GEOFF BENNETT: Good evening.

I'm Geoff Bennett.

AMNA NAWAZ: And I'm Amna Nawaz.

On the "News Hour" tonight: European leaders meet with Iran's foreign minister, as the war with Israel rages on and mass protests unfold in Tehran.

GEOFF BENNETT: A brutal heat wave blankets much of the U.S., with some areas seeing temperatures topping 100 degrees.

AMNA NAWAZ: And we sit down with Carla Hayden, the first female and African American librarian of Congress and who was fired by President Trump.

CARLA HAYDEN, Former Librarian of Congress: Free public libraries are part of a civic infrastructure that we need to have a safe democracy.

(BREAK) AMNA NAWAZ: Welcome to the "News Hour."

It's now one full week since Israel launched a punishing campaign of airstrikes against Iran and its nuclear infrastructure.

GEOFF BENNETT: Iran has responded with its own missile strikes, but to far lesser effect.

President Trump today reiterated his desire to negotiate with Iran within a two-week window he set yesterday, as the U.S.

Marshals its forces in support of the Israeli operations.

MAN: What the (EXPLETIVE DELETED)!

GEOFF BENNETT: Today, in the Northern Israeli port city of Haifa, an Iranian missile strike, the moment captured by an eyewitness, leaving residents terrified.

Local authorities say over a dozen people were injured.

In Southern Israel's largest city, Beersheba, buildings shattered by an Iranian missile that struck at dawn, leaving a trail of devastation.

SHAFIR BOTNER, Paramedic School Director: Right now, we're in the south, another place that was just hit by a missile.

Six buildings behind me got hit.

Now MDA teams are searching each apartment to see if someone got hurt.

GEOFF BENNETT: Air raid sirens echoed through Tel Aviv as the exchange of attacks between the two countries intensified; 12 miles south, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu inspected damage to the Weizmann Institute of Science and vowed to continue the war.

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, Israeli Prime Minister: As long as it takes.

That's the answer, as long as it takes, because we face an existential danger, a dual existential danger.

GEOFF BENNETT: In the Iranian capital of Tehran, a burnt Red Crescent ambulance was put on display in a prominent city square.

It was hit by an earlier Israeli attack that killed three paramedics.

And, today, thousands took to the streets of Tehran and other cities after Friday prayers protesting Israel's attacks.

Iranian state media showed smoke billowing near Iran's Arak nuclear facility.

Israel has also launched attacks on Iran's nuclear enrichment facilities in Natanz and Isfahan, but needs U.S. bunker-buster bombs to target Fordow, Iran's enrichment facility that's buried deep within a mountain.

President Trump said he will decide whether to push the U.S. into the conflict within the next two weeks.

Today, speaking to reporters, he noted Israel lacks the military capacity to destroy Fordow on its own.

DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: They really have a very limited capacity.

They could break through a little section, but they can't go down very deep.

They don't have that capacity.

And we will have to see what happens.

Maybe it won't be necessary.

GEOFF BENNETT: Congress has often abdicated its power to declare war over the last half-century, delegating those powers to the president.

But, today, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries issued a statement saying: "The authority to declare war belongs solely to the United States Congress.

President Trump and his administration must refrain from engaging in offensive military action in Iran without the explicit approval of the House of Representatives and the Senate."

Today, the foreign ministers of Germany, France, Britain and the European Union met their Iranian counterpart in Geneva to find a diplomatic way out of the conflict.

After the meeting, they said Iran wants to continue talks, but the U.S. must be involved.

JOHANN WADEPHUL, German Foreign Minister (through translator): The good result today is that we left the room with the impression that the Iranian side is basically prepared to continue talking about all the important issues.

But, above all, it is very important that the United States of America are involved in these negotiations and a solution.

GEOFF BENNETT: But Iran's foreign minister says his country refuses to engage with the U.S. while the Israeli attacks continue.

ABBAS ARAGHCHI, Iranian Foreign Minister (through translator): We made it explicitly clear to them that, as long as this aggression and invasion continues, there is absolutely no room for talk or diplomacy.

GEOFF BENNETT: Meantime, the human toll increases, in Tehran today, yet another funeral.

And Israel identified a body recovered from the site of Iran's Sunday strike in the city of Bat Yam.

It was 30-year-old Ukrainian Maria Peshkuryova.

She's the mother of 7-year-old Nastia Borik, who was being treated for leukemia in Israel.

She was also killed in the strike.

Husband and father Artem Borik is fighting Russia on the Ukrainian front lines.

The family lost three other members that day.

They had come to Israel in search for a safety they couldn't find, escaping one war, only to become victims of another.

AMNA NAWAZ: All week long, we have been talking to experts on Iran's nuclear program, its leadership, and on U.S. foreign policy, as President Trump weighs entering the war.

But speaking directly to people inside Iran is nearly impossible right now, as the regime clamps down on communications and spreads fear in communities.

Tonight, we're joined from Los Angeles by Nazanin Boniadi.

She's an actress and a human rights activist focused on Iran, where she was born and which her family fled after the 1979 revolution.

Nazanin, welcome back to the "News Hour."

Thanks for joining us.

NAZANIN BONIADI, Actress and Activist: Thanks for having me, Amna.

AMNA NAWAZ: So let's talk about the people of Iran.

At this moment, when they're facing both Israeli airstrikes and a weakened, oppressive regime many of them have tried to rise up against in the past, what do you hear from people you talk to?

What are they telling you?

NAZANIN BONIADI: There's a paradox inside Iran.

There's a deep sense of despair, because the Iranians are caught between foreign firepower and a regime that simply doesn't care about them.

They would soon see that the people burn and die and lives destroyed than to give up power.

This is a people who are caught between hope and despair in this moment.

But as much as they oppose the regime, they need to be able to organize.

This is the worst Internet shutdown we have seen since the bloody November protests of 2019, because, unfortunately, this regime, in the first instance, unleashes its fury first and foremost on its own people.

And that's what's happening right now.

Dissidents are in real danger.

My friend, a prominent rap artist, dissident rap artist Toomaj Salehi, just yesterday was detained by 30 plainclothes militia and interrogated violently for five hours.

Prisoners, political prisoners, are in grave danger, thousands of political prisoners inside Iran.

There's a university student Ali Younesi, who has been imprisoned in Evin on spurious national security charges for the past five years, who was abducted from Evin yesterday, according to his siblings.

And the list goes on and on.

But what I'm hearing more than anything is this echo for change, for democracy.

But how can they do that under bombardment?

AMNA NAWAZ: So tell me more about that call for change and what people are telling you about how they see that happening, because we hear from experts who are following this, the regime has been weakened, they're on the back foot.

What do people on the ground in Iran want to see happen next?

NAZANIN BONIADI: That's interesting you say that, Amna, because exactly -- you're exactly right.

Regime officials are doing an about-face.

The doctrine says -- the Islamic Republic doctrine is very much "Death to America," "Death to Israel."

And there's nothing pro-Iran or "Long live Iran" in the doctrine.

And yet, in the recent days, in these past few days, you have seen them do an about-face.

They, Khamenei, the supreme leader and former Foreign Minister Javad Zarif are appealing to a sense of Iranian nationalism, because they know they have lost the people.

The people care deeply about Iran, but we have to separate the Islamic Republic from Iran, because most of Iranian people believe that it's an occupying force.

A GAMAAN survey in 2022 revealed this, showing -- it's a scientific survey that was done with a sample size of 200,000, of which 157,000 were in inside Iran; 81 percent of respondents said they don't want the Islamic Republic; 14 percent -- or 15 percent said they do want the Islamic Republic; 4 percent were ambivalent.

They didn't know.

So the vast majority of Iranians still today will not rally behind the Islamic Republic flag.

I urge Westerners, please, if you want to stand for Iran and the Iranian people and their sovereignty, please don't conflate that with the Islamic Republic sovereignty.

They are two different things.

Do not raise the Islamic Republic's flag in your rallies.

That is a slap in the face of every dissident, every Iranian who has risked everything for freedom.

AMNA NAWAZ: Nazanin, on a more personal note, I know that you and your family have been watching this from afar with great concern, like so many others who fled after the revolution.

You wrote about these conversations with your father in particular in a recent piece for "TIME."

I just wonder how you're watching all of this, how he's watching this and how you're processing this moment, in the minute or so we have left.

NAZANIN BONIADI: My heart is torn in two.

I love Iran deeply.

I need to remove my emotions out of it, because I want nothing more than to see Iran.

But I want to see a free, democratic, just, peaceful Iran.

And so I know that that can't exist under the Islamic Republic.

It definitely can't exist under bombardment.

So please help the Iranian people achieve the self-determinism and determination that they - - as their God-given right, is their right.

And that's what I call on the international community to do.

AMNA NAWAZ: Nazanin Boniadi, thank you so much for joining us tonight.

It's always a pleasure to speak with you.

NAZANIN BONIADI: Thank you so much, Amna.

AMNA NAWAZ: We start the day's other headlines with a series of legal developments.

First up, a judge has ordered that Columbia University graduate Mahmoud Khalil be freed from the immigration detention center where he's been held since March.

The Trump administration is trying to deport Khalil for engaging in pro-Palestinian protests, saying he's a threat to the nation's foreign policy.

But the judge in New Jersey said Khalil is not a flight risk and is -- quote -- "not a danger to the community, period, full stop."

Khalil is a green card holder and a legal U.S. resident.

He's not been charged with any crime.

Also today, a federal judge is blocking the Trump administration's efforts to prevent Harvard University from hosting international students.

Today's order is a temporary victory for the school, which has been the target of government actions towards its tax-exempt status and billions of dollars in federal funding, among others.

It comes as President Trump said on social media that his administration is nearing a deal with Harvard, saying school officials have -- quote -- "acted extremely appropriately during these negotiations and appear to be committed to doing what's right."

In California, a federal judge set a Monday deadline for state officials to argue whether and how they will challenge the Trump administration's use of the National Guard in Los Angeles.

Last night, an appeals court said President Trump can retain federal control of California's forces for now.

Trump deployed them earlier this month over the objections of California Governor Gavin Newsom amid protests against immigration raids.

Vice President J.D.

Vance is in L.A. tonight, where he's set to meet with federal law enforcement and Marines, who were also deployed in response to the recent demonstrations.

The Supreme Court sided with the fossil fuel and vaping industries today in a pair of 7-2 decisions.

In one case, the justices decided to allow fuel producers to challenge California's ability to set stricter emission standards than federal law typically allows.

Oil and gas companies had argued that California's waiver from those federal standards hurts the gas-powered car industry.

Separately, the court rejected a bid by the FDA to limit which courts vaping companies can use to challenge federal regulations.

The justices found that R.J. Reynolds Vapor Company can pursue a case about e-cigarette marketing in the nation's Fifth Circuit.

That court has been more friendly to the industry.

Anti-smoking groups say the ruling could hurt efforts to keep young people from vaping.

The Trump administration sent layoff notices to hundreds more employees at Voice of America today.

The cuts impacted 639 employees at the broadcaster and the U.S. agency that oversees it.

According to a press release, that means some 1,400 people have now lost their jobs since March, or about 85 percent of its prior work force.

VOA began broadcasting to residents of Nazi Germany in the 1940s.

But President Trump's senior adviser to the agency, Kari Lake, says the layoffs are a -- quote -- "long-overdue effort" to dismantle what she calls a bloated, unaccountable bureaucracy.

Turning overseas, at least 37 Palestinians were killed in the Gaza Strip today, some while trying to get food.

Hospital officials in Central Gaza say they received the bodies of 14 people.

Many of them died in an Israeli airstrike on a home nearby.

They say the others were killed as they tried to get food at an aid distribution site.

Violence near such sites has become almost daily occurrences, with the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry saying hundreds have been killed in recent weeks.

In a statement provided to Reuters, Israel says it fired warning shots at suspected militants who approached its forces and then -- quote -- "struck and eliminated the suspects with an aircraft."

Lawmakers in the U.K. approved a bill today to legalize assisted dying, bringing it one step closer to becoming law.

MAN: The ayes have it.

The ayes have it.

Unlock.

AMNA NAWAZ: The legislation allows terminal patients over the age of 18 who have less than six months to live to choose to end their lives.

Supporters argue that people with a terminal diagnosis should have the option of assisted dying, but opponents say the policy could be used to coerce vulnerable people.

The bill now goes to the House of Lords, who can delay or amend but not overrule today's measure.

Such procedures are currently legal in a handful of countries, including Canada and Australia, plus 11 U.S. states.

In Southern Mexico, authorities are assessing the damage after Hurricane Erick barreled through the region, killing at least one person.

The storm toppled trees, downed power lines and flooded streets.

And officials say a 1-year-old boy drowned in a swollen river.

Erick made landfall early yesterday as a Category 3 storm in a rural area between two resort towns.

Hundreds of thousands of people were left without power, but otherwise residents were spared the worst of the storm's wrath.

On Wall Street today, stocks ended mixed in quiet post-holiday trading.

The Dow Jones industrial average added just 35 points on the day.

The Nasdaq fell nearly 100 points, or about half-a-percent.

The S&P 500 also ended lower to close out the week.

And Hawaii's Kilauea volcano is erupting again in rather dramatic fashion, shooting large fountains of lava up to 1,000 feet in the air.

The U.S. Geological Survey says this latest eruption began overnight and has not posed any threat to populated areas nearby.

Kilauea is located on Hawaii's Big Island and is one of the world's most active volcanoes with dozens of eruptions since December.

They usually last for about a day.

Still to come on the NewsHour: we sit down with the librarian of Congress, who President Trump fired; Jonathan Capehart and Ramesh Ponnuru weigh in on the week's political headlines; and federal agents are denied access to Dodger Stadium in the latest immigration clash.

Today is the summer solstice, and much of the country is going to be baking in serious heat starting this weekend.

GEOFF BENNETT: A heat dome is expected to keep temperatures soaring above 90 degrees in many states.

More than 200 million people will feel those effects, and tens of millions more are going to be grappling with triple-digit heat.

Our Stephanie Sy has our look at what you need to know about the days ahead.

STEPHANIE SY: Geoff, here in Phoenix, where the high reached 117 degrees yesterday, triple-digit heat at this time of year is not unusual.

But places like Omaha, Albuquerque and Denver are experiencing temperatures over 100 degrees today.

Looking at the forecast on these maps, you can see how tomorrow, in particular, many parts of the Central Plains and Upper Midwest are in that darker color, meaning dangerous heat.

That's expected to spread to the East Coast in coming days.

Matthew Cappucci is a meteorologist with MyRadar.com, and he joins me now.

Matthew, thanks so much for joining the program.

So, what should we know about this heat wave?

Which parts of the country are going to be hit the hardest?

How long will it last?

MATTHEW CAPPUCCI, Senior Meteorologist, MyRadar: Yes, it's a very expansive, long-duration heat event.

In fact, 220 million Americans will see temperatures over 90, about 35 million Americans seeing triple-digit heat.

And we're not just talking the Desert Southwest.

We're talking to Eastern Seaboard as well.

The heat dome really starts to get established this weekend, Saturday into especially Sunday over parts of the Corn Belt in the Midwest, and then really spreading all the way to the East Coast, lasting until, I'd say, Wednesday or Thursday, before we finally start to see some relief.

Now, we talked about the heat in Arizona moments ago, temperatures nearing 115 degrees.

It's going to be a very long-duration, significant heat event, and I really hope folks are taking precautions ahead of time.

STEPHANIE SY: Yes.

And I'm glad you said that.

We're going to go more in depth into human health effects in a bit, but help us understand what the heat dome is and what's behind it.

MATTHEW CAPPUCCI: Yes.

So we hear this term all the time in the summertime, the so-called heat dome.

And, essentially, heat dome is like this bulge in the atmosphere.

The heat literally expands the atmosphere vertically.

And so picture this force field of hot, dry, sinking air.

It sinks, so it squishes any attempts at rising motion in cloud cover.

And so we're not getting cloud cover, so more sunshine heats the ground, and it almost deflects all the weather systems away.

It's like this hot force field.

So the jet stream is shunted farther north.

It takes the storms with it.

So, really, we get this, like, bubble in the atmosphere where we're just seeing the temperatures bake for days on end with plentiful sunshine.

And it kind of gets stuck in the atmosphere too.

So there's nothing to really move this along until late in the week into, I would say, Friday, Saturday.

STEPHANIE SY: Matthew, how much of these extreme heat waves, heat domes have scientists attributed to climate change versus summer weather patterns that people may have experienced, say, 200 years ago?

MATTHEW CAPPUCCI: I love that distinction you made because, really, it is summertime to your point.

We will see heat domes with or without climate change.

We're always going to see heat events in the summertime.

It'd be weird if we didn't.

But what we're noticing is the scales are tipping more towards hotter heat events and less significant cold events.

So, in other words, the scale is kind of skewing towards more warm events.

They're longer in duration.

They're more intense.

They're more geographically expansive, and this sort of fits that pattern.

It's a fingerprint of climate change.

What we're really noticing too is warm overnight lows.

A warmer atmosphere is a wetter atmosphere, and so we hold more moisture, and that traps temperatures overnight.

And those warm overnight lows really exacerbate heat stress.

Now, there's one point that folks sometimes make that I find very interesting.

A lot of folks say, hey, it was hotter back in the 1930s; 13 states still have all time records that have stood since the 1930s.

And that's true.

But back in the '30s, we had something called the Dust Bowl, where overfarming, inveterate drought, and incredibly hot temperatures combined to lead to this, like, insanely dry air mass that parked over the Plains for the better part of a year.

It's easier to get hot extremes when the temperatures -- or, rather, when the air mass is very dry.

So back then, yes, you might have had warmer temperatures, but you're actually getting more heat energy in the atmosphere nowadays because there's that much more moisture in the air.

So, really, these heat events will continue getting more extreme, and especially the overnight lows are really concerning.

STEPHANIE SY: Matthew Cappucci with Radar.com, thank you so much for those insights, Matthew.

Now let's focus on the dangers of extreme heat, which is considered the leading weather-related cause of death in the United States.

Local officials are warning people to take precautions, including in Chicago, where the heat is expected to get serious tomorrow.

Mayor Brandon Johnson warned about the health risks and recalled a deadly heat wave the city experienced in 1995.

BRANDON JOHNSON (D-Mayor of Chicago, Illinois): Chicago knows better than any other city in America the danger of extreme weather, particularly extreme heat.

In fact, we are one month away from the 30-year anniversary of the 1995 heat wave, the deadliest heat wave in American history.

We lost more than 700 Chicagoans.

Most of them were the elderly and the poor.

It really challenged the city to recognize the danger of extreme heat so that we never see a tragedy like that occur again.

STEPHANIE SY: For more on those dangers and key tips for dealing with the heat, we turn to Ashley Ward, director of the heat policy innovation hub at Duke University.

Ashley, thank you so much for joining us.

So we just heard from the mayor of Chicago reminding us that the elderly and the poor were particularly vulnerable in that heat wave of '95.

Talk to us about what factors go into certain groups being at greater risk and what can be learned from previous deadly heat waves.

ASHLEY WARD, Heat Policy Innovation Hub Director, Duke University: Sure.

I mean, certainly, our age populations, children, the poor, as the mayor pointed out, but also pregnant women.

In many of these cases, what's happening is the body's ability to thermoregulate is not as efficient as it once was when someone was younger, if you're a child, not quite as efficient as it will be.

And so, as you get exposed to heat, your body is having to work harder to keep your core body temperature at safe levels.

But also many of the people in these vulnerable groups suffer from other underlying chronic conditions like cardiovascular disease or respiratory renal diseases, which also make it harder for your body to thermoregulate.

And then, finally, they take prescription drugs, which many of them actually impede the body's ability to cool itself down.

And these are very common medications, say like for hypertension, high blood pressure, anti-anxiety, anti-depression medications, anti-psychotics.

These are common medications that people take, and they may not understand that last year they were able to go out and go for a walk at 3:00 in the afternoon.

But, this year, because of that medication, it might be a little more dangerous for them to do so.

STEPHANIE SY: One thing that the meteorologist I just interviewed talked about, Ashley, was the fact that, with some of these heat waves, we're seeing very high overnight lows.

I mean, sometimes those lows are in the 90s.

Can you talk about how that potentially increases risk for populations?

ASHLEY WARD: Sure.

Everything needs a reprieve overnight, our bodies, our plants, our animals, our energy systems, our infrastructure.

And when we have situations in which we have high daytime temperatures, followed by persistently high overnight temperatures -- and typically that threshold is about 75 degrees.

So when temperatures remain high, above 75 degrees, overnight, we see actually a higher number of poor health outcomes, people visiting the emergency departments and mortality associated with that.

So you can imagine an 80- or 90-degree overnight temperature.

We see these relationships with increases in preterm birth, but we also see it in all kinds of other health outcomes.

A lot of this has to do with that reprieve that I was talking about is hard to achieve, especially if you don't have air conditioning or can afford to run your air conditioner.

So it used to be that you could raise your windows overnight and it would be cooler at nighttime and you could get those breezes and cool down your house.

But if temperatures overnight remain persistently high, it's harder to do so, putting you at greater risk.

STEPHANIE SY: Heat deaths, I have often been told in my reporting, Ashley, are preventable.

What are the important things for people to know to keep in mind as we go into these next couple of days?

Should they just stay inside?

And what do they do if they don't have air conditioning?

ASHLEY WARD: That's a really great question.

There's a combination of things.

Of course, once it gets beyond a certain temperature, really, air condition is what's required.

And so I would recommend that, if you don't have air conditioning at all, that you make a plan.

Find where cooling centers are in your community.

Think about whether there's a shopping center or mall that you can go visit in the early evening to cool down, or friends and family members that you can go and visit.

If you have access to air conditioning, but maybe you can't afford to run it enough to really cool your house, consider prioritizing air conditioning in your bedroom.

It could be more affordable to cool, and you can escape to that room.

The other, last thing I would say is remember that, while it's always very important to stay hydrated by drinking plenty of fluids, when it comes to lowering your core body temperature, water is very effectively used outside your body.

So think about things like taking a cool shower when you come home from work, rather than just sitting on the couch and drinking a drink.

Use water to immerse your feet over your ankles or your arms over your elbows.

We know that these are techniques at work that lower core body temperature.

Think about taking a cold wet rag and either putting it behind your neck or wiping down your arms and legs, sitting in front of a fan while you do so.

So, if you think about ways that you can use cool water outside of your body, in addition to staying hydrated, those are also some ways that you can keep yourself safe during periods of high heat.

STEPHANIE SY: That is Ashley Ward, director of the Heat Policy Innovation Hub at Duke University.

Thank you so much for those tips, Ashley.

ASHLEY WARD: Thank you.

And stay safe.

GEOFF BENNETT: After Carla Hayden, a trailblazing librarian of Congress, was fired by President Trump last month, only 14 Americans have ever held the position.

I traveled to Baltimore to speak with her about being blindsided by the decision, the administration's ongoing efforts to reshape key institutions and why she intends to keep speaking out.

The report is part of our series Art in Action, exploring the intersection of art and democracy as part of our Canvas coverage.

Dr. Carla Hayden is a familiar and cherished presence at the sprawling Enoch Pratt Free Library and its 21 branches, a system she led with distinction nearly a decade ago.

Her legacy of over two decades of service is etched into the building itself with the wing that bears her name.

Hayden has been a force in the library world since 1973.

And, in 2016, she made history, when then-President Obama appointed her librarian of Congress.

DR. CARLA HAYDEN, Former Librarian of Congress: So help me God.

(CHEERING) GEOFF BENNETT: The first woman and African American to lead the national library and the first professional librarian to hold the post in more than four decades.

President Trump kept her in the role during his first term, but last month she received an e-mail, two sentences long, notifying her that she had been dismissed.

What was going through your mind as you have received it and read it?

DR. CARLA HAYDEN: One of the first things that went through my mind was to think about, was it authentic, because it was very short, very casual, just said Carla and then two lines.

And so I was actually confused.

GEOFF BENNETT: Sent by someone you had never met?

DR. CARLA HAYDEN: Someone I'd never met.

And so my first action -- I was with my mom actually that evening.

I told her, I said: "I'm not sure what this is."

And then I got on the phone to my colleagues to say, is this real or what -- who is this?

And then it went from there.

GEOFF BENNETT: White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt: KAROLINE LEAVITT, White House Press Secretary: We felt she did not fit the needs of the American people.

There were quite concerning things that she had done at the Library of Congress in the pursuit of DEI and putting inappropriate books in the library for children.

GEOFF BENNETT: The Library of Congress does not lend books to children, as a public library would.

DR. CARLA HAYDEN: The Library of Congress is the largest library in the world.

And it serves Congress.

It's the reference arm for Congress.

So all the research that's happening by legislators, Senate, House, all are taken care of by people at the Library of Congress.

We call them our special forces.

They do the research.

And then the Library of Congress serves the people that Congress serves.

So everyone in the United States is a patron of the Library of Congress.

GEOFF BENNETT: Why do you think the White House has mischaracterized its mission and its work?

DR. CARLA HAYDEN: There might not really be an understanding of the mission of the Library of Congress.

And that, I think, is something that the situation that I was in actually brought that to light.

GEOFF BENNETT: Hayden calls the institution: DR. CARLA HAYDEN: A treasure chest, the world's largest collection, and fill in the blank, of photographs, film, manuscripts, 178 million items.

GEOFF BENNETT: In this era of disinformation, this era of attacks on trusted institutions, what do you see as the essential role of libraries?

DR. CARLA HAYDEN: Libraries are in so many communities, rural, urban.

Anywhere you find a library, they're trusted sources.

They know that librarians might not be the jazziest, but they can trust them because they know that they will get information that has been vetted and that they can trust.

GEOFF BENNETT: Are libraries and librarians, in your view, or are they properly equipped to push back against some of the political attacks?

DR. CARLA HAYDEN: Librarians are prepared to defend their choices of materials and services that they provide.

What they really would appreciate is more public support, vocal public support, saying, we want to make sure that our children have access to these materials.

And so that's what we're working with now in terms of our profession, to let the public know that we really need their help.

GEOFF BENNETT: Hayden says libraries have historically faced challenges to the books they offer.

DR. CARLA HAYDEN: What's different in this era seems to be that the efforts to restrict access are part of a possible larger effort.

And that's the difference now.

But as Alberto Manguel said in "A History of Reading" in his chapter, "The History of Forbidden Reading," that it's been known that restricting access to books and reading is often a tactic.

GEOFF BENNETT: What effect do you believe censorship has on our democracy?

DR. CARLA HAYDEN: As Alberto Manguel said, as centuries of dictators, tyrants, slave owners and other illicit holders of power have known, an illiterate crowd is the easiest to rule.

And if you cannot restrict a people from learning to read, you must limit its scope.

And that is the danger of making sure that people don't have access.

GEOFF BENNETT: She says she will keep advocating for her beliefs and feels bolstered by support from elected officials on both sides of the aisle, as well as from people across the country.

She shared that her 93-year-old mother has been cataloging the notes and messages she's received.

A former president of the American Library Association, Hayden is set to address some of its 50,000 members at their annual meeting.

This year's agenda, she says, takes on new urgency.

DR. CARLA HAYDEN: How to help communities support their libraries, how to deal with personal attacks that libraries are having, even death threats in some communities for libraries.

So this convening of librarians that are in schools, universities, public libraries will be really our rally.

We have been called feisty fighters for freedom.

(LAUGHTER) GEOFF BENNETT: Hayden says what's at stake goes far beyond books and that protecting it has never been more important.

DR. CARLA HAYDEN: Libraries are one of the pillars and cornerstones of a democracy, and free public libraries are part of a civic infrastructure that we need to have a safe democracy.

GEOFF BENNETT: The week's political headlines began with attacks on elected state officials here at home and ended with the president considering U.S. military involvement in Iran.

To go deeper on both these issues and more, we turn tonight to the analysis of Capehart and Ponnuru.

That's Washington Post associate editor Jonathan Capehart and Ramesh Ponnuru, editor for "The National Review."

David Brooks is away this evening.

Good to see you gentlemen.

So, President Trump, after reviewing strike options in Iran, says he's pulling back for now.

He's going to decide within two weeks as to whether he will push the U.S. into direct involvement.

Jonathan, what do you make of this brinksmanship?

JONATHAN CAPEHART: Well, one, this idea that I'm going to wait, within two weeks, I will make a decision, this phrase of his, to me, this is the Trump version of setting up a blue-ribbon commission.

You set up a blue-ribbon commission, you send the issue over there, and then you never hear about it again.

There's so many things that President Trump has said we will find out in two weeks that we still haven't heard what he's going to do.

And so, to me, when I heard him say that, I thought for sure that he either doesn't know what he's doing or what he wants to do, and is hoping that within two weeks, this will all get resolved.

But the big question for me is, well, let's say he does decide to get involved, he does decide to use those bunker-buster bombs.

Then what's next?

I keep thinking about, I don't know how many "Top Gun: Maverick" fans there are.

GEOFF BENNETT: One.

JONATHAN CAPEHART: Great, so then exactly what I'm about to say.

GEOFF BENNETT: Right.

JONATHAN CAPEHART: All of this reminds me of the big plot of that movie, which is American Air Force jets have to go in and destroy a nuclear facility in Iran.

Great for Hollywood, but I don't know if that is the wisest course of action for the United States to be involved in.

GEOFF BENNETT: Ramesh, based on what you have seen, do you believe the administration has a coherent, comprehensive strategy for Iran, or is the policy, the approach right now being driven by politics?

RAMESH PONNURU, Senior Editor, "The National Review": Well, I think it's being driven by events.

I don't know that it has a comprehensive strategy, so much as it is reacting to what it's seeing.

And I do think, unlike the normal, well, two weeks from now we will have a health care plan, and that's just a way of punting and you never actually have a health care plan, this is, I think, how far is Israel able to get on its own?

I think that one of the things that we need to think about, though, is what happens to the U.S.-Israel relationship if we have this intervention.

Up until now, it has always been the charge of critics of Israel that Israel drags the United States into war.

And it's never been actually true, but, in this case, if we intervene here, that's exactly what will have happened.

And I do wonder whether that sets back our relationship going forward.

GEOFF BENNETT: And there is the question of, where is Congress in all of this?

The House Democratic leader, Hakeem Jeffries, released that statement today calling on President Trump to refrain from using military force against Iran without explicit approval from Congress.

Democrats don't really matter here because they're powerless in both chambers.

But how should Congress reassert its authority here?

JONATHAN CAPEHART: Yes, where is Congress?

It's incredible that it's the House minority leader, the Democratic leader who is sticking up for the prerogatives of a co-equal branch of government.

Where is Speaker Johnson?

I mean, if the president does this, where is he getting this wartime authority from?

Are they using the AUMF from, what... RAMESH PONNURU: 2001.

JONATHAN CAPEHART: From 2001 for Iraq and Afghanistan?

I mean, so, yes, the leader is raising the right question.

We haven't -- I haven't heard anything from Speaker Johnson any of this.

Or how about the Republicans in control of the Senate, Senate Majority Leader Thune?

Where are they?

RAMESH PONNURU: I agree on the constitutional point... GEOFF BENNETT: That sets you up very well.

Where are they?

(LAUGHTER) RAMESH PONNURU: Well, congressional leaders, and not just recently, have been very good at ducking and covering.

But there's a point beyond the constitutional point, as important as that is, which is that the president should want congressional buy-in to any decision.

If this goes sideways, he needs to be able to say, this was not a unilateral decision on my part, the country, through its entire political system, said yes.

GEOFF BENNETT: Well, the prospect of another war here has ignited a debate within the MAGA wing of the Republican Party, since President Trump ran on avoiding foreign wars.

And I think this was, in many ways, best exemplified by a conversation that Tucker Carlson had with Senator Ted Cruz this past week.

Tucker Carlson is firmly in the anti-war camp.

And this clip that you're about to see picks up with Carlson asking Cruz how many people live in Iran, and Ted Cruz didn't know.

TUCKER CARLSON, Former FOX News Anchor: How could you not know that?

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX): I don't sit around memorizing population tables.

TUCKER CARLSON: Well, it's kind of relevant, because you're calling for the overthrow of the government.

SEN. TED CRUZ: Why is it relevant whether it's 90 million or 80 million or 100 million?

Why is that relevant?

TUCKER CARLSON: Well, because, if you don't know anything about the country... SEN. TED CRUZ: I didn't say I don't know anything about the country.

TUCKER CARLSON: OK, what's the ethnic mix of Iran?

SEN. TED CRUZ: They are Persians and predominantly Shia.

TUCKER CARLSON: What percent?

SEN. TED CRUZ: OK, this is cute.

OK. TUCKER CARLSON: No, no, it's not even -- you don't know anything about Iran.

So, actually, the country... SEN. TED CRUZ: OK, I am not the Tucker Carlson expert on Iran, who says... (CROSSTALK) TUCKER CARLSON: You're a senator who's calling for the overthrow of the government, and you don't know anything about the country.

GEOFF BENNETT: So what does that say about the larger debate within the GOP right now?

RAMESH PONNURU: Well, it says that it includes a lot of sound and fury.

There was a misstatement, though, in that Carlson claimed that Senator Cruz wants regime change in Iran.

And he is not calling for boots on the ground.

He is not calling for an invasion.

He's calling for a strike on Fordow.

Now, of course, that could have destabilizing implications.

But the idea that this is just the Iraq War debate all over again, I think, isn't true.

The MAGA debate that we're seeing right now is also distorted, because you have got a lot of people who are called MAGA influencers and they have taken that title too much to heart.

They think they have got way more influence than they actually have.

The polling suggests that there is no Tucker Carlson wing of the Republican Party on this question, and Trump is -- Trump calls the shots.

He doesn't -- he doesn't need the influencers.

The influencers need him.

GEOFF BENNETT: Jonathan?

JONATHAN CAPEHART: This isn't the -- I think he said the Iraq War debate from way back when.

At least then, there was an actual debate on both sides of the aisle and around the country about what should happen.

The fact that there's this intramural fight is pretty spectacular to watch.

But in that clip between Senator Cruz and Tucker Carlson, what jumped out at me was the incredible lack of seriousness from Senator Cruz, a member of the Committee on Foreign Relations.

How could he not know?

Just instinctively, just throw out a number about the population of Iran.

You have been sitting on this committee for God knows how long.

How could you not know that?

And the fact that he didn't know it tells me that he's not coming at this as seriously as he should as a member of the United States Senate in the majority.

GEOFF BENNETT: Lastly, the shootings of those two Minnesota lawmakers and their spouses this past weekend are the latest instances of political violence that has risen across this country.

Democratic State Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, were shot and killed on Saturday by a man who authorities say was impersonating a police officer.

That same shooter attacked Democratic state Senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette.

They were hospitalized with multiple gunshot wounds.

I mean, what does this latest attack tell us about the current threat landscape when it comes to political extremism in this country?

RAMESH PONNURU: Well, just last year, we nearly had a presidential election decided by an assassin's bullet.

We ought to take very seriously a rising threat level.

The language of our politics is more and more militant.

Elected officials report more and more threats.

There was an assassination attempt that was thankfully foiled of a Supreme Court justice quite recently.

This is not something that we can afford to be complacent about.

JONATHAN CAPEHART: It's a bipartisan threat, but we have to acknowledge where a lot of this rhetoric is coming from.

And it's coming from the president of the United States.

There's a clip of the president being asked -- I think it was on Air Force One.

GEOFF BENNETT: We have that clip.

JONATHAN CAPEHART: We have it.

GEOFF BENNETT: So he was asked, will he call the governor, Tim Walz?

And this is how he responded.

He responded by attacking Tim Walz.

DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: I think the governor of Minnesota is so whacked out.

I'm not calling him.

Why would I call him?

I could call him say, hi, how you doing?

The guy doesn't have a clue.

He's a mess.

So I could be nice and call, but why waste time?

JONATHAN CAPEHART: If you want to tamp down the heated rhetoric, the heated conversation of our politics, it has to start with that guy, with the president of the United States.

And, instead, we have got a library's worth of sound from him as a candidate in 2016 right through that sound bite right there of him just sort of fanning the flames.

And what makes it even more atrocious is that you have members, Republican members of Congress, who also say and do things that run counter to what they should be doing.

Senator Mike Lee of all people putting out a tweet that was just -- it was horrific, at a time when people were grieving, and you had elected officials who were targeted, as the governor said, for political assassination.

If we want to dial back the rhetoric, if we want to go back to a time when the disagreements weren't solved through violence, then it has to start with the president and folks in the president's party.

RAMESH PONNURU: Yes, I was glad to see Lee take that tweet down.

JONATHAN CAPEHART: Sure.

RAMESH PONNURU: It shouldn't have been up in the first place.

And I think one of the things -- one of the ways Trump differs from most presidents is, he does not think that the job description includes ever summoning Americans to their better angels.

Most presidents of both parties have felt that way.

He just never feels that obligation.

That does have to change.

But there's another element of this.

On the one hand, you have got this political rhetoric, which I do think both sides, but disproportionately the president, has gotten rotten.

But you have also got a lot of untreated mental illness in this country.

And it's that reaction of those two things that is causing this threat level to rise.

GEOFF BENNETT: The criticism, though, that there aren't enough Republicans who speak out forcefully to condemn that hot political rhetoric, what do you say to that?

RAMESH PONNURU: I think that that's absolutely right.

But I think Republicans have learned that when they fall out of line with the president, when they criticize the president, whether it's on rhetoric or anything else, that they're going to get punished for it.

JONATHAN CAPEHART: That's actually quite frightening, which I think explains why there's been silence, crickets, because they're afraid of doing the right thing, of being human will get them on the wrong side of the president of the United States.

Folks should be very concerned about that.

GEOFF BENNETT: Jonathan Capehart, Ramesh Ponnuru, my deep thanks to you both.

Appreciate you being here.

JONATHAN CAPEHART: Thanks, Geoff.

RAMESH PONNURU: Thank you.

AMNA NAWAZ: One of L.A.'s most prized civic institutions, the Los Angeles Dodgers, is now caught up in the debate over high-profile immigration raids taking place across the region.

Yesterday, the Dodgers said ICE agents requested access to their stadium parking lots, a request the organization says they denied.

The Department of Homeland Security said those agents were from Customs and Border Protection and that their presence was unrelated to the Dodgers.

But the incident and the team's response has gotten a lot of attention in a city where one-third of residents are immigrants and nearly half identify as Latino.

For more now, we're joined by Dylan Hernandez.

He's a lifelong Angeleno and a sports columnist for The Los Angeles Times.

Dylan, welcome to the "News Hour."

Thanks for joining us.

DYLAN HERNANDEZ, The Los Angeles Times: Thank you for having me on.

AMNA NAWAZ: So, before we get into the context here, what do we actually know about what happened yesterday, why federal agents were at Dodger Stadium, and why DHS is saying it had nothing to do with the Dodgers?

DYLAN HERNANDEZ: Yes, so from what we gathered, basically, there was a raid somewhere nearby in the morning and they needed somewhere to basically process these people.

And Dodger Stadium just seemed like a convenient place, I guess, because usually, if they do this out of the open, crowds gather and stuff.

So they went to Dodger Stadium.

And from what our understanding is that they got all the way to the security gates, but at the security gates, they were turned away.

AMNA NAWAZ: And the Dodgers' decision to turn them away, how did that go over with fans in the community?

DYLAN HERNANDEZ: I mean, I think it was kind of like, finally.

Finally, they kind of showed which side I guess they were on, right?

And I think going all the way back to earlier in the season they decided to visit the White House.

Obviously, the White House extends invitations to teams of major sports that win championships.

The Dodgers were extended this invitation.

They decided to go.

I think at the time that was kind of not taken very well by the fan base.

And then when the raids started, they really didn't say -- they basically have not been saying anything at all.

So I think it was kind of one of these things where I think there was a lot of anger and even hurt in the fan base.

And it was kind of like, well, at least they did this.

AMNA NAWAZ: Dylan, the context you're providing here is so important, because there were protests against his immigration raids in L.A. for about two weeks.

You had already seen statements in support of the protesters from individual Dodger players and former announcers.

There was even this unsanctioned national anthem performance in Spanish that went viral.

Take a listen.

(SINGING) (CHEERING) AMNA NAWAZ: And, Dylan, as you point out, we hadn't heard anything from the Dodger organization really until this incident yesterday.

You called them cowardly a few days ago in a column for not speaking out.

Why?

DYLAN HERNANDEZ: I mean, we have to kind of go back decades here probably starting with Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier, right?

He was a Dodger.

Sandy Koufax, the great pitcher, Jewish pitcher, refused to pitch on Yom Kippur.

The team supported that.

And kind of in more recent decades, the Dodgers have really helped expand baseball's borders by bringing in Fernando Valenzuela from Mexico, Hideo Nomo from Japan, Chan Ho Park from South Korea.

Now players from those countries are regulars in Major League Baseball now.

And now the thing is, with Valenzuela, that was particularly important in Los Angeles because of how Dodger Stadium was built, right?

There was a Mexican-American community there in Chavez Ravine that were basically kind of like forced out of their homes.

There are famous pictures of people literally being dragged out because -- to clear homes for some eminent domain thing.

Initially, I believe there was supposed to become -- there was supposed to be like a housing project built there.

That thing kind of stalled, and eventually the Dodgers took over that land.

So, for a very long time the Mexican-American community in Los Angeles viewed the Dodgers with a lot of suspicion.

And Fernando Valenzuela kind of single-handedly changed all of that, when all of a sudden you had this Mexican pitcher that was kind of beloved by everybody.

And all of a sudden this team that was once viewed as being very decisive -- divisive now became this thing that like, hey, like everybody could like, right?

And the Dodgers really became like the city's team in that way, right?

And it became -- Dodger Stadium became a place that everybody felt welcome at.

And the Dodgers estimate that more than 40 percent, probably close to 50 percent of their fans are Latino, right?

So there's this real special bond between the Dodgers and the Latino community.

And when all these raids started happening, right, the fact that the Dodgers of all teams wouldn't put out any kind of statement, I think, again, the community felt very betrayed, right, I mean, because they're looking at this like, hey, look, we have been supporting you all these years.

The team's good, the team's bad, we kept showing up, right?

And now when we're kind of in this moment of need, why won't you say anything?

AMNA NAWAZ: Dylan, where does this go from here?

Because I should point out there are some folks who will say, look, it shouldn't be up to a sports team to have to wade into these issues in this way.

And there's a big gap between not allowing your grounds to be used for something and actually issuing statements of support or going further than they have already.

Do you see them doing that, going further or saying more on this issue?

DYLAN HERNANDEZ: Yes, I think they're going to have to do something.

But the question is going to be, is that enough, right?

I think, because up to this point, it kind of looks at this point that there were talks of protests.

I mean, just this morning, a group of more than 50 business and religious leaders sent the Dodgers a letter imploring them to say something.

And so it almost feels, I think, like, hey, like, obviously, their fan base kind of came together, threatened them, threatened the Dodgers basically economically, right?

You do a boycott, that could affect the Dodgers, their checking account.

And so is this just going to be a, OK, hey, we did something, now kind of go away type thing, or are the Dodgers going to kind of take this a little bit more seriously and really kind of try to regain the trust of this community again that I believe feels betrayed at the moment?

AMNA NAWAZ: We will wait and see.

I know you will be watching too.

Dylan Hernandez, sports columnist with The Los Angeles Times, thank you so much for joining us.

DYLAN HERNANDEZ: Thank you for having me on.

GEOFF BENNETT: And there's a lot more online, including the latest episode of "PBS News Weekly," which looks at the challenges facing our democracy.

That's on our YouTube page.

AMNA NAWAZ: And be sure to watch "Washington Week With The Atlantic" tonight right here on PBS.

Jeffrey Goldberg and his panel examine President Trump's evolving views on possible U.S. military involvement in Israel's war with Iran.

GEOFF BENNETT: And, on "PBS News Weekend," we speak with travel guru Rick Steves about teaching Americans to choose travel and transform their world views.

That's Saturday on "PBS News Weekend."

And that is the "News Hour" for tonight and this week.

Have a great weekend.

I'm Geoff Bennett.

AMNA NAWAZ: I'm Amna Nawaz.

On behalf of the entire "News Hour" team, thank you for joining us.