00:00President Trump announces a blockade of ships entering or exiting the Strait of Hormuz starting this morning as peace talks
00:08with Iran fail.
00:09Oil prices again are climbing past $100 a barrel as the world watches to see what happens next.
00:16Plus, calling him terrible for foreign policy, Trump issues a blistering assessment of Pope Leo and the pontiff's opposition to
00:24the war in Iran and U.S. military action in Venezuela.
00:27And a California congressman hoping to become the next governor of California withdraws after claims of sexual assault by staffers.
00:37The stories that matter, clear and credible, from across the country to around the world.
00:43These are your unbiased updates from Strait Arrow News.
00:49Good morning, I'm Craig DeGrelli.
00:51We begin this morning with the impending U.S. blockade of the Strait of Hormuz after peace talks between the
00:57U.S. and Iran collapsed over the weekend.
01:00President Donald Trump says the military will blockade all of Iran's ports and coastal areas today starting at 10 a
01:08.m. Eastern.
01:09Trump made the announcement in a social media post late last night.
01:12Iran immediately responded with threats of its own on all ports in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.
01:18The Iranian military is accusing the United States of piracy, saying in a statement,
01:24security in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman is either for everyone or for no one.
01:29No port in the region will be safe.
01:32U.S. Central Command says the American blockade will be enforced impartially against vessels of all nations,
01:38but it will still allow ships traveling between non-Iranian ports to transit the Strait.
01:44Slightly walking back, the president's earlier threat to blockade the entire Strait.
01:49Oil prices surged after Trump announced the blockade, with U.S. crude oil soaring 8 percent to more than $104
01:56per barrel early this morning.
01:58International Brent also jumped more than 7 percent to $103 a barrel.
02:04Wholesale gas prices also spiked by 6 percent.
02:08Also this morning, President Trump and Pope Leo are increasingly at odds over the war with Iran.
02:14Trump blasting the first American pope Sunday night, saying he's not doing a very good job,
02:20and that he's a very liberal person, accusing him of catering to the radical left.
02:25Trump's comments come after last week.
02:28The pope criticized Trump's public threats to wipe out an entire civilization in Iran.
02:33The pontiff urged people to contact their Congress members and object.
02:38Leo has been critical of the war in Iran since it began,
02:42and over the weekend, he reiterated his calls for peace at a special prayer vigil at St. Peter's Basilica,
02:48saying the, quote, madness needs to end.
02:51President Trump firing back in a lengthy social media post,
02:55then doubling down when asked about it by reporters.
02:58We don't like a pope that's going to say that it's OK to have a nuclear weapon.
03:04We don't want a pope that says crime is OK in our cities.
03:08I don't like it. I'm not a big fan of Pope Leo.
03:10He's a very liberal person, and he's a man that doesn't believe in stopping crime.
03:16He's a man that doesn't think that we should be toying with a country that wants a nuclear weapon
03:24so they can blow up the world.
03:25I'm not a fan of Pope Leo.
03:28In his post, Trump also alleged that Leo was only chosen as pope because he was an American,
03:34and they thought that would be the best way to deal with President Donald J. Trump.
03:39Pope Leo responding this morning, telling reporters on the papal plane
03:43he has no fear of the Trump administration.
03:46I don't want to get into a debate with him.
03:49I don't think that the message of the gospel is meant to be abused in the way that some people
03:54are doing.
03:55And I will continue to speak out loud against war, looking to promote peace,
04:00promoting dialogue and multilateral relationships among the states to look for just solutions to the problems.
04:07Too many people are suffering in the world today.
04:09Too many innocent people are being killed.
04:11And I think someone has to stand up and say there's a better way to do this.
04:15Today, the pope is on his way to Africa for an 11-day tour of four countries.
04:21To politics, Democratic Congressman Eric Swalwell has now dropped out of the race for California governor
04:28amid sexual assault allegations by a handful of women, including staffers.
04:32He made the announcement Sunday, saying he will fight the, quote,
04:41Swalwell's decision to suspend his campaign came just days after allegations that he sexually assaulted a woman twice when she
04:50worked for him.
04:50They were published Friday by CNN and the San Francisco Chronicle.
04:55Since then, at least four other women have detailed allegations that range from sexual assault to inappropriate conduct by Swalwell.
05:02Backlash from both sides of the aisle was swift, with calls for him to drop out of the race coming
05:08almost immediately.
05:09Swalwell could also be expelled from Congress.
05:12Florida Republican Anna Paulina Luna says she plans to force a vote to expel Swalwell, possibly by midweek.
05:19This morning, police are investigating gunfire near the San Francisco home of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman,
05:26days after a Molotov cocktail attack on the property.
05:29Early Sunday morning, police say shots were fired from a vehicle near the home.
05:34Two people, Amanda Tom and Mohamed Tariq Hussein, were arrested and booked on suspicion of negligent discharge of a gun,
05:43according to police.
05:44Officers say they seized three firearms during a search at a separate residence.
05:49Authorities have not said Altman's home was definitively targeted in the Sunday incident,
05:53and investigators are still working to determine a motive.
05:56The shooting came after an earlier attack Friday morning,
05:59when investigators say somebody threw a Molotov cocktail at the home, igniting a fire on an exterior gate.
06:06Nobody was hurt.
06:07Police later arrested a 20-year-old suspect.
06:10Prosecutors have also said it could take until next week to decide what charges to file in the Molotov cocktail
06:16case
06:16and whether it will be handled locally or federally.
06:19A major political election result over the weekend that is having a ripple effect all over the world.
06:26Voters in Hungary defeated Prime Minister Viktor Orban, an ally of both President Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
06:34One-time ally turned opponent Peter Magyar ended Orban's 16-year run as leader of Hungary.
06:40President Trump backed Orban in the run-up to the election, calling him a strong and powerful leader.
06:46Writing on Truth Social,
06:52Trump even sent Vice President J.D. Vance to Budapest last week to campaign for Orban.
06:58In his time in office, Orban had built a barrier at Hungary's southern border to block migrants from Africa and
07:04Asia,
07:05and was also known for cracking down on freedom of the press and judicial independence.
07:09He's the European leader who is closest to Putin.
07:12He helped block European Union assistance to Ukraine in its ongoing war with Russia.
07:18But his opponents, even here in the U.S., celebrated his defeat.
07:22Senator Roger Wicker, a Republican from Mississippi, said,
07:26The freedom-loving people of Hungary have voted decisively in favor of democracy and the rule of law.
07:32Finally this morning, did you watch it?
07:35Tremendous action at Augusta National Country Club on Sunday.
07:39Rory McIlroy held on to win his second straight Masters Green Jacket, and it was a nail-biter.
07:46McIlroy shot 71, including an impressive stretch of a par and two birdies at holes 11 through 13 at Augusta's
07:54famous Amen Corner.
07:56He was ahead by two strokes over Scotty Scheffler going into the 18th hole.
08:00And that's when McIlroy made it interesting.
08:03He put his drive into the trees on 18, then his second shot into the sand trap.
08:08But a beautiful chip out, and two putts later, McIlroy was the champion.
08:13He goes back-to-back at the Masters, joining Tiger Woods, Nick Faldo, and Jack Nicklaus
08:19as the only golfers ever to win the Masters two years in a row.
08:22They're calling it a Rory repeat.
08:25I can tell you that I watched the last two hours of coverage on CBS on Sunday,
08:29and boy, was it dramatic.
08:31Every hole, every stroke.
08:33So many guys do the top of the leaderboard.
08:35So much pressure.
08:36And when McIlroy sank that putt about this long on 18 to win the tournament, it was like, whew.
08:45All right, want more Unbiased Updates?
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08:55Those are your Unbiased Updates for this Monday.
08:57We'll see you back here tomorrow.
08:58For all of us at Straight Hero News, I'm Craig DeGrelli.
09:00Have a great day.
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