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Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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This has been on Breaking News. I'm Ben Micellis, and this is your Breaking News. The war in Iran that Donald Trump instigated. It is spiraling out of control right now. Gulf states are absolutely furious at Donald Trump and his regime in the United States. They feel utterly betrayed right now.
And they're thinking about, should they be engaging in a regional security arrangement with Iran at this point? Because the U.S., for all of its bravado and promises and promises Donald Trump demanding quid pro quo tributes to Trump companies, which these Middle East nations thought they were buying security for themselves, that air of security has been completely shattered.
Even with the most powerful military force in the world, and nobody disputes the United States had that power, And again, I think I'm speaking in past tense because I'm not sure we have that right now. But even if we had that, not being prepared and rushing into a war because Donald Trump was told that Netanyahu was going to invade first. So the U.S.
rushes into war and doesn't heed the warnings of the Arab nations that clearly stated that What will unfold if you do that is Iran will attack all of the neighboring Arab nations. They will shut down the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran has developed these very advanced drones that they are giving to the Russians in Ukraine, the Shahid drones that are very difficult to shoot down now based on some of the advancements. Ballistic missile developments by Iran. cluster munitions by Iran that have been developed that makes it harder for the billion-dollar US systems to work.
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Chapter 2: What are the latest updates on the war in Iran?
And they're out there bragging about it. Kirill Dmitriev, the main Russian guy, is out there, their main envoy. Thank you, Steve, Jared, and Josh, for a productive meeting. And Steve Witkoff.
who butchered the negotiations with Iran, didn't even understand the technical details of what Iran was saying or what the mediator from Oman that the United States had selected was even saying because there was actually a deal that was offered as the foreign minister of Oman made clear when he went on TV back on February 27th to tell the world, we've got a deal.
And the deal is just need some technical fixes on Monday, but we basically got a deal So you had Witkoff and Kushner. Why is Kushner there? Who appointed this guy? Kushner and who are these people for real? I mean, like, who the hell are they? Trump's real estate and son in law are out there doing these negotiations.
And and that's one of the contributing factors to us being in this unlawful war against Iran.
Chapter 3: How are Gulf states responding to Trump's actions?
I mean, how utterly despicable is that? But the Russians are there. And the Russians are in Miami. And they're talking about economic cooperation deals with Trump. At the same time, they're helping Iran kill Americans, hit American interests. They're loading Iran with coordinates and supplies, right? America's removing sanctions from Russia, removing sanctions from Russia right now.
And America's talking about economic cooperation with Russia and helping them. And Russia's been benefiting immensely from all of this. America's bailed out Russia, which had its economy failing as a result of this. And you know who's also moving water through the Strait of Hormuz? You know who's doing it? Iran.
Never have they got more water, never have they got more oil through the Strait of Hormuz. They're exporting about 13.7 million barrels of crude oil since the war began. You know who else is getting it through? China. So Iran is allowing its allies to utilize its oil. It's enriching itself, which in turn allows it to build more drones. and strike the US.
And now we have this war of attrition that Donald Trump never planned for. If you just look around in the region, Kuwait residential buildings are being shot, more Bahrainian oil facilities being shot, more Kuwaiti oil depots and residential areas being shot, more ships in the Strait of Hormuz being attacked. And yes, the United States and Israel are attacking Tehran. Yes, they're attacking Iran.
We know that also there have been these
devastating strikes on elementary schools which our military has now confirmed 150 little girls have been killed as a result of uh of this which the trump regime tried to uh cover up i mean how despicable is that and donald trump's like i don't know i don't know i want to show this clip though here very quickly this is donald trump uh speaking to local 12 in cincinnati right here where donald trump's bragging about how good things are
Let's play this clip of Trump on Local 12 Cincinnati yesterday bragging about everything's amazing. He says, let's play it.
We're doing a great job. There's never been a better year for a president. I mean, I've been rated. There has never been a better year for a president first year than what we had. That includes the stoppage of eight wars with a ninth to come. And what we've done, the economy is roaring. It's phenomenal. That's why I'm here. This is an excursion, a little excursion. And I think it's only that.
And in that little time, that short period of time, we've taken care of business. We took care of a country that was very dangerous, very bad, would have had a nuclear weapon if it weren't for me and the B-2 bombers and what we did not very long ago. They would have had a nuclear weapon and we would have had levels of problem that nobody has ever seen before.
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Chapter 4: What military capabilities does Iran currently possess?
Where the hell is the defense? You wanted us to do world liberty financials, so we gave you hundreds of millions. You wanted us to do this. You wanted us to do that. You wanted Trump hotels. We gave you all of that. And now you rushed into this war without listening to us, without consulting us. And now we've heard that these Middle East nations are talking about security arrangements with Iran.
And with China, so we have a reordering of a world order post-World War II, except right now America's being cut out because despite having the most powerful military in the world, undisputed that we had that or that exists, but the fact that it was done in such an unprepared Trumpian way has turned the whole world against us right now.
It's absolutely correct. And as we've seen in prior conflicts, including, of course, Iraq and Afghanistan, military might is not enough if the people who are actually directing the war don't know what the hell they're doing in terms of the civilians in suits in Washington, D.C.
And that's what we see as it relates to Donald Trump and Pete Hexeth and all the people who have gotten us into this war of choice without any justification. They've got no plans, no objective, and no idea how to get us out of this situation that they themselves got us into.
And as you've pointed out, you now have a dozen countries in the Middle East who are under attack from Iran and are trying to figure out, okay, if the United States doesn't really know how to deescalate a conflict that they raced into, They're considering other options. So Donald Trump, as the American people know, hasn't made this country safer.
The American people correctly have come to the conclusion he's actually making us more vulnerable. And this guy, by the way, doesn't even know the difference between friend or foe. It seems like he had a friendly conversation with Vladimir Putin, of all people. who apparently is providing intelligence to Iranians to be able to target U.S. military service men and women.
And rather than admonish, punish, make sure there are consequences for what Vladimir Putin and Russia appear to be doing, this guy, Donald Trump, continues to go after Ukraine, who's our ally, partnering with Western Europe, trying to push back against Russian aggression. The whole thing is extraordinary and out of control.
It's one of the reasons why, though, the American people have been rising up and Republicans have been losing elections literally for 15 consecutive months because the American people are done with the extremism.
And we as Democrats are going to continue to lean into focusing on the issues that matter, driving down the high cost of living, fixing our broken health care system, and yes, cleaning up corruption wherever it may be found.
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Chapter 5: How is the U.S. economy affected by the current conflict?
And I say this in the utmost seriousness. There's truly something, and it's staring us in the face. Before we go, I just want you to maybe just address what we're observing right now, because I feel like we're just being gaslit by a lot of media to believe that this is normal, and it isn't.
Absolutely abnormal. Absolutely abnormal. from the perspective of someone who's a New Yorker, we've known there's something seriously wrong with this individual for decades. He's been in our face, but the deterioration has certainly accelerated. And now it's frightening for the American people, understandably, because this guy is the commander in chief at this moment.
And it's just going to be incumbent to make sure that we can erect as many ironclad guardrails around this guy. And as you've pointed out, look, When we're at war, we are going to continue to pray for the safety and security of our troops, our brave servicemen and women, all who are in harm's way.
But at the same period of time, we have a responsibility to make sure we're defending the best interests of the American people, the country, the rule of law, the Constitution, all of which Donald Trump continues to run over. And he's not offering a single coherent reason for the policies
the extremism that he's jamming down the throats of the American people, causing folks to reasonably question what's wrong with this guy.
Leader Jeffries, I know you got to go in 90 seconds. Address the midterms, though. A lot of people want to hear your perspective of it. You know, it's so critical, I think, that Article 1 behave like Article 1 and be a check against this regime. Talk to us about it.
Absolutely. You know, James Madison once made the observation when they were contemplating the creation of the House of Representatives, that it should be an intimate sympathy with the American people and to function Congress as a rival to the executive branch. And that's not what's happening right now.
House Republicans continue to bury their heads in the sand and they act like reckless rumor stamps to Donald Trump's extreme agenda enough in order for us to have a check and balance for us to block and tackle on behalf of the American people, push back against this extremism and actually spend taxpayer dollars in ways that are designed to make the lives of the American people more affordable.
Democrats are going to need to route Republicans and take back control of the House. And the good news is we're only three seats short, narrowest majority that Republicans have since any party since 1930. We're gonna take back the House with the support of the American people and then put the American people first, not the Trump cartel.
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Chapter 6: What controversial statements has Trump made about the war?
So Zelensky, I think, is providing some support because as Zelensky rightfully sees it, put it this way, in Ukraine, they view what's taking place as World War III. And again, I don't mean to scare you. I don't mean to sound hyperbolic or, you know, the world is on fire. The world is on fire. Zelensky views what's taking place now as a two-front war.
So Zelensky also wants to help the US and Europe in the Middle East, even out of just self-interest as well, because Russia helping Iran and China helping Iran
in the war against the United States helps strengthen Russia in its war against Ukraine by empowering Iran to force weapons systems to be moved out of Ukraine, to be focused in the Middle East region, allow Putin to engage in more strikes on Ukraine, to try to remove some of the defensive structure from Ukraine, move that to the Middle East.
And Zelensky recognizes, of course, that that's part of the two-front war that's taking place. So Zelensky's tried to help Trump. Trump rejected it. And instead, what is the Trump regime doing? They met in Miami, as I mentioned before, with Ushakov and Dmitriyev, Kirill Dmitriyev, who you see right there, the special envoy.
from Russia to the United States, meeting with Steve Witkoff, and they're discussing economic cooperation between the United States and Russia. And it's like our regime here in the United States is just so utterly stupid. I mean, it's demented. Or alternatively, they're just literally working with Putin, which is another viable option because
Putin and Russia are outwardly supporting Ayatollah in Punjabi. I mean, they're saying they're supporting them. They've made statements. We support the new Ayatollah. We stand in solidarity with them. It's obvious also China is helping Iran find coordinates for the United States and American interests throughout the Middle East. They're being supported in their efforts there.
Zelensky is trying to even help. Because also Zelensky knows helping in the Middle East helps Ukraine because this war turning in Iran's favor is ultimately immensely helpful to Russia because Russia is able to then sell its oil at higher prices, especially as the Trump regime is removing sanctions against Russia. And it's satisfying a lot of geopolitical interests of Russia right now, targeting
uh their enemies in the middle east but trump's out there like meeting and this is why russia sent its people to miami because they realize how stupid the trump regime is and then they talk about economic cooperation and doing deals together it's like doing deals together the russians are helping iran kill american soldiers right what are we talking about
They're instrumental in Iran's mosaic defense structure right now. But that's what's going on. And Trump shunning Zelensky and then meeting with Putin is like the biggest FU to Zelensky who's trying to help. Like, what are we doing? We removed the missile systems from South Korea, the THAAD system. We took them. We promised them. We took them. We're not giving the aid promise to Taiwan.
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