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Hannah Jewell
President Donald Trump appears ready to launch an attack on Iran. That's where we're starting. The seven from the Washington Post, I'm Hannah Jewell. It's Friday, February 20th. Let's get you caught up with today's seven stories. Current and former U.S. officials told the Post that the Trump administration could launch an extended milit military assault on Iran within days. The Pentagon has amassed an immense strike force in the Middle east in recent weeks. The military buildup coincides with recent meetings between U.S. and Iranian officials aimed at negotiating changes to Tehran's nuclear program. President Trump was ambiguous about his plans yesterday, speaking at the inaugural meeting of his Board of Peace and now is
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Donald Trump
the time for Iran to join us on a path that will complete what we're doing. And if they join us, that'll be great. If they don't join us, that'll be great, too. But it'll be a very different path. They cannot continue to threaten the stability of the entire region, and they must make a deal. Or if that doesn't happen, I maybe can understand. If it doesn't happen, it doesn't happen. But bad things will happen if it doesn't.
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Hannah Jewell
Regional diplomats initially thought that the Trump administration's military pressure on Iran was meant to push Tehran to offer greater concessions in nuclear negotiations. But they now believe Iran is not willing to make key concessions. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is eager for the US to launch a major attack on Iran, and Trump has publicly raised the possibility of toppling Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The US And Israel would have a huge military advantage in any conflict with Iran. But such a strike still risks U.S. combat fatalities and American entanglement in an extended war. A majority of Americans think President Trump's deportation campaign is going too far. That's number two. Thirteen months into Trump's second term, a growing majority of Americans have soured on his handling of immigration. In a new poll by the Post, ABC News and Ipsos, 58% of Americans said Trump has gone too far deporting undocumented immigrants. That's a rise of eight points since last fall. The survey also found that a slightly higher number, 62%, oppose the aggressive tactics of ICE the widespread negative views of Trump's immigration crackdown underscore a stark political reality for him. The polling suggests that immigration may no longer be a reliable campaign issue for Republican lawmakers, many of whom are increasingly worried about their chances of maintaining full control of Congress in the midterm elections this fall. Foreign. The Justice Department is struggling to meet President Trump's demands to find election fraud. For years, Trump and his allies have pushed conspiracy theories about his election loss in 2020. The White House has directed the Justice Department to investigate and prosecute non citizen voters, but the Justice Department's efforts so far have not yielded results. That is in large part because the types of rampant voter fraud that the Trump administration has described have never been found. This morning, the Post reported that the president has grown increasingly frustrated with the lack of action. Advisors say his frustration has led to his recent pushes to change how elections are run. Trump has proposed nationalizing elections and requiring voter id, which he lacks the authority to do unilaterally. Number four is a post exclusive. After leaving the World Health Organization, Trump officials have proposed a much more expensive replacement. Last month, the US Formally withdrew from the who. It came a year after Trump announced his plans to pull out of the Global Health Alliance. His problem with it was in part about its cost. Trump accused the WHO of demanding unfairly onerous payments. But now the Trump administration is proposing spending $2 billion a year to replicate the WHO's global disease surveillance and outbreak functions. That would require recreating laboratories, data sharing networks and rapid response systems. The $2 billion price tag is about three times what the US contributed annually to the UN health agency to access its existing systems. Public health Experts said the U.S. effort would not only be costly but also unlikely to match the who's reach. Number five. A strong nor' Easter is expected to form near the Mid Atlantic coast this weekend. If you've just had a tantalizing taste of spring, then I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news. More bad weather could be on the way. A strong storm could bring snow, strong winds and travel disruptions to cities from D.C. to Boston. There's a chance of heavy weekend snow, but that depends on a lot of different factors and how weather systems develop in other parts of the U.S. but for now, it's most likely that snow will grow from late Sunday in the Mid Atlantic and then move into the Northeast on Sunday night and Monday, which could make for a pretty rough start to next week. To get all the details about this storm and which cities are most likely to be impacted, click the link to our newsletter. You can find that, as always, in our show Notes. It was a golden day for American women at the Olympics. That's number six. There were two amazing comebacks on the Olympic ice in Milan yesterday. The first was in the hockey rink. The U.S. women's team defeated Canada in overtime after trailing for most of the game. Hillary Knight scored late in the third period to tie things up, and Megyn Keller won it in a gripping overtime. Then Alyssa Liu clinched gold in the women's figure skating. She is the first American woman to win individual gold since 2002. Her comeback was a longer story. She first emerged on the scene as a child prodigy at 13, but the huge expectations caused her to burn out. She retired from figure skating at 16, but she decided to return this time on her own terms. She wanted to choose what she wore and what she ate and have more control over her programs. Last night in Milan, it paid off. She was amazingly calm and composed even as her opponents fretted. She showed off her best in class spinning ability, intricate footwork and landed seven triple jumps. It was a joyous performance and enough to launch her to the top of the podium. Tragically, that's it for the skating in these Olympics. The closing ceremony is on Sunday, And at number seven, brain rot is real and you might have it if you haven't heard the term brain rot, that's probably a good sign that you're not afflicted. It's a slang term for the idea that spending too much time online is harming our brains, and it turns out the concept is backed up by some scientific evidence. Research suggests that high use of social media and artificial intelligence does affect our attention and memory. A study published last year of 7,000 children across the country found that more screen use was associated with reduced cortical thickness in certain areas of the brain, like the part that allows for higher level thinking, memory and decision making. If you're worried about brain rotation, there are steps you can take to fight back. You can keep screens out of the bedroom, especially for children and adolescents. You can also be careful about your chatbot usage, install app blockers to limit scrolling time, and just say no to technologies that promise to do all the thinking for you. It's a beautiful thing about podcasts then, that you can listen in while being productive, exploring nature or exercising, keeping your brain perfectly intact. That's the show for this week. The staff writers of the Seven are Jamie Ross, Izanakabau and me. Special thanks to Lucas Trevor for producing this week and more. Special thanks to Amy Parlapiano and Rena Flores. John Taylor is our editor. Copy editing by a rotating crew of helpful Londoners, Leo Sands, Victoria Craw, Kendra Nichols and Bryan Molassics. Mixing and sound design is by Jim Briggs and Justin Gerrish. Our theme music is by Edith Mudge. I'm Hannah Jewell. Thanks for listening and have a great weekend. I'll meet you back here on.
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Audie Cornish
The Assignment with Me, Audie Cornish. The Oscars will be out like the Golden Globes will be out. There's a Super bowl coming up with Bad Bunny. Yeah, the start of the year, every year is really a time where some of these water cooler moments kick off. People really need anything that's galvanizing or hopeful. You seem like you're embodying cringe right now. Yeah, it's weird to see the cringe process running course through me in real time. Listen to the Assignment With Me, Audie Cornish. Streaming now on your Favor podcast app with Verbo Care.
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Hannah Jewell
Help is always ready before, during and after your stay. We've planned for the plot twists, so support is always available because a great trip starts with peace of mind.