← The Briefing with Jen Psaki
The Briefing with Jen Psaki
Trump clobbered by avalanche of bad news capped by critical loss in Virginia
00:42:11
Virginia voters agreed to a redistricting plan that could increase the number of Democratic members of the House after this year's midterm elections, helping to balance the rigging Donald Trump tried to push Republican states to do. Jen Psaki points out that the bad news for Trump in Virginia comes in the context of bad news from Iran, bad news on gas prices, bad news on consumer prices, bad news on his tariff plan and more that has Trump on a disastrous political trajectory.
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Jen Psaki
Try it@8sleep.com okay, so just moments ago, as you just heard, if you were watching Chris's show, the Associated Press called a major redistricting ballot referendum in Virginia. The new maps are set to net Democrats four more seats in the U.S. house of Representatives. And again, it just passed, I mean, literally minutes ago. According to the AP's projection. It's the latest turn in what has become kind of an arms race to redraw congressional maps in states all across the country, all prompted by Trump's insistence that red states carve up their districts to stack the deck for Republican candidates. And we're going to talk to the great Ali Velshi, who's of course standing by at the big board. New data continues to come in. He's going to break it all down as he always does in his special vest. We're going to check back in with him in just a moment. And Senator Elizabeth Warren is going to join me to talk about the impact of tonight's results on the election this November. Big potential impacts. I'm also gonna talk with Virginia Senator Tim Kaine tonight about the hard fought battle over redistricting in his state. So lots and lots to get to tonight, but I just wanna start with what happened down the road in Virginia, my home state of Virginia. We're very close to Virginia, of course, here in Washington, D.C. because tonight's ballot initiative would not have even been on the table. We would not even be talking about it. There wouldn't have been a vote tonight. There wouldn't have been a net gain of four seats. But potentially here, had it not been for Donald Trump. That's right. He set up his own defeat tonight. And the reason is that there is nothing more important to the man than holding onto power. And he has shown he is willing to do almost anything to hold onto it. So remember last summer? I was thinking about this today and I thought it wasn't as long back, but it Was last summer, Trump was already running against the headwinds of being the party in power. And he also was running basically sort of on a deeply unpopular signature legislative achievement in the big ugly bill. I mean, honestly, what swing district Republican wants to run on cutting Medicaid and giving big tax cuts to the rich? It's not exactly a bumper sticker or a good campaign ad. So Trump decided there wasn't really a path to winning on the merits of his accomplishments. And instead, he put in place a process to rig the game in the Republicans favor. Or he tried to, I should say. I mean, he pressured Republicans last summer, first in Texas, to redraw their maps to eliminate districts that favored Democrats, effectively trying to guarantee that Republicans had a lock on more seats than they otherwise would have had this November. But Trump's goal at the time wasn't only to prevent Democrats from winning back the House. His goal was to create a virtually insurmountable Republican advantage, saying that he wanted Republicans to achieve a 100 seat majority. But the thing was, redistricting in the middle of the decade was so unusual. And it was a tough sell at first, even in a deep red state like Texas. While Trump insisted he was, quote, entitled to five extra seats in that state, it took months for the President to strong arm Governor Greg Abbott into actually pushing it through, although eventually he certainly did. But in doing so, there was plenty that Trump and his MAGA buddies didn't anticipate. For one, they didn't anticipate that that would trigger a redistricting arms race, essentially that leading Democrats would fight back to even the playing field, starting in California, where Governor Gavin Newsom spearheaded a push to temporarily match the advantage Republicans had achieved in Texas, seat for seat until, of course, after the census in 2030. But unlike Texas, California actually made sure its residents had the opportunity to vote on the plan, which was, of course, approved by a wide margin. But that's a key difference. In Missouri, Democratic pushback has slowed Republican redistricting efforts to basically a crawl. In Indiana, a state entirely led by Republicans, the Democratic pushback was strong enough to keep Republicans from being able to push through a redistricting process at all. Democrats also prevailed in Utah, where they were somehow able to stop the Republican led effort in court and even create a safe Democratic seat of their own. Now, it hasn't been 100% success for Democrats. Republicans have squeezed some extra seats out of states like Missouri and North Carolina. But Virginia was the latest frontier where Democrats have now turned the table to level the playing field. Now, the other Thing Republicans probably didn't anticipate when they kicked off this redistricting fight was that Trump would make the political landscape so much worse for them from when it started last summer. I mean, since then, he started a costly, completely unnecessary war with no end in sight, not to mention the spike in gas prices that came along with it. He continued to push a tariff policy so bad and so illegal that the government now has to give the money back. Or that's literally a process going on now. He stonewalled the country over the release of the Epstein files. His sycophantic clown carve a cabinet can't seem to go a day or two without creating an eye popping new scandal. And that's not to mention the unprecedented appearance of self dealing and corruption from the President to his sons to members of his cabinet. So this vote today is about leveling the playing field and making sure the redistricting arms race Trump started doesn't go unanswered. But it's also a sign that people in this country are fed up. They're pissed off and they are not going to allow him to do whatever he can to hold on to power as much as he wants to and as much as he's willing to. Just take a look at a new poll. It's not just the votes that's a big part of it, it's also the protests. But take a look at a new poll out from AP today because it is some numbers that are, I mean, they're jaw dropping. I mean, Trump's approval rating is down to just 33%. That's right, only 33% of Americans approve of the job Trump is doing, while a full 67% disapprove, which means he's underwater by 34. And he's even more unpopular in the issue that arguably propelled him back into the White House. The economy. A whopping 70% of Americans disapprove of President Trump's handling of the economy. Well, just 30% approve, putting him a full 40 points underwater, which is the worst number of his term so far. And when it comes to the cost of living, Trump is underwater by 53 points, with 76% of Americans disapproving and just 23% approving. In other words, the political environment today is far more favorable to Democrats than it was over the summer. And that trend has held when voters have headed to the polls as well. Democrats have now flipped 30 state legislative seats and they have massively overperformed even in some of the reddest House seats in the country. And you can tell this is a sure tell how scared Republicans are about their majority slipping away. And just by the way disingenuous and deceptive tactics they've been using, including in Virginia. I mean, Virginia residents have seen their mailboxes absolutely bombarded by mailers on both sides. The yes mailers are pretty straightforward. I have a couple of them here. You know, they're pretty straightforward. They Barack Obama on them, Abigail Spanberger, many of them plainly say that they're from the Democratic Party. And Obama has even cut ads urging Virginians to vote yes.
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Virginia Ballot Campaign Advocate
In April. Virginians can respond by making sure your voting power is not diminished by what Republicans are doing in other states. This amendment gives you the power to level the playing field in the midterms this fall.
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Jen Psaki
Pretty straightforward, right? He's saying vote for this. Level the playing field this fall. But like a group of wounded animals, Republicans see the political trouble they're in. They're getting desperate and they're playing very dirty. The no mailers, many from outside groups funded by Republican donors, also use President Obama and Governor Spanberger. And I have a bunch of those sitting right here, too. And we're going to show them on the screen if we can as well. Okay? These are no mailers. And they use past comments they've made against Republican gerrymandering in general, suggesting they are against the very redistricting effort that they both have campaigned in favor of. One flyer shows a black family on it. You can see it on your screen right there. Quotes Obama and Spanberger and a former local NAACP head. And reporting by Mother Jones found that the money behind that mailer, as well as another one comparing a yes vote on redistricting to Jim Crow, came from a dark money group. And the pack behind the mailers, justice for Democracy, received millions of dollars from a group that has previously taken large sums of money from billionaire and JD Vance ally Peter Thiel. In an effort to muddy the waters even more, the Republican led. No campaign has run ads like this one
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Virginia Ballot Campaign Advocate
because of things like political gerrymandering. Our parties have moved further and further apart, and it's harder and harder to find common ground.
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Senator Elizabeth Warren
That's why two thirds of Virginians voted to end partisan gerrymandering. But Richmond politicians want to sh our bipartisan process and draw maps for themselves. Again,
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Jen Psaki
so misleading. Those comments are, of course, not about the current state of play. They're not about Trump starting this redistricting battle by pushing Governor Abbott to do it. They're out of context completely. And to be clear, Obama supported voting yes. You saw him say it himself in the original just a second ago. But these are the tactics that the Republicans have had to resort to. And it's also a sign as much as Democrats won this one tonight and they've won many, many, many. But it's a sign of what kind of dirty tricks they may try come November. But the other thing to take away from tonight is that the energy and will of the voters is far more powerful than anyone, including Trump was betting on. And that is a very good sign for Democrats just over six months out from the midterm elections. As I said, we've got Senators Elizabeth Warren and Tim Kaine standing by. But first, let's get right to MSNOW chief data reporter Ali Velshi, who's tracking results at the big board for us. Okay, Ali, the AP called it not that long ago. Tell us where things stand and what's still outstanding because the margin here is going to be an interesting thing people talk about as well.
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Ali Velshi
Very right. In fact, not only was it just called a few minutes ago, but until a few minutes ago, the no side had been winning. So we got 87% of the vote in. Statewide, yes side has almost 50.1, 51% no side, 49%. But here's the thing. We knew where that was for most of the evening. And it all come in in big numbers. In Northern Virginia, as you would expect, margins are very high in favor of yes, 95% of the vote in in Loudoun County, 96%. In Prince William county, if you look at Fairfax City, 97%. If you look at Alexandria, Arlington, 94% Alexandria, my fingers too fat to be able to hit Alexandria. So we'll skip that for a second. But take a look at Fairfax county, the biggest county in Northern Virginia, the biggest county In Virginia, only 70%, 76% of the vote in. Is there 70% voting yes, 30% voting no. But we know how these numbers are going to go. So that's going to run up the yes margins. If you go down to Richmond, similar situation, 81% in Ryco county, where 62% are voting in favor of. In Richmond City, only 60% of the vote is in right now. So we still got a lot to come there. That's 81 to 18. So where we saw the two big Democratic population centers in the country, we still have vote to come in on. Those are also the two places where, when you look at this new redistricted map, they are the places where Democrats are going to get their biggest gains. They're taking the two big population centers, Northern Virginia around Washington, D.C. and Richmond, the area around Richmond. And they're making those into more seats. So I'm glad you did that remarkable setup that you did because while there's more to come, including in Florida for the moment, as a result of this vote tonight, Democrats are now ahead of Republicans in this redistricting mess that Donald Trump started in Texas last year. This next, depending on how you count it and how people vote, this will net Democrats three to four more seats in the, in the House from Virginia come November. So again, the numbers right now are 51 to 49. Rough, really, but you're probably going to see that margin increase through the course of the night.
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Jen Psaki
Jen, Ally Velshi, thank you for being there at the big board. We're going to keep checking in with you just as numbers are coming in. And it's always interesting to see how people vote. It's not like everybody knew when this election was going to be, too. So it's pretty remarkable. Thank you again. Okay. Joining me here at the table is Senator Elizabeth Warren. Always, as always, there's about a million things to speak with you about. But let me just start with the results in Virginia. You were out very vocal supporter, very vocal advocate of it. What do you take away from the results? What does it mean?
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Senator Elizabeth Warren
So, look, I think that Americans just want a level playing field and everybody was content to leave things where they were until Donald Trump said, tilt in my favor. I want to change things to gerrymander for me. And boy, Democrats are no longer the folks who say, oh, well, I guess there's nothing we can do. What we're starting to see, starting with Gay Newsom. I want to give props there who said, no, we're going to step up. He took some political risk for that and he said, I'm going to put it on the ballot and let the voters speak to that. And when the voters get a chance to speak to it, they say, we want to level that playing field. You know what it tells me, Jen, is that when the Democrats are back with the House, the Senate, the White House, it's time to do serious Voting Rights Act, a new one. And that's got to be about the right to vote, the right to get your vote counted and no gerrymandering anywhere in the country. You just got to move that up to the federal level and say it's not that California has to put up with Texas gerrymandering, it's that nobody gerrymanders. Let's level the playing Field for everyone. You know what? I think if that happens, we're going to do just fine.
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Jen Psaki
And to be clear, and I stated this at the beginning, but I'm going to keep saying this in Virginia and California. This is just through 2030. It's temporary, and the voters voted for it. Was not Trump pressuring a governor to jam this through the legislature. Let me ask you about something else, and I just talked about this a little bit. These are some of the mailers. I shared them. I'm a Virginia voter, so, you know, we have a couple people on our team who are Virginia voters. These mailers are racist, they're offensive, they're disinformation. To me, it sends a clear message that they're gonna resort to some incredibly dirty tactics. No. A number of these are funded by outside groups, but people don't differentiate and people should prepare for that. Yeah. Coming up to November, what does it tell you?
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Senator Elizabeth Warren
Oh, listen, it's not just should prepare for it in the future. It's already starting.
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Jen Psaki
Yes. It's time now.
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Senator Elizabeth Warren
You watched that race in Illinois, right, Where crypto money came in, where AI money came in, where APEC money came in. And did they come in saying, look, here's our issue. We want more protection for big Tech, or we want to have a different policy, or we want to protect the policy that the president's following in Gaza? They didn't do that. They came in with other names to deceive, to conceal who they. They were. They supported candidates that they really didn't want to see win because they thought it would be a way to give an advantage to a candidate who might help them. That's not promoting the democratic process. That's trying to see if you can finagle the outcome because you know you're on the losing side. If people see what's going on and just have a chance to vote.
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Jen Psaki
It's so important to be clear Right about. I'm glad you brought up the Illinois race. There was a hearing today for Trump's nominee for the Federal Reserve chair, Kevin. She questioned him about a lot of things. We're going to play a bunch of it. I wanted to play one part here because it just. I think it's a reminder of all of the tactics and levers Trump may use. So let's play that. We'll talk about it.
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Senator Elizabeth Warren
Okay. Name one aspect of President Trump's economic agenda with which you disagree.
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Kevin Warsh
Well, Senator, the Federal Reserve in recent years has wandered outside of its remit, wandered into other.
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Senator Elizabeth Warren
I'm asking for something that's not something. Disagree with Donald Trump.
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Kevin Warsh
If I'm confirmed, the Federal Reserve should stay in its lane.
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Senator Elizabeth Warren
Just one, just one little place where you disagree with Donald.
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Kevin Warsh
Well, I do have a disagreement, actually, Senator, with the President. I think even this morning he said that he thought I was out of central casting. I think central casting, I'd look older, grayer, and maybe show up here with a cigar of sorts.
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Senator Elizabeth Warren
Quite adorable.
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Jen Psaki
I mean, I think what it's a reminder of is the reason Trump hates Jerome Powell. One of the reasons is because he won't manipulate data as an independent head of the Federal Reserve is not supposed to do. And you're basically asking him, what are you going to do?
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Senator Elizabeth Warren
Well, let me just set the context for what that question was all about. The whole thing that Kevin Warshead to show up today and show to the members of the committee is that he would be independent. Now, he's the first Fed chair to have to come in and do that, because nobody ever thought that was a question.
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Ali Velshi
Right.
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Senator Elizabeth Warren
For a long, long time, we've had an independent Fed. And the reason we have an independent Fed is we want to believe that these are a group of people who get together and they look at the numbers on employment, and they look at the numbers on where inflation is headed, and they look at what tariffs are doing around the world, and then they make their best decisions on monetary policy. You may disagree with them, I often disagree with them, but it's on the numbers. That's not what Donald Trump wants. He wants a political Fed. In fact, he wants a Fed that he controls. And here's the reason why. Donald Trump made that big promise when he was running for president that on day one, he would lower costs. Remember how many times he said that? Said that was the reason he won. Well, where are we on cost? Cost of groceries is up. Cost of health care is up. Cost of gasoline is up. Cost of utilities is up, up, up, up, up on cost. He is in terrible trouble on the economy. So here's his last hope is that he can get the Fed to come in and juice the economy, blow things up, and he'll be able to make it past election Day. It's just another election device. He's six months out. He's got no other cards to play. So he wants a Fed under his control. Now, he hasn't just been out there talking about it, jawboning about it. No. He's trying to fire Jerome Powell. He's brought criminal charges against him. He's tried to fire another Federal Reserve governor, Lisa Cook, he is doing two things when he does it. He's trying to push them out so he gets more opportunities to nominate. But he's also trying to just scare the tar out of every one of those Fed governors and say, you want to end up in court, you want to end up having to hire a bunch of lawyers. You want to end up, instead of reading numbers to have to spend your time trying to defend yourself. He is trying to frighten the Fed into submission. So the job today of Kevin Warsh was to prove that no, he was going to be independent. You know what he told me last week when I met with him? He said I didn't have to worry about his independence because he was tough guy. Those were exactly his words. Tough guy. He could stand up to Donald Trump. So I asked him, fine, you're right here. Stand up to Donald Trump. Just tell me one little thing that you disagree with Donald Trump on economic policy. Stand up and tell me that. And the answer, as you saw, is trying to make a joke out of it that he's from central casting because he not crossing the boss.
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Jen Psaki
That's what we certainly not. And we don't care what your suit or hair looks like. We care if you're willing to be independent.
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Jen Psaki
Okay, we have to take a quick break. You've been so generous. You're standing with us for another block. Before we go, I just, I wanted to hear more from you about one of your questions to Kevin Warsh. I'm gonna play a clip and we'll talk about it after the break.
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Senator Elizabeth Warren
Okay. Independence takes courage. Let's check out your independence and your courage. We'll start easy. M. Mr. Warsh, did Donald Trump lose the 2020 election?
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Kevin Warsh
We try to keep politics. If I'm confirmed out of the federal election.
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Senator Elizabeth Warren
I'm just asking a factual question. I need to know. I need to measure your independence and your courage.
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Kevin Warsh
Senator, I believe that this body certified that election many years ago.
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Senator Elizabeth Warren
That's not the question I'm asking. I'm asking, did Donald Trump lose in 2020?
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Kevin Warsh
And I'm suggesting you in 2020.
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Senator Elizabeth Warren
The Fed needs are they.
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Jen Psaki
Okay, we are back with Senator Elizabeth Warren. Just from our conversation during the break, there's way too many things to talk about, but I do want to ask you about the clip I played. It seems it's so awkward to watch that when someone like that refuses to say that Donald Trump did not win the 2020 election in the scope of and we talk about corruption a lot here. You talk about corruption a lot. What did you make of his answer?
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Senator Elizabeth Warren
Boy, that guy is really afraid of Donald Trump.
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Jen Psaki
Yeah.
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Senator Elizabeth Warren
I mean, think about it. Donald Trump's already supposedly committed to this guy. He's put him out there. He said he's the guy. And yet even this morning when Fed Independence is in the air and people are worried about it, Republicans and Democrats on the record saying Fed Independence matters. Donald Trump's out there saying he's going to be very disappointed if Kevin Warsh doesn't do what he wants. And here's Kevin Warsh afraid to say Donald Trump lost the election in 2020, just can't bring himself to those words. He'll find 28 other ways to dance. Man, that was some fancy soft shoe there. But he cannot say the words. And that tells you about the relationship. You know, I said the guy is going to be a sock puppet and boy, he just showed it in that
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Jen Psaki
hearing, in that moment. I have to ask you about another story for people who haven't seen it. There was a story in the Wall Street Journal today about a potential US Bailout of the UAE during this War, which is such a crazy thing to say out loud. I just wonder. You have been calling out corruption and conflicts of interest. Steve Witkoff has serious conflicts of interest. Jared Kushner does as well in the Middle East. They are currently the negotiators. What went through your head when you saw that story? What should people understand about that?
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Senator Elizabeth Warren
Corruption, corruption, corruption. Possibilities on this one. So here we've got Jared Kushner, son in law to the president, out there with a sovereign wealth fund with Wyckoff. Right. He hits up the UAE for, I don't know, what's he asking him for? Another billion dollars? Another couple of billion dollars so Jared can make billion, big money. And what's the promise on the other side that Jared's father in law will bail out the UAE with US Taxpayer dollars? You know, for every one of these. What makes it so stunning is they're not even trying to hide it.
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Jen Psaki
It's in your face.
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Senator Elizabeth Warren
Exactly. It's just right out there in plain view that you say, wait a minute, you just paid how much for the rights to do the Melania movie while you've got business pending in front of the White House. It's just everywhere you look, it's Donald Trump or somebody close in his orbit has money to make based on using the assets of United States taxpayers. That's corruption.
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Jen Psaki
It certainly is. And you have been tireless in raising questions and asking questions. We're trying to ask questions, too. The other thing that you've raised recently, this weekend, you sent a letter to President Trump demanding answers to. I guess it's kind of a financial mystery of sorts, which is a bunch of companies basically settled lawsuits with Trump by donating millions of dollars to the Trump Library Fund. We don't know who's donated what. We don't. Tell us more about this. It's a crazy story.
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Senator Elizabeth Warren
So these four companies, you may remember, get sued by Donald Trump. Amazon gets sued on something, right? So they get sued, and collectively they agree to pay about $67 million, you know, some sizable change. But where they agree to pay it is to the Trump Library. Okay. That supposedly makes the medicine go down a little smoother with the American people. It doesn't just look like it was
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Jen Psaki
a total change, as if they're giving to food banks or something.
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Senator Elizabeth Warren
Exactly, exactly. And so it doesn't look like Donald Trump just shook them down for the money. So. So that goes on through. And a few weeks ago, we just happened to notice just this little tiny thing that said that the Trump Library Fund had been dissolved. So the folks on my team and I said, dissolved. Like, okay, so where did that $67 million go? So we did what I think is the responsible thing. We sent letters to the four companies and said, where exactly did you send that money and where is it now since the fund is dissolved? And the answer was, Nobody can give an answer.
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Jen Psaki
It's unbelievable. So what happens? You've been asking questions, raising questions. Others in Congress are also raising the alarms. Steve Witkoff, I mean, this is a little different from the library, but Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are negotiating this deal. They have so many conflicts of interest. What can be done to even unearth what all of their conflicts of interest are at?
- [28:18]
Senator Elizabeth Warren
Well, we keep doing what we're doing right now. I appreciate what you do. I keep trying to use my office. There are others on the Democratic side in the House and the Senate. And I gotta say, folks over in the House, just one after another, are going after these questions. And here's why November 2026 is so important. Because if Democrats have the majority in the House and the Senate, if that happens, we now have the ability to actually conduct real investigations. Not witch hunts, not trying to go after people to get the head of the Fed fired on bogus charges, but really to investigate what's going on, to actually get the paper and look at it and look in a world of this much chaos, this much increase in costs and this much corruption, we actually need to get a little balance back into this system. We need a Senate and a House that will stand up to Donald Trump. And the Republicans have made clear they're not going to do that so long as they're in charge. So we got six months.
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Jen Psaki
Six months. Elections have consequences and accountability. Senator Elizabeth Warren, thank you for being here.
- [29:37]
Senator Elizabeth Warren
Take care. Good to see you.
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Jen Psaki
Okay, coming up, we are going to turn back to that huge win for Democrats tonight in Virginia and the four new seats they're going to gain because of it. We just got Barack Obama's first reaction to this result, and I'm going to talk to Virginia Senator Tim Kaine about all of it. When we come back.
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Senator Elizabeth Warren
Let's check in on the SERTA counting sheep. Why aren't we counting anymore?
- [30:02]
Jen Psaki
Well, the all new SERTA Perfect sleeper has the Q4 support system that helps relieve aches and back pain.
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Senator Elizabeth Warren
We'll never get counted again.
- [30:09]
Jen Psaki
Nope.
- [30:10]
Senator Elizabeth Warren
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Jen Psaki
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Senator Elizabeth Warren
Yeah.
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- [31:04]
Jen Psaki
We're following that huge development tonight in the nationwide redistricting battle. The AP is projecting that Virginia voters have approved a newly drawn House district map that will boost Democrats chances of wrestling control of the chamber from Republicans this November. Former President Barack Obama posted this statement following the call. Congratulations. Virginia Republicans are trying to tilt the midterm elections in their favor, but they haven't done it yet. Thanks for showing us what it looks like to stand up for our democracy and fight back. Joining me now is Democratic Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia. Senator Kaine, let me start by just getting your reaction to the results from the Virginia redistricting ballot initiative tonight.
- [31:46]
Senator Tim Kaine
Jan, I'm glad to be on with you and I'm very, very proud of Virginia. You know, Virginia is a state that a few years ago voted by referendum that we wanted redistricting to be nonpartisan. But we also have a state motto that says Sic semper Tyrannis. We will stand up to tyranny. And when Donald Trump weaponized redistricting first in North Carolina in 2023, and the three seats that he stole were the margin of victory for the reconciliation bill that kicked 80,000 Virginians off the SNAP Food benefit program and cut hundreds of millions of dollars of Medicaid funding to Virginia. Virginians said, look, we got to stand up to tyrants and we don't want to have this president try to interfere with election results this November or in November of 2018 with a Congress that doesn't have a backbone to stand up to him. So we're going to stand up against tyrants and try to match what he's doing. And that's what Virginians did tonight. We lived up to our state motto and we stood up to tyranny and we're going to be a check against the outrageous overreach of this president.
- [33:03]
Jen Psaki
It was really incredible. Anecdotally, just there were people door knocking, There were people at Farmers markets everywhere informing. So it was also Virginia's show up for their neighbors. So what happens? It's always important to be clear eyed. What happens now? Is there a chance this map could somehow attempt, you know, Republicans could try to get it blocked in the courts. What's next?
- [33:23]
Senator Tim Kaine
There are court proceedings before the Virginia Supreme Court. The court refused to stay the referendum, but there are still Republican challenges to it. You know, you never want to predict with certainty what courts will do. But consider this, Jen. In Republican states that have followed Donald Trump's effort to rig elections, they've done it in the back room. The legislature has, you know, cooked up a plan, stolen Democratic seats and just forced it down the voters throats. In Virginia, we said we're going to make the maps available to all and then we'll let everybody vote on it by referendum. And it looks like even though all the votes aren't in, it'll probably end up being a 70 or 80,000 vote margin in favor of these new maps. And I don't think that this Virginia Supreme Court and I practiced before them for many years as a civil rights lawyer is going to throw out a set of maps that were voted on by the legislature and then ratified by our voters. We'll see. But I just can't see them casting aside the will of the electorate when in other states you've seen the legislators do backroom deals to push it toward Donald Trump. Virginia, we let the voters decide and the voters decided that they want to stand up against Trump tyranny and put people in place who will put Virginia first.
- [34:49]
Jen Psaki
Donald Trump. I started the show talking about this and you alluded to this too. I mean, he started all of this. But this also isn't the only way, as you and I have talked about this before too. He's trying to mess with the midterm elections. It's just one lever he's trying to, to poll here. What concerns you the most as you think about that and you look ahead to November?
- [35:10]
Senator Tim Kaine
Well, I think we've, you know, we've put in a good system in Virginia with Governor Spanberger and the way we run elections. I feel like we have immunized ourselves to the best degree possible against Donald Trump's near certain efforts to mess with things. I mean, what are the chances he's going to try to interfere with the election results if he doesn't like them? It's 100% because he did it in 2021 and he'll try to do it. So I am nervous outside Virginia, what he might do in other states. Here's an important one. This executive order that he's put on the table trying to screw around with vote by mail. Now, Donald Trump thinks it's okay for him to vote by mail. He voted by mail in a recent election in Florida. But why is he against voting by mail? We're worried that he wants to send, you know, ICE agents and others to the polls on Election Day to try to scare people off from voting. But if people know they can vote by mail or vote early in person, then they're not going to be intimidated by Donald Trump weaponizing federal law enforcement to scare them off. So we need to defeat the SAVE act, which the Republicans are trying to pass to disenfranchise people. And then we need to make sure that efforts in states around the country to do things like vote by mail or early vote are not undercut by this president who wants to intimidate people.
- [36:35]
Jen Psaki
Senator Tim Kaine. I'm gonna ask you to stay right where you are because you have so much expertise and you're on so many important committees. And I wanna talk to you about how this day started, which was with more threats from Trump about bombing Iran. And then we got an announcement about an extension of a ceasefire. And then tonight we got another threat from Trump about blowing up the rest of their country, their leaders included. I don't think he knows what's going on right now. I'm gonna ask you if you know what's going on right now when we come back after a quick break.
- [37:03]
Senator Elizabeth Warren
Break.
- [37:15]
Jen Psaki
The most obvious sign that peace talks were in a bit of disarray came this morning When Vice President J.D. vance did not board a plane to Islamabad, Pakistan, where a second round of negotiations to end Trump's war of choice with Iran were set to resume tomorrow. Instead, Vance remained in Washington, placed in a holding pattern as Iranian officials reportedly decided whether they would come to the table at all. Now, Axios reported that one key issue was Trump's continued blockade of Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz. It's also wholly unclear when the ceasefire actually expired, because yesterday Trump told Bloomberg that the deadline was tomorrow night. But Pakistan's information minister said it was tonight at 8pm Eastern. Regardless, the clock was ticking, and as JD Vance sat awaiting his marching orders, Trump picked up the phone and called cnbc.
- [38:03]
Ali Velshi
To be clear, you're saying that you need at least the prospects for a signed deal today and tomorrow, or else you would resume bombing Iran.
- [38:17]
Donald Trump
Well, I expect to be bombing, because I think that's a better attitude to go in with, but we're ready to go. I mean, the military is raring to go.
- [38:28]
Jen Psaki
I expect to be bombing. We're ready to go. That's the President of the United States, the Commander in chief, everyone. That was less than eight, and then less than eight hours later, I should say, and likely not surprising to anyone who's attempted to keep up with the shifting timeline of this war. Trump did a total 180, announcing this afternoon that he would be extending a two week cease fire with Iran seemingly indefinitely without information about whether they were on a path to a deal. What has been achieved and what's happening behind the scenes. Back with me now is Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia. So an extension of a ceasefire is of course, better than an extension of the war. But the current status quo here, the Strait of Hormuz still being closed, 50,000 of our men and women just in a holding pattern in the Middle East. There's really been no publicly available information pointing to progress in ending the war. The briefings have not been forthcoming to the Senate. But from your vantage point, where do things stand right now in this war?
- [39:23]
Senator Tim Kaine
Well, Jen, number one, the first point you made is right. Extending the ceasefire is a good thing. Whatever the President's reason, whatever he says, this war is illegal and it's unwise. And if we're going to find a path forward, we're going to find it a lot easier without bombs falling. So cease fire extension is a good thing. And then here's what the President and the US Seems to want. They want a limit on Iran's nuclear ambitions and they want the Straits of Hormuz opened. Now, we had a control on Iran's nuclear program through a diplomatic deal that Donald Trump tore up in his first term, even though his cabinet secretaries told him not to. And we had the Straits of Hormuz opened on February 27 until Donald Trump started a war of choice without a rationale or a plan or support from allies or, or a debate and vote in Congress. And so what the President is now trying to get done, which we would want done, a non nuclear Iran and the Straits of Hormuz open so that everybody's gas prices all over the globe and fertilizer prices and other things aren't going crazy. The President had those things, threw them in the trash bucket and now is trying to get them out and see if we can come up with a deal. But what we need to do is definitely salute the fact that there's a ceasefire. And then with the administration's most Prominent officials, and I don't think real estate negotiators like Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff are the ones. I think you gotta take the people who are the subject matter experts at the state and the Pentagon, those that Donald Trump hadn't already fired, and get them into a negotiation that is likely going to take some time, but you have the time to do it if bombs aren't falling. And then the last thing I'll say on the Straits, when the cease fire was announced last week, it was, there's a ceasefire and the Straits of Hormuz will be open. And both the US and Iran said that was true. But then Donald Trump decided to blockade all the Iranian ports anyway. And so Iran said, wait a minute, the straits are either going to be open for everybody or they're going to be closed for everybody. So if we want the Straits open, and we should want them open because it'll help gas prices come down over time for. From the dollar extra, you can't just open them for the people we like and not for Iran. So the administration has to make a decision. Do they want the straits open or closed? Closed hurts America, hurts the global economy, puts more dollars in Russia's treasury to bomb Ukraine war. We should want them open, but they're only going to be open if Donald Trump agrees that they're open for everyone.
- [42:18]
Jen Psaki
I wanted to ask you about something else Trump said today when he was talking with cnbc. He was talking about, I mean, a big factor here is, of course, the men and women. 50,000 troops, many of them guarding the Straits of Hormuz, reportedly didn't have enough food as of last week. I wanted to play this and get your thoughts on it.
- [42:37]
Donald Trump
We lost 13 men, and that's terrible. I wish we didn't lose one. But if somebody would have said, we've done this and obliterated that country, obliterated it, it, and we lost 13 men, people would have said, that's not possible, to have done that. It's not possible. So we've done a great job.
- [42:57]
Jen Psaki
It's really hard to know what to say about that, but what's your reaction to it?
- [43:03]
Senator Tim Kaine
Well, I mean, 13 lives lost in a war that is illegal and should never have been started. One of whom, Robert Marzan, was a couple months away from retirement. He was from California originally, but he had bought a home in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, to retire in with his family. He was very nearing retirement, in his mid-50s after a career in the military, and he'll never come home to join his family. He'll never have the retirement that he earned. Hundreds of American troops injured, thousands of innocent civilians in Iran killed, including school children. And chaos economically so significant throughout the region that wealthy nations like the UAE are now asking the US to bail them out because of the war that the US started that is now hurting them. I mean, President Trump may be like patting himself on the back and saying mission accomplished, but I don't think that's what Virginians feel. I've got the sailors on the Ford carrier who just broke the record last week for the longest post Vietnam deployment of any carrier. They thought they were going to be home gen to be with their families for Christmas. And it's late April now and they're still not home. And the ship's had challenges. And we've got 50,000 people in the Middle east, many of whom shouldn't be there. They should be doing other things. This is not going the way it ought to. And that's because no plan, no rationale, no support from allies, debate or vote in Congress. Guess what you're going to end up with A slipshod effort waged by an impulsive president who really, you know, what he was seeking was what he already had until he tore up a diplomatic deal and waged a precipitous and unnecessary war that has closed off the Straits of Hormuz and hurt American families.
- [45:05]
Jen Psaki
Senator Tim Kaine, thank you as always.
- [45:07]
Senator Elizabeth Warren
We'll be right back.
- [45:09]
Jen Psaki
That does it for me tonight. You can catch the show Tuesday through Friday at 9pm Eastern on Ms. Now. And don't forget to follow the show on Blue Sky, Instagram and TikTok.
- [45:17]
MSNow Announcer
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