GEOFF BENNETT: Good evening.

I'm Geoff Bennett.

Amna Nawaz is away.

On the "News Hour" tonight: The Trump administration invokes wartime powers to deport hundreds of alleged members of a Venezuelan gang without any court hearings.

The president dismantles the U.S.-funded broadcast or Voice of America and the news and information it has provided to people living in autocratic countries for decades.

And despite an increase in autism diagnoses, law enforcement often lack training to respond effectively to people with developmental disabilities.

THOMAS ILAND, Autism Society of Los Angeles: The more we can educate the officers as to what kind of resources they have available, the more we can bring people on the autism spectrum to share their stories, that has more of an impact.

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

A U.S. federal judge today asked the Trump administration to explain how it failed to act on its court order to halt the deportation of hundreds of Venezuelan migrants, including alleged gang members over the weekend, escalating the confrontation between the president and the federal courts.

Laura Barron-Lopez starts our coverage.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Their plane touched down in La Paz, El Salvador.

And within moments, they were hustled onto the tarmac and into buses, more than 200 immigrants deported en masse from the U.S. shackled, their hair shaved off, and now locked in one of El Salvador's most infamous mega prisons.

It came after President Donald Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, a sweeping wartime authority allowing the president to detain and deport citizens of a -- quote -- "enemy nation" without a hearing of any sort.

DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: These were bad people.

That was a bad group of, as I say, hombres.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Aboard Air Force One last night, Trump defended the move, which he says targeted alleged members of Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang linked to kidnapping, extortion, and contract killings.

DONALD TRUMP: That's an invasion.

It invaded our country.

So this isn't -- in that sense, this is war.

In many respects, it's more dangerous than war because, in war, they have uniforms.

You know who you're shooting at.

You know who you're going after.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: The U.S. paying $6 million to El Salvador to detain the migrants, one part of the president's mass deportation plans, playing out in spite of a federal judge's quick weekend order to temporarily block it.

TOM HOMAN, White House Border Czar: President Trump has made a promise to the American people.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: On FOX News today, Trump's border czar, Tom Homan, brushed off the court's authority.

TOM HOMAN: We're not stopping.

I don't care what the judges think.

I don't care what the left thinks.

We're coming.

KAROLINE LEAVITT, White House Press Secretary: This administration acted within the confines of the law.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the judge has -- quote -- "no jurisdiction."

KAROLINE LEAVITT: We are quite confident in that, and we are wholly confident that we are going to win this case in court.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: In a dramatic court hearing Saturday, federal District Judge James Boasberg verbally ordered the planes carrying the deportees turned around immediately.

But later that night, El Salvador released video of the immigrants being frog-walked off buses and into jail.

The next morning, El Salvador's president, Nayib Bukele, posted a headline about the judge's order, writing: "Oopsie, too late," with a laughing emoji.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio reposted the tweet from El Salvador's president mocking the American judge's order.

Separately, Rubio also wrote: "Thank you for your assistance and friendship, President Bukele."

Today, the Department of Justice refused to answer Judge Boasberg's questions about how many deportation flights took place over the weekend, but insisted that the administration did not violate his written order.

Earlier, the DOJ sought to remove Judge Boasberg from presiding over the case entirely after he refused to cancel today's hearing.

GEOFF BENNETT: And, Laura, as you mentioned, President Trump is claiming authority for these deportations under the Alien Enemies Act.

How does that work in practice?

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: So this act has never been used in peacetime, Geoff.

It's only been used in wartime, the last time being World War II.

And using that authority, Trump has classified Tren de Aragua, that Venezuelan gang, as an invading force that is also tied to Venezuela's government.

That's what the administration is saying.

And it's never been used in this way, according to legal scholars I talk to, and giving Trump -- it's giving the president power to deport any Venezuelan national 14 years or older living in the U.S., whether they are undocumented, whether they are a criminal, or whether they have legal status, if the administration decides that they are tied to this Venezuelan gang.

And the key part there, Geoff, is that it means that the president can carry out these deportations without providing evidence that they're tied to the Venezuelan gang or really without providing any due process like a hearing.

GEOFF BENNETT: And the administration is not providing the names of these deportees, even while saying all of them are criminals.

How does that square with your reporting?

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: So I spoke to Margaret Cargioli.

She's an attorney with the Immigrant Defenders Law Center, and they're representing a Venezuelan national who came to the U.S. seeking asylum.

And this Venezuelan national entered legally through an app that allowed him to declare asylum.

He worked in -- he was working in the arts in El Salvador, is LGBTQ, and he was detained for months by ICE.

And then his attorneys found out that he was potentially deported to El Salvador over the weekend.

And that was confirmed in a hearing today, Margaret Cargioli told me, which was that DHS said that he was deported to El Salvador.

And they believe it was with these other Venezuelan nationals that were sent there.

And they say that it's because he had tattoos that DHS claims were evidence that this Venezuelan national has ties to Tren de Aragua.

Now, his lawyers say that that's not accurate, that these tattoos are benign, Geoff.

And we just -- we have an update from the federal hearing that is challenging the president's use of the Alien Enemies Act.

And in that federal hearing today, the Justice Department insisted that they did not defy the verbal order from Judge Boasberg because they were following the written one.

And the judge called this -- quote -- "a heck of a stretch."

And he questioned the government's ability to just ignore his oral ruling.

Now, the DOJ didn't provide any details on how many flights took off Saturday, when they took off, or when they landed.

And they said that that was -- that they wouldn't do that due to national security concerns.

GEOFF BENNETT: On this matter of deportations, Laura, we're also hearing stories from people who are living in the U.S. on green cards, on valid work permits who have also been subject to deportations.

Bring us up to speed there.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: There are three key examples in the last few days, Geoff, of those who are living and working in the U.S. legally who have either been detained, deported, or pressured to deport.

So, first up, Fabian Schmidt.

He's a green card holder from Germany who had two misdemeanor criminal offenses, but recently renewed his green card with no issues, according to reports.

He lives with his family in New Hampshire.

He was flying back to the U.S. from Luxembourg, and he was -- quote -- "violently interrogated" at Boston Airport, stripped and detained.

That's according to what his mother told local press.

Now, the second person is Ranjani Srinivasan.

She's a Fulbright Scholar at Columbia University, is from India.

Her student visa was revoked over last year's Columbia protests, and the administration accused her of being a -- quote -- "terrorist sympathizer," but they have not provided evidence of that.

She fled to Canada last week, and DHS Secretary Noem cheered it as self-deportation.

Then, third, there's Dr. Rasha Alawieh.

She's a kidney transplant doctor at Brown University, an H-1B visa holder from Lebanon, and she was deported last week when returning from visiting family.

Now, prosecutors allege that she had -- quote - - "sympathetic" photos of Hezbollah leaders.

And I spoke to Dr. George Bayliss, who works with Dr. Alawieh in the kidney transplant department.

And he said that her deportation has disrupted the clinic, and he fears what this could mean for other immigrant doctors, as well as that pipeline of immigrant doctors who come to train in the U.S. GEOFF BENNETT: So what does this all mean for this confrontation, some would say crisis, that we're seeing now as it relates to President Trump and the judiciary?

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: So, when we zoom out, Geoff, I spoke to Kim Wehle.

She's a constitutional scholar with the University of Baltimore.

And she already believed that the country was in a constitutional crisis, but that Trump's actions this weekend make it worse.

KIMBERLY WEHLE, University of Baltimore School of Law: I think we're in uncharted waters, because presidents up until now did not take this kind of open defiance stance against the rule of law.

I don't think there is a way, if the president is intent on ignoring court orders for the judicial branch to do anything about it.

It really would require the United States Congress to step in with impeachment.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: So the legal experts that I spoke to, whether it's Wehle or immigration experts, agree that gang members who have been convicted should certainly be deported, but that due process is key here.

So whether it's across the Alien Enemies Act deportations or these deportations and detentions of legal immigrants, Wehle and immigration legal experts that I spoke to say that the Trump administration is trying to avoid due process for undocumented people, as well as those legally here.

And Wehle said that, without that right, that makes the Trump administration both the judge and the jury.

GEOFF BENNETT: A lot of important reporting on yet another busy day.

Laura Barron-Lopez, our thanks to you, as always.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Thank you.

GEOFF BENNETT: In the day's other news: The death toll climbed to more than 40 people killed in a series of storms that ravaged the Central and Southeastern U.S. over the weekend.

The system hit eight states, producing tornadoes, wildfires and dust storms.

Now residents are starting to sift through the wreck.

GOV.

KEVIN STITT (R-OK): This was my place.

GEOFF BENNETT: Among those wading through the rubble, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt.

GOV.

KEVIN STITT: We will be rebuilding with the rest of Oklahoma.

And you never think it's going to happen to your place.

And these wildfires just come out of nowhere.

GEOFF BENNETT: More than 130 wildfires tore through Oklahoma on Friday.

First responders said they were helpless against the power of the wind-driven flames.

TERRY ESSARY, Stillwater, Oklahoma, Fire Chief: Nobody has enough resources to fight fires when the wind is blowing 70 miles an hour.

It's just simply -- it's an insurmountable task.

GEOFF BENNETT: More than 400 homes across the state were damaged or destroyed.

As the storm marched east, it spawned more than 80 tornadoes across multiple states over the weekend, leveling homes and uprooting trees.

At least 12 people died in Missouri when the storm swept through.

One county in Mississippi saw two tornadoes rip through within an hour of each other, leaving a trail of destroyed houses.

Further east in Alabama, more tornadoes ripped apart this school gymnasium and tossed a bus as if it were a toy.

ANITA OWENS, Alabama Resident: Mama, her house is gone.

It's leveled and -- it's leveled.

GEOFF BENNETT: At least three people died in the Alabama twisters, including Anita Owens' mother.

ANITA OWENS: You wouldn't think just a wind and tornadoes would do this much devastation.

GEOFF BENNETT: The storms hit mere weeks after the Trump administration cut hundreds of jobs at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, which tracks severe weather.

Oklahoma Republican Congressman Tom Cole spoke with PBS News after he lobbied the administration to save the NOAA facility in Norman, Oklahoma.

REP. TOM COLE (R-OK): With NOAA, I think it's a no-brainer.

There's only one national severe storm center in the country, and it forecast for all the tornadoes all over across the country, all the hurricanes, all the bad weather, drought.

It's an absolutely vital institution.

GEOFF BENNETT: That agency will have its hands full again this week as a potentially hazardous system is expected to move across the Midwest.

Also today, President Trump is warning Iran that it will suffer the consequences of Houthi rebels in Yemen carry out further attacks on shipping routes in the region.

Iran is the group's main backer.

The president's comments on social media come after his administration launched airstrikes this weekend that killed more than 50 people.

Last week, the Houthi said they would again target Israeli ships traveling through the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden because Israel has blocked aid to Gaza.

Today, in Sanaa, thousands of Yemenis chanted anti-U.S. and anti-Israeli slogans at a rally to show solidarity with Gaza.

Later, Pentagon officials told reporters that the offensive would end as soon as the Houthis pledged to stop their attacks.

SEAN PARNELL, Chief Pentagon Spokesperson: We will use overwhelming lethal force until we have achieved our objective.

This is also not an endless offensive.

This is not about regime change in the Middle East.

This is about putting American interests first.

GEOFF BENNETT: Meantime, Iran told the U.N. Security Council that the comments from President Trump and other U.S. officials were -- quote -- "reckless and provocative."

In a letter, the country's ambassador to the U.N. insisted that Iran is not involved in -- quote - - "any destabilizing activities in the region."

In North Macedonia, authorities are seeking answers and accountability after a nightclub fire this weekend in the Eastern town of Kocani killed at least 59 people.

More than 150 others were injured.

Cell phone video from inside the club shows the pyrotechnics that caused the blaze.

Officials detained 15 people and ordered a nationwide review of licenses for such venues.

Police are also investigating suspicions of bribery and corruption at the club, which was crammed at double capacity with only a single exit.

Today, the country's prime minister vowed justice.

HRISTIJAN MICKOSKI, Prime Minister of North Macedonia (through translator): We will have no mercy.

What happened was worse than a crime.

This was, I would say, a mass murder allowed to happen by someone for money, for bribes, for corruption.

GEOFF BENNETT: There was an outpouring of grief and condolences today in the town of just 25,000 people, but there were also scenes of rage as demonstrators smashed up another bar said to belong to the same owner.

Back in this country, the retailer Forever 21 is set to close all us stores as it files for bankruptcy for a second time.

The one-time staple of America's malls cites rising costs and shifting consumer trends as major factors.

It also lost ground to online competition from Amazon, Temu and Shein.

Founded back in 1984 by Korean immigrants in California, Forever 21 was kept afloat after a prior bankruptcy filing in 2019.

The company's Web site will remain active as it looks for possible partners to keep the stores going.

Its overseas locations and Web sites will continue operating as normal.

On Wall Street today, stocks started the week on steady footing.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained more than 350 points on the day.

The Nasdaq added about 50 points, or a third of 1 percent.

The S&P 500 also ended in positive territory.

And cities and communities across the country have been celebrating St. Patrick's Day.

In New York City, overcast skies failed to dampen spirits at the city's 264th annual parade.

Organizers say some 150,000 participants marched up Manhattan's famed Fifth Avenue.

And, in Dublin, Ireland marching bands, revelers and plenty of green capped off a three-day festival.

St. Patrick's Day was originally meant to mark the death of Ireland's patron saint, but has grown into a wider celebration of Irish heritage.

Still to come on the "News Hour": a new book examines the escalating effort among some conservative politicians and businesses to silence journalists and curtail free speech; and Tamara Keith and Amy Walter break down the latest political headlines.

For the better part of a century, Voice of America has broadcasted to countries whose government censored free information.

That mission continued with agencies such as Radio Free Europe and Radio Free Asia.

But now the Trump administration has dismantled VOA's parent organization, put all of its employees on leave, and ended federal funding for independent media agencies.

Nick Schifrin reports on a decision that ends a long bipartisan tradition.

ANNOUNCER: The courier, a ship without guns, goes into battle armed with the greatest weapon of all, truth.

NICK SCHIFRIN: For more than 80 years, the U.S. government believed government-funded information supported freedom and democracy.

MAN (through translator): This is a voice speaking from America.

NICK SCHIFRIN: That began with Voice of America, which beamed its first broadcast in 1942.

MAN: The news may be good or bad.

We shall tell you the truth.

RONALD REAGAN, Former President of the United States: My name is Ronald Reagan.

This powerful 135,000-watt Radio Free Europe transmitter pierces the Iron Curtain with the truth.

NICK SCHIFRIN: It expanded with Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty, funded by Congress, first run by the CIA, part of a - - quote -- "crusade for freedom."

In the 1980s, the geography expanded.

Radio Marti, today the Office of Cuba Broadcasting, reached into communist Cuba.

Radio Free Asia began in the 1990s to reach over China's great firewall and across the region.

And when U.S. government information started being blocked by adversaries' technology... ANNOUNCER: And citizens around the world are being tortured, imprisoned, and even killed for their online speech.

NICK SCHIFRIN: ... VOA's digital descendant, the Open Technology Fund, created its own technology so freedom fighters could communicate and spread the truth.

But since his first administration, President Trump has targeted VOA... DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: And if you heard what's coming out of the Voice of America, it's disgusting.

NICK SCHIFRIN: ... and on Friday night released an executive order eliminating parent company U.S. Agency for Global Media.

This is the video that is now on loop for Voice of America, and all staff have been put on leave.

ANNOUNCER (through translator): Fifteen transgender women who were apprehended by Border Patrol agents.

NICK SCHIFRIN: The White House singled out this and other VOA stories as evidence VOA had become -- quote -- "radical propaganda."

And it highlighted these external publications and quoted a former employee calling VOA a hubris-filled rogue operation often reflecting a leftist bias.

And, separately, the independent agencies Radio Free Europe, Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia, Middle East Broadcasting Networks, and the Open Technology Fund all had their federal funding ended.

LISA CURTIS, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Radio Free Europe, Radio Liberty is a foreign policy tool.

It is furthering U.S. national security interests.

And, look, you get a lot of bang for your buck.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Lisa Curtis is the chair of the board of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and a former senior director on President Trump's first National Security Council staff.

LISA CURTIS: While it's understandable that President Trump wants to cut down on government waste and fraud, I think this is the wrong organization to be attacking.

Russia, Iran, China, these countries are spending billions in their own propaganda, their own anti-American propaganda.

So I think it's critical that the U.S. government is supporting organizations like RFE/RL that are pushing back against that disinformation, misinformation.

NICK SCHIFRIN: And she says RFE/RL's content reaches more than 10 percent of Iranians, many of whom have protested the regime.

LISA CURTIS: So I think it really is part of U.S. soft power, but they actually call it the hard edge of soft power because it is so effective in getting out the truth about America, about what's happening in their local environments.

And this is absolutely critical.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Curtis said she considers the freeze and their funding illegal because the money is congressionally appropriated and RFE/RL's mission is congressionally mandated.

And they will sue the Trump administration to get it restored.

To discuss this, I turn to Michael Abramowitz, who since last year has been the president of Voice of America and before that was the president of Freedom House.

Michael Abramowitz, thanks very much.

Welcome back to the "News Hour."

As you heard, President Trump in his statement on Friday night referred to VOA as a radical propaganda with a liberal bias.

Is it?

MICHAEL ABRAMOWITZ, Director, Voice of America: I don't think so.

I do think that people at many different news organizations have been accused of bias on both right and left, like many different news organizations.

VOA is not perfect, but we're unusual among news organizations because we are one of the few news organizations that by law has to be fair and balanced.

Every year, we look at each of our language services, review it for fairness, for balance.

I have been a journalist in this field for a long time, and I think the journalists at VOA stand up very well against people from CNN, FOX, New York Times, et cetera, in terms of the commitment to balance.

When we do talk shows, for instance, broadcasting into Iran, we will have Republicans, we will have Democrats.

We are presenting the full spectrum of American political opinion, which is required by our charter.

NICK SCHIFRIN: You have heard from other administration officials or allies of the president.

Ric Grenell, who is a special envoy, called it -- quote -- "a relic of the past.

We don't need government-paid media outlets."

Elon Musk says: "Shut them down.

Nobody listens to them anymore."

Fundamentally, why do you believe taxpayers should pay for VOA journalism?

MICHAEL ABRAMOWITZ: You know, the media is changing, the world is changing, and the Cold War doesn't exist anymore.

But what is happening around the world is that there is a huge, really, battle over information.

The world is awash in propaganda and lies, and our adversaries like Russia and China, Iran are really spreading narratives that directly undermine accurate views about America.

And we have to fight back.

And VOA in particular has been an incredible asset for fighting back by providing objective news and information in the languages, in 48 languages that people in the local markets we serve.

No other news organization does that.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Let me ask a little bit about the status of the agency.

You and every employee were put on leave over the weekend.

Today, all contractors have been terminated.

Do you have any notion of what the goal is from the administration?

Is it to reform VOA, or is it simply to destroy it?

MICHAEL ABRAMOWITZ: Candidly, I don't know.

Ms. Kari Lake, who is supposed to be my successor at some point she's given some interviews, and I think she clearly recognizes in those interviews that VOA serves an important purpose.

I think there are a lot of Republicans, in particular, especially on the Hill, who recognize the value of Voice of America, who recognize that, if we shut down, for instance, our program on Iran, which is really an incredible newsroom -- we have 100 journalists, most of whom speak Farsi, has a huge audience inside Iran.

When the president of Iran, when his helicopter went down over the summer, there was a huge spike in traffic on the VOA Web site because the people of Iran knew that they could not get accurate information about what was going on, so they came to VOA to get it.

That's the kind of thing that we can do.

NICK SCHIFRIN: I want to point out, we heard from Lisa Curtis, the chair of the board of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

Voice of America and the Cuba Broadcasting, previously known as Radio Marti -- we have got a graphic to show this -- those are fully federal networks.

(CROSSTALK) NICK SCHIFRIN: What RFE/RL is talking about, they are a grantee.

They get a grant from the U.S. government.

RFE/RL will sue.

Does VOA have any recourse today?

MICHAEL ABRAMOWITZ: Well, I think we are -- I mean, there's a lot of discussion about some lawsuits that different parties are making.

I know that the employees may be thinking about that.

I think -- I'm not sure that litigation in the end is going to be the most productive way.

Maybe -- I mean, you have to see what happens.

But I think what would be really great is if Congress and the administration get together, recognize that this is a very important service, recognize that it's sorely needed in a world in which our adversaries are spending billions of dollars, like Lisa said, and reformulate VOA to be effective for the modern age.

NICK SCHIFRIN: And, finally, how -- what's the impact of this decision and the language that we have heard from the Trump administration on the very idea that information, that journalism sponsored by the U.S. government can support freedom and democracy?

MICHAEL ABRAMOWITZ: We have been on the air essentially for 83 years through war, 9/11, government shutdown.

VOA has kept -- has kept its - - has kept the lights on, has not been silent.

So we're silenced for the first time in 83 years.

That's devastating to me personally.

It's devastating to the staff.

It's devastating to all the thousands of people who used to work at VOA.

I mean, this is a very special and unique news organization.

It deserves to live.

It doesn't mean we can't reform, but it deserves to survive.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Michael Abramowitz, thank you very much.

MICHAEL ABRAMOWITZ: Thanks for having me.

GEOFF BENNETT: While the Trump administration eliminates Voice of America, a new book examines another longer-term attack on the press here in the U.S. William Brangham has the latest in our series On Democracy -- William.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: That's right, Geoff.

After the First Amendment to the Constitution, one of the foundational legal protections for the free press is the precedent set by a case called Times v. Sullivan.

The Supreme Court ruled in 1964 that journalistic organizations were protected from libel or defamation lawsuits brought by a public figure unless that plaintiff could prove the journalists had acted intentionally with what is known as -- quote -- "actual malice" or with -- quote -- "an intentional disregard for the truth."

My guest's new book documents a well-funded ongoing effort to undo that longstanding protection.

It is called "Murder the Truth: Fear, the First Amendment, and a Secret Campaign to Protect the Powerful."

Its author is New York Times investigative journalist David Enrich.

Welcome to the "News Hour."

DAVID ENRICH, Author, "Murder the Truth: Fear, the First Amendment, and a Secret Campaign to Protect the Powerful": Thanks for having me.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: This is an incredibly well-timed book.

I mean, President Trump, obviously, you started it before you knew he would be president, but he has long said that the press protections in this country are far too strict and should be changed.

But you have said that the genesis of this book was an experience that you and your colleagues at the investigative unit at The Times, what you went through when you would do stories.

Explain that.

DAVID ENRICH: It seemed that basically every time we were starting to report on a powerful person or a powerful institution, we were on the receiving end of threatening letters from that person's lawyers.

And The New York Times has resources and very good lawyers.

And so we're equipped to deal with that.

But it got me thinking what that experience would be like if I worked at a smaller news outlet or was an independent journalist.

And so I started calling around to journalists all over the country and began hearing these absolute horror stories about the experiences they had been through, either being threatened or sued or otherwise intimidated and bullied.

The bottom line was that journalists and members of the public all over the country, based on my reporting, were really -- they were shying away from stories that needed to be told, or in some cases were being sued out of business when they had the guts to actually tell the stories.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Times v. Sullivan, contrary to what its critics say, is not a bulletproof vest to reporters.

I mean, if they make a mistake and it's done, if they really do screw up, they can and do get sued.

Remind us what that standard actually says.

DAVID ENRICH: So the standard says that if you are a public figure or a public official, in order to win a defamation lawsuit, you not only need to prove that the underlying facts were wrong and that your reputation was damaged as a result of them.

You also need to show that the journalist or whoever else made the offending remarks did so either knowing that what they were saying was false, so, in other words, lying, or acting with a reckless disregard for the truth.

And the Supreme Court's rationale for that was that, in a country that really values free speech and where it's important to have public scrutiny and investigations and the ability of people to criticize powerful people, it's important to give people a breathing room, so that, if they get a fact wrong or make an honest mistake in the course of scrutinizing someone powerful, they don't risk getting sued into oblivion.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Your book details a lot of this campaign, principally from right-wing organizations and donors and law firms.

Tell us who the characters are here.

Who's pushing against this?

DAVID ENRICH: Well, there's a whole - - it's a pretty wide range of people.

And on the one hand, you have a small group of lawyers whose businesses revolve around either suing or threatening the news media and who would gain financially, I think as well as ideologically, from changing the legal standards so that it becomes easier to sue and threaten news outlets and journalists.

You also have people like Clarence Thomas, who really, I think, firmly ideologically believe that the media has amassed too much power and they are determined to make it harder for the media and for journalists and for members of the public even to say or write things that are critical of people in positions of power.

And so you also have a whole army of activists, academics, think tanks, people like that, institutions like that all over the country that have kind of joined this charge in the past several years.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Is it, as we have seen with other major cases, gun rights cases, abortion rights cases, the hope that they can drive one of these cases all the way up to the Supreme Court and thus chip away at Times v. Sullivan?

DAVID ENRICH: Absolutely.

I mean, that is the clear and often articulated goal of a lot of lawyers, a lot of conservative activists, that they want to see the Supreme Court, if not overturn Sullivan outright, then at least kind of narrow its scope.

The thing that I think is interesting here is that, even if that campaign fails -- and it might -- there might not be enough justices who want to overturn it -- it's already having a really big effect, because you're seeing judges all over the country at the state, in some cases federal level, who are voicing support for this endeavor.

And, in doing so, they're causing legal actions that normally would get thrown out of court at a pretty early stage, they last a lot longer.

And they are very expensive and time-consuming, not just for journalists and news outlets, but for normal people who maybe circulate a petition about a real estate developer in their town or have a post something on social media that gets them in trouble.

And so it's already causing a really severe chilling effect on the ability of everyone from a normal citizen to someone with a Substack newsletter or podcast to journalists at major news outlets being able to really properly scrutinize and hold powerful people to account.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: You're getting at this point here, but let's just say a viewer out there is watching this.

They're not a journalist.

They may not even be a big consumer of news.

Let's just say Times v. Sullivan does get chipped away at.

What is the ramification of that?

DAVID ENRICH: It's just going to be much more dangerous for people to speak what they regard as the truth to powerful people, institutions, companies, things like that.

And we have seen this over and over again over the past few years.

And I document a lot of these stories in the book, where you have a powerful local interest, maybe it's a company, maybe it's a businessman, maybe it's the mayor or the police in your town, that do not like what you are reporting on.

They do not like what you're saying.

If you're just a member of the public, they don't like the petition you're circulating or that comment you made on Facebook.

First, they will threaten you and say, if you don't remove that comment or that petition, we -- you might get sued.

And if you refuse, you actually might get sued.

And even though the law is on your side right now with Times v. Sullivan in place, the process of dealing with that litigation, going to court to try and get it dismissed, hiring a lawyer, it can take years.

It's extremely expensive.

And over and over again, what I have seen in my reporting is that the much safer, easier, simpler route is what a lot of people do, which is they just back down.

And for people who believe in free speech and being able to speak up and say what you believe, especially about people or groups that have power in our society, that's a really disturbing trend, I think.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: The book is called "Murder the Truth: Fear, the First Amendment, and a Secret Campaign to Protect the Powerful."

David Enrich, thank you so much for being here.

DAVID ENRICH: Thank you for having me.

GEOFF BENNETT: The almost government shutdown narrowly avoided a few days ago highlighted a Democratic Party debating how to govern in the minority.

For analysis of that and more, we're joined now by our Politics Monday duo.

That's Amy Walter of The Cook Political Report With Amy Walter and Tamara Keith of NPR.

It's good to see you both.

TAMARA KEITH, National Public Radio: Good to be here.

GEOFF BENNETT: Happy St. Patrick's Day.

TAMARA KEITH: Indeed.

GEOFF BENNETT: So many Democratic lawmakers continue to express their deep frustration with Senator Chuck Schumer for having broken with most of his party in allowing this Republican spending bill to pass, as the Democratic base is demanding a stronger resistance to President Trump and his policies.

Here's some of what Democratic lawmakers had to say.

REP. JASMINE CROCKETT (D-TX): The idea that Chuck Schumer is the only one that's got a brain in the room and the only one that can think through all of the pros and cons is absolutely ridiculous.

I think Senate Democrats have to sit down and take a look and decide whether or not Chuck Schumer is the one to lead in this moment.

SEN. CHRIS MURPHY (D-CT): Leader Schumer has a very difficult job.

I don't envy the job that he has.

And the question is really for the members of his Democratic Caucus.

Are we willing to fight?

QUESTION: Do you think that Leader Schumer is the best person to lead your caucus in this moment?

SEN. CHRIS MURPHY: Senator Schumer certainly can lead.

GEOFF BENNETT: And the House Democratic leader, Hakeem Jeffries, has refused multiple times to say whether he has confidence in Senator Schumer's leadership.

Tam, walk us through your reporting on this.

TAMARA KEITH: Right.

So Democrats are certainly out in the wilderness right now.

In particular, Washington Democrats are out in the wilderness.

And they face a Democratic electorate that is defeated and depleted.

And if they had won in November, none of this would be happening, but they lost.

And so they're now in these -- this sort of cycle of trying to figure out what they stand for and how to say what they stand for.

I did talk to a Democratic consultant today who said if they would just focus on prices and the economy and the Republicans want to lower taxes on billionaires, they would be fine.

But, instead, there's a lot of focus on a lot of other things.

And this is what happens when you lose.

This is an entirely predictable outcome based on what happened in the election.

GEOFF BENNETT: And, Amy, Senator Schumer canceled a book tour that was set for this week.

His office is citing security reasons.

But in an interview he gave to The New York Times on Saturday, he said that he knew this would be an unpopular decision.

He knew that there would be divisions over this.

But the dissatisfaction isn't just about the vote.

It's about the approach.

Is that right?

AMY WALTER, The Cook Political Report: Yes, I think a lot of this was people feeling, especially on the House side, that they had been caught off guard, right, that there was an agreement that they were going in this together.

Hakeem Jeffries on the House side kept all but one of his members voting no.

Fundamentally, I think Schumer's biggest challenge at this moment is that he's fighting the last war.

And you could hear it in this interview, which is, he's citing examples from 2006 and 2018, when there was also a trifecta of Republican governors, a governorship, right, a Republican president and Republicans in control of Congress, and that the same strategies that worked then are going to work now.

The major difference, even with 2017, is that the Republican Party is so much more unified behind Donald Trump, and he is so much more popular in the districts and states where these members come from.

So I think his fundamental misreading of the moment, of this just specific moment of this government funding bill was that he thought, as did I think many House Democrats, that the speaker would be unable to keep everybody in line, because, again, in the past, in the last wars, they weren't able to do that, and Johnson only had a one-seat margin.

Well, he did it.

And I think that is the theory that they need to be playing now going forward, which is, these Republicans are not going to split away from Donald Trump.

And that is hard.

And that's to tell your voters that, even if all of our people stick together and all of their people stick together, it's not going to work.

GEOFF BENNETT: Well, Democrats at the moment have no real tools with which to fight, given that they're in the minority in both chambers.

And there's also -- this is also playing out in the polling.

The Democratic Party has hit an all-time low in popularity in a new NBC News poll.

Just 27 percent of respondents view the party positively.

For comparison, 39 percent view Republicans positively.

So, Tam, how do the Democrats you speak with, how do they read these numbers?

TAMARA KEITH: Right.

Well, those numbers are pretty terrible all around.

I also looked at another number in underneath the hood of that poll, which is that 65 percent of Democratic voters in that poll want Democrats in Congress to stick to their positions, even if that means not being able to get things done in Washington.

They want Democrats to fight.

The one tool that Democrats in the Senate do have is the filibuster.

The filibuster is still in place.

And there are a lot of people who wanted Schumer and Democrats to do the filibuster, to filibuster, to block it and to and essentially to say, we're headed for a shutdown if you don't play ball with us.

But Schumer, what he is arguing -- and one of the Democrats I talked to today said, well, he may have a point.

What Schumer is arguing is that if they allowed it to shut down, then Musk and Trump would have gotten what they wanted, given that Trump 1.0., so he did a lot of things, but he's doing -- in Trump 2.0, he's cutting, he is doing things, he is blowing past rulings, he is trying novel approaches to the law, you would say.

And the Congress is, the Republican Congress is saying, OK, cool, which means that Democrats are just in a different position than they were before.

AMY WALTER: Yes, and that you can use a filibuster for a different time.

This was not the right time to do it, which is also Schumer's point.

But to that statistic about Democrats wanting Democrats to fight more, in 2017, that number was much lower.

More Democrats said, we want you to work with Trump, not fight him.

But you also have to remember that Democratic voters, and, quite frankly, all voters, have been told throughout 2024 that Donald Trump, by Democrats, that Donald Trump was an existential threat to this country.

If that is your message, if you are saying to people, you have got to come out and vote for Democrats, because, if he wins, he's going to destroy democracy as we know it, and then you go and say, well, actually we can't use a filibuster here to stop somebody that you think is an existential threat.

(CROSSTALK) AMY WALTER: You can understand why Democratic voters are like, I don't understand why you're not fighting more.

Those of us in Washington understand how the politics work, right, in terms of how you get... TAMARA KEITH: And the procedure, yes.

AMY WALTER: And the procedure and how you get numbers or you don't have enough numbers.

But if you run a campaign for the last eight years on that thesis, you're going to have a disappointed base.

GEOFF BENNETT: In meantime, Tam, President Trump continues to see his highest approval ratings ever, according to this same poll.

Again, polling is a snapshot in time.

He's still underwater, but 47 percent approve of the job that he's doing.

And he has a 55 percent approval rating on his handling of immigration.

And the White House is already using polling like this as cover to say that what they're doing on immigration, deporting these Venezuelan migrants without due process, that this is what the American people want and this is what the American people voted for.

TAMARA KEITH: Right.

And Karoline Leavitt tweeted out a video of those Venezuelans on a tarmac in El Salvador and said the American people voted for this.

She said, we are unafraid to double down.

And they are unafraid to double down.

That is exactly what they are doing and they believe that they have a mandate.

GEOFF BENNETT: More to come.

TAMARA KEITH: Yes.

GEOFF BENNETT: Tamara Keith, Amy Walter, thank you both.

AMY WALTER: You're welcome.

GEOFF BENNETT: The percentage of people diagnosed with autism has more than quadrupled over the last two decades, but explicit training for law enforcement to respond to this population and people with other developmental or intellectual disabilities is rare.

And, as Judy Woodruff reports, misunderstandings between law enforcement and people with disabilities can lead to tragic consequences.

This report is part of our series Disability Reframed.

DAREN PARSA, Father of Eric Parsa: Around this was the age when he started having more of the signs of autism, but he was - - still smiled a lot and was happy.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Eric Parsa was the only child of Daren Parsa and Donna Lou.

Raised outside New Orleans, when he was about 3, Eric was diagnosed with pervasive developmental disorder, which is included in autism spectrum disorder.

DONNA LOU, Mother of Eric Parsa: When he laughed, when he thought something was funny, I mean, it was just really contagious.

Like, you felt his joy.

(LAUGHTER) JUDY WOODRUFF: As Eric got older, it became clear he had serious, disabilities, including severely limited speech.

Eric's behavior also included moments when he would injure himself by head-banging or self-slapping.

DAREN PARSA: Part of it was when he had an outburst, just know when to back off, allow him time to just sort of calm down.

We saw that if he was getting cranked up, if we both kind of crowded around him, that would just like pour gas on a fire.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Daren and Donna said Eric's outbursts had improved significantly as he got older.

But in January of 2020, the Parsas were at a local laser tag place, a regular outing for the family, when Eric started getting upset.

DAREN PARSA: He said: "Go home."

So I said, "OK, OK, buddy."

And we walked out.

And then midway between the entrance and our car, he stopped, slapped himself four of five times in the face and then got aggressive with me.

JUDY WOODRUFF: While they struggled, an employee of the game room asked if they should call the police.

DONNA LOU: They asked me, and I asked Daren.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Your reaction was, you saw your husband dealing with it.

DONNA LOU: Exactly.

And I thought, well, he needs some help.

DAREN PARSA: By this point, Eric and I had kind of worked their way to the front entrance.

The location was scary.

That's why I said yes.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Minutes later, a sheriff's deputy arrived.

DAREN PARSA: I turned to the deputy and I said: "My son has autism.

I don't know if maybe splitting attention triggered things."

But that's when Eric ramped up again and he started slapping me.

And then the deputy intervened.

And then Eric started open handed slapping the deputy.

And the deputy pushed Eric down to the ground.

And it ended up with the deputy sitting on Eric's backside with Eric in a prone position.

DONNA LOU: When he was laying down, I took his hand, because he was calming down already.

I said: "Eric, you're doing a good job calming down.

It's going to be OK. You doing a good job."

JUDY WOODRUFF: More deputies arrived at the scene, and several took turns on top of handcuffed Eric Parsa.

In all, he was pinned for more than nine minutes.

DONNA LOU: I said: "Eric is -- he's having trouble breathing.

He's having trouble breathing."

And... DAREN PARSA: And this is when all the officers really kind of crowded around.

Donna was saying: "Crowding around him makes him worse."

DONNA LOU: They said they -- "Let us do our job.

Let us do our business."

And I was just: "It's just going to -- it's going to escalate his behavior."

JUDY WOODRUFF: About 12 minutes after the first deputy arrived on the scene, Eric was completely unresponsive.

DAREN PARSA: His eyes were in slits.

He had some foam coming out of his mouth.

DONNA LOU: Lips were turning blue.

DAREN PARSA: And he was dead.

He was - - well, he was in cardiac arrest.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Eric Parsa was 16 years old.

The coroner ruled his death an accident.

And the Jefferson Parish sheriff said his deputies did nothing wrong.

DONNA LOU: You're haunted by that look that he had.

He was petrified.

And then there's -- you're help -- like, as parents, you're helpless.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Eric Parsa's death is not an outlier.

Between one-third and one-half of all people killed by police in the United States have disabilities, according to research that compiled and analyzed news media reports.

LEIGH ANNE MCKINGSLEY, Senior Director of Disability and Justice Initiatives, The Arc: It's probably more common than most people think.

We don't have federal data to tell us that because we're not collecting that.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Leigh Anne McKingsley, a senior director at the national center for criminal justice and disability at The Arc, a disability rights organization, she points to the need for funding to collect better data and more training.

MAN: Slow the momentum.

Remember that word?

JUDY WOODRUFF: Today, no more than 20 states require law enforcement training on intellectual or developmental disabilities or related conditions.

LEIGH ANNE MCKINGSLEY: A number of states do offer different types of training, but it's very different and there's no standardization.

And there's just not really enough training out there.

ELIZABETH REYES, Los Angeles Police Department: Police work is done on behaviors.

We're not trained mental health professionals.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Detective Elizabeth Reyes leads the Los Angeles Police Department's Mental Evaluation Unit, which runs mandated training for each of the department's nearly 9,000 officers.

ELIZABETH REYES: This week you will get a ton of resources.

JUDY WOODRUFF: We sat in on part of a class with mostly veteran LAPD officers which covers mental health crises, but also includes a section disabilities like autism.

ELIZABETH REYES: This type of training opens people's eyes to different possibilities of what they're actually coming in contact with.

You may not have a mental illness.

It might be that this person has a developmental disability, and so you may need to kind of slow it down.

THOMAS ILAND, Autism Society of Los Angeles: How many of you by a show of hands know someone on the autism spectrum right now?

About half.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Thomas Iland is with the Autism Society of Los Angeles and teaches the section disabilities.

THOMAS ILAND: Looking at my title here, you will see self-advocate, and what that means is I am on the autism spectrum and I advocate for myself accordingly.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Iland goes through communication strategies and behaviors that people with autism may exhibit and how they could be misinterpreted by police.

He also talks through the type of situation that deputies encountered with Eric Parsa, a sensory outburst or a meltdown.

THOMAS ILAND: There's usually not some ill will or bad intentions behind it, but they have difficulty managing everything that's happening to them, to where there's that figurative explosion.

Sometimes, time and patience.

You need to let the meltdown happen.

So go ahead and put a fresh Post-It note on your head like this.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Iland also leads the class in exercises designed to show how accommodations need to be made for people with disabilities.

THOMAS ILAND: I noticed nobody asked for more time.

I only gave you a few seconds to complete that task.

It helps the officer create some understanding.

The more we can educate the officers as to what kind of resources they have available, the more we can bring people on the autism spectrum to share their stories, that has more of an impact.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And whether mandated by the state or motivated to prevent costly legal settlements after bad outcomes, Detective Reyes says training improves policing.

ELIZABETH REYES: Especially in a large urban police department lawsuits, right, liability.

We learn.

We get better as the years go by, and getting better is a result of more training, better training.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Back in Louisiana, The Arc's Leigh McKingsley worries that possible federal funding cuts could reverse momentum on law enforcement training.

LEIGH ANNE MCKINGSLEY: It could have a huge impact.

For example, at The Arc's National Center on Criminal Justice and Disability, our funding has mainly come from federal government.

JUDY WOODRUFF: She also worries that the Trump administration's focus on ending diversity, equity and inclusion could also affect organizations like The Arc.

LEIGH ANNE MCKINGSLEY: The Arc started almost 75 years ago by parents whose children weren't allowed to go to school because of a disability.

So inclusion means everything.

DAREN PARSA: Eric would have liked this, yes.

DONNA LOU: I think so too.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Daren Parsa and Donna Lou are doing what they can to keep Eric's memory alive.

The couple settled a civil suit with the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office in 2023, which included a requirement that the department have an outside expert develop a curriculum to train deputies on how to deal with people with autism.

As you look back on it, what do you think that the deputies should have done differently?

DONNA LOU: A big one, I think, is communication.

We were there.

Like, Eric couldn't have the words to say, "I can't breathe."

He just didn't have the words to say that.

DAREN PARSA: Putting myself in their shoes, they certainly didn't want Eric to die that day.

And I could understand where they're coming from, how horrifically hard that job is.

But at the same token, Eric shouldn't die that day.

So there's got to be a better way to handle this.

JUDY WOODRUFF: A better way for people like Eric Parsa and the many people with intellectual or developmental disabilities who may come into contact with police.

For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Judy Woodruff in St. Charles Parish, Louisiana.

GEOFF BENNETT: And that is the "News Hour" for tonight.

I'm Geoff Bennett.

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