-paced intervention, both had an effect.

And so I think that's something that we really need to unpack here.

But, again, these are people who were very sedentary, had -- were at high risk, had lots of risk factors for developing cognitive impairment, dementia, and we can really perhaps change their trajectory.

AMNA NAWAZ: You mentioned something there I want to underscore here.

They were split into two groups, one that had, as you mentioned, a more structured program, more prescribed interventions and support, the other more self-directed.

They had a lot more choice in what they did.

Did you see much of a difference between the two?

DR. JESSICA LANGBAUM: So both groups improved.

So I just want to highlight that.

Both groups, we saw an effect here.

Now, the high-intensity, the structured group showed more of an improvement.

And I think this is something that we have to really think about in how do we scale up?

Interventions, that high-intensity, that structured intervention, isn't sustainable in most communities for most people.

And so I think that's really the next stage of the research is, how do we make this scalable in communities so that people can implement these things into their daily lives?

But even the self-paced with some a little bit of guidance did show an effect.

AMNA NAWAZ: As we mentioned, you're at this conference, which brings together all the top thinkers in Alzheimer's research and in the community.

And as you well know, there are so many people out there who are struggling, who have loved ones who suffer from Alzheimer's or dementia.

They're looking for reasons to be hopeful.

So, at this moment, as someone who lives and works in this space, are there reasons to be optimistic that we in America can tackle this disease?

DR. JESSICA LANGBAUM: I am very optimistic, that you have the best and brightest minds who are gathering here to -- who are dedicating their careers, their lives to not only understanding the causes of different forms of dementia, how to slow it down and how to prevent it.

This conference has grown exponentially over the years.

And I think they said there's about 8,000 scientists and clinicians here from all over the world.

There are new findings in biomarkers, in new treatments and ways to help patients.

And so each year I come away from this conference feeling rejuvenated, reinvigorated, and just knowing that we are one step closer to finding effective treatments, preventative treatments for people living with these diseases.

AMNA NAWAZ: So I hear a lot, I'm sure you have as well, about people doing things like crossword puzzles every day to try to protect their cognitive function.

Give us a few quick tips.

What kind of practices should people put into place every day to try to do that?

DR. JESSICA LANGBAUM: So, first and foremost, people should find -- do something that they enjoy doing, that they love.

If they're frustrated by it, they're just going to give up.

But do something that you enjoy.

Better yet, do it with somebody else or others around you because socialization is key, and, lastly, something that you can adhere to, if you can schedule it.

It's something that you can stay committed to.

So whether it's an exercise class that you have to sign up for and that you do on a regular basis and that you bring somebody with, I think those are all really paramount.

Also, of course, we say what's good for the heart is good for the brain, so, a nice balanced diet, nutritious diet with, like was done in the POINTER study and other studies with those leafy greens, low in saturated fats, all of those things.

But, again, I think I would just like to highlight, find something that you enjoy doing, that you can stick to and do it with others.

AMNA NAWAZ: Jessica Langbaum of the Banner Alzheimer's Institute, thank you so much for joining us.

Appreciate your time.

DR. JESSICA LANGBAUM: Thank you.

AMNA NAWAZ: The fertility rate in the U.S. reached an all-time low last year, according to new CDC data released this month.

That trend has sparked fear among many on the right, from Elon Musk to Donald Trump.

They believe Americans should have more babies.

Others are concerned about the potential consequences, especially for the U.S. for women.

So is the declining birth rate a problem and how?

For the final part of our series The Next Frontier, special correspondent Sarah Varney looks at this movement encouraging families to have more children, its growing influence and its ties to the anti-abortion rights movement.

SIMONE COLLINS, Pronatalist: Yes, on this side, we have our blue-eggers.

SARAH VARNEY: After a visit to the chicken coop.

Wow.

That's amazing.

And a stroll through the field behind Simone and Malcolm Collins' late 18th century home in suburban Pennsylvania, talk quickly turns to their vision for the future.

SIMONE COLLINS: I'm mother to our four, soon five kids.

SARAH VARNEY: They want others to follow their lead.

SIMONE COLLINS: People need to fundamentally rethink what it means to live a successful life, for example, starting with family, starting with marriage, instead of starting with university, college debt, career, try to get out of debt, maybe eventually get married and then five years later try to have children while realizing your fertility window is already gone.

It's not ideal.

SARAH VARNEY: The Collinses are a part of a movement known as pronatalism that encourages people to have more children.

MALCOLM COLLINS, Pronatalist: We're pointing to a concerning trend line that if it continues to go in this direction is going to break a lot of the systems that our civilization has come to depend on and hundreds of millions of people are going to die as a result.

SARAH VARNEY: The birth rate in the United States has been declining since the late 1950s.

And, today, American women have on average 1.6 children.

That's below what's needed to replace the current population.

Nicholas Mark is a demographer at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

NICHOLAS MARK, University of Wisconsin-Madison: Yes, there's no doubt that if we had to pick like increasing or declining, we would pick declining.

That is absolutely true.

But people should not be concerned about the U.S. population into the future.

SARAH VARNEY: Several trends are driving down the birth rate.

Women have increased access to contraceptives like IUDs, far fewer teenage girls are having babies, and more women are having children in their late 20s and 30s.

NICHOLAS MARK: What we don't know is whether those people who have fewer kids at younger ages are going to go on and have more kids at later ages.

And that we simply cannot answer because we don't know what they're going to do when they get older.

SARAH VARNEY: Even still, this panic among conservatives has been stoked by former Trump adviser and tech billionaire Elon Musk.

ELON MUSK, Owner, X: The birth rate is very low in almost every country.

And so unless that changes, civilization will disappear.

SARAH VARNEY: And now the White House is readying its own plans.

DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: And we will support baby bonuses for a new baby boom.

How does that sound?

That sounds pretty good.

I want a baby boom.

(CHEERING) ROGER SEVERINO, Vice President of Domestic Policy, The Heritage Foundation: Should we care if we're not going to be replacing ourselves?

The answer is resoundingly absolutely, yes.

SARAH VARNEY: Roger Severino served in the first Trump administration.

He and his Heritage Foundation colleagues are urging the White House to adopt what they call family-friendly policies.

ROGER SEVERINO: So you have now a reverse pyramid, where the numbers of children that will be workers is smaller than the number of people retiring.

So what does that do to Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, all of these programs that are premised on the notion that we have a large, growing population of workers to contribute to that system?

We're going to have young and old be the next frontier of fights over resources.

NICHOLAS MARK: Even if we had more babies right now, those babies are not going to be paying taxes for at least 20 years-ish.

SARAH VARNEY: But Nicholas Mark says there is a quicker, easier fix.

NICHOLAS MARK: If you think that you have a problem with paying for entitlements right now, there are millions of people around the world who want to move to this country and want to pay taxes to the U.S. government right now.

And that is an immediate answer to a question that changing fertility rates does not answer at all in the short term.

SARAH VARNEY: Bethany Mandel and her husband, Seth, both Orthodox Jews, live in suburban Maryland with their six children.

On top of homeschooling her kids, Mandel is a podcast host who wants to show people how rewarding having a big family can be.

BETHANY MANDEL, Host, "Mom Wars": People say all the time, like, oh, your family is like really chaotic, but also really loving and really fun.

SARAH VARNEY: Studies show that many factors are keeping Americans from growing their families, like stagnant wages, rising rents and home prices, and financial insecurity.

But Mandel says there are steps the government could take to ease the burden, like increasing the child tax credit.

BETHANY MANDEL: Under the first Trump administration, it was much better.

And then those tax credits expired and were right back to where we were.

It's $2,000.

And if you think that it costs $2,000 to raise a child in America, I would like you to come sit at my kitchen table and talk the budget with me.

SARAH VARNEY: Sure.

Other countries, including South Korea, Japan, Poland and Sweden, have tried all sorts of measures to increase fertility rates, but with little success, including subsidized childcare, paid parental leave and cash bonuses.

LESLIE ROOT, University of Colorado Boulder: But there's this idea that it's coming in from the West and it has to be rooted out.

SARAH VARNEY: Leslie Root is a demographer at the University of Colorado Boulder.

LESLIE ROOT: It's just not enough to incentivize somebody to have a birth that they weren't going to have otherwise.

So you end up with this bump in birth rates, but it sort of goes away because you aren't actually catching very many people at the margins who were on the fence about having another kid.

SARAH VARNEY: Nicholas Mark says fertility rates aren't a lever that can be pulled.

NICHOLAS MARK: That's not how these monumental and personal decisions work, right?

These are decisions that are made in the context of people's entire lives, in the context of the whole society that they live in.

It's not like an interest rate that you can ping up and down, which then will trickle down into having effects on unemployment.

That is -- it's not how it works.

SARAH VARNEY: A big part of the solution, says Roger Severino,is marriage.

He wants to change the tax code and direct government funding to reward heterosexual marriage.

ROGER SEVERINO: It stands to reason when you have a stable relationship, that tends to increase the birth rates.

And that's what the social science shows.

It cannot be just babies at all costs, right?

Babies aren't commodities.

It has to be in the context of family, which is marriage, work, stability, commitment.

That sort of vision is what leads to the maximum human flourishing.

SARAH VARNEY: What do you say to people who hear you in our leery of this movement, that somehow it's going to impose a sort of a set of particularly religious beliefs on a pluralistic society?

ROGER SEVERINO: Nonsense.

It's - - there's no coercion involved.

SARAH VARNEY: But Malcolm and Simone Collins say, in the future, women's equality will be at risk.

SIMONE COLLINS: If people who care about women's rights and people who care about feminism choose to not have their views represented in the future, and they won't be if they don't have kids and raise them in their culture well, we are going to lose those rights.

CHARLES HAYWOOD, Pronatalist: Men with family should be preferred in advancement in jobs and generally women should not have careers.

SARAH VARNEY: Charles Haywood is among those in the movement who believe women's demands for equality are responsible for declining fertility.

CHARLES HAYWOOD: The result over 60 years has been what we see now, which is that we have a lot fewer masculine men, and this, of course, is only one of the many contributors to the decline in birth rate, but I think it's a very important contributor to it.

SARAH VARNEY: Countries have long used state power to restrict women's rights, including banning contraception and abortion, and forcing pregnant women out of the work force.

LESLIE ROOT: When you generate a panic about birth rates, in the context of a society where reproductive labor is done primarily by women, this idea that this is women's job and the reason that birth rates are low is because women are not doing their job is really dangerous.

SARAH VARNEY: Back in suburban Maryland, Bethany Mandel knows having six kids is not the norm, but she says it's possible because of her equal partnership with her husband.

BETHANY MANDEL: That very trad misogynist voice, it's not unique to the pronatalist world.

It's a real problem on the right, and it's really disturbing, but the problem is in any sort of political discourse that you have, the craziest people are the loudest.

SARAH VARNEY: But does there need to be other voices in this movement that are kind of explicitly pro-women, that are kind of making the defense for women's equality and pushing back?

BETHANY MANDEL: Yes.

Yes, but the problem is, being more moderate, there's no fame, there's no money in that game.

And so it's not super appealing to spend your life advocating for a position that not many people listen to.

SARAH VARNEY: Mandel says, at the end of the day, she and her husband just want to spend time with their kids, but that leaves a vacuum for others to shape the future of the movement.

For "PBS News Hour," I'm Sarah Varney in Maryland.

GEOFF BENNETT: Tonight's Brief But Spectacular features a longtime activist affectionately known as The Dog Lady.

As the founder of Downtown Dog Rescue in Los Angeles, Lori Weise is dedicated to helping the homeless stay united with their pets.

Here's her take on reimagining rescue.

LORI WEISE, Founder, Downtown Dog Rescue: I became known as The Dog Lady back in the late '90s.

And that was because I think most of the people I was helping back then either couldn't remember my name, didn't know my name.

They just knew, hey, it's the lady that helps us with the dogs, The Dog Lady.

Heidi was my first dog that I got when I was 4 years old.

I was not a child that was really outgoing or anything like that, so she was a great sense of comfort for me.

One of the challenges we have working with homeless people with pets is gaining their trust.

I founded Downtown Dog Rescue, and it was really created out of necessity.

I saw so much suffering with people and animals living on the street without basic necessities.

We serve homeless and low-income families with pets, mostly in South Los Angeles.

We provide spay and neuter, vaccinations, microchipping, pet food, all types of supplies, but our primary focus and all of our energy is really spent on keeping families together, keeping people with their pets.

If a person is doing the best they can with what they have, we come in and we will help them out and get them up to a level that passes with animal control and such.

MAN: He looks like a little gorilla.

That's your friend now, Lori.

LORI WEISE: The number one thing we always ask is, what are they trying to achieve?

If they had endless amounts of money, what would they do right now for their pet?

We get them to the point where the person feels as though they're actually doing something.

They're not justified as somebody that's unhoused, that doesn't have a job.

They're accomplishing something for their pet, for their future.

The housing crisis in California, in the United States is directly connected to my work.

And as the rents have risen so incredibly high in Los Angeles, it just makes our work so much more difficult.

If you're walking or driving along, you see somebody with a pet that's homeless.

I really implore you to please consider just saying hello to them, just like you would anybody else.

Compliment them on their pet, if you're that type of person like me.

I have to go up to every single person with a dog.

Please don't say, let me help you.

Let me do this.

You have no idea what that person's capable of doing.

This is, in most cases, generational trauma.

And no one, no one person is going to fix another person.

My name is Lori Weise, and this is my Brief But Spectacular take on rethinking rescue.

GEOFF BENNETT: And that is the "News Hour" for tonight.

I'm Geoff Bennett.

AMNA NAWAZ: And I'm Amna Nawaz.

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