US Congress receives classified briefing on war with Iran

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1:00watch with the free trial now at www.britbox.com. This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Janet Gillil and in the early hours of Wednesday, the 4th of March, these are our main stories. The Trump Administration tries to justify the war in Iran to Congress after days of conflicting explanations. It comes as a US military says it struck nearly 2,000 targets in Iran. Stop-market plunge with trading in South Korea briefly suspended over concerns about the conflict. President Trump attempts to curb surging oil and gas prices by saying the US Navy will escort tankers with a straight-of-hole moose if necessary, which Iran has blocked. Also in this podcast, women's brain change profoundly during pregnancy. Those changes are dynamic. What we have done is to have a lot of subjects so we can compute and have statistics and numbers about this change. A study in Spain finds that women's brains

2:02go through profound structural changes during pregnancy. As the Israeli and US bombardment of Iran continues, an Iranian retaliatory missile and drone barrage across the Gulf intensify, the Trump Administration is facing mounting calls to explain why it started this war now, what its goal is and how long this conflict could last. A head of a vote this week in Congress on a war-powered resolution aimed at limiting the President's actions, lawmakers received a classified briefing from the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The Senate Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer, said he was deeply concerned by the conflicting explanations for the war being put forward by Mr. Trump and his officials. And his administration can't explain the reasons we did it. I left the intelligence briefing more concerned than reassured. If the case for war were strong,

3:02there would be consistent. Instead, the rationales change by the hour. Regime change, nuclear weapons, missiles, defense, preemptive. Which is it? When the justification keeps shifting, a strategy is missing. There is no strategy. But the Senate's top Republican, John Thunes, and Mr. Trump had the right to take military action against Iran. I think the President has the authority that he needs to conduct the activities, the operations that are currently underway there. And as you know, there's a lot of controversy around. Questions around the War Power's Act, but I think the President is acting in the best interest in the nation and our national security interests by ensuring that he's protecting Americans and American bases and installations in that region, as well as those of our allies. A day after Mr. Rubio said the US attacked Iran because it knew that Israel was about to,

4:03claims he's now rode back on. Donald Trump denied that Israel had forced his hand. The President admitted that he had been surprised by the strength of the Iranian response, prompting more criticism that the Trump administration failed to plan properly so it could warn or evacuate citizens in the region in time. Hundreds of people have been killed, including six American service personnel. I got more details about Mr. Rubio's briefing of Congress from our North America correspondent, David Willis. It's a closed-door briefing, but we know that Marco Rubio is likely to have faced a number of questions from lawmakers, a chief among them, why now, initially, of course, it was said that the United States attacked Iran when it did, after learning that Israel was about to mount a strike of its own. In other words, to preempt Iran's anticipated retaliation, well, those remarks led to suggestions that the United States had effectively been pulled

5:05into a conflict by one of its allies. And that prompted questions to President Trump who asserted otherwise, saying that it was his opinion, as he put it, that Iran was about to stage a strike on the US and that that was what had dictated the timing. And then we saw a climb down, really, from Mr. Rubio, attempting to row back those original comments and saying that President Trump had indeed acted on the timing that gave the United States the greatest chance of success. So as well as that, I think we can expect a lot of questions about the strategy and the likely duration of this conflict that Marco Rubio will have been facing. President Trump, of course, has said it could take four to five weeks, but there is concern, even amongst members of his own party, that Republicans could face pushback at the polls if it goes on indefinitely. Yes, with the midterm elections coming up at the end of the year,

6:07is Congress likely to back a vote on curbing Donald Trump's war powers in Iran? Unlikely, I think, given that ultimately, it would be up to President Trump himself to approve and sign off on any such measures, but Democrats and some Republicans, in fact, believe, nonetheless, that it's essential for Congress to weigh in on such an important matter, given that there are American lives at risk here, and indeed, the U.S. military has released the names of the first service members who died in this conflict. They range in age from 20 to 42, and they were members of an Army Reserve unit based in Iowa that was setting up a makeshift operations center in Kuwait. Now, President Trump has said that further such casualties are likely in this conflict. And briefly, the Trump administration also coming under five, not preparing properly to evacuate citizens

7:09or to warn them in time in the Gulf region. That's right, and they're very much playing catch-up in that regard with the announcement that since the launch of Operation Epic Fury, more than 9,000 Americans have been returned home from the Middle East, and they have set up a means of communication for those who are still stuck there, means of registering with the State Department, and they are offering charter flights, and the possibility of military aircraft being deployed as well to help evacuate Americans from the region. David Willis in Washington. Well, most of the deaths have been in Iran with the Red Crescent saying more than 780 people have been killed there since Saturday. Israel, once again, carried out a wave of attacks on Tehran overnight. Some residents say they fear the Iranian capital is being turned into another Gaza. The idea said it was targeting launch sites and defense systems. President Trump told reporters at the White House

8:10that everything had been knocked out in Iran. The commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East, Admiral Brad Cooper, gave more details. More than 50,000 troops, 200 fighters, two aircraft carriers, and bombers from the United States are participating in this operation, and more capabilities on the way. These forces bring a massive amount of firepower, representing the largest buildup by the U.S. in the Middle East in a generation. Now, we're less than 100 hours into this operation, and we've already struck nearly 2,000 targets with more than 2,000 munitions. We have severely degraded Iran's air defenses and destroyed hundreds of Iran's ballistic missiles, launchers and drones. But Iranian missiles and drones have continued to hit Israel and Gulf nations with U.S. diplomatic missions among the targets. Israel is sending ground troops into Lebanon as it continues to exchange fire with the Iranian-backed group, Hezbollah, international editor, Jeremy Bowen, reports.

9:12More attacks hit Tehran. Iran's air defenses were mostly destroyed last year by Israel. Buildings are in ruins and hundreds of dead civilians as well as leaders, but the regime is still there, and there's been much less talk of replacing it from the Americans in the last 24 hours. And they're also saying very little about what happens in Iran after they declare that it's no longer a threat and stop bombing. The current message seems to be that the day after is a matter for the Iranians, not the Americans, whatever the consequences. Some Iranians are leaving small numbers at this crossing into Turkey, but the war is a gamble. The U.S. and Israel say will open the way to peace and stability, if instead it provokes disorder and bloodshed, there will be a new refugee crisis in the Middle East and beyond. I'm coming from Tehran, and there is a lot of chaos in the city, a lot of missiles and attacks from U.S.,

10:18and Israel. I'm not into their politics, but I know it's a lot of it brings just a lot of sadness to people. We hear some things, some provisions outside of the city, but not inside of the city, sleeping in fear and waking up in distress. So, situation is a little bit awful. Iran continues to attack its Arab neighbors. This one hit a car park next to the U.S. consulate in Dubai. The Iranians cannot match the firepower that they're facing, so they're trying to disrupt American and Israeli plans by spreading the war. When the United States attacks us, whether by fighter jets or the ships it deploys, they have access to our territory to strike with all kinds of missiles and aircraft.

11:18We cannot reach their territory, but we can reach their bases. I think those bases are legitimate targets. Lebanon is becoming an increasingly intense theatre of this war. Iran's ally, his bala, hit back at Israel. Israel has launched a series of air attacks on the southern suburbs of Beirut, a stronghold of his bala. Israel is threatening, not for the first time, to finish his bala once and for all. Lebanon and its long-suffering citizens have been dragged into another war that most people in their battered country do not want. Further south, close to the border with Israel, Tire is under heavy fire. Israel has already told civilians in dozens of villages in southern Lebanon to get out of their homes, a sign that they have plans for a big military push. In Israel, the Prime Minister and the military top brass

12:21visited troops at an air base, filmed by the Israeli military who blurred their faces and Mr. Netanyahu issued another warning. Our pilots are over the skies of Iran and Tehran, as well as over the skies of Lebanon, as Bula made a very great mistake when it attacked us. The IDF has mobilized reservists and is moving forces up to the border. In four days, the war has spread to Gulf Arab countries and now to Lebanon. War moves fast in the Middle East because it's the world's most turbulent region and now even more dangerous. Jeremy Byrne, with no end in sight to the conflict, stop markets have fallen sharply with trading in South Korea briefly suspended. Oil and gas prices have also continued to rise after Iran threatened to attack any ship that tried to pass through the strait of Hormuz, effectively shutting the waterway through which a large proportion of the world's oil and gas is transported much of it to Asia.

13:23In an effort to keep energy prices down, President Trump has said the US Navy will, if necessary, escort tankers through the strait. And he also said the US would provide insurance to ships that currently can't get it because of the threat from Iran. Our business correspondent, Nick Marsh, told us more about the dramatic stop market falls. Things were so bad in South Korea that the authorities had to actually halt trading for 20 minutes because it was down as much as 10% the Cosby Index in Seoul. I'm just looking now. It's down around eight and a half percent now. So it's still a really big drop. There's a couple of reasons, possibly because the market was a little bit inflated anyway. It was kind of surging due to all this AI investment a bit earlier. But also, South Korea is a really big importer of Qatari gas. As are many Asian countries as well. I'm taking a look at what's happening in Hong Kong. The Hang Seng is down about 2.8% the Nikkei and Tokyo is down over 4%.

14:24So really, really big losses all linked, of course, to the escalating crisis in the Middle East and the rising price of oil and gas, which let's not forget, basically underpin the price of everything, not least here in Asia because it powers the huge manufacturing base in countries like China and Japan and South Korea and also here in Southeast Asia. And Nick, we've been talking for the past couple of days about how the oil and gas prices are rising. Has Mr. Trump's offer of escorts and insurance to ships in the Gulf region made any difference? We're judging by what's happening in the markets here in Asia. No, it hasn't reassured investors at all because saying that there will be US naval escorts and actually seeing it happen at two very different things. It hasn't happened yet. His comments did seem to help scale back some losses on Wall Street yesterday. The markets in the US were really set for a huge tumble. He came out with these comments and then it started to sort of pair back those losses.

15:25But out here in Asia, the losses have continued and let's not forget, we're still talking about millions and millions of barrels of oil and gas, which are stuck there in the Middle East. Can't pass through the strait of hall moves because it's too dangerous. And the longer this goes on, we're going to see more and more reaction across the world economy. Still to come in this podcast? Some members said it should be the feature on the course because it's obviously our history. It's just up to the club now what they want to do with it. A sinkhole on a golf course reveals a long abandoned wine cellar. Decisions made in Washington can affect your portfolio every day. But what policy changes should investors be watching? Washington Wise is an original podcast from Charles Schwab that unpacks the stories making news in Washington right now and how they may affect your finances

16:30and portfolio. The French President Emmanuel Macron has said his country does not condone the US and Israeli military action against Iran, which he said took place outside international law. But in a televised address, he said Iran was mostly to blame for this war.

17:30The public Islamic Dira reports the responsibility first. The Islamic Republic of Iran bears primary responsibility for this situation. It was Iran that developed a dangerous nuclear program and unprecedented ballistic missile capabilities and armed and financed terrorist groups in neighboring countries. Hisbalah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, she had managed it in Iraq, consistently stating its objective of destroying the state of Israel. Mr. Macron said he was deploying France's sole aircraft carrier, the Shalda Goal, to the region to help defend French citizens and allies. Britain and Spain have been criticized by President Trump for not allowing the US free use of their military bases. Speaking to reporters, Mr. Trump said he was disappointed with the British Prime Minister Keir Starmer for refusing to allow him to use the UK base in Diego Garcia on the Shagos Islands for the initial strikes.

18:40A global affairs reporter Danny Abahad told us why Mr. Trump had singled out Spain and the UK. On the issue of the UK, Prime Minister Starmer has been trying very carefully since the first days of Trump's second administration to tread a fine line with Donald Trump, and he's cultivated quite a good relationship with him, but that is coming under severe strain over Iran. First of all, Keir Starmer said that the US couldn't use UK air bases and then changed, he's more than said, for certain, as he framed it, defensive operations. He's talking about attacking, for example, missiles in Iran that could be used to attack UK interests in that region and also other Gulf allies of Britain that it was allowed to do that, but that's annoyed, Donald Trump, all the same, hence that extremely derogatory comparison. He's no Winston Churchill, the famous wartime leader of Britain in the Second World War. So that will hurt, but Britain will hope to ride it out. Britain has made clear that it will operate according to Britain's best interest

19:42in this case and on the basis of international law. On the issue of Spain, Trump also very hard, he was saying that he's going to cut off all trading links with Spain. He was very annoyed by Pedro Sanchez, the Spanish Prime Minister, saying that the US could not use joint bases and Spanish territory in the South for attacks on Iran. Pedro Sanchez has been one of the most valuable, speaking up against that, the US Israeli operation, saying it happened outside international law, whereas some European leaders have basically tried to array that question, rather they're all worried about annoying Donald Trump and Europe, of course, depends on the US for so many other things, including European security. Danny Aberhardt, Northern Iraq hosts US led coalition troops. They're based at Erbil Airport in an area which has come under attack from Iran. It's also home to Kurdish factions, some of whom are hostile to the Iranian government.

20:43From Erbil, here's our senior international correspondent, Ola Garen. We've been hearing quite a few distant thuds and explosions with Iranian missiles and drones in the air. We've also had the air defense system at Erbil International Airport, intercepting some of those missiles. But one target that was hit was the headquarters of an Iranian Kurdish opposition group. Now, it has been targeted repeatedly in recent days. Iran's IRGC says it has fired 30 drones at opposition groups here. Why are they such a focus for Iran? Well, they're also a focus for President Trump. We know that he has had a phone call with leaders of some of these groups. No comment yet from the White House about what was said. But it is widely believed here that President Trump would like these Iranian Kurdish forces who are based here to get involved in the war, to cross the border and go inside and fight on home soil inside Iran.

21:45We don't know what he may have promised them. We don't know if he has reached a firm decision. We do know from sources here that it's something these groups want to do. They are beginning to prepare for this. But they would want to have American air cover paving the way with air strikes taking out Iranian opposition. And they'd also want to be sure that the regime inside was on the brink of crumbling. And that is something that we're just not seeing yet. But in the coming days and weeks, this could be a way if the Kurds become involved for the Americans to have boots on the ground. The U.S. history with the Kurds is a long time involvement of using the Kurds and betraying them. And that is something that people here won't forget. All I get in and you can get more on the U.S. Israeli bombardment of Iran on our YouTube channel. Search for BBC News on YouTube and you'll find Global News podcast in the podcast section. There's a new story available every weekday. Many women feel that pregnancy and

22:47motherhood change them in some way, giving them new priorities and new skills. The BBC has been to visit the Bee Mother Project, the world's largest study scanning pregnant women's brains based in Spain. Scientists there say brains go through profound structural changes in pregnancy. And while it's early days for this research, this transformation might make mom's brains better equipped to deal with the demands of motherhood. Our health reporter, Sermita Montessad, has been speaking to some of the women who took part in the study. So for me, it was about the whole journey of acceptance that I am simply not behaving the same way that I was used to before. This is Anna Mudrenic, who was eight months pregnant when I met her at a ballet class. She told me that life felt a little different for her now. I started noticing some mistakes that I would just forget some things. But at the same time, I also realized that I'm not getting stressed about insignificant things anymore. It's just kind of as if my brain kind of

23:50moved on to a different direction. Pregnancy changes so many things, almost every part of the body, but little is known about how it changes the brain. To learn more, Spanish scientists have scanned the brains of 127 women before, during and after pregnancy. I traveled to Madrid to meet Professor Susana Carmona, one of the researchers leading the study. Women's brain change profoundly during pregnancy, that those changes are dynamic. What we have done is to have a lot of subjects so we can compute and have statistics and numbers a lot of these change. Susana showed me the brain scans. So what I'm looking at here, you've got the grey matter outlined in the lab. She'd highlighted areas of grey matter, a nerve-rich layer that plays a crucial role in things like processing information, emotions and empathy. So we can calculate different things, such as, for instance, cortical thickness, grey matter volume or surface area. When her team put the average results together and compared them to scans of women who weren't

24:53pregnant, a striking pattern emerged. For women who weren't pregnant, their grey matter stayed pretty steady over time. But for women who were pregnant, their grey matter decreased by about 5% during pregnancy, before gradually coming back up, though not fully, six months after giving birth. I know it sounds like a bad thing, but it does not necessarily need to be a bad thing, as in the brain, as in life, sometimes less, is better. We usually use the metaphor of a tree, in which you have a lot of branches, and you start pruning some of the branches so that chicken grow up through the main one, the more important ones. There's still a lot to be worked out at a more detailed, cellular level. But Professor Carmona's theory, backed by years of animal research, is that these changes represent a restructuring of the brain's architecture as it adapts to the demands of motherhood. And scientists found that the more the brains change on the scans, the more likely the women were to report on questionnaires

25:54that they felt content and well-bonded with their babies. What I would like to make clear is that we are not saying that you need to be pregnant to be a good mother. We don't need neuroscience to answer that question, right? A parent who does not only depend on the biological changes of your brain, it depends on many, many factors. The findings to me are very, very interesting. For some mothers who've taken part in Cisana's work so far, these early clues are changing how they view motherhood. This is Tanya Esparza, one of the participants who I met in a park in Madrid. I think it is time that we start rethinking how we're treating mothers, especially new mothers, and what expectations we have about who they were, who they are, and where they're going. They're undergoing tremendous transformation and we need to approach them as someone who is coming outside of a cocoon, becoming something different, and just be very accepting that this is happening to them and enjoying cherries who they're becoming. Scientists hope as work in

26:57this field grows and more attention is paid to the transformation of the brain in pregnancy. There'll be a deeper understanding of both the good and sometimes challenging sides of this pivotal experience that millions go through each year. That report was by Smeter Mundasad. A golf club in the English City of Manchester has stumbled across an unexpected find underneath part of its course, an abandoned wine cellar. The brick chamber thought to have been sealed out for more than a hundred years was discovered after a sinkhole opened up on the course revealing dozens of old glass bottles. Tim Muffet reports. It's thought golf has been played in the grounds of Davey Hume Hall since the 1840s. The 12th century manor house was demolished in 1888, a golf club established on the site in 1911. But of all the yarns that have been spun in the clubhouse, few surely will match that of the remarkable discovery below the 13th hole. The deputy head greenkeeper Steve Hopkins spotted a

28:03sinkhole during a morning inspection last week and decided to excavate the area with a small digger. As we dug deeper the chasm underneath just opened up and we then noticed a slight brick structure climbed into the hole that we dug with a torch and looked into this obviously this wine cellar that has been buried for we think a hundred years plus. The cellar contained around 100 empty bottles of different shapes and sizes. Staff say one end of the cellar has a door that has been blocked which could potentially lead to a bigger set of underground structures. The big topic of conversation on the fairways what next for the abandoned wine cellar? There has been some members that said it should be opened up as a feature on the course because it's obviously our history. It's just up to the club now what they do want to do with it. And that report was by Tim Muffet. And that's all from us for now if you want to get in touch you can email us at globalpodcast at

29:07bbc.co.uk and don't forget our sister podcast the global story which goes in-depth and beyond the headlines on one big story. This edition of the global news podcast was mixed by Martin Baker and produced by Aryan Cochie and Wendy O'Carte. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Janet Joliel. Until next time. Goodbye.