Today’s Headlines: Week four of the Iran war and it’s giving WW3 vibes. Trump gave Iran a 48-hour ultimatum to open the Strait of Hormuz or face bombed power plants; Iran responded by threatening to close the Strait entirely and launched two intermediate-range ballistic missiles at a shared U.S.-UK base in the Indian Ocean — over 2,000 miles away, farther than Iran was previously believed capable of reaching. Iran also struck Israel's main nuclear research center this weekend, and Saudi Arabia expelled Iran's military attaché and embassy staff after Iranian strikes hit their country. Trump then posted that Iran is "dead" and pivoted immediately to attacking Democrats. At home, TSA workers are entering week five without pay — over 350 have already quit, airport security lines have hit five hours in some cities — and Senate Republicans voted down a bill that would have funded their salaries, 49-41. Trump's solution is to deploy ICE agents to airports instead. Elon Musk offered to personally pay TSA workers' salaries, which conveniently dropped the same day a California jury found him liable for defrauding Twitter shareholders when he acquired the company for $44 billion. Damages could reach $2.6 billion. Trump's special envoy Paolo Zampolli — the man who allegedly introduced Donald and Melania — was exposed by the New York Times for calling in a favor to ICE to have his ex-girlfriend, the mother of his child, detained and deported while they were in a custody battle. She arrived in the U.S. on Jeffrey Epstein's plane in 2002, when she was 17. Zampolli was 32 when they met. In media consolidation news, The FCC approved a $6.2 billion merger between Nexstar and Tegna, waiving federal ownership limits to let one company control local news for 60% of U.S. households — eight state attorneys general immediately sued. Nevada temporarily banned Kalshi from offering sports and election betting until it gets proper gambling licenses. And Trump celebrated the death of Robert Mueller on social media, writing "Good. I'm glad he's dead."

Resources/Articles mentioned in this episode:

Subscribe to the Betches News Room and join the Morning Announcements group chat. Go to: ⁠⁠⁠betchesnews.substack.com

Morning Announcements is produced by Sami Sage and edited by Grace Hernandez-Johnson

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices