By Dave Dahl

SPRINGFIELD – U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) covered a lot of ground at his news conference in Springfield Monday.

After three American soldiers lost their lives, apparently at the hands of an Iran-backed group, is the U.S. now at war with Iran?

“No, but we are certainly in conflict with him,” said Durbin, adding the soldiers’ deaths are “an indication of how serious this is. It’s not just a war of words, it’s an actual war. We have not declared it, but we’ve got to take that seriously.”

The Senate Judiciary Committee he chairs will hear Wednesday from the major online platforms about their accessibility to children. “My daughter has two twelve-year-old twins, and she said, ‘Dad, ask these executives what they are doing to protect their own kids,’” Durbin said. “They are exploiting it for profit at the expense of these kids.”

And while Donald Trump’s Get Out the Vote machine is robust, Durbin says to consider the results in Iowa, with Trump capturing only 51 percent of the vote. “That meant 49 percent of the Republicans who showed up at the caucus want someone else to carry their banner into this presidential election,” Durbin said. “Now look at New Hampshire. Nikki Haley ended up with 43 percent of the vote. It was a signal that there is some dissension in the ranks of the Republican Party. I hope they pick someone else to carry their banner.”

Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected].