Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Gov. Tim Walz (D-Minn.), Chuck Todd, Garrett Haake, Brianne Pfannenstiel, Marc Short and Rep. Ross Wilburn (D-Iowa)

Interview

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Good morning, Kristen. It's great to be with you.

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Well, it's hard to know. Iowans are a hardy people and there are snow days, when it comes to caucus. So we'll see who turns out tomorrow night. I would say bundle up. Wear your Carhartts, and your coveralls, your insulated boots. But get out there and support your candidate of choice. But, Kristen, it really is hard to tell who's going to drive out the most voters. But one thing I can say, Iowa being the first in the nation caucus state, we do take this very seriously.

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Well, I think she is a great candidate. Again, I'm not endorsing anyone in the Iowa caucuses, but if you look at the issues that are top of mind for Iowa Republicans, they are the economy. They have suffered under President Biden. It is the southern border and the flow of illegal migrants into the United States. But, overall, if you look at national security, protecting our borders and pushing back against our adversaries worldwide, Nikki Haley does have the experience there and she's really spoke to that to the Iowa voters. So that may be one of the tipping points that resonate with so many different voters.

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Well, it'll depend. I have gone round and round in my mind. I do think that President Trump is going to win. We see such a large margin. But it's not a foregone conclusion. So we'll see who comes out the winner here, in the Iowa caucuses. We'll know that, tomorrow night. And then, we'll know how to move forward. But one thing we know, as Iowa Republicans, is that we cannot have Joe Biden in the White House for a second term.

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Well, again, I am not going to say that. I need to review the candidates very carefully. We'll see the margin. I guess I am assuming that President Trump wins, but it could be any one of these fantastic candidates. So, again, we'll see who emerges. I've made up my decision on who I will caucus for. It is a private ballot and I would expect that we'll have a very good turnout. But, again, Kristen, I'm not going to tip my hand to who I might be supporting.

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I have had a request from just about all of the candidates. So – so, again, I'm not endorsing. And we'll keep those discussions private.

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I am not – no, I'm not ruling that out, at all. But certainly, we want to let Iowans make that decision through the weekend and tomorrow night. They'll come together at 7:00 p.m. here in Iowa. They'll get out in the snow and the cold weather. And then, we will go from there, starting Tuesday morning.

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Kristen, I – I truly hope so. We still have six Americans that remain in the hands of Hamas in the Gaza Strip. We are seeing now the negotiation for medications going into Gaza Strip for our hostages. That is extremely important. I led a bipartisan, bicameral delegation to the Middle East and spoke with leaders that are actually dealing with Hamas on this very issue; leaders in Egypt, leaders in Qatar, leaders in Bahrain and, of course, Israel. But, again, every second counts. We must get these hostages back as soon as possible. Their families are depending on it. Their lives depend on it. We cannot forget these are our American brothers and sisters.

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It does, in this context, because we do have American hostages that are being held against their will all around the globe. And especially, if you look at the innocents that were attacked and kidnapped on October 7th, we are approaching nearly 100 days. These are people that have been taken. They're held in tunnels with terrorists. They are being tortured. They have been raped. They have been denied medication. So equating the two, there is no comparison. Our Americans that are being held overseas, they are innocent. They were there, celebrating the high Jewish holidays and were taken by these horrible terrorists. So there – there is no equal term. The hostages are hostages. I would certainly, you know, ask to speak to any of their families and see the anguish and the pain of not knowing whether their loved ones are alive or dead. There is a very clear difference.

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I am not opposed to that. That is a president's prerogative. And so if former President Donald Trump is elected as our next president, he does have the right to do that. And I think we all need to reflect on January 6th and understand it was –

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Well, again, I am not saying that I would support pardoning them, but that is a president's prerogative to do so. We have seen many presidents through the years that have pardoned many others. And so if Donald Trump chooses to do that as our next president of the United States, again, that will be his decision.

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No. I did not call them, "insurrectionists." I don't remember using that term. I would say that they did break the law. They did break the law. And I am not excusing any of their behavior. But, again, that's up to the president.

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Well, I do think that there will need to be actions taken, as soon as we get all of the information, which hasn't been gathered together for members of Congress. We have seen very little transparency coming from the Department of Defense. And I think it's absolutely inexcusable that our secretary of defense was hospitalized, unable to perform his duties, and yet no one seemed to know what the heck was going on. This is not a circus, folks. And he is not the director of the Small Business Administration; he is the secretary of defense.

When we see attacks against American service members overseas, we see the actions in the Red Sea, we see the war in Israel and in Ukraine, we need someone who can be at the helm and be transparent. It also goes to an issue, Kristen, of does the secretary of defense actually trust President Joe Biden, but he didn't have the courtesy to call him and let him know what was going on? Is Joe Biden really in control as our commander in chief? This begs that question. And we, as Congress, demand answers.

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