GEOFF BENNETT: Good evening.

I'm Geoff Bennett.

AMNA NAWAZ: And I'm Amna Nawaz.

On the "News Hour" tonight: The White House threatens mass firings across the government if Congress fails to avoid a shutdown.

GEOFF BENNETT: Finland's president discusses the ongoing war in Ukraine and rising tensions between Russia and NATO.

AMNA NAWAZ: And families of Americans killed and detained in the Israeli occupied West Bank speak out about escalating violence and a lack of accountability.

OZDEN EYGI BENNETT, Sister of Aysenur Ezgi Eygi: An Israeli investigation is not acceptable to us as the family, because you can't have someone who committed the crime investigate themselves and judge themselves.

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

The White House is threatening to use a looming government shutdown to drive mass layoffs at federal agencies.

GEOFF BENNETT: And that's with the funding deadline that lawmakers appear almost certain to miss just days away.

Our congressional correspondent, Lisa Desjardins, and White House correspondent Liz Landers are here with the latest.

So, Liz, we will start with you.

Last night, the OMB director, Russ Vought, he told agencies to prepare shutdown plans that include permanent layoffs?

What more do we know?

LIZ LANDERS: We obtained this memo late last night.

It was sent over by the Office of Management and Budget.

And, in it, it says that they are preparing for a potential shutdown.

And some of this is normal and they have had some planning calls apparently about this week.

And there's some politics in here, some finger-pointing that the administration is doing, Democrats, in particular, saying that they are inching closer to a shutdown over a series of insane demands, including a trillion dollars in new spending.

But this note goes farther, and what it suggests is that the agencies could use this moment to do mass layoffs.

It says: "Agencies are directed to use this opportunity to consider reduction in force."

And, as you know, Geoff, this agent - - this administration, I should say, has really relied on these RIF notices, these reduction in force mechanisms, to really slim down the federal government in the last seven or so months of the Trump administration.

GEOFF BENNETT: That's right.

And we should make clear that the threat of permanent cuts is new.

How do these agencies typically prepare for a possible shutdown?

LIZ LANDERS: So it's normal for an agency to put out a contingency plan, and they usually post those on a Web site.

And the White House currently has some of this up right now, saying that agency contingency plans for a lapse in appropriations are hosted on each agency's Web site.

We tried to find what those contingency plans would look like, and from a lot of the major federal agencies, we didn't see any updated contingency plans.

So, basically, what that means right now is, we don't know who is going to be deemed an essential worker who keeps the government functioning, critical issue -- critical functions of the government that we need, who may be furloughed, and who may be part of this reduction in force.

So, right now, federal employees around the country are waiting to find out if they are impacted by this RIF or not.

GEOFF BENNETT: Yes, lots of confusion.

So, Lisa, you have been talking with your sources on the Hill, as well as the unions that represent federal workers.

How do they see this threat of mass layoffs by the Trump administration?

LISA DESJARDINS: Somehow, we yet again are in uncharted territory.

And you're right.

Federal workers are right in the middle of it.

So, talking to the largest union for federal employees, which is the American Federation of Government Employees, they put out this statement they sent to me and to others, saying that: "The only path forward is compromise.

Federal employees are not bargaining chips."

And that gets to this idea of RIFs being on the table.

They see RIFs as patently illegal.

Now, the argument there, talking to a former official with the Office of Personnel Management, is that the law governing shutdowns says that, when you're shutting down, H.R.

for each agency is only supposed to be doing shutdown activities, figuring out who stays and who goes, and that a permanent RIF is not a shutdown activity.

What it is, is reorganizing government.

And that's the argument this is illegal.

Now, in reality, as we have seen the Trump administration do, they will make their argument that he has that power and they will wait for courts to act, which will take much longer.

Meanwhile, federal employees who have been promised to be paid after shutdown now have a new concern, which is that they could lose their jobs entirely.

Now, I also want to mention about Democrats, where they are all with this federal workers being in the crosshairs moment.

They right now are saying this is an intimidation scheme.

It's not changing their strategy for the shutdown.

But, privately, some Democrats admit they are worried that maybe some aspects of a shutdown could lead to worse consequences, things they don't want to happen for government.

GEOFF BENNETT: So let's talk more about that.

Where do things stand?

Because the Senate Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer, was on this program last night.

He described President Trump as derelict in the way that he's going about handling all of this.

Is either side budging?

It appears they're not.

LISA DESJARDINS: Yes, this is a high-stakes game of chicken right now.

And what we're seeing is Democrats actually emboldened, because they think Republicans have made some missteps, including the president canceling not meeting with them.

Today, we saw Hakeem Jeffries, the House Democratic leader, again go in front of microphones.

He is trying to make a statement here by having news conferences every day at the Capitol saying, hey, I'm here.

I'm ready to meet.

Now, in reality, also, Republicans have canceled not just the first couple of days of session next week, but all of next week.

I spoke to a Republican member tonight.

And I said, aren't you nervous about not being in town during the shutdown?

He said, no, I don't think voters are going to care after this is over.

That's the risk that Republicans are taking.

I also want to walk people through, because this is a lot to talk about, a basic 101 of what is needed to avoid a shutdown, because it hasn't happened yet, right?

So, first of all, the first thing obviously is the House majority has to pass a funding bill.

That has happened.

House Republicans passed that bill.

Now, this is what Democrats have rejected.

And the Senate needs to have 60 votes to pass a funding bill.

Now, they're eight votes short right now of getting that done.

So that's really where the holdup is.

That's where Democrats have leverage, because you don't need a lot of Democrats, but you do need more than they have right now.

Where are we with the shutdown?

I'm sticking with my 80 percent chances.

They could maybe have a short-term funding bill, but no one's even discussing it right now.

GEOFF BENNETT: Yes.

And quickly back to something you said, Lisa.

House Republicans, they canceled the session for next week.

What reason did they give?

LISA DESJARDINS: They said they don't think there's any reason to come back once they have passed their bill for funding, and they're leaving it up to the Senate.

They're really just trying to jam Democrats in the Senate.

But they say, we have done our job.

They need to do theirs.

GEOFF BENNETT: All right, Lisa Desjardins, Liz Landers, our thanks to you both.

LISA DESJARDINS: You're welcome.

AMNA NAWAZ: In the day's other headlines: President Trump signed an executive order today that aims to keep TikTok available in the U.S.

WILL SCHARF, White House Staff Secretary: With this executive order, you will be effectively bringing into effect the agreement that will save TikTok.

AMNA NAWAZ: At the White House this afternoon, Trump said a deal to bring TikTok under us ownership would meet America's national security concerns.

Trump added that China's President Xi Jinping had given the go-ahead for the agreement, though few details are known about how it will actually work.

Last year, Congress passed a law requiring that TikTok's China-based parent company sell the app or face a U.S.

ban.

President Trump has repeatedly extended the deadline for that ban.

We're learning more tonight about the identity and possible motive of the gunman in yesterday's attack on an ice field office in Dallas.

Law enforcement officials identified the suspect as 29-year-old U.S.

citizen Joshua Jahn.

Today, FBI Director Kash Patel posted on social media that the alleged shooter left behind handwritten notes, including one that read -- quote -- "Hopefully, this will give ICE agents real terror."

Patel also said the evidence points to a -- quote - - "high degree of pre-attack planning."

At a news conference today, officials called the shooting a targeted ambush-style attack on law enforcement, adding that the actual victims were not the intended targets.

NANCY LARSON, Acting U.S.

Attorney for Northern District of Texas: It's clear from these notes that he was targeting ICE agents and ICE personnel.

The tragic irony for his evil plot here is that it was a detainee who was killed and two other detainees that were injured when he fired into the sally port.

What he did is the very definition of terrorism.

AMNA NAWAZ: Authorities also said the rifle used in the shooting was legally obtained and that the gunman likely acted alone before taking his own life.

At the U.N.

today, Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas said his people reject the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.

Appearing via video after the U.S.

denied his visa, Abbas said that Palestinians in Gaza have been facing a -- quote -- "war of genocide."

And he pledged that Hamas, which is seen as a rival to the Palestinian Authority, would have no role in governing the territory after the war ends.

MAHMOUD ABBAS, Palestinian Authority President (through translator): Despite all what our people have suffered, we reject what Hamas carried out on the 7th of October.

These actions do not represent the Palestinian people, nor do they represent their just struggle for freedom and independents.

AMNA NAWAZ: Those comments came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made his way to New York, where he will address the U.N.

tomorrow.

He's expected to push back against nations who've come out recently in favor of a Palestinian state.

In the meantime, in Gaza, local health officials say Israeli strikes overnight and into today killed at least 17 Palestinians across the territory, including 10 children.

Several explosions took down tents and houses, in some instances crushing families as they slept inside.

In France, a Paris court sentenced former President Nicolas Sarkozy today to five years in prison for criminal conspiracy.

Sarkozy was found guilty of attempting to fund his 2007 presidential campaign with money from Libya.

Speaking to reporters after the ruling, the former conservative leader denounced the case as a scandal and has vowed to appeal.

In a surprise twist, the court said he will be incarcerated during any appeal process, which would make him the first former president to serve prison time in the nation's modern era.

Back in this country, Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook took her challenge against President Trump's attempts to fire her to the Supreme Court today.

Her lawyers say that Trump's efforts to remove her -- quote -- "eviscerate the independence of the Federal Reserve Board."

This comes as former Federal Reserve governors, along with other top economic officials, urged the Supreme Court to preserve the Fed's independence.

In a filing, they write that keeping her in the job would -- quote - - "serve the public's interest by safeguarding the independence and stability of the system that governs monetary policy in this country."

Starbucks says it will close hundreds of underperforming stores across North America this weekend.

The coffee giant will also lay off about 900 corporate staff.

That's on top of the 1,100 job cuts the company announced earlier this year.

Starbucks says it plans to spend about $1 billion on the current restructuring plan, as it works to turn around a decline in sales.

Amazon has agreed to pay $2.5 billion to settle allegations that it tricked customers into enrolling in its Prime membership program.

Much of that money will go towards reimbursing subscribers.

Amazon does not have to admit wrongdoing.

In the meantime, on Wall Street today, stocks ended lower despite a surprisingly strong reading on second-quarter GDP.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell more than 170 points.

The Nasdaq gave back more than 100 points.

The S&P 500 posted its third straight loss.

And for my fellow word nerds out there, Merriam-Webster is adding more than 5,000 new terms to its popular Collegiate Dictionary.

Among the entries are rizz, short for charisma, dumbphone for a cell phone that lacks e-mail and Web browsing features, and foodie-friendly terms like cold brew, farm-to-table, and ghost kitchen.

That's a business that only serves takeout and delivery.

This is the first update to the Collegiate version of the dictionary in more than 20 years.

Still to come on the "News Hour": we speak with the families of Americans killed and detained in the West Bank; a deeper look at the questionable claims the Trump administration is making about Tylenol, pregnancy and autism; and ordinary citizens work to document exhibits at the Smithsonian amid the White House's threatened changes.

GEOFF BENNETT: Now to our interview with Finland's President Alexander Stubb.

We spoke this morning in New York during this week's U.N.

General Assembly.

As the leader of a NATO nation that shares an 830-mile border with Russia, Stubb has been a key voice in Europe's response to the war in Ukraine.

In a speech to the U.N.

Security Council this past week, he welcomed what he called an apparent shift in tone on Ukraine and Russia by President Trump.

I asked him, given the contradictory statements by the Trump administration on the war, including the claim that Ukraine will be able to win back territory now under Russian control, why he believes President Trump's latest words carry weight.

ALEXANDER STUBB, President of Finland: My first observation is that never underestimate the capacity of President Trump to negotiate a deal.

I think peace mediation is always incremental.

You go step by step.

Sometimes, it's two steps forward, one step back.

I think what I have found in this eight months is that we have had a process.

First, there's been a lot of carrot.

So you try to get -- convince Putin to come to the negotiating table.

And when you see that the carrot is not necessarily working, you put down a stick.

And what we saw on Tuesday was a big statement from the president.

GEOFF BENNETT: Do you think Vladimir Putin perceives Donald Trump to be strong?

I mean, there are dispassionate observers who say that President Trump has avoided holding Vladimir Putin accountable.

ALEXANDER STUBB: Well, I can't go into the head of President Putin, but, of course, looking at the track record of President Trump, I'm sure, as a Russian president, I'd be worried.

When he says that the Russian economy is not doing well or that the Russian military has made a strategic mistake and they should pay for it, I mean, I'm sure the Kremlin is listening.

So I do think that the Kremlin sees President Trump as a strong president.

GEOFF BENNETT: The Polish prime minister, Donald Tusk, in a tweet said that: "Behind Trump's optimism lies a promise of reduced U.S.

involvement and a shift of responsibility for ending the war to Europe."

Do you see it that way?

ALEXANDER STUBB: No, I see it as teamwork.

So, basically, before Alaska, we had a lot of conversations with the president.

He comes back from Alaska, we continued the conversations in the White House.

And, at that stage, we decided, OK, let's start working on security guarantees for Ukraine.

They're pretty much a done deal now.

Then, after that, he, I would say correctly, says, you need to stop buying Russian oil and gas.

We point the finger at Hungary and Slovakia.

So that puts pressure on Europe.

But I don't see it at all as an off-ramp.

I think that's a wrong analysis.

I think it's very much teamwork.

And the only person that can end this war is President Trump.

GEOFF BENNETT: So this isn't President Trump washing his hands, essentially?

ALEXANDER STUBB: No, no.

I don't see that at all, because, if you look at President Trump's engagement just during this U.N.

week in different types of peace mediation, earlier, it was about Azerbaijan and Armenia.

It's been obviously about Israel and Palestine.

So he has a lot of things going on.

And one can focus on only so many things at a time.

GEOFF BENNETT: If the U.S.

commitment wavers again, how will Finland how will Europe insulate Ukraine from that uncertainty?

ALEXANDER STUBB: Well, we work on it together.

So there are many different elements.

I mean, first, we need to continue the financial support.

And, of course, Europe is doing a lion's share of that, together with the United States.

Secondly, we need to continue the military support in terms of equipment, in terms of co-production, in terms of ammunition.

And then, thirdly, we need to continue to keep the financial pressure up on Russia.

And the E.U., the European Union, just issued its 19th sanction package.

So we need to sort of maximize the pressure on Putin, which would then switch his strategic game, because he hasn't changed his strategic game.

That is still to deny the independent sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.

If he understands that Europeans and Americans are united to support Ukraine, he will probably change tack.

GEOFF BENNETT: How do the airspace violations play into Putin's strategic game, to use your phrase?

Russia, over the past few weeks, has violated the airspace of Estonia, of Poland, has violated Finnish airspace over the last few years.

What do you think they're up to?

ALEXANDER STUBB: Russia is testing us.

They are conducting two types of warfare.

One is kinetic, classic.

That's what we see in Ukraine.

And the other one is hybrid.

And they're testing us on land, air and sea.

So, on land, a year, year-and-a-half ago, they kept on sending asylum seekers, basically instrumentalizing them at our border, which is a heinous crime.

But we put up legislation to deter that.

Then, over the winter, on Christmas Day, they cut cables in the Baltic Sea.

We put up the Baltic "Sentry" operation -- quote, unquote -- by NATO.

So they have stopped that.

And now they're testing us in the air.

We put the Eastern Sentry from the alliance.

In my mind, in these situations, you kind of have to be Finnish.

So stay calm.

The more you prepare, the less likely he's -- they're to continue.

GEOFF BENNETT: You have said that Ukraine, when it engages in peace talks, should start from a position of strength.

What does that look like in practical terms?

ALEXANDER STUBB: Well, in practical terms, it looks like pretty much the following.

One, they have security guarantees.

So they take full responsibility of their own security, but they're supported by Europe and given a backstop from the U.S.

Secondly, they have enough military equipment so that Russia understands that they can be hit, let's say, by long-range drones, which hit their strategic bombers up close to Murmansk, 3,000, 4,000 kilometers away from Ukraine, and then, finally, that at the end of the day, Ukraine will never become Russian.

It becomes European, a member of the European Union, eventually hopefully a member of NATO in the long run.

And that, I think, would give them a position of strength.

GEOFF BENNETT: Given Finland's position on the border with Russia, how do you balance deterrence with diplomacy?

ALEXANDER STUBB: Right now, unfortunately, we don't have much diplomacy on a political level because of the situation, but we do, of course, have diplomats discussing and we have practical arrangements.

You see, Finland joined NATO not against Russia, but just to protect ourselves.

The opinion polls in Finland changed overnight, or actually over three nights.

Now NATO membership has 80 percent support.

How do we continue the deterrence?

Well, do what we have been doing.

We have obligatory military service; 900,000 men and women have done it.

We have 280,000 in reserves for wartime.

We have over 60 F-18s.

We just bought 64 F-35s.

We have the biggest artillery in Europe together with Poland.

And, as I always say, we don't have it because we're worried about Stockholm.

GEOFF BENNETT: When this administration asks, what is Europe doing to maintain and to provide for Ukraine's security, what's Finland's answer?

ALEXANDER STUBB: Well, our answer is that, per capita, we are the fifth or sixth biggest provider of support to Ukraine when it comes to finance, when it comes to military equipment, when it comes to ammunition.

And I also want to see basically the eastern flank starting from the high north from Norway through Finland, the Baltic states, a little bit of an interim with Belarus, and then Ukraine is about 5,000 kilometers.

The biggest armies in Europe pretty much right now are Turkey, Ukraine and Poland and Finland.

So we have got the eastern flank covered.

GEOFF BENNETT: President Stubb, thanks again.

We appreciate it.

ALEXANDER STUBB: My pleasure.

AMNA NAWAZ: After meeting with leaders of Arab countries on the sidelines of the U.N.

General Assembly this week, President Trump again today promised that he won't let Israel annex the West Bank.

DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: Nope, I will not allow it.

It's not going to happen.

QUESTION: Did you speak with Netanyahu about this directly?

DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: Yes.

But I'm not going to allow it, whether I spoke to him or not.

I did.

But I'm not allowing Israel to annex the West Bank.

There's been enough.

It's time to stop now.

AMNA NAWAZ: Recently, extremist settler violence against Palestinians in the occupied territory has been the highest since the U.N.

started recording.

Over the last two years, several Americans have been among those killed there.

Recently, I sat down with three American families still seeking accountability and justice for the death or detention of their loved ones.

Joining us now are Ozden Eygi Bennett, whose sister, Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, a human rights activist from Seattle, was killed by Israeli forces during a protest in the West Bank last year, also Kamel Musallet, whose 20-year-old son, Saif Musallet from Florida, was beaten to death, allegedly by Israeli settlers, and Zeyad Kadur, whose 16-year-old nephew, Mohammed Ibrahim from Florida, has been detained in Israel without trial for months.

Thank you all so much for being here.

We really appreciate your time.

(CROSSTALK) AMNA NAWAZ: Ozden, I will begin with you, because this month marks a year since your sister Aysenur was killed.

Israeli officials, we know, said late last year that it was highly likely she was killed by Israeli forces during a protest, in their words, hit indirectly and unintentionally.

But I know you and your family have been calling for a U.S.-led investigation.

Tell us why.

What are the questions that you still want answers to?

OZDEN EYGI BENNETT, Sister of Aysenur Ezgi Eygi: Since the killing of my sister, we really haven't received any information.

We know that there is an ongoing Israeli investigation.

An Israeli investigation is not acceptable to us as the family, because you can't have someone who committed the crime investigate themselves and judge themselves on whether or not they're guilty.

And that's why we're pushing for a U.S.-led investigation, one that's unbiased, credible, and thorough, so we can get answers to why my sister was killed and who killed her, so that we can seek some sort of accountability for her death.

AMNA NAWAZ: I also have to ask you, because I know you said recently that you were worried about your sister's safety before she went over there.

Did she ever share that concern?

OZDEN EYGI BENNETT: She was so passionate about going and being in solidarity with Palestinians, that the risk to her was worth it.

And in one of her last conversations with my dad, they were in an argument because he said: "What if you get shot?

What if you die?"

And she said: "If my death makes a difference, then so be it."

And so that's why we're here today continuing to advocate for her.

AMNA NAWAZ: Kamel, your son Saif was in the West Bank, was visiting family, I understand on your family farm, something he regularly did over the summers growing up as well.

KAMEL MUSALLET, Father of Sayfollah Musallet: Yes.

AMNA NAWAZ: And he was killed just two months ago.

Tell us how you learned about his passing and also what you understand about how he died.

KAMEL MUSALLET: The way I learned about his passing was, I was actually in the States at that moment on July 11.

What happened was that Israeli settlers that day, a mob of them attacked the youth that were there.

and Sayfollah was one of the youth that were there.

They were on our land.

AMNA NAWAZ: This was on your family farm.

KAMEL MUSALLET: Our village is basically 85 percent U.S.

citizens.

So this -- all these lands are actually owned by U.S., American citizen passport holders and legally ours.

Israeli settlers were there illegally.

A mob of them attacked the youth, and they kind of ambushed them.

And one of his friends was busted up.

He had his knee busted up with sticks.

His other friend was shot.

And he also died that day.

His name was Mohammed Shalabi, a close friend of Sayfollah.

Sayfollah was also unfortunately, that day, he was beaten heavily.

And when his friends found him, he was still breathing.

My son told me that he's looking at his brother basically dying in front of his own eyes, and for 2.5 hours the Israeli army prevented any medical assistance.

Ambulances tried to go in, but they didn't have a permit to get in.

And finally, when they got this permit, one of the ambulances came in and it was attacked by the Israeli settlers, windows busted.

Then, finally, the ambulance got to Sayfollah, and he was still breathing.

Five minutes before he got into the ambulance, Mohammed (ph), his younger brother, told me that he's seen his brother take his last breath.

So for 2.5 hours -- so he was breathing, and only five minutes before he went into the ambulance, he took his last breath.

And who was blocking that was the Israeli army, and not the settlers.

The settlers did the damage, and the Israeli army blocked the help.

AMNA NAWAZ: Kamel, I cannot imagine what it was like to endure that, to share that with us now and relive it.

But I have to ask, have there been any investigations, any arrests since that attack and since your son's killing?

KAMEL MUSALLET: According to the Israeli army, which they told me -- this was only like two days after -- or I actually read on Israeli Times newspaper that somebody was apprehended, but they were released.

And they said there's an ongoing investigation.

But I have got no answers from any Israeli authority whatsoever.

Nothing.

AMNA NAWAZ: Zeyad, meanwhile, your nephew Mohammed, who I understand is Saif's cousin right, was visiting family also in the occupied West Bank earlier this year.

He was arrested from that home in February, and I understand he's been detained for months since then, allegedly, we have heard, for throwing rocks at Israeli settlers.

So what can you tell us about why he's been held for so long, whether or not he's been charged and also how he's doing today?

ZEYAD KADUR, Uncle of Mohammed Ibrahim: Mohammed was arrested, possibly kidnapped from his home on February 16 between 3:00 and 4:00 in the morning; 25 to 30 soldiers came to the house.

He came out of the room blindfolded, handcuffed with M16s being pointed at him with soldiers wearing ski masks.

Yesterday was seven months.

The day that he was blindfolded and handcuffed was the last time anybody from the family has seen him, including his parents.

AMNA NAWAZ: In seven months, there's been no contact with anyone in his family?

(CROSSTALK) ZEYAD KADUR: Well, over seven months now, yes.

AMNA NAWAZ: And he is how old?

ZEYAD KADUR: He turns 16 in March.

AMNA NAWAZ: So he's a minor in detention?

ZEYAD KADUR: In detention.

He's a child.

He's a petite 15-year-old.

Our family doesn't consider him being 16 because he turned 16 in a box; 16 is where you -- it's a big day for a 16-year-old in America.

You get your driver's permit, you get your summer job.

So he's still 15 in our eyes, yes.

AMNA NAWAZ: Do you have any insight into how he's doing?

Have you gotten any information at all?

ZEYAD KADUR: So we have got some e-mails from the U.S.

Embassy in Jerusalem, noticeable weight loss.

One visit said noticeable skin infection, scabies, on the leg.

Medication was denied.

Then we found out the scabies spread throughout his whole body.

His lawyers haven't been able to see him.

I'm here on the behalf of his father.

He can't be here.

He'd like to be sitting in this chair, but he can't take the risk of leaving the country and not coming back in.

And after seeing what happened to his cousin, we said we have to escalate this and we need to get this kid home.

AMNA NAWAZ: I want to underscore here, all of your loved ones are American citizens.

You are here trying to get the attention of this administration and asking them to act.

What has that conversation been like, Ozden?

OZDEN EYGI BENNETT: My sister was a Washington state resident, and our Washington state representatives, senators, congresswomen have been doing whatever they can to help us.

But, unfortunately, they're being stonewalled by the Israeli government and military and they're being stonewalled by our own State Department and the Department of Justice.

There have been numerous letters sent to the Department of Justice urging an open investigation into my sister's killing.

AMNA NAWAZ: But no action taken over the last year?

OZDEN EYGI BENNETT: No action taken.

The one thing that is the thread between all of our families and stories we have shared is the impunity, continued impunity that our government grants Israel to continue killing American citizens, to continue committing international war crimes.

There are no consequences or red lines so far for what Israel can commit and get away with.

AMNA NAWAZ: Kamel, what is the one thing -- if you could ask the U.S.

government to do one thing right now, what would that be?

KAMEL MUSALLET: My son was born and raised in the USA.

I was born an American citizen.

We're as American as you can get.

And we just want to see some sort of accountability and for this impunity to stop.

I can't bring my son back.

We don't want no other father to bury their child like I did.

AMNA NAWAZ: Zeyad, as you mentioned, you want your nephew to come home alive, and soon.

And what is the one thing that you want the government to do right now that they have not yet done?

ZEYAD KADUR: Why is there such a double standard just by having the word Palestinian in your name or in your heritage or in your DNA?

Why can't he just be a 15-year-old child that's wrongfully detained for seven months, starved, skin-infected, hasn't seen his family?

His family hasn't seen him.

What we're asking here is for them to do their job.

That's what we're asking.

You work for the State Department, Marco Rubio.

You're a Floridian.

This kid is a child from Florida.

Treat him like one.

AMNA NAWAZ: Zeyad Kadur, Kamel Musallet and Ozden Eygi Bennett, thank you so much for being here, for sharing the memories of your loved ones and the stories of -- and we hope to see back here soon.

KAMEL MUSALLET: Thank you for having us.

ZEYAD KADUR: Thank you for having us.

AMNA NAWAZ: Thank you.

OZDEN EYGI BENNETT: Thank you.

ZEYAD KADUR: Thank you.

AMNA NAWAZ: President Trump's warning to pregnant women this week to stop taking Tylenol based on his unproven claim that it can lead to autism sparked widespread concern and many questions about what the science actually shows.

So we're going to try to take some time and answer some of those questions.

Let's start with Tylenol, which doctors have turned to as the best option for treating pain and fever during pregnancy.

On Monday, President Trump blamed acetaminophen in part for a significant rise in the number of cases of autism.

Here's what he said.

DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: Acetaminophen, which is basically commonly known as Tylenol, during pregnancy can be associated with a very increased risk of autism.

I want to say it like it is.

Don't take Tylenol.

Don't take it.

If you just can't, I mean, it's -- fight like hell not to take it.

There may be a point where you have to and that, you will have to work out with yourself.

AMNA NAWAZ: For more on this, we're joined first by Dr.

Linda Eckert.

She's an author and a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Washington.

Dr.

Eckert, welcome to the "News Hour."

Thanks for joining us.

DR.

LINDA ECKERT, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Washington: Well, thank you.

AMNA NAWAZ: So, scientists have been looking at this link between acetaminophen and autism for decades.

In the announcement, we should point out that the White House leaned very heavily on the research of the dean of Harvard's School of Public Health, a Dr.

Andrea Baccarelli, quoting him as saying there is a causal relationship between Tylenol and autism.

Just tell us, what does most of the research on this issue show?

DR.

LINDA ECKERT: Most of the research does not bear out that there's a causal relationship.

Causal relationships are quite hard to prove, actually.

And the research on Tylenol has been quite reassuring overall.

And there was actually many studies, several great studies that have looked at this.

And the most recent one that is a very powerful study was done in Sweden, where they looked at over 250,000 individuals.

And they also were able to look at siblings, where people had environmental and sibling relationships, genetics in common.

When they accounted for these environmental and genetic risks, they did not see any association between Tylenol and autism.

So that's thought to be a very gold standard study.

AMNA NAWAZ: Dr.

Eckert, can I also ask you, the reporting has shown recently that Dr.

Baccarelli was also paid some $150,000 a few years ago in 2023 to be an expert witness in a lawsuit against the makers of Tylenol.

It's gotten a lot of attention, but is that unusual or cause for concern here?

DR.

LINDA ECKERT: Well, I feel like a lot of times when people do, do research and publish it, they are asked to be experts.

I think what's important is to disclose that and also to have a balance of people that are testifying or offering expert opinions.

AMNA NAWAZ: I want to ask you as well about what we just heard from the president, because he spoke very definitively about this.

He said to pregnant women about Tylenol, just don't take it, fight like hell not to take it.

How does that square from the guidance from professional medical associations?

DR.

LINDA ECKERT: It does not square well.

The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the Society for Maternal Fetal Medicine all have looked very extensively at the data.

All have come out quite strongly reaffirming their recommendations that Tylenol really is the best choice for controlling pain and fever in pregnancy.

And both pain and fever in pregnancy themselves have risks for the fetus.

AMNA NAWAZ: We also heard the president say to pregnant women that they should consider toughing it out when it comes to pain or fever during their pregnancies.

We know pregnancy to be such a high-stress time for women already.

I just wonder how you look at that language.

DR.

LINDA ECKERT: Well, I have to say, as someone who's cared for pregnant patients for over 30 years, I find it shocking.

I think that it is unlikely that the same advice would be given to the opposite gender to just bear their pain and not do anything about it.

And the most important thing is that we want pregnant patients to be well and their babies to be well, just like they do.

So I think they should talk to their providers and they should use evidence-based medicine and science to help make that decision.

AMNA NAWAZ: We also heard the health secretary, Kennedy, announce that his agency is closely examining links between vaccines and autism.

And he's said before that this kind of research has been actively suppressed in the past.

Can I get your take on that?

Is there any evidence that that research has been suppressed?

DR.

LINDA ECKERT: I think it's the opposite, actually.

This has been looked at so carefully.

And there are many studies, tens and tens of studies, a very large number of patients all over the world that have shown that there is not a link between autism and vaccine use.

AMNA NAWAZ: If I can just ask you lastly here to speak directly to women who heard this advice this week and maybe are concerned about decisions they made while pregnant or decisions they're making now that they are pregnant, what would your message to them be?

DR.

LINDA ECKERT: I would offer reassurance and empathy, and I am sorry that this is such a confusing time with all of these mixed messages.

I feel like there are good reasons to use Tylenol in the appropriate doses in consult with your physicians.

And I hope that you can feel good about taking the best care of yourself and your baby.

AMNA NAWAZ: Dr.

Linda Eckert, OB-GYN, faculty at the University of Washington.

Dr.

Eckert, thank you for joining us.

We appreciate it.

DR.

LINDA ECKERT: Thank you so much.

AMNA NAWAZ: All right, let's turn now to an announcement made during that White House event about autism.

The FDA said it was approving an old generic drug called leucovorin, long used to treat the toxic effects of chemotherapy, as a therapy for some people with autism.

The active ingredient is a modified version of vitamin B9, also known as folate.

Officials claimed it could help stem what they called an epidemic of autism.

Estimates show about one in 31 children are diagnosed with autism.

Among boys, that number is one in 20.

Once again, here's the president.

DONALD TRUMP: The meteoric rise in autism is among the most alarming public health developments in history.

There's never been anything like this.

So we're going to save a lot of children from a tough life, a really tough life.

We're going to save a lot of parents from a tough life.

AMNA NAWAZ: For more on this, I'm joined now by Zoe Gross.

She's director of advocacy at the Autistic Self Advocacy Network.

Zoe, good to see you.

Thanks for being here.

ZOE GROSS, Director of Advocacy, Autistic Self Advocacy Network: Thank you for having me.

AMNA NAWAZ: Let's just start with your reaction, the reaction from other people with autism and their families that you have heard to this announcement from the president and his framing of autism as a crisis in this country?

ZOE GROSS: Certainly, the way that the president and others spoke about autism at the presser on Monday was very disturbing.

The phrase ending autism was used.

The president said that the prevalence of autism should be none.

Once again, they used the line autism destroys families.

So, it was a very stigmatizing way to discuss a very common disability that really no one should be panicking about.

AMNA NAWAZ: When you say it's disturbing, what do you mean?

When you first heard them use that kind of phrasing, what went through your mind?

ZOE GROSS: Well, no one likes to be -- to hear from the president of their country that they belong to a group that shouldn't exist.

But that's the implication of saying we need to end autism, that autistic people shouldn't exist in our society.

AMNA NAWAZ: That Tylenol warning in particular we just talked about, how is that resonating among expectant mothers who are weighing whether or not to take it, among mothers of children who are on the autism spectrum?

What are you hearing about how they're reacting to that?

ZOE GROSS: People are very uncertain.

A lot of people don't know who to trust because they're hearing one thing from experts and their doctors and researchers, scientists and another thing from their government.

It's an upsetting situation to put parents in.

And especially this thing of blaming pregnant parents for their children going on to be autistic, we have seen this before in the history of autism, when scientists would say that refrigerator mothers or emotionally withholding mothers were causing their children to be autistic.

That obviously wasn't true, but it's a very sexist way of blaming the mother for the child's disability.

AMNA NAWAZ: If you take a broader look here, is this whole renewed focus on research from this administration -- they're pledging to invest $15 million to study the causes of autism -- even the push we have seen from the FDA to bypass traditional processes and try to offer therapy options -- is that welcome in the autism community?

Shouldn't there be more research into this?

ZOE GROSS: Absolutely, but not this type of research.

What the autistic community wants to see is a great increase in research that will improve our quality of life, whether that's investigating questions like why do so many autistic people have sleep disorders and what can be done to help us with that, or what is the best way of teaching people to use an alternative communication device so that they have access to language?

What are the best methodologies to provide services to people like personal care assistants, so that everyone can get out of bed, go to school, go to work, eat their breakfast, do activities of daily living in their community, as opposed to an institution?

These are the research questions that we want to see investigated.

But there's been a huge pivot leading even harder into causation research, which already was the vast majority of autism research funding.

That's not a step forward for us.

AMNA NAWAZ: So does all of this make you trust what you're hearing from the administration more or less?

I mean, how do you look at the guidance that's being offered here from the officials in charge?

ZOE GROSS: We would really encourage people to be looking to professional organizations like the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, which was mentioned earlier, like the American Academy of Pediatrics, rather than looking to HHS or the White House as a source for public health information right now.

We find that what's coming out of there is not reliable.

AMNA NAWAZ: We should note you have shared as part of your story you were diagnosed at a young age.

You have lived your whole life knowing the kind of impact that these conversations unfolding at the national level can have on people with autism and their families.

What do you want people to understand about autism and the autistic community right now?

ZOE GROSS: Autism isn't going anywhere, and that's not something you should be scared of.

What we need is to be included in society, accepted and accommodated, whether that's with job accommodations at work or individualized education plans in school, whether that's affordable, accessible housing or services through Medicaid.

We belong in society, and we deserve our rights and we deserve accommodations.

AMNA NAWAZ: Zoe Gross, always great to see you here.

Thank you so much from the Autistic Self Advocacy Network.

Thank you for your time.

ZOE GROSS: Thank you.

GEOFF BENNETT: The Smithsonian Institution established by Congress in 1846 is the world's largest museum, education and research complex.

It's a public-private trust that has long operated at arm's length from the White House, but the Smithsonian now finds itself under unprecedented scrutiny from the Trump administration.

Our senior arts correspondent, Jeffrey Brown, reports now on how a group of citizen historians are responding to the administration's moves, part of our series Art in Action, exploring the intersection of art and democracy and our Canvas arts coverage.

JEFFREY BROWN: On a recent weekend, Virginia resident Barbara Michelman went to her favorite Smithsonian museum in nearby Washington, D.C., the Hirshhorn, renowned for its collection and exhibitions of contemporary art.

BARBARA MICHELMAN, Volunteer, Citizen Historians for the Smithsonian: The art there isn't like anything I ever saw in books or magazines in school growing up.

JEFFREY BROWN: But this was no ordinary visit.

Instead of viewing the art, this time, she was there to document it.

BARBARA MICHELMAN: When I saw the request for volunteers, I thought art is one of the first things to be attacked.

And this seemed like a direct action for something that I feel is worth protecting, which is freedom of artistic expression.

JEFFREY BROWN: Armed with her cell phone camera, Michelman carried out her assignment, photographing all art and signage in one section of the Hirshhorn, including works by Jackson Pollock and Janet Sobel, another pioneering abstract expressionist.

It's part of a new grassroots effort to document everything on display at the Smithsonian's 21 museums and National Zoo.

CHANDRA MANNING, Citizen Historians for the Smithsonian: We call it Citizen Historians for the Smithsonian, because we think it captures the collective and communal effort that the project is.

JEFFREY BROWN: The project is the brainchild of Chandra Manning and James Millward, two Georgetown University history professors undertaking it as private citizens, independent of the university.

JAMES MILLWARD, Citizen Historians for the Smithsonian: The museum itself has excellent documentation, archives all of their data.

They have beautiful images of everything that we have taken amateur images of.

But the point is not to try to duplicate what they're doing, but to have our own copy out among the people that we could refer to if necessary in the future.

JEFFREY BROWN: Last month, the White House announced a sweeping review of the Smithsonian Institution, including current and future exhibitions, wall texts, and even some internal communications.

Within 120 days, the White House said, museums will be required to begin so-called content corrections -- quote -- "replacing divisive or ideological-driven language with unifying, historically accurate and constructive descriptions."

DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: We want the museums to treat our country fairly.

We want the museums to talk about the history of our country in a fair manner, not in a woke manner or in a racist manner, which is what many of them, not all of them, but many of them are doing.

JEFFREY BROWN: It's part of a broader attempt by the president in his second term to reframe cultural and historical narratives.

Millward, an expert on Chinese history, said the review spurred him to action.

JAMES MILLWARD: One of the things about history in China is that it's very, very often, for thousands of years, been controlled by the state.

And I really don't want to see our own history be Tiananmenized the way that the Chinese Communist Party tries to censor its own past.

JEFFREY BROWN: He approached Manning, who as a graduate student had worked as a National Park Service ranger.

She suggested mounting a campaign similar to one organized in response to an administration review launched in May that aimed to remove signs in national parks deemed to have improper partisan ideology.

The campaign called Save Our Signs and founded by a group at the University of Minnesota asked park visitors to take and submit photos of signs to a public Web site to capture any that might disappear.

CHANDRA MANNING: I am a historian of the United States who has spent my career trying to understand the full story of our country.

And it really concerns me to simplify and even falsify that story into a false uniformity because, if you can erase people from the past, it becomes legitimation for erasing people from the present and the future.

JEFFREY BROWN: While the national park review is ongoing, administration officials have ordered the removal of signage and materials related to Native Americans and slavery, reportedly including a reproduction at Georgia's Fort Pulaski National Monument of the Scourged Back, a well-known Civil War era photo of a formerly enslaved man with scars on his back.

Manning says the photo was circulated widely at the time.

CHANDRA MANNING: Americans in the 1860s could handle the hard truths about the past and could be inspired about them to do better.

I think that it's striking that the administration doesn't seem to think that Americans of the 21st century have the backbone of Americans of the 19th century.

JEFFREY BROWN: Manning and Millward teamed up with graduate student Jessica Dickinson Goodman, who helped organize hundreds of volunteers and set up a system to catalog their photos and videos.

JESSICA DICKINSON GOODMAN, Citizen Historians for the Smithsonian: For example, if you wanted to look up and see what the transatlantic slave trade exhibit had looked like on a particular date, you can go in and see.

JEFFREY BROWN: While exhibition rotations are routine, the project aims to track changes brought on by this unprecedented involvement by the White House.

JAMES MILLWARD: If there are egregious attempts to censor the texts or to remove exhibits that shouldn't be removed, then we will have a record that we can quickly find and we can give the before-and-after.

JEFFREY BROWN: The historians initially reached out to neighborhood groups and local LISTSERVs for volunteers.

Word of the effort spread and they were soon inundated with offers to help.

Were you surprised by the response?

CHANDRA MANNING: Pleasantly, yes.

JAMES MILLWARD: I was overwhelmed.

I think we just passed 600 volunteers today.

JEFFREY BROWN: What was initially meant to document the eight museums highlighted in the Trump administration's review has now expanded to all the Smithsonian's museums.

In just four weeks, the project has amassed a visual record consisting of more than 25,000 photographs.

JAMES MILLWARD: It's not only about history, of course.

It's also about culture and art and about science... CHANDRA MANNING: That's right.

Yes, right.

JAMES MILLWARD: ... because the Museum of Natural History is also one of the ones on the White House list.

There, we're talking about efforts to change what we say about climate change, about the age of man, how old the Earth is, perhaps, all sorts of things deeply related to science.

JEFFREY BROWN: Retiree Katherine Pruitt started her career in the Collections Department at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in 1977.

KATHERINE PRUITT, Volunteer, Citizen Historians for the Smithsonian: Some of the best minds in the country are involved in curation of the collections, in design of the exhibits, and those minds have to represent a broad spectrum of scholarship, or the curator is not doing their job appropriately.

JEFFREY BROWN: After hearing about the Citizen Historian project from a former Smithsonian employee, Pruitt and her husband, Tom, volunteered, their assignment part of the National Portrait Gallery's Hall of Presidents.

KATHERINE PRUITT: We did have a chance to read how the presidents and their accomplishments had been portrayed.

It was an interesting exercise to think about.

Would any of this really be something that someone would object to as improper?

I didn't feel that way, but I did feel good about making sure that we had it documented as it exists today.

JEFFREY BROWN: The "News Hour" reached out for comment to both the White House and Smithsonian.

Neither to date has provided a response or spokesperson.

Meanwhile, this citizen action continues.

How do you define success then?

CHANDRA MANNING: For me, success will be, do Americans feel connected to this institution and like they have contributed to it?

Does the Smithsonian hear the message?

Do they hear how loved they are and how valued their work is?

JEFFREY BROWN: Manning and Millward hope to eventually make their Smithsonian collection available online to the public.

For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Jeffrey Brown.

AMNA NAWAZ: And some late-breaking news.

There are multiple reports tonight that former FBI Director James Comey has been indicted on charges of making a false statement and obstruction during testimony to Congress in 2017.

GEOFF BENNETT: Without mentioning Comey by name, Attorney General Pam Bondi posted on X, saying -- quote -- "No one is above the law."

Federal prosecutors had previously concluded that there was not enough evidence to bring charges against Comey.

President Trump complained on social media days ago that the former FBI director should be indicted.

We will have more on this story online and, of course, tomorrow here on the "News Hour."

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.