GEOFF BENNETT: Good evening.

I'm Geoff Bennett.

AMNA NAWAZ: And I'm Amna Nawaz.

On the "News Hour" tonight: Former President Biden says he's been diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer.

A look at what his diagnosis means.

GEOFF BENNETT: Israel says it will allow minimal aid into Gaza as it intensifies deadly air and ground operations and orders the immediate evacuation of Gaza's second largest city.

AMNA NAWAZ: And the price everyday Americans will pay for tariffs on Chinese products.

DANIEL BERGSTRESSER, Brandeis University: People are in for some surprises, as the disruptions in trade kind of work their way through the various supply chains that we rely upon.

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

We begin tonight with a closer look at the announcement that former President Joe Biden has been diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer.

Yesterday, a spokesperson for the 82-year-old said the cancer had spread to his bones.

Today, Mr. Biden posted on social media, saying -- quote -- "Cancer touches us all.

Like so many of you, Jill and I have learned that we are strongest in the broken places.

Thank you for lifting us up with love and support."

GEOFF BENNETT: Prostate cancer is the most common cancer and the second leading cause of cancer death among men in the U.S. For more insight, I spoke earlier today with Dr. Jay Raman, chair of the Department of Urology at Penn State Health.

Dr. Raman, welcome back to the "News Hour."

DR. JAY RAMAN, Penn State Health: Thank you.

Glad to be here.

GEOFF BENNETT: That Biden's form of cancer is described as aggressive and having spread to the bone, what does that mean for an 82-year-old?

DR. JAY RAMAN: Well, there are different types of prostate cancer.

I often think about it as being sort of a heterogeneous or a mixed bag.

Some are slow-growing and some are more aggressive and fast-growing.

And those are the kind that have the potential to not only grow within the prostate, but spread to the lymph nodes, liver, and, in this case, for example, the bone.

One of the great things about prostate cancer is that it's one of the most treatable cancers, even in this diagnosis, a stage 4 cancer.

And so even, for an 82-year-old, there are plenty of treatment options.

GEOFF BENNETT: Well, tell us more about those treatment options, including hormonal treatments, because the statement that President Biden's office released yesterday said that his cancer appears to be hormone-sensitive, which allows for effective management.

DR. JAY RAMAN: Well, prostate cancer is a hormone-sensitive cancer.

What that means is, is that the food supply for prostate cancer is testosterone and male androgens.

So when we talk about hormone suppression as being a treatment, that basically means lowering the testosterone and androgen levels in the body, and that, in and of itself, will start to starve some of the prostate cancer cells and treat these sites of metastasis.

And one of the great things that's happened over the last 10 to 15 years is really an explosion in the ability to have different combinations of drugs and therapies, all of which target this hormonal axis.

GEOFF BENNETT: There's also the question of why this disease was detected so late, especially in someone who, like former President Biden, has access to state-of-the-art care.

He was receiving annual physicals.

What questions does this raise for you?

DR. JAY RAMAN: Well, I think I would tell you, to be perfectly honest, if we look at national screening guidelines, for example, from the American Urological Association, screening guidelines really recommend screening between the ages of 45 to 50 all the way up to about 70 years of age.

And, certainly, when you get to men who are over in their upper 70s and even 80 years of age, routine screening is really not recommended.

It's very possible that these men may die of some other cause other than prostate cancer.

So, although President Biden has been diagnosed with an aggressive type of prostate cancer, I wouldn't necessarily say it was due to lack of screening.

It was perhaps purposeful, given his age and potentially life expectancy.

GEOFF BENNETT: Back in 2014, as you all know, routine annual PSA testing was scaled back, and that meant that fewer people are now getting screened.

Was that a smart move?

And what should men be doing now to make sure that they're getting properly screened?

DR. JAY RAMAN: Well, I think, when prostate cancer is diagnosed early, it is one of the most treatable and most curable cancers.

And so I think it's very important that men be very proactive about their care.

One of the easiest ways to screen for prostate cancer is a blood test called PSA.

And, in general, we recommend that men have their initial PSA test between 45 and 50 years of age and then be checked every two to four years.

The reality is, is that, when we identify prostate cancer through Psaki-based screening at an early stage, it's highly treatable.

And if we don't, we may run into scenarios where the disease has progressed or even spread at the time of diagnosis.

GEOFF BENNETT: What makes someone high-risk for prostate cancer and what can people do to better detect and prevent it?

DR. JAY RAMAN: Well, I think that there are certain groups of persons or certain risk factors that place patients at higher risk.

Certainly, Black men or men of African ancestry have an increased risk, those with a genetic or hereditary gene mutation, those with a family history like a father or brother, as well as certain unique populations such as the Ashkenazi Jewish population.

And in those persons, while I talked about screening between the ages of 45 to 50, we actually recommend that these groups perhaps have their first Psaki-based test between 40 and 45 years of age to detect the potential in these high-risk populations.

GEOFF BENNETT: Dr. Jay Raman, chair of the Department of Urology at Penn State Health, thanks for being with us.

DR. JAY RAMAN: Thanks so much.

AMNA NAWAZ: We start the day's other headlines with a Supreme Court order that allows the Trump administration to strip legal protections from hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan immigrants.

The justices put on hold a ruling from a federal judge that had kept in place so-called temporary protected status, or TPS.

Such status allows migrants to live and work in the U.S. legally because their home countries are deemed unsafe.

Today's decision puts some 350,000 Venezuelans at risk of deportation.

Also today, a lower court ruled the Trump administration cannot move forward with its plan to dismantle the U.S. Institute of Peace.

The organization was created and funded by Congress 40 years ago to focus on resolving violent conflicts worldwide.

The administration can appeal.

President Trump says Russia and Ukraine will immediately begin cease-fire negotiations after he spoke with each country's leaders separately by phone today.

Mr. Trump described his more-than-two-hour call with Russian President Vladimir Putin as excellent.

He also spoke one-on-one with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as well as with European leaders.

Afterwards, both Zelenskyy and Putin indicated they're ready for discussions to proceed, but they remain unwavering in their conditions.

VLADIMIR PUTIN, Russian President (through translator): Overall, Russia's position is clear.

The main thing for us is to eliminate the root causes of this crisis.

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, Ukrainian President (through translator): Nobody will withdraw our forces from our territories.

We will accept no ultimatums.

We will not give away our land our territories, and our people, our homes.

AMNA NAWAZ: Zelenskyy went on to say that Ukraine and its allies are considering a high-level meeting between Ukraine, Russia, the U.S. and other parties.

That comes after direct talks in Turkey last week, which ended after just two hours.

The center of the country is bracing for more severe weather tonight.

Weather officials say the threat is especially high for Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, and Arkansas, where tornadoes and flash floods are possible through tomorrow.

St. Louis remains under threat, even as people there pick up the pieces from last week's storms that killed at least five people.

And officials in Kentucky say the death toll from Friday's tornado could rise further.

At least 19 people died, and many remain homeless.

Residents have barely had time to process their loss ahead of more bad weather expected tomorrow.

But EDWINA WILSON, Kentucky Resident: I found me some shoes today and some of the pictures and just memories, because they say more storms are coming.

So we have got to get things cleaned up before more storms get in here.

AMNA NAWAZ: Meanwhile, nearly eight million people in the Southwest are under red flag warnings due to potentially dangerous heat and dry conditions.

The head of CBS News, Wendy McMahon, announced her resignation today.

It comes as the network's parent company considers settling a lawsuit with President Trump.

In an e-mail to staff, McMahon wrote -- quote -- "It's become clear that the company and I do not agree on the path forward."

Trump sued "60 Minutes" over an interview with Kamala Harris last fall.

He alleges it was selectively edited to benefit her, which CBS News denies.

McMahon's departure comes after "60 Minutes" executive producer Bill Owens announced his resignation last month.

Turning now to concerns over air travel, the Federal Aviation Administration is investigating a two-second outage involving the facility that handles air traffic at Newark Airport.

There were no immediate safety concerns, but it follows a series of such incidents at Newark.

Separately, federal officials said today they're investigating an incident at La Guardia last month, when a passenger jet had to abort takeoff to avoid a runway collision.

And Houston's Hobby Airport suffered an hour-long outage at its tower yesterday.

Backup generators kicked in and kept the facility up and running.

Britain and the European Union sealed new trade and defense agreements today, more than five years after the U.K. formally left the E.U.

The deals came during the first formal summit between the two sides since Brexit.

Last year, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer campaigned on resetting ties with the 27-nation bloc.

At a press conference, he said today's agreements put Britain back on the world stage.

KEIR STARMER, British Prime Minister: It marks a new era in our relationship.

And this deal is a win-win.

It delivers what the British public voted for last year.

It gives us unprecedented access to the E.U.

market.

AMNA NAWAZ: More specifically, the agreements will ease some travel and trade across borders.

They will also extend a controversial agreement that allows E.U.

fishing vessels in U.K. waters.

And it'll pave the way for the U.K. to access an E.U.

loan program aimed at boosting regional defense.

Britain's opposition parties were quick to denounce the deals, saying they backtrack on the very premise of Brexit.

And on Wall Street today, stocks drifted as investors tried to look past that U.S. credit downgrade by Moody's.

The Dow Jones industrial average added more than 130 points on the day.

The Nasdaq rose four points, so basically flat.

The S&P 500 just barely managed a gain, notching its sixth straight winning session.

And the beloved characters of "Sesame Street" are moving to a new home, even while keeping ties with their old one.

Under a deal announced today, Netflix will stream new episodes starting later this year.

They will also air on PBS and on the PBS Kids app on the same day.

The change comes after Warner Bros.

Discovery decided to end its deal with Sesame Workshop for new episodes for HBO and Max.

"Sesame Street" has educated generations of children over more than five decades on the air, winning more than 200 Emmys.

Still to come on the "News Hour": the downgrade of the U.S. credit rating triggers warning signs for the economy; we examine the impact of federal funding cuts on nonprofits and the communities they serve; and Tamara Keith and Amy Walter break down the latest political headlines.

GEOFF BENNETT: Today, Israel's military allowed humanitarian aid into Gaza for the first time in nearly three months, as the leaders of Britain, France and Canada threatened to sanction Israel if it didn't provide more assistance.

Israel also ordered Gaza's second largest city evacuated as part of a new ground operation.

Here's Nick Schifrin.

NICK SCHIFRIN: In Rafah today, a new campaign to reoccupy Gaza.

The operation is named for a biblical leader who annihilated his opponents.

Israel's now vowing to clear Hamas once and for all and hold territory, all of Gaza's territory, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said today.

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, Israeli Prime Minister (through translator): We're going to take over all areas of the Strip.

That's what we're going to do.

NICK SCHIFRIN: And so excavators march into battle with a mission to flatten Gaza.

And an already destroyed city, Rafah, is reduced to further rubble.

In the last month, Israel has expanded what it calls a buffer zone along the Gaza border from hundreds of feet to more than a mile and enlarged corridor that bisects Gaza.

Today, it ordered the evacuation of Gaza's second largest city and says it will move through Khan Yunis toward the sea.

Israel controls about a third of Gaza and is pushing the population into shrinking pockets outside of IDF control.

ASSAF ORION, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy: We are now seeing Israel moving to create some kind of an inhabitable hellscape by demolishing the remaining buildings that Hamas is still using.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Assaf Orion is a fellow at the Washington Institute whose final posting as a brigadier general was head of the Israeli military's strategic planning.

ASSAF ORION: If you are looking for absolute and total victory, it calls for very extreme measures, which means that the IDF will need to stay and hold this territory, devoting and investing a lot of units, a lot of forces, a lot of expenses in blood and treasure.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Part of Israel's efforts to strangle Hamas has been to withhold aid, until today.

For the first time in more than 11 weeks, aid trucks left a border crossing and entered Gaza, in part because of U.S. pressure, Netanyahu admitted today.

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU (through translator): Our greatest friends in the world come to me and tell me, we are giving you all the assistance to complete the victory.

There's one thing we cannot stand.

We can't accept images of hunger, mass hunger, and we won't be able to support you.

Therefore, in order to achieve victory, we must somehow solve the problem.

NICK SCHIFRIN: And the problem is mass hunger.

An umbrella organization of U.N. and international humanitarian groups declared that nearly half-a-million people face catastrophic hunger and are at risk of famine, especially Gaza's most vulnerable.

CLEMENCE LAGOUARDAT, Program Coordinator, Oxfam: We have children that have been deprived of proper food for more than 70 days, and they are one of the first victim of starvation.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Clemence Lagouardat is Oxfam's program coordinator, who recently returned from Gaza.

CLEMENCE LAGOUARDAT: What I have seen is total destruction of the Gaza Strip.

It's to a scale that is different to imagine until you see extremely young children that are just too tired and that are consuming their whole energy to just basically survive and that don't even have the strength to cry anymore.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Earlier this year, during a cease-fire, every day, nearly 600 trucks entered Gaza.

The U.N. called today's nine trucks a drop in the ocean.

CLEMENCE LAGOUARDAT: How do you choose?

How do you prioritize?

This is quite impossible, and it's not going to solve anything about the situation on the ground.

NICK SCHIFRIN: And it's not only food.

The daily displacement is multigenerational, sons supporting mothers, uncles pushing nephews.

Majid Al-Bareem flees his home with his dead brother's son and his earthly possessions.

His mother, Wafaa Al-Bareem, struggles to counsel a hungry grandchild.

WAFAA AL-BAREEM, Displaced Gazan (through translator): When a child comes and tells me, "Give me a piece of bread, grandma," sometimes, I have one loaf of bread.

I give it to them and I sleep hungry.

By God, we are tired.

We are dying slowly.

They are besieging us, no food, drink or anything.

NICK SCHIFRIN: The displacement is designed to facilitate a new Israeli-backed American aid group to distribute aid only to vetted Gazans.

It's an effort that international aid groups oppose.

CLEMENCE LAGOUARDAT: It seems that they will be operating in a system that is pushed by Israel and that is basically instrumentalizing humanitarian assistance,that is politicizing it and that is serving a purpose, a political and military purpose.

NICK SCHIFRIN: In the meantime, there is so much loss.

In Jabalia, they mourned a child, one of 500 people that Gaza health authorities say have been killed in the last eight days, and the ruins strewn as far as the eye can see.

For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Nick Schifrin.

AMNA NAWAZ: The growing size of the U.S. debt and the concerns over how much more it will increase was very much on the minds of investors, markets and lawmakers today.

Stocks bounced back, but only after a rocky start to the day.

Meanwhile, the value of the dollar dropped and bond markets were under pressure.

Analysts said the developments were tied in part to Moody's announcement on Friday that it was downgrading the U.S. credit rating over concerns about large annual deficits, debt and rising interest costs.

For some explanation and perspective on what's happening here, I'm joined now by David Wessel, director of Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy at the Brookings Institution.

David, great to see you.

Let's start with the impact of that Moody's decision on Friday to downgrade the U.S. credit rating.

It seems like stock investors today seemed to shrug it off, but explain what we're seeing with the dollar and in the bond markets.

DAVID WESSEL, Brookings Institution: Well, listen, the -- what Moody's did was shine a flash light on something that any sophisticated investor and even some unsophisticated investors knew, that the U.S. is on an unsustainable budget trajectory.

After all, Moody's is one of three rating agencies, and the other two have previously, one as long as 2011, stripped the U.S. of the AAA rating.

I think what's happening is that, after sort of being ignored for a while, the markets, some of the press, the pundits and a few members of Congress are beginning to say, wow, we have a pretty big budget deficit.

We have a large and growing federal debt and Congress is on the verge of making it even worse.

And I think that's what the markets are focusing on.

AMNA NAWAZ: How much of what we're seeing right now in terms of warning signs has to do with that pending tax bill in Congress and also just the ongoing uncertainty around tariffs?

DAVID WESSEL: I think quite a bit.

So, despite all the rhetoric one hears from Congress about, oh, we need to do something about spending and we have too big a debt, the bill that the House is considering and will go to the Senate cuts taxes much more than it reduces spending.

Analysts, depending on how you look at the numbers, say it'll increase the federal debt by $2.5 trillion to $3.5 trillion over the next 10 years.

Depends whether you count interest or not in that calculation.

But I think also what global investors are saying is, maybe the U.S. isn't quite as stable as we thought.

There's challenges to the rule of law.

There's all the uncertainty about tariffs.

And they're saying maybe we shouldn't have all our money or the bulk of our money in the U.S. And that's why we think the dollar is falling.

People are buying less in the way of U.S. securities, because they have a little bit less confidence.

I don't think -- we're not at the risk of default.

It's not the end of the world.

But it's a warning sign that if we don't get our house together, the markets are going to charge us a higher interest rate to cover the risk.

AMNA NAWAZ: But, David, each time there were previous downgrades from the other two credit rating agencies, right, in 2011 and 2023, we heard concerns that investors would start to see the U.S. less as a safe haven for their investments, and that didn't happen.

They continued to put money into U.S. treasuries.

You think something's different this time?

DAVID WESSEL: We don't really know.

I mean, the credit rating agencies don't have that much clout.

People can look at the U.S. government through their own eyes.

I think what -- the fact that bond yields have gone up and the dollar has gone down is a very serious sign.

And it's different than what we have seen in the past.

And I also think that it's getting bigger.

The problem is getting bigger.

And, finally, maybe there's going to be some alternatives to the dollar.

One of the things that has kept us in good shape is there really wasn't anywhere else for big investors like the Chinese foreign exchange reserves to put their money.

But there is some speculation that maybe Europe is getting its act together and the European bond market may become an alternative.

And that's something that would give us competition that we haven't had.

So is this time different?

I don't really know.

But it's a warning sign that I don't think we should ignore.

AMNA NAWAZ: David, in 30 seconds or so, is this the kind of thing, especially when we're seeing pressure in the bond market, consumers are going to start to see show up in their lives in terms of mortgages or auto loans, credit cards?

DAVID WESSEL: Yes.

When the bond market gets a little skittish about the U.S. economy and our willingness to pay back our debts, they raise interest rates on U.S. treasuries.

And the interest rates on U.S. treasuries are a benchmark that affects what we pay on mortgages, credit cards, and auto loans.

So it may be only a little bit, but a little bit across the whole economy could be a significant hit.

AMNA NAWAZ: David Wessel of the Brookings Institution, always great to talk to you.

Thank you.

DAVID WESSEL: Thank you for having me.

GEOFF BENNETT: As we just heard, tariffs are one piece of the broader economic uncertainty, and that includes what Americans import from China.

Nearly one in every three physical products made in the world today comes from China, including most of what we use in our daily lives.

Tonight, economics correspondent Paul Solman invites us into his home for a look at what tariff turbulence means for the products we rely upon.

PAUL SOLMAN: Remember these ships stranded off the Los Angeles coast laden with Asian goods not long after COVID hit, and the consumption rush was on?

Well, here's that same port last week, not only no Chinese ships because of the Trump tariffs, but some had reportedly dumped cargo overboard, cheaper than bringing it back to Asia, ships slated to come in May 10 not even on the horizon.

So, a disaster for American consumers, right?

One scoop or two?

DANIEL BERGSTRESSER, Brandeis University: Two scoops.

PAUL SOLMAN: I invited economist Dan Bergstresser to my house, serving some hospitable morning joe, for him to demonstrate what some had feared would be imminent devastation.

He promised to show me just how much of a typical American's goods, in this case mine and my wife's, comes on those ships.

DANIEL BERGSTRESSER: Where was that scooper made?

PAUL SOLMAN: Hold on.

I will find out.

Scooper made in China.

DANIEL BERGSTRESSER: Made in China?

PAUL SOLMAN: Yes, made in China.

DANIEL BERGSTRESSER: I don't want you to burn yourself looking, but it's very likely that that was also manufactured in China.

PAUL SOLMAN: Let me check it.

I'm a little old for this, but, yes, made in China.

DANIEL BERGSTRESSER: Now these mugs, where are they made?

PAUL SOLMAN: Yes, made in China.

As we looked around my kitchen, the toaster.

DANIEL BERGSTRESSER: Toaster very likely to be made in China.

PAUL SOLMAN: Yes, we looked it up, Oster made in China.

A blender?

This mixer, we looked this up too.

This is made in China.

Indoor-outdoor thermometer.

Made in China.

The lights used to shoot this very story.

Dan, cameraman, where do they come from?

MAN: They come from China.

PAUL SOLMAN: So the typical American consumer is now going to be screwed?

DANIEL BERGSTRESSER: I think people are in for some surprises as the disruptions in trade kind of work their way through the various supply chains that we rely upon.

PAUL SOLMAN: And even if something wasn't made in China, it sure wasn't just made in America,my air conditioning compressor, for example.

So this is Carrier in Syracuse, New York, manufactured in the U.S. from domestic and foreign parts.

DANIEL BERGSTRESSER, Brandeis University: Your satisfaction with the experience of using a product is determined by everything kind of has to work, right?

If your -- if just one piece of your air conditioner, just one piece of an airplane that you're flying on doesn't work, you're going to have a very unsatisfying experience.

PAUL SOLMAN: Or a disastrous one.

We depend on goods or parts from China.

And even though a deal has now been struck, it takes containers 30 days from Shanghai to L.A., 45 to New York.

So bare shelves for that long, kids and grandkids bereft come Christmas if toys from Asia fail to arrive early enough?

No big deal, said President Trump, before the thaw with China.

DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: Maybe the children will have two dolls, instead of 30 dolls, you know?

And maybe the two dolls will cost a couple of bucks more than they would normally.

PAUL SOLMAN: Isn't the president right that we just have too much stuff?

I sure as heck have too many mugs.

So if we have less stuff, we aren't really that much worse off.

DANIEL BERGSTRESSER: For example, we have a lot of mugs in this house.

Maybe we could have one fewer mug.

PAUL SOLMAN: Oh, we could have 15 fewer mugs.

DANIEL BERGSTRESSER: Fifteen fewer mugs.

PAUL SOLMAN: There are ones that are hidden in some box somewhere, believe me.

DANIEL BERGSTRESSER: But, as economists, we think that the consumer knows a lot about what they want.

And if you want 15 mugs, that is a thing we should celebrate.

PAUL SOLMAN: But even if I went haywire and wanted 15 more mugs, why couldn't they be made in this country?

Why can't America, given the size of the country, the number of people we have here, the advanced technology that we have here, why can't we go it alone?

DANIEL BERGSTRESSER: First of all, let's suppose that you are a capitalist.

You are thinking about building a mug factory in the United States.

You're going to spend $100 million to invest in that factory.

Your investors are going to insist on a return.

No thoughtful investor is going to be keen to build a mug factory on the promise of trade policy that could change tomorrow.

He's basically frozen the American investor, because all they see is policy that is -- it's very hard to get your hands around where things are going to be in a year.

PAUL SOLMAN: OK, back to the question that spurred this story.

With far fewer Chinese boats coming here, are we or aren't we about to experience empty shelves, going without?

Well, the workers rebuilding our rotting back deck told us their costs, and thus ours, are up maybe 20 percent.

General contractor Vito Montillo across the street agreed.

VITO MONTILLO, Montillo Construction: They have gone up a little bit.

I haven't - - I noticed a lot gone up.

PAUL SOLMAN: What percent?

VITO MONTILLO: Suppliers have e-mailed us saying that they have gone up between 10 and 30 percent.

PAUL SOLMAN: At the nearby Home Depot, there was some evidence of price increases.

MAN: This is seven bucks.

Seven bucks is actually expensive.

PAUL SOLMAN: And some things are definitely pricier, like high-efficiency windows from Europe.

MAN: A hundred percent, double the price.

PAUL SOLMAN: Really?

But when we went inside Home Depot, no shortage in sight, goods galore and aisle after aisle after aisle, and a worker there confided, loads of stuff piled up back of the store.

Prices?

Most people outside saw a little difference.

Was this much more expensive than you thought it was going to be?

MAN: No.

PAUL SOLMAN: Does it seem like it was more expensive than you thought?

MAN: Yes, maybe a little bit.

PAUL SOLMAN: So, why no crisis?

VITO MONTILLO: It's more speculation than anything.

PAUL SOLMAN: Really?

VITO MONTILLO: Yes, honestly.

PAUL SOLMAN: So, because they're anticipating the effects... VITO MONTILLO: I think -- yes, I think that's what it is.

I think they're anticipating prices going up, but we haven't actually witnessed any prices really, really going up.

PAUL SOLMAN: That is, expecting the tariffs, stores and people and even I have been stocking up, so a surge of imports to beat the tariffs, which has bid up prices, not for the most part actual shortages.

And with excess inventory and the president now pausing tariffs right and left, enough inventory it may be to tide us over.

So not to worry?

Wells, says economist Bergstresser, even if the tariff threats turn out to have been just that: DANIEL BERGSTRESSER: The larger problem is one of uncertainty.

You can say you're pausing the implementation of these tariffs for 90 days.

What happens in 90 days?

The Trump administration has not developed a reputation for credibility in terms of honoring the types of commitments that your trading partners and investors would count on before making investments.

And so I think people who think that there's clarity around the corner misjudge our president.

PAUL SOLMAN: In the meantime, suppliers are again hustling to import stuff from China ahead of the new 90-day deadline.

That's probably because uncertainty remains the word of the moment.

And Walmart just announced that prices of its imports may well be going up within the month.

For the "PBS News Hour," Paul Solman at home.

GEOFF BENNETT: A federal judge in Maryland today heard arguments in a major legal challenge to the Trump administration's sweeping cuts to AmeriCorps.

That's the federal service program that places young adults in schools, community health centers, disaster relief efforts and other public service roles across the country; 24 states and the District of Columbia have filed suit, arguing that the administration overstepped its authority in slashing the program.

In the past month, the headlines have told this story, as communities from Alaska to Miami grapple with the funding fallout.

The Trump administration has slashed nearly $400 million in active AmeriCorps grants, a move expected to shut down over 1,000 programs and cut more than 32,000 jobs.

We spoke with four nonprofits around the country about what this means for them.

AKILAH WEBSTER, Executive Director, Indianapolis Neighborhood Resource Center: My name is Akilah Webster.

I'm the executive director of the Indianapolis Neighborhood Resource Center.

PAULA FYNBOH, Aspire Afterschool Learning: I'm Paula Fynboh.

I work for Aspire Afterschool Learning as their executive director in Arlington, Virginia.

MARY DUNNE STEWART, CEO, Greater Richmond Fit4Kids: I'm Mary Dunne Stewart.

I'm with Greater Richmond Fit4Kids.

DEBORAH MANN, Emmanuel Family and Child Development Center: My name is Deborah Mann.

I am in Kansas City, Missouri.

I'm with the Emmanuel Family and Child Development Center.

PAULA FYNBOH: We found out on Sunday night, April 27, that our AmeriCorps contract that had already been obligated for this year had been terminated.

MARY DUNNE STEWART: I got the notice at my mother's birthday party and was initially just very, very shocked.

AKILAH WEBSTER: This was really out of the blue for us.

We kind of felt we had dodged a bullet and unfortunately found out that evening that wasn't the case.

DEBORAH MANN: Our center is located in a childcare desert, meaning we don't have enough qualified centers around our community to serve the most vulnerable population.

I was talking to one of the fathers who told me about his son being in the speech program and how he's starting to really be verbal and use his words, and now we don't know what that's going to look like anymore.

That's devastating.

AKILAH WEBSTER: What it is, is a 10-month apprenticeship that young leaders who are looking to engage in the nonprofit or civic or government sectors, where they can gain hands-on experience through an apprenticeship that's paid.

We did receive federal funding through AmeriCorps.

And that was approximately 50 percent of our revenue.

PAULA FYNBOH: Aspire has been in the Arlington community for 30 years.

Our students and families can't afford tutors, camps, after-school programs, babysitters.

Without this program, we know that a third of our students are going to be left behind.

And I don't think enough of us understand what that means when you really focus on the names and the faces.

And that's just heartbreaking.

AKILAH WEBSTER: I'm all for efficiency.

Don't get me wrong.

That doesn't feel efficient to me.

It feels that -- it feels like it's going to incur larger costs for us down the road.

MARY DUNNE STEWART: The health prevention work that we're doing with children and families is what helps save costs in the future by introducing kids and families to health and wellness and taking care of themselves.

PAULA FYNBOH: I don't know if people understand what is happening and what it means for the average person.

DEBORAH MANN: I don't know what tomorrow is going to bring.

Our goal and our plan is to try to reach out to foundations and private donors and corporations to see if they can help fill up the gap.

MARY DUNNE STEWART: My bigger concern over the next couple years is the philanthropic sector, foundations, corporations, individual donors cannot make up for these federal cuts.

GEOFF BENNETT: Our Lisa Desjardins has been following all of this and joins us now.

So, Lisa, as we just saw, these cuts have a real impact.

First, bring us up to speed.

Where do the AmeriCorps cuts stand in the courts?

LISA DESJARDINS: Just in the past, oh, let me check my phone, hour or so, that court hearing finished.

There is not a ruling yet.

So that is a big one.

That will determine if there is a preliminary freeze on these cuts for now.

But, meanwhile, what's happening across these countries is, these programs are shuttering, they're laying off staff, they're not sure if they can go forward.

This is a billion dollars worth of programs that were already funded.

By the way, something odd happening is, at the same time as they're being shut down on current funding, they're getting requests for proposals for next year's funding.

So it is, in the words of Paul Solman, complete uncertainty and difficult times for these groups.

GEOFF BENNETT: A billion dollars worth of cuts.

So what other kinds of cuts are affecting these nonprofits?

LISA DESJARDINS: The total spending for a year is about a billion dollars.

There are other important nonprofit cuts.

And we're raising this because this is really where I think local areas are feeling the Trump administration effects on a personal level, for example, FEMA.

There's a program that is also almost a billion dollars which helps communities get ready, be more resilient, build up perhaps dilapidated infrastructure that's at risk for hurricanes.

That's been cut suddenly.

Also, how about USDA?

There are programs, again, $600 million to almost a billion dollars, that would take local food from farms and give it to -- gives it to school lunch programs, also to food banks.

We spoke to someone here runs a food bank in Chester County, Pennsylvania, in Exton, Pennsylvania.

They said they just recently were -- suddenly had canceled $100,000 worth of food, pork chops, eggs, things that their clients need, that it's the only fresh food they have.

They have made up for that in the meantime, but they're not sure what the future holds and there are real concerns.

NICK IMBESI, Chester County Food Bank: We have not filled dollar for dollar with what has been lost.

When we combine everything together, we're actually talking about a $2 million swing per year.

That is a huge gap that we're going to have to fill.

LISA DESJARDINS: Now, part of the concern here that runs through a lot of these nonprofits has to deal with the economy.

There are housing concerns, a lot of problems with affordable housing that runs through these communities.

They don't have good childcare, so some of these nonprofits have stepped in.

They may have a food desert.

I talked to a farmer also, for example, in Wisconsin, who said this is good for her farm to try and get the money, but now they're worried about that source of income being cut off.

GEOFF BENNETT: And there are Republicans who oppose these cuts, but there are also conservatives who support them, who say they're necessary.

You have been talking with folks on both sides of that debate.

What are they telling you?

LISA DESJARDINS: This is an important part of the story.

This is a debate that goes back more than 100 years in America.

And, right now, there are members of Congress, Republicans, who say, listen, I like what these nonprofits are doing.

They are important parts of my community, but I don't think it's a federal role to support them.

And, instead, they want philanthropies to step in.

Now, the trick is, as these nonprofits say, is, there are some areas, rural areas or low-income areas, where there aren't really those philanthropies that have been built up yet to support these groups.

But it is a question for Congress, and conservatives are saying it's time to cut off this kind of, they see, much-inflated federal support.

They think communities need to be more on their own.

GEOFF BENNETT: Some important reporting.

Thanks to you and the team for bringing it to us.

Lisa Desjardins, thank you.

AMNA NAWAZ: Joe Biden's cancer diagnosis has led to an outpouring of well wishes and sympathy, but it comes at a time of renewed questions about the full picture of the former president's health.

Joining me now for more on that and the day's political news is Amy Walter of The Cook Political Report With Amy Walter and Tamara Keith of NPR.

Great to see you both.

TAMARA KEITH, National Public Radio: Hello.

AMY WALTER, The Cook Political Report: Good to be with you.

AMNA NAWAZ: Tam, let's start with the news of the former president's diagnosis there.

Of course, we wish him a successful treatment and a quick recovery ahead, but that news does follow an intense period of scrutiny about his health while in office and while running for reelection, spurred by a new book coming out this week and also the release of the special counsel's audio interview with him.

How has all of this changed the conversation, politically speaking?

TAMARA KEITH: I'm not sure how much it has changed the conversation because this has been a topic of much discussion going back well more than a year ago before that debate that went so terribly bad for President Biden, causing him to ultimately drop out of the race for president.

If you go back two years, three years, voters were saying that they thought he was too old to run for reelection.

He was America's oldest president at the time, and voters made it very clear they thought he was too old.

They made that clear well before the Democratic establishment acknowledged that that was a reality that he was struggling.

And the debate obviously drove that home.

We now have the next oldest president of the United States in President Trump.

There is a heightened focus on a president's health, especially when the president is older, but whoever the president is.

And so I think that in some ways this is going to put the focus on President Trump's health, as well as on former President Biden's health and the book about what may or may not have been hidden from the American public.

AMNA NAWAZ: Amy, when you look at the renewed questions here, this also means more questions for other Democrats, right, all the potential contenders for 2028, what they knew.

Is this something they, the party have to reckon with?

Is this something voters care about?

AMY WALTER: Yes, I do think that the point, Tam, is that voters had been making it very clear, Democratic voters had been making it very clear for weeks, months, maybe even a couple of years that they thought that Biden was too old for the job.

And when you hear Democrats criticize Republicans, often they say, look, Republicans have put personality, Donald Trump's personality, or the party ahead of the country, and that we, as Democrats, they say, would never do that.

But it's become pretty clear that they did just that, which is their concerns, whatever concerns that many around Donald Trump had, the concerns they were hearing from their own constituents wasn't enough for them to stand up and say, hey, we should do something.

We should either, one, get a serious primary challenge to Donald Trump, or two, organize enough Democrats to go to the president and ask him not to run for election.

That didn't happen.

So if you were running in 2028, what is you have a base of voters who are disappointed, dispirited, and really distrustful of the system.

Many voters we talked to during the 2024 campaign, you would hear them say, especially younger voters, the system seems so broken and nobody is really trying to fix it.

Instead, they're doing all they can to protect the establishment.

I think, if you were running in 2028, not only do you need to acknowledge that, but, as a Democrat, you would need to say, here are the ways in which we will be more courageous in standing up truth to power, as well as the authenticity of that individual candidate and ways in which they will challenge accepted institutional beliefs or systems.

AMNA NAWAZ: Tam, meanwhile, quickly on this, if we can, we have also seen Republicans pounce in a way that should have been expected, maybe.

But Donald Trump Jr. has posted online, claiming that the diagnosis here was part of a wider cover-up around Mr. Biden's health.

He's also repeating unfounded claims that Biden clearly had dementia.

Is this the kind of thing that you see picking up steam among Republicans?

TAMARA KEITH: Well, President Trump himself has now also made unfounded claims about how President Biden must have known that he had cancer long before this was made public.

I think that we are in territory as a country where we have been for a very long time, which is there is intense interest in presidents' health, and presidents often conceal the full facts about their health from the American people.

President Kennedy did.

There are questions about President Reagan.

There are obviously questions about President Biden.

This is a longstanding issue where the public wants to know.

The White House is under pressure to release information, but it's private health information.

And we don't know what we don't know.

And I think it's pretty safe to bet that we don't have the full picture as the American people.

AMNA NAWAZ: Amy, let's turn now to Capitol Hill, where we have seen the president's mega tax bill advance out of the Budget Committee late on Sunday night.

That was just two days after it failed in that same committee, some Republicans calling for even deeper spending cuts.

They changed their votes from no to present so we could move forward.

Is there any pushback from the so-called fiscal hawks anymore?

AMY WALTER: Yes, I mean, this was their pushback, was to essentially say, well, we got some things that we wanted.

But, at the end of the day, this is not a fiscally conservative piece of legislation.

It's not going to be budget-neutral.

It is not going to reduce the deficit in that way, so that, at the end of the day, these fiscal hawks are going to have to support something that is not going to be as conservative as they would like.

You're going to have moderates who are going to have to support something that is going to cut especially programs that they feel very strongly about, say, Medicaid, more than they would like.

That is the reality of having a four-seat majority and trying to cram pretty much 1,000 different things into one big, beautiful bill.

The balancing act here is incredibly challenging.

And the bottom line, I think, Amna, for these Republican members is, they know this is the one legislative train that's leaving the station.

And if they don't get on that train together, nothing is going to pass in this Congress.

They will have nothing to talk about in 2024 (sic) in terms of any sort of legislative accomplishment.

AMNA NAWAZ: Tam, we have seen President Trump in the past get involved to help make things happen, whether it's the speaker fight or getting people to change their votes, getting on the phone.

What do we know about his role in this particular effort?

TAMARA KEITH: Well, I can tell you that two White House officials have confirmed to me this afternoon that he will be going to Capitol Hill tomorrow morning to meet with the House Republican Conference.

And let that arm-twisting begin.

His message is pretty simple.

He wants unity.

He wants a win.

He has not gotten into a lot of the nitty-gritty details about exactly what's in the package.

He wants the win.

He wants this legislative train to get to the station.

He wants to be able to celebrate and have the Rose Garden signing.

And he is -- as former officials have told me, he is the ultimate closer, right?

He has been able -- multiple times, we have been here on this set talking about, oh, my gosh, how are the Republicans going to bridge this terrible divide between the moderates and the conservatives?

And then Donald Trump gets on the phone and they can't say no.

And part of the reason is that he's powerful.

Part of the reason is that he brought them to the dance.

And part of the reason is that failure just simply isn't an option.

They won with him.

Failure is not an option.

So they're finding a way.

But, so far, this has been the easy part.

The hard part is coming and this drama is going to play out for a while.

AMY WALTER: Yes, because they have to go to the Senate.

(CROSSTALK) AMY WALTER: Then the Senate makes changes, right.

And this is how reconciliation works, right?

AMNA NAWAZ: Thirty seconds left here, Amy.

What happens?

AMY WALTER: Right.

The House goes, oh, yes, yes, we got it done.

The Senate goes and makes changes.

Then they have to resell those changes back to members who are going to be very skeptical about some of those changes.

I have been around a long time.

I have seen this in every administration.

Every administration that has a House, a Senate, and a White House gets one big shot to do one big thing.

And they usually do.

It can be really messy.

It can take a lot longer than they had hoped.

Obama got Obamacare, Trump got his tax cuts.

Bill Clinton got his budget reconciliation bill.

The not-so-great piece for the party in power, though, is every single one of those pieces of legislation ended up being an anvil in the midterm election.

AMNA NAWAZ: Yes.

AMY WALTER: It was actually not as positive with swing voters as it was with the base.

AMNA NAWAZ: Let's see what happens with their one big shot.

Amy Walter, Tamara Keith, thank you so much.

AMY WALTER: You're welcome.

TAMARA KEITH: You're welcome.

GEOFF BENNETT: Now a look at art that reimagines history and identity through a deeply personal lens.

Artist Fabiola Jean-Louis has been researching and exploring her Haitian heritage, and her work is now on display in Boston.

Special correspondent Jared Bowen takes us there for our arts and culture series, Canvas.

JARED BOWEN: With its funerary vessels, spiritual beings, and sounds of the sea, this gallery at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum assumes the sacred air of a chapel.

FABIOLA JEAN-LOUIS, Artist: When we focus on spirits, when we turn our attention inward, we become everything we're meant to be.

We operate from a space of absolute wonder and beauty, and the world is a better place because of it.

JARED BOWEN: Fabiola Jean-Louis is the artist behind these creations, her earthly forms that serve as portals to other realms.

It's work, she says, that makes her both an artist and an alchemist.

FABIOLA JEAN-LOUIS: I am transforming this interesting information from an external world and converting it into something that's different, giving it meaning and hopefully putting it back into the world in a new way.

JARED BOWEN: Waters of the Abyss at the Boston Museum is an exploration of Jean-Louis' Haitian heritage and the island's voodoo culture and legacy.

FABIOLA JEAN-LOUIS: Through my studies of Haitian history, it was very clear to me from the beginning that freedom isn't just political and physical.

It's very deeply spiritual.

JARED BOWEN: Her studies, she says, show that African-centered spiritualities, especially voodoo, may have played a role in the uprising that led to Haiti's independence.

There are tales of spiritual ancestors urging the island's enslaved population to fight for its freedom against 18th century French colonial rule.

Do you feel ancestors?

FABIOLA JEAN-LOUIS: I feel them all the time.

I feel them now.

I feel them during the process of creating.

In fact, they tell me -- they guide me through the work, through the process.

They exist in a spiritual world, period.

They are our connection and bridge to the metaphysical world.

JARED BOWEN: These galleries are populated with portals, objects, figures and images that connect worlds.

They come with their own tools, like these mermaid figures embedded with mirrors.

FABIOLA JEAN-LOUIS: It also requests people to look inward, to look at yourself and go deeper.

And then the other portal that does not have the mirror is to come out of self, into the world that way, hopefully a better version of yourself.

PIERANNA CAVALCHINI, Curator, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum: She was a natural artist.

She's self-taught, which is amazing.

And art was, I think, her salvation.

JARED BOWEN: Pieranna Cavalchini is the Gardner Museum's contemporary art curator.

The artist being self-taught is even more extraordinary, she says, given that all of these objects, bearing the texture of ancient stone are actually made mostly with paper.

PIERANNA CAVALCHINI: You can do it in your kitchen, basically, you know.

I mean, you can cut up the paper and make the pulp, but you have to be a great artist to be able to do what she's done with it.

JARED BOWEN: Cavalchini says that, beyond the marvel of the material, paper, especially in this context of freedom, is profoundly symbolic.

PIERANNA CAVALCHINI: Paper is at the basis of our identity.

I think of public records.

Think of birth certificates, and especially think about people who immigrate or who are refugees, how important these papers become to identity and who they are.

JARED BOWEN: Jean-Louis' inspiration is also derived from the museum itself.

Its founder, Isabella Stewart Gardner, traveled the globe in the late 1800s and early 1900s, amassing the renowned collection on view today.

Piece by piece, painting by painting, every object here is just as Gardner left it upon her death a century ago.

You are an artist in residence here.

How did it begin to inspire you?

FABIOLA JEAN-LOUIS: I mean, I don't know how I couldn't be inspired.

This place is magical, every inch, every sculpture, the garden.

There's that floor that has the religious relics, which spoke to me, obviously, because of the way we honor our ancestors, so I have pretty much taken as much as I can to create Waters of the Abyss.

JARED BOWEN: But Fabiola Jean-Louis has also left as much as she's taken, her insights into the beyond, her call to understand history, and she has left herself, as we find in this self-portrait.

PIERANNA CAVALCHINI: She has this concept of being a future ancestor, which is also very powerful, that eventually you too will be an ancestor, and you too will serve as a path to understanding and knowledge for those who follow you.

JARED BOWEN: For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Jared Bowen in Boston.

GEOFF BENNETT: And there's a lot more online, including a look at what's behind the recent matcha shortage.

That's on our Instagram page.

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.