Tuesday, March 31st, 2026 - Iran ground invasion floated; Russia helped target US bases; Cuba blockade abandoned

Today’s Headlines: Trump let a sanctioned Russian oil tanker through the Cuba blockade this weekend for "humanitarian reasons" — which raises the obvious question of what the three-month blockade that caused island-wide blackouts and hospital failures was for. When asked, Trump said he had "no problem" with countries sending oil to Cuba. The Iran war is getting darker by the day. Italy's defense minister said he can no longer sleep knowing what's coming. Trump threatened to destroy Iran's desalination plants — its drinking water infrastructure — on Monday morning. Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, and Bahrain are all lobbying Trump to keep the war going and potentially send ground troops, while Zelensky warned a prolonged Iran war is a massive gift to Russia — which, per Zelensky, shared drone warfare expertise with Iran AND provided satellite imagery of U.S. military bases days before Iran struck them. Oil hit $116 a barrel. Pope Leo XIV used his Palm Sunday address to say God does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war. Nobody in this administration was listening. On the home front, TSA workers are finally getting paid including backpay — turns out it only required that same pen Trump spent four minutes praising at his cabinet meeting. In other news, Kash Patel directed FBI agents to pull a decade-old investigative file on California Congressman Eric Swalwell, who is now running for governor, in what would be a highly unusual release of a file from an investigation that resulted in zero charges. The Supreme Court hears arguments on birthright citizenship tomorrow — April Fools Day. A federal judge blocked the Nexstar-Tegna merger that would have given one company control of local TV for 60% of U.S. households. OkCupid settled with the FTC after sharing the photos and location data of 3 million users with a facial recognition company — no fine, no admission of wrongdoing, just a pinky promise not to do it again. And three thieves stole a Matisse, a Renoir, and a Cézanne from an Italian museum in three minutes flat, abandoning a fourth painting when an alarm went off.

Resources/Articles mentioned in this episode:

Politico: White House: Russian tanker allowed to break Cuba blockade for ‘humanitarian reasons’

LA Repubblica: Crosetto: “No al voto anticipato finché c’è questa guerra. Archiviamo il referendum”

AP News: Trump again threatens widespread destruction in Iran if a deal is not reached 'shortly'

AP News: Gulf allies privately make the case to Trump to keep fighting until Iran is decisively defeated

Axios: Exclusive: Zelensky says Russia winning from Iran war

BBC: Latin Patriarch will have access to Jerusalem holy site after police stopped entry

ABC 7 LA: Pope Leo XIV rejects claims that God justifies war in Palm Sunday Mass message

AP News: Airport bottlenecks ease as TSA workers get paid, but shutdown continues

The Guardian: Democrats decry ‘smear’ as Trump FBI pushes for release of Eric Swalwell file

PBS News: LISTEN LIVE: Supreme Court considers constitutionality of Trump's birthright citizenship order

NBC News: Judge pauses blockbuster merger between TV station owners Nexstar and Tegna

Engadget: OkCupid settles FTC case on alleged misuse of its users' personal data

NBC News: Thieves steal paintings by Renoir, Cézanne and Matisse in Italy museum heist

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