Senator Warner Warns of War Costs, Election Dangers on TV Interview

On July 19, 2026, Senator Mark Warner of Virginia appeared on the CBS news show 'Face the Nation' to talk about two major issues facing the country. Warner is a Democrat and serves as Vice Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, which means he gets to see secret government information. He spoke about the ongoing U.S. war with Iran and about his fears that the upcoming elections could be tampered with. Host Margaret Brennan asked him tough questions on both topics during the live interview.

Warner started by talking about the conflict with Iran. He said 16 American service members had been killed and hundreds more were seriously wounded after attacks on a U.S. military base in Jordan. He called it a 'war of choice,' meaning the U.S. chose to start it without being directly attacked first. He said there was no immediate threat from Iran before the war began, and he criticized the lack of a clear plan to win it.

Warner listed several goals the government said it had for the war, but said none of them were working. The U.S. wanted to change Iran's government, but he said the new leaders are no better. It also wanted to remove Iran's enriched uranium — a material used to make nuclear weapons — but he said that would require at least 15,000 soldiers on the ground, and no one wants to do that. He also said the U.S. has failed to stop Iran from using missiles and drones to attack American troops.

Warner was especially frustrated about how much money the U.S. spends fighting Iranian drones. He said the U.S. fires missiles costing $2.5 million each to knock down Iranian drones that cost only $50,000. He pointed out that Ukraine has figured out how to shoot down those same drones using $5,000 drones of their own. He said the U.S. turned down Ukraine's offer to share that cheaper technology, which he called a big mistake.

The senator also said the war is hurting Americans at the gas pump. He said gas prices in Virginia are now about $4 a gallon, which is $1.20 more than when the war started. He blamed the rising prices on problems in the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway in the Middle East where a lot of the world's oil travels through. He said the U.S. has no plan for keeping that strait open and safe.

Brennan then asked Warner about Jay Clayton, President Trump's pick to lead the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, also called the DNI. The DNI oversees all of America's spy agencies. Warner said he was 'bitterly disappointed' by Clayton's performance during questioning before the Senate committee. One big problem was that Clayton seemed unaware that former DNI Tulsi Gabbard had searched an election center in Fulton County, Georgia, something she did not have the legal authority to do.

Warner said he plans to vote against Clayton but admitted Clayton will likely still be confirmed because Republicans have enough votes. He said he hopes Clayton will do a better job once he is in the role. However, Warner said the bigger problem right now is the acting DNI, Bill Pulte. He said Pulte has no experience in intelligence work and once used private financial information about people for political reasons, which Warner called deeply wrong.

Brennan played a clip of President Trump saying the U.S. election system is dangerously open to hacking and foreign interference. She asked if Warner's committee had seen any evidence to back that up. Warner said clearly no. He said Trump's speech was full of falsehoods, and he was glad most news outlets did not treat it as serious news, though he said he was disappointed that CBS's management chose to air it.

Warner said that when people talk about foreign countries trying to influence U.S. elections, they often focus on China. But he said Russia is actually the biggest country that tries to do this, and 18 different intelligence agencies have confirmed it. He also said that while China may have bought voter files — lists of registered voters — those files are available to anyone online and are not secret. He said what's really worrying is that China has hacked into government systems and insurance company databases to steal personal information on millions of Americans.

Warner was also angry that the Trump administration has weakened the agencies that help keep elections safe. He said the cybersecurity agency has been downsized, a program that tracks if people try to vote twice has been dismantled, and the Election Assistance Commission has been gutted. He said these actions make no sense if Trump truly cares about election security. Warner said he believes Trump is trying to make Americans doubt that their votes will count, and he called it 'the opening shot' in an effort to undermine trust in elections.