Welcome to The Sunday Show. Im jonathan. We are following Breaking News out of iran. Earlier today, a helicopter carrying iranian president crash landed in a mountainous region in the countrys northwest north of order with azerbaijan. Irans for their Foreign Minister and other State Officials were also on board. According to media reports, rescuers have had a hard time reaching the crash site due to poor weather and heavy fog in the area. At this hour, there is still no word on the president s condition. However, rescuers have reportedly pinpointed the location of the downed chopper and made contact with two of the passengers. Joining me now, nbc news Correspondent Josh whose following developments on this story. Life for us in london, josh, whats the latest on the Rescue Efforts . Well, this is the early hours of the morning in iran and, jonathan, it is been nearly 12 hours since we believe that that plane went down and we still do not know i should say helicopter, not plane. The fate of the helicopter, the president or the Foreign Minister was also bored the helicopter as they were returning from a visit near the border with azerbaijan. As you mentioned, two people on the helicopter have made contact with the rescue authorities. That is according to irans Executive Vice Minister who is not actually said what he learned or what rescue officials learned from the individuals about the fate of the people who are on board. We know that dozens of Search And Rescue teams are looking for the helicopter. We learned recently they have pinpointed the location despite the intense fog, the bad weather that both was cited as a key reason for that helicopter going down and also has been complicated the search and Rescue Efforts over the past many hours, jonathan. Just to emphasize a point you made about it being in the middle of the night just for viewers, it is 1 32 a. M. In iran right now. One more question for you, josh, what is been the reaction from the iranian government and the International Community to what is happening there. Well, the iranian government has urged everyone to pray for the Foreign Minister, for the president , and others who were on board. That is certainly a cause for concern. Weve heard from the Supreme Leader, the key decisionmaker in iran. Who said that while he does want people to pray for their safe return, he is also urging calm telling everyone no matter what happens, the work of irans government will continue unabated. We are starting hear from other governments as Well Including president putins russia who says that russia is sending two planes along with helicopters and about the Search And Rescue individuals to help with the effort in iran. Of course, russia and iran are close partners. They have collaborated to Supply Weapons for russias war in ukraine and in the u. S. We have heard from Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer who says he was briefed by intelligence officials in the u. S. And so far according to them he says there are no signs of foul play, simply bad weather that led to a very unfortunate incident. All right. Nbc news is Josh Letterman coming to us live from monday. Thank you so much for that update, that report. Now lets turn to the executive Vice President at Quincy Institute and author of the book losing an enemy, obama, iran and the triumph of diplomacy. Its great to see you again. There is a lot we still dont know. Im just wondering, what would happen next if iranian authorities were to announce that president raisi died in the crash . If they announce tomorrow that he actually has been killed in that crash than the Vice President , the first Vice President will take over. Only then interim because they will be Holding Elections within the next 50 days. That will be a challenge. Elections have dropped dramatically the last couple of years. There were parliamentary elections just a week or so ago and the capital of tehran only 7 participated. This is largely because the population have lost faith that change really can come through the ballot box as long as hardliners do not allow candidates that are not in line with the hardliners to be able to stand for the election. It will be a very challenging task for them when it comes to Holding Elections that will have the population participate. This is interesting because im sitting here wondering, in the Power Structure of iran, who actually runs the country . Is it the president or is it Supreme Leader ali who has been in place since 1989 . So, ultimately, the power really lies with the Supreme Leader. The Supreme Leader is not supreme in the sense that he can overrule Everyone Else in the system. Others do have powers as well. The presidency, on the normal circumstances, is quite a powerful position. But on raisi, i dont think it has yet. He has not made his mark. Its largely because he is in line with the Supreme Leader. Its not clear to what extent hes driving his own line or if hes acting on behalf of the Supreme Leader. The reason why his death nevertheless will be impactful is precisely because of the coming elections as well as the fact that he was a candidate. Perhaps even a leading candidate, to take over from the super and current Supreme Leader. Thats an important factor in all this. What is president raisis relationship, like, with the west . And the United States in particular . Well, under his president ship, again, its not driven by him by by the larger constructive grouping that he represents, the iranians have essentially given up on the idea that the west is willing to have a sustained relationship with iran. They dont believe the west is capable of having sustained sanctions for very long. As your member, donald trump did pull out of an agreement that no obama had negotiated. Instead, under his government, the shift their focus towards russia, towards china, but most importantly towards their neighbors and they really focused on improving their relationship with the immediate neighborhood. Well really deep prioritizing the United States in the west. One more question for you, we still dont know about the fate of president raisi but if you were to be declared dead, what impact might that have on tensions in the middle east . Well, one of the things i think would probably worry folks at the white house right now, there is no love lost for raisi, im sure but if this leads to a debilitating crisis in the Iranian Regime it could have a negative over Spillover Effect for the United States. Theyve held that some of these groups they are supporting as a result of indirect negotiations with the u. S. Theres been a bit of a truce. If theres a debilitating crisis within the Iranian Regime, perhaps their control over these groups will suffer. Perhaps discipline of these groups will deteriorate and meet may actually see a renewed attack against u. S. Troops in the region. Thank you very much for coming to The Sunday Show and giving us a primer on the iranian government structure and its role in the region. Thank you very much. Thank you for having me. We will continue to monitor the Helicopter Search in iran and bring you any updates when we get them. Coming up, Speaker Mike Johnson is as dangerous to democracy as donald trump and i will talk about why with vermont congressman, becca, member of the house budget and judiciary committees. Plus, reaction to President Biden speech earlier today. What he said and how the campus reaction at a time of pro palestinian protest on campuses nationwide. Dont go anywhere. You are watching The Sunday Show. Show. What straps bold to a rocket and hurtles it into space . 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As trumps hush money alleged Interference Trial in your continues, a parade of maga minions has fought to his side. The Rotating Door of loyalists has include Top Republican lawmakers and vp wannabes like florida senator rick scott and north dakota governor doug. But the most striking and most powerful visitor was the man who was second in line to the presidency, house Speaker Mike Johnson. Yes. The very same mike johnson who touts himself as a, quote, Bible Believing Christian who has advised all of us to read the bible to understand his worldview. Apparently, his religious ethics take a dramatic back seat when it comes to trump who is on trial for allegedly having a dalliance with the star he allegedly paid off in return for her silence. On tuesday outside the manhattan courthouse the speaker fiercely defended the disgraced four times indicted on 88 counts former president parroting lies and attacking our Justice System in the process. I called President Trump and told him i wanted to be here myself to call out what is a travesty of justice. The people are losing faith right now in this country. In our institutions. They are losing faith in our system of justice. The judicial system in our country has been weapon not against President Trump. The system is using all of the tools at its disposable disposal right now to punish one president and provide cover for another. What makes this especially galling is that Speaker Johnsons Criminal Court came just 11 days after House Democrats saved his job. It is safe to say they are not happy about it. One senior democratic member told actos, quote, inserting himself into the president s criminal trial, it is unprecedented for speaker of the house of representatives. But no one should be shocked by Speaker Johnsons manhattan sidewalk musings. In fact, they provide the perfect opportunity to remind everyone of an increasingly undeniable fact. As much as we discuss how much of a threat trump poses to our democracy, Speaker Johnson who trump has dubbed maga mike is just as dangerous. People close to johnson told david of the new yorker that the speakers, quote, deference to trump is not what should most scare liberals, rather, its a johnsons slickness. The way he doggedly masks his hard right agenda behind his soft exterior. And if past is prologue, we can already guess how far he plans to take that hard right agenda. Speaker johnson was the key architect behind his partys objectives to certifying the 2020 Election Results. Speaker johnson has championed legislation to ban abortion nationwide. Speaker johnson has said that the Separation Of Church And State is a, quote, misnomer. And Speaker Johnson has attacked the Lgbtq Plus Community and has called same sex marriage, quote, a dark harbinger of chaos. So, do not let his mildmannered Golly Gee Will occurs demeanor fool you. As the new yorker points out, Conservative Activists David whose known Speaker Johnson for decades use an old cowboy axiom to describe him. He will make you smile before he hits you in the mouth so that you wont bloody your lips when he breaks her teeth. Joining me now, democratic congresswoman becca of vermont. Member of the house budget and judiciary committees. Welcome back to the sun show. In your action to Speaker Johnson, not only defending trump at his criminal trial but also attacking the criminal Justice System. Oh, it is disgusting, jonathan. We should not be surprised but i think we all imagine that there will be eventually some bottom, clearly, we are wrong every time. They just go lower and lower. As he said, you know, it is shocking to have the speaker of the house going down to the courthouse of manhattan to interfere with a criminal trial , one that is involving Election Interference, as you said. Yes, it is a Porn Star Hush Money Trial but it is also Election Interference and to see him there reminds all of us that really he is not standing for democracy. He is not standing for the American People. He is standing for one man. This should scare all of us. He is one of the many apologists and enablers that i served with in congress right now and you are right. He is dangerous. Now, you voted to table congresswoman Marjorie Taylor grains motion to vacate Speaker Johnson from the chair earlier this month but after you voted to save him, he went ahead to push messaging bills meant to drive wedges among democrats and jam them up with voters including the bill to rebuke President Biden for pausing and arm shipment to israel. If Speaker Johnson faces another effort to oust him from the position, should he expect your help, democrats help to save him again . No, he should not expect that. The problem that we have, jonathan, i think you know, is that there is nobody else in the wings within the republican conference who currently has the votes to get elected. The republicans are not willing to enter into a powersharing agreement. What does that mean . It means another few weeks of utter chaos and dysfunction. We have real legislation to pass and we have already wasted so much time this session. Not just with chaos and dysfunction, but with ridiculous bills like freedom for refrigerators. Those kinds of things. And we, i think, stood strongly against the motion to vacate specifically too because it involved Marjorie Taylor greene, who is a Conflict Entrepreneur and there are never any consequences for her behavior. We saw that certainly this week again. For me, my vote to table was a rebuke of Marjorie Taylor greene and the lengths to which she goes to disrupt the work that were doing or trying to do on behalf of the American People. This is a woman who has brought pornography into her committee. She screams at the president from the well of the house. Sh