Breaking Points with Krystal and Saagar - 8/10/26: Iran Demands Surrender, Trump Officials Gaslight On Economy, Bibi Spits In Trump's Face

Episode Date: August 10, 2026

Krystal and Saagar discuss Iran demands total surrender, Trump officials insist economy is great, Bibi spits in Trump's face. Trita Parsi: https://tritaparsi.substack.com/    To become a Bre...aking Points Premium Member and watch/listen to the show AD FREE, uncut and 1 hour early visit: www.breakingpoints.com    Merch Store: https://shop.breakingpoints.com/   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. What's up, fam? I'm sports journalist Ari Chambers. Hey, what's up, y'all? It's your girl, Sam Jay. And we're the host of everyone watches women's sports, a new podcast from Together and I Heart Women's Sports.
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Starting point is 00:01:51 Hey guys, Saga and Crystal here. Independent media just played a truly massive role in this election, and we are so excited about what that means for the future of this show. This is the only place where you can find honest perspectives from the left and the right that simply does not exist anywhere else. So if that is something that's important to you, please go to breakingpoints.com, become a member today, and you'll get access to our full shows, unedited, ad-free, and all put together for you every morning in your inbox. We need your help to build the future of independent news media, and we hope to see you at breaking points.com. Good morning, everybody. Happy Monday. I have an amazing show for everybody today. We'll do, Crystal.
Starting point is 00:02:29 Indeed, we do. So Trump is low-keying, the Iran. war now, according to report from Barack Ravid, Trita Barthi, is going to join us with the latest there. We're also taking a look at the continued economic fall-on as Americans are being made to humiliate themselves on camera in order to get lower gas prices. Bibi Netanyahu is rejecting the new phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal involving Hamas disarmament, Hamas kind of making a bet there that they were not going to go forward with it, and they were correct. Mitch McConnell, allegedly back home, no one has seen him, no new photos released, no videos,
Starting point is 00:03:01 anything of the sort. We will give you the latest as he prepares to apparently work from home. What is going on there? It is anybody's guest at this point. And Hillary Clinton has some advice for Abdul El-Sahid on winning Michigan, something she is an expert at not doing. Yes. And Obama also called both Abdul and Haley Stevens to check in with them and offer support. So a lot of updates there from. Imagine losing Michigan twice and saying, you know what, I know a lot about that. Yeah. You know what? That's Hillary. That's Hillary for you. God lover. All right. Thank you to everybody who's. Hey, Joe Biden. To the show. Breaking Points.com. We have our free trial going on right now. You can go ahead and take advantage of it. We're actually doing our AMA for subscribers only today right after the show.
Starting point is 00:03:47 Of course, you want to be able to take advantage of that. Free month trial on monthly, on yearly. It applies right at checkout. It's probably the easiest possible way to do it, not even have to do a promo code. Go ahead and take advantage. If you're watching this on YouTube, please hit subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you're listening to this podcast, please share an episode with a friend. It really helps other people find the show. Now, before we bring in Treat DePars, we do just want to give a basic overview of where things are. Let's put A2 up here on the screen. Trump says, quote, we are low-keying it on Iran.
Starting point is 00:04:17 That seems to be no war, no peace, surrender with no surrender. President Trump signaled he's prepared to allow economic pressure on Iran to continue as he opposed to ordering a new military offensive, even as the country continues to defy the U.S. Only a week ago, he was on the verge of ordering a return to major combat operations, but now he is not making any new military threats. Mostly, it seems, because many members of senior members of the United States military who said, sir, we cannot do this, we don't have the munitions even to continue. And as Iran has issued an entire new slate of demands for what it would take for them to reopen
Starting point is 00:04:52 the Strait of Hormuz. So with all of that, let's bring in our great friend, Dr. Trita Parsi, of the Quincy Institute to dissect all of this. So Dr. Parsi, as I just mentioned, Iran has now issued a list of demands for reopening the Strait of Hormuz. Let's put it up here on the screen. I'll read all of them and we'll get your reaction. Iran says they will not reopen until the United States, quote, corrects its behavior. Number one, they must end all threats against Iran and insults to the country's sacred values. Number two, they must permanently end the war and aggression against Iran and its allies in Lebanon, Palestine, Yemen, and Iraq. Number three, they must lift the naval blockade and withdraw the
Starting point is 00:05:27 United States naval and air forces from around Iran. Four, they must pay in full for damages for what they call the two wars of aggression imposed on Iran. Five, lift all U.S. sanctions. Six, unconditionally released frozen and seized Iranian asset. So much of this, sir, to my eye, is a basically you have to fulfill all the terms of the memorandum of understanding and some just to get the reopening of Hormuz, not to even potentially get any sort of nuclear talk. I know there's quite a bit of analysis and others that you can offer about how much of this is real or not. So I'm curious for your reaction. Sure.
Starting point is 00:06:03 Look, I had conversations to try to get a clarification on exactly what is intended here. And one of the clear messages that came through is that this is not a demand for the reopening of the street. This is a demand for restarting direct U.S. talks with Iran. Wow. It has been presented in a manner that is a little bit vague and exaggerated, and that is apparently deliberate. What they say, and I don't know if this is true, but what they say essentially is that last minute in the talks, the U.S. introduced new elements, try to move the goalpost, and this is an Iranian reaction to that. If the U.S. is going to put forward wish lists as some sort of a demand, the Iranians are capable of playing. that game as well. Now, that may be it, it may also be something else. It may very well be that this is
Starting point is 00:06:57 what the Iranians are doing at this point because they are deliberately trying to drag this out because they like to see the pain that Trump is enduring to expand further. And this is not because of some sort of a sadistic inclination. It's because in their analysis, had Trump hurt enough before signing the MU, he would have stuck to the MOU. But because, the Iranians in their view and that narrative that exists agreed to the MOU prematurely, it led to a scenario in which Trump was in the MOU, but while still thinking that he could get better terms by going back to a bombing campaign, which he now has tried and it has failed miserably. So in order to avoid repeating that mistake, they would drag it out a little bit further this time around
Starting point is 00:07:45 in order to make sure that by the time there is an agreement, there is really a complete conclusion on the American side, that there is no other option but that agreement. There is no option of going back to bombing. The only thing that can work is a complete commitment to the agreement and to diplomacy. Given that landscape, do you think that Iran will find it necessary to escalate in order to increase the pain on Trump? Where things sit today is gas prices are about four bucks a gallon, not great, but also not a complete and total catastrophe.
Starting point is 00:08:16 Trump is out there, as we said before, saying he's going to low-key the Iran conflict. apparently feels like the status quo is something he can sustain for at least some period of time. So do you think the logic will argue in the direction of Iran escalating and trying to increase that pain to force the sort of capitulation they would need at the negotiating table? I would see the Iranians escalate if they feel that they are under so much pain that they need to essentially even it out. If that is not the case, I think they will just continue to where they are right now. Keep one thing in mind, just last night, they shot at several more ships. and there was no bombing response by the United States.
Starting point is 00:08:54 If we recall how this whole thing started, was that the Iranians were shooting at ships that went through the Southern Channel without Iranian notification, which the Iranians believed was a violation of the MOU, and the U.S. responded by saying it is unacceptable for the Iranians to shoot at these ships. They are still shooting at these ships,
Starting point is 00:09:11 but the U.S. is not bombing any longer. So I don't know if it is necessary for them to escape. You raise a very important point, though, which is that despite this level of tension, despite the fact that the straits traffic is down to a trinkle, despite the fact that there's still essentially a blockade of blockade in place, the Iranians have not succeeded in really pushing up old prices. Now, that is not because old prices shouldn't be higher. Everyone I've spoken to who follows this much closer are baffled by the success the administration is having in pushing down
Starting point is 00:09:44 old prices artificially. But that is not something that can work in the long run. In the long run, this is going to come back and you're going to see the paper price of oil and the actual price of oil converge. And that means that old prices are likely going to go higher. But it seems like the Iranians have kind of either not felt the need or given up on the idea of fighting Trump when it comes to this type of artificial interference that he has managed to do in keeping oil prices down. Instead, they're playing the long game.
Starting point is 00:10:15 Right. Yeah. And obviously, the long game will remove the veneer of a lot of the temporary things that the administration has been able to do. One, you know, factor in here is the vice president, two, has been continually, at least optimistic publicly about negotiations. He was on Fox News on Saturday saying that this is just, quote, the middle game whenever it comes to an eventual outcome. Let's take a listen. We'll get your reaction. Also, of course, talked a lot about Iran. And where Iran is today, Kali, is that we're talking to the Iranians, of course.
Starting point is 00:10:45 We're trying to maximize the amount of oil and gas that are coming out of the Strait of Hormuz. That's the thing that we're most focused on right now. And you see, I think, oil prices dipping around $80 a barrel today, sometimes a little bit lower. So we're just trying to make sure that we get what we need out of this particular conflict. If you go back and remember what it is that we've done here, we've destroyed their nuclear program, we've destroyed their conventional military, we've radically reduced their, what you might call their asymmetric military abilities. And right now, we're trying to see if they're willing to make the kind of long-term changes that would be necessary to have a better relationship with the United States.
Starting point is 00:11:23 And if not, that's fine, too. We're just going to keep on applying the pressure that we can apply and getting as much oil and gas out of the Middle East so that Americans can enjoy lower gas and energy prices. So that's the delicate dance. The final thing I'll say about this, Kaylee, is I try to remind people that we're really in the middle of the game here. This thing is not over. It's obviously not at the beginning. we're in the middle of the game and we're applying a whole host of tools, diplomatic, economic,
Starting point is 00:11:48 military tools. They're hurting in a big way. They want this thing to be over. The question is whether their system is able to give the things that are necessary for us to be happy, for us to feel like we've gotten what we need out of this particular engagement. That is still to be determined, but I do think we've made some progress over the last few days. What do you make of that, sir? He's saying there's progress, no talks, as far as we know, There's no, you know, the demands are out there. Sure, the U.S. is not responded. Are you aware of anything from behind the scenes?
Starting point is 00:12:21 Well, one thing I think we've discussed in the past, I think is important to clarify. And I thought it was interesting that the vice president said that there's talks going on. He didn't say diplomacy or negotiations. The Iranians are very strict about how they divide these things. They keep on saying that there's no negotiations with the U.S. taking place. And officially there isn't because they don't consider exchange of messages, et cetera, as negotiations. And this seems to be infuriating Trump, who doesn't see any distinction between these different things. And as a result, thinks that the Iranians are lying to the
Starting point is 00:12:54 media when they're saying that there are no negotiations taking place. But on the issue of, you know, there's been some progress. Look, there has been some progress. There is variations of deals on the table between the two sides and the two sides that are actually officially negotiating are Iran and Amman. And that in and of itself is a partial victory for the Iranians. The Iranians are insisting that there are no international waters in the strait. There's only Iranian territorial waters and Omani territorial waters. As a result, whatever the final outcome of the strait is, it has to be determined by the two countries that have territorial waters here. That's why they have made sure that other GCC states are not at the table officially, nor is the U.S. Now, de facto, the U.S. is
Starting point is 00:13:41 absolutely at the table because the Omanis are not negotiating for themselves any longer. They're representing a position that is approved by the U.S. They're not going to put forward a proposal that the U.S. is not okay with this any longer, but it is not a direct negotiation. The Vice President also keeps on hinting at this positive image that this could lead to something that brings out a different relationship between the U.S. and Iran. I find it noteworthy that he keeps on mentioning this, even in the U.S. views with Fox News that probably is not the most receptive audience to that. Final point,
Starting point is 00:14:16 when he says that we're in the middle of it, I think there may be some truth in that. Remember with the NYU, for about two weeks we kept on hearing. They're close to a deal. They're close to a deal. Nothing happened and then suddenly it happened. Radio experience with Cameron Wickham. Live at the Ryman. Flights and two nights in Nashville. To see Cameron Wickcombe at the legendary Ryman Auditorium. Plus a thousand dollar spending cash. Listen to Pure Country for 10 minutes a day on the free IHart Radio app, and you're in to win. Cameron Wickholm.
Starting point is 00:14:55 Stream the new single, Kingdom of Fear. Available now. What's up, fam? I'm sports journalist Ari Chambers. Hey, what's up, y'all? It's your girl, Sam J. And we're the host of everyone watches women's sports, a new podcast from Together and IHart Women's Sports. Because let's be real. Women's sports is giving us way too much to talk about these days.
Starting point is 00:15:17 So Kelsey Finler, she became the first female solo rower to go for. from California to Hawaii. My first thought is, like, what's up with the snacks? Like, what are we eating? The highlights, the rivalries, the breakout stars, the moments that take over your entire timeline. And the conversations that start during the game and somehow keep going all week.
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Starting point is 00:17:12 Scott Besson also had some interesting comments about the straight-of-hormuz and how long it will be relevant. This is A-10. Let's listen to that. On the economic side, we have them by the throat shortly, maybe even today, tomorrow. we are going to see an agreement 30, 60-day ceasefire, and straight will be open, energy prices should come down. There are some who've speculated the straight will never go back to being the way it was before. What would you say?
Starting point is 00:17:41 I would say, I would take, I think they're saying that in a doomsday sort of way. I would say it in another way. The strait is never going back to the way it was because the Iranians, have used or tried to use it as a choke point. What we are going to see over the next two years, the strait's going to become irrelevant. It is going to become just another body of water. And I would say that more than 50 or 70% of the energy that moves through the straight now
Starting point is 00:18:15 is going to go through underground pipelines. So he says there, in a couple of years, the strait will basically be irrelevant. I saw a lot of people, Trita, taking this as a positive sign that the administration is sort of lowering the bar and lowering the expectations of like, ah, Strait of Hermos, he even nudes that anyway, we can just walk away at all, be fine. What did you make of these comments? Well, I mean, that is a positive interpretation of the whole thing. And if the administration is downplaying the importance of the straight,
Starting point is 00:18:42 even though that day is not going to come in two years and may come in 10 years, that is nevertheless a way for them to find an agreement in which they will, frankly, back down to a lot of the, to a lot of the demand. that the Iranians are making without making too big of a deal of it. And to be frank, would you, that is perhaps what they need to do. I wrote a piece of my substack about the fact that there's a conflation here taking place between what actually is the core interest of the United States and what is a secondary interest. Traditionally, the U.S. interest has been to make sure that there's a free flow of commerce that is non-discriminatory and predictable. That is the core interest. Whoever controls or
Starting point is 00:19:24 manages a specific waterway is a secondary interest, and it's only important to the point in which it impacts the primary interest, which is the free flow. If you have a deal between Iran and Amman that is endorsed by the U.S. and others, that at the end of the day ensures that there is free flow of commerce and it's non-discriminatory, even if there's service fees, et cetera, that is the achievement of the core American interest. The issue of control of it is secondary, and because of this conflation, we're now, again, going to war once more without any positive results in order to achieve a secondary aim, even though the primary aim can be achieved through diplomacy. Very smart. Let's put A6 on the screen. Curious for your reaction, there was some mainstream media
Starting point is 00:20:07 kind of speculation about what this mean. Iran shaking up its security team and appointing a new top security general. The Wall Street Journal and others are saying it's, you know, the old guard maybe entrenching their power. I know that doesn't necessarily fit entirely with kind of your view of the way the IRGC and the security establishment has reacted, especially after taking so many losses in the 39 days of the initial war. What do you make of this elevation? I just want to say, I think one has to have a tremendous amount of humility in analyzing this
Starting point is 00:20:40 because there's so little of the actual processes of the Iranian system right now that is fully known to us. It's always been an opaque system. It's even more opaque now since the, war began since the killing of the previous Supreme Leader. The person who is replaced is old guard. The person that is coming in is also
Starting point is 00:21:00 old guard in fact, they're old friends. So it seems to be a reshuffling that has more to do with internal factions playing against each other rather than necessarily an indication of policy direction. I frankly do not see a tremendous amount of difference between Zorad and Rezai on these different issues.
Starting point is 00:21:22 But it is a person who has played a very critical role in Iran's decision-making in the past that was kind of pushed out and has now come back in again. But the person who was replaced is also someone who's had a hand in these things for a very long time. So I think it remains to be fully seen exactly what the policy implication of this will be. What I think is clear is that when it comes to some of these factional fights, yes, there appears to be a move by the Supreme Leader that reasserts his control over the process. But that is not necessarily in and of itself an indication of where the policy is heading right now. Got it.
Starting point is 00:22:00 Another important element of this war have been the comments of the neocon media class that Trump unfortunately take seriously and listens to. Mark Levin right now very upset over the lack of eagerness among the American public to fight this disastrous war. Let's take a listen to that. What the hell has happened to our society? Where is our can-do-it mentality? I want to talk about the greatest generation versus today's young people. Okay? I got to thinking about this over this taco debate on the internet. That's how pathetic things have become. The greatest generation endured the severe economic scarcity of the Great Depression during their youth, followed by massive global combat,
Starting point is 00:22:46 and home front mobilization during World War II. Over 16 million Americans served in the military, facing intense physical danger, hundreds of thousands of casualties, strict civilian rationing of food, gas, and clothing. We sit here with a war in Iran against an enemy that has killed thousands of Americans, maimed thousands of Americans.
Starting point is 00:23:08 I remember a time when America would say, let's go, let's destroy that country, destroy that government. You don't get to kill thousands of people. of our fellow citizens. We don't even have a draft. But the draft even work with young people today? I wonder, could we even fight World War II today?
Starting point is 00:23:26 We're whining about a dollar of gasoline. Well, it went up 60 cents. What are we going to do? Mildred, what are we going to do? I don't know, Frank. It went up at the, I don't know. Affordability. So, Mark Levin, they're looking for a World War II level mobilization.
Starting point is 00:23:46 for this war, I think accurately perceiving. That's not something that the American public has an appetite for. In general, when he's upset, I take that as a positive indicator, though. Oh, totally. Absolutely. And I think what you're seeing here is the inherent problem you will face when you have started a war of choice. World War II was not a war of choice. These were wars that ultimately was because there was a force out there that was trying to establish global hegemony. And as a result, it was clear to the American people that this was a war that they were. had to fight to sustain America's own freedom and a global order that would not be under the command of the Nazis. This is, again, going back to some of the things that have been said earlier on
Starting point is 00:24:27 that, you know, Trump never tried to sell the war. And it's true he never did try to sell the war because mainly I thought he thought that he could have this war over within four years, four days. There was no need for him to sell it. They would be over with before people had even noticed it. But notice this language, sell the war. You don't have to sell the, you don't have to sell war if the war is defensive. If Mexico had invaded Texas, there would be no need for any government in the United States to sell the war to the American public. The American public would be up in arms because they would understand that the country is under attack and that this is a defensive war. You only need to sell the war when it is a war of choice. When you cannot convince the public
Starting point is 00:25:10 of the need to fight a war by them simply just seeing the images or understanding the situation as it is, you have to do something extra to get them to be on board. And thankfully, the American public is now so resistant to these wars of choice, to these unnecessary fantasies of war, that they are resisting, and it's making
Starting point is 00:25:29 Mark Levine miserable, and that is quite joyful to see, I have to admit. Always joyful. Last thing we want your reaction to was, I mean, potentially a major announcement, we're still not really sure what to make of it. Let's put A7 here on the screen.
Starting point is 00:25:42 Pakistan saying that they have a new defense pact with Saudi Arabia and Turkey. It is, quote, purely defensive. It is also open to others. The landmark Mecca Joint Defense Agreement by MBS, by Erdogan, and by the Pakistani prime ministers deepening their security cooperation. It's like some sort of, I mean, I wouldn't call it NATO necessarily. We do have a nuclear armed power here offering a security umbrella of a defensive agreement between the two. I'm not quite sure what to make in the immediate and long term, but I'm curious for your reaction. So a lot of speculation going on right now.
Starting point is 00:26:19 A lot of folks in Iran are trying to figure out is this aimed at them, a lot of Israelis looking at it and thinking, is this ultimately going to be a problem for Israel? The bottom line is this. This is the natural reaction, one of many natural reactions that will be emerging in the region for the next couple of years as a result of the collapse of the American security umbrella.
Starting point is 00:26:40 No one in the region will rely solely on the American Security umbrella, having seen that it's neither effective nor reliable. So there will be a natural search for other type of constellations in order to be able to make up for that. And it will not be done fully. It will be several different layers and variations. None of them will be as strong as the American Security umbrella was perceived to be at least at one point, despite the fact that Pakistan has nuclear weapons. The question is which direction it will go from here, Oliver. If it ends up, if the Iranians, for instance, play their cards badly,
Starting point is 00:27:17 it could end up becoming a regional constellation with the same aim as the U.S. had for the last four decades, which was to isolate and contain Iran. Something that previously was driven by American hegemonic desires would now be driven by regional states in their sense of threat and need seeing the rise of Iran right now. But I don't think that is where they intended to go. I think this ultimately is more targeting Israel because the American security umbrella have not only shown itself to be ineffective vis-a-vis Iran, but it's also shown itself to be
Starting point is 00:27:52 completely ineffective in protecting these countries from Israeli aggression. From Israel bombing Doha to America's inability to sustain and know to Israel when Israel are doing things, doing things in the region that are detrimental to the region and detrimental to U.S. interests. This requires some sort of a reaction, some sort of a constant. in the region that manages to put up buffer against it. The second question is, how credible is it? Because all of these different agreements go only as far as their credibility is willing to take
Starting point is 00:28:23 them. Is Pakistan willing to go to war with Iran over an attack on Saudi Arabia? It hasn't so far. Pakistan already has an agreement with Saudi Arabia. And it was never actually actualized during this war. And the Saudis themselves, they didn't ever ask for it to be actualized. but nevertheless, it raises question. Will Turkey do it?
Starting point is 00:28:45 I find that very unlikely. My hope is, however, that this does not lead into a direction of some form of block formation in the region, but rather that the region understands that the only way to get out of the security dilemma that all of them are faced with right now is to move towards an inclusive security arrangement. This may end up becoming an interim step towards that. But if it ends up becoming the destination, then I fear that it will be another one of these block formations that tend to create more conflicts than it actually resolves.
Starting point is 00:29:18 And the idea that this is purely defensive reminds me too much of the way NATO is describing itself, and we know how that went. Yes, yes. A lot of parallels between those two. Thank you very much, sir. We appreciate your time. Thank you so much for having. An I-Heart Radio Experience with Cameron Wickham. Live at the Riemann. Flights and two nights in Nashville.
Starting point is 00:29:41 To see Cameron Wickome at the legendary Rhyman Auditorium. Plus a thousand dollar spending cash. Just listen to Pure Country for 10 minutes a day on the free IHart Radio app and you're in to win. Cameron Wilhelm. Stream the new single Kingdom of Fear. Available now.
Starting point is 00:30:04 What's up fam? I'm sports journalist Ari Chambers. Hey, what's up y'all? It's your girl, Sam J. And we're the host of everyone watches women's sports, a new podcast from Together and IHart Women's Sports. Because let's be real. Women's sports is giving us.
Starting point is 00:30:17 too much to talk about these days. So Kelsey Finler, she became the first female solo rower to go from California to Hawaii. My first thought is, like, what's up with the snacks? Like, what are we eating? The highlights, the rivalries, the breakout stars, the moments to take over your entire timeline. And the conversations that start during the game and somehow keep going all week. Every week, we're breaking down the biggest stories across women's sports. Naomi Osaka showing out, she beat Sabalinka.
Starting point is 00:30:46 Shout out to you, Naomi. You get the palm, Naomi. You get the palm for that. Because we're not just interested in what happened. We're interested in why everyone's talking about it. Because everyone watches women's sports. Listen to everyone watches women's sports. On the IHeart Radio app.
Starting point is 00:30:59 Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast. Hey, Portlandia fans. Carrie Brownstein and Fred Armisen here. You know us or rather you know them. Tony and Candice, Nina and Lance, Spike and yes, the chicken. We've played a lot of iconic characters over the years, but today we're showing up as ourselves. to tell you about Podlandia, AEO rewatch, our brand new podcast.
Starting point is 00:31:22 Each week, we'll revisit an episode of Portlandia from the very beginning, breaking down the sketches, exploring the backstories of our most iconic characters, revisiting the Portland locations you know and love, and opening up about our creative process. How did any of this get made? Why do we think that was a good idea? We're ready to talk about it. And we'll also be joined by the people who helped bring it all to life.
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Starting point is 00:32:04 Ayo rewatch on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Turning now to the economy, which of course is a lot of consternation for Americans in the White House, predominant reason why the Iran War is so dramatically unpopular. Many of consumers, businesses are reacting to this in various different ways. One of them is a gas station in upstate New York, which is now offering customers the chance to get a 20% discount on gas. If they dance for the privilege, what we have here in front of us is being filmed by the clerk. We've got a man here literally dancing for the discount 20% off. The gas station says this was just a way to brighten up everybody's day.
Starting point is 00:32:53 All I see is just a broadcasting, humiliation of customers and general, you know, trying to take something which seemed, quote, unquote, cute, but reveals something much deeper about our society that people have to dance publicly for the privilege of getting a 20% discount on the gas at, like, the prices that they were. That used to be. Actually, no, it's not even used to be. So it's $4 a gallons or 20% off is roughly around like where things were. during the ceasefire. And so in terms of what you actually got beforehand,
Starting point is 00:33:24 around $3 gallon before the war actually was launched, I mean, you know, you don't want to make too much out of these things, but it is one of those. The fact that it was written up, it was celebrated. It was seen as cute, like the Washington Post, I said, oh, look at this nice little thing. Meanwhile, I'm reacting in, like, abject horror at this, like forcing people.
Starting point is 00:33:43 Like, one of those is an old woman. I'm like going to make this old woman dance for her 20% off. My God. What are we doing? percent off. This is madness. I mean, you know, again, these people willingly took part in this and maybe some of them were just having fun and all this for give us a discount. Want a discount? Show us your best dance move blasting it on their social media. But there's something deeper to be said. Well, that question of is it willing? Like, right. Yeah. Because you can put someone in a desperate situation and they will do something willingly that is definitely not without, you know, under duress.
Starting point is 00:34:17 Yeah. So anyway. disturbing, disturbing example of where we are as a society right now. You can make of that what you will. We had some administration officials on the Sunday shows over the weekend trying to make the case that actually the economy is just fine, no problem, no big deal, even after we got a shockingly bad jobs report on Friday that we covered on the Friday show where you actually, we actually lost jobs that was not expected. And previous months were also revised downwards. Let's go ahead and take a listen to how Kevin Hacett is spinning this. The economy, according to BLS, lost 23,000 jobs in July when economists were expecting a 95,000 job gain. The job creation you boasted about for the previous two
Starting point is 00:35:03 months, unfortunately, those numbers were also sharply revised down. It turns out 100,000 jobs were not created in May and June. You said in June that this was, quote, the strongest job market in your lifetime by what metric? Yeah, I think that one of the things we're seeing is that these jobs numbers are getting revised left and right. You can remember over the last couple of years, there were millions of revisions. And the bottom line is that if you look at the overall economy, then things are really, really booming. As an example, there are 83,000 construction workers building factories right now. That's a number that we've never seen before. Initial claims for unemployment insurance are the lowest they've been since World War II. There are more job openings
Starting point is 00:35:41 than there are unemployed workers. There are all these things that suggested the numbers should have been really strong. And when it didn't come out strong, we sort of dug in and we saw the two things that made it negative. One of them was a reduction in government workers, and it was mostly teachers at states, it states, you know, taking July off. And the other thing was that the FIFA ended, and so that we had a whole bunch of hospitality workers, you know, file for unemployment in July.
Starting point is 00:36:08 And so anyway, so you take those two out, and you get back to what the consensus number was, about 100,000 job creation. There have been job losses for six out of the 18 full months of President Trump. Trump's second term. That's a third of them. And the Trump administration has only added 548,000 net jobs so far, which is considered very slow growth. It's growth, but very slow. Two million jobs were created in the last 18 months of Biden's presidency. Are you really arguing
Starting point is 00:36:37 that your numbers are better than that? Well, I disagree with your number. We'll have to follow up on email, but I just looked at the latest number. I have to follow up by email, Sager. We'll get back to you on that one. Yeah, I don't really have a response right here. Let's actually look at the truth. This whole like, oh, it's just FIFA ended and hospitality. No, all right, let's put B4 up here on the screen when you actually dig into the jobs report. Heather Long, always relying on her. She's great. She talks about this. Key takeaway. It's a bleak jobs report. The U.S. labor market is stalling again and is going to make the Federal Reserve's job harder and life for job seekers rough. The big surprise was job losses in July, but that was only the beginning of the bad news. The unemployment rate
Starting point is 00:37:17 fell for the wrong reasons because people continue to leave the labor force. Labor force participation is now at the lowest level since February of 2021. Even worse is that wage growth is now cooled to a mere 3.2 percent, which is the lowest level in five years. This is not what workers need as inflation soars again. Healthcare is the main industry hiring again. That is not helpful for the economy. I always try to emphasize this to people. To the extent that our GDP is growing, it is because of AI. But to the extent that the job market is ever growing, it's only because of health care. And these are not, I'm not talking about doctors and nurses, which are great occupation. I'm talking about home health care aids, like very low paid labor, no protection, not a particularly high wage.
Starting point is 00:38:02 It's grimy work. That's why a lot of it is full of, like, you know, like immigrants from like the third world countries. Like it is not an educated or profession that you necessarily want to be employed in. Or that's one segment of it. It's insurance, like middlemen. people who are working in call centers. So that is not a job growth engine that you want to see in our economy. And actually, again, just to emphasize, this was one of the worst impacts of the Great Recession, was a huge number of people in 08 who got laid off in there just said,
Starting point is 00:38:35 I'm done, can't find a job anymore. So when you drop out of the labor market, and especially when you're not looking for work for over six months, bad things happen. We all know this. Drug addiction, homelessness, welfare. I mean, it's bad for society. especially whenever you're of prime working age. And then her point there about wage growth is there's no incentive right now to, well, there should be an incentive. But there's not as much of an incentive
Starting point is 00:38:58 to work or to pursue these wages when inflation remains where it is. Like if it's not going to keep up with inflation and on top of that, an overall housing market. I was just reading this morning, maybe we'll cover it tomorrow. There are now more younger people who are living at home, or there are now the same number of younger people
Starting point is 00:39:14 who are living at home than during COVID, during the pandemic. Like, what does that mean in terms of, you know, and our economic structure? I mean, to me, that's very obvious. Housing crisis. Rent is high. Mortgage is high. 26, 27-year-olds are living at home voluntarily choosing to come back because they don't have another choice. It could be a smart decision if you're able to, you know, structure it that way. Most people don't want to do that. And I think that's all evident right now in a lot of this data, in a lot of this data. Yeah, I mean, things are so dire now that Zoomers are looking at the economy that millennials graduated into with jealousy.
Starting point is 00:39:47 Like, wait, what did your Chipoli Burrito cost? Like, what did your groceries cost? And you want to talk about how hard you had it? Get out of here. What was the housing price at that time? What were you paying in rent? And there's a point there. What did your college education cost even?
Starting point is 00:40:00 I mean, it was way too expensive at that time. And now it's just impossible. So it's no surprise to make a political point that millennials and zoomers are coalescing on a very similar politics and are, you know, the real engine pushing forward candidates like Zoran Mamdani or Abdul al-Syad or Francesca Hong or others. across the country. In any case, to go back to the economic piece of this, you know, there was a lot of, previously there was a lot of cope about, oh, but it's, you know, because of all of the immigration crack down. And so when you have job losses, it's because, you know,
Starting point is 00:40:31 all these immigrants are leaving. And there's still a component of that here. But now you've got native-born workers also losing jobs. You can see the not just boomers retiring, but you can look at the prime age labor force participation that is also going down. And that is a sign of a very unhealthy labor market where people just get dispirited and stop trying because of inflation, because, you know, the types of jobs that are being created are, to Saras Point, low paid, very difficult work like home health care aides, et cetera. So, you know, that is the landscape that we are facing. But, you know, Fox News hosts will try to put their best spin on it. We've got Maria Bartramo here giving her best try to say that actually things are going great.
Starting point is 00:41:13 Don't worry about it. So Maria, let me pick up on this past job. report quickly and get your assessment on the fact that, you know, President Trump is constantly talking about record markets, you mentioned there, rising wages, and what we are still seeing, fewer layoffs, but yet this week already, we're going to be hearing from Democrats about how horrible the economy is. So, parse that. That's just propaganda. I mean, look, things are going well. And I think we all feel it, right, Griff? I mean, look at where we are right now. You've got job creation. You've got economic growth. You've got $18 trillion. of new investment. The president's main priority has been to put America first and get the supply
Starting point is 00:41:52 chains back to America so that we're not reliant on, you know, Asia for semiconductor chips, which we need for defense or, you know, China for pharmaceutical components. And so that in and of itself is such a positive for the economy and for growth. So really, everyone's going to say what they want to say in a campaign season. And I expect the campaign season is, you know, ramping up right now. But when you actually look at what's going on, things feel pretty good. I've spoken with a number of CEOs who tell me that business is up strongly. And it has to do partly, it has to do partly with the big beautiful bill. So, okay? I mean, look, almost expensing options. Yes. So why didn't, no, no, no worries. So why do you know, I hear you and that's all
Starting point is 00:42:34 great news and that's what Americans need to hear. But then what do you think's leading to the disconnect and maybe some voters and Americans not feeling that way? So why is that, do you think? I think, I think, it's messaging. I really do. I mean, the Republicans need to do a better job in telling their story in communicating what the big, beautiful bill has done for earnings. Amazing. Just a messaging problem. It's all propaganda that things aren't going well. Saga, maybe you have some insights into how we're doing on some of the metrics she's laying out of bringing supply chains home, making sure that we're more self-sufficient, you know, rare earth minerals, semiconductors, all of this. How's that going? Yeah, I literally just came across my radar today. There's a new story about batteries.
Starting point is 00:43:15 So this is a classic, like, Trump administration's story. So we have, obviously, batteries booming business here in the U.S., not just for data centers, but for electric vehicles. Great. So, of course, batteries have a life cycle. They have to be recycled. Recycling the batteries, how you extend the life. There's a ton of critical rare earth minerals inside of them, specifically tungsten. So one thing, you don't want it to be sent back to China to be recycled in Asia, so you want to keep it here.
Starting point is 00:43:38 So the Trump administration said, nope, you can no longer act like let any of this stuff leave, the recyclable material. It's called black mass. Well, the problem is that there's nowhere to recycle it here. So it's just going to rot, actually. And so we have no companies. They're all in the startup phase to be able to recycle any of this. So not only can we not send it back to China, Japan, South Korea, or whatever, to recycle and then send it back here actually make it useful.
Starting point is 00:44:02 We just don't even have that capacity. But the Trump administration can hail that and say, hey, look, we've restricted this, so we're not going to lose any of the minerals. But you have to recycle it to be able to use it. And so you can't use it, right? This is a very small story. But these are the type of things when you compound together. what do we have? What do we have the ability? Domestic manufacturing down. In terms of our
Starting point is 00:44:20 like buildout, it's all for AI. I mean, even in terms of our new energy buildout, I was just reading today, Amazon is going to build one of the most historic natural gas power plants in Texas. Cool. More energy. Love it. It's all for the data center, right? And it's all purely for the data center. It's not actually any real evidence that it will be able to power the actual homes that are on there. Texas's grid is already under strain so much so. Their own governor just decided to put a data center moratorium, not some leftist. The governor of Texas who can look at their singular grid, which has its own problems, is like, we cannot handle this right now, right? And this is about water and electricity use in addition to a lot of the land use stuff. So that's
Starting point is 00:45:04 the problem. It's like, do we have manufacturing? Sure. But we do not have it at a level that any of us are feeling the benefits. It's all just going to this AI. cap-ex spend, which is fine for electricians and a few other trades. You know, that gets dispersed, but it's not, it's not generally available to people, and especially with wages. That's my last thing. Let's put B4 up here on the screen. This is about inflation wiping out wage gains.
Starting point is 00:45:29 You can see it right there. I mean, literally, the orange line is CPI inflation, and the blue line, if you're watching this, is wage growth. So CPI inflation, because of the Iran War, has now jumped up so high. It's wiped out any of the wage growth, which, which means, you know, your purchasing power is now gone down in addition to very, very high prices, which have been dramatic ever since the outbreak of COVID. I just think the American consumer has been hammered twice.
Starting point is 00:45:54 COVID was a total disaster. And now gas prices, which today I just looked, $4 a gallon on average, that seems to be the status quo. Because I was reading in the Wall Street Journal, we didn't get to this with Trita, that the Trump administration seems to think that they can live in this status quo with Iran, this like, we're, you know, no war, no peace, because gas is, quote, only $4 a gallon, which we both know, it's just so devastating. Not just for the inputs of everything that needs to be trucked, et cetera, like, wait, you know, all the, all that, but really it just eats away at any of the disposable income that people have. And it's about to get cold. So when it
Starting point is 00:46:32 get cold, demand and all that stuff, it's going to go up. Hurricane season, that's all you need, and then next thing you are looking at $5. I just also want to point out on this manufacturing piece because this has been such a core of Trump's rhetoric about who he is and what he's going to do economically, et cetera. There was actually U.S. manufacturing growth during the Biden administration in a way that we hadn't seen in years. And it was as a result of the bills that they were able to pass, which were not working super fast, but they were actually overcoming the long-term trends such that after the COVID recession, you actually had added more manufacturing jobs than had been lost. That is the first time that's happened.
Starting point is 00:47:10 in our lifetimes in the modern era. Typically, what has happened is there's a recession, there's big job losses, and those manufacturing jobs never come back. Because of Trump's policies, both undercutting the Chips Act and the tariff policies have been counterproductive so that positive trend has now reversed.
Starting point is 00:47:27 So even on this core thing that she's trying to point to, oh, the manufacturing jobs are coming back, Kevin Hassett also, all these manufacturing jobs, et cetera, that's just not true. There's, yes, there's some data center jobs, some short-term construction data center jobs, And the vast majority of our GDP growth, by the way, comes from AI, CAPEX spend. I was just looking at that this morning.
Starting point is 00:47:48 But in terms of actually bringing back manufacturing, returning these supply lines, recreating these solid blue collar, oftentimes union, well-paid jobs, they have gone in the polar opposite direction over the course of this administration. And, of course, everything just made so much worse by the choice to get us involved in the Iran war. Right. Exactly. Iran kind of poured gasoline on the fire. but this stuff was all there.
Starting point is 00:48:11 You can actually see it even going back. And yeah, I mean, even build back better and all that. I have my immense criticisms of the way that it was laid out. But the thing is, to me, it wasn't even nearly enough. Yeah, I agree. We were talking about the EV America char. If you drive an electric vehicle, you'll see some of these things that they're pitily. Don't work.
Starting point is 00:48:29 They're not there. And that was just the, that was with what the Biden people had spent. If we wanted more, like, it would take immense amounts of investment. And that's what's tragic to me is no one even. proposes it anymore. Like electricity and all that remains actually quite high, in my opinion. If you look at especially consumption in Virginia where we live 40% of our powers, literally going to data centers beyond insane. Oregon, I think, is around 33%. So you've got relatively high consumer electric price, but you have no genuine incentive to build out everywhere. Again,
Starting point is 00:49:03 China does not care about data centers or, you know, build or anything because they have so much power. Now, a lot of their powers, you know, filthily generated. That's true. But, you know, here we have the option. They're adding renewable capacity at an insane clip. In 10 years, they will not have the same problem as to where they are with coal and oil and all of that, etc. But, you know, in today's society, they have a bargain with their whole society for a billion-something people. Electricity is quite cheap, you know. And just imagine what you can build on top of that and if you invest for the future. We just, we don't have that right now. And that's how you get this private data center, you know, build out. the labor force participation rate where it is. And just everybody knows, like the malaise of our society. It's like when young people who previously had the dream of being able to go rent, relatively cheap place, like you're saying with the millennials who we thought we had it bad, that just doesn't, you know, I was looking at median rent and all of that in San Francisco, which of course is not, why are you talking about thousands of dollars? Like people are competing for $5,000 a month in rent. One place, five grand a month that gives a studio apartment,
Starting point is 00:50:02 got 32 different applications. I don't even know how you can live like that. That's $60,000 a year that you're throwing away. And it's not exactly like you could buy it either because it's the $3.5 million townhome. That's that's that's one you know obviously one major outlier city. But it is, unless you live in Austin or Houston, you're going up a lot too. Well, Austin rent has gone down by about 20% from the peak, but it is still high compared to where it was previously. But I mean, you're still better off bang for your buck in Austin. Houston. I was just looking today about Dallas is one of the only places where it's called Yall Street like financial jobs are going up there. But unless you're living there, like in a place that's heavily deregulated on housing, your experience is going to
Starting point is 00:50:40 look a lot more like San Francisco than it is like anything in Austin and Houston. And even Austin and Houston, having been from the area, it is cheaper relative, you know, in the national market, but a lot of people there are already upset because compared to where things were, let's say, 10 years ago, certainly for them, it's gone up much higher. Overall, it's just a bad, bad situation. Okay, let's get to Israel. Experience with Cameron Wickham Live at the Rhyman Ask me how
Starting point is 00:51:06 Sent two nights in Nashville To see Cameron Wickham At the legendary Riemann Auditorium Plus a thousand dollar spending cash Just listen to Pure Country for 10 minutes a day On the free IHart Radio app And you're in to win Cameron Wickham
Starting point is 00:51:27 Stream the new single Kingdom of Fear Available now What's up fam? I'm sports journalist Ari Chambers Hey what's up y'all It's your girl, Sam J. And we're the host of everyone watches women's sports, a new podcast from Together and I Heart Women's Sports.
Starting point is 00:51:44 Because let's be real. Women's sports is giving us way too much to talk about these days. So Kelsey Finler, she became the first female solo rower to go from California to Hawaii. My first thought is like, what's up with the snacks? Like, what are we eating? The highlights, the rivalries, the breakout stars, the moments to take over your entire timeline.
Starting point is 00:52:04 And the conversations that start during the game and somehow keep going all. week. Every week, we're breaking down the biggest stories across women's sports. Naomi Osaka showing out. She beat Sabalinka. Shout out to you, Naomi. You get the palm, Naomi. You get the palm for that.
Starting point is 00:52:20 Because we're not just interested in what happened. We're interested in why everyone's talking about it. Because everyone watches women's sports. Listen to everyone watches women's sports. On the IHeart Radio app. Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcast. Hey, Portlandia fans. Carrie Brownstein and Fred Armisen here.
Starting point is 00:52:38 You know us or rather you know them. Candice, Nina and Lance, Spike, and yes, The Chicken. We've played a lot of iconic characters over the years, but today we're showing up as ourselves to tell you about Podlandia, AEO rewatch, our brand new podcast. Each week, we'll revisit an episode of Portlandia from the very beginning, breaking down the sketches, exploring the backstories of our most iconic characters, revisiting the Portland locations you know and love, and opening up about our creative process. How did any of this get made? Why do we think that was a good idea? We're ready to
Starting point is 00:53:10 talk about it. And we'll also be joined by the people who helped bring it all to life. Guest stars, collaborators and friends, including director Jonathan Chrysall, the mayor himself, Kyle McLaughlin, legendary musician Amy Mann, and many more. Kyle is going for it here. You fully improvised, not just words, but a song, a melody. I thought he was going to write. I thought you were all going to write a song. I remember you thinking that. Listen to Podlandia. Ayo rewatch on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. So recently, Trump announced with great fanfare that there was a new deal that was struck
Starting point is 00:53:49 to enable Hamas disarmament. Well, Benjamin Netanyahu has now shot that down completely. Let's put this up on the screen from the Washington Post. Netanyahu rejects Trump-backed Gaza plan for Hamas disarmament and Israeli withdrawal. I'll read a little bit. Here, Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu rejected that U.S. black plan on Sunday for Hamas to lay down their weapons in Gaza in exchange for Israeli withdrawal from the territory. A proposal Donald Trump recently touted as a breakthrough toward ending the conflict there, Netanyahu at the start of the government meeting said that Israel does not accept the 15-point document. Hamasana statement reaffirmed its own commitment to the plan and agreed on with the Board of Peace, which was created by Trump,
Starting point is 00:54:30 called on parties to help ensure its implementation. The White House, when asked for comment, referred the Washington Post to the Board of Peace, which did not immediately respond. That dismissal is the latest apparent setback for Trump's effort to end Middle East conflicts. Some of the requirements here for Israel included withdrawing U.S. forces from the region. Oh, I'm sorry, that's the Iranian requirements for the U.S. in the other conflicts that were involved in here. But in any case, part of this deal, which was, you know, the next phase of the quote-unquote Gaza peace plan, was that Israel was going to have to withdraw from Gaza, that that was going
Starting point is 00:55:06 to have to happen before Hamas laid down their arms. they've been signaling for a long time that they were open to doing so, that they did not even want to be in control of governance within Gaza. That was not a sticking point. And so they kind of had placed this bet of, you know, expecting that Israel was likely to reject these terms and moved forward in good faith with this deal. And now we have the predicted outcome here, especially with Netanyahu sort of under a lot of political pressure heading into his own election. Right. Well, that's a very good point. I do think, though, it still bears a lot of importance that you can look at, especially if you're Iran. Because Iran now has multiple examples of so-called, you know, deals that Trump has struck since the conflict with them has begun.
Starting point is 00:55:52 So obviously they have their own experience with the MOU, but then they have to look abroad. You had the entire fall apart of the civilian nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia that went apart like this when Trump just changed the negotiated, you know, the change the terms of the deal at the very last. minute. But this is honestly an even more important one because Trump tried to go around and, you know, the United Nations or any sort of, you know, any sort of existing international structure. He got all these Middle Eastern countries and kind of bullied them into joining this Board of Peace, paying all of this money. Board of Peace, Israel, you know, accedes to the Board of Peace says, yes, we're going to have this grand peace deal and all that. And just to remind people, let's put C3 up there on the screen. This is, you know, fundamentally like what it said,
Starting point is 00:56:35 what it said is that Hamas had agreed to the terms of said deal, where they were going to disarm and surrender its weapons and stages, Israel would then obviously have to withdraw its forces over a period of time. They did not even specify what that period of time was. And all of this had signatories and mediators from Egypt, Qatar, Turkey, and of course the United States, which the Board of Peace is like that, what is it, Trump is like, the president for life. Trump had even called it the historic agreement for the complete disarmament of Hamas. So you could not describe it as anything, but an extremely pro-Israeli deal. There's no UN enforcement, none of that.
Starting point is 00:57:10 There's regional buy-in, kind of this extra judicial, you know, League of Nations type thing that Trump was trying to do. But then fundamentally, when a push comes to shove, Netanyahu's like, I can't sign this. Because at the end of the day, my society wants me to stay there. They don't want me to stay there. They want to colonize, recolonize the entire thing, which is the truth of this.
Starting point is 00:57:29 And as you pointed out, this kind of puts it all together. Let's put C2 up here on the screen, is that Netanyahu's main opponent, Eisenkott, has now suggested that the U.S. back disarmament deal left Hamas in power. So he is saying, you know, attacking Netanyahu, isn't he allegedly like from the left or whatever? Yeah.
Starting point is 00:57:49 So Gaddi Eisenkot is the primary opposition figure against Netanyahu in these elections that are upcoming. He is held down as a more liberal Israeli politician. This guy is, you know, former high up in the IDF. He is the author of the Dehia Doctrine, not a moderate figure in any regard, but maybe a little bit more committed to the, you know, apartheid-style democracy that they have in Israel. So he's held up as this liberal savior, but you can see here from his comments. He agrees with the Netanyahu that, no, we will never withdraw from Gaza. This is not possible.
Starting point is 00:58:25 This is not on the table. And in that, he also agrees with Bezile Smokritch, who said in a video on Twitter, there is no Hamas and Gaza. that's the goal of the war. We are committed to it. The IDF cannot withdraw a single millimeter from the Gaza Strip prior to the disarmament of Hamas. And Netanyahu also said, just so everybody's clear, that he, as long as I am prime minister, a Palestinian state will not be established, which is reiterating something he has long said and stood by. So you can see that whether it's the quote unquote left in Israel or Netanyahu and his, you know,
Starting point is 00:58:59 government, which includes these outright terrorist fascists like Smotrich and Bengevier, they are all aligned in finding it unacceptable for them to withdraw at all from Gaza. And in fact, what they have promised is to take over more and more of Gaza. And by the way, while this is all go. This ceasefire is in place. There has continued to be mass slaughter in the Gaza Strip. They have since the ceasefire has been put in place, they have killed more people in Gaza than was killed on October 7th by Hamas.
Starting point is 00:59:27 So, and that pace seems to be escalating, too, by the way, which is a very, very troubling trend. We can put C4 up on the screen. Headline here as the Board of Peace cosplays diplomacy. Israel once again ramps up killing in Gaza. I think Ryan mentioned some of this when you guys were doing the show on Thursday. Just absolute horrifying things, you know, a fetus that's laid out on the ground after the mother is murdered, a wedding tent that is blown up with.
Starting point is 00:59:57 the groom to be inside mass civilian casualties. And again, the trend line is that this is increasing because as Trump stops paying attention, which he can always be counted on to lose interest and turn to other things, he's already bored with the Iran War II, that they're able to get away with more and more and more. So, you know, all of Gaza is effectively rubble. They're living in miserable conditions. There were also strikes on a medical supply tent, so basic medical supplies that are needed in mass quantities in the Gaza Strip because you have so many sick and injured people, that was also destroyed.
Starting point is 01:00:34 And meanwhile, they keep encroaching further and further into this territory. So no, they don't have any intention of moving forward with any sort of deal with regard to the Gaza Strip. And Trump, of course, if he wanted to and wanted to avoid the effective humiliation of him that this entails, because Israel's just basically saying,
Starting point is 01:00:53 no, we're not going to play ball here. I don't care that there was some agreement that was made. or that this was how things were supposed to proceed when we agreed to the ceasefire, he could certainly compel them to actually have to hold up their end of the deal, but he showed zero interest or willingness to do that.
Starting point is 01:01:09 Well, I think it's important for that reason, again, is that you have Lebanon, which is also happening at this moment. Let's put C4 up here. So while they're killing people in Gaza, they're also killing a lot of people in Lebanon. And remember, Lebanon is one of the main reasons why we don't have any ceasefire or peace deal between the United States and Iran.
Starting point is 01:01:26 I really believe that Israel and Lebanon was not party to the conflict, that this thing, I wouldn't say be over, but would be much closer to being over than it is today. Remember, Iran has now said not only Lebanon will be included in some sort of a restarting negotiations. Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq, and Gaza all need to be included. Are they serious about that? I don't know. But they were serious about it for sure. I think they probably are serious about it.
Starting point is 01:01:51 I certainly think so because at this point they're trying to flex their power because they're trying to show Professor Pape, Obviously, his framework so useful here is you have Iran, which was a rump economy with no control over the Strait of Hormuz, after the war controls the Strait of Hormuz, has the ability to compel, Israeli and U.S., you know, diplomatic power in Lebanon, has the ability to kick the United States or severely diminish their projection of power in the region. This is regional hegemon stuff, like in terms, not fully there, but ascending and trying to get there. Somebody looked at some of the data for what they're going to charge on the straight between
Starting point is 01:02:26 five and seven, I mean, that alone would be like a third of their entire GDP every single year in new fees. And if they have sanctions and access to the Western banking system, it will be a filthy rich country by this time is over. The reason I'm connecting it to this is that, you know, they came under a decent amount of criticism for not including Gaza in their initial demands over the memorandum. I seem to think that this will now feel like this. I seem to think that this will now be at least some part of what it looks like in the future. And Netanyahu has spit in Donald Trump's face. There is no other way around.
Starting point is 01:03:03 Trump hailed the agreement. The Board of Peace hailed the agreement. These are Trump's chosen people. They don't give a shit about Hamas or about Palestine or anything. Even them, they're like, okay, guys, can you agree to this? Sure, sure, sure. You know, maybe. And now they're like, nope, we're not going to do it.
Starting point is 01:03:17 We're not going to do it. I mean, it's stunning, honestly. Yeah, absolutely. Another humiliation for Trump at the hands of the Israelis. And I think the Gaza piece with, regard to Iran is also really important to underscore it. It's something that Professor Mirandi had said to us who said, listen, next time, if Iran moves forward with negotiations, it's not just going to be Lebanon. Gaza will be included in the requirement that there actually is a ceasefire, not a fake ceasefire where, you know, you cease, we fire, which is what's been going on, but an actual implemented ceasefire.
Starting point is 01:03:48 And so, you know, the price has gone up in terms of those negotiations. And, you know, Netanyahu once again revealing that he has no interest in anything but a status. quo that effectively benefits him. And these elections hanging over all of it, you know, he feels like also that even if he wanted, which he doesn't, even if he wanted to accept this deal, that this would be unacceptable because it's not where the population is. They have zero interest in any sort of accommodation here. And so he would be attacked from his right by the quote unquote liberals that are running against him. So that is the state of play. What's up fam? I'm sports journalist Ari Chambers. Hey, what's up y'all? It's your girl, And we're the host of Everyone Watches Women's Sports, a new podcast from Together in I Heart Women's Sports.
Starting point is 01:04:46 We're breaking down the biggest headlines. Naomi Osaka, showing out. Shout out to you, Naomi. The viral moments. I've been obsessed with Kashan Rock's boxing journey. She looks good. Her combos are swift. And the stories everyone's talking about across women's sports.
Starting point is 01:04:59 Because everyone watches women's sports. Listen to everyone watches women's sports on the IHeart Radio app. Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast. Hey, Portlandia fans. Carrie Brownstein and Fred Armisen here. of the 90s is alive in podcast form. We're launching Podlandia, AEO rewatch, our brand new podcast where we revisit every episode of Portlandia together, breaking down sketches, going deep on our iconic characters, and pulling
Starting point is 01:05:23 back the curtain on how it all got made. And we'll also be joined by the people who helped bring it all to life, guest stars, collaborators and friends, including director Jonathan Chrysall, the mayor himself, Kyle McLaughlin, legendary musician Amy Mann, and many more. Kyle is going for it here. You fully improvised, not. Just words, but a song. Well, I thought you were all going to write a song.
Starting point is 01:05:43 I remember you thinking that. Listen to Podlandia. A.O. Rewatch on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is Chelsea Handler from Dear Chelsea. Every week, the news gets worse. The world gets crazier. And Yamanika is here to tell whoever's responsible, you're the problem. Do you know I just found out who Sidney Sweeney was?
Starting point is 01:06:06 If he got a bunch of women, then I should have a bunch of men. Do better or do less so I don't have to do so much. I'm Yamanika and I'm out. Listen to You're the Problem with Yamanika on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.

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