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Meet the Press
Meet the Press NOW — May 7
00:49:58
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) signs a new congressional map into a new law that dismantles the only majority-Black district in the state. Gas prices continue to climb as Iran reviews the United States’ latest peace proposal. Secretary of State Marco Rubio meets with Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican. California gubernatorial and Los Angeles mayoral candidates take to the debate stage as both races intensify.
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- [00:00]
Kristen Welker
O O Ozempic.
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Donald Trump
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- [01:11]
Kristen Welker
Welcome to Meet the press.
- [01:12]
Chris Wright
Now.
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Kristen Welker
I'm Kristen Welker in Washington, where the Trump administration is waiting for Iran to respond to its latest peace proposal as President Trump insists Iran wants to make a deal to end the war. And as we're now learning new details about the president's abrupt reversal on his plan to help guide ships through the Strait of Hormuz. This latest round of negotiations comes as President Trump has claimed for months now that Iran is eager to make a deal to end the war.
- [01:39]
Donald Trump
But they're tough and they want to fight, and they're calling. They're saying, how do we make a deal?
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Kristen Welker
They called. I didn't call.
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Claudia Lavagna
They called.
- [01:48]
Donald Trump
They want to make a deal. When they want to make a deal so badly. You have no idea how badly they want to make a deal. They are begging to make a deal. Not me. They're begging to make a deal. They are negotiating. They're begging to make a deal. They're begging to make a deal. They'd like to make a deal very badly. I mean, Iran is dying to make a deal. I can only tell you that. Doing very well with regard to Iran. Again, they want to make a deal. They're decimated. They want to make a deal. We've had very good talks over the last 24 hours, and it's very possible that we'll make a deal.
- [02:22]
Kristen Welker
Now, a spokesperson for Iran's Foreign Ministry telling State TV that Tehran is still reviewing the latest proposal and has yet to reach a conclusion and has not given the US Its response. But just moments ago, that same spokesperson said a new framework would be adopted for negotiations. And for the time being, Iran will not enter into nuclear issues. We're still reporting to try to get to the bottom of exactly what that means. As for the president's sudden decision to pause the US Operation to help ships transit through the Str Strait of Hormuz, we're now learning the decision was made after backlash from key allies in the region, including Saudi Arabia, which responded by suspending the US Military's ability to use its bases and airspace to carry out the operation. Meanwhile, transit through that critical waterway continues to remain at a near standstill. Not a single ship has transited the strait over the last two days, according to analysts at S and P. Oil markets continue to await the prospects of a peace deal. Crude oil is below $100 a barre, though still significantly higher than before the war began. And gas prices reached another new high since the start of the conflict, now averaging $4.56 a gallon all across the U.S. joining me now is our newly named NBC News chief White House correspondent Garrett Hake. Courtney Kuby will be here in just a moment. She's on set with me, as always. And NBC News business and data correspondent Brian Chung also joins us. Garrett, I have to start with you and and start out with a very hearty congratulations. We are all very proud of you here at NBC, Garrett. So let's start off by talking about big picture. Where do things stand from the White House's perspective on a potential deal with Iran? You, of course, just in the Oval Office with President Trump yesterday pressing him on the prospects of a deal. Garrett yeah, that's right.
- [04:15]
Garrett Haake
And thank you, Kristen. I've got big shoes to fill here. But within the Oval Office yesterday still sort of the standing comment from the president is his optimism that a deal could be very close. He insists, as he has for weeks, that Iran desperately wants to make a deal and that he thinks that one could be reachable. He is suggesting that things have turned pretty dramatically since Iran was firing on US Ships at the beginning of this week. But I think it's also fair to wonder if it's the president himself who wants the deal in this moment, this pause on Operation Freedom, the idea that he's not been baiting the Iranians or saying adding kind of any more fuel to the fire. It's rare. That sort of silence is the operating principle from the White House. But. But that's where we are today. I think a Desire, according to senior administration I official, I spoke to a short time ago, to really focus on the talks, whatever that means in this moment, is the President's viewpoint as we start to turn the page towards another big diplomatic issue that I know we'll talk about more, which is his trip to China next week.
- [05:17]
Kristen Welker
Well, Garrett, you and I have been talking, trying to report out how will this end. We know that one of the biggest pressure points, those gas prices that we talked about at the top of the program, unpopularity of the war here at home. If you look at the polls and how remarkable it is, Garrett, that right now President Trump is considering a short term deal, which is not where this all started. Right? I mean, the initial goal was to deal with Iran's nuclear program.
- [05:46]
Garrett Haake
Yeah, that's right, Kristen. As it was the goal last summer when we bombed the Iranian nuclear sites in the first place. Look, this is, I think, the danger when it comes to Iran and the idea of, of a slippery slope that, you know, to truly take out Iran's nuclear program, to truly end it, and to get the nuclear material that everyone essentially acknowledges that they have out of the country, will ultimately require their consent. That doesn't exist right now and it may not be achievable through pressure alone. And so I think the Trump administration is trying to get to a point where they decide, have they accomplished enough of their goals that they can essentially put this war behind them or is it going to require more military options or more negotiations? They don't seem to know the answer to that. And, you know, to, to leave while Iran still has some elements of a nuclear program intact, or at least the possibility to retrieve the nuclear material that they already have, could potentially upset some of the hawks who've pushed for this intervention in the first place, the Israelis. There are just a lot of competing factors here that I don't know that the White House has a full handle on how they want to balance going forward.
- [06:53]
Kristen Welker
And Garrett, finally, let me just ask you, because President Trump set to travel to China next week, he already postponed that trip once because of the war. Are you hearing any talk that it could be delayed again? And how eager is he to have this resolved before he departs?
- [07:07]
Garrett Haake
Yeah, I think it's highly unlikely that the trip gets delayed again, barring some other substantial development, because the President very much wants to go. The logistics are very complicated on the US and the Chinese side, and the work is well underway to get that done. This is a factor here. The China element of it is a huge deal. China has been a trading partner of Iran for literally hundreds of years. Their relationships go deep there. And the prospect of a, you know, this conflict cropping up while the president is in China is something that I don't think the Chinese want. I don't think it's something that the president wants. I'm not convinced that the president wants this over and behind him, but he doesn't want it to be the dominant storyline while he's in China. And neither, by the way, do the Chinese. You know, the idea that this, you know, remember this from the first term, when President Xi was at Mar a Lago, when the US Was bombing Syria. That's not how the Chinese like to do business. And they don't want to have a big Iranian headline while the president is on their territory. So I think it's in everyone's interest that if the Iran issue isn't solved, it's at least shelved for the time that the president is in Beijing.
- [08:13]
Kristen Welker
All right, well, sounds like you gotta keep your bags packed. Garrett Hake, our newly minted chief White House correspondent. Garrett, great day for the NBC White House team and all of us here at NBC. Congrats again, my friend. Courtney, let me turn to you now because you have this exclusive new reporting. Take us behind the scenes. What are you learning about the president's abrupt decision to halt his plan to try to escort ships through. Through the Strait of Hormones?
- [08:40]
Elise Labet
Yeah.
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Courtney Kuby
So we saw senior Trump administration officials defending and lauding this new Project Freedom after President Trump announced it on social media on Sunday afternoon. He, he brought out the Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs all to talk about this, and then literally hours later, abruptly paused it on social media, surprising senior officials in his administration, surprising the US Military. So the big question yesterday is why? And what we found out, according to a number of U.S. officials, was, in fact, the president, when he made that announcement on Sunday afternoon, he caught some Gulf allies by surprise. The US had not told them the extent of the plan, when it was going to start, that it was going to be announced or anything. And Saudi Arabia, among others, were upset by that. They were upset about the plan and Project Freedom. So the Saudi leadership, the royalty, decided to shut off Saudi airspace to the US Military to not allow US Military aircraft to fly out of Prince Sultan Air Base as part of Project Freedom. President Trump calling Mohammed bin Salman, trying to work this out and figure this out. The call didn't resolve the issue. And then only hours later, President Trump decided to pause this, this Project Freedom, which, by the way, at this point, doesn't look like it's coming anywhere close to actually restarting.
- [09:52]
Kristen Welker
It's just extraordinary that Saudi Gulf allies would be that caught off guard by a decision so significant. There are now reports that Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, potentially lifting some of the restrictions on access to its bases. What are you hearing about that?
- [10:08]
Courtney Kuby
Yeah, they, soon after the pause, they, they acknowledged that they would, they would lift those restrictions. So that's not a surprise. We believe they've been open now for some time. So it was, it was really with respect to Project Freedom that those restrictions were put in place. And we've been watching the flight trackers. You can see US Military aircraft have been flying today.
- [10:25]
Kristen Welker
Again. Yeah. What does all of this say, though, Courtney, about the broader coordination, or potentially lack thereof, between the United States and its allies in the region?
- [10:35]
Courtney Kuby
Look, there's no question that the US Undertook this war with ISRA back in February and that there were Gulf allies who weren't sure exactly when it was going to start and were surprised by that. And look at what happened. Many of them took pounding, airstrikes, missiles, drones. They lost, they lost civilians. They took tremendous damage to infrastructure, civilian infrastructure, military infrastructure throughout the course of that. And so it's not surprising that there would be some hesitance, hesitancy about this new operation, this new mission, if in fact, it wasn't fully vetted or at least they weren't briefed on the extent of what it was going to look like. Because look what happened on the very first day. The US Supported the transit of two US Flagships through this passageway down by the Gulf, the coast of Oman. And the Iranians launched missiles, drones, and fast boats at these ships. The US Was able to repel them, but in fact, they were attacked during that transit. And Iran fired off additional projectiles at Fujairah. So it did lead to an escalation. That may be part of the reason that some of these allies were so concerned about this Project Freedom that, again, they weren't aware was even starting and didn't really know the scale and scope of it until it started.
- [11:48]
Kristen Welker
Well, just remarkable. And your exclusive reporting. Thank you so much for bringing that to us, Courtney. Really appreciate it. Great to see you as always. Brian Chung, Let me head out to you now. Let's talk about shipping companies. How are they responding to some of this mixed messaging about the war and the status of the Strait?
- [12:05]
Brian Chung
Yeah, well, let's talk about the here and now based off of what we just heard from Courtney, which is that that flip flopping of messaging from the administration. And what we saw, which was that two escorted US Ships still basically drew fire, is obviously discouraging to any shipping company that is even thinking about transiting through the strait right now. And so for that reason, a data that we're looking at from S And P does suggest that there's no movement through the strait over the last few days. That's pretty notable when you consider that. Yes, certainly we've always been at reduced levels of shipping traffic since since this conflict began. But only on, I think once or twice during the course of this conflict did we see no ships at all making passage through the straits. So all of that is likely going to lead to continued pressure in the Strait of Hormuz. And now you have Maersk, which is one of those major shipping companies, saying for every month this goes on, this is going to cost them an extra $500 million. Those real costs are piling up the longer this conflict goes on.
- [12:57]
Kristen Welker
Kristen well, let me play a little something that Energy Secretary Chris Wright had to say today about gas prices, Brian, and then I want to get your reaction on the other side. Take a look.
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Chris Wright
And what about people's concern about gas prices are seeing numbers that you give them some heartburn and some heartache and it's hard for a lot of people to figure out how they're going to stomach this for much longer. It is.
- [13:19]
Pete Primos
And of course, it's been tough for our administration as well. We're going through short term dislocation.
- [13:23]
Brian Chung
We'll get through it well, but we're
- [13:25]
Pete Primos
going through short term dislocation to fix
- [13:28]
Kristen Welker
a 47 year existential problem. Brian, look, even if the US and Iran reach a deal to end the war, will the disruption to gas prices be short term or will it take a longer time for those to start coming down?
- [13:43]
Brian Chung
Yeah. And what we heard from Energy Secretary Chris Wright in that clip that we just played, in addition to Donald Trump and the rest of the administration, is that this can be undone in terms of the prices at the pump that we're all paying as soon as this conflict is over. Once there is some sort of resolution with Iran. You can see on that board next to me that it was $4.56 a gallon. That is the average according to AAA, that is up over a dollar and a half since this conflict began. But Kristen, the challenge here is that even if there is a resolution, we need to see actual traffic move through the Strait of Hormuz. If there are no more oil tankers moving oil through the Strait of Hormuz that will not mean we will get lower gas prices at the pump. And by extension, there's been extensive damage to major energy producing facilities in that region because of those strikes, you know, back and forth between some of those Middle Eastern countries. But then also you have just the lag impact. It's going to take a long time to get all supply to plug the holes over the course of two months that the rest of the world is experiencing as a result of that demand. That's why you have some analysts that have been telling me it could take months even after ships start to make transit for things to get back to normal. Translation for everyone looking at those prices at the pump, it's going to take a long time to get anywhere close to where we were before this war began.
- [14:55]
Sarah Chamberlain
Wow.
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Kristen Welker
All right, Brian Schelling, as always, thank you so much for all of your reporting. Coming up, U.S. secretary of State Marco Rubio meets with the Pope to discuss the Middle east conflict, the path to peace and much more amid weeks of tensions and criticisms between President Trump and the first American pontiff. Plus, we've got exclusive new reporting on the jockeying inside the Democratic Party as former Vice President Kamala Harris pushes for a public post mortem on her failed 2024 presidential bid and dies. Another White House run in 2028. Stay with us. You're watching with the.
- [15:37]
Donald Trump
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- [17:07]
Kristen Welker
Welcome back. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met today with Pope Leo and other top officials at the Vatican. You can see Secretary Rubio, a practicing Catholic right here, shaking hands with the first American pope. The meeting comes amid tensions between the White House and the Vatican. President Trump has a attacked the pope several times for his criticism of the Iran war. NBC News international correspondent Claudia Lavagna has more from Rome.
- [17:32]
Claudia Lavagna
After the meeting between the US Secretary of State Rubio and Pope Leo at the Vatican early on Thursday morning, both the Vatican and the Department of State issued very carefully crafted and diplomatic statements. Now, the U.S. department of State said they discussed the situation in the Middle east and of mutual interests in the Western Hemisphere. The meeting also, he said, underscored the strong relationship between the US and the Vatican and their shared commitment to promote peace and human dignity. The Vatican statement went a little bit into more detail. It said that they exchanged views on the international situation, especially for countries affected by war, political tensions and difficult humanitarian circumstances, as well as the need to work tirelessly in favor of peace. It also the Vatican statement said they both Rubio and the pope reaffirmed their shared commitment for good bilateral relations between the Vatican and the U.S. but this meeting happened at a time when diplomatic relations between the US and the Holy See were at a historic low. Following the continuous criticism by President Trump towards Pope Leo just on Monday, literally a couple of days before Rubio's travels here to Italy and the Vatican, Trump once again accused Pope Leo of being fine with Iran having a nuclear weapon, even though the pope never said that. The pope on Tuesday replied by saying that he's just proclaiming the gospel. If someone wants to criticize him for doing that, then at least they should do that by speaking the truth. So all eyes were on this meeting this morning. And despite the diplomatic language used in these two statements, it is still to be seen whether the visit by Rubio here at the Vatican helped in mending relations between the US and the Vatican.
- [19:33]
Kristen Welker
Our thanks to Claudio for that reporting. Joining me now is Elise Labet, host of the Cosmopolitics podcast. Elise, thanks for being here. Great to be with you. Good to have you here. So let's start right there. Do you think this visit by Secretary of State Marco Rubio is enough to mend these tensions between the president and the pope.
- [19:51]
Elise Labet
Well, you know, obviously the messages that are coming out were very cautious and very, you know, forward looking. We don't know what went on in the meeting. Did Secretary Rubio say something like, well, I know President Trump, you know, has a lot of rhetoric, but this is where we are? I mean, I think probably there's a reason why you didn't send a Vice President Vance who was really kind of echoing the president's rhetoric and someone like Secretary Rubio who I think was going to go into the meeting and be more diplomatic as he has been. He's not the real face of this war, if you think about it, obviously, President Trump, but also Vice President Vance. So Secretary Rubio can go in and speak more on a grander stale about some of these issues because you don't really hear a lot of the same rhetoric from Secretary Rubio and that you do from the president and the vice president.
- [20:45]
Kristen Welker
You know, Elise, it's interesting. He's also going to meet with the Italian prime minister, who has a good relationship, by and large with the president and yet has been critical of the war with Iran, calling it outside the scope of international law and also of
- [21:00]
Elise Labet
the president's comments about the Pope.
- [21:01]
Kristen Welker
Yes, right. So talk about that and the broader challenge that Secretary Rubio has in this moment when it comes to repairing these relationships not with just with these individual leaders, but with European allies, broadly speaking.
- [21:16]
Chris Wright
Right.
- [21:16]
Kristen Welker
Well, again, I think you really need
- [21:18]
Elise Labet
to separate the rhetoric of President Trump from what the Europeans want and what they're doing. You see, even despite all of this rhetoric, you see the Europeans kind of getting together. The British are leading this effort to get a coalition together to help patrol the Strait of Hormuz once the war is over. I think if you do get into negotiations with the Iranians on a nuclear deal, I think the Europeans who really were at the table for the first agreement in 2015, have a lot more of that technical experience. I think there could be a way for the Europeans to take a greater role in that. And so, yeah, the atmosphere isn't so good, but you do kind of see all sides working towards, you know, common aims and common agendas. Obviously, the atmosphere is not so bad, but usually eventually the secretary and then the president is going to go out for the G7 come later this spring. And I think you'll probably see a little bit more of mending offenses.
- [22:21]
Kristen Welker
Let me ask you about some comments made by the UN Ambassador, Mike Waltz, earlier today. He urged allies to get more engaged in dealing with the Strait of Hormuz. Here's what he had to say. That's what's at stake here.
- [22:34]
Michael (Ozempic Ad Voice) / Willie Geist
And nothing less than a cornerstone of worldwide stability and commerce.
- [22:40]
Kristen Welker
And those who abuse it or seek
- [22:42]
Michael (Ozempic Ad Voice) / Willie Geist
to throw it out are setting a very, very dangerous precedent and frankly, setting
- [22:49]
Kristen Welker
the stage to doom global trade. Doom global trade. Elise, really strong statement there by the UN Ambassador. What do you make of his statement?
- [22:59]
Elise Labet
Well, talking to diplomats, some of them think that this is a renewed effort because you saw a few weeks ago there was movement at the UN Security Council. The Chinese kind of tanked that they vetoed a resolution. Now you hear the ambassador talking about the UN Security Council. Again, some diplomats think that's in advance of the president's trip to China. That might be a little, he doesn't have a lot of leverage with the Chinese these days. That may be a little way to kind of goad the Chinese. But the larger issue is, and again, speaking to diplomats, they want in the Gulf, a larger coalition dealing with this trade and the Strait of Hormuz, a country like Japan, a country like South Korea, the majority of their oil is coming through. Why aren't they taking on more of the burden? We've heard a lot of the Europeans taking a burden. I think they wanna see more of the Asians and other countries being involved.
- [23:50]
Kristen Welker
Fascinating stuff. All right, Elyse Lovett, thanks so much for covering so much ground. Great to have you here. Appreciate it. Coming up next, dueling debates. The candidates for California governor and Los Angeles mayor go toe to toe on the economy, immigration wildfires, their views on President Trump and more. One of the NBC moderators from last night's back to back debates joins me next with the takeaways. Stay with us on MEET the Press now.
- [24:25]
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Kristen Welker
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Michael (Ozempic Ad Voice) / Willie Geist
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Garrett Haake
Learn about the real thing.
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Hey guys, Willie Geist here reminding you
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Kristen Welker
to check out the Sunday Sit down podcast.
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Michael (Ozempic Ad Voice) / Willie Geist
On this week's episode, I get together with Red Hot stand up comedian Nikki
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Kristen Welker
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- [25:51]
Elise Labet
Welcome back.
- [25:51]
Kristen Welker
Well, it has been a contentious 24 hours in two of the most closely watched elections out west, the race to lead the nation's second largest city, and the race to lead the nation's most populous state. The candidates for Los Angeles mayor and California governor squared off in a pair of debates last night that aired live on our NBC station. In la, Mayor Karen Bass faced attacks from her two challengers, City Council member Nithya Raman and reality TV star Spencer Pratt, who criticized her preparation in response to last January's devastating wildfires. Take a look.
- [26:24]
Donald Trump
Janice Quinones, who Mayor Karen Bass put into her position of power at the LA dwp. She drained both of these reservoirs that these firefighters needed to put out these fires. A lot of people talk about climate change and hurricane force winds. The winds in the Pacific Palisades never reached higher than 40 miles per hour.
- [26:44]
Kristen Welker
He's saying several things that are completely inaccurate. First of all, there was one reservoir that was out of commission.
- [26:50]
Donald Trump
He is correct.
- [26:51]
Kristen Welker
A million years ago it was for wildfires, but over the last 30, 40 years it's been for drinking water. He talked about the winds. That is just completely inaccurate. If that were accurate, then the planes would have been able to fly. And so the winds reached close to 100 miles an hour and the planes were unable to fly.
- [27:11]
Donald Trump
So this is she's an incredible liar. Everyone on their phones. Google it. 40 weather stations in the Pacific Palisades. It never went above 40 miles.
- [27:24]
Kristen Welker
Well, in the gubernatorial debate, the second in as many nights, Javier Becerra was a frequent target from the other six candidates on the stage who attacked him for his record leading the Department of Health and Human Services during the Biden administration.
- [27:39]
Donald Trump
Mr. Becerra, are you proud that you pushed out 85,000 migrant children? They were, according to the New York Times, they were maimed. They were Exploited. They were. Some were even killed. You said those are MAGA talking points. It's a MAGA hoax. Tell that to the children who died.
- [27:58]
Pete Primos
Trump lied about that. This whole situation with the migrant kids
- [28:02]
Donald Trump
in 2020, did the new York Times lie?
- [28:03]
Pete Primos
Why don't you let me finish, Antonio?
- [28:05]
Sarah Chamberlain
Okay.
- [28:06]
Donald Trump
Donald Trump campaigned against our Democratic candidate,
- [28:10]
Pete Primos
Kathleen, I mean, Kamala Harris, vice president in 2024, using these lies in 2026.
- [28:17]
Donald Trump
Now you have candidates like Antonio and
- [28:19]
Pete Primos
Tom Steyer using these. Very light.
- [28:21]
Brian Chung
Antonio is absolutely right about the secretary's
- [28:24]
Kristen Welker
failure on the immigration issue. There is a direct line that's an
- [28:29]
Garrett Haake
absolute lie between his failed leadership and
- [28:33]
Brian Chung
Donald Trump being in the White House.
- [28:37]
Kristen Welker
The great Conan Nolan was one of the moderators of last night's marathon debates. He's a political reporter for our Los Angeles NBC station KNBC T and he joins me now. Conan, it's always so great to be with you. First of all, congratulations on moderating two debates in one night. That's really an extraordinary feat. Let's start with the mayoral debate. Obviously, you saw there were a lot of fireworks there. But I'm curious for what your biggest takeaways were from the night.
- [29:06]
Michael (Ozempic Ad Voice) / Willie Geist
Well, you know, interestingly, the three candidates there are sort of emblematic of how we are nationally. You had the establishment candidate in Karen Bass. She was hit hard, obviously, regarding the fires, homes burned in the Palisades fire. Her response, she was out of the country on behalf of Joe Biden when the fires took place. Then you have a sort of a Zoran Mamdami, Democratic Socialist of America, that is Nithya Raman, who believes that the establishment is too established. You need to right. The ship is City hall and you have a pro Donald Trump reality star in Spencer Pratt who, by the way, seemed to do far better than we expected. We anticipated sort of a Donald Trump like response to a debate where he'd interrupt, call them names. He didn't do that. And so when it came to expectations, he actually did quite well. The mayor held her own. I'm sorry, but. But miss the Democratic Social America, I should say the councilwoman didn't do nearly as well as we had anticipated. She seemed actually unprepared.
- [30:13]
Kristen Welker
It's just fascinating and I think a lot of people are curious because here you have the incumbent, Karen Bass. Based on the polling you've seen, do Nithya Raman, Spencer Pratt have a chance? How's this shaping up?
- [30:27]
Pete Primos
Right.
- [30:27]
Michael (Ozempic Ad Voice) / Willie Geist
Well, one of the interesting moments of the debate was when the councilwoman, Cynthia Raman or Nithya Raman argued that the mayor was actually in cahoots with the Republican candidate, Spencer Pratt, in trying to move her out of the runoff in the fall. And there is a school of thought that says she may actually have a point. I think this is a very, very blue city, the county of Los Angeles. Donald Trump in the last election lost it by well over a million votes. And so it would behoove, we believe it would behoove the mayor to have a very pro Trump opponent in the fall than another progressive candidate because we know there's going to be a large progressive turnout in November. So there's a school of thought that says that Karen Bass would love it if the reality host was actually on the on the ballot with her this fall.
- [31:23]
Kristen Welker
Oh, it's just a fascinating conversation. Let's talk about the gubernatorial debate, the second in as many nights, which is striking in and of itself. You had a lot of attacks against Javier Becerra. Was he able to fend them off? Do you think he walked away scathed by this or unscathed?
- [31:45]
Michael (Ozempic Ad Voice) / Willie Geist
I think the attacks didn't land primarily because they're a little inside baseball, I think, for most voters. And remember, this is a candidate that is the former secretary of hhs, former California attorney general, former Democratic caucus chair in the House, who is again, the established. He wasn't doing very well until Eric Swalwell dropped out of the race. And again, the establishment wing of the party needed somebody. They've gone to him. I don't think the attacks landed. I must tell you, remember, under the California system, the top two, regardless of party, go on to the November election. Everybody on that panel believes there will be a Republican, the former Fox show host Steve Hilton. Most likely, he has Donald Trump's endorsement. So they're all racing for that number two spot. And that's what you saw last night. They're, they're throwing bombs. There's not much time left. A lot of them are desperate. I don't think any of it landed. And by the way, if you are the Democrat who gets into that second slot behind perhaps Steve Hilton, you're guaranteed to be governor of California. This is a very blue state.
- [32:51]
Kristen Welker
It absolutely is. Conan Nolan, thank you so much. After your marathon night, I hope you can get a little rest tonight. Really appreciate your joining us with the breakdown.
- [33:01]
Michael (Ozempic Ad Voice) / Willie Geist
The pleasure's all mine. Nice to see you again.
- [33:03]
Kristen Welker
You, too. Well, we have got some breaking news on redistricting to tell you about. Now, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee just signed a new congressional map into law, splitting up the state's only majority black district. The move carves up the Memphis based district held by longtime Democratic Congressman Steve Cohen into three districts, spreading those Democratic voters over multiple districts and putting Republicans in a position to gain a seat in November's election. Earlier today, the Republican led state legislature passed the new map despite protests from Democratic lawmakers and members of the public both in and outside the chambers. Tennessee is now the ninth state to vote to approve a new congressional map ahead of the midterms. Several other states are also now rushing to redraw their maps before primary elections get underway, in part driven by the Supreme Court ruling just last week, effectively eliminating the racial gerrymander protections from the Voting Rights Rights Act. Story we continue to track very closely. After the break. We'll dig much deeper into the fight to define the Democratic Party from the top down as we approach the midterms in the run up to 2028. The panel's next. This is Meet the Press Now. Welcome back. We want to turn now to some exclusive reporting. A source tells NBC News that former Vice President Kamala Harris wants the Democratic National Committee to release its autopsy report on what went wrong in the 2024 presidential campaign after acknowledging she's, quote, thinking about another presidential bid in 2028. It comes as the autopsy remains a flashpoint within the party after DNC Chair Ken Martin reversed course late last year, saying the DNC wouldn't release the full report. Martin justifying that decision last week, trying to argue that releasing it would be a distraction from the lessons he says they learned from the report.
- [34:57]
Garrett Haake
Why not release the full report? What's in the report that you wouldn't want to.
- [35:02]
Donald Trump
Yeah, there's no smoking gun in the report. And I know that's what everyone's so eager to learn, the smoking gun. Guess what, John, but if there's no
- [35:10]
Garrett Haake
smoking gun, why wouldn't you just release it that day?
- [35:12]
Donald Trump
Because we want to keep the focus on the lessons.
- [35:16]
Kristen Welker
Joining me now is our panel, Susan Page, Washington bureau chief for USA Today and author of the new book the Queen and Her President. And also with us, Amisha Cross, Democratic strategist and former Obama campaign advisor. And Sarah Chamberlain, president and CEO of the Republican Main Street Partnership. Thanks to all of you for being here. Susan, let's start right there. This extraordinary decision not to release this autopsy and Vice President Kamala Harris, according to our reporting, privately saying it's time to release it. It doesn't seem like this issue is going away.
- [35:50]
Susan Page
What could be so explosive in this report that is worth hiding it from the people you promise you're going to release it to. And I'm not surprised that Kamala Harris wants it to come out because she'd like it to come out to show that there were forces other than her own campaign failures, whatever they were, for the loss, and move on. It's hard to imagine how Democrats move on from this until they. Until they release this report, which would probably get 24 hours worth of attention.
- [36:14]
Kristen Welker
Yeah, it's a great point. I want to play a little, Misha, a little bit more of what we heard from this interview, because it's extraordinary to hear from Ken Martin on this and get your reaction on the other side. Take a look.
- [36:24]
Donald Trump
People are obsessed about this in a way that continues to turn them away from wanting to focus on the lessons and instead thinking that there's some sort of smoking gun in here that's going to give them the one single reason that Kamala Harris lost the election or the one single thing that we should have done differently that's going to actually help us win in the future. There is no one single thing that cost Kamala the election. There is no one single thing that we can do to help us win the upcoming coming election.
- [36:55]
Kristen Welker
Amisha, what do you make of Ken Martin's argument and where this stands? I mean, if Kamala Harris is really pushing for it to be released, will it eventually be released, do you expect?
- [37:06]
Chris Wright
I think, and I said this publicly at the time when the argument was that they had had it but weren't going to release it months ago, that it should have been released then. I My bigger concern right now, to be honest, and many Democrats who are looking forward, is a lot of the redistricting efforts, specifically their most recent Supreme Court decision, which will cause quakes, specifically in black districts and black communities. We are worried about being able actually have our voices represented at the polls and in Congress. Beyond that, I think that the what Ken Martin said in part is true. At the end of the day, the Democrats have bigger fish to fry. The DNC right now has an underfunding problem. They have more less money and a whole lot of problems. But in addition to that, they also have an issue related to they have a lot of great candidates who are running in 2028. Kamala Harris, we all know she has shown signs that she's going to do it. She wants to make sure that this is released. One, because I think that to Susan's point, she wants to point to things other than campaign lapses as the reason why she did not make the muster. But For Democrats writ large, they've got to get the base out. They've also got to expand the base and get Trump voters to actually come out as well. Right now, affordability is all that matters to people. Democrats don't need to be looking back, they need to be looking forward.
- [38:11]
Kristen Welker
Sarah, obviously Republicans won big in the 2024 and yet there have been a number of elections between then and now. Do Republicans need to do their own after action report on some of these loss that they have experienced over the past year to try to determine what's going wrong, what they're missing in their messaging?
- [38:31]
Sarah Chamberlain
So they have not done an official report, but we have had groups, we've sat down with the members kind of analyze what's going on. It is all affordability. I mean, that's really what it comes down to. We all know that. So we're working on talking about that in the districts, talking about the big beautiful bill, what's in there, Tax cuts. That was huge. We did a lot of that in April during tax time. So that's what we're focusing on. But we're never going to come out with an official report.
- [38:57]
Kristen Welker
All right, let's shift to Senator John Fetterman who is making new waves. There's been a lot of speculation might he change parties? Susan Page, he's out with an op ed saying he is not going to do that. I want to read a little bit of that op ed, get your reaction, the implications of that. He writes, being an independent voice that works with the other side to deliver for Pennsylvanians might put me at odds with the party that I have stay committed to and have no plans to leave. But I will continue to put the commonwealth and my country first. Plus I'd be a terrible Republican who still votes overwhelmingly with Democrats. He seems pretty firm. He's not changing parties.
- [39:39]
Susan Page
So he's the most frustrating Democrat they have.
- [39:41]
Sarah Chamberlain
Right.
- [39:42]
Susan Page
He hit on several big issues. He's voted with Trump, not with the Democrats at a time Senate Democrats have really tried to hold together. On the other hand, it would be even worse for Democrats if he became a Republican or even officially an independent. Better to have him on the boat rowing some of the time in the same direction as the other Democrats.
- [40:00]
Kristen Welker
Well, I want to play a little bit. I had the opportunity to actually ask him Amisha directly, is he going to change parties? I want to play a little bit of what he had to say and get your reaction. Look, would you ever consider running for office as a Republican senator? As much as I am friends with a Lot of Republicans, including my parents. You know, I'm not a Republican.
- [40:27]
Michael (Ozempic Ad Voice) / Willie Geist
And so, like, that's what it's really was.
- [40:30]
Garrett Haake
That's the truth.
- [40:32]
Kristen Welker
Amisha. He's getting a lot of pressure from Republicans to change parties. Yeah.
- [40:37]
Chris Wright
And I'm actually not surprised about that. Former senator from West Virginia also got that same pressure from Republicans to change parties because on some of the bigger votes, he also aligned with Republicans. I think that there are two things that are interesting here. Fetterman, unlike some others in the party, he ran as a progressive Democrat and got to Congress and has become everything but a progressive Democrat. And to that end, he is somebody who lies within that moderate wing. He is somebody who enjoys being a maverick of the Democrats. He is somebody who likes, I think, the media showcase that comes when he votes on the other side. With that being said, I don't see him changing, changing his strike to Republican anytime too soon. And honestly, he has a much bigger shift to do so because at the end of the day, he gets all of his airtime by being a Democrat. If he's with the Republicans and votes with the Republicans, none of the conversations we're having right now will matter.
- [41:26]
Kristen Welker
Is he becoming a liability for Democrats, though? Amisha?
- [41:28]
Chris Wright
He cares about Pennsylvania. And at the end of the day, Pennsylvania is, if the last few election cycles show us anything, has been tearing more in the red market. So he is aligning himself to get votes in Pennsylvania.
- [41:40]
Kristen Welker
All right, Sarah, let me Actually, I didn't read from his op ed. I read from some of our notes about his op ed. Let me read from his actual op ed apologies. Here's what he wrote. These once common views have become increasingly toxic in the Democratic Party, a result of catering to the fringe and agitated parts of our business base. The party is fractured by their demands, heightened after the Gaza war and even more after Trump was elected in 2024. My values have not changed and I have always turned to those kinds of ideals that define being a Democrat. I remain strongly pro choice, pro weed, pro lgbt, pro snap, pro labor, and even pro ribeye over bio. Sarah, how do you see this playing out? I mean, do you think Republicans are going to continue this push?
- [42:25]
Sarah Chamberlain
Sure, we would love to have him in the Republican Party, especially with what's going to go on potentially in November. We'd love to switch him. He does vote 93% of the time with the Democrats. I think it's kind of ironic that we're even having these discussions. Remember when 93% was good enough? Now, for some reason, you have to be perfect. But we would welcome him in the Republican Party.
- [42:47]
Kristen Welker
No.
- [42:47]
Sarah Chamberlain
No doubt about it.
- [42:48]
Kristen Welker
Susan just voted. Final thought quickly. I mean, it's not the first time that we've seen a senator, including a senator from Pennsylvania. I'm thinking about Arlen Specter, switch parties or consider switching parties.
- [42:58]
Susan Page
But usually when you're going to switch to the party that will hold control because that really puts you in a better position. So tell me, who's going to win the Senate control of the Senate in November? And that will be possibly part of this conversation with Senator Federman.
- [43:10]
Sarah Chamberlain
But it could be 50, 50. Then it's he'd be key to flip.
- [43:13]
Kristen Welker
It's going to be an exciting one, that's for sure. Thank you all for a great conversation. Susan, Amisha and Sarah really appre. And still to come, new frontiers in medicine, the pharmaceutical breakthroughs transforming how cancer and cystic fibrosis are treated and changing lives. You don't want to miss this segment. Keep it right here on MEET THE PRESS now. Welcome back. We turn now to a major medical breakthrough and what's being called a miracle drug for people with pancreatic cancer. Last week, the FDA fast tracked approval for the drug that's been shown to double survival time in patients with advanced stages of the disease. Former Republican Senator Ben Sasse, who was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer last year, has been taking the drug through a clinical trial. He's been pushing for the FDA to loosen some of its restrictions when it comes to experimental treatments. Take a listen instead of just saying
- [44:09]
Donald Trump
no, no, no, no to every drug,
- [44:11]
Garrett Haake
allow these researchers to experiment.
- [44:13]
Kristen Welker
And if patients are willing to take on some of the downside risk, which
- [44:16]
Garrett Haake
is a lot of toxicity, I mean,
- [44:18]
Donald Trump
I mean, I've been able to regrow a little bit of skin on my face. But for I bleed out of my scalp and I bleed all over the place. But a huge part of it is
- [44:26]
Kristen Welker
skin production is incredibly difficult.
- [44:28]
Donald Trump
When you're on the super poison, I'll take it. I'm alive in almost five months because
- [44:33]
Kristen Welker
I'm able to deliver this. We're able to deliver the super poison in my tumors. Just extraordinary to hear from him there. I also want to turn now to a different medical breakthrough. This one is changing lives for people living with cystic fibrosis. A decade ago, most children born with the disease were told they likely wouldn't live past the age of 18. But a new medication is now helping many patients live decades longer. This week I sat down with Pete Primos, who has cystic fibrosis and is thriving with the help of that new medication. He's now a father of three, as you can see, and dedicating his life to helping others with the disease through his organization, the Filotomo Foundation. I began by asking him to describe how it feels, feels to live with the disease.
- [45:19]
Pete Primos
Cystic fibrosis in its most basic form is. I was born with a broken protein in my body that affects the way salt moves in and out of cells. And because of that, it creates a thick and sticky mucus the consistency of rubber cement. So anything with a tube that moves fluid from organ to organ, it gets kind of gunky and sticky, and it gets infected, and it ends up creating real problems that can be your sinuses or your lungs or your digestive tract. Vas deferens in some. In most cases, it really, really affects the whole body.
- [45:54]
Kristen Welker
How does that feel to live with?
- [45:57]
Pete Primos
Well, it's. It's basically your worst cold when you have that burning sensation when you cough all day. And, you know, as a kid, you learn very quickly that you need to work really hard to break up the mucus in the morning.
- [46:14]
Sarah Chamberlain
Morning.
- [46:14]
Pete Primos
So you can work through the rest of your day huffing and trying to figure out a way to get the mucus out so you don't feel like you're choking all the time. And that's really what life with cystic fibrosis is like.
- [46:26]
Kristen Welker
You feel like you're choking all the time, pretty much. And then this new treatment was developed. How old were you when it was developed, and how did it change your life, Pete?
- [46:36]
Pete Primos
So for over 90% of us, the drug works. There's still a certain percentage of people with cystic fibrosis where the drug doesn't work yet. Yet we're getting closer to a cure and to this new medication working for everybody, but it's not there. For the 90% of us, it is a. We call it the purge. I took my pill January 6, 2020. I know the day I took it, three days later, my lung function went up 50%.
- [47:04]
Brian Chung
Wow.
- [47:05]
Pete Primos
And it's because all of that mucus that was causing my body to kind of damper down and my breathing to damper down, it started clearing itself out. And that is days, not weeks, for that to work.
- [47:17]
Kristen Welker
And how has that expanded your life expectancy?
- [47:20]
Pete Primos
Oh, we're now 90% of the population is living well into their 50s and 60s and beyond in some cases. And it is a incredible feeling to know that you can dream like you're allowed to, because we spent most of Our lives being told quietly not to.
- [47:42]
Kristen Welker
You have started this incredible foundation, the Philotomo foundation, and you are helping adults like yourself who are receiving this treatment, who are living longer lives than they ever anticipated, than they ever dreamed about, and who are facing challenges, whether that's with medical care, medical bills, educational bills. Talk about what your foundation gives to adults like yourself.
- [48:12]
Pete Primos
The support system for adults with cystic fibrosis is non existent. It's broken because all of the support systems are built for children. Until recently, we became the first generation that now has a newly found life expectancy well into our 50s and 60s. And because of that, these support systems haven't caught up up because we weren't supposed to be here. And that's a real problem. But you have people that didn't go to college, they didn't try to get a job, because what was the point? We weren't going to be here long enough to use the education to then get a job. And unfortunately, a good amount of people that have cystic fibrosis, they're either on disability because their lung function's too low, they've been hospitalized too many times, and they can't hold a job. And the government has decided that, yes, we can support you, you for that. And now you take this miracle drug that takes days to work and the next time you're eligible, you don't qualify anymore. So you have to make that real hard choice. Do I keep the medication and try to make it or do I get off of the medication because the support system's broken and there's no support for me?
- [49:27]
Kristen Welker
So you've created a support system for these.
- [49:29]
Pete Primos
We've created a support system to mind that gap.
- [49:31]
Ozempic Ad Voice
Gap.
- [49:31]
Pete Primos
So if you, if you get sick, if you are trying to work and you're trying to make it and that medical bill hits and you're not getting paid for when you get sick and you don't know how to go forward, that could lead to real financial ruin and you can't catch up. And we're here to catch you up and help you so you can keep going.
- [49:54]
Kristen Welker
And a big part of your focus is helping people living with cystic fibrosis have families and have children who do not have the disease. And I want to talk personally about you. You are a father of three beautiful children and all three of them are free of living with cystic fibrosis.
- [50:16]
Pete Primos
Yes.
- [50:17]
Kristen Welker
What has that been like for you to have a family, to have this miracle happen?
- [50:25]
Pete Primos
I still don't believe it. It's very hard to understand That I went from fighting for my life for the first 20 years to now creating new life with my wife Annie, and knowing that they don't have to deal with the same things I did is a gift in itself.
- [50:49]
Kristen Welker
And this is through ivf.
- [50:50]
Pete Primos
It's through ivf. So almost all men with cystic fibrosis, because of the vast deferens being malformed or underdeveloped or non developed, sperm can't get out. So because of that, we need medical intervention to have a procedure, and that procedure can then lead to IVF and we can have a baby.
- [51:11]
Kristen Welker
So you have helped other families expand, their families, have children who are not living with cystic fibrosis, which is part of, of how you see the cure to this disease?
- [51:23]
Pete Primos
Yes. The cure for today that we believe at the Philoitimo foundation is through the right carrier testing, through embryo testing, we can stop the disease before it starts. So can we, as the Philo Intimo foundation, help people that are in their own purgatory, trying to be adults and thrive while at the same time curing the disease before it starts? Because that's all we have for now.
- [51:46]
Kristen Welker
Last year, the Cystic Fibrosis foundation actually warned Congress about its proposed Covid cuts to Medicaid, which nearly 40% of cystic fibrosis rely on for their health coverage. What impact have those cuts have from your perspective?
- [52:03]
Pete Primos
It's been devastating. When you have someone that qualifies for disability and Medicaid and the medications that are miracles and saving lives are available, then you take the medication and you're so healthy you don't qualify for disability anymore. Overnight. That is. That is telling someone. I know you've been trying your whole life to stay alive, but we found a way for you to make it to extend your life expectancy. And then once you get a taste of it, they say, sorry, our support system actually can't take care of you anymore because you're too healthy. So like I said before, the support systems are for children and we need to find and extend the support system for adults.
- [52:52]
Kristen Welker
And you say you want your kids to be proud of you. I'm sure they are infinitely proud of you. What do you hope your three beautiful, incredible children learn from you?
- [53:04]
Pete Primos
I think this disease is going to take something from them that none of us are prepared for. And if I can leave them with something and that piece of me stays with them and it creates something good, good. And they can say, the disease didn't take my dad, it gave thousands of people something instead, I think that's a good way to adjust the narrative of our family.
- [53:34]
Kristen Welker
Well, I can't imagine how proud they must be of you and your wife and your entire family. Pete Primos, thank you so much for sharing your remarkable story.
- [53:42]
Pete Primos
Thank you, Chris Welker.
- [53:44]
Kristen Welker
I appreciate it.
- [53:44]
Pete Primos
Thank you so much. So much.
- [53:46]
Kristen Welker
And you can see more of my interview with Pete on our website. There's much more ahead on NBC News. Now,
- [53:55]
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