Meet the Press NOW — February 13

Foreign. Welker in Washington. We begin with a striking moment on the world stage and the latest indication of how seriously and significantly the relationships between the US and its traditional partners and allies have frayed. Right now, world leaders are gathered in Germany for the annual Munich Security Conference.

Ahead of the conference, organizers releasing their annual report writing, quote, the world has entered a period of wrecking ball politics and goes on to label President Trump as one of the most prominent, quote, demolition men of global norms. And today European leaders are echoing that sentiment in their remarks with the German chancellor saying the international rules based order is being, quote, destroyed. And while his speech was largely in German, he did switch for a moment to speak in English to deliver this message to Washington. In the era of great power rivalry, even the United States will not be powerful enough to go it alone.

Dear friends, being a part of NATO is not only Europe's competitive advantage, it's also the United States competitive advantage. So let's repair and rewind transatlantic trust together. We the Europeans, we are doing our part. All eyes will be on Secretary of State Marco Rubio tomorrow to see how he responds when he addresses the forum.

Remember, it was just a year ago when Vice President J.D. vance delivered a scathing rebuke of the nation's European allies at the same conference scolding European nations for not focusing on what he called, quote, the threat from which in and said Europe's real problems was its mass migration policies. It comes as many allies and partners to the United States are questioning whether they can still trust the US New poll showing up. Plurality of respondents polling Canada, Germany, France and the U.

K. Say they do not believe the US Is a reliable ally. One of the biggest points of tension remains President Trump's desire to take over Greenland. Here's what he said about that today.

Well, I think Greenland's gonna want us, but we get along very well with Europe. We see how it all works out. We're negotiating right now for Greenland. Meanwhile, President Trump is also boosting the US Military presence in the Middle east, sending a second aircraft carrier to the region amid the ongoing tensions with Tehran.

Here's more from the president today. The second aircraft carrier that you decided to send. Talk about why you made that choice. Well, in case we don't make a deal, we'll need it.

We don't have a deal. We'll leave it. We have a deal. We got it.

It'll be leaving. It'll be leaving very soon. We have one that just arrived. If we need it, we will.

We have it ready. A very big order. Joining me now, NBC News senior White House correspondent Gabe Gutierrez, NBC senior national security correspondent Courtney Cube and NBC News chief foreign affairs correspondent Andrea Mitchell. Both are in Munich.

And also joining me is Trevor Phillips, presenter at our sister network Sky News. We're going to talk to Trevor Phillips in just a moment. But first, Gabe, I want to start with you. How do you anticipate the president will respond?

How's the White House responding to some of those really stern words by European leaders? Well, certainly, Chris, and look at this one. He's ignoring it, right? You just played that clip from the president as he left for North Carolina earlier today, saying that he gets along fine with European leaders, even though there's been this ongoing friction, especially since that scathing speech just last month in Davos where the president basically said that Europe would not exist if it weren't for the United States.

Now, you mentioned that Vice President James speech last year in Munich where he accused European leaders of essentially destroying their democracies. Well, between tariffs, between a whole lot of other controversial positions the president has taken over the last year, the alliances have really been strained, of course, between the US And Europe. And at this point, it doesn't seem like President Trump is backing down at all. He keeps reiterating how his friendships, how his relationships with his naval allies are strong, that he's convinced them to pay more of their GDP for defense.

So at this point, he does not seem to be concerned at all by these strong words from European leaders. So we're going to talk about this war with Courtney. But let me ask you, because we just played our President Trump asked about sending a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East. He says it's in case we don't get a deal.

What is the status of those talks? Well, the president today is touting some optimism, saying he thinks that these talks will eventually be successful. Unclear what he's pointing to there, but yes, he was asked about the second carrier strike group that he is sending to the Middle east as he ranch up pressure on Iran. This comes just several days after the president was Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu here at the White House.

This is something that, you know, the White House is fresh off what it considers a huge victory in Venezuela, capturing Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro with this carrier, with special forces and with this strike group in the region in the Caribbean. Certainly need to send a message to Iran that these talks do not go well to be prepared for the US Military to take action first. Yeah, warning no doubt there get boutiers at the White House Force gave. Thank you.

Let's go to Munich now. Andrea, I want to start with you and let you set the scene within the context of that speech that Vice President J.D. vance gave last year, that scathing rebuke of Europe. Andrea, how much is that hovering over this year's gathering?

It is, oh, an overwhelming, excuse me, an overwhelming shadow over this whole conference. It was why the Europeans were so resentful. And then the president doubled down in Pavels. Sorry, we've been talking all day.

But according to Rounds, the bottom line is this year it was viewed as a concession that Marco Rubio came and not J.D. vance, as the president described the two potential successors competing right now, J.D. vance and Marco Rubio, with a nod in 28, his embrace, he said, well, one is more diplomatic, and that clearly is Rubio. So they were expecting, and we were expecting a rather conciliatory speech from Rubio tomorrow, hardline in the context of the Trump world, but still embracing the multilateralism and NATO the rest, and at least suggesting that the increase in NATO spending is one success.

Now, a lot of us, not the Journal, just the journalists, but senators in both parties, people here at the conference are wondering because the conference itself, with the words you quoted, called the president the chief demolition man and the destruction 80 years that this has led to this. They're wondering whether Rubio, in the fashion of most of his cabinet compatriots, is going to now have to play to an audience of one, not the audience here, and ramp up the rhetoric in the speech tomorrow morning. Well, Andrea, we know you've been working your sources there. No one works harder, so understandable that your voice is a little bit raspy.

Courtney, let me turn to you. Pick up on what Andrea was saying, because there's actually new polling that shows people in countries that are traditionally viewed as US Allies, Courtney, no longer view the US As a reliable partner. Are you getting that sense based on your conversations at the conference? Court?

Yeah, absolutely. I think one of the things that has really turned the tables here on that, you know, you mentioned last year, J.D. vance, with this speech that was really came out of the blue and was met with stern, stern reaction here at the conference last year. What's really changed even more than that is what's been happening with Greenland.

I've been shocked by how many people are talking to us about Greenland right here during this conference. They were really struck by President Trump saying that he wants to take a sovereign country that is a NATO ally. And it has changed the way that Europeans have really looked at the United States when it comes to the US as being a partner. And when you add to that just this week there was a native defense minister's conference.

Andrew was Talking about how J.D. vance is not here at the ministry conference, which is uncommon not vice president here, secretary of defense behavior, Defense ministerial in a row. There's also Ukraine defense contact group. Instead he sent his policy official the number 3% of the Pentagon that has not gone unnoticed here that the United States while they are saying that there's still a partnership with NATO, they are rich holy.

The undersecretary for policy made it very clear that the partnership will no longer be a dependence on the United States of the language is definitely shifted. But Greenland made a big difference here. There are people who are very concerned about the fact that the United States may still be interested the Trump administration in taking over a NATO ally potentially even used by using the military service, which is fascinating that it is still so in focus. And of course we pay such close attention to the optics of these types of conferences.

So who's there and who's not so significant? Cora, I have to ask you about your reporting before I go back to Andrea. Of course you reported overnight that the Pentagon is sending a second aircraft carrier to the release you just for President Trump talking about that he said in case we can't get a deal with Iran. What are you hearing about the strategy there?

Yeah. So I mean they were ordered they were notified yesterday, Thursday that they would be heading to the Middle East. This is ussrport. It's down in the Caribbean right now.

Everyone may remember that it was the one who was in this was the carrier that was there on station during the operation to take Maduro, Nicholas Maduro and his wife early last month. What's really striking to me about this person is two things. Number one, this is a carrier that deployed last year to head to Europe, was rerouted down the Caribbean, now is being sent back to centcom. This is tough on the sailors, the men and women on the ship.

The men went on the associated ships there because this means that their deployment is likely to be extended potentially by months. They have been at sea for months without a break. It's a tough deployment. This is tough news for those men and women, especially when it's not clear how long they'll be there.

But the second thing is why send a carrier? There's really two reasons. Number one is just the presence, right. It potentially presents a deterrent.

It's potentially a show of sports that shows strength to Iran as these negotiations are ongoing. But it also provides the allies in the region who are very concerned about these tensions, a sense of stability or support from the United States. They're sending the second carrier there. We're going aircraft carriers.

People talk about it being a floating city. It's also a floating airport. It provides a huge amount of firepower, a huge amount of aircraft. If in fact the US Is going to go into Iran again.

Well, it's so fascinating to hear the perspective of the people actually on board that aircraft carrier. Andrea, final question to you. Put the broader Munich security conference into perspective. Historically, this is a significant moment.

We know a lot of the potential 2028 contenders are there. Congressman Alexandria, Casio, Cortez, Governor Gavin Newsom, just to name a few. What are you going to be watching for over this weekend, these next few days? They are trying to burnish their foreign policy connections, make an impact.

The simple world media is here and make themselves look more presidential against the contrast to Donald Trump. And it's a very sharp contrast and one that might be favorable for them here. But there's a lot of them. There's a long way to 2028.

There certainly is. And I know you're both going to be incredibly busy as you continue to cover this historic conference. Andrea Mitchell, Courtney Kieve, thank you both so much for joining me starting us off today. Really appreciate it.

Great reporting. Of course, I want to go now to Sir Trevor Phillips. Thank you so much as always for joining me, as you always do on these significant days where we talk about the geopolitics between the US And Europe. What are you going to be watching for at the security conference, and how much will Vice President J.D.

vance's speech from last year loom large over what happens? Good afternoon, Chris. Lovely to talk to you as ever. Well, of course, J.D.

vance's intervention last year is still ringing. And really here it is. The fact that Rubio is coming is I don't know if you had in kindergarten a really nice teacher and then a really stern teacher. Last year we had Mr.

Staron telling us, you know, you better be good, you've got to put your pocket money into defense, and so on, so forth. I think what we're expecting is that Tomorrow we're getting Mr. Nice, Mr. Rubio.

We're all partners, we all love each other, we're all together in support of Ukraine and that actually, you know, there's nothing that's going to divide us. So I expect that, though Rubio probably has his own political needs, the mission tomorrow will be to say to the Europeans, stay on board, stay with us, stick with us and be part of what we need to do. And by the way, don't worry so much about Greenland. Now we are bothered about Greenland.

The United Kingdom is in fact sending new troops to Greenland, partly to and you can expect to hear from our prime minister to Mr. Ribo, Mr. Trump, look, we're putting a lot of troops in Greenland. You really don't need to worry.

You don't need to own it. So cool. It's. Well, all eyes are going to be on Secretary Rubio's remarks.

There's no doubt about that. And it's fascinating to hear your expectations. We'll have to see if he matches those tomorrow. I do want to get your reaction to what we heard from German chancellor who said the international rules based order is being destroyed.

Talk about the strategy behind sending that very firm message. There is a lot of concern here in Europe that the international rules based order, which essentially grew out of the Second World War as a way of preventing conflict and which created institutions, United nations, the World bank and so on, that would create a situation where conflict was less likely. Now, what people are concerned about in Europe is that the White House, this White House seems not too interested in the survival and flourishing of those institutions or the rules of the, of the international, this international rules based order. I have a particular view about this, which I've written about in the Times of London, which is I think people can get overstressed about this.

The truth of the matter is that the international rules based order has a first and overriding rule. And that is America makes the rules and America makes the rules to suit itself. I think that all that's happened to Mr. Trump is that he's been less nice to us than previous presidents and told us the truth.

But I don't think he's doing anything terrifically difficult, but different. What Friedrich Mertz is trying to do is particularly for European publics to calm them down and make them feel less, if you like, talked down to by Mr. Trump. So the message that Mertz is sending, I suspect, is as much to European people as it is to the White House.

I don't forget your take, Sir Trevor Phillips, on what I was just discussing with Andrea Mitchell, which is this notion that a number of the contenders, the Democratic contenders for 2028 are there in Munich, including Congressman Alexandria Cassio Cortez. She's offering her quote, unquote, working class perspective of foreign policy. How do you anticipate that will be received in Europe and amongst allies There. Well, I think people will be interested.

And it's a beautiful phrase, isn't it, that all of the contenders are number one, telling the American public that they are big enough to be able to deal with international affairs as well as domestic affairs. So I guess what AOC is doing, as much as talking to foreigners in Munich, is she speaking to the United States? And the pictures of her which you showing right now, I think are being beamed back in the United States as her video, if you like, that says, look at me, I'm with the big guts. I think that it will be received with interest because who knows, one day she may be a significant figure.

But right now it is really more of a sort of like Taylor Swift to turn up, really. It's glamorous, it's entertaining, it's interesting. But the real business is what Rubio is going to say tomorrow. No doubt that's going to be the centerpiece.

I do want to pivot and ask you on a different topic before I let you go about the fallout from the Epstein files there in the uk There is a sense that Prime Minister Starmer could potentially not survive the level of backlash that he is getting because of the high, the big names that have been mentioned in the Epstein files. What are you hearing about that? Where do you see this going? This is very serious.

It's very serious for our government to try to give you a sense of what a big deal it is. Some British names have been associated with Epstein. Everybody knows about, well, the Prince that used to be the artist that used to be known as the Prince now called Andrew Swindler. We also have our ambassador to Washington, Lord Mendelssohn, who has had to step down because it was clear that he would not reveal the extent of his relationship and continuation of his friendship with Epstein when he was appointed by Starmer.

And that has now created a problem for Starmer because people are saying, how could you not know? And how could you not put a point, if you like the associate of this man to represent our country in the most important country in the world? As a consequence of all of this, the dominoes have started to fall. The Prime Minister says, no matter to Japan.

You had lost, you know, part of your royal tendency, the Kennedys, rfk, and then you lost Susie Wiles. And then there's going to be another half million documents which we know, which are going to be deposited in the next couple of weeks here. Who knows what's going to be in them? That is a calamity for Starmer.

He was already to some extent in trouble. We have local elections this year and the expectation is he's going to have a struggle to survive after that because the Labour Party is going to take a beating in the middle of this year while the tentacles of the Epstein files continue to be extraordinary in terms of their reach. So, Trevor Phillips, thank you for joining us for your insights, especially about the unit security conference. We really appreciate it.

It's always great to see you. All the pleasure. Greatest opiate, see you soon. Thank you.

We do want to go back to the White House now. We do have some breaking news to tell you about the president just moments ago making new comments about Iran. Gabe Gutierrez joins us again. Gabe, thank you for sticking around for us.

So what exactly did President Trump say about Iran? Yeah, certainly some strong words about Iran here, Chris. And the president just leaving north Iran and Raptor was Marlon goes forward. He was asked about the possibility of regime change in Iran.

Rather than swatting away the question, he did just respond saying seems like that would be the best thing that could happen. For 47 years. They've been talking and talking and talking. In another answer, he said that he did express some frustration that the Iranian regime has been all talked but no action.

Of course, this comes as the US Expects to continue negotiations over Iran's nuclear program. Now, a reporter did ask, well, what would he think who would replace the current Iranian government. The president said that he didn't want to talk about that. But Kristen, certainly this is a president of the United States who does feel emboldened after his recent actions in Venezuela.

And as we talked about earlier, now sending that second aircraft carrier group into the Middle East. And now for the using some strong language when it comes to threatening the Iranian regime that they don't come to the table and don't come to a deal here. There could be military action and in his words, regime change could be the best thing that could happen. Well, just a striking comment there by President Trump, of course, when policy experts note regime changes in Venezuela very different than Iran.

Gabe Gutierrez, thank you. Stay with us. Come back if you get anything more. We really appreciate it.

Coming up, search for the suspect. The FBI released new details on the man seen in those chilling doorbell cam videos outside of Nancy Guthrie's home as the search now stretches into the 13th day. Plus, Chef Jose Andre Tracy live in studio as his World Central Kitchen organization hits a major milestone in its efforts to feed millions of desperate people in Gaza. Stay with us.

You're watching the press now. Welcome back. There are new clues today in the now 13 day search for Nancy Guthrie, the mother of our beloved NBC News colleague Guthrie. The FBI late yesterday providing new details about the man seen in that chilling video from Guthrie's doorbell camera saying the suspect is 5 foot 9 or 10 inches with an average build and that the backpack he was wearing was an Ozark trail hiker pack which is sold exclusively at Walmart.

The FBI also say that investigators recovered several items of evidence, including gloves. The FEMA county sheriff telling Miami News Hollywood's TODAY that no gloves were found in the home, but gloves were found about two miles away. Sheriff also deny a Reuters report that his apartment in the The FBI are at odds over where evidence that has been collected should be tested. Take a listen.

I've said from the beginning and and actually even at our last press conference, the FBI and the King County Sheriff's Department are connected at the Hill that has not changed. Decisions are made sometimes with a good discussion about why things need to go one way or the other. In this instance, it really was about and it's not just this. Joining me now is NBC News national law enforcement and intelligence correspondent Tom Winter.

Tom, thanks so much for being here. It's harrowing to think about these 13 days, nearly two weeks since Nancy Guthrie was first reported missing. Talk about it how unusual it is for a case to drag out this long. Well, Kristen, unfortunately, it's not unusual at all.

And that's the challenge. I mean, when we have a missing persons case, whether they were taken from their home against their will is what the sheriff has said. Here is what the evidence seems to clearly point to, whether somebody was any sort of outcomes we might see in this case. It is something that typically does take longer, unfortunately.

I mean, look, we are seeing real time, unfortunately, what so many Americans have had to deal with. It's not a huge portion of the population, of course, but there are victims out there that have taken days, weeks, months, even years before they get some sort of conclusion, if they get one at all involving their loved ones, whether they be children, whether they be adults. And so this is a burden that we're all feeling here at NBC News, not remotely close to the burden that our colleagues Savannah Guffey and her family are feeling. That is one that people do go through.

I think it just more acutely is noticed by us this week. But yeah, it's a challenge. And the sheriff is right. Look, these cases, something could happen.

I could be back on with you in 10, 15 minutes. As you know, hopefully that's the case with some sort of big break in the case, but it's also something that could take some time. Tom, we are all hoping and praying there is a break in the case as soon as humanly possible. Talk about the fact that there are some new details, including that backpack that we saw the suspects carrying in that ring cam footage.

Well, Kristen, that is a reason to be hopeful because that is a specific piece of information. Look, it is sold at Walmart. It's a private label. This Ozark Trail, according to Walmart's financial filings, is one of their private label brands.

And so it's very specific with a specific color that could be perhaps with the tent as well. Yesterday, they want to see if when they put the 10 up in simulated darkness, if it looked the same on a similar type of camera. As well as measuring, you know, you've got a fixed point here and there are many other fixed points. Look at that entryway that we just saw in that still image.

Look at where the suspect is. And so they would have been able to get the type of measurement for height they were able to see. Look, that's great because if you get leads and you're looking at this tent that was put up yesterday that I was just describing, if you get leads, one of the things you might be able to get here is say, okay, among the good leads, quote, unquote, good leads that we have, do we have any good leads of somebody who's in this height range, you know, effectively five' nine, five' ten, five' ten, five' eleven, in that range? That would be hugely helpful because you've already done the math.

And they can cross reference as well with those backpacks. All right. And we know they're also running DNA tests. I'm glad that they found.

Tom, thank you so much for updating us. We really appreciate it. We continue to follow this story very closely and we'll bring you any major updates as we get them. And please, please, if you have any information at all it could be helpful, please call the number on your screen.

You see it right there. 1-800-FBI. Again, that is 1-800-Call-FBI. And we do want to turn now.

The upcoming partial government shutdown just hours away now and Congress has left town with no deal to fund the Department of Homeland Security and no real hope of a solution on the horizon. Senate Democrats are demanding reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement in order to continue to fund dhs. Democrats rejected a White House counter proposal that Minority Leader Schumer called, quote, unserious, but he declined to specify what exactly was unserious about it. As both parties are blaming each other for the deathlock.

Look, I think they want the political issue here, Martha. They marched us into a 43 day shutdown last fall. That seems to be where this is headed. But I'm hopeful that over the weekend, you know, Cooler has a prevail and they'll come back to the table and negotiate the White House and get something that keeps our government open.

Every one of the people negotiating on our side will be available 247 to come forward. But what we're waiting for is again, the White House to get serious and the Republicans to get serious. For whatever reason, they are stuck in a position that is not serious, is not, will not end the violence and will not rain in ice. And while ice is at the center of the funding fight, it is likely not going to be heavily affected by the shutdown.

Thanks to $75 billion in funding from President Trump's so called big beautiful bill. The shutdown will impact other agencies like fema, TSA and the Coast Guard. Joining me now to unpack all of this is our panel, Shelby Talkit, White House correspondent for Semaphore, Josh Orton, former senior advisor to Vice President Harris and President of Demand justice, and Republican strategist Malik Abdul. Thanks to all of you for being here.

Really appreciate it. Shelby, I have to start with you. What's the state of play here? The president, unlike the last longest government shutdown in US History, where he wasn't involved, isn't these negotiations.

Yeah, that's absolutely right. And I think that's notable. We talked about this just the other week, that this is a shift from the administration where last time they were really not even entertaining what Democrats want. But there's a lot of issues here that still need to be resolved.

The White House is really focused on sanctuary cities. Democrats want significant reform, some of which administration officials have already said is a no go. And neither side seems like they're really willing to move at all. And so right now there's been virtually no movement.

The administration, when I talk to administration officials, argues that they've already made concessions by drawing down in Minnesota. Beyond that, it doesn't seem like they're willing to do all that much more. Malik, if you are the public watching this, I think there's a general frustration with Washington. Again, we're coming out of the longest government shutdown in US History.

The leverage that the Democrats, Democrats have is the polling in part. Look at ISIS approval rating. The way that ISIS being deployed is diminishing in the public's eyes. And Republicans got A majority of the blame in the last government shutdown.

So how do you see this unfolding? Do you think Republicans in any way can gain the upper hand? Well, I think it's probably going to be just a bit difficult. There are some things that Republicans, I talk to Republicans on the heel.

There are things that Republicans are willing to concede on. There being some discussion around the body cam footage. I don't know. So you do have some Republicans who are actually for unmasking the agents, some of the agents there.

But whether or not that's something that would get broader support is what the real problem. But I think that Republicans feel actually in a better position now with this because in the case of that reporting show this doesn't impact dhs, it doesn't impact ICE and cbp, which is what many people on the left actually want defunded. So pick up on that point. I mean, it's not actually targeting that Democrats are trying to target.

That is already in large part been funded. It is going to impact, Josh, things like fema, tsa. Could this create a blowback for Democrats who finally seem to be starting to find their footing in some areas? Could this be a setback?

I don't think so. Look, we're seeing the biggest political and moral crisis of the Trump presidency so far. We see second Amendment advocates, immigration advocates, state local elected leaders, both Democratic and Republican. 28, what happened in Minnesota and other towns, where is it happening?

And saying that is not American, that is not, that does not belong in the United States. And so I think Democrats rightly and finally are standing the ground and using this leverage to say to the Trump administration, we have to have a change here. And I think we in a midterm election year voters are watching the national party in Washington to see whether they're willing to plant their feet and do everything they can to fight the Trump administration's authoritarian excess. Well, and Shelby, Josh makes the point we are quite in a midterm election year.

We got these new numbers out on inflation today, unexpectedly eased to 2.4% down from the previous 2.7% annual pace. What do you make of this? And if you want to talk about polling, it's the economy, the economy, the economy that voters care most about. I mean, it's undoubtedly a good sign for the Trump administration.

And I say that as the Trump administration has been very openly showing these numbers and indicating this data. But there's still other things that are muddying the waters a little bit. And so I do still think that this midterm election is going to come down to how voters are feeling. And at the end of the day, this is a good sign for the Trump administration.

The question is, are they going to be able to take this and get voters to feel like things are better? Yeah. One of the big questions around that, trying to get voters to feel that way, is the messaging that we are going to hear from the President himself and where President Joe Biden really struggled to convey or to change people's minds about how they felt about the economy, which was not good. Spoiler alert.

Do you think President Trump said he's gonna be on the campaign trouble, but can he stick to the message? Well, that's always the question of Donald Trump. Can he stick to the message? We really don't know.

We hope so though. And I hate to borrow from George W. Bush and I think even McCain, it is true that the fundamentals of the economy, they're pretty strong. But whether or not Americans actually believe that that is what the discussion is.

And even though some of the numbers of the inflation numbers, they're even lower than some conservative estimates, there are some good markers that the administration has. But it has to be that Donald Trump has to and really not just Donald Trump, the entire apparatus around Donald Trump has to be on message. And Josh, when you talk to Democrats, obviously they're going to talk about the economy affordability. We found in the last round of elections that that was very effective in gubernatorial racism from Virginia to New Jersey.

Do you think focusing on other issues like ice, like the Epstein files for example, is that a distraction potentially for their messaging? No, I think two things. One, I think you see 67% of Americans actually have a negative view of the economy. And so they may be able to point to some of these indicators.

But again, I feel like recommendation of food to the Biden administration unless people feel that things are changing themselves. And you have the president of Microsoft saying, you know, some majority of white collar jobs are going to go away or task are going to go away in the next 12 or 18 months. People feel threatened about their position in the economy. And I think when you ask about these other issues, I don't think there's restrictions.

I think the moral imperatives and I think it is to Democrats advantage not just to focus on the economy, but to respond full throatedly to the things they're saying with Epstein and with ICE because that's what people expect. All right, guys, great conversation. Thank you all so much. Hope you have a great weekend.

Shelby, Josh and Malik, coming up after the break, the highest ranking Democrat in the House Armed Services Committee weighs in on President Trump's shattering of US Alliances in response to the confusion and chaos between the FAA and the Pentagon that led to that abrupt closure of El Paso's airspace. We'll delve into all of it. You're watching the press now. Stay informed with the NBC News app Breaking news just coming in moments ago.

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People learn. People learn. That was President Trump this afternoon when he was asked if there would be accountability for the chaos this week after the FAA and Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy imposed a 10 day shutdown of El Paso's airspace, only to reverse course just hours later, despite the White House claimed the airspace was closed because of cartel drones breaching U.S. airspace.

For sources tell NBC News it was in response to the testing of US Military technology that can be used to take down drones. Joining me now is Democratic Congressman Adam Smith. He serves as the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee. Congressman Smith, thank you so much for being here today.

We really appreciate it. Absolutely. And we are going to get to El Paso in just a moment to discuss there. But I do want to start in Munich, the security conference.

You were actually slated to be there at the conference. Your trip was canceled because of this partial government shutdown. The German chancellor in his Opening statement talked about the world order as know it no longer existing. Congressman, I wonder what you can tell us.

What do you make of those comments? What was your reaction to hearing that? First of all, it's very hard to argue with the German chancellor when you look at the way President Trump has treated the NATO alliance, you know, slapping tariffs all across the world. I saw a headline the other day in a foreign affairs news article that described the United States as a predatory hegemony, which is something we have not been before.

Not that we don't pursue our own interests. We do, but we have respect for international institutions. President Trump has withdrawn us from a number of different treaties and antagonized our allies and partners. So there is a change going on.

Now. I still believe that the United States can still get that back in a post Trump world. But I share the German chancellor's concern about the US Becoming a solo actor and not really participating in the global order that we did so much to help create over the last 80 years. Well, it's interesting you say you think the US can get that back.

The Danish prime minister called for European allies to ban together. I want to read you what was said and then get your reaction to that. Within this context, is it possible to get back to it saying, quote, a Europe that is not able and willing to protect itself is going to die at some point? The prime minister said the old world will not come back.

I am pretty sure about that. So she obviously disagrees with your assessment that it's possible to get back to the old world order. How you respond to her. I would say we're not going to get back exactly to the old world order and nor should we.

The world has changed substantially. It is a much more multipolar world. You have the rise of countries like India, Brazil, South Africa. Other countries are playing roles.

So shifting that order to some extent. The basic principle that the US should participate in international rules based system that I think we can get back to. Even though President Trump has threatened it. I mean threatening Canada, threatening Greenland, threatening Panama, basically implying that the use of force might makes right is going to be a US Approach.

President Trump has undermined that. That is what I think we can get the US Back to focus on. It's really important that so many members of Congress are in Munich right now to reinforce the message that the overwhelming majority of us don't agree with President Trump simply shattering that order and saying that the US Is now basically going to be in it for ourselves, period, full stop. I think it's important that our members of Congress are delivering a different message.

Well, and given that, do you think that European allies can still count on the United States? You are saying there's a strong message being sent right now by members of Congress that yes, they should feel confident in that. But what do you say to the skeptics out there? I said that I wouldn't say that they should feel confident in that.

It's more they should not feel that. They should not feel that all hope is lost. You know, I mean, I think right now they should feel that they can count a lot less on the US Than they used to. But one part is, I mean, if Europe wants to become more capable of defending itself and contribute more to the collective defense at this point, I think that's fine.

I mean, I mean, understand that it was by design that they didn't. We provided security because Europe had spent a thousand years before World War II fighting each other relentlessly. So we didn't want them building up their militaries. We provided security.

They stopped fighting amongst each other, and we had pretty good 80 years. It's going to shift a little bit now, but I don't think we should lose track of the benefit of the approach that we took over the course of the last eight that. Let me turn to El Paso now and ask you about this confusion that remains over what exactly caused that shutdown of the airspace there this week. NBC News is reporting this started with a dispute or miscommunication between the Pentagon and the FAA over testing the military's counter drone lasers at Fort Bliss, which is right next to the El Paso airport.

Just for folks who are watching, are you closer to getting specific answers about what exactly caused the shutdown? What's your take? No, there's two sort of separate important issues. One is just the sheer insanity of the way the Trump administration has approached this.

I mean, we've got agencies all controlled by the executive branch, controlled by Donald Trump, the faa, Department of Defense, Customs and Border Patrol, those three agencies are all involved in this, in the shutdown. And yet we haven't heard a clear answer from, from the moment this happened, nobody simply come out from the administration said, okay, here's what happened. Okay. That worse is they have not communicated at all with the local officials in El Paso.

They had their airport shut down. They were not given a reason. They said it was going to be shut down for 10 days. So everyone's scrambling around trying to figure out how to deal with that.

And then they stop. No, just kidding. We'll open up in A few hours. So that lack of communication, this is the way the Trump administration runs things autocratically.

They make decisions that are accountable to no one. And that's a huge problem. This right now. The second thing is the actual problem going on.

We got a drone problem. How do we deal with those drones? And this is critically part of that. But you also have to do it in a way that doesn't jeopardize civilian aviation, which means the FAA and DoD need to be in close communication.

And clearly they were not in this instance. And the fact that none of them are even coming out and saying exactly what happened shows that this is an ongoing problem that the administration should address. Well, and Congressman, I do want to ask you, before I let you go, about this funding fight over reforms to ice. Funding for the entire Department of Homeland Security lapses at midnight.

As you well know, Senate Leader Chuck Schumer shut down the idea of funding those agencies separately, agencies like TSA and fema, which are part of dhs. I want to play for you a little bit of what he had to say and get your reaction on the other side. We should fund the whole package. All the Republicans have to do is meet our requests here and negotiate in a serious way and we can pass the whole thing.

Is he right? Well, I disagree with one part of that. I mean, for now, I think that the first set of paychecks that's set to go out, that won't go out is March 3rd. For now, I think it's perfectly appropriate to try to get that complete deal that Senator Schumer just described, get the reforms of ICE and fund everything.

But, you know, as we drift into next week and the week beyond, I don't have a problem with funding the non controversial parts of dhs. I don't support holding them hostage to the larger agreement. I think we should try to fund what we can fund and get the reforms of dhs. I will also point out that in the reconciliation bill that the Republican passed, they've got to get the numbers there.

$180 billion in excess money for DHS. Now everyone says, well, they can use that money for ice. Sure. They can also use that money for the Coast Guard or tsa.

There was wide authority in the way that money was passed. So in the short term, President Trump can mitigate the damage and the pain of not fully funding it by using that money. I think he should. All right, Ranking member Adam Smith, thank you so much for your time.

I really appreciate it. Thank you. And still look at my one on one Interview with Chef Jose Andres on what's next for World Central Kitchen and its life saving work addressing the hunger crisis in Gaza and the beyond. He joins me on set right here after a quick break.

This is the press now. Welcome back. As the tenuous ceasefire in Gaza is largely holding, the humanitarian crisis caused by more than two years of conflict is showing no signs of abating. Millions of Palestinians are still in desperate need of food, water and medical care.

The World Central Kitchen, a nonprofit organization that provides meals in disaster ravaged areas just hit a remarkable Milestone, now serving 1 million hot meals every single day in Gaza. Join me now to discuss. This is Jose and world renowned chef and the founder and chief feeding officer of the World Central Kitchen. Thank you so much for being here, Chef Andre, thank you for having me.

Well, it's an honor as always to be able to talk to you about your literally life saving work that you are doing. You are now serving a million hotel meals in Gaza a day. Talk about how you reached that milestone. Well, it's a bittersweet celebration.

I've been talking through zoom with the teams. I was there a few weeks ago just at the end of last year and the teams obviously were celebrating. They were happy. We have Palestinians feeding Palestinians, the people of Gaza taking care of the problems.

How we do that. We have six major World center kitchens that we produce on each one around 100,000 meals a day. But we have a lot of other kitchen partners. We have more than 60.

We have restaurants. We need to start supporting local restaurants so we start thinking about rebuilding the infrastructure. We have big teams in Jordan in aid that they are able to keep sending drugs daily. But you know, more is more is more need.

The need of more food, more fresh vegetables, more water purification systems. We need more hospitals, need medical care. We need to increase medical care. The people of Gaza need tents.

They're living under very difficult conditions. This winter is being terrible. So what we are celebrating for us is more than a celebration is to remind the world that we need to do more. More food needs to go in, more baby formula needs to go in.

The need in Gaza is still very much in need of America, the Arab countries, Israel, everybody, to make sure that the people of Gaza are taken care of. Mr. Andres, how do you keep up this pace given the need that you lay out that is not diminishing in this moment? Well, Wilson, Richard, we are an American civilization.

We go, we take care of the short term problems. Sometimes we're in places, weeks, months, sometimes years, but we go in and we go right now there is still an emergency. Wilson Kitchen adapts very well. Gaza over the last years has been a situation of adapting every single day.

That's why Wilson Richen as well in those scenarios and the ceasefire and hopefully the next phase of the peace deal will allow total bombing completely put to stop. Where the tracks keep coming in, where all the humanitarian organizations are, allow unrestricted access to Gaza. So again, we can be taking care of the needs of Gaza not tomorrow, not next month, but today. You have been taking care of the needs of Gaza before the cease fire went into effect.

What are your teams on the ground there? What are you seeing as some of the major differences? Well, obviously the ceasefire and the initial whatever is the next peace phase has helped. The continuous track arrival in the hundreds of weeks has been sustained.

But in a way it's not enough. We need to make sure that we put everything in place to allow all the drugs that they want to go in, to go in, to bring all the tents, to increase the food, to increase the medical care. Reconstruction has to start yesterday. The people of Gaza are really living under unseen conditions.

It's 2 million people that very much all of them are without jobs and they need our help. Therefore, whatever, whatever we do is not going to be enough today. So the 1 million is just a call to action. Let's hope that these kind of peace conversations are happening in the next days, led by President Trump here in Washington D.C.

mainly about Gaza, is going to be bringing these very simple results. What do we have to do to cover all the needs of the people of Gaza today? What we do with reconstruction are important. The people of Gaza, they need to be on the table where they are talking about the future of Gaza.

We cannot talk about the future of Gaza without Palestinians on the table. And of course, no ceasefire yet in Ukraine. Ukraine, where people continue to be killed by the day. You have been in Ukraine as well, trying to feed and nourish the people there.

What is the status of your efforts in that country? Bolsonkin is still very involved, specifically near the front lines where there are hundreds of thousands of people very much because lack of infrastructure. They need our help, obviously, because this has been a very, very bad winter. Cities like Kyiv, Dnipro, Kharkiv, all the places nobody has heated at the homes.

We're bringing soup, believe it or not. Hot supernight is the only thing hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people in Ukraine have to say they're close to something like this warm. The situation is terrible. The drones keep coming down.

I want only to remind everybody this on the last year, the attacks to civilians, civilian infrastructure, buildings has almost increased 1000%. So I love the leadership that President Trump is trying to bring forward and saying that it's going to be a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia. But who is attacking Ukraine every day? That's Russia.

And the attacks have only but increased. Let's hope that we get a phone call from President Trump to Putin telling him, can you stop today attacking every single civilian infrastructure, every school, every hospital? This cannot continue. And Europe cannot allow it.

And America cannot allow it. The free world cannot allow it. Russia is going to Ukraine today. All right.

And we are so grateful for the work that you are doing to save lives, to nourish people. Thank you so much, Chef Jose. We always appreciate hearing your perspective and about your work. Thank you for joining us.

We are back Monday with more MEET THE press. Now there's more ahead on NBC News. Now. He was a young Marine.

She didn't care about convention. They made a life together. Then one night, the Marine died. And then the death investigation took a wild, unexpected and utterly bizarre turn.

I'm Josh Magewitz and this is Trace of Suspicion, an all new podcast from Dayline. Listen to all episodes of Trace of Suspicion. Now, wherever you get your podcasts.