Salem News Channel

Democrats Are Scared of Trump

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ISLAMABAD/WASHINGTON/TEL AVIV, May 6 (Reuters) - Iran said on Wednesday it was reviewing a U.S. peace proposal that sources said would formally end the war while leaving unresolved the key U.S. demands that Iran suspend its nuclear program and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. An Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson cited by Iran's ISNA news agency said Tehran would convey its response. U.S. President Donald Trump said he believed Iran wanted an agreement. "They want to make a deal. We've had very good talks over the last 24 hours, and it's very possible that we'll make a deal," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday. Earlier in the day, Trump had sounded more pessimistic about the chances of a deal. In a Truth Social post, he threatened to restart the U.S. bombing campaign in Iran, calling the possibility of Tehran agreeing to the latest U.S. proposal a "big assumption." Trump has repeatedly played up the prospect of an agreement that would end the war that started February 28, so far without success. The two sides remain at odds over a variety of difficult issues, such as Iran's nuclear ambitions and its control of the Strait of Hormuz, which before the war handled one-fifth of the world's oil and gas supply. A Pakistani source and another source briefed on the mediation said an agreement was close on a one-page memorandum that would formally end the conflict. That would kick off discussions to unblock shipping through the strait, lift U.S. sanctions on Iran and set curbs on Iran's nuclear programme, the sources said. It was unclear how the memorandum differs from a 14-point plan proposed by Iran last week, and Iran has yet to respond to the latest U.S. proposal. Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency, citing an unnamed source, said the U.S. proposal contained some unacceptable provisions, without specifying which ones. Iranian lawmaker Ebrahim Rezaei, a spokesperson for parliament's powerful foreign policy and national security committee, described the text as "more of an American wish-list than a reality." "The Americans will not gain anything in a war they are losing that they have not gained in face-to-face negotiations," he wrote on social media. OIL PRICES TUMBLE Reports of a possible agreement caused global oil prices to tumble to two-week lows, with benchmark Brent crude futures falling around 11% to around $98 a barrel at one point before rising back above the $100 mark. Global share prices also leapt and bond yields fell on optimism about an end to a war that has disrupted energy supplies. [O/R] [MKTS/GLOB] Trump on Tuesday paused a two-day-old naval mission to reopen the blockaded strait, citing progress in peace talks. The U.S. military has kept up its own blockade on Iranian ships in the region. U.S. Central Command said forces fired at an unladen Iranian-flagged tanker on Wednesday, disabling the vessel as it attempted to sail toward an Iranian port in violation of the blockade. NO MENTION OF KEY U.S. DEMANDS The source briefed on the mediation said the U.S. negotiations were being led by Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner. If both sides agreed on the preliminary deal, that would start the clock on 30 days of detailed negotiations to reach a full agreement. The full agreement would end the competing U.S. and Iranian blockades on the strait, lift U.S. sanctions and release frozen Iranian funds. It would also include some curbs on Iran's nuclear programme, with the aim of a pause or moratorium on Iranian enrichment of uranium. While the sources said the memorandum would not initially require concessions from either side, they did not mention several key demands Washington has made in the past, which Iran has rejected, such as curbs on Iran's missile programme and an end to its support for proxy militias in the Middle East. The sources also made no mention of Iran's existing stockpile of more than 400 kg (900 pounds) of near-weapons-grade uranium. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump's ally against Iran, said on Wednesday the two leaders agreed that all enriched uranium must be removed from Iran to prevent it from developing a nuclear bomb. Tehran denies wanting to acquire a nuclear weapon.

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CARROLLTON, Texas (AP) — Police say a man accused of shooting five people, killing two, in back-to-back shootings at a shopping center and an apartment building in suburban Dallas has been charged with two counts of capital murder. Carrollton police said Wednesday that 69-year-old Seung Ho Han has also been charged with three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. The shootings happened Tuesday in the Koreatown neighborhood of Carrollton, a Dallas suburb. Police have declined to release the names of the victims. Han was being held in jail and records don't list an attorney for him.

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GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — A young man who was turned away from an informal soccer game in Michigan fatally shot a 15-year-old boy and killed a woman who tried to help the victim, all in the presence of other kids, police said. “There was at least seven or eight kids that are out here, juveniles, older juveniles that witnessed this, which is just horrific for anybody to witness, let alone juveniles," said Joe Trigg, interim police chief in Grand Rapids. The shootings occurred Tuesday evening near Southwest Elementary School. Classes were canceled there Wednesday and at another nearby school. Trigg said kids were playing soccer when an 18-year-old asked to be included. "For whatever reason, he was turned away,” Trigg said. “Did not like the fact that he was turned away so a verbal altercation started, which led to the suspect pulling out a firearm and shooting that juvenile. The adult female had came to the aid, verbally, of the juvenile victim so then she was targeted.” The suspect fled but was caught and arrested, police said. The Grand Rapids school district closed two schools Wednesday so the community can “process what has happened in our neighborhood.” “It’s just hard," area resident Donny Irving told WOOD-TV while visiting the site. "Everyone knows a youth and people who go to playgrounds who play, school students, and I think the whole community feels the loss that’s there.”

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Kentucky Derby winner Golden Tempo will not run in the Preakness Stakes next weekend. Trainer Cherie DeVaux announced the plan to skip the Preakness and set sights on the Belmont Stakes on June 6 at Saratoga Race Course in upstate New York. Golden Tempo is the third Derby winner in the past five years not to be entered in the Preakness. For various reasons, it is the sixth time in eight years the Preakness will happen with no chance of a Triple Crown on the line. American Pharoah in 2015 and Justify in 2018 are the only horses to sweep all three races over the past four decades.

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FORT COLLINS, Colo. (AP) — A late spring snowstorm has started to taper off in Colorado after closing schools, delaying flights and creating slushy conditions for commuters. The storm swept over the Rocky Mountains and into the High Plains on Tuesday. A winter storm warning is in effect through Wednesday afternoon. Some mountain communities received about 2 feet of snow and Boulder got about a foot. Denver International Airport experienced delays and cancellations. Warmer temperatures are expected to return Thursday. Many welcomed the storm, which comes amid a drought.

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A U.S. fighter jet on Wednesday fired on an Iranian oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman as it tried to breach the U.S. blockade of Iran’s ports, the U.S. military said. The attack occurred as Iran and the U.S. are officially in a ceasefire and as the two countries seemed to be approaching an agreement to end the war. U.S. President Donald Trump threatened Iran with a new wave of bombing if a deal is not reached that includes opening the critical Strait of Hormuz.

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Mike says a sweet old lady berated him when she found out "The Sopranos" was not about a church choir.

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48 Hours or the Bombing Resumes

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Mike and Mark reflect on the legacy left behind by CNN's founder Ted Turner.

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A Texas jury sentenced former FedEx driver Tanner Horner to death for the 2022 capital murder of 7-year-old Athena Strand, a case where the prosecution played harrowing audio of the little girl's final moments inside his delivery van.

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Trump Presses Pause On 'Project Freedom'

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We Cannot Deal with Iran

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Wednesday at the White House, President Trump and the First Lady honored America's military mothers with a special mother's day celebration. Military moms were recognized for their sacrifices and the important role they play in supporting service members.

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Dr. Sebastian Gorka Discusses The New U.S. Counterterrorism Strategy

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WASHINGTON, May 6 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump has signed a new national counterterrorism strategy that focuses in part on the "neutralization" of hemispheric threats and incapacitating cartel operations, top White House adviser Sebastian Gorka said on Wednesday. Gorka, the White House counterterrorism director, told reporters Trump signed the document on Tuesday "driven by the principle that America is our homeland and must be protected." The United States has destroyed dozens of boats as part of what Washington has called a counternarcotics campaign linked to an operation that included the ouster of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro this year. "Our new counterterrorism strategy first prioritizes the neutralization of hemispheric terror threats by incapacitating cartel operations until these groups are incapable of bringing their drugs, their members and their trafficked victims into the United States," Gorka said. Within the U.S., Gorka said the strategy will also focus on identifying and neutralizing what he called "violent, secular political groups whose ideology is anti-American, radically pro gender or anarchist, such as Antifa." "We will use all the tools constitutionally available to us to map them at home, identify their membership, map their ties to international organizations like Antifa, and use law enforcement tools to cripple them operationally before they can maim or kill the innocent," he said. Gorka said U.S. counterterrorism officials will meet with international partners on Friday to ask how allies can increase efforts to combat terrorist threats, especially from Iran and in the Strait of Hormuz. After the assassination in September of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, White House aides called for a coordinated effort against unnamed left-wing groups accused of promoting violence. Gorka said the strategy would also focus on right-wing groups that foment violence. He said the strategy also focuses on maintaining pressure on what he called the global jihadi movement, including the "targeting and destruction" of groups like al Qaeda.

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WASHINGTON (AP) — A man accused of firing a gun at law enforcement officers near the Washington Monument this week was following the path of Vice President JD Vance’s motorcade before the shooting. That's according to a court filing Wednesday. A sworn statement from a Secret Service also says the suspect made a vulgar remark about the White House after the confrontation. The affidavit doesn't specify whether investigators believe the suspect, Michael Marx, had a particular target. He's charged with assaulting officers with a dangerous weapon, discharging a firearm during a violent crime and being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition. Court records didn't immediately list the name of a lawyer representing Marx.

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The FBI served a search warrant at the office of the Virginia Senate leader's office as part of a corruption investigation. That's according to a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation by name and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. The search Wednesday at Virginia Sen. L. Louise Lucas’s district office in Portsmouth comes after the Democrat helped lead the state's recent redistricting. The FBI said only that it was conducting a court-authorized search warrant in Portsmouth.

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President Donald Trump posted on social media Wednesday that the war with Iran could soon end and oil and natural gas shipments could restart, if Iran accepts the latest White House proposal. And if they don't agree, he says, “the bombing starts.” Axios reported that the one-page memorandum to end the war includes a moratorium on Iranian uranium enrichment, a lifting of U.S. sanctions and the distribution of frozen Iranian funds along with the opening of the Strait of Hormuz for shipping. Trump's post says it's “perhaps a big assumption” that Iran would agree to such terms.

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