Hello and welcome to background briefing, available 24-7 at background briefing. I'm Ian Masters,

and today we'll look into a number of stories and issues in the news.

We'll begin with the extent to which Biden is increasingly relying on his enemies abroad

like Netanyahu and Iran to avoid getting dragged into another war

and his enemies at home, House and Senate Republicans, to vote for an immigration bill

that Trump is trying to kill, which is dead on

arrival in Mike Johnson's house.

Joining us is Andrew Feinberg, a reporter covering the White House and Congress for the

Independent, where his latest article, which we will discuss, is, as crises mount, Biden's

hopes rest increasingly in his enemy's hands.

Then we'll examine further the tinderbox in the Middle East

as the US steps up strikes on the hoodies in Yemen

and speak with Stephen Simon,

who served on the National Security Council staff

as a senior director for Middle East and North African Affairs from 2011 to 2012.

He also worked on the NSA staff from 1994 to 1999 on counterterrorism and Middle East security policy,

and these assignments followed a 15-year career at the United States Department

of State. Currently a fellow in international affairs at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

He is the co-author among other books of The Age of Sacred Terror and his latest book is

Grand Delusion, The Rise and Fall of American Amb ambition in the Middle East. We'll discuss his

article at the Atlantic, Netanyahu should quit. The U.S. can help with that. Then finally,

we'll investigate the disconnect between Biden's increasingly celebrated economic numbers

...