The News Roundup For August 22, 2025

26:53You will remember that Fox News paid$787 million to Dominion to settle similar claims. One more story before we break, though. The Trump administration is keeping up pressure on the Smithsonian, pushing those museums to reflect the president's vision of America and American history. Last night, the White House published an anonymous article titled President Trump is Right About the Smithsonian. It singled out seven museums for exhibits or programming on race, slavery, transgender identity, and immigration, including a painting of a family crossing the southern U.S. border wall. Here's one success in American history that's featured at the Smithsonian.

27:38Duke Ellington, D.C. born jazz legend, wrote more than 2 ,000 compositions, toured the world, won Grammys, Pulitzer, and a presidential medal of freedom. DC's own Smithsonian honoree. We're rounding up the week's biggest headlines. Stay with us. We'll be back with more of the roundup in just a moment.

28:02Now, last week, Arthur Delaney, our colleague, told Nyla Boodoo that the saga of the Jeffrey Epstein files was not going anywhere and that there would be more to talk about this week. And Arthur, as usual, was right. Files on Jeffrey Epstein appear to be headed from the Justice Department to the House of Representatives today, perhaps as we speak. What do we hope to learn, Alexis? What are we going to learn from these files? Will they be revelations about Donald Trump and his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein or likely something different? The explanation for this is that under subpoena, the House committee, understanding that Republicans who are very animated about the Epstein saga were demanding information, asked the Justice Department to give them a range of data and information.

28:56What the Justice Department is doing is saying that it needed some extra time because it is trying to protect the names and identifications of potential victims, witnesses, minors, et cetera, and that it's going to take some time. So the answer to your question is we don't know exactly what the Justice Department is turning over because Chairman Comer of the House Oversight Committee has said that he is not describing exactly his knowledge of what they will have and what they will release publicly. We do know that it's partial. It's partial, but also the discussion has been also in the courts.

29:36We all know that the president and the Justice Department are 0 for 3 in the federal courts about asking for grand jury testimony or transcripts to be turned over. They lost on that in the courts. They're not surprised that they lost, but they made the effort. The president said that he was going to try. So the question of what comes out of a Republican-led committee on this question is a big unknown because the president has been so eager to make this issue go away. And the Justice Department, we learned in recent weeks, Morgan, commandeered many, many Justice Department officials and personnel to sit for hundreds of man hours and redact documents that might include Donald Trump's name.

30:22Right. And I mean, I think that the issue here is, you know, this has subsided somewhat. And one of my colleagues reported earlier this week that Pam Bondi is seeing herself rise again after being really under fire. But I do think there's a question of whether or not this bubbles back up, especially when lawmakers get back from their recess. You know, you've seen the Republicans are doing less of these town halls. You imagine they're getting some pressure from constituents about, you know, the need to release more information about Epstein. So I think Alexis is right. It's really unclear what these documents that Comer will release from the Justice Department will say and whether they'll satisfy some of the questions that people have around them.

31:07Lots of you are writing in with a connection on your mind between federal troops on the streets of Washington, D.C. and Jeffrey Epstein. We got this comment from Alan who says it's obviously another Epstein diversion tactic for Trump deploying National Guard in the nation's capital. And Sam says all of these topics you're talking about are important and worth discussing. But let's not forget that a big part of Trump's motivation behind all of the latest outrageous actions is to distract from the Fuhrer over the Epstein files, Alexis. Can I add to that? On Thursday evening, the president did this event in which he went to Southeast Washington and met with National Guard and federal troops and D.C.

31:47police, offered them hamburgers and pizza, and basically described, as your listener is suspecting, that he wanted to paint the last four days in D.C. with this crime crackdown as victories. He said, we're having a lot of victories. And he went into a long ad hoc sort of discussion in which you could see that on his mind, what he was saying is everything that we're doing is so successful. And he was trying to paint that in the broadest possible way, his agenda, his desires, his what he's doing economically, what he's doing with DC crime. So it's so clear that the Epstein story was going against him.

32:27And he's been so eager with the administration and the Justice Department because half the cabinet was there to basically cheer him on. Congress comes back. I would just simply say real quickly on the MAGA social media, though, they're barely covering the D.C. story. They're still covering Epstein. In other words, the MAGA base is still obsessed with Epstein. Well, there's a certain contingent, definitely, absolutely, and you can see that on social media. But what comes up in polls, the president is really working to try to get back where he was on immigration and crime as being a big plus. Now, speaking of immigration and crime, we talked about all of the many facets of the crackdown in D.C.

33:05that are, in fact, geared toward immigration enforcement. Outside the Beltway, a new immigration confinement center is popping up as part of Donald Trump's$45 billion expansion of mass detention and deportation. This one is in Nebraska. It joins others in Florida, Indiana, and elsewhere, where Trump allies promote them with merch. And the White House posts memes featuring alligators and more. Alexis, what do we know about this new center and where it fits into the Trump administration's plans around detention and deportation right now? It's in a red state with a governor who was willing to do it without even knowing exactly what he was going to be doing.

33:43He didn't actually even know when he announced the details that the federal government is working out with the state. It's in a very remote part of a large state, and it's near a regional airport. So what the federal government is doing is going around the country, backed with a lot of funding from Congress during the one big beautiful bill, throwing at this idea of deportation centers and really trying to increase the number of migrants that can be shipped to a location and then sent elsewhere to other countries. So this is broadening the network, as you point out, of these, basically they're either work centers or prisons that have been somewhat, you know, basically small and almost neglected.

34:32Meanwhile, Steve, a federal judge in Florida has ruled that the so-called alligator Alcatraz has to cease construction, can't take any more new detainees. I think it's on environmental grounds. How does that fit into the big picture here? Well, I think it's frustrating for the administration. I think there's an ongoing tension over these detention centers. I was going to mention that Nebraska is called the Cornhusker Clink, or in Indiana, the Speedway Slammer. So to go along with the other thing. There's something extremely distasteful about all of these fun names for mass detention. They're being dubbed this way for mass detention centers.

35:05But I think the judge's action is around an endangered species, so not around the principle around, you know, that we see in these detention centers, which so far has not been successfully challenged anywhere. All right, let's leave that story there. We will come back to mass detention. We will come back to immigration here on 1A. That I can promise you. Let's turn to the economy because there's a lot happening as we speak. President Trump is continuing his efforts to influence the Federal Reserve. Steve, you alluded to this at the top of the hour. He's calling on one governor to resign, publicly criticizing Chair Jerome Powell and trying to fast track a close ally onto the board.

35:44So let's start there. President Trump demanded the resignation of Fed Governor Lisa Cook in a post on True Social. She's the first black woman to serve on the board. Cook released a statement on Wednesday in response. Here's what it said in part, quote, I have no intention of being bullied to step down from my position because of some questions raised in a tweet. Actually, Alexis, I think it might have been you who mentioned Lisa Cook at the top of the show. So why don't you respond? Well, the president's animus towards the Federal Reserve chair, Jerome Powell, is well known. And he has worked in every possible way and been very candid about his feeling that the Fed chair is too late on cutting interest rates.

36:27And he very much would like to see the Fed do that. Because there is a lot of pushback under the law and from Powell and others that the Fed is independent. And if the president did this, the markets would tank. Be careful, Mr. President, what you wish for. The president has been working very hard to create or find vacancies on the Fed in order to put more economic sophisticates who are more sympathetic to his point of view about lowering interest rates. So bring that forward to the idea that the president has some allies on the outside who are alleging from an unusual location, which is the Housing Finance Agency, a Trump loyalist, a Republican, has alleged and sent to the Justice Department suggestions that Lisa Cook committed mortgage fraud and that she should be prosecuted for this.

37:19So the Justice Department says they've accepted this and are investigating this. And fast forward, there's a big economic symposium that's taking place as we speak in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and the Fed chair and Lisa Cook are supposed to be there. I want to get back to the claims against Lisa Cook, Morgan, without knowing the merits of a claim of mortgage fraud. Is this pretextual? I mean, when Donald Trump wanted to fire Jerome Powell and found out he couldn't do it, he tried to find cause. He went to the Fed headquarters and said it's a boondoggle and that it's corrupt. and he tried to manufacture a pretext to maybe fire Powell that way.

37:57So it follows that you have to ask the question about Lisa Cook, whether this is pretextual, what Donald Trump is trying to do by muscling influence over the Fed. Right, and I mean, one thing I will note about these mortgage fraud allegations, something that the administration is pursuing with other individuals that are enemies of Trump, you know, Adam Schiff, Letitia James. And, you know, the issue with Jerome Powell, I will say, you know, he did try to manufacture this controversy over the Fed's construction of this new building and everything. But I also think that Trump, at the end of the day, he'll step right up to the line on firing Powell.

38:38But, you know, Besson, other people in his orbit are going to be telling him what the impact on the markets is going to have. And I don't think he would ever ultimately try because of that. Meanwhile, the White House is trying to fast-track Stephen Mirren, the president's chief economist, to temporarily fill a Fed board vacancy if confirmed he would serve until January 2026. So, Steve, 10 ,000-foot view here, threatening the Fed chairman, threatening Lisa Cook, fast-tracking an ally onto the Fed. What does this all add up to? I don't know if it adds up. I may have a little difference with some of the wave here in the sense that I know Stephen Mirren.

39:15He's a serious economist. He's chair of the Council of Economic Advisors right now. He's a thoughtful person who would fit the profile of many other members of the Federal Reserve Board. And the president gets this thing. And so he's kind of meeting Democrats, Republicans coming in. Yeah, but I think there's very clear that Donald Trump wants to maintain this impression that he's controlling the direction or pushing it. You know, Jay Powell has already come out and said that he's open to the possibility of interest rates. He hasn't committed, but that was his message today in Jackson Hole. markets are taking off right now.

39:47President Trump is no doubt going to take credit for that, for that pressure. Like I've been in this town since 1994. I worked in the United States Senate. I've seen Democrats and Republicans, White Houses, every member, every U.S. senator has written letters to the Fed governors saying, we want interest rates to go this way or that way. And so Donald Trump is, you know, obviously, you know, a gladiator scale at this. But I would be careful of the Stephen Mirren side because I think Stephen Mirren is a serious player. And I think we should be careful of just thinking just because the president wants him means that he will sacrifice the autonomy of the...

40:24Some important context, Steve Clemens. That's why we have you here. We appreciate you. That's Steve Clemens of the national interest. Morgan Schalfant is here from Semaphore and Alexis Simendinger from The Hill. Before we round out the hour, some very important news from the world of public health and vast vaccinations and some developments adding to parents and patients confusion. The American Academy of Pediatrics released updated recommendations this week urging COVID-19 vaccinations for infants and young children. Now, this is a break from the federal guidance under HHS Secretary Robert F.

40:57Kennedy Jr., who earlier this year effectively unilaterally changed federal vaccine recommendations to say that healthy kids don't need the COVID shot. Now, the American Academy of Pediatrics says that all children ages six to 23 months, six months to 23 months should receive a COVID vaccine unless they have known allergies. And they also recommended a dose for older children at high risk for severe disease, including people living in near long-term care facilities or with high-risk household members like elderly people or people with chronic diseases. Alexis, there is a rift at HHS. 700 HHS officials, public health experts wrote a letter basically attacking the secretary's attacks on vaccination and public health, saying it was anti-science.

41:48That's extraordinary. It is extraordinary. And I think we're going to be seeing more of this discussion. And I think scientists, as well as clinicians, are describing their anxiety about the confusion that this produces in the public about whom should they listen to, where should they go for advice, what's the right thing to do, and there's a lot of concern about maybe less educated, lower income, and people of color who may not be receiving the kind of health care or regular visits with their doctors in which this information could be shared with them. So there's a big push ahead, and I don't think this is going to end soon.

42:28It all adds up to confusion, which is poison in public health. I mean, public health messaging, there are entire fields of study in clear, concise, data-driven public health messaging for the public. And Morgan, this is the opposite. Right. And I mean, we've already gone through this with COVID. I mean, the trust and the confusion around health information is already at such a low, and then you add this into it and just makes it so much worse. I want to thank our panelists for being around the table. Steve Clemens is editor-at-large at the National Interest. Morgan Schalfant is deputy Washington bureau chief at Semaphore, and Alexis Simendinger, national political correspondent at The Hill.

43:07We're going to head to a quick break. We'll be back with the global edition of the News Roundup in just a moment. Stay with us.

43:18it's the international hour of the news roundup joining us for this trip around the world and the week's top stories in seattle alex ward national security reporter for the wall street journal covering the white house and the state department hi alex hey how are you in studio with me here in dc elizabeth hegedorn state department correspondent at all monitor hi elizabeth hi good to be here Also with us around the table, familiar voice on our Fridays, Politico defense reporter, Jack Detch. Hi, Jack. Happy to be here. Well, gang, today we learned that famine has officially been declared in Gaza.

43:54Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza City are living through famine conditions, and it's likely to spread without an immediate ceasefire. That's the determination of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classifications, otherwise known as the IPC. That's a global scale for measuring food insecurity. We're going to get into all of the details of that designation and the latest on the ground in Gaza later on in the hour. But first, we're going to spend a few minutes on the chaotic and confounding week around Russia's war in Ukraine. It all started in Alaska, a strange meeting between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump.

44:37Then it went to the White House with European leaders playing tag team to help Volodymyr Zelensky. All the while, the drones and missiles keep coming as Russia balks at Trump's confident predictions of peace. So let's start with the latest out of Russia and Ukraine as peace talks again appear to stall out today. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told NBC News there is no meeting planned between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. He continued to say that Putin would be ready to meet when an agenda is ready and, quote, the agenda is not ready at all.

45:14And the uncertainty continued in comments made by Lavrov on Thursday when the Russian foreign minister questioned whether Zelensky even has the authority to sign a peace deal at all.

45:29That's the start of Lavrov's comments there. He's saying, quote, our president has repeatedly said he's ready to meet, including with Mr. Zelensky. But Lavrov said on Thursday that the meeting would take place once all of the issues, Alex, are worked out and the agenda is set. But I just said Lavrov said earlier in the week that Zelensky isn't even legitimate enough as president of Ukraine to sign anything. What does all this mean? It means that Putin doesn't want to meet with Zelensky. the Russians don't actually want this meeting. I mean, the Russians have been saying for actually quite some time that they would have this meeting, that actually Putin would meet with Zelensky.

46:11But again, once all these issues were figured out, and that included whether there would be an exchange of territory, you know, these so-called land swaps, whether the Ukrainians could remove their troops from certain regions, particularly Donetsk in the east, which is their main defensive stronghold, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. But also maybe, you know, maybe if Zelensky weren't in charge anymore, that would also help out. So what the Russians are kind of playing a double-sided game here. They're saying, yes, we'll meet. Yes, there'll be a meeting. You know, Mr. President Trump, don't worry.

46:40But can we solve all these other things beforehand? And that just puts an insane amount of roadblocks in between, which leads us to believe that they don't want a meeting or they're delaying to the point where they get an even better battlefield advantage. Well, President Trump did not like Lavrov's comments that we just played. And he lashed out at Joe Biden. Trump wrote on Truth Social that Biden, quote, would not let Ukraine fight back, only defend. This comes after President Trump's meeting with Putin and Zelensky saying it was all headed toward that trilateral meeting that now apparently is not happening.

47:14Elizabeth Hagedorn, what is your take on the state of things between Russia and Ukraine now? Well, as the Trump administration is seeking a permanent peace here, the fighting is showing no signs of cooling down. Russia just mounted one of its biggest aerial attacks of the year, hitting Ukraine with drones and missiles, the targets of which included a U.S.-owned electronics manufacturer. Those attacks overnight Thursday, you know, came on the heels of this meeting Trump held with Zelensky and European leaders at the White House, a meeting that was meant to resolve the war. And I think for the Ukrainians, these attacks are yet another sign that Russia has no interest in peace, that, you know, that's why they say a ceasefire must come before any permanent peace deal so that Ukraine is not forced to negotiate while under attack.

48:03Well, let's wind the clock back, shall we, just for a moment. Back to last Friday when President Trump hosted Vladimir Putin in the United States, in Anchorage, Alaska. President Trump went into the Alaska summit demanding a ceasefire and threatening Russia with severe consequences if he didn't get one. He came out of it asking for a peace agreement and abandoning his demand for a ceasefire. Jack, what happened? Well, as anyone who's ever been on a date knows, this is called lowering your standards. It's deeper than that, though, because we saw Trump not only waving off these Russian demands to take the remainder of Donetsk instead of a ceasefire.

48:45He's looking at potentially giving away not only Ukrainian land, people's homes, lives that would be sent over the Russian line. That's the high ground of the battlefield that Elizabeth was depicting in Donetsk that would be given away to Putin. So even though he's lowering his standards, This puts Putin in a very good position. He's not lowering his standards. We saw Putin come out of the meeting more or less with the same demands he's had for the last three years. No NATO membership for Ukraine, control of much of Ukraine, and control of the narrative. So he's in a strong position to continue the fighting.

49:17And we saw Donald Trump come out of that meeting, go to Fox News, and crowing that Vladimir Putin assured him that he would have won the 2020 election if not for mail-in voting. That actually says something, Jack, about what Vladimir Putin and other world leaders have learned about what it takes to get to Donald Trump's heart. It was interesting, too, and striking in the Zelensky meeting that, of course, the issue of elections came up in Ukraine. Of course, Trump joked, love to have that situation that the Ukrainians have, of course, can't have elections constitutionally during the war. Trump said he would have liked to have a similar situation, too.

49:54Speaking of Zelensky at the White House, here's what it sounded like. I think we showed that we are strong people and we supported the idea of the United States, personally of President Trump, to stop this war, to make a diplomatic way of finishing this war. And we are ready for trilateral, as President said. This is a good signal about trilateral. I think this is very good. Thank you. Now, this was an extraordinary scene, Alex Ward. Seven European leaders, including the heads of France, the UK, Italy, Germany, Finland, and more, dropped what they were doing and rushed to Washington to make sure that Volodymyr Zelensky didn't have to go to the White House alone.

50:35Why did they do that? Well, first, let me say that Jack has the highest standards when he goes on dates. But secondly, I think we can also say that the Europeans felt that there was some concern that they had to be by Zelensky in order to back him up effectively for that meeting with Trump. And we should note the White House did invite the Europeans, but there's some questions about whether Zelensky asked for them and then the White House invited. But either way, I mean, that was, you know, talk about high standards and dating, that was strong coordination and feeling that they really had to back up their guy and Zelensky.

51:06And look, that meeting in D.C. actually ended up being positive, right? For all we just discussed about the questions raised by the Anchorage summit, you know, in D.C., there was some greater coordination between the U.S., Europe and Ukraine, specifically on what these security guarantees might look like, and they've created a process to actually form the so-called reassurance force, which would be a European-led set of troops inside of Ukraine, potentially, as kind of like a tripwire. Now, there's still questions about whether Russia would accept that or not. It seems like they wouldn't, but I think what you've had, if you want to put those two summits together, is in Anchorage, you saw Trump kind of adopt more of a Kremlin line, like dropping the need for a ceasefire first, but then in D.C., greater U.S.-European-Ukraine coordination.

51:50So it's not you don't want to call it a wash, but certainly not the worst case scenario if you're Ukraine. I call it whiplash, Elizabeth Hegedorn. I mean, Alex describes it in Anchorage. Donald Trump took more of a pro Kremlin line, comes back a few days later in Washington and seems to extend his hand to Ukraine. Some would call that diplomacy, but the swings are broad here. Whiplash also from Trump's previous Oval Office meeting with Zelensky back in February where the vibe was quite different. You know, Jack, I saw in your outlet Politico a headline. I rather liked calling it a family intervention by some of Europe's most influential leaders.

52:32I think the speed at which they rearranged their plan really speaks to how alarmed they were following the Alaska summit. Well, President Zelensky and European leaders do want security guarantees, as Alex mentioned, for Ukraine from the United States in any deal with Russia. But, Jack, you and your colleagues had some exclusive reporting this week that top Pentagon officials told visitors that the U.S. will have minimal involvement. What would the Ukrainians think about that news? What did they think when they read your story? And what's been the reaction from Europe? Well, it's not positive. And so this was a late night meeting assembled by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Dan Kane, with his European counterparts, several of which were represented at the White House earlier this week.

53:16And the comments that we represented came from Elbridge Colby, who's been kind of a lightning rod. He's the Pentagon's chief for policy and basically came out and said the U.S. really doesn't want to give maximal security guarantees, maybe minimal security guarantees, as the Europeans pushed for air assets. Because despite the boots on the ground, you actually need to have air assets in the sky, intelligence assets that can monitor a ceasefire, make sure the Russians aren't violating and trying to reinvade. So it seems like even the Americans are reluctant conservative to do that, and the Europeans are left guessing where this is going to leave them.

53:52Where does it leave them ultimately? What does a security guarantee for Ukraine look like if American involvement is at a horizon distance? It would be incredibly weak. You need the American air assets, and certainly you need the deterrent of the American nuclear umbrella or some threat of troops coming in. Lingering on Russia, Ukraine, and the United States for just a few more moments. There is so much news coming out of that faltering peace process right now. Alex, you and two colleagues had a story this week on the validity of any deal that Vladimir Putin might agree to. What did you find on Putin's likely willingness to stick to an agreement?

54:33You already said he doesn't want to meet with Zelensky. That's what we established at the top of the hour. Any agreement that Putin might make here and his likelihood to stick to it in the medium and long term? What did you find? Well, to stick with our dating analogy, I mean, if Putin made you, you know, a certain commitment, would you believe him? Or do you think he'd cheat on you? And Putin feels like a cheater. I mean, the way this is going to work out is, I mean, Putin's been saying two things, which we've already noted. One is which he'd meet with Zelensky as long as there were certain issues done beforehand.

55:05And he'd be fine with security guarantees as long as Russia had a veto on it. Now, when Putin made these commitments to Trump, at least that's what Trump tells European leaders and all of us, as far as we can surmise, Putin didn't go into details about what he actually meant. Trump just took the agreements as agreements. What we're really learning is that Putin has not dropped his conditions. And those conditions are not workable for Ukraine, certainly, and it seems right now, currently for the Trump administration. In which case, sure, you can have Putin and Trump agree directly on phone calls or in person, but it doesn't necessarily mean an agreement's going to hold.

55:41And let's even say that Putin agrees to a ceasefire. There's tons of concern that he'd use that break in the fighting to rearm, get more manpower, recoup a little bit of his economy, and then maybe go at it again in a certain amount of time. The issue here is that Putin has not given up on his goal, as far as we understand it, on controlling all of Ukraine, or at least making sure that Ukraine doesn't tilt westward anymore. And so, again, Putin is a cheater here, and yet Trump believes that he's going to be faithful. Meanwhile, Russian attacks continue. Earlier on Thursday, two Russian cruise missiles destroyed an American-owned electronics factory all the way in western Ukraine.

56:2340 missiles and nearly 600 drones were involved in the attack, according to NPR. Jack Detch, there was a time just a few months ago when U.S. investments in Ukraine were supposed to be a deterrent that would ultimately keep Russia from attacking. What's going on with this destruction of an American factory? Well, since we're still going on dating analogies, Alex, the Ukrainian pitch to Western arms manufacturers had basically been, let's get married and move west, far into western Ukraine, away from all of these Russian missiles. But Russia's showing even despite Ukrainian efforts to move factories underground, move them west, they can hit long range into western Ukraine.

57:08This is still going to be a drive for the Ukrainians. As early as yesterday afternoon, the Ukrainian parliament was moving legislation that was trying to create more incentives for companies to move further to the west to create defense establishments there. But Russia's going to keep trying to show that they're able to hit this stuff. Show that they're able to hit this stuff. Is this a signal from Putin to the Americans that no, increasing your economic investments in Ukraine is not going to deter us? We will hit your stuff. I think it just goes to show with Putin everything is a target. He's looking at the entire map of Ukraine.

57:41He's looking at Western Ukraine. He's looking at the eastern battlefield. He's looking at big cities like Kiev, Odessa, and Kharkiv. And he's trying to put his thumb on the scales, especially as these negotiations speed up. All right. That is a good roundup of the latest chaotic news between Russia, Ukraine, and the United States. We'll have much more to come on that scene. By the way, you can listen back to 1A's coverage from Tuesday, a full hour deconstructing the latest in talks between Zelensky, Trump, and Putin here on 1A. It's at the website at the1a.org. Let's move now to the news from Gaza.

58:19Today, a UN-backed group that's the leading authority on food insecurity confirmed that Gaza City and surrounding areas are officially suffering from famine. We're going to dig more into that in just a moment. But first, Israel's military says they've taken the first steps in their planned operation to take over and occupy Gaza City. On Thursday, Israel's military ramped up attacks in a move that could displace close to 1 million Palestinians. That's nearly half the population. We are tired of displacement every day from one place to another. We were hoping that maybe there would be a truce. Everyone was saying that there would be a truce.

58:58Waking up to the news that tens of thousands of soldiers are entering the Gaza Strip, this is very catastrophic news. That's Mohammed al-Fadi, a displaced Palestinian, speaking with Al Jazeera English. On Wednesday, the Israeli Defense Forces said that 60 ,000 reservists were issued orders in preparation for the ground defensive to seize Gaza City. Elizabeth, as of today, what do we know about Israeli troop movements and their move on Gaza City? They are pressing ahead with this plan to evacuate Gaza City of its roughly one million residents and relocate them south. And for that reason, the operation has drawn major condemnation, not just from the international community and Palestinian residents, but you're also seeing a record number of Israelis taking to the streets this week in protest.

59:47Out of concern, it puts the remaining hostages at risk. We have news that hundreds of thousands of people, Elizabeth, took to the streets in Tel Aviv. That's right. I mean, Israel believes about 20 of the 50 hostages held by Hamas are still alive. The ceasefire on the table, which Hamas has agreed to and for which we are still awaiting an Israeli response, would see about half of them released. And yeah, you're seeing a reaction, not just in Israel, but from its neighbors, especially Egypt, which shares a border with Gaza and fears that any large-scale exodus of Palestinians would also put its own national security at risk.

1:00:25Now, in terms of the pressures on Netanyahu domestically, Jack, we talk about these tensions all the time here on the Roundup, the tension within Gaza, tensions for Netanyahu to get hostages out, tensions on him domestically to stop what many Israelis see as a failed war. Hundreds of thousands of people in the streets now demanding the release of hostages. What does it indicate about Netanyahu's political position now? It doesn't seem like it's changing and it's just moving ahead in Gaza City. We've already seen the Israelis establish a foothold on the outskirts of the city. They've begun intense bombing and artillery fire, and the Israelis are preparing to call up 60 ,000 reservists to join this new offensive.

1:01:08That puts them, as we've been saying on this program, very close to the end of their bandwidth in terms of what the IDF can produce and mobilize to continue the fighting in Gaza. So it seems like the political pressure is tightening, but also the pressure on Netanyahu as he speeds up this operation in terms of what the military can provide. On Monday, Hamas said that it accepted a proposal for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. That proposal was put forth by mediators in Qatar and in Egypt. Israel said it will respond to that ceasefire plan today. But Alex Ward, I think the response is on the ground in the form of tanks and artillery, isn't it?

1:01:45Yeah, I mean, they don't want to do it, right? I mean, Israel's been very clear that they, at this point, kind of want an all for all, right? It will end the war as long as all the hostages are out and you, Hamas, and the people of Gaza kind of let these Israeli forces hang around for a little bit to secure the area. I mean, Netanyahu says that he doesn't want to control all of Gaza, but right now they're planning this Gaza City operation. There's no reason to believe that they're not thinking about extending it further. And so as of right now, the answer very clearly from Hamas is, hey, we'd be fine for some sort of temporary deal.

1:02:16And Israel says, absolutely not. We're going in. The Palestinian death toll from this war has now surpassed 62 ,000 people. That's according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which is controlled by Hamas. Now, it does not distinguish between fighters and civilians in those numbers. Then this week, a stark and shocking assessment of the death toll. In leaked audio, a former Israeli military intelligence leader justifying the deaths of Palestinians. Listen.

1:02:49In that recording, Major General Aharon Haliva, who resigned as head of military intelligence in April of 2024, said in part, and this is a quote, the fact that there are already 50 ,000 dead in Gaza is necessary and required for future generations. For everything that happened on October 7th, for every one person on October 7th, 50 Palestinians must die. It doesn't matter now if they are children. Elizabeth Hagedorn, what has been the reaction to that leaked audio? Well, Aharon Aliva's comments, which he has since expressed some regret over, were condemned by Israeli human rights organizations, but I do think they are reflective of a certain viewpoint held by Israel's far right, which seeks the defeat of Hamas no matter the human cost.

1:03:36I mean, that is why Netanyahu's government is moving ahead with this Gaza City operation that will undoubtedly cause many more Palestinian casualties and put the remaining hostages at risk. The grim calculus among many on the far right in Israel is similar to what you just said, The horrors of October 7th can never happen again. And Hamas has put us in a position that they must be eliminated no matter the human cost, no matter the torture and death of children, no matter the hunger. It has to be done. And they have put us in this position. That's what you would hear from people on the far right.

1:04:14That's right. And that's similar to what the prime minister said yesterday in his remarks that, you know, we're not looking for what Israel is now referring to as a partial deal. And all for all deal is all Israel is willing to accept. And yeah, they're not going to leave Gaza without the full defeat of Hamas. Now, as we mentioned earlier in the hour, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza continues to unfold on the ground where a famine was officially declared in parts of northern Gaza and access to water is also scarce. On Friday, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, the IPC, said in a report that more than half a million people in Gaza City and its surrounding areas are facing, quote, starvation, destitution, and death.

1:05:02The report also says the famine is entirely man-made since Israel launched its offensive in the Gaza Strip, limits on fuel, imports and electricity have also undermined clean water access, and the water crisis has led to a rampant spread of diseases. We'll talk more about that in a moment. The IPC classification of famine, Jack Detch, what does it tell us about true conditions on the ground in Gaza, and maybe further what the international pressure is to rectify it? Well, it tells us that it's a race against time to stop hunger in Gaza, especially when it comes to now malnourished children, malnourished pregnant women, Gazans just dying of starvation, miles from warehouses where a lot of this food is actually being stored.

1:05:50And it shows that we have a concentration of famine in the Gaza government. That's where Gaza City is. It's likely to spread south, according to the United Nations, into Deir al-Bala and Khan Yunus. And that's going to set up a fascinating dynamic potentially at the UN General Assembly, where you're just going to see a lot of pressure on the Israelis from the European allies who have now seem are seemingly coming together around the idea of Palestinian statehood to put more pressure on the Israelis. In addition to the declaration of famine by the IPC, the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees, on Thursday said that its health centers now see an average of 10 ,300 patients with infectious diseases every week, mostly with diarrhea.

1:06:32And that's due to contaminated water, Alex Ward. So there's this dual threat on civilians in Palestine, lack of food, lack of clean water. What's your read going forward? Take a view of international pressure if you want in going forward to the UN and what all of this adds up to for Palestinian, a recognition of Palestinian statehood and a kind of pressure that can ease the blockade. well look as as jeff pointed out you know time is running out here and i think that's what the ipc is trying to say and the u.n is trying to say and and the main message is get some food in get infrastructure in get medical equipment in get water in it's not looking like it's going to happen right now if you you know israel would probably only respond mostly to american pressure that isn't happening you know the trump administration has been very clear that that basically, you know, they're going to let this go on, that the pressure would actually be good because that would get Hamas to release the hostages, and the U.S.

1:07:37also sides with the all-for-all deal. So the casualties here outside, of course, of those with bombs are those who are suffering from the conditions because there just isn't pressure to get more stuff in there. And in all of these countries that are saying, hey, you know, we're going to recognize Palestine as an independent state, you know, that's annoying to Israel and the U.S., but isn't going to change As of this moment, the reality is on the ground in Gaza. Outside of Gaza, in the West Bank, on Wednesday, Israel gave approval for a controversial settlement project that would cut the West Bank in two.

1:08:07This kind of thing has happened over the decades. The plan is known as East 1 or E1, and critics say it would end hopes for a Palestinian state. The Palestinian Authority said the project is illegal and would destroy the prospect of a two-state solution. Elizabeth, I'm not sure that this latest incursion in the West Bank is what's destroyed the prospect of a two-state solution. No, but we were just speaking about the prospect of Palestinian statehood by Western countries, countries including France. And what happened here was Israel's far-right finance minister, Smotrich, put this forward for approval as a response to those recent recognitions.

1:08:46This plan was stalled for years due to U.S. pressure. It's widely seen as illegal by the international community. And going forward with this controversial settlement project, it's a reminder that while global attention is fixed on Gaza, Israel's settlement expansion is rising. So is settler violence and all the while worsening conditions for Palestinians in the West Bank. This kind of settlement used to earn condemnation, including from U.S. presidents who saw it as a major provocation and an obstacle to peace, but just to lowering of tensions. What's been the reaction from the Trump administration now?

1:09:23The reaction has been muted, to say the least. There has been no such condemnation from the Trump administration, which very much favors this sort of settlement expansion by Israel. Meanwhile, the U.S. State Department announced that it will pause all visitor visas for people from Gaza on Saturday, saying that it's conducting, quote, a full and thorough review of the process and procedures used for granting medical humanitarian visas. Now, humanitarian groups like Heal Palestine in Ohio have been helping to evacuate Gazans to the United States who are critically injured for medical treatment. The organization has evacuated 148 people, mostly children, from Gaza to the United States, according to its website.

1:10:06Elizabeth, what's behind this move from the State Department? Two words, Laura Loomer. This followed an online pressure campaign from Loomer, a far-right influencer known for her Islamophobic views. She claimed that the very small numbers of Palestinians coming from Gaza for medical treatment were a national security threat, but neither she nor the State Department has provided evidence of that. And actually anyone leaving Gaza right now is subject to intense Israeli vetting before they can exit the territory. Humanitarian evacuations, mostly of children from Gaza to the United States for treatment, now halted because of a right-wing troll.

1:10:43Laura Loomer. That's correct. children, some of whom have lost their limbs. All right, let's get some news from Haiti, which continues to face gang violence and a worsening humanitarian crisis. Last week, the United States announced a$5 million reward for information leading to the capture of Jimmy Charizier, the gang leader, also known as Barbecue. At the same time, a grand jury in Washington issued a criminal indictment accusing Charizier of attempting to skirt U.S. sanctions. Now the United States is asking the United Nations to double the number of militarized foreign forces to deal with the gang problem in Haiti.

1:11:25Now, Jack, over a year ago, Kenya first deployed forces to Haiti to combat gangs. We covered it here on 1A. The Kenyan mission has faced challenges since it started, failing to control gangs, increased number of officers on the ground there after that failure. What would an increase in foreign forces now look like and what country might be taking the lead at this point? Well, that's the million-dollar question because nobody wants to. And the Trump administration right now is putting pressure on the Organization of American States, which already has about a$3 billion roadmap to help solve this.

1:12:01They could resource troops potentially from about 35 Latin American and Caribbean countries. But it's not likely they'll do any better than the Kenyans did, where earlier this year they were deployed into Haiti, were aligned with the Haitian National Police, and were basically kind of stuck in a small perimeter trying to clear the capital. But the capital is still 90 percent gang controlled in Port-au-Prince. And so it's difficult to see how this plan is going to put Humpty Dumpty back together again. Meanwhile, Haitian police have deployed drones armed with explosives in an attempt to fight back against the gangs, which have controlled the majority of Port-au-Prince, as Jack Detch says.

1:12:39They've been cooperating with the private mercenary company started by Trump ally and Blackwater founder Eric Prince. Two police officers were killed on Wednesday when one of those drones detonated accidentally, seriously wounding two other people on the scene. Alex Ward, what has the Haitian government said about what happened here? Well, they are still kind of figuring it out. But I think at the end of the day, it's very clear that they are looking to work more closely with Eric Prince's outfit, which is Vectis Global, to the point that even he's going to be collecting taxes now from goods coming in from the Dominican Republic over the Haitian border.

1:13:19So, I mean, this is obviously a security crisis in Haiti that's been going on for quite some time. But there's a feeling now that Prince's outfit is one of the ways to stabilize the situation, rest control of the roads and other infrastructure from the gangs. And they're going to rely on him and his team to pacify the situation. If you listen to Prince, he thinks it'll all be solved and all handled in roughly a year. So there's a lot of trust or maybe no other option really than to work with Prince, who's been making, you know, who's been touting his services in that unstable environment. Remind us then who Eric Prince is, his history with Donald Trump.

1:14:00He's also the brother of former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. What else about Eric Prince do we need to know as his Vectis Global takes over in Haiti, including the collection of taxes? Well, they're all over the place. I mean, they are, for example, Prince is also trying to make some money off of mineral mines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He is selling his services as pretty much a guaranteed security force, an infrastructure force, or government's, you know, patch, band-aid, and other parts of the world. And he's got tons of connections into Trump world, as you mentioned, his familial ones.

1:14:38But he knows a lot of people in the administration, and he is always seen somewhat favorably as someone who can kind of come in and stabilize unstable situations. And he's basically, one of his promises here is that he can help not only just collect taxes, but help secure investments. So Trump, who has made access to critical minerals all around the world a kind of a staple part of his policy where countries are offering the U.S. access to that, one of Prince's menu items, let's say, is, hey, we can secure that area and we can help collect and make money off of that for you. So he's kind of a major player already, let's say, and I think somewhat of a signal of where global security issues are going lately.

1:15:24Wherever there's pockets of instability, there's going to be Eric Prince or someone like him offering their services. Menu items, an interesting analogy for what's going on with Eric Prince, the Americans, and the crisis in Haiti. By the way, you can listen back to 1A's coverage of the crisis in Port-au-Prince and in Haiti on our website at the1a.org. Well, let's get some news now from Sudan, where a cholera outbreak has been reported at a refugee camp in Darfur. In fact, more than one refugee camp, nearly half a million people have sought shelter in a Tawhila refugee camp following attacks by the paramilitary group Rapid Support forces, otherwise known as RSF, which have been at war with Sudan's army since April of 2023.

1:16:09The first cases of cholera were detected in June. Across Darfur, there have been over 2 ,000 cases as of July 30th, and the United Nations Children Agency says more than 640 ,000 children under the age of five are at risk. Jack Detch, talk to us about the spread of cholera in Sudan's refugees camps, how it could compound a humanitarian crisis already in place since this civil war began. Yeah, and there's a reason why people call this one of the world's worst civil wars that's ongoing right now. You've just seen basically the country torn apart, an inability to even have hospitals and infrastructure.

1:16:5080 % of the hospitals in the country have been destroyed, sewage systems, all of that infrastructure. And now it's being overwhelmed by heavy rains in East Africa that we usually see every year. That's contaminated water. Now people drinking contaminated water, heading to the same refugee camps and spreading cholera. So it just seems like it's going to get worse and worse as people continue to flee east towards the border with Chad. It doesn't seem like there's any end in sight in this war between the RSF and Sudan's military. On Wednesday, a truck carrying aid from the World Food Program was bombed in Darfur.

1:17:24The RSF blames Sudan's army for attacking the convoy, which the army denies. Nearly 25 million people are facing acute hunger in Sudan. Elizabeth, what do we know about what happened here and how aid is getting to people in Sudan or not getting to them? As you noted, Sudan's paramilitary rapid support forces, also known as the RSF, blame the army. The army denied responsibility. Both the RSF and the Army use drones in this conflict. That's important to keep in mind. And both have been accused of obstructing the delivery of aid meant for civilians. Bigger picture, this attack on a World Food Program convoy this week happened near Al-Fashir, which is the last government stronghold in North Darfur.

1:18:11It's under siege by the RSF. WFP, the UN Food Agency, has not been able to deliver assistance here for over a year because the RSF has blocked all roads leading there, leading to what's become a devastating hunger crisis. And here in Washington, the Trump administration, led by its senior advisor, Massad Boulos, condemned the convoy attack and it's calling on the RSF to ensure that this aid is able to reach Al-Fashir. This was also a week of severe weather across the globe. Extreme cloudbursts hit parts of Pakistan and India this week. They triggered intense rainfall, followed by floods, mudflows, landslides, leveling entire neighborhoods and leaving hundreds of people dead.

1:18:55Now, scientists say these types of extreme weather events will become more common as the planet warms. Another climate-related story this week in Tehran. Iran has experienced a long-running drought compounded this summer by extreme heat. Now, officials there warn that the capital city's 10 million residents could run out of water within a matter of weeks. Alex, how much of this is mismanagement in Tehran? How much is an unavoidable result of drought conditions? Well, a lot of it has to do with the drought. I mean, that drought's been lasting for about five years or so, and there's just been extreme heat.

1:19:31I mean, Tehran has lately been one of the hottest places on Earth. In June, the heat index even reached roughly 150 degrees Fahrenheit, which is quite hot. Tons of reservoirs have been, you know, turned into ponds, basically. I mean, this is a very significant drought that has been affecting the water supplies. And the government, you know, obviously is under a ton of sanctions, but they're also at this point trying to ration the water, even cutting the work week and stopping people from going to certain offices to conserve as much water as possible, stopping certain water pressure so the water doesn't get up beyond like the second level of certain apartment buildings.

1:20:05You know, toilets aren't flushing as much. So this is a bit of the government maybe not husbanding its water sources knowing that this drought was going on. That's certainly part of it. And now they're offering extreme measures. But have to note that the weather has been extreme in Tehran and in Iran in general. And so now they are suffering even beyond just the economic issues that they are under. And this points at something critical from a national security perspective, Jack, that military leaders and others have been warning about for years. global warming leads to drought drought is water shortages water shortages means instability it means war it means war for resources and instability for governments all over the world not saying that that's happening directly in tehran but it reminds you of the cascading effects that that strategists and experts have been warning about for years yeah and i mean it leaves iran's government right now with with very limited options right because alex as alex mentioned you have the sanctions in place that have crippled Iran's economy for a number of years.

1:21:08Now the government talking about water holidays, reducing water pressure, but just limited things they can do right now. Maybe desalination is an option, but it just leaves them with limited public policy options in a really severe and acute crisis. And I mean, we're looking at temperatures of 122 degrees Fahrenheit, just to put that in perspective. Just unbelievable. Now, one more story I want to make sure we touch on The Trump administration is ramping up its attacks on the International Criminal Court. On Wednesday, the U.S. State Department announced new sanctions on four ICC individuals, including two judges and two prosecutors.

1:21:48The sanctions freeze assets that these officials hold in the United States. The ICC has called this move a, quote, flagrant attack against the independence of an impartial judicial institution. Elizabeth Hagedorn, you covered this story. Why is the Trump administration targeting the ICC? It's a continuation of the administration's campaign against the court, which it accuses of bias against both the United States and Israel. Specifically here, the admin is taking issue with the court's investigation into the U.S. military's conduct in Afghanistan, as well as its issuance last year of an arrest warrant for Netanyahu.

1:22:25But the ICC is just one of several multilateral institutions targeted by the administration. Last month, for example, the Trump administration announced it would be withdrawing the United States from UNESCO. That's the U.N. agency that designates World Heritage Sites. In that case, the administration criticized UNESCO's inclusion of Palestine as a member state. World Health Organization. That one, too. Another international organization that Donald Trump has pulled the U.S. out of. What else comes to mind? We have seen several rounds of sanctions against ICC officials. We've also seen the administration this summer issue sanctions against the top official at the United Nations investigating crimes committed against the Palestinians.

1:23:10Now, the United States is not a signatory to the treaty that governs the ICC, right? So these attacks are kind of coming from the outside. Nor is Israel. And that's why the Trump administration says that the ICC does not have jurisdiction here to investigate the U.S. and Israel. All right. In the couple of minutes that we have left, I want to dig into your reporter's notebooks for the week ahead. Find out what stories you're watching might be under the radar or probably off the radar for most of us and what you think we should know about for the week ahead. Alex, where do you go first? What are you working on?

1:23:42Sure. Well, I'm curious to see whether the increased tariffs on India are going to go up on August 27th as Trump is threatened. We know that Trump threatened secondary sanctions on Russia over their unwillingness to make a peace deal. But since Trump has met with Putin, those threats have gone away. And you have to wonder whether the India tariffs, which were meant to punish Russia, will still go up. And if they do, then the question is, is it really about Russia or is it about India? Since Trump seems to be angry at India in part because they buy oil from Russia. But it seems to be that it's mainly about the fact that India will not give Trump credit for ending the fight with Pakistan.

1:24:19where Pakistan has put Trump forward for the Nobel Peace Prize and India says Trump didn't have much to do with it. So August 27th, mark it on your calendar. Yeah, I mean, Alex Ward, Donald Trump and Narendra Modi, leader of India, had such a great relationship, didn't they? Yes, but with Trump, it's sort of that Janet Jackson song, what have you done for me lately? And in this case, Modi, after that fighting stopped with Pakistan, said, hey, India just doesn't like it when they're seen as sort of outside, have outside influence on them. And so they've been saying the U.S. had no real say in the stoppage of that fight.

1:24:55And Trump does seem quite angry at them. So even despite all the howdy-mody stuff and having Trump open for him at a massive rally in Dallas during the first term, that friendship has gone away. Elizabeth Hagedorn, what's in your notebook? I'll be keeping a close eye on Iran. Iran faces an end-of-the-month deadline to resume nuclear cooperation with the West or face the so-called snapback of U.N. sanctions that were lifted under the original nuclear deal in 2015. And so far, all signs point to Iran standing firm making the return of those sanctions very likely. And Jack Detch, what about you? Just looking for news on the Ukraine front.

1:25:32Apparently, Trump very mad about a Ukrainian attack on Russian oil facilities going into Hungary. So it seems like there's going to be some more intrigue as the battlefield continues to change. I want to thank our panelists today, Elizabeth Hagedorn, State Department correspondent Anand and Owl Monitor, Alex Ward, national security reporter at The Wall Street Journal, and Jack Detch, defense reporter at Politico. Mike Kidd is our sound designer and engineer, with help this week from Kellen Quigley. Chris Castano is our digital editor. Maya Garg is our senior managing producer. Alexandra Botee is our senior supervising producer.

1:26:08Amanda Williams is our special projects editor. Eileen Humphries is the editor and producer of 1A On Demand, and Barb Anguiano produces our podcast. This program comes to you from WAMU, part of American University in Washington. It's distributed by NPR. I'm Todd Zwillick. Thanks for listening. We'll talk more soon. This is 1A.

1:26:44Bye.