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MS NOW host Chris Hayes couldn't contain his laughter Monday night as he relayed President Donald Trump's attempt to explain the spiraling saga of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, calling the president's insistence that vandals destroyed his $14 million renovation "insane" and "the most perfect encapsulation" of his administration's approach to governance.

The pool, painted "American flag blue" ahead of the nation's 250th birthday, turned green with an algae bloom within days of reopening, and the new paint began peeling and floating to the surface. Trump had earlier boasted the coating was so strong "you couldn't cut it," even with a knife.

CNN's Erin Burnett was in disbelief on Monday after a new report threw President Donald Trump's previous attacks against former President Barack Obama's Iran deal back in his face.

Andrew Kaczynski of CNN's KFile reviewed dozens of media appearances by Trump and other members of his cabinet in which they discussed Obama's Iran deal. Trump was sharply critical of the deal in many instances, as were Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President JD Vance, even though the deal that the Trump administration brokered with the Iranian regime resembles that deal in many respects.

President Donald Trump's base of supporters is furious with the administration over the deal it is negotiating with the Iranian regime, as illustrated by a devastating supercut that aired on MS NOW's "The Beat" on Monday.

Last weekend, the Trump administration and the Iranian regime agreed to a deal that would immediately open the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway that has choked the global economy, and promised to eliminate sanctions on Iranian oil. That deal appeared to fall apart on Saturday and Sunday as Vice President JD Vance suffered what some described as a "humiliation" during peace talks with the Iranians after the country's foreign minister refused to shake Vance's hand.

New data from The Washington Post is painting a dire electoral picture for Republicans heading into the 2026 midterms, and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore told MS NOW's Nicolle Wallace on Monday that Democrats aren't just riding a wave; they're building one.

The Post's analysis of more than 990 House primary races across 25 states found that 12.6 million ballots were cast in Democratic primaries so far this year, compared to just 8.6 million in Republican contests. In 2022, when Republicans flipped the House, the enthusiasm advantage ran the other way.

Iran appears to have identified and systematically exploited President Donald Trump's rapidly decaying cognitive abilities.

That's according to Atlantic staff writer and national security scholar Tom Nichols, who joined MS NOW's Nicolle Wallace on "Deadline: White House" on Monday. Wallace argued that Trump is operating inside an "artificial reality" constructed by aides who feed him selectively curated social media posts to shield him from negative information about the economy and the war. The arrangement, Wallace said, explains moments like Trump's repeated insistence that the country is "hot."

Several intelligence professionals were reassigned on Monday, in what CNN reporter Kristen Holmes described as a "pretty stunning" start to the reign of Bill Pulte, the new acting intelligence chief.

Holmes reported, citing sources who spoke to CNN, that Pulte had begun firing intelligence professionals on Monday, one of his first acts as acting director of national intelligence, a job he inherited from the agency's former director, Tulsi Gabbard. Holmes said she did not have information about how many people were let go or from which departments within the agency, but said that a source familiar with the firings said the "deep state firings had begun."

President Donald Trump appeared angered by a reporter's suggestion on Monday that his negotiation tactics with Iran may be giving the regime leverage over him.

Trump held a press gaggle in the Oval Office after he signed an executive order to support America's quantum computing industry. While he was taking questions, one reporter asked Trump if he was willing to cause economic mayhem by striking Iran again, which Trump said was an option that he's considering. The back-and-forth escalated from there.