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“The bad news is that we have not reached agreement, and I think it's bad news for a”
ran much more than it's bad news for the United States of America. After almost a full day of closed-door negotiations this weekend in Pakistan, Vice President J.D. Vance emerged to announce that efforts to reach a peace deal with Iran had failed. He blamed Iran, saying they'd rejected the U.S. demand that they not try to develop a nuclear
weapon. We just could not get to a situation where the Iranians were willing to accept our terms. I think that we were quite flexible, we were quite a couple. Earlier, even as the talks were ongoing, we got this, we went, we got this, what happened,
we went. Trump had insisted it didn't matter if there was a deal or not, and by the time Vance was announcing that the negotiations had collapsed, Trump was at a UFC fight in Miami, watching the bloody cage match as alongside a bunch of his family members, Joe Rogan, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, that was Saturday night.
On Sunday, Trump announced that the U.S. Navy will start blockading the straight-of-horre moves.
“It's the latest head-spending development for the crucial waterway.”
Iran largely cut off the straight as leverage when the war started, though it was supposed to reopen under the current temporary ceasefire. Now, the U.S. is cutting off traffic, as a way to choke off the limited amount of Iranian oil and gas that was getting through. The Pentagon says the blockade will begin this morning.
On any ships coming are going from Iranian ports. Iranian officials have made clear, they know this could drive up global fuel prices even more, and Iran's top negotiator seemed to taunt the U.S. online, posting, quote, "enjoy the current pump figures, soon you'll be nostalgic for $4 to $5 gas." Meanwhile, Iran very much wants any cessation of the war in Iran to be coupled with an ending
of Israeli strike skits as below, which is a critical proxy army for Iran.
“My colleagues on the daily today explain how Israel's motivations for the war are complicating”
efforts to end it. Israel doesn't want his blood to be part of any negotiated ceasefire, and wants to keep that part of the war going for its own reasons. In elections in Hungary yesterday, Victor Orban, Europe's most prominent right-wing populist, conceded the race, its a major blow to the Trump administration as Orban had been something
of a MAGA icon, and to the Kremlin, both of which backed his campaign. A record-breaking number of Hungarians went to the polls, almost 80% of registered voters there, and as the results came in, crowds of mostly young people rushed into the streets to celebrate. Orban has been in power for 16 years, and he's eliminated many checks and balances in
the government, stacked the courts, and taking control of most news media outlets. He's now expected to be replaced by Peter Maggar, a conservative politician who shares some of Orban's politics, including warning about the dangers of so-called "woke ideology." But Maggar managed to win over voters in part by promising to end widespread corruption in the country, after years of Orban's family and friends enriching themselves.
Maggar is also expected to be less hostile towards the EU and less friendly to Russia. Orban's administration had long been viewed as a security risk, because members of his government reportedly shared information from EU meetings with the Kremlin.
Orban's party had also held up a $100 billion EU loan to help Ukraine.
That loan is now expected to be approved. A little over a year ago, the Trump administration announced that they were going to force all transgender service members out of the military. It was a move that they said was needed to keep the military efficient and to save money. But what I found in my reporting is that a year later, it seems like the opposite has happened.
My colleague Dave Phillips covers the Pentagon for the times.
The military went into this new policy with no plan of how to carry it out, and so my
“reporting showed that all sorts of highly skilled people in the military, people like”
doctors, lawyers, pilots, people that the government invested heavily in paying for their very expensive education have been quickly dismissed without an obvious replacement. And even though they're not in their jobs anymore, they're still on the books. Many of them actually, most of them, spent months and months on paid administrative leave, collecting a paycheck, but unable to do their jobs.
I spoke to one Navy chief named Parker Moore, who the Navy had spent years training to be a nuclear-fissioned technician on an aircraft carrier. Essentially, their job was to oversee a whole team of people that made the heart of an aircraft carrier run. But very quickly, once the rules were announced, they were told to be put on leave.
Now, the Admiral and Charge of this aircraft carrier said, "No, we need you, but the Navy put them on leave anyway," and that carrier, the Abraham Lincoln, left without cheap
more, and is now in the Middle East without a really critical nuclear reactor supervisor.
In all, I talked to more than a dozen people while reporting this story. And they said that, "Yeah, this is a waste of talent, a waste of training dollars, a waste
“of years of experience, but also the Costco's much deeper than just money, right?”
These are people that want it to serve their country. And now they're being forced to leave, which makes them feel like not only they're letting their comrades down, but that the government that they committed themselves to is betraying them." In a social media post last night, Democratic Representative Eric Swallwell announced that
he is suspending his campaign for California Governor in the wake of allegations of sexual assault and misconduct. "I kept figuring out ways to blame myself. I shouldn't have reached out to him at all. I should have left.
I should have done this. Well, Eric shouldn't have raped me." In recent days, both CNN and the San Francisco Chronicle had published damning interviews. In one, a former staffer said Swallwell had sexually assaulted her in a New York City hotel when she was intoxicated.
Others said he'd sent unsolicited nude images. The time has not independently confirmed the allegations. Following the reports, representatives for the Manhattan DA's office said investigators would begin looking into the assault claim against Swallwell. And there was a wave of public condemnation as more than 50 of his former staff members
called on him to end his campaign and resign from Congress. In an open letter, they wrote, quote, "Justice is not optional. Accountability is not negotiable." Democratic leaders in the House mean while have not called on him to step down from his post there.
And Swallwell has denied the assault allegations. "I do not suggest you in any way that I'm perfect or that I'm a saint. I've certainly made mistakes in judgment in my past." He did release a video statement, though, apologizing to his wife, according to the CNN report, within a few months of her giving birth to their third child, Swallwell was
allegedly texting another woman with messages like, "When am I going to see you?" At least one U.S. representative has promised to bring a motion to expel Swallwell from the House. And finally, when I've got to see these games, I've had to pass through security and be escorted down to the field, which is right in the middle of the prison yard.
I've been playing baseball all my life, but I've never seen it played quite like this.
My colleague Eli Tan has been covering the San Quentin Giants, the baseball team at California's San Quentin Prison. Some of the guys have played either in college or professionally, while others haven't picked up about since literally. The games are played during the recreation time, so there are hundreds of men lifting
weights and giving haircuts right outside the dugout.
“Players tell me that it's one of the most important things that they have in their life”
in San Quentin, and that it gives them a feeling of nostalgia that reminds them of the last time that they were free men. Eli says the baseball program, which took years to build, is notable because the inmates play against a rotating roster of outside teams, like RecLeaks, who come into San Quentin for the games.
And the prison warden told Eli the program has proved to be just as helpful for the inmates rehabilitation as things like state-mandated therapy sessions.
Since Eli first reported on the Giants back in the fall, he said he's heard from people
all over the country who wanted to help out and send equipment.
He also heard from a California state legislator who is now pushing a bill to...
programming at prisons across the state.
“Next month, Eli is going back to San Quentin, not as a reporter, but as a player.”
His own men's team is going to play against the Giants.
Those of the headlines, I'm Tracy Mumford, we'll be back tomorrow.
