Morning Joe - Joe: Republicans know how horrible ICE in airports is for them in the midterms

Episode Date: March 24, 2026

Joe: Republicans know how horrible ICE in airports is for them in the midterms To listen to this show and other MS podcasts without ads, sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Fox News alert chaos erupting at America's airports. This line in Atlanta showing people lined up around midnight for flights leaving this morning. I've been here almost two hours. Three and a half hours. We might not make it. My flight is boarding right now. Oh, no. Way ahead of you, kid.

All right. The Trump administration is putting ice agents in airports across the country as travelers wait in extremely long lines. What do they do to make the lines shorter? like the ICE agents. What is their function? Do we know? Okay. But on Capitol Hill, there could be a deal

to fund the Department of Homeland Security before Congress leaves town for a two-week recess. That's, despite for us and Trump again yesterday, telling Republicans any funding for the agency has to be tied to the Save America Act. We'll dig into all of that. Well, we can dig as long as we want. That's just not going to happen.

Okay. There's that. Meanwhile, here in New York. I'm just saying, I'm not even... That's just a fact. You asked John Thune and other Republicans. Don't you say that's just not going to happen. Well, he's hoping for it. Do you know what your original birth certificate is?

Well, actually, I do. Oh, good. The original? Yeah, you need the original. The original. Yeah, well, they're going to kick you off the voters' rules if you don't have it. I don't remember where I was born. You know, Willie, that, seriously, for most of me his life, she's not known.

New York or Washington. She was born. I said where you were born? born, her mom was like, oh, I don't know. You know it. It's 16s. New York, Washington. It ended up. I still don't know. I always said. Well, I think I did a deep dive into this and I haven't. No, I can't remember. I think she ended up being born in Manhattan. But was it Manhattan? She ended up being born in. It might have been Jersey. I think they were living in Georgia. You guys were living in the swamps of Jersey. Might have been Georgetown. See, but here's a great. Here's a great.

Yeah. Not only does Meeka not know where her original births of it is, which under the Save Act would get her kicked off the voters' roles and then she'd have to come back and re-register and she would find out on election day that she could not vote. And by the way, don't be skeptical. Seriously, she had no idea where she was born. She still doesn't really now.

Did your mom know? Sorry. Yeah. She never really knew. It was the 60s. But she was an artist. I mean, come on. But you didn't change your last name, so that'll help you apparently. Yeah, exactly. Okay. All right. So, anyway, so, but they're really

saying this Trump Act will kick people off the voter rule. They have to go back and they will have to find an original birth certificate or buy a passport which a lot of people can't even afford groceries now. And so it's very deliberate attempt to

kick people off the rules. You know, Republican or Democrat. By the way, I've always said, voter ID, that's fine. Driver's license or another government issue deal. Or if the voter registration office wants to get, you Let people get, that's even better because then you're giving people who don't have a photo ID, government-issured photo ID.

But this thing is crazy, and it's never going to pass what they're talking. And the way the president and others are trying to sell it is this is just a voter ID bill. All you have to do is have a picture ID, and that's all we're asking. That's not true. Which is not true. There's much, much more in there. Restrictions on mail-in voting and what you're talking about here, these things that are buried in, they want you to think it's just voter ID. It is not.

There are other restrictions on voting that go deep within this. And also, meanwhile, the president is lumping all this other stuff into the bill about trans athletes and everything else. It's this catch-all omnibus thing that's a colander touching everything. It's not going to work. Okay. Meanwhile, here in New York. And Republicans know it's not going to work. And the chaos and the airport keeps getting worse. And TSA agents work for free right now. And it's outrageous.

And it's outrageous. With their masks off, which is apparently not good for them because people are taking their pictures. They don't like that. I mean, it's just awkward. Anyhow, I still don't know what they're doing there. What's the function of, are they scanning our bags? I wouldn't want that. Okay.

What's in your bag? Well, I just, no, I just, they don't appear to be very good at their job. I mean, my bag. Open it up, man. No, I wouldn't want them scanning bags. I want TSA agents scanning bags. All right, meanwhile, here in New York, the main runway at LaGuardia Airport remains closed. My flight today canceled this morning after yesterday's deadly crash involving an air Canada jet and an emergency vehicle.

We're going to play for you the audio from the air traffic controller immediately after the collision where he said, I messed up. Along with Joe, Willie, and me, we have the co-host of our 9 a.m. hour, staff writer at the Atlantic, Jonathan Lemire, former spokesperson for the U.S. mission to the United Nations, Hagar Shemali. She also worked at the National Security Council and Treasury Department. Good to have you on the board this morning. Why do you think me, why do you think me get as a one of the check bag? It's not my bag. Is it like when the Eagles flew into like the Bahamas and Urban Gazoff had to like save them by paying off the customs guy? She's Keith Richards in Toronto in 78, you know?

They'll find dog treats, maybe a leash, maybe I don't know. But the point is, what are they? Does anyone know? Okay, I'm going to stick to it. Does anyone know what ICE agents are doing at the nation's airport? What is their job? And are they making the lines shorter? They're making the line shorter? No, they're not.

For passport stamping, I don't know. I flew into Newark two days ago. I didn't see any ICE agents. So I've seen a few. Can I just answer your question? Yes, please. Donald Trump did it to provoke you and people like you. And the fact that you've asked the question 14 times to the first five minutes means he wins. Ask it again. He wins again.

No, I don't think he's going to, I think ICE has been a very not winning proposition for this president. No, no. I'm just saying as far as owning the lives, it's working for him, even though it is hurting Republicans. What happened yesterday in San Francisco hurts Republicans. Ice in the airport hurts Republicans. The Republicans, even Ron Johnson, went on Fox yesterday and said, we had this deal done. And the president killed it. John Thune said, we had a deal done. And the president reportedly yelling at John Thune about it in this very heated conversation. Yeah, but you won't stop saying the same thing over and over and over again.

The point is, all the Republicans of the Senate, are almost all of them, want TSA agents, paid. They don't want ice in the airports. If they're running for offices fall, it is a terrible political move for them. So yes, Donald Trump may be owning the libs, may be making my wife,

who has contents inside of a bag that I have no idea what's in that bag. Like, making her really... There's the bag. Oh, it's a big one. I got it at a thrift store. I don't know. I love it so much. Thank you, Joe. What are you hiding? It's second-hand. I don't know. We could go through it.

It was John Kennedy. Yeah, John Kennedy. Yeah, it was John Kennedy. Yeah, no, Ron Johnson definitely wouldn't say that. It was John Kennedy. So anyway, it's horrible for the Republicans what's happening in the airports. You know, somebody scanned Atlanta's airport,

and it was even more chaotic than usual. And the capsule is, this is what Washington looks like when Republicans run everything. And Republicans are very aware of that fact. But right now, Donald Trump does not seem to care. Yeah, Republican senators know that, which is why Thune went to the president. White House the last couple of days to try to get a deal.

Trump said, no. We are seeing, first of all, polls that suggest Republicans are taking more of the blame here for what's happening at the airport. Even anecdotally, those men on the streets or, you know, TV crews go to airports. Whose fault is this? Almost to a person. Donald Trump, Donald Trump, Donald Trump, Republicans. Oh, no, you know.

That is happening. Ice agents there are only escalating the situation. And this is why yesterday Republicans met again, and they feel like there may be some progress made. They know this is a problem. And it's only going to get worse in the nation's area. airports. And we're seeing lines of hours long, whether it's Atlanta or Austin, LaGuardia, the list goes on and on as spring break continues to heat up and Easter holidays just around the

corner. So they know that they need to get this done and they need to get done before the recess. Well, I think what's happening at the nation's airport is sort of a, I mean, a metaphor for what's happening across the country with things falling apart and this president owning the problem. I don't think this is owning me or liberals in any way. I think this is a cell phone in the biggest way. If you look at the nation's airports, that's a freaking mess. There's a huge piece in the Atlantic about our whole transportation air system, just breaking down from all the reasons that the president has put on the table. You go to the airport now and you see ice agents, you're reminded of the ice disaster across the country with these idiots slipping in the

streets with phones and guns. At times, people getting killed and getting hurt and people being ripped out of their homes. Some of them American citizens doesn't matter. They all have rights. And now people get reminded at that when they go to the airport and deal with this. And they've got these guys walking around for the first time ever not wearing masks. And I don't think they're comfortable with it either. Well, by the way, I say this doesn't appear to be a spring picnic for a lot of these ice agents as well. No, I just said that. Who don't want to be in there. No. No, this is a genuinely bad idea for everybody involved. You know, because, you know, you have some professional ice agents and you've got some very unprofessional ice agents and you know you get

pictures of guys with guns like here and there looking at phone and still long lines airports the lines are very long but this is like you remember the Reese's peanut butter cup two great tastes they go great together you got chocolate my peanut butter you know this is two horrible political stories that are bound together by republicans where you have long lines of airport, and then you have ice, which is the personification of the Republican Party's meltdown on mass deportation and immigration, Willie. And I can't even believe it. Republicans are putting those two stories together in a visual year where you can just

take a picture of chaos in America's airports and ice. and Democrats are like, what did we do to deserve this? We don't deserve good things. But yet we're getting this. This is really, I think it's a reason why reports were last night, Katie Britt was going off the floor at running, saying, I think we got a deal. Because Republicans know how horrible this is for Republicans who are running this fall.

Yeah, and when you say Republicans are putting these together, it's really Donald Trump who's putting these stories together. Because as you say, Republicans publicly, John Kennedy on Fox News, John Thune as well, but really privately are saying, this is a disaster. First of all, you're pushing ice back into the headlines, which is terrible for us. And many people would argue terrible for the country. And you're putting us at risk now politically of having to defend the actions of having ice in this place. When we're trying to get a deal, you have ICE agents in the airport.

On the other side of that security line, you have TSA officers who don't make a lot of money to begin with making no money now. I was in the airports all week last week, and you just thank the people for the work they're doing because they show up for work off of without getting paid. For security around the world, the threat of terrorism going up.

It's crowded and people are hostile and they're mad because they're late for their flight, and these are the TSA. We also need TSA. I've got to say, I feel so bad for those TSA agents, and all you can do is just thank every one of them, and they're kind of like, you know? Not enough to check.

It's just terrible. And I thank them. I go, hey, I want to thank you. Listen, let me tell you. And I go, and I'm hoping Mika with, you know, with her Johnny Depp blowbag will run behind. And I, you know, make it to Miami through Miami. Make the drop. Make the drop at Gate E47 or something.

I want to know it's in your bag. All right. We need TSA. We don't need ice. We sure do. And we don't need the president. president saying it's great. They can find undocumented immigrants while they're doing the job at the airport. Are you kidding me? Again, not a liberal own idiocy. Political idiocy. I think, I think this. At least we can see their faces while they break the law. I'm going to go to break now. I think, I think this is going to get resolved by today. Needs to. Yeah, I think so. This week, I think Donald Trump is going to get a bill. I'd be very surprised if he vetoes it. But if he does, he does, he's.

He's not hurting the Democrats. He's hurting Americans, and he's hurting Republicans that have to run. Well, this didn't go as planned. We have major updates in the war with Iran, and Hagar is going to give us insights as to whether or not there is a deal inside or not. We'll take a quick break. And morning, Joe, we'll be back. Yeah, tomorrow. Tomorrow night.

I'm right back. I love that. Welcome back. Attacks across the Middle East continue this morning as the United States and Iran give conflicting signals. On possible peace talks, President Trump says conversations are underway with multiple major points of agreement. Iran, however, denies such talks with the Speaker of the country's parliament calling it, quote, fake news used to manipulate the financial and oil markets. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is also weighing in, saying that Trump believes there is a way to leverage military gains into agreement that would, quote, safeguard our vital interests. Netanyahu added, however, that Israel will continue attacks in Iran and Lebanon as damage can be seen across Tehran from Israeli airstrikes.

Iran this morning is hitting back and explosion was heard and smoke seen in Tel Aviv just hours ago, leaving buildings damaged and cars burning. Israel's emergency response service says several people were wounded as search and rescue teams deployed to the area. Sirens are sounding today not only in Israel, but across the Gulf. Kuwait says it intercepted missiles. Saudi Arabia says it destroyed drones and Bahrain says it urged residents to head to the nearest safe place. Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal is detailing what drove President Trump's abrupt U-turn on negotiations with Iran. According to the paper, that reversal came after the White House learned of high-level talks involving Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan aimed at fending on off, finding an off ramp to the war. As the journal reports, Trump's shift

Monday followed a series of closed door discussions through Middle Eastern intermediaries that U.S. officials said gave them hope an agreement to settle the conflict was possible. It also reflected a growing desire by Trump and some of his advisors to bring the war to a close, according to people familiar with the matter, as the president faces political and economic fallout from the conflict. So, uh, Hagar, yesterday morning. I guess around this time, President Trump posts on social media, we're talking to the Iranians. The markets love it. Oil prices go down for a while.

Then the Iranian side comes out and says, we're not talking in any direct or meaningful way with the Americans. Oil's back over $100 a barrel in trading this morning. So what do you think exactly is going on here? Do you think President Trump feels like we've done what we wanted to do in destroying some of their military capabilities? And now it's time to sit down and negotiate? A little bit. From the very beginning, there was language that Trump used to give himself flexibility. When he pitched, pinned, for example, this war saying the Iranians need to rise up.

Now it's your turn to rise up. He's not seeing them rise up. By the way, that's fair. They're not rising up because they're staying home to be sheltered from bombs. And also because the Iranian regime has restarted its crackdown. So they know that they would hit the streets facing guns, death, and torture. So there hasn't been enough time there, but he deliberately did that to make it seem like, I'm giving you the space. If you don't take that opportunity, that's on you. In the meantime,

he's weighing his options. I know from my work in Washington that while the plan for the military strategy for the war was very well planned, there was no plan for the day after, largely because it started earlier than they had expected. They'd expected this war to start later in the spring. And so now he left flexibility for himself and seems to be hoping for a scenario similar to Venezuela. I am not a believer that you could ever. have a scenario similar to Venezuela because you're dealing with the regime that whatever moderate you're dealing with is still a fanatic ideological hardliner. And you already see it from the terms that the Iranian regime put forth. I think it was a week ago, Pazishian put terms to end

the war that were completely absurd. So there may be an effort on Trump's part to say this to boost markets. And he knows that. I do think this will be short. And he's leaving this window open, I would not believe the Iranian regime. And never, I have never in all the work I've done with the Iranian regime, they do nothing but lie through their teeth. So I don't believe that when they say that there are no talks because their supporters, which are 20% of the country, want to see the regime pummel the United States and Israel. So I believe talks are happening, and I think Trump is leaving. I was going to say yesterday, the second after Jonathan read what the president wrote, I said, well, of course, the Iranians will immediately deny that any of this

Avenue because they've been lying through their teeth since 1979. They lied before they got into power talking to the Carter administration, suggesting that, oh, yes, we care about U.S. interest and blah, blah, blah. And it continues. The lying continues. But that said, Jonathan, there have been negotiations going on, but you say the negotiations that are going on behind the scenes, the escalation of the war.

You say, we find ourselves now in this very strange place between exit and escalations. in your new piece in the Atlanta? Yeah, big writing in similar lines as the journal. There have been some talks, but it's all, it is through intermediaries, it's second degree. There has not been much in the way of direct contact yet. And the U.S. is still offering a 15-point plan, which is the exact 15-point plan they'd offered prior to the conflict, you know, in those talks that obviously didn't

lead anywhere. So it's unclear whether there's actual room for agreement right now. But I think both sides are looking to see if they're potential for an off-ramp. The president is aware. Price is, you know, soaring. Price is worried about, you know, Republicans deeply worried about the midterms. So he's looking to explore a little space here and also buy some time to consider what the next move might be. And we should note, military assets, more of them, are still heading to the region.

They are still preparing for potential Karg Island sort of ground invasion. That still is very much in play. The president is considering it. And then there are the Iranians who at the moment, you know, have no incentive to give up the straight at Hormuz. they're looking to get paid, like some sort of licensing fee. They actually wanted to be like the Sue. Exactly. And saying that Egypt gets a fee, so why don't we?

For this one. So there's a lot still to be done here. But I think there was a pause, and it was in part done because of the markets. The president looking to create a little space to see if an off-ramp is possible, but it's not a guarantee. Yeah, you know, the Wall Street Journal had a great op-ed years ago about al-Qaeda. When we kept killing the number three in Al-Qaeda, I think. and people are saying, you're only making them stronger.

And they said, no, no, no, the Obi-1-Kinobi rule of strike me down, Darth, and you're only making me stronger. It does not apply to war. And I would say it doesn't apply here. But can you explain how killing the Ayatollah and killing political leaders who actually have the best chance of striking a deal with the United States? a lot of the people have been killed doesn't make Iran stronger, but it does make the leader still there, the Revolutionary Guard, more powerful,

which means the people that we're actually negotiating with are going to be even more hardened. And it may be tougher because some of the people who have been taken out may be tougher to get that final deal. Well, yeah, if they linger, if this regime lingers and they try to negotiate a way to, remain intact under the guise of, quote, moderate leadership, then that regime will only be worse. But that's not their plan. No, well, the White House plan, no, no, no, that's not the Revolutionary Guards plan. And I, do we really have any say on whether they linger or not? I suspect because, again, this is not, I was talking to an intel person yesterday who said, this isn't Iraq. You don't take out Saddam and the entire government collapses. So this, this is more like

you know, these people have been through their World War II together, and this is like 1955. And you've got a lot of people that not only you have 3,000-year history, but you've got this fighting experience together, and the Revolutionary Guard, the connections are more interwoven and are more powerful than we'll ever have seen in Venezuela or Iraq. Now, again, this could all collapse tomorrow. Yeah. I'll be saying it couldn't.

But, I mean, the Revolutionary Guard is going to be hard to displace, aren't they? It's hard to displace any dictatorship. It depends on the military. And that's, by the way, that's the rule in general. Any dictator is only as strong as their military is loyal. And you've seen that over time. But that's singular. Again, that's singular.

That's Saddam Hussein. That's Vladimir. Assad fell when the military defected. Barak fell when the military defected. If you try to pursue cracks in the military and impot and, you, And that's why you hear Trump over and over again saying, you guys need to surrender, you the IRGC. You need to surrender and lay down your arms

and nothing will be taken against you. Now, again, that was three and a half weeks ago, so that could have shifted over time. But that's why he's communicating that because we know that if there's no military and no threat of a military coup, it would be much worse to have a military coup. I'm not trying to pretend that the regime

is easy to replace or move, but I would say that it has zero economic leg to stand on. And we either without a war, in a matter of months, it wouldn't have been able to pay its own soldiers. So the U.S. knows that the U.S. knows the regime is standing on a cliff, and this war escalates, accelerates that fall off the cliff. And if they can manage it properly to prevent a military coup, you could have something

real there. But the opposition is not well united. It's not like in Venezuela, which at least they had some space to organize and run and so on. The thing that, the thing to really remember here, though, I will say to your earlier point about killing all of these leaders, it's not. insignificant. The regime right now is crack, is, I don't want to say crumbling, because it's very much intact, but nobody trusts each other. It's chaos from what I hear within. They don't, they're suspicious of each leader trying to come out now of the Speaker of the Parliament,

now the foreign minister. These are the two kind of coming out as potential go shaders. Yeah. And that can undermine it. So Jonathan, you had the clerics led by the Ayatollah. you have the politicians and you have the Revolutionary Guard. And there was always a sort of scramble for power and leadership there. Right now it appears that it's a Revolutionary Guard. And they do not seem the least bit interested in being displaced. They have worked very effectively, ruthlessly, brutally to destroy any opposition efforts. There is, most people suggest no real opposition movement.

that are organized enough to step in and replace what we have right now. Yeah, they're in charge, and that's why it almost doesn't matter the health of this Ayatollah, which is very much in question, because they're running the show right now. One other quick note, the president received a lot of counsel over the weekend. We report in the story that his deadline and the threat to wipe out Iran's electrical infrastructure was a very bad idea, that if that were to happen, it would create, first of all, Iran would hit back that much harder to its neighbors, so the Gulf states were telling the U.S. don't do that, not like this. Also, if the state were to fall, which there was a fear that it might,

breeding ground for terrorism, refugee crisis, and the like. The president has been told throughout, he's been counseled, don't do ultimatums. He did one over the weekend out of the fit of anger of how things were going. He pushed it five days. The thought would be, if they can make any sort of progress in talks, he can push it again. There's even a chance of that first direct meeting this weekend in Pakistan. So the deadline now is Friday. We'll see if that extends from here. This flows perfectly into our next guest, White House Bureau Chief of Politico, Dasha Burns. Dasha, good morning. Great to see you.

We've got some new reporting for Politico on the person inside Iran who the Trump administration is actually eyeing as a potential partner and perhaps even a future leader of that country. What more can you tell us? Yeah, hey, Willie, hey, guys. Good morning. You set up the context perfectly for why this is so complicated for the White House. Now, let me bring you into the White House thinking in this moment and how they are viewing this. To Hagar's point, they are not looking at opposition back transition right now.

They are not looking to bring in an outsider. In fact, officials I spoke to told me Reza Palavi, the exiled prince that some people are looking to as a potential leader that is not on the table for somebody that the U.S. would back. Instead, they are looking right now at the Speaker of Parliament as a potential partner for the United States and possibly a leader that the United States could work with. Now, he is, you talked about the IRGC, the Revolutionary Guard. He is a former IRGC commander. He is a power broker. And he is not a moderate necessarily. Again, to Hagar's point, but this is somebody that the United States believes might be someone

on the inside that could potentially have a pragmatic streak and be willing to make a deal with the United States. I keep hearing the Venezuela comparisons. In fact, both officials that I spoke to made those parallels where they did not go with a Maria Machado, the leader of the opposition. They kept a regime leader in place. They made a deal. And then they made a deal on oil, which is another piece that the president is interested in. And that's partially why you've seen him be so careful when it comes to Karg Island, where a lot of Iran's oil infrastructure is.

He's hoping that he can make a peace deal and then make a deal to. to get the U.S. some hands on that oil. So again, that Speaker of Parliament right now is, as one official told me, the hot option, but they are testing potential options. Now, whether or not the U.S. is, in fact, in a position to decide who the next leader is, that's a big question. But right now the president thinks that he is in that position. And one of the warnings that officials told me is, look, if we're going to test these leaders,

it might be the speaker, it might not. if they're too radical, we'll take them out. We've already taken out a bunch of their leaders. So, Dasha, again, in your piece, some of the sources you talk to make the Venezuela comparison saying we get rid of Maduro, we bring in Delci Rodriguez, who is the vice president under Maduro, we find her to be a more acceptable option, but still kind of a part of the regime there. Is that sort of the thinking here that this speaker of the parliament would be acceptable not only to the United States, but perhaps to some of the leadership in Iran as well. Yeah, I mean, those words were used with me by these officials, Willie,

if we are looking for the Delci Rodriguez of Iran. Now, of course, these are two vastly different situations. In Venezuela, you do have sort of a more pragmatic approach, transactional approach. In Iran, there's ideology that plays in that you can't make the same sort of comparisons with, But that is how they see the speaker in this moment. Now, of course, you said, you know, the speaker went to X and posted that there are no talks going on, no negotiations going on. My sources say that's posturing for internal purposes. But that, they don't at this point want full regime collapse.

What you heard from the president earlier in this conflict of getting the people to rise up, kind of implying he wants to see a Democratic revolution, that's not the place that they're in right now. This is not democratic revolution. This is not getting an opposition figure installed in a full reset for the regime. This is trying to continue on with someone in the regime that's willing to work with the United States. White House beer chief at Politico, Dasha Burns. Thank you for new reporting available to read online right now. That is not Delci Rodriguez.

Put that picture up again. There is not a Delci Rodriguez in Iran. And if someone tried to play Delci Rodriguez in Iran, the Revolutionary Guard would put a bullet in the back of their head. And they know that. So I understand the White House wants to find, like Bud McFarland wanted to find, the moderates in Iran, when Bud, National Security Advisor for Ronald Reagan brought a Bible and a birthday cake shaped as a key to Iranian leaders. There are no moderates in Iran. We have been looking since 1979. So, again, I hope the regime collapses overnight, like the Soviets did and their empire did in the fall of 89.

I hope. But I just don't know how we get from here to there. for is negotiating. There is no Delsi Rodriguez in Iran. Former spokesperson for the U.S. mission to the United Nations, Hagar Shemali,

thank you so much for coming on this morning. You know more than I do. Is there a Delsi Rodriguez in Iran? No, there's no way there's a Delci Rodriguez in Iran. The Iranian regime is ideological and fanatic, and they believe that with chaos will come

the Mahdi, the Imam Mahdi. If you believe that, then there's no way you have someone you can negotiate with. Which is why this whole operation, is questionable because if you don't have a strategy, we're out to deal with what you just described. It's, to be honest, and I'll find it on one end on one point,

because I know you have to wrap up. It's that it really highlights between Venezuela and Iran. Exactly. The point is not democratic transition. And Dasha mentioned this at the end. It's very clearly that the priority is military goals for Iran, military-related goals and likely economic after. Trump, even in the latest iteration of talk,

said, is no nuclear weapon, no ballistic missile, and no support for terrorist proxies. He didn't mention human rights or democratic transition. And from what I understand, there is a growing realization. They are not going to get regime change. They certainly aren't going to get democratic transition, and they probably aren't going to get a delt to Rodriguez. So what are they going to get? They'll negotiate.

But they're going to try to obliterate military targets. They're going to try to reach all of their targets in the next three to four weeks and hope they can strike a deal to keep the straits open, and then they'll come home. All right, still, Anna, morning Joe. President Trump urges Republicans to skip the East recess in order to pass a controversial elections bill. We'll show you what he said about that yesterday. Did you do that, Willie? Yeah. You said, do it for Jesus.

That was interesting. Okay. And as we go to break, a quick look at the travelers forecast this morning from Accuethers, Bernie. Bernie, how's it looking? It is a tranquil Tuesday, Mika. No big travel delays today. Now, it's a little chilly in the northeast. A few flurries early in Boston, the Akiwether exclusive forecast,

the 49 New York City, 52 in Washington, D.C. Pittsburgh in at 47. A little cooler in Atlanta today, 66, 58 in Charlotte. I-4 corridor from Tampa toward Orlando. There can be a few thunderstorms this afternoon, and that's about it for travel delays. Green means great. To help you make the best decisions and be more in the know,

download the Acu Weather app. beautiful view. So I'm tying Homeland Security into voter identification with picture and proof of citizenship in order to vote. And those two items are the most important thing having to do with Homeland Security. So it should be part of the Homeland Security bill. And I'm requesting that the Republican senators do that immediately. You don't have to take a fast vote. Don't worry about Easter going home. In fact, make this one for Jesus, okay? Make this one for Jesus. That's what I tell

him. So let's see, Willie, can you write these down? Jesus said, feed the poor. That's right. Clothe naked. Visit those in prisons. Be merciful. So mercy. Yeah, exactly.

Love your neighbor as yourself. Love God with all your heart, your soul, and mind. And pass a voter ID Act that actually kicks millions and millions of people off the voter rolls. It's right there in the gospel. I'm trying to figure out where that one is. Also, don't worry about Easter, he said.

Don't worry about it. There's a statement. The most religious of Christian holidays. Yeah. Stay here and vote for my faith. Don't worry about it. That must have been in the board of two Corinthians that I don't read. Was it too chronicles?

Don't worry about Easter. Let's bring in the CEO and co-founder of Axiast, Jim Van deHon. I and Politics Pier Chief and Senior Political Communists at Politico, Jonathan Martin, the second episode of his new YouTube and podcast series on the road with Jonathan Martin. We'll be out later today. We'll get to that in a moment. I do want to know why it's not on the road with J. Mart. Like, it's sort of obvious.

I know. Come on, dude. We're talking to the production folks about that. Now, there's some copyright issues there. We're trying to work through it with the patent office. But I think it'll be okay, though. I think it would be okay. Nobody will confuse Jay Martin and Kmart.

We're putting our best folks on it. We're putting our best people on, Joe. Yeah. You got to do it. So, guys, we were just sort of laughing, sort of dark humor, but just sort of laughing at the fact that Republicans somehow managed to take two of the most unpopular things in America right now, not paying TSA agents and having crowded airports and ICE agents beating up people. Who are getting paid.

And those ICE agents who are getting paid. Yeah. And Jim Bend, I, clumping them all. together horrifying Republican senators who are thinking, yikes, we've actually got to run for office this fall. What do you think is going to happen there? I mean, I think they'll get a deal for the reason that you're talking about. You see plane crashes on one screen. You see these long lines, three, four hour waits to get through TSA at other airports.

You now see ICE agents, at least a few different airports. You see warnings about the Iranians wanting to have sleeper cells here and have, attacks in our homeland and it then take a political wizard to figure out you probably should be funding the department of homeland security you should probably figure out a way out of this jam i mean republicans are a little ticked off behind the scenes because i think the president's making it a lot harder by making his demands on the safe act saying do it for jesus on in terms of staying in over easter to get the legislation done that he wants in place because he thinks it'll help them and probably would uh in the midterm elections but man you look at the polls you look at

public anger. You look at public unease. And Republicans know that the Senate, which used to look really safe for them, if you just look at the seats that are in play, suddenly looks like it could be in danger. And it looks worse by the week. It doesn't get better. And so this is a case where I think Republicans in the Senate have a different incentive than the president himself. Right. And at Jamar, you look at the chaos at Atlanta, Hartsfield Airport. And whoever is running against John Ossoff, It was like praying to Jesus because things couldn't be worse right now for Republicans. They were behind the eight ball before, but now you have chaos in airports. You've got ISO unpopular that you've got the White House telling Republicans stop saying mass deportations

months after a lot of senators were saying to the White House stop saying mass deportations. And again, all of this just kind of clumping together. it's bad, bad news for Republican candidates. Well, and the challengers to John Azov are not praying for the Save Act, as their deliverance. I think it's safe to say. I mean, well, first of all, it's incredible that he has been convinced that this is somehow a panacea to save the midterms. Everybody knows the macro climate is forbidding for the Republican Party. And a voter ID bill, which is probably never going to pass the Senate anyways, is not so.

cure all, but he's been convinced of that. And it's driving the Senate Republicans crazy behind the scenes because they know this is not going to fix everything in the midterms. They also know it's almost certainly not going to happen. But he's a dog with a bone and they can't get it off of him. Joe, to your point about sending the ICE agents to the airport, what's amazing about that is, I think there are potentially some Democrats who were going to cave last weekend and try to find some kind of a way out because they're hearing from their voters too about the TSA lines at the airport. And there was an urgency to get something done. But if you're a Democrat, like, and you're going to say that now there's ICE agents at the airport, like, why would you cave now?

Just let the Republicans fix it, right? Because they're compounding their own political problems. So it also gives Democrats an opportunity to not do what they typically do, which is cave. And there is legislation on the table to pay the TSA. agents separately. Just get them paid and then let's worry about the other stuff. Republicans won't take that up. And Republicans have killed it 10 times. Yes. And they're complaining about it. John Kennedy and others are saying let's just pay the TSA agents deal with the other stuff later. Jmart, as we mentioned, the second episode of your YouTube and podcasts out today. Series features sit downs with newsmakers, some of the best restaurants in their home state.

Very important. Outstanding. Outstanding there. And the new episode, you speak with Democratic Governor of California. Gavin Newsom, you talked to about why he is taking such a vocal approach to fighting President Trump in public. Let's listen. Right now, we have to put a mirror up to the absurdity of the President of the United States dressing up as the Pope. Cosplain is Superman, putting his face on the side of Mount Rushmore, attacking and belittling the communities and minorities. I don't wake up every day to try to find, you know, a crowbar to put in the spokes of his wheel. I don't. That said, I'm going to stand my ground. We're going to have them. the backs of our diverse communities, and we're going to fight back. And yeah, fight fire with fire.

And I know two wrongs don't make a right. But with all due respect, we'll lose this country as we try to win that argument. And Democrats are constantly trying to be right. The other side is ruthless. And with respect, my party needs to be more ruthless about winning. J. Mart, first things first, where you eat it? What did you have? We were at Sam's Grill, legendary watering hole in San Francisco, been around since the 18th. 70s, famous Verge Dungeoness crab, Petrel Seoul, just classic Pacific

seafood. We have some crab cakes. And guys, here's the lead. I won't bury it. About a half an hour in, I got Governor News from Define with take a couple of bites. This is breaking news. This is like siren emoji news. The first episode Governor Huckabby, Sanders, did not eat.

I said, forget that. We're going to eat. I dove in immediately, and I'm getting the crab cakes. I'm trying the shrimp. We have a little... So, which is on a half shall we had some shrimp. And finally, Governor Newsom couldn't help himself. He was overcome with temptation. And we had a great seafood salad.

He spears the fork, gets some of the avocado on the seafood salad. Because he's an avocado guy. Here's why. When he was the lieutenant governor suffering through eight long years under Jerry Brown in Sacramento, he did an Al Haig-like seizure of power one day, Joe, and Brown was out of the state. As acting governor, he made avocado, the state fruit of California. So he's got a soft spot for the avocado generally. So he dove in there and grabbed some.

That clip, fool, guys, real fast. That clip that you were playing there, I was kind of pressing him on some of these tweets he does. It's some of this stuff a little too far, a little bit small, actually, for a big state governor who may want to run for president. And he got a little defensive there pushing back. But you saw his criticism of his own party, and you hear this a lot from Democrats that we're always trying to be right. It's an echo of the Bill Clinton line, which is people prefer strong and wrong over weak and right. And I think Newsom's internalized that. And he said, damn it, we can't keep trying to be right. Do the right thing. Say the right thing. We got to fight

fire with fire and be ruthless like them. It was a fast ending, I thought. Jay Martin, I think you're on to something here. You like the avocado. It might be like I can't turn away situation. situation. Politico's Jonathan Martin. Thank you. Jay Martin. And guys, real fast, I also asked my, I said, Governor, how can somebody

grow up in the 1970s man in San Francisco and never smoke weed? And you got to tune in to get the answer to that one, but I thought it was a fascinating exchange there too, because, you know, you come of age in like Marin County and SF in like 1978. You know, how do you avoid the stuff? But he somehow

fell away. Did he jump straight to acid? What happened? I mean, like, you know, he had like a scared straight experience because one of his foster brothers used some ancient pipe they had in the house to toke up. I think it scared Newsome. I did get him to confess, Joe, that when he was visiting the Grand

Canyon in the later years, that he did toke. But I said nothing today, like no edibles or anything. And he said, no, I legalized the stuff, but I'm a beer and wine guy. I'm like, I have to see this. Go to the Grand Caj. I'm so confused. I mean, I've never done coke. No, toke.

The new episode. Toke. Toke. Tote. Tote. Tote. We almost had a real. Smoked. It's a great experience. Okay. Jane Martin, you definitely are on something. The new episode of On the Road with Jonathan Marr.

Really should be on the road with James. I think you ought to talk to your folks there. One tough out with a line, sweet Jesus. It's going to be out later today. there. That's nice. He's figured it. I like the Seafood Tower. Bring it all in. I'm telling you, it's kind of like Zeppelin in 71.

No, telling what happened. The full man. Gavin is he also can't get through airports right now.