Chuck Schumer Sounds Off After Iran Briefing Suddenly Postponed

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Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) speaks to reporters after an Iran briefing was postponed.

Transcript

00:00Okay, good morning everybody. Thank you for being here. Now this last-minute

00:09postponement of our briefing is outrageous, it's evasive, it's derelict.

00:15They're bobbing and weaving and ducking. Senators deserve full transparency. There

00:21is a legal obligation for the administration to inform Congress about

00:27precisely what is happening. What are they afraid of? Why won't they engage

00:33Congress in the critical details, the results of the recent strike, the scope

00:38and trajectory of the conflict, the administration's long-term strategy to

00:44prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, the potential risks facing

00:49American citizens and our service members who we all have an obligation to

00:54protect. To be abundantly clear, neither Pete Hegseth nor Marco Rubio was

01:01scheduled to attend this hearing. If Rubio and Hegseth want to come up, I don't

01:07think they'll be informing us of very much compared to the people who will be

01:11there today. But if they want to come up on Thursday, in addition, not in

01:15replacement of this hearing, that's okay. But the obstruction of this administration on a

01:23crucial issue like this, where American lives and particularly the lives of

01:28American service members are at stake, is their obligation. And it undermines the very

01:37principles of accountability and oversight that safeguard our democracy.

01:45Can you explain for just a moment here in terms of the briefers who you wanted? So people

01:49wanted Hegseth and others, but these are high-level people who were scheduled to come?

01:53Yeah, no, we didn't want, we don't care. I think Hegseth is probably just going to give

01:57us talking points. But General Cain is scheduled to come. He probably knows more about the military

02:03operations, both now and in the future, than anybody. There were good people from the State

02:10Department who knew all of the diplomatic stuff. We want to hear them. Yes?

02:15Sir, I don't want to get involved in classified information, but the Congress, in a classified

02:32hearing, is entitled to know how much of this nuclear material was destroyed, how much escaped,

02:38et cetera. And in terms of my briefing, well, you remember what happened Saturday night.

02:43About an hour before, or an hour and a half before the action, we didn't know the exact time the

02:51action occurred, but shortly before the action occurred, or during it, we're not sure which,

02:56they called me up and said, we're taking imminent action. We can't tell you what country. I said,

03:04can you give me some details? They said, no. That's the extent to the briefing I've gotten.

03:09I've asked for a briefing. I asked for a briefing yesterday. Didn't get it.

03:13Does that make you feel that a War Powers Resolution is necessary as soon as possible? And also,

03:20how would you respond to the Speaker's claim that the War Powers Resolution made it unconstitutional?

03:24Well, I do believe the Speaker is very wrong. It is not unconstitutional. And second,

03:30it's all the more reason we need the War Powers Act, where they'd have a legal obligation

03:36to tell the Congress the details they're now avoiding to tell us. And again, they're ducking,

03:41they're bobbing, they're weaving. What have they got to hide? Why aren't they

03:47informing their legal obligation, fulfilling their legal obligation,

03:53to come and tell the Congress what's going on? What have they had to hide? Thank you.

03:58Leader Schumer, what explanation were you given for this delay? Did the administration...

04:01They said, just to answer this final question, we were not given, I was given no explanation for this

04:08delay. I don't know what Senator Thune was, but they said, well, Hegseth and Rubio will be here Thursday.

04:16They want him, we're happy to hear him on Thursday, in addition to this briefing, which we think will

04:21be far more valuable than hearing from Hegseth and Rubio, who are secretaries and top people and

04:28are very good at political talking points.

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