Trump's Iran War Now as Unpopular as Height of Iraq, Vietnam Wars

0:00This message is brought to you by Apple Card. For a limited time, when you get a new Apple Card and purchase AirPods Pro 3 at Apple, you can earn back the cost up to$250 daily cash. New AirPods Pro and up to$250 bonus daily cash back? Now that's music to my ears. Subject to credit approval. Limitations and spend requirements apply. Apple Card is issued by Goldman Sachs Bank USA Salt Lake City branch. Terms and more at apple.co slash AirPods. Exterior Remodels Inner Monologues. Brought to you by Power. The house looks good. Like, really good. That siding? Stunning. The roof? Elevated. Windows? I mean, wow.

0:42The process? Smooth. The neighbors? Jealous. Choose Power Home Remodeling and remodel how you think about remodeling. Schedule your free quote on windows, siding, roofing, and doors at powerhomeremodeling.com. Power. Our work shows. I'm Ayman Mohedin in for Ari Melber. Americans are turning on Trump as the war in Iran hits their wallets. Trump's war is now as unpopular as the Iraq war was during the years of peak violence in that country, which was 2006. And of course, the most infamous war, the Vietnam War in the early 1970s. 61 % of Americans calling the military action in Iran a mistake. Americans hit that level of disapproval after just two months of war with Iran.

1:32During Iraq, it took over three years to reach that height. And for Vietnam, it actually took six years. A striking comparison as the Iran war rattles the economy and the end game remains unclear for about almost everybody. Gas prices, well, you know the story. They have jumped to$4.39 per gallon. That is the largest one-day increase since the ceasefire was announced back on April 7th. And since the war started, the average price of gas in this country has now risen more than 47%. And in Chicago, gas just topped$5 a gallon for the first time in four years. All of this as Americans and activists around the world rallied today for May Day, an annual day of protest that typically centers around labor rights.

2:24You see here demonstrations from North Carolina to Chile and France. Here in the U.S., more than 500 organizations hosted over 4 ,000 events across this country. The largest gathering since the No Kings protests that took place earlier this year. Now this year, these protests taking on new meaning as Donald Trump and protesters continue to clash. Trump is putting us on the brink of an economic crisis when he should be investing in things that help improve our economy. We have war. We have the Strait of Hormuz closed. We have all of the things that are contributing to economic distress for the middle class and the lower class.

3:06Disgusting when people cannot pay for the medication of their kids or for health insurance. I'm here because it's May Day and we would like to support immigrant rights as it relates to workers. and regrets our workers too. We have adults that are going without food at times so their children can eat. We're in the richest country in the world. That should never be happening. Adults without food, people can't afford to pay medicine. And this comes amid shocking reports that the true cost of this war is actually closer to$50 billion, according to U.S. officials. That's actually double what the Pentagon has estimated in congressional testimony this week.

3:42They're saying it's about$25 billion. Now, all of this is bad news for Donald Trump. There's no doubts about that. His approval rating plummets ahead of contentious midterm elections that are just months away. Joining me now is Molly Jung-Fast, New York Times opinion writer and MSNOW political analyst and Jared Bernstein, former chair of the Council of Economic Advisers under President Obama. It's great to have both of you with us. Sorry, excuse me, under President Biden. Molly, it's good to have you with us. What do you make of these protests that are taking place and the anger that is now really palpable among everyday Americans?

4:15Yeah. I mean, there's no historical precedent for someone who runs for president and says, I'm going to make everything cheaper. The other guy doesn't know what he's doing. I'm going to you know, he had this thing, the weave and he had it on bacon. Remember his weave on bacon, which was sort of to say he was going to make bacon cheaper. OK, so fast forward, it's a year and a half later. Gas is right. 47 percent more expensive. Americans hate it when gas is more expensive. And if you had sold this war to them in any which way, you would at least try to say, like, well, there's some threat, but nothing.

4:49He just was like, we're doing this because they might have a nuke. Oh, they already had a nuke. Oh, we got rid of the nuke. We obliterated them. Right. It was like the most nonsensical war sale ever. And now anytime anyone asks him about it, he says, like, it's going to it's going to be over any minute, which is not an answer that is cooling the oil market. You and I were talking a little bit before we got on the show about what Republicans do here, because they are also seeing the poll numbers. And for them, some of them still want to run for office and they have elections to win. And so they are looking at Donald Trump's approval ratings and they're saying this is not a guy who's going to get either his party or individual races across the finish line.

5:29Yeah. You know, you and I were actually talking about the nightmare scenario, which is there's a reporting in The Atlantic talking to all of Trump's inner circle. And they were saying, you know, an unnamed source was saying that actually the only thing that's keeping him in check at all is the midterm elections. Right. Which, if you think about it, is scary. Right. It's quite scary because this guy does not act like someone who's being kept in check. And I think the real question is, look, the Republican, the primaries are almost over. And once the primaries are over, it'll be I'll be curious to see if Republicans try to break from him, because right now with these approval numbers, it's going to be, you know, we're looking at the generic ballot and it looks like Republicans are underwater by about 10.

6:09Yeah. So, Jared, the Washington Post ABC poll found that 60 percent of Americans fear that the Iran war is going to lead to a recession. How do you read the economic numbers right now when you see the cost of gas, the growth in the GDP for the first quarter or this quarter, I should say? And then in addition to that, the rising instability in markets around the world? Well, this is one of those economies, Aiman, where if someone asks you, how's the economy doing? The correct answer is whose economy are you asking me about? Because at the top of the scale, a lot of people are doing fine. Of course, there's great investment in artificial intelligence.

6:50And by the way, if you're a domestic oil producer or refiner, you're looking at some very big profits coming down the line. But for the rest of American consumers, life was already unaffordable before this hit. So when Trump alternated from saying affordability is a hoax to moving into a mode where he's actually making things much less affordable, whether it's tariffs, whether it's the war, whether it's budget cuts to health care and nutritional support, a lot of people were already feeling strained on affordability before this. And now it's multiples worse. Now, one thing the administration has said, well, a lot of you are going to get tax refunds.

7:30So calm down. Well, guess what? According to our calculations, the average amount that people are going to have to spend extra at the gas pump has already eaten up more than the refund that folks are going to get. And part two, if you're at the bottom end of the income scale, you don't get much refund anyway. So it's as if he misheard them when they were talking about people's problems are affordability, as if he heard them to say, you know, make life more unaffordable for Americans, sir, because that's what he's got out and done. Well, speaking of making life more affordable for people, Donald Trump and his Republican allies, they've been trying a new message this week saying the gas prices will go down quickly once this war is over.

8:13Take a listen to what he said about that earlier. Take a listen. The stock market is hitting record numbers. We have more people working in the USA today than we've ever had working, as you know. It's in many ways. Now, when this war ends, gasoline and oil and everything, it's going to come tumbling down. Gasoline's high. But when this is over, you'll have a world without a nuclear weapon with a rent. Oil and everything is going to come tumbling down. That is not going to happen quickly. It's not going to happen before the midterms. I mean, obviously, if you just follow the way futures are being traded, looking into November, they're still high.

8:58Right. So predictions are hard, especially about the future. But let me assert with great confidence that unfortunately, the gas price will not get back to where it was before the war by the end of this year or anything close to it. By the end of this year, every model I've seen, including my own, and this is pretty reliable kinds of forecasting because we have a lot of examples of oil prices going up and down. So I have a good history to bench this off of. And the gas price is going to remain elevated relative to where it was pre-war for a long time. And by the way, if he thinks talking about the stock market is going to assuage the people who are struggling right now, the vast majority of that value is held by the top 10%.

9:44So again, we have a very bifurcated economy right now, and the vast majority are really struggling with these affordability issues. And the Republicans are running out of excuses. Let me play for you what Republican Congressman Buddy Carter had to say about who's to blame for the state of the economy. Take a listen. Remember, President Trump promised he'd make us safer and more prosperous. He's made us safer. He's making us safer and making the world safer. Now, yes, we've we've seen some gas price fluctuation. Gas prices will go back down. Remember, high gas prices are the work of the Democrats.

10:18High gas prices are the work of the Democrats, as if the Democrats actually have any power right now or in control. They're not the ones that launched tariff wars. They're not the ones that launched a war in Iran that closed the Strait of Hormuz. They're not the ones firing drones at Saudi oil refineries. We're a year and a half into this presidency. At some point, you're going to have to say, I actually am the president. Remember, Republicans control the presidency, the House, the Senate. There's not, you know, there's not some secret Democratic branch that's being controlled and they control the Supreme Court.

10:49And I have to say, like, when you hear the new, younger, angrier Ayatollah, the son of the Ayatollah that Trump killed, like that guy does not sound like he wants peace. So like you see that Trump is saying things like it's almost over, the war's almost over. We saw today Pakistan saying they may have gotten to peace. But, you know, the straits are closed. Right. And there's not a whole lot of incentive for the Iranians to come to the table and make this work. And even if, say, tomorrow they reopen the strait and it was like it never happened, which is not going to happen. But even if that happened, getting prices to go down does not happen immediately.

11:27And that's one of the things with the tariffs. Like today, Trump was talking about doing more tariffs. And this is a you know, this economy that consumers are you know, these numbers are crazy. Consumers have no confidence. And what they need is to not make things more expensive. Yeah, Molly, I just wanted to get you get some thoughts on this right before we came on the air. The Conservative Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in Louisiana temporarily blocked access to mail order abortion pills nationwide. MS now reporting this will have immediate repercussions on abortion access, given that medication abortions account for the majority of abortions in recent years.

12:05Your reaction to this development? You know, as the daughter of a second wave feminist who worked really hard for Roe and, you know, all the women of that generation consider Roe v. Wade to be the law of the land. Donald Trump installed three three conservative justices and and he was able to overturn Roe. You know, there was a lot of talk of whether he would go after the abortion pills, which have been the reason why we haven't seen as many illegal abortions because these pills are safe and effective. So to see this happening is really scary because we know this is a court that's highly partisan that just, you know, pretty much ended the Voting Rights Act 6-3.

12:45Very partisan. If this kicks up, you know, this was a Trump judge and a George W. Bush judge. And now if this kicks up to the Supreme Court, who knows what will happen? Yeah, specifically, especially the Supreme Court, specifically on this issue, which they've already expressed their opinions previously before on. Molly Jung, Fast Jared Bernstein, thank you to the both of you for starting yourself this hour. I greatly appreciate it. Coming up, an MS now exclusive about the rush to indictment from the Trump Justice Department, plus our special look at truth and conspiracy theories and Alex Jones going shirtless and freaking out over the onion.

13:22The state court just blocked the little rat confessed Satanist from coming in to wear our skin for months while we launched our operation. We are going to talk to that supposed rat and confessed Satanist in question. Ben Collins from The Onion is going to join us live. But first, how Trump is playing games with a Nixon-era law. We're back in just 90 seconds. Don't go anywhere. Exterior Remodels, Inner Monologues, brought to you by Power. The house looks good. Like, really good. That siding? Stunning. The roof? Elevated. Windows? I mean, wow. The process? Smooth. The neighbors? Jealous. Choose Power Home Remodeling and remodel how you think about remodeling.

14:09Schedule your free quote on windows, siding, roofing, and doors at powerhomeremodeling.com. Power. Our work shows. Managing healthcare payments shouldn't get in the way of patient care. But fragmented systems create costly delays and add unnecessary friction. Zealous is here to help. We simplify healthcare's financial complexity by connecting every step of the financial journey for payers, providers, and members. That way, everyone can focus on what matters most. Because when the financial experience works, care doesn't just happen. It flows. Learn more at Zealous.com. This NBA playoffs with FanDuel.

14:45You're not just watching the playoffs. You're a part of them. Steve's got the phone, opens FanDuel, and he's going for threes! Be a part of the action on FanDuel. All customers get a profit boost every NBA playoff game day. 21 plus and present in select states. Opt-in required. Bonus issued is non-withdrawable profit boost tokens. Restrictions apply, including any token expiration and max wager amount. See full terms at fanduel.com slash sportsbook. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or 1-800-MY-RESET.

15:18If incompetently presiding over not just one of, but the lowest rating in history is the reason I should be fired, We should both be out of a job because we're not doing too good either. Jimmy Kimmel mocking Trump's low approval ratings, which are in free fall amid this unpopular war with Iran. Today marks 60 days since the start of the war, which is a key deadline under U.S. law. It is a deadline by which the presidents are supposed to get approval from Congress for military action. Well, this morning, the Trump administration seemed poised to defy that law, with Pete Hexeth claiming somehow that the clock had somehow been stopped.

16:02We are in a ceasefire right now, which our understanding means the 60 day clock pauses or stops in a ceasefire. So you're not in. That's our understanding, just so you know. OK, well, I do not believe the statute would support that. So you see some clear skepticism there from Virginia Senator Tim Kaine. And today, Donald Trump himself said that he shouldn't have to obey the law at all. No other country has ever done it. It's never been, as you know, most people consider it totally unconstitutional. Also, we had a ceasefire, so that gives you additional time. We're on our way to another victory, a big victory.

16:43And I don't think that it's constitutional what they're asking for. These are not patriotic people that are asking. Just a quick fact check, that is absolutely wrong. Many countries around the world require legislative approval to go to war. Trump seeming to suggest there are no limits to when and how he can go to war, though, and that it's unpatriotic to even question him. Well, after that, Trump suddenly declared that, in fact, hostilities with Iran had been, quote, terminated, which actually might be news to the thousands of American troops that are still in the region. But the Constitution is clear here, folks.

17:20In Article 1, Section 8, Clause 11, you'll read the following. Quote, the Congress shall have the power to declare war. Now, this law that Trump is playing games with actually dates back to the Vietnam era after years of protests and tens of thousands of American casualties. Lawmakers passed the War Powers Act in 1973 to do just that, to ensure the collective judgment of Congress and the president are used when U.S. armed forces enter into hostilities, just as it was outlined in the Constitution. Well, Trump himself has already compared Iran to Vietnam. What do you say to the American people who question how much longer this will take?

18:02Obviously, you know that they are having higher... You're such a disgrace. So you hear what I just said? Vietnam. How many years was Vietnam? But as we have shown, it took six years for Vietnam to get as unpopular as Iran's war is now after just 60 days. Still ahead, we're going to talk more about news on Trump's rush to indictment.

18:29We turn now to a MS Now exclusive report about chaos in Donald Trump's Justice Department, a whistleblower alleging a senior Trump DOJ official ordered federal prosecutors to, quote, rush through that indictment of the Southern Poverty Law Center. Remember, the DOJ last week charged the civil rights group with financial crimes. It accused it of defrauding donors by using their money to secretly pay informants inside extremist organizations, something the SPLC says it has done for years and was not a secret to the DOJ. Why the rush charges, you might ask? Well, this comes at a time when the acting attorney general, Todd Blanche, a contender to permanently replace Pam Bondi as the attorney general, is making a series of, quote, splashy moves to land that top role.

19:21The New York Times is reporting that by firing Bondi, Trump has created an environment in which officials seem to be fighting for their jobs, resulting in ever greater incentive to execute his increasingly extreme demands. Blanche also taking every opportunity to publicly declare loyalty to the president. Watch. I love working for President Trump. It's an honor to be part of this administration. If he chooses to nominate somebody else and asks me to go do something else, I will say thank you very much. I love you, sir. Yeah, so Blanche is ramping up prosecutions of Trump's rivals, which have been largely unsuccessful under Bondi, bringing a new case against former FBI Director James Comey this week after the first indictment was dismissed.

20:07Now, The Times adding, in bringing the Comey case now, Blanche might be seeking to keep Trump satisfied that his campaign of retribution is in full motion. Democratic lawmakers, though, condemning that case as largely meritless. I think it's a huge waste of time. I think it's one of the reasons so many experienced and seasoned prosecutors are leaving the Department of Justice. I think the lawyers who are pushing these kinds of cases really should be held accountable. Meanwhile, another contender vying for Trump's Attorney General nod, D.C. U.S. Attorney General Jeanine Pirro making splashy moves of her own, trying to get some attention, preparing an appeal after a federal judge quashed the DOJ subpoenas into the Federal Reserve Chair's Jerome Powell, despite Pirro announcing that investigation was actually shut down.

20:59When a federal judge believes that he can stand in front of the door of the grand jury and prevent a prosecutor from going in, when the United States Supreme Court has said a prosecutor can go in on suspicions or rumor. We've got to appeal that decision. Well, GOP Senator Tom Tillis, who refused to advance Trump's new Fed chair nomination until the probe was dropped, said in quote part, I have been assured the appeal is simply to challenge the basis for judging on the motion to quash the subpoenas. It would not in any way constitute a basis for reopening the investigation. He is not backing down Tillis issuing another ultimatum, this time for attorney general, saying he will not support any candidate who, quote, equivocated on the January 6th rioters.

21:45Now, that could cause another block, considering the attorney general contenders are staunch Trump loyalists, and Trump himself has pardoned those very same rioters. Jeremy now is Ankash Kadori, former federal prosecutor and senior legal writer with Politico, and Juanita Tolliver, MSNOW political analyst and award-winning author of a more perfect party and host of the Archival Podcast. It's great to have both of you with us. Anchor, I'll start with you. We have the rushed Southern Poverty Law Center indictment. We've got the new Comey charges and the appeal of the judge's order blocking those Powell subpoenas.

22:21Are these attempts to garner favor for the attorney general role? Is that what is happening here? Is this purely political for people contending for that top job? You know, it's hard for me to say what's exactly in each of these people's minds. Certainly, it's all consistent with an effort to sort of audition for the role. You know, Todd Blanche, none of this is new for Todd Blanche. He's been conducting himself like this the whole time, even while he was under Pam Bondi. He's really not that different from her on any of the merits at all. The cases are tenuous at best. I think the Comey one is borderline frivolous.

22:55The SPLC case, I mean, I was a criminal fraud prosecutor. And the idea of charging that case as a criminal fraud case is sort of beyond the pale to me. As for the, you know, the Powell subpoena issue, you know, Piro says that they have to appeal that. I don't see any reason why, except that she is trying to make a point for the president. I would just say something as to tell us, if you don't mind. You know, I will see where his sort of convictions sort of finally, finally land. I mean, he was the deciding vote to get Emile Bove out of the Judiciary Committee and onto the appeals court of the Third Circuit.

23:32Bobe should not have been in that position either. And he, like Todd Blanche, of course, defended Trump throughout all of the criminal cases, including the criminal case surrounding January 6th. So if that is the standard, I don't really see how Tillis could vote to advance even Blanche. So I agree. I mean, there's a lot of kind of hand-waving going on here, a lot of cases that are tenuous at best. And I don't think they're going to get any better. One very last, sorry, if you don't mind, point of clarification. Yeah, please go ahead. I left Politico recently, very happily. So I just wanted to let folks know.

24:05No, good to get on the record correctly with that. Juanita, to pick up on the SPLC report for a second, Jamie Raskin says the DOJ is, quote, bringing cases without probable cause or any reasonable expectation of winning at trial and saying, quote, the onslaught of bogus cases is to intimidate and stifle criticism of his administration's policies. Your thoughts? I appreciate Representative Raskin for highlighting that explicitly and this report around the whistleblower because not only is he amplifying something that has been covered up in this investigation, but also he's counteracting the national narrative that Trump, Blanche, and Patel have been promoting since these charges, since this indictment of the Southern Poverty Law Center.

24:55We saw that ridiculous press conference from the FBI officials and the DOJ officials, but also Donald Trump in an interview, ignoring the interviewer's questions just to pile on the Southern Poverty Law Center. The goal here is to set a public negative narrative, cause them harm, disrupt the work that they've been doing for decades, largely in tandem with the FBI up until I think October 2025. And so it just highlights how this is politically motivated. It highlights that the point here is to cause pain, to damage their reputation. And I think a large part of it is motivated by some of the groups highlighted by the Southern Poverty Law Center being groups that are aligned with Donald Trump, being groups that are aligned with this White House, whether that's Moms of Liberty, Proud Boys, whoever else was on their list.

25:44But this is part of that package retribution. And again, I go back to Representative Raskin highlighting this because what's critical when an organization or an individual is targeted is that they have public support behind them. And Raskin is providing that by blowing the lid on this report with the Southern Poverty Law Center, the case being rushed. And since we know that winning is not a priority for this administration, it highlights the political harm that they're attempting to do. Juanita, to put a kind of finer point on that, we think of this president and his retribution campaign, usually going after people that he believes aggrieved him, whether it's former officials or organizations or what have you.

26:26How does the SPLC fit into that narrative? You're saying that it's more about the organizations that support Donald Trump who perceive or see the SPLC as a threat to their ideology. But in what way does combating racism fit into that argument from groups that you've identified? Look at who supports Donald Trump. the MAGA base that is standing firm with him, no matter what the economy looks like, no matter what their cost of living needs are, no matter how bad their lives are, they are sticking beside Trump. There is, if you draw a Venn diagram, overlap that is likely between the groups identified as hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center and Donald Trump's base of supporters.