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Meet the Press — Meet the Press NOW — September 10. Machine-transcribed; use the interactive transcript above to jump the player to any line.
This fall on NBC, the premiere of Line of Fire, a thrilling new crime drama. The world sees us as heroes, but they don't know what the job really costs. One family of federal agents. It's one thing to put yourself in danger. It's different when it's your family. Balance is duty to their country. The assassin is still out there. Stop! And each other. How do you protect the world and the people you love at the same time? Every case hits home online of fire, premiering Monday, September 21 on NBC. Welcome to Meet the Press. Now I'm Kristen Welker. Right now, Republicans are kicking off day two of their midterm convention in Dallas with both President Trump and Vice President J.D. Vant set to speak tonight as they try to reenergize the party's base by putting the President center stage within an unusual offer of a cash incentive
if things go his party's way in November. I can make this promise to you. And here is my promise. If the Republicans win the House of Representatives and the United States Senate, both of them, because of our tremendous strength and success economically, I will issue a dividend to every adult citizen in the United States of America for $5,000. Thank you. Paying $5,000 to every American citizen would work out to more than $1.3 trillion. The White House has not said where that money would come from.
Republicans reacted to the President's announcement and the many questions surrounding it. What the President is just saying is if you keep it going to the American people, if you keep us in power and allow us to continue to do these things, then you're going to share in some of the benefit of this incredible wealth that we're creating in the United States of America. Well, across the bridge when we come to it, I think the focus, the emphasis that he was making there, and I think this is a real, this is a clear one between us and the Democrats, is he wants more money on the pockets of the American people. He wants the American public to share in the great success that this country's having. So his proposal was a dividend. And last night he put a number on it. So now we're going to have to wait and see. Now we should note the President has previously made similar promises of cash payments to Americans, most of which have gone unfulfilled, including promising payments after the affordable Care Act subsidies expired, as well as tariff rebates and pledging to pass on savings from the now defunct doge budget cuts. The pledge of a massive government giveaway came as the
President and Republicans on stage spent significant time slamming their Democratic rivals as socialists and communists. They call themselves Democrat Socialists, but actually the communists. Democrats today are radical, extreme, dangerous, and scary. Democrat Party has been completely taken over by crazy communists. We face the most dangerous radical and frankly, weird, Democrat candidates in American history. This is an election between common sense and communism. They're communist and they're anarchists and they hate our country. Joining me now from Texas is NBC News Chief White House correspondent Garrett Hake NBC News Chief Data Analyst Steve Kronacki is standing by at the big board.
And also with us is Carrie Dan, managing editor of the Cook Political Report. Thanks to all of you for starting us off after a big night. Garrett, I have to start with you in Texas and let's talk about these promised dividends that President Trump rolled out. Last night he said $5,000 to every American if Republicans get reelected and it comes we should note as US oil prices again topping $100 a barrel today diesel hitting a new high. So does the party see this proposal as something that's realistic? What are people saying? Well, the White House insists that this is not meant to be linked to the Iran war or the rise in prices in any way, but it's hard not to see it as such. This is right out of the Trump playbook as you pointed out offering these kinds of payments directly to the American people is something he's floated time and time again going back to the first term, but it's provided an opportunity for an interesting political Rorschach test for small sea conservatives to try to defend why this kind of
cash hand out is good fiscal policy. I mean a company only if it issues a dividend if they're profitable. The US runs a massive deficit. That's the kind of thing you see someone like Chip Roy, who was very critical of this on X pointing out with his tweet, but Roy's a good person to look at at this because he's retiring. He's out of Congress. He can be critical of the president in a way that certainly in this environment, no elected Republicans have been willing to do so far. Well, Garrett, you are there at this two-day convention. I know you've been talking to a lot of the key players. What are they telling you? The fight for the House control of the Senate is a fierce one. How are they feeling about their chances going into November? Probably the most interesting conversation I've had on this topic, Kristen. I had with James Blair, who's a senior advisor to President Trump. He essentially runs MAGA-8, the president's super PAC. I sat down with him for our, here's the scoop election edition podcast, which will premiere on Saturday. The thing to understand
about James Blair is he is probably one of the most confident operatives. Certainly I've ever covered at his predictions, at his feelings about how the Republican Party can succeed. Listen to see what you make of his level of confidence when I ask him about this midterm here. What's your level of confidence for this Republican majority staying the majority in this election? You know, swing voters, the people that decide elections. They don't stay in a place for too long, sort of generally. And obviously we know this history of the midterms that the American people historically don't leave anybody completely in power for a long period of time. That said, I feel optimistic about where we are. We pay attention to our internal numbers and our internal numbers. Tell us that we stand a very good chance of keeping the majority in both chambers. There's a path to expanding it potentially, but it's very race by race. And it's a good chance and a path doesn't sound to me like someone who feels especially confident
about this coming into this convention. Part of the goal here is to first do no harm, not make things worse, raise money for these candidates so that they can be telling their messages on television. And what is going to be, as Blair said, time and time again in our interview, at extremely challenging environment for Republicans in these next 50-some odd days. Yeah, and remarkable to hear him acknowledging that. Garrett, congratulations on your podcast. We're excited about it. I have to ask you about the mood in the arena last night when the president was speaking. He was obviously fired up. He talked for nearly two hours, talked about a range of different issues, including those promises to $5,000 payments, talked about how packed the audience was, talked about his vision for these next two years. What was the mood? What were your takeaways? Yeah, I mean, look, so this is a rally dressed up as a convention, right? There's no actual convention business being done here. Donald Trump is still the biggest draw of the Republican party. Last night, he essentially played the hits for anyone who'd seen one of his rallies before.
It was energetic in the room, even up until the point of that $5,000 dividend, which came at an hour into the remarks. I will say that energy kind of dissipated out into the city of Dallas afterwards in a way that you wouldn't see at a traditional convention, but for the folks they're trying to reach, the Republicans feel like they're giving people a reminder of what they like about this president, if you were already predisposed to like him. And that is, I think, to them at least a small victory. Yeah, as he continues to say, I think one of the big takeaways from the evening was his line, pretend he's on the ballot. I have to ask you about what you're expecting. Tonight, of course, we're going to hear from the vice president who's getting a lot of buzz as being the standard bearer. Once, of course, the next presidential election cycle rolls around. What are we expecting to hear from him? And we're going to hear from President Trump again, although he said his speech was going to be a lot shorter tonight, Garrett. Well, a lot shorter is relative.
To me, that's actually the most interesting dynamic. I mean, the way this is scripted, this is supposed to be JD Vance's night. He's got something like 35 minutes on the program to give the keynote speech. But President Trump speaks after him. Will the president let JD Vance have the spotlight and have this moment? Or is this a dynamic we could see all the way through 2028 where JD Vance tries to put one foot forward and the president sort of steps on him. That dynamic alone, I think, is probably the most fascinating element coming out of tonight, as we look ahead to this next election and beyond. Well, it is a fascinating one. We'll be listening closely to what the vice president, what the president has to say. Garrett Hague, maybe you'll even get a few hours sleep. Thank you so much. Congratulations again, Garrett, on your podcast. Really excited about it. Don't miss. Here's the scoop election edition starting this Saturday, September 12th. Garrett will be joined by a roster of political heavyweights to discuss the themes, issues and key players shaping the 2026 midterms with new releases every weekend until election day.
Just scan the QR code on your screen now for a direct link. And we now want to turn to Steve Kornaki at the big board with some new polling out of the key battleground state of Texas. Steve, so let's talk to you because Republicans there in Texas, there's some new polling from our friends at the political report on an all-important voting demographic in the state, Hispanic voters, walk us through the numbers. What do your key takeaways? Yeah, Christian, really interesting numbers here with that Senate race, that Talleriko Paxton Senate race, and the backdrop for this, of course, you get a poll here from the Cook report about Hispanic voters, more than a quarter of the electorate in Texas and Texas, sort of ground zero of that national storyline in 24. And even to some extent, 20 of shifts of Hispanic voters away from the Democrats and toward Trump and the Republican Party, while among Hispanic voters in this poll now, two years after that 24 election, here's Trump's approval rating. 64 disapproved only 33% approved, so seeing significant slippage
for him among a voting block that he actually carried in Texas in 2024. This is what it looked like in 24. This will should pop up if I pray, maybe I pray press it the fourth time it'll pop up. There it is. Okay, there's like the old Boston Garden floor, there's dead spots everywhere. Well, in 2024, Trump carried the Hispanic vote in Texas by double digits over over Kamalaers, and look at the reverse now when you ask about this Senate race, now it's more than two to one for the Democrat, James Talleriko, 63 to 30 over Ken Paxton, the Republican. Now keep in mind, when Trump carried Texas in 2024, it was a landslide. You won the state by 13 points. So there is room for the Republicans to have slippage, considerable slippage with Hispanic voters, and still have a good chance to win Texas. So I think for some perspective, the other number to put up here is 2018. Remember that year, Trump's first midterm, Beto O'Rourke, the Democratic nominee for Senate running against Ted Cruz. This is what the Hispanic vote looked like in 2018, 64 for O'Rourke, the Democrat,
35 for Cruz. Somewhat similar to what you're looking at right now, Talleriko Paxton. This race, Cruz did win. He won it by three points over O'Rourke. So it wasn't a Republican win, but it was right on the edge. This is as close as Democrats have come in Texas. So this is about as bad as Republicans can ever let it get with Hispanic voters in Texas. And this is what it's looking like right now in this high-stake Senate race. Yeah, notable that that still wasn't quite enough to get Beto O'Rourke over the finish line, Steve. So what do you think this potentially means for the national midterm landscape as Democrats? Of course, I Texas is this possible pickup opportunity, something that Democrats haven't won since the 1980s, Steve, in the Senate seat. Yeah, I mean, ultimately this is going to be settled control of the Senate in states like Texas. When you look at it this way, put the map up here. Democrats needing a net gain of four seats again, getting a little finicky here, but I think the map is coming. We'll try this again. I'm going to pray there. We don't hear the map. Sorry about this. Got to do it four times. And we know the Democrats need a
net gain of four seats. Now look, they think this is arguable. They think they got a real good chance in Maine and North Carolina. For the moment, let's say they do, sake of argument, that leaves them too short. And the places they then have to look are four states. Ohio, Iowa, Texas, and Alaska. These are Republican held seats where Democrats think they have a real chance. All of them are just like I said about Texas. They were Trump landslides, double digit Trump wins in 2024. So even if the Democrats get the two, they think they're going to get, they got to get two in Trump landslide states. And by the way, Kristen, that assumes that nothing goes wrong for them in any blue seats. And the one everybody's eyes are on in that category is Michigan right here. Elsiad versus Rogers in that Senate race. If the Democrats lose that, then they would need three, at least three, Trump landslide states. Yeah, it's still very uphill for the Democrats. Just remarkable how close the races are in states like Michigan and Texas. Steve Kornacki. Thank you so
very much. We really appreciate it. We want to turn out of the Cook Political Reports. Carried in to dive even deeper into this poll. So carry these numbers are so fascinating. And what we're seeing there, what Steve laid out really was a collapse among a key part of the president's 2024 coalition. I wonder what you make of that. And again, we saw the comparison with Beto Ororque. He also bested Ted Cruz when it came to Hispanic voters, but he still didn't win. Right, Kristen. And Steve absolutely nailed it. The president's where the White House's theory of the case nationally is that they have to juice Republican turnout as much as possible. And try to put together the very unique coalition that Donald Trump was able to put together in 2024. There was no group where there was more of a dramatic swing towards Republicans than these Hispanic voters. And there was no state where it was as dramatic as we saw in Texas as Steve laid out. Donald Trump won these Hispanic voters by 10 points in 2024. The fact that he now just has a 33%
approval rating with those Hispanic voters is pretty grim news for the White House. We actually did as a part of this poll also, an over sample of focus on three key congressional districts in the Rio Grande Valley. These are places that the Republicans absolutely need to win if they want to keep control of the House. And the president is still underwater there about 20 points underwater. And on the generic ballot, the voters to choose just a generic Democrat or a generic Republican Democrats are at 514 points. So this is a picture of really a big erosion of part of the reason that Donald Trump was able to put together a big national coalition in 2024. And I think it will raise alarm bells and Dallas and elsewhere in Texas as we're looking through this data. No doubt about that. Carrie, I want to zero in a little bit more on one of the puzzle pieces you just mentioned. So among the Hispanic voters who voted for President Trump in 2024, 18% say they disapprove of the job that he is doing. What could that mean ultimately? Well, Kristen, not only
are you seeing that they're disapproving of Donald Trump, this is translating to the other races. James Talleriko is picking up about one in five Trump voters who are now expressing disappointment with him. James Talleriko is actually picking up about one in 10 people who approve of Donald Trump. I think that's more of a reflection of Ken Paxton who is a very flawed nominee that Republicans have nominated there. But this Trump is an anchor on the party and you're seeing that translate to these other statewide races. Trump is underwater by a two to one margin statewide with the Hispanic voters. That's almost exactly the same number that you're seeing in the head to head between James Talleriko and Ken Paxton and in the governor's race, which is also a competitive race. Yeah. And Carrie, there are a couple of warning signs for Democrats you're watching too. What are those? That's right. We tested some messaging around the issue of trans athletes in sports. We tested one message that was a little bit more like what some progressive candidates have been saying and one that was more like what Republicans have been saying, which is that there should be no
transgender athletes and women's sports. And that message actually tested about 20 points better than the more progressive message. There is a reason that you're seeing this possible in ads in both the governors and Senate races. And I think Republicans believe that this motivates both their base voters to come out and that they're on the right side of the politics of it. So Democrats, you saw James Talleriko very recently sort of changing his position on trans athletes a little bit or at least modifying it. And I suspect that you will probably see that messaging through November. Yeah. Well, it's just fascinating new numbers as we get closer to November. Carrie, Dan, we plan to talk to you quite a bit between now and the midterm. Thanks so much for being here to break it all down. We really appreciate it. Coming up, we have breaking news in the dispute over maps and Missouri state Republicans agreed to give up their redistricting fight after the Supreme Court again rejects their push to use a Trump backed congressional map this November. The fallout next plus this is endgame. That's what an anthropic researcher told NBC News
about the massive threat AI poses to humanity as the technology rapidly evolves. We'll hear much more of that stunning interview straight ahead. Stay with us. You're watching Meet the Press Now. The midterms are just around the corner and it's safe to say there's been a lot of noise about the election. Well, now it's time to lock in. What's really on the ballot this November? And what's really its stake? We'll get you up to speed on all of it. I'm NBC News Chief White House correspondent Garrett Hague and every Saturday from now to election day, I'm hosting Here's the Scoop election edition. We'll talk to some of the smartest voices about the top issues that are going to define this election from President Trump's influence to the war with Iran, to affordability and AI in politics. We're diving into all of it and what it could all mean for the direction of the country. Join me every Saturday. Just search Here's the Scoop wherever you listen and follow now. Hey guys, Willie Geist here reminding you to check out the Sunday Sitdown podcast. On this
week's episode I get together with crossover country superstar Megan Moroni at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn to talk about her number one album, her sold out arena tour and her rapid rise to the top of the music world. You can get our conversation now for free wherever you download your podcasts. Welcome back. We are following breaking news out of Missouri and a major defeat for Republicans redistricting effort. The state's Republican Secretary of State has now ordered local election officials to use the state's old 2022 congressional map instead of one redrawn by Republicans last year and backed by President Trump. The decision comes hours after the Supreme Court blocked the use of the new map for the second time this week. This now means Missouri voters will use a map that included six Republican seats and two Democratic seats as opposed to the map Republicans wanted to use which would have eliminated one of those Democratic districts. NBC
News, Supreme Court reporter Lawrence Hurley joins me now Lawrence you and I were together yesterday. There were a lot of twists and turns so does this development settle which map will be used in November? As we've discussed so many twists and turns in this saga I'm reluctant to say it's totally over but to the extent that we can say it is the fact that the Secretary of State and Missouri Denny Hoskins did say today that the 2022 maps should be used in the election and to be honest he did this under duress from the Missouri Supreme Court which in the afternoon held him in contempt for defying its previous ruling that said the newly drawn map couldn't be used but he's now complied with that he said he's going to comply he's told election officials across the state that the 2022 map has to be used so for right now that is what's going to happen in Missouri. And the confusion for voters Lawrence is the fact that they will be voting on a different map
in November than the one they voted on in the primaries right how does that get worked out and could Republicans cry foul at the final result because of that. Well I think election officials obviously they have used the 2022 maps in previous election so they can they're able to quickly you know figure out which voters are in which district but you know as you well know Kristen where there's an election there's a lawsuit we always know that there's a possibility of that kind of thing happening whether or not that would succeed or have any legs after what the Supreme Court of the US Supreme Court has already said remains to be seen but you know you can never rule out something like that happening. Can you explain exactly what the Supreme Court decided today how it differs from Tuesday's court decision Lawrence? Yeah so well two things that the two orders from the Supreme Court having common is that they really didn't want anything to do with this case in terms of the
Missouri Secretary of State's attempt to use this new map even though the Missouri Supreme Court in a previous ruling had said that he couldn't use it and so on Tuesday the Supreme Court just rejected Hoskins' appeal trying to use the new map and then today it kind of did the other way around where they blocked a lower court ruling that said the new map could be used so both of those decisions the court is being consistent in saying first of all they sort of defer to the what the Missouri Supreme Court found and second of all they don't really want to be involved in this state issue. Now Lawrence have to ask you about the other matter before the court it's poised a rule on the Trump administration's plan to allow the postal service to regulate mail ballots very controversial Gavin Newsom has accused the president of trying to disenfranchise voters what are you watching for there? What kind of a timeline are you expecting? So right now that decision is ripe it could drop at any minute even as we're speaking the court has all the briefing that it needs it's going to
decide whether this regulation can go into effect it was blocked by a lower court but obviously as you know we're getting very close to the election now there are big questions about whether the postal service could even implement this even if it was allowed and also lots of state election officials are saying they can't they can't even if it was in effect so the longer this goes on the more it seems like it's probably not going to happen but obviously we'll wait and see what the Supreme Court says. All right we'll stay close Lawrence Hurley we rely on your guidance and you're reporting for all things Supreme Court thank you so very much for being here we really appreciate it. Coming up next Democratic Senator John Federman makes a surprise cameo at the Republican midterm convention vowing to find common ground with Republicans while slamming socialism the panel digs into the fallout and much more next on me the press now. Welcome back day one of the Republican midterm convention featured a surprise appearance
from Democratic Senator John Federman of Pennsylvania who appeared in a video introducing fellow Pennsylvania Senator Dave McCormick take a look. Yes I'm a Democrat why am I here talking to you today because well I'm a common sense Democrat I'm always going to stand with America I'm always going to reject the extremes and socialism and that anti-American way of life. It comes as there's growing speculation about whether Senator Federman is considering switching parties but in a statement yesterday the senator said quote I'm a lifelong Democrat who votes overwhelmingly with my party and should the Senate flip in November I will still be the 51st vote that I ran on. Joining me now is the panel Matt Gorman Republican strategist and an NBC news contributor and in a moment will be joined by former New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio Matt we're going to talk about Senator Federman his surprise appearance in just a moment but let's talk about the big headline from last night President Trump promising a $5,000 dividend
if he says if Republicans win the House and the Senate that would cost an estimated $1.3 trillion with a T Matt what's the reaction been from Republicans today? You know it mixed I would say at best I also this you hear this every you know year six months or so from from the president I would put it this way you got the dessert for the Republican base last night from the president tonight from JD Vance will be more meat and potatoes and I think again the the big focus of this convention more than any other the big objective is to get the base engaged and energized and I think that with everything is done with that in mind including this proposal in the president. You know and I'm curious Matt is there any discussion and I want to get to JD Vance's speech in just a moment but I'm wondering if there's any discussion about why the president didn't just offer up these $5,000 dividends now?
Yeah I think it and again you I've even heard that on conservative media as well I mean look this can be done through reconciliation but especially what you're hearing in the last I would say three two to three months of a little bit more of a focus on the deficit and debt than you've heard for the last year from my party I think this is probably not going to happen on Capitol Hut at the latest whether it's now lame duck session or certainly next year when there's likely to be smaller margins among Republicans either if we hold the House in Senate then there are right now. We're going to talk about night two of the Republican convention Mayor de Blasio joining us Mayor thank you for being here Mayor and Matt I want to talk about night one and the big surprise last night Senator John Federman a Democrat appearing at this Republican convention talking about the importance of bipartisanship I want to play a little bit of what Congresswoman Madeline Dean a fellow Pennsylvania had to say about his surprise appearance and then get your reaction take a look I am gravely disappointed with John and that stunt what I wish he was doing was back home in
Pennsylvania making sure like I am that Pennsylvania will see more Democratic members of the House who uphold the values that he originally ran on I will tell you from the ground from suburban Philadelphia my constituents are livid those who went out and knocked doors for him they are absolutely livid that's some strong language Mayor de Blasio what are you hearing what was your reaction I think the point the Congress members making is if someone tells people this is what I stand for this is what I'm going to do for you and then they literally go 180 that's pretty rare honestly in American politics and you can see why it's painful I think a lot of folks saw something very special in John Federman a true voice of everyday people and look he's been through a lot I want to be fair he's been through a whole lot physically emotionally but to suddenly seem to switch sides I think he is losing the ground he's losing the connection to the people's syndrome there I also think Trump and his team thought this would be a big splash but the real big splash yesterday was saying consider me at the top of the ticket which is like the last thing a lot
of Republicans want who are running in those swing districts and then trying to essentially bribe the American people with a $5,000 offer which they'll never see and I think luckily the voters will figure that out Matt I want to turn to you a lot for you to respond to let me get your reaction first to Senator Federman what was the reaction that you're hearing from Republicans I'm hearing a lot of people were actually surprised in the hall last night well it absolutely a big surprise and it's also you know again you can't really underscore the good person relationship that Dave McCormick and others like Katie Britt have taken with Senator Federman in the last year or two especially as his own party cats him out and I guess I guess kind of I'm perplexed by the kind of stance among many mainstream Democrats Federman votes with the Democrats I think at probably the worst 75% of the time 80% of the time right so contrast how Democrats treat Federman with someone how our party treats like a Susan Collins I'd rather have Susan Collins to be my friend two thirds or three fourths of the time and on certain issues just like Federman does in the left say Israel
for instance with Federman in the left yes he does break but he's a pretty reliable Democrat Democratic vote and they're driving them from the party just like they did cinema they're repeating the same mistakes on this and you know I think they'll be ill-served in 28 when he's up again for reelection Mayor de Blasio do you think he could win reelection in Pennsylvania right now? I don't I understand that's point I would say this was not the age of Donald Trump what Matt is saying would make a lot more sense I think a lot of people feel the fundamental future of this a whole country's at stake this is not normal political times this feels like profound decisions on what's going to happen with this country if it's going to be the same Democrat country it's been historically or not in that context when someone you believe was not just a Democrat but a progressive a Bernie Sanders Democrat is suddenly hanging out with Trump you can understand the level of disappointment there I think Matt makes a good practical point and I do hope Federman keeps his word he's going to stay in the Democrat party no matter what I hope he keeps his word but do I
think he's going to get reelected no because people don't like shape shifters they really don't like people who are consistent Matt I want you to respond to something else that Mayor de Blasio raised which is this idea that President Trump's main message last night was pretend I'm on the ballot does that in fact put some Republicans in battleground districts and battleground states in very tight races in a tough spot well look here's how I would think of it honestly and this you saw the same thing in you know it comes minus bush in 2006 Obama in 10 whether if you're a Michael Lawler you're a Brian Fitzpatrick and these are these the classic suburban swing yeah Republican and a lot of them in the ones Harris won right you are going to be tarred with being a you know quote magera public and a Trump Republican regardless but as I said earlier on right right now what we need is our base to come out like you can fight over the last six five maybe even eight percent of those swing voters and again that's where campaigns matter
and candidates matter Fitzpatrick and Lawler are two really good ones but if your base doesn't come out you're losing my 15 like it's not even close and that's I mean I talk about Susan Collins that's why she won in 20 was that Trump base he was in the ballot granted but she needs some of that based of that reliable MAGA the Republican base to come out this time again so you're I get it it's a tough bargain but right now it's at the whole point of this convention is getting the base out let's talk about night two of this GOP convention Mayor de Blasio what are you going to be watching for obviously you seized on the fact that Trump is promising $5,000 if Republicans are reelected last night what are you watching for tonight when the vice president speaks obviously he is seen as being the potential standard bearer of the Republican ticket well it picks up exactly on what Matt said I understand they're trying to motivate their base where I differ with Matt is you are not winning these elections in these key states and these key districts would just your base period I hear you have to have your base but then if you give up on the moderates and the
independent ballgame over so so far this convention has done nothing essentially to speak to the angst the feeling that people have all those moderates independence who want to see less extremism from Trump less personal fewer pure personal tax more focus on the economy and making ends meet they're not hearing it can vans set a different tone tonight maybe but I think it's a little too late after the boss is already spoken Matt what are you going to be watching for and do you anticipate he's going to set a different tone tonight you know he tends to and as I understand the speakers coming together just today and you know again if the Trump was the dessert for the base last night what van has been consistently is the meat potatoes and essentially what he is is a playbook for publicans whether you're running an air reliably read seat or a mic lawler or a fixed Patrick can go and talk about you hear vans constantly talk about the quote working families tax cut right and not the big bill of a bill how he talks about it so I would look for tonight a playbook
that our publicans can take in a variety of districts and I would expect that to be the take away and also I would say that's true right let's be honest normal people regular folks unless you're paid are not watching is they're probably watching football like they were watching NBC well it is football season after all what a great conversation Mayor de Blasio Matt Gorman thank you both so much I know that we'll be watching closely tonight really appreciate it coming up after the break the AI resignation that went viral a former researcher who worked for both Anthropic and open AI speaks out after warning in no uncertain terms AI agents could soon be capable of killing all of humanity stay with us and meet the press now welcome back now to new developments after a group of AI researchers went public with fears the technology could pose an existential threat
to humanity if it's not rained in Jacob Coxon who worked for open AI and then quit his job at Anthropic posted on social media Tuesday the people building AI earnestly believe it could kill us all by the end of this decade this is not a marketing stunt that post now has more than 24 million views Coxon shared some of his experiences working in the industry with our own NBC's Tamiya Miss last night warning that the development of potentially dangerous models could be mere months away so the current models don't post significant risk this is all extrapolating potentially one year away from now the models start getting very dangerous we have to be very careful one year away some people think even six months like it's plausible within six months the models pose risk of taking over the world the AI's it could be longer it could be too three years but definitely in the slack they're not panicking about current AI's but we are discussing you know what is the world gonna look like in two years this is endgame these are like
crucial high stakes decisions being made by people in in a private company and you know people are people are scared because yeah as they should be when they're talking about the possibility of human extinction this is end game Anthropic defended its practices in a statement writing quote we have always been transparent that AI will bring both enormous benefits and unprecedented risks and that we believe the world would benefit from the industry adopting a lawful verifiable way to work together to pace how we release powerful models Jared Perlow covers AI for NBC News he joins me now Jared it's great to see you in person great to see you appreciate your being here thank you so what has the reaction been we've now heard from mr. Coxon he says this is endgame I mean this is a terrifying warning he says it may be a matter of months before there's a model that is created that could actually lead to the end of humanity how are people reacting I think a lot
of people are saying this struck a nerve so his original post his tweet which I think is just over 36 hours old now has I just checked over 155 million views on X I think a lot of people even within AI companies they're now posting their agreement with Coxon statement I just saw somebody who works very high up in open AI just said yeah I completely agree with this I think there's a decent chance human goes extinct maybe in the next couple of years so again I think we should all take these statements with the green of salt because they're talking about what might happen in a couple years but I think there's been a broad outpouring of support and also public awareness people are saying if the if the researchers who are developing this honestly think this maybe we should all start to pay attention right you know what is your biggest takeaway in terms of what we may see happen next based on this dire warning well I think I'm going to be looking for policy action and then also action from the companies so a lot of these companies acknowledge that it would be great if they could slow down but they say they're handcuffed there are all these race dynamics
between different AI companies between different countries primarily the US and China to accelerate and go as fast as possible but you go back to Davos some AI CEOs took the stage there I think back you know several months ago and they said let's get together and let's slow down but we don't have the tools to do that so yesterday open AI came out with a new statement saying well we should really slow down this time so I'm going to be watching for action from the companies and there are lots of congresspeople both you know in the Senate and in the House who say maybe this is the time we should really act so I'm going to be watching what happens probably over the next couple weeks in the city there has been so much discussion in congress that this is the time to act when you hear that it could be a matter of months maybe a year before a model is created that's actually deadly for humanity does that square with what your reporting shows that it could be a matter of months away I think it's complicated the quick answer is yes there are these people working at the very cutting edge of AI who do think this that's their honest truly held belief now I should say that's a subset of the wider AI community many other people say no don't worry about it you know I still
when I use my chatbot it gets recipes wrong and of course there are people selling the hardware who say ignore those concerns let's go as fast as possible let's sell as many chips but from the people that I talk to at these leading labs I think I mean it's certainly a possibility they're dealing with probabilities here so they don't say this is a certainty but they're saying we have to take action now in order to overt you know those bad outcomes Jared Perlough thank you so much for being here I have a feeling we're going to be talking a lot over the next several months great to see you in person we do have a programming note Jacob Coxon will join me on meet the press this Sunday you don't want to miss that interview still to come America remembers the importance of teaching and preserving the memory of the 9-11 terror attacks as the nation prepares to mark the 25th anniversary stay with us you're watching meet the press now welcome back tomorrow will mark the 25th anniversary of the September 11th attacks
the shock the fear the haunting images are seared into the memory of millions of Americans from the moment the first plane was flown into the north tower of the world trade center to the scenes of New Yorkers fleeing in confusion and horror the first responders and ordinary heroes rushing toward an unknown danger to help hijack planes also crashed into the pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania nearly 3,000 people were killed in the attacks that day as you all know changed the course of American history and the mantra became never forget but there is a growing recognition that to fulfill that promise more education is needed more needs to be done one in 10 adults in the US today was born after 2001 meaning they have no personal memory of that day relying on others to teach them about it fewer than half of states have requirements that require schools to teach students about 9-11 it spurred a new national push from the 9-11
legacy foundation to increase awareness and preserve the memory of the attacks join me now are two people who have vowed not to let America forget and who played a critical role in this country's national security they are both former cabinet secretaries and former White House chiefs of staffs we are so honored to have Andy card who is chief of staff president George W. Bush and Leah and panetta who was president Clinton's chief of staff and served a CIA director and secretary of defense under president Obama and they both sit on the board of the 9-11 legacy foundation thank you to both of you for being here on this somber eve of the anniversary secretary card i want to start with you you and i were just noting that this 25th anniversary is hitting so incredibly hard and part of the reason is because we vowed never forget and yet as you have said not enough people remember and understand almost 60 percent of america knows that we talk about never
forgetting but they say i don't know what to remember to never to forget and so we have to remind and this was a call to i'm going to say compare to compassion 9-11 changed america changed the world and it was terrible that people got killed the way they got killed it was terrible the way the personalities tend to drive things but once we recognized the magnitude of the attack and so many people responded by running to the burning towers to rescue people and the policeman and fireman of wash new york city and washington dc with regard to the pentagon those things made a huge difference and there's also fireman policemen and first responders that responded from all of the new england states from merrilland and washington dc so the initial reaction
was a positive reaction of people saying i'm here to help and but we we don't have enough talk about really what happened that day why it happened why it was so terrible and the love that ended up being contagious afterwards america responded and it came together we flew american freaks and i heard welcomed our neighbors the president went to a mosque and said you know at the problem with all americans together the unity was extraordinary and secretary panetta i want to just read a little bit of an opinion piece that you and secretary card wrote earlier this year about this new generation of adults you write their understanding of that fateful day what caused it what it cost and what it meant will come not from personal experience but from what they're taught and right now what they're being taught is not enough it is devastating to hear that secretary
panetta what needs to be done well that was our concern uh in establishing legacy foundation was to stress that we should never forget what happened on 9-11 i never forget the tragedy of almost 3,000 people being killed innocent men women and children who were killed that day but also recognize the heroism that was involved not only by the first responders but also by the victims and their families and the hope that was reflected in those families as they struggled to come back and many of those families now have moved on we need to remember that and i have to say from my own experience i hope that people will also remember the sacrifices of the special forces teams that ultimately went after bin laden and brought him to justice uh because all of that
plays a very important role in our lives 9-11 was a wake up call it was a wake up call to foreign terrorism but it was also a wake up call to america that we are at our best when we are unified when we're together and when we're working towards the same goals of trying to protect our democracy i want to talk to you both about that day secretary card you had the extraordinary and the somber task of telling president bush then president bush who was in the middle of reading to an elementary school class that america was under attack we will all remember this image etched in history what are your reflections today of that moment that moment we had gone to serisoto the evening before and woke up early in the morning chiefs i was chief of staff to the president
they have early day every day getting ready for the day and the president got up he was excited was a perfect day in america there wasn't a cloud in the sky and he had invited a reporter stretch kyle to go for a run with him on the golf course at this serisoto country club and i remember go for the run it'll be a great day and he was all worried that stretch kyle had been in all america and cross country runner and he wanted to beat him but anyway but it was one of those it was just a wonderful day that dawned and he came back from the rum he beat stretch kyle so he felt good about that we had a security briefing from the national security folks in the cia and there was no reference to this attack or anything like that and then we i told the president it's going to be an easy day you're going to be talking about your favorite topic which is leaving no child behind an education getting rid of the bigotry of low expectation and you're going to be doing
it a classroom and an elementary in the second graders and they're eager to learn and read with you so it became something i knew was going to happen and i do say it's going to be a great day as we're getting ready to load into the vehicles to go over to the america school i do them two people asking the question dan bar and cal rove who said anybody here about a plane crash in new like city and we arrived at the school and i know the president got on the phone and called contolisa rice his national security adviser i didn't hear that conversation but i was told that a a plane looks like it was a small commercial not a commercial jet line i had crashed into one of the towers of the world trade center and then i went over and looked in the classroom and made sure it was all set i saw the students lined up in the best behavior the teacher and requee the annals was just so well groomed and very disciplined over her students and seeing seem so
positive and confident and then i walked back to the door of the holding room and with deb lower from the national security team came up and told the president that appears a small twin engine prop land crashed into one of the towers of the world trade center and do you like see the principal the teacher and i and the president all of this and reaction were a whole black student must have had a heart attack or something and then you had to tell the president that the country was actually under attack and the president went into the classroom it was having a dialogue with the students they were getting ready to read a book i then found out that it that the plan had crashed into the second tower i knew it was an attack it wasn't an accident and i carefully selected the words that i wanted to use with them secretary pinato what are your reflections from that day that would change our country forever with the final minute that we have here well i i was in uh Washington actually briefing members
of congress on an ocean issue because i was chair of an ocean commission uh and uh it was a commission member that told me that a plane had gone into the trade tower we thought it like andy that it was a terrible accident uh but then found out that the that a second plane had gone in and i remember turning to the members of congress and saying uh this is what's happened were under a terrorist attack i recommend all of you get off capital hill because capital hill could very well be a target for you and as i was driving away from capital hill i was made aware of the plane that went into the Pentagon and recognized that as as andy said our lives had changed we were the subject of an attack uh and america had to unite in order to respond that unity was extraordinary and i think something that we all cherish that came from the ashes
and the horror of that day we are so grateful for both of you in the work that you're doing andy card lian pinato thank you for bringing us your perspective we will have special coverage of the 25th anniversary of the september 11th attacks tomorrow there's more ahead on mbc news now hi mk8 snow mbc news anchor and host of the mbc news podcast the drink this month i'm sitting down with actor writer producer randon hunt most of you know him as coach beard from ted lasso but there is so much more to his story we sit down we talk about all of it from his bumpy upbringing to his years in improv comedy and how a hollywood rejection opened the door to co-creating ted lasso it's an open funny conversation about perseverance creativity and the winding road that brought him right here we hope you'll join us for the drink listen and follow wherever you get your podcasts
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