PBS News Hour - Full Show - March 13, 2026 - PBS News Hour full episode

Episode Date: March 13, 2026

Friday on the News Hour, the war with Iran hits the two-week mark as all sides dig in and the death toll rises. The latest antisemitic attack, this time on a Michigan synagogue, highlights growing threats against the Jewish community. Plus, the Trump administration sends pregnant migrant girls to a Texas facility despite warnings that the shelter can't provide adequate care. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

Good evening. I'm Amna Nawaz. And I'm Jeff Bennett. On the news hour tonight, the war with Iran hits the two-week mark as all sides dig in, and the death toll, including U.S. service members, rises. The latest anti-Semitic attack, this time on a Michigan synagogue, highlights growing threats against the Jewish community. And the Trump administration sends pregnant migrant girls to a Texas facility despite warnings that the shelter can't provide adequate care. The trauma they've been through it further complicates their pregnancies. Welcome to the News Hour. Around 2,500 U.S. Marines are reportedly heading for the Middle East,

along with an amphibious warship. Their mission is not yet clear, but it signals a marked increase in U.S. forces in the region. The deployment comes, as Defense Secretary Pete Hegsett said more than 15,000 targets had been struck in Iran over nearly two weeks of relentless bombing against the regime. 13 American personnel have now been killed during the war, and more than 2,000 are dead,

both in Iran and from Israeli strikes in Lebanon. Stephanie Sae reports. Mid-interview, a pro-regime demonstrator in Tehran interrupted. An airstrike sends smoke rising over a crowded square, but doesn't disperse the masses. These Iranians are defiant, chanting familiar slogans, death to America. death to Israel, setting fire to Israeli and American flags. The protesters had gathered for an annual rally in solidarity with Palestinians when the midday strike hit, killing at least one person.

Several top Iranian leaders, including the president, Massoud Pazeshkian, were in the crowd. Iran's hardline judiciary chief speaking to a reporter in the moment. We stand with the people until the last breath. People don't know these people don't Thank you Mr. People don't fear these boom boom sounds.

Under the rain and the missiles, they will not back down at all. In northern Israel, fear over cross-border retaliation. A home where a family once lived is now filled with shrapnel and debris. Another Iranian missile fired by Hezzer in Lebanon, this one leaving at least 58 people injured. In the early hours Friday, Iran targeted a U.S. air base in southern Turkey.

The ballistic missile was intercepted by NATO defenses as the American death toll is rising. U.S. Central Command said today six Americans were confirmed to cease when their aircraft was lost during Operation Epic Fury. It added the circumstances of the incident, which occurred in Western Iraq, are under investigation. Earlier today, Defense Secretary Pete Hegeseth said Iran's, quote, evil regime is crumbling. They're confused and we know it. Our response, we will keep pressing, we will keep pushing, keep advancing, no quarter, no mercy. No quarter suggests even those who surrender could be killed, a violation of international law. Meanwhile, market-shaking concerns remain

over the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical international oil route. The only thing prohibiting transit in the straits right now is Iran shooting at shipping. It is open for transit, should Iran not do that. The U.S. is temporarily easing some of its sanctions on importing Russian oil in an effort to ease supplies. But today, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, when meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron, emphasized the U.S. sanction waivers won't help in the war he's fighting.

This single easing of sanctions by America could provide Russia with approximately $10 billion for the war. This certainly does not help peace. German Chancellor Friedrich Mertz today, adding, it is a price problem, not a quantity problem. There was a very clear opinion from six members of the G7, but this is not the right signal. We then learned this morning that the American government has apparently decided otherwise.

Again, we believe this is wrong. Meanwhile, President Trump today addressed reports that Russia is aiding the Iranian regime. You think Putin is helping him? I think he might be helping him a little bit, yeah, I guess. And he probably thinks we're helping Ukraine, right? And you are, right? Yeah, we helping them also. And so he says that.

And China would say the same thing, you know, it's like, hey, they do it and we do it, in all fairness. The comments followed a social media post from the president earlier today, saying the Iranian regime has been, quote, killing innocent people all over the world for 47 years. And now he is killing them. A great honor, he added. The U.S. is now sending more aircraft into the Middle East, signaling the military campaign is far from over. For the PBS News Hour, I'm Stephanie Sy. In the day's other headlines, the Justice Department charged. a man identified as Kenya Chapman, who they believe sold the weapon used in yesterday's shooting at Old Dominion University. The alleged gunman, Mohamed Baylor Jalo, was barred from owning a firearm after pleading guilty back in 2016 to attempting to aid the Islamic State group. He had been released from prison early after completing a drug treatment program. Authorities say the gun's

serial number was partially obliterated, making it hard to trace. The FBI says Jalo shot and killed Lieutenant Colonel Brandon Shaw and wounded two others. The gunman was subdued and killed by ROTC students who are being hailed as heroes. Now, a federal judge in Washington, D.C., blocked a set of Justice Department subpoenas today related to its investigation of Fed Chair Jerome Powell. In his decision, Judge James Bosberg wrote that prosecutors presented essentially zero evidence of a crime, adding that a mountain of evidence suggests that the government served these subpoenas on the board to pressure its chair and to vote. voting for lower interest rates or resigning. Last year, the U.S. Attorney's Office issued subpoenas believed to be related to Powell's testimony to Congress

about the Fed's renovation of its headquarters. He has denied any wrongdoing. Speaking at a news conference today, U.S. Attorney Janine Piro said she would appeal the ruling. A range of weather extremes is hitting areas clear across the country, starting in the West, where it's looking like summer in places like Los Angeles, even with one week technically left in winter. Angelinos have been flocking to the beaches and to Santa Monica Pier, with temperatures climbing to 90 degrees there. Next week we could see records in the triple digits from Southern California to Phoenix. Even those more accustomed to the heat say this is not normal.

Especially in LA, this is not typical. I'm from Texas originally, so I'm always appreciative of the heat, but this is definitely different from LA. So even for me, this is like, oh, this is kind of high, right? Right? Like, we're sweating. Why are we sweating in early March? This is weird. Meantime, from Washington State to the Great Lakes, more than 24 million Americans are under winter storm alerts, and a polar vortex will bring another wallop of winter for much of the eastern half of the country, including areas like Washington, D.C., that just saw record heat a few days ago. Cuba's president confirmed today that his government has held talks with the Trump administration

as a U.S. oil blockade further cripples the island nation's economy. At a political meeting today, President Miguel Diazcanel said the talks were, as he put it, aimed at finding solutions through dialogue. His comments confirmed prior U.S. media reports that such discussions were taking place. Last week, Cuba was plunged into darkness as a blackout left millions of people without power. At a press conference broadcast on state TV, the Cuban president blamed that on the ongoing U.S. blockade. We are generating electricity during daytime hours with domestic crude and our thermoelectric plants. The fault is not the governments.

The fault lies with the energy blockade that has been imposed on us. Diazcanel also said a decision to release more than 50 prisoners in the coming days was not, as he said, imposed by another country. Even though yesterday's announcement was seen by some outsiders as an effort to win favor with the Trump administration. There was new evidence today that the U.S. economy is showing signs of strain even before the start of the war with Iran. For one, the GDP grew at a slower pace at the end of last year than initially thought, growing just 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Separately, the latest reading on core inflation came in at 3.1% that's well above the Fed's 2% target. But there was a bit of good news from the labor market with job openings rising more than expected in January. That mixed economic picture only added to the downbeat mood on Wall Street.

The Dow Jones Industrial average fell nearly 120 points to end the week. The NASDAQ dropped more than 200 points. The S&P 500 also ended in negative territory. And John Burns, an award-winning foreign correspondent for the New York Times, has died. Over a 40-year career, he reported on far-flung corners of the globe, from South Africa to the Soviet Union, China and the Middle East. Burns won the first of his two Pulitzer Prizes for his coverage of the Bosnian conflict in the 1990s. He was also a frequent guest here on the news hour, including this appearance in 2003 to discuss the Iraq war.

Life under Saddam is a life lived constantly in terror, in fear, and in consequence of which for correspondents like myself, finding true voices in Iraq itself is not easy. It's not impossible, but they have a tremendous yearning to tell their truth. And the truth is a terrible truth. John Burns died of pneumonia while under care in his native England. He was 81 years old. Still to come on the News Hour, the wider war engulfs the border between Lebanon and Israel

and the people living there. And David Brooks and Jonathan Capehart weigh in on the week's news. This is the PBS News Hour from the David M. Rubinstein Studio at W. WETA in Washington, headquarters of PBS News. Law enforcement authorities in suburban Detroit say they're still searching for a motive behind yesterday's attack on a synagogue and school. FBI officials said tonight the suspect had large quantities of commercial-grade fireworks and several jugs of flammable liquid believed to be gasoline in the truck he drove into the building. They also said he had no prior criminal history and that he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. FBI called it, quote, a targeted act of violence against the Jewish community. And it's touched

off a wider conversation around anti-Semitism in the U.S. A day after a man rammed his vehicle into a Michigan synagogue, the state's governor was clear. Yesterday's attack was anti-Semitism. It was hate, plain and simple. Governor Gretchen Whitmer with a message of support to the Jewish community in her state and nationwide. We must lower the rhetoric. in this state and in this country, especially at this moment where we have seen such a rise in anti-Semitism and more attacks on the Jewish community. Officials have not yet identified a motive, but new details have emerged about the attacker. Forty-one-year-old Aman Mohamed Ghazali

was born in Lebanon. He came to the U.S. in 2011 on an immediate relative visa as the spouse of a U.S. citizen. He became a U.S. citizen himself in 2016. The Associated Press reports that an Israeli airstrike in eastern Lebanon last week killed his two brothers, his niece, and his nephew. Yesterday, armed with a rifle and explosives in the trunk, he drove his truck into the Temple Israel synagogue and preschool. None of the staff, teachers, or over 100 children inside were injured. One security officer was knocked unconscious by the car. Dozens more were treated for smoke inhalation. Allison Jacobs sends her 18-month-old daughter to the temple's daycare.

There are no words. I was in complete, an utter shock. Cassie Cohen was inside during the attack. I heard a loud crash and I saw some debris from the car and knew that something was very wrong. I heard a bang, which was a shot, hit under my desk and stayed there until we got the all clear from the SWAT team. This comes amid a rise in anti-Semitism worldwide and a recent string of relations. attacks. Three synagogues in Canada were sprayed with gunfire in recent weeks. In January, a man set fire to a synagogue in Jackson, Mississippi. And in December, a gunman targeting

Jews killed 15 people in Bondi Beach, Australia. Since the 2018 attack on Pittsburgh's Tree of Life Synagogue, more Jewish communities have been stepping up security. Temple Israel had just held an active shooter prevention training in January. An official said it was Temple security officers who engaged and killed the attacker. We are just absolutely amazed at the heroism of our security team. We expect these things to happen. We just never want them to be real. Today, the investigation continues.

Tonight, congregants attending Shabbat services will file by a phalanx of officers standing sentry outside their temple. For some further perspective now, we turn to Rabbi Stephen Abraham, who leads Beth synagogue that's a congregation in Omaha, Nebraska. Rabbi, welcome to the News Hour. Thanks for joining us. Thanks for having me. Just give us a sense of what you've been hearing

from people in your community, your congregants in these last 48 hours about what they're feeling, what they're worrying about right now. I think at the moment, you know, really, there's a, it's both a mixed sense of relief and gratitude. The fact that, you know, there was,

you know, of course, the security guard in Michigan who was, injured, but that everybody in the synagogue and the school was safe. And that was kind of where things ended. But clearly there is a heightened sense of fear and being scared of what is going on in our country, you know, both abroad and locally here at home. And so, you know, you have to think twice about certain actions you take and being your house of worship is a place that you're supposed to be able to be welcomed and not have fears of what took place

yesterday afternoon. I mean, tell us about that difficult balance, because I should quote you recently, you said talking about this, there's a level of PTSD with the heightened awareness. We are synagogues, where houses of worship, we are not Fort Knox. So how do you keep that sense that your congregation is safe? They know they can come and pray safely, but not lose the sense that it's an open house of worship. Yeah, it's a great question. I think that the truth of matter becomes is that synagogues like churches and mosques are there houses of worship, right?

They're supposed to be places of welcoming, right? That is what we, that's who we are, that's what we stand for, and that is us acting at our very best. So the idea of being able to have, you know, security guards to metal detectors, to security bollards outside, to all of these extra precautions, which of course are so necessary in the world that we live in, unfortunately, kind of go against the idea of being so welcoming. And so whether it is to your opening of talking about Australia, to the Tree of Life Synagogue, to Poway, to Coleyville, to what happened yesterday in the Detroit suburbs, you know, there really is this balance of how do you figure out

how to be a house of worship where your doors are supposed to be open. And yet, everything that's happening in the world is in some ways trying to make us close our doors and maybe even be closed-minded. And I think that we have to fight back against that. These type of actions are to make us think twice, to make me think about the Kipa or the head covering that I wear on my head when I go outside. And whether that is acceptable to wear, to make yourself known to be Jewish. And I say it's for other faith groups as well. And the reality is you have to be proud. You can't hide.

That gives the person who is a terrorist the win in their ability to make us scared. And that's not the way that we should live our lives as Jews or as any other religious tradition. Have you at Bethel have to step up your security in recent years? We certainly. I mean, even pre-October 7th, you know, we had done different, we had done a number of different things in regards to our security here. in the Omaha Jewish community. And then after October 7th, you know, clearly there was a number of things that we did

to make sure that we were, that we were both safe, that our congregation was safe, that our staff on a daily basis was being able to be safe. When you're in a house of worship and you're here to pray and to celebrate or even to mourn, but the last thing you want is to be thinking about your own personal security in those places. You mentioned the October 7,

Hamas terrorist attack on Israel and this sense that what happens overseas inevitably has ripple effects across the rest of the globe. And I should say that there's nothing that excuses the targeting of civilians or people in any house of worship or certainly not children. But I've heard that there has been a sense of heightened concern, heightened fear after the U.S. and Israel launched this most recent war in Iran. Did the launching of that war make you worry more about attacks here? For sure. I think that anybody who would answer that question and say that it didn't make you think twice is simply either naive or they're lying to sound for a better sound bite. But the reality is, of course, you know, things that happen overseas, we have seen affect what happens in this country. I believe quite firmly that the Jewish community in many ways has always been the canary and the coal mine. to be able to understand the sense of what is going on with any number of minority groups, both in the United States and abroad.

And so when this war kicked off two weeks ago at this point, certainly there was a concern of what that would mean for us locally and nationally. But the idea is that, as you stated so beautifully, nothing kind of justifies attacking a house of worship, a synagogue, a preschool. And so, you know, I think we have to live in the reality of the world that we live in. But people come to the synagogue as I hope they go to churches and mosques to pray aspirationally for what the world may look like one day, God willing.

So we have to be realists. It's still shocking every time it happens, but we're becoming a little bit numb, I think. You mentioned the word PTSD. I think there is a level that the Jewish community, every time these things happen, It opens the wound and you don't actually get to mourn the previous time this happened. Right? Like as a rabbi, I have now, I should be proficient at writing sermons. And I'm getting proficient at writing letters to my congregation trying to explain the unexplainable.

That is Rabbi Stephen Abraham from the Bethel Synagogue in Omaha, Nebraska. Rabbi, thank you so much for your time. My pleasure. Thank you again. As the war with Iran continues to escalate, northern. Israel is yet again on the conflict's front line, facing a barrage of missile and drone fire from Hezbollah in Lebanon and Iran. Communities still recovering from the fighting that followed the October 7th attacks now face once again the constant danger and mental trauma that comes with war. For this report, a Newshour team filmed in Israel's north, and Nick Schifrin has the story.

In northern Israel, six miles from the Lebanese border, the siren has become the soundtrack. Patients and their families head into the Galilee Medical Center in Naharia. They have only 30 seconds before a possible Hezbollah missile strike, which is why the emergency room is inside a bunker. Dr. Zvi Shelegg is the center's deputy director and gives producer Carl Bostic a tour. We're going now to the underground hospitalization departments. Below ground, there are tunnels wide enough for an ambulance, a six-bed trauma room, and overall 450 beds.

Everything here is ready at all times for any missile attack, any drone attack. In fewer than two weeks, Israel says Hezbollah has fired at least 850 drones and missiles into northern Israel. Hezbollah joined the war, breaking a 16-month-long tenuous ceasefire, leading Israel to to bombard Beirut and targets throughout the country. For the Galilee Medical Center, the war has meant moving the most vulnerable underground. This is the neonatal intensive care unit full of premature babies, kept alive in incubators and on ventilators.

Haya Nakans, two-month-old girl Razal, was born, weighing about one pound. A smallest baby now, it's 600 grams, but he was born 450. Dr. Verrett Fletcher-Sheffer is the NICU director. She knows that in here, as in war, the line between life and death can be thin. They don't have name. When they are bigger, the parents give names. They don't give names when the baby is just born. It's very challenging for the parents, you know.

It's very challenging for all of us in Israel. The challenge to Northern Israel is overseen here, the Council of Northern Israel Communities, security chief Ashaya Froony and director Moshe Davidovitz. We want to live here in the Galilee with our children and our parents in a peaceful area. Israel has extensive air defense, but just today, Hezbollah rockets hit this home in the north. Many of these residents only recently returned to their communities after the 2024 ceasefire.

But now the threat is once again constant. of a Hezbollah drone lie in the regional council's lobby. The most difficult situation for our residents, I see it, is the mental health. It's the trauma and the post-trauma that we see increase day by day. And because of that, we demand that the war will finish soon. Right now, we'll stay there for as long as necessary to protect our civilians. But overlooking Lebanon, the Israeli military, The military's international spokesman, Colonel Nadav Shoshani, predicted the war will not end

anytime soon, even if the U.S. ends its war with Iran. The timeline here is as long there is a threat on our civilians, we're going to defend our civilians. That's a timeline against Kizmada. Along the border, there are political divides for how best to guarantee security. But the closer you get to the border, the more it feels personal. We visited Kibbutz Matsuva, just over one mile from the border. Bataia Safian was born in California, but has lived in this community for 37 years.

We've gotten used to living with a lot of trauma on a daily basis. It's a minute he hears the boom. He wants to run down to the shelter. They have a shelter, but this community is so close to the border, there are no sirens. They have to respond to the impacts. She lives with her grandkids. The local kindergarten has an attached bomb shelter. I don't want my grandchildren in another 20 years to be dealing with the kids.

with what I'm dealing with right now. And yet, with neighbor 48-year-old Noah Rotem, they try to keep up their spirits. Rotem has lived here for more than a decade. After October the 7th, she evacuated and returned a year and a half ago. Now the threats that she fled from had returned. Sometimes I'm jumping out of bed and I saw that I've been sleeping for 10 minutes or so. Your body is like the fight-flight-freeze mechanism is very much. working 24-7.

Like in many Israeli kibbutzahs, there is a dual desire, personal security and regional peace that's currently out of reach. It's not our reality, and it's not the reality of the kids in Lebanon or in Gaza or in Iran. No one wants, I think, to live in such fear. But despite the fear, life and its rituals must go on, even if back in the hospital in a war zone. Elihu Cohen is a cleaner at Galilee Medical Center. He's also a newly wed. But when the war started, his venue canceled. So we got married in the hospital.

There was no other choice. We got married here and everything was fine. It was very, very fun. It was nicer than doing it in a wedding hall. And as the hospital marked a milestone of life, another life is about to begin. We met Valentina and Michael Mission just before she went into labor, hoping to give birth in a world where bomb shelters are not needed. Do you know is it going to be a boy or a girl? Girl. Maria.

Oh, you already have a name for it. Yes, Maria. And since we spoke to them, Valentina gave birth to a healthy Maria, a reminder that there is fortitude, even in moments of fear. For the PBS News Hour, I'm Nick Schiffen. Since last July, the Trump administration has been sending all pregnant, unaccompanied minors apprehended by immigration enforcement to a single group shelter in South Texas. Some of the administration's own child welfare officials object to this policy, saying

the facility lacks specialized care the girls need. I spoke yesterday to Mark Bettencourt, a journalist who spent six months reporting to break this story for both the California Newsroom and the Texas Newsroom, which are collaborations of public media news outlets. Mark, welcome. Thanks for being here. Thanks for having me on now. Let's start with the girls. Tell us a little bit about who we're talking about,

how old are they, where are they from, and how do they come into the U.S. government custody? So most of the time, what happens is that when kids cross the border unaccompanied, which means they're not with a parent or guardian, they are transferred from customs and border protection to ORR care, which is the Office of Refugee Resettlement. It's under the Department of Health and Human Services. They basically then distribute them among shelters throughout the country

to hold them until they can be released to their sponsors, which are often family members. So the goal is to actually hold them for as little time as possible so that they can then be released while the sponsors are vetted. So when pregnant girls are brought in, these are kids who are under 18, so they're all minors. They would normally be placed in places that have medical facilities, nearby and trained staff who can handle what are often complicated pregnancies.

So that's what is normally supposed to happen under this process. Some of the girls you reported are as young as 13, is that right? Many of them have been assaulted, raped on the journey that they're making to the U.S. That's right. So these girls are between 13 and 17. Are my source within ORR said that about half of them were probably pregnant as a result of rape. So that is obviously a big concern. These girls have been through pretty traumatic experiences.

In some cases, you know, they were raped on the journey or in their home countries before they came here, and that's how they became pregnant. But a lot of times they're also apprehended by ICE in the interior of the country and separated from their families. So while we don't know the exact situations of the girls who have been placed at this shelter now, that is definitely a concern. And the trauma they've been through further complicates their pregnancies. So your reporting is based on conversations you have with the number of people. who are currently officials inside this agency. Why did they decide to speak to you? What concerns did they share?

So they decided to speak to me because I think they were concerned that it's not safe for these girls to be placed here. Their primary concern was that they have heard from experts within ORR, the Office of Refugee Resettlement, that this shelter is not set up to handle the complicated pregnancies of a 13-year-old. And also that the region that the shelter is in, the South Texas Rio Grande Valley, has limited health care, has limited obstetric care. And so especially in emergencies, it could be really difficult to get these kids the care that they need depending on what could happen with their pregnancies. So the ORR officials who spoke to me were really concerned feeling like they needed to speak up, given that there didn't seem to be a response from leadership within the organization.

We did reach out to HHS, which oversees ORR, the agency responsible here, to ask them about the report and request comment. A couple of key points from their statement. They say, to be clear, we do not send all pregnant unaccompanied minors there to this facility. There are others at other facilities as well. And they also say that they make those placements based on child welfare best practices. They say each child is placed in a setting that meets their medical, developmental, and safety needs. Does that line up with your sources and your reporting? It doesn't.

That's not at all what my sources within ORR said. In fact, they made a point of saying that ORRR's mission is child welfare. It is designed to be first and foremost for the best interest of the child. And they said that's the opposite of, this is the opposite of what you would do if that was your mission. You wouldn't send them to somewhere where they couldn't get the right care, especially if people within the organization were telling you not to do this. But to their point of, you know, what they're saying about the first. that not all girls are being sent there. My understanding is that the directive is that all the new intakes, girls who are entering or are care for the first time, as long as ORR knows that they're

pregnant, they are still being sent there. That directive still stands, according to people within ORR. There's another aspect of this, you include in your reporting. You spoke with advocates who say this is a deliberate policy to shift them to Texas specifically to avoid access to abortion care or abortion services if the girls wanted them. Why did they think that, and did you find proof of that? So we couldn't find sort of direct evidence, documentation of that having been the reason for the decision. But current and former ORR officials who know this system very, very well, said they couldn't think of any other reason. Also, the first Trump administration tried to do exactly this, tried to prevent girls from being able to get abortion while they're in ORR care. And so it seems

to be just a continuation of that policy. This is exactly what some of the officials I talked to expected, given the first Trump administration's behavior. And now, of course, post-Dobs, now that Roe v. Way is no longer an obstruction to that, it is legally a lot more possible for them to restrict the access to abortion under the Constitution. And folks can, of course, read your full reporting online. Mark Bettencourt for the California Newsroom and the Texas Newsroom. Thank you for being here. Thanks so much for having me. Enensifying President Trump this week delivered conflicting messages on when it could end. And attacks here in the U.S. prompted a wave of anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant rhetoric.

To discuss that and more, we turn to the analysis of Brooks and K-Part. That's the Atlantic's David Brooks and Jonathan Kpart of MS now. It's always great to see you both. So Jonathan, on Iran, if the goal was to weaken Iran and stabilize the region, the early picture looks complicated. You've got a new supreme leader in Tehran, who is the president. the son of the original supreme leader who was killed in the initial attack. You've got higher oil prices, a widening regional war, and more than a dozen U.S. troop casualties.

What, in your view, has been achieved so far? I don't know. I really don't know. And I'm glad you mentioned the casualties, because I was going to do something that the Secretary of Defense refuses to do immediately when he gets before the microphones and acknowledge right now the 13 killed in action, including. the six who lost their lives when their refueling aircraft crashed in Iraq. I am still trying to understand what the end game is here. The president says a lot of happy talk about, you know, this will take a short period of time

and we had to do this because they were going to attack us. But we have not heard a single coherent rationale since this war started, what is it, two weeks ago tomorrow. David, how do you see it? Yeah, well, this was not a good week. I mean, I think things were achieved in the first week with the weakening of the regime and the taking out some of the ballistic missiles and all that. But this week, two big things happened, not good for the U.S. The first is every intelligence

agency on Earth seems to have concluded that the odds of regime change, the odds that the Iranian people have any opportunity to rise up anytime soon are very unlikely. And so that means we're in a war of containment. It looks a little more like the Cold War, where whatever happens in this military kinetic phase, there's going to be a long period we're going to have to contain Iran. The second bad thing that happened was the effect of closing of the Straits of Armuzes. Now, I don't know what went through Pete Heggseth's head or Donald Trump's head, whether they anticipated this move or not, but it surely is impossible that the U.S. military did

not anticipate this, because we've been talking about this for 47 years, and closing the straits of our moves has always been on the table. Iranians have been preparing for this for decades, and they have effective ability to do it, at least partially so far. And we've seen what's happened to oil prices. We see what's happening to the world economy. And the problem is the U.S. has no really good options here. Ending a naval blockade, getting rid of naval mines is just not an easy thing to do.

Back in 1991, during the first, you know, George H.W. Bush, the war in Kuwait and Ukraine, I mean, Iraq, Iraq had roughly 900 mines, and it took us nearly two months to clear them. The pre-war estimates for Iranian mines were closer to 5,000, and then they have all these things that didn't exist in 1991, like underwater drones. So that's a really long struggle to try to make the straits of Hormuz open. But if the U.S. doesn't do that, then Iran is the effective victor, because they can say, we can pull the economic string that will always deter a further U.S. attack. We are the ones in charge here, and we won this war.

And it speaks to how a weaker adversary can still impose enormous costs. Jonathan, in the introduction here, we talked about the president's conflicting messaging. He had previously said the war would last four to five weeks. Earlier this week, he said it's, quote, very complete, already won. In an interview release today, he said it will be over, and this is a quote, when I feel it, feel it in my bones. Your reaction? This is that, when I read that comment,

I immediately thought that this, what we're in right now, this war with Iran, it is as unsurious as it is dangerous. David just talked about the danger that is involved here. And you would think that a president of the United States with a capable defense department would have thought all of these things through. If we go after Iran, if we take out the regime, what would they do in retaliation?

And then how are we going to respond to that? I don't think it's in anyone's interest. David was saying that the best we've done is maybe created a situation where Iran has to be contained. I don't know. To me, that sounds like we, the world, are in a much more dangerous place than we were two weeks ago tomorrow. And David, one unusual feature of this conflict has been the White House's messaging online. They've been posting these meme-style videos, these pop culture montages, celebrating the U.S. strikes. Some of them are playing out right now on the screen.

What's your assessment of this? I mean, does this reflect modern political communication, or is something here more troubling about how this war is being framed to the public by the White House? You know, the White House has pastors come in. They have prayer breakfasts they go to. They talk a lot about Christianity and upholding Christian values. At the core of Christianity is a belief in the dignity of each person that each human being is made in the image of God. And that's true of all humans, not just the ones you happen to like.

And what's happening here in Lebanon and in Iran is death, is human death. And I don't care who's dying, whether it's good guys or bad guys, innocence, or supposed guilties, it's death. And the people who fought World War II, who led our conflict in World War II, whether it was Franklin Roosevelt, down to George Marshall, to Omar Bradley, they understood the seriousness of this, that killing human beings is not a video game, it's not pixels on a screen. And whatever you think of the war, and I'm probably a little more hopeful than most, the way this is being described is almost barbarous. You know, there's a great tradition of just war theory.

Sometimes wars are just. But they're never good. They're never anything but horrific. And to treat them otherwise is to insult the American people and to really be unnerving. It should be unnerving to everybody to see this level of triviality. Well, we saw two attacks here in the U.S. yesterday, a shooting at Old Dominion University being investigated as terrorism and a car ramming at a synagogue in Michigan. The president, President Trump was asked about it.

He said the perpetrators were sick people. And then in an interview with Brian Kilme to Fox, he added this. They're sick people. And a lot of them were let in here. They shouldn't have been let in. Others are just bad. They go bad. Something wrong.

There's something wrong there. Genetics are not exactly your genetic. It's one of those problems. Genetics, he says. And no one should be surprised to hear that kind of language come from Donald Trump. He ran his second presidential campaign was an openly racist, xenophobic, white nationalist campaign. So the fact that he's talking about genetics in this circumstance, it's not surprising.

But again, this is the president of the United States. If we ever hope to put a lid on some of the passions and the hatreds that are in this country, We look, usually, we should, to the president, to be the example, to step out and say, this isn't who we are. We band together. People are hurting. Say all the comforting words to bind the country together. And instead, he and so many of his supporters are out there rending the garment of our American

society. It's really, it's as troubling as it is angering. Well, in the time that remains, I want to get to the Save Act, which you both know, though it's this bill that would require proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections. It would require stricter voter ID rules. Supporters say it's about election integrity. Critics say it could make voting harder for millions of eligible Americans to include Republicans. David, you know, for years there's been this theory in Republican politics that higher turnout benefits Democrats.

Recent elections have proven that not to be the case. But how much of this is still rooted in that old political thinking? Yeah, it is true now that higher turnout benefits the Republicans and lower turnout benefits the Democrats because they're more the party of the college educated who vote in low turnout elections. But what the Republicans are doing, they're playing on this pure electoral politics. You might agree with the SAVE Act. You may disagree with the SAVE Act.

It's usually popular. You take every group in American society and you get 70 or 80 percent approval. It sounds decent to people that, you know, if you can have to hand over your driver's license to get on an airplane, you should be able to have to hand it over to share. you were voting. And there's some truth to that. The problem is, it's not a problem. The studies that have been done looking at how many times U.S. non-citizens or the times non-citizens voted in U.S. elections, it's like fewer than 100 cases in the last 25 years. This is not a problem. And the idea that we're going to paralyze the Senate for a solution looking for a problem,

and the idea especially egregious that we're going to get rid of the filibuster, which to me is the only thing left that gives us a shred of hope of bipartisanship in the next few years, that just seems like a mistake. John Hood? The idea that you could have a law that says it's okay, you can prove that you're able to vote with say like a gun permit, but if you have a college ID, you're not allowed to vote or handing over voter rolls to the Department of Homeland Security, for what purpose? When I look at the SAVE Act, I look at it as an attempt by the president, who has made it very

clear that he does not want Republicans to lose the 2026 midterms. And that is what this is all about. Jonathan Capehart, David Brooks. Thanks to you both as always. Thanks, Jack. Thank you. And we'll be back shortly, but first take a moment to hear from your local PBS station. It's a chance to offer your support, which helps to keep programs like the News Hour on the air. For those of you staying with us, we take a second look now at how art is being used to help veterans with post-traumatic stress. Stephanie Sy is back with this encore report from Seattle for our ongoing coverage of the intersection of arts and health, part of our Canvas series. On a recent afternoon at the Seattle Opera, a group of military veterans prepares for an upcoming performance. Not a bad review. Thank you.

This veteran's choir is part of Path with Art, a Seattle nonprofit that offers a range of programming designed to promote public health. Let's go again. For Shanda Dianda, who served 24 years in the United States Air Force, the once-a-week ritual of singing with fellow service members has been healing. Trauma changes who you are as a person. DeAnda served in combat roles in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Bosnia. But it wasn't until she retired from the Air Force in 2019 that she began to process all that she'd seen on the battlefield. She was diagnosed with PTSD. But I was like, I'm sure I don't have that. I'm sure that's not a problem for me. And then COVID hit and I lost the ability of being really active and in the community. And so being alone with my thoughts became more a part of my

life. She says when even leaving her house made her terrified. Her therapist referred her to path with art. Joining the Veterans Choir where I'd be surrounded by other veterans, it's a way of kind of finding my voice again. Randy Schessler has also found a new voice in the Veterans Choir. He served in the Air Force for seven years until he says he was kicked out of the military in the early 80s for being gay. I was very much in the closet because at the time, this was before don't ask, don't tell, even. There was no defense. If you were found to be gay, It was instant discharge. What did you go through?

Well, first it was the shock. Then I lost my job because my clearance was immediately ripped. Shessler struggles with depression. He's been coming to Pathwith Art for six years. I need community. I need camaraderie. I need to be able to express myself. Path with Art has offered classes on everything from learning the basics of podcasting.

You both have nice big voices. Really? To pottery. acting and fashion design. The classes are available to low-income adults and all veterans for free. We have a mental health crisis. There's no one magic pill that's going to solve it all. And so the arts can play a role in helping fill that gap. Holly Jacobson, the CEO of Path with Art, says since launching the veterans program in 2019, participation has skyrocketed. It really did show that there was a need. So it's now

a quarter of our program, over 500 individuals last year. This is supposed to be a wolf. Here, veterans are also employed as teachers. Artist Donna Baker teaches art classes using mixed media, including yarn. When I get to the point where I can't handle things, I go to art and it just kind of, it calms me down. It relaxes my mind. I feel at ease. I don't feel anxious.

I don't feel like, you know, I have to battle the world. Baker was stationed in Germany during the late 80s and early 90s, a survivor of sexual assault. She says she still struggles with PTSD from her time in the Army. You know, in a lot of ways, I can totally connect. I can totally connect with maybe what they're feeling, their angst, you know, their pain, they're suffering. Feelings that other military sexual assault survivors, like Chris Wisdom, share. She joined the Army in the late 90s.

They were telling females not to go out at night alone because there were a lot of attacks, that there were a lot of rapes. And it wasn't by civilians coming on post. It was by your fellow soldiers. And so the fire represents the anger and then the tears, the sorrow and sadness. More than two decades later, her artwork, including this mask, expressed what she went through. So that mask I named explosive emotions. I made that to represent when you try to suppress who you are and your feelings for so long with all that you've been through,

that eventually it's just going to explode. The folks that have served our country so beautifully have come home and have experienced trauma in a way that many of us can't understand. Susan Mag Sammon is the co-author of Your Brain on Art and an assistant professor of Neuron. at Johns Hopkins University. Her extensive research has included looking at Path With Arts programs and has found they are effective at improving mental health outcomes. And a lot of times, you know, people talk about, well, you know, why can't you just get over or something?

And trauma is not like that. And so the way to get out of it turns out that these arts and aesthetic experiences can be incredibly valuable. Something as simple as singing, which activates your parasympathetic nervous system, activates the vagus nerve, again, connects you to each other, calms your physiology, and makes you just feel better. For Shanda Diyanda, it's working. For a long time, I was trying to get back to who that version of Shanda was. But she isn't here anymore. And mourning that loss and then selling.

the opportunity of developing a new Shonda is something I think Path with Art was extremely instrumental in making happen. For so many here, it's a step away from a painful past toward a more hopeful future. For the PBS News Hour, I'm Stephanie Tsai in Seattle. Be sure to watch Compass Points this weekend. Nick Schifrin and his panel discuss the consequences of the war with Iran. And on horizons, William Brangham speaks with experts about the next frontier for GLP-1s, now commonly used for weight loss, with promising new advances in treating substance abuse. Dr. Lipke, are you now using this as a tool for people who are struggling with addiction?

So we are using GLP-1s in treatment refractory alcohol use disorder. That's to say, alcohol addiction. in our patients where we've tried all the other existing interventions, including the on-label FDA-approved drugs for alcohol addiction, and patients still haven't been able to get into recovery. And it's been interesting to see that we have some patients for whom the GLP-1s really are remarkably effective, and that is very, very exciting because we haven't had a new tool in our toolbox for a long time.

On the other hand, I will say we have some patients in whom we try the GLP-1, PLP ones and they just kind of don't work, which is also not unexpected when you're talking about the brain, which is incredibly complicated and still, we still only scratch the surface of, you know, what's happening in the brain. It's not really a surprise that our medications are only going to work for some of the people some of the time. And that in our experience so far is true for GLP ones as well. And that is the News Hour for tonight. I'm Omn-Novaz. And I'm Jeff Bennett for all of us here at the PBS News Hour. Thanks for spending part of your evening with us. Have a great weekend.