Latest / In Focus with Carolyn Hutcheson / Iran Deal - TPR's In Focus - June 19, 2026

Transcript

Iran Deal - TPR's In Focus - June 19, 2026 · In Focus with Carolyn Hutcheson

• 0:00
  Support comes from the Rosa Parks Museum on Troy University's Montgomery campus,
• 0:05
  located on the spot of Mrs. Parks' historic 1955 arrest, and featuring
• 0:11
  exhibits that chronicle the history of the Montgomery bus boycott.
• 0:16
  More information at Troy.edu slash Rosa Parks.
• 0:22
  From Troy Public Radio, this is the News Wrap from InFocus, and I'm Carolyn Hutcheson.
• 0:28
  Todd Stacey, host of Alabama Public Television's Capitol Journal,
• 0:34
  discusses the turnout for the recent election runoffs, and he delves into the
• 0:41
  deal with Iran, and the wild card is about a World Cup cheerleader.
• 0:48
  Todd, what's the big news? Well, we obviously had the elections this week. I
• 0:53
  think everybody's grateful for the campaign ads, and especially the text
• 0:58
  messages from candidates to stop. And what about the turnout? It was
• 1:02
  disappointingly low, but really unsurprisingly low as well. You know,
• 1:06
  everyone is talking about the deal with Iran. What do you make of it? Well, I mean,
• 1:11
  some of the details we've not really seen yet, but it does seem at least
• 1:16
  concerning to a lot of folks who are just kind of wondering, why are we
• 1:20
  pursuing this deal that looks a lot like what the president canceled back from
• 1:26
  the Obama administration? But for right now, our two U.S. senators, Katie Brett
• 1:31
  and Tommy Tuberville, are supporting the president, supporting this, at least in
• 1:36
  the short term. They've talked about wanting to see more details, especially
• 1:40
  about this $300 billion to help rebuild Iran after we've just spent four months
• 1:46
  attacking them. Lots of questions, and that's the role of Congress, to ask
• 1:50
  questions. I'm also going to be looking for Congressman Mike Rogers to see what
• 1:54
  he says. He is the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. That is the
• 1:58
  oversight body for the Pentagon, for the United States military. And he's a very
• 2:03
  thoughtful person when it comes to this. He's not afraid to criticize the
• 2:06
  Pentagon and war activities. So I'm really curious what kind of hearings go
• 2:11
  on, what questions get asked, because this is a big, big deal in terms of foreign
• 2:16
  policy for this country. I mean, we were told that Iran was an existential threat
• 2:21
  that had to be dealt with. That's why the president launched this war to begin
• 2:25
  with. So a lot of folks are scratching their heads as to how this is the
• 2:29
  appropriate end to that war. The story continues. Why don't we have a wild card
• 2:34
  and lighten up? Yeah, well, I love this one because it's World Cup theme, you
• 2:38
  know. And down in Mexico, they have this new little mascot, Merlin the duck. It was
• 2:45
  a two-year-old duck, and he's dressed up in Mexico's uniform. They call him a kit.
• 2:50
  And now he's become a sensation, waddling through the streets of Mexico
• 2:54
  City with his uniform and even has little sandals to go with him. So from
• 2:58
  the Associated Press, Google Merlin the duck, and you'll see this amazing mascot
• 3:04
  they've got down there in Mexico. Todd, you're hosting two events, one Capital
• 3:08
  Journal, the other at American Village, America's 250th. Who's coming up? Melanie
• 3:14
  Poole and Natalie Steed from the American Village. They're in Montevallo.
• 3:18
  It's a real treasure of Alabama's, by the way. And so that's gonna be the home
• 3:22
  of this big celebration on July 4th. It's actually July 3rd as well. Huge fireworks
• 3:28
  show, lots of performances, and we're gonna air it all live on Alabama Public
• 3:33
  Television. So that's July 4th from 630 to 930, or I guess whenever the
• 3:38
  fireworks go off. We're gonna be live covering Sweet Home 250. It's America's
• 3:44
  250th. There's a lot of Alabama history in there as well. I'm gonna host it
• 3:49
  alongside Melanie Posey for Sweet Home 250. And tonight on Capital Journal you
• 3:55
  have well-known guests. Yeah, gonna be talking with Dr. Richard Bailey. He is a
• 4:00
  historian and has a unique perspective on Juneteenth, which of course is today.
• 4:05
  And also Sally Smith. She's retiring as the leader of the Alabama Association of
• 4:10
  School Boards. So she's gonna talk about her 40 years of education advocacy in
• 4:15
  Alabama and how education in the state has evolved. That's tonight, 730, Sunday
• 4:21
  at noon and on YouTube. Todd, thanks for the news wrap. Hope you'll join us. That
• 4:26
  was Todd Stacy, host of Alabama Public Television's Capital Journal. More
• 4:32
  information about Capital Journal can be found at the website aptv.org. Thanks
• 4:39
  for joining us for the news wrap from In Focus, which is a podcast wherever you
• 4:45
  get your podcasts. I'm Carolyn Hutcheson and this is listener-supported Troy
• 4:50
  Public Radio.