WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Good evening.

I'm William Brangham.

Amna Nawaz and Geoff Bennett are away.

On the "NewsHour" tonight: Donald Trump's lawyers meet with the special counsel, as a potential indictment on election interference looms over the former president.

Then: July is set to be the hottest month ever.

How this record heat is disproportionately affecting Americans based on where they live and work.

And efforts to protect right whales from possible extinction run up against lobstermen fighting for their economic survival.

JANET COIT, Assistant Administrator of Fisheries, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: If we don't stabilize and begin the recovery, they will be gone within a couple of decades.

They will be extinct.

(BREAK) WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Good evening and welcome to the "NewsHour."

Former President Donald Trump's legal team met today with federal prosecutors, as a grand jury continues to hear evidence about Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

It comes days after Trump revealed he received a letter from the Department of Justice notifying him that he was a target of a criminal probe into the aftermath of that election and the January 6 Capitol riot.

Joining us now is NPR's justice correspondent, Carrie Johnson, who has been following all of today's developments.

Carrie, so nice to see you again.

So, Trump's legal team met with the DOJ today.

Not unusual for that type of meeting to occur.

Trump even referred to it as a -- quote -- "productive meeting" in a post on his social media site, TRUTH Social.

Do we know what was discussed today at that meeting?

CARRIE JOHNSON, NPR: The special counsel's office, the special counsel, Jack Smith, is not talking.

What we know comes from Donald Trump, who, as you said, posted that his lawyers met with the special counsel team today, presumably in an effort to stave off an indictment related to the January 6 investigation.

Trump also said that he did nothing wrong, that he relied on advice from his lawyers, and it would be bad for the country, it would further destroy the country, Trump said, for him to get indicted all over again.

But, William, this is a bit of a reprise.

We saw the same pattern happen before Trump was indicted for the Mar-a-Lago documents manner about a month ago or more.

And so that meeting between Trump and the special counsel and people at the Justice Department happened just a few days before that indictment actually came down.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: I mean, the receipt of a target letter almost always follows an indictment.

And there was a good deal of speculation that that might happen today.

Do we have any sense as to when that might happen, if that might happen still?

CARRIE JOHNSON: I wish I could tell you.

I was one of about two dozen reporters and producers haunting the courthouse all day today.

We have been there really all week waiting.

We do know the January 6 grand jury was meeting today.

We observed them coming in and leaving the building shortly before 5:00 p.m. or so, but no action out of the grand jury today.

Their typical days of meeting in the week are Tuesday and Thursday.

But, of course, they may have done something in secret that we won't find out about until later, or the prosecutors may decide to bring them back next week.

It's just not clear at this point.

It does seem clear something is going to happen.

The exact timing is uncertain right now.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: The target letter that the former president received reportedly contained three federal statutes that he is allegedly being charged with.

Two of those were somewhat sort of predicted charges.

One was conspiracy to defraud the government, another obstruction of an official proceeding.

But the third charge struck many former federal prosecutors a bit by surprise.

Could you tell us about that particular charge?

CARRIE JOHNSON: Sure, with the caveat that some of the charges that were included in the Mar-a-Lago indictment did not come out in advance.

In other words, most of the information, William, we're getting is coming from the defense team, and they're not always interested in telling us exactly what's about to happen, or maybe wanting to shape things in the best interest of their client.

But, as far as we know from Trump's lawyers, this third charge dates back to the Reconstruction era, the post-civil rights era, in which it was used to try to protect the rights of Black voters who were trying to get to the polls and facing real threats of violence and actual violence for doing so.

We do know that Justice Department has used this charge relatively recently in another case that involve voting in the 2016 election.

But it's relatively rare, although not completely unheard of.

It seems to involve trying to do -- take some illegal action that would deprive people of certain constitutional rights.

In this case, we think it's voting.

But let's wait and see to be absolutely sure.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Two of those three charges - - and, again, I appreciate all of your caveats about what ends up in a target letter may not actually end up in the indictment.

But two of those charges do contain a conspiracy involved.

And as far as we know, Donald Trump, the former president, is the only one that is publicly said: I'm a target of this.

So if there's a conspiracy, other people are involved.

Do we have any idea who those others might be?

CARRIE JOHNSON: There are a lot of excellent guesses out there.

It may be the Justice Department has secured cooperation from somebody in Trump's inner circle.

We know Donald Trump has been worried about that for a long time, but it's not in the government's interest to disclose that until the last possible moment.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Carrie Johnson of NPR, thank you, as always, for helping us wade through all of this.

CARRIE JOHNSON: Thank you.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: In the day's other headlines: Climate scientists at the United Nations confirmed that July is on track to be the hottest month on record.

The incoming head of the U.N. climate agency faulted governments for not taking bolder actions to reduce heat-trapping emissions.

And, in New York, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres sounded his own warning.

ANTONIO GUTERRES, United Nations Secretary-General: The era of global warming has ended.

The era of global boiling has arrived.

The air is unbreathable.

The heat is unbearable.

And the level of fossil fuel profits and climate inaction is unacceptable.

Leaders must lead.

No more hesitancy, no more excuses.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Those warnings came as the heat wave that's already scorched the Southwestern U.S. spread to the East.

Some 180 million Americans spent the day under heat watches and warnings, with temperatures at or above 100 degrees.

Wildfires in Greece, fueled by heat waves, triggered a new disaster today.

A series of explosions rocked an air force ammunitions dump at Volos when flames reached the site.

Even before the blasts erupted, smoke billowed over the city.

But the ammunition dump had been evacuated, and there were no reports of injuries.

In Ukraine, fighting has intensified in the Russian-occupied southeast amid reports that Kyiv is sending in thousands of troops.

Ukrainian officials said today they're advancing on Melitopol in the Zaporizhzhia region.

But Russian President Vladimir Putin denied that.

Meanwhile, Putin met with African leaders in St. Petersburg, and he insisted they will get grain, despite Russia's renewed blockade of Ukrainian shipments.

VLADIMIR PUTIN, Russian President (through translator): We will be prepared to provide Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Mali, Somalia, the Central African Republic, and Eritrea with 25,000 to 50,000 tons of grain, free of charge, in the next three or four months.

We will also provide free delivery of these products to consumers.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Also today, photographs circulated of Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin apparently at that same summit in St. Petersburg.

Prigozhin had agreed to go into exile after his mercenary group briefly mutinied last month.

Since then, he's been seen in Russia several times.

Back in this country, the U.S. Justice Department has opened an investigation into the practices of the Memphis Police Department.

The announcement comes nearly seven months after Tyre Nichols was fatally beaten by five officers.

The probe will look at whether Memphis police too often use excessive force, among other things.

The U.S. economy is showing more signs of resilience, despite rising interest rates and inflation.

The Commerce Department reports growth ran at an annual pace of 2.4 percent in the year's second quarter.

That was up from 2 percent the previous quarter and was stronger than expected.

On Wall Street, those growth numbers weren't enough to keep the recent rally going.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 237 points to close at 35282.

The Nasdaq fell 77 points.

The S&P 500 slipped 29.

Bronny James, the 18-year-old son of NBA great LeBron James, is back home after suffering a cardiac arrest.

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles said today he's been discharged.

His heart stopped on Monday during basketball practice at the University of Southern California, where he will attend this fall.

And at the Women's World Cup, the U.S. is now preparing for its match with Portugal on Tuesday after escaping with a draw against the Netherlands.

At the half, the U.S. trailed the Dutch in their rematch of the 2019 final.

But then Lindsey Horan scored the equalizer in the 62nd minute, and the game ended in a 1-1 tie.

Still to come on the "NewsHour": a coup in Niger puts at risk U.S. efforts to thwart terrorism in the region; what a Syrian migrant-turned-mayor reveals about the political divides in Germany; and the American flag, what it symbolizes in an increasingly polarized America.

In these record-breaking heat waves, people who have to work outdoors, like agricultural workers or construction crews, are among the most vulnerable.

Earlier today, President Biden announced new steps to try to protect those workers.

Using better weather forecasting, the Department of Labor will develop an alert to signal to employers and employees when heat is going to be dangerous.

The department will also beef up inspections of certain worksites.

The president noted today that Americans can no longer pretend that we are living in a normal climate.

JOE BIDEN, President of the United States: Even those who deny that we're in the midst of a climate crisis can't deny the impact extreme heat is having on Americans, Americans like an elderly woman in Phoenix, who fell out of her wheelchair and, after five minutes on the ground, had third-degree burns.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Florida is one state that requires no protections for the estimated two million outdoor workers in the state.

But one county is hoping to change that.

For more on this, we're joined by Nicolas Rivero.

He's a climate change reporter for The Miami Herald.

Nico, thank you so much for being here.

As we just heard, President Biden is proposing some rules to try to protect outdoor workers.

We know the Department of Labor and OSHA are working on some much broader longer-term plans as well.

You have been reporting on the troubles that outdoor workers in Florida are having.

Can you give us a sense of the things you have been reporting?

NICOLAS RIVERO, The Miami Herald: Absolutely, yes.

So, down here in South Florida, as in the rest of the country and the world, we have been going through some record-breaking temperatures this summer.

These are the kinds of temperatures where the National Weather Service advises that you spend as little time as possible outside, avoid strenuous activity.

But a lot of workers don't have any choice but to go to work that day.

So what we're seeing is outdoor workers in many cases are working in dangerous temperatures without adequate access to water or shaded breaks throughout the day.

And, just last week, I was at a vigil for a worker who died on the job in Southern Miami-Dade County, again, because workers just don't have access to the kind of basic protections that you might need to stay safe in high temperatures.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: And you were talking about - - like, what are those kinds of protections?

They may seem self-evident, but what are the things that employers have been urged to do to try to protect people.

NICOLAS RIVERO: Yes, so workers are asking for three basic things, water, shade and rest right?

So, adequate access to water and clean water.

In some cases, with farmworkers, they might store water next to pesticides and that water is dirty and workers don't want to drink it.

Also, breaks throughout the day, regular breaks.

Many workers only get one break, and that's for lunch in the middle of the day, and then they're working four, six, maybe eight hours straight without a break.

And then just somewhere on the job site where there is shade, so if a worker needs to get out of the sun and cool off a little bit, they can.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: And I understand from you're reporting that there is an effort by one county to try to enshrine some of those protections.

What is the proposal?

NICOLAS RIVERO: Yes, so commissioners in Miami-Dade County proposed a bill last week that would mandate a couple of things.

The first is training for workers on how to recognize the signs of heatstroke and other heat illnesses and how to administer first aid in an emergency.

And then, on hot days where the heat index hits 90 degrees or above, it would require employers to make sure workers have access to enough water, give them 10-minute breaks every two hours throughout their working day, and have some place in the job site where there is shade.

And it has penalties for companies that fail to do that.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: And, right now, there are no requirements on companies in Florida to do things like that.

They may, but there are no requirements to do so?

NICOLAS RIVERO: That's right.

In Miami, like much of the rest of the country, there are no requirements at the local, state or federal level that specifically create protections for heat for workers.

The only protections that do exist are the federal level, where OSHA has what's called its general duty clause, which means employers have a broad requirement to create a safe workplace for workers.

But there aren't specific rules that say you have to give workers water or you have to give them a certain amount of breaks throughout the day.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: And so one of the provisions you're talking about is training workers to be able to understand when one of their colleagues is in trouble and then teaching them how to act.

I mean, that's a -- that's a lot to ask.

NICOLAS RIVERO: It is, but, I mean, it's one of the things actually that workers want the most, because they have told me: I don't know what to do if my friend is in trouble.

And if I don't know what to do, he could die.

And so workers want to have this knowledge.

They want to have this training, so that they can look out for each other.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: And what have employers, generally speaking, said about this proposal?

NICOLAS RIVERO: Well, a lot of companies will say that they voluntarily are already doing the right thing.

They already give their workers access to water.

They already give them breaks throughout the day.

And it's true that many companies are voluntarily doing some of these things.

But what I hear from workers and worker advocacy groups is that many companies are falling down on one or more parts of this.

So they're not getting adequate water throughout the day, or some of them -- this doesn't seem like a heat-related thing, but they don't have bathrooms in the job site.

So workers feel like they shouldn't drink too much water because they won't have an opportunity to go through the bathroom in the day.

And that too creates danger.

So, companies may do parts of the right thing to do, but they may not do it all consistently.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: So, do you have any sense of how likely it is that this proposal will pass?

NICOLAS RIVERO: Well, in Miami-Dade County, it passed its first reading with a unanimous 11-0 vote.

Now it goes into committee, where it could be changed or it could be modified or voted down.

And then, afterwards, it has to pass a final vote for the full commission.

It seems likely that it could pass in the county.

Now, the danger is that the state of Florida could preempt that, as they have with many local regulations.

And, in fact, Texas last month preempted similar rules in Austin and Dallas.

So, the state legislature came in and undid what the local governments did in that case.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: As I mentioned, you're a climate change reporter for The Herald.

And is it your sense that employers have broadly taken on the idea that it's not like we're in a new normal and now it's all of a sudden going to be this hot consistently, but the projections are that this will continue to go up and get worse?

Is it your sense employers appreciate that and are making plans for that future?

NICOLAS RIVERO: No, I mean, I think what you hear a lot is, especially in South Florida, it's always hot.

Summers have always been hot here.

But I think, if you look at this summer, in particular, you can see it really never has been this hot.

It truly has been a record-breaking summer on any number of metrics in terms of heat.

So, I don't think that we can keep doing the same old things and expect them to keep working in a climate that is working -- that is warming, and where our hottest days are becoming more common.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: All right, Nicolas Rivero, climate reporter for The Miami Herald, thank you so much for being here.

NICOLAS RIVERO: Thank you for having me.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: So, in addition to the dangers faced by where someone works, sometimes, where you live can also make the impacts of extreme heat worse, like living in certain parts of a city.

That's because of a phenomenon called the urban heat island effect.

A recent report by the research group Climate Central showed that more than 40 million Americans live in these hot spots.

So, what does this mean for those residents?

And is there any way that they can get relief?

For that we turn to Michael Mendez.

He's assistant professor of environmental planning and policy at the University of California, Irvine, Professor Mendez, very good to have you on the "NewsHour."

Can you help us understand, what is the urban heat island effect?

MICHAEL MENDEZ, University of California, Irvine: Thank you for having me here today.

It's a pleasure to be here to talk to you about this important issue that is affecting many people across the nation of -- 40 percent of residents in the United States are under a heat advisory.

And many of them are living in urban areas that don't have adequate infrastructure, let alone environmental amenities like trees and other forms of greenery that provide shade.

So, an urban heat island effect is where you have a lot of urbanized and suburban areas that are paved over with asphalt, concrete, other -- other types of building materials that absorb the heat.

And with little vegetation and trees for shade, and other types of cooling material, these areas and communities could be anywhere between five and even 20 degrees hotter than other neighborhoods that have more green space for shade.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: That is such a shocking difference in temperature, simply that can be driven by how a certain area is built and what the structures are made of?

MICHAEL MENDEZ: Most definitely.

I think many of us that are millennials, Gen Z or even older remember being on the hot turf, asphalt, in schools and see the steam actually permeate out of these hard heat-trapping surfaces.

So imagine not just a schoolyard, which is just, unfortunately, an urban heat island, but an entire neighborhood, and how that can really change how you experience an extreme heat event, and let alone if you're living in an older home that's 100 years old.

You may experience it even more inside of a home that isn't climate-resilient, can have even hotter temperatures than the ambient air outside.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: I cited this study that says that millions of Americans are living in -- under these types of conditions that you're describing.

But I also understand that it is not equally spread across demographics, that certain people are more vulnerable than others.

Can you explain?

MICHAEL MENDEZ: Yes, this phenomenon of the heat waves, extreme climate events have disparate impact.

It does not affect everyone equally.

And this is because a heat wave is a natural phenomenon -- phenomenon in some part, but there's been political choices have been -- have been made over the decades, if not centuries, that have withheld vital resources and infrastructure from communities, primarily low income-communities of color, African American and Latino communities.

So it's no surprise, when a heat wave or other type of extreme weather event strikes these communities, they're the least prepared and often suffered the most impacts, because they don't have -- they have crumbling infrastructure, and they don't have the amenities that will protect them and make them more resilient from our changing and extreme climate.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: You have been describing or hinting at a few of what seem like the possible solutions here.

Walk me through those things.

If I were a city planner, what are the things that I can do to try to reduce the urban heat island effect?

MICHAEL MENDEZ: First is, a lot of these campaigns, we hear about the million-dollar campaigns that a lot of urban mayors are trying to institute in their cities, planting trees.

Climate-resilient trees that are resilient to drought as well can help cool down are cities, cool roofs, rooftops, making sure that we're able to reflect some of the sun's rays and ensure that our houses that are cooler, having more climate weatherization in our homes, and, of course, having more cool pavements, moving away from that black asphalt and concrete that is absorbing and retaining the heat.

And other types of green spaces, watershed management practices are multibenefit.

They can clean our water, recharge our groundwater, but also provide green space and recreational spaces.

So, we need to look for multibenefit policies and projects that attack multiple problems that climate change is causing our urban areas and throughout our nation.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: I mean, some of these things you're talking about seem quite quick.

I mean, you can paint a roof a different color quite quickly.

Trees, we know, take longer to grow.

Are there communities that you would point to in the country that are doing some of these things, that are taking this initiative head on and trying to do these things?

MICHAEL MENDEZ: Well, in my in my hometown of Los Angeles, it's often named -- thought of as very suburban, very asphalt, concrete-driven area.

But they're really leading the way in terms of creating an Office of Climate Emergency and Resilience, where they have hired a full-time person and staff to understand these issues and try to target resources to the most immediate communities, those that are lacking these trees and green spaces.

So, places like Los Angeles, Portland, of course, Seattle have been at the forefront of enacting climate action, but also having a strong equity and justice lens.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: All right, Professor Michael Mendez, U.C.

Irvine, thank you so much for being here.

MICHAEL MENDEZ: Thank you for having me.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: An apparent military takeover has occurred to the African nation of Niger.

The U.S. denounced the coup, and has long counted Niger as a partner in the fight against insurgents there and across the region, also known as the Sahel.

Stephanie Sy has the latest.

STEPHANIE SY: While the democratically elected president of Niger remains captive in the presidential palace, his supporters were out in force.

MUHAMMAD SIDI, Demonstrator: We are going to just show all these military people that they just -- just take shortcut and take the power like this.

No, we are a democratic country.

We support democracy.

And we don't need this kind of movement.

STEPHANIE SY: But supporters of the military coup were also out, setting cars ablaze, and burning and looting the ruling party's headquarters.

MOUNKEILA MOUSSA, Demonstrator (through translator): Today, we believe that the army by taking power will create the conditions for the army to regain its former values.

STEPHANIE SY: A group of soldiers appeared on national television yesterday announcing the power grab and the removal of President Mohamed Bazoum.

AMADOU ABDRAMANE, Niger Army (through translator): We, the defense and security forces, have decided to put an end the regime you know.

This follows a continuing deterioration of the security situation and poor economic and social governance.

STEPHANIE SY: The soldiers announcing the coup said they had dissolved the Constitution, suspended all institutions and closed the nation's borders.

On social media earlier today, President Bazoum vowed that the nation's hard-won gains would be safeguarded.

The army is supporting the coup plotters in its ranks, it says, to avoid a deadly confrontation that could lead to bloodshed and jeopardize the security of the population.

Niger has a long history of military coups, but in recent years the country has grown more stable.

The coup is the seventh in West and Central Africa since 2020.

For more on the latest developments in Niger, we are joined by Kamissa Camara.

She previously served as the Malian minister of foreign affairs and is now senior adviser for Africa in the U.S. Institute of Peace.

Thank you so much for joining the "NewsHour."

I want to jump right in.

What are your sources saying?

And how are they describing what is going on in Niger right now?

KAMISSA CAMARA, U.S. Institute of Peace: Well, there has been a definite development from yesterday, where we still thought that President Mohamed Bazoum could be kept in power.

There were still parts of the military who were still loyal to him, and the ones who wanted to conduct the coup were isolated.

In the early hours of the day today, the head of the army joined the putschists and an announcement, a public announcement was made confirming that President Mohamed Bazoum had been removed from power, that borders were closed, and that the Constitution was suspended.

So I think it is a successful coup, unfortunately, and this is the fix that Niger has known since the 1960s.

STEPHANIE SY: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has called for the coup leaders to release President Bazoum.

He was also notably careful not to call it a coup.

As you know, the U.S. and France both have security partnerships with Niger's government to try and contain terrorist groups there.

How does this change things?

KAMISSA CAMARA: Well, it doesn't -- it doesn't change much.

It just prevents the U.S. from cutting all assistance to Niger.

If the United States were to call the Niger event a military coup, then, automatically, all assistance would be -- would be stopped.

And I think it's also -- it also shows that Niger is still, as of today, an important security partner, that the United States might want to keep a door open to conduct business with the Nigerien authorities, and to see if actually President Bazoum could maybe be reinstated.

I think some and probably less people today, less observers today, believe that President Bazoum can be reinstated.

But the regional body, ECOWAS, the Economic Community of West African States, has been deeply involved in the Niger situation since yesterday.

And the president of Nigeria, who is a neighbor of Niger, has been quite involved in negotiating with the mutineers to potentially release President Bazoum and reinstate him.

STEPHANIE SY: What are the coup leaders demand?

And do you see there being possible negotiations moving forward that would put President Bazoum back in office?

KAMISSA CAMARA: In their initial declarations, the coup leaders did say that they took over, and, in an attempt to bring back security in the country, they used issues of good governance as an excuse has, as has many other military coup leaders had done in neighboring Burkina Faso or Mali.

So this is not new language.

It's -- we call it borrowed language from coup leaders in the neighborhood.

But I honestly do not believe that there's any possibility for President Bazoum to come back to power.

This is a done deal.

STEPHANIE SY: Do you have a sense of how much support there is for the coup versus for President Bazoum and for democracy there in Niger?

KAMISSA CAMARA: In the -- yesterday, when we heard that President Bazoum was -- quote, unquote -- "kidnapped" by mutineers, Nigeriens mobilized in Niamey to show support for President Bazoum, saying that they were not in favor of a military coup.

President Bazoum was democratically elected only two years ago in Niger, so it's safe to say that a majority of Nigeriens still supported him.

He has worked with partners in the region.

He has brought Niger back on the map.

He's worked very closely with the United States, with friends.

He attended the U.S.-Africa Summit last December.

And he really showcased Niger and presented Niger as a country that was ready for more investments and that was on the track for progress and development.

So it's a -- I think that there is a general disappointment that this progress was -- that an end was put to that progress.

STEPHANIE SY: Kamissa Camara with the U.S. Institute of Peace, thanks so much for joining the "NewsHour" with your analysis.

KAMISSA CAMARA: Thank you.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Spotting some right whales off the East Coast of North America can be a majestic site.

But those whales are endangered and their numbers are shrinking.

Many conservationists say fishing gear that entangles these mammals is a big part of the problem.

But lobstermen now fear they may be driven out of business if they're pressured to change their practices even more.

Science correspondent Miles O'Brien reports on a battle that both sides say is existential.

MILES O'BRIEN: Steve Train has been fishing the waters of Casco Bay, Maine for 49 years.

STEVE TRAIN, Commercial Fisherman: It's a way of life for the people from the time they're born.

MILES O'BRIEN: His home is on an island four miles northeast of downtown Portland.

It's a community built on lobsters, like so many here in Maine.

STEVE TRAIN: It provides for a lot of other things.

Lobster is what's maintaining more than summer communities in most of these peninsulas and islands.

MILES O'BRIEN: Lobsters support about 15,000 jobs and contribute more than a billion dollars to the Maine economy.

And yet the industry sees itself in an existential battle, pitted against a rare species fighting its own existential battle.

North Atlantic right whales, critically endangered, fewer than 350 individuals remain.

And they are dying at a devastating rate.

JANET COIT, Assistant Administrator of Fisheries, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: If we don't stabilize and begin the recovery, they will be gone within a couple of decades.

They will be extinct.

They will be wiped off this Earth.

And we want to do everything we can to prevent that from happening.

MILES O'BRIEN: Janet Coit is the assistant administrator of fisheries at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA.

How many mortalities a year are acceptable, in your view?

JANET COIT: Zero.

If we have a human-caused mortality of even one whale a year, we're losing ground.

MILES O'BRIEN: So what is killing them with such alarming efficiency?

In the past six years, vessel strikes have killed 12, an entanglement with fishing gear has killed nine and injured 66 others.

As the whales migrate along the Eastern Seaboard, they swim through a fast-moving armada of boat and ship traffic and a manmade underwater kelp forest of vertical ropes, fishing gear.

Maine alone sells permits for about 2.8 million lobster traps per year.

The traps sit on the bottom, three to 20 of them linked in a daisy chain known as a trawl.

Tens of thousands of vertical lines connect the trawls to buoys that dot the surface.

In 2021, NOAA finalized regulations to reduce all that rope dangling in the water, mandate gear marking, and add weak points that whales can break through.

It also called for a seasonal lobster fishing closure of 1,000 square mile area of the Gulf of Maine.

JANET COIT: I think a goal that we all share is to have more monitoring, so we can have more dynamic regulation.

But, right now, we have to take a broader approach to try to reduce the risks that are killing whales.

MILES O'BRIEN: The regulations are based on an algorithmic prediction of the risk to the whales in these heavily fished waters.

But the lobster industry insists it is not proven guilty.

PATRICE MCCARRON, Maine Lobstermen's Association: They are assuming the absolute worst-case scenario, and it is nothing that is reasonably certain to occur.

MILES O'BRIEN: Patrice McCarron is policy director for the Maine Lobstermen's Association.

PATRICE MCCARRON: Our concern is, the amount of risk that they're saying we're responsible for doesn't match the data.

We have no right whale deaths attributed to the Maine lobster fishery ever, the last known entanglement, 2004.

MILES O'BRIEN: But researchers believe they only document a third of right whale deaths.

And what's more, linking entanglement injuries and deaths to a specific culprit is a huge challenge.

JANET COIT: We have documentation that North Atlantic right whales are in the Gulf of Maine, but because gear wasn't marked and because it's often hard to retrieve the gear, we can't say with certainty where that gear came from.

Only 1 percent of the entanglements that we have been able to document do we know where that gear has come from.

MILES O'BRIEN: In 2020, Maine lobstermen started using lines with distinct purple strands.

Gear marked this way has entangled humpbacks and minkes, but, so far, none has been found on right whales.

STEVE TRAIN: We're getting blamed for something that nobody can prove we're doing.

It would be like saying we know people are speeding, so anyone who's got a car that does over 80 miles an hour, we're going to write a ticket for it.

If it's not us, it's not us.

MILES O'BRIEN: Nevertheless, Maine lobstermen are now using rope that has weak links, so that whales can break though.

STEVE TRAIN: You can use a little piece of plastic that's got little weaknesses in it and tie it, spliced into it, or you can use a weak rope.

MILES O'BRIEN: And this is weaker, huh?

STEVE TRAIN: This is weaker.

It's the way it's made.

MILES O'BRIEN: The Lobstermen's Association says it has done enough and has sued the government to stop further regulation.

In June, a federal judge ruled in their favor, writing that NOAA Fisheries is indulging in worst-case scenarios and pessimistic assumptions to benefit a favored side.

Six months before that court ruling, the Maine congressional delegation flexed its claws on behalf of one of its largest industries.

SEN. ANGUS KING (I-ME): Why am I here to discuss lobsters on the floor of the U.S. Senate?

MILES O'BRIEN: Senator Angus King led the effort to insert a rider in the federal omnibus spending bill to buy some time, a six-year delay on imposing the new regulations.

SEN. ANGUS KING: One, two.

It's counting down.

MILES O'BRIEN: The reprieve came with money to research better ways to track the whales as they migrate and develop fishing techniques that don't require vertical ropes dangling in the water.

MAN: Press and release.

MILES O'BRIEN: That idea is not just hot air.

This inflatable ballistic nylon bag might be a solution.

A select few lobstermen are beta-testing so-called on-demand lobster traps.

ROB MARTIN, Commercial Fisherman: I can see my gear anywhere in the world.

MILES O'BRIEN: Rob Martin's home port is Sandwich, Massachusetts.

ROB MARTIN: It's like anything.

Once you do it a while, it's second nature.

MILES O'BRIEN: An acoustic signal with a unique code activates the air tanks linked to the lobster traps on the bottom.

MAN: Now ready to deploy.

MILES O'BRIEN: Releasing compressed air into a tethered bag, sending it to the surface.

The vertical rope is only in the water as long as it takes to retrieve the attached traps.

MAN: We need a bigger boat.

(LAUGHTER) MILES O'BRIEN: The nascent technology allowed Martin to fish for lobsters this year in Massachusetts waters closed to protect migrating right whales.

ROB MARTIN: This takes a few minutes more to haul the gear, but a few minutes more to haul the gear or stay home.

It's not for everybody.

I always tell guys, this is to get you back into a closed area, and it's another tool in your toolbox if you get closed.

MILES O'BRIEN: But, as it stands, right whales are speeding toward extinction.

The clock is ticking on a majestic species and an iconic industry.

For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Miles O'Brien off Sandwich, Massachusetts.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Many of the stories we have reported on the "NewsHour" about refugees have been focused on tragedy and struggle, but, tonight, a glimpse of light.

Special correspondent Malcolm Brabant reports from Southern Germany, where, even as anti-immigrant sentiment is rising, a young Syrian refugee has just become a city's mayor.

MALCOLM BRABANT: In a small town on the edge of the Black Forest, a social revolution is taking its first tentative steps.

RYYAN ALSHEBL, Mayor of Ostelsheim, Germany (through translator): Germany is a country that has given hope to many in the past, and it's also a country of hope for me.

MALCOLM BRABANT: Eight years after Ryyan Alshebl arrived in Germany as a 20-year-old refugee, the people of Ostelsheim have entrusted him to be their mayor.

RYYAN ALSHEBL (through translator): I am the type of person that loves and likes to be loved.

I always felt this love over the past eight years.

And I'm grateful for this.

I'd like to give back where possible.

And with such a public office, it is possible.

MALCOLM BRABANT: The new mayor's election was a victory of German pragmatism over sentiment.

He earned his spurs working for four years as an administrator in a neighboring town.

The election of Ryyan Alshebl is being seen as a shining example of German tolerance and the power of integration.

This small town has always been traditionally conservative, with a small C, and has elected candidates from the center-right parties.

But the people here abandoned the tribal politics of the mainstream parties, looked at Alshebl as an individual, and decided that they liked the qualities that he had an offer.

And as a result, he's become an inspiration for the 800,000 Syrians who have settled in Germany after fleeing the civil war in their homeland.

ADIL, Computer Engineer: This village is exceptional.

MALCOLM BRABANT: For the past four years it's been home for Adil, a computer engineer from the devastated city of Aleppo.

ADIL: This shows the quality of competence here in this country, so the one who get skills will get the job.

MALCOLM BRABANT: One of the mayor's election pledges was to create more kindergarten places, which struck a chord with local families.

Kai Schubert works in information technology and is alarmed that, along with other European countries, Germany appears to be leaning right.

KAI SCHUBERT, I.T.

Professional (through translator): I think that, in Germany the right-wing tendencies are very, very loud and very, very large, especially on the Internet.

But the rest of Germany is more restrained.

MALCOLM BRABANT: Debbie Dorn is picking up her grandson.

A native New Yorker, she's lived in Germany for 41 years.

DEBBIE DORN, Grandmother: The main thing is, he learned German and he respects the German law.

And that is what is important as a foreigner.

That is what the Germans want.

They take in refugees.

They want to help, but they want the people that come here, they want them to respect the German law and our German way of living.

MALCOLM BRABANT: Ostelsheim's new mayor took the same trail to Europe as most other Syrian refugees, sleeping on the streets in Turkey, before smugglers packed them into unseaworthy rubber dinghies and pointed them towards the Greek island of Lesbos.

He landed in the autumn of 2015, just before Europe sealed its borders.

RYYAN ALSHEBL (through translator): It was so terrifying that, two hours into the crossing, I began seriously asking myself what it would feel like to drown.

MALCOLM BRABANT: This is a tale of two cities.

After Ostelsheim, we traveled 200 miles north to Sonneberg in the state of Thuringia in former East Germany.

In June, voters gave a major victory to the anti-immigrant Alternative For Germany, or AFD, by electing Robert Sesselmann as the party's first ever head of a county administration.

ROBERT SESSELMANN (Sonneberg County Commissioner) (through translator): The Sonneberg district is making history.

The AFD has now arrived as a people's party here on the municipal level in Thuringia and also in the Federal Republic of Germany.

MALCOLM BRABANT: The AFD hopes this landmark success will lead to the party taking control of other regional and state institutions.

As this video declares, the AFD has come a long way in the past 10 years.

MAN (through translator): We will hunt them down and we will take back our country and our people.

MALCOLM BRABANT: "We are the people," the chant of East Germans before the wall came down, has been adopted as the party's slogan.

But it has more sinister overtones for Thomas Haldenwang, the head of the domestic intelligence agency, as he reports on a rise of right-wing extremism.

THOMAS HALDENWANG, German Office for the Protection of the Constitution (through translator): We are currently working on the Alternative for Germany Party as a suspicious case, because we see a very strong current of people within this party who are opposed to our Constitution.

And we see a lot of hatred and agitation against minorities of all kinds there.

MALCOLM BRABANT: Ingo Schreurs speaks on behalf of the AFD, and he believes the intelligence agency is biased against those who oppose establishment ideas.

When it comes to immigration, Germany's population, its ethnic German population is declining.

You're not producing children.

INGO SCHREURS, AFD Spokesman: Yes.

MALCOLM BRABANT: You need to support your welfare state.

INGO SCHREURS: Of course.

MALCOLM BRABANT: You need to have immigrants,don't you?

INGO SCHREURS: Of course, yes.

But we want to choose who's immigrating, like any other country in the world.

You in the U.S. have very strict regulations for who is coming into your country and who is not.

And we want the same thing for us.

MALCOLM BRABANT: Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz has dismissed the significance of the AFD's success in Sonneberg.

OLAF SCHOLZ, German Chancellor (through translator): I am quite confident that AFD won't perform much differently at the next federal election than it did at the last.

MALCOLM BRABANT: Political analyst Timo Lochocki says that voters are unhappy at the major parties' failure to address concerns over migration and warns against complacency.

DR. TIMO LOCHOCKI, Mercator Foundation: And that's the reason why most voters that currently vote for the far right or intend to vote for the far right, they're not convinced of the far right.

They'd rather want to put pressure on the others to come up with a plan.

MALCOLM BRABANT: The sculpture of a Jewish family heading for cattle cars and a death camp speaks to the ultimate dangers of right-wing extremism.

The Central Council of Jews in Germany has described the AFD's success as a watershed that democratic forces cannot accept.

Is there an assurance you can give to the Jewish community that they have nothing to fear?

INGO SCHREURS: Of course, because this claim that the AFD is antisemitic is just a media hoax.

MALCOLM BRABANT: That's not the experience of optician Margret Sturm, who received numerous death threats after speaking out against the AFD.

MARGRET STURM, Optician (through translator): We got calls from people we don't know, who don't know our business.

It started with a caller threatening to send us a pizza topped with Zyklon B and saying we should enjoy it.

MALCOLM BRABANT: Students of the Holocaust will recognize the significance of Zyklon B.

It was the cyanide-based poison used in Nazi gas chambers to murder millions of Jews.

Despite concerns about her safety, Margret Sturm refuses to be silenced.

MARGRET STURM (through translator): I have been telling people to stand up and speak out, because, if we don't mobilize civil society, things are going to get really bad.

MALCOLM BRABANT: There's an optician in this town who says that she's had death threats against her for speaking out against the AFD.

INGO SCHREURS: Yes.

Yes.

MALCOLM BRABANT: What do you think of that?

INGO SCHREURS: I think that is disgusting, because -- I do not know who does that, but there are always -- everywhere, you find crazy people, you find hateful people.

MALCOLM BRABANT: Once a week in Sonneberg, there are anti-government demonstrations which match the AFD's platform.

Is this the path that German will follow, or will it emulate Ostelsheim, where Adil, the Syrian computer engineer, has great expectations?

ADIL: It shows that, here, the limit is the sky.

I hope to -- not to be limited to small villages.

I hope it will go to the Parliament and to other important positions in Germany.

But this is a good indication, I think.

MALCOLM BRABANT: While millions of migrants and Germans wish Ryyan Alshebl every success, there are others willing him to fail.

The burden on his young shoulders is enormous.

For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Malcolm Brabant in Southern Germany.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: The American flag is one of the most recognizable symbols in the world.

A new museum exhibit in Arkansas explores how such a universal symbol can send so many different messages.

Ali Rogin recently paid a visit for our arts and culture series, Canvas.

ALI ROGIN: It flies over the halls of justice, it's used to mark a solemn sacrifice, and it's wrapped around shoulders in celebration.

It's present at the proudest and the darkest moments in the nation's history.

The flag represents America, but it can't represent all the experiences of those who claim it as their own.

That's the idea behind the exhibit Flagged for Discussion at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas.

LARISSA RANDALL, Curator, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art: Every object here reflects the artist's personal relationship or connection to the flag.

ALI ROGIN: Curator Larissa Randall came up with the idea for the exhibit while perusing items in the museum's permanent collection.

There were so many depictions of the American flag, but each was so different, like this Norman Rockwell portrait of Rosie the Riveter quite literally eating Hitler's lunch, or this wood carving by Leroy Almon making clear that the transatlantic slave trade also took place under the flag's auspices.

Or Ward by George Tooker, in which the flag provides little comfort to ailing patients.

LARISSA RANDALL: I was struck by how artists from across time, across walks of life, of various backgrounds all use the flag to, like, comment on issues that are important to them.

CONSUELO JIMENEZ UNDERWOOD, Artist: This is a flag Mexico and the U.S. as one, but it's bigger than that.

It's, can we get along?

ALI ROGIN: For artists Consuelo Jimenez Underwood, the flag is both message and medium.

Underwood was born in Sacramento, California.

Her mother was third-generation Mexican American.

And her father was part of the Bracero Program, which allowed Mexican seasonal workers to come to the United States during both World Wars.

Her piece at Crystal Bridges is called Home of the Brave.

It combines the American and Mexican flags, evoking the strong ties between the two countries, but also the deep divides.

CONSUELO JIMENEZ UNDERWOOD: I feel that the threads can join, not just fabric, but people.

And that's where I came in.

I wanted to do something about the division between our countries, Mexico and U.S. For me, that line is very arbitrary.

ALI ROGIN: Like many children of migrants at the time, Underwood grew up picking crops with her family, taxing her small body.

But with the help of her parents, she nurtured her spirit and mind.

CONSUELO JIMENEZ UNDERWOOD: I learned how to appreciate the little that I had from my dad.

And it was the hottest picking tomatoes in Sacramento Valley in 110 degrees.

It was hard.

And he would sing.

And everybody would listen, because he had a beautiful voice.

The other magic that happened in those fields in those early, early years were the book vans that came to the fields for us kids that would miss school the first two months and the last two months of the school year.

And I made a promise to myself.

Because I'm getting behind.

I swear I will not read fiction.

I'm only going to read biography, science, real stuff, so that I can make up for the knowledge that I'm losing.

ALI ROGIN: America allowed children like Underwood to labor alongside adults, a practice that continues illegally today.

But as Underwood sees it, America also allowed her to thrive.

CONSUELO JIMENEZ UNDERWOOD: I lived under the U.S. flag.

And I knew, if I got an education, I could move up the social, economic.

So, Consuelo, don't cry.

You will be the first of 11 of 12 to get that high school education.

ALI ROGIN: She finds inspiration in the methods of the indigenous Huichol people of Mexico from whom she is descended.

Her flag rests on a backdrop of intricate indigenous designs.

CONSUELO JIMENEZ UNDERWOOD: Underneath is a really important history that, don't forget, it's the shoulders that we stand on.

ALI ROGIN: Her flag features raw materials like plastic and barbed wires.

Safety pins hold the two flags' loose threads together.

CONSUELO JIMENEZ UNDERWOOD: This flag is in disarray because it's not perfect, but it's beautiful, because the land that it waves over is wonderful.

ALI ROGIN: What does it mean to you to have this work in conversation with the other pieces in this exhibit?

CONSUELO JIMENEZ UNDERWOOD: It really is wonderful.

I feel like Crystal Bridges is embodying the best of these artworks that make you jump, go, oh, my God, I never seen something like that.

LARISSA RANDALL: I would see this project as successful if someone left thinking about the flag in a different way than they walked in.

ALI ROGIN: That's the exhibit's other common thread, each pieces' piece's ability to provoke deeper thought.

MARTIN GUERRA-WEST, Holiday Island, Arkansas: It makes me proud.

It makes me also thoughtful of our history and how far we've come in expanding our civil rights.

JIM CHAMBERLAIN, Phoenix, Arizona: As my cap shows, I was in the service in the Army.

So the flag to me is the flag, freedom, because that's what I went in to fight for.

TOR'E ALFORD, Wichita, Kansas: It's kind of twisted now.

I feel like, what's the flag?

How free are we, really, when you really think about it.

LARISSA RANDALL: Some people might look at the U.S. flag and see unity or fear or harmony or freedom.

And whatever people see, I think is valid, but also is worth investigating, whose freedom are we talking about and how -- as we move forward as a country, what do we want this to sort of represent for us?

ALI ROGIN: Flagged for Discussion doesn't answer those questions, but it starts the conversation.

For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Ali Rogin in Bentonville, Arkansas.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: A late-breaking news update.

Donald Trump is now facing additional charges in the case involving classified materials kept at his Florida home.

Among other charges, the former president is accused of asking a staffer to delete camera footage in an effort to obstruct the investigation.

A third defendant, Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos De Oliveira, has also been charged.

And that is the "NewsHour" for tonight.

I'm William Brangham.

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