The Iran War is About to Get BLOODIER

That thing they say doesn't happen, actually happened. Amdani finds out he can't arrest Netanyahu. And the Iran War heats up again. Again. That and more on this week's America Uncovered Headline. Welcome to America Uncovered, I'm Chris Chappell. Could you spare a weary reporter some stability? Because all these rapid fire changes are interfering with my REM cycle. For example, Andy Burnham is the new Prime Minister of the UK. Which makes him the 7th UK Prime Minister in a decade. Call me old-fashioned, but I don't think countries should get new leaders faster than we're getting new Batmans. Batmen? Well, Nicaragua's 80-year-old President Daniel Ortega seems to agree, because he announced the country won't hold any more elections to prevent the opposition party from coming into power. Genius political parties here in the US are wasting all this time fighting over districts and voter IDs to try and gain advantages in upcoming elections. They could all just save so much time by just cancelling elections altogether to stay in power indefinitely. Well, why don't they do that? Oh yeah, that whole pesky democracy thing. It's like Ortega, who always looks like he's stuck in an airport and just heard his flight was delayed for the third time, heard people say Nicaragua is run like a dictatorship and thought, like, allow me to remove the ambiguity. This decision to suddenly stop holding elections after 30 non-consecutive years as Nicaragua's leader might have something to do with this—South America becoming more right-wing in recent years. Nicaragua isn't in South America, but I'm sure the Marxist-Leninist Ortega doesn't want the right-wing contagion pushing north into his country. Obviously, Ortega's suspending elections upset many people, but one person who might be happy to hear this is Secretary of State El Presidente of Venezuela, the Pope and Ayatollah Marco Rubio, who could use this as an excuse to invade Nicaragua, institute regime change, and add another title to his already super long LinkedIn profile. All this makes me grateful to live in America, where elections are secure. And even though some Republicans and President Trump himself claim proof of citizenship should be required to keep non-citizens from voting, that obviously never, ever, ever happens. What's that, Shelley? 6,600 non-citizens were mistakenly added to New Jersey voter rolls! And nearly 400 cast ballots in recent elections? This was due to a software glitch. But thankfully, it was only a few hundred votes cast. And there's no way this problem could be widespread. And no way I'm feigning ignorance right now to set up a video clip to comedically contradict my naive optimism. In the case of this error, some individuals indicated that they weren't citizens and weren't eligible to vote. But the software registered them anyway. So the 6,600 non-citizens that were added to the voter roll all admitted to being non-citizens? How many people lied and are potentially still on there? And if this software is so janky, who's to say how janky the software is in other states? Maybe this issue is widespread. Maybe it isn't. The issue is, we don't know. But thankfully, this is the only potential secret group influencing our policy. And there's no way I'm feigning ignorance a second time to set up another video clip. Everybody knows there is like this closeted gay mafia, largely Republican, that exists in Washington, DC, and everybody knows every single one of them. A secret gay mafia, according to Hunter Biden, that paragon of virtue. Well, I'm just happy to hear someone say something other than the Jews secretly control the government. Anyway, Rubio better use whatever Ayatollah powers he can to calm the Iran conflict down, because it is currently terminally uncalmed. More nations may be getting dragged into it because Yemen Houthis have seemingly put another trade chokepoint at risk. The Houthi rebels say they've closed the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. Roughly 12% of the world's trade goes through this waterway. But more importantly for the Houthis, Saudi Arabia uses it for shipping. Which is why they say they've closed it in retaliation for a blockade Saudi Arabia put on Yemen. The Houthis have also taken credit for strikes on two Saudi tankers in the Red Sea. This is a shocking development. To anyone who hasn't paid any attention to the Middle East in the past, let's say two thousand years, conflict popping up there is like seeing a polar bear advertising Coca Cola. You just think, oh, it's already that time of year again. And Trump is now claiming the US will bomb one bridge or power plant, even in Iran's capital of Tehran, for every ship shot at in the Strait of Hormuz. Of course, with increased conflict comes increased gas prices. As gas returned to a national average of $4 a gallon. And oil surged to $100 per barrel after the Red Sea attacks by the Houthis. The US could potentially counter rising prices by dipping into the crude oil reserves. But those are at a 45-year low. Unfortunately, America has way less gas. Not just because people are visiting Taco Bell less to avoid getting explosive diarrhea. It also looks like this, don't call it a war with Iran, could very soon turn into a full-blown, ok, fine, go ahead and call it a war. Because four US soldiers were killed last weekend, three during Iranian strikes in Jordan, and one during a drone detonation in Iraq. That makes 18 US service members killed so far during the Iran... war. And nearly 100 US troops have been injured in just the past two weeks. That number could be higher since the Pentagon reportedly withheld dozens of US military injuries. As much as Trump has downplayed Iran's defensive capabilities, they clearly aren't paper tigers. Even if their ayatollah is kind of made of paper. But the US's biggest issue with their strategy in Iran so far is obvious. They haven't thrown enough money at the problem. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth faced questions from Congress this week over the Pentagon requesting $87.6 billion of additional funding. This is on top of the estimated $37.5 billion already spent on the war. But the US's money problems are nothing compared to Iran's, because America is attacking their military and their wallets. Treasury Secretary Scott Besson, who looks like someone reverse-anamorphed Sam the Eagle, says they've launched Operation Economic Fury. Which sounds like what happens when someone crashes out after seeing Big Macs now cost $8. And we are tracking these accounts all over the world. We froze a crypto wallet linked to the IRGC the other day, about $130 million. We have found the money man for the ayatollah. We are constricting the regime. Their currency has collapsed. It is at an all-time low versus the dollar. It's in freefall. And we think the inflation rate is upwards of 180%. 180% inflation? That's devastating. That means their Big Macs cost way more than 8 bucks. Also, is anyone else surprised to hear the IRGC has a crypto wallet? I wonder what type of coins they're collecting. But you know what I'm sure will really calm things down in the Middle East? Trump approving a landmark nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia, which would last 30 years, is worth tens of billions of dollars, and will allow American companies to help the Saudi Kingdom develop a nuclear infrastructure, which in turn could end up leading to them enriching uranium. Which is a great idea, because the US doesn't have a better friend than the nation that housed the majority of the terrorists that committed 9-11. Trump, of course, insists that the agreement does not allow enrichment of uranium. Because saying you're not allowed to do that has worked so well in Iran. He also decided at the last minute that the deal is contingent on the Saudis signing the Abraham Accords to normalize relations with Israel. So we'll see if the deal actually goes through, or if the Saudis decide that they hate Israel more than they like nuclear power. Secretary of Health and man whose face probably has the consistency of summer sweat on a leather Tesla seat, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has announced that $1 billion in Medicaid payments to California and Minnesota will be paused over suspected fraud and noncompliance. RFK Jr. said if those states want the money, they need to provide documentation that these payments are legitimate. So while many are interpreting this announcement as California and Minnesota permanently lost $1 billion in Medicaid payments, that's simply not true. Instead, in light of certain controversial yet enlightening fraud investigations, these payments are being paused only until California and Minnesota can provide proof that they weren't engaged in fraud. So actually, California and Minnesota may have permanently lost a billion dollars in Medicaid payments. The Trump administration is cracking down on blue states, but this blue city wants to crack down on one of Trump's allies. New York City Mayor Zoran Mondani has been exploring whether he can arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he visits the city for a UN General Assembly in September. Spoiler, he can't. My administration has reviewed every avenue available, under applicable law, to determine whether New York City could execute the International Criminal Court's arrest warrant if Benjamin Netanyahu came here. It is clear that we do not have the independent legal authority to enforce this warrant. Yeah, I could have told you that. What was that review? Asking literally any lawyer and them all saying, nah man. This arrest fantasy is over alleged war crimes Netanyahu was charged with by the International Criminal Court. There are a few problems with that, though. The US isn't part of the International Criminal Court, and no US administration has been big fans of it. I get into that in this episode here. Trump reiterated that Netanyahu will not be arrested during his New York City visit. And as Mondani said, he can't arrest Netanyahu since a mayor's jurisdiction doesn't overwrite that of the nation they're a part of. If it did, Mayor McCheese could arrest anyone for bad-mouthing him inside a McDonald's. I'm not a criminal! What's criminal are these Big Macs costing 8 bucks! Trump doesn't seem very happy with Mondani right now. But he seems even more unhappy with Canada. Trump imposed a new 50% tariff on many imports from Canada over what he calls discriminatory trade practices and for Canada's wildfires poisoning US air. But Canada isn't just rolling over and taking it. Ontario Premier and thumb-in-a-toupee Doug Ford had this to say. We are an energy powerhouse. And we could dismantle the US if we wanted to, if we all worked together. Ford is referring to the fact that Canada is a massive supplier of energy to the US, providing over half of the US's crude oil imports, 85% of its electricity imports, and 99% of its natural gas imports. But we don't need any of that. I mean, it's not like I just mentioned a few minutes ago how gas prices are poised to skyrocket and the US crude oil reserves are at a 45-year low. If I said those exact things a few minutes ago, then boy, this threat would hold some weight. Yeah, maybe it's a bad idea to threaten nations we're dependent on. Of course, the US wouldn't be in this scenario if Canada became America's 51st state. Maybe this is the excuse Trump was looking for to invade and give Marco Rubio another title to his already super long LinkedIn profile. What do you think? Leave your comments below. I read as many as I can. But I read every comment on AmericaUncovered.tv, where you'll get access to thousands of episodes ad-free, plus a community chat, live streams, and more. Just click this button here. Once again, I'm Chris Chappell. Thank you for watching America Uncovered.