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This Sunday, Battle Lines. President Trump threatens to target Iran's power plants if the straight-of-form moves of vital global energy waterway remains closed, as oil prices soar, and the message from the White House shifts. We strongly encourage the other nations to get involved with us. Well, we don't need too much help.
We may, unsanction, the Iranian oil that's on the water. And as the conflict deepens, the costs are rising, and now the White House turns to Congress. It takes money to kill bad guys. It's a small price to pay to make sure that we stay tippy-toe.
Is the mission expanding? I'll talk to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Democratic Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut. Plus, breaking point. As airport security lines grow, the funding fight over the Department of Homeland Security drags on.
We should be able to get this done today. Unfortunately, these are people who are not negotiating in good faith. Can Washington strike a deal to end the DHS shutdown? And, warning Cuba.
President Trump threatens to take over Cuba as an energy crisis pushes the island to the brink. Whether I free it, take it, I can do anything I want with it. I'll talk exclusively to Cuba's Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernandez de Cocillo. Are you saying that regime changes off the table?
Absolutely. Joining me for Insight and Analysis are NBC News Senior National Security Correspondent Courtney Cubie, Jonathan Martin of Politico, Mike Dubkey, former Trump White House Communications Director, and Ashley Etienne, former Communications Director to Vice President Harris. Welcome to Sunday, It's Meet the Press. From NBC News in Washington, the longest-running show in television history, this is Meet the Press, your President, welcome.
Good Sunday morning. The war with Iran is poised to enter a new and potentially more dangerous phase. The Pentagon announcing it's sending thousands of more troops to the Persian Gulf. As NBC News reports, President Trump has wanked several options, including the possible deployment of U.S.
troops inside Iran. One option under consideration, using ground forces to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a critical artery for global oil supply. The President was asked Friday about the buildup. Mr.
President, are you deploying the additional troops to the region for deterrence or to optimize your operational capabilities? Well, I would say this, that if I told you the answer to that question, my military people would be very happy. But we have a lot of troops, we have unlimited ammunition, we have the greatest equipment in the world, and we are decimating Iran. Back here at home, the economic fallout is intensifying.
The stock market down four straight weeks, and gas prices up nearly a dollar a gallon since the war began. The administration now moving to ease some oil sanctions on Iran and earlier on Russia, in an effort to bring prices down all of this as the Pentagon prepares to ask Congress for an additional $200 billion to fund the war. As far as $200 billion, I think that number could move, obviously. It takes money to kill bad guys.
It's our responsibility right now to end this reckless war of choice, to end the fact that billions of dollars have already been spent, perhaps up to $2 billion a day to drop bombs in the Middle East. We want to be sure that it's a small price to pay to make sure that we say tippy-top. And joining me now is Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Secretary Bessent, welcome back to Meet the Press.
Good morning. Good morning, good to have you back. I want to start with the latest of what we're hearing from President Trump. Let me read you what he posted over night.
He says, if Iran doesn't fully open without threat, the Strait of Vermouths, within 48 hours, from this exact point in time, the United States of America will hit and obliterate their various power plants, starting with the biggest one first. Has the President changed his mind about winding down the war, as he said a day earlier, and instead plans to escalate? I think he said he could wind the war down at any time he wants. And, Kristen, this is the only language the Iranians understand.
This seems to be an escalation, a threat of escalation, and it seems to run counter to his statement that he in fact wants to wind up the war. And, Kristen, the President has been very clear from the beginning that the goals are destroy the Iranian Air Force and the Navy to the completely demolish their missile capabilities, demolish their ability to replenish those capabilities, make sure the Iranians cannot have a nuclear weapon and stop their ability to project power internationally. And the President will take whatever steps it takes to achieve those goals. Well, you know, I was on the phone with President Trump a week ago.
He told me allies were on the way to help secure the Strait of Vermouths. Has the Trump administration abandoned that strategy and now it shows him to go it alone? What we have done, there has been a campaign to using military assets to soften up the Iranian fortifications along the Strait that's going to continue until they are completely demolished. And, Kristen, let me tell you, whether it's this network or the mainstream press, the American people did not have good framing what is going on here.
If you were to read what is happening, and I'm sure when Senator Murphy is on, you know, he's come out and said we are losing the war. That is wrong. We have demolished the Iranian capabilities. Their Air Force is completely destroyed, Navy destroyed.
And every day we are taking out their missiles, their missile systems, and the factories that build those missiles and now the General Kane, Secretary Hagset, are leading a campaign to destroy all the fortifications along the Strait of Vermouths. Just to put a fine point on this, though, is the President in the process of winding down this war or escalating? Again, they are not mutually explicit. Sometimes you have to escalate to de-escalate, Chris.
Okay, NBC News is reporting that President Trump is considering sending troops into Iran. Will the administration use troops to secure the Strait of Vermouths or for any other reason, Mr. Secretary? Again, as President Trump said during the press break yesterday when he was going out to Marine One, he's not going to give away what we're going to do.
He's, as President Trump always does, he's leaving all options on the table. We had a very successful bombing campaign against the military installations at Card Island, the nexus for all the Iranian oil supply, what could happen with Card Island, we'll see. And again, just to be clear, the command and control system of the Iranian regime is in chaos. This is Hitler's bunker.
Hitler's dead. Hitler's dead. Gloring is dead. Most of what you were seeing are lone wolf activities.
This, the mid-range ICBM that was shot off, these two missiles yesterday, that's out of desperation, Kristen. You bring up Card Island. I want to ask you about your statement. You said it could become a US asset.
What exactly does that mean? Could US troops go into Card Island to secure it? Again, as I said, all options are on the table. Okay, so that's a possibility.
All options are on the table. All right, let me talk about your announcement this past week on Friday, the Treasury Department lifted sanctions on Iranian oil, stored on tankers, a move that would effectively allow Iran to get more than $14 billion of oil revenue. Why is the US helping to fund a country that it's currently at war with? I think, again, Kristen, why don't we have good facts here?
That Iranian oil was always going to be sold to the Chinese. It was going to be sold at a discount. So which is better, Kristen? Which is better if oil prices spiked to $150 and they were getting 70% of that, or oil prices below 100.
It's better to have them where they are now. And to be clear, we had always planned for this contingency. About 140 million barrels are out on the water. In essence, we are jiu-jitsuing the Iranians.
We are using their own oil against them. We have a much better line of sight to be clear at Treasury when this oil goes to Indonesia. If it goes to Japan, if it goes to Korea, we have a much better line of sight and are able to block accounts that the oil goes into. When it goes into China, it completely gets recycled.
So to be clear, that $14 billion number is grossly overstated. Let me unpack what you're just saying. First of all, how much is it? And second of all, I don't hear you disputing that Iran will get some of the money.
Iran already gets a huge amount of the money because Iran is the largest sponsor of state terrorism. And China has been funding them. So it's always part of the plan to unsanction Iranian oil? Again, we unsanctioned the Russia.
At Treasury, we planned for all contingencies. We had break the glass plans. And to be able, this oil is floating out in Asia. And it is mostly our Asian allies.
The US gets virtually no oil from the Gulf. We are an energy sufficient. So when we unsanctioned this, rather than the oil going to China, it can go to Japan. It can go to Korea.
It can go to Indonesia. It can go to Malaysia. It can go to Iran too. I mean, this is the point that the sanctions were in place to prevent Iran from getting any of the money.
And we have access to some of the money. Again, Kristen, you're missing the point. So please listen to me. They were getting it from China anyway.
All right. Let me talk about the real world impact of this. We're talking about 140 million barrels of Iranian oil. And that's just a little bit more than what the world uses in one day.
How much can that really change prices here? I think it's terrible framing. Terrible framing. Well, how much can it change prices here at home?
Can you talk to consumers? How much will it change prices here at home? Let me explain. 140 million barrels.
About 20 million barrels a day comes out of the Gulf. About 5 million has been the repurposed by the Saudis by the UAE. So we're at a 15 deficit. About 1.5 is Iranian oil that comes out.
So we are at between a 10 and 14 million deficit on a daily basis. So if you think about 140 million barrels, that's between 10 days and two weeks of supply. And one of the reasons, one of the reasons that prices in the US of West Texas crude are below $100. And we have not seen this massive spike as we did during the beginning of Russia Ukraine is because we are well supplied in the market, whether it is the Russian oil, whether it is Iranian oil, or it is the largest, the SPR release in history done by a coalition of 32 countries, 400 million barrels.
All right, let's talk about the Russian oil, which you just raised. The administration did use oil sanctions on Russia earlier this month. You had initially defended imposing those sanctions calling Russian exports, quote, oil that funds the Russian war machine. If the point of the sanctions was to stop funding the Russian war machine, why is the administration effectively rewarding Russia?
Again, Chris, you're missing the point, which is better. Does Russia get more money if oil goes to 150 and they get 70% of that. That's 105 or if oil stays below 100. So they're getting less money.
Our analysis shows that the maximum extra amount that Russia could get would be $2 billion, which is one day of the Russian Federation's budget. But I'm sure they wouldn't have gotten any of that. Chris and Chris, I don't know. But would they have gotten any of that in place?
Whoever does your research, you should get rid of because they were getting it. It was going into China. China was buying over 90% of the Russian oil. But what's the point of sanctions if not to punish Russia, if not to punish countries?
Again, we have no ability to do that to China. If China wants to be a bad actor, but we were substantially able to degrade their exports, their exports have dropped about 25% when the rest of the world isn't buying it. So exports are down, but there was a lifeline into China. Now we've opened up that to everyone else.
Okay. Just to be clear, though, you did defend imposing those sanctions in the first place. Let me ask- Just to be clear, it is a maximum of $2 billion. So let's have good framing on this.
Okay. Let's talk about the overall cost of this war. The administration is asking Congress poised to an additional $200 billion in additional funding for this war. Some Republicans who could cast key votes on this are expressing hesitation or outright opposition.
Take a listen to them and then I want to get your reaction on the other side. Are there any initial run flanks for you? I mean, it's a lot of money out of God with the money. I'm an- I've already told leadership I am a no on any war-soubled lintels.
I am so tired of spending money elsewhere. Should President Trump have gone to Congress on the front end of this war if he was going to ask for Congress's help now for more funding? Again, President Trump was within his authorities, the Under the War Powers Act, to initiate this action. And we actually now have plenty of money to fund this war.
What we are doing is this is supplemental. President Trump has built up the military as he did in his first term, as he's now doing in his second term, and he wants to make sure that the military is well-supplied going forward. Would the administration ever raise taxes in order to fund this war? Again, Kristen, the terrible framing.
I think that- Well, it's just a question that a lot of people have. It's a ridiculous question. Well, what- what- can you answer it? Why would we do that?
That the- that we have plenty, the- we have a trillion dollars in this year's budget for the military, and President Trump, even before the conflict started, had said that he would like to further build out the military. So just- is raising taxes under consideration at all? No, I'm not- you're saying you have plenty of money. Not at all.
Okay. Let's turn to how all of this is impacting consumers. United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby is now planning he says to cut flights, and is planning for oil to go as high as $175 a barrel, with prices potentially staying above $100 a barrel through 2027. This is according to him.
All of this could potentially mean higher prices for consumers. What do you say to Americans who feel they were promised lower costs, and now they're getting the opposite? Kristen, I think the American people understand that the- in any 50- I'm not going to put a time on it, but let's just pick 50 days of temporary- elevated prices. Prices will come off on the other side for 50 years of not having an Iranian regime with a nuclear weapon.
The American people are beginning to understand, thanks to President Trump, that there is no prosperity without security. I heard you say 50 days. Are you saying that the prices could start to come down? No, no, no, no.
I was just picking a point. I don't know whether it's going to be 30 days. I don't know whether it's going to be 50 days. I don't know whether it's going to be 100 days.
But to have 50 years, the peace in the Middle East and know that the Iranian regime is defanked, because Kristen, what we had before was the illusion of security. Imagine this regime, if they had another year or two years to build out their missile capabilities, they would have built a shield around themselves, and it would have been impossible to prevent them from getting a nuclear weapon. All right. I want to ask you, on a different topic about a post by President Trump from yesterday responding to the death of former special counsel, Robert Mueller, he posted this quote, Robert Mueller just died.
Good. I'm glad he's dead. He can no longer hurt innocent people. Do you think it's appropriate for the President of the United States to celebrate the death of an American citizen, someone who's a Bronze Star, Purple Heart recipient, who served in Vietnam?
Kristen, I was with the President in the green room at Davos, and there was a video playing of the, what may have been an illegal raid on his home at Mar-Largo. They are going through his wife's wardrobe, and I watched the look in his eye, and I think that neither one of us can understand what has been done to the President and to his family. But to the question of the President's post, I mean, Robert Mueller didn't order that raid. He said appropriate for the President to celebrate the death of any American citizen, to his Secretary.
I think that given what has been done to President Trump and his family, it is impossible for either of us to understand what he has been through. So you don't think that there's anything wrong with the post saying that Robert Mueller has been? Again, I think that the, we should all have a little empathy for what has been done to him and his family. All right, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessin.
Thank you as always for being here. I really appreciate it. Thank you. Breaking news is just coming in moments ago.
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Visit NBC News dot com slash XFINITY for full offer terms and details. Welcome back and joining me now is Democratic Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut. Senator Murphy, welcome back to me for a press. Good morning.
Good morning. Thank you for being here. I want to start with Iran. The Pentagon, as I was just discussing with the Treasury Secretaries planning to ask Congress for more than $200 billion in additional funding for the war.
Most Democrats have vowed that they're not going to approve this funding request. But by opposing this request, are you risking potentially leaving American forces vulnerable? I thought that was a really scary appearance by the Treasury Secretary. This administration has totally lost touch with reality.
This war is spinning out of control. Prices are spiking for millions of Americans. There's a new war breaking out between Israel and Lebanon. Oil assets of our allies are continuing to be hit in the region.
There's no end in sight. The Secretary just said, we're going to escalate in order to de-escalate. It's like they've never read a history book. That's exactly what our war leaders said in the middle of Vietnam and the 20 years of mismanagement in Afghanistan.
We need to end this war. The only way you are going to get prices down here in the United States. The only way that you are going to bring peace to the region is by ending this war. And maybe the quickest way we can do that is by denying them the funding that they need to perpetuate this war, which is increasingly out of control.
Well, let me ask you, though, because the war is underway, you have argued, and I'll put this quote, we need to end this war right now. If the US ends the war right now, as you're arguing for, could that leave Iran with a more extreme anti-American regime and even lead to a potentially larger conflict for the next administration? But the administration has already said their goal is not regime change. They are perfectly satisfied to leave in charge of Iran a regime that is going to be worse for American interests than the previous regime.
What we know is that the minute we stop bombing, this new regime is going to start rebuilding their missile capacity and their drone capacity. The estimates are they're only taking them a handful of months to reconstitute that threat. So what did we get at the end of this war? We're going to waste billions of dollars.
We're going to get dozens. If not hundreds of Americans killed, we're going to start new conflicts in the region. And when it's all said and done, a more provocative regime is going to be in charge with the same military capacities. This is nonsensical.
This is what happens when you put real estate developers and talk show hosts in charge of American national security. Just to be very clear, you are a no on any funding request. I absolutely know in any funding request. I mean, every single day, this war makes less and less sense.
We're going to give Iran $14 billion to fund this war with the United States. We're going to give Russia billions of dollars to fund their war with Ukraine. We're literally putting money into the pockets of the very nations that we are fighting right now. We've never seen this level of incompetence in war making in this country's history.
And frankly, we've had a lot of incompetence in war making. Well, speaking of my conversation with the Treasury Secretary, he said all options were on the table when I asked him about ground troops. Is there any scenario where you would support putting US boots on the ground in Iran? Never.
Never. That would be a mistake of colossal proportions. And the American public doesn't want this war. If we're going to spend $200 billion, they want that money to be spent on them.
Think of what we could do with $200 billion here at home. We could make sure that none of the 20 million Americans that are getting a health insurance increase because of Trump's policies have their premiums raised. We could rebuild schools in every neighborhood across this country. The fact that this president is so focused on Iran and Venezuela has no interest in helping people here at home.
It's absolutely heartbreaking. You heard me ask the Secretary about the decision to lose an oil sanctions on Iran and Russia. He said that money was going to go to China. Anyway, he argues these are temporary moves.
They're ultimately going to bring down pressure on the supply of the global oil markets. Are you supportive of those moves? Ultimately, they do, in fact, lower the cost of oil. The only way to lower energy prices is to end this war.
I mean, what he told you is that Iran was getting discounted prices previously from China. And we are now removing sanctions so that they can get premium prices. So we are literally putting billions of dollars into the very regime that we are fighting. Again, no matter how badly we fought the war in Iraq or Afghanistan or in Vietnam, I don't think at any point during those wars, we were literally handing the enemy cash with which to fight our troops.
I mean, we've just never seen anything like this. The quickest way to lower energy prices is to end this war and get this president focused on this country. Well, let me talk to you about the shutdown. President Trump is threatening to put ICE agents in airports as early as Monday as we're seeing these long TSA lines as TSA agents call out sick or don't show up to work because they're not receiving a paycheck amidst this partial government shutdown.
Does that threat make you more inclined to end this shutdown? Oh, why don't they just reopen TSA? Why don't we just reopen the Coast Guard and FEMA? Democrats have been clear.
We are willing tonight to provide the votes to open up every part of the Department of Homeland Security while we resolve our narrow differences on how ICE is terrorizing our communities. So almost every single day last week, Democrats went to the Senate floor and said, let's open up ICE. Republicans said, no, let's open up the Coast Guard. Republicans said, no, they want to hold TSA hostage so that they can continue getting Democrats to fund the illegality happening at ICE.
Let's just isolate our difference. Let's not hold TSA hostage any longer. Well, during the previous shutdown in the fall, you criticized the eight Senate Democrats who broke ranks to negotiate an end to the shutdown. With Republicans, you said they capitulated and lost the quote political advantage.
Do you see this shutdown ending in the exact same way with moderates effectively saying, time to end this, time to make a deal with Republicans? Well, I hope the Democrats stay together on a very simple principle, which is we swore an oath to the Constitution to uphold the law. And right now, ICE is operating lawlessly. No matter who's in charge, they are rounding up legal immigrants, denying them their rights.
They are still terrorizing American citizens. They are abusing protesters who are standing up to this illegal activity. So until we get commitments from the administration that ICE is going to behave legally, yes, I believe the Democrats should stand together. I think we have an obligation to not fund an agency that is acting this lawlessly.
And to the point, leadership is, of course, leading the charge here. And there's a lot of focus on Chuck Schumer right now. The Wall Street Journal reporting that there's growing frustration with Chuck Schumer, which Svers talk of replacing. And Senator, do you want to replace Leader Chuck Schumer?
Well, I think we are united right now as a caucus. There's always a lot of focus on Senator Schumer and Leader Jeffries. Those are very hard jobs, especially at a historic moment like this. That's not a yes.
Well, we are united as a caucus right now. Let me just be clear about that. We are united in ending this war. We are united in reigning in the lawlessness of ICE.
And we're going to be united in winning the election this November. So right now, we are together as a caucus. So if you do win the election, would you vote to keep him as leader? Well, listen, I think he has a very tough job.
And right now, you are seeing the Democratic caucus united. That's really important. Very quickly. Your reaction to President Trump saying he's glad former Special Counsel Robert Mueller is dead.
I mean, it's just disgusting. It's so heartbreaking that we have a president who's cheerleading the death of American citizens. The fact of the matter is Robert Mueller is amongst many who have been trying to hold this president to account. He's the most corrupt president in the history of the country.
And of course, he is going to wish for the death of the people that are trying to hold him accountable to the law, but that doesn't make it any less disgusting. Alright, Senator Chris Murphy, thank you so much for being here. You're here working in Washington. Appreciate you being here in person.
When we come back, President Trump threatens to take over Cuba. I'll talk exclusively to the Deputy Foreign Minister of Cuba, Carlos Fernandez-Dicocio, next. Let's kickstart your wellness journey with the guard today. Workouts, meal plans.
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All the RANS May 20th, price is subject to change. Visit today.com.xFINITY for full-on returns and details. Welcome back. On Saturday, I spoke with the Deputy Foreign Minister of Cuba, Carlos Fernandez-Dicocio.
Thank you so much for being here. I do want to start off by playing for you something that President Trump said about Cuba just this week, speaking from the White House. Take a listen. I do believe I'll be having the honor of taking Cuba.
That's a big honor. Taking Cuba. Taking Cuba in some form. Taking Cuba.
Whether I free it. Take it. I can do anything I want with it. You want another truth.
Mr. Deputy Foreign Minister, what was your reaction to hearing that? Is Cuba bracing for the United States to take it in some form? Truly what we don't know what they're talking about, but I can tell you this.
Cuba is a southern country and has the right to be a southern country and has the right to self-determination. Cuba would not accept to become a vassal state or a dependent state from any other country or any other superpower. Well, let's delve into this a little bit more deeply. Cuba's President released a statement that read in part, quote, Any external aggressor will clash with impregnable resistance.
Do you believe any action by the United States would escalate into a military conflict? We hope not. But what our President expressed is what any country or respects itself would convey if there was a threat to take over a country or to try to dominate or control it anyway. But we truly hope that there's no military action.
And frankly, we see no reason. We see no justification for military action against Cuba. It's a peaceful country. We're not an enemy of the United States.
We don't pose any threat to the United States. In fact, we wish and we set it openly that we would like to have a friendly and respectful relationship with the United States, with its government, and we've been developing it for a long time, with the people of the United States. And yet you heard those words by President Trump, so I'm wondering, is your military preparing for a potential engagement with the United States? Our military has always prepared, and in fact it is preparing these days for the possibility of military aggression.
We would be naive if looking at what's happening around the world, we would not do that. But we truly hope that it doesn't occur. We don't see why we would have to occur. And we find no justification whatsoever.
Why would the government of the United States force its country to take military action against a neighboring country like Cuba? So this is a remarkable statement that you've just made that Cuba is in fact preparing for the potential possibility of a military engagement with the United States. Can you be more specific? What do those preparations look like?
Our country has historically been ready to mobilize as a nation, as a whole, or military aggression. We truly always see it as something far from us. We don't believe it as something that is probable, but we naive if we do not prepare. That's why I can tell you.
The U.S. and Cuba have confirmed that they are talking but have given very few details. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is leading those talks for the United States. Here's what he had to say from the White House this week.
Take a listen. So there are a lot of trouble. And the people in charge are big. They don't know how to fix it.
So they have to get new people in charge. So is the United States insisting on regime change in order to give Cuba economic relief? I don't know what they're insisting among themselves. But I can tell you in conversation with the United States, and in dialogue with the United States, the nature of the Cuban government, the structure of the Cuban government, and the members of the Cuban government are not part of the negotiation.
That is something that no sovereign country negotiates. I don't know how many examples are there of countries that negotiate with a foreign power. They're a system of government or the nature of the government. I'm sure the United States is not ready to negotiate with another government.
It's constitutional system. It's political system. Now the U.S. government knows that the problems our Cuba faces are in a great, great measure the result of policies of the United States aimed at causing as much harm possible to the Cuban economy, to Cuban society, and to the people of Cuba, which makes it any government, makes it for any government very difficult to manage things and to get good results when a superpower is exerting such level of pressure above all, economically, on the country.
Are you saying that regime change is off the table? Absolutely. Mr. Deputy Foreign Minister, NBC News has been on the ground in your country all week long, are crews of seeing people who haven't worked in weeks, kids who haven't gone to school, food and energy running dangerously low.
President Trump says Cuba believes that Cuba will collapse on its own. Is your country currently in a state of collapse? What does on its own mean when it's being forced by the United States? It's a very bizarre statement.
And it's claimed by most U.S. politicians repeatedly that Cuba will collapse on its own. Then why does the U.S. government need to employ so many resources, so much political capital, so many human resources, to try to destroy the economy of another country?
Evidently, it implies that the country does not have the characteristics to collapse on its own. What is your country in a state of collapse, Mr. Deputy Foreign Minister? It is not in a state of collapse where being as creative as possible, where mustering all our creativity or ingenuity, to try to find ways in which we can cope with the reality that we did not choose, of which we are not responsible, and that would help our people go through this with at least paying possible.
But paying is there. Have no doubt. You say you're not responsible. Putting this blockade aside though, Mr.
Deputy Foreign Minister, human rights groups have reported that nearly 90% of your citizens live in extreme poverty, nearly 80% of your citizens intend to emigrate, has your system of communism failed the people of Cuba? I don't know which are your sources and which are the human rights organizations that claim such. But I'm sure, and I can quite accurately guess that the majority are either financed directly by the US government or by proxies of the US government. Now, people are hurting Cuba.
There's no doubt about that. But you cannot put a question mark on the system of socialism or communism, or the system of government that we have in Cuba, whichever way you wish to call it. If the US, the most powerful nation in the world, has had to dedicate almost seven decades to try to destroy the system of government and yet failed. Mr.
Deputy Foreign Minister, just finally, what is your message to President Trump this morning? Cuba has no quarrel with the United States. We do have the need and the right to protect ourselves. But we are willing to sit down.
We're open for business and we're all being open for having a respectful relationship. And I'm sure the majority of Americans will support, and I'm sure the President of the United States will support if we could sit down and talk meaningfully about it. All right, Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernandez de Cocio, thank you so very much for joining us this morning. We really appreciate it.
Thank you. Thank you. And you can watch my full interview with the Deputy Foreign Minister at meetthepress.com. When we come back, we look back on the beginning of the US-Cuba standoff that began with questions about democracy and power.
Our meet the press minute is next. Welcome back. President Trump's threats to take over Cuba are the latest flashpoint in a decades-long standoff. One that began in 1959 when Fidel Castro overthrew Florencio Batista.
Months later, Castro sat down with meet the press and was pressed on what moral authority Cuba had to speak about democracy as his government-backed revolutionary movements across the region. They're right to speak about in the same way that you in the United States speak about democracy. I in the same way they speak about democracy because I believe in democracy. And I think that it's not just that some country be on their blood, blood, blood, tyranny like Santo Domingo and another country that is an idea.
Sir, do not fire, not an intervention, a gun against all kinds of intervention in the, in the internal matter of other countries because we, in Latin American countries, we are in a long time, and talking for the principle of not intervention. When we come back, the cause of war or mounting is President Trump preparing to send in ground troops. Our panel is next. Welcome back.
The panel is here. Courtney Cubie, NBC News, Senior National Security and Pentagon correspondent, Jonathan Martin, Politics Bureau Chief and Senior Political Columnist for Politico, former Communications Director for Vice President Harris, Ashley Etienne, and Mike Dubkey, former Trump White House Communications Director. Welcome to all of you. Court, I have to start with you because you had new reporting this week that President Trump is in fact considering potentially deploying ground troops into Iran and then you just turned Secretary Bess and say all options are on the table.
Where do they stand? Yeah, so basically right now we're in a escalate to de-escalate or escalate to end the war situation. The President weighing several options and they're kind of in three buckets right now. The first one is addressing the most immediate problem that we're hearing the most about and that's the straight or four moves.
The idea is the U.S. could send in the military to a couple of small islands in the Persian Gulf, Abu Musa and the greater and lesser tombs and then a couple of ports in the region. And the idea is the way that the Persian Gulf is the depth. You have to send large ships through these islands.
Iran has put a ton of military equipment on them and they have spotters. The spotters alert the Iranian Navy. Hey, the ship is coming here. They send out these fast boats.
They're mosquito fleet and they directly threaten shipping coming through. They could put troops there. They could stop the mosquito fleet and ultimately it could help reopen the Strait of Hormuz in conjunction with all these military strikes we've seen. The second one is the oil and gas, Carg Island, which we've heard a ton about including from the Treasury Secretary this morning.
The U.S. could send troops there. They could not only cut off the revenue stream for the regime by doing that but they could also then use that as leverage if there were some sort of peace negotiation. And then the most dangerous option would be to send U.S.
troops for securing the highly enriched uranium and that would take the most troops. You would need a huge perimeter of security and it would be dangerous and difficult undertaking to get all those cylinders out. Remember the U.S. military struck those facilities.
It's not clear if they even damaged their maybe poisonous gas. The one benefit to all of these options, which all carry tremendous danger, by the way, is the fact that the U.S. is air superiority, meaning they own the airspace. That means when Iran would almost certainly try to unleash drones and missiles and things, the U.S.
could have some defenses against that. One of the questions we're watching so closely that matters to Americans. Another one, the impact on consumers, Jay Mark, of all of this gas prices have been skyrocketing, energy prices have been skyrocketing. I talked to Secretary Besson about that.
John Allen, our reporter this week, was out in Pennsylvania talking to voters. Here's what one voter had to say. Take a look. If you can say something President Trump is going to hear you right now, vote a bit.
You're a worthless pile of ****. And you voted for how many times? Three times. That was my bad.
Apparently, I'm an idiot. What do you think the White House thinks when they hear that? Well, the rest of the poll said she was the point. Wasn't she?
I love the American voter. The White House is consumed with this issue. They're consumed with the price of gas and with the daily gyrations of the market. Look, there's nothing that impacts the American voter, like pulling into a gas station, looking up at those big numbers and seeing a four as the first number.
And then got for bed, seeing a five. Yeah, prices have gone up a dollar or two according to our friend Gasbody on Twitter in the last month. We're now at four bucks a gallon nationwide. If we get the five bucks a gallon in the next couple of weeks or next month, it's going to be a crisis point for this White House.
That's why this president is gyrating on a daily or hourly basis about whether or not to climb down from this war or to double down because he is so himself, Christian driven by the market every day in the gas prices every day because that's how he judges himself as a tool of his political successor failure. What about market say? I think it's driving him crazy today. Well, I mean, pick up on that point, Mike, and the fact that, of course, the backdrop to all of this is the mid-day.
I think the white house is consumed by this and they should be. Gas prices don't come down overnight, but they're probably they fluctuate more than the price of eggs and milk and other other items. So I do expect gas prices to come down, but they need to be concerned about it because gas prices were the one thing that this administration had going for it in terms of inflation. So those prices will directly affect the midterms if they say, Hi, the bigger concern I have with the midterms is if we don't look at affordability.
And if this Congress doesn't get on the ball of making it easier for prices to come down mortgages to come down all of that, we're going to have a midterm election without Donald Trump on the ballot, which has proven for Republicans to be bad in 2018, 2022, possibly in 2026. And so we're running into this bit of a buzz saw and we're running full on with the asked prices at four bucks, five bucks, they'll come down, but we need to get that under control. How do you see all the playing out for Democrats? I'm not sure that the gas prices are going to come down.
Iran is digging in its heels and I think the administration has underestimated their resilience when it comes to this particular issue. But when I was watching Senator Murphy, one more that stuck out to me that Democrats need to hit home, which is this the incompetency. The American people are watching as this war continues to escalate, it starts to spread now starting to spread all over the Middle East. President Trump has opened Pandora's box with no sort of clear appreciation for the risk that he's running.
We can have a situation like Iraq 2.0, where we're spending billions of dollars losing lives for an unjustified war. You've got prices as we've just said, prices are going up from the gas pump to the groceries. And the last thing I would say is that this message for Democrats has to be very civil and has to be very civil. This administration thus far has been a disaster for the American people.
The American people are paying the price and this war is only going to exacerbate their pain. Quick final step around to all of you. In my conversation with the Deputy Foreign Minister of Cuba, he was very defiant. He said, regime change off the table.
What are your sources telling you about how the Pentagon is watching this? The military plans for everything, right? So I wouldn't be surprised if there were military plans for some sort of innovation of Cuba. But the reality is the new head of South Comps said this week that they are not actively planning or exercising for any kind of people.
In fact, military officials say, look, the economy is struggling. We just saw the electrical grid basically collapse. They have this oil embargo, all of that, and the continued protests. The government there may fall without any kind of military intervention.
Well, Jim Hart, the president has said the government is going to fall on its own. But you talk about Cuba, Iran, Venezuela, and the president promised to get the U.S. out of four million. Is MAGA based still largely unified around him, but cannot last?
Well, it can last if gas prices do come down. I think that's the best marker as to whether or not there's patience among the American voters, no matter their politics on this. Look, I think it's very clear the president is determined to find a long-term legacy. He thought he could do it with a Nobel Peace Prize.
The Skated Avians didn't want to give him that. So he's choosing Dorby here, which is the Lindsey Graham door, which is, we're going to do Virginia to the real world. And it works so well in Venezuela. If he got emboldened and thought, well, if I can do it in Caracas, just like that, well, I can do it all in the world.
And it turns out, Iran is different than Venezuela. Okay, I was very negative in my assessment of where Republicans are, but I will say that at least they're not the Democrats. So the Democrats, that's the thing I'll play with that. They are underwater with their own popularity and job approval with Democrats.
So 42% of Democrats approved, 48% disapprove. The Democratic Party against the Republican Party is underwater as well. So the Democrats have proven that they have an agenda or a message that works, and Republicans can hang their hat on that. Actually, the point is, but here's what's working to our advantage.
NBC poll just recently showed that Democrats are up six points ahead of Republicans. We flip 28 seats thus far. So the trend is headed in our direction. The challenge, though, is you have no counter agenda to counter where this president is headed.
You know, the key with the issue in Iran and others is that this isn't an appeal to independent voters. It's not a base vote appeal, and that's who's going to flip these seats come the midterm election. Great conversation, guys. Thank you.
That is all for today. Thank you for watching. We will be back next week because if it's Sunday, it's Meet the Press. Moms, this one's for you.
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