U.S. Prepares to Blockade Strait of Hormuz, and a MAGA Hero Is Defeated in Europe

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0:33From the New York Times, it's the headlines. I'm Tracy Mumford. Today's Monday, April 13th. Here's what we're covering.

0:44The bad news is that we have not reached an agreement. And I think that's bad news for Iran much more than it's bad news for the United States of America. After almost a full day of closed-door negotiations this weekend in Pakistan, Vice President J.D. Vance emerged to announce that efforts to reach a peace deal with Iran had failed. He blamed Iran, saying they'd rejected the U.S. demand that they not try to develop a nuclear weapon. We just could not get to a situation where the Iranians were willing to accept our terms. I think that we were quite flexible. Earlier, even as the talks were ongoing.

1:21Look, regardless, we win. Regardless what happens, we win. President Trump had insisted it didn't matter if there was a deal or not. And by the time Vance was announcing that the negotiations had collapsed, Trump was at a UFC fight in Miami, watching the bloody cage matches alongside a bunch of his family members, Joe Rogan and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. That was Saturday night. On Sunday, Trump announced that the U.S. Navy will start blockading the Strait of Hormuz. It's the latest head-spinning development for the crucial waterway. Iran largely cut off the strait as leverage when the war started, though it was supposed to reopen under the current temporary ceasefire.

2:01Now, the U.S. is cutting off traffic as a way to choke off the limited amount of Iranian oil and gas that was getting through. The Pentagon says the blockade will begin this morning on any ships coming or going from Iranian ports. Iranian officials have made clear they know this could drive up global fuel prices even more, and Iran's top negotiators seem to taunt the U.S. online, posting, quote, enjoy the current pump figures. Soon you'll be nostalgic for$4 to$5 gas. Meanwhile. Iran very much wants any cessation of the war in Iran to be coupled with an ending of Israeli strikes against Hezbollah, which is a critical proxy army for Iran.

2:44My colleagues on The Daily today explain how Israel's motivations for the war are complicating efforts to end it. Israel doesn't want Hezbollah to be part of any negotiated ceasefire and wants to keep that part of the war going for its own reasons.

3:12In elections in Hungary yesterday, Viktor Orban, Europe's most prominent right-wing populist, conceded the race. It's a major blow to the Trump administration, as Orban had been something of a MAGA icon, and to the Kremlin, both of which backed his campaign. A record-breaking number of Hungarians went to the polls, almost 80 percent of registered voters there. And as the results came in, crowds of mostly young people rushed into the streets to celebrate. Orban has been in power for 16 years, and he's eliminated many checks and balances in the government, stacked the courts, and taken control of most news media outlets.

3:53He's now expected to be replaced by Peter Magyar, a conservative politician who shares some of Orban's politics, including warning about the dangers of so-called woke ideology. But Magyar managed to win over voters in part by promising to end widespread corruption in the country after years of Orban's family and friends enriching themselves. Magyar is also expected to be less hostile towards the EU and less friendly to Russia. Orban's administration had long been viewed as a security risk because members of his government reportedly shared information from EU meetings with the Kremlin. Orban's party had also held up a$100 billion EU loan to help Ukraine.

4:34That loan is now expected to be approved.

4:44A little over a year ago, the Trump administration announced that they were going to force all transgender service members out of the military. It was a move that they said was needed to keep the military efficient and to save money. But what I found in my reporting is that a year later, it seems like the opposite has happened. My colleague Dave Phillips covers the Pentagon for The Times. The military went into this new policy with no plan of how to carry it out. And so my reporting showed that all sorts of highly skilled people in the military, People like doctors, lawyers, pilots, people that the government invested heavily in paying for their very expensive education have been quickly dismissed without an obvious replacement.

5:25And even though they're not in their jobs anymore, they're still on the books. Many of them, actually most of them, spent months and months on paid administrative leave, collecting a paycheck but unable to do their jobs. I spoke to one Navy chief named Parker Moore, who the Navy had spent years training to be a nuclear fission technician on an aircraft carrier. Essentially, their job was to oversee a whole team of people that made the heart of an aircraft carrier run. But very quickly, once the rules were announced, they were told to be put on leave. Now, the admiral in charge of this aircraft carrier said, no, we need you, but the Navy put them on leave anyway.

6:09And that carrier, the Abraham Lincoln, left without Chief Moore and is now in the Middle East without a really critical nuclear reactor supervisor. In all, I talked to more than a dozen people while reporting this story, and they said that, yeah, this is a waste of talent, a waste of training dollars, a waste of years of experience. But also the cost goes much deeper than just money, right? These are people that wanted to serve their country. And now they're being forced to leave, which makes them feel like not only they're letting their comrades down, but that the government that they committed themselves to is betraying them.

6:59In a social media post last night, Democratic Representative Eric Swalwell announced that he is suspending his campaign for California governor in the wake of allegations of sexual assault and misconduct. I kept figuring out ways to blame myself. I shouldn't have reached out to him at all. I should have left. I should have done this. Well, Eric shouldn't have raped me. In recent days, both CNN and the San Francisco Chronicle had published damning interviews. In one, a former staffer said Swalwell had sexually assaulted her in a New York City hotel when she was intoxicated. Others said he'd sent unsolicited nude images.

7:38The Times has not independently confirmed the allegations. Following the reports, representatives for the Manhattan DA's office said investigators would begin looking into the assault claim against Swalwell. And there was a wave of public condemnation as more than 50 of his former staff members called on him to end his campaign and resign from Congress. In an open letter, they wrote, quote, Justice is not optional. Accountability is not negotiable. Democratic leaders in the House, meanwhile, have not called on him to step down from his post there, and Swalwell has denied the assault allegations.

8:13I do not suggest to you in any way that I'm perfect or that I'm a saint. I've certainly made mistakes in judgment in my past. He did release a video statement, though, apologizing to his wife. According to the CNN report, within a few months of her giving birth to their third child, Swalwell was allegedly texting another woman with messages like, when am I going to see you? At least one U.S. representative has promised to bring a motion to expel Swalwell from the House.

8:45And finally. When I've gotten to see these games, I've had to pass through security and be escorted down to the field, which is right in the middle of the prison yard. I've been playing baseball all my life, but I'd never seen it played quite like this. My colleague Eli Tan has been covering the San Quentin Giants. the baseball team at California's San Quentin Prison. Some of the guys have played either in college or professionally, while others haven't picked up a bat since Little League. The games are played during the recreation time, so there are hundreds of men lifting weights and giving haircuts right outside the dugout.

9:24The players tell me that it's one of the most important things that they have in their life in San Quentin, and that it gives them a feeling of nostalgia that reminds them of the last time that they were free men. Eli says the baseball program, which took years to build, is notable because the inmates play against a rotating roster of outside teams, like rec leagues, who come into San Quentin for the games. And the prison warden told Eli the program has proved to be just as helpful for the inmates' rehabilitation as things like state-mandated therapy sessions. Since Eli first reported on the Giants back in the fall, He said he's heard from people all over the country who've wanted to help out and send equipment.

10:04He also heard from a California state legislator who is now pushing a bill to expand sports programming at prisons across the state. Next month, Eli is going back to San Quentin, not as a reporter, but as a player. His own men's team is going to play against the Giants.

10:25Those are the headlines. I'm Tracy Mumford. We'll be back tomorrow.

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