Chris Murphy says he’d ‘support a bad deal’ with Iran because ‘war needs to end’: Full interview

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: Welcome back and joining me now is Democratic Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut. Senator Murphy, welcome back to Meet the Press. Yeah, great to be with you. It's great to have you. Let's talk about what happened in Michigan. You actually endorsed in the Michigan primary, Mallory McMorrow. She ended up dropping out about a month ago and you waited until after Abdul El-Sayed won to send out a tweet saying you endorse him. Did you misread where the [00:00:28] Dr. Al-Sayed: Democratic electorate is? Oh, I endorse Mallory because she's a longtime friend. She and I have worked together very closely on anti-gun violence measures, but I'm really excited for Abdul's win. He is a candidate that is running on some simple ideas. Corporations have too much power. Workers have too little. Our politics are rigged. That's why prices are so high. Donald Trump's corruption should be unacceptable and the Senate should be a place that ends it. So I think you'll see a lot of my colleagues in Michigan. I'll be there supporting him because he's presenting a strong contrast with a candidate who is pro-corporate, who is pro-Trump, who is pro-war. I think he's going to do incredibly [00:01:11] Speaker 1: well in that campaign. You heard him express confidence about Medicare for all. Do you think that could pass the Senate if Democrats do in fact win control? Yeah, I don't know. But I think what I do [00:01:23] Dr. Al-Sayed: know is that people are sick and tired of the status quo on health care. They are sick and tired of pharmaceutical companies and insurance companies having all the power. And they have that power because our politics is rigged. I have supported a Medicare for all idea in which everyone would get to choose Medicare if they wanted. But I think both of us believe that the current system is rigged to benefit the big health care insurance companies and that everyone in this country should have access to the Medicare plan, every business, every individual. And if they did, I think people would find that's better and cheaper health care. And the only reason that they don't have that access is because our politics are bought off by those insurance and drug companies. [00:02:09] Speaker 1: Let me ask you about the race moving forward, because as you know, Dr. Al-Sayed narrowly beat Haley Stevens. And now he's facing off against former Congressman Mike Rogers, who is making a clear play to try to win over some of those voters, some of those Democrats, independent voters who did not vote for Dr. Al-Sayed. Take a look at this ad. [00:02:31] Speaker 3: If you're among the majority of Democratic voters that woke up on Wednesday feeling, well, hopeless, because the person who won does not represent your values, well, just know there is still hope. Michigan deserves a senator who is ready to sit with you, hear from you and represent you. [00:02:49] Speaker 1: What do you say to Democrats who might believe that Dr. Al-Sayed does not represent their values? [00:02:54] Dr. Al-Sayed: Well, Mike Rogers is going to represent only one person in the United States Senate, Donald Trump. The entire Republican Party has become a cult of personality in which they have no ability to think independently. They do only what Donald Trump asks them to do and tells them to do. What I also know, as I served with Mike Rogers, is that he is one of the hawkish, most pro-war, was one of the most hawkish pro-war members of the House of Representatives. He is going to be a rubber stamp for this president's war in Iran that has gas prices in Michigan right now, hovering around $4.20 a gallon, that has no end in sight, that is bankrupting the American treasury. I do think this election is going to be a referendum on this war that Donald Trump is losing. And Mike Rogers is well known as one of the biggest proponents of the American military being engaged in foreign conflicts in the United States Senate. [00:03:52] Speaker 1: I want to ask you about one of the issues that is dividing Democrats. We saw this certainly in 2024. It's the issue of Israel. Do you think Democrats need to have a more unified message in order to be able to win purple states like Michigan? [00:04:08] Dr. Al-Sayed: Well, listen, here's my view. I want there to be a strong U.S.-Israel relationship. I support Israel. I cannot support this government's actions. They are not aligned with U.S. national security objectives. And so I think that until we have a different government and a different policy in Israel, it's going to be hard for people like me that want a Palestinian state side by side with a Jewish state in the region to support continuing to send arms to Israel. But your question is, should the Democrats have one position? Well, no, we have disagreements inside the Democratic Party. There were disagreements in Michigan. And that's the sign of a healthy party. What's the alternative? Well, the alternative is the Republican Party, in which they are not allowed to have disagreements. The only thing they can think is what Donald Trump thinks. That's not a healthy party. I want to be a part of a party that occasionally actually has disagreements inside it. [00:05:12] Speaker 1: But does it concern you that Dr. Al-Sayed, for example, describes Israel as committing a genocide and apartheid? [00:05:18] Dr. Al-Sayed: Well, I think what you heard him say is that he will support funding to Israel so long as Israel is on a path to live side by side with a Palestinian state. And I think that is a view that is shared by a wide cross-section of Americans. [00:05:36] Speaker 1: I want to ask you about Iran. You have been clear that you want the war to end. Is there any deal that could be negotiated that you would support, that you would get behind in order to say this is good enough now to end the war and declare victory and move on? [00:05:53] Dr. Al-Sayed: So, Donald Trump has lost this war. America is weaker. Iran is stronger. The price to reopen the strait increases by the day. The supposed deal that's on the table right now would pay Iran $100 million -- excuse me, billion dollars a year in order to reopen the strait. That is one-third of Iran's entire economy. What a victory for Iran. At the end of this war, they get paid to reopen the strait. They get paid to rebuild their military. They get paid to rebuild their support for proxies in the region. The answer to your question is, yes, I will support a deal to end this war and to reopen the strait. I am prepared to support a bad deal to end this war and reopen the strait. Because the only deal that is available at this point in time is a terrible, bad deal. But the war needs to end because every day that the war continues, America gets weaker, Iran gets stronger, and people here in the United States get screwed as prices go up and up and up. Let me ask you, because Secretary had said the Pentagon [00:06:59] Speaker 1: requesting an additional $67 billion in defense funding, in part to replenish stockpiles that have been depleted. Now, as a member of the Appropriations Committee, you have said that you're not going to support additional funding. But let's say that Democrats do win back the Senate, the majority in January. How do you plan to replenish those stockpiles? Well, the priority right now is ending [00:07:23] Dr. Al-Sayed: this war. Seven in 10 Americans want this war to end. Families are being bankrupted as we speak by this war. As kids are going back to school, families are realizing that filling up lunch boxes this year is going to cost them $4,000 more than it did last year. That is mostly because of this war. So no, I'm not going to support funding to keep this war going. But if the war comes to an end, if the president ends this war, then yes, of course, I and my colleagues will be ready to provide the funding to replenish the stores of munitions that have been spent. But it is important to understand how much money that's going to cost. We have used up almost all of our interceptors, the majority of our tomahawks. We have put the United States in a dangerous position. We have allowed Russia and China to imagine things that they couldn't have imagined earlier because of our inability to defend ourselves and our allies. So the priority is ending this war. And no, I'm not going to support additional funding. And I don't think my Democratic colleagues are going to support additional funding to fund a continuation of a war that is destroying American credibility and destroying American families. [00:08:35] Speaker 1: All right. Senator Chris Murphy, thank you so very much for being here. We really appreciate it. [00:08:40] Speaker 3: Thank you. We thank you for watching. And remember, stay updated on breaking news and top stories on the NBC news app or watch live on our YouTube channel.