This Sunday, backlash. President Trump's border czar takes charge in Minneapolis. I'm not here because the federal government has carried this mission out perfectly. We'll do whatever we can to keep our country safe.
As tensions rise after two Americans are killed by federal agents, igniting a fight in Congress and a partial government shutdown. America does not support ICE terrorizing our communities. We intend to proceed with impeachment proceedings if Kristi Noem is not fired. What's next for immigration enforcement?
I'll talk to speaker of the House Mike Johnson. Plus full release. The Justice Department discloses millions of new documents from the Jeffrey Epstein files. I can assure that we complied with the statute, we complied with the act.
We did not protect President Trump. Did the Justice Department follow the law? I'll talk to Democratic Congressman Road Khanna of California, who led the Biden bipartisan effort to release the files and the Ken Burns effect. Our Meet the Moment conversation with the award winning documentary filmmaker Ken Burns on what the battles of the nation's past reveal about America today.
It takes good story to remind people of the thing that we share in common. Joining me for insight and analysis are Jonathan Martin of Politico, Adrian Elrod, former senior advisor to the Harris campaign, and Lonnie Chen, a fellow at the Hoover Institution. Welcome to Sunday. It's Meet the Press from NBC News in Washington, the longest running show in television history.
This is Meet the Press with Kristen Welken. Good Sunday morning. The United States government is in the midst of a partial shutdown with congressional Democrats threatening to withhold funding for the Department of Homeland Security until they can secure what they see as major and necess reforms to ice. Absent a path toward accomplishing dramatic change and making sure that ICE and DHS are conducting themselves like every other law enforcement agency in the country, then Republicans are going to cause another government shutdown.
While the Senate passed legislation on Friday to fund several agencies through the end of the year, it only funds DHS for two weeks so reforms can continue to be negotiated. The House will take up the Senate pass bill on Monday ensuring the partial shutdown lasts at least until then. The killings of US Citizens Renee Good and Alex Pred in Minneapolis have ignited a firestorm, with protests across the country growing. Responding to public outcry this week, President Trump pulling border commander Greg Bevino out of Minneapolis and sending in border czar Tom Homan.
No agency organization is perfect. President Trump and I, along with others in administration have recognized that certain improvements could and should be made. Meanwhile, on Friday, the Department of justice released what it says are the remaining Epstein files that are required to be released under the law. More than 3 million pages.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche telling reporters the DOJ did not protect President Trump or anybody else. Yes, I can assure that we complied with the statute, we complied with the act. And there is no, we didn't protect President Trump. We didn't protect or not protect anybody.
I mean, I think that, that we, that there's a hunger or a thirst for information that I do not think will be satisfied by the review of these documents. And, and there's, it's not, there's nothing I can do about that. And joining me now is speaker of the House Mike Johnson, Republican of Louisiana. Speaker Johnson, welcome back to MEET THE press.
Always great to be with you. Thanks. It is great to have you. And as we sit here today, we are in the midst of a partial government shutdown.
So I want to start right there. The latest reports are that you've spoken to Leader Hakeem Jeffries that he has made it clear that you don't have Democrat support to reopen the government. So let me put this bottom line question to you. Are you confident that the government will reopen on Monday with Republican votes?
Do you have enough Republican support? Well, let's say I'm confident that we'll do at least by Tuesday. We have a logistical challenge of getting everyone in town. And because of the conversation I had with Hakeem Jeffries, I know that we've got to pass a rule and probably do this mostly on our own.
I think that's very unfortunate. Here's what's happened. You know, the House and Senate appropriators worked very well together. Bicameral, bipartisan committee led process, especially after the 43 day shutdown, the longest in US history last, no one wanted to put that pain on the American people again.
The Democrats forced it. We were insistent that we would not allow that to happen. But you know, I tip my hat to everybody. Appropriations of both parties who got this together after the Senate acted over the weekend, we will now have 11 of 12 separate appropriations bills approved by both chambers.
Because they modified our package, they've sent it over a little differently, which means we've got to address the bills again. So they're going to separate the Department of Homeland Security bill. Our intention is by Tuesday to fund all agencies of the federal government except for that one. And we'll have two weeks of good face negotiations to figure it out.
And just bottom line, you think you have enough Republican votes to reopen the government by Tuesday? Yeah, because the Republicans are going to do a responsible thing and fund the government. They play razor thin margin. That's what I'm getting.
But we're going to demonstrate once again, this is the party that takes governing seriously. The Democrats play games with this. And I think it's very unfortunate because what they're doing is they're jeopardizing services to the American. When you're talking about Department Homeland Security, remember what's included in that, you have TSA agents for the airports.
You have the Coast Guard, you have fema. We're in the middle of a winter storm disaster on the East Coast. We can't play games with this. So let's talk about what Democrats are demanding as a part of this.
They want to see changes to dhs, to ICE in the wake of the deaths of those two Americans in Minneapolis. The changes they're asking for include an end to roaming patrols, no more face masks, mandatory body cameras, and judicial warrant requirements. Given what has been happening on the ground in Minneapolis, Mr. Speaker, do you support any or all of those changes?
Listen, there's been tragedies in Minnesota and in Minneapolis in particular, brought about in large measure by the circumstances on the ground. You have a governor and local officials there, in some cases inciting violence, encouraging citizens to disrupt the operations of law enforcement, and it sets up a dangerous situation. They're calling for peaceful protests. Well, they are, but they're also saying to resist.
They're also saying to, you know, they're doxing the agents of ice, the Immigration Customs Enforcement. And so when you're talking about masking, the reason that ICE agents wear masks is to protect their own identities and protect their own families. And in some circumstances, they've had a price put on their heads effectively by local officials, and that's what's created the dangerous conditions. But these state, local officials respectfully didn't pull the triggers that left these two Americans dead.
President Trump has even acknowledged that ISIS made mistakes. Do you think within that context, any changes need to be made to ISIS the way it's operating? Yes. Look, I think President Trump was right to acknowledge that.
I think he's operating in good faith. He said he wanted to turn the temperature down. He put Tom Holman in charge there. He was right to deputize him over that situation.
He has 40 years experience in Border Patrol and in these issues. So I think that this is going to happen. But we need good faith on both sides. Some of these conditions and requests they've made for obviously reasonable and should happen, but others are going to require a lot more gauche.
And you'll support some of those essay reasons? Yes. In fact, I was in yoga office with the president a few days ago when he was on the phone with Leo Schumer and they agreed. And Tom Holland was on the other line and they agreed to most of those conditions.
But the mask, for example, the additional judicial requirement for a warrant would be a whole other layer of effectively bureaucracy. Remember, the immigration judges have already issued warrants and that's what the ICE officials are acting upon. So there's a lot of details in this. We get deep in the weeds.
But we will do that over the next two weeks. And I hope that Democrats will be in good faith as Republicans are trying to bring some support. Are there any proposed changes you wouldn't agree with? They're demanding also roving patrols and body cameras be worn by ICE officials.
I think even Tom Holman has announced both of those things are acceptable and what he was intending to do already. So I think we're on the path to get agreement and I really hope their value will come to the table. That's what's going to be. Let me zoom out and ask you about Homeland Security Secretary Christy Noemi.
You know, there's been a lot of focus on her. Hours after Alex Creddy was killed, a Secretary Noem accused him of being a, quote, domestic terrorist. Before the investigation had been done, she said he had brandished a gun at agents, which videos and DHS itself later contradicted. Do you think the Department of Homeland Security needs new leadership, Mr.
Speaker? Look, I think Christy Noem has been called to do a very difficult job. Remember that the agency was effectively eviscerated for four years in the Biden administration. Wide open border.
So nearly 20 million illegal aliens came across that border. And many of them are dangerous, hardened criminals, even terrorists. So she's taken over a crushing assignment. I mean, anyone who's in that position would have a difficult time with it.
I think it's important for all of us at any level not to prejudge circumstances until we have facts. And I think that that's been a good reminder to everyone we've seen now in the last couple of days that that Mr. Preddy that passed, it was a tragic situation that he was involved in, at least in the week before that tragic event and inciting law enforcement. And you know, everybody's seen the video now, him kicking the taillights out of an ICE vehicle.
If local law enforcement had been involved, we have to ask ourselves this question. Would he still be alive right now because if they had apprehended him and he was in jail safely, he would not have been on the streets to have been involved in that circumstance. But you don't think kicking a tail light amounts to something that's punishable by death? Of course not.
No. And that was a separate circumstance. But the point is, it is it is unlawful to impede the operations law enforcement, and it sets up a dangerous situation when people do that. But you have 100 confidence in Christine.
Mr. Speaker, I do have confidence in Kristi Noem. I think that. Full confidence.
Yes, yes. Look, she has a difficult job. I have a lot of sympathy for her job. I got a difficult job, too.
Look, I think that there will be a recalibration, some measure. This is President Trump saying that they're going to look at the way operations are conducted. The intent is to rid our communities of dangerous illegal aliens, the hardened criminals who are here causing great havoc across the country. They need to continue that work, and that is fully supported by the American people.
All right, let me ask you about another major story. On Friday, the Justice Department released what it said were the rest of the Epstein files. A group of Epstein survivors responded with a statement saying it's not enough, saying, quote, epstein's enablers continue to benefit from secrecy. The Justice Department cannot claim it has finished releasing files until every legally required document is released and every abuser and enabler is fully exposed as long as the survivors say that not enough is being done.
Has DOJ finished its work, in your opinion? We all want every abuser and enabler to be fully exposed. We want justice to be done. It's long overdue.
But I do think the Department of Justice is complying with the law. We have now 3.5 million documents. You have over 2,000 videos and I think 180 images out there. And as soon as they finish the final release, they give us the full report to Congress, which is required under law.
And then they issue a, I think, the Federal Register they have to publish why they've made any redactions. The DOJ will have fully complied with the law and under job. But think of the mass, the volume of documents they've had to go through. Remember, they have to go through and make sure that they're protecting the innocent.
So some of these young women who were victimized, we do not want them to endure further harm. And so that's been the intention, is to make sure that their names are taken out. President Trump's name appears throughout the Epstein files, including in many of the documents released this week. Now, we want to stress appearing in the Epstein files does not amount to or imply criminal wrongdoing.
But do you have any outstanding questions, given that, about the relationship between President Trump and Jeffrey Epstein? I do not. I mean, I've spoken to the President about this privately and personally many times, and he's spoken very candidly and openly to the public. He says the same things privately that he does publicly.
He's never had any concern about that. Remember, President Trump was one of the first people that called Epstein out, and he kicked him out of Mar a Lago, off the property because he heard of some of the various things he was engaged in. He's never had any concern about that at all. He did at one point call these files a Democratic hoax.
But let me ask you about something. What he said specifically was the hoax of the Democrats trying to turn this into a political issue and use it against him. Let me ask you about something that Congressman Marjorie Taylor Greene, of course, who's now resigned from Congress last month in part over this fight to release the Epstein files. This is something she said about you in an interview with the New York Times.
I want to give you an opportunity to respond. She says, quote, I want you to know that Johnson is not our speaker. He is not our leader. And in the legislative branch, a totally separate body of government, he is literally 100% under the direct orders of the White House.
Mr. Speaker, how do you respond? Are you 100% under the records of the White House? It's comical.
If Marjorie had ever attended conference meetings and been involved as a member, she would know that that's simply not true. I vigorously defend Article 1 of the Constitution. That's legislative branch. I was a constitutional attorney before I became Speaker.
The president and I work closely together because we have unified government. That's what the American people voted for last fall. They gave the Republican Party control, the White House, the Senate, and the House. And the intention there is that you work efficiently and effectively together.
So the President and I have conversations, sometimes multiple times a day, about policy, procedures. We have a lot of our discussions and sometimes debates together behind the curtain, because you don't want to do that when you're in the same party, out in public. That has made a very effective, efficient government. And I will say this, the first year of the Trump administration that we just got through was probably one of the most productive in all the history of Congress.
And you can go back. That's what history is going to show. Very productive, very efficient, effective Government. We had reversed all the madness of the four years of Biden administration.
And we got so much done already and still more yesterday. Is there any area where you do disagree with President Trump? Is there one place that you can. Yes, but as I just said, we do this privately, not public.
I've got to support my president. Our party is leading. We are governing. We have closed the border.
We've got an economy going again. We've fulfilled our promises, and that's why we're going to win the midterm election. By the way, keep this going. Okay, you take me to my next question.
In fact, I want to talk to you about the midterms, and I want to play you something. This was a focus this week. President Trump said this last week at Davos. This was about the 2020 elections.
Take a look. It was a rigged election. Everybody now knows that. They found out.
People will soon be prosecuted for what they did. It's probably breaking news, but it should be. It was a rigged election. Can't have rigged elections.
Is it healthy for this country's democracy for the sitting president to be questioning the 2020 election? Five years ago, something claims that have been deemed to be false Again, now that he lost, what's healthy for our country and our democracies to be laser focused on election integrity? You don't have election integrity, Mr. Speaker.
This was asked and answered and litigated and re litigated. The page has been turned. He's still talking about an election that he lost. Allegations which have been deemed claimed.
The president is keeping the focus on election integrity. It must be in the forefront of everyone's minds, because if you don't have a free, fair election, you cannot maintain a constitution Republic. He's bothered by what happened in 2020. And we all know there was a lot of irregularity and problem in that.
We're not going to litigate it. That's not the point. What we have to do is go forward and ensure we don't have these problems in the future. That's why the House has passed the SAVE act twice already.
We have further election integrity measures that we're working on now, and everybody in both parties should applaud that they should support it. You're saying there were regulatory state, federal election officials called 2020 the most secure election in history. But let me ask you about what's happening in Georgia this week. FBI agents executed a warrant at an election hub in Fulton county seizing ballots and records tied to the 2020 election.
I want you to list Democratic Senator John Ossoff of Georgia had to say about this search. Take a look. And here's the thing. This is a shot across the bow at the midterm elections.
He tried to steal power when he lost it in 2020. We have to be prepared for all kinds of schemes and shenanigans. We have to be prepared for him to try to deprive people of their voting rights in Georgia. What do you say to that allegation that President Trump is going to meddle in the 2026 midterm elections?
That's what he's doing in Georgia. I find it comical that one of the senators from Georgia is talking about schemes in elections. Remember, Georgia was example a of that. In the 2020 election.
There were two statewide recounts in Georgia. Everyone, everyone knows all the problems that occurred in Georgia was very controversial and remains so to this day because of all the things that happen there. Again, we're not going to really get that. But we have to focus on is going forward to ensure that there are not questions about the elections.
And that's why Republicans are working at the federal and the state levels to clean those things up, clean up over rolls to make sure legals are not voting, for example. That's what the state act is about and we have to continue that. And the president is keeping a proper focus on it. This investigation is to ensure that all the questions about the elections in Fulton county are investigated properly so that people have confidence in the system.
Again, that's very important. But there are really no questions about election integrity from 2020 that have not been asked and answered, even though the Republican led governor has pointed out it's been years and no one has ever come forward under oath with evidence of fraud in Georgia. But let me ask you, you was it appropriate for the Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard? She was on the ground there.
She is prohibited by law from taking part in domestic law enforcement. Was it appropriate for her to be a part of the raid on the election center in Georgia? I don't know. I do believe the DNI has some involvement in some, some, some role to play in ensuring election integrity.
But I don't know the details of that and we have to reserve it for now. I will. The national security Act of 1947 bars US intelligence agencies from exercising law enforcement power. But we don't know that that's what happened there.
I don't know that she was part of law enforcement function there. Okay, let me ask you bottom line, do you have confidence in the results of the 2026 midterm elections, that they will be free and fair. I do because of all these efforts and the legislation that we've been working on and the efforts and the attention that we're keeping on this subject. I think it's very important.
Again, it's not partisan thing. Every American should applaud that. We'll continue. All right.
House leader Mike Johnson, thank you. Always Great. Thank you. Good to see you.
When we come back, Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna of California joins me next. Welcome back. And joining me now is Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna of California. Congressman, welcome back to MEET THE press.
Good morning, Kristen. Thank you so much for being here. I do want to dive right in and start with this trove of Epstein files that were released. Of course, you and Congressman Massey were behind the push to have these files released.
The DOJ says it's withholding large portions to protect survivors, to protect security. Has the Justice Department fully complied with the law, Congressman? No, they haven't. They've released at best half the documents.
But even those shock the conscience of this country. I mean, you have some of the most wealthy individuals, tech leaders, finance leaders, politicians, all implicated in some way having emails about wanting to go to Epstein's island knowing that Epstein was a pedophile. It's frankly one of the largest scandals in my view, in our country's history. And there is a demand for elite accountability.
But the survivors lawyers that I've talked to have said that the survivors are still upset. They're upset that many of their names accidentally came out without redactions and they want to make sure the rest of the files come out. You're talking about some of those big names being implicated. Are you suggesting that there should be more charges filed?
Because at this point in time, no new charges have been filed against anyone. I do think the prosecution needs to look at seriously bringing charges. But there are two different issues here, Chris. There's some people who committed crimes and that needs to be looked at.
And we need to understand who were some of the associates of Jeffrey Epstein. Those names haven't come out. In fact, they were covered up. We need to understand who may have abused or raped underage girls.
But then there's a broader issue, and that is that there are rich and powerful people who may not have committed a crime, but who are emailing Jeffrey Epstein well, after he's a pedophile, talking about going to his island, talking about wanting to participate in wild parties. And the American people are asking, how are rich and powerful people living in this country? What moral code Are they living by? Some of those revelations are deeply disturbing.
Let me ask you about what comes next from your perspective. You've threatened contempt charges and even impeachment for Attorney General Hambondi. And I wonder, are you at a point where you are prepared to, to move forward with contempt and impeachment charges against the attorney general? Well, as you know, Kristen, Thomas Massey and I brought this up in middle of December.
We still have not moved on it because we are trying to give the Justice Department some benefit of the doubt. They did do a release that was significant. I mean, this is the most documents that we have seen released so far in history. But it is not good enough.
And so Thomas Massey and I have requested a meeting with the deputy attorney general. He said he's open to meeting with members of Congress. He said he's open to explaining why the redactions were done. So I hope that we will have a meeting.
If we don't get the remaining files, if we do not get the remaining 302 forms, the remaining prosecution memo from 2019, and if the survivors are not happy, then Thomas Massey and I are prepared to move on impeachment or contempt. Okay. Well, let me ask you about another aspect of this. Former President Bill Clinton, who is named in the Epstein files, and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have refused to comply with the House opinions in the Epstein investigation.
We should note nearly half of your Democratic colleagues in the Oversight Committee voted to hold the former president in contempt. As a result, you voted no. Congressman, I do want to set aside whether you think the subpoenas are fair. Do you think anyone has the right to ignore a congressional subpoena?
No, I do not. And that's why I voted for civil contempt. And I've also said that President Clinton should come before the committee, but he should come after all the files have been released and he should come in conjunction with Donald Trump. But it's premature, in my view, to hold him in criminal contempt.
All right, let's turn to the partial government shutdown that, of course, started this weekend. Democrats did not get the DHS reforms that you all were asking for. You got two weeks to negotiate. There will be, it's expected, a House vote on Monday to reopen the government.
Where do you stand right now, Congressman? Will you be voting yes to reopen the government? I'm not just a no, I'm a firm no. And I'm going to advocate with colleagues that they vote no.
Look, Bernie Sanders introduced an amendment and he said let's repeal the additional $75 billion that ICE has, that's triple the budget. And that amendment, every single Democrat voted for it. It was not included in the package. I just don't see how in good conscience Democrats can vote for continuing ICE funding when they're killing American citizens when there's no provision to repeal the tripling of the budget.
I hope my colleagues will say no. But you're prepared to shut down the government for an extended period of time after the longest government shutdown in U.S. congressman? Well, we can, we can bracket the ICE funding.
We can open the remaining parts of government. There are a lot of other parts of government that we can fund. The ICE issue should be separated and certainly I don't think we could be giving an additional dollar to an agency that is patrolling the streets of not just immigrants, American citizens. I was in Minneapolis.
People, third and fourth generation Minnesotans were talking about tyranny. They were talking about ICE agents going to bookstores. They were talking about ICE agents following them to church. What is going on in our country is a violation of the First, Second and fourth Amendments.
I just in good conscience cannot vote to give more money to ICE agents as they're violating our constitutional rights. All right. You have joined more than 80% of House Democrats in calling for the impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem over her handling of Minneapolis if she doesn't resign first, some of your colleagues, including Senator Gary Peters, saying that impeach Noem actually won't address the root of the problem. So let me put that question to you.
How does impeaching Secretary Noem address the real root causes here? Because it goes after elite impunity. I'm tired of a country where the powerful don't have to take consequences. I mean, Secretary Noem not just turn a blind eye as Alex Predtry was killed.
They didn't talk about the facts after it. They insulted Alex Pretty's death to the point that read the parent statements as many viewers had. They're outraged that their 37 year old nurse is killed and then their son is killed and then the government is insulting their son. There has to be accountability.
Do I think impeaching Christine Noem is going to solve the issue of heist? No, but it's going to send a signal that you can't wield power without a check in this country. And that's what we have with ICE agents smashing windows, following people to church. Congressman, just finally, the Trump administration requested voter rolls from 24 states and the District of Columbia and this week, as you know, sent FBI agents to execute a search warrant at an election center in Georgia.
Do you have confidence that the 2026 midterm elections will be free and fair? I'm confident we will have an election. I believe they will use every tool in their toolbox to try to interfere with it, But I believe that the American people will overcome it. We'll overcome it by having a battalion of lawyers at the polls like we did when we passed Proposition 50 in my state in California, like we did in New Jersey and Virginia when Monkey Sherrell and Abigail Spanberger won.
We will overcome it by having governors make sure the law is followed and by just having a huge turnout. But we should be under no illusion. They will use every tool to try to make it hard because they know they're lo the public support. All right.
Congressman Ro Khanna, thank you so much for joining us this morning. Thank you, Kristen. And when we come back, how will President Trump's immigration crackdown impact the midterms? The panel is next.
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Listen daily on Amazon Music. Welcome back. The panelists here, Jonathan Martin, politics bureau chief and senior political columnist for Politico, Democratic strategist Adrian Elrod and Lonnie Chen, a fellow at the Hoover Institution. Welcome.
Thank you all for being here J Mart, let me start with you all eyes still really on Minneapolis. A lot of developments. We learned that five year old boy who'd been detained now ordered to be released. You have former CNN journalist Don Lemon, now independent journalist, arrested.
Add to that all of the protests, all against the backdrop of the midterms. How do you think this plays moving forward in this election cycle? Look, I think the events of the last two weeks illustrated President humbled, and you'll say the word humble, Donald Trump very often. But just look at his actions.
Okay, he backed off the tariffs going into Davos against the Europeans when come to Greenland, said he would not use force against Greenland. Then the following week he backs off what had been a signature element of his presidency, which is mass deportations, by basically sending Christina home, replacing her with Tom Homan and then effectively saying we're going to draw down in Minneapolis. He understands the politics of both are difficult for him and I think that's why he's taking those steps. The question going forward is can he make any progress unless still the same central issue for most Americans, which is a cost of living.
And I think that's gonna be a challenge for him. He has a motivated Democratic base. He's losing the center who are horrified what they're seeing in places like Minneapolis and they're looking for answers on the cost of living and on that he hasn't delivered yet. Lonnie, that's the key question.
What say you? Well, look, the setup here is not great for Republicans as we look at the internal elections. If you think about it historically, President Obama In 2010, President Clinton 94, they had approval ratings higher than where President Trump is Now, they lost 50 and 60 seats respectively. So the challenge we're seeing now is that the focus on the immigration issue, which had been advantaged for Republicans, this kind of turning the other direction.
And you also have floating around the affordability question, which that is going to be top of mind for voters. So immigration was a huge advantage for the president, a huge advantage of the election in 2024. Instead of talking about border security, the sort of domestic stuff that we've seen in Minnesota and elsewhere, I think has caused people to really change their minds and change their opinions about the handling of im. And it turned a positive unfortunately into potential negative.
Well, another positive for Democrats overnight, Adrian, we saw a state Senate race in Texas. The Democrat won. This was a district that President Trump won by 17 points in 2023 points swing over just a short amount of time, slightly over a year. I mean, look, the Bottom line is this.
Democrats have over performed in every special election up and down the ballot, including of course to two governors races in Virginia and New Jersey last year. A lot of state senate races, a lot of legislative races as well. Because Donald Trump is not doing what he said he was going to do, affordability. And he's taking an issue, as Lonnie mentioned, that was a very compelling issue for Republicans, immigration.
And he slipped his eyes out on his head. And it's now a huge weakness for the magic wing of the party and Republicans writ large. So the question becomes can he actually get some, can he solve this issue on immigration? Can he do the situation with eyes?
Can these reforms be had and can he actually try to turn back into positive by the midterm? Then things can be very difficult. J Mart, he's been very clear. He's worried about the midterms.
And we have this action in Fulton County. The FBI, they're conducting that raid. Tulsi Gabbardo, this scene even has said, I'm not sure what she was doing there. It's fueling concerns about what it means for them.
Well, I think it's about two words, job security for Tulsi Gabbard. Look, I think the common thread here, whether it's Tulsi Gabbard going to Fulton county to sniff around ballots from the election of five plus years ago, or whether it's Pam Bondi at DOJ who cannot get an indictment on Adam Schiff test James and James Comey who Trump wants indictments on, therefore trying to go out every day, every week and find some new target to buy herself time to keep Trump placated. It's the common threat. He has folks to his administration who are trying to do his bidding to protect their own job security.
Christy Noem, I thought you wanted a hard line on immigration. That's why I gave you turns out that was too murder line in Minneapolis. She's now in some danger, I think politically. So that's the common thread here.
It's folks who are trying to keep the president happy. It's an audience of one, but it leads them to absurd ends. The head of the DNI at the Fulton County Admin had. There's no reason for that.
Yeah. There's no purpose for her being there except to play K to audience one. Right. The president's strategy has been to flood the zone.
Right. And he believes that all news is good news. The reality is that this election in November is going to come down to a very narrow set of issues. And unless the administration, Republicans can focus on these questions around affordability.
There is going to be an electoral price to be paid and the potential price of whether it's what Gabbard is doing, all of different stuff. I mean, at some point something will not stick to the wall. Something has to stick to the wall. That something has to be affordability message for Republicans to be successful in the room.
Adrian, do you get the sense that Democrats are watching what's happening in Fulton county very closely? Of course. Absolutely. I mean, the Republicans know that they don't have the votes because Democrats are outperforming.
Like I mentioned in all these special overperforming in multiple districts. The issues are not winning for the Republicans. So what is more, they're going to resort back to the same tactics they've used time and time again, which is to try to the elections and intimidate voters. All right, guys, great conversation.
Thank you so much for being here. Appreciate it. When we come back, what's it like to win gold at the Olympics? I'll meet the president is next.
Welcome back. The Winter Olympics kick off on NBC this week with Team USA sending its largest ever winter US Delegation to Milan, New Jersey Nets point guard Jason Kidd wore the red, white and Blue at the 2000 Summer Games, helping lead Team USA to an undefeated run and a gold medal. And as the Olympics returned to American soil in 2017, in 2002, Kidd joined Meet the PRESS to reflect on what that moment meant. The Winter Olympics are going on.
Salt Lake City. Go back to 2000 Summer Olympics. You win the gold medal. What is it like as an American athlete standing on the riser, having a gold medal around your neck and listening to the national anthem?
It's the greatest thing. I haven't been able to win a world championship. So to be able to represent your country, I think is the biggest thing that an athlete can do because you're going against the best in the world. And to be able to hear the national anthem, you're sitting there on top and you can reflect because you represent not just New Jersey or Philly, you represent the United States.
And that's the greatest feeling for any athlete. When we come back, our Meet the Moment conversation with documentary filmmaker Ken Burns. MEET the Moment is sponsored by Vanguard. Welcome back.
Documentary filmmaker Ken Burns has been capturing the past for nearly 50 years and chronicling some of the most significant events in American history, from the Civil War to the origins of baseball. He's been hailed as one of the most influential documentary filmmakers of all time, picking up multiple Emmys, Grammys and Oscar nominations. As America approaches its 250th birthday, Burns turned his attention toward the American Revolution in his latest series, telling the stories of the men and women who built America through sacrifice and struggle. America is predicated on an idea that tells us who we are, where we came from, and what our forebears were willing to die for.
Collins said, no taxation without representation. Fear was, if we give in to this precedent, what will they do in the future? I sat down with Burns for a meet the moment conversation about what history can teach us about overcoming our differences today. Why was now the right moment to retell the story of the American Revolution?
It's such a wonderful and fortuitous accident. The now started 10 years ago, more than 10 years ago, when we were finishing up our series on the Vietnam War and I was looking at a map of the Central Highlands and I thought, maybe this could be the British moving west on Long island towards Brooklyn. Maybe we can do. Despite the absence of photographs and newsreels, maybe we can do the revolution.
So I spoke up and I said, we're doing the revolution next. No idea that it would come falling close to 250 at a place where Americans are so anxious about the future. Will there be another 250 or another 10 years? You know, And I think that that kind of existential, fraught moment gives us an opportunity to allow the story of the American Revolution, the complicated story of the American Revolution, to help us understand history is our best teacher.
And it can be a helpful guide for everybody. No matter your disposition, political orientation, age, whatever it is. History can be an incredibly important way to digest the present and then figure out what your response is and to imagine the future together. One of the aspects of the American Revolution that you capture so powerfully that you're referencing in this documentary is the fact that a lot of people think of the American Revolution in glossy terms.
The Founding Fathers in Philadelphia crafting the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution. But this documentary makes the point that this was a bloody, years long battle that claimed so many lives and that frankly impacted every single person in this territory. So pervasive. And I think we have sanitized the war and I think it's out of an understandable fear that if somehow we reveal how dark and bloody it is, that it will somehow diminish those big ideas in Philadelphia in 76 and then 11 years later in 87, when they do the Constitution, it doesn't.
Those ideas are made even more impressive because of the improbability of the struggle, the odds against success, the time it took to do it. All of the problems, the winters of Valley Forge and wars down in which people are dying of disease. This coincides with a continent wide pandemic or pandemics. And one of the big arguments of the time is whether you inoculate the troops.
There's a failed invasion of Canada. Our desired to make it the 40. I mean the rhymes to this moment are so particularly helpful because I think we can, as we Chicken Little say the sky is falling. You know, everything is bad.
We're so divided, we're really divided. But we're way more divided then way more divided during the Civil War, way more divided during the Vietnam period. And so I see that division as sort of a mile wide, but an inch thick. And it takes good story to remind people of the thing that we share in common.
And in watching this documentary I kept thinking to myself that one of the takeaways, one of the points that you make is the power of this country's democracy and its fragility. At the same time, it's really true. And I found that in film after film after film. You know, we made a film a few years ago called the US and the Holocaust.
And you, you really realized that if you wanted to be in the most cosmopolitan place on earth where everything in architecture and cinema and painting and music and thinking was going on, Berlin in 1932 would be the best place. And the next January, not so much. And so you see how quickly the veneer of civilization can be pierced and that it and the founders understood that they were really trying to reverse engineer all sorts of things. You know, they put as Article one, not the Executive, that's Article two.
The Executive is the manager who carries out the wishes of the Congress. So I think if the founders came here, they would not be surprised at all that somebody was seeking more authoritarian power. They would be abjectly disappointed that Article 1, the legislative branch had abdicated so much of the power because that's what they thought would be the bulwark against the inevitable thing. Remember on July 4, 1776, most people had been through time subjects and we were creating a new thing called citizen.
And it had a lot of responsibilities entailed with it. I want to talk to you a little bit about you personally, how you became Ken Burns. You talk about the fact that the passing of your mother was deeply devastating to you and that it was deeply impactful. Talk a little bit about your mom, losing her and how that created who you are today.
My mom got cancer when she was when I was three or four. And there was never a moment growing up where we didn't have this horrific impending tragedy about to happen. And I was even told when I was in second grade, seven years old, that she was going to die in six months. But she lived.
Almost to my 12th birthday just a few months ago, I got through the sixth grade, or just almost through the sixth grade, and she died. And my father would have this trick curfew, but he would. He would let me stay at night and watch movies with him. I saw him cry for the first time in a movie.
And he hadn't cried when my mom was sick of her, when she died. And I noticed it, and friends had noticed it. And then here was this emotional safe haven. So I know in 1965, I was now 12, I wanted to be a filmmaker.
And that meant Alfred Hitchcock or John Ford or whatever. And I went to Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts, which was brand new and experimenting. I came the second year and all the teachers were social, documentary, still photographers and filmmakers, reminding me that there is as much drama in what is and what was as anything that the human imagination dreams of. And by the time I was working on my final project there in 74 and 70, I was doing a history film.
And I've done it ever since. Later on, in a crisis, my late father in law, who was a psychologist, I told him, I seem to be keeping my mother alive. And he said, I bet you blew out your candles wishing she'd come back. And I said, how did you know that?
And he said, look what you do for a living. You wake the dead, you make your brain like and come alive. Who do you think you're really trying to wake up? And so you realize that grief is this incredibly devastating force in our lives, but it also is a propellant.
And sometimes most of us, as much as we want to order our lives and have the metaphorical gated community against everything and try to solve for any kind of free electron, we're really actually made often by the tragedies that we suffer. And that I am, I wouldn't be talking to you if no mother had died. And that's part of the tragedy and loss of it. And it's also part of what makes us as human beings, able to overcome these things.
And to say, not in a conscious way, but I have, in retrospect, been able to put the grief into the service of communicating to myself, my colleagues, and most importantly, to my fellow citizens, the glories of our story in all their complications. So powerful to hear from him about that. My huge thanks to Ken Burns for a truly incredible conversation. And you can watch my full interview with [email protected] that is all for today.
Thank you so much for watching. Make sure to tune into the Winter Olympics on NBC starting Friday, February 6th and for the next three Sundays. We will be back after the Olympics on March 1st, because if it's Sunday, it's Meet the Press. Hey everyone, I'm Dylan Drier, co host of the third hour of TODAY and mom to three wild boys.
I've learned a lot my years as a parent, mostly that I don't have it all figured out yet. And I'm not the only one. This is my new podcast, the Parent Chat. Each week I sit down with someone new for honest conversation and real world advice about parenting.
I am over here just like winging it. Hey, I'm trying not to screw my own kid. I'm not giving you a stricter chat on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts.