From the New York Times, it's the headlines.

I'm Tracy Mumford.

Today's Wednesday, June 3rd.

Here's what we're covering.

Mr. Rueblo, you keep telling us how we're winning this war.

The president keeps saying completely annihilated.

The war is not over.

And yet the American people see how we're losing at the pump and with their costs.

And yet this thing still hasn't been resolved.

On Capitol Hill yesterday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio sparred with Democratic senators over the war in Iran.

As he offered a murky timeline about when there might be a deal between the two

countries. There is the prospect before us, which could happen today, it could happen tomorrow,

it could happen next week. Rubio said the U.S. and Iran are continuing to try and hammer out

an initial agreement that could reopen the Strait of Hormuz, among other things, saying,

quote, we're hopeful. At the White

House, my colleague David Sanger, has been digging into what's dragging out the negotiations.

Why is it taking so long to reach even a preliminary agreement with the Iranians? It's a fascinating

question, because time and time again, in recent weeks, the president or his top officials have said an agreement is just days away.

One reason that this is taking so long is that it's the most inefficient form of negotiating you can imagine.

Messages are being passed through Pakistan and gutter. They then go to Iran, get put in the

hands of couriers, and get taken to the new supreme leader who is in hiding, fearing that the Israelis

are looking to kill him the way they killed his father, his wife, and the rest of his family.

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