AMNA NAWAZ: Good evening.

I'm Amna Nawaz.

Geoff Bennett is on assignment.

On the "NewsHour" tonight: The Federal Reserve raises interest rates, but signals a future pause amid uncertainty in the banking sector.

Russia accuses Ukraine of drone attacks on the Kremlin to assassinate President Vladimir Putin, a claim that risks escalating the ongoing war.

And in her latest installment of America at a Crossroads, Judy Woodruff examines the history of racism in America and the role it plays in the nation's divisions today.

CMDR.

THEODORE JOHNSON (RET.

), New America Foundation: It may not be possible for us to live in a democracy this large, this diverse where all of us are created equal, but not pursuing that is the death of the American idea.

(BREAK) AMNA NAWAZ: Welcome to the "NewsHour."

The Federal Reserve raised interest rates again today, its 10th consecutive hike, this time by a quarter-of-a-point.

But Chairman Jay Powell also suggested the Fed may pause future hikes if the economy continues to cool.

During a press conference, Powell was asked why he remained optimistic that the ongoing rate increases wouldn't tip the economy into a recession.

He cited the state of the job market.

JEROME POWELL, Federal Reserve Chairman: It wasn't supposed to be possible for job openings to decline by as much as they have declined without unemployment going up.

Well, that's what we have seen.

So we -- there are no promises in this, but it just seems that -- to me that it's possible that we can continue to have a cooling in the labor market without having the big increases in unemployment that have gone with many prior episodes.

Now, that would be against history.

AMNA NAWAZ: To help us sort through this thinking and the Fed's approach, I'm joined by David Wessel.

He's director of the Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy at the Brookings Institution.

David, good to see you.

DAVID WESSEL, Brookings Institution: Good to be with you.

AMNA NAWAZ: So, Powell was asked why this increase when the economy does seem to be cooling.

What's the thinking here?

DAVID WESSEL: Basically, Jay Powell is determined not to let inflation continue to be at these levels.

Jay Powell idolizes Paul Volcker, the Fed chair who famously broke the back of inflation, and he is willing to take a recession, if that's what it takes to bring inflation down to their target.

And what was interesting was he admitted that the Fed staff thinks we're going to have a recession, 400 Ph.D. economists.

He just happens to disagree.

AMNA NAWAZ: So, this is their 10th straight hike, right?

It's the fastest series of rate increases since the 1980s.

Inflation has begun to moderate, but it's still above that 2 percent goal that they want to hit, right?

So are we going to see more increases ahead?

DAVID WESSEL: We don't know.

AMNA NAWAZ: OK. DAVID WESSEL: He signaled that they're -- they may -- this may be the last one for a while, but he didn't commit.

And he says it depends on a couple of things.

One is, of course, the incoming data.

Does inflation cool off or not?

And, secondly, they're focused on how much banks are going to be reluctant to lend as a result of the recent banking crisis.

And if they see a lot of that, then they may not raise rates again at their June meeting.

AMNA NAWAZ: Inflation has been stubbornly high for two years now.

When you look at this particular economy, where we have seen persistent price increases in particular, help us understand why it's been so hard to stamp out right now.

DAVID WESSEL: Well, we get inflation in large part when demand grows faster than the capacity of the economy to meet that demand.

And demand has remained very strong.

Consumer spending has been pretty strong, partly because a lot of people have jobs.

And a lot of companies have raised prices because they can and let their profit margins get bigger.

And we're not quite done with the supply chain problems that were -- marked the COVID recession - - I mean, the COVID episode.

But it is a surprise that inflation has been so stubborn.

And that's why the Fed has been so aggressive in raising rates.

AMNA NAWAZ: Why do you think Powell is so optimistic that he can avoid a recession right now?

DAVID WESSEL: Because I think he knows that if he said we're going to have a recession, everybody would panic, and we would definitely have one.

So, I believe that he hopes that we won't have a recession.

But I don't believe that, in his heart of hearts, he thinks that's likely.

AMNA NAWAZ: There's a couple of other economic challenges we have to figure into.

You mentioned three bank failures in recent months.

They obviously have broader concerns about the fiscal sector right now.

How does that complicate the Fed's efforts moving forward?

DAVID WESSEL: The Fed knows that, if it raises interest rates, it gets more expensive for people to borrow, they spend less money, you get less demand in the economy, and that should bring down inflation.

That's what the textbook says.

Suddenly, they have another factor.

How much are bankers going to pull in their horns?

How much are bankers going to raise the standards for lending?

How much of a credit crunch are we going to have?

And Jay Powell has made clear that a credit crunch is sort of like a rate increase.

The bigger the credit crunch, the less they have to raise rates.

So they're watching very carefully to see not these three banks, because they're taken care of, but what do the rest of the banks do?

It's particularly serious for small and medium-sized businesses, which depend on these regional banks that are getting more stingy.

AMNA NAWAZ: Finally, David, as you know, here in Washington, there is a showdown over raising the debt limit, creating a lot of uncertainty.

Could lead to turmoil, even if we do not default.

How could that impact future Fed action?

DAVID WESSEL: I think, if you're at the Fed, and you're looking towards a meeting in mid-June, you say, we're not going to raise rates if we're in the middle of a debt ceiling crisis.

So I think it may be the reason that this is the last rate increase for a while.

AMNA NAWAZ: Finally, if you pull it back for us, how should everyday consumers look at all of this data and information coming in right now?

DAVID WESSEL: I think that one thing that Jay Powell made clear today is that we're not going to see rate cuts anytime soon.

And the financial markets have been expecting rate cuts.

So I would not make any plans on expectations that the Fed is going to be cutting rates before the end of the year.

AMNA NAWAZ: We will wait.

We will watch.

We welcome you back when we have more information.

DAVID WESSEL: I will be happy to be here.

AMNA NAWAZ: David Wessel of the Brookings Institution, thanks for being here.

DAVID WESSEL: You're welcome.

AMNA NAWAZ: In the day's other headlines: A man started shooting at a medical building in Midtown Atlanta this afternoon, killing one person and injuring for.

All of the victims were women.

Police said the 24-year-old gunman remained at large this evening.

Officers swarmed the scene and shut down traffic in the busy commercial area.

A shelter-in-place advisory was lifted several hours later.

There is no word on the possible motive.

Police in Texas have arrested two people for allegedly helping a mass shooter elude a manhunt after he killed five neighbors.

Francisco Oropesa's wife and a friend were jailed overnight.

Oropesa himself was captured hours earlier north of Houston.

The announcement brought an end to a four-day search.

GREG CAPERS, San Jacinto County, Texas, Sheriff: The bottom line is, we now have this man in custody.

He was caught hiding in a closet underneath some laundry.

AMNA NAWAZ: Oropesa was charged today with five counts of first-degree murder.

Investigators in Oklahoma now say a convicted rapist fatally shot six people, then took his own life.

The bodies were found Monday at a home near the town of Henryetta about 90 miles east of Oklahoma City.

Police said today that Jesse McFadden killed his wife and five teenagers, then himself.

He was facing trial again, this time on charges of soliciting images of child sex abuse.

In Serbia, a 13-year-old boy shot dead eight of his fellow students and a guard at a school in Belgrade today.

Police arrested the shooter after he called them when the attack ended.

They said he planned it for a month, but they offered no motive.

Though guns are widely available in the region after the Balkan Wars of the 1990s, mass shootings are exceedingly rare.

A court in Belarus has convicted a dissident journalist whose arrest sparked international outrage two years ago.

Roman Protasevich was living in exile when Belarusian officials used a bomb hoax to divert his commercial flight to Minsk.

Today, he was sentenced to eight years in prison on charges of inciting riots and plotting a coup.

His messaging channel had been used to coordinate protests.

The military ruler rulers in Myanmar began releasing more than 2,100 political prisoners today.

The regime said they're being freed as a humanitarian gesture on the most important Buddhist holy day of the year and reunited with their families.

Thousands of other political prisoners remain in jail.

The U.N.'s humanitarian chief is appealing to the warring factions in Sudan to let humanitarian agencies work and safety.

Martin Griffiths visited Port Sudan today, where thousands of refugees are camped.

He told a video news conference that the situation is desperate.

MARTIN GRIFFITHS, U.N.

Emergency Relief Coordinator: We need access.

We need airlift.

We need supplies that don't get looted.

World Food Program today, James, informed me six trucks of theirs which were going to Darfur were looted en route, despite assurances of safety and security.

So, it's a volatile environment.

So we need those commitments.

AMNA NAWAZ: The fighting in Sudan has killed at least 550 people and forced hundreds of thousands to flee.

Authorities in Rwanda say at least 129 people are dead in a flood disaster, and they warn it will get worse.

Torrential rains struck the western and northern parts of the country last week and also affected neighboring Uganda.

The downpour sent streams flowing down roads and drenched people's homes.

Officials say mudslides have hampered rescue efforts.

For the second time in less than a week, Iran has seized an oil tanker in Persian Gulf waters.

Video from a U.S. Navy drone today showed Iranian high-speed boats surrounding the Panama-flagged ship in the Strait of Hormuz.

That follows reports that U.S. authorities ordered the recent seizure of a ship carrying Iranian oil off Southeast Asia.

Back in this country, the CDC reports the rate of overdose deaths linked to fentanyl more than tripled over five years.

New numbers show the rate for every 100,000 people jumped from 5.7 deaths in 2016 to more than 21 in 2021.

Deaths from heroin and oxycodone fell marginally during that same period.

The Federal Trade Commission accused Facebook today of failing to protect children's privacy.

The agency charged that the social media giant has violated a 2020 order and put users of the Messenger Kids app at risk.

It proposed a ban on Facebook profiting from data on minors.

The company called the announcement -- quote - - "a political stunt."

And on Wall Street, stocks lost ground amid doubts that inflation will let the Federal Reserve begin lowering interest rates this year.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 270 points to close at 33414.

The Nasdaq fell 55 points.

The S&P 500 slipped nearly 29.

And the Rock and Hall of Fame has announced its class of 2023.

Missy Elliott made history today as the first female hip-hop artist to be inducted.

She's joined by Willie Nelson, Sheryl Crow, and the late George Michael.

The induction ceremony will be November 3 in New York.

Still to come on the "NewsHour": communities on the U.S.-Mexico border prepare for the end of a COVID era immigration rule; the families of Americans detained abroad criticize the Biden administration; an art historian brings attention to women who've been overlooked; plus much more.

Today, Moscow woke to a dramatic image, an apparent drone exploding over the Kremlin, the heart of Russian power.

The Russian president's press service accused Ukraine of a failed assassination attempt.

But Kyiv denies any involvement.

Nick Schifrin is following today's developments, joins me here now.

Nick, good to see you.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Thank you very much.

AMNA NAWAZ: You have been reporting on this all day.

What do we know at this hour about what happened?

NICK SCHIFRIN: Moscow says that two drones flew over the Kremlin after about 2:00 in the morning.

And cameras filmed two explosions about 15 minutes apart.

You see there the drone highlighted there and the explosion there, about 15 minutes apart, two explosions.

And analysts say -- that's it slowed down right there.

And analysts say what we're watching is a small drone probably unarmed exploded or brought down by Russian air defense.

Now, as you said the Kremlin called that a failed assassination attempt against Russian President Vladimir Putin, even though Putin was not in the Kremlin at the time.

But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, visiting Finland, denied any involvement.

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, Ukrainian President: We don't attack Putin or Moscow.

We fight on our territory.

We are defending our villages and cities.

We don't have, you know, enough weapon for this.

And we didn't attack Putin.

We leave it to tribunal.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Tribunal, a reference to Russian war crimes there.

U.S. officials I talk to say they're working on what they think actually happened.

But one U.S. official said, regardless of the origin of the explosion, the U.S. was not given any warning.

But we did hear U.S. skepticism of Russia's claims today from Secretary of State Antony Blinken talking to The Washington Post's David Ignatius.

ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. Secretary of State: Well, first, I have seen the reports.

I can't in any way validate them.

We simply -- we simply don't know.

Second, I would take anything coming out of the Kremlin with a very large shaker of salt.

NICK SCHIFRIN: A shaker of salt, U.S. denying - - or have some skepticism of Russian.

Sorry.

But what we heard from Russian pro-war bloggers today is that this was not going to change the war.

And that seemed to indicate this wasn't any kind of dramatic assassination attempt or could preclude to any escalation.

AMNA NAWAZ: So that's really dramatic video.

It's been making the rounds and everyone's been examining it, talking to sources.

You have been talking to every analysts and experts you have in your contact list.

What do they believe happened?

Is there consensus?

NICK SCHIFRIN: There's definitely not consensus.

Some believe that this could have been a Russian false flag operation, meaning the Kremlin launched the drone itself, brought the drone down itself, in order to preclude some kind of future escalation in Ukraine, or to add to the narrative that Putin has been saying, that it is Ukraine that is attacking Russia.

But others say that's unlikely, one, because this actually revealed the vulnerability of Russia's air defense, the fact that the drone actually got over the Kremlin... AMNA NAWAZ: Right.

NICK SCHIFRIN: ... and was not exploded until it was actually inside the Kremlin complex.

And they point out that there were multiple drone crashes in recent days around Moscow, likely by either independent people acting on Ukraine's behalf or by Ukraine itself.

Ukraine does have drones that fit this description, both Ukrainian-made and Chinese-made.

And Samuel Bendett, a Russian studies analyst at the think tank CNA, says that this could have been Kyiv sending a signal.

SAMUEL BENDETT, Center for Naval Analyses: If it was a Ukrainian drone strike, it demonstrated to the Russian military and the Russian government that Ukraine can strike into the very heart of Russia.

This may have been a symbolic attack sent to demonstrate that, next time, or the time after that, a Ukrainian drone can carry a lot more bombs, a lot more munitions, could be a lot more precise.

NICK SCHIFRIN: But, again, Kyiv denies any involvement.

The U.S. reiterated today it neither encourages nor enables Ukraine to attack inside Russia.

But what Kyiv does not deny, including to me last week by Ukraine's military intelligence chief, is the idea that it uses Ukrainian weapons to attack inside Russia.

In recent days, we have seen an uptick of those attacks, derailment of trains along Russia's supply lines into Ukraine.

And we have also seen an explosion of a fuel storage depot near the border right there with Russia.

U.S. officials call these shaping operations to degrade Russian supply lines, Amna, ahead of Ukraine's expected counteroffensive.

AMNA NAWAZ: Meanwhile, Nick, on a related front, we now have had some comments from Ukrainian President Zelenskyy commenting on those recent U.S. intelligence leaks, right, especially the ones that revealed some Ukrainian military information.

And what did he have to say?

NICK SCHIFRIN: Yes, we spoke to two Ukrainian senior officials in the last few weeks about documents that really detailed a lot of information about Ukraine's military, and they both downplayed the documents and suggest that they had no impact on Ukraine or the bilateral relationship.

Zelenskyy did not downplay their impact.

He gave an interview to The Washington Post's Isabelle Khurshudyan.

And he was very critical.

He said he did not receive any information beforehand and said -- quote -- "It is unprofitable for us.

It is not beneficial to the reputation of the White House, and I believe it is not beneficial to the reputation of the United States."

The documents revealed Ukrainian air defense shortages.

They revealed details of the units that are about to launch this counteroffensive against Russia.

They also reveal the U.S. told Kyiv not to attack Moscow on the one-year anniversary of the full-scale invasion.

And they revealed that the U.S. spies on Zelenskyy and his senior staff.

And asked if he was angry about U.S. spying, he said or he indicated that airing his private feelings were not worth the potential diplomatic harm.

Now, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the Defense Department, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, they all reached out to their counterparts as the leaks hit the news.

And, frankly, both sides were quite surprised, U.S. officials taken aback and caught off guard, just as Ukraine was.

AMNA NAWAZ: Ripple effects of that leak still being felt.

Nick Schifrin, thank you for your reporting.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Thank you.

AMNA NAWAZ: The Biden administration is rushing to prepare for an increase in migrants at the Southern border, as the pandemic era deportation policy known as Title 42 is set to end in a matter of days.

An additional 1,500 U.S. troops are being sent to the U.S.-Mexico border next week to help with administrative tasks, as local communities brace for the change.

Laura Barron-Lopez has more on how one border city is preparing.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: El Paso, Texas, is a critical stop for thousands of migrants seeking asylum from Mexico and South and Central America.

More than 5,000 migrants are in Customs and Border Patrol custody already in the El Paso Sector, with more arriving every day.

El Paso's mayor declared a humanitarian state of emergency ahead of the end of Title 42, a policy that's allowed for the immediate expulsion of millions of migrants.

Joining us is Bishop Mark Seitz of the Catholic Diocese of El Paso.

Bishop, thanks so much for joining us.

Your church helps provide shelter for migrants that are seeking asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border.

How is your diocese preparing for the end of Title 42?

BISHOP MARK SEITZ, Catholic Diocese of El Paso: Well, we're meeting with all of the people that are involved in this process, from the local counties and city officials, to border enforcement agencies, to NGOs, and others.

We're really trying to come together with daily meetings to begin to address this constantly changing situation.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: I talked to immigration lawyers and advocates today who said that the Biden administration just reached out to them about two days ago, reached out to organizations on the ground about how to plan for the lifting of Title 42.

Do you feel as though you are receiving adequate guidance or assistance from federal authorities?

BISHOP MARK SEITZ: We have been concerned for quite a while that it seems to have been a fairly well-kept secret whatever was being planned.

And it certainly would have been helpful to know earlier.

I do understand that a lot of things have been in the works.

But it has left us feeling as though we really don't quite know what to prepare for.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: And what are you hearing from El Paso residents on the U.S. side of the border, as well as on the Mexico side, as you prepare for more migrants to start crossing?

BISHOP MARK SEITZ: Well, we're a place that is very familiar with the passage of people across the border.

We're a border community.

And, by that, I mean that everyone here has connections across the border, right?

And so the presence of immigrants coming through is just part of our DNA in a certain way.

And so there's a general openness and an empathy with those who are feeling forced to leave their homes and to come.

I think that people here right now are very concerned about whether we can handle the numbers that are coming to us.

And, yes, there are concerns about whether that will have a negative impact on our community, but, even more than that, whether these people who are in our midst are going to be adequately cared for.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: The continued use of Title 42 has been criticized by immigration advocates, the continued use under the Biden administration, because of the fact that it allowed Customs and Border Patrol to immediately expel migrants seeking asylum without due process.

Now the Biden administration is about to finalize a new regulation that would make it extremely difficult, largely block migrants from seeking asylum if they have traveled through other countries to get to the United States.

Do you think that President Biden has made good on his promises to institute at a more humane immigration policy compared to his predecessor?

BISHOP MARK SEITZ: I think the Biden administration came in with great hopes and plans.

And I'm presuming that they still want to have a more human process.

But the concern about the numbers that we're facing has left them choosing options that we really have concerns.

We believe that these policies will have long-term negative impact on the fundamental right of asylum, which is supported in international law and national law.

We were -- we thought we had learned after World War II, when we turned away boats of Jewish people trying to find refuge in the United States, that nations, and not just some nations, every nation has a responsibility to accept these people that are at our doors.

Yes, they have to comply with a certain process.

They have to prove their needs.

But what is at risk right now is that people who are fleeing to us will have no other place to go.

Sometimes, they talk about these other nations that they pass through as being safe third countries, right?

I don't know of a safe third country in Central America right now.

They're all facing significant problems.

And so, again, I wonder where these people are going to turn.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: And, Bishop, the president is sending an additional 1,500 troops down to border communities like yours in El Paso.

Do you think that these extra troops are necessary?

BISHOP MARK SEITZ: We're concerned about the militarization of the situation.

And we're going to be very attentive to make sure that the administration sticks to what it said, that these troops are not going to be involved in a military-style enforcement, but, rather, surveillance and other things.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Bishop Mark Seitz of the Catholic Diocese of El Paso, thank you so much for your time.

BISHOP MARK SEITZ: Appreciate you having me.

AMNA NAWAZ: The fact that our country is divided isn't new.

And, in many respects, it can be traced back to the founding of a nation on the promise of freedom, while dependent on slavery, when Black enslaved people couldn't participate in the democracy being created.

Judy Woodruff examines how that foundational contradiction has evolved over time and what it means for our challenges today in her latest installment of America at a Crossroads.

JUDY WOODRUFF: From the ongoing push for equality in schools, in government, and in our communities, to the targeting of communities of color by white supremacists, and the killing of unarmed Black men and women by police..

PROTESTERS: Tyre Nichols!

PROTESTER: Justice for who?

PROTESTERS: Tyre Nichols!

JUDY WOODRUFF: ... America's historic division over race remains at the heart of so many conflicts we see today.

At the Lincoln Memorial honoring a president who held our nation together as that division nearly tore it apart, I met Theodore Johnson, a man who has been wrestling with questions surrounding our history, his own place in it, and the precarious moment we find ourselves in today.

A lot of people would argue that this country is as divided now as it has been at any time since the Civil War.

CMDR.

THEODORE JOHNSON (RET.

), New America Foundation: Right.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Do you see it that way?

THEODORE JOHNSON: I don't.

The Civil War -- Lincoln was the one that said a house divided against itself cannot stand, and he was talking about a nation that was half-slave and half-free.

We're not close to that.

That said, we have got some serious issues that we need to tackle.

And if we don't get it sort of under control, it could spiral out of control and be -- we reach another point in our history where an existential threat is posed by the fact that Americans don't get along with one another.

JUDY WOODRUFF: For years, Johnson has been writing about race, history, politics and democracy, including in his 2021 book, "When the Stars Begin to Fall."

CMDR.

THEODORE JOHNSON: And Us@250 is thinking about 2026.

JUDY WOODRUFF: At the New America Foundation, a center-left think tank in Washington, he's now working on a project examining the country as it approaches 250 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

CMDR.

THEODORE JOHNSON: We have come a long way.

Look, I'm a Black man in America in 2023.

And while things are not perfect, I'd much rather be here than a Black man in America in 1923 or, God forbid, a Black man in America in 1823.

That is a story of national progress.

But that progress was not inevitable.

That progress was the result of people challenging the government.

That progress was the result of protest.

That progress was a result of people giving their lives, their energies, their sweat, giving up their ability to live a peaceful life to fight for the right of future generations to have a better version of America than they had.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Johnson's writing and thinking on these big questions are heavily influenced by his personal history, starting with his maternal great-grandfather, a sharecropper in Southwest Georgia raised during the Jim Crow era.

CMDR.

THEODORE JOHNSON: We called him Daddy Joe.

His name was Joe Humphrey (ph).

And, in this picture, he's at a fair of some sort.

And this is the 1950s.

He's in farming gear, coveralls with, like, his boots polished, pipe hanging out of his mouth.

And behind him are two American flags sort of angled over each shoulder.

And so everything around them told them that this country did not appreciate them, that they didn't belong.

And yet they instilled in their children a faith in America, a faith in hard work, and a belief that, if you just work hard enough, maybe this country won't treat you fairly, but you will make more progress, make more of a way for yourselves and for your families than previous generations.

JUDY WOODRUFF: That promise of progress materialized in Johnson's parents, who were the first in their families to complete college in North Carolina and who later settled there to work for IBM.

CMDR.

THEODORE JOHNSON: And so I grew up like the Cosby kids.

I grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina, in the suburbs mostly surrounded by white neighbors.

But I had no excuse for not doing well here, because of the sacrifices of those who come before me.

And so it's sort of incumbent upon me, I think, to carry that optimism and faith forward.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Johnson attended Hampton University, the historically Black college in Virginia, where he studied mathematics.

Looking for purpose, afterwards, he joined the Navy, where he would go on to serve for 20 years, rising to the rank of commander.

While in the Navy, he worked in national security in the Obama White House and as a speechwriter at the Pentagon for the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

But the questions of his place in this country and his children's became unavoidable.

PROTESTER: No justice, no peace!

JUDY WOODRUFF: The 2012 death of Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old boy shot to death in Florida for simply walking down the street, was a turning point.

CMDR.

THEODORE JOHNSON: That concern that began in 2012 only accelerated as the years went by because of the increased number of very public deaths of Black men and women at the hands of law enforcement, often caught on camera.

And those videos made their way onto social media at the same time my sons were coming of age, teenagers using social media, and them coming to me with these videos asking me: "Daddy, why does this continue to happen?"

I'm sorry.

And I didn't have a good answer for them.

I could only tell them about the history of our country, the work that people have done to ensure that these things happen less frequently.

But I almost did not have an option, personally, except to change my career, except to leave the military and begin thinking about these issues more seriously.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Johnson returned to school, studying law and policy and earning his doctoral degree writing about the history of civil rights and the Black vote in America.

Now a columnist at The Washington Post, he continues to explore the contradictions he's experienced, reconciling his family history with his own, the promise of America now, with a reality that often falls short.

CMDR.

THEODORE JOHNSON: This ability to hold a love of country at the same time as a sort of critique of the country together, we sort of -- sort of played out on a football field for my family one Friday evening.

One of my sons was playing football, kneeled during the national anthem.

I'm a retired Navy guy.

I was standing at attention during the national anthem.

And, of course, there were some parents around that didn't like the fact that my kid was kneeling.

And I could tell.

It was -- it was pretty audible and clear.

After the anthem finishes, the flag that the team carries out had sort of tumbled to the ground.

And I ran down and picked it up and posted it back up.

And the same folks that were making remarks about my kid kneeling sort of stepped into the aisle to thank me for posting the flag up for them, for respecting the flag.

And, in that moment, my family was still recognizing a pride in country through my sort of standing at attention and a reckoning that the country needs, especially around the question of race, that my son was protesting during the anthem.

And so that seems to be a common strain, not just for me and my family, but for lots of Americans, especially Black Americans, who have served in every war the country has ever had, and yet returned from war to a nation that didn't appreciate them, that didn't treat them as full citizens, that didn't treat them as equal.

JUDY WOODRUFF: You have written about trying to understand why many white Americans are having difficulty with what's happening in our country right now, demographic changes, the fact that more minorities are serving in roles of leadership in our country.

What are you finding out as you try to understand that?

CMDR.

THEODORE JOHNSON: Yes, so here's how I think about it.

When you are raised in a country that tells you that you are the descendants of a remarkable set of men that created a new country on the idea of equality and liberty and justice and democracy, and you're very proud of that heritage, and then, suddenly, people come along and say, wait a minute, that story is not complete.

We were part of that story too.

And not only are they insisting to be part of the story, but now, through demographics, through elections, through economics, they're acquiring more power that they didn't have in earlier versions of America.

This is a status loss.

And it feels very much like any other kind of loss, like losing money or losing any sort of physical security.

It doesn't necessarily mean that they hold racial hatred, or that they despise other folks.

But it does mean that sense of loss will often cause some kind of backlash to sort of ensure that their stability of identity, of history, of heritage isn't interrupted.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Back at the Lincoln Memorial, a reminder of this country's willingness to tear itself apart over these questions.

I asked Johnson how he sees us getting through this moment.

CMDR.

THEODORE JOHNSON: I think the pursuit of it is more important than arriving there.

I don't know that we will ever get to a place where the ideals that are laid out in our Declaration and in the Constitution have been fully achieved.

Perhaps I have read that some have called America maybe the ultimately unachievable project.

It may not be possible for us to live in a democracy this large, this diverse where all of us are created equal, but not pursuing that is the death of the American idea, is the death of what the country could be.

And when we give up the going together, and this -- the hyperpartisanship, the culture war stuff is breaking up our ability to go together, not only will we never get there.

We won't even be on the same journey together anymore.

And when that happens, if history is any guide, political violence is likely to follow, and the dream, the potential of the American experiment perhaps lost.

JUDY WOODRUFF: The view of one man who sees the progress that's been made and who hopes it will continue.

For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Judy Woodruff in Washington.

AMNA NAWAZ: Families of Americans detained abroad are turning up the pressure on the Biden administration to bring their loved ones home.

Outside the White House today, at least 20 families gathered, calling for President Biden to meet with them and to use all tools necessary to bring those loved ones home.

This weekend, at the White House Correspondents Dinner, President Biden spoke directly to some of those families.

JOE BIDEN, President of the United States: Across government, experts are working day and night to bring our fellow Americans home.

But my commitment, my commitment is to bring them home.

AMNA NAWAZ: Among those that today's demonstration, the families of three Americans held in Iran, Siamak Namazi, Emad Shargi, and Morad Tahbaz.

Joining me here in the studio are the daughters of two of those men, Ariana and Hannah Shargi and Tara Tahbaz.

Ariana, Hannah, Tara, welcome.

Thanks for being here.

(CROSSTALK) ARIANA SHARGI, Father Imprisoned in Iran: Thank you for having us.

AMNA NAWAZ: So, Ariana, your families have been fighting for your father's release, for many others' release for five years now.

You have been speaking with officials and giving interviews.

Why turn it up a notch?

Why this demonstration outside the White House today?

ARIANA SHARGI: Well, we have been speaking out for five years, but it just -- with every day, it becomes more and more evident how crucial it is for the president and for the American government to bring our loved ones home.

We really don't know what tomorrow brings.

For example, our father, Emad Shargi, was caught in the fires, in the riots in Evin prison just a few months ago.

He very nearly died.

And so, really, whenever we can come together and really make our voices heard and perhaps have the chance to speak with President Biden, that is -- that's what we are trying to do.

AMNA NAWAZ: Hannah, when's the last time you spoke with your dad?

HANNAH SHARGI, Father Imprisoned in Iran: We spoke to our dad recently, actually.

We were lucky enough to talk to him.

But we never know what the next day will bring or when we will be able to speak to him again.

There's been a year where we haven't spoke to him or months where we haven't spoke to him.

So it really just shows the pressure that we're under, and that time really is of the essence, and we don't have a day to wait.

They have to be home as soon as possible.

AMNA NAWAZ: Tara, what about you?

When's the last time you talked to your dad?

How's he doing?

TARA TAHBAZ, Father Imprisoned in Iran: I spoke to him yesterday.

But, as Hannah said, I think you really cherish every phone call you get, because we never know when the next one will come.

And he's not doing well.

It's six years that he's there.

And we still haven't seen signs of them coming home.

And my father is now 67 years old.

He has a history of cancer.

He's been hospitalized multiple times while being incarcerated and as contracted COVID three times.

So it's -- his mental and physical health is at risk every single day he's there.

AMNA NAWAZ: Ariana, you and the other family members are urging President Biden to use every tool at his disposal.

The White House says they're working around the clock, right?

Just last week, they impose new sanctions on an Iranian intelligence group, on four senior officials.

What tool do you want them to use that you don't see them using now?

ARIANA SHARGI: So I don't think that we're in a position to know that, frankly.

But I think it's great that they have imposed sanctions.

It is a great way to deter hostage-taking in the future.

But deterrence aren't bringing our fathers home.

They really need to work on both deterring this from happening again, but then also bringing home the Americans who are currently being held.

AMNA NAWAZ: Tara, how much of a -- sort of an update do you get from officials?

Do you know about any specific negotiations or any proposed deal that's on the table to help for your father?

TARA TAHBAZ: I think everything that we know is everything that the public knows and is in the media.

And we just continuously keep being told that they're a priority, that they are working on it.

But, at the end of the day, this administration has been in place for 27 months, and we have been hearing the same thing.

And the easiest first step is for President Biden to take the time to meet with our families and to give our loved ones hope that he even took this first step for them to believe that they actually are a priority, and, furthermore, to just see the actions and not just the words.

AMNA NAWAZ: Hannah, we have reported on this before too.

The family of Evan Gershkovich, right, The Wall Street Journal reporter who has been detained in Russia since late March, his family received a call from President Biden.

They met with him.

I know you and the others have been asking for a similar meeting.

What is your understanding of why that hasn't happened yet?

Have they given you a reason?

HANNAH SHARGI: I honestly don't understand why the president hasn't called us, why he won't speak with us.

I'm glad that he called Evan's family, as he should, but he should give us the same opportunity.

I mean, Siamak Namazi a few weeks ago put his life at risk calling from a phone in Evin to a news reporter here begging for President Biden to speak to our families.

And, still, he has not.

And I don't understand why.

I mean, we're three daughters begging for our president to talk to us, to bring our dads home.

And I'd like to see that happen.

I'd like the chance to speak with him.

AMNA NAWAZ: Tara, what would you say to that?

TARA TAHBAZ: I would equally agree with her.

We have no idea.

Why we have asked countless times.

And I was actually with Neda Shargi when we had a fortuitous moment where, 44 days ago, we happened to cross paths with him, enough time just for her to hand him a letter directly asking him to meet with us.

So, in the past, we didn't know.

Maybe the messages weren't getting to him.

Maybe he didn't hear Siamak's interview.

But now we knew that he directly knows from our families that we're asking for this meeting.

And 44 days have gone by and we are still sitting here wondering why.

What will it take for him to give us time to meet with us, hear our stories, hear how scared we are, and how much their lives are at risk every day that they are there?

AMNA NAWAZ: You have got no update, no word as to whether or not the president read the letter that your aunt, Neda Shargi, handed to him?

Is that right?

TARA TAHBAZ: No updates since then.

AMNA NAWAZ: So, does it feel to you, Ariana - - because we know there are a number of Americans detained in a number of countries overseas, does it feel to you in any way as if those who are detained in Iran are being seen differently for some reason by this administration?

We obviously know it's an incredibly complicated political situation, given the ongoing nuclear talks.

Do you feel like your families are being treated differently in some way?

ARIANA SHARGI: I don't know if we're being treated differently, but what I will say is that the administration has been able to get individuals who are being held hostage out of Russia, as Russia is currently in a war.

I cannot see a situation more complicated than that one.

So I don't understand how our situations aren't any more complicated than that.

AMNA NAWAZ: Hannah, as you know, the White House will say, a meeting doesn't matter that much.

We have heard before Secretary Blinken says he carries a card in his pocket with all the names of detained Americans abroad listed on it, that they are working around the clock, regardless of whether they have time for a call or a meeting.

So help us understand why you think a face-to-face meeting is so important.

HANNAH SHARGI: Yes.

I mean, I know the president is an empathetic man.

I know, more than anyone, he believes that a family has to be whole.

And I want to tell him that we need our family to be whole again .I want to sit down and tell him how scared we are, tell him about our family, about our dad, and how much we need him.

And all the sentiments are nice that it's a priority.

They carry the card.

I appreciate it.

But we need action.

And I need to be able to say that sitting face-to-face with our president.

We need action.

AMNA NAWAZ: Tara, given how complicated it is -- and we have heard even the White House's lead hostage negotiator, Roger Carstens, say that this is very complicated.

Iran is very difficult to deal with.

Do you think of a face-to-face meeting would help shake something loose for some reason?

TARA TAHBAZ: I do think so, because, as Hannah said, I think that President Biden is a man of compassion and empathy.

And I think meeting with us and hearing our stories firsthand, he has the opportunity to see the faces of families that are suffering.

And he, more than anybody, knows the pain when you lose a member of your family or the time that's robbed from you.

And I think seeing our father's name and Siamak's name on a piece of paper and then being able to connect it back to our faces, it makes it such a more real situation, versus just a name.

And we have heard firsthand yesterday on CNN from Trevor Reed's father and Cherelle Griner how much it meant to them when they met with President Biden and how much it gave hope to their loved ones that were in prison.

And we saw their loved ones come home very shortly after that.

AMNA NAWAZ: Well, we thank all three of you for being here with us today.

We're thinking about your fathers and your families.

And thank you for being here.

HANNAH SHARGI: Thank you for having us.

ARIANA SHARGI: Thank you for having us.

AMNA NAWAZ: Ariana Shargi, Hannah Shargi, and Tara Tahbaz, thank you.

(CROSSTALK) TARA TAHBAZ: Thank you so much.

AMNA NAWAZ: How many women artists can you name?

That was a question that Katy Hessel, then a 21-year-old art history major, asked herself.

The results were disappointing.

And so she set out to learn and teach herself and then others.

The result is out now, "The Story of Art Without Men."

Jeffrey Brown has a look for arts and culture series, Canvas.

JEFFREY BROWN: If you want to explore the history of Western art -- and Katy Hessel does -- you can't do better than come to New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art.

So that's what we did.

When we talked about doing this interview, you proposed this room.

And now I see why.

KATY HESSEL, Author, "The Story of Art Without Men": This is Rosa Bonheur's The Horse Fair from 1852.

And it's an extraordinary work.

I think, first of all, just the scale of it is absolutely extraordinary, not only just among the works around it, but the fact that a woman painted this in the 1850s, which was such a feat.

JEFFREY BROWN: One painting by one woman, but part of a much larger, little-known history that Hessel lays out in her new book, "The Story of Art Without Men."

It happens that Rosa Bonheur is an artist I am familiar with, but only by chance.

In 2020, we visited her 19th century home, now a small museum outside Paris, as part of a story on France's efforts to preserve lesser-known cultural institutions falling into disrepair.

In her lifetime, she achieved no small renown, but it didn't last and she never made it into the mainstream art history books, certainly not the classic Hessel had studied in school, "The Story of Art" by E.H. Gombrich, first published in 1950 and reprinted for decades since.

This is the book that many people studied as the bible, right, of art history.

KATY HESSEL: Completely.

It's the introductory bible to our history.

And I love it because it is for everyone.

The fact that he writes in such beautiful prose that anyone can understand, you want to -- you have heard of a term such as the Renaissance or the Baroque, and you can look that up in Gombrich.

But he doesn't include any woman artist.

He only includes one in his 16th edition, which is crazy.

And the fact that I loved this book growing up, I wanted to write -- if he was going to leave that women, I thought I'd leave out men.

JEFFREY BROWN: Now 29, Hessel first created an Instagram account, The Great Women Artists, featuring short videos.

Many women, of course, simply had no opportunity to become artists or to grow as artists without being able to draw live models, for example, or gained some exposure, but were soon forgotten.

Hessel's book continues such stories.

You might know of Artemisia Gentileschi from the 1600s, recently given a major exhibition and coverage, including on our program, but what about, earlier still, Catharina van Hemessen or Sofonisba Anguissola?

KATY HESSEL: A fantastic artist working in the 1550s.

She made this remarkable work, which is called Self-Portrait With Bernardino Campi.

It's her and her teacher.

At first, what might look like him dictating her appearance, we realized that it's her painting this picture.

And, actually, what she's doing is, she's painting her teacher painting her.

JEFFREY BROWN: Some works by Judith Leyster, Hessel notes, were attributed to her contemporary, Frans Hals.

They'd fetch higher prices.

KATY HESSEL: Similarly, the museum that we're sitting in right now, they bought a work by Marie-Denise Villers in 1917 for $200,000, but it was under the impression that it was by Jacques-Louis David.

So it is so interesting, the fact that actually what we have done is uncovered all these amazing artworks.

JEFFREY BROWN: Are women not in these classic texts because the historians did not know of them, or because they knew of them, but they just did not value them enough?

KATY HESSEL: I mean, this is the ultimate question that I want to ask my predecessors from 100 years ago: What happened to these women artists?

It's almost as though they were consciously written out of art history.

I don't really know.

Was it ignorance or was it purposeful?

JEFFREY BROWN: Inevitably, the bulk of Hessel's history offers art from the 1800s and after, different periods, countries of origin, artistic styles, and kinds of art, including quilting, often dismissed as craft.

KATY HESSEL: Because I don't agree that we should dismiss certain art forms and we should create a hierarchy.

That's what the academies in the 18th century really did.

They said painting and sculpture is at the top, and embroidery and craft like decorative arts is at the bottom.

And what did women have access to?

Decorative arts and craft.

JEFFREY BROWN: This is a room of images of women, some by women.

KATY HESSEL: Exactly, including this fantastic work called Young Mother Sewing by Mary Cassatt.

JEFFREY BROWN: Hessel used this painting from 1900 to make a broader case, that we might even rethink the meaning of modern art.

KATY HESSEL: It means the participation of women artists, because women artists are no longer completely under the guard of or dependent on men.

And they can decide what they want to make.

JEFFREY BROWN: You're making this a definition of modernity?

KATY HESSEL: I'm saying it's... JEFFREY BROWN: That women are now in the picture, not only in the picture, but making the picture.

KATY HESSEL: Exactly.

It's an element of modernity, I think, which I think, it's just -- it's radical, because we're seeing their perspective for the very first time.

JEFFREY BROWN: Hessel's rewriting of the canon, as she puts it, brings us up through the 20th century to now, with lesser- and better-known names.

She's careful to credit decades of scholarship.

And she also cites the important activism of women, such as the Guerrilla Girls, whose famous 1989 poster asked, "Do women have to be naked to get into the Met Museum?"

But more work by women is on the walls here.

KATY HESSEL: And what she's doing here... JEFFREY BROWN: And one of the Met's current special exhibitions is by the contemporary British painter Cecily Brown, who appears in one of Hessel's final sections.

In the contemporary art world, galleries and museum shows is filled with extraordinary women artists, right?

KATY HESSEL: It is.

But if I tell -- Jeff, if I say a woman artist's price goes on average for just 10 percent of a male artist, we are still at such a hindrance as well.

And it's -- but, yes, so much is happening right now.

And it's the fact that the gender pay gap is hopefully improving.

And that comes from every single angle of society.

And that's what I really want to achieve, ultimately, is the sense of equality.

So, is progress happening?

I like to think so.

But we are just about getting there.

JEFFREY BROWN: A continuing story, then, the story of art with and without men.

For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Jeffrey Brown at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

AMNA NAWAZ: Equality through art, we like that.

And that is the "NewsHour" for tonight.

Be sure to join us tomorrow for a story of incredible forgiveness.

A woman who was shot and paralyzed reunites with the man who pulled the trigger.

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