PBS News Hour - Full Show - June 26, 2026 - PBS News Hour full episode

Episode Date: June 27, 2026

Friday on the News Hour, emergency workers and civilians rush to find survivors in the rubble after two devastating earthquakes hit Venezuela. Republican Gov. Mike DeWine strongly criticizes the Supreme Court ruling to let the Trump administration end temporary protected status for migrants fleeing violence. Plus, a new opera celebrates the resilience and richness of the Black American experience. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

Good evening. I'm Jeff Bennett. And I'm Amna Navaz. On the news hour tonight, emergency workers and civilians rushed to find survivors in the rubble a day after two devastating earthquakes hit Venezuela. We speak with Republican Governor Mike DeWine, who's criticized the Supreme Court ruling allowing the Trump administration to end temporary protected status for thousands of migrants. And a new opera in Cincinnati celebrates the resilience and richness of the Black American experience for a new generation. When are we going to have something in the operative world that has the same impact on the opera world that Black Panther had on the movie industry? And that's the idea that kind of started the ball rolling in the Black Opera Project.

Welcome to the News Hour. A day after two of the deadliest earthquakes in Venezuela's history, the race to save lives is becoming a race against time. Rescue crews are digging through mountains of rubble, searching for survivors, It's believed to be trapped. More than 900 people are now confirmed dead and tens of thousands remain missing. As international aid teams rush into the disaster zone, the true scale of this unfolding crisis is only starting to emerge.

Our Nick Schiffrin starts our coverage tonight. Today in Venezuela, the destruction is debilitating. Rescue workers drill through the damage. To find the living still pinned down two days later. But in this tragedy, so many did not survive. The dead now lined the road because the hospital morgue is full. The number of missing is overwhelming. Family members write the name of loved ones on a hospital door.

And the missing are also listed online. This website includes more than 50,000 names, 83-year-old Ivan Martinez, siblings Chrysander, Elvismar and Antonia, Jaellis and her two children, Jorgelis and her son, Jainé. The grief and desperation feels insurmountable. Nazareth Jimenez's brother and his entire family are somewhere under their now-pancaped home. My brother, my sister-in-law, my niece, my nephew and friends are in there. I got here yesterday at 4 in the afternoon, and nothing has happened. They haven't cleared anything.

Where is the help? I don't see it. Others have lost everything. everything. Omar Reyes walks through the devastation and calls out for his missing wife and children. There is no response, and as he walks on the rubble in his sandals, there is no home left either. More than 20 of my relatives have died. I've been left practically alone in this world. I am alone.

It is Venezuela's worst natural disaster in more than a century. Twin's 7.2 and 7.5 earthquakes that crumbled buildings. The scenes from the capital of Caracas, apocalyptic. And the most damage to La Guayra north of Caracas. Entire blocks look like they've been blown apart. Entire buildings collapsed. The state now placed under military control. The damage appears worst closest to the coast.

It looks like the city's been bombed. buildings blown open. The toll is immense. Karakis's hospitals are now overflowing. Many patients are being treated in the courtyard. I grew up in Mexico alongside the Pacific Ocean. And I grew up with earthquakes. And this was something I have never experienced before, the magnitude, but also the length.

Beatrice Sachoa is the Norwegian refugee council's Latin America head of advocacy. We just went under the frame of a bedroom. She was not stopping. I just thought like, this is it. Already before the earthquake, nearly 8 million Venezuelans from more than one quarter of the country, depended on humanitarian assistance, including food, water and health. Now people are sleeping on the street, either because they're homeless or are too scared to sleep inside.

People need a safe place to sleep. People will need clean water. We don't want diseases to be spread. need at this moment hot meals and of course children particularly will need to recover and to have a sense of normality. How much need is there right now in the immediate aftermath of the earthquakes? There is a lot of needs. The country was already struggling. Recovering will be will be hard and that's why we need support from all over the world so that people can recover sooner rather than later.

That support is beginning to show up. Search and rescue teams from Spain, as well as the United States and a handful of other countries, arrived today. And the U.S. military is beginning to deliver $150 million with humanitarian assistance overseen by a two-star Marine general. We're helping Venezuela. We had a tremendous earthquake. A lot of people killed and It's unbelievable, written Caracas, and we have a lot of people over there helping. State TV showed acting President Delci Rodriguez handing out local aid. But the needs are great. Many places have received no help, and Venezuelans are overwhelmed by a wave of devastation.

PBS News Hour, I'm Nick Schiffin. For more on the devastation in Venezuela. We're joined now from Caracas by future story news reporter Andrea Firmin, who has been covering the disaster from the ground there. So you are in Caracas, as we said, as this disaster continues to unfold. Give us a sense of what you've seen and heard on the ground today. I have seen the people in the streets trying to find supplies, trying to find water, trying to find food. So they are expecting more help that is because Caracas and La Guida has received help right now, but the other states need it the most because they haven't received

a few help until now. The U.S. has deployed elite search and rescue teams as part of the international response. What impact is that support having or expected to have? Well, the people in Venezuela is really grateful for all the assistance. We expect from the U.S. all the health that they can do because we need it the most at this moment. It's a reality for Venezuela that we have been suffering for an economic crisis, a social crisis, of a political crisis that has hit the country even before this airplane, and now the situation is even worse after the airplane.

How have those challenges, the economic crisis, the political upheaval, how have those challenges affected Venezuela's ability to respond to this current disaster? It has been really difficult for Venezuelans to respond to this disaster because we have a health care system that has been hit very hard for the economic crisis. in Venezuela. We have lost doctors who have left the country. We have to remember that the crisis in Venezuela is really hard. And now they have to recover after all these without work or without money or without savings or without a house to continue after this crisis. Future Story News reporter Andreina Fermin reporting tonight from Caracas Venezuela. Andrei, Anna, thank you for your time. Thanks, and your life.

A Supreme Court ruling this week cleared the way for the Trump administration to end temporary protected status for Haitians and Syrians, leaving thousands of refugees suddenly without legal immigration status. One of the states that could face the biggest impact is Ohio, where more than 10,000 Haitian migrants have settled. The state's Republican governor, Mike DeWine, has called the move, quote, a mistake. For more on the ruling and what it means for communities in his state, I am joined. Now by Governor Mike DeWine. Governor, welcome back to the News Hour. Thanks for joining us. With me back. Thank you very much.

So as you know, revoking TPS is a big part of the Trump administration's immigration crackdown. A court now says they do have the authority to do that. Why do you think that's a mistake? I think the policy is wrong. The policy is wrong. What I'm seeing specifically in Springfield and in Ohio, you talked about a number of patients who have come in. you're seeing in Springfield a city that is coming back.

It's been coming back for the last few years. And frankly, one of the reasons it's come back is because of the Haitians who have been there to fill jobs that were simply not being filled at all. And that's what the employers will tell you. That's what the mayor. The mayor issued another statement yesterday, and he's consistently said that these Haitians are buying homes.

They're opening businesses. They're working. and they're trying to, you know, some of them raise their family there. They're contributing to the community. That's what the mayor of Springfield is saying. And my observation is he's absolutely right. So when all these individuals who are there with TPS, now not all the Haitians, some of them have other legal status,

but a significant number of them are under the TPS, which of course means with this ruling, of course, now. And I don't, look, I don't argue with the Supreme Court's decision. They were interpreting a statute that was written by Congress, which basically says that the courts cannot interfere with that decision, a designation such as the administration made. My point is about policy. And I've consistently said this. This is bad for Ohio. This is a job killer for Ohio.

It's a job killer for Springfield. It's not good for our state. Can I put to you, Governor, what we've heard from the administration on this. this, which is something we heard Stephen Miller of the White House say yesterday when asked about whether or not it is safe for Haitians to go back to Haiti. Here's what he said. The fact that there might be pockets of Haiti with his higher crime rates, guess what? There's pockets of Chicago with crime rates just as high, right? There's pockets of cities like St. Louis with crime just as high. Pockets of Los Angeles is crime just as high. It has never been

the case that having communities that have high crime rates, is a basis for asylum. Never has been, never will be. So, Governor, the White House says it's safe for Haitians to go back. And they also say this was meant to be a temporary status. It's in the name. And it's been, in some cases, extended for years and years. What's your response to what they're saying?

Well, to say it's safe to go to Haiti is absurd. And to say, compare it to Chicago, you know, I think it doesn't make any sense at all. Look, I have a lot of contacts in Haiti. We work with people in Haiti. We have a school down there. My wife and I do. And we've traveled there 20, 25 times, and we have a lot of contact there. It is worse today in Haiti than it's ever been.

It's never was very good. The only time, frankly, it was good as when the U.S. Marines were down there. And they did a phenomenal, absolutely a phenomenal job. But the situation is just absolutely terrible. people are killed every single day. The gangs basically run a good part of the country. And we're talking now in Port of Prince. We're talking about the Capitol.

You cannot fly into Port of Prince with a U.S. carrier because the U.S. carrier will not go into Port of Prince. Why? Because the gangs shoot at the planes when they come in. Now, it's a horrible, horrible situation. So nobody who knows anything about Haiti can say that the situation is improved. In fact, it's gotten a lot worse.

Good evidence of that is, you know, Haitians who I have talked to, who knew that they would have to leave or thought they might have to leave, there wasn't anybody I've talked to that said they were going back to Haiti. They're going to try to find any place else to go to where they can work and support their family, but they're not going back there. Governor, if I can ask you as well, you mentioned the mayor in Springfield. My colleague William Brangham was on the ground there a little over a year ago, speaking to folks in the community.

He met with Haitians who had settled there. He talked to some companies who said they were very happy to have people fill the jobs and to fill communities that had been somewhat abandoned. But the mayor also said at the time that services were being taxed, right? People needed some support, language translation services in the schools, in the hospitals, in the clinics. And he said it was stretching resources. So what's the balance there to you?

Well, look, that's true. it was a big influx within a relatively short period of time. And we worked with the mayor to try to help them. So certainly, you know, schools have Haitian children in there. And, you know, that is additional cost if they don't speak the language. But the interesting thing about, you know, the employers, despite the fact that there was a language barrier, despite the fact there was a cultural barrier, employers were hiring them. And they were hiring them because they had jobs to fill.

And there's a multiplier effect. Some of these companies told me we were able to put on a second shift because of the Haitians. Some of them had told me that we're able to take on bigger projects, sell more goods, whatever it is that they were selling. That has a multiplier effect in the economy because of that economic activity. Other people will get jobs because of that. So, yes, it is a challenge that the city of Springfield has taken on. They've done a very, very good job. But I think if you ask the business people, if you ask the mayor, you know, what is going to happen?

The answer is when these individuals who no longer have TPS status, when they don't have TPS status, they cannot be employed. So, you know, they're going to be unemployed and many of them have already left. Some of them, you know, the rest of them will have to leave at some point and try to find some country where they can actually work. I mean, the big picture for Ohio is this. we are a red hot state. We are bringing in companies all the time to Ohio. The real question today is, do we have the people to fill them? So we put a great deal of effort on education, on job trading. We've put a great deal of effort on career tech, as well as focusing on colleges because they need all of the above. But without immigrants coming in, it's going to be hard.

It's going to be harder for us to fill these jobs. If you look at the increase in population in Ohio. And we are now going up for the first time in a number of years. If you look at that, probably three-fourths of that is a direct result of immigrants. If you look at some of the people who are- Well, there's so much more to talk about around this. No, I really appreciate your time. And I hope you'll come back and join us as we follow the impact. We'll have to leave it there for now. That is Republican Governor Mike DeWine of Ohio joining us tonight. Thank you, sir. Thank you. Our Nick Schifrin is back with us now with breaking developments out of Iran, where the U.S.

conducted new strikes in response to what President Trump said was Iran's violation of the ceasefire. Nick, what more can you tell us? Jeff, a U.S. official tells me tonight that six U.S. aircraft attacked four Iranian targets, Iranian radar installations, as well as missile and drone storage in Syrac on the strait of Hormuz. Now, the military calls the strikes a response to an Iranian attack yesterday on the container ship ever-loveled south of Syrac off Amman's coast. You see it the red dot right there. And now tonight, Iran vowing another response that in their words would be swift and decisive. So does this threaten to derail the effort at U.S. and Iran diplomacy?

I mean, the memorandum of understanding says hostilities will stop. So the more military action you get, clearly the more that challenges diplomacy. Iran called tonight's action a reckless violation of the ceasefire. The U.S. says Iran violated the ceasefire by attacking that ship. But there's a bigger problem here, Jeff. Iran is trying to maintain its chokehold on the strait, not only by attacking that ship yesterday, but also demanding that other ships use a route through the strait close to its border in the north. That's an orange there. Instead of the route the U.S. wants near Oman, that route is in yellow.

So President Trump's trying to use these military strikes tonight to convince Iran to open the straight once and for all, as President Trump warned that he would, but it is not clear if it's enough. It's not clear if Iran is even interested in giving up the leverage that it is gained during the war, which is that its ability to open and close the strait whenever it wants. Tonight, just now, Vice President Vance sent a message, look, if Iran has a problem, quote,

pick up the phone, but, quote, violence will be met with more violence. All right, Nick Schifrin. Thanks as always. Thank you. In the day's other headlines, former U.S. national security advisor John Bolton pleaded guilty today to a single count of illegally retaining classified information. The former Trump administration official turned Trump critic appeared at a federal court in Maryland and said he was sorry for his actions. Bolton faced 18 counts related to his handling of classified information, including accusations

that he shared notes with family members while writing a memoir. Outside the courthouse, prosecutor said Bolton, quote, put our national security at, grave risk. No one is above the law, and I hope that this prosecution is a clear message that we will vigorously investigate and prosecute individuals who violate our national security laws. As part of the deal, Bolton will pay more than $2 million in fines and could face up to five years in prison. His sentencing is set for October 28.

The House Oversight Committee has served subpoenas to billionaire investor Leon Black after he refused to answer some questions during voluntary testimony today about his ties to Jeffrey Epstein. The former head of Apollo Global Management denied any criminal wrongdoing, saying he was deceived by the late sex offender. Black maintained a year's long relationship with Epstein and paid him a reported $158 million in fees between 2012 and 2017. But in his opening statement, Black said he was unaware of Epstein's nefarious activity until

later, saying, quote, I knew Jekyll, I didn't know hide. Israel and Lebanon signed a framework agreement today aimed at ending the fighting between the Israelis and Hezbollah. No details were made public, but an Israeli official told the Associated Press that talks have addressed a redeployment of Israeli forces inside Lebanon after the territory is cleared of Hezbollah infrastructure and the militant group is disarmed. Flanked by the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors in Washington today, Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the new document a first step toward peace.

Israel's representative agreed. In this performance-based trilateral framework agreement, Iran is out, Chisbalah is out, and the road to peace between Israel and Lebanon is in. Earlier in the day, plumes of smoke could be seen near the Lebanese city of Nabatia after the latest Israeli airstrikes there. That is in spite of a ceasefire with Hezbollah. The Iran-back group has not been a party to the U.S. mediated talks and has said it will not agree to any plan that would include its disarmament or removal. Russia's military says it intercepted more than 600 Ukrainian drones overnight as Kiev launched one of its largest attacks since the start of the war.

Drones targeted more than a dozen region and Russian-occupied Crimea seen in this footage released by the Ukrainian military. Russian officials in Crimea declared a state of emergency amid a rise in Ukrainian attacks. In the meantime, in eastern Ukraine, local officials say a Russian attack injured at least seven people and damaged several buildings in Zaporizia. Also today, there were scenes of joy and relief as the latest prisoner swap saw 160 service members head home from each side. President Vladimir Zelensky says almost all of the Ukrainian prisoners had been in captivity. since 2022. The heat wave sweeping Europe this week is the most severe and widespread ever recorded.

That's according to a study published today by the World Weather Attribution Group made up of scientists and climate experts. The UN's weather agency says the deadly heat wave will move east this weekend, carrying more record-breaking temperatures. Just to remind you, we're in June. We are in June. We're seeing heat levels, which would be more typical of... late July of August.

And the records keep falling, with the UK breaking its June temperature record for the third straight day. Spain also saw new all-time June highs this week. Health authorities there estimate more than 300 deaths could be attributed to heat. The Netherlands closed many schools and some government operations to avoid unnecessary heat exposure. And at Rome's famous Coliseum, local authorities are using mist to try to bring some relief to visitors. In World Cup action, all three host nations, Canada, Mexico and the U.S. are advancing to the

knockout round, even though Team USA lost to Turkey late last night. France and Norway are also moving forward. They played each other this afternoon with France winning 4 to 1. Also today, Senegal easily defeated Iraq five goals to none to stay in the running for a place in the round of 32. The knockout stage of the tournament starts on Sunday. On Wall Street today, stocks ended slightly lower as AI shares continue to weigh on the markets. The Dow Jones Industrial average slipped just over 40 points. The NASDAQ fell 60 points or about a quarter of 1%.

The S&P 500 also closed out the week just a touch lower. Still to come. On the news hour, more public school districts across the country limit screen time for students. David Brooks and Jonathan K-part weigh in on the week's political headlines. the WNBA suspends a player for a foul against league star Caitlin Clark. This is the PBS News Hour from the David M. Rubenstein studio at WETA in Washington, headquarters of PBS News. This week, the nation's second largest school district, Los Angeles Unified,

imposed strict new limits on screen time for its roughly 400,000 students. As William Brangham reports, it's just the latest example of a growing backlash against technology and classrooms across the country. That's right, Jeff. L.A., for like many districts, for years, worked aggressively to get technology into the hands of students, to get Chromebooks and iPads into the classrooms. But this new policy, one of the most aggressive in the country,

marks a dramatic shift. No screen time will be allowed before second grade, and older students will see sharp limits, six hours per week for middle schoolers, and 10 hours, including homework time, for high schoolers. So to help understand these new rules and the rationale behind them, we are joined by Nick Melvoin. He's a member of the Los Angeles School Board,

and he sponsored this new screen time rule. Nick, thank you so much for being here. Just a decade ago, Los Angeles was spending hundreds of millions of dollars to get technology into the classrooms, and now there is this abrupt shift. How did we get to this point? Well, thanks for having me. And I think, you know, as policymakers, particularly when it comes to students' educations and livelihoods,

we have an opportunity when we know better to do better. And like you mentioned, L.A. was a real pioneer when it came to trying to bridge the digital divide with laptops and devices and Internet. And it was a blessing that we were because during COVID, of course, that was a lifeline for the hundreds of thousands of students who relied on those in L.A. for any education. But since we returned to school in person, and I spend time every week in classrooms, I was struck by kind of the over-reliance we had on technology in schools. First, students who were on their cell phones, I brought the resolution to ban smartphones

in LA Unified a couple years ago, and we just actually had the results of a survey of our teachers that came back this week that said over 90% of teachers report that engagement is up, mental health challenges are down when it came to cell phones. But I still was seeing so many kids on screen. for hours a day. And so I just thought it was important for us to recalibrate and reset students' relationship with technology as we return to school and as we think about the next 10 years. So how will these limits work in practice? Are teachers going to keep a stopwatch of how much screen time is going to happen for the young students? How are they going to do this?

Well, so the idea, not unlike our cell phone policy, is not to start with the punitive, but really the instructive and try to win hearts and minds, if you will. And this was developed with educators in mind. You know, we are a first mover here. It was after my resolution came out that the Surgeon General's Office had suggested screen time limits. But other than that, there's really no district that has a policy like this. And so it was an iterative process with our teachers. And again, the idea is not to be punitive, but to recalibrate and revert back to, you know, not technology being the default, but being an instructional tool, just that. And so, you know, at elementary school, it is more restrictive.

In high school, it presumes the fact that you're going to have certain classes like a computer science or graphic design that may require more screen time. But the idea is that teachers just need to think about that more holistically. And if they're assigning a research that's going to be online for homework, they should limit the amount of time that kids are on screens during the day. There's not a punitive piece in place like a teacher log. We want to respect educators or professionals. This is about the amount of times that kids are sitting with a screen,

knowing how much screen time they may be getting outside of the school day. We want to make sure that we put a stake in the ground and how much they should be sitting in front of screens during the school day. Some of your critics have argued that this doesn't make a clear distinction between harmful screen time, playing games or apps or things that are not educational, and screen time use that is educational. And it goes back to this original question. Do you worry that this could exacerbate the digital divide between wealthier districts

where kids could have access to screens more often at home and poorer districts? Well, what I was responding to, and you know, my teaching career began in South L.A. where we saw this digital divide. And I should be clear that this policy still encourages families who need devices and Internet to opt in. The district will continue providing that for families who need it. but it won't be the default option. And what we see is that students from lower income backgrounds, because their parents are working multiple jobs,

they're the ones who are outside of the school day, actually spending more time on screens. They get home and there's a lot of, whether that's TV time or iPads or devices. And so there's an irony here because from an equity perspective, it's actually those students who are seeing the deleterious effects of screens throughout the day. And so I think this policy strikes the right balance between saying, we still want to make sure that students who need it

have access to devices in Internet, But we know that those students in need are the ones who actually will benefit the most from a renewed focus on hands-on learning, less time in front of a screen, going outdoors at the elementary school level in particular, more play-based learning. That was my hope of this. More than a dozen states have been following your lead here. The previous Surgeon General warned against screen time for young people. Do you think this is the beginning of a vanguard, of a pushback against technology in classes? I do. I think, like I said at the outset, when we know better, we need to do better. And I think that LUnified is leading, but will be a nationwide, if not global charge, to recalibrate and think differently about the promise of ed tech and focus on that tactile hands-on learning and the mental health benefits for kids when they're off of screens. All right, that is Nick Melvoin of the

Los Angeles Unified School District. Thank you so much for being here. Thanks for having me. President Trump once again upends the GOP's agenda in Congress, and progressive Democrats swept the Democratic primaries in New York. To discuss that and more, we turn tonight to Brooks and Capehart. That's the Atlantic's David Brooks, who joins us tonight from the Aspen Institute's Ideas Festival and Jonathan Kpart of MS Now. It's great to see you both. So Congress passed the most significant housing affordability bill in decades with overwhelming bipartisan support in the House and Senate. President Trump abruptly cancels the ceremonial bill signing because he's upset that Congress won't embrace his elections bill. With affordability being the defining issue of both parties heading into November, what is it, what do you make of this president walking away from what could have been a victory lap?

And let's not forget just how big the vote was for this housing bill in the Senate. 85 to 5. When was the last time you heard of any bill passing the Senate? especially the configuration of this Senate, by that much. This was something Republicans desperately wanted. It was something that they would be able to run on in the midterms. Some were already crowing about it on social media, and then the president lowers the hammer over a fit of peak, over, you know, whatever it was in that moment.

And now they all have to run away from it. We don't even know if the speaker has, or when he's going to transmit the bill to the White House so that the 10-day clock can start ticking. This to me, I can't remember who I heard say this, but they said it seems that the president doesn't care that much about a Republican majority. What he cares about is dominance over the Republican Party, whatever the size of it is.

And if that's the case, he very well might get his wish. David, what about that? The president really being focused on being the, dominant player here, trying to use this refusal to sign the housing bill as leverage for this voter ID bill that is stalled in a Republican-led Senate. Are you asking me if Donald Trump is concerned about himself? Yeah, I think so. You know, I've been trying to go back through history and think of a time where somebody who, an impulsive narcissist, got less chaotic or less impulsive as he aged. And I can't think of any

times in history. The course of the behavior is toward decay, and Trump is moving from impulsivity to just chaos on that day. And I think it's part of just the natural process of, you know, the psychological deterioration that happens to a lot of presidents. But it's also part of what's happened over the last six months. I don't think that day, that day when he canceled the signing ceremony with like 90 minutes before it was supposed to happen, when he ran off, went off on a tear about the things he's obsessed with. I don't think it's unrelated to Iraq. I think he understands, as everybody within the administration must understand, that this was one of the big defeats of the last many decades. Republicans know it, Democrats know it, people in the White House know it.

And so he senses things sliding away from him. His power weakening, his stature, humiliated. And I think it's leading him to behave in much more obsessive ways than even he has the last decade. Well, let's shift our focus to the outcome of the, New York primaries because the candidates who were backed by New York's mayors, O'Han Mamdani, ousted two sitting House Democrats to include the chair of the Congressional Hispanic caucus. And the House Democratic leader, Hakeem Jeffries, he campaigned aggressively against Mamdani's candidates and ended up losing. So, Jonathan, is this a genuine realignment of the

Democratic Party, or is this in many ways specific to New York City politics? I think it's very specific to New York City politics. And let's have the realignment conversation once we get through the November general election. But even then, let's keep in mind, we're talking about congressional seats. We're talking about seats within the five boroughs of New York City. If anything, this shows that, yes, Mayor Mamdani is a political force in New York City. But is Mayor Mamdani a political force outside of the five boroughs of New York City? Is it a political force in, say, Maine or Iowa, or Michigan, Minnesota? in a purple district.

If a Democratic Socialist wins in a non-blue majority district or a purple district or even in a red state, then let's have the conversation about a realignment of the Democratic Party. But this makes me think Speaker Tip O'Neill's, I think it was Speaker Tip O'Neill who said, all politics is local. If you are a politician right now in New York City

and you've got DSA behind your name, your chances of getting elected are much greater than they were when I lived there 20-something years ago. And let's talk about that label, DSA, because, David, for a generation, a socialist was the attack that Republicans hoped that Democrats would walk into, and now you have a generation of Democrats,

progressive Democrats, who are claiming this title, this Democratic Socialist title outright. They're declaring it with no apologies. What do you make of that generational split here? Yeah, you know, I think there's somewhat of a realignment going on. The Democratic Party, heart and soul used to be the labor movement. It used to be the unions. It's not anymore.

The heart and soul, the Democratic Party, is the universities, and especially the elite universities. And so the candidate who won in New York 13, Dari Elisa Avia, Chivalier, went to Colombia, was an activist in the Gaza protests. She is a sociology, PhD, or I think she's trying to get her Ph.D. And she grows out of that place. And if you look at all the candidates, that the DSA candidates, where they did well, they did very well in the more affluent, the whiter, and the better educated parts of New York City. And the traditional candidates did well in the poorer and more multiracial parts of New York City. And so the Faculty Lounge has become a strong part of the Democratic Party and Faculty Lounge Politics have become a strong part of the Democratic Party. And that, I think,

extends somewhat beyond New York City. You have Democratic Socialist candidates in Washington, D.C., mayoral race, around the country. You have other D.S.A. candidates. I don't think it's going to totally really on the party. There just aren't that many people with sociology doctorates and people who respond to this faculty lounge politics. But they're enough. And I think one of

things that will shift within the Democratic Party as a whole is I think Israel will become a flashpoint for whoever wants to be the nominee in 2028. I think the Democratic Party is really shifting strongly on that one. I think on some of the economic issues where I'm curious to see if we go back to no

fund of police. A Villa Chevalier is a prison abolitionist. And she's been asked repeatedly, do you think murderers should co-in should serve time in jail? And she refuses to answer that question. Democrats did very poorly a couple of years ago because of the defund the police. That just seemed out of touch to a lot of people, including a lot of Democrats. And will the party make that mistake again because where the energy is in the party is in the DSA wing? But hope for the long-term elections is the traditional parts of the party somehow getting some mojo and some energy to match what they're up against. Well, as you've got some Democrats embracing the socialist title and far-left

policies, you've got J.D. Vance embracing Richard Nixon. He said this past week that if Watergate happened today, it would be a 12-hour news story, and that the idea it took down a presidency is crazy. Listen to this. I think that his historical legacy is enjoying a bit of a renaissance, but I think deservedly so. As I joked with Robert backstage, if Watergate happened tomorrow, it would be like a our news story? Like, the idea that it would have taken down a presidency is crazy? Thoughts? So many. We don't have enough time. Look, this isn't, Nixon did not fall because of the deep state, which is what he said in another part of that answer. His presidency fell because he had the one thing that Donald Trump has never had. And that's a sense of shame. When fellow

Republicans went to President Nixon and said, because of all the stuff you did, bugging the DNC and all these criminal acts, we are going to impeach you. And rather than President Nixon, suffering the shame of being at the time would have been the first president impeached in a very long time, he decided to resign. That's not what we're dealing with here with President Trump. And certainly, Vice President Vance wrapping his arms around Nixon is a very curious thing to do. Well, he also drew an explicit parallel between himself and and Richard Nixon. Here's another clip.

At a personal level, you know, okay, young senator, vice president, writes some best-selling books, is hated by the media. It kind of sounds like J.D. Vance. So I'm a little, you know, I've always liked, I've always liked Richard Nixon. David, in the minute we have left. They both have a five-a-club shadow. You know, I, um, First Watergate was a serious criminal business. Dozens of people went to jail. Holderman and Ehrlichman, the two top White House aides, John Mitchell, John Dean, Shep Stuart McGrearrow,

more than a dozen people went to jail. It was a criminal enterprise. But having said that, J.D. Vance is absolutely right. It would be a one-day story today because you define deviancy down. The standards of the entire country have been deteriorating because of what we've lived through over the last decade.

and for that reason, the Republicans would not do what Republicans did in 1974, which was to tell him you got to go. And so he is right. It would be an absolute one-day story, and we would all move on. David Brooks joining us from the Aspen Ideas Festival. Jonathan Capehart joining us from this very desk. Thank you both. Just wondering, is Vice President fans a best-selling author?

I don't know. Let's just throw that out there, too. Sorry, John. A couple of heated games and some rough plays. this week have sparked a new controversy in the WNBA around superstar Caitlin Clark. On Monday, her Indiana fever played the Phoenix Mercury in a game with six technical fouls, including one for Clark and an ejection. Their second meeting on Wednesday brought this moment when the Mercury's Alyssa Thomas pressed her fist into Clark's neck during a loose ball

and no foul was called. Clark left the game early with a back injury. After the game, fever coach Stephanie White called it unacceptable. We have A generational talent and a WNBA superstar who had two cheap shots right there that weren't called. We spent all offseason looking at officiating, all offseason. And I still say the one thing that we keep asking for is consistency. She is not called the same way everybody else is called. A day later, the league retroactively gave Thomas a flagrant foul and suspended her for one game. But the questions around Clark's treatment and the WNBA's officiating have.

not quieted. For more, we're joined by Syrah at Sohey. She covers the WNBA, NBA, NBA, and Women's College Basketball for The Ringer, and she hosts their WNBA podcast. Sarah, welcome to the NewsHour. Thanks for joining us. Thanks for having me, Omna. So why do you think the reaction to that foul and the no call at the time? Why has it been as fiery as we've seen it? Well, I think because fans are starting to see a pattern where there have been cheap shots against Caitlin Clark that have gone uncalled. Forget a flagrant foul. We have seen some of these chief shots not even get a regular foul.

Fans will remember in 2024, Kennedy Carter hip-checked Caitlin Clark on an out-of-bounds play where she didn't even have the ball in her hands. And it wasn't called a foul. The WNBA, I think, needs to reckon with its history of inconsistent refereeing. And it hasn't up to this point. So now when these things happen, they harken back. to previous instances. And at this point, I think fans are just fed up. There's a lot of complicated narratives at play here. You outline them really well in your latest

piece for The Ringer, and you put it this way. You say, outside the arena, the league is filtered through two polarized narratives, both of them unflattering. One, the league is stacked against Clark. Players resent her. Referees won't protect her. And league leadership has been reluctant to acknowledge her obvious mistreatment. And two, the league is a hotbed of racism, homophobia and misogyny. So let's just take those one at a time here, Sirith. The narrative that Clark is treated differently and unfairly. Is there

truth to that? I do think that there are stars because of the magnitude of Caitlin Clark stardom that were questioning her entry into the league and why she had such a big spotlight. At the same time, I do think that refereeing issues are

consistently bad across the WNBA. I don't think that the WNBA really has a standard for or a vision for how they want the game to look. They are very reactionary. I think that's why you saw this flagrant foul and suspension issued after the game when the public pressure was really starting to get to them. You can see that with previous instances with really every crisis the WNBA has dealt

with. I think the best way to look at it is that Caitlin Clark is a magnifying glass to a lot of issues that have been plaguing the WNBA for a long time. A lot of mainstream sports fans are just. now finding out about things that have bothered players for quite a while. And to me, really, a lot of it just comes down to the league's leadership. There's the second point you raise here, which brings together a lot of very difficult topics, which is the fact that Clark is a straight white woman and a league that was built largely on the backs of black women, many of them

queer and out. How is all of that playing into the conversation and the way it's being looked at? I think there are a number of nuances here. The WNBA has had white straight stars before. They've never had a white straight star with this magnitude of fame and who has come into the WNBA at a time where social media is very prevalent and in a very charged political moment in this country. So there have been people who have used Caitlin Clark as an avatar to express their racial grievances, their homophobia. And often the WNBA players that she is faced against are the targets of those attacks. So you can understand from the perspective of those stars why they would, of course, take issue with something like that. There was a lot of controversy, too. I'm sure you saw this new poster, The League revealed their 30th anniversary celebration, and Caitlin Clark is not on the poster.

Do you feel like that controversy was warranted? Is the League fumbling how they're handling one of its biggest stars? Well, the reality with that controversy is actually that the group that made that poster actually just does not have the licensing rights to Caitlin Clark's image and likeness. For most organizations that aren't the WNBA or Nike, they only have the rights to her name and number. Now, you could say, why didn't the WNBA go to a different organization to do this? I think that's a very fair question, especially for, you know, when you're trying to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the league, there are also prominent black players that weren't on this

this list as well, such as Tamika Ketchings and Candace Parker, two of the biggest legends in the game. And again, it just, it just to me goes back to the WNBA's leadership. This is a rocket ship that has a bad captain. You know, it's an airplane flying in the sky and there's a ton of turbulence and they do not know how to navigate it. What does all this mean for the fans? I mean, yourself, you cover this, but you're also a fan. What does it mean for the people who love the game in the league? It's incredibly frustrating. I think that most fans, would like to celebrate great basketball alongside all of the other things that the WNBA brings to the table that frankly don't necessarily exist in other sports. The WNBA is a, it's a cheaper ticket with a more connected fan base that, from my experience, has had a genuine impact on my life as far as creating community at a time when I think a lot of people are seeking that.

So there's so many beautiful things about the WNBA as it stands right now, but the frustrating thing is that. that the mainstream stories that come out about the league often have to do with racial strife and incompetence, truly. And that, I think, has just been a frustrating dynamic for the last three years. Sarah, it's Sohe of the Ringer. Thank you so much for joining us tonight. Real pleasure to talk to you. Thank you for having me. Imagine a world 400 years in the future where a young woman is forced into exile after discovering she carries a rare gene. linked to extraordinary power and immortality. That is the premise of a new opera opening in Cincinnati next month.

PBS station's CET and Think TV take us behind the scenes for a look at the project and the new direction it's taking opera for our arts and culture series, Canvas. The Black Opera project was birth out of necessity. I was here in Cincinnati Opera starring as Porgy and Porgy Invest. I've always loved what Porgy & Best has done for our community. And this is not an attack on it, but it's also just to notice that traditionally has been an opportunity for African Americans to get on operatic stages. At a time when we weren't allowed to sing the traditional operatic canon, we were afforded the opportunity to see Porky invests.

But as proud as I was to do that, with all the greats that have gone before me, that I honor and treasure, it bothered me that that was the only thing that was considered a black opera. It wasn't even composed by a black person. person. But it's what we had. And we had a meeting to discuss how we all felt about being on this stage and being in this production. And I raised a question. And it was basically, when are we going to have something in the operatic world that has the same impact on the opera world that Black Panther had on the movie industry? And that's the idea that kind of started the ball rolling in the Black Opera Project. We're going to do three operas in three consecutive seasons composed by the

directed by libretto written by all African American artists. The stage designs will be by African American artists. Costuming will be designed by African American artists. First one out of the gate is entitled Lalo Vavi, which stands for love in the language of Tut. This opera is really, it's an epic journey, and I don't use that word lightly because it is. We're going on a journey post-apocalyptic world. Lalo Vavi is an Afrofuturist opera. It's set 400 years in the future in a city that was formerly known as Atlanta, but now it's called Atlas.

So this opera is centered on a central character. Her name is Persephone. She is the daughter of the leader of Atlas, a man known as Titan. And in Atlas, there is a kind of. system and power and wealth is divvied out based on one factor. It's a genetic code known as the syndica gene. And the more syndica you have, the higher an atlas society you are. Titan has been on a mission to find this one variation of the syndica gene known as the tree of life gene. And he plans on extracting this gene to make himself immortal.

It turns out that Persephone is the only one in the world that has this variation of syndicap. So, and she has to run for her life. Most of the opera is in English, but there are sections and songs, especially when we talk about the Rebel Nation, which is called Nunny Wax. Tut is their language. Tut is a living language. It's indigenous to black American slaves in the Deep South. So this language was a secret language, and it was a code used to teach enslaved people

how to speak English and how to read and write English at a time where that was illegal. To our knowledge, there has never been a media production in history that incorporates the Tut language. In our story, there is a resistance movement that is pushing up against the Atlas regime. And this is exactly how Tut was used to push against enslavement. When I think of Afrofuturism, a lot of my research and work has been mostly on the jazz side of things. Having all the crazy eccentric costumes and music that was also very eccentric and more based in technology and free improv. I thought that's where we were going with that. this concept, but as I began to get the libretto and begin to see what's going to be happening,

this, from the page, it read like a movie. And so that's what kind of shifted my approach to keeping the elements of Afrofuturism in terms of like the costumes, in terms of the place, in terms of the themes of liberation and freedom and all of that. But the sound world of this opera was shifted into one that is meant to feel like a movie. We can't keep trying to feed the younger generation, the older menu. I think it's a chance as we're pushing the boundaries of the medium, as we're writing these new works to bring people who would not necessarily go to an opera concert normally, to feel welcomed to come into this place again for like three hours,

to hear something they have never heard before. Before we go, we'd like to take a moment to mark the death of Tony Brown. TV journalists, educator, and civil rights advocate. His family announced his passing today. He was perhaps best known as the host and executive producer of Tony Brown's journal, recognized as a landmark long-running PBS Public Affairs program. Brown was also an author, speaker, and media entrepreneur. His family said he died peacefully last week at his home in Newport News, Virginia.

Tony Brown was 93 years old. And that is the News Hour for tonight. I'm Jeff Bennett. on behalf of the entire NewsHour team. Thank you for joining us. Have a great weekend.