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Meet the Press
Meet the Press NOW — March 31
00:49:54
The average national gas price surpasses $4.00 a gallon for the first time since 2022, with President Trump suggesting he’s willing to end the conflict in Iran without reopening the Strait of Hormuz. Rep. Mike Kennedy (R-Utah) joins Meet the Press NOW to discuss the continued Department of Homeland Security shutdown and what it will take to fund the agency. NBC News Chief Data Analyst Steve Kornacki highlights the difficulty Democrats face in trying to win back control of the Senate in the midterms.
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Melanie Snow
Welcome to MEET the PRESS now. I'm Melanie Snow and that was the closing bell as Wall street rallies on new but questionable hopes that the war with Iran could end soon. The Dow closing up over a thousand points after Iran's president told the EU Council president that Tehran has the will to end the war and if specific guarantees are met. This is not the first time we've heard these kinds of comments from Tehran during the conflict and today's market rally coming despite the continued chokehold on ships moving through the Strait of Hormuz leading to a surge in oil prices with crude oil settling at over $100 a barrel for the second straight day and the national average for a gallon of gas now surpassing $4 for the first time since 2022. The White House, though, trying to downplay the rise in gas prices, saying in a statement, quote, when Operation Epic Fury is complete, gas prices will plummet back down to the multi year lows American drivers enjoyed before the short term disruptions. Meanwhile, this morning, President Trump lashed out at allies facing fuel shortages, saying in a social media post they should, quote, build up some delayed courage, go to the Strait and just take it and quote, go get your own oil. At a Pentagon press conference this morning, Defense Secretary Hegseth similarly urging US Allies to get more involved in the Strait of Hormuz.
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Defense Secretary Hegseth
There are countries around the world who ought to be prepared to step up on this critical waterway as well. It's not just the United States Navy. Last time I checked, there was supposed to be a big bad Royal Navy that could be prepared to do things like that as well. So he's pointing out this is an international waterway that we use less than most, in fact, dramatically less than most. So the world ought pay attention and be prepared to stand up.
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Melanie Snow
It comes after a Kuwait flagged oil tanker was damaged in a drone strike today while anchored at a port in Dubai. Kuwait's state owned energy company is blaming Iran for the attack. According to the Wall Street Journal, President Trump is now telling aides he's willing to end the US Military campaign against Iran even if the Strait of Hormuz remains largely closed. President Trump also telling my colleague Peter Nicholas in a phone call this morning that when it comes to war, quote, we're doing great and it's coming to an end. Joining me now is NBC's Kelly O'.
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Stephanie Gosk
Donnell.
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Melanie Snow
Outside the White House, NBC News business and data correspondent Brian Chung, NBC News senior national security correspondent Courtney Kuby, and NBC's Stephanie Gosk in Tel Aviv. Thank you all so much for joining me. I do want to start over at the White House with Kelly. Kelly, President Trump today is saying US Allies should go get their own oil. But just yesterday he posted, quote, if the Hormuz Strait is not immediately open for business, we will conclude our lovely stay in Iran by blowing up and completely obliterating all of their electric generating plants. Kelly, can you explain this shift in tone from the president?
- [04:02]
Kelly O'
Well, we've been in a pinball effect with the president's comments about the military action that he launched against Iran, about his relationship with the allied countries that are typically great partners to the United States. We have seen him give different directions and this is another example of that, where he talks about a timeframe for the war, talking about then ending it. We, we know that there is evidence of Forward movement of U.S. military personnel and lots of equipment to the region. At the same time, he's talking about winding it down. The president often uses a bit of a chaos theory to to try to keep adversaries on, out of balance. And that may be part of it as well, as well as the evolving situation where the president is trying to keep markets from having the kind of downturn we've seen. Today's an example of the rise in the market. So the president is doing a lot of different things. It can be challenging to try to find the one through line in his plan. He has talked about objectives that are laid out that he wants to achieve and that they are making progress. At the same time, a specific timetable is often dependent on activities on the ground. Today you also told our colleague Peter Nicholas in that call that you mentioned, Mel, that the president said that he believes they're dealing now with someone in Iranian leadership that is less radicalized than those that existed before. We don't know what basis he is making such an assertion because those that are in the leadership and have been a part of the apparatus of Iran's government are all typically of a like mind. There may be varying degrees, but why he would say not radicalized and more reasonable is unclear to us at this point. The president's trying to manage the markets, manage the campaign, manage the allies, and trying to get them to say, hey, if you need oil, it's on you. So that's a different tone from the president, who was the one who chose to engage in in this war with Iran.
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Melanie Snow
Melly, a very, very different tone. One thing that the White House has been consistent on, though, is downplaying concern about gas prices. But, Kelly, what are your sources telling you and just how concerned is the White House about the national average now hitting $4 a gallon?
- [06:18]
Kelly O'
So I'm having a little malfunction with my earpiece, but I think you were referencing gas prices. So gas prices significant there. Obviously, many Americans are dealing with how they determine their costs. And those who have long comm make their living behind the wheel, whether it's trucking or cars running, all the different ways in which that affects just about every part of American working life. And then as consumers, we're at the mercy of all of those different businesses that rely on gasoline. We're seeing it spike at a point we've not seen in a handful of years. And that's something that we are watching very carefully because that is a key indicator. And the president has argued that you could get the gas prices to come down quickly. That is unclear, actually, because even if this conflict ends, even if the Strait of Hormuz were to be in a more stable place, there's lots of supply chain issues that have to do with energy, and it could be longer. So the president is very concerned about how the American voters in a midterm year are concerned about that and the broader economy and what those markets are doing.
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Melanie Snow
Melanie and Kelly, before I let you go, and if your earpiece is hopefully working, okay, great, because we've got, we've got some breaking news about legal developments on the construction of the White House ballroom. What can you tell us about this? And isn't it too late since the East Wing is already torn down.
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Kelly O'
Well, for our viewers, they probably know there may be no more project that appears to occupy as much of the president's passion and focus as the ballroom. A court today, a federal court ruled that it must stop. The construction must stop. Now, we've been watching. There's a big crane above our heads here that's on the other side of the White House where the East Wing used to be. Don't see evidence yet of a workspace stoppage, but we'll be watching closely for that. The court says that the president is a steward, not the owner of the White House, and that changes of this import needed to go through Congress. That did not happen. And so the National Trust, which is a group that protects the historical preservation of all kinds of things in Washington that are of great national importance, sued and a federal judge has said that this project must stop immediately as a for a temporary injunction and Congress must act. So you're right. The East Wing is gone, that demolition happened. There is a hole in the ground and big plans. According to the president, what could happen is going forward having new channels of oversight, which is what many people who have been concerned about this project have argued from the beginning that there has not been oversight. A federal court is now saying Congress has to play a role.
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Melanie Snow
Melanie, an important storyline. Kelly, thank you so much. I want to turn now to our business correspondent, Brian. We saw the market surge on the news of Iran's president laying out Iran's terms for ending the war. Can you explain this level of volatility that we're seeing right now?
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Brian Chung
Yeah, well, I mean, first let's acknowledge that it was a great day on Wall Street. We saw massive moves in the Dow Jones, the S&P 500, the NASDAQ Composite. Basically everywhere you were looking, for the most part, you were seeing green on your screen, up about percent on those major indexes. I should also point out that our team is confirming that this has been the best day since May of last year for the S P and the Nasdaq. And all of this is because of optimism that undid some of the concerns that we've seen over the last few days over where this war in Iran was going to go. Now, whether or not that's a rational bet is another question. But I should point out that when you see massive swings on the stock market like this, you do have to remember that there's a lot of options betting that's going on in the market without getting into the nitty gritty There's a lot of puts and calls where people are essentially accelerating their bets, where market downturns can accelerate and market upturns can accelerate. So the volatility in the market is still in place despite the fact that we now have a Green Day. And I should point out, if you zoom out, over the one month period, the S&P 500, despite those gains today, still down 5%.
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Melanie Snow
Interesting. I do want to dig into the strait potentially remaining closed. The President has said the US doesn't need that oil. But what would be the long term impacts of the Strait of Hormuz remaining disrupted?
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Brian Chung
Yeah, and this is where there's a real challenge between the rhetoric that we're hearing from the White House and a potential exit strategy and then what happens with the Strait of Hormuz. Because it sounds like based off of some of the commentary we've been hearing from the President as of late, there could be a scenario where the United States exits the war, but the Strait of Hormuz remains closed. That would be a big deal for all of those ships that travel through that very narrow 21 mile wide passageway through which 20% of the world's oil goes through. So even if there were to be a resolution on the US Side of this involvement in this war, if ships are stuck there, you don't really see necessarily a light at the end of the tunnel for barrels of oil prices going down. Where we see Brent and WTI crude oil, those are the major benchmarks. Still well above $100 per barrel. That is still up about 30, $40 from where we were prior to this war, which means we could still face elevated oil prices. But again, we'll have to see.
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Melanie Snow
Well, speaking of oil prices, the average gas price just hit $4 a gallon. The White House says gas prices will plummet back to the lows after this war is over. But is that what's actually going to happen, Brian?
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Brian Chung
Well, that could happen if there are ships that make their passageway again through the Strait of Hormuz. We were just showing that chart before that shows you how many ships have actually gone through that channel prior to this war. There are about 100, 110 ships going through the Strait of Hormuz a day. Currently we're seeing sub 10. So until we start to see 10 times, essentially the traffic that we're seeing right now, well, it's just not going to get back to those levels. And I should also point out that major energy facilities like LNG producing facilities in Qatar have been so badly damaged that in some cases The Qataris are saying it could take us as long as five years to get that back. So, yes, even though the White House, Caroline Levitt, saying that prices should drop, it's going to be difficult, according to oil analysts that I've spoken to, to see those prices get back to where they were prior to this war, no doubt.
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Melanie Snow
Brian, thank you so much for breaking that all down. I want to bring it here on set. Courtney Kubi is with me. There was a press briefing this morning from Secretary Hegseth. Did we learn anything new about the plans for the war?
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Courtney Kuby
Not really. I mean, Secretary Hegseth likes to hide behind the idea of operational security. And there's some truth to that. Right. Talking about what the US Military is going to do in the coming days and weeks, where they're going to go, the numbers and all of that. Yeah, that does pose a potential direct threat to military, to the members of the military who are forward. But we still don't have a good sense of what's happened behind us in this war. And that's one of the big questions is, you know, exactly what has Iran been able to strike and damage? What has the US Been able to hit? We know very broad terms. We really don't have the specifics. We don't have the level of detail that we have had about past conflicts, even recent ones.
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Melanie Snow
And one of the other big questions is what the objectives are in this war. Trump said one of the main ones is to rid Iran of its nuclear capabilities. Told CBS that he could leave the region without removing the country's enriched uranium. Saying that's so deeply buried, it's going to be very hard for anybody. It's pretty safe, but, you know, we'll make a determination. One of his favorite phrases but what do we know about Iran's enriched uranium and what it would take to actually extract it.
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Courtney Kuby
It would be a huge undertaking. So if in fact it is all at one site, which it may not be, it may be split between two of these sites. They are sites that have both been bombed by the US Last June, Operation Midnight Hammer. It's not clear whether the canisters themselves may have been damaged in those bomb. They may just very well be entombed underground. But if they were damaged, if in fact someone were to go in and dig out those facilities, which would be a big undertaking in and of itself, then you may be met with hazardous gases because that's the form of the highly enriched uranium. It's a gas. When they go into these locations, then you have to figure out A way to get them out and to potentially transform. It's a huge undertaking. It's days or weeks not to do, not hours. And again, at this point, it's still not 100% clear where the entire stockpile is, if it's at Isfahan or it might be split in another location as well.
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Melanie Snow
Such important context today, Secretary Hegset said that Iran's military capabilities are actually decreasing. Let's play some of that sound and talk about it on the other side.
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Defense Secretary Hegseth
American firepower is only increasing. Iran's decreasing. We have more and more options and they have less of Note. The last 24 hours saw the lowest number of enemy missiles and drones fired by Iran.
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Melanie Snow
Now, Hegseth said this as a Kuwaiti oil tanker was just hit. So is it actually accurate to say that Iran's firepower is decreasing?
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Courtney Kuby
It is in that the US Continues and the Israelis a little bit. But it's right now, when you're talking about actual missiles and drones, the US Is taking the lion's share of the strikes against those. And they are hitting them and they are, they are continuing to strike their storage facilities. The majority of the missile launchers have been damaged or destroyed. Not all of them, but the majority. But what's really key here, Melanie, is that despite that fact and despite the fact that the US has been unleashing hundreds of strikes every single day, Iran is still carrying out a relatively steady stream of attacks every single day. So it's a combination of drones and missiles, but the drones are everywhere, from 70 maybe per day. The missiles are anywhere between about 30 and 50 per day. And what's really striking here is these missiles and these drones are more accurate. They're targeting them more specifically. That's how we end up with things like the attack on Princeton Air Base last Friday that led to a couple of aircraft damaged and several American service members seriously injured.
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Melanie Snow
Courtney, thank you so much for all of that reporting. I want to turn now to what's happening in the Middle east where Stephanie Gosque is there for us. The Iranian president did discussed the possibility of the war ending and he repeated Iran's need for certain guarantees. What more do we know?
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Stephanie Gosk
Yes, this report comes from Iranian state TV that Massoud Possesskin, the president of Iran, got on the phone today with the president of the EU Council and he said that they do want these guarantees for peace. Chief among them, the guarantee that the country won't be attacked again. But we've also heard officials from Iran talk about how they they want reparations for the damage that has been done to their country and that they also want official acknowledgement that they control the Strait of Hormuz. So that can kind of show you they're likely not going to get all of those things. But, you know, he is speaking to these ongoing negotiations, Melanie, and we really don't know what's going on behind closed doors and what the discussions are about. But comments like this can certainly give some people, definitely the markets, it seems today, some confidence that maybe this is going in the right direction.
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Melanie Snow
And you mentioned the Strait of Hormuz, which remains largely closed. President Trump did say that allies should learn how to fight for themselves and go take their own oil. This also comes as European leaders have pushed back on getting involved in the war. So take us through what got us to this point that we're in now, Stephanie.
- [17:27]
Stephanie Gosk
Yeah, I mean, this is a conversation that we've been having really for a while now. And European leaders, in no uncertain terms, the first time President Trump said they should get involved, said they want no part of it. The president in his post and true social today did not acknowledge the fact that the US And Israel were the ones who offensively went after Iran and it led to this situation, but still called on the European countries to get involved. In fact, called out, name checked the UK and said if there are concerns about the soaring prices of jet fuel, perhaps they should get their fuel from the U.S. but beyond that, they should take an active role. There was a response today from the French president, Emmanuel Krone. He said that the tweet was a surprise, but that the France's position has remained the same since day one. In other words, they are not going to get involved, Melanie.
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Melanie Snow
And as we mentioned, Iran has continued its attack on Gulf neighbors. We're hearing new warnings from them about targeting civilian infrastructure. What are we hearing about that?
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Stephanie Gosk
Yeah, well, there has been infrastructure, civilian infrastructure being targeted for a while now in the Gulf. A lot of the energy infrastructure in the Gulf, you heard Brian mention it it a moment ago in Qatar, but also in Bahrain there are oil refineries, export facilities. All of these places have been targeted of a recent concern are desalination plants. And there was a desalination plant in Kuwait that was struck. And this is something that might be new to people in the US Hearing about it. But in that part of the world, desalination plants are what give people water. I mean, it is that vital. And to hit a plant like that really could starve the region. Raf Sanchez is actually in the Gulf and he had a chance to go to a press conference today and ask about this specific question. Listen to this.
- [19:21]
Brian Chung
Both the United States and Iran have threatened to hit desalination plants. What would the consequences be here in the Gulf if desalination plants become a target?
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Raf Sanchez
Since this escalation began, we have warned against targeting vital civilian infrastructure. We have said it very clearly that this is a threat to all of us in the region. This region depends heavily on desalination. We have very little other resources of drinking water or natural water, all the other. And therefore we see this as a very big threat to people's lives here in the region. And we condemn all attacks on civilian infrastructure as completely unnecessary and very dangerous for the whole region.
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Stephanie Gosk
So they're dealing with threats to their people, they're dealing with threats to their economy. These are significant challenges and they aren't going to go away soon. Melanie.
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Melanie Snow
Stephanie, thank you. And also to our colleague Raf for all your incredible reporting overseas. We really appreciate it. Joining me now is the former commander of U.S. central Command and a distinguished military fellow at the Middle East Institute, retired four star General Joseph Votel. Joseph, thank you so much for joining us. President Trump told my colleague that the war with Iran is quote, quote, coming to an end. So is it that simple? And doesn't Iran also get a say in when this war ends?
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General Joseph Votel
Well, first of all, it's good to be with you, Melanie. Yeah, certainly they do. I mean, this is open conflict. It's worth, so Iran has a, has a, has a, has a voice in this and certainly is taking actions here to respond to the operations that have been conducted. So yeah, they definitely, they definitely have the role and of course it's the United States, the President's responsibility to make a determination about how, how, how well we've done accomplishing the objectives that have been that he's laid out for us.
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Melanie Snow
There's also been a lot of discussion about what action the US could take when it comes to the Strait of Hormuz and Carg Island. What do you think though is the most realistic option and would that require boots on the ground?
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General Joseph Votel
Well, the most realistic option for trying to open this is that we have to dedicate the maritime resources, the air resources, to actually opening this, this, opening the straight back up and restoring freedom of navigation and free flow of commerce through this very important waterway. And you know, that's, that's, that is, that was an expected action that, that Iran would take in the event that they were attacked. And now we have to deal with that. And that's a, that's a significant significant responsibility, I think, for us at this particular point is to get this, get this going, not just for Iran, but certainly for our partners, our other partners in the region.
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Melanie Snow
In an interview with the New York Post this morning, President Trump said the Strait of Hormuz will, quote, automatically open once the US Leaves the region. Is it that simple?
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General Joseph Votel
I don't know. You know, of course, that will be up to Iran. Iran has kind of the operational advantage, at least by geography over the straits, are moved. So they can certainly make things very, very difficult there. Whether we depart and they open it up or not remains to be seen. I would just point out that just in the last couple of days that they've tried to turn this into a, into a toll system here where ships will have to pay through that doesn't support the free flow of commerce. And so whether that's acceptable or not will have to be a determination made by our policymakers.
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Melanie Snow
And perhaps that's why now the Wall Street Journal reporting that President Trump said he's willing to end the war without opening the Strait of Hormuz, but he also has threatened to strike Iran's civilian energy infrastructure, including desalination plants, if Iran doesn't agree to end the war. Do you believe that would be a lawful target?
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General Joseph Votel
Well, I think it would be a mistake to do this. Striking those types of targets, desalination plants in particular, would likely invite reciprocal attacks from Iran that would do, you know, incalculable damage across, across the region. And it would open us up to allegations of violating international humanitarian law and Geneva Conventions. And that's just not how we operate, and it's not where we want to be. I recognize the president has a very unique way of communicating, but in selecting military targets, we have an obligation to operate in accordance with the law.
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Melanie Snow
Well, clearly, President Trump is getting frustrated. In his social media post this morning, he told countries that rely on the Strait of Hormuz, which include many of our allies, obviously, that you'll have to start learning how to fight for yourselves. The USA won't be there to help you anymore, just like you weren't there for us. Go get your own oil. So is that an option? And are European countries even in a position to go in and get their own oil?
- [24:05]
General Joseph Votel
I don't, I don't think they are. I mean, they would, they would likely try to use some kind of diplomatic or other process to try to get their ships in and out of the, in and out of the Gulf. If that was, if that was the case, you know, the best way of Creating coalitions to go in and do these types of operations with our international partners is to start early. And unfortunately, that was, that was not the case in this situation. So we find ourselves, after the fact trying to create international support for this. And as we've seen, it's been very, very difficult to harness.
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Melanie Snow
Before you go, I also want to ask you about Spain closing off its airspace to US Planes involved in the war. Just how significant of a rift is this war creating between the US and our allies?
- [24:52]
General Joseph Votel
Well, it's very clear that a number of European countries and a number of them who are NATO allies have very strong views on the necessity for, for this war and are expressing it by things like we've seen in Spain or recently today in, in Italy. Certainly these make things more difficult there, there are workarounds. Certainly the military can find ways to work around this. It does. It's inconvenient, it's not insurmountable, but, but certainly like to operate in an environment where we had the full support of our coalition or of our international partners. And really operating within a coalition, I think it just reminds us why it's important to do the work up front that we need to do before we conduct military operations.
- [25:36]
Melanie Snow
No doubt. General, thank you so much as always for your expertise.
- [25:40]
General Joseph Votel
Good to be with you.
- [25:42]
Melanie Snow
Coming up, shut down stalemate. With lines at airports finally getting shorter, the ongoing shutdown down could actually be getting longer. Republican Congressman Mike Kennedy is standing by to talk about that and more. Plus, NBC News exclusive reporting on the administration's plans to send ICE agents to Marine Corps graduation events. We have that story straight ahead. You're watching Meet the Press Now.
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Melanie Snow
CTNC's 21 plus sponsored by Chump. Welcome back. It is day 46 of the shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security with no end in sight as both the House and Senate remain on recess. Members of Congress all headed home last week after a potential deal to end the funding lapse fell apart. Yesterday, White House press secretary said the president was calling on Congress to come back to Washington to hash out a deal. It comes as TSA officers began receiving paychecks after weeks of working without paying. DHS reported callouts have dropped 30%, with some airports seeing some relief from long security lines. Joining me now is Utah Republican Congressman Mike Kennedy. Congressman, thank you so much for joining us. I want to start with this. Last time you were on this program, you told my colleague Kristen Welker that, quote, shutdowns are a disaster. So do you think the House missed an opportunity on Friday to be the ones to end the shutdown by voting on that unanimous bill, by not voting on that unanimous bill that passed the Senate?
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Shutdowns are total nonsense. They were nonsense when Democrats years ago, when Republicans years ago did them, and they're nonsense now when Democrats are doing them. We had a bipartisan, bicameral bill more than 40 days ago that was ready to be passed, and then these murders had happened and Minnesota happened, and all of a sudden the Democrats ran away and started using the shutdown as a political weapon. And frankly, I think the Democrats should be embarrassed that they're using government workers as leverage for their own political ploys. And I find it totally unacceptable. That's why I've sponsored the no Work, no Pay Act. If you're in Congress and there's a shutdown, you don't get paid congressmen as well as these federal workers. And I also no Shutdowns Act. It's the sort of thing that we should sponsor and promote the bill, that if there is a shutdown, that we have a continual resolution automatically in play for two weeks. And if after the two weeks. We, we don't have a resolution to the conflict and we have another continuing resolution ad infinitum until we get move ahead on these negotiations. I'll just say that what the Senate sent to us was also unacceptable. They zeroed out the budget a border patrol and ice. That zeroing out of the budget, not only would it not pay the people that need to be paid, it would also threaten child sex trafficking investigations that Border patrol is already doing. So we cannot accept that. And when the speaker came to us at a conference said this is what we've got, the zeroing out of the budget for ICE and border Patrol, we all agreed as a conference we're not going to accept that. We sent them back a 60 day continuing resolution which is all it is is keeping the funding as it currently stands. We sent it back to the Senate. The Senate is all home and we see some on vacation doing various things is yeah, the Senate should come back. The ball is in their court and they should come back and fund that continued resolution while we continue these negotiations.
- [30:27]
Melanie Snow
But Congressman, even though that bill did exclude ICE and Border Patrol, they do have funding at this moment because it was included in the big beautif that Republicans passed last summer.
- [30:37]
Kelly O'
So.
- [30:37]
Melanie Snow
And the Senate plan would have funded
- [30:39]
Brian Chung
the rest of the plan.
- [30:39]
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- [30:41]
Melanie Snow
But you don't think that would be enough.
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It would not have actually the zeroing out of that budget. There's an estimated 50 or 60% of the budget for Border Patrol and ICE that would not be funded. That's the ancillary workers. Of course there's a lot of people that are answering phones that are, that are the schedulers, whatever supportive services that are there. Those people are not funded in the big beautiful bill and as a result they would not be funded. The other idea that's really important to consider is that we can't have the Senate picking and choosing parts of an appropriations package that they're going to line item veto out. That sets a terrible precedence. And if we're going to do that, out of the 12 appropriations packages, we will never get any bill passed. We'll never get any appropriations package passed if they're going to cut out parts. And we're just going to go back forever just negotiating and fighting about these various parts. So it's a. The appropriations packages always have to start in the House. House has sent 11 out of 12 and 12 out of 12 over there. And the senators on the Democrat side, they need to support the appropriations package that they agreed to over a month ago and then we can get these people paid and continue the vital work that they do.
- [31:47]
Melanie Snow
Now there has been some talk of using a reconciliation bill which would require only 51 votes in the Senate to pass things in order to fund perhaps all of DHS which would be outside the normal appropriations process as you mentioned. But is that something you could could support despite it being outside the appropriations process? And also do you think there is enough support for Republicans to unify around a reconciliation package?
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Time is of the essence. As to a reconciliation package, I am supportive of a reconciliation package 2.0. I think that that could be something that's helpful but that takes time. It takes a lot of time. You have to pass a budget resolution and you have to have the negotiations so we don't have have time right now there are people that were emergency order from the president were funding their salaries and it makes me very concerned when we're talking about delaying that more. The ball is in the Senate's court right now. They could fund a continued resolution which just keeps things as usual moving forward for 60 days and these people could be paid. These families deserve their paycheck. We've had hundreds that have quit as a result of this nonsensical shutdown. And we need to support these people for the vital work that they do. Not just in TSA but our border patrol and our ICE agents are doing great work and we need to support them by making sure they get their salaries.
- [33:01]
Melanie Snow
I do think it's worth noting that Senate Republicans could have also rejected that deal. They allowed it to pass by voice vote on Thursday. But I do want to turn to the Iran war. We've seen 5,000 additional troops head to the region.
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I want to point out is at 3 o' clock in the morning but
- [33:16]
Melanie Snow
it was hotlined which means they checked at 9:30.
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- [33:20]
Melanie Snow
They checked with every office through a hotline before they went to that final vote at three in the morning. So they had an opportunity. They knew this was coming. If Republicans really wanted to stop it, they could have well might want to take it up with Senate Republican senators.
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- [33:36]
Melanie Snow
but while I have you I do want to talk about the Florida to
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unanimous consent at three in the morning is not appropriate.
- [33:43]
Melanie Snow
On the topic of boots on the Fair enough. On the topic of war in Iran, would you support the president putting boots on the ground? No, I'm not.
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I don't want our young men and Young women fighting on foreign soil, putting their lives in jeopardy. And I believe that this can be resolved without us having soldiers on the ground. I think Iran, for more than 40 years, has been a terrorist nation that chants death to America. And just like I think about professionally, a doctor cutting out cancer, if there's cancer in the body politic of the world, we need to cut that out. When you're in the middle of an operation to cut out cancer, you can't cut and run and hope that things go well and not have all the cancer entirely taken out. So in this case, I believe we need to complete the operation to the best of our ability so we can be assured that the nuclear weapons that Iran is trying to develop, as well as the ballistic missiles that can reach over 1,000 miles to nations far outside of the range that we thought of before, that we make sure that those ballistic missiles that would deliver those nuclear weapons are not available to a terrorist nation who wants to destroy not only America, but Israel. And I stand with President Trump in moving forward in this operation. But no, I do not want our soldiers, our young men and our young women. The greatest resource we have in this country is our young people and for us to send them into harm's way. I believe and I know that President Trump loves those people. And he will only do that as
- [35:03]
Melanie Snow
absolutely necessary as the war unfolds. The average cost of gallon of gas have surpassed $4 nationwide. It's closer to at 420, actually in Utah, your home state. The White House said prices will come down when the war is over. But do you think that's enough for Americans who are already facing high prices now and being asked to sacrifice?
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I want to make sure that those prices are down also as fast as possible. And this sort of thing that as we invest in making sure that that terrorist nation is not holding the world's oil hostage. 20% of the world's oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz. And we need to make sure that that terrorist nation is not jacking up the prices associated with gas. So, yes, I am concerned, my constituents are concerned about gas prices. I believe this is a temporary, painful, yet temporary state of circumstances. And just like I mentioned with the surgery, nobody wants to get surgery. It hurts when it happens. But weeks and months later, people feel better because we've done the thing that was necessary. And I believe that's how President Trump's proceeding. And I think we should support them as we move forward with this operation.
- [36:07]
Melanie Snow
Congressman Mike Kennedy of Utah, thank you so much for Joining us up next, a big decision from the Supreme Court today delivering a major blow to LGBTQ rights. We have the details. Stay with us on MEET THE press. Now.
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- [37:56]
Melanie Snow
Welcome back. And we got a ruling today in one of the most closely watched cases of this this Supreme Court term. And the justices dealt a blow to LGBTQ rights, ruling against Colorado's ban on conversion therapy aimed at young people struggling with their sexual orientation or gender identity. In an 8.1 decision cutting across ideological lines, the justices ruled that the ban violated a conservative Christian therapist's right to free speech. Justice Neil Gorsuch writing the majority opinion, quote, the First Amendment stands as a bulwark against any effort to prescribe an orthodoxy of views reflecting a belief that each American enjoys an inalienable right to speak his mind and a faith in the free marketplace of ideas as the best means for finding truth. Laws like Colorado's which suppress speech based on viewpoint, represent an egregious assault on both commitments. NBC News senior Supreme Court reporter Lawrence Hurley joins me now on set. Lawrence, thank you so much for joining us. Walk us through the majority opinion today. Just run through that for us.
- [39:00]
Lawrence Hurley
So a big part of this case is how you see types of medical regulations. Right. Are these regulations regulating speech or are they relating conduct? And that was where the court was divided in this eight to one ruling majority is saying these conversion therapy bans are actually a form of a free speech restriction because it's imposing restrictions on what these talk therapists can say. And it's purely about speech. It's not about conduct. It's not about the type of things that, you know, a doctor might do or prescription or some kind of procedure that they might take out, which is based on their professional responsibility. So the court saw this as a free speech violation. That's something they do quite a lot, this conservative majority court. They frequently ruled in favor of conservatives bringing these types of challenges. And this was another example of that type of case.
- [39:47]
Melanie Snow
Yeah, we've seen the rule in favor of a lot of Christian conservatives throughout this last year. The lone dissenting opinion was Justice Kentaji Brown Jackson. First, walk us through what her argument was. And did it surprise you at all that she was the only one who dissented?
- [40:02]
Lawrence Hurley
Yeah. So Justice Jackson fell on the other side of this.
- [40:05]
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- [40:05]
Lawrence Hurley
She's saying this is actually regulating conduct. This is the type of things that states do all the time when they regulate medical professionals. It's not any imposition on free speech rights is kind of incidental. It's really regulating that conduct. And she was the only dissenter. As you mentioned, the two other liberal justices joined the majority. But Justice Elena Kagan wrote the separate opinion, which kind of helps to explain why she did, saying that she's worried about Republican states potentially restricting therapy that would do kind of gender affirming care. So this ruling, she thinks, should apply all across the board to both types of restrictions.
- [40:46]
Melanie Snow
And this is obviously a blow to LGBTQ rights, but are there any impacts beyond conversion therapy here?
- [40:52]
Lawrence Hurley
Well, potentially, because Justice Jackson in her dissent pointed out that this could affect other types of medical regulations across the board.
- [41:00]
Brian Chung
Right.
- [41:00]
Lawrence Hurley
We don't know if that's true. The majority contest that. So we'll see as this ruling gets implemented what kind of broader ramifications it has.
- [41:09]
Melanie Snow
Lawrence Hurley, thank you so much for breaking all that down for us. Let's turn now to Cape Canaveral, Florida, where The countdown to NASA's first crewed Artemis II flight is on. We are just about T minus 26 hours from the launch time when four astronauts will blast off from launch pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center. The crew will go on a 10 day mission. And for the first time in more than 50 years, journey around the moon. Crew members who are in quarantine leading up to the takeoff say they are targeting treating Artemis 2 as a true test flight.
- [41:41]
Artemis II Astronaut
The four of us, we are ready to go. The team is ready to go and the vehicle is ready to go. But not for one second do we have an expectation that we are going. We will go when this vehicle tells us it's ready and when the team is ready to go. So, so we might go out to the pad and we might have to try again a few more times. And we are 100% ready for that.
- [41:58]
Melanie Snow
And so far, fingers crossed, all systems are go. Earlier today, NASA said the weather forecast shows an 80% chance of favorable weather conditions with a minimal chance of lightning in the late afternoon. If all goes as planned, this mission could mark the farthest humans have ever traveled from Earth, passing the record set by Apollo 13 in 1970. Live special coverage kicks off at 4:00pm Eastern tomorrow right here on NBC News Now. And we'll be right back with more. Welcome back. We've got a bunch of key primaries coming up this summer in races where Democrats are hoping they'll be able to compete in the fall. And while Democrats are increasingly confident they can overcome Republicans narrow majority and retake the House, their path to victory in the Senate is much more complicated. Joining me now to break it down is our NBC chief data analyst Steve Carnacki. So, Steve, give us the reality check here. How realistic is it that Democrats are actually going to be able to retake the Senate? And if so, what is their path in order to do so?
- [43:04]
Steve Kornacki
Yeah, Mel, I guess the answer to that question is how realistic do you think it is for Democrats to win in not one, but two pretty deeply pro Trump states? That's what they'd have to do to get the Senate. Look at it this way. Here's the big picture map. Democrats need a net gain of four seats if they're going to take back the Senate. Now, the first order of business for them is they don't want to lose any ground. They got to protect a couple seats here. The three you're thinking of there, it's Jon Ossoff in Georgia. It's also Democratic held seats in New Hampshire and Michigan. They don't want to lose any of those. That would only add to the Republican majority and make the Democrats hill probably too much Steep. Too steep. But if they do win those three hold on to them, then they still need that net gain of four seeds and they'd be looking to do it probably. From this list, these are the six Republican seats that I think to some degree folks think are going to be in play this year. Now, again, Democrats need four. You could look at Maine, Susan Collins running in a state that already didn't vote for Trump. That's the most realistic for Democrats. Of course, Collins has survived in some tough conditions before, but that could be one for Democrats. North Carolina, Democrats excited about their candidate there, the former Governor Roy Cooper. Trump only won it by three points. That's not unrealistic at all. For Democrats. That could be two. But then draw a line there because the complexion politically of these states changes. Ohio, Alaska, Iowa, Texas, Democrats hoping to knock to a pick up Republican seats here, all of them double digit states for Donald Trump. These aren't just red states. These are in the Trump era. These are very red states, certainly in 2024. And in the political atmosphere here is just different in red states. Take a look at this. This from sort of a compilation of all of our NBC News CNBC polling. Our pollsters put this together here. Trump states, that's what we're talking about. Democrats needing to win at least two of those Senate races here versus swing states versus Harris states. Views of Donald Trump in swing states, they're almost 10 points more negative than positive. In Trump states, Trump is above water by three points. Views of the Democratic Party, they're not Good Anywhere there, 23 points negative in swing states, but almost 10 points worse than that in red states. Views of the Republican Party, they're not that good anywhere, but they're almost even in these Trump states. So again, if Democrats are going to win back the Senate this year, they got to protect all their seats, but they got to win two of this group of four. They probably have to win two of this group of 4 in a very, a much less hostile environment in all the states to Trump, Trump than you're going to get in the average swing state now.
- [45:35]
Melanie Snow
Very insightful. Thank you so much. Steve Kornacki at the Big Bird, my favorite site to see. We turn now to the Trump administration's crackdown on undocumented immigrants and NBC News exclusive reporting that ICE agents will be stationed outside upcoming Marine Corps graduation events in South Carolina this week in an apparent effort to identify whether any of their family members are undocumented. As the US Continues its war with Iran, the Marine Corps has boosted protection measures on bases, requiring everyone to present real IDs, passports or birth certificates. And joining me now is senior Homeland Security correspondent Julia Ainslie. Julia, you were part of this excellent reporting with our Courtney Kuby Our colleague, what more do we know about what actually went into this decision? And why specifically are graduation events being targeted?
- [46:24]
Julia Ainslie
Yeah, this is really unusual and unprecedented in a lot of ways. What we're hearing from the Department of Homeland Security and from the Marines is that this is part of elevated security, in part because of what's happening in Iran. They want to protect the armed forces. Also, if you look at the context of last November, where an Afghan asylum, someone who'd been granted asylum from Afghanistan shot two National Guard members in Washington, D.C. they enhanced the vetting and really stopped asylum screening after that for a period of time. So you could argue that's what we're seeing. But also, ICE is just showing up in places where we didn't see them previously. What we understand now is that they will be present at this graduation ceremony from basic training for the Marines graduating in Parris Island, South Carolina on Friday. And they'll be doing real ID checks to make sure the people who are attending are legally allowed to be in the United States. But what we haven't gotten an answer on from I or from the Marines is whether or not they will be doing arrest if someone doesn't present the right documentation. It's very rare that we ever see ICE find out that someone is not lawfully in the United States and not move to make an arrest. But in response to our story, a DHS spokesperson said it is fake news that ICE will not be making arrests there. Although I have to point out, nowhere in our reporting did we say they'd be making arrests, but simply they would be present and doing these real ID checks.
- [47:47]
Melanie Snow
And Julia, this also comes as we're Learning the that 14 detainees have died since the beginning of this year while in ICE custody. Potentially an increase from previous years. What more do we know about these deaths?
- [47:57]
Julia Ainslie
Yeah, that's right. This is now, you know, we're now looking into the 30s, near 40 total deaths since Trump took office in January 2025. A lot of this has to do with overcrowding. The last death was a Mexican detainee in a Texas facility. We've seen other deaths where it's been ruled a homicide, a suicide, people not getting medical treatment that they need, lot of deaths that advocates say are preventable. But because it's so crowded and because they're starting to keep people in places where we hadn't seen before, like some of the state run facilities that aren't as regularly monitored, they say that it's leading to more of these problems. Another thing we cataloged last summer that we believe is still continuing is a lack of adequate nutrition, that some people claim that they're not getting enough food per day and that the food they are getting oftentimes is spoiled. So we've heard a lot of these complaints. A lot of this could be remedied if there were more monitors in there. But oftentimes monitors and not. And access, legal access and lawyers who would regularly be attending these places are not getting in as frequently as they used to. One other thing, Mel, I just wanted to say about the Marines is that a lot of the people that I've interviewed over my course covering immigration are undocumented immigrants with citizen children who have decided to become part of the military. So it's not unusual we would see undocumented parents showing up at that.
- [49:16]
Melanie Snow
Julia, thank you so much for breaking all of that down. Such important reporting. Still to come, clash on the Capitol. Rioters who participated in the January 6 attack accused police of excessive force in a new lawsuit and sued the federal government for millions of dollars in damages. We have that story next on MEET THE PRESS Now. Welcome back. Turning now to the latest at attempt by those who perpetrated the January 6th attack on the Capitol to change the narrative about what really happened that day. A class action lawsuit has now been filed by dozens of those who rioted that day. The lawsuit filed in Florida against the federal government accuses police of excessive force in response to the protest. According to that lawsuit, police indiscriminately launched explosive munitions, chemical agents and impact projectiles into a peaceful crowd and physically assaulted members of the crowd.
- [50:14]
Courtney Kuby
Crowd.
- [50:15]
Melanie Snow
It's important to Note that roughly 1500 people were charged with federal crimes in connection with January 6th. And President Trump pardoned nearly all of them on his first day in office. About 1400 capital 14 capital NDC police officers were injured during the January 6th attack. We'll get Ryan to fact check us on this. One officer died from injuries sustained in the attack. Two others died by suicide in the weeks that that followed. NBC News senior justice reporter Ryan Reilly joins me now.
- [50:46]
Ryan Reilly
I believe it was 14 people that 140 around office.
- [50:50]
Melanie Snow
140, yes.
- [50:51]
Ryan Reilly
Were injured in the attack overall.
- [50:52]
Melanie Snow
You know, Ryan, when this news first came through my email, I was kind of, you know, casually reading it. I thought it was gonna be that the police officers were the ones suing the federal government. It's actually the other way around. And what really is mind boggling is that some of those people were actually charged with crimes in connection with January 6th. Is that right?
- [51:11]
Brian Chung
Yeah.
- [51:11]
Ryan Reilly
One of them Actually was Florida man. Specifically, he was part. A lot of them were charged in connection with January 6th, but this individual actually, afterwards, he committed a whole separate host of crimes involving child molestation. He's actually now serving a life sentence for child molestation. And in that instance, he actually told one of his victims, according to law enforcement, that he was going to use the money he expected to receive from the Trump administration to sort of silence him. Right. So that. And that was part of the case that moved forward. Then more recently, there was another individual who's not a part of this lawsuit, I should say, who was convicted for. For child sex material that was found on their phone in the course of a January 6th investigation. So you're seeing all these new crimes that individuals have been charged with, convicted of, sentenced for after their January 6th actions. But this lawsuit itself, I think, is obviously, I think, filed in Florida for a reason. They're sort of bringing it forward there. Probably more of a generous jury pool potentially down there, even though there's not really a connection so much to the actual, actual events that took place in
- [52:15]
Melanie Snow
D.C. i'm glad you answered that, because that was one of my questions. One of the other questions I had was there were Capitol Police, There was also D.C. metropolitan Police that day. But this lawsuit, this is just against Capitol Police, is that right?
- [52:26]
Ryan Reilly
I think it's both, but, yeah, I mean, so the Metropolitan Police both responded, but they used some of these crowd munitions. And what they sort of do is cherry pick a lot of these audio that you hear over the body cam videos where people are saying it's not really working. That at one point, one officer said, you know, we're hitting innocent people, I think, meaning people who were further back and weren't the ones that were really attacking them on the front lines. But there were so many warning signs that you should not be there that day. And a lot of the defendants subsequently tried to make these arguments that judges often, and juries often dismiss that there weren't signs that they were supposed to be there because there just were so many signs. And you could see the violence and see the chaos sort of unfolding. It was clear that police were trying to. To hold people back. So even people who are further back in that crowd, and even if the barriers had already been ripped down, I think as these cases got adjudicated, those claims that they didn't know what was going on weren't found credible.
- [53:19]
Melanie Snow
Something else they've tried to claim is that it was a peaceful protest despite the evidence. I was there. I know what I saw it was not a peaceful protest. Real quickly, how much do you think they are going to try to lean into that, the Trump administration as part of their argument?
- [53:30]
Ryan Reilly
I think they will. I mean, and the question is ultimately what Donald Trump decides to do with this because he could theoretically say, I want to settle with these people and taxpayer money could go back to these defendants.
- [53:40]
Melanie Snow
Ryan Reilly, thank you so much as always. We're back tomorrow with more Meet the Press now, and there's more ahead on NBC News now.
- [53:50]
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