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Meet the Press
Meet the Press NOW — June 15
00:49:53
The Dow hits a new record high after President Trump announced the U.S. and Iran have signed a preliminary agreement. In a video statement on social media, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.) says the Department of Justice is investigating him and his wife for what he claims are political reasons. Chief Data Analyst Steve Kornacki breaks down the latest NBC News poll.
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Monica Alba
Welcome to MEET THE PRESS now. I'm Monica Alba in Washington. And that was the closing bell on Wall Street. And we begin this hour with breaking news. The Trump administration announcing that an agreement between the US And Iran has been signed by both parties. The news sending markets soaring with the Dow closing just moments ago in record territory, up about 450 points today and oil prices tumbling back down to around $80 a barrel, the lowest level since the first week of the war. The full text has not been released, but according to the president and senior administration officials, the agreement will reopen the Strait of Hormuz, halt the war and kick start negotiations over Iran's nuclear program, including potential sanctions relief. President Trump touting the agreement while in France for the annual gathering of G7 leaders, speaking alongside French President Macron during a bilateral meeting saying text of the agreement will be released soon.
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President Donald Trump
The EU's outside and the strain is already partially opened. As you know, they're doing a little hunting for a couple of mines that they've already found. But it's essentially ships are starting to go out now. On Friday, it'll be completely opened. But I think a lot of great things are going to happen in the Middle east right now. And very importantly, the oil is plummeting down and the stock market is shooting up like a rocket today, like record kind of numbers. And the oil has taken its biggest plunge. And we're into the low numbers. Not quite back yet, Kevin, to the extent, but we're getting close to the numbers we were before it all started. And the main thing is that Iran will not have a nuclear weapon. They fully agree to that with strong policing powers. And they won't have a nuclear weapon, which is what it was all about,
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Monica Alba
according to a senior administration official. In addition to the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz the agreement between the US And Iran will also lift the US Naval blockade and start talks about Iran's nuclear program, which Vice President Vance is expected to lead. The administration also stressing Iran will only receive sanctions relief if it meets their commitments. Notably, state affiliated media in Iran is reporting a very different agreement, including that negotiations won't begin unless oil sanctions are suspended, billions of doll in frozen Iran funds are released to Tehran immediately and that the conflict in Lebanon ends now. One of President Trump's staunchest allies, Senator Lindsey Graham, voicing his concerns, saying on social media, quote, I am somewhat concerned that Iran's view of the agreement seems different than what the American negotiating team is claiming. He goes on to say, I look forward to reviewing the final product and I believe it is imperative that the architect of the deal, Vice President Vance and his negotiating partners, be part of the process in presenting the final deal to Congress. The vice President responding in an interview this morning.
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Vice President J.D. Vance
But I'd caution Lindsey Graham and anybody else not to believe the hardliner propaganda in Iran, but to believe what's actually in the agreement. But we'll be releasing the text this week and what everybody will see is that Iran doesn't get a dime of money unless they perform their obligations. And the money that we're talking about is fundamentally sanctions relief. We're not giving them American money. Not a single dollar of American money will go to Iran. We already signed the deal digitally yesterday and there's been no money released. And that won't change. George. Again, this is a performance based thing.
- [04:32]
Monica Alba
Joining me now is our team of reporters covering all the angles around the world. Senior White House correspondent Gabe Gutierrez is in Geneva covering the president's trip. Senior national security correspondent Courtney Kuby is here with me on set. Chief international correspondent Keir Simmons is in Doha. International correspondent Matt Bradley is in Tel Aviv. And also with me is business and data correspondent Brian Chung. All star panel here to kick us off on a big day and to break this all down. Gabe, I do want to start with you because we just laid out some of the broad strokes of this agreement. But what happens next in terms of where these negotiations go from here?
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Gabe Gutierrez
Well, certainly, Monica, there are a lot of broad strokes as you just laid out. And the problem is we don't have the text the president saying today over the next 24 to 48 hours that it would be released. And senior U.S. officials have been saying that. But the truth is we don't know exactly what is in this agreement other than what top administration officials have hinted at. Now, what we do expect is this formal ceremony on Friday. The president saying today that it would likely be the vice president that would attend it here in Switzerland, and the president saying that the Strait of Hormuz would reopen, then that traffic would get back to normal in the next 30 days or so. Now, what we heard from senior US officials today, there will not be a change in military force posture as a result of this memorandum of understanding. So no change in military there. But there are a lot of questions about what happens in the actual Strait of Hormuz. The vice president saying in interviews earlier today that it will be a toll free system. Iran's Foreign Ministry, though, saying today that plans to charge some sort of maritime service fees. So it's unclear exactly that will mean and then administration officials, including the vice president, laying out this possibility of any sort of sanctions relief in this next phase of the talks if Iran does agree or does essentially tie to its performance to Iran's performance. And that's something that will have to be ironed out over the next 60 days or so. There are huge questions about whether this will hold in Lebanon as well this ceasefire in Lebanon. And so until we get more of these details, a lot of people around the world are watching to see how this all plays out.
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Monica Alba
Monica Yakib, let's talk a little bit more about that issue, the idea of these funds, because the administration has been walking this fine line when it comes to that sanctions relief for potentially unfreezing those funds for Iran. Because back in April when those negotiations were taking place, then President Trump posted explicitly, no money will exchange hands in any way, shape or form. But that doesn't really seem to be the case now, correct?
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Gabe Gutierrez
Yeah, that's right. Look, the Trump administration is very careful not to highlight this potential for sanctions relief. But earlier today, the president was asked about that. Let's listen to what he had to say and also what the vice president had to say specifically about that a little earlier today.
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Reporter/Interviewer
Mr. President, does the deal involve any sanctions relief for Iran?
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President Donald Trump
When would that go into effect?
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Well, it doesn't. Well, they have to. It's really a behavioral thing. If they do what they're supposed to do, that starts taking effect.
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Vice President J.D. Vance
If we see the Iranians making, for example, taking action to eliminate their stockpile of enriched material, then yes, sanctions relief will follow.
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Gabe Gutierrez
And thirdly, Monica, that is something that we didn't really hear from President Trump beforehand. Any sort of what the administration would have previously referred to as paying off the Iranians. They're trying to reframe this, trying to argue that this isn't paying off the Iranian, just simply incentivizing them to do the right thing. But certainly a lot of questions remain over the next 60 days, including that question of nuclear enrichment and the specifics tied to that, which, again, we're still waiting on details of that once this text of this memorandum of understanding is released. Monica.
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Monica Alba
And Gabe, the president, of course, has been very critical of the Obama administration for sanctions relief on Iran and freezing those funds. So what is different? What are they saying is different about this agreement?
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Gabe Gutierrez
Well, look, the White House senior U.S. officials have been repeating that the difference between this and the JCPOA signed under the Obama administration is that this White House was negotiating from a position of strength, whereas the Obama administration was negotiating from a position of weakness. Certainly that is one argument, but the devil really will be in the details. You heard from President Obama in an interview with ABC over the weekend suggesting that he thought that the Trump administration wouldn't be able to reach an agreement that was any significantly better than what he had reached during his administration. But the Trump White House is downplaying that. They're saying that they have a better relationship now with the top leadership in Iran, something that they didn't have for decades. And they think that Iran, they will not have a nuclear weapon, even though Iran had for decades said that it wouldn't pursue a nuclear weapon and said so under the previous agreement struck during the Obama administration. So certainly we're still waiting for the text of that document.
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Monica Alba
Yeah, that'll be really important. Gabe, thank you for all of that context. I do want to turn to Courtney on set with me here. Courtney, you've done a ton of reporting specifically on, on this issue of the mines. The president says that the Strait of Hormuz can be open for business on Friday as long as that work continues to remove them, according to him. But what does your reporting actually say about that and how soon we could actually see the strait safely being crossed by vessels?
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Courtney Kuby
So the US has had a number of different intelligence streams and tips and things that there are places where Iran laid mines before the war, was laying early on and then even throughout the course of the ceasefire, may have been placing additional mines. The US Military has spent quite a bit of time and effort to try to find those mines. And at this point, according to the officials we spoke with, they have not pulled any mines out of the water. Now, there have been cases where they have seen things that are circular and could possibly be mines, but they've never actually identified any as such. And we should point out there have been ships that have been transiting through. It's a much smaller number than it was pre war, but there have been some ships. So we know that there are at least some corridors that remain open for ships to be able to safely transit. But at this point, the number of ships that are going through still remains very, very low. If, in fact there may be an effort to literally sweep through the entire area and see if they can find anything visually. They have underwater robots, but again, at this point they've not positively identified any mines.
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Monica Alba
Would the US Military say right now that it feels it does have operational control over the Strait of Hormuz?
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Courtney Kuby
They do, and they say that all the time. CENTCOM says that they are controlling what's going in and out, that they're allowing some humanitarian chips in, that there's this coordination effort where they've allowed a small number. It's usually a single dig number every single day over the last five or six weeks now. But yes, they would maintain that they have operational control. Even though there really are still these two competing blockades between the US And Iran.
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Monica Alba
Given this current agreement that is in place, this tentative framework, how soon could troops come home?
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Courtney Kuby
I mean, I don't see the, I don't see it as likely that the Trump administration would pull back troops out of the region. I think that if in fact the blockade is to be lifted on Friday, I think we could see some of those ships move back a little bit, potentially a little bit further back from the Strait of Hormuzza when they're operating in sort of the northern part of the Gulf of Oman right now. But I don't see the US a major withdrawal of troops unless there is some sort of a follow on final agreement that includes that in court.
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Monica Alba
Just to some breaking news that we're just learning about right now, a crash at Edwards Air Base in California. What else do we know about that? We don't know a whole lot other
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Courtney Kuby
than we've got a statement out of Edwards saying that There was a B52 that crashed soon after takeoff.
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Monica Alba
It was a little after 11 o'
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Courtney Kuby
clock this morning, local time there in California. It's rare, it's very rare to hear about the crash of one of these bombers. So we're still trying to gather some information. We don't have any information, unfortunately, about the crew or anyone who may have been on board the aircraft when it went down.
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Monica Alba
We'll stay on top of that. Courtney Kuby, as always, thank you so much, Kir. I do want to turn to you now there in the region, how is this deal being viewed right now by Tehran and what kind of pressure are the Iranian negotiators facing on their side to end this conflict?
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Keir Simmons
Well, I would say three things in Iran and we managed to get through to Iran today. Disbelief amongst many there that this is really the end of the war. Skepticism amongst others that the Trump administration really is committed to a ceasefire and to an end to the war, and opposition from others who do not believe that Iran should do a deal with the US because they believed that they were winning this war. Now, we did get through to a senior academic at the University of Tehran this morning, and it was interesting to hear him talk, kind of answer that question that you asked them, Monica. And what he says is that they say this many often in Iran, that the history of disappointment or they would even say betrayal by US Governments in the past when they thought they had deals to notably the nuclear deal is coloring the way even the top of the leadership in Iran is viewing this. Take a listen.
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Monica Alba
It is not something that is somehow exciting in Tehran because we do have the experience of having kind of international date between Iran and United States, which were JCPOA and Donald Trump himself withdrew from that international date. It's a first step for a kind of long, long marathon between Iran and United States.
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Keir Simmons
An interesting echo that between what he has to say, what many in the Iranian regime are saying, and what J.D. vance said today, that this is going to be a step to step by step process to build trust. Both sides are viewing it that way because there is no trust, frankly.
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Monica Alba
Yeah, zero trust. We've heard that from both sides. Now, the president did say earlier today that the oil is flowing through the Strait of Hormuz, but Iranian state says that it remains in control. So where do things stand right now? And is Iran prepared to have the Strait of Hormuz go back to the international waterway it was before this entire war started?
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Keir Simmons
Well, it depends who you ask in Iran and in the Iranian regime. And I think part of that is because, let's be honest, the Strait of Hormuz, they've, they've demonstrated that they can threaten the Strait of Hormuz, which if you took a long boat ride from here, you would reach it. And it's the only way to get from Qatar here, for example, and to ship goods, and particularly oil, for example, so Iran can threaten the Strait of Hormuz no matter what the outcome and final resolution of all of this is. And I think another point too, the people that you were talking to before are great reporters. The administration now senior administration officials are beginning to say that, yes, this will be financially beneficial for Iran. So if you think about it from Tehran's perspective, either they're going to charged tolls or fees or whatever you call it around the Strait of Hormuz, or they're hoping they'll get sanctions relief or even money that they think they're owed that has been held away from them over the course of these negotiations. It's one or the other.
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Monica Alba
Yeah, that's a key storyline for sure that we'll be watching. I do want to also just ask you, Kir, the president today said pretty plainly that Iran has, quote, fully agreed to give up their nuclear weapons. But have you seen any Iranian official make that kind of commitment as part of this initial memorandum of understanding?
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Keir Simmons
Yeah, not publicly. And actually, just before you came to me, I just went through the X accounts of the speaker, Gallobaap, the foreign minister, Eragc, the president Possesski, and see if they've said anything in the past hours in relation to the nuclear. And no, they're not saying they're going to do that now. I guess you could argue they wouldn't say that publicly because that is to be discussed, to be negotiated. And there will be talks even here in Doha in the coming days even before the signing in Switzerland. So the answer is no. But I guess maybe watch this space
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Monica Alba
here from the region. Thank you so much for that and for bringing us that interview. I want to turn now to Matt in Tel Aviv. Matt, the president has said that Israel will eventually get on board with this deal, even though Prime Minister Netanyahu said Israel isn't a signatory to the latest agreement. What more do we know about Israel's involvement?
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Matt Bradley
Well, it sounds as though it's minimal. And the fact is is that Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister, has basically been apologizing for that tonight. Not in so many words. He made the argument, the only argument he could make, which was that this deal will still benefit Israel. It's coming amidst a storm of criticism from Netanyahu's allies, from his opponents, from his rivals, even from top figures in the military who aren't necessarily criticizing the deal directly, but have vowed that they will remain in Lebanon as well as in Gaza and the west bank and Syria and will defend Israel's borders. Despite what looks like to Israeli media and to so many in the political class here and to so many Israelis, we've already seen the polling numbers diving over the past couple of weeks. It looks like A strategic failure and the punishment that the prime minister has to reap from basically overextending his hand.
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Monica Alba
And the president did blame Israel strikes on Beirut for delaying the signing of the deal. Over the weekend, in an interview with Axios, he used many four letter words to talk about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's actions. Is there any indication that Israel is going to be pulling back in its operations, specifically in Lebanon, Matt?
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Matt Bradley
Well, they won't be pulling back from their positions just over the Israeli border with Lebanon inside Lebanese territory. We don't know what they're going to be doing further afield. The Israelis have deployed quite a number of troops into Lebanon, but consistently from the beginning and really from all the way back in March, several weeks after this offensive started on February 28, we've seen the Iranians trying to bundle together the Lebanon file with the broader treaty and ceasefire deals and negotiations that have been going on between the US And Israel on one side and Iran on the other. Now it looks as though they've done so very successfully. And this is why here in Israel, this is widely seen as an American deal with Iran that is being imposed on Israel against their will and against the objectives of Iran's or, excuse me, of Israel's senior military leadership. There are so many people in this country in prominent places in security positions who are demanding that the Israelis go ahead and finish Hezbollah once and for all. And they blame Netanyahu for not standing up to President Trump and saying we will not be shackled in this fight against Hezbollah. Instead, this really does look like a climb down and one in which the Israelis participated in attacking Iran. But they didn't get a chance to sit down at the negotiating table and craft that final deal that they're now saying basically is going to be imposed on them. That's what the media is saying.
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Monica Alba
Matt Bradley, thank you so much for your reporting. And Brian, I want to bring you into the conversation now because this agreement has sent oil and gas prices tumbling. So explain what we're seeing here today.
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Brian Chung
Yeah, well, oil markets are reacting sharply to this. Prices on an average barrel of oil that are trading on the commodities market trading at around 8, $80 as of settlement today. And again, when you consider that we were somewhere closer to $110 just a month ago, that is a precipitous fall and does explain why we've already seen prices at the pump start to fall even in the lead up to this announcement. Now, I should point out that gas prices are now $4.07. There's good reason to think as a result of the action in oil markets today that that could fall below $4 a gallon as soon as tomorrow. But again, the big story here is whether or not this cease fire will hold. We don't technically have anything signed until Friday. And everyone will kind of recall what happened in April when there was an announcement from Iran that the Strait of Hormuz was reopened. What happened after that? It was only one day before they then reclosed it and the US Blockade was put into effect. So again, the fragility of this is something that the markets are thinking about, but at least the initial reaction is positivity with those oil markets trading down.
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Monica Alba
You touched on this, but I think the big question on a lot of people's minds is how quickly those gas prices could come down. Do we have any sense of when they could come down to pre war levels?
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Brian Chung
Yeah, and again, we could see sub $4 a gallon averages as soon as tomorrow. But a lot of people will be quick to say, hey, Brian, wait, pre war levels were somewhere closer to $2.98. So I think that the thinking here is that if prices do fall from here, it's going to be more like a feather as opposed to like the dropping like a rock comparison that the president has used. Analysts who watch oil markets very closely are saying, look, you have to to remember that ships are going to have to get ready to travel back through the Strait of Hormuz. There are a lot of insurance questions. They have to get loaded up. The infrastructure in that region has been heavily damaged since the beginning of this war. And for that reason, you have Kepler. This is a group that watches oil markets very closely, saying 500 vessels were in the strait at the time of writing and it could take two to three months to return to pre war movement, let alone pre war supply. So for that reason, it could be a while to get back to pre war levels if we do ever get back there anytime soon.
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Monica Alba
Yeah, months from now, potentially close to the midterms as well. Let's talk a little bit more about oil specifically because we did note that it has dropped now to around $80 a barrel from the $110 before this agreement was announced. But how much of that decline is caused by more oil that is flowing globally? Or is this just based off of optimism around the strait starting to reopen?
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Brian Chung
Yeah, that's a great question, Monica. It really is kind of a question about how markets operate. It's based off of future cash flows. And when you think about the yes, despite this announcement, there are certainly not 500 ships that are trafficking through the strait today. And in fact, we don't even know if there will be 500 ships trafficking through the strait on Friday. If this is, if the cease fire is followed through on, it would take a long time to get there. But what oil markets are pricing in is a light at the end of this tunnel. But again, they priced back at $80 a barrel. In April when there was the announcement from Iran that they had reopened the Strait of Hormuz. It did dip down, dipped down to about $80 a barrel. But then guess what, it shot right back up to above 100 after that was reversed. Could the same thing happen here? If there's a U turn on this again? Remains to be seen. We'll have to watch.
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Monica Alba
Won't be an on and off switch. Brian Chung, thank you so much for that. And a programming note, NBC's Tom Yamas will have a one on one interview with Vice President J.D. vance about the U.S. deal with Iran. Watch it tonight on Nightly News and on top stories. And coming up, breaking news. California Governor Gavin Newsom says he and his wife are under investigation by President Trump's Justice Department, claiming he's being targeted because he's considering running for president. That story is next. You're watching MEET THE press.
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- [25:49]
Monica Alba
welcome back. Turning now to breaking news out of California, where Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom announced this afternoon in a video posted on X that the Department of Justice is investigating him and his wife for what he claims are political reasons. Take a listen.
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Gabe Gutierrez
In recent days, federal agents have knocked
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Monica Alba
on the doors of family, friends and former employees not because they found a crime, because they're simply trying to find one. Donald Trump isn't just coming after me because of my mean tweets. He's coming after me because I'm considering running for president. The Department of Justice has declined to comment, but joining me now is senior justice reporter Ryan Reilly. And Ryan, what more do we know about this?
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Ryan Reilly
I think we're, you know, at the early stages here. And it kind of makes it confusing because when you've had so many cases in the past where cases were dismissed that were targeted at Donald Trump's enemies, and it was, you know, became clear throughout the process of reporting in some of the cases on these that these were not really well merited cases, you know, including cases that failed to get past a grand jury because they tried to indict six sitting members of Congress. You sort of have to go through this process of figuring out what exactly any of these investigations stand. And it gives the opportunity for a lot of people who are targeted to sort of come out and claim that these, they're being targeted because of their politics. And I think we're still sort of sorting that out on the Newsom case because there, there aren't necessarily a lot of details off the bat about what this is exactly about. But because Gavin Newsom has been such a hard charging person going after Donald Trump, and there is this acrimony between Donald Trump and Governor Newsom, it's raised a lot of questions about what the basis of this is. Of course, there was a case against the chief of staff for the governor, the former chief of staff rather, that came out just a month ago in which that individual pleaded guilty. So our reporting suggests that, that this case could be related in some way to that or have grown out of that investigation in the Eastern District of, of California, which is an important distinction because there's a central District of California U.S. attorney who's really kind of one of these more aggressive Trump loyalists who has sort of gotten to some back and forth on social media with Gavin that would complicate any case that, that his office would bring against him. But, but our understanding is it's not his office, it's a different one in the state.
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Monica Alba
And I know we're still getting all of these details since this is just breaking. But is there anything to support the governor's claim that this is politically motivated right now?
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Ryan Reilly
Yeah, I mean, I think you can, he can point to the track record of previously failed cases that the Justice Department has brought against a number of Donald Trump's enemies, including those individuals sitting in Congress over a social media video that, that Trump didn't like that the grand jury rejected off the bat. Of course, there's been cases against a number of individuals, including James Comey, who still has that pending one over that photo of seashells that he took on a beach in North Carolina. If that case somehow manages to survive the multiple, you know, challenges that it has, the legal challenges, it would go to trial in October. But, you know, this has been an ongoing theme for this second Trump administration where there are, are these cases that have been just tossed out for various reasons along the, along the way. And the James Comey one could be added to that down the line.
- [29:10]
Monica Alba
Brian, thank you for bringing us those latest developments. And joining me now is today's panel. Daniela Diaz, politics reporter, for notice. Joe Crowley, former Democratic congressman and from New York, and Rick Tyler, Republican strategist and co founder of the Foundry Strategies. Thank you all for being here. And that's where I want to start on this news that we're just learning about with this possible probe into Governor Gavin Newsom. Daniela, what do you make of this announcement from him and coming out and talking about it in this way?
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Daniela Diaz
You know, I covered the seditious six so called, the members of Congress that were also indicted for their words. And while a lot of them were, of course, speaking out against the administration, they did find an opportunity in this, in fundraising, name recognition, being able to have attacks against the Trump administration. And as I'm talking to Democrats about this recent announcement about Gavin Newsom, they're saying this might be a huge boom for his fundraising. I mean, he said in the tweet he's attacking me because I'm considering running for being in the Oval Office. I mean, this could be a huge opportunity for Gavin Newsom, but it is still a scary thing. And it does seem like it could be another sign of the Trump administration weaponizing.
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Monica Alba
Congressman, talk a little bit about that because how could the governor potentially be thinking about all of that in the context of this possible run and race leading up to 2020.
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Joe Crowley
Well, I do agree with Daniela that I think this is like a badge of honor. If you're now indicted, if you're under investigation by doj, and this DOJ in particular, as a Democrat, that maybe worn as a badge of honor. At the same time, there's no question it's disturbing. It's become almost standard procedure now. If you're running for a higher office, you should expect that you might just very well be investigated by a doj. You know, we don't know what the charges, what potential charges are, what this is all about, but I think there's also this attempt to kind of, you know, dirty up a little bit his potential candidacy.
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Monica Alba
And, Rick, I mean, again, we don't know what all the details are here, but do you see Newsom sort of taking a page out of Trump's playbook and trying to set the narrative before we know all of the real details?
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Rick Tyler
The strangest presidential campaign announcement I've ever seen that you're announced that you're being investigated. There's no indictment, so nobody. Gavin doesn't know what he's being investigated for. All he knows is FBI agents have interviewed his family and friends. This is what I call Trump's 18 ring circus model. You know, the three ring circus is designed to keep people entertained in three. But he's got 18, and I do think the press kind of falls for it every time. It's like, well, look over here. Oh, we have a cage fight over here. Oh, they're tearing my name off the memorial. We don't want that on the Kennedy Memorial. So what about Gavin Newsom being investigated? It just goes on and on and on and on, and it actually works, actually fairly well for him, but it's all transactional, and it will lead to no legacy building for himself. It is just keep moving the attention, follow the bouncing ball.
- [32:06]
Monica Alba
Okay, well, before we get to 2028, we have to talk about the 2026 midterms.
- [32:10]
1-800-Flowers Advertiser
Right?
- [32:10]
Monica Alba
We have to stop there first. And I do want to talk about this sort of uncomfortable spot that both parties have suddenly found themselves in with these controversial candidates in different states. I do want to play and take a listen to what lawmakers told Kristen yesterday about these Senate bids from both Graham Platner in Maine and Ken Paxton in Texas, and we'll talk about it. Do you believe Graham Platner has the character to serve in the United States Senate? Well, here's what I'll say. Character matters. And I think that the voters of Maine, of Maine have an opportunity to see who they want to represent them in the United States Senate. They will decide that. Well, the voters of Maine elevated him in the primary. Do you think Ken Paxton has the character to serve as a U.S. senator?
- [33:00]
Reporter/Interviewer
I think the people of Texas will
- [33:01]
Monica Alba
make a decision on that, just like the people in Maine will make a
- [33:04]
Reporter/Interviewer
decision about Graham Platner on this. Everybody makes their own decision for their own reasons.
- [33:10]
Monica Alba
So, Daniela, you cover Congress. Do you think this is sort of going to be the line now? It's up to the voters, even as we see some of these lawmakers potentially campaigning with the candidates. But is that sort of what you think we're going to be hearing?
- [33:21]
Daniela Diaz
Yes. I mean, they're both in their own right, Democratic Party, Republican Party, kind of politically toxic person in their. In their parties. Ken Paxton, of course, has primaried a sitting member of the Senate and made a lot of enemies doing that, including with establishment Republicans. Graham Platner did the same thing in Maine against Janet Mills. So they're in really tricky spots. You know, the caucus and the conference and Senate, as we just saw, they were clearly very stumbled by these questions. They tried their best to say it's up to the voters to have to do this. That's what we're going to hear a lot. Unless we've already seen some members come out and endorse them, which we're not really seeing for either of these candidates.
- [33:58]
Monica Alba
Congressman, specifically, when we do talk about Graham Platner, are we seeing a shift within the Democratic Party to sort of supporting this idea that the ends justify the means, that this is sort of the next step or the natural evolution of fighting fire with fire? Is that sort of just what they're going to be using?
- [34:15]
Joe Crowley
Well, two things. I think the bar has been set so low now, you know, just when you think you can't get any lower. And I think the President has played a role in this in terms of his own. His own character or lack thereof. But I think the election result, the primary election result was so overwhelming, it does send a message, I think that people are even willing to vote for a person that they may not otherwise voted for because they're so desperate for change in terms of Washington, D.C. and sending that message on both sides of the aisle? I think that's very true.
- [34:48]
Monica Alba
Rick, jump in on that.
- [34:49]
Rick Tyler
Yeah, well, the Senate map is writing the ethics rules for the members. As you just saw. You know, standards only work if they're inconvenient. And it would be delightful to hear a member of their own party say that. Someone is, you know, you can say you're sorry for your Nazi tattoo and the way you treat women and the things that you've said in the past, but, you know, you know, to me, you just don't get to be United States Senator. And that's where we're at. And so we'll see what happens. But, you know, these races are. The control of the Senate is absolutely at stake. I do think Platner in big trouble, not because of himself, but because of Ohio. Like, if you're going to invest money in a race, why not Ohio? And versus all that, why go after a losing race in Maine?
- [35:37]
Monica Alba
Now, Senator Lankford didn't really excuse Paxton or go after Platner. It was like a little bit of a different kind of walking that line. Do you think that that kind of Republican response is an outlier as the midterms heat up, or is that more of what we're going to be hearing?
- [35:53]
Rick Tyler
Power is at stake, and it's real power. Having, you know, having the Senate presidency and controlling a branch of government is a big deal because you cannot move legislation unless you control that office. Same with the speaker over on the other side. They want this. So the whole. They want to play as a team. And so the whole team has got to pitch in to make it happen. The problem, I think that is happening is the parties have lost control of how they vet candidates. And that has happened because of the finance laws, but that's because members of Congress voted for those finance laws. So when you have all these texts that say, you know, hey, gee, pitch in five bucks. The speaker doesn't have any power anymore. He can raise. They can raise five bucks. Five bucks all day long. And they can just say, stick it to the speaker, stick it to the Senate President. I'm running. And they could be financed. Platner is a good example of that. He's raised a lot of money.
- [36:43]
Monica Alba
Georgia, which we haven't talked about in the little time that we have left. Daniela, the President did actually make an endorsement yesterday, right? Backing Congressman Mike Collins over former coach Derek Dooley. Is a late endorsement likely to shift the race for tomorrow at all?
- [36:56]
Daniela Diaz
I mean, we saw what happened in with Randy Feenstra in Iowa. He, of course, ran an underwhelming campaign that were a lot of issues with what happened in Iowa, but he got a 11th hour endorsement from President Donald Trump that didn't push him across the finish line. It's going to. It depends on what the voters want. It seems like there's been a anti Washington establishment mind across the country. When I talk to people, that's what their concern is when it comes to people from Washington running for statewide office. But it seems like Mike Collins could really pull this through. I mean, he's, he's kind of an outlier here.
- [37:26]
Monica Alba
What do you make congressman of his of either of the chances depending there against Jon Ossoff in Georgia there.
- [37:32]
Joe Crowley
John is incredibly popular member of the Senate and a rising star within the party. People are talking about him running for president potentially. He's a very attractive candidate. There's no doubt about that. Potentially there. But you know, he still has to win this election first. He can't get to 2028 unless he get past 2026. And I think he's in a good spot to do that.
- [37:54]
Monica Alba
We'll leave it there. Congressmen Rick and Daniela, thank you so much as always for our conversation. And up next, we have a brand new NBC News poll and Steve Kornacki is at the big board. Steve, you have a sneak peek for us.
- [38:08]
Reporter/Interviewer
We got numbers on President Trump standing on the midterms and America at 250. A whole lot to bring to you.
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- [39:45]
Monica Alba
Welcome back. After more than 100 days of war and with less than 150 days till the midterms, got a new NBC News poll that shows President Trump's approval rating remains underwater with voters. 57% of registered voters say they disapprove of the job Mr. Trump is doing as president. Those numbers could spell trouble for his party ahead of November's elections. Joining me now from the big board is NBC chief data analyst Steve Kornacki. Steve, great to have you. As we mentioned, we do have those new poll numbers that show the president and Republicans, Republicans struggling ahead of the election. So tell us more.
- [40:20]
Reporter/Interviewer
Yeah, I mean, you had the number there, the overall approval rating sitting at 42%. See on the right side here, that is down a tick 44% the last time our NBC News poll checked in. And in fact, this is the lowest number, 42%. This is the lowest number since Trump came back to the White House that he's registered. So certainly that's in line with what we saw in the 2025 off year elections, is what we've seen in special elections where Democrats have been overperformed and Democrats hope that portends big gains for them. This November certainly puts Trump and the Republicans in the danger zone. So do numbers like this. If you look inside Trump's approval rating among some key groups here, Latinos, where he made major gains in the 2024 election, young voters under 30 years old. Look at that, 34% approval with Latinos, 21% approval with voters under 30. This is a group where he got over 40% support in the 2024 presidential election. So a risk there for Trump and for his party, not just of, of losing support, having those voters potentially flip to Democrats. Also, you know how many of those are voters are just, you know, Trump voters who won't turn out in the midterm. Sort of a two pronged risk there for Trump and his party. Independence you see, down at 31% approval. Then there's this, the generic ballot. Now this is an interesting one here. The Democrats lead in the generic ballot, 49 to 44%, a five point advantage. I think that's a good number for Democrats and it's consistent with what I've been showing. Although if you think back to Trump's first term, 2018, that midterm election, it was a blue wave midterm in 2018, the generic ballot was more like an 8 point lead, 10 point lead consistently in that range for Democrats, this sitting here at 5. So if there's a silver lining for Republicans in this, and by the way, we can break that down, you can see that among independents right there. But if there's a silver lining for Republicans, it is that generic ballot. It's not a good number for them, but they're hoping if they can keep it at 5 or less, they could at least contain the damage, potential damage and not suffer something on the scale that they did in 2018.
- [42:19]
Monica Alba
And Steve, this poll also gave us some insight on how Americans are viewing the country ahead of its 250th birthday.
- [42:25]
Courtney Kuby
Right.
- [42:25]
Monica Alba
What was your biggest takeaway from that?
- [42:27]
Reporter/Interviewer
Yeah, I think it was sort of the big broad question we asked folks about this. How proud are you to be an American? All the options that we offered here, sort of a range of responses. Now, if you add them together here, extremely, very proud, 56%. You know, chose one of those two options. Look at the other end of the scale. Only a little proud. Not a little, not so proud at all. 21%. So 56, 21. What's interesting is that number is down substantially from where it was a decade ago. Two decades ago, in the year 2000, turn of the century, 75% of Americans said they were extremely, very proud. It's fallen almost 20 points basically in the first quarter of this century. That's an all time low. What's behind that? It's some divisions that are pretty familiar in our politics and they're certainly spilling over into this. Again, 56% overall have an extremely much proud of the country. It's 29% among Democrats, it's 90% among Republicans. Look at that staggering gap between the parties. Look at it on the other end here. Only a little or not proud at all. It's 36% among Democrats. That number among Democrats. It's higher on the low end there than it is on the extremely proud end. And it's only 3% for Republicans. So a massive partisan divide on that question of being proud to be an American. And again, an age. We talk about age shaping our politics so much. You're seeing it on this question too. Senior citizens, 75%. Extremely, very proud. 36% less than half of that for the youngest set of Americans.
- [43:55]
Monica Alba
Steve, we're extremely proud and lucky that you are here with us to break it all down. Thank you so much. Appreciate it.
- [44:01]
Brian Chung
Thank you.
- [44:02]
Monica Alba
And coming up, President Trump picks a new fight over the extension of a crucial US Surveillance law. Which lapsed on Friday, demanding Congress agree to his demands on a number of other issues, including an overhaul of voting in America. We're live on Capitol Hill with the fallout. This is MEET THE PRESS now.
- [44:32]
President Donald Trump
Welcome back.
- [44:32]
Monica Alba
President Trump is throwing a wrench into Congress's efforts to reauthorize a crucial but controversial surveillance tool that expired on Friday. It's called section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance act and it grants the government the authority to gather intelligence on foreigners outside of the US Without a warrant. The president posting on social media today, quote, I'm against FISA if it doesn't come with the same Save America act full version firmly attached to it. That bill would require voters to provide photo ID and proof of citizenship while significantly restricting mail in voting. The bill has struggled to get through the Republican controlled Senate and would be a poison pill for Democrats for reauthorizing fisa. It comes after last week when Democrats blocked a short term extension of fisa, citing concerns that the president's appointment of Bill Pulte, a loyalist with no intelligence or national security background, to serve as acting Director of National Intelligence. He's set to begin his job in the coming days. And the president has since nominated US Attorney Jay Clayton to be his permanent dni. That confirmation hearing is set for Wednesday. Joining me now is NBC News Capitol Hill correspondent Julie Sirkin. Julie, Republicans have failed to pass the Save America act through reconciliation. So is there any scenario in which Congress could, could pass it through a FISA reauthorization?
- [45:56]
1-800-Flowers Advertiser
Yeah.
- [45:56]
President Donald Trump
In the words of Senate Majority Leader John Thune, absolutely not. If anything, this sort of furthers the chances of Democrats not providing the votes to reauthorize fisa, because even Republicans, they can't even get enough votes to pass the SAVE act as is. They've tried it, the reconciliation, they've tried it on their own. The Senate Majority Leader John Thune had said in no uncertain terms this is not something that he has the votes for and he is not going to change the filibuster, that 60 vote threshold requirement that the president has been pushing him for because he doesn't have the votes for that either. And I think if you look at what this FISA 702 program actually does and the fact that even though that law expired, the underlying statutes that govern it have not and they won't until March 2027, meaning companies are still legally required to comply with that surveillance provision if, if requested by the government. I think that might add an extension, explain to why the president doesn't really have a sense of urgency around it. I think it's notable that the president waited until hours after the House and Senate left to nominate Jay Clayton. I also thought it was interesting that in his post yesterday, Monica, he now criticized Republicans for moving too quickly on nominations because Jay Clayton's nomination hearing is set to take place in just a couple of days from now. So overall, the president forcing or demanding that Republicans attach save all of SAFE to the FISA authorization, that does not bode well for the reauthorization of that key program.
- [47:17]
Monica Alba
And switching gears here, Julie, Mitch McConnell's office confirms that the former Senate majority leader is in the hospital. What do we know about his condition or what he might be being treated for?
- [47:30]
President Donald Trump
Yeah, they're all really important questions, Monica. And as we've seen, unfortunately, in the past several years, that Senator McConnell has faced a number of health issues. The response response from his spokespeople, his office remains very elusive. They give us a bit of information and nothing more than they're ready to share. They shared a statement yesterday saying Senator McConnell was admitted to the hospital this morning, this was yesterday, and he's receiving excellent care. I went back and I spoke to that spokesperson, seeing if there is any additional information they can add, even whether McConnell is still being treated. And they told me that they have absolutely nothing to add beyond that statement yesterday. I also think it's notable that when my colleague Brennan Leach spoke to Leader Thune earlier today, she asked him if he's had any direct conversations with McConnell, and he said he hasn't. He said he's only spoken to McConnell's aides.
- [48:14]
Daniela Diaz
Again.
- [48:14]
President Donald Trump
The Senate is just coming back in the next hour, so we'll certainly ask around if anyone's been in touch with McConnell. But at 84, he, of course, has faced a number of health challenges and issues in recent years that some some of them had caused him to step down from the majority leader role and not seek another year in that role, another term in that role. But certainly a lot of questions remain, and his office tells us when they have more answers, they'll be sure to let us know.
- [48:36]
Monica Alba
Anika, Julie Serkin, thanks for your great reporting as always. And still to come, World cup amid war. It's match day for team Iran, and they're playing their game right near the area affectionately known as Tarangilis, with people there divided between rooting for a team representing their heritage and protesting the regime. Stay with us on MEET THE Press now. Welcome back. Amid the war and peace talks, Iran's national soccer team will begin its world cup quest tonight, right here in the US Iran taking on New Zealand in Los Angeles, the city home to the largest community of Iranians outside of the country itself. Now, many of those residents are conflicted over whether to root for a team that represents their heritage, but also represents a government that they condemn. NBC News correspondent Steve Patterson joins me now from la. Steve, so happy to talk to you about all of this. I know that you have been asking residents who are conflicting over whether to support Iran in the World Cup. What have they told you about that dilemma?
- [49:56]
Steve Patterson
You know, Monica, I think it's important to understand the confliction that a lot of people have. It's not confliction about should I support my team, my culture, my heritage, the sport that I love, the people that I love. It's more about how do I do that? And it's simply because of what's emblazoned on those jerseys, that Islamic Republic emblem that is on the jersey of every logo and every player on the field. For a lot of people, it's a bridge too far. I spoke to one gentleman who had come post Iranian revolution, Islamic Revolution, I should say, to this country, fleeing persecution, sought political asylum, and he says he cannot simply watch one of those games with those flags on the field. Another guy I spoke to, 18 years old, grew up in this country, said loving football and loving the team is the way that he's protesting the government, that the regime, that sort of props up the team. But other people feel like, isn't this sort of benefiting an arm of propaganda for that regime? And so again, it's this sort of conflicted soup. And again, I spoke to different people with different opinions, and a lot of them, while they conflict, they all have this love for the people. It's just how they celebrate that love. I want you to hear from some of them now, including one guy that's on his way to the game as we speak. Take a look.
- [51:12]
Monica Alba
They'd be entitled to their opinion. And I think I would support their choice, obviously, for everything that's happened in Iran in the last six. Six months, 50 years, 100 years. Honestly, I feel for them. Honestly, as an Iranian American, I'd always look for an opportunity to kind of support people back home and the political situation, it's kind of hard to do that. And I feel like this is one way of at least supporting the people in Iran.
- [51:35]
Steve Patterson
So some going to the game, cheering for their team, others on a wholesale boycott, not paying attention whatsoever. The third option that we've seen are protests. We expect a pretty sizable one to happen outside of the stadium today. In fact, we know people are gathering as we speak. Monica?
- [51:50]
Monica Alba
Steve, such an important conversation and point that you make there and that they make about identity and fandom and how the two can collide. So when and where does Iran play its next match after tonight? And what are the prospects of Iran taking on the United States in this World Cup? It's not impossible, right?
- [52:09]
Steve Patterson
It's not impossible, but it's not the most likely thing to happen. They play Belgium next, which is right here on Sunday. So if both of the US And Iran do well in their groups, they place second in both group G and group D. That means stay with me in the round of 32. If they're matched up together, they will fight, face each other. So a lot of things have to happen, but it is possible. And that's sort of a whole new set of conflictions, I think, especially for people that live in the United States, but also people that have come to this country from their home and Tehran.
- [52:43]
Monica Alba
Thank you so much that we will all be watching. And of course, the US And Iran were in the same group four years ago in the last World cup, interestingly. Steve Patterson, thank you for your reporting. And remember, you can watch every game, every moment of the 2026 FIFA World cup live in Spanish on Telemundo and Peacock and in English on Fox. We'll be back tomorrow with much more. MEET the PRESS now. And as always, there's more ahead on N NBC News now. Stitch fix. Stop shopping. Get styled. Not today, sweatpants. Somebody's wearing jeans that fit. No photos, please.
- [53:32]
Vice President J.D. Vance
I'm just a regular dad who happens
- [53:34]
Monica Alba
to have a stylist.
- [53:35]
Gabe Gutierrez
I really look my best when someone else makes the decisions.
- [53:38]
Rick Tyler
Hey, we can all see you two way mirrors.
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Monica Alba
Just share your size, style and budget and your stylist sends personalized looks right to your door. Stitch fix. Get started today@stitchfix.com I want to hug you. I'm going to hug you.
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Rick Tyler
I'm coming.
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Monica Alba
I'm coming in for a hug.