Trump addresses tense phone call with Netanyahu over Iran: 'I was a little bit perturbed'

[0:00] We begin with a wave of new hostilities between the U.S. and Iran as the administration struggles [0:05] to move on from the war. At any moment, the House is set to vote on a war powers resolution [0:11] that would direct the president to remove U.S. forces from the conflict. [0:16] Now, remember, that same vote was abruptly pulled last month before the House left for recess, [0:22] in part because of attendance issues on the Republican side and concerns about [0:26] further defections. But today's vote comes after the Pentagon confirmed yesterday [0:31] it fired a Hellfire missile at an oil tanker in the Arabian Gulf that it says was in violation of [0:38] the U.S. naval blockade. And then hours later, Iran firing a wave of missiles and drone attacks at [0:45] neighboring Gulf countries, including an attack on Kuwait's international airport that killed one [0:51] person. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was back on Capitol Hill today defending comments he made [0:57] yesterday that the war with Iran is over despite these latest escalations. [1:03] So is the war still on or is the war off? [1:07] Well, epic theory has concluded on occasion, in order to protect our own forces, [1:11] we don't just strike the drones, we strike the people who launched those drones. These are [1:15] completely defensive in nature. And but they are happening in response to an Iranian action. [1:19] If the war is over, I have a simple question. Who won? [1:23] First of all, epic theory is over, which is what you would consider the war. [1:26] The American people are not stupid, Mr. Secretary. We all know that this war is not over. Just last [1:32] night, the U.S. and Iran exchanged fire again, this time over at Karg Island. We still have not [1:37] reached a deal, despite the president's promise that a deal is right around the corner. [1:42] Today, in an interview with the New York Post, President Trump offered little clarity on his [1:47] negotiating strategy or how long the naval blockade with Iran will remain in place. [1:54] We're having a very great success in Iran militarily. [1:57] So you think the blockade will still be in place by Labor? [2:00] I don't know. I mean, I think it could be, but I think it's unlikely. I think that we'll have it. [2:04] I think this will resolve itself fairly quickly. [2:07] And are your tactics where you say something and then change it and then do a peace deal and [2:12] and then break the ceasefire or whatever. Is that all about trying to keep the Iranians [2:18] off balance? Are you sort of messaging to them? [2:21] No. [2:22] Because people at home, sometimes I hear that they feel anxious and confused. [2:27] That's good. That's good. [2:28] They're confused and the Iranians are confused. [2:31] Right. [2:31] But no, it's just the way I am. [2:35] In that same interview, President Trump also addressing the tense phone call he had with [2:40] Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu earlier this week, during which he told the Israeli leader [2:44] to scale back attacks on Beirut over concerns Israel could be derailing peace negotiations with [2:51] Iran. Axios reported that you had a phone call with Bibi Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, [2:57] in which you were angry with him. You said, are you effing crazy? What are you effing doing? [3:03] I helped you stay out of jail. Is that true? Did you speak to him in those terms? [3:07] I did. I don't want to say angry. I was a little bit perturbed at his constantly fighting with [3:16] Lebanon. [3:19] Prime Minister Netanyahu also responded, trying to downplay the disagreement between the two leaders. [3:24] President confirmed that he said, you're effing crazy. How did you react to that? What really [3:30] happened in that call? [3:31] Well, I'm not going to get into details of our conversations. We've had thousands, well, [3:35] a lot, a lot of them. Sometimes we have, as in the best of families, you have [3:39] these tactical disagreements. We always find a way to work them out. And we do so as great friends. [3:47] We can disagree in the morning and by the afternoon we have common action. [3:51] And joining me now is NBC News White House correspondent Monica Alba. NBC's Sahil Kapoor [3:57] is on Capitol Hill. And NBC News National Security correspondent Courtney Kubi. All of you are here to [4:03] talk about this. And Monica, let me begin with you. Because the president also suggested he would [4:09] be willing to meet, presumably in person, with the Ayatollah. That is, that's unheard of. And [4:15] obviously our viewers remember that the Ayatollah was struck by U.S. action during this conflict. So [4:22] that would be certainly a tense topic. Is this a sense of the president, again, shifting strategy, [4:28] throwing additional things into the conversation to keep things off balance? Or is there maybe [4:34] no greater explanation of it? Yeah, it's something we have seen time and time again from the president, [4:39] Kelly, where the president kind of muses about an idea, even though it may not really be based [4:44] in the reality of it. And also it raises all sorts of questions about how that would work or whether [4:49] anyone from the Iranian leadership side of things would agree to any such meeting, where that would [4:55] take place, any of those kinds of concerns. In addition to, we don't really have the entire [5:00] picture of how he is doing, the Supreme Leader, given some of his injuries. And the president sort [5:06] of spoke to that, saying that he was, quote, missing a lot of different parts, if you believe the story. [5:12] So kind of making a nod to the potential challenges on that as well. And we should note, Kelly, that the [5:17] president hadn't held an open event with the press pool of reporters in the last week or so. He's [5:22] certainly been doing those interviews that you've played, and he's been to the golf course. But just [5:28] a few moments ago, he did summon reporters to talk about his reflecting pool renovation and a couple [5:34] of other things. So he is now potentially going to take some questions on all of this, since we haven't [5:38] been able to see reporters press him on the latest and the status with the Iranian negotiations, [5:45] if they're still ongoing, what the latest is there. So we'll see if we get anything from that. [5:49] That could definitely be interesting. And I know you'll let us know, wave us down if that's [5:54] happening. When we look also at the issue of Hezbollah and the prime minister of Israel saying [5:59] that proxy groups have to be disarmed, do we get a sense that the president and the prime minister [6:04] are on the same page on that point? [6:07] Sure. And we have seen, and I thought that the prime minister put it in a way that perhaps the [6:12] president would agree with, that there can be these tactical disagreements. Certainly, [6:16] we know that over the course of the last few years, even though these two men are pretty close [6:21] personally, certainly they have developed that close personal relationship. There's plenty [6:25] that they disagree about, and they have engaged and gone back and forth in these fiery or tense phone [6:31] calls pretty regularly. And it's not that it's something that kind of breaks the relationship [6:35] apart or sets it back. It sort of just adds to the dynamic. And so the president did also confirm [6:41] that there were some harsh words, but again, kind of implying that that is how they have been [6:45] discussing all of this. But the president, Kelly, as you know well, has stressed to Netanyahu that [6:50] he wants him to do things. He wants him to change his approach, his strategy, only to be met with no [6:55] such thing. [6:57] Perturbed is how he described it. So I bet that's interesting when you come across Donald Trump's [7:02] sense of being perturbed. Sahil, let me switch to you. There is an important vote that is playing out [7:07] today, the War Powers Resolution. Certainly Democrats and others have been pushing that. [7:12] What are you watching? And does this ultimately really amount to symbolism? [7:17] Well, Kelly, that vote is expected to start in the House any minute now, [7:20] just waiting for the buzzer to go off here just a few feet away from me. [7:23] The main thing I'm watching is the vote of the centrist Democratic Congressman Jared Golden of Maine. [7:28] The reason being he was the only Democrat to vote in the last one of these to block it. And that one [7:33] failed by a vote of 212 to 212. He has indicated that he will support it this time around. So unless [7:38] there are attendance issues, it should pass, although with the margins so slim here in the [7:43] House, you never truly know until the vote is finished. So if it does pass, it would be the [7:48] first one of these Iran war resolutions that has passed either chamber. I wouldn't exactly call it [7:53] symbolic, Kelly, because in the Senate, it's on a knife edge right now. It just needs one more [7:58] Republican to be able to pass the Senate. And there's a real chance that it could get to the [8:02] president's desk. He could veto it, but that's a very politically uncomfortable place for him to be [8:07] because it gives him and by extension, his party full ownership of this unpopular war right now. [8:12] And certainly Congress is trying to assert the authority it believes it has to try to [8:17] limit the president's actions in this way, which is why this is so compelling. [8:21] Courtney, if I can turn to you now, we saw these new Iranian strikes. We saw how the Kuwait [8:26] airport was affected. It caused death and destruction. How do you see this kind of escalation, [8:33] if you would call it that, or action from Iran? Is that escalating or is it more of what we've [8:37] seen in recent weeks? So we've had this tit for tat that's been going back and forth between the [8:44] U.S. military and primarily the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the IRGC, as opposed to the more [8:49] conventional Iranian military. What really stands out, though, in the last 24 hours, number one, [8:55] exactly what we just mentioned, Iran had a successful strike on the civilian airport in Kuwait, [9:01] causing widespread damage. And as you mentioned, at least one death and injuries. It's not just [9:08] that, though, as these back and forths have escalated to both the U.S. military and the IRGC [9:14] taking these strikes on one another. This is the first time that we've seen Iran or IRGC respond [9:20] in two separate locations at once. And that was in the last 24 hours, both firing missiles, drones, [9:26] projectiles, whatever they were in the various locations at Bahrain and at Kuwait. Now, the U.S. [9:33] military has also taken a number of actions, several waves of attacks in the same 24 to 48 hours, Kelly. [9:40] Another point that was discussed with the president today is his suggestion that the naval blockade the [9:46] U.S. is imposing against Iranian ports could be in place all summer. Labor Day was thrown about. [9:52] What would that mean for the kinds of resources and the footprint of U.S. military needed in that [9:58] region? [10:00] I mean, they can maintain it, but it always has an impact. So think about something like [10:04] the carrier strike groups. You know, they have normal rotations around the world that they're [10:09] supposed to make. And those are set, in most cases, several years in advance. If you have two carrier [10:15] strike groups that are sitting there enforcing the blockade and basically being ready in case [10:20] President Trump decides that he wants to restart major combat operations against Iran, that ultimately [10:25] starts to have an impact down the fleet. So having an impact on other carrier rotations, [10:30] they only have so many of them. And then you can extrapolate that or move that out to other assets [10:35] like aircraft, like the sorts of systems and the people who have all been moved forward. Kelly, [10:40] ever since the major combat operations ended now almost two months ago, the U.S. military has [10:45] maintained a large footprint in the region for the very reason I just mentioned. Donald Trump could [10:49] decide to restart major combat operations any time he wants to. And that's what makes it so – we [10:56] wait every word he says to try and get an indication of that. [10:59] We thank you for watching. And remember, stay updated on breaking news and top stories on the NBC News [11:04] app or watch live on our YouTube channel.