Ted Cruz and Tucker Carlson throw down in ‘rough’ interview about potential Iran strikes

WASHINGTON — Conservative pundit Tucker Carlson is teasing a fiery interview with U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, he plans to release Wednesday afternoon, in which the two men clash over foreign policy and potential U.S. military strikes against Iran.

The session lays bare divisions within President Donald Trump’s “America first” Republican coalition as more traditional defense hawks square off against others calling for the United States to do everything possible to avoid foreign entanglements.

Cruz, a fervent, outspoken supporter of Israel, has been pushing back on Carlson and others questioning the wisdom of joining Israel in its military campaign against Iran over its pursuit of a nuclear weapon.

Carlson released a portion of the interview late Tuesday, including an exchange in which he asked Cruz how many people live in Iran. Cruz acknowledged he didn’t know the number.

—The Dallas Morning News

Former President Obama touts American democracy to sold-out crowd in Hartford

HARTFORD, Conn. — Former President Barack Obama never once mentioned Donald Trump by name, but the current president was never far from the conversation Tuesday night in Hartford.

Touching on a wide range of topics, Obama delivered a history lesson about democracy and freedom with references to the Civil War, World War II, civil rights, solidarity in Poland, and the Berlin Wall.

“Our biggest challenge right now is we need democracy … more than ever, and it’s probably as weak as it’s been since I’ve been alive,” Obama told a sell-out crowd of 2,800 at The Bushnell theatre in Hartford.

Obama appeared at The Connecticut Forum, a long-running speaker series that brings national figures to Hartford. In addition to the sell-out crowd, a spillover theatre was opened in part of the Bushnell complex for a simulcast for those who could not fit into the main theatre.

—Hartford Courant

Judge who found Florida attorney general in contempt can get tougher if he violates order

MIAMI — It seemed inevitable that U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams would hold state Attorney General James Uthmeier in contempt of court after he violated her order to stop enforcing a new law that makes it a crime for undocumented immigrants to enter Florida.

After all, Uthmeier told state law enforcement agencies that they could arrest migrants who illegally cross into the United States and then arrive in Florida — despite her restraining order issued in mid-April.

In finding Uthmeier in contempt on Tuesday, Williams showed restraint herself, ordering the attorney general to keep her informed of any arrests or detentions of immigrants stemming from enforcement of the state law. As part of his punishment, he must file bi-weekly reports over the next six months.

But what if the attorney general, who still expressed defiance in the aftermath of her civil contempt order, violates it? Can the judge get tougher? Legal experts interviewed by the Miami Herald said Williams could fine Uthmeier up to $1,000 or send him to jail for up to six months, or both, as punishment.

—Miami Herald

In Tehran, Iranians brace for what’s next in unpredictable war

It started with her neighbor frantically knocking on her front door panicking at the sound of explosions. Then she taped her windows to prevent them from shattering and packed an emergency backpack.

By Tuesday, Neda was on a gridlocked highway, joining thousands of other Tehranis trying to flee the Iranian capital. Their aim was to find somewhere more remote where they wouldn’t be near any of the hundreds of sites that Israel might target.

“My biggest fear is the uncertainty and the ambiguity of it all,” Neda, 35, said by social media chat from a suburb on the outskirts of northern Tehran. “Will this go on for a week or for eight years? Will we have to keep on improvising life one day at a time?”

For the past five days, Israel has subjected Iran to its worst military attack since the Islamic Republic was invaded by neighboring Iraq in 1980. What’s clear in the metropolis of 10 million people, is that people don’t expect things to be the same again in a country whose leadership is hobbled and its economy shattered.

—Bloomberg News