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Hannah Jewell
The nation's top general warned about the risks of attacking Iran.
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That's where we're starting the seven from
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Hannah Jewell
the Washington Post, I'm Hannah Jewell.
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It's Tuesday, February 24th.
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Hannah Jewell
Let's get you caught up with today's seven stories. General Dan Kane is the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
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In a meeting with President Donald Trump
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Hannah Jewell
last week, he said a major operation against Iran will face major challenges. That is according to people familiar with internal discussions. Kaine said that the U.S. munitions stockpile has been significantly depleted by Washington's ongoing
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support for Israel and Ukraine, and he pointed to a potential lack of support
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Hannah Jewell
from US Allies that he warned could lead to American military casualties. After the Post published its article about the general's warnings, Trump posted on social media that it is 100% incorrect that Kaine is against us going to war with Iran. The administration has assembled a massive strike force in the Middle East. It's unclear what Trump's goal would be in attacking Iran.
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He has mentioned a number of potential reasons, from hitting military targets to overthrowing the country's supreme leader.
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Hannah Jewell
But depending on his objective, a campaign could last for weeks or months and expose US Forces to more retaliation.
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President Trump will deliver his State of the Union address to Congress tonight. That's number two. The State of the Union is one of the rare moments when Trump is giving guaranteed airtime across networks to speak to a nationwide audience. Tonight's speech comes at a crucial time,
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Hannah Jewell
as the president is facing one of
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the most fragile moments so far of his second term. He is confronting Supreme Court limits on his agenda, voter anger over inflation and immigration, and growing cracks within his MAGA coalition. But if Trump is hoping to kickstart a reset with his speech, he is probably going to struggle. Declining TV viewership has dulled the impact of the event over the years, and the audience for the speech is increasingly fragmented and entrenched in their political positions. So viewers are more likely than ever to experience the speech in clips online tailored to each party's narrative. The event will begin at 9pm Eastern and is expected to run about two hours. You can follow it live on the Post's homepage, but if you plan to be in bed by then, I'll bring you all the highlights tomorrow. 3. President Trump's new global tariffs went into effect overnight. As I just mentioned, Trump is not happy with the Supreme Court. That is in large part because last week justices struck down most of the tariffs that Trump imposed on the world last year. Here's how Trump reacted to their decision in a news conference on Friday.
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President Donald Trump
The Supreme Court's ruling on tariffs is deeply disappointing and I'm ashamed of certain members of the court, absolutely ashamed for not having the courage to do what's right for our country.
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Trump announced his new tariffs in an attempt to work around the court's ruling. The new import taxes are based on a different law. They went into effect just after midnight Eastern time. But several economists and trade experts said another legal challenge to the tariffs appears likely. Number four is a Post exclusive. The Coast Guard is investigating a swastika found at a training center. The Cape May Training center is the primary training center for U.S. coast Guard recruits. On Thursday, an instructor found a hand drawn swastika on the wall of a men's bathroom. That's according to two people familiar with the incident and correspondence reviewed by the Post. This all follows a controversial incident last year when the Post revealed that the service temporarily downgraded the swastika from a hate symbol to potentially divisive. Admiral Kevin Lundy, The Coast Guard commandant was informed about the swastika on Saturday. He immediately flew to New Jersey to speak to recruits and staff. Lundy said in a statement. We will not allow anyone to put a stain of hate on our United States Coast Guard. The drawing was removed and is being investigated. Peter Attia is stepping down from CBS News following the release of his emails with Jeffrey Epstein. That's our fifth story. Attia is a physician and prominent longevity influencer. He was announced last month as one of a slate of new contributors to CBS News that was part of Editor in Chief Bari Weiss's plans to remake the network. But yesterday, people familiar with the decision said he would be stepping down from his new role. It follows the Justice Department's latest release of files from its investigation into the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The release included hundreds of emails between Attia and Epstein. They revealed that the two had a chummy personal relationship. Meanwhile, there was even more Epstein fallout yesterday in the UK the former British ambassador to the US Peter Mandelson, was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office. The latest file release revealed more about Mandelson's personal and financial ties to Epstein. Number six Measles isn't the only preventable disease that could make a comeback. According to the CDC's most recent weekly count, there are more than 900 confirmed cases of measles in the U.S. epidemiologist Katrine Wallace describes measles as the canary in the coal mine. That's because as vaccination rates decrease, the most highly contagious diseases pop up first, and measles is the most contagious disease known. So when measles cases climb, it's a sign that other preventable diseases could follow. Experts told the Post they are worried about pertussis, also known as whooping cough, as well as meningitis, polio, tetanus, diphtheria and more. To take one example of the dangers, diphtheria is no longer common in the U.S. but the bacterial disease still circulates in parts of the world with lower vaccination coverage, according to the World Health Organization. In someone who is unvaccinated, the disease has about a 30% chance of being fatal. And at number seven, the blizzard that just walloped the eastern US Took a fascinating shape. Seen from space, the powerful nor' easter was comparable in strength to a Category 2 hurricane, and to the untrained eye, it kind of looked like one when captured by a weather satellite. Our meteorologist Matthew Capucci, though, describes it more as a comma. The tail of that comma was a cold front formed as cool, dry air punched southeast in the system's wake. The coma's head was formed as tropical moisture slingshotted north on a warm conveyor belt and pinwheeled northwest into sub freezing air. That's the part that dumped amazing amounts of snow on the northeast yesterday, as much as three feet in some places. If you'd like to see what the storm looked like from space, you can find an image in today's newsletter. Alright, you're all caught up. If you're hunting for that newsletter I just mentioned, here's how to find it. You can follow the link in our Show Notes. That's the information page for this podcast episode on whatever app you're listening to us on. Or if you're listening on the posts, app or website. You're already looking at our newsletter. Find a link at the bottom of it to get it in your inbox early every weekday morning. Or failing all of that, just Google the seven Morning Briefing from the Washington Post. It has links to all the stories I talk about here on the podcast and a lot more. I'm Hannah Jewell. I'll meet you back here tomorrow.
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