Kevin Hassett, Rep. Jason Crow, Sen. Raphael Warnock

**Margaret Brennan** (0:01)
I'm Margaret Brennan in Washington, and this week on Face the Nation, gas prices spike as the standoff between the US and Iran continues. And the Supreme Court decision weakening the Voting Rights Act sparks a scramble in some southern states to get in on redistricting before the midterm elections.
With his approval ratings on a downward trend, President Trump visited a Florida retirement community to conduct a survey of his own.

**SPEAKER_2** (0:27)
Let's do another poll. No tax on tips, no tax on overtime, no tax on Social Security.
That's the one they like.

**Margaret Brennan** (0:46)
But with the conflict in Iran stalled, as well as the ships in the Strait of Hormuz, gas prices have skyrocketed up 40 cents a gallon in the US just in the last week. The president promises they'll come down and says, look on the bright side.

**SPEAKER_2** (1:01)
The stock market is rocking and rolling. Your 401Ks are at the highest they've ever been.

**Margaret Brennan** (1:07)
We'll take a deep dive on the state of the economy with White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett, the head of the Minneapolis Federal Reserve, Neel Kashkari, and the chairman and CEO of Chevron, Mike Wirth. Then President Trump tells Congress the war with Iran has been terminated. We'll talk to Colorado Democrat Jason Crow and we'll assess the impact of the Supreme Court's decision to limit the scope of part of the Voting Rights Act with Georgia Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock. It's all just ahead on Face the Nation.
Good morning and welcome to Face the Nation. It has been another one of those weeks where some very big news stories now feel very much in the rear view mirror. One such story is that Congress finally, by voice vote no less, after 76 days, ended the partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security. So now TSA agents and the Coast Guard are fully funded. Still unfunded though are the two immigration agencies, ICE and CBP.
But the story that's not going away is the impact the war with Iran is having on the global economy. Rising fuel costs were a factor in the shutdown of low-cost carrier Spirit Airlines yesterday. And the sudden shutdown left thousands stranded and some 14,000-plus employees without jobs, according to the Pilots Union. We begin this morning with the Director of the White House Economic Council, Kevin Hassett joins us from Los Angeles. Good early morning to you.

**Kevin Hassett** (2:57)
Oh yeah, good morning.

**Margaret Brennan** (2:58)
Well Director, President Trump sent a letter to Congress on Friday saying a few things. One that the conflict with Iran, the ceasefire has been extended. He also said the hostilities have been terminated. He also said the threat posed by Iran remains significant and the force posture will continue to be updated. Then overnight, we saw the president said Iran has not yet paid a big enough price for what they've done to humanity.
What exactly is the message to the market?

**Kevin Hassett** (3:33)
Right. Well, I think the market has been pretty consistent. The fact is that what the president is seeing is that the blockade is working. It's putting an enormous amount of pressure on Iran. Iran's threats to put mines in the straits have even made it so that humanitarian aid, that of course we would let through to Iran, that there are a lot of those ship captains that are wary of going to Iranian ports because they're worried about where the Iranians have put the mines.
I go down to the sit room many times a week and get briefed on what's going on in Iran. They're an economy that's really on the precipice of extreme calamity. They are having a hyperinflation.
They are starting to have hunger. The bottom line is that the pressure on the great American people because of these people who are really intent on American and Israeli destruction with their nuclear weapons are still in power. One last thing, Margaret, I don't know if you noticed, but the UN human rights folks came out this week condemning Iran because they are killing people who are trying to stand up to this regime that's potentially causing starvation and even famine.

**Margaret Brennan** (4:44)
So you said the blockade is still on. A blockade is an act of war. Are we at war with Iran?

**Kevin Hassett** (4:51)
Iran shut down the Straits. Iran shut down the Straits.

**Margaret Brennan** (4:54)
Right.

**Kevin Hassett** (4:55)
And the only ones they were letting through were Iranianships. And President Trump didn't think that was acceptable.

**Margaret Brennan** (5:01)
So we are still at war with Iran?

**Kevin Hassett** (5:06)
You know, I don't know what the definition of war is when we're not shooting and we're negotiating and they're under a lot of pressure. There's no reason, I think, right now to do anything other than what we're doing. The fact is that that regime has destroyed the country. Let me put it in perspective. In 1978, before the Ayatollah came in, then the per capita GDP in Iran was about the same as for Japan and Italy. Now it's about the same as for Honduras. So they've run that country into the ground and that's before the Straits were closed. So it's really, really a country that's on the rocks.