00:00The MV Hondias, the Hantavirus cruise ship, finally got permission to dock at the Spanish-controlled island of Tenerife on
00:06Sunday.
00:0717 Americans were on board when it docked, so here's the plan for them.
00:10The Centers for Disease Control says that they'll be evacuated from the island to Nebraska over the coming days.
00:16Each country is evacuating its own citizens separately.
00:19Spain's 13 passengers went first, since they're on their home turf, followed by the Americans.
00:24Those Americans began leaving the ship Sunday afternoon.
00:26The full evacuation, though, of all 147 passengers who are from dozens of different countries is expected to take a
00:34week.
00:34The U.S. citizens will be transported back stateside on an American medical repatriation flight to the National Quarantine Unit.
00:41That facility is overseen by Nebraska Medicine and the University of Nebraska Medical Center.
00:46There, they're going to be evaluated and quarantined until experts give each and every one of them a clean bill
00:51of health.
00:52Now, the National Quarantine Unit is the only federally funded quarantine unit in the country.
00:56It is 20 single-occupancy rooms with private bathrooms and negative air pressure systems that ensure diseases don't spread.
01:02Each room also has exercise equipment and Wi-Fi.
01:05Doesn't sound like the worst place to spend some time if you have a deadly communicable disease.
01:09And it's got to be better than being stuck on that boat.
01:14Iran certainly doesn't seem to want to give peace a chance.
01:17The Islamic Republic finally offered a response to the latest United States peace proposal and, like a broken record, Tehran
01:24again refused to address its nuclear program.
01:27Which is, need I remind you, the biggest, most important issue for the U.S.
01:30No nuke talk, no deal, end of story.
01:33The response was sent through Pakistani mediators and focuses on reopening the Strait of Hormuz, which of course is also
01:39a key part of ending hostilities.
01:41But, basically, it says Iran wants to do that first, before even talking about other issues like the nuclear program
01:48and the carousel keeps turning.
01:51President Trump's reaction was swift and predictable, accusing Iran of playing games and posting, quote,
01:56I've just read the response from Iran's so-called representatives.
01:59I don't like it.
02:00Totally unacceptable.
02:01Now, on top of all that, Iran seems to be testing the fragile ceasefire again.
02:05On Sunday, a small Iranian drone set a minor fire on a ship off the coast of Qatar, the United
02:11Arab Emirates, and Kuwait each reported drones entering their airspace as well.
02:15But despite this, President Trump remains committed to talks, and in order for those to happen, nukes must be on
02:21the table.
02:22Now, he focused on the nuclear issue again earlier on Sunday.
02:25The president suggested the U.S. continues to keep a close eye on all of Iran's nuclear material that is
02:30still buried in the rubble of last summer's midnight hammer attacks.
02:33The Post political reporter, Ryan King, filled me in.
02:36So the nuclear issue has been the most elusive part of negotiations with Iran, and President Trump made it clear
02:42that it remains his top priority during negotiations with the Islamic Republic.
02:48Now, there had been talk last week of getting close to a deal.
02:51There were discussions around a 14-point framework.
02:55And on Sunday, we got reports that Iran rejected a core ask to dismantle its nuclear facilities.
03:04We haven't verified those reports yet.
03:06That's what we're hearing.
03:07And President Trump had done an interview, pre-taped an interview for Sunday, where he really underscored the importance of
03:15getting Iran's nuclear material.
03:17And he was pretty adamant that the U.S. will get it one way or another.
03:21And he said that for the time being, the U.S. is monitoring Iran's nuclear sites from satellites to determine
03:29whether or not the regime is trying to go after its nuclear material that is believed to be buried deep
03:34under rubble underground.
03:36And if Iran moves for it, he will order strikes against it.
03:40And what we'll see this coming week is whether or not the Trump administration decides to re-up Project Freedom,
03:47which had been put on pause.
03:49Project Freedom was the military campaign to open up the Strait of Hormuz.
03:55They paused it shortly after implementing it because they felt that there were some signs that they could get some
04:02progress with Iran in negotiations.
04:05And now that it appears that Iran isn't fully on board with all of the Trump administration's demands, there might
04:12be pressure to potentially revisit that.
04:16And so we'll be watching that carefully this week.
04:19Energy Secretary Chris Wright says the Trump administration is open to any and all ideas to bring the price of
04:25gas down for Americans, including a temporary suspension of the federal gas tax, which is 18.4 cents a gallon.
04:32Here he is on Meet the Press Sunday.
04:33We're open to all ideas.
04:35Everything has tradeoffs.
04:37All ideas to lower prices for American consumers and American businesses.
04:41Wright didn't get into the tradeoffs he mentioned there, but the federal gas tax is nothing to sniff at.
04:46It brings in $36 to $40 billion annually for the Highway Trust Fund.
04:50That money is used for infrastructure to fund projects both for roads and the country's mass transit systems.
04:55Now, in addition to the federal tax, each state also sets their own rate for an additional gas tax.
05:00So far, Georgia, Indiana, and Utah have paused theirs amid the pricing surge.
05:05Now, at the moment, gas is hovering around $4.52 a gallon.
05:10That's the national average.
05:12Before the war in Iran broke out on February 28th, prices were below $3 a gallon.
05:18For more on these stories and everything else you could possibly want to know, check out the New York Post
05:23in print or online.
05:24And don't forget, like and subscribe to the New York Postcast wherever you get your podcasts and on YouTube.
05:29I promise you'll be glad you did.
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