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>> A terrifying week in
global warfare brings

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cautious relief. Days later,
by way of a two week

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ceasefire in Iran, citizens
on the sidelines may wonder

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where their congressional
representatives stand and

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how they are responding to
the war. Tonight, we turn

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to second District
Democratic Congressman Mark

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Pocan. We should note we
reached out to Republicans

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in several districts
without reply. Congressman,

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thanks very much for being
here.

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>> Sure.
>> Thank you. So on Tuesday

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this week, the world was on
tenterhooks waiting

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president Trump's threat
that a whole civilization

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will die tonight unless
Iran opened the Strait of

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Hormuz and then the
announcement of a cease

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fire. The white House says
it was a tactic that worked.

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What do you say?
>> You know, this is chaos

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piled on top of chaos,
piled on top of uncertainty,

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right. I don't think Donald
Trump, from day one really

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had a plan on how to deal
with what he was doing

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going into Iran. And we're
seeing that all unfold

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right now. And that
rhetoric just has been

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unseen by any world leader
previously. And and even

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now, the cease fire is
still has all kinds of

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uncertainty. We not exactly
sure what all the standards

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were. Donald Trump said he
knows the ten. He'll tell

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you if they're met. That's
ridiculous. And Iran just I

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saw today said two
conditions aren't met yet.

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The stopping of the bombing
in Lebanon and releasing

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some funds to them, which
that was the first time I

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actually had kind of heard
that part of whatever was

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negotiated. So this is just
a complete mess. Our gas

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prices are going up, our
respect across the world is

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going down. And it was a
war of choice. There was no

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imminent threat to the
United States. And that's

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the only time the president
could initiate this without

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Congress. So, you know, to
call it chaotic is probably

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an insult to the word chaos.
>> You and others have

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called to invoke the 25th
amendment to remove Donald

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Trump from office. Now,
that would take the vice

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president and the majority
of the cabinet to declare

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the president unfit. So is
is this really a rhetorical

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demand on your and others
parts?

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>> Yeah, I think this is a
signal to the world that

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don't hate America. There
are normal people here

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because what Donald Trump
is doing is hurting our

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place across the globe
right now. You know, some

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of our best trading
partners in Japan and South

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Korea rely on like 70% of
their energy coming through

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the Straits of Hormuz. The
fact that now they're

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paying the price of Donald
Trump's bad decision, the

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fact that our best allies
were not informed going

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into this. So now they're
not participating, which I

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totally understand. But
Donald Trump doesn't. We

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have to express that as a
nation. This we understand

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this is a bad decision.
What he did in a couple of

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those those social media
posts this week were beyond

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a bad decision. And I
seriously and many others

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question whether or not
he's able to do this job.

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But we want others to
understand that many of us

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do question his capability.
>> Wisconsin polling shows

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that 61% of voters oppose
this war, many of them

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probably in your district.
But what levers of power do

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you and others in Congress
have over this? Will Dems

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continue to push for a war
powers resolution?

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>> Yeah, we'll push for War
powers resolution next week

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when we're back in
Washington. And I'll tell

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you, this is one where, you
know, we need some of the

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Republicans from Wisconsin
across the country to reach

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around their backs and feel
if they have a bone down

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the middle called a spine,
because it's necessary for

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Congress to stand up and
stop Donald Trump from this

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chaotic behavior, it is up
to Congress to initiate war.

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That's according to the
Constitution. And I've

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heard a few Republicans say
they're waiting 90 days and

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all this other stuff. The
Constitution doesn't say

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the Constitution gives the
power to Congress on this.

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So we have to act and take
the responsible role in

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this. And if we don't, then
unfortunately, we continue

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to pay higher prices at the
gas pumps. We continue to

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hurt ourselves with other
countries across the world.

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So there's a lot riding on
this. And we need Wisconsin

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Republicans and others in
Congress to stand up and

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and grow a spine.
>> Why should Wisconsinites

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care about a conflict
happening half a world away?

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>> A lot of reasons. I mean,
you're seeing it right now

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in gas prices. They're up.
What about $1.20 a gallon

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right now because of what's
going on? This is going to

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continue for months. If
this ended today, Frederica,

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we will see gas prices in
those increases for months

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to come yet. So this was a
terrible decision that was

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done by the white House.
But you should care because

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also our trade around the
world is chaotic as Donald

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Trump's tariffs have been.
It's important that we have

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partners across the globe
that buy American products

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that create American jobs.
And when we're hurting

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ourselves like we are with
this right now, we

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jeopardize our role in
being able to do that. So

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it's about jobs. It's about
your pay. It's about what

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you're paying for goods
because we're paying too

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much for everything from
groceries and everyday

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goods because of tariffs to
health care and utilities,

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because of the big ugly law.
And now we're paying too

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much for gas because of
this. There's a lot of

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reasons we should pay
attention and care.

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>> As to rising inflation.
I see that consumer

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sentiment just ranked at
the lowest on record in in

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the US. And meanwhile,
Trump's budget calls for

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$1.5 trillion in defense
spending. This would not be,

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I trust, a priority of
yours.

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>> No. In fact, I think
what the president said is

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we don't have money for
things like child care

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because he wants to put it
into the national the

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Pentagon's budget,
essentially, because he's

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wasting so many weapons
right now while he's doing

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this war of choice in Iran.
And, you know, I think if

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you talk to the average
person, certainly the

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care is far more important
than what he's doing right

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now. So the fact that he
doesn't understand, let's

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face it, he's the Epstein
class, right? He's a really,

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really rich guy who is out
of touch with what it is to

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actually live paycheck to
paycheck, to pay a mortgage,

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to make sure you have
health care for your family.

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Can you budget for a
vacation? This guy hangs

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out at Mar a Lago and has
20 Roaring 20s style

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parties. That person
doesn't understand what

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Americans are going through,
and we see it because we're

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paying for the increase in
prices. So, you know,

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November, people can see a
change. They can change out

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some of the faces in the
House and the Senate, and

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then we can finally have
the ability to stand up and

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do proper oversight. But
right now, you know, it's

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tough times. And we get the
calls in the office and

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people are certainly
nervous.

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>> How do you think the war
in Iran informs voters

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coming into the midterms?
>> Well, I think it just

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shows another bad decision,
right? The tariffs are a

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bad decision. We know that.
And we're all paying more

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for groceries and everyday
goods. That big, ugly law

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where they gave a giant tax
break to Elon Musk and

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people who belong to Mar a
Lago that took away health

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care from people and more
in November. By the way,

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all the Medicaid cuts take
place at that point. So 15

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million people lose health
care and we're all paying

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more for it. Plus, it made
utility rates go up, and

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now we're paying more for
gas because of the war. So

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you look at all of this,
and I think people are just

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kind of exhausted from the
winning that Donald Trump

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keeps telling us. I think,
you know, most of us have a

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different definition of
winning. It's being able to,

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you know, have that little
luxury of a snowmobile or a

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boat or whatever it might
be. But it's not just

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paying more for goods so
that rich people get tax

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breaks.
what's your reaction to

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Liberal Supreme Court
point victory this week?

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>> Well, she was an
extraordinarily good

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candidate. I think they
fielded an extraordinarily

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poor candidate by Supreme
Court standards. But people

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also are very frustrated
with what's happening

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nationally. And I think you
saw that translate. I mean,

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you saw mayors flip from
conservative to more

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progressive across parts of
the state that aren't

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exactly blue, maybe not
even purple, but people are

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just frustrated with what's
going on. So I think you

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saw a lot of that. But you
know, Chris Taylor is going

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to be a great Supreme Court
justice. She's very smart,

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very savvy. I've worked
with her since my time in

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the state legislature.
She's going to help that

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court. We need that court
to probably get a kick in

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the butt, maybe to get a
few more things done. And I