Washington Journal Open Phones examines House Republicans' Doral retreat regarding DHS funding and President Trump's upcoming address amidst rising oil prices over $100. Callers debate the morality of the Iran conflict following Ayatollah Khamenei's death and his son's succession, with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth demanding unconditional surrender while Senator Tom Tillis questions war goals. Discussions range from allegations of foreign influence by figures like Kushner to historical context on the 1953 coup, ultimately highlighting deep partisan divides over military strategy, congressional authorization, and the administration's motives regarding the Middle East. [Automatically generated summary]
Well, this week, House Republicans are in Doral, Florida, at one of President Trump's golf resorts for their annual policy retreat.
A little bit later today, Republican leaders will be speaking to reporters about their priorities and legislative agenda.
They're also expected to address efforts to fund and reopen the Department of Homeland Security, which has been in a partial shutdown for 24 days now.
Watch it live at 3 p.m. Eastern on C-SPAN.
And then a little bit later, President Trump will be at the retreat to address House Republicans, and we'll have that live as well on C-SPAN.
Also on C-SPAN Now, our free mobile app, and online at c-span.org.
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We start this morning with Iran.
Oil prices are rising across the country in response to that conflict.
And the Iranian Assembly of Experts has chosen a new supreme leader.
I turn now to a New York Times article.
The headline is: In the first week, a punishing military campaign with no coherent endgame.
If you scroll just a little bit further down, it says that the Israeli strike among the Israeli strike also killed a group of Iranian officials who had been meeting in a different part of the compound.
Among them were people the White House had identified as more willing to negotiate than their bosses, who might help bring a swift end to the conflict, according to American officials.
That was after those blasts by the U.S. that killed Iran's supreme leader, by the Israelis that killed Iran's Supreme Leader, the Ayatollah Al-Khameni.
Now it goes on to say that the strike on the compound in Tehran was emblematic of a muddled reality of the war's first week.
A withering air campaign by American and Israeli forces against an overwhelmed enemy, but few answers about what victory might look like.
Iran, its government still in place, has remained defiant and expanded the battlefield across the region, inflicting the first American casualties of the conflict.
Defense Secretary Pait Hegset was asked last night on 60 Minutes what a military win would look like for the president.
Take a listen here to his answer.
President said recently there will be no deal with Iran except unconditional surrender.
What does that look like?
Unconditional surrender?
How will you know it's real?
It means we're fighting to win.
It means we set the terms.
We'll know when they're not capable of fighting.
There'll be a point where they'll have no choice but to do that.
Whether they know it or not, they will be combat ineffective.
They will surrender.
Typically, the understanding of a surrender is person to person.
Is that what would be required in a matter like this?
Well, there's a lot of different ways.
Whether they want to admit it or not, whether their pride lets them say it out loud or not, it's President Trump who will set the terms of that.
The president of Iran said yesterday that the U.S. demand for unconditional surrender is, quote, a dream that they should take to their grave.
There was a very long war between Iran and Iraq, almost eight years, and they never surrendered in that war.
And I'm just wondering if that factors into your calculus of the president's calculation.
I mean, there was a really long fight that I was a part of, and my generation was a part of.
I know that's awesome.
In Iraq and Afghanistan, where a lot of foolish approaches were used.
This is war.
This is conflict.
This is bringing your enemy to their knees.
Now, whether they will have a ceremony in Tehran Square and surrender, that's up to them.
Something evolving today, of course, will be oil prices.
An Axios article published six hours ago.
The headline is, oil tops $100 per barrel as the Iran war escalates.
If you scroll just a little bit further down, it says oil prices on Sunday crossed into triple digits for the first time since 2022, a stark sign of how the Iran war is throttling global surprise and raising consumers' costs.
Why it matters?
The psychological important $100 a barrel mark is going to increase pain for consumers, many of whom don't support the war and didn't have any real warning that it was coming.
It's also a political setback for President Trump, who has relished in touting lower gasoline prices on his watch.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright was on Face and Nation earlier today, or excuse me, yesterday morning, where he was asked about whether or not oil prices will continue to rise.
Take a listen here.
Well, but you have the moment we are in right now.
And as you know, gasoline prices up 14% in the past week, according to AAA reports the national average is $3.45.
We've seen oil prices spike.
How high do you think oil and gas are going to go?
They shouldn't go much higher than they are here because the world is very well supplied with oil.
There's no energy shortage at all in the Western Hemisphere.
The United States is a net exporter of oil, a large net exporter of natural gas, but refineries in Asia and Europe are seeing an interruption from the normal crude flows.
But there is massive energy stores around the world.
What you're seeing is emotional reactions and fear that this is a long-term war.
This is not a long-term war.
It's a temporary movement.
Sorry, go ahead.
Temporary movement?
No, I'm saying, look, we've seen previous administrations have done everything they could.
They've begged, bartered, and bribed the Iranian government to stop its nefarious activities, stop its murderous behavior.
And it simply hasn't worked.
And now they're expanding missile and drone program that are rapidly growing to protect their desire to build a nuclear weapon.
We're going to cross a threshold where we can't put them back in the box.
Now is the time to end their risk to America and the world.
That was Energy Secretary Chris Wright talking yesterday about rising oil prices.
Now I want to invite more of you guys to call in and join our conversation.
We're talking about Iran this morning.
Your phone lines: Democrats, 202-748-8000.
Republicans, your line is 202-748-8001.
Independents, your line is 202-748-8002.
And for our active and formal military, your special line today is 202-748-8003.
All right, Sid from Pennsylvania and Independent.
Good morning, Sid.
Good morning.
I don't support this war really because President Trump has enough challenges at home.
I think he's put not only our country, but also our citizens at risk in the Middle East.
And I don't know, instead of reducing the debt, he seems to be putting us more in debt.
And also, at the same time, putting, he's thinking about putting boots on the ground in Iran.
Iran is a lot different than Iraq and all the other wars that we have fought.
It's going to be a big mistake.
And that's really going to cost us dearly.
And he doesn't seem to negotiate with our international partners.
He seems to just do whatever he wants.
And really, Congress really needs to do something here.
Really hold him accountable.
Thank you.
Sid from Pennsylvania.
Dave from California, Republican.
You're next.
Good morning, Dave.
Yes, good morning, and thank you for everything you guys do for us.
I really do appreciate it.
Basically, what I want to say is this: please don't hang up on me.
Let me finish what I have to say.
Go ahead, Dave.
Career politicians are great in only two things.
They're perfect at it, and that's career politicians.
The first thing they're better than anybody else at is getting re-elected.
I mean, you got to be the best at it to keep getting re-elected over and over and over again.
Hello?
You're so long.
What's your second point?
And the second point is, they are great at kicking the can down the road.
Now, as we see, when President Trump came in, what did he do with Panama?
Quit kicking the can down the road.
What did he do in Venezuela?
Quit kicking the can down the road.
What is he doing in Iran?
Quit kicking the can down the road.
And look at what's going on probably in Cuba.
I'm 59.
My whole life, I've been hearing about Cuba.
Starting at age 12, I think.
When I was in sixth grade, I started to hear about the Iran stuff, and just the cans kept getting kicked down the road.
Finally, you have a president with a backbone that doesn't really care about getting re-elected or definitely doesn't kick the can down the road.
He's a problem solver.
And finally, these problems are finally getting solved.
I bet if you ask people why the gas went skyrocketing up between 2021 and 2024, half the country won't know why.
But here it goes up 50 cents a gallon, and I guarantee you the whole country knows why it went up 50 cents a gallon so far.
But they will not be able to tell you why it went up here in California to $7.50 a gallon during 2021 through 2024.
Now, I know why it went up.
It was simple.
Right?
Okay, Dave, I'm going to give you 20 more seconds if you want to finish your point there.
Okay.
My point is this.
I didn't get into politics till 2016.
So I'm new at this.
I'm 59, so I've been in it for only about nine years, and I get all this stuff.
I don't understand why everybody doesn't if they watch this stuff.
And you have to watch all of it.
You can't just watch what you know is true.
Otherwise, you're being brainwashed.
You have to watch both sides, everything.
I want to thank you for everything that you do for us.
You rock.
I really appreciate it.
And everybody have a BEAU to full day.
Bye-bye.
That was Dave from California.
Chris from Baltimore, calling on the former military line.
Good morning, Chris.
Hey, good morning.
How are you doing?
I'm doing well.
How are you?
I'm doing wonderful.
I think, like the gentleman said, Everybody that works on C-SPAN has done a wonderful job informing the nation and also giving each American an opportunity to hear what the other Americans think.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
My thought on this situation is when President Trump started placing tariffs on all of our allies, I thought that was a dangerous thing because now we're in a situation of our own that I don't think they want to do anything to assist us in this attack right now.
But the thing is, the gentleman was saying that the gas prices went up.
He didn't ever explain why.
When you cut off the Strait of Humoz, that's where I think 10 to 20% of our oil come from.
Not only does that stop the oil, it stops a whole lot of things that products go through that straight.
But I just hope that somebody will have the sense to put some guardrails on Mr. Trump.
A lot of people, they love him.
And I really pray for him.
I don't agree with a lot of things that he has done.
You want to annex Canada, Iceland, then you go, I don't see any changes in Venezuela.
You release a crime lord, then you give Argentina $80 billion.
Everything is putting our country deeper in debt.
And every time, I think we're spending $80 billion a day.
That's not putting America first.
That's putting us last.
And like the gentleman said, what he got to lose?
He's almost 80 years old.
And his time is running.
He's at the end of his life.
So I think all this is for his name going down in history.
And the money, and I'm not trying to, I'm saying allegedly, the money that him and his cronies are making during this war and throughout his whole presidency is for his children, his children's children.
It's not for the people, the hardworking people like myself and a lot of people in America.
I just say thank you and have a wonderful day.
All right.
So that caller mentioned two things I want to point out.
First is the estimate of the daily costs of the Iran war operations.
This is from the Center of Strategic and International Studies, CNN here.
You can see air $30 million, naval $15 million, ground $1.6 million.
Of course, we don't have boots on the ground right now, but the first 100 of the hours of the war cost $3.7 billion.
So there is a cost estimate for you.
And another thing that caller mentioned was the allies of the U.S.
I point now to a true social post from the president from March 7th.
It says the United Kingdom, our once great ally, maybe the greatest of them all, is finally giving serious thought to sending two aircraft carriers to the Middle East.
That's okay, Prime Minister Stahmer.
We don't need them any longer, but we will remember.
We don't need people that join wars after we've already won.
President Donald J. Trump.
John from Ithaca, New York, a Democrat.
You're next.
Good morning, John.
Good morning.
So the problem is we have too much foreign influence in this country.
We have, you've heard it before, the Israel lobby, but now it's a real problem because now we have Americans dying overseas for a war that doesn't involve us.
You have Bakhoff, Kushner.
You have Edelson, who donated all the money to him, and then you have Stephen Miller.
U.S. Special Forces in Iran00:14:52
They're all Jews.
And when Tucker Carlson mentioned something about the Chabad movement.
I'm going to go to the next caller there, Bill from Illinois on the former military line.
Let me know hi, Bill.
Good morning.
Good morning.
I would like to remind people something I have not heard in the last several weeks, and I don't know why we're allowing Israel to lead this band, but I would like to remind people of the fact that it was Israel as we found out that Netanyahu and his hard-right coalition there in Israel were the ones that were giving Hamas the money to fight this war.
People have forgot that.
These people were funding both sides of the war so that they could continue a war for political reasons.
And we have been caught up in this, and it's not right.
We should not be where we are at.
Now, which war are you describing that Israel was funding Hamas?
Which war are you talking about?
This is when they attacked.
This was on the news.
You guys covered it yourself.
When they had the attack from Hamas here last year, it came out in public that Netanyahu and his hard-right cabinet were giving Hamas, secretly giving them money so that they could fight this war with Israel.
Israel was funding both sides of the war.
They're perpetuating this war for political reasons, and we have been now caught up in it.
And this is not where we need to be.
If Israel wants to fund both sides of the war, then let them fight the whole war.
That's their problem if they're going to do that.
Have a nice day.
Thank you.
All right, that was Bill from Illinois.
I'll bring up an article that was from over the weekend from the Times of Israel.
It says an interview with President Trump.
The headline is: well, there's an article on your screen there that was referring to what the gentleman just said, but I'll point to a different article from the Times of Israel.
It says, Trump to Times of Israel, it'll be, quote, a mutual decision with Netanyahu regarding when the Iran war ends.
The U.S. President in a phone interview clarifies that he'll make the final call to end operation, quote, at a right time.
Says him and the Prime Minister, quote, worked together against the Islamic Republic.
We've destroyed a country that would have destroyed Israel.
I'll just scroll down for a second to read you that full quote.
It says, the U.S. President told the Times of Israel that the decision of when to end the war will be a mutual one that he'll make with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
He also asserted in a brief interview that, quote, Iran was going to destroy Israel and everything else around it.
We've worked together.
We've destroyed a country that wanted to destroy Israel.
The president was asked whether he alone would decide when the war with Iran ends or if Netanyahu would have a say.
I'm just going to scroll here.
The quote is, I think it's mutual a little bit.
We've been talking.
I'll make a decision at the right time.
But everything's going to be taken into account.
He responded, indicating that while Netanyahu will have input, the U.S. President will have the final say.
James from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and Independent.
You're next.
Good morning, James.
Good morning.
All right, you're on the line.
I'm strictly speaking to this 30-35% of these MAGA Republicans who love him to death.
We like to get on this program right here and brag about how much money they've been making in the stock market because of Donald Trump.
All you're doing actually is thinking about yourself.
You ain't thinking about these eight men and women that just are no longer with us anymore because we have a man who wants to call himself a president.
But as far as I'm concerned, he's just an immature 78-year-old child surrounded by weak, spineless people.
Russia is helping Iran with technology to let Iran know where our ships and where we firing our missiles from.
Ukraine, Zelensky, is helping us.
We're there.
Ammunition that they need bad because we got Donald Trump's best friend, our worst enemy, helping kill Americans.
And Donald Trump says it don't matter.
C-SPAN bring it up.
It's right there on the plane.
All right, James.
I'm actually going to turn now to that article.
Thanks for calling in.
AP headline says: Russia has provided Iran with information that can help Tehran strike U.S. military.
AP sources say.
If you scroll just a little bit down here, it says, Russia has provided Iran with information that could help Tehran strike American warships.
The officials who were not authorized to comment publicly on this sensitive matter and spoke on the condition of anonymity caution that the U.S. intelligence has not uncovered that Russia is directing Iran on what to do with the information as the U.S. and Israel continue their bombardment.
And Iran fires retaliatory salvos at the American assets and allies in the Persian Gulf.
Still, it's a first indication that Moscow has sought to get involved in the war that the U.S. and Israel launched on Iran a week ago.
Russia is in the real club of countries that maintains a friendly relationship with Tehran, which has faced years of isolation over its nuclear program and support for proxy groups that have wreaked havoc in the Middle East, including Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis.
Cornell from New Jersey, a Democrat, you're next.
Good morning, Cornell.
Good morning, Jasmine.
All I can say is deja vu again.
Just like the weapons of mass destruction, what Benjamin Netanyahu has done is what he's done over the last so many years.
He's wanted to attack Iran going back to Obama.
He disrespected Obama and addressed the Republican Congress, and he wanted us to attack them then.
There was something in place that Iran wouldn't have gotten nuclear weapons.
And everybody at the time said it was a good deal.
Donald Trump ripped that agreement up.
He actually created this problem.
And this is a bigger problem, which nobody talks about.
The whole debt and deficit were under Republican presidents.
Go back to Ronald Reagan.
Every Republican president has increased the debt deficit.
The only time it was decreased was under Democrats.
And to say that Iran was going to attack us, no, Iran is not that dumb.
Just like what they did in Gaza with the Palestinians, it's half history, history is, Jasmine, history is going to frown on us because We fell for it again.
They're silent.
We're silent.
And we're letting this happen when it shouldn't happen, especially when they cut health care.
They would not extend the Affordable Care Act.
And the reason why the Affordable Care Act was not successful is Republicans put things in place to make it fail after decades of saying we're going to replace it with nothing to replace it with.
But like I said earlier, the biggest thing is look at the debt deficit and you could link it to every Republican president with the auspices of we're giving tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans.
All right, Cornell.
Take your point there.
Thank you.
Chris from Alexandria, Virginia, calling on the former military line.
Good morning.
Good morning, Jasmine.
I guess if the question is, has the administration been clear on the Iran war on its Iran war goal?
I don't think that it has.
In fact, one of the big problems I have with it is the flippancy that it appears to have, he has taken this action.
I don't see it as being provoked.
They didn't do anything to us.
And I think Americans don't really remember, or they choose not to remember, that in 1953, we installed the Shah against the democratically elected leader, Mossadegh, or I may be mispronouncing his name.
But, I mean, that precipitated the 1979 Islamic Revolution that gave us these religious fanatics in the first place.
And I think that, you know, one, without a clearly defined goal, we're just going in circles.
And I see nothing but problems economically, and not to mention the countless civilian Iranian lives and American military lives that were going to happen.
I saw a story this weekend that Trump is talking about.
He's considering putting ground forces, U.S. ground forces on the ground for Israel's war.
This is Israel's war, and somehow we got Lasso into being their muscle machine.
But that's my take on it.
Chris from Virginia.
Yeah, the president was talking about sending in special forces.
While I pull up that clip to tell you guys more about that, let's take a listen now to Senator Tom Tillis, a Republican, sometimes ally of president, sometimes critic of the president, making a case for the administration's rationale for the Iranian conflict.
Take a listen here.
Well, I think that the administration needs to be clear on what the goal is.
You know, at one point we were talking about regime change, and then we heard Secretary Hegseth say something different.
I think that we need to articulate our objectives and our goals, because the American people right now are questioning whether or not we should be in this war.
Latest polls see unaffiliated voters and even many conservative voters just questioning what we're doing there.
Let's be very clear on what the objectives are.
And I think the president owes the American people that he owes Congress that because with that clarity, then we can start building support for an engagement that could go on for more than the two months.
That I think beyond that 60-day period within the War Powers Resolution, there has to either be a very clear commitment long-term and a request of Congress, or I believe a cessation of hostilities.
One of the two have to occur.
This morning, Barack Ravid and Mark Caputo are reporting for Axios that the United States, the Trump administration, is weighing sending in special forces to Iran to seize Iran's enriched uranium.
That actually would constitute boots on the ground.
Do you think that would cross a line where congressional approval is needed, or do you think that falls within the 60 days that you referred to?
When you start putting boots on the ground, and those boots on the ground may need reinforcement, that starts looking like a longer-term conflict.
And the last thing we want to do is live paycheck to paycheck if we believe that we need to ultimately do what Obama failed to do, and that is to keep Iran in check in terms of their nuclear capabilities.
So, Jake, I feel like if we're starting to ramp up in that direction, it makes the 60-day window look less likely to achieve.
So, let's just be straight up with the American people.
Let's move with a discussion about what an authorization for the use of military force looks like and provide the legitimacy to the president.
That was Republican Senator from North Carolina, Tom Tillis, talking about how he believes that the administration needs to make more clear what their rationale for war is and what success looks like.
In that clip, Mr. Tapper from CNN mentioned this Axios article.
I want to read it to you.
The headline here is: U.S. Way sending special forces to seize Iran's nuclear stockpile.
If you just scroll a little bit, it says that the U.S. and Israel have discussed sending special forces into Iran to secure its stockpile of highly enriched uranium at a later stage of the war, according to four sources, with knowledge of the discussions.
Why it matters, preventing Iran from ever obtaining a nuclear weapon is one of the president's stated war objectives.
The regime's 450 kilograms of 60% enriched uranium convertible to weapons grade within weeks is one key to that goal.
The big picture, any operation to seize the material would likely require U.S. or Israeli troops on Iranian soil navigating heavily fortified underground facilities in the middle of a war of a war.
It remains unclear whether it would be an American-Israeli or joint mission.
It would likely only take place after both countries are confident Iran's military can no longer mount a serious threat to the forces involved.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegg says was asked about boots on the ground during his 60-minute interview, which aired last night.
Take a listen to this exchange.
Is it possible to achieve the objectives President Trump has set before you if we don't locate and obtain and extract the highly enriched uranium?
There's a lot of different ways we can get after that.
They've used a conventional umbrella of missiles that was growing every single day, their production capacity, to try to cover over their nuclear blackmail ambitions.
As far as how you get at that nuclear option, we'll make sure that their nuclear ambitions are never achieved.
Will we take it out ourselves?
Oh, I would never tell you or anybody else what our options are.
See, that's another thing.
Paul Ricardo on Iran's Nuclear Threat00:11:50
People keep asking a very fair question.
People ask boots on the ground, no boots on the ground, four weeks, two weeks, six weeks, go in, go in.
President Trump knows, I know, you don't tell the enemy, you don't tell the press, you don't tell anybody what your limits would be on an operation.
We're willing to go as far as we need to in order to be successful.
Do we have any overt or covert forces inside Iran now?
I wouldn't tell you that if we did.
The only reason I ask is earlier this week you said no.
Is that still the answer?
Yeah, that's still the answer.
But we reserve the right.
We would be completely unwise if we did not reserve the right to take any particular option, whether it included boots on the ground or no boots on the ground.
That was Secretary of Defense talking about whether or not the administration would put boots on the ground in Iran.
Haas from Huntingtown, Maryland, a Republican?
For Paul, and thank you for saying what you're doing.
I want to start by saying it is not fair that we say this war is against the Iranian regime or against Iran, or we are in a war with Iran.
We are in a war with an extremist Islamic regime that their ambition is not limited to any country or any region.
And in fact, the Iranian people are their first victims.
Looking at the previous 47 years, the Iranian people are the ones who paid the heaviest price.
We can all see in the latest demonstrations that more than 35,000 Iranians killed in a matter of two weeks by that regime.
What this war is exactly the same as the war we waged against ISIS.
ISIS has or had the same vision as this regime.
It is to expand, is to spread the ideology, is to do as much damage as they can to every region and every country they can reach at.
And the fact that ISIS resources was so limited compared to what this regime has in their arsenal.
We have a regime that for 47 years utilizing the wealth and the resources of one of the richest nations on earth to export their revolution and expand in the region.
It is in that regime constitution, and again, I'm not saying the Iranian constitution, because this is their constitution.
It has nothing to do with Iran.
In the constitution, expansion is a must.
Their goal is to dominate all the Islamic world and subject every nation they can to this.
So let me ask you, since you're giving us this context, the question of the morning is whether or not the rationale from the administration and the goals of the operation are clear from this administration.
I wonder what you think about that.
I really feel that the administration is not giving the right rationale for this war.
It can gain much more support from the American from both sides of the aisle and from the international community if they present all the facts and reminded people what we are dealing with here.
A lot of critics now, it's about the cost of the war.
It cost almost $1 billion a day.
We should not forget that we spent about $3 trillion in Iraq to bring democracy to that part of the world.
And it was all wasted and undermined because of that regime.
Okay, Haas, I'm going to actually turn now to some polls about whether or not people are supporting this war.
First, I'll point to one from The Economist YouGov poll that was released on March 4th.
It was taken between February 27th and March 2nd.
And it says 32% support the use of U.S. military force to overthrow the government of Iran.
45% oppose it.
Another poll from another question from that same survey says 32% of all U.S. adult citizens support the use of the U.S. military to force military force to overthrow the government of Iran.
If you break that down by party, it's 8% from Democrats, 23% by Independents, 64% by Republicans.
Ricardo from Philadelphia and Independent.
You're next.
Good morning, Ricardo.
Good morning, ma'am, and thank you for accepting my call.
I just want to make two quick points because I'm sure there's many others in line.
The first point is I was listening to, I don't know if it was your station or another, and Ambassador Huckleby seemed to be the first one to actually spoke truth about what this was all about when he said Israel should be able to claim all of the Arab land.
But if you use that as an analogy, wouldn't that be the same as saying the Native Americans should have full claim to all of America from the north to the south?
The second part is: we got into this war because America keeps jumping sides.
Originally, we were for the Iranians, and we backed the Iranians against their neighbors in check.
Once the Shah fell, CIA starts selling crack into the different communities of America to finance backing Iraq to keep Iran in check.
And that's how it's been ever since.
No change.
All right, Ricardo from Philadelphia.
Paul from Maryland and Independent, you're next.
Good morning, Paul.
Yes, thank you for taking my call and good morning.
I want to say that once again, we've entered another endless war.
This president has us on a warp speed path of destruction.
God is not going to bless America.
America was founded on crime, corruption, rape, murder, brutality, slavery.
America has yet to repent and be accountable for these actions.
Why would God bless America?
It's not going to happen.
That's my only comment.
Thank you.
Will from Mississippi, calling in on the former military line.
Good morning, Will.
Yes.
I'm a Vietnam veteran.
And war is nothing but profit.
But I want to stick to your subject, you're the military use.
But the truth is, no.
And when you go to the games and stuff this year, and you gather in crowds and statements, just like George Bush brought you 9-11, believe me, you better be ready for because we have no business there.
Before George Bush, we knew to stay out of the Middle East.
I'm sorry, I can't hear you.
No, go ahead.
Well, you're still on the line.
Okay.
Yes.
And the truth is, the biggest drugs in this country is religion.
And they're using this as some kind of stances from the Bible to say that these are Europeans calling they self-Jew and Minyahu is nothing but a devil.
Let's actually turn now to the U.S. Ambassador to the UN, Michael Waltz, who yesterday was defending the administration's actions in Iran and giving a rationale for them.
Take a listen.
In many ways, we are seeing tremendous success in our military objectives on this war.
Iran's Navy is largely sitting at the bottom of the ocean with over 40 ships now sunk.
Major degradation to their ability to produce the ballistic missiles that have been striking so many of their Gulf neighbors, Israel and elsewhere.
Major degradation to their ability to produce these missiles.
We already took down the nuclear enrichment program back during Operation Midnight Hammer last year.
Air Force largely destroyed.
Air defenses largely destroyed.
Major leadership figures decapitated.
So in terms of our military objectives, the president is right.
We are not only ahead of schedule, we are winning.
You are winning, but he said we have already won.
What else do you have to do and how long will it take?
Well, look, we'll just let the statistics from our Central Command Commander, Admiral Brad Cooper, speak for themselves.
We've seen ballistic missile launches from Iran largely degraded.
The figures that they're putting out around 90% reduction from the first days of the war a week ago.
Drone launches down 70 to 80 percent.
Those are still significant.
We're still seeing Iran lash out in all directions at its neighbors, at our allies, Kuwait, Bahrain, UAE, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia, and others.
So, at the end of the day, what the president is focused on is an Iran that can no longer pose a threat to Americans in an American first foreign policy, but also no longer pose a threat to our allies in the region.
I was U.S. Ambassador to the UN, Michael Waltz, defending the administration's conflict in Iran and giving an update to some of the military successes that the administration believes they're having.
I turn now before we get back to your calls to something that developed over the weekend, which is that the U.S. sanctioned Mashaba Khameni is named Iran's next supreme leader after his father's death.
This is a Fox News article.
If you scroll down, it says, Iran's Assembly of Experts has elected Mohammed Khameni, the son of the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khameni, as the country's new supreme leader, according to Iranian state television.
Michael Waltz Defends Iran Strike00:08:26
The 56-year-old is the second eldest son of Ali Khameni and born in Mashhad in 1969.
It goes on to say more about the new Supreme Leader, including that his early childhood coincided with his father's rise as a revolutionary figurehead, opposing the monarch of Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavani, Pahlavi.
Excuse me.
And that after the Islamic resolution in 1979, Ali Khameni moved from a dissident cleric to a senior government official holding key posts in the regime, including deputy defense minister, and more about their family care, including, I believe, that his wife, the new Supreme Leader, was killed in some of the airstrikes.
Christine Hyattsville, Maryland, an independent, you're next.
Good morning, Christine.
Stand on the line.
Good morning.
Yes, can you hear me?
Yes, we have a little bit of feedback.
Is your TV muted?
Can you take yourself off speakerphone?
Let me see.
I could have to cut it down, I guess.
Yes, I hope that's better.
I had cut it down.
Okay, go ahead.
Yeah, I just want to say I'm sick and tired of this country sending our young men, these young, not that much knowledge that, you know, they're in the prime of their life.
I mean, they're so young, 18 years old.
It doesn't matter to this government that we lose as many thousands of young men who a lot of them go involuntarily.
I mean, they're very strong.
They love their country, but When they're in there and they're being killed, thousands come back in these body bags when they're in a war like this that's going on.
You know, and nothing is said, even about 911.
30,000 some people died.
And do you think people are even saying anything about it other than just saying the blessings of flowers and things that was put there to remind us of that incident?
You know, it's said because people are just selfish.
You know, that's what's wrong with mankind and womankind.
They're selfish.
They're conceited in themselves.
And God has nothing to do with it.
You know, I agreed with the man earlier.
God, I don't believe, has any inkling of putting a special attention to America.
He created everyone, you, me, the whole world of people.
You know, so we got to look at it realistically if you want to speak about religion.
You've got to speak of it in the terms of everyone was created in the image of God.
You know, and Jasmine, that's pretty much all I had to say.
But I had to say it because it's time to say it.
We've got to think of our young men and they come back.
We take your point there, Christine.
Debbie from Florida, a Democrat, you're next.
Good morning, Debbie.
Hi, good morning.
Hi, good morning.
Obama signed a deal to keep Iran from producing a nuclear bomb in 2015.
I remember inspectors going in there.
It was known trust, verify.
And then he, in trade for the steel, Iran got funds back that were held up.
I'm a little nervous.
But then Trump comes in and he tears up the deal.
He has a pattern of tearing up peace deals and trying to come out as a hero through military action.
We had a border agreement bipartisan in March of 24, and he told Republicans, don't sign it because I need this problem for my campaign.
So we have a selfish president.
He's not thinking of the whole world.
He's thinking of himself.
On Friday, two Fridays ago, after the Clintons spoke to the commission for Epstein, next day, we're bombing Iran.
We're left tons of Americans in the region.
I don't feel that this was planned at all.
We're very nervous here.
He does things erratically on the spur of the moment.
And a lot of people have, young men and women have died already, maimed for the rest of their life because this guy wants to protect himself from who knows what he did with Epstein.
We're in this war because of Trump and Epstein.
And thousands of people are dying because of it.
And Americans, and we're spending a billion dollars a day.
I heard from Fox News viewers with 38 billion in debt.
And now it doesn't matter because we're starting this war.
So that's all I have to say.
We're very, very nervous about what Trump's going to do to protect himself to get out of this.
Okay, Debbie, I think we take your point there.
James from San Diego, Republican, you're next.
I would request the C-SPAN redirect the question to more simpler.
Do we want Iran to have a nuclear weapon at this time?
Or do we want Iran to have a nuclear weapon and blow up a city in the United States before we do anything?
I think that would make it much more simpler for everybody to comment on.
When do we want Iran to have a nuclear weapon?
Now?
And we prevent it?
Or when they blow up a city in the United States like the Twin Towers?
Thank you very much.
James from San Diego.
Let's take a listen now to Republican Senator Lindsey Graham talking about the ongoing conflict in Iran on Fox News yesterday.
A billion dollars a day.
Oil prices up 27% in a week.
You've got the president wanting a $1.5 trillion defense budget in 27.
The idea that the Pentagon is about to come to you for $50 billion on these strikes to Iran.
How are you going to answer?
Best money ever spent.
What's it worth to America to take down a religious Nazi regime who's trying to build a nuclear weapon to deliver to America?
That's a really good investment.
They're going to fall.
It's not if the regime falls.
It's a matter of when.
And you didn't mention today, and nobody has, quite frankly, we now know they had enough 60% enriched uranium to make 11 bombs.
What's that worth to America to make sure they don't have 11 bombs?
All of this money is to make sure they never go nuclear.
They can't hit us with ballistic missiles.
And they stop terrorizing the region.
When this regime goes down, we're going to have a new Mideast.
We're going to make a ton of money.
Nobody will threaten the Straits of Hormoons again.
But Donald J. Trump saved the world from real chaos.
Witkoff, the negotiator, was told by the Iranians openly that they have stockpiled enough 60% enriched uranium, 460 kilograms, to make 11 bombs.
Thank God Trump did this.
Can you imagine a year from now?
What would it cost America if Iran had 11 nuclear bombs to threaten us?
They would hold us hostage.
We would be held hostage in perpetuity by this terrorist regime.
So the money we're spending is a good investment to take down a regime that's been the largest state sponsor of terrorism, has got American blood on its hands.
And when this regime falls, it's not if when.
We're going to have a gateway to peace.
And the next thing that will happen is Saudi Arabia will recognize Israel.
And that will be the biggest change in 2,000 years in the Mideast.
And Donald J. Trump is the man to make it all happen.
That was Republican Senator Lindsey Graham defending the administration's conflict in Iran.
Of course, he was influential in being one of the people to convince the president to strike Iran in the first place.
Trump's Vision for Iran00:15:13
Now, before we get back to your calls, I turn now to something that happened over the weekend.
A New York Post headline says, Somber Day as Trump attends ceremony for six soldiers killed in Iran.
Quote, great heroes in our country.
If you scroll down just a little bit, it says that President Trump joined the solemn ceremony at Dover Air Force Base Saturday to mark the final homecoming of six Army Reserve soldiers killed when an Iranian drone struck a U.S. facility in Kuwait.
On your screen there, you're seeing some of that video from Saturday.
It says Air Force One touched down on the tarmac at Dover at 1:09 p.m. Saturday for the arrival of the six flag-draped transfer cases, and Trump deplaned about 20 minutes later, bearing a solemn expression.
He slowly descended down the stairs of Air Force One, greeted military members, and made a gesture with his fist to reporters who followed him up from Florida.
Trump, who wore a white USA baseball camp cap and stood next to First Lady Melania Trump for the somber moment, saluted as soldiers carried the flag-draped cases pass.
Quote, It's a sad part of war, the president later said aboard Air Force One.
Quote, it's a bad part of war.
The parents were so proud of their boy, as they called him, Trump added.
In one case, a young lady, the parents are so proud.
Also taking part were Vice President JD Vance, Second Lady Usha Vance, Special Envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wells, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Army Secretary Dan Jisko, and others.
So that was Saturday.
Bill from Buffalo, New York, calling in on the former military line.
Good morning, Bill.
Good morning.
Do you need me to tell you the question again?
Okay.
Everybody gets to see our say.
And anyhow, I agree with James that called for Myrtle Beach.
I was stationed at Myrtle Beach, and we worked out A-10s, and we didn't sell A-10s to other countries.
But anyhow, what this administration is doing is I can't believe it.
I mean, I can see right through it.
And I think a lot of people do too.
I mean, history, it's gone beyond belief.
It's upsetting.
You know, I'm 66.
I don't see any relief for senior citizens or disabled vets.
So, and I don't like what Trump's doing, and that's all I could say.
I'm sure he's a nice guy to go out to the dinner with, but as far as running the country, I don't think he's worth a hoot.
And thank you.
Vincent from Gaithersburg, Maryland, calling in on the former military line.
You're next.
Good morning, Vincent.
Good morning.
Salute to the six soldiers who passed, and condolences to the families.
You see, the first thing we sign up for or sign when we enlist, used to be drafted, is you will die.
You are expendable.
We go in to defend our country, knowing full well we will be killed or worse.
And that's what we true military folks, men and women, are about.
Okay?
War is a condition of life since the beginning of time.
And it's not going to end with President, my commander-in-chief, President Trump, who you folks so rudely every day disrespect.
And if the Democrats ever get back in, I'm not talking about, I'm talking about the political Democrats.
I'm not talking about the Democrat people, okay?
But if the Democrat Party gets back in, we will be paying more than just 50 cents to a dollar more for gas, which is a small price to pay now to fund the war when the six soldiers gave their lives.
Small price to pay.
And they will continue on, double down, triple down, quadruple down Hakeem and Shuma and the entire Democrat Party.
Men and women sports a whole bit.
General to child mutilations, a whole bit.
Infants killed up to birth and then 28 days after birth.
That was put in law by Governor Democrat Newsom.
And It's just preposterous to think that we would think a sacrifice of 50 cents to a dollar more temporarily.
It's such a big thing.
Anyway, to all my C-SPAN family, you C-SPAN, especially you, Ms. Jasmine, you're very good, but it would be great if you could focus more on facts, not just opinions.
Anyway, everybody have a good day.
Vincent from Caithersburg.
Jennifer from Massachusetts, an Independent.
You're next.
Good morning, Jennifer.
Good morning, Jasmine.
Can you hear me out there?
I sure can.
Okay.
I really, I want to say I do appreciate the way you host this show also.
Thank you.
Any complaints about, thank you.
Any complaints about how C-SPAN runs their business is the fact it's to be taken up with the editorial bias of the media that they're reporting.
They're just presenting what the media is printing.
If you have a problem with what the media is saying, take it up with the editorial boards of the Independent.
I'm sorry, I'm stalling.
We're talking about Iran this morning.
Yeah, I want to say thank you to every single veteran out there for your sacrifices and your service.
But Trump does not respect the military.
It's not a value in his family.
They dodged, his grandfather dodged the draft before he left Europe.
Trump dodged the draft.
He was sent to military school for his dysfunctional behavior as a child within his own family system.
And that's why he resents the military.
He did not dress in black.
He wore an informal baseball cap.
He has no respect for the military.
The man does not know how to pray.
He has no faith except money and greed.
And I just want to remind everyone that the God of the Declaration of the Independence is not a Christian God.
It is nature's God.
That is a post-Enlightenment understanding of humanity being created by nature itself, not any formalized religious God.
Thank you so much.
And I don't know.
Everyone, take care of yourself.
This is a very strange time in history.
Thank you.
That was Jennifer from Massachusetts.
I want to point quickly to an ABC news article from an interview that President Trump did over the phone over the weekend.
The headline is: Iran's next supreme leader won't, quote, last long without my approval, Trump says.
It says, as the Iranians get closer, this was obviously before the latest Supreme Leader was selected.
President Trump said Sunday that the new leader, quote, is not going to last long if the Iranians don't get his approval first.
He's going to have to get approval from us.
The president told ABC News over the weekend: if he doesn't get approval from us, he's not going to last long.
We want to make sure that we won't have to go back every 10 years when you don't have a president like me that's not going to do it.
He added, I don't want people to have to go back in five years and have to do the same thing again or worse, let them have a nuclear weapon.
When asked if he would be willing to approve someone with ties to the old regime, the president replied, I would in order to choose a good leader.
I would, yeah, I would.
There are numerous people that could qualify.
Seeming to offer yet another justification for the war, Trump said Iran was planning to take over the entire Middle East and suggested he stop them from doing so.
They are a paper tiger.
They weren't a paper tiger a week ago, I'll tell you.
And they were going to attack, he said.
Their plan was to attack the entire Middle East to take over the entire Middle East.
Manuel from Houston, a Democrat.
You're next.
Good morning, Manuel.
Good morning.
Thank you for accepting my call.
Well, this Iran issue has many layers, but the core of the layer is when the United States in 1953 installed the Shah of Iran.
We set that in motion and we're paying the price now.
Now, this issue has many layers to it.
One of them that I haven't heard is all those billions and billions that Trump has received from Arab nations, he's paying the piper.
He is also doing this because the money he's received, it's like a payoff.
Don't you see what's going on here?
And then Lindsey Graham, he said it outright.
I mean, out loud.
Once all this is done, walking, I made money.
It's all about money.
These people don't care.
Trump don't care.
Trump don't care about nothing.
I'm so disgusted with what's going on.
This man here, Trump thalum 47, believes.
I truly believe that his dementia hasn't believed that he did.
All right, Manuel, I think we take your point there.
Richard from North Carolina, Independent.
Good morning.
Good morning.
First, I wish to pay tribute to the seven fallen soldiers and their families.
That is most important.
Secondly, on this Mosaddegh thing, it's always people call in and say it was our fault.
And there's very little context that people understand around that.
But we were in the midst of a Cold War at that time.
You're talking about 1953.
1953.
We were in the middle.
We were losing the Cold War at that point.
We had lost Eastern Europe.
We had lost China.
We had lost North Korea.
We were having problems all around the world, including Latin America.
We could not allow Mossadegh, who was pro-Soviet, to have us lose the Middle East.
And people should just understand the context.
If he was such a reformer, the revolution of 1979 did not correct that.
It made things a whole lot worse.
On the making money thing, I did see that Lindsey Graham.
That was on a financial show.
And he was asked a question about how much this was costing.
So he was responding in that context.
But lastly, I just wish, this is obviously all war is terrible and people are losing their lives.
I just ask people to keep in mind the alternative.
And there's a notion that, well, we just keep pushing the ball down the road and Obama had it all fixed.
And things truly got worse even when that JCP, pardon me, the six-party deal got thank you.
God got approved.
Things were still getting worse.
People just don't understand that.
Maybe not on the nuclear side, but they were building more centrifuges for a future use, which they did end up using, as well as missiles and other things.
Please, I just ask, yes, it's the news right now.
It's difficult, but I just ask people to consider the huge set of issues and understand that nothing is complicated.
I support what he's doing, Mr. Trump, and I support our military, and I hope we have a swift victory where the people of Iran are free.
The Iranian exiles all around the world, or diaspora, all around the world, are celebrating, and I really hope we can just keep it together and get this thing over with a victory as quickly as possible.
Thank you.
Richard from North Carolina.
Thanks for calling in.
John from North Carolina as well, calling on the former military line.
You're next.
Good morning, John.
Good morning, Jasmine.
How are you feeling this morning?
I'm doing all right.
How are you?
I'm doing great.
I'm doing great.
I'm calling on behalf of all the servicemen and women that's out there serving and the seven that's the seats and gone to guard the gates.
My concern is if they decide to put boots on the ground, as you can see on the news, that a lot of the natives have left the country.
The thing of it is, if the ones that's still there boot on the ground, those young men and women, as soon as they hit the beach, how are they going to hit the beach, first of all?
They got to penetrate and get inside of Tehran and all that.
It's going to be real.
We're going to lose a lot of men and women.
You've got to look at it like this.
A lot of them signed up thinking that it wasn't going to be a war.
But now we are being thrown into something that I don't think that we need to be involved in.
The natives, the Iranians, I believe they can take care of themselves.
And what about the Iranians that's here in the United States?
Do you see them running to the recruiting station to sign up to help our fellow patriots fight this war?
Me and the women.
All right, John from North Carolina, thanks for calling in.
Jeff from Missouri, a Republican.
You're our last caller of the section, Jeff.
What you got?
Good morning.
Good morning, America.
Well, I got a lot, but everything.
Okay, give it to me in 30 seconds.
Everything's based on hypersonic missiles and how far they can reach in a short period of time.
Hemispheric defense is what President Trump is trying to work towards.
The hemisphere over in the Arab nations has always been uprooted by Iran.
His baby is the Abraham Accords.
They're defending the Abraham Accords, and the people that have joined the Abraham Accords is helping Israel and the United States defeat Iran.
The idea that he's shutting off China's oil, he's bombing Russia's supply of drones and missiles that they get from Iran.
Killing Three Birds With One Stone00:00:35
The idea that he is killing three birds with one stone, most of America can't even conceive.
The idea of rebuilding trade routes and eliminating China's power and reasserting ours just scares the hell out of all the useful idiots because they cannot understand.
We have a leader, Donald Trump, who is a visionary and has a plan.