What A Day - The Cost Of War Is More Than Oil

Episode Date: March 12, 2026

The war with Iran has already killed more than a thousand Iranians, including 175 people killed at an elementary school on February 28th. According to multiple news outlets, a preliminary report from the U.S. military says the U.S. was at fault for that strike. President Donald Trump previously said Saturday that Iran was at fault for the attack and then, on Wednesday, replied, "I don't know about it," when a reporter asked him about the investigation. It's part of a larger pattern in the Trump administration's messaging about the war. From why we're in this conflict in the first place, to what our goals are, to when this war will end, there's a fog around everything. Arizona Democratic Senator Mark Kelly joins the show to discuss how members of Congress are dealing with the White House's stonewalling.And in headlines, President Donald Trump travels to Ohio and Kentucky to downplay concerns about the economy, no one has any idea what Kristi Noem's new job entails, and newly released deposition videos show a former DOGE staffer struggling to answer basic questions about DEI.Show Notes: Call Congress – 202-224-3121 Subscribe to the What A Day Newsletter – https://tinyurl.com/y4y2e9jy What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcast Follow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/ For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday

It's Thursday, March 12th. I'm Jane Koston, and this is what a day. The show that says if you go to a taco place on vacation in New York or anywhere else and have a salsa that's too spicy for you, you simply say, that's too spicy for me. You do not, as a German tourist did earlier this year, sue for damages, especially since the judge might make fun of you in his opinion, siding with the restaurant. Quote, a quick Google search for Mexican food, salsa, or even Los Tacos reviews, likely would have revealed that salsa can be quite spicy, wrote U.S. District Court Judge Dale Ho, with a level of sarcasm even spicier than the sauce is all started with.

On today's show, President Donald Trump rebrands the war as an excursion and tries to convince everyone that the economy is doing just fine. And newly released deposition videos show that a former Doge Bro has no idea what DEI is. Who would have thought? But let's start with a war in Iran. And as we take decisive action to stop, the threat posed by the terrorist regime in Iran with operation? Epic Fury! Is that a great name? Well, it's only good if you win, you know, you can only do.

And we've won. Let me say we've won. Trump had his own, President George W. Bush, mission accomplished moment on Wednesday, telling a crowd at a rally in Kentucky that the war with Iran is over, before adding, quote, we don't want to leave early, we want to finish the job. So the war with Iran is not. Act over. Not for the U.S. and not for the bulk of the Middle Eastern region, which has been thrust into the conflict. The war has already killed more than a thousand Iranians, including

175 people killed at an elementary school on February 28th. According to multiple news outlets, a preliminary report from the U.S. military says the U.S. was at fault for that strike, which contradicts Donald Trump, who said Saturday that Iran was at fault for the attack, and then Wednesday said, quote, I don't know about it when a reporter asked him about the investigation, which seems to be a part of a larger pattern. We are not getting any good information about this war from the Trump administration. From why we're in this conflict in the first place to what our goals are to when this war will end, there's a fog around everything.

So to find out what members of Congress are doing to reckon with the informational soup Trump has created, I spoke to Arizona Democratic Senator Mark Kelly. Senator Kelly, welcome to what today. It's good to be here. Thank you for having me on again. On Wednesday, you and nearly all of your Democratic colleagues in the Senate wrote a letter to the Department of Defense asking for answers about a strike that hit in elementary school in Iran. As a former leader in the military, what is the first thing you want to know? Well, I want to know how this happened so we can make sure it doesn't happen again.

That's the really critical piece of this. And I think we're living in a time where the information we get from the government, from the administration, is not. accurate. The president's initial response to this was, well, it might have been an Iranian tomahawk missile. Well, that's not a thing. That's a ridiculous thing for a president to say. He should know better. But he threw that out there as a way to try to deflect blame. The thing about us is the United States. I mean, we've got to be better than other countries. And that includes accepting responsibility when things go wrong. Then we need to change whatever process broke, whether it was, a targeting process or an intelligence gathering process because we can't have this happen again.

I wanted to actually ask a little bit about the information environment that you're in because a good friend of mine, he has a substack where he counted that there were 17 different explanations for why we got into this war that we have gotten from Trump administration officials. How difficult has it been for you as a senator to get information about the objectives and progress of this war? Well, I've got to get with your friend because my list is 13 and we're, what, a little over a week into this. And, you know, this started out about nuclear weapons and regime change of ballistic missiles and the Navy and then an imminent threat in the future and then oil. And, you know, I had a feeling. It was on the list. I mean, I'm on the Intelligence and Armed Services

Committee. So I've access to, you know, the most up-to-date, real information, often classified. And it's hard for me. The information environment is really complex. And our adversaries are using it against us. Russia, China, Iran, and the North Koreans do it too. And they use social media to try to divide us as a country and feed us false information. So I try to go to trusted sources, you know, the committee work, which people don't generally have access to, but, you know, trusted media outlets, the New York Times. the Wall Street Journal, CNN and others, and try to not believe everything I read on social media. Speaking of the New York Times, I want to go back to that U.S. strike on a school.

The New York Times reported Wednesday that the military investigation into that strike, the preliminary findings show that the U.S. committed the strike because of outdated data leading to a targeting error. How can Congress, how can you hold the Pentagon accountable for mistakes like this? Because as you say, we shouldn't be doing this. This should have never happened and this should never happen again. Well, one of my big concerns is that there were a lot of strikes in a really short period of time and how much due diligence are the targeters and the

intelligence officers doing before making a decision to hit a target. You can't take these things back. And we've got to be very, very careful about civilian casualties. You know, the Russians target civilians in Ukraine intentionally. The Iranians are targeting civilians in cities throughout the Middle East, Tel Aviv and Dubai and Abu Dhabi and others. We don't do that. But we also have to be very, very careful to make sure it doesn't happen by accident. And this was obviously, you know, an accident. I don't have any question about, you know, whether, you know, this was intentional.

we just don't do that. But we have to be incredibly careful, especially when you have a very high ops tempo. A lot of airplanes launching, you have a lot of weapons available. And there was a call that I saw was made public, that they were looking for intelligence officers to, you know, move into the region because they were looking at so many targets. And then you start to take shortcuts. But I think the bigger problem here with this is we're talking specifically about an operation. But if we zoom out a little bit, You know, why are we in this war with Iran in the first place? You mentioned 17 reasons. I'm counting, you know, 13. President hasn't given any kind of a very clear strategic goal and a plan and a timeline to do this. And when you don't have those three things, I think it's very easy to wind up in a conflict, you know, for months, if not years. And you're like aimlessly stuck in it. And you have rising casualties on both sides. to what end? Like, what are the American people getting out of this? So far from what I can tell, they're getting higher gasoline prices. And we have a president focused on not the problems he said

he was going to try to solve, which is high costs and also keeping us out of conflicts, right? Now we're in one. Earlier this week, you introduced a bill that would suspend the federal gas tax until October. In your view, is that enough to combat the higher costs Americans are seeing at the bump? Well, before I get to the gas thing, let me also say that the cost. for families, seven families across our country, the cost was the ultimate cost. They lost their lives. And we also have 140 injured service members out there. I don't know the extent of their injuries. I'm sure some of them are very severe. And they're going to wind up with lifetime disabilities. And that affects not only them, their families, their friends. We have children

that are orphaned because of this. So the cost is the greatest cost anybody or any family can pay. on the cost of fuel, 20% of worldwide crude oil flows through those straits between Iran and Oman. Even though most of that oil goes to Asia, it does result in higher prices even in the United States and for gasoline. So my bill would suspend the federal gas tax through October. It's 18.4 cents per gallon. It's not a lot. Gasoline has gone up by more than that amount already. but when families are struggling, it's one thing that we can do, you know, right now to try to give them some relief. So, you know, hopefully we'll get some bipartisan support and we can get that passed. Something I think about a lot is that there's an old saying that one of the challenges in war is that the enemy gets a say.

You are a retired Navy captain. And I'm well aware and you're well aware that America could say the war is over and Iran could say absolutely. not. Can you actually put an end date on war as Trump keeps trying to do, saying two weeks and four weeks, maybe six months? Like, it just doesn't make any sense. Yeah, I think he believes that when he decides it's over, it's over, but that doesn't mean the Iranians stop striking targets in the region and cease in committing terrorist acts and the Straits of Hormuz are wide open, despite the fact that there's some mines, you know, been laid. So you're right. They do get a say, usually these things end by some kind of negotiated settlement.

Now, remember where we were before it started. We were in a negotiation that was ended by the administration, and within a day or so, combat operations started. You know, my preference would have been to stay in this negotiation. We also, by the way, have a president who ripped up a nuclear deal that was keeping the enrichment low, and the Iranians weren't racing towards a nuclear weapon. And my big worry now is, does the new Supreme Leader who's considered a bigger hardliner than his dad, does he at some point try to race to get a nuclear weapon? That would be catastrophic if the Iranians were able to build a functioning weapon.

And we didn't have to be here. And now we're at war with Iran. At the same time that all of this is happening, the Department of Homeland Security is still closed. and soon senators will be asked to confirm a new department head. Do you have any concerns about DHS not operating right now, especially as it should be? And are there any meaningful proposals to reopen DHS right now? Well, there's, you know, we're talking about a couple different things, right? So ICE is part of DHS, but Coast Guard and FEMA are as well. And it's important that the Coast Guard and FEMA get funded.

With regards to ICE, having Christie Nome fired for doing a police, poor job, that's a step. There are other individuals that need to be fired, and then somebody needs to overhaul this agency from the top up or, you know, the bottom down. It doesn't matter to me, but it needs a complete overhaul. And we made a proposal on what we thought should be changed. It was rejected by this administration, and now the Republicans are politicizing this entire thing. What they could do is pass our plans to fund FEMA, fund the Coast Guard, and then work with us to come up with a proposal to make some changes at ice so people's constitutional rights aren't violated. And so we don't wind up with more dead Americans in the streets at the hands

of federal agents. We can't have this. And we can't have people's being beaten up and maced for no reason and, you know, their homes being entered without warrants. So we're trying to overhaul the agency. And it's pretty simple what we're asking for. and at the same time, we can fund TSA. We can fund Coast Guard. We can fund FEMA. Senator Kelly, as always, thank you so much for joining me. Appreciate you having me on. That was my conversation with Arizona Democratic Senator, Mark Kelly. We have more important news in the way.

But if you like the show, make sure to subscribe, leave a five-star review on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, watch us on YouTube and share with your friends. More to come after some ads. What Today is brought to you. by Zbiotics. Let's face it, after a night with drinks, I don't bounce back the next day like I used to. I have to make a choice. I can either have a great night or a great next day. That is, until I found pre-alcohol. Zbiatic's pre-alcohol probiotic drink is the world's first genetically engineered probiotic. It was invented by PhD scientists to tackle rough mornings after drinking. Here's how it works. When you drink, alcohol gets converted into a toxic byproduct in the gut.

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What's really happening? What can we do about it? And how do we keep going together? This is a space for clarity, strategy, and hope rooted in action, not denial. New episodes of Assembly Required drop Tuesdays. Tune in wherever you get your podcast and on YouTube. Here's what else we're following today. Head Alines. So we had to take an excursion, but it's doing well. The market's holding up well. I figured it would be hit a little bit, but we were hit probably less than I thought,

and we'll be back on track in a pretty short while. Prices are coming down very substantially. Oil will be coming down. That's just a matter of war. President Donald Trump tried to downplay economic troubles outside of a pharmaceutical company facility in Ohio on Wednesday. Apparently it's no longer a war. It's an excursion. But if the economy isn't looking great, well, that's a matter of war. So economy, good, excursion, economy, bad, war. Here with me to talk through Trump's affordability tour that isn't. And all the news of the day is what a day newsletter writer Matt Berg.

Hey, Matt. Hey, Matt. So, Matt, Trump stopped at that pharmaceutical company facility in Redding, which is a suburb of Cincinnati, sort of, because all of Cincinnati in many places is a giant suburb. That's where I'm from. He also went to a packing facility in Hebron, Kentucky, part of Republican Representative Thomas Massey's district, Thomas Massey, who, as you know, Trump hates beyond all things. So Trump doesn't like Thomas Massey for a lot of reasons. And one of them is because he is one of the lawmakers who has spearheaded the ethical. the Epstein Files release. Trump recently endorsed Massey's opponent, Ed Gowryne, a former Navy SEAL in the primary.

And Trump posted this week on Truth Social that Massey is, quote, the Republican Party's worst congressman ever. Trump was probably grumpy, though, because of all the bad economic news that's been coming out. There's a recent report that employers cut 92,000 jobs in February. It's unexpectedly high, and it also proves that Trump's economy is not the greatest ever. even though he is always saying that. Inflation also didn't change much between January and February, according to fresh data.

But that was before the start of the war. We could see prices go even higher in the coming weeks, and it could take a long time before they come down. Yeah, and to that note on Wednesday, Trump said that the U.S. will tap the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Earlier on Wednesday, the International Energy Agency announced members will release more than 400 million barrels from strategic reserves. This is all notable because, I mean, one, oil reserves, but also, remember, Trump said that we won the war and everything's great and fine. But let's move on to one of my favorite subjects. Former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Christy Noem who made a ad that in which she got to ride horses with Buffalo, which respect. The New York Post reported that last year, Corey Lewandowski, her special aide slash alleged paramour,

told one of the paper sources, quote, I'm not worried. I do whatever the fuck I want. DJT will pardon me. Now, Lewandowski denied saying this, even though it 100% sounds like something he would say. He also added that I haven't done anything that would need to be pardoned for, which is an interesting addition to make. But what's Christy Noem been doing since she got fired, which was, again, really funny and cool? I've been wondering the same thing. And so I thought I would ask people who would know what Noam is up to since her title is now, quote, Special Envoy for the Shield of Americas. If that sounds made up, it's because it is.

Trump literally made that up. Earlier this week, Noam had a first public appearance is the special envoy saying that she would keep our adversaries at bay in the Western Hemisphere, which is very vague. That's like, okay, you're going to let your golden retrievers sit on the porch and just keep adversaries. Bay, but not with Kristianone because she hates dogs. And so that is exactly the vibe that I got from a lot of people on the Hill. An aide to the Senate Homeland Security Committee told me that they've received no information about her job aside from public reports since Friday. And a longtime Latin American expert told me that this is, quote, a golden parachute job

in that he, quote, doubts she has any idea what she's even doing. In other news, humanity's groups, including the American Historical Association, are suing the National Endowment for the Humanities over the process Doge used to cut grant funding. Over $100 million in NEH grants were canceled by Doge. The reason I bring this up, Matt, is because depositions from the discovery process were recently released, and Doge staffer

Justin Fox oversaw the use of chat GPT to terminate NEH grants. Let's hear from him. How do you interpret DEI? There was the EEO explicitly laid out the details. I don't remember it off. my head. It's okay. I'm asking for your understanding of it. Yeah. My understanding was exactly what was written in the EO. Okay. So can you... I don't remember what was in the EO. So right now, do you have an understanding of what DEI is? Yeah. Okay. So what's your understanding as you sit here today in this

deposition? Um, well, it was exactly what was written in the EO. Nobody wants to be deposed. Like, nobody does. But I think we should make this person be deposed like once a day. This is, this is beautiful. And Matt, I think that you learned some interesting information watching this deposition. Yeah. So one reason that he may have been so uncomfortable in this is that he said Chad JPT was correct to flag that a documentary about violence against women during the Holocaust should have been flagged is DEI. He also justified that by saying the documentary was, quote, specifically focused on Jewish cultures and quote, voices of the females in that culture, which is, you know, spoken like a true magapilled deckbro?

General rule, if you say the phrase, the females, a meteor should just come from the sky. In other news, having to do with people I don't like, the New York Times reported this week that Attorney General Pam Bondi moved from her DC apartment to a military base in the D.C. area due to threats, both from cartels post-Maduro abduction and critics of her handling of the Epstein files, which, like, that sounds very scary and very hard. But there are other Trump officials. I think you've mentioned who may have had to move to military facilities. Yes, those Trump officials include none other than Stephen Miller, Pete Hankseth, Marco Rubio, and Christy Noem, which sounds like the opposite of Mr. Rogers' neighborhood.

Sounds like the last place I want to be. Yeah. In my imagination, they all live in one neighborhood, and that's the worst place in the entire world. Do not ride your bike through that neighborhood. Don't do it. Matt, thanks for hanging out and talking about it. the news with me. Thanks for having me. And that's the news. Before we go, if you want the perspective of people who actually know what's happening behind the scenes in Washington, check out runaway country

with Alex Wagner. This week, Alex sits down with Rachel Maddo to talk about the escalating conflict with Iran and how the story is unfolding inside the halls of power. New Jersey Democratic Senator Andy Kim also joins to discuss the corruption and political decisions that helped lead us into this war. Listen to wherever you get your podcast or watch on YouTube now. That's all for today. If you like the show, make sure you subscribe, leave a review, double check that Secretary of War slash little boy Pete Heggzath always looks hot in photos and tell your friends to listen. And if you're into reading, and not just about how according to the Washington Post, the Defense Department has barred photographers from briefings for the Iran War because their photographs of Hegseth were, quote,

unflattering. Like me, what a day is also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and subscribe at cricket.com slash subscribe. I'm Jane Koston, and look, I get it. If you have to give a briefing on a war choice that has risked the lives of thousands of people in the entire global economy, the least you can do is ensure all of the photos make you look sexy. What Today is a production of Crooked Media. It's recorded and mixed by Desmond Taylor. Our associate producer is Emily Four. Our producer is Caitlin Plummer. Our video editor is Joseph Dutra. Our video producer is Johanna Case. We had a production help today from Greg Walters, Matt Berg, Sean Ali, and Ethan Oberman. Our senior producer is Erica Morrison and our senior

Vice President of News and Politics is Adrian Hill. Our theme music is by Kyle Murdoch and Jordan Cantor. We'd help today from the Associated Press. Our production staff is proudly unionized with the Writers Guild of America East. In moments like these, it's easy to feel overwhelmed and even easier to feel powerless. But we are neither. I'm Stacey Abrams, and on my podcast, Assembly Required, I take on each executive action, legislative battle, and breaking news moment by asking three times. questions. What's really happening? What can we do about it? And how do we keep going together? This is a space for clarity, strategy, and hope rooted in action, not denial. New episodes of assembly required drop Tuesdays. Tune in wherever you get your podcast and on YouTube.