You have a reason to care. You know someone you've lost someone, you've lived it. The darkest times are no match for what we can do together. Join us for the CAMH sunrise challenge from May 25th to 29th.
Canadians are waking up with the sun to raise funds for a future where everyone can access the mental health care they need, the moment they need it. Get up with the sun, show up for CAMH, and rise up for mental health. Register today at SunriseChallenge CA. That's SunriseChallenge CA.
If it's Monday, the DeSantis campaign is burning through cash, laying off staff and struggling in the polls as the Florida governor and presidential candidate tries to hit the reset button. Plus scorched earth and flash floods. The record heat wave baking the Southwest is set to expand as Pennsylvania authorities search for two missing children swept them away in a torrential rainstorm. And Democrats divisions over Israel as the party's top progressive apologizes after calling Israel a RAC state just days before the president is set to address Congress.
Welcome to MEET the press Now. I'm Kristen Welker reporting in Washington. We're tracking new troubles for the Santa's campaign. Of all the potential roadblocks facing the GOP candidate, money wasn't supposed to be one of them.
But a staff shake up and a new MBC News analysis of its fundraising operations are both raising serious questions about the campaign's solvency. DeSantis has touted the $20 million he raised last quarter, but more than that, 2/3 of the cash came from donors who gave the legal maximum, which means they're tapped out, they can't donate again. And the campaign is struggling with the other big source of cash, small dollar donors. Only 14% came from donations of $200 or less.
Meanwhile, the campaign has been burning through cash, spending millions of dollars without much to show for it in the polls. As the field frontrunner Donald Trump keeps attacking DeSantis on the trail, Cassank Demonious and his establishment handlers are wasting such precious time and resources to divide the party. They're dividing the party. Although he's dropping so quickly, he's probably not going to be in second place much longer.
Now DeSantis campaign seems to recognize the need for a shakeup. NBC reports the campaign has fired roughly a dozen staffers with more on the way in an effort to cut costs. And after a week of blaming the media for his political struggles, DeSantis is set to do a rare mainstream national TV interview this week. It comes after DeSantis defended his current strategy.
While vowing to engage more with national media, I've done more press conferences as governor than any other in history. We have cnn. Com and DC Coms on the campaign trail. We have all these people out there and we take questions and we are going to be doing more.
I don't know necessarily about some of the, some of the show, but we want to be engaged. At the end of the day, I think that some of our best moments as a governor and as a candidate are when we're in hostile environments. So we're going to do that. We're going to do more of it.
But even amid internal struggles, DeSantis still fares far better than the rest of the expansive Republican field. And right now, we remains the only serious challenger to Donald Trump for the Republican nomination. NBC Tally Vitality is covering the Santa's Campaign at Christians United for Israel event in Arlington, Virginia. Ali, thanks so much for joining us.
So what do we hear from DeSantis today? What are your key takeaways? Well, Kristen, you're right to point out the landscape. And in terms of my landscape, I will be whispering because you've stood at the back of these rooms before as well.
You don't want to overly interrupt the event. But look, while DeSantis was up here, you're right that he is at this moment of inflection within his campaign. We have donors who are worried about the fact that he seems stalled in the polls, about the high burn rate of all the fundraising money that's coming through. But then also we saw him here instead just focusing on, on the basics, focusing on Israel, focusing on foreign policy.
In his book, for example, he talked a lot about the ways in which he influenced the then Trump administration, specifically as it pertained to moving the embassy to Jerusalem. That, of course, something that Trump himself has trumpeted on the campaign trail in recent years. But for DeSantis, this was largely a friendly crowd with a friendly message and no talk of the troubles, though certainly he still has them. Yeah.
You know, Ali, it's first of all, well done. Whispering it's been really notable that DeSantis has been running, it seems, to the right of former President Trump, strategically speaking. Do you anticipate that we're going to continue to see that and what else are they doing inside the campaign to deal with the issues that we laid out so. Well, look, you gotta run somewhere, right?
We're watching how the rest of the field is struggling, right? Either running in line with or maybe to the center of Trump on certain issues, foreign policy, for example, Abortion is another for DeSantis. He's really trying to stake out this rightmost flank. And look, it hasn't been second, but it hasn't a distance second.
And he's not really moving very much. I think that's one of the things that the campaign is pointing to. And it's why I think there's a few headlines here that I don't know that I could have anticipated when the DeSantis campaign had first started a the idea that solvency is an issue for their campaign. I never thought this would be a campaign that was worried about money.
And the second piece of this, that they're doing mainstream media interviews at the start of this campaign, even before DeSantis officially got in, advisors and allies were very clear with me in my conversations with them. You can come cover us, but they're not going to give any access. They're not going to try to make it easy. Certainly now it seems like they're changing that posture in the wake of, yes, tough funding numbers and pressure from donors, but also the fact that his poll numbers have remained pretty stagnant since he got in the race.
You know, the one comparison that I hear often, I know you've heard this before, too, is whether or not the idea of Governor DeSantis is equivalent to a 2016 version of then Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. Walker, someone, of course, who came into 2016, a lot of fanfare, a lot of expectation, big donors and big, big state in the polls. And we watched him pretty quickly, upon getting into the race, build a top heavy operation that made him burn through cash at a high rate. He stumbled in media interviews and on the campaign trail.
There are a lot of parallels here, and it's a comparison point that the DeSantis folks have worked hard to push back on. But news cycles like this one only reinforce a narrative that they very much don't want to take hold. And Ali, very quickly before I let you go, as NBC reported, they're slashing a number of staffers. How are they addressing the concerns about that and potential instability that may bring?
Well, look, you look at the fact that the Desensis campaign, before these dozen or so firings, had roughly 90 or so people on their campaign staff. That made them the biggest campaign operation in the field writ large. The next campaign, I think, had 50 or so staffers. Most campaigns here are trying to be lean.
They're trying to get their message out there. The DeSantis campaign took an entirely different approach. I do think what's notable and what we should continue to Watch is the ways in which the Desensis campaign proper functions alongside of the super pac. That is really the big bolstering compliment to their organization.
They've got hundreds of people out there in that apparatus and that's likely where we know those resumes have flowed from the official campaign side to the pack side. Whether or not they actually get picked up is notable. But yeah, it is another way that they can go even as the campaign itself is in difficulty. Ali Vitali's fantastic reporting, fantastic whispering.
We appreciate your Herculean efforts there. Thank you so much. And with the campaign trying to hit the reset button, me c Dasha Burns has more on an enormous and unusual effort by the super PAC supporting DeSantis to bring in donations. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis stucking in Iowa and Tennessee and touting how much money his campaign has raised.
We raised more money than Joe Biden did in the second quarter, who's the sitting president. And we raised more money than Donald Trump did into his campaign, who of course was the former president, despite new campaign finance disclosures revealing he's burning through that cash fast and that many of his donors have already hit their legal limit, which could spell future fundraising trouble. It's why the super PAC supporting DeSantis never packed down, which already plays an outsized role, is poised to become even more critical. In June, NBC News got exclusive access to ground zero for their strategy to knock out Trump with a doorknock a makeshift classroom in West Des Moines, complete with a fake do and pretend voters.
Paid canvassers from across the country are put through eight days of training before being deployed to early primary stage in a $100 million ground game effort to convince voters to turn out for DeSantis. Is that typical? It is not typical and it is a lot. But we think that investment in our staff is worth it because we think that.
We think that's the difference maker. History tends to agree. Senator Ted Cruz's presidential campaign had famously sophisticated operation in 2016 that helped him win Iowa. And former President Obama's legendary ground game was key to his winning record.
It can be the difference between first or fourth. Is Team DeSantis ahead of the game here? I'd say by probably two to three, four months. There's a lot to be determined.
But. But they are certainly going and verbally saying what they're going to do and putting the appears putting the effort and grabbing all the people they are going to make for at least the largest effort we've seen on this side of the aisle. And it's getting larger. The goal is to train and deploy 2600 doorknobbers.
By Labranet how many hours a day are you expected to be out there and how many days a week are you doing this? Six days a week. Tim and Marissa have graduated the program. We kind of educate them things that they know or that they don't know.
And we love having those longer conversations with people because it's about the relationships. How did the training here compare to what you had before? Oh, my gosh. This is on a different level for the training.
They want to make sure you are on point and anything that the voter throws at you, you are able to tell them. And when we met these young canvassers, they were only a few days in. I think it's been incredibly in depth. I really appreciate, considering there's a lot of big names in this upcoming race, us really being thorough, being able to really educate ourselves on all the policy issues to make sure that we put our best foot forward.
How long are you committed to doing this? To be honest with me, as long as far as we can get with government sentences. If he makes it to the president, I want to be a part a massive effort which supporters hope will help push through a campaign slump to try to open the door to the White House. Dasha Burns, NBC News, West Des Moines, Iowa.
Our thanks to Dasha for that report. And now I want to bring my panel. Eugene Scott, senior political reporter at Axios Crowley, former Democratic congressman from New York Sarah Chamberlain, Republican strategist and president of Main Street Partnership, and Amy Walter, publisher and editor in chief of the Cook Political Report. Thanks to all of you for being here on this Monday.
We had a great weekend. Eugene, let me start with you. We've been laying out the challenges that the Santa's campaign is dealing with. A lack of cash flow and also a big staff shakeup.
I mean, is it getting late for him to right the ship here? Well, no. I mean, there's obviously still time. But I think what was very clear when they launched this campaign, which as we already came later than I think we initially thought it would, was that more people would be on the DeSantis train by now, assuming that's an actual thing.
And we're not seeing that in the polls. And this is what happens when you don't see that type of support come along when you were hoping that it would to move before. In fact, what we are seeing is there's a lot of people still on the Trump train. I mean, what do you think needs to happen inside desantis World for him to start to turn this around?
Well, I think he's starting with new staff. I think that's extremely important. And I think he maybe needs to pull back. He's a little too Trump.
He's trying to outdo Trump and he can't outdo Trump. Trump is very unique. So kind of pull back a little bit on that. But I think he's only got a month to six weeks to correct us.
Amy, do you agree with him? Yeah. I mean, usually when a candidate or a campaign complains about something going wrong, it's the staff or it's the consultant. You know, it's always about.
It's the candidate. It's always about the candidate. So this is the challenge. I think Eugene was right.
There was a sense when he announced that there was going to be this like big boom, almost like a sonic boom, and you were going to feel it everywhere. The dollars were going to come in, the momentum was going to begin, and it just hasn't. And I think this, the real question for him will be that August 23rd debate. I kind of think that's do or die for him.
He either proves that he is the candidate that some people want him to be, which is the Trump, the guy who can take down Donald Trump, or somebody else is going to shine at that debate. And that usually happens too. Right. We find that a lower polling candidate gets a big lot.
Joe, do you think the first debate is make or break for disabilities and we should say he's doing an interview with Jake Tapper on cnn. So this is a shift in strategy. Yeah. Well, as to who's actually in debate, I think will be important.
Trump says he's not going to be, but it goes back to what Sarah says, by the way, Amy, I know how to fight any of my campaign managers, but going back to the point about trying to outdo Trump as the. As you may be, Trump will be even more depraved in terms of what he'll come back with. He will always outflank you because he has no boundaries. And I do think that DeSantis and these other candidates, they have some level of boundaries, and I think that's the big difference.
But I also think the voters are looking for someone different. And I think that's what we're going to see in the Republican side who will become the real antithesis of Donald Trump. And that really hasn't been established yet. Eugene for president.
Trump says he's not going to appear in the first debating signal. He's not going to appear in a second. That could always change. But what do you think would have to change in order for him to change his calculation?
Do you think Chris Christie says he won't be able to say? I'm not sure Christie's right about that, but it would be interesting qualified. He says he's going to send. Well, I mean, DeSantis might want to be concerned if Christie does qualify because Christie's coming straight for the sentence in terms of Trump.
What would he do in terms of whether he actually will stay away if there's a change in the polls and somehow strategy makes him feel like he has to show up and the race is more competitive than it currently is. But as of now, his whole idea that, like, I don't need to show up to win, you know, more support or keep the majority of support of Republican voters seems to be supported by the data. He's right. Now, Sarah, much Waiter, you give into the first debate, does it make a break for DeSantis?
I believe it is. And I do agree. If Trump is not on the stage, everybody's supposed to be going for Desensus. And can he survive that onslaught?
We'll have to wait and see. Amy, what are your other takeaways from these first quarter finance reports? Well, stood out to you, obviously. President Biden did quite well.
Sure. I was also looking at the House and Senate fundraising. As former congressman knows, that's where every dollar is so much more important. These presidential candidates, forget about the primaries for a second, but Joe Biden, the Republican nominee, they're not going to lose.
They don't have enough money. House candidates, it's really critical. And if you talk to the Republican campaign committee, they look back to the last two cycles and say our problems, we rely too much on Super PACs. We need our individual candidates to up their fundraising.
And the most vulnerable candidates did. On average, they have almost $2 million in the bank. That's about a million dollars more than the most vulnerable Democrats. So that is a good sign for the House Republican side of the ledger.
What do you make of that? I mean, even particularly the disappointing results, some Republicans would say in the midterms. Yeah, well, it's nice to, of course, nice to be in the majority. The majority has its privileges and one of them is raising money.
But the other is, I think that the committee members that the head of the NRCC and those leadership are saying, hey, you know what, we can't come and bail you out, but it's more important for you to raise money because Only you can tell your story. A super PAC can run a tag ads, but they can't tell your story. And the members are helping each other. Like all of the majority makers are in the Republican Main street partnership and they're helping each other, which is more than they've done that in the past.
They're raising millions for each other and moving the money around from like leadership PACs to the PACs and they don't lose control at the end of the day, decisions that have an impact in a couple of states where we're very familiar with New York, I think at the end of the day, money matters, it does make a difference. But there are some other outlying issues out there that also have an impact on this as well. I do think Democrats can have the money they need to be competitive and hold on to the seats. The other headline that I keep hearing is that Senator Tim Scott seems to be gaining momentum.
Republicans are watching Trump, world is watching. White House is watching. Close legion. What do you make of that?
Could he compromise? Well, he's certainly hoping so. And he's a dirty, well liked lawmaker on the right and he has Democrats coming out supporting him like, you know, Corey, but they're not supporting for the race. But I speak positively of him and we know there are quite a few independent voters who historically.
Right. Who are looking for someone other than Trump who DeSantis was hoping he would get. But right now, you know, he doesn't have them yet. So whether or not some Scott's gonna be able to maintain that interest beyond just a narrative will be interesting, especially if it gets a needing to attack spending more money in Iowa than almost anybody else.
So I want to see some good pulling out of Iowa to see if that's having an impact because that money is nice to have. But if you're already putting in 4, 5, 6 million dollars, you're not moving the needle. Speaking of IO, go ahead. I think Tim is gregarious, he's very well liked.
I served him in the House, I served with him in the Senate. Always outgoing, always jovial. So I think that that's why I think you see the Democrats as well, they don't look, they don't look him as that threat. I do think if he becomes the nominee, he will be a very formidable threat.
I think that a lot of Democrats are raising eyebrows about how they would actually go after him if he were to become the nominee, which would be a long shot. Let's Iowa for a second because DeSantis is saying he would potentially consider Iowa's governor as a running mate. What did you make of that, Sarah? A little bit of desperation.
I mean, it's like, okay, I know from so all the members in the delegation, members, Republican partnership, and they're telling me the polls, he's not doing better than Trump is doing the polls. Tim Scott, though, is picking up some momentum. So I think he's just trying to throw any take against the wand. But she would be a good vp And I do agree with him on that.
Well, and obviously she's on a lot of potential because she just signed the 64 portions. Absolutely, absolutely. Yeah. Listen, when you go to Iowa, you pander whether it's.
Or whether it's like an official state fair. Exactly. That's what you got to do. So very quickly before we go, Eugene, the New York Times had this really fascinating report today that former President Trump wants to expand presidential powers and limit the authority of independent agencies.
Not necessarily a surprise, but new details about what he and his team may be considering. Yeah. And this isn't a surprise to, you know, many of his critics or even supporters. I mean, Trump has been very vocal about his belief that there are people within these departments who are the deep state, who working against him and whatever he believes would make America great.
And he's promising if elected, he will get rid of them. And this, I believe, is a gift to Democrats who will use this to fundraise. Absolutely. I think it is.
Look, surprise, surprise, 16 happened. It didn't happen. Didn't happen. Did not again stick in Queens.
We've known this guy for a long, long time. This is in the playbook. And I think given all that's happened to him right now and where he stands in America, it's this really natural next step, in my opinion. And that's why I think he's such a tragic country.
All right, well, great conversation. Thank you all very much for joining me. Appreciate. Eugene, Joe, Sarah and Amy, great conversation.
And still ahead, third party push. I'll talk to one of the leaders of the bipartisan effort to put a third party candidate on the ballot and the leader of a random group opposing that effort. And later, we'll get the very latest on the scorching heathen recovery efforts after that deadly flash flooding hit southeastern Pennsylvania. You're watching me, the Press now.
Welcome back. Expect more hand wringing among Biden supporters this week over the potential for a centrist third party candidate running in 2024. Tonight, West Virginia Democratic Senator Joe Manchin, who hasn't ruled out running for president and Former Utah Republican Governor John Hudson will be headlining the venue. New Hampshire, hosted by the group no Labels.
The group, which is pushing a potential unity ticket to run the 2024, has also rolled out a book of broad policy statements meant to appeal to the middle of the electorate. While the group works to get ballot access nationwide, some Democrats worry the effort could hurt President Biden's chances for reelection. A group backed by former House Democratic leader Dick Gabbard and former Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel named Citizens to Save Our Republican launched this week aimed at opposing the no Labels effort. We will speak to four houses in just a moment.
The first joining me is former North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory. He is a national co chair for no Labels. Governor McCrory, thank you for joining me. I appreciate it.
It's always good to see you. Great seeing you too. Personally, congratulations. Oh, thank you.
I appreciate that so much. Well, look, no Labels are saying, your group is saying you're not gonna decide to run a ticket until April. So why hold this event in New Hampshire? Now, what's the goal?
Well, we have two goals. One is to come out with issues where the American people actually believe that we can solve some very complex problems that our nation is facing and issues that is not or not being solved in Washington, D.C. so we talked about 30 issues in a book that we just released today, which basically talks about immigration, the economy, crime, all the social issues. We're not running away from anything.
And this is a bipartisan effort. It's an effort by people including Joe Lieberman, Ben Chavas, Larry Hogan, myself, Republicans and Democrats who are frankly tired of the labels being thrown at politicians, whether you're right winger, left winger, conservative and liberal. We think most people in the United States, frankly, have a different opinion on many different issues. Some might be moderate, conservative, liberal, but they each think of every issue on their own.
And we need to solve these problems and bring the nation together to get results now more than ever. And the American people are not satisfied right now with the two leading candidates, Trump and Biden. We've never seen this in American history where over 65% of people are saying we don't want either Trump or Biden. And so we got an insurance policy getting on the ballots to determine maybe after Super Tuesday, basically in March.
We'll make that. Governor McCreary and I do want to actually get to your policy book in just a moment, but I want to ask you about where you think Senator Manchin is in actually making a final decision. He said he's not going to make a decision for several months until December. But do you think he's inching closer to getting into this race?
I just saw him and I don't know. I do not know sincerely. He's obviously very qualified, along with Jon Huntsman is a qualified Republican. Where's John Huntsman in his consideration process?
I don't know. We have not begun the process to consider candidates because we're waiting to see what the two parties do with the selection from their primaries. And right now, all indications it'll be Biden and Trump. And yet so many people, the great majority of people don't want either one.
And so we're saying, do the people deserve another chance? And there are people fighting us. They're trying to stop us from getting a ballot. In North Carolina, my own state right now, even though we've met all the requirements of signatures and verification, there are outside forces trying to delay efforts to challenge the established two political parties, which is not the American way.
The polling previews what the impact of third party candidate could be. Our latest NBC News poll shows more Democrats than Republicans are actually interested in potentially supporting a third party candidate. So when you look at those numbers, how can you say that a no labels bid won't effectively help elect Donald Trump if he's the nominee? Well, first of all, once something you leave out of that polling is independence.
And right now, for example, North Carolina independents outnumber both Republicans and Democrats, which is a signal to my party I'm a Republican, I'll continue to be a Republican, I'll vote in the Republican primary. But right now neither party is speaking to the majority of the American people. And hopefully this, this booklet that we're presenting today will make them change their agenda and seek candidates that appeal more to the vast majority of American people as opposed to the establishment trying to stop some, the American people from having a choice. And that's the American way is to have a choice.
Governor, let me ask you about your policy on abortion. I'm going to read you what your book says. It says, quote, abortion is too important and complicated an issue to say it's common sense to pass a law nationally or in the states that draws a clear line at a certain state of pregnancy. So can you get specific with me?
Will a no labels candidate take a position on limits to abortion or exceptions? Well, what we've learned and what most American people are telling us is they want no total opposition to abortion, but they also want some limits. And listen, I played the game. I know the game.
I'm here to Expose the game. When you run in primaries, you have to be either here or over here. And there's no exception. And yet the people are about right here on not only abortion, but most social issues.
Have you talked about those limits? Where would those limits be? Yeah, most surveys are showing from approximately 12 weeks to 15 weeks. But we'll allow the candidates, you know, we're not, we're not going to do a manifesto for the candidates.
They're going to have to also determine where they stand. But we're looking for candidates who understand where the American people stand. And not only that one social issue, but many complex social issues and also foreign policy issues, economic issues, immigration right now, which neither party seems to handle. Like right now in immigration.
The Democrats don't want to control the border as tight as Republicans do. The Republicans don't want the dreamers to come in. The American people are saying do both. That's common sense.
All right, well, let me ask you about this because in your political career you have been very outspoken against little groups who not say where they are getting their funding from. And right now we do not have a clear sense of where you're getting your funding from. So can you tell us where your fund, where's your funding coming from? We are not.
Yeah, we're a non profit right now. And we do what all other groups, including the groups that are attacking us, including maybe Mr. Deport group where he's getting his money from and moveon.org, which is attacking us. So we have money in which the people who give the money, they're protected.
Because if you want to, if you want to back a third party candidate and you want to be a big player in this next presidential elections, why not be transparent now? Because we have to protect. There's retro. The two parties are so powerful right now and the people donating both small givers and big givers, they're actually afraid of retribution from the powerful elite in D.C.
i mean, that's how it works right now. And by the way, these same groups are asking us this question are being funded also once the candidates are selected, we're not going to run their campaign. We're not giving them money. No labels is not going to run any campaign that's going to be up to two candidates if we end up doing this after Super Tuesday.
And we're only going to do it if the polls show that we have a viable chance to win and it's going to be interesting. We've never seen the numbers like this before, usually about 40% of people disagree with the two candidates coming from the two parties. We've never seen 65 to 70% express such dissatisfaction. All right.
And if that's the case, maybe the two parties can wake up between now and Super Tuesday. We'll see what happens. It is going to be interesting for sure. Governor Pat McCrory, thank you so much for joining me.
Really appreciate it. Thank you so much. And joining us from our housekeeper, Dick Gabbard. As we mentioned, he is a member of Citizens to Save, a Republican effort to stop a third party bid from no Labels Leader Gabbard, thank you for joining me.
I really appreciate, appreciate it. You bet. Great to be with you. Well, it's great to have you.
And the Washington Post is reporting that you are launching this new bipartisan group to effectively oppose the no labels third party presidential effort. What can you tell us specifically about what your strategy will look like? Well, first, I want to say that I like no Labels. I like especially the problem solvers which they have put into being.
They're the only hope we have in the Congress now getting bipartisan solutions to tough problems, compromises if you will. So I support all of that. What we're worried about now is that this effort in the country we're in now is very dangerous. And let me tell you what I mean.
If these were normal times, we would have no problem with it. These are not normal times. We came within a whisker of having a broken election in 2020 only because Mike Pence and six or seven state electoral officials, all Republicans, stood up against the pressure of Donald Trump. Did we avoid a broken election and the chaos that would come from that.
Donald Trump tried to overthrow the federal government and the electoral process in January after the election, he cannot be allowed back in the White House again, quoting Liz Cheney, who said that a number of times during the January six hearings. So our worry is that this becomes a self fulfilling process. What is that no Label saying? It's saying that they would do this as an insurance policy.
If the two parties nominate Joe Biden as their nominee and Donald Trump as their nominee, that's precisely the moment we think they should step away from this process. So what are you going to do? What are you and your group going to do to stop? We are just urging.
We're not trying to keep them off the ballot. We have nothing to do with that. We are releasing all of our donors as people give donations. And our entire effort is to try to convince no Labels to not do this.
If Donald Trump is the nominee of the Republican Party because we believe that will ensure his reelection in the general election in November of 2024. And they say that they're not going to make a final decision about launching a ticket, as you heard, until about April. What specifically will you do until then? What does this urging look like?
You will be visible on television programs, or will you take it a step further? Will you try to take steps to prevent them from being on the ballot? We shouldn't do that. That's un American, as the governor just said.
Are you soliciting donations? We're trying to do messaging. We're going to do messaging from now until next spring to their donors, their supporters, the people that are worried about these two candidates that Biden and Trump. And I understand the concern, but, you know, there's no elites in either party that pick the candidates.
The people pick the candidates. And I think if no labels is going to put some candidates up, who's going to pick their candidates? The people are picking the Republican candidate and the Democratic candidate in primary elections, open elections. So this is just a worrisome process, and we just hope we can bring common sense to the people in the labels that this is a dangerous effort.
If Donald Trump is the nominee of the Republican Party, I think it's. I'm sorry, go ahead. All the evidence you can look at today is that, that if it's Biden and Trump, if you put a third party candidate in, it will elect Trump. It will elect Donald Trump.
Even if they could get some electoral votes, which has never really happened in American history, certainly in modern American history, they could throw the election into the House of representatives under Amendment 12 to the Constitution. That would be a real mess. Let me ask you about what Governor McCrory's main point was. He basically said, you have a majority of voters.
He said, we've never seen numbers like this. In our poll earlier this year, 70% said President Biden shouldn't run for re election. 60% said former President Trump shouldn't run for re election. If you are a voter who does not like either of these potential candidates, what do you do?
Well, that's the point. Look, if you look through history, when the candidates are announced or before they're announced, the American people are always looking for the perfect human being to be president. And I understand that it's the toughest job in the world by far. And so people always want a perfect human being to do it.
But when they get into the polling booth, they make a choice between two people. They have to make a choice sometimes in life, you don't get two good choices or even one good choice. Sometimes you have two choices you don't like, but you got to make a choice. If no labels puts into that mix a third party candidate, that will pull more votes.
If Joe Biden's the candidate and Trump's the candidate, it will pull more votes from Joe Biden, which will elect Donald Trump to be president. Look, Donald Trump has the most impressive base that I've ever seen in modern politics. It's between 30 and 40% of American voters. But to keep that base soaked up, he does things, says things that make him unacceptable to 60% of the American voters.
So he's got to have as many third parties as he can in order to get the Electoral College vote that he needs to be president of the United States. All right. Former leader, Ticket park, thank you so much for your perspective and for joining us. We really appreciate, appreciate it.
Thank you. Up next, we've got breaking news out of Iowa on the issue of abortion access. We'll tell you about it. We'll bring you that right after the break.
Welcome back. We have breaking news out of Iowa where a judge just issued a temporary injunction to block the state's new six week abortion ban. The ban was just signed into law Friday by Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds. NBC Brewster has more on this breaking development.
Jack, what can you tell us? Hi there, Kristen. I'm also going through the order right now, the injunction from this district court judge in Iowa. But you got that main headline that he is essentially putting a pause on this six week abortion ban that was passed last week and signed by the governor on Friday.
This ban went into effect immediately after the governor signed it. So the ban actually was in effect for about a weekend or so before this injunction. But the judge saying that the court believes the that must follow Iowa Supreme Court precedent. And he says that this is essentially acknowledges this likely will make its way back up to the Supreme Court.
He goes on to clarify one specific point. He says that he is allowing part of the law to go forward and specifically the part that directs the Board of Directors Medical Group in Iowa to essentially go and make rules and set the consequences. For example, if a doctor or a healthcare provider provides an abortion that is in conflict with the law once it goes forward. But bottom line, Kristen, is that this law is now on hold.
It is being held up by a district court judge. We'll expect to see some information from Planned Parenthood in the form of a press conference to come. And we just got a statement from the governor who said that? And I'll quote here, she says, I will fight this all the way to the Iowa Supreme Court where we expect a decision that will finally provide justice, justice for the unborn.
So definitely this is something that will continue and it's gonna be a fight in a battle that continues in Iowa for months to come for. Absolutely. And chat just big picture very quickly. The issue of abortion has obviously been a flashpoint we saw as a major contributing factor during the midterms.
It's something that all the candidates talking about in 2024 on the campaign trail. That's exactly right. I mean, this is something it goes to how we saw Governor Reynolds sign this law. She signed it as essentially what was a campaign event.
It was a conservative forum in Des Moines. You saw multiple presidential candidates there. They were applauding her throughout the day for signing this legislation. This is legislation that she tried to pass pretty quickly after she became governor.
This passed in 2018. It was blocked by the courts. But we know how much has changed since then. We're talking about both at a federal level where you saw Roe v.
Wade completely overturned and at the state level that Iowa Supreme Court is much more conservative than it was back in 2018 and when it first litigated this first attempt at a roughly six week abortion ban. So this is something that will play out not just in the state of Iowa, but will be a major factor in presidential politics. And it's something that we're continuing to see nationwide. You're seeing the rollback in many of these southern states.
You're seeing a rollback in the abortion access that women once had before Roe was overturned. Kristen, really great reporting on this breaking news. Shaquille Brewster, thank you so much. Appreciate it.
And coming out, the very latest on this summer of extreme weather as a heat wave grips the country and rescuers search for two children washed away in flash flight on the East Coast. You're watching with the press now. Welcome back. Officials in Bucks County, Pennsylvania have just declared a disaster emergency after flash flooding there killed at least five people in recent days.
And search and rescue operations are continuing for four people still missing, among them a nine month old boy and a two year old girl. The children's mother is among those five killed. Officials say seven inches of rain fell in just 45 minutes in parts of Bucks county on Saturday. One fire chief said he's never seen anything like it more than 40 years on the job.
And it came during a weekend in which parts of the Western U.S. and other parts of the globe experience historic and deadly heat. NBC News neurologist Bill Karen joins me now. Bill, thanks so much for joining me.
So where is this all going? Is there any sense that relief is in sight literally for the severe weather and the flooding? I don't think we'll see stories like that this week. But the heat isn't going anywhere, huh?
In Europe, tomorrow's mar is going to be the hottest day ever been especially in southern Italy. Also Greece. And this weekend in our country we didn't set all time records. We were close but it's just gonna stay just really hot, well above average.
So yesterday was 116 in Vegas. 117 is our all time record. We're one degree away. Phoenix today just hit 110 plus again, 18 straight day.
That's the longest streak. Tomorrow they will break that in El Paso a month straight of 100 degrees. El Paso typically hot, but they've never even come close to this many days in a row before. So is it going to cool off?
Are we gonna get this nice relief? Exactly. I mean 116 yesterday, Vegas 1141-121131-12111. You get the idea.
When the temperature's supposed to be hot like 105, you can feel the difference when it's in the low one teens. And as far as Phoenix goes, I think this is one of the crazier stats at night. It's just not cooling off even in the desert. So the last time they were even in the so they've been 90 degrees plus ever since July 9th at 9:13am That's 195 hours straight of 90 degrees.
The same way. Go for a run. You want to play tennis or basketball. They do that late at night in Phoenix because that's the only time they can.
I mean that's not even comfortable. So we're continuing here from California all the way now through areas of the South. And the story of the coming days is going to be the heat and humidity. There's 104 right now, Dallas, well 105 in Del Rio.
And it's just going to get hotter and some of this heat's going to spread. Tomorrow we can have record highs in Alabama and the Carolinas is going to start getting mid to upper 90s. These are areas where it's humid too, Kristen, as you know. So that's going to be problematic.
And on top of everything, you know it's not going to cool off. I mean here's the outlook for next week. And everywhere in the desert Southwest and the west looks well above average. We should get some relief in the mid Atlantic region.
But it's the same spots over and over that are getting all the worst weather. And Kristen, did you notice outside a little haze in the sky, the wildfire smoke back? It's over 100 million people, 120 to be exact, that have these air quality. It's been that summer.
You got the flooding and then like it clears out. The next thing you know, we're getting the air down from Canada again. It's blowing the smoke in and that'd be with us. And it's, you know, it's in the hazardous level here.
The unhealthy for a lot of areas from Ohio, Pennsylvania, around Capital District, New York City, D.C. right now is in the unhealthy for sensitive groups. And these numbers are 140 to 150. I pretty much tell everyone once it's above 100, you don't want to be outside exercising.
Chris doesn't know. You can feel it in your lungs, Bill. I just can't believe we're still talking about it. I mean it's just so extraordinary and those temperatures just look brutal.
So obviously reminded everyone to stay hydrated, stay indoors if you can. Bill, thank you so much. Really appreciate it. Up next, Democratic divide over Israel as top Democrats push back against conversation.
Controversial comments from present leader, Congressman. He's now apologizing after calling Israel a quote, liberal racist state. We'll delve into that. You're watching MEET THE Press now.
Welcome back. Israeli President Zakirog is set to address Congress on Wednesday. And ahead of that visit, fractures within the Democratic caucus over Israel are on full display. House Democratic leadership on Sunday put out a statement saying Israel is not a racist state.
That statement did not mention congressman by name, but it came after Jayapal, the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus made these comments on Saturday. I want you to know that we have been fighting to make it clear that Israel is a racist state, that the Palestinian people deserve self determination and autonomy, that the dream, that the dream of a two state solution is slipping away from. Now, Jivel was walking back those comments saying yesterday, quote, I do not believe the idea of Israel as a nation is racist. I do, however, believe that Netanyahu's extreme right wing government has engaged in discriminatory and outright racist policies and that they're extreme racist driving that policy within the leadership of the current government.
Now from Capitol Hill, Ryan, thanks for joining me. So let's talk about these divides within the Democratic caucus. How are they navigating this at this really critical moment where they're voiced to hear from the Israeli president. Well, the first thing they did prison was not wait around to react to the comments by Congressman Jayapal.
As soon as those comments started making their way around the Internet, you saw the House leadership and you rightly point out the top four Democrats swiftly come out and not mention Jayapal by name, but strongly defend Israel as a state and push back on the idea that it is racist. And then you saw Jay Paul also quickly walked, walk back her comments and really point her criticism more at the current regime than Israel as a whole. But this isn't necessarily going to get rid of the issues that exist within the Democratic caucus. There are, there's a growing movement of progressives that are unhappy with the direction that Israel is heading in.
Some of them are preparing to boycott President Herzog's speech later this week. And there is a very strong faction of Jewish members of the Democratic caucus that have a very powerful voice within the Democratic Party. So this is something that they still need to reconcile. And of course it's not something Republicans are going to let go.
They've been very much honing in on Congressman Jayapal's comments. The House Speaker Kevin McCarthy saying earlier today that the Democratic caucus should do more, someone punish her for those remarks and make sure that it doesn't happen again. So this is an ongoing issue for Democrats, one that luckily won't be resolved anytime soon. Yeah, I anticipate we'll hear a whole lot about this this coming week.
Ryan, let's switch gears now. Talk about another story that's making some waves about the issue of anti Semitism. Democrats are preparing to push Kevin McCarthy and Jim Jordan to essentially rescind their invitation to Robert Kennedy Jr. To testify before House select subcommittee this week.
And it all comes after Kennedy, who's a candidate who's throw himself into the ring for the Democratic nominee, made these comments obtained by the New York Post. Let's take a listen. There's an argument that it is ethnically targeted. COVID 19 attacks certain races disproportionately.
COVID 19 is targeted to attack Caucasians and black people. The people who are close to me are asking Jews and Chinese and but we don't know. There are papers out there that show the, you know, the racial and ethnic differential impact. So Kennedy there basically pushing this conspiracy theory that Covid is targeting certain groups.
He responded on Twitter saying the New York Post story is mistaken. I have never ever suggested the COVID 19 virus was targeted to spare Jews. That's the quote I'm reading. Ryan, what has the reaction been from Republicans to this?
Well, Republicans have said that they don't agree with what ROBERT F. Kennedy jr. Had to say, but that's not enough to stop them from giving him a pretty high profile platform to appear on this subcommittee on the Weaponization of Government. And the speaker, Kevin McCarthy, was pressed on that earlier today, and this is how he defended the idea of Robert Kennedy, Jr.
Appearing before the Congressional committee. Take a listen. Your question about rfk. I disagree with everything he said.
The hearing that we have this week is about censorship. I don't think censoring somebody is actually the answer here. I think if you're going to look at censorship in America, your first action essential probably plays into some of the problems we have. So, Kristen, the short answer here, they don't like what he said, but they're not going to take away his platform to say things like this and others at this hearing later this week.
All right. My notes will cover all the angles for us. Thank you. And thank you for being with us this hour.
MEC News now coverage continues with Hallie Jackson right 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 Matos 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.