JUDY WOODRUFF: Good evening.

I'm Judy Woodruff.

On the "NewsHour" tonight: an uncertain future.

Millions of renters face housing instability following the end of the federal ban on evictions.

Then: the road ahead.

A bipartisan group of senators reaches a deal on massive infrastructure legislation.

We look at the cost and the problems it will try to solve.

Plus: a major surge.

Florida records its highest number of COVID cases since the pandemic began, straining hospitals and prompting more urgent calls for masking and vaccines.

Plus: water wars.

The historic drought sweeping the Western U.S. exacerbates disputes between indigenous communities and farmers.

All that and more on tonight's "PBS NewsHour."

(BREAK) JUDY WOODRUFF: We have two lead stories out of Washington tonight.

First, the country is on the verge of a massive wave of housing instability after the federal ban on rental evictions expired over the weekend.

Congress failed to extend a moratorium.

And President Biden declined to do so in the face of a court order.

Today, Gene Sperling, who is the White House coordinator of pandemic recovery funds, said the president's hands are tied after a Supreme Court ruling in June made it clear that another extension by presidential order wouldn't stand.

GENE SPERLING, White House American Rescue Plan Coordinator: The wording in the Supreme Court opinion was fairly clear that they said the CDC could not grant such extension without - - quote -- "clear and specific congressional authorization."

I think, really, what has happened, what we are all dealing with is that the rise of the Delta variant is particularly harmful for those who are most likely to face evictions.

And as that reality became more clear going into the end of last week, I think all of us started asking, what more could we do?

JUDY WOODRUFF: And our White House correspondent, Yamiche Alcindor, joins me now.

So, Yamiche, tell us more about what is behind the president's decision not to extend this ban himself?

And what is making this issue so contentious?

YAMICHE ALCINDOR: Well, the federal moratorium and the contention and scrambling around it comes to two big things, law and politics.

On the legal side, White House aides, Gene Sperling, a number of other sources I have been talking to, they have been underscoring the idea that President Biden didn't think that he had the legal authority to extend this eviction moratorium.

They say they looked around.

They could not find any legal option to do that, because the Supreme Court said that there would need to be congressional authorization if a presidential order was to extend the ban.

They also say that the CDC looked into this, even looking into targeted eviction moratoriums for areas with high infection rates.

And even that, in that limited way, it was also seen as not a legal option.

That said, when I pushed Gene Sperling and when I talked to sources, there's another issue here, and that is that the White House does not want to go to the Supreme Court and have the court strike down other sort of federal policies that make broad use of public health laws.

So that's somewhat of their thinking.

Then there's the politics of this.

We saw House Speaker Nancy Pelosi come out and urge President Biden to extend this eviction moratorium.

Progressives are also saying the White House waited too long, that they should have been dealing with this issue at all.

But the president then again says his hands are tied, that Congress needs to be doing something.

And he's also pushing states and localities to try to provide resources to people.

JUDY WOODRUFF: So, given all that, where does this go from here?

YAMICHE ALCINDOR: Well, that's the big question.

Gene Sperling today said that thousands of Americans could be facing evictions.

President Biden says that he's going to be double-, triple-checking.

He's going to be kicking the tires to try to find legal options and other ways to help people.

But there really is a big question of what more of the White House and Congress can do.

They're -- really, the White House is really putting it in the hands of Congress and local authorities.

But that is where some people feel as though the White House is scapegoating, shifting the blame here, shifting responsibility.

The White House, though, is underscoring they're doing all that they can.

JUDY WOODRUFF: All right, Yamiche Alcindor on this fast-moving story, thank you very much.

YAMICHE ALCINDOR: Thanks.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Our other lead tonight: The long-awaited infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act was officially introduced in the Senate last night.

The roughly $1 trillion bill over 2, 700 pages' long is the product of weeks of negotiations among a bipartisan group of 10 senators and the White House.

Lisa Desjardins joins me now to take us through it.

So, Lisa, a little light reading for you over the last less than 24 hours.

(LAUGHTER) JUDY WOODRUFF: Tell us -- after all these weeks of working on this, give us a sense of what is in this piece of legislation.

LISA DESJARDINS: You're right, Judy.

We are still digesting this 2, 700-page, historically large infrastructure bill.

But I want to go through some highlights of what I have seen in it, what we know is in it.

First of all, how large is it?

We don't have a final number, but we're talking about $1 trillion.

That includes new funding that's been added and also expected funding that was already probably going to be in the pipeline for infrastructure anyway.

Let's talk about some specific, $65 billion for broadband, $66 billion for railways.

That is a huge investment, particularly in Amtrak, as well as freight.

But one of the biggest chunks is $343 billion.

That's all the money, new and expected, for roads and bridges.

And there's a reason for that.

If you look at our roads and bridges in this country, for roads, the American Society of Civil Engineers says 43 percent of our roads in this country are in poor and bad condition.

And this is really just a down payment.

Bridges, 42 percent of those are 50 years old or more.

And it's not these guys, though.

I noticed a provision in here that will be big news in Alaska, where they have a ferry system that is depended on by some 3,000 miles' worth of people in that state.

There it is, and is struggling for funds.

There's a billion dollars that could help the Alaska ferry system.

All in all, senators came to the floor today, many of them to say this is historic, one of them, Illinois Democrat Dick Durbin.

SEN. RICHARD DURBIN (D-IL): This plan will help us protect America's infrastructure, our economy, and American families from 21st century threats of climate change, extreme weather and cyberattacks.

It is the largest investment in resilience of physical and natural systems in American history.

With this plan, we can create thousands of good-paying, family-supporting jobs.

And the majority of these jobs may not require a college degree.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And, Lisa.... LISA DESJARDINS: And I think we are going to be spending time for the rest of this week figuring out what's in it.

Sorry, Judy, go ahead.

JUDY WOODRUFF: No, my mistake for interrupting you.

But we heard Senator Durbin mention something you don't traditionally hear connected to infrastructure, and that's climate change.

Tell us about what that means, what that involves.

LISA DESJARDINS: We will spend more time on this also.

But, briefly, there is $7.5 billion in here for electric charging stations, as well as other alternative fuel charging stations.

A lot in here for low emissions, buses, ferries.

But some of those -- and some of the people in the environmental and climate change movement especially say that this is a positive, but, for them, it falls far short.

They think some of these things could have gone farther.

They're waiting for that next bill, the big reconciliation bill the Democrats want, to do more on climate change.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And, Lisa, tell us about the opposition to this.

We know that some senators are not pleased with it.

LISA DESJARDINS: That's right.

And the number one problem with it for those who have problems is how it's paid for.

Again, we're still learning exactly what they did here.

But I want to run down a few of the ways that our lawmakers are paying for this very large, historic bill.

One, they got creative.

There's more than $20 billion that they say will come from new taxes, new rules on cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, that industry not happy about that.

There's also $87 billion that they estimate will come from sale of the 5G bandwidth, sometimes called the spectrum, for cell phones.

But the biggest pay-fors, as we call them on the Hill here, come from unspent relief money either for the unemployed that was unused by states or in general money for other COVID relief programs.

There, you see over $200 billion from unspent COVID relief.

And some senators say that's a problem.

They don't think that money should be used for infrastructure.

They think it shouldn't be used at all.

Here's Republican Mike Lee of Utah speaking last night.

SEN. MIKE LEE (R-UT): If we appropriated more money for COVID than we should have, than we needed to, shouldn't we also consider, I don't know, giving it back to the American people or paying down the debt?

LISA DESJARDINS: And I think we're going to hear more of those calls as we continue for the rest of the year.

How much of a problem will it be for this bill?

I don't know.

Right now, the bill does seem to have 60 to 70 votes in the Senate.

And it needs 60.

So it's on a pretty secure path at the moment.

JUDY WOODRUFF: So, Lisa, spell that out for us.

What does it look like in the coming days where this bill goes?

LISA DESJARDINS: I call these hard-won bills rainbows when they appear.

I have never seen a rainbow take so long to emerge, as this one did over the last week.

And we're going to have another long week, as there are amendments.

This is an open process, which means senators can try and change the bill.

We don't know if any major changes are likely.

But after that process this week and next week, we expect the Senate to pass this bill.

Then it goes to the House, where it actually could face us another set of rumble strips on its way to passage.

I believe -- it seems that it is likely to pass in some form, but it's possible that, again, the two chambers disagree, and it could take many more weeks to finish.

There's a lot of momentum, but there's a lot of drama still ahead on this bill.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And it's also August, when Congress often likes to go home.

LISA DESJARDINS: That's right.

JUDY WOODRUFF: I'm thinking rumble strips and rainbows.

LISA DESJARDINS: That's right.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Lisa Desjardins, thank you.

(LAUGHTER) JUDY WOODRUFF: In the day's other news: Federal health officials said average daily vaccinations for COVID-19 jumped 70 percent last week.

That word came as New Jersey ordered state health care workers to get immunized or get tested.

New York City did the same for transit workers.

But Governor Andrew Cuomo stopped short of a mandate in New York state for the general public.

GOV.

ANDREW CUOMO (D-NY): That would require a law passed by the legislature.

And it's going to be what the legislature's appetite is to wade into that situation.

That would be a law.

I can mandate today for my employees.

JUDY WOODRUFF: The city of Denver also ordered vaccinations today for city employees and private sector workers in high-risk settings.

And seven counties in the San Francisco Bay Area reimposed indoor mask-wearing.

So did the state of Louisiana.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina has come down with COVID, despite being vaccinated.

He says he began feeling ill on Saturday night, but that he thinks the vaccine has kept his symptoms mild.

Graham now plans to quarantine for 10 days.

Firefighters in Oregon finally have the upper hand against the giant Bootleg Fire.

They made major progress over the weekend, and more than 80 percent of the fire contained.

And, in Northern California, evacuation orders have been lifted for several areas around the Dixie Fire.

It is 33 percent contained.

A heat wave across Southeastern Europe is also fueling wildfires.

The worst fires are in Turkey, including one that burned through the resort town of Marmaris.

The fires have sent locals and tourists fleeing, and killed eight people.

And, in Greece, hot weather is the story.

Temperatures hit 113 today.

In Central China, the official death toll in last month's catastrophic flooding has tripled to 302, with 50 people still missing.

Extreme rain around Zhengzhou triggered mudslides, collapsed homes and destroyed crops.

At one point, the city got eight inches of rain in a single hour.

The president of Afghanistan today blamed the U.S. for rapid gains for the Taliban.

The group's fighters closed in on the capitals of Kandahar, Helmand and Herat provinces over the weekend.

In Kabul today, Ashraf Ghani told Parliament that President Biden's decision to pull U.S. troops triggered the onslaught.

ASHRAF GHANI, President of Afghanistan (through translator): The situation we are facing is due to the sudden withdrawal.

I told the American president that I respect your decision, because it was his decision, but I knew that this decision will have some consequences and the crisis management will be put on Afghans.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Meanwhile, the U.S. State Department says thousands more Afghans may be eligible for resettlement in the U.S.

They include employees of news organizations, aid agencies and other groups.

We will get the details later in the program.

Back in this country, police in New York are hunting for two gunmen who shot and wounded 10 people in Queens Saturday night.

Investigators say the shooters appeared to target members of a rival gang.

They got away on mopeds driven by two other men.

At the Summer Olympics, a big win and a big loss for the U.S. team.

American gymnast Jade Carey captured gold in the floor exercise in Tokyo.

but the U.S. women's soccer team was upset by Canada in the semifinals 1-0.

Meanwhile, Poland's government took in a Belarusian sprinter.

She had balked at returning to her authoritarian country.

We will return to the Olympics later in the program.

And on Wall Street, a day of choppy trading.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 97 points to close at 34838.

The Nasdaq rose eight points.

The S&P 500 slipped eight.

Still to come on the "NewsHour": the Taliban insurgency making gains ahead of the U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan; historic drought exacerbates disputes between indigenous communities and farmers; triumph, heartbreak and the pursuit of gold; we get the latest twists from the Tokyo Olympics; and much more.

Florida is experiencing one of the worst COVID outbreaks in the country at the moment.

Over the weekend, the state reported more than 21,000 cases in a single day, its highest one-day total since the start of the pandemic.

And a quarter of the nation's hospitalized COVID patients are in Florida.

The CDC and a number of public health officials say schools should require masking when they reopen.

The Miami-Dade school district is considering requiring students and staff to do so.

But, on Friday, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who is opposed to any masking requirements, said parents and students should have the option to mask and that he would block any effort to require masking.

GOV.

RON DESANTIS (R-FL): We have a lot of push from the CDC and others to make every single person, kids, staff, have to wear masks all day regardless of their immune status, regardless of the effect it has on their educational experience.

And that would be a huge mistake.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Let's go to Florida now for an on-the-ground dispatch of what some hospitals are dealing with.

Dr. Murtaza Akhter is an emergency physician at Kendall Regional Medical Center in Miami.

Dr. Akhter, thank you very much for being with us.

Give us a sense of who is in your hospital right now, the patient population.

DR. MURTAZA AKHTER, Kendall Regional Medical Center: Thanks for having me, Judy.

We have got a huge influx of patients.

It feels completely different from just two weeks ago, when it didn't seem as nearly as bad.

But we have had this massive surge in COVID cases.

So, have all these people coming in with COVID-like symptoms.

And all of them, all of them that I see are unvaccinated.

I have yet to see a patient with COVID symptoms who has been vaccinated in the E.R.

And in addition to that, you have got all the other patients.

Remember, gallbladder infections didn't magically go away.

Heart attacks still happen.

Last summer, a lot of people avoided the E.R., maybe too much so.

But, this year, they are all coming in, along with the COVID influx.

And add to that we have got a shortage of nurses and faculty, et cetera.

It is creating massive delays in the E.R., massive delays for admissions.

And it just feels swamped.

Very stressful in the hospital.

JUDY WOODRUFF: When the patients come in, you find out right away whether they're vaccinated or not.

What do they say to you about their decision not to get a vaccination?

Do you have that conversation with them?

DR. MURTAZA AKHTER: Well, sometimes, we do.

As a matter of fact, oftentimes, we do, because, remember, the definitive treatment, the way of preventing it is to be vaccinated.

And so for the ones who are healthy enough and live enough to be speaking with us and having conversations, we ask them, do you have a plan to be vaccinated, why or why not, and you get a variety of responses.

Some of them are indeed planning on being so.

But a lot of them -- I don't know if it's a Miami thing or what, but a lot of them are very stubborn about it, despite their coming to the emergency department, pleading for help and to get better, they're refusing the most effective treatment we have.

So it's very ironic that, despite their being in the hospital, wanting to get better, they're refusing the most effective treatment and going out to the E.R.

and potentially infecting others.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And what are they saying to you, Dr. Akhter, about why they're not getting the vaccine?

DR. MURTAZA AKHTER: Well, in some cases, for example, they have heard of stories of people who've had bad reactions.

As we know, those are extremely rare.

If that patient happens to be one of the few, extremely few who's actually met somebody who's had that, then I suppose it's somewhat understandable what the hesitancy is.

Some of them are trying to get pregnant.

But, as we know, it's actually safe for pregnancy.

But a lot of them just say they have their beliefs.

They don't believe in it.

They feel like there are various components in it that are put there by the government, a lot of conspiracy theories.

And it's really shocking to hear that, especially as a physician.

You hear that on TV, but to see patients saying things like that in front of you really is pretty appalling.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Tell us about the age range of these patients, because, as you know, back in the beginning, it was a lot of older people.

What are you seeing now?

DR. MURTAZA AKHTER: That's exactly right, Judy.

Now the patients seem to be a lot younger.

They are a lot younger.

I think part of that is because the elderly were fairly good about getting vaccinated.

A massive percentage, over 90 something percent of the elderly, have been.

So that leaves the people who aren't the elderly to make up for the rest.

And those people are often not vaccinated.

Whether they think they're immune, which they're clearly not, or they think that the symptoms will be mild, clearly, we're getting a lot of them who are sick enough to go to the ICU, to be intubated.

Listen, by the time we're intubating a bunch of 30-year-olds, I mean, we're not making this up, right?

This is happening in front of us.

It's a very stressful situation.

Their family members are very stressed.

And so, unfortunately, we're getting a lot of young and middle-aged adults who aren't vaccinated coming in, needing go to the ICU.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Dr. Akhter, I'm sure you know, but the governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, is a major advocate not for requiring masks in your state.

What effect do you think that's having on what's happening with regard to COVID?

DR. MURTAZA AKHTER: Well it's ironic that, last summer, governors were saying in a lot of states, listen, we're not going to mandate anything, it's up to the communities to do what they want.

And this summer, when certain communities do want masks, whether in school or otherwise, they're saying no, no, no, no, you're not allowed to do what you want.

So I find that ironic.

I got to say this.

The science shows that the only way of preventing transmission if you're not vaccinated is distancing and not getting infected, or, if you have to be around people, by wearing masks.

We have got great data for that.

If everybody in the room is vaccinated, then you probably don't need masks.

But we know not everybody's vaccinated.

And, in particular, nobody under 12 is.

The only way of preventing transmission of disease is distancing and masks if you're not vaccinated.

It's simple as that.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And, Dr. Akhter, one last thing.

Based on what you're seeing now, what do you think the next few weeks are going to look like?

DR. MURTAZA AKHTER: Well, unfortunately, it's not looking very good.

I'm sure you have seen the curves.

It is basically a vertical spike, with no signs of plateauing.

And that's what it feels like in the E.R.

as well.

I'm hoping things level off.

But I think it's very unlikely, given the way things are looking right now.

And, remember, in addition to the surge in COVID patients, we have also got our own colleagues who are having to call out.

We have got health care workers who are contracting COVID, multiple residents who, despite vaccination, have contracted COVID.

So, despite being already stretched so thin, we're having to work extra hard.

Just recently, a colleague asked me if I could cover a shift because one of her family members got sick with COVID.

And so, despite how many shortages we have, we're being asked to work even more.

And this is in addition to the even more surging patients.

So, unfortunately, I think it's only going to get worse before it gets better.

I hope I'm wrong, but, as history tells me, I'm feeling a little bit pessimistic.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Dr. Murtaza Akhter at the Kendall Regional Medical Center in Miami, thank you.

And we wish you and your staff and your patients the very best.

DR. MURTAZA AKHTER: Thank you so much, Judy.

Stay safe.

JUDY WOODRUFF: The situation in Afghanistan gets worse by the day, as the U.S. completely withdraws troops by the end of the month.

John Yang has our report.

JOHN YANG: Judy, the Taliban's surge is threatening major urban centers across the country.

Meantime, the sense of panic is growing, as more Afghans were granted permission to resettle in the United States.

Our own Jane Ferguson is here to bring us up date us on this fast-evolving situation.

Jane, thanks so much for joining us.

As we reported earlier in the program the United States is expanding its refugee program, who is eligible.

Is there any sense that everyone who wants to get out, who feels threatened by the advance of the Taliban is going to be able to get out?

JANE FERGUSON: There is a sense, John, that those who want to get out who have worked with U.S. agencies or any agencies sponsored by the U.S. government now might have more of a chance of getting out, though timing is everything.

What we are hearing now from the State Department is that those who have applied for SIV -- the SIV program -- that's the interpreter, the military interpreter program -- and who haven't been successful, perhaps haven't been eligible, didn't do enough service, that they may have another chance, that there may be a slight widening of the categories, of basically the requirements necessary to get them on to that program.

On top of that, we're also hearing that those who have worked with U.S.-sponsored development projects, perhaps those who have worked with anything from USAID-sponsored programs, to those who have also worked with the U.S. media in Afghanistan, may now qualify.

They can at least apply for refugee status or for the ability to get a visa to the United States.

And this is really in reaction to growing pressure to help people get out.

So it is certainly going to be welcome news to people who want to get out.

It is not clear yet whether or not the timing will be speedy enough.

As you have mentioned, the Taliban advances across the country are deeply concerning.

And those who are in cities especially like Kabul who I have spoken with are extremely panicked that, although these measures could help them get out of the country, they're not sure if they will be able to get out fast enough.

JOHN YANG: Talk about that panic, that increasing concern.

What are you hearing from just the average Afghan who may not have the connection to get out?

JANE FERGUSON: Those who don't have the connections, John, are trying to find them.

I mean, there will be Afghans who, of course - - many, most Afghans will not be able to get out of the country.

Many will stay.

But people are concerned.

Primarily, they're concerned about security, about economic collapse, about making sure that they can keep their families safe and keep them fed.

These have always been priorities for Afghans, but those are growing now.

But for anybody who worked within the major American project that this war has been, there is a deep concern about retaliation.

There is a fear that their lives could be at risk and that the lives of their families could be at risk.

Those who feel like they are not going to be able to apply and get out of the country through regular visas to other countries, whether those are the United States or neighboring countries or places like Turkey, those people are going to be looking more towards illegal routes, and the smuggling routes out of the country.

That is a deep concern.

Many people I have spoken to said they absolutely would look to that option, if they have to, to get out of the country.

So the chances of major movement, a mass movement of people out of the country, whether they get visas or not, are high if we continue to see this basically escalation of the violence.

JOHN YANG: Earlier today, at a State Department briefing, Secretary of State Antony Blinken was asked about these increasing reports of attacks on Afghans by the Taliban.

And here is what he had to say: TONY BLINKEN, U.S. Secretary of State: The Taliban has repeatedly said that they seek in the future a number of things, international recognition, international support.

They want their leaders to be able to travel freely around the world.

They would like sanctions lifted on them.

And none of those things are going to be possible if the Taliban seeks to take the country by force and commits the kind of atrocities that have been reported.

JOHN YANG: First of all, Jane, what sort of things is he talking about?

What sorts of atrocities?

And are these carrots, do you think, going to be enough to change the Taliban behavior?

JANE FERGUSON: Those atrocities that he is referring to are a growing number of incidents that are going viral on social media whereby the Taliban will take over an area and carry out retribution.

There was one particularly famous incident.

Last week, the Taliban actually even admitted and claimed responsibility for it, where they took a famous comedian, an Afghan comedian from Kandahar who had been famous on TikTok, on social media.

He was last seen taken away by Taliban fighters, where he was being slapped and abused.

And he was then executed by those fighters.

And the Taliban themselves claimed responsibility for that attack.

And so there is a growing of sense of fear that retribution could be quite .

It's not clear whether the Afghan political leaders in places like Doha who are trying to reassure people, even military interpreters telling them, don't worry, you will be safe, many people are not going to believe that whenever they start to see these videos across social media of retribution.

There has been a major talking point for months and even years, John, what would the Taliban behave like if they came back to power or if they started taking territory?

There's a deep-seated fear right now of the worst-case scenario, whereby political leaders pay lip service to human rights, but, in reality, the commanders on the ground are going door to door and will enact retribution against those they feel deserve it.

JOHN YANG: Fears of the worst-case scenario.

Special correspondent Jane Ferguson, thank you very much.

JANE FERGUSON: Thank you, John.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Vast stretches of the Western U.S. are suffering under scorching temperatures, rampant wildfires and a years-long drought that's depleting lakes and reservoirs.

The water scarcity is tearing apart one Southern Oregon community, where farmers, Native tribes and endangered species are all struggling to survive this summer.

Stephanie Sy has the story.

STEPHANIE SY: The Klamath Tribes have fished in the rivers of Southern Oregon for thousands of years.

DON GENTRY, Chairman, Klamath Tribes: Traditionally, we honored and respected everybody.

Everybody had a place and a purpose.

And when I shared that fish with our elders, as my dad taught me to do, I also learned a world view about why those fish are important and how they were placed here.

So it's not only a part of our subsistence, but it's a part of our culture.

STEPHANIE SY: Tribal Chairman Don Gentry and his grandson Marcus (ph) reeled in redband trout as the sun went down on another scorching hot day in Klamath Basin.

DON GENTRY: Gosh, the water's low.

MAN: It's probably down about a foot since I have been out last, too.

STEPHANIE SY: The water, and the fish in it aren't what they used to be.

So, is the water always this green?

DON GENTRY: Well, early in the year, it's not.

I'm 66 years old.

I remember when it wasn't like this.

I remember some filaments of algae, but nothing like this, where it's like pea soup.

STEPHANIE SY: A punishing 20-year drought has revived a fight over water, pitting the survival of two endangered species of suckerfish, long sacred to the Native tribes, against the livelihoods of ranchers, who depend on the same water source.

TY KLIEWER, Rancher: The going couldn't be a whole lot worse than it is right now.

This normally would be an extremely different scene.

STEPHANIE SY: Ty Kliewer's fields are parched and barren, unable to grow hay for his livestock.

TY KLIEWER: Our production this year is probably going to be about a 10th of what it would normally be.

I don't know, really, what I'm going to do.

STEPHANIE SY: The water in Klamath Lake has irrigated farms like Kliewer's on the surrounding Klamath Project since 1907, but not this year.

When there's not enough water to go around, the Endangered Species Act requires that lake levels are high enough to protect fish.

Back in May, the Bureau of Reclamation turned off the water from this canal.

It's the main source of water for farmers and ranchers in the Klamath Project.

Since then, a few have set up camp here to protest and are threatening to turn the water back on themselves.

There just isn't enough water for anyone, including the birds in the national wildlife refuges that depend on run-off from the Klamath Project farms that won't be coming this year.

WOMAN: There is no justice.

STEPHANIE SY: Twenty years ago, another water shutoff pushed the community to the brink.

Some protesters even forced the canal headgates open, just like they have threatened to do this year.

HANNAH GOSNELL, Oregon State University: 2001 was another really bad drought year.

STEPHANIE SY: Hannah Gosnell studies the history of water disputes in the Klamath Basin.

HANNAH GOSNELL: There was no water for the irrigators that summer.

And what that meant is a lot of farms went out of business.

There was a lot of suffering and crisis and bankruptcies, and people came from all over the country showing their empathy for the farmers.

And there were riots.

And tribes were hung in effigy, because a lot of the blame went on the tribes.

STEPHANIE SY: Don Gentry remembers the pain it caused his tribe.

DON GENTRY: Some of our members were there, and they were spat upon.

Kids from one of the ag communities came through, Chiloquin looking for sucker-loving Indians, and shot up the town with their shotguns STEPHANIE SY: After those tensions came to a boiling point, the different parties in the basin sat down to negotiate.

And, in 2010, they finally reached an almost miraculous compromise.

The Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement charted a path for water-sharing, and would have spent over a billion dollars on ecological restoration projects and returning land to the Native tribes.

But Congress never funded the agreement.

It fell apart, and, since then, the sides have dug in their heels.

DON GENTRY: I don't think there's room for a compromise.

Our fish need the water that we have a right to.

STEPHANIE SY: Those endangered suckerfish, called C'waam and Koptu, are still dying in droves.

Just five years ago, there were some 20,000 Koptu in Klamath Lake.

Now only an estimated 3400 remain.

TY KLIEWER: Fish have been prioritized for water in the basin for over 20 years now, and that has not led to one iota of recovery.

It has 100 percent broken the legs of this community, though.

STEPHANIE SY: Tribal Chairman Don Gentry knows that conserving water alone isn't enough to save the fish.

He blames irrigated agriculture and government management of the basin for their habitat loss.

DON GENTRY: They're an indicator species.

If they're on the verge of extinction, it shows you something is seriously wrong.

STEPHANIE SY: Becky Hyde is a rancher in the Klamath Basin, but she agrees that the system needs fixing.

Hyde insists ranchers like her have a role to play in restoring the watershed, and making things right with the people who were here first.

Hyde has a unique arrangement with the Klamath Tribes.

They own the easement on her property.

BECKY HYDE, Rancher: They are the ones that come and monitor and say the river is getting narrower.

They were absolutely here first.

And there was tremendous historical damage done to Native people in this basin.

STEPHANIE SY: It's a couple miles of compromise in a community where that often feels all but impossible.

And Hyde knows her efforts are just a drop in the bucket, when far bigger changes are needed to get the basin on a more sustainable path.

BECKY HYDE: Everybody is in a place of scarcity here.

It all has to change.

STEPHANIE SY: And what does that look like?

BECKY HYDE: One is that reparations package for Klamath Tribes.

And the other thing is massive ecological restoration, like at the scale of what the Everglades are doing, that kind of investment to restore resiliency here.

STEPHANIE SY: Hannah Gosnell says it's a story of broken promises, and not just to the tribes.

HANNAH GOSNELL: A lot of people have been calling for an apology to the tribes, and I think that's really important.

But we also probably need to apologize to the irrigators for promising them that they would be able to irrigate in perpetuity.

STEPHANIE SY: When those promises were made more than 100 years ago, there was simply more water in the Klamath Basin.

Ty Kliewer is doing his best to stay afloat.

He brews beer on his farm, a hobby-turned-business that, unlike ranching, doesn't depend on an unreliable supply of water.

TY KLIEWER: There are many who are in a much more perilous situation than I am.

You never do, but you almost think giving up hope might be the right idea.

If my children's experience farming and ranching here is going to be anything like mine has been, I would have a really, really hard time telling them this is a good idea and this is something you want to do with your life.

STEPHANIE SY: Don Gentry also thinks of the next generation when he looks out on the dwindling waters that have sustained his people for so long.

He remembers explaining to his grandson why they could no longer fish the endangered C'waam and Koptu.

DON GENTRY: He was just a little boy.

And I just remember him looking up to me.

And he goes: "I can't wait until we can catch and eat those fish again."

STEPHANIE SY: For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Stephanie Sy in Klamath Falls, Oregon.

JUDY WOODRUFF: For a closer look at the politics of an infrastructure deal and the continuing influence of former President Trump in the Republican Party, it's time for Politics Monday with Amy Walter, the newly named publisher and editor in chief of The Cook Political Report, Amy Walter, and Tamara Keith, White House correspondent for NPR.

We are very proud of you, Ms. Walter.

AMY WALTER, The Cook Political Report: Thank you very much, Judy.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Very exciting.

AMY WALTER: I'm very excited about it too.

JUDY WOODRUFF: She's the boss now.

AMY WALTER: Yes.

I can set -- everything comes - - the buck stops with me.

JUDY WOODRUFF: We are so happy for you.

So, all right, so let's talk infrastructure.

We reported on it earlier from Lisa, learned about what is in there.

But, Amy, what does it mean that they have this deal?

And does one side or another get credit here?

AMY WALTER: This is one of those rare things in politics, especially in this day and age, where everybody gets something that they are happy about.

Infrastructure is one of those deals that everybody loves, because -- no matter where you are in the ideological spectrum, because it's something you can go home and say to your constituents, look, I did something while I was in Washington.

There's something tangible that I'm bringing back.

Everybody who's in politics loves to talk about bringing home the bacon.

So it is one of the easier vehicles for bipartisanship.

The question -- as you pointed out, the question next is, what happens to the rest of the Democrats' agenda, specifically that $3.5 trillion sort of what we're calling soft infrastructure, more government spending on government programs, where -- that's where Democrats need to keep all 50 of their members and make sure that there are votes in the House.

And this is where I think we sometimes forget - - we talk about the Senate a lot, 50/50 Senate.

Speaker Pelosi only has a three-seat margin.

She can't afford many defections.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And progressives in the House are causing -- they're raising questions about the main infrastructure bill, and then, of course, bigger questions about the so-called social infrastructure.

TAMARA KEITH, National Public Radio: Certainly.

And, already, they have made it clear that those two are linked.

You don't get one without the other.

That is what Senate leadership has said.

That is what Nancy Pelosi has said.

And because those two are linked, certainly, assuming this passes out of the Senate, before they go away for recess, there will be something for President Biden to celebrate.

There will be something for everyone in the Senate to celebrate who voted for it.

But that doesn't necessarily mean that they have made it all the way.

I -- there could be a tortured sports analogy about goal lines and other lines.

And this is the "PBS NewsHour," so I'm not going to do it.

(LAUGHTER) TAMARA KEITH: But they're not there.

They're not at the end zone.

That's the point.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Yes.

And, Amy, it's -- for President Biden, who talked about bipartisanship, there's a glimmer.

(CROSSTALK) AMY WALTER: There is a glimmer of bipartisanship.

And, again, this is the second time that -- well, when he was candidate Biden, sort of made this bet, right, that has actually paid off, a bet that was against conventional wisdom.

The first bet was that Democratic primary voters would reward a longtime insider establishment who didn't want to shake up the system in the way that a Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren did, that that's who Democratic voters would pick as their nominee.

Most of the Washington world said, that's not going to happen.

He wins.

He comes in, he says, we're going to have real bipartisanship.

I know the Senate.

I have been a member of the Senate for most of my political career.

I get how this place works.

We're going to make it work.

Everybody said, eh, bipartisanship that's old and it doesn't work that way anymore, Joe.

And it looks as if those two bets have paid off.

And the big bet is going to come in November.

Will he be able to say as well, and this bet I made on getting a big, big, more government spending package through, not only is it helping Democrats, but we're not also battling inflation, which is what Republicans would argue will happen?

JUDY WOODRUFF: A very different kind of spending, or, I should say, fund-raising is what former President Trump has been able to do.

Tam, just in the last year, he's raised $82 million.

We're told he's got over -- I'm sorry - - yes, a million -- I almost said a billion.

I realize we're talking about different cutouts of money.

AMY WALTER: Still a lot.

TAMARA KEITH: It's not an infrastructure plan.

It's just political fund-raising.

(LAUGHTER) JUDY WOODRUFF: But he's got $102 million in the bank right now.

TAMARA KEITH: Right.

JUDY WOODRUFF: This is a former president.

We don't even know whether he's going to run for reelection.

What does that say?

What does that say about his support?

TAMARA KEITH: Yes, he is a former president.

Most former presidents at this point would be raising money for their library or to save the world or any number of things that former presidents do, book deal, something like that.

That's not what he's doing.

He -- the premise under which he is raising money is, one, to continue to contest the election that already happened, that is over, that he lost, and also to settle scores, to consolidate power behind himself to once and for all say, this is the Trump party.

The Republican Party is the Trump party.

And he is raising money by -- through the same outrage and that they're trying to hurt your favorite guy Trump kind of headlines in the fund-raising e-mails.

And it works, in part because a lot of people are on the continuing payment plan, continuing every month to send money, whether they opt in or not.

It's just... JUDY WOODRUFF: They used to call it layaway, but that's right.

(LAUGHTER) TAMARA KEITH: Yes.

AMY WALTER: That's right.

TAMARA KEITH: And he's taking full credit for it.

And, in a way, he can.

The question, though, is, what's he going to do with that money?

AMY WALTER: Right.

TAMARA KEITH: He's endorsing candidates, but I don't see him writing big checks yet.

AMY WALTER: That's the key question.

JUDY WOODRUFF: So, what is he going to do with it?

AMY WALTER: Well, there we go.

What is he going to do?

(LAUGHTER) AMY WALTER: One thing it's doing, certainly, is, it's saying to other Republicans, be careful crossing me.

I have $100 million.

Now, normally, you would look at that bank account, and if I were on the other side, say, oh, my gosh, there's -- that's $100 million that he can spend on the midterm elections and bankroll so many candidates.

But we know, after watching the former president for all these years now, he doesn't like spending money on anybody but himself.

So, it's not - - I don't think we're going to expect to see all of that $100 million bill win to win back control of the House and the Senate.

But I think your point too of we have never seen -- it's not just a former president.

A president who presided over the loss of the House and the Senate, he lost reelection, still able to raise that kind of money and have that kind of influence on his party is - - is remarkable.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Is there a way, Tam, in just a couple of minutes, to measure how much influence he still has?

There have been a couple of special elections.

There are more coming up in the in the next couple of days in Ohio.

Are we going to learn anything more about his influence from this?

TAMARA KEITH: Well, the candidate he endorsed in the Texas special election ended up losing.

Now, the special elections are sort of one-offs, and there's only so much you can draw from it.

But there's another special election primary this week.

It's a crowded field.

And that would be another data point.

The question comes at some point, if his candidates don't keep winning, does the emperor have no clothes?

Can he raise a lot of money, but does he not have the influence?

We are no - - we have nowhere near enough data points to know whether he truly is as powerful as he seems.

But, endorsements aside, there are basically no Republicans in Congress -- or maybe there's two -- who are willing to say anything to cross him, to contradict him.

AMY WALTER: Right.

TAMARA KEITH: So, in that way, he's in control.

AMY WALTER: That's right.

JUDY WOODRUFF: So we're talking about fear level.

AMY WALTER: Yes.

No, and it certainly is.

And you see it in the primaries.

Even the candidates who haven't been endorsed by Donald Trump aren't out there running against him, as much as they're trying to show, well, I may not have the Trump endorsement, but, believe me, I'm still a Trump Republican.

And so the influence is really going to be the kinds of people that come into Congress in 2023, right?

It's not whether they have a D or an R after their name.

It's much more about the temperament that they're going to bring, especially when we see how many people are retiring in the Senate.

People like Rob Portman... JUDY WOODRUFF: Right.

AMY WALTER: ... Roy Blunt, who are sort of traditional establishment members, could be replaced by more Trumpian figures.

And that changes sort of the possibility for more kind of bipartisan deals like the one that we're seeing right now.

TAMARA KEITH: That Rob Portman is very... AMY WALTER: Is a key, yes.. TAMARA KEITH: ... key to negotiating right now.

JUDY WOODRUFF: It's all connected in the end.

AMY WALTER: It's all -- we're bringing it all back.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Amy Walter, Tamara Keith.

Congratulations again.

AMY WALTER: Thank you very much, Judy.

JUDY WOODRUFF: We are just about at the halfway point in the Olympic Games in Tokyo.

These are probably the strangest in modern times, given COVID and the lack of spectators.

But there are amazing feats and records being broken every day.

The past few days have been particularly compelling.

Amna Nawaz has our look.

AMNA NAWAZ: Judy, the past 72 hours have brought some smiles and tears of joy for these unusual times.

Some of the highlights so far, Jade Carey's rebound to win the gold medal in the floor exercise in gymnastics.

Simone Biles is expected to compete in the balance beam finals tomorrow.

Big wins and multiple medals for swimmers Caeleb Dressel and Katie Ledecky.

But, of course, there are some disappointments too.

And that includes the U.S. women's soccer team losing its chance for a gold medal today to Canada.

Christine Brennan is covering these games for USA Today.

She joins me now from Tokyo.

Christine, welcome back to the "NewsHour."

Always good to have you here.

Let's talk about those swimmers.

The U.S. leads in the total medal count thanks in large part to those two people, Caeleb Dressel and Katie Ledecky.

Tell me about the significance of their performance.

CHRISTINE BRENNAN, USA Today: Katie Ledecky, I will start with her first, Amna.

And I have covered her for a long time.

And we remember her as the 15-year-old water bug winning in London, and then the dominant swimmer in Rio just piling up all the gold medals.

And this performance five years later in -- here in Tokyo I think is more impressive than any I have seen of hers.

And she's 24 years old now.

The competitors are coming on.

The young kids are coming on quick.

She added the 1, 500, first time the women were doing the 1, 500, the mile.

She added that.

So that added to her schedule.

And she just plowed through this, two golds, two silvers.

I think it was more impressive than what I'd seen from her before, in that, in addition to, of course, winning two golds, handling the silver in the 400 meters, losing to the Australian Ariarne Titmus, with class, grace, dignity, I think Katie Ledecky comes out of these Games as the star so far, and in terms of how she's handled herself both in the pool and out, just a true role model.

And then Caeleb Dressel, five gold medal.

He did exactly what he wanted to do here.

The pressure he talked about, so difficult.

He wasn't eating.

He wasn't sleeping.

He was shaking.

He says he lost 10 pounds, just how difficult it is.

And yet he did it, put his name up there with Mark Spitz and Michael Phelps in terms of a man winning three golds at a single Olympic Games.

AMNA NAWAZ: Team USA swimmers leading the way there.

We also have the gymnasts not doing too badly themselves.

Of course, a lot of focus on Simone Biles, the most decorated gymnast of our time, stepping back to take care of her own mental health and well-being.

What does her coming back for this balance being final tomorrow mean?

CHRISTINE BRENNAN: This is going to be the most watched event of the Olympics, Amna.

And I imagine that heart rates will be through the roof.

The balance beam is difficult anyway.

It's at four inches.

It's up there several feet in the air.

It's difficult just to stand on it for a mere mortal.

And to think that she is going to try to do what she does, fly through the air and do the jumps and the twists, and while still dealing with the twisties, losing herself in the air, it's extraordinary.

It was a week ago now that she, of course, told us about the problem and talked about mental health and the pressures and really got us on this national conversation that's working its way towards a movement with Naomi Osaka, et cetera.

So to see her actually come back, this is her last chance for gold or any medal at the Olympics.

It's going to be as dramatic a moment as I can think of in any Olympic Games.

So, it's quick.

Don't blink or you will miss it.

But it is one of those things that I think shows just how strong and how tough she is in the midst of so many personal issues.

Good for her.

And, of course, we will see how she does.

AMNA NAWAZ: And, of course, a lot of people are going to be cheering her on.

Of course, I need to ask you about the women's soccer team, heartbreak in that loss to Canada.

And they were really expected to do better than they had.

Isn't that right?

CHRISTINE BRENNAN: That is correct, although, in 2016, the last Olympics in Rio, they actually lost in an earlier round.

So they did better this time.

They will be playing for the bronze medal.

So there is a medal still on the table.

But the U.S. women's national team, Amna, has just not looked good this entire tournament, losing 3-0 to Sweden to start the Olympics, and then looking listless throughout.

The goalkeeper went out with an injury.

That did not help.

She had played so great against the Netherlands.

But a 1-0 loss to Canada.

On the other hand, for Canada, they have been trying to get to this point for a long time.

So, good for them, beating the United States.

That is a great rivalry, but a difficult time for the U.S. with an older team.

Some of those old players that we know so well, Megan Rapinoe, and Carli Lloyd, you wonder if that might have been the last time we see them on the international stage.

AMNA NAWAZ: Christine, there is a great history at the Olympic Games of athletes using that global stage to deliver an important message.

And we have had our first podium demonstration now.

I know you wrote about.

This was U.S. shot-putter Raven Saunders raising her arms in an X after winning a medal in her event.

Tell us what was behind that.

CHRISTINE BRENNAN: Yes, she says that's for oppressed people everywhere.

And what -- of course, it's the first demonstration we have seen at these Games, Amna.

And we expect more.

It's been a topic of conversation because the International Olympic Committee relaxed the rules just a bit to allow athletes to, say, kneel before games, as the women's soccer players have.

The difference here is, she did not do this - - the Chinese woman won the gold.

She -- Saunders did not do anything to disrupt the medal ceremony itself and also the national anthem.

No disrespect at all.

She did it afterwards, when they take - - they ask the athletes, take off your mask for a minutes for the -- for a quick photo.

That's when she did it.

So the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee has said it's OK.

The International Olympic Committee might say something different.

We could see everyone at loggerheads if, in fact, the International Olympic Committee disagrees that the -- with the U.S., the U.S. saying that it was OK what she did, and she was not disrespectful.

So, we will see how that plays out in the next few hours.

AMNA NAWAZ: A lot of Games behind us already, and still a lot of competition ahead.

That's Christine Brennan from USA Today joining us from Tokyo, covering these Olympic Games.

Christine, thank you so much for making the time.

CHRISTINE BRENNAN: My pleasure, Amna.

Thank you.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And on the "NewsHour" online: high-profile decisions by Black women like Simone Biles, Naomi Osaka, and Nikole Hannah-Jones have opened up conversations about advocating for one's mental health, as well as the toxic work conditions faced by Black women in many industries.

Find what others who are grappling with these same issues say about what this moment means for them.

That's on our Web site, PBS.org/NewsHour.

And that's the "NewsHour" for tonight.

I'm Judy Woodruff.

Join us online and again here tomorrow evening.

For all of us at the "PBS NewsHour," thank you, please stay safe, and we'll see you soon.