AMNA NAWAZ: Good evening.

I'm Amna Nawaz.

GEOFF BENNETT: And I'm Geoff Bennett.

On the "NewsHour" tonight: House Republicans use a traditionally bipartisan defense bill to pick a culture war fight with the Biden White House.

We look at the impact.

AMNA NAWAZ: A year after the reversal of Roe v. Wade, the correlation between a lack of reproductive rights and domestic violence becomes clearer.

GEOFF BENNETT: And the push for renewable energy grows more contentious in rural Kansas, as wind farms divide communities.

NICHOLAS COIL, Enel North America: It becomes a classic case of, we want renewable energy, but not in our backyard.

(BREAK) GEOFF BENNETT: Welcome to the "NewsHour."

There's still no relief from the heat tonight.

A swathe of the country stretching from the West across the South has spent another day sweltering in extreme temperatures.

AMNA NAWAZ: Phoenix faced a 15th straight day of temperatures at 110 degrees or higher.

Heat warnings have also taken effect in much of California.

But at Death Valley National Park, tourists have turned out to feel the burn.

That's despite forecasts that readings could reach 130 this weekend.

ALESSIA DEMPSTER, Tourist: We heard in -- when we were in Las Vegas that they all just said, please bring water, because we know that it's so dangerous coming out here, even for maybe even half-an-hour walk, that you need to have water.

Otherwise, you will -- I mean, there's like signs like everywhere saying heat kills.

AMNA NAWAZ: Overseas, scorching heat from Africa has pushed into Southern Europe.

The Acropolis in Athens closed for much of the day to protect tourists from temperatures that hit 104.

And, in Italy, people brought their dogs to beaches to cool off.

GEOFF BENNETT: In the day's other headlines: The Department of Education announced its canceling $39 billion of student loan debt.

It affects more than 800,000 borrowers.

Officials say their payments were miscounted.

In a statement today, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said -- quote -- "For far too long, borrowers fell through the cracks of a broken system that failed to keep accurate track of their payments."

Iowa formally joined several other states today, banning most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy.

Republican Governor Kim Reynolds signed the bill today at a conservative summit.

The state's existing law allowed abortions until the 20th week.

A state court could ruled next week on whether to block the new statute.

In Russia, lawmakers today approved a ban on all medical care for transgender people, including gender-affirming surgery.

The bill passed unanimously in its final reading.

It would also outlaw marriages involving trans people and ban them from adopting children.

The Kremlin says it's meant to protect what it calls Russia's traditional values.

The crackdown has drawn criticism not only from trans advocates, but from the medical community as well.

An Indian spacecraft is on its way to the far side of the moon tonight, aiming to make up for a failed landing attempt nearly four years ago.

Crowds in Southern India looked on today as the spacecraft blasted off.

It carries an unmanned rover designed to explore the lunar south pole.

And back in this country, the Biden administration is free for now to press social media companies about problematic posts ranging from COVID to election fraud.

A federal appeals court today overruled a judge who blocked all such contact.

A final ruling will await the outcome of a lawsuit on whether the government's actions violate free speech.

And on Wall Street, stocks had a mixed day to close out the week.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 114 points to close at 34509.

The Nasdaq fell about 25 points.

The S&P 500 slipped four.

Still to come on the "NewsHour": the World Health Organization warns about the carcinogenic effects of a popular artificial sweetener; David Brooks and Jonathan Capehart weigh in on the week's political headlines; and a carpenter offers life lessons in his new book.

AMNA NAWAZ: The U.S. House passed a nearly $900 billion budget for the armed forces today largely on partisan lines.

Most Democrats voted no after Republicans added anti-abortion and other provisions to the bill.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries laid out the divide today.

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA): A military cannot defend themselves if you train them in woke.

We don't want Disneyland to train our military.

We want our men and women in the military to have every defense possible.

And that's what our bill does.

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY): As House Democrats, we are going to cut out the cancer that the extreme MAGA Republicans have put in the National Defense Authorization Act, no matter what it takes, and we're going to partner with Senate Republicans and Senate Democrats to get a responsible National Defense Authorization Act.

AMNA NAWAZ: New York Times congressional correspondent Karoun Demirjian is here to help us understand the plan's implications for the military and in Congress.

Demirjian, good to see you.

KAROUN DEMIRJIAN, The New York Times: Good to be here.

AMNA NAWAZ: So, before we get into the details of some of these provisions, just give us the top lines here.

What are the key funding changes in this bill?

KAROUN DEMIRJIAN: We're looking at a bill that authorizes $886 billion to be spent on various defense and national security priorities.

It covers everything from programs to help the United States better counter China and Russia, sends $300 million in security assistance to Ukraine, and includes a 5.2 percent pay increase for active-duty troops.

AMNA NAWAZ: So, as we mentioned, it passed mostly along party lines 219-210.

Why did so many Democrats vote against it?

What are they opposing?

KAROUN DEMIRJIAN: Well, in the last few days, the Republicans in the House have been adding a series of measures, amending them into the bill, that do a whole bunch of things Democrats don't like.

There was a measure that they voted on yesterday that rolled back a Pentagon policy that offers time off and travel reimbursement to people who have to go -- service members who have to go out of state to obtain an abortion after the fall of Roe v. Wade.

There was another provision they attached that would end the military's ability to offer health care coverage for gender transition surgeries and hormone therapies.

And there was a provision that slashed all the Offices of Diversity training and the officials that worked in those offices and another one that today that banned the DOD from actually implementing Biden's climate change executive orders.

So all of these things together are anathema for the Democratic Party.

And so all but four said, we're not on this anymore.

This was supposed to be a bipartisan bill.

And it's not.

AMNA NAWAZ: There were two notable Republican amendment efforts that did fail.

There was an attempt to limit Ukraine aid.

That was backed by Republican Matt Gaetz and also Marjorie Taylor Greene, among others.

There was another provision to restore the old Confederate names of military bases.

Why did some of those provisions fail to make it into this spell?

KAROUN DEMIRJIAN: Well, look, the Confederate name issue came up a couple of years ago, and it was -- as much as President Trump at the time was pushing for it, it wasn't really completely popular in the Republican Party.

So the fact that you had people defect on that one in the GOP wasn't all that much of a surprise.

The Ukraine one is really interesting, because we always knew that the Ukraine -- the initiative to try to cut the Ukraine funding was going to fail.

There's too many mainstream Republicans and leaders in that party that had been outspoken about, we need to actually maintain the support for Ukraine, because this is about the West versus Russia, and we don't want to have to fight a war with Russia and NATO.

But while Democrats and Republicans stayed together to vote them down, the interesting thing is how many more Republicans voted to actually cut that funding.

About a year ago, we saw 57 Republicans vote against a bill that was just to send about $40 billion of humanitarian and military assistance to Ukraine to help with the war effort.

Now we saw 70 Republicans say no more money for Ukraine, and I think it was about 89 Republicans said, let's cut that $300 million program that I just mentioned.

And so that means those numbers are ticking up.

So even though they didn't pass, it's interesting to see where the pendulum is swinging in the parties.

AMNA NAWAZ: Some real divides there in the party to track.

But let's talk about the Senate version now, which will likely look very different... KAROUN DEMIRJIAN: Very.

(LAUGHTER) AMNA NAWAZ: ... in the Democratic-controlled Senate.

So this is a critical must-pass bill.

How does this get resolved?

KAROUN DEMIRJIAN: Well, that's a very good question.

You're going to have a really, really Republican measure from the House coming face to face with a really, really Democratic measure looking at the Senate.

Now, if this were left just up to the chairs and ranking members of the Armed Services Committee, I would say that it would end up being a very boring bill.

The four of them actually wanted to do a bill that was going to be very bipartisan, that was not going to get into these culture wars fights.

And if you just left the four of them in the room -- a room together to work it out, they'd probably say, let's just -- we did what we needed to do,but let's just do something that we can pass with both houses of Congress and a strong bipartisan majority.

But it's got to go through a conference process where a whole lot more people are going to be at the table.

And they're going to be fighting really hard to include these provisions.

And so, at the end of the day, it's not clear if they can get a resolution for that.

And that would be a situation where you would break Congress' streak of nearly six decades of passing this annually, which would basically mean that -- the defense bill is the biggest policy bill Congress does every year.

They're supposed to do these policy bills before passing the budgets for absolutely every part of the government.

Everything else has fallen away but defense, because it's such a huge, huge part of the budget.

But I guess the worst-case scenario, if they can't actually get resolution, is that defense just goes the way of everything else has so far.

AMNA NAWAZ: You know, I have to ask about one of the provisions you mentioned, to cut the DEI, or Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Office.

During the floor debate last night, one Republican congressman, Eli Crane, actually used an offensive and outdated term to refer to Black Americans.

KAROUN DEMIRJIAN: Yes.

AMNA NAWAZ: He said "colored people."

Doesn't that seemed to undercut the Republican argument that these kinds of DEI trainings and that office is needed?

KAROUN DEMIRJIAN: Yes, there were a lot of Democrats that went on the floor after that to say you need DEI training in Congress if that's the terminology that you're going to use to describe this stuff.

I mean, look, the GOP won its fights in the House.

Those -- it's not going to win the fights through Congress.

They are going to have to make compromises.

But they have also been making their argument based on this line of, we don't need DEI training, it's a waste of money, it just encourages more racism, everyone's equal, let's just say that.

But the onus is on them to kind of walk the walk.

And if people like Eli Crane are using the terms if they do, it really undercuts the argument that they're making and makes it look like they're actually trying to roll things back.

AMNA NAWAZ: A lot to track there.

We know you will be following it all.

That is New York Times congressional correspondent Karoun Demirjian joining us tonight.

Karoun Demirjian, good to see you.

KAROUN DEMIRJIAN: Good to see you too.

Thank you.

GEOFF BENNETT: The World Health Organization has classified the artificial sweetener aspartame a -- quote -- "possibly carcinogenic to humans."

And that has led to some concerns and confusion about the risks.

Besides diet sodas, aspartame can also be found in a variety of foods, including breakfast cereals, chewing gum, and some desserts.

The WHO's cancer research group said it was categorizing the artificial sweetener as a possible carcinogen.

But the agency's food safety group said the evidence wasn't convincing.

There's quite a bit to sort through here.

And to help us clear up some of this, Allison Aubrey of NPR News joins us now.

Thanks for being with us.

ALLISON AUBREY, National Public Radio: Thanks for having me, Geoff.

GEOFF BENNETT: So, adding to the confusion, the FDA also says it doesn't believe that this artificial sweetener is carcinogenic.

So what are we make of all of this?

ALLISON AUBREY: I think you have to start by looking at, why did the World Health Organization decide to look at this?

The reason was that had there been several studies over the course of the last five or 10 years that found that people who consumed the most aspartame over time had a slightly elevated risk of certain cancers.

This was showing up in kind of population studies.

And the question was, well, why?

Could aspartame actually explain the risk?

So the scientists at the World Health Organization decided to review all of the evidence.

And what they determined is that, though these were good studies, they could not determine whether this finding of a slightly elevated risk of cancer was due to chance or bias, or just that the people who are getting cancer and were drinking -- consuming lots of aspartame might have other risk factors or other lifestyle habits that had put them at higher risk of cancer.

GEOFF BENNETT: The FDA says that aspartame is one of the most studied food additives in the human food supply.

It's been on the market for some 50 years.

How are there still unanswered questions about its safety?

ALLISON AUBREY: Right.

I think that's the confusing part to people, because the FDA says, look, it's safe.

It's well studied.

And, on one hand yes, it is very well studied.

There are lots and lots of short term studies.

I think that over time, if you think about cancer, it's a disease that develops over decades.

And so I think the question was, OK, this was introduced into the food supply in the 1980s.

That's when Diet Cokes first started using aspartame.

That's when Diet Coke was first blended with aspartame.

So the question was, was there some kind of long-term risk that people were missing?

And I think that's what the who was trying to assess and trying to look at.

But I come back to where the FDA concluded.

The FDA basically says, as a sweetener in the amounts that people consume it, the agency has reaffirmed its finding that aspartame is safe.

GEOFF BENNETT: The American Beverage Association, the lobbying group, the trade group that represents Coke and Pepsi, says that the WHO's finding is an expression of personal opinion, not the science, and they say their products are safe.

Setting that aside, or their recommendation shins from health organizations about how much people should consume?

ALLISON AUBREY: So the recommendation that comes from the agency within the WHO says that people could consume a maximum of 40 milligrams of aspartame per kilo of body weight.

So, what that translates to for a 130-pound person is about 12 Diet Cokes a day.

(LAUGHTER) GEOFF BENNETT: That's a lot of Diet Coke.

ALLISON AUBREY: Right?

That's a lot more than most people are consuming.

GEOFF BENNETT: So, bottom line, then people don't have to give up their Diet Cokes?

ALLISON AUBREY: I think bottom line here is that the agency is saying, you know what, we're asking for a bit of moderation here.

I think that if you ask yourself, why am I drinking Diet Coke?

Am I drinking diet soda because I want to help manage my weight, and I think that's helping me?

Perfectly reasonable answer there.

So a Diet Coke or two a day, I don't think that there's any evidence it's going to harm you.

But you also might say, hmm, given the uncertainties, I don't really enjoy Diet Coke, I don't really enjoy aspartame, I don't think it's helping me manage my weight, maybe it's a moment to reassess.

But, again, in moderation, the FDA says aspartame is safe.

GEOFF BENNETT: NPR health correspondent Allison Aubrey, thanks for coming in.

ALLISON AUBREY: Thanks for having me.

AMNA NAWAZ: Long before the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade, ending the constitutional right to an abortion, researchers noticed a link between women having abortion access and a reduced risk of violence from men.

Now, in the wake of the court's decision, the opposite is happening, both anecdotally and in the data.

Abortion restrictions have led to a significant uptick in intimate partner violence.

The National Domestic Violence Hotline reports seeing nearly 100 percent increase in calls.

Our health reporter, Laura Santhanam, spoke to experts about this for a recent story on our Web site.

She joins me now.

Laura, it's good to see you.

LAURA SANTHANAM: Great to see you.

AMNA NAWAZ: So, you have been talking to the experts, reporting on this disturbing trend.

LAURA SANTHANAM: Yes.

AMNA NAWAZ: What are they telling you right now.

LAURA SANTHANAM: So, each year, roughly 12 million people are affected by domestic violence in the U.S. And part of what perpetuates that violence are control, isolation of victims by the abusers.

When we saw overnight in many places the loss of access to nearby abortions just evaporate, people began to suffer.

And we're seeing preliminary data, anecdotal evidence that suggests that all of the warning signs that we were hearing about before Dobbs came down are starting to materialize.

AMNA NAWAZ: And, Laura, the National Domestic Violence Hotline says 100 percent increase in calls.

What does that mean?

LAURA SANTHANAM: There's so much need going on right now.

And it's coming through the hot line and in many places.

Right now, the National Domestic Violence Hotline is hearing more than 3,000 calls per day, on average.

And that's the highest volume that they have seen ever since they were established in 1996, right?

So it's just -- it's this massive uptick.

And there's definitely just, again, preliminary evidence pointing to Dobbs making things worse.

AMNA NAWAZ: And you spoke to a woman named Crystal Justice from the National Domestic Violence Hotline.

Here's what she had to say.

CRYSTAL JUSTICE, National Domestic Violence Hotline: After the Dobbs decision, we knew that we were going to be hearing from survivors all over the country who were going to need critical support to talk about the abuse they were experiencing, to talk about the fears that they were feeling, that now their access to reproductive health care has essentially been removed.

And I think, Laura, it's really important to say that an abusive partner will use any tool in their toolbox to exert power and control over their victim.

AMNA NAWAZ: Laura, when it comes to tools in that toolbox, experts told you about an increase in something called reproductive coercion.

What does that mean?

And what does that look like in real life?

LAURA SANTHANAM: Reproductive coercion is a form of domestic violence that we're hearing more about, especially after Dobbs.

What that means is an abuser could sabotage contraception, could intercept birth control, could otherwise just hinder a person's ability to control their own -- have control over their own body.

In my reporting, I came across a story of a woman who was in an abusive relationship and could not leave her home, but she could receive birth control.

She got it through the mail and was able to keep control over that much of her life, until her abuser discovered that she was receiving her birth control through the mail.

He began intercepting her mail, got her birth control.

Eventually, she became pregnant, and she was in a state where she could not access abortion.

She also didn't have the financial wherewithal to go somewhere else where she legally could.

So, that -- and that terrible story, it's not a one-off.

According to experts who I have been talking to, it's happening again and again and this country.

And it's getting worse after Dobbs.

AMNA NAWAZ: The stories are so alarming and so disturbing, but what is the data showing?

What do the numbers say about this right now?

LAURA SANTHANAM: It takes time to get the big federal data sets.

But what we're seeing in things like the National Domestic Violence Hotline is a nearly 100 percent increase in these calls about reproductive coercion alone.

The experts there also told me that they have seen more than 20,000 calls related to nonconsensual sex.

So, that gives you a sense of, like, how these power dynamics are being manipulated and used, and people who are losing access to one thing to keep them -- to give them some distance from their abusers.

AMNA NAWAZ: Laura, people will hear all this and wonder, what should I do if I need help?

What if someone I know needs help?

What can we tell them?

LAURA SANTHANAM: Well, help is available?

The National Domestic Violence Hotline number is there.

It's available 24 hours a day.

It's 800-799-SAFE.

You can chat at thehotline.org, or you can text START.

That's 88788, that it's, again, available 24 hours a day, seven days a week across the country.

They're there to help make safety plans, find resources, figure out how you can get from a terrible situation to something hopefully better.

AMNA NAWAZ: That is our health reporter, Laura Santhanam.

Laura, thank you so much.

LAURA SANTHANAM: Thank you.

GEOFF BENNETT: The intense heat wave baking much of the country is expected to only get worse this weekend, leaving more than 100 million people under heat advisories.

Experts say this heat wave underscores the need to slow climate change in part by reducing our dependence on fossil fuels.

But there are already fierce battles playing out around the country over how and whether greener energy should be developed locally.

Special correspondent and Washington Post columnist Catherine Rampell has the story.

CATHERINE RAMPELL: Across Kansas, there are 400,000 wind turbines, and counting.

But, as energy projects have expanded, so too has the controversy surrounding them.

MICHAEL FORTH, Douglas County Rural Preservation Association: They have turned friends against each other.

They have turned families against each other over this.

PHILLIP METZGER, Farmer: I know I know two brothers that have farmed together for years.

They hate each other now.

CATHERINE RAMPELL: Technological advances and big federal subsidies have spurred a green energy boom across the country.

But as critics have gotten louder, some local governments are putting the brakes on development.

MAN: In Franklin County, we have been able to get a three-year moratorium on the construction of any turbines or solar projects.

CATHERINE RAMPELL: Why does this matter?

The U.S. government needs rapid renewable development to meet its climate goals.

We went to Kansas, ranked fourth in the country in wind capacity growth, to see what all the fuss is about.

JAMES BLAINE, Enel Green Power: We have 95 turbines on site and produce about 300 megawatts.

CATHERINE RAMPELL: The Diamond Vista Wind Farm, run by Enel Green Power in rural Marion County, covers 73 square miles.

These 500-foot turbines have been generating power since 2018.

Jim Blaine oversees the maintenance.

JAMES BLAINE: It's like having 95 kids.

You have the good kids, you have the OK kids, and then you have the troublemaker kids.

CATHERINE RAMPELL: Now, these kids do have some great admirers.

DAVID MUELLER, Farmer: I think they're majestic.

I like building things.

I'm a builder.

And looking at the turbines, it's just a marvel of engineering.

CATHERINE RAMPELL: David Mueller, a county commissioner in Marion County, says wind development has given struggling farmers have shot in the arm.

DAVID MUELLER: This is generally a lower income area.

It's poorer ground.

And you're here on an extremely beautiful day.

Normally, the wind howls here, and we do not say nice things about the wind.

So, if we can generate some income off of something that's not popular, that's a real win.

CATHERINE RAMPELL: Mueller leases his land to Enel.

He views it as another extension of farming.

DAVID MUELLER: Personally, I'm proud of the fact that we're harvesting wind, as a farmer.

I grow wheat and we export it to feed the world.

We raise cattle.

We export it to feed our country and our world.

I'm proud of the fact that we take wind and export the energy.

CATHERINE RAMPELL: He points to all the ways the company has also invested in the tiny town of Tampa, population 100, annual payments to the schools, money for a new library, funding for a freezer at the co-op grocery store, $35,000 for a new fire truck.

GREG BERENS, Chief, Tampa Fire Department: It's got a 700-gallon tank on it.

CATHERINE RAMPELL: Volunteer fire chief Greg Berens.

GREG BERENS: We have done fund-raisers, chili feeds and hamburger fries.

But that's a lot of hamburger feeds to make up that kind of money.

CATHERINE RAMPELL: The company also paid to upgrade the roads.

DAVID MUELLER: We can use the roads to get into our pastures.

We can use the roads to get to the pastures, which wasn't possible before when they were dirt roads.

AMY STUTZMAN, Landowner: My property goes all the way down to the hedge row.

CATHERINE RAMPELL: Not everyone is such a fan.

What was your reaction when you first heard that a wind development was coming to this area?

AMY STUTZMAN: Anger.

I had just built this new custom log home.

This was supposed to be my retirement home.

This was supposed to be my dream.

Wind turbines is not my dream.

CATHERINE RAMPELL: Amy Stutzman's property is surrounded by wind turbines recently installed by a different company.

So you were never approached about putting turbines on your own property?

AMY STUTZMAN: No, ma'am.

I only own 20 acres, and it's an 80-acre minimum.

CATHERINE RAMPELL: She felt powerless to protect the magical country setting she loves.

These big beautiful windows you have all have blackout shades.

Why is that?

AMY STUTZMAN: When that is the new view, I don't care to look at it.

I moved out here to be on the farmland.

Wind farms are not farms at all.

It's nothing but industrial and commercial.

CATHERINE RAMPELL: When we visited, the turbines were not yet operational.

Stutzman feared things would get worse when they were up and running, shadows cast by the moving blades, for instance.

AMY STUTZMAN: You're going to have shadow flicker.

You're going to have next winter ice throw, noise, vibrations on the ground.

What does that do to underground aquifers?

What does that do to livestock?

CATHERINE RAMPELL: At the Diamond Vista project on the other side of the county, there has been no obvious impact on livestock or groundwater.

But, at night, one common complaint does have people seeing red, blinking lights that warn aircraft of turbines.

As for the project surrounding Amy Stutzman's property, it's already destroyed her relationship with neighbors who leased their land.

I understand things got kind of heated here.

AMY STUTZMAN: I had vulgar messages spray-painted on the side of my House.

I have received death threats in my mailbox.

What are you going to call that one?

CATHERINE RAMPELL: She's been accused of harassing people herself and firing shots when wind company employees conducted a land survey nearby.

She says she was target shooting.

AMY STUTZMAN: I was still convicted of three felony counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

CATHERINE RAMPELL: And you're appealing this now, correct?

AMY STUTZMAN: Yes.

CATHERINE RAMPELL: Stutzman wants to leave the area, but says she can't afford to.

AMY STUTZMAN: One of my neighbors actually contacted a real estate agent and was basically told, you don't even need to list.

CATHERINE RAMPELL: Because nobody will buy it?

AMY STUTZMAN: Nobody will buy.

CATHERINE RAMPELL: Elsewhere in Kansas, residents of Douglas County fear a proposed wind development could hurt their property values.

PHILLIP METZGER: The turbines will start about three miles Southwest of here right along the tree line.

They will just run to the north.

My wife loves this view, and wind turbines will mess that completely up.

CATHERINE RAMPELL: Phillip Metzger (ph) is a farmer near Lawrence.

He hosted a group of community members opposed to projects being considered nearby, including Janet Jehle.

JANET JEHLE, Landowner: If they put wind turbines in here, the electricity does not stay here.

It's all sent to a Southeast or Southwest power pool.

MICHAEL FORTH: I'm concerned because our county has high population density.

If you take the three cities that are dominant in our county out, we still have over 30 people per square mile.

CATHERINE RAMPELL: Michael Forth, president of the Douglas County Rural Preservation Association: MICHAEL FORTH: Put them where it's less populated, where people aren't affected by them.

CATHERINE RAMPELL: While some residents back in Marion County saw wind as a means to preserve their farmland, Forth worries these kinds of developments will have the opposite effect here.

MICHAEL FORTH: We have absentee landowners that live out here who have signed leases.

Well, farmers rent that ground to farm, and now they're going to lose it.

We have hawks.

We have soaring birds.

They're all going to be at risk.

CATHERINE RAMPELL: He and his neighbors say they don't oppose clean power projects.

They just don't want them so nearby.

PHILLIP METZGER: I'm for clean energy, renewable energy.

I'm totally for it.

But I don't like the idea of somebody ramming something down my throat.

SARAH MILLS, University of Michigan: Wind development over time is getting more contentious.

CATHERINE RAMPELL: Sarah Mills studies state and local renewable energy policies at the University of Michigan.

SARAH MILLS: As the more remote rural places with lots of farmers have been taken up and wind projects have moved closer to where there are vacation home owners or where people have moved there in retirement, those more natural amenity landscapes, that's where you start to see lots more contention.

CATHERINE RAMPELL: And that means getting permits for new projects is more difficult in some places.

NICHOLAS COIL, Enel North America: What you have done at the local level is you have created what's effectively veto rights for the local governments.

It becomes a classic case of, we want renewable energy, but not in our backyard.

CATHERINE RAMPELL: Nick Coil, who oversaw development of Diamond Vista, says he is running into more local resistance to renewable projects.

NICHOLAS COIL: If there is discretion involved in the permit approval process, they can be in a bad mood that day, and a vocal minority can prohibit a broader community from benefiting from all of the economic and other benefits that these projects provide.

CATHERINE RAMPELL: Mills says energy developers must convince local residents that building new infrastructure is in their interest, at least if we're going to meet our national decarbonization goals.

SARAH MILLS: I think that's hard because we can all imagine landscapes where we wouldn't want to see energy infrastructure.

And one of the real tricks in this is that those landscapes for me may be different than the landscapes for you.

People in a place may have differences of opinion about that very same landscape.

CATHERINE RAMPELL: As is the case in the places we visited in Kansas.

To some, the turbines enhance the view and local economy.

To others, they ruin both.

For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Catherine Rampell in Marion County, Kansas.

GEOFF BENNETT: For analysis of President Biden's trip abroad this week and the 2024 presidential race, we turn now to the analysis of Brooks and Capehart.

That's New York Times columnist David Brooks, and Jonathan Capehart, associate editor for The Washington Post.

It's good to see you both.

JONATHAN CAPEHART: Hey, Geoff.

GEOFF BENNETT: In looking back at the week that was, President Biden notched a number of wins this past week in Europe.

He celebrated some major breakthroughs at the NATO summit.

He was able to showcase his devotion to diplomatic engagement.

What were your takeaways from the trip, starting with you, David?

DAVID BROOKS: Well, when he was president, Donald Trump said that NATO was obsolete.

And that wasn't a totally crazy position.

It seemed to me like we had it for the Cold War, and why do we need it now?

Well, we have learned why it's not obsolete anymore.

And Biden has really pinioned his presidency around this idea that we're in a contest between authoritarian governments and democratic governments.

And he really has used a lot of different meetings in -- with India and with others to try to advance the democratic side's cause.

And no week was bigger than this one.

Getting Sweden in over the previous objections of Turkey was significant.

Getting more commitments for Ukraine was significant.

The slowly developing consensus that Ukraine is not going to join NATO now, but after the war is over, it probably will, that's also significant.

So, either case, he's expanding the democratic camp.

GEOFF BENNETT: What were your impressions?

JONATHAN CAPEHART: I have just -- I have nothing to add to what David said, because, I mean, he lays it out perfectly.

But I just want to talk about what the president did after the NATO summit and where he went, Helsinki, and the room he was in, the exact same room where, five years to the day earlier, then-President Donald Trump with Vladimir Putin standing right next to him, when asked about Russian interference in the election, he said: Well, I asked President Putin and he said it wasn't him.

And I have no reason to believe -- to believe otherwise.

That was a thunderclap moment for the alliance, a thunderclap moment for the American people who care about the United States' standing in the world, but also the American president standing up not just for the liberal small-D democratic order, but for the alliance and for the United States' role in the world.

And there you have President Biden five years to the day later standing there clearly as not just the American president, but the leader of an alliance that is standing firm against the aggression and authoritarianism of Vladimir Putin.

And I just think that that is the cherry on top to what David just said about the president's week.

GEOFF BENNETT: On the matter of building a coalition of democracies and supporting Ukraine, there is a record high 44 percent of Republicans and GOP-leaning independents who say the U.S. is giving too much aid to Ukraine.

This is according to a Pew Research survey released last month.

And Republican presidential candidates have really seized on this wariness of the cost of the war.

Do our allies have reason to be concerned about the durability of the U.S. commitment?

DAVID BROOKS: Yes.

In the 1940s, Dwight Eisenhower was thinking of running for president, but he thought, well, there's this guy Robert Taft, a senator, a Republican senator.

Maybe he will run.

And he wanted to know if Taft would support NATO, to basically support U.S. engagement abroad.

And Taft wouldn't.

And so Eisenhower decided to run as a Republican.

And because of that move, the Republican Party over the ensuing decades was a pretty internationalist party, obviously, Reagan, George H.W.

Bush.

George W. Bush.

The U.S. should exert power abroad.

But now, over the last couple of years, the Republican Party has been returning to what was the pre-Eisenhower bias toward I don't want to say isolation, but let's take care of ourselves at home, suspicion of foreign alliances.

And so for a while, we didn't have big polling gaps between Democrats and Republicans on how interventionist the U.S. should be.

Now we really do.

And so it's not just a Donald Trump thing.

It's a lot of Republicans that said we should just not be wasting our money abroad.

And that's an ancient war cry in America.

But we had about 50 years without it.

But now it's come back.

JONATHAN CAPEHART: I mean, David says Republicans, we should take care of our own at home.

But the Republicans we're talking about today don't even want to take care of what's happening here in the country with a lot of the things that they have voted against.

So, I just wanted to put that in there.

I know I cut you off, Geoff.

You were about to ask me something.

(LAUGHTER) GEOFF BENNETT: Well, I was going to ask, one, what you thought about that.

But, also, typically foreign policy doesn't really resonate in presidential elections.

Will that change this year, this cycle, do you think, given what's happening in Ukraine?

JONATHAN CAPEHART: Sure.

I mean, it very well might.

I think the president's leadership makes it something that could be salient for the American people.

But this is the other point I wanted to make in terms of the money and the concern of the American people, particularly Republicans, about all the money that's being spent.

I thought it was very important that President Zelenskyy, before he said anything when meeting with the president, thanked the American people for their support, and specifically thanked them -- I thank you for your money, because he understands that it is a financial sacrifice for the American people, and he wants us to know that he knows that and realizes that, and that, when the president says, we will be with Ukraine no matter how long it takes, that Zelenskyy is like, hey, we appreciate it.

Keep it coming.

GEOFF BENNETT: On the matter of defense and money, Congress, as we heard earlier in the program, is considering the National Defense Authorization Act, which sets policy for the Defense Department.

And the House narrowly approved its version last night, and it includes Republican provisions blocking abortion coverage, diversity initiatives at the Pentagon, transgender care.

In years past, this was a bipartisan enterprise.

What do you make of this effort by Republicans to use this bill as a cudgel in the culture wars and to really virtue-signal to members of their base?

DAVID BROOKS: Yes, I mean, there are two things going on here.

One is the amendments, which I'm basically fine with.

Like, having the Pentagon pay for people to travel for abortion, that's a policy choice.

The Pentagon made a policy choice.

It's based on a set of philosophies.

And some other Republicans have a different philosophy, and so they can try to vote it down.

And that's fine.

That's -- to me, that's the democratic process.

The terrible thing that's happening with Senator Tuberville is blocking promotions until he gets his abortion policy correct.

And that just weakens the military.

It's fine to have a debate.

It's fine to have amendments.

It's fine to have a policy process.

It's not fine to weaken our military because of your philosophy.

And there's a -- I'm doing a lot of history tonight.

The ghost of Mark Shields is smiling upon me.

(LAUGHTER) DAVID BROOKS: Abraham Kuyper was at 19th century or 20th century Dutch prime minister, and he had a thing called the philosophy of the spheres, that we have different spheres of life.

Politics is over here.

The military is over here.

The media is over here.

You ruin a society if you don't respect the differences of the spheres.

And the military does its own thing by its own logic, by its own standards and should not have outsiders screwing up the way it does its business for an ideological culture war issue.

GEOFF BENNETT: President Biden has called on Republicans to talk to Tuberville, Senator Tuberville, to get him to change his ways here.

It doesn't seem like that's going to happen.

JONATHAN CAPEHART: Yes.

And the onus is on Senator Tuberville, because what he's doing is -- it's shameful.

It's reprehensible.

It puts our national security at risk.

And, sure, the Marine Corps commandant in waiting can be acting, but this is the first time in, what, 150 years that there hasn't been a Senate-confirmed commandant of the Marine Corps.

And that's important, because for that person to be Senate-confirmed, it means that that person is beholden to the American people, accountable to the American people.

And I don't know what it's going to take for Senator Tuberville to change his view.

I wish he could change his view on holding up these promotions in the same way he changed his view right quick on his definition of white nationalism and whether it's racism or not.

But that's another conversation, isn't it, Geoff?

(LAUGHTER) GEOFF BENNETT: Well, in the few minutes that remain, let's talk about 2024, because former President Donald Trump is not among the Republican presidential candidates gathering in Des Moines for the Family Leadership Summit, a gathering of Christian conservatives.

At this point, does it even matter, or is he so far ahead that his lead is basically just insurmountable?

DAVID BROOKS: I don't think it's insurmountable.

And there's a lot of rumbling among the donor class turning toward Tim Scott or others as the DeSantis bubble fades a little.

So I think there's going to be a lot of movement.

Whether he can get away with not debating, I really don't know.

It's -- I'm very curious to learn.

I think I am going to learn, because I don't think he's going to do a lot of these debates.

And this may be just another rule that he's allowed to break with impunity.

You think voters want the guy to show up, but the polling on Trump is, he's still so popular.

They think he's going to beat Biden.

They like his economic policies.

He could win without debating, which would be bad.

GEOFF BENNETT: I see you shaking your head.

JONATHAN CAPEHART: Yes.

Yes, it would be bad.

And he thinks he can win without debating, and he probably can.

I mean, each indictment, his poll numbers have gone up.

I'm old enough to remember, you get indicted, criminally indicted, you might as well just close up your campaign shop and go home.

And the reverse is -- the opposite has been true.

So don't show up for a debate, watch his poll numbers go up.

GEOFF BENNETT: The fact that the Republican donor class is now giving a second look to Tim Scott, given concerns about the DeSantis campaign, how does that strike you?

JONATHAN CAPEHART: It strikes me as smart on their part.

I mean, I haven't used these words, but I will use them now.

And please don't @ me.

But, to my mind, from the moment Senator Scott got into the race, he was the dark horse in this campaign, that he was the one person, while I don't agree with him on pretty much anything, I thought his launch of what he had to say to the Republican Party faithful was something that was interesting.

He was a happy warrior.

He is worth the look.

And it's telling that that leaked memo from the DeSantis campaign shows that Governor DeSantis wants to focus now on Tim Scott, because they see what I see.

Senator Scott is the one they should be worried about.

GEOFF BENNETT: Yes.

How do you see it?

DAVID BROOKS: I see it the same.

At this point in the race, I think mostly what you want to do is focus on -- it's like spring training.

You're looking at pitchers.

Can they throw a curveball?

Can they throw a slider?

Are they -- do they have political skills?

And that's more important than the numbers or the -- but they -- Tim Scott has skills.

And so he's just good at this.

And so he's going to get his moment.

GEOFF BENNETT: All right, David Brooks and Jonathan Capehart, our thanks to you both.

JONATHAN CAPEHART: Thanks, Geoff.

DAVID BROOKS: Thank you.

AMNA NAWAZ: The author of the new book titled "Building" is, as you might suspect, a carpenter who knows his way around tools.

But rather than a how-to book, this one is about developing any kind of craft and skill, along with a few hard-earned lessons for living a good life.

Jeffrey Brown has that story for our arts and culture series, Canvas.

JEFFREY BROWN: An 1840s house now being restored and renewed.

MARK ELLISON, Author, "Building: A Carpenter's Notes on Life & the Art of Good Work": Everything you see on the outside of the house is brand-new.

JEFFREY BROWN: Yes.

MARK ELLISON: Every board, every stick, every brick, but made to look like that photograph.

JEFFREY BROWN: A 1840s photo used to guide the work on the exterior, mandated by New York City's landmarks preservation rules.

MARK ELLISON: Whole portions of that were certainly added later than 1840.

JEFFREY BROWN: Mark Ellison is doing the best he can.

But who knows if this is really how it originally looked?

MARK ELLISON: So, is this preservation?

I'm not sure.

JEFFREY BROWN: What do you call it?

What is it?

MARK ELLISON: In my book, I call this a paleo facsimile, because... (LAUGHTER) MARK ELLISON: Because it's got the bones.

JEFFREY BROWN: You have to laugh in the world of Mark Ellison.

MARK ELLISON: We will do the same spacing, exact same thing.

JEFFREY BROWN: Where the design demands can border on the impossible, and the client expectations are off the charts.

MARK ELLISON: It's a bit annoying, because if it's really, really, really good, everybody looks and goes like, yes, of course, it should be that way.

I am like, you have no idea what it took to make it look like that.

Like, you have no idea what we went through to make it so the staircase just looks like - - yes, tra-la-la, it's beautiful.

JEFFREY BROWN: Staircases are indeed a signature.

Ellison has gained a reputation as the master builder behind some of the most beautiful and expensive homes in New York and beyond, often for celebrities and wealthy owners who don't want their names known.

He's the go-to guy who can take the grand designs of architects and figure out how to actually make them.

Now 61 and 40 years into his career, he's written "Building: A Carpenter's Notes on Life & the Art of Good Work."

And he means any work, not just the kind he does.

One word he has no patience for, talent.

MARK ELLISON: If you believe talent is the main thing, you're already on the wrong track.

JEFFREY BROWN: What's the main thing?

MARK ELLISON: Work.

Effort.

Practice.

Daily -- like, not every day.

You can take a day off once in a while, but studied, ritual practice, having a good teacher, having good guides, having people that can teach you how to do things without error, and staying at it.

I wasn't a good carpenter for 15 years.

It took me at least 15 years before I decided I was a good carpenter.

I was competent by 20, and then it took another 20 to learn how to do the rest of what I do now.

JEFFREY BROWN: Ellison took us on a tour of what, by his standards, is a rather modest project, but still an eight-figure proposition overall, side-by-side townhouses in Clinton Hill, a Brooklyn neighborhood home to mansions in the 1800s, then middle and working-class homes, and now again undergoing vast change amid gentrification.

MARK ELLISON: This is what is called the primary bedroom suite.

JEFFREY BROWN: One rather quirky touch, a sinking of the Titanic scene for the primary bathroom, executed by a long list of artists and craftspeople overseen by Ellison.

The idea came from the owner.

MARK ELLISON: When somebody really loves an idea and gets really excited about it, I will go all in to render it as incredibly as it possibly can.

JEFFREY BROWN: You like that?

MARK ELLISON: I like it.

JEFFREY BROWN: The home will also feature a spiral staircase.

Ellison started with a model.

MARK ELLISON: I have to figure out how to do it, and I have to figure out how to detail it and make sure everything's smooth and the curves and it makes sense and that it looks right from the underside and the curves are good.

It's going to have this sort of tornado quality to it and be kind of like a vortex stair simply because of the way the geometry on this -- on this side works.

Like, usually, what I find is, whoever designed this side didn't think about this side.

And... (LAUGHTER) (CROSSTALK) JEFFREY BROWN: That's... (CROSSTALK) MARK ELLISON: Yes.

And that's what I have to do.

JEFFREY BROWN: He builds his models and does his own work in his studio about an hour north of the city in a 1905 firehouse he converted.

It's also where he pursues his other passion, music, the one that doesn't pay the bills.

Still, he insists, developing any skill is about having the will to overcome inevitable obstacles along the way.

MARK ELLISON: Anybody who has really developed a real skill, if you talk to them, 75 percent of what they will tell you about is the stumbling blocks they met on the way, and what they had to overcome on the way to doing those things.

And over time, will becomes the confidence in oneself of knowing, if I set my mind to something, I can do it.

I can do it.

Even if I have never done it before, I have - - will gives me the feeling that I can do this thing and I will do this thing.

JEFFREY BROWN: The creativity comes in how you build it.

MARK ELLISON: The creativity comes from how you realize it and how well you realize it and how you balance everything.

And it's part of making it more complete and more beautiful.

It's like excellent tailoring.

JEFFREY BROWN: There was a clear expectation Ellison would go to college.

Both parents were professionals with multiple degrees.

Instead, he chose a very different path.

And he writes of the social realities of the workplace itself and who builds in America today.

MARK ELLISON: It's dirty.

It's -- you get hurt.

I have been hurt many times.

Carrying buckets of mortar, carrying block and concrete is done mostly by people who don't get paid a lot of money.

They haven't been here very long.

And most people who live in this country won't take that kind of work.

If you want to know what parts of the world have the most trouble right now, those people will be on my job site in a couple of months.

JEFFREY BROWN: You can see the American class structure at work.

MARK ELLISON: It's right here.

And, I mean, I have taken a lot of people from carrying brooms to actually running jobs in my career.

But it's a harder thing to do for somebody who didn't have the opportunities that I did.

JEFFREY BROWN: Do you have a sense that a lot of this craft, this ability has been lost?

MARK ELLISON: I think it's less than people imagine.

You have to know where to look.

There are still people that take a keen interest in this in many different fields.

I mean, I know weavers.

I know people who weave on handlooms.

I know people who make musical instruments that rival the great musical instruments of the past.

There are people that do these things, and you will find most of them sort of between the cracks.

JEFFREY BROWN: Now I'm thinking about the debates in this country about education.

Do you wish or do you ever advise young people to go into the kind of work you are doing, rather than go get their four-year degrees?

MARK ELLISON: First off, you have to like it.

This is demanding, unforgiving, sometimes painful, sometimes dangerous work.

And if one does not have a taste for it, don't do this job.

You won't like it.

But for anyone who has a taste for it, there's an incredible need for people now who would take that route.

And I hate to tell doctors and lawyers, but those of us who get really good at this make better money than they do.

(LAUGHTER) MARK ELLISON: I love it.

I still love coming to work every day.

OK, let's look at the steps.

JEFFREY BROWN: And then it was time to get back to work.

For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Jeffrey Brown in Brooklyn, New York.

AMNA NAWAZ: Speaking of loving what you do, as a TSA agent, Benni Latham brought lots of joy to her job.

However, after a violent incident at work, she felt the need to pivot.

Today, Benni has found success pursuing her dreams through voice acting projects and commercials.

Here, she shares her Brief But Spectacular take on second acts.

BENNI LATHAM, Actress: In 2006, I started working at TSA at LAX Airport.

I was the TSA agent that was making up songs and doing funny voices and impressions while I was telling people to take their shoes off and all that jazz, because, at the end of the day, you don't know where these people are going, right?

If I can be the little soft part of their day in such a weird, chaotic place, then I'm happy to do that.

The circumstances that led to me quitting TSA was -- was pretty violent.

November 2013, an individual came into the terminal and opened fire at the checkpoint.

And it was a wakeup call for me.

I recognized in myself that I would rather deal with the failure of trying something and maybe not being completely successful than live regretfully wondering what if.

So, at that moment, I decided I'll take fear over regret, and I made plans to quit.

I decided to try my hand at commercial acting.

And then I booked my first on-camera professional commercial for Samsung, where I played a, wait for it, TSA agent.

(LAUGHTER) BENNI LATHAM: Why?

Because the universe has a great sense of humor.

(LAUGHTER) BENNI LATHAM: When I became a full-time actress, it felt right.

I felt like I was at home.

I found my tribe.

And my inner child is so impressed with me right now.

It's not even funny.

Some of the characters I have played include Harriet Tubman.

she's very, very solemn, very dignified, and very ethereal almost.

I am also the voice of Cedars-Sinai Hospital.

In fact, if you call the number right now: Thank you for calling Cedars-Sinai.

For information in English, please press one.

Scared you a little, didn't I?

(LAUGHTER) BENNI LATHAM: When it comes to dealing with ethnic things, racial things, I meet people where they are and then I ask questions.

So, if someone says, can you gimme a little more sassy, I'll give them examples, so that together we can come up with a library of terms and images that don't necessarily rely on stereotype; they rely on character choices.

Nobody really wants to be shamed when they're trying to create art, but no one wants to lose their humanity either.

People be peopling.

And you take it as it comes, because, at the end of the day, I'm already winning because I'm doing what I love.

It doesn't matter.

Doing things that allow me to connect with that little girl from Compton who grew up to be a bigmouth voice actress.

My name is Benni Latham, and this is my Brief But Spectacular take on second acts.

AMNA NAWAZ: And you can watch more Brief But Spectacular videos online at PBS.org/NewsHour/Brief.

GEOFF BENNETT: And there's even more online, including a look at how New Orleans has lost ground in its effort to end homelessness and what the city is doing about it.

Be sure to tune in to "Washington Week" later tonight, hosted by our own Lisa Desjardins.

That's right here on PBS.

And watch "PBS NewsHour Weekend" tomorrow for look at prisoners who are experiencing extreme heat with no air conditioning.

Finally tonight, we want to wish all the best to a longtime member of our "NewsHour" family who is moving on to her next chapter.

Mary Lawrence has worked with us in our control room for more than 20 years as both an associate director and director.

She has guided us through much of our coverage, including Supreme Court confirmation hearings, impeachment hearings and political conventions.

And she was also with us in the director's chair on January 6, 2021, when rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol Building on that fateful day.

AMNA NAWAZ: Her leadership and her vision in those high-pressure situations is invaluable in our industry.

But those of us who are lucky enough to know Mary know she is also full of joy.

If you step into the control room early in the day, you will often hear music playing.

You might even catch Mary singing and dancing along.

(LAUGHTER) AMNA NAWAZ: Mary will be getting some very well-deserved beach time before moving on to her next project.

GEOFF BENNETT: Mary, we will miss you.

Know that you can never be replaced.

Congratulations.

We wish you all the best.

(APPLAUSE) And that is the NewsHour for tonight.

I'm Amna Nawaz.

GEOFF BENNETT: And I'm Geoff Bennett.

Thanks for spending part of your evening with us.

Have a great weekend.