Meet the Press NOW — July 4

If it's Tuesday, mass shootings rock Philadelphia and Fort Worth. A day after 30 people were shot in Baltimore. The gun violence crisis continuing across America. Plus new fears of escalation in the cycle of violence between Israelis and Palestinians as Hamas praises a car ranking attack in Tel Aviv.

And the Israeli military says some of its forces are withdrawing in that massive operation targeting militants inside the West Bank. And don't rain on their parade. May the Republican presidential candidates hitting the campaign trail today as former President Trump cements his front runner status, sparking serious alarm from some allies of Ron DeSantis. Welcome to YouTube Press Now.

Peter Alexander. And today for Kristen Welker, Happy 4th of July to you on America's Independence Day. Sadly, again, we begin with America's gun violence epidemic. In the 23 hours since we came off the air yesterday, seven more communities in this country have experienced mass shootings.

That's according to the Gun Violence Archive. The group defines mass shooting as an event in which four or more people are shot, not including the shooter. Last night in Philadelphia, police say a gunman armed with assault weapon and a handgun, also wearing body armor, shot and killed five people, wounding two others, including a toddler. Authorities say they have that gunman in custody.

Moments ago, the police chief reacted to the horror of this crime. What happened last night in our comascant neighborhood was unimaginably disgusting and horrifying. On what was supposed to be a beautiful summer evening is armed and armored individual rehabbit firing with a rifle at their victims, seeming at random, shooting seven, killing five, including children, babies. Such an act of violence is abhorrent and goes against everything we stand for in this community.

Also last night, police say at least three people were killed, eight injured during a community gathering in Fort Worth, Texas. No suspect there has been identified. It was one of just three reported incidents of gun violence in Fort Worth last night. We're gonna take their live in just a moment then police in Baltimore, they're still looking for the suspect in this past weekend's mass shooting that left two people dead and 28 others injured.

There have now been at least, get this, 346 mass shootings in the US so far since the start of this year. That's according to the Gun Violence Archive as well. A year ago today, government opened fire on Independence Day parade in Highland Park, Illinois. You remember that?

It killed seven people, wounded more than 45 others. Highland park did not hold a Fourth of July parade this year in the wake of last year's tragedy. Instead, local leaders held a ceremony in honor of those killed. This is a day filled with emotion.

While I am so proud of how our community has supported one another these last 12 months, and today I wish it were not because of a horrific act of mass gun violence, we don't need the date or the holiday to remind us about what happened. We live with it every day, each one of us, even as the world moves on, the loss and the pain will never leave us. And look at this. Since that tragedy in Highland Park a year ago today, this country has suffered 675 mass shootings.

That's approaching an average of two mass shootings each day. Earlier today, the president, the President Biden reacted to the recent mass shootings in the one year anniversary at Highland park, renewing his calls for Congress and state legislatures to ban assault weapons. For more, we're joined by NBC FOR Hey Alice, NBC's Priscilla Thompson, she's in Texas. And NBC's Jesse Kirsch, he is there in Highland Park, Illinois today.

Raymond, I want to start with you if we can. What do we know about the investigation of the shooting in Philadelphia? We did just hear from the police commissioner there. You know, the first thing we know is that a 40 year old man is in custody tonight.

Authorities say they believe, they feel confident that they have the man responsible for this. And the reason they're so confident of that is they say that police literally chased this person on foot into an alley and they were able to apprehend him without them firing a shot and preventing the suspect from firing any shots that could have led to other people being killed. Peter, as you mentioned, seven people were shot, five of them dead. All five of them are men starting up with a teenager, a 15 year old and going up to a 59 year old.

One thing we should mention here is that in this news conference held within just the past hour, we learned that police say there were four bodies that were found on the street of Philadelphia several hours later. They found a man at home. He lived alone and they didn't find him and discover his death until then. But now what they're telling us is that the last person whom they found dead was the first person whom they believe that the suspect killed.

And from there he went out into the streets and began randomly shooting people and even firing at cars. And that's how one of the children was injured in this incident. And what this person, they say now what happened in the street may have been random. They're not sure about what happened in that home.

They say that this person was wearing a ski mask, he was armed with an AR15, a handgun, another gun. Police say he was also wearing a bulletproof vest and had a police scanner that tells them very clearly, according to them, that this person was intending to cause harm and did so. Peter, that awful situation in Philadelphia, another separate situation we're investigating or police are investigating right now. Is that shooting in for Worth?

Priscilla, what more we learning about the situation there? Yeah, Peter, we just got an update from police in Fort Worth a moment ago. They are saying that it is reported that there were several unknown males that fired indiscriminately into this crowd of people and then fled the scene. And one thing that police are working to make clear is that there was this como fest that occurred earlier in the evening where hundreds of people were gathered for that community celebration block party.

But that this was an incident that happened after that event had ended. Clearly people had decided to continue that gathering, perhaps in a different part of the neighborhood whenever all of this violence unfolded. And as you noted, there are 11 victims here, three people who were killed and eight who were injured and hospitalized, including one juvenile among those victims. But what police described when they arrived on the scene was chaos.

That this was a scene that spanned a number of blocks, that there were vehicles everywhere, there were people on foot everywhere. When they arrived, they were able to find multiple shooting victims in a parking lot. But there were still some areas where they weren't able to get ambulances in because of how many people were here. One officer had to put a victim in their car and transport them to an ambulance just because of how chaotic this scene was.

And we're now hearing from the mayor there. She works to comfort this community. I want to play a little bit of what she had to say. What's heartbreaking, it's incredibly disappointing.

The first thought I thought about was the families and neighbors that make him off so successful. Hours of family friendly fun and beautiful fireworks turn into a deadly mass shooting. And so I think the next few days they uncovered and I forgot who the perpetrators were. But it's senseless, man.

You know, you have people come into a family environment with guns and start shooting randomly. Just incredibly heartbreaking circumstances. And of course the question why did this happen? Why did these people do this?

Police saying that they still do not have. They are following leads today, but they still don't have any suspect or suspects who've been identified. They did make a point to say that they do not believe any of the victims are suspects. But still searching for answers here about the kinds of guns that were used.

And of course the motive. And police are also saying that they're going to have additional staff on hand heading into the holiday festivities tonight. Peter, Priscilla, thank you for that. Jesse, I want to get you in Highland park right now.

It's hard to believe it's been a year since that awful tragedy took place. Disrupting, interrupting, destroying the peace in celebration, the fourth of July parade. How was this year's festivity, this year's honoring, different than what they had last year? Yeah.

So, Peter, this year is a mix of somberness, but also celebration. And I think the one word that sums up what we saw from this community today is a mission of defiance, trying to honor the lives lost the seven people who were killed on this day in this community last year and what the mayor described as the bloodiest day in the history of Highland park, while at the same time honoring those people, but at the same time not letting a gunman's actions control how this community sees this day moving forward. Being able to still have July 4, Independence Day, as a celebration in some way. That said that you're seeing visuals from a ceremony that had held earlier.

They had a moment of silence at the time when the gunshots began to ring out on this day last year. They then behind me here, went on a walk. This was the parade route in 2022. This year there was no parade.

They had a walk and there were hundreds of people filling the street. And again, at the same time, we saw people wearing Highland Park T shirts, but there were also and the stars and stripes, the American flags out there as well. So a bizarre blend that we are unfortunately having to see in this community this year. That's what it looked like earlier.

But there are going to be more moments of celebration as well. And a mix of tributes blended in there. For example, Gary Sinney's actor and Lt. Dan will be performing later.

So there will be, like concerts right there. There's food. There are some of those cornerstones that we expect with July 4th. But at the same time, right behind here today was a moment of memorializing as well.

Here also, in many ways, that community, really a place for hope, for those activists who want to see stricter gun laws, a place where they turn found some progress in the face of that awful pain a year ago. Jesse, curse on the ground in High Park. Jesse, thank you so much. And still ahead right here, we're going to take a lie to the Middle East.

As the Israeli military says some of its forces are withdrawing from the Danin refugee camp that is in the west bank after two days of a massive military operation there, while the Hamas militant group praises a new terrorist attack in Tel Aviv. Plus, an ongoing Secret Service investigation inside the White House into a white powdery substance found in a West Wing work area. We have brand new reporting that's ahead. You're watching me at the press now.

Welcome back to MEET THE press. Now there are new concerns today about the prospect of escalating violence in the Middle east as the Israeli military pushes ahead with its operation aimed at targeting Palestinian militants in the West Bank. The bank, its biggest incursion into the occupied territory there in two decades. Earlier today, eight people were injured in Tel Aviv when a Palestinian driver rammed a car into a crowd of people at a bus stop.

The video shows the moment just after that car attack. The attacker then got out of his car, began stabbing people. He was then killed by an armed civilian who was in the area. Hamas, which the US And Israel have both designated as a terrorist organization, praised the attack.

They call it a, quote, natural response to Israel's ongoing military operations in the West Bank. That operation in Janine in the west bank, it continued for a second day today. Palestinian health officials now estimate 12 people have been killed, 100 others they say, have been injured, including 20 in critical condition. An Israeli Defense Forces spokesperson now says that part of their forces have started to withdraw from the area of the Jenin refugee camp.

While visiting Israeli troops near Jenin, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel will continue as long as necessary to uproot terrorism and would not allow Jenin to go back to being a refuge for terrorism. Joining me now is Matt Bradley, who is on the outskirts of Jenin in the West Bank. Also, Ambassador Dennis Ross, former National Security Council senior director for the Central region and former US envoy for the Middle East. Mr.

Bastard will get you in a moment. But first, Matt, on the ground there, tell us about the situation, what you were seeing and this new reporting that the Israeli Defense Forces say they are now withdraw from Jenin. Yeah, we just heard that just now. Actually, we had that confirmed that the Israeli Defense Forces are now withdrawing from Jenin.

We think we saw what was kind of the last part of that operation we saw while we were interviewing some Palestinian youth who were engaged in fighting against the Israelis who were kind of on the outskirts. And then all of a sudden, the Israelis pushed in for a clearing operation, and the Palestinians, the Palestinian youth were firing on them. And what we saw was the Israelis using armored cars and one of their armored bulldozers, which was what they'd used to use the RADIO effect of Jeanine to try to clear the area. But this operation was something, as you mentioned, that Benjamin Netanyahu has basically said mission accomplished for now.

And he said that he's going to continue to move into Jenin if necessary. And this whole thing was basically prompted by intelligence information, according to the Israelis, that this was an operating area, Jenin, that had been used to launch terrorist attacks, as the Israelis would call them, onto Israel proper. So what we saw were a lot of Palestinians who were throwing rocks and molo cocktails at the Israelis. They were also firing small arms.

So there was live ammunition. And this has been an operation that has been going on, as you mentioned, the past two days and has resulted in now one increase in the death tolls. Now 12 people who have been killed and thousands of Palestinians were forced to leave Jenin. It wasn't just the entire city that we're talking about.

It was most of the refugee camp inside Jenin that the Israelis had been targeted. And as you mentioned, this was a huge operation and one that was unprecedented before 20 years ago during the second intifada. So this has been a real big effort by the Israelis. And a lot of this has been problematic by the fact that Benjamin Netanyahu is now in power and he has a very right wing government that is backing him.

And they are all cheerleading this operation and they will be cheerleading any operation that comes forward ahead. As Benjamin Netanyahu has promised, he will continue to push into West Bank C, like Jevin, to try to flush out what he saw, what they call any militant operations that are originating from there. So I think, Peter, that we can expect to see more of this style of violence in the days and weeks ahead, Peter, and that the violence is not unique to that side of the border between the west bank and Israel. What is your sense of the security situation in Israel right now after that car ramming attack?

We saw what sort of heightened alert is there across Israel, particularly in those major cities, including Tel Aviv? Well, it's pretty rare to see that kind of attack inside Israel, inside Israel proper. Whether or not this continues, I think what a lot of folks here are mostly worried about is whether other elements of Palestinian resistance are going to join in, whether Hamas is going to start launching rockets from the Gaza Strip, where we're going to start to see other armed groups here in the west bank pick up their guns and engage in fighting. A lot of these people, these militants who were being targeted in Jenin, they weren't necessarily part of any war organized group.

And that's what the Israelis have said made them really so dangerous. They're difficult to play cake, difficult to negotiate with, because they don't really have any allegiance to any formal structure. And so I think we could start to see this kind of wildcat violence continue. Matt, grab the underground for us in the west bank tonight.

Matt, continue to be safe. We appreciate you reporting there. I do want to bring Ambassador Dennis Ross into this conversation now. Mr.

Ambassador, I know we've seen over the past, not just years, but decades, these sort of fits and starts of fighting, the potential for escalation. But this really did feel like a new escalation of level. Certainly Janine we hadn't seen in decades. Why now?

And what is your number one concern about what's happening right now? I think the reason for it is that the Palestinian Authority as such has almost no control over Janine. Palestinian security forces have not been going into Janine and certainly not been going into the refugee camp. And one of the things the Israelis became increasingly aware of is that many of the attacks on Israelis, at least in the west bank, shooting attacks, were emanating from Janina, especially from the refugee camp.

And people who would go out, shoot Israelis, either succeeding, killing them or wounding them, they would then get themselves back into Janina, into the refugee camp. So I think the Israelis, the more they found that the pa, the Palestinian Authority security forces, would do nothing. They began to operate more and more with what would be small raids and to try to arrest those they thought were responsible for individual acts. I think they became more and more concerned that the nature of the infrastructure that had developed in terms of arms, explosives, bomb making labs, they became more and more concerned that this was going to produce a wide escalation and perhaps a large number of deaths.

And so they acted to try to disrupt that infrastructure, destroy as much of it as they could, arrest those they felt were organizing it. And they understood this wasn't going to end acts of terror coming out of the west bank, but it could disrupt it, it could buy time. And if they create the right circumstance in terms of really reducing the level of the threat from there, you might see the Palestinian security forces begin to go back in. It's the absence of any Palestinian Authority efforts from security to deal with that, by the way, not only in terms of infrastructure, which also can become a threat to the Palestine Authority, but also, basically, we're seeing a lot of lawlessness in the West Bank.

And so this is really designed to get them to see if they can act. So these really don't have to and as you say, it's that vacuum of leadership that the Israelis and the U.S. the Westfields, has really sort of created the situation there in the West Bank. I want to ask you about Iran and their effort to fuel this Palestinian resistance at the moment.

But first of the U.S. and the U.S. role here. The White House, Mr.

Bassar, said yesterday it was monitoring the situation, language you expect from them. But what is the US Role here and what should it be? But I think it has to have a couple of elements to it. One gets to what we were just talking about before.

There needs to be very thoroughgoing reform of the Palestinian Authority because the reason the Palestinian Authority security forces are not acting is because increasingly the Palestinian Authority has lost any legitimacy. If there isn't widespread reform of a place that has become dysfunctional and largely corrupt, you're not going to see security forces feel they can go and act in defense of that authority. Now, if in fact we do what we can to try to help promote that reform, which we've done in the past, by the way, different administrations have done that, that also creates, I think, an appropriate lever on Prime Minister Netanyahu and his government. If you have, for example, a new prime minister who comes in, who is in power to carry out reform on the Palestinian side, the Israelis have got to engage in a way that makes it easier for that prime minister to operate, demonstrates that what they're doing actually is successful.

So the prime minister builds his authority, becomes more credible and then can act more. So that is a major role, I think, for us to play. Then let me ask you about the role of Iran here. We heard from Iranian mission of the United nations today saying that Iran will support any request for assistance from the Palestinian Authority right now, effectively saying that force was the only means by which the Palestinians could fight this effort by Israel.

What do you make of that brazen willingness to sort of fuel this conflict from that end? And how do you counter that? How does that complicate the circumstances not just for Israel but for the United States there? Look, I think one of the things the Iranians have been trying to do and you in the report made it clear that these are many of these attacks are not the function of organized groups like Hamas, Jihad.

You have a lot of 17 to 26 year olds who are unemployed in the West Bank. You have to be 27 to get a work permit if you're a Palestinian to work in Israel. Many of the 17 to 26 year olds who are very active in Jenin and the novelist, they're unemployed. They're frustrated with what's going on visit Israel, but also frustrated with regard to the dysfunction and corruption of the Palestinian Authority.

And one of the realities is that they act largely as individuals, less as groups. Now, what the Iranians have been doing along with Hamas is pouring money into Janine and to Noblis, also explosives. So they've already been trying to take advantage of this. From the Iranian standpoint, if the Israelis, they're going to do as much as they can to put pressure on Israel.

And that's what they've been doing. So you cite the brazen language. The truth is it just simply reflects what they've already been doing. Ambassador Dennis Ross, we appreciate you making time and sharing your expertise on this holiday.

Thank you very much. Coming next right here on meet the press now, it is a time honored 4th of July campaign tradition, a parade of presidential candidates. You're watching that and MEET THE PRESS now. Welcome back.

If it is Tuesday, he's running literally. Miami Mayor Republican candidate for president, Francis Suarez ran a 4th of July 5k this morning using this as an opportunity to highlight his fitness for the country's highest office. I want to show that I'm a fit presidential candidate and someone that has the stamina and energy to run this country. Meanwhile, many others in the sprawling GOP field are also hitting the trail today, albeit at a slower pace.

Joining 4th of July parade in some of those key early voting states, Ron DeSantis, Tim Scott, Doug Burgum will hurt all. Joining Independence Day celebrations in New Hampshire, Mike Pence and Asa Asa Hutchinson. They spent their day in Iowa. Notably absent from these parade routes.

Donald Trump, the former president, remains the clear front runner headed in the summer months despite two criminal indictments and two initial ongoing criminal investigations. And that's where we get going here. Joining now this discussion about the state of the race is Riasa Kumar, the president and CEO of Jose Latino and an NBC News contributor. Also former North Carolina Republican Governor Pat McCrory.

Nice to see both of you. Happy Fourth of July. Governor, to you. First, we saw the Miami mayor literally running the 5k today.

Other Republican candidates stressing their fitness, perhaps not as physical, but in similar efforts today. Is this about making a contrast with the 80 year old President right now that they're competing run against? Right now they're trying to do anything to get some attention. When you've got a pack of candidates like I got to be running FOR Mayor, Governor, U.S.

senate, you've got to do anything to get attention. And the dilemma the other candidates have, including mayors, senators, former governors, is that all the attention is focused on one person who's taking all the oxygen in the room because he doesn't have to go to a fourth of July parade. He can show up in downtown Charlotte or Raleigh or Florida or New York and draw a crowd or draw the media. So it's very difficult to be a candidate against someone who takes all the oxygen in the room.

And I commend the mayor for trying. I've been there, I've done it. But they all think they're something special. They all think they're something special.

They think they're the IT person. Every candidate thinks they're that way. I did. And they're waiting to be found.

And we'll see whether it happens or not. Rich Reese, I want to ask you about this. The President, he says he exercises five days a week. But no matter what the White House does, no matter how much, you know, how many photos they put out a video of him on his bicycle riding around, he's still an 80 year old guy.

So how big of a challenge is this from the White House has their legs to fitness for office. The man's age, look at that. Americans right now, 68% say it's a major moderate concern. Well, for an 80 year old, he turns on to work and perhaps pass some of the most historic pieces of legislation that we have ever seen.

And I think that what we have to recognize is what has he done in office in the last two years? He has been able to actually increase broadband to perhaps most rural communities. He's dropped down the insulin to $35. He's responsible for the most complex infrastructure bill that we've done, while also delivering perhaps the most robust investment in climate.

Climate legislation, climate justice to tune up close to 500 trillion, $500 billion, the most of any developed country in the world. So while people like to say that aid is a concern of them, we should also recognize that because he's such a seasoned statesman, he's been one of the few members sitting in the White House that actually understood sitting presidents, who actually understood how to legislate with Congress and the Senate. And he's delivered on his promise. He's actually done most of this legislation as a bipartisan type of legislation that is delivering to the local level.

And what I expect to see from the president and Kamala Harris and the vice president Kamala Harris in the next 18 months is going to these neighborhoods, going into these communities, reminding them of what they've been able to deliver. Yes, he Might be older, but it was his age and his ability to deliver that actually has him in the capacity to show what that means and to have that actual, that ability to be able to demonstrate that he's delivering results. I can't tell you how many times the White House aid has said to me in recent months, implementation, implementation, implementation. Demonstrate what the White House has already accomplished at this point, cover.

Let me ask you about President Biden's challengers, though. The Fourth of July was a pretty good marker. We sort of see where we are in the presidential primary. The DeSantis campaign is now notably admitting that they're stuck way behind.

This is Steve Cordes from the main DeSantis super PAC. Here's what he said on Sunday. Listen, right now in national polling, we are way behind probably the first event, okay? Really blunt and really honest.

It's an uphill battle. Battle, basically. But clearly Donald Trump is the runaway front runner. Go.

How did we get here where the DeSantis campaign ends June weaker than they were before he even entered the race. I mean, there was so much ammunition and money behind this effort. And that's a pretty candid assessment that it's not unwinnable, but it's a big uphill battle. Well, I've never seen a political advisor be so honest on either side of the party.

I gotta give him credit. He's honest, but he's probably slicking his money not coming in now because people do with the Santa's money, thinking he was the most viable candidate to take down Trump. And that's not happening. He still is in the first tier or the second tier where everyone else is in the third tier.

But I think he's got to look for some national events, some national issue. I don't think they can wait till the debate to make things change. I think they got to find something. And it's not going to be a Fourth of July parade.

And with Biden, with all due respect, he looks old and that's his problem. And the other problem is inflation at the grocery store when I just got back from shopping for Fourth of July burgers today, and I'm shocked at my bill. And that's what the Biden administration is fighting right now. Regardless how they sell the accomplishments, it all comes down to the supermarket and how you look in the energy you have.

Whether that's right or not, that's politics. Look at job creation and obviously they'll say the economy keeps growing. Right now, they still got ways to go. They got a pass in the primary.

The Republicans don't DeSantis, though, right now he faces a real sort of back to the wall moment. Right. He's trying to, Ted Cruz did in 2016 run to Trump's right in hopes of winning Iowa. Does that play in this era?

Is that enough? Can he outflank Donald Trump? Well, DeSantis is kind of like, you know, he's like cub zero. Why, why go for cub zero if you have coke in this case, Donald Trump being coke.

And I think that is one of the biggest challenges that DeSantis has. He's trying to demonstrate that he's all the trappings of Trump, but even slightly more to your right, as you, as you suggested here. And I think what, what would have benefited him more would have been to really target libertarians and talking about personal freedoms and talking about the ability that, that he was going to respect people's privacy because that was one of his strategies. That was one of the reasons why he decided to declare his, his candidacy on Twitter was because he was going after that libertarian vote.

But the fact that he keeps again attacking to the right and trying to take away personal freedoms, he doesn't really have a base as a result. And so where does he go from here is going to be really interesting. Yeah, we're going to keep a close eye on this and it's always a good day to sort of take a progress report to check on those things. So thanks to you, Governor Rich Rise and Mark.

I'm McCoy. Appreciate both of you being with us here. And coming up next, breaking news about that white powdery substance found at the White House. We'll have the latest.

I just spoke to a source, what they're telling me this afternoon, plus, our country is facing a crisis in military recruitment. We'll look at what that could mean for military readiness and national security. The surprising reason that children of veterans are not following in their parents footsteps. You're watching MEET THE Press now.

Welcome back. As I mentioned, we have the reporting right now on that white powdery substance that was found in a work area inside the White House's West Wing. A source familiar with the investigation tells me that during a preliminary field test completed by the D.C. fire department Sunday night, the substance tested positive as cocaine.

A source also says that the substance was found in a small dime sized bag. MBC Mike Bentley joins me now from outside the White House. Mike, this is kind of a startling situation here, right? The question being, and it could have been a preliminary test.

We'll wait to see whether a final test is conclusive. But how and who would have got this in the White House? Yeah, that's right. The other.

We certainly didn't have this on our news bingo card on Independence Day. But it was significant to learn that this one, it was not a hazardous substance, but one that is certainly an illegal substance. And two, the part of the White House in which it was discovered, this was a uniformed officer as part of the U.S. secret Service's Uniformed division, was conducting a routine patrol of the White House on Sunday and discovered this.

Now, the fact that it was in the West Wing is important. It narrows down to real estate. It wasn't the executive Mansion. We have most of the ceremonial spaces as well as the private residence for the first family.

It was the executive office building across the street, which is a much more occupied part of the real estate where most of the executive staff works. We're talking about the West Wing, where obviously the Oval Office, the president, senior staff and their assistants were. So that obviously leads to the question that is being posed into the West Wing right now. How did this material come into the White House?

It could have been a White House staffer. It could have been somebody who was being escorted as part of the meeting in the White House or might have been somebody, as we often see on the course of weekends, staff often are giving tours to members of their family and to other guests. So that's one of the questions now that's going to be posted to the White House. It's also worth noting that the president and other members of the first family were not at the White House.

President Biden, the first lady, as well as his son Hunter and his family departed the White House on Friday and only returns today this morning, where of course, the president tonight is going to be hosting a barbecue for military families and others on the South Lawn to celebrate nations perfectly there at the White House. Are they saying or officials are saying anything about this discovery? No, we're only hearing at this point from the Secret Service, which has outlined the ways in which this was discovered in the investigation steps going forward. But you can be sure as White House officials are still joining those on the South Lawn, they're also asking this question because this is certainly an embarrassment to the White House.

This is something that, as we know, is an illegal substance that officials here are going to be highly scrutinized. I think the story itself got a lot of attention, especially on social media media today, largely from the president's critics. And so there's going to be an effort very quickly to try to get to the bottom of what happened here so they can try to diffuse some of that speculation. Yeah, Madam.

Mike, Lily there with you because protesters, activists and others in the background, they're outside the White House as well. Mike, thank you very much. Happy fourth of you. It has been more than 50 years since this country first launched a war on drugs.

Now a new war on drugs is emerging as a key 2024 campaign issue. The DEA calls fentanyl the single deadliest drugs threat our nation has ever encountered. Chuck recently sat down for an exclusive interview with Anne Milgram. She's the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration.

And here's part of the conversation. What makes fentanyl so much worse right now than any of these other crises that we've had over our 50 year one drugs? So thank you for having me and giving the opportunity to talk about what I think is the most critical issue in the United States today, which is the fentanyl crisis, where I, the CDC has just reported that last year over 110,000Americans have died from fentanyl methamphetamine poisoning. About 200Americans are dying every day from fentanyl.

What I say all the time right now is that this is not a war on drugs. This is a fight to save lives. We are losing Americans in every single community from coast to coast and every single place in between. Fentanyl is now.

And one of the things that's really different about this, a few things. First, it is the deadliest drug we've ever seen. Widespread, it is 50 times more powerful than heroin. And so if someone does, you want to leave.

The legalized version of this drug that was FDA approved is 50 more. What we're talking about now is the illicit, or I understand that, but this was originally a legal drug. Yes. And just to make sure to be clear on this, there it is, tightly controlled as a lawful drug, given in hospitals, often for cancer patients, and end of life as patches or put in under someone's tongue.

Talking about is totally different. What we're talking about started in Mexico in 2014, 2015, where the criminal cartels, in particular the Sinaloa cartel, realized that they could take chemicals and make drugs. And so one of the ways that this is so different than any other threat we've ever seen is that these are man made or chemical drugs, Unlike heroin or cocaine, they're grown, you know, build your crop and you could find the crop, maybe even eradicate a crop. Yes, this is totally different.

This is chemicals. And what's terrifying about this in so many ways is that the only limit of the amount of fentanyl that could be made is the amount of precursor chemicals that can be purchased. And so these are chemicals that can be used to make fentanyl. The other reason why I think this is so different and it is really worth staying on this just for a minute, is that fentanyl, tiny quantities, are so highly addictive and potentially deadly that what we see the cartels doing is they're hiding that fentanyl powder and other drugs like cocaine, like heroin, like methamphetamine, and they're pressing into these fake pills made to look exactly like oxycodone or Percocetra Adderall, when it's just fentanyl filler.

So tens of thousands of Americans are dying without having any idea that they're taking fentanyl. What does victory over this fentanyl scourge and saving lives look like in the next year or two? Yeah, so, I mean, to me, the core thing that we have to be focused on is Americans are dying. Right.

So we can talk. As bad as much as we seized, we seized enough fentanyl last year, 410 million doses. That is enough deadly doses to kill every single American. And yet how much do you think it got through?

So this is. We know. We don't know how much got through. We don't know the exact amount that got through.

But we do know, you know, we brought thousands of cases against individuals across the country, we announced them in April, that are associates of the cartels, and they're selling the pills on social media, they're selling on street, so we know someone's getting through. So first of all, we have to save lives, and we have to do everything we can to push that number down. The second piece, which I think is really important, is we have changed the way we work. Our mission right now is to save lives by defeating these two cartels that are responsible for almost all of fentanyl in the United States.

The Sinaloa cartel and the Jalisco cartel. And we have to stop the fentanyl from being made. When it comes to your ability to choke the supply, we have two countries that are not doing business with the United States in anonymous basis. One is China, and I'd argue the other is Mexico.

And I'd ask you this, these cartels, who's in charge of Mexico? Is it the government or is the government afraid of these cartels? So what I would say is, you know, our relentless focus right now is on these two cartels. And while there are two countries that are the Major, obviously Mexico's where Sinalo and Jalisco are based and the vast majority of precursor chemicals are coming from China.

We are now tracking these two cartels in more than 45 countries, many of whom are good partners of the United States. And so as we look at this as a global supply chain issue, we are able to do work that we've never done before. The Mexican president basically denied that we don't make fentanyl here. I mean, he is totally not, I mean, at least in public, does not seem like he accepts the premise that this fentanyl issue is a problem in Mexico.

One of the things that we did in April, we announced charges against the Silo Cartel. I would argue to you that they're the leaders right now in fentanyl trafficking too. What has the Mexican government done to help us with this? And just to go back to your initial question, what we showed in those charges and that that case is off pending.

What we showed is that there's no question that fentanyl, as alleged in the indictment, is being synthesized in Mexico. So there are many things that we're doing and investigating throughout. Cases I think are critical. But are you getting cooperation with the next government?

So where we are now, and I think, I think where we are right now is first, the United States is now taking a cross government approach. And so in the past six months, 12 months, we've sat with treasury, we've sat with State, we've sat with other federal law enforcement agencies. And I think it's really. And the deputy Attorney General has been to Mexico as the President's Homeland Security advisor.

And they're all delivering the message of how important and critical this is. So what we are seeing is we are seeing some increased cooperation with Mexican law enforcement in the military. Now, what I would say to you very, I think it couldn't be said enough. We cannot allow 110,000Americans to die.

So let me ask you about the cartels. Would your job be easier if they were designated as foreign terrorist organizations? So DEA has vast authorities. We have the ability to prosecute cases under the 959 statute globally.

If there was a foreign terrorist organization designation, that would not change our current authorities, do you think? Border politics, because it's so polarizing and frankly, it can be used as a way to try to hijack the fentanyl issue. Maybe positive or negative makes it hard, harder for this Democratic administration to talk about because they don't talk about border issues. I think, I think there is.

What I've seen over the Last few years, there's a fundamental shift in people, people's willingness to talk about it and including just walking into a room. I almost do not walk into a room right now where someone hasn't lost a loved one or someone in our community. And that has changed. Do I think we're where we need to be at?

No. I think way too many Americans still don't understand that on social media that, you know, where your kid might be, that pill is potentially deadly and there are no second chances. And so I think we have to continue to increase awareness. Is there fentanyl issue a bigger problem at the border or bigger problem on social media?

So, you know, the border is an important part of this conversation because most of the fentanyl that we see coming into the United States is coming in through the southwest border. In the indictments we announced in April, what we've charged is that the fentanyl is coming in through every way possible, by air, by land, by sea, by underground, but essentially coming in at very high rates through the southwest border, often in trucks or cars. But yes, coming in through the border is an important part of the conversation. Social media is also a vital part of the conversation.

It is what I call the last mile. Because what the cartels need, they're selling the deadliest poison they've ever seen. They need that to get. Exactly.

And they also need to be able to expand and sell more. They need to be able to reach people at massive rates. And that's what social media is doing. And social media companies that all cooperate on.

We've been in conversations with social media, with the social media companies. The deputy Attorney general convened all of us in April this year and made it very clear, number one, that the companies have to comply with their own terms of service which say this is illegal. You cannot be selling fake pills, you cannot be selling drugs on social media websites. Number two, law enforcement needs to get information from social media companies.

We have not until recently gotten nearly as much cooperation as we need. And finally, this is an outright emergency. So they need to be doing absolutely everything they can to get the deadly drugs off their off their platform. There's a lot more of Meet the Press and it's special on the female crisis on our website.

It is meetthepress.com Come up next here, the dangers of the US military steep recruitment decline. This is a really striking new headline. What can be done to address the shortfall in this country's all volunteer force? That conversation next.

You're watching Meet the Press now. Welcome back on this Independence Day as members of our armed forces are being honored and celebrated at the White House. Around the country, the US military is in the middle of what is a massive recruiting draft. In 2022, the US army had its most difficult recruiting year since it ended the draft in 1973.

Other branches are struggling with leaving the Army, Navy and air force roughly 30,000 recruits short of their goals. There are all sorts of explanations for the shortfall, including the pandemic, a tight labor market, but one reason appears to be the experiences of veterans themselves. According to the Wall Street Journal, more and more veterans are urging family members against enlisting. That does not vote well for an army where nearly 80% of all new recruits have a family member who served.

And join me now is the retired Army Colonel Jack Jacobs. He is of course a Medal of Honor recipient and NBC News military analyst. Colonel JACK on this holiday, as always, we say thank you for your service. And this is a heck of a headline about the all volunteer force of the US right now.

The former chairman and the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen told the Wall Street Journal about prospective recruits. He said the following influencers are not telling them to go in the military. Moms, dads, uncles, coaches, pastors, do not see it as a good choice. What's your take?

Well, it used to be a good choice and we had generations of people joining the military because previous generations had I did because my father had served in the Second World War in the army in New guinea, the Philippines and I thought it was my obligation to serve. But a lot has happened since we decided to have an all volunteer force. The result has been far fewer people going into the military to start with, which leaves far fewer people trying to influence those who those who would otherwise come in. It's interesting to note that a very large percentage of people who enter the armed forces now, something on the order of 78 or 79% have a family member who has certain served, but only 30% have a parent who served.

And that number is coming down too. In an environment in which you can do just about anything and make some money, coming into the military seems to be an option that not many people are selecting. Well, you make a good point there. Right now there's this new competition for those individuals, for those potential recruits right now where often going into the military as a way to secure your future, your education would be guaranteed to be paid for, but a lot of other routes that young people in this country are fighting to do, to do that separate from the military.

It's not just that there's obviously sort of a fatigue associated with the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. So how do you flip the switch on this? How does the military change this trajectory? Well, that takes leadership.

Just about anything you want to accomplish, whether it's in this environment or any other kind of environment, takes leadership. And we have not had leaders who've done a very good job of convincing the rank and file of the American public that if you're lucky enough to live in a free country, you owe it something in the form of service. What's happened now is that so few people are serving not because necessarily recruitment is down, but because the requirements of the service are such that we are taking only volunteers and we don't have a draft. Is that a wide gap has opened up between those who are serving and those who are being served.

Statistically, most Americans do not know anybody in uniform. This is a really dangerous situation when you're separated from those who in some cases are risking their lives to make sure that you remain free and the United States achieves its foreign policy objectives. The only way this will change is through leadership. It's interesting to note, for example, that more people were killed on 911 in New York City than were killed at Pearl Harbor.

And yet on the 8th of December, 1941, hundreds of thousands of young people screamed the reception stations to to go defend the country. That did not happen after 9 11. At the end of the day, I go back to what I said before. It takes leadership.

Right. If you can't motivate people to go defend their country after 9 11, then it's going to take extraordinary leadership to change that. Yeah. Notably, remarkably, a lot of people you'd be recruiting, though, to be fighting or joining the military were not even born when 911 took place now 22 years ago.

And this is a big ratio, not just about recruiting, Colonel Jack, but it's also really about America, America's military preparedness going forward with these emerging conflicts or competitions with China in Russia. So what does it mean for our readiness if we went to war today, say China decides to go into Taiwan? How confident are you that we have the personnel that we need, plus personnel sort of in the pipeline in place? Well, one can't have very much confidence in the current circumstances.

Among other things, the military's discovered that a fairly significant proportion of people even want to come into the military are not physically capable of being in the military or who have rap sheets, drug problems and so on. It's very, very difficult to even get people who are qualified who want to come in. The second thing to keep in mind is some services are far more vulnerable than others. You can make army units smaller and so on, and they can or can't do their job.

But at the end of the day, if you go to some place like the Navy, which is heavily equipment centric, you gotta have people in the right military occupational specialties and we don't have those. Yeah, it's a good point you make cruel. Jack. Jack, it's always pleasure to be with you again.

Happy holiday to you and your family here. Thank you again for your service. We thank you for being with us on this fourth of July. Hey, it's Kate Snow, NBC News anchor and host of the Drink.

This month, Jemmy Lovato is my guest. The global superstar tells me that she is the happiest she's ever been right now. But getting there, it wasn't simple. Jemmy opens up about starting in Hollywood young and why she now thinks she may have started too soon.

She talks about recovery, her new marriage, and the deeply personal reason behind her new cookbook. The Drink is always about the journey to the top and this was an honest conversation about what that takes. Hope you listen and follow the Drink wherever you get your podcast.