Six minutes of news from around the nation.

Hegseth pegs the price of the US war with Iran at $37.5 billion; Arizona sees progress in reducing deaths from deadly heat; New Hampshire activists send aid as experts warn of Cuban energy starvation; For-profit GEO Group to expand immigrant detention capacity in Colorado.

TRANSCRIPT

The Public News Service, Daily Newscast, July the 22nd, 2026.

I'm Mike Clifford.

In testimony before the Senate Tuesday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made his case for President Trump's $87.6 billion supplemental funding request, mostly intended to replenish the Pentagon after the U.S. war against Iran.

The AP notes that Hegseth said the war has cost $37.5 billion so far.

He provided that new estimate up from earlier accounts during testimony before the Senate Appropriations Committee, where his opening remarks were interrupted by protesters several times.

Meantime, as daytime temperatures routinely soar above 115 degrees in the Phoenix area, officials are reporting a drop in heat-related deaths for the first time in years.

It's part of an effort by elected officials to address the needs of Arizona's most vulnerable people, who are often exposed to extreme and often lethal heat.

Phoenix established an office dedicated to addressing sustained periods of extreme heat in the Sonoran Desert, where temperatures can be searing for weeks in a row.

Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego has helped create a bend in the curve of the growing number of heat-related deaths over the last two years.

We saw a reduction in the number of times we needed to use our cold water immersion treatment protocol for very severe street heat stroke patients.

While the number of deaths has dropped to remain steady, Gallego says heat-related emergencies still constitute a public health crisis.

Phoenix also suffers from what's known as the heat island effect, when concrete and asphalt absorb the unrelenting heat all day and can't release it before sunrise.

That means overnight temperatures can remain near 100 degrees.

I'm Mark Moran.

The World Health Organization reports that heat stress remains a leading cause of weather-related deaths and can exacerbate underlying medical conditions including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, mental health, and asthma.

Next, some New Hampshire residents say they'll keep sending needed supplies to Cuba, despite a State Department report condemning those who oppose America's foreign policy toward the island.

Experts with the United Nations warn Cubans face energy starvation due to the current U.S. oil blockade, which has only intensified effects of the U.S. trade embargo imposed in 1962.

Portsmouth resident Diane Stradling has led several humanitarian delegations to Cuba.

She says people are living in the dark without adequate food or medicine.

Our government is responsible for that, and that as a human being makes me feel absolutely horrible.

And so I'll do anything I can to help.

Doctors warn infant mortality rates have doubled in Cuba since the oil blockade began in January.

Straddling often sends suitcases of prenatal vitamins and other aid.

President Donald Trump says Cuba is a threat to U.S. national security and has suggested it could be next following military action in Venezuela and Iran.

I'm Katherine Carley.

This is Public News Service.

GeoGroup, a private company that operates immigrant detention centers, is set to expand its holding capacity in Colorado after signing a $529 million contract with ICE to open a new center just north of the Denver International Airport.

The move comes as GEO continues to deny health officials access to determine the extent of a tuberculosis outbreak reported in its Aurora facility.

Makila Goring with the Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network, which represents detained individuals, says GEO's mandate to create profit for shareholders is fundamentally at odds with the health and well-being of people being held.

Costs are cut in terms of the medical care that's provided to individuals and in terms of the provision of food and services.

You simply are not running a facility in the way that it would be run if profit wasn't the number one motive.

Gio told the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment by email that there were no active cases of tuberculosis, a highly contagious and potentially life-threatening disease in its Aurora Center.

I'm Eric Galatas.

And a new analysis by KFF Health News and The Trace found that uninsured patients in Florida who are hospitalized for a gunshot wound spend significantly fewer days in the hospital than those with health insurance.

Analysts say uninsured victims stayed an average of about six days only three quarters the time of patients with private insurance.

Aaliyah Bates is a survivor who was shot seven times in 2019 while delivering food.

She had no insurance and says she was discharged after just four days from Tallahassee Memorial Health Care.

They were pushing for me to leave on the second day.

I guess essentially once they stabilize you, that's really their only responsibility is to stabilize you and make sure you're going to live.

After that, they don't really have an obligation to keep you there once you're stabilized, especially if you don't have insurance.

This story was produced with original reporting from Daniel Chang, Fred Klassen-Kelly, and Olga Pierce, The Trace for KFF Health News.

I'm Tramiel Gomes.

Finally, to Texas, where renewable energy developers hope to see new statewide rules for where and how projects are built.

A new report from Environment Texas Research and Policy Center says Texas needs to keep expanding wind, solar, and battery storage, also protecting wildlife, water, air, and land.

The center's Luke says the state has become a clean energy powerhouse, but still fights an uphill battle against conservative lawmakers, fossil fuel advocates, and donor-backed think tanks.

As Texas has become the national leader in wind and solar and increasingly batteries, and the boom is getting bigger and bigger, we're starting to see some pushback on that development.

I'm Mark Richardson.

This is Mike Clifford for Public News Service, member and listener supported.

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