'This Week' Transcript 6-14-26: Ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz and former Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman

A rush transcript of "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" airing on Sunday, June 14, 2026 on ABC News is below. This copy may not be in its final form, may be updated and may contain minor transcription errors. For previous show transcripts, visit the "This Week" transcript archive.

MARTHA RADDATZ, ABC “THIS WEEK” CO-ANCHOR:  The U.S. and Iran both say a deal could be at hand to end the war.

A special edition of “This Week” on the ground in Jerusalem starts right now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RADDATZ (voice-over):  Is there a path to peace after a sudden escalation?

You can see here a trail of shrapnel. This is where the missile landed.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES:  We just made a great settlement of the war with Iran.

RADDATZ:  It's something we've heard before.

TRUMP:  Most of the points are already negotiated and agreed to.

We're close to a very good deal.

The negotiation itself has gone very well, actually.

RADDATZ:  Is this time any different? We'll ask U.N. Ambassador Mike Waltz.

And this morning, exclusive reaction from President Obama and from the diplomat who helped negotiate the last agreement.

And as Americans feel the pinch --

JAMES BURG, MICHIGAN TRUCKING COMPANY CEO:  Our spend has gone from about $70,000 a week to about $100,000 to $110,000 a week.

ELIZABETH SCHULZE, ABC NEWS CORRESPONDENT:  Seventy thousand to over $100,000 just on diesel?

BURG:  Just for diesel each week.

RADDATZ:  Will the Strait reopen and how fast will oil prices go down?

Ready to rumble?

TRUMP:  We're having a big fight. It's never going to happen again.

RADDATZ:  It's fight night from the White House North Lawn as the president marks his 80th birthday. While just across town, the president's name is removed from the Kennedy Center.

The roundtable on all of that and this week's politics.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER:  From ABC News, a special edition of “This Week”, reporting live from Jerusalem -- Martha Raddatz.

RADDATZ (on camera):  Good morning, and welcome to a special edition of “This Week” from Jerusalem.

It has been an intense few days here. Israel and the U.S. trading military strikes with Iran, the first time the U.S. has launched missiles against Iran in two months. But this morning, as we close the week, a peace deal could be on the horizon.

And back at home, it is Flag Day, the president's 80th birthday, and fight night at the White House. Jon Karl will take a look at that from Washington.

But we begin this Sunday morning with those major developments in what has become a long path to ending the Iran war. It is week 16 of a conflict President Trump said would be over in as little as four weeks.

Americans are feeling the impact. Gas and diesel prices are up 40 percent since the war began, and the president's poll numbers are down to record lows.

The president has suggested at least 46 times since the war began that a deal is near, but the administration thinks this one has the best chance of becoming a reality.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RADDATZ (voice-over):  This morning, the US and Iran seeking to hammer out details on an initial agreement to end the war. Pakistan's prime minister, a key negotiator, saying the two sides are closer to a peace deal than ever before and preparing for a digital signing of a memorandum of understanding as a first step.

A spokesperson for Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs says there is a high possibility the memorandum is finalized in the coming days. A senior US administration official said Friday that the deal was 80 percent done. President Trump posted on social media Saturday saying the agreement was scheduled to be signed on Sunday, adding that immediately after it's signed, the Hormuz Strait is open to all.

RADDATZ:  This is the port of Ashdod on the Mediterranean Sea, where commercial shipping traffic is bustling. But there is no question that in the broader Middle East, the closure of the Strait of Hormuz has had a devastating effect on the global economy.

RADDATZ (voice-over):  The proposed deal would also end the United States’ blockade of the Strait. President Trump's post Saturday claimed that the deal would be a wall to no nuclear weapon, despite the fact that the technical details of the nuclear portion are yet to be established.

And the enriched uranium that remains in Iran, Trump announcing that the United States would be going into Iran to retrieve what he calls “nuclear dust” at the appropriate time, when things are calm. The agreement would also provide Iran with financial or sanctions relief should the terms of the agreement be followed, although the president insists there will be no cash exchanged.

Trump heralding the agreement as the exact opposite of the JCPOA deal former President Barack Obama agreed to with Iran a decade ago.

But under that previous deal, which Trump left in 2018, Iran was also not allowed to seek, develop or acquire any nuclear weapons.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RADDATZ: And President Obama himself reacting late Saturday to the Iran war in an exclusive interview with ABC's Robin Roberts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBIN ROBERTS, ABC NEWS ANCHOR: You spent a lot of time wrestling with the threat of a nuclear Iran. How do you think things are being handled right now there?

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It is doubtful that any agreement that arises is going to be significantly different or a significant improvement from the deal that we had in the first place and had worked for us for a long stretch of time before we, the United States, pulled out of it. So, I'm hopeful that bombing stops and ordinary people are no longer suffering as a consequence of the war.

I, then in retrospect, it's a reminder that on a lot of difficult foreign policy problems, the notion that we can just bully our way or bomb our way to solutions may sometimes seem appealing, but the fact of the matter is, is that taking the time to explore diplomacy and exhaust the possibilities of coming up with deals that don't solve 100 percent of the problem, but solve 80 percent, 90 percent of the problem, while avoiding the necessity of going to war, you'd think we would have learned that lesson by now, but it seems like every so often we have to relearn that lesson again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RADDATZ: You can see Robin's interview with former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama Wednesday on "GOOD MORNING AMERICA."

I'm joined now by the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Mike Waltz.

It's good to see you this morning, Mr. Ambassador. I want your reaction to that. We've heard President Trump say this deal would be exactly the opposite of the JCPOA. You heard there what President Obama said.

What is different?

MIKE WALTZ, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS: Well, I think there are some very important differences that people need to understand. Number one, as the vice president has said repeatedly, this is going to be, in terms of any unfrozen assets or sanctions relief, what's called pay-for-performance. There will not upfront cash, so to speak, that we saw in the Obama deal and the JCPOA, with literally pallets of cash because the Iranian banking system was dysfunctional, being flown in. So that's an important difference.

And then secondarily, this is all about verification. And there were huge gaps in the JCPOA and the Obama nuclear deal in terms of actually verifying. What we know, the Iranians have tended to cheat on in the past, there were not anytime, anywhere inspections of their facilities. The Iranians could delay things. They could choose which list of inspectors they accepted or not.

And most importantly, Martha, the Iranians could classify sites as military sites that were then off limits. That's like having, you know, I don't know, a criminal on parole telling the parole officer, you can't check this bedroom or that bedroom, or you could only check the trunk of my car, and I'll dictate to you when you can come.

So, a lot of that is very much going to be worked out, but I can promise you that we are not going to have these massive loopholes, whether it's working with the U.N.'s IAEA or other form of inspectors. This is all about verifications and no one on this team is just going to take the Iranians at their word.

RADDATZ: Let me just say, with the JCPOA, they lifted sanctions only after there were verifiable steps toward implementing the deal. That took six months. They didn't get any sort of payment until that was verified. And I know they will say that those were unfrozen assets. But I also want to go back to what President Obama said. 80 percent, 90 percent of a deal may be better than going to war. You want 100 percent of what you want.

WALTZ: Well, first, to your point of verified, you know, under the JCPOA, and that definition was so loose that the Iranians just trampled all over what we could verify or what we couldn't, as dictated by them.

And then, you know, respectfully, to President Obama, no one here is bombing their way to a deal. I was personally with the president last year when he sent a letter suggesting to the Iranians we enter into negotiations. That was over a year ago and before Midnight Hammer. We tried again through multiple rounds this year.

This president has always put diplomacy first, but unlike his predecessors, it has to be backed with credible military force. That is what we've seen over the years. The only thing that regimes like Iran will ultimately respect.

Otherwise, your diplomacy is feckless and meaningless if you don't have a strong, credible threat of military force behind it and a president who's willing to use it. That's one of the things that has gotten these negotiations back on track just this past week.

And I just returned from the Middle East. And I can tell you, sitting with our Gulf Arab allies, that they know the Iranians will only respect strength and a strong negotiating position. And both the Obama and Biden teams did not have that on the table, and I think that's why the JCPOA was so flawed.

RADDATZ:  Let's talk about this deal. As we sit here right now, it has not been signed. Will it be signed today? Will that be digitally? Will they be on a digital or a Zoom call?

How will this work, and how confident are you that it will happen today?

WALTZ:  Well, the president has every intent for it to happen. I'll leave the actual details and timing to the White House.

The Iranians are incredibly difficult negotiators, coupled -- coupled with the fact that they're having a very hard time getting guidance from their supreme leader, and they're not always on the same page within their team, between the civilians and military.

So, you know, the teams have their hands full dealing with them, but the president has every intent to get this done.

RADDATZ:  So what is holding it up at this point? Again, how confident are you that it will happen today?

WALTZ:  I'm confident. The team is confident. Again, I'll let the final details be announced by them. I don't want to get ahead of the president or the vice president, but they have every intent of getting this done today.

RADDATZ:  So, what specifically has Iran committed to in terms of their nuclear program?

WALTZ:  Well, look, what has the president been very clear on in setting out, that the highly -- in getting this done, the highly enriched uranium has to go. Their enrichment capabilities, they have to walk away from. Their support for terrorist proxies has to end, that has terrorized the entire Middle East, from the Houthis to Hezbollah to Hamas, to the militias in Iraq that have killed American soldiers, my friends and colleagues and the veterans for many decades.

RADDATZ:  And they have agreed to that?

WALTZ:  And all of those things, they are -- they are agreeing to.

So look, this is a strong deal and -- but the most important piece going forward -- remember, Martha, this is a memorandum of understanding. A lot of these details are going to be worked out as we go forward into the next round of negotiation and oh, by the way, you can't throw sea mines into international waterways. You can't collect tolls from international shipping. And you certainly can't indiscriminately fire on civilian infrastructure, hotels, ports, resorts, like they've done with our Gulf allies.

And I just can't overemphasize our Gulf allies, the Kuwaitis, Bahrainis, Qataris, especially the UAE, are standing shoulder to shoulder with us.

The Iranians have shown their true colors. And I think they've made a massive -- the regime has made a massive strategic mistake by attacking its allies and its neighbors the way it has.

RADDATZ:  I want to ask you quickly, there has been some talk that the Iranians will try to charge tolls in the Strait of Hormuz. Is that acceptable? And will that happen even with a third country helping out to gather those tolls?

WALTZ:  It's not acceptable and it’s -- it's completely unacceptable and frankly illegal in international law behavior. For example, Morocco and Spain, as a hypothetical, can't start charging tolls in the Straits of Gibraltar because they have -- they have a conflict or a dispute.

That's clear in the U.N. law of the sea. It's clear in multiple resolutions that we just passed with a record number of countries supporting it, reinforcing that. It's completely unacceptable.

And frankly -- frankly, even the Chinese, Martha, during the summit with Xi and President Trump and in multiple calls since have made it clear to the Iranians, it is unacceptable behavior. So that is a key, key piece.

And finally, we can't forget Secretary Bessent and Operation Economic Fury, I would argue in many ways, this is the thing the Iranians fear the most because it is affecting their internal stability. Their currency is tanking. Their foreign reserves are gone. They're unable to pay portions of the military and the civil service.

This is why you see them coming to the table practically begging for cash. And we've seen these effects and his efforts be enormously --

RADDATZ:  Thank you.

WALTZ:  -- useful in these negotiations.

RADDATZ:  Thank you, Mr. Ambassador, for joining us this morning. We appreciate your time.

WALTZ:  Thank you.

RADDATZ:  And let's bring in Ambassador Wendy Sherman, a top negotiator of the Iran nuclear deal reached during the Obama administration.

Good morning to you, Ambassador. You heard President Obama speculate about this, but President Trump says this is the exact opposite of the JCPOA. Do you see it that way?

WENDY SHERMAN, FORMER DEPUTY SECRETARY OF STATE:  No. I think that this probably will turn out somewhat similar. We're in a very different place, however, because we did not have virtually 1,000 pounds of 60 percent highly enriched uranium, which is quite concerning, nor all of the other problems.

And I think most importantly, Martha, we didn't have war, where 13 American soldiers have died, hundreds have been injured, hundreds of civilians have been killed.

And most importantly, the American people have faced higher gas prices, higher grocery prices. Farmers are in a tougher place and the world's economy is a mess. So quite a different time.

And I'm hoping that indeed there will be a signing sometime soon, and at least we'll start trade moving again and prices over some months will come down.

RADDATZ:  They say that they will negotiate the final details for about 60 days, just 60 days. That's a pretty short period of time, given what you went through during the JCPOA.

SHERMAN:  Indeed, it is. I think it's very good. Ostensibly, there is a provision that if both parties agree, they can continue after 60 days. And I can assure you they will not get all of this done in 60 days. Some of my colleagues negotiated what was known as the Joint Plan of Action, which was a short-term deal to give us six months to come to a final resolution. It took us 18 months.

This is a highly technical negotiation. And I hope that Mr. Witkoff, Mr. Kushner, the vice president will have an expert team, because it takes an expert team, including nuclear physicists, Treasury experts, sanctions experts, commerce experts, lots of lawyers, intelligence assets to really get such a deal done.

RADDATZ:  One of the things the Trump administration has been adamant about is that there will be no money exchanged, and yet there would be sanctions relieved after the Iranians do what they want them to do, ostensibly. How can they do that? That was one of the criticisms that President Trump had about the JCPOA, talking about cash going over. But those were unfrozen assets.

SHERMAN:  Indeed. I don't think we know the details yet, but what seems to be coming out is that as soon as this Memorandum of Understanding is signed digitally, I would say even less direct than an autopen that President Trump has said President Biden shouldn't use, this will be a digital signature, it appears.

Even after that, once the Strait of Hormuz is open, ostensibly, the oil sanctions are going to be lifted on Iran. That will be billions of dollars to Iran. And then my understanding is that there will be some unfrozen frozen assets, maybe through what we call a humanitarian channel, so it can only be spent on food and medicine.

But nonetheless, this is all sort of mythology and sort of a feint to say that Iran will not get anything until a final negotiated nuclear deal is done. That said, we really need this war to be over. We need the Strait of Hormuz to be open. We need death to end. Indeed, this was a war of choice, not a war of necessity, and it has cost American citizens and the world a great deal.

RADDATZ: Ambassador, you have directly negotiated with the Iranians. You know the foreign minister. You've dealt with them. Do you think they are serious this time?

SHERMAN: Well, Abbas Araghchi, the foreign minister, was my counterpart during the negotiations. He's very tough. He's very smart. One of the really sad parts and unfortunate parts of this war and all of the decapitation of the first and maybe second layers of the regime, is that we now have more hardliners in place than we had before, and it was pretty hard line to begin with.

Iran feels very full of itself. It knows that the Strait of Hormuz is now a leverage point for them. They feel that they have outlasted the United States of America. They are feeling very proud and very sure of themselves. I think this will be a very tough negotiation. But Iran does need economic help. It does need to get things back in place.

And the irony of all of this, Martha, is it started when President Trump said he was going to have the back of the protesters on the streets of Iran who are being slaughtered by the regime. Those protesters have been left far behind. The civilians in Iran have been left far behind. And so the Iranian regime does want to improve its economy. So it won't see those protesters in the street. But this is a hard line regime that will undoubtedly kill protesters who get in their way.

RADDATZ: And on that note, I'm sorry, we're going to have to close it here.

Thanks very much for joining us, Ambassador.

SHERMAN: Thank you.

RADDATZ: I'm joined now here in Israel by Abner Vilan, a former senior officer who worked in Israeli military intelligence.

It's very nice to see you. Tell me what you think, Prime Minister Netanyahu will think of this notional deal?

AVNER VILAN, FORMER ISRAELI SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: I think Prime Minister Netanyahu would think it's a bad deal because it gives Iran a lifeline of financial aid, financial support, where what Iran really needs is more pressure because this deal doesn't deal with the critical threats coming from Iran, which is Iran's nuclear capabilities, its missiles and its proxies. This is a pressure release mechanism that --

RADDATZ: Well, they say that it's going to deal with the nuclear problem and that Iran has promised not to produce or acquire a nuclear weapon.

VILAN: Well, we've known the Iranians for many years. You don't really believe that the fact that they promised or they signed something is worth anything. I mean, you had Wendy Sherman on the show. She knows Iranians and how they negotiate. The fact that they promised something doesn't mean that it's true. And all we get is empty promises for the release of the most pressing issue against Iran, which is the blocking of Hormuz and the inability of Iranian to export oil.

RADDATZ: Even though the Israelis and the U.S. have in some form or another decimated the conventional military in Iran, you still have great concerns about the nuclear program.

VILAN: Yes. I mean, they decimated most of its conventional capabilities. When you look at the nuclear program, Iran still holds about 450 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60 percent. They have, you know, hundreds or even thousands of centrifuges that are unaccounted for. They have three enrichment sites. One is still in construction, which is buried deeper than the one that we bombed in -- last June. So they have a program that is ready to be reopened at will.

They may actually now go to a clandestine approach, maybe build something secretly that we can't find. And this is a country that had a nuclear weapons program. They never gave up their nuclear aspirations. And now they have all the motivation to build a nuclear weapon.

RADDATZ: So what do you think should happen? We do not know the details of this deal and the technical aspects of it, and they haven't been done yet. So what do you think should happen?

VILAN: I think right now, time is not necessarily on the Iranian side. Why can't we just continue what we're doing right now?

RADDATZ: Are you talking about bombing? Or negotiating?

VILAN: Not necessarily bombing. And, you know, I think the negotiations are pointless. But the blockage of Hormuz and the pressure that is being done on Iran right now is actually

effective. It just needs time. However, if you want to do some kind of a deal to release the pressure temporarily, that’s -- that's also OK.

I'm not saying this is a bad deal because, frankly, this is not a deal. I think the test will be in 60 days or if they give another extension. What will happen then? What will happen when we see that the Iranians don't budge? And we know that they're not going to budge.

RADDATZ:  Today, this morning, they bombed -- Israel bombed Hezbollah sites in Beirut. Is that Prime Minister Netanyahu sending a message to President Trump and the Iranians that we're going to keep doing this even though Iran doesn't want us to?

VILAN:  So this happened after Hezbollah bombed northern Israel. We have a conflict. This is not a ceasefire. And the fact that we can't retaliate in Beirut, this is Israel being constrained by the U.S., which is OK.

We're allies. We're partners. This is how things go.

But I don't think this is necessarily Bibi trying to sabotage the deal. However, we know what he thinks about the deal. And I'm sure this actually crossed his mind when he ordered that strike in Beirut.

RADDATZ:  OK. Well, we'll have to keep our eye on this. Thanks for joining us here this morning in Jerusalem.

Coming up, with the war in Iran causing economic pain at home. We'll look at what the deal could mean for oil and gas prices.

We're back in two minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

RADDATZ:  Throughout the war, President Trump has insisted the price of oil will plummet as soon as the conflict ends. But the reality right now back in the U.S. is higher oil prices.

Elizabeth Schulze spent the week traveling across the Midwest, hearing from Americans who have had to pay much more to hit the road.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELIZABETH SCHULZE, ABC NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over):  This morning, as the U.S. and Iran inch toward a potential deal to end the three and a half month war, Americans are still grappling with high prices brought on by the conflict here at home.

SCHULZE:  Where do you see prices going up in your budget day to day?

HANNAH COOPER, INDIANA RESIDENT:  Groceries, for sure. And groceries, gas.

SCHULZE (voice-over):  President Trump insisting again this week that inflation will drop as soon as the war ends.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES:  It's going to come down like a rock.

SCHULZE (voice-over):  The looming agreement to end the conflict could still fall apart. And right now, the oil price shock from the war has driven inflation to its highest level in three years.

New government data this week shows prices across the economy spiked 4.2 percent in May compared to a year ago. Costs rising for gas, groceries and airfare.

Asked about the inflation report, President Trump said this:

TRUMP:  The numbers were great. You know what I really love? I love the inflation.

SCHULZE (voice-over):  For American consumers, the costs are already adding up fast. By one estimate, families have paid an extra $510 in fuel expenses since the start of the war.

NYAH PHILLIPS, MICHIGAN RESIDENT:  It is really hard to keep up. I planned my gas budget money for one price and now -- now it's double that.

SCHULZE (voice-over):  In Michigan, Nyah Phillips tells us she's barely making ends meet

after paying her bills and buying food and essentials like diapers for her new baby.

PHILLIPS:  The prices are going up, but our wages are not reflecting and covering that gap of prices going up. So it is like a constant game of catch-up.

SCHULZE (voice-over):  Oil prices have dropped from their peak in May, but gas and diesel prices are still up nearly 40 percent since the war began.

SCHULZE:  Here we go.

SCHULZE (voice-over):  North of Detroit in Warren, Michigan, we meet Jim Burg.

JAMES BURG, MICHIGAN TRUCKING COMPANY CEO:  If they're empty, like I say, down to like 180 gallons, probably close to $1,200 fill up.

SCHULZE:  $1,200 to fill up a truck like this?

BURG:  Twice a week.

SCHULZE (voice-over):  He drove trucks hauling steel for 14 years, before launching his own fleet of more than 100 trucks.

SCHULZE:  The diesel there looks like it's almost $5.60 a gallon here.

SCHULZE (voice-over):  Before the war, Burg says he paid $70,000 a week for diesel. Now it's $100,000.

BURG:  There's no question. We're losing more margin now.

SCHULZE:  With higher costs.

BURG:  With higher costs, with higher costs of diesel. However, we're having -- we're experiencing higher volumes.

SCHULZE (voice-over):  Burg voted for President Trump three times. Despite the higher costs, he says he has no regrets.

BURG:  My biggest concern isn't really the cost of diesel to the effect of my company. It's what it could do to the overall economy and a potential slowdown.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RADDATZ:  And our thanks to Elizabeth.

I'm joined now by energy expert, Bob McNally, the Founder and President of Rapidan Energy Group. And Mr. McNally, I want to ask you right away, President Trump says the Strait will open as soon as they sign some sort of deal and oil will start flowing. Can it happen that fast?

BOB MCNALLY, FOUNDER & PRESIDENT, RAPIDAN ENERGY GROUP:  Great to be with you, Martha.

Yes, it already is happening. You know, the good news in recent days and weeks is we've seen now public reports that the Trump administration has been able to free up some of that trapped oil. More has been getting out, sneaking out through the Omani channel, than we've been seeing.

So the market has seen some good news already. If there's a deal and if it sticks, then presumably oil will flow fully. There will need to be some de-mining, the French and the British, and we will be working on making sure the mines have been picked up.

But if the deal sticks, yes, those ships are there. They're laden with oil. They're eager to get out. They have been getting out a little faster. And so, yes, if there's a deal, we should be hopeful that oil can flow and we'll see it. We have plenty of companies watching this, and we'll all see the flow.

RADDATZ:  And how much damage has been done over these last 100-some days to the oil markets?

MCNALLY:  Well, we've lost well over a billion barrels of oil in the world market. And the world market is what matters for the United States and for someone paying for gasoline at the pump, because we may be the biggest producer and exporter. But what we pay at the pump depends on that global market.

And so we've gashed an enormous hole. A historically large, unprecedented amount of oil has been disrupted. And the risk is, and here's the risk, even if Hormuz re-opens and we see those tankers flow in the coming weeks, and we'll probably see lower gasoline prices in the coming weeks, there's a risk that that hole will be with us, if you will, in July and August, and that we still could see upward prices -- upper pressure on prices later this summer, because of the size of the hole that has been ripped into the global oil market.

RADDATZ:  So, back to Elizabeth's report, because that's exactly what you're talking about. So it could be August before prices start going down?

MCNALLY:  Well, many analysts, us included, think there could be upward pressure on prices in July, in August, and maybe in September. And that's because, Martha, the shock absorbers that the global oil market has benefited from in March and April and May are starting to wear off.

That includes the strategic stock releases from the United States. It includes inventories of oil that the world had that had been drawn down. Also, China has been sort of on a crash diet, if you will, just reducing drastically its buying of oil and its stockpiling of oil. That's not sustainable.

So many of us analysts, as we look into June and July, if we see those shock absorbers are gone, if they're depleted, there could be upward pressure on oil prices, even if Hormuz traffic is resuming. That's the concern we have.

RADDATZ:  And if not, just quickly, if they don't get this deal, how bad could things be?

MCNALLY:  Martha, if there's no deal and we see a prolonged disruption of most of that 20 million barrels a day that used to flow through Hormuz, and we get into the summer with those depleted shock absorbers, I'm very concerned we could see oil prices skyrocket later this summer with crude oil prices heading well into the mid to high $100 range, and gasoline pump prices heading back to all-time highs around $5 a gallon.

It would be really bad news for the American economy, the global economy, for our consumers, if we don't get a deal and Hormuz remains closed through the summer.

RADDATZ: We will all hope we get some sort of a deal.

Thanks so very much, Mr. McNally.

We'll have more from the Middle East on the prospects for peace later in the program. But we'll head back to Washington and the roundtable when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

RADDATZ: It is a busy day in Washington. And for more on this Flag Day, the president's 80th birthday, let's send it back to my co-anchor, Jonathan Karl.

Hey, Jon.

JONATHAN KARL, CO-HOST, THIS WEEK: Hey, Martha. Thank you.

I'm here in Washington with the roundtable. We are back in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARCO RUBIO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE:  When President Kennedy announced that we were going to put a man on the moon and return him safely to the Earth, no one thought that was possible and we did it. We are a nation founded on doing what no one else dared to do and no one else aspired to do. And at some level, that's what this whole company, what UFC has been.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KARL:  All right. Let's bring in the roundtable. Former DNC chair Donna Brazile; Bernie Sanders 2020 campaign manager Faiz Shakir; former North Carolina Congressman Patrick McHenry; and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.

So, Governor, let's start right there. The Secretary of State, National Security Advisor, archivist, Marco Rubio, compared UFC at some level to the moon landing.

What do you make of the festivities here for the president's 80th birthday?

CHRIS CHRISTIE, (R) FORMER NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR & ABC NEWS CONTRIBUTOR:  Let me just start off by saying I have my blue shirt and my orange tie on this morning.

KARL:  Yes.

CHRISTIE:  Let's go Knicks.

(LAUGHTER)

CHRISTIE:  You know, I obviously have been witness to a lot of interesting things that --

KARL:  Yes.

CHRISTIE:  -- Marco Rubio has said over the -- over the decade or so.

And, you know, this is the poison of working for Donald Trump that you think you have to get. Every time you get behind a microphone, you've got to figure out a way to kiss his behind. And so here he is talking on UFC being comparable to landing a man on the moon.

KARL:  At some level, he said. He didn't say which level.

CHRISTIE:  I don't care what level we're talking about, Jon. There's nothing comparable to it.

But this is part of the Trump obsession. He wants -- and these guys know this. And Marco knows it. Any time he can be mentioned in the same sentence with President Kennedy, he is -- his heart swells.

He believes he's in the status of the greatest president.

(CROSSTALK)

KARL:  Can you -- you just give me my segue. So, can we -- I think we have a live picture. Can you guys pull it up of the front of the Kennedy Center right now? If you see, I wish we could zoom in a little bit there.

But that is a tarp -- a shroud, I guess we could call it -- covering the name, the Kennedy, -- the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Arts.

The name came down, Donna.

DONNA BRAZILE, FORMER DNC CHAIR & ABC NEWS CONTRIBUTOR:  It came down.

KARL:  But -- but the shroud has not come down.

BRAZILE:  The shroud -- the shroud will likely come down probably after the fight, after the festivities and after the fireworks. Look, the president is the chief entertainment officer of the United States of America. I'm convinced of it.

But Joyce Beatty, the congresswoman from Ohio's third congressional district, deserve a lot of credit.

KARL: Ex officio member of the board.

BRAZILE:  Ex officio, several members of Congress, ex officio. But when she was silenced, a muted at a board meeting back in December held at Mar-a-Lago, she objected. She objected. They decide -- decide to silence her.

So she went one step further. She -- she went and protested, but she also filed a lawsuit. She won the legal challenge. And Joyce Beatty was there when she saw those letters come down.

Now, I'm a little petty this morning. I would like to see if I could retrieve the D, the O, the N -- the N and A. Let me put it on my garage so I can be famous --

KARL:  All right. But -- Faiz, at a serious level, I mean -- look, the president's name on the front of a building probably isn't the most significant thing in the world. Bringing it down probably doesn't maybe matter all that much.

But what -- what is the significance? I mean, there's clearly a symbolic value. Obviously, President Trump tried mightily and I mean mightily -- two legal challenges in the last 24 hours before it came down to keep his name on that building.

But what's the significance of it coming down?

FAIZ SHAKIR, BERNIE SANDERS 2020 CAMPAIGN MANAGER & ABC NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Well, we obviously have a president, as Governor Christie mentioned, that is interested in grandiosity of himself at the expense of the American public. And you see that the way in which he utilizes power, I mean, that's what I think many Americans are wondering. How do you wake up every day wielding power for me?

Well, you don't you worry about yourself and at the same time, when you think of the USC fight tonight, many people don't know this, but that, you know, Dana White who's introduced Trump at the RNC Convention is getting a huge public benefit from this. The White House is going to bestow on to UFC, a private entity, an amazing gift.

And out of this, they got a deal with Paramount, you might have seen, I think $7-plus billion deal as a sponsorship.

KARL:  Right.

SHAKIR:  Who do you think is helping make that happen? At the same time, the Paramount is seeking approval for its merger with the Trump administration. There's a corrupt deal happening at the biggest levels among the billionaire class to increase their wealth at the expense of many people are suffering greatly right now.

PATRICK MCHENRY, (R) FORMER NORTH CAROLINA CONGRESSMAN:  I kind of roll my eyes at this. Look, of the outrages, these are like the least among them, as far as being upset with the administration, with the president. The American people don't care, right? This -- the fact that we have Washington, D.C. stories that captivate the attention of the Washington Press Corps and tie them down rather than covering bigger issues or different issues, that is the purpose of many of these acts.

But we see with UFC tonight, what we see with all the festivities here in Washington, D.C. for the 250th Anniversary of America is a celebration of America and American greatness. That's what people see and the president loves the entertainment value, exactly to Donna's point, of captivating attention in a non-political way and that's what you see with this -- the major claw that is sitting on the White House lawn tonight and the entertainment value of that. It captivates American people's attention in a way that is separate from politics.

KARL:  All right, let me just change topics here to Todd Blanche. We saw Todd Blanche, the Acting Attorney General of the United States, this week, was nominated, formally nominated to become the Attorney General. So I know you have some thoughts on this, Governor Christie, but I want to play something that Blanche said just a few weeks ago. It didn't really get -- didn't get much attention, but listen to what he said about the 2020 election.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TODD BLANCHE, ACTING ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES:  There's a ton of evidence that the election was rigged. That's not something the DOJ needs to -- needs to tell you about. There's been evidence about that for many, many years. What I can tell you is that we have multiple investigations going on. By the way, this is very difficult because they're very good. They're very good at hiding up misconduct and hiding what they're doing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KARL:  OK, so first of all, there isn't a ton of evidence that the 2020 election was rigged. I actually did the first interview with the guy that was attorney general at the time, Bill Barr after he left office, and he did look into it, and he said the exact opposite message, was there's no evidence that the election was rigged.

But what do you make of that, Governor Christie, that the guy that is going to be -- the Senate is going to vote on is echoing something that was shot down by Trump's former attorney general and by many, many courts and many others that have looked into it?

CHRISTIE:  Well, we know famously what word Bill Barr used in the Oval Office when the president pressed him on whether there was evidence, and it was bull with the rest of the word --

KARL:  Yeah.

CHRISTIE:  -- filled in by the very blunt former attorney general. Look, and I agree with Patrick a bit about the eye rolling on some of this entertainment stuff that Donna talked about, because this is the important stuff, OK? When you see Marco Rubio, now you see Todd Blanche, the Acting Attorney General, they're all obsessed with saying things that will keep them in power.

And the only way to keep themselves in power is to do and say whatever Donald Trump wants, regardless of the fact (ph) --

(CROSSTALK)

KARL:  Because Todd Blanche can't believe that the election was rigged.

CHRISTIE:  No, no, but look, Todd Blanche knows one thing, He never in his wildest dreams thought he could be Attorney General of the United States and now here he is. So there's in that power, I've been in that building a lot, Jon, over my career, been on the fifth floor where the attorney general sits, looked at the portraits of all the previous attorneys general on the walls, and it is intoxicating. And Todd Blanche's comments can only be attributed to power intoxication and his willingness to want to stay. And it is the corruption of the rule of law of the Department of Justice that's much more important than whatever's going to happen on the South Lawn of the White House.

BRAZILE:  OK. Here's a rub -- here's the rub. And now that he's been formally nominated by the president, he has to go through this period where he has to submit his paperwork. I'm sure it's still fresh from what he submitted last year.

He goes before the Senate Judiciary Committee. I'm sure Mr. Grassley will try to schedule something in July and get him confirmed before the August recess, but two problems. And one, Mr. Tillis who has said very bluntly that he is not interested in re-litigating the 2020

election and bringing up election deniers and so forth. And also, I think he has to also deal with the fact that there are other Republican senators who may have a concern on the Judiciary Committee. That's before he goes before the --

(CROSSTALK)

KARL: The brave Ducks, the people that lost --

MCHENRY: But it's 12-10.

BRAZILE: And Mr. Cornyn --

MCHENRY: -- Committee is a 12-10 ratio. The two very important folks for this are retiring, or one lost John Cornyn, and Thom Tillis.

BRAZILE: Right.

MCHENRY: They will have a say. They both voted to confirm him as deputy attorney general.

KARL: That's before he interviewed Glenn Maxwell, before all --

MCHENRY: So then you have the hangover of Epstein. You have the hangover effect of the weaponization fund, the victims' compensation fund. And so they need to get some level of certainty that he's going to perform to their specifications. And if not --

KARL: Does he get confirmed?

MCHENRY: Yes, he does get confirmed because they get assurances of his actions.

CHRISTIE: I think it's close. The big thing, Susan Collins.

KARL: All right. That is a huge question.

All right. We have to take a quick break. When we come back, we will be back with Martha in Jerusalem with a look how ordinary people caught in the middle of a war they did not asked for.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

RADDATZ: Finally, here in this region, which is no stranger to conflict, we're hearing a common refrain from the people in the middle of the war they did not ask for -- a hope for peace.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RADDATZ (voice-over): More than one hundred days into this war, here in Israel, in Iran, and throughout the region, uncertainty remains. But there is always hope.

SHIRA JUDITH SCHLAFF, AMERICAN-ISRAELI: I think that the bigger vision of peace is in our minds and helps us get through the difficult -- the more difficult times.

RADDATZ (voice-over): Born and raised in the U.S., Shira Schlaff and Jordana Amsel both moved to Israel as adults to raise their families here. They say they are skeptical whether ending the war now would be worth it.

JORDANIA AMSEL, AMERICAN-ISRAELI: I want the suffering that we went through to be worth something. And I think a lot of Israelis do, and I'm nervous, honestly, that this deal won't protect Israel and the broader Middle East. And honestly, the world.

SCHLAFF: I personally would rather suffer through more time in the bomb shelter and have a more lasting peace.

RADDATZ (voice-over): Iran this week carrying out strikes in Israel for the first time in two months over continued fighting in Lebanon. Nearly 30 missiles fired into Israel, most of them intercepted, but some still getting through.

This is all that is left of one of those Iranian missiles and the shrapnel that surrounds it. You can see how the Israelis quickly dragged it away.

RADDATZ (voice-over):  The conflict between the Iranian-backed militant group, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Israel, putting civilians on both sides in the crosshairs. The Furn El Chebbak Intermediate School is one of hundreds across Lebanon turned into shelters for displaced families.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator):  I mean, I am not happy because we are far from our home, and I wish we returned to our home. God willing, we will return.

RADDATZ (voice-over):  Inside of Iran, 12-year-old Sana (ph) is around the same age as the nearly 120 schoolgirls who were killed at an elementary school in the southern Iranian city of Minab at the start of the war, when the U.S. was pounding this area.

The Trump administration has not offered an update on its investigation into whether it was a U.S. missile that hit the school.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator):  On the first day of the war, we were all at school. Then near our school, something was hit. They told us to go to a shelter, but there were so many of us, around 200, that we couldn't fit.

RADDATZ (voice-over):  And 107 days into this conflict, with a deal possible on the horizon, questions here in Israel about whether anything would really change with the deal.

RADDATZ:  So you think we're worse off now than before?

DANNY CITRINOWICZ, FORMER ISRAELI DEFENSE INTELLIGENCE OFFICIAL:  Definitely worse. I'm not saying that Ali Khamenei was a saint. He wasn't a saint, and he wasn't a Zionist. But he was risk-averse in terms of using the Iranian capabilities.

RADDATZ (voice-over):  The scars here in Israel run deep.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE:  Life since October 7th has been really challenging. It's been scary, and it's been really hard to navigate. And I think we're all praying and hoping for peace.

RADDATZ (voice-over):  And inside of Gaza late Friday, by a beach where people go to try to escape it all, there are deep scars as well, and a similar message.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator):  We want to get rid of the wars in the Middle East and live a decent and happy life, and for everyone to just earn their living. I wish for peace, tranquility, and a decent life for everyone.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RADDATZ (on camera):  And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

RADDATZ:  That's all for us today from here in Jerusalem. Thanks for sharing part of your Sunday with us. Check out "World News Tonight," and have a great day.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)