Kitchen Briefs - August 13, 2026 PM

• According to Secretary Hegseth, the US says it can maintain its blockade on Iran indefinitely by rotating its aircraft carriers
• An Israeli strike on a car has killed the Gaza City head of police
• A judge has dismissed a lawsuit by the guy in the White House’s administration that alleged Harvard university failed to protect Jewish and Israeli students
• I shared yesterday how sailors aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln are not only facing horrible conditions but that some are trying to abandon ship. It’s been confirmed by CNN that one sailor did jump overboard earlier this month
• A federal judge talked about possibly holding the Justice Department in contempt after repeated delays and ignoring his orders in the case brought on by Katie Phang
• The White House released a report estimating that countries routing exports through third-party nations to avoid U.S. tariffs cost the government between $19 billion and $26 billion annually
• The Kennedy Center has voted to put Trump's name back on the building and close for renovations for 2 years
• Now that the new season of Ted Lasso is back, I want to share with you a quote from last night’s episode by the amazing Leslie. Strong women stand up for themselves. Stronger women stand up for others.

Kitchen Briefs - August 13, 2026 AM

• The Iranian intelligence ministry has said two members “affiliated with American and Israeli intelligence agencies” were killed during a confrontation with security forces in the southeast of the country
• Iran’s Foreign Minister said the US “has long miscalculated due to intelligence failures,” including when launching its war on Iran
• Israel has killed at least one person and injured 7 in the past 24 hours in Gaza
• US ambassador to Jerusalem Mike Huckabee has denounced the settler sieges on Palestinians as a "horrific act of terror"
• In addition to forcing people from their homes, there are currently at least 2 families stuck inside their homes and have been without water or electricity since Sunday
• Taliban authorities detained six staff members from the Children Legal Research Foundation in Kabul, following a separate report that two Afghan employees of the United Nations mission were held in Herat
• Three men will be executed today in Tennessee, Alabama, and Oklahoma marking the first time in nearly 16 years that three people are set to be put to death on the same day in the United States
• Bulldozing has started at Big Bend National Park in Texas as part of Trump’s $1.72 billion border barrier project
• Last month Haitian and Syrian refugees had their Temporary Protected Status expire and now it’s looking like Ukrainians are next as their TPS is set to expire on October 13th
• Forbes top editor Randall Lane was fired in July after it was discovered he received a secret $6M payment from RJ Shook founder of Shook Research which is a Forbes partner firm
• An Alaskan surrogate for a California couple refused to abort the baby she was carrying for them after it was discovered that he had a rare heart syndrome. Instead she fled to Texas and gave birth to the child
• Don’t forget that Kitchen Briefs is also a podcast available on all platforms

Kitchen Briefs - August 12, 2026 PM

• Correction on this morning: Darline Graham heads to a runoff
• The Israeli army is carrying out an air attack on Gaza along with bombs and demolitions in Lebanon
• The Israeli defense minister pledged today indefinite military presence in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza
• An Israeli rights group says settlers are accelerating ethnic cleansing in the occupied West Bank
• Iran says that claims and repeated posts by the US saying the Strait of Hormuz is no longer blocked does not change the reality that it’s blocked and will remain blocked until their conditions are accepted
• Major Russian grain export terminals have been hit in a Ukraine Black Sea port attack
• Sailors aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln are facing even worse conditions than originally reported. Their deployment began November 21st and was expected to be done in May but has been extended indefinitely. Reports from the Military Times and family members are that in addition to a lack of food, water, laundry outages and more, some sailors have attempted to jump overboard and inflict self-harm
• The attorneys for Tyler Robinson who is accused of killing Charlie Kirk are arguing that he shouldn’t face the death penalty
• I shared last week how a Texas law firm was offered a $150M federal contract to represent migrant children and the firm has ties to the guy in the White House. Well, they’ve said no thanks
• Karoline Leavitt has resigned as White House Press secretary saying she wants to spend more time with her kids
• 2 people are dead after a military helicopter crashed in Central Texas
• New York City Council is launching an investigation into marketing schemes of 4 prediction market platforms that include Polymarket and Kalshi
• The LA Lakers have just sold for a record $12.5B to ex Disney CEO Bob Iger and Jared Kushner’s brother Josh

Kitchen Briefs - August 12, 2026 AM

• The Houthis have launched another attack in Yemen at a strategic port
• Two more Palestinians have been injured in more Israeli attacks on the Gaza strip
• The Israeli military has arrested 3 Palestinians including a journalist in raids of the occupied West Bank and have blown up and destroyed a public school in southern Lebanon
• The 14 point Memorandum of Understanding between the US and Iran is set to expire on Sunday, August 16th
• Senator Amy Klobuchar will be going up against Republican Minnesota State Representative Lisa Demuth for Governor of Minnesota
• The late Lindsey Graham’s sister, current Senator Darline Graham won the Republican primary and will be going against Dr. Annie Andrews for South Carolina Senate
• A rare derecho storm with hurricane force winds has knocked power out in the Midwest
• Trump is set to spend $900M in construction projects on the White House grounds in a combo of tax dollars and $323M that has been redirected from the National Park Services to renovations
• You know how there are scenario about who gets to get in the lifeboat when the ship goes down? Well, if it’s Air Force One then it’s Trump, his executive assistant Natalie Harp, Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino, and personal aide Walt Nauta
• The Patriot Games have ended
• In a phone call town hall with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton who is running for Senate, a voter asked Ken about cheating on his wife
• Today is a rare total solar eclipse visible in Iceland, Spain and a small corner of Portugal

Kitchen Briefs - August 11, 2026 PM

• Pakistan’s Interior Minister has arrived in Iran for mediation efforts between Iran and the US
• US Central Command said it’s fired two Hellfire missiles at a Panama flagged cargo ship after it ignored warnings and attempted to sail towards an Iranian port
• The UN is warning that the occupied West Bank is at the breaking point with over 3800 Palestinians displaced, 76 Palestinians including 18 minors being killed this year
• The search for survivors in Colombia continues and the death toll is now at 180 from yesterday’s earthquake
• Marco Rubio refused to answer the question over whether the administration put US lives at risk by letting Trump sneak into a catering truck
• Russia has released a former US Marine that had been held for over 4 years on disputed charges and is apparently in need of medical treatment due to abuse in the prison
• The DOJ’s legal office says outside advisors of Trump can be shielded by executive privilege if their discussions relate to official decision making
• The Pentagon released their report and says they haven’t killed anyone in the drug boat strikes
• The US has hired 2000 video gamers as new air traffic controllers
• AP News is reporting that ICE officers may soon be outfitted with gloves that can deliver electric shocks intended to gain compliance from combative individuals
• The media company owned by Trump and Truth Social is seeing a decline in visitors over the past 3 months and a loss of $238M

Kitchen Briefs - August 11, 2026 AM

• Yemen’s Houthis attacked a ship in the Red Sea killing 3
• Iran launched a missile in northeast Iraq’s Kurdish region
• Israel is claiming to have killed a Hamas sniper in northern Gaza
• An Israeli drone targeting paramedics has injured one in Lebanon
• Zelensky says that Russia is using North Korean missiles to strike Ukraine
• Oil prices are back up
• Last month when Trump was leaving the NATO summit, there was an Iranian assassination threat against him
• Former Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall on Monday said he’ll sue to force the Trump administration to restore his security clearance
• It’s voting day in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Vermont, and Connecticut
• Trump was on Truth Social again in the middle of the night ranting about donors who support the Center for American Progress
• Secretary Hegseth appointed Marc Andreeson and Blake Masters to the Pentagon’s Defense Policy board despite both men being involved in Don Jr's business
• Thank you to Betty for sending me a gift card to Flip Coffee! My coffee has arrived and it’s delicious! Flip Coffee supports the rehabilitation of shelter dogs

Kitchen Briefs - August 10, 2026 PM

• Trump has said the US will seek compensation from Iran for all the people they have killed in many conflicts
• In regards to responding to Netanyahu, Trump said he’d reply via Truth Social
• A 7.4 magnitude earthquake hit Colombia and has killed at least 111
• Trump claimed today that our children are getting vats of vaccines so he’s signing an executive order to limit vaccinations and spread out the MMR shots
• The FBI and the NCAA are teaming up to help college athletes avoid sexual exploitation
• Representative Lauren Boebert’s son, Tyler has been charged with 5 felonies including sexual exploitation of a child, inducing/enticing, possession with intent, video exploitation, and two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor

Kitchen Briefs - August 10, 2026 AM

• Israeli forces open fired in southern Lebanon and have injured at least 6 people in Gaza
• Yemen’s Houthis have attacked a port in the Red Sea killing at least 7
• Iran says it will not reopen the Strait of Hormuz until the US meets specific conditions such as compensation, ending military threats and lifting sanctions
• At least 13 have been killed in a Ukrainian drone strike in deep Russia with another 75 injured
• Taylor Farms is now recalling guacamole and salsa for salmonella because of the jalapenos they contain
• The Pentagon just released 41 declassified UFO files which reports are saying prove nothing.
• The Pentagon has extended Trump's D.C. National Guard deployment through 2029 because he says it makes D.C. “safe and beautiful”
• AOC has shared that she’s freezing her eggs
• Katie Miller, wife of Stephen Miller has said she slept with former Congressman Eric Swalwell when she was a 22 year old intern

Kitchen Briefs - August 9, 2026

• Israeli gunfire has injured yet another child in Gaza
• Israeli settlers are continuing to raid the occupied West Bank
• Israel has rejected the 15 point plan for Gaza
• Texas based oil firm Greenland Energy received a strong government warning from the country of Greenland after unapproved drilling equipment was landed on the remote Jameson Land region
• Russia and Ukraine continued exchanging strikes overnight killing 7 more people
• A boat captain has been charged after his boat capsized near the Statue of Liberty killing a 27 year old mother and her 5 month old baby. 12 others were rescued from the water
• Kristi Noem unveiled a life size bronze statue of herself and her horse last week to honor her time as governor of South Dakota

Kitchen Briefs - August 8, 2026

• Yemen has announced they’ve launched strikes on Houthis
• More attacks on vessels in the Strait are happening. Iran attacked a UAE tanker, another vessel was struck by a projectile off the coast of Oman
• The IRGC says the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz is conditional on the US fully accepting Iran’s conditions
• There are reports per CNN that Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine is working quietly toward an exit from the war in Iran and is trying to protect the military
• Early this morning Todd Blanche was confirmed as Attorney General. Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski voted with Democrats no
• Russia continued strikes last night and struck Kyiv killing 3 including a child
• The Senate has left the office for a planned 5 week break and did not pass the SAVE Act
• Trump keeps posting to truth Social and there are many AI images of him wearing 2028 hats
• Trump is obsessed with Taylor Swift and she fought back by having her song August muted from a recent White House post
• More wildfires in the news. 20,000 people have been evacuated in western Canada as a fast-moving wildfire has burned an unknown number of homes
• The defense attorney for the Tate brothers wants them to be free in the US while they fight extradition to the UK
• New legislation in California being proposed that would legally penalize content creators who fail to disclose paid political endorsements with fines of up to $5K per violation
• The administration is investing $3B in mineral projects to strengthen the US defense system and reduce reliance on China
• Yesterday the SEC dismissed it’s civil insider trading case against Terren Peizer who had been pardoned by Trump