PoliticsNation With Al Sharpton full episode – April 5, 2026 on MSNOW Breaking News Today. - video Dailymotion

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Watch PoliticsNation With Al Sharpton full episode – April 5, 2026 on MSNOW Breaking News Today.  Sharpton approaches news stories with an eye toward equality and justice and brings to light the news and updates on under-reported issues that require a national platform. This episode features breaking political coverage, exclusive reporting, expert commentary, and detailed investigations into the biggest stories shaping American democracy.  In This Episode:  White House breaking developments  Congress and Senate investigations  Biden administration updates  U.S. national security briefing  Election 2026 coverage  Supreme Court legal analysis  Global political developments  Stay informed with trusted journalism from MSNOW.  Subscribe for daily breaking news, political analysis, and full episodes.  MSNOW breaking news today  Al Sharpton April 5 2026 MSNOW live today  White House breaking news  US politics today  Trump administration news  Congress breaking news  Supreme Court news  US election 2026 Breaking news USA  American politics today  #PoliticsNation​ #AlSharpton​ #MSNOW​ #Donaldtrump​ #TrumpBreakingNews​ #USPolitics​ #WhiteHouseToday​ #PoliticsToday​ #AmericaNews​ #Election2026​ #CongressNews​ #SupremeCourt​

Transcript

00:01Good evening and welcome to Politics Nation. Tonight's lead, Easter at War.

00:20On the Christian holiday that symbolizes renewal and hope, America finds itself in the middle

00:28of an escalating conflict. The day began with good news, word of a miraculous rescue of a missing

00:36U.S. airman from inside Iran overnight. But rather than sustain a hopeful message on this Easter

00:44holiday, President Trump took to social media shortly thereafter to threaten that Iranians

00:51will be living in hell if they don't reopen the Strait of Hamos as his 10-day ultimatum calls for

01:00an extension to expire. And a White House official confirms to MSNOW that Tuesday night is the

01:08president's deadline for a deal. Joining me now, Congressman Pat Ryan, Democrat of New York

01:14and member of the House Armed Services Committee. Thank you for joining us, Congressman. You are an

01:21Army veteran. So let's start with the war in Iran and the successful rescue of a downed U.S. service

01:29member deep inside the country of Iran, which, based on reports, was a complex effort by U.S.

01:37intelligence and commandos in deep mountain territory to get to the soldier before Iranians did.

01:44Was the House Armed Services Committee made aware of what was going on? And with President Trump's

01:51rhetoric this weekend, which we'll get to more in a moment, are you concerned about the need for

01:58more rescues like this if the war continues to ramp up? Well, thanks for having me. And especially on

02:07this holy day, thank God that that airman was rescued. Thank God that all those that went in,

02:13I mean, it was over 100 elite special operations forces that went into Iranian territory, landed on

02:19ground, got into some trouble, as I'm sure you're aware, actually had to destroy two of the lift

02:25aircraft, have three new ones come in. So it truly is miraculous and a credit to the incredible training

02:33and patriotism of our troops that they got this pilot out and that no one else was wounded or killed.

02:39The reality, though, is, as you said in your opening, to start this season and to start this

02:47spring in a war that the American people did not choose, that the president still has not made a

02:53case for, and where now we're seeing significant escalation. I mean, the fact that this rescue had

02:59to be conducted is a direct contradiction to what the president said just a few nights ago from the

03:05White House that this would wrap up, quote, very shortly, that the strait would miraculously open.

03:11And so again, unfortunately, we cannot believe the president of the United States. And given the

03:16grabbing of this, given our troops lives at risk, that is unacceptable. It is infuriating, especially

03:23for those that served. Now, while the rest of us were just relieved to see the service member rescued,

03:31the president followed up the good news on this Easter Sunday by issuing a profanity-laced ultimatum to

03:41Tehran. You can see it on your screen, punctuated by the phrase, praise be to Allah. He's since

03:51followed up with the message, quote, Tuesday, 8 p.m. Eastern time, which a White House official has

03:58confirmed to MSNOW as Trump's new deadline to Iran to reach a deal with the U.S. Trump scheduled a

04:07press

04:07conference tomorrow afternoon, and fears are growing he's planning to commit war crimes by targeting Iran's

04:15civilian infrastructure. Your thoughts on the president's conduct, I mean, almost mocking other

04:21people's religion and his use of language. What are your thoughts on his conduct, Congressman,

04:27both of himself and the war?

04:32Totally unhinged. I mean, just completely unhinged. Think about, we've got over 50,000 troops on ground.

04:39We've been sending more, by the way, 10,000 plus have arrived in theater. We've got families of those

04:45service members around the world, especially on a holiday of faith like this, praying and hoping

04:51that their loved ones are alive, that hopefully they'll come home. And it is just completely

04:59disrespectful and blatant disregard for the selfless sacrifice of those in harm's way and those in

05:04uniform to use that kind of language. It also, again, is incredibly escalatory and dangerous.

05:10When the president told us just a few days ago in his first speech a month plus into the war,

05:16that it was winding down and that we should all sort of take a breath on this. So to remind

05:23folks

05:23where we are here, no authorization to conduct this. We're 50 plus billion dollars into this. Gas

05:31prices have skyrocketed. Costs of everything are going up. 13 brave Americans killed. And all of us,

05:39all of us are paying the price for Trump's war that no one wants. And I'm sure you've seen the

05:47polling

05:47that's a vast, vast majority of Americans don't support and want him to wind down. So we all need

05:53to dig in here. We also need to hope that sort of better angels prevail and that someone near him

05:59can talk him out of what could be the beginning of World War III. And I don't say that lightly.

06:05Now, staying with that, Congressman, the war is escalating while Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth

06:13has fired multiple generals, including his army chief of staff just last week,

06:19who was fired after reportedly questioning why Hegseth had blocked the promotions of several

06:26black and women officers. The Pentagon has denied these claims, insisting the military under Hegseth

06:33is purely merit based. But as we hear stories like this, my question is, what signal does this send

06:42to women and recruits and soldiers of color? And how dangerous is this kind of upheaval in our

06:49military's top ranks as we prepare for some of our biggest operations since the war on terror

06:55two decades ago? It certainly is a slap in the face to everybody in uniform, especially those

07:04who have had to go against decades of often discrimination and having to work even harder

07:11to rise to these senior ranks. And we've seen this since the beginning of the Trump administration,

07:18a clear discriminatory behavior towards those with exemplary service records who are black and

07:26Latino leaders, who are women, who have earned this twice over to rise to these ranks. And now the

07:32firing of General George, General Randy George, I know him well, fellow West Point classmate,

07:39excuse me, not classmate, West Point graduate, really, truly committed to the values we learned at

07:45West Point of duty, honor and country. And to see him forced out, I mean, think about it. We're in

07:51the middle of a significant war that is escalating. And this is the senior army general in the entire

07:57United States of America. The president and Hegseth are pushing them out for some kind of bizarre,

08:03fealty purge mixed with incredible systemic discrimination. And all of it makes us less safe

08:11and really does hurt and undercut morale. Friends in the in the army who loved and revered General

08:17George and others that have been fired just look at this and are absolutely bewildered by it at this

08:25point. I must ask you, we're well into the second month of this war and the president is still yet

08:32to

08:32consult Congress, even as costs and casualties mount in the region. But one thing Trump is reportedly

08:40ready to ask Congress for is $1.5 trillion for his 2027 defense budget. And he's willing to make huge

08:50cuts to social services and health care to pay for it. Is there any leverage here for Democrats in

08:56Congress to finally push back? Absolutely, there is, because the American people are with us in

09:03opposing what would be a nearly 50% increase. Last year's defense budget was almost a trillion dollars

09:10to go to $1.5 trillion. At the same time that he and he said it on camera, we can't

09:16afford to pay for

09:17child care, we can't afford to pay for help people's health care, and we can't bring down the house of

09:22cost of housing, we can't bring down the prices of gas and utilities. This is a choice.

09:29He is making a choice to send more bombs halfway around the world rather than invest here in all

09:35the things that our country needs that the American people want and support. And I do think we can peel

09:41off a significant number, or at least some number of Republicans who understand that this is wildly

09:49unpopular, wildly out of step with what the people want and what the president campaigned on. So as we

09:55get back into session, we will dig in hard on this fight. And I do think we have the people

10:00with us,

10:01and I still believe in this great democracy of ours, and we have the people with us, and we fight

10:06hard,

10:06we can and will win those fights. All right, thank you, New York Congressman Pat Ryan.

10:12The midterm elections are seven months away, and earlier this week, President Trump issued an

10:18executive order that could upend voting for millions of Americans. Trump has ordered the

10:24postmaster general make a nationwide list of eligible voters and seize control of mail-in ballots. He also

10:34ordered mail-in ballots only to be delivered to people's Trump's DHS deems worthy. Listen to what he

10:42said on this matter. The cheating on mail-in voting is legendary. It's horrible what's gone on. And

10:52it's very clearly covered, very, very clearly. So I think this will help a lot with elections.

11:02I wanted to point out that not only is voter fraud via mail-in voting essentially a non-existent crime,

11:10that Trump himself votes by mail. In fact, he just voted by mail last month. Now, Oregon,

11:19the first state to adopt universal mail voting more than 25 years ago, joined a lawsuit with 21

11:26other states to sue over Trump's attempt to limit mail-in ballots. Joining me now is Oregon's

11:33Secretary of State Tobias Reid. Mr. Secretary, the lawsuit claims that Trump has far exceeded his

11:42authority with this order issued last week. Can you explain your argument?

11:47Absolutely. Happy Easter, Reverend Sharpton. I'm glad that you're covering this important issue. This

11:51is just another illegal executive order that is a slap in the face to the American voters and the

11:59Constitution. It's really clear in the Constitution. Article 1, Section 4 says it plainly. You don't

12:05have to be a lawyer to read this. There's no mention of the president. The time, place, and manner for

12:09elections is run by states. And we've been doing this for a long time, as you noted in Oregon. Our

12:15elections are safe, accurate, and fair. And we don't need decrees from Washington, D.C. We've beaten the

12:22president twice in court on this issue, and we're prepared to do that again. That's what this case is all

12:27about. And this is the way we hold politicians accountable. It's at the heart of our democracy.

12:31And so we're glad to be on the forefront of this with more than 20 other states.

12:37In 2024, nearly 30 percent of Oregon voters cast their vote by mail. How would this order impact

12:45voters, Republican and Democrats, if it was allowed to take effect in your state?

12:52Well, actually, all of our voters cast their ballots by mail. They can drop them off, too, but

12:58there are no polling stations. It's one of the wonderful things about our system, because everyone

13:03gets the ballot at home. They can fit it into their busy and complicated lives. They can vote at home

13:08in

13:08their pajamas. They can consult whomever they want and get that back. If this executive order went into

13:13place, it would make things dramatically harder. And it's totally, in addition to being unconstitutional

13:19and illegal, it's impractical. We're already within the 60 days of this of our primary election that

13:26this executive order refers to. So this is just another example why you don't change the rules in

13:31the middle of a game. Now, as I mentioned before, Trump himself recently voted by mail, even though he

13:38was shown to be present in Florida when the special election was taking place and could have voted in

13:45person. Does Trump's hypocrisy or his selective outrage over certain voting practices, like only

13:53alleging fraud in blue states or in races where he didn't like the outcome, have any bearing on the

13:59legal battle here? I mean, I think it's just a really simple message. If it's good enough for you,

14:06Mr. President, it's good enough for everybody else. We are a stronger state. We're a stronger country

14:10when more people get to express their opinions, when they can hold politicians and government

14:16accountable. We're more likely to get the government that reflects the will of the people

14:20when that happens. And I think you have to question anybody who says we want fewer people voting.

14:24This is a president who is doing everything he can to distract from the things that you were talking

14:30about with Congressman Ryan, a war that is wildly unpopular, gas prices. I was with our congresswoman

14:36last night who reflected the price of gas in Alaska at $13 a gallon. I was in California last week

14:43on

14:43spring break with our daughter looking at colleges and saw $9 a gallon. This is a distraction. It is a

14:49non-issue. We need more people voting in this country, not less. And the president is desperately trying

14:54to make that harder and more expensive for Americans. We know from past experience that even if Trump

15:01fails to block mail in voting, he can use his false claims about its unreliability before an election

15:09to justify challenges after election has occurred. How do Democrats counter this trick, which he has

15:16employed so many times before? I think we all have a responsibility and an opportunity to understand

15:23the mechanics of voting. In Oregon and across the country, the heroes of democracy are the county

15:29clerks and elections officials who do this hard work. And they all welcome observation. People can

15:36go in and see that in person. They can watch online. Different counties have different systems. But if you

15:40get to see all of the controls, all the procedures that are in place, you're going to be well situated

15:45to talk to your friends and neighbors and co-workers and families and debunk all of that

15:50misinformation that's out there. In Oregon, we have all paper ballots. They are stored in secure

15:55facilities. They are audited. They are available for recounts. All of those things add up to a gold

16:01standard system that Americans and Oregonians ought to be ought to be proud of and confident in.

16:07Tobias Reid, Oregon's secretary of state. Thank you for being with us. Just ahead, midterm momentum.

16:14I'll speak with an up and coming Democrat who's raised more than two million dollars in mere months for

16:22her campaign in one of the country's most competitive swing states. Stay tuned for more Politics Nation.

16:32Welcome back to Politics Nation on MSNOW. There's a little over a half year left before the nation

16:39heads to the polls for midterms. But Democrats are already chipping away at the slim Republican

16:47majority. Democrats have flipped 30 seats since President Trump took office a year and a half ago,

16:53and they're keeping their eye on the prize for which seats they can flip in the fall. In Arizona's

17:01sixth district, a Marine veteran is challenging Republican incumbent Juan Siskamani, raising over

17:09$2.3 million in just the first quarter of 2026 and just released her first ad. Take a listen.

17:20What we're seeing right now is complete chaos. People say you're crazy for jumping in to run for

17:28Congress. Why would you do that right now? I said, because that's exactly what I was trained to do in

17:34the Marine Corps. In the Marine Corps, we have a saying, lead, follow, or get the hell out of the

17:39way. Joanna Mendoza, Democratic candidate in Arizona's sixth congressional district, joins me now.

17:49Joanna, you're a single mom and a Marine veteran. You were raised in a farm worker family. Why do you

17:58believe your campaign has drawn so much support? Well, thank you for the opportunity, Reverend

18:04Sharpton. Really grateful to be on today on Easter Sunday. And I will share that that video actually

18:10launched last year in February in 2025 when we first started our campaign. And, you know, what we're

18:16seeing right now is a continuation of how pissed off people are. Just the we're tired of the lies.

18:24We're tired of the broken promises. And we're tired of the betrayal. And we see people moving

18:30away from politicians and moving towards servant leaders. Leaders who understand the lived struggle

18:39and are going to fight to address these issues that we're seeing in our district. And I will share

18:47with you that as someone who is a small town girl who grew up in a small rural farming community

18:53and joined the military to escape rural poverty. Right now, more than ever, families deserve relief

19:01and they deserve leadership that is actually going to put them first. And if people want to know how

19:06they can support our campaign, they can visit my website at JoannaMendoza.com.

19:11Now, I want to dig into that a little deeper. What made you run for Congress, as you described,

19:18and what drew you to politics? Well, I mean, I served my country for 20 years. And I took that

19:26oath,

19:27the oath to defend and protect the Constitution of the United States of America against all enemies,

19:33foreign and domestic. And Reverend, what we see right now is America is in a lot of trouble. I'm a

19:40mom,

19:41as you mentioned. I'm a single mom. I'm feeling the squeeze. But more than anything,

19:45I want to ensure that I do everything I possibly can to ensure that my kid, who's 10 and kids

19:54like

19:54him, have the opportunity to fulfill their version of the American dream. And we know that's not

19:59possible for a lot of folks right now. Now, your opponent has tried to portray himself as a moderate,

20:05but he has Trump's endorsement. And according to a data compiled by the progressive think tank

20:11center for American progress, he's voted with the administration 100% of the time.

20:18What are your thoughts on your, about your opponent?

20:22I mean, this is exactly what I'm talking about lies, broken promises and betrayal.

20:29Quanti Scamani, you know, has considered himself a moderate. He has said that he's going to protect

20:35safety net programs like the ones that I grew up on, you know, food stamps, Medicaid, WIC. And then he

20:42turns around and he votes 100% of the time with the Trump administration. And he refuses to have town

20:49halls. He refuses to meet with constituents. And look, I mean, I served my country for 20 years.

20:55I, I, along with a lot of other Americans have sacrificed birthdays and seen our kids grow up and all

21:04of the

21:05things that, you know, we would love to have had the opportunity to do, but we didn't. And so the

21:11fact that you

21:11have somebody right now, who is just reckless and doesn't care about his constituency doesn't care about the

21:20veterans doesn't care about our military service members. It's absolutely egregious. And it's just another

21:25point on why I'm running. Now you're a Latina running in a border district. Many voters in border

21:32states took a chance on Trump in 2024 and now seem to regret that vote. In fact, according to

21:40The Economist, Latino support for Trump has plummeted to 22%. What have you been hearing from people in the

21:49community and how do Democrats win these voters back? Yeah, well, I mean, 25% of the demographic in

21:57ACO six, um, are Latinos, Hispanic, including myself. And we care about the things that everyone

22:04else cares about. We care about the economy and have an opportunity to be able to provide for our

22:08families, uh, to be able to make ends meet, um, and put food on the table, do all of the

22:15things that

22:15will allow us to, to fulfill our version of the American dream. And that's not possible. You go to the

22:21grocery store, grocery prices are up. You go to the pump, gas prices are up. You cannot escape, um, the

22:28consequences of this administration's policies and, and, and an incumbent once is Gamani who refuses to push

22:35back on harmful, uh, policies, uh, for not just folks in the district, but across the nation. And so, you

22:43know,

22:44Latinos, Hispanics, they care about things that everybody else cares about, including because

22:49this district is a border district, including securing our border and keeping our communities

22:54safe. Joanna Mendoza. Thank you very much for being with us. Next, the clock is ticking on Trump's

23:02threats to Iran as Americans watch how the president's rhetoric could backfire for him at home

23:09and abroad coming up.

23:15Welcome back to politics nation on MS. Now, now let's turn back to the war in Iran, where

23:22the next 48 hours is shaping up to be critical as president Trump has spent this Easter Sunday,

23:30continuing to threaten major strikes on Iran's energy infrastructure infrastructure and bridges

23:37ahead of his Tuesday deadline to open the Strait of Hormuz. Joining me now is Kurt Bardella, publisher of the

23:47Watchdog Report on Substack. Kurt, the president made his first formal address to the American people

23:54about Iran last Wednesday on about the fifth week of the war. It seems that the only way Americans are

24:02hearing updates from the president are through his social media posts like the ones this morning. How is

24:10this lack of communication impacting the politics surrounding this conflict?

24:16Well, it explains why there are so many in this country who view this conflict as unnecessary,

24:21as a drain in our resources, as something that completely defies really the platform that Donald Trump ran on in

24:28the

24:28first place. He was Mr. No more Middle East wars, no more endless funding, no more endless wars.

24:33And yet he has instigated this. And remember, this started just days after the State of the Union

24:39address. The president had a massive platform to be able to explain, as all presidents before him have

24:45done when starting a military conflict, he could have used the State of the Union to make the case for

24:49why

24:50there was this eminent threat that we needed to take this action. Why, when he said last year,

24:55after the first Iranian strikes that he had obliterated them, we needed to go back and do it again, he

25:00chose

25:00not to. And ever since then, there's been no real new information that's been put out by this president

25:05to justify the war and to justify the rising costs that we're seeing here at home. I mean, for Mr.

25:11America

25:11First, what's actually happening is it's Americans who are paying the bill so that we can keep fighting these

25:17foreign conflicts and spend massive amounts of money on warfare, on weaponry, on our military resources,

25:23and we're just paying more outside of our own pocket here.

25:26And as you said, he didn't lay it out, an explanation in the State of the Union address,

25:32which was the longest State of the Union address in memory, if not in history. But not only has Trump

25:39not sold the Iran war to the American people, he did it without formal congressional authorization.

25:46You're familiar with the workings on Capitol Hill. What are the possible consequences of Trump going

25:53at it alone? Could he lose the confidence of every, of all, even Republican lawmakers?

26:00Well, and this is the thing, as we head into the November midterms, he is putting Republicans on

26:05Capitol Hill in an impossible situation that will cost them dramatically politically. Again,

26:11the whole point of going to Congress is that you have political cover from at least your own party,

26:16usually even a bipartisan consensus, to justify the resources that are going to be spent going to

26:21war and funding a conflict like that. Instead, he's gone it alone, which means he owns the consequences

26:27of it, but also Republicans who seemingly are okay with this president ignoring the other house,

26:35ignoring the legislative branch, ignoring the president and really the constitutional law of going to

26:39Congress to declare war, that they're going to be settled with this too, because they're letting

26:44this happen without putting up any resistance, any fight. They continue these ridiculous squabbles

26:48amongst themselves about things like how to fund the government while letting the president run

26:53scot-free and then ask them later on for a multi-billion dollar price tag to fund this war that

26:58they've had no role in agreeing to. Now, you just went there. Unlike the president, Republicans in

27:04Congress have races to worry about come November. Trump is now requesting a record-breaking $1.5 trillion

27:13budget for the Pentagon, which could slash spending on education, health, research, and environmental

27:21programs, heavily impacting matters here at home. What would the political consequences be if Trump does

27:29push forward with this spending increase that would show Americans he prioritizes funding a foreign war

27:37rather than their domestic needs? Yeah, Rev, let me tell you something. If we end up in a situation

27:44where trillions of dollars are spent funding a foreign war that no one in this country wanted or agree to

27:51at the expense of things like lowering health care costs, at the expense of child care in America,

27:55at the expense of improving our education system, at the expense of making life more affordable,

28:00at the expense of making housing more affordable, this November, it's not going to be just a blue

28:06wave. It's going to be an extinction-level event for the Republican Party in the House and the Senate.

28:12Now, you've worked in politics for a while. You know that wars can ruin the legacy of your

28:19president. Think of George W. Bush and Lyndon B. Johnson, and inversely, opposition to wars can also

28:26build campaigns. Think of Obama and even Trump himself. What's your sense of how what's happening

28:34in this moment, how it could alter the political landscape for the future?

28:40Well, when we look ahead, and it's just around the corner to 2028, there are obviously a handful of

28:45Democrats in the House, the Senate, and governor's mansions who are contemplating running for president

28:50of being the standard bearer for the party. And just as we've seen in the past, whether it was

28:54Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, one of the litmus tests in Democratic primaries were

28:59how did you feel, how did you vote on the war in Iraq and Afghanistan? Did you agree with it

29:03in the

29:04beginning? Did you keep voting to fund it? That was something that came up multiple times in

29:07Democratic Party debates. Conversely, for Republicans, whether it's J.D. Vance or Marco Rubio or somebody else

29:13in the Republican Party who wants to be the heir apparent to Donald Trump, how this conflict goes,

29:18both this one here in Iran, the Middle East, as well as Russia and Ukraine, in my opinion,

29:22all of those will be ultimate litmus tests. Because when we talk about the presidency,

29:26we oftentimes talk about who do we want to be the commander in chief? Who do we want answering that

29:303 a.m. phone call that comes in about some conflict abroad? Who do we want to ensure that we

29:35are safe here at home? Those issues will be the litmus test for whoever wants to come next in 2028.

29:41Kurt Bardella, thank you for being with us. Up next, the family of a black man gunned down by police

29:48nearly 10 years ago finally has a path forward to accountability for those responsible for his

29:55death. The details after the break.

PoliticsNation With Al Sharpton full episode – April 5, 2026 on MSNOW Breaking News Today.

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