Dan Mitchinson: US correspondent on Donald Trump directing more bomb threats at Iran

Donald Trump is turning up the heat, telling Iran it needs to make a peace deal.

His military has renewed blockades on Iranian ports and launched a fourth day of strikes on the country.

Meanwhile, Iran has targeted US allies in the region, including Kuwait and Jordan.

US correspondent Dan Mitchinson says it's unclear how this will end, given that Trump is thinking about the mid-term elections and the political impact of the conflict. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
International Correspondence with ends and eye insurance, peace of mind
for New Zealand business. Yes for Danson Luis Correspondentlo Dan.

Speaker 2 (00:14):
Hello there, Heather. How are you?

Speaker 1 (00:15):
I'm very well. Did you enjoy that?

Speaker 2 (00:16):
Oh?

Speaker 1 (00:16):
No, you've seen it live about five hundred times now.

Speaker 2 (00:19):
Yeah, yeah, about five hundred give or take.

Speaker 1 (00:21):
Now, when you sent me the picture of Barry Manilow,
was that did you meet stalk him again? Or was
that him on stage?

Speaker 2 (00:28):
No? That was him on stage. I had a front
row center seats.

Speaker 1 (00:31):
Again, did he see you and think, geez, that's that guy.
I've met him a bunch of times. There he is again.

Speaker 2 (00:37):
Yeah, you know, fist bump, all that good stuff.

Speaker 1 (00:39):
Right, No, you didn't for spump him, did you?

Speaker 2 (00:41):
Did you? I'm not going to answer that now the
way you're asking.

Speaker 1 (00:45):
Me that I'm worried about you, Dan, I mean, there's
fandom and then there's fandom. Did you notice in the
picture that you sent me though, like he's looking got
a but his shade of makeup is a little off.
So it is, yes, but orange on the face, isn't it?

Speaker 2 (00:59):
It is with a light it's not very flattering. Because
then if you meet him in person. I mean, he
just looks like you know, any one of us, but
under underneath the lights, he looks like President Trump a
little bit.

Speaker 1 (01:07):
So yeah, yeah, I can see that. Was it a
good show?

Speaker 2 (01:09):
Though? It was fantastic. It was great.

Speaker 1 (01:13):
Do you know of his other songs?

Speaker 2 (01:16):
Oh? I know, I mean I write the songs my
one of my favorite songs. It's first forty five I
ever owned. Yeah, so you know, two of his sons.
But but that, but that being said, you know, the
night before I went to see Kenny Chesney as well,
so I got a little bit of the old and
a little bit of the news.

Speaker 1 (01:29):
Yeah, okay, what you're trying to do right now is
tell us that you are a little bit cold, you're
still going to see new music as well. I hear
what you're saying.

Speaker 2 (01:36):
Hey, Bruno Mars on the way in September, thank you.

Speaker 1 (01:39):
Yeah, Like, I like where you're going with this now,
Donald Trump, what's going on? What's he doing with the run?
What's the end game?

Speaker 2 (01:46):
Well, you know, I don't know if there is an
end game. I mean, you know, this was supposed to
be over this war, and you know he had said
originally in a week, but here we are in a
month five right now, and at this point, Heather, I
think the most likely ending is going to be a
non ending. And and and we have to believe that
Trump is thinking about the midterms right now. In the
higher gas prices, that's not going to get Republicans re

(02:06):
elected in November. And then there's concerned about more soldiers
getting attacks. So what do you do in a situation
like this if you're Donald Trump, well, you might try
to end the whole thing. I think without reaching an agreement,
an official agreement, You're going to let things settle down,
go into the background. You'll claim victory. And I think
we can say with certainty that this is a president
who will always claim a win and never admit defeats.

(02:27):
So he and his advisors are going to spin this
any way they can to look like a win for
the American people.

Speaker 1 (02:32):
I think, I mean, the fact that they've indicated that
this opens the sixty day window at least gives them.
I mean, it indicates that he may well be going
at this all the way through to September.

Speaker 2 (02:41):
Potentially, well potentially, yeah, I mean, I mean, look at
how he's flip flopped. I think this was the third time. Yesterday,
you know, he announced that all the vessels going through
the straight or worm moves would be having to pay
a twenty percent fee for providing security. And then twenty
four later is that was off the table. So now
it's all about trade investment deals and I think that's
what he's going to be trying to push through the

(03:03):
next few weeks.

Speaker 1 (03:03):
Okay, what is going on with the Mitch McConnell photo
and why people worried about it.

Speaker 2 (03:09):
Well, a lot of people are thinking that this is
AI Republicans, we're trying to keep this quiet. The buzz
was so a special election wouldn't be called before the
midterms of November. So his office, McConnell's office released this
picture that everybody's seen of McConnell and his wife and
McConnell's holding the current newspaper. Problem is nobody thinks it's
real because on social media they're saying, well, look at

(03:32):
the text of the newspaper, it's all fuzzy, kind of
AI generated, it's blurry, and if he's in the hospital
wise or no IV connected to him or a monitor,
good point. But they've got AI specialists in right now
and saying, you know, what this would be too advanced
even for AI right now, looking at wrinkles and sheets
and McConnell himself, so they don't believe the photo is fake.

(03:53):
But I think, I mean, even the most hardcore evidence,
you know, with our eyes these days, I mean, we're
still saying, oh, that can't be real, even when it is.
And I think AI is making it harder and harder
to believe what we see.

Speaker 1 (04:03):
It's like a ransom photo, isn't it with the day's
newspaper there anyway, Dan, thanks very much, appreciate to look
up to yourself. Dan Mitchison, US correspondent.

Speaker 2 (04:13):
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