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Well, a two-week ceasefire is insufficient. We need a permanent end to Donald Trump's reckless war of choice. It is unbelievable in terms of the priorities, and yet we've seen this president's behavior unhinged, unpresidential, unconscionable. Donald Trump just caved, backing down from his fake deadline. You know, the negotiations here have been a kind of almost a case book in how not to negotiate.
So it's not surprising that the ceasefire is fragile. You have no real trust built up between them. Really?
Okay, so they were not happy that Donald Trump said, I gave you a deadline, and they're not happy that the ceasefire is put in place. But it's almost predictable, as Hakeem Jeffrey, Simone Sanders, and Fareed Zakaria weigh in. Let's find out what Martha McCallum thinks. Martha, this is a moving target. Ceasefire came out about 8 o'clock last night.
The Iranians say, I got 10 points down here. We agreed to all of them. We have 15 points, and they said they've agreed to all of them, and there's still firing going on in the Gulf states.
So, what's your take on this?
Well, hi, Brian. Great to be with you this morning. Yesterday, I spoke to RoConna on my show, and he had a very similar sentiment, very wrapped up in the words and the language the President was using, and not so much in the actions that surround it. I mean, I think that the big headline is that we have seen. An enormous amount of change in the Middle East, in really in the first year of the Trump term, in terms of who our relationships are strong with, with the Gulf states, the fact that you've got flyover rights for Israel in the Gulf states, and Iran is extraordinarily isolated at this point.
But it comes down to a question of how this plays out for these ceasefire points over the next couple of weeks. And there are so many questions because, as you well know, the 10 points from the Iranians are quite different from the 15 points from the United States. But we're further than we have been. We heard this morning from the Pentagon that they have done an incredible job at achieving their targets. The big question now, I think, is.
You know, I would love to see a forceful movement of U.S. flagships, U.K. flagships, French ships, going into the strait and making it very clear that Iran does not have control over that waterway. Yeah, well, forget Europe. I mean, they don't even have ships in place.
And in the UK's places, you know, Martha, they don't even have any ships. And they had to borrow Germany ships in order to do some of the war games with NATO. And things have never been worse. What do you expect to happen with Mark Ruda when he comes to the White House today?
Well, I think Mark Ruta, the NATO general secretary, and President Trump have a good relationship. I think Mark Ruta is not on the same page with a lot of the members of NATO. It's very clear that the President feels that that relationship is permanently damaged. I mean, it is so striking to me, and I've said this many times, but I just think it's a good point to make up, to bring up, which is that when European nations were afraid that President Trump was going to take Greenland by force, which I don't think anybody ever thought was exactly what was going to happen. They sent little pockets of troops to protect Greenland from President Trump.
But when the Iranians shut down the Strait of Hormuz, which is 20% of the traffic of world energy, and they have no interest in participating, it tells you everything you need to know, I think, about the politics that are at play in these countries, how much they've changed over the course of the last decade or decade, two decades perhaps, that they're not there for us. I think this is a relationship that has changed forever, honestly, at this point.
So, Mark Roche is going to try to mend it to the greatest extent that he can. But I think in this president's heart and mind, he's tested them and they did not measure up. Right. And you could say he could have briefed them ahead of time, but not letting us use our bases in Italy, in Spain, I mean, in France. I just.
I I Cannot tell you how outraged I feel about that decision. I completely agree with you. And let's remember that, and when I hear people talk about this on other networks, I'm just shocked at the way that they're framing it. The correct framing is that these are U.S. bases with soldiers that are there to protect Europe from Russia.
Okay, that is why they are there. They're there to protect Europe.
So the idea that they're not going to let us touch down, fly over, refuel at these bases, which we put there to protect Europe. Is absolutely stunning and shocking. And let's not forget while we're at it. Gotcha. Martha, hold that thought right here.
Back in a moment. Martha McAllaman Studio and Martha, as we've talked about the ceasefire, I'm just looking at Bloomberg and let me just give you an idea of what an odd ceasefire we have. Saudi Arabia's pipeline reports limited damage from a drone hit that just happened. Kuwait's air defenses have been dealing with intense attacks from Iran since 8 a.m. Oh, interesting.
They intercepted 28 drones targeting Kuwait. Isn't that interesting? And they continue to hit the UAE.
So now we understand too, according to reports, the Strait of Hermuz is shut down because Israel is still hitting Hezbollah. This is a strange ceasefire. Lindsey Graham has come out and said, we need whoever negotiated this, the Vice President, to come to Congress and explain what you negotiated. This is not good. Yeah, it's not good.
I think one of the you know, I found it really interesting. The president talked about the regime change and the more reasonable people to deal with in Iran. And then, you know, as we learned more, it turned out that it indeed was the person that for a couple of days it looked like he hadn't made it or we didn't know if he was incapacitated, Maktad al-Khomeini.
So he is in charge. He was passing messages to work on this deal. But as I mentioned before the break, we really have very different points. The 10 points and the 15 points appear to be very, very far apart.
So we'll see how this goes. I think Obviously, everyone wants to see an end to this effort. I think we heard from the Pentagon this morning that they felt like they had checked the boxes and that their part of this is done. But there are two very big issues. The straight keeping it open And who's going to get paid or not paid for people to go through that waterway is a huge issue.
And then you have many, many Iranians who are waiting for a true reform, a true regime change to happen in Iran to be able to throw off their hijabs if that's what they want to do and live a free life.
So there's a long way to go here, no doubt about it. There's no doubt about it. We need to see some things clarified. But my sense is. that this thing will be back in action full boar because If the strait isn't open and our allies are being bombed, what's the point of having a pretend ceasefire next time they meet us on Friday?
Also, I'm sure you saw the report that the President said it doesn't look like J.D. Vance will be there on Friday. They said security reasons, it'll be Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff. I want you to hear what Jake Sullivan said if the President went through and bombed the infrastructure of Iran, Cut 12. If we go after civilian infrastructure the way he's promising to go after civilian, by the most basic reading.
of the rules of international law. Would those be war crimes the United States was committing? The way this is set up, the answer to that question is straightforward. It's yes, they would be because this is punitive. He's not going after a power plant because it's a pure military target that's fueling the war machine against the United States.
He's going against those power plants to punish Iran and punish the Iranian people to try to make them basically quit.
So do they does Jake Sullivan understand what Iran has been doing? They've purely been targeting infrastructure of the UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Oman at times, and even Turkey a couple of times. And that's what they're doing with Israel. What if we heard Jake Sullivan say Iran is committing war crimes? Yeah, no, it's unbelievable.
Not to mention the war crime of killing up to 40,000 civilians in the streets, shooting women between the eyes, throwing acid in your face if you have the gall to let some of your strands of hair show under your hijab.
So these are things that are criminal against human nature. We've seen war crimes happening all across the board. But the other detail that we're learning more about this morning is how carefully these targets and this plan was created to hit. Energy targets. It doesn't look like it was going to be civilian-oriented in terms of the bridges and the energy.
It looks like it was militarily oriented in terms of what was actually on the target list, had the president decided to pull the trigger on that last night. Yeah, and by the way, you have a show coming up at 3 o'clock. Who are you having on today? We're going to talk to Jack Keene. Obviously, we've heard from him this morning a little bit, but he, you know, I think is very wary about the situation in the Strait of Hormuz.
He's not supporting it. He does not support this. Yeah, he feels like we're going to be back here again. Obviously, the President has political pressures that are weighing on him as well with the price of oil, which is coming down quite a bit today.
So that's a major development, and we're going to talk about that today as well. We're also going to talk to two Iranians, a former Iranian national wrestling champion and a doctor who was born in Iran, about what they're hearing, about what the people on the ground feel. Because I think for many Iranians, there are certainly supporters of the regime, but a lot of people A lot of people want a regime to change desperately. And I think we're going to hear from them that they feel like they're not there yet, and they want this to continue until that happens. No question.
And I want you to hear the little sparring that went on. By the way, I listened to your interview with RoConna. He clearly fancies himself a television, excuse me, a presidential candidate. And he thinks his best bet is Epstein files and the president's impeachment. I think the one thing that can give the Republicans back the House is if the Democrats keep running on things like impeachment because that's not the priorities of the American people for a President that's going to be done one way or another in two years, and you're not going to get it.
Yeah, I completely agree with you. And I think even when I listen to Jake Sullivan, it makes me kind of sad that people who have obviously studied world affairs for a long, long time cannot just be more clear-eyed when they look at this situation. They're so blinded by Trump derangement syndrome that they can't be clear-eyed in looking at the world, looking at the improvements we've seen in the Middle East, which are clear, and where we need to go from here. And I think that when they get serious about the issues that really confront the country, and we do have economic issues here at home to deal with, and get off this stuff, then they might have a shot. I think you're right.
Dials up another 13 points. But this sparring took place yesterday on CNN with General Wesley Clark, a member of a former Democratic candidate for president, was, I think, running NATO when Bill Clinton was president. I just want you to hear this. Cut 15. And the other thing that's very clear is that President Trump has said from the beginning that.
This is not an effort against the Iranian people. It's an effort on behalf of the Iranian people to help them escape the clutch of the regime in Tehran.
So that in itself is an argument against a conventional looking at this as some kind of a war crime. And I hear what you're saying, but once Iran has implored people and they've answered that call, as we see in these pictures, including little kids, to stand on bridges, does that change the legal calculation? Of the military looking at these targets. I think it certainly raises questions about the regime in Tehran and what their intent is. You know, during the war against Iraq in the 1980s, they used children to clear minefields.
They just pushed unarmed people and young kids forward to clear the minefields by walking over them and killing themselves.
So this is the tactic that this Iranian regime has employed in the past. I'm not appalling. General, and I hear what you're saying about that. That's appalling, right? But this is different.
This is different having. Yeah, this is appalling also. But having the U.S., in that case, right, the U.S., I mean, let's just talk about what the U.S. calculation is here. She can't handle the fact that the general is saying, Are you kidding me?
Iran is worse than us and even worse than Trump. She can't wrap her head around it. Yeah. No, you know, I mean, look at how many people who stand up against the regime, even in the smallest of ways, are being hung from cranes in the middle of Tehran. Why is she not outraged by that?
18, 19-year-olds, over 100 of them. Hanging from cranes in the middle of Tehran.
So, does it surprise anyone? That this leadership and you know, we're again, it seems like it's so basic, but you have to, it's not clear from some of these interviews that you have to separate, for the most part, the Iranian people from this regime. They are told, if you know, if someone threw your neighbor into prison or hung him from a crane last week, and then today they tell you and your kids to go stand outside of an energy center, you're probably gonna do it. You're probably gonna stand out there and wave the flag, right? Uh You have to.
Of course you do. You have to.
So, what do you expect to happen? And the thing is, we're smarter than that. All these anchors are smarter than that. You might not like Trump's rhetoric. You say, hey, don't use the word civilization.
Focus more on the military. You could say, okay, go ahead. Maybe take another beat before you post something on Truth Social. Guilty is charged. We already know that's the President's method.
But just understand. The only thing that could come out of this positive for America is doing the right thing for the people of Iran and the greater Middle East. And you know who understands that, Martha? The Middle East. The Gulf states have stood with us.
It's Europe that's looking down their nose at us. I think this is the most important point of all. I mean, look at the relationship between the Gulf states and Israel right now. Look at the fact that Pakistan, right, which harbored Osama bin Laden and supplied munitions against the United States after 9-11, is trying to broker some sort of peace here.
Now, they're also quite friendly with China. But there's been a re- The table has been reset in the Middle East in an enormous way. Iran is in a very desperate position right now. They are more isolated than ever. And China and Russia, you know, I mean, have helped them a little bit with some targets, but they're not turning out in force to protect Iran at this point.
You know, do they like their oil deals? Yes. Are they standing at the forefront to protect Iran from these bombs that have been coming at them for the past six weeks? No. I know.
It's insane. When we come back, Martha, I just want to talk a little bit of politics, too, because. We had an election last night. Marjorie Taylor Green's seat is filled with a Republican, one by ten, and it was a Trump-supported Republican, which is interesting. And there's something else that Harry Enton on CNN came up with that I think that has Democrats, should have Democrats concerned.
I'm not sure they understand it.
Well, we'll discuss when we come back with the great Martha McCallum, who shows at 3 o'clock today. Don't move. Democrats will impeach him once we take back the House and should impeach him for all the things he's done. And depending on the Senate, he may face conviction if we get to 60, especially if his numbers keep going down and the Epstein issue continues to be a vulnerability. He's absolutely clueless and he's too smart for this, but he wants to be president.
He thinks extreme statements will get him there. Martha McCallum, who showed the story, starts at 3 o'clock Eastern Time today. Martha, if I'm Republicans, this is exactly what they're going to do, just so you know. This is exactly the gameplay. I can't believe it.
It should be turning the page on Trump, but that's what they're going to dig in to do, in my estimation. Your thoughts.
Well, I think that's where they are right now, you know, heading into the midterms. They're still very focused. They don't have any power in the House or in the Senate, really.
So. As they look towards the midterms, I think it's still all about Trump derangement syndrome. I think that the impeachment idea was fueled yesterday by, you know, oh, these are war crimes.
Okay, so now we're just documenting war crimes, and maybe there was even disappointment that it didn't happen because it loses perhaps. A talking point for them for impeachment going forward. I don't think there's a lot of patience in America to go down that road again. I really don't. I think that Americans are going to want more focus on the economy.
I think AI is also going to become a big issue in the next presidential election when you look at some of the programs that are now being worked on, and that even the people creating them feel that they're kind of losing a little bit of control over some of these programs.
So, my guess is we're going to be pretty far past that at this point, but I think they're using it as fuel for the midterms for now. Yeah, I guess we'll see it. I know. We have a few reports that they really want to run on that. But as I mentioned before, Harry Enton, everyone is talking about Trump's numbers are dropping, and he acknowledges that.
But he also said this: Cut 29. This lead is historically low for Democrats at this point with the Republican president. Because take a look here, and I'm taking a look at the average of all the polls. Dem generic congressional ballot lead at this point in the cycle with the Republican president. On average, their lead is actually slightly less.
It's five points. That's less than it was back in 2018 when it was eight points, and way less than it was during the 2006 cycle when it was 11 points.
So, yeah, Democrats are ahead. But they're only ahead by five with a president whose net approval rating is bordering on minus 20 to minus 30, depending on what pose you look at. You'd make the argument Democrats should be way ahead. And they're just only sort of slightly ahead. I think five points is enough to take back the House.
But in the Senate, five points is almost certainly not enough if you apply it to the Senate map.
So what are your thoughts about what his numbers say? I think it adds up. I think that makes sense in terms of how it feels in the country. I think a lot of the disgruntlement that you see on the part of Americans is based on the economy, is based on oil prices. I think that's why no doubt there are voices at the White House and within the party who are encouraging the President to move on from this battle to let oil prices come back down a bit.
The President just talked to Jonathan Carl at ABC News and said that he's looking for perhaps a joint venture with Iran in terms of making money off of the Strait of Hormuz. We know that President Trump looked for that kind of economic model coming out of Venezuela as well, and he's very elated that there have been oil transactions that the United States is making money off of in the Venezuela picture.
So it's going to be interesting to see where this goes. But you can feel the gravity of the President's concern about the U.S. economy and about How voters feel about it as we head to the midterms. And I think that's why you're getting sort of, you know, a desire to stick and move from this moment. Whether or not Iran will let us stick and move, I'm not so sure.
I mean, yes, their military has been decimated, but they're terrorists. They're a terrorist nation. That's what they do. Asymmetric warfare, whether it's cyber or whether it's other frightening ideas as well, could pull us back in this direction. I hope that doesn't happen, but it wouldn't surprise me.
Yeah, I just wanted to know, I'm very curious. Republicans have their problems with people in MAGA, Adam MAGA, Marjorie Taylor Greene's seat. Obviously, some podcasters seem to be off the train. Steve Bannon thinks he's, I guess, off the train and others. But I also think that Democrats have some huge problems because there's people way out to the left that are in a whole new party.
I'm seeing Josh Gottheimer weigh in and tell co-out Bernie Sanders for praising Hassan Poland. Piker. Piker is a proud anti-Semite, he says, and said America's deserve 9-11. And Bernie Sanders has no problem praising him. And so does this Senate candidate in Michigan says, I don't agree with everything he says, but he's a friend of mine.
I'm not going to be part of cancel culture. That's something that's going to be tough to overcome. Yeah, I think you're right. Rokana also went on Piker's show and basically said, look, I like to debate with people and d to discuss. He he is a anti-Semite, as you say, Brian.
He rejects, you know, basically said he's looking forward something along those lines to another 9-11. Apparently, he tried to walk that back. I don't know how easy that is to do.
So it's, you know, October 7th. He, you know, sort of had sympathy, I guess, for Hamas's motives on October 7th. This is so far away from the fundamental underpinning of this country. And you see it to a certain extent on both sides.
So I think it's going to be very interesting to see how that shakes out. And it may bring some gravity among some Democrats towards President Trump and Republicans in the midterms.
So that could be a modifying element to the numbers that you're seeing from Harry Enton. Yeah, I just think too it's going to be a lifetime. Right now, Iran's a big deal. What's going to be happening in June and July? They're going to be very, very pro-American.
They got the World Cup, but hopefully rallied around the flag and then didn't see what happens with the economy. Is this a one-month blimp where we paid a little bit more, but overall, the drilling and the energy and the lack of regulation is going to allow everything to boom. Martha McCallum today at 3 o'clock. Martha, thanks so much. Thank you, Brian.
Appreciate you. Yep, keep it here. Brian, Kill Meet Show.
