Gillibrand and Hegseth spar over American support for Iran war

Added: 2026-05-01

[00:00:00]I don't know if you fully appreciate how much the American people do not support this war. It is an unauthorized war.

[00:00:08]Normally when you come to Congress, it's a way for the American people to be part of that discussion.

[00:00:14]The American people, particularly in this my state of New York, are upset for a lot of reasons. First of all, this war is costing so much money, over $25 billion already, estimates a billion dollars a day. And they're feeling it every single day at the gas pump with higher prices for both fuel, for diesel, for gasoline, for their cars. They're also feeling it with higher grocery costs. And they're exhausted. They are truly exhausted. On top of that, on top of that, they have so many grave concerns about how this war is being prosecuted.

[00:00:53]They read in the paper that 22 schools have been hit. They read in the paper about a girl school, hundreds getting killed.

[00:01:03]We have a debate going on in this country about AI.

[00:01:07]A serious debate about AI.

[00:01:10]And I haven't heard yet from you that you will not allow AI to make final targeting determinations even when nuclear weapons are being used. That's a huge issue that we need to discuss. So I want to start from the top. Secretary Hegsth, why do you continue to prosecute a war that the American people aren't behind?

[00:01:32]>> Uh, first of all, I appreciate the opportunity for that closed session where we had a unsurprisingly very different discussion than we have here with the cameras on. Um, we support this >> because my job is to represent New Yorkers. And I can tell you when I talk to them all across my state, they are furious and they expect me to explain to them why they are furious. And Senator, when I talk to Americans and especially when I talk to the troops, they are grateful for a president who has the courage to take on this threat after 47 years of what Iran has done targeting and killing Americans and what it would mean to the world if Iran's nuclear ambitions were actually achieved. So the question I would ask to you and to others is what is the cost of a nuclear armed Iran? What is the cost to the American people? The world's most dangerous regime has a nuclear weapon.

[00:02:20]>> But the truth is they don't want war coming to this shore. And when you do a decapitation operation, the likelihood is going to be exchanged in the United States. There's no evidence that we are safer because of this war. We did not have any evidence that Iran intended to imminently attack this country in any way, shape, or form. So, I disagree with your assessment that we were under threat.

[00:02:42]>> Do you not believe them when they say death to America?

[00:02:45]>> Listen, our adversaries use rhetoric all the time. What I'm concerned about is we are not safer. And I would just like to know why you have not sought the support of the American people and three out of five Americans are against this war today.

[00:03:02]>> Um I believe we do have the support of the American people and we have briefed regularly what this mission looks like and why it's critically important that we undertake it. And I would remind you and this group that we're two months in to an effort and many congressional Democrats, as I pointed out, want to declare defeat two months in. Iraq took how many years? Afghanistan took how many years? And they were nebulous missions that people went along with.

[00:03:26]This is different. This is a defined mission set that we have had great success in pursuing against a determined enemy who seeks nuclear weapons. And I'm and I'm proud of the opportunity to remind the American people because they believe in it as well.

[00:03:41]You don't care when the American people and the American people are quite smart.

[00:03:46]They understand and see through spin.

[00:03:48]They know that a regime that says death to America, that seeks nuclear weapons and the ability to deliver. Did they lie about the range of their missiles?

[00:03:56]Because I I saw 4,000. How much more will you ask American people to pay for this war? Diego. Do you want it a billion dollars a day? Do you want $2 billion a day? You're asking for $200 billion more to fund this war and to make sure we have >> We didn't ask for $200 billion. I don't know where you got that number from, Senator. I think you got it from the news, which you should be careful where you what you read in the news.

[00:04:16]>> Okay, Mr. Hath here. Secretary Hexath, here's a few more. Let's talk about how you're prosecuting the war. What is your response to targeting that has resulted in the destruction of schools, hospitals, civilian places? Why did you cut by 90% the division that's supposed to help you, not target civilians? And do you know the impact of a strategic failure at a war when you have so many civilian casualties? You may have tactically completed a mission well, but strategically is not meeting your goals because of the harms to civilians. What is the cost of that?

[00:04:52]>> Leave time for an answer.

[00:04:54]>> Uh, no military, no country works harder at every echelon to ensure they protect civilian lives than the United States military. And that is a ironclad commitment that we make, no matter how, no matter what system. Why did you cut the department by 90%?