Meet the Press NOW – February 27

Welcome to the press. Now I'm Kristen Welker in Washington, where President Trump and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer just wrapped up a joint news conference. Prime Minister Starmer is the second European leader to visit the White House this week, and his visit comes ahead of a critical meeting between President Trump and President Zelensky that is expected to take place tomorrow at the White House. Prime Minister Starmer came into the meeting having already announced increased defense spending going even further today, saying the UK Was ready to put boots on the ground and planes in the air to support a peace deal in Ukraine, adding that it can't be peace that rewards the aggressor.

President Trump was optimistic about his meeting tomorrow with President Zelensky and about getting a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia. But notably, Mr. Trump appeared to dodge questions about what a US security backs out to enforce any peace agreement could look like now. It all comes after an Oval Office meeting where President Trump reiterated the US Will not provide security guarantees to Ukraine, though he did appear to moderate his tone towards President Zelensky.

Take a listen. I think we're very well advanced on a deal, but we have not made a deal yet. So I don't like to talk about peacekeeping until we have a deal. We're gonna be having a good conversation.

No, we want to work with him. President Zelensky, she said before, we want to work with him and we will work with him. I think the president and I actually have had a very good relationship. It maybe got a little bit testy.

Did I say that? I can't believe I said that. Well, that tone is stark contrast to the president's recent attacks, falsely calling President Zelensky a dictator. Of course, he was democratically elected.

At the same time, President Trump today remained complimentary towards Moscow, referring back to the episode in 2016 when Russia interfer of the US election to help him win, while also saying he would trust President Putin to abide by any peace deal. Do you think Vladimir Putin would be likely to invade again? I don't think so. I think what we have a deal is going to be the deal.

What did he want to do if Vladimir Putin did not stick to the terms of any deal on Ukraine? He did not stick to the terms of any deal on Ukraine. I think I keep his word. I think.

I think he's. I've spoken to him. I've known him for a long time now. We had to go through the Russian hoax together.

That was not a good thing. It's not fair. That was a rigged deal. And had nothing to do with Russia.

It was a rig deal with inside the country. They had to put up with that, too. It sounds like one of you completely trusts President Putin, a man who doesn't trust him an inch. You know, it's trust and verify, let's call it that.

And I think we both can be that way. You have to verify because you never know what's going to happen. Joining me now is Yanichal Door, the White House Sir Trevor Phillips, anchor at our sister network Sky News in Britain. And with me right here on set is Elise Labet, Edward Ruff, press fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and author of Cosmopolitics on Substack.

Thanks to all of you for starting us off on yet another day at the White House. Im let me turn to you. A lot of headlines coming out of that news conference with President Trump and Prime Minister Starmer. What were your key takeaways?

My key takeaways were that these were two leaders who were really trying to look like they are getting along coming into this. We knew there was a frosty relationship there because the UK prime minister made it very clear that he did not agree with President Trump calling President Zelensky the president of Ukraine a dictator. But when they were asked specifically about something that they could also disagree with, which is President Trump talking about making Canada the 51st state, they again pushed back on that and sort of wanted to be friendlier. So take a listen to that moment.

Our teams are now going to be working together on an economic deal. Our teams will be working together on security in Ukraine. You mentioned Canada. I think you're trying to find a divide between us that doesn't exist.

We're the closest of nations and we had very good discussions today, but we didn't miss it. Thank you. So a really striking moment there. The other thing is that President Trump said more than once that if a UK served the Ukraine Russia deal didn't happen soon, fairly soon, they didn't think one could be possible.

So very interesting. That explain a timeline there, especially of course, on the evil of President ZK coming to the White House. Yeah, you mean that really stood out to me, the fact that he repeated I think we heard it twice today. If he doesn't get a deal soon, it's not going to happen.

It'll be interesting to try to learn more about what specifically. That means. Zooming out a little bit, though. The prime minister announced Last week the UK's largest increase in security spending.

And yet you still heard President Trump saying that there's not going to be a security element to this agreement. The concern for Europe, the concern for Ukraine, of course, is that that will leave Ukraine and quite frankly, NATO nations vulnerable to a potential future attack by President Putin. That's right. You can see the British prime minister really trying here to look like he's really giving a concession to President Trump because even from his first term, President Trump has said over and over again that he didn't believe European Union, European countries were doing enough and giving enough money to their own defense spending that NATO allies and the members of NATO really need to put that money up.

And here's the UK Saying we're going to increase our defense spending. But President Trump is doubling down this idea that he wants European countries to be doing more. It's also interesting because there's this element of whether or not America is going to give security guarantees to Ukraine if they are able to work out this rare earth minerals deal. I think that's something to very much watch as the president continues to say that he thinks they're close on having an agreement with Daniel.

Also interesting as President Trump was asked specifically about minerals, there's a reporter saying it could take decades to dig into, actually see the benefits of that deal. But President Trump is essentially looking for some sort of reimbursement his mind to the millions and billions of aid that the US has given Ukraine. So interesting, the president is doubling down the idea that this scale is going to be good for the United States. Percent.

Absolutely. All right, Misha North, White House thank you so much, sir. Philips, let me turn to you. What was the prime minister hoping to get out of this bilateral meeting with President Trump and do you think he did it?

Well, I think the first thing is he wanted to get out, not being embarrassed. I think prime minister is going into the White House and they are never quite sure who they're going to meet, particularly with this president. Are you going to meet the president from Washington is going to be decided bar or are you going to meet what we mention as a kind of corruption president, let's call him Richard Nixon? Well, what was interesting today is that I think Keir Starmer got the best of all worlds and he met anabuncular sunny broad brush, friend of Britain who loves royalty, let's call him Ronald Reagan.

So I think that the mood music coming out of which is what the prime minister most wanted was that we are still the closest ally, we are still the favored partner, that there are things open to us that we're not going to fall out of Ukraine. Though it's worth saying that the British public have been absolutely steadfast in support of Ukraine in the last three years. The polls on support of Ukraine are willingness to put money. But now to support Buchanan, Grant has not shifted at all.

So I think from the British prime Minister's point of view, this afternoon has been a success because it's been studied, it's been cooperative, and he's come out looking like America's best friend. And notable towards the end there, President Trump even saying that they may possibly be able to reach a deal, a trade deal. So I thought that was notable. Let me ask you about the broader concern about America's commitment to its traditional allies and partners on a place of what President Trump had to say.

The Oval Office. Get your reaction on the other side. If British troops are in Ukraine keeping the peace and get attacked by Russia, will you come to their end? If the British people are in Ukraine and they get attacked?

You know, I've always found about the British, they don't need much help. They can take care of themselves very well, but they don't need help. You look at their career, you have done very well over the years. Haven't yet we have.

But we've also always been there backing each other up between our two countries. That is why this is the greatest alliance for prosperity and security I think the world has ever seen. What do you make of that part of the exchange today? Well, this is the Avon killer.

Trump with nice language, the smile, but underneath it there is steel. And the steel says, we're not coming. We're not putting American boys and girls in harm's way. You guys have got to do that stuff on the ground for yourself, you European.

However, I think what he is also saying is that he wants to put commercial interests into Ukraine, which is what the critical minerals deal is all about. And he has said it more than once in the last 48 hours. Once we have our commercial interests in there, everybody has to understand they better not mess with them, because then you'll be messing with America. And in fact, the big thing I think, which is we've got to see exactly how this plays out.

But I think what the White House clearly has in mind is that what Europe needs is America's, America's capacity to monitor, to surveil, to provide cyber defenses, to do very sophisticated things that Europe doesn't have, which would necessarily involve having people on the ground. So I can see what the game plan is here, whether Mr. Putin is going to play ball with that. We have yet to see.

All right, Sir Phillips, it's always great to have you on. Thank you so much for joining us on this really big day. We really appreciate it. It's great to see you.

It's always great to talk to my sister. Thank you, my brother. Thank you. Come back soon, please.

I appreciate it. Let me turn now to Elise Lab. Elise, thanks for being here. It's great to have you in person.

Let's start off with I thought the tone today was so nobody who heard Russell Phillips really talk about it where the British prime minister, Prime Minister Starmer, was very careful to basically say there is no daylight between us, even though there are some real differences in terms of how they are handling this moment, but making it very clear he wants to see the negotiated table. Well, that's exactly what it is, Kristen. There's like this catch 22 going on, right? The Americans don't want to bring the British or the Europeans into the table until they know what they're going to do.

And the British don't want to commit to do anything until they know the U.S. is going to be by their side. You remember Keith Kellogg, the envoy of President Trump on Ukraine, told the Europeans, no, you're not going to be involved. And that's because this whole idea that like bigger powers like the US And Russia will decide and little powers like Ukraine or the Europeans just have to eat it, however they're coming with troops, they're coming with things to actually say we deserve a seat at the table.

So it's a combination of flattery, giving him what he wants. And also I think the British were trying to be this bridge, Europeans and the United States, right. Like this special relationship. You know, ironically, this whole attitude by President Trump this America first is going to make the Europeans do what the US has been wanting them to do for decades, which is to kind of get their security act together.

And I think if President Trump sees them doing that, he's going to respect them more, he's going to want them at the table, and he's going to need them at the table. Interesting. What did you make, Elise, of what each leader said about President Putin? You did hear President Trump say, yes, I trust but verify.

You heard more skepticism from the prime minister. And yet President Trump reiterating something that he recently started saying, which is we do want to get some of the land back for Ukraine. He said a lot of things since his election, right. He said that he would put additional sanctions on Russia.

Then he said he would lift those sanctions. He said that he would arm Ukraine. Then he said, oh, we're not going, going to arm Ukraine. I think he's not sure.

I think he's still trying to feel out President Putin. But at the end of the day, even as lovely as he thinks Putin is, and remember, even President Bush said he looked into Putin and saw his soul. I think President Trump doesn't want to be seen in the end as being taken advantage of or by losing to President Putin. So he wants to come out of this with a deal for Ukraine that's not like Afghanistan.

Right. He doesn't want some fiasco. He wants something that he can claim to and say. But he also said today, you know, it was a little something because there was talk about NATO.

And he said, oh, not NATO. But he also said they're not going to keep all of their land. And let's be honest with him, you know, when you talk about Crimea and the invasion, even before President Trump came on, nobody was talking about giving back Crimea. So I think it's going to be something along the lines of a frozen conflict where nothing's going to be given back to Ukraine.

But I think, you know, President is still going to keep some territory. You'll be watching for tomorrow, particularly against the backdrop of President Trump having called President Valencia dictator earlier this week, falsely accused him of starting the war. He didn't. Russia invaded Ukraine.

You heard him moderate in real time there. He said, did I call him a dictator? I don't remember that. Right, right.

He's, you know, he's. That backfired. You know, not only people in the United States, his Republican colleagues kind of were trying to find some way to turn that back. I think it's going to be a warm meeting.

I think even though he, you know, has this issue with Zelensky and Ukraine, I think he actually respects President Zelensky. You saw him say they fought very bravely, the Ukrainians, and so. And he wants a deal. I think now that President Zelensky has said, I'm willing to sign some commercial deal, I think they're going to give President Trump what he wants.

I think it's going to be a pretty good meeting. All right. At least love it. We always appreciate your insight.

It's great to see you. Thank you so much. Come back again soon. And make sure to tune in tonight to NBC Nightly News to see Lester Holt's one on one interview with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Coming up, showdown countdown. We'll head to Capitol Hill where Congress has just 15 days to figure out a deal to avoid a government shutdown as mass layoffs and cuts to the federal government keep accelerating. Stay with us. You're watching the PRESS now.

Welcome back. Turning to a very busy day on Capitol Hill. Government funding expires two weeks from tomorrow. We haven't seen much progress on the bipartisan deal necessary to keep the government from shutting down.

However, the finger pointing is already underway. The reality is, except for the Republicans, they're in charge. They've got the votes. They've got to keep the government open.

I think the more important question is, you know, Democrats posture, they seem to be obstructing everything right now, whether it's nominees, any constructive dialogue on reducing the size and scope of government for sort of the defenders of permanent Washington. Right now, for me, it's a red line as a member of Congress. The bottom line is this. We have a constitutional responsibility, so does the president and so do the courts.

So we have to do this in a thoughtful way. And Musk with a chainsaw is not a thoughtful approach. I think most of my colleagues would say, why are we going to fund the very things that Doge is identifying shouldn't be funding? So I think we've got to have an airplane with what they're doing.

We're also getting mixed messages from Republicans on the potential backlash to Elon Musk's Doge cuts. Some Senate Republicans yesterday voiced their concerns over the rapid pace of cuts at a meeting with White House Chief of staff Susie Wiles. That comes after sources tell us that House Republicans are tamping on town hall meetings after getting some blowback from constituents. House Speaker Mike Johnson is downplaying the pushback, claiming without evidence that the backlash at town halls is from paid protesters.

The videos you saw, the town halls were for paid protesters in many of those places. These are Democrats who went to the event early and filled up the seats. This is an old playbook that they pulled out and ran. And it made it look like that what is happening in Washington is unpopular.

But I'll tell you, Caitlyn, the American people are behind what's happening. Joining now is NBC News chief Capitol Hill correspondent Ryan Nobles. Ryan, thanks so much for joining us. So let's start off there with what we just heard from House Speaker Mike Johnson.

He tried to brush aside some of the blowback, but we have seen town hall after town hall where there have been some people who are expressing some real frustration with these cuts that are being inflicted by Doge. What more are you hearing on Capitol Hill? Well, first, of course, we've seen this play out before, but it happens to both Republicans and Democrats. And every single time you start to see a groundswell of anger amongst constituents that manifests itself in these town halls.

Both Republicans and Democrats accuse the other side are trying to stack the deck, organize protests, even pay protesters. I think back to my early days covering the Tea Party protests against Democrats and town halls across the country. Democrats drive tells, this isn't a thing. Don't pay any attention to it.

And then it quickly became a movement that eventually led to Republicans taking control of both the House and Senate. So, you know, I do think that there probably is some energy around these town halls that may be organized on some level. There's no evidence that these protesters are actually being paid by some sort of advocacy group to show up at these town halls. But it's hard to get people to show up to a town hall.

This isn't like a ticket to a rock concert. You have to be passionate about this. And yes, they may be Democrats that are showing up to many of these town halls, but again, they're happening in deep red districts as well. Kristen.

And so while Republicans recognize this, they're trying to excuse it away. The fact that they're also kind of instructing their members to avoid them, change them up in some way, shape or form demonstrates that they realize that this is a real problem that's only going to grow as this issue continues to persist. It is going to be fascinating to watch how it plays out. Ryan, let me ask you about the spending deadline.

Hard to believe is just two weeks from tomorrow. Speaker Johnson talked about a clean cr. What do we know about where negotiations stand and the threat by some Democrats to basically oppose NCR and try to shut down the government in opposition to these cuts that we're seeing by Doge? I think one thing that is important to keep in mind as you watch these negotiations play out is that a lot of times leadership will give us a sense of calm, a sense of optimism, both Republican and Democrat, that the folks in the room are gonna be able to come to some sort of agreement that they can give to the rest of the Congress and everything will be fine.

And what we see play out time and time again, especially with these spending deadlines, is that the leadership in the room doesn't always have the pulse of their membership, and they come up with a deal that they think looks good amongst themselves, and then they present that deal to the rank and file and it's quickly rejected. And I think that's an issue that can happen not just on the Republican side, but The Democratic side as well as Democrats in many respects have this as their only opportunity to exert some level of leverage as the Trump administration runs rampant here in the first hundred days. All right, Ryan Nobles, thank you so much. Really appreciate it.

Coming up after the break, what you need to know about the growing measles outbreak in West Texas that has now killed at least one unb vaccinated child so far and how the Trump administration health officials are responding. You're watching the press now. Welcome back. There's also about a growing measles outbreak in West Texas where the US has now reported its first measles death in a decade.

The victim is an unvaccinated child. At least 124 measles cases have been reported in West Texas. That's according to state health officials. At least 18 people have been hospitalized.

Now, despite that, the anti vaccine movement is falsely blaming measles shots for the Texas outbreak. And Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. A long time vaccine skeptic, downplayed concerns when asked about the outbreak during a cabinet meeting yesterday.

Look, there have been four measles outbreaks this year in this country. Last year over 16. So it's not unusual. We have diesel outbreaks every year.

Now, to be clear, the CDC classifies a measles outbreak as three or more cases. The 16 outbreaks last year totaled 285 cases. The ongoing outbreak in Texas is already nearly half of that total. And we are still in February.

NBC George Solis joins me from Lubbock, Texas. Also with me is Dr. Pierre Hotez, Co director of the Texas Children's Hospital center for Vaccine Development and dean of the School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine. Thanks to both of you for starting us off with this subject.

George, let me go to you first. Take us inside. What you're hearing. Just how widespread is this outbreak in West Texas right now?

Hey, Kristen. Yeah. There's obviously a lot of concern about this. We're talking about a micer disease that was supposedly eradicated.

We're talking about it now. Something has a lot of parents and a lot of people here very concerned. I want to show you something here. There's a scambus here by the emergency medical task force.

This is 117the state here and what they're using as sort of a clinic of sorts to treat people that may have been exposed. You take you on board. This is in service. We're of course wearing PPE right now.

It is a parked here so we can take you on board and so what you'll see here are beds back there where they're doing IgG therapy, basically preventative care for those that may have been exposed. And this really only applies to those that either don't have the vaccine or maybe immunocompromised. And so it's a therapy that really varies from person to person, but it's not a cure, it's not a vaccine, it's just a temporary solution if you come in contact with the measles. Now, I talked to the training chief here, Chat Curry, about just what they're doing here and what their plan is long term for this implementation.

Here's what we told me. This vaccine started in 1963. So it's a very safe, it's a very well used vaccine. It's not like some of the newer vaccines like Covid was kind of pushed through and expedited.

They've got a little bit of a bad rap. What's more dangerous right now? Not being vaccinated or the spread of misinformation to not get back to it? Definitely the spread is the most interesting.

Again with this being a tried and true vaccine. Get vaccinated on board the bus here. Again, this is where they would treat some of those patients. Again, we'll be seeing this bus in action tomorrow here.

But again, as you heard there from a Chad, really what they're really struggling against is just that source of misinformation about this vaccine has been proven so effective. Yeah, he's really powerful there in his interview with you. 18 patients are still hospitalized. What do we know about the patients?

And also this unit that's been impacted. George? Yeah, so we know a lot of these are unvaccinated individuals, Unvacc vaccinated children. Mistake saying that that that young school age child was between the ages of 5 and 17.

I'm not giving specifics but it gives you a sense that for the age of 5 or 17, theoretically have both of the MMR vaccines. Obviously it's very alarming. I spoke to mother earlier today who said, look, my child, 14 months old, is behind on her vaccine but I don't want to risk it. I came to, to the local public health center to get a vaccine because it is just not worth it to make sure that my child is safe.

All right, Trish, Elise, thank you so much. Dr. Cortez, let me turn to you. I want to start off by just getting your reaction to what we heard from HHS Secretary ROBERT F.

Kennedy jr. Yesterday. Really downplaying this outbreak. Yeah, I think you Know, the message is this is a very serious and very dangerous measles epidemic.

You know, there's 124 reported cases in West Texas and of course a handful across the border in New Mexico. But we're at the very beginning of this, Kristen. I mean, this is accelerating at a pretty rapid clip. And remember, any number today, you have to remember the incubation period when new people are getting infected before they show signs of this is two weeks or 12 days.

So, you know, the number yesterday, 124 will get a new number, tomorrow it's going to go up again. And this will continue to accelerate for weeks because it's so highly transmissible in the long incubation. And of course, you know, 18 hospitalized kids is really significant. And they're hospitalized because they're sick.

They're sick because of measles pneumonia, measles, respiratory infection, possibly encephalitis, possibly permanent neurologic deficits, including hearing loss. Measles is a bad actor. And of course, the biggest tragedy of all, this really tragic death yesterday of an unvaccinated school aged child who did not have to die. This child's life would have been saved have that child been vaccinated.

Given that, given everything you're saying, what would you expect the HHS secretary to be saying and doing in this moment? Well, I think it's a serious enough epidemic that, you know, this might be something that Mr. Kennedy would want to come down and visit and see firsthand what's going on and what it means to have a child sick in the hospital with measles and the impact on their families and on the hospital staff. And by the way, the contact tracing for all of the individuals infected is really tough because measles is the most transmissible virus agent we know.

It has a, what's called a reproductive number of 12 to 18. It means if a single individual is infected, that means 12 to 18 other unvaccinated individuals will likely become infected as well. So you can imagine what it's like for public health officials who are already understaffed and overtaxed to have to go in and do all of that contact tracing. And it gets to the point where it may become impossible because of so many cases.

And I expect the hospitalizations, hopefully the deaths won't continue, but definitely the hospitalizations will and it'll spread. You are hearing about a sporadic case or two elsewhere in other parts of Texas that may be from the same epidemic. So this thing is looking like it's going to be really a huge challenge for us. It's difficult just to hear you talk about it, Dr.

Cortez. And I think a lot of people are sitting home and wondering what should they be doing to protect themselves even if they are vaccinated? And particularly for those in the family who might be too young to get the measles vaccine yet, what can families do to protect themselves? Well, one, you want to perhaps check on your child's your own vaccination status and have a discussion with your healthcare provider whether your child needs either the first vaccine somewhat earlier than scheduled because of what's going on, especially if they're in an area where there's a lot of measles transmission or for some adults getting a booster if there's an area with a lot of measles transmission.

And unfortunately, in Texas, that's getting and bigger by the day in terms of of West Texas. And so those kinds of discussions are going on currently. All right. Dr.

Peter says we really appreciate the information, although it was difficult to hear, difficult to talk about. So important. Thank you so much for joining us. Thank you.

Still to come, the Doge of fact, will the Trump administration's mass firings shake things up at the ballot box panels next? You're WATCHING THE PRESS now. Welcome back. If there is backlash at the ballot box of the firings and sending cuts by Elon Musk's Doge, one of the first test cases could be Virginia, one of two states that holds its gubernatorial election this year.

340,000 federal workers live in Virginia. NBC News spoke to more than a dozen voters who say they are not strongly aligned with either party. They were all aware of the cuts, with some expressing deep concern. Here's former Congressman Abigail Amber, the front runner for the Democratic nomination in the governor's race on MSNBC last night.

Look, I cannot go anywhere without having Virginians bring to me their concerns. And it's not just the federal employees who are potentially losing their jobs. It's small business owners. It's other members of our community and our economy who are already starting to feel the hurt and the pain of this chaos or who worry that it is imminently coming for them.

In contrast, the states incumbent term limited, Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin is praising Dosha's cuts as he also works to mobilize state resources for Virginians who are laid off. Joining now on set is my NYBC news colleague and senior White House reporter Peter Nicholas. Jasmine Wright, politics reporter Notice former New York Democrat Congressman Joe Crowley and Republican strategist Matt Gorn. And thanks to all of you for being here.

Jasmine, let me start with you, because Virginia is a state and a community where they are talking about these Doge cuts, because people have been impacted there firsthand. What are you hearing and what will you be watching for? Obviously, it's so early, it's only February. But what are the implications?

I mean, I think the implications are huge just across the country. I was like, I was in California by my family over the weekend. Me and my cousins were telling me about people that they know through the federal government who've been cut. This is certainly a conversation happening around the nation.

We know that Virginia is so important. Every cycle we hear both Democrats and Republicans being really bullish on it. And so I think that these, what Doge is doing and what the administration doing is going to be incredibly impactful, particularly for that gubernatorial race. But this is something that Republicans have been doubling down on, even if we know privately that they have some concerns.

And so I think you're going to continue to hear them doubling down. But I watch Elon Musk. He's been going to the Hill. He's been trying to be more, be more communication with some of these Republicans as if it's concerns.

Peter Nicholas, let me turn to you now because we heard House Speaker Mike Johnson say a lot of these people at these town halls are paid to be there. They're also Democrats. Well, Democrats are constituents, too. What do you make of what we are seeing bubble up around the country?

Well, I see it my own neighborhood. I live in Northern Virginia. Many of my neighbors are federal workers. And they're deeply concerned.

They're very excited about what's happening, affects their livelihoods, affects their pocketbooks. And they're wondering, you know, is this what we signed up for? You know, we believe in this election because we heard Tom talked about reducing prices. We heard what he wanted to do in terms of foreign policy.

But I'm not sure anyone really anticipated that he would take a chainsaw or have his delegate, his delegate, Elon Musk, who CPAC conference last weekend was waving around a chainsaw to signify what they're going to do to federal agencies. I'm not sure that we were properly prepped for that during the campaign. So it's great consternation. You know, it's a great point.

Matt, pick up right there, if you will. I mean, 57% of Americans believe that Trump is overre right now. Elon Musk yesterday in that Cabinet meeting said we're gonna make mistakes. How much concern is there internally in President Trump's Orbit right now.

Okay. I think there's some, I think being through this, I was in the 2018 cycles through the healthcare town halls, which were very kind of somewhat similar, but not really right. They were far more than median voter. They were the equivalent of the jail President Trump or the fascist signs where it's not, you're not getting the median voter there.

So it's a little different. However, members who come back in a scooting, you have to talk them down a little bit. And so you have to do a little more member relations. Whether it's true or not, to me and voter, it gets in the head a little bit.

That's something you always have to solve for. And that's what they're doing right now. Yeah. Congressman, you were there in Congress at the dawn of the Tea Party.

Nancy Pelosi at the time tried to downplay those early town halls, and yet they kept bubbling up, kept bubbling up. Do you see parallels? I do see some. They were very raucous meetings I held myself in Queens, in the Bronx at the time.

And so I think people would be foolish to dismiss them outright as political. So there's always politics about. We know that, but dismiss it outright as political only. That's a mistake.

I also think it's important to note, as Peter, to mention, it's not just about people losing their jobs. And yeah, this stuff is saying you're worthless. What you did didn't matter. Doesn't matter.

Your public service didn't matter. I put on the side. How about property? Property prices.

People can't afford their rent or can't afford their home. That has an impact on others within the community as well here in the Capital region. So it's about 140,000 families in Virginia alone. It's going to have, it's definitely going to have an impact, I think, on the election next year.

It'll be worth watching that very closely. Peter, let me turn to you and talk about what's happening on Capitol Hill. You have this big fight over how to keep the government open. Democrats trying to determine, are they going to try to use this moment to protest these cuts that we're talking about.

Do you think that that is gaining traction? I think this is the only leverage Democrats have. You know, this is a Congress that's controlled by Republicans, both House and Senate. You have a Republican president, supreme court, that has a 6, 3 Republican majority.

So I think that Democrats have been looking for some pressure points and leverage, and this shutdown might be the best opportunity. Jasmine, what are you watching? For, listen, I'm watching for Democrats basically putting up any type of defense I think I've talked to or when I talk to Democrats, they acknowledge that Trump has been very proficient at kind of steamrolling them of doing what he wants. No matter what the critics say, they recognize that they're in the minority.

They recognize that, as Peter said, their leverage is slim to none. And so I think that they're going to try at least to at least talk about this idea. Democrats don't want to do that. We've already heard hawking Jeffrey's head up say, I'm not sure if that's the best route.

But when they go back to their towns, when they go back to their constituents who want to see them, particularly those motivated on the left, want to see them put up more of a defense. We'll see what happens in just a few weeks. Yeah. Congressman, how do you see this playing out and what do you think Democrats should do?

Because as they're saying, they just don't really have any other leverage right now. Yeah, I think to some degree, we're also lacking kind of like a national spokesperson we had. Nancy Pelosi was the focal point, you know, much to disagree on some other leaders here in Washington who you see as a national spokesperson. I do think Hakeem has an opportunity.

I think Catherine Carcass as well, but I think it's more like, you know, they're in the submarine, they're approaching the target and they're hold it, wait, wait. And people are sweating fire. You know, I think that's part of what's going on. Yes, they're being criticized.

But at the same time, Peter's right, though. Waiting for the opportunity to have that leverage. I think that's what's coming down. Republicans, when they use reconciliation in 2017, they had like a 20 vote margin in the House.

They have like a two or three vote margin right now. That's a huge difference. And that does give a king and Democrats leverage in the House. How do you see it shut down?

The government is the biggest gift to our party. It would be a massive gift. First of all, it would undermine a lot of the arguments they made about valuing federal workforce value, making sure folks get their paychecks and all that. It also the first move around a shutdown, I tell you, experience, they usually lose a political battle.

Doesn't everyone lose a shutdown, though? No, no, no. Democrats in 2018 lost it, too. The Schumer shutdown.

I was part of that, too. They lose on that. And Also too, it made it so easy from us to say we're already shut down. But I think that if they are listening to their base, which we could argue that they did not do in 2024, they're listening to their base.

Their base is telling them, we want you to be more strong. We want you to be strong. People angry with them. But it's going to shift to them because that's what the power, that's what the power is going to shift the numbers out.

They have two weeks. It's going to be a lot of drama on Capitol Hill here. Let me go to you your fascinating report. President Trump continues to Joe about a third term and yet a number of his allies are very serious and actually taking steps to explore what that might actually look like, even though the Constitution says he cannot run for a third term.

I think one of the lessons from Trump's presidency is that we need to take him both serious and literally, that there's no saying media truth spoken in jest. So when there are voices on Capitol Hill, people in Congress who say, oh, it's just joking, but I think that it would be a mistake to make that assumption. He worked hard to win this election. He was out of power in exile for four years.

Very possible he may want to stay and that he may have more to do. He may have reason to say so how do you confront that? Well, the constitution on the 22nd amendment says there's a two term limit, full stop. There's no way around that.

But you can amend the Constitution. There's two ways to do it. One is Congress votes. Both houses of Congress vote by a 2/3 majority and it goes to the states.

3/4 of states have to ratify. That's difficult. Congress is so polarized. That's pop, not going to happen.

But there's another way to amend the Constitution and to Trump a third term. And that would be if the states call their own Constitutional convention and they can do that with the 2/3 the of vote. So there are people, there are allies, people close to Trump, people who like Trump, Trump supporters who want to go that state convention route and see if they can, if they can produce a third term amendment, Constitution that way. Both incredibly challenging.

My foreman, what are you hearing? Because clearly as this Peter lays it out, it would be a tough road and yet you have people who are seriously talking media attention, possibly TV or mediate on that. And then also Trump and his allies will see and they'll enjoy it. Right.

If you expect Trump to come out and absolutely rule anything out on many fronts. We've learned over the years he's very loath to do that. But I think it's not a serious thing. The state's eyes probably understatement, Joe.

I don't think he means the constitution he demonstrated the last time. I'm actually willing to admit that he actually won in 2020. Now, I think the election was stoned for him and he's not ultimately president right now. All right.

Thank you so much. Great conversation. Thanks for your great reporting, Peter. Appreciate it.

Jasmine, Joe and Matt, really fantastic. Thank you all for joining us. We're back tomorrow with Morning THE press. Now the news continues with Yasmin, the souvenir for Hal Jackson right now.

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