Why Trump Backed Down on Iran; Bill Gates Accuses Epstein of Possible Blackmail

Just hours after threatening to hit Iran “very hard,” President Donald Trump reversed course and announced he was calling off those strikes. In a post on Truth Social, the president wrote that negotiations had “been brought to the highest level of Iranian leadership and approved.” NBC News senior national security correspondent Courtney Kube analyzes the president’s surprising change of course and whether it truly signals an end to the war. Then: Billionaire Bill Gates is the latest powerful figure in Jeffrey Epstein’s orbit to testify on Capitol Hill about his connections to the late convicted sex offender. During a closed-door six-hour meeting, Gates accused Epstein of holding Gates’ extramarital affairs over him to try to re-engage and said he hoped his testimony would help the victims of Epstein’s abuse. NBC News anchor and senior Washington correspondent Hallie Jackson explains what we learned about the Gates-Epstein relationship and whether acting Attorney General Todd Blanche might be called to testify in the future. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.