Hello and welcome to Background Briefing, available 24-7 at Background Briefing.org, I'm Ian Masters,

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

We'll begin with a volley of 400 Iranian ballistic missiles

fired at Israeli military intelligence and offshore oil and gas facilities today,

resulting in no Israeli casualties with a Palestinian on the West Bank injured

by falling missile debris.

We'll discuss the escalation ladder with Israel vowing Iran will pay a heavy price,

and Iran warning, quote, a subsequent and crushing response will ensue to an Israeli

retaliation. Joining us is Nicholas Harris,

the Senior Director for Strategy and Innovation at the New Lions Institute.

From 2016 to 2017, Nicholas served as the 10th First Lieutenant Andrew J. Basevic Jr.,

USA Fellow at the Center for a New American Security,

and he is the author of from the bottom up

a strategy for U.S. military support for Syria's armed opposition. He recently conducted an

extensive study on Iran's proxies in the Middle East for the National Defense University.

Then with Michigan shaping up to be the critical swing state in this election, not just for

the Democrats winning the White House, but also for holding the Senate, we'll speak with Andy Levin,

who served as a Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2019 to 2023, representing Michigan's

9th District.

Previously, he served as a deputy director and acting director of Michigan's Department of Energy, Labor and Economic Growth,

and as Michigan's first chief workface officer, and in the Clinton administration,

he worked in Secretary of Labor Robert Reich's office to fend off Speaker

...