I- is President Trump, do you think, making that same mistake?

I think he is, Anderson.

I mean, when I was in the Biden administration, you know, we kept saying inflation was transitory, but the reality is, is that people did not feel like the economy was working for them, and we didn't acknowledge that pain that they were feeling, whether it was at grocery stores or, you know, everyday bills.

And so I think the fact that the president is trying to say that the economy is better than ever when you have gas prices, grocery prices, healthcare costs going up through the roof, this is exactly what the president campaigned against.

And I think this election will be decided on the economy and corruption.

And I think that's what's really motivating Democrats right now to get out and vote and to vote against this president who keeps saying, you know, he, "Pretend like I'm on the ballot." Well, damn right, Democrats are gonna pretend like you're on the ballot, and we're very motivated to get out there and vote right now.

Do Democrats run, run the risk, you think, S- uh, Sabrina, of being too confident in, in this polling, um, given what we have seen pretty much every election?

Well, certainly, again, the, you know, the president's comments, I think the governor hit on it, it's just kind of strange, a little, little quirky.

President Trump in the past has largely resisted Saudi requests for direct US military intervention, but could it be different this time?

It certainly could be different this time.

I think Saudi is making the plea to this administration to get involved.

But you'll remember last year during the operations against the Houthis that this administration launched, they were spending almost a billion dollars on those operations.

a day just to combat some of those Houthi capabilities.

And we are still seeing the Houthis have retained a vast number of capabilities and being able to expand out beyond their military targets, but really hitting economic targets, including that east-west pipeline that we know Saudi has relied on, on moving oil out of the Strait of Hormuz across the country and up the Red Sea.

And we also know that this hit on this airport really hits at their economic priorities when it comes to trying to make Saudi feel the pain.

Does Ukraine have to prepare to go it alone at some point in the near future?

President Trump in the past has largely resisted Saudi requests for direct US military intervention, but could it be different this time?

It certainly could be different this time.

I think Saudi is making the plea to this administration to get involved, but you'll remember last year during operation, um, uh, w- during the operations against the Houthis, um, that this administration launched, they were spending almost a billion dollars on those operations a day just to, um, combat some of those Houthi capabilities.

And we are still seeing the Houthis have retained a vast number of capabilities and being able to expand out beyond their military targets, but really hitting economic targets, including that east-west pipeline that we know Saudi has relied on, on moving oil out of the Strait of Hormuz, across the country, and up the Red Sea.

And we also know that this hit on this airport, um, really hits at their economic priorities, um, when it comes to trying to make Saudi feel the pain.

I mean, there is a large, uh, conference that the crown prince had organized for this, uh, week, and the fact that the Houthis have been able to disrupt global travel to Saudi, um, it's just another economic impact that Saudi and the rest of the world is going to feel if the Houthis continues these attacks.

So to answer your question, Wolf, I do think that the Trump administration feels a little bit more pressure to intervene, but will they? I think that remains to be seen.

Does Ukraine have to prepare to go it alone at some point in the near future?

Do you think this has any impact?

Well, again, I mean, kind of to piggyback off of what David was saying, it's yet again just a crude comment coming from the president.

And just it's something that we've come to expect.

And unfortunately, this rhetoric that we've seen from him just percolates down to other members of his administration or into other candidates in their races.

I don't know that that comment necessarily has an effect.

I think what you're seeing have an effect in states like South Carolina is Republican candidates are underwater.

I mean, just earlier this week, The Senate Leadership Fund canceled their buy in North Carolina and are moving $5 million in South Carolina to prop up Darlene Graham.

Sabrina, do you want to answer it?

Sabrina, does that argument of, well, he's not on the ballot, that the White House might be making make sense to you?

Well, what's interesting is Donald Trump has actually said the exact opposite.

And David mentioned that as well.

I mean, Donald Trump at the RNC midterm convention said, pretend I'm on the ballot.

And these ads reinforce that message that, OK, you elected me once, you know, pretend I'm on the ballot this time.

And I think to David's point, you know, when you think about the person driving home who has twenty dollars in their pocket to spend on filling up a tank of gas, Not only is that not going to get you there, but when you hear that your taxpayer dollars have been spent, millions and millions of dollars have been spent to run an ad during Sunday night football, that's very expensive.

And I think a lot of Americans, where no matter where you are, question, this administration's priorities.

Sabrina, do you think Trump's presence on the campaign trail does favors for vulnerable GOP candidates?

Could you tell us a little bit more about what it was like to witness the department's resurgence in real time?

Yeah.

You know, we had...

Very tough prior year with the withdrawal from Afghanistan.

I mean, our and I will say our military in terms of the efforts and logistics that were put into evacuations and getting people out.

Um, was an incredible effort and, you know, someone that deserves a lot of praise for communicating at that time.

All the work that the U.S. military was doing was John Kirby, who was the press secretary then, because he was talking about it.

On the topic of the DoD, can you give us an inside look into what it was like working for the Department of Defense during October 7th? And again, on the media side of it, how did that shape the public perception of the attack that you still see today in media?

How devastating might this be for America's national security? And do you think that it's being brought up by Trump to Xi?

Well, I would certainly, if I was advising the president, I think this would be one of the points that I push.

We need those parts back.

How did this happen? An investigation would certainly need to play out.

But I think this is incredibly damaging and embarrassing for the United States.

I mean, this is our most sophisticated aircraft platform that our military uses.

And the proprietary information in some of the parts that were rerouted can be devastating, not only to reverse engineer, but these are the fighters that can evade detection.

Your response? What do you think?

Why should Americans also be paying close attention to the fact that this conflict is widening?

This was something that we dealt with in the Biden administration and something that I spoke to when I was at the Pentagon.

I mean, we were launching strikes against the Houthis because they were interrupting shipping in the Red Sea.

I think the difference here is that we brought together a coalition of countries to combat that threat.

I think what Americans need to be worried about is this is another passage that oil flows through.

So if the Houthis close off the Bab al-Mandeb, that is yet another choke point for oil and diesel and everything that we rely on as an economy and the global economy.

So that means prices are going to go up, and that means diesel in particular is going to keep rising.

What can we expect from this meeting?

Sabrina, could the president, whether he realizes it or not, be laying a political trap, basically daring Democrats to oppose these $5,000 payments, even if they're still far-fetched at this point?

I actually don't think so.

This is a real act of desperation.

I think you've seen the president's policies failed.

Americans all across the country are seeing higher oil prices, higher diesel prices, grocery, electricity.

And so there is bipartisan backlash to this plan.

I mean, even Governor Ron DeSantis said the idea of giving out $5,000 checks to all Americans, all adult Americans, is going to increase our inflation and our debt.

Do you think this convention or the promises he's making, do you think it's going to move the needle?

And he admitted he hasn't won it yet.

Exactly.

Exactly.

And so we're in the seventh month right now.

We've blown past the deadlines of this being a four to six week conflict war, and now we're just looking at soaring oil and ga- uh, oil and diesel prices for Americans, and of course, the global economy has been upended.

So I, I don't think this message is resonating unfor- unfortunately, even as much as he wants to believe it.

Do you think, first of all, it has the appetite to continue strikes and continue this, right? And then also the weaponry and ability to really take meaningful action against Pickaxe Mountain.

I don't think this administration or Iran really wants to go back to a full-scale war.

What do you suspect he actually means?

He's probably talking about different command and control centers that are along the strait, radar centers, depots where the IRGC stores different weapons.

I think this administration has made a dent in some of their targets, but Iran still retains massive capabilities.

And of course, we saw recent reporting from CNN and others that there were innocent civilians also killed in these strikes.

U.S. Central Command is likely launching an investigation into exactly what happened and the strike that happened on Monday that was allegedly at a wedding.

But this is very serious.

And I think what this shows is that Iran not only maintains capabilities to keep the strait closed, the strait is not open.

How likely is regime change at the hands of the Iranian citizens really likely to happen?

What is the impact of that, in your view, on that alliance?

Well, when we continue to go after our allies, I mean, we're degrading these very deep relationships.

I mean, we have a very deep relationship with Canada.

They're part of our intelligence sharing.

They help us protect our men and women overseas, serving all around the world.

And it is because of that close relationship that we need to protect these alliances and going after— like anything from canceling the exercises with South Korea to going after Canada to kind of this trolling of this is the 51st state, it all has irreparable harm to not just the military who has to work with these countries every single day wherever they are placed around the world, but just to our alliances everywhere we go.

And after this president, a new president has come in, whoever that is, Republican or Democrat, and they are going to have this baggage of having to repair these alliances that have been so degraded.

Final thoughts, Sabrina, before we go.

What do you think will be the military's takeaway on these extended deployments at the end of the Lincoln's journey?

Well, that's a great photo.

So exciting to see those sailors and Marines be able to touch land after such a historically long deployment.

And in Thailand, they're getting some of that R&R that they so deserve.

But look, this has put an incredible strain on the force.

The Lincoln was extended multiple times.

Now you have two aircraft carriers, the Bush and the Washington, operating in the Middle East.

As someone who worked inside the Pentagon, as you did, how significant is this loss of senior decision makers?

Sabrina, despite Trump's comments, what does Ratcliffe's visit signal to you about the seriousness of, of, uh, the US concerns?

Well, I think what it signals is that the US is taking very seriously the possible threat that Vladimir Putin will use this moment to expand his war in Ukraine to other NATO countries, and the United States, this administration in particular, cannot afford that right now.

Our stockpiles are too low.

We do not have enough forces that we would be able to surge to the region.

And I think what Ratcliffe in particular is worried about, should Article Five be invoked, because we have seen incursions of Russian missiles and drones into NATO countries' airspaces, that would mean that the United States would have to honor its commitment to Article Five and, um, you know, against any assault into a NATO country.

And we just don't have the stockpiles, the depth in our magazines to do that right now.

What are the chance that r- Russia could actually carry out a- another attempt, uh, and go against a, a, a NATO ally in Europe?

Well, I think Vladimir Putin is willing to take the risk.

How significant is it that this carrier is now making its way back home to the United States and being relieved by another vessel, the USS George Washington aircraft carrier, amid concerning reports about the crew's mental health and wellbeing?

Well, it's certainly significant.

I mean, this, the USS Abraham Lincoln that I know Pam Brown also, uh, embarked to and, and had spoken to many of those sailors and Marines on board, um, they were deployed, um, for, since November, and only had two port calls.

So we know that they have been really tested, and that, um, they have been at sea for just an extended amount of time.

So I think it is a great thing that they are coming home, but this is g- also going to be a long journey home.

I mean, it's gonna take weeks to come back from the Middle East.

It's a good al- also thing that we now have a new carrier coming in, the George Washington, to backfill the Lincoln, but that does leave us exposed in the Indo-Pacific, because the George Washington is coming from the Indo-Pacific, from Japan where it was originally stationed, and now we don't have a carrier presence there, which is a messaging signal to China and North Korea, um, that we just have a less of a presence in the Indo-Pacific as our interests get pulled more into the Iran war.

I'm Natalie Harp, a formerly forgotten American from California.

Do you think these two Trump moves are connected?

connected?Yes.

I, I do think him, the, the president attacking our, our very longstanding ally, South Korea, was really a head-scratching moment.

I mean, that was a exercise that we conduct with South Korea.

It's an annual exercise.

It's to test our interoperability, um, and it's to project power to North Korea and to China.

I do think President Trump wants a meeting on the books with President Kim Jong Un.

Yesterday, Clancy's former mother-in-law took the stand, and she described Lindsay as a wonderful mother who was a, quote, "Very nurturing and very loving mom," but she also told jurors that Lindsay was, quote, "Begging for help."

Here's what we would do if North Korea began to strike.

That's right, and it's a simulation, and also we know that these soldiers that were sent from North Korea to Russia have learned critical information about drone warfare, which is the modern day battlefield, and electromagnetic warfare.

So this was an exercise that was gonna test all of this.

I don't know what it means exactly when Trump says we're gonna have to scale it back.

It's started already.

It's an 11-day exercise that's gonna go on.

But I think, are we surprised that he's making any overtures [laughs] to, you know, Kim Jong Un? No.

It's infuriating.

What do you think needs to happen here? I mean, what does semi-negotiating tell you?

Well, they keep moving the goalpost also because, you know, the U.S. position changes, too.

And so, you know, when the MOU fell apart and you had this naval blockade get reinstated, I think Iran just saw that as, OK, we're going to use this as a hard line and we're going to continue to try and control this straight.

I think What this administration is trying to do right now is use economic pressure to get Iran back to the table.

Already, right now in Iran, you look at basic groceries, it's at 400% inflation.

This is not sustainable for Iran, and they know that.

And so the economic levers that this administration can pull, I think that's what they're trying to do, rather than pursuing the military efforts at this point.

Sabrina, walk us through why it's not so simple to just

So I assume there's a, a massive effort underway right now to rebuild a lot of those interceptors, those missiles.

This is a problem that we even struggled with, with, in the Biden administration.

The defense industrial base, um, is, is strained, and there are, um, constraints when it comes to producing these missiles.

I mean, some of them take 24 months to make.

That's two years.

Um, they're very costly.

And so it takes a lot of time.

What was your reaction, Sabrina, when you heard that?

Yeah, it's not a surprise that the president is yet again trying to take a victory lap for some of the military successes that have unfolded over the last five months.

I mean, yes, he is right.

We have degraded Iran's, um, military, but Iran still retains capabilities that are very capable of reaching US bases in the region.

And I think he's really trying to downplay the impacts of s- of, and the far-reaching impacts of their ballistic missile program and their drones.

I mean, at the end of the day, and I think the American people know this, every single time that they drive by the gas pump, they're seeing higher prices, and that is because the Strait of Hormuz, which was open before this war started, is now closed.

So even though the president wants to say that Iran has no navy, no air force, they're degraded, the reality is that they still have capabilities that have closed the strait.

And w- what do you make, if anything, uh, Sabrina, about the fact the president keeps referring to this as a military operation, a military operation with Iran? He still refuses to use the word war.

And trust me, he would have wanted to wait till after the midterms if it were up to him.

I, I would just on that note, though, I would say that- President Trump, if, I think he thought this was going to be a short operation.

He thought this was gonna be like Venezuela.

He said this is gonna be four to six weeks, a little detour.

Um, the reality is that this is not anything like Venezuela.

It's so much more complicated.

So to your point, I think also he wanted another win before the midterms, another thing to say, "I've toppled the regime, and I'm walking away victorious." And today the strait is closed, which was open pre-war.

Yes.

Uh, do you see any change in the Saudi position on this issue as far as normalizing, establishing diplomatic relations with Israel along, along the lines of the so-called Abraham Accords? Or are the Saudis gonna continue to resist that until Israel accepts what's called a two-state solution, Israel living alongside a new state of Palestine?

As of right now, a- and, and as you mentioned and Nick was talking about, this was something that was discussed under the Biden administration, and one of the conditions was the normalization of ties with Israel and also safeguards and, and protections put in place, um, on a nuclear program.

Now, I don't s- I mean, Saudi Arabia made it pretty clear after October 7th and Israel's conduct of what happened in Gaza that they were not any closer to normalizing ties.

So I think in answer to your question, no, I don't see Saudi Arabia moving any closer to that anytime soon.

I think what's interesting here is what the Trump administration has done is essentially they've, they're trying to bring in American companies to, I think, box out China and Russia from establishing some type of nuclear program with Saudi Arabia.

But the problem here, and I think what you're gonna hear from many members of Congress as well, that, um, there's concern about that.

I mean, if you're taking away some of those safeguards, um, that we need in place, how do we know that they're not going to enrich and, and sort of develop their nuclear program over time? And I think Israel, of course, is going to have a big say in that as well.

As Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth rolls back DEI policies in the military and blocks the promotions of high-ranking Black officers, what does the makeup of these fallen service members say to you about the current makeup of the US military?

Uh, but they're really worried about major security concerns aboard that plane because they don't have the security precautions that the normal, the old Air Force One had.

Well, I think that's what's interesting about this whole investigation that's happening at the White House with Susie Wiles and FBI director, Kash Patel, is they're clearly embarrassed by this.

I mean, it is embarrassing that the president, he was touted this new aircraft from the Qataris.

It had to be retrofitted with hundreds of millions of dollars, and then he couldn't even fly home on it.

It's not a surprise, I think, from the reporting that you saw, that it wasn't a secure aircraft.

And so the president, like Brett was just saying, Air Force One is the most secure aircraft in the entire world.

The president needs access to certain things that the Qatari jet just did not have.

Is that realistic?

Will these strikes by the U.S. deter the Iranian regime?

I don't think these strikes are going to deter Iran.

I think Iran has become more emboldened.

I mean, because of some of the language in the MOU, it was confusing on who is actually responsible, not only for demining the Strait, but who is going to manage traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.

And because of that, Iran basically interpreted the MOU as that They are going to own some of the traffic and managing that traffic through the strait.

So they feel emboldened that as ships transit and they're not coordinating with Iran, they're going to respond.

And of course, you saw the US respond last night.

Now that military strikes have resumed, though, how difficult will it be to keep negotiations alive?

Uh, first on this Rubio visit that's ongoing right now, how has the war with Iran impacted these relationships, the US relationships with Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, these other Gulf countries?

This war has put a tremendous strain on US relationships with these countries.

You'll remember that these countries weren't even consulted when Israel and the US conducted joint strikes starting this war back in February 28th.

So there's a lot of concern among- amongst these Gulf countries, um, especially some of the rhetoric coming from top administration officials.

I mean, we saw Pete Hegseth just a few months ago say, "You know, we might leave the Strait, and it's up for other people, other countries to figure it out." That is a- a huge stressor for these nations who are now saying, "You started this war.

It's a war of choice.

You gotta finish it through, and you gotta clean up the mess." And so I heard Marco Rubio say yesterday this is a listening tour for him, as it should be, because we do need those allies back on our side, and we depend on them.

How has the situation in Lebanon, Israel's war with Hezbollah in Lebanon, impacted what's going on in the bro- broader picture?