Skip to content 9/14/2026 Preparing for Midterms Domestically and Responding to Terror Internationally Sep 14 · 54 min ...more
9/14/2026 Preparing for Midterms Domestically and Responding to Terror Internationally
September 14, 2026 · 54 min
As Tony returns to the host chair, he and guests consider what is motivating voters ahead of the midterm elections, proposed cryptocurrency legislation, the Biden-era “superhighway” of abortion drugs, recent Iranian-backed Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabian interests, and proposed sanctions to stop Russian and Iranian atrocities.
Series Washington Watch with Tony Perkins - Audio
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September 14, 2026 · 54 min · Washington Watch with Tony Perkins - Audio
As Tony returns to the host chair, he and guests consider what is motivating voters ahead of the midterm elections, proposed cryptocurrency legislation, the Biden-era “superhighway” of abortion drugs, recent Iranian-backed Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabian interests, and proposed sanctions to stop Russian and Iranian atrocities. ...more Show the full description Show less As Tony returns to the host chair, he and guests consider what is motivating voters ahead of the midterm elections, proposed cryptocurrency legislation, the Biden-era “superhighway” of abortion drugs, recent Iranian-backed Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabian interests, and proposed sanctions to stop Russian and Iranian atrocities.
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In this video 0:00 Congressional Agenda and Domestic Issues15:06 Escalating Conflict in Yemen and Iran Policy33:11 House Legislative Priorities and AI Concerns51:50 Louisiana's Legal Challenge to Abortion Drug Policy53:00 Sanctions Legislation to Pressure Russia and Iran
Congressional Agenda and Domestic Issues 0:01 From the heart of our nation's capital in Washington, DC, bringing compelling interviews, insightful analysis, taking you beyond the headlines and sound bites into conversations with our nation's leaders and0:12 newsmakers, all from a biblical worldview. Washington Watch with Tony Perkins starts now.0:19 Russia is growing increasingly reckless, assets continues its terrible war against Ukraine. The strikes yesterday, on trains in Ukraine close to0:30 NATO's territory again, I believe, show in Putin's desperation and also his desire, to, show fear and terror.0:39 That was NATO secretary general Mark Rutte earlier today addressing the latest developments in the Russia Ukraine war. Welcome to this Monday, September 14th edition of Washington Watch. I'm your host, Tony0:51 Perkins. Thanks for tuning in. Well, coming up, the conflict in Yemen is escalating. Iran backed Houthi rebels have captured the Red Sea port of Mocha and gained ground near a critical shipping route.1:03 Is Iran using the Houthis to expand the conflict? North Carolina congressman Pat Harrigan, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, joins us. Now the house is back in session for its final scheduled voting1:15 week before the November elections. House majority whip Tom Emmert joins us to break down the legislative agenda. And finally, Texas congressman Michael McCaul, chairman emeritus of the
1:27 House Foreign Affairs Committee, joins us for a closer look at the Russia and Iran sanctions legislation he is leading in the house and why he believes congress needs to act now. All of that and
1:39 more straight ahead. Well, congress is back in town with a full agenda for the week. Joining us now is
1:51 Washington stand reporter, Casey Harper. Casey, good to see you.
1:56 Good to see you, Tony. Welcome back.
1:58 Well, it's good to be back. I appreciate, you and, Jody Hice filling in for me while I was out.
2:04 Absolutely. We had fun. It was a good time.
2:06 I I know. I I watched at a distance. She did a good job. It's always good to see you on the air.
2:11 Thank you.
2:12 Alright. Let's talk about what's happening today.
2:15 Well, in congress, 1st off, we'll start with the House Committee on Rules. Got a lot of power there. They're set to discuss those Russian sanctions as well as fraud prevention and oversight. In fact, earlier today,
2:27 actually, vice president JD Vance held a press conference, and he announced this new anti fraud effort. Not the 1st time, but a continuation. He called this 1 the most zealous in the administration. It's really a
2:37 crackdown on individuals suspected of that pandemic era small business program fraud, which was so rampant. Here's a clip of what he had to say.
2:45 We are gonna suspend 870000 people permanently. People who defrauded the government over the last couple of years, the last couple of decades, we're gonna make it impossible for them to
2:57 get loans from the federal government. If you tried to steal money from the American taxpayer, if you took funds that all by right have gone to American small businesses or American workers, not only we're gonna cut you
3:09 off, but we're gonna prosecute you.
3:11 That's getting a lot of attention on the hill this week. Now another topic worth noting is artificial intelligence. I don't expect movement this week, but it's worth noting because it's a topic lawmakers are talking more
3:22 and more about, and it's really an unsolved problem. For example, concern about the potential harms and dangers of AI, which we hear so much about, really grew, last week with an an anthropic employee, a researcher,
3:34 said that he resigned in protest because the people he was working with believed that AI could kill humanity by the end of the decade. Now as I said, Democrats in particular are talking about this earlier today. Here's
3:45 what senate minority leader Chuck Schumer had to say.
3:49 Today, I am calling for an all senators classified briefing with top administration officials to address the dangers of unchecked AI development and
4:01 hold the administration accountable for its lack of action to protect the American people.
4:07 Earlier today, vice president JD Vance weighed in on this topic as well. He says that he wants consensus between Congress and AI. But given that, he says it's important that in this race globally for AI, it's important
4:18 that the US remains in 1st place, Tony.
4:21 You know, this is something, Casey, that needs a lot of prayer and and and biblical, excuse me, biblical truth applied to it because it's very complex issue, but 1 that I believe there
4:32 there's a lot of danger. We've already seen Yes. Seen that. Alright. Let's shift to the midterm elections. A new poll looks at what's motivating voters who plan to support Democratic
4:44 and Republican candidates this November. What did the poll find?
4:48 Yeah. It may not be what you'd expect. Now this new CBS News YouGov poll, it shows what's motivating Democratic voters, and what's motivating them is opposition to president Trump. The poll showed opposition to the
5:00 president motivated them more than the policies of the Democratic party even though president Trump's on the ballot. Now let's get to the numbers. 54 percent of Democratic voters said that their primary goal is to vote
5:12 for Democrats to block the Republican agenda, while only 46 percent said they'll vote to help actually get Democratic policies passed. So less than 0.5 of Democratic voters actually are prioritizing the policies of their
5:23 own party. Now on the other hand, over 0.5, 57 percent of Republican voters are focused on helping the Republicans get their agenda passed. Now according to the poll, president, Trump's job approval rating is about
5:35 39 percent with 61 percent disapproving, Tony.
5:39 Those numbers don't look so good. No. Alright. Let's talk about, the Middle East where the fighting in Yemen has intensified. What what are the latest developments
5:51 there?
5:52 Well, as was mentioned, the Iran backed Houthi forces advanced in Western Yemen. They've had they've had a major offensive along the Red Sea that's been pretty successful. Now footage released by the Houthi military
6:03 shows a pretty shocking images of this, and also the response from Saudi Arabian air strikes. Now they reportedly captured military vehicles and fighters operating in this recently seized
6:15 territory as the fight continues. And the latest fighting really marks the most significant escalation in Yemen in years. The Houthis have taken control of several towns and strategic locations along the country's
6:26 western coast, including the important, location of Parham Island, which is really at the entrance to the Ba'al al Mandev Strait, which is a key global shipping route comparable to the Strait of Hormuz. But the renewed
6:37 conflict is coming as the Houthis say it stepped up their attacks on Saudi Arabia. They're firing on, targets in Saudi Arabia as Saudi Arabia returns fire with their own air strikes, Tony. So it's heating up.
6:48 Yeah. Yeah. It doesn't look like it's winding down. Alright, Casey. Thanks for the update. As always, good to see you. Alright. Let's continue the discussion on the, the latest developments in the Middle East. Joining us
6:59 now is congressman Pat Harrigan, a decorated combat veteran and former Green Beret who serves on the House Armed Services Committee. He represents North Carolina's 10th congressional district. Congressman Harrigan,
7:10 welcome back to Washington Watch. Good to see you.
7:14 Tony, always good to be with you. Great to see you too.
7:16 Let's talk a little bit
7:17 about the the Houthis. Now this is, you know, they're they're a proxy for Iran. They've captured territory along Yemen's western coast, some key spots. In fact, they're
7:29 controlling the the gateway to the to the Red Sea. What do those gains mean for regional security and the prospects for resolving this conflict with Iran?
7:40 Well, I think it definitely means that the conflict is heating up and not cooling down. I think that we all understand the Houthis are dangerous, but we need to understand what Iran actually gets
7:51 out of this. Every new front forces the United States to divide its attention and its resources, while Tehran gets to impose costs through somebody else. So I don't think we can fall
8:03 into the trap of treating every Iranian proxy as a new American war. So our goal needs to be to deny Iran that leverage, keep the Red Sea open, and make sure that the
8:15 conflict gets smaller, not larger. That is not happening right now.
8:19 So is the the way forward into, basically, these proxies, although the Houthis have proved pretty resilient, squashing them, or is it ripping the
8:31 Band Aid off Iran and just, you know, take doing what's necessary to resolve the issue?
8:38 You know, something in between. Right? I mean, you have our our ally in the region, Saudi Arabia. They've purchased a ton of military hardware. They have an increasing amount of capability. They're still
8:49 incredibly reliant on the United States, but continue to lean on the Saudis and other regional actors who are more immediately impacted by this to solve this problem. I mean, look, we're talking
9:01 about a bunch of ragtag folks with AK 40 sevens that are dancing around in the streets. This shouldn't even be a problem at this juncture, if not for how thinly the
9:13 United States has already spread through the region. We need to, in my opinion, not take the bait, and we need to look at the totality of the leverage that we have in
9:25 the region to try to put this back in the box.
9:28 Now the president said today, president Trump said that the United States is open to the possibility of engaging with Iran on a deal. You know, we we've heard that. We've been back and forth on a diplomatic resolution
9:40 only to give them time to to kinda regroup. It it does not appear that the regime in Iran wants a resolution to this diplomatically or any other way.
9:52 Essentially, it appears they're gonna have to be driven out.
9:55 No. There is certainly, no indication that Iran wants a deal, despite the United States wanting a deal. I will say, however, that the
10:07 extreme sanctions, and kind of economic constriction that president Trump has, instilled in the region over the last 6 weeks or so, there
10:19 are some that could take the Houthis being very active on the Red Sea front, as a type of agitation that, the economic strangulation is having an effect on
10:31 Tehran. And they're trying to change the paradigm a little bit, to make things a little bit easier for themselves. I think it's still a little too early to tell, whether that economic strangulation
10:43 that the United States has been pressing on Iran is going to be successful long term and specifically if it is successful, how that is going to translate into
10:55 the United States achieving its strategic interests. I don't think that the administration has clearly made that case at this juncture.
11:05 You know, I I think it's a really good observation that what the the the activity by the Houthis could in fact be exactly that. The the sanctions, the the the economic stranglehold is
11:16 working, and so they're lashing out using whatever means possible. But that would also suggest that we not do what has happened in the past, where it brings him to 1.0, yeah. Let's talk about it. Let's talk about it.
11:28 Only to let the pressure off and then have to redo it again, you know, 4, 5, 6 weeks later.
11:35 That would be a tremendous mistake and 1 that's not worth repeating from the original 14 point MOU. And 1 of the hesitations that I have with this new economic strangulation
11:47 tactic, that the administration is pushing now is that the fact that we did abandon it back in June, of this year after pursuing similar tactics
11:59 for quite some time, I think in excess of over 8 weeks. And so that to me sheds maybe some sort of question or concern as to the long term viability of
12:11 the economic sanctions that we're imposing costs that we're imposing on the Iranian regime. But it does seem like we've doubled down, changed a few things this time. Whether or not that will be successful or not, I sure
12:22 hope it is. My constituents definitely do because they definitely do not like 6 dollar and 20 cent diesel at the pumps.
12:29 Well, speaking of that, congressman Harrigan, I got a little over a minute left. So I'm gonna be talking with, chairman, Mike, McCall a little bit later about the
12:41 Russia sanctions bill that also contain affects Iran as well. Do you think that has a good chance of of passing this week?
12:51 I think that it will pass despite democratic opposition. You know, their arguments just are are are falling absolutely flat. It's just, it's so frustrating. It doesn't seem like anything that they're doing
13:03 makes sense right now. I do think it will ultimately pass. Again, sanctions are sanctions. Right? We're we're talking about just sanctions. It's not that difficult to put these into place. It's also
13:15 relatively indeterminable how effective they will be.
13:20 Right. Congressman Pat Harrigan, always great to, hear your insights. We appreciate you joining us.
13:26 Hey. Thanks for having me, Tony.
13:28 Alright. And, folks, I I think this situation, I mean, is continuing to unfold. It's been going on and on and on. It's supposed to have been over. It's not. I would encourage you to, to join us in praying for a
13:39 resolution to this quickly for pray for our military, pray for Israel, the people of Iran, and for our leaders. And, to get our prayer points, text Iran to 6 6 7 7 4 2. That's
13:51 Iran to 6 7 7 4 2. Alright. Coming up, house majority whip Tom Emmert joins me, so don't go away.
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