Trump, Iran & Russia

Trump spent the week promising that a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz would be done by Friday. Friday came and went, and now Trump says an agreement with Iran “could be soon.” Could be soon? That’s not exactly the deal we were promised. And the proposed arrangement itself is nuts: Iran and Oman would effectively collect fees from ships passing through the Strait after Iran spent months threatening the very ships it would supposedly help protect.

I also get into the latest absurdity involving Trump’s Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool. The Park Service is now blaming “previous administrations” for failing to clean clogged water-supply ports for more than a decade. Small problem: Trump was president for more than half of that decade. Even better, Trump announced just last month that the reflecting-pool repairs were finished. So apparently his people missed the clogs too.

Then there’s Don Lemon’s effort to get the Minnesota church-protest charges dismissed; Susan Collins’ conveniently timed vote against Todd Blanche after Bill Cassidy gave Republicans the votes they needed; and Trump’s 90,000-square-foot White House ballroom, which has now been blocked by a federal appeals court. Trump is suddenly claiming his ballroom is really about national security, because apparently every dictator needs a ballroom and a bunker.

Trump is also trying again to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook.

And overseas, U.S. intelligence reportedly believes an explosives-laden Russian drone found beside a Ukrainian cargo plane at a German airport was linked to Moscow. The drone carried nearly two pounds of Semtex, and a bus driver literally stepped on it and may have prevented a catastrophe. The incident comes as U.S. intelligence warns that Putin may eventually test NATO with a deliberately limited attack designed to make the alliance hesitate.

Finally, the U.S. lost 23,000 jobs in July when economists expected an 83,000-job gain. And Ukraine says it intercepted only 29 of 195 Russian ballistic missiles last month as its air-defense shortage worsens, even as Ukrainian drones continue striking Russian targets more than 1,200 miles from the front.

00:00 Opening and livestream setup
02:16 Fig-preserves adventure
04:34 Weekend hangout and Monday guest announcement
08:00 Welcome and how the show began
11:20 Food, France and foie gras
15:14 Trump, Iran and the Strait of Hormuz
19:30 CIA discussion and John Kiriakou
23:30 Trump’s Iran deadline comes and goes
24:29 Trump’s reflecting-pool fiasco gets even better
33:13 Don Lemon moves to dismiss the charges
34:55 Todd Blanche, Susan Collins and Bill Cassidy
39:53 Court blocks Trump’s White House ballroom
46:27 Trump tries again to fire Lisa Cook
46:56 Suspected Russian explosives drone in Germany
47:58 How Putin could test NATO with a small attack
52:26 U.S. loses 23,000 jobs
52:53 Ukraine’s air-defense shortage and deep strikes on Russia
54:37 Post-news Q&A
56:23 Mitch McConnell and proxy voting
58:25 Mandatory retirement and age limits
60:05 ChatGPT suddenly calls me “boyfriend”
64:55 AI voice dubbing and AI scams
69:15 The bad jobs report revisited
71:00 Weekend plans and closing