← Meet the Press
Meet the Press
Meet the Press NOW — June 11
00:37:34
NBC News Correspondents Gabe Gutierrez, Richard Engel and Courtney Kube report on President Trump saying a memorandum of understanding has been reached between the U.S. and Iran. Congress fails to approve short-term extension on surveillance law, setting up a lapse in funding for investigations into foreign intelligence. U.S. House candidate Micah Lasher (D-N.Y.) joins Meet the Press NOW to discuss his campaign and the crowded field running to represent parts of Manhattan.
Loading summary
Transcript92 lines
- [00:00]
Kristen Welker
This is a Monday.com ad, the samemonday.com helping people worldwide getting work done faster and better. The same Monday.com designed for every team and every industry. The same Monday.com with built in AI scaling your work from day one. The same Monday.com that your team will actually love using the samemonday.com with an easy and intuitive setup. Go to Monday.com and try it for free. Yes, the same Monday.com hi, I'm Kristen
- [00:31]
Welker, moderator of NBC's Meet the Press. On our broadcast, I sit down with people who make an impact in their communities. From actors to activists, they all MEET the moment now. We're bringing the conversation to you in a live event. Join me June 29th in New York City for Meet the Moment Live with special guest Taraji P. Henson. We'll discuss her journey from single mom to actress to mental health advocate. Hope to see you there. Get your tickets now@meetthepress.com youm're listening to President Trump taking a series of questions in the Oval Office on a range of different topics. The biggest headline related to Iran. We'll get to that in one moment. We do want to just note one thing. President Trump saying that he won Minnesota three times. In fact, he lost three times. Let's get to the biggest headlines on Iran, though. President Trump saying there may be a deal that gets finished as soon as this weekend. He was asked whether the supreme leader has signed off on the deal. He said he believes the answer is yes. He was pressed on why is this time different? He's expressed optimism that he perhaps has a deal in the past. President Trump saying because they've taken a pounding. He describes it as a memorandum of understanding, saying it's a little conceptual, wouldn't give a deadline on on when the fine print needs to be worked out in terms of how specifically the nuclear enrichment program would be dismantled and the nuclear material would be removed. He also was asked about his statement previously this week saying that he believed Iran might be tapping the US Along. Why does he think that they're being sincere now? He says because there is lots of enthusiasm to get a deal done. He was asked about a range of different topics, but let's stay right there and bring in our team of reporters. Joining me now, NBC's Gabe Gutierrez the White House. Richard Engel is in Jerusalem. And also with me, senior national security correspondent Courtney Kuby and business and data reporter Brian Chung. Gabe, let me start with you at the White House. What exactly do you know about this deal that President Trump is touting, he says could be done this weekend, says he could sign it potentially when he goes to the G7 summit in Europe.
- [02:46]
Gabe Gutierrez
Well, certainly there are a lot of questions that we're asking right now, Kristen, of White House officials to get the exact details here. You just, you laid it out, this so called memorandum of understanding and he said that it could be signed this week. And he also suggests that it might be Vice President J.D. vance that goes ahead and signed this because he can't be there, although he did say that the timing is very fluid. Of course, this weekend. There is the UFC fight scheduled here at the White House. You may be here, able to hear the sound check behind me. That's underway right now. And then next week he does head to Europe for that G7 summit. But Kristen, taking a step back here, this has been just some incredible whiplash throughout the day. Earlier today, the president saying that he planned to hit Iran very hard once again tonight after there was that back and forth last night with the US Attacking and sending dozens of Tomahawk missiles into Iran, Iran retaliating. And, and then it was just a few hours ago, Kristen, that the president posted that he was canceling these strikes because of this so called deal that he now calls a memorandum of understanding. And some the news there that you referenced that he does say that the Iranian supreme leader has agreed to this, although there are still, we don't have confirmation of that. The president also saying that many other countries have agreed to this in his initial post. But in terms of specifics here, the president saying that under no way, shape or form that Iran will have a nuclear weapon. But he has been saying this now for quite some time and it's unclear what has changed from Iran's point of view in the last few hours. The president trying to argue that it was the sheer military force by the United States pounding Iran that had caused them to agree to this memorandum of understanding. But details are scarce at this point.
- [04:36]
Richard Engel
Chris?
- [04:37]
Kristen Welker
Gabe, stand by for us. Let me head to Richard Engle. Richard, I understand that you have some new reaction from Prime Minister Netanyahu. What are you hearing?
- [04:51]
Richard Engel
So Prime Minister Netanyahu just moments ago put out a statement, their reaction to this announcement by President Trump. And I have it in front of me. I read it in one second. And our understanding is that as you were just discussing, this is a two phase deal, that there will be an initial signing potentially this weekend that would open the Strait of Hormuz, have some general language about a commitment not to have a nuclear weapon and Then there would be a detailed period of negotiations. Earlier, we'd been discussing maybe 60 days, maybe 90 days, but a couple of months. So with that in mind, this is what President, what Prime Minister Netanyahu's office just put out said. President Trump spoke this evening with Prime Minister Netanyahu about the memorandum of understanding being formed with Iran to enter into negotiations. So it's being described as a memorandum of understanding to enter into negotiations. Although Israel is not a party to the memorandum of understanding, the prime minister expressed his appreciation for President Trump's commitment that the final agreement at the end of the negotiations will include the removal of enriched material, dismantling of enrichment infrastructure, limiting missile production, and ending Iran's support for its terrorist proxies in the region. Now, those are the demands that Prime Minister Netanyahu has had since the beginning of the conflict. He is saying that President Trump has given him a commitment that those demands will be met at the end of some final status negotiations after these. After this memorandum of understanding is signed. If it is signed. President Trump hasn't publicly said that he is committed to these terms, but this is a way for Netanyahu to tell the Israeli people that his demands in this war are going to be met. But his demands do not necessarily overlap with President Trump's demands. We've heard President Trump say that he will sign a deal, he sets the terms, and Prime Minister Netanyahu will have to agree with it. One thing in particular, in this statement from the Prime Minister's office, he talked about how he agreed with President Trump that the material would have to be removed from Iran. This is what he calls the highly enriched uranium or the nuclear dust. He didn't say that in this press conference. He said it's so buried under mountains, we basically don't need to worry about it. Because of the B52 attacks, he said that the entire infrastructure that Iran uses to produce nuclear weapons would be dismantled. President Trump didn't commit to that either. He was thin on details. And then finally, this one key issue, he said, support for terrorist proxies. Ending Iran's support for terrorist proxies. That's a veiled way of Israel talking about the war in Lebanon, where it is fighting against Hezbollah, and in the past, the Iran. Iran's commitment to not signing a deal unless there is a full peace deal in Lebanon has derailed this process. So even if there is this signing of a memorandum of understanding potential this weekend based on this statement right here, the phase after that to negotiate a final deal could be quite complicated.
- [08:05]
Kristen Welker
Well, let me follow up with you on that, Richard. Put this into broader context for us if you can, because basically this is an agreement to talk about the toughest issues. We all remember it took two years to negotiate the JCPOA under the former Obama administration. And there are a number of sticking points here. Just how complicated are those remaining sticking points, Richard?
- [08:32]
Richard Engel
Well, just look at the Strait of Hormuz as one of many examples. So President Trump said that as soon as this deal is signed, the Strait of Hormuz would be open. He said that it's been open, that the US has secretly been removing oil and getting it to to the markets and hiding it. But the Strait of Hormuz has not been open. If you look at it or talk to commercial shipping companies. There have been straits boats that have been stranded there. Sailors have been killed by US Attacks by Iranian drones. The Strait of Hamud has been blocked. So if the Strait of Hormuzzi opens, upon the signing of the memorandum of understanding, President Trump says that the US Blockade of Iran, which is just off of the Strait of Hormuz, because we have two competing blockades here. You have the Iranian blockade trying to close the Strait of Hormuz due commercial traffic and the American military blockade closing Iranian ports. He has said that that blockade would stay in force until there is this final negotiated settlement. That means American warships stay very close to Iran. So it means that there could be an escalation of flare up and we could see a resumption of hostilities. It's a possibility. But as long as you put military hardware off of a country's coast, that, that while you're still negotiating, there is always that danger.
- [09:57]
Kristen Welker
Yeah. Why it is so challenging to unwind these conflicts. Richard Engel, thank you so very much. Please stay safe. We really appreciate your reporting. Courtney Kuby, let me turn to you now. Gabe Gutierrez laid it out very well. This has been a day of whiplash. It started with President Trump with a very stern warning. In fact, I just want to remind people of what exactly he said. This threat to hit Iran hard tonight. Take a listen.
- [10:25]
Donald Trump
We just made a great settlement of the war with Iran and we're going to be subject to finalization of documents which should get done over the next few days. Probably have a signing maybe in Europe. And it's a great thing. Stock market's up 1,000 points. That means they like the deal. See, that means they live. The market goes down. That means they don't like the deal. But it's been up, oil's dropped. Oil will Start coming down to, I think, even lower than it was before. Most importantly, we have a deal that Iran will never have a nuclear weapon, which was the whole purpose of what we had to go through to get this. So it was a big, very big thing. But we have a signing soon and the documents are in pretty final shape. We dropped $250 million worth of bombs on them last night. You know, the whole thing is crazy,
- [11:22]
Richard Engel
but, and they're, and they're really in submission.
- [11:27]
Donald Trump
They just don't know it yet. Okay. To be honest with you. They just don't know it yet. And we are talking to them and all. But, you know, look, my preference has always been take Carg Island.
- [11:37]
Richard Engel
Will it be more bombing tonight?
- [11:40]
Donald Trump
Yeah, there will be more bombing tonight. It'll be a bigger, A bigger, more powerful.
- [11:47]
Kristen Welker
It's going to be bigger and more powerful court. And now here we are with the President saying he does think a deal could be finalized. A memorandum of understanding by this weekend. What's been the reaction within the Pentagon to this whiplash?
- [12:01]
Courtney Kuby
So, I mean, it's not just us who are watching this and saying what's going to be the next move here. The military is in that same boat. And even when we talk about something like the blockade, the president, in one of his earlier social media postings said that the blockade would be removed, subject to finalization of the documents, something similar to what he just said there. So, but what is that? When would that be? Is that the memorandum of understanding that he just spoke about in the Oval Office that could, as he said, be signed in a matter of days? Or is this another deal? If, in fact, as Richard was just reporting, this is a memorandum to talk about negotiating over issues that. Does that mean the blockade could be in effect during, throughout the course of those negotiations? Why that's so significant to the US Military is they still have a huge footprint there enforcing that blockade. Two carrier strike groups, about 200 aircraft, are associated with that. And you can see that even on just a normal day of enforcing the blockade and monitoring the region, we can have a potential catastrophe like the downing of that Apache helicopter from earlier this week. I mean, the two pilots, the two crew members, both survived that. But that could have had a very different outcome and much bigger strategic implications. And that's the big question here. If, in fact, the military has continued to operate these competing blockades, that's the Iranian military and the irgc, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, essentially competing with a blockade on the other side of the strait with the United States military. If they keep operating in this close proximity. Will we just continue to have more and more close calls that could ultimately have a larger strategic impact on, on these ongoing negotiations or potentially the next level of negotiations here. So meanwhile, the US Military in some ways is caught in the middle of it because they're carrying out their orders to enforce this blockade to, as President Trump has been talking about, to continue to coordinate with a very small number of ships that are moving through the Strait of Hormuz and have been for the last month or so. He likes to call this a secret, but it's actually been reported publicly that the US Military was coordinating with these ships. And again, it's a small number. It's about 200 over the course of the last five weeks or so that have moved in or out of the Strait of Hormuz. That mission still comes with peril. As we have seen, Iran is launching off drones. One thing that's not clear here is does this memorandum of understanding include an agreement from Iran to no longer provoke or escalate in any way their actions in the will they stop launching drones and fast boats and even some surface to air missiles in the Strait of Hormuz so that truly shipping can move through without any real peril? That's one thing we don't know. And the nuclear question still really remains uncertain here. President Trump was asked about that just now and instead he repeated the same thing that we have heard from him and some of his administration officials that Iran will not have a nuclear weapon. But he doesn't say exactly how they are going to ensure that that is the case, Kristen.
- [15:07]
Kristen Welker
And Court, as you and I know, because we've been covering this for years, that's of course, the thorniest issue. All right, Courtney Kuby, thank you so very much for listening along and your reporting and reaction. Let me turn now to Brian Chung. So, Brian, markets closed just moments ago, reacting quite strongly to the news of a potential announcement. Talk to us about what we're seeing in the markets. Whiplash as well in the markets. Right, Brian?
- [15:32]
Brian Chung
Yeah, Kristen, you can see there that the Dow Jones ended the day almost a thousand points up. That's almost 2% up. It looked like we were going to continue the spill of red days this week. Obviously, the developments around the war with Iran has flipped that around. And you heard the president who often uses the stock market as a metric system, as a kind of a measuring stick, if you will, over his policies, pointing to the fact that the markets were up as substantially as they were today. This is obviously part of the overall theme that we've been covering since the beginning of this war, which is that when there is some light at the end of the tunnel or appears to be light at the end of the tunnel on this conflict, you see investors react positively. That was certainly the case today. And you do have to remember that this is within the context of a week where we got some pretty bad economic numbers. On inflation, perhaps, maybe this was one way that the president wanted to try to flip markets into the green after announcing on truth social about 2 1/2 hours before the market end that there was going to be this cancellation of the strikes later on this evening. So when you talk about what's going on here with the economy, of course, affordability does remain a big thorn in the side of this administration. And higher gas prices, which are averaging $4.12 a gallon nationally today, certainly not helping, even though that is about $0.40 lower than it was about a month ago. That is a big reason why you see numbers like the producer price index. This is the amount of inflation that the retailers that we buy from experience. So again, this is not the inflation that we had a consumer level face. It's the retailer facing it. But that rising by 6.5% year over year in May. Christine, you would have to go back to November 2022 to see a number that high. And again, 2022 was around peak inflation during the Biden year. Certainly context that the Trump administration does not want to be compared to.
- [17:18]
Kristen Welker
All right, Brian Chung, as always, thank you so much for being with us. We really appreciate it. We want to turn now to some more breaking news. President Trump nominating Jay Clayton to be his permanent Director of National Intelligence. Clayton is currently the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York and formerly served as chairman of the SEC. Mr. Trump's announcement of the PIC comes just hours after Congress rejected a short term extension of a crucial but controversial surveillance tool over concerns about the president's pick for acting DNI. The law, known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance act, expires tomorrow night. It allows the government to spy on foreigners outside the US Without a warrant. Democrats vowed to block its reauthorization because of the president's appointment of Bill Pulte as his acting dni. Pulte is a Trump loyalist with no intelligence experience. Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries telling reporters after this morning's vote they weren't bluffing about their demands.
- [18:17]
Gabe Gutierrez
We said we were against moving forward with surveillance authority as long as Bill Pulte remained Donald Trump's choice to be the acting Director of National Intelligence. We said it and we meant it.
- [18:36]
Kristen Welker
House Speaker Mike Johnson slammed Democrats, accusing them of prioritizing politics over national security.
- [18:43]
House Speaker Mike Johnson
Well, I don't know if the American people just saw what happened on the floor, but it is shameful and it is very, very dangerous. Let me just tell you what's happened here today. We just offered a simple clean three week extension of the FISA national security law. The Democrats, 199 of them voted against a clean three week extension for political purposes. And when the bill went down, they applauded. They applauded it. That that record and that video is going to live in infamy. I pray that we do not have a serious calamity on our shores over the next few weeks.
- [19:20]
Kristen Welker
NBC News Capitol Hill correspondent Melanie Zenona joins me now. So, Mel, the House is not back in session until June 23rd. That's two 12 days from now. Is there any scenario in which lawmakers actually return to vote on a short term FISA extension now that the president has nominated Jay Clayton to be DNI?
- [19:39]
Melanie Zanona
Well, Chris, this point there is no indication that they're going to bring members back early. We saw them leaving the Capitol with suitcases fleeing for the airport. A lot of these House members have plans over this upcoming week long recess break. So logistically I just think it would be difficult to bring them back early. So the question really becomes when they do come back, is this announcement about Clayton becoming the new pick enough to unlock the votes for fisa? And we were able to catch up with a few key Democrats just as they were leaving the Capitol just as this announcement was being made. And overall, it seems Democrats are pleased with this pick. They said they have a lot of respect for Jake Clayton, but they still have a lot of concerns about Bill Pulte remaining as acting DNI until they can get Jay Clayton confirmed. One of those key Democrats we spoke to was Mark Warner. He is the top Democrat on the House and Senate, excuse me, Intelligence Committee. Let's hear what he had to say.
- [20:31]
Kristen Welker
I don't think the president wants us approved.
- [20:34]
Richard Engel
Why wouldn't he have nominated him yesterday?
- [20:37]
Michael Lasher
The House is out of session.
- [20:38]
Kristen Welker
But if there was a path that,
- [20:40]
Richard Engel
you know, I've never been a big fan of Tulsi Gabbard, but that Tulsi
- [20:43]
Gabe Gutierrez
Gabbard would stay in place until Mr. Clayton was confirmed.
- [20:48]
Richard Engel
We have a path out, but.
- [20:50]
Malik Abdul
So it's still a no because Bill
- [20:51]
Richard Engel
Pulte will be active.
- [20:55]
Gabe Gutierrez
Bill Pulte is a national security threat.
- [21:00]
Melanie Zanona
So it's unclear at this moment whether the votes are there for a FISA extension. But certainly this announcement, a step in the right direction and one that GOP leaders had been practically pleading with Trump to make.
- [21:11]
Kristen Welker
Well, Mel, let me ask you, what exactly happens if section 702 does in fact expire? What are the implications?
- [21:18]
Melanie Zanona
Yeah, it's a really good question, Kristen, because we actually don't quite know. We've never been down this road before. It's never actually expired. And as you heard the speaker, we have heard from leaders and officials all week leading up to this deadline that if they let it expire, it could be disastrous. They've noted that this intelligence tool has gathered key intelligence that has helped thwart, you know, terror attacks, including a terrorist plot once on a Taylor Swift concert. But at the same time, there are some legal opinions floating around that suggest that perhaps it's not like a sweet switch, that it's not going to go off exactly at midnight, that there is some grace period here. It's not necessarily like a government shutdown. But the reality is, Kristen, like I said, no one really knows because we're really in uncharted territory here.
- [22:00]
Kristen Welker
All right, Mel Zanona on Capitol Hill, thank you so very much. Joining me now is our panel, Abby Livingston, contributor for Puck, Adrian Elrod, former senior advisor to the Harris Walls campaign and Republican strategist Malik Abdul. Let's start off just by responding to what we just heard from Mel. Abby, why is this fight over section 702 and FISA so important? And the fact that President Trump, after all of this backlash over Bill Pulte has now said, okay, he's going to nominate Jay Clayton to be the permanent dni.
- [22:32]
Abby Livingston
Well, it seems like he has a really big problem with Pulte and he seems to be shifting to this other mode which we've seen him do over and over. I think just a big question is whether this either of them get through the Senate.
- [22:41]
Kristen Welker
Yeah. Malik, what do you think? Because I mean, to Abby's point, Jay Clayton's not necessarily a done deal. And hanging in the balance is this section 702. And a lot of questions, as Mel was just pointing out, about what might happen if it does expire.
- [22:59]
Malik Abdul
Yeah. Well, first of all, I wanted to apologize on behalf of conservatives and the Republican Party. You gave a very fair interview.
- [23:06]
Kristen Welker
Thank you.
- [23:07]
Malik Abdul
To your question, though, it will be a problem. Now, the thing is, is that I heard they're just talk talking about a three week extension. So we really don't know how that plays out. But on the Pulte pick, I wonder and I haven't had any conversations with the White House. This is the same guy who kind of threw out that, I think the 50 year mortgage idea where he went around the White House in order to get to Donald Trump. So I don't know what conversations he had that made Donald Trump say that, yes, you're our guy. But I think the pushback from Republicans that we saw is why Donald Trump ultimately ended up doing this. And we don't know to your point whether or not either one of them will get confirmed.
- [23:46]
Kristen Welker
Adrienne, how are you viewing all of this and the fact that Democrats have tried to block actions by Republicans shutting down the government in two different instances and now saying, yeah, they're not going to vote for, you know, fisa, could
- [24:02]
Adrian Elrod
this backfire politically on Democrats? I don't necessarily think it's going to backfire on Democrats. But here's the wild card, Kristen, that has changed obviously since over the last two months. You've got three Republicans who are very mad at Donald Trump right now. That is John Cornyn, Bill Cassidy and why am I blanking on the third one?
- [24:21]
Kristen Welker
And massive.
- [24:22]
Adrian Elrod
And massive. Yeah. Thank you. Sorry. So you've got three Republicans who are very unhappy with Trump right now and who are not going to. And Thom Tillis, of course, has been mad along who are not necessarily going to go along with what he says. I mean, I don't think it's going to backfire on Democrats. I think a lot of Democrats are frankly, especially on intelligence matters, going to look to Senator Mark Warner, being the ranking member on the Senate Intelligence Committee. He just made it very clear where he stands right now. Polsey feels like a non starter. We'll see if Clayton can get through. But even that feels under the circumstances, when you've got three Republicans who are not going to feel pressured at all to do anything that Trump wants them to do, it just throws everything up. And they are in the Senate.
- [25:00]
Kristen Welker
It's such a different dynamic than several months ago. You're absolutely right. All right, let's talk about the big news over Iran. We did Abby see this whiplash? There's no other way to describe it. President Trump this morning saying we're going to hit Iran really hard and now saying actually we might have a deal, it might get signed as soon as this weekend. What do you make of where things stand? The reporters in the Oval Office pressed him repeatedly. Why is this moment different than the other moments when you've expressed optimism? What do you make of this moment.
- [25:30]
Abby Livingston
I mean, it's. And that this happened in one day. I mean, we've been in whiplash since this war started. And so my question is, I'm a political reporter and I'm looking at gas prices. And so he said, you know, we've been able to get some ships through the strait, all of these things, but the price of gas just keeps going up and we're hitting the summer season. And that is the most important metric of the midterms.
- [25:53]
Kristen Welker
And Malik, when you talk to experts, whether it be economists or oil companies, they say, okay, let's say the war does end tomorrow. It could take months if not longer to bring the energy infrastructure back online, which suggests gas prices don't necessarily come down overnight. What are Republicans saying about that aspect of all of this? Because as Abby rightfully points out, gas is central to the winds of the midterms.
- [26:25]
Malik Abdul
It's so ironic that you asked that question. I was having conversations with a couple of members, staff on the Hill, and they reminded me of what Susie Wiles said a few, what probably a few months ago, that Donald Trump was going to really double down and focus on the economy. So for Republicans, there is a bit of frustration. So you have the Iran war, but you also have the endorsements that Donald Trump going against the party and endorsing different candidates. There is a general frustration with Republicans that Donald Trump isn't doing enough to help the Republican Party as we head into the midterms. But in a number of races, there does seem to be a bit of, you know, momentum shift in the Republican feeling, as if that we're not going to have the dredging that some people actually suggested that we might.
- [27:10]
Kristen Welker
Adrian, what do you make of this? And if there is a deal, it would be a memorandum of understanding. The really thorny, challenging issues would be pushed. And yet you would likely start to see some type of movement, whether it be in the markets or in gas prices. You saw the markets today surging. How are Democrats viewing this whiplash? Because, again, the markets today were up and the president continues to make that argument. The markets are incredibly strong. He says gas prices are going to start falling like a rock.
- [27:42]
Adrian Elrod
Look, I think Donald Trump is doing some wishful thinking here. I mean, I think Democrats look at it quite unfortunately from this standpoint. You can't trust the regime. You can't trust Donald Trump, who is negotiating in good faith. It doesn't seem like anybody is. And you've got Bibi Netanyahu over here who seem to want the war to end. Anytime soon for all the obvious reasons. So to the point that I think we've all made on this panel, let's say that a miracle happened today and an MoU took place and the deal is actually struck. We are not going to see gas prices lower by the time the midterms are up maybe a tiny bit. But even if the Strait of Hormuz opens, it's still going to take a while to feel that effect. And Donald Trump knows that, which is why you're seeing him really become a little bit more unhinged than he typically.
- [28:23]
Kristen Welker
Well. And Abby, despite all of this, Senator Schumer's very confident about Democrats chances of flipping the Senate. He told Punchbowl, quote, we are poised to take back the Senate. We needed multiple paths. No one thought Iowa or Texas would be part of the path, but it is. Is the rest of the party feeling that confident?
- [28:46]
Abby Livingston
I think it's increasingly more confident and it's an astonishing amount more confident than a year ago. And this is Senator Schumer's wheelhouse. This is, he's a former DSCC chairman. And so what has happened over the last year is these reach seats like Texas, Alaska, even Nebraska are within reach. The problem with that is the two most winnable seats are Michigan and Maine and they become increasingly complicated.
- [29:08]
Kristen Welker
Yeah, well, absolutely. And there's so much focus on Maine right now. Let me play for you, Adrian. A new ad. This is by James Tallarico in, in Spanish. This is as the World cup is getting set to kick off, of course, he's facing off against Ken Paxton.
- [29:24]
House Speaker Mike Johnson
Take a look in La cancha parano estras familias el maestro James Talarico. Talarico
- [29:33]
Kristen Welker
soy James Talarico y apro este mensahe. What do you make of the strategy so far? You think he can win over Latino voters? He outperformed them with Crockett?
- [29:43]
Adrian Elrod
No, absolutely. I think, I think it's genius. I think he's communicating with them early. Kristen, as you know, sometimes Democrats don't tend to communicate with Latino voters, Spanish speaking voters, until the last six weeks. The fact that he's taking this vote so seriously, he sees this block of voters as a winnable block for him and he's talking to them malik Republicans.
- [30:02]
Kristen Welker
What is their counter strategy going to be to try to win over.
- [30:06]
Malik Abdul
Well, if you look at the numbers, just the recent elections, Republicans actually still have maintained a position when it's with the Hispanic population. So they're actually looking to shore those numbers up, try to pull in some of those independents but we do realize that Talarico. So, you know, I don't think that it's going to be as easy to beat Talarico, but I think that Paxton actually has this one.
- [30:27]
Kristen Welker
All right. Well, we will see how it all unfolds. Thank you, guys. Great conversation. Really appreciate it. Abby, Adrian, and Malik. After the break, we'll dive into the crowded race to represent one of the bluest districts in the country. State Representative Michael Lasher joins me on why he should be the candidate to represent that key state slice of Manhattan. You're watching Meet the Press now.
- [30:57]
Want to make your home everyone's favorite summer destination?
- [31:00]
Shop Etsy for hosting essentials like outdoor furniture for your backyard guests. Celebrate summer Monday.
- [31:07]
Richard Engel
AI agents took over my work and
- [31:09]
Malik Abdul
I absolutely love it. Chasing deadlines, writing status reports, updating stakeholders. Agents handle the daily grind. Now they live inside Monday so they
- [31:19]
Richard Engel
see the full picture. My work, my team, the whole company. And I don't have to worry about the data.
- [31:24]
Malik Abdul
It's safe, which means I'm free to focus on the big stuff.
- [31:27]
Richard Engel
Knowing everything runs smoothly in the background. It's completely shifted the way we work. Create your own AI agent in minutes on Monday dot com.
- [31:37]
Michael Lasher
Right now, we are living through some of the most tumultuous political times our country has ever known. I'm David Remnick, and each week on the New Yorker Radio Hour, I'll try to make sense of what's happening alongside politicians and thinkers like Cory Booker, Nancy Pelosi, Liz Cheney, Tim Waltz, Ketanji Brown Jackson, Newt Gingrich, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Charlamagne, tha God, and so many more. That's all on the New Yorker Radio Hour wherever you listen to podcasts.
- [32:09]
Kristen Welker
Welcome back. There's less than two weeks to go before Election Day in the crowded Democratic primary race to replace retiring Congressman Jerry Nadler for New York's 12th district. And the leading candidates squared off in their final candidate forum last night. The field of candidates includes State Assemblymember Alex Boris, George Conway, the ex husband of President Trump's former campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, Jack Schlossberg, the grandson of President John F. Kennedy and state assembly member Michael Lasher, who once worked for Nadler and has his endorsement. And Michael Lasher joins me now. Thank you so much for joining me. I really appreciate it.
- [32:48]
Michael Lasher
It's great to be with you. Thank you for having me.
- [32:51]
Kristen Welker
It's great to have you. And I want to start off with this very crowded field of candidates in which you find yourself, including another State assembly member, Alex Boris, who I Just mentioned. And, of course, Jack Schlossberg has a lot of name recognition, given his lineage to the Kennedys. How are you planning to set yourself apart in this home stretch of the race?
- [33:14]
Michael Lasher
I'm setting myself apart, I think, in two significant ways. One, with detailed plans for how Democrats should fight back much more effectively than we have been in the House. What I call Project 2026. How we can use power, even in the minority, to slow down what Trump and Mike Johnson are doing, how we can use oversight and investigations when we win the majority to bring accountability to the Trump administration, and how we can rebuild the laws that. That they've trampled on so that no future president can do what Trump has done again. And also a record of accomplishment and achievement for New Yorkers. I've worked at all three levels of government in senior roles, and that's why Congressman Nadler, Mike Bloomberg, Governor Hochul have been supporting my candidacy. And I think that's really resonating with voters in the district, in the homestretch.
- [34:02]
Kristen Welker
Well, it's interesting you referenced those endorsements. That has opened you up, actually, to some criticism from your challengers. Here's what Jack Schlossberg had to say. I'll let you respond on the other side.
- [34:13]
Richard Engel
This is the difference, and this is the choice in this election whether the
- [34:16]
Brian Chung
Democratic Party should continue the status quo. Where has it gotten us? No control of any branch of government,
- [34:23]
Richard Engel
or should we try something new?
- [34:25]
Kristen Welker
How do you respond to that criticism that voters want something new?
- [34:30]
Michael Lasher
Well, I think what I've said is that voters shouldn't have to choose between someone who wants to make changes and someone who knows what they're doing. Because if you want to make change, you better know what you're doing. And I'm someone who, in every role I've had, has pushed against the status quo, has taken on powerful interests. When I was chief of staff in the state attorney general's office, helped launch some of the very first investigations into big fossil fuel companies for lying about climate change. I've taken on big tech companies throughout my career, and I will bring that fighting spirit to Congress, along with the experience of how to make change in government.
- [35:05]
Kristen Welker
And, of course, one of the big debates inside the Democratic Party is what to do if Democrats do, in fact, win back the House. Should impeachment be on the table? George Conway, who you're running against, says impeaching the president should be a day one priority if Democrats retake the House. I've actually spoken to a number of Democrats who say the exact opposite they say that would backfire, that would embolden President Trump. Where do you stand on that?
- [35:32]
Michael Lasher
I think we have to impeach Trump because he has committed more high crimes and misdemeanors than every president before him combined. And if we were to say that that is not going to be subject to accountability, we'd be normalizing that kind of misconduct and we'd be effectively declaring the constitutional mechanism for the removal of a president. We'd be declaring it to be a dead letter. I don't think we can do that for the rule of law long term in this country. But we do have to be able to walk and chew gum at the same time. And a big part of my campaign is refocusing the party on the economic concerns facing Americans. I'm running on a new deal for a new generation to help people get their first job, their first home, and get through their first year of childcare without getting crushed by the costs. I think those are the kinds of issues that Democrats have to be committed to at the same time as we are bringing accountability to this regime.
- [36:25]
Kristen Welker
So, Assemblyman Lasher, do you reject this argument that it would backfire against Democrats? It would only embolden President Trump and his supporters?
- [36:35]
Michael Lasher
I think if we were to do impeachment to the. If you were to do impeachment to the exclusion of refocusing on economic questions of cost, costs of housing, job availability, health care, if we were to do impeachment to the exclusion of those issues, then, yes, I think it could potentially be a negative for the Democrats. But if we can do both of those things, if we can say we stand for the rule of law, we stand for accountability, and we also stand for improving the lot of working families across this country, I think that will be what voters are looking for from the Democratic Party.
- [37:07]
Kristen Welker
Let me ask you about something that's happening right now on Capitol Hill. Democrats holding up the extension of that key surveillance tool of foreign nationals known as FISA section 702 over Bill Pulte, of course, the housing director being named Acting DNI. Speaker Johnson says it's the reason the US hasn't seen another 911 attack. He says that's why it's so important. Do you support what Democrats are doing blocking this extension, or do you think it's the wrong move? Do you think it could jeopardize national security?
- [37:39]
Michael Lasher
I think what Democrats are saying is that we care about national security and we also care about the privacy of Americans. And we want to return to the basic principle that a court should stand in between the federal government's access to Americans personal information. And when you've got Kash Patel saying he queried some databases to dig up dirt on reporters who were reporting on him and his girlfriend. I think it's not unreasonable to say we should have some protection for Americans privacy. I don't think that's even a Democrat or Republican issue. I think people on both sides of the aisle should agree that Americans are entitled to a modicum of privacy protections at the same time as we stand up for national security. I think that's what the Democrats are standing for here and I would join them in that.
- [38:27]
Kristen Welker
Okay, let me ask you about another big debate, frankly, all across the country, the redistricting battle. You've said Democrats have to fight for fire with fire. There's some concern, though, that redistricting in New York could break up majority black districts. Is that something you're comfortable with or do you think that you should move forward with redistricting in New York?
- [38:49]
Michael Lasher
I've been a strong advocate for fighting fire with fire on redistricting. In fact, right after Donald Trump called up the governor of Texas and said steal me five congressional seats, I introduced the constitutional amendment to allow New York to fight fire with fire. I think ultimately we need a national ban on partisan gerrymandering. But until we have that, blue states cannot sit on the sidelines of this fight. We will lose competition for control of Congress. We'll end up with a Russian parliament and that will be a point of no return. We can't allow that. Blue states have to fight back. And I'm glad that in New York we've taken the first step to passing that constitutional amendment to allow us to to do a mid decade redistricting.
- [39:30]
Kristen Welker
All right. Well, we are going to continue to track your race very carefully. Assemblymember Micah Lasher, thank you so much for your time. Great to have you.
- [39:38]
Michael Lasher
Thank you for having me.
- [39:40]
Kristen Welker
And we are back tomorrow with more MEET the Press. Now there's much more ahead on NBC News.
- [39:44]
Now this is a Monday.com ad, the same Monday.com helping people worldwide getting work done faster and better. The same Monday.com designed for every team and every industry. The same Monday.com with built in AI scaling your work from day one. The same Monday.com that your team will actually love using the same Monday.com with an easy and intuitive setup. Go to Monday.com and try it for free. Yes, the same Monday.com.