JOHN YANG: Tonight on PBS News Weekend, a global celebration of the LGBTQ community draws thousands to the Streets of Washington, D.C. in the Shadow of Trump administration policies targeting them.

Then, how AI may be robbing new college graduates of traditional entry level jobs.

And as the school year winds down, a look at the innovative way a school in Texas teaches financial literacy with a food truck.

MAN: The beginning of this school year, when weúre thinking through like, okay, how can we make a subject that might not be super interesting, really fun and engaging for kids?

We decided, why not a food truck?

So thatús where it was born from.

(BREAK) JOHN YANG: Good evening.

I'm John Yang.

In Washington, D.C. Thousands of LGBTQ people and their allies are gathered to celebrate World Pride and protest the Trump administrationús actions targeting their rights and protections.

Today, the emphasis was on celebrating a joyful WorldPride parade through the city.

JOHN YANG (voice-over): In Logan Circle, one of the centers of LGBTQ Life in Washington, D.C., marchers lifted a huge 1,000 foot long rainbow flag near the front of todayús Pride parade.

Orange is the new black actor Laverne Cox, a staunch advocate for queer rights, waving to the crowds lining the route.

This is the final weekend of WorldPride, an international festival promoting visibility and awareness of the community.

Itús the first time the event has been held in Washington, now ground zero in the struggle for LGBTQ rights.

President Trump has rolled back Biden era policies recognizing non-binary people and protecting gender affirming care.

The nearly two-mile long parade route ended on Pennsylvania Avenue about midway between the White House and the Capitol, where there were calls for continuing the push for LGBTQ rights.

JOHN YANG: Tomorrow there is to be a rally at the Lincoln Memorial and a march to the Capitol to protest the Trump administrationús actions to affecting the LGBTQ community, like cutting funding for health research.

Many researchers in areas like gender affirming care and HIV AIDS have lost federal grants.

One of them is Brian Mustanski, Director of the Impact Institute for LGBTQ Health Research at Northwestern University.

He spoke with Ali Rogin.

ALI ROGIN: Dr. Mustanski, thank you so much for being with us.

Your work has benefited from funding from the National Institutes of Health for years.

You shared with us one of the termination notices you received in March from them.

They said, quote, the award no longer effectuates agency priorities.

And they called it a DEI study that supports unlawful discrimination.

Tell us about the work youúve been doing and how has it been impacted by this loss in funding.

DR. BRIAN MUSTANSKI, Northwestern University: Yeah.

So the particular study that you mentioned, we call the Radar Project, and itús really one of a kind of project where we have enrolled a group of young gay men in Chicago and have been following some of them for over 20 years to look at how early life experiences predict a variety of different health outcomes, most specifically HIV, substance use, overdose, suicide, mental health, a variety of health issues that we know disproportionately impact that group of young men.

And the goal of that study is to really follow them over time.

Itús kind of like the Framingham Heart Study that youúve probably heard of that helped us understand the predictors of cardiovascular disease in the general population.

This project is specifically focused on the health of young gay men, a group that we know has the highest rate of HIV in our country.

ALI ROGIN: Why is it so important to have these studies that arenút just snapshots of a moment in time?

Youúre talking tracking the same people over decades.

Why is that such essential work?

BRIAN MUSTANSKI: Yeah, well, I mean, really, the only way you can predict something is to observe it before or after it happens.

And so thatús why itús so important for us to conduct these kinds of studies that follow people over time.

Theyúre really the backbone of epidemiology and understanding what truly predicts the health outcomes in a particular population.

And just I want to add that, you know, while the termination notice described this as DEI, it really has nothing to do with the diversity of the workforce.

Itús not some kind of radical ideology that weúre pushing.

Weúre really doing fundamental, high quality research that helps us understand the health of a group that has a lot of unfortunately disproportional health outcomes in our society.

ALI ROGIN: And it is Pride Month.

And I wonder, what is your assessment on a broader level of the state of the health of people in the LGBTQ community right now?

BRIAN MUSTANSKI: I think itús a scary time for people in the community.

You know, as a scientist, I can say that over the last decade, weúve seen impressive gains under different administrations of different political parties that have supported the growth of science that can help us document the disparities experienced in our community and even more recently, actually start moving to develop interventions and programs that improve the health of LGBTQ Americans.

So we have really, at this formative moment where there is now a community of scientists who are ready to apply these skills to the health of LGBT Americans and are having their work decimated by NIH cuts.

And these cuts are really unprecedented.

So in a normal year, the NIH might terminate a very small number, maybe less than a dozen NIH grants in a year.

Just this year alone, theyúve terminated over 300 grants focused on LGBT health.

And these grants are really the cream of the crop science.

It is a very competitive process to win an NIH grant, you have to write a very competitive application, a well designed study.

It has to be of high public health importance.

It goes through a peer review process.

It goes through review of a council that determines that itús aligned with the research priorities of the NIH.

Only then about 15 percent of grants are awarded.

And so this is really the cream of the crop science that went through this highly competitive process.

And many of these studies were right in the middle of being conducted.

Some had randomized people to interventions and were following them to see if those interventions were effective and were immediately terminated.

So we wonút have those answers to whether these programs are effective or not.

ALI ROGIN: Brian Mustanski, Director of the Impact Institute for LGBTQ Health Research at Northwestern University, thank you so much.

BRIAN MUSTANSKI: Thanks for having me.

JOHN YANG: In todayús other news, Ukraine saw another day of deadly Russian drone and missile attacks, this time in the eastern city of Kharkiv.

Four people are dead and apartment buildings and homes damaged.

The mayor of Ukraineús second largest city said it was the worst attack of the war.

Meanwhile, Russia and Ukraine blamed each other for delaying a transfer of bodies and prisoner exchange, another sign that the two countries arenút likely to reach a peace deal anytime soon.

Palestinian health officials say at least 95 people were killed in Gaza in a series of Israeli airstrikes over a 24-hour period.

In Gaza City, at least 15 were killed and 50 others wounded when missiles hit residential buildings.

Today is the second day of the Muslim holiday Eid al Adha.

MAMDOUH BAKR, Gaza City Resident (through translator): We are living the second day of Eid al Adha, when children are supposed to be in amusement parks, gardens and parks carrying their toys and wearing Eid clothes.

However, we are pulling our children out from under the rubble in torn pieces.

Eid clothes have become the white shroud.

JOHN YANG: The Palestinian health officials say Gazaús hospitals have only three days worth of fuel left and that Israel is blocking aid agencies from bringing in more.

Meanwhile, Israel says itús recovered the body of a Thai hostage abducted in the October 7 attack.

Nadapan Pinta was survived by a wife and son.

Thai nationals were the largest group of foreigners taken by militants that day.

55 other hostages remain in Gaza.

More than half of them are thought to be dead.

President Trump isnút backing off his feud with Elon Musk.

In a phone interview today with NBC News, the president said he has no desire to repair the relationship and that Musk could face serious consequences if he tried to help Democrats in the upcoming elections.

Earlier Today, Vice President J.D.

Vance tried to downplay the clash, saying Musk made a huge mistake but that he was emotional and frustrated.

An antitrust settlement is about to transform college sports.

Beginning July 1, schools can pay players directly, sharing the revenue they gain from using their names, images and likenesses, or NIL.

Currently, only third parties can make those payments.

Each school can share up to $20.5 million of athletic program revenue.

Thatús in addition to the third party NIL deals students athletes may make.

In addition, $2.7 billion in back pay will go to athletes who competed between 2016 and 2024 before NIL deals were allowed.

How the money is allocated among athletes is up to the schools.

A massive manhunt in the mountains of northern Arkansas is over.

Former Police Chief Grant Hardin, known as the Devil in the Ozarks, was captured about a mile and a half in the prison where he was serving sentences for murder and rape.

Heúd been on the run for more than a week after escaping by impersonating a corrections officer.

Heavy rain complicated the search, washing away a trail tracked by a bloodhound.

An elite Border Patrol team recently joined the search to help track Hardin through an area known for rocky forests and extensive networks of caves.

And American Coco Gauff won the French Open today, beating world number one Aryna Sabalenka in a thrilling match full of momentum swings.

Gauff fought back after losing the first set in a tiebreaker.

Itús the second Grand Slam title for the 21-year-old Gauff.

Her first, also against Sabalenka, was at the 2023 U.S. Open.

This was the first French Open final for Sabalenka and the second for Gauff, who lost in 2022.

Gauff is the first American woman to win the French title since Serena Williams did it in 2015.

Still to come on PBS News Weekend, how AI may be making it harder for new college graduates to land a job, and how a school in Texas found a valuable classroom inside a food truck.

(BREAK) JOHN YANG: The college class of 2025 is entering one of the most challenging job markets in years.

The first three months of the year, the unemployment rate for recent college grads jumped to 5.8 percent.

Thatús the highest itús been since 2021 and well above the overall unemployment rate.

One of the challenges theyúre facing is artificial intelligence, which is increasingly doing tasks that used to be assigned to entry level workers.

Aneesh Raman is chief Economic opportunity officer at LinkedIn.

He wrote a New York Times op-ed headlined I see the bottom rung of the career ladder breaking.

Aneesh, what do you mean by that?

The bottom rung of the career ladder breaking?

ANEESH RAMAN, Chief Economic Opportunity Officer, LinkedIn: I wrote this piece because entry level jobs that first rung on the career ladder are breaking down a bit.

And I think we all should be talking about that more.

What weúre seeing right now for new grads is sort of this perfect storm.

Between the uncertainty in the macro environment and the disruption, we are starting to see more and more day by day from AI taking on more tasks of entry level work.

Those are tasks like reviewing documents if youúre at a law firm, debugging code, if youúre at a tech company handling basic customer service.

Across so many sectors, those tasks are going to AI.

And so together that with the macro uncertainty is creating, as you said, one of the most challenging job markets for young people in decades.

JOHN YANG: Are there consequences of someone who has a hard time trying to find that first job in their chosen field?

ANEESH RAMAN: Huge consequences.

I mean, all of us who arenút in our first job now can go back to our first job and think about the lessons you learned, the mentorship you gained, just being able to understand how worked at the place you were at and how you could think about what that next job was.

We also know in terms of economic mobility that the effects of a stalled out career at the start can last for decades.

Lower lifetime earnings.

But also companies, as long as theyúre going to need humans leading these companies in the future, theyúre going to risk losing that pipeline if they donút reimagine entry level work, increase the value of the tasks that entry level workers are doing and help them on a new journey, a new career path.

JOHN YANG: Reimagining entry level work.

Talk about that.

How can entry level work be fixed?

ANEESH RAMAN: Yeah, we talked about a couple of examples in the piece.

KPMG is now giving new grads higher level tax work that used to go to people that had, I think two or three years worth of experience because AI is handling a lot of the grunt work.

McFarlandús this law firm in the UK, theyúre training early career lawyers on complex contract interpretation, not just basic document review.

If you think about it, a lot of entry level jobs are basic jobs with basic tasks.

All we need to do on the employer side is up level the tasks that we give entry level workers and be more deliberately appreciative of the know how they bring.

This generation is incredibly resilient and adaptive.

They know AI tools and technology better than probably any other generation.

Educators also have to adapt.

And so we also talk about American University, the business school in DC, but also community colleges across the country who are helping students learn more and more AI fluency, AI proficiency.

And that just basically means what are these AI tools?

How do they help me do the job Iúm doing and what does it mean for this sort of up leveling of that job?

Weúve got to have that baked into all education everywhere and then help people understand what is that new type of work they want to do as they go into the workplace.

JOHN YANG: Whatús your advice to members of the class of ú25 who are looking for their first jobs now?

ANEESH RAMAN: Careers are no longer ladders that are predictable and where you have to have the right pedigree signal the right degree from the right university, the right job title at the right employer, the right network that we know for a lot of socioeconomic reasons, people donút have those right signals.

Thatús no longer the path up.

The path up is more like a climbing wall.

70 percent of the skills for the average job according to our data will have changed by 2030.

So you donút need to have a five or 10 year plan, you just need to have a today plan.

And youúre going to have, according to our data, twice as many jobs than professionals did 15 years ago.

So thereús only one thing.

Be a learn it all.

Become really fluent in AI and the tools and become really fluent in yourself, your story of self professionally.

What are the skills that you have that you want to hone, that the world needs?

Whatús the curiosity thatús going to drive expertise thatús going to increase the value of the work you do, just be curious and youúre going to be okay.

JOHN YANG: And someone who canút get a job in their chosen field shouldnút worry.

They shouldnút think, well, Iúm not going to get what I want.

ANEESH RAMAN: Well, I know itús never helpful to say, donút worry when youúre worried about not having a job.

And so, you know, for all sorts of just economic dignity, agency reasons, people need a paycheck, they need a job.

So you got to find that job.

And all of that is starting to change.

People can use AI tools to help find the job thatús a better fit, to help explain their fit better, we know that recruiters are increasingly filtering for things like skills, not just those pedigree signals.

So just figure out how each day youúre learning more, youúre growing more, and youúre going to learn and grow in part by trying to get a job that you donút get and figuring out why, trying to go for a job you wouldnút have gone for otherwise in terms of a career or a sector that you wouldnút have thought is one that you want to be in.

Youúre going to learn a lot through your failures, and so you just get accustomed to that as you go through this.

JOHN YANG: Aneesh Raman from LinkedIn.

Thank you very much.

ANEESH RAMAN: Thanks for having me.

JOHN YANG: At this time of year, thereús a question on the minds of both parents and teachers.

What did you learn this year?

Students at a school in Austin, Texas, had a chance to hone their financial and leadership skills by running a food truck.

BLAKE, Student, Alpha School: Hi, my name is Blake and I am in sixth grade.

VAYDA, Student, Alpha School: Hi, my name is Beta and Iúm a fifth grader.

EDDIE, Student, Alpha School: Hi, my name is Eddie and Iúm in sixth grade.

BLAKE: Here inside a food truck and cooking and, like, learning financial literacy and everything sounded like an amazing opportunity.

EDDIE: It took us some time.

We went from dinner to lunch, to sushi to Chinese, but we ended up with breakfast.

VAYDA: When we first started, I was definitely a little nervous.

I really didnút know how to cook.

But as the sessions progressed, I definitely learned a lot more in teamwork, skills, and just embracing change.

EDDIE: When I got elected to be head chef, I wasnút really ready to take on that role, and I kind of had to adjust and adapt to be more of a leader.

BLAKE: I learned financial literacy.

Iúve learned teamwork.

Iúve learned a lot of things from the soup truck.

VAYDA: Our favorite dish is probably the French toast.

EDDIE: It tastes high quality and itús also itús pretty easy to make.

And Iúve had seven kids come up and ask for the recipe.

I mean, who doesnút want a good, tasty meal in the morning?

BLAKE: I know I could take this into real life for, like, future things.

JOHN YANG: Now Ali Rogan is back with a conversation with Brian Gordon, the teacher who worked with the students on this project.

ALI ROGIN: Bryan Gordon, thank you so much for joining us.

Where did this idea for a food truck come from?

BRYAN GORDON, Teacher, Alpha School: The food truck is something that is a mechanism which we wanted to teach our kids financial literacy.

So the beginning of this school year, when weúre thinking through like, okay, how can we make a subject that might not be super interesting, really fun and engaging for kids, we decided, why not a food truck?

ALI ROGIN: At the same time the kids are learning financial literacy, theyúre also cooking and interacting with their friends in this fun way.

What has that experience been like?

BRYAN GORDON: Well, itús great.

Like I said, financial literacy is just one of the life skills that they learned through this workshop.

But entrepreneurship, teamwork, resilience, grit, leadership, a lot of things come out when you put some pressure on within the confines of food truck.

But these kids did great.

They adapted a change throughout the entire year, and it was really cool to see them learn a ton of life skills along the way.

ALI ROGIN: What do you think the students learned the most?

Whatús the thing that you hope they really carry on with them through their lives?

BRYAN GORDON: I do think that they learned the main concept of financial literacy.

I think that was one of those things that they never knew how much things cost before we got there.

We really put that in perspective for them as far as, like, hey, how much does your -- the tacos that you made at home cost you?

But I think the one that theyúll take away the most in remembering is the adapting the change.

The unpredictabilities of running a business or just doing things within a kitchen or any entrepreneurial aspect requires them to embrace change.

And I think theyúll carry that forward with them.

ALI ROGIN: The students told us that the biggest challenges they had was taking this idea from the classroom into the real world.

How did you help them overcome some of those challenges?

BRYAN GORDON: Iúve never started a food truck myself, so I had to learn a lot of the things along the way with them.

But the biggest part was just making sure that they felt supported throughout the process.

So I never did too much for them.

It was, hey, I asked them the right questions, they came up with solutions, they consulted me, and we worked together with them on that.

So they took everything by the reins.

I was just there to support them and their ideas of what we could and couldnút do.

ALI ROGIN: What was your favorite part of the project?

BRYAN GORDON: My favorite day was when we took them to the car dealership.

We had a hundred orders and it was the first, like, really big event theyúve done.

And they kind of folded a little bit in the beginning, but they turned it around.

They had one of the best-selling experiences theyúve ever had.

Their patrons were appreciative of it.

And just seeing them work together as a team and doing all the pieces that they learned throughout the school year and seeing those things shine at a big event like that was truly, truly rewarding as the teacher in the room.

ALI ROGIN: And do you have a favorite item that the kids sell?

BRYAN GORDON: I know the one that they keep going to is their French toast.

And I have to agree with them, their French toast is top notch.

Now, in the beginning, maybe not so much itús a learning experience, but it truly is, you know, as the kids are telling me, it is 10 out of 10.

ALI ROGIN: Amazing.

Bryan Gordon, teacher at Alpha School, thank you so much.

BRYAN GORDON: Thank you.

I appreciate it.

JOHN YANG: And that is PBS News Weekend for this Saturday.

On Sunday, a view from inside Gaza, where desperately needed aid is being delayed by a troubled relief effort.

I'm John Yang.

For all of my colleagues, thanks for joining us.

See you tomorrow.

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