Hello and welcome to Background Briefing, available 24-7 at Background Briefing.org. I'm Ian Masters, and today we'll look into a number of stories and issues in the news.

We'll begin with the US and 21 allies calling for a ceasefire across the Israel-Lebanon border,

which Prime Minister Netanyahu promptly rejected,

saying that Israel will keep hitting Hezbollah with, quote, full force,

and we'll not stop until we achieve our goals.

Joining us is Stephen Simon, a senior research fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, who served on the National Security Council a senior director for counterterrorism

in the Clinton White House and a senior director for the Middle Eastern North Africa in the Obama White House.

He is a distinguished fellow and professor at Dartmouth College, and his latest book is Grand Delusion, the rise and fall of

American ambition in the Middle East, and he warned in the New York Times in July that only a strong

US know could stop Israel from launching a war in Lebanon.

Then with indictments handed down today by the Southern District of New York,

charging New York Mayor Eric Adams with bribery, wire fraud,

and seeking illegal campaign donations,

we will speak with James Zarin, a former federal prosecutor in the

Southern District of New York, and the host of the critically acclaimed television talk show

conversations with Jim Zirin, which airs on PBS. He is the author of Supremely Partisan,

how raw politics tips the scale in the United States Supreme Court and plaintiff in chief,

a portrait of Donald Trump in 3,500 lawsuits.

He's a contributing editor at the Washington Monthly and a regular contributor to the Hill.

Then finally we'll examine how former Vice President Mike Pence's religiosity is tame compared to J.D. Vance, who appears to be a part of

the Opus Day shadowy network behind the far-right capture of the Supreme Court and Project

2025. Joining us to discuss Vance and his backers' plan to legislate morality is Dr. Bradley Onishi, a scholar of religion and co-host of the

...