From CBS News headquarters in New York, this is the CBS Evening News. Good evening. I'm John Dickerson.
Maurice Dubois is off tonight. We begin with the murder in the heart of Washington DC of a young couple who worked for the Israeli embassy. US Attorney for DC Janine Piro says the murders are being investigated as both a hate crime and an act of terror.
The 31-year-old suspect from Chicago surrendered to police and was charged today with five felonies, including murder of foreign officials. Israel's ambassador to the United States says the couple, 30-year-old Yuron Leashinsky and 26-year-old Sarah Mgrim of Kansas were to be engaged next week. They were shot at close range while leaving a reception for young diplomats at the Capitol Jewish Museum about a mile from the US Capital building.
Scott McFarland is near the murder scene with the new developments. Scott. John.
Good evening. Elias Rodriguez of Illinois allegedly traveled here two days ago, apparently on business. Federal agents say he packed a gun in his checked baggage for the flight.
Two nights later, he's locked up, accused of a major crime here in the n in the nation's capital that has captured the attention of the world. Yelling, "Free Palestine as he was taken into custody. Free free Palestine.
" Investigators say this is the gunman who shot and killed two Israeli embassy aids as they walked out of Washington's Capital Jewish Museum Wednesday night. Make no mistake, this attack was targeted anti-semitic violence and it won't be tolerated. Police say Elias Rodriguez was seen pacing outside the building before pulling out a handgun and firing at a group of four people, including 30-year-old Israeli citizen Yuran Lashinsky and 26-year-old Sarah Mgrim, killing them both.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke about the murders. The terrorists who cruy gunned them down did so for one reason and one reason alone. He wanted to kill Jews.
As they cleaned the blood off the street today, the FBI searched the Chicago apartment where the suspect lived. John Fry is a neighbor. I wish that I had uh an opportunity to uh talk with him uh because if I had, I would have talked him out of it.
Lashinsky and Mgrim were a couple. The Israeli ambassador said Lashinsky had bought an engagement ring with the intention of proposing to his girlfriend next week in Jerusalem. Lashinsky recently posted of expanding the circle of peace with our Arab neighbors.
While Mgrim, a Kansas University graduate, wrote that she had a passion for peace building and fostering understanding between different peoples. It seems she made it her mission to try to stop violence like this. Yes, that's why it's extra devastating.
Sheila Katz was a friend of Mgrims. She had her whole life ahead of her and in the time she was here she of course made such a tremendous impact more than most people and we can celebrate that. Um but it's devastating to think that just because she was at a Jewish event at a Jewish space that everything about that got cut short.
Scott, this is being charged as both a hate crime and an act of terrorism. Can you explain the distinction between the two? It's being investigated as a potential hate crime and an act of terrorism.
For now, it's the charges murder of foreign officials, a rarely used charge, but the US attorney said, John, they could be adding new charges later on in this case. The museum behind me, it is closed. They hope to reopen in the coming days.
John, it is right across the street from the FBI's Washington field office. Scott McFarland in Washington. Thank you, Scott.
Earlier, we spoke with Israel's ambassador to the United States. lighter. I lost my son a year and a half ago.
He was a commander uh in the IDF and I remember the knock on the door when uh the officers came to inform me that he had fallen. Last night the role was reversed. I spoke to their parents and uh it was a very difficult uh conversation.
Obviously, they loved their children. Uh Sarah was the only daughter. She was a beautiful young lady.
She radiated. She has red hair and would come into the office in the morning and just light up the building, light up the entire embassy like sunshine. Do you consider your staffers to have been casualties in the war?
Absolutely. We have a international effort on the part of many different uh parties including some countries to delegitimize us and to demonize us into non-existence. Now to San Diego where federal investigators are sifting through the wreckage of a private jet that crashed during foggy weather.
The FAA says six people were aboard the plane. At least three people were killed. Carter Evans is at the scene.
The small plane left a trail of fire through one of the largest US military housing neighborhoods in the country. We got multiple explosions over here. We're doing evacuation.
Firefighters scrambled to douse cars. Families rushed to safety. This is what Ruth Lutz saw when she went outside.
It feels like I was in a movie but in live. And I was just like, "Wow, this is this is real life. " You ran out with your pajamas on your back.
That's it. That's it. Just before 4 in the morning, a Cessna 550 jet crashed into the neighborhood during foggy weather.
NTSB investigators say it first clipped a power line, then crashed into a home and multiple vehicles. Here you can see that its trajectory came through this direction, took out the front of that house, and it ended up here to the right behind me. At least three people were killed, all of them believed to be on the plane.
Among those feared dead, Daniel Williams, the former drummer for a popular hardcore Christian metal band, The Devil Wears Prada. He filmed himself boarding the aircraft and shared a photo of himself at the controls. His father confirmed to CBS News he was on the plane.
Minutes before the crash, the pilot expressed concerns about the weather to air traffic controllers. Myar automated weather uh for 0955 Zulu with windcom visibility 1/2 and indefinite ceiling 200 6. All right.
Uh doesn't sound great, but uh we'll give it a go. NTSB investigator Elliot Simpson. We plan on spending today, tonight, and all of tomorrow on scene documenting the the accident site.
Now, after this crash that caused all this damage, you can still smell the jet fuel in the air. About a hundred people were evacuated, and many who fled the flames won't be able to go back home until the NTSB completes its initial investigation. Carter Evans in San Diego.
Thank you, Carter. Now, more of the top stories from around the world in tonight's evening news roundup. In an escalation of its moves against Harvard, the Trump administration is revoking the university's certification, which allows it to enroll international students.
The Department of Homeland Security accuses Harvard of fostering violence, anti-semitism, and coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party. Harvard calls the government's action unlawful. The session went past sunrise, but House Republicans approved President Trump's multi-trillion dollar package of tax and spending cuts by a margin of just one vote.
One member fell asleep, or the margin would likely have been two votes. It now goes to the Senate where significant changes are expected. And the president is hosting 220 investors in his personal memecoin tonight at his Virginia golf club.
Purchases of the digital asset have generated hundreds of millions for the Trump family and other backers. Nancy Cortis will have more on tonight's Evening News Plus. And the US Treasury has put its final order in to make pennies.
It's begun officially phasing out the coin. But if you need to save a few cents, don't go to the butcher. Beef prices are setting records just in time for grilling season.
Jason Allen reports on what's at stake. The dinner shopping list for Darlow Torlson and his wife was short. How about that second one?
One sirloin steak, one potato. And at today's prices, just one. Is there a limit?
Is there an upper limit for you of what you're willing to pay? Well, I'm sure there probably is, but we haven't. But you haven't found it yet.
I haven't found it, but I'd like to see it back down. The cost of a pound of ground beef is closing in on $6, a record high up nearly 50% from 5 years ago. We are very, very conscious of how high the prices are in the meat case.
Steven Kirkland has been trying to absorb some of the price increases at his two stores near Fort Worth, Texas. But a year ago, he could buy cattle for about $1,500 each. Those 800lb steers this week costing almost $2,400 a piece just for one for one steer.
$2,400 for one steer. Raising those steers also comes at a higher cost now with prices up for feed, land, and financing. That's contributed to US cattle herds falling to their lowest numbers in more than 70 years.
We've had a lot of drought the past couple of years and so it's been harder and harder to keep enough grass to feed the cows. Kim Radiker Bays raises herfords and Longhorns at Twin Canyons Ranch south of Fort Worth. She has to weigh the cost to keep the herd fed and healthy against the price they'll command at market right now.
So, the big thing, especially with these uh current prices, is if any of these are open, they're going to sale. What do you mean open? If they're not pregnant, if they're not pregnant, they're going.
They're going cuz it just costs too much to feed them if you don't get a calf every year. With supplies tightening and a cookie, the USDA forecast beef prices to rise throughout 2025. When will beef costs too much for buyers?
That is a great question and I I don't know. I don't know where it's at. But as cattle prices increase, we're left with no other choice.
If we want to stay profitable, if we want to stay in business at all, we've got to go up on your price. Ranchers told us some of their counterparts are really seeing a windfall right now when they take their cattle to market, which is welcome, they said, because many of them have spent their entire lives just trying to keep their family farms from folding. Jason Allen, thank you.
Scientists are predicting a busy summer for hurricanes and tropical storms in the Atlantic. Lonnie Quinn joins us with the details and we'll have these stories. Two years after the mission was put on hold, these horses are returning to funeral duty at Arlington National Cemetery.
That's tonight's Eye on America. I'm Dave Malcoff. In Tyler Town, Mississippi, just one community around the country that has asked for federal disaster assistance, but they're still waiting.
That's next on the CBS Evening News. This has been a ferocious year for tornadoes. Here are the numbers.
More than 900 have been reported. That's nearly 300 above average. The Trump administration's overhaul of the Federal Emergency Management Agency or FEMA is raising concerns about how communities will be able to recover from destructive storms.
Dave Malcoff reports tonight from Mississippi, one of 19 states waiting for federal help. My double wide mobile home was located right here. 68 days ago, a deadly tornado in Tyler Town, Mississippi leveled Dorothy Yarborough's home.
Riding out a tornado in a double wide seems like a very scary experience. It it was it was it it happened so fast and but the response from the federal disaster agency FEMA has been slow. Typically, when a tornado destroys a town, someone like Yarborough applies for federal assistance.
The president signs the declaration and FEMA spends money to recover and rebuild. Yarborough has applied, but after 10 weeks, she's got nothing but a huge pile of debris and this camper. So, this was donated by a church.
This wasn't FEMA, right? Right. No, no, no, not FEMA.
Across the country, governors have 21 requests into the White House for emergency or disaster declarations. Two have been denied. The other 19, including Mississippi, are waiting for a decision.
President Trump says he wants to get rid of FEMA altogether. Somebody's going to have to help. Paty Pitman's family has owned this property for generations.
She and her husband repaired their damaged home and farm buildings with their own personal insurance money and most of their life savings. 40 grand. We've applied and that's the last we've heard.
But they say the president hasn't signed it. So, how does that make you feel? A little disappointed.
If we can send missiles overseas, why can't we send money to help us Arkansas? Now, Kentucky got hit this past weekend. My opinion is your priority is your home.
We asked the White House, what is the deal with this federal assistance? They got to back to us late today and they told us that the president takes a look at each and every one of these requests, but he is leaning heavily on the states to take care of their own people. It is me worth mentioning, John, that hurricane season is just 10 days away now.
Dave Maloff, thank you. The Atlantic hurricane season begins in just over a week. Government scientists at Noah predict it will be above average with as many as five major hurricanes.
And Lonnie Quinn is here with the details. Lonnie. All right.
I want to talk about those numbers that you're referring to because when you look at an average hurricane season, we have 14 named storms. Seven of which would be hurricanes and three would be major hurricanes. This year, they're going to go with numbers that are, believe it or not, John, either a little bit a little bit below or actually above average.
The numbers that are being projected for this year, 13 to 19 name storms. Like I said, the average you're looking at 14. So, a little bit below average or above average.
Why is that kind of range out there? They're looking at sea surface temperatures. They're also looking at wind shear.
They're looking at monsunal activity off of the coast of Africa. But the sea surface temperatures really gets your attention because there are portions of the area like the Gulf of Mexico where the sea surface temperatures right now above average, a little bit above average. If you look at the coast of Africa, which is so important for hurricane season because so often hurricanes are born, right?
Where you see those little dots right there, the Cape Verde Islands, well that pale yellow color is average temperature water and the little flashes of blue below average. So, it is possible that if a hurricane forms there, it turns the water like an egg beater, pulls up colder water. It ends up being more like an average season.
But they do say, hey, it could go a little bit above average. Do want to quickly show you Boston, Massachusetts. I can't show you much because there is a noraster out there.
Thankfully, it is weaker as you go into your day tomorrow and should dissipate. It's all yours, John. Lonnie Quinn.
Thank you, Lonnie. A military tradition rolls on. Eye on America is next.
We have an update on a solemn tradition at Arlington National Cemetery that was suspended two years ago. In tonight's Eye on America, Charlie Dageda reports on how that tradition is now rolling on again at America's largest military cemetery. Off you go.
Soldiers of the US Army's Old Guard are taking on intensive drills. Let's go. Walk on.
Stay together. Knee to knee. in precision horsemanship.
Okay, come around as they prepare to resume their sacred and solemn duty for service members being laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery. Horsedrawn funerals were suspended by the army two years ago after two horses died. And as CBS News reported, others were suffering painful muscle and tendon injuries.
Oh jeez. They're performing up to eight funerals a day in all weather, pulling wagons that weighed more than a ton. Most of those horses are retired now, replaced by dozens of new ones.
But army commanders knew they needed professional help to bring the quesons back and called in David O' Conor, an Olympic gold medalist with the US Equestrian Federation. The commanding general gets up there and he goes, "Okay, I would like for all of you guys to realize that we do not know what we're talking about. " I thought it was the greatest opening line I've ever heard.
That humility was surprising to me. We're in serious trouble. We need to really look at this whole thing.
So, I think a lot of it was an education piece. Lieutenant Colonel Jason Crawford is a veterinarian and the unit's new commander. Once we brought the right experts in, I think everyone then starts having the aha moment like I didn't know the horses were, you know, kind of working too much.
Now, the horses will be limited to two funerals a day. Prepared them out. But cutting their workload was just the beginning.
It wasn't just the welfare of the animals that they focused on, but the equipment. The old queson weighed 2600 lb. This one is more than a,000 lbs lighter.
Attention orders. Staff Sergeant Isaac Melton is a squad leader. Did you grow up riding?
Uh, no. So 15 months I've been here. 15 months ago I touched my first horse, sir.
It's a whole lot of training. A lot of hours. A a lot of hours, sir.
I'd say we average around 8 to 10 hours a day. Sergeant Damen Copelan was part of the program before it was suspended. What does it mean for you to return to this service?
Something inside your chest that you just you feel and you're proud, you're nervous, you're excited, you know, you're honored to be able to be the one that's that's saying I'm helping bring this back to the cemetery and those service members and their families. Have you imagined what might be going through your mind on day one? I can tell you exactly what would be going through my mind.
It would be perfection. Perfection in a ritual the Army calls a powerful symbol of sacrifice. For Eye on America, I'm Charlie Dageda in Arlington National Cemetery.
We end tonight with a right of passage that's disappearing. One that shaped generations, stained fingers with ink, and taught kids to show up. Rain or shine.
Before Dennis the Menace was launching papers into shrubs, the morning route belonged to boys and girls who biked through the dark, brave the cold, and barking dogs and delivered the news. Joe Biden, Martin Luther King Jr. , Warren Buffett and Tom Cruz are among the legions of Americans who earned their first pocket money that way.
For decades in New York, kids as young as 11 could have a paper route. But this month, the state ended that exemption, meaning at least here, the job that once belonged to pre-teen now belongs to history. Newspaper delivery in general is going the way of the switchboard operators and video store clerks.
Headlines are delivered by swipe, not spokes. And as the paper route fades into history, so will a certain kind of first job, one paid in dollars, lessons, and the dignity of showing up. That's the CBS Evening News.
I'll see you soon on CBS Evening News Plus, streaming on CBS News 247. Have a great night. Welcome to CBS Evening News Plus.
I'm John Dickerson. A deadly act of hate leaves two Israeli embassy staffers dead. The gunman shoots the couple outside a Washington DC Jewish museum shouting free Palestine.
This as a new report outlines the growing threat of extremism and hate groups in the United States. We'll put that into context tonight. The season's official hurricane forecast is released and FEMA's current plan for dealing with it is being scrapped.
CBS's Karen Wah reports from the hurricane vulnerable Gulf Coast. Those stories and more right after our news headlines. In San Diego, in the pre-dawn fog 8 miles from the airport where it was expected to land, a small business jet crashed into a military housing community.
The FAA says six were on board. At least three are dead. House Republicans passed the president's massive tax credit extensions and spending reductions by a single vote after days of negotiations with themselves over how much and how fast to cut.
Skeptical GOP senators are already hinting changes will need to be made to any final bill. And trucks of desperately needed food have reached distribution warehouses in Gaza, where the Israeli army has prevented shipments for 11 weeks. It says to prevent Hamas from intercepting them.
So far, some 90 trucks have crossed through in the past two days, but the UN says 500 trucks a day are needed to adequately feed the starving. We begin tonight with that deadly shooting outside a Jewish museum in DC that killed two Israeli embassy staffers. Law enforcement is investigating the gunman's actions as a hate crime and possible act of terrorism.
A new report out today from the Southern Poverty Law Center identifies the magnitude of the threat from extremism and hate groups in the United States. Joining us now to discuss is Margaret Hong, president and CEO of the Southern Poverty Law Center. Thank you so much for being with us.
Um Margaret, what's your reaction just off the bat to this shooting? We absolutely uh condemn the violent attack last night and want to remind everyone that violence is never a response to try to avoid conflict or to promote peace. It can only be done through peaceful means and we're so sorry and send our deepest condolences to the families.
The Southern Poverty Law Center tracks at least 14 active anti-semitic hate groups and 61 neo-Nazi groups operating in America. um help us understand that in the larger landscape of extremism. You know, John, we've been doing this report for more than 30 years.
This is our 34th report that we've issued. And throughout those years, we've documented hate groups starting with the Ku Klux Clan. And today we've actually documented more than 1,300 organizations across the country classified as either hate groups or as anti-government extremist organizations.
This report is similar to the last several years. What we've seen is a very dramatic uptick in the number of people embracing extremist ideologies and seeking to infiltrate the mainstream with their ideas and their hateful beliefs. Margaret, what do we know?
Is there a distinction and is it a useful distinction between free floating anti-semitism or free- floating hate and organized hate? Yeah, that's a great question. We actually use this report to document groups, organizations that actually advocate for and malign and attack a particular group of people based on their immutable characteristics.
Unlike individuals who might take action, possibly like the shooter last night, we're not documenting those individual acts of hate, but rather the groups that seek to manifest their beliefs into policies and laws across the country. And we've particularly seen that increase in state and local governments across the country as well as school boards. Of course, groups sometimes draw the actions of individual lone wolves.
Last question, Margaret. The the ad Trump administration has changed some of the ways it's count um counts and tracks in in databases these kinds of groups, domestic terrorist groups. How how does that affect this story?
Well, one of the most important things that we have to address is the myth of white genocide that is being promoted by this administration. Um, those myths have been clearly reviewed and analyzed by people without any political connections. And it's clear that that myth of white genocide is one that this administration is seeking to promote as it does uh attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion programs on civil rights protections and statutes, and as it seeks to deny due process to immigrant communities and other vulnerable populations.
Margaret Hong of Southern Poverty Law Center. Thank you so much. Today, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F.
Kennedy Jr. unveiled a sweeping new analysis on what's ailing America's children from obesity and asthma to behavioral health issues. CBS News medical contributor and editor at large for public health at KFF Health News.
Dr Selene Gounder joins me now. Good to be with you again, Dr Gounder. Um, what does this report say the causes are?
Well, it's interesting. There's also the comment that American children have never been less healthy. And if you go back in time, say a hundred years ago, one in three kids did not make it to the age of five.
Today, that is six to seven out of a thousand that die before the age of five. And what are the big things that have happened since then? Vaccines, which are called into question.
The safety of vaccines is called into question in this report. Uh and then improvements in sanitation and hygiene. In this particular report, they are citing four main drivers of chronic diseases among our children here in the United States, including ultrarocessed foods, environmental chemicals, a lack of physical activity, and quote overmedicalization of children.
That last category seems like it could fit all kinds of things. Could fit all kinds of things. I think largely it's referring to medications being given for conditions like ADHD.
Ah, how does this fit into or not? uh sort of accepted medical practice and thoughts about um kids. Well, we know ultrarocessed foods are not very good for you.
In fact, under the Biden administration, the FDA had been drafting uh guidance uh rules on what front of package labeling should look like to make it much more clear to people, hey, this is high in sodium and high in fat and probably not healthy for you. Uh those rules have not yet been finalized. that would be a step uh in the right direction I think uh you know handing off from one administration to the other towards curbing the effects of ultrarocessed food.
You have Lee Zeldon the head of the EPA who has said look we don't want more regulations but I'm not quite sure how you're going to curb environmental chemical exposures without more regulation. So there's some real malignment between uh this Maha Commission report and also what's in the big bold beautiful bill that just passed the House. All right, Dr Selene Gardner, thank you.
The 2025 hurricane season starts in just days, and forecasters say it could be one of the busiest in years. As the threat grows, the agency responsible for disaster response is weathering a storm of its own. CBS's Karen Wah reports from the Gulf Coast of Texas.
For the second straight year, Noah predicts an above average hurricane season. Five hurricanes made landfall in the US last season, causing more than a hundred billion dollars worth of damage. For the range of storms, we're calling for 13 to nine, 13 to 19 name storms.
Of these, 6 to 10 are forecast to become hurricanes. That number is slightly lower than last year, but hurricanes have been getting more intense. Here's why.
Warming waters energize storms, and experts say the ocean is now warming at twice the rate it was just two decades ago. What can't be predicted is whether cuts to Noah and FEMA will impact hurricane prediction and response. Noah lost nearly one in five employees to Trump administration buyouts and layoffs.
John Cortina is retired from Noah. The cuts at least that have been proposed are larger than any I've seen in the 30 years I've been associated with Noah. So they're quite significant and therefore the impacts are expected to be quite significant.
And CBS News has learned the acting head of FEMA just rescended its strategic plan, a document that outlines its disaster relief priorities. Adam Garrison has weathered extreme storms his entire life. Now he rents out chairs and umbrellas at beaches in Galveastston, Texas.
What's the revenue loss like on on that side of things? Yeah, we'll lose thousands for sure. So many here are still rebuilding even as they prepare for this upcoming storm season.
Acting NOA administrator Laura Grim says their hurricane center is fully staffed. John Karen Wild, thank you. Now, here are three things to know.
Existing home sales haven't been this sluggish in 16 years. The National Association of Realtors says sales of those units slipped another 2% from the previous April for their own worst showing since 2009. Economic fears and stubbornly high mortgage rates continue to put a damper on the sector.
More consumers are falling behind on their short-term loans. Clish, a Swedish company that specializes in buy now pay later, reports its losses on defaults rose 17% last quarter. And the New York Federal Reserve says total credit card balances reached a total of $1.
21 trillion at the end of last year. That's a new record. In these trying economic times, it's human nature to seek out answers.
So perhaps it's no surprise that a Pew Research study now shows 30% of Americans check astrology, fortune tellers, or tarot cards at least once a year. We don't want to shatter anyone's crystal ball, but the study also shows the vast majority of us do so and just for fun. Coming up on CBS Evening News Plus, we go in depth on the questions being raised about the crypto dinner President Trump is hosting tonight.
Ethically, this appears to be uh a president that could be potentially benefiting uh privately from something that he's doing out in the open. Tonight, President Trump will host a controversial crypto gala at his golf club just outside of DC. Attendees spent millions on the Trump family's new meme digital coin.
CBS's chief White House correspondent Nancy Cortis goes in depth on the concerns the guests are buying access to the president. It drew an enormous amount of attention. Donald Quinnby's company had a very specific goal when it purchased $2 million worth of Trumpcoin last month.
We thought this was really the best platform for us to to make a splash, right? Yeah. I mean, and to make to make some noise.
Quinnby is the chief financial officer at Freight Technologies, a trucking logistics firm. And Trump's tariffs have been throttling freight traffic. With the the Trump meme token, this was just an opportunity to really advocate for for free and fair trade.
So, the idea was if we buy this cryptocurrency, we will potentially get the president's attention on this issue. Potentially. I mean, I'm I'm sure he likes to follow who's, you know, who's purchasing his coins.
The United States will be the crypto capital of the planet. The president and his family launched Trumpcoin just before he took office in January. An analytics firm says the president's family and other backers have collected more than $300 million in transaction fees alone.
This is really unprecedented. Jessica Tilipman is a law professor at George Washington University. Ethically, this appears to be uh a president that could be potentially benefiting uh privately from something that he's doing out in the open.
Last month, the Trump family went a step further, offering a quote intimate private dinner with the president at his golf course in Virginia for those who own the most Trump coin. They even posted a leaderboard so buyers could compete with one another. Among the winners, Justin's son, a Chinese-born cryptobillionaire and the largest holder of Trumpcoin.
He was sued for fraud by the Biden administration. But earlier this year, the Securities and Exchange Commission paused the lawsuit as part of a broader Trump administration shift towards easing crypto enforcement. Did anyone in the White House or in the White House council's office advise the president against holding this sweep stakes?
The president is abiding by all conflict of interest laws that are applicable to the president. And I think everybody, the American public, believe it's absurd for anyone to insinuate that this president is profiting off of the presidency. We thought it was worth it.
Quinnby's company didn't make the leaderboard, but they say they're prepared to buy up to $20 million worth of Trump coin. That's what it takes to get the president's attention. For CBS News, I'm Nancy Cordes at the White House.
The majority of Americans don't make enough money to cover some of the basic costs of living like healthcare and rent. It's called the affordability gap. For tonight's interview, we're joined by Gene Lewig, founder and chairman of the Lewig Institute for Shared Economic Prosperity, which authored the new report.
Gan, thank you for being with us. What's the key takeaway from your report? Uh, John, the key takeaways, you might say, are three.
Number one, uh uh 60% of Americans uh and less fortunate even uh can't meet a minimum quality of life standards. So 60% of Americans can't afford a minimum quality of life. Point one, a point two, things are getting worse, not better.
And point three is that, you know, it's interesting. The the fact is we don't have good statistics publicly. the headline statistics are misleading and painting a rosier picture than in fact is lived experience.
Let me ask you about minimum quality life relative to say something like the consumer price index. Is that what you're talking about? That mismatch?
That's exactly right. In other words, the indexes that are out there right now are really survival indexes. They're valuable.
They tell us something. We have one at uh LIYUB that is the Lewig Institute for Shared Economic Prosperity which I represent and uh but they don't tell us uh you know really the kind of life that is the basic life you need to come up to the American dream to to make life better for yourself. The report shows an income gap and we're going to put a graphic up on the screen between the top 20% of earners and the bottom 60%.
You you say we're not sharing enough of the pie. Help people understand what that means. Well, for the last uh we think 40 years, but certainly the last 20 years, u middle and low-income Americans, well-being has declined.
But as you can see from that graph, that isn't uh true for uh the upper income groups. And also, let's look at some specific things that used to make up the American dream. Housing is up 130% since 2001.
Healthc care 178%. The amount of savings needed to attend college 122%. I mean, wages can never keep up with those kind of increases.
So, if what what what do those numbers tell us? Well, they tell us that wages, by the way, during this 20-year period, uh we're up about 98%. There's a huge gap between the increase of these costs and the increase in wages, which means over 20 years, uh middle and low-income Americans have actually declined in terms of their ability to afford these things.
Real wages are down 4. 2%. So, Gene, if you had to take on one thing, what would it be?
I think it's getting the facts out. I think you've got to be able to have good headline statistics, good statistics that policymakers can understand so they can focus on the right target. If they don't have the uh the information, they're going to basically create policies that don't work.
And so, that's number one, headline statistics. Number two is measuring the policies that uh people have and see whether they work or not. People come to Washington to do good things, but it doesn't mean necessarily the the prescriptions they have really work.
Gene Lewig, we are very grateful for being with you. Thank you so much. The multiple stages of parental advice, my reporter's notebook is next.
I am the father of a college graduate, which means soon I'll be experiencing a graduation speech. I've given a few of those speeches myself. I even considered doing a little of that tonight.
Fortunately, I was cured of the instinct. I love graduation speeches, but giving advice to strangers is different than giving it to your own child. In that case, I think the best advice I've given is advice I've withheld.
Advice giving is the basic unit of parenting. It starts out strong. Don't put the car keys into the socket.
You can't argue with that. But then the same kids who once called you into the room to show you what they're doing grow up and they don't want you to see what they're doing. Advice loses power.
They don't want it. And we should start giving less of it. We rarely see it that way.
We just want to help. Life is hard. They should benefit from our experience.
But with advice, we risk making them poorer. As Dickens wrote, "All gifts have the inevitable tendency to poorerize the recipient. " We tend to think of aging as a process of letting go, of ideals, of dreams, of the self we used to be.
But what if it's the opposite? The songwriter Nick Cave put it this way. The younger self is a kind of unformed thing, frantically trying to build its sense of self.
This is me. Here I am. But then time and life come along and smash that sense of self into a million pieces.
As parents, our job is not to prevent the smashing, but to resist stepping in while it happens. It's painful to watch, but it's the only way to build something sturdier. I am not afraid of storms, Louisa May Alcott wrote, for I am learning how to sail my ship.
This isn't a one-time event. Leaving home is just the first voice you find. Life keeps smashing, asking you to find a new voice again, including when it asks us to learn to quiet our own voice so that we can hear what our children have to say.
And that's tonight's CBS Evening News. Thank you for joining us. I'm John Dickerson.
Good night.
