MAGA & Fox News Voices Pummel Trump's Iran Deal

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1:00I'm Melissa Murray, in for Ari Melber, and tonight we start with Donald Trump under fire from Republicans and Democrats alike over his deal with the Iran to end the war in that country. Today, U.S. officials release the texts of the Memorandum of Understanding with Iran. Officials are set to sign it on Friday, and the MOU would reopen the Strait of Hormuz. It would end hostilities, and it would grant Iran the following concessions. $300 billion that would be distributed to that country through an investment fund. There is also a plan to end economic sanctions. There's also the unfreezing of Iranian assets.

1:41Plus, there will be waivers that allow Iran to sell oil on the global market. Here's the kicker. The MOU would return everything to the nuclear quote-unquote status quo. That means Iran's stance on its nuclear program remains virtually unchanged after a war that was ostensibly fought to limit Iran's potential as a nuclear threat in the region. Critics from the left and the right say that this deal strengthens Iran, while the United States retreats without any tangible gains. Despite four months of war, billions of dollars spent, and 13 American lives lost. Top MAGA and Fox News figures are not being shy about weighing in.

2:27Take a listen. They're better off than they were before the hostilities began. And there's also a lot of talk about this 300 billion dollar fund that they may soon have access to. Nobody is disputing that that is a thing. I hate to say this in this deal. The biggest loser is the United States and India. And you negotiate from strength. You don't give people money. I will say that the early returns do not look wildly promising at this point. America has given up all of its leverage in this situation. Let's be very clear. This is the vice president's deal. It does not have support. The regime has not changed.

3:05They're just richer. I do have concerns about the memorandum of understanding. I didn't believe it. I thought somebody was spoofing me. I wish you were homeschooled by a day drinker. No one's confident that Iran's going to do anything. How about the guys and gals that bled and died on our country's behalf? Where's their fun? I didn't see that in MOU. This doesn't feel like a victory. That's not all. At the conservative judge report, the headlines are absolutely scathing. Iran declares total victory. Iran will control Hormuz. America in retreat. The influential Financial Times writes, quote, Humiliation.

3:50Donald Trump battles claims his Iran deal is worse than Obama's. And here's the cover of Rupert Murdoch's New York Post, love bomb with the image of a burning American flag. At a press conference in France today, President Trump prompted even more criticism after striking an oddly soft tone on the status of Iran's nuclear program, missiles in the Middle East, and Iranian regime change. Take a listen. Iran's position has always been that their nuclear program was for civilian purposes. It is a little hard, though, when you say that somebody wants it. Other people have it. Other adjoining states have it.

4:33And you're not letting them have it for purposes of electricity and things like that. They're going to let Saudi Arabia have missiles, but they can't have them? Yes, sir. Oh, Kent doesn't work that way, you know. But they have a new group of leaders that I think is—actually, I think they're smarter. I think they're very smart. I think they're far less radicalized. And I think they're really good. They love their country. Joining me now to break all of this down is Jason Johnson, professor at Morgan State University and an MSNOW political analyst. Also with us is Molly Jung-Fast, a contributing writer with The New York Times and an MSNOW political analyst.

5:16Jason, what to say about so much winning? It seems that the president is really desperate to get out of Iran. What do you make of that? He's been trying to get on the off ramp, the off lane, whatever, for pretty much two weeks after this started. Right. This was not a path to victory. It was not going to be regime change. It wasn't going to make any oil cheaper. It has been an absolute failure from the very beginning. And the key part of this, and it's not just the Republicans being angry because they wanted regime change. Iran is stronger and they're not just stronger because they're going to get 300 billion dollars.

5:48Literally, it has been, and I've been researching this for a couple of days. You can see the Heritage Foundation, London School of Economics. For 30 years, American intelligence has been trying to figure out if Iran could ever close the Strait of Hormuz. It was game theory. Guess what? Yes, it was game theory. People were like, it was Schrodinger's cat. Can they do it? Can they not do it? Well, now they've proven that they can. They actually have something more powerful in their arsenal than nukes. They know they can shut down the world economy with the flip of their finger. And that's what Trump has left them with, regardless of$300 billion.

6:17So, Molly, are the critics right? Did we lose here? Are we getting anything out of this memorandum of understanding? It is an incredible world when you have Ben Shapiro, the New York Times editorial page, the Wall Street Journal editorial page and the cover of the New York Post in agreement like that is an unusual group to be together. And the truth is... The coalition of the will. Exactly. Yes. And I think there's a reason for that. And that's because the only thing that it seems like a deliverable on the side of the Iranians is reopening the straits, which were open before Trump did this. Yes.

6:56Are you surprised by the backlash from the extreme right wing? I mean, even his fiercest allies seem to be annoyed by all of this. No, no. So, first off, every time I see Trump deliver a speech or Marco Rubio behind him, I just want to play like the arrested development music. He always looks so embarrassed and so upset that he has to sit there. Most of the people in the administration knew this wasn't going to work. They knew that they didn't really have a position of leverage one way or another. But I think the criticism is from the true believers who believe some fantasy that the United States was going to turn Iran into the next Iraq.

7:27But then also the people who recognize that our leverage is weakened with so many other countries now that it makes it more difficult for us to engage in any other of these ridiculous adventures in the next two years. So I'm interested in this point about Marco Rubio being so embarrassed. Who's going to own this baby? Whose baby is this? Well, I mean, I think it's a neat. Who's on a book tour right now? Yeah. Because that's the person who's going to have to defend this. J.D. Vance. Yeah. J.D. Vance will have to defend it. I mean, Ben Shapiro just said, hey, this is this particular thing. But at the end of the day, it's never Trump, right?

7:58Trump never owns anything. So it's going to the poop is going to fall in somebody else's lap and it's never the president. So, Molly, GOP Senator Bill Cassidy had this to say about the deal earlier today. Take a listen. The details that I've seen so far look awful. This will go down as a tremendous foreign policy blunder. Iran ends up stronger. Our allies in the region are weaker. And Iran has learned that if they're willing to grab that Strait of Hormuz and choke it off, they can get the Western world to dance to their tune. I think it's a deep mistake. All right. So, Molly, is this just sour grapes from someone who just lost his reelection bid because of the president?

8:40Or is this real talk? No, so this is part of the YOLO caucus, the group of Republican senators. And there are three of them who lost their Senate primaries because Trump was like, you know, you were insufficiently loyal to me, whatever that looks like. But this guy has really been through it, too. Remember, he's a doctor who voted for RFK Jr. I mean, he's undone his life's work. But yeah, no, I think he feels, I think he's speaking the truth, which a lot of Republicans don't usually do or don't usually feel they can. And there should be a larger question about why that is and why he now feels liberated to say what everyone else who has got eyes is saying.

9:25You know who also feels liberated, Jason? A president who also had a deal with Iran. Let's take a listen. I seem to remember. Yeah. Not so long ago we had a deal with Iran. And let's take a listen to what President Obama had to say earlier this week. It is doubtful that any agreement that arises is going to be significantly different or a significant improvement from the deal that we had in the first place. and had worked for a long stretch of time before the United States pulled out of it.

10:10Facts? That was a very careful way. I wish he had the Key and Peele anger translator with him who would just say, this is obviously garbage, this is foolish. And I want to highlight this because this is key. While everybody is talking about their egos and being bruised, now where people died, Americans died, school children died in Iran. People are sick. People will not have clean water for weeks and weeks and months and months. So it's not just I think we always have to remember this is not just bruised American pride and Jared Kushner not getting everything he wants. People have died. Whole generations and communities have been destroyed by this.

10:42And all they can talk about is whether or not somebody had a good or a better deal. And that's part of what makes this so cold and grotesque and offensive that we can engage in these kinds of ridiculous flights of fantasy. And no one wins. And the people who suffer don't have a voice. So, Molly, Jason Rees is a really interesting point. This is likely to have radicalized some individuals in Iran. And it seems like in the short term, you know, maybe gas prices will go down and maybe the president reaps the benefits of that in the midterm elections. But are we paying a longer price down the road for what all of this will ultimately engender?

11:14Yeah, we may also still be paying that price even sooner than that. Like, there's no way to put this back in the bottle. We have a younger Ayatollah. I mean, Trump, you know, Trump said a lot of stuff today after that long trip, and he sounded very tired. And he said, you know, we have this better Ayatollah. The Ayatollah is younger, angrier, and by all assurances, much more radicalized. His father was killed in his strikes. Yes. Yes. And so I think that Trump, I don't know that Trump understands what he has wrought here. And it's and I think we're I think it's quite scary this moment we're in.

11:52If, you know, if this is the movie caption, this time it's personal, right? Like now it's not just a political argument, but also our gas prices aren't going to go down because one of the things that's unclear in this sort of phony memorandum of understanding, which is going to be 60 more days to negotiate, is Iran may still be able to charge fees at the end of this. So they're actually going to be making more money and our gas prices are not going to go down, certainly not by the midterms. Fines and fees may apply. Yeah, we will find out. All right. Jason and Molly, please stay with me. Up next, Trump continues to stoke chaos, this time on Capitol Hill in a new push to limit voting rights.

12:28Plus, what late night hosts are saying about his neon green reflecting pool. And by the end of the hour, the Obama aide behind this iconic Amazing Grace speech will come on and we will talk about it as we count down to the opening of the Obama Presidential Library. We are back in just 90 seconds.

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13:42Play Chumbo Casino and enter for your chance to win. Let's Chumbo. Yeet. No purchase necessary. VGW Group Voidware prohibited by law. CT &Cs 21 Plus. Sponsored by Chumbo Casino. A BetterHelp ad. Summer can feel like a sprint. Kids home. Trips to plan. Routines flipped upside down. It's easy to slip into survival mode. Just trying to get through it. Then suddenly, it's over. and you're wishing you enjoyed the days just a little bit more. Therapy can help you slow down and actually be present for the moments that matter. With BetterHelp, you can connect with a licensed therapist from anywhere on your schedule.

14:17Don't just survive this summer. Thrive. Visit BetterHelp.com. President Trump is under fire today for forcing the delay of a critical hearing on his nominee to be Director of National Intelligence. The nominee, SDNY Chief Jay Clayton, was set to appear before lawmakers this afternoon. But now, Trump hopes to pressure Congress to first pass his controversial voter identification bill, the Save America Act. In a post on Truth Social that was issued early this morning, Trump wrote, quote, I don't want to take Jay Clayton away from the great job he is doing until Jamie McDonald, that is his pick to replace Clayton, is in place.

14:59Therefore, to add a slight bit of intrigue, I will not approve FISA without the Save America Act going along with it. Let's be clear here. The president is threatening to block an extension of the crucial Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act unless it is paired with his voter bill, a huge national security gamble. Trump's zeal to enact the Save Act is further perpetuating his continued false claims of rampant voter fraud. As numerous studies have found, quote, non-citizen voting, which is already illegal and carries severe penalties, is rare. And in addition to addressing the non-existent problem of rampant voter fraud, experts say that if enacted, the SAVE Act would, quote, block millions of eligible Americans from voting.

15:50But it's not just that the president is holding national security hostage while he attempts to rejigger voting laws in advance of a crucial midterm election, one in which his party is expected to take some losses. It is also that the president doesn't actually have the authority to stop a congressional hearing. Only Congress can do that. But what the president can and did do is demand that Jay Clayton, the nominee, not show up for the scheduled hearing, leaving Republican leaders with no choice but to cancel. All of this now means that Bill Pulte, who was Trump's initial pick to serve as director of national intelligence, he's now serving as acting director of national intelligence, is going to assume that position on a temporary basis starting on Friday.

16:38Trump faced immediate backlash from both sides of the aisle when he originally tapped Pulte for this very sensitive post. Lawmakers slammed Pulte's lack of experience and his fealty to Trump. Now, Pulte's position as acting director of national intelligence has renewed fears that Trump will use Pulte to go after his enemies in the run-up to the midterm elections. And lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are clearly frustrated with today's presidential power play. Take a listen. A president that is treating our national security with complete disdain. Do we want a sycophant accessing DNI material or do we want a top person like Jay Clayton in a job?

17:24He wants Pulte in place because he wants him to do his political bidding. Am I getting that correct? That's 100 percent what is happening. I'm concerned that this slows down the renewal of FISA, which is vital to our national security. We will never pass the save act. Never. Have you spoken in the past? Connecting all these issues together.

17:49Back with me is Jason Johnson, politics professor at Morgan State and MSNOW political contributor. Also with us at the table is Molly Jung Fast, contributing writer with The New York Times, MSNOW political analyst, and the host of the Fast Politics podcast. Jason, there's a lot going on here. Susan Collins is concerned. Oh, my gosh. Is she? Always. Always concerned. What do you make of this presidential standoff with Congress over the Clayton nomination? If you look at health care, if you look at national security, you look at environmental agencies, there are hundreds of agencies that have been gutted after Elon Musk and Doge that have never been filled in this administration.

18:28This is par for the question. These are just the names we're hearing about. Right. So this doesn't shock me at all. It also represents the fact that most of the members of Congress, certainly on the Republican side, they don't really care. Right. They don't care to push enough back at these sorts of things. They don't care to say, hey, this is a huge national security concern. And really what concerns me, and I'm glad, you know, polls people's like, well, I'll back off and these people are moving back and forth. Who has Trump ever nominated for anything who doesn't have total loyalty to him? Who has he ever put in any position, whether it's Tulsi Gharol, whether it's Mark Wymel, anyone he picks is in that Pekash Patel when he's not drinking, right?

19:02Allegedly. Anyone that Donald Trump puts in any position, right, is someone there to essentially do his bidding and attack his enemies. And so I'm not surprised by any of this. I'm not shocked by any of this. And this is far for the course. Molly, it's not just Democrats who are sounding the alarm on this. So even GOP lawmakers have admitted that this voter fraud bill, the Save Act, doesn't have enough votes to make it through. And they're worried that hemming up the FISA bill in order to get this passed is really using national security as a pawn at a time where we may be increasingly vulnerable.

19:39Yes. And in fact, Thune said that, you know, it's a the question is, will you crush the filibuster for a bill that is federalizing elections, which is, by the way, not even constitutional. So like that thing is going to just go right to the courts. It's going to be in the courts. I mean, I don't know. This Supreme Court we have is very they have done a lot of wacky stuff in the name of pleasing Trump, but even they might have problems with it. So that's why this makes no sense. And he's just putting it all together because he wants something. And this is from a true social post. So, you know, written in the night.

20:17So I just. Are they all written at night? But I just wonder, like, you know, this is not the way a government is supposed to run. And even Republicans. Remember, just like we talked about before, there is this YOLO caucus of people who really are ready to say the truth. So, Jason, I want you to listen to some sound from when Bill Pulte was initially named as the nominee for director of national security. Let's take a listen. Well, we don't need a weaponized ENI. We need professions. I see no evidence of any qualifications for that job. The one thing we know about Bill Pulte is he will do whatever Donald Trump says.

20:54This is insane. Okay. This isn't I mean, this is someone who has no experience whatsoever in intel. It has no experience. And he does have a reputation of being a hatchet man for the president. Jason, has the president gotten what he wanted here? He wanted Bill Pulte in this job. It was clear he was not going to get him through the Senate. Has he now figured out a way to do this? I mean, for now. Right. I mean, this is failing up. Right. But there are so many members of this administration who have failed up. But does it matter now in this run up to the midterm elections? We already have the president apparently investigating Gavin Newsom, who may be a presidential rival, not even against him.

21:32But now we're going into the midterm elections. Is it going to be really important that Bill Pulte is in this post? I don't think so, because look, whether Pulte was going to do it, Donald Trump was going to weaponize the DOJ somehow. Donald Trump was always going to come up. This is the Hunter Biden tactic all over again. It's also indicative. And quite frankly, I'm sure Gavin Newsom's people, the people I talk to in California, like this is great. You know how much money he can raise off of this? because Trump is already saying two years out that I'm afraid of you. So I think the thing we have to understand that they're operating almost like almost like a mafia state.

22:01So it doesn't matter who we change in and out of these positions. The mission is always going to be destroy the law, engage in sort of violence and attacks on whoever it is that Donald Trump doesn't like. And if you won't do that to the degree that he wants you, whether you're Pam Bondi, who was qualified or Tulsi Gabbard, who wasn't that qualified, I'll get rid of you. Right. So, Molly, we have a Congress and Republicans in Congress who are trying to play chess with this president and they keep getting outmaneuvered. What's their next play? You know, I think that he's going to change his mind again.

22:32A lot of times the next play is just waiting for him to get bored. Bill Pulte has not had great success with his mortgage fraud cases that he's cooked up. So it's not like this guy is some great mind being put in there who knows how it works. And I think, you know, there's something to be said for that. All right. Jason Johnson, Molly Jungfast, thank you for getting us started. Later in the show, the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool turns green under Trump and becomes an instant symbol of the dreaded D.C. swamp. You know, he promised he would drain the swamp. Instead, he spent$14 million of our dollars building a new one.

23:19Also ahead, I have a special guest to talk about the Obama Presidential Center, which is set to open tomorrow. But first, we dig into Trump's odd new praise for Iran's leaders and why nonpartisan experts are warning that President Trump lost this war.

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24:33Let's Chumbo. Yeet. No purchase necessary. VGW group void where prohibited by law. CT &C's 21 plus sponsored by Chumbo Casino. A better help ad. Summer can feel like a sprint. Kids home, trips to plan, routines flipped upside down. It's easy to slip into survival mode, just trying to get through it. Then suddenly it's over and you're wishing you enjoyed the days just a little bit more. Therapy can help you slow down and actually be present for the moments that matter. With BetterHelp, you can connect with a licensed therapist from anywhere on your schedule. Don't just survive this summer. Thrive.

25:08Visit BetterHelp.com. We return now to that breaking news on the so-called memorandum of understanding between the United States and Iran. Experts say that Iran appears to have won several major concessions from the United States. Those concessions include$300 billion in funds for rebuilding, a plan to drop sanctions and unfreeze Iranian assets, as well as waivers that would allow Iran to export oil. And in return for all of this, Iran, quote, reaffirms that it will not seek nuclear weapons. This has caused some perplexity, confusion among hawks in the GOP caucus. They've been especially confused by the president's praise of Iran's hard-line leadership.