If it's Tuesday, Defense Secretary Pete Hentzett, the lashes out at Pentagon Leakers and the media, as NBC News reveals new details about the sensitive military information he shared with his brother and wife using his personal phone, plus the White House doubles down on the administration's mass deportation plan and defends President Trump's unprecedented use of executive authority on immigration, as Democrats dig in on the fight over due process. And the Trump administration cracks down on student loans, warning millions of delinquent dollars they now have two weeks to start paying up or else. Hi there and welcome to Meet the Press Now and Ryan Goebbels in Washington, with a PAC show ahead on a very busy day in politics. But first, the roller coaster continued today on Wall Street.
Stocks just finished the trading day with a big rally after yesterday's big sell-off, the Dow closed higher by more than 1,000 points. Stocks were significantly higher across the board, with investors seemingly pinning their hopes on some private comments by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessin about potential de-escalation in the administration's trade war with China. NBC News Business and Data Correspondent Brian Chung joins me now with more on the markets. So Brian, these were closed-door comments by the Secretary, and it's unclear if they reflect the president's view, but the markets ran with it anyway.
Yeah, it's an important kind of couching there. But all of this is kind of coming as of this reporting, which we in our White House team here at NBC News did get attributable to a person in the room, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessin telling a private investor summit today that he could see a near-term de-escalation in the U.S. China tariff, as you'll recall, ratcheting up those effects of tariffs and something close to 145% China responding in kind. Negotiations with Beijing have not yet begun, so this is kind of optimism coming seemingly from nowhere.
But it does match up with what we've heard from a Caroline Levitt, the press secretary, who did say on the record that on a potential trade deal with China, the White House says that they are doing, quote, very well, they're trying to set the stage for a deal with China as the way they're describing it. But either way, markets seem to have liked that news with the Dow Jones ending the day up over 2%. But I want to point out, with all the volatility, it's been hard to keep track as of the beginning of this year. If you put a dollar into the Dow Jones, you're still down 7.9% and up until today's rally, we were breaking some pretty bad records like, for example, 63 trading days since inauguration day, the S&P 500 fell by 14%.
That was the worst start to a presidential term since the index began back in 1929. So again, these are not good records to be breaking, but it does seem like at least we got a little bit of green on the screen off of even just the little, tiniest bit of hope that those trade discussions could be going well. And it's interesting, you know, kind of an off the cuff comment by the Treasury Secretary sends the Dow rallying. But at the same time, we have the IMF warning of a major negative shock on the global economy from Trump's tariffs.
It seems like there's still quite a bit of uncertainty ahead. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, look, when we talk about the financial markets here in the United States, we also forget that we're talking about the impact of these tariffs globally as well, the international monetary fund in alignment with their spring meetings, which they hold this time of year, usually on a regular schedule. They released a new economic forecast that not only projected the rate of US GDP, which is a measure of economic growth going down for 2025 as a result of these tariff policies, but around the world as well.
Prior to the tariffs, they were expecting global growth to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 3.3%. For 2025, now they're revising that down to 2.8% singularly because of the US tariff policies. They said that quote, the swift escalation of trade tensions and extremely high levels of policy uncertainty are expected to have a significant impact, a reminder that it's not just the United States. There's a global impact to all this as well.
Okay, Brian. Thank you for breaking that all down for us. We appreciate it. Let's turn now here to Washington, where the White House remains defiant.
Once again, standing by embattled Secretary of Defense Pete Haggseth despite reports of turmoil and chaos at the Pentagon under his leadership and new details about the highly sensitive military information he shared with members of his family. This morning, Secretary Haggseth lashed out blaming the reports on disgruntled former employees who we should know were individuals that Haggseth brought with him to the Defense Department and were part of his inner circle at the Pentagon. When you dismiss people who you believe are leaking, classified information, and again, the investigation is ongoing and that will take time and when the evidence produced it will go to DOJ, why would it surprise anybody, Brian, if those very same people keep leaking to the very same reporters, whatever information they think they can have to try to sabotage the agenda of the President or the Secretary? So once a leaker, always a leaker, often a leaker.
NBC News is exclusively reporting that the sensitive information that Haggseth shared with his family came from secure messages he received from a top general and included details about imminent strikes against Iran backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. Haggseth set that information to his wife, brother, and personal lawyer using his personal device less than 10 minutes after he received it. Now despite that, White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt reiterated the President's support for his Defense Secretary. The Secretary of Defense is doing a tremendous job and he is bringing monumental change from Pentagon and there's a lot of people in the city who reject monumental change and I think frankly that's why we've seen a smear campaign against the Secretary of Defense since the moment that President Trump announced his nomination before the United States Senate.
Let me reiterate the President stands strongly behind Secretary Haggseth in the change that he is bringing to the Pentagon. Now, even as the President stands by Secretary Haggseth, the administration is now facing pressure from inside the GOP to let him go. Republican Congressman from Nebraska Don Bacon, who's a member of the House Armed Services Committee and a former Air Force General telling NBC News, if the reports were true regarding Secretary Haggseth, it is unacceptable and I wouldn't tolerate it if I was responsible. Joining me now is NBC News' White House correspondent, Von Hilliard and NBC News' senior national security correspondent, Courtney QB, who is at the Pentagon.
So Von, what are you hearing from officials inside the White House? How long is the President willing to stand by his Defense Secretary? Does it seem that his patience is wearing thin at all? We're not hearing from cabinet officials, from administration officials.
We are not hearing from Republican members of Congress outside of. We should note Don Bacon is just one. We are not hearing also from key allies of Pete Haggseth that were instrumental in his confirmation process and his tapping to be the Defense Secretary in the first place. People like Don Jr, the President's son, and this isn't a question of his loyalty or commitment to the President or the President's mission at the Pentagon.
This is a question of national security and so far we have seen, as he heard from Caroline Levitt and so far we have heard from the President, that they still have confidence in him. Of course, during the confirmation process back this winter, while Courtney was reporting extensively about sexual misconduct allegations, excessive drinking history, then the transition and coming White House can continue to stand by him. So far we're seeing that play out right now too. Now he appeared on Fox News this morning that the Secretary remained defiant, though notably he still is not denied any of these reports.
Is that strategy that is resonating within the White House? At this point in time, we have seen him take a very, we saw it not only in the Fox and friends interviewed here this morning, but we saw it during the Easter Egg Roll yesterday with his kids standing behind him in the White House Easter backdrop behind him. We are seeing Stark denials. It's so often it's the type of strategy that we've seen deployed by the President himself against the allegations, including some, which led to the courtroom for the President.
And so in so many ways, Pete Hegsef is echoing and nearing the type of defense strategy that the President himself has played. And so far, there is little indication that there is any intent to have a mass overhaul despite several senior advisors and close individuals to Hegsef leaving the Pentagon. And so far at this point in time, we are seeing little indication that he is on his way out either. All right, Vaughn, stay there because we're going to come back to you on another story in just a second.
But Courtney, let's go to you at the Pentagon, where you can take us inside your reporting I know that the Secretary is acting like this isn't that big of a deal, the information that he may or may not have been sharing. But what do we know about this second signal chat that included members of his family and his personal lawyer? And what are the potential ramifications of his actions and that information falling into the wrong hands? Yeah, so this is the second signal chat.
He is using the exact same language that we heard about the first one, which is no classified information on there was no war plans were on there. Well, those aren't allegations that there's no one is talking about the potential for war plans to have been on this. But what is really different about the first signal story that we all heard from the Atlantic when Jeffrey Goldberg was inadvertently added to a signal chat that in which Secretary Hegsef included detailed plans about an imminent military action against the Houthi rebels and Yemen. Well, in this case, the chat was started by Secretary Hegsef and he shared again more information about this imminent attack against the Houthi rebels.
And what we've learned now, Ryan, is that in fact, he got information directly from the commander of U.S. Central Command General Eric Curilla. He of course is responsible for that area in the Middle East where Yemen actually falls into his area of responsibility. He was sending specific information to Secretary Hegsef and then literally moments later, less than 10 minutes later, Secretary Hegsef took the information that Curilla sent on a classified system, put it on a signal chat and sent it on to the chat that included the National Security Advisor Mike Walz.
And then only moments later also sent some similar information to that chat that, as you said, included family members, his wife, his brother, his personal attorney and some people directly in his inner circle. And of course, that opens up the question, yes, the first chat that had senior Trump administration officials and National Security Advisor, why would Secretary Hegsef's wife and brother and people close to him need to know information about this? The fact that General Curilla sent it on a classified system would indicate that it would likely have been a higher level of classification because the mission had already been approved to go and because it was imminent. And this included aircraft, specific types of aircraft, times bombs were going to be dropping the kind of information that if it had fallen into the wrong hands, these were manned aircraft that were flying over Yemen.
And Ryan, just to show you the potential here for the disaster, for the men and women flying those aircraft, the Houthis have shot down more than a dozen drones, MQ-9 Reaper drones that have been flying over Yemen, the last one was shot down only days ago, they have proven the ability to contest the airspace over Yemen. It is not a safe space for the military members to be flying over that information, could it put lies at risk, Ryan? And we only have about 30 seconds, but how is this impacting the mood inside the Pentagon right now? The one thing that I keep hearing now more than ever is about accountability.
Secretary Hegsef, when he came to the Pentagon, he and many people around him have touted the fact that they were going to bring accountability back to the Pentagon. Men and women in uniform, who I've spoken to are saying, will there be accountability here? Secretary Hegsef has not denied that he started this chat that it included information about Yemen. Instead, he has gone after the reporters who reported it, he's gone after individuals who he claimed leaked the information, and he has stayed with that one talking point that was no classified information included, Ryan.
I wonder about the accountability when we're talking about this. Okay, Courtney, thank you for that. We appreciate it. Now, to the issue that Trump administration would rather be talking about than it's in battle, Secretary of Defense, and that's it's continued immigration crackdown.
Today, the White House doubled down on its deportation agenda with Press Secretary Caroline Levitt expressing confidence that courts will side with the president when it comes to his use of a wartime authority to deport migrants without due process. We are obviously complying with the court's order. However, it was a temporary pause that Supreme Court basically said sit tight and they will follow up with an order and we're confident that the Supreme Court will rule in a side of law and recognize the president absolutely has the executive authority to deport foreign terrorists from our nation's interior under the Alien Enemies Act. It is our goal to deport as many illegal criminals and aliens from our country as we possibly can as quickly as we can.
This of course comes as multiple high-profile immigration cases remain tied up in the courts, including the one involving Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland father who the administration claims is a gang member, which his wife and attorney deny. Abrego Garcia was forcibly removed to El Salvador without due process, despite a 2019 court order barring him from being sent there. NBC News correspondent David Noriega visited the neighborhood he fled from and filed this report. This part of San Salvador is where Kilmar Abrego Garcia grew up, and the people here tell me that back in the 2000s, when he was a child and a teenager here, is right when the gang started really exerting total control over not only this neighborhood, but large swaths of the city and of all of El Salvador, more controlled even than the government itself.
People here used to feel afraid to walk out their door in the middle of the daytime for fear of crossing an invisible boundary and towards libel gangs turf and potentially paying for it with their lives. Now that has changed dramatically in just a few years, the last few years, thanks to a wide sweeping crackdown by the 90 book and the government on the gangs. Now that crackdown involved me presenting more than 80,000 people in the span of two or three years with very little to no due process. Most people here are grateful for the dramatic improvements in public safety that they feel.
What I'm doing here now, I would not have been able to do just a few years ago without requesting permission from the gangs that controlled this territory. That's now no longer the case. And people who know about the Kilmer of Braggle-Garcia case, which is most of them, in many cases, are inclined to agree with the government's position. They say that Braggle-Garcia was sent here.
It must have been for a reason. However, there are a number of people I've spoken to who disagree with the government's willingness to accept deportees from the United States and who are willing to criticize the government for doing so, but only off camera. People are not willing to say that to us on camera and there's a reason for that. They hear stories all the time of people who've been swept up in the book and administration crackdown on the gangs, for false accusations, for misunderstandings, people who are innocent and have wound up in prison here, often with little to no recourse, little access or no access to the outside world.
People are very, very, very scared, very unwilling to publicly criticize the government. I had one person tell me this morning that was listening, that whereas they used to fear the gangs. Now they fear the government. All right.
David Noriega in El Salvador. Thank you for that, David. Back with me now, NBC's von Hilliard. And I want to turn to the other deportation cases.
You spoke to one of the detainees being held in Texas, whom the Trump administration was hoping to deport under the Alien Enemies Act. What do we know about him? Does he have any clarity on what his status is as these legal challenges work their way through the courts? Right, right.
Eduardo Raul was among these 30 individuals, Venezuelan nationals, who have been accused of being a part of Trende Aragua, who were on the bus Friday night destined for Abilene Airport. They say that they were told that they were going to be on a deportation flight, taking them to El Salvador, much like Kilmarabrego Garcia. And it was in the middle of a federal hearing when the judge, Judge Boseburg, asked the DOJ lawyer if, in fact, there were any flights that were going to be taking off that night. When he asked on that, this motorcade in Texas was on its way to the airport.
And at that point in time, DHS tells me that they got a call canceling the trip and that is where the Supreme Court putting that pause on those flights effectively prevented these individuals, including Eduardo, from being sent to El Salvador. And if that pause were to be lifted, the DHS would be able to move forward with those flights. And I bring up Eduardo specifically. I have been in contact with his wife and I interviewed him yesterday.
And we have looked extensively at NBC through criminal records and databases. We have not found any arrest records. This is somebody who I have reached out to DHS in ICE now for four days in a row asking for records for evidence of his involvement with Trende Aragua. They have provided none.
I just actually got a statement literally in the last two minutes for the first time from a DHS official who says, why does the mainstream media continue to peddle these gang members false stories? This is confirmed this man is a member of Trende Aragua and a human smuggler. And I think the context of this is important because, of course, in so many ways, it is difficult to know the entirety of the background of each of these individuals. But Eduardo and his wife denied that he was gang affiliation.
He came into the United States in 2023, legally through the CB1 P1 parole program. He had a monthly checkup with ICE officials at his El Paso field office. And it was not until March 18th that he was detained. And they say that he was accused for the first time of being a member of Trende Aragua because of his tattoos.
March 18th is notable because that came just three days after the Alien Enemies Act was invoked by the president to target Venezuelan nationals with connections to Trende Aragua, like they are now accusing Eduardo of. There are questions here that DHS and ICE has not provided outside of making the accusation, but they have provided no evidence. And if the Supreme Court were to lift its paws, individuals like Eduardo could go to El Salvador. And of course, we have seen with like Gilmar Brago Garcia and so many others, a reticence from this administration request the return to go through a due process or go before an immigration judge.
Yeah, there certainly has to be a level of anxiety of being put on a plane and taken out of the country and how difficult it may be to fight your legal case from abroad. Von, thank you for staying on top of that. We appreciate it. Coming up, what to know about the Trump administration's plan to crack down on millions of student loan borrowers who are in default or late on their payments, plus a major shake up at the State Department.
Secretary Marco Rubio defends a new plan to overhaul the agency, including cuts to the workforce and the downsizing of human rights programs. You're watching to get the press now. Welcome back. The Trump administration is sending an urgent warning to millions of student loan borrowers.
It is time to pay up. The Department of Education announced yesterday afternoon that it will resume collecting on defaulted loans starting in two weeks on May 5th, and that it could move to garnish wages for some borrowers. The government has not collected on defaulted student loans since March of 2020. Looking in the White House briefing this afternoon, Press Secretary Caroline Levitt called the current state of federal student loans unsustainable.
We must get our fiscal house in order and restore common sense to our country. If you take out a loan, you have to pay it back. It's very simple. President Trump will not take the can down the road anymore.
According to the Department of Education, more than 42 million borrowers currently owe more than $1.6 trillion in student loan debt. Of those borrowers, more than $5 million are in default, meaning they haven't made a monthly payment in at least a year. And an additional four million are in late-stage delinquency after failing to make a payment in the last three to six months. Just 38 percent of borrowers are up to date on their payments.
The announcement comes amid years of confusion and turmoil for federal student loan borrowers. The government lifted a year-long pause on reporting late-long payments to credit bureaus at the start of this year, causing many borrowers' credit scores to drop, while others are in forbearance because of legal fights over Biden-era repayment plans. Joining me now to discuss the state of student loans, as Washington Post's National Higher Education Reporter, Danielle Douglas Gabriel, Danielle, there's got to be a lot of people freaking out right now related to this policy change from the Trump administration. If you can't just break down some of the chaos surrounding student loans right now, collections are starting.
There's also this issue of credit bureaus now getting the reporting of people being delinquent, and then there's also the issue of continued forbearance. Well, just try and make sense of it for us. So like you said, there are a lot of things happening all at the same time. But to be fair, there was a setup for this happening.
I think the Biden administration had told student loan borrowers that this was coming, but in talking to a lot of different borrowers over the last several months, many were not aware, right? And honestly, I can totally understand how one could be confused about going back into full repayment. So as you mentioned, during the pandemic, many people had their student loans paused, and that ended in 2023. But then the Biden administration gave folks a 12 month grace period, right, another extension of sorts where you could miss payments and it wouldn't be reported to the credit bureaus.
That ended September 30th of last year. And when that did, a lot of people still weren't aware that they needed to start making payments. So I think some of the four million people that you're seeing who miss payments for three to six months are a part of that population who weren't totally certain that this was it. This is time to start making payments.
And then on top of that, you have a lot of the most affordable repayment plans known as income driven payment plans had been shut down for several months because of the court case that you mentioned earlier and in junction that's in place. Now the Department of Education has reopened the application for those payment plans, but they're still a pretty sizable backlog. I think about 1.9 million people are in what's known as a processing forbearance where they're not being asked to make payments as their applications for one of these affordable repayment plans are awaiting processing. So that's going to also resume next month.
So we should start to see far more people than just the 38% that are currently in repayment starting to pay down their loans. And if you are in this class of borrower that just can't afford to make these payments, what could end up happening to you? I mean, certainly, you know, if you are unable to make your payments and your loans go delinquent, you will see your credit scores drop. If your loans go from delinquency to default, now that could have severe consequences on your ability to take out a loan or mortgage, car loan, it could also affect your ability to get an apartment in some states, as well as a job in some instances.
There are lots of steps that borrowers can take to avoid those consequences of possibly losing your tax refund. That's another way that the government can collect involuntarily as well as garnishing your wages. Some of the things that, you know, when I talked to borrowers, I would suggest contact your student loan servicer. If you don't know who that is, go on studentaid.gov, look up your loans, see which servicer you are assigned to, and talk to them about potentially a hardship forbearance if you really can't afford your loans, or enrolling in one of those affordable income-based repayment plans, which tie your monthly payments to your earnings.
And that should at least afford you a more, you know, reasonable way and strategy to pay down your loans. Probably the best advice I was not just to ignore it. This is serious. These payments need to start being paid back, and they're not going to fool around with it.
Danielle, a very complex topic. Thank you so much for bringing it down for us so concisely. We appreciate it. And we're going to turn now to another major development out of the Trump administration, as the State Department today, announced a major overhaul of that agency that is expected to shut down within 100 offices and eliminate around 700 positions, and opposed to published by the State Department, Secretary Rubio defended the overhaul, while vowing it would quote, drain the bloated bureaucratic swamp empowering the department from the ground up.
Joining me now is NBC News reporter Julia Jester to help us understand what's going on. So Julia, walk us through this. I mean, this could really be a dramatic overhaul of the State Department. It is quite a shakeup.
There are a lot of euros that have been moved around and consolidated, but some have been eliminated entirely. There are ones like diversity and inclusion office and the office of global women's issues that seem like pretty prime targets from the Trump administration's shifting priorities, but there are some that are a little bit surprising in this. You have the Office of Global Criminal Justice, the Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization, and the Foreign Service Institute all shuttering as a result of this move. And the question is, how much did Doge and Elon Musk have to do with this?
Well, the State Department spokesperson said it today's briefing that Doge was not in charge, but a lot of these moves were a result from what the State Department learned from Doge, and there's still an influence within the building. So they look at the acting head of foreign assistance, Jeremy Lewin, that is Doge Associate, and so they're pretty steep cuts and shuffling around to adhere to the administration's new priorities. But some staffers I spoke with are concerned that they'll be able to do the work given this reduction in force and closing of these bureaus. And obviously, it could perhaps mean a change in priorities for the administration.
One of the units getting shut down as the Office of Global Criminal Justice, they're in charge of monitoring war crimes and human rights violations around the world. I mean, are there concerns that there could just be responsibilities that this department has that are going to fall to the wayside? Yes, that is a concern I'm hearing from employees within the State Department, and they're not unfounded given the consolidation in these bureaus. But what State Department spokesperson, Chaney Bruce, said at today's briefing is that just because an office is closing does not mean that the work is going away.
Now, it's interesting because some of these bureaus are consolidating, but for the shuttering of an office like that, she kind of danced around this topic at the briefing. Take a listen to what she told reporters earlier today. Because you might have had a specific bureau that dealt with a discrete issue, doesn't mean because it's now folded into another larger bureau, doesn't mean that it's gone or we don't care. It means that, in fact, certain issues deserve to be considered part, not like some specialized separate, segregated interest.
Why shouldn't that interest be in every bureau? Now, that argument does make sense to integrate within all of the different bureaus and not has standalone separate area, but with a 15% reduction in force expected and a potential early retirement program offer, and please are concerned that the State Department will be able to continue its work as this restructuring shakes out. So it's a wait and see approach right now, Ryan, as to how that will affect the buildings. Yeah, less people do the job.
We'll definitely make it harder. I'd really adjust to thank you for that. After the break, the future of the Catholic Church and its leadership, after the passing of Pope Francis, we'll have a look at the Cardinals who are seen as the top contenders and the historic contest to be the next pope. You're watching The Press Now.
Welcome back. Today is the Vatican prepares for days of tribute. We're learning new details about the final hours of Pope Francis. The 88-year-old poniff died Monday morning after suffering a stroke and heart failure.
The Holy See office says he did not appear to suffer, and his last words to his health assistant were simply thank you. His body now rests in the chapel in his Vatican residence. Starting tomorrow through Friday, the pope will lie in state in St. Peter's Basilica.
The funeral mass will be Saturday morning. Burial will be set at Rome's Basilica of Sante Maria Maggiore later this week. The Trump and Moana Trump are expected to be among the tens of thousands gathered to say goodbye. Nearly 60 Cardinals are already in Vatican City for days of prayer and preparation for the Conclave with more expected to arrive in the coming days.
And for more on the Conclave, the secretive election process rooted in nearly 750 years of tradition. NBC's Steve Carnegie joins us now at the Big Board for something a little different than his normal, a big board fair. But Steve, not dissimilar from what you normally do, just maybe a different setting. Walk us through what happens next.
Yeah, different kind of election. No one's going to be announced candidate. There's not going to be ads. There's not going to be rallies.
We're not even going to officially know the exact results. We'll know the winner, but I'll tell you about how to burn the ballots here in a second as part of the procedure. So what's going to happen? It's the College of Cardinals members of the College of Cardinals who will be the voters in this election, but not every member of the College of Cardinals, only those younger than 80 years old.
And there are 135 of them. They call them Cardinal electors. That's the electorate for this race. Then they are sworn to secrecy as they enter that Conclave.
And at the end of each round of voting, the ballots are taken and they are burned. So there is literally no record of the exact results. They just know if somebody won or somebody didn't. Per day, it's a maximum of four rounds of voting.
And no matter how many ballots it takes, a two-third super majority is going to be required to be the next pope. Now, let's take a look at that electorate of a 135 Cardinal electors. Here's something interesting. This has to do with how Pope Francis ran the church.
His agenda in part here in terms of administration was to broaden out the power in the church to take it away from Rome, away from Europe where it's been concentrated traditionally, and to spread it out. So these are, he appoints the members of the College of Cardinals. And again, among this group of voters, look at this. The last time there was a Conclave, the one that elected Francis, more than half, came from Europe under 40% this time.
Meanwhile, look at the growth in Asia. Again, that's part of Francis's, was part of Francis's agenda as pope. It was to expand the church's reach that it's through Cardinals in places like Asia, it was growing Catholic populations. North America, by the way, about the same.
Let's take down from 2013. Also keep in mind here, along those same lines, 72 different countries will be represented by Cardinal electors this time. That's a big jump from the last one, 2013. Again, that's the work of Francis there.
And Francis will also loom over these proceedings in this way. Of those 135 Cardinal electors, 108 were appointed by Francis. That is 80% of them. They became Cardinals because Francis appointed them Cardinals.
Now, these are some of the names that are out there right now. Again, nobody announces they're candidates. There's no endorsements. We really don't know how they stack up against each other here.
But these are some of the names you're seeing here. For instance, Peter Erdow from Hungary, maybe on the more conservative side, Luis Taglais from the Philippines, maybe more on the progressive side. But when you see these lists, I think the biggest thing to keep in mind is take it with the grain of salt, because again, the last time around in 2013 when they had a conclave, when they had lists like this, Pope Francis's name, the future Pope Francis's name was not generally on them. So, surprise is very possible here, especially with all of these new Cardinals, many of whom have really never met each other before.
Yeah, a little difficult to do an office pool around the papal candidacy, Steve Cornacchi, but at least you've set us up for success, if there are any plans for that. We appreciate it. We've got it. Up next, Democrats demand for a demand for due process.
We'll talk to a House Democrat who just got back from a trip to El Salvador about what's next as the Trump administration doubles down on its mass deportation agenda, and watching the press now. Welcome back, another day of congressional recess and other rockets town hall for a House Republican. Last night, we heard a mix of booze and cheers at a town hall held by Florida Congressmen and gubernatorial candidate Byron Donald's. Here's a bit of his response supporting the Trump administration on the Abrego Garcia saga.
An illegal alien in the United States does not have more due process twice than an American citizen. They have a match. No, they don't have the same story. Because they're out of the United States.
President Biden, a few who asylum procedures on the United States don't mean it allowed tens of millions of people in the United States. We do not have enough, so enough trial judges to adjudicate all their asylum. You're the Saudi American people, we're having to go through immigration years on tens of millions of people. Because Joe Biden was there in history of all of the other world, I say no.
Joining me now on set is Julia Manchester, national politics reporter for the Hill, Democrat pollster and NBC News political analyst Cornell Belcher and Republican strategist T.W. Riggy. Julia, let's start with you here. You know, we've seen a lot of Republicans way on the Abrego case, they're Abrego Garcia, Cameron Democrats accusing them of associating with a gang member.
Byron Donald's there finding a different angle, I think, on the due process argument that Democrats are making back. Does it track? Does it have any resonance? You know, I think it potentially does.
I think Byron Donald's is in a very different position than maybe some of the swing districts, swing Republicans running in very competitive states. Byron Donald's is running for governor in Florida, so he's running in a very red state. So he doesn't have to, you know, answer those questions the same way. But, you know, I think it's been interesting talking to progressives and Democrats over the past couple of weeks, you know, and asking them about what their strategy is going forward.
And they repeatedly point to Chris Van Holland as someone, you know, when asking, you know, how do you respond to the Trump administration when you're in the minority? They say, look at Chris Van Holland and you're seeing how Democrats like Maxwell Frost from Florida, for example, doing that and traveling to El Salvador, making the statement and coming back. I don't know how much of an impact this is going to have in the midterms because you have Democrats that Republicans who also have to address other issues like the cost of living. I wonder about this argument that, well, the less administration screwed it up.
Does that give you license to not go through the proper legal process? Oh, when you're dealing with a claim like this? Well, I definitely think it gives license to be more aggressive in your immigration policy. And I think the due process argument to one side for a moment, I think what you're seeing right now and why the Abrego Garcia cases is sticking so much is because I think most Americans look at this and they're wondering, at least from my vantage point, seeing from optics, is this really the case study for the entire criticism that Democrats are living, right?
We're being told by the Democrats that all these people, thousands of thousands of innocent people are being swept up and deported out. And they were told that this father in Maryland was deported fully legally only to find out that he once did have a deportation order, that he had ties with the MS-13 gang. Sure, sure, sure. But if this is the hill that the Democrats want to die on, I think politically speaking, it's fraught.
Okay, I'd like to push a little bit on this idea of it just being not necessarily all the people that are being deported, but even one person not getting due process. And there's one person in particular who's concerned about that. And that's Joe Rogan. Let's know what he said on his podcast about this.
The problem with things that are going in a radical direction and then there's an over-correction. So the over-correction is lack of due process. The over-correction is like round them all up, ship them to jail. That's like some things that you say when you're not thinking things through it.
Now, this was before Rogan went on a full rant about how confusing Democrats are putting us in this position. But Rogan's argument here is if you cross that due process line, it could impact way more than just this one person involved in the middle. I think Rogan's right. I agree with him.
My contest on this is why I just don't believe that this is a great case study for Democrats to be pushing as much if, in fact, all these innocent people are being deported, is because he was put in front of courts who did find he had ties to MS-13, who did arrest him alongside other MS-13 members, who did have a, had beat his wife. All these different things is just not a great case. His wife, that's not. Pushing restraining order.
So I believe her. She retracted that. And so that wasn't necessarily the case. But for now, is it...
I don't want to say anything, right? Just listen to this. Listen to themselves and to nots to try to go through a process of why they're doing something that most Americans fundamentally think is wrong, right? Look at the polling data on this.
It's the polling data that's clear and they're losing independence left and right around this. This is a quintessential American value. You don't have to make up all these different stories and demonize someone because they can be as bad a person as we've ever seen. You steal in this country, get due process, right?
That is a fundamental American value. It's in our Constitution as part of our framework of government. And the idea of that, the Trump administration is just blowing through that, right? It's not just people in the middle, it's not people on the left.
But you've heard Republicans come out and have problems with this. So at some point, it's becoming untenable. And I do actually think that this is a part of a broader conversation. That's going to be part of the midterms because what our independent voters most ticked off about, right?
They're ticked off about inflation. But they're also ticked off about fundamentally, as Joe Rogan says, this is overreach. This is problematic. And Joe Rogan already seemed to think that this is a winning argument.
Listen to this NRIC ad against John Ossoff, who's one of the most endangered Democratic senators from Georgia. Listen to this ad. Welcome to El Salvador, home to breathtaking sunsets, world-class surf rigs, and gangbanger Kilmer of Brago Garcia. El Salvador is the destination for Democrats seeking the thrill of bringing violent criminal illegal aliens back to America.
So, Gavin Newsom, the governor of California said that he believes this is an 80-20 release or he thinks Republicans view this as an 80-20 winning issue for Republicans. They seem to be doubling down on this, Julian. Right. Right.
Well, Gavin Newsom is also saying that Republicans are using this as a distraction from other issues. Look, I think Republicans are leaning into using this to lean into two issues that work 12 for them, the last cycle, which is crime and immigration. I think Kilmer of Brago Garcia, they're trying to tie those things together. If it works, I don't know, particularly with a Brago Garcia, but I think that's what this is hinging on.
Okay. So, let's talk about the economy, T.W. You know, how does Donald Trump pivot from this immigration argument to the economy is strong. That's my number one issue.
When he has a stock market that's in turmoil, all the criticism around this tariff implementation. Is that a winning issue still for Republicans? We have to wait and see, unfortunately. Look, this is a divisive issue within our own party, right?
The tariff policy. Donald Trump sees this as a two-front war here internationally. He has China in the rest of the world in China. The objective is reshoring jobs that were lost during NAFTA.
That was kind of Mexico, but all the free trade agreements went to and then the lowering rates to make American products more accessible overseas is famous, quote, when was last time he saw Ford in Tokyo? That's going to take time. He's just starting announcing some deals soon to reassure the markets. And I don't know where the China issue is going to lead to, but in places like Michigan, with UAW workers and factory works across the Rust Belt, it is a winning issue.
We need to wait and see a little bit longer. Can Democrats capitalize on this right now or now? So let's break this down. So NBC's polling shows that majority of Americans think the president has not spent enough time on inflation and the cost of living.
In fact, if they've spent half the time on inflation and cost of living, as he spent chasing DEI, it would probably be in a different place right now. The stock market is cratering. Right? So consumer confidence is cratering.
Right now, we see something in the numbers that we have not seen for a long, long time. And that is Republican's job approval on the economy is actually underwater. This is a president who once had approval on the economy above what, and that was one of the strong points of his brand. That has absolutely eroded.
And so Americans, their economic edge right now is higher than it was. Four or five months ago. That is a problem for Republicans as they go into a midterm with economy still top priority for voters. Okay.
We're going to have to leave it there. Obviously, we've got some time before the midterm. So a lot of these issues are going to take some time to marinate big before voters will have a final say. Cornell and T.W., Julia, thank you all for being here.
We appreciate it. We're going to be right back with more. You're watching with the president. All right.
Welcome back. A bit of a bit of a pendant here. We're going to bring the panel back and talk more. They were just so good.
We decided we had to bring them back Cornell, T.W., and Julia to talk more about some of the excitement going on in politics. I want to turn to Michigan Cornell. That is turning out to be one of the most interesting races in the 2026 midterms. We obviously have Senator Gary Peters who decided not to run for reelection.
Congressman Haley Stevens made her announcement today. There's three major Democrats running in that Senate race. Democrats did a pretty good job of avoiding these contentious primaries in 2024. It doesn't seem like that's happening this time around.
Good luck. That's not going to happen this time around. Look, a mission is such an important state. Look, Democrats, any hope of Democrats making gains in the Senate, you've got to hold Michigan.
And right now you do see. Look, there's a call for a new generation of leaders and younger leaders and there's a battle between sort of the left and middle and, you know, Sanders, Senator Sanders immediately jumped in and endorsed there. And certainly that money from the left will certainly be will be helpful in a Democratic primary. But in the end, we've got to land on a candidate here that the base can rally around and can win that moderate middle swath of the electorate.
So it's going to be fun. It's going to be a lot of money spent. And hopefully the Democrat won't come out to be the Republican. How do you feel about the Republicans' chances there?
Like Roger's probably going to run again almost one this last time around. I mean, Republicans have to view this as a pick up opportunity, right? Sure. It's a tough cycle.
It's going to be an uphill battle all across the board, especially in this off year. Mike Rogers is a good candidate. That was actually a great ad put out today during that announcement. But I would also say that this is really, and I alluded to this before, this is a great case study in the tariff issue.
United Auto Workers came out very strongly when Trump announced a lot of these tariffs. A lot of union workers are very pro-Trump, pro-these tariffs. This is a place, a state that got highly decimated with jobs moving overseas. It'll be a test study in the potency of that message among those voters moving forward.
And another interesting race is in Arizona, Julia, and that's where we have a gubernatorial race there. And President Trump made a double endorsement today by endorsing both Karen, Taylor, Robson, and also Andy Bims, who is the House member who's decided to run. How do you get two endorsements for the same job? Well, he's not up before.
A few times. So he's done it before. And look, he endorsed Karen Taylor Robson. I think late last year, initially.
Yeah. And then Andy Bims, obviously, a big Trump ally. So no surprise there. In terms of Trump's endorsement, though, the race I'm really watching isn't Texas Senate race there.
You have John Cornyn, who I think is seriously in trouble. He is vulnerable facing someone like Ken Paxton. Ken Paxton is a very strong staunch Trump ally, and we know that John Cornyn has broken with Trump sometimes. And I chatted with a lot of Texas Republicans who are concerned about Cornyn's future there.
But I want to go back to Michigan for a second, and Cornell's point about sort of being ground zero for, I think, the battle between progressives and, I guess, moderates within the Democratic Party. It's interesting because you have a bull El Syed, who has endorsed by Bernie Sanders, right out the gate. But you have Haley Stevens, who I think is so fascinating because unlike a lot of other Democrats, she came out and supported Chuck Schumer following his vote for that GOP spending bill last month. So that's certainly something to watch.
And I wonder, get it back to Texas, Cornell. I know we have to get back to Texas. You're going to always salivate at the opportunity to wait, Texas, and Paxton is the nominee there. And if it's someone like Colin Oliver that runs again, is that a state that could be in play?
Well, look, we've been promising to put Texas in play a lot of times. Yes. I've done that many times this year. So, we're going to put Texas in play a lot.
Texas is a very, it's a tough state. Texas is a country, right? So it takes an awful lot of resources and money to win there. And you also need more mobilization and galvanization of the more diverse and younger population there.
There is a case, there is a argument we made that the way that we made Georgia more purple, right, with enlarging the electorate, bringing more young people, more diverse people in that electorate in Georgia. In the case we may also, for Texas, that's also a pathway for making it more competitive. But again, we've been on this road before. It takes a lot of money to make Texas.
Well, probably the biggest way Georgia was in play were poor candidate quality from Republicans. And if that replays itself in Texas, that quote. Poor commercial. Yeah.
I think you guys can. We appreciate it. I'm really going to let you go this time. Right to Brian Chung, because we do have some breaking news as Elon Musk's Tesla just reported a big drop in revenue while blaming the political environment.
Brian, this news is just coming in. What can you tell us? Yeah, Brian, this is a pretty impactful for Elon Musk's automotive company, which reported a pretty, pretty disappointing quarter for the first quarter. A car delivery is down 12 percent compared to last year.
Automotive revenue down 20 percent year over year and their gross profit down 15 percent compared to last year. The first fiscal quarter that Tesla has reported since Elon Musk took on his responsibilities at Doge. And interestingly, two threads within the report, they cited the poor earnings as a result of quote, trade policy that adversely impacts the cost structure for their auto company as well as noting that there could be a meaningful impact on the demand for their products from quote, the changing political sentiment, likely a nod to recent vandalism of Texas Tesla vehicles and this recent association with Elon Musk among Tesla drivers and owners. So this is very much the first big substantial impact that we've seen to his car company as a result of import his association with the administration.
I want to point out shares are basically flat and after hours training, although I want to point out, Tesla stock has been one of the more beat downstops and was already a very bad stock market in 2025, shares of Tesla down get this 41 percent year to date, Ryan. And that has got to impact Elon Musk's personal wealth as well, Brian. I mean, is there any indication that this could maybe lead to him disassociating himself with the administration? I mean, how much worse can it get?
Yeah. But we would already heard the chatter of his time with the, at least maybe sunsetting very soon as was probably structured to begin with. But I do think that the question is, can he return fully and bring his attention back to Tesla as many shareholders might want him to do? That does remain an open question as we know that the administration will be sticking out for much longer than that.
Okay. Brian, Sean, thank you for jumping in there on that breaking news. Earnings, the revenues tumble, the company blaming the political environment. Brian, we appreciate it.
And we are now going to go to Halley Jackson. Oh, I'm sorry, Brian. Thank you. And I want to thank the panel as well.
Once again, Julia, Cordell, D.W., we appreciate it all. We will be back tomorrow with more Meet the Press, but the news continues right now. With Halley Jackson right now. Thank you for watching.
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