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We’re back now with Republican Congressman Mike Turner. Thank you for coming back to town early to talk to us in person.

REP. MIKE TURNER: Thank you.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Let’s start on our polling, because you, like many people right now, are running for re-election.

REP. TURNER: Right

MARGARET BRENNAN: You look at these- this poll, 64% of the American people disapprove of the war. 62% say the President has no clear plan. There are these negative perceptions of the president’s handling of the economy and inflation. Dayton isn’t immune. Gas prices up a buck from where they were same time last year. How are you explaining to people in your district that this war is worth it?

REP. TURNER: Well, first off, no- no conflict ever polls well. I mean, when there’s a conflict occurring, no one says it’s being handled well, because you have to go through the conflict. The president has articulated, I think, very well, that this is about ensuring that Iran does not become a nuclear state. And no one is willing to trade lower gas prices for Iran becoming a nuclear state. And when Vice President Vance stood at the podium and said that the negotiations had broken off because Iran was not willing to declare that they would not become a nuclear state. That should have sent a chill, both through Europe and around the world. And I think you know for everyone, because that truly is what this is- is about. That- that puts away what you know, what Senator Warner was trying to dismissively say, that this was not an imminent threat, and what everyone else has been saying in Europe and around the world.

What to know about the Iran war:
Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, said the U.S. “was unable to gain the trust of the Iranian delegation” during the first round of peace negotiations “and now it must decide whether it can earn our trust or not.”
Vice President JD Vance told reporters an agreement wasn’t reached during marathon face-to-face talks between U.S. officials and Iranian and Pakistani negotiators in Islamabad. He said the Iranians “have chosen not to accept our terms.”
President Trump said Sunday that the U.S. will begin blockading ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

1:55 AM / April 13, 2026
Iran executed at least 1,639 people in 2025, most since 1989: NGOs
Iranian authorities executed at least 1,639 people in 2025, the highest number since 1989, two non-governmental organizations said Monday, warning it risked using capital punishment even more extensively after protests in January and the war against Israel and the U.S.

The number of executions represented an increase of 68 percent from the 975 people Iran put to death in 2024 and included 48 women who were hanged, the Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) and Paris-based Together Against the Death Penalty (ECPM) said in their annual joint report.

If the Islamic Republic “survives the current crisis, there is a serious risk that executions will be used even more extensively as a tool of oppression and repression,” the report said.

IHR — which requires two sources to confirm an execution, the majority of which are not reported in Iranian official media — said the figure represented an “absolute minimum” for the number of hangings in 2025.

The figure amounted to an average of more than four executions per day.

The report said the number of executions was by far the highest since IHR began tracking it in 2008 and was the most reported since 1989, in the earlier years of the Islamic revolution.

The NGOs also warned that “hundreds of detained protesters remain at risk of death sentences and execution” after being charged with capital crimes over January 2026 protests against the authorities — quashed by a crackdown that rights groups say left thousands dead and tens of thousands arrested.

“By creating fear through an average of four to five executions per day in 2025, authorities tried to prevent new protests and prolong their crumbling rule,” said IHR director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam.

A California man who co-founded one of Mexico’s most powerful and violent drug cartels pleaded guilty on Tuesday in the U.S. to a federal narcotics conspiracy charge.

Erick Valencia Salazar formed the Jalisco New Generation Cartel with Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, the drug lord known as “El Mencho” who was killed by the Mexican army in February.

Valencia Salazar, 49, of Santa Clara, California, faces a mandatory-minimum prison sentence of 10 years and a maximum of life in prison after pleading guilty in Washington, D.C., to one count of conspiring to distribute cocaine for U.S. importation. Chief Judge James Boasberg is scheduled to sentence him on July 31.

Valencia Salazar was a member of the Milenio Cartel before he and Oseguera Cervantes founded the Jalisco cartel, which is known by its Spanish-language acronym CJNG. Hundreds of CJNG members reported to Valencia Salazar, whose duties included recruitment and obtaining information about cartel rivals, prosecutors said.

“He also used information about rival cartels to locate and kill CJNG’s enemies and gain control of all drug trafficking operations in particular territories in Mexico,” the Justice Department said in a news release.

Valencia Salazar, also known as “El 85,” formed his own cartel, La Nueva Plaza, after parting ways with “El Mencho,” who led the CJNG until his death.

A. Tysen Duva, the assistant attorney general in charge of the Justice Department’s criminal division, said the CJNG has inflicted “immeasurable damage” on the U.S.

“Valencia Salazar was also responsible for furthering the rampant violence in Mexico, at the expense of people’s lives and the safety of communities, that helped destabilize the region and allow crime to flourish,” Duva said in a statement.

A grand jury indicted Valencia Salazar on the conspiracy charge in 2018. In February 2025, Mexican authorities sent him to the U.S. as part of an initial group of 29 drug lords.

Last year, President Trump’s administration designated the CJNG and other cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.

Valencia Salazar was arrested twice in Mexico. The first time was in 2012, when he was detained by the military in the municipality of Zapopan, near Guadalajara, the capital of the state of Jalisco.

Five years later, he was released from prison by order of a judge who cited alleged procedural flaws. In 2022, the Army recaptured him in the town of Tapalpa, the same place where “El Mencho” was captured and killed.

The U.S. State Department had offered a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to Valencia Salazar’s arrest or conviction.

“El Mencho” — who had a $15 million U.S. bounty on his head — died from multiple bullet wounds during the military raid in February, according to the death certificate obtained by The Associated Press.

A crucifix, religious candles and a handwritten psalm were found in Oseguera Cervante’s home after the operation. Mexican authorities said they tracked one of his romantic partners to the hideout.

The killing set off violence in some 20 Mexican states. Over 70 people, including 25 Mexican National Guard troops, were killed during the operation and subsequent clashes between the security forces and CJNG gunmen.

Last month, “El Mencho” was buried in a shiny golden casket with enormous flower wreaths and a large military presence.

After nearly two decades in power, Hungary’s far-right prime minister Viktor Orbán could be ousted as leader in the country’s parliamentary elections on Sunday.

The latest polls indicate that Orbán, a key international ally of President Trump, and his ruling Fidesz party are trailing the opposition center-right Tisza Party and its leader Péter Magyar in an election that will be closely watched by observers on both sides of the Atlantic.

Independent watchdogs and European Union officials have accused Orbán’s government of launching a sustained assault on the country’s democratic institutions and rule of law since he took office in 2010. In the 16 years since he took office, the country has descended to the rank of most corrupt country in the European Union, according to the U.K.-based anti-corruption group Transparency International.

Orbán has used his party’s current supermajority in Hungarian parliament to undermine the independence of the judiciary, crack down on independent media, demonize migrants and discriminate against LGBTQ people, Human Rights Watch has said. Orbán has also become known for making publicly xenophobic and racist statements, calling refugees “Muslim invaders” and saying Hungarians do not want to become a “mixed race.”

Freedom House, a democracy-oriented U.S.-based nonprofit, has designated Hungary as only “partly free,” citing issues with less-than-free-and-fair elections and a stifling of independent institutions under Orbán’s leadership.

Despite concerns over Democratic backsliding in the country, a Thursday poll conducted by the independent pro-democracy research group the IDEA Institute showed that Orbán’s Fidesz party had the support of only 37% of decided voters. The center-right Tisza party has the support of 50% of decided voters, according to the poll.

Could Trump lose a key ally?
Orbán has been one of President Trump’s closest global allies since Mr. Trump was first elected as U.S. president in 2016. He was the only European Union leader to publicly endorse Mr. Trump’s first successful bid for the presidency, and the relationship has deepened between the two men over the past decade.

On Thursday, Mr. Trump gave a full-throated endorsement of the Hungarian leader on Truth Social.

“Highly Respected Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orbán, is a truly strong and powerful Leader, with a proven track record of delivering phenomenal results,” Mr. Trump wrote. “Viktor works hard to Protect Hungary, Grow the Economy, Create Jobs, Promote Trade, Stop Illegal Immigration, and Ensure LAW AND ORDER!”

The partnership between the Trump administration and Orbán was on full display Tuesday when Vice President JD Vance publicly campaigned alongside the Hungarian leader in Budapest.

Russia and Ukraine accused each other of violating a Kremlin-declared Easter ceasefire on Sunday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday declared a 32-hour ceasefire over the Orthodox Easter weekend, ordering Russian forces to halt hostilities from 4 p.m. on Saturday until the end of Sunday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy promised to abide by the ceasefire but warned of a swift military response to any violations.

Ukraine’s armed forces said in a statement Sunday that it had recorded 2,299 ceasefire violations by 7 a.m., including assaults, shelling and small drone launches.

“Specifically: 28 enemy assault actions, 479 enemy shellings, 747 strikes by attack drones… and 1,045 strikes by FPV drones,” the Ukrainian military’s general staff said in a post on Facebook.

Meanwhile, Russia’s Defense Ministry said Sunday that it recorded 1,971 ceasefire violations, including drone strikes. It claimed Kyiv had fired 258 times using artillery or tanks, carried out 1,329 FPV drone strikes, and dropped “various types of munitions” on 375 occasions.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, in an interview that aired Sunday, said Russia would not extend the temporary truce unless Zelenskyy accepts its terms, the Agence France-Presse reported, citing Russian news agencies.

“Sustainable peace can come when we secure our interests and achieve the goals we set from the very start. This can be done literally today. But Zelensky must accept these well-known solutions,” Peskov was quoted as saying. “Until Zelensky musters the courage to assume this responsibility, the special military operation will continue after the truce expires.”

Recent months have seen several rounds of U.S.-brokered negotiations fail to bring the warring parties closer to an agreement to stop the fighting, triggered by Russia’s February 2022 invasion. The process has stalled further since the outbreak of the war in the Middle East.

Outside Kyiv, thousands gathered at an open-air national heritage park to celebrate Easter despite skepticism that a truce would hold.