Velshi: Trump about to face down adversary China, 'weakened, overextended' and stuck in his Iran war

0:02 into a critical meeting with China

0:03 but he's weakened and he's overextended and he's still stuck in a war in Iran

0:08 that's actively reshaping global power away from Washington.

0:11 This is a war that's now stretching into its

0:14 11th week with no clear end in sight

0:16 as it drains American resources and strains diplomatic ties

0:20 just two days before this high-stakes meeting with China, our biggest adversary.

0:25 For generations Americans understood the presidency carried

0:28 a unique responsibility in moments of international crisis.

0:32 Not just to command the military but to clearly

0:35 explain and guide and reassure the public

0:37 and America's allies that there is a coherent

0:41 strategy behind the deployment of American power.

0:44 But as Trump prepares for this upcoming two-day summit with the leader of China,

0:48 Xi Jinping, he hasn't done any of that.

0:51 And it's hurting our standing in the world.

0:53 And today on day 72 of Donald Trump's war in Iran,

0:57 China now sees the United States as a quote giant with a limp, end quote.

1:02 The New York Times reports, quote,

1:04 to some Chinese military and geopolitical analysts,

1:07 the war has done more than deplete U .S.

1:10 munitions stockpiles.

1:11 It has also shattered America's aura of dominance.

1:14 They argue that it's exposed a major flaw in U .S.

1:18 war strategy, its inability to make weapons quickly enough

1:21 to replenish its arsenal in a sustained intense conflict.

1:25 This depletion has significantly diminished the U .S.

1:28 military's ability to project its combat power,

1:31 laying bare the shortcomings of its global military hegemony,

1:35 said Yue Gang, a retired colonel

1:37 of the People's Liberation Army in an interview.

1:40 The Atlantic warns that Washington may be no longer capable of reversing

1:44 or even controlling the consequences of America losing the war in Iran.

1:49 Quote, there will be no return to the status quo ante,

1:52 no ultimate American triumph that will undo or overcome the harm done.

1:57 The Strait of Hormuz will not be open as it once was.

2:01 With control of the Strait, Iran emerges as the key player in the region

2:04 and one of the key players in the world.

2:08 The roles of China and Russia as Iran's allies are strengthened.

2:13 The role of the United States substantially diminished.

2:16 Far from demonstrating American prowess as supporters

2:19 of the war have repeatedly claimed, the conflict has revealed an America that is

2:24 unreliable and incapable of finishing what it started.

2:27 That's going to set off a chain reaction around

2:29 the world as friends and foes adjust to America's failure.

2:33 Even if Trump were to carry out

2:35 his threat to destroy Iran's civilization through more bombing,

2:38 Iran would still be able to launch many missiles

2:41 and drones before its regime went down━assuming it did go down.

2:46 Just a few successful strikes could cripple

2:48 the region's oil and gas infrastructure for years,

2:51 if not for decades, throwing the world

2:53 and the United States into a prolonged economic crisis.

2:55 Even if Trump wanted to bomb Iran as part of an EXIT STRATEGY,

2:59 LOOKING TOUGH AS A WAY OF MASKING HIS RETREAT.

3:02 HE CAN'T DO THAT WITHOUT RISKING THIS CATASTROPHE.

3:06 IF THIS ISN'T CHECKMATE, IT'S CLOSE, END QUOTE.

3:11 THIS ISN'T CHECKMATE, IT'S CLOSE.

3:14 YESTERDAY, DONALD TRUMP REJECTED IRAN'S LATEST PEACE

3:17 PROPOSAL TO END THE WAR, POSTING QUOTE, I'VE JUST READ THE RESPONSE FROM IRAN'S

3:22 SO-CALLED REPRESENTATIVES, I DON'T LIKE IT.

3:24 TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE.

3:26 THE WASHINGTON POST REPORTS, QUOTE,

3:28 IRAN'S NEWS OUTLETS INDICATED THAT THE PROPOSAL WAS

3:31 SIMILAR TO TEHRAN'S POSITION DURING THE PREVIOUS NEGOTIATING EXCHANGE,

3:34 CALLING FOR AN OFFICIAL END TO THE war, the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz,

3:38 withdrawal of all naval vessels enforcing U .S.

3:41 blockade, lifting of U .S.

3:43 sanctions, an effective ceasefire in Lebanon,

3:44 and an additional 30 days of talks to iron out the details.

3:48 Iran has proposed that all discussions of its

3:52 nuclear program be the subject of subsequent negotiations.

3:56 Today, the speaker of Iran's parliament had this message for Donald Trump.

4:00 There is no alternative but to accept the rights

4:03 of the Iranian people as laid out in the 14-point proposal.

4:06 Any other approach will be completely inconclusive,

4:10 nothing but one failure after another.

4:12 The longer they drag their feet, the more American taxpayers will pay for it.

4:17 That came after Donald Trump said this about a ceasefire.

4:22 I would say the ceasefire is on massive life

4:26 support where the The doctor walks in and says,

4:30 sir, your loved one has approximately a 1% chance of living.

4:38 During what was supposed to be a maternal health care event in the Oval Office,

4:42 Donald Trump launched into a meandering and at sometimes surreal monologue

4:46 after he was asked about this really important upcoming trip to China.

4:50 Trump began by saying that he has a great

4:52 relationship with President THEN HE WENT ON TO CALL

4:56 IRANIAN LEADERS LUNATICS BEFORE MARVELING AT WHAT HE DESCRIBED

4:59 AS THE COOLNESS OF MILITARY OPERATORS INTERCEPTING MISSILES WITHIN seconds.

5:06 We had 111 shot at one of our ships over a very short period of time.

5:11 Out of 111 missiles going at 3 ,000 miles an hour.

5:17 All 111 missiles were knocked down into the ocean prior,

5:22 long prior to arriving at the target.

5:26 And the cool guys, the coolest guys are the guys that do this, you know?

5:30 They're not growing their brain.

5:31 They sit there, missile shot.

5:34 You're going to see it happening.

5:35 Missiles coming.

5:36 They got like about 13 seconds to make a decision.

5:39 It's not like, gee, let's figure it out.

5:41 They make a wrong calculation you know you lose them

5:45 a lot of men a lot of men and a lot

5:49 of billion dollars times ten ships so but there's

5:53 a level of coolness that missile shot meant they'd look,

5:58 And you know, they're going, heading 47 degrees north,

6:05 1 ,300 feet, going 3 ,000 miles an hour.

6:10 Okay, we have it in our side.

6:12 Fire, boom.

6:15 10 seconds left.

6:17 Let me tell you, they need smart people.

6:20 These people are smart.

6:21 And they're so smart that they're cool.

6:27 To be clear, nobody disputes the extraordinary skill

6:30 of American service members operating missile defense systems under pressure.

6:34 But But what Americans heard from the president today was not clarity.

6:37 The lack of clarity from the president

6:39 of the United States carries consequences.

6:41 Today, The Atlantic's Vivian Salama writes, quote,

6:43 In the past, Trump supporters and even many U .S.

6:45 allies viewed Trump's famous unpredictability as unorthodox,

6:49 but at times effective.

6:51 A useful means of wrong footing opponents or shaking up the tired status quo.

6:56 Many now see something more unsettling in Trump's international relations,

7:00 including in the 10-week war.

7:01 What was once viewed as strategic

7:04 unpredictability now feels like destabilizing unreliability.

7:10 Leading off our discussion tonight is