Chuck Todd opens with a brutal verdict on the emerging Iran "deal": it's just a worse version of the Obama agreement Trump once tore up, Iran has effectively avoided every stated goal Trump and Israel set out to achieve, and Tehran retains control of the Strait of Hormuz — meaning this is unambiguously a loss for the United States, no matter how the administration tries to spin it. He argues Trump bit off far more than he could chew, that Bibi Netanyahu put his faith into Donald Trump (which never ends well), and that America's standing has been diminished in ways that will reverberate for years. Iran's regime won't be able to repress its own people forever, He notes, but the window to actually topple it during the protests was missed — and Gulf state allies will now be dealing with the Iranians for much longer than they bargained for, having quietly hoped the U.S. and Israel would do their dirty work for them. The political damage at home is just as severe. He cites the Wall Street Journal christening the past seven days as "the week that broke Trump's hold on Congress," with the president now underwater on every single issue, consumer confidence unlikely to recover before the midterms, the Senate unable to fund DHS through reconciliation because Trump makes bipartisan solutions impossible, and his January 6th slush fund producing a backlash that won't go away — with Republican senators visibly wavering. Chuck's verdict on the lame duck arriving early: this is a failed first two years of the Trump presidency, and the stronger his grip on the party, the weaker that party becomes in general elections. He blasts Todd Blanche for turning the DOJ into Trump's personal legal team (Blanche should be impeached, Todd argues, and nothing coming out of this DOJ can be trusted), tears into the long-awaited DNC autopsy of the 2024 loss as paralyzed, tone-deaf, and poorly thought-out — naming Ken Martin as the wrong person to lead the DNC and noting that the simple truth Democrats can't bring themselves to face is that the party is perceived as too liberal in a country with more conservatives than progressives. He flags Mike Duggan dropping out of the Michigan governor's race after his hoped-for contentious Democratic primary never materialized, and Tulsi Gabbard's resignation as DNI proving that the position itself was never really necessary

Then, former Marine sniper AJ Pasciuti — author of the new book Dark Horse and host of the Combat Story podcast — joins the Chuck Toddcast for one of the most riveting and clear-eyed conversations about military service, leadership, and the realities of modern war. Pasciuti was 16 years old on September 11th, enlisted at 17, and eventually became the Marine who led the team that killed "Juba" — the notorious Iraqi sniper who uploaded videos of his American kills to the internet to taunt the U.S. military. He walks listeners through the entire hunt: how Marines studied Juba's uploaded footage to identify his patterns, how the team set a trap, how Pasciuti spotted Juba in his hide by catching the glint off the lens of a Sony Handycam, and how he knew within minutes that they'd gotten him — while emphasizing that he may have pulled the trigger but it was an entire team that brought Juba down. Pasciuti reflects on the strange experience of fighting enemies who saw themselves as freedom fighters rather than terrorists, why attention to detail is the trait that weeds out most sniper candidates, and how snipers are ultimately meant to combat the enemy emotionally as much as physically.

The conversation broadens into a sweeping meditation on what military service teaches you about America — and where Pasciuti worries the country is heading. He calls the military one of the last bastions of the American dream, where opportunity is real but has to be earned, and argues that a culture promoting service to the greater good over the accumulation of wealth would make America measurably healthier.. Pasciuti is openly worried about political leadership infecting the values of the military, makes the case that empathy must be viewed as a strength rather than a weakness in military leadership, and insists his book is political but not partisan — it's about values. He offers a vital warning that the Taliban proved asymmetrical warfare can defeat a stronger foe, that drone warfare is dangerously dehumanizing combat by reducing casualties to dollars and cents, and that the most important thing any soldier carries home is their soul intact — something he says becomes harder every year as the social contract between America and its veterans erodes. Pasciuti describes seeing fear rather than hatred in the eyes of a dying enemy combatant, a moment that has stayed with him, and explains why he can't support any politician who describes a political opponent as an enemy. He shares his experience running for city council and personally knocking on thousands of doors, his frustration with the financial barriers to entry in modern politics, and his belief that current discourse simply doesn't allow for real dialogue. He closes with the most powerful observation of the episode, made for Memorial Day: the holiday isn't about those who came home — it's about those who didn't — and anyone calling for war should be required to first sit down and have a conversation with a Gold Star family.

Finally, Chuck hops into the ToddCast Time Machine for a thoughtful Memorial Day reflection on how countries honor their war dead — and how the rituals they choose reveal who they understand themselves to be. He traces Memorial Day back to its actual origins in the Civil War and its 600,000 American dead, including the powerful and often-forgotten story of formerly enslaved people who reburied Union soldiers from a mass grave to give them the dignified resting place their country had failed to provide. He explains that the date was chosen not because of a specific battle but because of when flowers bloom, that Southern states kept parallel remembrance traditions for the Confederacy, and that Memorial Day's secondary role as the unofficial start of summer has always made it a uniquely American hybrid of grief and gathering — which, Chuck argues, is actually one of its virtues, because coming together is how communities find common ground. He surveys how other nations approach the same task: WWI created a uniquely Canadian identity around remembrance, Russia centers its V-Day celebrations on WWII triumph as the foundation of national identity, Germany approaches its war dead cautiously and somberly with a deep awareness of historical responsibility, and Japan frames remembrance through loss, peace, and explicit anti-war reflection. His larger argument is that the story and tone of a country's remembrance day reveals exactly how it understands itself — what it celebrates, what it confronts, and what it would rather not look at. He closes with the smallest but most important reminder of the day: you don't say "Happy Memorial Day." He also answers listeners’ questions in the “Ask Chuck” segment.

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Timeline:

(Timestamps may vary based on advertisements)

00:00 Chuck Todd’s introduction

04:00 Pending Iran deal looks like a worse version of Obama’s deal

04:45 Iran looks to have avoided all of Trump + Israel’s stated goals

05:15 Iran retains control of Strait, that means this is a loss for Trump

06:15 Trump is capitulating, and this diminishes America’s standing

07:15 Administration hoping to sweep Iran under the rug in time for the midterms

08:00 Normally, America would be leading Ebola response. Trump destroyed USAID

08:45 Helping with disease outbreaks was about protecting us at home

10:00 Unlikely the Iranian regime will be able to repress their people forever

11:00 Trump bit off more than he could chew and needs an offramp

11:45 Bibi put his faith into Donald Trump, which never goes well

13:00 Trump hires flawed people that could only work for him. Makes them loyal

14:15 Politics infects every decision Trump makes

15:45 Gulf state allies will have to deal with Iran for much longer now

16:30 Missed the window to topple the regime during the protests

18:00 Gulf states were hoping U.S. and Israel would do their dirty work

18:30 Trump was worst possible commander in chief for this moment

19:30 It’s a big loss for Trump, but he had no choice but to end the war

22:00 New polling shows Trump approval tanking, huge generic Dem advantage

23:45 WSJ dubs the past week, “The week the broke Trump’s hold on Congress”

25:00 Trump is underwater on every issue

26:00 It’s highly unlikely consumer confidence will rise before the midterms

27:00 Trump is directly responsible for higher inflation and cost of living

28:00 Senate cannot find way to fund DHS through reconciliation

29:30 Trump makes any bipartisan solution impossible

30:15 Todd Banche is making DOJ Trump’s personal attorneys

31:45 Can’t trust anything this DOJ says. Blanche should be impeached*

33:15 Trump’s J6 slush fund is likely illegal and has GOP senators wavering

34:15 Backlash to slush fund isn’t going away

35:45 The stronger Trump grips the party, the weaker it is in general elections

36:30 The lame duck is here. This a failed first two years of Trump’s presidency

37:15 DNC finally releases autopsy of 2024 election loss

37:45 Ken Martin is the wrong person for the DNC chair. In over his head

38:15 The simple fact of the matter is the party is perceived as too liberal

40:45 There are more conservatives than progressives, need to win the moderates

42:00 Autopsy offering gubernatorial wins as a counterpoint is tone deaf

43:45 Trump’s electoral strength doesn’t translate when he isn’t on ballot

44:30 DNC was in a no-win situation with the autopsy

45:15 Seems like the autopsy was just going through motions, poorly thought out

46:30 DNC is paralyzed, in need of new leadership

48:30 Mike Duggan drops out as independent in MI governor’s race

50:00 Duggan counted on contentious primary & that didn’t happen

52:00 Duggan didn’t want a Republican elected and dropped out

52:30 Tulsi Gabbard resigns. DNI post shown to not be necessary

53:00 The CIA has won the “turf battle” amongst intel agencies

54:30 Gabbard isn’t the first DNI that’s been marginalized.

55:15 It’s easy to eye roll Don Jr & Hunter Biden… Their fathers screwed them up

1:03:30 AJ Pasciuti (Dark Horse) joins the Chuck ToddCast

1:05:30 If you wrote the book 10 years ago, how would it have been different?

1:07:00 You gain extra perspective about “why” when more time has passed

1:07:45 Leadership is currently in very short supply

1:09:45 The book is a love letter and thank you to people who shaped AJ’s life

1:11:45 The military is one of the last bastions of the American dream

1:12:45 Was 16 years old on 9/11 and the attack inspired AJ to enlist at 17

1:13:45 How did you identify that you had the skills to be a sniper?

1:15:15 Gunnery Sgt. Jackson helped set AJ on his trajectory

1:16:00 What is training for a sniper like?

1:17:00 Attention to details is the trait that weeds out most sniper candidates

1:17:45 Snipers have to be self-dependent, must rely on yourself for survival

1:19:00 Snipers are meant to combat the enemy emotionally, scare them

1:19:45 “Juba” may not have been just one enemy sniper & hunted Americans

1:20:15 Juba uploaded videos of sniper kills of Americans to the internet

1:21:00 Watching the videos allowed marines to understand Juba’s patterns

1:21:30 Set up a trap for Juba and Juba fell into it

1:22:30 AJ knew they had killed Juba within minutes

1:23:30 Caught a glint of the lens of a Sony handycam to spot Juba

1:24:45 AJ may have pulled the trigger, but it was an entire team that got him

1:26:15 Marines were shocked that people would fight for a tyrant like Saddam

1:27:00 We viewed the enemies as terrorists, they viewed themselves as freedom fighters

1:28:45 Does the message to the troops today seem different than when you served?

1:29:45 When we send Americans into conflict, it must be for a just cause

1:30:15 There’s a responsibility that comes with having the greatest military in history

1:31:15 Are you worried political leadership is infecting the values of the military?

1:32:15 Leadership needs to project values people are inspired to defend

1:34:00 Military leadership needs to view empathy as a strength, not a weakness

1:35:00 The book is political but not partisan. It’s about values

1:36:45 A culture that promotes services to the greater good is healthier

1:38:30 If the culture promotes service over wealth, we’d be better off

1:39:00 Mandatory service in Israel has helped to bond their society

1:41:30 Service strips away the illusion that we succeed alone

1:42:45 Veterans aren’t easily categorized in their politics

1:43:30 Military provides an opportunity, but you have to earn it

1:45:30 Competitive advantage for the military is to think, adapt & react quicker

1:46:45 Marine culture should create soldiers that are problem solvers

1:47:45 Taliban found that asymmetrical warfare could defeat a stronger foe

1:50:00 We have to better prepare for asymmetrical warfare

1:50:45 The American Revolution was fought with asymmetrical warfare

1:51:30 Drone warfare dehumanizes war. Casualties counted in dollars and cents

1:52:45 War is a chess game, and modern tech has leveled the playing field

1:54:45 Have to avoid being dehumanized by war

1:55:30 Saw an enemy combatant dying, saw fear in his eyes, not hatred

1:56:15 Wrote the book not to glorify war, but to tell the realities of it

1:57:45 The hardest part of coming home was doing so with your soul intact

1:59:00 The social contract with our soldiers must be protected

2:00:15 How are you able to publicly express your experience when many can’t?

2:02:30 Can’t support someone that says a political opponent is an enemy

2:03:30 Tell us about your podcast “Combat Story”

2:05:00 Ran for city council, personally knocked on thousands of doors

2:06:30 Our current politics doesn’t allow for dialogue

2:08:45 There’s a financial barrier to entry into politics

2:11:30 Memorial Day is tough, it’s about those who didn’t come home

2:12:00 Anyone calling for war should have a conversation with a gold star family 

2:15:15 Chuck’s thoughts on interview with AJ Pasciuti

2:16:00 ToddCast Time Machine

2:16:30 Every country honors war dead, but don’t do it the same way

2:17:15 Memorial Day was borne out of the civil war and 600k Americans dead

2:18:00 Formally enslaved people reburied union soldiers from mass grave

2:18:45 Holiday is also about who gets remembered in our national story

2:19:15 Date was chosen due to flowers blooming & not a specific battle

2:20:30 Southern states kept remembrance traditions for the confederacy

2:21:15 Memorial Day also marks the unofficial start of summer

2:21:45 Gathering together is an important way to find common ground

2:22:45 Different memorial traditions & rituals in other countries

2:23:30 WW1 created a unique identity in Canada

2:24:00 Russia celebrates V-Day, triumph in WW2 central to identity

2:24:45 Germany remembers war cautiously and somberly

2:25:30 Japan remembers war through loss, peace and anti-war reflection

2:26:15 Other memorial rituals around the world

2:27:45 Story and tone of remembrance days are how countries view themselves

2:28:45 You don’t say “Happy Memorial Day”

2:30:00 Ask Chuck

2:30:15 Isn’t it odd that we know so little about attempted Trump assassins?

2:37:00 Why didn’t Dems lean into “Trump Lie Trackers” more in campaigns?

2:41:00 Does the “Epstein Class” framing feel stronger than the “1%”?

2:45:00 Did “No Child Left Behind” do real damage to civics education?

2:51:15 Does the 2.5 swing in presidential elections show most voters are locked in?

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