Meet the Press NOW — December 9

Welcome to Meet the Press Now, I'm Gabe Gutierrez in Washington, and President Trump prepares to hit the road for battleground Pennsylvania, his administration and his party, are struggling on issues tied to the economy and affordability ahead of next year's midterms. A senior White House official telling NBC News, the president will hold a campaign-style economic event tonight in the state. He flipped in last year's election, in large part because of the economy, but polls and recent elections show that voters are souring on the president's handling of the issue. Say, all the president gave himself high marks in a new interview with Politico.

I wonder what grade you would give. A plus. A plus plus plus plus plus. A plus plus.

When energy comes down, everything, because it's so much bigger than any other subject. But energy has come down incredibly. Prices are all coming down. It's been ten months.

It's amazing what we've done. We should note energy prices overall have actually gone up since the president took office according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the latest inflation report shows prices overall up three percent compared to a year ago. The president's rosy assessment of his handling of the economy comes if he's gone from dismissing affordability concerns as a democratic hoax just a week ago, to now acknowledging that it is a problem, although insisting that it is Democrats' fault. The affordability is a hoax that was started by Democrats who caused the problem of pricing, and they didn't end it.

We fixed inflation, and we fixed almost everything. You know, this whole thing is they use the word affordability. It's a Democrat hoax. They're the ones that drove the prices up.

And all I do is say, affordability, and you're supposed to say, oh, that means they had low prices. No, we inherited a mess affordability, but you can call it affordability or anything you want, but the Democrats caused the affordability problem, and we're the ones that are fixing it. According to a recent NBC News poll, 66% of Americans say the Trump administration has fallen short of expectations in its handling of inflation and the cost of living. Just 36% approve of the president's handling of the economy in a recent Gallup poll.

And 46% of voters say the Trump administration's economic policies have hurt them, while does 15% say they've helped. According to a recent Fox News poll, NBC News Senior White House correspondent Garrett Hake joins me now from the Poconos, ahead of the president's event. And also with me here on set is NBC News Senior Business correspondent Christine Romans. Thank you so much for joining me.

Garrett, I want to start with you. What is the White House hoping the president will accomplish tonight in Pennsylvania? Well, I hope he'll take credit for the areas on the affordability question where the White House believes they have been successful, things like lowering gas prices, pushing up wages for Americans, and potentially get caught showing their work on the areas where they have been trying to make a difference on a problem that Joe Biden White House before them could say is very intractable, whether it's executive orders investigating grocery price inflation or other actions that the White House has taken in recent days. The point is they want to be looking like they are paying as much attention to this as their voters are now demanding.

You know, Garrett, you know, watch the president day in, day out. So this question might be a little difficult, but how likely is it that the president actually stays on message here? Well, they do have the teleprompter set up here behind me, so there will be a speech for the president to follow. But as you know, that's anybody's guess.

I mean, I was struck by the fact that they call this a campaign style speech here today for me as a Trump campaign reporter. That means it will be high energy, but it will also be about whatever the president wants it to be about on that day. There has been a persistent tension between the Republican Party in general that wants to be very focused on these cost of living issues. And the president who hasn't, he has been more disciplined the last several days, but it's anybody's guess what he's going to say was just him and the microphone.

You know, Garrett, that we mentioned this in the introduction, but the president does appear to be evolving his message on affordability. What are you hearing from voters in Pennsylvania about that issue? I spent the morning talking to voters about this day. We spent a lot of that morning in a grocery store about 30 minutes from here talking to people as they were coming out after making their purchases.

And there was both real frustration with the nature of these crisis increases that people are experiencing. And also, I think a sense of pessimism that either this president or any politician can do much to stop them. Listen to some of our conversations. I did a lot of bullshit shopping in my house.

You still what prices you should be. What are you noticing? Some is either double or some is a recent price, what it used to be, more than a half. In other words, nothing steady saying.

Are you getting any help from Washington on this? No. Do you think you will? No.

Do you feel like people are getting kind of what they voted for? I don't think they're getting what they voted for. I mean, besides saying that he was going to bring down prices, you know, he was supposed to have the wars, he didn't do that. I don't think he's done much of anything in what he's saying was going to do.

Oh, I think it's all terrible. I know that we have politicians that do appear and that are working on it and we have others that don't and we can just keep voting. So I could say keep voting, keep it to get better and not get worse and maybe not even stay steadily as it is. One trend we've seen over the last decade of his time in public life is that Donald Trump supporters are sticky.

I mean, they are with him through and through. There was no exception to that among the people that I spoke to. Although there was some frustration, I talked to one man towards the end of our experience this morning who said he's worried that the president has spread himself too thin, focused on too many other things around the world and not paying enough attention to the economy. We'll see if today's speech marks a pivot point from that or if it's just sort of a mark in one direction before the president focuses on another set of issues entirely.

Garrett, hey, covering the president for us in Pennsylvania. Garrett, thank you. Turn out our senior business correspondent, Christine Romans. Christine, it's so good to have you here.

Hey. Let's do a little fact checking. The president, as you heard earlier, he is saying that all prices are coming down. Is he right?

Okay, gas prices are down from last year. And that is an area that the president continues to point to and then he pivots and says all prices are coming down. Egg prices are down from record highs in March, by the way, on this president's watch, but everything else is pretty much up when you look at utility prices, when you look at rent, when you look at car insurance, overall inflation is 3% higher today than it was a year ago. So inflation is down from the worst levels of the Biden administration, but prices are different than inflation prices keep piling up.

And as you know, we hear from White House officials over and over again that, okay, well, it's the Republicans inherited this mess from the Democrats from the Biden administration. Now, I know, of course, it was a shock to the system that COVID had, but how correct are White House officials when he said they inherited this mess from Democrats? So there was 9% plus inflation when Joe Biden was president, but that had been improving and got all the way down to 3% when Donald Trump took office. And the inflation rate continued down to 2.3%, but now it's back up to 3%.

At the end of the Biden administration, the economy was humming along and the job market was very, very strong. In fact, there were a lot of people who were concerned, it was running too hot at the end of the Biden administration. What I think is so interesting, Gabe, is that presidents, I've said this for years, presidents get too much credit and too much blame for what happens in the economy, except Donald Trump himself blamed Joe Biden and said, I can fix it on day one, and I think a lot of voters believed him. And when you look at the polls, you can see now they're saying, wait a minute, prices are still rising.

Well, I want to switch to a slightly different topic with when it comes to the next Fed Chair, the president now saying that cutting interest rates will be a litmus test for whoever he picks to be the next Fed Chair. Does that undermine the Fed's independence? What could potentially be the consequences? I know so many Americans are wondering what's going to happen with interest rates.

I mean, the Fed is a creature of Congress. It is not a federal agency that is at the whims of the White House. It is meant to be separate so that it can do the hard work, right, when things have to be done in the economy. We've just never been in a territory like this.

Presidents have privately grumbled and maybe, you know, complained in private before to Fed chiefs. You've never seen something like this before where the president is saying, I'm going to pick the person to be a Fed chief who does what I want him to do. Publicly, I'm playing this time. Yeah.

Thank you so much. It's good to see you here in person. And now, ahead of the president's addressing the economy tonight, the White House is ramping up its blame on Democrats. Now, here's White House press secretary Caroline Lovett earlier today.

Democrats are the greatest con artists in American politics. They are pretending to champion the issue of affordability when they themselves created the worst inflation crisis in a generation. You can't create a problem and then turn around and say, I'm the best person to fix it. No, that's why President Trump was reelected to fix it.

And that's exactly what he's doing. So as President Trump has been screaming from the rooftops, Republicans need to remain tough and smart. And they need to be more vocal about touting the accomplishments of this administration. And I'm joined now by Congresswoman Madeline D, Democrat from Pennsylvania, Congresswoman.

Thank you so much for joining us here. Good to be with you. So we were just talking about how President Trump and Caroline Lovett, you know, what they're saying when they're blaming the Biden administration for the inflation. They say that they're right when they say that inflation was high during the Biden administration.

But so do Democrats have a credibility problem when it comes to that issue? When talking about the economy, when talking about inflation. Pardon me. I almost left.

Democrats have a credibility problem. Now, of course, it's this administration that has a credibility problem. And what's puzzling to me, but it shouldn't be because we've spent 10 years now with Donald Trump and his erratic behavior, but he ran both times, maybe all three times, on affordability, bringing your prices down, making your life more affordable, bringing inflation down. Whether it was against somebody else or on his own.

And now he's calling affordability problem a hoax that the Democrats have created. No, that is not the case. And you're right. And you're right.

He's certainly getting a lot of backlash for that. Now, the reason I asked that question, though, is, you know, one of the reasons voters chose Donald Trump, as opposed to Kamala Harris, is that there was this perception that Democrats did not pay enough attention to the economy, hence why I was asking that credibility question. Do you think that Democrats are starting to earn back some of that credibility, or does more need to be done? How are you doing that?

I think we did learn a lesson. I remember in the last cycle, trying to talk about how the economy was recovering here in the United States, following the pandemic, following high unemployment, that our country was doing better than others. But that didn't ring true at the kitchen table for people. And so I think we learned a hard lesson there.

We were focused on so much, including their cost of living, but we didn't say it specifically enough. So we have figured it out. And I think you have seen that the voters are coming our way. Take a look at the polls.

They recognize that the Democrats will do something, are doing something when we can about affordability as against this administration with the chaotic tariffs and prices of everything. We certainly write that Democrats are messaging on affordability. What about action? What can Democrats do to fix that problem specifically instead of, you know, just messaging about it?

Well, one of the big messages that we did come forward with was about affordability of health care. If you take a look at Pennsylvania, the headline this weekend was 30,000 people on the penny system, the state system, have opted out in the first month, just saying, I can't afford it anymore. So we have made the case to the American people about what they feel directly themselves. The cost of health care is too high.

So what are we going to do about it? We're going to make sure we legislate about it. And we get those tax credits increased and renewed for the upcoming year, because too many people, including my constituents, are going to lose their health care. And sorry to believe that we are already 11 months, just 11 months from the midterms.

Do you think Democrats should try to replicate the message, the more moderate message of the gubernatorial candidates that were recently successful, or should it go for a more progressive approach, like Zarimandani in New York? I think what we should do is what we've already been successful at, which is keep talking about what affects them. And do it from an authentic place from where we are. I think you noticed that the president is in Pennsylvania today, strangely at Mount Pocono Lodge, which is the subject of a federal lawsuit around wages, and he's there.

And I think he's going to try to talk about affordability, but Pennsylvanians know that the price of gas is not down below $3 a gallon. They know the price of beef is up 15%, they know the price of coffee is up 20%. So we have to just keep talking to them about what their costs are, and how, by extending the tax incentives for health care, we're going to be able to have more people access health care. And we are pushing back on the crazy tariffs by this administration, and voters will ultimately make the decision on that.

And that's interesting. So how big of an issue do you think the tariffs will be in these upcoming midterms? The president announcing just yesterday this $12 billion in farm aid, because of how his policies are affecting these farmers. What effect do you think that will have, or how would Democrats use tariffs as part of the messaging out of the midterms?

Well, people are feeling it. Tariffs are taxes on you and me. The cost of goods for Christmas, everybody is looking at right now, their Christmas lists, their grandchildren's Christmas lists. They know the prices are up.

So we'll be able to talk about that very, very directly. And what I think is strange is that the administration hasn't recognized the chaotic nature of these tariffs. What it has done to people's household goods and what they are buying, and that the president is just flailing by offering, of course, the farmers, this bailout. That's not what they wanted.

They wanted to be able to sell their goods, and between the tariffs, between the shuttering of USAID, American farmers have directly been hurt. People won't pay attention to that this election year. And what is your direct message to the voters in your home state as they watch the other presidents this evening? Well, I'll tell you.

I represent Montgomery and Berks County. So suburban Philadelphia, a place I've lived all my life. I'm talking directly to my constituents, my family members, neighbors. The message is, unfortunately, sadly, we cannot count on the president of the United States to tell the truth or to care first about your pocketbook.

He's lining his own. And it's very troubling to me. So my constituents get it. They're very troubled by the course of this administration, the corruption of it, the pardons, when the president claims he cares about drug smuggling and is blowing up vessels in the water and pardons.

One of the biggest drug traffickers of all time, this is just two Fridays ago, the incoherence of what this president is doing and how it is affecting everyday people. My constituents are paying attention to it, and Pennsylvanians are paying attention to it. Congresswoman, Madeline Dean, thank you so much for joining us, really appreciate it. And coming up, President Trump bashes Europe again, calling it weak and decaying.

A Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Pentagon chief, the Hanksat, brief top lawmakers on multiple national security issues. Plus, Senate Republicans say they finally have a plan to address rising health care costs with premiums about the spike for millions. And before we take a break, you've got something new on NBC News app. You can now sign up for a subscription to get the best of NBC News with your ads, including ad-free articles, podcasts, and full shows, plus exclusive content and behind-the-scenes access to all reporters on the ground, including the press moderator, person, whoever, to stand the QR code to learn more.

We'll be right back. Stay with us. Welcome back. After releasing a national security strategy document late last week, I mean headlines for being highly critical of our partners in Europe.

President Trump is now doubling down on his fierce critique of America's traditional allies. That's what he told Politico. Most European nations, they're decaying, they're decaying, the Europe doesn't know what to do. They don't know what to do on trade either.

I mean, I look at a lot of the trade situation that's going on over there, it's a little bit dangerous, but Europe, they want to be politically correct, and it makes them weak. That's what makes them weak. Right now on Capitol Hill, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defense, Pete Hankseth, as well as CIA Director of Ratcliffe and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Kane, are briefing the congressional gain of eight on the administration's approach to everything from Russia, Ukraine, but Latin America. So joining us, let me see who's White House correspondent Monica Alba, as well as let me see who's senior national political reporter, Saha Kapoor.

Thank you so much for joining me, Monica. I want to start with you. What are these latest comments by the President about Europe's say about the status of our relationship with our traditional allies? Yeah, some of these comments gave as you know, the President has made from time to time, but these were in some of the starkest terms that we have heard, and of course it comes at a time when the President is being incredibly critical of Europe and not of some other really important countries in the conversation here from a foreign policy perspective, certainly that new national security strategy that you talked about in the introduction, it talked about essentially the civilizational erasure was one of the terms of Europe, according to the Trump administration, because of it argues its immigration policies and some other policies and approaches, and you heard the President talk about that in that interview at a time when this strategy is really not speaking out about Russia, the way past administrations certainly have in recent years and in recent decades, and while the war in Ukraine is certainly the backdrop to that, this is also about just a larger perspective that the President has from a cultural standpoint and from other topics and comments that he has made as we have seen European leaders be increasingly critical of the President himself and his own stance, certainly as he has been deferential to President Putin and Russia's position overall on the war in Ukraine.

Well, Monica, picking up on that background that you mentioned, this all comes at a time when Europe is trying to strengthen Ukraine's negotiating position when it comes to those peace talks, is the President still confident that he can end that war, even as Ukraine makes it clear, it won't give up territory? Yeah, it's looking to be incredibly difficult, and it was the President's own son who said in recent days that the President might even walk away from Ukraine peace efforts, and in that interview with Politico, the President said that that wasn't completely correct, but that it wasn't completely incorrect either, that he said at this point that Russia does have in his view the upper hand, and he warned that Ukrainian President Zelensky essentially needs to start making some kind of concession or needs to accept the reality of where the war is right now. We know, according to some reporting, that these talks have continued behind the scenes, certainly the special envoy Steve Wickoff and the President's son-in-law Jared Kushner had been in these meetings with Ukrainian officials, with Russian officials, but there haven't been any breakthroughs, there had been some incremental progress, but the President said he was disappointed in President Zelensky for not reading the latest peace proposal, according to the U.S. President, though the Ukrainians have said that they have studied it and they still have some concerns, so it doesn't look like there's going to be an end to this anytime soon, Gabe.

Now, Sahih, I want to turn to you. There are multiple foreign policy and national security related briefings happening on the Hill today. As far as you know, is that gang of a briefing still going on, and did we hear anything from top lawmakers on their way in? We do believe it's still going on, Gabe.

We have eyes on that room, and as far as we know, the gang of eight members have not come out of it yet. Remember, this is the top four leaders in each party, each chamber, plus the intel committee leaders in both parties, both chambers, that's the gang of eight. Just to restate here, the briefers in that room are Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Hagg Seth, the CIA Director John Radcliffe, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. It officially started at 3.30 p.m., so just under an hour now.

Before the briefing, Senator Chuck Schumer, the minority leader, said he was going to confront Secretary Hagg Seth on, I'm quoting here, on exactly what the hell is going on in the Caribbean. And quote, he said he planned to demand that Secretary Hagg Seth give the total unedited videos of what happened in those boat strikes that occurred on September 2nd, which have generated a lot of conversation on Capitol Hill. Beyond that, we'll wait to see what the members say once they walked out. And perhaps along those lines, we also know that the commander of the U.S.

Southern Command style, that he virtually briefed some lawmakers today as well, what are the biggest questions that he has faced? Yeah. This is Navy Admiral Alvin Holsey. This comes with the administration's facing a lot of questions about the legality of those U.S.

strikes and what they say are drug cartel members in the Caribbean Sea. There's a recent report in the Wall Street Journal, which might come up in the room, again, we don't know or rather in that virtual briefing. We don't know exactly what was said because it's private. But the report said that Hagg Seth asked the admiral to resign after the two had clashed when Holsey had raised concerns about the legality of this.

He is retiring, effective December 12th, which is earlier than expected. And then there's just a general fear on Capitol Hill about mission creep in Venezuela with President Trump beating the drum for more aggressive strikes or at least threatening that much in Venezuela. And so we did hear the president defer to Secretary Hagg Seth on the release of that boat strike video, even though last week he had said he had no problem or no issue releasing it. The Congress is now trying to put more pressure on Hagg Seth as well via the NDAA.

What can you tell us about that? Yeah, there's a very notable provision in the newly released NDAA, that's the annual defense authorization bill, which would shrink the Secretary Hagg Seth's budget to 75% of what it is now, unless he releases that full unedited video of military strikes on the boats in the Caribbean and provides it to members of the House and the Senate. Again, his travel budget would fall next year, that's how serious members of Congress are. In both parties, this is the bipartisan piece of legislation that's headed to a vote in the House.

And for now, at least, appears to have significant support, Gabe. And Monica, really quickly before I let you go, is the administration not any more escalation with Venezuela? What's the latest on any talks between President Trump and Venezuela and Nicolas Maduro? Or what's he saying about that, not just the boat strikes, but the overall escalation in the Caribbean?

Yeah, I mean, the president isn't ruling that out, Gabe, as you know, he's also talking about the fact that now there could be potential land strikes, that's something the president has been hinting at in recent days. He hasn't given any kind of a timeline on it, and he hasn't really elaborated on what we know were those back-channel conversations with Maduro. But remember that the president has also talked about potentially other countries that could face some kind of response, he says, if the administration deems that they are trying to bring drugs into the United States, that has been the allegation from the beginning about these so-called narco terrorists. So that is something to watch for with these potential other countries, including maybe Colombia or Mexico as well.

I got about the White House. Monica, thank you. Sawhill, I know you're sticking around for us because a Senate vote to address the looming spike in premiums for millions of Americans is fast approaching. Senate Democrats are expected to force a vote on their proposal of a clean three-year extension of those expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies that legislation is expected to fail.

And meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader John Thun told reporters this afternoon that Republicans will offer up their own plan of able to expand access to health savings accounts. While comes, after some Senate Republicans sounded the alarm about their party's lack of a plan to address the coming cost spike. If you don't have something viable, what is the implication for your party? I think they could be significant.

But the Democrats created the problem. We've got to solve it. Or going into next year, we will own a problem that they created. Health insurance is already too expensive.

Any idea that it would go up by 50 or 100 or 150 percent? I mean, I just, I'm not willing to sit back and roll the dice on that. So we need to do something. I'm not sure we're going to be able to pass something this week.

So I think the work goes on. And the key is that we get to something with some reforms and we get it passed now on a bipartisan basis and have something that goes into effect right away. So I'll report back with us now. So what do we know about these proposals that Senate Republicans are floating?

And is it clear which plan actually has the most support? Well, it's a significant moment today, Gabe, because it's the first time that John Thune, the Senate Majority Leader, has endorsed a health care plan that is now the Republican alternative to an extension of these ACA funds. So later this week, on Thursday, Democrats are going to force a vote on a three-year continuation of that Affordable Care Act money, a benefit of about 22 million Americans, who use it to help pay down their premiums under the Affordable Care Act exchanges. Take a look at some of these Republican ideas.

There have been a potpourri of proposals on the GOP side, none of which have enough support to pass in Congress. The two you see below are various versions of a temporary extension of ACA subsidies with some strings attached. They want abortion restrictions tied to the money, some phase out of the subsidies. But take a look at the first one by Senator Cassidy and Crapo.

That's the one that Senate Majority Leader John Thune just endorsed that's coming to a vote. It does not extend the ACA subsidies. That money will expire. What it instead does is redirect some of that funding to HSA's health savings account.

It'll be 1,000 per year for adults under 50, 1,500 per year for adults over 50 who are not on Medicare. So that's the Republican plan right now. It's much less funding than the ACA would do. But this is in the context of GOP leaders blasting the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare as a failed program.

They don't want anything to do with it. Or as they see it propping it up, which is what they say Democrats want to do. Take a listen to what Senator John Thune said when I asked him if his plan has consensus in the party. Does Cassidy Crapo have unanimous support in your conference and some of your members have also put forth temporary two-year extension of the ACA with changes in high-language of other reforms?

Might those come to a vote as well? Well, there's a, we have other members as you point out who have their own proposals. But I can tell you as a conference, our members, and I can't say 100%, but I think for the most part, I would argue are united behind the Crapo Cassidy proposal. Now, just for context, the average deductible on a bronze plan on the exchanges is 7,500, and it's higher if it's a family plan, so 1,000 or 1,500 is significantly less.

The Democrats say this bill is dead on arrival. Schumer said it's a non-starter, and so it's not going to get the 60 votes it needs because that means at least 7 Democrats. Schumer said his conference is fully united behind his three-year extension of ACA funding. And look, even if something does pass the Senate, it would have to get through the House where the GOP divisions are even deeper.

They're only about 15 Republicans out of more than 200 who have any desire to extend the ACA funds and the rest want them to expire. So at the moment, it looks like those premium tax credits are headed to our expiration, premium is set to double on average for more than 20 million Americans next year. So I hope for a live for us on Capitol Hill, so I'll thank you. And up next, Trump on the trail, the President's Chief of Staff says he's won a campaign like it's 2024 and they'll run up the next year's midterm races.

Our panel of local experts weighs in on the strategy. Stay with us. We're going to meet the press now. It's the best of NBC News with fewer ad interruptions, including ad re-articles, podcasts, and full NBC News shows, plus deeper access and exclusive content.

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Listen daily on Amazon Music. Hey, welcome back. Joining me now is the panel from Jessica Chambers, White House Correspondent for USA Today, Megan Hayes, Former Special Assistant to President Biden and Sarah Matthews, spokesperson for Home of the Brave, and former White House Deputy Press Secretary during the first Trump administration. Sarah, I want to start with you.

When Trump is in Pennsylvania today, do Republican voters want to see the president at more events like this? We keep hearing from White House officials to expect more of this. This is going to be a campaign-style event. Has he done enough of this so far?

And do Republican voters want more of it? I do think that people want to see him out there more. He's mainly been doing foreign travel rather than domestic travel. And I think that he seems to have lost his touch a little bit with the base and having his pulse on what they care about because we've seen him out there saying affordability is a hoax.

And even I believe it wasn't an interview that aired today. He said that he deserves a plus, plus, plus, plus, plus, plus on the economy. I wanted to make sure I got all the pluses there, but I do think that people want to hear from him because what he's saying, they're feeling the exact opposite. So they want to see him and hear from him and talk with him about the economy because people are struggling right now.

And I think that him being out there on the campaign trail will be good for Republicans heading into 2026 because we know that low propensity voters don't show up when Trump isn't on the top of the ballot. So they need him out there. But also maybe it will get him to figure out his messaging on affordability because he seems to be out of touch on it. Well, and is it a mistake for him to call it a Democratic hoax?

He's now shifting a tad, now saying more so that Democrats are to blame for this, but whereas last week he was saying it was a complete hoax, is he missing a mark entirely on this mess? It's a political poll that was released. It said that 46% of Americans think that this is the Trump economy and that they blame him for the rising prices that we're seeing. So he wants to pin this on Biden that he inherited it while we're almost one year into his presidency.

Well, Megan, are Democrats doing enough here to seize on this messaging? Because for a while, during the Biden administration, they didn't exactly have enough credibility when it came to the affordability issue of Democrats. Right. I think that they are and Congress is out there.

But also he's going into a state in Pennsylvania, only 16% of them believe that they are better off than they were one year ago. And they haven't a governor who has cut taxes seven times since he's been in office who also works across the aisle. A lot of different things he's doing at an event tonight up at the Cathedral with Governor Cox from Utah. So you just see a totally different style of leadership in Pennsylvania.

So I think it's interesting he's going to Pennsylvania to talk about affordability. And if we're Governor's Bureau, it's actually doing quite good in there. Well, Francesca, the president is facing some interesting parallels, I would say, when it came to affordability. And President Biden, I mean, during you and I were there covering that, you know, he faced these questions when he was in office as well.

How difficult, first of all, what parallels do you see with the president facing now as compared to during a Democratic administration? And how does he get out of this? Well, the Biden team did run into this headlong in the last election, which ultimately was Kamala Harris on the ballot. But affordability and the economy were big issues then too.

And arguably were a significant reason that Kamala Harris lost the last presidential election. And so to hear President Trump say repeatedly that, not just that it's a hoax, he's called it a con job a couple of times, there are concerns about Republicans that he's potentially falling into that same trap. I've talked to Republican strategists who told me that they also wanted to see the president out there more campaigning when it comes to the vice president, JD Vance. He said that they have an issue with the fact that Trump isn't going to be on the ballot at this time.

And he's been very concerned and vocal about it, about how they might turn out the base with Trump off the ballot. Well, in the terms of the midterms, and actually the president's chief of staff, Susie Wiles, she recently appeared on a podcast to talk about midterm strategy. Let's listen to that. Typically, in the midterms, it's not about who's sitting at the White House, it's you localize the election and you keep the federal officials out of it.

We're actually going to turn that on its head and put them on the ballot because so many of those low propensity voters are Trump voters. And we saw, oh, we could go Tuesday. What happens when he's not on the ballot and not active? So I'm quite broken into him yet, but he's going to campaign like it's 2024 again.

Now, we were just talking about that and you just heard Susie Wiles say that here. Has it broken into him yet? What do you make of that strategy after the recent Republican losses in November, sir? Yeah, as she pointed out, low propensity voters don't show up usually when Trump isn't on the ballot.

But the thing is that even though Trump won't be on the ballot, his policies will be. And I think that Americans right now are upset with the handling of the economy. We've seen this is the first time he's been under water on this issue in the last decade. And so I think that he's going to have to explain, and not just him, but Republican lawmakers are going to be out there on the campaign trail, trying to explain these tariffs and defend them.

And I think the rising costs of groceries, Trump said he would be bringing them down on day one, and we haven't seen that happen. And so while it will be good for him to be out there and for voters to see him and get them energized to show up in November, I do think though that they are going to struggle with that message of him failing to deliver on some of those key campaign promises. Again, our Democrats loving what Susie Wiles said right there, I mean, the Trump campaigning as it's 2024, do they want do they think that could benefit Democrats? Yeah, sure.

Go forth and conquer. Every time he opens his mouth, either lies or he goes on and on about nonsense blaming Joe Biden over and over again. It's just, I think that people are tired of it and people are tired of both side and want action. And so I just think that you have to be able to tell the American people what you have done and how you've made their lives better.

And nobody believes that Trump has made their lives better. He said they're in rails about ballrooms and kind of cover up the Epstein files and not anything about the economy and what actually impacts our daily lives. And so he will figure out when he starts going out there, he starts giving these rambling speeches for hours on end. People are just going to clip those and make out of them and it's going to hurt people running in Congress.

And the Francesca, before we go, I want to touch on briefly the split that appears to be happening within the Republican party. And what Congresswoman or soon to be former Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene said about the president on 60 minutes this weekend. Let's listen to that. I think they're terrified to step out of line and get a nasty truth, social post on them.

Yes, I watched many of my colleagues go from making fun of him, making fun of how he talks, making fun of me constantly for supporting him to when he won the primary in 2024. They all started, excuse my language, Leslie kissing his ass and decided to put on a MAGA hat for the first time. What do you think it says about that broader divide within the party? And she's not, she hasn't gone yet, but what about her future?

Well, she's drawing a clear distinction between MAGA and America first in that interview, although it didn't show there in the clip. But I will be curious how many of the battlegrounds state Republicans do want to appear with the president leading into them in term elections. You talked about it being a referendum on him. On the one hand, he's got the lowest approval ratings that he's had all year in multiple polls.

On the other hand, they feel like without President Trump out there, you can't gin up the kind of enthusiasm that they need to. It was already going to be a referendum on the president one way or another. So it seems like the White House has just decided to lean into that. And Sarah, is there a concern about what happens to the Republican Party post on Trump?

I think that you're already seeing different lawmakers and Republicans start to calculate that. I think Marjorie Taylor Greene is starting to get out ahead of this. And she's trying to say, hey, I'm the real MAGA. And Donald Trump isn't living up to what he stands for, or he claims to stand for.

And I think that other Republican women are starting to break too. We're seeing Elise Stefanik, Nancy Mayes, et cetera. Okay, I'm making a really quick question. Do you believe Marjorie Taylor Greene?

Would you say she's not running for president? Yes. Do you believe she's going to get my money? Thank you all so much for joining me.

I really appreciate it. I'm really appreciate it. I'm Megan and Sarah. And after the break, are we about to see a change in Miami politics?

The city has not elected a Democratic mayor in more than a quarter century. Could that change today? A lot of polling sites. Has voters cast their balance in today's run off?

And what the results could mean for both parties nationwide. Keep it here. I'll meet the president. Welcome back.

As we're fond of saying around here, if it's Tuesday, voters are voting somewhere. And today that somewhere is Miami's run off election for mayor, which could be the latest bail whether race ahead of next year's midterms. Republicans have held the Miami mayor's office for three decades, but this year Democrats are making a push to flip it. Former Democratic County commissioner, Eileen Higgins, is running against Republican immediately Gonzalez, the former city manager who's been endorsed by President Trump.

Higgins advanced in today's run off after finishing atop the 13 candidate field back in November with 36 percent of the vote, well ahead of Gonzalez. Joining me now from a polling location in Miami is Hatzell Vela, politics reporter for M.C.'s Miami station WTVJ. Hatzell, thank you so much for joining us. I always love to have a live report from Miami, my hometown.

What are you hearing from voters today? Gabe, first of all, thank you for having us because this makes a big deal for us who are supporting here from the ground. Also welcome to the inside of the DuPont building, one of the oldest and most historic buildings in the city of Miami. So let's talk politics, right?

Because when you talk to folks who are voting here at the polls, so the same issues keep coming up and that's affordability, housing and corruption. Also talking about high taxes, some of them are enamored by the idea from the governor who's proposing getting rid of property taxes. Here's what some of those voters told us when we talked to them. Don't care about where the money's coming from, they don't care who's spending and how spending them.

We are terrible. I'm here to vote because I care about affordable living. That last man told us in Spanish, the housing is just unaffordable and that's the issues you're going to see voters really consider when they go into the poll and make the decisions for mayor. Now, Florida Democrats have had very little to brag about in recent years.

What could victory by Eileen Higgins' signal for the party in Florida and nationally? I think it's clear for Democrats it's that they should focus on relying on the issues, on focusing on the issues, right? Whether here or locally that means affordability and lower taxes, focus on those issues because that is what is getting voters out. We should also talk about here in South Florida, especially in the city of Miami.

Corruption is a huge problem and that's also another factor that's driving voters to the polls to act. And very quickly, Eileen Higgins, she's really contrasted herself with Gonzalez over not just affordability but also immigration. How has that issue played among immigrant communities in South Florida, particularly the Cuban community, Haitian communities? So let me tell you, Higgins sort of goes the more sympathetic way when it comes to immigration and when you hear from Gonzalez, he talks about some of the same talking points that we heard from Republicans that they want the worst of the worst of being deported.

So you see the contrast there, but remember, you know this from being from here, that we have a diverse community, whether it's Haitian, Nicaragua, Venezuela, or Cubans, a lot of these folks here on the ground are being affected by immigration policies in DC and certainly that's an issue that they're going to take to the polls when they think about who to vote for. Thank you. Thank you so much. We really appreciate your time.

And instead of coming from pediatrics to politics, meet one of the Democratic candidates vying to become her party's pick to take on Republican Senator Lindsey Graham in the midterms. Then everyone who's coming up next, you're on me to press now. See you. Welcome back.

After wins last month in New Jersey and Virginia as well as a closer than expected special election in Tennessee, Democrats are hoping to win is at their back ahead of the 2026 midterms and that even some reliably red states seats in the House rather and the Senate could possibly be flipped. And joining me now is Dr. Annie Andrews, a pediatrician and Democratic candidate for Senate in South Carolina. Dr.

Thank you so much for joining us here on Meet the Press Now. Thank you so much for having me. Now, as you know, South Carolina has not had a Democratic senator in more than two decades. You yourself ran for Congress just a few years ago, you lost by double digits.

So why do you think you can flip the Senate seat now? 2026 is really an unprecedented moment in politics here in America, whether you're a Republican, a Democrat or an independent, you're starting to understand that Washington, DC is broken and far too many of our elected officials, including my opponent, Lindsey Graham, don't seem to be too interested in solving those problems. That's why I got off the sidelines in the first place when I decided to run for Congress back in 2022. And that's why I'm in this race now, because South Carolina deserves a senator who's willing to fight the fight here in Washington, DC to deliver results back at home.

But as you know, Senator Graham has had quite the grip on South Carolina for a very long time. Specifically, why do you think you can unseat him? I understand it's a very different moment in politics, but he still has a lot of support in South Carolina. He does, but he also has a very low approval rating, about a third of South Carolina's 34% approve of Lindsey Graham's current status as a senator.

He's been in Washington, DC as South Carolina senator for 22 years. If I forgot 34% on a class in medical school, I wouldn't be a doctor. Lindsey Graham is objectively failing at his job, yet he thinks he should be able to continue to do that job. But I have other ideas in mind.

And unlike Lindsey Graham, I am not a career politician nor do I ever seek to be. I am a pediatrician. I'm a public servant who's solved for 15 years in children's hospitals, the problems that South Carolina's kids and families were facing. And I see politics as a path to solve those problems at the systemic level.

And that's exactly what I'm going to do when I get elected. The president, though, has endorsed Lindsey Graham. I know, you know, there have been some on the right to Lindsey Graham's right who weren't very happy with him, but still the president has endorsed him. And even though some of his critics, including yourself, I'm sure accused him of being a flip-flop on issues, he does enjoy the president's support.

How do you overcome that? We're building a grassroots movement in South Carolina. I have over 1,000 volunteers in our volunteer database. Our average donation is under $30.

And people are ready for a change. They're seeing that Lindsey Graham has really changed from who he first was when he was elected 22 years ago to who he is now. And he really doesn't stand for anything other than what will keep Donald Trump happy and what will help him get reelected. And a lot of people in South Carolina are ready for a new voice.

When we talk at the issue very close to your heart, which you mentioned, being a pre-petition, of course, health care costs are a big issue and likely will be in the midterms, Congress is trying to come up with some sort of solution for rising health care premiums. You have previously called whatever Republicans are considering a scam. What is your solution to addressing rising health care premiums? We need to get serious about solutions Lindsey Graham has had 22 years to come up with an alternative to what he sees as a failed American health care system.

Our health care system has been broken long before Donald Trump got his hands on it. And that's because it is really profit motivated. It is not patient-centered. So I support any policy that would put patients at the center of our health care system.

And right now, private insurance companies are motivated by increasing their profits. And so much of the money that we as patients, we as insurance company plan holders pay into the system, goes to their profits, not to the provision of health care. So I support policies that increase access to affordable quality health care for South Carolina, including something like a public option or Medicare for those who want it. Quickly, is the plan put forward by Senate Democrats to extend health care subsidies by three years?

Is that enough? That's not enough at all. But it's absolutely what we need to do in this urgent moment. Because if we allow the ACA tax subsidies to aspire, hundreds of thousands of South Carolinians are going to be priced out of the insurance market.

And we'll overnight on January 1st, no longer have a health insurance plan. Now, as Democrats try to sort out their approach ahead of these midterms, I'm going to get a sense for how you see the issue of affordability. Are you allowing yourself more with the mayor-elect Mondani approach in New York? Or do you consider yourself more moderate when it comes to that?

I align myself with anyone who's willing to get results. So many South Carolinians, including those families I cared for for 15 years in the Children's Hospital, truly can't pay to get out of the parking garage when their child is discharged from the hospital, let alone afford their prescription drugs, be able to put food on the table, afford childcare. A lot of these families are working multiple low-wage jobs just to make ends meet. And as a result, they have to leave their child in their hospital room alone overnight so they can go to their third shift job.

So I'm willing to work with anyone on any solution that will lower the cost of living for folks in South Carolina. Do you believe that Senator Schumer should remain as the leader of the Senate Democratic Office? So I've never met Senator Schumer and when elected and when I'm sworn into office in January 2027, I'll hear anyone out, anyone who's willing to work to solve the problems of South Carolina. But at this point, as you're running for the Senate seat, do you agree with current Democratic leadership as it stands now?

Or would you like to see a change? I believe the entire party needs to see a generational shift in change and a generational change. And I believe that I can be part of that as a non-career politician, as a pediatrician, as a mom of three young school-age children. I'm in the thick of parenting.

I understand the challenges that parents like me are facing and I want to get to Washington, DC to solve those problems. And we need more leaders with lived experience with other professional backgrounds like mine to get up to Washington, DC to roll up our sleeves and actually solve problems and stop playing politics with people's lives. Dr. Andrews, candidate for Senate in South Carolina, we really appreciate your talking.

Thank you so much. And thank you for watching. I'm Gabe Gudiere, and we're back tomorrow with more Meet the Press Now and the Programming Announcement. NBC's Savannah Guthrie will moderate a bipartisan conversation with Governor Spencer Cox and Josh Shapiro as part of NBC's Finding Common Ground series that are tonight at 8 p.m.

Eastern on NBC News Now. We'll also bring it to you tomorrow. You're on Meet the Press Now. There's more news ahead on NBC News Now.

Hey, it's Kate Snow, NBC News anchor and host of The Drink. This month, Demi Lovato is my guest. The global superstar tells me that she is the happiest she's ever been right now. But getting there, it wasn't simple.

Demi opens up about starting in Hollywood Young and why she now thinks she may have started too soon. She talks about recovery, her new marriage, and the deeply personal reason behind her new cookbook. The drink is always about the journey to the top, and this was an honest conversation about what that takes. Hope you'll listen and follow The Drink Wherever You Get Your Podcast.