AMNA NAWAZ: Good evening.

I'm Amna Nawaz.

Geoff Bennett is away.

On the "News Hour" tonight: The global economy teeters while President Trump claims that his tariffs are bringing nations to the negotiating table.

The Supreme Court allows the Trump administration to continue deporting migrants under the Alien Enemies Act.

What we know about the conditions at the infamous El Salvador prison where they're being held.

And Taiwan closely watches the global response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, fearing that China could soon attempt a similar takeover.

HUANG YU HSIANG, Taiwanese Pro-Ukraine Protester (through translator): If Russia is not held accountable for its actions, China might think they can get away with it too.

We can't let that happen.

(BREAK) AMNA NAWAZ: Welcome to the "News Hour."

Just hours before major new tariffs are set to kick in, President Trump and his team said he remains open to deals, but generally would not back down from levies on goods from more than 80 countries.

That includes a 104 percent tariff on China set to take effect at midnight.

That message helped kill an early rally in the markets and the Dow swung by nearly 1,800 points.

The Dow closed at its lowest point in about a year, finishing down about eight-tenths of a point.

The Nasdaq was down more than 2 percent and the S&P 500 dropped more than 1.5 percent.

Stephanie Sy begins with this report.

STEPHANIE SY: On Wall Street this morning, stocks around the world began the day with a bounce after days of losses set off by tariff turmoil.

SCOTT BESSENT, U.S. Treasury Secretary: Everything is on the table.

STEPHANIE SY: Before the opening bell, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had told CNBC that U.S. trading partners are eager to negotiate and strike new deals.

SCOTT BESSENT: I think there's going to be a lot of back-and-forth.

President Trump is going to be personally involved in the negotiations.

And we will see what the -- what our trading partners offer.

STEPHANIE SY: The market optimism had faded by the time the president spoke this afternoon, saying the U.S. is now taking in $2 billion a day on tariffs and claiming 70 countries are ready to strike a deal.

DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: Right now, Japan is flying here to make a deal.

South Korea is flying here to make a deal.

And others are flying here.

Our problem is, can't see that many that fast.

But we don't have to because, as you know, the tariffs are on.

STEPHANIE SY: But while, negotiations play out, on Capitol Hill... MAN: The committee will come to order.

STEPHANIE SY: ... Trump's new trade ambassador, Jamieson Greer, confirmed there will be no immediate tariff exemptions for individual products or companies.

JAMIESON GREER, U.S. Trade Representative: The president has been clear with me and with others that he does not intend to have exclusions and exemptions, especially given the nature of the action.

If you have Swiss cheese in the action, it can undermine the overall point, which is to give it a deficit, achieve reciprocity.

STEPHANIE SY: Members of the Senate Finance Committee, including several Republicans, raised concerns and doubts.

SEN. STEVE DAINES (R-MT): Who pays these high tariffs?

In the short, medium term, it will be the consumer.

It will be the consumer.

And so I'm worried about the inflationary effect.

SEN. RON JOHNSON (R-WI): I don't often agree with the members on the other side of the aisle, but in many cases here today, particularly when they're expressing concern about small businesses in their states, I'm hoping you're very -- and I hope you and the president are very sensitive about companies potentially going bankrupt by these actions.

STEPHANIE SY: Real-world effects to a trade war that has escalated quickly.

Yesterday, Trump threatened to slap even more tariffs on China after the economic superpower retaliated with tariffs of its own.

The Trump administration is not backing down.

JAMIESON GREER: They have agency in this.

They elected to announce retaliation.

Other countries did not.

Other countries signaled that they'd like to find a path forward on reciprocity.

China has not said that.

And we will see where that goes.

STEPHANIE SY: Beijing has yet to flinch.

LIN JIAN, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson (through translator): Pressure, threats and blackmail are not the right ways to deal with China.

If the U.S. disregards the interests of both countries and the international community and insists on engaging in a tariff war and trade war, China will fight to the end.

STEPHANIE SY: Tensions between global heavyweights and increasingly in Trump's inner circle.

Today on X, Elon Musk called Peter Navarro, a key architect of Trump's trade policy -- quote -- "dumber than a sack of bricks."

Navarro characterized Tesla as a car assembler that depends on imported car parts.

At the White House today, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt chalked up the spat to transparency.

KAROLINE LEAVITT, White House Press Secretary: These are obviously two individuals who have very different views on trade and on tariffs.

Boys will be boys and we will let their public sparring continue.

STEPHANIE SY: All this as economies hang in the balance.

New tariffs are set to officially go into effect at midnight tonight.

For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Stephanie Sy.

AMNA NAWAZ: For perspective on the growing trade war between the United States and China and the ripple effects it's having, we turn now to Elizabeth Economy.

She served as the senior adviser for China in the Commerce Department during the Biden administration.

She's currently a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution.

Elizabeth, welcome back to the "News Hour."

And we should note that things do change quickly on this front.

As we sit here and speak now, just past 6:00 Eastern on the East Coast, the administration is insisting it's moving forward with this ramping up of tariffs on China.

Based on what you have seen so far, how do you expect China to respond?

ELIZABETH ECONOMY, Former Senior Adviser for China, U.S. Commerce Department: I mean, I think we have seen that China has produced a fairly robust retaliatory toolkit.

I assume that they are going to hit back with reciprocal tariffs.

They will undoubtedly put more export controls on additional critical minerals that we need for our technology and defense industries.

I think we can expect that they will target additional individual U.S. companies for investigations of some sort and perhaps place more U.S. companies on the unreliable entity list, which means that they're not able to trade with China.

We also saw with the most recent round of tariffs that China moved to devalue its currency to help its exports to be cheaper and also intervened in the Chinese stock market to bolster some of the share prices.

So it's taking a very active and assertive role to try to keep the Chinese economy on course.

AMNA NAWAZ: Do you have a sense of what kind of impact the U.S. tariffs have already had on China, what kind of impact these new tariffs could have, what industries would be worst hit?

ELIZABETH ECONOMY: I mean, I think there's no doubt the Chinese economy has been struggling ever since COVID.

It has -- it failed to rebound post-COVID.

And so it's been struggling.

I think the sectors that are going to be hardest hit are those that export the most to the United States and are operating with the thinnest profit margins.

So I would expect sort of electronic consumer goods and apparel, furniture, toys, all of these industries, I think, are potentially going to be devastated at some level by this additional tariff hike, which, frankly, we're getting almost to farcical levels of tariffs at this point.

AMNA NAWAZ: That post-COVID slow economic recovery, does that in any way apply additional pressure to President Xi?

And I know the government there has been taking a lot of steps to try to spur more consumer spending and boost the economy.

But does that pressure in any way add up to more leverage for the U.S.?

Does it bring Xi to the negotiating table faster?

ELIZABETH ECONOMY: I think what we have seen from Xi Jinping and from the array of Chinese leaders who've spoken out on this is that they are prepared to go toe to toe with Donald Trump on these tariffs.

There's going to be no bowing down to President Trump.

And I think what we maybe need to understand a little bit better than we do is that these tariffs are actually proving to be a political boon to Xi Jinping.

If you look back a couple of months ago on Chinese social media, you would have seen a lot of criticism of the Chinese economy and most of it, even blatantly, directed towards Xi Jinping.

So he really was bearing the brunt of the criticism for the slowing of the Chinese economy, for the fact that there was a virtual nonexistent at this point FDI going into the country, no private venture capital.

So you really had a Chinese economy that was struggling.

Today, when you look at Chinese social media, what you see is a range of emotions, everything from confusion to defiance and anger, and all of it targeted at the United States, none of it now targeted at Xi Jinping.

We have essentially created for Xi Jinping a scapegoat for all of the economic ills that his policies created.

And now he's able to rally the Chinese people around a new threat, namely, the United States, Donald Trump, and these tariffs.

AMNA NAWAZ: So if this now becomes a question of which of these two nations, representing the two largest economies in the world, which can withstand more pain for longer, who in your view is better positioned to withstand the Chinese economy?

ELIZABETH ECONOMY: I mean, both have their own advantages.

I think what's increasingly in my mind, quite frankly, is whether or not the Trump administration wants China to come to the table, because I think at this point, again, these tariffs are almost at farcical levels and it sort of begs the question, what is it that we're trying to accomplish?

And I think, within the administration, there are a range of views.

I think there are some that actually see this as beneficial and sends a signal to other countries that if you retaliate the way that China did, you look at the consequences.

I think there are others who would actually like to see the two economies decouple.

I think if you look back at statements that Peter Navarro made during the first Trump administration and even before he was in government service, I think he's someone that actually would see China not coming to the negotiating table as a positive.

And then, finally, I think there's a possibility that this is part of a broader strategy, not one that's been actually articulated by the Trump administration, but perhaps are pieces of a puzzle that are coming together that really is designed to contain China.

I think if you think about the administration effort to reverse-engineer the Kissinger move and try to pry China away -- pry Russia away from China, or if you think about the difference between how we deal with our European as opposed to our Asian allies, where we're looking to bolster our security relationships in Asia and threatening to withdraw from NATO, I think there is a question that emerges in my mind at least about whether or not all of this comes together in a package of the U.S. effort to basically contain China.

AMNA NAWAZ: All right, Elizabeth Economy of the Hoover Institution joining us tonight, thank you so much for your time.

Really appreciate it.

ELIZABETH ECONOMY: Thank you.

AMNA NAWAZ: In the day's other headlines: The Supreme Court has sided with the Trump administration in its push to lay off thousands of federal workers.

In a 7-2 vote, the justices blocked a lower court order to reinstate probationary employees across six federal agencies.

The High Court's decision will keep employees on paid administrative leave for now while lawsuits play out.

This marks the third time in less than a week that the justices have sided with the administration as it challenges orders against its agenda.

Also in court today, a judge has ordered the White House to allow the Associated Press back into briefings, presidential trips and events.

The AP was barred from covering many White House events after it wouldn't refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America in its coverage.

The judge, who is a Trump appointee, ruled that under the First Amendment -- quote -- "If the government opens its doors to some journalists, it cannot then shut those doors to other journalists because of their viewpoints."

The Trump administration has until Sunday to appeal.

President Trump signed four executive orders today designed to boost coal production in the U.S. after decades of decline.

Coal once provided more than half of America's electricity, but that fell to just 16 percent in 2023.

Among the executive orders, Trump ended the Obama era leasing moratorium that paused new coal projects on federal lands.

He also required federal agencies to stop any policies that transition the country away from coal production.

And with coal miners lined up behind him, the president pledged to use his unique authorities to reopen or rebuild coal plants.

DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: We will streamline permitting.

We will end the government bias against coal, and we're going to unlock the sweeping authorities of Defense Production Act, the Defense Production Act, to turbocharge coal mining in America.

They made it impossible to -- impossible.

AMNA NAWAZ: Mr. Trump has long been a champion of coal.

In particular, he's proposed using coal to meet the growing demand for electricity to power massive data centers required for artificial intelligence.

At least 58 people were killed in the Dominican Republic when a nightclub roof collapsed early this morning; 160 others were injured.

Rescue workers drilled through concrete, hoping to find more survivors under the debris.

Officials said they presumed many people could still be alive.

Politicians, professional athletes and celebrities were attending a merengue concert at the jet-set club when the roof fell in.

One regional governor is among the dead.

The cause of the collapse is under investigation.

Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip overnight into today killed some 25 more people, including eight children.

Gaza's Health Ministry says nearly 60 Palestinians are dead from those strikes and others in the past 24 hours.

All of this comes as Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said today that the U.N.'s capacity to deliver aid in Gaza has been -- quote -- "strangled."

No aid has been delivered to the Strip since March 2.

And the U.N.'s World Food Program this week received word that the U.S. ended funding to its emergency programs.

WFP called that move a death sentence for its efforts to feed many impoverished countries.

The African nation of Congo has repatriated three Americans who were convicted for participating in a failed coup last year.

The State Department said they're back in U.S. custody.

Marcel Malanga, the American-born son of the opposition leader who led the coup, Benjamin Zalman-Polun, and Tyler Thompson were sentenced to death, but their sentences were commuted last week to life in prison.

Congo's presidency said they will serve their time in the U.S.

The repatriation comes as Congo tries to make a minerals deal with the U.S. in exchange for security support to fight rebel groups.

Instagram will soon roll out more safety measures for its teenage users.

The app's owner, social media giant Meta, announced that Instagram users under 16 won't be able to livestream or unblur potential nudity in their messages without a parent's permission.

Meta launched a teen accounts program for Instagram with more parental controls back in September amid growing concern over the effects of social media on underage users.

Meta says that teen accounts safeguards will also be extended to Facebook and to its messenger apps.

And scientists believe they have genetically engineered an ancient, extinct species of wolf back into existence, or at least something very close to it.

Those adorable snow white pups closely resemble the dire wolf, an animal that's been extinct for more than 10,000 years.

Research scientists from Colossal Biosciences examined the dire wolf genome from ancient fossils.

They rewrote the genetic code of the animal from its closest relative, the gray wolf, to match it, and then bred the pups with domestic dogs as surrogate mothers.

They hope their work can pave the way to bring back close copies of other extinct species.

Still to come on the "News Hour": Republican Senator James Lankford gives his take on the president's tariffs and the turnaround opportunities he sees in the country; and a man whose blood was used to develop the measles vaccine weighs in on the recent outbreak.

Well, today, Congress had its first full day back at work since the market sell-offs that ended last week and continued this week.

For Republicans, that is just one pressing issue.

They also face a critical moment for Trump's agenda on Capitol Hill.

For more on how those in office see the tariffs and budget negotiations, our congressional correspondent, Lisa Desjardins, joins me now.

Good to see you.

LISA DESJARDINS: Hi.

AMNA NAWAZ: So, start us off with just the temperature on Capitol Hill right now.

When you talk to Republicans, are you hearing more concerns about some of the market upheaval we have seen from the tariffs?

LISA DESJARDINS: For Republicans, it's important to divide how they're reacting to the public reaction and the private reaction.

There is some overlap.

But, in general, in public, most Republicans are expressing support for the president, some expressing hope that this will work out very well.

I spoke in particular to one moderate Republican who has a lot of trade in his district.

That's Mario Diaz-Balart of Miami.

He told me that he thinks in the end this is something that could be good.

And I asked him, are you worried about the consequences of a global trade war?

REP. MARIO DIAZ-BALART (R-FL): Yes, but the problem is that there's been a trade war on American consumers and American products from most of the world for decades upon decades.

LISA DESJARDINS: The idea here is that the America has needed to step up for a long time and try and get better trade agreements from around the world.

The question, though, is that what Republicans are saying in public, those are ones who support Trump, but privately there are many who have really grave concerns about what's going on.

I spoke to one Republican in a position of power who told me, quite frankly, this is insane, also believe the president, the way he's going about this, talking about trade deficits, is not a logical way to pursue the problems here.

There is one Republican who spoke on camera and also on the record about these concerns.

That's Don Bacon of Nebraska.

REP. DON BACON (R-NE): I don't like the thought of waging a trade war with the entire world.

And that's what we're doing right now.

It's us against everybody.

LISA DESJARDINS: Now, specifically, farmers are a concern.

I talked to some, like South Dakota Congress -- or Senator Mike Rounds, who said he is hearing from constituents that they're willing to give Trump a chance, but farmers are worried that Trump may not understand they have to pay for their machinery now.

One other note, Democrats universally have a problem with how Trump is doing this, but there is some nuance here.

I spoke to John Fetterman of Pennsylvania.

He's someone who says maybe there's something in this, even though he sees mostly chaos.

SEN. JOHN FETTERMAN (D-PA): There's one thing that I absolutely do support, is going after China.

And I think holding China accountable, I fully support that.

But I will never understand why you want to punch our allies in the mouth over again and again and again.

LISA DESJARDINS: But, again, for Republicans, most cheering the president on publicly, some crossing their fingers and some looking away.

AMNA NAWAZ: Meanwhile, Republicans, we know, are also trying to pass a different part of the Trump agenda, move forward with those sweeping tax cuts.

They have to pass a budget to be able to do so.

House Republicans may not have the votes to do so.

Tell us about the latest.

LISA DESJARDINS: This is a huge moment.

The Senate passed a budget framework, sent it to the House.

The House has hoped and is hoping to pass it this week.

However, as I speak to you right now, Amna, Speaker Mike Johnson does not have the votes to do that.

One reason is that these hard-line conservatives are worried about the red ink in this bill, specifically some like Representative Chip Roy of Texas.

REP. CHIP ROY (R-TX): So they're fine saying that they will -- unlimited tax cuts, but they're unwilling to say that they will do spending cuts, which is phony math.

The Senate has produced a budget that is phony math, and I'm not going to support it.

LISA DESJARDINS: I should be very clear, there's a real debate over what this budget reconciliation bill does.

He's on the side that it doesn't do enough to cut spending.

Others in the Senate say, no, it allows for potential spending cuts.

But right now you see there just isn't the support in the House that it needs.

It could shift to Thursday, but for right now, votes have been delayed.

AMNA NAWAZ: So what happens next on this push for a budget plan?

LISA DESJARDINS: Timing matters quite a lot because the president had hoped to get this entire package, this step and the next step done by Memorial Day.

Right now, they're not on that track, and if they lose momentum now, most people realize that the president's first year is the most powerful one.

So there's a fear that if things don't get on track for this Trump agenda bill soon, that they could lose not just time, but important momentum for these big things.

AMNA NAWAZ: Lisa Desjardins covering it all, thank you so much.

LISA DESJARDINS: You're welcome.

AMNA NAWAZ: Let's turn now to Republican Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma.

As a member of the powerful Finance Committee, he questioned President Trump's trade representative, Jamieson Greer, this morning about Trump's controversial tariffs.

Senator Lankford's new book, "Turnaround: America's Revival," is out today, and he joins me now.

Senator, welcome back to the "News Hour."

Thanks for joining us.

SEN. JAMES LANKFORD (R-OK): Thank you.

You bet.

Good to be back when you get.

AMNA NAWAZ: I want to ask you about your wonderful new book, about all the news around tariffs, but I want to begin where Lisa just left off when it comes to this fact that Speaker Mike Johnson does not have the votes to pass that budget blueprint in the House.

What happens next?

Are you still confident that it'll get done before the recess?

SEN. JAMES LANKFORD: I'm hopeful it'll get done.

The budget blueprint is just that.

There's very little detail on it.

The way the House writes a budget blueprint is, it puts what's called a ceiling, here's the top amount that we want to achieve.

The way the Senate writes a budget blueprint is a floor.

We want to do at least this, but we will go much higher.

And I think some in the House are perceiving that the Senate bill is written the same as the House bill.

They're accomplishing the exact same thing.

To tell you the truth, it feels a little bit like we're arguing about where to be able to lean the ladder against the wall to fix the leaky roof.

The problem is not where to lean the ladder.

The problem is the leaky roof.

This bill, the budget outline is just that.

It's just an outline.

It doesn't do anything.

It just gets us started in the process.

The next step deals with the tax policies.

It deals with how do we reduce spending, all those things.

That's the one with the detail.

And, quite frankly, I'm hopeful that we can get to the one that really counts, not this one that's a sheer process document.

AMNA NAWAZ: All right, we will continue to follow.

We hope you come back and join us as that process moves forward.

And, meanwhile, I want to ask you about the big news around tariffs, because earlier today you were able to question the U.S. trade representative today.

You did say that you have heard from a lot of people who are grateful the president is taking these actions, that he's fighting for them.

But you also said most countries in the world are never going to buy as much as we are purchasing.

If you don't believe that these tariffs will erase the trade deficits, how do you square that with President Trump's goals here?

SEN. JAMES LANKFORD: That was actually what I wanted to be able to ask the United States trade representative, several things.

One is, is your goal to increase exports around the world?

Because that's what my farmers and ranchers, that's what manufacturers really want to hear.

And the trade representative was very clear.

Our goal is to increase exports around the world.

Second one was, do we want to negotiate with these different countries where they had these very high tariffs and they're coming?

He was very clear to say, yes, we're trying to negotiate these rates down much lower.

The third piece of that is really the piece that you're trying to be able to ask about as well, is about the kind of the, what's next on this?

Where does this actually go on it?

And what I hear from a lot of people is just tell me the timing because we don't want to be cheated by other countries, but we need to know the timing for the next set of decisions.

They don't have that timing yet, but they said they're actively working on when they're going to get negotiations complete, when they're going to get the next step done, because those things really do matter in all the planning, but they're actively working on it.

And it was very clear the goal is to bring tariffs down and restrictions down around the world.

You're right.

We're not going to have a trade balance with countries much poorer than us when we're the largest economy in the world.

But if they can get restrictions down that, even though that country is not buying as much, at least they're allowing American products in, that does make a difference to us long term.

AMNA NAWAZ: This does remind me of something I read in your book because you talk about people wanting someone who fights for them.

You write this in the book.

You say: "We should never be satisfied with leaders who just fight, but have no plan to win the fight.

Governing means you must win the fight."

What is your understanding of what President Trump's plan is to win this trade war?

What does that mean?

SEN. JAMES LANKFORD: So it's different in every country.

That's the complication.

It's different with, for instance, Vietnam.

Vietnam is someone we traded with a lot.

There's a lot of things that we purchase with garments and electronics and all kinds of things that come out of Vietnam.

But Vietnam has also become a source where China - - to avoid the tariff restrictions from China.

We will send it to Vietnam, repackage it from Vietnam and come to us.

That's a very different issue dealing with Vietnam than it is maybe with Honduras or with Argentina.

Argentina, who blocks access to our beef, is not the same with Vietnam.

So it is very complicated.

They're dealing with a lot of different trade negotiations simultaneously.

That's a lot of balls in the air.

But if they're able to get this done, and I think they will, we're able to resolve 20, 30, 40 different trade agreements in the first, let's say, six months, that would be remarkable to be able to have and would open up a lot of new markets for agriculture, farmers and ranchers, as well as for manufacturing.

So I'm giving them the space to be able to negotiate this out because I do think, even in the complications, they're headed to a good spot long term.

AMNA NAWAZ: As you know, of course, Congress is -- constitutionally has that power of the purse, and a lot of the president's actions have circumvented that power.

It is relevant again to something you write in the book when you talk about our problems in America.

You say: "Our problems occur when we don't follow our Constitution, the endless executive orders, the regulatory chaos."

"The unwillingness of Congress to do its job show our weaknesses, not our constitutions."

As you know, the president signed a record number of executive orders in his early days.

Congressional Republicans have not challenged that.

Is that showing weakness here?

Is that creating problems?

SEN. JAMES LANKFORD: It's Actually not.

The logical place where that's actually done in our checks and balances is actually done in the courts.

And as we have seen even as recently as the last 24 hours, the courts are looking at each of these actions.

They're examining it, trying to determine, is this appropriate, consistent with the law or not?

Congress gives opinions on that.

But, ultimately, we write law.

Constitutionally, all the way back to Marbury v. Madison, the courts actually say what the law is.

So when you talk about checks and balances, when an executive action is written, Congress can actually say I agree or disagree with that.

But the courts will actually determine if it's consistent with the law.

Most of these cases already for executive actions that the president has done, the courts have done a check on it and said, yes, that's consistent with the law.

And that's what has been appropriate.

And President Trump has said over and over again he's going to follow court orders.

Now, he clearly disagrees with some court orders, as many people do on different issues, but he has followed the court all the way through.

And that's important for our republic, quite frankly.

AMNA NAWAZ: Senator, a lot more to talk about.

We hope you will come back and join us again soon.

Your new book, "Turnaround: America's Revival," is out now.

That is Republican Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma.

Thank you, sir.

Good to see you.

SEN. JAMES LANKFORD: Thank you.

Good to see you again as well.

AMNA NAWAZ: Today, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that troops in Eastern Ukraine captured Chinese nationals fighting for Russia.

It's a reminder of that war's global impact.

Russia's full-scale invasion has certainly affected the thinking in Taiwan, which, like Ukraine, sees itself confronting a much larger neighbor that challenges its sovereignty.

Nick Schifrin reports now on the connections between Ukraine and Taiwan as part of our series "Taiwan: Risk and Resistance."

And a warning: Some images in this story are disturbing.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Outside Russia's diplomatic office in Taipei, in the shadow of Taiwan's largest building, there is cross-continental solidarity.

OLENA TREGUB, Ukrainian Secretary-General, Anti-Corruption Commission: In order to have peace, you need to prepare for war.

And this is what we were trying to tell to our Taiwanese friends here.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Olena Tregub is a Ukrainian anti-corruption advocate.

She says Ukraine should provide Taiwan inspiration.

OLENA TREGUB: No matter you have smaller army, no matter you have smaller economy, no matter you have less people in your population, it doesn't matter.

If people in your country are ready to resist, if they are free, if they are brave, it's impossible to take over a country.

NICK SCHIFRIN: They dress as prisoners of war to protest Russian war crimes.

It's a reminder of Ukraine's horrors, the subjugated, the slaughtered, the scorched, that 37-year-old Huang Yu Hsiang takes as omens.

HUANG YU HSIANG, Taiwanese Pro-Ukraine Protester (through translator): If Russia is not held accountable for its actions, China might think they can get away with it too.

We can't let that happen.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Jack Yao took that personally.

Why did you volunteer to fight in Ukraine?

JACK YAO, Taiwanese Volunteer Soldier in Ukraine: Simple reason.

Why not?

Because I want to do something and I want to help, especially we have a situation similar.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Why did it seem similar to what China could do to Taiwan?

JACK YAO: Culture and the history.

And they are all communists.

(EXPLETIVE DELETED) the communists.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Yao was a 28-year-old businessman when he decided to join Georgian troops fighting as part of Ukraine's Foreign Legion.

In Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, he saw a larger military invading a smaller neighbor and claiming historic, cultural and linguistic ties, what Beijing could do to Taiwan.

He trained to help transport equipment and weapons.

Nothing prepared him for what he saw, the Russian destruction of Irpin, the Russian systematic killings of Bucha.

And what do you think when you think back to Bucha and Irpin?

JACK YAO: I think they are animals.

Only animal will do this.

Probably animal will not do this.

Who will do this?

Evil will do this.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Another Taiwanese soldier, Jonathan Tseng, also volunteered for Ukraine.

He never came home.

His mother clutched her memories and Ukrainian flag.

Jack Yao says, before Ukraine, Taiwanese were dreaming.

The war woke them up.

And the most important lesson, Taiwan must show Ukrainian determination to fight.

JACK YAO: When a war is coming or a situation is really coming, fighting back, let the people know we are not hiding and that we are prepared for this for long times and we are not afraid.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Do you think Taiwan is ready to be able to defend itself?

JACK YAO: Fifty-fifty.

If it were two years ago I will tell you zero.

But now I think it's 50/50,because now people, they know something's wrong.

NICK SCHIFRIN: But to get ready, Taiwan needs U.S. support.

DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: You're gambling with World War III.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Which is why Taiwan was horrified when President Trump berated and temporarily cut off Ukraine from U.S. assistance and intelligence.

What's the lesson that Taiwan would take if the United States cut support for Ukraine?

JACK YAO: Will be chaos and hell and the people will -- losing hope.

But, still, we're fighting back, even we don't have a bullet.

This is also why I go into Ukraine.

If you don't want to do something first, why people help you?

Simple reason, yes.

This is our country.

You must prepare dying -- prepare to dying for your country.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Today, the enemies of Ukraine and Taiwan celebrate their connection.

Their partnership has -- quote -- "no limits," from expanded military training to cultural kinship.

Chinese schoolchildren sing Russia's most famous wartime hymn.

But as an axis of autocracies grows closer, so too does the feeling of a shared front line across two young democracies fighting authoritarianism.

That is perhaps personified in a Ukrainian restaurant in Southern Taiwan named Hata, or home, and its owner, Olga Kolish.

We spoke out front on a main street.

How do Taiwanese like the Ukrainian food?

OLGA KOLISH, Ukrainian Restaurant Owner: Yes, I think they enjoy it.

I also explain the difference, because although we have some similarities with Russian food, but we have some very eccentric dishes.

NICK SCHIFRIN: The authenticity is a family affair.

Those are Ukrainian dumplings made by the restaurant's chef, Kolish's Taiwanese husband, Lin Yua (ph), their children fluent in Mandarin and Ukrainian, and their restaurant resistance to Russia in mouth and mind, sunflowers, the symbol of Ukraine's resilience, snapshots of solidarity, including aid sent from Taiwan to Ukraine, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's words of defiance in Mandarin.

OLGA KOLISH: Taiwanese people should have that courage and be brave enough to protect their country.

The world is not peaceful anymore.

It's not safe anymore anywhere in the world.

So that also means any big country can occupy smaller countries.

So that is why I tell them all the time, you have to fight for yourself.

You have to sacrifice your people, yes, because it's your home.

AMNA NAWAZ: And Nick joins us now.

Nick, another terrific report in your series.

I want to return to something we mentioned at the top, though, Ukraine announcing today that they captured Chinese nationals on the front lines.

What more do we know about that?

How unusual is it?

NICK SCHIFRIN: So, Jack Yao, who we introduced to you in the story, the young Taiwanese man who traveled to Ukraine to fight, actually told me that he came across Chinese in Eastern Ukraine on the front line, and that was late 2022 when he was there.

So it is not unprecedented, but it is rare.

Today, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted this video you see, there saying Ukraine captured these Chinese nationals' I.D.s and ATM cards.

They speak a little English and suggest their commander was wounded or killed.

And Zelenskyy said Ukraine has information there are -- quote -- "many more Chinese citizens in the occupiers' units."

But U.S. officials tell me, Amna, there is no evidence that Beijing is sending civilians or soldiers to the front lines.

And so, therefore, the assumption is that any Chinese national who ends up there is simply a soldier of fortune.

But, as we know, as we have talked about for years now, the U.S. has assessed that China sends machine tools, microelectronics, and other items that have propped up Russia's defense industrial base and allowed them to continue to prosecute the war in Ukraine.

AMNA NAWAZ: All right, Nick Schifrin, thank you very much.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Thank you.

AMNA NAWAZ: The Supreme Court ruled late yesterday that the Trump administration can continue to use a rare 18th century war authority to deport Venezuelan immigrants alleged to be gang members.

William Brangham is here now with more -- William.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Amna, the justices, which were split 5-4, effectively overturned Judge James Boasberg's earlier temporary injunction blocking those deportations.

But the court did stipulate that migrants must be given -- quote -- "reasonable time to challenge their deportations under the Alien Enemies Act."

So, to discuss this further, we are joined again by Steve Vladeck.

He's a constitutional law professor at Georgetown University.

Professor Vladeck, great to have you back on the program.

So the administration clearly believes that this decision was a victory.

The president called it a great day for justice in America.

When you look at that ruling, does it feel like a true victory for the president's immigration policy?

STEVE VLADECK, Georgetown University Law Center: So, I mean, the first answer is no.

President Trump had taken the position that he had the power to remove individuals without the kind of due process that, as you quoted, the Supreme Court majority has insisted on.

And he said he can do it without having to even justify it after the fact.

And so the fact that we're going to have hearings now, at least for anyone going forward, it's actually a pretty big loss for the Trump administration, even if it came in the process of vacating, as you note, these lower court rulings by Judge Boasberg.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: I mean, how concerned are you that, if you're using the Alien Enemies Act to deport people, that people who are subject to deportation will have the ability to have their day in court, so to speak?

STEVE VLADECK: Yes, William, that's the right question.

And I think part of why you have seen so much disagreement today over how big of a deal yesterday's ruling was is because it really remains to be seen.

The concern that folks have is that there will be some individuals who will have access to lawyers, whose families will be able to fight for them in court, but that there might be some individuals who won't.

And so I think a lot now depends upon just how robust the individualized review that the Supreme Court contemplated actually is going to be on the ground.

And frankly, William, a lot depends on whether the Trump administration, now that it knows it has to provide this kind of individualized review, is going to actually shy away from relying upon this very old statute, which I think the original plan had been to use for mass summary removals.

And now the Supreme Court has put a pretty big obstacle in the course of that.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: We know as part of those removals that the administration has now admitted that they mistakenly took this one man, Abrego Garcia.

An earlier judge years before had said that deporting this man back to El Salvador would be dangerous for him and had blocked that to happen.

He got swept up in this and was taken out anyway.

Chief Justice John Roberts yesterday said that a lower court's ruling that he has to be brought back is on hold for now.

The attorney general, Pam Bondi, was asked about this, and she said that Garcia ought to remain in El Salvador.

Let's listen to what she said.

PAM BONDI (R), U.S. Attorney General Nominee: He is a known gang member.

ICE testified he was a gang member, and we believe he should stay where he is.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: I mean, it is worth noting that none of those claims that Bondi is making have been proven in a court of law.

What does this intervention, though, mean for the issue of due process for people in these cases?

STEVE VLADECK: Yes, so William, again, I mean, I know it's a frustrating answer, but I think it's going to depend on what the full court does.

I mean, what Chief John Roberts did on Monday was really just buy a little bit of time for the full court to rule on whether Judge Xinis, this federal judge in Greenbelt, Maryland, has the ability to compel Secretary Noem to take steps to try to bring Abrego Garcia back.

And this is why, again, I think we have to be a little bit tentative in our conclusions about what the Supreme Court's doing in these cases.

William, if we get a decision from the Supreme Court later this week where the court says, actually, yes, the federal courts really are powerless, that's obviously a huge win for the Trump administration, not just in Abrego Garcia's case, but with regard to the alien enemies, or at least the alleged alien enemies, who have already been removed to El Salvador.

But, in contrast, if the Supreme Court comes back and says, even folks who have been removed are entitled to use our courts to make sure the U.S. didn't do anything wrong, if that's where this ends up, I think we're going to look at these rulings as actually a bigger loss for the Trump administration and a stronger defense for the rule of law than they might seem at first blush.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: All right, that is Georgetown Law Professor Steve Vladeck.

Always great to have you.

Thank you so much for being here.

STEVE VLADECK: Thank you.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: So, apart from those legal fights, the fact remains that the U.S. has sent hundreds of people to the notorious mega-prison in El Salvador known as CECOT.

For more on the conditions inside that facility, we turn to Noah Bullock.

He's the executive director of Cristosal, which is an international human rights group based in El Salvador.

Noah Bullock, thank you so much for being here.

Who are the prisoners held in CECOT.

And how does that compare to other prisons in the country?

NOAH BULLOCK, Executive Director, Cristosal: Yes, thank you, William, for the opportunity.

The CECOT prison has become sort of the public face of President Bukele's security strategy, which is understood as a state of exception.

And the prisoners that are often depicted in those photos are prisoners who have literally the names of the gangs that they belong to tattooed on their face.

For people who watch El Salvador, it's evident that those are the profiles of people, older gang members, who have likely been in prison with sentences for a long time.

It's to say that these types of prisoners have been -- were in other prisons and then were likely transferred to the CECOT once it was constructed.

That's different from what we have documented in the state -- in our monitoring of the state of exception.

There have been 85,000 Salvadorans that have been detained under this emergency declaration, and they are being held in older maximum-security prisons.

And according to our investigations, those prisons may even have more adverse conditions than the ones that are depicted in the CECOT.

We have documented systematic physical beatings, torture, intentional denial of access to food, water, clothing, health care.

And the combination of both the physical abuse and the denial of basic needs has led to the death of at least 368 people, according to our investigations.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: So is that comparison that you're making implying that CECOT is a better prison as far as -- I mean, because we saw the U.S. homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem, there with a lot of those prisoners standing behind her.

And the -- it seemed that the emphasis she was trying to make is that this is the toughest of the tough and you don't want to get sent here.

So are the conditions in that prison better?

NOAH BULLOCK: Yes, the CECOT has definitely been presented as the model of how strongmen should deal with the worst of the worst.

And there's no doubt that there's an implicit cruelty and dehumanization in the treatment of the prisoners there.

They leave the lights on 24 hours a day.

They restrict the time of like about an hour a day, apparently, that prisoners can leave their cells.

The overcrowding is excessive to international standards and the access to toilets and other hygiene clearly seem to be limited.

But those conditions seem better, in the sense that in other prisons we have seen testimonies of prisoners taking turns standing and lying down due to overcrowding.

Skin disease is rampant.

It's more likely that prisoners in the other prisons have scabies on their skin or even signs of physical abuse than the tattoos that you see in the images that are often projected from CECOT.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: So, in addition to Abrego Garcia, this man who was taken from Maryland admittedly now by the U.S. mistakenly and put in this prison, it seems like all of these prisoners that have been deported from the U.S. are in somewhat of a legal limbo.

The U.S. says they're not in American custody anymore, and yet they haven't been charged with any crimes.

So are you able to access or able to talk to any of those prisoners to give us a sense of what their status is like?

NOAH BULLOCK: One of the commonalities among all the maximum-security prisons is that families and lawyers do not have access to the prisoners.

They're entirely cut off.

Under international standards, that on itself could constitute a situation of forced disappearances.

Many family members in El Salvador don't know if their family members are dead or alive.

And now that situation has been transferred to Venezuelan families, who aren't able to verify whether their family members are dead or alive.

The challenge for -- judicially for the people being deported is, like you said, these are people who haven't been convicted of anything.

They're being held in a country, a third country, where there's no clear jurisdiction.

What prosecutor could investigate the crimes they allegedly committed?

What judge could even see their cases, and what judge could oversee their rights while they're in detention?

They're in a judicial black hole.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: All right, that is Noah Bullock, who is executive director of Cristosal in El Salvador.

Thank you so much for sharing your information with us.

NOAH BULLOCK: My pleasure.

AMNA NAWAZ: A second child died from measles-related causes in Texas last week.

It's part of a growing outbreak that's infected at least 505 people in Texas and has spread across 22 states.

Until this year, the U.S. had reported no deaths from measles in more than a decade.

Over the weekend, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. visited Gaines County, the epicenter of the West Texas outbreak, and spoke with families of both children who died.

Kennedy has previously resisted calling for widespread vaccinations, but, on Sunday, he posted on X -- quote - - "The most effective way to prevent the spread of measles is the MMR," or measles, mumps, and rubella, "vaccine."

The measles vaccine is considered one of the 20th century's major advances in public health, and it saved an estimated 94 million lives in the last 50 years.

The "News Hour"'s Deema Zein recently sat down with someone who had a front row-seat to its creation.

DAVID EDMONSTON, Blood Donor For Measles Vaccine: Measles was something that almost every child came down with at some point.

I was pretty miserable for a better part of a week.

DEEMA ZEIN: In 1954, when he was just 11 years old, David Edmonston would have never guessed that his very first blood test would change the world.

DAVID EDMONSTON: I was attending a boarding school in Massachusetts, and I came down with measles.

DEEMA ZEIN: David and other students recovering from a measles outbreak were approached by a physician from Boston Children's Hospital, Thomas Peebles.

DAVID EDMONSTON: He told me that he was a member of a team who were developing a vaccine for measles, and would I like to participate in that by giving some blood and throat washings?

And I was thrilled with the thought of being able to help thousands, millions of people.

DEEMA ZEIN: A few weeks later, Dr. Peebles returned to tell David that they had isolated measles virus cultures from his blood.

Did you realize how monumental it was going to be?

DAVID EDMONSTON: No, it didn't impress me as a very important thing that I was doing, because I felt the chances of this actually developing into a vaccine that would help millions of people were kind of astronomically small.

This was the launch of the vaccine.

There was a TV show.

DEEMA ZEIN: In fact, the team led by Nobel Prize winner John Franklin Enders would eventually go on to develop the world's first measles vaccine from the Edmonston-B strain, named after David.

DAVID EDMONSTON: This became a joke in our family.

DAVID EDMONSTON: Because anything that came up that was stressful, we would always say, oh, that's the Edmonston strain.

NARRATOR: The real story of a vaccine is told in the fears and smiles of a little girl, who today is given greater protection than ever before against the infectious diseases of childhood.

DEEMA ZEIN: Before the shot, the highly contagious disease was endemic in the United States, with an estimated four million cases and 48,000 hospitalizations a year.

The vaccine helped reduce measles deaths from 500 per year in the U.S. to near zero.

But years after helping to create the medical miracle, David's stance on that same vaccine would change.

When he and his late wife, a public health teacher, had a son, they decided not to give him the measles vaccine.

DAVID EDMONSTON: She had read an article by a vaccine researcher who wrote that the measles vaccine in particular may be dangerous to small children.

Unfortunately, it was a wrong decision because it was the wrong information.

DEEMA ZEIN: Now 82 years old, he considers himself a vaccine advocate.

DAVID EDMONSTON: There's an awful lot of misinformation out there, and you need to be careful who you listen to.

DEEMA ZEIN: David has been a decades-long member of a spiritual group founded in India.

During the pandemic, when the COVID-19 vaccine became available, he urged other members to get it.

DAVID EDMONSTON: One lady I talked to told me that she ate healthy food and did yoga.

She thought she was too healthy to need it.

People just didn't trust vaccines at all and didn't want to get involved in it.

DEEMA ZEIN: But, for David, his early experience with the researchers behind the measles vaccine made a difference.

DAVID EDMONSTON: I had a sense for how ethical and careful these people were.

So I assumed that the developers of the COVID vaccines were similarly ethical and careful.

DEEMA ZEIN: Today, he worries about the impact noted vaccine skeptic Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. could have on public health.

DAVID EDMONSTON: They're not experts in the medical field.

It's not what the country needs.

DEEMA ZEIN: I want to talk a little bit about why you have decided to speak out.

DAVID EDMONSTON: I feel that vaccines are very important not just for the individuals who take them, but for our society as a whole.

And I feel that anything I can do to help our society as a whole is important.

DEEMA ZEIN: David says he hopes speaking out will humanize the measles vaccine, the people who created it, and the people it protects today.

For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Deema Zein in Bowling Green, Virginia.

AMNA NAWAZ: And that is the "News Hour" for tonight.

I'm Amna Nawaz.

On behalf of the entire "News Hour" team, thank you for joining us.