Dana Goldberg (7:20)
First up from Reuters, the United States military is deploying thousands of additional Marines and sailors to the Middle East. This is from three U.S. officials. That's what they told Reuters on Friday as the US Israeli war on Iran reached the three week mark. That's really interesting, the US Israeli war, because the Saudis are the ones that are making a shit ton of Money off this and from CBS sales related Pentagon officials have made detailed preparations for deploying US Ground forces into Iran. Multiple sources briefed on the discussion told CBS News senior military commanders have submitted specific requests aimed at preparing for such an option. As President Trump weighs moving in the U. S. Israeli led conflict with Iran. Now, Mr. Trump, Donald, as we call him on the show, has been deliberating whether to position ground forces in the region. This is from sources on the condition of anonymity. That's what they told people, of course, because they're not authorized to talk about this publicly. It was unclear under what circumstances he would authorize the use of troops on the ground. The military also held meetings to prepare for how to handle the possible detention of Iranian soldiers and paramilitary operatives if the President decides to put American boots on the ground. This is including where the Iranians would be sent. They have no plan, everyone. There's no plan. The US is preparing to deploy elements of the 82nd Airborne Division into the Middle east region. The movements underscore the Pentagon's efforts to expand military options available to the President even as administration officials publicly declined to even discuss potential next steps because they don't have any. There's new polling out on this war, by the way. Trump's approval rating has slipped to 34% with a disapproval of 63. And honestly that's still too fucking high. I have no IDEA who these 34% are that still thinks this schmuck is doing a good job. But we know they're not listening to this show and if they are, it's just because they like to troll us. But speaking of trolls, this next one is from NBC. Defense Secretary Pete Kegseth met privately Wednesday with the families of six service members who died in Iran in the war and in a press briefing the next morning said the message he got was consistent and supportive. I'm sure. And this is a quote. What I heard through tears, through hugs, through strength and through unbreakable resolve was the same from family after family. They said, finish this honor their sacrifice. Do not waver, do not stop until the job is done. I'm imagining that's not a verbatim quote from this families. That's what Hegseth said. One of the people he met at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware was Charles Simmons. He his 28 year old son, Tech Sergeant Tyler Simmons was among the six crew members killed when the refueling plane crashed in Iraq last week. Now Simmons recalled his exchange very differently. Oh really? This is a quote from Mr. Simmons. I can't Speak for the other families. When he spoke to me, that was not something we talked about. That's what he told NBC News. In an interview on Thursday, he said that he told the defense Secretary and I quote, I understand there's a lot of peril that goes into making decisions like this, and I just certainly hope the decisions being made are necessary. That sounds like more of a quote. Asked if he said anything to Hegseth or Trump about the need to keep fighting the war, Simmons said, no, I didn't say anything along those lines. These people are literally lying about conversations with the families of fallen soldiers. They are despicable pieces of garbage. Now a 60 year old music teacher in Columbus, Ohio, that's Mr. Simmons. He told NBC News that he has questions about the war and it's able to draw definitive conclusions. When I don't have all the data, who wants war? Sometimes it's a necessity and I just don't know what's going on. Neither do they. They don't know what's going on. I'm just shocked they even have the gall to meet with these families when these kids are dying for a war that did not need to happen, that the United States is not benefiting from. It's not making us safer at home. It's just so infuriating. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement. And they quote, secretary Hegseth has the ut respect for our Gold Star families. Does he? And has pledged to honor the sacrifice of their loved ones. While at Dover, the secretary spoke with each family of our fallen heroes and the details of each individual conversation remain private. No, they don't actually, because he's lying about them publicly. A public official who was within earshot of Trump's meeting with family members that day told NBC News they did not hear any of them tell Trump to finish the job. Unbelievable. But is it? It's really. It's really not. I don't know why I keep using that term, to be honest with you. This next one's from Ms. Now 12 days after his youngest daughter was born prematurely, Juan Chavez Velasco was on his way to deliver milk to her hospital room, still in his own neighborhood in Weslaco, Texas. Please send a name of correction if I'm not Weslaco, Texas. When immigration agents pulled in front of his car, his wife, Stephanie Villarreal, 32 years old, was on the phone with him and heard the agents yell at him to get out of the vehicle. He said, I immediately became really panicked. That's what he told Ms. Now in an interview. He told them he had children. He told them he had a wife. He told them he had daca. He remembers their response. And I quote, they said, that doesn't matter. Again, that doesn't matter. It does, though, and it should. Now. Chavez Velasco, 35, was taken into custody and transported into a detention center in Laredo, leaving behind a US Citizen wife and three US Citizen children, the youngest of whom was in an isolation chamber in the neonatal intensive care unit. These guys are monsters. These people are monsters. I know they're not all men. So I said that very. Just. You know what I mean? And I quote, I never got to hold her before being taken away, he said in a cell phone interview from the Webb County Detention Center. The detention of Chavez Velasco, recipient of the Deferred Action for Children Arrivals Program. The DACA program, which has allowed hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants who arrived as children to obtain work permits and protections from deportation, reflects a broader pattern that immigration attorneys and advocates say has accelerated under the Trump administration. That's the targeting of dreamers who once believed the program shielded them. A separate pattern has also emerged. Recipients applying for renewals, which must be submitted every two years. They're facing lengthy delays that have left some with expired status and no work authorization. There's some attorneys and advocates have called the delays intentional. I'm sure they're intentional. Chavez Velasco's parents brought him to the United States from Colombia in 1999. He was just eight years old. They came on a tourist visa, overstayed, and applied for asylum. They did what they were supposed to do, a request that was denied, by the way, in 2004, well, after a failed appeal, the following year, the family was issued a final order of removal that Immigration and Customs Enforcement never enforced. In 2016, 12 years later, his parents were able to reopen their case and ultimately adjusted their status to legal residence to the US Citizen's daughter. But Chavez Velasco could not take the same path. Under immigration law, the wait time for a sibling of the US citizen to adjust status status is 15 to 20 years, compared to 12 to 18 months for a parent. Whoa. In 2012, he enrolled in DACA. He went on to earn two Bachelor's degrees in biology and clinical laboratory science. He built a career as a medical laboratory scientist, including working on the first lines of an emergency room during the COVID 19 pandemic. And I quote, he has no criminal history, Never has any type of criminal history. This is from his wife. He did everything right. Chavez Velasco said he had always told his wife there was nothing to fear. He said, I feel betrayed. I feel very sad and heartbroken because I would have thought that the Trump administration would be more compassionate towards people like me who contribute to the country and have basically lived here all our lives. I love this country. I love what I've been able to accomplish here. And I would say that this man loves the country more than the president of the United States, who is clearly a foreign agent at this point. He said, we're all contributing. We're all paying taxes. This is our home. Again, this is Chavez. Velasco and went on to say, I'm not asking for a free ride. I feel like a majority of people would agree that we deserve something because it wasn't our fault to be here and because we love this country. We want to be here. We want to be a part of this. We want to be Americans because we're Americans at heart. These people who pay taxes, by the way, this guy is in the workforce guarantee he paid more federal taxes than the President of the United States or any of these billionaires that are getting away with murder, literal murder out there. It's just disgraceful. We'll keep you updated on that story like we always do. This one's from cnn. Conservative hardliners who supported subpoenainaing Attorney General Pam Bondi and the House Oversight Committee Jeffrey Epstein's probe. Well, they're now indicating that they're open to changing their position after Bondi met with the panel for a briefing that turned contentious with Democrats. Lauren Boebert, this is what bothers me. She actually told CNN Thursday that she's absolutely considering withdrawing her support for the subpoena because it is, and I quote, absolutely shameful to have her come in there willingly to answer anything that we wanted to ask and to be treated that way. It just shows what's to come. It's. I was hoping. I know I shouldn't hope for more from Lauren Boebert ever, but she was so insistent on the release of these files that I thought she would hold the one person who could unlock the key to most of this accountable, but she doesn't seem to care. Bondi's voluntary meeting with committee members behind closed doors on Wednesday, it erupted when Democrats stormed out. They left because they were frustrated, saying that she would not commit to complying with her subpoena. Five Republicans on the panel voted earlier this month to actually subpoena Bondi. House Oversight Chair James Comer told reporters on Thursday that he plans to talk to his fellow Republicans about what the next steps are, but indicated he plans on honoring the subpoena. We'll see. Comer was not one of the five Republicans to vote for the subpoena and said he didn't think it was necessary. It is necessary. You need Bondi under oath, comer said. If we were to rescind Pam Bondi's subpoena, he would have to talk to counsel because he's not sure how the process would be handled. Boebert said she hasn't talked to the White House at all about her support for the subpoena, but slammed Democrats for how they handled Bondi's appearance on Capitol Hill. And we've got Rep. Nancy Mace again, not surprising who led the push to subpoena the attorney general in the House Epstein probe. She said her support for Bondi's subpoena is not wavering. Okay, we'll see on that, she said. No one has asked me and I won't. That's what she told cnn. Democrats have argued that DOJ offered Wednesday's briefing to try to get out of the subpoena for a deposition with Bondi. We are once again demanding that Attorney General Pam Bondi make it clear that she's going to come in for an under oath deposition that she's under subpoena to do and that we're not going to participate in fake hearings and briefings like the one that they tried to set up yesterday to get out of the sworn under oath testimony. This is from Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia. Robert is the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee. That's what he said on Thursday. I didn't expect anything less than a circus when it came to Pam Bondi. So we'll see what happens on this and you absolutely know that we will keep you up to date on this and let you know what happens. So those are the hot notes for today. Give us a few minutes. We'll be right back with the good news after these messages.
