CSPAN - Washington Journal Sophia Cai Aired: 2026-04-20 Duration: 05:59 === Trump's Ceasefire Win Strategy (05:22) === [00:00:00] 17 years Adams spent in the House of Representatives after he was president trying to stop the spread of slavery in the United States. [00:00:08] A new interview with author Bob Crawford about his book, America's Founding Son, John Quincy Adams, from president to political maverick. [00:00:16] Book Notes Plus with our host Brian Lamb is available wherever you get your podcasts and on the C-SPAN Now app. [00:00:26] We're going to speak to Sophia Kai. [00:00:28] She is at Politico and she's White House reporter and she's also the West Wing playbook co-author. [00:00:34] Sophia Kai, welcome to the program. [00:00:37] Thank you. [00:00:39] If we could start with Iran, yesterday President Trump said that he is sending a delegation that they are heading to Pakistan for another round of negotiations. [00:00:49] However, we heard from Iran that that might not happen, that they might not send a delegation. [00:00:54] Can you tell us what's the latest on that? [00:00:57] Yeah, absolutely. [00:00:58] So this past weekend, the U.S. seized an Iranian oil tanker, and that was an act that Iran considers a violation of the ceasefire. [00:01:09] And so they've promised to retaliate. [00:01:11] And as of yet last night, we know that Iran is not planning to send anyone to the negotiations. [00:01:18] So the U.S. team may not have someone on the other side of the table to talk to. [00:01:23] And the current ceasefire does expire Wednesday night. [00:01:29] What has the White House said about possibly extending that? [00:01:34] Do you know anything about that? [00:01:35] It's a little bit too early to tell, but when President Trump was asked about this a few days ago, he said, look, well, I may not extend it. [00:01:43] I think they're going to be looking for real progress in the talks to consider another extension. [00:01:49] Now, remember, the reason why President Trump authorized those first strikes against Iran that killed dozens of Iranian leaders is because he ran out of patience with the negotiations. [00:02:00] Now, if something like that happens again, he may choose to escalate, but the Iranians and the U.S. side, neither side wants that to happen. [00:02:10] And President Trump announced a 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon that, of course, they were fighting Hezbollah in Lebanon. [00:02:20] We're hearing reports that Israel was taken off guard by that and that they were not notified of this ceasefire. [00:02:27] What can you tell us? [00:02:29] Look, they may have been caught off guard and they've signaled that, but it looks like this 10-day ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel so far is holding. [00:02:38] And that ceasefire holding is crucial to a broader peace deal between the U.S.-Iran. [00:02:44] And what is the Trump administration's role in that ceasefire, in that ceasefire negotiations between those two parties? [00:02:51] President Trump is playing the role of primary mediator. [00:02:55] He announced the initial ceasefire of 10 days. [00:02:58] And he says that he plans to bring the leaders of the two countries to the White House in the coming days for further talks. [00:03:05] I think the president takes great pride in his role as mediator and is counting it as one of the 10 or so conflicts that he's helped solve. [00:03:15] Now remember, it's not an end deal yet, and I don't think he can take a victory lap. [00:03:20] On a different subject, the Senate Banking Committee is scheduled to hear the confirmation hearings for Kevin Warsh. [00:03:26] He is nominated to be the next Fed chair. [00:03:29] However, Senator Tillis has said he will not, he will block that and not vote for him unless the investigation into Jerome Powell is dropped. [00:03:40] What has been the White House reaction to that? [00:03:44] Look, I think this is a real problem for the White House because Tom Tillis is retiring and he's announced that he's retiring. [00:03:51] And so the White House doesn't have a lot of leverage. [00:03:54] It's one thing for a sitting Republican senator to buck the White House. [00:04:00] That person's life can be made very challenging if he wants to run for re-election. [00:04:04] The White House, Trump's political apparatus, will pour a lot of money into, for instance, supporting a challenger, but that's not the case for Tom Tillis. [00:04:15] And so this is someone who has doubled down and said, look, if DOJ does not end this investigation into Jerome Powell, he will not be voting for Kevin Worsh. [00:04:25] And so, of course, one obvious option for the White House is to have DOJ end that investigation. [00:04:32] And what is on the president's travel schedule? [00:04:36] So the president will be in Washington and he will, you know, he, again, he may host those talks between Lebanon and Israel. [00:04:47] And then we'll have to see what else ends up holding. [00:04:51] It looks like if the president has said that VP Vice President Vance may not go to Islamabad, now Vice President does. [00:05:02] We know that the president also likes to take wins, so if there is progress in those talks with Iran, there is a possibility that he may go. [00:05:11] And Sophia, you had an article last week with this headline in Politico: Trump to release reading of scripture days after angering many Christians. === Old Testament Reading Plans (00:37) === [00:05:22] The president has prepared an Old Testament reading for an event at the Museum of the Bible. [00:05:26] Tell us about that. [00:05:28] So this is coming just days after he angered a lot of Christians by posting a photo of himself depicting him as Jesus Christ. [00:05:38] Now this reading is going to be played as a virtual reading. [00:05:43] It's a public reading of the Bible that will take place over seven or eight days. [00:05:49] And the president is reading Two Chronicles, which is a verse about repentance. [00:05:54] And he's already recorded it in the Oval Office. [00:05:57] That verse will be played over two.