CSPAN - Washington Journal Elise Labott Aired: 2026-03-08 Duration: 11:57 === War Without Public Conversation (10:58) === [00:00:05] Tonight on C-SPAN's Q ⁇ A, a conversation with California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom on his memoir, Young Man in a Hurry, chronicling moments in his life that influenced his political career. [00:00:16] From mayor of San Francisco in 2004 to becoming governor in 2019, Governor Newsom also talks about his personal life, living with dyslexia, and his relationship with billionaire Gordon Getty. [00:00:27] Tonight at 8 Eastern on C-SPAN's Q ⁇ A, you can listen to Q ⁇ A and all of our podcasts on our free C-SPAN Now app or wherever you get your podcasts. [00:00:41] We will continue on talking throughout, asking your thoughts on the view, your view of the U.S. and Israel military operations in Iran. [00:00:49] Joining us to give some context of the latest news, Elise Labbitt of Cosmopolitics joining us. [00:00:54] She's the Substack founder and also the global affairs journalist, as well as a professor at the American University. [00:01:02] Elise Labbitt, welcome to the program. [00:01:04] Good to be with you. [00:01:06] When it comes to these latest news about the Iran fuel strikes, talk about that, but put it in the context of how things have changed over the week plus we've seen as far as operations in Iran. [00:01:18] Well, originally they were what they're trying to do is take out all of the missile launchers. [00:01:25] The original strikes were about kind of what they call shaping the battlefield, which was taking out the air defenses, the warning systems. [00:01:32] Then they moved on to missile launchers, the missile program. [00:01:36] They're trying to go after the nuclear program. [00:01:38] Now it seems, and I'm talking about the United States in particular here. [00:01:44] Now it seems they're going after economic targets. [00:01:47] So going after those oil refineries will really hurt the Iranian regime over the long term. [00:01:54] Now, Israel, on the other hand, while they're joining the U.S. on these military targets, they're also going after the leadership. [00:02:03] You've heard that, you know, every time you hear a possible name for a new supreme leader after Ali Khamenei was killed, that the Israelis killed him. [00:02:14] And so the Israelis are really trying to go down, down, down so that there are no layers of leadership within the Iranian clerical leadership. [00:02:25] Even as the president said last week, that the U.S. should have a role in that, Iran's leaders rejecting that. [00:02:32] What, as far as the future is concerned for that leadership, what faces the people of Iran as they make this decision? [00:02:40] Well, it's not the leader. [00:02:41] It's not the people of Iran as they make that decision right now. [00:02:44] Right now, that is for the Iranian regime, the Assembly of Experts. [00:02:50] It's about an 88-member body, which will choose. [00:02:53] They're doing it in secret right now. [00:02:55] Normally, they would have a meeting, but the Israelis put out a message that don't have a meeting because we'll kill you all, just like they did during that last strike when they killed the supreme leader. [00:03:07] There are some names floating around, but right now they're saying that they're doing it in secret. [00:03:12] They say that they're pretty close to having a name, but they won't name it. [00:03:18] But what was interesting, Pedro, is that they said that the name will, the person that they choose will be under an edict of the late Supreme Leader, that that person would be hated by the United States. [00:03:34] And why is that? [00:03:35] Because, you know, as you said, the President Trump said that he wants a say in who the next Supreme Leader is. [00:03:43] It really does, Pedro, show a lack of understanding of the Iranian system, whose very existence, this revolutionary system, is in defiance of the United States. [00:03:54] So the idea that the United States president would have a say in who that supreme leader is is unrealistic. [00:04:03] And when it comes to messaging, Elise Labbitt yesterday was Iran's president saying that more strikes would take place. [00:04:11] But before that, Iran's president also almost gives apologies to other areas of the region that were affected by this. [00:04:19] Put that in context. [00:04:20] Explain what the president said in those two messages and what do those two messages give? [00:04:26] Well, the Iranian strategy at first was really to kind of fan out across the region to make the cost of this war so high for everybody in the region that they would press the United States to end it quick. [00:04:43] These leaders in the Gulf, they did not want this to happen. [00:04:47] They knew they were in the blast radius, so to speak, that they would get hit in retaliation. [00:04:53] And they did. [00:04:54] I think everybody expected a retaliation. [00:04:56] They didn't expect such a wide and furious retaliation. [00:05:01] It's really, it was kind of, I think, a miscalculation on the part of the Iranians because what they could have done is galvanize opposition to this war by the Gulf states. [00:05:12] Instead, now they're all kind of joining in because they know that they are part of this war. [00:05:20] Iran is fighting against them. [00:05:22] And so when the president yesterday said, apologized and tried to bring these leaders back to the Iranian side, the strikes happened anyway. [00:05:32] On one hand, that could have been because President Trump called for the unconditional surrender of Iran, which, again, this regime would rather kill itself than surrender to the United States. [00:05:43] But also it does show, Pedro, the diffusion of power inside the Iranian regime. [00:05:50] The president doesn't really have ultimate power. [00:05:53] And the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, this major system, this military system that's separate from the army, which is really created by the late Supreme Leader to protect the revolution, if you will, they're obviously not listening to that apology. [00:06:10] And the strikes continue. [00:06:12] Here in the United States, Elise Labbitt, the president, the vice president, and others participating in that dignified transfer ceremony. [00:06:21] Talk about that. [00:06:22] And what are your impressions on public perception if numbers of U.S. soldiers continue to rise in this conflict? [00:06:31] Well, listen, I think one of the main problems, Pedro, is that the administration has had these shifting rationales for the war. [00:06:41] You know, when it first, when the president was first, you know, building up the troops in the region and the U.S. assets in the region, it was about protecting the protesters, saying help is on the way. [00:06:52] I think that was really a leverage in negotiations on the nuclear program. [00:06:57] But then you had these strikes with the Israelis, and they said it was to go after the missile and nuclear programs. [00:07:03] Then it was said because it was an imminent threat against from the Iranians, and the Israelis were going, and they thought certainly the United States would be attacked. [00:07:13] So the rational, and then now it seems to be headed more towards regime change. [00:07:18] And so those rationales keep shifting. [00:07:20] And at the same time, I don't think the president and the administration has really had that conversation that you usually have before a country goes to war, which is kind of leveling with the American people about not only the rationale and the cause for war, but also the potential consequences in blood and treasure. [00:07:41] We had these six service members that were killed. [00:07:45] And I think the way it was dealt with originally was to say, well, this happens in war. [00:07:51] There will probably be more. [00:07:53] And just the kind of lack of seriousness and lack of soberness about the fact that going to war is the most serious thing a country could do and a commander-in-chief, a decision the commander-in-chief can take. [00:08:08] And we've seen the messaging muddled. [00:08:11] I don't think we've seen that serious messaging. [00:08:13] We've had kind of videos of gamer gaming videos about destruction and war. [00:08:20] And I think the American people are not only don't know why the U.S. is going to war, they don't know what they could expect. [00:08:27] There's a lot of talk about the economy and how they can be affected. [00:08:30] And as you have discussed on this show, affordability is a real issue. [00:08:35] So if oil prices were coming down, if they continue to rise, that could also oil doesn't only affect you at the pump, it affects everything in the supply chain. [00:08:47] So, it could be groceries. [00:08:48] It could be heating your home. [00:08:51] So, the American people don't really know how this war is going to affect them, how long it could go on. [00:08:58] And I think that's the uncertainty that the American people are feeling right now. [00:09:01] Even the New York Times highlighting in a story this morning about gasoline prices here in the United States rising 14% in a week, also citing some other factors. [00:09:10] On your website, the latest posting you have, I think, talks about the shifting messaging in a conversation you had. [00:09:16] Tell people about that and where they can find that conversation. [00:09:20] Well, at Cosmopolitics, we're really trying to discuss the various issues in the war. [00:09:25] I spoke to Emily Horne, who was a former communications official and a spokesperson. [00:09:33] She was a spokesperson for the Biden and Obama administrations, but she's been a civil servant for close to 20 years over many administrations in public diplomacy. [00:09:45] And, you know, she says, she says something, it's a little glib, but she says you can't yada yada your way through a war. [00:09:52] She's talking about you need to have a coherent messaging strategy so that the United States, it's really important to get that American buy-in. [00:10:01] President Roosevelt did it before World War II. [00:10:05] President Johnson did it as he was escalating in Vietnam. [00:10:10] George Bush, George W. Bush did it as he was going to war in Iraq. [00:10:15] And I think the American people, you need to really bring them along. [00:10:19] So the conversations that I'm having on cosmopolitics with former officials, with experts, are not political. [00:10:27] There's really not a political, you know, we recognize the politics around it, but we really just want people to understand all the aspects of war, the consequences, things that we can expect, and what, you know, how this could play out, the various aspects. [00:10:42] And that's on Substack or at cosmopolitics.news. [00:10:46] I hope everybody will read and send me their thoughts and the questions that they have and the kind of guests they're looking for. [00:10:52] Elise Labathy, founder of the Substack Cosmopolitics, joining us for this conversation. [00:10:58] Thanks for your time this morning. [00:11:00] Good to be with you. === Chris Dyerwalt on Iran Fallout (00:54) === [00:11:03] C-SPAN's Washington Journal, our live forum inviting you to discuss the latest issues in government, politics, and public policy from Washington, D.C. to across the country. [00:11:13] Coming up Monday morning, Middle East Institute senior fellow Alex Vitenka on the latest in the U.S. and Israel's war with Iran, as well as the future of the Iranian regime. [00:11:22] And then Naomi Lim, Washington Examiner White House reporter, previews the week ahead at the White House and the latest on the Trump administration's actions in Iran. [00:11:31] And a little bit later, Chris Dyerwalt, host of The Hill Sunday, will talk about the political fallout from the ongoing conflict in Iran and how it might impact campaign 2026. [00:11:41] C-SPAN's Washington Journal joined the conversation live at 7 Eastern Monday morning on C-SPAN, C-SPAN Now, our free mobile app, or online at c-SPAN.org. 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