An Israeli minister just said that he wants Beirut to look like Gaza. Kurdish rebels back by the CIA may be about to turn this into a ground war. Azerbaijan's threatening retaliation after Iranian drones hit its territory. NATO says that it supports the US campaign and AOC's arguing that Trump may have started this entire war to distract from the Epstein files. Hi, welcome back to the Philip DeFranco show, though. The situation is spiraling. There's even more that we've got to talk about, but let's start here. Are you at fighting in Lebanon picking back up this week after Hezbo fired rockets into Northern Israel in response to the strikes on Iran? And Israel's response has killed at least 102 people so far, according to Lebanon's health ministry, though it may actually be about to get worse. Over the past few days, the Israeli military has issued sweeping evacuation warnings across southern Lebanon sparking fears of a ground invasion. And then he saw they

issued an evacuation order for the De Heiaa, which encompasses the southern suburbs of Beirut,

where Hezbollah has long held influence and where anywhere from 300 to 700,000 people live. And

so it's actually believed to be the first time in this conflict that they've ordered large

portions of the capital to evacuate. And before this, they've been targeting specific buildings.

And also there's a history here with what's known as the De Heia Doctrine referring to the strategy of using overwhelming and disproportionate force against civilian infrastructure named after the 2006 Lebanon War where large parts of the area were destroyed. And with all this, you have Bar-Right Israeli finance minister Smoltrich saying the quiet part out loud, saying that a haia will look like Khan Yunus, which is a city in Gaza that was

decimated during Israel's bombing campaign and he added, you wanted to give us hell, but you've brought hell upon yourself. Meanwhile, you have strikes continuing across Iran with the Israeli military saying that it was beginning a new widespread wave of attacks in Tehran. U.S. Central Command also posting today, The Iranian regime's ability to impact U.S. forces and regional partners is rapidly declining while American combat power continues to build. Trump's also said that destroying Iran's navy is a key objective, and there you have the U.S. now clamming to have sunk more than 20 Iranian naval vessels, including a ship in the Indian ocean that Hegeseth confirmed was taken out by an American torpedo. And actually, it's now reporter reported that that vessel was headed home after participating in naval exercises hosted by India and may have actually not been carrying ammunition. So you had Iran's foreign minister calling it an atrocity at sea and warning, mark my words, the U.S. will come to bitterly regret the precedent it has set. Iran's top security official also blaming the U.S. in Israel for the strike on a girls elementary school that killed 175 writing, Mr. Trump, is this the anthem you composed for freedom in Iran? You also had a spokesperson accusing the US and Israel of hitting 20 educational centers, 25 medical facilities, and six emergency centers. And while the Iranian government, you know, they're not always the most reliable source, you had the World Health Organization independently verifying more than a dozen attacks on health infrastructure in Iran,

reporting four health care workers killed and 25 injured. And then, as far as the other side,

while you have Iran claiming that it strikes their self-defense, it's also targeted embassies,

energy installations, airports, and hotels across the region. Today, two Iranian drones fell into

Azerbaijan, one hitting an airport and one landing near a school, reportedly injuring two civilians.

So you had Azerbaijan's defense ministry saying it was preparing necessary retaliatory measures and warning,

these acts of aggression will not remain unanswered.

But you also had Iran denying responsibility, accusing Israel of launching the drones to disrupt relations among Muslim countries.

So Azerbaijan's president doesn't seem to be buying it, calling it a heinous terrorist act and demanding an official explanation, an apology, and criminal accountability. Also, there was this missile fired toward Turkish airspace yesterday that was shot down by NATO air defenses. And with that, you had NATO Secretary General saying the incident didn't trigger the Alliance's mutual defense clause, but did add that NATO supports the U.S. campaign and calling Iran close to becoming a threat to Europe as well, saying there's widespread agreement that the war should end with Iran unable to pose a threat to its neighbors to Israel, the Middle East, to Europe. And notably with that, you know, European leaders are increasingly getting sucked into this, whether they want to be or not. Italy announced that it's sending air defense, anti-drone, and anti-missile systems to assist Gulf countries in Cyprus, where a British air base was hit on Monday. Spain, the Netherlands and Greece are also providing support. The Spain continues to make it clear

that it doesn't support the Netherlands and Greece are also providing support.

The Spain continues to make it clear that it doesn't support the war and won't work with the United States. And you have everyone saying their actions are defensive. Almost no one's willing to criticize the US or Israel publicly. And you have the EU's top diplomat barely mentioning their role in a press briefing yesterday while also claiming. also claiming, Iran is exporting the war,

trying to expand it to as many countries as they can

to sow chaos.

But also, she acknowledged something that the White House either didn't consider or didn't care about, Ukraine. She said that events in the Middle East have actually had a clear impact on the war there. Defense capabilities needed in Ukraine. They're being redirected to the Middle East. Supply chains for air defense systems. They're now being split between two theaters of war and rising oil prices directly benefit Russia's ability to fund its war. So you're seeing experts say that the perception that the United States is stretched thin, it could encourage Russia to escalate and also undermine Zelensky's negotiating position. And actually, you know, those talks involving Russia, Ukraine, and the US that were supposed to happen in the UAE this week, it's not looking like a great option anymore. Just today you had six people in the UAE being injured by falling debris after air defenses intercepted a drone. And you know, the government there is saying that since Sunday, the countries detected eight cruise missiles, 196 ballistic missiles, and more than a thousand drones targeting its territory. And while the pace has slowed, the chaos has continued across the region. Qatar intercepted a missile attack today. Bahrain took a hit to an oil refinery, Saudi Arabia shot down several drones, and Iraqi forces intercepted a drone targeting a U.S. military base near Baghdad International Airport. And then also we have to talk about how Iran's been striking Kurdish groups in Iraq, including hitting the headquarters of Iranian Kurdish forces in the north today. Or with that, following reports yesterday, that thousands of Kurdish fighters had launched a ground offensive into Iran, though, there been no evidence of really that happening yet, and several Kurdish leaders have denied the claim. But it could still happen, and it might happen at the direction of the Trump administration, even as experts say that it could be catastrophic. Because for some context here, the United States has a long complicated history with Kurdish militias. Right after the 1991 Gulf War, you had the U.S. encouraging Kurds and Iraq to rise up, and then they stood by as the Iraqi army just slaughtered them. And in fact, just months ago, the U.S. was accused of abandoning Kurdish allies in Syria. But also, the CIA has reportedly been arming Iranian Kurdish forces with small arms as part of a covert destabilization program that predated the current war. With the original aim, apparently being not regime change, but creating distractions and security crises for Iran's leadership.

And those operations were really ramped up after the 12-day war between Iran and Israel last summer. And actually, just two weeks ago, five rival Iranian Kurdish groups formed a new coalition dedicated to overthrowing the regime. And since the war began, bombs and missiles have repeatedly struck targets in Western Iran along the Iraqi border, potentially clearing the path for a Kurdish incursion. And actually, Trump, he's reportedly spoken personally with at least two Kurdish leaders. With The Washington Post reporting that he offered extensive U.S. air cover and other backing for anti-regime Kurds to take over portions of Western Iran. Now that said, you had press secretary Caroline Levitt saying that reports that Trump agreed to any Kurdish insurgency plan were completely false. But then today you had Trump saying he'd be all four Iranian Kurdish forces launching an offensive against the regime. And while he didn't officially commit military support publicly, the signal appeared clear. And in regards to all this, you had a lot of experts alarm where you had a senior fellow at the Royal United Services Institute telling the Guardian, I've never seen such a resounding opposition to a policy idea in Washington from all sides of the political spectrum as I have when it comes to this particular idea. With a warning that it could draw Turkey into the fight and ignite unrest among other ethnic groups in Iran, saying all of this is very risky, very dangerous, and the next order consequences could be very serious indeed. But also the dominoes, they might already be falling and these groups might act with or without White House support. And ultimately, we're in this situation where you have a Middle East expert at the Atlantic Council kind of putting it plainly, saying we're only days into the conflict and we're already seeing the dangerous consequences of the Trump administration's lack of a strategic plan and the total absence of clarity over both rationales and objectives. And you've got the Pentagon reportedly scrambling to reallocate resources and increase intelligence personnel,

which experts see is a sign that the administration really didn't fully anticipate the fallout. With a former diplomat telling Politico, it seems like they woke up on Saturday morning and decided that they were going to start a war. All while, you have Heggzeth and other officials continuing to deny regime change is the goal. But you then also have Trump telling Axios that he must be involved in picking Iran's next leader, just like Venezuela, after reports

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