The Headlines - Trump Threatens Iran’s Leader, and Some Gazans Fear Death While Getting Aid

Episode Date: June 18, 2025

Plus, “America’s Sweethearts” get a raise. On Today’s Episode: Trump Calls for Iran’s ‘Unconditional Surrender’ and Threatens Its Supreme Leader, by David E. Sanger‘I’ll Never Try Again’: For Some Gazans, Seeking Aid Is Just Too Risky, by Rawan Sheikh Ahmad and Abu Bakr BashirRussian Drone and Missile Strikes on Kyiv Kill at Least 10, by Constant MéheutAs G7 Talks End in Canada, Ukraine Comes Away With Little, by Matina Stevis-GridneffMembers of Congress Press for More Security After Minnesota Attacks, by Megan Mineiro and Michael GoldAn Expensive Alzheimer’s Lifestyle Plan Offers False Hope, Experts Say, by Lindsay GellmanThe Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders Get a 400 Percent Pay Raise, by Alisha Haridasani Gupta and Katie Van SyckleTune in every weekday morning. To get our full audio journalism and storytelling experience, download the New York Times Audio app — available to Times news subscribers on iOS — and sign up for our weekly newsletter.Tell us what you think at: [e-mail]. 

From the New York Times, it's the headlines. I'm Michael Simon Johnson. Today's Wednesday, June 18th. Here's what we're covering. As the conflict between Israel and Iran continues into its sixth day, President Trump has taken a newly combative tone calling for Iran's, quote, unconditional surrender and threatening its supreme leader, writing, quote, our patience is wearing thin.

The comments came before Trump met with his national security team on Tuesday, and it's the latest signal that the U.S. may be considering joining Israel's bombing campaign against Iran. Should the U.S. join the fight, intelligence officials told The Times that Iran has prepared missiles for strikes on U.S. bases in the Middle East. In anticipation of that, the Pentagon sent three dozen refueling aircraft to Europe, where they can assist fighter jets protecting those bases. The most immediate decision for Trump is whether to deploy America's largest conventional weapon,

a 30,000-pound bomb called the Massive Ordnance Penetrator. Israel has neither the bomb nor the planes heavy enough to carry it. Instead, it hopes the US can use it to destroy Iran's most heavily fortified nuclear enrichment site, which is buried under a mountain. Trump has resisted helping Israel attack the facility. He pledged not to bring the US into new wars and has largely pushed for a diplomatic solution in Iran. But that may be changing.

He's basically got a choice between going back to the Iranians one more time and saying, we made you an offer that would require you to give up all of your nuclear enrichment on Iranian soil, but over time. My colleague David Sanger covers the White House and national security. Or you can ignore the offer, as the Iranians have so far, and he'll say, I'll conduct this military operation. This is called coercive diplomacy.

And I think he may take some time, but not very much time to give them that last chance. And then I suspect if they turn that down he will make his move. Now the Iranian system is so dispersed in terms of power between the generals, the ayatollahs, civilian groups that I don't think they're capable of making that decision in a day or a week or a month. So my sense is we kind of know where this may be headed. I think the president's hope here is you go, you drop your 30,000 pound bombs, you've made your point and you go home.

But the fact of the matter is the world is rarely that simple. The Iranians will have their moment to respond. It may be against American bases or troops in the Middle East. If any of them are killed, obviously the pressure would be on for a big escalation of the conflict. And it would put him in exactly the place where he said he did not want to be. In Gaza. – Al-Qaeda! Al-Qaeda! Dozens of Palestinians have been killed and hundreds wounded this week In Gaza.

Dozens of Palestinians have been killed and hundreds wounded this week near aid distribution sites according to the local health ministry. Gaza officials blame Israel for the deaths and the Israeli military says it's looking into the matter. In recent weeks, Israeli soldiers have repeatedly used deadly force to control crowds who they say are rushing aid trucks. This has forced many Gazans to choose between letting their families go hungry or risking getting shot.

Some Palestinians have told the Times they now won't risk going back. One said, quote, The danger is too high for me. I don't want to face death this way. Meanwhile, the war in Ukraine carries on, as Russia pummeled Kiev with drones and missiles on Tuesday. It was the deadliest attack in nearly a year, killing 10 people, including a U.S. citizen, and wounding at least 100 more. Russia has been intensifying its airstrikes against Ukraine in the last few weeks, launching as many drones and missiles in a single night as it did throughout all of June last year.

The latest attack comes as Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky traveled to Canada to meet with G7 leaders and push them to hit Russia with tougher sanctions. But during the summit, President Trump seemed to blame the war on the G7, criticizing the group for expelling Russia over a decade ago after it annexed Crimea. Trump said, quote, They should let Russia come back in because we should have Russia at the negotiating table. Ultimately, Trump rejected the idea of G7 leaders releasing a joint statement supporting Ukraine, and he left the summit before he was scheduled to meet with Zelensky. — We are seeing a dramatic increase in threats against senators,

congressmen, public officials, and throughout America. — In Washington, members of Congress from both parties are pushing for more security and more security funding in the wake of recent attacks in Minnesota against state lawmakers. Senators met on Tuesday with a top congressional security official who briefed them on recent enhancements for protecting lawmakers amid rising concerns

of political violence. Last year, Capitol Police investigated more than 9,000 threats against lawmakers, their families and staff, a significant increase from the year prior. However, prosecutors secured only eight convictions related to those threats. In the medical world, an unconventional idea, one that's promised to upend our understanding of Alzheimer's, has been spreading. It's the focus of television specials, popular podcasts, conferences, self-help books. The idea is that lifestyle changes and supplements can not only slow the progression of Alzheimer's

but actually reverse it. The Times spoke with doctors and researchers who study the disease, and they say these big claims have little proof backing them up. I've been reporting on a man whose claims about his program have been infuriating the medical establishment. Lindsay Gelman covers health and has been following a former neurologist at the forefront of this movement,

a man named Dale Bredesen. His books have sold hundreds of thousands of copies, and his program has trained more than 2000 health practitioners and reached thousands more patients. Over eight months, Lindsey followed one couple as the wife, Carrie Briggs, went through the intensive and expensive program. They started last July with a whole regimen of supplements.

It worked its way up to being about 34 different supplements a day that Kerry was taking. And after trying all of these different elements of the program, the diet, the hormonal treatments, the visits, the supplements, all together that cost around $25,000. And they were hoping to see some sort of improvement in her symptoms, but that just wasn't happening.

If you improve your exercise and diet so that your cardiovascular health improves, you can potentially, according to medical experts, slow down the progression of Alzheimer's symptoms. But the experts I spoke to say that's really different than the claim of reversing the underlying physiology of Alzheimer's disease. And that claim is not supported by the small number of studies that Bredesen has done.

There is no cure and seven million Americans have it, which means that's a really large population of patients that are looking for some sort of answer. And when you combine that with the idea that a program is being marketed to patients and their loved ones, experts say that you risk offering that vulnerable patient population false hope. And finally, everyone's going to say, well, they're just cheerleaders. We're really good cheerleaders. The new season of Netflix's hit show, America's Sweethearts about the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders

premiered today, and it addresses an issue that's plagued the organization for years. How much the cheerleaders get paid after years of pushing. They're finally getting a raise. A former Cowboys cheerleader sued the team in 2018 over unfair pay, claiming she was paid about $7 an hour with no overtime plus a $200 per game fee. In total, that was less than what the team mascot made. But, and spoiler alert if you plan on watching, Netflix's docu-series reveals that the women, who often work long hours, are now getting a roughly 400% pay raise for the 2025 season.

The numbers are still vague. The show doesn't say exactly how much they're making or what they made before. The Times spoke to two Cowboys cheerleaders who were part of this push for higher wages, who said under this new agreement, veteran cheerleaders could be making around $75 an hour, though they still won't get health insurance. Still, one expert said the pay increase won't just benefit Cowboys cheerleaders, but will

raise the overall market rate for cheerleaders across the board. Said one of the cheerleaders, quote, we're hardworking athletes who deserve to be seen as such. Those are the headlines. I'm Michael Simon Johnson. We'll be back tomorrow.