Chairman Aguilar on CNN News Central

Breaking overnight, the United Arab Emirates says they are dealing with incoming missiles at the hands of Iran. Saudi Arabia is calling for de-escalation across the region after the United States says Iran targeted three American guided missile destroyers as they transited the Strait of Hormuz. U.S. forces then hit a number of Iranian military facilities in response. President Trump says it is just a trifle and that the back and forth is just a love tap. They trifled with us today. We blew them away. They trifled. I call that a trifle. I'll let you know when there's no ceasefire. You won't have to know. If there's no ceasefire, you're not going to have to know. You're just going to have to look at one big glow coming out of Iran. And they better sign their agreement fast. With us now is Congressman Pete Aguilar from California. He's the third ranking Democrat in the House. And Congressman, we did just get a bit of breaking news. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is in Italy, says he expects a response from the Iranians today on whatever this current peace proposal is. Generally speaking, how much progress do you see? You know, I think what the American people see is they see a war of choice. They see skyrocketing gas prices. They see a president who will go on TV and say whatever he needs to do to try to quell the crude market. They see rising costs that they're facing, 13 casualties through this war, hundreds more injured, billions of dollars have expended. And the administration has failed to articulate what their goals and objectives are. So that's what we see. And that's what the American people feel. I should note gas prices ticked down a cent last night. They're still up over a quarter from last week, over 25 cents from last week. And $1.50 since the war began. But do you see progress? Do you feel as if it could be winding down? It's hard. It's hard to know because the administration says there's a ceasefire, yet we're still engaging in that. It's just their effort to evade oversight and accountability with the War Powers Act that Marco Rubio says is unconstitutional now, even though as a senator, he felt a different way. So that's the difficulty that we see. It's tough to know what progress is because the administration hasn't articulated to the American people what the clear objectives and what the end game is. What does the president want to see out of this war? When will it end? When can we see relief? That's on the president. He's failed to do that. Shifting to the midterms now, which are less than six months away. What's the Democratic midterm message? You're the number three Democrat in the House. What will you do if you retake control of the House? We're telling the American people very clearly that you deserve better. We want to fix health care. We want to end corruption. We want to lower the costs that people face. That's what they care about. That's what they're getting crushed with. The president campaigned and said that he was going to lower the costs on day one. He said utility costs would be cut in half within a year of his presidency. None of that has happened. It is harder and more expensive. America is too damn expensive right now. The American people feel that. They know that. House Democrats want to provide relief. They want to provide help. We know how to do that. The president is the one driving up costs. Politico, the playbook this morning, which we all read when we wake up, has a focus on what the Republican midterm message is in the message from the White House. They have a quote from a Republican close to the White House saying, quote, this is their message. The Democrats are woke, weak and way too liberal, a Republican close to the White House told playbook. We'll make sure every voter in America remembers that. How do you battle that message? I suppose that could be a message if you were in the minority, if you didn't control anything in government. They control every lever of government. They control the House of Representatives. They control the Senate. They control the White House. And to blame Democrats just seems I mean, this is why the group has 30 percent approval rating. They cannot govern. They cannot lead. They do not have a strategy to lower the cost that people face. And that's unfortunately what the American people are seeing. So this is just all smokescreen. And the only way that they win, John, is by suppressing the vote, by going after vote by mail, which they have in the Supreme Court, the Voting Rights Act, ice at polling places. That is exactly what the American people know. There's this massive redistricting battle going on right now, and it's still ongoing, even though the midterms are less than six months away. Some of the states considering changing their maps, South Carolina, Louisiana, Tennessee just hit it overnight. One state where Democrats hope to pick up is Virginia, but the Virginia Supreme Court hasn't ruled on the map there yet. How nervous are you? We're not nervous. We're waiting on the Supreme Court to certify the election, to allow local elections officials to certify the election. The Virginia Supreme Court allowed the election to go forward. They heard challenges before the election. We're confident that they will uphold this map. And keep in mind, the difference here is Republican legislatures are changing the maps in Louisiana and Tennessee and Florida. Where Democrats are having success is going directly to the people. And so it would be hard for the Supreme Court to overturn the will of the people, whether that's in California or Virginia, to change their maps. The American people are the ones who are having the last say here. We're talking about the Virginia Supreme Court, which has yet to rule on this. I do want to ask you, finally, I read an interview from January. You're from California. In January, you weren't ready yet to endorse in the California gubernatorial race. Less than a month away now, the big primary there. Do you have an endorsement? I don't have anything to break for you today. But look, we have a great field. No, you sure? We got time. Look, I think Javier Becerra is stepping up. I think he's separating himself from the PAC. I look forward to supporting a Democrat in November. Well, that's a heck of a sentence there. I asked you who you're going to endorse. You said you're not endorsing, but you only mentioned one of the candidates there. I think he's doing quite well. Look, the Democratic field is incredibly strong. I think they've demonstrated that. CNN hosted a debate the other night. It's a good field, and I look forward to supporting a Democrat in November. Who might be named? Nice try. Congressman Pete Aguilar from California. You're a good sport. I appreciate you being with us. Thank you very much.