Meet the Press NOW – December 17

Foreign. We begin with breaking news out of Providence, where we're expecting updated at any moment on the investigation into the deadly shooting on the Brown University campus that killed two students and injured nine others this weekend. It comes as a manhunt for the killer enters its fifth day with law enforcement yet to identify any suspect. Providence police today releasing images of a person they're trying to identify and speak with who they say was in proximity of a person of interest they're seeking.

It comes after police released enhanced video late yellow marquee. Francis joins me from Providence and also with me as NBC News chief justice and national affairs correspondent Kelly Marquis. Let me start with you. This man now entering its fifth and fifth day, talk about what those who are on the campus are telling you.

Is it fear? Is it frustration? Is it a combination of both? What are folks telling you?

Absolutely, Kristen. Fear, anxiety, frustration, and now moving towards anger. We know when the shooting happened last Saturday. We also know where in the building just behind me.

But we still have no video of what exactly happened. Of course, we know there's a person of interest that law enforcement looking for. We have no video of them entering or exiting the building. And as you noted, law enforcement is now doubling down and pleading with the public for their help in this investigation, sending out that image today of a person they'd like to talk to who was in the proximity of this person of interest, that enhanced video just yesterday.

But still they are asking for more help from the public. Yesterday at Pressa, we learned that they're following 200 credible tips and they're hoping those can help them get to more progress in this investigation. But of course, time is of the essence. As you noted, day five of this investigation.

People that I've talked to here, the ones who are still left on campus, there's a growing sense of worry and really doubt with whether law enforcement actually can solve this case. I talked to a grad student earlier who not went up here on camera, but she said she has an overall feeling of a nightmare entering day five. Now, she's not left the campus yet because she has to travel far and she's waiting for her fight at the end of this week. But right now there's a heavy feeling, there's a fearful and anxious feeling because someone is still at large.

And now anger and frustration. Kristen Marquis, thank you so much for that. It's hard to imagine what those students are going through given that this person is still on the loose. Kelly, let me turn to you because authorities are releasing this image of a person who is in the proximity of the person of interest that they are seeking.

What can you tell us about this person that they're trying to talk to? And we can see his face. We should note. Well, with all the frustration that people are rightly feeling around Brown University five days in the span of an investigation, it tells us something about the fact that those who are closest to the alleged gunman, not this image, but the one that they say is the suspect, have apparently not come forward yet.

And we've seen in other cases where someone who knows the person related to the person and so forth comes forward. Absent that, they're now looking at this proximity person, as I would describe it, another individual seen on video near the route that the suspect, the person of interest. Again, we have to be careful what we refer to people as here. But they want to find out who is this person because does this person have any direct knowledge of that other figure who authorities said was casing the area?

Is this an acquaintance? Is this a friend? Is this someone who is a helper or simply someone living his own life, unrelated but using the same pathway? Remember a detail who might have had a chance conversation.

This person is not suspected of any wrongdoing. They're hoping to locate this individual to have another pathway of information. Part of the challenge here is without a clear facial image that makes it very difficult for authorities to get the kind of help they're looking for. Other tools that they might have at their disposal, this sort of concentric rings of seeking doorway cameras and company surveillance and obviously the cameras that are part of the university they've been trying to piece together.

Kelly, I'm going to have to introduce this press conference about to get underway. Province Ryder's the mayor. Let's take a listen. Welcome back to our daily briefing.

I want to start by just acknowledging how the residents of Providence and the students in campus community at Brown are still feeling restless and eager for an arrest. And we understand and share that feeling. We are also eager for an arrest. Investigation is well underway.

We'll hear an update in just a second from Colonel Perez and Attorney General Narona. But I want to re emphasize that in the Providence community and with governor's help, really in the broader Providence community, we have tightened security and we have neighbors looking out for one another and we will get through this. I know our city and we are a resilient community and we are a city that will support one another as we move forward in this scary time. Just because you're feeling unsafe doesn't mean that that's Invalid.

We know that that's real, but we're doing everything we can to both advance this investigation, but also to provide the support necessary as we move forward and take the first steps together that we need to, as a city, to start to recognize that kids need to go to school and people need to go to work. And we appreciate the courage and sometimes even tentative steps forward that we're taking as we start to move forward as a community. At this time, I'd like to introduce Colonel Oscar Perez, who will give an update on the investigation. Thank you.

Thank you, Mayor. Good afternoon. Pleased earlier today. So we have used this in hin earlier today and I want to be clear, this is a person that would like to speak with.

I believe that based on the video footage that we have been watching for a few days, they may have relevant information to the investigation. So we're asking the public that you can help us identify who these individual is, as well as the individual themselves. See their pictures. Please contact the police department.

As far as one thing I want to mention, I want to urge you, the public, not to rely on or circulate AI generated images that are currently being shared on social media as a not verify of credible. As well, the updates and information you're getting will be provided exclusively to this department's official channels. I want to make sure they make that happen. And please notify the property to make sure that that occurs.

I would also like to clarify. Show a map, please. Map. So the map here that you see is actually a map of the area that we have been intensively walking on the streets, cameras in the area.

So as you see the blue image yesterday I mentioned that we needed public assistance to check the camera assistance or any sort of video that you may have that could be helpful to us that you, as you're watching it or you're reviewing it, you feel there may be something that we can use, please notify us. And if you need any help with that viewing those videos, please also call us. We can come over and help you. The green area, that's color.

That's what we confirmed where the subject was prior to the shooting. The red areas, we have also confirmed that that's the immediate area where he left after the shooting. And so this is the map that actually we have so far we've walked through all. We're still actively investigating.

We're still actively having agents, problems, police officers, members of the state police. There's about nine federal agencies that are assisting us with this investigation. I the state police as well as the province police and all the municipalities. Again, I'd like to reiterate, if you have any tips, Please call the 2723121 or the FBI link FBI.gov Brown University shooting thank you, Attorney General Ker.

Okay. Thank you, General. One additional update for me and then we'll be happy to take your questions. First, I want to just take a moment to recognize and honor the memory of Ella Cook and Muhammad Aziz Omerzakov, who are the two deceased victims from this tragedy, and update you on the status of the survivors.

Yesterday we mentioned that one individual had been discharged. I'm happy to report that another individual has been discharged today. That leaves one survivor in critical but stable condition and five in stable conditions. The parents that I spoke with today all reported that their kids were improving.

So this is a happy announcement, but I know the entire Providence community, the entire state of Rhode island, the governor and I were together in memorial service last night. Mourn the loss and offer our most sincere condolences to the Cook and the Murzakov families. Following up on a note that the colonel made with respect to AI generated images and other misinformation, we have created a online folder with all of the video and images that have been released. And we encourage both members of the press, but also members of the community.

We know lots of people are sharing information and we appreciate that. We think that will help with this investigation. But we encourage them to download and share the videos and photos from the website that has been created so that you can ensure that you're sharing an accurate and verified photo and video. That website is now live.

It is providenceri.gov tips t-providenceri.gov tips is an online file folder that has the videos and photos that have been released to date. And it will be updated as we progress. Progress. There's been lots of conversation up here about the heroic work of the hundreds of law enforcement professionals who remain hard at work 24 hours a day and who are in fact, making progress.

I want to close with one additional thank you. Tonight, all of those tip line calls are coming into the city's telecommunications department. The same folks who answered the 911 calls, and they too have been working tirelessly. And I want to thank the men and women at Dispatch and Telecommunications for their diligence.

Everyone in City Providence truly has a role to play in this investigation and we're grateful for their assistance. We'll take your questions. John, I have a question about Colonel as he's walking around, I want to establish, actually, let's be courageous, that this is emerges I believe you had said Saturday and I recognize that it fluctuates in this volume but as of right now what's the earliest show but then 3am on the date of the this tragic incident. However certain also mentioned yesterday that they do Casey areas they do a lot of prior checking for the crime.

And so we believe. We truly believe that it could be the possibly who's there prior as well. And so we want to make sure that we don't miss anything. And so that's why we're asking the public to help us to ensure within that map area I mentioned the borders between Whitley Brook those areas Gaino if you have a camera assistant reach out to us.

I just gained along street Gano today tremendous number of federal officials literally going door to door. Would you say just how do you try? I mean it just seems that this is probably right now the most massive intensive event going on in the world. I think I agree with you on that John and I definitely commend the men of the men and women obviously partners.

It's a lot of work and it's intense. As you stated it takes a lot to be able to knock on doors. These videos. There's terabytes of videos that you have to look at and mention yesterday.

We're looking for a moment that takes almost less than a second and if you miss it you're missing something that could be critical and important for us to use. And so yes, it's really intense and I believe that is probably the most intense investigation going on right now in this mission. The second person you want to talk to. So yeah we have video footage of the determinants to us and the detectives that can tell that this person was in the vicinity where the subject of interest was that we wonder that we actually have interest in Close.

Close enough that we feel that we need to speak with them to find out what the videos don't speak. If you think about it, I wish the video could speak and then I'll have the answers that we need to so that we can continue on this investigation. So we're trying to find out exactly what reasons why we need to speak with them. Listen running in the surveillance and have you found any items of interest during your search specifically program Nothing.

Speak no up front here. Who among law enforcement a lot of first responders was first on the scene that day and who came next was I seen in the media the province was there. Is that the moment that you think this new person and person. That's correct.

And you had Some searches going on in northern Tip comes in and he needs us to go down to Connecticut. We go down to Connecticut. If thick comes in and tells us all we know is that that person was in the vicinity of the subject that we have, Why we're looking for this individual, why do we want to speak with him? So.

You've been listening to a press conference out of Providence, Rhode island officials updating the public on the ongoing manhunt to find the person responsible for killing two students at Brown University. The mayor said, we are doing everything we can to advance this investigation. Releasing an image of a person who authorities say was in close proximity to the person of interest. They want to talk to the person in this image.

They believe he was in close enough proximity to the person of interest that he may be able to shed some key details on this case. Let's go back to Kelly o' donnell, who's been watching this press conference along with Kelly. What were your key takeaways and the fact that the shooter is still at large? Well, certainly for the Providence community and the people in close proximity, having a daily press conference where there can be even incremental updates has a value.

There is nothing that stood out beyond that to me. This investigation is being run at a local level. Federal resources have been provided, but they are not in charge. There is not anything known about this crime that would make it a federal offense at this point.

Therefore, it is being handled at a local level. And they've really hit some speed bumps along the way. Clearly a lot of effort is going into it. A lot of manpower from the enforcement, law enforcement at the local level, having support from federal agents or helping with the door to door type.

Search the people manning the phones for any tips that are coming in. But it appears they have a lot of questions. They have a process for trying to work through and for information, but they don't have anything specific. There was a question asked about, has anything been found that might be a value like shedding of clothing, which we sometimes see in criminal offenses where people try to change what they're wearing, aware that there are cameras, they say nothing like that has happened in this case that they were prepared to talk about.

So that is a question mark. So it really could come down to using cell phone data, which takes a considerable amount of time. Assuming the person of interest had a cell phone on his person, could that help them try to hone in? That's long, painstaking work.

Could it be that this new proximity person, as I've been describing it, someone who may Be unknown to the person of interest or a friend or just a casual acquaintance or we really don't know anything about that person. But if that individual sees himself or a family member and says, go in and talk to authorities and tell your story, maybe that moves the ball here. It could also be that person has nothing to and doesn't know the suspect. We just don't know.

So they are casting a wide net. They are doing a grid like search neighborhood by neighborhood. They provided another kind of map for people in the local community to encourage them to look at everything from their ring door cameras or their company business surveillance. Or as we've heard them say before, if you drive a Tesla that has cameras on all sides, that could be a source of information.

So way more questions than any new developments here. Yeah. And all of your caveats, Kelly, are so incredibly important. The police chief saying, I wish the videos could speak, underscoring that they are trying to thread all of this together, but clearly don't have the person they believe is responsible for this.

And of course, because so many days have passed, this person may have left the state of Rhode Island. Marquise Francis, let me turn back to you on that note. You are there. You are talking to students.

You just heard the press conference. How do you think this will be received by the community there at Brown in Providence in the Rhode island state? Yeah, I mean, another press conference and still more questions than answers. A lot of the people that I've spoken to, they expressed so much frustration.

I mentioned at the top, that frustration is now turning to anger. Just to go over the timeline really quickly, the chaos ensued on Saturday. Overnight, on Sunday, police had a person of interest detained. There was a bit of relief.

Then overnight, on Sunday, that person was released. On Monday, there was a new person of interest. And now fast forward to today. We still have no more information about this person of interest besides some enhanced video and an image now.

And the people that I spoke to, just the back and forth, they're frustrated. A lot of students, of course, have already left campus, moving a lot of their timeline up, people moving flights just to get out of here because of that unease. But a lot of students haven't been able to. And so this is only adding to that anxiety because there still remains a gunman at large.

I do want to note we heard Mayor Smiley acknowledge the people and their feelings, but it's also pretty telling. The attorney general, Peter Narona, said he had no updates. Someone who has been front and center in front of the press decided not to say anything. It appears as though we still have a long way before we get some answers.

All right. Marquise and Kelly, thank you both so much for your reporting and your analysis. The press conference, the big developments that we just heard, we really appreciate it. Coming up, inside the rebellion against House Peter.

Mike Johnson with the House Republican who is bucking leadership, joining Democrats in an effort to force a vote to extend expiring health care subsidies. Keep it right here and MEET the PRESS now. Welcome back. We want to turn now to breaking news here in Washington as Republican leadership is facing a result from moderates in the House.

It is now all but certain that millions of Americans will see their health insurance premiums skyrocket in the new year. Next hour, the House is set to vote on a narrow health care reform bill that was cobbled together by Republican leadership. It does not include an extension of the Affordable Care act subsidies and it has no Bible path to pass the Senate. Moderate Republicans are furious after House leadership effectively blocks them from considering ways to extend the Affordable Care act subsidies.

As part of today's vote, a handful of those moderates today took the extraordinary step of joining forces of House Democrats in a maneuver to bypass House Speaker Mike Johnson entirely and force a vote to extend those Obamacare tax credits for three years. Some of those Republican lawmakers saying their leadership left them no choice. We exhausted every effort to find an agreement within our conference. If folks chose not to find a path forward, they left us with no option but to sign that three year discharge.

My view is doing nothing is the worst outcome. And that's why Ryan Fitzpatrick, myself, Rob Bresna and Ryan McKenzie signed to this chart. You know, I believe very strongly in this issue and you know, we keep getting this number for now that it's only 7% of the population. But that 7% is everything.

I know some of those 7%. So I don't really like that narrative. I will speak to one of those Republicans in just a moment. It's just the latest in a stream of recent incidents where House Republicans have openly defied leadership, leaving Speaker Johnson today forced to defend his ability to control his conference.

Take a listen. We have the smallest majority in U.S. history. These are not normal times.

There are processes, proxies and procedures in the House that are less frequent used when there are larger majorities. When you have the luxury of having 10 or 15 people who disagree on something, you know, you don't have to deal with. But when you have a razor thin margin, as we do, then all the proceedings in the table amid the House drama, the Senate also remains deadlocked after voting down partisan plans from both parties last week and little apparent appetite among leadership to forge a compromise. The Jeffrey District petition on three year extension day now has the votes to be discharged.

What do you think the Senate will do that bill if it's sent over and doing well, we'll see. I mean, we have some prospect. We come to it. I don't expect that they probably even if they have a sufficient number of signatures, I doubt they will have to speak.

The damage has been done no matter what happens because at this point, Republicans have made it impossible to prevent many Americans from paying more on their monthly premiums on January 1st. And Republicans can't even say they tried to stop it. All of this means an estimated 22 million Americans will see their health insurance premiums double on average in 2026. Joining out from Capitol Hill, senior White Housebotta Gabe Gutierrez.

Mel, let me start with you on the Hill. There are still some lawmakers and quite frankly, some folks at the White House are saying, well, it's still possible we could get an 11 hour deal here. What's the reality check? Well, there are still some major hurdles to overcome.

First of all, Johnson has seven legislative days actually schedule a floor vote in the House on that ECA extension. And because the House leaves on Friday for the holidays, that means they likely won't actually be voting on this until the new year after these subsidies have already expired. And second of all, this still needs to pass the Senate and be signed in the law by President Trump. And as you outlined there, the Senate already rejected a similar proposal earlier this month with GOP Leader John Thune pouring cold water on the proposal once again today.

But all that being said, President, I think the House actually moving on the AC extension creates an entirely different dynamic for the Senate. And so the hope, at least among supporters of this effort is that the House actions and movement combined with the pressure from constituency start to feel the real world impact of this in the new year could really put some pressure on senators to come together and make a compromise deal. But that is really what's going to need to happen if Congress really is going to address these ACA subsidies and talk about this dynamic that's unfolding with some moderate Republicans really turning up the heat on Speaker Johnson, who we just heard there defend his leadership and say that, yes, he still has control of his Congress. Yeah, there's been some real angst and frustration in the Republican ranks, not just with moderates, but really broadly across the conference.

But what we've seen with the more moderate Republicans is that they feel like their priorities and needs aren't always listened to, despite the fact that they're the ones who can determine whether or not Republicans are in the House majority next year. So some Republicans are still expressing frustration. Others, though, are saying ultimately they did what they needed to do to best represent their district. So essentially, no hard feelings.

Just listen. Hearing that, he put us in a bad spot. We live in that by our decisions. So he made his decision, we made ours.

He just, he's got a deal with 219 personalities and viewpoints, including mine. And, you know, I think a lot of times he's able to get there and move the conference. This time he was, he needs to do better. He needs to allow for a vote that both addresses the short and long term issues of Obamacare.

Republicans need to step up and stop just complaining about the problem, but also provide some solutions to the broken Democrat system. But as you know, Kristen, this is now the third time that a discharge petition has succeeded in the House under Johnson's watch, which is just a remarkable act of defiance and rebellion here in the House, which is why Johnson is so defensive right now, insisting he has not lost control of the House, not that he does have historically tight margin. This is bound to happen. But no doubt the frustration and angst is boiling, especially as we get closer to the midterms.

And Mel, you take me to my next point because of course, if this does not get resolved, this is going to be the centerpiece of the midterms, right? How would it play for each party? That's exactly right. I mean, Democrats are saying they're planning to make this a political cudgel in the midterms if they fail to actually extend via bond care subsidies.

And moderate Republicans have warned that they think they're going to lose their seats if Congress doesn't, potentially could cost Republicans the entire majority. So no health care is going to take center stage in the 2026 midterms along with the general issue of affordability. Increasingly, though, we're hearing Republicans speaking out and saying President Trump needs to do more to address the issue, affordability. He can no longer dismiss it as a Democratic hoax.

Kristen. All right, Melanie Zinona from Capitol Hill, thank you so much. Steve, let me go over to you at the White House. Let's pick up on that final point.

By now, this idea that from the perspective of Republicans, President Trump hasn't necessarily been as engaged as they would like him to be in this process. What are your sources telling you? Will he get engaged at the 11th hour. We're literally heading into the 11th hour as we speak.

Or is this something he's going to pick up the new year go either Chris. And look, President Trump at this point appears to be happy to let Speaker Johnson take these arrows right when talking about House officials. We hear from Caroline Levitt, the press secretary, earlier this week essentially saying that, yes, that the president will be in consultation with Republic as this process moves forward. But really when you speak with White House officials, they really do.

And change the subject here, that the president in the new year will do his best to try and lower health care costs. They switch to the idea of the president disliking Obamacare and having to find some fix for that, although they haven't offered an exact plan for this. And this is a subject that we expect to even hear from the president tonight talking about lowering costs for Americans. The irregularity has not gotten engaged in this process and appears to be letting the messiness here fall the feet of Congress and specifically House Speaker Mike Johnson.

Gabe, follow up on that point if you would flesh out a little bit more. What are you anticipating the president will talk about tonight? What do you think his tone is going to be? He's going to be talking about the economy.

We just started talking about that in Pennsylvania. What exactly do you think we'll. Well, crisino as well as anybody. The president is a showman.

He knows the significance of a prime time address, 9pm Eastern in front of millions of viewers and he wants to use this megaphone, according to White House officials, to really tout what his administration views as his successes of his second term so far. He was actually asked about this a short time ago on the tarmac. He was returning from a dignified transfer ceremony. Let's listen to what he said.

Well, I think the message is easing, is we inherited a mess and we've done a great job and we continue to and our country is going to be stronger than ever before very soon. The third my question is all comes this president is facing backlash over his handling of the economy. And NPR BDS Maris says that only 36% of Americans approve of his handling of the economy. That backs up all the recent polling that we've seen so far.

So certainly the administration viewing this as a chance to take back the narrative, even though his message on a ability so far has been model Christian. Okay, quickly before I let you go. Vice President J.D. vance was in battleground Penny yesterday.

Of course, President Trump was just there last week. Is this a preview of things to come. President Trump has said he's going to be out on the campaign trail in 2026. Will the Vice president be out there with him?

Well, look, we keep hearing from the White House that yes, the president will be out there selling his economic policies to Americans. We've yet to see that, at least on a large scale so far. But when it comes to being a messenger and the question of whether vice president advanced to be a better messenger than the president on the issue of affordability, look, White House officials view President Trump as the best messenger for his policies. However, he does tend to go off script and he has over the last several weeks referring to his issue of affordability as a Democratic Coke.

There is some acknowledgment within Republicans, within White House officials that it is an issue they're going to have to start talking about. Would be interesting to see exactly how he threads that deal tonight and whether he veers off script in his high stakes address in front of millions of people here at the White House. It will indeed. We'll be listening closely.

Gabe Gutierrez, thank you so much for joining us. From the White House, Republican Congressman Mike Lawler of New York. He was one of the four Republicans who signed onto that discharge petition to force a vote on a three year extension of Obamacare subsidies. Congressman, thank you so much for joining us.

We really appreciate it. Thanks for having me, Kristen. So let's start right there. Your decision to sign on to this discharge petition, what is the exact message that you are trying to send?

Look, after the shutdown that democrats engineered for 43 days, I sat down in a good faith bipartisan effort to come up with a compromise and to extend the ACA tax credits, the enhanced premium tax credits with reforms. We put forth two bills and tried to work with House Republican leadership to allow for an up or down vote. And unfortunately, after a long back and forth, we just could not get to an agreement within our conference to move it forward. And so I and Brian Fitzpatrick, Ryan McKenzie and Rob Bresenhan really were left with no alternative but to sign the three year clean extension to force a vote and to actually advance legislation forward so that ultimately we could get a bipartisan compromise.

And I do believe if the bill comes to the floor, not only will it pass, but it'll give the Senate the ability to come back with a bipartisan compromise and actually get something passed into law. Just to be very clear, if that bill comes to the floor, you will vote yes on the broader bill to extend Obamacare substance for three years? Congressman? Yes.

And the fact that it can't come to the floor immediately, that's my understanding. Correct me if I'm wrong. In other words, there's a seven day period effectively means that these Obamacare subsidies are going to expire. Is that how you see it?

Is that imminent at this point? Well, look, even if we were able to pass it this week and we are pushing for a vote this week, we have asked Speaker Johnson to put the bill on the floor and we are trying to work, you know, through this process to get a vote before we leave. But you need to pass this week. It would still then require the Senate to move.

And the Senate just voted this exact measure down last week. So it's going to require bipartisan compromise, which has been my point from the start. And why, you know, I, I really did not want to sign this three year discharge because I don't want a messaging bill. I want a lawmaking exercise.

I want it to pass and become law. And I know it's going to requ. Reforms and you know, inclusive of income limits. Somebody making $600,000 should not be subsidized for their health care.

It's going to require insurance reforms. You know, Kristen, remember, since Obamacare took effect, healthcare premiums have skyrocketed 96 and insurance company profits have exploded by 2000%. All right, so they continue to make, you know, billions upon billions of dollars and yet everybody's health insurance premiums continue to rise. There needs to be real reform of the insurance companies.

It's part of the reason why I pointed out, for instance, UnitedHealthcare owns one of the largest providers in the country. That should not happen. Insurance companies should not be owning providers. There's a clear conflict of interest.

So we have to get to the big root cause of why healthcare premiums are spiking. And Congressman, before we get into that, the degree about that, let me just. House leadership is still planning to vote on their health care plan with no extension of the Affordable Care Act. Just to be very clear, the Affordable Care subsidies, are you planning to vote no on that piece of legislation?

No, I will be voting yes on that bill because it actually starts to enact some important reforms. For instance, PBM reform and PBM transparency associated Health Plans, which will allow small businesses, self employed individuals to be able to pool together and purchase insurance at a lower rate. CBO has already scored it and said it would reduce health insurance premiums across the country by 11%. So there's some really important reforms there that should advance forward.

But Congressman doesn't Voting for the bill that's going to go to the floor undercut your broader effort to get a bipartisan piece of legislation passed through both chambers. We went to the Rules Committee, we put amendments forward. They were not ruled in order. That is why I signed the three year discharge to force a vote on the ACA premium tax credit extension.

So we are doing this dual track. I'm not giving up the fight here. I have, you know, bucked my own leadership to force a vote and that is the tool that was available to me when I couldn't get consensus out of our majority. So let me ask you about leadership.

You were seen speaking with Speaker Johnson on the House floor. He described your conversation as intense fellowship. Is that how you would describe it? What did you say to him specifically?

Conversation. Listen, I'm Irish, Italian, Catholic from New York. You know, I'm blunt if nothing else. And we had a very direct conversation, the group of us.

But I like Mike Johnson very much. We have a very good relationship. He has an impossible task of managing 219 other personalities, myself included, and trying to pull together 218 votes for every bill. And sometimes you're just not going to be able to reach an agreement.

This is one of the few instances where that has happened. And so I and Brian and Ryan and Rob did what we had to do on behalf of our constituents, our district to force a vote. And again, we're going to agree to disagree. But we obviously are working to advance this and you know, we're going to continue the dialogue with the speaker on how to address this issue, that it actually becomes law, which is what I'm most interested.

And do you have confidence, Speaker Johnson? Congressman, I know he's done a great job and people can agree or disagree on an issue. He is doing his level best. He has been nothing but honest and forthright with me.

And even if, you know, I, I'm blunt and direct, the bottom line is I'm focused on finding a solution on an issue that matters that has no bearing on my relationship with him. And Congressman, you are mapping out what you see as the core problems of Obamacare. And the root question remains, why hasn't the president, why haven't Republican leadership put forward a plan to actually replace Obamacare before now? Should it have been proposed when the president first took office again, for example?

Example? Well, again, we are working through this process. We have a bill on the floor today that is starting the process of reforming this system. I'm not interested in repeal and replace.

I want to fix the problems and when you look at some of the problems within the system, it is primarily driven by the insurance companies. Remember, they're the ones that wrote Obamacare. They're the ones that worked with Democrats to write that law. And so when you see the fact that they have increased their profits by 2000% over these 15 years and meanwhile, everybody's health insurance premiums continue to spike, that's a problem.

And by the way, person, even if we pass this extension of the enhanced premium tax credit, we're only talking about 7%. So the other 93 continue to see their health insurance premium skyrocket because this system is broken. Broken. That is why we are going after real reforms on PBMs, real reforms on allowing for associated health plans.

We need catastrophic coverage. We need to allow purchase across state lines. We need to deal with workforce issues. We have a shortage of doctors and nurses.

That really is at the core of why people can't get access in many parts of the country. So there's a lot of work ahead. And I am focused on what we can substantively do in a bipartisan way to get that done. It's not going to be fixed overnight, but that's why to me, this is dual track, the ACA extension on the enhanced premium tax credit with reforms coupled with larger reforms for the whole system.

All right, Congressman Mike Lawler, thank you so much as always for joining us. We really appreciate it. Thanks, Chris. And we have an important programming note now.

I will be joining NBC's Tomiana tonight as part of our special coverage of the president's PrimeTime address at 9pm Eastern right here on NBC News now. Now coming out, President Trump on a warfare with Venezuela, ordering a blockade of certain oil tankers and designating the Venezuelan regime a foreign terrorist organization. Stay informed with the NBC News app. Breaking news just coming in moments ago.

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Price is subject to change. Visit NBC news.com for full off for terms and details. Welcome back. President Trump is taking a major step, dramatically escalating his pressure campaign against the Mado regime in Venezuela.

In a post on social media announcing he is, quote, ordering a total and complete blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers going into and out of Venezuela. It comes a week after US Forces seized a sanctioned oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela that the administration says was transporting oil to Iran. In the same social media post last night, the president also saying he was designating the Venezuelan regime as a foreign terrorist organization, though it remains unclear what exactly he means by the Venezuelan regime journey. Now I've been CBC national correspondent Courtney QB Corp, thanks for being here.

What is the very latest and what do you make of this oil blockade? It has raised so many more questions about the overall strategy. Yeah. So this appears to be like the next step in the economic pressure of this campaign.

Right. We saw the military piece. Now we're seeing the economic piece that started with the tanker last week. And now even if the US doesn't even seize another tanker, they put out this threat.

And now that could have effect to have these tankers not gonna out of port. That would have a huge impact on the Venezuelan economy. And we've already heard some reports that Venezuela may now have their navy start escorting the ship so that they can move safely. The big question is, will President Trump actually go after these tankers?

About 40% of those that leave Venezuela are under some sanction. That could be a huge number because and a huge logistical undertaking for the US and in terms of the logistical undertaking, do we have any sense who is assisting the US with this effort in terms of who exactly is doing this blockade? So if it's there's a huge military presence there that could be involved in sort of the physical presence of the blockade. But if they want to do this legally, so that is as a law enforcement action, then they would use a coast guard like we saw last week.

But the Coast Guard, it's a very elite unit that was involved last week and there's only so many of them. If we're talking about potentially one or two of these every couple of days, I don't know if they would have the resources for that. I had asked last week if some of these actions should be viewed as a step toward war. Administration officials told me absolutely not.

And yet there's no doubt all of this, each of these steps are an escalation. Yeah. And it's absolutely a pressure campaign. And what's remarkable is initially this was all about drugs, stopping the flow of drugs.

Right. Well, it's been very widely proven that that was cocaine and it was going primarily to Europe in the West Africa, not to the United States. Then it became this is about pressuring, Maduro, getting step down. And we just have a third reason today for this from President Trump.

He just spoke moments ago and said that he wants the oil, that Venezuela has US Oil and the US Wants it back. So we now have three different reasons that the US Is engaged in the pressure campaign. And just finally, does the president need congressional approval if he wants to take any further steps? No.

Unless it is the language of Metro social is a little bit scary because he talks about a full naval blade, but then he goes on to say just against the ships that weren't potentially sanctioned, a full naval blockade after war. Absolutely. That would require a declaration of war or a Security Council sanction. All right, Courtney K, as always, thank you for being here.

Great to see you. Coming up next, the rocky road ahead for U.S. relations with Canada. Amid an unprecedented stretch of economic tensions.

Canada's ambassador to the US Joins me right here in studio after announcing her resignation. You're watching the press now. Stay with us. While the back has straight.

Tensions between the U.S. and Canada remain high, one of the key trade negotiators from Canada is stepping down. Kirsten Hillman, Canada's long time ambassador to the US Announced last week that she is leaving her post at the end of the year. Her decision coming as President Trump considers potentially withdrawing from the USMCA trade agreement reached by the U.S.

canada and Mexico under President Trump's first administration. And less than two months after the President terminated trade talks with Canada after the province of Ontario ran anti tariff ads featuring the voice of Ronald Reagan. And Ambassador Kirsten Hillman joins me now. Pastor, thank you so much for being here.

Thank you so much for having me. Chris, congratulations on this next step for you. Talk a little bit about this decision I'm sure it couldn't be an easy one. Why now?

Why did you want to step down now? It is a hard decision. I mean, this job has been the privilege of my life, representing my country here in the United States. But I've been here for eight years.

I've been ambassador for six. And we are, you know, we're moving towards a new phase in our discussions on trade in particular. That will probably take a little while. And it just seemed like it was the right time to have a new team in place to see those negotiations through.

So, tough decision, lots of emotions, but deeply grateful for having served. You talk about the trade negotiations. Obviously there have been tensions. Did that factor into your decision to step down at this point?

No, it didn't. It didn't. When Prime Minister Carney came into office in the spring, we talked a little bit about me and my future. He asked me to stay on and I said I would, but that I wouldn't want another four year term.

That was too long after having been here for quite some time. And normally terms are only three to four years. So six is already longer than usual. I was happy to be here for a little while, but it was always a plan to transition to a new ambassador, given the trade tensions right now.

Ambassador, how do you assess the current relationship between the United States and Canada now versus when you first took your position? That's a very good question. So I came to the US during the first negotiations, the renegotiation of the nafta. And people might recall at the time, you know, it was quite tumultuous.

There were questions as to whether or not the agreement would be ripped up. We made it through. We made it through, in my opinion, with an agreement that is very strong, that's led to 25% increased trade between our three countries. So it's successful.

The facts are that it's successful this time. You know, we're happy to have another look at it, make sure it's fit for purpose, but feel like it's important not to reconsider the fundamentals because the fundamentals are working well. Well, speaking of usmc, I want to play a little bit of what President Trump has said about it, get your reaction on the other side. Let's take a look.

Are you all talking about the usmca? What you're thinking about renegotiating that with the automakers? Well, you know, that's just an ongoing thing. It expires in about a year and we'll either let it expire or we'll maybe work out another deal with Mexico and Canada.

But look, Mexico and Canada have taken advantage of the United States like just about every other country. Do you think the USMCA can survive, Ambassador? I do. I do.

I think it can survive because it's the right thing for all three countries. But it's the thing for America. Canada is your biggest customer. You sell more or less than the uk, France and Japan combined.

You put all the countries together, that's 1.7 billion people. We're 40 billion people. And we buy more from America, American manufacturers than all them combined. It is in the interest of the United States to keep free and open trade with Canada.

And the USMC is the cornerstone. That is the foundation on which that's based. So I think that those facts are what are going to get us through big picture. How do you think the US And Canada can turn the temperature down?

Do you think it's headed in that direction? I do think we can turn the temperature. Actually, I already think the temperature has turned down. I think that Prime Minister Carney and the president have a good report.

I said they have a collegial relationship. They just spent 45 minutes talking together with President Shine mom just after the FIFA draw. But two hours sitting side by side at the FIFA draw, talking about, you know, soccer obviously, but many other things. They have a good, solid relationship.

That doesn't solve all the challenges, but it certainly helps. And I do think that we will make our way through with open lines of communication, not just for the president, but with a lot of his advisors that are close to him, who I see as committed to helping us work this through. Finally, can you tell us what's next for you? Well, first of all, I'm gonna take a little bit of a break.

I'm leaving in February and so I'm here for a while still. I'll take a bit of a break. Just consider my next steps, visit my parents who are elderly and I've seen less than I would like to so some of that kind of thing, and then consider my next steps. But I'm excited to be moving on.

But I'm also kind of nostalgic because there's nothing that's going to come near the honor of representing my country and Canadians here in Washington. Well, we wish you all the best. We wish you a wonderful holiday season. We really appreciate you stopping by to talk to us about all of this.

Thank you so much, Ambassador. We are back tomorrow with Warning the Press. Now. There is more ahead on NBC News.

Now, everyone, I'm Dylan Dryer, co host of the third hour of Day and mom to three wild boys. I've learned a lot my years as a parent. Mostly that I don't have it all figured out yet. And I'm not the only one.

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