00:00The fragile ceasefire between the United States and Iran was still holding as of Thursday night,
00:04but President Trump seems to be running low on patience for the Islamic regime
00:08to reopen the Strait of Hormuz without restrictions. There are more than 800
00:12commercial ships trapped in the Persian Gulf right now, according to one ship tracking company.
00:17Another says 300 to 400 ships have been reportedly approved for passage, quote,
00:23under Iranian military coordination, but only 10 or 15 crept through on Wednesday.
00:28As for Thursday, that number is unclear. Trying to get through is a dangerous roll of the dice.
00:34The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has threatened to destroy vessels trying to exit without
00:39permission. President Trump warned in a Truth Social post that if a final agreement was not
00:44reached and complied with, quote, then the shooting starts bigger and better and stronger than anyone
00:48has ever seen before. Peace talks between U.S. and Iranian officials are slated to begin tomorrow
00:53in Pakistan, though Iran is reportedly not happy that Israel's attacks on Lebanon have
00:58continued and have threatened to boycott the talks over the issue. Pakistani officials acting as
01:04mediators assured Iran the United States would control Israel. That seemed to be the case on
01:09Thursday, as President Trump told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to be, quote,
01:14more low-key in Lebanon. First Lady Melania Trump delivered a shocking address on Thursday
01:20focused on her connection, or a really lack of connection, to Jeffrey Epstein.
01:24I am not Epstein's victim. Epstein did not introduce me to Donald Trump. I met my husband by chance
01:35at the New York City party in 1998. The first time I crossed paths with Epstein was in the year
01:432000
01:44at an event Donald and I attended together. At a time I had never met Epstein and had no knowledge
01:54of his criminal undertakings. What's most shocking is how out of left field this came. The Epstein saga
02:03has been well out of the spotlight recently, what with the war in Iran, a government shutdown which
02:08continues, by the way, while Congress is on vacation. Heck, even a trip to the moon. So I asked the
02:14Post's
02:14White House reporter Emily Gooden why the First Lady would choose to address the issue, bringing it back
02:19into the public consciousness now. Melania Trump's advisor, Mark Beekman, actually told us that the
02:26First Lady did this because she, quote, wanted to get ahead of some lies and that she wanted the focus
02:31to be back on her work. What's a little unclear is what these lies are. There's a lot of speculation
02:36that there could be some kind of big story about to drop. We know reporters have been digging into
02:43her and Jeffrey Epstein and what happened in the 1990s. In her statement, she admitted that she and
02:49Epstein knew each other. They ran in the same social circles, but she said they weren't friends and
02:54weren't close and reiterated she didn't know anything about his crimes or had never been to his private
02:59island. The remarks were billed by the White House as the First Lady taking a, quote, more activist role.
03:05I asked Emily about the First Lady's seemingly new direction.
03:08Melania Trump has been slowly taking a more high-profile role during this second term,
03:14her second term in the White House. Keep in mind that their son Barron is much older now. In the
03:20first term, he was only 11, and she was very focused on raising their son. But now he's in college
03:25and,
03:25you know, off being his own self. So she has more time to devote to her legacy. And she is
03:32taking on
03:32more high-profile projects. And there are some big high-profile things coming down the road.
03:37King Charles of England is coming in at the end of April for a huge state visit, and that's going
03:42to be very high-profile, get a lot of publicity. And the king was actually invited to meet with the
03:47victims of Jeffrey Epstein and said he didn't want to because of all the ongoing investigations,
03:53including ones in England. But he said he might meet with them at a later time.
03:56As part of her remarks, Mrs. Trump called on Congress to allow the Epstein victims to testify
04:01about their experience with the predator.
04:03Give these victims their opportunity to testify under oath in front of Congress
04:10with the power of sworn testimony. Each and every woman should have her day to tell her story
04:18in public if she wishes. And then her testimony should be permanently entered into the congressional
04:29record. Then, and only then, we will have the truth.
04:35Have you had a hard or rather expensive time recently trying to catch Monday Night Football?
04:40The Department of Justice is on the case. The DOJ has launched an investigation into the National
04:44Football League's potentially anti-competitive practices. The inquiry comes amid mounting concerns
04:50that it's become much more difficult and really pricey for sports fans to watch their favorite teams.
04:56And this isn't an issue that's just about football. The NBA, NHL, and Major League Baseball have all
05:02inked deals with a mix of broadcast and cable networks as well as streamers like Netflix and
05:06Amazon. The games air on multiple different platforms, potentially forcing fans to pay for
05:11any number of different services just to watch their teams play.
05:15The NFL and other leagues have been protected by a 1961 law, the Sports Broadcasting Act, which has
05:21allowed teams to pull their media rights together into massive TV packages. And that's shaken out to
05:26be a big fat moneymaker. Congressional leaders in 1961 hadn't even heard of cable at that point.
05:31The internet and video streaming? Forget about it. So you can see the problem. FCC Chair Brendan Carr
05:37told the Post late last month that the NFL could lose its exemptions if it sticks too many live games
05:43behind paywalls, as fans are shelling out as much as $1,500 a year to watch every pro football game
05:48across who knows how many streaming services. Thing is, the NFL is saying that they're trying to keep
05:54up. The league has argued that streamers have begun to replace broadcasters as a way that the fans are
05:59watching their content, and that they just need to meet the viewers where they are. Now remember one big
06:04thing. The DOJ investigating the NFL does not mean they will necessarily be charged with anything, but if
06:11they are, it could upend a multi-billion dollar industry.
06:16For more on these stories and everything else you could possibly want to know, check out the New
06:20York Post in print or online. And don't forget, like and subscribe to the New York Postcast wherever
06:25you get your podcasts and on YouTube. I promise you'll be glad you did.
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