12:00: Iranian Americans react to President Trump's address
1:00: Nonviolence during a time of war
President Donald Trump says the U.S. will hit Iran "extremely hard" over the next two to three weeks. Trump made the remarks during an address to the nation Wednesday night. He claimed success in the war, saying the U.S. has nearly completed its objectives, while also saying upcoming American military strikes will send Iran "back to the Stone Age." We sit down with local Iranian Americans to discuss the state of the war, the effect of U.S. involvement, and what's next for Iranians and their leadership. Our guests:
- Shahin Monshipour, Iranian American
- Pouya Seifzadeh, Ph.D., associate professor of strategy at SUNY Geneseo and local business owner of Funtastic Adventure Park, Bounce Hopper, and Ontario Play & Cafe
Then in our second hour, about eight million people attended this past weekend's "No Kings" protests, organizers say. They predicted the day's thousands of demonstrations would be the "single-largest non-violent day of action" in U.S. history. Has the nonviolence movement changed in recent years? How has it been affected by tragedies like the deaths of Renée Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis? Our guests join us from the Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence to discuss the state of nonviolence education and resistance, especially during a time of war. In studio:
- Erin Thompson, executive director of the M.K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence
- Isaiah Santiago, commissioner of the Rochester City School District Board of Education and keynote speaker for the Gandhi Institute's "Soulforce" gala
- Ashwin Shah, community member and former board member of the M.K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence
"Connections" is livestreamed each day on the WXXI News YouTube channel. Watch here.
