May 10, 2023 - PBS NewsHour full episode

GEOFF BENNETT: Good evening.

I'm Geoff Bennett.

Amna Nawaz is on assignment.

On the "NewsHour" tonight: The clock ticks down for congressional leaders to strike a deal on the debt ceiling.

We speak with House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries about the ongoing negotiations.

Republican Congressman George Santos is arrested and charged with fraud and money laundering.

And lawmakers in multiple states push for harsher school discipline practices to address student misbehavior.

THALIA GONZALEZ, University of California College of the Law, San Francisco: We have forgotten in this moment, in this post-COVID reality, or if you can call it that, where our young people and our teachers are sitting at the front lines in these places of tension, that we actually have to promote and build those positive school climates.

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

Lawmakers are working on borrowed time, with the nation $31 trillion in debt and potentially unable to pay its bills in a matter of weeks without Congress raising the debt ceiling.

But a day after the president and key congressional leaders met for the first time to find a way forward, the two sides appear no closer to a deal.

JOE BIDEN, President of the United States: They're literally, not figuratively, holding the economy hostage by threatening to default on our nation's debt.

GEOFF BENNETT: President Biden today calling out Republican lawmakers as he makes the case for urgent action by Congress to avoid a default on the nation's debt.

JOE BIDEN: If we default on our debt, the whole world is in trouble.

This is a manufactured crisis.

GEOFF BENNETT: The president took his message just north of New York City.

JOE BIDEN: Republican Congressman Mike Lawler is here as well.

GEOFF BENNETT: Applying pressure to a vulnerable GOP congressman from the region.

JOE BIDEN: We're going to get started, and we are going to solve all the world's problems.

GEOFF BENNETT: The president's visit comes a day after he hosted top Republican and Democratic congressional leaders at the White House for talks aimed at breaking the impasse and avoiding an historic default the Treasury Department warns could come within weeks.

But that meeting yielded little progress on an agreement.

The window for negotiating a deal is closing.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says the U.S. could run out of cash to meet its debt obligations as early as June 1, with a catastrophic impact on the global economy.

Democrats insist debates over future spending shouldn't be tied to paying old debts.

REP. TED LIEU (D-CA): All Democrats are saying is, pay the bills.

GEOFF BENNETT: Republicans argue the two discussions are inseparable.

REP. STEVE SCALISE (R-LA): It's not just the debt ceiling crisis.

It's also the spending problem in Washington that got us here.

SEN. MITT ROMNEY (R-UT): A negotiation has to occur.

The consequence of not doing that is too severe.

And let me tell you, when bad stuff hits the fan, everyone ends up getting dirty.

GEOFF BENNETT: Democratic and Republicans leaders are set to meet again at the White House on Friday.

As the top Democrat in the House of Representatives, New York Congressman Hakeem Jeffries plays a key role in the debt ceiling negotiations.

I spoke with him earlier.

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, welcome to the "NewsHour."

Thanks so much for being with us.

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY): Good evening.

Great to be with you.

GEOFF BENNETT: After yesterday's White House meeting, what's the path forward on raising the debt ceiling?

House Republicans and nearly every Senate Republican, 43 of them, say they won't vote to raise the debt ceiling without significant spending cuts.

And Democrats, of course, don't accept that premise.

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES: Well, President Biden, House and Senate Democrats continue to make clear that there's only one reasonable, acceptable, responsible path forward, which is to make sure that we avoid a dangerous default on our debt in a manner consistent with what has been done under Democratic presidents and Republican presidents for decades.

It's unfortunate that many of the extreme MAGA Republicans in the Capitol have chosen to put the country in a hostage-taking situation and essentially say to us that either we must accept the default on America act with extreme cuts to Medicaid that would impact disabled children and seniors, extreme cuts to health care, extreme cuts to law enforcement, extreme cuts to food insecurity programs, as well as extreme cuts to education.

Accept the default on America act is their position, or else we will default.

And that's just inherently unreasonable.

I'm thankful that President Biden convened us yesterday to have a conversation, House, Senate, along with the administration, and will be bringing us back together on Friday to see where's the common ground, where are the areas of disagreement, and how can we bridge those gaps in order to make sure that we avoid a default?

So we're on a path, hopefully, to resolving this issue sooner, rather than later.

GEOFF BENNETT: Speaker McCarthy told reporters yesterday that he believes that the White House and congressional leaders need to arrive at a deal by next week in order to pass legislation that would raise the debt limit by early June.

Do you share that assessment?

And is that timeline realistic?

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES: Well, I share the assessment that we need to resolve this issue sooner, rather than later.

Even flirting with a default could trigger a job-killing recession.

It could crash the stock market.

That will hurt millions and millions of retirees across the country.

It's also going to dramatically raise costs.

And so, hopefully, on Friday, the Republican leadership will see fit to come together, sit down, have a reasonable discussion about finding common ground, and take us out of this hostage-taking situation.

GEOFF BENNETT: It appears the White House has ruled out a short-term increase of the debt ceiling, to do that while the negotiations continue.

Is there a universe, though, where this could happen on parallel tracks, that the debt ceiling is raised and there is a separate agreement on spending cuts?

Both sides get what they want.

Both sides get to declare victory.

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES: Well, President Biden's position from the very beginning, which has also been the position of Leader Schumer, Senate and House Democrats, is that we must avoid a default on our debt.

But, simultaneously, we are, of course, open and willing and ready and able to have a discussion about what future spending priorities, what future investment priorities, and what future revenue should look like to make sure that we're protecting the health, safety, and economic well-being of the American people.

Geoff, that is something that we do here in Congress every year.

But we can't do it with a gun being held to the head of the American people by the extreme MAGA Republicans here in the Capitol threatening a dangerous default.

And, hopefully, again, on Friday, when we have this meeting, we can arrive at a path forward to do what is necessary to pay America's bills.

GEOFF BENNETT: A question about Title 42.

The U.S. is bracing for the expiration of that pandemic-era border restriction.

Two of your Democratic colleagues in border states, Ruben Gallego of Arizona and Vicente Gonzalez of Texas, say their communities don't have the resources and they don't have the infrastructure they need to keep pace with an expected surge of migrants.

President Biden acknowledged the situation, in his words, would be chaotic for a while.

The question is, why?

Why should the situation be chaotic, when the administration had two years to prepare for it?

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES: Well, we're facing an unprecedented surge of migrants from Venezuela, Cuba, from Haiti, from the Central American Northern Triangle countries of Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras.

And I think the administration has done all that it can with the resources that it has been provided.

Clearly, the administration needs more in order to fully establish order at the border and a pathway forward, a pathway forward that should involve making sure that our values as a nation of immigrants, as a compassionate nation, are also not violated; they're vindicated.

Congress should come together.

Earlier today, Congresswoman Linda Sanchez introduced the U.S.

Citizenship Act, which is a comprehensive immigration reform bill anchored in common sense and compassion and consistent with our country's history as a nation anchored in the rule of law.

That's the approach that we should take moving forward.

Unfortunately, what we see from the extreme MAGA Republicans here in Washington, D.C., is that they are trying to bring forth an immigration bill that will throw children out of the country, break up families, and spend billions of dollars in -- or in the effort to construct a medieval border wall that is a failed policy of the former president of the United States of America, a 14th century solution to a 21st century problem.

GEOFF BENNETT: Should President Biden consider reinstating Title 42, as even some Democrats have suggested, do you think?

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES: Well, the public health emergency is over.

But there are tools that will be available to the administration, as has been indicated.

With Title 42 lapsing, Title 8 does provide some ability for the Biden administration to manage the situation at the border.

But we are going to have to provide the Department of Homeland Security with additional resources, so that it can do its job.

And I urge my Republican colleagues to join us in making sure that the Department of Homeland Security has those resources so it can appropriately conduct itself along the border.

GEOFF BENNETT: This is your first time on the "NewsHour" in your capacity as House Democratic leader.

And I want to take the occasion to ask you, one, how you view your role, and, two, what Democrats hope to achieve even while in the minority right now.

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES: Well, we want to continue to try to find common ground whenever and wherever possible with the other side of the aisle.

That's what we've always been about.

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act was bipartisan, the CHIPS and Science ACT bipartisan, Safer Communities Act bipartisan.

Many of the things that we've done over the last several years have been bipartisan in nature.

So we're going to continue to try to find common ground to make life better for everyday Americans and build an economy from the middle out and the bottom up under the leadership of President Biden.

And, at the same time, we are going to push back against extremism whenever necessary.

And, unfortunately, in the House of Representatives, we see a lot of extremism on issues like reproductive freedom, or gun safety and the inability to do something on this issue, or even on democracy, and we will continue to stand strong against that extremism.

It's been an honor to serve the people of the 8th Congressional District, to previously serve as chair of the House Democratic Caucus, and a continuing honor to now serve in this position.

And it's just consistent with America as a country, a government of the people, by the people, and for the people.

I emerged from a working-class community in Crown Heights.

I think that's the best of the American tradition of sending people to Washington, D.C., who try our best to represent those individuals who are privileged to serve.

GEOFF BENNETT: House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, thanks for your time, sir.

Good to see you.

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES: Thank you.

GEOFF BENNETT: Other major news on Capitol Hill tonight focuses on New York Congressman George Santos.

A federal grand jury has indicted the freshman Republican lawmaker on 13 charges, ranging from wire fraud to money laundering.

Santos was released on bond today from a New York court after pleading not guilty to the charges.

REP. GEORGE SANTOS (R-NY): I'm going to fight my battle.

I'm going to deliver.

I'm going to fight the witch-hunt.

I'm going to take care of clearing my name.

And I look forward to doing that.

GEOFF BENNETT: Our congressional correspondent, Lisa Desjardins, has been following the story and joins us now.

LISA DESJARDINS: Right.

GEOFF BENNETT: So, Lisa, walk us through these charges and the congressman's response so far.

LISA DESJARDINS: Thirteen federal charges, let's look at what we're talking about here.

The largest number of charges, in fact, seven of them, are on wire fraud.

That has to do with what prosecutors said was fraud committed to donors representing that money was going to a campaign cause or campaign-related cause, when they say it was going straight to his pocket, three counts on money laundering, two counts of making false statements to the House of Representatives.

That has to do with his income and how he reported that, they say falsely.

And one count theft of public funds.

I want to talk about that one.

This is something we haven't talked about with George Santos before.

Let's look at the indictment and what they're talking about there with theft of public funds.

Here's some of the language there: "For the period of on or about March 2020 and April 2021, through that time period, based on false application and false weekly certifications, the defendant received approximately," Geoff, $24,744 in unemployment insurance benefits."

What the claim is here prosecutors is that George Santos while he was running for Congress and they say while he was employed by a financial firm applied and received unemployment benefits through the COVID relief programs.

Now, he said today that there's a misunderstanding here, and then he's going to defend himself.

As you heard, he calls this a witch-hunt.

GEOFF BENNETT: Well, Santos is infamous for fabricating key parts of his life story.

How unusual are these charges?

LISA DESJARDINS: They are unusual in a few ways.

It is not unusual to have a member of Congress indicted.

We have had seven members indicted in the past decade or so.

That's past 10 years.

However, something that stands out here is that this isn't just for one kind of crime, one sort of campaign finance scheme with related charges.

These are for different types of schemes.

This is something that's also noted by some former federal prosecutors.

We talked to one, Renato Mariotti.

RENATO MARIOTTI, Former Federal Prosecutor: What you have here is multiple different schemes and falsehoods that were all told by Mr. Santos, and they're unrelated to each other.

And I think the problem for Mr. Santos is, the jury's got to find that he didn't do any of these things.

And I think there's an additive effect.

While the jury is going to consider each count individually, at the end of the day, this all comes down to his credibility.

And not only is that going to be in question, given all of the allegations here, but, of course, he has other substantial baggage that he brings to the table that makes it very difficult for him to defend himself.

LISA DESJARDINS: Now, at the same time, as you know, Geoff, there is also an ethics investigation under way in the House.

We don't know if we're going to hear much more about that.

But this all also tests sort of a new doctrine in political theory, the Trump doctrine, which is just deny, even if you have a history of falsehoods, combat and see what happens in court.

We saw one example of what happened to Mr. Trump earlier this week, and we will see what happens with Mr. Santos going forward.

GEOFF BENNETT: So, Santos has already relinquished his committee assignments, right?

What... LISA DESJARDINS: He's been -- yes, he's been forced off committees.

GEOFF BENNETT: OK.

So what more does this mean politically for him?

LISA DESJARDINS: Right.

Well, I think that we're going to have to watch.

He has said he is running for reelection.

In fact, he sort of quipped today that, given the state of affairs in America, maybe he will be become a committee chairman.

However, he is not popular in the Republican Party.

No one was defending him today at the Capitol.

And some, including fellow New York Representative Marc Molinaro, who represents the Finger Lakes, told our Saher Khan he cannot wait for this man to be out of Congress and out of elected office.

Now, it takes two-thirds of the House of Representatives to expel a member.

We don't think there's anywhere near that.

There may be pressure for him to resign if he's convicted.

But, right now, it looks like he's going to ride this out.

And Speaker McCarthy is saying he will let him stay in office.

He's not going to push for him to be pushed out unless he's convicted.

GEOFF BENNETT: Because McCarthy needs his vote.

LISA DESJARDINS: That is a very important point, yes.

He has just a four-vote margin there in the House.

And George Santos was a key vote on that debt package that we're talking about so much this week.

GEOFF BENNETT: All right, Lisa Desjardins following it all, as always, good to see you.

LISA DESJARDINS: Good to see you.

GEOFF BENNETT: In the day's other headlines: U.S. inflation eased again in April, but was still stubbornly high.

The Consumer Price Index was up 4.9 percent from a year earlier, the smallest annual increase in two years.

That's slightly lower than the 5 percent reading in March and well below a peak of more than 9 percent last June.

The core rate of inflation, excluding volatile food and fuel costs, was up 5.5 percent from a year ago.

Officials along the Southern border are bracing tonight for the end of Title 42 tomorrow.

The pandemic era policy barred most asylum seekers.

Now the Biden administration says most migrants must first apply online or seek asylum in a country they passed through.

The secretary of homeland security, Alejandro Mayorkas, also says 100 migration hubs are opening across the hemisphere.

ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security: These are places where we feel a humanitarian, as well as a security imperative to meet people where they are, to cut the smugglers out, and to provide them with a safe and orderly way to arrive in the United States if they qualify for relief.

GEOFF BENNETT: Under the new policy, those who enter the U.S. illegally must wait five years before returning or face criminal prosecution.

Israel traded heavy fire with Palestinian militants in Gaza for a second day, despite Egypt's attempt to mediate a cease-fire.

Palestinian fighters launched hundreds of rockets at Israel.

Some flew as far as Tel Aviv, but midair explosions indicated most were intercepted.

That came as Israeli airstrikes hit Islamic Jihad targets.

Palestinian officials said at least 21 people in Gaza have been killed.

In Pakistan, the government has called in troops to bring an end to violent unrest.

On Tuesday, supporters of former Prime Minister Imran Khan stormed official buildings after his arrest on corruption charges.

At least six people were killed.

Today, local TV showed a radio station burning in Peshawar.

Police said protesters torched it while employees were trapped inside.

Officials blamed the violence on Khan, a former cricket star.

AHSAN IQBAL, Pakistani Minister For Planning and Development: As a sportsman, he ought to be championing sportsman spirit, tolerance, and respecting rule of law.

But, instead, he has chosen a path of spreading anarchy, chaos, and destruction in the country.

GEOFF BENNETT: A judge ruled today that Khan can be held for another eight days for further questioning.

Back in this country, a Texas judge sentenced Army Sergeant Daniel Perry to 25 years in prison for fatally shooting an armed man during a Black Lives Matter protest.

It happened in Austin back in 2020.

Republican Governor Greg Abbott has already said he wants to pardon Perry.

Senator Dianne Feinstein has returned to Washington after more than two months on medical leave.

At 89, the California Democrat is the oldest member of Congress.

She arrived at the Capitol today in a wheelchair.

In a statement, the senator said she's suffering after-effects of shingles, and will work a lighter schedule.

Some progressives had urged Feinstein to resign, saying her absence blocked confirmation of federal judges.

On Wall Street, blue chips lagged a bit, but other stocks moved higher on inflation news.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 30 points to close at 33531.

But the Nasdaq rose 127 points, or 1 percent.

The S&P 500 added 18 points.

And the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show has crowned its best in show for 2023.

A petit basset griffon Vendeen named Buddy Holly took home the title last night.

It was a first for the rabbit-hunting breed.

In all, some 2,500 dogs from 210 breeds and varieties competed.

And still to come on the "NewsHour": the chair of the Chicago Federal Reserve discusses inflation and the nation's economic uncertainty; Sri Lanka struggles to recover a year after the economic and political collapse of that country; and a father-and-son reporting team wins a prestigious Pulitzer Prize.

As we reported, inflation is easing, but still high.

The Federal Reserve has been laser-focused on bringing down prices, raising interest rates 10 times in the last 14 months.

But economic uncertainties remain, including the consequences of much higher interest rates, a debt limit standoff, and recent bank collapses.

To discuss the challenges ahead, we are joined by Austan Goolsbee, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.

It is great to have you here.

And let's start with this... AUSTAN GOOLSBEE, President, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago: Geoff, thank you for having me.

GEOFF BENNETT: Absolutely.

Let's start with this news on inflation, because inflation slowed for a 10th straight month in April, according to the Consumer Price Index.

That is great news for families who have been struggling with higher costs.

But inflation still remains too high.

What indicators do you and other Fed policymakers need to see to know that we are finally breaking the back of inflation?

AUSTAN GOOLSBEE: Well, you described it exactly right.

Inflation was way, way too high.

It is still too high, but it is at least coming down, and so that part is encouraging.

Mostly, when the Fed looks at prices and inflation, they don't look at this looking backward for a year, which is what the number is usually quoted as.

They are usually -- we are looking at the monthly inflation, what is the new information, and we are tending to not look at food and energy prices, because they are so volatile.

And by those measures of core prices, we have seen progress, but it still shows that inflation is too high, and we are just trying to balance out the dual mandate.

That is, the law gives the Fed two jobs, maximize employment and stabilize prices.

Employment has been going very well.

That is the strongest part of the economy.

And the inflation has not been going as well.

That's been, let's call it the weakest part of the economy.

And I think we have to just keep getting more price information across these categories before we can say with comfort we are on a path back to normal.

GEOFF BENNETT: Can I draw you out on the Federal Reserve's dual mandates, the maintain maximum - - maximum employment and keep prices stable?

Can the Fed keep prices stable without tilting the economy into a recession?

AUSTAN GOOLSBEE: We certainly hope so.

And that's the goal.

And in -- the complication with that is, we all know that it takes time for the monetary policy choices, like the 10 interest rate increases you described over the last year, 5 full percentage points in the interest rate.

It takes time for that to work its way through the economy.

So, in a way, it's like having a conversation with somebody in Asia where there's a little bit of a delay.

And it's sometimes hard to have a conversation like that.

You don't want to land the plane nose down.

So we're trying to balance off, can we slow the inflation without sending it into a recession?

We have had some promising indicators on that - - on that front.

But it's always a possibility when you're in a rate-rising environment like this, and you have had bank stresses like the ones we have seen with Silicon Valley Bank and others, and you add on top of it wild cards like fights about the debt ceiling and stuff like that.

You cannot rule out that recession is a possibility.

GEOFF BENNETT: Well, you were chairman of then-President Obama's Council of Economic Advisers back in 2011, when just the mere notion of brinksmanship led to the U.S. having its credit rating downgraded.

What do you see as the impact of this current debt limit standoff or a potential default on this economy that's still recovering from the pandemic?

AUSTAN GOOLSBEE: Yikes.

You're giving me indigestion to think back to what that was like.

Let's hope we don't get into that environment.

The -- as Chair Powell said, there really isn't any alternative.

We have got to raise the debt ceiling.

How Congress is going to sort that out, and the two parties are going to have their negotiations or legal strategies, I don't know.

If you look back at times when we encounter these crises, there's -- there was in 2011, dramatic drop in consumer confidence.

You could see interest rate spikes.

And I guess I have still can't get past, what is going to happen?

Are we not going to pay the military, we're not going to pay Social Security, we're going to add on top of already the financial stresses about bank capital, that the safest asset in the world, Treasuries, is going to somehow be questioned, the value of treasuries, that we -- that we might default?

I just think it doesn't -- it doesn't make sense.

If you think through the actual practical details of how it would affect the economy, there's nothing good about it.

It would be really bad for the economy.

GEOFF BENNETT: Yes.

We have got about a minute left.

AUSTAN GOOLSBEE: I'm just hopeful we don't get to there.

GEOFF BENNETT: Yes.

We have got about a minute left.

And I want to ask you about how the Fed sort of navigates raising interest rates, because you in a speech last month said that the Central Bank should proceed cautiously with any additional interest rate increases.

You said: "At moments like this, the right monetary approach calls for prudence and patience."

And you voted with all of the Fed policymakers earlier this month to raise rates by a quarter-point.

Why?

Why was that the right approach?

AUSTAN GOOLSBEE: I did.

I mean, the second sentence in the speech that I gave before the meeting was, the most important thing is to gather as much data as you can, because we're in an environment where the tightening in the bank sector and the credit squeeze that takes place when banks are trying to conserve their capital and trying to raise their lending standards, that does a lot of the work that monetary policy would normally do in a moment like this, when inflation is high.

And so it is totally appropriate to watch the conditions to figure out how much of your work has already been done for you.

In this last meeting, I felt that, if you looked at the conditions, you had yet to see that the credit tightening had -- the credit crunch was not on the minds of people yet.

And so the -- two meetings ago, we had outlined a plan, taking somewhat into account that credit was going to be tightening, and it made sense to stay on that plan.

I think now you're starting to get more information that the credit squeeze is beginning.

And so we -- let's be on alert and be prudent and patient in our decisions.

GEOFF BENNETT: Prudence and patience.

Austan Goolsbee is president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.

Always good to speak with you.

Thanks for being with us.

AUSTAN GOOLSBEE: Great to see you.

GEOFF BENNETT: The pandemic and global economic slowdown have increased pressure on developing economies.

The number of countries at risk has doubled in the last eight years, mostly in the global South.

The International Monetary Fund reports more than 50 countries, from Egypt to El Salvador to Pakistan, are in debt distress.

Sri Lanka defaulted on its debt last year, and recently secured a $3 billion bailout from the IMF.

Fred de Sam Lazaro traveled to the island nation of 23 million people off the southeast coast of India to see how the country is faring.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Before any reading, writing, or arithmetic, staff at the school near Sri Lanka's capital, Colombo, have added a new ritual to the morning routine for many of the students.

THUSHARA PATHIRANA, Principal (through translator): We have seen children faint and fall at morning assembly.

When they come without having a good nutritious meal, we observed that they are not in a position to study.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: I asked Principal Thushara Pathirana to query the students about what they had eaten before coming to school.

A number in this group had not eaten anything.

Most of the schools' parents are day laborers who make money only when they work, those hardest hit by the pandemic in Sri Lanka's crippling economic crisis.

This school is fortunate to have a midday meal program three times a week funded under a program called Rise Up School Meals.

Parents volunteer to prepare them.

For some students, it is all they will eat this day.

For many, a hard-boiled egg will be there only protein.

IROMI PERERA, Founder and Director, Colombo Urban Lab: We have never seen this level of malnutrition, hunger, food insecurity, inflation.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Colombo-based researcher and activist Iromi Perera says that's even taking into account a decades-long civil war that ended in 2009 and the 2004 tsunami that killed more than 35,000 Sri Lankans.

IROMI PERERA: Up until COVID, these were communities who were able to fend for themselves.

They were able to make ends meet, send their kids to school, build their houses incrementally over time.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Despite natural and manmade disasters over the past couple of decades, Sri Lanka has made significant progress in reducing poverty and improving people's lives, the so-called social indicators.

Education and health care are free to all citizens.

And, in 2019, the World Bank upgraded Sri Lanka's status to upper-middle-income country.

Almost immediately after that, things began to unravel.

An Easter Sunday terrorist attack on hotels and churches killed 261 people, dealing a blow to the island nation's critical tourism industry, then the pandemic, which completely shuttered it.

Meanwhile, the bills started coming due in what analyst Dhananath Fernando calls the manmade crises, mainly a credit-fueled infrastructure building binge.

DHANANATH FERNANDO, CEO, Advocata Institute: We had been borrowing money at very high interest rates at short maturity, in dollar terms, and investing in non-revenue-generating projects.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Among them, a new airport in 2013 in the hometown of the country's then-President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

It sits largely empty.

In Colombo, a development called Port City was to be a thriving financial hub, part of China's Belt and Road trade initiative.

Twelve years after construction began, it sits virtually deserted.

And the capital's newest landmark, the $113 million Lotus Tower, also financed by China, was supposed to represent flourishing growth.

Today, it serves mostly as a reminder of the ousted Rajapaksa family's ties to Beijing and of endemic corruption says Fernando.

DHANANATH FERNANDO: Everyone in the political structure was getting benefited.

This debt snowballed, because I borrow 100 rupees, $100 at 5 percent interest rate, and then I invest, I put money on something, and that doesn't generate a cent.

And then I have to pay 105 rupees on the next term.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: It all came crashing down last year.

The government defaulted on its debt.

Food, medicine and fuel prices soared amid widespread shortages, pushing thousands of people into the streets and eventually into the halls of power.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the country.

He and his brother Mahinda had dominated Sri Lankan politics for 20 years.

NANDALAL WEERASINGHE, Governor, Central Bank of Sri Lanka: It was kind of a Ponzi scheme.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: A Ponzi scheme.

NANDALAL WEERASINGHE: Ponzi scheme is, you borrow externally, and to repay that, again you borrow.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Nandalal Weerasinghe was recruited to return from a consulting career in Australia and take over Sri Lanka's Central Bank.

NANDALAL WEERASINGHE: And I had a fairly good understanding of what triggered the crisis, given previous two, three years, and also an -- and an understanding of what needs to be done.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: After China, Sri Lanka's largest bilateral lender, agreed to restructure part of its debt, the International Monetary Fund agreed to a $2.9 billion bailout loan, with conditions.

NANDALAL WEERASINGHE: Curtail government expenditure.

Reallocate whatever resources for essential things.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: The government has already raised income taxes and the cost of electricity, and more severe reforms are set to soon take effect under the IMF agreement, including anti-corruption laws.

Iromi Perera says the consequences will be harshest on Sri Lanka's poorest citizens, people who until recently harbored middle-class aspirations.

She took us to meet Maxcy Jency, a mother of two young boys who lives with her husband in a tidy apartment built as part of a slum rehabilitation program.

MAXCY JENCY, Mother (through translator): The inside story is different to what you see.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: The inside story is that they are broke, she says, since daily wage work is not steady.

Their home loan and utility bills are months overdue.

She showed me the bare cupboard in her kitchen, completely out of the bare essential, rice.

On many days, she makes sure her boys have food.

MAXCY JENCY (through translator): I serve for them and, if there's something leftover, I eat.

If not, I sleep.

I drink tea and sleep.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Like many parents, they hope for a better future for their sons.

They have indulged their older son's passion for the country's most popular sport, investing in gear and tuition for a cricket academy.

Someday, I will get your autograph, OK?

MAXCY JENCY (through translator): If we give them a good education, they won't suffer like us.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Social activist Perera worries about spiraling despair amongst so many families like this one.

IROMI PERERA: You can't pawn jewelry every month.

You can't sell an asset every month.

So that's the reality of the people that -- the everyday person that you see on the street.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Including, by one report, some 1,500 doctors in just the first half of last year.

They left for Western countries.

Poorni Jayawickrama and husband, Rajeev Menon, are public health physicians in Colombo.

They too feel the economic pinch.

DR. POORNI JAYAWICKRAMA, Physician: We never had to think twice for, like, grocery shopping.

But now we have to think twice.

DR. RAJEEV MENON, Physician: Every month, there is at least one doctor leaving -- leaving the hospital from each unit.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: To go abroad?

DR. RAJEEV MENON: Yes, to go abroad.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: They too have been recruited for jobs in Britain, a ticket to financial security.

They have chosen to stay.

DR. RAJEEV MENON: Something is due for citizens.

And we believe that, during a problem, it's - - running away from the problem is not going to solve anything.

DR. POORNI JAYAWICKRAMA: We were schooling during the civil war, and we survived somehow.

So, I think our child will do the same.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Sri Lankans will be counting on that kind of resilience for the tough times ahead, hoping for a turnaround in the economy and watched by dozens of other countries facing similar crippling debt.

For the "PBS NewsHour," this is Fred de Sam Lazaro in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

GEOFF BENNETT: Fred's reporting is a partnership with the Under-Told Stories Project at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota.

As we near the end of another school year, administrators and teachers say they're concerned about ongoing problems with student behavior, conduct that can be more disruptive than before the pandemic started.

In a moment, Amna Nawaz will have a conversation she recorded earlier about state proposals to deal with that.

But let's start with what we heard from teachers across the country.

JOANNA RIZZOTTO, High School Alternative Education Teacher: My name is Joanna Rizzotto.

And I am a high school alternative education teacher.

I used to say I used to worry about just a few kids.

Now there -- it's the opposite.

It is probably just a few kids that I am not worried about.

KRISTAN NIGRO, Kindergarten Teacher: I'm Kristan Nigro, and I am a kindergarten teacher in Las Vegas, Nevada.

I am seeing things like students attacking other students or they're throwing furniture at other students.

In one instance, I had a student open up a pair of scissors that she took off my desk and threw them at my face.

PRECIOUS SYMONETTE, High School Creative Writing Teacher: My name is Dr.

Precious Symonette.

And I am a proud creative writing teacher at Miami Norland Senior High School.

Many students are overwhelmed.

They are going through a lot of different things.

And, unfortunately, many schools are not built to address those things.

JENNIFER HEITER, High School English Teacher: My name is Jen Heiter.

And I am the English department chairperson and senior English teacher for Bremen High School in Bremen, Indiana.

So, what we have seen here at Bremen High School and I believe around the country is an extreme uptick in mental health issues with our students.

JOANNA RIZZOTTO: We're seeing that many students are more fearful, more wary of putting themselves out there, more anxious in general.

And that anxiety can present itself in a number of different ways.

It can look like unchecked anger.

It can look like isolation.

KRISTAN NIGRO: The last couple of years have been very interesting.

We have definitely seen a spike in behaviors.

It could be anywhere's from hitting, biting, spitting, throwing furniture.

And so, at times, it's a little unsafe in the classroom.

PRECIOUS SYMONETTE: Many students may not be willing to dig a little deeper and kind of explore what they may be feeling, right?

So it is easier to do something in the classroom to get kicked out, right?

That way, I'm getting what I want.

I don't have to deal with that teacher.

I don't have to deal with what I'm working through.

So let me get kicked out.

Let me leave this place, right?

But I do feel like the better option would be to get them to stay.

JENNIFER HEITER: What were not equipped to do is to identify students needs when they have mental health issues, such as anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, and other things that normally do hit in the high school and middle school ages.

KRISTAN NIGRO: It's a shame because we're there to educate the future of America.

That's what we want to do.

And we're having a really hard time doing it with the behaviors that are presenting themselves.

JENNIFER HEITER: I would suggest that our legislators respond to this by putting more money into training teachers.

And I would ask the question, are we responsible for our students' mental health?

If so, and if we're the ones who need to respond to it, then we need to be trained adequately to respond well, because a lot is hanging in the balance here.

AMNA NAWAZ: In response to concerns about students' behavioral issues, including some violence, a number of states are now moving to change their laws, putting forward bills that empower teachers with greater disciplinary powers.

That has raised more questions and concerns about the impact on students.

Thalia Gonzalez tracks all of this closely.

She is a professor at the U.C.

College of the Law in San Francisco.

She joins me now.

Professor Gonzalez, welcome, and thanks for joining us.

As you have been tracking, lawmakers in a number of states are now moving forward, proposing bills that make it easier to discipline students, remove students, including harsher penalties for younger kids.

Before we get into the details of some of those bills, why are we seeing so many of those bills right now?

What's the argument behind that?

THALIA GONZALEZ, University of California College of the Law, San Francisco: I think the argument is exactly what you're hearing from the teachers, right, which is about safety.

The problem is, is that the argument isn't matching safety with healthy school communities.

And we have spent so much time moving past punishment and really thinking about what is in the best interests of educating our children.

And we have forgotten in this moment, in this post-COVID reality, or, if you can call it that, where our young people, our teachers are sitting at the front lines in these places of tension, that we actually have to promote and build those positive school climates.

So, it's much easier to go for the tool that was in existence before and say, just get out, right?

We heard that as well, right, before from teachers, saying it's much easier to just leave the classroom.

So it is all of that, right?

It's the unwillingness to put money.

It's a very short-term measure, and it's not thinking about how we're actually building safe and healthy schools.

AMNA NAWAZ: Let me give a few specific examples here, so folks know what we are talking about.

In Arizona, for example, there's a bill that would lower the age students can be suspended to 5.

So that now includes kindergartners.

In Florida, teachers would have more authority to remove students who they deem disobedient or disrespectful.

In Nebraska, teachers would be allowed to use force in the classroom to physically restrain students who they deem disruptive.

On the spectrum of responses, are there disciplinary powers you think teachers should have and those they shouldn't?

THALIA GONZALEZ: Absolutely.

Teachers need to be able to have safe and healthy classrooms, right?

And I keep using those words together because those actually are the essential components of what we're talking about.

But what teachers shouldn't be forced to do is to make these discretionary decisions in the moment that says, you're disobedient, or you are disrespectful, or you engaged in disorderly conduct, because, so often, those are coded for other types of behaviors, right?

So the North Carolina law, for example, that also exists includes inappropriate language and dress code violations.

Dress code violations and inappropriate language aren't the things that aren't keeping our schools safe or aren't making teachers feel like they can't teach students, and children feeling like they can't be engaged in learning.

So it's about a continuum of support, right?

How are we thinking about multitiered interventions?

What is it to turn to the evidence and say, where does positive behavioral interventions exist?

Where do restorative practices exist?

How do we put it into practice what we know works to ensure that the socioemotional and the academic learning is happening.

AMNA NAWAZ: What about the potential impact on students here?

I mean, we know, given history and studies, that Black and brown students disproportionately face disciplinary measures when they are in school.

What are you worried about the impact of this could be?

THALIA GONZALEZ: I'm just worried that the data has already been so disturbing.

We know that nonwhite students, and particularly Black children, are disciplined more severely across every category.

Just this year, "Scientific American" released a study that half of the 250 kids expelled, expelled from preschool, younger than age 5, were Black boys, right, and that, nationally, preschool children are suspended more than once, and who are those children?

Those are Black kids.

And so we just have to have a real clarity that these offenses and the ways in which we're then pushing young people out of their schools lead to a whole set of lifelong consequences.

So it's not just, oh, the disparities exist, the discipline gap exists, and, ultimately, a student decides to not come to school, stop engaging in the classroom.

The risk factor of missing 15 days of school for a suspension means you are seven times more likely to drop out, but that that means that you will have less access to jobs, housing, participating in society, voting, and even your life expectancy.

And then, of course, I think there's so much evidence about entry into the juvenile adult systems.

Rice University's Education Research Consortium just released data that, for every suspension a student faced, they are 7.5 percent more likely to contact the juvenile justice system.

And who those young people are, are Black students, are Latinx students, and our Native and indigenous students as well.

But I also want to bring attention to the fact that it's not just in the context of race or in the context of gender, but students who are also experiencing learning disabilities, right?

Our historical data, our current data shows us, across all categories of disciplines, suspensions, expulsions, referrals to law enforcement, it is students with disabilities who can lose as much as three times as much instructional time from discipline, and that that's most acute for our Black students in particular.

AMNA NAWAZ: Professor Gonzalez, dare I ask, what's the answer here?

I mean, teachers need a way to be able to control and keep safe classrooms.

THALIA GONZALEZ: Yes.

AMNA NAWAZ: We know students have behavioral issues after what they have endured the last few years.

Budgets are finite.

What can people do?

THALIA GONZALEZ: We looked at exactly what we have been doing so far, right?

There's been incredible investments over the last decade in what are whole child and multitiered systems of support.

That's the academic, that's the behavioral, and that's a socioemotional.

That's the evidence-based, trauma-informed, high-quality core curriculum.

So what does that mean?

Positive behavioral interventions have longstanding records of having positive outcomes, socioemotional learning, all-in legislation as well, restorative justice, all-in legislation.

So instead of the laws that we're talking about, we should be scaffolding up those and then also coupling those with investments in mental services, because when you have multitiered system interventions, you flip the script.

You increase graduation rates, right?

You increase academic achievement, you increase test scores, you increase grade completion, you engage students.

There are less truant.

They're coming to school.

And you have positive climates.

And that's when children thrive, and that's when they can learn.

AMNA NAWAZ: All right, that is Thalia Gonzalez, professor at the U.C.

College of the Law in San Francisco, joining us tonight.

Professor, thank you.

THALIA GONZALEZ: Thank you so much.

I appreciate it.

GEOFF BENNETT: This week'S Pulitzer Prizes included recognitions for many national major news organizations.

But, as William Brangham reports, one local news organization in Alabama also received multiple prizes yesterday, including a father-son duo.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: A team of reporters from AL.com revealed how the police force in the small Alabama town of Brookside used aggressive policing and made up charges to extract fines out of people, including many poor residents, in order to jack up the town's revenues.

The multipart investigation by four journalists led to the dismissal of multiple cases, the removal of several police officers, including the chief, changes to state laws, and even a warning to officials nationwide by the Department of Justice to avoid doing exactly what this police force did.

Joining me now are two of the reporters who worked on this prize-winning investigation, John Archibald and his son, Ramsey Archibald.

Gentlemen, thank you both so much for being here.

Congratulations to you both.

John, to start with you, again, tremendous congratulations.

I should say this is your second Pulitzer Prize.

Can I just get your reaction to this wonderful news?

JOHN ARCHIBALD, AL.com: No, it's the most fantastic thing in the world to me, and certainly the history of my 37 years in the business now about the story which was impactful and did what we set out to do.

But the fact that you get to do it with your kid is the greatest thing in the world.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Yes, I bet that is.

Ramsey, what was that like for you?

RAMSEY ARCHIBALD, AL.com: I mean, working with not only my dad, but the team that we had, was amazing.

I mean, so everyone on this team prior to this had already won a Pulitzer Prize, outside of me, so great company to be in, obviously and to go through this -- again, we are in separate cities right now, but to be able to win this with my dad is just -- I'm speechless.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: I mean, for people who don't know this, Ramsey, I mean, your dad is -- as you well know, is kind of a big deal in Alabama.

He's really one of the best-known reporters and columnists there.

What is that like going into the newsroom every day?

Like, did he -- did he pile on extra work, so as not to seem like he was favoriting you?

Or did he cut you some slack?

What was that like?

RAMSEY ARCHIBALD: Oh, he made it clear he was not going to favor me in any way in the newsroom.

And I wouldn't have wanted that either.

But it is true.

I mean, before I started working at AL.com, we would -- as a child, we'd be walking through the grocery store, and people would recognize him from having his face on the cover of the newspaper three times a week.

And so I was very aware of who he was outside of our family my whole life, which is sort of intimidating in some ways.

But it's also pretty cool.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: And, John, how about you?

When Ramsey says to you, dad, I'm thinking about this journalism thing, I see it's worked out pretty great for you, you seem to like it, what was your advice to him?

(LAUGHTER) JOHN ARCHIBALD: I mean, to be honest, I don't think I gave him much advice, other than it's a tough business to be in.

It was tough when the when the industry was in the so-called golden age of journalism.

But it's so important now.

It's just so much more important for young, creative, smart, honest kids to go into this business, and usher us into a -- the future, whatever that looks like.

I'm just glad I have a kid that meets all that -- all those qualifications.

So I don't want to influence him in any way, in terms of what he should do.

He should do what he wants to do, if it makes him happy.

And it seems to be doing that.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: John, you mentioned some of this at the beginning, that your investigation triggered a lot of changes, at the local level.

The DOJ even sort of reached out to officials nationwide, saying don't do these kinds of things.

How gratifying is that to you?

I mean, a lot of times, we do in journalism a lot of work, and it seems like people don't respond.

Here, you really did effect some changes.

That's got to be incredibly gratifying too.

JOHN ARCHIBALD: It's super gratifying in this particular environment, and especially in a place like Alabama, where we have a supermajority of one party.

And to see people, legislators cross the aisles to recognize that this was bad, to see that four pieces of legislation came out of this limiting how fines and fees can be used, it was great.

And the fact that we sort of were able to make people understand fining and fees, it was a big deal.

But when people, large numbers of people began to have charges dropped, and to sort of get a new lease on life, and they came to us and said, thank you, because I got my life back, that's better than any stories about corruption or sleazy public officials we have ever done.

I mean, people are getting a second chance.

And it's, like, money.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Ramsey, I see you nodding your head along there.

What would you add to that?

It must be just a tremendous feeling to have that kind of an impact.

RAMSEY ARCHIBALD: Oh, absolutely.

It's great to win this award, to be recognized for the work that we have done.

But we would have been so proud of this work if it had won nothing just because of the effects that it had, not only in the legislature and across the state, but for the actual people here, which I think often gets sort of swept under the rug or lost in these sorts of stories.

So, to me, I mean, you couldn't ask for anything better than that.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: We're talking to you in two separate cities.

So I have taken you two have not seen each other since the actual award has been announced.

You guys have a celebration planned when you finally get back together?

JOHN ARCHIBALD: You know, it's terrible that you ask about a celebration planned for me and my kid, though I guarantee you some tequila shots will be involved.

(LAUGHTER) RAMSEY ARCHIBALD: It's a tradition.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: It's a key part of the journalistic tradition.

John Archibald, Ramsey Archibald, congratulations to you both from AL.com.

Thank you so much.

JOHN ARCHIBALD: Thank you.

RAMSEY ARCHIBALD: Thank you.

GEOFF BENNETT: And that is the "NewsHour" for tonight.

I'm Geoff Bennett.

Thanks for spending part of your evening with us.