Sanders, Waltz discuss Iran war, diplomacy on Face the Nation

Margaret Brennan opened Face the Nation with a warning that the U.S. war with Iran was nearing the five-month mark, saying, "As the U.S. war with Iran approaches the five-month mark, both sides are searching for a diplomatic off-ramp." The broadcast placed Bernie Sanders and Mike Waltz on the same Sunday stage at a moment when war, diplomacy and campaign politics were all moving at once.

CBS News had announced the guest list two days earlier, naming independent Sen. Bernie Sanders, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz and Republican Sen. John Kennedy. The program aired Sunday at 10:30 a.m. ET on CBS and streamed at 12:30 p.m. ET on Paramount+ and CBSNews.com, keeping the show in the network’s main political window as Washington weighed the next move on Iran.

Sanders’ appearance carried the clearest electoral signal. In a separate CBS interview tied to the broadcast, the Vermont senator discussed progressive congressional candidates ahead of the 2026 midterm elections and said support for those candidates showed "grassroots excitement and enthusiasm" and a nationwide push for change. That framing turned his segment into more than a policy discussion, putting his influence over the party’s activist wing back on display as Democrats look for a message that can travel beyond Washington.

The Iran question gave the morning its sharper foreign policy edge. CBS’s broader coverage that day said U.S. strikes on Iran had been halted as diplomatic talks moved in a positive direction. The same reporting said talks between Oman and Iran on reopening the Strait of Hormuz and their territorial waterways had made progress, according to two sources. With Waltz in the lineup as the United Nations ambassador, the show came as the administration’s diplomatic lane appeared to be gaining traction after weeks of conflict.

The broadcast also carried a public health segment with former FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb, who has seats on the boards of Pfizer and UnitedHealth. Brennan noted, "We've got cyclospora outbreaks in nine states," adding another live policy issue to a show dominated by war, elections and the search for leverage abroad.