Meet the Press NOW — September 9

0:00Over the years, I've met people whose lives were changed forever in a single moment in my new podcast before and after. I explore what happens after that decisive moment, personal, powerful conversations with Colin Kaepernick, Jeremy Renner, Gabby Giffords, and others. Join me wherever you get your podcasts. 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 Hake 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,

1:02we'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. Welcome to me to press now. I'm Kristen Welker. Right now, President Trump is on his way to Dallas, where Republicans are kicking off a first of its kind midterm convention, as they try to manufacture some momentum with less than eight weeks to election night, with the party facing significant headwinds, most notably on the economy, with the war in Iran leading to rising energy prices, which President Trump for the first time acknowledged could play his party through election night. Here's what he told reporters this afternoon on the way to the convention.

2:09It comes as the Iran war keeps driving energy prices higher. U.S. crude oil climbed to $96 a barrel today amid renewed strikes between the U.S. and Iran, while the international benchmark for oil climbed above $100 per barrel. Since the start of the war, the cost of oil is up 43%. Gas prices are up 42% and diesel is at an all-time high. And it all comes ahead of this Republican convention, which is not your typical convention. There's no official party business happening, no nominations, but there will be plenty of rallying cries from the President, party leaders, and other top administration officials. The President is set to deliver tonight's keynote address and tomorrow's closing remarks.

3:13Both nights, he will be competing with the opening games of the NFL season. On his way to Dallas, the President explained his goals for the gathering. We're going to explain what we've done. We've done things that have never been done in the first term or the second term, frankly, of a President. The economy is very strong. The investment in our country is the biggest in the history of any country, not just our country. We are factories being built all over the world right now, and it's very exciting to see. Some top Democrats also descending on Dallas to counterprogram the GOP convention with press conferences and criticism. Here's Illinois Governor JB Pritzker earlier today.

4:27And they chose the wrong place to hold this clown show of theirs, because a new generation of candidates is rewriting the rules of Texas politics. The first goal is to make it look as much like a real convention, a convention that would happen during a presidential election cycle. And that's where you see this atmosphere here behind me with all the strobe lights and the light show. Right now, they're singing America, the beautiful as they open up this convention. They wanted to feel as if it is a major event with major consequences. And the goal here is to energize a Republican base that poll after polls shows is fatigue. That isn't as interested in voting in a midterm election, if President Trump's name is not on the ballot.

5:29And this new polling that NBC has shows that the president's overall approval rating is in the mid-30s and more than almost half of the country strongly disapproves of his job performance. That's a red siren to Republicans that they need their base to come out and vote. And what President Trump is going to spend the next two days doing is reminding Republican voters that there's an election and that they don't want Democrats to take control of both houses of Congress. They need to participate, Chris. Yeah, well we mentioned the president's comments. Really striking, Ryan, acknowledging the war likely won't end before the midterms. He also said gas prices won't significantly drop before the midterm. He says this is part of Iran's strategy, but how are Republicans planning to address that today and tomorrow? Well, the president has a unique ability to tell you everything is wonderful. Even if the underlying facts on the ground don't necessarily represent that. As you can see, the price of gas is up 42 percent since the start of the war.

6:31That's an inescapable fact that every single voter sees every single time they go to the gas pump. And so there is a danger here for the president just to come out and say that everything is wonderful to say that everything is going to get better. As he said today, maybe now we have to wait until after the election for those gas prices to come down when that's not exactly what voters are feeling. It's a similar problem that Joe Biden had during the last election cycle. He ultimately ended up not even running for reelection as a result of it. So this is dangerous ground for President Trump. He needs to sell a message that Republican governorship, that the fact that the Republicans have been in charge have like to better outcomes for the American voter, which is not an easy prospect given the reality on the ground. Yeah, let me ask you about our colleague Garrett Hake, who's outside the convention center. He spoke with James Talleriko, of course, the Democratic candidate, who's running against Ken Paxton and Texas. One of the most watched Senate races of this cycle, Ryan. I don't have to tell you that.

7:31Let's play some of that conversation. It's been 30 years since the Democrat won here statewide. Why do you think Republicans have had such a lock on this state? I'm actually not interested in turning Texas blue. I know my party wants to turn Texas blue. The Republican party wants to keep Texas red. I think the best color for Texas is purple. I think she's just a great, and purple. Because when you have competitive elections, it forces every politician at every level to stay on their toes and compete to serve the people of the state. And to operate within the 40 yard lines. Is there something on which you think the Democratic party is failing? A whole host of things. I'm trying to. I already have a religion and already have a sports team. So I have no problem calling out my own party. I called out Joe Biden for failing us on our southern border. And in fact, when I was a member of legislature, I voted for and authored legislation to improve border security. I'm for an all-v above energy strategy, which includes oil and gas. In addition to renewables like wind and solar. I think the Democratic party has to do more on the national debt.

8:34Fascinating strategy there by James Tallerico. He says, I don't want to turn Texas blue. That's notable. He's clearly making a very strong play for the middle of the state. He sure is, Kristen. And it's a why strategy when you take into account that Republicans obviously realize that this is a real race. The fact that they're holding this convention in Texas. A state that's usually reliably read. It's a sign that they're being forced to play defense here on a very wide Senate map that seems to be increasing by the day. So the fact that Republicans chose this state of all states. They didn't pick North Carolina. They didn't pick Maine. They didn't pick a place like Ohio or Kansas. They picked Texas because they realize how vulnerable their income and see here is. Obviously, it's not the incumbent candidate running, but the fact that Republicans hold this seat. And Tallerico sees an opening here. He sees that opening, not as running as someone aligned with the Democratic Socialists of America, but instead someone who can reach out to both sides of the aisle. Now, Democrats have tried this playbook before. It's been unsuccessful for the last 40 years in Texas.

9:38Perhaps this is the year that it changes and maybe Tallerico finds the formula to finally make it a reality. All right. Well, it certainly is a fascinating race. Ryan Noble, thank you so much for starting us off. We really appreciate it. As we mentioned, this Republican midterm convention is, of course, coming against the backdrop of the escalating war with Iran, which the president is now saying will not end until after the midterms, despite there being no sign of any kind of resolution. The U.S. military struck five Iranian crude oil tankers yesterday, bringing the total number of Iranian tankers destroyed by the U.S. in the last week to eight. Iran retaliated by launching missiles at U.S. forces stationed in Jordan. Jordan saying its air defense system intercepted 18 ballistic missiles. And the U.S. officials says all U.S. forces in Jordan are accounted for. Joining me now is NBC News, senior national security correspondent Courtney Cubi and NBC News Business and Economy reporter Ali Canal. Court, let me start with you. So let's talk a little bit more about this latest U.S.

10:40response. What can you tell us about it? Yeah, so what's really striking about how this has changed? We've seen this back and forth between the U.S. and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, primarily. But the Iranian military for months now. You know, it goes on for a couple of days and then it sort of fizzles out. We have a period of calm and then it restarts again. What's striking about what we've seen the past several days is this is Iran specifically trying to hit U.S. military warships in the region. That has not been happening as much. Prime, most of what we had seen recently was Iran going after commercial ships in the state of for mues. So that's an escalation. The U.S. military also responding in a different way, not going after radar sites along the coast and not going after drone facilities, but going after specifically tankers associated with Iran in the state of for muslim in the case of the last day or so, sinking, destroying five tankers. So that could be seen as an escalation. We are still seeing Iran lash out in the region. That's been pretty consistent, but the question is,

11:41is this an escalation by both sides here? And if so, how will this latest salvo come to a close? We don't know the answer to that. And it was just so extraordinary to hear President Trump say he does not think this war is going to end until after the midterms. He tried to cast this as this is a part of Iran's strategy, that they want, as he said, a weaker leadership to get into power. I mean, this could be seen as an escalation, frankly, by both sides. And what's remarkable here is President Trump speaking at the beginning, and many of the people around him about a four to six week war, and now we're talking about it stretching on for months, we're already seeing gas prices. I'm sure Ali knows this better than anyone else, but we're seeing gas prices are starting to creep back up. And again, the real question is, how does this end? So the US effort here right now is not just on the military side. They've moved into this compounded sort of US military and economic pressure with the goal of bringing Iran to the table, but it's not clear that that's working. And the fact that Iran seems perfectly content to escalate this by going directly

12:43after US military warships does not seem to be Iran capitulating in any way. Well, it's just fascinating to watch the twists and turns. Courtney, you're just back from Thailand where the USS Lincoln docked temporarily. What did the folks you were able to interview tell you there? What were your big takeaways? Yeah, we were really lucky. We got to speak with dozens of sailors. While we were there in Thailand, they were there on shore, leave it was their first chance to have a real break in nine months. And it was a very difficult deployment. Exactly what we're talking about. Constant combat operations, enforcing of the naval blockade along the Iranian ports. One thing I was really struck by was that the Lincoln deployment has gotten a lot of attention because of their lack of fresh fruits and vegetables, not getting mail. It is very clear that the reason that they had such a difficult time getting resupplied at sea was because Iran was successfully able to take out logistics hubs in the region. And that had a real impact on them being able to get any kinds of supplies.

13:44But it's not that uncommon when you have a US military ship, a carrier, or some of these smaller ships that are and they don't get resupply because of ongoing combat operations. That's not what's so unique here. What I learned from the sailors was what was unique here was the length of the deployment. Just having these sustained periods without some of the creature comforts, not knowing when this deployment was going to end, especially when this wasn't what they initially deployed for in the first place. They were supposed to go to the Pacific. They were re-rooted because of their Iran war into the Middle East. That's what really had an impact on these sailors and their families back home. And Kristen, I am struck by the fact that this is more likely to be the norm than the exception when it comes to US military, US Navy deployments going forward. And this is something that the Pentagon is really, and the Navy is really going to have to address. Well, you have been all over this story and fantastic reporting from Thailand. Thank you so much. Welcome back. Glad to have you home. Thanks, Cord. Alli, let me turn to you. Let's talk about gas prices. You heard Courtney mention them. They jumped

14:46seven cents a gallon from just yesterday. That's according to AAA. You heard the president saying that gas will fall ultimately below $2 a barrel, but not until after the midterms. What do you make of what the president said is that realistic? I mean, Kristen, I think that would be very difficult considering where oil prices are trading right now. I mean, we have US crude closing above 96 bucks a barrel today. Branch crude, that's the international benchmark up over $100 a barrel. And even though these levels, they're not as severe as what we saw in this war with Iran first broke out, but it's the reversal in some of these price declines that we saw throughout various pockets in the summer that has a lot of these industry analysts very concerned here. And when it comes to gas, it is possible we could see some relief at the pump over the next few weeks as the industry switches to a cheaper winter blend, but that could actually be offset by the oil price swings that we're seeing in the market right now. And several energy experts who I've spoken with told me that there's not many levers that the administration can pull at this point.

15:50Really, the only thing that's going to bring oil prices down is reopening the straight-of-war moose. And as we've been talking about, we keep seeing these back and forth strikes between the two countries. So that's a big TBD. Yeah, and oil and diesel prices are approaching $6 a gallon. Yeah, Ali, talk about the significance of that. Obviously, diesel prices determine the price of a number of other goods. Yeah, you can think of diesel as the lifeblood across the entire economy, right? It powers trains, it powers trucks, even farming equipment. So these are all things that move your products that help with harvesting your food. And if that starts to get more expensive, the ripple through and trickle down effect to the consumer can be pretty severe. I mean, six bucks a gallon on diesel. That is super, super significant. We're already at all time highs. And it doesn't seem like we have much relief. Andy Lipbo, he's a prominent energy analyst. He was out with a note this morning. The estimates that the world has lost nearly 8% of its diesel supply. And there's not much room to make up that shortfall because currently,

16:54US refining capacity is at 98%. So it all comes down to that supply crunch that's happening across the industry right now. And with these ongoing wars, not just with the run, but also Russia, Ukraine, there's been energy infrastructure attacks in Saudi Arabia. All of that is contributing to the crunch that we're seeing, Kristen. All right, Ali can now watching all of it for us. Ali, thank you so very much. And coming up a rare Steve Kornaki double header. We have election results while voters are also voting today in one of the last primaries of the season, where a sitting governor could be ousted for the first time in years. Kornaki's tracking it all for us plus sounding a dire alarm on artificial intelligence. Top AI researchers go public with growing fears that their industry is moving too fast. And the AI could spiral out of control and imperil all of humanity. We'll delve into that. Stay with us. You're watching Meet the Press now.

17:56Hey guys, Willie Geist here reminding you to check out the Sunday sit down 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 or every download your podcasts. Welcome back. If it's Wednesday, we've got election results and voters are voting in a rare Wednesday primary Rhode Island's Democratic governor, Dan McKee faces former CBS executive Helena Fulkes who leads according to recent polling. The key is at risk of becoming the first sitting US governor in eight years to lose a primary. That vote is taking place as the Senate matchup in nearby New Hampshire is now set after the Granite States primary last night. Trump backed former Senator John Sanunu, defeated former Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown to win the

18:57GOP nomination in a seat Republicans hope to flip in November. Hill faced Congressman Chris Papas who defeated Krishna Munzer, a member of the Democratic Socialist of America to win the Democratic primary. Meanwhile, Stephanie Shean, whose mother is retiring Senator Jean Shaheen won the Democratic primary yesterday in the battleground district. Papas represents. She'll face Republican businessman Anthony DeLorenzo in November's general election. NBC News chief data analyst Steve Kronacki is of course at the big board. He joins me now. So Steve, we got to start with last night's results in New Hampshire. Break it down for us. What did voters in the Granite State tell us about where November might be heading? Yeah, I think there was a little bit of suspense about this Democratic Senate primary last night. Obviously you mentioned here a DSA aligned candidate. We've seen that type of candidate have breakthroughs in some other places on the map this year. Was it going to happen in New Hampshire in the fear of Democrats and the hope for Republicans in New Hampshire is that it would and that Manzor would win this thing last night would be a vulnerable

20:00Democratic nominee and what otherwise is a favorable climate for Democrats and that might open the door for Republicans here. But you see it's a pretty emphatic verdict from Democratic voters here. A two to one margin, papis over Manzor basically winning every city and town in the state. So that sort of socialist progressive, you know, sort of far left movement that we've seen get traction in some places did not really get much here in the Democratic side in New Hampshire. So now the pressure really would be on Johnny's new new the former senator here trying to get the seat back 18 years after he was defeated by Jean Shaheen. The pressure is on him to prove he can make this competitive because the challenge here obviously the climate is so difficult for Republicans. President Trump low approval rating. It's also this you don't see White House parties picking up Senate seats from the opposition party. It's rare to see that at all in midterm elections let alone in a state like New Hampshire that the president didn't even carry in the previous election. Trump is over three in New Hampshire. So it's a very tall order Republicans

21:02were hoping they'd get an assist from the Democratic electorate in New Hampshire last night didn't happen. See if new new can make this thing race in November, but his hill got a little bit steeper I think with that Democratic result. Yeah, fascinating. He certainly does have the name recognition heading into November. Let's talk about Rhode Island holding a gubernatorial primary tonight. What are you watching there, Steve? Yeah, give Rhode Island its moment in the national spotlight here because it is as you said, this is significant. It's been almost a decade since a sitting governor anywhere in the country lost in a primary. Dan McKee though is in serious danger of becoming the first one since then tonight. He was a became the governor in 2021 with Gina Ramondo left to become Joe Biden's Commerce Secretary. He faced a stiff challenge in 2022 in the Democratic primary from Helena folks and in a few other candidates. He barely survived that. God elected to a full term and he's really been pretty unpopular in the polls throughout the term. There's been a major controversy about a bridge, a long bridge repair project that the

22:08administration and the McKee administration has insisted on. It's been delayed. There's been some controversies around it. It really seems to have touched a nerve there with voters and folks has led big in the polling here. So we'll see if polls close at eight o'clock if McKee can pull a rabbit out of the hat. But if not, it'd be the first governor anywhere in eight years not to win a primary. Last time it happened in Rhode Island, 1994 Bruce Sungland, a Democrat, went down by 30 points. That's about what the polls show McKee trailing by heading into this. Well, we'll see if history is made tonight once again. Steve Karnacki will be watching you. Thank you so much and make sure you tune into Steve Karnacki's 745 Eastern on the Karnacki cam tracking tonight's election results as they come in. Tune into NBC News.com and of course, YouTube. Coming up next, new warnings from AI insiders about the potentially existential consequences of an AI arms race. Plus, we'll speak with the lawmaker leading the charge to ban the development

23:08and deployment of so-called artificial superintelligence. That's next. I'll meet the press next. Welcome back. Turning now to some unsettling warnings from inside one of the country's top artificial intelligence companies, adding to growing concerns about AI safety. A team manager at Anthropic, who evaluates the safety risks of AI models, says he believes there is a greater than 10% chance AI could kill all humans within the next decade. His post was in reaction to an Anthropic employee who quit the company yesterday over safety concerns. Also warning that the people building AI earnestly believe that it could kill us all by the end of the decade. This is not a marketing stunt. The employee who previously worked for Open AI also warning neither company is acting responsibly. They are racing straight to self-improving superintelligence and

24:09gambling with our lives. Back in June Anthropic called for a coordinated pause among AI companies saying, we believe it would be good for the world to have the option to slow or temporarily pause frontier AI development to enable societal structures to keep up with the advance of the technology. Joining me now is NBC News Artificial Intelligence reporter Jared Perlow. Jared, thank you so much for joining me. Boy, this is sobering. You have new reporting on what led to these warnings from these employees, including the resignation from that Anthropic researcher. What's the latest that you're hearing? Yeah, well, this is all happening as we speak. I think that tweet that Jacob Coxon, this researcher who resigned, he announced it yesterday. I think it has over 100 million, I think around 110 million views right now. So this is blowing up worldwide. I was able to actually get access to his Slack message where he announced his resignation. And I'll just quote from the beginning. He says, I think that without international coordination, we will incur a risk of causing human extinction. So Jacob Coxon, along with his boss there, Evan Huberger, they're working on

25:15developing AI capabilities and figuring out how to align those systems with human desires. Make those AI systems do what humans intend. They say that the technology is just advancing way too quickly. We don't understand what's actually happening underneath the hood. It's time to pump the brakes here. It's just terrifying to think about. Do you have any insight into how specifically these researchers think AI could threaten humanity? What's the scenario they're thinking about? Yeah, I mean, it all sounds very sci-fi at a very high level, but there are many different pathways that people in the AI world think could get us to human extinction or mass wipe out of humanity. So people think that bad actors could use AI systems to develop chemical weapons, biological weapons. Think about something like COVID, but much, much more deadly. They think that what happens if AI gets put in control of launching nuclear weapons? Because the Pentagon has said that they want to race ahead in terms of adopting AI, what happens if that spirals out of control? You can think about killer robots, drones, excuse me, pursuing humans. Also, there's the potential that

26:20AI systems could develop themselves, basically spiral out of human control, and then humans would lose control of those AI systems. All those are different vectors through which humans could go extinct if AI systems continue at the pace that they're currently increasing. And what has the reaction been inside the world of people like yourself who studies AI are folks taking these warning seriously? I think they are serious warnings. This is coming from within the housing that our houses on fire we should take this seriously. And as you saw on those tweets there at the beginning, they say this is not a marketing stunt. A lot of times people think, well, open AI and thropic, they're going to IPO, they just want to get more value for their investors in the next couple of months. They say this isn't about that at all. We genuinely believe that there's a 10% chance or so. Some say 25%, some people say 50% chance that humans could go extinct. Now, I do think that we should view some of those claims with skepticism about today's AI systems.

27:20They're thinking several years down the line, but they're also thinking about, well, the US is racing with China. All these companies have these incentives to go as fast as possible. So there's really no incentive to slow down and pause and say, well, do we actually understand what we're developing and can we do it in a safe manner? That's really the core message here. Yeah, and we talked about the fact that back in June and Thropic asked for that global pause or at least a slow down on development. Is that a possibility? What are other AI companies saying about that? I think it is a possibility, but maybe an unlikely one right now. I think these race dynamics are just controlling everybody. Meanwhile, the White House says that they want light touch regulation. They don't want a hamper American AI innovation. Now, President Xi is meeting with President Trump in just two weeks and we think that AI is going to be on the menu there. But talk is cheap. People in AI companies were saying we need to develop this coordination mechanism back at Davos several months ago, going back a couple of years, and we still really haven't seen anything materialized. So I think to viewers at home who say, all this is cheap talk, and I'm

28:22waiting to actually see something materialized, I think they're right. It's completely understandable to say, well, if these companies are pursuing trillions of dollars, where are we actually seeing real impact at home? Well, we always appreciate your reporting again, really stark warnings here. Jared, thank you so very much. Appreciate it. Joining me now is Texas Democratic Congressman Greg Kasar, who is one of the lawmakers leading the charge on placing guardrails on artificial intelligence. Congressman, thank you so very much for joining us. Appreciate it. It's good to be here with you. Good to have you here. So let's talk about this big picture. You did recently announced legislation alongside Senator Bernie Sanders. It would effectively ban the development of super intelligent AI until safety measures are established and put in place. Why do you think that's so important? And do you think you have the votes to pass that kind of legislation? This legislation is so important to make sure that we protect Americans freedom and

29:25our safety, our lives, and our national security. And Kristen, you're right, this has not been a topic where there's been a lot of leadership from the United States Congress. In fact, Donald Trump has been trying to block AI regulation. But now that you have top anthropic researchers resigning from their jobs, we're saying that they believe there's a 10% chance that this unregulated artificial super intelligence could kill all of us. I mean, they're talking about 10% chance of human extinction. That's not to say the percentage chance of thousands of people or millions of people needlessly being killed. So I think you're starting to see amongst the Democratic Party much more interest in having strong regulations to protect our safety from unregulated artificial super intelligence. And more and more Republican members of Congress's constituents are starting to see the really negative impacts of unregulated AI. We need to treat this as the emergency that it is

30:26and move forward Senator Sanders and I bill to ban artificial super intelligence. That is AI that can escape human control. Terrifying thought. Senator Ted Cruz was asked about this today on the view I want to play a little bit of what he had to say and get your reaction on the other side. One of the real challenges is China is going going full speed ahead. And whatever we do here, China's not going to stop. So I've said somewhat tongue in cheek, but not entirely. If they're going to be killer robots, and rather than they'd be American killer robots than Chinese killer robots. What's your reaction to that? Look, we should not have killer robots in China, Ted. And we should not have killer robots that kill us here in the United States. Ted, we are the United States of America. We were able to pass the new deal, create social security, beat fascism around the world. We can regulate AI to protect us in this

31:31country and protect us all around the world, which is why Senator Sanders and my bill, one of its top priorities, is an international treaty system with adversaries and allies alike to ban artificial super intelligence because we don't want AI to take away our freedoms or kill us here or in China or anywhere else. It's that simple. All right, I do want to turn to the midterms now. AI, obviously, one of the big topics in the midterms. But let's talk about what's happening in your state. The president kicking off a midterm convention in Texas today. He has been using the rise of democratic socialists to attack all Democrats. Do you think that DSA candidates could ultimately hurt Democrats running in more moderate districts? No, I mean, Donald Trump is going to keep on calling up the specter of communism. And that's the exact same strategy that they tried to use against Harry Truman. They said Harry Truman was a communist. They called Social Security and Medicare a communist. They called President

32:36Barack Obama a communist. If that's really all they've got, then I think Donald Trump and his Republican cronies are in real trouble. I mean, they are up the road from me right now in Dallas trying to defend against Texas flipping. They thought that Texas was firmly in their column. And they're talking about spending nine figures bringing in the president because they're thinking of losing Texas. So I think they know that prices are up. They know that Donald Trump ordered them to cut millions of people's health care all to give handouts to his billionaire friends. And if this argument of calling us communists again is really all they've got, then I think they know the blue wave is coming big time. Let me ask you specifically about Hispanic Latino voters. A recent poll earlier this year found 20% of Hispanic Democrat and Democratic-leaning voters viewed Democratic Socialists favorably. That's 20%. Do you think the rise of democratic socialism within the party could cost Democrats with Hispanic voters?

33:41Hispanic voters here in Texas are overwhelmingly working class voters that want to know that we care about their pocketbook issues. When I, I mean, I've represented Latino working class communities here in Texas on a city council. Now my congressional district is overwhelmingly Latino African-American working class. And what people want to know is are we going to make sure that you can afford your health care that you don't have to check your bank account before you go see a doctor or even go to the grocery store? That's what people want to know. And some of the working class Latino voters in Texas that decided to vote for Donald Trump this last time thought Donald Trump was going to lower prices. But he's jacked the prices up. We've got gas at $4 a gallon in Texas. They also heard Donald Trump said he was going to go after the bad guys. And now he's going out arresting U.S. citizens. They killed 23 year old Ruben Ray Martinez for simply celebrating his 23rd birthday. He's a United States citizen who's been buried. So the Latino community here in Texas

34:45is just pissed off that they've been lied to by the Trump administration. And you're going to see that out in the midterm voting results. All right. Let's talk about the big Senate race in your state between James Tallerico and Ken Paxton. Congressman Jasmine Crockett, who's a member of the progressive caucus, has suggested she's not planning to campaign with James Tallerico. She of course lost to him in the primary. Do you think she's doing enough to help get him elected? Or do you think she should be doing more? I appreciate that Congressman Crockett has endorsed our future senator James Tallerico. It's going to take all of us working together to get him elected. I mean, Kristen, as you know, I was about four years old. Congressman Crockett and I are both young legislators in the house. We were very young the last time that we flipped the state, but we can really make it happen this time. One, we have an excellent candidate in James Tallerico who's out there talking about rooting out corruption. And then we have Ken Paxton at the top of the Republican

35:50ticket. He's not just the most corrupt politician in Texas history. He might be one of the most corrupt politicians in American history. He was impeached by the Texas Republicans in the Texas house. This is a very Republican hard right Texas house that impeached Ken Paxton for being too corrupt. That takes a lot. And so that's why I think we have really a generational opportunity right now to flip Texas. But Congressman, do you want to see Jasmine Crockett out campaigning with James Tallerico? Do you think he can win without her on the campaign trail? I recently saw a poll for James Tallerico where he is overwhelmingly up with Latino voters, with African American voters, with working class voters. At the end of the day, this election is not going to get won by talking heads or by politicians. I'm really seeing it come from the ground up. So I appreciate everybody that's come out and endorsed James, everybody that's going out and doing the work. But honestly, if we think that it's going to be the National Democratic Party that

36:55pulls this one off, I think we're wrong. I think it's going to be won. James will become Senator Tallerico because of everyday grassroots organizations working on the ground. So I appreciate our whole congressional delegation on the Democratic side has endorsed him. But ultimately, I think it's going to be James, his organizers and grassroots folks that win this election. Very quickly because we are out of time. If Democrats win back the House, you have previously said you would support Hakeem Jeffries for Speaker. Do you still stand by that? I support leader Jeffries. And I believe that we can as progressive members in the House drive a progressive agenda onto the floor that the overwhelming number of the American people support him. So you would support him for Speaker. You would support him for Speaker. Yes, I support. I support. I support leader Jeffries for Speaker. And I support him because I know that with his leadership, we are going to get health care back to the American people that we're going to raise the minimum wage that we're

37:57going to finally and stock trading by members of Congress. So this isn't about any individual. One of us, it's about a Democratic agenda that renews faith in the American people in our party. And that's what I care absolutely the most about delivering for people that have lost faith in us. And that's why I support leader Jeffries. All right. Congressman Kassar, thank you so much. We really appreciate it. Thank you, Chris. Coming up after the break, election chaos in the show me state after dueling court orders on Missouri's new congressional map less than two months from Election Day. We'll sort it all out. Stay with us. This is Meet the President. Welcome back. We are following breaking news out of Missouri where a pair of conflicting court orders have created more chaos over which version of the state's congressional map will be used in November less than two months before the midterms and just days before the state begins sending out ballots. Late yesterday, the US Supreme Court left in place a Missouri Supreme Court order

39:02that a recently drawn map that favors Republicans could not be used in November. Shortly after the US Supreme Court's decision, a federal judge in Missouri ruled in favor of two Republican congressional candidates who contend the new map must be used in November since it was in place for last month's primary. NBC News, senior Supreme Court reporter Lawrence Hurley is with me now. You kind of need a flow chart to follow this story, Lawrence, but let's try to sort this out for people. So first, you're learning about some new developments. What are you hearing? Yeah. So as you said, there's this federal court ruling that's saying that the state must use the new map that the Missouri Supreme Court said they couldn't. And now the proponents of a referendum that has got this, that was put this before voters have now appealed to an appeals court. And they've refused to block that ruling for now. So that ruling still remains in effect, means they still, the law currently is that there's these two conflicting court rulings,

40:03one saying they can't use the map, one saying they can't. And now this is all heading right up back to the US Supreme Court, which is probably going to have the final word in the coming days on whether this, what's going to happen? So, and just so that people understand, and this I think is clarifying for folks, Emmanuel Cleaver, who of course has been in his congressional seat for a number of terms, was looking for reelection under the initially redrawn map. He is likely to lose. Under the old map, he's likely to win. So right now, do you have a sense of which map looks like it's prevailing? Or can we just not know that until the Supreme Court weighs it? The Secretary of State and Missouri has told election officials, we're going to use this new map. But he's under a court order from the Missouri Supreme Court that he can't use that map. The Missouri Supreme Court has now called him in to for a hearing tomorrow morning on whether he

41:04should be held in contempt of court for defying that order. He's also asked the federal judge to get involved saying the federal judge, because under the Constitution's supremacy clause, federal law has over state law. So he's saying that he's just doing what the federal judge is telling him to do. So he shouldn't be held in contempt. So we're getting this kind of fight between state courts and federal courts, which is something I haven't really seen anything like this in the years I've been covering the law. Yeah, and explain just how unusual is it that the Secretary of State, Debbie Hoskins, would be called before the Supreme Court potentially to be held in contempt? Yeah, I mean, it's extremely unusual, especially because we're talking about everyone here is a Republican pretty much. So Republican dominated Supreme Court in Missouri, so Republican dominated Supreme Court in Washington. And this fight is basically a lot of Republicans fighting each other by whether this map should go forward. And obviously it's going to have stakes for this upcoming

42:08midterm election because it could help determine which party controls the House. We are past the state's deadline to finalize its ballots. How quickly do you anticipate the Supreme Court is going to act here? Well, I think based on the timeline and ticking time bomb that's going on, they're going to have to act really quickly. The question is how quickly this case gets to them. The lawyers would have to file something at the court. They haven't done that yet. Once they do that, we could get something happening pretty quickly. It's just the twists and turns our headspinning. Lawrence, early thank you for helping us to understand it. We really appreciate it. The panel digs deeper into the state of play and the shifting battle lines as Republicans kick off the midterm convention in Texas. That's next on Meet the Press Now. Welcome back. You're looking at live pictures as housing secretary Scott Turner speaks at day one of the GOP midterm convention. Joining me now is our panel, Dan Marica anchor of the early

43:10brief newsletter at the Washington Post. Terran Rosencrantz found her and CEO of New Blue Interactive and Stephen Hayes, editor and CEO of the Dispatch and NBC News contributor. Thanks to all of you for being here. So Dan Marica, they are kicking off day one of the GOP convention. President Trump called Speaker Johnson, told him his idea. Speaker Johnson said, conventions not a thing in terms and he said, well, make it a thing. And so here it is. What are you watching for and what could come of this convention? I mean, certainly I think Republicans are well aware it's going to be a bit of a Trump of Paloza, as I think Summer calling it. The president is uniquely capable of blotting out the Republican sun, has done that for the better part of 10 years. He'll probably do that again for the next two days. I don't think that will necessarily change. I'm going to be really interested to see how candidates in particular, not those who are already in Congress, but candidates who are running for office are going to talk about the president. I think if someone like Mike Rogers said it candidate for Michigan Republican was once a Trump critic and is now going to be speaking

44:11at this Trump of Paloza, does he speak about Trump? Does he speak about the administration? Is he trying to focus on other things about changing, lancing as he's done in Michigan? I think that's going to be really interesting. But conventions are supposed to elevate the party. And I think to some level, because the way the Trump administration has handled the last two years and his approval rating, you're going to have this rock in a hard place dynamic with the Republican candidates that is going to put this on display in prime time. We'll talk about a rock in a hard place. Steve, you have president Trump upon departing for Texas, acknowledging he doesn't think gas prices are going to come down until after the midterms. It doesn't think the war with Iran is going to end until after the midterms. How does that backdrop impact how tonight plays across the country? Yeah, well, I mean, it's not good, right? I mean, the fact that gas prices remain high is problematic, but also, I mean, it's a reminder to voters, particularly Republicans, of just how the president can turn on a dime, right? I mean, we were told not long ago that the war was over, that the

45:12straight of hormones was open. Gas prices were already coming down was what the president said. So now it's just a sort of a nod to reality. I've got to say, I just don't think this convention, this mini convention is going to matter much. I don't think people are paying attention. Republicans hope that it gins up support for people who are the sort of die hard, nagot types, and that they will show up in November or early voting. Skeptical, that that's the case. Democrats, of course, I think are pretty happy that Donald Trump is making himself the center of the midterm elections. Well, way in on that, too. And he's certainly, anytime they're not talking about the economy and they're putting Trump out there and he's saying things and you're going to the pump and you're seeing over $5. That's going to be a good thing for Democrats. It's going to be a good thing because that's what we're trying to talk about and trying to put out there for our plans. Purpose is, I mean, this is theater and I do think it's it's a GOTV move. I get out the vote move. He's trying to hit those people aligned and happy and excited and to show up at the midterms even though he's not on the ballot. Yeah, I had the opportunity to interview Senator Kennedy this past

46:12Sunday. Talk to him about the state of the economy, Dan America. I'm going to play a little bit of that and get everyone's reaction on the other side. Look, do you believe Republicans will be punished at the polls for the price of gas? Well, here's what I think about the economy for what it's worth. Except for inflation, which is a said sucks. The economy's soft. But look, that inflation is a big if and it's it's gutting people like a fish. Inflation is pernicious and we've had it for a few years now. It's been up and down since President Biden's administration. What we ought to do is something about it. Dan, pretty striking to hear him say we ought to do something about it. And it's also a message that kind of conflicts with what we're hearing for President Trump. I'm not sure you can get a bigger caveat than accept for inflation in this political environment. You know, I've talked to Republican operatives all year. There was a sense when you were describing that gas prices were coming down. The war was ending that maybe they could turn this around and by the time voters go to the polls and November things would be better.

47:17That is dawning on people it probably already has last month. That's not going to happen. That like the cake is already baked. This is the midterm environment they're running in. Republicans are running in and they're going to have to make do with that. That's why you see lawmakers saying and accept for inflation or trying to explain away what voters are feeling. And I'm just not I think you're exactly right. When voters are going to the pump and they see five dollars and they can't fill up their their grocery baskets. It's really hard to explain that away. Yeah, absolutely. Well, no doubt the economy will be the backdrop tonight. If you look ahead to 2028 for a moment, which we'll all be doing after the midterms in November. Today, there's reporting out that secretary of state, Marco Rubio has said he has no plans to run for president right now. That's according to a person familiar with the matter who tells NBC News, he told at least one person in recent months that that is not going to be on his dance card. Steve Hayes, what do you make of that? I mean, all accounts were that there was this big rivalry between him and him events.

48:18Yeah, I mean, I still think there's a rivalry between him and JD Vance. And to me, the most important part of that phrase was no plans at this time. At this time. To be surprised if the guy who's serving as secretary of state and national security advisor had plans to run for president right now. I mean, he certainly isn't among the Republicans who were trying to set something up. But Marco Rubio, nobody should think that he wouldn't run if he saw an opportunity. Remember, this is the same guy who in 2016 decided to run against his mentor, Jeb Bush. The Bush team came to him and said, hey, Marco, this is not your time. You need to wait. Jeb has been preparing for this for a long time. And Rubio said politely, thanks for your guidance. I'm running anyway. If he sees an opportunity, he's going to run. Karen, who do you think Democrats are eyeing as someone who they would want to run? I think right now everybody's focused on the midterms to be quite honest. I know there are a lot of people who are signing up for the stands guard. I don't think there's a united front behind anyone right now. On both sides. On both sides. Let's talk if we could about what's

49:20happening at the Smithsonian Lonnie bunch announcing he is retiring. He says the environment is incredibly stressful. Actually, the opportunity to interview him. I want to play a little bit of that and get your reaction. I think the Smithsonian in some ways is the glue that helps hold a nation together. You look at who visits the Smithsonian. Everybody. Red States, blue States, whatever your politics, you come to the Smithsonian. Why? Because you want to understand who you are. The Smithsonian gives you ambiguity. It helps you understand complexity, nuance, subtlety, debate. And I think that that's a major contribution. If you could help people feel comfortable with ambiguity, then you could help the nation move forward. A lot of people are surprised he's stepping down to people just associate the Smithsonian with Lonnie bunch at Secretary, first African-American Secretary. We should note also what's the reaction been? I mean, the president has put a lot of pressure on the Smithsonian. I think that even if he says that's not the reason he's stepping down,

50:21I think it's hard to separate that from just the reality of what's been happening over the last two years. A lot of friends and family come to Washington DC. You take them to Smithsonian's because they're the greatest probably American institution we have right now. And I think that they will continue to be that, but that pressure definitely has mounted on the Smithsonian. Yeah. How's it being received in Republican circles? I think Republicans are pretty sympathetic to the arguments of the Trump administration making that this was woken activists. And look, you had some of the administrators, in fact, talk about the need to tie social justice and activism to the Smithsonian's, just a different approach. I wish the Trump administration hadn't been so aggressive in howning him out of office. There's a valid critique. They just didn't make it. Yeah. I think it's a shame, quite honest, but because we are in this moment in time where I think there's some defenders of democracy and what we want to be the message we give people. And I think this is an unfortunate one. And it was an unfortunate delivery that they just kept kind of hounding him until, you know, despite whatever we have said that they hounded him until he needed to step down and take a step back. Well, I feel fortunate I got to interview him a number of times.

51:25Thank you for this great conversation, Dan Taren and Stephen really appreciate it. We're back tomorrow with more Meet the Press now. There's more ahead on NBC News now. 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.