
June 16, 2025 - PBS News Hour full episode
6/16/2025 | 57m 46sVideo has Closed Captions
June 16, 2025 - PBS News Hour full episode
Monday on the News Hour, Israel strikes Iranian state television amid its ongoing campaign to stop Iran from building a nuclear weapon, police arrest the suspect in the murders of a Minnesota Democratic lawmaker and her husband and the Trump administration pauses immigration raids on farms, hotels and restaurants after pressure from business sectors.
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June 16, 2025 - PBS News Hour full episode
6/16/2025 | 57m 46sVideo has Closed Captions
Monday on the News Hour, Israel strikes Iranian state television amid its ongoing campaign to stop Iran from building a nuclear weapon, police arrest the suspect in the murders of a Minnesota Democratic lawmaker and her husband and the Trump administration pauses immigration raids on farms, hotels and restaurants after pressure from business sectors.
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Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorshipAMNA NAWAZ: Good evening.
I'm Amna Nawaz.
Geoff Bennett is away.
On the "News Hour" tonight: an escalating war.
Israel strikes Iranian state TV amid its ongoing campaign to stop Iran from building a nuclear weapon.
Police arrest the suspect in the murders of a Minnesota Democratic lawmaker and her husband.
We speak with one of her Republican colleagues.
STATE REP. LISA DEMUTH (R-MN): We have an incredibly long road ahead as we try to restore people's sense of safety as elected officials here in the state of Minnesota.
AMNA NAWAZ: And the Trump administration pauses immigration raids on farms, hotels and restaurants after pressure from business sectors.
(BREAK) AMNA NAWAZ: Welcome to the "News Hour."
Israel warned hundreds of thousands of Tehran residents to evacuate a central district of the Iranian capital today, as the air campaign that began early Friday morning continued for a fourth day.
Iranian strikes also targeted Tel Aviv and other major cities.
To date, 24 Israelis have died from Iranian strikes, and more than 220 Iranians have been killed in the Israeli attacks, which Israel began in a bid to set back Iran's nuclear program.
On Iranian state TV, a broadcaster mid-report on what she calls the sound of aggression against the homeland when... (EXPLOSION) AMNA NAWAZ: ... her Tehran new studio becomes the latest target of Israeli strikes, the headquarters of the Islamic Republic of Iran broadcasting set a blaze in the attack.
The news anchor, Sahar Emami, survived and was quickly back on the air.
The IDF said it conducted a precise strike targeting a communication center that was being used for military purposes by the Iranian armed forces.
Earlier in the day, the Farabi Hospital in the western city of Kermanshah was hit, damaging the intensive care unit.
Iran called it a war crime.
Meanwhile, in Western Tehran, thick plumes of smoke engulfed a residential neighborhood.
Today, the IDF issued an unprecedented evacuation order for a large, densely populated area of Iran's capital city, District 3, known to be a bustling business hub of over a million people.
Across Tehran, streets are deserted, shops locked, and residents are stockpiling essentials, bracing for what comes next.
ZOHREH SHEBELIZADE, Tehran, Iran, Resident (through translator): For now, we just want to leave Tehran for more safety.
That's all, because they said to evacuate Tehran.
And that in itself has created a kind of fear in everyone.
People feel like something really bad might happen in the city.
AMNA NAWAZ: Israel says it's targeting Iranian military infrastructure, including surface-to-air missile launch sites and storage facilities in Central and Western Iran.
But, today, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was asked on ABC News about targeting Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei.
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, Israeli Prime Minister: It's not going to escalate the conflict.
It's going to end the conflict.
We're preventing the most horrific war imaginable, and we're bringing peace to the Middle East.
AMNA NAWAZ: Israel claims its primary goal is to dismantle Iran's nuclear capabilities, Iran's main enrichment facilities at Natanz and Fordow and nuclear technology center in Isfahan.
Satellite images show damage to the electrical substation that powers the plant and the aboveground pilot fuel enrichment plant at Natanz.
Four buildings have been damaged at Isfahan, but no damage is visible at the Fordow nuclear site, which is buried deep beneath a mountain.
Iran has repeatedly denied developing nuclear weapons and has signed the Nuclear Proliferation Treaty.
But the U.N. nuclear watchdog recently said Iran was flouting an agreement with the agency and hiding some of its nuclear activities.
And after the Israeli strikes, Iran said it will leave the Nuclear Proliferation Treaty altogether.
Israel is presumed to have a sizable nuclear arsenal and is the only Middle East state that has not signed the NPT.
Today, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian pledged a harsh response.
MASOUD PEZESHKIAN, Iranian President (through translator): The Iranian nation and its officials will not remain silent in the face of this crime.
The Islamic Republic of Iran's legitimate and powerful response will make the enemy regret its foolish actions.
AMNA NAWAZ: Iran's counterstrikes hit the Israeli port city of Haifa, bombed buildings in the central city of Petah Tikva, and pierced through Israel's air defenses, hitting neighborhoods in Tel Aviv for a third day.
It also damaged a U.S. Embassy building in the city.
And, as tensions rise, President Trump said the Iranians have reached out for talks to de-escalate.
For a perspective on how much damage Israel has inflicted on Iran's nuclear program, we turn now to David Albright.
He's the founder and president of the Institute for Science and International Security.
That's a nonprofit that focuses on educating the public about science and international security policy issues.
He's also the co-author of the book "Iran's Perilous Pursuit of Nuclear Weapons."
David Albright, welcome back to the "News Hour."
Thanks for joining us.
DAVID ALBRIGHT, President, Institute for Science and International Security: No, happy to be here.
AMNA NAWAZ: So I want to ask you about two of those key sites we just reported on, Natanz and Fordow.
How critical are they to Iran's nuclear program and how badly damaged are they?
Do we know?
DAVID ALBRIGHT: Both are critical.
I mean, the Natanz site, it's principally an underground site with about 15,000 centrifuges in it.
And that's sort of the workhorse of the enrichment program.
It produces the 5 percent enriched uranium, which is really, if you're going to go to weapon-grade uranium, that's 70 percent of the effort.
So it's a very important part of it.
Fordow is a deeply buried site.
It was designed as part of the nuclear weapons program in order to take the 5 percent enriched uranium that was produced in Natanz and turn it into weapon-grade uranium.
And so it has a very -- much smaller number of centrifuges, no more than about 3,000, compared to 15,000 at Natanz.
AMNA NAWAZ: And from what we have seen in images, what you have been able to see, can you tell how badly damaged those two sites are?
DAVID ALBRIGHT: Fordow doesn't look damaged at all.
It looks, for some reason, which is perplexing, Israel has not attacked the Fordow site.
It could do quite a bit of damage.
And you see what it can do when you look at the damage done at the Natanz facility.
They targeted the electrical supply, the emergency electrical supply and backup electrical supply.
And that meant that the centrifuges could no longer run.
And if centrifuges aren't run and they start to slow down, they can break.
And so the assessment is that many centrifuges inside the underground facility have broken.
Israel also decided to destroy the aboveground pilot enrichment plant that had about 1,700 centrifuges in it and was making 60 percent enriched uranium.
And so Natanz is inoperative.
AMNA NAWAZ: And there was another site we reported on at Isfahan, where the Iranians convert uranium into metal.
How important is that to the program and what do we know about what kind of damage has been inflicted there?
DAVID ALBRIGHT: Yes, Isfahan is a uranium -- it's called a uranium conversion facility that processes, let's say, originally natural uranium into the gas, a material, a compound that can be turned into a gas and enriched in an enrichment plant.
It's called uranium hexafluoride.
And so it's an extremely important part.
I mean, you can't enrich without a conversion facility.
Over the years, Iran has added capabilities to that site, and one of which was to start making uranium metal.
And that's caused a lot of concern because metal is the form of uranium you use in a nuclear weapon.
AMNA NAWAZ: Now, given the amount of enriched uranium that's at some of these sites that Israel's been targeting, how dangerous is that for the Iranian population?
What's the risk of contamination here?
DAVID ALBRIGHT: The amounts of uranium are relatively small, and it doesn't transport easily.
So, if -- let's -- for example, if the enrichment plant underground was destroyed, it's a geological repository, essentially.
It's not very deeply buried, but still uranium isn't going to get out very easily.
It has to get out through groundwater, and uranium doesn't transport easily.
At Isfahan, there's many -- there's much larger quantities of uranium, but those are not being targeted by Israel.
They're going after these specialized facilities that are linked to the process of building the nuclear weapon itself or trying to destroy existing stocks of enriched uranium, the 20 percent, the 60 percent, even some of the 5 percent.
They want to destroy because, in a sense, it's Iran's investment into making weapon-grade uranium.
AMNA NAWAZ: David, there was an intelligence agency assessment that Iran had been shortening its time frame to build a nuclear weapon.
How have these Israeli attacks changed that timeline, if at all?
DAVID ALBRIGHT: I think the strikes have lengthened the timeline to build the bomb.
I think Iran is inhibited from actually doing that, because they could get caught.
They could reveal assets that they're trying to hide that are needed to build nuclear weapons.
I think, in the short term, they have really stopped the program cold and started to break up or destroy key parts of it, the parts that you need in order to build the bomb itself.
And so I think, on the weaponization side, they're lengthening the time frame to build the bomb and undoing the progress Iran had been making.
On the weapon-grade uranium side, they really haven't finished the job at all.
They have not destroyed Fordow or even made it inoperative.
AMNA NAWAZ: So if the Israelis' stated goal here is to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, how long do you think these strikes will continue?
And what do you think is Israel's metric for when it's done, how to end these strikes?
DAVID ALBRIGHT: They will not convey a metric, but I would say that probably what Israel's focusing on is on the weaponization side and trying to find the hidden assets that the IAEA has talked about openly in its reports and then -- and destroy those.
And, unfortunately, that also has included going after some of the nuclear scientists.
And I think I think it's a process that doesn't work in the long run because people will come up from the junior ranks or less senior ranks and replace them.
But, in the short run, it's incredibly disruptive.
AMNA NAWAZ: All right, David Albright with the Institute for Science and International Security, thank you so much for joining us.
Really appreciate your time.
DAVID ALBRIGHT: Thank you.
AMNA NAWAZ: Federal and state officials are bringing multiple charges, including murder, against the suspect in the shooting of two Minnesota Democratic lawmakers.
Both were attacked this weekend, along with their spouses.
State Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, were killed.
Today, investigators released new details about the attack and how the suspect, Vance Boelter, stalked others in a burst of political violence.
William Brangham begins with this report.
JOSEPH THOMPSON, Acting U.S. Attorney: It is no exaggeration to say that his crimes are the stuff of nightmares.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Today, federal officials laid out new chilling details about the attack over the weekend that killed a state lawmaker and her husband.
They say the suspect allegedly visited two other lawmakers' homes during the deadly rampage.
JOSEPH THOMPSON: In the early morning hours of June 14, Boelter went to the homes of four Minnesota state politicians with the intent to kill them.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: It began overnight on Friday, when authorities say the suspect showed up at the home of State Senator John Hoffman and his wife disguised as a police officer and shot them repeatedly.
They both undergone surgery and are expected to survive.
Next, officials say the suspect drove an SUV altered to look like a police vehicle, like this one found near his home, to the houses of two other state lawmakers.
Neither were there.
Authorities say an officer in the town of New Hope tried to speak with the suspect.
JOSEPH THOMPSON: The New Hope police officer believed that Boelter was a police officer who had been dispatched to the scene.
The New Hope police officer pulled up next to Boelter in his car, rolled down her window, and attempted to speak with him.
Boelter did not respond.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: They say he then drove to the home of former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman.
The FBI released these photos of the suspect at their door wearing a rubber mask and a fake police uniform.
When officers arrived at the scene, he allegedly rushed into the house and shot and killed Hortman and her husband, Mark.
The suspect then fled out the back of the house.
This eyewitness video shows his fake police car in the driveway, lights still flashing.
What followed was what officials called the largest coordinated manhunt in Minnesota history.
Authorities closed in on the alleged shooter yesterday after locating his vehicle next to a wooded area near his home.
SWAT teams scoured the woods, found him, and he surrendered peacefully.
Federal officials say they found writings of the alleged killer's home and car that included dozens of names of other state and federal lawmakers, but his exact motive is still unknown.
JOSEPH THOMPSON: This was a political assassination, which is not a word we use very often in the United States, let alone here in Minnesota.
It's a chilling attack on our democracy, on our way of life, and I hope it's a wakeup call to everyone that people can disagree with you without being evil or needing to be killed or hurt.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: The shootings come as politicians nationwide have dealt with an uptick in political violence.
That includes Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, who was the target of an arson attack at his residence in April.
He wrote on X -- quote -- "We all have a responsibility to stand up and work to defeat the political violence that is tearing through our country.
America is better than this."
And President Trump, who survived two assassination attempts last summer, he called the Minnesota shootings a targeted attack, writing on TRUTH Social -- quote -- "Such horrific violence will not be tolerated in the United States of America."
Meanwhile, Minnesotans continue to grapple with the tragic loss of a respected lawmaker and her husband as a result of that violence.
So, for more on the fallout from these killings, we are joined by Lisa Demuth.
She is the Republican speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives, and she worked closely with Representative Melissa Hortman in recent years.
Speaker Demuth, thank you so much for talking with us and our condolences to you and all your colleagues for this awful tragedy that has befallen you.
I wonder if I could just get your reaction to some of the developments that came out today, notably that this alleged killer had targeted four different lawmakers' homes and had been planning this attack what sounds like for several months.
STATE REP. LISA DEMUTH (R-MN): Thank you, William.
And with the targeting of other lawmakers and the unspeakable tragedy, with the loss of Melissa and Mark Hortman, and the shooting of Senator Hoffman and his spouse, this is something that no one in the state of Minnesota or anyone would have ever been able to imagine.
As more of the details are unfolding to recognize that there were other targets, it is incredibly unsettling.
We are grateful for law enforcement that has now arrested the suspect.
It brings a level of comfort to the state of Minnesota, especially elected officials, but this is far from over.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: How are all you and all your colleagues holding up?
I mean, I just -- I can't imagine having to work and be in communication with each other in a moment like this.
STATE REP. LISA DEMUTH: This is incredibly difficult.
And our deepest condolences definitely go to the family, the Hortman family and their loss, and the Hoffman family as they are recovering.
Also, the colleagues here at work, the House Democrat Caucus, for sure, but the entire legislature here in Minnesota, have been facing such a serious time of concern and fear and deep, deep grief that this is something that no one ever could have expected.
We are making it through as best we can.
Again, very grateful for law enforcement and the work that they're doing, but we have an incredibly long road ahead, as we try to restore people's sense of safety as elected officials here in the state of Minnesota.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: As I mentioned, you worked very closely with Representative Hoffman, especially when the legislature was very evenly split.
Just recently, you helped shepherd a bipartisan state budget together through.
Can you tell us a little bit about Representative Hoffman and what she was like as a friend and a colleague?
STATE REP. LISA DEMUTH: Representative Hoffman was a phenomenal political leader and just a great person overall.
She became speaker in 2019, and that's when I was first elected to the legislature.
So she's the only speaker that I have ever served under.
When I became the minority leader in 2023, her party was in full control of state government, but yet she reached out and she said, let's meet weekly so we can get to know each other and the work that we have ahead of us.
That really showed incredible leadership and strength and character.
And so the relationship we were able to build over '23 and '24, then, when we came into the tie this year and needing to negotiate an organizational agreement here in the House of Representatives, we -- although we disagree on some things politically, we were able to move through and come to the best decisions and do our job to serve the people of Minnesota and, like you mentioned, a bipartisan agreement on the state budget.
And we finished that work just one week ago today.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: I mean, as we heard from the acting U.S. attorney, he referred to this as a political assassination.
And as someone like yourself who has worked across the aisle in this fraught political moment, I wonder how you assess the ongoing threat of political violence.
STATE REP. LISA DEMUTH: Political violence has no place in our state and in our country.
And I will stand by that all the time.
We know that people are going to have differences and we will disagree about some things, but there is absolutely no reason for political violence.
The person that conducted this horrendous attack on elected officials and the assassination of the Hortmans, that is not a political party.
That is someone that is completely unhinged.
And we have to pull together in the work that we are doing and start slowly healing and making things better, as we can here in the House of Representatives, here in the state of Minnesota, and it's political leaders that will be able to set the tone for that.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: All right, that is Speaker Lisa Demuth of the Minnesota House of Representatives.
Speaker, thank you so much for taking the time to talk with us.
STATE REP. LISA DEMUTH: Thank you very much, William.
AMNA NAWAZ: We start the day's other headlines in Canada, where President Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer say they finalized a trade deal that the two sides provisionally reached last month.
Speaking to reporters at the Group of Seven summit this afternoon, the two leaders said the agreement would cut tariffs on goods from both countries.
But it does not address steel tariffs, which are still being worked out.
Earlier in the day, President Trump began the summit by saying that it was a -- quote -- "big mistake' to remove Russia from what had been the group of eight.
His comments came at the start of what was expected to be a tense gathering of world leaders, which also includes Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan.
Each is dealing with the impact of the president's tariffs.
And Canada has had to fend off the president's comments about making the country the 51st state.
Speaking alongside Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Mr. Trump said that Russia's exit, following its annexation of Crimea, helped lead to the current war in Ukraine.
DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: If he were a member of what was called the G8 at that time -- it was always the G8 -- you wouldn't have a war right now.
He's not a happy person about it.
I can tell you that.
(CROSSTALK) DONALD TRUMP: He basically doesn't even speak to the people that threw him out.
And I agree with him.
AMNA NAWAZ: Trump is due to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy tomorrow.
Zelenskyy is expected to ask Trump about new weapons purchases to help Ukraine's war effort.
In the meantime, European nations will try to persuade Trump to slap tougher sanctions on Moscow.
In Gaza, health officials say at least 34 Palestinians were killed today in the latest violence near food distribution centers.
In the southern city of Khan Yunis, family members and loved ones mourned those lost in the violence.
It is the single deadliest day since the aid facilities began operating there three weeks ago.
So far, hundreds have been killed in near-daily shootings as desperate Palestinians travel through Israeli-controlled areas to reach the centers.
Witnesses say the Israeli military opened fire today in an attempt to control the crowds.
AHMED FAYAD, Gaza Resident (through translator): We went there thinking we would get aid to feed our children, but it turned out to be a trap, a killing.
I advise everyone, don't go there.
AMNA NAWAZ: The Israeli and U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation claim no violence has occurred at their sites.
The Israeli military has not commented on violence, though, in previous cases, it said troops fired warning shots at people they referred to as suspects.
The Supreme Court says it will take up an appeal from a faith-based pregnancy center in New Jersey when it reconvenes for its fall term.
First Choice Women's Resource Centers is pushing back on a state investigation into whether it deceived women into believing it offered abortion services.
The center wants to block a subpoena for information on donors and medical personnel, claiming it violates the group's freedom of speech.
Also today, the court declined to revive a copyright case over Ed Sheeran's song "Thinking Out Loud" and whether it illegally copied from the Marvin Gaye classic "Let's Get It On."
A lower court had already found Sheeran not libel in 2023.
New Jersey's Supreme Court says the state can let a grand jury look into allegations of clergy abuse.
Today's ruling came after the Diocese of Camden agreed last month to drop its longstanding opposition to such a probe.
The case originates from a finding in 2018 that more than 1,000 children had been abused in the state of Pennsylvania since the 1940s.
That prompted New Jersey to announce an investigation of its own.
In a statement, the diocese said - - quote -- "To the victims and all those impacted by abuse, we reaffirm our sorrow, our support, and our unwavering resolve to do what is right now and always."
Flash flooding in West Virginia has now claimed six lives.
That's according to the state's governor.
Rescue crews are still searching for two others who remain missing.
As many as four inches of rain fell in just a half-hour in some areas of the state on Saturday night.
In the city of Fairmount, the intense rains ripped away the wall of an apartment complex.
Residents escaped with their lives, but were unsure of what comes next.
COLTEN HUFFMAN, West Virginia Resident: I literally woke up to a catastrophe.
I have a baby on the way.
I have a toddle.
I have no clue what to do now.
AMNA NAWAZ: Tonight, more than 11 million Americans are under flood watches across large parts of the eastern half of the country.
That includes residents of the same parts of West Virginia already hit by flooding.
In Paris, there were surprising scenes outside the Louvre this morning after the museum failed to open on time.
That left thousands of ticket holders waiting online that snaked around the museum's famous glass pyramid.
A union official says that staff at the world's most visited museum called a spontaneous work stoppage to protest what it calls untenable working conditions.
That includes overcrowding and chronic understaffing.
The closure lasted about four hours, but it comes amid a broader pushback against overtourism in Europe.
In Barcelona this weekend, firecrackers erupted as protesters vented their anger over the influx of visitors.
Activists also used water pistols to target unsuspecting tourists.
On Wall Street today, stocks posted solid gains after Friday's sell-off.
The Dow Jones industrial average added more than 300 points on the day.
The Nasdaq jumped nearly 300 points.
The S&P 500 also closed higher to start the week.
Still to come on the "News Hour": Amy Walter and Leigh Ann Caldwell break down the latest political headlines; and author Colum McCann's latest novel explores isolation in the Internet age.
After a weekend of national protests over his immigration policy, President Trump says he wants a greater crackdown in some of the nation's biggest cities.
At the same time, the president is pulling back on ICE raids in some major industries.
Lisa Desjardins has our look at this pivot point -- Lisa.
LISA DESJARDINS: Amna, in the past day, Trump wrote that he wants more detention and deportation in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.
But as he ramps up raids there, he is freezing his push elsewhere, with a temporary pause on most immigration arrests at farms, restaurants and hotels.
On TRUTH Social, President Trump wrote: "Our great farmers and people in the hotel and leisure business have been stating that our very aggressive policy on immigration is taking very good longtime workers away from them.
Changes are coming."
For a closer look, I'm joined by Jennie Murray, CEO of the center-right National Immigration Forum, which works on immigration and the economy.
Jennie, the length of this pause for farm and hospitality arrests is not clear, but is this pause itself significant?
JENNIE MURRAY, National Immigration Forum: It is very significant.
We're very glad to see that the president realizes the very important role that these businesses play for America's economy and that these workers play for these American businesses.
LISA DESJARDINS: You're talking behind the scenes all the time to businesses and also folks in immigration, nonprofits.
Businesses first.
What has the effect been so far of the raids up to this point?
JENNIE MURRAY: Yes, we have had quite a chilling effect.
We have to say that there are lots of things that are being laddered, right?
There are tariffs.
There's a travel ban.
There's the international student ban.
We have seen parole and TPS ended, which is lawful status for a lot of workers in the U.S. And now we're starting to see this focus on workplace raids.
And that is going to be weakening, it's already starting to weaken, American businesses and also our global competitiveness, our GDP.
LISA DESJARDINS: Let's talk about parole for a second.
Can you help viewers understand the problems and concerns there are over that particular category of workers and how large that category is?
JENNIE MURRAY: Absolutely.
Parole and TPS are both temporary statuses that we saw enacted in '23 and '24, and TPS longer than that.
From the inauguration through October, we will lose about three million workers from the system by ending parole and some of these TPS categories, meaning these folks were lawful workers.
They followed the law.
They did everything correctly and they have been working in our American businesses.
One in five workers in the U.S. is foreign-born.
And now by parole and TPS being ended, the line will move across them.
They will go from authorized to unauthorized, and they will actually be also potentially slated for removal and deportation.
LISA DESJARDINS: At the Capitol, when I talk to Republicans in this area, especially in the Senate, they do give me concern, especially about the ag sector.
Now, President Trump is pausing those arrests in that sector.
He clearly heard from some people.
Are you aware, has there been a major effort to try and tell him to stop?
And what does this mean specifically for farms and farmworkers?
JENNIE MURRAY: That's right.
I think we saw -- we have seen the president at the very beginning of the term layout in the inauguration speech a goal for a strong U.S. economy, to become a manufacturing state again, to see American businesses be strong again.
And I think businesses have been coming back to the president and saying, we want to join your goal, but if you remove my 250,000 ag workers, my one million hospitality workers, my one million workers and in this -- in these other industries as well, we in restaurants, we are not going to see the strength.
And so I think, absolutely, this announcement from the president means that the businesses are speaking with the president.
The president is listening and is a businessman and is looking for businesses to be strong.
LISA DESJARDINS: Now, at the same time, you and your organization have written that you have felt that border security should be a priority.
And obviously it's a priority for President Trump as well.
How do you think his efforts for border security overall have affected business, and have they?
JENNIE MURRAY: That's right.
We need to have this conversation be about security, but security/and.
The president's actions have definitely secured the border in many ways.
However, the businesses along the border and the communities along the border are losing a lot of the traffic, missing a lot of the traffic that they have.
And for a long time, the borderlands have thrived economically.
And so what we don't want to see is the borderlands completely also taking a huge loss there economically as well.
But we do need to secure the border and American people want that.
But they also want lawful pathways for those that are here and contributing.
They want to make sure that there is a legal way for folks to enter the country, to join this great country, to contribute, give back and to stay here legally.
So the president seems to be listening to that.
And that's exactly what American people want.
Even conservatives, evangelicals and Republicans, when we polled them a few months ago, still say, up to 80 percent, that they want removals only focused on violent criminals and they want those that are here and contributing to be able to have a pathway to stay and continue to contribute.
So there is a border effort.
We have to have a border security.
And that's been happening.
And -- but we need to make sure that the interior enforcement and the way we treat American workers is in line with what Americans want as well.
LISA DESJARDINS: In our last few seconds here, you mentioned all these layers of things that are difficult to predict, which is a problem for business, the tariffs, the immigration policy, all of this.
How hard is it to navigate right now for businesses, in our last few seconds?
JENNIE MURRAY: It's really hard.
By default, basically, we do not have hardly any ways for businesses to bring new workers, new flows of workers into the country.
And so that's going to hit our global competitiveness significantly.
LISA DESJARDINS: Jennie Murray, CEO of the National Immigration Forum, thank you so much for talking with us.
JENNIE MURRAY: Thanks for having me.
AMNA NAWAZ: After a spate of worrying political violence, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are calling for more security.
On top of the targeted shootings of Minnesota lawmakers this weekend, a bystander was shot and killed at an anti-Trump rally in Salt Lake City when security responded to a gunman with an AR-15.
Joining me now to discuss this and more of the day's political news are Amy Walter of The Cook Political Report With Amy Walter and Leigh Ann Caldwell of Puck News.
Great to see you both.
AMY WALTER, The Cook Political Report: Hello.
LEIGH ANN CALDWELL, Puck News: Great to be here.
AMNA NAWAZ: So, Leigh Ann, Minnesota authorities said earlier that the alleged shooter there had a hit list of a number of officials, all Democrats.
We know he targeted Democratic lawmakers there.
But, as we reported earlier, we have seen political violence target both Republicans and Democrats, of course, the president targeted twice.
Democratic governors like Josh Shapiro and Gretchen Whitmer have been targeted.
Is it fair to call this now a bipartisan concern?
What's the context for this message right now?
LEIGH ANN CALDWELL: Absolutely.
It's been a bipartisan concern for many years now.
This really started when there was the shooting on the baseball field with Steve Scalise, who's now the Republican leader, was shot and nearly lost his life.
There were calls for more security for lawmakers then.
After January 6, 2021, when the Capitol was attacked, there was more calls for security then.
It has really played a role actually in members' views of their jobs as well.
Lawmakers have been quite concerned for many years about not only their own security, but their family's security as well.
My former colleagues at The Washington Post had a great story a couple of years ago that shows that members have increased their congressional budgets on security spending alone 500 percent just from 2020 to 2022 because of these concerns.
And so it's absolutely something that everyone is worried about, and that's why we're going to see more briefings and more calls for increased security this week.
AMNA NAWAZ: Amy, at the same time, Leigh An mentioned January 6.
We should note that President Trump did pardon many of those, even among the most violent people on January 6.
But, today, he condemned the Minnesota attack and said it was unacceptable.
We did see some lawmakers, like Senator Mike Lee of Utah, respond with baseless claims online, calling the Minnesota shooter a Marxist.
We saw Elon Musk also wrongly proclaim that the shooter was far left online.
How does all that noise around the shooter's background impact the division and the discussion right now?
AMY WALTER: Yes, I think all of this is contributing to a number of factors for people who are in public service and people who may want to be in public service.
If you're in office right now, I think it has a chilling effect.
We talk to people all the time who would rather not rock the boat, rather not take a vote to oppose something or say something for fear, not -- again, not just of themselves, but of their family members.
No matter how much security there is, how much money these lawmakers can put to sort of safeguarding themselves in Washington, they do have homes, they have multiple offices that people work in their districts.
So you're talking about not just these individuals, but hundreds of people that they want to protect in their lives.
It's easier to not speak.
That's a really big problem if people's voices have been silenced, especially if they're voting in something that's controversial or that they're opposed to.
The other is about recruiting and retaining the best in the business.
If you are an aspiring public servant, do you really want to put your family through this?
And it used to be we would talk about this for Congress or maybe for president.
Now you have to think about it if you're running for city council or running -- these were state legislators who were targeted in Minnesota.
These people are not going to be able to get the level of security that a member of Congress could get.
AMNA NAWAZ: Such a sobering reminder there.
I do want to pull back just a little bit and take a bigger look at some of the president's top priorities in particular in the context of all the news and the stories we're individually reporting on.
Take a look.
This is a non-exhaustive list, as we will call it, of some of the deadlines that the president has really set for himself.
On trade, he promised 90 deals in 90 days.
We know that the tariffs are now set to go into effect in mid-July, on July 8.
On Iran, he said there were 60 days to reach a nuclear deal.
The deadline for that passed.
That was June 11.
And now we see Israel striking Iran, Iran striking back.
In Ukraine, he promised to end the war on day one.
He later said that was actually an exaggeration.
And, on immigration, the president and the vice president have really promised a million deportations in year one.
So far, there's about 200,000 as of the second week of June.
And, Leigh Ann, on immigration alone, as Lisa was reporting there, he's rolled back some of the raids on business sectors that were impacted.
And we know he's targeting Democratic cities, even though some of the largest undocumented populations are in Texas and Florida.
How do you look at all this and the president's sort of failure to meet his own deadlines on a lot of these things?
LEIGH ANN CALDWELL: Yes, well the president is very good at setting expectations and then also moving the goalposts too and being able to message in a way that still gives it -- makes him seem like he has come out on top.
And so that's one of his superpowers.
But you do see in polling that people are starting to get frustrated maybe not with missing deadlines, but just with the back-and-forth, the chaoticness of what is actually happening.
I mean, on immigration specifically, Donald Trump pulled back after he had heard from his agriculture secretary, who was hearing from Republican members of Congress and business leaders that it was impacting their businesses, farms.
And then, of course, he was in the hotel and restaurant industry.
He knows a lot of people in that industry too.
And so, instead of making it seem like he is pulling back from a promise that he had, he has now redirected his focus on states and cities where Democrats control, promising still to meet his deportation X quotas by focusing on immigrants who he says are criminals, the ones that live in blue states.
So it's an -- the president is distracting, redirecting and also trying to make it seem like he is still accomplishing what he said he would do.
AMY WALTER: Yes.
And when we look at polling, the president's approval rating numbers with Republicans remain incredibly high.
The one thing that has dropped is the strong approval rating.
In other words, they still think that he's doing a good job, but they're not quite as engaged, as motivated by Donald Trump as they were earlier on.
I think that Leigh Ann has it right.
A lot of it is the chaos, the not really knowing, especially on tariffs and some of these other issues, where the ball is going to end up.
AMNA NAWAZ: Before I let you go, I want to get each of you to weigh in on the week ahead.
We know that this big budget bill is making its way through Congress.
We know that the Senate Finance Committee just released their section of the bill today.
Leigh Ann, what kind of fights are we looking at ahead, especially when it comes to these big-ticket items like Medicaid, between the Senate and the House?
LEIGH ANN CALDWELL: Yes, it's not going to be easy.
The Senate says that they weren't going to change this bill a lot, but the changes that they did make are really setting up fights not only within their party among some members, but with the House as well, especially on this issue of Medicaid.
There are a lot of House members and even a few senators who are very worried about steep cuts to Medicaid.
And, in fact, the Senate actually made deeper cuts to Medicaid than the House did.
And so it's going to be a big lift for Senator John Thune to pass this over in the Senate, but the even bigger lift is reconciling with the House in the coming weeks.
AMNA NAWAZ: Amy?
AMY WALTER: Yes, where you also have incredibly small margins.
The other big lift is going to be selling this plan.
Democrats have been united for a while now on pushing this as an issue of cutting Medicaid, the largest cut to Medicaid in history.
And there are signs that messaging has broken through, that people are talking about this and adjusting that.
Now Republicans, they have to pass it and then they have got to sell it, and to a public that is probably a little more skeptical.
AMNA NAWAZ: Big lift for a big bill.
AMY WALTER: Yes.
AMNA NAWAZ: We will follow it more.
Leigh Ann Caldwell, Amy Walter, great to see you both.
Thank you so much.
AMY WALTER: You're welcome.
AMNA NAWAZ: So, how lost are we without our devices?
Or, putting it more simply, as novelist Colum McCann might, just how isolated are we?
His new novel asks big questions through a story of characters literally at sea.
Senior arts correspondent Jeffrey Brown has this profile of the book and its writer for our arts and culture series, Canvas.
JEFFREY BROWN: In the murky depths of the sea, an unknown world of life, but also down there, the wires that carry much of the information that enriches, ruins, control so much of our lives.
And that astounded novelist Colum McCann.
COLUM MCCANN, Author, "Twist": I stumbled upon a story about a boat that goes out to fix the Internet.
And I was like, what in the world does that mean?
How can a boat fix the Internet?
Because I felt everything was up in the air.
JEFFREY BROWN: Yes, satellites and -- yes.
COLUM MCCANN: Satellites, clouds.
My e-mails went up into some sort of heavenly atmosphere and rained down their darkness on the world.
But, no, no, no, in fact, 95 percent of the world's intercontinental information travels at the bottom of the sea.
JEFFREY BROWN: From that fact came a novel, "Twist," part adventure and love story, part meditation on broken lives and the impossibility of fixing them.
Here's how it begins.
COLUM MCCANN: "We are all shards in the smash-up.
Our lives, even the unruptured ones, bounce around on the seafloor.
For a while, we might brush tenderly against one another, but, eventually and inevitably, we collide and splinter."
JEFFREY BROWN: So this is a novel about repair and what cannot be repaired?
COLUM MCCANN: Yes.
Yes, it's a novel about brokenness.
It's a novel about sabotage.
It's a novel about repair.
Look, I wanted desperately to write about repair, because I do think that repair is the theme of our times, and that we're searching, desperately searching for some form of repair to come along and hold us together.
JEFFREY BROWN: The Irish-born New York-based McCann, whom we met recently in Santa Fe, New Mexico at the Zane Bennett Contemporary Art Gallery, is known for vivid writing and storytelling that burrows into big, real-world subjects.
Among his novels, "Let the Great World Spin," a fictionalized account of Philippe Petit, the French acrobat who tightrope to cross the Twin Towers in 1974.
It won the National Book Award for fiction in 2009, capturing a sense of loss after 9/11.
2013's "TransAtlantic," a series of linked stories and lives bound by a world-changing flight.
And "Apeirogon" from 2020, which explored the suffering, loss, and pain of the Middle East in a fragmentary novel based on two real lives, one Israeli, one Palestinian.
COLUM MCCANN: Well, I love the tiny and the epic together.
I think the tiny becomes the epic.
I think the local becomes the universal.
I do think it's the job of the writer, or at least my job, to find those supposedly tiny little lives that actually have an incredible influence on the world in general.
JEFFREY BROWN: In "Twist," he takes on a fractured, divided world in which so many of us are lost and lonely in our own screens, but in a concrete, unexpected setting, the people who repair undersea cables when they're damaged through storms or other causes, including potentially sabotage.
COLUM MCCANN: My main character, who's not me, but is an Irish journalist and sort of a middle-aged man who goes out to sea, he's broken.
And he's looking for some form of personal repair.
He thinks he can find it out on this boat, but he doesn't necessarily find it.
So, yes, there's some big themes.
There's climate that's in there, climate change that's in there, communication that's in there.
But, ultimately, I want people to have read the story about these human beings who are struggling to make their own form of meaning.
JEFFREY BROWN: There's one very long paragraph description of everything running through the cables, every kind of communication, all the information in a personal life, and it ends with somebody saying or writing, "I love you, or, then again, maybe not."
COLUM MCCANN: "Then again, maybe not."
JEFFREY BROWN: Right?
So it's got it all.
COLUM MCCANN: Well, it's the contradictions.
I am really interested in this world of contradictions, the binary things, the connection, the disconnection, the love, the hate, the peace engagements, the wars that are going on around us.
And the fact that these cables have this sort of smash-up, as I say, of all these things operating all at once carried by light, of all things, it feels almost biblical.
And I'm still astounded by it.
JEFFREY BROWN: Even as he continues to write, McCann has taken on a more public role over the years, and as much as any leading writer today, he's engaged with his times.
COLUM MCCANN: One of the ways that leads towards change is the ability to tell our own story, yes.
JEFFREY BROWN: Especially with the power of story to help bring people together across divides of war, politics, class.
We joined him in Santa Fe for a gathering of Narrative 4, the organization he co-founded in 2013 to teach young people to write stories of their lives and share them with others with whom they would otherwise never connect.
That work has taken McCann around the world, from war zones to meeting such figures as Pope Francis, and to collaborations with artists in other fields, including Sting.
COLUM MCCANN: You know, I do like the world.
I like people.
I like meeting people.
I like listening to their stories, and I like acknowledging that they matter.
JEFFREY BROWN: But as the shards splinter, to use your language, as we're in this period of incredible divisions, incredible threats and uncertainties, does it change your sense of your own role?
COLUM MCCANN: Look, I don't say that writers have to engage on a political level.
I don't say that writers have to engage on a social level.
Somebody might write a beautiful novel about a cup of tea, and, if they do, well and good.
But, for me personally, I do want to figure out what's going on.
I mean, half my life is writing now.
The other half of my life is being out in the world, meeting people, going to schools, going to colleges, and sort of being part of a movement that understands that we have to know each other.
JEFFREY BROWN: In an upcoming report, we will look more in-depth at the work of Narrative 4 and the power of shared storytelling in repairing a divided world, a focus of Colin McCann's latest novel, "Twist," as well.
For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Jeffrey Brown in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
AMNA NAWAZ: Older LGBTQ adults face a number of challenges, especially when it comes to finding housing and care.
Sage, a national advocacy leader in this space, created a system of training programs for care providers.
Tonight, you will hear from housing director Nikki Moustafa, who highlights how the training has improved her team's ability to support residents.
NIKKI MOUSTAFA, Housing Director, H.O.M.E.
: No, none of my pieces match at all.
BRITTA LARSON, SAGECare Trainer: Sadly, approximately 70 percent of LGBTQ older adults go back in the closet when they enter a skilled nursing facility.
And that statistic makes me so sad, because it's no quality of life to be hiding who you are, to not be your authentic self, to basically be forced to live a lie.
I have worked in the field of aging for 20 years.
I originally worked at a long-term care community in the Chicagoland area.
However, they were faith-based and, I would say, homophobic.
And so I identify as part of the LGBTQ community, and I didn't feel safe or comfortable identifying as part of the community while I was working there.
And so I left.
LGBTQ older adults are very marginalized and vulnerable in many different ways.
They are much less likely to be aging with family support.
And they're twice as likely to be living alone compared to their heterosexual and cisgender peers.
BRIAN DENNIS, H.O.M.E.
Resident: My name is Brian Dennis.
I'm 70 years old.
I think I always knew that I was gay.
I arrived at H.O.M.E because I lived down the street, and they sold the building.
So I just had to find some place.
And this was the first place that I actually looked at.
It's a nice place to be.
BRITTA LARSON: H.O.M.E.
is a great model for LGBTQ-inclusive programs and services.
They are SAGECare credentialed.
That means that they put an emphasis on making sure all of their programs and services are inclusive and welcoming for LGBTQ older adults.
NIKKI MOUSTAFA: Several years ago, H.O.M.E.
decided that we wanted to better support all of our seniors in our building.
So we decided to do the stage care training.
BRITTA LARSON: SAGECare was developed in 2016 as a model for organizations to receive training and then become credentialed.
Currently, there are over 1,000 SAGECare-credentialed organizations across the country.
And they have trained over 250,000 people.
When I do a SAGECare training, it's important for me to highlight really the unique barriers that LGBTQ older adults are having in the aging process.
These LGBTQ older adults that we're serving, they have lived through a lifetime of discrimination.
And so that absolutely takes a toll on their well-being.
They're more likely to be lower-income.
They are more likely to have chronic health conditions at a younger age.
NIKKI MOUSTAFA: I hope that my work has just made people feel less alone.
BRIAN DENNIS: Nikki is a great person.
You could go and talk to her about anything.
NIKKI MOUSTAFA: I met Brian in 2016, and we instantly hit it off.
We're both goofballs.
We both love trashy reality TV.
I picked an impossible puzzle to do.
(LAUGHTER) BRIAN DENNIS: Well, what else is new?
NIKKI MOUSTAFA: I hope that I have created an environment where everyone feels safe and feels seen.
BRITTA LARSON: LGBTQ older adults really did pave the way for many of us today in terms of our rights in this country.
But they shouldn't have to feel like they need to continue to fight for their rights and be activists as they're aging.
And we are all aging, so we will all be there someday.
So, if we can put these programs and services into place now, they will be there for us when we need it.
My name is Britta Larson, and this is my Brief But Spectacular take on feeling at H.O.M.E.
AMNA NAWAZ: And you can watch more of our Brief But Spectacular videos on aging online at PBS.org/NewsHour/Longevity.
And that is the "News Hour" for tonight.
I'm Amna Nawaz.
On behalf of the entire "News Hour" team, thank you for joining us.
Amy Walter and Leigh Ann Caldwell on political violence
Video has Closed Captions
Clip: 6/16/2025 | 8m 20s | Amy Walter and Leigh Ann Caldwell on the rise in political violence (8m 20s)
A Brief But Spectacular take on caring for LGBTQ seniors
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Clip: 6/16/2025 | 4m 8s | A Brief But Spectacular take on caring for LGBTQ seniors (4m 8s)
Colum McCann's novel explores isolation in the internet age
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Clip: 6/16/2025 | 7m 35s | Author Colum McCann's novel 'Twist' explores isolation in the internet age (7m 35s)
How Israeli strikes have damaged Iran's nuclear capabilities
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Clip: 6/16/2025 | 10m 21s | How Israel's strikes have damaged Iran's nuclear capabilities (10m 21s)
News Wrap: U.S. and U.K. reach trade deal that cuts tariffs
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Clip: 6/16/2025 | 6m 12s | News Wrap: U.S. and U.K. reach trade deal that cuts tariffs (6m 12s)
Republican colleague remembers murdered Minnesota lawmaker
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Clip: 6/16/2025 | 9m 23s | Republican colleague remembers murdered Minnesota lawmaker (9m 23s)
Trump administration pauses some immigration raids
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Clip: 6/16/2025 | 6m 37s | Trump administration pauses immigration raids on farms, hotels and restaurants (6m 37s)
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