CSPAN - Washington Journal Open Phones
Aired: 2026-05-08
Duration: 07:59


=== Pope Leo Meets President Trump (07:59) ===

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[00:00:07]  Today, New York Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez sits down with political strategist David Axelrod to discuss the challenges and opportunities facing the United States, local communities, and younger generations.
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[00:00:38]  Today, on C-SPAN Ceasefire, former Senate Democratic Majority Leader Tom Dashell and former Vice Chair of the Senate Republican Conference Roy Blunt join our host, Dasha Burns, for a conversation about whether bipartisanship is still possible in Washington amid the various challenges facing the country, such as the ongoing Iran war and concerns about the economy.
[00:00:59]  Watch Ceasefire today at 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. Eastern and Pacific, only on C-SPAN.
[00:01:10]  Morning, everyone.
[00:01:11]  Start dialing in.
[00:01:12]  We want to get your thoughts on the back and forth between Pope Leo and President Trump.
[00:01:17]  Before we get to that, the latest on the Iran conflict, front page of the New York Times this morning, U.S. and Iran exchanged fire yesterday amid a declared truce.
[00:01:29]  Speaking to reporters last night, President Trump said the ceasefire with Iran is still on, despite the fire exchanged yesterday between the two countries.
[00:01:40]  After these strikes, is the ceasefire with Iran still on?
[00:01:44]  Yeah, it is.
[00:01:46]  They trifled with us today.
[00:01:48]  We blew them away.
[00:01:49]  They trifled.
[00:01:50]  I call that a trifle.
[00:01:52]  I'll let you know when there's no ceasefire.
[00:01:53]  You won't have to know.
[00:01:55]  If there's no ceasefire, you're not going to have to know.
[00:01:57]  You're just going to have to look at one big glow coming out of Iran.
[00:02:01]  And they better sign their agreement fast.
[00:02:04]  Could you give us an update on what is the latest in those policies?
[00:02:07]  No, it's going.
[00:02:08]  The talks are going very well, but they have to understand if it doesn't get signed, they're going to have a lot of pain.
[00:02:14]  They're going to have a lot of pain.
[00:02:16]  They want to sign it.
[00:02:17]  I will tell you.
[00:02:18]  They want to sign it a lot more than I do.
[00:02:22]  I think that's what you want to hear, fellas, eh?
[00:02:24]  But you want to hear a different tone.
[00:02:27]  That's the only thing they understand.
[00:02:28]  They don't understand it.
[00:02:30]  We had three world-class destroyers go through the strait today.
[00:02:37]  Any other country under the circumstances wouldn't have done, shot missiles at it and drones at it and these stupid boats that came at it.
[00:02:47]  They got blown away in about two minutes.
[00:02:50]  Their tanker got blown.
[00:02:53]  You know what we did with the tanker?
[00:02:54]  We didn't want to create an environment, so we shot out the rudder and a tanker's going around spinning around in circles.
[00:03:01]  They should not have done that today.
[00:03:04]  We thought they might.
[00:03:05]  We didn't know, but we were prepared.
[00:03:08]  They shot missiles.
[00:03:09]  Every missile was knocked down.
[00:03:11]  Every drone was knocked down.
[00:03:13]  And the people that shot it are no longer with us.
[00:03:16]  Is it Ren officially responded to the one-page offer?
[00:03:21]  Well, it's more than a one-page offer.
[00:03:22]  It's an offer that basically said they will not have nuclear weapons.
[00:03:26]  They're going to hand us the nuclear dust and many other things that we want.
[00:03:33]  Yeah, they agree.
[00:03:33]  But when they agree, it doesn't mean much because the next day they forget they forgot they agreed.
[00:03:39]  And, you know, we're dealing with different sets of leaders.
[00:03:42]  When you talk about regime change, you know, they keep talking about regime change.
[00:03:46]  Well, we got rid of the first regime.
[00:03:48]  We got rid of the second regime.
[00:03:49]  We got rid of most of the third regime.
[00:03:51]  And then they say, oh, is that regime change?
[00:03:55]  I think it's the ultimate regime change.
[00:03:56]  How close would you say that you are to a deal right now with Iran?
[00:04:00]  It could happen any day.
[00:04:02]  And it might not happen, but it could happen any day.
[00:04:05]  I believe they want the deal more than I do.
[00:04:08]  President Trump last night on the latest with Iran, the president said, noting that the U.S. is waiting on Iran to respond to the latest peace deal.
[00:04:19]  The president sent Marco Rubio, the Secretary of State, to the Vatican to meet with Pope as the two exchange barbs again this week, Pope Leo and President Trump.
[00:04:33]  The headline in the Washington Post is Rubio in Rome seeks to mend fences with Pope Leo and aides cite friendly meeting as Rubio aims to mend the U.S. ties with the Pope.
[00:04:45]  The president last night had this to say on the message he asked the Secretary of State to deliver to Pope Leo in their meeting this week.
[00:04:55]  I just said, tell the Pope very nicely, very respectfully, that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.
[00:05:05]  So when he comes in their defense, also tell the Pope that Iran killed 42,000 innocent protesters who didn't have guns, who didn't have weapons.
[00:05:16]  Tell that to the Pope.
[00:05:19]  The president on the message he wanted delivered by the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, to the Pope yesterday.
[00:05:25]  The Vatican put out a statement about the meeting saying, describing the talks as cordial and insisted the shared commitment to fostering good bilateral relations between the Holy See and the United States of America was reaffirmed.
[00:05:40]  But the niceties stopped, according to the Daily Beast, there.
[00:05:43]  There followed an exchange of views regarding the regional and international situation, with particular attention to countries marked by war, political tensions, and difficult humanitarian situations, as well as the need to work tirelessly in support of peace, the Vatican added.
[00:06:01]  This morning, your thoughts on the tensions between Pope Leo, President Trump, and his administration over Iran.
[00:06:10]  There are the lines on your screen.
[00:06:12]  Democrats, 202-748-8000.
[00:06:15]  Republicans, 202-748-8001.
[00:06:19]  Independents, 202-748-8002.
[00:06:23]  And Catholics, your line this morning, 202-748-8003.
[00:06:28]  And remember, you can also text if you don't want to call at 202-748-8003.
[00:06:34]  Just include your first name, city, and state.
[00:06:38]  On the exchange of the meeting between Pope Leo and the Secretary of State, the two exchanged gifts when they met yesterday.
[00:06:47]  The Independent out of the UK says the Pope gave Marco Rubio an olive branch as a gift, but could only say, wow, okay, when he saw what the U.S. brought him.
[00:06:59]  Secretary of State Marco Rubio gave the Pope a crystal football, given that he is from Chicago.
[00:07:08]  And there was a pen made out of olive that was given to the Secretary of State.
[00:07:16]  The Independent newspaper notes that it was a not so subtle gift by the Pope, given the exchange between the two sides over Iran.
[00:07:27]  A recent poll conducted by the Washington Post, ABC News, Ipsos, found that Americans' reaction to statements by the President and the Pope when polled, 57% reacted negatively to President Trump's past false claims that the Pope said Iran should be able to have a nuclear weapon.
[00:07:48]  66% react positively to Pope Leo asking America.
[00:07:54]  to leave this now to hear from former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, who now serves as national chair of the