President Trump says military operations against Iran will last several weeks

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Welcome to Washington Today from Monday March 2nd, 2026. I'm Gary Starkoff. Thank you for joining us.

We heard our first public comments from the Trump administration today as the joint U.S.

Israel attacks on Iran continue. President Trump said that Iran ignored his warnings

over its nuclear program. He also did not rule out sending U.S. troops there.

Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Pete Higgs said the U.S. mission was not about

changing the regime in Iran, but he also called on Iranians to take advantage of the opportunity

for regime change. In the region, the American death toll has risen to four after service

member was seriously wounded by Iranian strikes yesterday, has died.

The Israeli military has carried out heavy air strikes on the southern suburbs of Beirut.

After Hezbollah terrorist launched missiles and drones toward Israel in retaliation for the death

of Iran's supreme leader. Iranian missile attacks have been reported in Dubai, Abu Dhabi,

and Doha, and three U.S. fighter jets were accidentally shot down by Kuwaiti air defenses this morning.

No casualties were reported. And Qatar, state-run energy company says it stopped its production

of liquefied natural gas following an Iranian attack there. Doc here in the U.S.

late this afternoon, the House Oversight Committee released the recordings from last week's deposition

by former President Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on their ties to Jeffrey

Epstein will play you part of what they said coming up. We begin at the White House,

here's what the President had to say today. Today, the United States military continues to carry out

large-scale combat operations in Iran to eliminate the grave threats posed to America by this

terrible terrorist regime. Following our obliteration of Iran's nuclear program in Operation

Midnight Hammer a short while ago, we wander in not to make any attempt to rebuild at a different

location because they weren't able to use the ones that we so powerfully blew up,

but they ignored those warnings and refused to cease their pursuit of nuclear weapons.

In addition, the regime's conventional ballistic missile program was growing rapidly and

dramatically, and this posed a very clear colossal threat to America and our forces stationed overseas.

The regime already had missiles capable of hitting Europe and our bases both local and overseas

and would soon have had missiles capable of reaching our beautiful America.

The purpose of this fast-growing missile program was to shield their nuclear weapon development

and make it extraordinarily difficult for anyone to stop them from making these highly forbidden

by us nuclear weapons. We were the ones that were complaining. We were the ones that

wanted it stopped, but everybody was behind us. They just didn't have the courage to say so.

An Iranian regime armed with long-range missiles and nuclear weapons would be an intolerable threat

to the Middle East, but also to the American people. Our country itself would be under threat,

and it was very nearly under threat. I was very proud to have knocked out the Iran nuclear deal by

President Barack Hussein Obama. That was a horrible, horrible, dangerous document. They would have

had nuclear weapons three years ago, and they would have used them. But I'll not let that happen

for almost 47 years, this regime has been attacking the United States and killing Americans.

Every time you see someone with missing arms and legs or a face that's been absolutely shattered

violently, it was almost certainly caused by an Iran roadside bomb. They were put there by

General Salamani, who was the father of the roadside bomb. Very proudly he thought,

but I terminated him in my first term. This was our last best chance to strike what we're doing

right now and eliminate the intolerable threats posed by this sick and sinister regime,

and they are indeed sick and sinister. And there are some new polls out that show just how the

American people are feeling about all of this. A new Reuters-Ipsos poll shows that just 27% of respondents

support the U.S. strikes on Iran. 43% disapprove, 29% are not sure. A new morning consult poll

found that 41% of registered voters say the Iran military operation was necessary,

42% say it was not. And a new CNN poll shows 59% of Americans disapprove of the decision to strike

Iran, 41% approve. Here's more from the president. Our objectives are clear first. We're

destroying Iran's missile capabilities, and you see that happening on an hourly basis and

their capacity to produce brand new ones. And pretty good ones they make. Second, we're annihilating

their navy. We've knocked out already 10 ships. They're at the bottom of the sea. Third,

we're ensuring that the world's number one sponsor of terror can never obtain a nuclear weapon,

never going to have a nuclear weapon. I said that from the beginning. They're never going to have

a nuclear weapon. They were in the road to getting one legitimately through a deal that was

signed foolishly by our country. And finally, we're ensuring that the Iranian regime cannot

continue to arm fund and direct terrorist armies outside of their borders. And we thought

we had a deal, but then they backed out. And they came back and we thought we had a deal,

and they backed out. I said, you can't deal with these people. You got to do it the right way.

Today, we grieve for the four heroic American service members who have been killed in action

and send our love and support to their families. In their memory, we continue this mission with

ferocious, unyielding resolve to crush the threat this terrorist regime poses to the American

people and a threat indeed it is. We have the strongest and most powerful by far

military in the world. And we will easily prevail. We're already substantially ahead of our

time projections, but whatever the time is, it's okay, whatever it takes, we will always

be ahead of us. And we have, right from the beginning, we projected four to five weeks,

but we have capability to go far longer than that. We'll do it. Whatever somebody said today,

they said, oh, well, President, I want to do it really quickly. After that, he'll get bored.

I don't get bored. There's nothing boring about this. Do you agree with that, Pete? I don't

think there's anything, Mr. General. There's nothing boring about it. Somebody actually said

from the media, I think it'll get bored after about a week or two. No, we don't get bored.

I never get bored. If I got bored, I wouldn't be standing here right now. I guarantee you that

to go through what I had to go through. We also projected four weeks to terminate

the military leadership. And as you know, that was done in about an hour, so we're ahead of

schedule there by a lot. But please join me in thanking every American service member who bravely

is standing in harm's way. They really are incredible. And I just want to thank you. We have

a lot of them right here. Thank you very much. Thank you.

Another president's comments came at a Medal of Honor event at the White House.

Earlier today, we heard from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

We didn't start this war, but under President Trump, we are finishing it.

Their war on Americans has become our retribution against their Ayatollah and his death cult.

It took the 47th president, a fighter who always puts America first to finally draw the line

after 47 years of Iranian belligerence. He reminded the world as he has time and time again,

being an American means something unbreakable. If you kill Americans,

if you threaten Americans anywhere on earth, we will hunt you down without apology and without

hesitation, and we will kill you. President Trump has also been very consistent. Crazy regimes

like Iran, hell bent on prophetic Islamist delusions, cannot have nuclear weapons. It's common

sense. Many have said it, but it takes guts to actually enforce it and our president has guts.

Iran's stubborn and self-evident nuclear pursuits, their targeting of global shipping lanes and

their swelling arsenal of ballistic missiles and killer drones, were no longer, are no longer

tolerable risks. Iran was building powerful missiles and drones to create a conventional shield for

their nuclear blackmail ambitions. Let me say that again. A conventional shield for their nuclear

blackmail ambitions. Our bases, our people, our allies, all in their crosshairs. Iran had a

conventional gun to our head as they tried to lie their way to a nuclear bomb. It almost worked

under Obama and its terrible deal, but not under this president. Turns out the regime who chanted

death to America and death to Israel was gifted death from America and death from Israel.

This is not a so-called regime change war, but the regime sure did change, and the world is

better off for it. Defense Secretary Pete Higgs has speaking to reporters at the Pentagon earlier

today. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair General Dan Cain also spoke. So let me start with a few

details. First to be clear, as the Secretary said, this is not a single overnight operation.

The military objectives at Sencom and the Joint Force have been taskwists will take some time to

achieve, and in some cases will be difficult and gritty work. We expect to take additional losses,

and as always, we will work to minimize U.S. losses, but as the Secretary said, this is major combat

operations. So let me talk about the preparation and the planning. On February 28th, the full strength

of America's armed forces came together in a unified purpose against a capable and determined

adversary. The United States Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Space Force, Coast Guard,

and our reserve components integrated our cross, our combat and commands, and began coordinated

operations with the Israeli Armed Forces of an unprecedented scale.

And this update from U.S. Central Command as a 4 p.m. Eastern time, six U.S. service members have

been killed in action. U.S. forces recently recovered the remains of two previously unaccounted

forced service members from a facility that was struck during Iran's initial attacks in the region.

Major combat operations continue. The identities of the fallen are being withheld until 24 hours

after next of kin notification that an update on the number of U.S. casualties from U.S. Central

Command. Now, Secretary Hegseth and General Kane did not offer any details about the four

Americans previously reportedly lost the Washington Post reports that they were part of a

sustainment unit in Kuwait. The Post also reports that five American soldiers were seriously wounded

in that attack. Several others suffered, quote, minor, shrapnel injuries and concussions.

Moving to Capitol Hill, Congress is set to vote on a bipartisan war powers resolution this week

that are meant to limit President Trump's military operations in Iran. NPR writing about the vote

says, quote, the dual efforts in the House and Senate face uphill battles to become laws.

Previous efforts have failed in asserting congressional authorities to declare war, but most

Democrats and a handful of Republicans on Capitol Hill still support the effort to curb Trump's

use of military power in Iran after the U.S. and Israel launched attacks against Iran over the

weekend that have already claimed the first American casualties that from NPR. Now, administration

officials are briefing top congressional leaders today that meeting was scheduled for 4 p.m.

eastern time. That will be followed by a full House and Senate briefing tomorrow. Officials in

the meeting are reported to include Secretary of State Marker Rubio, Defense Secretary Hegseth,

Joint Chiefs Chair General Dan Cain, and CIA Director John Ratcliffe. Secretary Rubio

spoke to reporters before this afternoon's meeting. He was asked about congressional approval

for the U.S. strikes.

Does Congress have to weigh it? Does Congress have to weigh it? Is the president different

than the president and does Congress have to weigh it? And is there an imminent threat? Did you tell

lawmakers that there was an imminent threat? There absolutely was an imminent threat, and the

imminent threat was that we knew that if Iran was attacked, and we believe they would be attacked,

that they would immediately come after us, and we were not going to sit there and absorb a blow

before we responded, because the Department of War assessed that if we did that, if we waited

for them to hit us first after they were attacked, and by someone else, Israel attacked them,

they hit us first, and we waited for them to hit us. We would suffer more casualties and more

deaths. We went proactively in a defensive way to prevent them from inflicting higher damage.

Have we not done so? There would have been hearings on Capitol Hill about how we knew that this

was going to happen, and we didn't act preemptively to prevent more casualties and more loss of life.

Is there? The Secretary Rubio was also asked if there was any diplomatic efforts currently

happening between the U.S. and Iran? No, not at this time. We always have people that reach out

from inside of governments. You don't know if they're authorized to reach out or not. They're

suffering a tremendous amount of damage. Honestly, again, I'm not going to give away the details

of our tactical efforts, but the hardest hits are yet to come from the U.S. military.

The next phase will be even more punishing on Iran than it is right now. Someone was screaming

how long will it take? I don't know how long it will take. We have objectives. We will do this

as long as it takes to achieve those objectives, and we will achieve those objectives. The world

will be a safer place when we're done with this operation. Now to congressional reaction,

here's Senate Republican leader, John Thune. Mr. President, over the weekend,

American forces took action against the long-time threat posed by the Mullahs in Tehran.

For decades, Iran has fulmented terror throughout the Middle East,

and danger in U.S. service members, U.S. citizens, and personnel in the region,

and many of our allies. In addition, Iran has relentlessly pursued the development of its own

nuclear program, despite repeated violations identified by the International Atomic Watchdog,

the IAEA. Iran is also aggressively growing the range and inventory of its ballistic missiles

and launchers, an inventory that is already the largest in the region. Combine that with a navy

that aims to threaten a key shipping channel, and it is clear that Iran poses a serious risk

to America's national security interests, as well as those of our allies and partners.

As President Trump and his administration relentlessly pursued a diplomatic solution to the

threat posed by Iran, but the Iranian regime refused diplomatic offerings.

And so now the President is taking action. My prayers are for the success of the mission and above all

for the safety of U.S. personnel in harm's way. For U.S. service members have lost their lives as

a result of Iranian attacks. My thoughts and prayers today are with their families and loved ones

and with their fellow service members. Senator Republican leader John Thune,

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer had these words.

Well, Mr. President, today the Senate grieves the deaths of four U.S. service members who were

killed in action this weekend. We hold their families in our hearts. We pray for all American families

who have loved one serving right now in uniform. And we pray for everyone across the Middle East

who are right now in harm's way. Many who have relatives here in America,

including relatives who fled the regime in Iran and all who are worried for their families and

friends back home across the region. Mr. President, today many Americans across the country

and across the political spectrum are wondering why are our troops back in conflict

in the Middle East? That's what Americans are wondering. Why has Donald Trump started a new war

with Iran? Let me be clear, I will not shed a tear for Ali Hamani, the supreme leader of Iran

who was killed in the initial rounds of airstrikes over the weekend. For decades Hamani

sponsored terrorist attacks against American troops. He called for the destruction of Israel

and America. And under his rule, the people of Iran have suffered immensely.

But Mr. President, no matter how you feel about the Iranian regime, we stand at a dangerous

moment for our troops and for the Middle East and even perhaps for the world. Donald Trump

has just launched America into a full-scale conflict against one of our most fervent adversaries

without a plan, without an end game, and without authorization for Congress or even a debate

in full view of the American people. The consequences are already mounting, as I've said,

for American service members have been killed. Several others have been wounded.

And the President says many casualties, many more casualties are likely to come.

This is not what the American people want. The American people want more effective action to

address the rising costs that are crushing them. They want more access to health care,

affordable health care, and to buy homes and to get good-paying jobs.

They don't want a war that leads to lost American lives and that costs billions and

billions of taxpayer dollars. They don't want a war that raises the price of gas

at the pump. Make no mistake about it. This is a war of choice, not necessity.

And regardless of whether you're a Democrat or a Republican or an independent,

or even if you don't pay attention to politics, there's one thing almost everyone agrees on.

We are sick and tired of endless wars in the Middle East. And there is real danger

that this is the road we are on right now. Americans are sick of Donald Trump, paying so much

attention to military escapades while costs keep going up here at home. Then his whaler,

Somalia, Iran, and on and on.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer on the floor earlier today. And of course, we are still

in a partial government shutdown of the Homeland Security Department. This is week three of that

partial shutdown. Democrats and the White House continue talks to attempt to reach an agreement to

end the shutdown. You can see the Senate live on C-SPAN-2. And about those war powers resolutions.

The lead sponsor on the Senate side is Virginia Democrat Tim Cain. Here's what he had to say about

it yesterday on Fox News Sunday. This is an illegal war, Shannon, because the representative

cited a statute, but he neglected to mention the Constitution. And the Constitution can't be

changed by statute. The Constitution says no declaration of war without Congress. The president

has called this war against Iran. The president can act to imminently defend the United States against

imminent attack if that happens without congressional approval needing later ratification by Congress.

But if you're going to initiate war, you need Congress. The president not only did not come to

Congress to seek a debater vote. He acted without even notification to the vast majority of us.

This is an illegal war. I have a war powers resolution queued up for vote this week. And I'm

encouraging my colleagues to assert the constitutional power vested in the legislative branch.

More importantly, though, have we learned something from 25 years of war in the Middle East?

Have we learned nothing? It looks like this president hasn't learned a thing. And the claims about

we're going to change the regime. We're going to stop a nuclear program. There was some threat.

All of the intelligence I've seen in 13 years on the Armed Services and Foreign Relations committees

tell me there was no imminent threat from Iran that justify sending our sons and daughters into war.

Virginia Democratic Senator Tim Cain on Fox News Sunday. California Democrat Rokana and Kentucky

Republican Thomas Massey are leading the effort on the House side. Here's Representative Kana

on Meet the Press talking about his resolution's prospects. It depends if we can keep several

Democrats in line. Josh Gottheimer, Congressman and Congressman Markowitz, folks who have been

on the fence. But I believe that this is a disastrous vote for any Democrat to vote for Donald

Trump's war in the Middle East. So I hope we will hold the line. And then like I said,

there are a few Republicans who share Marjorie Taylor Greene and Tucker Carlson and others

Rand Paul's view. And we've got to make the case to them. It'll be a close vote right now.

It's a 40-60 to pass. But we've got a few days to work on it.

Some House Democrats, as you know, have actually already come out against this resolution

in the aftermath of the strikes. Here's what Democratic Congressman. You just mentioned him.

Greg Lansman said, I don't support the resolution, which would require us to completely abandon

our allies. The strikes are in attempt to prevent further war. Not start one. Does he have a point

Congressman? Just look at it with common sense. I mean, even Lindsey Graham said we're at war.

Of course, the we're at war where they're on. We kill their leader. We have over a hundred

of our fighter jets bombing them. The point of this resolution is to say we do not want another

war in the Middle East, or at least Congress should pine on that, should vote on that.

And if you're not voting for this war power's resolution, you basically have Lindsey Graham's

view, which is that the president gets to decide wars. I admire this part about Lindsey Graham.

He's at least intellectually consistent. He doesn't believe in the war powers. He believes the

president has authority to go into war. He has cheerlead for the war in Iraq, for the war in Libya,

for 20 years in Afghanistan. And he's basically, that's his viewpoint. So either you are on the

side of no more Middle East wars, or you're on the side of Lindsey Graham. That's that's what this

vote is about. California Democratic Representative O'Connor on NBC's Meet the Press yesterday.

As I said, the House in recess today, they return for legislative work tomorrow. You can always

see the House live on C-SPAN. You're listening to Washington today.

Welcome back to Washington today. As we said, the House Oversight Committee has released the

recordings from last week's depositions by former President Clinton and former Secretary of State

Hillary Clinton on their ties to Jeffrey Epstein. Here's part of the former president's testimony.

I'm here today, basically for two reasons. First of all,

I love my country and the Constitution. And I believe America was built on the idea that no one

is above the law, especially presidents, and that we should all live by the same set of rules

shaped by the Constitution. Democracy requires every person to play their part. And I hope that by

being here today, we can bring ourselves a little further away from the break and back to being a

country where we can disagree civilly and search for the truth in justice and that that outweighs

the partisan urge, respectful and pointscoring. I will do my part and I hope you'll do yours.

The second reason I'm here is that the girls and women whose lives Jeffrey Epstein destroyed

deserve not just justice but healing. They've been waiting too long for both.

Through my brief acquaintance with Jeffrey Epstein,

though it ended years before his crimes came to light, and though I never witnessed

during our limited interactions any indication of what was going on,

I'm here to offer what little I know so I can do my part to prevent something like this from

happening again. I have to say one personal thing since Hillary came in yesterday. She had nothing

to do with Jeffrey Epstein. Nothing. There's a picture of this both shaking hands within

in a photo line in 1993 at a fundraiser for the White House Historical Association.

I don't know how it is under President Trump, but when I was there, it was about the most

non-political operation you can imagine. There were people who loved the White House who were

interested in it. It would give a little money every year to do things that needed to do it

around the house. Nothing nearly as extravagant as the ballroom or any of that, just things that

had to be done. Neither she nor I remember shaking its hand all those years ago.

So I don't think that was right. On the other hand, I do think you should be talking to me. I think

you should have called me. I did take those blind trips with him and you have a right to ask those

questions. So I'm glad to be here and I understand what the oath is. I have to be honest with you.

You know, I'll be eight years old if I love him the next birthday. I don't remember everything

that happened 24 years ago, but I do remember some things and I will tell you what I remember

as best I can. We each of us held the victims nothing less than the truth and accuracy. We

owe that to the American people and I actually hope that you will be able to come up with some

suggestions that will reduce human trafficking and especially focus on underage girls. I hope

you'll be able to do that. I know that the Hillary talked a little yesterday about what the

State Department does and what she pushed on human trafficking and girls. When she was Secretary

of State, we had to deal with it and in my foundation, I saw it in Nigeria when Boko Haram

was rampaging to the north of Nigeria and we were working there trying to stop this from diarrhea

for a young children and it was interesting. These guys were cold and calculated. They said, oh,

you don't have to leave because the kids you're helping are younger than the ones we want.

They have to be about nine before there were anything to us. So this is really important

and I will do what I can to make whatever contribution I can.

On her opening statements, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton talked about her work

combating human trafficking. As Secretary of State, I appointed a former federal prosecutor

Lucy DeBaca to ramp up our global anti-trafficking efforts. I oversaw nearly 170 anti-trafficking

programs and 70 nations and directly pressed foreign leaders to crack down on trafficking networks

in their countries. Every year, we published a global report to shine a light on abuses.

The findings of those reports triggered sanctions on countries failing to make progress

so they became a powerful diplomatic tool to drive concrete action.

I insisted that the United States be included in the report for the first time ever in 2011

because we must hold ourselves not just to the same standard as the rest of the world,

but to an even higher one. Sex trafficking and modern slavery should have no place in America. None.

Infuriating Lee, the Trump administration gutted the Trafficking and Persons Office at the State

Department, cutting more than 70 percent of the career, civil, and foreign service experts

who worked so hard to prevent trafficking crimes. The annual trafficking report required by law

was delayed for months. The message from the Trump administration to the American people and the

world could not be clearer. Combating human trafficking is no longer an American priority

under the Trump White House. That's a tragedy, it's a scandal, and it deserves vigorous

investigation and oversight. A committee endeavoring to stopping human trafficking would seek to

understand what specific steps are needed to fix a legal system that allowed Epstein to get away

with his crimes. A committee run by elected officials with a commitment to transparency would

ensure the full release of all the files. It would ensure that the lawful redactions of those

files protected the victims and survivors, not powerful men and political allies. It would get

to the bottom of reports that DOJ withheld FBI interviews in which a survivor accuses president

Trump of crimes. It would subpoena anyone who asked on which night there would be the wildest

party on Epstein's island. It would demand testimony from prosecutors from Florida, New York,

and the Department of Justice about why they gave Epstein a sweetheart deal and chose not to

pursue others who may have been implicated in his crimes. And it would demand that Secretary Rubio

and Attorney General Bondi testify about why this administration is abandoning survivors

and playing into the hands of traffickers. It would seek out advocates and law enforcement

officials on the front lines of the fight against human trafficking and ask them what support

they need. And it would put forth legislation to provide more resources and force this administration

to act. But that's not happening. Instead, you have compelled me to testify fully aware that I

have no knowledge that would assist your investigation in order to distract from President Trump's

actions and to cover them up despite legitimate calls for answers. If this committee is serious

about learning the truth about Epstein's traffic and crimes, it would not rely on press gaggagels

to get answers from our current president on his involvement. It would ask him directly under oath

about the tens of thousands of times he shows up in the Epstein files. If the majority was serious,

it would not waste time on phishing expeditions. There is too much to be done. What is being held

back? Who is being protected? And why the cover up? So my challenge to you, Mr. Chairman and members

of this committee is the same challenge I put to myself throughout my long service to this nation.

How to be worthy of the trust of the American people that they have given to you. They expect

statesmanship, not gamesmanship, leading, not grandstanding. And they expect you to use your

power to get to the truth and to do more to help survivors of Epstein's crimes as well as the

millions more who are victims of sex trafficking in this country and around the world.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton talking to the House Oversight Committee last week

giving a deposition on the her connection to the Jeffrey Epstein files. Now you can see

both former president and former Secretary of State's deposition. We have several hours of it,

the entire deposition on cspan.org for you to view on demand. And right now on cspan three,

we are streaming Secretary Clinton's comments. And on cspan, we are streaming former president

Clinton's comments. But again, they will be available to view any time at cspan.org.

Now to the global reaction on the U.S. Israeli tack on Iran. And this from the New York Times

broken pieces of cement twisted metal and scattered household items were left behind where homes

once stood, an acrid smell of burned materials filled the air. One man stood crying in the

gasoline aftermath of an Iranian missile strike that killed at least nine people in central

Israel on Sunday afternoon, the worst casualty toll in the country after two days of conflict with

Iran. That from the New York Times, Israeli ambassador to the UN Danny Dannan spoke about those

Iranian attacks to reporters today. While we strike military facilities and the machinery of

terror with precision, the Iranian regime strikes civilians, families, airports, hotels, shopping

centers, people's home. In Beth Shemesh, a city near Jerusalem, four apartment buildings were

destroyed. Nine innocent people were murdered, including these three young siblings, Sarah,

Abigail, and Jacob Bitton, same family together.

Brothers and sisters killed in their own home overnight another

missile strike bellshiva, enjoying more innocent people. This contrast tells everything.

With target military infrastructure, they target families. They terrorize their own people,

they terrorize us, and now they are attempting to terrorize the region and the world.

We all know those we have lost. Despite the sacrifice, we are determined. We will not stop until

we achieve our objectives. Ambassador Dannan also accused a UN education official of spreading

misinformation about civilian casualties in Iran. Meanwhile, look at what is happening

inside this building at the UN.

As Iranian missiles were hitting Israeli cities, the UN Secretary-General Special Representative

for Children and Armed Conflict, Vanessa Fresio, she tweeted last night,

condemning what she described at attacks on Iranian schools,

leaving a large number of casualties mostly children. That's from a tweet from last night.

Horrible picture indeed. She posted this graphic image where you can see families in Iran

standing among rows of black body bags. I agree it's horrible picture,

but this photograph is not from the past few days. It was actually taken at the end of January.

The dead in these bags that you see will see villains killed by the Iranian regime itself,

killed by the same regime now firing missiles at our cities.

While this image is being secreted by a UN representative, Israeli children will be

killed and injured by Iranian missiles. No tweet about them, no condemnation for them,

no urgency for them. Ms. Fresio, if you wish to fulfill your mandate, condemn the Iranian attack

that murdered Israeli children. But we know this is a UN,

accusations first, facts later. So I ask, well, in the global urgency,

at this radical Islamist regime spread its tail across the world.

The Israeli ambassador to the UN, Danny Tannen. And in London, British Prime Minister Kier

Starmer said he stands by his decision to not join with the US and Israel on its attack to Iran.

Mr Speaker, the United Kingdom was not involved in the initial strikes on Iran by the US

and Israel. That decision was deliberate. We believe that the best way forward for the region

and for the world is a negotiated settlement, in which Iran agrees to give up any aspirations

to develop a nuclear weapon and ceases its destabilising activity across the region.

That has been the long-standing position of successive British governments.

President Trump has expressed his disagreement with our decision not to get involved

in the initial strikes. But it is my duty to judge what is in Britain's national interest.

That is what I've done and I stand by it. But Mr Speaker, it is clear that Iran's

outrageous response has become a threat to our people, our interests and our allies,

and it cannot be ignored. Iran has lashed out across the region. They have launched hundreds

of missiles and thousands of drones at countries which did not attack them, including the UAE,

Saudi Arabia, Q8, Qatar, Iraq, Bahrain and Oman. And overnight,

hezbollah, Iran's proxy in Lebanon, launched attacks on Israel, seeking to escalate the war.

Prime Minister Starmer also talked about his reversal over the weekend on allowing the U.S.

to use UK military bases. Mr Speaker, I've been speaking to our

Gulf partners over the weekend. They're outraged by Iran's acts, particularly as they played no

part in any strikes. And they've asked us to do more to defend them. Moreover, it is my duty,

the highest duty of my office, to protect British lives. That is why we put British jets

in the air, typhoons and F-35s, as part of coordinated defensive operations,

which have already successfully intercepted Iranian strikes, including Mr Speaker taking out

one drone that was heading towards a coalition base in Iraq, housing UK service personnel.

I want to pay tribute to our brilliant servicemen and women, putting themselves in harm's way

to keep others safe. And I know the whole House will join me in expressing our gratitude and our

respect. But Mr Speaker, it is simply not possible to shoot down every Iranian missile and every

drone after they've been launched. The only way to stop the threat is to destroy the missiles at

source in their storage depots or at the launchers. The US requested permission to use British

bases for that specific and limited defensive purpose because they have the capabilities to do so.

Yesterday evening, we took the decision to accept that new request in order to prevent Iran

firing missiles across the region, killing innocent civilians, putting British lives at risk,

and hitting countries that have not been involved. To be clear, the use of British bases

is limited to the agreed defensive purposes. We are not joining the US and Israeli offensive

strikes. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in the House of Commons earlier today,

meanwhile, in Brussels, European Commission President Ursula Vonderland also spoke.

The developments in the Middle East are deeply concerning. I wasn't touched with nine

Middle East leaders over the weekend and several European leaders. The situation remains volatile,

but three things are noteworthy. First and most importantly, there is a renewed hope

for the oppressed people of Iran and we strongly support their right to determine their own

future. She also echoed calls for a diplomatic solution in Iran. The stability of the region is

of the utmost importance. The only lasting solution is a diplomatic one. And this means a

credible transition for Iran, the definite hold to both the nuclear and ballistic programs,

and an end to destabilizing activities in the region.

Now you can find all of our continuing coverage of the US and Israeli attacks on Iran

at cspan.org and cspan now. We're also showing you how Iranian and Israeli media are covering

the conflict. You can see that on the cspan three stream on the cspan now mobile app and also

online at cspan.org. Campaign 2026 news now and many eyes are on the state of Texas and the

Senate race there. A new poll released Sunday showed Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton

and Democratic State Representative James Talleriko leading their respective parties nominations.

On the Republican side and Emerson College next our media poll out yesterday showed

Ken Paxton leading incumbent Senator John Cornyn, 40% to 36% representative Wesley Hunt is in

third with 17%. Those numbers add to other polls that show Ken Paxton leading. All of them

show him with less than 50% of the vote. And if the race shakes out with no candidate getting

more than 50%, it would go to a runoff. Over on the Democratic side, James Talleriko leads US

Representative Jasmine Crockett, 52% to 47%. That is within the margin of error. They're also

primaries tomorrow in North Carolina and Arkansas and our live coverage of the results in three states

Texas, North Carolina and Arkansas will begin tomorrow night at 7 p.m. Eastern time here on the cspan

networks. Staying in Texas Fox seven Austin dot com is reporting today that a Texas tech student

has been identified by Austin police as one of the three victims in Sundays deadly shooting at a

sixth street bar. Ryder Harrington was a member of the fall 2024 pledge class for Texas tech's

chapter of beta theta pi kvue.com in Austin is also reporting that another victim of the shooting is

expected to have life support removed today. 13 other people were injured in the attack.

And this afternoon Austin police chief Lisa Davis and FBI Special Agent Alex Doran gave an

update on the shooter's possible motive. And the chief and for agent are and can you

explain what more you learned about possible motive and I think it was reported that the suspect

had a shirt underneath the sweatshirt that showed an Iranian flag. Is there a direct connection

to the war in Iran with the shooting here? So I think for our purposes, as we're looking at

the totality of this and certainly as a police chief and we're coming in and we're getting this

information and we see those indicators. We see a, you know, the second shirt with the Iran

and the picture of the shawl on that t-shirt as well. You know, we're thinking about events and

what's occurring in the country as well. And so in addition to the fact that this was a huge

complex scene, we're calling in those federal partners to take a look at that as well. And so

again, those the motives, all of those things, that's what this investigation is about right now.

I don't want to go ahead. Thank you. So I'll add on that. But first, I just want to

also express our regards for the victims, the victims, families, those impacted by this

tragic event. It's not just those that were injured or killed, but obviously those that

witnessed it are going to be forever impacting. So just let them know we stand with you.

And we are, our thoughts are with you. With regards to the question.

Yes, we, like our ultimate goal and everything we do is to determine the motive, right? We're looking

for connections that he possibly had. Witnesses, as the chief had mentioned, we are pouring through

thousands of hours of video. We have massive amounts of both digital and physical evidence.

And this is a around the clock, 24-hour investigation at this point. And any

declarations on what led to that motive would be premature, right? We want to make sure that we

have our facts 100% correct, or as it's close to, at least we've tracked down every possible

lead that we can, because that's what we owe to the victims, right? That's what you guys

want answers for. But more importantly, we owe that to the victims and their families to be

right. So we don't want to speculate or make any guesses at this stage of the investigation as

to what that motive ultimately was. FBI Special Agent Alex Doran and Austin Police Chief Lisa

Davis speaking to reporters earlier today. Finally, this from the state.com in Columbia,

South Carolina. As the late Reverend Jesse Jackson was honored and remembered in South Carolina

on Monday, notable black leaders celebrated his life's work. Among those to speak,

were former UN Ambassador Andrew Young, the current chair of the States Legislative Black Caucus,

Annie McDaniel, and current South Carolina Democratic Representative James Clyburn.

Representative Clyburn talked about how Jesse Jackson's presidential campaigns in 1984 and 88

changed the party's primary process. In about five months, we are going to be celebrating the

250th anniversary of this country's existence. And I quoted Thomas Keynes' famous

page, famous words. We need rope. These are times that try men's souls. Some associates and sunshine

patrons will in the crisis shrink from the service of their country. But he that stands it now.

Deserves the love and thanks of man and woman for tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered.

Yet we hear of this consolation with us that the harder the conflict, the more glorious, the triumph.

Because Jesse Lewis Jackson was not a summer soldier. He was not a sunshine painter.

He stood the times and because of his efforts, I am able to sit where I sit today, I can remember

those battles to get rid of winner-take-all elections. Who precipitated that? Jesse Lewis Jackson.

And I don't care. Well, then about a minute so you to the contrary.

Were it not for a proportional voting in our primaries?

Barack Obama never would have gotten the nomination to be president of the Eastern United

States of America. He was when we got rid of those winner-take-all elections that Jesse was the

precipitate of. I hear people talking all the time these days about proportional voting and how

new that is. Ain't new. Jesse, give birth to it all.

South Carolina Democratic Representative James Clyburn speaking at a memorial service for the late

Reverend Jesse Jackson at the South Carolina State House today. You can see all of that service

at C-SPAN.org and the free C-SPAN now mobile app. That's also where you can find this program

as a podcast. It's also on YouTube just search Washington today. And if you want more on the stories

that are shaping Washington every day, get our daily email word for word. Just go to C-SPAN.org.

Slash connect to subscribe. I'm Gary Sterehoff. Thanks a lot for listening today to Washington today.