Speaker
Tom Bowman
Appearances over time
2 episodes
Episodes
2
Podcasts
Quotes & moments
Iran struck at least seven commercial ships in the past week in the Strait of Hormuz, killing, wounding, or leaving missing nearly a dozen crew members.
Iran has hit at least seven commercial ships in the past week, damaging some, with the US reporting nearly a dozen crew members killed, wounded, or missing.
Ship transit through the Strait of Hormuz has slowed to around a dozen per day, down from 30–40 a day several weeks ago and well below the 130 before the war started.
Retired military officers and analysts say the US would need to increase its strikes on Iranian military targets by a factor of three or four for weeks to reduce the threat to commercial shipping.
Iran possesses thousands of drones and missiles, as well as fast boats that can lay mines, making full suppression of the threat extremely difficult.
The US Marines have studied for decades the possibility of seizing Iran's main oil facility on Kharg Island as a potential military option in any Strait of Hormuz conflict.
Iran is not just targeting commercial ships — it's also striking US bases in Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, and Bahrain. Those countries say their defenses have knocked out the missiles so far, but the scale of the confrontation is far wider than a simple maritime blockade.
ICE has suspended most vehicle stops after agents fatally shot two men in a single week. The pause was confirmed by Senator Angus King, but within hours Trump posted on Truth Social calling vehicle stops 'one of ICE's most important and effective crime fighting tools' — leaving the policy's future uncertain.
Full US control of the Strait of Hormuz would require eliminating Iran's ability to fire drones and missiles at commercial ships. Analysts say that means tripling or quadrupling current US strike rates for weeks — and even then, ship owners and insurers would have to decide if the risk was low enough.
The US is currently steering ships along a safer southern path near Oman, but Iran is targeting that route too, demanding ships use its own approved corridor near the Iranian shoreline. Analysts say the US may ultimately have to physically escort commercial ships, just as it did during the Iran-Iraq tanker war of the 1980s.
Under previous administrations, ICE agents would typically ignore undocumented people who weren't the target of an operation. Under Trump, agents are being pressured to arrest anyone undocumented they encounter — and that policy shift is directly linked to the deaths of two men who weren't even the intended targets.
The $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund is dead, but the clause shielding Trump and his family from IRS audits of past tax returns is still very much alive. A federal judge called the original lawsuit 'bad faith' designed to manipulate the courts.
Todd Blanche walks into the Senate judiciary committee today with Democrats unanimously opposed and a razor-thin Republican majority offering almost no margin for error. NPR's Ryan Lucas lays out why this is one of the most consequential confirmation hearings of the Trump era.
After ICE agents fatally shot US citizens Renee Goode and Alex Freddy in Minneapolis, DHS promised rapid body camera deployment across the country. That hasn't happened. Only half of field officers have them, and DHS is now blaming Democrats and government shutdowns for the failure.
DHS policy is clear: deadly force can only be used when someone poses an imminent threat. But no video evidence has been presented to back up the agency's claims that either shooting victim posed such a threat — and neither man was the intended target of the ICE operation.
The US Marines have studied for decades the possibility of seizing Iran's main oil export facility on Kharg Island — taking it as a bargaining chip. It's militarily feasible, but would come with casualties, and analysts are divided on whether it's necessary or wise.
Iran struck at least seven commercial ships in a single week, leaving nearly a dozen crew members killed, wounded, or missing. The US has reinstated a naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, with Trump demanding full control — a goal that military analysts say would require eliminating Iran's drone and missile capabilities.
China's economy grew just over 4% in Q2 2026, the slowest pace in more than three years. While export booms in AI goods and electric vehicles offered partial support, youth unemployment and weak domestic demand exposed deep structural cracks — and Beijing's own target is now the least ambitious since 1991.
Two men died during immigration enforcement traffic stops — one in Maine, one in Texas — and neither was the intended target. DHS has now paused all such stops, with border czar Tom Homan ordering a review of ICE officer training, while no video evidence has been presented to support the agency's claims about the men.
New York just became the first US state to put the brakes on large AI data center development. Governor Kathy Hochul's moratorium could last up to a year while the state writes new environmental and energy standards — and she wants to strip away sales tax exemptions too, as dozens of other states watch closely.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche heads to the Senate Judiciary Committee for two days of confirmation hearings. Senators are expected to press him on the Justice Department's independence and its handling of the Epstein files — two of the most politically charged issues facing the department.
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