AMNA NAWAZ: Good evening.

I'm Amna Nawaz.

GEOFF BENNETT: And I'm Geoff Bennett.

On the "News Hour" tonight: The FBI raids the home of John Bolton, President Trump's former national security adviser turned vocal critic.

AMNA NAWAZ: A famine is officially declared in Northern Gaza, where over half-a-million people face imminent starvation.

DAVID MILIBAND, President, International Rescue Committee: The great fear is that the statistics are actually worse, the reality on the ground is worse than the statistics suggest.

GEOFF BENNETT: And Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell hints at a long-awaited interest rate cut, even in what he calls an unusual job market.

(BREAK) GEOFF BENNETT: Welcome to the "News Hour."

Early this morning, FBI agents searched the Maryland home of John Bolton, the former national security adviser in President Trump's first administration.

AMNA NAWAZ: Agents were also seen entering a building in downtown Washington, D.C., where Bolton has an office.

President Trump claimed he had no prior knowledge of the raid.

DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: I'm not a fan of John Bolton.

I thought he was a sleazebag, actually.

And he suffers major Trump derangement syndrome, but so do a lot of people, and they're not being affected by anything we do.

I don't know anything about it.

I saw -- just saw that.

I will find out about it.

But if you believe the news, which I do, I guess his house was raided today, but my house was raided also.

GEOFF BENNETT: Since leaving the government in 2019, Bolton has become a sharp critic of President Trump, taking aim at his foreign policy and national security decisions.

AMNA NAWAZ: And within hours of taking office again in January, President Trump stripped Bolton of his classified security clearance.

Joining us now to discuss these fast-moving developments is Josh Gerstein.

He's the senior legal affairs reporter for Politico.

Josh, welcome back to the "News Hour."

Let's just start with what we know about these searches and what agents were looking for.

JOSH GERSTEIN, Politico: Well, Amna, we know there were two searches, as you said, one at Bolton's home in Bethesda and another at an office that he uses in downtown Washington, carried out by the FBI.

The FBI itself has been pretty tight-lipped about what they were doing.

They did confirm that they were at those two locations.

They wouldn't say much more than that.

However, there were reports that they were looking for classified information.

And, of all people, we got confirmation from Vice President J.D.

Vance that this is, in fact, an investigation looking at the possibility that there were classified documents in those two locations.

So that appears to be what they're looking for.

It's not totally clear whether these would be the same classified documents that caused some consternation and litigation when Bolton was publishing a memoir shortly after he left the White House a few years ago or if this relates to some other records perhaps.

AMNA NAWAZ: And if I can ask you briefly too, we know these searches have to be approved by a federal judge.

These can't be unilaterally ordered by the FBI director or even the president.

Do we know if that was the process in this case?

JOSH GERSTEIN: Well, we haven't seen the paperwork because it's sealed, but the FBI has said this was court-authorized.

Since one of the searches took place in Maryland and another in D.C., I think actually two judges or magistrate judges would have had to have been involved here, would have had to sign off on there being at least a probable cause to believe that there is some kind of evidence of a crime at these two locations.

But we should mention that Bolton has not been charged with anything at this point.

AMNA NAWAZ: You heard the way President Trump was talking about John Bolton.

I just want to remind people about this relationship.

Obviously, Bolton served under the first Trump administration.

He was replacing H.R.

McMaster in the role, who was replacing Michael Flynn in that role.

Bolton then had his own chaotic exit in 2019 after some disagreement with President Trump.

How would you describe the relationship since then?

What's happened?

JOSH GERSTEIN: It's been very stormy since he departed the White House.

And I think it's fair to say that Bolton has become a more and more strident critic of Trump as time went on.

There was even talk that Bolton considered running for president a few years ago in an attempt to deny the nomination to President Trump when he was going to run again.

So there's no question that Bolton's feelings about Trump have turned very, very sharply negative probably during the time he was serving in the White House and certainly thereafter.

AMNA NAWAZ: You know that book that we - - that you had mentioned Bolton wrote, he called the president unfit, Trump unfit to be president.

He said his second term would be a retribution presidency.

Is that what this is?

Is this retribution being carried out?

JOSH GERSTEIN: I mean, there's certainly reason to think that could be the case.

Just in the clip we heard there of President Trump, while he said he wasn't aware of this, he mentioned that his House was raided.

So that does make it sound like it's a tit for tat type situation.

Part of what's so unusual about having figures like the vice president commenting on what this investigation is about is that it does tend to reinforce the notion that this could be being undertaken for some kind of political reason, as opposed to a purely law enforcement reason.

But I think we will have to wait and see.

Eventually, we will see these documents that were put in front of those judges or magistrate judges explaining why this search was thought to be necessary and we will have a better idea of whether there were some new facts here that maybe we're not aware of at this point.

AMNA NAWAZ: Meanwhile, Josh, I know you have had a busy day.

I have to ask you about another story you have been covering, which is the fact that the Department of Justice released transcripts and audio from the Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche's visit with Jeffrey Epstein's accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, in her Florida prison last month.

She's since been moved to a Texas facility.

But as part of that audio, I want to play a part in which she talked about her recollections of President Trump.

Take a listen.

GHISLAINE MAXWELL, Convicted Felon: The president was never inappropriate with anybody.

In the times that I was with him, he was a gentleman in all respects.

TODD BLANCHE, U.S. Deputy Attorney General: And did you ever hear Mr. Epstein or anybody say that President Trump had done anything inappropriate with masseuses or with anybody in your world?

GHISLAINE MAXWELL: Absolutely never, in any context.

AMNA NAWAZ: Josh, we should note she also told blanch that she doesn't recall inappropriate behavior by President Clinton either.

She was given limited immunity in these conversations with Blanche.

But does anything in these transcripts, anything we have learned, does it change our understanding of the investigation or this highly unusual meeting between Blanche and Maxwell?

JOSH GERSTEIN: Well, I don't think it changes it a lot.

I think it was a fairly thorough interview.

I think the problem people are going to point out with her story is that, while she is denying that anything untoward went on with President Trump, as you mentioned, she's basically denying that anything untoward went on with anyone that ever interacted with Jeffrey Epstein.

She's saying Epstein himself may have done some things that were improper or even illegal, but she didn't know... AMNA NAWAZ: We appear to have lost our connection with Josh Gerstein.

We thank you for his time.

That was Josh Gerstein of Politico joining us tonight.

GEOFF BENNETT: We start the day's other headlines in Washington.

The Pentagon says that National Guard troops will soon start carrying firearms as part of President Trump's security crackdown of the city.

The new policy comes as nearly 2,000 National Guard members are currently stationed in the nation's capital.

Just last week, the Pentagon said troops would not carry guns.

Officials did not provide any reason for the change.

In the Oval Office this afternoon, President Trump claimed the city's Democratic mayor had not done enough to keep Washington safe.

DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: Mayor Bowser better get her act straight, or she won't be mayor very long, because we will take it over with the federal government running like it's supposed to be run.

GEOFF BENNETT: President Trump also said today that he would expand the federal policing of America's cities, saying that Chicago could be next, though it's unclear how that would play out, since the federal government has unique authority in Washington, as opposed to elsewhere in the country.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fired the head of the Defense Intelligence Agency today.

A spokesperson confirmed to the "News Hour" that Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse is no longer the director of the DIA.

An initial leaked DIA assessment had found that the U.S. strikes on Iran's three main nuclear sites in June had only set back the country's nuclear capabilities by a few months.

That contradicted comments from President Trump, who claimed the sites had -- quote -- "been obliterated."

Kruse is also just the latest high-level military official fired since the start of the Trump administration.

President Trump announced this afternoon that the federal government has taken a 10 percent stake in Intel.

Writing on social media, Mr. Trump said that the U.S. paid nothing for the shares, adding that: "Building leading edge semiconductors and chips, which is what Intel does, is fundamental to the future of our nation."

The government had been in talks over taking a stake in the struggling chipmaker in exchange for converting government grants that had been promised under President Biden.

Few details have been provided, but it would be among the largest government interventions in a U.S. company since the 2008 financial crisis.

Kilmar Abrego Garcia was released from jail in Tennessee today to be with his family in Maryland as he awaits trial on human smuggling charges.

The Salvadoran national was mistakenly deported by the Trump administration earlier this year.

He was detained on criminal charges upon his court-ordered return.

Abrego Garcia's attorneys had recommended that he be kept in jail over fears the Trump administration would deport him again, but a recent court ruling will allow him time to challenge any deportation order.

Abrego Garcia has pleaded not guilty to the smuggling charges.

Florida is appealing a federal court ruling that would effectively shut down the immigrant detention center the Trump administration has dubbed Alligator Alcatraz.

A U.S. district court judge issued a preliminary injunction late yesterday, saying the facility does not comply with environmental laws.

It requires a halt to further expansion of the two-month-old center and the winding down of operations within 60 days.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said today the ruling was made unfairly by an activist judge and that he remains committed to the mission in carrying out deportation.

Russia's top diplomat, Sergey Lavrov, says there's no meeting plan between Vladimir Putin and Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The comments to NBC News mark a clear setback after President Trump said he'd begun arrangements for the two leaders to meet.

But then today, at that Oval Office event, Mr. Trump, after showing off a photo of himself and Putin, said he will know in two weeks whether progress is possible on ending the war.

He also floated the idea of more sanctions if not.

For his part, Zelenskyy met with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte in Kyiv to discuss security guarantees.

Ukraine is seeking such commitments from Western allies to strengthen its hand in dealing with Russia and provide long-term security.

The Kremlin has knocked down any discussion of security guarantees without Russia.

Zelenskyy says Moscow is trying to hide from face-to-face engagement.

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, Ukrainian President (through translator): Now we see that the Russians are doing everything to prevent the meeting.

Ukraine, unlike Russia, is not afraid of any meetings between leaders.

The Russians will try to do something else now to avoid a meeting.

The issue is not the meeting.

The issue is that they don't want to end the war.

GEOFF BENNETT: Zelenskyy went on to say that really strong sanctions would be needed to force Russia to engage in diplomacy.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney says his government will drop all its retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods specifically covered under the United States-Mexico-Canada trade pact, or USMCA.

The Trump administration recently did the same for Canadian goods that were compliant with the 2020 free trade agreement.

It marks a major thawing of trade tensions between the neighboring nations, though Canadian tariffs on U.S. steel, aluminum and cars will remain for now.

In a press conference today, Carney said today's actions will help to reset trade talks between the two countries.

MARK CARNEY, Canadian Prime Minister: Canada and the United States have reestablished free trade for the vast majority of our goods.

Canada currently has the best trade deal with the United States.

And while it's different from what we had before, it is still better than that of any other country.

GEOFF BENNETT: A White House official called Carney's decision a welcome move by Canada and one that was long overdue.

The USMCA itself is up for review next year.

On Wall Street today, stocks surged after Fed Chair Jerome Powell hinted that interest rate cuts are coming.

The Dow Jones industrial average jumped nearly 850 points to a new record high.

The Nasdaq added almost 400 points.

The S&P 500 broke a five-session losing streak, adding nearly 100 points.

Still to come on the "News Hour": we speak with the pastor leading the boycott of Target for its rollback of diversity policies; and Jonathan Capehart and Ramesh Ponnuru weigh in on the week's political headlines.

For the first time since the war in Gaza began, the international organization that monitors and categorizes hunger crises around the world has declared that parts of Gaza are in famine.

AMNA NAWAZ: The U.N.-backed group of international experts said today that half-a-million people in Gaza, one-quarter of the population, are facing -- quote -- "catastrophic conditions characterized by starvation, destitution and death."

And they warned that famine would spread within weeks without a cease-fire and a massive infusion of humanitarian aid into Gaza.

Nick Schifrin has more.

NICK SCHIFRIN: The experts group is called the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC.

And it's concluded that, after 22 months of war, the half-a-million people living around Gaza City face famine.

You see that in purple stripes there.

Just below that, in bright red, one million people around Deir al Balah and Khan Yunis districts are one step below famine, meaning they face very high, acute malnutrition.

But the experts also said, by next month, those areas would also be in famine too.

North Gaza, you see at the top there, is in gray because the experts didn't have enough data, but warned conditions there were just as bad or worse.

And Rafah along the Egypt border in the south is white because Rafah is -- quote -- "depopulated."

U.N.

Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher: TOM FLETCHER, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator: It is a famine, the Gaza famine.

It is a famine that we could have prevented if we had been allowed.

Yet food stacks up at borders because of systematic obstruction by Israel.

It is a famine within a few hundred meters of food.

NICK SCHIFRIN: To discuss this more, we turn to David Miliband, president and CEO of the International Rescue Committee, which oversees humanitarian relief operations in more than 40 countries, as well as in Gaza.

He's also the former foreign secretary of the United Kingdom.

David Miliband, thanks very much.

Welcome back to the "News Hour."

The U.N. has been warning about famine conditions for a while now.

How significant is it that the experts of the IPC have now officially declared famine?

And what's unique about the IPC that gives it credibility?

DAVID MILIBAND, President, International Rescue Committee: Well, today is a horrible milestone marking a true moral and political scandal, because the IPC are a technical, technocratic, small-C conservative body that are very careful in determining the question of famine.

They have only declared three other famines in the whole of the 21st century, and they have to pass three very tough tests just to pick up the third test.

Two deaths per 10,000 people per day in Gaza means that 400 people a day are dying of starvation in Gaza.

And they do this work on the ground with reputable sources, with their own people, making sure that they are not taken away by rhetoric, but focus on the facts on the ground.

The fact that they should have declared this famine, this is what they call a manmade disaster of the famine in Gaza, carries extra significance because of the credibility and seriousness of which they do their work.

NICK SCHIFRIN: So zoom out for us.

The conditions in Gaza have been horrific for a while.

Why are they getting worse, especially around Gaza City, where the IPC declared today's famine?

DAVID MILIBAND: Well, I think there are simple reasons for explaining the dramatic deterioration.

There is the tourniquet that has been applied to aid flows.

The blockage on aid flows that was announced by Prime Minister Netanyahu in the middle of March has had its effect.

And in the previous reports of the IPC, they pointed to some of the dangers.

Of course, the war is ongoing, so that adds to the problem.

So, even for those families that have some beans, they can't cook them because they don't have cooking oil.

So the displacement that is associated with the ongoing fighting has contributed to that.

The destruction of agricultural land is part of the story too.

And, of course, the great fear is that actually things are far worse than they seem in the report, because all of the evidence from the past is that the IPC reports are a lagging indicator, not a leading indicator.

In the famine of 2011 in Somalia, 250,000 people were dead by the time that they declared famine.

And so the great fear is that the statistics are actually worse, the reality on the ground is worse than the statistics suggest.

NICK SCHIFRIN: And, as I pointed out, the IPC said it didn't even have data enough for North Gaza to determine the levels of hunger there.

You mentioned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

He released a statement today that called the report -- quote -- "an outright lie.

Israel does not have a policy of starvation.

Israel has a policy of preventing starvation.

Since the beginning of the war, Israel has enabled two million tons of aid to enter the Gaza Strip."

And his statement goes on to accuse the IPC of ignoring Hamas' theft of humanitarian aid.

What's your response to his statement?

DAVID MILIBAND: We take very seriously the need to make sure that aid reaches those who require it.

And all of the evidence is that, when the system of nongovernmental organizations and the U.N. are allowed to do their work, they can reverse these trends.

In the period of the cease-fire in January, February and early March of this year, we saw that the way in which the aid was being delivered to the people who needed it, and it had an impact on the humanitarian conditions on the ground.

Since the return to fighting in the middle of March and the application of the blockade on aid flows, we have seen the reversal.

Month by month, things have got worse.

Even our own staff -- we have the teams on the ground recruited locally.

Even our own teams are suffering from lack of food and supplies.

We as an organization have over five tons of nutritional support and medical supplies stuck on the wrong side of the border.

And so the policy of the Israeli government is very clear.

It's to restrict aid.

And that has its consequence that you're seeing today.

NICK SCHIFRIN: And, just to be clear, those five tons that you say are stuck -- quote -- "on the wrong side of the border," you believe Israel is blocking that aid from entering Gaza?

DAVID MILIBAND: Well, they're stuck in the line.

There's no question about it at all.

We know that there are enormous quantities of aid waiting to be allowed across, but they're not being allowed across.

The only aid that's coming across is going to the so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.

What you need to know about them is that, instead of having 400 distribution points, which is what the U.N. and NGO system had in the March 8 -- March-February period, there are four distribution points.

And as you have reported on your show, around 1,200 people have been killed in the vicinity of those distribution points because of the crush, because of the shooting that's been happening there.

So we have a well-proven system for mitigating the worst of war, but we're not allowing it to work in these circumstances.

NICK SCHIFRIN: And, finally, David Miliband, in the short time we have left, today's report also says that only a full-scale and sustained humanitarian aid program can prevent further loss of life.

What is necessary right now to prevent more famine?

DAVID MILIBAND: Well, we need a cease-fire to get the aid in, to get the hostages out.

That's obviously the immediate imperative.

But opening the taps, which is what the report calls for, is absolutely vital.

As soon as the aid is allowed in sufficient quantity, we will be able to get on with our work.

We have this well-proven system.

And we're desperate for the Israeli authorities to allow us to show again how it can work well.

NICK SCHIFRIN: David Miliband, president and CEO of the International Rescue Committee, thank you very much.

Today's report warns, as many as 132,000 children under the age of 5 are at risk of death from acute malnutrition between now and next summer.

Half of Gaza's population are children, and so many of them have been left scarred, traumatized and forever changed.

And a warning: Images and accounts in this story are disturbing.

In Gaza City, two sisters broken by war bonded by survival, 11-year-old Maria Moath Rehaan holds on to her younger sister, Ansem (ph), to be her eyes after the war stole her sight, her support after the war stole their family.

MARIA MOATH REHAAN, 11 Years Old (through translator): In this war, I lost my mother and my father and my brother and sister, and my uncles and Ansem, my cousins.

I lost so much in this war.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Maria and 8-year-old Ansem were the only survivors of an Israeli strike that killed their entire family.

It left Maria blind and cut through Ansem's right leg.

MARIA MOATH REHAAN (through translator): I have shrapnel in my heart and burns on my back.

And my sister has shrapnel in her skull and both her legs.

NICK SCHIFRIN: They now live with their grandparents in a tent next to where their house once stood.

Maria is damaged, but defiant.

She dreams of becoming an eye doctor to heal children like her.

MARIA MOATH REHAAN (through translator): I want to tell the entire world to hurry and get me and my sister out, so we can be treated like any child around the world.

NICK SCHIFRIN: They are two of nearly 40,000 Gaza children who have lost one or both parents.

MARIA MOATH REHAAN (through translator): What did we do to get bombed like this?

What did we do to lose our entire family?

What did I do to lose my eyesight and for my sister to break her leg?

Is it our fault?

NICK SCHIFRIN: Since the war began, the U.N. says more than 17,000 Gazan children have been killed, 33,000 wounded.

That's more than 70 wounded or killed every day.

And there's not a single Gazan child who's escaped psychological trauma; 11-year-old Kadi Al Hamalawi preserves the symbols of her youth, a favorite baby photo, prized possessions.

But the door to her childhood has been slammed shut.

Instead of playing, she helps find life's essentials.

That's a jug of water.

And instead of studying, pages she once wrote in school, she now burns to light a fire.

KADI AL HAMALAWI, 11 Years Old (through translator): When I would hear the sound of bombings, I would be very scared.

But now I'm used to it and don't get frightened anymore.

This is normal now.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Most days, there is not much to cook or eat.

In fact, U.N.-backed international experts say, where she lives, Gaza City, is suffering from famine.

And humanitarian groups say there is a critical shortage of water.

DAN STEWART, Save the Children: We're hearing children tell us that they're wishing to go to heaven, because that's the only place that they can get food and love.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Dan Stewart is the media and communications manager for Save the Children.

We spoke to him from Deir al Balah.

DAN STEWART: I was at clinic just yesterday.

You would expect there to be crying.

You would expect it to be incredibly noisy.

But in actual fact, it's fairly quiet, because so many of the children are too sick and too weak even to cry.

NICK SCHIFRIN: He says, in Gaza, more than 100 children have died from malnutrition.

DAN STEWART: Let me tell you a little bit about malnutrition in children.

Their bodies start to eat their own muscles in order to survive.

After three weeks, they start to develop lesions on their eyes and become incredibly vulnerable to common diseases that can kill after just three weeks of hunger.

Children's bodies are being ravaged by starvation by design in Gaza.

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, Israeli Prime Minister: We put in two million tons of food, two million tons of food.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Israel denies it starves kids or anyone in Gaza.

It blames the lack of food in Gaza on Hamas' theft and the U.N. struggle to deliver aid.

Humanitarian organizations dispute that and describe this war as traumatizing, even for children who have grown up through multiple wars.

(SCREAMING) DAN STEWART: Well, yes, to be a child in Gaza at the moment is unimaginable.

It means searching for loved ones in the rubble.

It means going to bed with the sound of drones overhead and not knowing if you're going to wake up in the morning.

For those who do survive this war, the psychological scars will last a lifetime.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Lifetime psychological and physical scars cutting short limbs and childhoods.

SAMEER ZAQUOT, 11 Years Old (through translator): Before I got injured, I used to go to school, learn, and play soccer with my classmates.

But now, because I'm without a leg and an arm, I'm on a mattress all day and my family takes care of me.

My life has changed.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Eleven-year-old Sameer Zaquot can still smile, especially when he remembers his past life, a boy, a body untouched by war.

He thought he'd be safe at home.

SAMEER ZAQUOT (through translator): I was playing on my phone in my room, and suddenly a drone entered and blew up.

I found myself in Shifa Hospital after 12 hours of surgery.

I found that my arm and leg were cut off and that I had a break in my skull.

I was injured all over.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Sameer reflects a grim reality.

UNICEF says, per capita, Gaza is home to the world's largest number of child amputees.

SAMEER ZAQUOT (through translator): I had a dream that I got prosthetic arm and leg and I was running.

I woke up happy because there's hope that I could travel and be like any other children around the world.

NICK SCHIFRIN: But, in Gaza today, the dreams are often nightmares.

This week, a graduation ceremony in a makeshift school for Gaza's orphans, an entire generation scarred by loss.

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

GEOFF BENNETT: The big box retailer Target is reeling.

Sales have stalled, its stock price has plunged, and the company faces growing backlash months after rolling back its diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI initiatives.

A boycott led by our next guest slowed store traffic nationwide, and is among the factors that pushed longtime CEO Brian Cornell to step down after 11 years.

Now Target is scrambling to reset its image and strategy.

We're joined now by Pastor Jamal Bryant of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Georgia, who spearheaded that boycott.

Pastor Jamal Bryant, thank you for being with us.

PASTOR JAMAL BRYANT, New Birth Missionary Baptist Church: My privilege.

Thank you.

GEOFF BENNETT: Before we get your reaction to the change in leadership at Target, I do want to ask, why focus on Target, when a number of retailers and corporations from Walmart to McDonald's have rolled back their DEI initiatives?

Why single out Target, when this appears to be a broader corporate retreat?

PASTOR JAMAL BRYANT: After the inauguration of President Trump, 23 corporations backtracked away from diversity, equity and inclusion, and we thought it prudent to just go after one at a time.

The African American community spends upwards of $12 million a day at Target.

And so we thought that the one that was the most trafficked should be the focus of our media attention.

GEOFF BENNETT: Do you see the stepping down of Target's longtime CEO as a direct result of your campaign?

And what do you expect from the company's new leadership?

PASTOR JAMAL BRYANT: The reality is, it's not stepping down.

It's stepping aside.

He's being replaced by the COO, and he has now moved upwards as the chair of the board.

So it's really rewarding of bad behavior.

We're really disappointed.

But we hope and we are hopeful that there will be a change of perspective when it comes to a DEI for the company.

GEOFF BENNETT: It's striking that Target hasn't reinstated its DEI program, even as it struggles with declining sales, sluggish foot traffic.

What does that tell you about the current climate and how corporations are valuing diversity today when faced with the political pressure?

PASTOR JAMAL BRYANT: I think that diversity is in as much danger as democracy is.

The president of Target, as well as Walmart and Amazon, met with the president back in February.

And I think that they have held on to his admonishment more than what the consumers are clamoring to say.

And so I think it's unfortunate that it has to go this far and this long.

GEOFF BENNETT: I reached out to Target ahead of this conversation.

And while the outgoing CEO wasn't made available, the company pointed us to his recent op-ed where he highlights Target's $2 billion investment in Black-owned businesses, more than doubling the number of Black-owned brands on its shelves, supporting more than 500 entrepreneurs, completing a $100 million investment in Black-led community organizations.

Why do you see those efforts as insufficient?

PASTOR JAMAL BRYANT: I think it's insufficient because they produce no receipts, $2 billion, and yet they have not been forthcoming as to what entities were the recipients of it.

We asked them to lay out, where did they make the investment?

They said, because of privacy, they couldn't release it.

We'd love to put a ribbon on it, but if Black companies or Black banks were the recipients, they would be clamoring to announce it, and yet we're in silence of the lambs.

Nobody can attest to the graciousness that they are claiming to represent.

GEOFF BENNETT: Why, in your view, does Target owe Black Americans anything beyond what it already provides as a public company that employs and serves millions of Americans of all races?

PASTOR JAMAL BRYANT: It is one of the lead employers of African Americans.

They are the beneficiaries of African American consumption.

When George Floyd died, we didn't protest, we didn't march, we didn't boycott.

Out of their own will, they made the pledge of $2 billion, and then it stalemated.

It was supposed to be turned over to us July 31.

And we still are not seeing anything.

We are reasonable and amenable to a meeting to be able to see it in private, but none of those requests have been responded to.

GEOFF BENNETT: What's the endgame if Target does not meet your requests?

PASTOR JAMAL BRYANT: Then they will continue to hemorrhage.

And I think, with 9.7 percent of foot traffic being slowed down, online sales being slowed down, the stock continuing to plummet, the valuation has dropped by $12 billion, then I think that it's time now for the shareholders to make their voice clear on what is needed and necessary.

The Montgomery bus boycott went for a year and a day.

And this is just our fifth month.

And so I think it would be advantageous of them to meet and see how it is that we can reconcile, so that the company can go forward and so that the community can continue to rise.

GEOFF BENNETT: Given the parallel you raised to the Montgomery bus boycott, given the impact of this boycott in influencing a major corporation, how do you see yourself leveraging this kind of organizing power on other issues?

PASTOR JAMAL BRYANT: Well, this is the first real organizing power of Black economic strength in 70 years.

And I think a lot of corporations are sitting back waiting to see what will be the outcome.

And that's why this is so critical and so important.

And this generation, quite frankly, needs a victory to know that our collective works are not in vain, but can really make an impact and make a difference.

GEOFF BENNETT: Pastor Jamal Bryant, thank you for your time.

We appreciate it.

PASTOR JAMAL BRYANT: I'm grateful.

Thank you, sir.

AMNA NAWAZ: In a closely watched speech in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, this morning, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell gave the strongest indication yet that the Central Bank will cut interest rates as soon as their next meeting in September.

With inflation ticking up and the job market cooling down, Powell said the Fed was in a challenging situation, but warned about a potential slowdown in the labor market.

JEROME POWELL, Federal Reserve Chairman: Downside risks to employment are rising.

And if those risks materialize, they can do so quickly in the form of sharply higher layoffs and rising unemployment.

AMNA NAWAZ: Despite intense pressure from the president, the Fed has kept its benchmark interest rates steady for eight months, taking a wait-and-see approach to the impacts of Trump's tariff policy.

But, today, Powell acknowledged those price increases could be more of a one-time shift, rather than a long-term risk.

JEROME POWELL: A reasonable base case is that the effects will be relatively short-lived, a one-time shift in the price level.

Of course, one time does not mean all at once.

It will continue to take time for tariff increases to work their way through supply chains and distribution networks.

AMNA NAWAZ: To help us understand the implications, we're joined now by Loretta Mester.

She's an adjunct professor of finance at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business and was president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland from 2014 to 2024.

Loretta, welcome to the "News Hour."

Thanks for joining us.

LORETTA MESTER, Former President, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland: Thanks for having me on.

AMNA NAWAZ: So let's just begin with your reaction to Chair Powell's speech.

Is that about as close as a Fed chair will come to saying that there will be a rate cut at the next meeting?

LORETTA MESTER: I thought it was very clear that he is open to cutting rates in September.

His view is that policy is still modestly restrictive, meaning that it's putting some downward pressure on inflation, and that the risk on the labor side -- of course, the Fed has a dual mandate, maximum employment and inflation.

His view of the risks on the labor side, that maximum employment mandate, have gone up in terms of higher downside risk to that.

So, with bigger risks there, I think they're open to cutting.

I don't think he laid out a case for a big cut in September or necessarily a whole series of cuts coming after that.

But I do think that he was open to cutting rates in September, really thinking about it as insurance against those downside risk in the labor market.

AMNA NAWAZ: Where do you see the language that indicated we shouldn't plan for additional rate cuts, a series of rate cuts, after September potentially?

Was that more around the uncertainty of long-term policy around tariffs and the impact of other regulatory policies?

LORETTA MESTER: Yes, I mean, I think he did two things.

One, he laid out why we are going to see higher inflation readings in coming months.

And while he basically laid out a case for a why there will be a one-of increase in the price level,he also was very clear that it's up to the Fed to make sure those one-time increases from the tariffs on inflation don't become a more lasting inflation problem.

And then he also said that the labor market was still in a relatively balanced place and that that allows them sort of to be very careful with policy going forward.

And when a chair says careful, I think that means it's not necessarily the start of a large, necessarily every meeting kind of cutting situation.

It's going to be looking at the data that comes in before every meeting and making a determination based on what their evaluation of where the economy is and where it's going meeting by meeting.

AMNA NAWAZ: As you know, the president has long been calling for a rate cut.

He's been critical of Chair Powell.

He was asked about the speech today in the Oval Office and he insisted that Powell was -- quote -- "too late" on rate cuts.

Loretta, given the revisions that we did see on the job numbers last month and Chair Powell's warning today about some of the downside risks ahead, does the president have a point here?

LORETTA MESTER: I don't think they were too late on getting to a place where they can cut.

Remember, they did bring rates down last fall.

And so policy has moved.

Then, when the tariff effects were put on and the on-and-off tariff impacts and the coming what will happen with inflation readings, I think they were right to really take a step back from those cuts and say, we have got to be very cognizant of what's going to happen to inflation, not just today, but where it's going.

And the labor market until the last reading was quite strong.

And it's still -- we still haven't seen an increase in the unemployment rate.

That's because the supply of labor is also coming down, even though firms' demand for labor is coming down.

So the labor market is in balance.

And the chair in his speech pointed out, but it's a curious balance, because it's quite unusual to have both the supply and demand coming down in tandem, so you don't get that change in the unemployment rate.

AMNA NAWAZ: Loretta, I need to ask you as well about, in addition to the fact that the president has been critical of Chair Powell, he's also added Fed Governor Lisa Cook to his sights.

She was appointed by Joe Biden.

A Trump administration housing official has accused her of mortgage fraud.

So the president has said even today that he would fire her if she doesn't resign.

What do you make of these allegations and also this push from the president to oust Lisa Cook?

LORETTA MESTER: Well, I think it's a continual pressure on the Fed because he wants to influence Federal Reserve policy.

And he's been doing similar kinds of pressure on Chair Powell to lower rates.

Now he's trying to find, I think, information on other policymakers, other governors so that he can take action there.

But this has been very persistent.

And the vitriol and language is something that we haven't experienced before.

And it's unfortunate, I think, because what we have learned over time, and not just in the United States, but across countries, is that you really want the Central Bank to make monetary policy really focused on the goals that the government has given them, and not really focus on anything other than those goals and making policy appropriately to try to achieve those longer term goals.

AMNA NAWAZ: Loretta Mester, former head of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, thank you so much for joining us.

LORETTA MESTER: Thank you.

GEOFF BENNETT: For more on the fallout following the raid of President Trump's former national security adviser and the week's other news, we turn tonight to Capehart and Ponnuru.

That's Jonathan Capehart of MSNBC and Ramesh Ponnuru, editor of "The National Review."

It's good to see you both.

JONATHAN CAPEHART: Hey, Geoff.

GEOFF BENNETT: So, this busy news day started early this morning with the FBI search of the Maryland home and Washington office of John Bolton, President Trump's former national security adviser.

We don't know exactly what the FBI is searching for or why, but we do know that John Bolton has been an outspoken critic of the president's.

He wrote that scathing book about his time in the White House.

Jonathan, how does all of this strike you?

JONATHAN CAPEHART: When I heard the news, I gasped.

I said, oh, my God, not because I'm some big John Bolton fan or John Bolton is a friend of mine, but the message it sends.

As you said, he has been an outspoken critic of President Trump, worked with President Trump in his first administration and has been criticizing the president as recently as last week or maybe even in some social media posts this week.

When you have someone who's been a critic of the president, and a president who ran on retribution -- and this isn't the first time he's sought retribution against John Bolton.

He stripped him of his national security clearance and his security detail the day after his -- Trump's inauguration, and Bolton is being targeted by Iran.

So what this says to me is, it is yet another move by the president to push past the guardrails, past the norms, past decency to exact revenge against people who he thinks are his enemies.

GEOFF BENNETT: How do you see this, Ramesh?

I mean, does this fit within the broader pattern of political retribution, or is this more about national security protocols, as the vice president, J.D.

Vance, said today?

RAMESH PONNURU, Senior Editor, "The National Review": Well, I'm certainly looking forward to seeing more information about the legal basis for this raid, and maybe something will come out which justifies it.

But, that said, there are a lot of things that we know that cause us to not give the benefit of the doubt to this administration.

Some of it is what Jonathan just went through, but also notice that Kash Patel, the head of the FBI, has longstanding personal grievances against John Bolton.

It's not just that Patel made this list of deep state operative enemies who were included in this list for no obvious reason, and Bolton was on that list.

It's also that Patel has said that he was in a long-running dispute where Bolton refused to hire him, slow-walked an order to hire him.

So there's a number of things going on here that I think should give us some real pause.

GEOFF BENNETT: And the other dynamic is the erosion between -- the erosion of the wall between the White House and the Department of Justice that was meant to insulate the Justice Department that has also given way to real questions about the propriety of all this.

JONATHAN CAPEHART: Well, right.

Well, you say erosion.

That wall was obliterated the moment President Trump made Pam Bondi the attorney general of the United States, made Todd Blanche the deputy attorney general of the United States.

Todd Blanche was and kind of remains the president's personal attorney.

So those walls were obliterated.

And what happened, what - - this raid on John Bolton's home is just yet another example of how the DOJ appears to be doing -- is sort of the heavy for the executive.

GEOFF BENNETT: Well, let's shift our focus to what's happening here on our own backyard, the federal takeover of Washington, D.C.

The defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, said today - - or, rather, he ordered National Guard troops patrolling Washington, D.C., that they would be armed.

And this, of course, includes the National Guard, the federalized D.C. police.

This is certainly an escalation, because earlier the Pentagon and Army said that the troops would not carry weapons.

So, Ramesh, just reflect on this moment, the Pentagon deploying armed troops, federal law enforcement to a major American city where there is no clear threat, no real reason, no clear reason to warrant that kind of force.

RAMESH PONNURU: And potentially the first of many cities that are going to get this treatment.

Look, I think that crime rates and violence rates in Washington, D.C., have been unacceptably high for a long time, even though in recent years there's been some decline.

But whether this is the right response is a different question.

And quite apart from the question of presidential power and whether this is an abuse of his legitimate legal powers, there's also the question, the National Guard is not trained for police action.

The National Guard is stretched thin already.

There are questions about whether its members are going to be able to be paid on time, given the funding limits on the National Guard.

So that's another thing that we have to, I think, keep in mind, the strain this is putting on the people who are being forced to deploy.

GEOFF BENNETT: And, as Ramesh said, the president today floated the idea of exporting this approach to other cities.

Take a listen.

DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: The people in Chicago, Mr. Vice President, are screaming for us to come.

They're wearing red hats, just like this one.

But they're wearing red hats.

African American ladies, beautiful ladies, are saying, please, President Trump, come to Chicago, please.

I did great with the Black vote, as you know, and they want something to happen.

So I think Chicago will be our next, and then we will help with New York.

GEOFF BENNETT: Your face says it all.

JONATHAN CAPEHART: Anyone who's surprised that the president says Chicago is going to be next hasn't been listening to him since he was president the first go-around.

I interviewed Mayor Bowser on my MSNBC show the weekend before he announced that National Guard troops are going in, and she said what she needed from the White House, what she would love from the president, 500 more police officers, one.

Two, what she would love from the president is help getting back the $1.1 billion in city funding that was snatched away from the District in the continuing resolution that avoided a government shutdown.

That -- if you -- if the president is serious about fighting crime in the District, he would be a partner, a real partner, to Mayor Bowser in the two things that she wanted.

Now, there are National Guard troops here from West Virginia, South Carolina, Ohio, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee.

According to a story in "Newsweek" last week, the top 30 cities of 100,000-plus with the most crimes of the population, Memphis, Tennessee; Cleveland, Ohio; Toledo, Ohio are one, two, and three.

Why aren't the National Guard troops, the 150 from Ohio, the 160 from Tennessee, why aren't they spread out all over the streets of Memphis, Cleveland, Toledo, Akron, Dayton, Nashville?

If these governors, Republican governors, are serious about fighting crime, maybe they should look in their own backyard, and maybe the president should be working with the mayor and give her the 500 police officers she's been demanding.

GEOFF BENNETT: How do you see it?

RAMESH PONNURU: You know, I think that the politics of this issue are something that, frankly, the Democrats are going to have to handle very carefully, because the one thing you don't want, not that Jonathan's done it, but I have heard many of the critics of the president do this, is try to minimize the crime problems in these various places.

And that is an absolute dead end for Democrats and for any other opponents of Trump.

GEOFF BENNETT: Well, the president's takeover of D.C. certainly underscores the outsized role he continues to play in shaping the political landscape.

And it appears that no one is more aware of that in the current moment than California Governor Gavin Newsom, who is trying to beat Trump at his own game, at least online.

He's mimicking his style.

He's echoing his rants.

He's trolling him on social media.

Is it going to work?

JONATHAN CAPEHART: I think it's going to -- it is working, I think, simply because this is not new for Governor Newsom.

Governor Newsom has been the one Democratic governor who has gone on FOX News and has gone toe-to-toe with FOX world, has gone toe-to-toe with Governor DeSantis in Florida.

He has shown he is not afraid to do battle with these folks.

And I saw a press conference he did where a couple -- some reporter asked him, well, why are you doing this?

Is this unseemly something like that?

And he's -- why are you mimicking the president?

And his answer was basically, you should be -- I'm just copying him.

If you have a problem with what I'm doing, perhaps you should change your focus and talk to him about why he's doing the things that he's doing.

I applaud Governor Newsom for what he's doing, not just because he is taking the fight directly to the president, but he is giving voice to a big frustration among Democrats, that why aren't Democrats fighting back against this president?

And you have got a governor who's actually doing it.

RAMESH PONNURU: You know, you asked whether this is working.

And the question begs a further question or raises a further question, which is, what's it designed to do?

And I think what it's designed to do is help Newsom get the Democratic nomination, or at least position himself so that he's in a good -- he's in contention for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination.

And that, I think, is by giving voice to these Democrats who say the party's not taking on Trump.

Do swing voters, the people who are actually going to sign the general election in 2028, are they going to pay attention to this kind of thing?

Are they going to be impressed by it, the people who Democrats have been losing for years because they don't think that they care about their concerns or responsive to their interests?

Are they going to be impressed by it?

I don't think so.

But that's not the group of people that Newsom needs right now, who Newsom needs to crowd out other potential Democratic candidates for 2028.

GEOFF BENNETT: What about Jonathan's point that, in many ways, Newsom's approach is holding up a mirror to MAGA world?

RAMESH PONNURU: You know, I think that's correct.

I mean, I think that we have gotten used to a style of communication from this president that is subliterate and that is frequently crude.

Of course, Trump isn't going to be on the ballot.

At least, he's not supposed to be on the ballot in 2028.

Look, I think that Newsom is making his point and having his fun.

I do think he's going to need to move on to something else before too long.

JONATHAN CAPEHART: Not everything is about politics and not everything is about 2028.

We still have to get to 2026.

And we can focus on Gavin Newsom and his social media posts and mimicking the president, but we should also pay attention to the other thing he's been doing this week.

And that is making the moves to counter what happened in Texas in the congressional redistricting that was -- that is going on at the behest of the president of the United States, who is trying to steal the 2026 midterm elections.

So, as much as I would love to play 2028 prognostication, I'm more concerned about whether we are actually going to have a 2026 midterm election.

RAMESH PONNURU: We will.

JONATHAN CAPEHART: From your lips.

GEOFF BENNETT: Jonathan Capehart, Ramesh Ponnuru, our thanks to you both.

JONATHAN CAPEHART: Thanks, Geoff.

AMNA NAWAZ: And remember, there's always a lot more online, including the latest episode of "PBS News Weekly," which looks at a dramatic week in efforts to end Russia's war in Ukraine.

That is on our YouTube page.

GEOFF BENNETT: And be sure to watch "Washington Week With The Atlantic" tonight on PBS.

Jeffrey Goldberg and his panel discuss President Trump's efforts to end Russia's war with Ukraine.

AMNA NAWAZ: And watch "PBS News Weekend" tomorrow for a look at how scientists in Iceland assess glacial melting, which could trigger more explosive volcanic eruptions.

And that is the "News Hour" for tonight.

I'm Amna Nawaz.

GEOFF BENNETT: And I'm Geoff Bennett.

For all of us here at the "PBS News Hour," thanks for spending part of your evening with us, and have a great weekend.