The Pioneer Morning Briefing - Nachrichten aus Politik und Wirtschaft · The Pioneer

Manuel Hagel im Interview | Iran am Kipppunkt | Merz im Trump-Modus

·29 min·2 clips

Iranian-born journalist Shahzad Osterer: 'We have a Persian proverb—we live with hope, and that is why we are still alive after everything we have been through.'

1. The Pioneer Morning Briefing is a German-language daily political and business news podcast hosted by Alem Dogan, covering the most significant stories of Tuesday, March 3rd. 2. Host Alem Dogan guides all three main interviews; Wall Street correspondent Anne Schwedt reports from New York on market reactions. 3. The episode opens with a breaking news summary: Israel has attacked Iran's nuclear and missile program overnight, and Netanyahu defended the strikes on Fox News, arguing Tehran had begun building new underground bunkers and 'you needed a resolute president like Donald J. Trump.' 4. An Iranian Revolutionary Guard general announced on Telegram that Iran would target any ship passing the Strait of Hormuz and burn oil pipelines to prevent 'a single drop of oil from leaving the region.' 5. The US Embassy in Riyadh was targeted by drones; the US Embassy in Kuwait also came under attack; Washington urged American citizens to leave Oman, Qatar, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia. 6. The first interview is with Manuel Hagel, CDU's top candidate in Baden-Württemberg, four days before the state election; a 2018 video of him describing a female student at a school visit as 'Eva, brown hair, dark brown eyes' has gone viral and sparked a sexism debate. 7. Hagel tells Dogan the sentence was 'really bad' and he would never repeat it, but says it does not reflect his values or his record on gender issues. 8. He reveals that he and his children have received death threats as a result of the video controversy, and says the experience confirms his view that Germany must avoid the US-style political polarization where groups 'only try to take each other down.' 9. On whether his rival Cem Özdemir (Greens) belongs to the democratic center, Hagel eventually says 'no,' citing a study showing the Greens' program aligns 81% with the Left Party platform. 10. Hagel defends the CDU's economic priorities—auto industry jobs, energy costs, tax costs, and bureaucracy costs—as the three main burdens on Baden-Württemberg as a business location. 11. On the polls showing the Greens at 28% and CDU at 27%, Hagel says the only poll that interests him is on March 8th election day; he notes the Greens' gains come from SPD and Left Party, not from CDU voters. 12. The second interview is with journalist Shahzad Osterer, born in Tehran, who reports that her family in Tehran—where heavy bombardment is underway—told her brother they are safe but living with a mix of fear, hope, and 'a sense of revenge' after Khamenei's death. 13. Osterer describes scenes of Iranians dancing in the streets and singing after news of Khamenei's death broke, calling it 'truly unique euphoria.' 14. She outlines the main scenario for a post-regime transition: Reza Pahlavi, son of the former Shah, has announced he has a plan for a transitional government leading to a referendum between a constitutional monarchy and a democratic republic. 15. Osterer says in a 2022 interview Pahlavi told her he has no personal power ambitions, but she notes his plan has gaps—particularly his emphasis on territorial integrity before legal equality—and that his advisory circle concerns many critics. 16. She warns that without completing the regime change, the pre-appointed successor to Khamenei would take power and 'everything starts again—the regime always becomes more brutal after each protest.' 17. She closes with a Persian proverb: 'We live with hope, and that is why we are still alive after everything we have been through, because we always carry this little bit of hope with us.' 18. Wall Street correspondent Anne Schwedt reports that US airline stocks (United, American, Delta) fell 2-4%, and cruise lines (Royal Caribbean, Carnival, Norwegian) also declined, while ExxonMobil, Chevron, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and BAE Systems rose up to 6%; gold gained approximately 2%. 19. The episode ends with the comic reveal that Friedrich Merz performed a live Trump impression at a campaign rally in Volkmarsen, Hessen, dramatizing a phone call in which Trump said 'I don't believe it' when told Germany cut asylum applications by 60%; Merz announced he would fly to Washington to show Trump the graphs. 20. Dogan closes by saying Merz's affectionate mockery of Trump was 'genuinely liberating' and wishes the Chancellor good luck in the Oval Office.

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