AMNA NAWAZ: Good evening.

I'm Amna Nawaz.

Judy Woodruff is away.

On the "NewsHour" tonight: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is arrested at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, after his asylum is revoked.

Then: a coup in Sudan.

After 30 years in power, President Omar al-Bashir is out after months of protests.

And a year-and-a-half after Hurricane Irma struck the Florida Keys, residents are still struggling to rebuild homes lost in the storm.

MAGGIE WHITCOMB, Florida Keys Community Land Trust: We can't survive here, if the people that make things run every day aren't -- aren't here.

And they can't stay if they don't have a place to live.

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

(BREAK) AMNA NAWAZ: Julian Assange, the founder of the anti-secrecy organization WikiLeaks, was arrested this morning in London, seven years after taking refuge in an embassy there.

The United States will seek his extradition on federal charges unsealed this morning in connection with an enormous leak of American intelligence nearly a decade ago.

Defiantly shouting at authorities, refusing to walk out on his own, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was carried out of the Ecuadorian Embassy in London after seven years of asylum and toward the justice system that has long pursued him.

Assange was charged by British authorities for failing to appear in court on previous charges.

But U.S. authorities have also requested he be extradited for a charge related to his role in the 2010 release of classified American material with then-Army Private Bradley Manning, now Chelsea Manning.

The U.S. Department of Justice alleges that, in March 2010, Assange engaged in a conspiracy with Chelsea Manning to assist Manning in cracking a password stored on U.S. Department of Defense computers connected to the secure Internet Protocol Network.

Back in 2012, Assange sought protection in Ecuador's London embassy, facing extradition to Sweden on rape and molestation charges.

JULIAN ASSANGE, Founder, WikiLeaks: I thank President Correa for the courage he has shown in considering and in granting me political asylum.

AMNA NAWAZ: But over the years, the controversy grew around Assange's role in WikiLeaks and their mission to expose government secrets around the globe.

Relations between Assange and his hosts soured.

Today, Ecuador's President Lenin Moreno said they'd had enough.

LENIN MORENO, President of Ecuador (through translator): The asylum of Mr. Assange is unsustainable.

The patience of Ecuador has reached its limit on the behavior of Mr. Assange.

AMNA NAWAZ: Assange's work has long been the subject of intense debate.

To his supporters, the Australian hacker is a champion of free speech, to his critics, a national security threat.

Those competing legacies stem from his involvement in one of the biggest government leaks in U.S. history.

The 2010 leak by Assange and WikiLeaks released classified documents on U.S. activity in Afghanistan and in Iraq, including a graphic video of a U.S. army helicopter assault on suspected militants who turned out to be civilians.

They also published more than 250,000 diplomatic cables, sending the Obama administration and foreign diplomats reeling.

Those leaks put Manning in jail.

Her sentence was commuted by President Obama.

She was released in 2017, only to be reimprisoned in 2019.

Assange also published on WikiLeaks top-secret information stolen by CIA contractor Edward Snowden about the scope of U.S. government surveillance.

Snowden fled to Russia and was granted asylum himself.

The 2016 presidential election put the spotlight back on Assange and WikiLeaks.

They published damaging e-mails from the Democratic Party and Secretary Clinton's campaign, allegedly obtained by Russian hackers, prompting this reaction from then-candidate Donald Trump: DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: WikiLeaks.

I love WikiLeaks.

AMNA NAWAZ: In an interview that year with Judy Woodruff, Assange defended the move.

JULIAN ASSANGE: Let's say that, personally, I loved Hillary Clinton, would WikiLeaks still publish this material?

Of course it would.

Otherwise, we would be censoring it.

That's our mandate.

It's actually interesting to think about what media organizations wouldn't publish such material if it was given to them.

AMNA NAWAZ: The Trump administration's view of Assange and WikiLeaks has evolved.

MIKE POMPEO, U.S. Secretary of State: We at the CIA find the celebration of entities like WikiLeaks to be both perplexing and deeply troubling, because while we do our best to quietly collect information on those who pose very real threats to our country, individuals such as Julian Assange and Edward Snowden seek to use that information to make a name for themselves.

AMNA NAWAZ: Today, at his first court appearance, Assange entered a plea of not guilty.

His extradition hearing will take place on May 2.

Our other top story today: The Sudanese military announced it has overthrown President Omar al-Bashir, who ruled Sudan for three decades.

The coup comes after months of massive protests demanding al-Bashir step down.

Sudan's defense minister said the military is suspending the constitution, and will take charge of the country for the next two years, before new elections are held.

We will look at the coup, and its implications, later in the program.

A powerful spring blizzard hammered the Central U.S. today, bringing heavy snow and strong gusty winds.

Forecasters warned, parts of South Dakota and Minnesota could get as much as two feet of snow.

Meanwhile, in Colorado, flurries frosted the freshly planted flowers in Fort Collins.

The so-called bomb cyclone has knocked out power to nearly 56,000 customers across Minnesota and Iowa.

A federal grand jury in Southern California has indicted attorney Michael Avenatti on 36 new charges, ranging from tax and bank fraud, to stealing millions of dollars from clients.

Avenatti is best known for representing adult film actress Stormy Daniels, who claims to have had an affair with President Trump.

Federal prosecutors said Avenatti swindled clients to serve his own interests.

NICK HANNA, U.S. Attorney, Central District of Columbia: Money generated from one set of crimes was used to further other crimes, typically in form of payments designed to string along victims, so as to prevent Mr. Avenatti's financial house of cards from collapsing.

AMNA NAWAZ: Avenatti said he will plead not guilty to the charges.

He could face up to 333 years in prison if convicted on all 36 counts.

Avenatti had already been arrested last month in New York for allegedly trying to extort $25 million from Nike.

A 21-year-old man has been arrested in connection to arsons at three black churches in Louisiana.

Officials confirmed today the suspect, Holden Matthews, is the son of a sheriff's deputy in rural St. Landry Parish.

The churches, each more than 100 years old, were set on fire between March 26 and April 2.

No injuries were reported.

Today, the state's fire marshal declared the community is safe again.

BUTCH BROWNING, Louisiana State Fire Marshal: This investigation is probably one of the most unique arson investigations that I have been involved in, in my 33 years, in that this was an attack on a house of God.

Though the spirit is still strong, the landmark has been destroyed.

We took that very seriously in this investigation.

AMNA NAWAZ: Matthews faces three charges of simple arson on religious buildings.

Each count carries a maximum sentence of 15 years.

The governor of Ohio has signed into law one of the nation's most restrictive abortion bills.

It bans the procedure after the first detectable fetal heartbeat.

That can be as early as five or six weeks into a pregnancy, before many women even know they are pregnant.

Ohio is now the fifth state to ban abortions after the first heartbeat.

President Trump today repeated unfounded claims made by his attorney general that U.S. intelligence agencies spied on his 2016 presidential campaign.

Yesterday, William Barr testified before Congress that he believes -- quote -- "spying did occur" against the Trump campaign.

Today, in an Oval Office meeting with South Korea's president, Mr. Trump endorsed that assessment, but offered no proof.

DONALD TRUMP: There was absolutely spying into my campaign.

I will go a step further.

In my opinion, it was illegal spying, unprecedented spying, and something that should never be allowed in our country again.

And I think his answer was actually a very accurate one.

AMNA NAWAZ: The Senate's top Democrat, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, warned today that Barr's testimony -- quote -- "just destroyed the scintilla of credibility he had left."

Former Obama White House counsel Greg Craig has been charged with lying and hiding information about his lobbying work in Ukraine.

The indictment was announced today in Washington.

The federal investigation stemmed from special counsel Robert Mueller's probe into former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort's work on behalf of a pro-Russian political party in Ukraine.

The U.S. Senate has voted to confirm David Bernhardt as secretary of the interior.

Bernhardt had been leading the department as acting secretary.

He is also a former oil and gas lobbyist.

His predecessor, Ryan Zinke, resigned in December amid ethics investigations.

Retired Pope Benedict has penned a rare essay addressing the sex abuse scandal in the Roman Catholic Church.

It was published today in a German church magazine.

Benedict said the sexual revolution of the 1960s and -- quote -- "homosexual cliques" in seminaries were largely to blame for the crisis.

He also said during the 1980s and '90s -- quote - - "The right to a defense was so broad as to make a conviction nearly impossible for priests."

Benedict has been criticized for not doing more to investigate the abuse claims.

In India, at least four people were killed in violent clashes, as the first phase of voting began in the country's national election.

The vote is seen as a referendum on Prime Minister Prime Minister, who's seeking a second term.

Nearly 900 million people are eligible to cast their ballots.

The process is expected to take about six weeks to finish, before results are announced on May 23.

And back in this country, there are new signs the nation's job market is strengthening.

The Labor Department reported jobless claims fell to a nearly 50-year low last week.

Even so, there was little movement on Wall Street today.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 14 points to close at 26143.

The Nasdaq fell 17 points, and the S&P 500 was unchanged.

Still to come on the "NewsHour": analysis of the legal and political fallout from the arrest of Julian Assange; the president of Sudan is ousted from power after 30 years; residents of the Florida Keys struggle to rebuild after a devastating hurricane; and much more.

For a closer look at the arrest of Julian Assange and the long-running U.S. effort to prosecute the WikiLeaks founder, I'm joined by Jesselyn Radack, director of the whistle-blower and source protection program at the group ExposeFacts.

She represents former government contractor Edward Snowden.

Amy Jeffress is a former federal prosecutor.

She served as a national security lawyer in the Department of Justice under President Obama.

And Jamil Jaffer, former senior counsel for the House Intelligence Committee, he served at the Justice Department's National Security Division during the George W. Bush administration.

Welcome to you all.

Amy, let me start with you.

Let's set aside politics, how all of this is going to be spun by supporters or critics of Mr. Assange.

Just legally, should he have been charged today?

AMY JEFFRESS, Former Justice Department Official: So, I don't want to opine on whether they should have charged him.

I think a lot of the debate that's going on is whether he's a journalist.

And if you read the indictment, which I did, the charges relate to computer hacking.

And so the issue is not, did he publish information that was illegally obtained, but did he, himself, participate in violating the law in obtaining that information?

AMNA NAWAZ: But, legally, there's a basis for those charges there?

AMY JEFFRESS: Well, yes.

It depends on the facts, certainly.

And it's a very sparse indictment, so we really don't know a lot about the evidence, but the charges are certainly legitimate.

AMNA NAWAZ: Jesselyn, let me ask you.

It's a sparse indictment, as she mentioned.

There's not a ton in there, and a narrow set of charges.

But you said already that this sets is terrible precedent, you think.

Why?

Explain that to me.

JESSELYN RADACK, ExposeFacts: I think this can make any journalist or publisher vulnerable to charges under the Computer Fraud Abuse Act.

I read the indictment, too.

It's very thin right now.

I don't know if they're planning on doing a superseding indictment, or if that's even possible on an extradition warrant.

But publishing classified information in the U.S. about the U.S. shouldn't be criminalized under any statute.

We have a First Amendment.

AMNA NAWAZ: But, again, this wasn't about the publishing of the material, right?

The charges, as I understand them, related specifically to the alleged hacking, breaking into a secure system to get the material.

JESSELYN RADACK: To the extent that it talks about Assange -- again, I have seen all sorts of stuff in indictments, because you can put pretty much anything in there.

It's just the government's side.

But to the extent that a journalist is talking to a source -- I mean, when I leaked to a journalist, he talked to me about how to go to Kinko's and use an old-fashioned fax machine.

I mean, that shouldn't be something that would be criminalized.

AMNA NAWAZ: Jamil Jaffer, jump in here.

Do you think this sets a precedent that's dangerous?

Is there a slippery slope here?

JAMIL JAFFER, Former Senior Counsel, House Intelligence Committee: No, absolutely not.

Look, what Julian Assange did here was that he spoke to a person who he knew had authorized access to classified information.

She had already given him tons of classified information.

He wanted more.

She said, I can hack -- I can get into the system, but I need to break into the password.

She then downloads a piece of software, gets access to part of the password, and gives to Assange with the intent, which he tried to do, to crack the rest of the password to help her get further into the system.

That's not publication information.

That is not First Amendment-protected speech.

It's nothing like that.

This is straight-up assistance to hack a computer system, a classified computer system, to get access to classified material and publish it.

So, that is, in fact, a crime under any circumstance, and absolutely the right thing for the government to charge Assange and to prosecute him to the fullest extent of the law.

AMNA NAWAZ: Let's try to fill in some of the information here, Amy, because there was a decision made by the previous administration not to prosecute, right?

They decided it was too fraught, too controversial, too risky.

What had to change between the Obama administration and this administration to get to that decision to prosecute?

AMY JEFFRESS: That's an interesting question.

And, again, I don't think I want to opine that there was a decision made not to charge.

AMNA NAWAZ: What kind of information would have been necessary, though, to get from one to the next?

AMY JEFFRESS: So, evidence that he violated the law.

So, the fact that was new to me -- and I didn't know anything about this case while I was in government, just to be clear -- but the fact that was new to me was this attempt on Julian Assange's part, which is alleged in the indictment, to assist then Bradley Manning by helping crack a password to gain access to what they both knew was computer -- computer information that contained classified information.

AMNA NAWAZ: Jesselyn, let me dig in on this with you, though, because this is the charge, right, related to the attempt to hack.

We already heard from Mr. Assange's lawyer.

He, again, made the same argument that this is dangerous for journalists, this man was acting as a journalist.

How is that strong legal ground, though, when this doesn't seem to be related to First Amendment issues?

JESSELYN RADACK: You know, again, this is under Computer Fraud Abuse Act, which has been incredibly -- it's an incredibly broad law.

And this can criminalize -- even if you think journalists are not doing that, I mean, a lot of journalists use SecureDrop.

They walk sources through how to transmit information on SecureDrop.

You know, and I think we create this slippery slope in doing this.

I attended Chelsea's court-martial, Chelsea Manning's court-martial, and this stuff about the -- cracking the passwords and this kind of interplay, like, this is the first I'm hearing about this.

And I had gone to Fort Meade, to these very - - I'm surprised.

Like, it shocking to me this wouldn't have come up earlier.

AMNA NAWAZ: You think this changes the rules because it opens up the door for how journalists will sometimes interact with their sources in obtaining different kinds of information?

JESSELYN RADACK: I think it does.

Trump didn't make it a secret that he considers the press to be the enemy.

And, here, I think you see the first step.

I mean, we already have a source put in jail for longer than any other source.

Reality Winner has been in prison for giving information to a news outlet.

And here you have an actual publisher.

So I think this is a step beyond.

I have always said the war on whistle-blowers was a backdoor war on journalists.

And I see that coming to full fruition here.

AMNA NAWAZ: Jamil, help us understand the timing a little bit, if we can.

The inadvertent filing back in November that revealed there was this sealed criminal complaint against Mr. Assange, that was several months ago.

What had to happen between then and now that led to the arrest today?

JAMIL JAFFER: Well, obviously, the Ecuadorian Embassy let Mr. Assange out on the street.

And so this indictment was filed over a year ago in federal court, and so this indictment has been sitting sealed for over a year.

And so this idea somehow that this is a war on journalism is completely outrageous.

There's no war on journalism.

There's a war on teaching people who are trying to hack a password.

That's illegal under any standard.

It's never been lawful.

It will never be lawful.

Accessing a secure computer system, much less a classified computer system, is against the law.

And trying to crack a password for a classified system, that's illegal.

There's no war on journalists.

There's no discussion of trying to use SecureDrop.

This is about how to break a password, which is exactly what Mr. Assange said he was trying to do.

He was able to do it.

But he participated with Chelsea Manning in trying to do that, and that's a crime under federal law, period, full stop.

AMNA NAWAZ: There's another question here about the protection he was granted by the Ecuadorians.

I want to get your take on that, Jesselyn, because, obviously, he had been there seven years.

They had obviously said that there was some kind of credible fear, right, some level of protection he was owed.

Does that concern you, that they were able to pull back that level of asylum?

JESSELYN RADACK: Absolutely.

Asylum grants are not doled out willy-nilly.

You have to show that you have a valid fear of persecution based on political expression.

So to the extent that the U.S. has a history of violating human rights laws, particularly when you look at cases like this -- look at Chelsea Manning.

The U.S. during her court-martial gave her credit time because she was, in fact, tortured.

When you look at that kind of history, you could understand why this would happen.

AMNA NAWAZ: Amy, I want to give you the last word here.

We have got a little over a minute-and-a-half left now.

Are you worried that this sets any kind of dangerous precedent, that it send a message to journalists and others about the way they interact with sources?

And walk us through what happens next.

AMY JEFFRESS: Sure.

So, these charges, again, are not -- he's not charged with leaking.

He's not charged with the Espionage Act defenses.

He's charged with a computer fraud crime.

So it's different from some of the other cases that have been more controversial, in my opinion.

What happens next is, he will have a hearing in Westminster Magistrates' Court on May 2, as I understand it.

He had his hearing today on the bail-jumping charge.

The hearing on May 2 will start to focus on the United States' extradition request.

And in my experience, having served at the embassy in London, these proceedings can take a very long time.

So he will have a full opportunity to present all of these defenses.

He can have an appeal.

He can take an appeal to the European Court on Human Rights.

And so this will take a long time to sort out.

I think we won't see Julian Assange in the United States for months, if not years.

And he may be able to launch a successful challenge.

So it's going to unfold over a very long period of time.

AMNA NAWAZ: Several months, if not years, then.

We will be tracking it.

Amy Jeffress, Jesselyn Radack, and Jamil Jaffer, thank you very much for your time.

JAMIL JAFFER: Thank you.

AMNA NAWAZ: We return to the coup in Sudan, ending the 30-year rule of Omar al-Bashir.

Sudan lies at the crossroads of sub-Saharan Africa, Northern Africa and the Middle East.

Its fate will have implications for international migration, counterterrorism and regional stability.

As Nick Schifrin reports now, protesters helped to end one reign of oppression, but they fear another could be on the way.

NICK SCHIFRIN: At the end of the largest peaceful demonstrations in a generation, at the end of 30 years of authoritarian rule, there was jubilation in the streets for the protesters who helped depose a despot.

They held aloft a young soldier who sided with them against the regime.

They pulled down Omar al-Bashir's face from ubiquitous posters.

And they didn't care if they were sitting in traffic, as long as they could declare V for victory.

They expressed hope that today marked a new beginning.

MAHA HUSSEIN, Sudan (through translator): We have been under his rule for 30 years and feel this step came too late, but what is important is that everyone is happy now.

HIND MOHAMED ALY, Sudan (through translator): Everyone will now work for a better, united Sudan.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Since 1989, 75-year-old Omar al-Bashir forcibly united Sudan by waging wars while wearing a smile.

In Southern Sudan and Darfur, his militias scorched earth and massacred his enemies.

Hundreds of thousands died, and suffered from famine.

He was indicted for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide.

And in the 1990s, he hosted Osama bin Laden.

He led thanks to military support, but today the military removed him and promised a two-year transition government, administered by the military, and declared by Defense Minister Awad Mohamed Ibn Auf.

AWAD MOHAMED AHMED IBN AUF, Sudanese Defense Minister (through translator): We announce a complete cease-fire, and the release of all prisoners immediately, providing an atmosphere for a peaceful transition of power, building political parties, holding free and fair elections by the end of the transitional period, and introducing a permanent constitution.

NICK SCHIFRIN: But for the hundreds of thousands who protested a regime and its military, that wasn't good enough.

Immediately after the announcement, protesters surrounded an army general's vehicle and demanded a transition to democracy.

They called Defense Minister Ibn Auf a regime crony.

The U.S. still has sanctions against him.

MUAWIA SHADDAD, University of Khartoum: It was a massive disappointment.

People shouted in anger.

We do not accept this, because they haven't done anything, no change, no real change.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Muawia Shaddad is a University of Khartoum professor and member of the Civil Society Alliances Forces that helped lead the protests.

He says the demonstrations will continue until their demands are all met.

MUAWIA SHADDAD: We need full democracy, with all the principles and pillars of good governance.

We want a representation of the people.

We want to survive from the economic collapse.

We also would like to ensure human rights for all, and also this should be done by a governing structure that is truly civilian.

NICK SCHIFRIN: The demonstrations began in December as protests against increased food prices, but they quickly became political.

They took over intersections and overpasses, chanting the people want to build a new Sudan day and night.

They drafted a nationalist message, and demanded the man who himself took power in a military takeover finally cede power.

Bashir has survived prior protests, but these were different.

They peaked in Khartoum, the traditional base of his power.

Protesters included opposition figures, working class, and the elite, including the children of regime members.

And the majority were women.

In an extremely patriarchal society, women helped lead the movement, and 22-year-old Alaa Salah became its icon.

She wore the uniform of working Sudanese women with touches of tradition.

And where previous protests died out, female protesters provided staying power, especially as dozens of protesters were killed.

Today, they are vowing to keep protesting.

They say they may have won today's battle, but they are fighting a war that is far from over.

And tonight in Sudan, protesters remain in the streets, in defiance of a curfew that began at 10:00 a.m. local.

For more, we turn to Khalid Medani, associate professor and chair of the African Studies Department at McGill University in Montreal.

Welcome to the "NewsHour."

The military is talking about a two-year transition.

Protesters say that's not enough.

Are we on the road for continuing protests and a continuation of a regime, just without Bashir?

KHALID MEDANI, McGill University: Absolutely, I think there's no question we're on the way to continuing protests.

I think this is essentially an internal coup, replacing one military leader, you know, with another.

And, of course, it's been very clear with respect to the position of the opposition that this is unacceptable.

Their demand is very straightforward, very clear, and that is a transition to a civilian government that is overseen perhaps by the military, basically just as a kind of caretaker, but composed of a number of different technocrats and representatives of the different opposition groups, in addition to representatives of those who have taken to the streets over these four months.

So, the protests, as you probably have been looking at in terms of the news, will continue and will be sustained by the opposition.

They have come out with statements, very strong statements today, saying that they will not tolerate this kind of continuation of the military regime.

And they don't find the military transitional council legitimate, because their demand is not only to get rid of Bashir, which has been successful, of course, but also to really dismantle the regime.

And, of course, the acting head of state at the moment, the former -- or the defense minister, is really just another member or personnel of that of that regime.

NICK SCHIFRIN: So is the fear that the problems will persist?

We're talking about now a divide between the military, the intelligence services, and the militias.

We're talking about the economic crisis that sparked these protests.

I mean, will today solve any of those problems at all?

KHALID MEDANI: No, absolutely not.

I mean, that is really the central question, that is, that the economic crisis is so deep.

You have an inflation rate of over 60 percent.

You have, of course, a great deal of unemployment.

Basically, the economy is really under bankruptcy, which is really problematic.

So the economic crisis cannot be resolved through military means.

And the reason that this internal coup has happened, and the reason that Bashir has been ousted, basically is because of divisions within the military itself, in particular divisions and differences between the top brass of the military, including Awad Ibn Auf, who currently, of course, is the head of government, and middle- and lower-ranking soldiers who have taken the side, essentially, with the protesters.

And that really is the catalyst for why Bashir was ousted by his former loyalist and defense minister.

And so the internal rift is the reason for this internal coup, but this is by no means going to solve the deep economic crisis and the grievances that have really propelled these protests, which, of course, are unprecedented in Sudan's history, since they are not only the largest protests across the country, across social groups, but also they're very sustained over four months.

So they're basically the longest protests that we have seen in the history of Sudan.

And the protests will, in fact, continue.

Protesters at the moment are saying that they're going to continue their sit-ins in the hundreds of thousands until the real kind of regime falls, or a new transition to civilian government occurs.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Let's just quickly try to get through U.S. actions and interests here.

Over the last few years with Sudan, the U.S. has been normalizing relations.

In 2017, the U.S. lifted sanctions.

Today, the State Department released a statement calling for a -- quote -- "speedy transition to a civilian-led government."

Will the protesters consider that statement supportive of their demands?

KHALID MEDANI: Absolutely.

I think that the statement that came out on April 9 that was released by the United States, Norway and the United Kingdom, the troika, was very positive with respect on the part of the protesters in terms of the support for a transition to democracy and rule of law.

That is really important.

It's very clear that the United States is sending signals that it's very, very interested in a democratic transition.

So it's indirectly -- of course, indirectly supporting the protesters.

Of course, what the protesters and the opposition, led by the Sudanese professional associations, would like is increasing pressure by the United States and other Western allies towards the Bashir -- to this present regime, in order to speed up the democratic process.

What they're demanding very specifically at the moment is to negotiate with segments of the military to immediately have a civilian government or interim government that is manned by civilians to oversee a four-year transition period to multiparty democracy.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Professor Khalid Medani, we will have to leave it there.

Thank you so much.

KHALID MEDANI: OK. You're welcome.

Thank you.

AMNA NAWAZ: Stay with us.

Coming up on the "NewsHour": the challenges faced by Midwestern farmers, after recent flooding; Making Sense of this year's tax refunds; and Terrence Davenport gives his Brief But Spectacular take on the economy in rural Arkansas.

Just about every region in the country has been hit by natural disasters or extreme weather in the past two years.

We have now a pair of stories on how people are trying to recover.

First, we go to the Florida Keys, where Hurricane Irma struck hard a year and half ago.

Last month, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, ended its temporary housing program for people impacted by the hurricane.

But, as special correspondent Alicia Menendez reports, rebuilding remains a work in progress.

BRIAN VEST, Conch Republic Marine Army: Well, the first thing you have to do is get everything out.

Water level was right here.

So, all the Sheetrock is wet.

ALICIA MENENDEZ: For Brian Vest, it's been a long 18 months.

The storm ripped his roof off, water seeped in, and black mold invaded.

The rebuilding process has taken time, savings and patience.

BRIAN VEST: Just did the drywall last week, because we didn't do the drywall because we had the roof problem.

ALICIA MENENDEZ: Yet, Vest is in a better position than most.

BRIAN VEST: We have resources, as I call them.

There are others down here who do not, the elderly, retired who are living on Social Security, who've been here for 40 years.

They're the ones who are really struggling, because their place has been paid for, for two decades, and now it's destroyed, and they don't have the money saved up to fix it.

ALICIA MENENDEZ: Hurricane Irma hit the Keys in September of 2017 as a major Category 4 storm.

It was estimated to be the fifth most damaging storm in U.S. history at a cost of $50 billion; 77,000 people call the Florida Keys home.

Hurricane Irma wiped 1,100 homes off the map entirely.

And thousands more sustained damage.

The rebuilding efforts still under way have exposed a larger challenge, one that existed before Hurricane Irma hit: a lack of affordable housing.

Simple geography is one of the biggest obstacles to building of any kind here.

The Keys are a 120-mile-long chain of narrow islands.

MICHELLE COLDIRON, Monroe County, Florida, Commissioner: The cost of land is more expensive.

The cost of the materials to come into our county is more expensive.

And then finding the people to build the homes is more expensive, because we're in a work force housing crisis.

Who's going to build the homes?

Where are they living when they're here working as a construction worker?

This is where our families live.

ALICIA MENENDEZ: Michelle Coldiron is the recently elected commissioner of Monroe County.

That includes all of the Keys.

MICHELLE COLDIRON: I think where we're being challenged right now is being -- is getting our reimbursement from FEMA.

There's so many moving parts, getting funding approved vs. getting a bill approved.

It's multipronged.

So it takes longer.

ALICIA MENENDEZ: The Avenues neighborhood on Big Pine Key is one of the places Irma hit the hardest.

The island lies between two of the bigger population centers, Key West and Marathon, and many of the people who live and work in the Keys call it home.

MAGGIE WHITCOMB, Florida Keys Community Land Trust: Some people never came back.

Like, they didn't come back after, after the storm.

There was nothing to come back to, and I think they knew it.

ALICIA MENENDEZ: It's here that philanthropist Maggie Whitcomb is trying to help address the affordable housing problem one cottage at a time.

MAGGIE WHITCOMB: You can see the water through that window.

ALICIA MENENDEZ: The Florida Keys Community Land Trust is building homes that will be designated as affordable rentals permanently.

MAGGIE WHITCOMB: Stackable laundry, that was donated.

ALICIA MENENDEZ: One is finished.

Three more are under construction, with more to follow.

The structures are elevated to avoid flooding and engineered to withstand 200-mile-per-hour winds.

MAGGIE WHITCOMB: We can't survive here if the people that make things run every day aren't -- aren't here.

And they can't stay if they don't have a place to live.

ALICIA MENENDEZ: But the need here is greater than the land trust can meet.

Homelessness is a real problem here.

Stephanie Kaple, who works with people experiencing homelessness in Key West, says Hurricane Irma only exacerbated the problem.

STEPHANIE KAPLE, Florida Keys Outreach Coalition: A lot of individuals who were impacted by Hurricane Irma don't believe that they are homeless.

They consider themselves a survivor of the storm.

But, as the programs had ended, and as FEMA has rolled out its support, they are now looking at this like many are.

You know, they have to find their own solutions now.

ALICIA MENENDEZ: Tourism in the Keys has rebounded since Irma.

And as the biggest economic engine, that's vital to recovery efforts, but it also creates a unique challenge.

MICHELLE COLDIRON: As every hotel in the county reopens, and they do their ribbon-cutting, and we're thrilled, we're happy.

It's great.

Yay, business is coming back to life.

And we have to balance that with so many of our families are still struggling.

And the last thing we want are volunteers across the United States to think we don't need any more help, because we still do.

ALICIA MENENDEZ: Volunteers are sorely needed.

And one group thinks it's found a new way to accommodate them, shipping containers.

MICHELLE LUCKETT, Monroe County Long-Term Recovery Group: These are 40-foot steel containers that, the blue ones, each one sleeps 10 individuals.

ALICIA MENENDEZ: You even have a sill for the cell phones.

MICHELLE LUCKETT: Yes, exactly.

ALICIA MENENDEZ: The idea was hatched by Michelle Luckett and the Monroe County Long-Term Recovery Group.

This volunteer village will house people who want to help rebuild, but can't afford the steep price tag of a night's stay in the Keys.

MICHELLE LUCKETT: In high season, the hotels can range anywhere between $250 up to $400 a night.

That's a bit much to ask a volunteer to come down to donate their time, and then have the expense of lodging as well.

ALICIA MENENDEZ: It's a new idea in disaster recovery, a mobile housing unit that can ostensibly travel wherever a storm, wildfire or earthquake hits.

The county leased the land to the recovery group for $10.

What do you think the recovery would have looked like if these units had been in place right after Hurricane Irma hit?

MICHELLE LUCKETT: I think if volunteer housing was a solved situation anywhere, not just in the Keys, but anywhere in the country, when a disaster hits, this is a viable plan that changes the narrative.

Having volunteers come in -- immediately after a storm, everyone wants to help, because what happens as you get farther and farther away from the storm is that people forget, and people outside of the community forget.

ALICIA MENENDEZ: And it's not just homes that need rebuilding.

A critical ecosystem in the Keys is also in trouble.

Mile after mile of the mangroves that encircle the Keys are dying, choked by debris left over from Hurricane Irma.

Brian Vest has formed an army, the Conch Republic Marine Army, to try and help them.

BRIAN VEST: It would take an army to do all this.

ALICIA MENENDEZ: One boat ride at a time, he and teams of volunteers are spending their own money and time to pick up everything from gas cans to sofas to refrigerators.

BRIAN VEST: You find the whole world in here.

ALICIA MENENDEZ: But it's a drop in the bucket of what needs hauling out.

BRIAN VEST: The two of us just got this out in probably 20 minutes.

And imagine what 100 people could do in a day.

ALICIA MENENDEZ: What do you need to bring this to scale?

BRIAN VEST: We need funding.

That would give us the ability to acquire boats like this and put paid captains and deckhands on board, coming out and helping us clean up Monday through Friday, because this will take decades to come back, and we don't have that long.

Our kids don't have that long.

So we have got to do it, and we have got to do it now.

ALICIA MENENDEZ: That spirit is what's keeping people hopeful, even as rebuilding is estimated to take anywhere from three to five years.

And that's without any more hurricanes.

For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Alicia Menendez in the Florida Keys.

AMNA NAWAZ: In another part of the country, farmers are trying to dry out and rebuild after record flooding last month.

Vice President Mike Pence is scheduled to visit the Midwest tomorrow to speak with farmers and ranchers, who face an already tough agricultural environment, now made worse by high water.

As Jack Williams of PBS station NET in Nebraska reports, this year's planting season will be challenging for many farmers.

TOM GEISLER, Farmer: Floodwater went right through our place here, and it took a gully right out of the middle of the place.

JACK WILLIAMS: In Hooper, in Northeast Nebraska, the floodwater has gone down, but for farmers like Tom Geisler, the work has just begun.

TOM GEISLER: Our water lines for our cattle are laid right here, and it took the water line right out of the ground.

JACK WILLIAMS: He's farmed this land, about 400 acres, for the past 42 years, and he's never seen anything like this.

TOM GEISLER: Just devastation wherever you look.

JACK WILLIAMS: Before the flood, many Midwest farmers like Geisler were dealing with challenges such as low commodity prices, trade tariffs and high property taxes.

Added to their already heavy burden, the high waters will likely delay planting season set to start this month.

The water is even threatening some of last year's crops, stored away in bins that are now soaked.

That could lead to even more lost income.

TOM GEISLER: Just trying to get corn out of the bin, we can't get corn out of the bin, because it's wet on the bottom.

We got to get it out of there.

JACK WILLIAMS: Geisler also raises cattle, and was amazed most of them survived several days of standing in ice-cold water, with nothing to eat, because their hay had been washed away.

He lost only two cows and a couple of calves.

How do you pull yourself up after something like this?

TOM GEISLER: Keep going.

That's all you can do.

If you don't keep going, our business will be gone.

JACK WILLIAMS: In the Southeast Nebraska town of Peru, along the Missouri River, getting back into his fields, or even his farm, won't be easy for Brett Adams.

Levees along the river failed, and rising waters flooded his farmland.

He was finally able to check things out on a boat.

BRETT ADAMS, Farmer: Over here is our main shop.

This is kind of our farming headquarters, where literally everything happens, shop, machinery storage, this and that.

JACK WILLIAMS: Adams grows corn and soybeans with his father on 2,000 acres, but there's a good chance he won't plant anything this year.

He's a relatively young farmer who missed the farm crisis in the 1980s, but still knows the ups and downs of the agriculture economy.

BRETT ADAMS: We don't know how long it's going to take to repair these levees and the water to go away and this and that, so it's a big - - it's going to be a hurt for a lot of people, me included.

JACK WILLIAMS: Adams, who's married and has two kids, says he will make it, but some might not.

BRETT ADAMS: You get to a point, you're just like, you can't take it any longer.

But you got to keep fighting.

We don't -- like, me, I don't know how to do anything else.

I was born, raised on a farm, and this is my livelihood, and, emotionally, financially, I have got everything invested in this.

JACK WILLIAMS: For some farmers already dealing with financial uncertainty before the flood, adding another layer of hardship is more than they can take.

They have been calling the Rural Response Hotline, the oldest farm crisis hot line in the nation.

JOHN HANSEN, President, Nebraska Farmers Union: This last year, we set four new all-time monthly highs for the most new first-time high-stress phone callers.

JACK WILLIAMS: John Hansen is the president of the Nebraska Farmers Union, and has been involved with the hot line since 1984.

JOHN HANSEN: So this is the worst ag turndown since the mid-1980s, so there's a great need, of course, for services right now.

And then, of course, the flood just makes all that even more so.

JACK WILLIAMS: Farmers and ranchers are faced with potentially losing their only source of income.

Many are dealing with mental health issues and increased stress.

JOHN HANSEN: It's their identity, in addition to being a high-risk, capital-intensive, low-margin business.

JACK WILLIAMS: Chapter 12 farm bankruptcies in the Midwest were up 19 percent last year, compared to 2017, although the numbers nationwide were actually down slightly, according to U.S. bankruptcy court statistics.

Creighton University economist Ernie Goss compiles a monthly economic survey for Midwest states, and says, for the most part, farmers entered the latest downturn in good shape.

And, he says, despite the current tough times, long-term, they're in a good business.

ERNIE GOSS, Creighton University: There's one thing we all need, and that's food.

And that's globally.

It doesn't matter if you're in China, India, France or Germany, wherever.

They need food, and they need it from the most productive farmers on the face of the earth, and that's the farmers in this nation, the U.S. and the farmers in the Midwest.

JACK WILLIAMS: At the Nebraska Farm Bureau, president Steve Nelson says, during the downturn in the 1980s, high interest rates and more farm debt drove a lot of farmers out of business.

Now, he says, higher costs for pretty much everything, along with tighter margins and now bad weather, are combining to make things rough for farmers.

STEVE NELSON, President, Nebraska Farm Bureau: It might be a year or two before some operations figure out that they just aren't going to be able to recover from an event like we have had.

JACK WILLIAMS: Back in Hooper, Nebraska, Tom Geisler is hopeful.

TOM GEISLER: You just have to be resilient and keep going, and hopefully it will work out for us this year.

JACK WILLIAMS: For many farmers in the Midwest, this summer crop season may be the most challenging they have ever seen.

For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Jack Williams in Hooper, Nebraska.

AMNA NAWAZ: Well, the deadline for filing your taxes is right around the corner, on Monday.

And this year is different for many taxpayers out there.

It's the first year that fully incorporates big changes to the tax code.

All were part of a tax overhaul signed by President Trump in 2017.

This winter and spring, many taxpayers have been expressing frustration or confusion about how these changes impact them.

Lisa Desjardins has the details in tonight's Making Sense segment.

LISA DESJARDINS: Something unusual is happening here.

The new law did cut taxes overall for the vast majority of taxpayers, but many Americans sending off their forms right now are somewhere between disappointed and stunned to see lower refunds or even more taxes due than expected.

Jim Tankersley covers this regularly for The New York Times, and joins me now.

Let me jump right into this.

A lot of Americans are very unhappy this week, not necessarily about their overall tax bill, but about what they're seeing on their tax form.

What is going on?

JIM TANKERSLEY, The New York Times: Well, what happened is, the United States completely overhauled the way that it does individual income taxes, and there's been a lot of changes, and that has absolutely affected not just the amount overall that people pay, but what was put into their paychecks every month, and how much they get back in refunds.

And it's that calculation ,how much is withheld from your paycheck, how much are you actually seeing in your paycheck every month, and how much did you expect to get in a refund that is proving to be very tricky here.

LISA DESJARDINS: My understanding is, the IRS actually changed the withholding tables.

And they did it in a way so that it benefited weekly and biweekly paychecks.

The money went there, instead of toward refunds, right?

JIM TANKERSLEY: Well, yes.

So, when you cut tax rates, which they did, and change a bunch of deductions and exemptions, which they did, you have to change tax withholding rules.

You have to basically decide, look, how much is the government going to take out of your paycheck every week or two weeks in estimation of what taxes you're going to owe?

The change they made essentially biased the system toward people getting less money in the -- sorry -- getting more money in their paychecks, but having less money in refunds at the end.

You could go in and change it, but that was the bias of the change.

LISA DESJARDINS: This all happened very quickly, too.

And this law had other some major effects to it, changing the amount people could deduct from their mortgages, for example, their state and local property taxes.

Were those things also factors in these changes in refunds we're seeing?

JIM TANKERSLEY: Yes, a little bit.

Particularly the state and local tax deduction is a thing that a lot of the people in the Washington area, in New York, in California, in high-tax states and high-tax cities have noticed that have actually raised their taxes.

Again, it's a really small number of people in the United States who are actually seeing a tax increase right now.

But it is concentrated in places where, you know, big media companies exist, and so we're hearing a lot about those folks who are upset.

LISA DESJARDINS: I want to talk about how many people are affected here, but there's some conflicting information.

The IRS is saying the average refund is about the same.

However, The New York Times did a survey with SurveyMonkey.

And respondents told you, about a third of them believe they are getting less of a refund this year than they did last year.

What do we know about how many people are really seeing less than they have in the past?

JIM TANKERSLEY: So we can't know for sure, because the IRS refund statistics are averages overall.

We know that a little more than a million people so far have not gotten refunds at all, compared to what we would have expected from last year's numbers.

But our polling suggests, like, a third of people say that they're not getting the refunds that they expected or they're paying more, they're getting less of a refund.

And that doesn't appear to us to be based... LISA DESJARDINS: One million Americans is not a third of the American taxpayer base.

JIM TANKERSLEY: Right.

Yes, it doesn't seem to us to be based, perhaps, in the reality that people are experiencing on their tax forms.

And I think, charitably, we could say people are just surprised and maybe they're misremembering from last year or misreading or there's a lot of things that can happen when you're filling out your tax forms.

It's also possible that it's just people who don't like the tax law are telling us that they didn't get refund they wanted, in part as a sort of protest to the tax law.

LISA DESJARDINS: Let's talk about the psychology here.

Economists say refund is a bad because you're giving the government too much of your money.

They're holding it for you.

But, you know, I reached out to my Twitter followers.

I took a risk here.

I asked them about their refunds.

And I was surprised.

I got a huge response from people who really want their refunds and say this year now they're doing things like canceling vacations.

They can't pay to fix their roof because they expected more of a refund.

Where are Americans on refunds?

Do they care more about refunds than they do about their weekly paycheck?

JIM TANKERSLEY: I mean, I think it's a way of forced savings, that if you expect that you overpaid your taxes a little bit with, which, by the way, is an interest-free loan to the government, let's just be really clear, if you are overpaying your taxes.

But you expect you are going to get it back.

And you know, OK, every year I get $1,000, $2,000.

Even just a couple hundred dollars back from the government is something people count on that's very meaningful in their lives.

And it's a windfall.

It's not a small amount of money in their paychecks, like they see over time, which you might not even notice.

I mean, paychecks change for lots of reasons.

Health care costs change .

You might have gotten a little bit of a raise last year.

You might not have even realized the tax cuts were helping you.

But when your refund comes in low, then it feels like a shock.

LISA DESJARDINS: Very quickly on the politics here, this is a point of pride for Republicans, the tax cut law.

However, if people feel like they're not getting what they expected, what do you think the results are here for Republicans?

JIM TANKERSLEY: I mean, our poll suggests the politics that, if you really wanted to design a politically awesome, maximized tax cut, you would just triple everybody's refund, because that is the thing that really makes people happy.

Republicans have been disappointed that the law's numbers have not picked up since it was passed.

And I think this is maybe one of the reasons why.

People, it seems to us, are not noticing the tax cuts that they actually got.

LISA DESJARDINS: Speaking for myself, I would take triple the refund.

I also didn't have a great tax year.

JIM TANKERSLEY: Run for president on that platform.

(LAUGHTER) LISA DESJARDINS: I think I will stay here at "NewsHour."

JIM TANKERSLEY: OK. (LAUGHTER) LISA DESJARDINS: Jim Tankersley, thank you so much.

JIM TANKERSLEY: Thank you.

AMNA NAWAZ: Well, the gig economy has opened up a lot of new opportunities for people to work temporary positions for platforms like Uber, Lyft, and TaskRabbit.

In tonight's Brief But Spectacular, Terrence Davenport explains why the gig economy doesn't work in his hometown of Dumas, Arkansas.

Davenport has worked as a social entrepreneur, coaching low-income people how to participate in the digital economy.

TERRENCE DAVENPORT, Social Entrepreneur: So, in 2012, my brother was murdered.

And there were a lot of questions around what happened to him.

It was called a suicide.

And we found Taser marks on his body.

I couldn't get any traction with the police.

I was told that I was -- I was putting myself in a dangerous situation by raising the questions that I was raising.

And so I decided that the way I would recompense my brother's death is by giving back to the folks that live in this town and making sure that other young men had opportunities that my brother didn't have.

Dumas is a small rural town in the Mississippi Delta.

African-American population is about 65 percent.

One-third of the population here is below the poverty line.

I went to college at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.

My pastor one day said that he needed a Web site done.

And so I decided to teach myself.

There are not a lot of, you know, employers coming here to employ folks, mostly because of the low skill levels.

I was thinking, it would really be interesting to use the skills that I have to teach folks how to earn income, whether it's Web design skills or any other type of digital skill.

Our goal was to give people skills that they can use on digital platforms, like Upwork.com, Freelancer.com.

We were dealing with not only occupational skills, but low digital skills, which is really surprising in a digital age.

I had students that didn't know what it meant to right-click, didn't know what a URL was.

On most of the popular platforms, I took a look at the top 100 earners.

There wasn't a single African-American in those top 100 earners.

And that kind of raised a question about the feasibility for domestic African-Americans to actually earn a living on these platforms.

I think, as a nation, we have to take care of our own people.

And that's what I see in the gig economy.

I see a lack of concern for the well-being of others.

I see decisions being made based on the dollar.

The gig economy doesn't work for people that live in the area that I live in.

If you live in a big city, you can get on TaskRabbit and go do a job.

You can sign up on Uber and make some money.

When we're talking about online work platforms that require you to use real digital skills, then these jobs become globalized.

It actually works against some of the dreams of the people that I'm surrounded by.

My name is Terrence Davenport.

This is my Brief But Spectacular take on life and work in rural Arkansas.

AMNA NAWAZ: And on the "NewsHour" online right now, we talk to one of the many researchers who contributed to the Event Horizon Telescope; 29-year-old Katie Bouman wrote the algorithm to turn disparate data into an image of a black hole.

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

And that's the "NewsHour" for tonight.

I'm Amna Nawaz.

Join us again here tomorrow evening.

For all of us at the "PBS NewsHour," thank you.

We'll see you soon.