President Donald Trump (2:27)

We're taking out their leadership time stuff or Three might be raining by now, sir. Won't be long. And we're going to have a much safer world when it's wrapped up. It'll be wrapped up soon, but we're not ready to leave yet. But we won't be leaving in the near future. We'll be leaving in pretty much the very near future. As soon as that war is over, which will be soon, your prices are going to drop like a rock and it's going to be over with pretty soon.

Gabe Gutierrez (2:55)

But despite those comments, the Pentagon is accelerating its deployment of thousands of Marines and sailors to the Middle East. That's according to two people familiar with the decision. These images show some of those US Service members departing San Diego for the region. Meanwhile, in the Middle East, Israeli emergency crews are scrambling after a major attack on Jerusalem's Old City. This was the moment of that strike when falling missile fragments hit. The IDF says bomb squad and border guard soldiers are at the scene to collect evidence. NBC's Richard Engel is making his way to near where that strike happened in Jerusalem and will join us shortly. Joining me now is NBC News White House correspondent Monica Alba, as well as NBC News senior national security correspondent Courtney qb. Monica. Monica, I do want to start with you. As we mentioned, the president has repeatedly said this war will be over soon. But is it clear right now out what soon means?

Monica Alba (3:50)

No, it's really not, Gabe. And the president kind of is giving this answer over and over again and has for the last 10 or 12 days. He indicated at what point when he was down in Florida that he thought it could be wrapping up, quote, within days. And again, that was about 12 days ago. So it is really unclear what the president means when he says this. And he started off this week sort of trying to project that, again saying that this was potentially wrapping up. But you also see the president taking decisions and making important decisions about potential, potentially these additional resources that are going to be sent to the region, which suggests that the president is also obviously considering options that would mean that this ongoing massive military operation could last a little bit longer than that. So the president on one hand does want to seem to project that this could be winding down, but we don't know on the other hand what soon means. And originally, of course, the timeline was supposed to be somewhere in the four to six week timeline. And the president also likes to say, and just said moments ago he believes he is weeks ahead of schedule. So if we're at about the halfway point of that, but also ahead of schedule, again, the president hasn't totally been able to put an exact timeframe on what he means by soon.

Gabe Gutierrez (5:04)

And Monaco oil prices continue to creep up as Iran continues to target energy infrastructure in the Gulf. And there are still, of course, major concerns about the Strait of Hormuz. What are we hearing from the President about that situation?

Monica Alba (5:17)

Yeah, and he's trying to also there project that the reason for concern shouldn't be that high. He even is trying to argue, argue that he believes that the price of oil would be even higher, that he doesn't believe it is as high as he thought it could go based on what we're seeing. But you also are seeing the Trump administration take this pretty seriously and talk about some potential ways in which they can mitigate the oil prices. You saw this week the waiver of the Jones act, that 100 year old statute that essentially makes it a little bit easier to use other vessels to move goods, which means that this can more freely flow between US Ports to be able to transport that, which again might help eventually, but people aren't gonna see the short term gain or effect of that in the coming weeks. And the White House, the vice president, for instance, has admitted that he believes this is going to be a rough road for the weeks ahead, calling it a temporary blip and trying to brace people for the reality that it is going to be a little while before those gas prices come down.

Gabe Gutierrez (6:17)

Gabe, Monica, how about the White House? Courtney, I want to shift to you. What do we know about this newest deployment? We saw that video of some US Service members leaving San Diego. We when are they expected to arrive? What else do we know?

Courtney Kuby (6:29)

So this is the USS Boxer that we just saw with Marines and sailors on board. It's part of another one of these argmus that we've talked about before, the Amphibious Ready Group, Marine Expeditionary Unit. Basically what that means is it's three US Navy ships with several thousand US sailors plus about 2,200 to 2,500 marines on board. And those are Marines who are very specially trained for missions like amphibious landings. So landing on an island that's potentially hostile or contested and taking a piece of land. They're also good at seizing ports, seizing airports, those sorts of things. So they just left San Diego. And we were, according to several officials we spoke with yesterday, they said they're actually headed to the Middle East. But amphibious assault ships like this one, they don't move very fast. So we're probably a couple weeks out

Gabe Gutierrez (7:13)

potentially landing on an island, the gas field.

Courtney Kuby (7:17)

It's, I mean, it what, what these Marines and These sailors do is they bring options for President Trump. They give him the option for. There's another MEW that's on its way there. It's much closer actually, coming from the Asia pac. Now, if there are two Marine Expeditionary Units there, that is thousands of Marines who have this very highly skilled, specialized training and they, they operate as a unit and they're very self contained, meaning they have their own aircraft, they have their own ability to sustain themselves. It gives the president options for more boots on the ground should he decide to do so.

Gabe Gutierrez (7:51)

And potentially what does that mean for the Strait of Hormuz? Could these perhaps escort tankers, I think

Courtney Kuby (7:58)

escorts are probably less likely at this point. But other, there are other options that they could use boots on the ground that would help potentially open up the Strait of Hormuz. Because look, the threats still exist right now. And so what they have to do is just slowly degrade those threats. They've gone after some of the anti ship missiles, they've gone after some of the drones, they've gone after some of the mines. They still have the Mosquito fleet, these small fast boats, those still exist, but they're trying to take those down too. They really need to degrade that threat capability before they could talk about any kind of boots on the ground.

Gabe Gutierrez (8:28)

So we're days out before I let you go. Yesterday, the President confirmed and also Secretary Higs has talked about, you know, asking Congress for more money, potentially some $200 billion to help fund this war. How fluid is that number, you think? And what did you make of the Republican hesitancy on Capitol Hill? Unclear, you know, where this goes, whether there will actually be some backlash to President Trump? Typically on the Hill there isn't. But in this particular case, how fluid do you, do you think this will be? Could we see a much higher number before today?

Courtney Kuby (8:58)

I can't envision a scenario, if this war continues for weeks more, where that number doesn't go up more. Because what this is largely paying for is replacement of munitions and weapons systems and things. And by the way, Iran has taken out quite a bit of US Military hardware. We don't have a whole lot confirmed, but there's reports of radar systems and communication systems in the region. We know they've taken out a number of drones, expensive drones. We saw the tragic crash of KC 135s. One of those was completely lost. So that's nothing to say of the defensive munitions, the interceptors that have been used and all of the offensive weapons. And listen to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. Himself, every single time he briefs, he says that, that it's going to be the most intense day of bombing yet. So they are. They are using a tremendous amount of munitions for this, and it comes at a high cost.

Gabe Gutierrez (9:48)

Courtney Kuby, our senior national security correspondent. Thank you so much, Courtney. And we'll turn now to our chief foreign correspondent, Richard Engel, who has made his way to Jerusalem, where, as we mention, those missile fragments fell this afternoon on the Old City. Richard, we're three weeks into this war. There was a major incident in Jerusalem today. What do we know about that situation?

Richard Engel (10:14)

So we're three weeks into this war. I was just listening to your segment with Courtney and her, as always, excellent analysis and reporting about where this could be going. In the Marines that specialize in beach landings heading toward the Straits of Hormuz. What happened here, Jerusalem today could have changed this war profoundly and made it into something unlike what we have seen thus far. Earlier in the afternoon, Iran fired a missile at Israel. Behind me, that is the Old City. You see these walls? These are the walls of the Old City. It is a small place, a kilometer by kilometer. On the screen, you see the explosion. If you go back, you'll find the video that shows Iranian missile in the air over the Old City. It's intercepted by an Israeli interceptor. It breaks in half, according to Israeli police. And then the warhead, with what they described as dozens of kilograms of explosives blows up right there inside the Old City. Now, astonishingly, some would say miraculously, because the Old City is full of religious sites, it is a jewel box of holy sites. It hit in one of the few relatively empty places. There weren't even any injuries. But just yards away from where that explosion took place is the Wailing Wall. Really, just yards away, a few hundred yards away is the Wailing Wall on top, which is the holiest place in the world for Jews everywhere. There, just on top of the Wailing Wall, sits the Al Aqsa Mosque. And today, which is holy for Muslims, and today is a Muslim holiday, it is Eid. And just a few hundred yards from that is the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, which is holiest place in the world for Christians, where Christians believe that Jesus was crucified and entombed and rose from the dead. So had this missile exploded almost anywhere else in the Old City, we could be having a very different conversation right now. And this war could have become a religious war that shows how dangerous all of this is and how much there is potential risk for a much more significant escalation. Unlike anything we've seen thus far.

Gabe Gutierrez (12:31)

Quite remarkable, Richard. And as we mentioned, President Trump has repeatedly, repeatedly said that this war will be over soon. I know you were able to question Prime Minister Netanyahu yesterday. Do you get the sense from your reporting on the ground that Israel sees it that way?

Richard Engel (12:50)

So let's hear from Prime Minister Netanyahu. And then on the backside, we'll talk more about how, based on what just happened here today and the upcoming military activity that we're going to see in the Strait of Hormuz, at least upcoming military presence, how this war could potentially be far less predictable than the leaders of Israel and the United States and Iran may even anticipate. Here's Netanyahu. The war is popular here in Israel. It is not popular with many Americans. So my question was, how do you see this ending? Not why, not even when. What do you imagine the day after will look like?

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (13:30)

Well, we have achievable goals. And I'm not gonna speak about the full battle plans that we have with the United States. We're well coordinated with them. And I hope that in time people will see the wisdom and the courage of President Trump's decision and his leadership and the fact that we're working together. America is not fighting for Israel. America is fighting with Israel for a common goal, to protect our future, to protect civil against these barbarians.

Richard Engel (14:01)

So Prime Minister Netanyahu, in that briefing to a small group of reporters, laid out the military objectives and to a degree, the long term objectives from Israel's point of view. He said the US Is in charge, that Israel's an ally. That's how he was framing it. And he was emphatic, saying that Israel didn't drag the United States into this war. I think that was probably his main point that he was trying to convey, certainly one of his main points. But he said that the military objectives are to take the missiles away, take the nuclear program away, and weaken the regime to a point in which the people can rise up and overthrow it. Then he also talked about a longer term vision where oil doesn't only flow through the Strait of Hormuz, but flows through pipelines that cross overland and end on the Israeli coast in the Mediterranean. So he's talking about also redefining economic relationships in the long term for this region. But going back to what happened here a few hours ago, it only takes one incident for this war to become emotional. A holy site that is hit, a building that is hit full of people. We saw the world's tallest building in the world in Dubai almost hit by a drone. Any one of these kind of incidents that turns it from a war where the leaders think they know what their objectives are into one that is very hard to control and becomes emotional and self sustaining.

Gabe Gutierrez (15:33)

Richard Engel reporting in Jerusalem for us. Richard, thank you. And joining me now is Israel's ambassador to the United States, Dr. Michael Leiter. Ambassador, thank you so much for joining us here on Meet THE Press Now. We really appreciate it.

Dr. Michael Leiter (15:46)

Good to be with you, Gabe. Thank you.

Gabe Gutierrez (15:48)

Ambassador, I wanted to get your reaction to this news we're getting out of Jerusalem with those missile fragments that are impacting the old city. What's your reaction to that?

Dr. Michael Leiter (15:56)

Well, not surprised. Just two days ago, missiles from Iran hit very close to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Now they've hit very close to the Dome of the Rock. They don't care where these missiles are hitting. They try to kill as many people as possible and damage sites that are holy both to Islam, Christianity and Judaism.

Gabe Gutierrez (16:18)

Ambassador, I also want to talk to you about President Trump saying that he instructed Prime Minister Netanyahu not to hit gas fields after that attack on that massive facility. Is that something that, is that a commitment that Israel will continue to keep if Iran keeps attacking her country?

Dr. Michael Leiter (16:40)

Gabe, we're in this together. This is a collaborative effort. We've been planning it for many, many weeks. We're implementing it together. And when the president of the United States expresses an interest that a certain site will not be hit, we of course honor that. The prime minister said that in his press conference last night. We acted alone in attacking the gas field. And by the way, this gas field does not affect international prices, global prices. This is an energy site for the Iranians. And the intention was to put pressure on the Iranian regime not to spike oil prices around the globe.

Gabe Gutierrez (17:11)

And you have repeatedly said, you've repeatedly talked all your close collaboration with the United States. I've watched many of your interviews. And you just said essentially you're working in lockstep with the U.S. if that's the case, why did you go and hit this facility without telling President Trump, as he says?

Dr. Michael Leiter (17:28)

Well, there was an initial report by the White House that it wasn't tandem. The important thing to understand is that we acted alone. And the moment the president said he doesn't want it hit again, we of course conceded and ceased the attack.

Gabe Gutierrez (17:41)

So NBC News does have reporting according to a U.S. israel did give the United States a heads up about this attack. You dispute that?

Dr. Michael Leiter (17:49)

Look, I'm not disputing anything or conceding anything. The issue here is that we're collaborating very closely. We are flying wing to wing and shoulder to shoulder. There are hundreds of planes in the air. At the same time, we have a division of labor over the skies of Iran. And this operation, both Roaring Lions and Epic Fury, is proceeding according to plan together.

Gabe Gutierrez (18:15)

Prime Minister Netanyahu said yesterday that regime change in Iran would require some kind of ground component, although he wouldn't elaborate. Does this. Does Israel believe that the goals of this war could be achieved without boots on the ground?

Dr. Michael Leiter (18:31)

We think there have to be boots on the ground, but Iranian boots on the ground. The people of Iran have to topple this regime. We have to set the stage. We have to make sure that we have a situation in Tehran where there's not a regime which is producing nuclear weapons. I mean, just imagine if what hit your first question? We had a missile hit very close to the Dome of the Rock. Imagine that was nuclear tipped. Imagine that the missiles being fired into all of our neighbors in the Gulf, the Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Oman, were being hit with nuclear weapons. They hit Cyprus, they hit Turkey. Imagine they would be tipped with nuclear weapons. So we need a regime that is not producing nuclear weapons, is not producing thousands of ballistic missiles that can hit its neighbors and is not funding proxies around the region.

Gabe Gutierrez (19:15)

Now, President Trump a few moments ago was just asked if he believes that Israel will be willing to end this war when he is. And his response was? I think so. What's your response to that?

Dr. Michael Leiter (19:27)

Well, who am I to comment on the president's statement? But I think so, too. We have planned this together. We're implementing it together, and the grand finale will come together as well.

Gabe Gutierrez (19:37)

Well, top officials, top intelligence officials yesterday on Capitol Hill, they said that Israel and the US have slightly different goals when it comes to this war, especially when it comes to regime change. Let's listen.

Courtney Kuby (19:51)

The objectives that have been laid out by the President are different from the objectives that have been laid out by the Israeli government.

Stephen Hayes (19:58)

The president's objectives with respect to Operation Epic Fury did not include regime change. That may be different from what Israel's objectives were.

George Solis (20:06)

War.

Gabe Gutierrez (20:08)

So will Israel continue any military action against Iran if there is not a new regime in place?

Dr. Michael Leiter (20:17)

Let me try to finesse that a little bit. There are primary objectives and secondary objectives. The primary objectives are absolutely in tandem. The primary objective is, as I said, no more ballistic missiles, no more nuclear tipped enriched uranium, no more support for proxies. Can that be achieved without a regime collapse? We don't think so. So we need at least for the regime to collapse, change must come by the Iranian people themselves. So we're not inter regime change, we're inter regime collapse.

Gabe Gutierrez (20:50)

What will your message be to Republicans on Capitol Hill? Because now that the president yesterday confirmed that his administration will ask Congress for some 200 billion to fund this war, some Republicans, of course Democrats, but at least some Republicans have seemed a little hesitant at that price tag. They say they're going to look into it. What would you tell those Republicans on the Hill as they look forward to potentially funding this war to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars?

Dr. Michael Leiter (21:21)

If I'm asked about the war, I'm certainly not going to wade into a financial issue here on the Hill. But if I'm asked about this war, I think if in the 1930s we would have invested in preventing Adolf Hitler from launching the second World War, we would have saved a hell of a lot of money and a lot of lives. 65 million lives were lost. The new Nazis of today are the Ayatollahs of Tehran and they will launch a war which will take the lives of millions and millions of people.

Richard Engel (21:48)

They have to be stopped.

Dr. Michael Leiter (21:50)

And if there is a necessary investment now to stop this march of tyranny by this regime, this brutal regime, it's a worthwhile investment.

Gabe Gutierrez (22:00)

Ambassador, I want to turn now to Lebanon. Our team in Lebanon is reporting that there are growing fears in the south of Lebanon that Israel may be preparing for some sort of ground incursion into Lebanon. Given the fighting there. What is Israel's goal in Lebanon?

Dr. Michael Leiter (22:16)

We have one goal, no Hezbollah missiles fired into our towns and villages. Last Sunday there were plans of the Radwan forces of the Hezbollah Hezbollah to try to penetrate our northern border the same way Hamas did from Gaza on October 7, 2023. We have to prevent that, Gabe. We're not going to allow our citizens to be fired upon by Hezbollah missiles at their whim. So there is already a ground incursion into Lebanon by our forces and we're gonna be there just a few kilometers in to prevent Hezbollah from firing anti tank missiles. They fire anti tank missiles into residential buildings. Things I'm just imagine that we can't allow that to happen. Now if the Lebanese armed forces would move down south and would prevent Hezbollah from doing it, we're out of there. We have no interest in being inside Lebanon. We want peace with Lebanon. We can have a marvelous peace with Lebanon with trade and with tourism and with financial institutions. We want peace with them. But we can't have Hezbollah which has raped their country which has taken it over, sapped of its strength, and basically is dominating their foreign policy, which is firing missiles into Israel.

Gabe Gutierrez (23:23)

Ambassador, Dr. Michael Leiter, we thank you so much for your time.

Dr. Michael Leiter (23:26)

Good to be with you, Gabe. Thank you.

Gabe Gutierrez (23:29)

And coming up, up in the air, we're live at the nation's busiest airport, where travelers are facing extremely long TSA lines. And the Trump administration warns it may have to shut down some airports as the Homeland Security shutdown drags on. Plus, we'll head to Capitol Hill, where if you squint really hard, you may be able to see signs of optimism that this shutdown could have an end date with another round of bipartisan talks happening today. You're watching Meet the Press now. Stay with us.

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Gabe Gutierrez (25:39)

And welcome back. We are now more than a month into the Department of Homeland Security shutdown and for the second day in a row, border czar Tom Hom is set to be on Capitol Hill later today to meet with bipartisan negotiators. That's according to two sources familiar with the with his schedule. Now this all comes after the group's meeting yesterday seemed to yield little progress on an agreement to end the shutdown. Good discussion in progress. Any progress? You feel good about it? We're going to keep talking.

Dr. Michael Leiter (26:09)

I'm glad that the White House was

Gabe Gutierrez (26:11)

here, but we are a long ways apart. No one wants to see the the Department of Homeland Security closed down, but unfortunately, the Democrats list of demands keeps growing and growing and that makes it difficult. Today, Senate Majority Leader John Thune is offering cautious optimism the group could make more progress as he threatens to cancel the upcoming spring recess if the standoff were to continue.

Dr. Michael Leiter (26:44)

Both sides have now had an opportunity to kind of sharpen their pencils and see and we're going to find out. I think we're going to know today

Gabe Gutierrez (26:50)

whether we're actually serious about it. Meanwhile, missed paychecks are driving mounting absences at TSA, with nearly 10% of officers calling out nationwide yesterday, that number soaring past 30% in Atlanta and Houston and more than 20% in New York, Baltimore and New Orleans. The shortage causing long lines this week at the country's busiest airports, with security wait times in some places reaching nearly an hour or more. This all comes as Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned this all could get much worse as we get into next week. Becky. And they're about to miss another payment. This is going to look like child's play. What's happening right now. You're going to see small airports, I believe shut down. You're going to see extensive lines and air travel is going to almost come to a grid halt stop. And joining me now from Atlanta is NBC News national correspondent Aaron Giltres. And senior national political reporter Sahil Kapoor is on Capitol Hill. Aaron, I want to start with you. You're at Hartsfield. It's already busy on a good day. What are you seeing and what are you hearing from travelers there?

Aaron Gilchrist (28:04)

This is the busiest airport in the world. And I think today it's definitely living up to that description. We've been watching since about 6:30 this morning, a constant flow of people coming into this air. And the lines have really been backed up in some cases for hours since we got here this morning. At one point, the wait time was about 120 minutes, two hours here right now the website is showing the wait time is about an hour from the point where we're standing, but there's a line to get into the line to get to the main checkpoint here at the Atlanta airport. And some people are telling us that they're now looking at about a 20 minute or so wait in that secondary line. And so this has been the reality for air travelers today, really for the last couple of weeks. And today has been some of the worst that we've seen knowing that we are going, going into a heavy spring break travel week. I want you to hear from a couple of travelers we spoke to earlier today about how they're sort of dealing with the reality of these long lines. Did you come here with a set of expectations?

Gabe Gutierrez (28:59)

Absolutely. I don't fly out to 1:30. Got here at 9am So I definitely wanted to get through. But yeah, just kind of shuffled around a little bit and then they finally put us in line.

Aaron Gilchrist (29:10)

How long have you been waiting in line?

Shelby Talcott (29:12)

I think it's been like forever.

Gabe Gutierrez (29:14)

To my feet it's been about 40

Aaron Gilchrist (29:16)

minutes, but it feels like forever.

Shelby Talcott (29:18)

Yes.

Aaron Gilchrist (29:23)

So listen, we talked to one traveler who said that she's practicing radical acceptance in this moment. She feels like that 45 minutes she had already waited is behind her. She knows there's some more time in front of her. That's just the reality that folks are having to deal with. Three hours right now at Book Bush Airport in Texas. And Gabe, that's just sort of where people are putting their heads right now, knowing that they're going to have to wait, hoping that the politicians in D.C. make some change very soon.

Gabe Gutierrez (29:52)

Forever for my feet. I hear that little girl, Erin Gilchrist, incredible picture right behind you, Erin. Thank you. In Atlanta, Hartsfield Jackson Airport, Sahil Tom Homan, as we mentioned, the borders are returning to the Hill today. Is that a good sign for these negotiations?

Energy Secretary (30:11)

Gabe?

Foreign Language Speaker (30:12)

The answer is yes. There have been no breakthroughs so far. He was on the Hill yesterday for a meeting that lasted quite some time. He's expected to be back in a few hours for another meeting. No breakthrough so far. But yes, it's generally seen as a good thing that Tom Homan is here, that he's engaging for the main reason that everybody recognizes that this compromise has to come from the White House, that Senate Republicans can be the intermediaries, that, you know, they've been kind of trading paper back and forth. The Senate Democrats and the White House have without any progress. They've been stuck in neutral really for the last five weeks since this all began. So why not just get in a room, the Senate Democrats with someone at The White House who has the ear of the president like Tom Homan. He's not the Democrats favorite person, but he is seen as someone that they can deal with. So they've been discussing various matters. The White House has indicated that they're willing to compromise on things like body cameras for officers, something on identifying labels curtailing raids at sensitive locations like schools and hospitals. What Democrats insist they still want movement on is requiring judicial warrants for raids and busting into homes and masks for officers. Gabe, just a few minutes ago, The Senate voted 47 to 37, another failed vote on the existing DHS funding deal, which Republicans want without reforms to ICE

Gabe Gutierrez (31:23)

and cbp, you know, and Sahil, what would you rate the likelihood is that Senator Thune cancels recess in this moment?

Foreign Language Speaker (31:31)

It's plausible, but I don't want to say it's likely yet. Gabe, these are usually threats made by a Senate majority leader. One of the favorite tactics of someone in his position to try to get senators to move toward compromise. It often works because no one likes to have to cancel their recess. And look, it would be a bit embarrassing for the Senate to go away for two weeks on Easter while the chaos at airports gets worse and worse. But at the same time, you've settled into a stalemate. The two parties have here where Republicans say fund DHS in full and negotiate changes to ICE and CBP on the side. The Democrats say no, fund, sorry, fund TSA and the various other components of it that they agree on, including fema, including cisa, including the Coast Guard, and they say keep ICE and CBP for a separate issue. So despite all of this airport chaos that everyone says is unacceptable, the two parties have very different ways to deal with it, which is why, ironically, the worse things get, the deeper the stalemate has gotten here on Capitol Hill.

Gabe Gutierrez (32:26)

Yes. SA is there a sense that that frustration at the nation's airports, those images that we saw in Aaron's report, do you think that that could become a real breaking point if it drags on, you know, into, you know, further into April if we keep seeing it over the coming weeks. And these lines, you know, isn't just Atlanta and Houston, but even more air throughout the country?

Foreign Language Speaker (32:47)

Yes, it absolutely will ultimately have to push lawmakers toward a deal. And the worse things get, the more they're going to be hearing from their constituents. And by the way, the Senate yesterday, by unanimous consent, passed a bill to eliminate all preferential treatment for lawmakers to avoid the TSA usual line. So they're clearly feeling the pressure from constituents. But Again, the two parties are dug in on their own very different approaches to how to deal with it. Gabe, that is currently, currently the problem, and they need a deal to resolve it.

Gabe Gutierrez (33:14)

And we'll see how intense that pressure gets. Sahil Kapoor, live, for us on the Hill. Sahil, thank you. And up next, pumped up prices. It's been a wild week for gas, oil and the US Economy as the war with Iran rages on. We'll break down what to expect in the days and weeks ahead. You're watching MEET THE PRESS now. Stay with us.

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Gabe Gutierrez (35:08)

and welcome back. Turning now to the economic impact of the war against Iran. Gas prices continue to soar across the country as the war shows no signs of letting up, despite the president's insistence that it will end soon. Take a look at this chart showing the national average for a gallon of regular gas over the last three months. It's jumped nearly a dollar in just the past few weeks. Earlier today, the energy secretary said the Trump administration is looking at removing sanctions on some tankers carrying Iranian oil in order to boost supply. Let's listen.

Energy Secretary (35:46)

Yeah, so I think that most of that oil will be absorbed in the next 30 to 45 days. See, what we have is an interruption of flows outside of the Persian Gulf. But yet, as Secretary Bessen said yesterday, we've got over 100 million barrels in crude tankers that's on its way or floating, waiting to unload in China. That oil is already going to be sold. It's going to show up in China. So look, I think prices are probably discounting that, although there's interruptions of flows from the Straits of Hormuz, the world has a lot of oil today.

Gabe Gutierrez (36:20)

And for more on all of this, let's bring in NBC News business and data correspondent Brian Chung. And, Brian, I want to get to, you know, some breaking news. Another rough day on Wall Street. It's been what now, four consecutive weeks of losses. How bad is it getting?

Brian Chung (36:34)

Yeah, four consecutive weeks of losses. And just today you can see on the market board ahead of you the Dow Jones down 1% S&P 500, a measure of the broader market at large, down 1 1/2 percent, tech stocks down 2%. All of this because of the headlines that we've been seeing around Iran. You could imagine that with the geopolitical tension continuing, arguably as is as intense as it was when this war first started, you have a lot of market strategists saying this is more prolonged than we thought it was going to be, and for that reason, we're going to dump some of our stocks here. Now, when it comes to the overall story, you also have to remember the Federal Reserve, arguably the most important economic policymaking institution in the world, saying just earlier this week, week that they really have no idea how all this ends with the fog of war clouding their economic outlook. You had Jay Powell, the chair of the Fed, saying nobody knows how this ends. That type of uncertainty is a big reason why we saw, as you pointed out, yet another week of selling the S&P 500 now year to date, down 5%. Gabe?

Gabe Gutierrez (37:30)

Well, Brian, we were speaking about this in the introduction to this segment, but how much of an impact will the unsanctioning of this oil have on gas and consumer prices?

Brian Chung (37:41)

And I think to answer that question, you have to take a little bit of a step back here because I think a lot of people on the surface are wondering, why would the United States respond to its own war with Iran by unsanctioning Iranian oil? Now, there's two reasons why the United States would do that. First off, there's this weird side effect of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and all of this, which is that higher oil prices, especially on those commoditized barrels of oil, has the benefit of serving more profits to the country of Iran because you could sell a single barrel of oil for way more than you did prior to this war began. Now, the United States, by unsanctioning that oil, hopes that the flow will lead to less profits for the Iranian government and the Iranian regime. But also they hope that that will lead to lower prices for overall global indexing of where these crude oil prices are and then hopefully leading to lower consumer prices for us at the pump as well. Now, again, whether or not that's going to actually happen remains to be seen. You heard Chris Wright sort of talk about how he might be surprised by the fact that the markets aren't discounting that decision more. But again, we'll have to see how all of this plays out. Plays out.

Gabe Gutierrez (38:42)

Gabe, Brian Chung, thank you. And after the break, Trump change what we know about the government's plans to start producing a 24 karat gold coin featuring President Trump's image. This is MEET THE PRESS now. Welcome back. Joining me now is our panel, Shelby Talcott, White House correspondent for semafor, Ameesha Cross, Democratic strategist and former Obama campaign advisor and Stephen Hayes, editor and CEO of the Dispatch. He's also, of course, an NBC News contributor. Thank you so much for joining us here. Shelby, I want to start with you. We're 35 days into the partial government shutdown, the DHS shutdown which we were talking about. What do you think is going to move the needle here? Is there some signs of optimism on the Hill? The meeting with Homan, does it get us anywhere?

Shelby Talcott (39:42)

Yeah, I do think that there's signs of optimism. I think that Homan is taken pretty seriously by both sides. He has been able to sort of de escalate situations for the White House in the past. So I think it's notable that he is going to the Hill now and clearly trying to do the same thing that he did just a few months ago when all of this really ramped up. But at the same time, I do think that there are red lines that the Trump administration is is just not willing to cross. And so the big question is, are those red lines too far apart from Democrats red lines? And at the end of the day, I think what's gonna happen is both sides are going to realize that in a shutdown, nobody wins, right and so the question is, who starts feeling the pain the most? Which party starts feeling like they're gonna start losing votes over this?

Gabe Gutierrez (40:28)

Well, speaking of feeling pain, a lot of travelers are feeling the pain right now. And the president, he watches a lot of tv. He's going to see those videos of long lines at TSA over the next few days and into April, potentially. If this drags on, does that somehow move the needle here, those images, the images of the long lines on tv?

Shelby Talcott (40:45)

I do think so, because we've also heard that the president has been a little bit squishy when he sees some of those images about some of the more aggressive immigration tactics. And so I do think that there is a history of this president looking on the TV screen, and he doesn't like seeing chaos. Right. He doesn't like when his own voters, for example, are complaining that their neighbors who maybe haven't broken the law, but are, you know, in the country illegally, but are not, you know, criminals in that sense, are being taken. And so you have heard behind the scenes that he wants the immigration approach to change a little bit. And so in that sense, I do think the longer he sees these kinds of lines, the longer he sees that kind of messaging, he might be able to be convinced to do more than some of his aides are willing to do.

Gabe Gutierrez (41:32)

Let me you show, what kind of leverage do Democrats have here, especially with Mullen's nomination already out of committee?

Political Commentator (41:38)

Well, I mean, we saw a Senate Democrat do exactly what we thought he was going to do in terms of Fetterman, make that vote happen. But I think that to Shelby's point, there are certain hard lines that are going to be in the sand. Nobody can believe that all of a sudden DHS is going to be weakened or that Trump's plans of pushing more and more immigrants out of America won't happen.

Ondeck Advertiser (41:59)

But I do think some of the

Political Commentator (42:00)

tactics will change, and in large part part, because as much as Trump is an agent of chaos, he is not Stephen Miller chaos. And I think that the push that he is seeing from what's happening in the media and how these are being covered has really changed a lot of the focal point there. He's fine doing certain things, but not crossing that red line. For Democrats, they have to think about how much pain will people suffer, because at the end of the day, right now, they're blaming all of government, not just Trump and not just Republicans. That's a big hit.

Gabe Gutierrez (42:24)

So, Stephen, have Democrats been a little successful, at least so far? I mean, Bovino's Out. Noem's out. You know, you heard the president kind of shift his language and messaging when it comes comes to mass deportations. Is that because of the pressure that Democrats have applied here and we're not

Stephen Hayes (42:39)

seeing the kinds of videos that Shelby mentioned with nearly the frequency that we did six weeks ago?

Richard Engel (42:43)

Yeah.

Stephen Hayes (42:43)

I mean, I think Democrats have to be careful not to avoid taking the win here. I mean, I do think that they've made some progress. I think they're vulnerable on these questions of the long lines. Certainly there are lots of people who are blaming Democrats for those long lines as well. And I think if you look at where Democrats are now, given the fact that we are, I think, in a heightened, heightened war environment on the homeland, if there were to be, God forbid, some kind of a larger scale attack, there's no question that both sides would point fingers. And I think Democrats would be in a tough position there.

Political Commentator (43:15)

And does this change the, you know, the ideology behind the upcoming no Kings rallies? I mean, originally those were based on what we were seeing on live tv, covered by people like yourself, but also by individual citizen journalists around some of the attacks that were happening in places across the country. Because a lot of that has died down and because it was literally the ethos of the entire organization behind what does that mean now on March 28, when that's not necessarily there anymore.

Gabe Gutierrez (43:38)

Yeah. And you brought up the war. Stephen Shelby, I want to ask you, do you think the shutdown would have dragged on as long as it has if we didn't have the war against Iran?

Shelby Talcott (43:47)

I think so, because I think both sides are just so far apart on some of these issues. And this has been, you know, the immigration issue has been top of mind for both parties for very different reasons. And so I do think that, that they are just so far apart on these issues. I don't think that the war in Iran helped. I think it served in part as a major distraction for both parties that really took up a lot of time, both on the Hill and in the White House, and is still taking up a lot of time. But even without that war, I think it, it usually takes lawmakers and Republicans a really long time to come to agreement.

Gabe Gutierrez (44:24)

Stephen, the administration now going to ask Congress for some $200 billion, according to Q or national security reporter saying wouldn't be surprised if that number went up. How concerning is that for Republicans?

Stephen Hayes (44:34)

I mean, apparently not very concerning for elected Republicans because they're just gonna support whatever President Trump asked for. We've seen this now for as long as he's been in public life. I do think it presents a bigger problem. President Trump campaigned against these kinds of forever wars that we're seeing him engage in now, potentially. He says he wants to get out, but he also says he's gonna finish the job. Those two things seem to be in conflict, given where the war is today and given the differences in objectives. Objectives for the U.S. government and the Israelis.

Gabe Gutierrez (45:03)

And is there a political opportunity here for Democrats with the rising gas prices also, potentially the rising cost of this war? Is this something you see them seizing on in the coming weeks and months ahead of the midterms?

Political Commentator (45:15)

Absolutely, because affordability is still the name of the game. When people's gas prices are going up, when their cost to buy groceries and things are going up, because it's not just gas, it's also our means and mode of getting things to this country, which also requires energy. In addition to that, it is a president and administration that has gone out of its way to say that those things do. It don't matter. We're seeing time and time again him try to make it okay. And people, they're fed up. And I think that at this point, the White House also has not taken off the table the possibility of a draft. I don't know any American who's cool with that. They definitely don't want to see boots on the ground. They don't want to see American citizens fighting in a war that the president cannot verifiably tell us why we got there, but also cannot tell us a clear way out. And at this point, when you're seeing cuts to SNAP benefits, food stamps, when you've seen cuts to Medicaid, when you've seen cuts to housing supports, everything that Americans are saying they want. Meanwhile, you're demanding billions of dollars for war Americans are staunchly against. You have a problem.

Gabe Gutierrez (46:07)

Quickly, before we go. Speaking of money, the US Commission of Fine Arts has approved a commemorative coin to mark the country's 250th anniversary that features President Trump. You see it right there. So, Stephen, what do you make of this look? It's, not surprisingly, a very large coin, three inches. I believe that may be the largest that the treasury could make, significantly larger than any other coin in circulation. Really?

Stephen Hayes (46:41)

I mean, in some ways, it's sort of the perfect commemoration of Donald Trump's presidency. It's bigger than everything else. He pushed it. He's, you know, not known for his immodesty. He pushed it. And nobody uses coins anymore. So it's a throwback to an era of times that people don't, don't even use it.

Gabe Gutierrez (46:58)

He got rid of, of the penny. I shall give you the final word.

Political Commentator (47:01)

No, absolutely. I was going to say the same thing. At the end of the day, if he was just making a commemorative coin, who cares? But this when you know you can't even get coins at the grocery store when you're trying to get change is pretty wild.

Gabe Gutierrez (47:10)

All right. Well, thank you all so much. We really appreciate it. Shelby, I'll let you weigh in next time on the donat coin, but we're out of time. Really appreciate it. Thank you all for being here. And still come a rare look at daily life inside Cuba and the challenges facing everyday Cubans as the island's energy, energy crisis deepens. That story's next on MEET THE press. Now stay with us. And welcome back. A rare look now at what daily life is like inside Cuba, the island in the midst of an energy crisis as the US has been effectively blocking all fuel from reaching the country for more than two months. NBC's George Solis is in Havana speaking to Cubans about what life is like right now.

George Solis (48:00)

With a smile as big as the bow on her head, four year old Adriani Cesar has spent half of her young life in this bed at Havana's premier cancer hospital. She's a kidney cancer patient. She's already lost one kidney and the other now has a tumor. The hope is she can handle her treatment when it's available. Mom are Lenny's more Martinez tells me from travel to treatment, things have only gotten harder. They're here multiple days at a time because back home there's often no power, no food, no gas. Her biggest fear? It's her daughter who'll pay the price when push comes to shove. What do I do with my little girl? She says, where does my little girl end up? Her plea to Havana in Washington, keep these innocent kids and in mind, they didn't ask for any of this. Meanwhile, doctors caring for these children say it's only getting harder. This year has been terrible. Pediatric oncologist Yolemy Romero says it's not just hospitals. In the heart of Havana, pharmacies are virtually empty. We stopped by four, all of them with mostly bare shelves, forcing many to find medicine on the black market. Either my family sends it or I buy it from people selling online. This woman tells me when I've needed medication. My daughter in the U. S sends it. This man said. Also on the black market, gas last week going for as much as $40 a gallon and take A look at this.

Nelson Perez (49:34)

Cab drivers, hundreds of them waiting here all night for simply 5 gallons of gas if they get it. They need this government issued car hard.

George Solis (49:42)

Jose Menentis slept in his pink 1952 Ford convertible. What do you do if you can't drive people around?

Gabe Gutierrez (49:49)

This is not the first time we are in great difficulty. So we, we have managed to always

Foreign Language Speaker (49:56)

have a plan B.

George Solis (49:58)

Lines also forming at this street market for food for those who can't afford it. Today is the farmer's market and I can't buy anything because I have no money. This mother me told, told me.

Nelson Perez (50:09)

Now this is something that's very interesting. Potatoes here for 350 pesos. They're imported from the United States. But you'll notice there's a longer line here. Over here for sale. Cuban potatoes at 200 pesos.

George Solis (50:23)

And we saw it can get tense. A brief argument breaks out over someone accused of jumping the line for something as simple as a potato. In central Havana, I met Giovanni Rafael, who's worked at this upholstery shop for the last 15 years. He's grateful the lights are on today after Monday's national blackout that lasted more than a day. It's like having a rope around my neck, he says. They keep squeezing, squeezing. He welcomes help from any country, including the us. Things are just too dire, he says, to keep throwing stones. Nelson Perez is a barber with two small boys. He tells me there's an urgent need for change.

Stephen Hayes (51:03)

Change.

George Solis (51:05)

He's fed up and using social media to post messages of protests demanding profound democratic and economic changes in Cuba. Back at the hospital, Arlenis Martinez dreams her little girl will grow up to live in a better world where Cuba and all of these children in this hospital can prosper.

Gabe Gutierrez (51:25)

And George Solis joins us now from Havana. George, thank you for your reporting. I know it can be sometimes tough to get Cubans to speak freely on camera, but did you get a sense that from some of the people you talked to that do they blame the US for the escalating fuel crisis or are they willing to lay some of the blame on their own government?

Foreign Language Speaker (51:48)

Yeah.

Nelson Perez (51:48)

Again, good to be with you. We got a mixed reaction. Some of them, of course, vocal against the President here, President Diaz, Canal, some of them critical of President Trump. A lot of them saying it really doesn't matter. What matters to them right now is putting food on their table, how they take care of their kids. A lot of times when I talk to people, they said, I don't know about la politica, I don't know much about the politics. What I know is that I'm hurting, my family's hurting right now and I need to know what's going to be done. As you heard from that one gentleman there who works in that furniture shop saying, I do feel that any intervention is welcome right now if it means keeping the lights on here, steady income and food for my family.

Gabe Gutierrez (52:26)

Gabe, you know, and George, that barber you spoke with, it was interesting to see him, you know, talking about putting protests on social media. What role has social media played in the ongoing fuel crisis there? And you know, how have things changed in the last decade or so? It wasn't that long ago that Cubans did not have access to that amount of social media or that, you know, that Internet access.

Nelson Perez (52:51)

Yeah, social media seems to be proliferating that Barbara Nelson Perez showing us a number of images he was posting to family and friends here and abroad, even with the Statue of Liberty saying, you know, this is what I hope for. I hope for some freedom, I hope for some independence, I for a more prosperous Cuba.

Gabe Gutierrez (53:09)

Gabe George Olise with some rare access inside Cuba. George, thanks to you and your team. And we should note, Kristen will have an exclusive interview with Cuba's deputy foreign minister on Sunday right here on Meet THE Press. And thank you for watching. I'm Gabe Gutierrez. We'll have more news coming up on NBC News now. And also join Chris in this Sunday where she has interviews with Scott Besant, the Trust Press, excuse me, the Treasury Secretary, Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut and as we mentioned, Cuba's deputy foreign minister.

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