GEOFF BENNETT: Good evening.

I'm Geoff Bennett.

AMNA NAWAZ: And I'm Amna Nawaz.

On the "NewsHour" tonight: The latest jobs report shows an unexpected surge in hiring.

We look at how young people are reengaging with the work force.

GEOFF BENNETT: We take a closer look at Donald Trump's search for a running mate.

Who is on the short list?

AMNA NAWAZ: And a theater company that addresses contemporary issues focuses on public health after the pandemic.

BRYAN DOERRIES, Artistic Director, Theater of War Productions: It creates the context where we can talk about not just what just happened over the last four years, but how do we ensure that it doesn't happen again?

(BREAK) GEOFF BENNETT: Welcome to the "NewsHour."

President Biden publicly apologized today for the monthslong delay in getting U.S. military aid to Ukraine.

His comments came during his visit to France, where he also announced a new $225 million security package for Kyiv.

AMNA NAWAZ: It's the Biden administration's sixth round of security assistance for Ukraine since the president signed a broader $95 billion security package in April.

That measure, which also included funds for Israel and Taiwan, had been held up in Congress for six months.

In a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Paris today, President Biden said that he's sorry for the wait.

JOE BIDEN, President of the United States: I apologize for the -- those weeks of not knowing what was going to -- in terms of funding, because we had trouble getting the -- a bill that we had to pass that had the money in it -- from some of our very conservative members who were holding it up.

AMNA NAWAZ: Later, the president paid tribute to the Army Rangers who stormed the beaches of Normandy as he stood on the very cliffs they scaled 80 years ago.

In his remarks, he invoked their sacrifice to call for the defense of democracy in the U.S. and abroad.

The U.S. military says it's reconnected a pier meant to deliver aid to Gaza after it broke apart in storms last month.

The maritime route was intended as an alternative to delivering aid by land, as Israel carries out its military operations in Gaza.

The pier took two months to build and had only been in operation for about a week when it was damaged.

U.S. Central Command says deliveries are expected to resume in the coming days.

Meanwhile, in Central Gaza, Palestinians mourned outside of a hospital after the latest round of deadly Israeli airstrikes.

Health officials say at least 18 people were killed overnight, including four children and one woman.

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has disclosed two luxury trips from 2019 that were partially paid for by Republican megadonor Harlan Crow.

Justice Thomas said the trips to Bali, Indonesia, and to California's Wine Country were -- quote -- "inadvertently omitted" from a previous disclosure.

The Bali trip was part of a ProPublica report last year that led to renewed focus on the court's ethics.

Eight of the nine justices provided new disclosures, including Ketanji Brown Jackson, who received $900,000 for her upcoming memoir and Beyonce tickets gifted by the singer herself.

Former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows has pleaded not guilty to nine felony charges as in Arizona's election subversion case.

Michael Roman, who served as Trump's elections day operations director, also pleaded not guilty.

The pair are alleged to have been part of an effort to submit the names of fake electors from Arizona to Congress after the 2020 election in a bid to keep Trump in office.

Joe Biden won Arizona by more than 10,000 votes.

The Biden administration is raising fuel economy standards for new cars.

According to updated rules from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, light-duty vehicles must meet an average of 50.4 miles per gallon by model year 2031.

Officials say the rules will save Americans more than $23 billion in fuel costs.

For passenger cars, this will require an increase in fuel economy by 2 percent each year, starting with 2027 models.

And it involves a similar increase for SUVs and other light trucks starting in 2029.

The new requirements are well below the levels the administration initially proposed last year.

The U.S. labor market remains on strong footing.

New data out on Friday showed that the economy added 272,000 jobs last month.

That is more than expected.

Hourly wages also rose in May, gaining 4.1 percent from a year ago.

In the meantime, the unemployment rate ticked up to 4 percent, a level not seen since early 2022.

Economists say the relatively strong report will likely give the U.S. Federal Reserve further reason to hold off on cutting interest rates for now.

And, on Wall Street today, stocks slipped on the heels of those job numbers.

The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 87 points to close just under 38,800.

The Nasdaq fell nearly 40 points.

The S&P 500 finished down nearly six points.

And Pat Sajak's turn as the host of "Wheel of Fortune" is coming to an end.

His final episode airs tonight, after 41 years at the helm.

The 77-year-old has been a fixture on our television screens through seven presidents and the rise of streaming TV.

Through it all, Sajak has coolly walked contestants through the hangman-style game, with longtime partner Vanna White turning the letters.

He will be replaced by TV personality Ryan Seacrest, who makes his debut in September.

On behalf of countless fans across America, I'd just like to say, Pat, I'd like to buy a vowel.

Still to come on the "NewsHour": David Brooks and Jonathan Capehart weigh in on the week's political headlines; and college commencement speakers offer words of wisdom to the class of 2024.

Today's job report showed an unexpected surge in hiring last month.

The leisure and hospitality sector has been growing at a steady clip and added over 42000 jobs, an encouraging prospect for teenagers who are looking for a job this summer.

And teen jobs overall have been making a comeback.

After a decades-long decline that began in the early 2000s, Gen Z is reversing the trend.

The percentage of 16-to-19-year-olds who had a job or were looking for one hit a high of 38 percent in May.

To discuss the rise in teenage employment, I'm joined now by Alicia Modestino, associate professor at Northeastern University in the School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs.

Welcome, and thanks for joining us.

ALICIA SASSER MODESTINO, Associate Professor, Northeastern University:Thanks for having me.

AMNA NAWAZ: So, other than a dip in the pandemic, teen employment rates have kind of been increasing incrementally since 2013.

But this 38 percent figure is something we haven't seen since 2009.

What's behind that?

ALICIA SASSER MODESTINO: Yes, exactly.

So we have been seeing, as we're coming out of the pandemic, an increase every summer, in particular, among teens aged 16 to 19, where their labor force participation, so going out looking for a job, getting hired, has been increasing every summer as we're recovering from the pandemic.

And so we're seeing rates around 38 percent, as you mentioned, which are 4 percentage points higher, even than what we saw prior to the pandemic.

And so this really is evidence of the strong hiring demand that we have seen coming out of the pandemic, as well as adults moving into other jobs, freeing up those entry-level positions for younger workers.

AMNA NAWAZ: So, strong hiring demand on one side, but, among teens, are these folks who are joining the labor market for summer jobs and summer cash or more out of necessity?

ALICIA SASSER MODESTINO: Well, it's really a combination of both.

And so we have seen entry-level wages in these jobs are rising.

That makes them more attractive to young people who are willing to jump off the sidelines and come into the labor market.

At the same time, we have to be honest about the inflationary pressures that we have seen on households, particularly low-income households, where youth -- low-income youth are contributing to those households paying for household bills like rent, utilities, groceries, and all sorts of other expenses.

At the same time, these opportunities have gotten a little bit better.

So it's not just dishing out ice cream cones at the local place, but it's also more managerial positions, more positions with responsibility and more interesting kinds of jobs than we have seen in the past.

AMNA NAWAZ: For context, I want to point out here that these rates are not close to the teen employment rates that we saw among boomers or among Gen X'ers when they were in their teens, as high as 60 percent labor participation back then.

Do you think that we're likely to see those numbers again with Gen Z?

ALICIA SASSER MODESTINO: I don't think so.

So, back in the 1970s, 1980s, we were seeing labor force participation rates of around 50 percent.

And pretty much every wave of recession that we have seen since then, we see those rates drop because youth are typically the last to be hired, the first to be fired, but they have never quite recovered back to their pre-pandemic levels until now post-COVID.

The reasons why we have been seeing the steady decline in youth employment has been a couple of changes going on in the labor market.

So, first of all, a lot of the jobs that teenagers used to do have been automated or outsourced.

So think about your Blockbuster Video store.

We don't have those anymore.

We're all streaming our videos.

Or those automated grocery checkout lanes that annoy all of us, right, we don't see teenagers staffing those anymore.

Or even if you look around your neighborhood, it's mostly immigrant labor, right, who's mowing lawns, instead of teenagers.

The second thing that's happened is that employers have become more picky and also states have been regulating youth employment more.

So we see that you need to have not just a signature from your employer on your work permit, but also in some cases from your school, from a physician.

You can also work fewer hours.

And so that just makes other sources of labor more attractive to employers.

And then, finally, we have seen for youth who are in middle- and upper-income households, they're doing a lot of other things, right, aside from working, that might look good on a college application.

So they're volunteering, they're traveling, they're having pre-college experiences.

And so I don't think we will quite get back to the levels that we saw in the '70s and the '80s, but I'm really encouraged by the opportunities that we have been seeing coming out of COVID so that at least we're getting back to a position where youth who want to work and want to find a job can do so.

AMNA NAWAZ: You know, we're approaching this through an economic lens here, but I wonder what this trend says to you socially, just about the world that Gen Z has been raised in and the one that they're helping to shape.

How do you see that?

ALICIA SASSER MODESTINO: Well, I think there's definitely been a bit of a backlash in terms of the college-for-all mentality.

So it's great that we have young people going to college in record numbers, but those enrollment rates dipped during the pandemic for a couple different reasons, including financial constraints, but also a recognition that not everybody needs to go to college to have a good-paying job or even to contribute to society.

And so we have seen the rise of vocational technical education.

We have seen more apprenticeships.

And we have seen more teenagers coming out of high school and getting some job experience before they decide what they want to do for their careers.

And I think that combination of learn and earn is really a key trend that we're going to see going into the future.

AMNA NAWAZ: It's a fascinating insight and a look into who we are right now.

Alicia Modestino, associate professor from Northeastern University, thank you so much for your time.

ALICIA SASSER MODESTINO: Thanks for having me.

GEOFF BENNETT: Former President Donald Trump says he will choose a running mate in the next few weeks and will likely unveil his pick at a major turning point in the campaign.

DONALD TRUMP, Former President of the United States (R) and Current U.S. Presidential Candidate: I think I will announce who that person's going to be during the convention.

I think that's pretty normal.

During the convention, it'll be an interesting period of time.

GEOFF BENNETT: Our Lisa Desjardins has been covering the Trump campaign and joins us now to talk more about this.

So, Lisa, based on your reporting, who seems to be under consideration?

LISA DESJARDINS: Well, this is basically a political reality show from a man who starred in a reality show.

And, first, let's start with who Trump is naming, because he is dropping a lot of names.

DONALD TRUMP: Tim Scott, he has been much better for me than he was for himself.

I watched his campaign.

(LAUGHTER) DONALD TRUMP: And he doesn't like talking about himself, but, boy, does he talk about Trump.

Doug Burgum has been incredible, and the country is lucky to have him.

You could take people like Ben Carson.

You could take people like Marco Rubio, J.D.

Vance.

I mean, there are so many.

Elise is doing a fantastic job.

LISA DESJARDINS: Elise Stefanik there.

Now let's talk about what's really happening here.

I want to look at the kind of group of names that's been most in circulation the last month-and-a-half, probably 10 names.

There's people who come in and out.

But in the last few weeks, we know two of those names have essentially dropped off, Kari Lake there at the bottom and Kristi Noem.

So let's focus on these eight.

My reporting is that the Trump campaign has asked these eight people for paperwork to try and vet them to be potential vice presidential running mates.

Now, as you will notice, most of these are current lawmakers.

And I want to highlight four of them, in particular, the four on the top row, North Dakota's Doug Burgum, Marco Rubio, the senator from Florida, Tim Scott, Senator of South Carolina, J.D.

Vance, U.S. senator from Ohio.

Now, these four, my understanding is, are the ones that are getting the most attention from the Trump campaign right now.

But here's the thing.

It's Donald Trump.

He wants everyone to keep guessing, including the people who are in the mix.

He likes that.

That's part of the point of this, so really no decision made.

And that means anybody could really still be the selection, but that's where he's been focusing.

GEOFF BENNETT: How are Donald Trump and the campaign, how are they trying to arrive at this decision?

What are they looking at, in particular?

LISA DESJARDINS: Well, the former president himself says, number one, he wants someone who would be a good president.

He said that in interviews.

But when you talk to his team and you talk to those around him, number one after that is loyalty.

No surprise.

The situation with Mike Pence, where Mike Pence stood up for the duly elected coming into office President Biden and rejected what President Trump wanted him to do is key in Trump's mind.

He wants someone who will be loyal to him.

He also wants something -- he's doing something that's not traditional here.

He's not thinking in terms of which parts of the base can he animate, which, again, is part of the reason that Mike Pence was brought on with evangelicals.

Trump and their campaign are not worried about the base.

The one thing they are thinking about in terms of electoral strategy is someone who will have a good matchup with Vice President Kamala Harris in a debate and in general.

They think that she is a weaker part of the Biden/Harris campaign.

They want to expose that.

So this is what they're thinking about.

But, in general, part of it is a casting aspect.

He wants someone who looks good beside him and who has a name that looks good next to him.

One person I talked to even said, that may be a disadvantage for, like, Elise Stefanik, having a long last name.

It might sound ridiculous, but these are actual considerations.

GEOFF BENNETT: What are the potential candidates doing and saying now?

And give us a sense of why that might be significant.

LISA DESJARDINS: Well, since early May, we have seen kind of a parade of candidates attending Trump events.

There was a fund-raiser at Mar-a-Lago in early May where we saw Marco Rubio show up.

We have seen candidates, who now we know are candidates, go to the Trump court cases in New York, for example.

Those kinds of things have been standing out.

It's an open competition.

And that aspect of it, in some ways, is something historians say is novel here.

We haven't seen this in a while.

We spoke to one expert, Joel Goldstein.

He's an expert in the vice presidency, who says this is raising a lot of questions for him about how this will work.

JOEL GOLDSTEIN, St. Louis University School of Law: One of the ideas that Walter Mondale had was that the role of the vice president should be in part to talk truth to power, to tell the president things that he or she didn't want to hear.

And yet, if you have a process that really encourages people to be obsequious, it really undercuts that important purpose of the vice presidency as it's developed and evolved.

LISA DESJARDINS: And this, in a way -- while this whole thing is speculation, this, in a way, is why we're focusing on this right now, because this isn't just fawning.

We know this has very great significance for the future, especially if Trump is reelected.

And if you pay attention to what some of these candidates for vice president are saying, they're talking about their loyalty to Trump in ways different with themselves in the past on very important issues, including whether the 2020 election had fraud in it or not.

So I want to take us through something unusual, a series of sound bites when some of these candidates were asked about what they think about our democracy and specifically about this coming election, whether they think that it will be secure or -- and also the past election.

SEN. J.D.

VANCE (R-OH): I think that Donald Trump will be the victory.

And if it's a free and fair election, Dana, I think every Republican will enthusiastically accept the results.

And, again, I think those results will show that Donald Trump has been elected president.

KRISTEN WELKER, Moderator, "Meet the Press": Will you accept the election results of 2024, no matter what happens, Senator?

SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R-FL): No matter what happens?

No, if it's an unfair election, I think it's going to be contested by either inside.

KRISTEN WELKER: No matter who wins.

Senator, no matter who wins.

SEN. MARCO RUBIO: Well, why don't you -- I think you're asking the wrong person.

The Democrats are the ones that have opposed every Republican victory since 2000, every single one.

JONATHAN KARL, ABC News: He still hasn't accepted the results of the election.

SEN. TOM COTTON (R-AR): Jon, he says, and I agree, that the election was not fair, that it was rigged in many ways, with Democratic states and cities changing election law and election practices up to the last minute.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN Host: Had you been vice president on January 6, 2021, what would you have done?

REP. ELISE STEFANIK (R-NY): I stood up for the Constitution.

I believe it was... (CROSSTALK) KAITLAN COLLINS: No, what would you have done if you were vice president?

REP. ELISE STEFANIK: I would not have done what Mike Pence did.

I don't think that was the right approach.

LISA DESJARDINS: As they're being vetted behind the scenes, these are very important public signals that they are sending to Trump that we need to watch.

GEOFF BENNETT: Lastly, Lisa, what's the timeline for this decision?

We heard the former president say he's going to make this announcement during the convention?

LISA DESJARDINS: I mean, we're used to some really strange calendars last couple of years.

This is another one.

Let's look at what's ahead.

So, today, June 7, that's where we're going to start.

And then let's talk about the next big event for the Republican Party, July 15.

That's the Republican Convention in Milwaukee.

That's 38 days.

So, if the former president announces his nominee then at the convention, let's take a look at what's ahead.

Those two dates that you're going to see in yellow, July 23, August 13, those are the potential vice presidential debates.

So, imagine this.

Mr. Trump may nominate someone or add someone to his -- as his running mate, and then, in less than a week, that person would be facing a debate with Vice President Harris.

So, it is a very tight timeline.

And while he may have said this is normal, it is unusual.

GEOFF BENNETT: Yes, absolutely.

Lisa Desjardins, thanks so much for walking us through this.

We appreciate it.

You're welcome.

AMNA NAWAZ: Here to help us further break down the vice presidential picks and other political happenings of the week, we turn to the analysis of Brooks and Capehart.

That is New York Times columnist David Brooks, and Jonathan Capehart, associate editor for The Washington Post.

Great to see you both.

JONATHAN CAPEHART: Hi, Amna.

AMNA NAWAZ: Let's pick up where Lisa left off, shall we, on those vice -- potential vice presidential picks, the ones being vetted by the Trump campaign, if we put that graphic back up so you can take a look at some of the folks we know they are currently vetting,.

Mr. Trump has said he may announce at the convention.

I just want to ask both of you, what is it that you think former President Trump is looking for in a vice president, and who do you think gets the job?

David?

DAVID BROOKS: I will tell him what he should be looking for.

I can't get deep inside Trump's mind to know what he actually is looking for.

But if I were him, I'd think, OK, I have got class resentment down.

I'm good with that.

I -- people know where I stand, so J.D.

Vance out.

AMNA NAWAZ: OK. DAVID BROOKS: But likability, not so much, so Tim Scott in.

And so I would think somebody who would win over people who just are a little worried that Trump's a little erratic.

And I would especially do that because -- and I'm a globalist in looking at this election these days -- the elections in India, which were so important and should have struck fear into everybody in Trump world, because Modi is a populist sort of authoritarian figure, and he looked like he was just cruising away.

And there was all sorts of people who were not picked up in any of the polling who said we don't want an authoritarian.

And I can see that happening here too.

So, if I'm Trump, I'm thinking I want somebody who's reassuring to people, and that would be Tim Scott.

AMNA NAWAZ: Interesting.

What about you, Jonathan?

(LAUGHTER) AMNA NAWAZ: The laughter.

OK. JONATHAN CAPEHART: I mean, it's great, David, that you are applying a rational basis to talking about Donald Trump's vice presidential picks.

And I go back to the things that Donald Trump cares about, loyalty, someone who will be extremely loyal to him, do -- will do what he says no matter what the law says, apparently, and also someone - - and all of these people, have questioned the 2020 election results and have also said that they're not -- well, they won't say whether they will accept the 2024 election results.

But the number one thing that I'm looking at is something that Trump always talks about, and that is how the person looks.

It's always about, oh, they're out of central casting.

People got - - some of the Defense Department secretaries, secretaries of defense, got it because they look -- Mad Dog looked like a defense secretary.

So if I'm looking at these eight people, the person in Trump's mind who looks like a vice president out of central casting is North Dakota Governor Burgum.

AMNA NAWAZ: OK. JONATHAN CAPEHART: But my -- to my mind... AMNA NAWAZ: Yes.

JONATHAN CAPEHART: I wouldn't be surprised if Elise Stefanik is the person who Donald Trump picks.

I thought for sure she would have been the next speaker of the House when McCarthy fell, and I thought that Donald Trump would give her the push because he loves her.

But maybe this is a better plum.

And she has shown that she is willing to sell her soul in past beliefs in order to be in MAGA world.

AMNA NAWAZ: As you said, we can't get inside his head, so we will see.

In the meantime, I want to turn back to some policy and some real-world impact in terms of what we saw in Washington this week.

There was this big executive action announced by President Biden on immigration.

It effectively shuts down the border if the average daily crossings go above 2,500.

And here is how Mr. Biden announced that action.

JOE BIDEN, President of the United States: Doing nothing is not an option.

We have to act.

We must act consistent with both our law and our values -- our value as Americans.

I take these steps today not to walk away from we -- who we are as Americans but to make sure we preserve who we are for future generations to come.

AMNA NAWAZ: Here now is how former President Trump described President Biden's move at a rally last night in Arizona.

DONALD TRUMP, Former President of the United States (R) and Current U.S. Presidential Candidate: Joe Biden's order is pro-invasion, pro-child trafficking, pro-women trafficking, pro-human trafficking, pro-drug dealers.

And, in all, it's really they bring death and they bring destruction into our country.

AMNA NAWAZ: Jonathan, the president, the White House, supporters of this plan have said he had to act because Congress wouldn't and didn't.

We know Republicans walked away from a bipartisan plan months ago.

But walk us through the political calculus here.

He took a very tough stance.

The threshold is even lower than the one that was in that bipartisan bill, right?

But he's angering progressives very much in the process.

What is that calculation?

JONATHAN CAPEHART: Well, the calculation is immigration is -- and what's happening at the border is an issue.

It is a political issue.

It is a problem.

Americans across the political spectrum are concerned about what's happening.

And the president spent a lot of time, folks in the administration and Democrats in the Senate, negotiating with one of the most conservative members of the Senate, Senator Lankford, to cobble together the most conservative immigration reform bill we have seen in a very long time.

And Donald Trump, at the 11th hour, picks up the phone -- or not picks up the phone -- goes on his social media platform and says, kill the deal.

And they killed the deal.

The president -- you could talk about all the politics all day long, but in the end, the president, President Biden, is looking to get something done.

And in the absence of a bill from Congress, which is what you need, because also in that bill, in that bill was money for the border protection, Custom and Border protection.

That's not there.

So the president's got to do something.

And he's not making anyone happy, which, in a lot of ways, if you're not making anyone happy, maybe you have done the right thing.

AMNA NAWAZ: David, how do you see it?

DAVID BROOKS: Yes, well, first -- the first thing to say is, if you think immigration is good for this country, you also have to think that controlling the border is good for this country.

Without controlling the border, Americans will turn against immigration.

So I think the policy is right.

But let's take a step back at the entire Biden project.

When he was running for office in 2020, it seemed like the Biden project was, I'm a Democrat, I'm not Donald Trump, but I'm not on the left.

I'm striking this sort of center-left middle ground.

And on many issues, unfortunately, he's not done that.

On federal spending, I would say he has not done that.

And, on immigration, he did not do that until this week.

And he has been slow to act and at some point said, there's nothing more I can do.

And he was just -- he was worried about people on the left getting angry with him.

And so now I think he's finally come around because it's just a killer issue for Democrats.

And so I think it's -- he's approaching the right policy.

I just wish he had said, well, this is my project as president to be a center-left Democrat and not a left Democrat.

And I think he's hurting politically because he hasn't struck that.

Sometimes, he's done that very clearly, but other times he has not done it as clearly.

And immigration is the big issue where he hasn't done that.

AMNA NAWAZ: I do want to briefly also get both of your takes on the Hunter Biden trial this week, which was under way.

It's a criminal trial on federal gun charges alleging he lied about his drug addiction when purchasing a weapon back in 2018.

I think it's fair to say it was a very tough week, a lot of personal and embarrassing anecdotes and details that came out from a number of people, Beau Biden's widow and his ex-wife -- Hunter Biden's ex-wife as well.

I'm just curious about how you both view the place that this trial holds right now in our political and social conversations.

And what kind of impact do you think it's having on people paying attention?

JONATHAN CAPEHART: Well, the place this trial holds, unfortunately, is latched on to the criminal proceedings of the former president, of Donald Trump.

Republicans have been trying to make Hunter Biden an issue for President Biden in an attempt to bring him down and the -- quote, unquote -- "Biden crime family."

But what we have in this trial in Wilmington has nothing to do with any kind of policy or any of the other things that Republicans have been talking about.

We're talking about a drug addict who had a very bad problem, lied on some government forms, is being held accountable, and is being held accountable in a court of law, where all the messiness is coming out.

And I think the one thing that I might inure to the president's benefit and his family's benefit is what they're going through is what millions of American families are going through.

And so, in the end, I think this will be -- the Hunter Biden court case, this court case will fall into that bucket, and it'll be very empathetic, I think.

DAVID BROOKS: I felt sort of dirty following the trial.

I mean, he's a lost soul.

I mean, he's -- the guy is in the shadow of his father.

He's in the shadow of his really kind of amazing brother.

And he's lost, and he has a drug problem.

And drug addiction leads you to horrible things.

It leads you to wandering around the middle of the night trying to get your supply.

And it's unpleasant to look at.

And so I just thought this wouldn't have been tried if it wasn't the son of the president, in my view.

And so I just felt creepy that we're all exposed to this.

And let him have some dignity.

Will it affect the election?

Absolutely not.

The conviction of Donald Trump I don't think is affecting the election.

So whatever happens to Hunter Biden, I don't think it will affect the election.

So I don't think so.

AMNA NAWAZ: In the couple of minutes we have left, as you know, we have been marking 80 years since D-Day.

The president has been there, used very powerful remarks to remind folks about the fight for democracy back then, and, of course, the parallels today.

I'm just wondering how you see those parallels, David.

DAVID BROOKS: Well, partly, the fight for democracy, but before that, you get to the nature of the country.

The guys who we saw on the beach, they had lived through the 1920s.

We were in the aftermath of World War II.

People were disgusted with authority.

They didn't want to -- the military, the entire war, the idea of war was horrific, because people had seen World War I.

And then they lived through the Depression.

And then it gets worse in like '37, '38.

And so I'm sure, these guys, what do they want?

They don't want to go out and shoot people and be in an army.

They want to have their lives.

And yet when history called them, they just came.

And they were -- it was like a beautifully altruistic thing for Americans to go 3,000 miles across the ocean to liberate Europe.

It wasn't only altruistic, but it was partly altruistic.

And so you can't help but thinking about the moral reflection of our generations -- and I'm not dumping on the young -- I include my age group two -- versus what they did.

And it's a little haunting.

And then the other thing, the parallels with the -- Putin are real.

And Biden did a very good job of playing them up.

And they should be a reminder that sometimes you have to use violence to preserve civility and democracy.

And that's what the Ukrainians are doing.

And we should be helping.

AMNA NAWAZ: Jonathan?

JONATHAN CAPEHART: You know, I look at - - I think about Bob Kagan and his -- the book before this latest one, I think the title is "The Jungle Grows Back."

And he makes an incredible historical point.

And that is this -- these seven decades, eight decades of relative peace, particularly in Europe, is an historical aberration and that we have been able to maintain the peace because of institutions created with leadership from the United States to be able to maintain the liberal order, the small-D democratic order.

It's all under threat.

And it is very easy for the jungle to grow back, meaning, without American leadership, the -- NATO could go by the wayside.

All sorts of things that we have taken for granted could just fall apart.

And that's why this election is so important.

And that's why what we saw at Normandy yesterday was so -- I mean, it brought tears to my eyes to see these veterans, but also, to David's point, to see the sacrifices that they made, particularly the Black veterans that were there.

It was a very proud moment as an American.

AMNA NAWAZ: When history called them, they came.

It's going to stay with me.

Jonathan Capehart, David Brooks, always good to see you both.

Thank you.

JONATHAN CAPEHART: Thanks, Amna.

DAVID BROOKS: Thank you.

GEOFF BENNETT: Actors, experts and community members are turning to a classic play to address contemporary trauma and tensions from the pandemic.

Jeffrey Brown has this look as part of our new series Art in Action, exploring the intersection of art and democracy.

It's part of our ongoing arts and culture coverage, Canvas.

ACTOR: Yesterday, you said that the water supply was contaminated by impurities in the soil.

DAVID STRATHAIRN, Actor: Yes, exactly.

The source is undoubtedly the toxic swamp up in Mildale (ph).

JEFFREY BROWN: A major health crisis has been discovered.

The water in a local spa is contaminated.

Lives and the economy are threatened.

The public must be told, or should it?

ACTOR: We must bury it for the good of the people.

JEFFREY BROWN: Who decides, and who decides what actions, if any, to take?

At stake, public health and democracy itself.

BRYAN DOERRIES, Artistic Director, Theater of War Productions: This play is about a public health catastrophe that was in the late 19th century, in 1882.

It's made up, but it could be today.

And it creates the context where we can talk about not just what just happened over the last four years, but how do we ensure that it doesn't happen again?

Let's do the first couple pages.

JEFFREY BROWN: Bryan Doerries is founder and artistic director of Theater of War Productions, which turns to ancient and classic plays to explore and spur discussion of contemporary issues and trauma.

ACTRESS: He has the thousand-yard stare.

JEFFREY BROWN: We watched in 2010 as he used Greek tragedy that still speaks to the rise in suicide rates in today's military, presented at a base.

And, in 2016, in a Missouri community torn apart after the killing of a young Black man, Michael Brown, in "Antigone in Ferguson."

ACTRESS: Because there is nothing shameful in loyalty to a brother!

BRYAN DOERRIES: I see it as a form of mediation.

These ancient texts that we perform or the texts of the classical plays we perform create a kind of vocabulary for people to talk about hard things.

PROTESTERS: No more shots!

No more shots!

JEFFREY BROWN: Now a pandemic that took well over a million lives in the U.S. alone, uncertain, at times chaotic government responses, masks weaponized, public health officials threatened.

FRANKIE FAISON, Actor: Concoct all those conspiracies you can think of.

JEFFREY BROWN: Here seen through the lens of an enduring 19th century play, "An Enemy of the People" by Henrik Ibsen about a doctor named Thomas Stockmann who wants to protect his community... DAVID STRATHAIRN: They will all have my back if things get ugly.

JEFFREY BROWN: ... but who in the process reveals his own biases and flaws and becomes both hero and enemy.

It was presented recently in what Doerries referred to as a temple of experts, the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C., in reading by top actors, including David Strathairn... DAVID STRATHAIRN: This might just do nobody any good.

JEFFREY BROWN: ... known for such films as "Good Night, and Good Luck," which brought an Oscar nomination for best actor... DAVID STRATHAIRN: That's Jason Bourne.

JEFFREY BROWN: ... and for the blockbuster Bourne movies, here playing Dr. Stockmann.

DAVID STRATHAIRN: He's a hero.

He's - - he could be a civic servant, civil servant, a doctor, and do no harm, and that's what he's trying not to do.

JEFFREY BROWN: You're calling him a hero, but then, in the play, many see him as... DAVID STRATHAIRN: As an enemy.

JEFFREY BROWN: As an enemy.

DAVID STRATHAIRN: Yes.

JEFFREY BROWN: Did that resonate for the way you see things today?

DAVID STRATHAIRN: Yes.

Yes, in a word.

I mean, yes.

I mean, there's so many more issues than just him being an enemy.

It's about the press, the media... FRANKIE FAISON, Actor: The money.

DAVID STRATHAIRN: The money.

FRANKIE FAISON: Politics.

DAVID STRATHAIRN: The politics of the situation, which are -- it goes without saying how present those things are in our lives today.

FRANKIE FAISON: The Barksdale case was a successful prosecution.

JEFFREY BROWN: Like Strathairn, actor Frankie Faison, best known from "The Wire" and the Hannibal Lecter films, has joined many Theater of War projects over the years.

FRANKIE FAISON: I got a chance to work with amazing actors and amazing texts, I mean, scripts that are just brilliant.

You got a chance to exercise that vocal thing without any pressure.

You don't have to worry about critics being on top of us, and you do this.

It's a sharing.

And we share this information.

And then, through that sharing, it opens up a conversation with the audience that just blows our mind.

JEFFREY BROWN: This audience included many in the public health community, several of took part in the performance from the audience, including Professor Jeffrey Kahn... JEFFREY KAHN, Johns Hopkins University: If you're talking about me... JEFFREY BROWN: ... director of the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics, here playing a drunken citizen.

JEFFREY KAHN: I don't think we all appreciated that public health professionals would be attacked for their views.

That's never happened in our lifetime.

DR. VIVIAN PINN, Director, NIH Office of Research on Women's Health: Yes, that's right.

JEFFREY KAHN: But here's Ibsen, who wrote a play in 1882, writing about exactly that.

JEFFREY BROWN: But there's a twist.

Here, the health experts play average citizens angry about the upheaval to their lives that the doctor is proposing.

JEFFREY KAHN: We are taking the position of shouting down the experts.

So it's a bit of a turning of the tables.

JEFFREY BROWN: Yes, how does that feel?

(LAUGHTER) JEFFREY KAHN: It feels uncomfortable.

I think that's exactly the point.

JEFFREY BROWN: Yes.

DR. VIVIAN PINN: Yes.

JEFFREY KAHN: Yes.

JEFFREY BROWN: Dr. Vivian Pinn, the first full-time director of the NIH Office of Research on Women's Health, has been through such battles.

To her, Dr. Stockmann was right in his science, but wrong in his interaction with the community, insulting the townspeople for not recognizing his expertise or following his demands.

DAVID STRATHAIRN: How in God's name can it ever be right for the wise to be ruled over by fools?

(BOOING) DR. VIVIAN PINN: I was really kind of concerned when I was reading the script for this play at some of Dr. Stockmann's comments about the lower class, the poor, the dirty, and I was thinking, yikes, what we're really focusing on today in public health is being able to interact with the community, get the community involved in what we're doing.

JEFFREY BROWN: Still, she says, the tension hits home.

DR. VIVIAN PINN: Yes, he's not right in everything he says, but, gee whiz, don't you want to listen to the truth?

JEFFREY BROWN: Such questions were then taken up by panel members, an emergency services paramedic lieutenant.

MAN: During the pandemic, which this play resonates so deeply with, there was such certainty in the way people spoke that they planted the seeds of the automatic response when people speak from such certainty of, how do you know what you're talking about?

I know I didn't know what I was seeing.

I saw it in front in line.

I was going to, on 13 -- average, 10 to 13 cardiac arrests a day.

I didn't know what was going on.

How do they know?

JEFFREY BROWN: Former NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins.

DR. FRANCIS COLLINS, Former Director, National Institutes of Health: I'm always looking to find a hero.

I always feel like there ought to be one.

I didn't find one in this play.

(LAUGHTER) JEFFREY BROWN: A local business owner.

WOMAN: But how do you gain back the trust of officials and government and people that are in charge that you wanted to -- that you believed in the beginning.

JEFFREY BROWN: And members of the audience.

WOMAN: As much as we want a hero, heroes do not monopolize truth, capital T. They may have a slice of truth.

MAN: For disclosure, I'm a Catholic priest.

This idea of learning how to trust each other again, which means learning how to love each other again, and recognizing that that is going to involve humility, of people recognizing they're wrong.

WOMAN: I was struck by the absence of an independent press in this play.

A free press is essential to a democratic society.

JEFFREY BROWN: Ultimately, just as in real life, the public health crisis in the play becomes a test of democracy itself.

In fact, says Bryan Doerries: BRYAN DOERRIES: I think the core critique is in the public health.

It's, can this kind of democracy work?

JEFFREY BROWN: Right.

BRYAN DOERRIES: And we're entering 2024 with a giant crowd scene with people screaming at a stage and chanting vile things at someone who's trying to help them, who then chants vile things back at them.

Seems like an appropriate place to start this election year and to be framing conversations.

JEFFREY BROWN: Following the National Academy of Sciences performance, Theater of War Productions took "An Enemy of the People" to audiences in rural Ohio, next stop outdoors in New York's Times Square on June 12.

For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Jeffrey Brown in Washington, D.C. AMNA NAWAZ: And we will be back shortly with some of the best advice given by politicians, actors, and even members of the "NewsHour" team to the class of 2024 from commencement addresses around the country.

GEOFF BENNETT: 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 "NewsHour" on the air.

AMNA NAWAZ: For those of you staying with us, in the summer of 2022, historic flooding in Eastern Kentucky devastated Appalshop.

It's an important cultural hub for the region that's home to a large archive of Appalachian history and culture.

Jeffrey Brown first brought us Appalshop's story in 2018.

In this encore report, he returns for our arts and culture series, Canvas.

JEFFREY BROWN: Oh, boy, not like what I remember.

ROGER MAY, Operations Director, Appalshop: A lot different?

JEFFREY BROWN: It's a center for cultural preservation now struggling to preserve itself, Appalshop in Whitesburg, Kentucky.

Operations director Roger May recalls the mess of water and mud he found when he first entered after the floods.

ROGER MAY: It was hard to reconcile what I was seeing with what I was supposed to be seeing.

JEFFREY BROWN: For most of Appalshop's 55-year history, this building teemed with the vibrant sights, sounds, and stories of Appalachia, first through filmmaking, expanding to the renowned Roadside Theater, a radio station, and music classes, all while building an ever-growing, one-of-a-kind archive that documented everything from music to mining.

The central idea, to allow the people of this region to tell their own stories, the good, as well as the hardships.

WILLA JOHNSON, Director of Film Department, Appalshop: I didn't know that you could do journalism in your own community.

I didn't know you could tell a story in your small town.

JEFFREY BROWN: Willa Johnson runs the youth media program at Appalshop, the same program that first brought her in the door as a 21 -year-old aspiring filmmaker.

WILLA JOHNSON: It was a life-changing moment for me.

JEFFREY BROWN: Like everyone here, she says she'd experienced flooding,but nothing like what happened in July of 2022.

WILLA JOHNSON: When we were flooded, it took out the bridge to our community.

And so we didn't have cell phone, we didn't have Internet, we didn't have water.

We didn't have a way out.

I just kept thinking, man, I hope they realize why I'm not at work.

I didn't even know Appalshop was underwater.

Seeing it underwater was like seeing such a pivotal place, like a home place being lost.

JEFFREY BROWN: One response, do what they have always done.

Filmmaker Oakley Fugate.

OAKLEY FUGATE, Filmmaker, Appalshop: After this happened, your instinct as a filmmaker was, we have to document this?

OAKLEY FUGATE: There was a period where we had to make sure everyone was OK.

But when we all got together, we're like, we need to tell this story.

This is our community.

Appalshop has been documenting it for years.

JEFFREY BROWN: Fugate was part of a team that produced "All Is Not Lost" documenting the toll the flood took on their community.

MAN: You could see the water.

It washed houses away.

JEFFREY BROWN: So, why did you call it "All Is Not Lost"?

Because a lot was lost.

OAKLEY FUGATE: Yes,but from that came the community itself reaching out, like, strangers just checking in.We have our community.

We can build back.

JEFFREY BROWN: But building back hasn't been easy.

Appalshop, which always relied on a mix of funding sources like grants and private donors, has been forced to ramp up its fund-raising efforts since the flood.

ROGER MAY: The high watermark in here was almost up to my shoulder.

So everything in here, and to our theater, our radio broadcast booth everything was underwater.

JEFFREY BROWN: The building is now, quite literally, a shell of its former self.

It's location in the floodplain means Appalshop will need to find a new home.

The radio station operates out of an R.V.

parked outside.

Theater productions are on pause, and the staff relocated to a temporary office 14 miles away.

ROGER MAY: This is the archive.

So this is the door to the archive back there now.

JEFFREY BROWN: Most concerning, even irreplaceable is the film, video, and audio archive.

WOMAN: We consider it all valuable.

JEFFREY BROWN: On our last visit, we'd seen shelves filled to the ceiling,now a dark, mostly empty vault.

What was damaged?

ROGER MAY: Well, everything, reel-to-reel films, audio, photo negatives.

Every one's a story.

Every one meant something.

Meant enough to someone at the time to say, hey, I need to record this moment.

This is some type of Appalshop event, a concert, looks like.

The flood left its own filter.

It's just a whole treasure trove of Appalachian culture that was knocked around and invaded with floodwater.

And some of these film canisters were found miles downstream.

JENNIFER GRIMAUDO, Senior Director of Sustainability, Iron Mountain: We spend a lot of time talking about how climate change could impact our future.

We spend less time hearing about or thinking about how climate change is impacting our past.

JEFFREY BROWN: For Jennifer Grimaudo of data management company Iron Mountain, what happened at Appalshop is part of a much larger problem.

Extreme weather events like the so-called 1,000-year flood that hit Kentucky are becoming more frequent, threatening numerous heritage sites all over the world.

JENNIFER GRIMAUDO: All of those things aren't just impacting our land and our ability to thrive tomorrow.

They're impacting our memories.

They're impacting these really important sites that help us connect with prior generations.

And if we didn't step in to help Appalshop, there was a real risk that that would be lost forever.

JEFFREY BROWN: Since last spring, Iron Mountain has housed more than 9,000 recordings from Appalshop's collection in its cold storage facility free of charge to prevent further degradation.

They also developed a cleaning process so far tested on a handful of videotapes, including this unedited interview from the famed documentary "Stranger With a Camera" about a Canadian filmmaker killed by a property owner while filming in Kentucky in 1967.

MAN: He turned and said: "What are you doing?"

And I looked at him, and I saw blood spurting out of this -- the side of his chest.

JEFFREY BROWN: What do you think when you see this, when this came back from Iron Mountain?

ROGER MAY: Was just emotionally overwhelmed.

It brought tears to my eyes to see this preserved and kept.

It's such important work.

JEFFREY BROWN: In fact, says May, there is a potential silver lining, if more of this material can be preserved and digitized for the first time.

ROGER MAY: We had a vault in this archive full of material, but we didn't know what was on those reels or on those negatives, you know?

And now, as we begin to get those digitized, and they're coming back to us, some of this material we're seeing for the very first time.

JEFFREY BROWN: The effort to save the archive revived not only important cultural gems, but also significant personal histories.

A friend came upon a box containing Willa Johnson's notes and material from her very first student film.

WILLA JOHNSON: I said: "How did that survive?"

And he said: "It was on a higher shelf."

And then I cried because I was like, much more important things should have been on that higher shelf.

A do-list.

JEFFREY BROWN: Including finish.

WILLA JOHNSON: Finish, yes, that's pretty important.

It was just amazing to see and felt so good to see that survive, survive everything.

JEFFREY BROWN: What else will survive?

And what of the organization itself?

Roger May looks to the long history of this region.

ROGER MAY: I'm confident that we will figure out how to adapt, just like folks in communities like this have for generations.

You know, through natural disasters, through the boom and bust of the coal industry, we have figured out ways to stay and to adapt.

JEFFREY BROWN: For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Jeffrey Brown in Appalshop in Whitesburg, Kentucky.

GEOFF BENNETT: Despite heightened tensions on many college campuses this year, it's still graduation season, and that means politicians, actors, and even members of the "NewsHour" team have been sharing advice and encouragement to graduates around the country.

Here are some of the life lessons this year's commencement speakers passed on to the class of 2024.

BILL HADER, Actor/Comedian: I have never seen this many young people so thrilled to be on a JumboTron.

(LAUGHTER) NEIL DEGRASSE TYSON, Director, Hayden Planetarium: I want to create a world where, if aliens came to visit, they wouldn't look around and run back home and say, you know, there's no sign of intelligent life on Earth.

(LAUGHTER) NEIL DEGRASSE TYSON: Make decisions in the interest of our health, our wealth, our security, so that subsequent generations can look back on you, on us, and be proud of the decisions we have made and not ashamed of them.

JEN PSAKI, Former White House Press Secretary: Give your friends grace, your parents grace who are all out there, your future partners grace or current partners grace, and, most importantly, give yourself grace in these moments.

You are all already resilient.

RACHEL ACCURSO, Social Media Personality: You don't need to wait for anyone else to show up.

When you see a need, when you see an injustice, a way the world could be better, use the unique gifts and talents you have to serve the world.

We don't know what will happen, but we guarantee nothing will change if we don't try.

SEN. MITT ROMNEY (R-UT): I would suggest that, instead of defining yourself by your career, that you choose to define yourself by things that are entirely in your control, your love for your family, your friendships, your faith, your service to others.

ZENA CARDMAN, NASA Astronaut: In times of uncertainty and discomfort, choosing optimism and humor can change your whole mood in an instant.

More importantly, it can lift an entire group.

The effect you have on others is one of your most potent gifts.

Your impact on the world comes from small moments like that one, simple daily choices integrated over a lifetime.

JOE BIDEN, President of the United States: We don't know where or what fate will bring you or when.

We also know we don't walk alone.

When you have been a beneficiary of the compassion of your family, your friends, even strangers, you know how much the compassion matters.

MARIA RESSA, CEO, Rappler: In every relationship, in every negotiation, in order to move forward and accomplish anything meaningful, someone lowers their shield first, brings down their ego, the defense mechanism.

Then others follow.

Let that person be you.

KEN BURNS, Documentary Filmmaker: Choose honor over hypocrisy, virtue over vulgarity, discipline over dissipation, character over cleverness, sacrifice over self-indulgence.

DAVID BROOKS: What a wise person says is the least of that which they give.

What gets communicated is their way of being in the world in the smallest gestures and the daily acts of integrity and kindness.

The message is the person.

We grow by imitating people we admire, just as they grew by imitating a person they admired, back and back into the deep mists of time.

JENNIFER COOLIDGE, Actress: When I was growing up, shame and fear was all around me.

We had to dress a certain way.

We had to laugh a certain way.

It was always, "Just be normal, Jennifer.

Just be normal."

And I heard that so many times.

Don't run from yourself like I did.

You will lose decades.

I promise you I did.

Choose radical self-acceptance and compassion.

RUTH E. CARTER, Costume Designer: Life is like a movie.

It's filled with plot twists, unexpected turns, and plenty of drama.

Whatever path you have chosen, seek out the details that add color, pattern, and texture to your stories.

Embrace your uniqueness and trust your voice.

Continue to be unapologetically yourselves.

And in the words of Queen Ramonda, show them who you are.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) ANGELA BASSETT, Actress: Life is not linear.

You will experience detours on your journey.

But just because something doesn't happen how and when you want it to, it doesn't mean you give up hope.

It doesn't mean it's a failure.

Instead, embrace it as a gateway to infinite possibilities.

AMNA NAWAZ: You are not an untested bunch.

You have proven yourselves time and again.

You have risen to the challenges presented.

And now it is time for you to rise again.

NEIL DEGRASSE TYSON: This is not a finish line.

This is the starting line.

Thank you.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) AMNA NAWAZ: Remember, there is much more online, including our weekly digital show, that's "PBS News Weekly," that takes a look this week at a big year in global elections, as half of the world's population votes in 2024.

That's online now on our YouTube page.

GEOFF BENNETT: And be sure to tune in tonight for a special edition of "Washington Week With The Atlantic."

Jeffrey Goldberg speaks with New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman about America's rising tensions with China, Russia, and Iran.

AMNA NAWAZ: And on "PBS News Weekend": As temperatures rise around the world, many schools in the U.S. are struggling to keep classrooms cool, putting students' learning and their health at risk.

And that is the "NewsHour" for tonight.

I'm Amna Nawaz.

GEOFF BENNETT: And I'm Geoff Bennett.

For all of us here at the "PBS NewsHour," thanks for spending part of your evening with us.

Have a great weekend.

\