WATCH: Sen. Schiff Blasts Trump’s Ongoing Illegal War in Iran, Calls out Republicans for Blocking TSA Funding for Eighth Time

Washington, D.C. - Yesterday, U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) joined CNN's The Source with Kaitlan Collins to dismantle Trump's desperate ploy for Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents at airports and to call out Republicans for voting down Democrat-led Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding bills to fund various agencies, like the Transportation Safety Administration (TSA), while negotiations on immigration enforcement are ongoing.

Schiff also highlighted the continuing need to end Trump's war in Iran while pushing back against the president's decision to lift oil sanctions on Iran and Russia.

View the full interview here.

Key Excerpts:  

On ending the Iran War:

[…] I'd love to see this war come to an end. And if what the president is saying is true, that's encouraging. But of course, we've heard the president say things that - have proved to be completely untrue, in the past. So, we really don't know what to believe, whether these talks are serious, whether they're close to any agreement, or whether this is Donald Trump just trying to bring down the price at the pump, something he is very sensitive to, because he's getting a lot of backlash from around the country. The fact though, that he has allowed Iran to sell $14 billion worth of oil and allowed Russian oil to be sold, and lifted sanctions on Russian oil, I agree, just shows how incredibly mishandled and poorly planned this whole war has been. The idea that we're going to enrich countries, in Russia's case, that are giving targeting information to Iran; in Iran's case, trying to kill us, we're going to give them oil money is really unthinkable.

On the administration's supplemental military funding request:

I'll vote against it. First of all, that money really won't go to this conflict. It won't be timely for this conflict to procure material. What it will be used for is essentially try to replenish stocks later. But I'm not going to support essentially an Iran funding bill, if that's how this is being sold and packaged. This is a war we should not have gotten into, and it's a war that every day puts our servicemembers at risk. And given there was no imminent threat from Iran, I just don't think it's justified.

On Trump allowing un-masked ICE agents in airports:

[…] If the concern is that ICE agents are getting doxed, then it doesn't matter where their face is appearing, whether it's an airport or on a street. So no, it doesn't make any sense. But I think it does point out the fact that he doesn't like the optic, and that's what matters to him. Well, it matters a lot to me and to the rest of the country, that actually there's some accountability, completely notwithstanding the optics, we want to make sure that if ICE agents are engaged in the excessive use of force, they could be identified. And also, I think, when you wear a mask, there is a sense of impunity, and you see it leading, I think, to that excessive use of force.

On the Republicans dragging their feet on a DHS funding deal:

[…] Democrats have offered to fund TSA over and over. We've called up bills to fund TSA, and Republicans have voted them down. Tonight, we're hearing that there may be a deal to do exactly what Democrats have been proposing, and that is to fund the TSA, and essentially wall off ICE funding.

[…] Leader Thune wasn't willing to make a definitive statement tonight, so we're still waiting. But I think the White House is getting the sense, if they haven't already, that the public is upset with the president and with the Republicans who are controlling the Congress, that they can't govern, and that this is interfering in people's lives. And TSA agents aren't getting paid. And I think when they're facing vote after vote to pay them, offered by Democrats, it's become unsustainable for them.

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