--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: From the New York Times, it's the headlines. I'm Michael Simon-Johnson, in for Tracy Mumford.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: Today's Monday, June 16th. Here's what we're covering.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: The conflict between Israel and Iran continued to escalate this weekend with no end in sight, as the two sides exchanged missile attacks and civilians in both countries scrambled to find shelter.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: Israeli jets bombed vital sites for Iran's oil and gas industries, and Israel claims it also hit the command center of Iran's elite Quds Force.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: Strikes caused at least one 14-story residential building to partially collapse. Israel said its goal was to disable Iran's nuclear infrastructure.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: And in an interview with Fox News, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that Iran had enough uranium to build nine nuclear bombs, but did not provide any evidence.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: And we will not have a second Holocaust, a nuclear Holocaust. We already had one.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: Iran fired hundreds of ballistic missiles back at Israel over the weekend, mostly targeting the Tel Aviv area.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: The vast majority were intercepted by Israel's robust missile defense system, though some missiles hit Israel's largest oil refinery in the north of the country.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: One Israeli official said Iran was targeting the country's energy infrastructure and trying to, quote, plunge Israel into darkness.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: As of Monday, Iran's health ministry said Israeli strikes had killed at least 224 people, most of them civilians, including at least 20 children, and more than 1,400 people have been injured.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: Israel said Iranian missiles have killed around two dozen people, all civilians, and injured hundreds.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: This is the deadliest and most direct confrontation between the two countries in decades.
--:-- Farnas Fasehi: My colleague Farnas Fasehi covers Iran for The Times.
--:-- Farnas Fasehi: I've been talking to Iranians living in Tehran and in some other cities, and I really sense a frenzy and panic taking hold.
--:-- Farnas Fasehi: There's a shortage of gasoline in the city. Lots of apartment buildings have been struck in very densely populated residential areas.
--:-- Farnas Fasehi: And people are panicking because they don't know if their neighborhood is going to be targeted, if they're safe in their homes.
--:-- Farnas Fasehi: Roads around the city are packed with traffic. There are people who have scrambled whatever they can in a suitcase and are trying to flag down cabs on the streets.
--:-- Farnas Fasehi: A real sense that war has arrived.
--:-- Farnas Fasehi: I think for Iran government the question is how far Israel is going to expand its attack of targets Is it going to continue crippling their key energy infrastructure or move on to transportation to shipping ports
--:-- Farnas Fasehi: No one knows what the exit strategy is from both sides, how long this is going to go on.
--:-- Farnas Fasehi: And of course, as you know, beyond Iran and Israel, there is a real concern internationally that this war can spread to the region.
--:-- Farnas Fasehi: The United States might get dragged in, and then we're looking at a prolonged conflict that could really be catastrophic.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: Before Israel's initial attack on Friday, nuclear talks between the U.S. and Iran had been scheduled to take place yesterday.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: Those talks have been called off until further notice.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: Both Iran and the U.S., though, say they're still open to a deal.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: Good evening.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: After a two-day manhunt, two sleepless nights, law enforcement have apprehended Vance Bolter.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: In Minnesota, the largest manhunt in state history is over.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: Last night, police arrested the man suspected of assassinating a state lawmaker and her husband.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: The suspect has also been charged with shooting a second lawmaker and his spouse, who survived the attack early Saturday morning.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: The manhunt lasted nearly two days and ended near the town of Green Isle, about an hour southwest of Minneapolis.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: Authorities found the man thanks to a local tip. Someone had seen the suspect on a trail camera and notified law enforcement who surrounded the area.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: The suspect crawled to law enforcement teams and was placed under arrest at that point in time.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: There was no use of force by any member of law enforcement that was out there, and the suspect was taken into custody.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: Officials say the suspect, Vance Bolter, first went to the home of Democratic State Senator John Hoffman early Saturday morning.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: He shot Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, both of whom survived.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: He then drove to the home of Democratic Representative Melissa Hortman, who served as Minnesota Speaker of the House for six years.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: Police say he first shot her husband, then killed the lawmaker.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: Officials say Bolter impersonated a police officer as he carried out the shootings.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: He wore a rubber mask, had a fake badge, and drove a car designed to look like a police vehicle.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: Officers also found a notebook in his car with a list of other Democratic officials and their addresses, along with a handgun and at least three AK-47 assault rifles.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: Police have not said what his motive was.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: One of the suspect's friends said he was a Trump supporter and a devout Christian who strongly opposed abortion.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: As of now, investigators say they believe Bolter acted alone.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: It was the latest incident in what been a string of violent political attacks in recent months as threats and assassination attempts have become a steady undercurrent of American politics
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: The number of threats that been received not only by lawmakers in Congress but judges, prosecutors, state lawmakers, election workers, has just gone up exponentially.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: My colleague Lisa Lair has been covering the rise of political violence, which she says has become almost routine.
--:-- Lisa Lair: Over the past year, there were two assassination attempts on President Trump, an arson attack against Pennsylvania's governor, the shooting of Israeli embassy staffers in Washington, D.C., and the firebombing of Republican Party headquarters in New Mexico, among others.
--:-- Lisa Lair: And those are just the incidents that made headlines because they resulted in death or destruction.
--:-- Lisa Lair: Political violence is fundamentally an anti-democratic act. It's taken by someone who believes the system won't work for them.
--:-- Lisa Lair: And so part of the goal of such acts is to silence the opposition because they're creating an environment where political activity is wrapped in fear and threats.
--:-- Lisa Lair: I've spoken to a number of lawmakers who are trying to govern in this new threat environment, and it's become really hard.
--:-- Lisa Lair: One member of Congress, Representative Greg Landsman from Ohio, says he's haunted by the thought of his own killing.
--:-- Lisa Lair: Every time he campaigns in a big crowd, he pictures himself lying on the ground, bleeding out after being shot.
--:-- Lisa Lair: It's this haunting image that he can't shake.
--:-- Lisa Lair: And it just shows really how much this violence has become a part of everyday life for these public servants.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: President Trump presided over a show of American military might in the nation's capital on Saturday evening.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: A massive multi-million dollar parade officially honoring the U.S. Army's 250th birthday that just happened to coincide with Donald Trump's 79th birthday.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: The iconic Sherman tank is here, ladies and gentlemen.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: It was the cornerstone of the U.S. armed forces showing its military might in World War II.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: The parade came amidst the backdrop of an expanding war in the Middle East, a political assassination in Minnesota, and a week of protests in Los Angeles, where President Trump deployed National Guard troops.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: And as the parade marched on in Washington protesters assembled in roughly 2 locations across the country to voice their anger at the Trump administration in what organizers called the No Kings rallies No fascists No peace No fascists No teams
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: More than 200 organizations helped lead the demonstrations in both big cities and smaller rural communities.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: The rallies were almost entirely peaceful, but there was at least one incident of violence in Salt Lake City.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: Armed security members there witnessed a man dressed in all black removing an AR-15 from his backpack.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: They confronted him, and police say the man held a gun in a, quote, firing position.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: The security members then fired three shots, wounding the gunman but also killing a bystander.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: The gunman, who never actually fired a shot, was detained and is now being charged with murder for having acted in a way that created a, quote, grave risk of death to another individual, according to an affidavit.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: And finally, This weekend, tens of thousands of people piled into a Major League Baseball stadium for mass, as Pope Leo XIV gave his first public address to an American audience.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: My dear friends, it's a pleasure for me to greet all of you gathered together at White Sox Park on this great celebration as a community of faith in the Archdiocese of Chicago.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: The Pope spoke from the Vatican in an eight-minute recorded video, but the event was held at Raitt Field, where the Pope's hometown team, the Chicago White Sox, play.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: Last week, he was even spotted wearing the team's black and white hat at the Vatican.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: The Pope's message was aimed at young people, addressing issues of anxiety and loneliness.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: A 200-person choir performed, and nearly 500 lay ministers and ushers helped carry out mass.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: Organizers, led by the Archdiocese of Chicago, sold more than 30,000 tickets to the event.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: Some tickets later appeared on resale markets, going for more than $1,000 apiece.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: The White Sox, who are in last place in their division, average fewer than 17,000 fans a game, less than half that of Chicago's northside team, the Cubs.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: One local labor leader said it was only appropriate that Cubs fans had to come down to the Sox Stadium to get some religion.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: Those are the headlines.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: Today on The Daily, more from Farnas Fasehi on the growing conflict between Israel and Iran.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: That's next in the New York Times audio app or listen wherever you get your podcasts.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: I'm Michael Simon-Johnson. We'll be back tomorrow. Thank you.
