This Sunday, can't paint kickoff. Oh, you don't like that bill, huh? A combative President Biden makes his case for a second term, taking on concerns over his age and threats to democracy. You can't love your country only when you win.
While Donald Trump becomes the presumptive GOP nominee, after Nikki Haley drops out, but holds off, endorsing. November 5th is going to go down as the single most important day in the history of our country. This is now his time for choosing. How will Trump and Biden battle in the next eight months?
Everything Joe Biden touches turns to shit. When he says he wants to be a dictator, I believe it. Will they face off on a debate stage? That's a choice that is going to be decided upon soon and we'll keep you posted.
Could a third party candidate act as a spoiler? My guests this morning, Democratic Senator Rafael Warnock of Georgia, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, and Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff of California, now competing for a U.S. Senate seat this fall. Joining me for insight and analysis are NBC News senior White House correspondent, Kelly O'Donnell, Politico, playbook, co-author Eugene Daniels, Mark Morial, the president of the National Urban League, and Republican strategist, Sarah Fagan.
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 Welker. Good Sunday morning, the general election race for the White House has officially started this week, and on Saturday, President Biden, and former President Trump faced off in battleground Georgia, a state Mr. Biden won in 2020 by fewer than 12,000 votes.
Mr. Biden wasted no time taking aim at the former president, including for hosting Hungarian autocrat, Victor Orban, at his Mar-a-Lago club on Friday. Here's a guy who's kicking off his general election campaign up with Marjorie Taylor Greene. He can tell you a lot about a person who he keeps coming with.
And yesterday, he was hosting at his club, Victor Orban. He says he doesn't think democracy works. When he says he wants to be a dictator, I believe him. I knew this morning, NBC News's first to report that Biden's reelection effort brought in $10 million in the 24 hours following his state of the union address, a record haul for his campaign.
The Biden team is leaning into its early cash edge against former President Trump, launching a new ad that takes on the issue of his age directly while contrasting his record with Mr. Trump's. Look, I'm not a young guy. That's no secret.
But here's the deal. I understand how to get things done for the American people. Donald Trump believes the job of the president is to take care of Donald Trump. I believe the job of the president is to fight for you, the American people.
And that's what I'm doing. The ad is the first in a $30 million blitz that will target key battleground states over the next six weeks. Biden's Georgia visit follows a stop in Pennsylvania on Friday. Next week he'll barnstorm key states, including New Hampshire, Wisconsin and Michigan.
Vice President Harris was in Arizona and Nevada this weekend. And cabinet secretaries are hitting the road to sell President Biden's agenda as well. 60 miles away from President Biden's event in Atlanta in Rome, Georgia, former President Trump painted a dark picture of America, calling the press criminals and mocking President Biden for having a stutter. Two nights ago, we all heard Crooked Joe's angry, dark, hate-filled rant of a state of the union address.
Wasn't it? Didn't it bring us together? It brings the country together. I'm going to bring it together.
Everything Joe Biden touches turns everything. And joining me now is Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock of Georgia, who campaigned with the president on Saturday in Atlanta. Senator Warnock, welcome back to Meet the Press. Good morning.
Happy Sunday morning to you. Happy Sunday morning to you. Thank you so much for being here. Well, you just heard what former President Trump had to say about President Biden in indication that this campaign is already shaping up to be a brutal one.
How should President Biden respond to those types of attacks, Senator? Well, sadly, if I were to ask you, are you surprised? Is anybody surprised by what we heard coming out of the mouth of the former president? The answer is no.
This is who Donald Trump is. And I have to tell you, as the father of a five-year-old and a seven-year-old, it's terrible when you have to bleep the words from a former president. But Joe Biden has tried to test it and true. He's seen his nonsense before.
He saw it and experienced it the other night with the other side heckling in the middle of the president's speech. And he pressed on because he's not focused on himself. Unlike his challenger, he's not focused on what this election means for him, as Donald Trump runs from the jailhouse. He's focused on what this election means for the American people, the people of Georgia.
And he spoke with power the other night about the future. Well, let's talk about your home state now, Georgia. President Biden won it narrowly in 2020 by fewer than 12,000 votes. Now polls show that he's actually trailing former President Trump.
You're not going to be on the ballot this year. What do you say to Democrats who say they are afraid that Georgia is out of reach? I say so, drawn. As someone who has had his name on the ballot in Georgia five times in three years, I know a little bit about what it means to run in Georgia.
And the road to the White House leads straight through Georgia. He won by 12,000 votes or less than 12,000 votes. Folks, by the way, the ex-president tried to steal, but he's president of the United States and Georgia's going to show up in a strong way for Joe Biden. Let me ask you about this twist we learned about this week.
No labels is reportedly considering Georgia's former Republican lieutenant governor, Jeff Duncan, to potentially lead a unity ticket. How could that impact the results of Georgia? Could that make it all but nearly impossible for Joe Biden to win? Listen, it's still relatively early in the campaign season.
And I think that the more we hear from the Donald Trump that we just heard from a little while ago, the clearer it's going to be to people that at the end of the day, this is a binary choice. And the question is, do you want the America of January 5th that sent its first black senator from Georgia, its first Jewish senator from Georgia to the United States Senate? Or do you want the America of January 6th to push forward by a president who continues to advance the big lie about the election and behind that lie is the lie that this new multiracial democracy does not get to determine the future of the country. He's looking backward, Joe Biden is looking forward, and I think at the end of the day, the people of Georgia will see that choice, that binary choice very clearly, and they'll do the right thing for Joe Biden as they did for me.
But Senator, if no labels were to run a unity ticket, one that included Jeff Duncan, could that not spoil the race for Joe Biden? You don't deny that, do you? Listen, I think that the people of Georgia are at the end of the day asking, who's in the fight for them? And as I sat the other night and listened to the president's speech, I'll tell you, I said to my colleagues, I don't know if that was Joe Biden or Joe Lewis, because the man came out fighting, and he never let up, and he's not going to let up between now and November.
I think the people of Georgia will recognize that when it came time to forgive the student debt of people who've just been mired in debt, young people who have had a mortgage just trying to deal with their future, that Joe Biden, with one hand behind his back with a Republican suing him, did $138 billion of student debt relief, that's closing the racial wealth gap, the man's got receipts, and the people of Georgia will show up for him in November. Senator, let me ask you about this, neither President Biden nor Vice President Harris have committed to President Biden debating Mr. Trump. Do you think the American people deserve to see these two candidates debate in a general election?
Oh, listen, I think the debate is already underway. And again, this is a binary choice. But Senator, should they formally debate? You know what I'm asking, Senator?
Should there be a formal debate between President Biden and former President Trump? I support debates, but I'm not a part of the president's campaign. I represent the people of Georgia and the United States Senate, and I think we're going to hear a fierce argument in the months ahead, and the contrast couldn't be clearer. Let's talk about the war in the Middle East now.
In the state of the Union Address, President Biden announced that the U.S. is building a port to get more humanitarian aid into Gaza, could take as long as 60 days. Doctors Without Borders called it, quote, a glaring distraction from the real problem. Israel's indiscriminate and disproportionate military campaign and punishing siege.
Is sending war aid enough, Senator, when innocent civilians are being killed and are dying every day? Listen, we have got to find our way quickly to the path at least at peace. That's why the other night on the floor of the United States Senate, I pushed for a ceasefire. I think the president, I know the president is working hard to get to a ceasefire.
Mr. Netanyahu has got to recognize that we've already seen the deaths of some 30,000 Palestinians, many of them innocent women, men, and children. You know, I think about this not just as a senator and even not just as a pastor, but as a father, last night, as I was putting my own children to bed and dealing with my son as he was dealing with an incessant cough, I thought about parents in Gaza. It's a terrible thing as a parent when your kid is sick.
And there I was just dealing with a cold. And I thought about the fact that their parents in Gaza right now, who are dealing with the ordinary challenges that children deal with, who have seen amputations of children without anesthesia, their children who are wounded, with no living weapons, with no living relatives. And so we've got to find our way to peace quickly. Well, at the same time, trying to get humanitarian aid in there as quickly as possible.
You take me to my next point in an interview with MSNBC's Jonathan Capehart, President Biden said he is, quote, never going to leave Israel. Do you think there should be a red line when it comes to supporting Israel? Well, I think that we've got to continue to lean on Mr. Netanyahu.
We've got to insist that this cannot continue in this way. The way a war is carried out is important. But do you have a red line, Senator? Do you have a red line, Senator?
Is there a red line for you, particularly when it comes to going into Rafa, for example? I stated that very clearly the other night on the floor of the United States Senate that I think that to go into Rafa, the humanitarian experts, the folks who are trying to get aid in, the folks who have no political dog in this fight have said that if they go into Rafa, you could lose up to 85,000 more Palestinians in six months. I think that that is morally unjustifiable and unconscionable. Yeah.
And as we make our way to the holy season of Ramadan and Passover, thereafter, I hope people will dig deep into the moral cisterns dug by ancestors that they will reach toward the highest ideals in our humanity, center the children, and find our way to that path at least in peace. Senator, finally, let me just ask you about another developing story in your state, Fulton County District Attorney, Bonnie Willis, could be thrown off of Donald Trump's 2020 election interference case in Georgia, after admitting that she had that personal relationship with the lead prosecutor, though she argues there was no impropriety. Do you think that relationship undercuts the integrity of the case, and should she step down? Listen, we are watching our judicial process play out, and I know that there are folks, unfortunately, in the state of Georgia politicians who are trying to put their hand on the scale.
I'm not going to power on. I'm not going to add to that. I will watch this process play out, and we will see where the chips fall, but at the end of the day, here's what Donald Trump deserves. He deserves to have a fair trial before his jury of his peers, and in this case, his voters of Georgia, and we need to see that play out.
And given that, do you think that the optics have become so complicated around this that Bonnie Willis should step down for the better good of the case that you just talked about? Listen, I think this case is being played out before a judge, and that judge will have to make a decision not based on optics, but based on the law. And that's the wonderful thing about America. We believe that no one is above the law, including Donald Trump.
Senator Raphael Warnock, thank you so much for joining us on this Sunday. We really appreciate it. And when we come back, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina joins me next. Welcome back.
More than two years into the war in Ukraine, the death toll and desperation are growing as Ukraine's troops are rationing ammunition. While Congress debates what to do next, 60 billion dollars in aid to Ukraine is stalled on Capitol Hill. In his State of the Union address, President Biden pleaded with Congress to act. If anybody in this room thinks Putin will stop at Ukraine, I assure you he will not.
I say this to Congress. We have to stand up to Putin. Send me a bipartisan national security bill. History is literally watching.
Joining me now is Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. Senator Graham, welcome back to me. Thank you. Thank you very much.
Thanks for being here. We are going to get to Ukraine. I want to start with Israel. I want to get your response to how President Biden reacted to MSNBC's Jonathan Capehart about that hot mic moment where he was overheard saying he's going to have a come to Jesus moment with Prime Minister Netanyahu.
Here's what he said. He's hurting my view. He's hurting Israel more than helping Israel by making the rest of the world. It's contrary to what Israel stands for.
And I think it's a big mistake. Senator, do you agree that Prime Minister Netanyahu is hurting Israel by not doing more to address the humanitarian crisis? No, I really don't. I'd like to help the humanitarian crisis.
But when the President of the United States talks about B.B. and not Hamas, we're missing the vote here. When you talk about red lines against Israel, we should be talking about red lines against Iran. Israel is not killing American soldiers.
Iran is due to their proxies. So I would urge President Biden to hold a great state in Iran accountable for killing soldiers in Jordan and attacking shipping. So yeah, I think he's got it backwards. We should be all in and helping Israel.
We should try to help the humanitarian crisis. But don't say or do anything that would empower our enemy. And President Biden does spend plenty of time talking about Hamas. The issue here is they're not more than Israel can do to help the humanitarian crisis open up for their own port in the area.
Stay tuned in that area. I think Israel will be coming up with some sea corridor relief ideas. But the lie that struck me the most in the State of the Union, he told Hamas if you release the hostages, the world will be over. I literally about fell out of my seat.
Is the President saying that if the hostages are released by Hamas, they can stay in power? That ends the conflict. I want to be very clear about this. President Trump believes it's non-negotiable when it comes to Hamas.
They have to be destroyed militarily. They can't be in charge. I'm challenging the Biden administration today to clear this up. You cannot allow Hamas to stay in power.
You can't allow them to have six brigades to do October 7th again. So the hostage issue is important. But we have to have a non-negotiable policy when it comes to destroying the military capability of Hamas. And President Biden said that he does stand firmly behind that objective.
Well, he should have said the war is over if he released the hostages. It will not be over. And that hostage negotiation, that potential temporary ceasefire, those talks have currently stalled. Let's move on to Ukraine center.
You have always supported aid to Ukraine. You argued it's critical to keeping Putin from invading its NATO allies. Now, former President Trump has said that he would only support it if it came in the form of a loan. And that's not typically how the United States supports our allies.
Why do you think that's the best force of action right now, Senator? We're $34 trillion in debt. Nobody wants to have Ukraine more than I do. But President Trump is trying to do two things here.
Help an ally, but tell the American people, pass back if you can. I think most Americans would like to help Ukraine. But the idea of giving and never being repaid should be off the table. He mentioned this to me.
I think playing golf. Why don't we make it alone? Well, we did that in World War II with Britain. So when you're $34 trillion in debt, you need to be thinking about the American people, just not allies.
So I think the loan is the way to get the aid to Ukraine. He will be speaking. President Trump to the Speaker tomorrow or Tuesday about turning the aid into a loan. It'll be forgivable.
No interest. They have tons of minerals in Ukraine. You get back on your feet. Try to pay us back.
Trump told you he's going to reach out to the Speaker. Are you confident this is something the White House would sign on to? I can't imagine any member of Congress would object to trying to get our allies to pay us back when we're $34 trillion in debt. If they can't, we're talking about a waivable, no interest loan.
But the idea of not changing when you're this foreign debt, I think most people would welcome it. Let me get you to respond to something that Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski had to say. She said the following about the influence of former President Trump. Quote, let's just not even exist as a Senate then if we have to ask permission from Donald Trump for everything we do.
Let's just do our work. Is Donald Trump ultimately calling the shots in the Senate, Senator Graham? No. I mean, I voted against things that he doesn't like.
The point is, to Lisa, would you support the idea that our allies should pay us back if they can when we're $34 trillion in debt? This is America First in Action. It's not isolationism, but it is considering the needs of the American people. I hope to be going to Ukraine soon, and I hope to be able to tell them that aid is coming.
It will be in a form of a loan. Pass back if you can. I want Russia to know if you think Ukraine's going to be out of this fight, you're dead wrong. You know, Senator Mitt Romney said that Ukraine's economy has just been devastated, that there's no possible way they'll be able to pay back alone.
What if they can't pay back this loan set? Well, then we're not, it'll be waivable, no interest. We're not trying to make money here. We're trying to protect the interests of the American people.
They're sitting on some of the most rich, mineral deposits into history of Europe. If they can get back on their feet with our help, see if they can pass back. Same with Taiwan. So, Senator Romney, what's wrong with asking people to pass back if they can't?
Let me move to the border now, another area where former President Trump has had an influence. There was a deal that came together in the Senate, never got an actual vote. You were very supportive of it initially here, but you said about it in January. This is the best chance I've seen since I've been up here to have true border security reform.
To those who think that if President Trump wins, which I hope he does, that we can get a better deal, you won't. In a state of the Union address, President Biden accused Trump of effectively playing politics and derailing this deal. Is he right? Senator, you really supported this and then turned against it.
Well, there was no real parole reform. The man who killed Lake and Raleigh was paroled in the United States. He came from Venezuela. So, President Biden is apologizing for calling him an illegal immigrant, the alleged murderer.
President Trump went to Georgia to meet with a family of Miss Raleigh to apologize for a country that allowed the killer to get in. So, I voted against the bill because it was insufficient on parole, but there will be border security attached to the loan idea. Yeah, a couple of things. I mean, President Biden said that the term that is now used is undocumented.
But let me just get back to this deal. But you really pisses me off. Senator, let me just get back to this deal though because the border security union endorsed this bill. Is it something better than nothing given the crisis that you are talking about?
Good question. They also endorsed my idea. You know, have a break last moment at 5,000. When you get to 5,000 a day, you shut down the border.
The border patrol union said 8,000 a day is a crisis. 5,000 is a disaster. So, the bill can be made better. They will be a bill.
Remain in Mexico is the key. The border patrol told me that if you go back to Romania, Mexico, 70% of it goes away. I think the house will pass the Romanian Mexico bill. But you know better than I do.
Remain in Mexico is dead on arrival. No, it's not. Well, at this current point in time, it doesn't seem to have the votes in the Senate. We'll see.
Let's move on to something that happened this weekend at Mar-a-Lago on Friday. Donald Trump met with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, just for our viewers to remind them Orban believes that liberal democracy doesn't work. He's packed Hungary's courts with loyalists. He sees control of media outlets.
He's friends with Putin. He's friends with Xi. This is what Trump said about Orban on Friday. There's nobody that's better, smarter, or a better leader than Viktor Orban.
He's fantastic. As another Prime Minister, honey, and does a great job. He's a non-controversial figure because he said this is the way it's going to be. And that's the end of it.
But he's the boss. Do you think Viktor Orban's leadership is something that Trump aspires to in a second term? I think the best way to judge President Trump's second term is about what he did in his first term. You know, Russia didn't invade on President Trump's watch.
Hamas didn't try to destroy Israel on his watch. The Afghanistan, the Taliban weren't in charge on his watch. So here's what I would say. If you're worried about the world being on fire, you're right.
If you think Joe Biden's policies are lack of deterrence and he's weak in the eyes of our enemies, you're right. So if you want to get the world back in order, you better vote for Trump. But you know that former President Trump has talked about being a dictator on day one. He said it's nice to have a strong man running our country.
He's talked about retribution in a second term, Senator. You know what he said? Retribution would be success. Did, you know, who knocked Trump off the ballot in Colorado?
Who knocked Trump off the ballot in Maine? There's a liberal jihad against everything Trump. I'm not worried about Trump destroying democracy. I'm worried about Joe Biden destroying the world.
Those were Republicans and the Supreme Court has not put it back on the ballot. But the point you're trying to ask me is Trump bad for this country? No, I would say that Joe Biden's policies are bad for America and have got the world on fire. Senator, just be very clear though, he is aligning himself with Viktor Orban who's a member of NATO who just voted to last sweetened it.
Who has? Sweetened it. Reluctantly though. Orban's not on the ballot.
Let's have a debate. Okay. Orban's not on the ballot. You got to vote between Trump and Biden.
Biden screwed the world up everywhere you can. Broken borders, the world's on fire. If he's really is back, if he's with it, if he's energetic, get in a room with Donald Trump in debate. Take questions from people like yourself rather than reading a teleprompter.
If there's ever an election in the history of America that deserves debate between two candidates, it's this election. Trump just told me. The campaign just told me. Anytime anywhere.
Let's debate. All right. Very quickly. Trump has said to Putin that he would welcome him invading a NATO country.
Senator, if they didn't pay their bills, should people not hear that rhetoric and feel as though he is potentially aligning himself with the type of leadership that Orban has shown? That was in reference to NATO paying their fair share. There are 19 nations that don't pay the 2% they're supposed to. When Trump was president.
He had a point. No, no, that's not. He shouldn't say that. The point is Russia didn't invade Ukraine when Trump was president.
The world of the Arabs recognized Israel through the Abraham courts when Trump was president. If you want to look at who's the most stable person for the world by versus Trump, Trump wins in a landslide. Well, just to be very clear, you mentioned a lot of different things when you talk about the Afghanistan withdrawal. That's something that Trump had actually put into place before Biden got into office.
Well, because it happened when he was in office. But let's move on to TikTok. Very quickly, Senator. The House is planning to vote as you know this coming week on a bill that would force a Chinese company to sell TikTok or face being banned.
Yeah. Trump initially favored banning TikTok. Now he's opposed. He's expressing his opposition.
Do you support banning TikTok? Where do you fall? I'm not sure American data that TikTok collects doesn't fall on the hands of the Communist Chinese Party. I'm really conflicted here.
I know this about social media. They're ruining America. They're so sexual predators abound on these sites. You can't sue social media companies.
There's no regulatory body. That's what I'm focused on banning TikTok. Maybe that's necessary to protect American data from China, but if you can find a way to avoid that, that'd be good too. You are a strong supporter of it in 2020 though.
Do you no longer? No. I understand people like TikTok. I would like to keep TikTok running, but not have our data used by the Communist Chinese Party.
How do you vote on this? I don't know yet. But one thing I'm not conflicted about, every social media company should be sued if they do damage to your and your family. They're protected from lawsuits.
Section 230 needs to go. Senator Lindsey Graham, thank you so much for being here. Appreciate it. And when we come back, Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff of California hoping to be the next Senator from the state joins me next.
It looks like we're going to the General, ladies and gentlemen, with an hours of our announcement to certain Kevin McCarthy kicked me off the intelligence committee. Trump would attack me after rally after rally. And I think all those things were basically what we would call Wednesday. But you had my back every step of the way.
Welcome back, Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff was the top vote getter in this week's primary to replace the late California Senator Dianne Feinstein, advancing to the November runoff, facing off against Republican Steve Garvey, a former Major League Baseball player. And Congressman Adam Schiff joins me now. Congressman Schiff, welcome back to Meet the Press. Great to be with you.
Well, it is so great to have you. Let's talk about your race. Your former opponent, Congressman Katie Porter, is now saying that the California Senate race was, quote, rigged. That's, of course, a term that Trump used to describe the 2020 election.
Now, Porter says she was responding to, quote, an onslaught of billions spending, millionaires spending millions against her. What do you make of her using the term rigged? Well, first of all, Katie Porter ran a very tough campaign as to Barbara Lee. They both called to extend very gracious congratulations this week.
So I have nothing but respect for my colleagues. That term rigged, though, is a very low-term in the era of Trump. It connotes fraud or ballot stuffing, false claims, like those of Donald Trump. And I think what's remarkable is Democrats very quickly rallied to say, no, we don't use that language.
The election was legitimate. And this is a sharp contrast to how the Republican Party treats allegations of rigged elections, which is they've gone along with them. Indeed, they're urging President Trump to pardon the generous insurrectionists if he ever got a chance. So very different reaction among the parties to any kind of challenge to our democracy or suggestion that elections are illegitimate.
But look, my opponent's been very gracious and I have nothing but respect for them. So Congress would just to be very clear, Katie Porter conceded when she called you. She congratulated me, which I certainly viewed as a concession, and she was very gracious in her message to me. And I appreciated the call.
Look, I've been on both sides of elections, winning them and losing them. And it's tough. We're in a tough business. But her call could not have been more gracious.
All right. Well, look, your campaign spent millions of dollars in TV ads, spot lighting, the profile of former baseball star, Republican Steve Garvey, effectively elevating him over a number of your Democratic challengers. And as a result, Republicans turn out really boomed in a number of districts, including a lot of districts that Democrats were trying to hold on to or flip. Are you concerned that your actions may have helped Republicans to hold on to the House in 2024?
No, not at all. We're in the Chicago primary in California, so all of us were on the same debate stage, the lone Republican Steve Garvey and three Democrats. And yes, I emphasized my record of getting things done in California, protecting our democracy and our rights and our freedoms, including reproductive freedom, but also in after Steve Garvey. As did the other Democrats, the challenge I think my Democratic colleagues had was less Garvey, consulting Republicans, and more their inability to gain Democratic support.
My support among Democrats was more than twice my closest Democratic colleague. But in terms of turnout, this is a presidential cycle. And let's face it, we might think otherwise, running for Senate, it is the presidential candidates that drive turnout or fail to drive turnout. And we got to make sure in November that we turn out all these voters.
And I think frankly, not having one Democrat spend millions to bash another Democrat is probably helpful in those down ballot races because a lot of more of those resources will now go to winning over a Democratic seats. Well, you do take me to my next question, which is that your victory speech was interrupted by pro-Palestinian protesters. Are you concerned that President Biden's full-throated support of Israel could overshadow some of these races, could cost seats up and down the ballot? Look, I think President Biden is doing what he should do, and that is figure out what's right policy.
How do we bring this conflict to an end? How do we make sure that terrorist group like Hamas is no longer controlling Gaza? How do we get to a two-state solution? He's approaching it from what's the right thing to do?
And then figuring out, okay, what are the political consequences and how do I deal with them instead of the other way around? And frankly, I think that's exactly what he should do. We're going to have to work hard to motivate and turn out young people in particular. I think he's got a phenomenal record to appeal to young people.
No one's done more to reduce the burden of student debt that Joe Biden. No one's done more to attack climate change than Joe Biden. No one's done more to attack violence than Joe Biden. On a whole host of issues young people deeply care about, he's got an incredible record, but we can't take anything for granted.
And I think the highest priority has to be in turning young people out to vote. Congressman, let me ask you about this development this weekend. U.S. intelligence officials are planning to provide briefings for Donald Trump once he, if he officially secures the nomination, despite the fact that he's facing 40 felony charges for his handling of classified documents.
As the former chair of the House Intelligence Committee, do you think it's appropriate for him to receive intelligence briefings? Well, that is the practice. But we've never had a situation where one of the candidates or president has been so criminally negligent when it comes to handling, if not worse, when it comes to handling classified documents. So I have to hope, I know in the intelligence community, as I do, that they will dumb down the briefing for Donald Trump.
That is, they will give him no more information than absolutely necessary, nothing that would reveal sources or methods, because we can't trust that he will do the right thing with that information. He's been so reckless. So yes, it does concern me. It is part of a long tradition.
They will be wary of what they share with him, and they should. Final question here, Congressman. Let's talk about this TikTok debate on Capitol Hill, the House, expected to vote next week on a bill that would really crack down on the social media site. Do you support a ban of TikTok?
Will you vote for this legislation? I need to look at the legislation. I have not supported a ban on TikTok. In my view that when it comes to a platform or vehicle for speech, we need to look for the least restrictive means of meeting our objectives.
There are real privacy concerns. There are real security concerns. The question is, is there a way to meet those without banning a whole platform that millions of people like using? This is, I think, a divestiture bill, but I need to study it more before I make a decision.
All right. Well, we'll watch it closely, and let us know once you have made a decision. Congressman Schiff, thank you so much for joining us this morning. We really appreciate it.
And when we come back, the response to the president's state of the union is always a difficult assignment. We look back at a tradition that started in 1966. Our Meet the Press Minute is next. Stay with us.
Welcome back. The state of the union response, which Alabama Senator Katie Britt delivered this week, is a tradition that dates back to 1966, that year Senator Everett Dirksen, and then Congressman Gerald Ford, both Republican party leaders, prepared their own address to challenge President Lyndon Johnson. Gerald Ford joined this broadcast the day before the speech to defend this novel idea. We believe that the public needs and deserves the other side of the coin, that they should get both sides of the appraisal of the state of the union, both domestic and international.
And we will make some specific recommendations, legislatively speaking. Senator Dirksen will make some observations and comments and perhaps recommendations concerning international affairs. Would a rude person call this kind of 1966 campaign document, Mr. Ford?
I hope not. We will try to be objective. We will try to give the American people the other side. We believe this will help to strengthen the American political system.
And for that reason, we're giving it. When we come back, it's the rematch voters said they didn't want. Now the Biden Trump race will play out over the next 240 days. Our panel is next.
Welcome back. The panel is here. NBC News senior White House correspondent, Kelly O'Donnell. Eugene Daniels, White House correspondent for Politico, co-author of Politico Playbook.
Mark Morial, president of the National Urban League. And Republican strategist, Sarah Fagan. Thank you all for being here. Very busy Sunday.
Kelly O, let me start with you, NBC News reporting this morning that the Biden campaign raised $10 million in the 24 hours after the State of the Union address after delivering this speech that frankly fired up his base. Now he's barnstorming key states. How are his allies feeling about this reset? Well, they feel that that money shows that the attempt to show the vigor really worked, and they want to build on that.
They view March as a building and scaling time where they're going to try to make sure they have their volunteers, their organization, their state parties, later for the persuasion. Right now, if there's an infrastructure we can politics, that's what they're talking about. It's bringing forward into building those key groups that will help support the campaign going forward. So initially, they feel strong about how the president performed, and they know they've got to take that on the road.
They sure do, and Eugene yesterday with these dueling events in Georgia, it really underscored how brutal and combative this campaign is going to be. How is Biden approaching that? I mean, does he feel like he's got to match Trump's combativeness? What do you expect we're going to see?
Yeah, I think it's less about matching Trump's combativeness, but showing that he has a fight, right? They're very happy on Thursday with him showing that vigor, but they also knew that Democrats wanted to see a fight. They wanted to see someone who would fight for them, and that is something they know they have to continue. We're going to keep seeing, right?
President Biden fills in his bones that democracies on the line, and people want to see him start acting like that, especially Democrats across the country, and I will say, I talked to someone last night, and what they told him was basically, he also has to do the other part of it, right? He has to show a future, talk about what the things that he's going to do for America. So there has to be a balance, but that combative nature is going to continue throughout the election. Sarah Fagan, so we'll all buckle up.
It's going for that kind of race to unfold and intensify. Look, Mike Johnson, the speaker of the House, called President Biden's speech, hyper-partisan. And one of the challenges, I think, for President Biden and Trump is in order to win. They've got to reach out to those Nikki Haley voters, those independent, moderate voters.
What is your sense about who is doing the better job of reaching out to them right now? Well, traditionally, a state of the Union would be about crossing the aisle and trying to bring in independence and more moderate Republicans to his side. That was not what he did on Thursday. But if you think about where he is politically profound weakness in the Democratic base, he is underperforming among many of his constituency groups.
So that speech was really designed, and it appears to have some evidence that it was helpful and worked in shoring up support among his base. He did make a strategic error, though, in my view, which was he tied funding for Ukraine to Vladimir Putin's aggression in Europe, and he made it harder for Republicans to vote to support that aid in doing so, and he missed an opportunity to reach out to those Nikki Haley voters who align more with Biden on these foreign policy issues than they do with Trump. And that was a blunder. Absolutely.
Mark, let me turn to you, because Sarah talks about key constituents. The National Urban League just completed its report on the State of Black America. What did you find and how does it relate to this race? Thank you for having me.
So we looked at three different things. Number one, it's the 60th anniversary since the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. And one question is, has the nation changed? Has it had an impact?
Look at this panel. Look at this newsroom. Look at America. Look at the Congress.
The change for people of color and women has been absolutely profound. And that has to be underscored. However, we also looked at disparities between black and white Americans. And those disparities notwithstanding the change have not significantly narrowed, particularly in the last 20 years.
Only a narrowing of maybe a few percentage points. At this rate, we're 180 years away from parity. Number two, we note the attacks on this progress. They come in the form of voter suppression, voter purges, attacks on democracy, attacks on equal opportunity in DE&I, banning of books, attacks to try to thwart this progress.
And thirdly, we did a Biden black scorecard to look at his promises and his performance. And what it told us is that here was someone who made commitments to black America, written, specific, enumerated, and someone who substantially followed through on many of those commitments with a list of unfinished business, voting rights, living wages, child tax credit, justice and police accountability. Well, you know, and that's so notable because Sarah Fagan, look at this. If you look at black adults who identify as Republican or Republican leading, it's grown six points since 2021.
Mark lays out what's been accomplished, but it says there's still work that needs to be done. Why do you think we're seeing that? Well, I think it's a couple reasons. I think primarily it's economic.
I mean, we're coming out of this very high inflationary period. It's cooled, but still, you know, food costs, housing costs. These are higher percentages of people's take-home budgets. And so if you're a working-class American of any color, you have really been impacted by that.
And so voters overwhelmingly considered Trump, the Trump economy, so have worked better for them than the Biden economy. And so that's effective black Americans. But I also think on cultural issues as well. There's a percentage of black Americans that looks at the progressive wing of the Democratic Party and says, I don't have much in common with voters or elected officials who believe abortion should be available on demand up to the ninth month and on some of these gender issues.
They're more aligned with a conservative viewpoint than they are the progressive wing of the Democratic Party. I think this is important. Let's not obsess over February polls. If we had followed February polls, there'd be no President Reagan, no President Clinton, President Obama.
These polls don't mean anything because the campaign is beginning and engagement with voters is now starting. We've got a long way to go. Kelly, how does the campaign deal with this? And obviously we've been talking about debates a lot.
I mean, this is a chance for them to reach out to all voters. Well, from the Trump side, talking to people there, they're saying anywhere, anytime, any moderator, and it is their intention to make it very difficult for Joe Biden's team to say no to debating. The Biden campaign says this is about distraction. This is about the Trump taunt of 2024 about debating.
There'll be a time and a place for that. One of the things that I think the Biden team is doing right now, which is addressing what we're talking about this conversation, is what I call micro events where they go into a family's home. They shoot a video there. They talk to a small business owner and you think the president, given our to a couple of ordinary citizens, well, they want to have them see him as he is warm and engaging in their view that they can assess his age, and then they are able to communicate in their communities to be advocates down the line.
Eugene, final point, you've got the last 30 seconds. Yeah, all of that is exactly right. They want this president to be seen as someone who's helping the everyday Americans. And when you have those black voters, and I've talked to the folks that he's talked to, they feel differently about them.
And now you have the president explaining the kinds of things that he has done for them. And that's something that this administration has kind of failed to do. We have a lot of time to go before that ends, but they're going to keep doing that. All right, great conversation.
That is all for today. Thank you for watching. We'll be back next week. Because if it's Sunday, it's Meet the Press.
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