CNN host Kasie Hunt was visibly taken aback on Tuesday after she played an expletive-laden montage of MAGA figures criticizing President Donald Trump's war in Iran.
Hunt played the montage on "The Arena" on Tuesday, which included commentary from MAGA radio personality Megyn Kelly, Blackwater founder Erik Prince, and former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), who cited her falling out with Trump over the Jeffrey Epstein files as her reason for leaving Congress in January.
In the montage, Kelly said she has "serious doubts" about the Iran strikes, even though they killed dictator Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Prince said the strikes were not in America's best interests, and Greene said the strikes show it's "time for America to rip the Band-Aid off and have a serious conversation about what the f--- is happening in our country right now."
The camera panned back to a stunned Hunt after the montage played.
"Well, how do you really feel?" Hunt asked sarcastically.
Democratic campaign strategist Chuck Rocha doesn't think Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) has a path to keeping his seat in the GOP primary on Tuesday night — and walked through the math with MS NOW's Katy Tur on why he thinks he's a dead man walking.
Cornyn has fought his way through a vicious primary that includes state Attorney General Ken Paxton and U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt. The latter two portray Cornyn as insufficiently loyal to President Donald Trump, who has refused to make an endorsement in the race.
"So, Chuck, the race on the Republican side ... is really interesting because you have Cornyn, who is an incumbent, who is somebody who does have crossover appeal or at least moderate appeal in Texas," said Tur. "Ken Paxton is a Republican. He's a firebrand. He's a MAGA loyalist. And by the way, that's crazy to say that John Cornyn is not, because he's voted with Donald Trump and Republicans like 99.9 percent of the time. But still, that's the way it's being perceived down there, because Cornyn has, I think, at one point at once been critical of Donald Trump."
"Is Ken Paxton — if he does win, is he really beatable in Texas, or is this just another version of the same story that we keep telling ourselves?" asked Tur.
"If the turnout was the same, and if the elections were the same, Democrats would have no chance," said Rocha, who has helped advise winning Senate campaigns in tough races, including the 2024 Arizona cycle. "But what we're describing to you right now is an anomaly that's happening, and that's why there is a chance."
"Let me tell you why Cornyn can't win the runoff," said Rocha. "Here's some behind the curtains of what's going on in polling and in the vote. Right now in Texas, there's 12 percent of the Democratic turnout so far that showed up in in-person early vote ... they have 12 percent of that, that have a Republican primary voting history. That means they're pulling a Democratic ballot, but they voted in the past in a Republican primary. You know who that is? That's who John Cornyn would be counting on to vote in a runoff. But wait just a second. If you vote in the Democratic primary, you can't show up and vote in the runoff for John Cornyn."
"That's why I think he's doomed," said Rocha. "And I think that's why Ken Paxton is beatable in November."
The former spokesperson for ShamWow is suing the Republican Party of Texas after his "ShamWow" nickname was removed from the primary ballot.
In his bid to unseat Rep. John Carter (R-TX) in U.S. House District 31, Offer Vince Shlomi concluded that the removal of his nickname from the ballot would harm his chances. The candidate sought a temporary injunction against the Republican Party of Texas, requiring his nickname to be restored to the ballot.
Shlomi claimed the party selectively enforced a rule against nicknames by allowing gubernatorial candidate Pete "Doc" Chambers and others.
"His name was submitted to the Secretary of State to appear on the ballot as stated on his accepted application as 'Offer Vince 'ShamWow' Shlomi,'" the lawsuit noted. "As a result of this approval, Petitioner Shlomi invested a substantial amount of campaign funds in the creation and execution of campaign material containing this approved nickname."
Shlomi said he was notified on Jan. 26 that his nickname would be removed to resolve a complaint made by the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC).
"Petitioner seeks declaratory and injunctive relief under TEX. ELEC. CODE §273.081 to declare that the change on the ballot to his name as it appeared on his approved and certified application violates the election code; and injunctive relief ordering Respondents to correct his name to include his nickname on the ballot for the May primary run-off/November General Election, should Petitioner be eligible for those races," the lawsuit demanded.
In a Tuesday post on X, Shlomi insisted that the change was made to "help the incumbent John Carter so the voters don't recognize me."
Gulf countries targeted by Iran after the U.S. and Israel attacks were reportedly frustrated by the escalating regional conflict, an analyst revealed Tuesday.
CNN's political and national security analyst David Sanger described how Iran's objective is to put financial pressure on the countries allied with the United States and Israel in the fallout over the military strikes, all while midterm elections loom for President Donald Trump.
"Look, the Iranians haveone big mission here: it'ssurvive," Sanger said. "If they're going tosurvive, they have to wait out President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu. If they'regoing to wait out President Trump, it means they need tomake it painful enough, longenough that he's beginning toget toward the elections. You'rebeginning to see significantcasualties. And it gets back tothat question that Steve Witkoff, his chief envoy, askedabout a week before the warbroke out. During the negotiations, he said, 'The president is curious aboutwhy the Iranians haven'tcapitulated.' Well, the answer isthat the whole meaning andpurpose of the current Iranianstate is to stand in oppositionto the U.S., and so it's not asif, even with the loss of the Supreme Leader, that they'rejust going to say, 'well, this isover.'"
He also suggested what other types of attacks could come next from Iran.
"They'vegot other techniques, cyber [attacks]. Wehaven't begun to see anythinghere in the United States. Ihope we don't. But I wouldn'tbe shocked if we did."
Several Gulf nations, which were not reportedly prepared for the attacks, have also had furious reactions to the conflict behind the scenes, Sanger said. Iran could also be looking at what countries are important to the American economy and aiming to target those economic hubs.
"Well, look, the U.S. is their major patron," Sanger added. "You know eight months ago, what were we discussing with UAE? With the UAE, how many data centers we're going to build there? Right. So the Iranian strategy at this point is not necessarily to go after U.S. bases. It's to go after the financial engines of these countries and say the price for sticking with the U.S. is high in public. They have been very supportive of the U.S. so far. In private, they have been raging, angry that they weren't consulted on the start of this war to begin with, right? Many of them didn't even know what the start date was going to be, so they feel like they are sort of collateral damage in President Trump's confrontation with the Iranians, which many of them don't think is timed right."
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) said he was "suspicious" that Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) might have committed treason by leaking President Donald Trump's plan to strike Iranian leadership, many of whom are now dead.
On Tuesday, Sen. Johnson spoke to MAGA influencer Benny Johnson on a broadcast titled, "Ilhan Omar LEAKED U.S. Military Attack Plans to IRAN — Treason?"
Benny Johnson alleged that Omar "leaked" Operation Epic Fury to Iran through a post on X four days before the strikes. In the post, the Minnesota Democrat said that it was "sickening to know that the US is again going to attack Iran during Ramadan."
"Ilhan Omar told Iran exactly when we would attack," the MAGA influencer said. "She did it in public. And it begs of the question, what did she know? When did she know it?"
"I can't find any other tweets from any other members of Congress staying with such precise certitude when we're going to attack Iran," he added before introducing Ron Johnson. "Let's jump on over to our senator. Ladies and gentlemen, Senator Ron Johnson, locked and loaded and ready to go. Is Ilhan Omar a traitor?"
"And given the fact that Rubio and the CIA director had just briefed the gang of eight about our war plans, you know, I mean, it just seems Iran — I just see the timing just seems very strange to me, and extremely reckless, of course, Americans have now died in this conflict, and it bothers us."
Sen. Johnson agreed: "Well, it is suspicious. I certainly don't trust the Congresswoman."
"You know, it's one of the reasons that we've given — the Constitution gives the President of the United States the authority over these foreign affairs and quite honestly kind of military action," the senator continued. "You cannot brief Congress and expect to hold or have war plans held confidential. They're going to leak."
"You're going to have people that might be traitors that way."
The senator did not explain how the U.S. was able to kill so many Iranian leaders if they knew of the strikes in advance.
In a post on X, Elon Musk's Grok AI chatbot disagreed with Benny Johnson's allegation about a leak.
"No, available public records do not indicate Rep. Ilhan Omar leaked classified U.S. military attack plans to Iran or committed treason," the chatbot said. "Her Feb 27 post stated the U.S. 'is again going to attack Iran during Ramadan,' framing it as politically motivated. This was public speculation/criticism ahead of reported strikes (which occurred during Ramadan), not specific details like targets or timing passed privately to Iran."
"As a Foreign Affairs Committee member, she may have had general briefings, but no sources show she disclosed classified info or aided an enemy—treason's narrow constitutional definition," Grok concluded. "The accusation originates from interpretive media claims without supporting evidence of a leak."
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) called for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's resignation and delivered a brutal takedown Tuesday before a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.
Tillis criticized Noem over her handling of FEMA disaster relief funding, harsh immigration policies under the Trump administration that have left two Americans dead, and other concerns, when he turned his attention to Noem's leadership and described why it was so troubling to him.
"Secretary, I read your book last week. And honestly, some of the parts of it impressed me, but some of it distresses me," Tillis said. "And I'll give you a good example of one that does: The passage where you talk about killing a dog that was 14 months old. I train dogs, all right? And you are a farmer. You should know better."
Tillis brought up Noem's book and the story of the puppy she described killing in it.
“I hated that dog,” Noem wrote in her 2024 book "No Going Back," adding that the wirehair pointer was “dangerous to anyone she came in contact with” and “less than worthless … as a hunting dog”.
But Tillis took serious issue with Noem's statements.
"You should know that if you're going out to a hunting lodge and you're putting pheasants out and you're putting dogs out — you don't take a puppy out there," Tillis said. "A 14-month-old dog is basically a teenager in dog years. You decided to kill that dog because you had not invested the appropriate time and training, and then you had the audacity to go into a book and say it's a leadership lesson about tough choices."
He also brought up a goat that Noem killed, drawing a parallel between her decision-making over the animals and her ability to lead federal law enforcement officials.
"At that same lunch hour, you killed a goat, and you killed a goat because you said it was behaving badly," Tillis said. "You are a farmer. You don't castrate a goat if they behave badly, you should have probably done that before. But my point is, those are bad decisions made in the heat in the moment, not unlike what happened up in Minneapolis. I expect — we're an exceptional nation — and one of the reasons we're exceptional is we expect exceptional leadership and you've demonstrated anything but that in the time that I've seen you responding to the emergency in North Carolina and across the Southeast and acknowledging when mistakes are made and speaking too soon for the expediate of social media or whatever it is."
He said that he was expecting answers to the investigation over Operation Charlotte's Web, adding that he wants to target fewer innocent people and instead focus on those who should be immigration enforcement priorities. He then threatened to stall nominees if Noem doesn't stop stonewalling him, demanding answers in the next two weeks.
Tillis to Noem: "A 14 month old dog is basically a teenager in dog years. You decided to kill that dog because you hadn't invested the appropriate time and training, and then you have the audacity to go into a book and say it's a leadership lesson about tough choices! ... Those… pic.twitter.com/NxqajEZdQl — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 3, 2026
after absolutely eviscerating Kristi Noem and calling for her resignation, Tillis is applauded. He thens threatens to hold up nominees if she doesn't stop stonewalling him. My God. pic.twitter.com/k2EFbmtoik — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 3, 2026
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) went off on Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and criticized her handling of FEMA disaster relief during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday.
Noem was testifying before senators when Tillis gave his statement, eviscerating Noem's leadership and expressing his disappointment about her decisions regarding the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) actions, including the deaths of American citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti. He argued that Noem had disappointed him and specifically expressed concerns about how she has handled the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
"What we've seen is a disaster under your leadership," Tillis said.
"I want to talk a minute about FEMA," Tillis said. "You have a policy right now that anything over $100,000 needs to go through your desk for approval. I asked my staff, because I'm a management consultant, I don't try to do cheap shots here. But the facts do not lie."
Tillis used a chart to compare the disaster relief funding from President Donald Trump's first administration to the second, describing the problems the funding bottleneck under Noem has caused for his constituents in North Carolina. He called her FEMA leadership "incompetent."
"People are hurting in western North Carolina from the most significant storm they've ever experienced," Tillis said. "If you're requesting a review of $100,000 and up, then it begs the question, why? Why would you be involved in that?"
Noem then tried to interject, but Tillis told her to stay quiet.
"You've failed at FEMA," Tillis said, citing the Homeland Security Act of 2002, which prohibits the Secretary of Homeland Security from diverting funding from FEMA.
Tillis said that he planned to investigate the pending disbursements that he alleged she was blocking from distribution.
"Based on your disaster response, the chart that I just showed you, I have reason to believe you're violating the law, either knowingly or unknowingly," Tillis said.
Tillis: “Based on your disaster response, I have reason to believe that you’re violating the law.” pic.twitter.com/1yQRpJTs52 — The Bulwark (@BulwarkOnline) March 3, 2026
President Donald Trump said he had given an order to cut off "all trade with Spain" after its leaders refused to allow bases in the country for attacks on Iran.
During an event at the White House on Tuesday, the U.S. president was asked which European countries had not been helpful with Operation Epic Fury.
"But some of the European countries, like Spain, have been terrible," Trump said. "In fact, I told Scott to cut off all dealings with Spain."
"And now Spain actually said that we can't use their bases," he continued. "And that's not all right. We could use their base if we want. We could just fly in and use it. Nobody's going to tell us not to use it. But we don't have to."
According to Trump, Spain was "unfriendly" to his efforts to strike Iran.
"So we're going to cut off all trade with Spain," he revealed. "We don't want anything to do with Spain."
President Donald Trump said Tuesday that Israel did not pressure the United States to launch strikes against Iran.
Trump was meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and speaking about the conflict with Iran at the White House when he took questions from reporters inside the Oval Office. He claimed that Iran's navy, air force and radar technology had been "knocked out."
"I might have forced their hand," Trump said. "You see, we were having negotiations with these lunatics and it was opinion that they were going to attack first. They were going to attack if we didn't do it. They were going to attack first, I felt strongly about that, and we have great negotiators, great people, people that do this very successfully and have done it all their lives very successfully. And based on the way the negotiation was going, I think they were going to attack first and I didn't want that to happen."
Trump's comments somewhat differed from Secretary of State Marco Rubio's remarks on Monday about how Israel claimed Iran was planning to attack. Trump appeared to say he had pushed for the strikes instead.
"So if anything I might have forced Israel's hand but Israel was ready, and we were ready, and we've had a very, very powerful impact because virtually everything they have has been knocked out now," Trump said.
Trump commented that Iran has targeted Arab countries that were neutral, targeting civilians and hotels, but now those countries have planned to fight back.
"They hit countries that have nothing to do with what's going on... which shows you the level of evil that we're dealing with," Trump said.
Q: Did Israel force your land to launch these strikes against Iran?
TRUMP: No. I might've forced their hand. It was my opinion that these lunatics were gonna attack first. pic.twitter.com/KcDmIbI6Vr — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 3, 2026
An analyst Tuesday suggested that the Texas primaries could signal a major shift nationally among key voting blocs in the Democratic Party.
Jim Messina, former White House deputy chief of staff for operations, described in his new Substack piece what Democrats should keep in mind heading into the midterms and the next presidential election. Messina argued on MS NOW Tuesday morning that Democrats need to build a stronger relationship with young men in an effort to stop losing their votes in elections, advocating that progressive strategists should look at TikTok, streaming, cryptocurrency, sports, betting and prediction markets as paths to reaching this group.
"If you look at the issues, you know, Dems bled young voters in historic numbers in the last presidential [election]," Messina said. "And I think there's a view in my party that we just need to get on a couple Joe Rogan podcasts or we need to hang out with tech bros and it will all be fine. It's really just about, you know, figuring out social media. And I think it's deeper than that. Right now we're the party saying 'No' to a bunch of things that young male voters like and do every day, like video games, like sports betting, like prediction markets, like crypto, and they look at this and say, 'You're saying no, to all these things, maybe you're saying no to me, too.'"
Messina argued that it's not just about culture — it's about Democrats taking a look at their overall strategy.
"And I think best when we go back to the Clinton days or the Obama days of being pro-innovation, pro-new things, pro-things getting better and right now we're starting to be in this kind of, you know, being perceived by these voters as a nanny state," Messina said. "And someone who's saying, 'No, you can't do these things.' And I think that's a really dangerous place to be. And so, we need to stop talking, and listen to these young voters, and meet them where they are, not where we want them to be."
Democrats could have an opportunity, with the Texas primary as the first test, to see how Democrats and Republicans perform among young men, along with another key voting bloc: Latinos. Both groups broke support for Vice President Kamala Harris, voting instead for Trump. What comes next in Texas could reveal more about what could happen in November — and how Democrats reach these voters.
"Yeah, this is the mostexciting primary we've hadso far," Messina said. "What I'm going to belooking at, two things: are the young men comingback? Are they voting at all?Because that's a reallyimportant number, but moreimportantly in Texas, where arethe Latinos going? When youlook at some of these specialelections Dems are gettingback the young voters andback the Latino votersthat Donald Trump rented in2024.This will be a reallyinteresting night because youhave both like really hotlycontested, Republican primary and a Democratic primary, and so when you and I look at the numbers tomorrow, we're goingto look and see where the Latinos are going. And ifthe Latinos are starting tocome back to the Democratic Party in Texas of all places,that is a very goodsign for the Democratsin the midterm elections."
An analyst revealed the difficult challenge ahead for President Donald Trump as the war in Iran now enters its fourth day.
In an interview on MS NOW's Morning Joe with David Ignatius, columnist and associate editor of The Washington Post, and Shashank Joshi, defense editor at The Economist, Joshi discussed the Trump administration's mixed messaging about objectives for the military strikes in Iran, including regime change, then "imminent threats" from Iran against Israel and the push to stop Iran from developing ballistic missiles.
"What we heard yesterday from Dan Caine, from Secretary Rubio, from Secretary Hegseth,others, was a very,very different set ofaims narrowly focusedaround Iran's missileprogram," Joshi said.
The war aims, such as regime change, could take weeks, Joshi explained.
"Now that, I think, can be donein a short period of time,they can degrade missilestockpiles, and we've alreadyheard the Iranians the Israelis say they havedestroyed about half of the Iranian missile launchesthat Iran's able to bring tobear and I think you couldhave really longlasting and severe damagedone to Iran's missileprogram by the end ofthis week," Joshi said. "There's no doubt about it.But the problem is, youwould still have an Iranled by individuals who aremore hardline in somerespects than theleaders who have been killedby the strike so far.You have, you know, a newleader of these Islamic Revolutionary Guard, calledVahidi, who is this man? Well,you know, David is, you know,he is a former head of theexpeditionary,IRGC. He was associated with the bombingof a Jewish cultural centerin Argentina in the1990s. This is not a regimethat will be more moderate,more pragmatic, moredeterred than that, of Ayatollah Khamenei."
Despite the killing of Khamenei and the dismantling of Iran's weapons, the problem over Iran's leadership will still remain.
"Andso, I still think at the endof this week, eventhough enormous damage mayhave been done to Iran'smissile program, includingthe supply chain, theexplosives, the guidancesystems, you will still havethe political problemsitting in Iran over regime, thatcast this incredibleU.S. missile shadow over the Persian Gulf, and I think the Trump administration willfind it very hard toarticulate that and framethat as some kind ofdecisive win," Joshi added.
The strikes have wiped out the regime, but it could take time for Iranians to reform their government.
"But I think the focus of these first three days of operations have been on Iran's missile forces, Iran's navy and nuclear and missile sites as well as political leadership," Joshi said. "I think if you are going to give the Iranian people the confidence to say, 'if we go back onto the streets in a week's time and we want confidence, we are not going to be gunned down in the same way.' I think what you need to see is an Israeli and American set of strikes over the next four or five days that systematically break down Iran's domestic security apparatus."
But history could repeat.
"I think that is a very hard thing to do, and I think that President Trump will face the dilemma between doing that and upholding his commitment to the Iranian people that he has made and sucking himself into a longer campaign, but it'll, he should remember the case of George H.W. Bush in 1991, who, as you will recall at David and others, called upon the Iraqi people to rise up in 1991 after the first Gulf War and the Shias in the south and the Kurds in the north did so, and they were massacred by Saddam Hussein," Joshi said. "That should be, I think a very, very cautionary tale for American strategy today."
Protests erupted during a House Judiciary Committee hearing after Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem refused to retract claims that two protesters killed by her agents were domestic terrorists.
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) was the first Democrat to confront Noem about the killings at Tuesday's hearing.
"Secretary Noem, the nation has watched horrified as immigration agents killed Renee Good, Alex Pretti," Durbin said. "In Chicago, one of your Border Patrol agents shot Marimar Martinez five times after ramming her car."
"You and your agency rush to brand these victims as, quote, domestic terrorists," he continued. "We have ample video evidence and eyewitness testimony proving you are wrong. Your statements cause immeasurable pain to these families. Let me give you an opportunity to do the right thing. Do you retract these statements identifying these individuals as domestic terrorists?"
For her part, Noem declined to retract the claims of domestic terrorism.
"You know, Senator Durbin, when we have these situations happen, we always offer our condolences to those families," the secretary explained. "And I offer mine as well. These are tragic situations. And I can't imagine what these families go through in losing a loved one."
"I was getting reports from the ground from agents at the scene," she added. "And I would say that it was a chaotic scene, as you've seen in Minneapolis and St. Paul, as immigration enforcement has gone forward. And we've worked at targeting the worst of the worst that many times our agents have been faced with violent protesters."
"You believe calling the victims of that violence domestic terrorists as a way to calm the scene?" Durbin wondered.
"These violent terrorists have put them in a situation where they've been, it's unprecedented what these agents have faced it," Noem insisted.
At that point, the secretary stopped speaking as a protester erupted in the room.
"You haven't given their family any justice," the demonstrator screamed. "They have names!"
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) pushed back on conservative CNBC host Joe Kernen for calling the Constitution's war powers provisions a "moot point" because President Donald Trump had already ordered attacks on Iran without the permission of Congress.
"You must have seen that some of the things that are circulated, how many times President Obama took military action without a declaration," Kernen said in defense of Trump on Tuesday. "But it's almost a moot point. [Trump has] at least has probably 60 days under certain provisions to carry things out."
"And if we did go your route, Senator, what's happened over the past three days is impossible. It could never happen. Even informing Congress at times about certain raids that or actions that have to be done. That's not in the real world, it's not possible," he added.
Kaine replied: "Let me just underline the fact that I made an argument about the Constitution, and you said it was a moot point. I don't believe that. I don't believe the Constitution is a minor matter or a moot point."
Kernen insisted that he didn't believe the Constitution was a moot point.
"I'm asking every senator to do what you should ask them to do," Kaine insisted. "Go on the record and declare, are you for this or against this? Anybody who's elected to a job like this should not hide under their desks and say, oh, you know, even though the Constitution says it's for Congress, let's let the President do it and try to evade accountability. We've got to be accountable."
