Iran Strikes Escalate, Health Scares Spread, and Hollywood Makes a Deal

MayaHey, everybody. Welcome back to the Morning Rundown.

DavidGlad you're here. Today's lineup is a lot.

MayaBig one to start. The House just passed a massive funding package for the Iran fight, and things on the ground are moving fast.

DavidYeah, and there's a new nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia that's already got people overseas nervous.

MayaYeah, that one's going to raise some eyebrows.

DavidIt's a lot, but we'll get through it.

MayaThen some tough health headlines. Ebola in Congo, measles here at home, and that Legionnaires outbreak in New York.

DavidNot exactly light stuff, but worth knowing.

MayaBut after that, we get into earnings, Alphabet, Teslaplus some genuinely good news about an old movie theater in LA reopening.

DavidYeah, that last one's a nice change of pace.

MayaOkay, let's get moving. First up, Congress, Iran, and that budget vote.

DavidRight, there's a lot in this bill-let's start there. Twelve nights-twelve straight nights-of U.S. strikes on Iran, and CBS News is now reporting Iran fired back this morning-four missiles and six drones at Jordan.

MayaWait, at Jordan? Not even at us directly?

DavidJordan's military says they intercepted three of the four missiles. But that's the ripple effect: a U.S. ally just got hit because it stands near this fight.

MayaOkay, that's unsettling. So what's Washington's answer to that? to that.

DavidMoney. A lot of it. The House just adopted a $95 billion package to fund this, and the New York Times had that number today.

MayaNinety-five billion? For how long?

DavidThat's the thing. It's not a blank check. It's Republicans betting big that sustained pressure beats half measures. Follow the money here. This isn't just munitions. It's tankers, refueling planes, reportedly bombers getting positioned in the Mideast. Beast!

MayaRight; so we're not talking about a quick strike and done.

DavidNo; and Axios reported Trump upped the stakes himself Wednesday. He's vowing to bomb Iranian bridges and power plants, even in Tehran, for every ship Iran hits in the Strait of Hormuz.

MayaThat's a pretty specific threat.

DavidIt is; it sets a hard trigger-hit a ship, lose a power plant. Trump's basically saying the cease fire door's open, but only if Iran stops the ship attacks and and reopens Hormuz.

MayaOkay, but here's what I actually care about: my gas bill. I know that sounds shallow, but Hormuz is where, what, a fifth of the world's oil moves through?

DavidRoughly, yeah. So threats to that trade route are the reason you should watch pump prices the next few weeks, not some abstract overseas thing.

MayaRight, this hits home. Literally, at home.

DavidAnd there's a second piece breaking today that's just as big: the U.S. signed a nuclear deal with the Saudis.

MayaWait—a nuclear deal—with the Saudis?

DavidThe Washington Post reported it opens a path for the kingdom to actually enrich uranium themselves.

MayaIsn't that the thing everyone worries about, enrichment being a few steps from a weapon?

DavidThat's exactly the concern being raised. The Guardian covered a House hearing where Congressman Brad Sherman compared it to arming the Shah of Iran back in the '70s, said it could be that size of a mistake.

MayaYikes. So how do you defend doing— And doing it anyway.

DavidStrategically, it locks Saudi Arabia in as a U.S. nuclear partner instead of, say, going to Russia or China for that tech. Congress gets 90 days to act on it, the Post reported. So it's not settled. But the administration's betting the alliance value outweighs the risk.

MayaI mean, I get the logic. Better us setting the rules than nobody. But it's still a real question mark hanging over this.

DavidIt is. And it's not separate from Iran. It's the same posture. Show strength, don't blink, control who has the leverage in the region.

MayaSo the theme today is basically, pick your fight, then fund it all the way.

DavidNinety-five billion says that's the plan.

MayaWhich, honestly, isn't just a Middle East story. Huge spending decisions are happening on plenty of fronts right now when governments feel the pressure to act. Makes you wonder where else that same math is playing out. Switching gears, Congo's Ebola outbreak just crossed a grim number.

DavidHow grim?

MayaAP reported over a thousand deaths confirmed now. Dr. Jean Kaseya, who runs Africa's CDC, called it the fastest moving Ebola outbreak ever recorded.

DavidA thousand people.

MayaAnd it's the Bundibugyo strain. No approved vaccine, no approved treatment for that particular version.

DavidWait, there's a vaccine for other Ebola strains, but not this one?

MayaRight. That's part of why Kaseya is pushing so hard, saying they have to act now before it becomes the worst outbreak ever documented.

DavidAnd I'd guess conflict in the region isn't helping the response.

MayaAl Jazeera's coverage backs that up. Fighting and resistance from communities keep slowing health workers down.

DavidGrim stuff. Closer to home, the Hill had a story that stopped me. U.S. measles cases just hit a 35-year high.

MayaWait, 35 years?

DavidHighest since 1990. And look, I'm not here to lecture anybody on vaccines. That's a call for every family to make.

MayaSure.

DavidBut you gotta ask why that number's climbing now after decades of measles basically being wiped out here.

MayaWhat's your read?

DavidVaccination rates have slipped in certain pockets, especially since the pandemic. Trust in public health messaging took a hit. And measles is brutally contagious, so even small drops in coverage let it move fast.

MayaSo it's a bunch of smaller gaps adding up, not one big cause.

DavidPretty much. One infected kid in a daycare with low coverage and it rips through.

MayaOne more, and this one's local. New York's Legionnaires outbreak just claimed a fifth life.

DavidDidn't that trace back to cooling towers?

MayaYeah, the Guardian reported the city traced it to cooling towers on the upper... On the Upper East Side, 82 diagnosed,

DavidWow.

Maya8 still hospitalized, the health department said in its latest update.

David82 is a lot for something most people have never heard of.

MayaFox News actually ran practical tips. It spreads through mist, so hot tubs, decorative fountains, even old showerheads that haven't been cleaned.

DavidSo stagnant warm water is the real culprit.

MayaBasically. Flush your pipes if you've been away a while, keep tubs and fountains maintained. And small habits, solid payoff.

DavidGood to know before we head into lighter territory.

MayaPlease, yes, because next we've got Alphabet, Tesla, and Warner Bros drama. Nobody's in a hospital bed for this one.

DavidFinally!

MayaSwitching gears, big earnings day, and Wall Street's throwing a tantrum.

DavidYeah, Alphabet's numbers weren't even bad. CNBC's live coverage says the stock still sank after the call.

MayaWait, why? If the numbers were fine.

DavidCapital spending. They're hiking 2026 CapEx hard, and investors hate hearing we're spending more right after earnings.

MayaSo good quarter, bad reaction, that's wild.

DavidSundar Pichai was on the call defending it, talking up Talking up Waymo, saying they're scaling the business to its potential.

MayaBut investors want cash flow now.

DavidExactly. They want profit now, not a promise about robo-taxis later.

MayaOkay, and Tesla's got almost the opposite problem.

DavidKind of. The New York Times says Tesla's profit fell even though car sales actually rebounded.

MayaSales go up, profit goes down? I mean, come on.

DavidMusk's pouring money into robotics and AI instead of banking the margin. Margin. Same story as Alphabet, honestly. Spend now, hope it pays later.

MayaTwo different companies, same headache for shareholders.

DavidPretty much. Wall Street wants both worlds, and it's not getting either right now.

MayaAlright, before I forget, there's actual merger news too.

DavidRight. Deadline reported the EU just cleared Paramount's deal to buy Warner Bros Discovery.

MayaA hundred plus billion dollars and Brussels just signs off.

DavidWith conditions, Paramount had to drop its international distribution. distribution deal with Universal to get there.

MayaDavid Ellison still got U.S. legal fights and U.K. regulators to deal with, though.

DavidOne hurdle down, a few left.

MayaOkay, but I've been saving the fun one for last.

DavidGo for it.

MayaI'm excited the Cinerama Dome is coming back.

DavidOh, I love that place.

MayaSix years dark since the pandemic shut it down, and now the L.A. Times says Sony Pictures is stepping in to restore it. For it,

DavidWho's running it?

MayaAlamo Drafthouse, Sony's theater chain, and they're keeping the Cinerama name.

DavidThat geodesic dome on Sunset is basically a landmark at this point.

MayaTotally. The company statement literally said no place else commands that kind of affection from moviegoers.

DavidHigh bar, but they're not wrong.

MayaHonestly, after the week we've covered, I'll take a good old-fashioned popcorn story.

DavidSame, something you can actually look forward to.

MayaWarm. Get your tickets ready. That one's worth the wait. Okay, so today I ran Ebola, Tesla's earnings, even a comeback for that old movie dome. Lot going on.

DavidYeah, if there's one thread, it's that the money and the war stuff are tangled together this week that Saudi nuclear deal is worth watching.

MayaTotally. Congress has 90 days on that one, so we'll keep tracking it.

DavidAnd hey, wash your hands out there between measles and Legionnaires. It's been a rough stretch

MayaSeriously. All right. If you like today's Rundown, subscribe and leave us a review. It actually helps a ton.

DavidWe'll be back tomorrow with more.

MayaThanks for hanging out with us. See you then.