Hi there, everyone. It's four o'clock in New York. Just over one week into Donald Trump's war in Iran, here's where things stand. Eight U.S. service members have died. The White House did not rule out a draft. We face what the Wall Street Journal calls the worst energy crisis since the

1970s, and the Iranian regime has replaced one brutal dictator with that brutal dictator's son.

The war continues to intensify and escalate with apocalyptic scenes of destruction unfolding

in Tehran over the weekend.

So far across the Middle East, almost 2,000 people have been killed, including at least 260 children.

The Pentagon announced the loss of a seventh service member over the weekend in an attack in Saudi Arabia.

He was identified earlier today as 26-year-old Sergeant Benjamin Pennington.

He was from Kentucky. An eighth in Kuwait died in a non-combat medical emergency. He was identified

as 46-year-old major Saurfly Davies from New York. The death toll could continue to rise if more U.S. ground troops are sent to Iran.

NBC News is reporting that Donald Trump privately expressed serious interest in boots on the ground.

According to that reporting, Trump's, quote,

interest in deploying ground troops has not focused on a large-scale ground invasion of Iran,

but rather on the idea of a small contingent of U.S.

troops that would be used for specific strategic purposes, end quote.

The economic fallout from the first week has been swift and has already proven to be dire.

Wall Street Journal reports this, quote,

The most severe shock to energy markets since the 1970s is cascading through the

world economy, the disruption quickly fed into higher gasoline and diesel prices at the pump,

and higher mortgage rates and borrowing costs for the U.S. government, endangering Donald Trump's

economic priorities. Oil prices are soaring, reaching more than $100 a barrel for period today.

It's the first time that has happened in almost four years,

and it is thanks to the fact that the war has essentially grounded the traffic through the Strait of Hormuz to a halt.

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