Iran Ceasefire Holds as US Munitions Run Low, Fauci COVID Diaries Exposed, Chinese Spy Arrested Inside NATO | Your News Talk America
Your News Talk America with Jake Smith
Show Notes for Monday, July 27, 2026
Today's Featured Guest
Paul Davis is Vice President at the Institute of World Politics. He joins Jake for the first two segments this morning to open the show on the fragile standoff with Iran and to break down the widening picture across the Middle East and the Caspian. Bio: iwp.edu/faculty/paul-m-davis
9:00 Show Open: Running on Empty?
Jake opens with the story everyone is chasing this morning: reporting that the pause in US strikes on Iran may be tied to a thinning American munitions stockpile, even as the President pushes back on the claim. The guns are quiet in the Strait of Hormuz, but the pressure is building on every side.
- The Wall Street Journal reports the halt in US attacks traces to declining munitions stock, citing US officials familiar with the matter.
- Iran has not asked to resume talks to end the war, and the situation in the Strait of Hormuz has not changed, foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said Monday.
- Red Sea shipping drops after Houthi attacks on Saudi oil sites, according to new data.
- The IDF intercepts drones attempting to cross the border between Israel and Jordan.
Guest: Paul Davis, Vice President, Institute of World Politics · iwp.edu/faculty/paul-m-davis
9:20 Jihad Calls, a Golan Raid, and a Caspian Sea Warning
Paul Davis stays on to map the escalation. Statements attributed to Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei call for continued attacks on Israel and praise Hezbollah, framing terrorism as an inspiring message. Meanwhile the fight spreads north and east.
- In statements released in response to a Hezbollah letter pledging allegiance to Iran, Khamenei allegedly asserts that there remains no path forward except jihad and resistance against the US and Israel.
- Report: the IDF arrests a civilian and conducts a raid in the Syrian Golan Heights.
- Iran issues a second warning to Ukraine after what Tehran calls an attack on a vessel in the Caspian Sea that killed one sailor. Ukraine says it targeted a Russian warship and vessels moving Iranian linked military cargo.
Sources: Jerusalem Post live updates · Al Jazeera on the Caspian Sea strike
Guest: Paul Davis, Vice President, Institute of World Politics · iwp.edu/faculty/paul-m-davis
9:35 Fauci's COVID Diaries
Jake takes on the newly released Fauci diaries, made public by Senator Rand Paul. The entries chronicle the early COVID response, task force meetings, briefings, and an unmistakable appetite for the spotlight.
- The records log task force meetings, scientific discussions, and extensive media work through the opening months of the pandemic.
- Multiple entries capture his reactions to praise, media profiles, and public adulation as the crisis unfolded.
- Jake's take: the more the interview requests poured in, the further the science slipped from the center of the story.
DIAL caller debate. No panelist this segment. Producers and callers drive it, and your questions and votes on DIAL set the direction.
9:45 Are Festivals and Parades Too Dangerous to Attend?
From a gun battle in Seattle to a deadly weekend attack in Berlin, Jake asks whether public gatherings have become soft targets, and whether street takeovers are the next front in a spreading breakdown of order.
- A 21 year old man convicted in 2025 of trying to join ISIS, and accused of ramming a rented vehicle into a Berlin LGBTQ Pride parade, was killed by police on Sunday after charging officers with a knife. German authorities identified him as Abdul Ballout and tied him to Berlin's Islamist scene.
- Street takeovers, where dozens or hundreds of cars mass in one spot to do donuts, race, and drive recklessly, are a growing national menace.
- A takeover on New York Route 347 on Long Island snarled traffic and led to arrests and an illegal gun confiscation.
Source: Police Executive Research Forum on street takeovers
DIAL caller debate. No panelist this segment. Producers and callers take the wheel.
10:00 Why Is Iran Getting Another Chance? Plus a Spy Inside NATO
Brigadier General Blaine Holt joins Jake to war game the options on the President's desk and to ask whether a munitions shortage is real or a leak designed to blunt the war effort.
- Is the military truly low on munitions, or is the pause cover for a psychological operation and damaging leaks?
- Why is Ukraine firing on Iranian shipping in the Caspian Sea, and how do the options on the table differ from recent strikes along the Strait of Hormuz?
- Conflicting intelligence on damage to Iran's nuclear program, including questions about Pickaxe Mountain, a site Iran has kept hidden and uninspected.
- Is China spying on NATO? A Canadian citizen of Chinese origin, working as an intern inside NATO's command center, was arrested Friday on suspicion of espionage after NATO security tipped off Belgian intelligence.
Source: Washington Times on the NATO espionage arrest
Guest: Brigadier General Blaine Holt, USAF (ret), host of the Dangerous Intellectuals podcast. Episode 46, The Sick Dragon, features Gordon G. Chang · dangerousintellectuals.com
10:30 Budget Reconciliation 3.0 and a Sour Economy
Thomas Aiello of the National Taxpayers Union joins Jake on the state of the next reconciliation fight and why voters still feel underwater on the economy.
- Where does Budget Reconciliation 3.0 stand right now?
- Massachusetts Congresswoman Katherine Clark says the President's war is a failure and that Americans are not safer for it.
- Americans' views of the economy stay negative, with 6 in 10 now saying the President's economic policies have made things worse, according to the Pew Research Center.
Source: Pew Research Center economy survey
Guest: Thomas Aiello, Senior Director of Government Affairs, National Taxpayers Union · ntu.org
11:00 Will a Blockade Move Iran? And Should Xi Come to Washington?
Dr. James Robbins joins Jake on whether renewed economic pressure can force Iran to the table, and on the mixed signals coming out of Washington and Tehran.
- Can a blockade and renewed economic pressure move the negotiating needle with Iran?
- The President says his administration is talking to Iran. Iran says there are no discussions underway. Which do we believe?
- Given fresh intelligence that China interfered in the 2020 election, and the toll from the release of COVID from Wuhan, should Xi be coming to the White House in September?
Guest: Dr. James Robbins, Dean of the Institute of World Politics and a former Senior Advisor to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld · iwp.edu/leadership/james-s-robbins
11:30 How Will History Record These Days?
Author Jared Knott joins Jake to zoom out. Will the campaign against Iran be remembered as the moment the world was saved, or as a costly blunder? It is the exact question at the heart of his books.
- Days after striking two Saudi flagged ships in the Red Sea, the Houthis fired missiles into the southern Saudi city of Jizan.
- Saudi Arabia says it carried out a firm and proportionate military response targeting the Iran backed group inside Yemen.
- Iran reported no new US strikes overnight into Saturday, the first apparent pause after 13 consecutive nights of attacks.
- Brent crude, the global benchmark, retreated to around $96 a barrel Friday after reports that Pakistan is exploring renewed US and Iran talks with encouragement from China.
Guest: Jared Knott, author of Tiny Blunders/Big Disasters (Books 1 and 2) · available on Amazon
11:50 Salute the Troops
Jake closes the show honoring the men and women in uniform, with the final slot held open for any late breaking news. Producers and callers on DIAL help steer the last word.
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