“I've seen the videos and you can see the missiles continue to rain down and hit targets. Israel is imposing a news blackout,” said Johnson. “They don't want the knowledge out there about what happened. But Iran made sure that it was not going to hit and run the risk of killing hundreds or thousands of Israeli civilians. They were not going to act like the Israelis… [but] the Iron Dome proved to be a bust.”

“Lockheed Martin… can make about one and a half, one and a quarter [missiles] a day,” said Johnson. “If Iran continues to launch missile strikes like this... this right now has a chance to really get out of control.”

“I cannot rule out that Israel is going to try to launch some conventional weapons at Iran, but I think they're going to be defeated,” Johnson claimed. “Israel may be tempted to try to use a nuclear device against an Iranian target. If that happens then we're going to really be into another dimension, and this is going to get very, very serious.”

“Israel is not in a position to fight a multi-front war and it does not have the strategic depth to fight wars of attrition. And that's exactly what it's got itself into now,” Johnson pointed out. “If US ships are involved that are off the coast of Iran, then we'll see Iran react and they may even end up attacking some US ships. But they'll certainly retaliate against Israel. Israel is not out of the woods at all, despite all the delusional nonsense that the extreme Zionist supporters are saying.”

“Israel's ability to be able to defend itself is absolutely fundamental,” Walz claimed. “But the expansion of Israel and its proxies is an absolute fundamental necessity for the United States to have steady leadership there… What's fundamental here is that steady leadership is going to matter.”

“When our allies see Donald Trump turn towards Vladimir Putin, turn towards North Korea, when we start to see that type of fickleness around holding the coalitions together, we will stay committed,” he claimed.

“When was the last time that an American president didn't have a major conflict break out? The only answer is during the four years that Donald Trump was president,” Vance emphasized.

"Margaret, the rules were that you guys weren't gonna factcheck. And since you're fact checking me, I think it's important to say what's actually going on," Vance said.

"Gentlemen, the audience can't hear you because your mics are cut," moderator Margaret Brennan responded snarkily.

"Tim, I think you've got a tough job here, because you've got to play whack-a-mole," said Vance. "You've got to pretend that Donald Trump didn't deliver rising take-home pay, which of course he did. You've got to pretend that Donald Trump didn't deliver lower inflation, which of course he did. And then you've simultaneously got to defend Kamala Harris' atrocious economic record, which has made gas, groceries and housing unaffordable for American citizens."

“I sat in that office with those Sandy Hook parents,” said vice presidential candidate Tim Walz Tuesday, responding to a question about high rates of gun violence in the United States. “I’ve become friends with school shooters. I’ve seen it.”

"I eventually chose freedom over unrealizable justice, after being detained for years and facing a 175-year sentence with no effective remedy. Justice for me is now precluded, as the US government insisted in writing into its plea agreement that I cannot file a case at the European Court of Human Rights or even a Freedom of Information Act request over what it did to me as a result of its extradition request," Assange told a hearing in Strasbourg.

"The experience of isolation for years in a small cell is difficult to convey. It strips away one’s sense of self, leaving only the raw essence of existence," he stated, adding that "none of the statements, resolutions, reports, films, articles, events, fundraisers, protests, and letters over the last 14 years should have been necessary."

💬 “It does seem that if people are going to mistake that measured response for weakness, they're going to regret it,” said journalist Robert Fantina. “Iran is waiting and watching, and it's playing the long game. It's not necessarily looking for an immediate victory, but it does want to see progress in peace in the region, and that means the defeat of Israel.”

💬 “That previous attack was just almost like a showpiece to let Israel know that, ‘not only can we hit you, but we can hit you hard. Our missiles can get through your many layers of defense even with all of your protectors in NATO and in the US, basically shooting down most of those key projectiles for you; our main missiles hit their targets and hit them precisely and hard,’” said author and independent journalist Esther Iverem, summarizing Tehran’s perspective.

"We must always stand firmly on the right side of history and on the side of human civilization and progress," stated Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

"If in the last months, or year, all the i's had been dotted when some named the opponents of others, and the US had said they would oppose a certain side or state, that they would not take on the role of a mediator but be engaged in a forceful solution - that would have been one conversation. However, they came with the role of a peacemaker. And this role of a peacemaker has once again pushed this region to the brink," Zakharova told Sputnik.