This Week with George Stephanopoulos Full Broadcast - Sunday, March 29, 2026

[0:00] President Trump says the war with Iran will be over in a matter of weeks. [0:04] So why is he sending thousands more U.S. forces to the region? [0:09] This week starts right now. [0:12] One month of war. [0:16] The U.S. keeps pummeling Iran while preparing to send 5,000 more troops to the Middle East. [0:22] We're crushing Iran currently as we speak. [0:25] But the administration insists they're negotiating. [0:27] We've had an exchange of messages and indications from the Iranian system, whatever's left of it, [0:32] about a willingness to talk about certain things. [0:35] And an anti-war message is central to the latest No Kings protests. [0:40] Millions on the streets across the country, from New York to Austin to Los Angeles. [0:46] Congressional dysfunction. [0:48] This has to stop. The Republicans are not going to be a party to this. [0:52] The only thing standing between ending this chaos or not are House Republicans. [0:59] After 44 days of gridlock, Congress fails to end the Department of Homeland Security. [1:04] And security shutdown. [1:06] Congress heads off on a two-week recess with no deal. [1:10] Every member of Congress, Senate and House, should be put in the back of these lines and experience this. [1:17] The latest on the war and the congressional impasse. [1:20] With House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen. [1:26] And our roundtable on what may be the most worrying sign yet for Republicans going into the midterms. [1:32] Plus... [1:34] I do think we need an off-ramp quickly to the war. We need to de-escalate. [1:40] I speak with the only Iranian-American Democrat in Congress about how the war is hitting home. [1:48] From ABC News, it's This Week. Here now, Jonathan Karl. [1:55] Good morning. Welcome to This Week. [1:58] In The Art of War, Sun Tzu wrote that a leader's plans must be as dark and impenetrable as night. [2:04] Well, The Art of War may not be Donald Trump's playbook. [2:08] But on day 30 of the Iran War... [2:09] His plans sure seem dark and impenetrable. [2:13] Just consider his words over the past 10 days. [2:16] On March 20th, he declared that he was close to meeting his military objectives. [2:21] And considering winding down our great military efforts in the Middle East. [2:26] The very next day, he announced a major escalation. [2:30] Threatening to hit and obliterate Iran's power plants if the Strait of Hormuz wasn't opened within 48 hours... [2:38] From this exact point in time. [2:40] On Monday, within hours of that deadline, he announced he had had very good and productive talks with Iran about a complete and total resolution to the war. [2:51] And with that, he set a new deadline, giving Iran five days to make a deal. [2:56] Four days later, Trump offered up yet another extension and yet another deadline. [3:03] Saying he was pausing the threatened obliteration again, this time for 10 days. [3:08] In a telephone interview with Fox News... [3:10] He claimed that Iran had asked for an extension, but a slightly shorter one. [3:16] They asked for seven and I gave them 10. You got 10 days and they were very thankful about that. [3:21] So are they speaking? [3:24] Iran has denied that there are talks, but there do appear to be messages exchanged through intermediaries. [3:31] Listening to President Trump's words at any given moment, it sounds like the war is about to end or it's about to intensify. [3:39] Saying at one point this week... [3:42] Iran's don't give in, quote, we'll keep bombing our little hearts out. [3:47] The reality on the ground, however, is affected by more than a president's words. [3:52] The military force is growing. [3:54] The attacks from both Israel and the United States haven't slowed down. [3:58] And Iran's response to it all has shaken the global economy. [4:03] With more on the state of the war, here's our Matt Rivers reporting from Qatar. [4:09] The first signs of a diplomatic off-ramp for the war in Iran began to emerge this week. [4:13] But the military back and forth, going full steam ahead. [4:16] And on Friday, 2,200 U.S. Marines arriving in the Middle East, with more troops set to follow them. [4:22] As the United States and Israel continue their missile barrage on Iran, where authorities say more than 3,000 people have been killed in the war. [4:31] President Trump on Friday giving an outline of what the U.S. still intends to hit, but providing no clarity on what comes after that. [4:38] We have another 3,554 targets left. [4:43] And that'll be done pretty quickly. [4:45] And then, you know, at some point, we're going to have to determine what we do. [4:49] Iran responding to the latest onslaught with retaliatory strikes across the region. [4:54] This video posted on social media showing the moment an Iranian missile struck in Tel Aviv, leaving at least one person dead. [5:02] And this satellite image showing the destruction at a U.S. base in Saudi Arabia from an Iranian drone attack that sources tell ABC News left at least 15 American service members injured. [5:11] Five of those troops were seriously wounded. [5:14] Bringing the total American troops down. [5:16] Injured in the conflict to more than 300, with 13 left dead. [5:20] And, John, despite those diplomatic efforts emerging this week between the United States and Iran, Israel has actually ramped up their attacks. [5:27] Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Friday the IDF would, quote, escalate and expand strikes in Iran. [5:33] And just hours later, Iran reported overnight strikes by Israel on its nuclear facilities and steel factories. [5:39] John? [5:40] Thank you, Matt. [5:42] For more on the latest moves in the Middle East, let's bring in retired Colonel and ABC News contributor Steve Ganyer. [5:47] So, Steve, we have 2,200 Marines just arrived in the region, more to come. [5:52] These would be the ground troops if the president decides to put boots on the ground. [5:56] What options is the Pentagon preparing for the president here? [6:00] Apparently the Pentagon is thinking about operations ashore. [6:03] So they're bringing in light forces because they're not talking about sustained operations ashore. [6:07] Not a full-scale invasion of Iran. [6:09] They're looking to do raids, to go in and do intelligence gathering, maybe take out those fast boats or mines that are along the water. [6:15] They're trying to build options for Admiral Cooper. [6:17] But where do you use them? [6:18] Do they go up to Karg Island, which they could take? [6:21] That's the major transshipment point for all of the Iranian oil that goes to the rest of the world. [6:25] It's about a third of the size of Manhattan. [6:27] That's possible. [6:28] Do you go after the highly enriched uranium that theoretically could build ten nuclear weapons? [6:33] Or do you go down and try to unplug the Strait of Hormuz? [6:37] It sounds like any of these options, boots on the ground, dangerous, significant risks. [6:42] Right now, the U.S. and Israel control the skies. [6:45] And the risk is fairly low to U.S. aviators. [6:48] But putting boots on the ground exponentially increases the risk to U.S. troops. [6:52] Very challenging. [6:53] And what are the military options for opening the Strait of Hormuz? [6:57] Are there really any? [6:58] There are. [6:59] But the geography is challenging. [7:01] So if you look at the Strait itself, it's not like you're going past one single point. [7:05] That transit time to go through the whole Strait is six to ten hours. [7:08] And at the narrowest point there, it's only 21 miles across. [7:12] The shipping lanes themselves are only two miles. [7:14] So you're sort of in the proverbial shooting gallery, the duck in the shooting gallery at the carnival having to transit that. [7:20] That means that probably any U.S. Navy ships would stay well offshore. [7:24] And any military options would be based on raids conducted from well offshore. [7:29] And just overnight, there were signs of a possible new front in this war. [7:34] This is quite concerning. [7:35] So yesterday, the Houthis shot two missiles at Israel. [7:38] The Houthis, that's the militant group out of Yemen. [7:40] Exactly. [7:41] Iranian-backed. [7:42] Yes. [7:43] The Houthis, who were responsible for a year ago shutting down the Red Sea for almost two years to commercial traffic. [7:49] So they shot two missiles into Israel. [7:51] And then a spokesman this morning said that they hold the option of once again shutting down the Red Sea. [7:57] If that happens, then all of the maritime shipping traffic coming from Asia, going to Europe, has to reroute around the Cape of Good Hope. [8:06] That's three weeks under the transit time, takes 20 percent of global shipping off the table. [8:11] Europe will feel that first. [8:13] But the real key here is that for thousands of years, the civilizations have fought over those strategic choke points. [8:20] And those strategic choke points are coming back into play. [8:23] If the Red Sea remains closed, if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, then the global economy very quickly, within weeks, goes into recession and brings crushing stagflation. [8:33] Massive economic repercussions, especially for Europe, but for the entire world. [8:38] Thank you, Steve. [8:40] All right. [8:41] I'm joined now by House Republican Majority Leader Congressman Steve Scalise. [8:43] Thank you, Steve. [8:44] Congressman Scalise. [8:45] Congressman Scalise, thank you for joining us. [8:47] Let me just ask you a big question. [8:50] Do you at this point have any concerns whatsoever with the direction of this war and what President Trump may be preparing to do next? [8:58] Well, first, Jonathan, good to be with you. [9:02] Thanks for having me. [9:03] And if you look at what President Trump has laid out in terms of the objectives, he's been meeting them. [9:08] He's been very clear about what those objectives are. [9:10] And I think the whole world knows that a nuclear-armed Iran would have been a danger to the world. [9:15] Look at what Iran is doing right now. [9:17] They've actually united not only Israel but all the other Arab nations around them against Iran because of the danger that they pose. [9:25] And so President Trump's doing something that, frankly, Republican and Democrat presidents before him have thought about contemplating. [9:32] But President Trump's the one who had the guts to do what needed to be done to keep America and the rest of the world safe. [9:38] And so we're going to get through this mission. [9:40] But as you're seeing it being carried out, Epic Fury has been successful in achieving its objectives. [9:45] I mean, there has been some confusion about the objectives. [9:48] At some points, he's talked about eliminating the nuclear threat, which he had said was already obliterated last year. [9:54] He's talked about eliminating the missile threat. [9:57] He's also talked about regime change. [9:59] But I'm asking you, do you have concerns about where we are now, any concerns at all about how President Trump is administrating, is running this war? [10:13] Well, any time you have our men and women in uniform in conflict, [10:17] pray for them. [10:18] You're worried about them and their families. [10:20] That happens all the time. [10:22] But you also have a commander in chief that understands what needs to be done. [10:25] He's got a great team around him. [10:28] We had a briefing, a classified briefing recently with Secretary of State Rubio and the entire team, the CIA director, Secretary of War, the Joint Chiefs of Staff. [10:37] And they laid out to anybody who had any questions what is going on, what the objectives are, but also what the other countries in the region are doing. [10:44] It's not just the United States and it's not just Israel. [10:47] It's the United States and it's the other countries in the region. [10:51] And it's the other countries, by the way, that are launching strikes against Iran and who Iran is launching strikes against. [10:58] And so everybody knows why this is being done. [11:02] Operation Midnight Hammer went after their nuclear capabilities. [11:06] But right after that was over, Iran went right back to work trying to develop nuclear weapons and, by the way, they were pretty close to weapons grade enriched uranium. [11:15] That was the real concern. [11:16] And that's the real threat they pose to the United States and the rest of the world that President Trump is working to take out. [11:23] And you're seeing him do it with the naval fleet, with their facilities that actually manufacture those missiles, those drones, and so many other things that he's decimating. [11:33] But, you know, we're not there yet, but we're getting close. [11:37] Are Republicans in Congress going to support an effort to put boots on the ground? [11:43] If Donald Trump, he sent the Marines in. [11:45] You got the 82nd Airborne's on the way. [11:47] If President Trump decides to put American soldiers, American airmen, American Marines on the ground in Iran, is there going to be widespread support from Republicans for that? [11:59] Well, John, we're not at that point yet. [12:03] Obviously, you're seeing troop movement. [12:05] And we've got a number of bases in that region, too, that have been there for a long time. [12:09] So until that day comes, I'm not going to speculate and you're not going to see the president go negotiate this in public. [12:15] He's having negotiations. [12:16] And you just reported that. [12:17] And you just reported on some of those negotiations. [12:20] And I think they're hopefully going to be fruitful. [12:23] But at the same time, the Iran regime historically has had a reputation for lying to anybody in the world who they negotiate with. [12:30] And that's been a problem. [12:31] It's why you don't want them to have a nuclear weapon, because they will absolutely use it. [12:36] When there's chanting, death to America, and they get a nuclear weapon. [12:40] And they had, by the way, just slaughtered over 30,000 of their own people. [12:43] Imagine what they would do to us. [12:45] When they've already killed hundreds of our soldiers. [12:48] Remember, Iran declared war on America going back to 1979. [12:52] They've been killing Americans for decades. [12:55] So some president was going to do something about it. [12:58] Many thought about it. [12:59] President Trump's finally taking the action that, frankly, all of the free world and the civilized world is applauding right now. [13:06] I want to play you something that we heard over the weekend from Steve Bannon, a prominent figure in the MAGA movement, [13:12] about the prospects for boots on the ground. [13:14] And whether or not the case has been made for doing that. [13:17] Take a listen. [13:18] You have to be convinced that this is the right thing to do. [13:23] Particularly now that we're on the eve of potentially the insertion of American combat troops. [13:30] Your sons, daughters, granddaughters, grandsons could be on Karg Island or be holding a beachhead down by the Strait of Hormuz. [13:41] We've also heard from some Republicans in Congress. [13:44] Your colleague from Louisiana, John Kennedy, said this. [13:46] Just the other day. [13:48] That if the president's going to make that decision, he needs to come to Congress first. [13:53] Do you agree with that? [13:54] Well, the president's already come to Congress. [13:58] They've addressed, number one, they've let all of the congressional leadership know in advance of the strikes. [14:03] But they've also had briefings on Capitol Hill. [14:06] Like I said, I was at one of those classified briefings with Republicans and Democrats. [14:11] And they took questions from everybody. [14:13] There were a lot of questions from people on both sides. [14:16] And you'll continue to see. [14:17] The president engaged. [14:19] There's engagement with the White House right now on the possibility of a supplemental funding bill. [14:24] No formal request has been made. [14:26] But we're having internal conversations as well. [14:29] Members of Congress are having those discussions. [14:31] So there are no boots on the ground today. [14:33] But we're having a lot of conversations about what could happen next. [14:37] But I think most people, most civilized people recognize a nuclear-armed Iran is not an option that any of us want. [14:45] And I think that's what President Trump has done is making this a more stable world in the future when you see this resolved. [14:51] Because, you know, look at how they threaten oil prices today with the Strait of Hormuz. [14:55] And luckily, President Trump's gotten over 20 other countries now to agree to go back and get the Strait of Hormuz open. [15:02] But at the same time, it's why we need to open up energy production in America, which President Trump has done too, [15:07] to reverse the previous administration's anti-American energy policy. [15:12] That's helping us. [15:13] You've mentioned those classified briefings twice. [15:14] I want to talk about that. [15:15] I want to show you what the Republican chairman of the Armed Services Committee, Mike Rogers, [15:20] and the Republican chairman of Armed Services said this coming out of one of those briefings. [15:25] The administration needs to be more forthcoming in these meetings. [15:29] I feel like the people they sent over here to brief us are being very constrained, and that needs to change. [15:36] We deserve more answers. [15:39] So, I mean, I'm hearing, and this is not a backbencher. [15:42] This is your Armed Services Committee. [15:44] I'm hearing that you're saying that the President's Committee is not getting enough information about this. [15:48] You don't share that concern at all? [15:51] Well, he's able to get higher level of classified briefings than what we had. [15:55] Sometimes, unfortunately, some of those briefings leak. [15:59] And that's not something you want. [16:01] It's not supposed to happen. [16:03] But sadly, sometimes people do go leak classified information in those big settings. [16:08] And so they have smaller settings where people like Chairman Rogers are able to get all the information. [16:12] But he's saying he's not getting the information he needs. [16:14] He's saying he's not getting, the administration's not being forthcoming. [16:17] Well, I just spoke to him earlier this week about the possibility of a supplemental funding bill. [16:25] And, you know, we're still working out details. [16:28] And there has not been a formal request made. [16:30] But there have been some numbers that have been thrown around and some of the things that we're looking at in Congress. [16:35] So we're not there yet. [16:36] We haven't made any final decisions. [16:38] But we're starting to look at that. [16:39] It may be a tough sell, $200 billion if they ask for that. [16:42] Let me ask you, though, in the time we have left. [16:45] The shutdown, the Department of Homeland Security shutdown. [16:48] The Senate passed a measure to fund Department of Homeland Security, you know, except for new funding for ICE and CBP. [16:57] It was unanimous. [16:58] There wasn't a single Republican who objected. [17:01] And it didn't get a vote in the House. [17:04] Why not? [17:06] Why would the House not even give that a vote? [17:10] Well, we actually read their bill. [17:12] And, frankly, a number of senators have expressed buyer's remorse with what they did at 3 in the morning. [17:16] So we looked at it. [17:18] One of the things that we had real concerns with is it actually defunds over 25% of the baseline operations of the Department of Homeland Security. [17:28] 25% at a time when we're at a heightened threat level. [17:32] And so we've passed now four bills out of the House to fully fund the department. [17:37] The one that we sent after the Senate sent over their weak offer, we sent a bill that was short-term. [17:43] It's not exactly what we want. [17:45] But at least it allows everybody to get paid. [17:46] All the agencies, TSA, everybody, while we negotiate our differences. [17:51] We have very big differences between the House and the Senate. [17:54] The Senate bill they sent over, by the way, defunds about 7,000 positions at the Department of Homeland Security. [18:00] And, John, keep in mind, we've had three Americans killed just last week by people here illegally. [18:07] We've had four terrorist attacks on our home soil here in America just in the last month. [18:13] Right. [18:14] And that's what the Senate bill did. [18:16] And that's what the Senate bill did. [18:18] Actually, I think that most people would agree it's no time to be defunding. [18:22] But that's exactly where we are. [18:24] You, the House, wouldn't even bring up a vote on what passed in the Senate. [18:28] You passed something that is said to be dead on arrival. [18:31] Meanwhile, the House and the Senate are gone for two weeks. [18:34] What should the American people take from this? [18:37] You know, you have no funding for the Department of Homeland Security during a time of war. [18:42] And Congress, you know, you have no funding. [18:43] And Congress, you know, flies the coop. [18:45] Well, Congress, the House stayed later than we were scheduled to stay to take up a bill to fully fund the department and sent it back over to the Senate. [18:55] So the bill is over in the Senate. [18:57] The Senate's got options. [18:59] They've got to come back and deal with it. [19:01] I hope they pass the short-term bill that at least funds everything over to the president. [19:06] But the bill they sent us, keep in mind, would zero out, defund things like cybersecurity operations, human trafficking investigations. [19:13] Again, we're at a heightened level of alert. [19:17] And yet not a single Republican in the Senate objected to it. [19:25] Unfortunately, we're out of time. [19:26] Many have expressed opposition now. [19:28] But they voted for it. [19:30] Congressman Scalise, thank you for being here. [19:33] We appreciate your time. [19:34] Thanks for having me, John. [19:36] So what have the Democrats gotten out of the Homeland Security shutdown? [19:40] Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen is next. [19:42] We're back in two minutes. [19:44] Democrats held firm in our opposition that Donald Trump's rogue and deadly militia should not get more funding without serious reforms. [19:59] And we will continue to fight for those reforms. [20:03] Senate Democrats stood united. [20:05] No wavering. [20:06] No backing down. [20:08] We held the line. [20:10] Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer celebrating prematurely the House later blocked the bill that was passed unanimously by the Senate. [20:20] And I'm joined now by Senator Joe Biden. [20:21] I'm joined now by Senator Chris Van Hollen, Democrat of Maryland. [20:24] Thank you for being here, Senator. [20:26] Good to be with you. [20:27] So, I mean, what's the bottom line here? [20:29] I mean, you guys are on recess for two weeks. [20:32] Homeland Security is not funded. [20:36] Where's this going? [20:38] So the bottom line, as you just discussed with Steve Scalise, is that you had a bipartisan bill, Republicans and Democrats, passed the Senate that would immediately fully fund TSA. [20:50] And the Senate is going to continue to fund TSA, by the way, FEMA and the Coast Guard, while we continue to negotiate reforms to ICE, a lawless ICE operation. [21:01] And the Republican Speaker of the House refused to even have a vote on that in the House and went home, as we have these big lines at airports. [21:09] Now, President Trump has said he has the emergency authority to spend money for TSA. [21:15] And the question I have is, why didn't he use that 45 days ago? [21:19] Is he going to now use it? [21:21] So when the Senate passed that bill and there was that brief moment that looked like, you know, dawn had broken, you put out a statement saying that Republicans had, quote, finally relented. [21:33] What did Democrats get out of this? [21:35] Even if that passed, what did you get out of this? [21:37] This DHS shutdown is going on for well over a month. [21:40] What have you gotten for it? [21:42] Well, the issue here, John, is we let people know, number one, that we want to fully fund TSA. [21:49] We could get rid of these lines. [21:50] We could get rid of these lines at the airports immediately. [21:52] But we also made clear that we're going to demand reforms of a lawless ICE operation. [21:58] After all, DHS agents killed two American citizens in Minneapolis, and the president and his team called the victims domestic terrorists. [22:10] So, for example, we've said you can't expect DHS to conduct a credible, independent investigation. [22:17] They're denying information to the local law enforcement. [22:20] They're denying information to the local law enforcement authorities, Minneapolis and Minnesota. [22:24] They've blocked access. [22:26] The state has had to sue. [22:28] So we say you need to be able to hold people accountable for wrongdoing, and they say they don't want to do that. [22:34] By the way, I should point out that obviously ICE has more than enough money. [22:38] After all, the president is now deploying ICE agents to airports. [22:42] We should have TSA agents at airports. [22:46] Yeah. [22:47] I mean, I guess what's confusing here is you have fought and blocked. [22:49] You have fought and blocked the funding for the Department of Homeland Security, because you object, as you just outlined, to what ICE has been doing and you wanted to force changes. [23:00] And yet, the only thing that has been assured throughout all of this is that ICE already has the money, because, as you said, $75 billion passed in the budget bill last year. [23:11] So, you're holding up the entirety of the Department of Homeland Security because you object to ICE and you want changes to ICE. [23:18] But. [23:19] But you're not. [23:20] But through it all, ICE continues to have the money it needs. [23:22] John, we're not holding up all of the money for all the Department of Homeland Security. [23:27] That's just a false statement. [23:28] We have said repeatedly, repeatedly, we should fund TSA, we should fund FEMA, we should fund the Coast Guard. [23:36] We are not prepared to give ICE another $10 billion on top of the monies they already have [23:43] and are using in many of these lawless operations. [23:46] We're not going to give them another $10 billion unless they make fundamental reforms, [23:52] including holding people accountable for the killing of American citizens. [23:55] And fighting over that additional $10 billion, you are holding up the rest of the Department of Homeland Security. [24:00] We're not holding it up. [24:01] No, John, we're not holding it up. [24:04] We have now voted 10 times. [24:06] Right, but you're holding it up unless it doesn't include money for ICE. [24:09] That's just a fact. [24:10] Unless it doesn't include money for ICE, a very reformed ICE. [24:15] That's right. [24:15] Which already has money. [24:16] Which already has money. [24:16] But why not fund TSA now? [24:19] That's what we've said. [24:20] That's what the House blocked. [24:21] That's a very good question, and you heard me talk to Congress. [24:24] That is the question. [24:26] But let me ask you, the White House did agree to some reforms as you were negotiating all of this. [24:34] You had a letter that was given to the GOP negotiators from the White House saying they would agree to increasing body cam footage, [24:44] to retaining that body cam footage. [24:46] You had a letter that was given to the GOP negotiators from the White House saying they would agree to increasing body cam footage, sharing it with Congress, to limit immigration enforcement at sensitive locations like schools and hospitals. [24:54] It agreed to require officers to clearly display their identification and verbalize their affiliation. [25:02] Now, that's all gone. [25:04] I mean, that was something that, I mean, what's happened to that? [25:08] I mean, that was at least something you were getting. [25:10] Yeah, look. [25:11] But it's gone. [25:11] At the end of the day, John, they were not willing to make meaningful reforms, in my view. [25:17] So, for example. [25:17] What I was just talking about, holding lawless DHS agents accountable for the killing of American citizens, we want some independent, credible review. [25:32] We don't think you can trust the agency that called Rene Good and Alex Preddy domestic terrorists to conduct a credible, independent investigation. [25:42] I mean, do you think that would be credible? [25:43] They refuse to do that. [25:45] In fact, as I said, the state of Minnesota is now trying to. [25:49] Sue the FBI and the federal government to get basic information about the killings of American citizens. [25:56] Yeah, I mean, it's incredible. [25:58] But let me. [25:58] But what's incredible, though, is that they refuse to allow that independent, credible investigation. [26:05] That's what's amazing. [26:06] I'm not going to give them another $10 billion when you've got two American citizens killed by these agents and they're calling them domestic terrorists. [26:15] And to this day, refusing to apologize to the families. [26:17] And they already have $75. [26:20] Billion in the pipeline. [26:21] So let me. [26:22] But so the question then is, why are they why are they so determined to shut down TSA when, in fact, you're right? [26:30] I mean, ICE does have money right now. [26:33] We just don't want to give them any more. [26:35] So the president said he's going to he's ordered DHS to pay the ICE officers, even though money hasn't been appropriated here. [26:41] First of all, is he able to do that? [26:43] And for how long? [26:45] I mean, do you have a sense of the legality of that? [26:48] I don't completely. [26:49] But they do have as we've. [26:50] Been discussing. [26:51] They do have a lot of money. [26:52] Billions of dollars. [26:53] Yes. [26:54] That Republicans provided them and what they called the big, beautiful bill where they gave billionaires these huge tax breaks, cut Medicaid. [27:00] But they managed to fund ICE. [27:03] And so if the president does have that authority, what's he waiting for? [27:08] OK, so in the time we have left on the war, they are preparing a budget request. [27:16] Pentagon has suggested $200 billion. [27:18] We don't know what it's going to be. [27:20] Do you think that is that? [27:22] I know you're opposed. [27:23] Does that pass? [27:25] Well, I hope not, because I don't think we should be providing more money for an illegal war of choice to a president who promised during the campaign that he would not drag America into new wars, especially in the Middle East and a war that is now making us less, not more safe and is already cost American lives is costing billions of dollars every day. [27:49] Oil and gas prices are going up. [27:51] So the president who said. [27:53] He was going to focus on bringing down prices and ending foreign wars has started foreign wars, along with Prime Minister Netanyahu, and prices are going through the roof. [28:01] So, no, we should not keep funding an illegal war of choice that's making us less safe. [28:08] And yet you have a depletion of weapons, of ammunition, of missiles, of missile defense systems. [28:15] I mean, doesn't that need to be replenished whether or not you support the war? [28:21] What happens there? [28:22] These are. [28:23] These are the monies they're asking for to continue an illegal war of choice. [28:27] And, you know, President Trump, I saw you quoting some of his earlier statements, you know, back more than two weeks ago. [28:34] Yeah. [28:34] Donald Trump said we won this war. [28:37] And so the question for President Trump is completely delusional, is if we won the war, why are they preparing to send thousands of more American troops into harm's way? [28:46] And last question. [28:47] Have you been you've been to these briefings? [28:49] Have you? [28:50] I have been to these briefings. [28:51] And you heard what Scalise claims. [28:53] They're substantive. [28:56] We've heard from other Republicans that are complaining they're not getting information. [29:00] What you know, what you learn in these briefings is exactly what you're hearing outside the briefings, which is they don't have any particular objective. [29:08] It's a constantly changing objective. [29:10] And there's no end game whatsoever. [29:13] Meanwhile, the war is widening, as you discussed, and Americans are less safe and we're spending billions of dollars, both in terms of taxpayer money and at the pump. [29:24] All right, Senator Van Hollen. [29:26] Thank you very much for joining us. [29:28] Thanks, John. [29:29] Up next, the organizers say it is the largest nationwide demonstration that we have seen against Donald Trump yet. [29:34] We'll have a look at the scene from the third No Kings protests across all 50 states when we come back. [29:44] Let's bring in the roundtable. [29:46] Former DNC chair Donna Brazile, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and PUC's chief Washington correspondent Leanne Caldwell. [29:54] So, Donna, No Kings protests. [29:56] They're saying this is the largest yet. [29:58] It's the largest. [30:00] And you know what? [30:01] I do believe that the momentum that they're generating across the country. [30:04] Look, this is ordinary people. [30:06] I cannot tell you that there are folks who are out in the streets today marching and protesting because of what they have witnessed in this president's second term. [30:15] They are protesting, of course, the rising cost of living. [30:18] They are protesting what they saw and witnessed firsthand, not just in Minnesota, but across the country with ICE agents. [30:25] And, of course, they're now protesting this war in Iran without a strategy. [30:29] To end it and even without information to the public. [30:32] This is a large movement. [30:34] It's growing. [30:35] And I hope that they continue to organize because what they're doing, they're training people to go out there and to get involved in their own civic life. [30:44] And this past week, Republicans lost two state legislative seats in Florida, including the one representing Mar-a-Lago. [30:53] I want to play Mike Johnson, the Speaker of the House, his response to that. [30:57] These special elections are a one off. [31:00] And they're anomalies. [31:01] They all that's why we call them special. [31:02] There was circumstances in that race at the state legislative level not involved with Congress. [31:06] I am very bullish about November, very bullish about the midterm. [31:09] OK, it was a one off. [31:11] But let me just put up a graphic here you may find interesting. [31:14] There have been 30 state legislative seats that have flipped since November of 2024. [31:21] 30 of those were won by Democrats. [31:23] Governor Christie, I think that's a zero behind and underneath Republicans. [31:28] 30 one offs. [31:30] Or. [31:30] Is this a trend that should cause Republicans concern? [31:33] Look, you're always going to be some specific things that happen, John, inside a state on state legislative races that are unique to it. [31:40] But when you see a trend that is 30 to zero, you wind up hurting yourself if you ignore the trend. [31:47] But even more importantly, look, when I look at elections in these House districts that are going to make or break who's in the majority, [31:56] independents are more important in those districts than ever before. [31:59] There's an increasing number of independents. [32:01] People are leaving their parties and those districts are swing because independents are so important. [32:08] In the Fox News poll that came out this past week, the president's approval rating among independents is twenty five seventy five. [32:17] So seventy five percent don't approve. [32:19] Seventy five percent of independents nationwide do not approve. [32:24] If in those swing districts they have a similar type of ranking among independents. [32:30] This is going to be a very, very bad November, no matter what the speaker says about being bullish, he's going to be run over by the bulls if it's twenty five seventy five among Indies. [32:43] And a lot of his Republicans in the House are retiring. [32:46] They're not running again. [32:47] Yeah. And that's why the speaker has to put on a good face. [32:51] He is trying to keep more people from retiring. [32:54] And he also needs donors to continue to donate to his campaign coffers so that he can try to do his. [33:00] But that good as possible in the November elections. [33:03] But yes, thirty six House Republicans have announced their retirement. [33:07] That is the most in modern history, more than in 2018, the last time Republicans got slaughtered in the midterm election. [33:16] And what's also notable, it's not just rank and file Republicans who aren't running for reelection. [33:21] Chairman of committees have announced their retirement and they're seeing the writing on the wall. [33:26] Look, Sam Graves, transportation. [33:29] When is to retire? [33:30] I mean, and he was running for reelection. [33:32] So now he has to file papers that he's not running and there will be a scramble to run in his seat, which is a reliable red district. [33:40] But I want to go back to Chris point when you start losing independence, twenty five, seventy five. [33:45] You're not just underwater. You're drowning. [33:47] You're drowning. And in order to win, you need independent voters and many non frequent voters. [33:53] And what you're seeing, not just in Florida, where Democrats just picked up two seats, including the seat that represents Mar-a-Lago. [34:00] Meaning the president, his wife and his family. [34:03] What Democrats are doing across the country. [34:05] Yes, they're motivated. [34:09] We see enthusiasm. [34:10] But yet we know in order to win in November, Democrats will have to run very vigorous, strong campaigns across the country. [34:16] And I'd say two things, John, about what Donna just said. [34:19] First off, if I were the chairman of the D.C.C. right now, given Donald Trump's numbers, I would take every Democratic congressional candidate and send them to Turks and Caicos. [34:31] Get them the hell out of here, you know, because no harm. [34:35] Absolutely. You know, like, look, I had a political science professor who told me back in college when your adversaries in the midst of committing suicide, there's no reason to commit murder. [34:43] The result is the same. [34:44] And so, you know, the worry for Democrats needs to be themselves. [34:49] You saw it. [34:50] Senator Van Hollen this morning. [34:52] I thought his points were incoherent on what's going on. [34:56] Look, LaGuardia Airport yesterday, two and a half hour wait to get through. [35:02] The security lines. [35:03] Thank you, by the way. [35:04] We're glad you made it right here. [35:05] You're welcome. [35:05] And let's think about this, John. [35:07] We've got people going on spring break, Passover, Easter travel, and they you very well put they went home for two weeks. [35:15] They're going to blame both parties for this. [35:17] But in the end, Republicans take it more because we're in charge. [35:21] And so those points are points that if you don't resolve some of the things that are basic to government and then you add to with the overlap of Iran. [35:31] These are really big problems for the. [35:33] President and my party. [35:35] How does this Homeland Security shutdown get resolved? [35:38] I I was left confused with Van Hollen and Scalise of where the path forward is. [35:44] Yeah, there there is no clear path right now. [35:47] As you you pressed both Scalise and Van Hollen, Congress is out for the next two weeks. [35:53] Talking to sources yesterday, they said that they expect this to continue, that there is no immediate way out of this. [36:01] Hopefully in the next two weeks. [36:03] There's some sort of backroom negotiations and deal that comes together. [36:07] But a big problem for Republicans is that President Trump has been very disengaged from this. [36:13] And it is only the president who is able to corral a very slim majority in the House of Representatives, get them on the same page as the Senate. [36:22] And he hasn't been able to do that. [36:24] He hasn't. He's been distracted. [36:26] He wants to corral them to something that can't pass, which is a nuking the filibuster. [36:30] Yes. Hey, one other thing I want to play. [36:32] The. [36:33] The Deputy Attorney General was at CPEC, a big conservative political action conference down in Texas this week, and he had this to say about a purge that's been underway at the Department of Justice and the FBI. [36:48] There is not a single man or woman at the Department of Justice who had anything to do with those prosecutions. [36:58] And when it comes to the FBI, Director Patel has cleaned house there, too. [37:02] There isn't a single man or woman with a gun. [37:05] There is not a federal agent still in that organization that had anything to do with the prosecution of President Trump. [37:14] So. So, Chris, what he's saying is that anybody that had anything to do with any of those federal prosecutions of Trump, including like line prosecutors, FBI agents, they've all been weeded out. [37:28] And there's a lot of a lot of personnel. [37:30] Look, this is the single most damaging thing to the long term stability of our institutions. [37:38] That has happened in the second Trump term, the dismantling of the Department of Justice and the greater partisan activity as the deputy attorney general himself just admitted in that clip that the only reason these people were let go was because they followed the direction of the rightfully appointed attorney general of the United States, confirmed by the United States Senate to conduct investigations. [38:05] And because they did that, they're being fired. [38:08] Well, what is going to happen? [38:09] Well, what is going to happen? [38:09] What is going to happen to the Department of Justice going forward, regardless of who the president is? [38:13] Will the American people have faith any longer that any investigation can be independent and free of partisanship? [38:21] And to go down to CPAC as the deputy attorney general of the United States and brag about that is disgraceful, disgraceful. [38:30] And he is going to have to live with the reputation he has developed now over the last two years. [38:35] Prior to this, Todd Blanchett had a very good reputation inside DOJ. [38:39] He has. [38:40] You want to talk? [38:40] You want to talk about obliterated? [38:41] We didn't obliterate the Iran nuclear program, obviously, in June, but he is obliterating his reputation and the reputation of a department that I work for and that I really love and I'm mourning right now. [38:53] It is pretty extraordinary to see a top justice official appear at a political conference, I mean, but especially in that way. [39:02] The men and women of that department were doing their job and they were purged. [39:06] They were fired because this administration can't tolerate the truth. [39:10] And they are, the Trump administration is still on this big retribution campaign. [39:15] They're not looking forward. [39:17] They're not trying to take care of America's interests. [39:19] They're not taking care of the American people. [39:21] They're on a retribution campaign. [39:23] And now Mr. Blanchett has just told us that they have weaponized the Department of Justice against the American people. [39:29] That's why that rally was important yesterday. [39:31] The rally was, we don't want dictators. [39:34] We want a democracy. [39:36] We want the rule of law. [39:37] That's why people gathered across the country yesterday. [39:40] We're going to see a retribution campaign from Democrats if they win control of the House? [39:44] No. [39:45] Well, Donna might know more, but I will say they are already talking about subpoenas. [39:49] They're talking about investigations. [39:50] And there will, while impeachment might not necessarily be on the table right now, [39:56] there is a huge demand from Democrats to investigate a lot of what this administration is doing. [40:00] All the same, accountability is different than retribution. [40:02] I hope they just fix that. [40:03] If they get majorities on, they should fix the country and not worry about retribution. [40:07] All right, we have to take a break. [40:09] Up next. [40:10] The first Iranian-American Democrat in Congress. [40:14] And she has mixed feelings about the war in Iran. [40:16] Our conversation when we come back. [40:20] The Islamic Republic is a barbaric, corrupt regime that has murdered, imprisoned, and terrorized its own people for decades. [40:28] As the daughter of Iranian immigrants who fled this regime, I know personally what its violence means. [40:32] At the same time, as an American congresswoman who swore an oath to the United States Constitution, [40:39] I am deeply concerned by President Trump's decision to launch an illegal, [40:42] illegal war, because it is in fact illegal, against Iran without congressional authorization [40:48] and without presenting a clear plan to the American people. [40:52] That was Arizona Representative Yasemin Ansari, the first Iranian-American Democrat in Congress. [40:59] The Iranian regime has persecuted members of her own family. [41:03] We sat down for a conversation about her complicated feelings about the war and her hopes and fears [41:09] for Iran's future. [41:11] So let's go back. [41:13] February 28th, the war starts. [41:17] What were you thinking? [41:18] How did you hear? [41:19] What was your first reaction? [41:21] It was a weird feeling, feeling of something you knew was going to happen, [41:26] but the uncertainty of what comes next was quite, you know, quite heavy. [41:32] And I immediately called my parents, and I knew it was like 2 or 3 a.m. for them in Phoenix, [41:37] but I called them, and the next few days were really tough. [41:40] It had the first, and the first week or two, honestly, [41:43] were very, very hard. [41:44] It was very heavy. [41:45] I think, you know, a lot of pressure from the standpoint of, you know, somebody who's [41:51] grown up with wanting to see change in Iran, positive change, a better future for the people [41:57] of Iran. [41:58] But in my role as a U.S. Congresswoman, knowing very well what we're dealing with in a President [42:04] Donald Trump and knowing that there is no plan or clear objectives for what the war [42:10] is about, I had a lot of anxiety. [42:14] And mixed feelings. [42:15] And your parents, I mean, they effectively fled the regime. [42:22] I mean, your dad was here as a student, couldn't go back. [42:25] Your mom left. [42:26] You know, my mom was 16 or 17 years old when she was forced to flee. [42:31] Women were losing their rights, and so my grandfather had been supportive of the monarchy [42:36] before it fell, and so he was briefly imprisoned, and that's when they decided to send my mom [42:40] here by herself. [42:41] Stories I've heard are that she was extremely depressed. [42:45] You know, lost a ton of weight, was here by herself living with a family, and, you know, [42:51] they've gone back over the years, but especially as I've gotten more into politics, pretty [42:55] much 18 years old onward, the possibility of going back diminishes. [43:00] WILLIAM BRANGHAM And what was their reaction when they heard [43:03] that Ayatollah Khamenei had been killed? [43:05] KATHLEEN HALL I think everybody's reaction, including my [43:08] parents, to that news is joyful. [43:14] Not a classic joyful, right? [43:15] Sometimes you're talking about somebody's death, but there's a feeling of hope that [43:20] comes with it. [43:21] Maybe now something can happen. [43:22] Maybe now, you know, this is the beginning of the end. [43:25] I think immediately they are worried about, you know, their concerns have always been [43:31] Iran, like, balkanizing, essentially, and the borders of the country changing because [43:37] there are so many different ethnicities and groups and not all, you know, good actors [43:42] and interests around Iran. [43:44] But also that it could become a failed state. [43:46] And if this isn't managed carefully, a country of 90 million people could very well fall [43:51] into civil war. [43:52] And I think that has been their concern from the beginning and my concern as well. [43:56] WILLIAM BRANGHAM This is obviously a very challenging time. [43:59] There's a war going on. [44:00] But is there a hope that at the end of this that what comes next will be better? [44:05] KATHLEEN HALL This has actually caused a lot of internal [44:10] strife within the community, a lot of families, you know, my own family at the Thanksgiving [44:15] dinner table. [44:16] There were a lot of debates about whether or not people should be hopeful, what the [44:21] right thing is to do. [44:22] I will say there are many people who are, you know, who feel that there was no other [44:29] way to weaken this regime than outside military intervention. [44:35] You know, the people don't have the weapons, the regime has the weapons, and they will [44:40] happily massacre as many people as they can to stay in power. [44:44] Then I think there's another campaign. [44:47] There's a camp. [44:48] And I think that camp of folks, you know, feels that they really actually do believe [44:52] that Donald Trump has a good plan here and has positive intentions. [44:59] And that's real. [45:00] I don't agree with that. [45:03] There's another camp that I think is very anti-war and believes that bombs are not going [45:09] to free people. [45:10] You know, there's people who are within the diaspora and Iranians who just who want something, [45:17] you know, to do. [45:18] I think there's a lot of people who are being hopeful to hold onto and are trying to now [45:22] steer this in the right direction. [45:24] We're already in this war, so what can be done? [45:27] And I've been thinking a lot about that. [45:29] Ultimately, I do think we need an off-ramp quickly to the war. [45:33] We need to de-escalate. [45:35] I, you know, just want to see the best for Iranian people who have had to live under [45:40] this regime for the last 47 years. [45:43] Our thanks to Congresswoman Ansari. [45:45] That's all for today. [45:46] Thank you for sharing part of your Sunday with us. [45:48] We'll talk about world news tonight, and have a great day.