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Meet the Press
Meet the Press NOW — May 11
00:49:52
President Trump says the U.S. ceasefire with Iran is “on life support” as he considers suspending the federal gas tax. Former NIAID Director Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo joins Meet the Press NOW to discuss the government’s response to the hantavirus as American passengers aboard the cruise ship return to the U.S., including one who tested positive. Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin accuses Democrats of putting security preparation for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in jeopardy following the record-breaking shutdown of DHS.
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Craig.
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I'm Craig Melvin.
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Cheers.
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Cheers.
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Cheers.
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I've always been a glass half full
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kind of guy, and now I'm talking
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to some people who look at the
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world that way, too. Some really fascinating folks who share their
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defining moments, their triumphs, their challenges.
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Their stories are funny and quite candid. So I hope you'll join me each week.
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And who knows, you might just come
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away with your own glass half Full.
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Search Glass Half Full with Craig Melvin From Today on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts.
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Who gets to be a citizen of the United States at birth when it comes to sports in school? Who gets to compete with the girls? And how much power does the president actually have to hire and fire at independent agencies? These are some of the key questions before the U.S. supreme Court this term. And as any good lawyer knows, whether you win or lose in the highest court depends on the facts, the evidence and how you frame your arguments. But that's not the only thing that matters. I'm Laura Jarrett, senior legal correspondent at ed. This is NBC News. And this month in a new series for our here's the Scoop podcast, I'm talking to legal experts and lawyers whose past legal victories are now the building blocks for the biggest cases still left to be decided. I want to know how they convinced the court they were right when the stakes were high, what special sauce locked it in, and what could be different this time around? Join us for here's the Scoop, Supreme Court Edition, new episodes every Saturday. You can find Here's a scoop from NBC News on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts.
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Welcome to MEET THE press. Now, I'm Monica Alba in Washington with President Trump is facing the prospect of a prolonged and politically perilous stalemate after declaring Iran's response to the U.S. peace proposal, quote, totally unacceptable. And his new warning today that the ceasefire is on life support, all while he prepares for his high stakes meeting with Chinese President Xi in Beijing later this week. The US And Iran remain in a standoff after Tehran sent its reply to the US Plan over the weekend. President Trump swiftly rejecting that, telling reporters today that Tehran would not agree to abandon its pursuit of nuclear weapons. And while the details of the full proposal remain unclear, Iran today accusing the US of insisting on, quote, unreasonable demands. Today, President Trump responding to questions about the war, including from our very own Ryan Nobles on where things go from here on Iran. You rejected a deal from Iran over the weekend. Can you tell us anything about that proposal and what, if any, effort will be made to break the stamp?
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F
It was just unacceptable you know, a lot of people said, well, does he have a plan? Yeah, of course I do. I have the best plan ever. But it's a very simple plan. Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon and they won't have a nuclear weapon. And they didn't. They didn't want to go that far. If you can believe it, they didn't. How stupid are they? Stupid people. They didn't want to believe it.
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For the time being, the cease fire remains in place.
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It's unbelievably weak. I would say, I would call it the weakest right now. After reading that piece of garbage they sent us. I didn't even finish reading it. I said, I'm not going to waste my time reading it. I would say it's one of the weakest right now. It's on life support.
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It comes after Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu drew a similar red line over the weekend, insisting Iran's nuclear program needs to be a part of any deal to end the war.
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Is the war with Iran over? And if it isn't, who will decide when it is?
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I think it accomplished a great deal, but it's not over because there's still nuclear material, enriched uranium that has to be taken out of Iran.
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G
How do you envision the highly enriched uranium will be removed from Iran?
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B
You go in and you take it out with what?
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G
Special forces from Israel, Special forces from the United States.
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B
Well, I'm not going to talk about military means, but what President Trump has said to me, I want to go in there.
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Oil prices are back around $100 a barrel. On the new pessimism about the ceasefire with Iran, while the average price for gas remains above $4.50 gallon. President Trump saying today he may be looking at suspending the federal gas tax to give drivers a little relief, while continuing to insist gas and oil prices will, quote, drop like a rock once the war is over. It comes after Energy Secretary Chris Wright told Kristen on Meet the Press that he can't make any predictions about those prices, but that the administration would do everything it could to lower costs.
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H
I know you're saying you can't predict how high gas prices will go, but I don't hear you ruling out the possibility that they could, in fact go to five doll gallon.
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Well, I'm just avoiding price predictions, but I will say United States is in a tremendous position.
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Would you support suspending the federal gas tax to give families relief right now?
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Yeah. All measures that can be taken to
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lower the price of at the pump and lower the prices for Americans. This administration is in support of. We are constantly looking for different ideas.
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Joining me now is our team of reporters. NBC News senior national politics reporter Jonathan Allen is at the White House. NBC News Internet national correspondent Matt Bradley is in Tel Aviv. And also with me are NBC News senior national security correspondent Courtney Kuby and NBC chief business correspondent Christine Romans. Thank you all for being here to start us off. John, after President Trump said that Iran's response was, quote, unacceptable, what does that mean for the status of US Negotiations with Iran right now, as you see it?
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Well, he said it was on life support, the ceasefire. He said that it was as weak as it possibly could be. I mean, I think what that says for the status of negotiations is that they are deadlocked with no progress on said negotiations. It's not clear what that means for the US Military posture toward Iran right now. I mean, we still got the Strait of Hormuz blocked off. The President, of course, going to China has a lot of messages to discuss with President Xi there, a lot of issues to discuss with them, including the Iran, where the president indicated today that he would like to see China be more supportive of what the US Is doing in Iran. We'll see if that happens. But it sounds like these negotiations are, if not dead, very close.
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And John, the president appeared to suggest that he does want to suspend the federal gas tax. How serious is that proposal and how much of a priority would it even be for Congress if, in fact, that is a policy that the administration wants to implement right now?
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You said the magic word, Monica. Not surprisingly, Congress, in order to suspend the federal gas tax, in order to make tax law, you have to go through Congress. That sometimes can happen very quickly. There are reasons that many members of Congress would want to ease the burden on their constituents right now. On the other hand, the United States is spending hundreds of billions of dollars potentially in Iran. And when you suspend the federal gas tax, you limit the amount of money that's coming in to the Federal Highway Trust Fund and you limit the ability to, to do infrastructure projects. So there are costs to doing that. But I would not be shocked to hear Democrats say that they are willing to suspend the gas tax. Of course, the 18 cents or so per gallon that would be gained by that, while welcome, welcome relief for consumers, doesn't approach the amount that gas has gone up since the start of this war.
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Yeah. And hasn't happened before. So we'll see if there's an appetite for that. John, you mentioned this off the top. I think this is looming over everything. The fact the President is set to leave for Beijing tomorrow. So what is the White House hoping to get out of that critical meeting? And how much of a distraction could the war with Iran be to all of it?
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I think they're hoping to get a lot of that out of that meeting. I think the expectation setting is low. But the president has a lot of issues to talk about with China. I mean, everything from cybersecurity to foreign investment in the United States to the tariffs that he's placed on China, along with many other countries around the world. He obviously wants to reduce the trade deficit with China. And so there's a lot to discuss, including the Iran war, including Taiwan. He mentioned today he was asked about Taiwan, and he said that President Xi is more interested in talking about that than he is. But the United States has for decades maintained a position of strategic ambiguity. I botched that strategic ambiguity, basically meaning they don't want to basically tell China whether or not the United States would physically defend or defend with force Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion. But so many issues to talk about in the Iran war as a potential distraction. It's real. China is also suffering for the fact that the Strait of Hormuz is cut off. And at the same time, it's not clear that China wants to give the United States a big win over Iran at a time when the president is bogged down with that war.
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So many issues that are completely interconnected. John, stay there. We'll come back to you. I do want to turn now to Matt Bradley, who is in the region. Matt, how do you expect Gulf nations will react to the President calling Iran's response, quote, totally unacceptable, and then today saying the ceasefire is so weak that it's on life support?
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Yeah, I mean, it's a great question, Monica, not least because, you know, the Gulf nations have really carved out a place for themselves in a very real way at the negotiating table. Their presence has been felt in this diplomacy ever since the war began, and never more so than in the past week, when they basically put the kibosh on President Trump's Project Freedom. And that's exactly the lens through which I think they're going to be viewing this latest development. If this ceasefire collapses, that will be a major threat for them. They'll no longer be able to have any hope in the near term of exporting their fuel through the Strait of Hormuz, which has been a huge problem for these Gulf countries. And any resumption of war would once again remind the world that the Gulf countries are not the Oases of business safety that they have long claimed for them to be. That's been a huge knock on their whole advertising premise to the world as just the best place to do business. So these Gulf countries, we've already seen the reaction in the markets in just the past couple of hours. They are going to have this same visceral reaction. We also heard from the head of one of Saudi Arabia's largest oil companies, basically saying that this last month and a half have been the largest shock to energy that the world has ever seen. So clearly the Gulf countries have already been feeling the pressure and are very willing to put pressure on the Trump administration to do whatever the Trump administration can to open up the Strait of Hormuz and end the fighting.
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And Matt, we heard from the Israeli prime Minister who said that basically the war is not over as he sees it. So the US And Israel on the same page when it comes to what could determine when this war actually is over and the long term strategy beyond that.
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Another great question. You know, Monica, the fact is, is that we've all been looking very closely at this relationship between the US And Israel. Interestingly, this is the first time that Israel has fought with another country as a wartime ally against another sovereign state. So this is a new experience for Israelis and there has been some friction. For the most part. What we've been hearing is that both Israel and the US Are getting along very well throughout all of this. But it's important to remember these countries have very different objectives, including the Gulf countries, who, as I mentioned, are now huge stakeholders in all of this. The Israelis have been focused a lot on Iran's ballistic missile capability, their conventional weapon capability, in addition to their nuclear capabilities. The United States has been focused very much on the Strait of Hormuz, whereas Israel has not really been dealing that much with the Strait of Hormuz. So we're seeing diverging objectives even amongst these allies.
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Matt Bradley in Tel Aviv. Matt, thank you for that. I want to turn now to Courtney, who is on set with me. Courtney, thanks so much for being here. So we did hear all this talk about the ceasefire being on life support. So what does that signal to you in. In terms of what that could mean for potential kinetic action resuming here? We know the President indicated he had a meeting with his generals today. So what could that tell us?
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Yeah, the meetings with the generals tend to not often have a whole lot of generals in them, but probably at least one, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General Dan Kaine. So I think that it has been totally possible for the last several weeks of this cease fire that the US Would resume some sort of major combat operations. The President is making it seem like he doesn't really want to do that. But as far as the military is postured, they could do that right now if they wanted to. They have brought in additional reinforcements. They've brought in some new capabilities, an additional carrier strike group, a fresh air wing. We've already seen them actually operating in the Strait of Hormuz, the carrier air wing off of the George H.W. bush. And they've sort of refilled some of the munitions and things that were, that were used up during the first 40 days or so of this war. What's really important to point out is that doesn't mean that the US has refilled the US Military stockpiles for some of these munitions. It just means that they have put more on the ships and ashore and more aircraft in there. So if in fact, the President were to decide to restart major combat operations, they could actually go at a higher pace than what we saw at the very end of the war before the ceasefire started.
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And it seems unlikely that would happen while he is overseas in China. But who knows? Certainly they can have that discussion now. You have done so much reporting on our Gulf allies, of course, having concerns about the US Mission to help those ships transit through the Strait of Hormuz. So how do you think they would react if the US Started strikes up again?
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K
So it seems as if many of those Gulf allies, look, they want a new regime in Iran, but what they don't, they were not happy with, at least last week, was Project Freedom, which what Matt just referenced, and that was this effort to use the US Military to support commercial ships to leave the Strait of Hormuz. At least two ships went that way. They were both US Flagged. Some of the Gulf allies, including Saudi Arabia and the Kuwaitis, were unhappy with that effort because it was just too risky. And what we did see was Iran lash out at allies in the region if in fact the US Were to restart some sort of combat operations. The sense I get is that these allies would want to go all in. So go really, truly destroy Iran's conventional capabilities, do something about their nuclear program, and really inspire some sort of regime change there. All of those are enormous, enormous goals and objectives to try to accomplish militarily alone. But that's the sense I get, is that the allies would only support. It's all or nothing with them.
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The President has talked about it as a potential Project Freedom. Plus, we'll see if we get that stage next. Courtney Kuby, as always, thanks for your expertise. I do want to turn now to Christine. Christine, that national average we've been talking about for gas, it is still at about $4.50. And today the president did suggest that he could pause the federal G tax for an unspecified period of time. But how much relief would that actually bring to Americans at the pump? How would that work?
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Well, mostly that would maybe prevent gas prices from continuing to rise quickly.
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Right.
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So a lot of these tools that the president has are kind of on the margin. The big issue here is you've got a bunch of oil that's just not moving and it usually does. You've also got some oil production that's offline and it could take some time to get that fixed here. So you're talking about an 18 cent federal gas holiday. When you look at how much you just showed on your screen there, how much gas prices are up, you can see that's a little bit of relief. But you've got gas prices. They were $1.98 before the war happened. So take back 18 cents and that might help a little bit for what consumers are going through. There are some states that are considering the same thing. You've got states, Alaska, for example, has about an 8 or 9 cent gas tax per gallon. California has a 62, almost 63 cent gas. I think Georgia has had a pause on all this. But, but again, you also need Congress, by the way, to have a federal holiday for gas taxes here.
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Yeah. It's not just doable with the signing of a pen or anything like that. That's important to point out. I want to also ask you, because this traffic through the Strait of Hormuz that is basically at a near standstill, I mean, there's still no deal to even end the war and reopen that waterway. So how are energy and shipping companies reacting to that reality?
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L
Scrambling. And they've been really lobbying Washington to get something fixed here. Although you heard the President today talking about how, you know, maybe they were finding new ways to get their oil out and he had thought that maybe you would have the stock market tank 25% and oil prices go to $250 to $300. So the President is glad that none of that has happened and it seems to give him a little bit of wiggle room. But you talk to oil industry executives, for example, the guy who runs Saudi Aramco, and you can see that they're saying that even if everything were fixed today, you've got months and months of backlog. If the Strait of Hormuz opens today, it will take many months for the market to rebalance. And if its opening is delayed by a few more weeks, then normalization will last into 2027. What energy executives tell me, Monica, is that every day it's almost exponential how, how bad it gets. Like the more time goes, the more difficult it's going to be to unwind all of this and get energy prices Back to normal.
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2027. Wow. Christine, thank you so much for bringing us that. And John, I do want to go back to you about some separate reporting that you have about these tickets for the UFC fight that is set to happen on the White House South Lawn next month. Take us inside. Your great reporting.
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B
There's going to be a cage match, literally a cage match, several of them on the White House lawn. The South Lawn you can see behind me the north lawn. But on the other side of the White House, the UFC Ultimate Fighting Championship Mixed Martial Arts League is putting on an extravaganza for the president's birthday, June 14, also in honor of America's 250th birthday. One of the months, one of the celebrations that's going on for four months here in Washington, D.C. the tickets for the South Lawn, there are about 4,000 plus of them. Almost all of them are going to be hand picked by President Trump. Low supply, high demand. And what you get as a result of that is a frenzy for tickets. We talked to Lara Trump about this. She said that one of her contractors at her house offered to do the work for free in exchange for a ticket. I talked to Dana White, the head of the ufc. He said people keep asking him for tickets and he said tells them he gave most of them to Trump. Trump says in an interview with our Peter Nicholas that he's going to make a lot of enemies because he's not going to be able to pick everyone. These tickets are going to be very hard to come by for the South Lawn right around an octagon that's been built in Pennsylvania and be shipped here. So interesting to see who will be in the audience.
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A
John Allen, A cage match, just to get into the literal cage match. Thank you so much for bringing us that. We appreciate it. And coming up, what we know about the hantavirus, how it spreads and the current threat level in the US as more than a dozen American passengers who were aboard that infected cruise ship return to the US and are transported to two different medical facilities. Plus the man accused of attempting to assassinate President Trump at the White House Correspondents Dinner pleads not guilty. More from today's court hearing and what's next in the case? You're watching Meet the Press now.
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D
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Welcome back. We turn now to the deadly hantavirus outbreak. Eighteen passengers aboard the cruise ship at the center of it are now back in the United States, including one who tested positive for the disease but is not showing any symptoms so far. 16 of the passengers are currently being evaluated at a highly specialized quarantine facility in Nebraska, where they will stay in isolation for the next few days. Another passenger who tested negative for the disease but who's showing possible symptoms was transported to Atlanta's Emory University for further assessment, along with her partner. Officials earlier today saying the risk to the public remains low. Take a listen to that.
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F
Let me be clear. Let me be crystal clear. The risk of hantavirus to the general public remains very, very low. The Andes variant of this virus does not spread easily, and it requires prolonged close contact with someone who is already symptomatic Even so, we have taken this
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A
situation very seriously from the very start. Also, earlier today, President Trump briefly addressed the outbreak.
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F
I hope it's fine. All I can do is everything that a president can do, which is some, which is actually somewhat limited, but but it seems like it is not easy to spread.
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A
Joining me now is NBC News national correspondent Erin Gilchrist outside Emory University in Atlanta and NBC News correspondent Danielle Hamamjan, who is in the Canary Islands where that cruise ship was disembarking more passengers earlier today. Erin, I want to start at Emory University, where you are right now. So what do we know about these passengers and why they didn't head to the Nebraska facility with most of the others?
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G
Well, I can tell you that all the passengers, the 18 were on the same plane from overseas coming back here to the United States. And the reason that you had two of them come here to Atlanta really is just a logistics issue, a capacity issue. We know that two of the people on that plane, on that aircraft were put into the bio containment unit on the plane because they were showing symptoms. So one of those people went to Nebraska or stayed in Nebraska, I should say. The other person was brought here to Atlanta to one of the three highly specialized facilities that exist in this country, the idea being that they can deal with the people who have symptoms at the two separate facilities. And if some of the 16 other people in Nebraska start to develop more, start to develop symptoms or become confirmed cases of hantavirus, that facility wouldn't be overwhelmed trying to treat them and there would still be more space here in Atlanta as well. And so that really explains why you had the two facilities come into play here. I can tell you that the two people who are here in Atlanta are a couple. One of them was showing symptoms, one was not. And as best we know at this point, that is still the case. So one is in a setting where they can be monitored. The other is in a setting where, if necessary, they can be treated. I want you to hear from federal health officials when they told us about this virus and how it is spread. For folks who are here in the United States and are curious about that, listen,
- [24:48]
A
typically we're talking about exposure specifically to body bodily fluids, and that could
- [24:52]
D
include things like saliva.
- [24:53]
A
So if you're sharing, eating utensils, kissing, touching, those type of things, it can also mean just being really, really close to that person for a fairly long period of time. So we're calling that six right now, six feet for at least a cumulative
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D
number of 15 minutes.
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G
And Monica, the point that was stressed to me today when I talked to an epidemiologist here at Emory University, not connected to the care of the passeng here, but she said that the risk of this virus spreading to more people is extremely low here in the United States, given what the science tells us right now about hantavirus. Monica?
- [25:32]
A
Erin Gilchrist, thank you. I know there have been so many questions about that and there will be more in the days to come. Danielle, turning to you now, there were more evacuations right from the ship before it departed the Canary Islands for the Netherlands. But what can you tell us about those evacuations and what even happens to this ship now?
- [25:52]
M
Yeah, Monica. Well, all the passengers on board now are either in their home countries or on their way there. So where the Spanish authorities are concerned, this is mission accomplished. They are breathing a sigh of relief tonight. The majority of the passengers disembarked yesterday and it was a very complex, very carefully coordinated evacuation process. The remaining passengers were evacuated today. But I have to say throughout the weekend, Monica, officials were had their eye on the weather because they knew that there was a weather system coming in that could potentially delay the evacuation, which is exactly what happened today. Suddenly this afternoon the weather shifted. The winds became very strong, so strong in fact, that that they could not, they could not disembark on the tugboats that went to the ship which had been done all day yesterday. And so the ship briefly had to dock, as you can see there on the screen. And six remaining passengers got off as well as 19 crew members and three doctors. You can see them waving there from the bus. They boarded the bus almost immediately. As soon as they stepped foot on land, went straight for the airport which is about a 10 minutes drive. They were hosed down, decontaminated and both flights, repatriation flights headed towards the Netherlands for some of the Australian passengers who were there today, they will quarantine in the Netherlands and then go off to Australia. What happens to the ship? Well, it is now on its way to the Netherlands with crew members and the body of one of the deceased passengers get to the Netherlands where it will be disinfected and decontaminated.
- [27:29]
A
Monica and Danielle, in addition to that American that we talked about who did test positive, a French woman also has tested positive, we understand, and she's been hospitalized after she was evacuated from the ship. So what more do we know about her condition?
- [27:46]
M
She was asymptomatic on the, on the ship. In fact, they could not conduct PCR tests. They just didn't have the capabilities to do so. But staff and the doctors on board would report every 12 hours an update on the passengers conditions and there were no symptoms on the ship. Now yesterday within hours the French prime minister posted said online that one of the five French evacuees began developing the symptoms in the on the flight back to Paris, she developed a fever. This morning confirmation she tested positive and her condition had has since deteriorated. But I have to say Monica, just in the past couple of hours or so we received news that now one of the Spaniards who got off yesterday has now also tested positive. They were the first ones to get off. They flew straight to Madrid, quarantining in a military hospital. This person, we understand, has not shown any symptoms, but additional tests will be done or will be done and the results will be known later this evening. So once again, not only someone testing positive in France, but as well here in Spain.
- [28:58]
A
Danielle Hamamjan, you have been working around the clock on this, bringing us all these developments. We really appreciate it. Thank you. And up next, a US Public health expert who led the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases responds to the urgent questions surrounding the hantavirus virus outbreak. Keep it right here on MEET THE Press. Now.
- [29:25]
D
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Get the best of NBC News with a subscription, fewer ads, deeper access and exclusive content. And now during the Xfinity member celebration, members can get an exclusive 50% off an annual subscription. Head to xfinity.com membership to learn more. Xfinity Imagine that subscription automatically renews each year at $65.99 plus taxes and fees until cancer. Canceled offer ends May 20, 2026. Price is subject to change. Visit nbcnews.comxfinity for full offer terms and details.
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D
Hey guys, Willie Geist here reminding you to check out the Sunday Sit down podcast. On this week's episode, I get together with two time Oscar winner Sally Field to talk about a career that has spanned Norma Ray Lincoln and now her latest movie based on a big best selling book. You can get our conversation now for free wherever you download your PODCASTS
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welcome back. We return to the breaking news that 18 passengers aboard the cruise ship at the center of the deadly hantavirus outbreak have returned to the U.S. joining me now is Dr. Jeannie Marrazo, the chief executive officer of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. She also served as a top official at the National Institutes of Health, but was fired after she filed a whistleblower complaint over the department's vaccine policies and has since sued the Trump administration. Thank you so much for your time today, Doctor. I do want to start with just that number of infections that we've seen so far. What do you make of this particular version of the virus? Is it textbook or is this something different?
- [31:29]
H
You know, I think about textbook knowledge as being pretty tried and true and not necessarily the thing that you read about in the morning on Twitter. This is a great example of the textbooks just haven't caught up with what we're learning about this virus. We do know the Andes virus has been responsible for some outbreaks that we've already heard about extensively. The Argentina one, 2018. There was even an outbreak in hikers in Yosemite in 2012, probably because they were exposed to rodent droppings in cabins. But this virus right now is teaching us, unfortunately, a lot more than what we knew already. We're really interested about this whole concept of transmission between asymptomatic people. It's now sounding like we're having people turn up positive who did not have symptoms and are getting off the boat and presumably were not spending time in the same cabin with the index cases. So, again, a lot to learn. And it's one of the reasons with very high mortality associated with this virus that we're trying to take appropriate precautions. Without freaking out.
- [32:35]
A
Yeah, without freaking out, I think is an important part of it. I absolutely agree. I want to drill down more on on what you make of how the repatriation of Americans has been handled so far, given what we do know about how the virus spreads specifically and what you just alluded to in terms of maybe this new information we're getting about what might be happening.
- [32:55]
H
Exactly. So my understanding is that everything has been handled or orchestrated, as your correspondent implied, with really beautiful precision and care. I think that the people who organized the evacuation, we're very, very conscious of the possibility that there could be airborne transmission, even with brief periods of contact. Again, because we hope that's not the case. But we really can't rule it out until we know downstream what the effects of contact were for these passengers. So my impression is that they did a very good job. They put people in biocontainment units, from what I understand. And once they get here, one of the beautiful things about our preparedness response that's been built up over the last coup of decades is that we have facilities like those in Nebraska, which is a quarantine spot that you actually go to. We also have facilities that are set up to provide intensive medical care for people who require this kind of isolation. Those were started during the Ebola crisis and several others. So we are really good in terms of having scaled up those facilities. We just have to, you know, recognize that we don't really like to use them. They're insurance and you don't want to not have them when you really need them.
- [34:15]
A
And doctor officials today kind of reiterated that. They said the risk to the public remains very low. Let's play something from one CDC official specifically about what they were saying, which is that the hantavirus is likely not going to spread to the general public. Let's listen to that. There are no guarantees in life.
- [34:34]
D
We're putting as many measures in place
- [34:35]
A
as possible to ensure that people are safe and healthy and we keep the
- [34:38]
D
community safe and healthy as well.
- [34:41]
A
No guarantees. But talk to us about those precautions and how officials are going to try to make sure that this virus is contained.
- [34:48]
N
Sure.
- [34:48]
H
So one thing that I think people should know is that in the healthcare setting for hospital workers, nurses, physicians, staff, there are very good precautions that we have used for many infectious diseases that work fine. So people should be confident if they are seeing patients as long as they use universal precautions. In this case, you probably want to go a little further. Use an N95. You have to do that, should do that. It's safe to take care of these patients. So that's important in terms of the people who are exposed and being ushered into quarantine, the CDC did today release guidance for people who are considered high risk contacts. And those are the people who are coming back. And some of the things they do recommend, for example, is sharing a bed with somebody else, sharing personal items like toothbrush, that kind of thing, sharing food, sharing beverages, even attending social events or visiting crowded venues. So all of those things during that period of quarantine, which we now hear is 42 days, are things that we're probably not going to want these folks to do. Again, it may be in an abundance of caution. But because that incubation period is up to seven weeks, and also because we're now seeing people with positive tests who probably were exposed more than a week or two ago. Again, we want to really exercise caution with these folks. Is this enough? I think it is. Right now, what is going to be concerning is if you start seeing tertiary cases of transmission, these are people who weren't on the boat. Okay. So if we start to see somebody who was on the plane or on another plane from somebody who was on that second plane, I don't think it's going to go there. I think these chains of transmission are going to just die out. But again, it's a serious virus. No treatment, no vaccine. We want to be careful.
- [36:44]
A
Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, there's so much more to this conversation. Thank you for helping us understand a bit more about the virus today.
- [36:50]
H
My pleasure. Thank you.
- [36:54]
A
After the break. REALITY check Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is facing backlash for a reality TV road trip he filmed with his family. Why being secretary will explain. The panel is next on MEET THE press. Now. Welcome back. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy is facing some backlash following the release of the trailer for the Great American Road Trip, which follows the secretary and his family as they travel around the country to celebrate America's 250th. Take a look at part of the trailer for that.
- [37:35]
F
Taking a little trip.
- [37:36]
A
Yes, Yes.
- [37:36]
F
A little trip all over.
- [37:37]
A
So the motto is to love America is to see America. It's more than a road trip. It's a civic experience.
- [37:44]
G
It's one of the most powerful ways
- [37:46]
A
to understand the vast, beautiful, complicated place we call home. Critics are painting Duffy and the Trump administration as, quote, out of touch. Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg writing on X, a Trump cabinet member making a documentary about himself while regular families can't afford road trips anymore because Trump and his war put gas prices through the roof. Duffy defending himself online, accusing the, quote, miserable left of being unpatriotic while also saying the project did comply with federal law and didn't violate any ethics rules or use any taxpayer dollars. Additional production costs were paid for by the nonprofit group the Great American Road Trip Incorporated, which accepts Don from corporate sponsors. Some of them are companies that Secretary Duffy's department regulates. And we should note that NBC News parent company Comcast is also among the sponsors. Joining me now is our panel, Francesca Chambers, White House correspondent for USA today former Missouri state Representative Don Calloway, he is now a Democratic strategist. And Danielle Pletka, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. Thank you all for being here. Francesca, I do want to start with that. So former reality TV star Sean Duffy, he may have something in common there with President Trump, of course, and we are going to see all these kind of made for TV events this summer connected to America 250. So is this sort of in line with the president's vision, or how do you see this playing out in the administration, in the White House? Are they completely fine with this?
- [39:22]
C
Well, I mean, you saw the president in the clip right there. He clearly knew that this was taking place. And as you talk about the 250 events, I mean, there's also going to be a UFC fight on the White House lawn. And so of course, he's coming under criticism for this, especially with everything that's been going on with the Transportation Department over the last several months. But at the same time, it's clear that the president approved of it.
- [39:43]
A
And Danny, we did say it didn't cost taxpayers anything. This was something that did seem to be approved and didn't violate ethics laws. But is it kind of not the best? Look, as we are talking about those skyrocketing gas prices, to basically do a road trip on the job in the
- [40:02]
O
context of the things that I care about as an American taxpayer, this rate's at about, I don't know, 8 billionth. If you want to be outraged about things, there are plenty of more interesting things. And I'm happy to see that the administration is celebrating the 250th. If we want to quibble about how, we can quibble about how. But I think there are more important things to talk about than this.
- [40:22]
A
Do you think that would have been the same reaction had it been Secretary Buttigieg who had done the same thing in the last administration?
- [40:28]
O
I was equally uninterested in Secretary Buttigieg and his antics.
- [40:32]
A
Yes, fair enough. Don, when we do talk about gas prices, specifically at the top of the show, we have been discussing this idea that the president may try to give some relief to drivers by easing that gas tax. Is that something that Democrats should be on board with and start talking about and kind of praise the president for doing if he does go ahead with.
- [40:53]
P
Yeah, absolutely. Look, all of us around this table have done relatively well. Our mamas are proud. Happy Mother's Day. Yesterday was the first time in several years that I filled up my gas tank and said, whoa, what's going on here? And if it feels that way for me at this table, it doesn't feel good for everyday Americans. So this is a place where people have a real opportunity to put bipartisanship into play. And absolutely, if it takes gas down a whole dollar a gallon, plus some, of course, Democrats should be on board with that. And I hope that they don't get into the kind of, you know, I hate to say this, Trump derangement syndrome, where they're willing to block real wins because this is a real pocketbook issue and we'll fight it out the rest on the whole merits of the administration in November.
- [41:34]
C
But, Monica, he might even need to get some Republicans on board with this gas tax thing because my colleagues on Capitol Hill are reporting today that it was kind of met with a little bit of a cold shoulder by John Thune when Republicans got back. And so they're already dealing with reconciliation and so many other things. I mean, the National Highway Trust Fund soon said exists for a reason.
- [41:55]
A
Yeah. And they've never done this before, even when there was a discussion about this after the war in Ukraine started, when there was a concern when gas prices went up back then. So what could make this time around different? Do you see any kind of movement behind the scenes where we could see this kind of coalesce at this moment? Or do you think, Francesca, this is something where the president introduces it, everybody says maybe, and then they move on to the next.
- [42:20]
C
Well, right, because you're already hearing from Senate leadership, hey, we gotta talk to the membership about this. Which indicates that this isn't, you know, some sort of coordinated strategy that the president had already put out there in a joint announcement. I mean, at first it came up yesterday.
- [42:35]
A
News interviews.
- [42:36]
C
Right. In news interviews yesterday. And then the president on the phone and then the Oval Office again today.
- [42:41]
A
So let's talk a little bit more about what you brought up, the reconciliation bill in particular that Republicans have been touting. If they can go forward with this and get that across the finish line, that will be a big talking point for them on the campaign trail leading into the midterms. How will they approach it if they
- [42:58]
O
can get it done is I think, the most important question here. Look, Congress is having a harder and harder time, whether in the hands of Democrats or in the hands of Republicans, getting things done. Reconciliation is now one of the few vehicles that doesn't have the built in, the built in stops that other bills have. And so it has to move forward. But then you've got to get to agreement about what should be in it. And because nothing moves on Capitol Hill, everybody wants everything in it. So it'll be the gas tax, but it'll also be absolutely everything else, including the ballroom.
- [43:32]
A
Right. The funding for that, which could also be a potential challenge for this legislation. Don, I want to read specifically what Minority Leader Schumer is Pledging, he says, to fight Republicans on specifically when it comes to reconciliation. He wrote in a Dear Colleague letter, quote, democrats will fight Republicans reconciliation bill with every tool we have. We will bring the bird rule challenges, we'll offer floor amendments, we'll force vote after vote to make this choice unmistakable. Will Republicans vote to help American families to lower costs, to restore savage health care cuts, to roll back cost spiking tariffs? Or will they vote to fund Trump's gaudy ballroom? So he lists all these avenues, basically. But isn't this also an admission that Democrats can't really do much beyond write statements like this?
- [44:16]
P
It's very much that. And so what we're seeing is the last throws of Chuck Schumer, Schumer's reign atop Senate Democrats. He had a good run, but it's probably over. He's kind of lost the plot. All of this we needed to see from Chuck Schumer exactly 13, 14 months ago, laying out the steps of how you plan to stand in the way of the Trump administration steamrolling America. And look, I mean, everything in the substance of the Dear Colleague is absolutely correct. I just think that Chuck Schumer is no longer the proper messenger. And folks want to see Democrats, Democrats put up a real fight. I will say. And we kind of glossed over this. The ballroom and the Sean Duffy Real World documentary have a similar problem. It's not that they're taxpayer funded, it's that they are funded directly by private sector participation, donations, whatever you want to call it. And it's a backdoor way to currying favor with the administration. And that's never a positive thing for a representative democracy.
- [45:12]
O
I love what you said because. No, I'm serious. One of the things we don't talk about often enough at this table, or frankly, at any table in Washington, D.C. is corruption. And it'. Syes. We see it in the Trump administration, we see it in this kind of thing, but we also saw it in other ways. We see it in national security policy. We saw it in the Biden administration. We saw it in previous administrations. We don't talk enough about the corruption of our body politic, money in politics, private deals with government entities, private deals with people who are elected to office. That's the kind of thing I would much rather be talking about than the specific question of the ballroom or the specific question of the TV show, because it's a real issue and it deserves a huge amount of attention.
- [45:56]
A
And to be clear, there are still a lot of questions out there about exactly how this ballroom funding could work from those private donors. And the president has said he's also put his own money into it, but he's never really said how much of that. Right. Francesca, in the short time we've left,
- [46:09]
C
the challenges that they have with the ballroom is you're kind of damned if you do and damned if you don't own it at this point because the other criticism is that the government shouldn't be paying for the ballroom because does the government really need to be paying for the ballroom versus all these other things that they could be paying for for Americans? So it's a, it's a challenge at
- [46:25]
A
this point and maybe the next common ground conversation, anti corruption. We'll see. We discovered a little bit of it.
- [46:31]
I
A lot of it. We did. We did.
- [46:32]
A
Don, Danny and Francesca, thank you all so much for being here for the panel today. Thank you. Thank you. And still to come, why top US Officials are sounding the alarm over the sprawling national security preparations ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. With the US slated to host nearly 80 games across nearly a dozen major cities and kickoff is just one month away. Stay with us. This is MEET THE PRESS Now. Welcome back. We are officially one month to the kickoff of the 2026 FIFA World cup hosted by the U.S. canada and Mexico. And Homeland Security Secretary Mark Wayne Mullen is offering a warning about his department security preparations ahead of the event and pointing fingers for the record breaking shutdown of DHS which ended last month.
- [47:27]
I
Now you think about that right here in Kansas City, you're going to host six games. That's equivalent to six Super Bowls in 38 days. It put our mission at in jeopardy. Now, can we still deliver? Yes. Were we able to be as proactive? No, absolutely not. It's the largest sporting event in the world and leading up to it for 76 days, the Democrats want to shut us down. First match is June 11th. The first one in the US is in LA June 12th. That is around the corner. We have so much work to do around the corner.
- [48:14]
A
Joining me now is NBC senior Homeland Security correspondent Julia Ainslie on set. Julia, thanks for having this conversation with us. You heard the warning there from the secretary. What are you hearing from other Homeland Security officials about the state of preparations?
- [48:27]
N
But almost World cup aside, people are talking about how unusual those comments were that any leader of DHS before a big event to give out these kind of warnings really kind of undermines some of the public faith in an event like this. And there's some concern that maybe he went a bit too far what he was trying to make an argument for was that the Democrats did shut down DHS and it had more to do with the as long lines at airports, that it, that it undermined their ability to get ready for events like the World Cup. But people I'm speaking to inside DHS as well as people working with Major League Soccer and FIFA say they feel really ready for the game. They've already hosted, you know, the cup of the Americas in Miami and they, they do host large games. They have a lot of the same people who do the NFL for the super bowl on their staff. They think they've got great relationships with the FBI, with the intelligence community, with dhs. So they don't have quite those same fears. But that proactive piece that he talked about, I think that's where people are really zeroing in. Because it's one thing to have crowd control, know how to manage people going into an event and it's another to know what threats to look out for ahead of time.
- [49:30]
A
Yes, there's the political conversation, the law enforcement aspect. So what are the security concerns that you think DHS is most concerned about here?
- [49:38]
N
Well, there are really two buckets. One is just unruly fans. Right. People don't understand, especially when you have so many different cultures coming in one place. There could be people who are using to watching soccer in a more raucous environment. Some people think that's not how it's done and these cultures could clash. That happens a lot. And that's something that people who govern this incredibly international sport understand. And then there's the problem of if there's some kind of a plot. And that's something that American intelligence agencies, DHS are really equipped to deal with when they handle the NFL super bowl. Big events like inaugurations, these national security like highest level events. And so they are looking at those two buckets. And that is the one area it's in, the terror plot, proactive area that I think Secretary Mullen is flagging because they want to be able to be in touch with all their local counterparts. And without all of those people working in those 72 days, perhaps not as many of those conversations happened, but it didn't mean that local officials weren't looking at the red threats.
- [50:37]
A
Julia Ainslie, so much that we're going to be following there. Thank you so much. And turning now to the latest in the investigation into last month's assassination attorney attempt at the White House correspondents dinner today the alleged gunman appeared in federal court pleading not guilty to all four counts against him. His next court appearance is currently scheduled for June. Joining me now on set is NBC legal affairs reporter Gary Grumbach. Gary, take us through what happened in court today. And we are learning a little bit more, right, potentially about what the defense may introduce as their strategy and their approach here.
- [51:14]
I
Yes. So he pleaded not guilty to all four counts against him. You'll remember that he was indicted last week on four counts, including the attempted assassination of the President of the United States. There was a lot of talk about the amount of evidence in this case. There is just a trove of evidence from all the security cameras that were around the Washington Hilton, along with all of the things that he had on him, those guns, the knives, the daggers, the tactical vest. So a lot for investigators to look into. One other big point that happened today in the hearing that I think is really important is they brought up the idea, Thomas Allen's defense team brought up the idea that they want to invalidate both Attorney General Todd Blanch and U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro from the case. What that means is essentially they would have to disqualify the entire U.S. attorney's office for the District of Columbia from bringing this case against Cole Tomas Allen. They say this because both Blanche and Pirro were at the White House Correspondent's dinner, were inside the room. And they say that was just too close to the actual incident to be impartial in this case.
- [52:11]
A
That's really interesting. Gary. I do want to also ask you about some breaking news, specifically on redistricting, which you've been covering. Well, you've learned that Virginia is asking the Supreme Court to pause the recent ruling by Virginia's Supreme Court that struck down its voter approved maps.
- [52:26]
N
Right.
- [52:26]
A
What else are you learning? What can you tell us about that?
- [52:27]
I
So remember the Virginia voters went to the polls and they decided that they wanted to go with a Democratic plan for redistricting back in April. Basically that would create 10 Democratic districts, one strongly Republican district, you see it there on the screen there that was then appealed to the Virginia Supreme Court. And the Virginia Supreme Court said, we're going to strike down the will of the voters and we're going to say that that was an invalid election because of a technicality that happened as to when the amendment was actually put on the ballot. And so it was not actually about the issue itself. It was a technicality. Now the Democrats in Virginia are going to the U.S. supreme Court and saying this was the will of the voters. This is the way it should be. They're asking for an emergency stay. They want this done as quickly as possible to be able to have these districts in play over the next coming months ahead of the midterms.
- [53:13]
A
And what could be the next step? When could we hear from the Supreme Court?
- [53:16]
I
So just minutes ago, the Supreme Court said that they want a response from essentially the Republicans, the ridiculous commission in Virginia. They want that by Thursday afternoon so we could have a decision in this case in terms of the emergency application, the immediacy here by Friday.
- [53:29]
A
Gary Grumbach covering it all. Thanks so much, Gary. We appreciate it. And we will be back tomorrow with much more MEET THE PRESS now. And as always, there is more ahead on NBC News now. Sam. Ondeck is built to back small businesses like yours. Whether you're buying equipment, expanding your team or bridging cash flow gaps, OnDeck's loans up to $400,000 help make it happen fast. Rated A by the Better Business Bureau and earning thousands of five star Trustpilot reviews, OnDeck delivers funding you can count on. Apply in minutes@ondeck.com depending on certain loan attributes. Your business loan may be issued by Ondeck or Celtic Bank. Ondeck does not lend in North Dakota. All lo an amount subject to lender approval.