Skip to content 4/13/2026 Next Steps in the Middle East Following the Failed U.S.-Iran Talks and America’s Bible Reading Habits Apr 13 · 54 min ...more
4/13/2026 Next Steps in the Middle East Following the Failed U.S.-Iran Talks and America’s Bible Reading Habits
April 13, 2026 · 54 min
Today on Washington Watch: The failed talks between the U.S. and Iran; how a U.S. blockade of the Strait of Hormuz will impact oil prices; Rep. Eric Swalwell ends his bid for CA Governor; new conversations to fund DHS as another budget reconciliation package is considered; state-level attempts to regulate pregnancy resource centers; biblical literacy in America.
Series Washington Watch with Tony Perkins - Audio April 13, 2026 · 54 min · Washington Watch with Tony Perkins - Audio
Today on Washington Watch: The failed talks between the U.S. and Iran; how a U.S. blockade of the Strait of Hormuz will impact oil prices; Rep. Eric Swalwell ends his bid for CA Governor; new conversations to fund DHS as another budget reconciliation package is considered; state-level attempts to regulate pregnancy resource centers; biblical literacy in America. ...more Show the full description Show less Today on Washington Watch: The failed talks between the U.S. and Iran; how a U.S. blockade of the Strait of Hormuz will impact oil prices; Rep. Eric Swalwell ends his bid for CA Governor; new conversations to fund DHS as another budget reconciliation package is considered; state-level attempts to regulate pregnancy resource centers; biblical literacy in America.
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In this video 0:00 Iran Blockade and National Security Priorities27:02 Threats to Pregnancy Centers in Louisiana37:01 America's Bible Illiteracy and Prayer for the NationComments No comments yet. Start the conversation.
Iran Blockade and National Security Priorities 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 Right now, we have a blockade. They will never have a nuclear weapon. Iran you mark it down. Iran will not have a nuclear weapon. And we agreed to a lot of things, but they didn't agree to0:31 that. And I think they will agree to it. I'm almost sure of it. In fact, I am sure of it. If they don't agree, there's no deal. There'll never be a deal.0:38 That was president Donald Trump earlier today speaking about the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and the breakdown of the negotiations with Iran over the weekend. Welcome to this Monday, April thirteenth edition of0:49 Washington Watch. I'm your host, Tony Perkins. Thanks for tuning in. Well, coming up, congress is back in town and facing an urgent to do list, including funding the Department of Homeland Security and renewing the1:01 controversial section 7 0 2 of the Foreign Intelligence Service Surveillance Act, better known as FISA. Florida congressman Greg Stubbe joins us with insight into the priority shaping this week's1:13 legislative agenda. And after weekend negotiations with Iran collapsed without a deal, what comes next? Middle East expert Jonathan Schanzer joins us to discuss the administration's
1:25 options. All of that and more straight ahead. As of this morning, the US Navy is blocking ships from passing
1:37 through Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz. Now this comes after US negotiations with Iran over the weekend did not result in an agreement. Joining us now to discuss the
1:49 latest in this conflict is Washington Stands reporter Casey Harper. Alright, Casey. What's the rationale behind the US military blocking the Iranian ports?
1:59 Sure. Thanks, Tony. Well, I think it's really twofold. First is to try to reopen, the Strait oil flows out of that, not to mention many other important products
2:11 like fertilizer. But the second effect is this, that it puts heavy economic pressure on Iran, which further ratchets up the pressure for them to make a a deal. Of Of course, president Trump threatened to bomb all their
2:21 energy infrastructure, which would, you know, be devastating for the civilian population and destroy the economy. But this is another way to put a lot of pressure on the economy because Iran relies so heavily on these
2:32 oil exports. But the president, he's clearly not happy. I watched his remarks earlier today. In fact, we have a clip of him criticizing Iran for charging tolls for ships that did pass through the Strait of Hormuz.
2:44 We can't let a country blackmail or extort, the world because that's what they're doing. They're really blackmailing the world. We're not gonna let that happen. And, you know, the amazing thing
2:55 is, we don't can you believe this? We don't use this straight. We don't need the we have our own oil, gas, much more than we need.
3:04 Now it it's true that the world's being blackmailed. Doyle jumped to over 100 dollars a barrel after those negotiations you mentioned fell through this weekend. The president did give a glimmer of hope during that press
3:16 briefing. He said that he got a call from Iran saying that they want to make a deal now that the blockade's in place, but, you know, we've heard that before. So we'll see how it turns out, Tony.
3:24 Alright. We're gonna follow-up with, Jonathan, Sanzer and just a little bit more on that. So I wanna turn to some domestic news. Congressman Eric Swalwell, has quit the race
3:36 for governor of California after allegations from his staff of sexual misconduct. What what's, what's going on there, Casey?
3:45 Yeah. This has really shaken up a, very crowded California primary. Congressman Swalwell announced on x yesterday that he suspended his campaign for governor. He was a front runner in that race. He said he's deeply sorry
3:57 for mistakes in judgment that he's made in the past, but he did say that he's gonna fight so many of these allegations that he says are false. Now 4 women have accused Swalwell of sexual misconduct, including a former
4:08 staffer who said that he raped her. The House Ethics Committee today announced that they are gonna look into these, allegations. Of course, Swalwell is still a member of the House of Representatives. But his exit from
4:18 that governor's race is really important. As I said, he was a front runner. And right now, there's so many Democrats in the race, and the way that the Democratic primary or the open primary works is that there's danger
4:29 of there being 2 Republicans on the ballot in California and no Democrats at all, Tony.
4:33 Yeah. It's very interesting, those open primaries, jungle primaries as they call them, can be, can be wild. Alright. Casey, thanks so much for, joining us. Appreciate the update.
4:46 Alright. As I mentioned, congress is back from their 2 week recess, and members have a, a lot that they have to deal with. Joining us now to discuss what is on the agenda this week is congressman Greg Stubbe, who
4:57 serves on the House Ways and Means Committee and the permanent select committee on intelligence. He represents the seventeenth congressional district of Florida. Congressman Stubbe, welcome back to, Washington Watch.
5:09 Thanks for joining us.
5:11 Yeah. Thanks for having me.
5:12 Alright. So, 1 of the big topics, obviously, trying to get, the Department of Homeland Security funded after, 59 days of, not being funded. According to reports,
5:25 doesn't look like the senate is going to move soon enough for the house to move this week. So what are we what are we looking at time wise?
5:33 Yeah. So the house, 4 times now, we've passed a clean funding bill for DHS or an appropriations bill for DHS. The last thing we did was a continuing resolution to fund the entire department and not just CBP
5:45 and ICE is what passed the senate. The house's position is we shouldn't defund our border patrol and our ICE agents. But the senate's strategy here is they wanna fund what they can fund
5:57 and then go into reconciliation to to fund CBP and ICE. I just I you know, that's not a guarantee. We have a 2 vote majority, and, that makes things very challenging. So I had thought that we were
6:08 gonna vote on that via suspension the last call that we had, with the House Republican conference. It doesn't sound like that's happening now. So, again, the House has funded DHS 4 times and the
6:20 senate and the, Democrats are still holding CBP and ICE hostage because they don't want, our southern border, and the safety that comes with that.
6:29 So from meetings at the end of the week, end of last week, the senate chairman of the budget committee, Lindsey Graham, met with the president, agreed to basically a another reconciliation bill
6:41 bill focused strictly on DHS, which would be that 2 part step that, is needed to get DHS funded. But it sounds as if the house wants to make sure the senate's moving first
6:53 before they take, another bite at the apple.
6:57 Yeah. Especially given everything that we pass goes over there and dies. So it would make sense for the senate to take the lead on this, and it would make sense for us to vote on that first because the language that's
7:08 buried in this senate bill that defund CBP and ICE specifically states that no funds in this bill shall be used to fund border patrol and ICE agents, which conservatives like myself can't vote for that. So if
7:20 the Democrats are gonna vote for it and the speakers are gonna put it up by suspension, you're probably gonna have 60 to 100 r's that are a no. Maybe it passes by suspension, but I think a lot of members in our
7:29 conference would feel, better if the senate sends over a CBP and ICE reconciliation bill that they have already passed that only requires us to bring it up and pass it and send it to the
7:41 president, and then we look at funding the rest of the agency. I think that's something that I I would I would assume that the majority of the conference would feel much more comfortable about.
7:50 And that sounds like the direction, from my conversations they're going. I I I wanna move to something that has been controversial for a long time, and that is the section 7 0 2
8:02 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, better known as FISA. Now you happen to be on the select committee, permanent committee on intelligence in the house. You know better than most
8:14 how this is utilized. It's set to expire next week. It has to be reauthorized. The president wants a clean 18 month reauthorization. Is that possible?
8:26 I hope so. You've got members of the Republican Party and Democrats are on both sides of this issue. Let's take a step back. The the abuses that occurred on surveilling president Trump and his campaign, the Russia
8:38 collusion hoax, was using FISA title 1. So what we're voting on this week is a reauthorization of FISA 7 0 2. So it's not the same, provisions that were used to surveil Trump.
8:50 Since then, last year, we passed 52 reforms as it relates to FISA to ensure that the atrocities and the abuses that occurred to spy on Trump's campaign cannot happen again, like
9:02 requiring authenticity as it relates to warrants and subpoenas and requests that are submitted to the FISA court, those type of things. 52 of them that were in this last bill that was
9:13 passed. So those are being implemented as we speak. FISA 7 0 2 is the collection on foreign, individuals outside of the country. So think Osama bin Laden who he's communicating with. We're collecting
9:25 on that. And and if he is communicating with somebody in the country or there's a terrorist, a foreigner communicating with somebody in the country, you're collecting that through a query.
9:37 But the the the the challenge becomes at what point is there a warrant for the information being collected on the American citizen. So last several years, Biggs had Biggs and Warren Davidson
9:49 have had an amendment that would require any type of query or information surge on an American citizen that you would have to get a warrant. But a lot of that information you're gathering because you're collecting on
10:00 foreign individuals, foreign terrorists that wish to do America harm. If Pfizer 7 0 2 goes away, it would be a huge impact to our national security, be a huge impact to our intelligence community because we wouldn't
10:12 be able to collect on terrorists that wanna harm our country, just because they're they may or may not be speaking to an American citizen. So the way it's been explained to me, and this is all open source information, is
10:23 at the point where they're going to go after the American citizen's data. At that point, prior to collecting that, they would get a warrant and be approved by a judge to get that information. So there's a lot of
10:34 confusion about at what 0.1 warrant is required and is already being obtained to get that information. So it's super complicated. The base obviously hates it because
10:46 when they hear FISA, they think the abuses that happened in the Russia collusion hoax. But a lot of those reforms have been in put in place last year, and the 7 0 2 collection is on foreigners or
10:58 terrorists outside of our country that wish to do us harm. And if that goes away, it would be a huge detriment to our national security.
11:05 Congressman Seobie, I think it's very important as you kind of dissect what this provision of the federal law allows for. Let me ask you this again. From your vantage point where you sit on
11:17 the select committee on intelligence, are you confident that these reforms that were enacted last year are going to address the concerns that many had?
11:27 I think the I think the reforms that were passed do address the majority of those concerns. The crux for conservatives becomes this warrant requirement on the collection of American citizens, and then there becomes a
11:38 discussion between a query and collecting the data. The way it's been explained to me, if they're querying the information, they're not going into the American citizens data. If they are going into an American citizens
11:49 data, they are required to get a warrant. They've done a really bad the administration has done a really bad job of explaining that to the rank and file. I voted for the warrant
12:01 requirement last year, the Biggs Amendment. I think if those individuals understood that in order for the data to be collected, a warrant has to be issued. If that is true, and I'm still getting
12:13 information from the administration and getting information from the committee. If that is true, I think that would assage a lot of the challenges that a lot of conservatives had. If you're not getting that data in a
12:24 query and you're getting a warrant before you get that data on an American citizen, I think that solves a lot of the challenges that people have as it relates to the warrant requirement.
12:32 So so, Greg, we really have a couple of problems here. We have the perception and the distrust of government, which is driving this, and then you gotta try to separate fact
12:44 from from perception. And, and that's difficult. I mean, you even have some challenges with that where you sit from your vantage point because, you you've got a strong conservative
12:56 constituency. People just don't trust the government right now.
12:59 And it yeah. And if I went to a Republican club and had a raise of hands, how many people think that Pfizer should exist? Probably not a single hand would go up. But when you understand that we need FISA, at least 7 0
13:11 2 collection to collect on foreign people and what they're communicating about if they're wanting to attack our country. And, again, I always use the example of Osama bin Laden. Whoever he was talking to at the time, we
13:22 should be able to collect that information to prevent a September eleventh from happening in the future. So it it it it's challenging because it was abused going after Trump, so the base hates it.
13:34 But it was title 1 that was abused going after Trump, and you have the president saying he wants a clean reauthorization for the next 18 months, which is helpful for conservatives.
13:42 Yeah.
13:43 But it's still very difficult because it's so detailed and legalistic in the explanation, you lose a lot of people.
13:50 Alright. Congressman Greg Stubbe, thanks for coming on and help to explain it. Alright, folks. Stick with us. On the other side of the break, we're gonna talk US Iran, so don't go away.
14:03 250 years ago, our founding fathers signed a death warrant, pledging their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred
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15:00 I think all people really need to have this type of education.
15:03 Well, I can tell you that it's been an amazing course period.
15:06 I think this course is a reminder that a biblical worldview should really impact everything. It impacts our government from the federal to the state to the local. It should impact what we're doing with our families and
15:17 with our work.
15:19 God and Government is a video driven bible based training course from Family Research Council that explores the connection between biblical principles and American government. In this
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15:41 I would encourage all people to take it.
15:43 I almost wish I would
15:44 have took it earlier that I could have taught my kids this.
15:47 I wish I had known these things when we were homeschooling because I think children and my adults now would just greatly be influenced by that information.
15:54 So I'm an attorney and for me, it gives me some direct practical knowledge of what I can do to try to impact my legal community to make better legislation, to try
16:06 to encourage legislators to make choices that have a biblical worldview, which is what we really want.
16:12 Any pastor would benefit from taking this course because we are dual citizens. Right? We are citizens of the kingdom of God, but we're also seated citizens of this great land and that that comes with responsibility. Even
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17:04 Welcome Welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks for joining us on this Monday. Hope you had a great weekend. Alright. Speaking of the weekend, over the weekend, the negotiations between the US and Iran
17:16 did not result in a peace agreement. In fact, now the US naval blockade on Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz is, in effect, marking
17:27 a significant escalation in the tensions with, Tehran. Now the, the question is, with these talks with the breakdown in the talks, what
17:39 should we expect when this current 2 week ceasefire expires? Joining us now to, break it all down, Jonathan Schanzer, executive director at the Foundation for Defense of
17:51 Democracies. He previously served as a terrorism finance analyst at the Treasury Department and is leading a leading expert on the Middle East and US national security. Doctor Shanzier, welcome back to Washington Watch.
18:03 Thanks so much for, joining us.
18:05 Pleasure to be with you.
18:07 Alright. So let me, get your reaction to the failed, talks over the weekend. Why do you think these negotiations were unsuccessful?
18:15 Well, we could see where this was going right from the beginning. I mean, you know, when you looked at the list of demands from the regime, they were basically calling for the administration to pull back every American
18:27 base in the Middle East, to lift all sanctions, to apologize for the war, and and to pay reparations for the damage that was done. From Donald Trump's perspective, it was more of a transactional,
18:39 fairly easy thing to do, which was to basically just say, hey. We'll stop firing at you if you open the Strait of Hormuz. It was that simple. And so JD Vance shows
18:51 up in Islamabad, and within a few hours, it became clear that the regime had shown up there just to essentially stand up to the United States and maybe thumb its nose a bit at
19:03 us, before the whole thing fell apart. So not shocking given what we know about the regime, its history, its hatred for the United States. The question now is, what's next?
19:13 Yeah. That that's
19:14 what I'm gonna ask you. With the the president today stating that, well, he's here he's talked to the right people, and they're open to negotiations. But that that's the same line that we get
19:26 repeatedly from from Iran is that they just kinda string these things along. What do you think their next move will be?
19:34 Well, I think what's more important for me right now is what our next moves are, you know. And and so we know that there's a blockade that we're putting on the regime right now. We're gonna stop their tankers from coming
19:45 in and out of the Strait of Hormuz. We're gonna, I think, take control of this increasingly crucial maritime choke point that is, responsible for something like 20 percent of the world's
19:57 energy. Looks like we're taking over. And now it doesn't mean that that's gonna go peacefully, but I do think that we have the overwhelming firepower there, and the regime is likely going to have to respect that. I think
20:08 they'll try to fight back in other ways, but we will still have the ability to fly in the skies over Iran and to bomb, military assets, but also to take out economic assets
20:20 belonging to the regime. I think we're gonna see an uptick in sanctions. I think we're gonna be looking at cutting off banks from the international, banking system. We have a lot of
20:32 tools in our toolbox that can really deprive the regime of billions and billions of dollars, and then they will have to try to figure out how they're going to pay their loyalists, how they're gonna
20:43 keep people loyal to the regime when they can't make payroll. They started this economic war by shutting down the Strait of Hormuz. My hope is that the Trump administration is going to
20:55 end it on those terms. We've won the military conflict here. The conventional military conflict is over. The regime cannot really fight back except through asymmetric means, So we're meeting them
21:07 there, and we're going to try to impose economic pain on them the way they've tried to do to us.
21:12 Of course, as you know, that asymmetric warfare is difficult for, conventional warfare to be those terms to be fought on. It it it's a little easier for them to do that than it is for the United States.
21:24 The the the issue of nuclear capabilities, the president today making that very clear, and this was 1 of the big sticking points is they want to be able to retain the
21:36 ability to enrich uranium. He says no way. Not gonna happen. That's taking us back to what really started this conflict was their capabilities, of enriching
21:48 uranium pursuing a nuclear weapon. The president's made very clear. That is a red line. Does America stick to that?
21:57 Look. I think so. I I think that is the big red line. And, you know, it is a little complicated right now because we have something like 440 kilos of enriched uranium that are buried beneath,
22:09 the dirt in 1 of the sites that we bombed back in June of last year. And I think we still have a question of how to get it out. If we put boots on the ground, we're almost certainly gonna engage in some
22:20 fierce firefights along the lines of what we saw just trying to get a couple of airmen down to airmen out from behind enemy lines. So you can get a sense of what kinds of battles might lie ahead if we go in. I think the
22:32 key here is to try to arrive at some kind of negotiation. There'll be some interlocutor, whether it's Pakistan or whether it's Russia or it's somebody else that works with the regime to get
22:44 that uranium out and we end this war on the right terms. If they refuse, then I think, you know, the US could be drawn into something much longer and painful than what the president envisioned.
22:56 And then I think it really comes down to a question of whether the American people are prepared to make certain sacrifices, whether it's at the pump or anywhere else as this thing drags on.
23:08 Well, I think the administration is gonna have to make a a better case to the American people why this is important. I mean, many that understand the situation do see the short term economic pain worth the long term
23:20 security for that region and for the rest of the world. Jonathan, I wanna ask you this final question here. The we're just a little over a week away from the expiration of this 2 week, ceasefire.
23:32 Is that extended, further, or do you see the, hostilities restarting?
23:39 You know, I I I think the regime understands that the longer they have where they're not getting bombed, the better off they are. This is a matter of survival for them. So I
23:51 think they're going to try to restock rearm during this period. And I think it really comes down to us, whether we see anything that we're trying to stop. Do we have to interdict? Do we
24:03 have to take action? Are we okay letting this happen, giving the Israelis a breather, giving ourselves a breather, and allowing for some of these markets to come back online, oil, natural gas,
24:15 etcetera. But I but my problem right now is I'm just not seeing the freedom of movement in the Strait of Hormuz that was promised here with this ceasefire. That's my concern, and I do think
24:27 that may be the thing that draws us back in.
24:30 Alright. Doctor Shanzer, I wanna thank you for joining us. Appreciate your insights and, for sharing them with us.
24:36 Pleasure. Always.
24:38 Alright. Another ride I'll be praying for. This is this could get this could spin out of control very quickly. And so this is a very volatile situation. So we need to be praying for our president, praying for our leaders
24:49 that they would be making good, wise decisions, and pray for a resolution. Alright. Don't go away. We're coming back with more after this.
25:02 Proverbs 22 6 says,
25:04 train up a child
25:05 in the way he should go. Even when he is old, he will not depart from it.
25:30 For know that my redeemer lives. Job 19 25. God raised Jesus from the dead because it was impossible for death to keep hold
25:42 on him. Acts 2 24.
25:45 Join Family Research Council in standing on the word. Visit f r c dot org slash bible for free resources to help your family follow the way. Jesus, the risen savior of
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26:02 When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for 1 people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another,
26:09 and to assume among the powers of the earth
26:11 The separate and equal station to which the laws of nature
26:15 And of nature's god entitle them.
26:17 A decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes
26:22 which impel them to the separation.
26:25 We hold these truths to be self evident.
26:27 That all men are created equal.
26:29 That they're endowed by their creator. With certain unalienable rights. That among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men.
26:41 Deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. Happy 200 and fiftieth. Happy 200 and fiftieth.
26:49 Happy 200 and fiftieth.
26:51 Happy 200 and fiftieth birthday, America.
26:53 May God bless America. This is Washington Watch. Thanks for joining us on this Monday. TheShow more
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