MS NOW's The Last Word on SnapStream Many Americans disapprove of the war in Iran, but only the most unrealistic and TDS-afflicted would want a fake court to investigate the President for his social media posts. As crazy as that sounds, Catherine Rampell, the substitute teacher of MS NOW, did exactly that when she filled in for Lawrence O’Donnell on Wednesday’s episode of The Last Word.Rampell could barely hide her glee when she imagined Donald Trump being dragged before an international kangaroo court, presumably the International Criminal Court, as she interviewed Michigan Democratic Senator Gary Peters:So, what I was asking before the break was, with Donald Trump threatening potential war crimes again this morning, what consequences would he face if he actually goes through with that threat?   Peters replied with a noncommittal answer about how he hopes the military’s leaders “will push back and not allow those kinds of operations,” and that Trump may face “the condemnation of the whole world community.” He also gave a strange account of the war, in which Trump was unable to push the Iranians towards signing a deal:We can target military targets in a way to cause the kinds of - really the kind of actions necessary to bring Iran to the bargaining table, to negotiate, to try to end this war. The President has to be able to do that.As we saw with the ceasefires and MOU, which the Iranians recently broke, the issue isn’t that Trump can’t negotiate. It’s that the Iranians will break any deal they sign, thereby prompting further military action. No one can deny that Trump has worked harder than the Iranians, who seem content to allow their country to be bombed into oblivion, to end this war.But Rampell wasn’t satisfied with Peters's answer that blamed Trump, but not as much as she wanted. So, she clarified what she really wanted to hear:Well, with all due respect, I'm not sure that the threat of disapproval from the rest of the world, or disrespect from the rest of the world is going to be a whole lot in the way of deterring Donald Trump from, again, executing war crimes as he has threatened to do. So, my question, once again, is what actual consequences might this President face if he crosses that line of deliberately taking out civilian infrastructure in violation of the Geneva Conventions? Are there any tools that lawmakers have to hold him accountable, or international bodies have to hold him accountable beyond, you know, wagging their finger and saying, 'this is unacceptable'?Firstly, Trump threatened infrastructures that support the Iranian military in retaliation for Iran attacking ships in the Hormuz Strait. The Geneva Conventions’ Protocol 1, which the U.S. has not ratified, provides exemptions from targeting electric plants if they benefit the enemy’s military. Bridges can be classified as military targets if they are used to facilitate troop movements or military logistics.Secondly, the ICC, the main international body investigating violations of the Geneva Conventions, has no power in the United States. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani recently learned that the hard way. Iran also never signed the Rome Statute, so they cannot ask the ICC to investigate America’s alleged war crimes against them. And if they did, the ICC would certainly find more war crimes and human rights violations from the Iranians.Peters sadly informed Rampell that Congress cannot take action without the assent from the Republicans, which is not likely.So, ultimately Rampell didn’t get any supporting information for her fantasy of seeing Trump at the center of a new Nuremberg trial. Sad! The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:MS NOW's The Last Word7/22/2610:16:12 p.m. EasternCATHERINE RAMPELL: We are back with Senator Gary Peters. Apologies for the technical difficulties there. Live TV, always an adventure. Senator, thank you for sticking with us.  So, what I was asking before the break was, with Donald Trump threatening potential war crimes again this morning, what consequences would he face if he actually goes through with that threat?SEN. GARY PETERS (D-MI): Well, certainly the condemnation of the whole world community. This is - this simply is unacceptable.  We'll see exactly what actually happens, you know, Donald Trump says a lot of things, doesn't necessarily mean it actually happens.  I would certainly hope that our military leaders who understand the rule of war, and how it's important to abide by those rules, will push back and not allow those kinds of operations.  Those would basically be illegal orders, if he's asking folks to commit crimes.  But we just have to make sure that the President understands that this type of behavior is unacceptable.  The United States, we have the best military in the world. We can target military targets in a way to cause the kinds of - really the kind of actions necessary to bring Iran to the bargaining table, to negotiate, to try to end this war.  The President has to be able to do that. But we don't see a strategy.  And when you look at what's happened so far, he says his number one goal was to deal with the nuclear arsenal. We heard it on an earlier clip that you have, that nuclear material is still there. Nothing has changed from before the war. He said that we've basically destroyed the missiles, and they aren't going to be able to have those attacks. Unfortunately, we have soldiers that were recently killed by missiles that seem to be more lethal, and actually more maneuverable. So, they are developing new weapons as well.  And as you mentioned, the Straits of Hormuz - the Strait of Hormuz, which was open, and oil was flowing to the world and the United States, has been closed because it wasn't adequately dealt with at the beginning of this war.  So this has been, certainly, a failure on the part of leadership. This is, both Hegseth and President Trump have failed.  And we have to make sure that in this failure, they are not flailing and engaged in actions that really bring disrespect to the United States and the - our forces, who always fight with honor and under the rule of law.RAMPELL: Well, with all due respect, I'm not sure that the threat of disapproval from the rest of the world, or disrespect from the rest of the world is going to be a whole lot in the way of deterring Donald Trump from, again, executing war crimes as he has threatened to do.  So, my question, once again, is what actual consequences might this President face if he crosses that line of deliberately taking out civilian infrastructure in violation of the Geneva Conventions? Are there any tools that lawmakers have to hold him accountable, or international bodies have to hold him accountable beyond, you know, wagging their finger and saying, 'This is unacceptable'? PETERS: Well, certainly there's some actions, the international courts can do it as well. The international community, as we've seen, of states that have violated humanitarian laws that you could possibly bring into play. Certainly the Congress should take action against the President as well. We'd have to get my Republican colleagues to actually do that.  Unfortunately, as you know, my Republican colleagues have never been willing to step up and hold the President accountable. They never ask anything when he asks something of them other than how high that they should jump. So, the Congress can't act. But we do need to have Republicans stand with us. That has not happened in the past. I'll be honest with you, I don't know if that would happen in the future.  So ultimately, we have to have a majority in the Congress to be able to step up and take Congressional action. And that means elections. And they're coming up really soon.  And we now have to - the American people have to understand that it's time for us to take action and basically rein in a president who has been lawless in so many ways, not just during this war in Iran, but lawless on the streets of America as well.RAMPELL: Senator Gary Peters, thanks so much for your time tonight.PETERS: Thank you.