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00:00It is Sunday, July 19th, and we're going to get straight to our first guest because we have breaking news
00:05this morning.
00:05Two American troops are dead and one is missing after Iran struck a base in Jordan.
00:10The U.S. launched counterattacks overnights to, quote, swiftly punish Tehran.
00:15Sixteen American service members have now died in this conflict.
00:18We are joined by Congressman Marlon Stutzman, Republican of Indiana.
00:20He represents the 3rd District and sits on the Financial Services and Budget Committees.
00:24Congressman, thank you very much for being here.
00:26And I just want to get your sense, first of all, of the state of play here and your sense
00:30of the administration's strategy going forward in this war.
00:33We've seen the president effectively rip up that memo of understanding.
00:36The ceasefire is off, and we've had seven straight nights of tit-for-tat strikes.
00:40Where do you see this heading?
00:43Yeah, Christina, David, good morning. Great to be with you both.
00:46Yeah, you know, we're going to continue to see this sort of behavior, apparently, by the Iranians.
00:50We thought that the MOU was a good step forward.
00:54We know that the Iranians are challenging and difficult to work with.
00:59They're zealots.
01:00They are true believers.
01:03They have obviously killed over 1,000 Americans in the last 40 years.
01:08You know, they've been at war with us.
01:10And now President Trump has finally said enough is enough, and especially with the threat of a nuclear bomb.
01:16You know, that's the steps that we have taken, and I think they're the right steps.
01:19In this case, it's tough because the IRGC is still in control in Tehran, but how do you flush that
01:26out?
01:26How do you have a regime change?
01:28I believe there has to be a regime change because until this regime is gone, we're going to continue to
01:33see this.
01:34They know their power comes from their ability to sell oil and gas through the Strait of Hormuz,
01:39and that's why the struggle over the Strait is so important, and that's why we have to win it.
01:43So there is going to be this back and forth, but I think, President Trump, you know, it's going to
01:46be more of a slow burn
01:48where you just keep economic pressure on and you keep military pressure on, and hopefully something breaks on the inside.
01:54Do you think that needs to be reemphasized as a goal?
01:57It's a little bit unclear what the goals are at this time, but at the onset of this conflict,
02:02the president said he did want regime change in Iran.
02:04He's backed off that a little bit and said so much of the leadership was taken out.
02:08The guys who are there are a little easier, a little easier to deal with.
02:11That seems clearly for the Americans to be not the case.
02:15Should regime change be the stated goal of this new wave of this conflict?
02:19Well, I think it should be.
02:21But again, you know, when you're sitting at the table with negotiators, you hope that there's somebody at lower levels
02:29of rank
02:29that are starting to move up because the upper echelon of the regime have been toppled, killed, and taken out.
02:37And so you hope somebody is going to use some sort of common sense and say, you know what, maybe
02:43we should adjust here
02:45and hopefully we can save, you know, the IRGC and they can somehow save their control in Iran.
02:51But again, like I said, they're zealots.
02:54They are willing to die for their beliefs.
02:56These are a very different sort of, you know, religious fanatics.
03:01They are not giving up control very easily, apparently.
03:05But somebody on that inside of the IRGC needs to start saying, look, we can survive here and keep control.
03:12And President Trump is willing to do that.
03:14I prefer to see a complete regime change and a new government and let the Iranian people have their country
03:20back.
03:21But that's why this economic pressure, military pressure hopefully causes someone to break inside
03:28and start to think rationally rather than continuing to fight.
03:32I mean, attacking Jordan shows the Middle East and shows the world that their problem is not just with Israel
03:38or with America.
03:38They're willing to attack Bahrain, Jordan, UAE and other countries in the Middle East as well.
03:46Sitting with them at the table, I want to stick with that point if I could, because we're hearing from
03:50Iranian leadership that they have no appetite to go back to the table now.
03:53They're saying that the U.S. walked away from this memo of understanding, which I know you praised at the
03:57beginning.
03:58And they say, why would we go back?
03:59Why would we want to have talks with the U.S.?
04:01As you look down that path, the diplomatic path, how foreclosed does it seem to you?
04:05What's going to get these two parties back to the table?
04:09Well, you know, again, the reason that the MOU was broken, because they were attacking ships in the Strait of
04:14Hormuz and, you know, the Iranians.
04:17I mean, I tell you, President Trump gives these guys more chances than what they deserve, because he wants to
04:26find a solution here.
04:27He wants to find a Strait of Hormuz that's safe for commerce.
04:31It's good for China, for their energy supply.
04:34It's good for Europe.
04:35It's good for the United States.
04:36It's good for everybody.
04:38In fact, it's good for Iran if they would just realize it, that, you know, if they had a safe
04:44Strait where ships could go in and out, they would have the ability to, you know, sell more oil and
04:49gas.
04:49In the long run, what's going to happen here, David, is that, you know, buyers of oil and gas are
04:55starting to look elsewhere, which actually benefits the United States, because they want to buy a safe place for their,
05:02you know, for their buyers.
05:05And so the sellers are starting to say, look, we're going to go somewhere else and buy rather than buying
05:10from the Persian Gulf, because it's too risky.
05:12So in the long run, this economic pressure, I think, is what's going to really hurt the Iranians, and it'll
05:18benefit other countries like the United States.
05:20And so the pressure needs to continue to be put on there.
05:23President Trump, I think he would always negotiate with them if they're willing to do it in good faith.
05:27To that end, about economic pressure, President Trump, true social, I'm not sure that's a verb, but that's what we're
05:33going with this morning, true social this morning, Republicans should add Iran to the Russian sanction bill.
05:38That's what Lindsay wanted to do, and it was going to happen, important, President Trump.
05:42Is that something you think should happen?
05:44Would that compromise the passage of that Russian sanctions bill if Iran was added to it?
05:49Well, I think we should.
05:51As Congress, we should take that action, knowing that the IRGC has broken the MOU and that they are the
05:59ones that continue to fire rockets and weapons at allies and others in the Middle East.
06:07They have shown that they are going to attack ships in the strait.
06:11They're still at war.
06:13And until they sit down at the table and say, we're going to act like a realistic adult country here
06:19and try to find a path forward, I think that we need to continue to put that pressure on.
06:25And sanctions is one of those ways that Congress can act to do that.
06:28Let me stick with kind of the financial services world.
06:30Of course, you're on the Financial Services Committee.
06:32There was this kind of extraordinary piece in the Wall Street Journal this week about your colleague from Florida, Anna
06:36Paulina Luna, looking at the prediction markets.
06:38And it sounds like she tipped off one of her friends or associates that President Trump was going to pick
06:44J.D. Vance to be his running mate, said friend, placed a bet as a result of that, made a
06:50wager as a result of that.
06:52And I guess there were some regrets on one of their parts that the bet wasn't larger.
06:56But I want to ask a broader question about this.
06:58This is kind of a moment at which we're looking at this kind of new financial marketplace.
07:02And there are a lot of questions about what limits should be placed, particularly on members of government, people in
07:07Washington in particular.
07:08And I'm curious, are you in favor of more rigorous standards or more rigorous rules being applied to, yes, lawmakers,
07:14their staffs, members of the administration and government more broadly, as we've seen more and more bets being placed on,
07:19yes, movements in politics and issues of national security as well?
07:25Yeah, David, the prediction markets obviously being more new to all of us are ones that are going to have
07:32to have some sort of regulation.
07:35Of course, we have a lot of ethics rules already that we abide by.
07:40And in this case, you know, insider information, I think, should be treated as insider information.
07:45And so, you know, whether it's, you know, with a publicly traded company that currently has insider information rules, I
07:51think those same rules should apply.
07:53I mean, you know, we know that Martha Stewart was, of course, convicted of that.
07:57And so there's there's obviously ways that that can that process can work through it to work through a traditional
08:03process.
08:04And so as prediction markets become more popular and obviously these sorts of things happen, you know, whether it's a
08:10streaker at the Super Bowl, you know, I think worst case scenario, they don't get their return on the bet.
08:17If they knew what they were going to make happen was them and they were the ones manipulating the market.
08:22I think that's what we need to look at it.
08:23That's a manipulation to the market and that it is a violation of some sort of rules that we probably
08:28already have in the books.
08:29We just need to make it applicable to the prediction markets.
08:31So before we let you go, I want to know if you have any health updates on Mitch McConnell, if
08:36you believe the photos put out of him are genuine and if you have concerns about whether he's able to
08:41do this job.
08:43I do have concerns that he can really do his job, especially at a very difficult time when, you know,
08:49every vote counts in the Senate.
08:51And, you know, whether it's a Republican or a Democrat, you know, we were obviously very critical of President Joe
08:56Biden when he had health issues and we had concerns as the president of the United States.
09:01I mean, this is a the probably the oldest senator in the United States Senate that isn't able to perform
09:08his duties.
09:08And he needs at least to just to be transparent, you know, let people know that he is not able
09:14to be, you know, in the office.
09:16He's got health concerns. You know, we earn the public trust when we run for office.
09:21And I think that matters even when we have health issues that, you know, we just at least need to
09:26be transparent and let the public know.
09:29I know the governor of Kentucky has been asking for updates.
09:33Senator Josh Hawley has been asking as well and others.
09:35It seems that he's, you know, alive and recovering.
09:39But, you know, we have seen this decline in his health for the last couple of years.
09:42And so that's why it's of great concern.
09:44I don't know. A lot of reporters, myself included, have been asking as well.
09:48Representative Marlon Stutzman from the great state of Indiana.
09:50We appreciate you taking the time this morning. Thank you so much.
09:53Thank you very much.
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