← The Beat with Ari Melber
The Beat with Ari Melber
Amid Gas Prices Spike, Trump Issues New Threats Against Iran
00:41:34
President Trump attempts to make his case for an unpopular war in Iran amid a global energy crisis and ongoing economic strain. MS NOW’s Ari Melber is joined by Democratic strategist James Carville to break down the political implications.
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- [00:00]
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- [00:54]
Ari Melber
Welcome to the Beat. I'm Ari Melber and we begin this week with a lot going on in America and the world. The president is trying to make what has been a belated case for the war in Iran. It's proved unpopular. He famously launched it without a presentation to the country or the Congress. He has been sort of trying to make up for that on the fly. There's a global energy crisis. Experts say it is the worst in decades and we don't have an off ramp or a quick visible way out. That is economic trouble at home that has upended everything lately. James Carville is standing by to tell us whether it is the economy stupid or the gas prices stupid, or the war stupid, or a mix of stupid. James is here in a moment. I do want to give viewers, of course, as we start the week, a preview of what is coming. We know that the president is talking very aggressively, whether it is strategic and you think it's a threat designed as to get somewhere or a precursor to an escalation of a war that Americans say they don't want. He held an afternoon press conference. He praised what was widely seen as a positive the US Military's effective and heroic efforts to rescue that missing airman who was shot down over Iran again. And we've heard many veterans and experts discuss this. The US Military can get a lot done. The question looming over whether that person should have been at risk in Iran in the first place, whether we have an exit strategy, what we're doing in Iran. Those are all questions that don't really face the military in our democracy. They face our leaders. In this case, a president who started this war. And so quickly the president then turned to the threats that we've been hearing about and statements that by any objective measure came across as, at times, bizarre.
- [02:29]
James Carville
The entire country could be taken out in one night, and that night might be tomorrow night. I have the best plan of all, but I'm not going to tell you what my plan is. You've said Iranians would be mad if
- [02:39]
Ambassador Wendy Sherman
you stop these attacks, but why would
- [02:41]
Ari Melber
they want you to blow up their infrastructure to cut off their power?
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Ambassador Wendy Sherman
Wouldn't that be punishing Iranians for the
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Ari Melber
actions of the regime?
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James Carville
They would be willing, just. They would be willing. And it's suffering. They would be willing to suffer that in order to have freedom.
- [02:56]
Ari Melber
That is basically how it went. The President was also at one point, briefly presented with an overwhelming reality that he knows better than many presidents. Because unlike some who came in hawkish or talking tough, we've had the reverse with this president. He came in talking about ending forever wars, criticizing administrations in both parties that had been too enmeshed in the Middle East. We heard all of that as part of his 2024 pitch. And now he's come into office and become the leader of new wars, forever wars. He's attacked more countries in one year than most presidents do in four. And asked about the fact that this is unpopular, that the public overwhelmingly now is clearly against escalating the war in Iran or being there in the long term, he basically insulted that majority of the public.
- [03:44]
James Carville
What do you say to Americans who are not a fan of the war? They're foolish.
- [03:52]
Ari Melber
Call it an unpopular president versus the majority of the country. And we've talked about echoes of history. This is not Nixon's silent majority. This is a very loud public opprobrium, opposition and at times revolt against what Trump is doing. You have the people, many of whom warned that he would be exactly this kind of, of dangerous, impulsive, non America focused leader, that he is always lying. And so what he said about focusing on prices of the economy couldn't be taken to face value. Call that the resistance of the critics and the Democrats. Then you have the broad center and independents who have soured on this administration long before the war over the high prices, Epstein, and other issues. And now you have a growing concern on the right. Take it all together with a bad economy and we could see the writing on the wall. The high prices, squeezing consumers are being called by our sister outlet CNBC a war tax. A banker who looks at these things primarily through the financial lens. Citigroup CEO Jamie Dimon says it's not only going to get worse, but we're looking at the risk of recession. Gas prices are punishing the public out there on a daily basis. The national average is at $4.12 a gallon. That's up over a quarter over 25% up since last year and no signs of it dropping tomorrow. It's worse for diesel 5. 62 a gallon. That's over 50% spike from just last year. The candidate who vowed to bring prices down has taken a unilateral action choice. They call these wars of choice. He decided to do this. He didn't consult with allies. He certainly didn't run it through Congress. And now everyone is paying the cost. The diesel costs affect trucks that deliver food and consumer goods that what they call the supply chain and all the economic mumbo jumbo. We don't have to be economists under understand that what happens in a global oil supply in the Strait of Hormuz doesn't stay there. It affects the oil and then it affects all the other products that are tied in to energy, which is a big part of how our economy still runs. It was just six months before the midterms here. Americans now speaking out, including online, about what they're going through and Trump's failures. The man residing in the White House
- [06:07]
Ambassador Wendy Sherman
wants to move us to a wartime economy.
- [06:10]
Ari Melber
President of the United States of America is one of the most unhinged people on social media.
- [06:15]
James Carville
Trump and J.D. vance, they have no.
- [06:17]
Ambassador Wendy Sherman
Chill, bro. This feels excessive.
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Ari Melber
I'd rather have health care.
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I'm trying to figure out why we
- [06:24]
Ari Melber
would need to up our military spending. If all our military operations are going so well. Why does all essential government services stop working when Republicans get elected?
- [06:33]
Ambassador Wendy Sherman
I'd rather have student loan forgiveness.
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Ari Melber
Mine eyes don't see the glory in
- [06:38]
James Carville
the bombing of Iran.
- [06:42]
Ari Melber
That's just some of the way people are making their voices heard. We're joined by legendary Democratic strategist James Carville, co host of the Politics War Room podcast. Welcome, James. It does seem to be getting worse. Your view on that public backlash and anything the president pitched today?
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James Carville
Well, this is rare because this war has been unpopular from the beginning. People never supported from the beginning. And of course you have acts of individual heroism we saw at that rescue. I looked up. I was a veteran of the Vietnam era. I did not go to Vietnam. When I was the era, there were 250, more than 250 Medal of Honor winners in the United States during the Vietnam War. It was a catastrophic strategic decision. But my generation performed heroically. And soldiers and airmen and Marines and sailors, they're always going to do their job and they're going to do it heroically. That's what they're trying to do. But they deserve a mission that has been thought out, not what they've been given by this president. I salute the people who have in uniform, but I don't think this thing is thought out at all. And the American public believes that from the beginning they do not support this war. Of course they love our military people. Everybody does. They should.
- [07:58]
Ari Melber
Yeah. And on the economy, something that, of course, your whole political career and campaign work is identified with, it is, I guess it's one of those iron laws of politics because it doesn't go away and people have to make it through their daily lives. I want to show a little more. You know, TikTok is so interesting. I know you're on there as well sometimes because people can just. They can sound off. And this is what we're hearing. On the economy.
- [08:23]
Ambassador Wendy Sherman
There is one word that should scare governments, investors, and honestly, your wallet. And that word is stagflation. They're saying that the grocery price is
- [08:31]
James Carville
about to go up some more because of this war. Overheard a woman at the gas station saying she wanted to burn someone's house down but had to wait until the gas prices dropped.
- [08:41]
Ambassador Wendy Sherman
Does anybody who is not a billionaire know what are we supposed to do?
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Ari Melber
What do you see there? And how does that play into the midterms?
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James Carville
I saw that Trump did this. Him pointing to the gas price. Every Democrat should get a bunch of these stickers and just put them right there on every gas. I don't think that's a crime. You're not defacing anything. You're just telling people where it is. The cost of gases, all petroleum products, diesel, they're all high. And they're going to stay high for a long time because the oil traders are going to demand a premium. Now that everybody's discovered you can shut off the Straits of Hormuza, you can do this to limit supply. We're going to live with this way beyond next week and next month or even next year.
- [09:27]
Ari Melber
Yeah. There was this moment as well when at the end of the presser, take a look. I want to show you this.
- [09:35]
James Carville
It all began with, if you want to know the truth, Greenland. We want Greenland. They don't want to give it to us. And I said, bye, bye. Okay, thank you very much, everybody. Thank you. Thank you. What about rising gas prices for Americans who are concerned?
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Ari Melber
The very literal image of the president kind of walking out on the question about gas and the fact that he was all over the place and you have to wonder where does his acuity fit in when he sounds like this. Finally giving a speech on the war, coming late, of course.
- [10:16]
James Carville
So I think I got this straight. He couldn't buy Greenland, so he invaded Iran or bombed Iran more appropriately. I mean, it doesn't even, I don't, I don't understand it. Somebody would have to explain it to me. But it utterly makes no sense at all that he wanted Greenland but he couldn't have it, so he's going to bomb Iran. I don't know, maybe somebody else can explain it doesn't make any sense. Just to be honest with you, Ari,
- [10:47]
Ari Melber
and the way that he goes at the public, I mean, we know his style. But walking out on the gas prices question, they're foolish for opposing the war. Has he become a lesser communicator perhaps than he once was?
- [11:04]
James Carville
Well, this I do know this is horrifically unpopular and there's a conversations going on among political people is how low can Trump go? I mean there's a certain. Once you get down to hardcore, Megan, some people think it's 33, some people think it's 32. I think his average is now about 35. So he's scraping the bottom. And I think he's going to find out tomorrow. We got two big, you know, pretty big elections but you know, give you what they call tells in poker gang. But you're going to get two tells tomorrow. Not by be pretty conclusive on the Democratic side is be my guess.
- [11:38]
Ari Melber
Yeah. I mentioned in the setup that there's also problems on the right. I'm going to show you Alex Jones. Not because he's a source source for anything. True. Okay, I want to set up the clip. But only because he has been in this right wing swamp. And when you're losing some of these folks and you're getting the skeptical questions they've gotten from Tucker and Megan and even occasionally on Fox News, you sort of say, who's left to defend this foreign policy? Here's Alex Jones.
- [12:09]
James Carville
They've closed this trade. It's killing the economy. America is sinking global rankings. Likability. It's just not what we voted for. We've never seen rhetoric out of presidents like this. When we go to war, even if you're for this war, this is really bad pr, folks. This is what I'm talking about. The way Trump's behaving way more erratic. His speech, you know, it's not coherent all the time. You can't deny this is happening. This is a clown show, folks. And I'm really worried. James Well, I mean you can watch him. You don't have to be a neurologist, a Dr. Jonathan Reiner or anything like that. We've all had experience with people aging. We've all had this experience and you could just look at the guy as just an average person and say this man is deteriorating at a really rapid rate. I don't know. I mean, but it's evident. I mean, Alex Jones sees it. You can see it all over the right got Megyn Kelly and Tucker fighting with Mark Levin. I can't even keep track of all of them. They hate each other more than they hate us. They're just in some dissent, just finger pointing. And that's just what happens when parties go down. I mean it kind of ends of the Republican Party as we knew it and they're all fighting with each other. And that's fine with me. I'm happy to watch is good spectators,
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Ari Melber
right? It's interesting to hear you say that because folks, some folks feel like they've heard that before, that after 2000, after 2020, a lot of folks said, well, Trump's really much pretty over. And they watched him come back. And even though now we're in the second term, there's this sort of that question I want to get you to speak to that and the midterms we're going to fit in a little break. I see. You can see James, the consternation on his face. We're going to get a good answer on this. A rebuttal when we're back in 90 seconds.
- [14:01]
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- [15:33]
Ari Melber
We're back with James Carville. We've been discussing President Trump's unusual, at times not fully sensical remarks today, building on a weekend James where we don't always read all his posts for reasons of fact checking and news accuracy. But you know this Easter rant online where he's dropping f bombs, he's saying the crazy bastards better open the straight, and he says, praise Allah. I mean, all that packed together, you could imagine being a big deal if any other president had ever said anything like it. And so you were talking about both his decline and why this isn't like other times when people have heard Trump is over and he's not.
- [16:12]
James Carville
Well, look, I thought he was over after 2020, I'll be honest with you. I think his comeback was partly a result of Democratic failures to get ahead of this. But be as may, I did think he was done. He's back. But I mean, I don't see him coming back from this. I see him having a really bad 2026 election, and I don't think his future is very bright, both politically or cognitively. I just don't think this is a man with a very bright future ahead of it. I really don't.
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Ari Melber
And what did you think of that weekend post I mentioned? And some Democrats, Bernie Sanders, others were sort of saying, hey, you gotta take this seriously. He sounds like a madman. Other people say, oh, this is his endless antics. Where do you come down on that? I mean, it was a very unusual post from a president in wartime. I think we could all agree on that.
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James Carville
You know, I just, I detest a man so much. I really can't be objective and I don't know, but I just, you know, when I see his face, I just go into like a blind face. But I do think other people who I respect told me that they sense there's a real slippage, I mean, a real deterioration beyond just the normal craziness that he's engaged in. And I'm looking at these special elections and I can't help but conclude anything that the political ground is shifting rather dramatically in the United States. And we'll know more than a little more than 24 hours tomorrow. But I expect it to continue on that front.
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Ari Melber
Yeah. And looking at what their vision is, everyone always says, you know, your budget tells you what you're really doing. Everything else is, is just words. And the campaigns and all that. The Democrats have been fighting for health care and they say they want ICE to be accountable and they want to only reopen the DHS under those terms. Okay. Public can make up their mind about that. The Trump budget here would cut a lot. It would cut K through 12. Schooling by 8 billion. Health spending, humanitarian assistance, IRS by a billion, which nobody loves their taxes, James. But if the IRS isn't working, well, you can bet the really rich people with all the lawyers are going to get out even more taxes and everyone else is going to have to pick up the tab. And then finally of all weeks, we learned they want to cut NASA while everyone's cheering our folks in the air. What does this budget tell people going into the midterms?
- [18:44]
James Carville
I mean, first of all, we have $40 trillion of debt. In 2016, he promised he would balance a budget in eight years. In fact, when he said that we owed debt was 23 and it's now 43. But everything else that he does, it just turns out this way. And I think the Democrats don't need. I'm one of these people that if I advise Democrats for the 2026 election only, my message is don't just stand there, do nothing. You don't, you don't have any power, you don't need to make any proposals. Just, hey, I'm not here. That's it. That's it. We don't need, we just, we need to be the remainder. This is an off year election. It's going to be all about Trump. Don't get in the way of that. I think that's really important. We don't need to have a seven point plan or anything like that. We're not him and we're not gonna, we're gonna oppose him and give us a majority and you know my favorite Italian word, basta. Enough. That's it. That's it. That's about as far as I would go in this election.
- [19:59]
Ari Melber
Well, look, I think people listening to you, they say that makes sense. There are some counterweights to that. One is in the relative approval of the parties. So Trump is unpopular, the war is unpopular. The no Kings protests show incredible mobilization. But life is complicated. Sometimes there's more than one thing going on. And for the Dems, the way they are, look at this approval. We had this teed up here. These are just the new numbers in from polling that was out, out in the field last week. This is pretty close to be clear. Folks say they're gonna vote Democratic in the midterms and Trump's unpopular. But when you just say, what do you think of these two parties, plus or minus three, what does this tell you? This is the. In fact, I'll show you both. This is the lead for the midterm. So people do want change. And then just to go back to the first one, James, favorability. The Dems are lagging or within marginal error of the Republicans, which would seem to be a problem for the Democrats. No, James, no.
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James Carville
The reason that people don't like the Democratic Party is the same reason I don't like it right now. We lost. When you win, that changes everything. People are part of a political party because they want the party to win elections. We lost the last election. You're not supposed to like us. Okay, I don't like us. But if we win, I'm going to like us more because that's why that's the most important thing that a political party can do is win elections. And we didn't do that. And the public is justifiably harsh toward Democrats, as they well should be. And the way to cure that is not but a seven point plan that you're not going to get through between now and 2028 anyway. But it's go forth and win the election, then the Democrats will start liking you again. That's simply what it is. I keep seeing that. Don't try to address that. Just like I say, don't just do nothing stand there. If you do that, party favorability is going to go up 7, 10% already. Then you get some presidential candidates that will go up more.
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Ari Melber
All right, you heard it here, James, always good to have you. We'll be checking back in with you, sir.
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James Carville
Absolutely. Thank you, man. Take care.
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Ari Melber
Our thanks to James Carville. By the end of the hour, we're going to show you more of these incredible new photos that are coming through. The Artemis crew, we can tell you tonight is actually minutes away from rounding the dark side of the moon. We are truly living through history. It's a totally different vantage point than some of our squabbles here on Earth. And we're going to show you more of those great photos. So stay with me for the hour and I promise you'll see them. The Supreme Court is now looking at Donald Trump's efforts to rewrite January 6th history, including his convicted aide Steve Bannon. I'm going to report on that, but first, why Donald Trump stands accused of threatening actual war crimes. Next.
- [22:57]
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- [24:19]
Ari Melber
We are learning new details about that high stakes rescue of the US Airmen in Iran. This took place early Sunday and reportedly involved U.S. special Special Forces and CIA operations. U.S. officials say the stranded airman was able to hike up a 7,000 foot mountain and was sort of wedged into a spot to conceal himself. This is per training and they can communicate sparingly with the United States to try to show where they are. So he was able to do that. Awaiting rescue, the President said the US Destroyed some aircraft left behind in a mission to prevent seizure by the Iranians. We can tell you State TV in Iran aired a video that purports to be Wreckage of destroyed US Aircraft. We have not confirmed this on the ground, but this is what they are broadcasting. Trump, meanwhile, issuing those controversial new threats we've been reporting on. This Sunday post was extreme, bizarre, full of expletives. It demanded the reopening of the strait. Trump threatening to bomb power plants and bridges. He also said, as you see here, open the effing straight, you crazy bastards, or you'll be living in hell. And then, and this is definitely a new one for a US President while waging war in the Middle East. Praise be to Allah, he wrote, for whatever reasons only he knows. But amidst all of this ridiculousness, if you will, the type of threat that he's making here to go after the power plants and bridges that support civilian life are moves that of course affect, target or could, if carried out, hurt and involve the deaths of a large civilian population. That is something the United States has always opposed since the post World War II era of human rights conventions in the United nations and Nuremberg. We remember all of that. Right. Experts warn that if he actually did what he's posting about these would be US Led war crimes.
- [26:09]
James Carville
The civilian population going to be hurt more than the military advantage you gain. The military lawyers I've talked to and I've always talked to during my career and since then have all said that the kinds of things the President, President is suggesting the military do are war crimes,
- [26:29]
Ari Melber
war crimes planned, threatened by the US and the question being, will they be carried out by the US we are up against one of these moments. We've seen in many instances, we've seen it in tariffs, we've seen it in political battles. For Trump, we're seeing it in war. You have to deal with a commander in chief. You have to look and listen to what he says, even though he does not always act on these things and he has been caught lying many times. But here we are on the eve of the President's Tuesday deadline for a deal with the threat of blowing up everything if he doesn't get one. Now, Iran, as recently as this afternoon, has rejected the type of ceasefire proposal that might lead to a deal. Trump is saying they are still at the negotiating table.
- [27:15]
James Carville
We can't talk about ceasefire, but I can tell you that we have a active, willing participant on the other side. We're giving them, we're giving them till tomorrow, 8 o' clock Eastern Time. And after that, they're going to have no bridges, they're going to have no power plants. Stone Ages. Are you concerned that your threat to bomb power plants and bridges amount to a no, not at all. No. No, I'm not.
- [27:46]
Ari Melber
The answer is yes. Now, when we talk about lying, that usually involves something that the speaker knows to be a certain way, knows what the truth is, and they lie about it. In this case, Donald Trump came into office without any governing experience or military experience. He has not always been a quick study or interested in how things work and how they run. But it is the job of the military and the General counsel of the U.S. army and the White House counsel and a heck of a lot of other positions within our government to make sure the President knows that while he has wide latitude on foreign affairs, if he does ask the US Military to carry out attacks on the civilian population, attacks on civilian infrastructure designed mainly or wholly to punish innocent civilians, then he's entering war crime territory. He will be on notice for that at a minimum, at a maximum. If it's bad enough, you may have private discussions about whether this becomes an unlawful order. Now, again, these are threats by someone who doesn't always do what he says. We all know that. But that's where we are on the eve of the deadline. I'm joined now by a special guest we booked for this discussion. Ambassador Wendy Sherman's a top diplomat who served in the Biden, Obama and Clinton administration's extensive experience in Iran. She was the lead negotiator for Obama's Iran nuclear deal, a precursor to many of the developments that ultimately led to the current administration deciding to take more military action. Welcome.
- [29:13]
Ambassador Wendy Sherman
Good to be with you, Ari.
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Ari Melber
I want to get into what happens. Yeah, no, great to have you. What happens tomorrow and sort of the actual. The actual diplomacy and war that we are in. But before we get there, your view of at what point a president crosses the line into war crimes if they act or give orders to target civilians.
- [29:39]
Ambassador Wendy Sherman
Well, I think you heard from General Hertling in that clip, the reality. Every one of our soldiers is taught what the international rules of war are, what the Geneva Convention requires, what international agreements require, and they are trained to not do those things. Those of us who grew up as James did during the chem of political age during the Vietnam War, remember My Lai, General Powell, who was present at that time, talked about it and what a terrible war crime in essence that was. And we did apologize. It's very interesting that things have happened like hitting that school where so many children died at the beginning of this war of choice. And the administration still hasn't taken responsibility for what everyone believes was done by the administration. It might have been an accident, might have been mistargeting might have been bad and old intelligence, but we are the United States of America because we have a moral code. And I always think of what President Joe Biden always said, it's not the example of our power that matters, it's the power of our example. And if indeed the president goes ahead and does these things, we will hear an international outcry, and I think an outcry in our own country. The last thing I'm going to say about this is that there are reports this afternoon that the Iranian regime has asked young people, artists, sports athletes, students, to surround the power plants and become a human shield. And that is very frightening,
- [31:29]
Ari Melber
certainly, because whatever the differences here and the differences between these two countries are great, we've seen evidence that the civilian population in both countries is not interested in escalating a further war. From what we can tell, which is one of the great tragedies of escalation in hawkish governments. When you pull back and say we showed the polling tonight, a lot of American people say, no, we don't want to go further. We don't want more war and more killing in Iran. That brings us to what I promised would be your next question, which is the actual state of play, the President using very bellicose language and this punishing air campaign to try to extract what he believes will be more concessions from Iran. You have negotiating history here. What do you think of that strategy? What do you think we are going into the next few days?
- [32:17]
Ambassador Wendy Sherman
I think we're going into a very dangerous time. I hope that diplomacy works because quite frankly, the choices the president has at this time are bad and worse. And the bad choice which is the better of the two would be to declare victory and, pardon me, get the hell out of this war. It's hurting the American people, as you talked about in your previous segment, but it's hurting us all around the world. It's given more money to Russia. It's given more money to Iran because of the price of oil. It's made it very tough on the American public, let alone with the cost of. Of this war is going to be what it means in terms of how we have used so much of our weaponry. As the president heads to China and wants to go in a strong, tough position in May, it'll be with our inventory stores very low if we had to fight another war. There's a lot that's happened here. And I think the other thing that's so important here, Ari, is that we now have a regime in Iran that is even more hardline than the previous regime. And although I don't think that the Supreme Leader who was assassinated wanted to go for a nuclear weapon, I think this new regime may well decide that the only way they can have a deterrence against further attacks from us or Israel or from anyone else is to have a nuclear weapon. And if that happens, many other countries around the world will also believe they need to get a nuclear weapon. And we will be in a whole other world that none of us ever wanted to see.
- [34:00]
Ari Melber
Understood. Ambassador Wendy Sherman laying it out and drawing on your experience. Thank you very much. We tell folks by the end of the hour, we broaden out. We will see what the Artemis crew is doing. They're going around the bend this hour and we're going to show you an emotional moment in space. I really think this is important, but also a great perspective reset for us. I'll be sharing that with you in about 10 minutes. Next we get into the banning of it all, the Supreme Court. And my look back at Attorney General Bondi's failures.
- [34:36]
James Carville
From the cabin of integrity here. As we surpass the furthest distance humans have ever traveled from planet Earth, we do so in honoring the extraordinary efforts and feats of our predecessors in human space exploration.
- [34:56]
Ari Melber
Incredible. We are living through this. The Artemis II crew just breaking the record are the farthest humans have ever gone away from Earth. That is to say, farther than the moon, which we know from the moon landings of past lore. They've broken the Apollo 13 record which was 248,000 miles away from Earth. We have live pictures of the lunar approach. And tonight, in the next few hours, the Artemis crew will actually go farther. They'll hit the astounding marker of 252,000 miles away from home. That is high stakes when you think about all of the ingredients. Of course, they've taken every step and measure to safely return those quarter million miles back. The Artemis is going to orbit around the dark side of the moon. A Pink Floyd moment if we've ever had one. While orbiting, the crew will experience a radio blackout that lasts about 41 minutes. That's the period of time where they're out too far away, so to speak, to be in connection with us. When the astronauts emerge, they'll experience a 53 minute solar eclipse where they can observe the sun's outer atmosphere. And the moon's gravity will then help fling them back home. Sounds like sci fi or a movie. But this is your real world and your government. NASA at work. Artemis II launching five days ago. The second In a series of missions that sends humans back to the lunar surface. The Artemis crew woke up this morning to a message from Jim Lovell, pilot for the Apollo 8 mission, sharing some words of encouragement and advice on the lunar flyby.
- [36:28]
James Carville
Hello Artemisio, this is Apollo astronaut Jim Lowell. Welcome to my old neighborhood. I'm proud to pass that torch onto you as you swing around the moon and play the groundwork for missions to Mars for the benefit of all. It's a historic day and I know how busy you'll be. But don't forget to enjoy the view.
- [36:52]
Ari Melber
That's fair because the views which many of us are sharing are extraordinary. This is one of the first pictures they sent back. On the right is the nearer side of the moon. That's what faces us on Earth. On the left is the far side we've heard so much about. The Artemis crew are actually the first to see the far side with human eyes. Along their journey, the crew has been taking and sharing photos as they go. This is a flight that's allowed iPhones as well. Mission Commander Reid Weissman took this photo of the Earth seen from inside the Orion capsule. It really does. All of our plane window and wing photos puts them in a little bit of perspective. It's also reminiscent of Earthrise, one of the most famous pictures in history which a prior NASA mission took and showed our own little blue marble rising, if you will, from the perspective of the moon. If you go a step back, humanity has accomplished so much. Considering that flight itself was only achieved by the wright brothers in 1903. Few thought then that we would be leaving our atmosphere to go hundreds of thousands of miles in the last 123 years. Tonight we want to share the facts and the history that we have come together a long way. The first human voice to emanate from space.
- [38:12]
James Carville
This is the President of the United States. My voice is coming to you from a satellite. We choose to go to the moon not because they are easy, but because they are hard. One false satellite for man, one giant leap for mankind. Liftoff of STS7 and America's first woman astronaut. The future doesn't belong to the faint hearted. It belongs to the brave. Liftoff of the space shuttle Discovery with
- [38:45]
Ari Melber
the Hubble Space Telescope.
- [38:47]
LifeLock Advertiser
Space exploration is not a luxury.
- [38:49]
Ari Melber
It's not an afterthought in America's quest for a brighter future. It is an essential part of that quest. The quest continues. John Glenn was the first American to orbit in 1962. We've sent human beings to the lunar surface. The first landing in 1969 was a pivotal moment not only in our US history, but really what human beings with technology and science could actually do. Moments that have pushed our understanding of even what our civilization can aspire to. We've had the better improvements to see more of the galaxies and understand our ineffable tiny place out there. This is the Eagle Nebula's pillars of Creation. That is. And again, when I say these words to you, they're hard to even understand when we say them or hear them. But that is according to our best understanding, 7,000 light years away, taken by the incredible technology of the Hubble telescope. We've also sent robots all the way out to Mars. The first one, remember, was called the Sojourner Rover in 1997. That was a panoramic glimpse of the red planet. There also was the Cassini mission, exploring the most beautiful planet according to some in our solar system, Saturn. This photo captures what that ringed planet looks like. And this is a first of its kind as well, because Saturn, its moons, rings, Earth, Venus, and Mars were visible at the same time. You can see them labeled here. This photo is called the Day the Earth Smiled. Or there's our farthest neighbor, Pluto, which has been downgraded from planet classification to now be called a dwarf planet. Its icy surface was seen in these, again, technologically advanced photos that really expand our understanding of our own reality and neighborhood. Some say you could even kind of make out a little heart there on the lower right if you're into that kind of shape. Fun. The Artemis crew will splash down back on Earth Friday. Today, there was another human and heartwarming moment we want to make sure you know about. Artemis was approaching the moon, and the mission commander there, Reid Weissman, was calling down to mission control to make this request that a heretofore unnamed crater could become a tribute to his late wife.
- [41:26]
James Carville
And if you want to find this one, you look at Glushko, and it's just to the northwest of that, at the same latitude as Om. And it's a bright spot on the moon, and we would like to call it Carol. And you spell that C, A, R, R, O, L, L.
- [41:50]
Ari Melber
As he made that tribute, taking an important step on behalf of his country and science and civilization. He also was honoring Carol Weissman. She was a nurse practitioner, the mother of two daughters who died of cancer at 46 in the year 2020. Her husband taking a moment during this historic mission to make that memorial to her. We wanted to share that news with you as we consider what these trips can mean. To all of us. We'll be right back. News for the Supreme Court today. Donald Trump's DOJ requested and it cleared the way to have a convicted Trump ally, Steve Bannon. That conviction from avoiding January 6th testimony effectively dismissed, sends it back for reconsideration. And this is a larger part of how Trump has tried to abuse his control of the doj. This includes those revenge cases which have not produced any wins under Pam Bondi, part of a series of failures in her brief and rocky tenure that drew to a close last week. There were many problems.
- [43:04]
Ambassador Wendy Sherman
We are so proud to work at the directive of Donald Trump.
- [43:08]
Ari Melber
Two failed attempts to indict New York
- [43:10]
James Carville
Attorney General Letitia James.
- [43:12]
Ambassador Wendy Sherman
Weaponization has ended, at least for now.
- [43:15]
James Carville
Both cases will be dismissed.
- [43:16]
Ari Melber
Federal charges have been dropped against Mayor Ras Baraka.
- [43:19]
James Carville
The DOJ may be releasing the list
- [43:21]
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of Jeffrey Epstein's clients.
- [43:23]
Ari Melber
Will that really happen?
- [43:25]
Ambassador Wendy Sherman
It's sitting on my desk right now. Our memo on Epstein clearly points out that there was no client list. You don't tell me.
- [43:32]
James Carville
Oh, I did tell you, because we saw what you did in the Senate Lawyer.
- [43:36]
Ambassador Wendy Sherman
Not even a lawyer.
- [43:39]
Ari Melber
During some of these moments, people said, can this really be the attorney general, quote, unquote, even in a Trump era? And the answer was not for long. Her antics, her failures, her false statements, they contributed to her ousting, which SNL joked about this weekend.
- [43:57]
Ambassador Wendy Sherman
The truth is, I was amazing at my job and I am proud to say I made history as the first woman ever to be fired as attorney general. I shattered that glass exit door and they threw my headshot in the trash like it was the Epstein files.
- [44:18]
Ari Melber
Bondi struggled with those cases I mentioned. She struggled with the Epstein debacle. She struggled with losses at the Supreme Court, including over tariffs. Her replacement, Todd Blanche, will have all of those same assignments. Call them clunkers or losers or scandals. In the case of Epstein, until they change, well, a lot at the top. The problems will continue for her replacement. We'll be right back. I invite you to check out our Beat podcast. We're posting a new extended conversation with Snoop Dogg where we talk about Tupac's politics and his musical career. You can go on wherever you get your podcast. Search Melber or the Beat. You'll get the Nightly show and the new Snoop if you subscribe. That does it for us.
- [45:08]
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