Front Burner

“If we lose the midterms, we’re going to jail.” That’s Steve Bannon’s warning to Republicans: a call to act urgently, to “seize the institutions,” and prevent what he calls another stolen election.

It’s a sentiment shared by Donald Trump, who has said the midterms must be won in order to avoid impeachment. He’s also suggested that if elections are run “properly,” his supporters will not have to worry about voting again.

In recent months, the FBI has raided an election facility in Georgia, The White House has proposed decertifying voting machines and limiting mail ballots, officials have proposed nationalizing parts of election administration, and some in Trump’s orbit have called for a military presence at every polling station across the country. The list goes on.

Our guest is David A. Graham. He's a staff writer at The Atlantic who has done a lot of reporting on Trump and election interference.

For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

One of the most brutal fronts in the escalating war in the Middle East right now is in Lebanon. Israel’s ground troops have crossed the border into the south of the country, and the bombing campaign continues in cities like Beirut. Israel says its mission is to root out and defang Hezbollah and to carve out a security buffer zone in the south.

According to Lebanon’s Health Ministry, at least 850 people have been killed, including over a hundred children. Around 800 thousand people are now internal refugees, fueling a crisis the current government is struggling to handle.

Beirut-based journalist Rania Abouzeid has covered political upheaval, human rights and conflicts in the Middle East for more than two decades. She spoke to host Jayme Poisson about how the conflict in Lebanon got to where it is, and where it could be headed.

For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth is one of the figures central to the ongoing war in Iran. Critics say that the former Fox News host is both dangerous and completely out of his depth. He has made headlines recently for promising “death and destruction," picking fights with the media, and using Christian rhetoric to justify war.

The Guardian's Washington bureau chief David Smith joins us to talk about the man who heads the world’s most powerful military. What is Hegseth’s worldview? How does his past shape what we are seeing from him now? And just how much influence does he wield?

For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

U.S. intelligence reports this week show that, despite U.S and Israeli strikes, very little has changed about the Iranian regime’s grip since the start of the war.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or the IRGC for short, along with interim leaders that stepped in after Supreme leader Ali Khamenei’s death, still retain control of the country.

The IRGC has been described as a parallel state, and the most powerful institution in Iran outside of the Supreme Leader’s office. They have broad control over Iran’s industry and major sectors of the country’s economy, and have been designated a terror group by Canada and the U.S.

Ali Vaez is the International Crisis Group's Iran Project Director. He joins us to discuss the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps – an organization that has a central place in Iran’s public, private and political life, and a key role in the escalating war in the Middle East.

For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

Nunavut MP Lori Idlout crossed the floor this week, becoming the first New Democrat to defect to Prime Minister Carney’s Liberals.

With three byelections coming up next month, this puts the Carney Government on a likely path to a majority. It also adds to the troubles facing the NDP, who are in the middle of a leadership race following their worst election result ever.

CBC senior writer Aaron Wherry talks through how this could all play out.